Smackdown
Date: July 7, 2005
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

We’re coming up on the Great American Bash but more importantly we are finally set as far as the roster moves go. The roster may not look as strong as it did before but Smackdown has Batista now and that is the only logical followup to losing John Cena over to Raw. Now we get to see where things go. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Cena moving over to Monday, meaning a champion was needed. That looked to be JBL but Batista showed up instead. That’s a rather cruel way to treat JBL actually, as he won that match on his own last week.

Here’s a sneering JBL to open things up. Last week’s screwjob makes what happened to Bret Hart in Montreal look like a parking ticket. He should be Smackdown Champion but now we have Batista on Smackdown instead. JBL is #1 contender though and he isn’t scared of the Animal, because tick tock. The time is ticking on Batista’s time as World Heavyweight Champion and it’s time for the man who looks like Tarzan to fight like Jane.

JBL’s music starts and here’s the limo….containing the Blue World Order, with Stevie Richards as Orlando Jordan, the Blue Meanie as JBL and Nova as the combined forces of the Bashams. Richards introduces us to JBL: John Blue Lamefield, and Ash Me (Ash Me?). Richards dubs himself Bluewheat to some rather weak responses. JBL is really not impressed and orders them out of here before they embarrass him.

Richards says JBL embarrassed himself at One Night Stand because he disrespected ECW and everything they stood for. JBL rants about how Richards wasn’t good enough to flip burgers and Meanie took the beating he deserved. Meanie wants JBL in a match tonight and that’s agreed to in a hurry. We’re not done yet though as the BWO spray paint the limo. That happens a lot around here.

Chris Benoit vs. Booker T.

For the #1 contendership to the US Title. They go technical to start as you might have expected with Benoit shrugging off a hammerlock and grabbing a hiptoss. That’s good for a standoff so Benoit starts in with the chops to take over. Booker manages to snap him throat first across the top rope, followed by a superkick for two. The armbar goes on, followed by a quick ax kick for two.

That means more armbarring, as it certainly seems to be working so far. This time it’s Benoit fighting back and snapping off the German suplexes but the Swan Dive is blocked. Booker nails a superplex for a very delayed two before trying a cross armbreaker of all things, sending Benoit to the ropes. The arm is fine enough to slap on the Crossface and make Booker tap.

Rating: C+. These two could have a passable match in their sleep and that is more or less what they did here. Benoit is going to be fine going into the US Title match at the Bash, even if it is going to take something incredible to make a match with Jordan work. I’m not sure where this leaves Booker, but he’s going to do well enough against anyone, which is a good way to build up someone new.

Sharmell is disappointed at the loss but Jordan scares her off and takes her place in front of the monitor.

We recap Eddie Guerrero going nuts last week and making Rey Mysterio beg him not to tell Rey’s son Dominick the truth. The emotion in this stuff is rather awesome and they’re both selling it incredibly well.

Muhammad Hassan and Daivari rant about the six man match last week. Hassan was never eliminated and should be the #1 contender to Batista. Instead, Theodore Long puts him in a #1 contenders match with the Undertaker. Oh dear it’s time to get here. As for tonight, it’s Daivari vs. Undertaker.

John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Blue Meanie

No DQ. During the intros, we hear about JBL and Meanie’s issues, including at One Night Stand, but without any specifics as to what JBL did. JBL boots him in the face before the bell and stomps away in the corner before taking him outside to continue the beating. Meanie goes into various hard objects and his comeback attempt goes as well as you would expect.

JBL beats up the rest of the BWO and it’s time for a chair, plus Richards for a bonus. Richards gets in a scary chair shot to the head and Meanie adds a DDT. The Meaniesault gets two and here’s Jordan to distract Meanie. The Clothesline From JBL connects but Batista comes in and gives JBL the spinebuster so Meanie can steal the pin.

Rating: D-. This has been Avoiding Lawsuits With WWE as the BWO guys were just some annoyances to JBL who stole a win to help advance Batista vs. JBL. They kept it short and Meanie got in almost no offense without major help so it’s not like this hurts JBL or anything. Just get it over with and move on so Meanie won’t sue. I get why it had to happen and it wasn’t the worst thing ever or even close. Just a quick thing that we had to get through.

Tag Team Titles: MNM vs. Rey Mysterio/Eddie Guerrero

MNM is defending and Eddie forces Rey to smile in a funny moment. Eddie takes over on Mercury’s arm to start and demands a tag for the sake of Dominick. Rey reluctantly comes in and hits a basement dropkick for two on Mercury. It’s back to Eddie for Three Amigos but Eddie stops to throw Nitro to the floor instead of covering. The frog splash connects for two anyway, with Eddie pulling off of the pin.

Rey comes in for two instead and Eddie blasts him from behind. Eddie goes to sit down at ringside as Rey takes a double gutbuster to set up the chinlock. Rey fights up and hurricanranas Nitro into the 619 as the comeback is on. The springboard legdrop gets two….as Eddie jumps Rey and beats him up. Eddie chills on the top rope as Rey takes the Snapshot to retain the titles.

Rating: C. It’s a hard one to grade as this was an angle instead of a match. That makes things more interesting too, as we’ve done the Eddie/Rey Tag Team Titles run before. Eddie is completely out there at this point and that makes things a lot different. I’ve loved this story so far and this is a rather nice new twist on things.

Post match Eddie asks Rey if he wants to hit him, but it would cost Rey their little secret. Rey wants to leave but Eddie shoves him in the face and makes Rey hold the ropes open for him. Eddie: “Dominick would LOVE to open the ropes for Uncle Eddie.” Rey reluctantly agrees as the mind games continue.

Raw Rebound.

Christian talks about how awesome he is and how he’s ready for Batista tonight. That’s how he rolls.

Matt Morgan vs. William Regal

This is Regal’s Smackdown debut, or at least it would be if the Mexicools didn’t come out and jump Morgan. Regal looks impressed as the beatdown goes on. Juvy talks about how they’re going to keep making an impact week after week. Psicosis: “Your a** is grass and we are the lawnmowers!”

And that’s it for Matt Morgan, because WWE saw no value in someone who looks like that with that kind of size and felt the need to give him a bad stutter as his only gimmick. Instead, we’re getting the continuing adventures of three guys riding a lawnmower and talking about being cool. Wrestling can be a stupid place at times.

Daivari panics about facing Undertaker but Hassan says that the sacrifice has a reward. He has a plan.

Daivari vs. Undertaker

Daivari bails to the floor before the smoke clears from around ringside but Hassan throws him back in. The chokeslam and Tombstone finish Daivari in a hurry.

And then it happens. Hassan drops to his knees and begins to pray. Five men in ski masks and camo pants, one with a club, run in and beat Undertaker down. One of them pull out a steel wire and choke him out, allowing Hassan to put on the camel clutch. The masked men carry Daivari out like a martyr as Hassan glares at Undertaker.

The announcers do their serious talk about what they just saw.

I’m not sure what to say about this other than I still feel sorry for what happened to Hassan here. The angle itself was always going to be controversial. Now that’s fine on its own and I could see how something like this could have worked if WWE had been capable of pulling it off. However, the problem was this show aired the night of the London Underground bombings. WWE aired a statement saying that the segment would be controversial, but they really needed to just cut the segment entirely. It was a situation where real life was more important than wrestling and there was no way this would go over.

This was more or less it for Hassan, as UPN decided they didn’t want him on their network anymore (the character, not the person) and there was nothing WWE could do. Hassan would wrestle one more time, as the Great American Bash, and then never be seen again. Hence why I’ve always felt sorry for Hassan, whose career was basically ended because of an angle that took place and aired the day of a horrible incident.

WWE could have done something else (air an interview, a clip from Raw or SOMETHING else, even something from last week) but instead they put a disclaimer on there and let Hassan’s career be ended. WWE didn’t know how bad it could have gone, but I would have hoped they would know better than to let this air the day of something that bad. Hassan was going to be a big deal (apparently taking the title from Batista at Summerslam) and while I’m not sure how well he would have done, he never got the chance because of something that wasn’t his fault, and that isn’t fair.

Christian vs. Batista

Non-title. Batista throws him around to start and Christian isn’t sure what to do. A hard running shoulder puts Christian on the floor and we take a break. Back with Christian getting punched out of the air and it’s time to head outside. Christian posts him and then sends him face first into the steps for the first breather he’s had.

Back in and Christian gets two each off a DDT and neckbreaker, followed by the required chinlock. A middle dropkick and some ax handles to the back set up another chinlock to keep Batista down. Batista powers up into an electric chair drop and there’s a World’s Strongest Slam. The spinebuster and Batista Bomb finish Christian.

Rating: C-. Christian was little more than a sacrificial lamb here and that’s all well and good. Batista is going on to bigger things on Smackdown so throwing Christian out there was a fine way to give him a first win. The match went as it should have and Batista looked dominant in a watchable match with little drama.

Post match JBL and Orlando Jordan run in to go after Batista, meaning it’s a beating for Jordan to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Well it was certainly eventful. This was as all over the place of a show as you could ask for with the JBL/Meanie shenanigans, a build to the Great American Bash main event, another direction in Eddie vs. Rey and that whole controversy deal which ended Hassan’s career. It was one of the most eventful shows I’ve ever seen but there is one thing that anyone is going to talk about coming out of this show. That’s understandable as well, but dang it’s a shame when so much else happened here.

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

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

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

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

Main Event
Date: November 28, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Byron Saxton

My quest to get caught up on everything continues with a show I took in live. Main Event continues to be in a race with 205 Live for the least important show you can watch, but maybe this time will be a bit different. At least this one has the Survivor Series weekend to fill in the time, which should at least be interesting. Let’s get to it.

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

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking straight at the Titantron.

Opening sequence.

Natalya vs. Sarah Logan

And there goes most of the potential interest. Logan takes her to the mat in a hurry and punches away, followed by a running forearm for the same result. Back up and Natalya gets in her own takedown but it’s way too early for the Sharpshooter. Instead Logan knees her out to the floor and drives her into the barricade. A toss sends Natalya into the timekeeper’s area as this has been almost one sided so far. The armbar sets up the chinlock to start Natalya’s comeback, meaning it’s the discus lariat to drop Logan for two. Natalya pulls her out of the corner and grabs the Sharpshooter for the tap at 5:16.

Rating: C-. Logan was trying here and the match was certainly better than the seemingly endless feud with Dana Brooke. Natalya is always good for something like this and as long as you keep her away from a microphone or a story, she can be just fine. In other words, she’s perfect for Main Event.

We look at Brock Lesnar retaining the Raw World Title over Rey Mysterio at Survivor Series.

From Raw.

The locker room is around the ring and it’s Seth Rollins, billed as the locker room leader, running a town hall. We wait for the CM Punk chants to wrap up (Seth: “I tried to get him here. He wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles.”) before Rollins admits that NXT destroyed them last night. Rollins grew up a fan of Raw and watched people like Steve Austin and DX, but last night, everyone around this ring sucked. If anyone wants to say something, now would be the time.

With no one saying anything, Rollins calls out Orton for being the weak link on the team last night. Orton looks at him and walks out so Rollins calls out Charlotte for failing as a leader last night. Rollins: “And you call yourself a Flair.” Charlotte walks out too and Rollins wants to know where AOP were last night.

They leave when told they aren’t needed, so Rollins focuses on Rey Mysterio. Rollins says he beat Brock Lesnar twice this year but Rey couldn’t do it with a lead pipe and his stupid kid. Rey leaves and so does everyone else, save for Kevin Owens. Rollins rants about Owens being Mr. NXT and how he does nothing on Raw these days. He’ll never be Seth Rollins….and there’s a Stunner to leave Rollins laying. Turning Rollins from the guy who says stupid things on Twitter while still being a face on Raw into a delusional heel is a good idea and something they had to do after how loudly he was getting booed.

Quick look at Rey Mysterio winning the four way to become #1 contender to the US Title.

From Raw.

US Title: Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles

Rey is challenging and gets sent into various turnbuckles to start. A backbreaker keeps Rey in trouble for a bit and AJ ties him in the Tree of Woe for a baseball slide to make it worse. The catapult sends Rey’s throat into the rope as AJ isn’t seeming worried here. Rey gets in a few shots to the ribs but his knee gives out on a springboard attempt. He’s fine enough to send AJ shoulder first into the post though and they’re both down. It’s Rey up first but Anderson breaks up the 619, which is good for a double ejection.

We take a break and come back with Rey getting sent chest first into the buckle because he isn’t banged up enough already. The Tree of Woe is on again but the baseball slide earns AJ a crotching this time (Lawler: “Oh no! Oh no!”). The seated senton and the sitout bulldog combine for two but Rey is running out of steam.

AJ catches him on top and it’s the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. Rey is right back with Code Red for two of his own and now the 619 connects….to bump the referee. Cue the OC but Orton runs out as well to cut them off. A 619 sends AJ into the RKO and the frog splash gives Rey the pin and the title at 15:08.

Rating: B. This was the big culmination of the whole story and the fans got completely behind Mysterio. That’s what Mysterio does as well as almost anyone ever and this was a very well done story. Mysterio overcame the odds again and won the title as a nice consolation prize after last night. And of course it was a good match given who was out there. Well done all around and the feel good moment they were shooting for.

Eric Young vs. No Way Jose

Jose dances out of a headlock to start and then dances over to grab one on Young. That isn’t cool with Young who knees away in the corner, only to get caught in an airplane spin of all things. Young isn’t having that though and goes outside to hit the hot dog in the Conga Line, sending Jose into a new level of seriousness as we take a break.

Back with Young charging into a boot in the corner but sending Jose outside for a crash. Some shots to the back on the apron give Young two and we hit the dragon sleeper in the corner. There’s the chinlock (of course) to set off the comeback (of course again), including the backdrop (you get the idea). Jose gets two off a Backstabber but Young knocks him off the top, setting up the top rope elbow for two more. Young misses a charge though and it’s the pop up right hand to finish Young at 10:06.

Rating: C. The crowd was getting into this one and I can’t say I blame them. Jose knows how to work an exciting style and Young can have a good match against anyone. Just like Natalya though, don’t let him talk too much or get into too big of a story and he’ll be fine. The full version of this was even better and it’s one of the better surprises I can remember.

Quick look at Bray Wyatt defeating Daniel Bryan at Survivor Series.

From Raw.

Kevin Owens has known who he is since the beginning, unlike Rollins, who has been doing everything he can to become whatever someone else wants him to be. All Rollins is is insufferable so tonight, Owens is Stunning Rollins.

And from Raw one more time.

Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Rollins sends him to the floor to start but the suicide dive hits an elbow to the face. A half crab has Owens down but he’s right back up with a superkick to the floor. That’s enough for Rollins to grab a chair, which isn’t going to be allowed as the refereeing seems to have been upgraded after the mist nonsense. Back with Owens in a reverse chinlock, followed by some chops in the corner.

A DDT gives Owens a breather and the Cannonball crushes Rollins again. Rollins rolls outside so it’s a backsplash to make it even worse, plus the frog splash for two. The Pop Up Powerbomb is countered though and Rollins hits the Blockbuster. The Stomp misses though and now the Pop Up Powerbomb gets two. They hit a superkick each and Owens grabs the Stunner but can’t cover. Instead….here’s the AOP to jump Owens for the DQ at 14:03.

Rating: C+. The ending is going to be what matters here and I’m not sure how well it’s going to go. Rollins as a top heel with some big lackeys behind him could work, especially if this sets up a rematch against Owens at TLC. The wrestling was fine enough but you could sense that they were tired after a long weekend, which is understandable.

The fans are NOT happy with this and call it BS, with some fans in my section shouting about how it makes no sense and is therefore bad. That suggests to me that they suggesting that they don’t quite get how wrestling works. Owens gets sent into the post but AOP walks away from Rollins. The Stomp to Owens ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. So this wasn’t so much the Survivor Series recap show but rather the Raw recap show, which makes perfect sense here. There was no need to recap the go home show so this worked out well enough. Throw in a shockingly nice Jose vs. Young match and this was a rather pleasant surprise.

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: December 6, 2019
Location: Crown Coliseum, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

The very slow build on the fast road to TLC continues with one of the last two shows before the pay per view. The big story coming out of last week is the return of the YES Movement as Daniel Bryan gears up to fight the Fiend one more time. It didn’t go so well in round one but this company loves itself some rematches, perhaps this time with less hair. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s the Miz to get things going. He has been looking for Daniel Bryan since Bray Wyatt attacked him last week and will find him no matter what. Miz knows what Bryan has meant for Smackdown since he arrived and that can’t go away because of the Fiend. Bray pops up on screen to say that something bad happened to Bryan last week. Bryan was supposed to come play at TLC and now that might not be happening. Maybe Miz can come play instead!

Miz isn’t sure, but that makes Bray unhappy. Ramblin Rabbit pops up to tell Miz to run while he can but Bray scares him off. The Word of the Day is family, because Bray used to have one. Now Bray has a chance to join a new family, so he holds up a picture of Miz, his wife Maryse and his two daughters. Does Miz want to come play with him now? Miz storms to the back.

Post break, Miz calls Maryse and tells her to lock the doors. He wants to do something about this but she wants him to come home.

Alexa Bliss vs. Mandy Rose

Of note: Jessika Carr makes her main roster debut at the first full time female referee. Mandy gets sent outside early on to start but avoids a baseball slide, allowing Mandy to hit a jumping knee to the face. Back in and Mandy takes her down to PULL OUT HER EYELASHES. Mandy yells that Bliss will never look like her so Bliss hits her in the face. Some stomping keeps Mandy down as Nikki Cross takes out Sonya Deville on the floor. Twisted Bliss finishes Mandy at 4:18.

Rating: D+. Just a match here as Bliss is back after her injury. They finally seem to have pulled the trigger on her full face turn, which is something that they have wanted to do for a very long time. I can get how they are shooting to make her the new Trish Stratus and it isn’t that much of a stretch. If she can improve her in-ring abilities, it wouldn’t be that impossible to have her get in the same universe.

Dana Brooke is at catering when Drake Maverick comes in. He heard that Dana is going on a date with Batista and wants to know what Batista has that he doesn’t. Elias comes in to sing a song about what Batista has over Drake. Various jokes about Drake’s sex life are included so Drake slaps him, seemingly setting up a match tonight.

Post break, Drake is in the ring to say everyone thinks this is funny. He wants Elias out here right now for a fight instead of a match so here is Elias, rather promptly at that. Dana is with him as well and Drake can’t get in a single shot. Elias even bends him over his knee for a spank and Dana has to throw Drake back inside. Drift Away connects to leave Drake laying so Dana can get a three count.

Miz is marching through the back and hears a noise. He goes into a room and finds the same photo of his family, but with Bray’s picture over his face. Bray jumps him from behind and hits Sister Abigail before singing a little There’s No Place Like Home.

Video on Tribute To The Troops, which was taped earlier today.

Ali/Shorty G. vs. Lucha House Party vs. Revival vs. Heavy Machinery

Elimination match and the winners get New Day, on commentary, for the titles at TLC. Gable front facelocks Gran Metalik to little avail to start so it’s off to an armbar to work a little better. Ali comes in to flip out of a wristlock and it’s time for a big flip off, drawing New Day to their feet in applause. Lince Dorado and Tucker come in for an exchange of dropkicks as everything breaks down.

The House Party hit stereo dives to take out just about everyone and New Day is rather pleased by the competition. Back in and the Compactor finishes Metalik for the first elimination at 3:29. We come back from a break with Tucker kicking Wilder away and bringing in Otis to clean house. The shirt comes in for some dancing and the power of jiggling absorbs Dawson’s chops. The Caterpillar hits Dawson but the legal Wilder rolls Otis up (with trunks) for the pin at 9:43.

So it’s the Revival vs. Ali/Gable and they’re on the floor in a hurry with Revival being sent onto the New Day. Cole: “THERE ARE PANCAKES EVERYWHERE!” We take a break and come back with Ali German suplexing Wilder for two with Dawson making the save. Ali’s tornado DDT is countered into a powerslam for two but Ali kicks Wilder right back down. The 450 misses though and Ali is tossed over the barricade into the timekeeper’s area. Gable dives onto both of them and ankle locks Wilder but Dawson comes back in for the Shatter Machine and the pin at 18:42.

Rating: C+. The action got better at the end but it was a little deflating to see Revival get yet another title shot. Revival is becoming the second set of Usos as they feel like they have fought the New Day a hundred times now. I’m sure the match is going to be good, but it’s something I’ve seen so many times that it just doesn’t mean much anymore.

Post match the Revival says they won’t let New Day disrespect the titles anymore. The new day is over because they’re taking it back to the old days.

Roman Reigns isn’t worried about Baron Corbin promising to humiliate him tonight. The only humiliating thing is that Corbin and company can’t beat him. At TLC, Reigns is humiliating him.

Sheamus is still coming to destroy Smackdown.

Lacey Evans vs. Haley Jones

Lacey powers her into the corner and the Woman’s Right is good for the pin at 1:13.

Post match here’s Sasha Banks to yell at Lacey for knocking her out last week. Sasha calls herself the blueprint for the division but Lacey is just a Mary Poppins wannabe. Just because Lacey is a bad role model to her six year old daughter….and Lacey cuts that off to say never do that again. Lacey talks about how being in the Marine Corps put leadership in her so she’s ready to fight right now. The threat of the Woman’s Right has Sasha cowering so Lacey leaves, only to get jumped by Bayley. The beatdown is on and Lacey is left laying.

More from WWE at Tribute to the Troops earlier today.

Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler

Ziggler can’t wrestle him down to start but he can go to the knee for some more success. The chinlock and a hair pull put Reigns down again and Ziggler sends him into the steps to make it worse. Back with Reigns still in trouble, including being sent hard into the corner. We hit the chinlock again with Ziggler cranking away until Reigns powers up to his feet. Reigns’ running clothesline misses and they fight to the floor where Ziggler dropkicks him out of the air.

Cue King Corbin, complete with the throne being carried to the ring of course. We take another break and come back with both guys down. Reigns gets back up and hits the Superman Punch for two but Ziggler is right back with the Zig Zag for the same. That doesn’t work for Corbin, who gets on the apron and is punched right back to the floor. The spear finishes Ziggler at 17:48.

Rating: C-. The chinlocks hurt this one a bit but the longer run time didn’t hurt things all that badly. Reigns wasn’t about to lose to Ziggler here because he’s Roman Reigns in a match against Dolph Ziggler. The match was littler more than a way to advance Reigns vs. Corbin, and if that has to happen, there are worse ways to get there.

Post match Corbin’s handlers jump Reigns and Corbin gets involved too with Reigns fighting them off. Someone underneath the ring grabs Reigns’ leg but he beats Corbin up some more. Ziggler superkicks Reigns and grabs some handcuffs from underneath the ring. Reigns fights them off again but the guy from underneath the ring grabs his foot again and the numbers get the better of him.

They handcuff him around the post and unload on Reigns before pulling out….dog food. It’s poured over Reigns’ head and rubbed in his face to end the show, with Reigns screaming as the other two leave. Really effective angle here as it’s the first time Corbin and Ziggler have actually done something to get to Reigns rather than just making stupid dog jokes.

Overall Rating: C+. I can’t believe I’m saying it but that big Corbin angle at the end was the best part of the show. It made me want to see Reigns take him apart and that is the first time I’ve felt something like that about Corbin. The rest of the show came and went, but at least we have a few matches set up for TLC now. Bryan being out of the match makes sense as there is no reason to do Bryan vs. Wyatt twice in a row. Let him come back and win later, as Miz gets to fight for his family but come up short. Good enough show here, and it actually didn’t have anything terrible.

Results

Alexa Bliss b. Mandy Rose – Twisted Bliss

Revival b. Ali/Shorty G., Heavy Machinery and Lucha House Party last eliminating Ali/Shorty G.

Lacey Evans b. Haley Jones – Woman’s Right

Roman Reigns b. Dolph Ziggler – Spear

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

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

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 4, 2005
Location: ARCO Arena, Sacramento, California
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

We’ll start the second half of the year with this one and that could mean a few things. We’re likely in for a bigger show due to the holiday, but I’m not sure how much effort there is going to be for a show where they know no one is watching. The Draft is over as well so this is your roster for the time being. Let’s get to it.

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

Tonight: Carlito’s Cabana with Hulk Hogan.

Opening sequence.

Cue Kurt Angle to say he doesn’t approve of fans praising Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair (in a recent poll) more than him. He made Shawn tap at Wrestlemania, just like he made Hogan tap the last time they faced each other. Now he wants to make Brooke tap, meaning he gets punched as well. The double teaming is on but Shawn runs in for the save. A tag match seems imminent.

Post break, Shawn is in Eric Bischoff’s office to yell about what just happened.

Edge/Snitsky vs. Kane/Big Show

Kane throws Edge into the corner and hammers away to start so it’s off to Snitsky, with Edge getting in a cheap shot to take over. That lasts all of a half second as Show comes in and whips Snitsky all over the place. The threat of a chokeslam sends Edge bailing to the floor and Kane chases Lita to the back as we take a break.

Back with Snitsky working on Show’s leg until the other leg to the face breaks it up in a hurry. It’s not enough for a tag though as Edge gets in another shot to the leg, allowing Snitsky to yell a lot. A double middle rope shoulder gets two on Show with Edge’s eyes bugging out. Show is right back with a double suplex and the hot tag brings in Kane. House is cleaned with the side slam on Snitsky and Edge headbutting Edge from the apron. Back to back corner splashes set up the chokeslam to Snitsky for the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a tag match here with Lita being taken away so Edge couldn’t cheat to win as easily. Show probably should have gotten the pin to establish himself a bit more here but it’s not like it matters all that much. Snitsky’s push has come to a grinding halt, but it’s not like it was any secret that it was coming sooner rather than later.

Shawn comes out of Bischoff’s office and the tag match is official for later.

Here are the Heart Throbs to hit on Lilian, who needs some comfort after Viscera dumped her at Vengeance. They’ll make Viscera scream no no no and if Lilian likes what she sees, she can scream low low low.

Viscera vs. Heart Throbs

Lilian cries through Viscera’s entrance. The Throbs get thrown into the corner to start but mange a double shoulder to put Viscera down. Stomping in the corner sets up a crotching against the post….and that’s a DQ to give Viscera the pin.

There has been an eleven person trade between Raw and Smackdown. Chavo Guerrero is now on Raw, who is now bald and has a sweater wrapped around his shoulders. He hasn’t been all that successful and it’s because he’s Hispanic. Therefore, he has renounced his Hispanic heritage and is now Kerwin….White. Oh and Maria is stupid.

Here is the trade:

To Raw

Mark Jindrak

Rene Dupree

Danny Basham

Kenzo Suzuki

Hiroko

Chavo Guerrero

To Smackdown

William Regal

Candice Michelle

Sylvain Grenier

Simon Dean

Steven Richards

The Hurricane, Rosey and Stacy demonstrate how to put out sparklers with Rosey being lit on fire.

John Cena tells Maria to not worry about what someone named Kerwin thinks about her. Cena hits on her a bit and Maria smiles a lot.

Here’s Chris Jericho for the Highlight Reel. He wanted to have a special guest just like Carlito so he has a big music star of his own. That would be John Cena himself and he is very happy to be here. Jericho: “JOHN JOHN JOHN!” Cena: “CHRIS CHRIS CHRIS!” Cena is on a roll right now as WWE Champion and he even has a concert coming up in Philadelphia. Jericho on the other hand was the first Undisputed Champion and has played hundreds of concerts, including at the Download Festival in England. And yes, he does have a clip!

Cena isn’t impressed, so Jericho lists off the bands he played with at the festival. That’s still not enough, so Jericho gets in his face to talk about his legendary status. Jericho says he could take the title from Cena whenever he wanted so Cena gets fired up. The people aren’t stupid because everyone remembers when Raw Was Jericho. Now though, Jericho Is Cheap. Jericho has taken everything he’s done and covered it in cheap sauce. The fight is on with Cena getting the better of it until referees break it up. Cena was showing the fire here and you can see it in his eyes more and more every week.

With the good stuff out of the way, it’s time for Sgt. Slaughter’s Bikini Boot Camp obstacle course for the Diva Search girls. Coach and Christy Hemme are the hosts and bring out Slaughter, followed by the women. We go over the course, which includes jumping jacks, a potato sack, a jump rope and more. The winner gets immunity from being eliminated. Coach demonstrates and gets a time of 48 seconds. The women all go, Leyla falls out of her top and is disqualified, JR and King list off factoids about each, and Elizabeth wins. This ate up over fifteen minutes.

We recap the opening segment.

And now we’re back to the women to see how to vote for them.

Rene Dupree vs. Val Venis

Dupree is announced as part of the BLOCKBUSTER TRADE and promises to prove that he is the greatest specimen to ever set foot in the ring. Venis starts fast with the running knees to the ribs but Dupree pounds him down. A knee lift and backdrop have Dupree in some trouble, only to have him come back with a rollup with feet on the ropes for a fast pin. This was nothing.

Smackdown Rebound.

Angle and Carlito think it would be cool to hurt Shawn and Hogan.

Carlito/Kurt Angle vs. Hulk Hogan/Shawn Michaels

Hogan shoves Carlito away to start so Angle comes in and gets shoved down as well. It’s off to Shawn to work on the arm with an ax handle into an armdrag. The villains switch off again and it’s Shawn armbarring Carlito for a change. Angle comes in again and gets chopped in the corner and everything breaks down for a bit. Shawn and Hogan clear the ring and even dust off their hands as we take a break.

Back with Carlito kneeing Shawn in the back so Angle can hit the overhead belly to belly. Another suplex gives Angle two but Shawn fights out of the chinlock. The dropkick misses but Shawn is fine enough to counter the Angle Slam into a DDT. That’s enough for the hot tag to Hogan and the big boot drops Carlito. A backdrop puts Angle on the floor and it’s the legdrop for the pin.

Rating: C. Totally standard Hogan tag match here and there’s nothing wrong with going that way. It’s the best thing he could do at this point and he still does it well enough. That being said, it was a rather standard and uninteresting match, though Hogan’s comeback will never not work for me. I’m split on Carlito taking the fall as he’s the Intercontinental Champion, but he’s also by far the weakest of the people involved.

Post match a lot of posing ensues….until Shawn superkicks Hogan. The place goes QUIET on that one before some Hogan chants pop up. Shawn stares down at Hogan and the fans aren’t sure what to do as Shawn leaves to end the show. So that worked, and you can pick a few different motivations for Shawn.

Overall Rating: C-. The Cena vs. Jericho and Shawn turn stuff was awesome but the rest of the show was a mixture of bad wrestling and the eternally long Diva Search nonsense. It got more time than any match and while I get the point, it is one of the most annoying things I can ever remember WWE doing. The two big things carried it, but the rest of the show is pretty terrible.

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

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

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: December 2, 2019
Location: Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Samoa Joe

We’re less than two weeks away from Tables, Ladders and Chairs and you can probably piece together a lot of the card from here. That being said, there is a lot that still needs to be done so expect tonight to be thrown into overdrive in a hurry. It is hard to say how well that could go for the show, but I’m guessing it’s going to feel long. Let’s get to it.

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

The AOP arrives in the back and speak Punjabi/Albanian. The translation: Charly Caruso looks lovely tonight. Charly: “What?”

Here’s Seth Rollins to apologize for last week. Rollins talks about how everyone in the back is his family and as the head of the family, it is his job to get the best out of everyone here on Raw. Maybe he went a bit too far with that last week though and he needs to apologize. Lawler does not approve of this and it’s even worse when Rollins asks Owens to come out here and accept his apology man to man.

Owens comes out and says he thinks the only family Rollins has is the AOP. Rollins denies it, but Owens calls (uncensored) BS. Cue the AOP to make the offer of a tag match. Rollins says he’s in but Owens says he sees three scenarios, all of which end in him getting beaten down three on one. Therefore, let’s get it over with now. Rollins walks out and the AOP lets him go, but Owens offers to fight them one at a time. For some reason the AOP leaves so Owens issues an open challenge.

Cue Lana to handle Bobby Lashley’s introductions and shows off her rather revealing outfit as Owens facepalms in the ring. Owens: “NO ONE CARES! I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE NOT DONE TALKING! I AM VOMITING IN MY MOUTH RIGHT NOW!” Lana isn’t done and makes it clear that Rusev isn’t here tonight because the restraining order is on again. Owens says she is repulsive on the inside so Lana calls him a “basic pizza eater”. She threatens to have Lashley come out here and finish him. Owens: “LET’S GET TO IT!!!” Owens as the voice of the fans here is hilarious because he’s absolutely right, but I doubt WWE gets the point.

Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens

There is security on the floor waiting for Rusev. Lashley knocks him to the floor to start but Owens gets in a shot of his own, setting up the frog splash off the apron. Back from a break with Lashley hammering away until a superkick gets Owens out of trouble. The spinning Big Ending gives Lashley two but the full nelson is blocked. Owens hits the Pop Up Powerbomb but here’s the TOP to beat up Owens for the DQ at 8:49.

Rating: C-. Well they didn’t have Rusev interfere, which is actually a bit of a surprise. I’m still not sure what is going on here with the AOP as they could have Rollins as the boss or go in the other direction with a surprise leader. The AOP still aren’t the kind of people you have as the big bads so the leader is necessary. Getting the right one can make it work, but how much confidence should I have in WWE to pull it off?

Post match AOP beats Owens down and drags him off.

Post break Lana and Lashley talk about how tired they are of dealing with Rusev, which has caused Lana to have to hire security. Cue Rusev through the crowd to superkick Lashley and beat him down as Lana screams for the guards to come in. They take their sweet time getting up onto the apron as Rusev bails. They never even got in the ring so Lashley goes outside to yell at them, but since they’re detectives, Lashley gets arrested for getting physical. Lana slaps one of them and is going to jail too.

Post break we see exactly what happened before the break.

Lana and Lashley are put in the car and taken away. R-Truth and the Street Profits find this funny.

Drew McIntyre vs. Akira Tozawa

McIntyre drops to his knees to make it even and offers Tozawa a chance to leave. That earns him a running dropkick and Tozawa sends him to the floor for a suicide headbutt, which doesn’t even knock McIntyre off his feet. The reverse Alabama slam on the floor knocks Tozawa silly and we hit the reverse chinlock with a knee in the back. One heck of an overhead belly to belly drops Tozawa again and we hit the chinlock. Tozawa gets up and manages a kick to the head, followed by a missile dropkick to finally put McIntyre down. A victory roll gives Tozawa two but it’s the Claymore for the pin at 4:12.

Rating: D+. They had a little something with Tozawa not being able to knock McIntyre down, until he knocked McIntyre down and then got pinned about thirty seconds later. I can go for McIntyre winning a glorified squash though and while I don’t believe that he’s going to become a big deal, at least he has something other than taking loss after loss.

Post match McIntyre calls out Randy Orton for taking some shots at him on social media. He wants Orton out here right now but after a break, there is no Orton. McIntyre calls Orton attacking him last week STUPID STUPID STUPID so here’s Orton to interrupt. Orton doesn’t seem to think much of this and tries to walk away, but McIntyre goes on another social media rant. He’s going to make this simple enough for Orton or the Nashville fans to understand.

McIntyre didn’t think much of the RKO last week and it won’t be happening again. Orton says he thinks of this as a Drew McIntyre attitude problem. He can do these things because he has earned it but McIntyre hasn’t earned a thing. Cue the OC to blame Orton for costing Uncle Alan the US Title.

No, AJ isn’t happy here and yes it’s Orton’s fault. AJ wants to get his hands on Orton tonight so McIntyre bails, leaving Orton alone against the three of them. They get up on the apron and the fight is on until Ricochet runs in for the save. He gets beaten down as well so it’s Humberto Carrillo making a failed save attempt of his own. Rey Mysterio makes the real save and I think you know where this is going.

Post break, Orton tells the three of them thanks for the help, but he didn’t need it. Well at least they weren’t just waiting for the match to start when we got back.

Aleister Black vs. Tony Nese

Nese goes straight at Nese and grabs a headlock as Buddy Murphy is watching in the back. Black flips over him and sweeps the leg, setting up the moonsault into the sit in the middle. Back in and Nese takes the eyes to take over and snaps Black’s throat over the top. The springboard moonsault hits….something close to Black’s knees and it’s a jumping knee to the face. Black Mass (or Black Magic as Lawler puts it) finishes Nese at 3:27.

Rating: C-. I know Black’s sitting in the room deal doesn’t work very well but dang that kick looks incredible. How else are you supposed to top that? It’s a knockout shot that can end anyone and Black has the look to make it seem like something that could take your head off. Great finisher to a great looking star, who shows off whenever he can get out of that room.

Murphy doesn’t regret going after Black and says Black takes himself way too seriously. Murphy is cool, calm and collected while Black is a hothead. Black needs to calm down and if he won’t, Murphy will do it for him.

Eric Young vs. Andrade

Young works on a wristlock to start and knocks Andrade off the top for the big elbow and a near fall. Andrade pulls him off the middle rope though and hits a running kick to the head for two. The armbar goes on for a bit until Young fights up and gets in a shot to the face. The big elbow is broken up again though and the running knees in the corner rock Young. Andrade hits the hammerlock DDT for the pin at 4:36.

Rating: D+. Young was trying here but it was little more than a glorified squash, which has been a trend on the show for the last two weeks. Andrade is someone else who could be someone around here if he is given a chance to shine, meaning not losing or getting put into something that doesn’t matter.

Post match R-Truth runs out with the Mob following, as Truth is hiding behind some NASCAR drivers. One of them is a referee BECAUSE OF COURSE HE IS and the other rolls Truth up for the pin. It’s Michael Waltrip and Kyle Bush in case you need to know that before they lose the title back and disappear after tonight, only to show up in some talking head bit where they say they’re big fans and had a great time.

The Street Profits shill stuff with the No Way Jose conga line.

We recap the AOP stuff throughout the night.

Rollins doesn’t like the suggestions that he did anything wrong. Everyone may be a critic, but not everyone has the guts to be a leader.

We look at Rey Mysterio winning the US Title last week.

Erick Rowan talks to whatever is in his cage.

No Way Jose vs. Erick Rowan

The conga line goes over to check out the sack so Rowan destroys them, as you might expect. Rowan beats up Jose for trying to make a save and hits the Iron Claw. A second one finishes Jose at 2:06. I’m not sure what is in that sack and yet I’m still sure it is going to be a big disappointment.

Post break Rowan won’t say won’t in the cage and is annoyed at being asked about it.

The Kabuki Warriors rant in Japanese before their match. They promise to beat Charlotte tonight.

Charlotte vs. Kabuki Warriors

The Warriors now have their own single theme instead of the pretty bad mashup. They jump Charlotte before the bell and the beatdown is on, with the referee giving Charlotte a breather before starting it off. Sane chokes Charlotte in the corner but she fights back, only to get caught by Asuka to keep her in trouble.

Charlotte knocks both of them outside but gets rammed into the barricade to cut her off again. With Sane being sent into the barricade, Asuka kicks Charlotte down to put her right back down. The hip attack hits Sane though and Charlotte kicks Asuka in the face. Back from a break with Sane pounding away but getting kicked out of the air.

The moonsault hits double knees though as Charlotte can’t keep anything going. Sane gets caught in the Boston crab until Asuka kicks Charlotte in the head for the break. Asuka kicks away and grabs the armbreaker, which is reversed into the sitout powerbomb for two with Sane making the save.

Charlotte takes both of them to the top but a double superplex is broken up because it would probably kill everyone involved. Sane hits some top rope knees to the back to give Asuka two but Charlotte is right back with the double spear. The Figure Eight has Asuka in -big trouble until the Insane Elbow (to Charlotte’s bridged ribs) breaks it up for the pin at 16:00.

Rating: C+. Charlotte got too much in here but at least she lost clean in the end, which is how this should have gone. The fact that it was a possibility to see Charlotte get a win over both champions at once though is a bit disturbing, but at least they got it right in the end. Just find some challengers for the champs instead of Becky and Charlotte.

The champs celebrate in the ring until Asuka tries to leave, only to get pointed back in by a production guy’s hand. Nothing happens after that, but they needed to fill in some time.

Viking Raiders vs. ???/???

Non-title and all the usual sets up the Viking Experience for the pin at 1:37.

Ricochet, Humberto Carrillo and Rey Mysterio are ready to shut the OC up tonight.

We look at Lashley and Lana getting arrested.

The OC are going to win tonight and then get Randy Orton.

OC vs. Humberto Carrillo/Rey Mysterio/Ricochet

Carrillo takes over on Anderson’s arm to start and it’s Ricochet coming in with an ax handle to stay on it. AJ comes in and gets taken down by Humberto’s springboard crossbody. They head outside with Carrillo being sent into the barricade and it’s Gallows coming in for an elbow to the back of the head. Joe drops a Red Neck Kung Fu reference as Gallows takes Carrillo down for elbows to the chest.

Carrillo flips over the back and scores with an enziguri. The hot tag brings in Mysterio to pick up the pace and it’s Anderson and Gallows being sent outside. The 619 to AJ is broken up by Anderson and we take a break. Back with Gallows suplexing Mysterio, which is a lot better than having Mysterio fighting out of another chinlock. Anderson comes in for the trash talk into the chinlock but Mysterio sends him into the corner for the break.

Ricochet gets the hot tag to pick up the pace, meaning it’s a bunch of kicks to a bunch of heads. The springboard clothesline into the standing shooting star press gets two on AJ. Styles is right back with the belly to back faceplant for his own two as everything breaks down. The 619 hits Anderson but Gallows superkicks Mysterio down. Ricochet counters the Styles Clash with a hurricanrana for two so Ricochet loads up a super hurricanrana. AJ isn’t about to let that happen though and it’s reversed into a super Styles Clash for the pin at 14:38.

Rating: C+. Pretty standard main event tag here, which worked well enough but was nothing that is going to be remembered beyond….oh I’m thinking tomorrow morning. AJ vs. Orton could be interesting with McIntyre as a nice bonus. I’m not sure about Carrillo being thrown in, but Ricochet will be fine against the OC with the right partner.

Post match AJ poses and gets caught with the RKO to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a show that came and went as you can still see most of TLC coming, though nothing has actually been announced for the show with less than two weeks to go. I know that’s become the trend around here, but I have no idea why that is the case. You would think they would have this stuff set up weeks in advance but WWE doesn’t seem to agree, no matter how much chaos it tends to cause. Anyway, watchable show here, but not exactly a memorable one.

Results

Kevin Owens b. Bobby Lashley via DQ when AOP interfered

Drew McIntyre b. Akira Tozawa – Claymore

Aleister Black b. Tony Nese – Black Mass

Andrade b. No Way Jose – Hammerlock DDT

Erick Rowan b. No Way Jose – Iron Claw

Kabuki Warriors b. Charlotte – Insane Elbow

Viking Experience b. ???/??? – Viking Experience

OC b. Ricochet/Humberto Carrillo/Rey Mysterio – Super Styles Clash to Ricochet

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

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

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 25, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler

It’s the final important show in Chicago and that means we should be in for the start of something new around here. We’ve been dealing with the NXT Invasion for so long now that I’m almost not sure where things are supposed to go from here. Raw came in dead last on Sunday though and that means it’s time to hold some people responsible. Oh and TLC is in less than three weeks because we’re not allowed to have a breather from major shows. Let’s get to it.

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

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck and looking straight at the Titantron.

Opening sequence.

The locker room is around the ring and it’s Seth Rollins, billed as the locker room leader, running a town hall. We wait for the CM Punk chants to wrap up (Seth: “I tried to get him here. He wants to sit behind a desk in Los Angeles.”) before Rollins admits that NXT destroyed them last night. Rollins grew up a fan of Raw and watched people like Steve Austin and DX, but last night, everyone around this ring sucked. If anyone wants to say something, now would be the time.

With no one saying anything, Rollins calls out Orton for being the weak link on the team last night. Orton looks at him and walks out so Rollins calls out Charlotte for failing as a leader last night. Rollins: “And you call yourself a Flair.” Charlotte walks out too and Rollins wants to know where AOP were last night.

They leave when told they aren’t needed, so Rollins focuses on Rey Mysterio. Rollins says he beat Brock Lesnar twice this year but Rey couldn’t do it with a lead pipe and his stupid kid. Rey leaves and so does everyone else, save for Kevin Owens. Rollins rants about Owens being Mr. NXT and how he does nothing on Raw these days. He’ll never be Seth Rollins….and there’s a Stunner to leave Rollins laying. Turning Rollins from the guy who says stupid things on Twitter while still being a face on Raw into a delusional heel is a good idea and something they had to do after how loudly he was getting booed.

Post break Rollins challenges Owens to a match tonight.

Earlier today, Rusev was held out of the arena by a restraining order.

Bobby Lashley vs. Titus O’Neil

Lana is out with Lashley. Titus tries to start and chops away but walks into a spinebuster….as Rusev runs in through the crowd for the DQ at 1:05.

Post match the beatdown is on with Rusev hammering away and sending Lashley into the steps. They fight up the ramp with Rusev sending him into the set and then onto the announcers’ table. Rusev shouts that this isn’t about Lana but here are the cops to arrest Rusev and drag him out. Hang on though as Rusev breaks away and tackles Lashley off the stage and through a table. One of the big steel beams gets kicked onto Lashley for a bonus and a smiling Rusev is finally taken away. And yes, that does get the biggest reaction Rusev has had in months because he actually fought back for a change. It’s not hard people.

Lashley had to be taken out on a stretcher while Lana screamed a lot.

AOP vs. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder

AOP wastes no time in hitting the Last Chapter on Hawkins and some knees put Hawkins down. Stereo Death Valley Drivers into the corner set up the Super Collider into the powerbomb/neckbreaker combination for the pin on Ryder at 1:22. Complete and utter squash.

Andrade vs. Akira Tozawa

Are they giving the big names the first hour off tonight? Andrade chops away to start and stomps a downed Tozawa for a bonus. The armbar is countered into a small package for two on Andrade as Tozawa picks up the pace. A release German suplex connects but Andrade sends him into the corner. The running knees in the corner and it’s the hammerlock DDT to finish Tozawa at 2:29.

Aleister Black didn’t like Buddy Murphy coming after him last week. Murphy’s mere presence in this arena tonight means that Murphy wants to pick a fight with him.

Matt Hardy vs. Buddy Murphy

Hardy hammers away to start and sends him into the buckle early on. Some more right hands connect in the corner but Murphy takes him to the floor for a whip into the barricade. Back in and the Side Effect gives Buddy a breather but the corner bulldog is blocked. A middle rope elbow to the back of the head connects, only to have Murphy knee the heck out of Matt. More knees to the face are enough for the pin on Hardy at 2:58.

Post match Murphy confirms that he is picking a fight with Aleister Black so here’s Black to strike away, with Murphy bailing in a hurry. How WWE managed to not get what to do with Black for six month astounds me.

Charlotte says she has never claimed to be a team player. Asuka was clearly bitter after losing to her twice so tonight Charlotte will prove how great she is.

We recap the opening segment. Owens vs. Rollins is set for later.

US Title: AJ Styles vs. Humberto Carrillo

Carrillo is challenging….or at least he would be if the OC didn’t jump him at ringside and lay him out.

Ricochet comes out to check on Carrillo, with AJ mocking the superhero for not making the save in time. With Carrillo down, Ricochet challenges him for the title tonight. That won’t be happening, so here’s Randy Orton to challenge as well. That’s shot down so Drew McIntyre and Rey Mysterio come out to do the same and get denied as well. Ricochet has an idea though: a four way with the winner getting a title shot later in the night. AJ calls it stupid but Gallows thinks it sounds kind of compelling. AJ: “THAT’S WHY I WAS TALKING TO KARL!” Anderson says it’s a hot crowd in Chicago so do it. That’s enough for AJ and it’s on.

Ricochet vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre

The winner gets a title shot at AJ later in the night. Ricochet and Rey clear the ring to start but Orton comes back in before the mini dream match can start. That just earns him a dropkick and an enziguri rocks Rey. McIntyre pulls Ricochet to the floor for a slam though and Rey is thrown on top of him for the crash.

Ricochet gets thrown back inside with McIntyre tossing him around with ease. Orton charges into a boot to the face and the rolling dropkick puts McIntyre into the corner. It’s Rey coming back in with a springboard seated senton to Orton and a kick to Ricochet’s head. McIntyre’s superplex is broken up as he gets caught in the Tree of Woe, only to sit up and German superplex Orton, who superplexes Rey at the same time. Cue the OC as we take a break.

Back with Ricochet slugging away at both villains but getting caught in Orton’s hanging DDT. It’s time for the required showdown between Orton and McIntyre so they chop it out with Orton’s ears ringing after a hard one. Ricochet comes back in and reverses McIntyre’s reverse Alabama Slam into a victory roll for two. A heck of a Batista Bomb gives McIntyre the same on Ricochet but Orton cuts off the Claymore with an RKO. The OC pulls Orton to the floor though, leaving Rey to springboard back in for a moonsault press into a small package to pin Ricochet at 14:28.

Rating: B-. This took some time to get going but they got into a groove by the end and had an entertaining match. That’s all you can ask for out of something like this as there are a lot of people doing stuff at the same time. It also gives us AJ vs. Mysterio tonight and AJ vs. Orton later so nice job of setting up a few things at once.

US Title: Rey Mysterio vs. AJ Styles

Rey is challenging and gets sent into various turnbuckles to start. A backbreaker keeps Rey in trouble for a bit and AJ ties him in the Tree of Woe for a baseball slide to make it worse. The catapult sends Rey’s throat into the rope as AJ isn’t seeming worried here. Rey gets in a few shots to the ribs but his knee gives out on a springboard attempt. He’s fine enough to send AJ shoulder first into the post though and they’re both down. It’s Rey up first but Anderson breaks up the 619, which is good for a double ejection.

We take a break and come back with Rey getting sent chest first into the buckle because he isn’t banged up enough already. The Tree of Woe is on again but the baseball slide earns AJ a crotching this time (Lawler: “Oh no! Oh no!”). The seated senton and the sitout bulldog combine for two but Rey is running out of steam.

AJ catches him on top and it’s the fireman’s carry backbreaker for two. Rey is right back with Code Red for two of his own and now the 619 connects….to bump the referee. Cue the OC but Orton runs out as well to cut them off. A 619 sends AJ into the RKO and the frog splash gives Rey the pin and the title at 15:08.

Rating: B. This was the big culmination of the whole story and the fans got completely behind Mysterio. That’s what Mysterio does as well as almost anyone ever and this was a very well done story. Mysterio overcame the odds again and won the title as a nice consolation prize after last night. And of course it was a good match given who was out there. Well done all around and the feel good moment they were shooting for.

Kevin Owens has known who he is since the beginning, unlike Rollins, who has been doing everything he can to become whatever someone else wants him to be. All Rollins is is insufferable so tonight, Owens is Stunning Rollins.

Charlotte vs. Asuka

Kairi Sane is here with Asuka. Charlotte points to her hair, which got misted so badly last night. Asuka gets hammered out to the floor and sent into the barricade as Charlotte gets to work off some frustration. Charlotte has to deal with Sane but Asuka’s kicks to the legs have no effect. Some elbows to the face stagger Asuka but the Figure Eight is kicked away in a hurry.

Asuka slugs away and hits the backfist, only to run into the big boot to give Charlotte two. With Asuka taking a breaker on the floor, Charlotte goes after Sane, who runs through the crowd (high fiving every fan on the way up, which isn’t shown on camera for obvious reasons). Back from a break with Asuka getting kicked off the apron but managing a kick to the face. The German suplex rocks Charlotte for the first time but Asuka can’t follow up.

The Asuka Lock is countered into a rollup for two and Charlotte throws her down with the fall away slam. A running flip splash gets two more but Charlotte runs into something like a Codebreaker for another near fall. Natural Selection is countered into a triangle choke, which is countered into a Boston crab. With that not working, Charlotte goes after the knee before spearing her down for two. Cue Sane again for the distraction, which earns herself a posting. Asuka uses the breather to hit the mist (with Charlotte clearly pulling her hair back before it hit) and cradle Charlotte for the pin at 17:23.

Rating: B-. The ending holds things back a lot here as Charlotte pulling her hair right before the mist looked stupid, but what makes it even worse is the refereeing. In the previous match, Anderson and Gallows get ejected for maybe tripping Mysterio but Charlotte looks like she just got off a Nickelodeon game show (and the mist is all over Asuka’s chin) and that’s not enough evidence? The saving grace is that it comes at the end of a rather good match, which is all you would expect from these two.

Erick Rowan vs. Kyle Roberts

Roberts goes outside to check on what is in Rowan’s crate and you just don’t do that. Total destruction into the Iron Claw for the pin at 1:24.

Buy stuff for Black Friday! R-Truth and the IIconics are a rather nifty sales team.

AJ Styles is so upset at losing his title that he can only manage to say Randy Orton.

We recap Rusev attacking Lashley.

Lana is crushed over Lashley being hurt but she’ll be fine during this trying time. And thank you for asking.

Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens

Rollins sends him to the floor to start but the suicide dive hits an elbow to the face. A half crab has Owens down but he’s right back up with a superkick to the floor. That’s enough for Rollins to grab a chair, which isn’t going to be allowed as the refereeing seems to have been upgraded after the mist nonsense. Back with Owens in a reverse chinlock, followed by some chops in the corner.

A DDT gives Owens a breather and the Cannonball crushes Rollins again. Rollins rolls outside so it’s a backsplash to make it even worse, plus the frog splash for two. The Pop Up Powerbomb is countered though and Rollins hits the Blockbuster. The Stomp misses though and now the Pop Up Powerbomb gets two. They hit a superkick each and Owens grabs the Stunner but can’t cover. Instead….here’s the AOP to jump Owens for the DQ at 14:03.

Rating: C+. The ending is going to be what matters here and I’m not sure how well it’s going to go. Rollins as a top heel with some big lackeys behind him could work, especially if this sets up a rematch against Owens at TLC. The wrestling was fine enough but you could sense that they were tired after a long weekend, which is understandable.

The fans are NOT happy with this and call it BS, with some fans in my section shouting about how it makes no sense and is therefore bad. That suggests to me that they suggesting that they don’t quite get how wrestling works. Owens gets sent into the post but AOP walks away from Rollins. The Stomp to Owens ends the show.

Overall Rating: B-. There was a lot of stuff going on here and the high quality wrestling was a big part of it. The wrestling was the best part of the whole thing but the angle advancement wasn’t quite as strong. Rollins as a heel sounds good but other than the Mysterio stuff, there wasn’t much to be seen in the way of good storytelling. It’s more good than bad, but I’m not sure how well this is going to work week to week.

Results

Bobby Lashley b. Titus O’Neil via DQ when Rusev interfered

AOP b. Curt Hawkins/Zack Ryder – Powerbomb/neckbreaker combination to Ryder

Andrade b. Akira Tozawa – Hammerlock DDT

Buddy Murphy b. Matt Hardy – Knee to the face

Rey Mysterio b. Ricochet, Randy Orton and Drew McIntyre – Small package to Ricochet

Rey Mysterio b. AJ Styles – Frog splash

Asuka b. Charlotte – Cradle

Erick Rowan b. Kyle Roberts – Iron Claw

Kevin Owens b. Seth Rollins via DQ when AOP interfered

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

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

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

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

Starrcade 2019
Date: December 1, 2019
Location: Infinite Energy Arena, Duluth, Georgia
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton

I mean, it has been a whole week since their last big event. This is another one of those house shows that is airing on the Network in a shortened form. It isn’t exactly something interesting though last year’s show was pretty good. The two matches announced aren’t exactly breaking new ground but they could be good. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about the history of Starrcade and run down the matches announced.

Here is Kevin Owens for the Kevin Owens Show. He doesn’t waste any time and brings out Ric Flair to make it feel like Starrcade. Flair talks about how he’s a fan of Owens and, after switching to a microphone that works, he talks about how proud he is of Charlotte. On Smackdown, Roman Reigns talked about family, and that’s what everyone in WWE is.

The first Starrcade was thirty six years ago and back then all Flair wanted to do was be the best wrestler in the world. That’s what everyone wants to do here tonight and it’s going to be a good one. Owens has heard a lot of WOOing so he wants to let Flair have one of his own. They count it down….and here are the Good Brothers to cut them off.

Anderson and Gallows aren’t happy with hearing about the past when we could be talking about their present. They are the best tag team in the world but Owens brings up their lack of hair. Anderson thinks we should see a bunch of OC highlights for the rest of the show. Gallows: “Maybe some Botched Club!” Owens: “You want to see highlights of your last match?” Cue the Street Profits as Flair goes out to the floor. I think you know where this is going.

Good Brothers vs. Street Profits

Anderson punches Ford into the corner as we hear about a tag match opening the first Starrcade. Ford flips away though and it’s off to Dawkins for a headlock. Dawkins talks a lot and brings him over to the corner so Ford can come back in with a dropkick (it looked like Ford had to lower his legs because he was going to get too high).

Gallows comes in and superkicks Ford to the floor to take over. The pummeling starts in the corner and there’s a big kick to Ford’s head for a bonus. The chinlock goes on again for a few seconds before a fall away slam sends Ford back into the corner. Gallows runs him over and elbows him into another chinlock.

Ford gets up and backflips out of a suplex, setting up the enziguri to put Gallows down. There’s the hot tag to Dawkins and it’s time to clean house. Everything breaks down and Anderson cuts off the hot streak with a spinebuster for two. The belly to back suplex/neckbreaker combination gets two but Dawkins hits his own spinebuster. Ford’s frog splash is good for the pin on Anderson at 8:46.

Rating: C-. Total and complete house show match here and that’s all it needed to be. This was just about giving the fans something to cheer for and they did it well enough. The Profits are a team who can get fans interested through pure charisma and it isn’t like the Good Brothers are going to be hurt by a loss.

Post match the Profits bring Flair into the ring and do the elbow/knee onto the invisible coat in tribute.

Bayley and Sasha Banks don’t like being around here and talk about winning the Women’s Tag Team Titles tonight.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Becky Lynch/Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss/Nikki Cross vs. Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Kabuki Warriors

The Warriors are defending and it’s one fall to a finish. Sane and Cross start things off but it’s Asuka and Charlotte coming in before anything happens. Charlotte shoulders her down but gets kicked in the ribs when trying to flip backwards. She’s fine enough to hit a fall away slam but Sasha tags herself in to frustrate Charlotte a bit. Sasha’s yelling at the crowd allows Cross to come in and bring Sasha into the corner.

Bliss hits her running slap and tags out for a bow. It’s quickly off to Bayley vs. Becky for a slugout until Bayley actually gets the better of it. Becky kicks her away though and brings in Bliss to clean house. Sane comes in to pull Bliss’ hair though and a dropkick to the back has Bliss in trouble. It’s back to Bayley but she gets small packaged for two, meaning Asuka tags herself back in.

That means a few kicks until Bliss punches her down, setting up the double tag to Lynch and Sane. Bexploders abound and it’s a double DDT to the Warriors. Sane is back up but Cross tags herself in for a high crossbody. The Purge gets two on Asuka with Banks making the save. The Insane Elbow hits Becky so Charlotte spears both Warriors down. Cross rolls Asuka up but gets pulled into the Asuka Lock for the tap at 13:26.

Rating: C+. This was the kind of fun insanity that these matches thrive on, though there is only so much you can do with so many people. It’s really just about keeping people moving the whole time and that is what we got here. There is a pretty firm limit on what they can do with something like this aside from a special occasion and this was as good as it was getting.

Bobby Lashley vs. Rusev

Last Man Standing and Lana is with Lashley, who is fine after Monday’s beatdown. Before the match, Lana talks about her hot boyfriend but there is some bad news: no Last Man Standing match tonight because the restraining order is still in effect. They’ll take that forfeit though. The referee raises Lashley’s hand and rings the bell but hang on a second.

Cue Kevin Owens to say that’s not how this is ending. Owens: “NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE TWO OF YOU AND YOUR STUPID RELATIONSHIP!” Lana wants everyone to ignore Owens right now. Owens: “Like you’ve been ignoring that stupid Russian accent for the last five years?” Lashley lets Owens take Rusev’s place and the match is on.

Bobby Lashley vs. Kevin Owens

Regular match instead of Last Man Standing. Owens hits two superkicks into the Cannonball but Lashley bails from the threat of a Stunner. Another Cannonball off the apron takes Lashley down again but he fights back to send Owens into the announcers’ table. They get back inside with Lashley’s shirt coming off to reveal the taped up ribs and shoulder. Lashley starts hammering away but Owens hits him in the ribs for a breather. A Downward Spiral gives Lashley two and he grabs a Crossface of all things.

That’s broken up with a quick grab of the rope so Lashley throws him outside. Back in and Lashley’s superplex is broken up, allowing Owens to Swanton onto the bad ribs. The frog splash gets two so Owens hits the Stunner, only to have Lana distract the referee. Lashley runs Owens over and grabs a chair, which draws in Rusev, in a Bob Ross shirt, through the crowd for the DQ at 9:29.

Rating: C. This was less of a match and more of a countdown to the obvious ending. That isn’t a bad thing but it wasn’t exactly a thrilling match. Owens could have been just about anyone here as we continue this Rusev vs. Lashley feud that has only started to pick up some steam over a month into the thing. It wasn’t a bad match but there wasn’t exactly a secret to where it was going.

Post match the beating is on with Rusev taking it into the crowd as Lana shouts about Rusev breaking the law. They head back into the ring with Lashley hitting him with some kendo stick shots. Rusev blocks the big shot though and grabs a chair to hammer away. The jumping superkick into the chair sends Lashley and Lana bailing. Rusev runs through the crowd to avoid being arrested to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. Much like every single one of these things, this was a show that existed and little more. There is nothing on here that you need to see and nothing on here that is worth your time, though the women’s match was pretty good. You would be better off watching a host of other things though as it’s just a house show with a bigger set than usual. The Starrcade name is fine though and it’s better than just leaving the things dormant for AEW to pick off. Completely acceptable use of an hour, but nothing you’ll regret missing.

Results

Street Profits b. Good Brothers – Frog splash to Anderson

Kabuki Warriors b. Nikki Cross/Alexa Bliss, Charlotte/Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks/Bayley – Asuka Lock to Cross

Bobby Lashley b. Kevin Owens via DQ when Rusev interfered

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

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

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

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

Survivor Series 2019
Date: November 24, 2019
Location: Allstate Arena, Chicago, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Vic Joseph, Jerry Lawler, Nigel McGuinness, Beth Phoenix

We have finally arrived. After several weeks of Raw, Smackdown and NXT invading each others’ shows, it is time to see which show is best and that could be interesting. Raw has won the competition three years in a row, though this is NXT’s first time being included. The card looks good, albeit huge. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck end zone, looking straight at the Titantron.

Kickoff Show: Tag Team Battle Royal

Raw: OC, Street Profits, Zack Ryder/Curt Hawkins

Smackdown: Revival, Dolph Ziggler/Robert Roode, Lucha House Party, Heavy Machinery

NXT: Forgotten Sons, Breezango, Imperium

When one member is out, both of them are out and that’s quite the advantage for Smackdown. Vic on Hawkins and Ryder: “Here are two guys who are just happy they’re still here.” Lince Dorado/Gran Metalik for the House Party and Fabian Aichner/Marcel Barthel for Imperium, with Walter on the outside. It’s a big brawl to start with Ziggler wearing a Smackdown hat (he finds new ways to look stupid every day) and it’s the Sons being out in a hurry.

The House Party quickly follow them with Hawkins and Ryder going as well to really start clearing the ring out. We get the standard Ziggler save because he does these things in every battle royal but never wins the things. Aichner and Ziggler slug it out on the apron with Roode knocking Aichner out for the elimination. Otis gives Ziggler the spinning slam and takes off the shirt to set up the Caterpillar, only to get tossed by the OC and the Revival.

Fandango gets sent through the ropes so he’s able to catch Breeze as he’s thrown out, only to have the Revival get rid of them anyway. That’s it for NXT and the Profits dropkick Revival out to get us down to the OC, the Profits and Ziggler/Roode. Ziggler breaks up the Magic Killer to Roode and superkicks Gallows out and we’re down to two. Roode gets knocked through the ropes and it’s the spinebuster to Ziggler but Roode knocks Ford off the top. Ford is right back up with a frog splash to Ziggler, only to have Roode throw him out for the win at 8:21.

Rating: D. What a great way to start the show: eliminate all of the popular teams and go with the least interesting team from Smackdown instead of the popular Heavy Machinery. It’s not like it matters one way or another in the grand scheme of things, but that’s what we get anyway because WWE loves itself some Roode and Ziggler. The match was your usual battle royal and that’s not exactly interesting.

Smackdown – 1

Raw – 0

NXT – 0

Kickoff Show: Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto (Smackdown) vs. Akira Tozawa (Raw) vs. Lio Rush (NXT)

Rush is defending and we’ve got armbands for the brands. It really is amazing how much effort they put into trying to get this Brand Supremacy thing over but it’s better than the stupid shirts. Tozawa and Kalisto knock him to the floor to start so Tozawa can roll Kalisto up for two, setting off the issues in a hurry. Rush comes back in and starts the dodging but gets pulled to the floor. Kalisto’s kick to the head cuts off Tozawa’s dive and everyone gets back in.

It’s Rush dodging Kalisto’s shots to the head and hitting a double handspring elbow to put both of them down. A left hand to the face puts Rush down and Tozawa plants him with a fireman’s carry faceplant. Everyone heads to the same corner and it’s Rush with a super double armdrag so all three can be down at once again. The three way slugout goes to Rush until Tozawa snaps off a German suplex for two.

Kalisto dives in to roll Rush up for two more and they’re down for the fourth time. There’s the Salida Del Sol to Rush with Tozawa breaking it up with a Shining Wizard. The top rope backsplash gets the same as Kalisto gets to make a save this time. Kalisto and Tozawa slug it out for a bit until it’s another Salida Del Sol to plant Tozawa. Rush dives in with the Final Hour to Kalisto to retain at 8:28.

Rating: C+. This was exactly what it needed to be: three talented guys going out there and doing a bunch of fast paced offense for a few minutes. The crowd was into it too, which makes me feel a little bit better for these guys. The cruiserweights have been treated terribly on 205 Live and it’s nice to see them getting a chance to actually shine on the big stage for once.

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

Raw – 0

Kickoff Show: Viking Raiders (Raw) vs. New Day (Smackdown) vs. Undisputed Era (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the Tag Team Champions. Big E., Ivar and O’Reilly start things off and the early beating sends O’Reilly over for the tag to Fish. The fans are behind the Era to start so Big E. and Ivar run both of them over, leaving us with the big power showdown. Big E. can’t slam him but he can shoulder the heck out of him instead, only to have O’Reilly come back in for some knees to Big E.’s ribs.

Everything breaks down for a bit and it’s Ivar slamming Erik onto Fish. Kofi comes in to hammer on Erik before jumping over Big E. for a backsplash to O’Reilly. The Era is sent to the floor so it’s New Day slugging it out with the Vikings. That doesn’t last long as Erik and Big E. head to the floor, allowing the Era to come back in and double team Kofi. The knee gets taken out with O’Reilly hitting the top rope knee to said knee, setting up a kneebar.

Ivar comes back in to break that up with a splash as everything breaks down again. The knee is fine enough to kick away at O’Reilly on the apron as Big E. misses the spear to the floor. With everyone else on the floor, Erik slams Ivar from the apron onto the pile for the big crash. Back in and Fish kicks Erik in the face before O’Reilly starts in on the knee at the slower pace.

That’s broken up and it’s back to Ivar to clean house. O’Reilly kicks Fish in the face by mistake and it’s Jeff Cobb’s Tour of the Islands to Kyle. It’s back Erik, who gets caught by Kofi’s double stomp out of the corner. That’s not it though as it’s a powerbomb/top rope double stomp for two with Ivar making the save. Big E. hits the spear on Erik this time and everyone is down on the floor at once.

Back in and the knee to Big E.’s face sets up the springboard clothesline/German suplex combination. Kofi misses Trouble in Paradise on the floor and takes the High/Low, leaving the Era vs. the Vikings. Ivar shrugs off the kicks and cartwheels away from High/Low to take both of them down. The Viking Experience sends O’Reilly into Fish for the pin at 14:42.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going but once they hit their stride, this was a pretty crazy set of spots with a bunch of different styles on display. It was a lot of fun and Raw gets on the board, which wasn’t exactly a surprise. However, they did enough of a job of making you believe that any team could win to get around thing. None of the teams looked bad here either so they even protected the champions. Really fun match that had just the right amount of time too.

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

NXT – 1

The opening video is your big recap of the NXT Invasion, which goes exactly as you would have guessed. They’re doing a good job of making NXT look like an equal here and that is what matters most out of the whole thing. All of the individual matches get some attention as well.

Raw Women vs. Smackdown Women vs. NXT Women

Raw: Charlotte, Natalya, Asuka, Kairi Sane, Sarah Logan

Smackdown: Sasha Banks, Carmella, Dana Brooke, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross

NXT: Rhea Ripley, Toni Storm, Candice LeRae, Io Shirai, Bianca Belair

For the sake of sanity, they do team entrances instead of having fifteen individual entrances. Everyone but Toni on Team NXT was in WarGames last night so they’re a bit banged up. There will be three in at once but you can only tag your own partners so it won’t be completely insane. Lacey, Logan and Toni start things off with Logan getting knocked down early on.

Cross comes in to clean house until Toni takes her down as well, leaving Logan to hit some cartwheel knees to the back. Logan drops Cross onto Toni for two on each but Storm is up with a double German suplex. It’s off to Shirai vs. Sane vs. Carmella with Carmella just kind of being annoying as they have their staredown. Brooke comes in and lets them fight in the smarter move. Sane rolls her up for two so Brooke steals her own rollup to Sane for two more.

Brooke’s Swanton gets two on Sane and it’s off to Lacey for a kick to the face and her own two. Lacey talks trash to Candice and gets beaten up in the corner with Asuka getting dropped as well. A middle rope Downward Spiral gets two on Lacey and it’s Rhea coming in to dropkick Lacey to the floor. Everyone starts coming in for the parade of secondary finishers until Sasha is left alone in the ring. Hold on though as Candice and Shirai are both down on the floor and the match just kind of stops. They’re taken out and we’ll call that a double elimination at about 7:30.

We settle down to Ripley vs. Banks vs. Charlotte in the battle of the captains….but it’s Belair, Logan and Cross coming in before anything happens. Cross dives onto Ripley and then hammers on Storm for a bonus but Belair rolls Cross up for the pin at 9:39. Belair hits the KOD on Carmella, who rolls straight over to the ropes to save herself. Logan jumps Belair to the floor and dives onto Ripley and Storm on the floor. Back in and Belair punches Logan down, setting up a gorgeous 450 for the pin at 12:12.

Charlotte comes in and clotheslines Belair down but Carmella comes back in to kick Charlotte in the ribs. Carmella’s super hurricanrana sends Charlotte into Belair for a pair of twos each, plus a lot of Carmella’s screaming. Some low superkicks give Carmella two more on Belair but it’s Charlotte hitting Natural Selection on Carmella for the elimination at 15:38.

That leaves us with Charlotte/Asuka/Sane/Natalya vs. Ripley/Storm/Belair vs. Banks/Brooke/Lacey. Storm comes in and beats up Shirai and Banks until Shirai’s spinning backfist takes her down. The Insane Elbow gets two on Storm but Banks breaks it up with a Meteora to Sane for the elimination at 16:48. It’s three apiece now with Asuka coming in and kicking away to take over, including a big spinning kick to the head to get rid of Brooke at 17:22.

Charlotte and Asuka get in a fight though with Charlotte pulling her down by the hair. Lacey comes in and gets suplexed into the corner, only to take Asuka’s mist to the face. That’s it for Asuka, who walks out at about 19:00. The Woman’s Right finishes Charlotte at 19:08 and Natalya is the only one left for Raw. Natalya’s discus lariat drops Storm and a rollup gets rid of Lacey at 19:52.

NXT has a pretty commanding leave now so Natalya puts Toni in the Sharpshooter. Banks adds the Bank Statement and Storm is done at 20:42. Banks and Natalya get together for a Hart Attack and the pin on Belair at 21:17, leaving us with Ripley vs. Banks vs. Natalya. Banks and Natalya smirk at Ripley but Banks punches Natalya out for the win at 22:01.

Ripley slams Banks down for an early two and blocks a tornado DDT attempt. Banks sends her into the corner for a crash and there are the running knees in the corner. The Meteora gets two on Ripley but she’s back up in time to kick Banks out of the air for trying it again. The standing Cloverleaf comes on but Banks reverses into the Bank Statement. Cue LeRae and Shirai (never officially eliminated) to pulls Ripley to the floor so Banks takes both of them down. LeRae offers a distraction though and it’s Shirai hitting a springboard missile dropkick. Riptide finishes Banks at 27:53.

Rating: B-. Well there’s your star making performance. It might have been a little bit of a dirty finish but Ripley looked like a star of the highest order out there, which is exactly what they were going for here. The match worked rather well, but there were a few too many people in there and it got messy at times. Still though, seeing NXT pull off the huge upset and actually getting somewhere in this whole thing more than made up for it.

We look at Kevin Owens joining Team Ciampa to help defeat the Undisputed Era at WarGames.

Seth Rollins comes in to see Owens and accuses him of wanting to turn on Raw tonight. Owens says last night was about getting even with the Undisputed Era and yes he loves NXT, but he’s Raw. Rollins doesn’t seem convinced.

Shinsuke Nakamura (Smackdown) vs. AJ Styles (Raw) vs. Roderick Strong (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the midcard champions and Sami Zayn (an awesome hype man) is here with Nakamura. They go straight into the exchange of strikes to start and it’s Strong getting the better of it off the backbreakers. Nakamura gets dropped on the apron but AJ knees Strong in the face. Back in and Nakamura starts striking away, including the running knee to the ribs to knock Styles right back to the floor.

Strong’s fireman’s carry into the double knees to the chest get two on Nakamura and Strong bends him over his back. AJ is back in with a sleeper on Strong before throwing him into Nakamura for the break. He can’t follow up though and Strong hits AJ with a clothesline, followed by the running forearms to make it even worse. The belly to back faceplant gets two and Strong monkey flips AJ into a running knee from Nakamura.

Strong gets knocked down and Nakamura’s sliding knee to the head gets two more. AJ’s reverse DDT is good for another two and some frustration is setting in. The fireman’s carry backbreaker gives AJ two more with Strong not being able to make the save. Strong can break up the Styles Clash, but the crash means Nakamura lands on his face anyway. The Angle Slam gives Strong two on AJ as Sami is helping Nakamura with his breathing on the floor.

The coaching works though as Nakamura goes up and hits a doomsday kick to the chest for two on Strong, who grabs his knee and screams. Cole: “You’ve got to wonder if Strong is hurt.” Does Vince go out of his way to make Cole say these stupid things? Sami posts AJ as Strong hits a jumping knee for two on Nakamura. Just to egg the crowd on a bit, Nakamura hits a Go To Sleep on Strong but AJ breaks up Kinshasa. A spinning backfist staggers Strong and Nakamura suplexes him onto AJ.

There’s Kinshasa to Strong and AJ dives in for a save. That puts Strong on the floor so Nakamura tells AJ to COME ON. The striking exchange is on with Nakamura hitting a middle rope knee to the face. Nakamura’s Landslide gets two but AJ hits a forearm out of the corner. The Phenomenal Forearm connects but Strong comes in and steals the pin at 16:44.

Rating: B. Much like the previous one, this was all about action with all three guys looking like they could pull it off. Strong stealing the pin is fine enough and again, the bigger name taking the fall is protected. They were beating the fire out of each other here and we have our second good match in a row, though a little better than the first due to less chaos.

NXT – 3

Raw – 1

Smackdown – 1

Therefore, NXT can only be tied and can’t lose.

The Miz tries to give Daniel Bryan a pep talk but get glared away.

Cole explains the Mauro Ranallo is missing due to blowing his voice out. Right.

NXT Title: Pete Dunne vs. Adam Cole

Dunne is challenging after winning a triple threat match last night. They’re both very banged up after Takeover but Cole should be in far worse shape of the two. Dunne spins out of a wristlock to start and Cole’s headlock works just as badly. A shot to the ribs puts the injured Cole down but Dunne’s knee is bothering him as well. Cole’s arm gets twisted around and Dunne takes him to the floor to stomp on it again.

Back in and Cole gets smart by going after the bad knee with some cranking and a dropkick to the leg to make it worse. Dunne’s leg is good enough for the X Plex and you can see the shock of pain going through Cole as his ribs hit the mat. An enziguri in the corner lets Dunne stomp on Cole’s fingers and a sitout powerbomb gets two. Cole tries to bail to the floor so Dunne takes him out with a moonsault.

Back in and Dunne kicks him in the head but a moonsault hits raised knees. The Shining Wizard gets two as Cole was too banged up to hit it at full strength. Dunne shrugs off a pump kick to the face but can’t shrug off the brainbuster onto the knee. Back up and Dunne grabs a quick Bitter End before going for a moonsault out of the corner. Cole is right there with a superkick to the upside down Dunne (still awesome and incredible timing) for two more.

A big forearm puts Cole on the floor but he gets in a kick to the knee. They fight on the apron and Dunne’s knee gives out, allowing Dunne to hit a crazy looking Panama Sunrise onto the apron. They barely beat the count back in and Cole superkicks his head off for two more. Dunne tells him to come on and snaps the fingers but the Bitter End is countered into another Panama Sunrise. The Last Shot retains the title at 14:04.

Rating: A-. This is a case where the televised version worked a lot better than the live version as commentary and the better camera angles focused on Dunne’s knee injury that much better. You couldn’t get much out of that in the arena (or at least from the upper deck) and commentary sold the story very well. This was a heck of a back and forth match with both guys working very hard and selling their damage from the previous night.

Some wrestlers visited an elementary school.

We recap Daniel Bryan vs. the Fiend. Bray Wyatt won the title earlier in the month at Crown Jewel and started taunting Bryan to make him his first victim. Bryan has teased bringing back the YES Movement to fight Wyatt but won’t go all the way with it. Therefore, he might not be ready to face the Fiend.

Smackdown World Title: The Fiend vs. Daniel Bryan

Bryan is challenging and we get the full Fiend entrance, complete with severed head lantern. The crowd goes almost silent as the red lights come on and that’s an impressive reaction. Bryan hits a running dropkick into the corner to start but tries another and gets blasted by a clothesline. An uppercut puts Bryan on the floor and Bray plants him in the ring for a bonus.

There’s the toss suplex and Bray starts writhing around before grabbing the neck crank. With that broken up, they head outside where Bray misses a charge into the steps. He’s right back up though and Bryan has to break up Sister Abigail, meaning it’s a posting to stagger Bray again. A big dive off the top drops Fiend and he’s taking a little more time to get up.

Back in and Daniel hits the missile dropkick, followed by the YES Kicks to….just bring Bray back up. Fiend laughs at him and seems to say bring it on so Bryan hits the big kick to the head. More stomps have Fiend in trouble and the running knee (with YES chants from Bryan) gets two. Bray charges into a boot in the corner but grabs the Mandible Claw anyway. That’s reversed into an armbar over the top rope but dives into a right hand. Bryan tries the running knee again and charges straight into the Mandible Claw for the pin at 10:01.

Rating: B. They were getting somewhere with this one but it never hit that next level. It’s like Bryan needs one more gear, like the YES Movement, to get all the way over the hump. The Fiend comes off like a movie monster and it is going to take someone special to beat him. Having Bray beat a star like Bryan is a good move for him, but it’s hard not to imagine Roman Reigns getting the nod at this point. Anyway, this was a good match but it needed one more level to make it great.

Rey Mysterio says he first faced Brock Lesnar almost fifteen years ago. He’s a new man now and pulls out the pipe to prove it. Normally Rey would want his son Dominick to turn away but tonight he wants his son to watch and see what happens when Rey takes out Brock’s legs.

Raw Men vs. Smackdown Men vs. NXT Men

Raw: Seth Rollins, Randy Orton, Ricochet, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens

Smackdown: Roman Reigns, Shorty G., Mustafa Ali, King Corbin, Braun Strowman

NXT: Tommaso Ciampa, Keith Lee, Walter, Matt Riddle, Damian Priest

Same rules as the women’s match: triple threat and you can only tag your team members. Ali is rather happy to be in his hometown, as he should be. The fans are behind Walter, which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. Rollins and Ciampa slug away at Strowman to start so he dropkicks both of them down at the same time. McIntyre and Walter come in for the big three way hoss showdown and it’s Strowman being hammered down in the corner. Walter and McIntyre chop it out with Walter kicking him down but getting run over by Strowman.

A heck of a Rolling Chaos Theory hits Ricochet and it’s Riddle coming in to a big reaction. Gable gets the ankle lock on Riddle but it’s broken up in a hurry for the staredown. Another Chaos Theory doesn’t work on Riddle as Ciampa tags himself in, only to get kicked in the head by Gable. Ricochet kicks both of them down and it’s Owens going up top. He thinks about splashing Gable or Ciampa before going with the frog splash to get rid of Gable at 6:29.

Corbin comes in and bails from the threat of a Stunner so Owens follows him with the Cannonball. The Stunner connects on the floor but Ciampa catches Owens with Willow’s Bell for the pin at 7:41. Orton is behind Ciampa but Ciampa is smart enough to turn around without walking into the RKO. Ciampa hammers away and tries another Willow’s Bell but gets dropped onto the apron instead. Back in and it’s the Garvin Stomp but Ciampa gets over for the tag to Priest, only to walk into the RKO. Another RKO gets rid of Priest at 10:16 but Riddle rolls Orton up for the pin at 10:26.

Orton RKOs Riddle as well and it’s stealing the pin at 10:54 to some great heel heat. That’s how you use Corbin and it worked great here. Lee and Strowman come in so the fans are already singing. McIntyre breaks up the staredown with a forearm to Lee but gets run over by Strowman. That means the big running train around the ring, which works so well that Strowman does it again. This time though, Lee runs him over for a change and McIntyre adds a Claymore to count Strowman out at 13:17.

We’re down to Lee/Ciampa vs. Ricochet/McIntyre/Rollins vs. Ali/Corbin/Reigns. Ricochet springboards in with a clothesline to Corbin and there’s the big running flip dive to Reigns. The 450 misses Lee though and Corbin hits the End of Days to finish Ricochet at 14:31. Ali tags himself in and starts cleaning house with some kicks to the face.

Rollins counters the rolling X Factor by launching Ali over his head, only to have Ali X Factor Ciampa instead. The tornado DDT hits Rollins and it’s Ali hitting a suicide dive onto a bunch of people. Corbin won’t let Ali get a cover though and the distraction lets Rollins hit the Stomp to get rid of Ali at 16:10.

Reigns and Corbin get into it on the floor until McIntyre and Rollins break it up. Back in and McIntyre’s reverse Alabama slam gets two on Ciampa but the spear cuts McIntyre down for the pin at 17:39. Rollins, the only member left of Team Raw, kicks Reigns to the floor but the suicide dive is blocked with a right hand. Willow’s Bell cuts Reigns off but he reverses the Fairy Tale Ending into the Superman Punch.

Corbin pulls Reigns over to the corner for the tag, only to yell at Reigns instead of going after Ciampa. Eventually Ciampa escapes the chokeslam, leaving Reigns to spear and Superman Punch Corbin to give Ciampa the pin at 19:57. It’s Reigns for Smackdown, Rollins for Raw and Ciampa/Lee for NXT. Reigns, Rollins and Ciampa slug it out with Lee coming in for a failed save attempt.

That leaves Reigns vs. Rollins because we need to get the Shield stuff in. They decide to work together again but can’t hit a DoubleBomb. Instead Ciampa catches Rollins with Project Ciampa for a VERY close two but it’s a Superman Punch to Ciampa. The Stomp gets rid of Ciampa at 24:02 and we’re down to one apiece.

Lee is ready to go and slingshots in with a double crossbody to put them both down. The Limit Breaker is countered by Rollins and a superkick sets up the frog splash for two as the fans are behind Lee. Rollins goes after Lee again but walks into the Limit Breaker for the completely clean pin at 26:32 to get rid of Raw. The roof goes off the place as Lee is instantly a legit contender to pull off the major upset.

Reigns starts fast with a Superman Punch for a very quick two and Graves is DEMANDING a replay. The spear is loaded up but Lee cuts it off with a Spirit Bomb for a very, very close two. Lee misses the moonsault though and gets speared down for the pin at 29:18 as the air doesn’t go all the way out of the place.

Rating: B+. The ending sequence was the reason I’ve always wanted to see one of these shows in person: they hit the drama out of the park and had you believing that Lee could pull off the impossible. Lee got the big pin on Rollins so he’s a made man as a result, along with Ciampa for pinning Owens and Corbin. Just like in the women’s match, the NXT men felt like they belonged here and that was the point of the whole thing. Very fun match here with a lot of people (including Gable) getting to show off for a long time. Lee got the big rub here though, and they nailed every bit of what they wanted to do with him.

NXT – 3

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Post match Reigns and Lee show respect.

Becky Lynch talks about being the man seven days a week while Shayna Baszler has been training every day. Shayna is going to have to destroy her completely and no one can do that to her. Then there’s Bayley, who thinks Becky has been ducking her. Becky even broke her own rule and came looking for Bayley. Tonight, Becky is taking them out and showing that she is the Man.

We recap Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar. Brock attacked Rey and his son so Rey brought in Cain Velasquez to help him fight. Once Lesnar got rid of Cain in less than three minutes, Rey fought for himself and took out Lesnar’s knee with a steel pipe. Tonight it’s No DQ so Rey can have a chance.

Raw World Title: Rey Mysterio vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending and anything goes. Rey is dressed as the Joker (again) and that might not be the best visual for a match that is supposed to be rather serious. Paul Heyman introduces Brock as weighing about two and a half Rey Mysterios for his funny line of the night. Rey goes straight to the floor and pulls out the pipe so Lesnar bails to the floor in a smart move.

Brock gets Rey to chase him and the big clothesline makes him drop the pipe. The beating begins as Rey is sent outside and over the announcers’ table in a crash. The announcers’ table is loaded up and Brock throws him into the cover. Rey is beaten down so badly that Brock can even stop to tie his boot. It takes so long that Rey can get in a posting but Brock won’t let him grab the pipe. A release German suplex drops Rey onto the pipe (geez) and another (no pipe) makes it even worse.

There’s a third suplex so here’s Dominick with a towel. Brock takes that away and throws it out (maybe in a shot at the ending to Cody vs. Chris Jericho at Full Gear). Brock grabs Dominick so Rey hits him low and even Dominick gets in his own shot. Some pipe shots set up a double 619 (sweet) and Dominick adds a frog splash (in a nice tribute to his dad). Rey adds his own frog splash for two and the fans know it isn’t happening. Dominick gets suplexed down and the F5 retains the title at 6:54.

We recap the women’s triple threat match. Becky Lynch knows she is the best but Shayna Baszler came in and said she’d beat Becky just like the rest. Bayley has been fighting to make people think she matters in this whole thing other than to take the fall.

Bayley (Smackdown) vs. Becky Lynch (Raw) vs. Shayna Baszler (NXT)

Non-title Battle of the Women’s Champions. Ignore how Bayley’s shirt with BAY over LEY with the belt around her waist spells AEW of course. The announcers mention Ronda Rousey quite a few times during the entrances and I can’t imagine that’s a coincidence. Bayley knocks Baszler into Becky to start and the fans aren’t exactly interested early on. Baszler and Bayley hammer away at each other on the mat and fight to the floor.

Becky takes both of them down before throwing Bayley back inside. The spinning legdrop misses but Becky is right back up with a slingshot dropkick through the ropes to keep Baszler down. Bayley hits (or close to it) a sunset bomb into the corner as the silence is notable here. With Becky down, Baszler starts working on the arm but Becky cuts off a charge into the corner. Bayley stomps Becky down and slams her face into the mat a few times as the fans try to get a weak Becky chant going.

Baszler is back in to break it up but Bayley knocks her down as well. Becky gets back up this time with a DDT to Baszler and a reverse DDT to Bayley at the same time, though it isn’t enough to get the crowd going. The guillotine legdrop gets two on Bayley and Baszler has to break up the Disarm-Her. The Bayley to Belly gets two on Baszler but she’s back up with a suplex of her own. Becky comes back in with a missile dropkick to make Baszler drop Bayley.

We get the CM PUNK chants as Baszler and Becky slug it out until Bayley sends Becky outside. The charge on the apron is cut off with a Kirifuda Clutch but Becky comes back in with a sitout powerbomb for two on Baszler. Now it’s Becky getting Clutched inside until Bayley makes the save, only to get sent outside again. They all wind up on the floor with Becky being sent into various steel objects. Bayley takes Baszler back inside and has to suplex her way out of a quick Clutch attempt. The top rope elbow is countered into the Clutch though and Bayley taps at 18:05.

Rating: D+. They were trying here but the match didn’t have much of a flow and wasn’t the most thrilling. You can also see the amount of influence that the crowd can have as they weren’t interested here. However, there were some rather negative chants in the arena and they didn’t get picked up by audio here, which is a rather good thing. The match wasn’t good but it also wasn’t a nightmare and the heavily negative chants weren’t deserved. It didn’t help when the best Bayley could have done was tie the score and Becky had no chance to win anything for Raw, but there were other issues going on.

NXT – 4

Smackdown – 2

Raw – 1

Post match Shayna celebrates on the announcers’ table but Becky jumps her from behind. A legdrop off the apron lets Becky pose to end the show. That doesn’t get the best reaction either.

Overall Rating: B+. Aside from a not great main event, this was a heck of a show with one good to great match after another. They would have been better off having a tie coming into the main event but WWE hasn’t seemed interested in drama around here for the last few shows. NXT got the rub it was looking for though and that is the best thing that could happen. I’m sure it’ll be enough to fight off AEW, which is one of the major points of this whole thing so well done? In theory? Anyway what we got was borderline great though and I got what I was wanting out of the show so I’ll call it a major positive.

Results

Team NXT b. Team Raw and Team Smackdown last eliminating Sasha Banks

Roderick Strong b. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura – Phenomenal Forearm to Nakamura

Adam Cole b. Pete Dunne – Last Shot

The Fiend b. Daniel Bryan – Mandible Claw

Team Smackdown b. Team Raw and Team NXT – Spear to Lee

Brock Lesnar b. Rey Mysterio – F5

Shayna Baszler b. Bayley and Becky Lynch – Kirifuda Clutch to Bayley

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

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

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

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

Smackdown
Date: June 30, 2005
Location: Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California
Attendance: 15,449
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s a big night for Smackdown with the first ever Smackdown Champion being crowned in a huge elimination match. That could change things up a good bit around here, but so could the final two Draft picks, who will be making their debuts tonight. I’m sure those stories won’t intertwine at all. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the setup of the elimination match, featuring JBL, Undertaker, Booker T., Chris Benoit and Muhammad Hassan. Big Show was originally in the match but got sent to Raw so the match has been downsized a bit.

Opening sequence.

Here are Hassan and Daivari to open things up. Hassan hates how he is treated in America because they don’t feel free. Everyone judges them everywhere they go but it ends tonight as he becomes Smackdown Champion. Hassan brags about beating Big Show last week and promises to win again tonight. He declares the day of the Dead Man over and there’s the gong. Hassan starts backpedaling by talking about how legendary Undertaker is. Undertaker may have beaten a lot of people but he has never beaten Hassan. Daivari’s chair shot completely fails and it’s a chokeslam for the lackey as Hassan bails.

Cruiserweight Title: Chavo Guerrero vs. Paul London

Rating: D+. It was nice enough while it lasted and then turned into the same thing they did last week. The cruiserweights feel as unimportant as they have ever been and these matches without a finish are not helping anything. Normally I would say change the title, but it’s not like anyone is going to be able to do any better.

Post match the beatdown is on, including Psychosis knocking out timekeeper Mark Yeaton. Juvy talks about hoe gringos don’t like Mexicans and wants them to rise against said gringos. We get the formal introduction of the team and Juvy wants us to join a revolution. Yeah it’s bad and someone will be upset at the racial aspect, but it’s still way more interesting than anything else in the division for a long time.

We get some graphics from Wrestlemania 21 with a preview for tonight’s main event. Hassan is absent, with Cole saying he wasn’t at Wrestlemania 21. It was less than three months ago. No one could check that line?

Video on last week’s great Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio match.

Eddie says he was smiling last week because he knows the truth. Tonight, Rey is going to beg him to tell the truth.

Melina is stretching and Nitro/Mercury are admiring the view. She name drops a lot of celebrities coming to watch her in-ring debut tonight. She’s got this one on her own too.

Video on the European tour.

Melina vs. Michelle McCool

Melina is putting her makeup on during Michelle’s entrance. Michelle spears her down to start and throws a running Melina back inside. A basement dropkick gets two as Tazz brings up the rather small size of Michelle’s gear. Melina gets in a cheap shot and powerbombs Michelle out of the corner for the pin, albeit with a grab of the rope. It was short, but they were both trying and it was nowhere near as bad as some similar matches have been.

Post match Nitro and Mercury come in to give Michelle the Snapshot. Heidenreich makes the far too late save.

Here’s Eddie for a chat. Last week people thought he was a loser, but the only loser was Rey Mysterio. Eddie is a winner in life because he has overcome obstacles people can only dream about. He has gone on a journey and just for fun, he filmed the whole thing. The journey involves one of Rey’s family members so here’s the footage.

We see Eddie at a playground, which happens to be at Rey’s son Dominick’s daycare. Eddie wonders if Dominick likes secrets and bedtime stories. He gives Dominick some candy and promises him a bedtime story he’ll never forget. The creepy smiling continues but Eddie makes it work very well.

Back in the arena, Eddie asks Rey if he should tell everyone their little secret. Cue a serious Rey with no music to ask Eddie not to go there. Eddie shoves him down and asks what happened to the fire in Rey’s eyes. Eddie demands that Rey get on his knees and beg him not to tell the truth. Rey does drop to a knee so Eddie pulls out….licorice, asking if Rey want some candy. It gets shoved into Rey’s face and Eddie says chew on that. More good stuff from these two with awesome delivery, but I’m scared of where this could go.

We recap the setup of the elimination match.

Smackdown Title: John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Booker T. vs. Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan vs. Chris Benoit

For the inaugural title under elimination rules and you have to tag. It is made clear that ANY form of contact counts as a tag. Also, you can be eliminated by countout or DQ. Hang on though because here’s Theodore Long to make this a six man match again, thanks to the newest Draft pick.

Smackdown Title: John Bradshaw Layfield vs. Booker T. vs. Undertaker vs. Muhammad Hassan vs. Chris Benoit vs. Christian

No Tomko in sight. For the sake of time, Undertaker just appears in the ring without doing the full entrance and stares Christian down as everyone else bails. Undertaker throws him into the corner and we settle down to Undertaker beating Christian up with ease. Hassan gets tagged in and fear ensues as we take a break.

Back with Undertaker beating up Hassan some more and there’s Old School for a bonus. JBL tags himself in and gets punched off the apron, meaning there’s a delay before he can come in and get chopped by Benoit. A flying shoulder knocks JBL down and it’s a German suplex for two, sending JBL over for a tag to Hassan. An exchange of suplexes goes to Benoit (duh) so Hassan forearms him in the back instead. That just earns him another suplex and Hassan lands in front of Undertaker.

For some reasons Hassan punches him in the face, which counts as a tag, so Undertaker unloads on him. This includes a chair to the back….and that’s a DQ to get rid of Undertaker. We take a break and come back with Hassan having been eliminated due to getting massacred, leaving us with Booker vs. Benoit at the moment. Booker kicks him in the face for two but Benoit grabs a German suplex for his own near fall. The abdominal stretch goes on, albeit with Benoit down on a knee.

Some forearms to the back have Booker down until he suplexes his way to a breather. An enziguri puts Booker down but he fights off the Sharpshooter. The second attempt works just fine though with Booker having to roll away. Benoit tries to switch to the Crossface but JBL tags himself in for some neckbreakers. Benoit tags himself right back in and hits a superplex on Booker, but JBL tags himself and DDTs Benoit for the elimination. JBL smiles down at the banged up Booker and we take a break.

Back with Booker kicking JBL in the face so Christian tags himself back in to hammer on Booker. The chinlock goes on, followed by the neck crank to mix it up a bit. It’s back to the chinlock for some rather blatant spot calling. Christian walks into the flapjack and the comeback is on with some right hands. JBL tags himself back in to kick Booker in the face for two but it’s Christian with another blind tag.

A top rope clothesline gets two on JBL and a tornado DDT is good for the same as the fans are into Christian. Another JBL neckbreaker gets two on Christian and we hit the chinlock. That’s broken up as well and it’s back to Booker for the chops in the corner. A sidekick (more like a knee) to the jaw sets up the missile dropkick for two more as these near falls are getting strong reactions.

The Book End gets a very close two and we take another break. Back again with JBL getting powerslammed out of the air for two but Christian tags himself back in and rolls Booker up for the elimination. It’s Christian vs. JBL for the title and the Clothesline From JBL is good for the pin and the title a few seconds later.

Rating: C. This was more long than good with all of the blind tags seeming like they would have made more sense in a one fall match. That being said, they were smart to not have Hassan take another fall and no one came out of it looking weak. It was a well booked match and going over half an hour prevented it from a bunch of lame exits, but it still wasn’t all that great and dragged multiple times.

Post match here’s Long to say that JBL won the match….but he’s only going to be #1 contender because the Smackdown title isn’t needed. See, we have one more Draft pick: the World Heavyweight Champion Batista. That was the logical switch and it gets Batista away from HHH so it’s a bunch of positives in one.

Overall Rating: C-. This whole show was built around one match and that’s a good thing, as there wasn’t exactly much else going on. Eddie and Rey had their usual good segment but Melina vs. Michelle was pretty bad and the Mexicools aren’t exactly looking like the next big thing. Next week is going to be the big start of the real new era and it should be interesting to see how the fans take to all of the new stars and stories that come with them.

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

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

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

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

Main Event
Date: November 21, 2019
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Byron Saxton

I’m a bit behind here so it could be interesting to see how this serves as a recap. The big story of the week has been NXT’s Invasion, which could make for some entertaining television. The story has been energizing for the two main roster shows and hopefully that shows through here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Mojo Rawley vs. Boston Bob

Bob is a guy in a Celtics shirt and shorts so Rawley isn’t all that interested in beating him up. Bob’s early attempts at offense are cut off but a hard clothesline and more trash talking, including some applause and a “Way to go Bob!”. The chinlock doesn’t last long but Mojo has time to throw his sweat on the crowd. The comeback is actually on with a few shots to the face and a clothesline until the Alabama Slam gives Mojo the pin at 3:30.

Rating: D. I could go for more like this as Rawley was a little funny as he picked Bob apart. What else do you want from something like this? This was your old school squash and it let Mojo be arrogant, which is as good as he is going to get at the moment. Let him show some frustration with the lower level competition and maybe he can get a small step forward for once.

We look back at the Fiend attacking Bray Wyatt.

From Smackdown.

It’s time for MizTV with Miz quickly introducing Daniel Bryan. Miz asks about the Fiend attacking Bryan last week but Bryan can’t bring himself to say anything. Miz wants to know what is going on with Bryan, who looks confused about everything going on. Does Bryan not know who he is anymore? Bryan stands up and says he’s been quiet because MizTV sucks, just as it always has.

Miz doesn’t understand the passion that he has, just like these people. It was a mental instability combined with his passion that drove him to do things. Bray Wyatt understands though and that’s what makes him dangerous. Bray is unstable….and the Firefly Fun House starts up. Wyatt says it’s rude to talk about someone when they aren’t there. Being confused is a scary feeling, but maybe Fiend did it to scare Bryan. Or maybe it’s because of what Bryan did. You remember what that is, right Bryan?

It isn’t explained, because we need to look in Bray’s toy box. After throwing out some stuff, including a saw, he finds the Universal Title. If Bryan wants to come play, all he has to do is say that one word. Bryan: “NO!” This turns into an argument with Bray’s friends but if they’re going to fight, it’s going to be for the Universal Title. Bray says yes and starts his own YES chant. That goes on for a long time with Bray’s eyes bugging out. Bray stops and Miz announces the title shot for Survivor Series. Bryan leaves to end the show.

From Raw.

Becky Lynch/Charlotte vs. IIconics

The bell rings after a break with Joe on commentary, describing himself as a Brock Lesnar proof commentator. The IIconics jump them to start and Peyton spinkicks Charlotte in the face to give Billie an early two. A missed charge in the corner gives Billie two more but Charlotte is right back with a quick Figure Eight. Becky Bexplodes Peyton and Billie taps at 2:17.

Post match the Horsewomen come in and jump the IIconics, drawing Becky and Charlotte back for the fight. The numbers get the better of Becky and Charlotte but they’re fine enough to chase the three of them into the crowd. Becky punches out a security guard to a big reaction.

Video on Brock Lesnar vs. Rey Mysterio.

Cedric Alexander vs. Eric Young

They lock up to start with Cedric armdragging him into an armbar. Young blocks the spin out of a wristlock and takes it into the corner. That earns him an anklescissors into a dropkick and they head outside. Young drops him onto the apron and we take a break. Back with Cedric in more trouble, including Young lifting him for a dragon sleeper in the corner.

The neck crank/chinlock goes on for a bit until Cedric gets up for a dropkick. The Neuralizer puts Young on the floor for the big flip dive and the springboard Downward Spiral gets two back inside. Young’s DDT and top rope elbow get the same, only to have Cedric grab the Lumbar Check for the pin at 11:23.

Rating: C. These Main Event matches where people are actually trying are becoming a trend and I’m not sure what to think of them. Maybe it’s just that Young is a talented guy who can do good things in the ring, as long as he isn’t pushed as the top heel in the company. Cedric is rather talented too, but it wasn’t translating on Raw and pulling the plug on him was probably the right move.

From Raw to wrap it up.

Tag Team Titles: Randy Orton/??? vs. Viking Raiders

Orton and his mystery partner who isn’t a mystery if you are paying even the slightest bit of attention, Ricochet, are challenging. Ricochet chops away at Erik, who takes him down and plants him face first on the mat. A dropkick puts Erik on the floor and Orton tags himself in before the flip dive can launch. Ricochet tries a moonsault to the floor but gets kneed in the face.

Orton drops Erik onto the apron but we cut to the back where Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode are beating up what looked like Eric Young and Cedric Alexander. Back from a break with Ricochet and Ivar trading flips until Ricochet is sent outside. Ivar hits his big dive and here’s Smackdown to jump Orton for the DQ at 8:23.

Rating: C. There is something amusing about WWE setting up Hawkins and Ryder as #1 contenders at a house show match in German but then having them taken out before they can even get to the ring. Anyway, the match was good enough until the finish, which fit in with a theme tonight. I don’t think the titles were ever in any real jeopardy and there were bigger things at stake here.

Orton, Ricochet and the Raiders clear the ring but here’s NXT for the brawl. NXT gets the better of it and here are even more of them, including the Undisputed Era. NXT comes in but I believe Steve Cutler walks into an RKO (which the camera misses). Everyone gets in at once but here’s Rollins with Raw for the big fight. We cut to the back with HHH saying that this is the beginning of the end. It’s over in six days when NXT shows that it is the A brand. On Wednesday, it is an open door to Raw and Smackdown to come to NXT and do whatever they want. Back in the arena, the brawl ends the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The ending was hot, though you would expect to see something from NXT after the big HHH speech. What we got was good enough though and Young vs. Alexander was surprisingly good. The important thing here was focusing on Survivor Series and they did that well enough. Just watch Survivor Series though and you’ll be better off.

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

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

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

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