Last night’s show was a major step up for a variety of reasons.

 

The six way opening argument was the same segment we always get before the Chamber and it still works well. Christian turning heel for Sunday is fine as well since you want it to be balanced and Christian can easily turn from face to heel. However the heel turn was kind of wasted by having him get pinned so quickly. Have him walk out to save his body for Sunday.

 

Bryan’s shoulder injury gives them an out to have him lose while also setting up something for Wrestlemania. The question is what are they setting up. All of the signs seem to point to Bryan vs. Kane, which is a match that should happen……at any other PPV. After the year that Bryan has had and all the torture that HHH has put him through, the only other match that would work besides fighting for the title or facing Undertaker (and that’s a stretch at this point) is Bryan vs. HHH.

 

Everything is set up for it and the story writes itself (“You said I’m not good enough to beat the best, so how about I beat you at Wrestlemania?”). Bryan kicking out of the Pedigree, kicking the tar out of HHH and making him tap to the YES Lock in the middle of the ring would be more than an acceptable match for Bryan at the biggest show of the year. However, it doesn’t seem like that’s where we’re headed and I don’t get why. My guess is they might be saving that for Extreme Rules, which would be decent but totally miss what could be a much bigger reaction.

 

What is with all the dancing wrestlers? Brodus, R-Truth, Xavier Woods, Fandango, Summer Rae, Emma, the Funkadactyls and I’m probably missing some. When did dancing become this big of a gimmick?

 

Henry vs. Reigns was exactly what everyone knew it would be, though there was one major highlight. During Shield’s entrance, there was a fan holding up a Batista sign that read “Boo This Man.” I’m not sure why but I cracked up.

 

That brings us to Shield vs. Wyatts and I have nothing but praise for it. This is what you get when you build up two anythings as monsters that can’t conceivably lose a match. It helps that they’ve kept these guys apart most of the time and made the fans actually want to see a match. I’m more excited for this than anything in the last several months and there’s no way the match isn’t awesome.

 

That being said, it’s also one of the most frustrating stories in recent memory. Look at Reigns and Wyatt. Those two are proof that WWE can EASILY make someone into a star that can sell tickets and get the fans excited but they just don’t do it most of the time. Bray Wyatt has been around about eight months (let that one sink into your head for a minute) and is rumored to be facing John Cena at Wrestlemania. Reigns broke Kane’s Royal Rumble record. These pushes started in the last few months and they have the fans drooling. So why do we have to sit through so many horrible start and stop pushes the rest of the year?

 

One last note: how many of you would fork over your money right now for Reigns vs. Wyatt at Wrestlemania?

 

The Swagger/Big E. stuff was done quite well. I don’t think Swagger is anything more than a challenger of the month unless they’re setting up Swagger vs. Cesaro at Wrestlemania, though I don’t think that’s where they’re going. Big E. needs the Langston back though. “Here is your winner, Big E!” just doesn’t sound right.

 

Now we get to the highlight of last night’s show. I’ve been wanting to see a big time Cena vs. Cesaro match for a long time and last night showed why. That was a textbook definition of how to give someone a rub and Cena is rapidly becoming a master of the art. Cena was stopped at every turn until he finally gave up on finesse or technique and just knocked Cesaro down with raw power and hit a quick AA before Cesaro had time to counter. That’s telling a story and making someone look like a killer at the same time.

 

The other thing to notice about that match was the crowd. They were INTO that match, just like they were with the Sandow cash-in a few months ago. One of the hardest things to do in wrestling is make you question something you know is true and that’s what Cena is getting better and better at doing. I think deep down everyone knew Cesaro wasn’t pinning Cena clean, just like people knew Sandow wasn’t winning the title. However, Cena was able to make us believe that it COULD happen, even for just a few minutes. That’s some powerful ability and something that only a handful of people ever could do.

 

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: people aren’t going to truly appreciate Cena and his abilities until he’s gone. Lawler summed it up very well last night: Cena ALWAYS gets a reaction. Yeah it’s a mixed reaction, but that’s far better than fans being silent during an entrance. It means there’s something that people care about and that’s the most important thing.

 

HHH and Orton have had the exact same conversation for about four straight months now and they’re not adding anything to it.

 

That brings us to the tanned elephant in the ring. Batista hasn’t even been allowed to cut a regular promo since winning one of the biggest matches of the year and now he’s heading into Elimination Chamber for the least interesting match on the card. For the life of me I can’t imagine that he gets a one on one match with Orton for the title at Wrestlemania, Disney movie or no Disney movie. At this point his return is a disaster, but I still feel sorry for Batista in the whole thing.

 

At the end of the day, Batista just came back at the wrong time. People want to see Daniel Bryan and Daniel Bryan alone getting the title shot at Wrestlemania and would boo ANYBODY other than goat face. If Batista was getting this shot at say Money in the Bank, people wouldn’t mind for the most part and the reactions would be fine. The problem for Batista is that he has to step into the arena at some point and talk about going to Wrestlemania and the reaction isn’t going to work. A heel turn (even though he pretty much is one by default at this point) isn’t going to be enough. The problem is I’m not sure what IS enough.

 

Onto a more pleasant note, Titus O’Neil is NAILING this character. Word on the street is that he blew Vince and HHH away with his promo last night and I can’t say I disagree. The guy is perfect for the “I’m just better than you” character and has the charisma and mic skills to pull it off. No he’s not the best worker, but he’s good enough to hide it and that’s all you need to be at this level.

 

The Tag Title stuff was fine, just like the Intercontinental stuff.

 

I feel so sorry for Orton and Sheamus. They had to have their previous match at the post Wrestlemania Raw and last night they get to follow Cena vs. Cesaro. It’s even worse because their matches haven’t been bad at all but they’re overshadowed by circumstances beyond their control.

 

The brawl at the end was exactly what it needed to be.

 

That’s how I would sum up last night’s show: exactly what it needed to be. Every match on Sunday got some focus and I want to see the show way more than I did coming into last night. The fact that we got a classic match made things even better.

 

The most interesting thing though is that Wrestlemania is totally up in the air now. Look at the following people:

 

Sheamus

Shield

Bray Wyatt

John Cena

Daniel Bryan

Undertaker

Brock Lesnar

 

All of those names are in play for Wrestlemania and there are a lot of matches that could tear the house down. I’m getting excited and the Network launching in six days makes it even better.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $4 at:

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 17, 2014
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home show for Elimination Chamber and it’s not a good time to be Randy Orton. He’s 1-3 in his gauntlet so far and tonight he gets to face Sheamus before getting to face all five challengers at once on Sunday. Other than that we can look forward to more from the Shield vs. the Wyatt Family after the Wyatts backed out of a physical confrontation last week. Let’s get to it.

Cena opens us up for the first time in a good while. He talks about how this Sunday is the Elimination Chamber and winning inside the Chamber is a guaranteed main event at Wrestlemania against Batista. Cena has been on the road to Wrestlemania several times and the only person on that road that doesn’t have any momentum is Randy Orton. A few weeks ago Randy Orton was beaten by Daniel Bryan and then last week he was beaten by Cena.

The odds say that we’ll be having a new WWE World Heavyweight Champion and here are Colter and Cesaro to cut him off. Cesaro says he’ll be the new face of America and he gets in the ring to face Cena. John says that Cesaro won on Friday but all that means is that Orton is on a losing streak. Cesaro is in for a fight he’s never experienced on Sunday so don’t write checks that your body can’t cash.

This brings out Sheamus who says that he’ll be kicking both of their teeth in on Sunday and there’s a Brogue Kick waiting on Orton tonight. Cue Christian who says Sheamus should have saved the Brogue Kick for Dean Ambrose instead of kicking Christian like he did. Christian knows it was an accident, but on Sunday the Killswitch won’t be an accident.

Orton gets us up to five people with microphones and thanks the Authority for the chance to beat them all on Sunday. He knows Cena beat him last week but Cena can’t beat him when it counts. Orton and Christian have had some great matches but Orton has won every one of them. Sheamus’ Brogue Kick isn’t getting anywhere near him tonight….and here’s Bryan for another interruption. There are going to be five other people in the Chamber, but the entire arena is going to be chanting YES.

Cue Kane to a big YOU SOLD OUT chant. Apparently the Authority has left him in charge tonight and since Sheamus is facing Randy Orton, perhaps the other four of them should be in action as well. Therefore it’s Cesaro vs. Cena and Christian vs. Daniel Bryan and Kane will be staying at ringside for the latter of those, because it’s right now.

Kane looks at Bryan and Daniel gets distracted but Christian jumps him from behind in a very heelish move. He sends Bryan to the floor and throws him into the barricade as the fans aren’t pleased. Bryan goes shoulder first into the steps and we take a break before the match actually starts.

Christian vs. Daniel Bryan

The bell rings after a break with Bryan nursing a sore shoulder. Bryan starts with a quick knee to the ribs and some European uppercuts to knockt he Canadian to the floor. The FLYING GOAT is blocked with a shot to the jaw as Kane watches from ringside. Back in and Christian does the smart thing by going after the bad arm with a wristlock and a shoulder block for two.

Bryan elbows out of a hammerlock but Christian nails him in the jaw for two. Christian channels his inner Rocky Marciano and punches the shoulder but has to escape a half crab attempt. He drops knees on the arm and shouts that he should be the champion Bryan knocks him out to the floor and hits the FLYING GOAT, only to injure his shoulder as we go to a break.

Back with Bryan hitting a knee to Christian’s ribs and the crowd YESes him on. The YES Kicks set up the big one to the head for two but the swan dive hits knees, injuring the shoulder again. The running dropkick connects in the corner but Christian blocks a second with his feet. Christian scores with the middle rope back elbow but the Killswitch is countered into the YES Lock but Christian fights out. Another Killswitch attempt is countered into a rollup for the pin at 11:12.

Rating: C+. Well so much for buying Christian as a contender on Sunday. The match was fine and Bryan sold the arm quite well as you would expect him to do. Christian turning heel for the Chamber is fine as you don’t want to have four faces and two heels and Christian can turn as fast as anyone else. Nice opener.

Post match Kane congratulates him on the win but says Bryan isn’t done yet. He has one more match tonight, against Kane. The monster gets in the ring and easily knocks Bryan to the floor before their match after the break.

Daniel Bryan vs. Kane

Joined in progress with Kane in an undershirt and sending Bryan shoulder first into the buckle. A suplex gets two on Daniel and it’s back to right hands on the arm. The arm is wrapped around the rope and the fans think this is boring. Daniel comes back with a quick missile dropkick and starts having his usual seizure of a comeback. Some very weak looking YES Kicks are countered with a choke shove over the top. Daniel is sent shoulder first into the barricade before being bent around the post for a five count and the DQ at 4:00 shown.

Rating: D+. This was angle advancement instead of a match and there’s nothing wrong with that. They’re stacking the deck even more against Bryan on Sunday which is likely setting up HHH vs. Bryan at Wrestlemania. Again though, I can’t imagine they’re crazy enough to not put him in the title match at the biggest show of the year.

Kane stays on the arm post match and crushes it against the steps.

After a clip of Henry vs. Ambrose last week, Ambrose brags about the beating he gave Henry last week. Reigns calls him out on this and says that he’ll show Dean how it’s done tonight. Seth says that the Shield is on the same page and they’re bred for war on Sunday. Dean calls the Wyatts an illusion and they don’t experience fear. Believe in the Shield.

Santino Marella vs. Fandango

Emma is with Santino and we get some clips of her time in NXT. Fandango takes over with a quick elbow to the jaw and a headbutt. Santino avoids a middle rope knee drop and hits his facebuster before loading up the Cobra. Emma intercepts Summer Rae and puts her in an airplane spin of all things. Santino and Emma have their romantic moment but Fandango breaks up the kiss and ends Santino with a falcon’s arrow at 2:42.

Renee Young asks Henry how he’ll do against Roman Reigns.  Henry says tonight is about inducting Reigns into the Hall of Pain because that’s what he does.

Mark Henry vs. Roman Reigns

The fans are behind Reigns as he hammers away on Mark to get us going. Henry blocks an Irish whip so Reigns casually picks him up in a Samoan drop for two. Reigns kicks him out of the corner and hits the Superman Punch followed by the spear for the pin at 2:45. Basically a squash.

Post match Rollins congratulates Reigns on his win but Ambrose stomps on Henry for last week. Reigns asks Dean what he’s doing but we’ve got Wyatts. Bray is singing a children’s Christian song about having the joy down in his heart as we get closer to Elimination Chamber. The Shield’s shattered bones will pave the streets of his kingdom but he wants to know if this was all worth it for the Shield.

Harper asks if they’re willing to die for this and Bray says if not, then they’ve already lost. Reigns grabs a mic and says come out here and say that. Bray says it’s funny he should say that because the Wyatts were thinking the same thing. Rowan speaks for the first time and says run. The Wyatts come to the aisle and get on the apron but only Bray gets inside. Reigns smiles and steps forward as Harper and Rowan join their leader. Ambrose and Rollins are ready to go but Bray calls off the monsters and the Wyatts leave.

The kickoff match for Sunday is Goldust/Cody Rhodes vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel.

Cody and Goldust play with new WWE toys and have a bizarre family moment talking about trying to make hamsters fly. Bad News Barrett comes in and kicks the toys away.

Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger

Jack pounds Kofi down in the corner to start and gets two off a suplex. The fans almost immediately start chanting for JBL and then CM Punk as Swagger hits the Vader Bomb for two. Kofi gets a boot up in the corner to stop a charging Swagger and hits a few forearms and dropkicks. Jack counters a sunset flip but Kofi comes back with Delirious’ Shadows Over Heck of all things for two. An SOS out of nowhere gets two but Swagger had his foot on the ropes. A high cross body gets two but Swagger rolls through into the Patriot Lock for the submission at 4:40.

Rating: D+. This was just a way to give Swagger some momentum going into Sunday and that’s the right idea. Jack is just another challenger of the month for Big E. and that’s something that can be set up in just a few matches like it has been here. Kofi is a good hand to have in this roll as he’s not going to lose anything by getting beat here.

Big E. comes down for his match and stares at Swagger.

Big E. vs. Drew McIntyre/Jinder Mahal

3MB is easily pounded down as Zeb gets on the mic and talks trash during the match. Colter insults the Broncos and calls Big E a moron as 3MB double teams him for a few moments. The champ easily fights back and sends McIntyre to the floor before belly to bellying both guys. The Warrior Splash crushes both of them and the Big Ending to both guys is enough to pin McIntyre at 4:15.

Rating: C-. Just like the previous match, this was exactly what it needed to be. Big E. (he needs the Langston back already) hasn’t been doing his best lately and this is the kind of win that he’s been looking for to get back to form. Beating a former world champion on PPV isn’t going to hurt him at all either.

Alexander Rusev is still coming.

Ron Simmons Black History Month video.

Video on the Elimination Chamber match.

Cena says we’ll see what Cesaro is made of.

John Cena vs. Cesaro

Cesaro grabs a headlock to start but Cena comes back with a hiptoss to send Cesaro outside. Back in and they do the same sequence but Cesaro counters Cena’s leapfrog into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. An abdominal stretch goes nowhere but Cesaro knocks Cena to the floor with ease. John is sent into the barricade as this has been one sided so far. A middle rope elbow gets two for Cesaro but Cena comes back with his lift into a neckbreaker for two. Cesaro comes back with a hard whip into the corner and baseball slides Cena out to the floor as we take a break.

Back with Cesaro putting on a sleeper but Cena rams him into the corner to escape. A running clothesline gets two on John and we hit the chinlock. Cena’s comeback is thwarted again but he counters the Swing into an STF attempt, only to have Cesaro counter into the gutwrench for two. Cena has had barely any offense here. Another comeback bid is stopped with Swiss Death for two.

The Swing is loaded up again but Cena does a HUGE situp into a DDT for another close two. Cena goes up for the Fameasser but Cesaro hits a running uppercut to knock him all the way to the floor. Cesaro hits the awesome superplex from the apron for two as the fans are WAY into this.

Cena grabs a quick STF but pulls Cesaro away from the ropes, allowing Cesaro to hook the Swing for about fifteen revolutions and a two count. The Neutralizer is countered into an AA attempt but Cesaro lands on his feet in an amazing counter. Cena takes his head off with a clothesline and immediately rolls forward and picks up Cesaro for the AA and a fast pin at 19:05. Colter: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Rating: A. This is the match I’ve been wanting to see for years now and it worked as well as I was hoping it to. Cena had almost no offense the entire match and made Cesaro look like one of the fastest rising stars you’ll see in years. Outstanding match here and more evidence that people who say Cena can’t wrestle have no idea what they’re talking about.

HHH and Orton are in the back and Orton implies that HHH will help him on SUnday.  Orton runs his mouth about HHH carrying Batista through Evolution and of course Big Dave is behind him.  Orton leaves and here’s Alberto Del Rio in a neckbrace to threaten Batista on Sunday.  Batista shoves him into some carts and walks away, leaving HHH looking dismayed.

Darren Young vs. Titus O’Neil has been added to the PPV. Titus cuts off Renee Young and asks her if she can spell champion. “C-h-a-….” but Titus cuts her off again and says it’s “T-I-T-U-S!”. On Sunday he’ll run Young over and the entire locker room will have to witness the rise of Titus O’Neil.

Wyatt Family vs. Los Matadores/Sin Cara

This should be quick. Diego tries his luck on Rowan to start but his shoulder block winds up hurting him more than Erick. Off to Luke for a hard forearm before Bray comes in for some creepy shouting and a suplex. Back to Harper for the Gator Roll but Diego finally scores with an enziguri.

The hot tag brings in Sin Cara who leaves a springboard clothesline a bit short but still hits a headscissors to knock Bray off the apron. The handspring elbow gets two as everything breaks down. Torito tries to go after Rowan but Los Matadores make the save. Sin Cara misses the Swanton on Harper and the discus lariat sets the table for Sister Abigail and the pin at 5:34.

Rating: D+. Just an extended squash here and thankfully Torito wasn’t a big factor in this. The good thing for the Family is how awesome Harper and Rowan look, meaning they’ll have a future when the group breaks up. The showdown on Sunday is going to be insane and it’s easily the match I’m looking forward to the most.

Billy Gunn vs. Jey Uso

Roadie and Jimmy are on commentary and the Tag Title match is made official for Sunday. Billy is quickly sent to the floor and Dogg gets up to check on him. Back in and a running clothesline gets two on Jey as Roadie shrugs off jokes about his age. The camera stays on the commentary table as Billy pounds away in the corner. Road Dogg brings up singing With My Baby Tonight to bring us back to the mid 90s. The Fameasser is countered into a quick rollup for the pin at 3:13. Too much of the match was spent on the commentary table to rate but this was angle advancement more than wrestling.

The Usos lay out the champions post match.

Sheamus is looking forward to the Chamber because he can be as aggressive as he wants.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus

Non-title of course. The fans immediately start chanting for Punk as Sheamus takes Orton into the corner and shoulders him to the floor. Sheamus follows him out and is sent into the post but Orton is sent into the announce table to even things up. Back in and a knee drop gets two for Sheamus but he misses an early Brogue Kick attempt and is sent into the post again as we take a break.

Back with Sheamus fighting out of a chinlock and taking it to the floor for a whip into the barricade. Orton comes right back with a whip into the steps but Sheamus counters the superplex into a top rope battering ram to put both guys down. Randy bails again and goes after a monitor, only to catch Sheamus in the belly to back onto the announce table in a big crash.

Sheamus dives in at nine and avoids a knee drop, allowing the pale one to come back with forearms, only to walk into the powerslam for two. Orton is sent to the apron and there are the ten forearms. White Noise is countered into the backbreaker and the Elevated DDT looks to set up the RKO. Sheamus casually shrugs it off and hits three straight Irish Curses before loading up the Brogue Kick, only to have Shield run in for the DQ at 14:50.

Rating: C+. I feel sorry for these guys. They were in the match at the post Raw Wrestlemania with the New Jersey crowd and now they have to go on after Cena and Cesaro have their classic. The ending has me thinking something changes on Sunday and Reigns gets inside the Chamber but it’s a long way off.

The rest of the Chamber guys run in and we’ve got Wyatts. They stare down the Shield and the brawl is on to end the show. The fans went NUTS for the two teams fighting.

Overall Rating: A. Now THAT is how you do a go home show. Every match for Sunday got some time, the wrestling was good, the showdown between the Wyatts and Shield had me ready to hand over my money to see the payoff and we got a huge rub for Cesaro. This is the show that WWE has been needing for a few weeks, and I’m sure the fact that HHH was limited to a cameo had nothing at all to do with the quality going up. Awesome show this week that has me ready for Sunday.

Results

Daniel Bryan b. Christian – Rollup

Daniel Bryan b. Kane via DQ when Kane wouldn’t stop bending Bryan’s arm around the post

Fandango b. Santino Marella – Falcon’s arrow

Roman Reigns b. Mark Henry – Spear

Jack Swagger b. Kofi Kingston – Patriot Lock

Big E. b. Jinder Mahal/Drew McIntyre – Big Ending to McIntyre

John Cena b. Cesaro – Attitude Adjustment

Wyatt Family b. Sin Cara/Los Matadores – Sister Abigail to Sin Cara

Jey Uso b. Billy Gunn – Rollup

Sheamus b. Randy Orton via DQ when Shield interfered

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $4 at:

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We’ll go with someone a bit better looking than Big Show today: Tara, or Victoria if you’re not a TNA fan.

Victoria would begin training in 2000 and make her in ring debut (she had been an on screen character as one of Godfather’s Ho’s for awhile) in the WWE in August 2002 with her first feud against Trish Stratus. Believe it or not there was a story here with Victoria saying Trish ripped her off when they were both fitness models. This led to a hardcore match for Trish’s title at Survivor Series 2002.

Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Trish Stratus

Hardcore rules here and Trish is defending. This is their second PPV match after Trish won last month. Victoria immediately chokes her with Trish’s coat before getting a broom out of one of the trashcans on each post. Trish jumps the broom (lucky guy) but Victoria takes her down almost immediately. Victoria chokes her with the broom in the corner but gets flipped to the mat.

Now Trish finds a trashcan lid but Victoria knocks the lid into her head with the broom. We head to the floor and Trish gets whipped HARD into the trashcan. Back in and Victoria hits her slingshot legdrop for two. The challenger puts a trashcan in between the top and middle rope but Trish grabs her legs and slingshots Victoria’s head into the can. Trish sets up an ironing board in the corner and whips Victoria into it for two.

It’s kendo stick time with Victoria taking a beating. She gets a boot up in the corner though and BLASTS Trish with a trashcan lid. Victoria has a bloody nose and sits on the middle rope, allowing Trish to try a rana out of the corner. Victoria counters into a kind of Boston Crab position, but Trish does a big situp and hits Victoria in the head with a can lid.

That only stuns her though so Trish BLASTS her in the head with a trashcan lid again to knock Vicotira off the ropes and out to the floor. Victoria gets a mirror from under the ring but Trish superkicks her down. Chick Kick (Punk’s high kick) gets two for Trish as does a bulldog. Victoria rolls to the floor and pulls out a fire extinguisher to blast Trish with. That and a suplex gets the pin and the title for the nutjob.

Rating: B. This was AWESOME with both chicks beating the tar out of each other. The story of the match worked really well too with Trish trying to wrestle her way out of trouble against a monster that wanted to hurt her no matter what. This worked really well and is one of the most intense Divas matches you’ll ever see.

Victoria would become more and more psycho before hooking up with Steven Richards in a bizarre relationship that lasted for several months. She would hold the title until Wrestlemania XIX when she would defend it in a threeway against Jazz and Trish.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Jazz vs. Victoria

Victoria is defending and is still psycho here. She’s also Tara for you TNA fans. Jazz hits a quick dropkick for two on Trish before Victoria can even get to the ring. Off to what we would call a Last Chancery to the Canadian after the champion is knocked to the floor. Everyone winds up outside with the champion taking over. She sends Trish back inside for a slingshot legdrop, getting two. Jazz and Victoria square off now before turning their attentions back to Stratus for some double teaming.

That goes nowhere though as it’s time for the villains to fight again with Jazz getting two off a powerslam. Trish comes back with a rollup on Victoria for two but she clotheslines Trish down for two as a result. Jerry: “Trish is like a quarter among pennies in there.” JR: “…..what?” Jazz hits a sitout powerslam for two on Stratus before arguing with Victoria even more. A spin kick by Jazz hits Victoria by mistake and allows Trish to roll her up for two. The Chick Kick puts Jazz down and the Stratusphere does the same to Victoria.

The champion is knocked to the floor as Jazz puts Trish in a half crab which is transitioned into an STF. Victoria’s boyfriend/manager Steven Richards comes in to send Jazz to the floor, allowing the other two to trade rollups for two each. Jazz comes back in and lifts Trish up for a double chickenwing before dropping her down on her uh…face. Yeah face. Victoria kicks Jazz down but misses a moonsault, knocking herself to the floor. Richards comes in and hits himself with a chair. As he goes to the floor, Trish hits the Chick Kick on Victoria for the pin and the title.

Rating: C. Not bad again here and one of the better women’s matches I’ve seen in a long time. There wasn’t much of a story being told here but at the same time, they looked like they knew what they were doing and never looked lost, which puts them miles ahead of anything in the last three years of Divas matches.

As is almost always the case with the Divas, there weren’t a ton of stories around this time. There would however be one match of note on November 24, 2003: the first Divas cage match with Victoria vs. Lita in Lita’s first match back after breaking her neck.

Lita vs. Victoria

There’s no backstory to this one as the gimmick is selected through Raw Roulette. Lita jumps Victoria as she gets in the cage and rams her into the steel. Victoria’s pants start riding down a bit and Jerry freaks out at the sight of a thong. Lita is sent face first into the steel as well and the spinning sidewalk slam gets two. Victoria can’t make it through the door and some right hands from Lita have her in trouble.

The redhead can’t make it out of the cage as Victoria makes the save, pulling her down from the top for two. A spear sends Lita’s back into the cage but she comes back with a powerbomb out of the corner. Lita goes up and moonsaults a standing Victoria but the EVIL Matt Hardy comes in and slams the door on Lita’s head, allowing Victoria to crawl out for the win.

Rating: D+. The match was way too short to go anywhere but DANG the girls looked good out there. I know Lita is often remembered for looking great but crazy Victoria was no slouch whatsoever. Evil Matt was a decent idea but it didn’t have the time to really go anywhere. Again, more of a novelty than anything else.

Speaking of novelties, Victoria would eventually turn face and win the title, leading to a hair vs. title match at Wrestlemania XX. I don’t think I need to explain it any further than that.

Women’s Title: Molly Holly vs. Victoria

Victoria is defending and Molly has her hair on the line. The champion has the awesome All The Things She Said as her theme song as is looking sweet in white here. They lock up to start and Molly pounds her down before whipping Victoria into the corner. Victoria nips up off the mat and sends Molly to the floor but loses control soon thereafter. Back in again as the match is already going slowly.

A low dropkick gets two on Victoria and it’s off to a reverse cravate by Molly. A quick rollup gets two for Victoria as JR says he doesn’t wear underwear. Victoria powerslams her down for two but Molly heads up a few seconds later. An attempted superplex is countered into a slow motion sunset bomb for two for Molly. A backslide out of nowhere retains the title for Victoria, meaning it’s time to see a bald Holly.

Rating: D+. Not much to see here other than both girls looking incredibly cute. As is usually the case, there’s no explanation given for why this match is happening, nore does anyone seem interested in telling us. Molly would get a wig soon after this which admittedly was pretty amusing. Nothing to the match which didn’t even last five minutes.

Molly tries to put Victoria into the barber’s chair post match but can’t get the clippers to work. The champion fights back and lays Molly out for the haircut.

Since this is WWE and Victoria is a good looking woman, a special outfit match had to be coming eventually. This is from Taboo Tuesday 2004.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Jazz vs. Nidia vs. Gail Kim vs. Molly Holly vs. Victoria vs. Stacy Keibler

This is the schoolgirl battle royal and yes Trish is defending the title in a battle royal. She’s ticked and a heel here. Jazz isn’t someone I want to see dressed like this. Why can’t Lillian be in this? I’ve never been sure if Nidia is hot or not. Gail looks good too. She never meant a thing after her debut though. Molly is growing her hair back after having it shaved at I think Mania. Victoria (Tara) looks great like this. Stacy is perfect for it with the legs.

It’s not over the top either. The crowd is more into this than the first match. Nidia’s top falls off and she gets knocked out. Jazz is hanging on to the bottom rope and Victoria accidentally hits her with a baseball slide to put her out. Gail is out. There isn’t much to say here at all. Stacy gets the biggest pop of the night for doing a Nash leg choke on Victoria.

This is mainly just a way for Lawler to freak over underwear shots. Molly and Trish get rid of Victoria, leaving the two of them and Stacy. This is boring as all goodness. Stacy is supposed to be the big face here and she makes a bit of a comeback but Molly puts her out easily. Trish is almost out earlier but holds on and sneaks up on Molly to put her out and retain.

Rating: D-. This was bad on all levels. I’ve never gotten the appeal of the schoolgirl thing and this was no exception. Nothing came from this at all but at least it was quick. It was boring as heck on top of that too so there we are. At least it’s over and the girls are hardly bad looking….for the most part.

Around this time we started getting some new Divas, including one by the name of Christy Hemme. She and Victoria started a feud over a swimsuit contest, leading to a match at Vengeance 2005.

Christy Hemme vs. Victoria

They start fast and Victoria does all kinds of evil things to Christy. This is non-title also since the title is on Smackdown at the moment. The cards in the set change based on who is in the current match. The fans don’t really care either. Lawler says this is about looks or whatever. Christy botches the heck out of a sunset flip. Yeah I’m stunned too.

Ross freaks because Christy can do a DDT. She can do one of the least complex moves of all time and she gets cheered for it. She goes for another sunset flip and Victoria drops down and grabs the ropes for the heel pin.

Rating: D-. The lack of failing is because these are two of the hottest Divas of all time. The match was totally awful though, if you didn’t guess that part. Christy was gorgeous but it was clear that she just wasn’t all that great in the ring and it showed every time she was out there. Even Victoria couldn’t save her, and that says quite a bit.

After entering and leaving an alliance called Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson called Vince’s Devils, it was back to old stomping grounds for Victoria as she faced Trish Stratus on the August 21, 2006 episode of Monday Night Raw.

Victoria vs. Trish Stratus

They slug it out to start and Trish hits a splash in the corner followed by a dropkick. Trish knocks her to the floor and hits the Thesz Press to the floor. Clothesline gets two back in the ring. Victory roll gets the same and you know Lawler was happy with that. Stratusfaction is countered into a backbreaker and Victoria works on the back a bit. They go to the corner and Trish hits a middle rope hurricanrana but Victoria pops up and tries the Widow’s Peak. Trish escapes and Stratusfaction ends this clean.

Rating: C+. This was FAR better than any Divas match that we’ve had in years. It’s only about three minutes long and they did more good looking stuff than the modern batch of Divas have done in I don’t know how long. Trish was gorgeous but she could also have some great matches. Victoria is no slouch either.

Mickie James was Women’s Champion around this time and that wasn’t cool with Victoria. She created a hit list and went after every name before getting to Mickie, with the showdown coming at New Year’s Revolution 2007.

Women’s Title: Victoria vs. Mickie James

So for a month and a half, Victoria has had a hit list of the Divas to get to James and this is the end of that. Mickie is still rocking the insane skirts at this point. Ross and Lawler talk about Jack Doane’s hometown for zero explainable reason. Lillian is cheering for Mickie as Lillian almost got a Widow’s Peak on Raw.

Mickie starts throwing punches which is weird to see. And Lawler gets to use the line of he loves to see her wrestle but he’d love to see her box. Ross misses it though so we get no rebuttal. Melina comes out to help Victoria and it doesn’t work as Mickie hits her spinning DDT for the pin.

Rating: F+. Only reason are all the great visuals. The booking here makes zero sense as they built Victoria up as the monster for a month and a half and now it’s just thrown away. Oh well, they looked hot so that’s all that matters in this division. Lawler’s lines were beyond old at this point and brought it down even further.

Victoria would become a veteran around this time, meaning she would be used to bring up the newer Divas coming in to replace the retired Trish and Lita. This would go on for most of 2008, including a six Diva tag on October 31, 2008’s Smackdown.

Michelle McCool/Maria/Brie Bella vs. Maryse/Natalya/Victoria

Michelle is Divas Champion and everyone is in Halloween costumes, ranging from Cleopatra (Brie) to a bunny (Maria) to a soldier (McCool) to a French maid (Maryse) to a cop (Natalya) to…..Victoria as a banana. Maria throws Victoria around but the banana cartwheels out of it. Off to Natalya who gets hit in the ribs and dragged over to Cleopatra, only to come back with a Samoan drop.

Maryse comes in for a backbreaker and two before the big banana hits her spinning side slam for the same. Brie tries to hide under the ring and it’s Twin Magic, allowing for the tag off to McCool. House is cleaned and a neckbreaker gets two on Victoria. Maria makes a blind tag and comes off the top with a cross body for the pin out of nowhere.

Rating: D. If you don’t get the point of this one, I don’t know how to help you.

That would be about it for Victoria in the WWE as she would leave in January 2009 but would appear again very soon, this time in TNA as Tara. She would win two Knockouts Titles in her first six months but neither of them would last a full month. That would change after her 2/3 falls match against champion ODB at Genesis 2010.

Knockouts Title: Tara vs. ODB

This is 2/3 falls which makes sense as they’ve had a match or two before and you can’t have the same match again as we had a few weeks ago and then ask people to pay for it. THAT WOULD MAKE NO SENSE! That Broken song is AWESOME. There’s not a ton going on in the first few minutes here as it’s just them going back and forth.

This is the problem with 2/3 falls matches: you don’t have to really pay attention until the second fall, which is starting right now as Tara hooks a small package for the first fall. Tara hooks the tarantula. Not a lot is going on here at all. We get a great shot of Tara’s figure to make this match much better. Brooke shot number 6. This time she’s with Joey Fatone.

If TNA insists on the celebrity thing, get celebrities that have mattered this millennium. ODB uses the freaking Tumbleweed. Are we in the mid 70s all of a sudden? She pulls something out of her cleavage to be odd before hitting a powerslam for two. This is kind of meandering along and needs to end soon. ODB keeps touching herself and checking her pulse. It’s freaking stupid looking. And the Widow’s Peak ends it. The timing was pretty good if nothing else. What the heck is up with the freaking spider???

Rating: C-. Not great here as the 2/3 falls thing felt way too much like a gimmick for the sake of having a gimmick which I can If never advocate. Tara winning the title is fine, but she didn’t need to get two straight wins to do it. That was overkill which is never a good thing.

The next few months brought various title defenses against any Knockout until Angelina Love took the title from her about four months later. She wanted the title back so badly that she agreed to put her career on the line against new champion Madison Rayne at Sacrifice, only to lose the title. A few months later, a mysterious biker would appear and help Madison in matches. The biker would be revealed as Tara, who was under a contract with Madison to continue her career. Eventually Tara would a title shot at Angelina Live in a fatal fourway at Bound For Glory 2010, also involving Madison and Velvet Sky.

KnockoutsTitle: AngelinaLovevs. MadisonRaynevs. VelvetSkyevs. Tara

Dang Mickie looks good. I could go without the hardcore country thing though. One fall to a finish here and tags are required. Angelina vs. Madison to start us off. Off to the regular Beautiful People now which is the only match left in that division I suppose. Madison comes in and gets in Mickie’s face but that goes nowhere.

This is another match that is going too fast to really keep track of. Tara vs. Velvet at the moment. How in the world did Hefner think Tara didn’t look good enough for Playboy? Octopus Hold from Velvet to Tara which blows my mind a million ways to Monday. The tagging thing is of course abandoned soon. Widow’s Peak doesn’t go on as Angelina makes a save. And then she rolls up Velvet with some tights being pulled to give her the title. We get the BROKEN song so I’m very happy. Madison goes off on her and Mickie kicks her teeth in. So it’s Tara vs. Mickie now? Ok then.

Rating: D+. Pretty much just a mess here and only a way to get the title on the show. This wasn’t much at all but you had five hot women and you get to add Mickie to the division now which is definitely not a bad thing at all as it was dying for some fresh blood. Nothing very good here but I’ve seen worse.

Tara and Madison would continue their partnership for several more months, including through Tara’s feud with Mickie James. Eventually Madison would take on Mickie herself, only to have Tara turn on her for her freedom. Soon after this Tara would join forces with Miss Tessmacher and challenge Mexican America for the Knockouts Tag Team Titles.

Knockouts Tag Titles: Sarita/Rosita vs. Miss Tessmacher/Tara

 

Tara and Tessmacher wait for the champs to come through the curtain to jump them. After a beating in the aisle there’s the bell. A double team sends Tara to the floor and Tessmacher hits a double clothesline. Hey, since there are four hot chicks in the ring, let’s show the old Spanish announce team! Tessmacher gets beaten down as we start the actual match here. There’s the required USA chant as Tessmacher takes Rosita down. Just not down enough for a tag.

 

Everything breaks down quickly as Hebner puts Tara out. More double teaming gets two on Tessmacher. Tara comes in again and throws Tessmacher to their own corner to guarantee a hot tag. Tara cleans house with some awkward looking punches. Widow’s Peak is set up forever but doesn’t hit Sarita because Madison runs in to break it up. Sarita rolls Tara up but only gets two. Tessmacher is thrown into Sarita and actually manages a Stratusfaction bulldog. Tara hits a chokebomb and Tessmacher gets a small package for stereo pins at 4:43 to give us new champs.

 

Rating: C-. Not like the title mean anything but having Tessmacher and Tara hug each other a lot is never a bad thing. Does anyone ever successfully defend the tag titles anymore? Either way, this was a bit better than most of their matches and it helps that Tessmacher has an actual finishing move now rather than the amplified Stinkface.

Not a lot would happen for Tara other than a few random single and tag title reigns. Eventually she would start feuding with her old partner Miss Tessmacher, including a match for the title at Bound For Glory 2012. The main draw here though was the identity of Tara’s Hollywood boyfriend who would debut tonight.

Knockouts Title: Miss Tessmacher vs. Tara

Tess is defending. Tessmacher’s robe/jacket is on the ropes as we start. A quick crucifix gets no count for the champ. Teryn Terrell is referee again because…because…I have no idea why she’s still around actually. Tara gets sent to the floor and we get a chase scene. Tara hides behind the referee and we head right back to the floor where Tess gets dropped on the apron to give Tara the advantage.

Back in and the champ gets one on a sunset flip and it’s off to a chinlock by Tara. Tara whips her into the corner but charges into a boot followed by a DDT from Tessmacher to put both girls down. Tessmacher takes Tara down and nips right back up, followed by a top rope rana (decent one too) but Tara blocks the Tesshocker. Widow’s Peak and Tara gets the completely clean pin at 6:18.

Rating: D. The rana looked good and the girls looked good in their outfits, but thank goodness Tara won here. Tessmacher is just worthless as champion and hasn’t changed a bit since she won the belt the first time. Tara has had the belt before but at least she’s better than Tess, but most people would be.

Tara introduces the boyfriend: Jesse Godderz from Big Brother. To the shock of no one, there is zero reaction. He’s been training in OVW for like a year and has won five tag titles there. Tara and Jesse make out in the ring. Crowd: “WHO ARE YOU?”

Tara and Jesse would spend the next few months together before Tara left TNA over a pay dispute.

Tara is one of the few Knockouts/Divas that had both the looks and the wrestling ability. She could have good matches with just about anyone she worked with and that’s a rare thing to see anymore. The stuff with Lita and Trish was always great and she was able to help the Knockouts division get beyond the Beautiful People. She’s very talented and looks great for a woman in her 40s so there’s little to complain about with her.

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Today we go with someone bigger than most of the tag teams I’ve talked about: The Big Show.

Big Show is perhaps the only member of a select group of wrestlers to win a world title in his debut match. His in ring debut was at Halloween Havoc 1995, but that wasn’t his first action of the night. Before the wrestling match that night, the Giant and his opponent for later in the night, Hulk Hogan, had a battle of monster trucks on the roof of Detroit’s Cobo Hall. This is important for the match later in the night.

We go to the roof and a few things to note. First of all, Hogan stands about 7’8 apparently as he TOWERS over those “six foot tall” tires. Second, the rules are you have to get both sets of axels out of the ring, which is 100ft in diameter. Ok, fair enough. Third, we’re going to weld the trucks together. Pay no attention to the fact that they were welded together earlier (this was taped the night before but that isn’t mentioned).

Also for no apparent reason, in this ring we have two charges that will go off if you run over them. Yes, allegedly, on the roof of a building, there are BOMBS that will go off if a truck runs over them. The idiocy here is off the charts. Let’s get this over with.

First of all, we waste a few minutes welding the trucks together. Allegedly these trucks run on alcohol. So wait. There are BOMBS, as in EXPLODING FIRE, near alcohol based fuel? And this company made money??? Again, someone was PAID to make this up. That’s sad.

Oh and they have co-pilots so they’re only driving one set of axels. Hogan gets put halfway out but makes the save. Hogan’s truck has a flag kind of thing that is supposed to be the bandana I guess. One of the bombs goes off and my head hurts. Ah I think I know why Tony left: he has integrity. And Hogan wins of course. Somehow, the idiocy is just beginning.

Giant gets out of his truck and goes after Hogan, and the champ goes back towards the edge of the building. They fight some more up on the ledge and Hogan accidentally knocks Giant OFF THE ROOF. Yes, this was on a major Pay Per View broadcast by a major wrestling company. Hogan’s acting here makes Mr. Nanny look like De Niro. The monster truck dude has to sit here and not break up laughing. That’s just awesome.

And now, the wrestling match.

WCW World Title: The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan

They introduce Giant first but Hogan comes out instead, all in black and sans facial hair. Wow that’s odd to see. Was Hart being Hogan’s BFF ever explained? Giant of course walks out with no explanation at all. In what might be the funniest thing that I have EVER seen in wrestling, the camera shoots back to Hogan just in time for him to turn to the camera and blankly stare while his mouth hangs open in awe.

I laughed out loud for a LONG time. I mean the timing was better than you could have planned if you tried forever. This was hilarious stuff to say the least. Heenan sounds orgasmic over this. His hatred of Hogan stayed forever if nothing else. Hogan has black horns painted on his head. Uh….deep?

He can’t slam him though. Oh and Giant is allegedly Andre’s son. Heenan: Eat Hogan like you would eat villagers! Ok then. Giant hooks a test of strength once Hogan is on his knees already. You know that might be more effective if your muscles were flexing or if you had ANY torque on them.

Heenan says he’s never seen Hogan wrestle in anything other than yellow and red. Odd that he’s seemingly managed against him in blue or white tights but what do I know? Giant is destroying him here. Hogan makes a comeback to some SOLID face pops and knocks Giant to the floor. Taskmaster tries to get Giant to leave but Hogan, like an idiot, stops him. Giant gets a SWEET backbreaker. Hogan was WAY in the air for that and it looked awesome.

Heenan points out how stupid Giant is for not going for Hogan’s bad neck. Give the guy a break Bobby. I mean he just fell off the frekaing roof! The bear hug goes on and Tony cracks me up by making it sound like it’s perfectly normal to come back after falling off a roof. Even in kayfabe this is ridiculous. With the paint knocked off Hogan’s head it looks like there’s a Triforce on it. And back to the bear hug. He powers out but walks into the chokeslam. He powers out of that too.

He Hulks Up and the usual puts Giant down, but the referee goes down too. The fans say Jimmy did it. Just to add to the stupidity of this match, when Hogan is yelling at Hart, you can see Giant stick his head up three separate times to see what’s going on. Even playing devil’s advocate and saying he’s playing possum, you don’t have a 7’ monster playing peek-a-boo!

Anyway, Jimmy hits Hogan with the belt but Giant saves him. And it’s bear hug time again. Luger and Savage come out. Luger of course turns heel and….here it comes. This is the thing I didn’t want to talk about all night. On the previous Nitro, the Master had said he had a surprise. At the end of the show, a random block of ice blew up and a mummy came out of it. Yes, I said a mummy.

They called him a Yeti, but he’s a large man wrapped in bandages and tape. What the heck would you call him? With Giant having him in a bear hug, Yeti comes up behind Hogan and more or less dry humps him without actually hurting him at all. It’s Reese from the Flock if you care who is under there.

Luger puts Hogan in the rack to something resembling a pop. They dry hump Savage and rack him too. Giant wins by DQ because he was Hogan’s manager when he hit the referee. They announce that the title can’t change hands on DQ.

OR CAN IT?

Yeah in this match, Hart slipped a clause in, stating that the title CAN change hands on a DQ, so the Giant is the champion. They would strip him of the title in like two weeks and put it up in the inaugural World War Three Battle Royal, which is complete nonsense as Hogan lost the title via a stipulation in a contract he signed without reading. That’s not Giant’s fault but whatever. Hogan and Savage are helped out to end the show. Heenan crying from happiness is funny.

Rating: D. This was a Hogan match with a big angle to end it and nothing more. Giant wasn’t capable of doing much here as he was just a 23 year old kid that had like 5 matches under his belt but he was 7’0 tall, athletic beyond belief and could talk. I’d push him hard like that too.

Anyway, this wasn’t that good but it was Hogan fighting a monster which was what he was best at so I can’t fault them there. A bit long with FAR too many bear hugs but to be fair Giant had no experience and no real style set yet. He would get a lot better. Yeah this was his WCW debut. I’d say this was fine given the circumstances then.

The title would be held up due to the controversial ending but Giant would be back very soon and get a title shot against Ric Flair on Nitro on April 29, 1996.

WCW World Title: Ric Flair vs. The Giant

Flair hits on Debra again which would eventually set up a tag match at the Great American Bash where Mongo joined the Horsemen. Giant shoves him around to start as the camera pans up at him. Flair charges at him and literally bounces off of him with a shoulder block. We hit the floor and Flair runs. Flair gets a jumping thumb to the eye but Giant shrugs a chop off.

There’s your standard slam off the top for Flair and Giant gets a suplex for no cover. Giant tries a chokeslam but Flair holds onto the ropes and gets a low blow. Foreign object to the head of Giant and he’s out….not cold as the Figure Four goes on and it means nothing. Giant grabs him by the throat, pulls him to his feet, breaks the hold in the process and a chokeslam gives Giant his first non-shenanigan world title. For you trivia people out there, yes, Jimmy Hart did manage a legit world champion.

Rating: C-. Can’t really give this a fair grade as it was more or less a squash but they were trying at least. Giant looked great which is the best thing they could have done. Never let it be said that Flair doesn’t put people over. Giant getting the title was fine and they would protect him for months, which is the right idea indeed. Fine for a squash, bad match otherwise.

 

Giant would hold the title for the summer before losing it to Hollywood Hogan in August. He would join and leave the NWO over the fall and winter before teaming up with Lex Luger for a shot at the Tag Team Titles at SuperBrawl 1997.

Tag Titles: Outsiders vs. The Giant

Ok so there’s a backstory here. Giant and Luger are partners but Luger has a broken hand/arm and couldn’t get a doctor’s clearance in time so Giant has to go this alone. Syxx is with the champs. Hall starts off here with the idea being to tick Giant off. Hall hammers away which seems to just be getting him in trouble. One armed slam by Giant and it’s off to Nash. This was the teased match for an entire year which didn’t happen until the following January because Nash didn’t want to job to Giant.

Giant gets a dropkick to send Nash to the floor and manhandles him with ease, including ramming him into the post. Elbow gets two back in the ring. Nash gets in a shot with the Cruiserweight Title and Hall adds what was supposed to be a bulldog but Hall manages to wind up behind Giant, making it more like a Zig Zag.

Basically this is 3-1 and that’s about what was expected. Nash misses the running pelvis to the head with Giant on the middle rope in a 619 position. That move REALLY needs a name. Off to Hall again who hammers away in the corner. Giant fights them off as Syxx comes in and slips the belt to Hall who drops Giant with it. Nash manages to powerbomb Giant in a cool spot as somehow we haven’t had a DQ yet.

Here’s Luger with a cast on to clean house. He Racks Nash who hurt his back on the powerbomb. That rings a bell for a submission somehow but wait, Nash wasn’t legal. Therefore Giant (illegal) chokeslams Hall, the legal man, and pins him for the definitive pin. Naturally this was overturned the next night on Nitro for literally no reason other than “that wasn’t legal” but it was a stupid moment so I can forgive it.

Rating: D+. Match was junk for the most part but that powerbomb was indeed awesome. Nash vs. Giant would FINALLY get blown off 11 months later because WCW saw no problem with Nash screwing over a PPV audience at Starrcade. Anyway, this was more stupid stuff that meant nothing if you were paying attention but it’s WCW so there you go.

The war against the NWO would continue over the summer with nothing of note happening. One of the few matches of interest during this was against Randy Savage at Road Wild 1997.

The Giant vs. Randy Savage

Nothing special to the match, but it’s the third biggest match in company history at worst. That would include being ahead of Luger winning the title on Monday I guess. Savage is NWO and Giant is one of WCW’s main soldiers against him. Savage stalls like the true Memphis man that he is. He gets in and tries to slam Giant which fails of course. Giant works him over with his usual power stuff until Savage heads to the floor.

That goes badly for him as well with Giant picking up the human shield known as Liz and moving her to the other side. Back in Savage takes out the knee and gets Giant down. He wraps the knee around the post and stomps on the knee some more. Double ax gets two but the second attempt is countered into a chokeslam for the pin.

Rating: D+. This was just a step above a squash but that’s ok for the most part. Giant would move on to feuding with Nash soon after this in one of the stupidest and most pathetic displays I can remember in a long time. Anyway, the match was short enough to keep from getting boring which is more than I can say for the rest of the show.

Giant would get caught up in the shuffle of the NWO civil war and rejoin the NWO again in 1998 to continue a long running feud with Kevin Nash. In the fall he would have a meaningless match with the monster Meng on September 14’s Nitro which is incredibly entertaining.

Giant vs. Meng

Meng slaps Giant back into the corner and kicks at the legs before they get into a brawl with neither guy going anywhere. Meng staggers Giant with a kick right to the face so the strap comes down. Giant hits him again and Meng is all FOREIGN SHOUTING. A headbutt has no effect on Meng and neither does a right hand to the head. Another kick to the face staggers Giant and Meng loads up the Death Grip, but Giant uses his reach advantage to grab the chokeslam as Meng can’t get to his throat. REALLY fun match for two minutes.

Other than a decent match against Diamond Dallas Page at the horrible Starrcade 1998, Giant was off to the WWF under his more famous name of Big Show. His first major match was at Wrestlemania XV against Mankind in a match to determine the guest referee for the main event.

Big Show vs. Mankind

The winner gets to referee the title match tonight. Big Show already cost Mankind the world title on Raw a few weeks ago and Mankind is banged up coming into this. Mankind pounds away to start but is easily sent out to the floor by the power of the giant. Mankind is all cool with a brawl though and he sends Big Show head first into the steps. A DDT is broken up by Show though and the guy in a mask tastes the steps as well.

Back in and Show chops him down before hitting a Russian legsweep for no cover. Mankind gets in a shot and loads up the Claw, only to be sent flying for a second. The Claw goes on but Show headbutts him down with ease. Back to the Claw and a low blow is enough to keep the hold on for a bit.

Despite being in a former world champion’s hold for about a minute straight, Show gets Mankind on his back and crashes down onto Foley to break the hold. Foley’s ribs are messed up bad now and Show stomps away even more. They head to the floor and Show hits him in the ribs with a chair….and that’s not a DQ. Show throws two chairs into the ring and sets them up. He chokeslams Mankind through both chairs and THAT is enough for the DQ.

Rating: D. Yeah this sucked. This would fall into the category of matches that were overbooked to overbook another match. If that doesn’t sum up the Russo Era in a nutshell, I’m not sure what does. The match sucked on top of all that, as it was a very slow power brawl. Foley would take awhile to get back into form but at this point he was just kind of going through the motions.

After forming an on again/off again tag team with Undertaker and winning a few tag titles, it was time for Big Show to turn face again in the fall. At Survivor Series 1999, Steve Austin was run over by a car and replaced in the main event by our big lovable monster.

WWF World Title: The Rock vs. HHH vs. ???

The third man is…..shockingly not Test but rather the Big Show. I mentioned Test over and over again tonight because every sign on the planet pointed to him being the guy but they went with Show instead. That’s not to say this is a horrible idea or that it doesn’t make sense because there were no clues or anything beforehand, but it was certainly a surprising pick.

Rock and HHH attack Show to start but to no avail. Show shoulder blocks them down but Rock breaks up a chokeslam on the Game. HHH is defending if that’s not clear. Rock and HHH team up to clothesline Show to the floor but Rock is quickly pulled to the floor. All three guys wind up on the floor with HHH getting dropped on the barricade. Back in and Show misses a splash in the corner and gets caught in a Russian legsweep for no cover.

The People’s Elbow gets one on Show as HHH saves. This is one fall to a finish in case you were wondering. HHH chokes Rock in the corner but Show gets back up and side slams Rock for two. Show kicks HHH to the floor and knocks the Game up the aisle. The fans don’t seem to be sure what to think of Show in this spot but they’re not bored. Rock charges up the aisle to clothesline Show down before going after HHH again.

HHH gets knocked through a production table and Rock is in control. Scratch that theory as Show comes in and beats the tar out of HHH, only to have Rock hit Show with a fire extinguisher. Rock and HHH start heading back to the ring but HHH suplexes him in the aisle. Show is back because the guy can’t be kept down. Show drops HHH on the announce table but Rock drills Show in the head with the bell. Rock and HHH hit a double suplex on Show through the table for the WHOA spot of the match.

Rock and HHH head into the crowd to brawl as this has been a wild fight for the majority of the match so far. Back to the ring and the referee gets clotheslined down by Rock by mistake. The Rock Bottom and Pedigree are both countered, the latter being countered into a catapult into the buckle. There’s the Rock Bottom but there’s no referee. Shane runs out in a referee’s shirt to count two.

Another Rock Bottom hits but Show pulls Shane out of the ring. Rock goes after Show on the floor which goes about as well as you would expect. Actually scratch that as you might expect Rock to beat Show up. Show puts him on the table and goes back into the ring to knock HHH down before going back to beat on Rock some more. Rock gets thrown into the steps and HHH has the belt, only for Shane to take it away. HHH Pedigrees Shane and they’re all back inside again. Here’s DX to go after Big Show and Rock but here’s Vince as well. He knocks HHH out with the belt and a chokeslam makes Show champion.

Rating: C-. This didn’t work that well for me at all. Show has no connection to the feud at all which hurts things a bit, but at the end of the day there was no real flow to the match at all. Show winning is a good pick as it gives some closure to the week for him where his dad died and all that, but his title reign wouldn’t work all that well due to him mainly feuding with Big Boss Man. Still though, decent moment but a bad match.

The title reign would only last for a few months before turning heel (notice a patter here?) for Wrestlemania and his only main event there before Kurt Angle yelled at him for not taking things seriously enough. This led to a hilarious moment at Backlash 2000.

Kurt Angle vs. Big Show

Angle runs down Marian Berry, who is mayor of Washington DC. He’s also a former crackhead. The lack of integrity is what’s wrong with America. That means we need a Real American…..and that’s what we get. Here’s Big Show doing the absolute best Hulk Hogan imitation you’ll EVER see. He’s got a Showster t-shirt with the rips in the back, yellow boots, a bald skull cap with blonde hair down the sides, he does the hand to the ear, rips the shirt and throws it, and does the swinging arms warmup that Hulk did. And then, he talks.

Doing an even better Hogan imitation, he talks about being to the top of the mountain and says dude and brother more times than should be humanly allowed. Angle jumps him but Show HULKS UP almost immediately. Right hand doesn’t work (JR: “The old no sell!”) so Show punches him three times and hits the big boot. LEG DROP gets two and a bigger reaction than anything else so far, which is saying a lot as the fans were going nuts the entire time so far.

Angle goes for the leg and the fans chant for Hogan. Show (who has his goatee dyed too) rips off the cap and hair and destroys Angle in the corner. Chokeslam ends this quick. It’s too short to rate but as a match it was worthless. From an entertainment perspective, this is one of the best and funniest moments you’ll ever see. Check this out as it’s well worth it if you’re a Hogan fan.

Soon after this it was determined that Big Show was WAY overweight and needed to get in shape, so he was sent to OVW and spent the remainder of the year there. One of his biggest feuds was against a muscle headed rookie named Leviathan, who is more famous as Batista. Their first match was at one of OVW’s biggest shows of the year with Leviathan scoring a huge upset. This is the rematch from OVW TV in November.

Big Show vs. Leviathan

The brawl is on while Big Show’s music is still playing with Big Show sending him into the corner for an overhead chop but Leviathan shoves him off. Show comes back with a nice powerbomb but Leviathan LAUNCHES him into the air on the kickout and right onto the referee. A bunch of guys come out to brawl and Big Show kisses Leviathan’s manager Synn. Mark Henry comes in with a chair to Show’s back and the referee rolls over for the pin. More of a historical curiosity than anything else.

Big Show was back on the main roster in early 2001 and would enter the hardcore division for awhile. Like almost everything else that year, it would be swallowed up by the Alliance. After helping get rid of WCW and ECW, Big Show would turn heel to help Ric Flair before joining the short lived NWO. After the group split, Big Show was sent to Smackdown and got a world title shot against Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series 2002.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar

Lesnar is defending here and is mostly a face now. It’s on in a hurry as the fans are behind Lesnar. Show gets in a shot to the ribs in the corner and launches Brock across the ring. Brock is all like BRING IT ON and grabs a double leg to take Show down. They head to the floor and Brock gets rammed into the post. Back in and Brock pounds away before hitting something like a belly to back suplex. Show misses a charge and Brock “hits” a German, which means Show lands on Brock’s head. Brock tries an F5 but Show knees him in the ribs.

The referee gets bumped and Brock THROWS Big Show down with an overhead belly to belly. Heyman throws in a chair and Brock cracks Show over the head with it. There’s the F5 and a new referee but Heyman pulls the referee out of the ring. This makes no sense and I’ll get to why in a second. Lesnar figures out what’s going on and gives chase, but charges right into a pair of chair shots to the ribs. Show chokeslams Brock onto the chair for the pin and the title. That’s Brock’s first ever loss.

Rating: D+. Most of that is for Lesnar’s INSANE power. Here’s why this match ticks me off: Lesnar had to get the title taken off of him because of injury. That’s fine. So they pick BIG SHOW to take it from him? This is the same idea as Nash beating Goldberg: you have an unstoppable monster and you take the title off of him for the sake of this old dude? You have Angle, Benoit, Eddie Guerrero and Edge on the Smackdown roster and you pick BIG SHOW? Now to be fair Angle got the title in a month, but why not just cut out the middle man and make a new star?

As for why Heyman’s turn makes no sense, the whole idea of the match was that Heyman didn’t think Lesnar could suplex, F5 or beat Big Show. He did the first two things and had Show beat until Heyman turned. Heyman is a lot of things, but he’s always been someone that knows what kind of a monster he’s got and sticks with them to the end. This is out of character for him, especially when an injured Brock had proven he could beat Show. So on top of being a bad match with bad booking, it makes no sense. Nice job WWE.

The title reign would only last a month before Kurt Angle slayed the giant to take the title. It was soon back to the old stomping grounds of feuding with Undertaker for a few months before back to even older stomping grounds of fighting a small man, in this case Rey Mysterio at Backlash 2003.

Rey Mysterio vs. Big Show

 

Apparently Mysterio embarrassed Show recently. A fan things Big Show loves Cher. Is that an insult? Rey gets Show to chase him which frustrates the giant. Things go exactly as you would expect: Rey fires off some offense, Show uses power, Rey speeds things up again. Backbreaker puts Rey down and Show takes over. Rey gets sent to the floor and gets in a chair shot and seated senton for two. A pair of 619s take Show down and a third staggers Show but he jumps into the chokeslam for the pin.

 

Rating: D. I can’t stand these matches. The one perk here is that Show didn’t look like an idiot for the most part. At the end of the day, without making the giants look stupid in these matches, there’s no real conceivable way to have a competent giant lose these matches. Rey’s offense would have no effect here and for the most part it didn’t. The ending helped it but the rest of it was junk.

Big Show would win the US Title later in the year and never defend it before losing the title to a young phenom named John Cena at Wrestlemania XX. He would miss about five months in the middle of 2004 before coming back to win a feud with Kurt Angle. Next up was another world title chase, culminating in a barbed wire steel cage match against champion John Bradshaw Layfield at No Way Out 2005.

Smackdown World Title: JBL vs. Big Show

Basic stuff to start as JBL takes Show down with a flying tackle. He goes up but is afraid of the barbed wire. He tries a cross body and guess how well that goes for him. They’re staying away from the wire so far and it’s just a basic match for the most part here. Show is busted open after eating some cage. Bradshaw in full control here.

He rips the tag rope off the corner and chokes away with it. Show hits something like a superkick to put JBL down. Does Cole have Show’s measurements tattooed on the inside of his eyelids? He can snap those things off like they’re nothing. Powerbomb by Show and JBL is in trouble. The fans chant RVD who was hurt at the time.

Cole says the cage is a carnivore. Why do steel structures always have to have lives of their own in this company? Show gets a slingshot (Cole says monkey flip) into the cage. Here’s Jordan to climb the cage. The Bashams cut through part of the cage but Teddy comes out, saying to leave. Jordan manages to slip some bolt cutters to JBL who pops Show with them and adds the Clothesline From JBL for two.

For some reason there’s more or less no reaction for the kickout from the world champion’s finisher. Chokeslam hits for two as well which gets kind of a reaction but nothing huge. Another chokeslam is blocked though as JBL kicks the little Shows and adds a boot to the face. The door is closed and locked and isn’t eligible for escaping.

Bradshaw climbs up and uses the bolt cutters to cut through some of the wire. Show gets up and knocks them out of his hand. JBL is slammed into the cage a few times as the wire has more or less meant jack so far in this match. Show grabs him by the throat and chokeslams him through the ring, prompting a pretty weak holy crap chant.

Show finds a safe spot and climbs down but he’s not sure what to do. Some things never change I guess. Instead Show pulls on the chain and lock which he rips apart with his bare hands. Well why mess with what works? He opens the door and climbs to the floor as JBL is declared the winner and still champion. While Show was wasting all kinds of time, JBL climbed through the hole in the ring and hit the floor first to retain. I love that ending because JBL followed the rules perfectly and Show’s reliance on power cost him.

Rating: D+. I REALLY wasn’t impressed here. If this was a regular cage match then it’s ok I guess but the barbed wire was just stupid. It did a total of nothing other than acting as a deterrent I guess, which a regular cage would have done just as fine or a cage with a top on it. This was a waste of time for the most part and didn’t work that well at all. Weak main event.

The rest of the year was spent in a bunch of worthless feuds until Big Show teamed up with Kane (again) to win the Tag Titles (again) before feuding with Kane (again). Big Show would eventually be drafted to the revived ECW and win its title on July 4, 2006. His first defense was against Ric Flair the following week.

ECW World Title: Ric Flair vs. Big Show

Extreme Rules again. Show throws him to the floor and we take a break. Back with Flair pounding away in the corner. Joey calls this historic. Not exactly the word I’d use but whatever. Show press slams him and Flair is busted open from something. Knowing him it was a stiff breeze. Flair tries chopping him but gets knocked down by one from Show. They head to the floor for another slugout, won by Show.

To keep up the tradition, Flair chops and punches but Show chops him down with one or two shots. Show measures him but Flair hits him low. Keeping with the tradition theme, Flair hits him low a second and third time. Make it four and Show is in trouble. Flair finds a barbed wire ball bat from somewhere and hits Show in the head with it before digging it into Show’s face.

Trashcan shot to the head staggers Show as does a chair to the chest and back. Show goes down but it only gets two. Flair busts out some tacks and knocks Show into them with about five chair shots to the head. That just ticks him off though so he pulls Flair into the chokeslam and a cobra clutch backbreaker. He keeps the clutch on for the knockout win. Show throws Flair into the tacks post match.

Rating: B-. I liked this a lot more than I was expecting to. Flair is still a master of making you believe that it could happen, which is what he did here. Also, notice that he puts Show over by making it look like Show shrugged off all that offense and won with ease. That’s hot you make someone look good, which Flair made a career out of.

Big Show would defend the title for the rest of the year before losing it in the Extreme Elimination Chamber in December. He would leave the company for a year before coming back to face boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. at Wrestlemania. After a summer of nothing special, he would turn heel (after turning face earlier in the year) by joining Vickie Guerrero and facing Undertaker at No Mercy 2008.

Big Show vs. Undertaker

JR talks about how Undertaker is like a Sasquatch that has wrapped his arms around us and how Big Show is Cyclopean. He has two eyes. WHAT IS WRONG WITH JIM ROSS??? Sasquatch and Cyclopean? With smoke still in the ring Taker goes right at him but gets hit in the ribs to slow him down. Taker gets knocked to the floor but lands on his feet. They slug it out on the apron and Taker Stuns him on the top rope.

Out to the floor and Show pounds away on the ribs. Show throws him into the barricade and Taker throws him into the post. This is a total war so far. Now Undertaker’s right hands are malignant. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN??? Legdrop on the apron and they head inside. Taker gets a boot up in the corner but Big Show clotheslines him down. Show slams him down and drops an elbow for two.

Show tries a Vader Bomb elbow but Taker moves to send Show crashing. They slug it out again with Taker punching him into the corner and working over the ribs. Show misses two WMDs so Taker clotheslines him down and drops a leg for two. Taker tries Old School but jumps into a chokeslam for two. WMD (it wasn’t called that back then but you get the idea) misses and they both try chokeslams.

Show wins the battle but Taker pulls him down into a DDT for two. Taker punches him down in the corner but stops to chase the referee, allowing Big Show to expose the buckle. A shot into that and the big punch, a second big punch (this one is pretentious according to JR) and a third one (this one a rabbit punch) makes the referee stop the match.

Rating: B. This was ten minutes long and they beat the tar out of each other the whole time. It’s probably the best Show vs. Undertaker match I’ve ever seen which is quite a selection as I’m sure you know. Good match here and while it didn’t quite get any better after this, it’s a great match from these two which is shocking for me.

He feuded with Cena for about the 58^th time and chased the title for about the 983^rd time before filling in for an injured Edge in a World Tag Team Title match with Chris Jericho at Night of Champions 2009.

UnifiedTagTitles: Legacyvs. ChrisJericho/???

So Edge snapped his ankle and has no partner, meaning anyone that’s paid attention for the past few months knows who this is going to be. We get the video of Edge’s injury saying he’ll come back and take care of Jericho. That’s going to be an awesome feud. And it’s the Big Show. No one got this and the rumor was they picked him seconds before with the video being shown to buy them some more time.

There are cool banners with pictures of the belts hanging from them. It looks sweet. Rhodes and Show start us off. Show just beats the heck out of both guys as you would expect. You could bet on Jerishow retaining here even from the perspective of watching it live. In a nice move, Legacy hits a tandem chop block and clothesline. Not bad at all. Rhodes whispers something into the ear of Jericho but he does it just subtly enough that unless you knew to look for it you wouldn’t notice it. Well done.

Rhodes busts out a nice moonsault to Jericho. He’s underrated in the ring as his offense keeps changing up. The problem with this match becomes apparent quickly: Jericho and Show are the default faces even though they’re supposed to be the heels. We hit insanity mode and Show puts down both guys and after a Codebreaker, the Colossal Clutch ends it.

Rating: C+. It was fine. That’s the only thing I can think of to say for this one. It was designed to be a pure squash for the new champions to get them over and that’s exactly what it did. Rather boring match but it served its purpose very well.

Jericho and Big Show would hold the titles for the better part of five months before losing them to DX at TLC 2009. He would hook up with Miz to win the titles back about two months later and hold them for another two and a half months. After a world title chase went nowhere, it was off to a feud with CM Punk’s Straight Edge Society at Summerslam 2010.

Big Show vs. Straight Edge Society

Three on one handicap match. Punk has already grown his hair to a bit shorter than it is in 2013. We continue the awesome that is CM Punk as he wears a shirt saying “I Broke Big Show’s Hand”, which is a reference to Greg Valentine’s “I Broke Wahoo’s Leg” shirt from about thirty years ago. Show takes off his cast to reveal that the hand is fully healed and to freak Punk out a bit.

Mercury charges right into a chop and Gallows gets the same. The Society has to tag in and out here so Punk calls a conference on the apron. Gallows and Mercury jump Big Show and apparently tagging isn’t required here. Show easily throws away the lackeys and palms Mercury by the head, throwing him over the top and onto Gallows. Punk is the only one left now and a few shots to the back easily put him down. Show misses a chop and hits the steps, giving the Society an opening to go after the hand.

The Society pounds away with really basic stuff as we’re just waiting on the comeback. Punk charges into a back elbow and Show cleans house for a bit until Punk hits a high kick to slow him down. Some running knees in the corner stagger the giant before a double DDT from Punk and Mercury gets two. Punk goes nuts on the hand but Show picks him up on his shoulders. After dropping Punk over the top, the lackeys are destroyed again and Show chokeslams Mercury onto Gallows for a double pin.

Rating: D. Another dull match here as Big Show never once felt like he was in any kind of danger at all. That was the problem with this whole feud: Show treated Punk like an annoyance rather than an opponent. This would lead up to the destruction of Punk in a one on one match next month because Big Show needed that push right?

Most of 2011 was a waste of time for Big Show as he teamed up with his on again/off again heterosexual life mate Kane to fight a Nexus knockoff called the Corre. That went nowhere (shocking) so Big Show tried to stop Mark Henry’s Hall of Pain, resulting in a broken leg. Big Show returned a few months later and eventually challenged Henry for the World Heavyweight Championship at TLC 2011.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Mark Henry

It’s a chairs match, meaning they’re legal. Show’s singlet is now camo. Show immediately goes to the floor and throws in like ten chairs. Him just casually tossing them about ten feet in the air is scary impressive. They both have chairs now but Henry drops his and gets out. He grabs the title and says this isn’t happening. Show goes after him and ducks a title shot so he can wear Henry out with chair shots.

They start slugging it out and Henry cracks him with a chair. Henry goes after the hand so that Show can’t use his two finishers. Show tries to come back but his hand is worthless. Henry makes a pile of chairs but the Slam is broken up. He goes for a chair shot but Show fires off the big punch. AND IT GETS THE PIN AT 5:35????? REALLY?????

Rating: C. Call me crazy but I liked it. There’s something cool about two guys just going off on each other with chair shots. This worked pretty well for what it was and keeping it short was the right idea. The important thing is coming though so I’m cutting this short.

The important thing would be Daniel Bryan cashing in his Money in the Bank contract. After losing the title, Big Show got this idea that he needed a Wrestlemania moment, despite being in the main event of Wrestlemania 2000. This led to an Intercontinental Title match against Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 28.

Intercontinental Title: Cody Rhodes vs. Big Show

Cody is defending and the idea here is that Big Show has never had a good Wrestlemania moment. You know, because winning a meaningless midcard title in 2012 is more important than main eventing the show in possibly the biggest and best year the company has ever had. During the entrance we get some “highlights” from Show’s career. Naturally the pin in the 8 man tag last year is never mentioned at all.

Cody runs to the floor to start but Show easily throws him back into the ring. There’s a beal across the ring and a hard chop in the corner, followed by a Stink Face for good measure. Cody comes back with some dropkicks to the knee and pounds away as much as he can. Rhodes pounds on Show’s back a bit and is LAUNCHED off on the kickout. The champion works on the knee a bit with a standing leg lock and a DDT to take it down. After some stomps to Show’s head, he shoves Cody away with ease but gets caught by the Disaster Kick. A second is countered with a spear though and the WMD makes Show the champion.

Rating: D+. What were you expecting here? At the end of the day, Cody has nothing that was going to keep Show down and with all the building up of the match about Show’s past embarrassments, there was only one way this could end. That and it’s only about five minutes so it didn’t have enough time to suck or anything. Not great but it was exactly what it was expect to be.

We’ll wrap things up with what might be Big Show’s last good match to date, from Hell in a Cell 2012.

Smackdown World Title: Big Show vs. Sheamus

Sheamus is defending. Show throws him around to start and Sheamus tries to brawl with him. That results in the champion being knocked down into the corner and Show is in command. Ziggler is watching with the case in the back. Sheamus knocks Show to the floor and as the challenger gets back in, Sheamus fires away with all he’s got. It does a bit of damage but Show shrugs it off and knocks Sheamus to the floor again.

We head to the floor with Show throwing Sheamus into the barricade. Back in and Show keeps pounding on Sheamus very slowly. He steps on Sheamus’ head and knocks the champ to the floor before sending him over the announce table. This has been almost all Show so far and Sheamus is looking like a ragdoll. Back in and Show hits the Eye of the Hurricane for two. I think he used to call that the Final Cut. Sheamus tries to fight back with some punches to the ribs but Show throws him over the top to the floor.

As Sheamus comes back in, he hits the slingshot shoulder but charges right into a superkick for two. Show knocks him down again with Sheamus only being able to get in some punches before charging into a bearhug. Show gets on his knee instead of picking Sheamus up, allowing Sheamus to hit some forearms. A slam doesn’t work at all and the Vader Bomb Elbow gets two for Show. He calls for the chokeslam but Sheamus counters into a DDT but the kickout sends Sheamus out to the floor.

Sheamus tries the ten forearms in the corner but Show shoves him off. The chokeslam hits but it only gets two. Show is getting ticked off now but he can’t hook the Colossal Clutch. Sheamus avoids an elbow and tries the Cloverleaf of all things but Show kicks him off. They head to the floor and Sheamus drives Show into the post a few times. Back in and Sheamus goes after the knee before hitting some ax handles to take Show down.

Sheamus hits White Noise and does it with EASE. That looked better than a lot of the AA’s Cena hits on Show. That only gets two and Sheamus charges into the WMD…..for two. Show tries another punch but Sheamus kicks Show’s head off…..FOR TWO. This is getting AWESOME. Sheamus gets WAY fires up but the Brogue Kick charges into the WMD for the pin and the title at 21:37.

Rating: B+. This was exactly what it was supposed to be: a heavyweight slugfest with Sheamus pounding away with everything he had but it just wasn’t enough. I would initially say that Show winning the title was a bad thing but the way they were going with the feud it was probably the best idea. This was a great match though and WAY better than I was expecting. The kickouts were great and the match worked really well. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but match of the night so far.

After losing the title to Alberto Del Rio in January, Show would go on to feud with the Shield and then get into a story with HHH and the Authority/Randy Orton which would be some of the stupidest stuff I’ve seen in years.

Big Show is a guy that had a ton of talent but has become VERY repetitive over the years. I can’t count how many times he’s become the big evil monster then turned back into the fun loving giant and gotten a small guy or a giant as a tag partner before starting the whole thing over again. At the end of the day, he’s turned so many times over the years that it’s hard to care about almost anything he does. Stick him in matches like the one with Sheamus where he can have someone fight him down in a big brawl and let it be entertaining for awhile and that’s it. Back in 1996 the guy was slim and insanely athletic but then he just relied on his size and nothing else.

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Smackdown
Date: February 14, 2014
Location: Citizens Bank Business Arena, Ontario, California
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield

It’s Valentines Day and we’re getting a nice gift in the form of Cesaro (now minus the Antonio) vs. Randy Orton in the fourth part of Orton’s Elimination Chamber gauntlet. Cesaro is rapidly gaining popularity and it would seem a face turn is imminent. Other than that we might get more on the Daniel Bryan vs. Kane feud. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

Shield vs. Daniel Bryan/Christian/Sheamus

Christian and Rollins get things going but Seth quickly takes him into the corner for the tag off to Reigns. Roman catches a cross body attempt but gets popped in the face with a right hand. Sheamus comes in for the big power showdown and they slug it out for a bit before Sheamus hits the rolling fireman’s carry for two. Reigns comes back with a knee to the ribs and brings in Ambrose who gets taken down by a running ax handle.

The fans demand Bryan and get their wish, followed by some rapid fire kicks in the corner. A top rope hurricanrana gets two and there’s the YES Lock but Shield comes in for the save and we have a standoff. Back from a break with Bryan fighting out of a chinlock and sending Rollins into the top turnbuckle, allowing him to tag off to Sheamus.

The pale one slides to the apron and comes back with the ten forearms to the chest but the other Shield members get involved to take over. Reigns does that awesome dropkick from the floor to the apron before LAUNCHING Sheamus into the barricade. That’s not something you see too often. Ambrose comes back in to stomp away in the corner before it’s off to Reigns again for hard shots to the head and ribs.

We hit the front facelock for a bit but Reigns lets it go to knock Bryan off the apron but walks into the Irish Curse. Rollins comes in and takes a swing at Christian but only hits air before missing a backsplash to Sheamus. Hot tag brings in Christian to face Ambrose and a tornado DDT gets two on the US Champion.

Everything breaks down and Bryan takes out Reigns with the FLYING GOAT. Rollins takes him down with a suicide dive of his own though and it’s Christian hooking the reverse DDT for two on Dean but the Brogue Kick misses Ambrose and takes out Christian. Reigns spears Sheamus down and Ambrose pins Christian at 12:45.

Rating: C+. This was more about the good guys building drama amongst themselves before they head into the Chamber in a little over a week. There weren’t any problems for Shield this time which is a good thing before their big six man tag. This was the usual Shield six man so it was fine all around.

Zeb Colter asks Vickie Guerrero to be his valentine but she’s not falling for it. Colter wants an Intercontinental Title shot for Jack Swagger but Vickie says he has to beat Rey Mysterio. That’s fine with Zeb but Vickie makes it a fourway with Kofi Kingston and Mark Henry filling the other spots. Vickie shoves the chocolates into Zeb’s chest, meaning she’s a face now?

Cesaro (officially without the Antonio) says he’ll win tonight and then take the title at Elimination Chamber.

Lita Hall of Fame video.

Jack Swagger vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Mark Henry vs. Kofi Kingston

One fall to a finish and the winner gets Big E. (on commentary) for the Intercontinental Title at Elimination Chamber. Henry quickly throws Swagger to the floor but gets taken down by Kofi and Rey. The two speed guys get to have a showdown with Rey dropkicking Kofi for two but they have to eliminate Swagger again. Kofi dives over the top to put Jack down again and Rey hits a running seated senton from the apron. Henry is back in and loads up a dive of his own, only to have Swagger take out his leg.

Two straight Vader Bombs have Henry in trouble but Jack has to clothesline Rey down for two. Mysterio comes back with a top rope seated senton for two followed by the sitout bulldog for two more with Kofi making the save. Rey is sent into the post before Kofi bounce up the ropes and dropkicks Swagger down before hitting the Boom Drop. Rey gets knocked off the apron again and Swagger loads up Kingston in a superplex. Henry tries to make it a Tower of Doom but Kofi holds on, meaning it’s only a powerbomb to Swagger.

Henry cleans house but Swagger takes out the leg again and puts on the Patriot Lock, only to have Mark kick him off. Rey hits a 619 to Mark’s ribs and Kofi adds Trouble in Paradise but Jack is on his feet again. Kofi grabs a German suplex on Rey but Jack suplexes both of them at once in a nice power display. Kingston is sent to the floor but slides back in to break up a 619 attempt. Henry makes the save but gets kicked to the floor by Kofi. The distraction lets Swagger catch Kofi in the Patriot Lock for the submission at 8:35.

Rating: C+. Nice match here with everyone doing their job perfectly. I didn’t see the Mysterio knee injury but I’d guess it was on the seated senton from the apron as he went off camera for a few minutes as a result. Swagger getting the shot is a good enough choice as he was the only heel here and Henry vs. Big E. does nothing for me.

Raw ReBound covers Betty White and the Outlaws.

Bad News Barrett says American women are going to gain several pounds by tomorrow morning and be ashamed of what they see in the morning. Is there a point to this character coming anytime soon?

Goldust/Cody Rhodes/Usos vs. Ryback/Curtis Axel/New Age Outlaws

Billy and Goldust get things going with Gunn taking an atomic drop and the uppercut for a quick two. Off to Road Dogg vs. Cody with the sunset flip out of the corner getting two on Roadie. A clothesline gets the same and it’s off to an armbar from Rhodes. Jimmy comes in off the tag to stay on the arm and a double elbow gets two for the twins. Road Dogg takes Jey into the corner and it’s off to Axel for a dropkick. Ryback comes in for some driving shoulders in the corner and a hard slam as we take a break.

Back with Ryback elbowing Jey in the face and handing it off to Billy again. The Stinger Splash hits buckle and a double tag brings in Road Dogg and Jimmy. Everything breaks down with Jimmy cleaning house and hitting the running Umaga attack in the corner. Cody dives over the top to take out Axel but Ryback throws him into the barricade, only to walk into a Golden cannonball off the apron. A double superkick drops Road Dogg, Jey dives on the other heels and Jimmy hits the Superfly Splash for the pin at 11:00.

Rating: C-. This did its job but wasn’t the most interesting match in the world. Most importantly of all though it gets us closer to the Usos getting their Tag Titles which they earned about two years ago. Ryback and Axel have nowhere to go at this point and I have no idea what’s next for Goldust and Cody. The tag division has a lot of names in it right now but it’s not a very deep talent pool.

Randy Orton says this gauntlet is just to make him better and all that matters is him being champion. Tonight, Cesaro gets the Viper.

Lana says Alexander Rusev isn’t coming to make friends.

Darren Young vs. Damien Sandow

Titus O’Neil is on commentary. Young catches Sandow in a quick atomic drop and clotheslines him out to the floor. Back in and Damien gets a knee to Darren’s ribs but You’re Welcome is countered into a rollup for the pin by Young at 1:07. So much for rebuilding Sandow.

Titus goes after Darren post match but Young rips his pants off. I’ll let you make your own jokes.

The Bellas show us how to use the WWE Network.

Fandango vs. The Miz

Miz dropkicks the knee out to start and rains down left hands in the corner but Fandango comes back with an atomic drop. A nice dropkick gets two and we hit the chinlock on Miz. It’s quickly broken and Miz fights back with some basic stuff and the Reality Check but gets kicked shoulder first into the post. This brings out Santino and Emma for a distraction and a cat fight between Emma and Summer. Distraction, Skull Crushing Finale, pin on Fandango at 3:47.

Rating: D. At least it was the better finisher. I’m not sure how I’d react if we got through a week of shows without the distraction finish. Santino and Emma are a decent enough cute pair but Emma is going to have to get away from him if she wants to get over. Santino is going to overshadow whoever he’s with due to how over the top he is and there’s not much of a way around that.

Bobo Brazil video.

Cesaro vs. Randy Orton

In the sitdown interview of the week, HHH said he thinks Cesaro might be the wildcard in the Chamber. Cesaro chases Orton to the floor to start but doesn’t go after him. They do the same thing again before Cesaro takes him to the mat and hits the gutwrench for two. A running European uppercut in the corner gets two more and they both head outside. Orton reverses a whip into the barricade and clotheslines Cesar as we take a break.

Back with Orton ramming Cesaro into the announce table and taking him inside for a chinlock. The fans chant WE THE PEOPLE and Cesaro fights out, only to lose a fist fight and get elbowed to the mat. Cesaro rolls outside and catches Orton with a big clothesline of his own and counters the Elevated DDT into the Swing. Randy can barely get to his feet but is able to backdrop out of the Neutralizer. Cesaro lands on his feet but runs into the powerslam for two.

Now the Elevated DDT connects and Orton points to the sign to make this serious. He spends too much time walking around though and it’s Swiss Death for two. They head to the corner where Orton tries a superplex but Cesaro counters into a sunset bomb. A discus uppercut sets up the Neutralizer for the completely clean pin at 12:44.

Rating: B-. Well you can’t give much more of a rub than that. However I’d be much happier with this if Kofi Kingston hadn’t gotten the same kind of a win just a month ago. Cesaro is a guy that could be world championship material with a good push (meaning getting away from Swagger) but I have a feeling this is just for the Chamber and then it’s back to nothing for not-Antonio.

Cesaro waves to Orton to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. Another good Smackdown tonight with some nice action and angle advancement which is all you can ask for anymore. Unfortunately I don’t think tonight is going to mean much. Cesaro isn’t winning the title and while Sheamus and Christian had some problems, I can’t imagine it’s anyone but Orton, Bryan or maybe Cena walking out of the Chamber with the title. Randy has to be the favorite even though he’s lost three out of his last five matches and might even lose to Sheamus on Monday, making him look like a lame duck champion heading into Wrestlemania.

The rest of the show was good stuff with a nice six man, a good four way, a watchable eight man and a short Miz match that involved good looking women fighting. That’s not bad at all when you consider what Smackdown means in the grand scheme of things anymore. Cesaro winning made me smile, but I can’t imagine it’s anymore more than false hope.

One more note: the spoilers I read said there was an Eva Marie vs. Alicia Fox match taped with Eva winning via rollup but there was no sign of it at all here.

Results

Shield b. Christian/Sheamus/Daniel Bryan – Ambrose pinned Christian after a Brogue Kick from Sheamus

The Miz b. Fandango – Skull Crushing Finale

Jack Swagger b. Kofi Kingston, Rey Mysterio and Mark Henry – Patriot Lock to Kingston

Usos/Cody Rhodes/Goldust b. New Age Outlaws/Ryback/Curtis Axel – Superfly Splash to Road Dogg

Darren Young b. Damien Sandow – Rollup

Cesaro b. Randy Orton – Neutralizer

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NXT
Date: February 12, 2014
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Alex Riley, William Regal, Renee Young

The big story at the moment is the build to the February 27 supershow, but the problem with that is the main show taking over NXT more and more every week. HHH’s cameos are becoming a regular thing as JBL as GM is rapidly being forgotten. I always knew that once NXT stopped being its own thing it would stop being as fun and that’s slowly starting to happen. Let’s get to it.

Welcome Home.

Natalya/Bayley/Emma vs. BFF’s

It’s Alicia Fox/Summer Rae/Sasha Banks here and Emma vs. Paige is official for NXT Arrival on the 27^th. Emma takes Summer down to start before it’s off to Natalya vs. Sasha as the Canadian counters Banks’ wristlock into a quick suplex for two. Bayley comes in for a snapmare and slam but Fox gets the tag and dropkicks her down for two as we take a break.

Back with Summer holding Bayley in a seated full nelson before getting rolled up for two. Riley spends most of the match talking about his crush on Emma. Off to Banks for a front facelock as Renee asks Regal what he’s doing for Valentine’s Day. Regal: “Whatever you like my dear.” Fox gets two off a northern lights suplex with that nice bridge before we hit the chinlock on Bayley.

Back to Summer for some stretching and choking on the apron until Bayley finally counters a suplex to get a breather. The hot tag brings in Emma who cleans house until Alicia kicks her in the face. Sasha, Summer and Charlotte walk out on Alicia, allowing Emma to hook the Emma Lock for the submission from Fox at 7:28 shown of 10:58.

Rating: C-. There’s something about these Divas that you just don’t get with the WWE Divas. These girls are…..what’s the word I’m looking for…..oh yeah: competent. The match on Raw was absolutely dreadful and while this wasn’t great, it certainly wasn’t a chore to sit through and felt much more fun than the Bellas being all serious and wanting to be taken seriously while clearly being there as eye candy and due to who they’re sleeping with.

Aiden English vs. Colin Cassady

English’s song tonight is about how he’s the one in the ring while the fans watch. Cassady takes him into the corner to start and gets two off a slam. English comes back with a running neckbreaker and some hard forearms to the chest for two of his own. A reverse neckbreaker gets the same but Cass is all fired up now. He spells out SAWFT before blasting English in the back with a forearm, only to have English kick him in the knee and finish with the Director’s Cut at 1:23.

Here’s Sami Zayn to ask Cesaro for another 2/3 falls match in the ring as Cesaro requested. Sami isn’t proud of how many times he’s watched that match and noticed every mistake he’s made. His career has always been about moving forward but for the first time he can’t do it. Even after watching the footage as many times as he has, he can’t figure out the final mistake that cost him the match.

This brings out Cesaro who says this is starting to sound pathetic. Cesaro says there was no one moment in that match that cost Zayn because Antonio is just better. Zayn can look at that one match as a crystal http://findviagra.com ball for his entire career: coming up just a hair short. Sami says the two of them go back for years around the world and he respects Cesaro for everything he’s accomplished.

Cesaro is here because he’s a true competitor who will fight anyone anywhere, except for Sami. Zayn would like a reason why but Cesaro avoids the question by asking how many times he has to beat Sami to get the point across. Zayn thinks Antonio is afraid because they bring out the best in each other and Cesaro can’t beat him at his best. Anotnio asks Sami about his knee and Zayn isn’t comfortable answering. Cesaro agrees to one last match if there are no excuses when Sami loses.

Zayn agrees to the terms and the fans want a pinkie promise. Sami holds out his pinkie and Cesaro does the same, only to say it’s still no and kick Zayn in the knee. This brings out HHH BECAUSE WE JUST CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT HIM! HHH says the fans want the match so it’s on for Arrival. Heaven forbid Sami gets to come back and make Cesaro want to have the match, because we’ve got HHH on ANOTHER being the nice boss for this week.

CJ Parker vs. Tye Dillinger

Parker still looks like an idiot dancing around like he does. Dillinger takes him down with a front facelock and the fans chant purple power, apparently impressed by Dillnger’s trunks. CJ comes back with an airplane spin and the Third Eye for the pin at 1:20.

Post match Parker asks why people hate him. He reduces, reuses and recycles and even drives a car getting 40 miles a gallon. Parker should be booing us for melting his ice caps and spilling oil on his planet. The NXT fans are destroying the Earth because they don’t love anyone or anything. From this moment forward, he doesn’t love us either. I can’t say I’ve ever seen an environmentalist in wrestling so at least it’s new and thankfully we don’t have to sit through Parker as a face anymore.

Wyatt Family vs. Jason Jordan/Marcus Louis

Even Bray is here for this one. Harper takes Louis into the corner with stomps to the ribs before it’s off to Rowan for a fallaway slam and a splash before the discus lariat from Harper gets the pin in 59 seconds.

Jordan gets Sister Abigail. Bray talks about grown men trembling at the sound of the Family’s footsteps. They have conquered this world but haven’t forgotten where they came from. Follow the buzzards.

Overall Rating: C. They’re clearly just running on fumes until they get to Arrival, but at least we have HHH to carry us there! This was basically a throwaway show with only the Sami vs. Cesaro showdown being worth watching. I’m hoping they just forget about this show once Arrival is over and let it get back to being the awesome show it used to be.

Results

Emma/Bayley/Natalya b. BFF’s – Emma Lock to Fox

Aiden English b. Colin Cassady – Director’s Cut

CJ Parker b. Tye Dillinger – Third Eye

Wyatt Family b. Jason Jordan/Marcus Louis – Discus lariat to Louis

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There are two of them.For reasons not quite clear, Antonio Cesaro is now known as just “Cesaro” and Big E. Langston is now just “Big E.”

 

I like the dropping of Antonio but I don’t get dropping Langston.  It gave Big E. the perfect three syllable name and sounded very good.  I can live with it but I’m not wild on it.

If that’s true, I can’t say I’m complaining.As we saw with Rock, a legend coming back doesn’t mean it’s going to be a success.  Austin is nearly 50 years old and while he looks to be in great shape, there’s a big difference in being in movies and hosting a podcast and being on the road all the time while wrestling.  I have no problem with him never getting in the ring again as he’s given us more than enough memories over the years, though the idea of one last Wrestlemania match was interesting.

I’ve shifted a bit on this.At the Rumble, I was ok with Batista winning and getting the title shot at Wrestlemania.  Since then though, it’s pretty clear that things aren’t what they used to be.  Yeah Batista is in a big Hollywood movie this year, but the wrestling fans just do not care.  A lot of this is due to Bryan and Punk, as Batista just came back at the wrong time.  The fans want to see Daniel Bryan winning the title at Wrestlemania and they want Punk back (though the chants were WAY weaker on Monday) and Batista just happens to be there around this time.

As of right now, they would be insane to put Batista in the title match as the only challenger.  He’s certainly a big name and worthy of being in the title hunt, but I think just bringing him back and immediately putting him in the title match in this environment was just asking for trouble.  Thankfully it does seem like the company is backpedaling a bit on him as Batista is barely getting any TV time.  Making the title match a three way would be acceptable, as I really don’t think the fans are as much anti-Batista as they are pro-Bryan.  There’s a future in WWE for Big Dave, but it’s not as the sole challenger for Randy Orton at Wrestlemania XXX.

Raw was another mixed bag last night but things are looking interesting going into Elimination Chamber. There isn’t as much to talk about this week though.

 

We’ll start with the old white elephant in the room. Betty White was the guest star last night and was fine. She’s one of those celebrities that it’s hard to not like on some level. Her segments totaled about seven minutes total and while they weren’t funny, she didn’t hurt anything and was charming so I can’t complain too much. The Outlaws bit was rather dumb but that’s comedy in the WWE for you. Oh and Big Show gets mauled by Brock two weeks ago and comes out just fine? Really?

 

The Authority did their usual schtick by making Orton look like a hopeless joke which we just have to live with anymore. HHH and Stephanie aren’t getting shown up anytime soon because they’re just so darn likeable and amazing so Orton gets to be the scapegoat. Nothing much to this segment, but can we please stop with the cutting off promos ten seconds in? This has become a thing recently and happened with Orton and Kane last night. It’s kind of annoying, though at the same time it’s less Authority related talking I have to listen to so I’m split on this one.

 

There were two more long and well done tag matches with a six man and four man version. While both were entertaining, I’m getting a bit tired of them. There are so many stories going on right now and since Smackdown is absolutely worthless anymore, everything gets crammed into Raw in a bunch of tag matches. They’re entertaining, but I kind of roll my eyes when I hear one announced.

 

After the Wyatt six man we had a promo from Bray Wyatt, calling the Shield toy soldiers in a war they can’t win. Bray said after the war the Family would be moving on to another plan, which has to mean Cena. I’m excited either way as the Wyatts have nailed their gimmick so well it’s unreal.

 

Miz interrupted Santino vs. Fandango and ranted about not being able to get into a match while the two of them wrestled. As soon as he left, Cole asked what Miz’s problem was. Lines like that are what make me want to watch the show with the sound muted.

 

I liked Sheamus’ promo about walking into a bar with Christian. It was simple, to the point, and tied back into the Chamber. Nothing wrong with that.

 

Cesaro looked great in the tag match last night and needs to get away from Swagger immediately. That being said, it’s Swagger who looks to be turning face soon, even though the fans are behind Cesaro. Obviously Colter can’t be turned face, which is what makes me think it’s coming.

 

Ziggler is supposed to be in line for a push so they job him clean in 90 seconds. Gotta love WWE logic.

 

Batista beat up Del Rio and their match was announced for Elimination Chamber. I gave Batista the benefit of the doubt at the Rumble and still don’t mind him winning, but the spark is just not there at all. Batista looks in great shape and will probably be fine in the ring, but if he’s the one in the main event of Wrestlemania winning the title, the crowd is going to die a slow and painful death.

 

Lita is going into the Hall of Fame. The low cut tops she wore when she was with Edge alone are more than enough justification for me. Also, Trish has to induct her right?

 

It looks like we’re getting Usos vs. Outlaws soon which hopefully gives us the long overdue Usos title reign.

 

Ambrose’s open challenge was what it should have been. Henry wasn’t much of a challenger but at least it was a title defense that wasn’t wasted. One other thing though: what else was Henry going to do if there wasn’t an open challenge? His return was advertised all night and last week, so were we getting a basket weaving lesson unless Ambrose issued the challenge? Also Dean’s reaction with the bugged out eyes and forced smile when Henry’s music hit had me in stitches. The guy’s facial expressions are some of the best in wrestling today.

 

That brings us to the coolest part of last night’s show: the Wyatts came out after Ambrose’s match to stare down the Shield. The place went NUTS when it looked like the fight was on but Bray and company backed down. They need to let that match be an all out war instead of a tag match but it’s going to be awesome either way.

 

The Divas match last night was horrible. I beg of you WWE: put Finlay in charge of them again. The wrestling was horrid and they’re getting back into the horrible habit of the girls being models instead of wrestlers.

 

Kane vs. Bryan is coming and odds are it’ll be on a big Raw before Wrestlemania. No complaints from me.

 

The main event was of course Cena vs. Orton again, which isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. The matches are still good but I don’t get excited about them at all. It’s been done so many times now and the premise doesn’t work. Cena is so long since established as the top star and Orton just doesn’t work as the huge rival anymore.

 

That being said, there were some very good things about the match. First of all, I love how Orton learns during his matches. If you watch his work against guys he’s fought before, Orton will start countering/avoiding signature spots. He did it on Friday by countering the sunset flip out of the corner and last night he avoided the Cena shoulder blocks. It’s a very simple thing but it shows thinking in the ring, which is a lost art.

 

Speaking of lost arts, Orton put on a clinic in working a crowd like an old school heel last night. He stalled, he played to the crowd, and he had the people wanting Cena to kill him. If you want the fans to pay attention to you, pay attention to them. It’s how Cena has saved a ton of crowds from getting away from them and it’s how almost every top star ever has gotten where they are. Look back at Rock, Austin, Cena, Sting and Bryan now: they all play directly to the crowd and ask them to react to things. Fans love nothing more than being a part of the show and it works the same for heels. Good stuff in that area.

 

A few more notes about the show:

 

Can we get Cena checked for short term memory loss? A few weeks ago Orton attacked his dad and never mentioned it. Then the Wyatts cost him the title at the Rumble and he hasn’t talked about that either. I know it’s coming, but at least mention it again.

 

All of the champions in action lost last night. On top of that, the Outlaws were in a comedy segment that appealed to five year olds. I’m so glad we got the titles off of Goldust and Cody so the tag champions could be used in comedy sketches.

 

Has Big E. Langston fallen into a hole and no one has been around to hear him scream for help? The guy has disappeared since the Rumble.

 

Speaking of disappearing, does anyone remember Brock Lesnar demanding to be #1 contender? It looked like he was going to fight the Authority about it and then just disappeared. Good thing too, as it almost looked like the Authority might have to face some adversity and that’s not Best for Business.

 

Rumor has it that Shelton Benjamin worked a dark match against Tyson Kidd last night.  However, he and Kidd say this isn’t true so chalk another one up for internet reporters.

 

Steve Austin and RVD were backstage last night with Austin there to talk to Zeb Colter about being on the podcast. From what I’ve heard, there are no plans to bring RVD back to TV soon.

 

Overall Raw was entertaining, but there was nothing that needed to be seen. It did a good enough job building up the Chamber show, but it didn’t do much for me.

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of Summerslam at Amazon for just $4 at:

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