Smackdown
Date: December 1, 2006
Location: HSBC Arena, Buffalo, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It is the first show after Survivor Series and the big Smackdown story is Batista taking the World Title back from King Booker. That means it is time to start getting ready for Armageddon in a few weeks, so we need to set up some stuff. With so little time left before the show, we might be getting ready for the show this week. Let’s get to it.

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

Here is Teddy Long in the ring to hype up Armageddon on December 17. That sounds like a good place to announce some matches, so we’ll have Kane vs. MVP in an Inferno match and Mr. Kennedy vs. the Undertaker in a Last Ride match. That is in a few weeks though, so for now let’s bring out Batista. The new champ is rather happy to have his title back, though JBL goes on a rant about how Batista didn’t climb some mountain to become champion again. It took Batista eleven months to get the title back and now all is right with the world.

Cue King Booker and Queen Sharmell, whose ALL HAIL’s have lost some steam. Booker says it takes some nerve to stand in the ring with his title, because Batista stole it. Teddy Long helped him steal the title by changing the stipulations right before the match began. Then Batista had to cheat to win to win the title (yeah) so tonight, the rematch clause is being invoked. Batista is ready to fight now but here is Finlay to interrupt. Finlay says Booker doesn’t deserve a rematch because he hasn’t beaten him yet, so it should be Finlay vs. Batista. Teddy thinks they both have a point so let’s have a triple threat match for the title.

MNM vs. Paul London/Brian Kendrick

Non-title and Melina/Ashley are here as the seconds. As a bonus, we’re told that Ashley is next year’s Wrestlemania Playboy girl. London and Kendrick take turns knocking Nitro down to start with Kendrick coming in off the top to elbow the arm. The double dives hit MNM but Kendrick misses a high crossbody back inside. London has to make an early save so Nitro slaps on the chinlock with a bodyscissors. That’s broken up so Kendrick gets over to London for a double high crossbody. Everything breaks down and here are Dave Taylor and William Regal to jump London. That’s enough to set up the Snapshot to put London away.

Rating: C. This is a match I could go for on the bigger stage. I know London and Kendrick took the titles from MNM in the first place but they have come so far in the time since the title change that it could be a classic if they did it again. It’s kind of shame that MNM is only back for a short run, because they could give the division a much needed boost. Nitro has come a long way on his own though and I think WWE figured out his potential a long time ago.

We look at Mr. Kennedy beating Undertaker in the First Blood match at Survivor Series.

Kennedy comes up to MVP in the back and yells at him for swinging the chair. They argue over their matches at Armageddon and Kennedy calls him an idiot. Things are not quite cool here.

Smackdown World Title: King Booker vs. Finlay vs. Batista

Batista is defending and Queen Sharmell is here with Booker. Batista punches them both down to start and takes over, including a Regal Roll to Finlay. The ring is cleared of challengers and we take a break. Back with Finlay working over Batista, including the elbow to the chest. JBL: “These guys would smack their mama right now to win a World Title.” Booker gets knocked outside again and Finlay plants Batista for a close two.

The chinlock goes on for a bit, followed by some boots to Batista’s head. Finlay grabs the chinlock again but Batista fights up and hits a MuscleBuster for two. Booker comes back in to kick Batista in the back for two of his own, followed by the catapult into the bottom rope for the same. Finlay makes a save this time and it’s time for the villainous staredown. Booker gets the better of the brawl and Sharmell rakes the eyes to put Batista on the floor.

Back in and Booker gets two on Batista, meaning it’s time for the double teaming. Finlay throws Booker off for daring to cover before slapping on a chinlock. With that broken up, Finlay grabs the Shillelagh but the referee makes him put it down, as this triple threat has DQ’s. Cue the Leprechaun….but Batista stares him to the floor. Now the Shillelagh shot to the knee can get two on Batista and Finlay grabs the half crab. That’s broken up by Booker’s superkick but Finlay knocks Batista down. The spear into the Batista Bomb finishes Finlay to retain the title.

Rating: C+. Not a classic or anything but it got time and felt like a match that meant something. Giving Batista a title defense right out of the gate makes up for some of the belt shot title win and keeps open the door for Batista vs. Booker II. If nothing else, it is always cool to see the title on the line in a match with some weight so this was a nice surprise.

Post break, Booker and Finlay yell at Teddy Long, who doesn’t want to hear it. Therefore, at Armageddon, it’s Booker/Finlay vs. Batista/a partner of his choosing.

We look back at Chris Benoit retaining the US Title over Chavo Guerrero after accidentally knocking Vickie Guerrero off the apron.

Vickie and Chavo call Benoit a woman beater and swear revenge.

Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero

Non-title and Vickie Guerrero, in a neck brace, is here. Benoit knocks him down to start but gets elbowed in the face for an early two. The rolling German suplexes send Chavo outside, where he hides behind Vickie as we take a break. Back with Chavo sending him face first into the middle buckle and slapping on an abdominal stretch. That’s broken up and Benoit starts the comeback with a backdrop into a chop for two.

Chavo tries to get up top but gets superplexed right back down in a nasty landing. The Sharpshooter attempt is broken up so the Crossface sends Chavo crawling to the ropes. Back up and Benoit tries an O’Connor roll but gets kicked almost into Vickie. This time Benoit puts the brakes on and Chavo rolls him up with tights for the pin.

Rating: C. There’s your setup for the rematch and that’s all it needed to be. They even played off of Sunday’s ending here for a nice bonus. It isn’t a great match or anything but it served its purpose and the pay per view rematch should be better. Now just stop talking about Benoit being such a monster and the next match will be easier to watch.

Batista seems to have picked a partner.

Layla vs. Kristal Marshall

Layla grabs a headlock to start but an attempted hammerlock doesn’t go very far. Kristal gets sent outside but comes back in for a slam as commentary talks about Playboy. A Hennig necksnap gives Kristal two so she grabs Layla by the hair and slams her head first into the mat for the pin. This was one of the worst matches I can remember in a long time.

Batista picks John Cena.

Raw Rebound.

MVP vs. Undertaker

MVP immediately starts begging off but gets taken into the corner to start the beating. A running clothesline lets Undertaker hammer away in the corner and Old School connects (JBL: “That is completely unnatural.”). MVP kicks him in the face and the glare is on in a hurry. There’s the jumping clothesline to drop MVP again and the turnbuckle pad is ripped off.

A few rights and lefts slow Undertaker down for a bit but he is right back with a clothesline. Snake Eyes into the big boot lets Undertaker grab a chair. MVP goes to run but here is Mr. Kennedy to throw him back in….but MVP reverses and sends Kennedy inside instead. Cue Kane as I think the match has been thrown out.

Rating: C-. This was a total squash until the no contest, though it is at least a match that felt fresh. They very well could do another match between them down the line and it would be a fine way to headline one of the next two Smackdowns. What we got here was fine enough for the short form, though it does feel like it’s a match that was there to fill in time and little more.

Kane and Undertaker clean house but the threat of a double chokeslam sends the villains running to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I don’t remember the last time that they set up three major matches for the pay per view, plus a few other matches that you can see coming from here, for a pay per view in a single night. They did what they should have done with their time here and the World Title match was pretty good in its own right. Good, effective show here and it was nice to see something efficient like this one.

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ECW on Sci Fi
Date: November 28, 2006
Location: HSBC Center, Buffalo New York
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz

It’s the go home show for December To Dismember and I’ll let the screaming begin now. The show has barely been touched as we have the main event and a lone tag match set, but for some reason that seems to be all we’re getting. This show is screaming BAD IDEA more than almost any I can ever remember so let’s get to it.

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

Here is Paul Heyman, with his security, to explain how the Elimination Chamber is going to work. This one is going to be EXTREME though, because each pod will have weapons. The big new information here: what the weapons are going to be! We’ll have a chair, a crowbar, a table and a barbed wire baseball bat, all of which get a quick demonstration. Violence is promised.

Opening sequence.

Rob Van Dam vs. Sabu

Before the match, Van Dam talks about how he knows the risks in the Chamber but they are worth the reward. Sabu talks about how his scars are his sacrifices, so imagine what he would sacrifice to be champion. Van Dam rolls him up to start and monkey flips him down for two more. Sabu kicks out the knee so Rob kicks him in the face twice in a row. Rob gets crotched on top but manages to crossbody Sabu out of the air to cut off the springboard leg lariat (that was cool).

We take a break and come back with Van Dam being knocked outside where he blocks Sabu’s sunset bomb. The apron moonsault connects (kind of) and Van Dam throws him back inside for a German suplex. Sabu starts going after the knee again but misses the slingshot legdrop. Rolling Thunder connects and, after blocking a springboard tornado DDT, Van Dam nails the Five Star for the pin.

Rating: C. I mean, is anyone really buying Sabu as having a chance in the Chamber? Sabu isn’t a big star outside of the original ECW and there is no reason to buy that he is going to win the title here. Having Van Dam win here made a lot more sense and it is a good idea to give him some momentum going into the Chamber.

We recap Bobby Lashley’s debut as he jumped into the Chamber match, plus beating down Big Show last week.

Hardys vs. Elijah Burke/Sylvester Terkay

Burke sends Jeff into the corner to start so the Hardys come back with the double elbow into a flip dive from Jeff. The legdrop between the legs gets two but it’s off to Terkay to plant Jeff hard. A missed charge into the post cuts Terkay off again and the Hardys double team him down. The Twist of Fate into the Swanton finishes Terkay in a hurry (I think that’ll pretty much do it for him and the team).

Rating: D+. Just a quick match here to establish that the Hardys are still a thing. I’m not sure you need that to establish that one of the best teams ever is still a thing and I certainly don’t see the need to have Terkay take the fall, but I also don’t think they have put that much thought into anything around here. Other than that, it was a pretty simple squash and not much more.

Post match MNM runs in for the beatdown.

Clips from the December To Dismember press conference. How low level of a reporter would you have to be to draw that assignment?

CM Punk vs. Test

Test drives him into the corner to start and unloads with shots to the face. Punk comes back with forearms of his own but a clothesline cuts him off. They’re on the floor in a hurry with Punk managing to post him, only to have Test come back with a tilt-a-whirl slam for two. The chinlock doesn’t last long and there’s the shot to the face to knock Test outside. A suicide dive drops Test again and they brawl into the crowd for the double countout.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and was only supposed to be a Chamber preview. It says a lot that Test and Punk are allowed to avoid a loss while Sabu took a fall earlier tonight. The double countout makes more sense here as you don’t want someone of note taking a fall before the Chamber, which explains Sabu’s loss.

Test bails from the fight.

Paul Heyman asks Big Show why he is facing Bobby Lashley tonight. My guess is because you, the ECW boss, booked the match?

We recap the MNM beatdown from earlier.

MNM talked to the media about how awesome they are and promise to have a great one night reunion.

Kane is in See No Evil on DVD.

We run down the December To Dismember card. Usually you get a bonus match announced at this point. That isn’t the case with this show.

Another video on the Chamber.

Big Show vs. Bobby Lashley

Non-title and Paul Heyman is at ringside. In an inset promo, Show promises to retain the title on Sunday. Lashley hammers away to start but Show sends him into the corner for the big chop. Show pounds away at the ribs and superkicks Lashley down to break up the comeback bid. After standing on Lashley in the corner, Show loads up the Vader Bomb but Lashley manages a bottom rope…..I guess that’s a superplex, followed by a spear. That’s enough for Heyman, who calls in the security and Test for the DQ.

Rating: C-. Much like the previous match, this was nothing more than a way to get these people in the ring as a preview for Sunday. Lashley is probably winning the title as that is the story they have been building up, even if it might seem a bit strange given how recently he arrived. That being said, who else is supposed to get it?

Post match the beatdown is on with Lashley being destroyed, including Show covering him for a count, to end the show. They might as well have handed him the title now given how little they are hiding Sunday’s results.

Overall Rating: C. They set up the show as well as they could, but you can see the cliff coming from here. The entire pay per view is based on one match and it involves Sabu, Test, a mostly unproven CM Punk and Big Show, with Rob Van Dam and Lashley thrown in on the side. MNM vs. the Hardys will be good just because the talent is there, but egads this has all the makings of an awful pay per view.\

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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Main Event
Date: April 22, 2021
Location: Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Byron Saxton

The Wrestlemania fallout continues and that means we are on the way to Wrestlemania Backlash because now we have something else called Wrestlemania. I’m not sure how much you can expect from this show, but you can almost guarantee who you are going to see doing it. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mansoor vs. Akira Tozawa

Tozawa takes him down into a chinlock and then switches over to a headlock. That’s reversed into a cradle so they get back up and run the ropes, with Mansoor dropping down three times in a row. Tozawa eventually trips over him but is right back with a Shining Wizard for two. The backsplash gets the same and, with both of them sitting, they chop it out. It’s Tozawa getting the better of things and grabs a chinlock but Mansoor fights back up with a spinebuster. The DDT gives Mansoor two so Tozawa sends him to the apron, allowing Mansoor to come back with the slingshot neckbreaker for the pin at 5:33.

Rating: C. Just another Mansoor win here as the winning streak continues as we move towards another Saudi Arabia show. I’m not sure if it is going to be anything noteworthy in the end but Mansoor is having good enough matches against decent opponents. It would be nice if that meant something before they go overseas again, but I would be stunned if we saw that.

Quick look at Roman Reigns retaining at Wrestlemania.

From Smackdown.

Here is Roman Reigns, flanked by Jey Uso and Paul Heyman. After looking around for a bit, Reigns has Heyman explain the kind of competition he had to face. Heyman explains who Daniel Bryan and Edge are, allowing Reigns to talk about how no one is on his level. He has done everything he was asked to do and stacked up the competition to pin them both at once. With that out of the way, cut the check and fire up the jet. Reigns goes to leave but here’s Cesaro to interrupt, which gets Reigns’ attention. He leaves anyway as Cesaro stares him all the way to Wrestlemania: Backlash.

From Smackdown.

Cesaro vs. Jey Uso

Uso sends him into the ropes to start but Cesaro gets in a quick slam to take over. Cesaro takes him to the apron and goes after Cesaro’s hand but gets knocked to the floor. The dive off of the apron drops Uso and we take a break. We come back with Uso work working on the arm to try and keep Cesaro down. Uso goes up but gets caught with a dropkick.

A gutwrench superplex gives Cesaro two and he cartwheels out of an armdrag. Cesaro nails a springboard uppercut and McAfee is rather impressed. Uso is back with a pop up neckbreaker for two but Cesaro nails a discus lariat. The Swing goes on but here is Seth Rollins to jump Cesaro for the DQ at 11:10.

Rating: C+. Good enough while it lasted but they telegraphed the ending the entire night with the UFO clip. That isn’t a terrible thing, but it also didn’t give us the most drama. Cesaro is looking primed for a one off shot against Reigns, but it also might be better to have him beat Rollins again first. Reigns isn’t going to lose to Cesaro, so building him up a bit more first is a good way to make Wrestlemania not seem like a fluke.

Post match Rollins lays him out and shouts that Cesaro got lucky. The sooner Cesaro figures that out, the better it is for him.

Quick look at Drew McIntyre winning a triple threat to become the new #1 contender to Bobby Lashley but getting laid out by Mace and T-Bar.

From Raw.

Here is Drew McIntyre to get things going. We get a recap of him winning a triple threat match last week to become #1 contender to Bobby Lashley. After the win, he was attacked by Mace and T-Bar, with MVP looking on in approval. With the recap of last week out of the way, McIntyre recaps last week. McIntyre gets to Mace and T-Bar, but he doesn’t believe that they are the masterminds here. That would be MVP, which has McIntyre wondering if Mace and T-Bar are going to start wearing those nice suits.

Cue MVP, who implies he didn’t know anything about it, causing Drew to mock him for suggesting he didn’t know anything about it. MVP says Lashley is expecting McIntyre to be a worthy challenger at Wrestlemania Backlash. As for Mace and T-Bar, Lashley recently decided to downsize the Hurt Business, so why would he need those two after he already beat McIntyre at Wrestlemania? Mace and T-Bar have ZERO affiliation with the Hurt Business. McIntyre doesn’t seem to buy it but here are Mace and T-Bar to jump him again. The double sitout chokeslam drops McIntyre and the two walk past MVP, who doesn’t really respond.

From Raw.

Drew McIntyre vs. Mace/T-Bar

No partner for McIntyre, who charges at T-Bar and hammers away to start. A kick to the face sets up a battle over a suplex with McIntyre pulling it off for two. MVP is watching in the back as Mace comes in to unload on McIntyre in the corner. Some running knees put McIntyre down and we hit the chinlock….and go to a wide shot to show off the Thunderdome for some reason (ala Vince McMahon in the mid 90s pay per views). Mace suplexes him for two but McIntyre hits T-Bar with a spinebuster for two. The Glasgow Kiss slows T-Bar down but Mace’s distraction lets the double teaming begin. The referee throws it out at 5:57.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go very far but at least Mace and T-Bar didn’t get pinned right out of the box. It isn’t a win, but they lost because they were beating McIntyre up instead of a result of the opposite. I’m still curious about where this goes, though I have next to no confidence in it going anywhere positive for them in the long term.

Immediately after the bell, here’s Braun Strowman to clear off not Retribution. Load up the tag match.

Braun Strowman/Drew McIntyre vs. T-Bar/Mace

Yeah you knew it was coming as soon as the music hit. Strowman powers out of a headlock to start and then runs Mace over with a shoulder. Drew certainly likes that and Braun forearms Mace down. T-Bar comes in and is pounded down into the corner as well. A Mace distraction lets T-Bar get in a chop block though and we hit the reverse chinlock.

T-Bar knees him in the back and grabs another chinlock but Strowman backdrops his way to freedom. The hot tag brings in McIntyre to pick up the pace, including an overhead belly to belly to Mace. There’s a jumping neckbreaker into McIntyre’s nip up….and there goes Mace’s mask. Commentary doesn’t seem to recognize him as a former member of their family, even as McIntyre hits him with the mask for the DQ at 5:24.

Rating: C-. Just a tag match here but losing the mask might get rid of a little bit of the Retribution stigma. Again, this is better than the team getting pinned, though it still isn’t exactly the best way to make them seem like big stars either. They went with another tag formula match here and that was fine, though it would be nice to see Mace and T-Bar pin someone. Like, ever.

Post match Strowman rips off T-Bar’s mask and knocks him outside as well. The start of non Retribution’s theme sounds like Neville’s NXT music.

Stills of Bianca Belair winning the Smackdown Women’s Title at Wrestlemania.

From Smackdown.

Here are the Street Profits to take part in Bianca Belair’s championship celebration. Back from a break with the Profits talking about how Wrestlemania was a night to remember but there was one match that stood out about the others. We get a video on Belair beating Sasha Banks to win the SmackDown Women’s Title, including the media attention that followed. Montez Ford talks about how special that was and brings out Belair to for the big presentation as champion.

Belair takes her time soaking in a loud EST chant and says she can’t believe she got here. If you told her she would be here with this title….well she probably would have said yes, because that is who she is. You should never apologize for being the b-e-s-t because if you can dream it, you can do it. Then there is Sasha Banks, who pushed her like no one ever has and both of them made history. They both did, but Belair is the champ. The title is for everyone who believed in her and they are just getting started creating history. They all hug but Belair tells Ford to get back to business, because it’s time to get some more gold.

Lince Dorado vs. Drew Gulak

Gran Metalik is here with Lince. They go to the mat to start and get nowhere so let’s have a standoff instead. Gulak takes him down by the leg and grabs a hammerlock. That’s broken up so Gulak takes him down into a chinlock instead. Dorado is back up again and snaps off a running hurricanrana so Gulak plants him with a side slam.

We take a break and come back with commentary explaining that there is a wager on the match: if Gulak wins, he gets $1000 but if he loses, he has to wash the House Party’s laundry. I’m not sure if I should be more amazed by there being an actual angle or by commentary forgetting to mention that until a few minutes into the match.

Anyway, Gulak hits a sitout powerbomb for two and we’re back in the chinlock. Dorado fights up and gets two off a backslide, followed by a Lionsault press for two more. There’s a faceplant for the third two in a row but Gulak electric chair faceplants him into something like an STF. With that broken up, Dorado hits a superkick into the shooting star press for the pin at 10:46.

Rating: C+. Good stuff here, which shouldn’t be surprising. Ignoring the match though, while it was a low level idea, just having SOMETHING on this match made it feel more important. I can’t imagine this took more than ten seconds to put together and if they throw in a quick vignette or promo to pay it off next week, great. I can’t imagine it is that hard to ask the wrestlers to come up with some idea like this one and it at least made the match feel a tiny bit important. No it probably won’t last but I’ll take it.

We recap Charlotte’s return, followed by her costing Asuka a title shot against Rhea Ripley.

From Raw.

Here is Charlotte for a chat. She is tired of the lack of respect from the women’s locker room. Wrestlemania was taken away from her and that just wasn’t fair. She can beat Asuka and Rhea Ripley on the same night, so tonight Asuka is getting taken out as Ripley sees what Charlotte can do.

Cue Asuka and Ripley, with the latter being willing to take Charlotte up on her offer, even though Asuka is beating her tonight. Asuka goes to say something but Charlotte cuts her off and condescendingly reminds her of the Wrestlemania match. Asuka promises to beat her tonight, “b****”. I would pay a good bit of money to come up with any new way to present Charlotte other than the “I’m better than all of you” heel.

And From Raw.

Asuka vs. Charlotte

Rhea Ripley comes out to watch as Charlotte grabs a headlock. They fall out to the floor in a heap though and it’s off to an early break. Back with Charlotte hammering away but Asuka scores with a knee to the face. A Shining Wizard (leg kick according to Virk, as the completely understandable learning curve continues) drops Charlotte but what looked like a Codebreaker completely misses. Thankfully commentary doesn’t try to hide it as they slug it out from their knees.

Charlotte is up with a spear for two and then heads to the apron. Asuka’s kick to the ribs is blocked and Charlotte wrenches on the knee as long as she can. Back in and the Asuka Lock sends Charlotte to the ropes so she takes Asuka’s bad leg out again. The Figure Eight goes on but Ripley breaks it up, meaning the fight is on. Asuka kicks Charlotte in the arm and crucifixes her for the pin at 9:16, though Charlotte’s shoulder was a bit off the mat.

Rating: C+. I know Charlotte loses here and it seems to set up Asuka vs. Ripley II, but come on. You know Charlotte is getting in that title match because that is what Charlotte does almost every single time. It’s going to happen no matter what and it wouldn’t shock me to see her win the title again. I would certainly hope not, but it isn’t like it would be unprecedented.

Post match Charlotte yells at the referee and beats him down, even continuing as other referees come out to yell at her.

Overall Rating: C+. I liked the original stuff more than usual (because it had a little bonus for the first time in….well years) but the rest of the show just brought up how dull Raw has been. The big Charlotte features at the end were hard to watch and the only saving grace is that it isn’t Mandy Rose/Dana Brooke vs. Nia Jax. Reigns and Cesaro could be interesting though and that alone puts Smackdown above Raw. It’s a bad time in WWE right now, and given that Wrestlemania was less than two weeks ago, that should be rather scary.

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: November 27, 2006
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re done with Survivor Series and we’ll close out November on Raw with this one. There weren’t many changes coming out of last night for the red show as the good guys dominated the elimination tags. The most significant change might be Mickie James defeating the retiring Lita to win the Women’s Title. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here is Ric Flair to get things going (with JR saying he went 2-0 last night, which I don’t quite get). Flair talks about how he shouldn’t be out here, as even though he won, he got beaten up by a bunch of male cheerleaders. This is ending tonight, so Flair has challenged the Spirit Squad to come face him right now, because he has partners with him. Before we find out who they might be, here is the Spirit Squad to call him the Nature Toy and mock Flair’s robe. Well in theory at least as they spent a good bit of the cheer adjusting the microphone. Cue Flair’s partners and we have a handicap match.

D-Generation X/Ric Flair vs. Spirit Squad

Before the match, HHH says he’s not ready because he’s sick of the Spirit Squad. If the Squad loses tonight, HHH promises that they’re gone. The Squad is cleared out to start so HHH stomps on Mikey in the corner, setting up a running clothesline. Flair comes in for the backdrop and, after very little from Shawn, it’s back to Flair for a shoulder. Kenny gets in a cheap shot from the apron and everything breaks down to far less of a reaction than you might have expected.

The Squad is cleared out again and Shawn adds the flip dive to take them down again. A triple strut takes us to a break and we come back with Shawn belly to back suplexing Johnny but Nicky comes in to cut off a tag attempt. Kenny slams Shawn and hits some clotheslines before talking a lot of trash. Mitch’s suplex gives Kenny two but Mikey’s splash off of Kenny’s shoulders from the middle rope only hits mat. HHH comes in and starts cleaning house as everything breaks down. Triple Figure Fours finish the Squad off.

Rating: D+. This is about as fitting of a loss as you could have had for the Squad as they were dismantled with DX and Flair never even breaking a serious sweat. The team has been little more than a bunch of goons since their debut, even including their Tag Team Title reign. Not a terrible match, but it was the same beatdown of the team that we’ve seen time after time.

The Hardys are back together tonight and getting a Tag Team Title shot against Rated-RKO so here are some home movies of them wrestling as kids.

During a break, HHH grabbed the sledgehammer and chased the Spirit Squad to the back.

Post break, DX throws most of the Spirit Squad into a crate and slapped a “DESTINATION: OVW, LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY” on the side. They’re also shipping it OPS because the other guys are too expensive. Just make sure it gets there in the next 3-4 weeks and there is no point in insuring it because the content isn’t worth a thing. Shawn signs for the delivery as Mr. McMahon.

Mock tears are shed, though I mainly feel bad for the Squad. They put in the effort and became stars in OVW but they were saddled with this dead end gimmick. That’s on the company/creative instead of the wrestlers, but other than Nicky, none of them were ever able to become stars on their own. It’s also why Jim Cornette didn’t forgive WWE for how they treated OVW for several years and in this case, I can’t blame him. Why bother with developmental if this is what you’re going to do with them?

The Hardys have issued an open challenge for December To Dismember so MNM has reunited and accepted. That could be good, though it is only the second match set for the card.

Battle Royal

Victoria, Maria, Melina, Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson

The winner gets a shot at Mickie James, on commentary. Most of them get their own entrance and Mickie is almost stunned at how close Melina is at falling out of her top. We start with the awkward brawling until Victoria clotheslines Torrie and Candice down. Mickie talks about how she would love to face any of them as Victoria turns on Melina and tosses her out. As Lawler talks about how he would like to have Maria’s legs wrapped around him, Victoria dumps Torrie and then Maria. Victoria survives a Candice elimination attempt and then knees her hard in the face for the win and the title shot. This was Victoria dominating throughout.

Post match we get the staredown so Victoria gives Candice a Widow’s Peak for the proverbial message.

We see the Hardys’ debut on the September 27, 1998 Sunday Night Heat. That’s not exactly their debut in the company, but it was their first match where they were treated as a team that mattered.

Eugene vs. Jim Duggan

JR and King reference a recap before the match that is nowhere to be seen. Eugene hides behind the referee and then slaps Duggan in the face, earning himself some right hands. Duggan returns the slap and starts the USA chant so Eugene bails to the floor. That makes Duggan reach out for him and gets sent head first into the post for his efforts. A neckbreaker gives Eugene the pin.

Post match Eugene demands that we don’t make fun of him because he’s special. Egads this is going to be a rough one.

DX comes up to Dusty Rhodes and Arn Anderson in the back. Dusty knows they don’t respect anyone but what they did for Flair was cool. Shawn says there is a big party planned for Flair tonight, complete with ginger ale, soda, chips, dip and, as a surprise, A KARAOKE MACHINE! DX leaves but HHH comes back to promise the two of them “booze and broads”. Ron Simmons comes in and they’re off to the party.

This Week In Wrestling History: the Test and Stephanie McMahon wedding, which really was kind of awesome. Completely insane and doesn’t quite make sense, but awesome.

Here is Edge for the Cutting Edge. He congratulates DX on beating the Spirit Squad for the millionth time, but it pales in comparison to the amount of times he has beaten up the Hardy Boyz. Tonight he’s doing it again and dedicating it to Lita, the greatest Women’s Champion of all time. For now though, let’s bring out his special guest….and no one is here.

Edge complains a lot so here is Randy Orton next to the stage. He wants Edge to come up here and confirm the guest so Edge heads up to the stage….and drags out a very bloody Ric Flair. Edge says DX should be here making a save but they’re too scared to do anything. Therefore, here’s a pair of Conchairtos to destroy Flair again. There is a long DVD set of times where Flair was taken out just like this.

Kane does things in See No Evil, on DVD this week.

Flair was taken out on a stretcher during the break.

Jerry Lawler vs. Chris Masters

Can’t grieve over Flair for…well about five minutes I guess. Masters takes him down to start as we get what sounds like a chant about being off steroids. A bearhug has Lawler in trouble so he bites the nose to escape. There’s a dropkick into three straight middle rope fist drops (and you thought Flair had it rough). Somehow Masters survives and drops Lawler with a right hand, setting up a suplex. Lawler is back up with the jabs to the face but the Masterlock goes on. Cue Carlito though and the apple being spat in the eyes lets Lawler grab a rollup for the pin.

Rating: D. I’m not sure where to start here, which is not something I would have bet on after a four minute Lawler vs. Masters match. So not only does Lawler survive in the Masterlock without a minute (and doesn’t even go off his feet) but the referee just sits there while Carlito spits apple in Masters’ face? This was a total mess and that shouldn’t be the case in such a simple match.

More Classic Hardys: the first ladder match against Edge and Christian. Yeah that qualifies.

Here are Umaga and Armando Alejandro Estrada for a chat. We see a clip of Umaga’s dominate at Survivor Series, followed by Estrada talking about everyone Umaga has beaten. Therefore, it is time for Umaga to become the new WWE Champion. Estrada puts John Cena on notice so here is Cena in person. The challenge is accepted and the long form staredown is on until Umaga bails.

JR and King show us a clip parodying the Michael Richards stand up incident (Richards was doing a comedy set and went into a crazed racist rant, shouting a variety of N words). Then Cryme Tyme shows up and steals his wallet and does their own joke. This was even dumber than it sounds.

Edge comes up to Jeff Hardy to tell him how much Matt Hardy is dragging him down. Jeff says the only thing that is going to be dragging him down is all the gold. Randy Orton and Matt come up for the staredown.

Tag Team Titles: Hardys vs. Rated-RKO

Rated-RKO is defending. Matt works on Orton’s arm to start before handing it off to Jeff. That works better with Orton, who forearms him in the back and brings in Edge. Stomping ensues but a double backdrop is countered into a double DDT. The hot tag brings in Matt but Orton catches him on top. Matt knocks him down but misses the moonsault, allowing Edge to hit the spear for two as we take a break.

Back with Edge holding a rear naked choke, followed by a flapjack for another near fall. Matt slugs his way to near freedom until a drop toehold pulls him down. Orton drops a knee and we hit the chinlock with a bodyscissors. Matt knocks Edge down again but Orton cuts off another tag attempt.

A belly to back suplex doesn’t work though as Matt flips out and dives over for the hot tag to Jeff. Everything breaks down and a Whisper in the Wind sets up a double Side Effect for two on Orton. The Twist of Fate sets up the Swanton but Edge comes in with the belt for the lame DQ.

Rating: C+. The ending hurt it a good bit but what we got worked out well enough. The Hardys vs. Edge/anyone feels like an important match and it helps that both teams can do their thing rather well. We got a good match here and while I could have gone for a better ending, they didn’t have much of a choice here as you don’t want the Hardys losing or a title change. At least it felt big.

The big beatdown leaves the Hardys laying to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. The main event helped a bit but the rest of the show was pretty awful. Flair getting taken out worked but you had a bunch of stuff here that felt like little more than filler. You had a five person battle royal, a Jim Duggan match and a Michael Richards parody. If that’s the best that they have at the moment, we could be in for a very long end of the year.

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Roadblock: End of the Line
Date: December 18, 2016
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves

We’ll wrap up the pay per view calendar with this show, our third pay per view in about a month. This isn’t the hottest card in the world with a fairly lame main event of United States Champion Roman Reigns challenging Kevin Owens for the Universal Title. There’s also an Iron Man match as Sasha Banks defends the Women’s Title against Charlotte. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Rusev vs. Big Cass

This is over Big Cass defending Enzo Amore, who tried to sleep with Rusev’s life. Before the match, Enzo says something about Lana owing him money and Rusev playing Jumanji in the hotel room. Enzo puts on a red nose and Cass lists off the eight reindeer. Cass kicks Rusev in the face and we take a break less than thirty seconds in.

Back with Cass hammering away and dropping the Empire Elbow for no cover. They head outside Rusev taking him out into the crowd, leaving Enzo to go after Lana. Rusev defends his wife while Cass checks on Enzo, leaving Rusev to beat the count at 4:33. Not enough for a rating but this was rematch bait.

The opening video has a police chase theme with the idea being that everything ends at the end of the line.

Tag Team Titles: New Day vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

New Day is defending. Big E. is confused about what the show is called because he thinks it’s a rather different, very un-PG kind of blocking. I’ll let you figure out what the joke there is. Woods suggests that the challengers should be called Swing Low Irish Chariot. Cesaro dropkicks Kofi at the bell for two and it’s already time for the uppercut train. It’s too early for the Swing so Sheamus clotheslines Kofi instead.

The slingshot shoulder gets two on Kingston and Swiss Death is good for the same. This has been completely one sided so far. Kofi breaks up the ten forearms and brings in Big E. for the spear off the apron. The Warrior Splash gets two on Sheamus and everything breaks down. Sheamus kicks Cesaro by mistake and Woods kicks Cesaro by design, setting up the Big Ending for a very close two.

The Midnight Hour is broken up and Big E. gets the Brogue Kick. Cesaro Swings Kofi into the Sharpshooter for the submission….but Woods has the referee. Cesaro lifts Kofi up into a suplex and rolls into the Neutralizer for two with Big E. making the save this time. That was some scary power, as is always the case with Cesaro.

Woods sacrifices himself to take the Brogue Kick and the SOS gets two on Sheamus. Cesaro comes in without a tag (though Sheamus was right next to him), meaning Kofi kicks Cesaro for no count. Instead Sheamus sneaks in and rolls Kofi up for the pin and the titles at 10:00.

Rating: B-. The ending was really good but I have no interest in Sheamus and Cesaro holding the belts. It’s more than fine to take them off New Day now but you really couldn’t do this at the Rumble against Enzo and Cass or ANYONE that might draw some interest? People didn’t care about Cesaro and Sheamus at first and I doubt they will now, but this was going to happen no matter what.

New Day gets the big show of respect and we get the battle for the spotlight from the new champs.

Kevin Owens doesn’t care about New Day because that will never happen to him. After insulting the interviewer, Owens flags down Chris Jericho and gives him a present. Jericho isn’t impressed with his holiday scarf.

Sami Zayn vs. Braun Strowman

Ten minute time limit as Raw GM Mick Foley is scared for Sami’s health. The ring announcer says Sami must last ten minutes though, which makes things a bit unclear. So can Sami not even go for wins? Sami dodges for the first thirty seconds and Braun no sells a chop. Braun gets his hands on Sami for a big toss and kicks him in the ribs for good measure.

We’re down to eight minutes as Sami knocks Braun over the top, only to have Strowman come back in and hammer away with ease. The referee starts to check on Sami with about six minutes to go but Zayn wants to keep going. Braun lets Sami stumble around as we get down to five minutes. Some very hard clotheslines take us to four minutes and here’s Foley with a white towel.

Sami is thrown down at Mick’s feet and Braun goes outside to talk trash. Zayn grabs the towel and throws it into the crowd with two minutes left. Strowman promises to finish this himself but misses a charge into the post. Another missed charge sends Braun through the barricade but Strowman beats the count with 47 seconds left. A third missed charge hits the post and Sami gets two off a high crossbody. Sami is knocked to the floor but comes back in for the Helluva Kick as time ends at 10:00 (really 10:12).

Rating: D+. Corey sums it up perfectly: Sami didn’t win anything here. He just didn’t get killed. This really belonged as an angle on Raw to set up the pay per view match instead of being the match itself. Sami hitting his finisher (which didn’t knock Braun down) to end the match was a nice touch but I really have no idea where this goes outside of Braun beating Sami in another match.

Package on the UK tournament.

We recap Chris Jericho vs. Seth Rollins. Jericho lost to Rollins several times but then started costing Rollins matches against Owens. This earned Jericho a Pedigree on top of a car and that means a match.

Seth Rollins vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho headlocks him to start and does the Gift of Jericho pose. Chris stops him with a raised boot and the missile dropkick gets two. A rake of the eyes slows Rollins down (he even makes like he can’t see for a bit, which you almost never see anymore) but he’s easily able to catapult Jericho into the buckle.

Jericho gets in a clothesline and we hit the ASK HIM chinlock. Back up and Rollins fires off some right hands followed by the Slingblade. A Blockbuster gets two and Jericho gets shoved out to the floor. Rollins’ springboard knee is countered into the Walls which last about as long as you would expect them to. Now the Lionsault is good for two and Seth’s Falcon’s Arrow gets the same.

Rollins tries the Pedigree but Jericho powers out and gets in a hurricanrana, which transitions into the Walls. Seth counters that with a small package for two, followed by the frog splash. Cue Owens for a distraction, just as Jericho grabs a small package. The Pedigree is countered again but Jericho stops to yell at Owens, allowing Seth to get in the jumping knee. Rollins gets the Pedigree for the pin at 17:12.

Rating: B+. I really liked this one as Jericho’s roll continues. You can almost pencil in Jericho vs. Owens for the Rumble and that story is going to write itself very well. Rollins getting the pin makes sense and maybe we can FINALLY do the blowoff between him and HHH so Rollins can move on with his career.

Pre-show recap. Cass vs. Rusev II is set for tomorrow night.

Cruiserweight Title: Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins vs. Rich Swann

Swann is defending and Austin Aries is sitting in on commentary. One heck of a forearm puts Kendrick on the floor, leaving Perkins to take the champ down. Swann hurricanranas both guys down at the same time (Aries: “I’ve done it before.”) but gets caught in the Captain’s Hook.

Perkins makes the save with the kneebar but Swann makes a save of his own. Cole: “Who is the favorite now?” Aries: “I would be if I was in there.” Kendrick gets tossed and Perkins slaps on another kneebar, sending Swann to the ropes. That’s not a break in a triple threat but Perkins lets go anyway. Back up and Swann kicks Perkins in the head to retain at 5:59.

Rating: D+. Can we please, please, PLEASE get Aries anything he wants? He was by far and away the most interesting thing about this match as he just commands respect and I completely buy him as the greatest cruiserweight of all time. I mean, I know he’s not but he gives you the belief that he is and that’s what matters.

Post match Neville makes his return to celebrate with Swann before turning heel (!) and destroying all three. Fans: “THANK YOU NEVILLE!” I can totally go for this, though the idea that Neville weighs under 205lbs is downright laughable.

Owens goes to Jericho’s locker room but Chris won’t let him in. Kevin tells him to put his name on the list but Jericho still doesn’t open the door. That hurts Owens’ feelings and he walks away.

Recap of Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte. They’ve traded the title for months and this is the final match.

Women’s Title: Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

Banks is defending and this is a thirty minute iron man match, though JoJo says the winner is the woman with the most pinfalls. I’m going to assume that’s an error because nothing like that was ever mentioned before. Feeling out process to start and they hit the mat for the first two minutes. Banks headlocks her down and things stay slow to start. Some chops have Charlotte in more trouble but it’s too early for the Banks Statement.

Another attempt fails just as much so Banks opts for a dropkick instead. Banks: “Your daddy loves me more!” Sasha wraps her up in something like a rear naked choke but Charlotte drops her back onto the mat for two. Charlotte heads outside and takes the double knees as we hit eight minutes in. A cross arm choke has Charlotte in more trouble but she doesn’t tap out as we get to ten minutes.

Sasha throws her outside for a suicide crossbody, only to be tripped face first into the steps in a bad looking crash. We’re twelve minutes in now as the referee slows things down a bit to check on Sasha. Three straight knees get two on the champ but another one misses to give Sasha a breather. Charlotte does the figure four headscissors and we’re at the halfway mark.

Something like a neckbreaker onto the knee gets two on Sasha and Charlotte seems to be getting frustrated. Natural Selection connects for two but Banks can’t get the Bank Statement. Instead Charlotte is put on top, only to come back with a super Natural Selection for the first fall with 10:45 to go.

Charlotte talks a lot of trash but can’t get another fall as we hit nine minutes left. Banks goes to the air and spins into a rollup for the tie with 8:43 to go. That means Charlotte needs to get aggressive, only to have Sasha grab the Bank Statement for the tap out with six minutes left. Charlotte gets smart by draping the knee over the middle rope and crashing down onto it as the clock keeps ticking.

Some cannonballs down onto the knee set up a leglock as we’ve got three minutes left. A not great Figure Four goes on with two minutes left and Sasha is in big trouble. The hold is turned over a few times until Sasha gets caught in the middle of the ring. We’re down to thirty seconds left and Banks screams a lot. Charlotte FINALLY turns it into the Figure Eight and Banks taps with two seconds left, meaning it’s a draw at 30:00.

This is the END OF THE LINE though so let’s do sudden death. Charlotte gets in a shot at the bad leg before the bell rings and a small package gets two for the champ seconds into the extra period. The Bank Statement goes on but Charlotte grabs the bad leg to break the hold. It’s turned into a Figure Four and Sasha (with a bloody mouth) taps to the Figure Eight at 2:58 of overtime.

Rating: B. Well that happened. I’m completely out of things to talk about with these two trading the title because WWE has no concept of how to wrap up a feud in an appropriate manner. Charlotte winning is fine, though the question now is who challenges her next. I know the obvious answer is Bayley, but do you trust them to do something that logical?

We recap Owens vs. Reigns. Roman beat him a few weeks ago to earn another shot here tonight but the big story is about the drama between Jericho and Owens.

Universal Title: Kevin Owens vs. Roman Reigns

Owens is defending and I’ll only refer to him as champion for the sake of simplicity. Kevin quickly bails to the floor but gets punched in the mouth for his efforts. Something like a spinebuster gets two for Reigns but the threat of a jumping clothesline sends Owens outside. The champ takes over on the floor and hits the backsplash off the steps, followed by the chinlock back inside.

Owens wants to know why Reigns didn’t put his title on the line but suspects it’s a lack of testicular fortitude. A standing flip legdrop of all things gets two on Roman and it’s back to the chinlock. Reigns finally powers out and drives Owens into the corner, only to have the champ throw him down with a German suplex. The Superman Punch is countered into a DDT for two more.

Reigns no sells the Cannonball and hits the Superman Punch for two of his own and both guys are down. Owens goes up top and gets Superman Punched again but still manages to grab the swinging superplex. A Swanton Bomb hits Roman’s raised knees and it’s spear time. It might be the big scream before the spear but somehow Owens knows to bail to the floor. Reigns gets suckered in and a splash off the apron onto the announcers’ table doesn’t break the table.

The second attempt works though and Reigns’ ribs are hurt again. Reigns dives in at nine so Owens bolts to the top for another frog splash and the accompanying near fall. Roman’s sitout powerbomb and Owens’ Pop Up Powerbomb get two each and the champ doesn’t know what to do. He goes outside for the title belt, earning himself a spear as he comes back inside. Cue Jericho, who looks back and forth at both guy. A Codebreaker to Owens draws the DQ at 23:33.

Rating: B. Good, though the waiting for Jericho took a little away from it. Unfortunately this shows the problem with Reigns being US Champion coming into this match: what good does it do to tie the title up in this match with no challenger for the title in sight? Yeah Owens vs. Jericho will be fine but sweet goodness enough with the champion vs. champion nonsense.

Jericho raises Owens’ hand because IT WAS A SWERVE to end the show. Uh, couldn’t he just tap Reigns and get the same result? Rollins comes out and helps with the beatdown, including a DoubleBomb to put Jericho through the table. Owens goes through the announcers’ table to end the show to almost no reaction.

Overall Rating: B+. I liked this a lot more than I thought I would but it’s a great example of a show I’m never going to watch again. Other than Charlotte getting the title back like we’ve seen before, nothing was really interesting here, though I can always go for a night of good wrestling. That being said, they really, REALLY need something fresh in the main event scene on Raw because “oh wait they’re still best friends who get beaten up by the Shield guys” was tired a month ago.

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: April 26, 2021
Location: Yuengling Center, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Adnan Virk, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re getting closer to Wrestlemania Backlash and we need a lot of the card set up. I’m not sure what we are going to have added tonight, but odds are we are going to get more of T-Bar/Mace attacking Drew McIntyre as we wait to find out what is going on. Other than that, probably a lot more of the same. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of Drew McIntyre/Braun Strowman vs. Mace/T-Bar last week, with the latter two losing their masks.

Mace/T-Bar vs. Drew McIntyre/Braun Strowman

Before the match, we get an inset promo from Mace/T-Bar, still unmasked but with some streaks painted on their faces, promising to take care of McIntyre/Strowman. In the back, McIntyre and Strowman yell at each other over who is in charge (ignore the production worker walking through the back and dropping down because he isn’t supposed to be in the shot). Strowman says he’s going to show McIntyre how to do this himself so we’ll do that instead.

Mace/T-Bar vs. Braun Strowman

T-Bar is in regular trunks. Strowman throws T-Bar around to start and powers him into the corner but Mace comes in for a running side kick. A fairly awkward exchange of strikes sees Strowman knocked down into the corner and the double stomping begins…and ends the match via DQ at 2:58. Mace looked especially awkward with his timing, but what would you expect against Strowman?

Post match here is McIntyre for the save and house is cleaned in a hurry. Drew asks Strowman for a thank you and we take a break.

Mace/T-Bar vs. Drew McIntyre/Braun Strowman

Joined in progress with T-Bar fighting out of the Futureshock and slapping McIntyre in the face. The Glasgow Kiss gives McIntyre two and it’s off to Mace to power McIntyre down by the arm. Everything breaks down in a hurry and Strowman sends both of them outside for the Strowman Express (now minus noise). Strowman knocks McIntyre over the barricade by mistake though and that’s a countout to give Mace/T-Bar the win at 4:23.

Rating: D+. I like Mace and T-Bar as a regular team without the Retribution factor, but I could go with something other than them being pawns in McIntyre vs. Strowman’s side feud. At least they have better looking gear and have dropped the masks. Now if they could get some better names (like, say, Dominik Dijak and Dio Maddin), they might get somewhere. It isn’t like the tag division is awash with teams at the moment.

Post match Strowman powerslams McIntyre and shouts about that being how McIntyre repays him for last week.

Post break, McIntyre demands and receives a match with Strowman tonight.

It’s time for MizTV with John Morrison back. After plugging his various things, Miz introduces Elias, with Jaxson Ryker as his guests. Miz takes credit for Bad Bunny selling out his 2022 world tour in record time but they didn’t even get tickets. They are the real musicians though and that means it is time for Hey Hey Hop Hop Unplugged.

After a verse or two (allowing me to understand more of it than ever), the lights go out and we have an interruption. He has a surprise of his own, so here is New Day, with Xavier Woods carrying a very large guitar case. Inside though are…..rotten tomatoes, with the flying fruits taking down all four villains. In short, this was dumb.

New Day/Damian Priest vs. Jaxson Ryker/Elias/Miz

Ryker takes Woods down to start so it’s quickly off to Elias. A shot to the face has Woods in more trouble and Miz comes in, only to get beaten down in a hurry. The good guys take turns kicking and elbowing Miz down, so we’re off to Ryker vs. Priest for the power battle. Priest knocks him out to the floor so it’s Elias coming back in and getting taken down, followed by a leg sweep to Miz. House is cleaned and a trombone concert….actually doesn’t take us to a break.

Instead it’s Kofi with a high crossbody for two on Elias, meaning Ryker comes back in. Elias breaks up something else off the top though and Miz kicks Kofi down as we take a break. We come back with Kofi still in trouble and Morrison getting in a tomato to the face. Elias adds a chinlock, followed by a clothesline to drop Kofi again. Ryker grabs his own chinlock before handing it back to Miz for the IT Kicks. Kofi finally manages to knock him down and hands it off to Priest (as Woods is missing for some reason).

House is cleaned but Elias escapes the Broken Arrow. He can’t escape a clothesline from Priest for two and the good looking top rope spinwheel kick connects for the same with Miz making the save. Miz gets caught in the Broken Arrow as Woods is back up to come in, only to be kneed out of the air by Elias. Priest is already back in to hold Ryker for Kofi’s missile dropkick and a forearm puts Miz on the floor, setting up the dive.. Kofi pulls Elias off the top and Woods small packages Ryker for the pin at 16:50.

Rating: C-. This was rather long and not that interesting, though what else were you expecting with Elias and Ryker in there? Priest continues to be the guy with the other people and that isn’t exactly a thrilling place for him. I’m curious to see what he can do on his own, but at least he is getting to do his cool stuff and isn’t getting pinned to promote a reality show.

Smackdown’s Sonya Deville is here and….lets Charlotte in. I’m surprised it took her this long to be back.

Post break here is Deville in the ring to introduce Charlotte (who was suspended last week). The referee that Charlotte attacked last week is here too and we see a clip of the beatdown. Charlotte apologizes, which is enough for Sonya. She thinks the suspension was a little hasty so we’ll just forget about it. Charlotte has the referee apologize to her (Charlotte: “Good boy.”) and she will be wrestling again tonight with this referee calling the match. Sonya and Charlotte head to the back and run into an angry Adam Pearce, who doesn’t buy Charlotte’s apology.

Post break, Braun Strowman comes in to see Pearce and talks about how he didn’t lose the triple threat #1 contenders match. That means that if he beats Drew tonight, the Backlash match should be a triple threat, which works for Pearce. Of note: Strowman said every WWE buzzword, including saying that he was still in contention for a WWE Championship opportunity at WWE Wrestlemania Backlash. NO ONE TALKS LIKE THIS!

Here’s Sheamus to say how much he enjoyed last week’s open challenge where he beat down Humberto Carrillo. He liked it so much that we can have another open challenge, but not for the title. Cue Carrillo, with Sheamus saying he can’t believe this guy is trying again. Sheamus jumps him again and beats Carrillo down, but some shouting at commentary lets Carrillo gets in a few shots of his own. Some dropkicks put Sheamus on the floor and a suicide dive knocks him over the announcers’ table. Sheamus is furious as Carrillo leaves.

MVP doesn’t like jumping to a conclusion about Braun Strowman being added to anything. Tonight, he and Bobby Lashley have some grievances to address.

Rhea Ripley is glad Charlotte is back, but it was fun watching her lose so much money.

Here are Bobby Lashley and MVP for a chat. Lashley is not happy with Drew McIntyre being back like gum on the bottom of his shoe, but now he’ll beat McIntyre AGAIN. Then there is the chance that it could be made a triple threat match, which offends MVP because that’s how Lashley lost the US Title without being beaten. Tonight is important, so Lashley will be watching the main event in person. Perfectly fine promos here.

We look at Riddle beating Randy Orton last week.

Riddle, on his scooter, says he’s on cloud 12 after last week. He isn’t sure what an apex predator is, but he knows that Orton is a viper. Last week, Riddle beat him like a sexy mongoose, but here is Orton to interrupt. Orton: “I don’t know what planet you’re from.” Riddle: “I’m from earth.” Orton: “Shut up.”

Orton says they don’t have much in common (Riddle: “We’re both from earth.”) but he likes the idea of the RKBro team. They have a tag match scheduled for tonight, if Riddle wants it. Riddle is in and thinks they should get matching snakeskin Speedos. Orton shushes him and if it goes well, maybe they can have a chat. He seems to be regretting this already.

We look at Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke messing with Nia Jax.

Nia Jax rants to Shayna Baszler and Reginald about the disrespect. She also doesn’t like Charlotte being reinstated after a simple apology but Charlotte is a spoiled brat, just like Mandy Rose. Shayna complains about Nia being distracted and says don’t let it happen again in their match tonight. With Shayna gone, Nia gets some flowers….from Angel Garza, who wishes her luck tonight. Nia takes the flowers and hits Mandy in the face with them, which leaves Mandy and Dana Brooke…well just standing there actually.

MVP comes up to Braun Strowman and says Bobby Lashley isn’t happy with the idea of a triple threat. Strowman says if Lashley has a problem, come say it to his face, because he’ll be in the main event at Wrestlemania Backlash.

Randy Orton/Riddle vs. Shelton Benjamin/Cedric Alexander

Riddle takes Alexander down to start but a shot to the ribs gets him into the wrong corner. Shelton comes in and it’s time to start in on Riddle’s knee, including some running shots with the leg tied in the rope. The half crab goes on for a bit until Riddle fights up and hits a jumping knee to the face. The hot tag bring sin Orton to clean house, including the RKO to pull Alexander out of the air. Orton drops Shelton with the hanging DDT and the Floating Bro gives Riddle the pin at 4:35.

Rating: C-. I liked this a little more than I expected to and the idea of Orton vs. Riddle is interesting. Of course they aren’t going to be a long term team, but this is at least a fresh way to set things up. It’s already going better than Y2AJ, but I’m still waiting on the possible RKBro shirts before passing final judgment.

Commentary is stunned that Orton didn’t turn on him.

Rhea Ripley/Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler vs. Asuka/Naomi/Lana

Asuka goes after Baszler’s arm to start and even offers it to Ripley for a tag. Ripley passes, but is willing to come in after Baszler knocks Asuka down. Lana comes in to roll Ripley up for two, earning herself a hard headbutt. A dragon sleeper sets up a bodyscissors on Lana, including some forearms to the back for a bonus. Cue Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke, which is too much for Baszler. She goes after them so they throw a bucket of water at her.

Nia comes in and falls down, meaning Reginald has to drag her away like a turtle on its shell. Back from a break with Asuka coming in to hip attack Baszler, who kicks her in the face. Jax plants Asuka with the Samoan drop but misses a charge in the corner. Naomi comes back in with a springboard crossbody and a headscissors driver gets two on Jax. Reginald offers a distraction though and Jax jumps Naomi from behind.

Ripley (hey she’s in this match too) comes back in for a belly to back faceplant, with Asuka having to make the save. Riptide plants Naomi but Lana is legal and comes in off the top with a high crossbody for two of her own. Nia runs Asuka over on the floor as Lana rolls Ripley up for another two. That’s enough for Ripley, who hits Riptide and hands it back to Nia for the legdrop and the pin at 11:36.

Rating: D+. Just over two weeks ago, Ripley was winning the Raw Women’s Title at Wrestlemania. Now she is playing third fiddle to Charlotte and the Battling Bosses, plus Mandy Rose and Dana Brooke trying to humiliate Nia Jax. That has me worried about her immediate future, but hopefully she gets to beat someone up at Backlash to get her a little more attention. She wasn’t much of a focus here, and that isn’t a good sign. I’m not worried about her long term, but Raw’s priorities for the women’s division are rather pitiful.

Post break, Sonya Deville comes up to Mandy and Dana, who shouldn’t have done that. Deville isn’t surprised because Mandy doesn’t take things seriously, so she can face Charlotte next instead.

Alexa Bliss talks about how Lily the doll has been the angel and demon on her shoulder. You can have your own Lily too and it’s really easy. Bliss tells us to look into her eyes and imagine a calm place, like the pond that we see. As we look at the flowers, Lily pops up and screams at us, with Bliss laughing about how she got us. The problem is Lily is bored back here, so it’s time for her to play with the rest of WWE. Lily bites at the camera again.

Charlotte vs. Mandy Rose

Dana Brooke is here too as Mandy flips out of a wristlock to start. Some shoulders in the corner have Charlotte in more trouble but she knees her way out said corner. Mandy is back with a missile dropkick but the referee gets caught in the corner, allowing Charlotte to hit a big boot for two. With Charlotte yelling at the referee about how to count, Mandy hits a knee to the back for two of her own. That’s enough for Charlotte, who plants her with Natural Selection for the pin at 4:18.

Rating: D+. This was a weird one as you had Charlotte being annoyed at the referee but nothing really came of it as it’s still Charlotte vs. Mandy Rose. How much extra help should Charlotte need here? There is something interesting about Mandy giving Charlotte a run for her money and Charlotte being a bit nervous about it, but instead we got a weird setup.

Drew McIntyre vs. Braun Strowman

If Strowman wins, he’s in the WWE Title match at Backlash. McIntyre hits a running shoulder but Strowman literally brushes his shoulder off. With that not working, McIntyre takes him down by the leg and drops some elbows, only to have Strowman knock him to the floor. The Strowman Express is loaded up but here are Bobby Lashley/MVP to interrupt as we take a break.

Back with McIntyre getting a sleeper on Strowman but he gets driven into the corner. A jumping neckbreaker gives Drew two so MVP gets up for a pep talk. The Claymore is countered into a powerbomb (in a smooth transition) for two but McIntyre blocks the big forearm to the chest.

There’s a spinebuster for two on Strowman, who catches McIntyre going up top. A superplex gets two on McIntyre and now the forearm to the chest connects. The powerslam is loaded up so Lashley gets up for a distraction. MVP makes the save, allowing Strowman to hit the Futureshock. The Claymore is loaded up but here are Mace and T-Bar for the real distraction. The running powerslam gives Strowman the pin at 13:21.

Rating: C. I don’t know how surprising the result was and that’s ok in this case. I wasn’t wild on McIntyre vs. Lashley II for the pay per view title match so adding Strowman in at least makes things different. They need some fresh blood in the main event scene and while Strowman has been around, he hasn’t been in a spot like this for a pretty long while now. Mixing it up is a good thing and that’s what we’re seeing here.

The three way staredown ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not sure if it is just being better than the last few weeks or actually having a point but this felt like a better show than they have done recently. You can see most of the Raw half of the Backlash card from here and that is not a bad thing. This show was not exactly good, but it had a point and didn’t have as much horrible so by comparison to the usual shows, we’ll call it an upgrade.

Results

Braun Strowman b. Mace/T-Bar via DQ when Strowman was double teamed in the corner

Mace/T-Bar b. Braun Strowman/Drew McIntyre via countout

New Day/Damian Priest b. Jaxson Ryker/Elias/Miz – Small package to Woods

Randy Orton/Riddle b. Shelton Benjamin/Cedric Alexander – Floating Bro to Benjamin

Nia Jax/Shayna Baszler/Rhea Ripley b. Lana/Naomi/Asuka – Legdrop to Lana

Charlotte b. Mandy Rose – Natural Selection

Braun Strowman b. Drew McIntyre – Running powerslam

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205 Live
Date: April 23, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Tom Phillips

It’s time for more interchangeable cruiserweight action as the same people get to have mostly the same matches as they always do around here. Hopefully the action is good, because that is about all that happens to make things interesting on this show. I wouldn’t bet on it though, as I learned not to do a long time ago. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Bollywood Boyz vs. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese

The Boyz manage to get Phillips, now with a beard, to dance a bit. Commentary points out that we’ve seen this match before, which isn’t giving me much hope. Daivari hammers away on Samir to start and sends him arm first into the buckle. A cobra clutch puts Samir down and it’s off to Nese for the quickly broken chinlock. Instead, Daivari comes back in to drop some elbows but Samir manages a tornado DDT.

Nese is smart enough to break up the hot tag though and comes back in for two off a snap suplex. A chinlock with a bodyscissors keeps Samir in trouble but he fights up again. This time Nese’s suplex is countered into a neckbreaker and the hot tag brings in Sunil to pick up the pace. A middle rope clothesline gets two on Daivari and the middle rope Hart Attack (elbow instead of clothesline) gets the same. The Bollywood Blast gets another near fall with Daivari having to make a save. Nese hits a pair of Running Neses for the pin on Sunil at 8:16.

Rating: C-. Quick match here without breaking their mold. There is only so much that you can do with a match like this as Nese and Daivari are going to be the major heels around here for years and the Boyz can’t go higher on the card. The action was decent, but it’s another match with no impact or stakes at all, other than recharging Nese and Daivari for the 167^th time.

We look at Kushida issuing an open challenge for a Cruiserweight Title shot and retaining over Oney Lorcan on NXT. Post match, MSK had to save Kushida from a Legado del Fantasma beatdown, setting up a six man next week.

August Grey vs. Ashante Adonis

Grey spins out of a wristlock to start but can’t get an O’Connor roll. Adonis sweeps the leg and elbows him in the jaw to send Grey into the corner. Grey is right back with an armdrag into an armbar but Adonis makes the rope. Not to waste a chance, Adonis pulls him throat first into the rope to take over. Some elbows set up a missed knee drop but Adonis pulls him right back down into the chinlock.

What looks like a Captain’s Hook is countered so Adonis snaps off a belly to back suplex for two. Cue Ariya Daivari to watch from ringside as Grey hits a running elbow to the face. A bulldog drops Adonis again and the spinning high crossbody connects for no cover. Instead they both crash to the floor, with Daivari telling Grey to take the countout win. That isn’t happening but the distraction lets Adonis hit the Long Kiss Goodnight for the pin at 9:14.

Rating: C. Not too bad here and the Daivari stuff should set up something going forward. Adonis needed a win so maybe he can get a minor push around here. I’m not if it is going to amount to anything, but at least they gave him a quick win here, even if it was more about Daivari vs. Grey than anything else.

Post match Daivari yells at him for not using his head. Grey says he’s doing it his way.

Overall Rating: C-. Yet another dull, dry and repetitive offering from 205 Live, which is kind of hard to fathom. You would think at some point that they could come up with something fresh, even in the short term, but that has not been the case in years now. If nothing else, just having someone other than Nese and Daivari as the main villains would be a nice upgrade.

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205 Live
Date: April 16, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness

This is the most up and down show you are going to find in WWE as there are weeks where you get good stuff but then there are weeks that have absolutely nothing going on whatsoever. You might as well flip a coin to figure out which you’re going to see here and that is kind of scary situation. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Jake Atlas vs. Ashante Adonis

Feeling out process to start, including some light kicks to the leg. Atlas cranks on the arm and grabs the armbar to keep Adonis in a bit of trouble. Adonis is right back with a knee to the ribs to take over for all of about three seconds, as Atlas sends him shoulder first into the buckle. It’s way too early for the cartwheel DDT though as Adonis shoves him out to the floor.

Back in and Adonis goes after the arm for a change, with Atlas not being able to roll his way to freedom. Atlas finally kicks his way out and goes up, only to be slammed back down. That lets Adonis go up for a high crossbody for two but Atlas hits him in the face. A release gordbuster sets up the cartwheel DDT to finish Adonis at 8:43.

Rating: C-. These are two guys who went out there and had one of the most generic matches you could ask for. They worked on a limb each and then one guy won in the end. Maybe it’s that I have seen these two around here for months now but there was nothing to get excited about whatsoever. Technically fine, but good luck making me care about these two having a cold match like this one.

We look at Kushida winning the Cruiserweight Title on NXT.

August Grey vs. Tony Nese

Ariya Daivari joins commentary. Nese slams him down to start and strikes a quick pose so Grey grabs a headlock to take it to the mat. Back up and Grey busts out some jumping jacks, which really don’t sit well with Daivari. Nese drops him with a belly to back suplex but gets sent throat first into the middle rope. That means the running crotch attack to the back of the head but Nese is right back with a gutbuster

Another belly to back connects so Nese goes to the corner to….I think adjust the turnbuckle pad. Whatever it was it takes too long, allowing Grey to catapult him into the corner. Grey picks up the pace with a running hurricanrana and an elbow to the face. Nese isn’t having that as he hits a spinning kick to the face and puts on the chinlock. That lasts as long as the common chinlock with Grey coming up and winning a strike off.

A jawbreaker into a neckbreaker sets up Grey’s rope walk spinning high crossbody for two. Back up and Nese fires off some kicks, including an enziguri but Grey kicks him to the floor. The suicide dive sends Nese over the announcers’ table, with Grey breaking up the count for reasons of dumb honor. Back in and Grey grabs a rollup for the pin at 11:30.

Rating: C. It was a better match than the opener but that isn’t exactly saying much. The wrestling is fine, but I never need to see Nese and or Daivari again after how many times they have been on this show over the last few….well years now. It doesn’t help that the rather talented Grey is stuck on the treadmill that is 205 Live and there is nothing to indicate that is going to change anytime soon.

Overall Rating: C-. The words ho-hum come to mind here as this was every dull 205 Live that you can ever hope to see. The wrestling continues to be fine but there is nothing in the way of an interesting story, or even any kind of a story for the most part. The shows come and go without developing and that is not going to keep my attention. Even thirty minutes is feeling long around here and that’s hard to fathom.

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Survivor Series 2006
Date: November 26, 2006
Location: Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 15,400
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

I’ve always been a big Survivor Series fan and there is something great about seeing a milestone show with the 20^th edition. On top of that, we have three elimination tag matches for a change and the card looks pretty awesome. Then again that has been the case with several shows before and you never know if it is going to live up to the hype. The big non-elimination match is Batista vs. King Booker for Book’s Smackdown World Title so let’s get to it.

The opening video briefly talks about the anniversary before moving on to a traditional hype video looking at the big matches.

Team Legends vs. Spirit Squad

Legends: Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons

Spirit Squad: Kenny, Johnny, Mikey, Nicky

Arn Anderson and Mitch are at ringside. The Squad has been insulting Flair and the rest of the legends so it’s time to go to school. Simmons is replacing the injured Roddy Piper and scares Mikey down to start. A powerslam drops Mikey again and it’s a bunch of clotheslines to take the rest of the Squad down. Mitch offers a distraction though and Simmons goes out after him.

The stalking and watching Anderson beat up Mitch take a bit too long though and Simmons gets counted out. Simmons takes Mitch to the back with him and Anderson is ejected (with the fans NOT approving). That means Nicky gets to come in and request a salute from Slaughter, who works on his arm instead. It’s off to Flair for some shots of his own before handing it back to Slaughter for the cobra clutch. Kenny gets in a kick to the back of Slaughter’s head though and the mostly out Nicky gets the pin.

Dusty comes in for the Bionic Elbow to get rid of Nicky and it’s 3-2. Some jabs get Dusty out of the corner but a rollup is enough to finish him off. That leaves Flair alone against Kenny/Mikey/Johnny but Flair grabs a rollup and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin. A small package gets rid of Kenny, meaning Flair can chop Johnny and put him in the Figure Four for the fast tap. Flair beat the last three of them in about two minutes.

Rating: D. The wrestling wasn’t the point here of course and it isn’t like the Squad means anything in the first place. Flair can beat all of these guys without breaking a sweat and he came pretty close here. The team almost has to be done now and that is going to be better for Raw at this point. The idea wasn’t going to work no matter what they did so to get as much as they did out of them is impressive enough. Pretty bad in-ring stuff, and that was never the point.

Post match the big beatdown is on with no one coming out for the save.

We recap Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero for Benoit’s US Title. Benoit thinks that Chavo and Vickie Guerrero are taking advantage of Eddie Guerrero’s estate but they told him to stay out of their business (a fair point). Chavo beat Benoit up and tonight he can win the title.

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero

Chavo, with Vickie, is challenging. Benoit starts very fast with a slam into a backbreaker for two, followed by easily winning a strike off. A snap suplex and slam get two each on Chavo as JBL says Chavo made Rey quit like a little girl. I’m almost scared to imagine when/how JBL made a little girl say she quit. Chavo comes back with a series of strikes and sends Benoit hard into the post.

There’s a Saito suplex for two and the armbar goes on. Benoit gets creative with a Samoan drop to escape but Chavo dropkicks him right back down. A suplex sets up the frog splash for two but Chavo stops to yell some more. Benoit fights up again and knocks Chavo away for a needed breather so Vickie gets on the apron. After dealing the pesky manager, it’s the Crossface to retain the title.

Rating: C. That is pretty much it for Chavo being seen as anything serious as he loses the big showdown after Benoit kicks out of his finisher. What other reason is there to buy into him at this point? Chavo was not exactly a can’t miss prospect here anyway and it’s ok for him to not win, but this should wrap it up on him being seen as a serious villain, at least for the time being.

Lita, with Edge, affirms that she is still retiring after her title match against Mickie James no matter what. Edge makes fun of Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb while Cryme Tyme sneaks in and steals a box. Edge rants about DX as Cryme Tyme sneaks out of the room.

Women’s Title: Lita vs. Mickie James

Lita is defending and gets driven into the corner for some shoulders to the ribs to start. Some kicks to the ribs slow Mickie down and Lita counters a headscissors out of the corner by slamming Mickie down on her face (the simple ones always work). The fans deem Lita a “crack w****” as she gets some near falls. With the chant down, Lawler is right there with more jokes about Lita as the bodyscissors has Mickie in trouble.

Lita misses a splash of all things, sending Lawler into the joy of hope over a wardrobe malfunction. Mickie kicks her in the face for two but the hurricanrana out of the corner is countered into another faceplant. The Litacanrana gets two but the DDT is countered with a grab of the rope. They trade rollups for two each until Mickie hits the MickieDT for the pin and the title.

Rating: C-. The match was about what you would expect from a big Raw showdown but what matters is passing the torch (which Mickie has held before). The bad thing here was the amount of jokes at Lita’s expense, as commentary laid it in even thicker than usual. I know she’s leaving, but WWE can be rather cruel with these things at times, which was the case here.

Post match Lita insists on being called the greatest of all time but has to rant at the fans for disrespecting her so much. Cue Cryme Tyme with the box, sending Lita further over the edge. It’s time for a “ho sale” but it’s cash only. First item up is some yeast infection medicine, followed by some underwear (which JBL wants to smell before buying). Something that vibrates goes for $25 and finally, Lita’s box (it’s cheap and wide) is a hot item to wrap it up. Kind of a cruel way to go, but at least it saves them the cost of a trash bag (April 2021 reference for those of you reading this in 3847).

Earlier today, Batista wouldn’t answer any of Michel Cole’s questions. After a clip of the beatdown on Smackdown, Batista says he’s leaving as champion.

Team DX vs. Team Rated-RKO

DX: HHH/Shawn Michaels/Matt Hardy/CM Punk/Jeff Hardy

Rated-RKO: Edge/Randy Orton/Gregory Helms/Mike Knox/Johnny Nitro

The fans are way into Punk so HHH lets him ask if they are ready. The bell rings and HHH has Kelly Kelly get on the apron for a better view (while covering Shawn’s eyes of course). The distraction lets Shawn hit the superkick for a fast pin and elimination. Shawn chops away at Nitro and hands it off to Jeff to knock him down as well. Helms comes in to take Matt down and it’s Edge coming in as well to stomp away.

The villains start taking turns on Matt, who has to cover up from Nitro’s right hands to the head. Matt kicks him away and brings Punk in, much to the fans’ delight. Matt’s neck snap across the top sets up a Rock Bottom into the Anaconda Vice to eliminate Nitro. Orton dropkicks Punk down and Helms takes over with a front facelock to keep him on the mat for a bit.

The yet to be named Codebreaker connects for Helms and the RKO gets two with HHH making a save. It’s back to HHH for the jumping knees to the face as everything breaks down. Jeff and Shawn hit some dives onto the floor, leaving HHH to bust Helms’ spine. The Twist of Fate into the spinebuster gets rid of Helms and it’s Rated-RKO against all five members of the other team. Rated-RKO try to leave but get thrown back inside for Poetry in Motion into Sweet Chin Music to get rid of Edge. Another superkick into the Pedigree finishes Orton for the win.

Rating: D+. How weird is it to see a squash in a Survivor Series elimination match? Granted the talent on one side was completely nuts but my goodness man. This was completely one sided and I’m not sure how wise that was. Rated-RKO were decimated here, Helms’ title somehow lost even more value and Nitro was just a guy. It was fun, but I’m not sure if this was the smartest move.

We recap Mr. Kennedy vs. Undertaker. Kennedy is the latest young guy to go after Undertaker and say he is the new big star. This time Kennedy even managed to bust Undertaker open with his microphone so tonight it’s a First Blood match, which seems like a nice way out of having someone take a fall.

Mr. Kennedy is ready for his match but MVP gives him a pep talk anyway.

Mr. Kennedy vs. Undertaker

First Blood. Kennedy hammers away to start and gets knocked over the top for his efforts. Undertaker sends him face first into the announcers’ table and then throws Kennedy over it for a bonus. Some headbutts have Kennedy in pain and there’s a big boot to to drop him again. Kennedy is back up with a whip into the steps but gets posted to cut that off in a hurry. Back in and Undertaker hits a top rope superplex but Kennedy is back with a low blow.

Undertaker doesn’t seem to mind and kicks away at the ribs before hammering away in the corner. Another low blow slows Undertaker down but Kennedy’s nose is busted. Cue MVP to towel Kennedy’s blood off….and throw Kennedy back inside as payback for Kennedy doing the same thing on Smackdown. Kennedy hammers away but here is MVP with a chair, which hits Undertaker by mistake (in theory) to bust him open. The referee finally sees it to give Kennedy the win.

Rating: C. The ending sets up a few more things, including MVP’s complete and utter destruction. Much like MVP winning the cage match against Kane on Smackdown, this is the kind of win that helps make Kennedy look that much more important. Of course it would be better to have Undertaker get pinned, but that isn’t something that happens very often so take what you can get here. Granted that’s Undertaker beating Kennedy up for most of the match and then getting cheated at the end, though I doubt Kennedy would mind.

Post match Kennedy brags about the win and talks a lot of trash, allowing Undertaker to wrap a chair around Kennedy’s head. Kennedy is busted open and Undertaker gives him a nasty Tombstone. The gloves come off and some bare knuckle punches have the bloody Kennedy bleeding even more. The referee drags him off.

Queen Sharmell gives King Booker a pep talk so Booker can monologue about how this is it for Batista.

Team Cena vs. Team Big Show

Cena: John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Rob Van Dam, Kane, Sabu

Big Show: Big Show, Finlay, MVP, Test, Umaga

Cena avoids Umaga’s charge to start and sends him outside. Everything breaks down and Umaga hits Cena in the ribs with a TV monitor for the fact DQ. We settle down to Test elbowing Van Dam in the corner and planting him down so MVP can come in with the chinlock. Van Dam, with his nose bleeding, fights up and scores with the spinning kick to the face.

More kicks put all of the villains down and it’s Kane kicking MVP in the face. The Five Star gets rid of MVP but Test is right there with the big boot to eliminate Van Dam. Test sends Sabu outside but Lashley nails a spear, allowing Sabu to hit a tornado DDT for the pin. Show comes straight in to chokeslam Sabu for the pin as these eliminations are flying by. The Leprechaun comes out to give Finlay the Shillelagh and a shot to the head rocks Kane, setting up a chokeslam so Big Show can get rid of him too.

So it’s Cena/Lashley vs. Show/Finlay with Show powerslamming Cena in a hurry. Finlay comes in to stomp away but Cena gets in a knockdown of his own. That’s enough to bring in Lashley and everything breaks down again. A double clothesline drops Show but here’s the Leprechaun, who is thrown onto Cena. The distraction lets Lashley spear Finlay down for the pin and we’re down to 201. Cena manages to DDT Show and there’s a double suplex to put him down again. The finishing sequence is initiated and the FU finishes Show.

Rating: D+. his match, which featured eight eliminations, is now the longest match of the night at about twelve and a half minutes. I’m not sure why we need to go that short with everything but it has been a problem with almost everything on the show. Cena and Lashley teaming up to take out Show worked, but was there really any need for five eliminations in less than two minutes?

We recap Batista vs. King Booker for the Smackdown World Title. Batista had to vacate the title earlier this year due to an injury in this very building. It is his missing to get it back but Booker isn’t going it up so easily. If Batista loses, he can never challenge Booker for the title again.

Smackdown World Title: King Booker vs. Batista

Batista is challenging and starts fast by jumping him before the bell. They get inside to officially start the match with Batista hammering away in the corner. The threat of a Batista Bomb sends Booker bailing to the floor and the fans aren’t pleased. Back in and Batista hammers away even more but a hot shot gets Booker out of trouble. A catapult sends Batista throat first into the bottom rope and Booker stomps away even more.

Booker pokes him in the eye but you don’t need two eyes to hit a side slam for two. They head to the apron for a slugout with Batista knocking him back in. Sharmell grabs the leg though and Booker kicks him out to the floor again. Back in and Booker pounds him down into a chinlock as Cole asks JBL what it feels like to try and get the title back. JBL: “I’m not a loser Michael. Bring up something else.”

Batista fights up and hits the clotheslines into a big boot to send Booker outside. That means a whip into the steps, followed by a top rope shoulder (dang) for two back inside. Booker is right back with a Bookend for two but Batista is up with the Batista Bomb. They’re right next to the rope so Booker saves himself, allowing Sharmell to hand him the title. A Sharmell distraction doesn’t work though as Batista ducks the shot and takes the belt away. Batista’s belt shot is enough for the pin, the title, and the energized celebration.

Rating: D, This really didn’t work and the ending was stupid. How much of a conqueror does this make Batista, when he needed a belt shot to beat Booker? It’s a reclaiming the glory story and that should work, but the lack of drama didn’t help anything. Pretty awful main event with the main bright spot being the fact that they didn’t go long here. It’s the longest match of the show at less than fourteen minutes and it felt every one of them.

Batista celebrates to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. For a show that looked pretty fun on paper, this wound up being a nearly complete miss with nothing worth seeing, a bunch of matches that felt rushed, and a World Title change in the end that was about as lame as possible. These Survivor Series matches are supposed to be about hanging in there over a grueling match, but Finlay and Benoit had a match on Smackdown that was longer than anything here. It wasn’t the worst show, but someone needs to teach them how to Survivor Series.

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Smackdown
Date: November 24, 2006
Location: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the go home show for Survivor Series and the card is set. This week’s Raw focused almost entirely on the elimination tag team matches so there is a chance that we are going to get to see the rest of the card get some build. On top of that, we have a steel cage match between Kane and MVP as the trials by fire continue. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Kane vs. MVP

In a cage with pinfall, submission or escape to win. MVP slugs away but it’s way too early to go over the top. Kane chokes him with a boot in the corner but MVP is back with a dropkick into the cage. That’s enough for an early climb attempt, only to have Kane sit up and send MVP into the steel so he crashes back down to the mat.

A running clothesline in the corner sets up a toss into the cage and there’s a big boot to knock him into the steel again. The top rope clothesline lets Kane go up but MVP gets up to catch him. Kane loads up a super chokeslam but MVP crotches him down and climbs over the top to escape for the upset (and fast) win.

Rating: C-. It’s weird to see a seven and a half minute cage match but they did something smart by having MVP win clean with no interference or cheating for a change. In something I’ve said over and over, Kane is the kind of person who isn’t going to be hurt by a loss so having him put over MVP isn’t going to bring him down in any significant way. Nothing special as a match, but it did what it was supposed to do.

Gregory Helms vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

Non-title because Helms never defends the stupid thing. Helms starts fast by sending him into the corner but a leg sweep takes him down. Yang kicks Helms outside for a slingshot dive as JBL rants about Amy’s lack of intelligence for being in Yang’s corner. Back up and Helms gets in a knockdown of his own to set up the chinlock. That’s broken up in a hurry with Yang coming back for a hard clothesline. Not that it matters as Helms is right back with the Nightmare On Helm Street for the pin.

Rating: C. Not a bad match actually but egads it is impossible to care about anything Helms does these days. He is perfectly serviceable in the ring but WWE has made it clear that feuding with Matt Hardy is his ceiling a champion. The title is never on the line and if not for him being the longest reigning champion in WWE (which commentary mentions weekly), you would have little reason to know or care about his title reign. That’s not his fault, but dang it makes things rough.

Vickie Guerrero yells at Chris Benoit for talking to Vickie’s attorney. She tells him to stay out of her life and loads up the slap, but Benoit grabs her (rather small) hand.

Mr. Kennedy comes up to MVP in the trainer’s room and tells him to sit back and watch, because it’s time to give thanks to the Undertaker.

King Booker and Queen Sharmell want Teddy Long to sign a contract saying that after Booker beats Batista at Survivor Series, he will never have to defend the title against him again. Long doesn’t like being bossed around but thinks Booker has a point. If Long agrees with the contract, he’ll sign it tonight. Booker wants it signed in the middle of the ring with Batista in person as well.

Brian Kendrick vs. William Regal

Ashley, Paul London and Dave Taylor are here as well. Kendrick spins out of a wristlock to start and snaps off a headscissors to put Regal down. Back up and Kendrick grabs a rollup for two as Regal isn’t sure what to do with this kind of speed. Regal manages to get him into the corner for some strikes to the face though and it’s time to crank on the ace on the mat.

A suplex drops Kendrick on his head for two and we hit the half nelson to drive Kendrick’s face into the mat. Kendrick fights back with some shots to the face, one of which busts open Regal’s eye. You don’t do that to Regal, who drives him down and stomps away. Kendrick comes back with a crossbody for two so it’s time for Taylor to go after London and Ashley on the floor. That means a dive onto Taylor, but the distraction lets Regal hit a running knee to the head for the pin.

Rating: C. This was more Regal viciousness but it wasn’t as aggressive as last week’s mauling. Regal and Taylor are about as locked in as you can get for the next title shot and that makes a lot of sense, if nothing else due to how thin the division is at the moment. Regal has been built up as a monster and that is enough to get the team a title shot. Good beating here, with Regal looking like he wanted to hurt Kendrick.

Video on Batista vs. King Booker.

Here’s Mr. Kennedy to give thanks to the Undertaker. This involves telling everyone, including Undertaker, to shut up. First of all, everyone needs to bow their heads and give thanks to him for beating Undertaker at No Mercy. After seeing a shot of Kennedy’s win, and listening to a YOU SUCK chant, Kennedy shows us a clip of helping MVP beat Kane last week.

We see some clips of Kennedy talking trash about Undertaker, but Undertaker didn’t do a thing. That means a video of Kennedy busting Undertaker open….and there’s the gong. Undertaker pops up behind Kennedy, who runs into the aisle. Undertaker says it’s a first blood match….and blood rains down onto Kennedy. Good segment and the match is feeling big.

Chris Benoit vs. Finlay

Non-title. They fight over a lockup to start and circle the ring without breaking a thing. Benoit knocks him into the corner, which makes Finlay think this out a bit more. Back up and a hard clothesline puts Benoit down so we can hit the chinlock. Benoit fights up but is knocked down again, setting up another chinlock. This time the comeback works a little better as Benoit snaps off a suplex to send Finlay outside. The big dive takes Finlay down again and we take a break.

Back with Benoit knocking him outside but Finlay sends him knees first into the steps. Finlay starts in on the leg back inside with some stomping and a half crab. Benoit is bleeding from the side but manages to kick away and try the Sharpshooter, which is countered again. The bad knee is wrapped around the post and then around the knee and Finlay slams him down.

Finlay’s middle rope jump down that is only designed to hit a raised boot hits a raised boot and Benoit has a breather. Three Amigos set up the rolling German suplexes and the Swan Dive connects (without much trouble from the knee, which is rare for Benoit). Cue Chavo Guerrero to distract the referee though, allowing the Leprechaun to sneak Finlay the Shillelagh for a hard shot. The Celtic Cross finishes Benoit.

Rating: C+. Like this wasn’t going to be good. This was about taking two hard hitting people and having them beat each other up for a long time. Finlay vs. Benoit for the US Title would be great down the line, though the personal issue with Chavo could go on for a lot longer. Either way, we had a pretty good one here, even if the knee didn’t make much of a difference.

Post match Chavo yells about this being his business and hits a pair of frog splashes to Benoit’s back.

Raw Rebound.

Miz vs. Boogeyman

Miz runs him mouth before the bell, earning a clothesline out to the floor. Back in and Boogeyman hammers away but Miz fires off some knees to actually take over. Boogeyman isn’t having that and shoves him away, meaning it’s time to load up the worms. That’s enough for Miz to bail for the no contest.

Rating: D. This was barely a match and was on there for the gross out ending. Then again it isn’t like there are any real expectations here and Miz didn’t lose, so they covered the most important stuff. Nothing much to this one, though it does look like Miz is already done with Kristal.

Post match, Boogeyman puts the worms down the referee’s shirt and gyrates away.

Here are King Booker and Queen Sharmell for the (rather fancy) contract signing. Booker brags about his title defenses and wants to be done with Batista for good. First of all though, he needs Teddy Long, who doesn’t seem to be thrilled about this. Long agrees to the stipulation and Booker signs without trouble. Now it’s Batista coming out and starting to sign the contract, only to have Booker cut him off. Booker talks about how Batista is getting in over his head, but Batista signs anyway. Booker says may the best man win and turns the table over for the big beatdown. Batista is left laying to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This show was all about building almost everything except for the Survivor Series matches, which is what this show needed. The wrestling was pretty steady throughout (save for the main event) and even then it was there to set up the contract signing. Watchable show this week, but it made all the rest of the pay per view seem important so well done.

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