We get ready to fly today with Shelton Benjamin.

Shelton was an All-American wrestler at the University of Minnesota along with a more famous wrestler named Brock Lesnar. The two would both join the WWF in 2000 and be assigned to OVW where they would be put in a tag team called the Minnesota Stretching Crew. Here’s a match from Christmas Chaos 2001.

Johnny Spade/Sly Scraper vs. Brock Lesnar/Shelton Benjamin

See what I mean about guys you might be surprised to see here? Lesnar and Benjamin were known as the Minnesota Stretching Crew and a handful of people are smiling at that reference. Scraper is someone you may remember as Sylvester Terkay. Spade likes to talk a lot but never was anything special. John Morrison would eventually use the name Johnny Spade but they’re definitely not the same guy.

Brock and Shelton are brand new here and this is their biggest match ever according to Cornette. Spade spits at Shelton and something tells me that’s not going to go well for him. You can barely see anything as the lighting is terrible, but like I said that wasn’t something you could expect there. Both Shelton and Brock have under a year of experience.

Benjamin shows off early and gets a slick headscissors to Scraper. Yeah Shelton’s debut was in November of 2000. Shelton gets a kick which busts Scraper open. Brock is in tights like Angle wears which is odd to see. Nip up by Brock as he destroys Spade just because he can. There’s that belly to belly of his. All Minnesotans so far.

Spade sends Shelton into the ropes and Scraper pulls the top rope down to shift the momentum. It’s amazing how calm Cornette is during this and how smoothly he says everything he talks about. Modified What’s Up to Shelton. Scraper looks like Bruiser Brody. How weird is it to see Brock and Shelton as completely brand new rookies? Spade and Scraper use a wheelbarrow splash to crush Shelton a bit more but Brock makes the save.

Both Shelton and Spade go for cross bodies at the same time and here comes Brock and Scraper. Big tilt-a-whirl slam to Scraper and a double Rock Bottom has Scraper in trouble. Spade saves the pin as everything goes crazy. Spade tries a monkey flip on Shelton but Shelton just flips over and lands on his feet. SICK superkick from Benjamin takes Spade’s head off.

We have three minutes left and the camera goes over to the corner where Brock is up top. He throws out a SHOOTING STAR PRESS! HOLY FREAKING GOODNESS that was awesome. Since OVW isn’t that smart though, it doesn’t end the match as Spade saves. That was incredible. Shelton throws out a 450 to end it even though we don’t see it. Look up that Shooting Star though as it’s something that has to be seen to be believed.

Rating: C+. Basic formula tag match here as Cornette knows how to book a show perfectly. Starting with a pretty fast paced tag match is a great way to get the crowd going and that Shooting Star didn’t hurt anything. Brock was scary good and couldn’t have been wrestling more than 6 months at this point. They were booking Shelton as the star of the team but obviously that didn’t exactly wind up being the case.

Like many other OVW guys, Shelton would wrestle dark matches on WWE shows, including this one from June 3, 2002 against the Prototype, who would debut under his real name very soon: John Cena.

Prototype vs. Shelton Benjamin

John is billed from Los Angeles and is wearing purple and gold in a nice touch. Cena’s hair is long enough that it’s hanging from his head and flaps around when he turns. Shelton looks like he always has. Fast start with Cena getting two off a rollup but walking into an armbar. Shelton hits a Stinger Splash in the corner but Cena avoids the second one and takes over. Cena is the heel here.

Some clotheslines get two and forearms to the back get the same on Shelton. It’s so strange seeing Cena as just a guy out there. A nice delayed vertical suplex gets two on Shelton and some nice applause. Cena scores with a powerslam and puts on a chinlock while demanding the referee ask if Shelton gives up. Benjamin fights up and hits a spinebuster followed by the Dragon Whip for the pin and a nice reaction.

Rating: C+. For a dark match between two guys straight out of developmental, this was a very nice little match. Cena looked like he knew what he was doing out there and Shelton got to show off his athletics. The fans approved of both guys and the match was entertaining enough. Both guys clearly had futures at this stuff.

Shelton would debut on the main roster in early 2003 with a new partner named Charlie Haas. They would comprise Team Angle and quickly captured the Smackdown Tag Titles, which they would defend at Wrestlemania XIX.

Smackdown Tag Titles: Los Guerreros vs. Chris Benoit/Rhyno vs. World’s Greatest Tag Team

Haas and Benjamin are defending here. This is Benoit’s reward for having the match of the year against Angle two months earlier, followed by a feud with the freaking FBI while Kevin Nash got world title shots on PPV. I’m sure HHH has NOTHING to do with this right? It’s a big brawl to start until we get down to Benoit vs. Guerrero for a chop off. They collide in the middle of the ring with both guys going down. Rhyno comes in to face Eddie and gets two off a powerslam.

Off to Shelton who pounds Rhyno down before hitting an elbow to the face for two. Off to Haas for a double tag team by the champions on Rhyno. Rhyno throws Haas around with ease and it’s off to Benoit for more chops in the corner. A snap suplex gets two as does its belly to back cousin. Back to Rhyno vs. Benjamin as the announcers talk about Haas and Benjamin having stage fright.

Eddie comes in and dropkicks Rhyno down before it’s back to Benoit for more chopping on his fellow dead guy. Eddie snapmares him down and loads up the Frog Splash, only to have Benoit run over to the corner for some crotching and a superplex. Guerrero comes right back with a brainbuster for two as Haas breaks up the cover again. Off to Chavo who fires off some fast clotheslines to the champions, only to get caught in Rolling Germans by Benoit.

Benjamin comes in off a blind tag and superkicks Chris down for two. Eddie tags himself in and collides with Benoit to put both guys down. Shelton comes in to work on Benoit some more and a legdrop gets two. Eddie breaks it up with a Frog Splash but Chavo tags himself in, only to be suplexed down by Haas. Rhyno comes in for some Gores including one to Chavo, but Benjamin comes in (I have no idea if he was legal) and steals the retaining pin on Chavo.

Rating: C. The match was fine but it had no business being on Wrestlemania. This could have been on any given episode of Smackdown and no one would have noticed the difference. Rhyno and Benoit were just thrown together while the Guerreros were a regular team and former champions. Not bad here but not Wrestlemania worthy.

The team would gain and lose the titles multiple times over the next year before being split up by the Draft. Benjamin went to Raw and was put in a feud with HHH of all people, facing him in his first match on Raw on March 29, 2004.

HHH vs. Shelton Benjamin

The Game takes him into the corner to start and patronizes him a little bit. Shelton easily gets HHH on the mat and rides him amateur style before giving HHH a big smile. A Shelton chant starts up before they tell HHH that he tapped out at Wrestlemania. Benjamin nips up to stop a charging Game but almost gets caught in the Pedigree. HHH shows him how close that was but gets caught in a backslide for an even closer two. Shelton shows HHH how close THAT was and HHH is mad.

An armbar takes HHH down and an armdrag does it again. The Dragon Whip takes HHH’s head off for two and it’s back to the armbar. Cue Flair to ringside as Shelton is thrown through the ropes. This brings out Benoit to back Flair up as we take a break. Back with Shelton powering out of a top wristlock and going back to the armbar. HHH fights up and scores with the running knee to the face before sending Shelton shoulder first into the post twice in a row.

Flair sneaks over but doesn’t touch Shelton, allowing HHH to get two off a neckbreaker. Things slow down until Shelton scores with some right hands, only to be caught in the sleeper. Shelton rams HHH into the buckle to escape and puts on a sleeper of his own. HHH quickly counters with a belly to back suplex and goes up, only to jump into Shelton’s feet to put both guys down. A clothesline puts HHH on the floor and a clothesline off the apron takes his head off.

Back in and a top rope clothesline gets two more as the crowd is losing its collective mind. Shelton pounds away in the corner but gets dropped face first on the buckle. JR says that HHH’s spot calling is trash talk in a nice cover up. HHH charges into a powerslam for two and a rollup gets the same. Flair gets in a cheap shot but Benoit goes after him. HHH looks at the two of them, allowing Shelton to hit a Stinger Splash and roll up the Game for the shocking upset.

Rating: B-. This was a nice, long match that made Benjamin look like a star. Make no mistake about it: the ending wasn’t a fluke with HHH dominating him the entire time before getting caught. Shelton hung with him the entire match and had HHH in trouble for a long stretch. Good match here and Shelton looked great.

Shelton would actually beat HHH again the next week by countout and go on a huge roll, only to break his hand and be put on the shelf for a month. He would come back at Taboo Tuesday, having won the poll to face Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho.

Intercontinental Title: Shelton Benjamin vs. Chris Jericho

This was just after Shelton had come to Raw and beaten HHH in three matches but got hurt. This is his big return. Jericho gets backdropped over the top and might have hurt his back. He was in a big funk at this point as he had no direction whatsoever. He also had the medium length hair and it looked horrible. Running enziguri gets two and the Canadian takes over.

He works on the back as there’s not a lot of direction to this at all. The crowd being painfully small isn’t helping much either, but that could have something to do with the show being on a Tuesday night. Both guys work on the others’ back with Jericho hitting a backbreaker and Benjamin hitting a top rope suplex. I love the Dragon Whip. Lawler suggests that if the bookers had anything to do with it then this match may never have happened.

Lionsault misses but he actually crashes on it in a thing I’m not used to doing. Shelton hits a nice diving clothesline off the top but the Stinger Splash misses. This is getting better but the crowd doesn’t seem to care. Lionsault hits this time but of course it only gets two. Jericho goes up but jumps into the T-Bone to give Shelton the title. Ross and Lawler seem to be the most excited though. So much for that idea. Is there anyone Jericho won’t put over? Shelton would hold the title until June which is the longest title reign since Rock in 97.

Rating: B-. Pretty good match here as Jericho wasn’t prepared for Shelton so he had to do his usual stuff which didn’t work because Shelton knew what to prepare for. The crowd is pretty weak here and it’s not a good sign for the rest of the show. This was a good push for Shelton, even though nothing really ever came of it as he has more untapped potential than anyone in a long time.

Shelton would hold the title for the longest reign in over seven years. During the reign he would enter the Gold Rush Tournament for a World Title shot. His first round match was on May 2, 2005 against a mystery opponent.

Gold Rush Tournament First Round: Shelton Benjamin vs. Shawn Michaels

Shawn is back in the world title hunt after going after Muhammad Hassan for a few months. Shelton is on fire at this point so this is going to be great. They immediately hit the mat and Shelton dominates as you would expect him to. Shawn grabs a hammerlock and they hit the mat again. Shelton rides him again and Shawn has to head to the ropes to get a break.

Shelton takes him back to the mat but Shawn easily gets back up. A cradle gets two for Shawn out of nowhere and it’s followed by a forearm to take over. Shelton comes back with a clothesline and both guys go to the floor. We take a break and come back with Shelton countering a belly to back superplex into a cross body off the top but he can’t cover. Batista is watching in the back.

Shelton hits a Samoan Drop and both guys are down again. Things speed up and Shelton gets two off a backbreaker. Shawn hits the forearm and nips up, but Shelton nips up a second later, freaking Shawn out. We get a fast paced pinfall reversal sequence and Shawn takes Shelton down with a hard chop. Benjamin comes back with the Stinger Splash in the corner but the T-Bone is broken up.

Sweet Chin Music is caught and the Dragon Whip gets two. That sounded GREAT and JR’s commentary is only making this better. Shelton loads up a superplex but Shawn knocks him down and hits the elbow for two. Another Chin Music attempt is countered by a high kick for a VERY close two. Shelton jumps from the mat to the top rope and hits a spinning clothesline for another two. This is getting better and better with each kickout. Shelton gets sent to the apron and tries a springboard, but he jumps right into the Sweet Chin Music in an incredible spot. Shelton is DEAD and Shawn advances. That never gets old.

Rating: A+. It’s my favorite match ever. What grade did you expect me to give it? Also, this probably furthers Shawn’s record of most A+ matches for a single guy held by Shawn. The last few minutes of this has some of the best near falls on TV that I’ve ever seen. This is easily one of the best TV matches of all time. The only issue I have with it: what was Shelton going for at the end other than diving into the kick? I’ve never gotten that. The idea here was simple: Shawn was fighting himself from ten years ago. That’s very interesting and it worked like a masterpiece here.

Shelton would drop the title to Carlito in June and start slipping a bit. Shawn would tell him to get it together, leading to Shelton’s Mama debuting and turning Shelton heel. He would get the Intercontinental Title back in February and appear in the MITB match at Wrestlemania 22. Rob Van Dam would win the briefcase, but Shelton wasn’t done yet, challenging RVD to a winner take all match at Backlash 2006.

Money in the Bank Briefcase/Intercontinental Title: Rob Van Dam vs. Shelton Benjamin

It’s winner take all with Rob holding the case and Shelton holding the title. Shelton takes him to the mat to start and rides Van Dam a bit. The fans are completely behind RVD, namely because this is during the opening part of Shelton’s heel run. Shelton backflips out of a wristlock to show that he can hang with Rob in all of the high flying stuff. RVD gets his rolling cradle for two and Shelton bails to the corner.

Shelton keeps getting frustrated and heads to the floor for a breather. Back in and Benjamin pounds him down and fires off some forearms. Rob will have none of that and kicks Shelton down. The champ (Shelton) bails to the floor again to avoid Rolling Thunder so Rob dives to the floor to take him out. Shelton runs back in and hits a sunset bomb to the floor to take over again.

Back in and Benjamin works over the back before hooking a chinlock with a knee in the spine. Rob quickly escapes that but gets caught by a knee lift for two. Back to the chinlock which might be a choke. Not that it matters as Rob makes the rope. Rob fights up and tries Rolling Thunder but Shelton catches him in a Samoan Drop in a SWEET counter. They go up and Rob knocks him off the top, but Shelton JUMPS up the corner (not runs the corner. He JUMPED from the mat to the top rope and superplexes Rob down for two.

Off to a kind of rear naked choke which is broken up again. A spin kick takes down Shelton as do some clotheslines. Van Dam kicks him down a few more times and FINALLY hits Rolling Thunder for two. See? Build it up, then pay it off. Not that hard. Split legged moonsault out of the corner gets two. Shelton counters the monkey flip but another spin kick puts him down. Five Star misses and Shelton hits a DDT for two. Actually make that six as it’s three two counts, the third having feet on the ropes.

Shelton goes to the floor for no apparent reason. Oh ok he’s grabbing the briefcase. Rob goes to the floor after him but gets knocked down quickly. Back in and Shelton hits a top rope cross body which Van Dam rolls through for two. Dragon Whip misses Van Dam and he hits a rana to take Shelton down. Shelton goes for the case and there goes the referee. Rob ducks a shot and hits a Van Daminator with the case. Five Star gives Rob the title.

Rating: B. This was a very fun match and the Five Star absolutely has to be seen to be believed. He didn’t hold the title long but he would cash in the case in about a month and a half for the WWE Title at One Night Stand. Shelton never got back to the point he was at a year before this, which is a shame as he was on fire at that point. Good match here.

Shelton would fall way down the card over the next year, mainly appearing in lower level matches on Raw or main eventing Heat. He would eventually reform the World’s Greatest Tag Team with Charlie Haas and get a shot against the Hardy Boys in a tag team ladder match at One Night Stand 2007.

Raw Tag Titles: Hardys vs. World’s Greatest Tag Team

Ladder match so this should be awesome. Hardys are champions coming in. Big brawl to start but that’s the point of this match I suppose. Haas takes down both Hardys with a double clothesline and here come the ladders. All four have ladders so the Hardys throw theirs at their opponents’ and put a pair in corners. Haas gets buried under a pair of ladders in the corner and Shelton is pushed on top of them.

The Hardys start being the Hardys in a ladder match and dominate quickly but make a mental mistake (the Hardys? Nah) and both go up at once, only for Shelton to toss a ladder at them and take over. They work on Jeff’s leg and send him into a ladder in the corner so softly that the fans boo it. When do you EVER hear of a spot being booed in a ladder match? Haas and Benjamin both go up but they have the same issue the Hardys had and we all come down again.

Shelton dropkicks a ladder into Matt’s face and the World’s Greatest Tag Team takes over all over again. They set up a pair of ladders in a sea-saw pattern and according to rule 2 of ladder matches, they both get slammed onto it. Here come the Hardys again and a double clothesline takes everyone not named Shelton to the floor. The Hardys bring in the huge ladders and set one between the ring and the railing.

Shelton blocks a suplex through said ladder though, until Matt backdrops Shelton onto a ladder which he just bounces off. The ladder is bent and Jeff isn’t happy. He thinks to himself by George (and bonds. Pills. Maybe some cocaine too. My band’s album because no one else will) I want him to go through that ladder but Haas makes a last second save.

Matt takes Charlie down and goes up himself, only to get shoved onto the top rope. You know the move Haas and Benjamin do where Haas holds a guy up on the top and Shelton jumps on his back? Well here they use a ladder instead of a rope and Shelton jumps to the floor onto Matt’s back and more or less destroys it in an awesome looking spot. Charlie goes up but here’s your friendly resident drug addict (Jeff in case you thought Matt got up that fast) for a superplex off the ladder to the mat.

Everyone is down now and Jeff has a glazed over look in his eye. In other words, everything is normal with him. In one of the best accidental spots I’ve ever seen, Shelton tries to springboard from the apron to the ladder to stop Jeff but slips and flips forward, kicking the ladder over. JR actually does a decent job of making it sound intentional. Matt shoves Shelton off and starts climbing up two ladders at once. Everyone goes up and it’s a four way fight. The Hardys go down but maintain enough composure to shove their opponents off. Swanton kills Haas and Matt gets the belts to retain.

Rating: B+. Pretty good tag team ladder match here as they let all four guys go in there and just do their thing which is the right idea more often than not. Also they had time (seventeen minutes) here which helped a lot as well. Very hard hitting match here as they managed to make the older spots look good again. Rather good match and not much to complain about at all here.

Shelton would jump to ECW in 2007 but continue his streak of MITB appearances at Wrestlemania XXIV. Benjamin would also dye his hair gold at this point and begin calling himself the Gold Standard which didn’t work at all.

CM Punk vs. Shelton Benjamin vs. John Morrison vs. Chris Jericho vs. MVP vs. Mr. Kennedy vs. Carlito

Morrison is a tag champion and MVP is US Champion, having held it for nearly a year. Jericho is also Intercontinental Champion because what else is he supposed to do? Everyone goes after a ladder to start other than MVP who stays in the ring. Someone slides one in and MVP uses it to knock everyone down. Jericho brings in a big ladder and it’s time for a duel. MVP goes down and here’s Morrison to use his own ladder to send Jericho down.

In an awesome move, Morrison goes up top with the ladder and moonsaults down onto a bunch of guys at once. Kennedy uses the distraction to go up but Jericho makes the save. He tries a catapult on Kennedy but sends him onto the ladder by mistake. Morrison dives onto the ladder to stop Kennedy but Shelton climbs his own ladder to make it a three way race. Kennedy loads up a superplex on Morrison but Shelton jumps over both of them with a sunset flip to make it a Tower of Doom. Cool spot.

Carlito tries to shove Shelton off the ladder but he lands on the top rope on his feet. Shelton shoves the ladder at Carlito and tries to dive onto said ladder but it gives way. Punk stops Shelton from going up and hits the GTS but Kennedy stops him with the rolling fireman’s carry onto a ladder. MVP is back in now to kick Kennedy in the head but gets sent into a ladder by Carlito.

Shelton’s dragon whip CRACKS Carlito in the head but as he goes up, Kennedy and Carlito shove the ladder forward, sending Shelton over the top and through a ladder which was bridged between the ring and the barricade. Carlito and Kennedy go up but MVP breaks that up, only to be broken up by Morrison. Jericho breaks up Morrison’s attempt by putting him in the Walls on top of the ladder. Again, awesome. Kennedy tries to use the opening but Jericho throws John down and starts brawling.

Punk and Carlito dive at the ladders to make it a fourway with only Jericho lasting on top. Carlito comes back with the Backstabber off the ladder and everyone is down again. MVP goes up the ladder but here’s the returning Matt Hardy to stop him with a Twist of Fate off the ladder. Everyone is back in again and Jericho beats on all of them with the ladder. In a cool visual one ladder is jammed into the bottom of another, so as Morrison climbs the vertical (and unfolded) one, Jericho shoves it back into the corner and onto Punk.

Carlito and Jericho go up but Carlito spits apple in the face to break it up. Kennedy shoves Carlito off but gets hit in the ribs with a ladder by Punk. Jericho hits a Codebreaker with a ladder onto Punk to put everyone not named Jericho down. Punk goes up to stop Jericho but gets hit in the face by the briefcase. Punk climbs up again and knocks Jericho into the Tree of Woe with a shot to the head, allowing Punk to climb up and win the briefcase.

Rating: B. Good MITB here but as usual the high amount of people hurt it. Nothing here really stood out other than the Walls and Matt’s return, as you can only get so much out of the same spots we’ve seen before. It’s certainly good but it’s a step below some of the other stuff, and this would only get worse until we got some fresh blood in there. A power guy wouldn’t hurt either.

He would get back into the midcard title scene with a title shot against US Champion Matt Hardy at the 2008 Great American Bash.

US Title: Matt Hardy vs. Shelton Benjamin

Shelton is the Gold Standard and challenger. The announcers point out that no one has ever lost the title at the Bash and of course they treat it like the same show as the WCW incarnation. Shelton takes over with a headlock but Matt takes over with an armdrag of his own. A quick Pay Dirty (Little Jimmy) and Twist of Fate are both countered and Matt takes over again.

Matt tries to skin the cat but Shelton dropkicks him to the floor. Shelton rams him into the post to take over. The fans are into this and I presume they’re behind Hardy but I can’t really tell. It might be split. Matt tries a Side Effect but Shelton counters into an STO for two. The Dragon Whip looks to set up the Stinger Splash but Matt counters. Middle rope leg and sunset flip get two for Matt. Twist attempt is countered and Shelton looks for a middle rope belly to back superplex but Matt knocks him off. Moonsault gets knees and Pay Dirt gives Benjamin the title.

Rating: C-. This wasn’t bad but I really didn’t get into it. Matt was certainly better as a guy that was chasing the title rather than actually holding it. Matt would go on to win the ECW Title soon after this as Shelton would hold the US Title for like 8 months and then would just chill on ECW until being released in 2010.

Shelton would hold the belt for about eight months but do very little with it before dropping it to MVP. He would head back to ECW and not do much for the next year before getting an ECW Title shot against Christian at TLC 2009.

ECW Title: Shelton Benjamin vs. Christian

This is the ladder match. I had almost gotten to the point of being sure that Benjamin would be winning here. Ah sweet we have the three man commentary team now. That’s a great thing to have for the PPVs. Christian gets a solid pop. Dang man there are ladders EVERYWHERE. Why in the world would you ask Lawler about his strategy for a ladder match? Actually that’s good as that’s his job.

Cole has gotten better at setting him up with softball questions which is what King is there for. This should be very awesome. The ECW Title has never changed hands in Texas. Could be because ECW didn’t go to Texas that much but whatever. We hit the floor and Christian gets the BIG ladder. And that doesn’t work so there we are. He’s in the ring with a ladder first but something tells me this isn’t how the match ends and I’m right as Shelton makes the save.

If nothing else Shelton is one of the few people that truly impresses me in the ring at times. Not a lot of people have ever been able to do that but there are times when he has my jaw hanging open. Christian is busted open and I’m pretty sure it’s legit as a ladder fell on his head. Yeah that’s legit. And here’s a guy to check on him. Oh dear. The fans chant WE WANT BLOOD. I love modern crowds. There’s a Santa in the crowd. That’s cool if nothing else.

For no apparent reason Shelton climbs a ladder on the floor. Sure why not? And it’s table time now. Apparently not as Shelton sets up a ladder between the ring and the announce table. Something tells me I know what’s coming. Nothing happens with it yet as we’re back in the ring. Shelton sets for what would be a Stinger Splash but Christian just throws the ladder at him. Simple yet effective.

Crowd is WAY behind Christian. I’m not sure if I like them going with the big ladders here or not. I think I do but I’m not sure. Shelton gets up the ladder and Christian shoves him off very slowly, but Shelton lands on the top rope on his feet. Think about that for a minute. That’s amazing. I know there isn’t much to criticize here but it’s a solid match. Yeah those ladders hanging from the ceiling look awesome. Shelton with a powerslam from the top of the ladder that looks better than it sounds.

Shelton does the Jeff Hardy spot where he hangs from the belt. I’ve always found that stupid. Why not just unhook the stupid thing? Striker wants to know that too. Spotfests are fun. In a mostly cool looking spot, Shelton does that slingshot sunset flip into a powerbomb but Christian reverses into a hurricanrana. Nicely done but slightly botched which is understandable given the move they were trying to do. And now we get to the ladder they set up as a table earlier.

Shelton is trying to hit a German Suplex to Christian through the ladder but it’s blocked and Shelton lands on it. Christian dives through it and the ladder breaks. Has NOTHING on the Hardy/Edge version. Not a thing and the crowd is clearly not as into it as they wanted them to be. It ends the match though.

Rating: B+. Total spotfest but incredibly fun. It was missing that epic spot to make it legendary though. Still though, perfect choice for the opener and it did exactly what it was supposed to do: get the crowd into the show. Very entertaining match and I think I lowballed it here.

Shelton would leave the WWE in April of 2010 and hit the indies for awhile before making it to ROH. He would hook up with Haas again, this time called Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. They would pick up the ROH Tag Team Titles and face Caprice Coleman and Cedric Alexander in a Proving Ground match (if the champs lose they have to defend the titles against the winners in I believe 90 days) on November 5, 2011.

Caprice Coleman/Cedric Alexander vs. Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team

This is one of those Proving Ground matches. There’s a 15 minute time limit here. Alexander has the blonde mowhawk. Got it. Coleman vs. Benjamin starts us off. Benjamin works on the arm to start and Coleman can’t get anything going. He’s trying though so give him some points for that. Coleman manages to send him to the corner and gets a surprised look from Shelton.

Off to Haas vs. Alexander who is a bit more physical than his partner. Benjamin gets a blind tag in and kicks Alexander down for two. The champs have never really been in trouble at all. Haas works over the knee as we take a break. Back with Alexander fighting out of something by Benjamin but Shelton kicks him down with ease. Haas works on a leg lock but eventually walks into a bad tornado DDT.

We’re over ten minutes in now if this is in real time. Double tag brings in Coleman and Benjamin who is taken down by a leg lariat for two. We have less than four minutes according to Kelly. The non-champions speed things up and hit a double dropkick to send Haas into the barricade. Three minutes left. Their clock is about 10 seconds off but it’s close enough. There’s a double powerbomb to Coleman and we’re done at 12:55.

Rating: C. Uh…so? The champions beat the newcomers with their finishing move. Is this supposed to be surprising in a way or something? If Coleman and Alexander were worth something they would be on the roster already. Not a bad match or anything but it’s not like anything changes now or in the future. I don’t mean it hurt anything but it didn’t change things at all.

Shelton’s last and current stop was in New Japan where he would challenge for the Never Openweight Title at Wrestle Kingdom 7.

Never Openweight Title: Masato Tanaka vs. Shelton Benjamin

The Never (it’s an acronym and usually capitalized which annoys me as always) Title is part of an offshoot of NJPW for newcomers and outsiders with Tanaka defending. You might remember him from his wars with Mike Awesome back in ECW. I’m sure you know Shelton. Tanaka comes to the ring with a kendo stick which I guess is a signature prop. Feeling out process to start until Shelton speeds things up with a northern lights suplex for two. A release German suplex sends Tanaka bailing to the floor and things slow down.

Shelton will have none of this standing around and hits a BIG flip dive over the top to take out Tanaka and some other guy who was standing next to him. Back in and Tanaka comes back with a forearm in the corner to drop Benjamin and we hit the chinlock. Shelton fights up and they fight over a suplex with Tanaka getting the better of it. They chop it out and whip each other across the ring until Tanaka hits a SCREAMING CLOTHESLINE to take over. Shelton avoids a diving clothesline and comes back with the Dragon Whip to drop the champion.

A Stinger Splash keeps Tanaka in trouble and a bad looking Blockbuster gets two on the champion. Paydirt (Little Jimmy) is blocked by Tanaka but Shelton kicks his head off for two as the announcers talk about ECW. The same guy that Shelton dove on earlier trips Shelton up and blasts him in the head with a kendo stick (Checkov’s Gun works in Japan too) to give Tanaka a two count. Benjamin comes back with an ankle lock but has to take out the interfering guy with a belly to belly superplex. Tanaka uses the distraction to hit a sliding elbow to the head of a seated Shelton to retain the title. That’s a pretty weak finisher.

Rating: C. This wasn’t much to see as it didn’t have time to go anywhere, making it feel like a TV match rather than a PPV title defense. I’ve always been a Shelton fan and it’s nice to see that he’s still in great shape. Tanaka seems to be a heel here which makes sense when you have him facing a guy that can fly like Shelton.

To say Benjamin had potential is the understatement of the year. He did stuff in the ring that no one else could do with his MITB stuff being absolutely mind blowing. The heel turn in 2005 just crippled him though and he never recovered. Had he kept going on the run he had in 2004/2005, there was no way he wouldn’t have won a world title. Still though, his best years were absolutely awesome and are worth checking out if you want your jaw to drop.

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Pretty much confirmed at this point.  The refusal to accept further treatment was kind of a giveaway.

Monday Night Raw
Date: February 24, 2014
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

To say tonight is a stacked card is an understatement. First and foremost we have a slew of returning stars, including Hulk Hogan, Brock Lesnar, Shawn Michaels and potentially Undertaker. It’s also the night after Elimination Chamber which saw a masterpiece between Shield and the Wyatt Family and Randy Orton retaining the WWE Title inside the Chamber. The interesting thing is what happens with Daniel Bryan, who was screwed out of the title again, leading to a tirade from Michael Cole about how it has to stop. Let’s get to it.

We open with the return of Hulk Hogan to a very nice reaction. He soaks it in….and almost immediately screws up his lines, saying the WWE Universe has officially launched. Hogan almost saves it by saying the Universe launched the Network. He talks about his career making a turn as he’s coming home to be the official host of Wrestlemania XXX. So whatcha gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild on you brother?

The announcers show us how to use the Network on various platforms.

Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio

The reaction is somehow even worse than last night. Batista points out one of the Boo-Tista signs in the crowd with a little smirk. Dave pounds him into the corner with right hands to start and a clothesline sends Del Rio outside. Alberto goes back first into the apron before being sent back inside for a suplex. Batista clotheslines him back to the floor but Del Rio trips him up and drops him on the apron. Del Rio sends him into the steps as Lawler talks about the reaction at the Rumble, coming to the logical conclusion of the fans just wanted to see Bryan.

Back from a break with Del Rio stomping on Batista in the ring. Batista comes back with some shots of his own and takes Del Rio down with some clotheslines. A Codebreaker on the arm puts Batista on the mat but he ducks the low superkick and avoids the charge in the corner. There’s the spinebuster but here’s Randy Orton as well, allowing Del Rio to roll Batista up for the pin at 10:17.

Rating: D+. This felt more like an angle than a match and at this point that’s the best thing that can happen to Batista. Del Rio hasn’t been bad lately but the fans are going to cheer anyone that’s against Batista right now. The match didn’t have time to go anywhere with most of it being in a commercial.

Randy calls that one of the funniest things he’s ever seen before talking about the fans rejecting Batista ever since he came back. He thinks Batista must regret returning but Batista says Orton couldn’t be more wrong. Batista loves this business and the fans have their own voice. However, he has his own voice too and will boo them right back. He’ll be going to Wrestlemania to fight one of his former friends and taking the title, so deal with it.

Cesaro vs. Big E.

Non-title. Big E. quickly runs him over with a shoulder but Cesaro comes back with a series of knees to the ribs. A very nice overhead belly to belly sends Cesaro flying and some running shoulders in the corner are good for two. Back up and they collide before Cesaro kicks Big E. in the face to take over. We hit the chinlock for a bit before a series of backbreakers put Cesaro down. Cesaro puts him down with a headlock as JBL and Cole have an unfunny conversation about what the E. stands for. Cesaro catches a charging Big E. in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker as we take a break.

Back with Cesaro holding a chinlock but Big E. fights up for a gorilla press. He misses a charge into the post though and Cesaro pounds away in the corner before putting on a chinlock. A big powerslam gets two on E. and Cesaro tells Colter he’s got it. We hit the chinlock again but Big E. fights up, only to get caught in a sleeper. He rolls free and slams Cesaro down before taking off the straps.

Cesaro escapes the Big Ending and somehow hits Swiss Death for a VERY close two. The Swing is countered and Big E. hits something like a Rock Bottom out of the corner. Big E. is sent to the floor but he has to run over Swagger, allowing Cesaro to Swing the champion. Cesaro looks to set up the Neutralizer but Swagger comes in for the DQ at 15:50.

Rating: C+. This was a match with two big guys beating the tar out of each other for fifteen minutes and you can’t screw something like that up. Cesaro is an absolute freak but Big E. was more than holding his own out there. The Real Americans need to split already as Cesaro is ready to make a big jump but Swagger is holding him down.

Post match Big E. goes after Jack but Cesaro jumps him from behind and hits the Neutralizer.

Stills of the Chamber and the Wyatts costing Cena the match.

Here’s Cena to finally address the Wyatts. First off though, he says how great it is to see Hulk Hogan back where he belongs. Over the last few weeks Cena has been saying that anyone who wants to get to the top of the WWE has to go through him. The fans are of course split and Cena is of course cool with that idea. This brings him to Bray Wyatt, who has caused quite a stir since he showed up around here.

Last night Cena came face to face with Bray Wyatt and Bray cost him a championship match. That was a bold move and John Cena is right here if Bray wants to make another bold move. Here’s the whole Family to respond but Bray sits in his chair in the aisle. He says this world has an infection and a virus known as the human race. Through all of these times it makes sense that Cena would put himself right in the middle of all of them. What would the world be without its hero or its knight in shining hero?

John Cena is full of empty promises because he can’t save these people from this terrible world. Cena says the future has to come through him and Bray couldn’t agree more. Wyatt introduces himself to Cena and they are the reapers who bring death to this era of lies. Cena introduces himself as well and says if one of them comes into this ring, they’re starting something they might not be able to finish.

The monsters storm the ring and the numbers are too much for Cena. Bray pulls the Family back as Cena is favoring his left leg. Cena charges at them anyway but they’re just too bit. He’s holding that knee almost the entire time. John gets up again and the Family walks away but Cena can barely walk. He has to chase off Rowan, allowing Bray to run Cena over again. Follow the buzzards.

Cena was stretchered out during the break.

Christian vs. Sheamus

This was set up on the pre-show by Brad Maddox due to the two of them having issues since Smackdown on Friday. Christian is quickly sent to the floor but he comes back in with some right hands. Sheamus is fine with that and takes Christian into the corner for some clubbing forearms. A clothesline gets two on the Canadian and we hit a chinlock. Christian tries to wrap Sheamus’ leg around the post but Sheamus pull him face first into the steel instead. Christian counters the ten forearms to the chest and scores with a missile dropkick for two. Sheamus backdrops him to the floor and hits a shoulder off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Christian shoving Sheamus off the top and to the floor before ramming him into the steps. Christian stomps away in the corner before putting on a body vice to work over Sheamus’ bad ribs. Cole tells us that Cena’s injury is to his knee and it’s swollen pretty badly. Christian puts on an abdominal stretch but Sheamus elbows his way out and avoids a cross body.

Sheamus is sent to the floor but he catches a charging Christian with a knee lift and hits the ten forearms to the chest. A slingshot shoulder gets two and Sheamus busts out the Cloverleaf but Christian is quickly in the ropes. White Noise is countered into a sunset flip for two but the Brogue Kick misses. Christian goes up top but jumps into the Brogue Kick for the pin at 15:50.

Rating: B-. Another nice long match tonight with Christian getting to do what he does best: look good in a losing effort. Sheamus is still in a weird place as the fans like him and always pop for the Brogue (hard not to) but he really needs something to do. Good match here and that’s all you can ask for at times.

Earlier tonight the Authority called today the biggest night since the first Wrestlemania when Bryan cams up screaming, saying that he’ll fight HHH right now or at Wrestlemania but HHH laughed it off.

Black History Month video on the Soul Patrol of Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson.

Dean Ambrose is tired of explaining himself to Rollins and Reigns. They don’t trust him so he’s out of here. Rollins and Reigns are left alone when the Wyatts come in. Reigns challenges them to a fight right now, but says he’d love to fight Bray one on one tonight, with the Family and the dogs staying in the back. Bray accepts and laughs.

Ric Flair and Booker T were on the Raw pre-show panel to talk about the show. Flair starts a YES chant to take us to the next match.

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

Kane slugs away to start but Bryan comes back with kicks to the leg. A running dropkick to the knee has Kane in trouble and some chop blocks put him down. Kane fights out of a half crab and stomps away but Bryan fights back like the plucky hero he is. A shot to the shoulder puts him back down though and we hit the armbar, only to have Bryan send Kane to the floor. The FLYING GOAT is blocked by an uppercut and we take a break.

Back with Kane stomping away and putting on an armbar, only to have Bryan quickly punch his way out. Bryan hits the moonsault out of the corner and takes Kane down with the running clothesline. There are the YES Kicks but the big one is countered and a side slam gets two. Bryan fights back again and gets two of his own off a top rope hurricanrana before hitting the running corner dropkicks.

Kane charges over the top to the floor and there’s the FLYING GOAT! Another running dropkick knocks Kane against the barricade and a missile dropkick connects back inside. A big kick to the head gets two but Kane counters the top rope headbutt with a chokeslam for a close two. Bryan can’t get the YES Lock the first or second time so he hits a quick running knee for the pin at 15:40.

Rating: C+. This was the match that the two needed to have and it gets rid of the idea of Bryan vs. Kane at Wrestlemania. It’s pretty clear that we’re heading towards HHH vs. Bryan in the showdown and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Not a great match or anything but it was a good performance by both guys. Kane needs to lose the shirt though.

Bryan calls HHH a coward for running from a challenge and hiding behind Stephaine’s skirt. Ever since HHH put on the suit, he’s ignored the people’s wishes, even when they make their voices heard. The YES chant starts up and Bryan asks HHH if he’s listening. There’s an entire arena of people here in Green Bay, Wisconsin chanting YES so give them what they want: HHH vs. Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania XXX.

Emma vs. Summer Rae

Emma gets her full entrance with the bubbles and dancing but the people still don’t care. Emma grabs a small package for an early two but Summer kicks her head off to take over. Summer puts on a chinlock as the match slows quite a bit. The fans actually cheer for Emma to fight up and she counters another spinwheel kick into the Emma Lock (bridging Indian deathlock) for the win at 3:24.

Rating: D+. Emma still isn’t working due to the Santino factor but that’s WWE for you. Just let her be goofy and adorable and the fans will get into her. The lack of the long pants and shirt helped her here but she still needs to be herself instead of Santino’s latest chick. Seriously he’s had like four Divas now.

We look back at Hogan’s return earlier.

Usos vs. New Age Outlaws

Non-title. Dogg gets on the mic and says we know how this ends so the young kids need to get out of the ring. The Usos actually do it so the Outlaws can do their schtick but the twins come in and clean house with Jimmy superkicking and splashing Road Dogg for the pin at 1:13.

Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns

They trade right hands to start and Bray rolls to the floor. Back in and Reigns shoves Bray around before a finger to the eye sends Wyatt outside again. Bray comes back in again and takes over with a boot to the head followed by a hard clothesline for two. Roman will have none of this selling stuff and takes Bray outside for an even harder clothesline as we take a break.

Back with Bray hitting a running backsplash and drawing what sounds like a SCARY chant. We hit the headlock on the mat as the fans are already bored because this hasn’t been going a thousand miles an hour. Bray hits his running cross body and a splash in the corner but Reigns avoids another charge. The dropkick from the floor to the apron sets up a belly to back slam (similar to Cena’s ProtoBomb) for two….and here are the other Wyatts.

They’re just on the floor but Rollins sprints in from the crowd and DIVES on both of them, giving Bray a rollup for two. Reigns misses a charge into the post as Rollins is beaten down. Ambrose finally charges in from the back to join the fight but Reigns scores with the Superman Punch. He has to go after Harper though and Ambrose comes in for the DQ at 14:00 though.

Rating: C+. This was the only way to go here and the ending was about as good as it could have been. They clearly couldn’t job either guy and it advances Dean’s split. It helped that Ambrose was caught up in the moment rather than doing something stupid so Reigns has a reason to believe him when he says it wasn’t intentional.

Here are Heyman and Lesnar to close the show with a table in the ring. Paul calls Brock the undisputed #1 contender but apparently HHH won’t let him in the title match. He’s offered Brock an open contract at Wrestlemania but that’s just not good enough. What Brock wants is to conquer history, just like he’s done with every single thing he’s done in his life. The only reason Brock Lesnar can’t conquer the WWE Championship is the Authority won’t give him the chance.

That’s how they get you in WWE, so Paul has advised Brock to turn down the open contract and demand the title match. If not, there’s no Lesnar at Wrestlemania…..and there’s the gong. Brock isn’t sure what to think because apparently the lightning, thunder, smoke, organ music and UNDERTAKER BEING ON THE SCREEN AREN’T CLEAR ENOUGH. Undertaker comes through the curtain (with black Ministry beard of course) and Brock still isn’t sure what to do.

Taker turns to Brock and stares him down as a LOUD Undertaker chant starts up. He looks over Brock at the sign and we get the big staredown. Paul gets the idea and open the contract for Brock. Lesnar immediately signs and hands Taker the pen. Heyman offers Taker the match so Taker STABS BROCK’s HAND WITH THE PEN and chokeslams him through the table. The hood comes off and he’s got a little mohawk going to make him look even more evil. Brock is left laying to end the show.

Overall Rating: A. I had a blast with tonight’s show as it feels like we’re getting to Wrestlemania season. We’ve got three major matches practically penciled in and a lot of stuff got nice build as well. Couple that with four matches going 14+ minutes and you can’t go wrong here. The ending was the high point of course but I can’t shake that feeling I got from Hogan. It just felt right seeing him back on Raw and I can’t help but smile.

Results

Alberto Del Rio b. Baitsta – Rollup

Big E. b. Cesaro via DQ when Jack Swagger interfered

Sheamus b. Christian – Brogue Kick

Daniel Bryan b. Kane – Running Knee

Emma b. Summer Rae – Emma Lock

Bray Wyatt b. Roman Reigns via DQ when Dean Ambrose interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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In honor of Black History Month, I give you the All-American Ron Simmons.

Simmons got his start in late 1988 and didn’t do much, so he was put in a tag team with Butch Reed known as Doom. They didn’t do much at first, so of course they were given a World Tag Team Title shot against the unstoppable Steiner Brothers at Capital Combat.

World Tag Titles: Doom vs. Steiner Brothers

DANG that Doom music is awesome. They’re Ron Simmons and Butch Reed if you’ve never heard of them. They’re just big bruisers that have nothing but power. The Steiners are about as awesome as possible at this point so this is going to be a war. Rick’s hair is insane here and looks awful but it was just past the 80s so it’s ok I guess. Also, this is the Scott Steiner that was supposed to be the wrestler of the 90s as he’s a freaking monster that can move like Chris Jericho.

We’re stalling a ton by this point. Long looks like Carl Winslow with his hair like that which is rather amusing. Scott and Simmons start us off and Steiner just shoves the referee to the ground for no apparent reason. No disqualification on that for no apparent reason. These two just hammer the tar out of each other with the crowd being white hot. Scott is throwing Simmons around. That’s hard to imagine.

And now let’s look at the fans for no apparent reason. Scott throws out a perfect dropkick and it’s ALL Scott so far. I’m having issues taking Rick seriously with that hair. Apparently Rick offered to take Jim Ross fishing one time. That could be hilarious. To say this has been physical would be an understatement. They’re beating the tar out of each other and we hear about Simmons being the MVP of the Hula Bowl. That kind of weakens things a bit.

It’s weird hearing about all these little factoids about Steiner, including that he loves animals. It’s also weird hearing him called Hacksaw Reed. I know it’s his name but I associate that nickname with Duggan and Duggan alone. Doom has taken over here as we calm things down a lot. Reed has Scott down and pounds him with right hands. Better than the Atomic Noogie I guess. Reed hooks a decent bulldog of all things.

This has been slower but good so far. Frankensteiner hits out of nowhere and the place is all of a sudden alive. I’ll give the Steiners this: they could get a crowd going. Doom hits a modified Hart Attack for a long two but Rick makes the save. In a different kind of ending, Rick is pounding on Reed in the corner and sets up for a belly to belly from the middle rope but Simmons makes a save.

Reed hits more or less a spinebuster out of the corner from the second rope for the titles. I like that ending which is like a theme tonight or something. Post match Long said he would do it and he was right. This would wind up being the longest tag title reign in WCW history as they would hold the titles until next February.

Rating: B+. Better than the previous one and another very good match. This has been a great show for tag wrestling as I thought it would be. This lived up to the hype of a very big showdown which is always a good thing. These two were both big time powerhouse teams and this worked very well. I liked it more than I should have but Doom is just awesome so there we are. Also, this was just below Sheamus beating Cena on the shock scale as while they were both big deals, the Steiners had been champions for nearly a year and were more or less unstoppable up to this point.

Doom would hold the titles longer than any team ever in WCW. During their reign they would feud with several teams, but one of their best matches was a street fight at Starracde 1990 against the Horsemen.

Tag Titles: Doom vs. Arn Anderson/Barry Windham

 

Doom is defending (the WCW tag titles, which are newly formed as the NWA Tag Titles are a thing of the past) and this is a street fight, meaning anything goes. The champions have unmasked since last year and now have former referee Teddy Long as their manager. It’s a big brawl to start with Simmons slamming Windham on the ramp. Arn makes the save and whips Ron with a belt as I’m barely going to be able to keep track of what’s going on here. Windham suplexes Reed in the ring for two as Simmons whips Anderson with a belt.

 

Reed hits Barry in the face as Anderson hits Simmons in the knee with a chair. Now Barry goes face first into the post and is busted open. Windham comes back with a belly to back suplex on the floor as Anderson is whipping Ron back near the ring. At least they’re all near each other now. Everyone but Reed gets in the ring now with Windham pounding on Simmons with a belt around his fist. Now Barry gets a chair to blast Simmons in the shoulder as Ron is taking a beating.

 

On the floor, Reed sends Arn into the barricade as Simmons hits a BIG spinebuster on Windham for two. Reed is back in now to pound on Windham as everyone is finally in the ring at the same time. Simmons gorilla presses Anderson down but Barry hits Ron low as he goes up top. There’s Barry’s superplex finisher but Simmons kicks out at two. Now Butch goes up top for a shoulder block on Anderson, only to get caught in a DDT by Windham.

 

Anderson brings the chair back in but gets it shoved down onto his own head by Simmons for two. Reed chokes on Barry with the chair but Anderson makes the save and sends Reed to the floor. Anderson goes to the middle rope but Reed saves Simmons, allowing Ron to clothesline him out of the air. Windham blasts Reed and it’s a double pin as Barry pins Butch and Ron pins Anderson at the same time, which means Doom retains the belts.

 

Rating: A-. Great brawl here with a bad ending. This would lead to another rematch between the two teams with Doom retaining the titles once and for all. Still though, after everything else we’ve sat through tonight, this was a big breath of fresh air and a great fight. Doom would drop the titles in a few months and split up in March.

After Doom split, Simmons rocketed up the card and fought Lex Luger for the World Title at Halloween Havoc 1991 in a 2/3 falls match.

WCW World Title: Ron Simmons vs. Lex Luger

Luger is defending and has Harley Race with him while Simmons has Dusty Rhodes for no apparent reason. This is 2/3 falls. Feeling out process to start and they trade hammerlocks. Simmons tries a dropkick but misses completely to give Lex the advantage. Ron comes back with a facejam and snaps off a powerslam for no cover. The spinebuster gets the first fall in about five minutes total. That came out of nowhere and we have a one minuet rest period.

Simmons slams him down onto the back again and whips him into the corner time after time to have Luger hiding in the corner. Let’s talk about the Braves, who are playing in the World Series at the same time as this show. A sunset flip gets two for Simmons and Race is freaking out. Simmons misses a charge and Luger sends him flying out to the floor. Back in and an elbow drop gets two for the champion.

Lex hits a powerslam of his own for one because his back is too messed up to cover fully. Off to a chinlock as Luger tries to buy himself a breather. Simmons fights back with elbows and punches before grabbing a rollup for two. A backslide does the same and Luger is getting in more and more trouble every second. Race distracts Ron so Dusty gives him the big elbow. In a HORRIBLY STUPID MOMENT, Luger charges at Simmons who is on the ropes. Race holds Simmons against the ropes and Lex falls to the floor, AND THAT’S A DQ. That rule was so stupid that I can’t fathom it at times.

After another rest period it’s the third fall. Simmons is ready to go while Luger is sucking wind. The champion gets in a sucker punch and goes on a big rush of offense. He’s also bleeding from under his right eye. Simmons shrugs that off and pounds away in the corner. A clothesline gets two. Luger knees him in the ribs and Simmons is slowed down almost immediately. A powerslam puts Luger right back down and a middle rope shoulder puts Lex on the outside. Simmons’ shoulder hits the post and we go back inside so the piledriver can get the pin for Luger to retain.

Rating: D+. I wasn’t big on this one. This felt more like a really big TV main event rather than a PPV main event. Simmons would become a lot bigger soon enough and would get the title off Vader in 1992. The DQ here was just freaking dumb as there were far worse throws earlier in the night, but it made sense here because it needed to. Not a very good match but I’ve seen worse.

As mentioned, Simmons would get a shot at the title in 1992 by winning a raffle to take an injured Sting’s place against Vader. From August 2, 1992.

WCW World Title: Ron Simmons vs. Vader

Vader manhandles Ron into the corner and hammers away but Simmons comes back with HARD right hands to knock Vader down and the fans are losing it. Vader gets knocked to the floor and walks into a spinebuster for two but gets a boot up in the corner to stop Ron cold. Back up and Vader runs him over with ease and takes Simmons’ head off with a clothesline.

A running splash gets two and Vader jumps pounds on Ron’s ears before suplexing him down with ease. Vader gets two more off a middle rope splash and the fans are right back in it again. The champ takes them right back out of it with a hard clothesline but Simmons managers a suplex on the monster. A backslide gets two on Vader but he sits on Ron to counter a sunset flip. Vader loads up a powerbomb but Simmons slips out the back and grabs a powerslam out of nowhere for the shocking upset and the title.

Rating: C-. This did exactly what it was supposed to do as the crowd went nuts for the win and Simmons looked like a star. This made him the first African American to win a major world title so it’s historic to say the least. Vader would have his day back but this was a very cool moment.

Simmons would hold the title for five months before dropping it back to Vader. Usually I would include a title defense but his reign was so awful that I’ll just skip ahead to late 1993 when Simmons has joined ECW for a feud with World Champion Shane Douglash.

Shane Douglas/Brian Pillman vs. Ron Simmons/2 Cold Scorpio

We actually get a full match! This is a standard tag match with Shane hiding most of the time as he’s the heel champion. Pillman works the majority of the match which is always fun if nothing else. Simmons wouldn’t be around much longer and Pillman was more or less a one night thing until he left WCW.

There’s not a lot to say here as it doesn’t run that long and is just Shane running from both guys and yelling at the crowd a lot. After Pillman does a ton Shane comes in for an extended period of time and promptly gets powerslammed and pinned by Simmons. He suplexes Sherri afterwards to just end the tape with no goodbye or summary or anything like that, making this just weird or maybe the first half of a tape, but it’s all I’ve got.

Rating: C. Not bad here but not great. It’s really about getting Shane over as a heel and that’s fine and good. It worked rather well so I’ve got no complaints. It wasn’t that interesting but it wasn’t bad at all. Watchable would be a good way to put this one. I’m still not sure why the tape only included 30 seconds of the singles match.

Simmons would debut in the WWF in 1996 as a gladiator called Farrooq Asad. Again, the gimmick was so stupid that we’ll skip the early days of it and go to Farrooq starting the Nation of Domination, a militant stable with Crush and Savio Vega. Their first target was Ahmed Johnson, who would team up with the Legion of Doom to face the Nation in a street fight at Wrestlemania XIII.

Nation of Domination vs. Legion of Doom/Ahmed Johnson

It’s Crush/Faarooq/Savio Vega plus a bunch of unnamed lackeys forming the Nation at this point. They bring out every weapon you could think of for this match between about the nine people they have here. Ahmed has the spikes on too and they bring the kitchen sink with them. Ok point for a funny idea. It’s a big brawl to start (and will continue to be that way) with the good guys beating up the lackeys.

Faarooq hits Animal in the back with a nightstick and Ahmed hits a big dive over the barricade to take out I think Savio. I’m not going to be able to call everything here so expect a lot to be missed. Ahmed crushes Crush with a trashcan as Hawk has a 2×4 to stalk Savio with. Animal tries a piledriver on Faarooq through a table but they just fall off to the side instead. The fans chant for the LOD and Animal blasts Faarooq with a fire extinguisher. Savio cleans house with a trashcan but gets it wrapped around him and blasted by Hawk.

Ahmed slams Faarooq through the table from earlier and there goes the fire extinguisher again. Now we get a big rope with a noose on it to hang Ahmed. The Nation is too big and powerful for LOD and Ahmed to fight off. Hawk comes back with a double clothesline to Jerry’s shock. It was an actual wrestling move! Ahmed gets out of the noose and beats up D-Lo Brown for a bit. Animal hits Faarooq with a parking sign as Savio throws Ahmed over the barricade.

Crush finds a wrench from somewhere to blast Animal with as Faarooq is pulled to the floor by the rope. They’re clearly starting to get tired now. Hawk sprays the Nation down with the extinguisher again but the lackeys save Faarooq from the Pearl River Plunge. Crush gets caught in the Doomsday Device out of nowhere before getting hit by a 2×4 for the pin.

Rating: B-. You know what, why not. This was a FIGHT and it worked quite well. They didn’t try to make this anything but a street fight and that’s what they gave us. This wasn’t good or quality or anything but it was certainly fun and exactly what it was advertised as. Good stuff here and the second best match of the night so far.

Soon after this, Farrooq would get a WWF Title shot against Undertaker at King of the Ring 1997.

WWF Title: Farrooq vs. Undertaker

This is really just a token title defense as no one thought the title was changing here at all. Seriously, FARROOQ was the best they could do? They couldn’t have thrown Owen in there or something? Taker tries to talk but Bearer cuts him off. Bearer is controlling Taker because of a secret he’s holding over him, which was that he killed his parents in a fire, where he had a brother as well. You know the story from there. Taker gets a great pop.

That belt just looks right on Taker. Farrooq, as a heel, of course jumps him while Bearer is yelling at him. I really don’t like the idea of power vs. power here. Taker starts out fast but Farrooq fights back with the generic power offense. Oh look the Nation is interfering. Could you write a more basic match than this? I don’t think I could either. They go back and forth with power moves and the crowd is just dead as possible. NO ONE cares at all, as this was following Michaels and Austin.

Seriously, who thought that was a good idea? The referee goes down and no one cares because it leads nowhere. Bearer yells at Taker to get up and the Nation starts fighting. This would lead to their split into three gangs which no one cared about but the feud got pushed for months anyway. Farrooq slams Taker which is apparently devastating and the arguing distracts him long enough for the tombstone to end this.

Bearer yells at Taker for like 5 minutes until Ahmed comes out to play peacekeeper. Taker gets tired of listening to him so he swings and takes the Plunge. Johnson just leaves and Taker gets up and stalks Bearer to end the show.

Johnson would join the Nation for like a week before getting hurt again and coming back to feud with them AGAIN before leaving for good in January. The Johnson Taker match never happened, which was either due to injury or the name Johnson Taker being copyrighted by Jenna Jameson. It might have been either.

Rating: D-. Seriously, THIS followed Austin and Michaels’ classic. If that was flipped, this would have been a lot better. These two just completely clashed and it was terrible. There was no point to this and nothing was accomplished other than to set up a PPV main event that never happened. In case you were wondering, the WCW PPV main event this month was Savage vs. DDP, falls count anywhere which was a good match. Think about that comparison for a bit.

Soon after this, Farrooq would redesign the Nation into more of a black power group, including the newly heel Rocky Maivia. The two would fight over the leadership of the team until Farrooq was eventually thrown out and Rocky took over. They would fight for Rock’s Intercontinental Title at Over the Edge 1998.

Intercontinental Title: Faarooq vs. The Rock

 

Rock is in a neck brace and defending. He doesn’t come out despite Finkel introducing him three times in a row. Instead we get Commissioner Slaughter who says if Rock doesn’t get out here right now, the title is awarded to Faarooq. Frock finally comes out and gets jumped on the way as the bell rings. Faarooq rips off the neck brace and blasts Rock in the face with it for two before clotheslining Rock down a few times. Rock bails to the floor a bit but gets in a cheap shot when Faarooq comes after him.

 

A back elbow to the jaw puts Faarooq down and the more and more popular People’s Elbow (still not named) gets two. Faarooq comes back with a slam and a falling headbutt for two of his own. Rock grabs a quick DDT for a pair of near falls and the frustration is setting in. We get an awkward looking sequence with Faarooq hitting a bad spinebuster and looking like he’s not sure if he should cover Rock or not. He finally does and gets the three but the foot was on the rope. The referee says we keep going, allowing Rock to trip Faarooq into a rollup for the pin with his feet on the ropes.

 

Rating: D+. The match wasn’t terrible but the ending really messed things up. I’m assuming Faarooq didn’t have Rock in the right position to get his feet on the ropes but it really stood out as a bad looking moment. The match was short though and the neck injury didn’t mean anything at all for the most part.

 

Faarooq piledrives Rock two more times post match until the Nation (including Owen Hart who joined the Nation in a bizarre choice) makes the save. DX comes out to clear the ring as the Nation drags Rock away.

Farrooq didn’t really have anything to do for the next few months until he entered the most well known part of his career. He would form a tag team with Bradshaw known as the Acolytes. Here’s one of their earlier appearances from the February 1, 1999 Raw.

Al Snow/Road Dogg vs. Acolytes

Roadie is Hardcore Champion if you’re looking for an explanation for the pairing. The brawl starts on the ramp and it’s a hardcore match. Snow has a table rammed into his head and this is a big mess from the bell. Bradshaw throws in the steps and Road Dogg has a pencil. Snow and Farrooq fight into the crowd and the others join them. They fight to a concession stand and Snow goes into a barricade. They head outside and Snow hammers on Farrooq who has a garbage can over his head. Roadie and Bradshaw have a table in the ring while Viscera appears in the back to slam Snow. Bradshaw powerbomb Dogg for the pin.

Rating: C. Fun match but the ending was exactly what you would expect it to be. These matches are for fun for the most part and the thrown together team did a lot better than you would have expected them to do for the most part. The Acolytes were still getting the hang of what they were doing.

The pair would join Undertaker’s Ministry and take the Tag Team Titles in the spring. The Hardy Boys would win the belts in a big upset, but the Acolytes would get a rematch at Fully Loaded 1999 with Michael Hayes teaming with the Hardys to make it a handicap match.

Tag Titles: Acolytes vs. Hardys/Michael Hayes

Yep it’s a handicap match. At this point I had zero clue which was Matt and which was Jeff. We start in the aisle where they just leave the belts. Who would have thought two of these four would win world titles? I don’t think this has started yet. According to Ross it has. Ah there’s the bell so Ross was wrong.

We have Farrooq and Jeff in there to start while Bradshaw beats up both guys on the floor. Matt takes out everyone with a top rope moonsault. They really were great fliers back in the day. Hayes is pretty freaking worthless here but what did you really expect? The APA takes over with just power. Matt picks to tag Hayes. Why in the world would you do that? We get a Freebird reference so I’m good for the night. There’s Jeff. Crowd is DEAD for this.

I think Lita helped them a good bit to say the least. The Hardys simply aren’t that good at this point. Bradshaw gets a nice belly to back suplex off the top. Not bad. Jeff clocks him with Hayes’ cane over the head. Poetry in Motion is still very much a work in progress here. Hayes comes in and a double powerbomb gives the APA their titles back. Edge, Christian and a ladder would be coming soon.

Rating: D+. I didn’t like it at all. Hayes was just in the way here as he’s old and most of the people here don’t know what he used to be nor do they care more than likely. The Hardys would dump him maybe the next night. Either way, the APA would lose the belts to Kane and X-Pac two weeks later so this was just to get Hayes out of the Hardy picture.

The tag division would get very heavy very fast around this time with teams like Edge and Christian and the newcomers the Dudley Boys starting to take over the ranks. The Acolytes weren’t done yet though as they would win a tag team battle royal at Armageddon 1999 for a shot at the New Age Outlaws at Royal Rumble 2000.

Tag Titles: Acolytes vs. New Age Outlaws

The Outlaws are defending and there’s a backstory that doesn’t deserve to be listed. Who would have thought that THIRTEEN YEARS LATER the Outlaws would be on house shows for the WWE again? The Outlaws are heels here but they’re over like free beer in a frat house here in New York. The APA storms the ring and the beating is on quickly. Bradshaw and Billy officially get us started with Billy taking a fast beating. Both guys tag as the referee is adjusting his ear piece.

Faarooq imitates Dogg’s dance before getting double teamed a bit. Bradshaw breaks up the shaky knee drop and everything breaks down. The Clothesline kills Billy and there’s the spinebuster to Roadie….but Billy pulls the referee out. The ref is bumped and Road Dogg is hit with a double powerbomb. X-Pac runs in and kicks Bradshaw’s head off. The Fameasser to the future JBL retains the titles in like two and a half minutes. This had to be cut for time. The Outlaws would lose the titles to the Dudleys next month and that would be the end of the team.

Soon after this the Acolytes would become what they were best known as: a protection agency who would beat up anyone that paid them, because they needed beer money. They wouldn’t have a ton of interesting feuds over the summer but would eventually join the Dudleys to face the Right to Censor at Unforgiven 2000.

Dudley Boys/APA vs. Right to Censor

“We’re censors!” “We don’t like censors!” “Let’s have a pre-planned mostly athletic encounter to settle our scripted differences!” There’s your backstory. The APA and the Dudleys dances with Too Cool on Smackdown which wasn’t as funny as it sounds. Steven says his team will win in his hometown. D-Von vs. Goodfather to start which might be an Affirmative Action thing.

The fans, to no one’s surprise, want tables. Let’s see…four former ECW guys in this. No wonder the fans are into it. Bubba comes in quickly and the Ho Train misses. Belly to back gets two for Bubba. Buchanan is so mad he took his tie off. Bradshaw comes in to a nice pop and beats up Buchanan for awhile. Buchanan hits his pretty awesome walk up the ropes and hit a turning clothesline for two.

Venis comes in with his white pants and jokes run rampant. Fallaway slam puts Venis down and it’s off to Farrooq (how DO you spell that anyway?). This has been one sided so far which almost guarantees an RTC victory. Venis hits what is called the Blue Thunder Bomb on No Mercy and it’s off to Goodfather. D-Von is the one getting beaten down at the moment.

Val misses an elbow and there’s the hot (it’s Philly so it’s automatically hot) tag to Bubba. He cleans house 4-1 and again, why do face teams allow their partners to fight such huge odds? Doomsday Device puts Val down and it all breaks down. Steven slips in a kick to Bubba and that’s enough for Val to pin him. Steven was never legally in.

Rating: C-. Just an 8 man here and the fans are into the show already so it’s not like it took much. The ending was pretty clear after the RTC got beaten down so much. To be fair though every company has tendencies in their booking like that which if you watch enough you can almost always pick up. ECW was really bad about that. Anyway, this wasn’t great but it did its job well enough I suppose.

After a brief feud with T&A, the APA would finish the feud with the RTC at Wrestlemania X7. It was soon on the InVasion where the APA would feace the now heel Dudley Boys for the Tag Titles on July 9, 2001.

Tag Titles: APA vs. Dudley Boys

Apparently Spike is going to be out for awhile with a broken leg. The APA clears the ring to start and we get down to Bubba vs. Farrooq. Off to Bradshaw as the Dudleys take over. The reverse 3D gets two. D-Von pounds on him and it’s off to Bubba. He goes to the corner for the ten punches but gets powerbombed out and both guys are down. Off to Farrooq and D-Von with Simmons getting a spinebuster for two. 3D doesn’t work but What’s Up does to Farrooq. Bubba goes for a table but Spike comes out, hits Bubba with the crutch and throws him in where Bradshaw’s Clothesline gives the APA their third tag title.

Rating: D+. Pretty boring match but I guess the idea here is that if the APA is leading the WWF’s army so give them something to make them seem important. That’s not a terrible idea actually and it’s better than another boring Hardys vs. Dudleys feud for the 7000th time. Not a terrible match and it did its job I guess.

The rest of the year was spent in meaningless six mans, but the APA would be in a Tag Team Turmoil match at No Way Out 2002 for a title shot at Wrestlemania 18.

Tag Team Turmoil

The idea here is you have six total teams. Two randomly selected teams start us off and have a match. The winners stay alive and face the next randomly selected team. Last team standing wins and gets a tag title shot at Mania. The match wound up being a fatal fourway with three of these teams so it’s not like it mattered anyway. Scotty 2 Hotty/Albert vs. Christian/Lance Storm start us off with Storm and Scotty starting us off.

We go REALLY old school to get a giant swing from Albert. The faces take over here on the Unamericans. Scotty goes to the floor as no one has a counter for Albert. Christian, somehow the only one of these that means anything anymore, takes the Worm. Ok no he doesn’t as Storm tries to kick him in the face. The distraction results in an Unprettier (Killswitch to you modern fans) to end him.

Hardys are next. It’s kind of a mess here as we have a bunch of matches all in a row which is a fun idea but at the same time it’s a bit hard to keep track of the whole thing or review it either. The announcers argue the NWO issue which at least makes sense here as this match isn’t ending for another four falls. I usually hate that but Ross and Lawler tend to be much better about staying on topic.

Pretty much a mess of a match here that isn’t bad or anything. After about four minutes the standard double move from the Hardys take out the Canadians. Nothing great here but I’ve seen worse as usual.

Enter the Dudleys and the GORGEOUS Stacy. Her in the camo shorts and tied off top was absolutely stunning. Jeff and Bubba start the usual good match between these two teams as Bubba locks in an ankle lock of all things on Jeff. Edge and Christian were almost done as a big time team at this point so they were waiting on various teams such as Billy and Chuck to take over etc.

The Hardys try a combination legsweep/side effect which works ok at best. Twist of Fate attempt on Bubba but Stacy comes in, only to get speared down by Lita. I’ll give Lita this: she threw PUNCHES instead of those weak slaps or hair pulls you see more often than not. SWEET Litacanrana to Bubba. Huge dive over the top by Jeff as we crank it WAY up. Matt rolls up D-Von to end this way too early. I’d love to see these guys go at it some more, which is why this era was awesome for tag wrestling.

3D to Jeff on the floor as Billy and Chuck come out. This is about 4 months before the wedding which was one of the best shocks I’ve ever seen. Matt has to fight on his own and gets taken down by a superkick that almost connected and a Fameasser ends him.

The APA is the last team and I think I know who wins here. The boys in red beat up the APA for awhile before pure power takes over. How weird is it to think that Bradshaw was about two years away from a huge world title reign? This slows WAY down as we go from Hardys vs. Dudleys to this. Billy and Chuck didn’t really know what they were doing yet despite being long time tag wrestlers.

Fameasser is caught in a SICK spinebuster from Farooq. I love that move. Semi-hot tag to Bradshaw who cleans a few rooms. HUGE clothesline to Billy ends him to give the APA the win. Billy and Chuck would get the belts by Mania and it would be these two plus the previous two teams in one big mess of a match that wound up sucking to the shock of no one.

Rating: C+. Kind of a mess but not bad. The issues with these matches tended to be having too many quick falls, but here they protected that with the 3D on the floor which makes the double pin make sense. That’s a nice perk on it and the match worked pretty well. Having a 15 minute match helps this too as it’s usually like 9 minutes, which is far too short. This was fine though and kind of fun to watch.

There really wasn’t much else to see from the APA for the next two years as they were just older at that point. They would be split in 2003 and Farrooq would go to Smackdown and do nothing of note. He would retire in 2004 but come back as a legend in 2006 for one final big match at Survivor Series 2006 against the Spirit Squad.

Team Legends vs. Spirit Squad

Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Ron Simmons, Dusty Rhodes

Kenny, Johnny, Nicky, Mikey

Slaughter is replacing a cancer ridden Roddy Piper. Actually he got very lucky as he got a concussion because of a Conchairto from Edge, and on the tests the cancer was found. Arn Anderson is here with the Legends and we get the awesome Horsemen music. The only member of the Squad still around is Nicky, more famous as Dolph Ziggler. Mikey is Mike Mondo in ROH at the moment.

Simmons and Mikey start things off and guess who wins the slugout. Simmons beats up all of them but Mitch, the fifth member of the squad not in the match, interferes and gets Ron on the floor. Mitch’s distraction leads to Simmons getting counted out. Mitch gets ejected but Simmons beats him up first. Anderson gets ejected as well for no apparent reason. The Philly fans are TICKED. Nicky comes in to face Sarge and he mocks the salute. Fan: “PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE!”

Sarge beats him up with ease and it’s off to Dusty for some gyrating and elbows to the arm. It’s off to Flair and you know the Philly fans are all for that one. A chop later and it’s right back to Slaughter who hooks the Cobra Clutch, but Dusty and Kenny come in to fight, allowing Johnny to kick Sarge in the head to give Nicky a pin. Off to Dusty who hits the bionic elbow for the immediate elimination of Nicky, making it 3-2. Dusty gets caught in the corner but he gyrates it off.

The Flip Flop and Fly takes Kenny down but another elbow misses, giving Kenny a rollup (with jeans) pin. It’s Kenny/Johnny/Mikey vs. Flair now with Mikey starting first. Flair chops him into the corner but Mikey starts punching away. Ric hits a quick atomic drop and gets a rollup with feet on the ropes (now THAT is vintage Flair) for the elimination. Kenny gets in some shots but ducks his head and gets cradled for the pin, leaving Flair vs. Johnny. Less than a minute later it’s a Figure Four to give Flair the win.

Rating: C-. This was exactly what it was expected to be and that’s all it should have been. The legends were there to have a feel good nostalgia moment and get eliminated so Flair, the only one who had been active in the last three years or so, could knock out all of the Squad and give the fans a feel good moment. Also it’s only about ten minutes long so it’s not like this was anything major. It’s not a good technical match, but if that’s what you’re expecting here, you missed the point entirely. Besides, the Squad was gone literally the next night.

Simmons was a guy who hit his peak as a singles wrestler but is best remembered for his tag team work. Winning the WCW Title was a huge moment but it was really just a flash in the pan for Simmons. His time with the APA was fine and their stuff as two big guys that would beat up people for money was a great fit. Simmons really was a big deal for awhile, but he never reached the heights of 1992 again.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HY4NV7Y

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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

May or may not be a story.The Wyatts attacked Cena on Raw and John came up favoring his left leg.  Early word is it’s legit but there’s no word on the severity.  The match at Wrestlemania is pretty much already set so they could let Cena heal for the next month and a half.  Or the knee could be fine tomorrow.

More updates when they’re available of course.

Make fun of me all you want, but it gave me a chill.  I’ve been watching my entire life but hearing Hulk Hogan’s music playing in the WWE and seeing him come down that aisle with his hand to his ear will never stop making me smile.

After some problems getting it to work, I’ve got it loaded up.  Some of the shows can take a few seconds to load but the video looks great and there are a few extra shows that haven’t been mentioned like WCCW and a few house shows from the 80s.  I’m thrilled so far.

 

Anyone had good and/or bad experiences so far?

It’s reminiscent of Judgment Day 2000.Back at Judgment Day 2000, the Rock was in an iron man match against HHH.  With about two minutes to go, everything fell apart and Rock was outnumbered by about six to one.  It looked like there was no hope but the Undertaker returned and saved the Rock.  He also cost him the WWF Title but that’s another story.

The place went NUTS as Undertaker had been gone for about six months.  He was making a huge return after about six months away and he had been gone just long enough that people had forgotten he was missing.  That brings us to the next six weeks before Wrestlemania.  There’s a factor that hasn’t been mentioned in the the last few weeks and I think that’s by design.

The man I’m talking about is Vince McMahon.

Vince hasn’t been seen on WWE TV since I believe TLC, or about two months ago.  Everything seems to be falling down around Daniel Bryan as HHH and Stephanie’s authority continues to expand but if history has taught us anything, it’s that Vince McMahon can defy any story or power structure and be the ultimate power in WWE at the drop of a hat.

Vince is going to be back before Wrestlemania and he’s going to be shake up the Bryan vs. HHH feud.  Bank on it.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

Elimination Chamber 2014
Date: February 23, 2014
Location: Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Commentators: John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole

Tonight is the final big stop on the Road to Wrestlemania with six men possibly leaving with the WWE Championship. It’s actually a wide open field tonight with at least three people having a realistic shot at walking out with the belt. However there might be an even more interesting match on the card with the Wyatt Family vs. the Shield in a very well built story. Let’s get to it.

Pre-Show: Cody Rhodes/Goldust vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel

Axel comes out with his grandfather Larry the Ax Hennig. Goldust and Curtis get things going with the painted one taking over with some armdrags. Off to Cody vs. Ryback with the big guy throwing him around like it’s nothing. Axel comes in again and but gets sent to the floor. Ryback is tossed out as well and the brothers dive on both guys as we take a break.

Back with Ryback stomping away on Goldust and there’s a tag off to Curtis as his grandfather looks very pleased. A delayed vertical suplex gets two for Ryback and Goldust rolls Axel up for the same. Goldust and Axel clothesline each other but Ryback breaks up a tag.

Ryback charges at Goldust but gets backdropped to the floor, finally allowing for the hot tag to Cody. Rhodes takes Axel down with a knee to the face and the moonsault press gets two. Cody’s springboard dropkick is countered into a powerbomb for two as Goldust and Ryback fight to the floor. Curtis tries his neckbreaker but gets countered into Cross Rhodes for the pin at 8:58.

Rating: C-. This could have been any match on any given Smackdown. As has been the issue for the division since it was resurrected: it doesn’t matter how many teams you have if they’re all just trading wins back and forth with no one getting anywhere as a result. It’s nice to see Goldust and Cody get a win though.

The opening video talks about being willing to fight anyone in order to achieve your dream.

Intercontinental Title: Big E. vs. Jack Swagger

Swagger is challenging and Colter does his usual schtick before the match. Big E. shoves him into the corner to start and runs him over with a hard shoulder block, sending Swagger to the outside. Back in and some overhead belly to belly suplexes put Jack down but he bails to the floor again to avoid a charging champion. This time Big E. follows him outside and sends him into the steps but the champion goes after Colter.

The distraction doesn’t work though as he spears Jack into the steps in a painful looking spot. Back inside and Jack low bridges Big E. out to the floor and takes over with some running knees in the corner. After a WE THE PEOPLE it’s off to a front facelock for a few moments. Big E. fights up and a double clothesline puts both guys down again. Swagger avoids a charge and Big E. goes shoulder first into the post, drawing a WE THE PEOPLE chant from the crowd.

Back up and Big E. runs Swagger over with clotheslines and a belly to belly suplex but the champion charges into a powerslam for two. The running Vader Bomb is caught in the Big Ending but Jack makes it to the apron. That’s fine with Big E. as he spears him through the ropes in a big crash. Back in and the Warrior Splash gets two so Big E…..goes up top? Jack catches him with a right hand and runs the ropes for a belly to belly superplex and a VERY close two.

Swagger takes out the leg and puts on the Patriot Lock but Big E. kicks his way out. The gutwrench is countered but Big E. runs him over and takes down the straps. Jack grabs another Patriot Lock but Big E. fights up and hits an enziguri of all things, setting up the Big Ending to retain the title at 11:50.

Rating: B. I liked this far better than I was expecting with Swagger putting up a great fight and making it much closer than he had any right to. It’s nice to see Big E. get a win on PPV and a successful title defense over a former World Champion never hurt anyone. It should be interesting to see where the Real Americans go from here.

Bad News Barrett pops up and talks about Russia winning more medals at the Olympics, further proving European dominance. Is this character ever going anywhere?

We look back at Daniel Bryan’s shoulder injury from Raw at the hands of Kane.

Daniel Bryan asks some questions about the Chamber, such as will his opponents go after his shoulder and will he give this everything he has to become WWE Champion. Take a guess as to what the answer is.

Tag Titles: New Age Outlaws vs. Usos

The Usos are challenging. Jimmy shoves Billy around to start and some armdrags and hiptosses send Gunn outside. The Usos load up their double dive but the Outlaws move before the jump. Back in for Dogg vs. Jey with the champion’s headbutt hurting him instead of Jey. A hiptoss sends Jey into the corner and he looked to injure his knee or leg. The shaky kneedrop gets two and it’s back to Gunn for a two count.

The CM Punk chants start up as Dogg shrugs off some right hands and knees Jey down again. We hit the chinlock for a bit until Jey fights up and superkicks Jey back down. Hot tag brings in Jimmy to speed things up leaving Jimmy vs. Gunn in the ring. Road Dogg pulls his partner away from the running Umaga attack but Jimmy dives onto Roadie. Back in and a superkick gets two on Gunn but Jimmy has to go after Road Dogg, allowing Billy to grab a rollup for the pin at 8:34.

Rating: D+. This is more about frustrating booking than a bad match but the wrestling was nothing great either. I’m not sure if the Outlaws are holding the belts because they’re friends of HHH or because this company thinks there’s more to nostalgia than anyone else, but I don’t get the appeal of the Outlaws getting clean pins on top tag teams.

Bad News Barrett pops up again without the raised podium to say Daniel Bryan’s shoulder will keep him from winning the title.

Time to hype the Network. Apparently there will be over 50 documentaries in addition to the PPVs. Nice addition.

Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil

Basic story here of a team losing and splitting due to a heel turn by Titus. Darren gets in Titus’ face to start but is knocked down by a hard forearm. The fans want Lesnar as Titus works on a headlock. Titus bails to the floor and Darren is right on his heels as the fans chant Fruity Pebbles. Darren charges into the corner but gets backdropped out to the floor followed by having his back rammed into the post.

Back in and it’s time for a bearhug, backbreakers and an abdominal stretch. Titus slaps Darren in the ribs before charging into a boot as the announcers talk about JBL being cheap. Darren comes back with some basic offense for two as the fans boo the kickout. Thankfully they get the hint and a quick Clash of the Titus ends Darren at 6:17.

Rating: D. This was about what I was expecting and it showed the problem with Young. He’s basically the modern day Scotty Riggs, meaning a guy who was in a tag team with a much more charismatic guy and then had nothing interesting once he was on his own. Titus looked good here though and won clean in the right ending. Thankfully they went home quickly like they did.

MORE Bad News Barrett who talks about being more talented than Hulk Hogan.

We look at the pre-show match and the rest of the show with the expert panel.

Recap of Shield vs. Wyatt Family. The Family cost Shield a spot in the Elimination Chamber and the feud has spiraled into a battle over who is the greatest faction in WWE today. Ambrose and Reigns have been having issues lately as well.

Wyatt Family vs. Shield

The Wyatts take their sweet time as is their custom and we get a long staredown as the fans think this is awesome before busting out the dueling chants. This is what you get when you actually build up a feud to the point where you can’t imagine either team going down clean. Ambrose jumps the Family and the Shield clears out the ring before the opening bell.

Rowan vs. Rollins gets things going with Erick being drokicked into the Shield corner before it’s off to Reigns for a pop. He’s out just as quickly as it’s back to Rollins who gets his head taken off with a clothesline. Harper comes in for some hard right hands before it’s off to the boss for some knees in the corner. Rollins is thrown into the corner and the tag brings in Reigns. You can feel the fans get excited for this showdown.

They trade right hands with Bray getting the worst of it so a tag brings in Harper. Luke can’t suplex Reigns so Roman counters into one of his own and brings in Dean. Ambrose pounds away in the corner before it’s back to Reigns for two off a HARD right hand. Dean gets two off the dropkick against the ropes and it’s back to Seth for a headbutt to Luke’s back. The Shield starts their fast tagging with Dean coming in to rake his forearm over Luke’s face. A middle rope elbow to the jaw puts Luke down but Rowan offers a distraction, allowing Harper to hit a dropkick of all things.

Bray gets the tag to pound away on Dean as the Family takes over again. A running splash in the corner crushes Dean and it’s back to Rowan for the head vice with two fists. Rowan gets two off a side slam and brings Harper back in, only to have Dean grab a swinging neckbreaker to get a breather.

Rollins comes back in with a nice running dropkick but he gets caught on the top rope. Luke loads up a reverse superplex but Seth lands on his feet and sends Harper to the floor for a suicide dive. Back inside and the top rope knee to the side of the head puts Harper down again and Seth has a fired up look in his eyes. Harper kicks his head off for a very close two and it’s back to Bray after the best sequence Rollins has ever had in WWE.

Bray sends Rollins outside and hits the running backsplash on the floor before it’s back to Rowan. The dueling chants begin again before the fans say they want tables. Back to Harper who hammers away in the corner and scores with a running clothesline. Wyatt demands to be tagged in but runs into a boot in the corner. Rollins goes to the middle rope, only to dive into a chokeslam of all things for two. Ambrose tries to make the save but Harper kicks his head off, sending him to the floor.

Rollins finally gets in a shot to Harper’s head and the hot tag brings in Reigns to clean house. A Samoan drop puts Rowan down but Harper saves his partner. There’s the dropkick from the floor for two on Erick as everything breaks down. Dean takes Bray down and hammers away before dropkicking him out to the floor. Harper dives through the floor to take out Ambrose but Rollins hits a swanton dive over the top to take Luke out. Reigns rolls up Erick for a VERY close two but they clothesline each other down.

Seth loads up the Spanish announce table but Bray decks him from behind. Ambrose saves Rollins from being sent through the table and takes Bray into the crowd with another charge. AWESOME stuff here. Rowan and Reigns slug it out and Roman goes shoulder first into the post, only to come back with a running clothesline for two. Rollins hits Harper with a monitor to the ribs but Bray comes back and loads up the other announce table. Rowan takes Reigns down in the ring and sends him to the floor with a fallaway slam.

The Family has Rollins surrounded and the monsters double chokeslam him through the announce table. Ambrose is still gone so it’s pretty much Reigns vs. all three Family members. They slowly get back in the ring and Roman sees what he’s up against. He goes right for Bray but the numbers are too much for him.

Harper kicks Reigns’ head off and drops to his knees for the tag off to Wyatt. Bray does his upside down thing in the corner but Reigns powers out of Sister Abigail and Bray is terrified. Reigns goes into Beast Mode and Samoan drops Bray before hitting Rowan and Bray with Superman Punches. The spear puts Harper down but Wyatt runs Reigns over, setting up Sister Abigail for the pin at 22:45.

Rating: A+. When you expect a match to be one of the best match you’ve seen in a long time and get blown away, you’ve seen something special. This was outstanding stuff and had me glued to the screen which doesn’t happen every day. Outstanding match where neither team looked bad at all. Find this match if you didn’t catch it tonight.

Network ad with Hogan and Cena schilling its awesomeness. No they’re not on camera together.

Christian says his losses make him dangerous and dares us to underestimate him.

Divas Title: AJ Lee vs. Cameron

This is a bonus match due to fill in some time and let the crowd catch their breath. AJ is defending of course and says this was supposed to be Naomi’s match but she broke her face. Cameron gets in a quick shot to the face but gets taken down by a neckbreaker for two.

AJ puts on a modified dragon sleeper but spends too much time skipping around and gets rolled up for two. Cameron is quickly sent outside and AJ steals her pompoms for a little dance. Tamina screws up by kicking AJ in the face but still breaks up the pin attempt at two. That’s not enough for Tamina as she pulls Cameron outside and takes her head off for the DQ at 4:00.

Rating: D. This was a necessary step down after the masterpiece we saw a few minutes ago. Cameron was the logical choice for the replacement here but at the end of the day, no one cares about her at all. She’s a whiny little pest on Total Divas and there’s no reason to care about her.

Bad News Barrett says everyone is going to lose their jobs, children will be expelled from schools, rats will move into homes and the government will condemn the houses. Why? BECAUSE EVERYONE WILL BE MESMERIZED BY THE WWE NETWORK!

Santino, Emma, Khali and Los Matadores play with the new toys.

Batista vs. Alberto Del Rio

Batista is back to black trunks instead of the shorts from the Rumble. He gets a decent reaction here and nowhere near what it was last month. It seems more like indifference than anything else. Del Rio comes to the ring in workout clothes, wearing a neck brace and using a crutch. Sign in the crowd: “Batista = ZZZ”. Del Rio says he can’t compete and of course jumps Batista with the crutch. Fans: “SI! SI! SI!”

Del Rio of course has his trunks underneath and goes after Batista’s knee. He says ring the bell and Batista comes back with right hands as the booing begins. We might as well be in Mexico City right now. Fans: “Boo-Tista! Boo-Tista!” Even Lawler has to acknowledge the chants. Batista is sent shoulder first into the post and Del Rio puts on the armbreaker in the ropes. We hit the hammerlock as the fans chant for Bryan and Punk.

The Codebreaker to the arm puts Batista down again and it’s a Y2J chant. Del Rio misses a charge into the post and the BORING chants begin. Del Rio gets in another shot to the arm to take over and the corner enziguri gets two. Batista is knocked to the floor as the chants go from RVD to Lesnar. The announcers are acknowledging most of them at this point.

Del Rio throws him back inside and gets speared down for two (face pop). A powerslam is countered into the Backstabber for two but Alberto misses a top rope backsplash. Del Rio escapes the powerbomb and takes out the knee before the low superkick gets two. The armbreaker is countered and Del Rio is sent into an exposed buckle (when did that happen?) and the Batista Bomb is good the pin at 7:13.

Rating: D. I’m at a loss for words here as the fans are clearly not accepting Batista, but it’s not just because he’s a face. He literally had less than ten offensive moves here and was getting squashed until the very end. They expect him to be able to work a 20+ minute match in just six weeks? I can’t imagine that at all.

Network ad.

Expert panel predictions. Miz can’t make up his mind, Henry picks Sheamus and Mysterio picks Cesaro.

The Chamber is lowered.

Video on the Chamber.

WWE Title: John Cena vs. Randy Orton vs. Christian vs. Cesaro vs. Daniel Bryan vs. Sheamus

Orton is defending and of course it’s two people for five minutes to start and a new one is added out of a pod every five minutes. Last man surviving wins. Sheamus and Cesaro will be starting which is quite a way to get things going. Cesaro quickly dropkicks Sheamus out to the steel but can’t ram him into the wall. Back inside but it’s a quick backdrop to send Sheamus onto the steel again. Cesaro loads up a charge but Sheamus slingshots in with a shoulder for two.

Now it’s Cesaro being sent onto the steel and they fight over a suplex but Sheamus lands on his feet. Cesaro quickly puts him down and a middle rope double stomp crushes Sheamus’ ribs as Orton casually watches from the pod. They brawl into the corner and Sheamus tells him to bring it on. That’s fine with Cesaro as he uppercuts Sheamus down, but Sheamus pulls himself to the top rope. Another uppercut staggers the Irishman but he comes back with the flying shoulder.

Daniel Bryan is in third and the fans are fired up. Bryan has a bad shoulder coming in but starts fast with his usual stuff, including the running clothesline and YES kicks to Sheamus. Cesaro gets some kicks as well and the roundhouse kick sends him to the steel. Daniel puts Sheamus in an Indian deathlock and manages to suplex Cesaro for two without breaking the hold. Cesaro catches a diving Bryan in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two and things slow down a bit.

Sheamus is sent over the ropes again and Cesaro just rakes Sheamus’ head against the steel with a knee. Bryan is sent shoulder first through the pod and looks to be more in shock than pin. Cesaro and Sheamus slug it out until Sheamus hits the rolling fireman’s carry on the steel. Bryan is back in the ring as the dueling Cena chants begin. The clock speeds up a bit so Christian can come in fourth.

Christian goes right after Bryan’s shoulder by sending it into the cage wall over and over. He rips the tape off and slams the pod door on the shoulder for two. Sheamus is back up now and slams Christian’s back into the post a few times, only to be countered into the reverse DDT on the steel. Cesaro loads up Swiss Death on the outside but Christian grabs the cage to avoid massive amounts of pain. Instead Cesaro pulls him down and powerbombs him against the pod glass for two.

Cesaro sends Sheamus into the broken pod and it’s Cena in fifth. He immediately cleans house but gets taken down by a top rope hurricanrana from Bryan. There are the YES Kicks but Christian breaks up the big one with the Killswitch for a very close two. Cesaro loads up the Swing on Christian but Cena breaks it up with a cross body, sending Christian into the buckle off a slingshot. White Noise gets two on John and it’s back to Cesaro vs. Sheamus. Christian catches Sheamus with a kick to the face but Sheamus backdrops out of the Neutralizer.

A tornado DDT gets two on Cesaro but Cena sends Christian into the steel. Cena goes after Cesaro but gets caught in Swiss Death for two. Bryan, Cena and Cesaro have a three way fight until Cena loads Cesaro up in the AA. Daniel kicks John down before kicking Cesaro in the corner which the announcers call a mistake. Sheamus sends Bryan into the cage wall but Cesaro does his awesome superplex from the cage floor. Orton comes in to give us all six at once, which might be a first.

The fans chant BORING so Orton stops to pose and point at the sign like a good heel should. Bryan avoids the Punt and Orton is suddenly cornered by all five guys. Orton wisely hides in the pod, drawing a certain feline insult from the crowd. Sheamus yells through the glass before Brogue Kicking through the pod and sending Orton into the cage wall over and over. Cesaro sends Sheamus in as well and Cena initiates his finishing sequence on the champion. Cesaro breaks it up and Swings Orton THIRTY TIMES. Bryan grabs a Rolling Chaos Theory suplex on Cesaro but there’s no cover.

Sheamus powerslams Christian down and loads up the Brogue Kick on Christian but hits Cena square in the jaw. Christian rolls up both guys for two and Sheamus is TICKED. He loads up the High Cross (running Razor’s Edge) into the pod but Christian escapes to the top of a pod. Orton catches Sheamus in a superplex and Chrisitan adds a top rope splash to eliminate the Irishman. Orton tries the Elevated DDT on Christian but the Canadian escapes, only to get caught by the running knee for the pin and the elimination.

We get a fourway standoff until Orton and Cesaro are knocked down. Cena and Bryan have their long awaited rematch with Bryan trying a quick YES Lock but Cena easily powers out. The AA is loaded up but Cesaro Germans Cena as he’s STILL HOLDING BRYAN but can only get two. Cena can’t get the STF on Cesaro but he counters the gutwrench into what was supposed to be a hurricanrana. An AA onto the steel sets up the STF and Cesaro taps in an awkward looking moment. There might have been an injury there.

Cena catches Orton in the STF and we’ve got Wyatts. The lights go out and Orton is out of the hold somehow as the Wyatts are in the Chamber. Harper kicks Bryan in the face but all three go after Cena. John is laid out (Fans: “THANK YOU WYATTS!”) and the Wyatts leave, giving Orton an easy pin. We’re down to Orton vs. Bryan and Randy wisely crawls out of the ring.

Kane comes out to eject the Wyatts but the Chamber door is still open. He comes in to check on Cena but Bryan comes off the top with a knee to Kane’s head. Orton sends Bryan into the broken pod but Daniel escapes a superplex and ties Orton in the Tree of Woe for some kicks to the chest. A baseball slide to the face has Orton in trouble a belly to back superplex gets two.

Randy grabs him by the beard (why has that not been done more often) and hits the Elevated DDT out of the corner. The RKO is countered and there’s the running knee but Kane grabs the referee. Kane gets kicked in the head but the RKO is enough….for TWO on Bryan. I totally bought that as the finish. Bryan gets another close two on a small package and a big kick to the head puts Orton down. Kane gets in another shot from behind though and the RKO retains the title at 36:50.

Rating: A. Another awesome match to wrap up the show here with all six guys looking good. Orton winning was kind of expected after he lost almost every match in the last few weeks because that’s how WWE booking works. I’m really hoping we don’t get Kane vs. Bryan at Wrestlemania as it would come off as a huge letdown for him, but it would work as a big Raw match.

Cole goes on a rant about how unfair this is to Bryan. This was the focal point of the end of the show.

Overall Rating: A-. This was a two match show and both matches hit it out of the park. WWE is on a roll right now with their PPVs but none of them matter with Wrestlemania just a few weeks away. The ending wasn’t a huge surprise but there are still a lot shows to go before we get to the big one. Hopefully a few things change but if Wrestlemania is this good, it’s going to be a success.

Results

Big E. b. Jack Swagger – Big Ending

New Age Outlaws b. Usos – Rollup to Jimmy

Titus O’Neil b. Darren Young – Clash of the Titus

Wyatt Family b. Shield – Sister Abigail to Reigns

Cameron b. AJ Lee via DQ when Tamina interfered

Batista b. Alberto Del Rio – Batista Bomb

Randy Orton b. Christian, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, John Cena and Cesaro – RKO to Bryan

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WATCH

THIS

MATCH.

Match of the year so far by about a mile.