Another long form Q&A. Thank you again to anyone who sent me a question and please ask another for next week if you’d like. Also make sure to watch the videos included in there if you can please.
https://wrestlingrumors.net/ask-wrestling-rumors-week-3-june-23-2018/
KB
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: January 22, 2004
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
It’s the final show before the Royal Rumble and most of Sunday is already set. You can always use more focus on the Rumble itself, but I have a bad feeling we might be in for a heavy dose of Hardcore Holly vs. Brock Lesnar tonight. I for one can’t get enough of the WWE Champion vs. the race car driver. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a recap of Chavo Guerrero turning on his uncle Eddie, leading to Kurt Angle getting involved and setting up a tag match with Chavo and his dad vs. Eddie/Angle tonight. I’m not a big Chavo fan but he’s been money in this feud.
Opening sequence.
Rey Mysterio vs. Chuck Palumbo
Rey tries hammering away but a hard shoulder puts him down. Palumbo tries a powerbomb, earning all those right hands to the head. The 619 is loaded up early on but Johnny Stamboli low bridges Rey to the floor. Back in and Palumbo starts in on the knee by ramming it into the mat and grabbing a half crab. Ever the creative one, Rey flings his free leg back to kick Palumbo, whose staggering puts Rey closer to the ropes.
Instead of getting kicked again, Palumbo switched to a regular Boston crab. That’s broken up so Palumbo puts him on top, only to get caught with a top rope seated senton. A springboard moonsault into a reverse DDT gives Mysterio two but Nunzio’s distraction lets Palumbo kick his head off. Back up and Palumbo tries a fireman’s carry, only to get reversed into a rollup for the fast pin.
Rating: D. The problem here was with Palumbo, who clearly had no idea how to wrestle a match against someone that much smaller than him. While he isn’t the biggest guy in the world, Palumbo is big enough to wrestle a power style here and that’s not what we got. Mysterio was trying but Palumbo just isn’t that good.
Post match the FBI comes in and gives Mysterio the bigger beatdown. Jamie Noble comes out and pays them off before his match with Mysterio on Sunday. Of note: does anyone remember that Nunzio and Noble are supposed to be cousins? I don’t remember the last time it was mentioned and it certainly wasn’t here.
Paul Heyman is really not happy with John Cena and Chris Benoit for ruining the morality of this show, which certainly isn’t related to making him eat soap last week. Therefore tonight, for the sake of restoring the morals that this company were based on, they’ll be teaming up against Big Show/Brock Lesnar/Matt Morgan/Rhyno. The four of them just happen to be standing off camera.
Kurt Angle yells at Chavo and Chavo over messing with the family bond. He grew up under the pressure of having four older brothers who were better athletes than him. His way out? He won an Olympic gold medal. They’ll learn a lesson in the ring tonight.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match: Tajiri vs. Billy Kidman
No Akio/Sakoda at ringside. Kidman starts fast with an armdrag and a hurricanrana but gets pulled off the top for a crash. It’s off to an armbar on Kidman’s recently repaired shoulder in a smart move. Tazz thinks Tajiri is smart for eating so much rice and a spinning kick to the arm seems to support that line of thinking. The handspring elbow is blocked with a dropkick but Kidman misses the shooting star. A Buzzsaw kick sends Tajiri to the Rumble.
Brock and Big Show are in the back to talk about the match and Show is sick of Lesnar following him around to “protect” him from Hardcore Holly. Show needs some time to himself and has the cops to protect him. Therefore, tonight Show is taking tonight off and after Sunday, he’s coming after the WWE Title, whether Lesnar or someone else holds it.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match: A-Train vs. Shannon Moore
A-Train has shaved his beard and possibly some of his chest hair. Shannon drop toeholds him into the middle buckle to start but gets THROWN into the same corner for a little more impact. We hit something close to a Gory Stretch but cue the Cat of all people to dance, setting up a rollup to give Shannon two. A-Train will have none of that and sends him into the steps, followed by the Train Wreck for the fast pin.
Team Lesnar is in Heyman’s office but Paul wants to know where Show is. Lesnar explains things but Heyman says Show is just getting himself fired up. It’ll be SHOW TIME when the match is on.
Video on Holly vs. Lesnar.
John Cena/Chris Benoit vs. Brock Lesnar/Matt Morgan/Rhyno
No Show, and Heyman is sitting in a lifeguard chair at ringside. Before the match, Cena (great pop on his entrance) apologizes for not rubbing the soap in Heyman’s eyes last week too. Gay jokes are made about Heyman and then Show/Lesnar/Heyman, which of course get the better reactions. Lesnar, Morgan and Rhyno come out but there’s a forklift in front of Show’s locker room, confirming that it’s going to be 3-2.
Lesnar and Benoit get things going with Brock running away and tagging in Morgan with no action. So it’s Morgan being sent face first into the buckle and Cena coming in to forearm him in the back. Cena gets taken into the corner and the numbers game starts to get the better of him as Heyman looks on in near disgust. Rhyno can’t keep Cena in trouble though and it’s back to Benoit, who gets beaten up a little more easily. Heyman is thrilled when Lesnar comes in to start stomping away but it’s quickly back to Cena. They’re certainly moving with the tags here so far.
A spinebuster cuts Cena off and it’s back to Rhyno for a cross arm choke, allowing Cole to remind us that Big Show was supposed to be involved here too for about the third time in a minute. Lesnar comes back in for the corner shoulders but misses a charge. That’s enough for the hot tag to Benoit so we hit the rolling German suplexes, causing Heyman’s jaw to drop in fear. Rhyno breaks up the Crossface and hits a spinebuster, only to charge into a drop toehold into the ropes.
That’s enough for Lesnar, who takes a walk but gets jumped by Hardcore Holly. Cops come in for the save and we take a break. Back with fans telling Heyman that he ate soap as Morgan comes back in to headbutt Benoit. Rhyno knocks Cena off the apron and Gores Benoit for two with Cena diving back in for the save. Morgan misses an elbow though and now the hot tag brings Cena in to clean house. Everything breaks down and Cena dodges a Gore, setting up the FU for the pin on Rhyno.
Rating: C+. It’s rather impressive to turn a 4-2 handicap match into a regular tag inside of twenty minutes. Cena and Benoit battling the authority is fine though they’ll be better off when it gets down to Cena doing it alone as he’s much more anti-authority than Benoit and would fit better on his own. They’re both looking like stars though and that’s the best thing about the whole story.
Post match Cena and Benoit go after Heyman but Show comes in for some chokeslams.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match: Bradshaw vs. Akio vs. Sakoda
Bradshaw beats them both up and hits a super Last Call for two on Sakoda. The double teaming starts working but, to my shock and awe, they get in an argument over who can pin Bradshaw. A double suplex gets one and another argument breaks out. Sakoda gets sent outside and Akio heads up, only to dive into the Clothesline to send Bradshaw to the Rumble.
Billy Gunn’s greatest moment ever: the wedding to Chuck. For some reason this is edited off of the Network, likely due to a music deal, though the previous two parts of the countdown were included.
Angle gives Eddie a pep talk and says the Guerrero family is messed up. If Eddie could control the Latino Heat, he could be WWE Champion. Tonight, they’re doing things by Angle’s rules: block out all emotions and concentrate on winning. Angle is kind of a jerk here.
Kurt Angle/Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr./Chavo Guerrero Sr.
Eddie’s music is very quiet for some reason, being little more than background noise. At least it picks up right near the end and then Angle’s music is normal. Angle has to hold Eddie back from wrecking his family so we stall a bit before the bell. Jr. and Angle start things off but Kurt wants a handshake from Eddie, who tags him instead. For some reason that doesn’t count as a tag so Angle takes Jr. down with a headlock instead. The fans think Chavo sucks, though they don’t specify which one.
Jr. gets shouldered out to the floor and that means some advice from his dad. Sr. comes in but Angle still won’t tag Eddie. Some armdrags have Angle in more control so Eddie comes in to try and get his hands on someone. That sends the Chavos bailing to the floor so now Angle brings Eddie in for real. The emotions draw Eddie outside and the double teaming has Eddie in trouble.
Sr. chokes in the corner before coming in for a bow and arrow hold, followed by a crossface chickenwing. Jr. is back in with a dropkick in the corner but Eddie scores with a dropkick and it’s Angle coming back in to clean house. Eddie tags himself back in and everything breaks down. Double suplexes take the villains down but Angle gets poked in the eye, causing him to Angle Slam Eddie by mistake. Sr. hits a DDT as Angle is taken away, leaving Jr. to frog splash Eddie for the pin.
Rating: C+. Perfectly fine here and it’s the right call to have Chavo get a pin to set up Sunday’s match. Having both Chavos in there wasn’t the worst idea in the world as it’s not like Jr. has any other friends at the moment. Throw in the touch of Eddie’s family betraying him and it’s not a bad story. Eddie vs. Angle should be awesome too and the slow build to get there is nice.
Overall Rating: B-. This was designed to be more about the big angles getting the focus and that’s a good thing. It’s also nice to have Holly vs. Lesnar get very little time as they’re not really hiding the fact that they want the match over as soon as possible. Things are starting to pick up for the early stages of Wrestlemania season and hopefully things stay hot when we really get going.
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Main Event
Date: June 21, 2018
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Percy Watson
We’re FINALLY at a fresh set of stories as Money in the Bank is done, which is one of the best things in the world that could have happened. Things hit the ground running this week as we only have four weeks to go before Extreme Rules. This was a big week of television and there’s a lot to cover so let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Tony Nese vs. Gran Metalik
Nese throws a right hand and poses so Metalik hits him right back, sending Nese into the corner. That earns Metalik a legsweep but he avoids a Lionsault. Nese bails to the floor and pulls him face first into the apron though as they’re not exactly doing anything major at the moment. Back in and a bodyscissors keeps Metalik in trouble but he’s right back up with a high crossbody to rock Nese. Metalik goes up again but has to crotch Nese to avoid some pain. The Metalik Driver is broken up and Nese’s running knee in the corner is good for the pin at 5:01.
Rating: D+. Again, I have no idea what I’m supposed to get out of seeing the same cruiserweights fight every week. We know they’re there and they’re on 205 Live every week, so it’s just two shows where I don’t have to pay much attention to either person. It’s not a bad match, but I’ve already forgotten a good chunk of what happened. There’s nothing that makes them stand out, and this is no different.
We look at Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey from Sunday.
From Raw.
Kurt Angle is in the ring to introduce Bliss, whose title is sitting on a table. He hands her the title and announces that Nia is cashing in her rematch at Extreme Rules. Bliss thanks the fans for giving her the opportunity to rub it in our faces, which draws a WE WANT RONDA chant. It’s all about Bliss now so cue a ticked off Ronda but Angle gets in her way. Alexa laughs all of this off because everything she did was perfectly legal.
It’s obvious that Ronda is upset because the stories were all about Bliss last night. Now, Rousey is just irrelevant. That’s enough for Rousey, who runs over Angle and hits Bliss in the back with the briefcase. She beats Angle up with it as well and takes out some referees for good measure. One heck of a powerbomb drops Bliss through a table.
Post replays, Angle suspends Rousey for 30 days.
Post break, Rousey promises to be back in thirty days to take care of Bliss, champion or not.
From Smackdown.
Here’s Carmella to get things going in the arena. Carmella talks about having self esteem issues when she was growing up because she never felt good enough. Then she started writing her own story and she saw something in herself that no one ever saw. Everyone out there needs to look in the mirror and repeat these words: Mella is MONEY! Why would someone like her ever have self confidence? She’s been moon walking and trash talking since she was a baby so everyone needs to just give up. Carmella brags about all of her accomplishments, which she has done completely on her own.
Cue Asuka, or at least James Ellsworth in Asuka gear. Ellsworth says no one was ready for Asuka and offers some praise to Carmella, saying she’s better than several women, including Trish, Lita, Rousey, and Mother Teresa. Now it’s the real Asuka, without robe or mask, coming to the ring to take Ellsworth down. Carmella uses the distraction to deck Asuka and wrap things up. I’m so glad they brought Ellsworth back for this role when there are probably a dozen people on the roster with nothing to do.
From Raw again.
Here’s Seth Rollins to talk about how far Elias took him last night. That’s what Seth wanted though, because it’s what it means to be the Intercontinental Champion. Let’s keep that going right now with an OPEN CHALLENGE.
Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler is challenging and there goes some of the energy. Rollins knocks him to the floor and we take a very early break. Back with Ziggler throwing him back inside and kicking at the knee. A whip into the corner turns Seth upside down for two and we hit the chinlock. Rollins fights up….and the USA Network goes out. The feed comes back in a commercial so we eventually come back to Ziggler taking the Fameasser.
A superkick gives Rollins two but Ziggler heads up top. Rollins catches him again and rolls through a high crossbody. The buckle bomb connects but Drew McIntyre offers a distraction, allowing Ziggler to roll him up with tights for the pin and the title at 18:26. Too much was missed by the outage but this was the same match you would expect from these two.
Quick look at the men’s Money in the Bank ladder match.
Authors of Pain vs. Breezango
Oh yeah the Authors still exist. Akam shoves Breeze around to start but gets kicked in the face to put the big man on the floor. Rezar comes in but the double belly to back is broken up as well and it’s off to Fandango. That’s about all the good things there are to say about Fandango at this point as the middle rope stomp/backbreaker combination has him in trouble. Back from an abrupt break with Breeze Supermodel Kicking Akam, only to walk into the Last Chapter for the pin at 6:05. Not enough shown to rate but it was a squash.
We wrap it up with a very shortened version of the Smackdown gauntlet match, just looking at the eliminations and AJ Styles coming out to stare down Rusev to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. As usual, this show almost completely depends on what you get on Raw and Smackdown, so this week was a pretty easy sit. They were smart to keep things short with the gauntlet match as it could have covered the length of this show. The original content on here was nothing special, but with two short matches it’s hard to get annoyed. Completely fine show, but really just a recap hour.
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:
IMG Credit: WWE.com
Monday Night Raw
Date: January 19, 2004
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the go home show for the Royal Rumble and that means one final push for Shawn Michaels vs. HHH, which is always going to get more attention than the match the show is named after. Hopefully it’s a little better than last week’s build which droned on and on without actually adding anything. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Coach is in the back with a bunch of wrestlers who will be in the Royal Rumble on Sunday. Since he’s in charge tonight, Coach is going to have a battle royal tonight with the winner getting the number thirty spot. However, you have to qualify for the battle royal by winning your regular matches tonight. If there is any interference, you’re out of the Rumble entirely. Reason #1 why Coach is better at this than Bischoff: this took less than three minutes rather than the ten it would have likely taken Bischoff in the arena.
Opening sequence.
Booker T./Rob Van Dam vs. Christian/Matt Hardy
The Matt Facts are back and it turns out that he loves Mongolian BBQ’s and his counter tops are all granite. That could help for future gifts. Rob flips over Matt to start and scores with a spinning kick to the face for an early two. Booker comes in to punch Christian a bit and a backdrop makes things even worse. A trip from the floor lets Matt pull Booker outside for a beating, allowing Christian to grab the neck crank. Makes sense after the Tombstone last week. Matt comes in with a neck crank of his own as JR and King critique Booker’s rap song.
The fans tell Christian that he sucks and they seem very pleased when Booker kicks him out of the air. Van Dam comes in off the hot tag and a standing moonsault gets two on Matt. Rolling Thunder hits knees though and Matt puts his feet on the ropes for two of his own. The villains try a double backdrop so it’s a double ax kick from Booker, setting up the Five Star to give Van Dam the pin on Matt, putting Booker and Van Dam in the battle royal.
Rating: C-. Just a quick match to put some fan favorites into the main event tonight. Christian and Matt are a pretty random team but it’s not like Booker and Van Dam have anyone else of note to beat. Granted it’s not like the match means anything as it’s all about the main event anyway so it’s hard to get too annoyed.
Remember how WWE hyped up Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner last week? Well now Test has been added to make it a triple threat.
Chris Jericho vs. Rene Dupree
Coach is on commentary. Dupree gets in an early hiptoss to set up the French dancing, only to have the fans start up a Jericho chance. Dancing haters. Jericho dropkicks him outside but Dupree dropkicks him out of the air back inside. They exchange abdominal stretches and more dancing just annoys Jericho. He knocks Dupree away and does his own dance, setting up the bulldog into the Lionsault. Dupree’s knees are up and a Death Valley Driver gets two. Not that it matters as the Walls make Dupree tap without much trouble so we’ll see Jericho later tonight.
Rating: C. It’s kind of amazing how much better Dupree is when he has someone like Jericho out there to walk him through a match. Believe it or not, one of the best of all time is capable of putting anyone into a good match and that’s what happened here. Jericho’s face turn is starting to take hold and that should be a good thing going forward.
The Friends and Supporters of Mick Foley air their Foley isn’t a hardcore legend ad, which is still funny.
Christian asks Jericho to use his Survivor Series favor to get into the battle royal but that’s not happening. That sounds like something that’s going to matter later.
Video on HHH vs. Shawn Michaels, who used to be best friends but then HHH became all evil. Then they had a long feud with some traded wins and then Shawn pinned him on the last Raw of the year but it didn’t count. Now we’re having a Last Man Standing match. Now why does that need such a long recap?
Rico vs. Mark Henry
Rico wastes no time in spanking Mark and even throws in a kiss to Teddy Long. Back in and Henry runs him over, setting up the nerve hold. Rico fires up with some kicks but misses something off the top. The World’s Strongest Slam sends Henry to the battle royal.
Flair gives Evolution a pep talk for Sunday.
Classic Royal Rumble moment: Maven eliminates Undertaker in 2002.
Kane vs. Spike Dudley
Spike tries to come off the top and gets choked a lot. More choking in the corner has the referee pulling Kane off so Spike shoves the referee, who thinks Kane did it. That’s a DQ to send Spike to the battle royal.
Kane wrecks Spike post match.
House show videos.
Goldberg vs. Scott Steiner vs. Test
Test gets double teamed to start and the beatdown is on in a hurry. A double clothesline drops Test and Steiner and Goldberg punches away at Steiner in the corner. Test gets in a cheap shot from the floor though and Steiner gets two off a belly to belly suplex. There’s a double suplex to Goldberg but he avoids a clothesline, which hits Steiner instead.
The gorilla press powerslam plants Steiner but draws Test back in for the save. Test and Steiner argue over who gets to pin Goldberg until Steiner sends Test outside. A hot shot sets up the Steiner Recliner, only to have Test break it up. The spear and Jackhammer end Test, putting Goldberg in the battle royal.
Rating: D. Pick a triple threat that follows the exact same formula that we’ve seen dozens of times. There was no need to make this a triple threat but if it was to protect us from having to see Steiner go one on one, he can’t get out of here fast enough. Also, what would it say if Test is brought in to protect you?
We get a new Mick Foley ad, calling him a coward and a scared little girl. Randy Orton is a fearless superstar though.
Austin watches the ad, shakes his head, and rides through the back on the ATV very fast, nearly running over Mark Jindrak and Garrison Cade.
Wrestlemania recall: the Brawl for All with the hilarious Bart Gunn knockout.
Here’s Austin for a chat. Austin gets straight to the point: Foley walked out of the company and then wouldn’t come fifteen minutes to the arena last week. That’s not the Foley that Austin knows and used to ride up and down the road with every night. They used to take the cheapest rental cars to the cheapest hotel rooms where they used to see who could make Diamond Dallas Page crack first. That’s not the Foley that Austin remembers so he wants Foley at the Rumble to beat up Orton once and for all. Austin toasts Foley, hoping that he’ll do the right thing.
Video on the launch party for the Originals CD. I could see the appeal of getting to meet Austin, Jericho and Trish among others.
Molly Holly and Trish get catty until Christian takes Molly’s place. He and Jericho had a great time last week on the road trip and Christian has some pictures on his phone to prove it. Jericho seemed to have some fun with a few good looking women. Trish was the last thing on his mind. Christian looks at his phone one more time, reminding him of the midgets.
Lita vs. Jazz
Not a battle royal qualifying match. The fans are already cheering for Lita so Jazz takes her down to the mat for some crossface shots. A monkey flip into some right hands have Jazz in trouble but she gets in a dropkick to the back of the head. Jazz’s chinlock doesn’t last long as the announcers ignore the match to talk about Foley. A spinning belly to back suplex sets up the reverse Twist of Fate but Long offers a distraction so Jazz can roll her up (with tights) for the pin.
Rating: D. That finish is getting very old and I don’t see things getting much better in the women’s division anytime soon. The fact that I saw Molly with the title about ten minutes ago and couldn’t remember who the champion was isn’t a good sign. They’re just going from feud to feud with no apparent direction and that gets old.
Hurricane is used to being the underdog and he’ll do it again tonight. He believes in himself though and that’s going to take him to the main event of Wrestlemania. That was a fired up promo.
We recap Foley not showing up last week.
Randy Orton vs. Hurricane
Non-title. Orton wastes no time in pounding Hurricane in the back, followed by a heck of a clothesline for two. A dropkick sets up a cravate but Hurricane fights up with a quick clothesline. Something like a reverse neckbreaker gets two on Orton and the high crossbody is good for the same. And never mind as the RKO ends Hurricane, wrapping up a short match with a lot packed in.
Post match Evolution comes out to gloat so Rosey comes in to keep an eye on his friend. The beatdown is on so the Dudleys make the real save but Orton saves Flair from going through a table. Coach comes in to yell and goes through it instead.
Henry talks trash to Jericho, who accuses him of eating moose vomit. Those are fighting words, with Henry promising to leave his “stank” on Trish. Henry: “And my stank smells good.”
Battle Royal
Rob Van Dam, Booker T., Goldberg, Chris Jericho, Randy Orton, Mark Henry
Spike is injured so we’re down to six men instead. Goldberg wastes no time in cleaning house until everyone gets together to beat him down. That includes a Five Star Frog Splash but Booker dumps Van Dam. Jericho gets rid of Booker seconds later, leaving Jericho and Orton to both skin the cat. Henry starts throwing people around and knocks Goldberg down but can only send Jericho to the apron.
A missile dropkick puts Henry down and Jericho dropkicks Goldberg’s knee out for good measure. Orton and Henry get together to toss Jericho and we’re down to three. Goldberg tries to fight back and spears Henry down but Orton makes the save. Instead Orton tries to do it himself so Goldberg knocks Henry out with a hard shoulder. Cue the rest of Evolution so Goldberg throws Orton onto the two of them for the win.
Rating: D-. Yeah that was pretty bad, with the win basically guaranteeing that you have no chance to win on Sunday. Goldberg is a good enough choice for the final spot as he can come in and wreck a few people before someone throws him out in the setup to a big angle. This was little more than a formality, though Orton did feel like he had a chance of winning.
Overall Rating: C. This was almost a stand alone show and it was very smart to not have Shawn Michaels and HHH on the show. There’s no need to waste time on that match after we spent so much time on it last week. The Rumble itself needed some build and it got the focus tonight, making this a better show than recent weeks but still nothing great.
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
205 Live
Date: June 19, 2018
Location: Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Percy Watson
It’s grudge match night around here as we have a triple threat match between Buddy Murphy, Mustafa Ali and Hideo Itami. Two weeks ago Itami attacked both men during their match and now they want to take him apart. That should make for a fun match and barring anything ridiculous, should set up Itami as the next challenger to Cedric Alexander’s Cruiserweight Title. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
The opening video recaps Itami’s attack and how we got to tonight’s triple threat.
Opening sequence.
Drew Gulak vs. Lince Dorado
So I guess we’re not done with this feud. Jack Gallagher is in England for the UK Championship Tournament so it’s just Brian Kendrick in Gulak’s corner. The Gulak pinata is back and it’s now called Penelope. They fight over arm control to start and there are a low of people disguised as empty seats. Gulak takes him to the mat with a test of strength but Dorado fights up into a sunset flip for two. A middle rope anklescissors sets up a moonsault press for another near fall as Gulak can’t get anything going early on.
Frustrated by being flipped around over and over, Gulak hits him in the face to take over but a rollup sends Dorado through the ropes in a crash. Back in and Gulak goes for the mask, yelling at the referee that he wants to see who it is. As usual that’s too far for a luchador so he’s right back up with some dropkicks. The Golden Rewind gets two but Kendrick offers a distraction so the Gulock can get the submission at 8:02.
Rating: C. They’ve done a good job of setting Gulak as a monster around here and that’s one of the best things that can be done. It’s also interesting that the Lucha House Party can win on their own but seemingly has no chance against Gulak. It makes him look that much more impressive, which is all that matters in the entire feud. In other words the team is good but Gulak is better, meaning everyone wins.
Drake Maverick tells the referee to be careful in the main event tonight when Itami comes in. He wants respect but Maverick tells him that it works both ways.
Here’s TJP, with a mic, for a match. He’s not happy with Maverick because he’s not getting to be in the main event every week. Instead, he’s out here with some guy who doesn’t even get to mention his name. After some more insults, the guy punches TJP in the face, earning himself a kneebar for a rather hard sell job. No match of course.
Lio Rush has officially been signed and will debut next week.
Next week: Gulak/Gallagher/Kendrick vs. Lucha House Party in an elimination match.
Mustafa Ali vs. Buddy Murphy vs. Hideo Itami
They all circle to start until Murphy and Ali glare Itami to the floor. It’s Murphy going out after him so Ali hits a big flip dive onto both of them. Back in and Murphy starts punching them both to take over with raw size and power. Ali is back up to send Murphy outside but Itami cuts off the dive with a knee to the ribs. That’s enough to set up an early chinlock, meaning Itami can demand more RESPECT.
Itami lets it go and kicks Murphy off the apron before kicking Ali in the back so he won’t feel left out. It’s Murphy coming back in though and that means a kick to his back as well. Murphy kicks Itami right back and they trade them again, followed by some head to head growling. Itami gets the better of it and does the RESPECT ME thing again, because that’s half of his character. Ali comes back in and gets his head taken off with a clothesline, followed by a German suplex for two.
Murphy sends Ali into Itami, knocking him off the apron and setting up a sleeper on Ali. In other words, we’re firmly in the two in, one out formula that dominates these matches. With that going nowhere Itami comes in with a sleeper on Murphy, which is broken up in short order. Ali tries the rolling X Factor on Murphy but gets thrown into the air, only to come down with the X Factor on Itami instead (cool spot). A tornado DDT gets two on Murphy and everyone is down due to head trauma/exhaustion.
Ali is up first but the 054 is broken up with a hard crotching. They tease the Tower of Doom but (thankfully) go with Murphy kicking Ali in the face and then loading Itami up for a powerbomb, which is spun down into a DDT for two more. Ali gets up first and superkicks Murphy down but dives into Itami’s kick to the face for another triple knockdown.
Murphy powerbombs Itami but gets kicked down on top of him, setting up a 450 onto both of them at once. Ali can only get two on Itami with Murphy making a save. That’s enough for Murphy and Ali to head outside with Ali hitting a C4 off the announcers’ table for the really painful landing. Back in and a hesitation dropkick gives Itami two on Ali, so it’s time to pull off a turnbuckle pad. Another running dropkick into the exposed buckle is finally enough for Itami to pin Ali at 15:53.
Rating: B+. This was much, much better than I was expecting with all three working very hard to put on a heck of a performance. They played up the idea of Ali as the heart, Murphy as the muscle and Itami as the ruthless one who will hit you so hard that you can’t get up. The match was a lot of fun and had all three looking great. Itami needs to be the next challenger, especially after getting a win like this one.
Overall Rating: B. As tired as I am of seeing Gulak N Pals vs. Lucha House Party, that main event was great and TJP is getting better and better every week. They’ve got some stuff going on here but it’s becoming more and more clear that Alexander needs to lose the title in a hurry. He’s just not the charismatic star of the show, which leaves him on pretty equal footing with everyone else. That needs to be fixed, and then things might be able to start picking up. I mean, they won’t because it’s 205 Live, but at least it’s a possibility.
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: June 19, 2018
Location: Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
We’re past Money in the Bank and that means it’s time to get things going towards Extreme Rules. Smackdown isn’t wasting any time in that area as we have a five man gauntlet match tonight with the winner getting a shot at AJ Styles at the pay per view. Other than that it’s hard to say what we might be having this week so let’s get to it.
Here are Sunday’s results if you need a recap.
Paige welcomes us to the show and recaps Sunday. Tonight is the gauntlet match, which she explains as well.
Here’s Carmella to get things going in the arena. Carmella talks about having self esteem issues when she was growing up because she never felt good enough. Then she started writing her own story and she saw something in herself that no one ever saw. Everyone out there needs to look in the mirror and repeat these words: Mella is MONEY! Why would someone like her ever have self confidence? She’s been moon walking and trash talking since she was a baby so everyone needs to just give up. Carmella brags about all of her accomplishments, which she has done completely on her own.
Cue Asuka, or at least James Ellsworth in Asuka gear. Ellsworth says no one was ready for Asuka and offers some praise to Carmella, saying she’s better than several women, including Trish, Lita, Rousey, and Mother Teresa. Now it’s the real Asuka, without robe or mask, coming to the ring to take Ellsworth down. Carmella uses the distraction to deck Asuka and wrap things up. I’m so glad they brought Ellsworth back for this role when there are probably a dozen people on the roster with nothing to do.
Billie Kay vs. Becky Lynch
Before the match, Peyton does her Becky impression and says that she’s a loser. Becky punches her outside to start and Billie starts trying to hide, earning herself a forearm to the face. A good posting cuts Becky off though and we take a break. Back with Becky fighting out of a chinlock and getting kneed down anyway. Peyton adds in a knee to the head for two but Becky is right back up with the Bexploder. Billie misses a charge and gets knocked to the floor. A crossbody off the apron takes Royce down, leaving Billie to get caught in the Disarm-Her for the tap at 7:43.
Rating: D+. Becky winning is always a good thing and once the Asuka rematch is over, she would be a good choice to take the title from Charlotte. Of course that’s assuming they don’t just have Charlotte get it back and put us right back where we were after Wrestlemania. The Iconics will be fine as their talking is more than enough to keep them at their standard level and that’s not a bad place to be.
We look back at Shinsuke Nakamura hitting Jeff Hardy low last week.
With his back to the camera, Hardy talks about how Nakamura lost on Sunday and goes into a medical explanation of what Kinshasa did to him last week. Nakamura’s actions made him super focused and now his eyes are open, with Jeff turning to reveal some black and white face paint, including over his eyelids. He opens his eyes to reveal nearly colorless pupils, because Jeff is weird that way.
The announcers hype up the debut of Sanity.
We see Sanity’s shadows in the back with Eric Young saying the chaos has arrived.
Daniel Bryan is ready to face three of the best Smackdown has to offer and the Miz. He even asks Renee Young if he’s ready and gets her to say YES.
Sanity vs. Usos
Before the match, the Usos say they look like the Ultimate Warrior on Sesame Street and talk about how many things you need to be great around here. If Sanity wants to talk about chaos, welcome to the Uso Penitentiary. Sanity jumps the Usos before the match and the beatdown is on. No match.
Shinsuke Nakamura says it wasn’t fair that he lost because the referee didn’t count in Japanese. He’s not worried about Jeff Hardy.
Tag Team Titles: Anderson and Gallows vs. Bludgeon Brothers
The Bludgeon Brothers are defending. Joined in progress with Rowan hammering away and superplexing Gallows for two. A splash gets the same and we hit the fists into the sides of Gallows’ head. Gallows finally stops a charge in the corner with a boot and superkicks Harper for good measure. The spinebuster gives Anderson two on Harper but a Rowan distraction sets up the swinging Boss Man Slam for two more. Gallows gets sent into the barricade and the assisted sitout powerbomb ends Anderson at 6:00.
Rating: C. Well that happened. It was better than their match on Sunday due to how much of a faster pace they kept but it’s not like the ending here was in any doubt. Anderson and Gallows have nothing going on at the moment because WWE doesn’t know how to book more than a few teams at once. They certainly can do a bunch of multi-man matches though, which is where we’re immediately going.
Daniel Bryan comes out for the main event, has a weird staredown with the Bludgeon Brothers, and goes to the ring without further incident.
Gauntlet Match
Five people involved and the winner gets Styles at Extreme Rules. Daniel Bryan and Big E. get things going with Bryan going straight for the knee. The surfboard with a dragon sleeper has Big E. in early trouble but he snaps off a belly to belly and Bryan is in trouble in a hurry. There’s a splash on the apron and we take a break.
Back with Bryan missing the Swan Dive and getting caught in an over the shoulder backbreaker. Bryan fights up and hits his running clothesline, followed by the top rope hurricanrana. The running corner dropkick is blocked with a clothesline and an over the shoulder backbreaker into a regular backbreaker has Bryan in even more trouble. A Brock Lock goes on but Bryan reverses into a failed YES Lock attempt.
The triangle choke is countered but Bryan counters the powerbomb to smash Big E.’s knee into the mat. Bryan tries to speed things up a bit so Big E. sends him to the apron for the big spear through the ropes in a major crash. Back in and Big E. goes shoulder first into the post, setting up the running knee for the pin at 11:38. Samoa Joe is in third and we take a break.
Back again with Bryan getting chopped in the corner, followed by a snap powerslam for two. The powerbomb into the Boston crab into the STF into the Crossface keeps Bryan in trouble but a rope is grabbed. The dragon screw legwhip puts Joe down and Bryan wraps his knee around the post. Joe’s knee is fine enough for the backsplash and we take another break. We come back again with Bryan, whose chest is beet red, escaping the Koquina Clutch and sending Joe outside for the running knee from the apron.
The missile dropkick drops Joe again and it’s time for the YES Kicks. An enziguri sends Joe into the corner but he’s smart enough to bail to the floor before the running knee. Bryan tries the baseball slide but goes right into the Koquina Clutch. Joe keeps an eye on the count but Bryan slips out and dives back in for the countout win at 28:19. Hang on though as here are the Bludgeon Brothers for the assisted powerbomb. Cue Miz for a Skull Crushing Finale to get rid of Bryan at 29:19. Since we’re not following any rules here and that’s not a DQ for the Brothers attacking Bryan, it’s Miz vs. Rusev for the title shot.
Back from what should be the final break with Rusev kicking Miz in the head for two, sending Miz backing off. A fall away slam gets the same but Miz sends him outside for a dropkick through the ropes. We hit the chinlock for a long while until Rusev powers up. A kick to the head sets up another kick to the head for two on Miz but he’s right back up with some YES Kicks of his own. The short DDT gives Miz two more, only to have Rusev kick him down and grab the Accolade for the tap out at 44:20.
Rating: B. Well that’s certainly a surprising result and one that I rather like. I would have bet on Samoa Joe but it’s nice to see Rusev FINALLY getting a chance at something, even if he winds up losing in his title match. At the same time though, I have no idea where they’re going with Bryan vs. the Bludgeon Brothers as it’s not like anyone really fits as a partner at the moment. Maybe they’ve got a surprise in mind, but I hope that doesn’t somehow mean Miz and Bryan teaming up as wacky partners. Anyway, good ending and a long match that didn’t feel long.
Post match AJ comes out and stares Rusev down before dropping Aiden English to end the show.
Overall Rating: B-. Good show overall here as it’s very nice to be away from anything resembling Money in the Bank. They’ve already got a big match set up for Extreme Rules and you can see where they’re going with some other stuff. This might not have been a great show but it sets them up for a few fresh things and that’s more than I can say for most of the last month plus.
Results
Becky Lynch b. Billie Kay – Disarm-Her
Bludgeon Brothers b. Anderson and Gallows – Assisted sitout powerbomb to Anderson
Rusev won a gauntlet match last eliminating the Miz
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:
https://wrestlingrumors.net/breaking-wwe-releases-big-cass/
There has to be a big story behind that. He wasn’t THAT bad and he was in a pay per view match two days ago. It’s even odder when he was just back from a major injury two and a half months ago.
IMG Credit: WWE
Monday Night Raw
Date: June 18, 2018
Location: Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Commentators: Jonathan Coachman, Michael Cole, Corey Graves
It’s finally the night after Money in the Bank and therefore we now need to deal with the fallout of the briefcase. In this case that would be the men’s briefcase, which was won by Braun Strowman. However, we now have to wait for Brock Lesnar to grace us with his presence, which may not be until the build to Summerslam. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
We open with a recap of Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey with Rousey having the title won until Alexa Bliss cashed in to win the title.
Kurt Angle is in the ring to introduce Bliss, whose title is sitting on a table. He hands her the title and announces that Nia is cashing in her rematch at Extreme Rules. Bliss thanks the fans for giving her the opportunity to rub it in our faces, which draws a WE WANT RONDA chant. It’s all about Bliss now so cue a ticked off Ronda but Angle gets in her way. Alexa laughs all of this off because everything she did was perfectly legal.
It’s obvious that Ronda is upset because the stories were all about Bliss last night. Now, Rousey is just irrelevant. That’s enough for Rousey, who runs over Angle and hits Bliss in the back with the briefcase. She beats Angle up with it as well and takes out some referees for good measure. One heck of a powerbomb drops Bliss through a table.
Post replays, Angle suspends Rousey for 30 days.
Post break, Rousey promises to be back in thirty days to take care of Bliss, champion or not.
Here’s Seth Rollins to talk about how far Elias took him last night. That’s what Seth wanted though, because it’s what it means to be the Intercontinental Champion. Let’s keep that going right now with an OPEN CHALLENGE.
Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler
Ziggler is challenging and there goes some of the energy. Rollins knocks him to the floor and we take a very early break. Back with Ziggler throwing him back inside and kicking at the knee. A whip into the corner turns Seth upside down for two and we hit the chinlock. Rollins fights up….and the USA Network goes out. The feed comes back in a commercial so we eventually come back to Ziggler taking the Fameasser.
A superkick gives Rollins two but Ziggler heads up top. Rollins catches him again and rolls through a high crossbody. The buckle bomb connects but Drew McIntyre offers a distraction, allowing Ziggler to roll him up with tights for the pin and the title at 18:26. Too much was missed by the outage but this was the same match you would expect from these two.
Post match Rollins yells at Ziggler and gets taken out by McIntyre.
McIntyre and Ziggler say that’s the first of many because they’re not like everyone else.
Bobby Roode vs. Curt Hawkins
Hawkins tries a backslide for two but gets caught in the Glorious DDT to make it 204 losses in a row at 43 seconds.
Stills of the men’s Money in the Bank match.
Here’s Braun Strowman to list off all the things he’s done, including playing a cello. This briefcase is the greatest though because he snatched the contract away from seven other men. Now all Brock Lesnar has to do is show up and Strowman will cash in. Cue a banged up Kevin Owens to say he wants to congratulate Strowman. That’s why he was trying to get everyone to side against Strowman: no one could stop him on their own.
Owens talks about how they could be a team together because Sami is out injured and Strowman had to get a ten year old to team with him at Wrestlemania. Maybe they do something for each other and then later on, Owens gets a title match at the new champion? Strowman shakes his hand and then loads up the powerslam but Owens bails. That’s a good feud for Strowman until Lesnar gets back.
Sasha Banks is upset in the back when Bayley comes in. She knows what Sasha is doing because she’s playing the ladder match over and over again in her head. Sasha admits that Bayley is right and agrees to team up to face the Riott Squad tonight. It’s a new beginning for them.
Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno
Non-title but hang on a second as the B Team pops up on screen, doing some rather good impressions of Matt (Axel) and Wyatt (Dallas, who can sound eerily like his brother). Dallas says screw this because they’re the B Team and can beat anyone. They turn the lantern off but can’t figure out how to leave.
Matt and Bray are stunned so Slater and Rhyno jump them from behind. It’s a brawl to start until a Twist of Fate is blocked. Matt gets knocked into the corner but avoids a top rope right hand from Slater. The Side Effect allows the hot tag off to Bray for the running crossbody. Everything breaks down and the Kiss of Deletion ends Slater at 3:20.
Rating: D. Nothing match but it was a reason to have Matt and Bray in the arena for the goofy promo. Matt and Bray aren’t great champions but when they have the same teams around to beat up every few weeks, there’s only so far they can go. The B Team isn’t good but they’re at least funny, which is more than you can get from many teams today.
We recap Ronda snapping. That was a heck of a powerbomb.
Baron Corbin brings a phone to Angle so he can talk to Stephanie McMahon. Angle isn’t exactly thrilled and seems ready for a long lecture.
Back from a break with Angle still on the phone. He hears some big news and promises an announcement for tonight, but has to run something by Corbin first.
Jinder Mahal vs. Chad Gable
Before the match, Mahal says everyone must embrace change. If you let go of your anger, you will experience Shanti (which he talks about before his rocket push began last year). Mahal snaps at the bell and beats on Gable, who takes him down with some amateur stuff. A suplex drops Mahal on his head and a dropkick puts him on the floor. Back in and the moonsault gives Gable two but Mahal boots him in the face. The Khallas gives Mahal the pin at 2:28.
The Riott Squad breaks stuff in the back.
Special Olympics video.
Sasha Banks/Bayley vs. Liv Morgan/Sarah Logan
Morgan and Bayley start things going with Liv driving her into the corner for the early tag off to Logan. Banks tags herself in and elbows Morgan in the face, only to have Bayley tag herself right back in. A Thesz press and some right hands have Logan in trouble and the Squad is down as we take a break. Back with the hot tag bringing Sasha in as everything breaks down. The double knees in the corner have Morgan in trouble but Logan gets in a cheap shot and Morgan rolls Banks up (with trunks) for the pin at 8:02.
Rating: D+. Just a match here but at least they’re going to be getting to the latest version of this split so they can finally have a match already. Banks taking the fall is fine here and it’s cool to have the Riott Squad getting somewhere for awhile. They need something to do, but at least they’re finding out how to play the characters better.
Post match Bayley tries to console Sasha but gets shoved down as Banks walks away again.
Back from a break with Sasha walking through the back and Bayley chasing after her. Banks doesn’t want to talk to her and the fight is on with Bayley being sent into a catering table.
Here’s Angle in the ring to announce that Lesnar will be defending his title again soon. Before he can announce any details here’s Roman Reigns to interrupt. Reigns says the next challenger is right in front of him. He wants to be the champion who defends the title every single week and Angle seems to agree, but here’s Bobby Lashley to interrupt. Lashley, after fumbling the name of who he’s talking about, says he’s seen Reigns try to beat Lesnar for three years now.
It’s time for Reigns to step aside so someone who can beat Brock beat Brock. Lashley can beat Reigns too but Angle says they both have a point. They’ll be having a multiman match at Extreme Rules for the title shot with more names being announced later. Cue the Revival of all people to say they’re tired of people demanding things all the time.
They want a match with Reigns and Lashley right now because a win over these two great singles wrestlers will catapult their careers to the next level. So in other words, we’re building to another multiman match for a future title shot? AFTER FIVE WEEKS OF MONEY IN THE BANK BUILD??? THAT’S REALLY THE BEST THING THEY CAN COME UP WITH???
Roman Reigns/Bobby Lashley vs. Revival
Reigns punches Dawson in the face to start and holds Dawson in place while arguing with Lashley. Dawson has some more luck with Lashley, meaning he gets in a single kick to the ribs before a pair of spinebusters put Revival down. A quick end around lets Dawson chop block Lashley and something like the Demolition Decapitator gets two. Dawson’s chinlock doesn’t last long as Lashley fights up and brings in Reigns to clean house. Superman Punches rock both of them but Lashley tags himself in and spears Wilder for the pin at 6:22.
Rating: D+. Bring back jobbers. Like please, bring them back so I don’t have to see something as painful as seeing the Revival treated like this. We have the B Team doing their comedy stuff while the best tag team NXT has ever had is stuck here doing jobs to push two people in a multi man match. I’m so glad NXT exists for just such an emergency.
Angle and Corbin run into Finn Balor, who wants to be in the #1 contenders match. Corbin laughs at him and a fight seems imminent but Owens comes in to say calm things down. Balor laughs at Owens for not realizing what’s right behind him, because Strowman is right there. Strowman says he’s here to look after Finn, and a tag match seems imminent.
AJ Styles is on the cover of WWE2K19.
We recap Angle’s rocky night.
No Way Jose vs. Mojo Rawley
Jose, with his neon green gear, punches Rawley down to start and dances. Back up and Rawley knees him in the ribs and hammers away. The chinlock doesn’t last long and Jose gets two off a flapjack. Rawley’s right hand in the corner sets up the fireman’s carry faceplant for the pin at 2:41. I could go for more of Rawley.
Post match Mojo says it’s about staying focused, not hyped.
Banks is leaving when Bayley comes up to her again and says she’s not done with her. Sasha drives away and Bayley throws a water bottle at the car.
Here’s Elias with his hair down to sing about how awesome he is and ask fans to wonder what would Elias do. He wants to be in the match at Extreme Rules and says his new catchphrase a lot.
Rollins says the loss is on him and invokes his rematch clause for next week.
Finn Balor/Braun Strowman vs. Baron Corbin/Kevin Owens
Owens is banged up but still able to take Balor into the corner for some kicks to the ribs to start. It’s off to Strowman though and the power begins, even with Corbin taking off his vest to make things serious. With the villains knocks to the floor, Strowman picks Balor up and throws him onto the two of them for a crash as we take a break.
Back with Corbin holding a chinlock before handing it off to Owens for one of his own. A backbreaker just hurts Owens’ knee so Corbin comes back in to punch Balor in the ribs. Balor gets sent to the floor and tries a springboard on the way back in, only to get knocked out of the air. The Deep Six gives Corbin two and it’s back to Owens. The beating continues until Strowman comes in without a tag, splashes Corbin, and throws Balor into the corner for the tag.
Strowman starts chasing Owens around the ring as he tends to do but this time Corbin dives off the apron to take him down. Everything breaks down and Strowman drops Corbin with a shot to the chest. The chase goes on again and this time Strowman plows through Owens to put him into the timekeeper’s area. The Coup de Grace is broken up though and the End of Days puts Balor away at 16:42.
Rating: D+. That would be your Coliseum Video random tag team match of the week and I’m not sure what the point is in having Corbin get the pin. The match felt like leftovers from the Money in the Bank build, which isn’t exactly inspiring stuff. At least they didn’t have Strowman take the fall, but I hope he’s not downgraded now that he has the briefcase.
Overall Rating: D. This show was on a roll to start with the hot Rousey angle and then fell down a hill with one not great angle and match after another. It felt like they were still out of steam from Money in the Bank and it showed here. I’m interested in some of the things we have coming up and Lesnar coming back, hopefully to drop the title and leave for good, has me intrigued. It just felt like they were trying to do too much here and it hurt the show a lot.
Results
Dolph Ziggler b. Seth Rollins – Rollup with a handful of tights
Bobby Roode b. Curt Hawkins – Glorious DDT
Matt Hardy/Bray Wyatt b. Heath Slater/Rhyno – Kiss of Deletion to Slater
Liv Morgan/Sarah Logan b. Sasha Banks/Bayley – Rollup to Banks
Roman Reigns/Bobby Lashley b. Revival – Spear to Wilder
Mojo Rawley b. No Way Jose – Fireman’s carry faceplant
Baron Corbin/Kevin Owens b. Finn Balor/Braun Strowman – End of Days to Balor
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Money in the Bank 2018
Date: June 17, 2018
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Jonathan Coachman, Byron Saxton
It’s finally time to get to what WWE seems to think is the most important show of the year, at least based on how much they promote it. Tonight we find out who might be cashing in to get a cheap World Title reign at any point in the next year. Other than that we have AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura V in a Last Man Standing match. Let’s get to it.
Kickoff Show: Smackdown Tag Team Titles: Bludgeon Brothers vs. Anderson and Gallows
Anderson and Gallows are challenging. Gallows slugs away at Rowan in the corner to start and everything breaks down in a hurry. That means some HI YAH kicks from Anderson with Harper and Rowan falling to the floor with Harper’s leg getting caught in the ropes. He’s fine enough for half of a double dropkick to put Gallows down as we take a break.
Back with Anderson being catapulted throat first into the middle rope for two. Harper’s splash gets two as Gallows is still down on the floor. We hit the chinlock for a bit before Rowan goes shoulder first into the post. A spinebuster plants Rowan again and the hot tag brings in Gallows. Everything breaks down with a pumphandle slam planting Harper, followed by Anderson diving onto Rowan. The Magic Killer is broken up and the assisted sitout powerbomb ends Gallows at 7:35.
Rating: C. This was exactly what it needed to be with a short match that didn’t wear the crowd out and gave us some nice wrestling for a few minutes. The Bludgeon Brothers are a dominant team and could hold the belts for awhile as there’s really no one worthy of challenging them at the moment, unless Sanity comes in as faces.
The opening video looks at a cash-in montage and promises to only explain this once. That’s so laughable that I’m just going to move on to the other big matches being discussed. After that, we go back to Money in the Bank, meaning they’ve already reneged on their promise after two minutes.
Daniel Bryan vs. Big Cass
It’s smart to get Bryan out there early and get the crowd away from CM PUNK/ALL IN chants. Cass takes him into the corner and shouts a lot so Bryan throws some right hands. It’s too early for the heel hook so Bryan kicks away at the knee instead. Cass knocks him hard into the barricade in a crash and then gorilla presses Bryan face first onto the apron.
Back in and some elbows give Cass two, followed by the bearhug to keep Bryan slow. A swinging Boss Man Slam gets two more but Bryan goes after the knee. Said knee is wrapped around the post a few times and it’s already YES Lock time. That’s broken up with a simple grab of the rope and Cass heads outside, meaning a big dive from the top to take him out again. Back in and Cass crotches him on top for a super fall away slam.
The big crash is only good for two so it’s off to a torture rack. Something like a running reverse FU gets two and it’s Bryan going after the knee all over again. A few chop blocks set up the YES Kicks but the running knee is countered. The big boot gives Cass two and it’s back to the torture rack. This time the reverse FU is escaped and Bryan nails the running knee. The heel hook makes Cass tap at 15:25.
Rating: C+. Well that was long. Bryan getting the clean pin is the right call of course and hopefully this gets him away from Cass once and for all, but I’m not sure how long this needed to go. With such a long card with three matches that should be getting at least 20-25 minutes each, it’s not the brightest idea in the world to have this go so long. At least it ended in the right way though.
New Day is going over strategy to pick who is going to be in the Money in the Bank match when Kevin Owens comes in, carrying a bag. That would be a bunch of pancakes AND syrup (Big E.: “THIS FOOL CAN STAY!”) but Owens is just trying to find out who is in the match. It’s also a ploy to take out Braun Strowman but New Day doesn’t cheat. Owens doesn’t care for pancakes or BootyO’s and Big E. screams a lot. After things calm down, Owens insults everything about Chicago so they steal his syrup and tell him to get out.
Sami Zayn vs. Bobby Lashley
Sami has taunted Lashley over Lashley’s claims about his family and life so Lashley is here to kill him. The stalling is on for more than two minutes to start until Lashley catches up to him and shoves Sami to the apron. That allows Sami to get in a poke to the eye and a good posting as Graves thinks Lashley’s dad will want to adopt Sami. Lashley shrugs it off and scores with a fall away slam, followed by a running shoulder in the corner. There’s the delayed vertical suplex followed by a second one. An over the shoulder backbreaker sets up a third delayed vertical suplex for the pin on Zayn at 6:35.
Rating: D+. Well that’s over at least. I still can’t believe they’re having Lashley’s finisher be a delayed vertical suplex, which hasn’t been a big spot since about 1975. The match was nothing that wouldn’t be on Raw, which makes me wonder how in the world they felt putting us through the last few weeks was acceptable. Both guys deserve so much more than what they’ve gotten over the last month.
Here’s Elias to sing about how much he hates Chicago, because it’s full of scumbags. After the fans chant that they are scumbags, Elias says they’re not worth it and we’re ready to go.
Intercontinental Title: Seth Rollins vs. Elias
Rollins is defending. Feeling out process to start with Elias not being able to get very far early on. They head outside with Elias being dropped on his face and there’s a flying clothesline back inside. Rollins heads to the apron but gets clotheslined down to reaggrivate his previously injured neck. A hard DDT gets two and it’s off to a cobra clutch, which Rollins can’t shrug off.
Rollins avoids a knee drop though and there’s the Sling Blade to really give him a breather. There’s the suicide dive but Elias gets in another shot to the neck to cut Rollins off again. The springboard knee misses and Rollins comes up favoring his knee, allowing Elias to hit a jumping knee to the face for a fast two. A slugout goes to Rollins and there’s a superkick for two on Elias. Even with the banged up knee, Rollins heads up top and the frog splash hits raised knees.
Now it’s Elias heading up top, only to get caught with the superplex into the Falcon Arrow for a very near fall. Back up and Elias avoids a charge to send him into the post, followed by a whip into the steps. The top rope elbow gets a VERY close two and the fans find this awesome. Rollins is placed up top but shoves him away. They trade small packages for two each, followed by a rollup with tights for two on Elias. Rollins can do the same thing and grabs the tights to retain at 17:01.
Rating: B. Well of course he did it again. Rollins is on another planet right now and is bringing people up to his level, which is one of the hardest things in wrestling. He’s making these matches a treat to watch and Rollins can bring the goods like few others right now. I just hope he gets something out of Lesnar if he’s given the chance.
We recap the Women’s Money in the Bank ladder match with Paige talking about what an opportunity this is. Fair enough. You too can far exceed your career ceiling by stealing titles.
Sasha Banks vs. Becky Lynch vs. Lana vs. Charlotte vs. Alexa Bliss vs. Ember Moon vs. Naomi vs. Natalya
Banks trips over something on the way in. It’s a big brawl to start (as is custom) with Charlotte being crushed. The first ladder is brought in and it’s Ember vs. Sasha with Moon’s springboard crossbody driving Banks into the ladder. Lana comes in with an X Factor onto the ladder before throwing the smaller version to the floor. That means it’s time for the big ladder but Natalya makes a save.
Naomi does the splits onto a ladder and gets dropkicked down for her efforts. Charlotte comes back in and that means a staredown with Becky that goes nowhere, leaving Naomi to hit a Blockbuster off the apron to drop Sasha. Everyone is down on the floor until it’s Moon and Naomi going for the same ladder inside. Ember takes over without much effort but it’s Banks coming in and sending her face first into a ladder in the corner.
Lana is put on top of Moon on said ladder and Banks drops the double knees onto both of them. Charlotte and Sasha go up the same side of a ladder at the same time until Natalya comes in to pull Charlotte off. Becky pushes the ladder over with Sasha coming down with knees to both Charlotte and Banks. Bliss remembers that she’s in the match and comes in for a save but it’s time for the big ladder. Six of them go up at once but Banks and Charlotte make the saves.
Charlotte powerbombs Moon onto a ladder in the corner and Lana gets pulled off as well. Bliss reverses a powerbomb attempt into Code Red on Charlotte but gets shoved down by Lana. For some reason Lana grabs the Accolade on Bliss but it’s Naomi springboarding in to take Lana off the ladder. Naomi can’t get the briefcase down due to reasons of she’s not winning and Lynch makes the save.
Charlotte and Becky slug it out on top but Bliss shoves the ladder down. That just earns her a spear from Charlotte but Sasha makes a save of her own. Natalya electric chairs Lana, only to get sent outside. Charlotte spears Moon onto the ladder again but Becky is back in with an exploder suplex. Becky goes up but can’t get it down either, allowing Bliss to shove the ladder, sending Becky face first into the ladder in the corner. Bliss pulls down the briefcase at 18:27.
Rating: B. There were some issues with people not being able to pull down a briefcase but the rest of the match was rather good. Bliss winning is the safe pick, though some of these women (like Becky) need to win something sooner or later. I’m hoping she doesn’t get the title back anytime soon as we’ve been there way too recently. I’ll give them this though: at least they didn’t go with Natalya for the obvious cash in on Rousey.
Kurt Angle and Paige chat about Money in the Bank when Baron Corbin comes in and demands that we take things seriously. Paige brings up him losing his cash-in last year but Corbin tells Angle to get it done in the men’s match.
We recap Jinder Mahal vs. Roman Reigns. Mahal was mad about not being in the Money in the Bank match and cost Reigns his qualifying match. A feud started with Reigns beating the heck out of him as well as Sunil Singh, setting up this match.
Roman Reigns vs. Jinder Mahal
Singh is in a wheelchair and the booing of Reigns is at a near Wrestlemania level. However, oddly enough it goes very quiet in a hurry, almost like it was turned down. I’m sure I’m just imagining things. They punch it out and there are the CM PUNK chants. A sloppy Samoan drop gives Reigns one to start and Mahal bails to the floor.
The distraction lets Singh get out of the wheelchair to get in a cheap shot so Mahal can take over. Back in and we hit the chinlock, followed by a reverse chinlock to mix things up a bit. Mahal beats on him a bit more and we hit another chinlock, because this is how you do a Mahal vs. Reigns match IN FREAKING CHICAGO.
Reigns makes his comeback as the Wave breaks out around the arena. Mahal cuts him off with a jumping knee to the face and the Wave continues. A gutbuster looks to set up the Khallas but Reigns rolls away and hits the Superman Punch for two. Mahal is busted open off something but still manages to avoid the spear and send Reigns into the post.
Now it’s a VELVETEEN chant until Reigns stops him with a kneelift. A Fameasser from the apron over the middle rope but Singh gets up and tries to send Reigns into the post. Superman Punches abound and there’s a spear to Singh, followed by one to Mahal for the pin at 15:40.
Rating: D-. Not so much bad but terribly boring with the crowd having none of it and this time I can’t blame them. This was a really dull match with a bunch of laying around in chinlocks and Mahal doing his usual boring offense. They knew what they were getting into this this match and it was every bit as awful as it could have been. And now, we’re likely going to get a rematch because we’re that lucky.
Special Olympics video.
Recap of the rest of the night, likely to get the ladders set up again.
Actually never mind as we recap Carmella vs. Asuka (because this show is running long already but of course we have time for a recap). Carmella cashed in her briefcase in April and now it’s time for Asuka to get her one on one shot at the title.
Smackdown Women’s Title: Asuka vs. Carmella
Asuka is challenging and has Carmella bailing to the floor in a hurry. Back in and Carmella slaps her in the face, earning herself a hip to the face. More strikes rock Carmella and there’s a sliding knee to send Carmella outside. Back up and Carmella pulls her face first into the post for two. Followed by just rubbing Asuka’s face into the mat. Carmella kicks the knee out and we hit the chinlock.
It’s off to a front facelock for a bit until Asuka goes up, only to miss a middle rope dropkick. A kick to the head is countered into a kneebar but Carmella is quickly to the ropes. It’s back to the striking with a knee to the face and a running dropkick, followed by a German suplex to rock the champ. Another running charge misses though and Asuka falls out to the floor in a heap.
Carmella actually hits a suicide dive for two but gets hit in the face a few times. Cue someone in Asuka’s robe and mask for a distraction though and the ELLSWORTH chants begin. The distraction lets Carmella get two off a rollup and it’s James Ellsworth under the mask. Carmella’s superkick retains the title at 11:04.
Rating: D+. Now I know a lot of you are probably going to be annoyed that Carmella won, but let me make this clear to you: she had a BRIEFCASE and that makes her worthy of winning here. Ellsworth makes my eyes roll but good for him for getting back in the company. I just wish they would actually do something with Asuka, who has plummeted since Wrestlemania.
We recap the Last Man Standing match. AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura have had four matches so far but Nakamura won the most recent, earning the right to pick the stipulation for this match. He picked a match where he could beat on Styles as much as he wanted so here we go.
Smackdown World Title: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Styles is defending and this is Last Man Standing. They lock up to start before realizing what a waste of time that is and fighting to the floor. A suplex into the steps has the champ in more trouble and a running shot to the head gets eight. Back in and Nakamura kicks him down without much effort and Styles has to pull himself up using the ropes. Nakamura adds in more kicks to put Styles on the floor again, this time choking with a boot against the steps.
They fight into the crowd with Styles punching away but trying a springboard off the barricade (which wouldn’t provide much spring) proves badly as Nakamura kicks his leg out from underneath him. That’s not enough either so they head back inside with Nakamura throwing some soft kicks to really mess with Styles. The reverse exploder is broken up and Styles kicks him in the head. Nakamura doesn’t even go down but misses a low blow, which ticks Styles off even more.
The Pele….might have connected but Nakamura is right back up with the reverse exploder. Styles knocks him down for an eight, only to have Nakamura break up the Phenomenal Forearm. They head back outside with Nakamura loading up the announcers’ table. Kinshasa on the table is good for nine and it’s table time. As opposed to the two tables at ringside of course. The table is set up inside but Styles slips out of a superplex, only to have his powerbomb attempt broken up.
Nakamura rams the table into Styles’ ribs and puts the table up in the corner. Styles actually goes through the table but the ropes get him up at nine. The turnbuckle pad comes off and Nakamura puts him ribs first onto the buckle for the knee in the corner. Of course the running knee hits the buckle (that was really stupid) and, after a random crowd shot, AJ starts kicking at the leg. The Calf Crusher goes on and Nakamura taps so Styles hangs on a little while longer.
They head outside again with AJ blasting the knee with the chair. For some reason he begs off though and walks into a low blow. That’s not enough but a Kinshasa gives Nakamura…..nine. Nakamura loads up something on the table but his knee gives out, allowing Styles to hit the Phenomenal Forearm off the announcers’ table, followed by a Styles Clash on the floor….for nine again. Nakamura says COME ON so Styles kicks him VERY hard low. That’s not enough either as it’s a springboard Phenomenal Forearm through the announcers’ table to retain the title at 31:04.
Rating: A-. That win is going to give Styles the longest WWE Championship reign since Brock Lesnar’s 2014/2015 reign and that makes me wonder who could take the title from him. My guess would be Samoa Joe, but that might be too good to be true. Other than that, save for a cash-in, there aren’t a lot of viable options, which isn’t too promising considering AJ has been feuding with Nakamura for three months now.
We recap Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey for the Raw Women’s Title. Jax is unstoppable and Rousey is having her first singles match for the title. A few weeks back, Jax challenged Rousey and then turned heel out of annoyance over the attention Rousey has been receiving as of late.
Raw Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs. Ronda Rousey
Rousey is challenging and smiles all the way to the ring. Jax drives her into the corner for shoulders to the ribs to start and tosses Rousey across the ring for another splash. Another splash misses and Rousey punches her in the chest, only to get headbutted down. The Samoan drop is countered into an armbar and then a triangle, which is countered into a sitout powerbomb.
Rousey falls to the floor so Jax takes her outside for a swing into the barricade. Jax rams her head into the mat for two and it’s off to the bearhug, which Coach says allows Rousey to rest. Another Samoan drop gets two more but the legdrop misses. Rousey gets the armbar over the ropes and holds it until four, followed by a high crossbody (with Rousey looking like she’s not sure how she got up there) for two. A HARD knee to the face sets up a judo throw (nearly dropping Jax on her head) for another near fall. The armbar is loaded up….and here’s Bliss to hit Rousey with the briefcase for the DQ at 10:48.
Rating: C+. There are two ways to go here. Rousey’s selling was GREAT here and she looks like someone who could be a star for a long time, especially with how little time she’s had in the ring. The problem though is this felt like any given wrestler having a match, which takes away all of what’s special about her. Oh and thank goodness one of the briefcases seems like it’s going to be gone.
Bliss hits Jax with the briefcase, posts Rousey and hits her with the briefcase as well. More briefcase shots to Jax’s bad arm have the champ in trouble and we have a cash-in!
Raw Women’s Title: Nia Jax vs. Alexa Bliss
Jax is defending. There’s the DDT and Twisted Bliss gives Bliss the title back at 18 seconds. I’ll take getting rid of a briefcase any way I can.
We recap the Men’s Money in the Bank ladder match, which is just everyone saying they’ll climb to win because it’s so important.
Kevin Owens vs. Bobby Roode vs. Braun Strowman vs. Finn Balor vs. Samoa Joe vs. Rusev vs. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston
Woods teases getting the spot but rips open his shirt to reveal KOFI written on his chest. Everyone goes after Strowman, which goes as well as you would expect it to. Strowman is left alone in the ring early on but everyone goes after him with ladders and then throw said ladders on him, which never really works but it looks good. Miz tries to use the distraction to go up but gets taken down by Joe.
Kofi comes back in with Trouble in Paradise until Owens makes a save. A superkick puts Kofi down and here’s Balor for a save of his own. Balor and Owens fight to the floor with Owens superkicking him onto the announcers’ table and loading up the big ladder. The frog splash will have to wait though as Owens has to stop Rusev, who gives him a fall away slam onto a ladder bridged against the ropes. Kofi comes back in with a springboard shot to the head but Balor dives onto everyone.
Strowman is back up and starts to wreck things until Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch. Owens superkicks him and loads up a big splash off a really high ladder. Strowman just gets up though and grabs Owens (Owens: “I’M SORRY! I’M SORRY!”) for a huge toss through the table below. With Miz loading up a ladder in the ring, Strowman runs through a ladder (which was being held up and got broken in an awesome visual) and Roode/Balor at the same time to make the save.
Strowman goes up so Joe harpoons him with the ladder but Balor is back up this time around. Roode makes another save but here’s Kofi for another save. Rusev comes back in for a double stack Accolade, followed by an attempt at a triple stack with Miz included. Thankfully Joe is back in for a Koquina Clutch, which Rusev breaks in short order. Miz goes up and gets his hands on the ladder but it’s Kofi’s turn for a save.
Balor is back in with a Sling Blade on Roode and a Coup de Grace from the ladder on the floor crushes Roode back inside. Strowman is back in as well for the powerslams but Kofi springboards onto his back. Balor is climbing up the other side as Strowman climbs with Kofi going along for the ride. Strowman knocks them both off and wins at 19:45.
Rating: B. This was your Money in the Bank match with all of the big bumps and near wins with a bit of a surprise finish. I mean, we have to wait, oh, several months before Lesnar shows up or anything but that’s WWE for you. Strowman winning is a surprise but I have a bad feeling it’s going to be at least somewhat about Stephanie being pleased with Angle for bringing one of the briefcases to Raw. Nothing that hasn’t been done before, but Strowman destroying people was fun.
Overall Rating: B+. As usual, the show was quite good but it doesn’t validate the long, terrible build to get us here. One of the briefcases is already gone and there’s a good chance that we’ll see the other one gone by Summerslam when someone takes the title off of Lesnar. It was a good night, but my goodness I’m ready for something fresh after the last month plus of getting ready for this one night. If nothing else, no more of that stupid song.
Results
Daniel Bryan b. Big Cass – Heel hook
Bobby Lashley b. Sami Zayn – Delayed vertical suplex
Seth Rollins b. Elias – Rollup with a handful of tights
Alexa Bliss won Money in the Bank
Roman Reigns b. Jinder Mahal – Spear
Carmella b. Asuka – Superkick
AJ Styles b. Shinsuke Nakamura – Phenomenal Forearm through a table
Ronda Rousey b. Nia Jax via DQ when Alexa Bliss interfered
Alexa Bliss b. Nia Jax – Twisted Bliss
Braun Strowman won Money in the Bank
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:
IMG Credit: WWE
Smackdown
Date: January 15, 2004
Location: Mohegan Sun Arena, Uncasville, Connecticut
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
With less than two weeks to go before the Royal Rumble, it’s still the Hardcore Holly Show around here. Thankfully there’s some other stuff going on to balance it out, but he’s an anchor on the momentum that the show could have. Other than that though we have Chris Benoit and John Cena having rockets strapped to their backs, which could be very entertaining. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Paul Heyman is in the ring to start things off and talks about how important gambling is here. There can only be fifteen Smackdown superstars in the Royal Rumble so tonight, only the winners get into the match. This brings out John Cena, whose presence has Heyman’s mouth hanging open. Cena gets in his various insults and promises to bounce Heyman faster than an ECW check. Tazz: “I’ve had one of those. They suck.” Cena asks the fans what they want to see and loads up the FU but Rhyno comes in for the save. Rhyno Gores him and Heyman promises that tonight will be a night that Cena never forgets.
Jamie Noble vs. Tajiri
Rescheduled from last week when Jamie was nowhere to be found and Nidia had to take his place. The winner gets Rey Mysterio, on commentary, for the Cruiserweight Title at the Royal Rumble. Tajiri wastes no time in firing off the kicks to take over and some kicks in the corner get two. Tazz of course isn’t all that interested as he would rather accuse Rey of staring at Nidia. A neckbreaker gets Noble out of trouble and we hit the USA chant.
The ever patriotic Noble runs him over but Tajiri kicks him in the head to stop the momentum. For some reason Tajiri goes up but misses a middle rope legdrop, only to have Akio and Sakoda go after Nidia. Noble and Mysterio run over for the save so Noble sends him into the barricade. Tajiri loads up a dive but Noble pulls Nidia in his way, setting up the tiger bomb back inside to send Noble to the Rumble. But wait, shouldn’t that put him in the Royal Rumble too, following Heyman’s orders earlier tonight? I know there’s another prize there but that needs to be explained a bit better.
Rating: C-. This didn’t work very well with too much going on in a three minute match. Tazz’s constant accusations of Mysterio wanting Nidia didn’t help much either as it just was more annoying than interesting. As a bonus, Nidia continues to be the stupidest person in wrestling. We’re supposed to believe that no one has told her about this in the month or so this story has been going? She’s never heard the commentary on a show where the announcers are calling the show? I’d hope we get somewhere with this at the Rumble as it needs to end already.
We look back at the opening segment.
Here’s Heyman, standing on the elevated part of the set, to say Cena is corrupting the youth of America. Therefore, tonight it’s Cena vs. Rhyno in a Wash Your Mouth Out With Soap match with Cena’s mouth against Heyman’s mouth.
We look back at Hardcore Holly attacking Big Show last week.
Brock Lesnar and Show, in a neck brace are in the back and it’s restraining order time. Holly can’t come within fifty feet of Show and Lesnar is standing by his side all night. I get that they’re trying with Holly but it just makes me shake my head more every week.
We recap the split of Los Guerreros in a great angle.
Kurt Angle comes in to see Eddie Guerrero and insists that he was only trying to help. Apparently Chavo Sr. will be here tonight to apologize for Chavo, who Eddie will be facing at the Rumble. Therefore, neither can be in the Rumble. That’s not cool with Eddie, who rants about not wanting to fight his family. Beating up his nephew would be like taking out his own heart. It’s about respect, not revenge.
Tag Team Titles: Basham Brothers vs. Rikishi/Scotty 2 Hotty
The Bashams are defending. And hang on a second as Dawn Marie comes out to announce that this is now Rikishi vs. Scotty with the winner getting in the Rumble. So when he said the winners tonight will get you into the Rumble, he only meant some of them. That’s more clarification than we had earlier.
Rikishi vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
They stare at each other a lot until Scotty annoys Rikishi (imagine that) and some smacks to the head knock Scotty silly. The Samoan drop is escaped so Rikishi superkicks him down, setting up the Rump Shaker for the quick pin.
Video on recent house shows. A little research finds that those shows were main evented by Rey Mysterio vs. Chavo Guerrero vs. A-Train (and occasionally with Tajiri included as well) for the Cruiserweight Title. That certainly does sound like a great time.
Basham Brothers vs. World’s Greatest Tag Team
Non-title, as announced by Tazz. However, the winners are in the Rumble. Danny runs Haas over to start but gets taken to the mat without much effort. Shelton comes in for a heck of a t-bone suplex on Doug with Danny having to make a save. That means a trip to the floor where Shaniqua offers a distraction, allowing the Bashams to hit a double baseball slide to take over.
Back in and Shelton gets beaten down as he and Haas are the default faces, which doesn’t quite work for them. Shelton ducks a clothesline and makes the hot (minus the heat) tag to Haas to clean house. Everything breaks down and Shelton gets in a superkick, allowing Haas to roll Danny up for the pin.
Rating: D. And I’m sure Haas and Benjamin will be announced for a title shot soon after pinning the champions clean. This was a weird choice for the sake of a qualifying match and it really didn’t work. Haas and Benjamin are the less heelish of the two teams but it’s not like the fans were going to cheer them anyway. It got the right team into the Rumble but that’s about all it got right.
Here’s Chavo Sr. to apologize for his son. He understands why he’s being booed with what is going on with his family. Chavo is here tonight to say that he is ashamed of his son and he wants an apology to Eddie. This brings out Eddie, who thinks it’s a setup. Chavo says he’s out here on his own behalf but that’s not cool with Eddie, who doesn’t think this is enough.
Eddie calms down and says his anger isn’t towards his brother but towards Chavo Jr. Is that how Chavo raised his son? Eddie doesn’t understand this so here’s Chavo Jr. as well. As you probably guessed, the double teaming is on and Eddie gets laid out. Cole thinks this MIGHT have been a setup, because being lead commentator makes him a little slow. Angle runs in for the save.
The FBI comes out for a six man tag but that’s another changed match as we now have a three man battle royal for a Royal Rumble spot.
Nunzio vs. Chuck Palumbo vs. Johnny Stamboli
Nunzio tells them to get out so he can win, eventually screaming in their faces to do so. Palumbo teases leaving but punches Nunzio in the face instead. The big guys fight in the corner until Palumbo knocks Nunzio silly. A buckle bomb rocks Nunzio and Palumbo kicks Stamboli out, only to be dumped by Nunzio for the win in short order.
Post match Nunzio tries to explain while Stamboli falls down.
Eddie is going Chavo hunting but finds Angle instead. Things get very intense but Angle doesn’t want to fight. Eddie wants to beat up Chavo Jr. instead.
Big Show vs. Funaki
Non-title but a Royal Rumble qualifier with Show in his neck brace. Chops, hiptoss, Hardcore Holly comes out for a failed distraction, a right hand puts Show in the Rumble.
Heyman gives Rhyno a pep talk. He needs to do this for AMERICA, because Cena is poisoning the youth’s minds! Heyman wants the old Rhyno back.
The #2 Billy Gunn moment: winning the 1999 King of the Ring. Over X-Pac, because Gunn vs. Road Dogg in the finals was too complicated for Vince Russo.
John Cena vs. Rhyno
Cena’s mouth getting soaped out vs. Heyman’s mouth getting soaped out. Before the match, Heyman tells the referee to DQ Cena at the slightest indiscretion. Rhyno on the other hand can’t be counted out or disqualified, called ECW rules. Cena slides in and gets knocked right back to the floor. The second attempt works a bit better with some clotheslines putting Rhyno outside this time.
Back in again and Cena tosses him a second time but Rhyno comes back in with a kendo stick. A few shots have Cena in trouble and they head outside for the fourth time combined, which suggests that this is going to go on for a very long time. Rhyno chairs him down for two more and the chair is wedged in the corner for good measure. Of course Rhyno gets whipped into the chair because that’s what happens when you put one in the corner.
Cena scores with the Throwback and the top rope elbow to the neck has Rhyno in more trouble. Heyman comes in with a low blow to block the FU though and they’re both down again. The Gore misses so they head outside again, this time with Rhyno loading up a table. Back from a break with Cena being slammed onto the unfolded table but he rolls away from a top rope splash. The table is set in the corner but first, Rhyno has to hit a spinebuster for two. The missed Gore sends Rhyno through the table (which explodes) and the FU gives Cena the pin.
Rating: D. For a match that wasn’t exactly in doubt, this went on a lot longer than it should have. The stipulation was a nice idea and could have been done better with a bigger name against Cena but this didn’t work very well. Cut this down in about half and you have something much better but the seventeen minutes it got went too long.
Heyman tries to run but Chris Benoit cuts him off. Some kendo stick shots from Heyman just annoy Benoit, who takes Heyman down with ease. As Heyman screams for help, Benoit puts on the Sharpshooter. Cena grabs a mic and says this was all Heyman’s idea so it’s soap time. Hang on though, as Cena has an idea. Heyman is in pain, but Cena can make it worse by saying CHRIS, which causes the hold to be pulled on even harder. Heyman won’t lick the soap so that means CHRIS.
They try it again and Heyman screams, earning him some soap in the mouth. Heyman promises to make Cena miserable and makes threats of Vince McMahon’s authority. Cena: “He’s got a point but I’ve got a better one. CHRIS!” That means more soap for Heyman, who starts apologizing to Benoit. Cena: “That sounded like he said CHRIS!” Heyman: “FU! FU! FU!” Cena: “CHRIS!” More soap and more cranking knocks Heyman out to end the show. At least this was a fun way to end the show.
Overall Rating: D+. Well, they did something to advance towards the Rumble and Holly was kept to a near minimum tonight, but the show still came off as flat. Having a bunch of short qualifying matches for the Rumble didn’t so much get me excited for the show as much as it showed me how weak the Smackdown roster is after the top names. The ending segment was completely fine though and it helped boost the show up a little bit.
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: