Mae Young Classic Episode #5 Date: September 4, 2017 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Jim Ross, Lita
The fast paced shows continue as we have four more episodes being released today before we get ready for next week’s live finale. We’re down to sixteen competitors to go and for the most part, I’m coming into this blind on the spoilers. It’s hard to say where some of these matches are going to go so let’s get to it.
Mauro handles the opening recap again.
The remaining entrants are on stage.
Video on Abbey Laith, who has wrestled for years and is here now.
Video on Rachel Evers, who was originally scheduled to lose in the first round but Marti Belle was so horrible that they changed plans mid-match.
Kassius Ohno is here.
Second Round: Abbey Laith vs. Rachel Evers
The fans sound split here as Rachel shoves her down to start, only to get wristdragged to the floor. Back in and a Stunner of all things puts Abbey down but they hit stereo bicycle kicks for a double knockdown. Abbey sticks with the kicks, including a high one off the side of Evers’ head to send her straight down. She’s up fast enough to catch Abbey on top with a super powerslam of all things for two. Cool looking move if nothing else. Evers tries another kick but gets dropped with a powerbomb, setting up the Alligator Clutch for the pin at 4:51.
Rating: C-. This started off a bit awkward but got better as things went on. Laith feels like someone they’re ready to push pretty hard, especially given her background on the indy scene. Evers just needs a lot more ring time, though she has the look and pedigree to make a pretty nice run for herself one day.
Video on Serena Deeb, who is very aggressive and will work hard.
Video on Piper Niven, who wants to be tough but with a big smile.
Second Round: Serena Deeb vs. Piper Niven
Niven powers her into the corner to start and falls on Deeb in a slam attempt. Well to be fair that was just kind of dumb. A hard belly to back suplex breaks up Serena’s headlock and there’s a splash for two more. With the holds not working, Deeb opts for just punching her in the face for a change. A middle rope Codebreaker (or maybe something like a monkey flip) drops Niven and a neckbreaker gets two.
Deeb is right back up with a modified Diamond Cutter for two more as the fans are split again. A charge misses in the corner though and Niven drops a Vader Bomb….for two. Dang I would have bet on that one. Niven heads up top (uh oh) and misses a splash, only to grab the Michinoku Driver to put Deeb away at 7:12.
Rating: C. What in the world was that ending? Niven missed the splash to seemingly give Deeb a hope spot but she was up less than five seconds later and hit the finish for the pin. I looked away for a second and my head swung back because I thought the video had skipped. They were trying to get into the Sting vs. Vader formula here but that ending REALLY knocked them back.
Video on Princesa Sugehit, who may be a veteran but needs to win this tournament.
Video on Mercedes Martinez, who has waited a long time for this opportunity.
Kalisto is here.
Second Round: Princesa Sugehit vs. Mercedes Martinez
Sugehit, in Wonder Woman themed gear, takes her down by the arm and tries a quick rollup for two. Another rollup, this time into the corner, gets the same on Martinez but she’s right back with Two Amigos into a draping swinging neckbreaker. Princesa grabs a Codebreaker but has to block a superplex attempt. Instead it’s a tornado DDT (now a big spot on the indy Bingo card) for two on Martinez and both of them are spent less than five minutes in. One heck of a Fujiwara armbar has Martinez in more trouble but she pops up and hits a fisherman’s buster for the pin at 5:09.
Rating: C. What is with these sudden endings? Sugehit was dominating and then got caught by one move, seemingly out of nowhere, for the pin. Mercedes winning certainly isn’t a surprise but they could have done a better job of laying the match out. You have almost all the time you want and there’s no need to cut them down this fast.
Video on Bianca Belair, whose hair whip thing is still stupid.
Video on Kairi Sane, who is perhaps the most awesome thing ever.
Second Round: Bianca Belair vs. Kairi Sane
Kairi gets taken down to start and we hit a headlock as JR continues to brag about how awesome of an athlete Belair is. Back up and Belair blows her a kiss, only to have Sane grab it out of the air and stomp it on the mat. One heck of a forearm drops Belair but she hits the hair whip (So you can use it to whip people but get yelled at for pulling it?) to take over.
A delayed vertical suplex with some squats gets two and we hit a seated full nelson. So she’s a No Mercy fan? Some ground and pound of all things has Kairi down but she gets her knees up to stop a splash. Kairi does those rapid fire chops in the corner that probably don’t hurt much but they’re done in Japan and therefore they must be awesome.
A seated double arm choke (another No Mercy move) has Belair in trouble until she fights up and gets in a double chickenwing slam. One heck of a 450 gets a red hot near fall on Sane and Bianca is stunned. Kairi kicks her down and hits a running corner clothesline, followed by the top rope elbow (which she almost completely misses as her hip makes contact instead) to eliminate Belair at 10:00.
Rating: B. I’ll give this one a higher rating for the No Mercy based offense and the hair thing being gone. Sane is clearly the top star in this whole thing and I’d be surprised if she doesn’t win the whole thing. Belair is a heck of an athlete and that 450 looked awesome. She’ll be a big deal in NXT for a good while and then on the main roster assuming she has any kind of talking ability.
A recap wraps things up.
Overall Rating: B-. Now we’re getting to the fun part where they’re having big names face other big names. The wrestling is getting better too and that can make for some sweet matches. I’m looking forward to where things go from here and the rest of the tournament, assuming it’s given time, should be a lot of fun.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Smackdown Date: April 3, 2003 Location: Spokane Arena, Spokane, Washington Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz
We’re past Wrestlemania and that means it’s time to reset a few things. It also means that we don’t have Kurt Angle around for a long time as he needs a fresh bandage on that pesky broken neck of his. Brock Lesnar is World Champion again and that means he needs a new challenger. Let’s get to it.
We open with a long recap of Wrestlemania set to Crack Addict.
Opening sequence.
Here’s Stephanie McMahon for the serious speech about how great Wrestlemania was and the injuries to both Brock (who has a concussion) and Angle (pretty much everything), the latter of whom could be out for several months. But never mind any of that because we’ll be having a #1 contenders tournament for the shot at Backlash starting tonight. Here are the brackets:
Rey Mysterio
Undertaker
John Cena
Eddie Guerrero
Chris Benoit
A-Train
Rhyno
Big Show
#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Undertaker vs. Rey Mysterio
Rey tries to speed things up to start and scores with some kicks to the leg, only to have his head taken off with a big boot. A chokeslam is broken up with Rey grabbing a DDT, followed by the 619 for two with Rey being launched off the cover. The West Coast Pop is loaded up and easily countered into the Last Ride to send Undertaker to the next round.
Rating: C. It was starting to get energetic when Undertaker realized he was selling for Rey Mysterio. The fact that Rey only got in the 619 and then got finished with one big move doesn’t do him many favors, but it’s not like Undertaker was exactly known for his selling at this point. Not terrible, but Undertaker didn’t give him much here.
Undertaker helps him up post match. It’s not exactly Jeff Hardy last year.
Vince McMahon wants to know when Hulk Hogan arrives.
Jamie Noble vs. Brian Kendrick
Shannon Moore and Matt Hardy, who was the only Hardy to wrestle at Wrestlemania this year and has read his book twelve times, are out for commentary. Jamie stomps away in the corner as Tazz tries to be funny about Matt’s diet focusing on yams instead of banana juice. Brian gets sent to the floor where he kicks Nidia away and comes back in with a high crossbody. A powerslam gives Jamie two and a hard clothesline gets the same. Nidia pulls the ropes down to send Kendrick outside but Jamie’s dive takes her out by mistake. Sliced Bread #2 gives Kendrick a fast pin.
Matt dumps Kendrick outside and calls out Brock for a champion vs. champion match. Brian tries to come back in and gets beaten down again.
The FBI steals stuff from a truck after tying the driver up.
Highlights of Lesnar vs. Angle. We also see Brock after the show and he was just gone thanks to the concussion. Now let’s look at the botched shooting star from multiple angles in slow motion.
Piper’s Pit is back next week. And so it begins. Er, continues.
#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: Chris Benoit vs. A-Train
Cole points out that we could see Big Show vs. A-Train or Benoit vs. Rhyno in the second round. Tazz: “Cole we can’t get nothing past you!” A-Train knocks him to the floor to start so Benoit grabs an early Crossface. That’s reversed into a very modified camel clutch with Benoit’s legs wrapped around A-Train’s legs as A-Train is on his feet. Since that’s not enough, A-Train pulls him up by the head and slams Benoit down hard for two.
A chinlock doesn’t last long and Benoit is chopped out to the floor. Back in and A-Train talks more trash but misses a charge, setting up the rolling German suplexes to a great reaction. The Swan Dive gets two but Benoit charges into the bicycle kick. There’s the Crossface again with A-Train powering up to his feet. Benoit is ready for him though and kicks off the ropes to get the hold again, this time for the tap out.
Rating: C. I liked this better than I was expecting to with A-Train acting as a pretty decent tree for Benoit to chop down. In theory this sets up Benoit vs. Big Show for a spot in the finals and if they send Benoit on to face….I’m guessing Cena, everything should be fine. Benoit was his usual good self here and I’m glad to see him back in singles matches as the Rhyno team didn’t do much for me.
Stephanie comes in to see Vince, who is ready for Hogan tonight.
Sean O’Haire says break the rules in the weakest of these vignettes yet. Are these things ever going anywhere?
#1 Contenders Tournament First Round: John Cena vs. Eddie Guerrero
Cena is all over him to start with some choking in the corner and a delayed suplex for two. We hit the bearhug early on as Cena is showing the power more than usual. Tazz thinks Cena could be the next big thing. Maybe I should listen to the Tazz Show more often. Eddie fights back with some clotheslines and Three Amigos for two. Cena reverses a victory roll into an electric chair but takes too long going for a chain. Instead it’s Eddie dropkicking it away and picking it up himself, only to have the referee take it away. Eddie tries a suplex to set up the frog splash but has to roll through. A charge sends him right into the Death Valley Driver to advance Cena.
Rating: C. Well if you need someone to look good, put them with Eddie. This was much more of a showcase for Cena and that’s a good sign. There’s little reason to go with anyone other than Cena to win this tournament after all the promos he’s cut on Brock but it’s very cool that he’s having to beat some bigger names to get there. Barring a surprise it’s going to be Eddie, Undertaker and Benoit, which is nothing to sneeze at whatsoever.
Hulk, his son Nick (with a freaking skateboard) and Jimmy Hart arrive. Nick: “Where’s catering?” He was annoying even back then.
Clips of Limp Bizkit at Wrestlemania.
Here’s Torrie Wilson for her Playboy coming out party, complete with the cover dropping down over the entrance. Torrie can’t believe so many people want to see her in the magazine. Torrie teases taking her top off….and freaking SABLE makes her return to interrupt. Cole: “She’s kicking!” The announcers do their “look at *insert name here*” stuff and it’s still just as annoying as it was when Al Wilson was around.
Sable says she’s having her own coming out party because she’s back. Torrie clearly just wants to be Sable and a lot of people think there’s no room for two Divas like themselves. Sable however thinks they’ll be the best of friends and gives her a peck on the lips. Naturally the announcers act like it was the most amazing thing they’ve ever seen.
Team Angle vs. Funaki/Tajiri
Non-title. The champs jump Tajiri to start, leaving Funaki to get backdropped. Shelton offers a quick bow so the Japanese guys beat him down and bow right back in a cute bit. Haas gets knocked to the floor but Shelton uses the distraction to jump Funaki from behind. It’s off to Haas, who would rather be facing Tajiri. That earns him a nice spinwheel kick to the face for two as the champs are in more trouble than you might expect here.
Shelton tries a cheap shot from the apron so Tajiri KICKS HIM IN THE FACE for his efforts. It’s back to Shelton to jump over Charlie and land on Tajiri’s back, setting up a Boston crab. Funaki makes a save to Tajiri can hit a double handspring elbow and clean house. A high crossbody gets two on Haas and there’s the Tarantula to Benjamin. It doesn’t last long though and Benjamin chop blocks Funaki, setting up the Haas of Pain for the submission.
Rating: B. Where in the world did this come from? This was WAY better than I was expecting with Tajiri and Funaki getting to showcase themselves for a change instead of just being jobbers. We often forget how talented some of these guys are and it’s a shame that they don’t get to show it off more often. You might get more surprises like this.
John Cena knows his chances against Undertaker are slimmer than a bus full of anorexic women. He’ll shock the world next week and leave Undertaker like a clean pool table with no balls.
The FBI comes up to Undertaker, who makes fun of their accents. They ask him to sit down for a chat and Undertaker, who have some coffee and asks if any of them are wearing a wire. Nunzio talks about whacking Nathan Jones at Wrestlemania, which was in retaliation for what Jones did to Palumbo last week. They want to bury the hatchet, which Undertaker can appreciate. However, he brings in Jones and the Italians bail. This was WAY out of the norm for Undertaker and felt really weird.
#1 Contenders Tournament: Rhyno vs. Big Show
Show smacks him down to start and steps on Rhyno’s chest. Rhyno gets tossed around some more as Show is in full on slow mode. A side slam gets two but Rhyno slips out of what looks like a powerslam. Show misses a charge into the corner so Rhyno hits a Gore in the corner, only to have to chase off A-Train. The regular Gore connects but A-Train comes in for the DQ. I’d hope Big Show thrashes him for that.
Rating: D. This was just a step above a squash until the ending, which was rather stupid and little more than a back door to save Big Show’s face. Rhyno vs. Benoit should be fun, though I’m not sure why I’d want to see Rhyno vs. A-Train. Then again, Rhyno should probably buy A-Train a steak for the free pass to the next round.
A-Train holds Rhyno for a legdrop from Show, who doesn’t seem to mind what A-Train did.
Here are the updated brackets:
Undertaker
John Cena
Chris Benoit
Rhyno
Here’s Vince for the big closing segment, which has a ton of time. Yeah he lost on Sunday and maybe he misjudged Hogan. Tonight though, Vince would like Hogan out here for a talk. Cue Hogan (thankfully minus the pest with the skateboard) so Vince can say Hulk has no idea how to deal with this kind of defeat. He’d like to turn the clock back twenty years if he could (meaning before Hogan had come back from the company) and maybe one day they could be friends again. Vince offers a handshake which Hulk doesn’t go for.
The boss heads to leave but Hulk asks if he’s serious and extends his hand. They shake hands and Vince leaves but Hulk says stop the music. He thanks Vince, who goes to leave again. Now it’s Vince saying thank you for all the memories. That’s all people are going to have though as Hogan is in the ring for the last time. Hogan may have pinned him at Wrestlemania but now he’s going to sit on the shelf for the duration of his new contract.
That way Hulkamania will rot and finally die a slow, agonizing death of leprosy. If Hulk has something to say about that, Vince will be waiting in the parking lot. Hulk goes to the back where Vince is waiting next to a limo. It’s Hulk’s limo though with Jimmy and Nick inside. Vince hides behind cops and tells Hulk to get inside, where Nick is begging him to just come on. Hogan gets in and leaves with Vince angrily gloating to end the show. This would be another example of building up a big match with a big stipulation, doing the match, and then ignoring the stipulation. Such is life in WWE and such is a reason why this story sucked.
Overall Rating: C+. This show was rolling and then the crazy long main event segment killed it. It was the better part of twenty minutes while none of the matches even broke seven, which makes for a fast paced start to the show and then a major grinding halt. I liked the tournament stuff and the faster pace with some good action, though next week is going to be a much better indicator of what the future is going to hold for Smackdown.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Main Event – August 31, 2017: I Still Can’t Get Over That Promo
Main Event Date: August 31, 2017 Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee Commentators: Vic Joseph, Corey Graves
It’s a shame that this can’t be your classic Memphis style show as it would give things a fresh blast of energy. That being said, I can live with dull wrestling if it means we get to see the Roman Reigns/John Cena promo again, which was easily one of the most entertaining things I’ve seen all year. Let’s get to it.
Opening sequence.
Dana Brooke vs. Alicia Fox
They lock up to start with Fox sending her into the corner but getting rolled up for two. A handstand splash gets two on Alicia but she comes back with some knees to the back. We hit the chinlock as it’s pretty clear they don’t have much to do here. The northern lights gives Alicia two but Brooke makes her comeback with some slams and a cartwheel splash for the pin at 5:20.
Rating: D. Thank goodness they didn’t have her job here in a meaningless match. I’ll never understand how someone can get back out there so soon after the kind of loss Brooke went through (her boyfriend died less than a week before this was taped) but it’s quite impressive that she’s back out there performing. The match was exactly what you would expect from something like this but I’m not going to hold anything against Dana at this point.
We look back at Braun Strowman laying out Brock Lesnar two weeks ago.
From Raw.
Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman for a chat. Heyman talks about what happened last week with Braun Strowman, who is the kind of monster that his parents warned him about. Strowman had an historic night at Summerslam when he, as Corey Graves said, monster handled Lesnar by powerslamming him through two tables. We see a clip of last week’s attack on Lesnar, which Heyman says made him know Strowman is a monster. At No Mercy, Lesnar is going to be ready for Strowman. Heyman explains what’s going to happen but Brock takes the mic. Brock: “What he’s trying to say is Suplex City b****.”
From Raw again.
Kurt Angle is in the ring for the contract signing between Cena and Reigns. Cena is out first to say that he’s on Raw to face one man and Angle has made that happen for No Mercy. He’s seen Reigns being treated as the untouchable star and we’ll see how he can hang at No Mercy. Cena signs and here’s Reigns. Roman says that as great as Cena is, there’s one thing that he’s done that Cena can never do: retire the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
Cena kneels before him and says some people are still trying to figure Reigns out. We hear about the fans wanting to see Cena change his ways (with the term heel turn being dropped in a rare moment) before Cena says Reigns is just a guy trying to fill shoes he can never fill. Cena isn’t a man at the end of his career with a bad hip. The reason Reigns won’t sign that is because the Roman Empire is done if he does.
Reigns says Cena sucks so Cena puts his arm around Angle and says the fans think he does too but he won a gold medal. Roman seems a bit shaken and lost for what to say. Cena: “Go ahead find it. I’ll wait. It’s called a promo and if you want to be the big dog you’re going to have to learn how to do it. SEE YOU FOURTH WALL!” Reigns gets fired up and goes on a rant that sounds straight off a message board, talking about how hard he works on the weekend so Cena can be on the Today Show.
Then Cena gets on his tour bus and shows up at a show if they pay him enough with the big shovel to bury people around him. Reigns is the one guy he can’t bury or see. Cena calls him out for being repetitive and says “it took you five years to cut a halfway decent promo but now I’m about to cut you down to size.” He talks about the mythical golden shovel but it’s always the fans who hold the keys and they always will.
Cena is tired of hearing the same thing for ten years by a lot tougher people. Here’s the thing: Cena hasn’t main evented Wrestlemania in five years and he was the opening match at Summerslam. He won the US Title and used it to introduce new stars to the WWE including Kevin Owens and AJ Styles (I believe he means Sami Zayn as AJ debuted way later). Reigns took the US Title as a demotion and now stands there blaming Cena for not being able to hang with him.
Cena has seen a lot of people trying to hang at this level and he’s heard about one guy getting to do it. Now he sees Roman face to face and gets the line of the night: “You’re lucky I’m a part timer because I can do this part time way better than you ever could full time.” Reigns signs and turns over the table….and the clip ends before Anderson and Gallows’ ridiculous cameo appearance can be mentioned.
Ariya Daivari vs. Mustafa Ali
Daivari takes him down without much effort and we hit an early armbar. A dropkick sends Daivari outside and we take a break. Back with Daivari eating a jumping knee to the face for two but grabbing a spinebuster for the same. Not that it matters as Ali’s rolling neckbreaker and tornado DDT set up the 054 for the pin at 8:20.
Rating: C. It didn’t have much time to do anything (remember the long break) and that’s kind of a shame. Ali has become one of the more consistent cruiserweight performers and Daivari isn’t the worst, as long as we don’t have to hear his lame promos. This was your standard Main Event cruiserweight match though and that’s not a good thing.
We’ll wrap it up here.
Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks
Banks is defending and gets rolled up for an early two. Sasha sends her hard into the corner and grabs an armbar. They’re starting with a slow pace and Bliss bails to the floor for a breather. There are the double knees from the apron and we take a break. Back with Bliss holding an armbar of her own before starting in on the back.
It’s off to a bow and arrow hold but Banks fights up without too much effort. The Bank Statement doesn’t work so Sasha goes with the running knees in the corner, only to miss a second attempt. Bliss goes with a hard right hand and a Code Red for a pretty close two. Banks gets in a few more knees and some aggressive forearms in the corner.
Back up and Alexa catches her in the corner by sending her face first into a buckle. A top rope superplex connects to bust up the back even more. Bliss is slow to cover and gets caught in the Bank Statement. That’s reversed into a rollup for two and there’s the DDT to give Bliss the title back at 15:00.
Rating: B. I’m really not getting the lack of successful title defenses for Banks. That makes four reigns and she’s lost the title in her first defense every time. As for the match itself, Bliss winning clean is an interesting call and the right one if you have to change the title. She looked better than she has before in the ring and is getting to the point where she can hang with the better workers. Couple that with the insane charisma and persona and she’s quite the force.
Post match Nia Jax comes out and destroys Sasha before putting Bliss on her shoulders. One electric chair later and Jax holds up the title over the new champ to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. The main event and the long promo alone make this an easy show to watch. As usual the original wrestling was nothing memorable in the slightest but I don’t think anyone watches this show for that content. Raw is still on a roll right now with even the recap shows being entertaining.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Monday Night Raw – March 31, 2003: Who’s Next? Eh It’s Not That Hard To Figure Out.
Monday Night Raw Date: March 31, 2003 Location: Key Arena, Seattle, Washington Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s time for one of the biggest Raw’s of the year and it should be interesting to see where things are going. HHH needs a new challenger after he sent Booker packing from the main event scene and Rock finally vanquished Steve Austin at Wrestlemania. There’s room for a lot of changes on the show at the moment so let’s get to it.
We open with a nearly four minute highlight package of last night. Nothing wrong with that after the biggest show of the year.
Opening sequence.
Rock is looking in a mirror when a makeup guy comes up, only to annoy the Great One. Tonight is Rock Appreciation Night and he needs to look perfect.
Here’s Austin to get things going in the arena. Austin says he’s always been honest since he’s been here and last night Rock was the better man. He’d like to have Rock come out here right now for a handshake but gets Eric Bischoff with some papers instead. Eric doesn’t buy Austin wanting a handshake and thinks it’s a ploy. The fact is Austin won’t be beating anyone up anytime soon.
The night before Wrestlemania, Austin was in a hospital so Eric had his lawyers look into a few things. While Austin was in the hospital for an anxiety issue, there’s a lot more to it than that. Bischoff reads off a bunch of neck and back issues that Austin is dealing with (apparently having stolen Austin’s personal medical records) and he’s not medically cleared to wrestle. Austin says he’s going to do whatever he wants and that includes fighting against doctor’s orders. That’s fine with Bischoff, who fires him. The FedEx is on its way to Austin’s home in Texas too.
HHH vs. Hurricane
Non-title. During the entrances, JR and King say that Goldberg will be part of the upcoming Backlash pay per view. Hurricane gives his mask to a kid so Flair takes it away and breaks the thing. HHH jumps him on the floor and takes him down with a spinebuster back inside. A vertical suplex is broken up and Hurricane’s jumping neckbreaker mostly connects.
Some jumping clotheslines and a Shining Wizard give Hurricane two but Flair trips him up. It doesn’t really matter as the chokeslam is good for two, followed by a high crossbody for a pretty good near fall. The Pedigree is broken up and the Eye of the Hurricane gets two more. The Blockbuster misses though and it’s a Pedigree to put HHH away.
Rating: C-. This would also be known as a “take that Rock” match as Rock went out of his way to give Hurricane a rub and then HHH beats him clean in about four minutes. Hurricane’s offense looked good and there’s nothing wrong with the World Champion getting a clean win but did it just NEED to be Hurricane? Seems rather petty but that’s how it goes.
Kane thinks he and Rob Van Dam should go their separate ways but Rob has already gotten them another Tag Team Title shot tonight. If they lose though, they have to join the Bischoff Administration. Kane is livid. Rob: “Dude……we’re gonna win.”
Goldberg video. He’ll be at Backlash.
Scott Steiner vs. Christopher Nowinski
Chris has a protective mask on his face and politely requests not to be hit in the face. Steiner threatens to make Nowinski floss with his shoelaces and Nowinski’s running doesn’t get him anywhere. Scott hammers him down and gets in a kick to the chest but Nowinski uses a headbutt with the mask to get a breather. Not that it matters as a belly to belly and the Steiner Recliner put Chris away in short order. Total squash.
Austin confirms that his neck is messed up.
Rock Appreciation Moment: a song montage. It really is amazing how much great stuff he packed into so little time.
JR goes on a heck of a rant against Bischoff for somehow getting Austin’s medical records and getting rid of him this way. Heck yeah JR. Medical reasons like Austin having a horrible neck and back? What kind of problems could those ever cause? I get what they’re going for with Bischoff finding a way to get rid of Austin but good luck getting me to take issue with protecting the neck/back of someone who already missed a year due to neck surgery.
The Dudleys aren’t happy with Storm and Morely. Here’s the Chief to tell them that they’re in the Tag Team Title match tonight as well where their jobs will be to get rid of RVD and Kane before laying down to retain the titles.
Flair comes in to see Booker T., who is getting his knee taped up. Booker chokes Flair for being annoying and shows why he’s one of the scariest men in wrestling. Seriously he was terrifying when he was shouting down at Flair.
Clip of Ashanti singing America the Beautiful.
Rosey vs. Maven
Fallout from Maven pinning Rico a few weeks back and of course that requires another match. Maven kicks him in the ribs but gets his head taken off with a clothesline. King ignores the match to talk about being a celebrity photographer for Playboy, which doesn’t cause nearly as much excitement as you would expect.
Rosey misses a charge in the corner and gets forearmed down, only to have Maven COMPLETELY miss a dropkick to Rosey’s back. The idea was supposed to have Rosey get knocked into Rico on the apron, likely for a rollup pin. Rosey starts to go into Rico anyway but thankfully realizes how stupid that would be since he wasn’t touched. They stumble around into an awful looking rollup to give Maven two, followed by a sunset flip to put Rosey away. This was terrible and made some of the Divas matches look horrible. By the way, Maven would have been a perfect choice (one of many) for HHH’s squash earlier rather than Hurricane.
Here’s Chris Jericho for a match but first he needs some respect. Jericho talks about having one of the best matches in Wrestlemania history last night and Shawn Michaels knows that he was bested. When people look back at the match, they’ll remember Shawn writhing in pain while Jericho walked out with his head held high. Tonight, he’ll take out his frustrations on Booker T.
Chris Jericho vs. Booker T.
Booker has a bad leg so Jericho goes after it before the bell. Some kicks and elbow drops have the leg in trouble but Booker kicks him over the top for a breather. Back in and a flapjack drops Jericho as JR praises HHH’s Indian Deathlock. There’s a superkick but here’s Flair for the DQ.
HHH comes out and it’s a 3-1 beatdown until Shawn makes the save. Jericho breaks up Sweet Chin Music though and it’s Shawn taking the beatdown, including the Walls. HHH gets the Indian Deathlock and the good guys tap. Yeah it’s still just an Indian Deathlock dude. Try the sleeper again.
Jeff Hardy vs. Steven Richards
Jeff is in all white, making him look like he’s off to paint an apartment. Richards gets sent outside early on but Victoria pulls him away before Jeff’s barricade running clothesline. Back in and a DDT on the arm gives Richards two and we hit the armbar as Jeff’s blue arm paint is all over Richards. Jeff makes the comeback and gets two off the leg lariat in the corner. The Swanton is broken up by Victoria so here’s Trish, who got out here WAY too fast, to kick her in the head. Now the Swanton can put Richards away.
Rating: D. The paint was the most interesting part of the match. This Jeff/Trish thing isn’t doing anything for me but I can’t imagine it’s going to be anything long term. They also need some fresh talent for the women’s division as Trish vs. Victoria all over again makes my head hurt.
Trish smiles at Jeff post match.
Austin says goodbye to the production staff and leaves.
Rock Appreciation Moment: Rock insults various crowds and people. “HE SAID TORONTO! THAT’S WHERE WE LIVE!” Still amazing.
Test calls Torrie Wilson because he’s dumb enough to do this when his girlfriend is around. Speaking of the girlfriend, Stacy comes up and innocently asks who was on the phone. Test gets nervous and says it was a wrong number. He tries to get Goldust to lie for him but the Tourette’s gets the better of him.
Rock finds the dejected production staff (who haven’t moved since Austin left) and says he’s got a big party after Rock Appreciation Night. I mean, they can’t come in or anything but the party will be happening.
Goldberg video.
Tag Team Titles: Dudley Boyz vs. Rob Van Dam/Kane vs. Lance Storm/Chief Morely
The graphic still shows the old title belt design. Morely and Storm are defending and this is elimination rules. Rob and Kane slug it out with the champs with Van Dam moonsaulting to the floor to take out the two of them plus Bubba as a bonus. Kane dives onto all of them and the fans are way into Van Dam, as is usually the case. We really get things going with Rob and D-Von as the fans want tables.
Bubba comes in to club Kane in the chest but takes a jumping clothesline for his efforts. A quick What’s Up slows Kane down but it’s right back to Rob for a bunch of kicks to the face. Everything breaks until it’s Bubba and Van Dam alone in the ring where Rob misses the Five Star. Storm tries to bring in a chair but D-Von takes it away and misses a swing, setting up the Van Daminator to get rid of the Dudleys.
Back from a break with Morely suplexing Van Dam and Kane making a save. Storm comes in and grabs a half crab, which isn’t even treated as a finisher anymore. To be fair, did anyone outside of WCW ever buy that as a good move? The hot tag brings in Kane as everything breaks down.
A really bad camera shot shows Van Dam’s top rope kick not coming close to Storm (which the announcers didn’t acknowledge, making it a bit less bad than Maven’s disaster earlier). There’s the double chokeslam on the champs and the Five Star to Morely gives Rob and Kane the titles.
Rating: D+. Kind of slow here but the ending was the only important part. Kane and Van Dam should have won the titles last night but the extra emotion here did make things a little better. At least the titles are off of Storm and Regal as they were setting new standards for uninteresting champions. The Dudleys didn’t really need to be there either but they didn’t hurt anything.
Bischoff has a contract of some kind and promises a big surprise.
Here’s Rock for Rock Appreciation Night/the most obvious debut ever. Rock has FINALLY come back to sea….all you jabronis appreciate him. The ROCKY chant breaks out and Rock says he doesn’t care for what happened to Austin earlier tonight. If Austin just had to get beaten last night, at least it was by the best. Rock brags about all the Rock Bottoms last night and the fans keep cheering him.
We get another montage of awesome Rock moments (edited off the Network due to the music), which still doesn’t get them to boo. He talks about going to Hollywood and coming back to boos as the fans FINALLY catch on….by chanting for Goldberg. Rock: “Don’t think you’re cool just because you know Rock’s accountant Ira Goldberg!”
Rock is out of people to beat though so this is the last time you’ll ever see him. He tells them what they can do with their booing…and here’s Goldberg. This would have been a heck of a surprise if they hadn’t said he would be at Backlash and then had Bischoff do the contract thing. Goldberg says Rock is next and a spear ends the show.
Overall Rating: C. This definitely felt like the post-Wrestlemania show with very little wrestling throughout and one match with any significant time. They set up a few things going forward but a lot of this show was about taking a breath after the hard push towards Wrestlemania. There’s nothing wrong with that and the Goldberg debut, while highly telegraphed, did feel like a big moment. Not a bad show, but it’s not the place to look if you want a lot of action.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
205 Live – August 29, 2017: Proof That It’s Working
205 Live Date: August 29, 2017 Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas Commentators: Vic Joseph, Corey Graves
We’re officially in the Enzo Amore Era on 205 Live and that makes me think doing my own dental surgery sounds like a good idea. It’s pretty clear that Enzo is going to be the next big challenger to Neville and the title, which actually gives me a mixed reaction. He’s already the biggest star on the show but that means he’s around more often and egads that sounds like torture. Let’s get to it.
The opening recap looks at Brian Kendrick vs. Jack Gallagher and the buildup to their No DQ match tonight.
Opening sequence.
The announcers chat for a bit.
Brian Kendrick vs. Jack Gallagher
No DQ and Gallagher is in street clothes. Kendrick says he’s a fighter as Gallagher stands perfectly still. They stare each other down for the better part of a minute before Jack uppercuts him into the corner and scores with a headbutt. Gallagher even breaks an umbrella over Kendrick’s back to put him outside as the violence starts cranking up. Some hard shots to Brian’s face sets up a whip through some equipment cases.
The beating knocks Kendrick down the aisle as Gallagher looks completely calm the entire time. It’s almost eerie really. Kendrick gets thrown onto the announcers’ table for some hard right hands to the head. The announcers’ table is loaded up but Kendrick comes up with a kendo stick to the ribs.
Brian sends him into the steps before tying Jack’s foot in the wires underneath the ring skirt. Now it’s time for the beating with the stick and Jack is busted open pretty badly. We stop for the medic to tend to Gallagher’s head and Kendrick has to stand around for a bit. Kendrick drops him with a DDT onto the bell and puts on the Captain’s Hook with the stick for the submission (though Gallagher is out) at 7:30.
Rating: C+. This needed more time but there’s a good chance that it was cut off due to the cut. It was nice while it lasted though and showed a different side of Gallagher, which he really needs to show. At the same time you need to have Kendrick get a bigger win once in awhile as him putting everyone over isn’t going to work forever. Good brawl, cut short by time.
Noam Dar, Drew Gulak and Tony Nese are ready for the six man tag tonight. Dar insists that he beat himself for having a bit too much fun the night before. Gulak thinks Enzo is going to tarnish the 205 Live. He believe in a better 205 Live and you can bet your bojangles that Enzo isn’t going to be a part of that. Nese says Enzo isn’t on his level.
Rich Swann vs. Ariya Daivari
TJP, still on crutches, is out for commentary. Daivari dedicates this to another Iranian wrestler. They fight over a wristlock to start with Swann dancing/nipping up to escape. Swann’s front flip into a dropkick gets two but Daivari starts in on the back. TJP talks about how he and Swann are both former champions.
The fact that he had to beat five people to become champion while Swann only beat one is just a detail. Swann’s running flip Fameasser gets two and something like Rolling Thunder gets the same. They head outside with Daivari getting the better of it and stealing TJP’s crutch, only to get small packaged for the pin at 4:08.
Rating: D+. Angle advancement instead of much of a match here as TJP vs. Swann continues. You know they’re heading to a big match down the line, even if it isn’t likely to mean anything. Well, at least until Enzo becomes the Cruiserweight Champion to turn the whole thing into a big comedy act.
Post match Daivari goes after TJP, who fights back with a variety of kicks and his knee appearing just fine. Swann watches all this in disbelief before handing TJP his crutch and leaving. TJP hits Daivari with the Detonation Kick.
Enzo comes in to see Cedric Alexander and Gran Metalik, offering some coaching tips on a dry erase board. Alexander says this isn’t the same as Raw and the two of them have more experience. This turns into a discussion of Enzo’s mother’s cooking and Gran Metalik being named Pepper Jack. He’s really not going to be able to stay a face long, or at least he shouldn’t.
Drew Gulak/Noam Dar/Tony Nese vs. Enzo Amore/Cedric Alexander/Gran Metalik
Before the match, Enzo calls this the realest in-ring debut in the history of 205 Live. Drew looks like Captain Underpants and Nese works at Chippendale’s. Enzo and Gulak start things off with Drew imitating the dance. It’s not like it’s hard to make fun of. Gulak starts talking trash as he cranks on an armbar, sending Enzo bailing to the corner. There’s no tag though so a front facelock takes Enzo down again.
Now it’s off to Alexander as Neville is shown watching from the back. Tony comes in to pose a bit but Cedric speeds things back up into a headscissors and dropkick to take over. It’s back to Enzo to eat a dropkick as the heels take over for the first time. A Downward Spiral gets Enzo out of trouble but everything breaks down with Metalik and Alexander hitting (well maybe as the camera went down too) stereo dives.
That leaves Nese to run Enzo over before he can dive (Corey: “I think, in a roundabout way, Tony Nese just saved Enzo’s life.”) and mocks the dance as well. Just in case you needed any more proof that Enzo is the star of this show and everyone else is chasing him. Cedric springboards in with a clothesline but gets sent outside so Gulak and Nese can hammer away while Enzo has the referee for reasons of general stupidity.
Cedric fights out of a chinlock and hits the handspring enziguri for a breather. The hot tag brings in Metalik for a superkick to Nese and the rope walk dropkick. Gulak saves Nese from a Swanton so Alexander takes Drew down, allowing for the hot tag off to Enzo. Eat Defeat (now the Jordunzo because of course it is) drops Dar (I had forgotten he was in this match) and a rollup with feet on the ropes pins Nese at 9:48.
Rating: C-. I’m not sure how to take this. For one thing I’ve talked for the better part of a year now about how I thought Enzo as a cheating cruiserweight would be great but sweet goodness now it’s actually happening. The character in this form has a short shelf life but if they put the title on him and make him the Honky Tonk Man of the division, he’ll be fine.
Here’s the way you can tell it’s working at the moment though: when else have I ever talked about someone on 205 Live this much? As you knew he would be, Enzo is instantly the biggest personality on the show and draws the most attention. If they could find some more people like him, this show could take off a bit more. As it is, it’s Enzo, Neville and everyone else a few miles beneath them.
The winners dance to end the show.
Overall Rating: C. This show flew by and that’s one of the better things you can say about 205 Live. They don’t have the most interesting stories in the world but if they get in, do their stuff and get out, it’s quite the entertaining way to kill most of an hour. The No DQ match was good and TJP vs. Swann is kind of interesting, though it would be nice if any of this stuff was going to mean anything. If Enzo gets the title though, those people will be getting a lot more attention in a hurry. Fine show this week though nothing worth going out of your way to see.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Smackdown Date: August 29, 2017 Location: Verizon Arena, Little Rock, Arkansas Commentators: Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield, Byron Saxton
We’re finally out of Brooklyn and it’s time to start the slow build towards Hell in a Cell. In this case that means we start dealing with the fallout of Shane McMahon costing Kevin Owens another shot at the US Title, which was the top story as we came out of last week’s show. Let’s get to it.
Here’s Jinder Mahal to open things up as Smackdown brings the party in a hurry. He’s ready for tonight’s tag match main event when he gets to deal with Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura at the same time. We get the same speech we always get: he’s tired of being disrespected because of how he looks and he should be revered. The Singh Brothers apologize to everyone in India, including their families and friends, but more importantly to Mahal. No one will ever lay another hand on him and they would like to kiss his feet to apologize.
Before they actually can though, here’s Shinsuke Nakamura to interrupt. The fight is on until Nakamura gets caught in the numbers game. Randy Orton, Nakamura’s partner’s tonight, comes in for the save but so does Rusev. The good guys are beaten down and Mahal poses. This was way longer than it needed to be and Mahal continues to be really uninteresting.
Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin vs. Ascension
Chad takes Viktor down without much effort and it’s off to Shelton, who doesn’t want to do a double suplex. A regular suplex gets two instead and it’s off to Gable for a suplex of his own. Viktor throws him to the floor though and we take a break. Back with Chad still in trouble at Viktor’s hands before it’s off to Konnor for some clubbing forearms.
Chad sends a charging Konnor into the post though and there’s the hot tag to Shelton. The Dragon Whip and a top rope clothesline have Konnor in trouble as things pick up. Everything breaks down and Chad sends Viktor into Shelton for a jumping Downward Spiral (Paydirt) and the pin at 7:16.
Rating: C-. This was the welcome to the tag division match for Shelton and Chad and that’s perfectly fine. I’m not sure how long they’re intending to have this team go on and it’s not like they’re hiding that. That being said, keeping them together for awhile would help the completely depleted tag division and it would be annoying to have another team put together for the sake of splitting them up again.
Baron Corbin is tired of hearing about how he blew his opportunity because it was John Cena’s fault. Thanks to him though, the US Open Challenge is back and he’ll just have to cash in on that.
Here’s AJ Styles to say the US Open Challenge is on right now.
US Title: AJ Styles vs. Tye Dillinger
AJ is defending. Hang on a second as Baron Corbin cuts Dillinger off on the ramp. Tye shoves him away but gets jumped from behind. Dillinger knocks him away again and gets inside for the opening bell. AJ slugs away to start but Dillinger breaks up the Phenomenal Blitz. Dillinger slugs away but gets kicked in the head, only to counter the Phenomena Forearm into the Tyebreaker. That’s countered as well and it’s the Calf Crusher to make Dillinger tap at 49 seconds.
Corbin jumps Dillinger again but gets forearmed down by Styles.
Mahal talks to Rusev in the back but Rusev says they’re not friends. He wouldn’t mind a title shot after the tag match either.
Mike Kanellis vs. Bobby Roode
Roode takes him to the mat with ease and gives us a GLORIOUS pose. Some chops in the corner and a hard elbow to the jaw keep Kanellis in trouble. The spinebuster sets up the Glorious DDT to end Kanellis at 2:46. Just a squash.
Here’s Aiden English for a song but Kevin Owens interrupts. Owens asks him to vacate the premises so he can talk about what happened last week in the main event. Basically it’s all Shane’s fault that he’s not the US Champion right now. Owens won the Universal Title one year ago today and now he’s standing year without his US Title. This never would have happened in the good old days when he was on Raw where Stephanie McMahon never would have let this happen.
Cue Shane to say Baron was Owens’ pick and turned out to be a very biased referee. Corbin didn’t even finish the match and that’s why Shane had to come out there in the first place. Owens insists he got screwed but Shane doesn’t want to hear it. Aiden needs to get back in the ring because he has a match right now.
Aiden English vs. Sami Zayn
Owens sits in on commentary. Aiden wastes no time in hammering away and grabbing a suplex for two. Sami fights up and throws him outside for the running flip dive, which draws Owens into the ring to take the referee’s shirt. Well they do say vertical stripes are slimming. As you might expect Sami isn’t sure what’s going on and the distraction lets Aiden jump Sami from behind. Owens adds a Pop Up Powerbomb and a fast count gives Aiden the pin at 2:24. I guess Shane was off finding a hot pretzel.
Video package on….Sgt. Slaughter? Sponsored by Burger King? Ok then.
Dolph Ziggler is asked what you can expect from him but he says you can expect…..nothing. He’s been around for ten years and it’s not fair that he’s just an afterthought. He’s really a star but he gets distracted by all the little things. Ziggler does the You Can’t See Me and wants to know what that even means.
On Raw too you have a guy playing a guitar and it makes no sense. Maybe he can hop on a four wheeler like Stone Cold did and pour beer over himself while pretending to drink it. Or he can paint himself up like Finn Balor or be a superhero called Zigman. If you want all flash and no substance, that’s what you’re going to get next week. I can’t imagine I’ll ever say this again but I’m rather interested.
Usos vs. New Day
Non-title but the winners get to pick the stipulation for the rematch. Wait what? Are you serious? They really have NO OTHER OPTIONS to determine this? Not a singles match? Or a coin toss? Or a spelling bee? Woods is limping to the ring with a sign around his neck saying “it’s sore” due to a knee injury suffered at a house show. The fact that he can walk on it is a very good sign at least.
Joined in progress with Jimmy charging into a Rock Bottom out of the corner. That’s enough for the hot tag to Kofi for some dropkicks and a dragon sleeper of all things to Jey. Everything breaks down and Jimmy offers a distraction so Jey can grab a rollup for the pin at 2:24 shown.
Carmella yells at James Ellsworth for screwing up last week when Natalya comes in and threatens to make her the Baron Corbin of the women’s division. They have a match next week and Ellsworth seems to like the idea. Carmella and Ellsworth leave so Naomi can come in and talk about the title rematch in two weeks. Cat jokes are made as well.
Lana, with the accent coming and going every few words, introduces Tamina for her match.
Tamina vs. Tina Stock
Stock goes after her as the LET’S GO JOBBER chant starts. Lana grabs a mic and orders that Tamina CRUSH. Tamina sends her into the corner for a knee to the head and a superkick for the pin at 59 seconds.
Tamina and Lana have a quick photoshoot after the match.
It’s time for Season 2 of the Fashion Files! We even have an opening sequence now with highlights of previous episodes, including a graphic saying “not at all starring Chuck Norris”. They’re back in the office (room Two B) with Breeze saying they need to solve their biggest crime now that vacation is over.
In order to do that though, they have new tech from the boys in the lab. First up we have some long distance listening device (headphones), a blacklight, a belt (to hold your pants up) and friendship bracelets. They turn out the lights to test the blacklight and see some arrows on their boxes, eventually pointing to their room sign. The blacklight reveals that it says Two B or Not to B, which leads them to suspect Aiden English because it’s Shakespeare you see.
Shinsuke Nakamura/Randy Orton vs. Rusev/Jinder Mahal
The good guys start brawling on the floor with the villains being sent into the barricade. We take a break before the opening bell and it’s joined in progress with Nakamura kicking Mahal in the head. Orton comes in and hammers away on the champ but the RKO is blocked. After a quick trip to the floor, a Singh Brothers distraction lets Rusev send Orton into the barricade and stomp away.
We hit the front facelock for a bit before Mahal comes in for a knee drop. Orton sends Mahal shoulder first into the post and it’s off to Nakamura to clean some house. The running knee to the ribs in the corner gets two on Rusev and Mahal has to break up a cross armbreaker. Everything breaks down and Mahal escapes the draping DDT so Orton hits a regular one. That’s rather odd. Orton can’t hit the RKO but it’s Kinshasa to put Rusev away at 7:30.
Rating: D+. Standard main event tag match here, which means the match was only ok. It was pretty clear that Rusev was just there for the sake of taking the fall, which I’m glad about as you don’t want your champion losing, even if he is Jinder Mahal. If nothing else it’s another thing you can add to the list of reasons why Rusev probably isn’t the biggest Mahal fan.
Post match Orton stares at Nakamura and lays him out with the RKO to end the show.
Overall Rating: C+. They got a lot of stuff on this show and that’s a good thing for once. Nothing felt like it overstayed its welcome, which made for a pretty easy show to watch. It’s also nice to see them setting things up in advance, which is becoming a trend. We now have two matches announced and one more announced for the following week. That’s not bad and gives me a reason to keep watching, which is more than you can often say about most shows. Good effort this week but there’s nothing worth going out of your way to see.
Results
Chad Gable/Shelton Benjamin b. Ascension – Paydirt to Viktor
AJ Styles b. Tye Dillinger – Calf Crusher
Bobby Roode b. Mike Kanellis – Glorious DDT
Aiden English b. Sami Zayn – Pop Up Powerbomb from Kevin Owens
Tamina b. Tina Stock – Superkick
Randy Orton/Shinsuke Nakamura b. Jinder Mahal/Rusev – Kinshasa to Rusev
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
….please tell me Big Cass won’t have company.After last week’s injury to Big Cass, two more names have suffered knee injuries and we already have a diagnosis on one.
First up is the one which doesn’t seem to be as bad. Samoa Joe was injured at a house show against John Cena and will be out a minimum of four weeks. Odds are he’ll be out of No Mercy but that’s not confirmed yet.
Then we have what might be the really bad one as Xavier Woods suffered a bad knee injury at a house show. Woods was going for a jumping DDT and got shoved off with his knee buckling on the landing. There is no word on how long he might be out but any time you hear the words “knee buckled”, it’s a really bad sign.
Monday Night Raw – August 28, 2017: Stick to the Plan
Monday Night Raw Date: August 28, 2017 Location: FedEx Forum, Memphis, Tennessee Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Corey Graves
We’re less than a month away from No Mercy and the show is already looking big. With Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar already on the card and some more potentially huge matches being added, this show has suddenly gone from a nothing pay per view to something pretty big. Let’s get to it.
The Miztourage is in the ring to open things up. Before Miz can get a single word out though, here’s Kurt Angle to interrupt. Angle talks about how the Intercontinental Title has been taking some hits as of late, there’s going to be a title match soon. Miz cuts him off to yell about the lack of respect the title has been shown as of late. It’s going to be fixed soon though as we’re going to have a battle royal right now with the winner facing Miz for the title next week.
Battle Royal
Big Show, Curtis Axel, Bo Dallas, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Finn Balor, Jason Jordan, Curt Hawkins, R-Truth, Kalisto, Goldust, Apollo Crews, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson, Elias
Big Show is now clean shaven. Hawkins (listed as Curtis) is put out at the bell and everyone else turns their attention to Big Show. That goes poorly for everyone else as Show cleans house and things spread out a bit. Kalisto is put out and the Hardys feed Elias to Show for some loud chops. Cole: “That’s music to Big Show’s ears.”
Anderson and Gallows get together to try and get rid of Show but it’s Balor’s assistance that finally gets rid of the giant. Elias (called Samson by Cole in what might be a mistake) decks Balor from behind and things break up again. The Miztourage gets rid of Truth and Goldust is put out as well at the hands of Anderson and Gallows.
Back from a break with Crews having been eliminated. Matt gets rid of Gallows and pulls Anderson to the apron for another elimination, only to have Gallows pull Matt out for the elimination. Miz saves Dallas as the referees are distracted and things settle down again. We’ve got Balor, Jordan, Dallas, Axel, Jeff Hardy and Elias to go.
Balor starts cleaning house but gets into a staredown with Jeff that gets the fans’ attention. Some running dropkicks in the corner have people in trouble, but here’s Bray Wyatt to eliminate Balor and then disappear again. Jordan starts throwing suplexes and gets rid of the Miztourage. There goes Elias, followed by Jordan at Jeff’s hands to give Hardy the win at 16:17.
Rating: D+. I like the choice of a winner there as Jeff is someone who can easily get a spot like this and even win the title. While I still think we’re heading for a Jordan title match at No Mercy, it’s nice to see someone get a surprise shot in the middle. Hardy winning the title wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world, but either way it’s a good idea to see him getting more of a singles push.
We look back at Braun Strowman laying out Brock Lesnar last week.
Alexa Bliss promises to regain the title tonight. Tonight, the goddess reclaims her throne.
Here’s Enzo Amore to talk about beating a giant like Big Cass last week. Not only can he hang with bigger men like him, he can also compete in the fast paced, high flying cruiserweight division. After bragging about winning money on Saturday’s fight, he dances around and announces his opponent.
Enzo Amore vs. Noam Dar
Amore spins out of a wristlock to start but gets kneed hard in the ribs. Dar pulls at the hair and knees away in the corner before being sent face first into the middle buckle. Enzo pops right back up and grabs Eat Defeat for the pin at 2:55.
Neville says if Enzo is his competition, he’ll be Cruiserweight Champion forever.
Here are Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman for a chat. Heyman talks about what happened last week with Braun Strowman, who is the kind of monster that his parents warned him about. Strowman had an historic night at Summerslam when he, as Corey Graves said, monster handled Lesnar by powerslamming him through two tables. We see a clip of last week’s attack on Lesnar, which Heyman says made him know Strowman is a monster. At No Mercy, Lesnar is going to be ready for Strowman. Heyman explains what’s going to happen but Brock takes the mic. Brock: “What he’s trying to say is Suplex City b****.”
Long recap of last week’s segment with Miz, John Cena, Samoa Joe and Roman Reigns, including their tag match. Cena vs. Reigns is confirmed for No Mercy and their contract signing is tonight.
Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins
Rollins and Ambrose did their entrances before the commercial and before the package. That seems like some mistiming, which you don’t see around here too often. Seth starts fast by sending Cesaro outside where he comes up holding his back. Back in and a standing moonsault gives Seth two but he’s sent outside as well. Ambrose and Sheamus have the staredown but Rollins catches Cesaro diving off the apron. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker cuts Rollins off though and we take a break.
Back with Cesaro dropping him with a gorilla press and rolling some gutwrench suplexes. A slam sets up Cesaro’s high crossbody but Seth rolls through for two. There’s the Sling Blade and a Blockbuster but Cesaro catches him on the top. Sheamus and Ambrose get into it on the floor and the distraction lets Cesaro hit a European uppercut for the pin at 10:19.
Rating: C+. I’m already over these teams fighting but that’s no excuse to not have the same singles matches over and over on Raw. Can’t someone just ask Paul Heyman for 842 ways to advance a feud without doing anything else? This seems to be the only idea they know and since there are almost no other teams, this is what we’re stuck watching.
Sheamus says he and Ambrose are up next.
Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose
They fight to the floor to start and it’s off to an early break. Back with Sheamus getting two off a top rope superplex and grabbing a Stretch Muffler (Brock Lock). That goes nowhere so it’s off to a Texas Cloverleaf instead. The ten forearms to the chest keep Dean in trouble and he hobbles into a boot in the corner.
Dean grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two but gets caught on top, setting up a super Regal Roll. The Brogue Kick misses but Dean can’t hit Dirty Deeds. Cesaro and Rollins get into another argument and the chase is on through the ring. The referee deals with Cesaro, allowing Seth to knee Sheamus in the face. Dirty Deeds is good for the pin on Sheamus at 10:45.
Rating: C+. Well at least they got it out of the way in a hurry. This was the obvious next match but please tell me they’re not just going to switch the opponents next week. The division feels completely depleted at this point and having these teams feud over and over again really doesn’t prove otherwise.
Emma is complaining about the whole Twitter thing again because she started the Women’s Revolution. Mickie James is sick of hearing about it (preach it) and has an idea: if Emma beats her tonight, she’ll Tweet anything Emma wants. If Mickie wins, Emma can’t say she started the Women’s Revolution again.
Mickie James vs. Emma
Emma has new music and they’re fighting over hashtags. Mickie kicks her down a few times but gets caught in a quick rollup to give Emma the pin at 1:42.
Emma grabs the mic and says she started the Women’s Revolution all the way to the back.
Kurt Angle is in the ring for the contract signing between Cena and Reigns. Cena is out first to say that he’s on Raw to face one man and Angle has made that happen for No Mercy. He’s seen Reigns being treated as the untouchable star and we’ll see how he can hang at No Mercy. Cena signs and here’s Reigns. Roman says that as great as Cena is, there’s one thing that he’s done that Cena can never do: retire the Undertaker at Wrestlemania.
Cena kneels before him and says some people are still trying to figure Reigns out. We hear about the fans wanting to see Cena change his ways (with the term heel turn being dropped in a rare moment) before Cena says Reigns is just a guy trying to fill shoes he can never fill. Cena isn’t a man at the end of his career with a bad hip. The reason Reigns won’t sign that is because the Roman Empire is done if he does.
Reigns says Cena sucks so Cena puts his arm around Angle and says the fans think he does too but he won a gold medal. Roman seems a bit shaken and lost for what to say. Cena: “Go ahead find it. I’ll wait. It’s called a promo and if you want to be the big dog you’re going to have to learn how to do it. SEE YOU FOURTH WALL!” Reigns gets fired up and goes on a rant that sounds straight off a message board, talking about how hard he works on the weekend so Cena can be on the Today Show.
Then Cena gets on his tour bus and shows up at a show if they pay him enough with the big shovel to bury people around him. Reigns is the one guy he can’t bury or see. Cena calls him out for being repetitive and says “it took you five years to cut a halfway decent promo but now I’m about to cut you down to size.” He talks about the mythical golden shovel but it’s always the fans who hold the keys and they always will.
Cena is tired of hearing the same thing for ten years by a lot tougher people. Here’s the thing: Cena hasn’t main evented Wrestlemania in five years and he was the opening match at Summerslam. He won the US Title and used it to introduce new stars to the WWE including Kevin Owens and AJ Styles (I believe he means Sami Zayn as AJ debuted way later). Reigns took the US Title as a demotion and now stands there blaming Cena for not being able to hang with him.
Cena has seen a lot of people trying to hang at this level and he’s heard about one guy getting to do it. Now he sees Roman face to face and gets the line of the night: “You’re lucky I’m a part timer because I can do this part time way better than you ever could full time.” Reigns signs and turns over the table….and here are Anderson and Gallows to make it a tag match in the most ridiculous ending to an amazing promo I can remember in a long time.
Cena DESTROYED Reigns here, making him sound like every other heel. Now if Reigns wins at No Mercy (which he probably will), everything will be fine for him but at the end of the day, almost no one ever can hang with Cena on the mic and he picked Reigns apart the entire time. If nothing else the lines about Reigns needing to learn promos and the fourth wall thing were outstanding. Now let’s get to this ridiculous tag match.
Anderson and Gallows vs. John Cena/Roman Reigns
Joined in progress with Cena in trouble in the corner as Gallows grabs a headlock. Anderson comes in for a chinlock as the announcers rave about everything Cena was saying. Gallows misses an elbow and the hot tag brings in Reigns. Roman cleans house and you can tell Reigns is ticked off here. The Superman Punch connects to both guys and it’s an AA and spear at the same time to give Reigns the pin on Anderson at 6:02.
Rating: D+. While I still have no idea what the point of this was, Reigns vs. Cena is going to be a huge match when we get to No Mercy. Cena’s promo is going to be talked about for a few weeks as he made the match feel even more awesome than it’s likely to be. If Reigns wins he’ll be fine, but he has a lot to make up for at this point. Now can someone explain to me why this match happened? I really don’t get it.
Here’s Elias to sing a song to the tune of Hound Dog about how much he hates Memphis. This brings Jerry Lawler out of his seat to say that Elias has a good voice but he’s missing his audience. While the people of Memphis might not appreciate what Elias is saying, they might appreciate this man: Southpaw Regional Wrestling’s own Pelvis Wesley (Heath Slater). Elias beats him up without too much effort. Cole: “I guess he didn’t want to walk with Elias.”
Miz and Maryse are annoyed at Jeff Hardy getting a shot by just winning a battle royal.
Sasha Banks is ready to beat Alexa.
Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss vs. Sasha Banks
Banks is defending and gets rolled up for an early two. Sasha sends her hard into the corner and grabs an armbar. They’re starting with a slow pace and Bliss bails to the floor for a breather. There are the double knees from the apron and we take a break. Back with Bliss holding an armbar of her own before starting in on the back.
It’s off to a bow and arrow hold but Banks fights up without too much effort. The Bank Statement doesn’t work so Sasha goes with the running knees in the corner, only to miss a second attempt. Bliss goes with a hard right hand and a Code Red for a pretty close two. Banks gets in a few more knees and some aggressive forearms in the corner.
Back up and Alexa catches her in the corner by sending her face first into a buckle. A top rope superplex connects to bust up the back even more. Bliss is slow to cover and gets caught in the Bank Statement. That’s reversed into a rollup for two and there’s the DDT to give Bliss the title back at 15:00.
Rating: B. I’m really not getting the lack of successful title defenses for Banks. That makes four reigns and she’s lost the title in her first defense every time. As for the match itself, Bliss winning clean is an interesting call and the right one if you have to change the title. She looked better than she has before in the ring and is getting to the point where she can hang with the better workers. Couple that with the insane charisma and persona and she’s quite the force.
Post match Nia Jax comes out and destroys Sasha before putting Bliss on her shoulders. One electric chair later and Jax holds up the title over the new champ to end the show.
Overall Rating: B. The wrestling was good, the hype for the pay per view was solid and the Cena promo was outstanding. It might not have been a perfect show or anything really close but they felt like they were executing a plan tonight. Raw is smoking Smackdown at the moment and it’s really not even close. Good show this week and one of their best in a long time.
Results
Jeff Hardy won a battle royal last eliminating Jason Jordan
Enzo Amore b. Noam Dar – Eat Defeat
Cesaro b. Seth Rollins – European uppercut
Dean Ambrose b. Sheamus – Dirty Deeds
Emma b. Mickie James – Rollup
Roman Reigns/John Cena b. Anderson and Gallows – Spear to Anderson
Alexa Bliss b. Sasha Banks – DDT
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Mae Young Classic – Episode Four: And There’s the Winner
Mae Young Classic Episode #4 Date: August 28, 2017 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Jim Ross, Lita
It’s the end of the first round here and there’s a good chance we’ll be seeing the tournament winner making her debut. There are a few big names still to go and that means it’s time for some showcases. We’ll also know the second round by the end of this episode and that means it’s time for big names to collide and things to really take off. Let’s get to it.
Long recap of the whole tournament so far and a preview of what we’re seeing tonight.
Opening sequence.
Video on Renee Michelle who is ready to show how awesome women can be.
Video on Candice LeRae, who is one of the biggest names in the tournament. She’s also married to Johnny Gargano but wants no special treatment.
Gargano is in the front row.
First Round: Candice LeRae vs. Renee Michelle
Feeling out process to start as a fan yells something that makes the crowd laugh. They trade rollups into a standoff as this is a VERY pro-Candice crowd. Candice sends her into the corner for a missile dropkick but Renee is back with kicks of her own. Renee gets kicked off and a jumping neckbreaker gives Candice two. Candice misses a charge in the corner but manages to avoid a middle rope moonsault. They head up top and it’s Miss LeRae’s Wild Ride (super swinging neckbreaker) for the pin on Renee at 5:37.
Rating: C-. Nothing to see here though you can tell LeRae is a step above a lot of these people. The fans are clearly into her and that’s the kind of reaction that’s going to guarantee at least a spot in the second round. Good enough match here with Michelle looking perfectly acceptable as well.
Video on Lacey Evans, a former Marine who has made some appearances in NXT before.
Video on Taynara Conti, a judoka from Brazil, who is ready to fight anyone.
Alexa Bliss (and I believe Bayley’s fan Izzy behind her) is here.
First Round: Taynara Conti vs. Lacey Evans
The fans get behind Lacey with the USA chants as Conti fires off some knees to the ribs. An armbar has Conti in some trouble until an over the head throw takes Evans down. A shot to the chest takes Conti back down and something like a Bronco Buster has her in more trouble. Evans throws Conti on her back for a kneeling piledriver and the pin at 4:43.
Rating: C-. Not much to see here and I’m a bit surprised that Conti, who seemed to be built up as a big deal, got beaten down that easily. Evans has been around WWE for a little while, now so her winning isn’t a big shock, but that was quite the quick exit for Conti. Evans doesn’t do much for me but she’s got something with the ex-military thing.
Video on Reina Gonzalez, a second generation wrestler and a powerhouse.
Video on Nicole Savoy, the self-described queen of suplexes.
First Round: Nicole Savoy vs. Reina Gonzalez
Reina is sporting chaps and a Phantom of the Opera mask. You see something new every day (weekly at worst) in wrestling. Feeling out process to start with the far smaller Nicole not being able to take Gonzalez down. A hurricanrana is shoved away and a hard clothesline drops Savoy. Reina plants her again with a sidewalk slam and a reverse Boston crab, only to get pulled down into something like a Kimura. A cross armbreaker works a lot better and Reina taps at 4:46.
Rating: C-. Not the worst match in the world but Savoy didn’t throw a single suplex, which was her main talking point in her video. Gonzalez was a bit slower than she probably should have been and that hurt things a lot. The ending hurt it a bit too as Nicole was dominated and then came back with two moves to win. That’s not the best thing in the world, but it was at least watchable. Kind of like Reina in general.
Video on Tessa Blanchard, another second generation wrestler who turns into a different person in the ring. She’s been around NXT for a good while now.
Video on Kairi Sane, a Japanese star who likes pirates. She’s probably the favorite in the whole tournament.
First Round; Kairi Sane vs. Tessa Blanchard
Kairi is very pale. Feeling out process to start with Kairi putting her on the ropes for a clean break. A cradle gives Kairi two and a running Blockbuster drops Tessa again. Tessa comes back with a running neckbreaker of her own before a middle rope Codebreaker gets two more. Some hard forearms stun Sane but she’s right back with a spear to cut Tessa off.
Something like a top rope Phenomenal Forearm drops Tessa for two and the fans are split again. Tessa gets two off a belly to back suplex and a top rope backsplash gets the same. Kairi’s sliding forearm is countered into a crucifix for two but she kicks Tessa down again. Kairi points to the elbow and drops one heck of a top rope elbow for the pin at 8:39.
Rating: B. I don’t know if it was enough to live up to Kairi’s hype but this was the best match of the first round. Tessa was more than game here and if she’s not pushed at least to like halfway to the clouds (the moon might be too far this soon), I’m not sure what WWE is thinking. Sane is likely the favorite to win the thing but it was a smart idea to have her sweat a bit in the first round.
They hug post match.
We don’t actually see the full second round brackets but here they are.
Abbey Laith
Rachel Evers
Princesa Sugehit
Mercedes Martinez
Nicole Savoy
Candice LeRae
Mia Yim
Shayna Baszler
Kairi Sane
Bianca Belair
Dakota Kai
Rhea Ripley
Serena Deeb
Piper Niven
Lacey Evans
Toni Storm
Overall Rating: C+. The main event alone is worth seeing and the rest of the card is more than watchable. It’s a lot better now that we know who is advancing to the second round as a lot of the deadwood has been cleared out. There hasn’t been that blow away match yet but the main event here was solid enough. I’ve liked what I’ve seen so far and the second round should be an upgrade, especially in match quality. Good show here and hopefully it keeps getting better.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here:
Mae Young Classic – Episode Three: I Don’t Get The Hair Thing
Mae Young Classic Episode #3 Date: August 28, 2017 Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida Commentators: Jim Ross, Lita
It’s time to start the second half of the first round and I’ve liked the tournament so far. It might not be anything great so far but the talent is there and they’re still in the opening stages, meaning we won’t be seeing any showdowns until the second round. That’s when these things get good but we have to get there first. Let’s get to it.
Mauro recaps and previews us again.
Opening sequence.
Video on Toni Storm, an Australian with an attitude. Oh and a little top hat. She’s also the first Progress Women’s Champion.
Video on Ayesha Raymond, the Deadlift Diva. I think you get the idea here.
First Round: Toni Storm vs. Ayesha Raymond
No handshake before the match. Raymond is much bigger but the fans are behind Storm. Toni backs out of a headlock and offers a handshake but this time pulls her own hand back when Ayesha goes for it. A running kick to the face sets up some hip attacks to drop Raymond again. Raymond is right back up with a side slam and corner splash as the pace slows. Toni avoids a charge in the corner and grabs a Backstabber as the Aussie fans start up again. A slam off the top puts Storm down but Raymond hops down instead of going after her. The delay lets Toni avoid a top rope splash and grab a rolling cradle for the pin at 4:28.
Rating: D+. Storm looked very good out there and has the charisma to back up the work. It’s easy to see why she’s getting a push on the independent scene and I’d like to see more of her. Raymond…not so much. She’s every generic power wrestler you’ve seen with little charisma and a confusing moment at the end where she stopped to yell at the fans instead of following up. It came off as stupid, which isn’t exactly the best thing to do in a big debut like this. But yeah, Storm looked awesome.
Charlotte and Sara Amoto are here. Can we just put both of them in the Hall of Fame already?
Video on Kavita Devi, the first Indian woman ever in WWE. She was trained by Great Khali so her future isn’t exactly bright.
Video on Dakota Kai, the girl next girl from New Zealand who can get very serious if necessary.
First Round: Kavita Devi vs. Dakota Kai
The much bigger Devi shoves her around without much effort and then walks the top rope into an armdrag in a very impressive bit of athleticism. A second version works just as well Kai’s dropkick has no effect and a gorilla press drop makes things even worse for her. Devi slowly walks around instead of following up though and gets caught with a running boot to the face in the corner. Kai is quickly up top and a double stomp ends Davi at 3:58.
Rating: D+. Much like Raymond, Davi didn’t show me anything here and it made for a dull match. Kai has a good look and seems to have the charisma to back it up but there’s only so much you can do against someone who was trained by Great Khali. Hopefully the next match is a better fit for her, which I can’t imagine being the case otherwise.
Rock’s family, including Nia Jax, is here.
Video on Bianca Belair, who is quite the well rounded athlete with a VERY long hair braid that is often used as a weapon.
Video on Sage Beckett, formerly known as Rosie Lottalove. She’s lost something like 150lbs and turned into quite the vicious brawler. Beckett talks about channeling energy to do whatever she needs.
First Round: Sage Beckett vs. Bianca Belair
The power showdown starts early with the bigger Sage (though Bianca is far from small) running her over and getting two off a shoulder. Belair comes back with a dropkick and a hard clothesline for two each as they’re beating each other pretty well here. Something like a running frog splash gets the same and it’s off to a double chickenwing on Sage. Back up and a Bubba Bomb gives Beckett (who was trained by the Dudleys) a near fall of her own and Bianca gets splashed in the corner. Belair gets tied in the Tree of Woe but avoids a Vader Bomb. A shot with the hair braid sets up a spear to send Bianca on at 5:25.
Rating: C+. I liked this one but it had some rough spots. Beckett is a bit better than your average monster, though it felt like she was just there for Belair to slay. As for Belair, there’s some awesome potential there due to natural athleticism but the hair thing isn’t working for me. It’s distracting and having her whip Sage back with it was too far for me.
Charly Caruso recaps things.
Video on Santana Garrett, who is billed as the Wonder Woman of the tournament and has appeared on NXT (and TNA) before.
Video on Piper Niven, a Scot with some size to her. She’s better known as Viper on the indy scene.
First Round: Santana Garrett vs. Piper Niven
Piper drives her into the corner and gives her a friendly shove to the jaw. The fans are split again as Garrett spins out of a wristlock. Niven easily powers out of something like a Black Widow, only to get kicked in the chest for two. A headscissors drops Niven but she comes right back with a crossbody for a near fall of her own. It’s off to the cravate, which JR compares to bangers and mash or fish and chips.
A clothesline gives Piper too as JR praises her for her simple strategy. Garrett gets two off a DDT and an Eat Defeat but a bulldog is broken up. Piper’s running splash gets two (looked great too) but she gets caught on top with a running strike to the face. The fans are WAY into these near falls and Santana’s superkick makes it even better. She misses a moonsault though and a backsplash sets up the Michinoku Driver to end Garrett at 7:10.
Rating: B-. Niven did more than most huge females do and that makes for an entertaining match. Sometimes you need a change of pace from all the same stuff and that’s why she’s going to shine so well. Garrett still seems to have most of the tools but needs some better coaching. You know, like at the Performance Center, where she’s still not signed for some reason.
The recap and preview finish things off.
Overall Rating: C. The good was good and the bad was tolerable but some of this stuff is starting to run together. There are definitely some people starting to stand out though and that’s what makes things more interesting. Avoiding spoilers for the most part has helped too, though when WWE.com is telling you who won some of the first round matches, it gets a little annoying. Still though, not a bad show but it’s yet to hit that high gear.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the Complete 2002 Monday Night Raw Reviews in either E-Book or Paperback. Check out the information here: