No Way Out 2005
Date: February 20, 2005
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 9,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

This is a different kind of show as there is little doubt about where things are going for Wrestlemania but they’re trying to keep up the pretense of some surprises that could still come. That includes a barbed wire steel cage match with JBL defending the World Title against Big Show and a #1 contenders match between John Cena and Kurt Angle. Let’s get to it.

The opening video talks about the barbed wire cage, which is now as demonic as the Cell. They really need to find a better steel structure manufacturer.

The announcers talk about how Batista is going to be here tonight and could get involved in the main event. As usual, cages mean nothing around here.

Tag Team Titles: Eddie Guerrero/Rey Mysterio vs. Basham Brothers

The Bashams are defending and Eddie joined Rey as a replacement partner for the injured Rob Van Dam. Eddie and Danny start things off with Danny being very proud to have SOD (for Secretary of Defense) on his tights. A takedown brings Danny down and it’s time to crank on the leg a little bit. Rey comes in to work on the arm but gets driven into the corner for the tag off to Doug.

That doesn’t last long either as it’s right back to Eddie to knock Doug outside. Danny comes back in for a crossarm choke as the fans are right behind Eddie, to the surprise of almost no one. Doug pulls Eddie away from the tag and drops some elbows, followed by a powerslam for one as Rey makes a very fast save. A missed elbow allows the tag off to Rey though and a DDT gets two on Doug.

The referee goes to yell at Eddie though and the Bashams make the switch so Rey can get in trouble for a bit. A full nelson into a waistlock keeps Mysterio down and Eddie comes in for a failed save attempt. That just means more choking on Mysterio as the heat segment goes on. Rey finally gets in some elbows and a top rope moonsault press gets two. That’s still not enough to for a tag though and it’s Danny grabbing a chinlock.

Eddie can’t reach for the tag so he goes over to the other corner and unties the tag rope so he can tie it to his own for more length. You can’t say he’s conventional. A reverse powerbomb/faceplant combination gets two on Rey with Eddie coming in for a fast save. Mysterio finally realizes that he’s Rey Mysterio and rolls between both Bashams for the hot tag off to Eddie. The springboard armdrag/headscissors combination gets two on Doug but the champs are right back with a double spinebuster for two of their own.

Eddie gets frustrated and grabs a title but Rey won’t let him go where. Instead Eddie goes back in but has to roll through the frog splash attempt. Doug thinks Eddie crashed though as Eddie lays down, allowing Eddie to get two off a small package. A title gets tossed in to distract the referee so Rey throws Eddie the other belt for a shot to Danny. The 619 takes out Doug and Eddie gets the pin and the titles.

Rating: C+. I liked the match well enough, though it could have gone a few minutes shorter. It says a lot to see the Bashams go from jokes to perfectly competent champions with a simple gimmick. You don’t always have to have some over the top gimmick to make things work and the Bashams having their greatest success as generic heavies is all the proof you need. It’s a good choice for an opener, though with a six match card, there is only so much they could pick from.

Theodore Long is getting things ready for Batista when Carlito comes in, flanked by the wife of a member of the Board of Directors. She is enjoying the show and wants to see Batista get signed to Smackdown. It’s almost time for the next match so she goes back to her seat, leaving Carlito to say that it seems if Long doesn’t sign Batista, he’s out of a job.

Here are Dawn Marie and Torrie Wilson to judge the first round of the Rookie Diva Of The Year contest. Joy Giovanni, Rochelle Lowen, Lauren Jones and Michelle McCool all come out in evening gowns, Torrie thinks they’re all hot, and we’re done.

Heidenreich vs. Booker T.

This was thrown together on Smackdown. Before the match, Heidenreich reads a poem about how he’s not crazy because he has good inside. Booker takes him into the corner to start but a few right hands gets Heidenreich out of trouble. An elbow to the face sends Booker outside as it’s almost all punching and shots to the face so far. Back in and Booker drops him with a superkick for two but Heidenreich hits a hard clothesline.

A keylock doesn’t get Heidenreich very far so he kicks Booker in the face for two more and grabs the hold again. Booker fights up again and drops Heidenreich to a shot to the face so the comeback can start. There’s the Spinarooni but the Book End is broken up. A missed charge sends Heidenreich to the floor, where he comes up with a chair shot for the DQ.

Rating: D. So they had a lame TV level match and then do that ending? After setting the match up three days ago? I know the show isn’t the most important in the world but you really can’t have Booker win off a rollup here? Is anyone wanting this feud to continue? Or for Heidenreich to continue for that matter? Bad match, but what’s worse is that it seems to be continuing.

Post match Heidenreich throws him back in for a cover because he’s not all there.

John Cena congratulates Eddie and Rey on their win but they tell him to go win as well. Eddie wants to talk to Cena on his own and gives him a pep talk for the biggest match of his career. Kurt Angle is a special talent though and has promised to hurt Cena. Eddie believes in Cena though and knows he’ll win. It’s a nice speech, though you can tell they’re trying to drag this out as long as they can.

Cruiserweight Title: Spike Dudley vs. Funaki vs. Akio vs. Paul London vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. Shannon Moore

Funaki is defending in what is billed as an elimination match but is really a gauntlet match. Funaki and London start things off and everyone else is standing on the corners for a change of pace. London hits a shoulder but Funaki sweeps the leg for two before realizing that he can’t tag anyone standing at the corner like they would when you could tag someone. Some stomping delays London’s charge into the corner so Funaki can get out of the way and roll London up for two.

Spike gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and London pins Funaki. It’s Spike in third but Funaki superkicks him behind the referee’s back so London can get another pin. Moore is in fourth and rolls London up for some early (Is it still early after two eliminations?) near falls. A Whisper in the Wind misses though and London drops the 450 for another elimination.

Akio is in fifth as they’re flying through this as is the case in most gauntlets. A choke over the ropes gives Akio two and we hit the chinlock. Cole: “Looks like Akio could be trying to choke out Paul London here.” That’s the kind of analysis you can only get around here. Akio switches over to a Kimura before taking London to the top, where a super swinging neckbreaker brings him right back down. The referee starts the ten count and Akio doesn’t make it up for an elimination. When is the last time you saw that one happen? I mean for me it was about four seconds but it might be longer for you.

Chavo goes for some covers on London and gets annoyed that he can kick out after the full seven minute beating. London manages a dragon suplex for two and tries a rollup, only to have Chavo reverse into one of his own. Throw in a grab of the rope and Chavo gets the title back.

Rating: D. I never like gauntlet matches like this one as the falls go so fast and it’s really hard to get your head around the eliminations. If someone can pin one of their opponents in a minute and a half, why do regular matches take so long? It’s not a good way to run a match and they would have been better off having everyone in there going nuts until someone stole a quick pin. Funaki dropping the title is fine as it’s not like he was anything important as champion.

We look back at Batista destroying JBL’s limo on Smackdown and then saving Big Show from a Cabinet beatdown.

We run down the rules of the barbed wire cage match.

Wrestlemania Recall: the Gimmick Battle Royal.

After that awesome moment, it’s time for the second round of the Divas competition, meaning everyone has to be introduced again. This time, it’s a talent competition because of course it is. Joy goes first and since her talent is massage, she asks Torrie to lay down for a rub. Naturally this includes taking off her top and leaning over in a rather short skirt as the massage lasts all of four seconds. Dawn says she can give a better rub than that. Torrie: “And if you don’t believe that, just ask of they guys in the back.”

Rochelle, who is very perky, tells awful jokes so Dawn takes the mic away from her. Lauren dances, meaning more clothes come off. Dawn tells her not to quit her day job because she would starve as a stripper. Michelle goes last and slams Dawn. Much like before, this was quite the waste of time.

JBL shouts about how violent the main event is going to be but he’s going to retain the title and move on to Wrestlemania. His body is temporary but the title is forever. He is the wrestling god.

Luther Reigns vs. Undertaker

Mark Jindrak is here with Reigns, who is NOT scared of Undertaker. Actually never mind as Jindrak is ejected before the match. Undertaker may have a concussion after being hit with a camera on Thursday so Reigns starts with left hands. That just earns him a pull on the arm and Old School into the Downward Spiral for two. Undertaker stops to glare at the referee so Reigns can take the turnbuckle pad off.

Reigns clotheslines him down with another shot to the head, only to get whipped into the exposed buckle (the classic wrestling irony). The apron legdrop keeps Reigns in trouble and he even begs off a bit, which is rare for him. Back in and the referee distraction lets Reigns get in the low blow so he can send Undertaker head first into the exposed buckle. A suplex gives Reigns two as the fans aren’t quite buying Reigns’ offense. Reigns grabs a half crab but stands on Undertaker’s head.

In a move that just looks bad, Reigns stands up while holding the leg like he’s about to turn over for a half crab for some near falls. He’s not even cranking on the leg. Dude at least do something. Undertaker is somehow able to get up from that, tells Reigns to spear him, and then gets taken down by a bad looking spear. Reigns’ swinging neckbreaker is broken up and Undertaker hits a running clothesline in the corner. Snake Eyes doesn’t work for some reason and Undertaker kicks him in the chest for two.

The chokeslam looks to set up the Tombstone but Reigns slips out and hits a reverse DDT (which Cole and Tazz call a swinging neckbreaker several times each). The swinging neckbreaker (for real this time) is broken up and Undertaker grabs a DDT. That’s enough for the Tombstone to finally finish Reigns.

Rating: D-. This was messy, dull, boring, and never in doubt once. Reigns is not working in any way other than standing there and looking intimidating so they keep going with him in this role. Having a muscular lackey is fine but it doesn’t work when he has to wrestle at some point. Undertaker really needs a new opponent because beating up Angle’s goons isn’t working.

Batista still hasn’t arrived.

And now the final Diva round, with Torrie hosting the final round alone. Everyone gets an entrance again (including measurements on a graphic of course). This is the swimsuit round so they all disrobe, the crowd approves and we have to wait on the winner. Joy wins the crowd vote for now. Amazingly enough, Joy wins by a huge margin after being the only contestant pushed on television for months. Another waste of time but with such a small card, it was the best they could do since adding another match or two would have been insanity.

We recap the #1 contenders tournament by looking at each match. The final for the Wrestlemania title shot is tonight.

#1 Contenders Tournament Finals: Kurt Angle vs. John Cena

Non-title and Angle is the hometown boy but Cena gets a bigger pop. A headlock takeover puts Cena down to start and a belly to belly lets Angle grab an arm trap choke. The fans think Angle sucks because he can’t get respect in his home town. Back up and Cena gets his own headlock but Angle takes him down in a hurry and slaps on a front facelock.

They fight outside and Cena tackles him over the announcers’ table, which Cole calls a drive by assault. Given that Cena dove onto Angle and landed on him, I don’t think Cole knows what a drive by, where you DRIVE BY AND NOT INTO someone, means. Angle bails from an FU attempt and it’s time to chill on the floor. Back in and Angle hits a release German suplex into the corner to rock Cena for the first time. A suplex gives Angle a pair of ones and a backbreaker gets two.

The bodyscissors goes on as Angle stays on the ribs. Angle adds a chinlock but that’s just feeding a comeback, meaning Cena fires up and elbows his way to freedom. You don’t do that to Angle though and it’s time to roll some German suplexes. Now it’s a chinlock with a knee in the back to punish Cena for that comeback. Cena doesn’t learn so he fights up again and hits a flying shoulder for the double knockdown. The hard clothesline starts the next comeback so Angle rakes the eyes like a veteran.

Cena on the other hand plants him with a spinebuster like a power guy in need of a hope spot. The ProtoBomb gives Cena two but the broken FU is countered into a belly to belly. Angle’s victory roll into the ankle lock has Cena screaming until he rolls through to send Angle outside. As Angle comes back in, Cena scores with a top rope Fameasser for two and the kickout has Cena surprised. The FU gives Cena a delayed two but he doesn’t realize it at first, allowing Angle to get back up as Cena celebrates. Angle goes right after the knee with some cannonballs and wraps around the post.

There’s the Angle Slam but Angle goes for the ankle lock instead of a cover. As tends to be the case in Angle matches, a grab of the rope doesn’t count and Angle puts on the grapevine. The second rope grab counts but Angle puts it on again. This time Cena crawls up the rope and the ref gets bumped as he pulls Angle forward. Angle is frustrated enough to go grab the chain but Cena breaks it up and hits the FU for the pin to go to Wrestlemania.

Rating: B. They had me worried about a Shawn Michaels run in at the end (the fans were cheering for it) because Cena needed to win this one on his own. He has all the momentum in the world but in this case he needed to win the big match to really validate himself. There is nothing holding him back now and pinning Angle is going to take him a long way as far as making him look legitimate.

Angle is ticked about the loss.

Batista is still not here over two hours into the show.

The cage is lowered.

We recap JBL vs. Big Show. They were both part of a triple threat match at the Royal Rumble but JBL pinned Angle to retain. Therefore, he gets to face Show in a barbed wire cage match so no one can interfere. Batista is hanging over the whole thing too, as he thinks JBL tried to run him over on Raw, sending Batista here to deal with him. There is still a chance that Batista will sign with Smackdown to face JBL at Wrestlemania. Right.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

JBL is defending, there is barbed wire around the top of the ring, and you win by pinfall, submission or escape, though the door will not be an option. Show punches him in the head to start but JBL blocks some rams into the cage. You don’t do that to Show, who hits him in the back a few times, only to have JBL get smart by going after the leg. JBL goes for a climb and quickly realizes that he’s not going anywhere, allowing JBL to pull him back down. A suplex puts JBL down and the slow pace continues.

JBL manages to get up and send him into the cage for the first time for the first busting open. Since JBL still can’t climb out, he comes back down and chokes away with a tag rope. Show doesn’t seem to mind and comes back with a powerbomb to plant JBL. The champ is busted as well so Show sends him into the cage as the fans are just silent for this. JBL gets catapulted (monkey flipped according to Cole) into the cage as the Cabinet comes out for an attempted save.

Long comes out and says not so fast, making me wonder what the point of the barbed wire is if Long is watching the whole time. Orlando Jordan manages to slip JBL some bolt cutters though and a shot to the head drops Show. The Clothesline From JBL gets two so he tries again, only to charge into a chokeslam for two more. A low blow cuts Show down and JBL goes up but Show’s save makes him drop the cutters.

They’re both on top and that means a super chokeslam to send JBL through the ring. Show slowly climbs down and goes for the door, instead of PINNING THE GUY WHO WENT THROUGH A RING. Instead, he breaks the chain off the door and walks out…..but JBL is on the floor because he crawled through the hole in the ring to retain. The camera didn’t show inside the hole after Show got back down on the mat so it was a surprise, but the crowd was already deflated enough when that was announced.

Rating: D. What a perfect way to end such a terrible show. This was horrible with both guys looking bad and the admittedly creative ending being yet another way to let Bradshaw keep the title against all odds. It goes with the whole problem of the last month and a half: we know where the title reign is ending but it takes a lot of trickeration to get us all the way to Wrestlemania. Boring match for the most part too, which made things even worse.

Post match the cage is raised up and Show beats on JBL. The Cabinet runs in for the save but Batista, in his gear, makes the real save. Cena comes out to beat up JBL and gives him a spinebuster off the tech area through part of the set. Batista and Cena are both coming for the title to end the show.

Overall Rating: F+. Angle vs. Cena is quite good but it’s just not enough to save this wretched show. The problem here is the same thing that I’ve mentioned multiple times: nothing on here, aside from Cena vs. Angle, feels like it’s going to matter in a few weeks. Wrestlemania is all but destined to be Cena vs. JBL and Batista vs. HHH, making most of this feel like a waste of time. Throw in the Divas and the post main event segment only being able to drag this show to 2:35 and you can see a lot of the problems.

The other major issue here is how weak the rest of the roster really is. I kept thinking about how annoying it was to have the Divas out there three times instead of a match, but what else could they have put out there? Van Dam is hurt and I don’t think I could take another Kenzo Suzuki or Rene Dupree match. The roster is just so depleted at the moment and a name or two desperately need to come over from Raw to breathe some life into this place. After this terrible show, that can’t come soon enough. Awful pay per view.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: February 17, 2005
Location: Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the go home show for No Way Out but the big story tonight is going to focus on something for Wrestlemania. Batista is here to deal with JBL, who tried to run him down on Raw. We’re still not sure who Batista is going to face at Wrestlemania but things are getting interesting. In another Wrestlemania story, tonight we’re getting John Cena vs. Booker T. in a semifinal match in the #1 contenders tournament. Oh and there are currently three matches announced for No Way Out so we need to get some stuff set up. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of HHH shoving Batista out of the way of the limo on Monday and Batista saying he was coming here alone tonight.

Opening sequence.

Rey Mysterio vs. Doug Basham

Danny Basham is here with Doug. Before the match, Rey calls out the Bashams for tearing up Rob Van Dam’s knee. Don’t worry though because he has a new partner and they’re coming for the titles on Sunday. Since Rey is bad at keeping secrets, he announces Eddie Guerrero has his new partner, meaning here’s Eddie to even things up. Danny runs him over with some shoulders to start so it’s a springboard armdrag to put Danny down as well.

A chase lets Rey try a 619 to send Danny outside but an argument with Eddie lets Doug get in some cheap shots. Rey’s sitout bulldog is countered into a belly to back suplex and it’s off to a chinlock. Rey pops up and hits the springboard moonsault press for two, drawing Doug up to the apron. Eddie returns the cheating from earlier by tripping Danny, allowing Rey to hit the 619. Dropping the Dime is good for the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a quick match here to set up Sunday’s title match because they don’t have time to give it much attention. That being said, it helps to have a match ready like this with Eddie being inserted in for what was likely a Van Dam/Mysterio rematch. Rey winning was fine and it was very nice to not have it be a tag loss for the champs here, as tends to be the case far too often.

JBL asks Theodore Long what he’s going to do about Batista but Long says it’s not his fault. That makes JBL think Long was behind the attack on Monday to get the title off of him. Long still doesn’t care because Batista is going to be at No Way Out and then on Monday, Long is going to sign him to Smackdown. JBL threatens lawsuits.

We look at the No Way Out press conference with Long promising that this will be the biggest pay per view in the history of Pittsburgh. I don’t quite buy that but it’s a nice line. There are going to be some Divas competitions, which are destined to make my head hurt.

Chavo Guerrero/Spike Dudley/Akio vs. Funaki/Paul London/Shannon Moore

Preview of a six man elimination match for the Cruiserweight Title on Sunday. Shannon and Akio start things off with Akio grabbing a hammerlock and slapping him in the back of the head. That earns him a spinwheel kick to the face and a double suplex with London helping Moore. Chavo comes in and gets headlocked straight down but Akio’s distraction lets Chavo knock London outside. And hang on as here are the four women in the competition on Sunday with signs to campaign for themselves.

After that completely unnecessary cameo, it’s Akio hammering away on London as the previously scheduled match continues. London fights up and brings in Funaki for a high crossbody to start the house cleaning. Everything breaks down with everyone hitting something until Chavo breaks up Funaki’s tornado DDT. London and Moore hit stereo running flip dives to take out Chavo and Akio, leaving Funaki to superkick Spike for the pin.

Rating: C-. If you ignore the Diva cameos, this was a nice enough six man with a fast pace and energized ending. Funaki losing all but guarantees that he’s losing the title on Sunday. That’s fine as he hasn’t been the most thrilling champion, though he has certainly been trying and that’s always nice to see.

Wrestlemania ad, this time featuring Booker T. and Eddie Guerrero as Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta from Pulp Fiction. Booker can be quite the intimidating presence, though adding in CAN YOU DIG THAT SUCKA at the end of the Ezekiel verse is a bit questionable. Then they accidentally shoot the guy they’re sent to scare because they’re not very good at their jobs.

Here’s Kurt Angle for his Invitational. Before we get an opponent out here though, he wishes Booker T. and Cena good luck for Sunday. There’s won’t be any rapping, but there will be some tapping. Angle: “Now can you dig that suckers?” Now get the opponent out here.

Kurt Angle vs. Danny Gimondo

I believe that’s Danny Inferno, who wrestled in OVW as a stereotypical guy from New Jersey but says he’s from Cleveland here. Angle goes after the leg to start but gets kicked away. That’s fine with Kurt as it’s the Angle Slam into the ankle lock for the easy win.

#1 Contenders Tournament Semifinals: John Cena vs. Booker T.

Non-title. Cena and Angle have a staredown in the ramp to preview Sunday. Cena in a Cleveland Indians jersey is a very welcome sight. Feeling out process to start with Cena hitting a shoulder and a hiptoss for two. Some right hands in the corner and an elbow to the face give Cena two more, followed by the armbar. Cena’s big clothesline cuts off the comeback and we hit the front facelock.

It’s way too early for the FU though and a standoff takes us to a break. Back with Cena getting two off a snapmare (A snapmare?) and grabbing a chinlock. That’s broken up in a hurry and Booker hits a heck of a superkick to take over. A spinning kick to the face puts Cena down again but he’s right back up with a flapjack. Booker sends him outside and Tazz wants to talk about Cena’s kidney.

Cena walks into a scoop powerslam for two and it’s off to another chinlock. That’s broken up again and Cena hits a flying shoulder to get a breather. The spinebuster takes Cena right back down but the ax kick is countered into the AA. Booker grabs the rope and Booker hits the side kick for two but the Book End is blocked. Cena gets elbowed in the face, which only fires him up enough to hit the AA and advance to No Way Out.

Rating: C+. This story has turned into basically the same thing that happens on Raw: it’s clear that Cena is going on to the World Title match at Wrestlemania so there isn’t much drama to anything Cena, or Batista on Raw, is going to do. That’s not the worst thing in the world either though as Cena is racking up one win after another, which is going to help validate him as the top star on the show. It’s a long road, but it’s a road with the right ending.

Video on last week’s Japan show.

JBL talks to the Cabinet about Batista and mentions that he has fired Amy Weber.

Big Show doesn’t care about Batista showing up because he wants to win the title on Sunday. A barbed wire cage match is unlike anything he’s ever seen but he’s ready to take care of JBL. He doesn’t care if Batista shows up because he’s not getting in. JBL isn’t getting out though, because there is no way out.

Booker runs into Heidenreich, who laughs at him while writing a poem. Booker makes fun of him for being scared of caskets and heavy breathing ensues. There’s your third match announced for No Way Out.

Hall of Fame video, now featuring Roddy Piper.

Nunzio vs. Luther Reigns

Reigns doesn’t waste any time and hits some backbreakers to put Nunzio on the floor early on. A kick to the head rocks Nunzio again and the faceplant neckbreaker completes the squash for Reigns.

Post match Reigns says he isn’t scared of the Undertaker because Undertaker isn’t throwing him off his game. It’s his yard now and if Undertaker wants it back, come take it back.

Undertaker vs. Mark Jindrak

The threat of a big boot scares Reigns off so Jindrak tries to get in a cheap shot, earning himself a toss into the corner. Hang on though as Undertaker needs to go outside and beat Reigns up again, only to miss the big boot on Jindrak. That lets Jindrak take him down into the corner for some choking as I wouldn’t bet on the offense lasting long. A dropkick sets up a chinlock, with Undertaker fighting up without much effort. Undertaker’s running DDT gets two and there’s the chokeslam. The Tombstone is good for the pin.

Rating: D. It’s almost weird seeing Undertaker in such a short match but it’s not strange to see Jindrak lose again. I don’t remember the last time he won a match and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Reigns is little more than a muscular monster for Undertaker to face before he can do something bigger at Wrestlemania, which is par for the course in February.

Post match, and before the bell is even done ringing, Reigns hits Undertaker in the back of the head with a camera. He’s sitting up before Reigns can even get up the ramp so Reigns knows he’s done on Sunday.

Carlito comes in to see Long, who is not happy to see him. The decision on Long’s future is coming next week, which doesn’t sit well with Carlito. Long doesn’t care because he’s working on signing Batista this Monday. A staredown of two very different looking heads ensues.

No Way Out rundown, now featuring a six match card.

John Cena accuses Josh Matthews of liking boy bands when Angle comes up. They talk about Cena’s first match in the WWE where Angle beat him. Cena is tired of hearing about not belonging here (Angle: “You don’t.”) or not being good enough (Angle: “You’re not.”) or being a punk kid (Angle: “You are.”). Cena knows that he almost had Angle in his debut and on Sunday, Angle is looking at a hungry son of a b**** who is going to Wrestlemania.

JBL and the Cabinet are ready for Batista.

Here are JBL and the Cabinet to address the Batista situation. JBL isn’t someone to try and attack Batista with a car because he’ll face Batista like he has everyone else. If Batista wants some, come get it right now. Oh and Big Show needs to watch if he can put down the pizza. Batista arrives in the parking lot and takes a look at JBL’s limo. He’s not done though and pulls a baseball bat out of his own very nice car.

The limo windows are promptly destroyed and Batista breaks the longhorns with his bare hands. After making sure he looks ok in the side mirror, Batista gets back in his car as the Cabinet runs up the ramp. Batista drives away so here’s Big Show to go after JBL. The Cabinet runs out but here’s Batista again for the save. JBL and the Cabinet bail with a lot of yelling ending the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t a great show as a lot of stuff feels like it doesn’t matter on the way to Wrestlemania. The top two title matches have been known for a long time now but there is only so much that you can do to fill time before you start the actual build to those matches. The rest of the show wasn’t the most thrilling in the world, but the Booker vs. Cena match wasn’t bad and Batista continues to look incredible, even on another show. Then again, none of this matters as next week starts the real build and even though everyone knows what’s coming, the interest goes up because of the big matches.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

I wish I could take credit for this one so it’s not exactly my thought.Why did Lanny Poffo wear a cap and gown to the ring as the Genius but his brother came out to Pomp and Circumstance, the song played when you graduate in a cap and gown?  That has to be some kind of inside joke right?

You know what’s impressive about Steve Austin?A question I’ve been asked before is what is something I’ve learned in my time reviewing wrestling.  One of the biggest is just how incredible of a talent Steve Austin really was.  He is one of the few total packages in wrestling, but something about him doesn’t get the credit it deserves.

There is little denying that Austin and the Rock may have the best main event chemistry of all time (it’s certainly in the top handful).  However, how many people can say they have that kind of chemistry with two people?  Austin and Rock have some incredible chemistry, but Austin’s chemistry with Vince McMahon might be even better.

Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anyone ever who meshed with two people at such a high level as Austin.  That’s one of the more impressive feats you can have and Austin made it look easy.

205 Live
Date: July 16, 2019
Location: DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators: Aiden English, Nigel McGuinness, Vic Joseph

Extreme Rules has come and gone and that means Drew Gulak is still the Cruiserweight Champion, having defeated Tony Nese to retain the title. That means we need to pick up the pace before we get to Summerslam in less than four weeks. Gulak needs a fresh challenger and we might be on our way to finding one. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at Gulak vs. Nese from Sunday.

Gulak says Tony dared to doubt him but now there is no doubt. His name is Drew Gulak and welcome to his 205 Live.

Opening sequence.

Akira Tozawa vs. Samir Singh

The Singhs want to give Tozawa the Bollywood Award for Best Comeback. Singh stomps him down into the corner to start and there are the swiveling hips. Tozawa stomps right back but a drop toehold sends him face first into the buckle. The chinlock goes on rather early but Tozawa is up in a hurry with a fireman’s carry for a unique counter. Tozawa kicks him to the floor and cannonballs off the apron to drop Singh again. Back in and Sunil tries a distraction, only to have Tozawa catch Samir running in and grab a sunset flip for the pin at 3:04.

Rating: D+. How much can you really get out of a Singh Brothers singles match? They’re only somewhat entertaining as a team so keeping it short here was the right call. Tozawa has more than enough charisma to carry this but there needs to be some more in ring work to help back it up. At least it was short, which is never a positive sign.

Post match the Brothers jump Tozawa but Brian Kendrick makes the save. Tozawa takes the Bollywood Award with him.

We get part two of the Humberto Carrillo interview, this time talking about his first year in WWE. There have been a lot of changes in the last year and one of his early goals was to keep the lucha libre tradition. Now he wants the Cruiserweight Title. Another short piece that doesn’t add much but it’s nice to see him get some spotlight out of the ring.

Mike Kanellis vs. Jackson James

Mike is on his own here as Maria is watching in the back. A boot to the face drops James at the bell and there’s a spinebuster to follow it up. Mike hits a pair of hard clotheslines and the swinging neckbreaker faceplant finishes James at 1:40. Just a squash.

Post match Mike stomps away even more and says Drake Maverick can keep bringing the fines because this isn’t changing. Drake comes out and says Mike needs to take a look in the mirror because Mike is the one responsible for his place here. Does he think he’s more deserving of a spot than the people who have built this brand?

Mike brings up Drake embarrassing himself in the hotel room with his wife and all the time that Drake has spent chasing the 24/7 Title in his underwear. Drake needs to go home and beg his wife for forgiveness because he’s not acting like a real man. A real man wouldn’t let Mike call their wife a filthy….and there’s a right hand to Mike’s face and a dropkick to send him to the floor. Mike smiles as he leaves. What I learned the most from this: Mike’s voice is rather similar to CM Punk’s.

We look back at last week’s wild Ariya Daivari vs. Oney Lorcan match with Lorcan superplexing him through some tables for the win.

Jack Gallagher vs. Chad Gable

Rematch from over a month ago where Gable won via countout (and maybe by accident). After a handshake, Gable takes him to the mat to start but Gallagher is right back up with a wristlock. An early chinlock doesn’t do much for Gable as Gallagher gets up again and spins back into the second wristlock early on. More spins keep Gable confused and some nitwitted fans call this boring.

We get the headlock takeover into the headscissors sequence a few times until Gallagher snaps off a good armdrag to make Gable’s eyebrows go up. Gallagher is right back on the arm but Gable jumps for an armdrag of his own into an armbar to put Gallagher down for a change. Another armbar from Gallagher is reversed with a British Bulldog deadlift and Gallagher bounces hard off the mat. One heck of a belly to belly gives Gable two more and it’s time to start in on Gallagher’s knee.

A hard dragon screw legwhip sets up a standing leglock and Gallagher is in trouble. His leg is fine enough for a dropkick and a rather British sneer. The delayed vertical suplex gets two on Gable and Gallagher busts out a Kimura of all things. Gable gets out so Gallagher sends him outside for a whip into the barricade. The suicide dive doesn’t work on Gable for some reason as Gallagher bounces off of him and gets suplexed on the floor, just like last time.

Gable doesn’t want it that way and throws Gallagher back inside, where it’s a small package to give Gallagher two. Gallagher is right back in trouble with an ankle lock into a grapevine (BUT THEY MADE JASON JORDAN KURT ANGLE’S SON BECAUSE IT WAS FUNNY!) but he manages a rope. The rolling Liger kick stuns Gallagher, who bounces back with a headbutt for two and they’re both down.

They slug it out with Gallagher getting the better of it (ignore the camera catching the tarped off side of the arena) but charging into a sitout Dominator for two more. Gable’s moonsault hits raised feet and Gallagher’s running corner dropkick gets two as Gable gets a foot on the rope. Gable goes up but Gallagher, with a big bruise on his upper thigh, tries a belly to back superplex. That’s reversed into a crossbody to crush Gallagher and it’s Rolling Chaos Theory to finish Gallagher at 16:10.

Rating: B+. Good grief HOW DID THEY NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WHAT GABLE??? The guy is in great shape, has more charisma than he knows what to do with and is an Olympic wrestler. Oh but WWE could make a joke about Angle’s taste in women so they went with that instead of something that makes sense. This was an outstanding match as they beat each other up with counter after counter and had the fans digging everything going on. This was a great match and Gable needs to be on the main roster right now (and getting pushed for a change). Gallagher was his usual awesome self too and the result was awesome.

Post match Gable lets Gallagher have the ring for a bow to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. The main event was awesome and the Maverick vs. Kanellis angle was good enough to make up for the first match being pretty weak. As usual, this is the kind of show that works well when they go with simple angles and a big main event (very Ring of Honorish) and they went with the sweet formula here. Check out that main event though as it’s one of the better matches the show has ever had.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 14, 2005
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Attendance: 7,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re back in America but the show is in a bit of a weird place at the moment. It’s the last show before No Way Out, meaning the last show before we can officially begin the Road to Wrestlemania. The fans are chomping at the bit to see Batista finally snap and turn on HHH but we need to go through the motions of acting like Batista might go after JBL instead. The inching forward continues tonight so let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Chris Jericho in a mock New York Rangers jersey to open things up with the Highlight Reel. The guest this week is Candice Michelle, who is very popular at the moment due to her Go Daddy commercial from the Super Bowl. Jericho talks about all the attention she has been getting since the commercial but Candice doesn’t know what the big deal is about. She teases dancing a bit here and suggests a wardrobe malfunction might happen.

Jericho freaks out over the idea of a bare shoulders. Candice takes her shoulder straps down, giving us a GREAT CAESAR’S GHOST from Jericho. Cue Muhammad Hassan though and Jericho doesn’t seem pleased. The fans give him a USA chant and Hassan calls it hypocrisy. Not the fans chanting USA to an Arab American and proving his point, but Candice being cheered while he received no accolades for beating Sgt. Slaughter. This is part of the dumbing down of America and Jericho is the poster child of stupidity (I’m having Dean Douglas flashbacks).

Jericho thinks they have a lot in common. See, Hassan and Daivari are Arab Americans and he is the Ayatollah of rock and rollah. Daivari rants and points but Jericho doesn’t play on that side of the fence. Jericho has seen the way they look at each other and gets the idea: Daivari is Hassan’s special Valentine! The match is on after the break.

Chris Jericho vs. Muhammad Hassan

Joined in progress with Hassan getting dropped with a belly to back suplex followed by a regular one for the arrogant two. The Walls attempt doesn’t work so Jericho hits a springboard shoulder to knock him off the apron. A Daivari distraction lets Hassan get in a backbreaker though and it’s time to start in on the ribs. It’s kind of amazing how much easier Hassan is to watch when he’s in a match that might mean something.

The shots to the back are cut off with a spinwheel kick and Jericho hits the running crotch attack to the back. The Flashback looks to finish Hassan but Daivari has the referee. That earns him a springboard dropkick, but the distraction lets Hassan hit the Downward Spiral for the pin.

Rating: D+. I said it was easier to watch but that doesn’t make it good. Hassan’s matches just don’t have many good qualities to them and when the promos are the exact same thing every week, he’s just not going to get very far. I know WWE thinks this is the best idea they’ve had in a good while because it ties into the real world news of the moment, but it’s really not working because they’re not letting it go beyond the stereotypical characteristics.

HHH is ready for a fight because JBL is on his way here to confront Batista. Ric Flair goes to tell Batista and HHH is upset because this is an insult to Evolution.

Announced for the Hall of Fame: Roddy Piper. He has to be there.

Randy Orton talks to Stacy Keibler and she calls him trouble. Stacy asks him if he’d like to do something after the show and Orton is down. These two have less chemistry than an English class.

Flair interrupts Batista flirting with Maria and doesn’t care about JBL showing up. That’s cool with Flair, who says if JBL becomes too big of a problem, Batista can just beat him at Wrestlemania. Batista hasn’t made his mind up yet but he will next week. As for tonight though, Batista wants HHH to stay out of it with JBL. He’s smart, looking intimidating and has a backbone. More reasons why he got over as much as he did.

Intercontinental Title: Shelton Benjamin vs. Gene Snitsky

Benjamin is defending and kicks away to start, setting up the Stinger Splash in the corner. Snitsky kicks him down though and we hit the chinlock, which doesn’t last very long. A middle rope elbow misses Shelton and JR goes into a rant about Piper having the character to go into the Hall of Fame.

Shelton hits a great looking top rope clothesline for two as a fan holds up a Jay Mariotti Fears Woody Paige sign (ESPN fans might get that one). Snitsky’s pumphandle powerslam is broken up so he kicks Shelton in the face for two instead. That means some yelling at the referee, followed by a nasty chair shot to the head for the DQ.

Rating: D. Well it’s better than watching Shelton vs. Maven all over again. Benjamin is still one of the smoothest performers in wrestling and someone who can make anything he does look great. Snitsky is fine as a monster and just getting him away from Kane is a huge improvement. The rematch won’t be great but at least there’s a story to get us there.

Tag Team Titles: La Resistance vs. William Regal/Tajiri

Regal and Tajiri are defending after having won the titles last week. Conway punches Regal to start and it’s quickly off to Grenier for a headlock. Since it’s just a headlock, Tajiri comes in for some kicks (which look good as always) to take over. Conway tries to come back in to draw Regal in as well, allowing a neckbreaker from behind to take Tajiri down. The chinlock doesn’t last long as Tajiri fights up and hits the handspring elbow. Regal comes back in and it’s forearms a go-go, plus the knee trembler to finish Conway and retain the titles in a hurry.

Rating: D+. They really need to get away from La Resistance now as they’ve been beaten so many times that the value is gone. I know that means they need to build up some new challengers and that isn’t their strong suit, but they need to do something fresh. Regal and Tajiri don’t feel like long term champions and Tajiri is just Eugene’s replacement, but there is no one who is taking the titles at the moment.

Randy Orton vs. Christian

They’re not wasting as much time with backstage stuff this week. Tyson Tomko is out with Christian, who shoves Orton to start and gets punched in the face. That means more right hands on the mat as Orton is keeping it simple here. A headlock keeps Christian in place and Orton does it again as they seem to have some time for this one. Christian gets back up and chokes in the corner but takes too much time slapping his chest, allowing Orton to punch some more.

Tomko’s distraction doesn’t work as Christian charges into another right hand but Christian finally gets a backdrop to the floor. That lets Tomko make up for his general ineptness with a whip into the steps as we take a break. Back with Tomko having been ejected and Christian (sporting a big welt on the side of his head) grabbing a chinlock. A dropkick and neckbreaker get two each and it’s the chinlock sequel. The reverse DDT gets two more so Christian steps on his head in frustration.

You don’t do that to someone so Orton whips him chest first into the buckle and they’re both down. Orton’s comeback is on with a dropkick and backdrop, plus a long series of forearms to the chest. The great looking high crossbody gets two but Christian dodges a charge to send him into the post. Christian goes for the buckle so here’s Tomko for a big boot to give him two. Orton’s backbreaker sets up a failed RKO attempt, so Orton leapfrogs over him and hits the RKO for the pin.

Rating: B. These two have always worked well together and Christian is getting something out of these matches. It’s the kind of push where he might not be winning but he’s establishing that he can hang with top stars. That and the still funny promos are going to make him a bigger star and the push is seemingly waiting in the wings.

Eric Bischoff is on the phone with Theodore Long, who he accuses of sending JBL here. That’s fine with Eric because Batista will deal with JBL just fine. Edge comes in to complain about everyone talking about Batista. Last week, Batista cost him the world Title and tonight Edge is going to beat him again. Then JBL can come in and beat Batista up so Batista will sign to face JBL at Wrestlemania. Bischoff thinks that’s unlikely but lets Edge go on. If Edge wins, he should get the World Title shot at Wrestlemania. Bischoff doesn’t say anything, as the logic isn’t strong with this one.

Video on the Japan tour.

Here’s Trish Stratus for a chat. Last week during the Divas fashion show, she realized that the new women are trying to steal her spotlight. It doesn’t matter if you’re Brittney Freaking Spears, no one is doing that to her. Trish wants Christy Hemme out here right now because the Women’s Champion wants to say something. Christy comes out with JR praising her personality. Lawler: “THAT’S WHAT YOU NOTICE ABOUT HER???”

Trish brings up a word that the fans used to chant at her, which starts up all over again because there is strong power of suggestion in wrestling. That word (s***) is Christy’s now because she has agreed to pose in Playboy. Christy is giggling with pride and thinks people will want to see the magazine. That doesn’t make the chant apply to her though. Sleeping with half the locker room like Trish does though. A big slap drops Christy as WWE’s inability to go a few months without a women’s storyline involving sex amazes me.

We look back at the end of last week’s show with Batista costing Edge the World Title match.

Kane vs. Simon Dean

Before the match, Simon nearly cries about how his career is probably about to end. Worry not though, because he will continue to produce the Simon System. If you don’t believe in him, he sentences you to a life of obesity! Kane is tired of listening and starts the stalking so Dean hides behind the referee. A glare at said referee allows Simon to throw powder in Kane’s eyes. Kane doesn’t mind and kicks him in the face as the pain is imminent. The chokeslam is loaded up but Kane stops for some pushups. Now the chokeslam can finish Dean in a hurry.

We look back at the videos from JBL and Big Show, which don’t please Batista.

Earlier today, Coach annoyed Shawn Michaels (who looks weird in a suit) about Kurt Angle bragging over what happened at the Royal Rumble. Shawn suggests Angle focus on his match at No Way Out, even though Shawn has some incredible talent of his own.

HHH asks Batista about JBL. Batista wants to handle it himself but HHH says this is about all of Evolution. Tonight, Batista can worry about Edge and HHH will deal with JBL. Batista leaves and HHH says he has his back.

Chris Masters is coming.

Batista vs. Edge

HHH is at ringside. Edge’s headlock is broken up by Batista just lifting him into the air and it’s time to hammer in the corner. They head outside with Edge grabbing an Edge O Matic on the floor for a rather sick thud. Back in and Edge chokes on the rope, followed by a neckbreaker for two.

We hit the cravate for a bit until Batista powers up with a World’s Strongest Slam. A shoulder looks to set up the spinebuster but Edge reverses into the Edgecution. The spinebuster cuts off the spear and the Batista Bomb connects….as JBL’s limo arrives. HHH comes in and shoves the referee down and that’s a rather abrupt DQ.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have time to go anywhere and the ending was just there to protect both guys. That was about the only option they had other than Edge walking out so I can live with the lame DQ for a change. Batista and JBL isn’t likely to happen but it’s a box they need to check off before we can get to a bigger story.

Post match Flair waves Batista and HHH to the back with HHH saying this is about Evolution. Batista says it’s about him vs. JBL but here’s the limo to try and run Batista over. HHH shoves him out of the way as the limo drives off. Batista is ticked off and promises to go to Smackdown on his own to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The holding pattern continues and there is only so much that Orton vs. Christian could do to save the rest of the show. That being said, this is pretty definitively the last show before we get to the stuff that really matters. Wrestlemania is coming and it’s going to be all about Batista, which is exactly what the fans want. The contract signing next week is going to change everything and it’s time to get things moving. This show wasn’t good, but it’s not like that is going to matter beyond next Monday.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: July 16, 2019
Location: DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It looks to be an eventful night this week and believe it or not, a big focus is going to be on Shane McMahon. We’re going to have a town hall meeting where wrestlers and people on the show can air their grievances with Shane, which could go a lot of ways. Other than that, Daniel Bryan is going to make a career changing announcement. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Kevin Owens calling out Shane McMahon for taking over the show.

Earlier today, Owens arrived when Shane met him at the door. Tonight, Owens has the night off because Shane is not having him interrupt the town hall.

We look at Undertaker Tombstoning Shane for the win on Sunday at Extreme Rules.

It’s already time for the town hall with the roster on the stage. Shane says anyone can say anything they want as long as they’re respectful. Roman Reigns goes first and says that no one respects Shane. That doesn’t work for Shane, so Reigns is going to be fined and dealt with later. Charlotte goes next and thanks Shane for treating her and her family so great. Liv Morgan, who Owens mentioned last week, calls her out for having everything handed to her. Charlotte: “Do you work here?”

They argue for a bit until Shane calls them off and Buddy Murphy goes next. Murphy says he doesn’t like Owens being rude to Shane and wants to slap the taste out of Owens’ mouth. Shane approves of this and declares Murphy no longer the best kept secret in Smackdown history.

Apollo Crews says no one likes Shane and gets called out by Zelina Vega, likely setting up a match with Andrade. Elias says that he is not Kevin Owens but New Day cuts him off. Kofi Kingston rants about how no one gets an opportunity under Shane. That’s enough for Shane, who says the town hall is over. Everyone leaves but Cesaro wants Aleister Black to pick a fight with him tonight. Shane makes the match in a hurry and Cesaro leaves. Cue Owens behind him and there’s the Stunner, after Owens misses Shane’s head on the first attempt. Owens runs off into the crowd to a rather positive reaction.

Aleister Black vs. Cesaro

Rematch from Sunday where Black won in a good match. Black flips away from Cesaro to start and has a seat as we take a break. Back with Cesaro holding a chinlock but Black fights up and hits the running moonsault for two. Cesaro kicks him in the face for the same and it’s off to a Crossface. That’s broken up and Black hits a knee, followed by Black Mass for the pin at 6:17. Not enough shown to rate but Black kicking another head off is a good thing.

Dolph Ziggler comes up to Shane in the back and says he wants to teach Owens a lesson tonight. That’s a no because Owens is probably long gone. Ziggler can get him back though, and it can be the main event tonight. That’s cool with Shane.

After Extreme Rules, Daniel Bryan ranted about how he failed in his quest to change the planet. If he still wants to do it, he has to go where Bryan has never gone before and he knows what he has to do. Bryan looked a little insane here.

Liv Morgan vs. Charlotte

Charlotte shoves her down to start so Morgan is right back up with a dropkick and a little wave. Liv gets in another knockdown for two but a heck of a powerbomb takes her down. The Figure Eight makes Liv tap at 2:26. Nice job of trying to push someone fresh but this is Charlotte’s world.

Post match Liv grabs a headset and says that Charlotte was right. When she comes back, she’s going to be real.

Ziggler finds Owens’ number.

Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville vs. Ember Moon/???

Moon needs a mystery partner and it’s…..Bayley. Mandy and Sonya jump them to start and Bayley gets choked on the ropes. Bayley fights back in a hurry and hands it off to Moon for the kicks to Mandy’s ribs. The Bayley to Belly sets up the Eclipse to finish Rose at 1:32.

Post match Bayley says she wants to elevate the division against someone she’s never faces before. She offers the Summerslam shot to Moon, who of course accepts.

Shinsuke Nakamura is proud of winning the Intercontinental Title and is free to rain chaos. Ali comes up to congratulate him and looks at the title.

Here’s New Day for a chat. Xavier Woods brags about Kofi retaining the title on Sunday but Kofi talks about the two of them winning the Tag Team Titles for the sixth time. They’re like three African American leprechauns with all the gold (Woods: “THESE ARE WHITE GOLD!”). They know what Daniel Bryan’s announcement and they accept the Tag Team Title rematch for right here and right now.

Cue Bryan and Rowan….but then they turn around and leave without saying anything. Then they come back, still say nothing, and leave again. They come back a third time but this time Bryan drops the mic without saying anything. Now it’s Samoa Joe coming out to say he’s ready for a championship opportunity. The New Day is throwing out title chances so Kofi can do the same right here tonight.

Hang on though as here’s Elias to cut him off. Elias says Joe has already gotten his shot but here’s Randy Orton to interrupt as well. He hasn’t had the title in a long time and will get it back with an RKO. Elias says they can’t all have title matches tonight but we can have a six man tag instead. New Day likes the sound of it, with each one getting in a playa for a bonus. Orton: “Nah. I’m good.” Kofi accuses the Viper of going limp and the match is on.

New Day vs. Elias/Samoa Joe/Randy Orton

Kofi elbows Elias in the face to start but an Orton distraction breaks up a cover attempt. Joe comes in and hammers away at Kofi but the running double stomp gives Kofi two. It’s off to Woods and New Day hits their parade of various jumping shots to Joe for two more. Elias comes back in and gets caught in the spanking abdominal stretch from Big E., followed by the Honor Roll to give Woods two of his own. Orton gets in a cheap shot from the apron though and Elias takes over.

Back from a break with Woods fighting out of a chinlock but not being able to make a tag. Elias’ superplex is broken up and Woods hits a missile dropkick, allowing the hot tag to Kofi to clean house on Orton. The RKO attempt is broken up as everything breaks down. Big E. gives Orton the belly to belly and Joe is low bridged to the floor. Woods follows with a big running flip dive but Joe grabs the Clutch. Elias tries the running knee on Big E. and doesn’t come close but Big E. goes down anyway. Back in and Trouble in Paradise hits Elias’ side, leaving Kofi to take the RKO for the pin at 9:25.

Rating: C. So we’re going with Orton vs. Kingston at Summerslam? They’re certainly going with the safe paths in the title matches at the pay per view and while that’s not the worst idea in the world, it’s also not the most thrilling one. Hopefully we get something interesting, but you never know how good something like this is going to be.

R-Truth is hiding in some kind of a box when Carmella comes to find him. He’s tired of hiding but she thinks he should hide in plain sight at Comic Con. Truth: “Don’t call me a con. I did my time and paid my debt to society.” Eventually he gets the idea.

Women’s Tag Team Titles: Kabuki Warriors vs. IIconics

The Warriors are challenging and don’t even get an entrance. The IIconics are shown at ringside to start so this match really does mean as little as it seems. Shane chops Royce in the chest to start and Asuka adds a running knee for two. The running hip attack misses though and Kay hits a big boot for two. Asuka is right back with a spinning kick to the head to send her outside and the IIconics take the countout at 1:19.

Post match the Warriors destroy the champs even more.

Apollo Crews vs. Andrade

Crews jumps him before the bell and the beatdown is on in a hurry. Crews says he can go but gets knocked into the corner again. Andrade hits the running knees in the corner but Crews crucifixes him for the pin at :54.

We look back at Bray Wyatt’s return last night on Raw.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Kevin Owens

The threat of a Stunner sends Ziggler outside for a flip dive but the Swanton hits raised knees back inside. Ziggler gets two off a Fameasser and the chinlock goes on. Owens fights up and hits a superkick, setting up the Swanton for a rather close two. Cue Shane with a small army behind him to surround the ring. Ziggler hits the Zig Zag off the distraction for two (I bought that as the finish) and Owens slaps him in the face.

Ziggler pounds away in the corner and sends Owens hard into the post (Shane: “That looks like that hurt.”). A superkick misses and Owens hits the Stunner, only to have Shane pull him out of the ring. Owens hits another Stunner on Shane on the floor before running away in a smart move at around 6:15.

Rating: D+. This was almost all storyline advancement but they had me on the Zig Zag. Thank goodness they didn’t go that way as it would have been the dumbest thing they could have done. Owens looked great coming out of last week and Extreme Rules, so thankfully they didn’t go in the wrong direction by having him get pinned here.

Shane promises to make Owens pay to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. The best thing I can say about this show is that nothing stupid happened. The right people won the matches (save for maybe Apollo) and there are some people they’re clearly interested in pushing. You can see most of the Summerslam card from here and I’d expect Owens vs. Shane in some kind of a loser leaves WWE match to be added soon. They did the right things here and it was certainly an energetic show, albeit nothing that did anything terribly memorable. All in all, not bad and better than Raw.

One very important note: According to Meltzer, Bischoff was NOT involved in this show in any way and was not even in town for it. No word on the reason for the delay, but this was not his debut episode.

Results

Aleister Black b. Cesaro – Black Mass

Charlotte b. Liv Morgan – Figure Eight

Bayley/Ember Moon b. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville – Eclipse to Rose

Randy Orton/Elias/Samoa Joe b. New Day – RKO to Kingston

Kabuki Warriors b. IIconics via countout

Apollo Crews b. Andrade – Crucifix

Kevin Owens vs. Dolph Ziggler went to a no contest when Owens ran away

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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 15, 2019
Location: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Renee Young, Corey Graves

It’s time for the new era as Paul Heyman is in charge starting with this week and as luck would have it, we’re less than four weeks away from Summerslam. Tonight we’re going to find out who will be challenging Becky Lynch and Brock Lesnar at the pay per view, which should tell you where things are going. Let’s get to it.

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

Here are Paul Heyman and Brock Lesnar to open things up, with Lesnar holding the title like the boom box (get Stephanie’s completely random video response ready). We look back at Lesnar cashing in last night before Heyman gives us a “we told you so”. On top of that he told us that Seth Rollins wouldn’t be defending the title at Summerslam either. Heyman says he has all the stroke around here right now and for tonight, he has made a battle royal for the #1 contendership. There will be ten cross branded superstars involved, including:

Seth Rollins

Randy Orton

Big E.

Cesaro

Braun Strowman

Rey Mysterio

Baron Corbin

Sami Zayn

Bobby Lashley

Roman Reigns

Heyman laughs at the idea of Rollins strolling into Philadelphia like Becky Lynch’s stud but walking out like a gelding (Heyman: “Google it. I ain’t here to educate you.”). Whoever wins will be destroyed and robbed of his manhood and that’s another spoiler. And just remember: you’re all Brock’s b******.

Ricochet/Usos vs. Robert Roode/Revival

2/3 falls because of course. Ricochet passes Brock and Heyman on the way to the ring and….nothing happens. Jimmy superkicks Dawson to start and Ricochet adds the Recoil (Codebreaker) into a standing shooting star press for the first fall at 25 seconds. Ricochet grabs a headscissors on Roode, followed by a dropkick to bring Jey in. A spinebuster gives Roode two and it’s back to Wilder, who misses an elbow.

Jimmy comes in and things speed way up but Dawson’s flapjack catches him for the pin to tie things up at 3:44. I’m not sure if that was supposed to be the Shatter Machine or if they’re just really pushing a flapjack. Back from a break with Dawson dropping a leg and a double catapult sending Jimmy throat first into the rope for two. A hiptoss cuts off the hot tag attempt so Jimmy enziguris his way to freedom and brings in Ricochet. The Glorious DDT is countered into the Recoil and the 630 finishes Roode at 10:14.

Rating: D. Again, I have so many questions about this whole 2/3 falls thing. Are we supposed to believe that they just laid there during the break? Why is there a break between the second and third fall but not the first and second? How bad do the Usos look if they couldn’t beat Dawson in ten minutes last night but Ricochet can do it in 25 seconds? I’m sure we’ll see more of this later too.

Post match it’s the Club coming out to gloat but Ricochet dives on Styles. The brawl is on with the villains getting the better of things off the numbers game.

Viking Raiders vs. Vinny Gruner/Jackson James

The Raiders promise to rain down carnage like their ancestors. Total dominance ensues with Ivar being driven into James in the corner. He pulls James up at two and it’s the German suplex/springboard clothesline to make it even worse. The Viking Experience is good for the pin at 1:20.

We look at Undertaker pinning Shane McMahon with the Tombstone last night.

Various people are laughing at Drew McIntyre for losing and Drew calls out Cedric Alexander for his joke last week. This might be more interesting if Drew hadn’t kicked his head off and pinned him in about two minutes. Drew promises to dismember and disembowel him. Drew: “I’m only joking buddy. That’s illegal.” He’ll humble him instead. That might be illegal as well if he’s an Iron Sheik fan.

Drew McIntyre vs. Cedric Alexander

Fallout from last week. Cedric tries to speed things up to start and kicks Drew to the floor, only to get suplexed into the corner back inside. Another suplex sets up the suplex throw for two but Drew goes up and gets dropkicked out of the air. Drew has had it with Cedric and pounds him down in the corner, followed by the reverse Alabama slam but Cedric rolls through for the huge upset at 3:20.

Rating: D+. I can go with this but at the same time, Drew takes yet ANOTHER hit because WWE probably has given him the bulletproof label. That’s the worst thing that can happen to him but it seems to be what Drew has at the moment. This probably isn’t over, but at least Cedric got a win in there. I could go for more of Drew getting some big wins though, or at least any big win.

We look back at Shinsuke Nakamura beating Finn Balor for the Intercontinental Title last night.

Balor promises to get back on track by going over Samoa Joe to start.

Joe says try it. I kind of like these quick gorilla position promos.

We look back at Heyman announcing the battle royal.

Roman Reigns says this is his week from the ESPYs to the Hobbes and Shaw premiere to winning last night and now he’s getting the Universal Title shot.

Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe

Note that the recap and Reigns interview took place after Joe’s entrance. Do they really need to get the crowd ready for a match like that and then have them sit there? Joe takes him down by the wrist to start but Balor is back with a headlock takeover out of the corner. That’s reversed into a crucifix though and Balor is pinned at 1:24.

Post match Joe tries to choke Balor out but gets stomped in the chest. The Sling Blade sets up the Coup de Grace to get Balor’s heat back. The match was so short he probably didn’t even take his coat and shoes off. Balor poses but his music stops and the lights go off. We hear a beatdown taking place in the ring and the lights come back on to reveal….Bray Wyatt, in the Fiend mask, with Sister Abigail to Balor. Fans: “HOLY S***!”

That was a heck of a return, though I’m not going to be convinced that WWE is running with it until they actually give him some traction. The mask looked great and having a dual personality could be interesting. With Balor rumored to be taking some time off, having him be the first sacrifice to Wyatt could be great. It’s an awesome start, but Bray doesn’t have the track record to get me to sign off on it yet.

Drake Maverick and his wife check into a hotel (under the name 24/7 Champion) to consummate their marriage. His wife his fine with this and wants the most romantic room and expensive champagne. Maverick pays cash and even tips the desk clerk. The two of them leave and here’s R-Truth to bribe the clerk with a $1 bill. Truth asks if they have a guest under the name of Hornswoggle. Truth: “Lower case H, o-r-n-swoggle.”

The Street Profits watch and mock Maverick for being nervous. They also make their loud picks for the #1 contenders matches, with Dawkins still having a thing for Nikki Cross.

Zack Ryder vs. Mike Kanellis

Hang on as Maria wants to wrestle Zack herself. That’s not happening so Mike does it….and takes the Rough Ryder for the pin at 7 seconds. My goodness the hometown boy won a match.

Maria says that their unborn baby could have had a better chance than a loser like Mike.

The Club vs. Lucha House Party

Gran Metalik starts fast with the reverse Sling Blade getting two on Anderson. Gallows comes in and hammers away in the corner but here’s Ricochet to jump Styles for the no contest at 2:20. Actually never mind as it’s ANOTHER STUPID EXCUSE TO RESTART THE MATCH BECAUSE WE CAN’T JUST GO TO A FREAKING COMMERCIAL AROUND HERE ANYMORE!

Back with Dorado getting stomped in the corner until the Golden Rewind allows the hot tag to Kalisto. The rolling kick hits Anderson and it’s the springboard enziguri for two. A big flip dive takes Anderson down again but AJ breaks up a springboard. Kalisto tries it again but this time gets caught (mostly) in a spinebuster. The Boot of Doom hits Kalisto and the Calf Crusher is good for the tap at 8:14.

Rating: D+. Well thank goodness that they’ve come up with a bad solution to a problem that didn’t need to be fixed. This is like the Dusty Middle because there is no logical reason for it to happen (certainly not an explained one) and it’s just going to get worse as WWE continues to hammer this idea home.

We recap last night’s mixed tag and Lesnar cashing in.

Rollins says Lesnar doesn’t deserve the title and he’s possessed. Oh and Becky is tough and might be here tonight. He’ll fight anyone he has to in order to get his shot at Lesnar again.

We look back at Wyatt’s return.

Alexa Bliss vs. Natalya vs. Carmella vs. Naomi

Elimination rules and the winner gets the shot at Becky at Summerslam. Nikki Cross is here with Bliss and Becky comes limping out to watch. Bliss heads to the floor to start and Carmella’s rollup is broken up for no logical reason. Naomi and Natalya are left in the ring with an exchange of dropkicks, nipups and clotheslines. Carmella comes back in to steal two each, because people are often pinned by delayed covers off a clothesline. She does it again and the kickouts make her scream this time.

A hurricanrana out of the corner gives Carmella two on Naomi and the spinning headscissors sends Natalya into the corner. Natalya and Naomi get kicked in the face but Bliss runs in and steals the pin on Carmella at 3:03. Naomi takes a long time slamming Bliss and then dropkicks Natalya to the floor. Some kicks have Bliss in trouble in the corner as the fans really don’t seem interested here.

Bliss gets two off a clothesline and slaps her a few times for a bonus. We take a break with everyone down as the rules seem to be abandoned in the middle of the match. Back with all three circling each other until Natalya gets sent outside. Naomi hits a Blockbuster off the steps but Bliss jumps her from behind. Bliss takes Naomi back inside for a chinlock but gets caught in a Bubba Bomb into a rollup for two.

Natalya comes back in with the discus lariat to Naomi and another chinlock. There’s the surfboard to Naomi with Bliss coming in to cover Natalya for two at the same time. Naomi is back up to kick Natalya in the face but Bliss breaks up the split legged moonsault. A helicopter bomb hits Naomi but Bliss makes the save at two. Bliss grabs ANOTHER chinlock on Naomi, because this match needs a third chinlock at about the fifteen minute mark.

Naomi fights back up but gets knocked down for a fourth chinlock. Natalya makes the save but misses a charge into the middle buckle as the fans deem this awful. Naomi’s sunset flip is countered into a rollup to give Natalya the pin at 17:19 AND WE TAKE A BREAK!!! Back again with Bliss standing on the floor for a chat with Cross. Nikki grabs the mic and demands that the fans cheer for Bliss.

A right hand puts Natalya down and Insult to Injury gets two more. Natalya hits the belly to back drop and the stepover but Bliss avoids the basement dropkick. Fans: “LET’S GO CENA! CENA SUCKS!” Natalya follows her outside and hits a clothesline on Cross as the GOLDBERG chants start. Back in and the Sharpshooter makes Bliss tap at 23:26. That has to be some kind of a record.

Rating: F. I mean, what else could this be? The match was a nightmare and I can’t blame the fans for losing their minds like this. I’m really looking forward to finding out what the deal was here because there has to be some kind of a reason that they were left out there to die like this. That match was over 200x longer than Ryder vs. Kanellis.

Post match Natalya talks about what a difference a year makes but she’s ready to face her friend. Becky gets in the ring and says she’s learned that she’s better in war than in love. Natalya says that Becky must be a bad lover then “b****”. She promises to take the horseshoe out of Becky’s a** and win the title. Well that got harsh in a hurry.

Randy Orton wants to win the battle royal and even the score with Lesnar.

It’s time for MizTV with Dolph Ziggler as the guest. Ziggler requested to be on the show because he doesn’t like what Miz has turned into. Miz sucks up to WWE and does everything that he can but doesn’t even get booked on Extreme Rules. He’s out here wearing a shirt that says LONG ISLAND IS AWESOME but he’s not from Long Island. Or Hollywood for that matter. He’s from Cleveland and now he does whatever WWE tells him to do for the fame. Just like his wife. And the beating is on with Ziggler bailing. This is on the list of matches I never need to see again.

Maverick is spreading rose petals over his hotel room bed.

We look at Wyatt’s return again.

Back in the hotel room, Drake takes off his robs and reveals nothing but the belt and underwear. His wife gets ready but room service arrives. The bellboy reveals himself to be a referee though and Maverick frantically tries to find who is here. R-Truth pops out from the bottom of the cart and crossbodies Maverick for the pin and the title. Drake gives chase and the wife is left holding a pillow and screaming. Eh I was hoping for Truth in lingerie.

We look at Roman Reigns winning the first ever WWE ESPY.

Battle Royal

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Big E., Sami Zayn, Cesaro, Braun Strowman, Rey Mysterio, Baron Corbin, Bobby Lashley, Randy Orton

The winner gets Lesnar at Summerslam, Lashley has taped ribs and Lesnar and Heyman are watching from the stage. It’s a brawl to start with Corbin going after Rollins and Strowman punching Lashley in the bad ribs. Cesaro starts running at everyone in the corner to take over, including the Swing to Rey. Another one to Big E. is broken up and Lashley dumps Cesaro for the first elimination. Strowman does the same to Lashley and it’s time for a Strowman vs. Big E. showdown.

Big E.’s running splash staggers Strowman and Big E. manages the Big Ending but walks into the RKO. Sami gets rid of Big E. but walks into the RKO. The 619 connects and Orton gets rid of Zayn. There’s an RKO to Reigns followed by another 619 but Reigns shrugs off both finishers and Superman Punches Orton through the ropes. Rey hits a springboard seated senton on Roman but gets tossed by Orton. We’re down to Corbin, Rollins, Reigns, Strowman and Orton with the latter on the floor.

Strowman puts Corbin in the ropes so Reigns can hit the apron dropkick. A superkick from Rollins is enough to get rid of Corbin and get us down to four. Reigns spears Rollins by mistake and Strowman puts Roman on the apron. It’s the Chris Benoit/Big Show elimination but Rollins knocks Reigns out as well. Rollins thinks he’s won and has to hang on when Orton comes back in to throw him to the apron as well. The hanging DDT brings Rollins back in and Orton stops to stare at Lesnar. The RKO is broken up with a superkick to the ribs and the Stomp is enough for Rollins to get the title shot at 7:47.

Rating: C-. Well that was fast (the women’s match probably took up too much time). This was going to be Rollins or Reigns winning and Seth is a much better pick than Roman in storyline terms. I don’t need to see him fight Lesnar again, but that is the kind of thing you have to expect here. I’d rather they go with this than rush what could be a big story in four weeks so at least it makes sense.

Post match, Heyman promises that Rollins is going to be conquered. Rollins tells Heyman to shut up and promises a repeat of Wrestlemania. Lesnar teases coming down for a fight to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. I’m not sure what to think of this one as the biggest problem here was how fast so many things went by. How many matches on here didn’t even make two minutes? Couple that with the INSANE women’s match getting over twenty minutes (close to half an hour counting entrances and post match stuff) and this wasn’t the best start to the Heyman era.

Other than Wyatt, nothing really jumped off the page, though it wasn’t a bad show. That one match just wrecked the show, but I’m not exactly thrilled with where things are going at moment. Then again, they have to rush for Summerslam so maybe it’s not that bad. I liked it more than some recent Raw’s, so it certainly could have been worse.

Results

Ricochet/Usos b. Revival/Robert Roode – 630 to Roode

Viking Raiders b. Jackson James/Vinny Gruner – Viking Experience to James

Cedric Alexander b. Drew McIntyre – Victory roll

Samoa Joe b. Finn Balor – Crucifix

Zack Ryder b. Mike Kanellis – Rough Ryder

The Club b. Lucha House Party – Calf Crusher to Kalisto

Natalya b. Alexa Bliss, Carmella and Naomi – Sharpshooter to Bliss

Seth Rollins won a battle royal last eliminating Randy Orton

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Main Event
Date: July 11, 2019
Location: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Commentators: Byron Saxton, Renee Young, Sam Roberts

It’s time for more recapping moderateness as we see who else wasn’t good enough to make Raw this week. The big theme for this week is going to be setting up Extreme Rules, which is looking like a hit or miss show for the most part. I’m not sure what that means for this week, but you never can tell around here. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Natalya vs. Tamina

Yeah I’m seeing why these two didn’t make Raw. Feeling out process to start with Tamina hipping her in the ribs but Natalya pops back up without much trouble. Sam: “Tamina is WWE’s answer to Amanda Nunes.” Nunes is possibly the greatest women’s MMA fighter of all time and is more or less unstoppable at the moment. So yeah, Sam is a moron.

Tamina grabs a wristlock but has to bail from a quick wristlock attempt. They head outside with Tamina blasting her with a clothesline and it’s off to the chinlock back inside. Sam talks about Tamina never getting what she deserves and I’m not touching that one. Natalya fights up and unloads in the corner but walks into the Samoan drop for two. In a decent power display, Natalya grabs a Michinoku Driver of all things for the pin at 6:20.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t even a bad match but WWE has to be kidding themselves if they think there is potential in Tamina. She’s not getting any younger, she has no credibility and she isn’t good in the ring. What in the world does she have going for her that would make the fans care about her, especially near the title picture? Nothing, which has been the case for years now.

From Raw.

Andrade/Zelina Vega vs. Becky Lynch/Seth Rollins

Elimination rules for the sake of the commercials. Becky takes Vega down without much trouble to start but gets caught in a DDT. Another toss sends Vega into the corner so it’s off to the men for a change. Andrade works on a wristlock but gets armdragged down as the announcers talk about the personal and professional damage that could take place should Becky and Seth lose on Sunday. Rollins sends him outside for the suicide dive, leaving Becky to Dis-Arm Vega for the tap at 4:57. Hang on though as Becky goes into the crowd to fight Lacey Evans and we take a break.

Back with Andrade stomping away as Becky isn’t allowed in the match anymore. So….the elimination rules are pretty much worthless no? Andrade goes up top and knocks away a superplex attempt, setting up the top rope double stomp for two. Seth is fine enough to hit the springboard knee to the head for two but Vega, still at ringside, gets in a headscissors.

Becky dives onto her until Andrade breaks it up. Seth freaks out but Andrade runs Becky over by mistake. The distraction lets Andrade hit the running knees in the corner for two but Becky goes after Vega again. That distraction is enough for the Stomp to finish Andrade at 14:13.

Rating: D+. I don’t remember the last story and feud that I can remember that was this much death for everyone involved. I don’t know who benefits from this or who thinks this is a great idea, but egads it isn’t working. Both Rollins and Lynch feel like they’ve lost a bunch of energy and Corbin brings down any segment where he appears. Find something fresh after Sunday, because my goodness this is a disaster.

Post match Baron Corbin jumps Rollins so Lynch goes after Corbin, allowing Evans to pop back in with the Woman’s Right. Paul Heyman comes out and we take a break.

We look back at the two Ricochet vs. AJ Styles matches.

From Raw.

Ricochet vs. Luke Gallows

Non-title. Before the match, Ricochet talks about AJ Styles turning on him and the beatdown from last week. He knows that’s going to happen this week as well so all three of them can get out here. That’s exactly what happens too but AJ grabs a mic of his own. AJ tells Ricochet to appreciate the moment because Gallows is about to give him another beating. Speaking of appreciating the moment, here’s a clip from last week’s beatdown.

Back in the arena, Gallows wastes no time in hitting a big chokeslam. The chinlock goes on and Gallows turns him inside out on a clothesline. AJ is very, very pleased with this beating. Gallows loads up a fall away slam but Ricochet slips out and reverses into a sunset flip for the pin at 2:59.

Hang on though as AJ says Ricochet can leave or fight Karl Anderson RIGHT NOW.

Ricochet vs. Karl Anderson

Non-title again. Anderson runs Ricochet over this time and gets two off a clothesline. The chinlock goes on again as AJ is rather pleased again this time around. This time the comeback is cut off with the spinebuster and Gallows adds a right hand. Ricochet nails him with a flip dive, followed by the middle rope moonsault to Styles. Back in and Anderson hits the post, leaving Ricochet to hit the 630 for the pin at 4:30.

Rating: D+. This didn’t have the time to go anywhere and while I like the idea of Ricochet getting some momentum, I could have gone without having him beat both Good Brothers in a row. That being said, they didn’t have many other options and at least the first one looked more like a fluke. Anderson and Gallows will be fine as big lackeys anyway.

Post match AJ hits a brainbuster on Ricochet, followed by the Magic Killer. AJ says he’s a good guy and leaves, but Ricochet gets up so it’s a Phenomenal Forearm for his efforts.

Video on Kofi Kingston vs. Samoa Joe.

Heath Slater vs. Robert Roode

Roode takes him down without much effort and that means the GLORIOUS pose. Slater is right back up with the hip swiveling and a clothesline as the fans are treating this as you would expect them to treat a Robert Roode vs. Heath Slater match. Roode gets in some stomping in the corner and we take the abrupt break. Back with Slater making a comeback and getting two off a top rope clothesline. The jumping neckbreaker doesn’t work so Slater hits another clothesline for two. And never mind as Roode hits the Glorious DDT for the pin at 7:47.

Rating: D. What else were you expecting here? Slater is little more than a fun comedy guy and Roode has yet to find his footing in WWE despite having been here for years now. This felt a little more important than most Main Event main events but that doesn’t mean it’s a match worth seeing.

We recap Kevin Owens arriving at Smackdown, being ejected, and coming back to rant about Shane McMahon.

From Smackdown.

Roman Reigns vs. Dolph Ziggler

Hang on though because here are Shane, Drew and Elias to watch. Shane is on commentary as Ziggler kicks Reigns down to start and nails a quick Shot to the Heart. Roman fights back up and knocks Ziggler outside for the apron dropkick. A distraction lets McIntyre post Reigns though, which Shane just happened to miss. Back in and Ziggler gets two, followed by another Shot to the Heart for two. A neckbreaker is good for the same and we hit the chinlock.

Another neckbreaker is broken up, as is Ziggler’s running DDT. Reigns starts the comeback but has to Superman Punch Elias, allowing the Zig Zag to hit for two. The superkick is countered with a Superman Punch for two but Elias pulls Ziggler out before the spear. Reigns hits the no hands dive but goes too far and lands face first on the floor. Thankfully he pops up as Shane comes into the ring. Ziggler superkicks Reigns but here’s Owens for a Stunner to Shane. Reigns and Ziggler get back in so the spear can finish Ziggler at 8:48.

Rating: C-. The Owens interference breathed some much needed life into this one but it wasn’t doing well before then. Ziggler and Shane continue to feel like the annoying friends who tag along on everything you do whether you want them there or not. Shane is likely gearing up for a match against Owens at Summerslam and Ziggler….well he’ll be there too, likely saying the same things he always says.

Overall Rating: D. I’m never sure what to say on this show but this was another week that didn’t do anything more than fulfill its purpose in a rather dull way. There was nothing on this show that you need to see and I certainly wouldn’t go out of my way to see Tamina and Heath Slater. Hopefully things pick up under new management, which is certainly a possibility.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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

Hidden Gems #10
Date: 1985, 1987, 2000

I’m FINALLY finishing up these Christmas shows and, again, it includes an AWA show because apparently there is nothing else to do on Christmas night in Minnesota. There is one little surprise in there as well though with a one match Gem instead of a full show. With luck, I can get this done by Halloween. Let’s get to it.

ECW World Title: Sandman vs. Justin Credible vs. Steve Corino

Date: December 23, 2000

Location: ECW Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Corino is defending (though Sandman has the title) and this is from the final ECW event at the ECW Arena so it’s certainly historic. Before the match, Sandman says let’s make it a three way so I’m not sure who wasn’t originally in the match. Corino jumps Sandman from behind to start so the champ fights back and sends everyone outside. Credible sends Corino over the barricade as Sandman starts bringing out the toys.

The fans tell themselves to throw in their chairs before switching to the tried and true ECW chant. As the other two fight in the crowd, Sandman loads up six chairs with a piece of barricade on top of them. Credible comes back in for an ugly piledriver from Sandman, who then superplexes the bloody Corino onto the steel setup. Sandman is back up with the cane to the head and Corino hits the Old School Expulsion (basically a reverse Twist of Fate) to eliminate Credible at 3:54.

Sandman throws in chairs and the fans follow suit, throwing in probably 100 chairs. Eventually Sandman has to call them off as the mat is nearly covered, meaning a DDT onto the chairs gets….two as Corino’s lackey Jack Victory makes the save. Sandman’s Swanton only hits chairs and the Old School Expulsion on the chairs gets two. Victory belts Corino by mistake so Sandman can get two. A cowbell to the head retains Corino’s title at 7:22.

Rating: D. The chairs thing made for a cool visual but multiple ones being launched from the further seats and landing in the closer seats were lawsuits waiting to happen. Sandman was crazy over here and Corino was a great heel for wanting to be a wrestler. Credible was just there, which is often the case for him.

AWA House Show

Date: December 25, 1987

Location: Minneapolis Auditorium, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Attendance: 1,800

Commentators: Ron Trongard, Nick Conch

The ring announcer tells us to make sure to register for a prize drawing. Given how many empty seats are behind him, you probably have a good chance of winning something.

Mitch Snow vs. Nick Kiniski

There is a guest ring announcer who donated a bunch of money to a charity. Nick is Gene’s son and hopefully he’s more interesting than his dad. Oh and this is JAMMIN Mitch Snow because it’s the 80s and Jammin is a cool name. That being said, he has Madusa in his corner so there’s something to him. Kiniski chills on the floor to start before being driven into the corner and falling out to the floor. Back in and Snow works on the arm before taking Kiniski down and pulling on the arm.

We’re clipped to Kiniski putting on a chinlock as the arena looks darker and the camera is pulled back for some reason. It’s off to a front facelock with the bigger Kiniski laying on him quite a bit. Back up and Kiniski misses a charge into the corner, which didn’t even start until after Mitch had moved. It’s off to the reverse chinlock for a good while until Snow fights back up. We get the two minute warning and Kiniski grabs a rollup with trunks for the pin at 7:45 shown.

Rating: D+. Pretty dull match here but that’s kind of the point of an opener like this. All they were doing here was getting the crowd warmed up a little bit so it’s not like the standards were all that high. At least they went to a finish instead of just another time limit draw. Not very good, but I’m not exactly thinking they had the highest expectations.

Alan West vs. Kevin Kelly

Not that Kevin Kelly, though this one is better known as Nailz. West is substituting for DJ Peterson, who had won Madusa’s (Kelly’s manager) services for a month, which ends tonight. Madusa is in West’s corner and wearing an elf costume, which the announcers ridicule/praise in a somewhat disturbing way. Feeling out process to start with Kelly posing a lot and Trongard talking about West’s football career. Kelly works on an armbar as I try to figure out what happened to him until he became Nailz. He’s chiseled here while Nailz looked to be almost husky, which is quite the change of pace.

The announcers talk about how bored Madusa looks at ringside as West starts in on the arm. Back up and Kelly sends him into the corner, setting up a front facelock as the slow pace (read as the AWA style) goes on. The BORING chants send us off to a chinlock for far too long as the fans are getting bored in a hurry. They head outside with Kelly stomping away but having to come back in after the threats of a nagging referee. Back in and Kelly’s very slow offense continues and we hit the backbreaker.

Slam, misses elbow, slam, elbow connects for two. That somehow ate up over a minute and a half. West finally makes a comeback off a dropkick, with Kelly jumping into it for some reason. A backdrop gives West two and a powerslam gets the same with Kelly getting his foot on the rope. They do the same thing off a backbreaker, which looked like a setup for Madusa to sweep the leg. West picks him up again and this time Madusa does sweep the leg, allowing Kelly to fall on top for the pin at 10:55.

Rating: D-. From the boring “action” to the botched finish, this was one of the most uninteresting matches I’ve seen in a long time. West’s comeback was decent enough, but other than that this felt about three hours long and needed to be about seven minutes shorter. Terrible match here as the AWA continues its tradition of REALLY boring stuff.

Nord the Barbarian vs. Soldat Ustinov

A local radio announcer introduces this one. Nord is better known as Berzerker and Ustinov is one of those Russians from Minnesota. If Nord wins, he gets five minutes with Adnan Al-Kaissie. Nord grabs a headlock takeover and we’re immediately cut to the two of them fighting to the floor. They go into the crowd with Nord getting the better of it and somehow beating the count back in. A big boot gives Nord two and we’re clipped again to Ustinov charging into a boot in the corner for the same.

The front facelock goes on and we’re clipped again, this time to Ustinov raking the eyes. Ustinov grabs a chinlock as the announcers keep comparing this to a boxing match. They can clip everything else but not a two minute chinlock? The camera goes out for a bit as Nord fights up and hits a dropkick (which we only hear about). Nord misses a middle rope legdrop but Ustinov misses a middle rope clothesline to give Nord the pin at 5:45 shown.

Rating: D. Well what we saw was bad at least and were you really expecting anything else? You’re only going to get so much stuff out of a battle of the giants like this and that’s usually not the best recipe in the world. Neither of these guys were exactly interesting but the whole deal with the manager fight is more than enough to make something like this worth it.

Nord the Barbarian vs. Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie

The chase is on and Ustinov’s interference earns himself a ram into the post. Sheik gets in and the beatdown is on with Sheik’s comeback cut off by a boot to the face. Ustinov comes in and some double teaming works a bit better on Nord….and everyone walks out at 2:08.

Tag Team Titles: Midnight Express vs. Midnight Rockers

For the sake of clarification, I’ll go with the Midnights vs. the Rockers here. The Express (Randy Rose/Dennis Condrey with Paul E. Dangerously) is defending here. Of note here, Shawn is starting to grow out his hair and has what would be his classic look for the next thirty years. The brawl is on before the bell with the Midnights being sent outside. We settle down to Shawn vs. Condrey to start, even though I don’t think I heard a bell in there.

A right hand knocks Condrey down and it’s time to complain about the closed fists. Given that referee Scott LeDoux is a former boxer, this doesn’t go very well. We settle down and get clipped to Shawn punching Condrey out of the corner. For some reason Rose shoves LeDoux and gets shoved back, meaning the champs need to bail, only to come back to see the Rockers holding the belts. A headlock takeover sends Condrey outside and it’s time to stall some more on the outside.

Back in and Dennis takes his time locking up, allowing Jannetty to get in the corner and block Shawn from being whipped into the corner. Rose tries the same thing and gets kicked in the ribs because Shawn is rather smart. The ring announcer says we’re at ten minutes, though it’s about six and a half, which makes me think the big time limit draw is coming. Rose comes in and gets monkey flipped before taking over on Shawn’s arm.

We’re clipped (that’s more like it) to Shawn hanging Rose up in the ropes and punching away for the rocking chair effect. Condrey comes back in and gets whipped into the corner as well, allowing the tag to Marty. A rope walk headlock takeover has Rose in trouble at the fifteen minute announcement, or ten shown. Marty’s crossbody gets two and the Rockers take turns with some headlock takeovers.

Rose gets up and manages to punch Condrey by mistake as the Midnights can’t get anything going. Marty knocks him into the corner again and we’re clipped again to Condrey not wanting to tag in. Clipped again to Condrey getting headlocked as well and we hit twenty minutes in (about twelve shown). Dangerously offers a distraction so Shawn can be knocked out to the floor. The champs finally take over on Shawn with a gutbuster making it even worse.

We hit the chinlock (you knew that was coming) and we’re clipped again to Shawn making his comeback. A clothesline takes care of that though but we’re clipped AGAIN to the hot tag bringing Marty in to clean house. Condrey blocks a sunset flip as we have two minutes left. Trongard freaks out because he thought it was an hour time limit but it’s only half an hour, which should be a detail they have down.

Marty gets two off a small package with a minute left. Condrey begs off so Marty wastes a long time before hammering away. Everything breaks down and the Rockers put on a freaking rowboat hold before realizing they’re out of time and covering with two seconds left as time expires at 18:18 shown of 30:00.

Rating: B-. What we got was working but my goodness the Rockers looked like morons at the end there. They just waited around forever and then realized how dumb they were at the end. The clipping hurt quite a bit though and while what we got was good, I never bought that the titles were in real jeopardy. Oh and just to make this worse: the Rockers won the titles TWO DAYS LATER, because why do it on Christmas night when you can….not?

Adrian Adonis vs. Wahoo McDaniel

Adonis has Dangerously in his corner and is looking like a cross between his most famous gimmick and the tough guy version. He even throws in a peck on Dangerously’s cheek to mess with the announcers. Adonis works on a headlock as the announcers talk about how much Adonis weighs, with Trongard seriously trying to say that Adonis weighs 458. I mean he’s fat but that’s Earthquake levels.

Adonis takes him down into an armbar but the referee breaks it up for no apparent reason. McDaniel comes back with a chop to the nose but gets driven into the corner with a splash crushing his arm. Another splash hits the referee though and Dangerously gives Adonis the phone for a shot to the head. Adonis’ splash gets two as Wahoo gets a foot on the rope. Adrian makes the mistake of going after the referee, allowing Wahoo to grab Dangerously. Wahoo steals the phone and knocks Adonis down before shoving the referee for the DQ at 5:42.

Rating: D-. This match felt like it belonged in 1983 at the latest as Adonis was just embarrassing. McDaniel looked better but that’s not saying much given who he was in there against. The two of them did not belong in a ring at this point but they were names so of course they were put on the show.

AWA World Title: Curt Hennig vs. Greg Gagne

Curt is defending of course and Greg doesn’t get an entrance. Both of their fathers are here at ringside so for the sake of simplicity I’ll only call them Larry and Verne. There are three referees for some reason and Larry Hennig wants Scott LeDoux out of here. After the Big Match Intros, Larry and Verne have to be tied together to prevent any cheating. I’m sure absolutely no shenanigans will take place.

Curt works on an armbar to start and gets shoved away in a hurry as the announcers recap the previous issues between the two with the fathers interfering in previous matches. Why can’t they do that in more matches? Greg gets in a right hand to knock Curt outside as the fathers are shoving each other on the floor. Back in and Curt gets two off a sunset flip but the threat of a right hand sends him bailing out to the floor. He gets back in again as the stall is in full swing here, allowing the announcers to list off possible challengers for the winner.

Hennig takes the leg and gets in a spinning toehold, setting up some pulling on the leg. Since the hold goes on for several minutes, it’s a BORING chant but Hennig seems to be paying attention and grabs a rollup for two. Gagne misses a dive onto the ropes and it’s a Figure Four to work on the leg even more. That gets turned over so Curt goes to the rope before starting right back in on the leg.

Gagne sends Curt shoulder first into the post and it’s time for the armbar. The arm goes into the buckle as the dads are about to fight again. A hammerlock slam has Hennig begging off in the corner but it’s a collision to put both of them down. Back up and the slugout goes to Curt and a middle rope splash gets two. Hennig knocks him outside and eventually is smart enough to let the referee count.

Back in and Greg turns it on with forearms and a backdrop as Larry is freaking out. The sleeper goes on and Verne finally punches Larry for trying to interfere. Larry punches him right back and breaks the hold, meaning it’s a dad fight on the floor. That’s enough for the DQ at 18:30.

Rating: C+. This was a long match and while it was dull at times, it was far from bad with the battle of limb work and the dads being extra factors on the floor. I wasn’t wild on the long form holds but at least the match could have been a lot worse given how things have gone around here before. Hennig was very good in the ring, though just having him as a regular guy wasn’t the most thrilling character. Gagne wasn’t too bad either, but he was in over his head here.

The brawl stays on and some wrestlers come in for the save as the dads keep fighting. Curt even beats up Verne, meaning it’s time for Verne to open his shirt and beat up everyone because that’s what he does. Hennig even breaks the belt over Greg’s head to brawl some blood. Things are finally settled down to end the show.

Hold on though as we’ve got some interviews to do.

The Midnight Rockers don’t like the thirty minute time limit and didn’t get to give the fans the Christmas present they wanted.

Dangerously says the Rockers had their chance and it’s on to another team. Why was it a thirty minute match? It’s because Dangerously is smarter than the Rockers. Hearing Dangerously talk here is such a striking difference between his more famous work as Paul Heyman.

Greg Gagne says he’s beaten Curt three times now and this time Larry had to save his son’s title. There is only one way to settle this and….I guess we’ll find out what that is later.

Verne Gagne, still with the open shirt despite this being in the empty arena, says Greg got cheated. And yes, of course he’s willing to come out of retirement. Well only if you beg him of course.

The Hennigs think the Gagnes are dumb because the Hennigs still have the title. Curt is more than down for a rematch.

Adrian Adonis says he put out Tommy Rich’s fire and Roddy Piper is nowhere to be seen. Now Wahoo is a former great Indian wrestler.

We go to the opening of All Star Wrestling….which is the same shot with Adonis and Dangerously in the same places and talking about Rich, Piper and McDaniel again. What an odd way to end another night that wasn’t all that great in the first place. The wrestling was fine (mostly) but the dim arena is killing them. This is less than a month before the first Royal Rumble and it looks like it’s 1978. That’s not going to work.

AWA Nite Of Champions II
Date: December 29, 1985

Location: Meadowlands Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Attendance: 13,000

This is officially an AWA show but it’s actually Pro Wrestling USA, meaning it’s the AWA/NWA on the same card. At least we’ll get some flavor out of it.

Tony Schiavone recaps the Road Warriors vs. the Russians. The Road Warriors and Paul Ellering come in to talk about how serious they are. Of course they haven’t bitten off more than they can chew with the Russians. The Road Warriors have told Ellering what they want to do to the Russians and it is rather intense. Animal doesn’t like hearing about the Russians and the beating is coming soon.

Tully Blanchard, with his head bandaged after Starrcade, is coming to get the US Title back. He’s coming to get the US Title back and for Magnum TA’s eye.

The Rock N Roll Express want the Long Riders and will retain their titles. Not that they’re wearing any titles here. Ricky Morton wants to get hot and nasty and speaks in what sound like a lot of song lyrics. Or he’s just really high.

We hear the New Jersey Athletic Commission members. I’m assuming it’s for the record but I really don’t need to hear that Dr. Shaw is at ringside. Unless it’s Dr. Zahorian, just move on.

No commentary here, as expected.

Ron Bass vs. JJ Dillon

Bass is a cowboy who has been chasing Dillon (a manager) for a good while now. Dillon actually gets a home state reaction but not the biggest in the world because he’s quite the heel. Bass sends him into the corner and then grabs a quickly broken hammerlock. An armbar on the mat works better as Dillon seems to be in way over his head. A hair pull gets Dillon out of trouble for a split second but the fans dub this boring. Could you wait until we’re three minutes into the match?

The armbar goes back on but Dillon reverses into one of his own as the crowd reactions are much more prominent here with the lack of commentary. Back up again and Dillon chokes away in the corner, followed by a nerve hold and more BORING chants. Bass makes the comeback as I try to get my head around him being a face. The Claw goes on and Dillon is done at 5:23.

Rating: D. This is a match where commentary could have helped a lot with selling the hatred and history between these two. As a regular match it’s rather bad but for a nice moment for Bass, it worked well enough. Again though, it feels completely wrong to cheer for Bass, who is as heel of a character as you can get.

World Midget Title: Cowboy Lang vs. Little Tokyo

Tokyo is defending and starts by hiding behind the referee, including a pull of his pants. I wouldn’t be expecting much in the serious department here but that’s to be expected. Tokyo grabs a flying headlock takeover but runs into a dropkick. A test of strength goes to Lang and he backflips over Tokyo for some more frustration. Tokyo stomps on the referee’s foot in frustration/protest so Lang kicks him into the corner.

Some stomping in the corner keeps Lang down until he bites Tokyo’s bare foot. Lang’s delayed vertical suplex gets two and an atomic drop has Tokyo bouncing very high into the air. A backdrop and running stomp to the head gives Lang two but Tokyo rolls him up and puts his feet on the ropes to retain at 6:56.

Rating: D-. Yeah what is there to say about this one? The match was just a spectacle for the sake of having an attraction in there and that isn’t the most interesting thing in the world. The wrestling wasn’t any good and there was no flow to it, minus a few comedy spots. These things don’t age well and this was quite the downer.

AWA Women’s Title: Debbie Combs vs. Sherri Martel

Sherri is defending. The referee takes a LONG time checking Sherri for weapons and yelling at her in general. The lockup goes to Sherri and she grabs a front facelock to take over. Debbie takes her down by the leg, followed by Sherri taking her down by the leg to mix things up a bit. The fans don’t seem pleased with this one but they like Combs being tossed to the floor.

That means some choking with a camera cable but Combs is right back with stomping and a hard slam. Back in and Sherri misses a charge into the corner but she’s fine enough to knock Combs outside again. As was the case before, she doesn’t seem phased by it and tries a front facelock, which fans again find boring.

Sherri’s necksnap sets up….well nothing actually as she gets knocked into the corner and catapulted face first onto the mat for two. Sherri takes her down by the arm as the back and forth continues. Combs gets up again and knocks her to the floor followed by an airplane spin of all things back inside. She gets a bit too dizzy though and Martel grabs a rollup for the pin at 10:25.

Rating: D. This was a rough one to watch but the women were both trying as hard as they could have. Women’s wrestling was, much like the previous match, little more than a sideshow act at this point with no women’s wrestling (in America at least) meaning anything for a very long time. The WWF was trying, but it’s not like it was anything from a quality standpoint.

Universal Title: Carlos Colon vs. Konga The Barbarian

Colon is defending the WWC (Puerto Rico) World Title. That would be the Barbarian with Konga The as a bonus, plus Paul Jones (one of the worst managers of all time) in his corner. There’s no contact for the first minute as the referee objects to what looks like a spiked bad on Barbarian’s forearm. Colon slugs away to start and then grabs a headlock to grind away. This is dubbed as boring as well, as the fans are far from the most patient people in the world.

Barbarian slams him down for the headbutt, followed by the contractually obligated bearhug. This one is broken up in a hurry but Barbarian kicks him down for two more. The top rope headbutt misses so Barbarian sends Carlos outside where Jones gets in some stomping. Back in and Colon grabs the worst small package of all time (he doesn’t even touch a leg) to retain at 6:39.

Rating: D. See, I know there is a lot of variety on here and some big stars, but it doesn’t matter when the matches are all somewhere between bad and boring. This was another bad match with Barbarian being as standard of a villain as you can find (though he would keep doing this same role for the next fifteen years so he was doing something right) and the ending was awful. Can we please find something to help this show?

Post match Jones says they will be back. Can you not?

Buddy Roberts vs. Paul Ellering

Roberts is a Freebird and Ellering, in a neck brace here, is best known as the Road Warriors’ manager, though he did wrestle before an injury ended his career. Roberts jumps him to start and is knocked into the corner without much effort. A kick to the face has Roberts tied up in the ropes and it takes an assist from the referee to get him out.

Back up and Roberts goes after the knee, including wrapping it around the post. Not to be outdone, Ellering crotches him against the post to take over again. Roberts is fine enough to get in a shot to the neck though and the pace slows a bit. Forearms to the back set up a middle rope elbow to the back of the head and Roberts sends him neck first into the ropes. The piledriver is loaded up but the Road Warriors run in for the save.

Rating: D+. This still wasn’t great but it was better than the matches that came before it. It’s a lot more understandable that the match didn’t last long and had the ending it did given the circumstances they were under here. If nothing else, the Road Warriors running in was a nice bonus as the show has needed a burst of energy.

Post match the Warriors beat the heck out of Roberts, even hitting a Hart Attack of all things.

NWA Tag Team Titles: Long Riders vs. Rock N Roll Express

The Riders (Scott and Bill Irwin, a pair of bikers) are challenging. Robert and Scott start things off with Robert working on a headlock. Bill comes in to try a save and gets taken down with a headscissors at the same time Scott goes down with a headlock takeover. It’s off to Bill vs. Ricky with the latter’s armbar keeping things a bit slow. The champs start taking over on Bill with a full nelson and a dropkick that completely misses.

Bill finally gets in a slam but Roberts rolls through with it into a small package for no count. Instead it’s Ricky coming back in for a much better looking dropkick. It gets even worse with another full nelson into an armbar from Robert as this is one sided so far. A clothesline out of the corner finally puts Robert down and it’s back to Scott for a variety of choking. Bill’s middle rope elbow gets two and the fans give Robert the most polite pleas for a comeback I can ever remember seeing.

The bearhug is less well received, mainly because it’s a bearhug in the first good match of the card. Robert finally gets over to the corner for the hot tag to Ricky but the referee doesn’t see it (always a classic). The beatdown continues as I try to get my head around seeing Robert taking the beating for a change. Scott’s splash hits knees and the hot tag brings in Ricky, who starts punching before he gets back inside. Everything breaks down and it’s a double elbow to Robert, leaving Ricky to grab a sunset flip for the pin on Bill to retain at 11:04.

Rating: C. Definitely the best match of the night here as the Rock N Roll Express can work a formula like no team in history. I’m not sure why Robert was the one getting the heat here but it was a rather different change of pace from the traditional Express match. The Long Riders weren’t great but the Express knew just what to do against a team like them. Not a bad match, and great compared to everything else so far.

Post match the Express bails but the Riders say they aren’t leaving. Then they leave.

Sgt. Slaughter vs. Boris Zhukov/Chris Markoff

Slaughter’s Americas Heavyweight and tags are required. Markoff if your classic Russian by way of Minnesota and from what I can find, has been wrestling since 1964. We get straight to the choking in the corner with Markoff just standing there with his hand on Slaughter’s throat while Boris holds him. We finally settle down to Boris being thrown hard into the corner and Slaughter choking Markoff down, all to a USA chant.

Markoff pulls out a belt of some kind and hits Slaughter in the head as this is already getting dull. Slaughter is busted open and choking with the belt ensues, though the USA chants don’t slow down a bit. The choking keeps going as this is either a No DQ match or the referee is rather blind. Boris joins Markoff for some stomping to put Slaughter on the timekeeper’s table as they’re not veering out of their comfort zone. Slaughter finally Hulks Up….and gets choked down by the belt again.

Boris’ clothesline gets two and he drops some elbows so Markoff can get two of his own. Forearms to the back just wake Slaughter up and he takes the belt for a real whipping. A big shot with the belt gets two but the heels take him down AGAIN, this time with a double backdrop. Slaughter sends Boris outside though and finishes Markoff with the Slaughter Cannon at 11:50.

Rating: D-. HOW IS THIS SHOW GETTING WORSE? The crowd came close to pushing this up a bit but it was just so much choking that cut off the momentum every single time. They needed to cut about four minutes out of this to make it work and even then it wasn’t going to be very good. This show is death so far and this show dragged it right back down even further.

US Title: Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard

I’ll give it an A+ if it’s even close to what they can do. Magnum is defending and Tully has Baby Doll with him. Tully gets punched in the face and gorilla pressed to start so it’s time for some Doll time on the floor. Back in and Magnum punches away some more with a great look of intensity. Tully goes villainous with a poke to the eye and a throat drop across the barricade though and the champ is down on the floor.

Kicking and stomping keep Magnum down as they’re doing an outstanding job of making you feel the hatred. Magnum gets back up and wins the slugout on the floor before winning another one back inside. They’re both busted open as Magnum gets two off a suplex. A superplex attempt is shoved off though and Tully starts in on the back for the first actual wrestling of the match. With that box checked off, Tully goes back to hammering on the cut but runs into a dropkick for two. The belly to belly finishes Tully completely clean at 11:11.

Rating: B-. The ending was as sudden and surprising as you could get as Magnum just hit the dropkick, threw some punches, and finished. You would expect more out of these two for an ending but maybe that’s just the modern fan in me talking. What mattered here was the intensity and you could feel the hatred between the two of them. That’s what sold the feud and it was on full display here. It’s a nice followup to their masterpiece at Starrcade and for a big house show match, it was more than good enough.

NWA World Title: Dusty Rhodes vs. Ric Flair

Flair is defending of course and it’s almost strange to see him in anything but the Big Gold Belt. Dusty mocks Flair’s slick back the hair taunt and dances a bit, much to the crowd’s delight. The first elbow to the head gives us an early Flair Flop and it’s already time for a breather. That means more yelling at the fans, which Flair has turned into an art form over the years.

Back in and the dancing punches have Flair in more trouble, meaning we need more breathing (after he accidentally rolls onto the timekeeper’s table). Back in again and Dusty grabs a hammerlock into the boot rake to the face as you can feel how into this the fans really are. A kick to the leg gets Flair out of trouble and it’s time to get back to the basics. Dusty staggers around the ring off the shots to the leg and Flair cannonballs down onto it as only he can make look perfect.

The referee gets in his face over the cheating to a nice reaction but Flair lets it go and puts on the Figure Four. Dusty manages to turn it over and Flair is smart enough to let go almost immediately. Back up and Flair misses a charge into the corner, meaning it’s time to beg off. Dusty’s running clothesline gets two as Flair puts a foot on the rope. Flair begs off again so Dusty hammers away and we’ve got some blood.

A sweep of the legs lets Flair grab a rollup with feet on the ropes for two, because he has to get in that classic cheating where he can. Dusty slaps on his own Figure Four until a rope is grabbed. Back up and Dusty throws him over the top for a second, only to have Flair hit the referee. Oh yeah you know where this is going. Dusty nails the elbow and a second referee comes in to count the pin at 14:50.

Rating: C. Their matches might not be great but you can’t deny the natural chemistry between these two. The fans are going to get behind Dusty because of the all time charisma and Flair is Flair. There’s a reason these two were as perfect together as they knew exactly what they were doing, but the constant Dusty Finishes made it hard to care. Dusty would finally win the title in July, so at least they did pay it off at some point.

Say it with me: and there’s no title change Flair was thrown over the top earlier on, meaning it’s a DQ.

Road Warriors vs. Russians

Ellering is here with the Warriors. That would be Ivan Koloff/Krusher Khrushchev with Nikita Koloff on the floor. Animal wastes no time in gorilla pressing Koloff and hands it off to Hawk for some right hands. Krusher comes in and cranks on a wristlock but Hawk shoves him away without much trouble. A big boot and backdrop have Krusher in trouble and Animal gets in a slam to make it even worse.

Koloff comes back in and slugs away at Hawk, who chokes him to take over instead. Animal even sneaks in a low blow to keep him down, followed by more choking. Krusher finally embraces his inner evil Russian by low bridging Animal to the floor for the first opening. We hit the neck crank but Animal rakes the eyes to escape, which is something so simple that few ever think of it.

That and a hot shot aren’t enough for the tag to Hawk though and it’s a double clothesline with Koloff for a double knockdown. Animal finally gets over for the tag and the house cleaning is on. Koloff is busted open and the blood all over Hawk’s chest is quite the visual. Everything breaks down and the Russians try to switch but Ellering stops the count and points out the switch, meaning it’s a DQ win for the Warriors at 10:45.

Rating: C-. It might not have been the best match in the world but the energy was there and this is another match that gives you a layup on paper. How can you not get fired up about an American power team against a trio of EVIL Russians (who happen to be monsters in their own right) in 1985? Hence why this feud lasted for a long time.

Post match the brawl continues with Ellering getting knocked down until the Warriors clear the ring.

AWA World Title: Rick Martel vs. Stan Hansen

Hansen is challenging. They slug it out at the bell, because slugging it out with STAN HANSEN is a good idea. Martel hits a crossbody to send him outside so Hansen throws in a chair, which is quickly disposed of. Back in and Martel armdrags him into an armbar, which is probably smarter than trading punches. Naturally the fans declare this boring, because they’re quite a fickle bunch.

Hansen breaks the armbar without much trouble and dumps him outside to keep up the brawling. That doesn’t last long as Martel is right back to the arm with a legdrop and a short armscissors. Hansen gets up and slams him down again as it’s the back vs. the arm so far. To mix things up a bit, Martel takes him down and drops a leg on the arm. At least this time he goes with an armbar for something a little different.

Hansen comes up with a backbreaker and some ax handles to the back. A gutwrench suplex gets two but Hansen’s splash hits raised knees. Martel’s own slam gets two but his back gives out on a suplex attempt. The abdominal stretch goes on until Martel can get out with a small package for two. His back is done though and Hansen puts on a Boston crab but leans his head onto the turnbuckle (completely legal) so Martel can’t kick out. Martel taps like crazy and finally gives up 14:00.

Rating: D+. The back vs. arm stuff was a fine idea but the execution was lame. There is only so much that you can get when the match is spent on a series of armbars and armscissors with Hansen hitting him in the back in between. The ending was very smart though and something I don’t remember seeing done again. Martel was a nice breath of air for the title but was anyone buying him as a top star?

Overall Rating: D. That’s how you end Christmas I guess. The ECW match was nothing, the AWA show was your usual boring event that only appealed to the hometown fans and the Pro Wrestling USA show was one of the worst things I can remember save for one or two bright spots. This is another situation where you can understand why things were hidden and it’s better if they stay that way in cases like this one.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/

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

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