Smackdown
Date: November 14, 2002
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s the go home show for Survivor Series and that means it’s time for more Big Show. One of the big stories coming out of this week came on Super Tuesday when Stephanie McMahon announced that the Smackdown Tag Team Titles will be decided in a triple threat match, which should be an amazing spectacle. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar with Show dominating for weeks and Paul Heyman being at his wits’ end.

Heyman says Lesnar has a broken rib and is off the show by doctors’ orders. Big Show pops up and says he’ll call Lesnar out anyway. It’s nice to see someone knowing the cliches and ignoring them.

Opening sequence.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Edge

Both guys are on their own and Sunday’s triple threat is officially an elimination match. Edge armdrags him into an armbar before elbowing Chavo in the face. Chavo sidesteps a charge to put Edge on the apron but gets flapjacked for his efforts. A kick to the ropes hits Edge low though and Chavo takes over for real this time. We hit an armbar on the Canadian until Chavo goes up top, only to get dropkicked out of the air. The Edge-O-Matic gets two but Edge spears the buckle, allowing Chavo to get in a spear of his own for two. Not that it matters as the tornado DDT is countered into the Edgecution for the pin.

Rating: B-. I’m not surprised that this was good as Chavo really was a solid hand in the ring. He gets a bad reputation for his horribly dull stuff later in his career but when you just let him work a good match, he’s a rather entertaining watch. Nice match here and a really strong opener.

Rey Mysterio is talking about the match when he runs over to see the arriving Brock, sounding like a ten year old fan. Brock basically tells him to buzz off.

Dawn Marie comes up to see Al Wilson and is ready to invite Torrie to the wedding. Al isn’t sure but she talks him into it. As enjoyable of a visual as it is, I do like the fact that we’re supposed to believe Dawn (and Torrie for that matter) walk around on the streets in the outfits they were on the show. Dawn was just casually strolling around in a top that showed off half her chest and went all the way down to her waist. Totally normal travel gear right?

Heyman wants to know why Lesnar is here and Brock says it’s because that’s what the title is all about. Paul goes on a rant about the injuries Lesnar has suffered and how it’s going to go badly if Lesnar stops doing what the team should do. If Lesnar doesn’t leave now, there’s nothing Heyman can do to protect Brock from Big Show. Paul has an idea though. I’ll give them credit for this: they’re making Big Show sound like a threat. You know, assuming you forget that he’s Big Show.

Matt Hardy/John Cena vs. Rikishi/Tajiri

What a completely different team that first one would be today. Matt was the Fear Factor Champion and loves guacamole. Cole describes Cena as being “lost in the 80s”. Like that’s a bad thing. Tajiri and Matt start things off with a quick hurricanrana sending the Fear Factor Champion down.

It’s off to Rikishi to take care of both Matt and Cena until a Side Effect gives Cena two. Matt hammers away in the corner as the fans want Jeff. Rikishi drives Cena over to the corner for the hot tag to Tajiri and things speed up. Tajiri gets a running start and grabs a running faceplant which sends both guys into the mat (picture fighting over a vertical suplex but both guys jump up and swing around, landing face first). Matt’s hand is on Tajiri’s chest for the pin.

Rating: D+. I have no idea what they were going for with that ending. First of all, a faceplant for the ending? I’m glad Matt and Cena got the win but it felt like a fluke (with the announcers talking about how Matt’s hand just happened to land on Tajiri’s chest) and I really don’t get this one. Oh and make sure Tajiri loses and not Rikishi because he’s the star power.

Hardy makes Cena put him on his shoulders to celebrate.

Angle and Benoit yell over the title loss last week. Benoit brings up winning their last two singles matches. Angle: “YOU WATCH YOUR MOUTH YOUNG MAN!” Benoit: “I have more hair than you!” This goes back and forth until Angle mentioned that he’s an Olympic gold medalist.

Scott Steiner video. Can he debut already so I can endlessly mock him?

Heyman asks Big Show to not call Lesnar out tonight but doesn’t get an answer. I’d like an answer as to why Show has his own locker room and there are at least ten large suitcases visible. Does he carry his snacks in there?

Los Guerreros run into Edge and Rey Mysterio. Eddie wants a match with Rey later and promises to win the titles on Sunday. Spanish is spoken and Eddie hides behind Chavo, only to have Edge speak some Spanish and tell them to shut up.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio

Partners are banned from ringside. Eddie takes him down into a headlock to start but gets armdragged into an armbar. The tilt-a-whirl backbreaker plants Rey though and Eddie takes over for real. The arm work continues until Rey monkey flips him into the ropes. It’s already 619 time but Eddie pulls the referee in the way, knocking him nearly unconscious.

Chavo runs out for a Gory Bomb on Rey, allowing Eddie to add a powerbomb. Edge comes out to spear Eddie, drawing out the rest of the referees to drag them off. We take a break and come back with Rey hitting the Bronco Buster but getting tossed off the ropes. Eddie follows him out with a dive but takes too much time going up again, allowing Rey to grab a superplex.

A hard knee to Mysterio’s ribs sets up another armbar until Eddie lets him up for no logical reason. Rey springboards into an armdrag to send Eddie outside, followed by a slingshot hilo. Back in and Rey scores with the 619 but the West Coast Pop is reversed into the Lasso From El Paso (with something edited out). Eddie makes sure to grab the ropes, forcing Rey to tap.

Rating: B. I wouldn’t really consider that to be the biggest surprise. These two are capable of having good matches in their sleep and this was no exception, though Eddie working on the arm for a good chunk of the match didn’t make a lot of sense. Also, it was nice to have them do all the run-ins early on and then have a long stretch of the match follow them up. Good match here, as expected.

Torrie can’t talk to her dad but he follows her anyway. Eventually she says Dawn is just using him. Al just wanted to invite her to the wedding but she won’t go. She calls her dad an old fool.

Billy Kidman vs. Jamie Noble

Non-title. Jamie goes straight after the arm by wrapping it around the ropes. A keylock doesn’t get Noble very far either so Kidman gets in a dropkick for two. The tiger bomb gives Noble two but Kidman reverses the cover into a rollup for two more. Kidman flips over him out of the corner and gets in the BK Bomb for no cover. That looks to set up the shooting star press but Nidia offers a distraction. Jamie pops back up and tries a superplex, only to have Kidman tie the legs up for a small package and the pin.

Rating: C-. This didn’t have time to go anywhere but it set up Sunday’s match, thankfully without having Kidman hit his finisher. Instead he won off a quick pin, making it look like he can beat Noble without completely destroying him. As little as I don’t like having the champ lose, it’s about all they could do in the three and a half minutes they had out there.

Dawn consoles Al, who she loves. He puts his head on her shoulder and she gives a bit of an evil smile. This is the THIRD SEGMENT this story has gotten.

Heyman tells Lesnar about going to see Big Show. Lesnar isn’t happy and says he’s going to call Show out this time.

Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

Before the match, Angle laughs off the idea of either other team being a challenge to him. He’s a better athlete than Benoit, is better looking than Edge and has actually grown, unlike Mysterio. Cue Los Guerreros and the champs to watch from ringside. Angle starts fast by snapping off the suplexes but Benoit comes back by just hitting him in the face. A backbreaker gives Benoit two before Angle sends him outside, leading to a whip into the champs.

Back in and Kurt rolls the German suplexes for two but the Angle Slam is countered into the Crossface. That’s reversed into the ankle lock until Benoit rolls out, only to get caught in the Slam. Kurt grabs the Lasso From El Paso, drawing Eddie into the ring. It doesn’t last long as he’s launched out to the floor, triggering a brawl between Los Guerreros and the champs. Everyone comes in and that’s a no contest.

Rating: B-. The time killed it but much like Mysterio vs. Guerrero, these two are almost a guaranteed awesome match. They’re building the heck out of the triple threat tag, which is pretty easily bigger than Lesnar vs. Big Show, at least in the amount of hype it has. Let those six guys tear the house down and the extra build here helped.

Edge and Mysterio clean house and put Kurt in a double ankle lock. Eddie and Chavo make the save so it’s an ankle lock to Eddie and a Crossface to Edge. Benoit and Angle shake hands but Kurt hugs him instead, giving us a hilarious look from Benoit when it goes too long.

Lesnar yells at Heyman for telling him to stay out of the ring.

We run down Sunday’s card.

Here are Lesnar and Heyman with Brock calling out Big Show. Heyman tries to take the mic away and is told to shut up. Show finally comes out and Lesnar spears him into the steps, puncturing Show’s forearm with the blood flowing out like a fountain. Two big chair shots to the head bust open Show’s head and the chair is bent over his back. I remember watching this live and thinking it was the first time I thought Lesnar was awesome. If this was meant to be his full face turn, it worked quite well.

Overall Rating: B+. Survivor Series is certainly going to be interesting at this rate. The Tag Team Title match looks great on paper, Show vs. Lesnar could be good if Brock gets to be the Beast, the Elimination Chamber……well I think we all know where that’s going. This was the big hard sell show and it did make me want to watch the pay per view again, though it certainly seems to be walking a tightrope, which almost never works. Still though, three quite good matches and some other passable stuff sprinkled in (save for the Dawn/Torrie stuff which won’t end) makes this another high quality Smackdown.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

So one of the biggest stories going on in recent weeks has been the Mauro Ranallo vs. JBL issue. While we don’t know all the details yet, it seems that JBL kept yelling at/insulting/tormenting Ranallo, who has bipolar disorder, to the point where Ranallo had a major issue and is likely gone from the company as a result.

Without getting into the full bullying debate, I’d say there’s a difference between some low level hazing (for example, NFL rookies having to buy the doughnuts or pick up the shoulder pads etc.) and treating someone like garbage every single day. This would seem to fall into the latter category as there’s a very firm line between treating someone a bit rough for a day or two, patting them on the back and saying glad to have you aboard and this stuff, which seemed to go on for a long time.

JBL has a LONG history of this kind of thing and allegedly Vince loves it, which is a major part of the problem. Joey Styles punched him in the face over it but how many people over average size who aren’t wrestlers or athletes of some kind are going to punch a loud mouthed 6’6 wrestler with a reputation for being tough when they’re being supported by the king of the wrestling business?

This is nonsense and something that people shouldn’t have to put up with. Ranallo was just there doing his job and yeah he would seem to go a good bit over the top at times but that doesn’t mean you have to berate him, often in public. Talk to him backstage in private or something but don’t treat him like this. Vince needs to get over himself as well (yeah I know) as this is nonsense and shouldn’t continue. I don’t think JBL will be fired at this point but if the story keeps getting picked up, that very well may change.

Super Tuesday
Date: November 12, 2002
Location: FleetCenter, Boston, Massachusetts/Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Tazz

This is a one off special that aired on UPN as a way to help hype up Survivor Series. Each show taped a bonus match so we have something from both sides, though odds are neither of them are going to be anything worth watching. As unimportant as these things are, there’s nothing wrong with some bonus wrestling. Let’s get to it.

The opening sequence is a fairly catchy mix of Beautiful People and Across the Nation.

Stephanie McMahon makes her big Survivor Series announcement: the Tag Team Title match is now a triple threat with Edge/Rey Mysterio defending against Los Guerreros and Kurt Angle/Chris Benoit. She’ll hang onto the titles tonight, which is code for “this was taped before Edge and Mysterio won but airing after.”

Edge vs. Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero

Ever the smart one, Eddie hides on the floor while Benoit stomps Edge down in the corner. Edge gets in a belly to back suplex for two on Benoit, drawing Eddie in for the save. All three are in the ring for the first time with Edge beating both of them down until Eddie gets in a shot from behind to take over again.

We take a break and come back with Benoit working over both guys, only to have Edge score with a double missile dropkick. Eddie misses the Frog splash and gets taken down by the half nelson faceplant, only to have Benoit Crossface Edge. That’s not enough for Benoit so he grabs the same thing on Eddie with Edge making the save.

A spear gets two on Benoit but here’s Chavo for a distraction, leading to a ref bump. Cue Rey to take Chavo out as Benoit Crossfaces Eddie for the unseen tap. Angle runs out and throws the referee in, breaking up the hold by mistake. Benoit yells at Angle and gets rolled up as Eddie steals the pin.

Rating: B-. Good but nowhere near as good of a match as you would expect from these guys. They’re all very talented but they’re a step higher up with their partners and there’s nothing wrong with that. Guerrero winning is a good idea as he and Chavo are the only ones who haven’t won the titles yet.

Long video on Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar.

Here’s Big Show for a chat. He talks about hurting people and promises to win the title. Show wasn’t even in the ring for 70 seconds.

Video on the Elimination Chamber, the same one from Raw.

It’s time for a bikini contest between Torrie Wilson and Trish Stratus. Trish is in black, Torrie is in skin colored and Nidia is in the ring to interfere before the crowd has to win (Torrie’s cheer was louder).

Time for the Raw half, starting with the Shawn vs. HHH video from Monday. Just like Monday, the other four people in the Chamber aren’t even mentioned.

Shawn doesn’t know who is winning on Sunday but knows it won’t be HHH.

HHH/Chris Jericho/Christian/3 Minute Warning vs. Booker T./Kane/Rob Van Dam/Bubba Ray Dudley/Jeff Hardy

Thankfully a commercial eats up a lot of the entrances. Jeff and Jamal get things going with Hardy being tossed around like he’s a small guy being tossed into the air by a large Samoan. Christian and Bubba come in with the Canadian taking a hard pounding in the corner. That means it’s back to Jamal vs. Van Dam as they’re certainly not wasting time here.

Rob dropkicks him down but HHH pulls Van Dam into the corner as the heels take over for the first time. Jericho gets in a few stomps but misses a dropkick, allowing the hot tag to Kane so house can be cleaned. Kane destroys everyone, leaving seven or eight people to fight on the floor.

Chris gets the Walls on Van Dam but Booker makes the save with a superkick. That triggers the parade of finishers with Kane chokeslamming HHH but Christian makes a save. Van Dam dives onto a bunch of people, leaving Flair to hit Kane in the back with a chair. The Pedigree puts the monster away because HHH hasn’t gotten rid of him yet.

Rating: D. This was dragged down due to the amount of people involved and there’s not much of a way to fit ten people into less than nine minutes. Oh but rest assured there’s ALWAYS time for HHH to pin someone. We didn’t really have another choice either as Kane isn’t Shawn and therefore there’s no reason to have him win because he doesn’t have a chance on Sunday.

Overall Rating: D+. Pretty big waste of time here with the main event being more insulting than anything else. The opener was fine and the women looked great but anything on here could have been done on TV. It wasn’t so much bad as much as it was completely unnecessary, which is often worse. At least it was short though and you could fast forward through a lot of the recap videos.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: November 11, 2002
Location: US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, Ohio
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Survivor Series 2002 and that means we’re in for a lot of talking about the Elimination Chamber. Why do I have a feeling that means we get to hear about HHH being amazing and being able to overcome the odds? I know the others are just window dressing around the HHH vs. Shawn match but would at least giving us a reason to believe something is possible be that much to ask? Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

HHH vs. Booker T. later tonight and Shawn is here as well.

Tag Team Titles: Rob Van Dam/Kane vs. Chris Jericho/Christian

Christian and Jericho, coming out to Saliva’s King of the World here, are defending. Van Dam and Jericho run the ropes to start with Rob scoring off a kick to the jaw and the standing moonsault. Kane comes in to a very nice pop and punches Jericho out of the air. Everything breaks down in a hurry with Kane chokeslamming Jericho but the referee is distracted, allowing Christian to get in a low blow. Can we please get a referee who isn’t a complete screwup for once? It’s amazing how only one or two ever have been able to get this stuff right.

Christian works Kane over for a bit until it’s off to Van Dam without too much trouble. Rolling Thunder gets two on Christian but Jericho offers a distraction, allowing Christian to shove Van Dam to the floor. Things settle back down with Jericho getting two off a belly to back and grabbing a chinlock. Jericho stops to dance and actually hits his running crotch attack to the back of the neck.

The champs try some double teaming with Van Dam clotheslining Christian, allowing the hot tag to Kane. Everything breaks down again and the top rope clothesline misses. The Canadians suplex Kane down but he pops up for a chokeslam on Christian. Jericho is right back up for a belt shot to the mask, leaving Van Dam to Five Star Christian for no cover. Kane rolls onto Christian but Jericho hits him with a chair for the DQ.

Rating: B-. This was getting really good near the end with the cheap ending to save everyone. Jericho attacking Kane before Sunday made sense but the Tag Team Title situation is still kind of a mess. Christian and Jericho are probably the best option they have but it would be nice to have some regular teams instead of just throwing people together for a change.

Jericho wears Kane out with the chair.

Post break, Jericho says he’s winning the match no matter what. Christian says he’s the official alternate for anyone who can’t make the match. Jericho chairs him down because no one is winning that match but him.

Video on HHH vs. Shawn Michaels because, again, Sunday is all about them.

Booker is warming up when Ace Reporter Gregory Helms comes in to ask about the Chamber. Booker has been doing more thinking than Abraham Lincoln because he’s ready to beat up HHH, you dig? Goldust comes in to talk about the size of his microphone and mentions that they’re teaming up tonight to face Test/Steven Richards. Goldust: “Beware of the testicles because they’re becoming stronger.” To clarify, he’s NOT talking about Test’s fans.

Jeff Hardy vs. Lance Storm

JR yells about Storm and Regal carrying their flags on Veterans Day. For those of you unfamiliar, it’s also the Canadian and UK’s Remembrance Days, making this day important to all countries. Jeff doesn’t even have a flag but JR doesn’t bother complaining about that. An early crucifix attempt is countered into a Regal roll for two on Hardy and a backbeaker is good for the same.

Jeff’s legdrop between the legs gets a fast two but Storm sends him hard into the corner to work on the back some more. Lance cranks on the arms but gets caught by a mule kick to the chest to start the real comeback. The Whisper in the Wind gets two and they seem to botch a whip so Jeff gets two off a rollup instead.

Hardy sends him to the floor where Regal offers some help. As you might expect, Jeff tries to run the barricade but manages to fall off, setting up a regular double clothesline instead. Somehow he mess THAT up too as he misses Regal and only grazes Storm. Tommy Dreamer runs out to take care of Regal, leaving Jeff to hit a reverse Twist of Fate and the Swanton for the pin.

Rating: D+. So that was a mess and I can’t imagine it can be blamed on anyone but Jeff and his dealer. While he would have worse matches than this later on, it was clear that Jeff didn’t need to be in the ring at this point. It wasn’t the worst match in the world but I’d be scared to see what would happen if Hardy was in there with someone less talented than Storm.

We look back at Victoria attacking Terri last week.

Eric Bischoff has made Terri vs. Victoria for tonight. Terri freaks out as you would expect but Victoria is in the ring calling her out for looking like Trish Stratus. Terri says she’s not a wrestler (well duh) but Eric says go wrestler or get fired. He brings up her daughter because he’s a good heel boss.

Post break, Terri comes out and tries to beg off because there’s nothing for Victoria to prove. Victoria lets her off from the match but beats her up anyway. Terri loses her top (of course) but hits Victoria with a shoe. That earns her a slam on the ramp and a whip into the steps. Charles Robinson tries to break it up and gets hit low, leaving Victoria to grab a ladder. Trish finally comes out for the save.

Batista is walking through the back when Ric Flair comes out of HHH’s locker room (no idea how Flair knew Batista was there) to say how impressive Batista is. Batista won’t shake his hand but does say thank you.

D’Lo Brown vs. Dave Batista

JR tries to convince us that Brown has a chance here as the big clothesline, spinebuster and Batista Bomb wrap this up in a hurry.

Thank you veterans.

Here’s Shawn for a chat. By now, everyone knows how he believes in his God, his family and in each and every one of them. The thing is he’s human, and that means he also believes in retribution. Shawn doesn’t know what an Elimination Chamber match is but he didn’t know what a ladder match, the Cell or a Marathon match was but they wound up going just fine. Well he lost the first two ladder matches, nearly died in the Cell and apparently can’t remember the name of the third so this might not be the best idea.

It was only four years off with a career ending back injury but hey, it could happen! He might not be the Heartbreak Kid anymore but he’s still Shawn Michaels and that might be enough. Shawn really doesn’t care about winning the World Heavyweight Championship. All that matters is making sure HHH doesn’t walk out with the belt. Shawn believes all things are possible and it’s possible that he’s the next champ. Cue HHH to say that in this arena, he’s god. The brawl is on and HHH leaves him laying with the Pedigree. Referees come out to break up the sledgehammer swing.

Dudley Boyz vs. 3 Minute Warning

Jeff Hardy is here as there’s a six man tables match between Bubba/Spike/Jeff vs. Rico/3 Minute Warning on Sunday. Normally I would ask why Rico wasn’t facing Jeff earlier but Storm was the better option all Jeff issues considered. Bubba beats up both Samoans to start and Spike adds a top rope double stomp to Jamal’s ribs. A backdrop sends Spike to the floor for one heck of a crash. The slow beating sees Spike being sent outside but Bubba tags himself in on the way through the ropes. Bubba cleans house as Jeff beats up Rico. Jamal gives Bubba the pop up Samoan drop for the fast pin.

Jeff beats up all three bad guys but misses the Swanton as Rico is pulled to safety. Jamal splashes Jeff and Spike through the same table for a huge crash.

Scott Steiner video.

Here’s Christopher Nowinski to say Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame. Never mind of course as he’s just doing an experiment in crowd manipulation.

Al Snow vs. Christopher Nowinski

Snow charges the ring and Nowinski drops the mic for a rather loud noise. A headlock takes Chris down and a right hand to the jaw makes things even worse. Nowinski grabs a rollup and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin.

Chris goes after him again post match but Maven makes the save.

Here’s Eric Bischoff for a chat. After a quick plug for tomorrow’s Super Tuesday special, we get a video on the making of the Chamber. Eric actually explains the concept and that’s about it.

F-View shows us Steven Richards trying to get Stacy to be his marketing agent too. In other words, he wants her to spank him with the kendo stick. Test does it instead and Stacy bends over for something but……RNN BREAKING NEWS!

Orton has suffered a setback in the form of a chaffed shoulder due to a bad sling. It’s been solved though and his recovery will be fine.

Trish says buy Anthology.

Hurricane/Goldust vs. Test/Steven Richards

Test beats on Hurricane to start before it’s off to Richards who takes a Blockbuster. Richards hits Test by mistake and the Eye of the Hurricane gets two. Everything breaks down and Test Rolls the Dice on Hurricane for the fast pin.

Richards hugs Stacy so Test beats him up. Test: “DON’T YOU EVER TOUCH ONE OF MY TESTICLES!”

Booker tells HHH that he’ll win on Sunday. There are five opponents on Sunday and someone is beating HHH. The champ holds up five fingers and slowly counts them down. I think you get where this is going.

HHH vs. Booker T.

Non-title. Booker spinwheel kicks him down at the bell and scores with a suplex on the floor. That earns Booker a whip into the steps and the jumping knee/facebuster back inside. Naturally the announcers are talking about college football with JR getting overly annoyed. Booker elbows HHH in the face to set up the ax kick but has to slam Flair off the top. Flair gets kicked to the floor but it’s a low blow in the Pedigree to give HHH the pin.

Rating: D. And so much for Booker, just in case you thought he had the slightest chance of pulling off a miracle on Sunday. There was no reason to have him lose here other than to make sure you knew HHH was the star. Booker didn’t have to win but do a no contest or something other than having Booker lose like this. Then again he’s already lost all the credibility he could have had in the first place so this doesn’t exactly cripple him.

Shawn comes in to beat on HHH and Flair but all six Chamber participants come in for the brawl. Everyone hits everyone as this goes on WAY too long. Shawn eventually gives HHH a Pedigree but gets chaired by Jericho to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. This show managed to kill off the Elimination Chamber before the thing even debuts. WWE is making one thing very clear: HHH and Shawn Michaels are all that matter on Sunday and the other four are just window dressing. They really would have been better off doing a cage match or something like that but I guess Shawn isn’t ready to do that kind of thing yet. Either way, there’s no secret that the other four have no chance and WWE isn’t bothering to hide it.

The rest of the show continued to showcase how worthless most of Raw really is. We sat through a bunch of short, worthless matches that aren’t interesting and didn’t do anything to make me want to keep watching. Everything feels either sloppy or lethargic with nothing that would even remotely classify as a hot feud. When you factor in that it’s being compared to the recently amazing Smackdown, the show somehow feels even worse, if that’s possible.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Going over each pick and what they could/do mean, plus an overall look at the Shakeup.

https://wrestlingrumors.net/kbs-review-shaking-shakeup/

205 Live
Date: April 11, 2017
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

We’re in the post-post-Wrestlemania era now and that means things can start to get back to normal. Last week Austin Aries became the new #1 contender to the Cruiserweight Title but since his win, Cruiserweight Champion Neville has been getting inside TJ Perkins’ head. This could mean a potential change to the title match so let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Aries vs. Neville, as well as Aries winning last week’s #1 contenders match.

Opening sequence.

Brian Kendrick vs. Mustafa Ali

Kendrick works on the arm to start as we hear about Drew Gulak’s quest to get rid of high flying. Graves calls it the WWE equivalent of a mother in law. More arm work frustrates Kendrick out to the apron and things slow down a bit. Ali pops up and moonsaults over Kendrick in the corner before sending Brian outside again.

The first big dive takes Kendrick down and we cut to Gulak watching in the back and getting rather annoyed. Kendrick crawls underneath the ring and pulls Ali’s shoulder into the post to take over for the first time (nice idea with the veteran presence etc). We hit a seated cobra clutch for a bit before a good looking spinwheel kick drops Brian again.

The rolling neckbreaker gets two and Kendrick charges into a knee in the corner. Brian breaks up the inverted 450 and grabs the Captain’s Hook for….a bell without a submission. The referee says the match isn’t over and we see Akira Tozawa holding the bell up. Kendrick is livid and gets kicked in the head again, setting up the inverted 450 for the pin at 9:14.

Rating: C+. Good match here and you can see Tozawa starting to get the hand over Kendrick, who isn’t going to take this well. It also helps that Ali was close enough to the ropes that you could believe he wasn’t finished so he comes off looking fine too. Nice stuff here as the long form storytelling is still working.

Tozawa says that’s Lesson #2.

We look back at Neville getting inside Perkins’ head, leading to Perkins defeating Aries on later that night on Raw.

Perkins thinks Neville is right because he’s the hero of the Cruiserweight Classic but can’t get a break around here. Jack Gallagher comes up to say this is poppycock but they’ll have a match later tonight. Perkins doesn’t want to hear it.

Rich Swann vs. Johnny Ocean

Johnny stomps away in the corner to start and shouts a lot in the process. Fans: “WE DON’T KNOW YOU!” Swann shrugs it off and kicks Ocean down, setting up a jumping splash. The Phoenix splash wraps Ocean up at 2:16 and you can hear him tell Swann “thank you so much” during the count.

Post match Swann talks about sending presents to Alicia Fox but here’s Noam Dar to interrupt. Swann is LYING about giving her those presents and blows are about to be struck, only to have Fox come out. She believes Dar but she’s seen Swann looking at her. Cue a courier with another present, which Dar says is from him. Fox opens it and is covered with exploding powder. That’s uh….quite the plan from Swann. It’s a good thing he knew Dar would not only be in the arena but also knew that he’d come out there in time.

Aries thinks Neville wants Perkins around as a puppet instead of a friend. It turns out that Aries is a puppet master so he’s capable of dealing with this. Now if you’ll excuse him, he has a banana to finish.

TJ Perkins vs. Jack Gallagher

Gallagher goes to his usual bag of tricks early on with the hand walk to escape a headlock, followed by an armbar, complete with a toss of his hair. TJ gets taken to the mat and caught in a headscissors, only to bounce back and forth to escape. That earns him a dropkick to the floor but Perkins runs off before it can be Mary Poppins time.

Back in and Perkins has to pause due to the corner headstand spot but he can grab a DDT on the leg to take over. The leg work begins with Perkins stomping away and wrapping it around the bottom rope. We hit an Indian deathlock, followed by something between a Sharpshooter and a Figure Four in a pretty cool looking hold.

Unfortunately TJ turns it over and puts Gallagher right in front of the ropes so it’s quickly broken but it did look good while it lasted. Perkins takes him right back to the mat and grabs another leglock, this time while grabbing the arms in a butterfly lock. Gallagher grabs his own foot and pulls it away for the escape before grabbing a modified powerslam for two. With the leg almost completely gone, Jack takes him to the top for a belly to back superplex and one heck of a crash.

TJ rolls outside but gets pulled back inside, only to grab a kneebar. Somehow Gallagher manages to roll over for the rope but goes with a spinning backbreaker onto the bad knee in a bit of a dumb move. The pain sends Gallagher rolling to the floor but he’s able to block the Wrecking Ball and hit one heck of a headbutt for two. Perkins goes off with strikes but gets nailed with another headbutt. There’s just nothing left in the leg though and Gallagher can’t hit the running dropkick. Instead TJ sends him into the post for the knockout before hitting the Devastation Kick for the pin at 15:30.

Rating: B. Heck of a match here as the cruiserweights continue to be able to show off at a very high level when they have the time to do so. The leg was the focus of the match and played into the ending, which goes back to Perkins’ run in the Cruiserweight Classic. I could go for a refocused Perkins, who really can be one of the best around when he’s on his game.

Neville comes out to congratulate Perkins to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. Maybe it’s just the post-Wrestlemania season but I’ve been liking this show a lot more than usual lately. The development of Perkins (which has taken place in the last twenty four hours) is a great addition to the show as Aries and Neville have been alone at the top for a few months now. This was another good episode and the show has been on a bit of a roll lately.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: April 11, 2017
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s the second night of the Superstar Shakeup which means we’ll be seeing a lot of new names showing up tonight. That primarily means names from Monday Night Raw but there’s also the chance of some people from NXT or maybe even the cruiserweights of 205 Live. Let’s get to it.

We open with the debuting Kevin Owens(in a suit), who declares this the new Kevin Owens Show. Now some people might be confused about how a Canadian can be the face of the United States but it makes perfect sense. Canadians are just better athletes than Americans and there’s no denying it. Just look at the Montreal Canadiens defeating the Boston Bruins all the time. There’s no one in the back that can beat him because he is the new face of America.

Cue Baron Corbin of all people to say that Owens can’t beat him up. Last week Corbin beat Dean Ambrose up so badly that he ran off to Raw. Last night, Ambrose beat Owens up so badly that he came here so that means Corbin should get a US Title shot. Owens says no but here’s the debuting Sami Zayn (JUST LET HIM STAY AWAY FROM OWENS FOR FIVE MINUTES!) to send Owens into a near fit because he can never escape. Sami wants a shot as well but here’s AJ Styles, who is actually still on Smackdown.

AJ gets a huge face reception and says this place is still about him. This brings out Daniel Bryan to say Owens vs. Chris Jericho is still on for Payback and the winner will officially be on Smackdown. The title can’t be defended until then though, but tonight we’re going to crown a new #1 contender for the US Title. Tonight it’s Styles vs. Corbin vs. Zayn for the future shot.

Randy Orton vs. Erick Rowan

Non-title. Orton hammers away to start but gets shoved into the corner. Erick rains down right hands until Orton grabs the powerslam and does the Garvin Stomp. They head outside with Rowan getting sent into the steps, followed by the elevated DDT. The RKO is loaded up but Bray appears on screen, already making the Superstar Shakeup seem worthless. Seriously it hasn’t even been twenty four hours. Wyatt says he’s everywhere and will see Orton in the House of Horrors. The lights come back up and Rowan hits Orton with the steps for the DQ at 3:50.

Rating: D-. I was tempted to not rate this one as a minute and a half of it was spent on watching Orton listen to Bray. Hopefully things are all square after Payback as these show vs. show matches defeat the point of the Shakeup (just do the Shakeup later). The match was a squash until the ending and I’m kind of glad they didn’t have Rowan just lose clean again.

Rowan gives Orton a full nelson slam.

Tag Team Titles; Usos vs. American Alpha

Alpha is defending in their rematch after losing the belts last month. The Usos don’t even get an entrance. Jimmy and Chad start things off with Alpha using some early double teaming to take over. Both champs are sent to the floor and we take an early break. Back with Jimmy kicking Jason in the face but getting sent hard into the corner. The hot tag brings in Chad to clean house, including a great looking moonsault for two on Jimmy.

Some double teaming puts Gable in trouble but the Superfly Splash hits knees for two. The Steiner Bulldog gets a very close two with Jey making a save. Alpha is sent outside for stereo suicide dives but you don’t dive at suplexers as Alpha grabs stereo belly to belly suplexes. Back in and Jey makes a blind tag, setting up a superkick into the Superfly Splash to retain at 8:51.

Rating: B. Good stuff here as you would expect but can we PLEASE have someone show up to bolster the division a little bit? Right now it’s these two and whomever else we can find as jobbers that week. With a roster as deep as WWE has, there’s really no excuse to not be able to put four teams together for a regular division.

Post match the Shining Stars run in and leave American Alpha laying.

Mojo Rawley vs. Jinder Mahal

Rob Gronkowski is in the front row again. Mahal starts fast and takes Rawley down for a kneedrop and armbar. Jinder makes the mistake of going after Gronkowski though and gets a cup thrown on him, allowing Mojo to take him back inside. The running right hand puts Jinder away at 2:41. At least it was short.

Mojo celebrates with some New England Patriots.

Here’s Shane McMahon to address the Women’s Division. They’ve acquired some new talent but he’d like to have the entire division come out here. This brings out Naomi, Natalya, Carmella (with James Ellsworth) and Becky Lynch. Since that’s the entire division so far, Shane stops to congratulate Naomi but Ellsworth takes the mic to say Naomi is horrible.

Naomi threatens violence and says bring out the new talent. That would mean a long introduction for a second generation star and the daughter of a Hall of Famer: Tamina! I don’t think that really counts as a new talent as she was out injured and never officially on Raw. Shane isn’t done though and brings out Charlotte for the real big surprise.

Sin Cara and Rusev (no mention of Lana) are coming to Smackdown.

Here’s Aiden English on his own to ask for a spotlight. In a callback to his NXT days, English sings a song about himself, only to be cut off.

Aiden English vs. Tye Dillinger

Tye gets the important things out of the way first with a snapmare and cartwheel into TEN. English takes him into the corner and sings that this is his show. The Tyebreaker is good for the pin on English at 2:20.

Video on AJ Styles.

Video on Lana dancing around a chair in a very revealing red dress. She’s on Smackdown too and seems to be her own act instead of with Rusev.

Here’s Dolph Ziggler to talk about how awesome he is and how the Superstar Shakeup doesn’t matter. Cue Shinsuke Nakamura for his full entrance. Ziggler asks who Nakamura thinks he is so the fans sing his song. Nakamura says his name and blocks a superkick, setting up the BRING IT pose. Ziggler bails of course.

Video on Baron Corbin.

New Day is coming to Smackdown. Now that helps things a lot.

Video on Sami Zayn.

Sami Zayn vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin

The winner gets a US Title shot at some point after Payback. Styles and Zayn go after Corbin to start but he suplexes both of them at once without much effort. A double clothesline sends Corbin outside, leaving us with a Zayn vs. Styles showdown. Corbin pulls Styles to the floor but Sami moonsaults onto both of them as we take a break. Back with Corbin in full control, hitting a side slam and big boot for two on Styles.

AJ grabs the Hoshi Geroshi on Sami but gets blasted by a clothesline from Corbin to put all three down. Corbin takes a knee to the face and Sami grabs the Blue Thunder Bomb for two on AJ. Baron gets back up for one heck of a Deep Six on Sami with AJ making the save. The springboard 450 gets two on Corbin with Sami making a last second save this time around. That earns him a Pele kick but the Clash is backdropped to the apron. The Helluva Kick drops Corbin, only to have AJ hit the Phenomenal Forearm for the pin on Sami at 16:42.

Rating: B. Corbin is getting better and better every single week and working with people like AJ and Sami is only going to help him even more. AJ winning is a bit of a surprise but he immediately elevates the US Title. I do wonder who is next for Orton after this as you would think AJ would have been a good choice for the next challenger after Wyatt.

Overall Rating: B-. While I’m going to need some more time to figure out how much I liked the second half of the Superstar Shakeup, the first instinct would be to think that it went a lot better for the red show. The big names here are New Day, Charlotte and Owens, but the problem is a lot of the names are nothing. I mean, Sin Cara? The Shining Stars? Jinder Mahal? Those aren’t exactly exciting names. Then again, did anyone really expect WWE to put a focus on Smackdown?

The show itself was good enough with a good Tag Team Title match and main event but we still don’t really have a feel for how things are going to go on this show. The problem is we won’t until after Payback, which makes things a bit more complicated than they need to be. Smackdown has potential but they’re lacking a top level star (remember that Cena is going to be gone for well over a month), which is a problem they’ve had for a long time.

Results

Randy Orton b. Erick Rowan via DQ when Rowan used the steps

Usos b. American Alpha – Superfly Splash to Gable

Mojo Rawley b. Jinder Mahal – Running punch

Tye Dillinger b. Aiden English – Tyebreaker

AJ Styles b. Baron Corbin and Sami Zayn – Phenomenal Forearm to Zayn

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Monday Night Raw
Date: April 10, 2017
Location: Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

In case last week’s post-Wrestleania show wasn’t enough for you, this week we have the first half of the Superstar Shakeup, which will see various talents going to the other shows. In other words, it’s whatever they can call the Draft this time around. We’re also less than three weeks away from Payback so let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Here are Miz and Maryse as Cena and Nikki for their return to Raw. Miz knows they said they were going to Hollywood but it turns out they sucked as actors. So what better way to revamp their careers than come back here? Cue Dean Ambrose, who is so glad to see John and Nikki and congratulates them on their engagement.

Miz tries to explain this to him but Dean cuts them off and congratulates them on beating the horrible Miz and Maryse at Wrestlemania. Dean loved Cena’s commercial as an elephant but warns against doing something stupid like making Marine 5. Miz reveals their real identities….and gets taken down by Dirty Deeds.

Kurt Angle is on the phone when Sami Zayn comes in to ask if he’s going to Smackdown. Does being here tonight mean he’s staying on Raw? Angle cuts him off and says there’s a lot of interest from Smackdown, which Sami asks him to quantify. Miz and Maryse come in to cut him off to trigger an argument, which sets up a match between the two. Angle looks like he’s about to snap after being here two weeks.

New Day vs. Revival

Woods and Big E. here as Kofi is out after Revival severely hurt his ankle. Not to worry though as Big E. has a Kofi blowup doll as a replacement. Revival mocks Kofi’s injury via some custom t-shirts and are quickly taken down for their efforts. New Day works on Wilder until we take an early break. Back with Dawson working on Woods’ ribs as we hear more about Kofi’s ankle injury and subsequent surgery. The hot tag brings in Big E. to clean house with belly to bellies and a Warrior splash on Wilder.

Dawson gets in a cheap shot to give Dash two, only to have Woods hit a ridiculous springboard elbow (who was less than a foot from the opposite rope) for two on Scott. Revival makes a blind tag and breaks up the Midnight Hour, only to have Woods dive right into the Shatter Machine for the pin at 7:56.

Rating: B-. The last two weeks have been EXACTLY how Revival should have been debuted. Revival has beaten an all time great team twice in a row and it’s not like New Day is going to lose anything as a result. They’ve been bulletproof for a long time now so putting Revival over like this isn’t going to cause them any harm.

Neville isn’t worried about facing Austin Aries again when TJ Perkins comes up. TJ threatens to make Neville eat his words but Neville calls him a joke. Perkins won the Cruiserweight Classic but once 205 Live debuted, TJ’s career has gone nowhere. Now all of TJ’s opportunities are being taken by people like Aries. The only person with any respect for Perkins is Neville, which seems to get TJ’s attention. Cue Aries to say he’s earned all these opportunities but TJ doesn’t seem to buy it.

Curt Hawkins is here to call himself the biggest acquisition since the Louisiana Purchase. This brings out Big Show to knock him out with one punch. For some reason this makes Cole speculate that Big Show is going to Smackdown.

Austin Aries vs. TJ Perkins

Aries’ title shot will officially come at Payback. Neville is on commentary and Cole asks if he can play journalist for a minute. Neville: “Nope.” Perkins takes Aries down with a headscissors but stops to check his hair and dab a bit. They run the ropes with Aries cartwheeling away and catching Perkins with a basement dropkick.

That earns Aries a quick rest on top and some mocking of Perkins’ taunting. TJ misses his pendulum dropkick and gets taken down by a neckbreaker across the middle rope. Aries dives off the top and that’s too much for Neville, who comes down the ramp for a staredown. The distraction lets Perkins grab a small package for the pin at 3:36.

Rating: C. This has me interested as Aries vs. Neville II sounds good but Perkins is one of the only names that could hang on their level if he’s on top of his game. If nothing else it could mean Perkins turning heel, which he should have done about six months ago. Good enough match here but the angle is more important.

Aries stares Neville down but Perkins comes in and gives Aries the Detonation Kick, seemingly turning full heel.

Here’s Seth Rollins for a chat. He didn’t know if he would ever be in this ring again because he gave everything he had to get ready for Wrestlemania. Last week he woke up after a war with HHH and his knee had never been in so much pain. All he knew was that he had never felt so good because at Wrestlemania, he slayed the King.

There are a lot of things Rollins wants to do around here (“The name Samoa Joe comes to mind.”), including wanting to get his hands on the Universal Title. However, something happened at Wrestlemania that might prevent it from happening. We see a clip of Stephanie being knocked through a table, which means she’ll be out for a while. Then she’ll be back though and Rollins becomes public enemy #1. Therefore, it’s probably easier for him to go to Smackdown. That’s not what’s going to happen though as Seth took the easy way out once and he’s not doing it again.

Cue Angle to say that yes, Stephanie made it clear she wants him gone. Angle watched Wrestlemania though and saw Seth win a fight on one leg. Stephanie’s opinion aside, as long as Angle is in charge, Seth has a home here on Raw. Angle goes to leave but Samoa Joe comes in for the fight. Rollins superkicks him to the floor though and Joe bails.

Kevin Owens doesn’t care about the Superstar Shakeup because he’ll be on top of either brand. He says go find Chris Jericho and ask him about the Shakeup because he’d love to go to Smackdown and find some success. Owens is the top champion on Raw and doesn’t want to hear about Dean Ambrose.

Charlotte vs. Nia Jax

Nia runs her over to start and scores with a shoulder breaker to really take over. Some elbows to the back have Charlotte reeling and it’s off to a chinlock. The fans look at something in the crowd as Nia throws Charlotte down but some shots to the ribs give Charlotte an opening. A chop block sets up Natural Selection for two and Nia goes shoulder first into the post. Charlotte hits the moonsault to the floor with her boot hitting Nia square in the head. Nia barely makes it back inside and the Figure Four is easily blocked. A Samoan Drop crushes Charlotte for the pin at 5:58.

Rating: C. This was sloppy at times but it completely got the point across. Nia looks like a much bigger deal now as beating Charlotte is still a huge accomplishment with only a handful of people being able to do it on occasion. Jax still needs experience but once she gets that under her belt, she’s going to be something very special.

Video on Finn Balor.

Jinder Mahal vs. Finn Balor

Balor starts fast with some kicks until Mahal blasts him with a forearm to the jaw. Not that it matters as he kicks Mahal in the head and scores with the Sling Blade. The running corner dropkick sets up the Coup de Grace to put Jinder away at 2:48.

With Balor still in the ring, Bray Wyatt pops up on screen to say he’s here on Raw. In three weeks, the entire world will be able to see him torture Randy Orton at Payback in a House of Horrors match. On the other hand, Balor needs to watch himself because Bray will be watching him.

We look back at the opening sequence.

Apollo Crews, Kalisto, Heath Slater and Rhyno are all coming to Raw.

The Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Sami does his springboard leapfrog to set up the armdrags, followed by a clothesline to send Miz outside. Miz hides behind Maryse to prevent the dive though and we take a break. Back with Sami fighting out of a chinlock but getting caught in a DDT for two. Miz does the YES Kicks but Sami reverses into the Blue Thunder Bomb for its traditional near fall. Maryse makes the save by pulling Miz away from the Helluve Kick but Sami grabs a rollup for the pin at 7:39.

Rating: C+. Not bad here and it’s always nice to see Sami get a win like this. I’d still like to see Sami head over to Smackdown and now he might even go over with some fresh momentum. At the moment, Smackdown is running very low on talent so hopefully someone goes over to the blue show to balance things out a bit.

In the back, Michael Cole has a sitdown interview with Roman Reigns. Roman says the win over Undertaker was the biggest win of his career but it was bittersweet. He’s had great guidance but he’s not sure how you retire someone you respect so much. Braun Strowman comes in and the fight is on with Reigns being destroyed.

Reigns gets powerlsammed onto an anvil case and Braun crushes him by wheeling another case into Reigns’ head. Fans: “THANK YOU STROWMAN!” Reigns is taken out on a stretcher. Fans: “YOU DESERVE IT!” Strowman shoves the stretcher down a flight of stairs, drawing the pop of the night. Reigns is wheeled into the ambulance. Braun: “I’M NOT THROUGH WITH YOU YET BOY!” Strowman beats him up even more and TURNS THE AMBULANCE OVER with Reigns inside.

Post break Reigns is loaded into a new ambulance, which unfortunately isn’t being driven by Strowman.

Hardys/Sheamus/Cesaro vs. Shining Stars/Anderson and Gallows

Before the bell, Elias Samson wanders out onto the stage, sending Graves through the roof due to his long standing hatred of all things Samson. Anderson gets taken down to start with Sheamus dropping a knee. Back from a break with Cesaro in trouble and Sheamus having to make a save. That earns him a Backstabber from Prim but allows Cesaro to dive over for the hot tag to Matt. Everything breaks down and Gallows breaks up a Side Effect. Sheamus and Cesaro send Anderson and Gallows to the floor, leaving Jeff to hit a Poetry in Motion flip dive onto the floor. Back inside, Primo takes the Twist and Swanton for the pin at 7:48.

Rating: C-. This match had no chance of following the Strowman and Reigns segment and I think everyone knew it. The Hardys are still a great nostalgia act but if they’re just Matt and Jeff, I’m not sure how long they’re going to be able to last at this level. Then again, I’m not sure how long they’re supposed to last.

The winners pose for a good while.

Dana Brooke is reading “How to Be Your Own Protege” when Emma comes in. She seems to think Dana still works for her but Dana says that was last year and things have changed.

Here’s Sasha Banks to introduce Bayley for a chat. Bayley thanks everyone for their support because she’s still the same 12 year old girl that loved this so much. Sasha congratulates Bayley for her win but now she wants a title shot of her own. Cue Alexa Bliss to say the two of them are nauseating.

She’s the two time Smackdown Women’s Champion and now wants to add the Raw Women’s Title. This brings out Mickie James to say Bayley’s nightmare is just beginning. Before she can go any further, here’s Nia Jax to run her over. Bliss pushes Banks into Nia, who sends her outside. Bayley gets planted with the Samoan drop and Nia says the title is hers.

Reigns has cracked ribs, internal injuries and a possible separated shoulder.

Dean Ambrose vs. Kevin Owens

Non-title. An early Dirty Deeds attempt sends Owens bailing to the floor but Dean whips him into the barricade. Dean scores with a dive and we take a break. Back with Dean caught in a chinlock. Owens: “I could do this all night baby!” Dean fights up and gets sent outside in a crash, followed by a ram into the post. Back in and Ambrose gets in a good shot to knock Owens outside, setting up a suicide dive.

That’s not enough for Dirty Deeds though but Owens misses a Cannonball. Dean clotheslines him down but Kevin bails outside. That’s fine with Dean, who hits the top rope elbow. Back in and Owens hits the package piledriver slam for two as the fans want Jericho. The Pop Up Powerbomb is countered but Owens escapes Dirty Deeds as well. A superkick blocks the rebound lariat but Dean rolls through into Dirty Deeds for the clean pin at 14:15.

Rating: B. Lack of caring from the crowd aside (yeah fans aren’t that interested in a match with nothing on the line after a three and a half hour taping and no story in sight), this was a good back and forth fight between two people with underrated chemistry. I liked it more than I was expecting to but it was missing something to take it to the next level.

Post match Chris Jericho comes out to hit Owens with a Codebreaker to end the show.

Overall Rating: B-. The wrestling was much better than usual here and they added some big names to the Raw roster, which should really freshen things up a lot. They still need to get rid of some of the excess names because the roster is rather bloated (getting rid of the Cruiserweights would be a good place to start) and I’m sure five or six names will be heading to Smackdown otherwise. Good show here as they kept the energy up, complete with some hilariously unintentional comedy (I think?) with Strowman vs. Reigns.

Results

Revival b. New Day – Shatter Machine to Woods

TJ Perkins b. Austin Aries – Small package

Nia Jax b. Charlotte – Samoan Drop

Finn Balor b. Jinder Mahal – Coup de Grace

Sami Zayn b. The Miz – Rollup

Hardys/Sheamus/Cesaro b. Anderson and Gallows/Shining Stars – Swanton Bomb to Primo

Dean Ambrose b. Kevin Owens – Codebreaker

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

205 Live
Date: April 4, 2017
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves

One more Orlando show to wrap up the week. We’re in an interesting place with the cruiserweights as Neville retained the title over Austin Aries, leaving us with no #1 contender and no one not named Aries is even in his league. Tonight we have a four way for the #1 contendership, which could see Aries get another shot or someone new get in there. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show with the hard cameras on my left and the Titantron almost straight in front of me.

Long package on Aries vs. Neville.

Opening sequence.

The announcers chat for a bit.

Akira Tozawa vs. Brian Kendrick

Rematch from last week. Kendrick comes out to talk about lesson #10. Fans: “TEN! TEN! TEN!” The chants change Brian’s mind about the crowd, who he had pegged as a bunch of goofballs. The lesson is all about psychological supremacy, though I’m distracted by the most obnoxious sign ever in the front row: “The person behind me can’t see.”

That’s one you see at a lot of shows and it makes my head shake harder every time. I mean….you’re going to a big show, you spend a lot of money on tickets, and you actually take the time to make a sign for the sole purpose of ruining someone else’s night? You paid your money so now you need to make sure that other people wasted theirs? That’s completely pathetic and something that can’t be defended. Grow up man.

Kendrick bails to the floor at the bell but Tozawa still beats him to the punch to take over. The backsplash gets two but Kendrick is ready for the fake out punch and grabs a rollup for two. Not that it matters as Tozawa kicks him in the face to take over again. A bad old fashioned thumb to the eye sets up a leg lariat for two on Tozawa. Kendrick can’t get the Captain’s Hook so he settles for a reverse chinlock instead.

Back up and Tozawa grabs a hurricanrana before knocking Kendrick to the floor. Kendrick claims a poke to the eye but the referee says it was a forearm. Naturally he’s goldbricking so Tozawa dives at him instead, only to tweak his knee. This time it’s Tozawa goldbricking though and Brian gets rolled up for the pin at 5:17.

Rating: C+. This was a good way to extend the feud (some might even call it fine) but I’m really not sure how much longer they can carry this out without a big change of pace. Kendrick has grown on me a good bit in this story and it’s making Tozawa look better as well, especially since he finally won a match.

Tozawa says that was lesson #1.

Oney Lorcan vs. Rich Swann

Lorcan is an NXT callup but he’s billed as a replacement for an injured Noam Dar, meaning this might be a one off appearance. Oney charges at Swann at the bell and scores with a series of running uppercuts. It’s off to an abdominal stretch as Swann looks overwhelmed to start. A bodyscissors keeps Swann in trouble for a bit until he escapes for a kick to the head.

Lorcan catches him up top but can’t hit a half and half superplex as Swann backflips out. A running Alabama Slam into the corner gives Oney two but Swann scores with some clotheslines for a breather. Swann kicks him down a few more times and adds the Phoenix splash for the win at 6:42.

Rating: C+. If Lorcan didn’t have a full callup coming in, there’s a good chance he earned a spot with this performance. He beat the heck out of Swann here and that’s one of the best things that he could possibly have done. Sometimes you just need to showcase yourself and Lorcan did so very well here.

Post match Swann says he’s been the one sending the gifts to Alicia Fox. That’s how you move a story forward in a hurry. Phillips brings up the possibility that Swann is lying.

Drew Gulak stops Mustafa Ali in the back and suggests competing a bit more conservatively in the four way. Ali doesn’t want to hear this but Gulak says change is coming so be on the right side of history.

Some of the WWE UK Title tournament are here, including Trent Seven, Mark Andrews, Wolfgang, Pete Dunne (big pop) and of course Tyler Bate, who gets his own entrance. There’s going to be a weekly UK show on the Network in the near future.

Here’s Neville for a chat before the main event. No one is on the Neville Level and it feels nice to be proven right. Neville can’t believe people think he ripped at Aries’ repaired orbital socket out of desperation. That’s nonsense. He did it because Aries deserved it. Neville thanks us for never believing in him because it’s made him royalty. He’ll be at ringside for the four way, or as he calls it, four more lambs to the slaughter.

Mustafa Ali vs. Jack Gallagher vs. TJ Perkins vs. Austin Aries

Ali and Gallagher are knocked to the floor to start, leaving Aries and Nese to work on an arm each. Perkins’ corkscrew dive takes Ali down again but it’s already time for the Mary Poppins spot. Thankfully Aries breaks it up and dropkicks Jack to the floor. All four take turns coming back in and get a few shots here and there until Gallagher does his headstand in the corner to stop a charging Mustafa.

Perkins comes back in with the kneebar on Jack but Aries makes the save with a Last Chancery. Ali goes after the eye though, leaving Gallagher to grab a reverse DDT on Perkins. Aries grabs one at the same time on Gallagher, leaving Ali to roll in with the neckbreaker to take all three down at the same time. Back up and Ali gets crotched on top, setting up Gallagher and Aries for a double superplex. Aries isn’t done though as he dives onto Ali and Perkins, allowing Gallagher to get in the Mary Poppins spot.

Back in and Perkins takes a wicked tornado DDT from Mustafa with Aries making the save. Aries loads Ali up for what looked to be a superplex but stepped aside so Gallagher can nail his running corner dropkick, sending Ali crashing outside. Perkins and Gallagher slug it out until Perkins takes the headbutt. Gallagher falls to the floor though, leaving Aries to hit the Fivearm to put Perkins away at 11:24.

Rating: B. It was fun, albeit a bit messy. These guys beat each other up though and Ali’s bump near the end was a good looking crash. Aries is the only logical move here as he’s the only person near Neville’s level. We’ve seen the other three already and none of them were anything of note. There’s a good reason to believe Aries can pull it off in a second match and it should be fun to see.

One quick live note: you could tell the fans were burned out by the time the main event started. One fan in the section next to me went on a HILARIOUS string of insults against Perkins, shouting every few seconds about how terrible he was and how he needed to stay out of the ring. I don’t know if it was just due to being tired from the week or something similar but the sections around him were in stitches. Then he went a bit too far and knew it.

Fan: “ROMAN REIGNS IS A BETTER WRESTLER THAN TJ PERKINS!”

Everyone else: “NO! DELETE! DELETE! DELETE!”

Fan: “I APOLOGIZE! I PROMISE TO FADE AWAY AND CLASSIFY MYSELF AS OBSOLETE!”

Anyway, trash talk ends the show.

Overall Rating: B. This was one of the best episodes of the show to date but you could tell the crowd was just done by the end. After Wrestlemania, Raw and anything else you did in the previous days, there was no way anyone was going to give this show their full attention. Some of the fans did leave before the show but other than a few seats in front of me, you really couldn’t see any major pockets of suddenly empty seats. Good show, but a bad spot on the schedule.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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

Smackdown
Date: April 4, 2017
Location: Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, John Bradshaw Layfield, David Otunga

Now this could be interesting as we could get the post-Wrestlemania moments without as smarky of a crowd. A lot of people are going to get tired of how over the top things get on Raw and I’m not sure how strong that’s going to be here. The big name people are expecting tonight is Shinsuke Nakamura as there’s no reason for him not to show up here. Let’s get to it.

I was in the arena for this show, sitting in the upper deck with the hard camera on my left and the rigging above the ring blocking part of the Titantron. The dark match saw American Alpha defeat the Vaudevillains in about 4:00 with the Steiner Bulldog to English in Gotch’s final match with the promotion.

As you might expect, we open with a long recap of Wrestlemania.

Here’s Randy Orton to open things up. Do you remember when he said “If you can’t beat em, join em? And when the time is right, screw em?”. Well he forgot part of it: When you get in the ring with them, beat them up! Randy proved that he’s the master but here’s Bray on screen to say this has just begun. Sister Abigail promised him so many things so he wants a House of Horrors match. Orton doesn’t know what that is but he agrees.

The screen goes off and Bray appears in the ring for the brawl. Erick Rowan, in a new mask, comes out from underneath the ring and the announcers don’t recognize him despite the BIG RED BEARD. Luke Harper comes out for the save, likely setting up a tag match later tonight.

Miz and Maryse didn’t think much of the proposal on Sunday because it felt like good marketing. Tonight though, they’re calling out Cena and Nikki, possibly for the last time with the Superstar Shakeup looming.

Women’s Title: Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss

Bliss is challenging and is even more serious than usual. JBL wants to know if Naomi can do it two nights in a row because he can’t count. Naomi sends her face first into the buckle and we head outside for a break. Back with Bliss in control due to Naomi tweaking her knee again. Bliss cranks on the leg and the fans can’t decide between DELETE, STUPID IDIOT or basic applause. Unfortunately they do have the “1-2-SWEET!” chant for near falls, which just sounds horrible.

Naomi comes back with a kick to the face for two, only to have Bliss grab a DDT for the same. The Rear View gets two but Naomi gets pulled off the ropes for a crash. Not that it matters as she grabs a sunset flip but switches over to the reverse Crossface to retain the title at 10:18.

Rating: C+. As usual, the wrestling doesn’t matter here but this was a fine story with Naomi having an injury and Bliss working it over as well as she could. Naomi even used her new finisher to retain the title in the one on one match. This was a nice little match and that’s all it needed to be. Odds are Bliss goes to Raw after this and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Here’s Curt Hawkins to ask why no one is talking about him. He wants some attention so let’s have an open challenge. I think you know what’s coming.

Curt Hawkins vs. Tye Dillinger

The fans had been BEGGING to explode for Tye all weekend as that TEN chant was going crazy for every show I took in. You can see the emotion on Dillinger’s face as he’s spent a LONG time trying to get here. Dillinger immediately snapmares him down and cartwheels into the TEN so we can get that out of the way. A series of strikes drops Hawkins and sets up the ten left hands in the corner. The Tyebreaker is good for the pin at 1:53. This was all it needed to be, though I have a bad feeling Tye is going to find out that his chant is more over than he is.

Mojo Rawley’s mind is blown by winning the Battle Royal and wishes he could have seen Andre on a dance floor. This is the biggest moment of his night and the bar has been raised. Now it’s time to throw some weight on it. I really hope this goes somewhere for him. This year at Axxess, I was waiting in line to get inside the Elimination Chamber when Rawley walked by during the session change. It took Rawley about six minutes to walk thirty feet as he stopped and talked to, shook hands with, high fived or took pictures with every single fan on the railing. You don’t see that often and it’s a classy move.

Here are Miz and Maryse to Cena’s full entrance, complete with Maryse doing Nikki’s dance. If you pay attention from a distance, you could tell it was Miz by the way he moved but at a glance, you really could be fooled by this. Doing the robotic Cena voice, Miz says rule #1 is you can’t say John Cena sucks. Maryse thanks “John” for being manipulated into doing whatever she wanted, including giving her this rock (the size of a small doorknob). They’re leaving WWE and going to Hollywood, where you won’t be able to see us.

They go to leave (a shame as that means no more Maryse as Nikki, which really works for her)…..and we’ve got a man playing a violin. You know what that means: SHINSUKE NAKAMURA makes his debut with the fans singing/humming/WHOAing/whatever it is you call making the sounds of his wordless music to the pop of the night.

We go to a break with Nakamura posing, during which Dolph Ziggler came out to challenge him for the dark match main event.

Dean Ambrose vs. Baron Corbin

Non-title street fight. Corbin stomps him down in the corner and chokeshoves Dean down (Bliss actually does it better) before going outside for a chair. Dean baseball slides it into his face and knocks Corbin into the crowd as we take a break. Back with Corbin spearing Ambrose through a table in the corner for no cover, followed by a good whipping with a strap.

Dean sends him head first into a chair wedged in the corner and now it’s his turn to give a whipping. The top rope elbow to the floor drops Baron again and Dean puts him on a table. Another elbow puts him through it but Baron grabs End of Days back inside for the quick pin at 11:03.

Rating: B-. This should have been the Wrestlemania match as I’m still not sure what the point was in having Dean win the first match clean. Corbin needs the title a lot more than Dean so this should set up another gimmick match of some kind on a big Smackdown as I can’t imagine they’ll wait for whatever the next Smackdown pay per view is. Good stuff here though.

Here’s Shane McMahon to talk about the Superstar Shakeup. After soaking in the cheers, Shane thanks the fans for being so hospitable over the last week. This Monday’s Shakeup could send anyone anywhere but everyone should be hoping they come to Smackdown, the land of opportunity. Cue AJ Styles to say he doesn’t want to go anywhere. Everyone knows that this is the house that he built and he shake’s Shane’s hands. A tease of more violence seems to be a joke and AJ walks away in what feels like a face turn.

Luke Harper/Randy Orton vs. Wyatt Family

Orton and Rowan get things going with Erick hitting his spinning kick as we take an early break. Tom: “Can Orton and Harper get back in this?” It was one kick man. Back with Bray missing a charge into the corner and Harper coming in off the hot tag. The fans around me thought that would be Harper rejoining Bray and that really wouldn’t have surprised me. Harper is quickly sent outside for a running clothesline from Rowan, setting up a pull on the face.

It’s back to Bray for some slow stomping, followed by a hard right hand for two. Rowan hammers away some more in the corner and rips at the face again. Bray grabs a chinlock before missing a charge, allowing for the tag off to Orton. The DDT looks to set up the RKO but there go the lights and Bray winds up on the ramp. Orton RKO’s Rowan for the pin at 12:13.

Rating: C-. You could really tell the crowd was getting burned out at this point and after so many days, that’s not the most surprising thing. The fact that you could pretty much write the script for this match the second it was announced didn’t help either. Wyatt’s team losing again makes it feel like we’re seeing the same stuff we’ve seen before, which isn’t a good sign after the mess of a title match on Sunday.

After the taping and 205 Live, Nakamura beat Ziggler in about 8:30 with Kinshasa in a pretty standard dark match.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a good show but the Orton vs. Wyatt stuff is almost completely out of steam and the rematch, which is likely taking place at Backlash, is six or seven weeks away. The Dillinger and Nakamura debuts worked really well and….did anything else happen on this show? They can’t possibly consider Rowan returning as a major moment so this is pretty much a two point show that was pretty normal otherwise.

Results

Naomi b. Alexa Bliss – Reverse Crossface

Tye Dillinger b. Curt Hawkins – Tyebreaker

Baron Corbin b. Dean Ambrose – End of Days

Randy Orton/Luke Harper b. Wyatt Family – RKO to Rowan

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the NXT: The Full Sail Years Volumes I and II, now in PAPERBACK. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2017/03/24/kbs-history-of-nxt-volumes-1-and-2-now-available-in-paperback/

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

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