IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: July 10, 2018
Location: SNHU Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

It’s time for a title match because this is the only place to air such a thing rather than this Sunday at the pay per view. This week champion Cedric Alexander defends against Hideo Itami, who has gone on a rampage through the show and would be a good choice to take the title. That being said, Drew Gulak is also lurking and would make a lot of sense to win the belt from Cedric. It’s nice to have options so let’s get to it.

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

We open with a long recap of Itami’s rise to the top of the division, eventually causing Cedric Alexander to want a title defense against him. That’s a great way to set up a title match and something we don’t get enough of anymore.

Opening sequence.

Kalisto vs. Tony Nese

Nese is flanked by Buddy Murphy to cancel out the Lucha House Party. Kalisto’s early flips just annoy Nese, who drives him into the corner with raw power. A whip into the corner is countered with a walk on the hands, much to Nese’s frustration. With Kalisto being a bit too fast, Nese slows him down a kick to the ribs, setting up a bodyscissors.

Kalisto fights back up and kicks Nese down again. A springboard crossbody gets two and it’s time to dance. Salida Del Sol is countered into a powerbomb into the corner but Nese misses a charge to put both guys down. The rest of the House Party starts playing their noisemakers and Murphy, being a human, gets annoyed and yells at them. Nese and Kalisto go out as well and the fight is on for the DQ at 6:12.

Rating: D+. This set up Lucha House Party’s next feud, which is still completely out of whack with three faces against two heels, but Kalisto is the only member worth anything and none of them are a match for Murphy. In other words it’s similar to what just happened with Drew Gulak and company but even more lopsided in the House Party’s favor.

Post match the brawl stays on and the House Party uses its numbers game to clear the villains out. That felt so wrong to write.

Drake Maverick welcomes Noam Dar back to the roster but TJP interrupts them. TJP thinks things are way worse around here since Dar left so trash talk ensues. Maverick makes the rematch for next week.

Video on Hideo Itami’s rise to being #1 contender.

Lio Rush vs. Colin Delaney

I didn’t recognize Delaney, who has gotten a haircut and grown a beard since his WWE run (which to be fair was about ten years ago). He’s also put on some much needed size. Akira Tozawa comes out to watch just like Rush did last week. After the bell, Rush goes outside and sets up a chair for Tozawa like a nice gentleman. Back in and Colin gets two off a rollup so Rush speeds things way up and kicks Delaney down. With Delaney on the apron, Rush does a Tajiri handspring to knock him outside as the destruction continues. The frog splash ends Delaney at 1:22. Rush is looking awesome so far.

Post match Tozawa congratulates Rush but asks what he’s done around here. Rush isn’t happy and a fight is teased but Maverick comes out to say the match is on next week.

Video on last week’s great Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy match.

Drew Gulak, Brian Kendrick and Jack Gallagher are going to be watching the main event closely. Gulak is holding the camera and has some advice for the fans: Heed this selfie. Sage words man.

Cruiserweight Title: Hideo Itami vs. Cedric Alexander

Itami is challenging. They fight over a lockup to start and Itami just misses a big kick to the face. Alexander gets all fired up and drives Hideo into the corner for a clean break. Alexander wants Itami to show him something so Itami kicks him in the chest. Well he did ask. The hard kicks give Itami two more as the pace slows down. That means a COME ON and a RESPECT ME, followed by a bodyscissors to keep Alexander in trouble.

Back up and another knee to the ribs gets another two on the champ. More lame shouting and a neckbreaker are good for two so we hit the chinlock to continue Itami’s hard hitting style. Cedric fights up (yes fighting out of a chinlock) and a springboard Downward Spiral puts Itami on the floor. The big flip dive sets up the Neuralizer for two more but Itami is right back up with his top rope clothesline.

Itami kicks him even more and blasts him in the face with a right hand. That’s enough frustration and it’s time to take off a turnbuckle pad. Before Itami can use that though, he has to break up a springboard to send Alexander outside. A running dropkick drives Alexander head first into the steps but only gets two back inside. Not that it matters as Alexander hits a Lumbar Check for the fast pin at 15:42.

Rating: B-. And that’s pretty much it for Itami’s chances of meaning anything in WWE. This would have been about as good of a chance as he was going to have of becoming something that mattered and he just loses. The RESPECT ME deal doesn’t work and he’s not exactly destroying people with his offense. The match was good but there’s no spark or fire to Itami, and certainly no reason to get interested in him. Now the bigger problem: the same thing is true of Alexander.

Overall Rating: B. It’s a good show which set some stuff up for the future, but the biggest thing is Alexander holding the title. There are several good options to go after the title and Alexander isn’t exactly doing much with it. He just shows up every few weeks for a defense and then goes back to doing nothing of note. It’s a weird place to be as he’s talented in the ring but not exactly charismatic. Move on from him and the show could get a nice boost. It’s still good though, which is a far cry from where we were just a few months back.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 9, 2004
Location: Rose Garden Arena, Portland, Oregon
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Wrestlemania is just over a month away and tonight we get one of the required moments on the road to the big night: the contract signing, this time with HHH and Chris Benoit making their title match official. Shawn Michaels is still lurking around though and there’s almost no way that’s going to end well. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Here’s Goldberg for a match but there’s no opponent as Vince McMahon interrupts instead. Vince talks about how weird it is to see these two together and he’s got a point. This is some weird pairing that you almost never see together. Vince cancels Goldberg’s match so here’s Steve Austin to interrupt. Austin wants to know why Vince is here (well so far it’s to cancel a match) because he’s already ticking Austin off. It turns out that Vince is here because of Austin giving Goldberg a ticket to No Way Out because Vince knows what Goldberg is capable of.

It’s time to listen to the voice of consequence so here’s Paul Heyman to join us. Heyman doesn’t want Goldberg showing up but there’s nothing he can do to stop it. However, he can order Goldberg not to/threaten him with Brock Lesnar taking care of things. Goldberg takes the mic and say Lesnar is next before spearing Heyman. Another spear is loaded up for Vince but hits Austin by mistake, giving the fans their OOOOOO moment.

Post break Goldberg tells Austin that it was a mistake but wants to know if he should expect a Stunner. Austin isn’t sure but if he does Stun Goldberg, it won’t be a mistake. Goldberg can live with that.

Vince yells at Eric Bischoff and suspends Goldberg as punishment.

Trish Stratus/Chris Jericho vs. Matt Hardy/Molly Holly

That’s quite an odd pairing for Matt, who loves getting things for free and has status on five airlines. The men start with a friendly exchange of hammerlocks so the announcers immediately start talking about Goldberg. Can you at least wait a few minutes? An early Walls attempt sends Matt bailing to the ropes so Molly comes in and gets spanked for her efforts.

Trish gets armbarred down but pops back up for a headscissors out of the corner. The hot tag brings in Jericho to clean house but his plancha to the floor misses, aggravating the knee injury Jericho suffered last week. Cue Christian to post Hardy though, leaving Trish to roll Molly up for a fast pin.

Rating: C-. Not bad while it lasted but what does it say that they might have been in trouble if they had just gone a few more minutes? Four people who seem pretty talented shouldn’t be worried that a match is going to fall apart after going five minutes. Unfortunately that’s the way Raw matches tend to go as they tend to go overboard after a certain amount of time.

Post break Trish leaves the trainer’s room and runs into Christian. He doesn’t think there’s any reason the three of them can’t be friends. Trish agrees and Christian goes to check on Jericho, not before saying she looks really good tonight.

Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade are enjoying Torrie and Sable’s Playboy and wonder if they ever….and here are Stacy Keibler and Jackie Gayda to interrupt. They’re annoyed about not being in the magazine and are going to prove something. Or a PG-13 version of such.

Coach cuts off Mick Foley from coming in. Foley is here to embarrass Randy Orton or maybe cost him his Intercontinental Title. Coach steps aside, unfortunately.

Ric Flair vs. Chris Benoit

In a good move, JR announces that Mark Henry will be out for four months thanks to the Crossface last week. Now why can’t today’s wrestling attribute more injuries to wrestling? Nah, we’re better off telling the truth and getting nothing out of it. Benoit wastes no time with a German suplex so Flair bails outside, setting up a chop battle. That actually goes badly for Flair, who bails into the floor for a change to even less success. More chops rock Flair again but he gets an elbow up to stop a charge….and flops for a good visual.

It’s already time to go up and already time to get superplex back down from the top as Flair is bumping early and often. The Swan Dive misses though and Benoit is down as well. Back from a break with another chop off until Benoit sends him face first into the buckle. It’s time to roll some German suplexes until Flair gets in a low blow to save his neck. That means the Figure Four goes on but Benoit is in the ropes just a few seconds later. Flair stays on the knee but gets pulled straight into the Crossface for the tap.

Rating: C+. Not bad at all here and that’s not exactly shocking. Benoit getting another clean win is exactly the right call and should do him a lot of good going forward. Beating the man that HHH idolizes and emulates so often is a great visual and while there is still a lot of time before Wrestlemania, they’re setting things up well.

Post match HHH says the contract signing is right now.

Back from a break and Bischoff is in the ring with a table and Benoit as HHH comes out for the signing. HHH wastes no time in signing but has something to say before Benoit can do the same. He sees the nerves in Benoit’s eyes because Benoit is standing at the edge and thinking of jumping off. What happens if Benoit jumps? Does he survive or is it all over? We’re coming up on Wrestlemania XX with all the lights on bright.

Benoit will be wrestling in the main event for the chance to become the man in the industry. That means all the pressure will be on him to defend the title all over the world. From American to Europe to Japan and all points in between. If Benoit can do it, then everything becomes worth it. Then the fans will chant BENOIT and he has arrived. That’s a nice dream, but reality is going to sit in.

Benoit is going to be sitting in the back after Wrestlemania and look at the big empty space in his bag. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity but is it worth it to risk losing it all? This is reality and that reality is HHH. Benoit goes to sign but here’s Shawn Michaels to interrupt. HHH leaves as Shawn says he doesn’t want to rain on Benoit’s parade but he can’t let this go.

Shawn’s issues with HHH far eclipses anything that Benoit is doing and he has to finish it. Shawn has to end this on the grandest stage of them all and that’s what he’s going to do. Benoit finally gets to talk and says he respects Shawn, but Wrestlemania is his night. As he’s talking, Shawn superkicks him and signs the contract. I really don’t think that’s how contracts work but that’s always been a gray area in wrestling.

Shawn came off as a huge jerk here, saying that his issues were all that mattered, despite having already had two shots at the title, which he blew both times. Throw in that Shawn has already beaten HHH at Summerslam and beaten him for the title at Survivor Series, this is the whiniest Shawn has ever been, which is covering A LOT of ground over the years. I know how great the match is eventually going to be, but I’ve never liked this story as Shawn didn’t need to be there and felt like he was as wedged into an angle as anyone could have been. The promo was great, but Shawn’s stuff was really forced and annoying.

Kane vs. Hurricane

Hurricane strikes his pose and runs out to the floor. Back in and a side slam followed by a chokeslam gives Kane the pin in short order.

Post match Kane can’t get the pyro to go off twice in a row. The third time works but Undertaker’s video comes on, followed by a video saying “the dead will rise in 34 days” (Wrestlemania of course).

Bischoff catches up with a ticked off Benoit, who wants to know what’s up with that. Apparently Shawn signing the contract is legally binding but he’ll have his lawyers on it. Next week: Benoit vs. Michaels.

Randy Orton isn’t happy with Foley being here and accuses him of being behind a conspiracy. A conspiracy to do what isn’t clear, but a conspiracy nonetheless.

We recap the opening sequence.

Goldberg tries to leave and doesn’t care to talk to Coach. He still has his No Way Out ticket and Lesnar is still next.

Video on the recent Japanese tour. This is edited off of the Network, likely due to a music issue.

Here’s Foley for a chat. He’s not here to interrupt tonight’s Intercontinental Title match but rather for an explanation of why he walked out in December. This turns into a discussion of Reverend Jimmy Swaggart, who was a major pastor but was then caught with a bunch of women. Or Rush Limbaugh, who ranted about drug abuse and was then caught abusing drugs. So what does this have to do with Orton?

Well at one point he was a member of the Marine Corps (complete with picture) but this isn’t a great story about a hero. It’s the story of a man who went AWOL for 82 days and was dismissed from the military (MAJOR heat for that one). Maybe Orton was projecting some of his guilt onto Foley when he was talking about Foley being a coward.

Foley throws down the challenge for Wrestlemania and maybe we can call it the battle of the cowards. Orton pops up on screen and says come to the back for a fight, Foley does just that, earning a beating from Evolution, capped off by a Batista Bomb through a table, due to sheer stupidity. Seriously Sting would have seen that coming. Orton slaps him around a bit for good measure.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Orton vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Booker T.

Orton is defending. All three head outside in a hurry with Rob throwing Orton back in for a kick to the face. Booker doesn’t seem interested in running in for the save, instead watching from the apron until two. Van Dam kicks Booker down instead and we’re already in the two in/one out formula. Booker kicks Van Dam down to switch things up a bit but gets pulled outside by Orton.

Back in and Van Dam flips Booker as I’m still waiting on all three to be in the same place at the same time again. The announcers bicker over whether what Foley said about Orton was true, with Lawler accusing JR of being prejudiced. JR: “Well it ain’t easy.” Another kick to the face sets up Van Dam’s cartwheel moonsault for two but Orton is back in with a DDT on Booker. That sends Booker outside so Van Dam kicks Orton down for a change. A forearm to Van Dam’s back gets two but he kicks Orton in the face again, because that’s almost all of Van Dam’s offense these days.

Booker comes back in to play Bret to Van Dam’s Neidhart (with a kick instead of a clothesline) on a Hart Attack. Van Dam hits a bottom rope Five Star for two on Booker and Rolling Thunder gets the same, this time with Orton making a save. We’ll switch off to Orton vs. Booker now with the RKO being broken up.

A belly to back suplex/high crossbody combo with Van Dam flying back in crushes Orton again and all three are down. Rob gets dumped to the floor and there’s the ax kick to Orton but the very delayed cover allows Van Dam to flip back in for the save. The Five Star hits Booker but Orton steals the pin to retain.

Rating: D-. I really, really didn’t like this one as it was a full match of Van Dam kicking them in the face and one of them heading to the floor so the others can have a short singles match. The ending was slightly better as Orton stealing a pin to retain the title fits him perfectly. It was a lifeless match though and a positive ending isn’t enough to fix the bigger problems.

Evolution comes out to celebrate so here’s Foley limping to the ring, earning another beating. Van Dam and Booker get taken out as well to end the show. HHH comes out to watch as the show ends.

Overall Rating: C. Awful main event aside, they did a good job of setting up the biggest pieces for Wrestlemania. The show is rather early this year (March 14) so it’s not like they have much time to really set everything up. Therefore it’s a great idea to have a lot of that out of the way early, and that’s what Raw has done here. There are still a lot of problems (contracts don’t work that way being a big one) but you can see a good card emerging in there. Just make the build work a little more smoothly and no more bad triple threats.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: July 10, 2018
Location: SNHU Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the other go home show for Extreme Rules and the big match tonight is AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura VI, though in a rare non-title version. You could probably pencil in Rusev for some interference to slow Styles down and give Nakamura some momentum heading into the US Title match. Other than that, normally I would expect a few more gimmicks being added to Sunday’s card but that doesn’t seem to interest them with this year’s Extreme Rules. Let’s get to it.

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

Here’s Miz to open things up with MizTV. After promising to win an Emmy for Miz and Mrs. in two weeks, he brings out Kane and Daniel Bryan as his guests. Before we can get to that though, Miz needs some assurance that Bryan won’t punch him in the face. Bryan agrees to be professional so Miz says this is like Justin Timberlake reuniting with N’Sync. Kane: “N’SYNC WILL NEVER REUNITE! J.T. is just too big of a star now.” Miz gives us a highlight package on the team’s history, interspersed with their fights and issues. Actually that’s not the footage Miz meant to show but we’ll address it anyway.

Bryan doesn’t buy it and says Miz is terrible at everything, especially wrestling. Miz finally snaps, saying he knows Bryan is going to fall for this all over again. Ever since Bryan came back, Miz has been hoping he gets to end his career for good. Kane plays peacemaker but Miz goes one step too far, accusing him of hiding behind his broken down demon. The chokeslam is loaded up but the Bludgeon Brothers arrive to break it up. Cue Sanity for the same but New Day runs out and it’s a huge brawl. The bad guys get the better of it and you can book the ten man tag for later.

Post break, ten man tag, booked.

AJ Style vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Non-title. Hang on though as here are Rusev and Aiden English with the former promising to tear down the house that AJ Styles built on Rusev Day. A dropkick puts Nakamura on the floor and we take a break. Back with Rusev on commentary, saying that he’s already told his mother he won the title. AJ is sent to the apron but the Phenomenal Forearm is broken up. A kick to the back of the head and a gordbuster look to set up Kinshasa.

That’s reversed into a rollup for two and an enziguri rocks Nakamura. He’s fine enough to hit the running knee in the corner as Rusev promises four different counters for the Calf Crusher. We take a second break and come back again with Nakamura telling him to COME ON. That earns him a fireman’s carry backbreaker but the Styles Clash attempt is countered into a triangle choke.

That’s reversed as well and Styles tells him to COME ON. Nakamura misses a charge to the floor so AJ hits the slingshot forearm to the floor. AJ goes after English (Rusev: “WAS THIS REALLY NECESSARY???”), who takes Kinshasa by mistake. That’s enough for Rusev, who pulls AJ off the apron for the DQ at 15:55.

Rating: C+. These two are good together as usual but WWE has somehow managed to run what should have been a dream match into the ground by having them fight six times in about three months. The ending was the right call as you don’t want either of them taking a clean loss and Rusev gets to be a jerk at the same time.

Post match Jeff Hardy makes the save so here’s Paige to make the tag match. That would be the second tag match made after a brawl in the first 45 minutes.

AJ Styles/Jeff Hardy vs. Rusev/Shinsuke Nakamura

Rusev throws AJ down to start and we hit a bearhug, meaning it’s a split screen promo about Alexa Bliss vs. Nia Jax. Back to full screen with AJ grabbing a sleeper before diving over for the tag to Hardy. Jeff speeds things up in a hurry and a basement dropkick gets two on Rusev. Everything breaks down and the Twisting Stunner looks to st up the Swanton, only to have Jeff get crotched by Nakamura. The Machka Kick ends Hardy at 5:18.

Rating: D+. Not enough time to be any good here but the ending was the right call. Rusev isn’t likely to win the title but at least we can get a good match out of it. Nakamura winning however is the only real option and exactly what needs to happen. I liked the booking here, but the execution wasn’t great, at least partially due to the long promo in the middle.

James Ellsworth is warming up when Carmella comes in to tell him he better win. Ellsworth says he’s ready and winks at her, which isn’t the right move.

Asuka vs. James Ellsworth

Lumberjack match with the women’s division around the ring. I still say Ellsworth should be Curt Hawkins in an attempt to save his job. If you want to really make Carmella seem more impressive, have her get a second, more successful person under her thumb. Plus you don’t bring in another name when there are so many people with nothing to do. Before the match, Ellsworth says he’s ready for Asuka, but does ask that no one try to kiss him.

The threat of an early spinning backfist puts Ellsworth on the floor where Becky Lynch and Naomi toss him back inside. Ellsworth gets knocked outside again but the lumberjacks get in a fight. That’s enough for Ellsworth who tries to run but Becky and Naomi catch him again. Everyone else goes after them so Asuka dives onto the pile. In the melee, Carmella hands Ellsworth mace but Asuka kicks it out of his hand. Ellsworth gets kicked into Carmella so the Asuka Lock can finish him at 3:20.

Rating: D-. What does it say about Asuka when she goes from dream match at Wrestlemania to a relief that they didn’t have James Ellsworth beat her? The worst part is you can probably pencil Asuka in for another loss on Sunday, as Becky Lynch seems poised to be the next challenger. I’m glad that Becky is getting the chance, but Asuka has been lost in the shuffle so hard.

Post match Carmella goes after Asuka so Ellsworth can mace him, setting up Carmella’s superkick.

We look back at the opening brawl.

New Day and HELL NO talk strategy for tonight. New Day wants to gang up on them. Bryan suggests taking out their knees. Kane wants to set them on fire and send them to hell. Bryan: “Do you think we can just summon Satan and send open a portal?” Kane: “Technically it’s a gateway but YES! THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I WANT!”

Kane and Bryan get into a YES/NO argument but Big E. takes charge and tells Woods to come up with a plan, Kofi to be like the Flash, Bryan to become the Goat Faced Killer, and for Kane to get with them. Kane quotes N’Sync’s This I Promise You. Bryan: “Was that N’Sync?” Kane: “IT STILL APPLIES!” Why does Daniel Bryan know N’Sync lyrics? As usual, Kane and Bryan have great chemistry and timing together.

Post break Ellsworth and Carmella are in the back when Paige comes up. On Sunday, Ellsworth is going to be suspended above the ring in a shark cage.

Andrade Cien Almas vs. Sin Cara

It’s about time. Almas speeds things up to start and sends him outside for a suicide dive. Back in and Almas takes him down to send us to a break. We come back with Almas slamming him down but hitting knees on a top rope splash attempt. An Alberto Del Rio top rope double stomp puts Cara on the apron and the running knees in the corner are good for the pin at 5:57. Too much took place during the break but this wasn’t quite worth the wait.

Pay per view rundown.

Sanity promises to bring the chaos. The Bludgeon Brothers come in and seem pleased with that mindset.

New Day/HELL NO vs. Bludgeon Brothers/Sanity

In kayfabe, that’s some pretty awesome timing for the production staff to know when the match is going to grind to a halt so these videos can air. Back to full screen with Dain hitting a backsplash, just in time to go to a commercial. We’re not even nine minutes into this match and we’ve had two commercials and an inset promo. I know this is crazy for a fan to say, but I’d actually like to watch the match instead of an ad every three minutes.

Back with Woods still in trouble and Harper’s Michinoku Driver getting two. New Day makes the save, allowing Woods to hit his springboard tornado DDT on Harper. The hot tag brings in Bryan to hammer on Young as everything breaks down. We hit a parade of secondary finishers until Big E. spears Dain off the apron. Back in and Bryan knees Young down for the pin at 16:41.

Rating: C+. Well what we saw of it was good. A match that isn’t even eighteen minutes long doesn’t need two breaks and an inset promo as a mini break, but WWE has too much stuff to advertise to do a match like this uninterrupted. If nothing else Sanity getting this kind of push (two months after being announced) out of the shoot is nice, and odds are they win on Sunday.

Post match Kane does a YES chant but Bryan tries to do the Kane fire deal. It three attempts but the fire comes out, sending Bryan into a cheer to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. This was a rather up and down show with some stuff (Kane/Bryan, Styles vs. Nakamura and Rusev) working very well but the bad stuff (Ellsworth, the inset promos and two matches being made on the fly with a similar setup) really bringing it back down. I’m more interested in the Tag Team Title match, but it’s pretty sad that that’s being treated as the Smackdown main event over the World Title match. There’s a great opening to have AJ vs. Rusev main event on Sunday but it’s likely going to be the third biggest match on the card at best. Is there any wonder why fans get frustrated with this company?

Results

AJ Styles b. Shinsuke Nakamura via DQ when Rusev interfered

Rusev/Shinsuke Nakamura b. AJ Styles/Jeff Hardy – Machka Kick to Hardy

Asuka b. James Ellsworth – Asuka Lock

Andrade Cien Almas b. Sin Cara – Running knees in the corner

HELL NO/New Day b. Sanity/Bludgeon Brothers – Running knee to Young

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 9, 2018
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Jonathan Coachman

It’s the go home show for the mostly non-extreme Extreme Rules. Instead we’re currently focused on Kevin Owens being locked in a portable toilet and being covered in blue liquid, because that’s what the end of last week’s show spent ten minutes setting up. I wonder what thrills we have on tap this week. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Bobby Lashley’s original WWE career, leading into his return and feud with Roman Reigns.

Lashley and Reigns are in the back, arguing about Reigns going to the ring. Lashley wants Reigns to call him out as a DANIEL BRYAN chant drowns out some of whatever they’re saying. Lashley steps to the side and tells Reigns to carry on.

Here’s Reigns in the ring for a chat and he wastes no time in calling Lashley out. Before anything can happen though, here’s Kurt Angle, flanked by Baron Corbin, to interrupt. Angle wants them to save it for Sunday but the brawl is on anyway. A bunch of midcarders can’t break it up and the fight breaks out over and over again. Reigns is finally taken to the floor as Finn Balor gets in a shot on Corbin for a nice bit of continuity.

The fight keeps breaking out with even more people coming out and failing to separate them. Lashley keeps punching and throws Reigns inside but is finally pushed to the back. Reigns isn’t done though and hits the BIG dive over the top to take out about twenty people at the same time. Reigns’ music plays but he comes back AGAIN and dives at Lashley. Really, really solid segment here but it’s going to be annoying when this headlines again over the World Title. Also, they need to bring this intensity to the match instead of the boring match Reigns and Samoa Joe had at Backlash.

Nia Jax/Natalya vs. Mickie James/Alexa Bliss

Natalya wastes no time in trying a Sharpshooter on James but gets kicked away, allowing the tag to Bliss. The same Sharpshooter attempt sends Bliss bailing to the floor so Natalya baseball slides both villains down. Back from an early break with Natalya being sent into the corner so Bliss can hit her running slap. We hit the chinlock so IT’S TIME FOR AN INSET PROMO FOR SUNDAY! Sweet, I was worried that we wouldn’t get these stupid things again. Back to full screen with Natalya getting over for the hot tag to Nia, who starts wrecking Mickie. The splash in the corner sets up the big leg to give Nia the pin at 8:09.

Rating: D. Well what we saw was decent, but the inset promo felt like a second commercial. That and Nia just running over everyone has been done, especially since it’s a near guarantee that she loses on Sunday, allowing Bliss to go to Summerslam and hang with Ronda Rousey for a long match. Just not enough content here to make it work.

Immediately after the pin, Bliss hits Jax in the back with a kendo stick. The stick is quickly taken away and broken as Bliss runs away in a hurry.

Post break, Nia promises to use the extreme rules to get back at Bliss for everything she’s done to her in the last few months because anything goes.

We recap Braun Strowman tormenting Kevin Owens last week.

Owens comes in to Angle’s office and complains about Angle allowing all of this to happen. He threatens Angle with various legal issues over last week but has a doctor’s note banning him from competing tonight. Therefore, he’ll be hanging out in Angle’s office to hide from Strowman. And he even brought his own chair. I’m still not sure why Owens is supposed to be the heel in this whole thing.

No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley

The long awaited rematch. Mojo shrugs off some early forearms and runs Jose over with a shoulder. We hit the chinlock and thankfully don’t go to an inset ad for Sunday. A running splash in the corner sets up another chinlock as this is already dragging. Jose fights up with some right hands but gets caught with a wicked Alabama Slam for the pin at 4:14.

Rating: D+. Mojo continues to grow on me but they need to do something with him already. This “feud” has been going on for a few weeks now and we’re not exactly anywhere further than we were before. Let Rawley see what he can do in a slightly bigger feud and maybe this can go somewhere.

Earlier today, Bayley and Sasha Banks had more therapy in the same office with a different therapist. Bayley blames Banks for everything and that’s it for now.

Jinder Mahal tells Seth Rollins to search for inner peace. Rollins seems to get it and breathing ensues but Rollins sneaks out.

Here’s Rollins for a chat. He loves the nicknames he’s built up over the years but right now the most important is FORMER Intercontinental Champion. This Sunday is all about becoming the Iron Man and the Intercontinental Champion again, but Dolph Ziggler is going to bring the Scottish Wookie Drew McIntyre with him. Rollins is SETH FREAKING ROLLINS though and cue Ziggler and McIntyre for a rebuttal. Ziggler says he’ll bring his skills, the psycho McIntyre and the title, where he’ll walk out as still champion.

Sure, Rollins is great but he’s not Ziggler. Maybe Dolph can win 100-0 on Sunday to really hammer the point home. He botches a line about Rollins having no dignity left and then talks about his victories as a college wrestler. Rollins thinks Drew helped him win there too but then asks why McIntyre sticks with Ziggler. Maybe Ziggler has pictures of McIntyre getting friendly with sheep in Scotland? That’s enough for a challenge from McIntyre so Rollins accepts, saying he’s a baaaaad man.

The B Team impersonates Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt. Again.

Here’s the B Team for a match and another impersonation, this time with Bo Dallas wondering what he can eat alongside the world on Sunday. Matt and Bray pop up on screen to say the time for fun and games is over. Laughter and fear are contagious so let’s do this right now.

Bo Dallas vs. Matt Hardy

An angry Matt starts hammering away in the corner to start as the Revival is watching in the back. That would be a rather nice development indeed. A suplex on the floor keeps Axel in trouble and we take a break. Back with Matt holding a cravate and an inset promo for Asuka vs. Carmella on Sunday. Matt takes him to the floor for a Side Effect onto the steps and some posing back inside. A neckbreaker across the ropes is broken up by a Curtis Axel distraction though and Dallas gets the pin at 8:39.

Rating: D. You know all those times that we’ve seen this before? Well this is the most recent version. I really hope we get to the Revival getting the titles out of this as neither of these teams are exactly interesting. At least we might get something entertaining from the Revival. Sure the impressions were funny at first, but repeating them for a month isn’t entertaining.

Post match Matt and Bray clean house.

We look back at the opening segment.

Lashley wants Reigns to fight on Sunday because Reigns isn’t walking out. Believe that.

Tyler Breeze offers the Riott Squad some fashion advice but they rip up the Breezango shirts.

Bliss can’t wait to hurt Nia again, this time in front of Ronda Rousey.

Ember Moon vs. Liv Morgan

Ember shouts a lot and runs Liv over a lot, knocking her outside as we take an early break. Back with Morgan keeping Moon in trouble with a cross arm choke and doing some screaming of her own with the blue tongue on full display. Cole asked Morgan why she had the blue tongue. Morgan: “I like blue.” Back up and Liv busts out a Matrix move to avoid a clothesline but gets sent face first into the middle buckle off a headscissors from the mat. Moon hits a springboard right in the corner and grabs a quick Jackknife rollup for the pin at 7:52.

Rating: D+. Another short match with the commercial cutting out the majority of whatever value we might have gotten from it. Neither of these two have anything going on at the moment so it’s not like this is going to lead anywhere. The Squad isn’t much without Ruby around to give them a voice, but Morgan has gotten better in the ring.

Finn Balor isn’t worried about tonight’s tag match but here’s partner Bobby Roode to say the two of them are similar. They’ll be partners tonight and it will be GLORIOUS. Balor doesn’t like Corbin and he’ll take it out on him in the ring.

Owens complains about Angle’s office when McIntyre and Ziggler come in. Angle cuts them off and says if McIntyre loses tonight, he’s banned from ringside on Sunday.

Here’s Elias to say he hasn’t performed in two weeks but it’s been for a reason. He’s been in the studio recording his debut album, which is happening because WWE stands for WALK WITH ELIAS. As you might expect, the song mocks Boston and the Boston accent, with Elias saying Tom Brady told him to just pretend to like the Boston fans like he’s done for so many years. Cue Corbin, to say he’d like to sing a bit as well, which means we get a version of Itsy Bitsy Spider mocking Balor’s size. In other words, it’s the warmed over Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass feud all over again.

Finn Balor/Bobby Roode vs. Baron Corbin/Elias

Joined in progress with Roode taking Elias down into a headlock but making the mistake of going after Corbin on the apron. The distraction lets Elias knee Roode in the face and it’s Roode in early trouble. We hit the chinlock and this time it’s an ad for Reigns vs. Lashley. Back to full screen with Roode fighting up for the hot tag to Balor, who gets distracted by Corbin so Elias can send him into the corner as we take a break.

Back with Elias grabbing another chinlock because we haven’t seen one of those in five minutes. Balor fights up and Sling Blades Corbin, allowing the hot tag off to Roode. House is cleaned for a bit until Roode dives into a chokebreaker with Balor breaking up the count. The Blockbuster gives Roode two as Elias makes a save of his own but the Coup de Grace is broken up. Instead it’s the End of Days to put Roode away at 13:07.

Rating: C-. That’s a match that happened as Corbin continues to get a push while having one of the lamest feuds you can have in wrestling. Roode continues to be stuck in the same role he’s been in for months now and while a heel turn would help, it depends on what he goes after that. Not a terrible match, but it could be more about the match getting some time.

Owens is having a sandwich when Strowman comes in. Angle is tired of Owens running so on Sunday, it’s a cage match. Strowman sprays Owens with air freshener.

Sasha and Bayley are still in counseling and they’ll have to report to Angle next week. Dang it this could have been good.

Reigns says Lashley’s physical gifts don’t matter in a fight. When your gifts are in wrestling and fighting, yeah they kind of do. After Sunday, Lashley can be the guy somewhere else.

Extreme rules rundown. Still needs a lot more gimmicky stuff to live up to the name.

Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre

If Rollins wins, Drew is banned from ringside on Sunday. McIntyre powers him into the corner with ease to start, allowing McIntyre to do his kneeling pose. A dropkick has almost no effect and McIntyre runs him over with a shoulder. It’s off to an armbar with McIntyre in full control so far. A chinlock keeps Rollins in trouble and McIntyre chops him back down to set up another armbar.

McIntyre drives him back first into the apron and we take a break. Back with Rollins flying off an overhead belly to belly and some stomps to the arm setting up yet another armbar. Rollins fights up and finally gets a breather by sending McIntyre face first into the middle buckle. McIntyre heads to the floor for back to back suicide dives, followed by the middle rope Blockbuster for a near fall of his own.

A charge in the corner goes badly for Rollins though as McIntyre grabs a reverse Alabama Slam, sending Rollins face first into the mat on a nasty looking landing. A sitout powerbomb gets two more but McIntyre gets caught up top, allowing Rollins to kick him into the Tree of Woe. That’s fine with Drew, who sits up and superplexes Rollins right back down.

The Claymore is blocked with a superkick into the Falcon Arrow to rock McIntyre. It doesn’t rock him enough though as McIntyre scores with a headbutt, which seems to fire McIntyre up all over again. Rollins is fine enough to hit a Buckle Bomb and low superkick, followed by a curb stomp to an invading Ziggler. The distraction is enough for McIntyre to hit the Claymore for the pin at 21:06.

Rating: B. Now that’s more like it as this show was needing a long, good match to really boost things up. Thankfully they seem to have started planting the seeds for McIntyre to split from Ziggler but that needs to happen around Summerslam or so because Ziggler is already getting way too much focus by comparison. At least McIntyre won here though, as a loss would have been a rather bad idea.

Overall Rating: C-. The Reigns vs. Lashley stuff was rather good though I’m not wild on the idea of having them close the show over another World Title match. Of course that’s the most likely scenario because you have to keep Reigns strong so he can continue doing nothing but that’s a different story for later. The rest of the show wasn’t exactly inspiring stuff, especially with the idea of Rollins vs. Ziggler in another thirty minute match. The cage match is a nice addition but I’m really not feeling anything extreme about Sunday. I’m sure that expecting a lot of extreme things on a show called EXTREME RULES is just a mistake though.

Results

Nia Jax/Natalya b. Alexa Bliss/Mickie James – Legdrop to James

Mojo Rawley b. No Way Jose – Alabama Slam

Bo Dallas b. Matt Hardy – Hanging swinging neckbreaker

Ember Moon b. Liv Morgan – Jackknife rollup

Baron Corbin/Elias b. Bobby Roode/Finn Balor – End of Days to Roode

Drew McIntyre b. Seth Rollins – Claymore

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: February 5, 2004
Location: Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

Somehow we’re just over a week away from No Way Out which has really snuck up. Last week’s great battle royal saw Eddie Guerrero become #1 contender, which could set up a heck of a match with Brock Lesnar. That being said, his win came at the expense of Kurt Angle, who probably won’t be happy with being eliminated last. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of the end of the battle royal with Eddie winning the title shot for the biggest match in his career.

Paul Heyman is in the ring to talk about how awesome last week was because it gave Eddie the chance to capitalize on an opportunity. That opportunity comes in ten days, but what about tonight? We’re coming up on Wrestlemania and need a #1 contender for that night, and anyone wrestling tonight will be in the running for that spot. That’s it for Heyman, who isn’t the kind of General Manager who will stand around talking all night.

Tag Team Titles: Scotty 2 Hotty/Rikishi vs. Basham Brothers

The Bashams are defending and get jumped from behind at the bell. You can’t even pose in peace around here anymore. Shaniqua offers a distraction though and Danny gets in a clothesline from the apron to take over. A double hot shot gets two on Scotty and Doug takes over in the corner. Some crossface shots to the jaw keep Scotty on the mat, followed by a neckbreaker for two.

Scotty gets in a clothesline though and the hot tag brings in Rikishi for some quick house cleaning. A superkick puts Doug down and Danny gets sent to the floor, leaving Scotty to load up the Worm. Shaniqua makes a save but has to be saved from the Rump Shaker. With Danny still on the floor, the Samoan drop to Doug gives Rikishi the pin and the titles.

And now, a look back at how last week’s battle royal was set up, along with a look at the battle royal itself. That seems random, but there might be a reason for it.

There was another match taped right around here that didn’t make air. Ernest Miller pinned Tajiri in a rather short match when he ducked the Buzzsaw kick and won with a rollup. It was pulled from the airing and Miller was released the next week. The video of the match, with commentary, is available online and it’s not that bad. It’s not even two minutes long and doesn’t have time to be that bad. Orlando Jordan ran in to save Miller from a post match beatdown at Akio/Sakoda’s hands and danced a bit after.

The match wasn’t great but I can’t imagine it was bad enough to warrant firing him over. The only other possible reason I can find that it didn’t air was a line from Tazz where he said Tajiri ate cats. I mean, that’s bad but they couldn’t edit the audio? Maybe they cut the match because they knew Miller would be gone soon but it’s still rather odd.

Dawn Marie and Paul Heyman come in to see John Cena. The show has been getting some complaints about Cena’s content so he’s off the show tonight to take care of the children. Heyman does want Cena to stick around tonight for the #1 contenders announcement. Cena hitting on Dawn while time Heyman complained about him was funny.

US Title: Big Show vs. Billy Gunn

Show is defending for the first time since winning the title in OCTOBER. Why is Gunn getting the shot you ask? Well he hit Show with a Fameasser last week in the battle royal. Nothing but that, but it was indeed a Fameasser. Tazz’s thought on the match: Show wants to keep the title. Gunn tries to use some quickness to start so a single knee to the stomach cuts him off.

A missed clothesline sends Show to the floor and Gunn tries some chops, earning himself a right hand to the head. There’s something cathartic about seeing Gunn getting hit in the face. Back from a break with another look at that right hand, which might be the high spot so far. It’s off to a cobra clutch in a match that doesn’t need a rest hold. Cole takes another opportunity to talk about how AMAZING Big Show has been lately, mainly focusing on him not winning two battle royals.

Another loud chop takes Gunn down again and Show hits a catapult, though it seemed to miss the target of the bottom rope and sent Gunn flying instead. The chokeslam is countered with a dropkick though and the Fameasser gets two. Gunn loads it up again (because that always works) but gets countered into something like a powerbomb (looked like it was supposed to be a chokeslam but Show’s hand was on the stomach) to retain.

Rating: D-. I waited nearly four months for that? This was exactly what you would expect from a Big Show vs. Billy Gunn match with Show throwing him around and Gunn….not really doing anything impressive but he’s tall and muscular so he gets to stay around. Having Show defend the title was almost a bad thing as having him never defend the thing was more entertaining than this way too long match.

The Chavos come in to see Heyman and rant about Rey Mysterio getting so much attention. Therefore tonight it’s Rey vs. Sr. and at the pay per view it’s Rey vs. Jr. Sr. isn’t sure but Jr. believes in him.

Here’s Eddie Guerrero for a chat with Michael Cole. The fans are very happy to see Eddie but before he can say anything, here’s Brock Lesnar to cut him off. We get a long staredown with only the EDDIE chants making any noise. Brock congratulates him on getting his title shot at No Way Out and mentions winning the Royal Rumble in a line that is clearly dubbed over.

The thing Eddie needs to remember though is that Brock wasn’t in the ring. Brock lists off all of the names he’s beaten and Eddie doesn’t scare him. We hear about Steve Austin giving Goldberg a ticket to the show, more or less saying they’re fighting at Wrestlemania without being specific. Eddie is impressed because he doesn’t have that kind of a resume. All he has going for him is overcoming one obstacle after another because he doesn’t listen to people like Brock.

For years, Eddie has been told that he’s too small or that he couldn’t overcome his personal demons to get his children back. He’s beating those demons by the grace of God because he hears the voices of people like Lesnar saying he can’t do it. All he sees in Lesnar is a big fat face of hatred and his next obstacle. At No Way Out, Brock is facing the Latino Heat inside Eddie.

Brock laughs it off and says Eddie is a no one, which earns him a right hand to the face. Lesnar gets knocked to the floor and Eddie keeps the title. Great promo here and they’ve built Eddie up to the point where he has to win the title, which would have seemed impossible just a few weeks ago.

Clip of Undertaker freaking Kane out. I see no need to air this on Smackdown. Maybe this is what they used to fill in the Miller time?

Jamie Noble vs. Billy Kidman

Kidman dropkicks him for an early one but gets kicked off the top, wrenching Kidman’s knee in the process. Noble cranks on the knee a bit until Kidman kicks him away and scores with an enziguri for two. A half crab keeps Kidman in trouble but here’s Nidia with Jamie’s wallet to give away money to the fans. The distraction lets Kidman hit the BK Bomb for the pin in a completely unique and never before seen ending.

Post break, Noble demands and is granted a match with Nidia at No Way Out.

And now, a music video for Rey Mysterio’s song from the Originals CD.

Again from Raw, Austin gives Goldberg a ticket to No Way Out. At least this is related to this show.

Torrie Wilson and Sable are announced for the Playboy shoot. They have different thoughts of two women in the same shot. Next week, an interview with the two of them! Like anyone watches this for the interviews.

Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero Sr.

Non-title. Chavo Jr. offers a distraction so Sr. can knock Rey into the corner to start. Some uppercuts have Rey in trouble Ry is right back with the springboard seated senton but Jr. saves his dad from the 619. The second attempt works just fine though and gives Rey the pin in a hurry.

Post match Jr. beats Rey down.

Dawn Marie rubs Heyman’s head but he’s worried about her having a wardrobe issue. And his hair.

Kurt Angle vs. Hardcore Holly

Angle takes him down into a front facelock with the ease that you would expect and a headlock keeps Holly in trouble. Cole actually tries to compare Angle and Holly’s resumes, which is as laughable as it sounds. Holly’s wristlock and armdrag are countered with a better armdrag as you can tell Angle isn’t going in full speed because it would turn into the squash that it probably should be. Holly elbows him in the face and kicks away in the corner but walks into a backbreaker. Some shoulders to the back in the corner keep Holly in trouble until he avoids a charge to send Angle into the post.

Back from a break with Holly hitting his dropkick for two and we hit the sleeper. That’s switched into a chinlock and then an armbar so Angle fights up in short order. Holly drops him throat first across the top first but Angle pops back up with the rolling German suplexes. The kick between the legs to Angle’s stomach sets up a top rope clothesline for two in what was probably Holly’s best chance. Holly gets the Alabama Slam for two more with Angle grabbing the rope. Angle reverses the full nelson into the Angle Slam and a pair of ankle lock attempts make Holly tap.

Rating: D+. This felt like a pro against an overzealous kid who thought they were ready for the big time. Angle was countering almost everything Holly had for him here and there was never any doubt in my mind that Angle was going to make him tap in the end. There’s no reason to buy Holly suddenly being at a main event level after his only only singles win since he’s been back is that street fight against Big Show last month. Hopefully this ends soon and Holly can go back to lower card matches where he belongs.

Angle’s music doesn’t even have time to play as Heyman comes out to make the #1 contender announcement. Before he can say anything though, here’s Big Show to interrupt. Show talks about how awesome he was in both Royal Rumbles but Angle says he was the last person eliminated last week. Angle is ready to compete against Big Show in any athletic competition to earn the spot. Save for pie eating of course.

After ripping off some Happy Gilmore lines verbatim, Heyman makes a #1 contenders match for No Way Out. Cue Cena to rhyme about both of them so they insist that the match become a three way. Cena threatens more rhymes so Heyman puts him in the match to avoid anything “indecent” being said. Posing ends the show.

Overall Rating: D-. This was really, really bad with a bunch of horrible matches and ONLY the Eddie vs. Brock segment being worth anything. No Way Out continues to look like a show that only exists because February needs a pay per view and will be, at best, a two match show. The midcard and beneath is just so bad around here right now and that’s the case with both shows. The main event is good, but with Cena just talking and Holly still getting fifteen minutes on a show, there’s not much even Eddie can do.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

And there’s video.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/breaking-video-brock-lesnar-cage-ufc-226-challenges-new-heavyweight-champion/

IMG Credit: WWE

Main Event
Date: July 5, 2018
Location: Denny Sanford Premier Center, Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Commentators: Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson, Vic Joseph

Oh come on already. Do I really need to watch Monday Night Raw all over again? Anything related with that show is going to be a chore at this point but that’s what we have to work with here. Well that and the Smackdown stuff which was perfectly watchable, although not exactly great. In other words I’m not sure what to expect here but it might not be the best thing in the world. Let’s get to it.

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

Opening sequence.

Ascension vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno

The ECW chants start up but switch to HE’S GOT KIDS in a hurry. Viktor can’t do anything with Slater so it’s off to Rhyno vs. Konnor for a power battle. A flying shoulder puts Konnor down but Rhyno charges into the buckle to put him in trouble. The fans get behind Rhyno but Konnor’s running splash into Viktor’s jumping knee doesn’t make things much better. The belly to belly gives Rhyno a breather and it’s back to Slater off the hot tag. Everything breaks down and Rhyno is sent to the floor, leaving Slater to take the Fall of Man for the pin at 5:07.

Rating: D. Just a Main Event match, but that’s the first time Ascension has won a match since February 7, 2017 in a twelve person tag. It’s their first two on two tag win since Superstars in February 2016. That’s getting up there in Curt Hawkins territory and I have no idea why they weren’t given at least a mini push at some point. Make them a one off challengers for the titles or something but don’t let them sit around doing nothing. What’s the point of calling them up in the first place?

From Raw.

Roman Reigns/Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre

Ziggler and Rollins start with an early cradle getting two on Seth. Another rollup gets the same so Seth dropkicks him into the corner. Drew comes in to run Rollins over and a shove by the throat puts him down again. It’s off to Reigns who is powered into the corner so Drew can punch him in the head.

The Samoan drop is broken up and McIntyre runs Reigns over again. A superkick gives Ziggler two but one heck of a right hand knocks him out of the air. That’s enough for the hot tag off to Rollins as the pace picks up. A suicide dive hits McIntyre and an apron kick into the frog splash gets two with McIntyre diving in for the save. Rollins and Ziggler exchange rollups until Dolph is sent to the floor.

That means a dive off the post to both villains and we take a break because the match needs to keep going instead of going home after a hot ten minutes. Back with Rollins fighting out of Ziggler’s sleeper and sending him into the corner. McIntyre is right around the other side to pull Reigns off and break up the hot tag, so Rollins kicks him in the face. Now it’s time for the hot tag but the Revival pulls Reigns off the apron for the DQ at 15:49.

Rating: C+. Good match here and they got the ending right. You don’t want the champ, McIntyre or Rollins taking a fall here and Reigns isn’t going to lose so the DQ is as good of an idea as you can get. This was starting to rock before the break and would have been great if they just wrapped it up there but I’ll take what I can get.

Post match the Revival beats Reigns down as Rollins takes the Claymore/Zig Zag combo. Reigns takes a Shatter Machine for a bonus.

From Raw again.

Revival vs. Bobby Lashley/Roman Reigns

Reigns and Dawson start things off with Roman powering him into the corner. Dawson takes a breather on the floor and Reigns refuses to tag Lashley in. Back in and Dawson punches away at Reigns’ ribs, which were banged up earlier tonight. Some stomps set up a bodyscissors to keep Reigns in trouble as he can’t get anything going.

A gutbuster gives Wilder two and another shot to the ribs cuts off Reigns’ comeback. There’s a hard whip into the corner to cut Dawson off but Reigns still won’t tag. Instead it’s Lashley coming in without a tag for a pair of spinebusters but Reigns shakes off the offer of a tag. Revival unloads on him in the corner and that’s a DQ at 7:11.

Rating: C. It was much more about the angle than the match but I’ll take the Revival not looking like a pair of losers for a change. I could go for a lot more of the Revival, but that just doesn’t seem to be in the cards around here. Reigns vs. Lashley should be fine and if they make Revival look a little more valuable in the process, so be it.

Post match Lashley walks away while Reigns takes another Shatter Machine and a top rope splash. Fans: “ONE MORE TIME!”

From Smackdown.

Usos vs. HELL NO

If the Usos win, they’re added to the Tag Team Title match at Extreme Rules. Bryan drop toeholds Jimmy down to start and puts on the surfboard. A corner dropkick seems to wake Jimmy up for some reason so it’s off to Jey, who gets dropkicked as well. Kane comes in and misses an elbow but shoves both twins over the top at once. They pull Kane out with them though and it’s back to back dives to drop Bryan and Kane as we take a break.

Back with Bryan speeding up things up and hitting another running dropkick on Jey in the corner. There’s a super hurricanrana and the YES Kicks have Jey in even more trouble. The Usos finally get their stuff together and take Bryan down with Jimmy stomping away in the corner. A backbreaker/middle rope chop combination gets two and the Usos make a wish on Bryan’s legs.

Back up and a double clothesline allows the hot tag to Kane but he’s kicked to the floor without much effort. Jey charges into an uppercut but it’s time for the superkicks. Back to back double superkicks put Bryan down and get two on Kane and it’s time to go up. The Double Us is caught by the throat, allowing Bryan to knee Jey down and Kane to chokeslam Jimmy for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: C. Kane looked REALLY bad here, barely able to move and not doing much of anything other than being knocked back a few steps and signature stuff. The guy is 50 years old and barely even wrestles part time anymore, but his talking and character stuff is still more than enough reason to have him around. Bryan worked most of the match and was his usual self, but the important thing was they got the finish right.

Bryan and Kane do the YES pose and hug, only to be cut off by the Bludgeon Brothers. A big staredown ends the show.

Quick look at Rusev attacking AJ Styles on Smackdown.

Jinder Mahal vs. Zack Ryder

Mahal works the arm to start but walks into a dropkick to put him on the floor. Back in and Ryder’s backslide gets two but Mahal kicks him in the face. A faceplant and corner forearm look to set up the Broski Boot, the threat of which sends Mahal bailing to the floor as we take a break. Back with Mahal choking in the corner and grabbing a chinlock. Mahal’s suplex gets two and it’s right back to the chinlock. Ryder fights up with the usual, including the middle rope dropkick. A Sunil Singh distraction breaks up the Broski Boot and the Khallas gives Mahal the pin at 10:13.

Rating: D. I’m not sure why it took over a year for WWE to figure out but this is pretty much Mahal’s comfort zone: boring matches against lower level competition with no chance of elevation. He’s just not that good and having him in a prominent position on television doesn’t work for anyone but him. I’m hoping the experiment is over, just for the sake of my sanity.

We look at Braun Strowman wrecking Kevin Owens’ car.

From Raw.

Kevin Owens vs. Braun Strowman

Owens gets shoved down, rolls outside and runs away for the countout at 51 seconds.

Strowman gives chase so Owens runs into his car, only to not have his keys. Instead, he hides in a well placed portable toilet as Strowman arrives. The fans try to tell Strowman where Owens is as Strowman looks into the car window. He teases going back inside but puts the pieces together. Using a falsetto voice, Strowman asks if anyone is in there and Owens gives himself away.

Strowman wraps duct tape around the thing to seal Owens inside before dragging the toilet and Owens back into the building. We watch as Strowman drags him all the way back into the arena (which takes a good few minutes) and up onto the stage. Of course it’s knocked off the stage and Owens emerges covered in blue liquid. If you listen carefully, you can hear Vince dying with laughter about Owens being “COVERED IN BLUE STUFF” for the next five hours to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. Oh now you knew they were showing the whole ending to Raw here. For them that’s comedy gold and while I have no idea how that can be seen as the best idea, there’s a good chance that we’re going to be hearing about it more over the next few weeks. This was a dreadful show after a dreadful Raw with even the clipped version not being worth seeing.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 2, 2004
Location: Bryce Jordan Center, State College, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 3,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman

We’re pretty firmly in Wrestlemania season now with about a month and a half to go before the big show. Things started to pick up last week when Chris Benoit moved over to Raw and went straight after HHH and the World Heavyweight Championship. Shawn Michaels is still lurking around though and you know he doesn’t want anyone to go after his wrestling life partner like that. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Benoit debuting last week and throwing his hat in the World Heavyweight Title picture.

Opening sequence.

It’s already time for the Highlight Reel and Chris Jericho promises to give someone more exposure than Janet Jackson’s nipple. That would be his guest, Chris Benoit. Jericho congratulates him on winning the Rumble (Jericho: “Oh yeah. HE WON THE ROYAL RUMBLE!”) and praises Benoit’s brilliance for finding the loophole to get to Raw. He does however give Benoit a warning: Benoit isn’t just dealing with HHH, because now it’s Evolution and worst of all, Eric Bischoff.

Benoit appreciates it but no one is going to stop him from getting his World Title. Jericho thinks it might be Benoit that stops Benoit from winning the big one, which is something Jericho can relate to. We see a clip of Ric Flair telling Benoit that he always lets the brass ring slip from his fingers.

Cue Flair to say Benoit is a great physical specimen and one of the best technical wrestlers in the world but he’s a runner up. The man around here is HHH and Benoit is never going to be the man because he can’t beat the man. Benoit agrees with half of that, but at Wrestlemania he’s going to become the man. For now though, how about he fights Flair himself? This brings out Bischoff (Coach gives him a standing ovation) to make Flair/Batista vs. Jericho/Christian for the titles (rather than their scheduled #1 contenders match) instead. Benoit can have a match too, and that’s next.

Chris Benoit vs. Mark Henry

Benoit chops away and the sweat is flying off of Henry’s chest. Henry knocks him down with one shot but Benoit is right back with the kicks and chops. One heck of a clothesline puts Benoit down with Henry declaring this his world. That just means more chops until Benoit can get up top for a flying headbutt to a standing Henry. Cue HHH to watch as Henry blocks a German suplex but gets Crossfaced for the tap. Not exactly thrilling but Benoit won in a hurry.

Escape the Rules ad. Since when is this a heel promotion?

Steve Austin runs into Michaels in the back and tells him that if he wants another shot at HHH, go do something.

Video on last week’s Mick Foley/Randy Orton showdown. It was a very interesting start, but I’m not sure how strong the followup is going to/can be.

Foley is in the back when Test comes up to yell at him for costing him his spot in the Rumble. The distraction lets Orton jump Foley from behind with a belt shot. Orton declares Foley his b****.

Rene Dupree vs. Rico

The announcers start talking about the Janet Jackson incident, which sends us into a Playboy/Jackie Gayda flashing Conway last week discussion. Rico rides Dupree around to start and the USA chants begin. A snapmare sets up a neck crank on Rico but Dupree switches it to a chinlock to keep Rico on his toes. Well on the mat but close enough. Now it’s a chinlock on the mat as Lawler talks about Jackie taking her top off yet again.

Rico fights up so Dupree takes him back down for another neck crank. Yet AGAIN it’s switched to a chinlock and yet AGAIN Lawler oogles Jackie. Good grief yeah she looks great but shut up already. Rico finally fights up for good and kicks Dupree in the head for two. They fight in the corner but here’s Stacy Keibler at ringside as Conway breaks up a monkey flip. Stacy gets on the apron to distract Dupree, allowing Rico to roll him up for the pin.

Rating: D-. Was there anything worthwhile in this match? The one with back to back nerve holds into chinlocks because that’s the best this show can do anymore? Throw in the fact that it’s Rene Dupree and Rico and I have no idea what is supposed to interest me here. Oh yeah the Playboy thing. How thrilling.

Post match Stacy and Jackie dance together.

Trish Stratus is getting ready but runs into Christian, holding a Rolling Stone Magazine about the Beatles. Christian talks about Yoko Ono breaking the band up, which wouldn’t have happened with him around. Instead he would have given Yoko a one man Conchairto before she could split the band up. Anyway, good luck Trish.

Linda McMahon spoke to college voters.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly

Molly is defending….or at least will at one point, as Bischoff comes out to say this isn’t happening because Trish isn’t #1 contender. Here’s what we get instead.

Trish Stratus vs. Kane

Staring, fear, Jericho running in for the save.

Trish gets away but Kane takes out Jericho’s knee with a chair and a posting.

Post break Trish checks on Jericho, who rants about Bischoff.

Kane is still in the ring so let’s do this instead.

Goldberg vs. Kane

Goldberg hugs a special needs kid on the way in. You hear about his work with kids a lot and that’s just cool. Goldberg shoulders him down but gets booted in the face. A choke doesn’t work and Kane hits a side slam for two. That means a chinlock (Kane must be a Dupree fan) but Kane lets him up pretty quickly, switching to a choke in the corner instead. The chokeslam cuts off Goldberg’s comeback….and a bolt of lightning hits the ring. The blue lights come on and the Undertaker video plays as Kane freaks out. Goldberg hits a spear as the gong strikes and the ring fills with smoke. We’ll call it a no contest.

Rating: D+. Not a bad power match here which Kane can do well enough under the right circumstances. I’m surprised Goldberg got beaten up this badly but at least it seems to be heading to a pair of matches at Wrestlemania. Now whether or not you want to watch them may be up for debate, but at least they have a plan.

Booker T. vs. Matt Hardy

Matt, who has never run out of gas while driving and his chest hair grows swiftly, has a perfectly healthy neck here, unlike Booker, whose neck was injured on Heat. Matt hits a clothesline and a hot shot to play up the neck issues. We hit a sleeper (better than another chinlock) as the announcers talk about Mark Henry’s shoulder being popped out of socket by the Crossface. That’s the kind of thing you can say that makes the hold look that much better.

Matt’s elbow to the back of the neck gets two and it’s off to a full nelson. A legdrop gets two as you can’t accuse Matt of sticking with the same moves over and over. The Side Effect gets two more and frustration is setting in. So it back pain in the form of a spinebuster from Booker. The side kick gets two on Matt and Booker kicks him in the face. Booker blocks the Twist and it’s an ax kick so we can hear Booker’s bad hip hop song again.

Rating: D+. Matt loses again but you can’t fault his psychology. You can see the difference between the Rico vs. Dupree match with one chinlock after another and this one, with Matt running through a variety of stuff to work on the bad neck. It didn’t go anywhere, but at least he was trying and that’s better than a lot of the matches you see.

Shawn is wiping HHH’s blood off his boot when Orton comes up. Trash is talked but Shawn isn’t having any of this and scares Orton off.

Here’s HHH, in ring gear, for a chat. He talks about next week’s contract signing with Benoit and after that, Benoit has no way out. They’ll be locked in to a match at Wrestlemania and when they get into the ring together, HHH will turn Benoit’s dreams into nightmares. Oh and also next week, Benoit gets Flair. For now though, here’s a demonstration.

HHH vs. Spike Dudley

Non-title. HHH turns his back so Spike hits a forearm, only to be kneed in the face for his efforts. Another knee to the face has Spike in trouble so he grabs HHH’s leg. The Pedigree ends Spike in a hurry. It’s better than HHH talking.

Austin comes to see Goldberg, who isn’t happy with Brock Lesnar. However, Austin just happens to have a front row ticket to next week’s No Way Out. Don’t do anything that Austin wouldn’t do.

Tag Team Titles: Christian/Chris Jericho vs. Ric Flair/Batista

Flair and Batista are defending and Jericho is limping badly from Kane’s attack earlier in the night. Christian and Flair start things off and they hit the mat in a hurry. An abdominal stretch goes nowhere so Christian suplexes him instead. Batista comes in off the blind tag though and there’s a slam to take Christian down. One heck of a backbreaker keeps Christian in trouble and that’s it for Batista, which might be the best idea given his rather limited offense.

Back up and Christian rams heads with Flair for a double knockdown. Jericho comes in to start chopping away (gimmick infringer) as everything breaks down. Batista gets sent to the floor and a dive takes him out, leaving Jericho to bang up his knee on a missed Lionsault. He’s fine enough to get the Walls on for the tap but Batista sneaks back in to hit the knee. The Figure Four retains the titles.

Rating: D. Not enough time to go anywhere, which is a shame given what these teams could put together. Jericho tapping is fine enough given his injury and Christian can yell at him for giving up their chance at the titles. Flair and Batista aren’t great champions but it makes for a good visual with Evolution and that’s about as good as it could get at the moment. Still though, bad match, mainly due to the lack of time.

Wrestlemania Recall: Shawn’s entrance at Wrestlemania XII. Fair enough as that was a heck of a visual.

Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton

Non-title. The referee has to separate them in the corner to start so Shawn tries a headlock takeover instead. The announcers are thrilled as they get a chance to talk about everything other than the match, including every dumb thing that has happened tonight. Back up and Orton kicks away in the corner, followed by some uppercuts for good measure. The referee gets dropkicked pretty early on so Orton grabs the belt.

That goes nowhere though as here’s Austin, on the ATV, with another referee. Now that’s how you make a delivery. Austin takes the original referee, and the title, with him and leaves. Michaels is back up and throws some right hands but they fall to the floor with Shawn holding his knee. Back from a break with Shawn fighting out of a chinlock but Orton knees him back down. That means another chinlock with a knee in the back as the knee injury seems to have vanished.

Shawn fights up, gets taken down, and we hit the third chinlock in a row. Shawn’s comeback sleeper is countered with a belly to back suplex and Orton goes up. The high crossbody misses, but I’m more interested in JR saying Coach looks like he’s wearing a condom on his head. Shawn hits the forearm and nips up, followed by the top rope elbow. Both finishers are countered so Orton gets in a DDT. Cue Foley for a distraction though and Shawn grabs a rollup for the fast pin.

Rating: C. At least it wasn’t a clean loss for the champ, but I’m really not liking the idea of Orton getting pinned by anyone at the moment. He’s in a big story so just have Foley come in and deck him for earlier or chase him off for a countout or something. Also, what was up with the Austin deal? What a random cameo that added nothing to the match.

Post match Foley comes in and beats on Orton, including a clothesline to the floor. Foley knocks Orton into the crowd so here’s HHH to send Evolution after them. HHH goes after Shawn but here’s Benoit before it can get physical. The champ leaves and Benoit shakes Shawn’s hand to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The show itself was pretty terrible but you can see where a lot of things are going, which always a positive sign. You know Wrestlemania XX is going to get a big build and they’re giving it as much time as they can, at least on Raw. Things can get better with the drama being built up, but there was too much filler/focusing on the weaker stories here to really make this week work.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

205 Live
Date: July 3, 2018
Location: Century Link Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Nigel McGuinness, Percy Watson

Things are starting to look up around here as the characters and stories are getting better. Tonight we have what should be the big ending to a pretty solid rivalry as Mustafa Ali faces Buddy Murphy in a No DQ match. Ali is one of the best things about this show and Murphy looks better every week so this should be good. Let’s get to it.

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

Drake Maverick’s opening recap looks back at Cedric Alexander challenging Hideo Itami and a fight nearly breaking out as a result. The match is on for next week. TJP’s recent issues with Maverick get a look as well.

Here’s TJP for a match against an opponent of Maverick’s choosing. As TJP puts it, hasn’t that been the case for every one of TJP’s recent opponents? He’s not happy to not be in the main event in this dump of a town because fun and excitement come to Nebraska to die. So get the opponent out here.

TJP vs. Noam Dar

This is Dar’s first match on 205 Live in several months after a bad knee injury. TJP’s look of “well dang it” when Dar comes out is great. Dar explodes with some strikes, kicks him in the leg and hits the running kick to the head to pin TJP in 29 seconds. Well that certainly worked.

We look back at Ali beating Murphy four months ago in the Cruiserweight Title tournament by taking out Murphy’s arm. Ali tried to do the same thing two months later but Murphy got more aggressive and won the rematch.

Murphy is ready to send Ali to the hospital before getting his title shot.

TJP leaves without talking about what just happened.

Akira Tozawa vs. Jaysin Strife

Hang on though as Lio Rush comes out to watch. Tozawa chops away to start and decks Strike in the jaw with a right hand. There’s a backsplash but Strife does manage a jumping knee to the face. Tozawa has had it with him though and his a Shining Wizard, followed by the top rope backsplash for the pin on Strife at 2:07.

Rush seems impressed and gets on the announcers’ table to praise Tozawa. He should be ashamed though because there’s a difference between Tozawa and Rush. See, Rush doesn’t wait for anything because he’s just too good to wait.

Ali is ready to run straight at danger tonight.

Alexander is ready to take out the next challenge to his legacy.

Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy

No DQ and Ali punches him off the apron before the bell, setting up a big dive to the floor. They get inside for the bell and Murphy kicks him in the head before taking it right back outside. Ali punches his way out of the announcers’ area and sends Murphy face first into the steps. A crossbody off the barricade takes Murphy down in the crowd as they’re going very hard in the opening minutes.

Back to ringside with Ali trying to walk the barricade but getting pulled down by the hair for a crash onto the ramp. A suplex onto the ramp has Ali’s back in even more trouble and it’s off to a chinlock with a knee in the back. Thankfully a rope grab means nothing here so Murphy goes with a hard kick to the back to keep Ali in trouble again. Murphy: “I could do this all day.” Or all night, as the show doesn’t take place during the day. A rather nice back body drop and a forearm to the spine continue the targeting with a good variety.

Murphy ducks his head though and gets kicked in the face to finally give Ali a breather. There’s a dropkick to put Murphy in the corner and the rolling X Factor gets two. They head outside again with Ali eating some announcers’ table so Murphy sends the steps inside with the edge on the apron. As Ali gets up, Murphy baseball slides them into his face and follows with a big springboard flip dive, which actually impresses the crowd.

Back in and the steps are set up in the corner with Ali being tossed into them for a nasty looking crash, back first of course. Since Ali won’t give up, he sends Murphy into the steps with a hurricanrana. Murphy isn’t done though and snaps off a powerbomb into a sitout powerbomb for a heck of a near fall. They’re beating the heck out of each other here and it’s awesome. Murphy, rather frustrated now, goes up but gets crotched, leaving Ali to ram the steps into his head. Fans: “NO MORE STAIRS!” Oh good grief. Let me guess: they would prefer tables.

With Murphy still on the top, Ali stands the steps up and stands on top of them for an extra high superplex and a BIG crash. Ali knocks him outside but gets flapjacked onto the announcers’ table, drawing another meek WE WANT TABLES chant. Murphy climbs onto the barricade but Ali gets up, jumps onto the table and then onto the barricade for a C4 onto the announcers’ table, which doesn’t break. Freaking OW MAN!

Back in and Ali gets his arms tied in the ropes, leaving Murphy to hit three straight running knees to the head. Somehow Ali isn’t dead and looks up at Murphy with a shake of his head. Another knee to the head gets two, leaving Murphy completely flabbergasted. Murphy grabs the steps again but charges into a boot, allowing Ali to run up the steps and hit his pop up tornado DDT for the pin and the title at 22:47.

Rating: A. That’s pretty easily the best 205 Live match ever as they absolutely did not stop the entire time with Ali fighting through the back injury with the pure heart that defines him like no one else. Ali surviving the biggest, hardest hitting guy on the roster for over twenty minutes and even managing to beat him was incredible stuff and one of the best matches I’ve ever seen this show have. One day Ali is going to (or at least certainly should) win the Cruiserweight Title and it’s going to be one of the biggest reactions this show has ever seen. Make time to see this match as it’s absolutely amazing.

A lot of replays take us out.

Overall Rating: A+. I’m not sure what else you could ask for on a fifty minute show. You had a hot angle at the beginning, a squash to start a new feud and an instant classic for the main event. I loved this show and couldn’t stop watching the main event. 205 Live has rapidly become a treat to watch and this was the best episode they’ve ever done. Check this show out and keep watching it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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

IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: July 3, 2018
Location: Century Link Center, Omaha, Nebraska
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

We’re less than two weeks away from Extreme Rules and the top story around here is the reunion of Daniel Bryan and Kane, who got back together last week and are already receiving Tag Team Title shot at the pay per view. Other than that we’re getting closer to Rusev Day where Rusev might win the WWE Championship. Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a recap of Kane returning to help Bryan last week. You know what we haven’t opened with either tonight or last night? An In Memory Of Matt Cappotelli graphic. Couple that with the lack of a Vader tribute video (on TV at least, as they did have one on YouTube) and WWE is really slacking in this area as of late.

Jey goes over some more of the team’s history but doesn’t think they should be getting a title shot. They get a title shot because they’re out here HUGGING? The Usos hug four times so they should get four title matches. The challenge is thrown out but Kane says they need to consider this as a team. Bryan doesn’t think much of this because Kane still thinks he’s the weak link. Cue Paige to confirm the Bryan and Kane will get the shot at the “Smackd” (yes Smack D, minus the own at the end) titles. Tonight though they’re facing the Usos, who will be added to the title match if they win.

Jeff Hardy explains why bald eagles are cool and has a US Open Challenge tonight.

Asuka is ready to beat up James Ellsworth tonight.

US Title: Jeff Hardy vs. ???

Hardy is defending against….The Miz, and thankfully they actually mention Miz beating Hardy in a Money in the Bank qualifying match. I’m rather surprised and pleased. A sitout jawbreaker has Miz in early trouble but it’s too early for the Twist of Fate. Miz bails from the threat of a Swanton and we take a break.

Back with Jeff fighting out of a chinlock but getting kicked down for two. That gets several replays before Jeff fights back with some of his usual, including a forearm and the legdrop between the legs. Some right hands send Miz outside but a missed charge into the barricade takes us to a second break after only being back for a few minutes.

Back again with Jeff hitting a spinning kick to the chest but favoring his leg, which Miz worked on during the break. Miz hits the running corner clothesline but misses a top rope ax handle, allowing Jeff to score with the Whisper in the Wind for two. A rollup with feet on the ropes gives Miz the same so he gets in an argument with the referee, allowing Jeff to hit the Twisting Stunner and a Swanton to retain at 16:25.

Rating: B-. The rapid fire commercials didn’t do this many favors but the match worked well enough, especially when Miz didn’t have much of a chance to win the title. It’s pretty clear that Shinsuke Nakamura is getting the title as soon as his leg heals up, which very well may be at Extreme Rules. That being said, I do like the idea of the title being defended more regularly.

Extreme Rules rundown. Two gimmick matches (an Iron Man match and an Extreme Rules match) aren’t exactly enough to live up to the show’s name.

James Ellsworth is posting in front of a mirror and promises to show that men are the superior gender.

Byron Saxton is in the ring, wearing a straw hat for….oh holy sweet goodness….the Third of July Pancake Eating Contest. The participants (of course New Day) all get introductions, including a few biographical details (Woods was born in a barrel of butcher knives and raised in a forest fire) but Big E.’s is so long that Byron just skips it. There’s a five minute clock and the pancakes are red, white and blue. The lights go out a few seconds in and here’s Sanity from behind to beat New Day down. I’ve never been so glad to see Eric Young. Big E. is thrown over the announcers’ table and Woods is elbow dropped through the table.

We look at the famous Battle of the Sexes tennis match to set up Ellsworth vs. Asuka.

Asuka vs. James Ellsworth

Carmella comes out for commentary but hang on a second as Ellsworth needs to do some pushups. A single push puts Ellsworth on the floor and Asuka unloads on him with right hands into the airplane spin. Ellsworth needs to stop for a breath so Asuka slaps the heck out of him. That’s enough for Ellsworth who runs into the crowd and it’s a double countout at 1:53.

Asuka chases Ellsworth back to ringside and gets hit with the belt.

Bryan has a list of things Kane has done to him over the years and wants an apology for all of them. Kane apologizes for everything and says Bryan is like a brother to him. Bryan: “You set your brother on fire!” Kane: “That’s…..never mind!” Kane talks about how important this is and asks if Bryan is ready. I’ll let you fill in the details.

Hardy vs. Nakamura is confirmed for Extreme Rules. Again, no gimmick attached.

Here’s AJ Styles for a match but first he talks about facing someone bigger and stronger than he is at Extreme Rules. That’s what he loves to do though because it’s another challenge. Rusev has been saying that he’s coming to take the title and throw him out. AJ: “Does he think this is rental property?” Cue Rusev to say he’s going to throw AJ out of the house that he built and move in on RUSEV DAY.

AJ Styles vs. Aiden English

Non-title. Rusev says he forgot to tell AJ something so English jumps him from behind. Rusev: “Never mind!” We take an early break and come back with English grabbing a neckbreaker for two. Not that it matters as the Calf Crusher makes English tap at 4:30.

Post match Rusev beats Styles down.

The Iconics are ready for Becky Lynch tonight.

Carmella yells at Ellsworth when Paige comes up. Next week it’s Asuka vs. Ellsworth in a lumberjack match.

Becky Lynch vs. Peyton Royce

Neither gets an entrance, but we got to see more from Ellsworth so it’s all fine. Peyton wastes no time in dropping Becky with a Samoan drop for two and it’s off to an abdominal stretch. That’s switched into a seated abdominal stretch but Becky is back up with the Bexploder. Becky slips out of a fireman’s carry and the Disarm-Her makes Royce tap at 3:32.

Rating: D+. In theory this is building towards Becky vs. Carmella, and while it makes me cringe to think that Carmella is going to go over Asuka again, I can appreciate the idea of Lynch getting another run with the title. She’s one of the best all around performers on the roster and I’m not sure why she hasn’t gotten another chance already.

Nakamura promises to strip away Jeff’s pride, honor and title.

Usos vs. HELL NO

If the Usos win, they’re added to the Tag Team Title match at Extreme Rules. Bryan drop toeholds Jimmy down to start and puts on the surfboard. A corner dropkick seems to wake Jimmy up for some reason so it’s off to Jey, who gets dropkicked as well. Kane comes in and misses an elbow but shoves both twins over the top at once. They pull Kane out with them though and it’s back to back dives to drop Bryan and Kane as we take a break.

Back with Bryan speeding up things up and hitting another running dropkick on Jey in the corner. There’s a super hurricanrana and the YES Kicks have Jey in even more trouble. The Usos finally get their stuff together and take Bryan down with Jimmy stomping away in the corner. A backbreaker/middle rope chop combination gets two and the Usos make a wish on Bryan’s legs.

Back up and a double clothesline allows the hot tag to Kane but he’s kicked to the floor without much effort. Jey charges into an uppercut but it’s time for the superkicks. Back to back double superkicks put Bryan down and get two on Kane and it’s time to go up. The Double Us is caught by the throat, allowing Bryan to knee Jey down and Kane to chokeslam Jimmy for the pin at 12:38.

Rating: C. Kane looked REALLY bad here, barely able to move and not doing much of anything other than being knocked back a few steps and signature stuff. The guy is 50 years old and barely even wrestles part time anymore, but his talking and character stuff is still more than enough reason to have him around. Bryan worked most of the match and was his usual self, but the important thing was they got the finish right.

Bryan and Kane do the YES pose and hug, only to be cut off by the Bludgeon Brothers. A big staredown ends the show.

Overall Rating: C+. I don’t know if this show is that much better (and it’s pretty good) or if it’s just so much better than Raw but this was so much more pleasant to watch than what we saw last night. This is a show with logical angles and you can see where they’re going, but more importantly the people aren’t doing horrible things to each other and expecting us to cheer as a result. That makes for such an easier night to watch and is why Smackdown continues to stay miles ahead of Raw.

Results

Jeff Hardy b. The Miz – Swanton Bomb

Asuka vs. James Ellsworth went to a double countout

AJ Styles b. Aiden English – Calf Crusher

Becky Lynch b. Peyton Royce – Disarm-Her

HELL NO b. Usos – Chokeslam to Jimmy

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of the NXT The Full Sail Years Volume III (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/05/25/new-book-nxt-the-full-sail-years-from-dallas-to-new-orleans/

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

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