Monday Night Raw
Date: March 13, 2023
Location: Amica Mutual Pavilion, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

We have six major TV shows left before Wrestlemania and there is still some work to do. Most of the matches and stories are already set but there are a least a few things that need to be finalized. There is a good chance that some of those will be covered, or at least addressed, tonight so let’s get to it.

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

Here is Edge to get things going. He loves that kind of reaction from the crowd but wants to get straight to the point. Edge calls out Finn Balor so here is the full Judgment Day. Edge says that Balor’s request for a Wrestlemania match is on, which Balor appreciates. With that out of the way, Edge recaps the feud and says he doesn’t have time to deal with all of these people anymore. That’s why at Wrestlemania, he wants Hell in a Cell.

Balor says Hell couldn’t handle his demons so they’re on for Wrestlemania. Judgment Day storms the ring and the big beatdown is on until Dexter Lumis, Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae run in for the save. They had to make the match and at it feels special so nice job. I’ll take it over “it’s October so here’s the Cell”.

Johnny Gargano/Dexter Lumis vs. Judgment Day

It’s Dominik Mysterio/Damien Priest for the team here and Edge/Balor have both left. Joined in progress with Gargano kicking Dominik in the head and Priest coming in. Lumis comes in as well but gets taken into the corner for some shots to the face. A front facelock of all thins gets Lumis out of trouble so it’s back to Gargano, who gets dropped face first onto the top turnbuckle. Gargano sends Dominik outside for a dive though and we take a break.

Back with Priest hitting the Broken Arrow for two on Gargano and slapping on the chinlock. Dominik comes in but misses the 619, allowing Gargano to nail the slingshot spear. It’s back to Lumis to clean house, with a spinebuster and legdrop getting two on Priest. Dominik rolls Lumis up with feet on the ropes but Candice LeRae makes the save. Rhea Ripley takes out LeRae and Gargano dives onto Priest. Back in and Lumis tries to Silence Dominik, only to get caught with South of Heaven for the pin at 13:59.

Rating: C+. It was a fast paced match to open the show as the fans are going to respond to everyone involved. They started to turn it up at the end and it was a good opener as a result. Lumis getting pinned is fine as Gargano has the big match coming up at NXT Stand & Deliver so they even got the ending right.

Miz arrived earlier today and after confirming that he hadn’t seen Otis (as asked by Chad Gable), he laughed of the idea of having a co-host for Wrestlemania. We cut over to Damage CTRL beating up Trish Stratus and leaving her laying.

Here are MVP and Omos to call out Brock Lesnar, who doesn’t leave them waiting long. Lesnar, with the top of his head coming up to Omos’ neck, stares up at Omos, who puts his fist out towards Lesnar’s face. The fist is turned into an open hand and they shake before the fight is on. Lesnar can’t suplex him and Omos shoves him out tot he floor as referees and security run down. Really basic stuff here and I still don’t care to see the match.

We recap the reunion of the Usos, with Cody Rhodes joining Sami Zayn to fight them on Smackdown.

Cody Rhodes vs. LA Knight

Cody knocks him down to start and grabs a headlock before sending Knight outside. The dive is cut off with a shot to the face but Cody sends him into the steps. Back in and Knight superplexes him down as we take a break. We come back with Knight getting two off a DDT but getting caught with the Disaster Kick for two more. The Cody Cutter into Cross Rhodes finishes Knight at 9:38.

Rating: C. The nearly perfect Cody push continues as they aren’t doing anything too out there. Rhodes is winning match after match and building himself up for the Wrestlemania main event. This was as it should have been, with Rhodes hanging in there until the end and winning with his big stuff. Nice job and another good piece of the bigger story.

Post match Rhodes grabs the mic and says he has been told to stay out of Bloodline business. Well he doesn’t work for the Bloodline, so he’ll do whatever he wants. Cody talks about wearing a suit because he wants to be someone and the Bloodline needs to acknowledge him. He grew up thinking he was a prince in this business but has no crown or even a Master Sword. On April 2, when the sun goes down on Hollywood, it is going down on Reigns’ run as well. Those who have followed him until the end (nice) will see him crowned the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul being made last week.

Seth Rollins talks about Logan Paul knocking him down last week but not being able to keep him down. Miz comes in to call Rollins jealous of Paul, who will be hosting Impaulsive next week. Baron Corbin comes up to ask about being the guest host of Wrestlemania but gets laughed off. Instead, Corbin offers Rollins boxing lessons for Wrestlemania but has to settle with facing Rollins tonight.

Bronson Reed vs. Elias

Rick Boogs is here with Elias and taking notes. Reed runs him over to start and hits a rolling splash, setting up a nerve hold. With that not working, Reed hits a clothesline and drops the Tsunami for the pin at 2:06. Total destruction.

Chad Gable is still looking for Otis (he has fliers) but nearly gets knocked down by Lita and Becky Lynch, who go to check on Trish Stratus.

Kevin Owens needs help but he doesn’t want to fight alongside Sami Zayn. He also appreciates Cody Rhodes’ help but wants to do everything alone tonight. Rhodes needs to be focused on Roman Reigns, so tonight he wants to face Solo Sikoa on his own.

We recap John Cena ripping Austin Theory apart last week.

Earlier today, Theory ran into the Street Profits, who laughed at him for last week. Theory thinks they’ll be fired soon before bragging about how big of a Wrestlemania match he has. He asks about which of the Profits has a backbone and Angelo Dawkins seems ready to fight. Instead, Theory laughs about the two of them having nothing to do at Wrestlemania and walks away.

Austin Theory vs. Angelo Dawkins

Non-title. Dawkins wrestles him down to start and hits a good dropkick for two. Back up and Theory fires off the shoulders in the corner before grabbing the chinlock. Dawkins is sent outside and we take a break. We come back with Dawkins hitting a suplex, followed by the jumping back elbow. Theory scores with a dropkick though and A Town Down finishes Dawkins at 9:33.

Rating: C. It wasn’t much, but Theory absolutely needed this win to boost him back up after last week’s massacre by Cena. Theory is only now getting back to where he feels like a legitimate star and the Cena stuff from last week tore a lot of that down. Hopefully they can do something with him in the coming weeks, or Wrestlemania could be ugly.

An annoyed Paul Heyman is ready to get rid of Kevin Owens tonight and at Wrestlemania Cody Rhodes is next. Cody went too far by mocking Roman Reigns so next week, he can do it in person when Reigns is on Raw. Next week, Cody can decide if he is a problem or a challenge.

Rey Mysterio Hall of Fame video.

Here is Rey Mysterio for a chat. Rey is so glad to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame after all these years. He is looking forward to being with the fans…and here is Dominik Mysterio to interrupt. Dominik complains about how his dad neglected him over the years, like with going to Wrestlemania instead of taking him out for getting good grades. And when Rey got him a BMW instead of a Mercedes, it wasn’t even an M series!

Dominik calls him an excuse for a man and a father. Don’t worry though, as Dominik will let Rey have his Hall of Fame induction, but he wants a match with Rey at Wrestlemania. Rey says no because he still loves his son and walks away. Dominik yells at him about walking away before saying the only thing Rey taught him was what not to be. They’re taking their time setting this up, but you can see Rey getting closer and closer to saying yes every week. The match itself is going to be tricky, but this was another layer on an already deep build.

Trish Stratus, Lita and Becky Lynch are sick of Damage CTRL and the only thing they managed to do was anger Stratus.

This week’s Wrestlemania trailer: Rhea Ripley is Eleven from Stranger Things. She uses her mind powers to crush a can, turns over a table…and that’s it. This was the weakest one they’ve ever done.

Seth Rollins vs. Baron Corbin

Miz is on commentary. Corbin jumps Rollins before the bell but of course Rollins wants to go anyway. Rollins fights up and kicks Corbin to the floor, setting up the suicide dive onto the announcers’ table. There’s the knee to the face and Corbin is knocked into Miz for a bonus. Rollins cuts off an interfering Miz by kicking him into the ring. Miz is used as a launch pad to Stomp Corbin for the pin at 2:19. Quick and to the point here, as it should be with Corbin.

Mustafa Ali, now in a hat and sunglasses, hasn’t seen Otis either. Chad Gable finds Otis posing with the Maximum Male Models. Gable gets in on the photos and breaks the camera. Otis blows off training for more photos. Otis doing comedy is the best thing for him, but I could see this joke getting old fast.

Bianca Belair vs. Chelsea Green

Non-title and Carmella is here with Green. Belair scares her into the corner to start and backflips over her out of the corner. There’s the standing moonsault for two on Green but a Carmella distraction lets Green sweep the legs. We take a break and come back with Green getting kicked off the ropes, only to walk into a side slam. Belair kicks Carmella off the apron but gets hit in the face to give Green two. I’m Prettier is blocked though and the KOD gives Belair the pin at 8:06.

Rating: C. The build to Belair vs. Asuka has been weird as Belair has run over the pretty weak opponents she has been facing on her way to Wrestlemania. At the same time, Asuka hasn’t done much other than run in on people after they have been beaten up by Belair. That doesn’t give me much of a reason to want to see Belair vs. Asuka, but it should wind up being good.

Post match Green and Carmella beat Belair down until Asuka makes the save. Asuka picks up the title and doesn’t immediately hand it back. Instead she dances a lot and drops it, with Belair not being happy.

Solo Sikoa vs. Kevin Owens

Street fight.  The brawl starts outside with Owens getting the better of things. Owens fights up but the Cannonball doesn’t quite Sikoa loads up a chair on the floor and we take a break. Back with Owens throwing in a bunch of chairs and setting them up. That takes too long too though and the splash only hits a raised foot.

Owens gets slammed onto the chairs for two and Sikoa is stunned. Owens fights up and they go outside, where the Cannonball crushes Sikoa against the barricade. They fight into the back and…the Usos jump Owens as soon as they walk through the entrance. The beatdown takes Owens back to the ring, where the Samoan Spike gives Sikoa the pin at 11:35.

Rating: C+. This was the “shoe is on the other foot” moment for Owens, as he needs his own help dealing with the Bloodline. I don’t know if this is enough to get him to saying yes to Sami Zayn but something is going to have to break him. Again they’re taking their time to get there, but the reaction for the reunion is going to be worth it.

Owens can’t breathe to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. We are absolutely in the time of “don’t do anything stupid” with Wrestlemania just a few weeks away. There was a big match added to the show this week and some steps taken to two other important ones, but other than that it was more fine tuning the Wrestlemania card than anything else. That can make for some less than interesting TV, but they are putting in the work to get us to the important stuff in Los Angeles.

Results
Judgment Day b. Dexter Lumis/Johnny Gargano – South of Heaven to Lumis
Cody Rhodes b. LA Knight – Cross Rhodes
Bronson Reed b. Elias – Tsunami
Austin Theory b. Angelo Dawkins – A Town Down
Seth Rollins b. Baron Corbin – Stomp
Bianca Belair b. Chelsea Green – KOD
Solo Sikoa b. Kevin Owens – Samoan Spike

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: March 6, 2023
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Corey Graves

We are less than a month away from Wrestlemania and tonight is going to be one of the bigger shows, as John Cena is back. There is a good chance that we get his Wrestlemania match set up this week, as he is running out of time. Other than that, we also get a face to face staredown between Logan Paul and Seth Rollins. Let’s get to it.

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

The Bloodline (Paul Heyman, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa) arrived earlier today, with Heyman reiterating Roman Reigns’ orders to deal with Sami Zayn. Now Zayn escaped on Friday, so he must be here in Boston tonight. Instead, Sikoa is going to solve the Kevin Owens problem tonight, and Jimmy will solve Zayn, whether Jey is here or not. Jimmy and Solo leave and Heyman calls Reigns.

Kevin Owens vs. Solo Sikoa

Owens jumps him before the bell but Sikoa fights back and we officially get going. Sikoa kicks away at him a few times and a right hand gets two. Owens slugs away but gets taken down with a shot to the stomach. Some standing clotheslines put Sikoa down and there’s the backsplash for a bonus. The Cannonball is loaded up but Sikoa bails to the floor, allowing Owens to take him down with a dive.

Cue Jimmy Uso for the save and Sikoa slams Owens off the top. It’s too early for the running Umaga attack so Sikoa hits it against the barricade as we take a break. Back with Sikoa hitting a Samoan drop as Jimmy is looking all over the building, presumably for Jey. Sikoa goes shoulder first into the post and Jimmy’s distraction fails, allowing Owens to hit the Cannonball. The Swanton connects on Sikoa but Jimmy comes in for the DQ at 11:20.

Rating: C. This was ok, with even commentary saying it wasn’t about the win or loss but rather the Bloodline hurting Owens. That does make sense in this case, as the Bloodline has long since been all about taking care of Owens’ enemies. The Zayn reunion is still coming for Owens, and this is the reason why he would need him. It’s another step in a long path, but the payoff is going to be huge.

Post match the beatdown is on with the splash through the announcers’ table loaded up. Cue Sami Zayn for the save and he chases the villains off with a chair. Sami leans down to help Owens up but Owens rolls away and leaves on his own. The long form teases continue.

Bobby Lashley wants Bray Wyatt to face him like a man.

Carmella is sick of Adam Pearce and Chelsea Green comes up to applaud her. They want the Wrestlemania match changed and are going to go to Pearce’s manager after tonight. They’re rather pleased and then throw Byron Saxton out for eavesdropping.

Bianca Belair vs. Carmella

Non-title and Chelsea Green is here with Carmella. A few early shots have Belair in trouble but she sends Carmella into the corner and pops back up. Carmella knocks her off the corner though and we take a break. Back with Belair fighting back but Green distracts the referee to avoid the count. Carmella hits a quick superkick for two and isn’t happy with the kickout. Belair rains down right hands in the corner but Green offers another distraction. This time Green is sent over the barricade and the KOD finishes for Belair at 8:35.

Rating: C-. These two feel like they have fought a few dozen times and I don’t remember any significantly different result. WWE tries to make Carmella feel like a big deal but just being a former multiple time champion doesn’t mean you feel like a threat to Belair here. This was little more than a workout for Belair, which is what she needs on her way to Asuka.

Post match the beatdown is on again and Asuka makes the save.

Sami Zayn comes up to Kevin Owens and says tonight was proof that the Bloodline is too big for any one person. They need to go after them together but Owens remembers Zayn joining the team right here in this very arena. Sure they could fight them together, but Owens doesn’t want to. Zayn should just rejoin Roman Reigns and get the acceptance he wants. Just leave Owens out of it.

Video on Rhea Ripley.

Here is the Miz to moderate a meeting between Seth Rollins and Logan Paul. The fans sing Rollins’ song for so long that Paul tells them to shut up before the segment runs out of time. Rollins sucks up to Boston and mocks the idea of Paul gracing us with his presence. Paul talks about how he is just better than Rollins at his job and he has done more in a year and a half than Rollins has done in twenty. If Paul was Rollins, he wouldn’t like him either.

Rollins calls Paul the scum of the earth and a troll, plus a fraud. Rollins and the fans don’t want him in their house but Boston is here to see Rollins get his pound of flesh. The fight is teased but Miz says not so fast. Miz isn’t going to let any violence go down tonight, but Paul says don’t put words in his mouth. Paul isn’t going to fight here in Boston, but he might if the stage is bigger.

Miz brings up that he is the host of Wrestlemania and can make the match happen, which has Rollins very interested. He even throws Miz out so he can get there faster. Paul jumps Rollins from behind but misses the Stomp, only to drop him with one heck of a right hand. Paul says that when Rollins wakes up, he can tell him about Wrestlemania. Imagine that: Paul is an outstanding heel when he is given the chance to be one. This was more great stuff from Paul, who is getting to be his natural self for a change.

We recap Brock Lesnar agreeing to face Omos at Wrestlemania.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Omos

This is thanks to Mustafa Ali getting the match made. Ziggler gets in a shot but charges into a big boot. The chokebomb finishes Ziggler at 52 seconds.

The Maximum Male Models are amazed by someone. Baron Corbin comes up to say thank you, but they mean Otis. Corbin: “What does he have that I don’t have?” Mansoor: “Hair.” Maxxine Dupri tells Corbin to beat Chad Gable and maybe she’ll take him on as a client.

Paul Heyman tells Jimmy Uso to deal with Sami Zayn, but he better make sure Jey Uso is on Smackdown.

Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano

The rest of the Judgment Day and Dexter Lumis are here. Balor works on an armbar to start but Gargano sends him outside. The suicide dive drops Balor and we take an early break. Back with Gargano fighting back and hitting the slingshot spear, only to get suplexed down. Balor reminds Gargano of his name and hammers away, only to get sunset flipped for two.

Gargano goes after the rest of Judgment Day, allowing Balor to hit a double stomp to the chest. The shotgun dropkick connects….and here is Edge through the crowd (as telegraphed by Damien Priest going up the aisle), allowing Edge to shove Balor off the top. One Final beat finishes Balor at 9:34.

Rating: C+. These two have had some awesome matches before but that was then and this isn’t NXT. For now, Gargano needed a win to give him somewhere to go and Edge costing Balor another win pushes them even closer to Wrestlemania. Nice TV match, but it does kind of show you how long has passed since the heyday of NXT.

Post match Lumis and Edge take out Judgment Day.

We recap Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns’ showdown on Smackdown. Reigns asking “have you ever won that one” got me.

King and Queen of the Ring are back in Saudi Arabia on May 27. That’s the day before AEW Double Or Nothing.

Edge says he’ll be in the ring alone next week. If Finn Balor has the guts, come finish this.

Nikki Cross vs. Piper Niven

It’s a big brawl before the bell but Niven says ring the bell. Cross hits a crossbody to send Niven outside but can’t grab a swinging neckbreaker back inside. Instead, Niven grabs the Loch Ness Slam for the pin at 52 seconds.

Rick Boogs is trying to lift a semi truck when Elias comes in. Elias is trying to help him by getting Boogs to fight, so Boogs goes up to Bronson Reed. Unfortunately we get a miscommunication and it’s Elias vs. Reed next week. That’s not what Elias meant! Of note: Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens could be seen talking in the background.

Here is John Cena (looking to have dropped A LOT of muscle) but before he can say anything, Austin Theory interrupts. Theory says Cena inspired him to get into wrestling so he has a gift for him (after the CENA chants die off that is): the two of them, one on one for the US Title at Wrestlemania. Cena: “No.” Cena says that Theory doesn’t have the authority to give a gift like that. Theory is a nothing guy with a generic look and no heart.

Cena points out a sign saying Theory is a Cena wannabe and says Theory is in the Ruthless Aggression Era. That time almost got Cena fired and now the people don’t see anything in Theory. Cena: “You’re a pair of trunks away from being a jabroni.” Cena says that Theory has the best name in WWE history. Not Steve Austin, the Rock, or the Undertaker, because there is no name better than Austin Theory. That’s exactly what he is: a theory.

In theory, he should be great and everything that a WWE executive look for. But he’s just a guy with no heart. Therefore, Cena and the people of Boston are giving him a gift: the chance to leave in one piece. Theory says he isn’t going anywhere, just like Cena’s bald spot. Theory talks about Cena’s NEVER GIVE UP shirt but saying no sounds like giving up to him.

The hat says RESPECT, but where is the respect for the people? Cena has a chance to face the greatest US Champion ever and he’s giving up? Where is the hustle, loyalty and respect? Cena: “I would much rather be bald than have them pipe in fake crowd noise for my matches because nobody cares.”

Cena didn’t say no because he gave up, but rather to save an unready Theory. If they fight at Wrestlemania and Theory loses, he loses everything. Then he’ll have to go out the next night on Raw and explain what happened. Therefore, Cena now has to ask the fans what they want. The fans are into it and approve, so Cena is in. Cena goes to leave but says Theory isn’t ready for Wrestlemania. Here’s someone who is though: Cody Rhodes, who gets the hug from Cena for the endorsement.

This was another very heavy verbal beating from Cena, as Theory needs to win something, but I’m not sure if it did much good for him, even if Cena wins. Cena beat him down so heavily and now Theory is going to have to do something big against Cena and then follow it up even better to make things better.

Sami Zayn can’t get through to Kevin Owens but he isn’t leaving without getting rid of Roman Reigns. Tonight, that means taking out Jimmy Uso.

Baron Corbin vs. Chad Gable

The fans want Otis as Corbin puts on an over the shoulder backbreaker. Gable is right back up with some rolling German suplexes and the ankle lock finishes Corbin off at 2:02. That worked, as it’s amazing how much easier it is to deal with the Alpha Academy when they don’t do their catchphrase over and over.

We look back at Becky Lynch and Lita winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles last week.

New Wrestlemania trailer: Miz and Maryse in Top Gun. These trailers feel like they came up with an idea but then didn’t bother making them funny/entertaining/good.

Logan Paul vs. Seth Rollins is set for Wrestlemania.

Here are Becky Lynch and Lita to celebrate being the new Women’s Tag Team Champions. Lita wanted one more chance and took what she had, but there is one more person to thank. Cue Trish Stratus, who is glad she could help, but here is Damage Ctrl to interrupt. Bayley is sick of hearing from Trish, who threatens to go from retired to unretired. The challenge for a six woman tag is thrown out and accepted rather quickly. That felt rather fast as I’m wondering if the show is running long.

Sami Zayn vs. Jimmy Uso

Solo Sikoa is here too. Sami goes right after him to start and we take a break less than a minute in. Back with Sami in trouble but he gets in a DDT for a breather. Zayn’s high crossbody gets two but he gets sent outside. Hold on as Sikoa almost goes after him, which is enough for an ejection. Back in and the Blue Thunder Bomb gives Zayn two as we take a second break just over six minutes into the match. We come back with both of them down and Jey Uso comes through the crowd. The distraction lets Zayn grab a rollup at 10:37.

Rating: C-. That was dangerously close to not having enough shown for a rating, which is hard to do in a ten minute match. This was of course all about the Jey appearance and setting up the big decision on Friday, which is going to be the latest step in the Bloodline Saga. It’s nice to see Zayn getting a win though, as you don’t want to have him get beaten into a pulp over and over again before the big Wrestlemania moment.

Post match Zayn goes to the floor and Jey gets in the ring to confront Jimmy. They stare at each other for a good while and Jey grabs him by the shoulders. Jey leaves, stares at Zayn, and hugs him (Zayn is SHOCKED), leaving Jimmy looking crushed. The posing is on, but then Jey superkicks Zayn and throws him inside (with Jimmy’s face turning into an evil smile). The big beatdown ensues, with Solo Sikoa coming out to make it worse. Cody Rhodes runs in for the save to end the show. That was great, as they FINALLY did something definitive and pulled the trigger on Jey, which had to be done.

Overall Rating: B. This was a show that was heavy on the emotion and moving the chains for Wrestlemania, which is what you need to do with less than four months to go. We had three new matches set up for the show, plus the big moment at the end. What matters is getting those things done by the time they get to Los Angeles and this show did a lot of the heavy lifting. It wasn’t so much that these matches were surprises (the six woman tag might be) but rather things that needed to be done. WWE did that tonight, and Wrestlemania feels bigger as a result. It was an efficient show, and that’s what WWE needed.

Results
Kevin Owens b. Solo Sikoa via DQ when Jimmy Uso interfered
Bianca Belair b. Carmella – KOD
Omos b. Dolph Ziggler – Chokebomb
Johnny Gargano b. Finn Balor – One Final Beat
Piper Niven b. Nikki Cross – Loch Ness Slam
Chad Gable b. Baron Corbin – Ankle lock
Sami Zayn b. Jimmy Uso – Rollup

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

Monday Night Raw
Date: August 22, 2022
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re still north of the border and this time there is a special treat for the hometown crowd. Edge is going to be facing Damian Priest for the big homecoming match and that should be a heck of a fight. Other than that, we should be seeing the continuing adventures of Dexter Lumis, plus any other possible returns. Let’s get to it.

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

We open in the back with Riddle and Seth Rollins brawling in the Gorilla Position. They are separated by security but brawl into the arena to keep it going. More brawling leads to more separations until they’re finally held apart on the ramp, much to the fans’ annoyance.

Here is hometown legend Trish Stratus for a chat. The fans seem rather happy to see her and Trish seems overwhelmed by the reception. The ONE MORE MATCH chant starts up and Trish has been thinking….but here are Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky to interrupt. We take a break and come back with Bayley talking about how awesome it is to have Trish back, but why is she here?

Through translation, we hear about Sky being a huge fan but Bayley still wants to know why Trish has been after them over the last few days. Cue Bianca Belair to say Bayley isn’t in the same stratosphere. Bayley still isn’t convinced so Trish takes off her jacket. Asuka and Alexa Bliss come out to uneven the odds so Bayley and company are ready to leave but it’s time for a match. Trish vs. Bayley down the line could be a heck of a showcase for the latter and Trish looks like she could still go.

Women’s Tag Team Title Tournament: Asuka/Alexa Bliss vs. Dakota Kai/Iyo Sky

Asuka knocks Kai outside and then off the apron for a bonus as we take an early break. Back with Bliss getting out of trouble and handing it back to Asuka to face Sky. They circle each other and trade kicks to the face, with Asuka getting the better of things. Bliss comes back in to knock the villains outside, setting up a big dive to the floor. A cheap shot cuts her off though and we take a second break.

We come back again with Asuka striking away at Sky for two as Aliyah, Doudrop and Nikki Ash are watching in the back. Sky gets over to the apron for a springboard missile dropkick, allowing Kai to come back in with a scorpion kick. Bliss makes the save and hits a double DDT but Kai breaks up some kind of stretch from Asuka.

Bliss makes the save and tries Twisted Bliss but only hits raised knees. Asuka tags herself in though and hits some spinning backfists to Kai. A blind tag brings Sky back in but Asuka doesn’t realize it, meaning Kai tapping to the Asuka Lock doesn’t matter. Instead, Sky comes in for the rollup pin at 18:34.

Rating: C+. There were some sloppy points here but the ending was a nice way to make Kai and Sky look rather smart. Asuka got distracted and was pinned clean, which works perfectly well to send the villains to the finals. It would be hard to fathom them not winning the belts, but stranger things have happened. Long match too, and that isn’t something you see from women’s tags very often.

Dolph Ziggler is ready to bounce back after his loss to Theory but Judgment Day interrupts. Finn Balor doesn’t think much of Ziggler attaching himself to another up and comer to stay relevant. Ziggler slaps him down and heads to the ring.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Finn Balor

Rhea Ripley is here with Balor. An early superkick attempt is blocked and Ziggler is sent into the corner, allowing Balor to talk trash. Ziggler gets whipped hard into the corner and we take an early break. Back with Ziggler getting an elbow up in the corner and hammering away with some right hands.

The Fameasser is countered into a sitout powerbomb for two but Ziggler is back with his DDT for the same. The second Fameasser attempt connects for two and they’re both down for a bit. It’s Balor up first with the shotgun dropkick but the Coup de Grace misses. The Zig Zag gets a very near fall and it’s time to slug it out. Ziggler’s headbutt knocks Balor silly but Ripley gets in a cheap shot. 1916 sets up the Coup de Grace to finish Ziggler at 12:57.

Rating: B-. Those near falls were good and the fans were WAY into this so they were doing a lot right. Ziggler is still a solid choice to have a match like this and put someone over, though I can’t help but roll my eyes when I see him set something up. Balor winning is nice to see though, even if I have no reason to believe the momentum is lasting.

Aliyah brags about being the bougie bada** but Bayley and company come in and mock her for showing up alone. Trish Stratus comes in to ask when Bayley is getting back in the ring. Bayley vs. Aliyah is set for tonight. Bayley and company leave, with Adam Pearce and some security looking at some photos and walking the other way.

Here is Alpha Academy to accept new students. The search is starting here in Toronto but all Chad Gable can find is a bunch of toothless hockey players at Tim Hortons. The Toronto Mapleleafs lost a hockey game to a team from Tampa Bay and they don’t even have hockey! So send me your best Toronto….and here we go.

Kevin Owens vs. Chad Gable

Gable gets knocked outside to start as the fans are WAY behind Owens. Back in and Gable’s headlock is broken up, allowing Owens to hit a hard clothesline. It’s too early for the Cannonball so Gable rolls outside. A t-bone suplex drops Owens again and two more drop him on the apron as we take a break.

Back with Owens hitting a Cannonball and dropping Gable onto his knee. Owens goes up, while favoring his own knee, and hits a frog splash for two. The Pop Up powerbomb and Stunner are both countered, with the latter being reversed into a bridging German suplex to give Gable two. Gable hits a top rope headbutt for two of his own so he takes Owens up top. That means the swinging superplex can give Owens a delayed two but the Swanton hits knees. Back up and a superkick sets up the Pop Up powerbomb to finish Gable at 11:07.

Rating: B. It’s really, really nice to see Owens back and thankfully he is the older, more hard hitting version. I liked this one a good bit, though I could have seen it end after that frog splash. They gave Gable a lot here and it should save him some credibility in the future, as beating him will mean a bit more if he can hang with Owens for this long.

Post match Otis jumps Owens and gets Stunned for his efforts. Then Owens powerbombs Gable onto Otis for a bonus.

Judgment Day mocks the Mysterios, with Finn Balor saying Dominik might be enjoying getting beaten up by Rhea and declaring Rey “6 1 Mine”. Damian Priest promises to send Edge back into retirement.

Bayley vs. Aliyah

Aliyah rolls her up for to and the Matrish sets up a hiptoss. A running crossbody in the corner hits Bayley and a hurricanrana brings her back out for one. Bayley grabs her by the ear and pulls her into a chinlock, only to be armdragged down. Aliyah gets sent into the corner for some shots to the head and the chinlock goes on again.

Back up and Bayley mocks Trish’s pose but what looks to be a Stratusfaction attempt is broken up. Aliyah slides to the floor and hits a sitout bulldog, which is about as she is getting to being Trish. Back in and the half crab keeps Bayley in trouble but she’s right back up. The Rose Plant finishes Aliyah at 6:32.

Rating: C. It’s great to have Bayley back, but Aliyah continues to drag down just about everything she does. There comes a point where it just isn’t working and I think we passed that point with her several years ago. The problem comes down to the fact that she just isn’t very good and shouldn’t be on Raw or Smackdown. Bayley being back is a good thing though and she is already the top heel in the Raw women’s division, where she should be for a long time to come.

Miz/Ciampa vs. AJ Styles/Bobby Lashley

Styles dropkicks the heck out of Ciampa to start and hands it off to Lashley. A double suplex is loaded up but Styles steps to the side, allowing Lashley to hit his own delayed vertical. Miz comes in and Lashley gets to wreck things again, including tossing both villains to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Styles in trouble and Ciampa putting on a chinlock. Styles fights out of trouble and hands it back to Lashley, meaning house can be properly cleaned. A DDT/Downward Spiral combination plants the villains but Ciampa rolls outside before the spear. Lashley posts Ciampa and clotheslines Miz, but the distraction lets Ciampa hit Willow’s Bell for two.

Lashley is back up with the spear so Miz has to make a save. Styles is knocked outside where security pulls someone (definitely NOT Dexter Lumis) away. Then on the other side of the ring, Lumis appears and pulls Miz over the barricade and through the crowd for the DQ at 13:52.

Rating: C+. The ending was an interesting way to go as I wasn’t sure how they were going to tie the Lumis stuff into the rest of the show. Lumis finally having an official target and getting point in a direction is a big step forward and if nothing else, Ciampa didn’t take another loss. He still needs to win something, but at least they have something actually happening with the story.

Post match Ciampa gets beaten up, including a Phenomenal Forearm and spear. Replays show Miz being taken away, including several closeups of Lumis and commentary mentioning him by name.

Video on Edge.

And now, here’s Johnny Gargano, complete with the still awesome REBEL HEART theme. The fans get in their JOHNNY WRESTLING chant and Gargano seems rather happy with his reception. Gargano gives us a brief history of his NXT success but he wasn’t even sure if he wanted to do this again over the last nine months. He has been a father to Baby Wrestling (Gargano: “He’ll appreciate that when he gets older.”) and now he remembers what he has always wanted to do. Gargano wants to win every championship and go to Wrestlemania and now it is time to continue with his dreams.

Cue Theory (who was kind of Gargano’s idiot son in NXT), with Gargano being pleased to see him. Fans: “WHO’S YOUR DADDY!” Theory asks what Gargano has been doing for the last nine months, which Gargano says includes changing a lot of diapers. Now though, Theory has the briefcase and has done everything Gargano wanted to do. He couldn’t do what he did without Gargano (who appreciates that) but now it’s like Theory is the veteran and Gargano is the rookie.

Theory thinks Gargano can even carry his bags. Or maybe just the briefcase. Theory: “Maybe I can show you The Way!” With that reference to their NXT group out of the way, Theory wants to do their old high five and tells Gargano to hit him with it. That earns Theory a superkick and Gargano does a self high five before leaving. Gargano got a major reaction and it seems like he is actually going to have a chance, which puts him way ahead of his nothing original run on the show.

The Women’s Tag Team Title match is next week, as is Kurt Angle.

Edge vs. Damian Priest

Edge is the hometown boy and in very Canadian tights to hammer the point home. Throw in his wife, Beth Phoenix, sitting in the front row and I think you get the idea. Priest powers him into the corner to start but Edge sends him outside. That means it’s time to slow things down and Edge gets in a few shots, only to be taken outside again. A powerbomb onto the barricade knocks Priest silly and we take a break.

Back with Priest missing something off the top and being sent outside again for a huge top rope dive. Priest is fine enough to Razor’s Edge Edge through the announcers’ table and we take a break. Back with Edge hitting a super hurricanrana (about three and a half minutes after Edge took the same move that put him out for a month earlier this year) but the spear is countered with a kick to the head.

An Unprettier gives Priest two (and allows Graves to make a bit of a veiled reference to Christian) and he’s annoyed at the kickout. Priest loads up a spear but charges into a South of Heaven chokeslam to give Edge two, with commentary saying they know each other so well from their time together in Judgment Day. As you remember that was about a month long, Edge gets kicked into the referee and Priest hits his own chokeslam.

It’s time for a chair, which Edge takes away and breaks off to set up the Crossface with the bar in Priest’s mouth. Since that means nothing, Edge loads up a spear, which is cut off with a bar to the head for two. Another Razor’s Edge is countered into a Canadian Destroyer (because of course) and Edge hits the spear for the pin at 19:34.

Rating: B+. It felt like a pay per view style match and the live crowd ate it up so this couldn’t have gone much better. I’m not completely sure if Edge should have won, but I’ll take it over the hometown star losing again, as was the WWE trademark for so long. Priest got something out of the loss just because he hung in there with Edge, though it could have been really interesting to see him get probably the biggest win of his career.

Post match Edge loads up a Conchairto but Rhea Ripley comes in with a low blow. Finn Balor adds the Coup de Grace and the chair is loaded up but Beth Phoenix takes it from Ripley. Phoenix holds the three off with the chair to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. I know I’ve said this a few times now, but what makes this show that much better is having a lack of anything awful while also keeping the shows energized. It feels more like there is a plan to some of these stories and that they are building to a goal instead of putting whatever out there and hoping it makes sense by the pay per view. I’m digging these shows and you are getting some awesome matches to go with the stories, so nicely done. This show has become a bit of a joy to watch in recent weeks and while I don’t know if that is going to last, it has been a great relief after so many years of drek.

Results
Iyo Sky/Dakota Kai b. Asuka/Alexa Bliss – Rollup to Asuka
Finn Balor b. Dolph Ziggler – Coup de Grace
Kevin Owens b. Chad Gable – Pop Up powerbomb
Bayley b. Aliyah – Rose Plant
Miz/Ciampa b. AJ Styles/Bobby Lashley via DQ when Dexter Lumis interfered
Edge b. Damian Priest – Spear

 

 

 

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Summerslam 2019
Date: August 11, 2019
Location: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 16,904
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

I know I say something like this every year but it never ceases to amaze me how little I can remember about a show from the previous year. I can remember midcard matches from thirty years ago but the main event of this show? It took me a little while to come up with it and that’s not good. How can these things be that unmemorable? Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Oney Lorcan vs. Drew Gulak

Gulak is defending and thank goodness there are fans in the building for the Kickoff Show. Drew hits a shotgun dropkick to start but Lorcan shoves him away. We hit the lockup and then go to the mat with Gulak gaining mat control. Back up and Gulak slams him hard into the corner and we take a break. We come back with Gulak riding him into a chinlock until Lorcan fights up again. Some uppercuts set up the running Blockbuster for two on Gulak.

They head outside with Gulak being sent into various things, only to come back with the Gulock back inside. Lorcan makes the rope so it’s a double clothesline to put them both down again. Back up and Gulak actually wins a slugout, setting up the Gulock. That’s flipped over into a cradle for two but the half and half is broken up. Lorcan does the Ultimate Warrior pose and pulls Gulak back in, which brings the ring skirt in with him. The distraction lets Gulak hit him in the throat, setting up the Cyclone Crash to retain the title at 8:49.

Rating: C. They beat the heck out of each other in some short bursts here and that is one of the better ways to open things up. Lorcan is always good for a spot like this and I dug Gulak’s singles run. It wasn’t an epic showdown or anything but it got the show off on a nice enough foot, which is the point of this division.

Kickoff Show: Buddy Murphy vs. Apollo Crews

This is during the time when Murphy could barely get on television and was still the Best Kept Secret. A quick knee gets two on Crews and Murphy stomps away in the corner. The chinlock doesn’t last long and they get up for an exchange of crossbodies. It’s Crews up first with a kick to the head and a jumping clothesline. The Angle Slam is escaped but Crews hits a Samoan drop into a standing moonsault for two.

Crews gets caught in the corner though and a running powerbomb gives Murphy his own two. Murphy hits another knee but Crews reverses Murphy’s Law into a cradle for another near fall. A backdrop sends Murphy to the floor, where he sends Crews into the steps. The big no hands flip dive drops Crews again….and here’s Erick Rowan to jump Murphy for the DQ (part of the Who Attacked Roman Reigns story) at 4:39.

Rating: C. It was an action packed match but they didn’t have much time before they got to the storyline ending. This is another case where it’s amazing how fast this stuff goes in one side of my head and out the other as I barely remember any of this aside from Murphy being taken out of the story so fast. I could have gone with more from these two, but it wasn’t going to matter with the big story going on.

Post match Rowan destroys Murphy even more, including a powerbomb against the post.

Here’s Elias for a song about Toronto. They think they are the center of the universe but they can’t win the Stanley Cup and no one goes to the Blue Jays game. Oh and the Toronto Raptors’ best player left town….and here’s Edge to interrupt. Edge gets the big hometown pop and then hits a very surprising spear, marking Edge’s first physical contact in over eight years. Then he never did anything physical again ever. Apparently he was medically cleared here but WWE was waiting on the big moment at the Rumble. Fair enough.

Kickoff Show: Women’s Tag Team Titles: Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. IIconics

Bliss and Cross are defending after winning the titles earlier in the week on Raw. Bliss has the Buzz Lightyear gear on and that’s a rather good choice. Kay on the other hand is Maleficent, sending Graves into a rant about how this isn’t Disney. Graves talks about the IIconics being locked in a hotel and laying in bed together for 24 hours to meld their energies but since Jerry Lawler isn’t on commentary, no one bites. Kay and Bliss trade headlocks to start until Bliss threatens her with the laser on her arm. That sends Graves through the roof again, to the point where he threatens to turn in his Bliss fan card.

It’s off to Cross as the Toy Story references come in fast. Peyton rolls Cross up for two but a blind tag lets Kay come back in to get in a cheap shot. A double kick to the back keeps Cross down and we hit the chinlock. Kay gets two off a gutwrench suplex but Cross faceplants Peyton and the hot tag brings in Bliss to clean house. Corey: “I was expecting Moana to come save the day.” Everything breaks down and Peyton hits something like a Widow’s Peak for two on Bliss. The kickout sends her into hysterics so Bliss punches Peyton down and nails Twisted Bliss to retain at 6:11.

Rating: D+. These titles continue to mean a grand total of nothing and are little more than a way to get the IIconics out there to annoy the fans while Bliss works on her cosplay skills. There isn’t enough of a division to hold them up at the moment and it becomes more and more obvious every time they’re defended. As in probably every month and a half or so.

The opening video talks about how we have arrived. You don’t get chances like these very often, so when you do, seize the moment. Tonight, we are Summerslam.

We recap Becky Lynch vs. Natalya in a submission match for the Raw Women’s Title. Natalya won a four way to get the title shot in her home country, because WWE still thinks that Natalya makes for an interesting challenger.

Raw Women’s Title: Becky Lynch vs. Natalya

Natalya is challenging in a submission match. The fans certainly seem to like both of them, though that might be due to Natalya coming out carrying a Canadian flag. They stare each other down and trade slaps to start so Becky drives her into the corner. That earns her a discus lariat but Becky is right back up to slug away again. The Bexploder sends Natalya down but the cross armbreaker is blocked. Becky grabs a triangle instead so Natalya tries a powerbomb.

That doesn’t break it up so Natalya lifts her up, only to get hurricanranaed down. Becky cranks on the legs near the apron and they fall to the floor with Natalya sending her into the barricade. Back in and Natalya suplexes her into the ropes to bang up the knee. The fans are behind Becky as she fires off knees but Natalya wraps the knee across the rope. The Sharpshooter goes on in the corner, which doesn’t seem like it would be as effective since there is almost no torque on Becky’s back and therefore the knees.

That’s broken up in a hurry and they fall outside with Natalya being sent into the announcers’ table. Now it’s a LET’S GO BECKY/NATTIE SUCKS chant as Natalya hits a superplex back inside for a double knockdown. It’s Natalya up first but the basement dropkick is countered into Becky’s version of the Sharpshooter. Natalya crawls over to the corner and rolls Becky into it for the escape and they’re both down.

Becky misses a kick out of the corner though and Natalya grabs the Disarm-Her for a change. That’s reverses and Becky tries the Sharpshooter but Natalya reverses into one of her own in the middle of the ring. Becky crawls to the rope for the break and this time pulls Natalya into the Disarm-Her to retain at 12:24.

Rating: B-. It was a good back and forth match but more importantly, now we can stop acting like Natalya is anything more than a good hand who gets the occasional title shot. Even her home country fans weren’t caring about her because they see what she is: talented in the ring but boring everywhere else. She’s been around forever and seeing her in these spots over and over again just makes me groan most of the time. I can’t believe I’m alone in that sentiment either. Also, like Becky was losing to anyone just four months after Wrestlemania. Well except to Charlotte of course.

Trish Stratus is ready to show Charlotte that legends are better than modern wrestlers because Charlotte couldn’t walk a mile in her boots.

We recap Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler. Dolph had been set up for a match against Miz but insulted Shawn Michaels and Goldberg on the way there. This set up a match against a legend instead, with Ziggler expecting Michaels but getting Goldberg. Just keep it short.

Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler

Before the match, Ziggler says he’s the best thing that could happen to this show because he gets rid of legends. Goldberg might not even be here tonight….and there’s the music. We get the full entrance and the pyro is rather strong as usual. The bell rings and they stare each other down, with Ziggler hitting a superkick for an early one. Another superkick gets another one but Goldberg hits a heck of a spear. The Jackhammer finishes Ziggler at 1:46. That’s how it should have been and Ziggler sold that spear as well as anyone in a good while.

We recap AJ Styles vs. Ricochet for the US Title. Ricochet didn’t think much of AJ treating him like an afterthought and then beat AJ to retain the title. Then Styles beat him up and took the title in their second title match with some help from Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows. Now it’s the trilogy match.

US Title: AJ Styles vs. Ricochet

Styles is defending and has Gallows and Anderson in his corner. Ricochet is in the full body suit here, which is always a weird visual. AJ goes right for him to start but gets knocked outside, with Ricochet using Anderson and Gallows as stepping stones to grab a hurricanrana on Styles. Back in and AJ stomps him down in the corner before switching to the leg in a smart move. Some elbows to the knee have Ricochet down and the knee is bent around the middle rope.

Ricochet manages to get in a kick to the face and another one to the head out of the corner. A one legged springboard clothesline (nice touch) gets two on AJ and a jumping neckbreaker into the running shooting star is good for the same. AJ is smart enough to kick the knee out again and Ricochet is sent outside. The fans are split but the dueling chants are cut off by AJ hitting a baseball slide.

Back in and AJ’s fireman’s carry backbreaker gets two more but Ricochet hits another kick to the head for another two. They’re both down with Ricochet slapping the leg, which would seem to hurt it even more but it’s wrestling logic. Since AJ knows his logic as well, we hit the Calf Crusher but Ricochet slams AJ’s head into the mat and slaps on an Anaconda Vice of all things.

With that broken up, Ricochet muscles him up with a suplex for two more and can’t believe AJ kicks out. How deadly does he think his suplex is? Ricochet takes out a distracting Gallows but the delay lets AJ crotch him on top. AJ gets knocked back though and Ricochet tries something like a Whisper in the Wind, only to have AJ pull him out of the air and into the Styles Clash to retain at 12:54. That looked awesome.

Rating: B. These two work well together and that’s all you need in this situation. Let them go out there and do their thing, with Ricochet looking great and AJ getting to show why he’s as great as everyone thinks he is. This was pretty much it for Ricochet as a singles challenger though, which has been the case ever since. I’m not sure what more you could want from Ricochet (just don’t let him talk) but hey, it’s not like WWE needs new stars with insane athletic ability, experience and charisma right?

Post match Anderson and Gallows give Ricochet the Magic Killer.

Smackdown Women’s Title: Bayley vs. Ember Moon

Moon is challenging and it’s almost weird to see old school Bayley these days. Bayley armdrags her down to start so an annoyed Moon sweeps the leg. A headlock doesn’t work for Bayley as Ember sends her into the corner for the front flip clothesline. Moon splashes her for two and it’s off to a bow and arrow. Back up and Moon misses a crossbody, allowing Bayley to hit the sliding lariat.

Bayley hangs her over the top and grabs a suplex for two more, setting up the stomping in the corner. The fans sing to Bayley, who pulls her shoulder first into the rope. Moon gets tied in the Tree of Woe for the springboard elbow and we hit the inverted Boston crab. That’s broken up and Moon nips up for a headscissors (nice) to send Bayley outside.

Back in and a super hurricanrana sets up a twisting Dominator into some knees to the face (nice as well) for the next near fall. Bayley gets in a kick to the face and goes up, but Moon pulls her into a spinning powerbomb (Moon has a lot of nice stuff). Moon goes up top but Bayley is right there to pull her down with a super Bayley to Belly for the pin at 10:03.

Rating: B-. This is a weird one as Moon had some sweet stuff in there but just got pinned almost out of nowhere in the end. I know a lot of people don’t like the new Bayley and I get that, but watching her back, you can see how much she has grown with the heel turn and the new character. At this point, she was just kind of a person with a reputation and not much else. Good enough match, but Moon wouldn’t be around much longer due to her ankle injury and Bayley would turn heel in less than a month so none of this meant anything long term.

We recap Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens. Shane went on a power/ego trip that the Attitude Era would think was a bit much and Owens was sick of him. This somehow meant EVEN MORE SHANE, who probably should have been #1 contender to the Smackdown World Title at this point. Anyway, Owens is gone if Shane wins and that is a rather popular idea.

Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens

The fans chant for Owens, but hang on though as Shane heads outside and says he has a guest outside referee: his personal goon Elias. Shane drops to the floor to start and Owens yells at Elias, with Shane sliding back in to try for the countout. That doesn’t work so the chase is on until Elias trips Owens. Back in and Owens hammers away in the corner, setting up the Cannonball.

A clothesline sends Shane outside for the third time but another Elias distraction lets Shane send Owens into the barricade. Back in and the Russian legsweep gets two on Owens and we hit the YOU CAN’T WRESTLE chants. A DDT gets two more and let’s hit that Hart reference with the Sharpshooter attempt. That’s broken up and Owens hit the Pop Up sitout powerbomb but Elias grabs the referee.

Owens picks up a chair and Shane offers a free shot but Owens goes with a superkick instead. There’s the Swanton into a frog splash for two, with Elias pulling the referee out again. The Owens cannonball hits both referees and that means he can grab the chair. Elias breaks that up so Owens chairs him over and over, leaving Owens to go after Shane again. The referee gets up and takes the chair away, so it’s a low blow into the Stunner to finish Shane at 9:19.

Rating: D+. Yeah what else were you expecting here? That being said, it was probably an easier sit this time around without having to watch all of the build to get to this match. Shane was a nightmare around this time and thankfully would be gone on the first Smackdown on Fox. At least Owens won here as someone had to finally beat Shane, who was completely ridiculous for the better part of a year at this point.

We recap Roman Reigns being attacked by a mystery man. Samoa Joe was accused of being the attacker but Buddy Murphy said it was Erick Rowan. Therefore, we flash back to the Kickoff Show with Rowan attacking Murphy.

Charlotte vs. Trish Stratus

Charlotte is the best of today and Trish may be the best ever, dream match ensues. They stare each other down (or up in Trish’s case) before going to the lockup against the ropes. The fans sing O Canada as it’s a standoff until Trish hits a quick Thesz non-press. Charlotte is right back with a Figure Four attempt but Trish flips her away with the headscissors. That lets Trish pose and soak in the YOU STILL GOT IT chants, followed by more circling.

This time it’s Charlotte being sent outside and Trish hits a Thesz press into the right hands off the apron. The posing is on but Charlotte isn’t ready to head back inside just yet. Instead she sends Trish hard into the barricade as they’re setting things up well so far. Back in and Trish is slammed face first into the mat a few times, setting up the double arm crank with a knee between the shoulders.

Charlotte nips up and mocks Trish’s point before bending the neck around the middle rope. Trish reverses a belly to back suplex into a crossbody for two, earning herself a knee to the neck. Some trash talk in the corner bring Trish back up so she double legs Charlotte for some right hands. That just earns her a big boot to the floor as Trish can’t get anything going here. Back in and Charlotte stomps her down but, say it with me, the moonsault misses.

Trish gets in a slap and starts the chops, including a WOO for a bonus. The Stratusphere is blocked but Trish pulls herself up and starts slapping away, setting up a super hurricanrana for two with the fans getting right back into things. The Chick Kick misses as well and Charlotte boots her in the face for her own two. It’s back to the leg but the Figure Four is countered into a small package to give Trish two more.

Trish gets her own Figure Four into the Figure Eight (Corey: “THIS IS NOT FAIR TO FLAIR!” You knew he was getting that in somewhere) but Charlotte escapes again. Charlotte’s spear only hits buckle and the Stratusfaction connects for two more. They go head to head from their knees and slug it out until the Chick Kick gives Trish the next near fall. Another Chick Kick is countered with the big boot and the Figure Eight makes Trish tap at 16:37.

Rating: B+. Match of the night by a long stretch and the storytelling was working hard here. Charlotte being overconfident made sense as she never believes anyone is in her league and it’s not like Trish surviving here and getting back into things is a stretch. I had more fun with this the second time around and it’s a heck of a match with Trish showing she could easily hang at this level. Her generation gets a lot of (often deserved) flack but she was that good and deserves all kinds of praise for being an actual trailblazer.

Post match Charlotte leaves and Trish gets the big hero’s moment with the posing.

Bret Hart wishes Seth Rollins luck.

We recap Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton. They brought up the infamous Madison Square Garden moment, which Orton claims for driving Kofi to where he is now. However, that wasn’t enough to make him better than Orton and now Orton wants the title. He even takes credit for the Wrestlemania moment and now Kofi is ready to prove that he got himself here.

Smackdown World Title: Kofi Kingston vs. Randy Orton

Kofi is defending on his own and his kids are in the front row (cue your Scooby Roo ruh roh sound effect). Orton taunts him with a pancake to start so a fired up Kofi drives him into the corner to start. That gives us dueling KOFI’S STUPID/RANDY SUCKS chants and Kofi runs the corner for a spinning shot to the head to….oddly quiet the fans down. Weird Canadians. Kofi hammers away in the corner until a poke to the eye cuts him off again. A big shove sends Kofi off the top and down into the barricade for your first big crash.

Orton drops him onto the announcers’ table and the dueling chants are back. Back in and Orton bends Kofi’s back around the middle rope, followed by an uppercut to the floor. Kofi jumps over the steps though and hits a shot to the head. The crossbody off the apron misses though and Orton drops him onto the announcers’ table again. Back in again and Orton seems to approve of the dueling chants. The superplex is broken up though and Kofi hits a top rope DDT for two.

The chops have Orton rocked but he comes back with the backbreaker for two more. Kofi backdrops his way out of the hanging DDT though and mostly nails the Trust Fall. Back in and Orton catches him on the apron with the hanging DDT. The RKO is countered though and Kofi goes up, only to dive right into the RKO. For some reason Orton doesn’t cover though and Kofi rolls outside. Orton follows and yells at Kofi’s kids, which sends Kofi into a frenzy for….I guess a very fast double countout at 16:28.

Rating: C+. They were working well together and Kofi was starting to make Orton sweat at the end, but then they did the ending that was designed to do nothing more than set up a rematch at Clash Of Champions. That’s such a big problem with WWE today. Outside of Wrestlemania, everything is built around the idea of setting up a match at whatever show, leaving this show to feel unimportant. You’re already at Summerslam. How much of a bigger stage can you have for the rematch?

Post match the fans call BULLS*** and don’t seem interested as Kofi unloads with a kendo stick. Trouble In Paradise gets even less of a reaction.

We recap the Fiend vs. Finn Balor. Bray Wyatt had returned just after Wrestlemania with the Firefly Fun House, where he eventually started hinting at some kind of monster called the Fiend. Finn Balor became his first target and Balor said bring it on. The Fiend has attacked a few times before but this is his in-ring debut.

Finn Balor vs. The Fiend

Balor is all in white for the hero’s entrance but Fiend blows him away, with the debut of the severed head lantern and the upgraded theme music. Balor looks rightfully terrified and we’re ready to go. They even have the full lights on instead of going red for a nice relief. Fiend headbutts him down to start and wildly stomps away as the YOWIE WOWIE chants start up.

Balor manages a whip into the corner but Fiend leans back to scare him off. A clothesline to the back of the head sets up a release Rock Bottom and Fiend glares at him a lot. Sister Abigail is countered and Balor hits a Sling Blade into the jumping double stomp to the chest. The shotgun dropkick sets up the Coup de Grace but Fiend moves and grabs the mandible claw for the pin at 3:30.

Rating: C-. This is a hard one to grade as the match itself was far from the point. They were going with the idea of introducing the Fiend and making him out to be the new scary monster. That was accomplished in spades as Balor was completely destroyed and wound up heading back to NXT. Good stuff here, even if the match was barely anything to see.

Post match the lights go out again and Fiend appears on the stage. Balor’s eyes bug out as he isn’t sure what happened to him.

We recap Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar. Seth beat him for the Universal Title at Wrestlemania but Brock cashed in Money in the Bank at Extreme Rules. Therefore, a now injured Seth, has to do it all over again. So yes, that’s really their best idea for the main event of Summerslam: just do Wrestlemania again.

Raw World Title: Brock Lesnar vs. Seth Rollins

Rollins is challenging and has injured ribs. After the Big Match Intros, Brock hits him in the ribs and drives shoulders in the corner. More shoulders have Paul Heyman rather pleased but Rollins flips out of a German suplex and hits a quick Stomp for two. The fans are properly woken up now and Brock bails to the floor, with Rollins hitting a running knee off the apron.

Back in and a pair of superkicks look to set up the Stomp but Rollins counters into the F5. Lesnar can’t follow up so he throws Rollins around by the rib tape. It’s time for the German suplexes to send Rollins outside, with Lesnar adding another suplex on the floor. Rollins slips out of an F5 though and posts Lesnar a few times, setting up the springboard knee to the head.

Lesnar is right back up with another German suplex though and they’re both down again. The dueling chants start again and Brock takes off the gloves. We hit the waistlock to stay on the ribs for a bit until Brock’s charge hits the post. Seth hits two suicide dives but the third one is countered with a hard ram into the post for another double knockdown.

The announcers’ table is loaded up but Seth superkicks Brock onto it instead, setting up the super frog splash from the top of the post. Another frog splash connects back inside and the Stomp gets two. The next Stomp is countered into a failed F5 attempt so Rollins superkicks him into another Stomp for the pin and the title at 13:21.

Rating: B. And then Lesnar went away forever, never to go after the World Title again. Or he won it again in about two and a half months because that’s what always happens. Anyway, this was another solid match between the two of them and it was a lot more engaging because it actually got some time. Lesnar’s spamming finishers matches get old in a hurry because he does them so often. Mix it up a bit with something like this between some talented people and it makes that big of a difference. It doesn’t have the impact because we saw it four months earlier, but at least it was good.

The celebration ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This is a pretty strong show with nothing terribly bad (Shane’s match is the weakest and even that involves seeing him get beaten up) and some solid performances in the big matches. It’s also a pretty short show with the main card clocking in at less than three and a half hours. They didn’t stretch this out further than they needed to and it felt like a big show. Good stuff here and worth a look if you have the time.

Ratings Comparison

Drew Gulak vs. Oney Lorcan

Original: C+

Redo: C

Apollo Crews vs. Buddy Murphy

Original: C-

Redo: C

IIconics vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Becky Lynch vs. Natalya

Original: B

Redo: B-

Goldberg vs. Dolph Ziggler

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

AJ Styles vs. Ricochet

Original: B

Redo: B

Ember Moon vs. Bayley

Original: D+

Redo: B-

Kevin Owens vs. Shane McMahon

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Trish Stratus vs. Charlotte

Original: B

Redo: B+

Randy Orton vs. Kofi Kingston

Original: B-

Redo: C+

The Fiend vs. Finn Balor

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Seth Rollins vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: B-

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: B

Oh come on it was better than that.

Here is the original review if you’re interested:

https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/08/11/summerslam-2019-the-summertime-purples/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Summerslam 2002
Date: August 25, 2002
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial, Uniondale, New York
Attendance: 14,797
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Jim Ross

Not much of an opening video other than the theme song over shots of the crowd.

Opening sequence.

Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

Ric Flair vs. Chris Jericho

Ad for a Hogan DVD.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge

The Un-Americans are ready to give the greedy Americans more. More of the Un-Americans that is.

Tag Team Titles: Goldust/Booker T. vs. Un-Americans

Christian gets two on a backbreaker, which JR says works on the back. Something like a Boss Man Slam gets Goldust out of trouble but Christian grabs a front facelock. As you might expect, that means a missed tag so Goldust has to catapult the champions into each other.

Rating: C. The match was fine but the ending brought it down a good bit with the standard WWE style finish hurting things a lot. At least we had a good match to get there and the Un-Americans are still fine for heel champions. The Test stuff gets annoying but you had to know it was coming as soon as the ref went down.

Intercontinental Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Benoit

This is Raw vs. Smackdown and Benoit is defending. A kick to the leg sends Benoit outside but he comes back in and easily takes Van Dam down until Rob starts spinning around to escape. The release German suplex drops him again though and Benoit starts in on the neck to set up for the Crossface later on.

Video on the Un-Americans to set up Test vs. Undertaker.

Undertaker vs. Test

Undertaker goes into the crowd and grabs an American flag for some posing.

HHH vs. Shawn Michaels

We recap Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock. Lesnar won the King of the Ring tournament to earn this show and Rock won the title at Vengeance. Brock has run through the company but this is by far his biggest test to date.

Undisputed Title: Brock Lesnar vs. The Rock

Lesnar is challenging and has Paul Heyman in his corner. The fans are ALL OVER Rock as he charges right into a belly to belly, further banging up his already injured ribs. Some backbreakers have the fans cheering for Rock though and Brock takes him outside for a beating in the crowd.

Ratings Comparison

Kurt Angle vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: A+

2013 Redo: A-

2017 Redo: A-

Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair

Original: B

2013 Redo: C

2017 Redo: C+

Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge

Original: C+

2013 Redo: B-

2017 Redo: B-

Un-Americans vs. Booker T/Goldust

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D+

2017 Redo: C

Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Benoit

Original: B

2013 Redo: B

2017 Redo: B

Undertaker vs. Test

Original: D

2013 Redo: D

2017 Redo: D

Shawn Michaels vs. HHH

Original: A+

2013 Redo: A+

2017 Redo: A+

The Rock vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: C+

2013 Redo: B-

2017 Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: A+

2013 Redo: A+

2017 Redo: A

Still a masterpiece.

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

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/05/history-of-summerslam-count-up-summerslam-2002-best-summerslam-ever/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/08/07/summerslam-count-up-2002-the-performance-of-a-lifetime/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 10, 2007
Location: Arena At Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s time for a special show this week as it is the fifteenth anniversary celebration of the show. That means not only do we have a bunch of guest stars, but it is an extra large three hour edition. Throw in that it is also the go home show for Armageddon and this is going to be a busy night. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a mash up of Raw intros over the years, though oddly enough they aren’t in chronological order.

Here are the McMahons (minus Linda of course) for a chat. Vince is ready for the McMahon Family Portrait but first, he needs to brag about how great Raw has been over the years. Tonight it is time for a family reunion, though minus Linda McMahon who has some stomach issue. Instead, he has Shane and Stephanie out here and wants the photographer but gets Hornswoggle. That means Hornswoggle grabs the leg, so Shane has to pull him off. Vince says he loves Shane, Stephanie, and the fans.

It’s time for the picture, but here is HHH to interrupt. Vince: “What are you doing here?” HHH: “I’m waiting on that pop to die down.” HHH says he’s here for the family portrait because everyone knows what is going on here. It’s like he could be Vince’s son! HHH: “Sup Steph?” Anyway, HHH wants to bring out some of the Divas, past and present, that Vince has loved before. This includes Melina, Sunny and….Mae Young! Vince: “It was at Moolah’s funeral I had a lot to drink. Steph…..and I was thinking of your mom!”

HHH calls out any WWE employee who has been mistaken for a woman and that Vince has attempted to love, drawing out the Fink, Big Dick Johnson, Bastion Booger, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco and Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz. HHH: “I guess the Brooklyn Brawler was busy tonight.” Stephanie says she’s embarrassed by Vince so it’s time that she embarrassed him. She kisses HHH for the first time in a good many years and leaves. HHH: “I’ll see you at home. Uh, I mean your brother’s a gnome!”

Vince to HHH: “I HATE YOU!” HHH tells Vince to just go away but realizes that Hornswoggle is sad. All he wanted was to be happy, so HHH brings out the Godfather, complete with women. JR: “Even Patterson is happy!” Hornswoggle’s mind is blown and dancing ensues to wrap up a hilarious segment, with HHH getting to do the humor that suits him best.

Intercontinental Title: Jeff Hardy vs. Carlito

Hardy is defending in a ladder match. Carlito kicks him down and sets up the ladder way too early, only to have to stop for a clothesline. Hardy gets in a shot of his own but a slingshot dive only hits ladder. A dropkick knocks Carlito off the apron and into a ladder bridged against the barricade so Hardy goes up. That means Carlito has to springboard in to land on the ladder (Shelton Benjamin style), setting up a sunset bomb to leave them both laying.

We take a break and come back with Jeff missing a legdrop over the ladder to send him crashing down. Carlito crushes the leg in the ladder and then drops a ladder onto it to make Hardy scream even more. Hardy can barely move so Carlito….puts the ladder in the corner instead of climbing, earning himself a backdrop onto said ladder. The Swanton connects but a Backstabber sends Hardy into the ladder. Carlito goes up but this time Hardy shoves him down and retains the title.

Rating: C+. They weren’t going for anything groundbreaking here but Jeff can do this match in his sleep (and probably came close to it at various points). Carlito was just a challenger of the week as Jeff is on his way up, as he isn’t going to be losing less than a week before his pay per view showdown with HHH. They had some big spots here, but it’s just a quick ladder match with as much drama as that can bring.

Shawn Michaels can’t believe it has been fifteen years of Monday Night Raw. He was on the first show and defended the Intercontinental Title against….someone (Max Moon). While Shawn can’t remember fifteen years ago, he can remember Mr. Kennedy bringing in an impostor Marty Jannetty. That’s why he brought in the real one this week to face Kennedy, because he faces MR. HBK……HBK…..this weekend.

We take a look at some classic OMG Raw moments. I know these things are done over and over but there really have been some great ones on this show over the years.

Here are Santino Marella and Maria, with the former being tired of all this….and here’s a surprise.

Santino Marella vs. Rob Van Dam

Kick to the head and the Five Star finish in less than forty five seconds. Very nice cameo as Van Dam is always going to pop the crowd.

Long video on Evolution, which really was a special stable in a lot of ways.

Here are all four members of Evolution (or “original” members according to the introduction, even though there were only ever four of them) for a reunion. Randy Orton comes out last but says he’s going to stay on the stage instead of having the rest of the teams ride his coattails. Orton remembers what happened when HHH turned on him the last time he was champion. HHH: “Yeah that was pretty cool.”

They beat him up because hes was annoying, but Orton would rather be remembered as part of Rated-RKO with Edge, who comes out as well. Edge says he’ll take the World Title from Batista on Sunday, but Ric Flair says find a partner and let’s fight. Orton has already done that so we’re ready to go.

Evolution vs. Umaga/Rated-RKO

Joined in progress with Batista handing it off to Flair to lock up with Edge. As Lawler clarifies that the “Flair retires if he loses” only applies to singles matches, Umaga takes Flair down and grabs a nerve hold. Orton comes in to stomp away and the knee drop gets two. A backdrop gets Flair out of trouble and it’s Batista coming in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Umaga cleans house….but also shoves the referee for the DQ.

Rating: C. This was all about the reunion and I get why they didn’t have one of the #1 contenders lose. That being said, Umaga has lost to HHH on his own how many times now but can’t take a fall to most of Evolution? As has been the case with everything on this show, this is about the moment instead of the match and that’s not a bad thing.

Post match Orton and Edge leave Umaga on his own, meaning it’s big beatdown. Couldn’t they have just done that for the finish to the match?

More classic Raw moments, this time involving vehicles.

Hornswoggle annoys Mickie James and Molly Holly until William Regal breaks that up. Regal talks about Vince McMahon’s tough love, which tonight will be shown in a match against the Great Khali. Oh and as luck would have it: Finlay’s plane ticket from Ireland was canceled so Hornswoggle is on his own.

Hornswoggle vs. Great Khali

The bell rings….and it’s Hulk Hogan (in black) for the save. We get the big staredown and Hogan hammers away, eventually knocking Khali down. That’s enough for Khali to bail as we get a tease for one more Hogan match. Hogan thanks the fans, talks about American Gladiators, does a Randy Savage OH YEAH (ok then), and poses with Hornswoggle for the funny moment.

Here are some classic D-Generation X moments.

Another classic moment: the debut of Mr. Socko, which has to be up there on the “how did they get this stupid thing over”, with the answer being “because Mick Foley is really awesome”. Vince throwing him out and sealing his own fate because he has no protection from Steve Austin a few minutes later makes it all the better.

Legends Battle Royal

Al Snow, Bart Gunn, Doink The Clown, Repo Man, Steve Blackman, Pete Gas, Bob Backlund, Gangrel, The Goon, Skinner, Flash Funk, IRS, Scotty 2 Hotty, Sgt. Slaughter, Jim Neidhart, Gillberg

For some reason there are sixteen people in a fifteen man battle royal but oh well. Gillberg gets the big entrance, but the impressive one here is Blackman, who looks better than he did in his career. Everyone gets together and tosses Gillberg before Backlund is knocked out as well. Snow knocks Doink out with Head and then does the same thing to Gangrel. Head Cheese explodes for a bit but Funk kicks Snow out.

A bunch of people go out in a hurry and suddenly we’re down to IRS, Slaughter, Scotty and Skinner. IRS grabs his briefcase but Scotty knocks it into his face, setting up the Worm. Skinner dumps Scotty but gets caught in the Cobra Clutch. That’s broken up as Slaughter tosses Skinner, only to get dumped by IRS for the win.

Rating: C. This was more or less the poor man’s version of the Gimmick Battle Royal and that is not a bad thing. Again, this was all about the wrestlers having one more moment and the winner wasn’t important in the slightest. Just let the fans have some fun with the “oh I remember him” moments.

Hold on though because here is Ted DiBiase….who pays off IRS to eliminate himself and give DiBiase the win. That’s always great.

People have been slapped over the years.

Here is Eric Bischoff to talk about how things keep changing but always stay the same. At the end of the day, he is here to take your money and people like the McMahons need him to reinvent the business. So now give him a round of applause! Or have Chris Jericho interrupt, and Bischoff knows this isn’t good.

Bischoff: “Didn’t I fire you in this ring a couple of years ago?” Jericho remembers being fired but he thanks Bischoff for reigniting a fire in him. That’s why he’ll be the new WWE Champion on Sunday, which has Bischoff laughing. Jericho laughs at Bischoff for being fat and going bald but Bischoff suggests Jericho just forfeit the match to Orton right now. After some rhyming, Jericho knocks him down and takes out Randy Orton for trying to interfere. This felt like the “oh yeah we should do something about that match” segment.

Tag Team Titles: Cody Rhodes/Hardcore Holly vs. Lance Cade/Trevor Murdoch

Rhodes and Holly are challenging and Dusty Rhodes is on commentary in case you needed a hint about the result. Dusty is very excited (believe it or not) as Cody starts with Murdoch, who slams him down for an elbow drop. Cade misses an elbow of his own though and the hot tag brings in Holly to clean house. The dropkick hits Murdoch and Cade hits him by mistake to make it worse. The Alabama Slam gives Holly the pin and the titles. Nothing wrong with a title change to make a show like this feel special, especially with Dusty there too.

Celebrities have been on Raw over the years.

Video on the Divas over the years, which has been up and down to put it mildly.

Here is Jillian Hall, who has a Christmas album out. She starts singing the 12 Days Of Christmas but Trish Stratus interrupts. Trish doesn’t like Jillian’s singing but Jillian doesn’t like Trish’s ego. Cue Lita for the staredown with Trish but they team up in hatred of music. Those two deserve a quick moment on this kind of a show and this was good.

Also on Raw over the years: comedy hijinks! Oftentimes minus the comedy, but Edge and Christian on the kazoos continue to reek of awesomeness. Thankfully Mick Foley getting the Rock with an IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT YOU THINK and taking a lap around the ring is still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.

And now, weddings! They are quite the tradition and they still work, at least most of the time.

Lita watches the wedding video when Kane comes up to her. Awkwardness ensues, with Kane asking if she’s seen any good movies lately and Lita asking about the weather. Ron Simmons gets his cameo.

Armageddon rundown.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Marty Jannetty

Marty goes after the arm to start but Kennedy kicks the knee out and grabs a half crab. Back up and an enziguri gets Marty out of trouble, allowing him to hammer away for two. The right hands in the corner are countered with Kennedy’s atomic drop but Marty is back with the Rocker Dropper. Kennedy breaks up the top rope fist drop though and the Mic Drop gives him the pin.

Rating: C-. Just a quick match here that ties into something that happened last week. Marty wasn’t bad, but what are you supposed to get out of a four minute match that didn’t have a ton of drama? Not an awful match or anything close to it, but Marty felt like a relic from the past instead of a threat.

Post match Kennedy stays on Marty but Shawn Michaels runs in Kennedy gets on him too, drawing out HHH for the save and (another) DX reunion.

Here is Vince McMahon to name the Greatest Superstar In Raw History. There are maybe three realistic options for that pick, but Vince announces……HIMSELF as the winner. Cue Mankind for the Mandible Claw to leave Vince laying for a nice reaction. Then the lights go out and a gong strikes, meaning it’s the Undertaker (coming to the ring…..slowly…..methodically…..at his own pace) for a chokeslam. As you might imagine, with Vince down and mostly done, the glass shatters and here’s Steve Austin, who still seems rather popular.

Austin thinks fifteen years of Raw is impressive and deserves a toast so he’ll drink to that. Vince needs to get up, but Austin lays down next to him for the toast, only to realize that this isn’t going to work. Austin gets him up and Vince tries to drink, only to get cut off by the Stunner.

With Vince done, Austin says the card Vince had didn’t matter, because the greatest star in the history of Raw is the fans. It doesn’t matter if you’re at home watching on TV or in this arena in the cheap seats or front row, you’re the reason this show has worked for so long. Austin calls out the locker room for a beer bash (William Regal and CM Punk seem to have something else in hand) and one more punch to Vince wraps us up, as only it could.

Overall Rating: A. This is a great example of a show that was not about the wrestling whatsoever and that is not a bad thing. This show was all about nostalgia, with Armageddon being something that was kind of in the background. I had a blast with the nostalgia between the clips and the appearances, and the big ending at the end was great. WWE knows how to do reunion shows well and this is one of the better ones they’ve ever done.

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

 

Summerslam 2000
Date: August 27, 2000
Location: Raleigh Entertainment and Sports Arena, Raleigh, North Carolina
Attendance: 18,124
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

JR brags about the gate, which is WEIRD to hear on a WWF show.

Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi

Rating: C. Basic six man tag here to get the crowd going. A fast paced act like Too Cool and Rikishi is always a great choice to start up a show as the crowd gets fired up for the entrance and hopefully stays hot for the rest of the show. The RTC was a fine choice for a heel stable as they took away what the fans wanted to see and the people were glad to see them get beaten up.

We see Angle arriving earlier tonight with Stephanie arriving a few minutes later. Later on Kurt went into her locker room with a smile on his face. Angle kissed Stephanie on Smackdown after Stephanie was hurt in a match.

X-Pac vs. Road Dogg

These are the last members of DX but Pac accidentally knocked Dogg through a table on Raw so Dogg walked out on Pac on Smackdown, leaving him alone against Undertaker. X-Pac easily takes him down and slaps Dogg in the back of the head because he can. The fans are all over X-Pac as he is sent to the floor via a shoulder block. Back in and Dogg blocks a spinwheel kick and clotheslines Pac down for no cover. Another kick sends Dogg into the corner but he rolls away from a Bronco Buster attempt.

Eddie sucks up to Chyna (basically in a bikini here) but she says one of them is getting lucky tonight.

Intercontinental Title: Trish Stratus/Val Venis vs. Eddie Guerrero/Chyna

Val drops him face first onto the buckle and puts Eddie down with a Blue Thunder Bomb. They headbutt each other to put both guys down but Trish tags herself in and gets two on Eddie. Jerry tries to give the blonde pointers but Eddie easily takes Trish down. Off to Chyna and the mauling is on, but Val breaks up the handspring elbow attempt. Chyna avoids a double team and Eddie pulls Val to the floor, allowing Chyna to gorilla press Trish for the pin and the title.

Rating: D+. The match was nothing but the girls looked good enough to carry it. This would be another part of a long storyline as Eddie would cost Chyna the title in about two weeks, accidentally stealing it for himself. Val would split with Trish after this and join up with the Right to Censor for the next few months. Not much to see here other than Trish in the shorts.

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler

Hardcore Title: Shane McMahon vs. Steve Blackman

Shane took the title from Blackman with the help of a small army on Monday. Steve brings in a kendo stick so Shane runs to the apron. They throw the stick back and forth until Blackman offers him a free shot to the back. Shane picks up the stick but Blackman spins around to block it, starting a chase through the crowd. Blackman finally catches him with a trashcan shot and the beating begins. Shane gets caught in the crowd and some chops to the chest put him down.

They go up to the entrance with Test shoving what looked like a speaker over onto Blackman but Steve avoids to prevent death. Blackman finds a kendo stick to take the big guys down but Shane gets in a cheap shot. He runs away and climbs up the set like a crazy man and Blackman goes after him. They go WAY up into the air with Blackman hitting Shane in the back with the stick, knocking him probably thirty feet down onto a crash pad. Blackman climbs down a bit before dropping a big elbow to take the title back.

Stephanie is freaking out about Shane when Angle comes in. She freaks out so Kurt hugs her but Foley comes in to interrupt. He takes Stephanie with him to check on Shane, leaving Angle annoyed.

We recap Jericho vs. Benoit. Pick a reason for them to be fighting and you have a good feud here. In this case, Benoit has been attacking Jericho and injured his ribs so Jericho retaliated, setting up a back and forth battle with Jericho coming up with an awesome series of rhymes (“I will fight Benoit on a boat or when Chris Benoit is with a goat. I will fight Benoit when he is taking a quiz, and I will make him look like the jackass that he is.”)

Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit goes up top but gets caught in a great hurricanrana to put both guys down as Jericho landed on his shoulder again. Back up and Jericho hits the flying forearm followed by a spinwheel kick but Benoit grabs the bottom rope at two. The Lionsault connects but Jericho hurts his shoulder again. He grabs a rollup but Benoit counters into one of his own with a grab of the ropes for the pin.

Rating: A-. Yeah this was awesome. Benoit and Jericho could wrestle for an hour a night every night and it would never get boring. Both guys looked great and the arm told a great story to center the match around. This is a big reason why the WWF was so hot this year: you could take any combination of these guys and Angle and have a great match on any show.

HHH arrives over 80 minutes into the show.

We recap the HHH/Stephanie/Angle stuff.

Tag Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. Hardy Boyz vs. Edge and Christian

Both Hardys drop legs from the ladder and Matt lays the ladder down next to Edge. Matt puts Edge inside the ladder and crushes him inside of it before throwing Christian off the top and onto the ladder, destroying Edge even worse. Jeff climbs a ladder outside the ring and tries a Swanton to Bubba but only hits the tables, knocking Jeff out cold. Christian knocks Bubba silly with a chair on the floor to put him down.

Matt goes up but D-Von shoves the ladder backwards, sending Matt back first through a pair of tables in a SCARY bump. Edge spears Lita down, drawing a bad swear from JR. D-Von is climbing but somehow Jeff is on the other side. Both guys grab a belt but Edge moves the ladder, leaving both guys hanging. D-Von is knocked down and the Canadians spear Jeff in the ribs with a ladder to bring him down. Everyone else is dead so Edge and Christian go up and get the belts to retain.

The Kat vs. Terri

The APA is at WWF New York.

Kane vs. Undertaker

Angle calls someone.

Stephanie is giving HHH a pep talk when the phone rings. She freaks out when she answers it and says Hi Mom. HHH wants to say hi to Linda but the “reception” cuts out. Nice scene there.

WWF World Title: HHH vs. The Rock vs. Kurt Angle

They brawl on the floor with Rock sending HHH into the announce table before heading back inside for HHH to pound on Rock in the corner. HHH looks down as Angle is being wheeled out and Rock gets in some right hands but the Game drapes Rock over the top rope, sending him out to the floor. HHH chases Angle down and pulls the stretcher back to the ring before getting in some right hands which are pretty dangerous given his actual injury. Rock makes the save to let Angle be taken back for the needed medical attention.

Rating: B. Like I said, if I have to watch HHH vs. Rock for fifteen minutes plus then so be it. Angle being injured that early made for an interesting ending here as the majority of the match was heavily improvised. The HHH vs. Stephanie stuff would be cranked up even higher when Angle would win the WWF Title the next month.

Angle carries Stephanie out to end the show.

Overall Rating: A-. The first half took a bit to get through but the last few matches are all great. This was still a great time in the WWF as you had everything clicking and all the big matches being better than you would expect. Austin would be back in a few months to bring things up even higher. Great show here and a forgotten classic.

Ratings Comparison

Right to Censor vs. Too Cool/Rikishi

Original: B-

Redo: C

X-Pac vs. Road Dogg

Original: C-

Redo: D

Val Venis/Trish Stratus vs. Eddie Guerrero/Chyna

Original: D+

Redo: D+

Tazz vs. Jerry Lawler

Original: C+

Redo: D

Steve Blackman vs. Shane McMahon

Original: B

Redo: B-

Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho

Original: A

Redo: A-

Dudley Boys vs. Edge and Christian vs. hardy Boys

Original: A-

Redo: A

The Kat vs. Terri

Original: F-

Redo: N/A

Undertaker vs. Kane

Original: B

Redo: C

The Rock vs. HHH vs. Kurt Angle

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: A

Redo: A-

As always I rated things a bit higher back then.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/08/03/history-of-summerslam-count-up-2000-why-does-no-one-remember-this-show/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Wrestlemania XXVII
Date: April 3, 2011
Location: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 71,617
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Josh Matthews

Pre-Show: US Title: Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

R-Truth, Great Khali, David Hart-Smith, Mark Henry, Johnny Curtis, Evan Bourne, Trent Barretta, Chris Masters, JTG, Yoshi Tatsu, Chavo Guerrero, Ted DiBiase, Tyler Reks, William Regal, Drew McIntyre, Curt Hawkins, Tyson Kidd, Primo, Zack Ryder, Jimmy Uso, Jey Uso, Daniel Bryan, Sheamus

Curtis is a generic guy who would later be known as Fandango and I think you know the Usos. Khali throws out Reks and Hawkins in the first twenty seconds and Henry tosses Tatsu a few seconds later. The match slows down a lot and everyone brawls with everyone with no one getting close to an elimination. Jimmy Uso is hanging onto the ropes and pulls them down to eliminate Truth.

Henry dumps both Usos a few seconds later and a big group of people gets rid of Mark. Primo and Ryder go out in quick succession and Drew has to last on the apron. Chavo tries to knock McIntyre out but gets backdropped to the floor and Khali knocks out Hart-Smith. JTG is dumb enough to go up top and gets chopped out by Khali. Bryan throws Kidd out and McIntyre eliminates Trent.

Keri Hilson sings America the Beautiful.

The cylinder from last year has been replaced by an even bigger cube.

The opening video is the standard operating procedure: talking about the history of the event with the major highlight clips before an assortment of stuff on the major matches. This still works so why mess with it?

Smackdown World Title: Alberto Del Rio vs. Edge

Alberto (who won the 2011 Royal Rumble to earn this shot) is challenging and comes out in a Rolls Royce (he was a car guy, to put it mildly) with his personal ring announcer Ricardo Rodriguez doing his introduction. Del Rio also has Brodus Clay as his bodyguard so Edge brings out Christian as backup. Feeling out process to start until Edge gets shoved into the corner but he comes out with a slap to the face.

Back in and Edge heads up top, only to get armdragged back down to the mat in a big crash. A big boot and flapjack get two for the champ but a Codebreaker to the arm looks to set up the armbreaker. Edge counters into the Edge-O-Matic for two but Del Rio grabs the armbreaker a few seconds later, only to have Edge roll his feet into the ropes. Del Rio follows up with a running enziguri but Edge gets his foot on the ropes again. Rodriguez tries to break it up, triggering a brawl between Christian and Brodus.

Tough Enough ad.

Cole brags about his Slammys and promises to win tonight.

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

Kane/Big Show/Santino Marella/Kofi Kingston vs. Corre

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

Jerry Lawler vs. Michael Cole

Austin Stuns Matthews for making the announcement.

Wrestlemania week video.

JR and King are doing commentary now.

HHH vs. Undertaker

19-0 flashes on the screen and both guys are done. HHH slowly gets up as the trainer comes in to check on Undertaker (thankfully in silence). Undertaker gets out of the ring and falls on his face, eventually needing to be carted up the ramp.

Wrestlemania XXVII is in Miami.

Dolph Ziggler/Laycool vs. John Morrison/Trish Stratus/Snooki

The new attendance record is announced. Notice that they said for any entertainment event, which excludes football.

Raw World Title: The Miz vs. John Cena

Miz takes over in the corner and whips Cena hard across the ring, setting up his running clothesline for two. A gutwrench suplex gets the same for Cena as the crowd is just silent. Miz misses the second running corner clothesline and takes the top rope Fameasser for two. The champ slowly stomps him down and a baseball slide sends Cena out to the floor. Back in and a knee lift gets two as Cena has shown no fire so far.

Ratings Comparison

Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio

Original: C+

2013 Redo: C+

2015 Redo: C+

Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio

Original: B

2013 Redo: B-

2015 Redo: B

Corre vs. Kane/Santino Marella/Kofi Kingston/Big Show

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: N/A

2015 Redo: N/A

CM Punk vs. Randy Orton

Original: B-

2013 Redo: B

2015 Redo: B-

Michael Cole vs. Jerry Lawler

Original: C

2013 Redo: D-

2015 Redo: D

Undertaker vs. HHH

Original: B

2013 Redo: B

2015 Redo: A-

Snooki/Trish Stratus/John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler/Laycool

Original: N/A

2013 Redo: D+

2015 Redo: D

Miz vs. John Cena

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D-

2015 Redo: D-

Overall Rating

Original: C-

2013 Redo: D

2015 Redo: C-

That HHH vs. Undertaker match really is great.

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/04/03/wrestlemania-27-not-sure-on-this-one/

And the 2013 Redo:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/04/05/wrestlemania-count-up-wrestlemania-xxvii-rocky-cant-save-this-one/

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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

AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.

Wrestlemania XXII
Date: April 2, 2006
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 17,159
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross

It’s time for the biggest night of the year and this time around it has been rather fun. The Raw side has been a heck of a build while the Smackdown side has been hit and miss at best. This is one of the more forgotten Wrestlemanias (given that the image on the poster was of John Cena vs. Booker T., a match which hadn’t taken place in over a year at this point, you can kind of tell that they aren’t caring all that much) and it’s also the last one to date in a regular arena. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

Eugene, Viscera, Goldust, Snitsky, Rob Conway, Tyson Tomko, Lance Cade, Trevor Murdoch, Matt Striker, Super Crazy, Psicosis, Funaki, Steven Richards, Joey Mercury, Johnny Nitro, Animal, William Regal, Simon Dean

Half from Raw and half from Smackdown, so yes they are wearing the designated shirts. Dean tries to do his intro and gets kicked in the face for the immediate elimination. Richards gets rid of Conway and Funaki goes out as well. There goes Cade, followed by Goldust getting rid of Richards. Striker is out too and there go Crazy and Goldust as the ring is cleared out in a hurry. Snitsky gets rid of Regal and MNM dumps Eugene after a Snapshot.

We get the Raw vs. Smackdown showdown and Murdoch and Psicosis go out back to back. We’re down to Viscera, MNM, Snitsky, Tomko and Animal with Viscera and Animal being the targets for the other four. Viscera misses a charge in the corner but beats up MNM without much trouble. That means a double Visagra (Cole: “Melts in your mouth, not in your hand!” What in the world could that possibly mean in this context?) and Melina is nearly sick. It gets even worse as Viscera tosses MNM to get us down to four.

Snitsky kicks Tomko out by mistake and the LOD chants start back up. A big boot to Animal lets Viscera get rid of him, much to the crowd’s annoyance. Snitsky misses a running big boot though and Viscera wins without touching Snitsky at all. Cole: “I was hoping that would go on for another 15-20 minutes!” Tazz: “One of the best battle royals I’ve ever been a part of!” They’re bringing the Wrestlemania level snark this year.

Rating: D. Yeah this was horrible but the whole point was to get the undercard on the roster. I’m not sure on the logic of having the Chicago guy get all the way to the final three and then have him lose for the sake of Viscera, but I guess they don’t want a heel winning to open the show. Not that it would have mattered as it would have been one of the pops of the night, but it’s not worth getting annoyed about in the first place as it was a six minute battle royal before the feature presentation begins.

Post match Viscera kisses Lilian, who doesn’t seem thrilled.

Michelle Williams of Destiny’s Child sings America the Beautiful. You know they’re getting in those American visuals every year and this is no exception.

The opening video looks at some great Wrestlemania moments over I Dare You by Shinedown. I like the song so this is a pretty good combination. They switch over to another song and the matches for this year’s show. That’s a nice mix that they tend to do well most years.

The posters of wrestlers around the top of the arena are a nice touch.

Raw Tag Team Titles: Carlito/Chris Masters vs. Big Show/Kane

Show/Kane are defending and we get the always awesome visual of the city set being on fire during Kane’s entrance. Masters shoulders Kane down to start as JR says this is the first tradition two on two tag match for these titles since Wrestlemania XV. How do you go that long without doing the normal version? Kane is back up with a leapfrog into a dropkick and it’s off to Show for the loud chops in the corner. A poke to the eye allows the tag off to Carlito, who gets a HECK of a reception (one of the loudest reactions I’ve ever seen for him), though Show throws both he and Masters around with ease.

Carlito gets gorilla pressed over the top onto Masters (seemingly elbowing him in the face on the way down) and Kane hits the top rope clothesline onto both of them. Back in and a double flapjack actually gets two on Show, with the replay showing a ram into an exposed buckle had something to do with it. Kane gets the tag so Show has to break up the Masterlock. Everything breaks down and Masters saves Carlito from the chokeslam. Masters hits Carlito by mistake when trying to save him again, meaning Kane can boot Masters to the floor. Not the chokeslam can hit Carlito to retain the titles.

Rating: C-. It was basically a more energetic Raw match and that works well enough for a Wrestlemania opener. I tend to like something like this more than some white hot match to open the show as it means you can go up from here. Carlito and Masters hadn’t been treated as threats to the title coming into the show so it makes sense for them to be little more than an annoyance here.

Post match, Carlito and Masters argue, with the fans being entirely behind Carlito. No violence ensues though.

Shawn Michaels, with a bandage on his head, says he doesn’t regret saying that Vince McMahon needed to grow up. Last year he and Kurt Angle tore the house down and the year before that, he did the same thing with Chris Benoit and HHH. Tonight, Shawn is going to be a different version of himself. Tonight, Vince McMahon needs to bow down and pray because Shawn is taking him to his own personal h***.

Matt Hardy vs. Finlay vs. Bobby Lashley vs. Ric Flair vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. Rob Van Dam

Money in the Bank, allowing Cole to get in his first (to be fair in this case, minor) slip up of the night by saying Edge cashed in after John Cena’s Armageddon match. It’s a big brawl to start and the fans are behind Van Dam early on. Hardy goes for the first ladder but Van Dam takes him down with a slingshot dive onto the ladder onto Hardy for the crash. A ladder is bridged against the ropes so Shelton gets a running start for a huge flip dive to take down all of the young people.

Flair and Finlay fight in the ring (go on) but Matt comes in for the save with a superplex to bring Flair off the ladder (egads man). So Flair screams a lot and gets the X treatment (thanks to his knee), meaning we’re going to be down a person after about two and a half minutes. Lashley goes up top but Shelton grabs a sunset bomb. He can’t get Lashley down though so Finlay and Hardy go into the hurt business to bring Lashley crashing to the mat. Hardy crushes Finlay with the ladder in the corner until Finlay throws it back at him.

Finlay loads up the ladder but here’s Flair (after about three minutes away) to cut him off. Chops abound and Flair goes up again until Finlay makes the save with the Shillelagh, making Flair take another bump he shouldn’t be taking. The briefcase is swinging back and forth so Finlay can’t pull it down, allowing Shelton to go up as well. Lashley breaks that up and hits the Dominator on Benjamin, so Van Dam has to dropkick a chair into Lashley for the save.

Matt’s screaming legdrop from the ladder hits Lashley but he has to Side Effect Finlay off the ladder. Finlay gets knocked down as well though and Rob hits a splash off the very top of the ladder for the big crash. Van Dam goes up so Shelton does the always insane springboard onto the top of the ladder (because he can just do that) and hammers away. Matt brings in another ladder and climbs up to slug away at Shelton, who steps over to the other ladder. Rob shoves them both over for the big crash to the floor (always looks great) though and pulls down the briefcase to win.

Rating: B. This was good but not quite up to the standard that the big ladder matches have. It wasn’t all that long either and they didn’t have time to build much up. Shelton got in the big, impressive spots but there were enough high level bumps to go around. Van Dam and Flair were the only realistic winners here too so they picked one of the best options. Not as good as the others, but it still did what it was supposed to do.

New Hall of Famer Gene Okerlund is interrupted by Randy Orton, who doesn’t think much of someone who held a microphone for thirty five years. He promises to win the Smackdown World Title tonight but here’s Batista to say whoever leaves as champion is just holding it for him. Next year, he’s going to be champion at Wrestlemania XXIII.

It’s time for the Hall of Fame class, minus Bret Hart, who was not comfortable with appearing.

Gene Okerlund (No one did it better.)

Sensational Sherri (How was she not in already?)

Tony Atlas (He always seems happy to be around.)

Verne Gagne (Doesn’t mean anything directly to WWE, but you don’t have a wrestling Hall of Fame without him.)

William Perry (Sure, but he couldn’t get a suit? Or a tie? Or a shirt that tucked in?)

The Blackjacks (Again, how were they not in already?)

Eddie Guerrero (Yep.)

Vickie Guerrero looks rather overcome by the reception in a touching moment.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

JBL, with Jillian Hall, is challenging and the ramp raises up so the limo can drive in. After commentary can manage to stop talking about Jillian’s cowgirl look, they bring up JBL wanting to prove that he can beat another great technical wrestler after Eddie Guerrero. They go straight to the slugout to start until Benoit drop toeholds him to try the Crossface. JBL is able to block it so Benoit headbutts him in the back of the head, which is a rather intense next step.

Some forearms to the neck keep JBL in trouble and a chop takes him down again. It’s too early for the Sharpshooter though and JBL bails to the floor to hide behind Jillian. Back in and JBL hammers him down in the corner until he misses a charge, allowing Benoit to roll the German suplexes. JBL crotches him on top though and hits the Eddie dance for some good mocking. The superplex brings Benoit down in a crash, allowing JBL to dance some more. He even hits two Amigos before having to boot Benoit in the face to cut off the comeback.

We hit the chinlock but Benoit fights up with more suplexes. The Swan Dive gets a close two but JBL blocks another Crossface attempt. He also blocks a German suplex with a grab of the rope and the referee, allowing him to….actually not cheat. Instead the Clothesline From JBL is countered into the Crossface, which is countered into a cradle (with a grab of the rope) to give JBL the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. This has always been a bit of a weird one for me as JBL wasn’t exactly a hot challenger coming in but he did pick up the title, which reheated him in a hurry. He wasn’t going to make it back to the World Title anytime soon (or ever, as he didn’t need it), but he needed to win something instead of losing over and over again. This was good enough though and it’s hardly a stretch to see JBL win a match over Benoit.

We recap Edge vs. Mick Foley. Edge accused Foley of costing him the Raw World Title and wanted to beat him down, so Foley agreed to a fight. Foley wanted that one Wrestlemania moment and Edge is starting to realize that he might be in over his head.

Edge vs. Mick Foley

Hardcore match, Joey Styles joins commentary, Lita is here with Edge and Foley’s flannel shirt is buttoned up for a change. Edge has a bat to start but the early swings miss and Edge drops it to the floor. Foley slugs away in the corner and puts Edge in the Tree of Woe for the running elbow to the face. Lita throws in a metal sign though and it goes upside Foley’s head over and over. The spear hits early….and Edge is in a lot of pain, as Foley opens up the shirt to reveal a band of barbed wire wrapped around his stomach.

Foley cuts himself free and ties Edge in the ropes, meaning it’s time to grab the barbed wire bat. Lita tries for the save so it’s the Cactus Clothesline to Edge, sending all three outside in the process. Foley is certainly bringing it early on. A neckbreaker on the floor drops Edge and Foley pounds him down but his charge is hiptossed into the steps for a REALLY painful looking crash. There go Foley’s knees into the steps and it’s time for a chair. Edge loads up a table on the floor but Foley rolls off before Edge can come off the top.

Instead Edge slams him head first into the steel ramp (for a SICK thud)….and it’s time for the lighter fluid. Edge covers Foley in the fluid but gets piledriven for two. Foley grabs the chair but a Lita distraction lets Edge hit a DDT. Foley is busted and the barbed wire bat to the head makes it even worse. It’s time for the thumbtacks but Foley slams Edge (with no shirt) down onto them for the really big reaction.

A barbed wire Mandible Claw goes on and now it’s Edge being hit with the barbed wire bat over and over. Now it’s time for Foley to spray the table with lighter fluid but Lita hits Foley in the knee with the barbed wire bat. The table is set on fire and Edge hits the spear through the ropes and through the fire for the pin.

Rating: A. What is there to say about this? They massacred each other and Foley bled all over the place before taking a huge bump to end the match. This was a different side of Edge and it’s the side that needed to be shown to make him feel like more than a flash in the pan. This felt like two people wanting to hurt each other and then getting to do so, as Foley continues to know how to make someone into a much bigger star than almost anyone else.

Edge and Lita looking like they’re in physical shock after the match makes it a lot better.

Some fans won tickets to the show from Snickers.

Booker T./Sharmell vs. Boogeyman

Booker makes Sharmell start, jumps Boogeyman from behind, and then comes in to hammer on Boogeyman. The comeback doesn’t take long and Booker is sent into the post. Boogeyman eats some worms and stares at Sharmell for trying a staff shot to the back. Sharmell gets kissed with the worms and runs off, leaving Boogeyman to chokebomb Booker for the pin.

Rating: F. Of course this is a failure as there isn’t anything to be praised here. It was the three of them doing a short, bad match and the big deal was Sharmell getting a mouth full of worms. There isn’t much else to it than that and the fact that this aired at Wrestlemania at any point after about 1991 tells you why it’s a failure.

We recap Trish Stratus vs. Mickie James for the Women’s Title. Mickie is a psycho who was obsessed with Trish (they never said the word lesbian but that’s what they were going for) but Trish wasn’t interested. Once Mickie was flat out turned down, she completely snapped and decided to take the Women’s Title instead. This feels like a big fight and that’s a good thing around here.

Women’s Title: Mickie James vs. Trish Stratus

Trish is defending. They fight over a lockup to start as JR tries to diagnose Mickie’s mental state. The Thesz press (JR: “Maybe the Louise Thesz press.”) puts Mickie down but she comes back with a kick, only to be thrown into the splits. A baseball slide puts Mickie on the floor but Trish kicks the post by mistake. Mickie wraps the leg around the post in a smart move and there’s a dropkick to the knee to make it worse.

The fans get behind Mickie and she wraps the leg around the ropes. The half crab goes on before it’s time to stomp on the leg in the corner. Mickie stops to soak in the cheers and bends the leg some more. This time Trish reverses into the spinning anklescissors but the fans aren’t happy with the comeback. The Stratusphere is countered with another slam of the leg to the mat as Lawler notices that Mickie’s skirt isn’t the most functional in a match.

Trish comes back with a Stratusfaction attempt but Mickie grabs her between the legs (on the Network) and licks her own hand (not on the Network) as JR loses it. Mickie tries the Stratusfaction but she either leaves it short or Trish can’t hold her on the knee, meaning they botch it horribly (also not on the Network). Mickie settles for the Chick Kick for the pin and the title. JR: “THE NUT JOB HAS WON THE TITLE!”

Rating: B-. This was getting really good near the end but then the botch happened and it stopped everything cold. The leg stuff was good and while it would have made more sense to have Trish’s knee give out when she was trying the Stratusfaction, it worked for a story in the match as Mickie knew how to break the thing down. More importantly though, Mickie FINALLY ends Trish’s year long plus reign and becomes the new star, which is long overdue. They needed to have the title change here as Trish had run out of gas a long time ago but it wasn’t like she had anyone good enough to drop it to.

Vince McMahons has the rest of the family drop to their knees in prayer before his match with Shawn. Vince: “God, let’s face it. I don’t like you, and you don’t like me.” Vince praises his own physique and promises to end Shawn.

Mark Henry vs. Undertaker

Casket match and the druids take their time wheeling the casket to ringside. Undertaker does the full entrance and Henry manages to keep glaring at him before jumping him to start things off. Some running clotheslines don’t do much to Henry so he runs Undertaker over with a single shot. They head outside with both guys going head first into the steps. The fans are in am ore traditional role here with the Undertaker cheers, which are cut off when Henry blocks Old School.

A low blow saves Undertaker from going into the casket and now it’s time to go after the arm. Old School connects this time but he still can’t get Henry down. Henry runs him over again but misses the running crotch attack and gets dropped into the casket. Undertaker follows him in and the lid closes before opening up with Undertaker’s hand around Henry’ throat.

They get back inside with Henry hitting the World’s Strongest Slam and covering because he isn’t that bright. Speaking of not that bright, Henry hammers away in the corner but gets planted with the Last Ride. Undertaker throws him onto and over the casket, setting up the Taker Dive (which barely clears the casket). Back in and a pretty impressive Tombstone lets Undertaker put him in the casket for the win.

Rating: D. Another one which didn’t work so well, mainly because there was no drama. Who was believing that Mark Henry was going to be the one to break the Streak? The Taker Dive and Tombstone both looked great but there isn’t much of a way around the fact that it was Mark Henry trying to break the Streak. It had no drama and wasn’t even that long, leaving this near the bottom end of the Streak (at least once it became a big deal).

We recap Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon. Shawn told Vince that it was time to get over the Montreal Screwjob and grow up so Vince decided to destroy Shawn once and for all. He has done a great job of making Shawn miserable and now it is time for Shawn to FINALLY get his hands on Vince in a no holds barred match.

Shawn Michaels vs. Vince McMahon

No Holds Barred and there is a big framed copy of Vince’s Muscle and Fitness Magazine at ringside. Shawn jumps him to start and sends him into JR as the WE WANT BRET chants begin. The framed magazine goes around Vince’s head and Shawn is all ticked off. Cue the Spirit Squad to beat Shawn down though and hit the five man toss into the air. JR: “Someone get the hook!” Shawn gets their megaphone (which is smoking/powdery for some reason) and beats them down though, which sends them off for some reason.

Vince, now bleeding above the eye, gets in a clothesline to take over and it’s time to choke in the corner. The leather belt rips Shawn’s back up and it’s time to choke. Vince actually tunes up the band but Shawn blocks the kick (which had height but was nowhere near the right form) and hammers away. JR: “How are your stock dividends now???” The top rope elbow connects but here’s Shane with a kendo stick to take Shawn down. Always one to rub it in, Vince drops his pants but Shawn puts Shane’s face into it instead, followed by a low blow to Vince.

A clothesline puts Shane on the floor but that’s not enough, as Shawn handcuffs Shane to the rope. The Shane dance sets up a bunch of kendo stick shots to Shane and there’s a heck of a chair shot to Vince’s head. Lawler: “CUBS WIN! CUBS WIN!” Vince is busted open and Shawn tunes up the band….before stopping cold. Instead he goes outside and grabs a ladder, which goes straight into Vince’s forehead.

Shawn still won’t cover as he grabs some trashcans and a table instead, even shoving Shane away to get to them. The trashcan to the head drops Vince again and Shawn goes up the ladder. Then he climbs back down and pulls out the BIG ladder. Shawn climbs again, does the suck it sign, and elbows Vince through the table for the huge crash. Medics bring a stretcher out but Shawn scares them off, stands Vince up, yells a lot, and finishes with the superkick.

Rating: C+. Of course it’s junk as an actual match, but this was exactly what they set it up to be. There is no reason to believe that Vince can hang with Shawn in a regular match so he didn’t really come close. Vince brought in a bunch of people, Shawn beat them up and then the beating began. Shawn destroyed him completely (or at least until the next night on Raw, or maybe a week later if they’re feeling generous) and it made sense. Might have gone a little long, but it was the logical way to go.

Post match Vince is taken out on a stretcher and still flips Shawn off. Cole talks about how Shawn promised to never go back to his old self but did it here. Not exactly, as it was just Shawn being violent and aggressive, which isn’t quite what they were talking about on the way here.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Kurt Angle for the Smackdown World Title. Rey won the Royal Rumble to earn the title shot but Orton talked enough trash to get him to put the shot on the line at No Way Out. Orton cheated to win, but Teddy Long put Rey in the match too, making it a triple threat.

Smackdown World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton vs. Kurt Angle

Angle is defending and POD plays Rey, in an Aztec warrior costume this year, to the ring. Orton jumps Angle with the belt before the bell to start but Angle is right back in with a German suplex to Orton, plus a double German to both of them at once (with Rey flying through the air). An overhead belly to belly takes Orton over as well but Rey sends Angle face first into Orton’s crotch.

Angle is fine enough to send Rey up for a super hurricanrana to Orton before throwing Rey outside. Rey breaks up the ankle lock attempt and kicks Angle in the head for two as the fans are split between Rey and Kurt. The 619 is countered into the ankle lock and Rey taps (less than four minutes in) but the referee is with Orton. The German suplexes take down both challengers and an Angle Slam to the floor drops Rey in a heap. That means an ankle lock to Orton but this time Rey grabs the referee so he can’t see a tap.

Rey Drops the Dime on Angle but gets knocked outside again. The RKO connects for a delayed two on Angle and Randy goes up top, earning himself the running belly to belly superplex. Rey is back in with the springboard seated senton for two more on Angle and Orton is back in to kick Angle to the floor. The powerbomb neckbreaker gets two on Rey but the RKO takes too long, allowing Angle to come back in with the Angle Slam on Orton. Rey slips out of the Angle Slam and armdrags Angle to the floor. That leaves Orton to be dropkicked into the ropes for the 619 into the West Coast Pop for the pin and the title.

Rating: C+. This is still one of the more perplexing big matches in Wrestlemania history as it had no real structure other than them doing moves to each other. Nothing was built up, nothing set up the finish and Rey just pinned Orton to win. It was fine as it was, but I was expecting a lot more, including more time as it didn’t even last ten minutes.

Post match the Guerreros come out to celebrate with Rey.

JR and the King talk about HHH and John Cena being ready for tonight. They needed two minutes for this instead of the other World Title match? Ah right: they needed to put a bed and pillows in the ring. Great way to use the Wrestlemania time.

Torrie Wilson vs. Candice Michelle

It’s the annual Playboy match pillow fight so JR talks about Frank Gotch gate records in Chicago during the entrances. They to to the bed to start and then hit the catfighting. Torrie turns the bed over on her and then puts her dog on Candice’s face. Candice loses her dress and then puts on a headscissors over the ropes while bending backwards over the ropes. A middle rope elbow hits Torrie on the bed and it’s time to cut Torrie out of her dress. Candice pulls out her Playboy but gets rolled up for the pin.

Rating: D-. Yeah this happened and that’s about all there is to say about it. They were there to promote Playboy and it worked well enough, even though the Playboy Diva is usually a face and someone who wins but not quite this time around. It wasn’t exactly a match of course, but why would you expect anything else?

We see clips of the Wrestlemania press conference, with HHH saying the match against John Cena will be easy and Cena saying not so fast. HHH won a tournament to get the shot so there isn’t much of a story.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. John Cena

Cena is defending and HHH, sitting on a throne in a Thor/Conan motif (the announcers say Conan but he had a big hammer), rises out from the stage. Cena on the other hand comes out after a gangster video and following an old car, complete with CM Punk as a machine gun toting gangster in one of the more well known Before They Were Famous cameos. Still as close as he ever got to the Wrestlemania main event. We get an old school weapons check as JR puts over the idea of the grunt vs. the seasons, trained professional to give us a good story to the match.

They fight over the arm control to start and Cena is sent into the corner for some frustration. The fans are almost entirely behind HHH here, or at least the loud ones are. The FU doesn’t work and they stare each other down again. Cena is sent outside for a big cheer but he comes back in to slug away. A backdrop gives Cena two and the fisherman’s suplex gets the same.

We’re already into the chinlock as the fans tell Cena that he can’t wrestle. There’s the big whip over the corner to send HHH to the floor and another backdrop puts him on the ramp. Back in and HHH hits the jumping knee for a positive reaction as commentary keeps talking about the crowd reactions. HHH whips him hard into the steps and the fans even pop for him breaking the count.

Back in again and the facebuster into a running clothesline gets two on Cena, with JR calling it a slobberknocker. A pair of neckbreakers gets two more and we hit the neck crank. HHH switches to a sleeper and then a chinlock as JR gets the World Title wrong and has to apologize to Rey Mysterio. Cena fights up and hits his own clothesline before winning the slugout. There’s a powerslam and Cena initiates the finishing sequence but the Shuffle is countered with a spinebuster for two more. Another sleeper is countered into a belly to back suplex and it’s the Shuffle into the STFU.

HHH finally makes the rope and escapes the FU before sending Cena into the referee in the corner. That means a low blow to both of them, meaning HHH can give us the crotch chop. It’s sledgehammer time and Cena is knocked silly for a delayed two. The FU gets the same and the fans are popping hard on these near falls. Cena misses a high crossbody so HHH tries the Pedigree but Cena pulls him into the STFU, even trapping the arm so HHH can’t make the rope. It takes some time but HHH finally taps and Cena retains.

Rating: A-. That’s the ultimate achievement on Raw and the win that Cena really needed to become THE guy. He had been champion for almost a year straight but still felt somewhat like someone who hadn’t made it all the way to the top yet. Cena had been the guy, but he wasn’t THE guy until this one and that’s a big change.

The match itself was great as you would expect from these two on the big stage. They played up the idea that Cena was in over his head but ground out another win as he tends to do. Cena was getting better at the big matches around this point and of course that would become one of his calling cards down the line. This worked well and felt like a Wrestlemania main event as the company is now Cena’s, which is what matters most.

The celebration and five minute highlight package wraps us up.

Overall Rating: B-. Just like it did in the buildup, Raw annihilated Smackdown here with the two matches that made the show and a lot of other good stuff in between (plus winning Money in the Bank). Edge vs. Foley and the main event certainly deliver, but the rest of the show isn’t anything great. There are some really bad parts on here but the rest is good enough. That may sound good, but I’d like a little more than “good enough” for Wrestlemania.

The biggest problem here is that there really aren’t many blow away moments. Cena winning was more of a long term deal, Rey winning the title felt more like Eddie’s big farewell, Money in the Bank is all about the future and Trish finally losing is hardly top tier stuff. Shawn getting the win against Vince was nice to see, but that middle finger after the match doesn’t make it seem like a blowoff. The problem here is Smackdown, as there wasn’t much of note other than Rey’s title win. It was a one sided show between the two brands and when the show is built around both, it doesn’t work so well, Good, but forgettable.

 

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

It’s the big one as things have to change at some point in WWE. I’m curious to see how this show goes as I haven’t seen the television leading up to it since the show aired so maybe the show will feel a little bit different. The theme is Wrestlemania Goes Hollywood, which has included some outstanding movie parody trailers. Oh and Batista and John Cena look more than ready to become the top stars in the company. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Battle Royal

Tajiri, William Regal, Rhino, Hurricane, Rosey, Maven, Simon Dean, Gene Snitsky, Chris Masters, Val Venis, Tyson Tomko, Sylvain Grenier, Rob Conway, Viscera, Hardcore Holly, Charlie Haas, Nunzio, Billy Kidman, Mark Jindrak, Funaki, Akio, Orlando Jordan, Doug Basham, Danny Basham, Heidenreich, Luther Reigns, Booker T.. Paul London, Spike Dudley, Scotty 2 Hotty

This is your “get them all on the show” match, which was likely just the DVD extra. They’re all in their show colored shirts with Eric Bischoff and Theodore Long at ringside. Before the bell, Hurricane gives Heidenreich his own mask so Heidenreich punches him in the face. Must be a villain. The fighting starts with Spike being sent to the steps as Hurricane makes the mistake of hammering away in the corner, making him the first elimination.

Reigns is out next as the ring is still very full. A bunch of the cruiserweights hold Viscera down so Scotty can hit the Worm. That high level of missing the point could explain why they don’t get on television very often. Masters doesn’t like that line of thinking and dumps Scotty, Funaki, Spike and Kidman in a hurry. Haas is tossed as well as the ring is clearing out a bit.

Masters dumps Nunzio, though it might not have been over the top. With nothing else to do, Heidenreich destroys a turnbuckle and tears off his mask before clotheslining the heck out of Venis for an elimination. Dean and Grenier are out as well, followed by Rosey, all at Heidenreich’s hands. Rhyno is out next and it’s Dupree following him in a hurry. Both Bashams go out as the fans are behind Regal.

With about twelve people left, we get the always natural looking Raw vs. Smackdown showdown with Akio and Holly being tossed, followed by Regal to even things up a bit. Tajiri mists Heidenreich so the blind monster gets rid of London. Heidenreich and Tajiri fight on the apron until Snitsky gets rid of them, leaving us with Jindrak, Booker, Masters, Snitsky and Viscera.

Jindrak gets rid of Snitsky and hits the big left on Viscera….which staggers Jindrak so much that Masters can get rid of him. Nunzio does the “I’M STILL IN” deal, only to be tossed seconds later. Viscera crushes Booker in the corner but he’s fine enough to low bridge the monster to the floor. The full nelson is broken up and a superkick gives Booker the win.

Rating: D+. It’s kind of hard to get too annoyed at a match like this as the whole point is getting people on the show and therefore onto the DVD, which is a nice bonus for the talent. I know this isn’t the most important match but it came and went fast enough and wasn’t terrible. Assuming you can ignore the RAH RAH RAH Raw vs. Smackdown aspect, it’s nothing too bad.

Lilian Garcia sings America the Beautiful. She’ll have a job in WWE as long as she wants one for how good she can make that sound.

The Titantron is revealed with the red curtain coming up. They’re nailing the theme this year.

We get a montage of the trailers, leading to the big reveal of the final trailer: Gladiator, featuring Steve Austin as Maximus. It’s a cool idea and suitable casting but there were better trailers.

It’s strange to see Wrestlemania in an arena. That’s one of those things you’ll probably never see again.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Not a bad way to start and the red carpet in the aisle makes it even better. They’re the Smackdown Tag Team Champions but Eddie isn’t sure if he can beat Rey. There’s no superhero outfit this year as Rey has Mexican/American flag inspired gear. Rey flips out of an armbar to start and hits a running knee but has to adjust the mask. A second armbar works a bit better for Eddie and but Rey pops up and climbs onto Eddie’s shoulders.

The sunset flip is countered into a catapult to the floor but Rey switches places and teases a dive to take us to an early standoff. Eddie takes him down into a keylock to stay on the arm before sending Rey outside. Since he’s a luchador as well, Eddie busts out his own dive to the floor, with the fans rather pleased with him. Rey adjust his mask again, as he isn’t wearing the regular kind and the clasp is different, causing a lot of issues.

Back in and Eddie stays on the arm (instead of the leg because Eddie is smart, since working on Mysterio’s leg hasn’t worked well for most people) before switching over to a surfboard. That’s broken up so Rey armdrags him to the floor, meaning the big corkscrew flip dive can take Eddie down. A backbreaker gives Eddie two though as Rey can’t keep the momentum going. Rey gets back up and tries the 619 but walks into another backbreaker for two, allowing Rey to fix the mask again.

Three Amigos connect, with Rey holding his mask the whole time. The extra vision lets Rey avoid the frog splash and now the 619 connects. The West Cost Pop is countered into a hard powerbomb for two as they go back to the back. Eddie tries another powerbomb but this time Rey reverses into a hurricanrana for the pin and one final mask adjustment.

Rating: B-. I don’t know how much the mask stuff messed with Rey but it seemed to be causing at least a bit of a problem. He had to mess with that thing probably a dozen times in a twelve minute match and it was becoming really noticeable. The idea here is to continue Eddie’s descent into jealousy over not being able to beat Mysterio and that could be a heck of a story.

JBL and the Cabinet meets Evolution. HHH says Ric Flair is the wrestling god and maybe one day someone will believe that JBL is that good. A staredown over belt importance and a WOO to Orlando Jordan ends a terrifying prospect. Somehow, JBL and HHH only had one singles match ever against each other and it was on a random Raw in 2008. You would think they would have met at least a handful of times.

Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider are here.

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

Money in the Bank with Tyson Tomko out with Kane. Kane gets a cool entrance where the ladders on the set are on fire. Almost everyone goes after Kane in the aisle and a variety of double teams take him down. Christian tries to use the melee to bring in a ladder but Jericho slams it into his face. A springboard dropkick sends Edge into Benoit to knock them both off the apron, followed by Jericho’s dive onto Edge.

Shelton hits the big running flip dive onto a bunch of people, with Kane adding the top rope clothesline to take down the same pile plus Benjamin for the wipe out. Back in and Jericho dropkicks a ladder into Kane but Benoit German suplexes Jericho, sending the ladder flying in a cool shot. Benoit’s climb is cut off so he Crossfaces Kane and then Edge, the latter of which allows Kane to hit Benoit with the ladder.

To make it worse, Kane crushes Benoit’s arm in the ladder over and over. Edge spears Kane down and it’s the big reunion with Christian, who grabs his own ladder to smash Kane at the same time. Now it’s Shelton coming in to send Christian outside and flapjack Edge into the ladder. Shelton and Jericho fight on top of the ladder until two more ladders are brought in (Lawler: “It’s like open house at Home Depot!”), meaning it’s everyone but Kane on top at the same time.

Benoit, Jericho and Christian are knocked down, leaving Shelton to hit the exploder on Edge off the ladder for the huge crash. Jericho is left to go up but Shelton runs up a second ladder to clothesline Jericho off because he can do something like that. Christian knocks Shelton off the ladder as Kane returns from the short term death that afflicts wrestlers in ladder matches. Tomko comes in and kicks Kane in the face before helping Christian to the top in a bit of a call back to TLC II.

Kane is back up though and shoves the ladder over, sending Christian down to the floor and onto Tomko. Jericho and Kane knock each other off the ladder and everyone is down as we need a breather. With Kane down, Benoit (bleeding from the head) hits the Swan Dive off the ladder. Benoit goes up but has to headbutt Kane off but the arm is too banged up to get the briefcase. Edge blasts Benoit in the arm with a chair though and that’s enough to pull down the briefcase for the win.

Rating: A-. Yeah this was great with more time for drama and fewer instances of having the people laying around forever because there are too many people in the match at the same time. Edge winning is the best call as no one has been chasing the title like him and now he can steal the title down the line. It’s a heck of a fight though with a bunch of awesome spots and stuff that kept the fans interested without many dead spots. Great stuff and an awesome way to debut the concept.

Here’s the still injured Eugene, whose music doesn’t start until halfway down the aisle. This is his second favorite Wrestlemania moment every, after the midget army getting together to fight off King Kong Bundy at Wrestlemania III (Hillbilly Jim was included as well, and he spent a good hour talking about it during his Hall of Fame speech). Cue Daivari and Muhammad Hassan to complain about not being on the show (that they’re on) and rant about the prejudice in Los Angeles.

Hassan is ready to make his own Wrestlemania moment and jumps Eugene, setting up the camel clutch. Cue Hulk Hogan or the REAL AMERICAN save, including a double noggin knocker. Hassan gets sent outside so Daivari can hit Hogan with a chair. Since that doesn’t work, it’s a big boot and another toss to the floor so the posing can commence. Hogan even gets to do the big pose in front of the huge American flag on the stage. Yeah it’s old hat but I’ll always be a Hulkamaniac so this made me smile.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Undertaker. Orton won the World Title last fall but lost it in a hurry and has been on a slow downward spiral since. He needs to get back on track so he’s going after Undertaker and the Streak while turning heel in the process. Orton’s dad Bob is helping him a bit, because Orton has slid far enough that he needs that kind of help.

Randy Orton vs. Undertaker

The druids with the torches are here so you know it’s serious. Undertaker glides to the ring for a pretty cool entrance, which goes much faster than usual for a bonus. Orton comes out second for some reason, albeit with his own cool entrance of pyro raining down behind him as he poses with the still awesome Burn In My Light playing. After some early dodging, the first right hand gets Orton launched into the corner.

The dropkick out of the corner gets two and Orton backdrops him for a bump you don’t see from Undertaker that often. The early RKO attempt is shoved over the top as Undertaker is starting a bit slowly here. Old School connects but Orton is back up with a dropkick to the floor to take over. Undertaker’s running DDT gets two and Snake Eyes connects. The ensuing big boot is cut off with a running elbow though, sending the fans straight into a LET’S GO UNDERTAKER/RANDY SUCKS chant.

The slugout goes to Undertaker and we hit the dragon sleeper as Undertaker busts out some different stuff for a change. Orton breaks out and grabs a sleeper, which doesn’t please the crowd. The counter before Orton can take him to the ground is more appealing but Orton is back with a powerslam.

For some reason, Orton hammers away in the corner, meaning he has to escape the Last Ride. The referee gets bumped though and here’s Bob with a cast shot to Undertaker’s head for the close two. Undertaker boots Bob off the apron and grabs the chokeslam, which is reversed into the RKO in midair (one of my favorite counters ever) for two and a big sigh of relief from the fans. For reasons of general cockiness, Orton tries his own Tombstone, which is reversed into the real thing to make Undertaker 13-0.

Rating: B-. It’s a good match but it never came close to that higher level. It would take a little longer for Undertaker to get that much better at Wrestlemania so for now it’s just a good one. Orton was trying here and looked better than he has in a long time, though aside from that one RKO, he never felt like a real threat here. Still though, one hot near fall is better than none and it wasn’t bad by any stretch.

We recap Trish Stratus vs. Christy Hemme. It’s the annual Playboy match as we’re now supposed to believe that Christy can wrestle and isn’t just there because of her looks. Lita has been training Christy and is more interesting than anything Christy has been doing. Keep in mind that Christy isn’t at fault here. She isn’t a wrestler and is being thrown into a match because she won a modeling contest. That’s on WWE, not Christy.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Christy Hemme

Trish is defending and Christy has Lita with her. The bell rings and Trish drops to the mat but kicks Christy away in a rather heelish move. They head outside with Trish sending her into the steps, followed by some chops in the corner back inside. The Chick Kick misses and Christy hits one of her own as the fans are just gone for this.

Christy does the splits on top to set up a sunset flip for two, only to have Trish spear her down. We get the BORING chants as Trish stops to yell at Lita, allowing Christy to start in with the kicks. The reverse Twist of Fate and a rollup give Christy two each but Trish has had it. That means the Chick Kick to retain the title and end Christy’s wrestling run.

Rating: D-. Yeah what else were you expecting? Trish was wrestling herself here as Christy was only good for some tumbling and that Twist of Fate. The women’s division is all but dead at this point and it’s likely going to be a long time before things get better. Christy was trying here but had no business in this spot.

We recap Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels. Angle was annoyed that Shawn eliminated him from the Royal Rumble and beat him up, setting off the big feud. Kurt is annoyed that people were talking about Shawn in 1996 when Angle was an Olympic champion. Now Angle wants to prove that he is the better man on the biggest stage. Shawn is down with that because he’s Shawn Michaels and it’s Wrestlemania. This is more or less WWE saying “yeah it’s going to be a classic and everyone knows it.”

Various celebrities are here.

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels

They stare at each other both before and after the bell until Shawn slaps him in the face. That makes Angle take him to the mat and Shawn is completely outclassed there. A headlock takeover works a bit better for Shawn as the fans are behind Angle for a bit of a surprise. The headlock stays on for a good while as they probably have a lot of time here. Shawn switches over to a short armscissors, allowing Angle to power out ala Bob Backlund (his old mentor).

Shawn is right back with the headlock but this time Angle powers up and takes him into the corner. The ankle lock is quickly broken up and it’s Shawn with a Cactus Clothesline to put them both on the floor. The announcers’ table is loaded up but Angle hits an Angle Slam into the post to take something out of Shawn. A suplex gives Angle two and it’s off to the bodyscissors to stay on the ribs/back.

The belly to belly gets two and it’s a reverse chinlock with a knee in Shawn’s back. Angle’s belly to belly superplex is broken up but Shawn misses the top rope elbow. Shawn is fine enough to backdrop Angle to the floor and he’s crazy enough to hit a high crossbody to the floor with the knee possibly hitting Angle in the face. Angle gets back up and teases the German suplex off the apron to make the fans a little nervous.

A low blow gets Shawn out of trouble and that means the springboard spinning splash onto Angle onto the announcers’ table for less of a pop than you might have expected, mainly because the table doesn’t break. They head back in for the slugout into Shawn’s forearm and nipup so things can pick up again. Sweet Chin Music (way too early) is countered into the ankle lock, setting up the big crawl to the rope. Angle gets it again but this time Shawn reverses into a rollup for two.

Another Sweet Chin Music attempt is countered into the Angle Slam for two as frustration is setting in. In another awesome moment, Angle pulls his straps up so he can pull them right back down again because you know it’s serious. The moonsault misses though (probably spent too much time with the straps) so Shawn goes up, only to get caught in the super Angle Slam for two, meaning Angle looks ready to cry at the kickout.

Angle talks a bunch of trash so Shawn snaps off Sweet Chin Music to shut him up. That gets a very delayed two and they both need a breather. Angle picks the ankle into the ankle lock as he’s right back up but this time Shawn can’t kick away. Shawn fights everywhere but finally gets pulled down into the grapevine for the tap (after a nearly goofy amount of time).

Rating: A+. Yeah what else do you want here? They told an outstanding story with Shawn going with the natural talent but Angle just wanting it that much more and turning up the intensity to a level Shawn couldn’t reach. It made Shawn look like he couldn’t beat Angle on his best night, all while putting in an instant classic. These two went back and forth with one big spot after another and Angle took away a lot of Shawn’s strength by working on the back. Check this one out if you haven’t in a while as it’s worth seeing again.

Fabulous Moolah and Mae Young are here.

It’s time for Piper’s Pit (and I think there was an edit in there as the set was put together in the blink of an eye). Piper thanks the fans for the Hall of Fame but wants to get down to business. He wanted the meanest and baddest man in WWE so his guest is Steve Austin. Cue Austin (with a glass breaking transition as we cut to the stage), with JR saying that he’s back at Wrestlemania. He hasn’t missed one since 2000 so that’s not the biggest accomplishment. Piper asks if Austin is the rebel and slaps him in the face so Austin calls him an SOB and returns the slap. Piper: “I kind of like you.”

With that out of the way, Piper talks about respecting Austin but gets cut off by the WHAT chants, which he doesn’t seem to understand. Piper takes issue with one thing: he was ticking Vince McMahon off when Wrestlemania didn’t even have a number. Austin and James Dean have nothing on Piper when it comes to being a rebel. Austin runs down Piper’s appearance and they get in each other’s faces, allowing Piper to quote Cool Hand Luke about a failure of communication.

Cue Carlito, with Piper and Austin accusing each other of bringing him out. Piper: “I’ll get back to you.” Carlito accuses both of them of arguing like girls, before declaring them both non-cool. Piper: “Who the h*** are you? You look like Alfalfa.” Carlito wants the two of them out of here and loads up the apple but Piper takes it away.

It’s Carlito taking the spit this time so Carlito hits him in the face as Austin laughs. Bored of that, Austin beats Carlito up and Piper sends him outside. Beer is consumed until Austin Stuns Piper. This completely missed as Piper and Austin didn’t have anything to say to each other. Carlito getting to be out there was a nice few moments for him but this was all about the legends, who didn’t need to be there.

It’s immediately time for the sumo match with a much harder cut to Cole and Tazz. They had to edit something out of there and we get a VERY long crowd shot during the next entrance. That was probably to remove the ropes, but it still felt like something was cut.

Upon further review, they aired the You Talking To Me trailer here and announced it as winning the Best Overall Trailer award. They’ve aired that on Raw and Smackdown, so why cut it here?

Akebono vs. Big Show

They do the full traditional opening as the fans are really not interested in this one. We finally get going, they slap each other, pull at the gear a bit, Show lifts Akebono and spins him around, and then Akebono wins. This didn’t work again as it came and went as it just wasn’t the right thing for a show like Wrestlemania. Akebono never wrestled for WWE again and I don’t know if he ever appeared again so I’m not sure what the thinking was here.

We recap John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield for the Smackdown World Title. It’s built around a culture clash with JBL being the old, rich traditionalist while Cena lives by his own rules and cares about the people. Cena won a tournament to get the shot so JBL talked about how people like Cena didn’t deserve to be champion. He couldn’t get Cena to go too far though and Cena is ready to explode here.

Smackdown World Title: John Cena vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

JBL is defending and gets a police escort into the arena. Just to show off, we get a shower of JBL dollars, which are always a nice touch. They trade shoulders to start with JBL getting the better of it (the big boot out of the corner probably helped a bit). A suplex gives JBL two and he chokes Cena on the ropes for a bit. Back up and Cena is fine with getting into a slugout but JBL catches him with a Ron Simmons style spinebuster. A neckbreaker and some clotheslines stay on Cena’s neck, followed by a sleeper to do something similar enough.

Cena slips out and it’s a double clothesline to keep up the slow pace. JBL sends him outside for another neckbreaker before going up top for some reason. That earns him a slam out of the air but Cena can’t follow up. Cena starts his comeback but the fans aren’t quite thrilled. The Shuffle gets some energy flowing and after ducking the Clothesline From JBL, the FU gives Cena his first World Title out of nowhere.

Rating: D. Very bleh match here as there was no drama and the match just ended out of nowhere with Cena shrugging off the first ten minutes and winning with very little drama. I know the match itself doesn’t matter that much but Cena wasn’t ready to carry something like this and JBL was never capable of carrying something like this, leaving us with a very underwhelming match.

That’s also the end of JBL’s long title reign and really, it was a lot better than I remember. JBL can talk very well and while his matches weren’t great, it didn’t come close to dragging as a lot of people (myself included) remember. Maybe it was knowing when it was going to end but I didn’t mind this nearly as much as I expected to. JBL winning the title in the first place was a big stretch but he held it a lot better than I would have guessed.

Hall of Fame video. Hogan and Piper were long overdue. Heenan on Iron Sheik’s speech: “WHAT THE H*** DID HE SAY???”

Gene Okerlund brings out the year’s class:

Nikolai Volkoff (sure why not)

Iron Sheik (just don’t let him talk….or maybe let him talk….it could go either way)

Paul Orndorff (belongs in for 1986 alone and is smart enough to point at Miss Jackie)

Bob Orton (always good for a solid performance and still selling the injury from earlier)

Jimmy Hart (yep, and comes off as one of the nicest guys ever in wrestling)

Roddy Piper (would have headlined almost any other class)

Hulk Hogan (odds are we’re not here without him)

We recap the Raw World Title match. HHH has dominated the World Title scene for a long time and has used Evolution to help him hold onto the title. Batista has proven to be unstoppable and then won the Royal Rumble. HHH tried to talk him into going to Smackdown but Batista overheard the evil planning, sending Batista onto a path towards Wrestlemania and the title. This isn’t the hardest result to figure out and the fans are begging to see Batista take the title away from HHH for good.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. Batista

HHH is defending and has Ric Flair with him, plus Motorhead plays him to the ring, just in case you thought Batista was cooler. I mean, you can barely understand the words because Lemmy butchers it in a great Brutus Beefcake impression but HHH rising up through the stage makes up for it a bit. Batista doesn’t get much of a pop, mainly due to the lack of the famous band performing his music.

The early power lockup lets them drive each other to the ropes but it’s only good for a standoff. They do it again with HHH’s running shoulder having no effect other than waking HHH up a bit. Another shoulder drops Batista but he’s right back up with something close to a powerslam. Batista hits a backdrop, only to have HHH knock him outside to cut the momentum off again.

Flair’s distraction lets HHH send Batista into the steps and Flair gets in some choking with the jacket. Back in and HHH gets two off a suplex, setting up more Flair choking. Whatever emotion the fans had for Batista after that HHH entrance is long gone now as HHH has beaten him down for about seven of the eight minutes the match has been going so far. Batista slugs away but walks into the spinebuster, because of course HHH needs to hit a spinebuster as he dominates Batista in the biggest match of Batista’s career.

A backdrop breaks up the Pedigree attempt but HHH is RIGHT BACK with the facebuster, leaving him on defense for all of three seconds. HHH goes up and gets clotheslined out of the air to no reaction as the fans are gone. They’re smart enough to realize that HHH is going to cut Batista off again and, as expected, Batista charges into a big boot in the corner just a few seconds later. Batista sends HHH over the corner, only to have HHH whip him into the steps.

The Pedigree onto the steps is countered into a catapult into the post and we’ve got some blood. Back in and it’s time to hammer on the cut as the fans finally have something to cheer about. The big running clothesline in the corner rocks HHH and a powerslam gets two as there isn’t quite the energy in the offense that you would expect. It feels like they’re just doing stuff to fill time until the ending instead of of building something up.

Batista sends him outside but goes after Flair, allowing HHH to grab the chair, which hits the referee by mistake. Flair’s belt shot is countered with a spinebuster but HHH’s belt shot gets two. The fans react to the kickout and Batista hits the spinebuster for the big reaction. That’s too much cheering for HHH’s liking so he hits Batista low. Batista blocks the Pedigree with raw power though and hits something like White Noise. The Batista Bomb finally makes Batista champion.

Rating: C. It was miles better than Cena vs. JBL but egads this didn’t do Batista any favors. This was more about giving HHH a big sendoff as champion than making Batista look like a star and….I can’t say I’m surprised. Batista has looked so dominant and smart for the last six weeks that HHH probably couldn’t help himself from cutting him off. HHH did put him over, but it could have been a lot stronger without HHH beating him up and outsmarting him for the first half of the match. Much like the previous match though, it’s all about what comes next rather than what happened here, but HHH made sure to make himself look good.

The big celebration and highlight package wrap things up.

Overall Rating: B. Much like last year, this really needed forty five minutes to an hour trimmed off (and again it’s easy to see what should be gone) to make it great. As it is it’s quite good but there are a lot of times where it felt like it was dragging. The two World Title matches were outclassed by Money in the Bank and Shawn vs. Angle (not exactly shocking on either front) but they got the endings right and aside from the sumo match and Piper’s Pit (which wasn’t that long), only the very short women’s match is bad (and that has various other positives).

What we got here was a strong Wrestlemania, but it needed some time trimmed off to really make it great. That being said, this is still far better than the five hour monstrosities we get now. It’s a completely watchable, at times great and very important show though, meaning it feels like Wrestlemania. The streak of good Wrestlemanias continues, though the show getting longer isn’t the most encouraging sign. Check out the ladder match and Shawn vs. Angle if you have the time though as they’re worth a second look (or nineteenth look in some cases).

 

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