Monday Night Raw
Date: June 29, 1998
Location: Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Attendance: 16,505
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

This is pretty historic show in that we have a world title match as Kane defends against the man he beat last night, Steve Austin. Other than that, we also have the debut of one of the dumbest ideas in the history of the company: the Brawl For All. Other than that, we’ve got Shamrock as the new King of the Ring and we begin the road to Fully Loaded, which is in four weeks. Let’s get to it.

We open with a still package from the title match last night. Taker smacked Austin in the head with a chair and claimed that it was inadvertent. Either way, it cost Austin the title.

Here’s Vince and here’s all fired up. There’s a red carpet in the ring and the title is under glass. He spends a lot of time bragging about how awesome the new champion is rather than the old one. Vince praises Kane who has never had alcohol or uttered a swear or anything like that. He’s a role model apparently. Here’s Kane and Bearer does the talking of course.

Paul talks about how this is a place where dreams come true. He spent over twenty years watching Kane watch his brother and about how Kane wanted to be like Taker. Bearer told him that Kane could be better than him. For the first time, Taker is in Kane’s shadow. Here’s the belt presentation. Patterson isn’t here due to a family emergency which is legit if I remember correctly.

Vince goes to put the title on Kane but here’s Austin. He says Kane never busted him open which is true. Austin wants a rematch right here tonight. He keeps telling Vince to make it but Vince is hesitant. If the people want it, why not do it? Bearer says it’s all right with him if it’s all right with Kane. Now Austin yells at Kane, talking about how it was Taker who won the title last night and in a great bit of manipulation, Austin says Kane will always want to know if he could do it himself. Kane nods yes to Austin and the title match is on for later.

Darren Drozdov vs. Steven Regal

Sable introduces Regal, who sadly enough is just Steven Regal, British guy. I hadn’t realized it yet but Lawler is now on commentary both hours. Sable sits in on commentary. Droz hammers away on Regal who does his usual shouting. We’re on a split screen of the match and Sable, so at least there’s something to look at. JR keeps asking Sable about her relationship with Vince and all that and she can’t comment. Regal hooks a chinlock and pounds away on Droz. Droz makes a comeback and goes up. Regal suplexes him off the top and the Regal Stretch ends this boring match.

Rating: D-. I can see why Regal was sent down to Dory Funk’s training center for some more work. He hurt his ankle there though and later broke his leg so he didn’t have another match on WWF TV until around Halloween. That’s good too because this was really pretty boring stuff.

Here’s the new King, Ken Shamrock. He talks about how it was hard to win last night but he managed to win. As far as Rocky goes, the guy he beat last night, last night Rocky showed him something. Here comes Owen who says he was a better king than Ken is. Owen challenges him for later and Ken says it was Owen that broke his ankle so it’s on. Now here’s HHH who wants in on this too. Shamrock is a really weak talker. Granted that isn’t his strong suit and never was supposed to be.

We had to get here. I didn’t want to do it but we had to eventually. It’s time for the Brawl For All.

The UFC was gaining popularity so WWF tried to get in on some of it. This is the result. There are three one minute rounds and a point system. You get 5 points for the most punches per round, 5 points for a takedown and 10 points for a knockdown. A knockout ends the fight.

Now here’s where things got really stupid: It wasn’t predetermined. That’s right: this is a legit fighting tournament. Now, any common sense would suggest that Dan Sever, a legit all-American wrestler and an Olympic alternate as well as a former UFC Champion, would be the runaway favorite. However, for some reason this was designed to get Dr. Death Steve Williams over. That didn’t happen. It also didn’t help that it was another tournament just after the King of the Ring and that there were no submissions. Let’s get this over with.

Brawl For All First Round: Marc Mero vs. Steve Blackman

I won’t be rating any of these because it’s not wrestling. Blackman takes him down quickly but instead of holding him on the ground, they stand up and start all over again as soon as they hit the ground. The crowd is openly booing 26 seconds in. Blackman gets 4 takedowns in the first round alone. He also got the most punches so he’s up 25-0. The fans say they want wrestling. Blackman dominates the second round and there’s no point to even talking about this. After about 9 takedowns, Blackman wins by decision, making the points worthless. He was hurt though so Mero got to come back. So freaking stupid.

Kane says he’s giving Austin a title shot because he knows he can win and is better than Taker ever was.

Someone is just getting here.

Val Venis vs. Dick Togo

Make your own name jokes. Val chases Yamaguchi off with a chair. Yamaguchi’s wife is at ringside, which comes into play later. Val pounds him into the corner for a fast start. Dustin Rhodes comes out to preach a bit. Togo runs the corner and hits a nice flip dive attack. Rhodes wants to know if Jerry and JR have thought about how many people they can reach by spreading the word of God. Jerry says chill and Rhodes quotes scripture. DDT gets two for Togo. Togo goes up but jumps into a powerslam. A regular slam sets up the Money Shot (with gyrations) to end this clean. Pretty much just a squash.

Val hits on Yamaguchi’s wife post match. Yamaguchi protests and slaps him. Kai En Tai comes in so Val blasts them with a chair.

Edge is watching from the crowd.

Austin says he didn’t lose the title so he’ll be getting it back tonight.

HHH vs. Ken Shamrock vs. Owen Hart

Owen and Hart fight on the floor while HHH chills in the ring. Owen comes in so HHH pounds on him for a bit and the jumping knee gets two. Jerry suggests that HHH would have been the King of Kings if he had won there. So that’s where it started. All three are back in now and the fans are all over Owen. Shamrock and Owen wind up double teaming the Game and Shamrock gets two.

Owen is sent to the floor and HHH gets a flying knee for two. A piledriver gets two on Trips but Shamrock saves. Snap suplex puts Owen down but he pops up and grabs a German on Shamrock for two. During the break we got the triple sleeper and double jawbreaker spot. Now the blondes are going after the ankle of Shamrock which isn’t totally healed yet. A missile dropkick puts HHH down (with an inadvertent bell) and Owen hooks a Sharpshooter (Jerry: “Is Vince around?”).

Now Triple H tries the Pedigree on Shamrock but Owen breaks it up with a spinwheel kick. DDT puts HHH down and Shamrock comes back on Owen. Leg lariat gets two for Ken and he crushes HHH. Here’s the ankle lock to Owen but HHH makes the save. Rana is countered by HHH into a powerbomb but he gets enziguried to the floor. Chyna takes Owen out so Shamrock goes out to beat on him. Rock runs in and blasts HHH with the IC Title. Shamrock comes in and gets the easy pin.

Rating: C. This was a long match and it was very energetic as they moved all over the place the entire time. I wasn’t wild on it but I’m not a fan of triple threats in general. This was before the modern standard triple threat formula was established though so it was a nice change of pace.

DX and the Nation fight on the stage as is their custom. Owen puts Shamrock in a figure four around the post.

Here’s Taker who has an explanation of some sort. He says he owes no one anything but he’ll say why he came to the ring last night. He and his brother don’t get along but he couldn’t let Kane set himself on fire. Cole who is conducting the interview says that may have cost Austin the title. Taker says he did what he had to do.

Cue Vince who says Taker did it because he thinks he can beat Kane but not Austin. Vince calls him evil and threatens him with something if he interferes tonight.

Brawl For All First Round: Bradshaw vs. Mark Canterbury

Canterbury is Henry Godwinn. They throw a lot of punches during the first round and are gassed afterwards. Bradshaw pounds him down but Canterbury stands up. The fans think it’s boring. I’m not really going to bother talking about these much because that’s not what I’m here for. Canterbury gets a takedown as Lawler tries to make us believe that this is something impressive. Bradshaw wins if you care.

Summerslam is in 9 weeks. That would be pretty easily the biggest Summerslam ever.

Here’s the LOD minus Sunny. Animal says they have a new manager: Paul Ellering, their original manager. Here’s the LOD to complain though. Ellering turns on the LOD because the DOA is his new team. Ellering would later say that this was awful because he couldn’t bring himself to insult the LOD.

Taker says no one tells him what to do, implying that he’ll interfere in the title match.

WWF Title: Steve Austin vs. Kane

Austin has a bad arm from an infection I believe. Austin goes right at Kane but gets knocked down by the power. A forearm shot floors Kane though and the fans are erupting after every single move. Quick Stunner attempt is countered and Kane heads outside. Austin dives from the apron with a clothesline and Kane goes into the steps.

Back inside and Kane hammers him down but walks into the Thesz Press. Austin goes after the leg, wrapping it around the post. Kane kicks him to the floor and Austin goes into the steps again. Austin is in trouble so the fans cheer even faster. Even Bearer gets a poke in with what looked like an object. Off to a chinlock and here’s Taker.

Austin tries to make a comeback but walks into a big boot by the champion. Top rope clothesline takes Austin down. Austin tries to come back but walks into a bad chokeslam. Tombstone and Stunner are countered but the second attempt at the Stunner gives Austin the title back totally clean. Taker did nothing at all.

Rating: C-. This was kind of a weird match. Austin pretty much just beat Kane clean in about 9 minutes. I mean…that’s it. He too all of the attacks, countered the Tombstone and hit the Stunner to end it. There’s nothing else to it and that’s such a surprise given how dominant Kane had been over his time so far.

Austin Stuns Taker post match and the giants sit up at the same time to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. The Brawl For All stuff just cripples it. I know it’s short, but my goodness it takes me out of the show. It drives me crazy when wrestling apparently isn’t enough so they have to do whatever else they can to try to get people watching. Just stick with what it says on the marquee and you won’t go wrong. Why Vince hates that idea is beyond me.

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WWF Championship Wrestling
Date: March 10, 1984
Location: Allentown Agricultural Hall, Allentown, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Gene Okerlund

Here’s another old show from the big boys. Championship Wrestling was the flagship show from the late 70s to mid 80s and had some title changes on it. This is a random show but I’ll probably do more of these later on. Anyway, this is from about a month and a half after Hogan won the title so you should have an idea of what this will be like. Let’s get to it.

The announcers run down the card.

Paul Orndorff vs. Rocco Verona

This announcers is straight out of a movie, rolling every word he says and being all over the top. Piper is with Orndorff as his manager. Orndorff is new here I think. We hear the Fink’s voice talking about an upcoming house show which is something you would hear a lot of. The fans are already chanting Paula. Paul sends him to the floor and we’re in pure squash mode here. A slam and knee drop put Verona down and the piledriver ends it. Total dominance.

Tito Santana vs. Israel Matia

Tito is IC Champion but this is non-title. Tito has only been champion for about a month now. He grabs the arm and works on that for awhile. Forearm off the middle rope ends this in another squash.

Jose Luis Rivera vs. Greg Valentine

Rivera is undefeated and Valentine is recently back to the company. When the match starts we get another voiceover talking about a show in a high school gym. It’s a fundraiser but how weird does it sound to hear about a WWF show being in a high school gym? Albano is with Valentine here. Valentine dominates to start but Rivera gets a few dropkicks. One misses though and he hurts his knee. Figure Four and we’re done quick.

Greg won’t let it go for awhile. He legs go of the hold and still works the knee over. Great redebut for Valentine (assuming this was one) as he looks like a killer.

Mr. Fuji plugs a house show match with Sgt. Slaughter in Boston. This must be a recording from the Boston market. He talks about stealing a watch from a dead marine….I think.

Orndorff wants to make sure he looks good before he talks about Tony Garea. Why is his hair blowing?

Andre says he’ll be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, which is the day the show is on. He’s got Masked Superstar at the show. He might go for the mask but it’ll be after the match. It’s a DQ to steal a mask during a match. Did I stumble into a Chikara show?

Masked Superstar comes in (these promos are all in one long shot in front of a ring, allegedly in the Boston Garden) and that’s not the original one. The original is Ax from Demolition and he has a very distinctive voice.

Oh no it’s a midget match.

Tiger Jackson/Haiti Kid vs. Pancho Boy/Dana Carpenter

Carpenter is taller than the top rope, making him a giant midget. Pancho vs. Kid starts us off. Kid runs all over him and I really don’t like these matches. Pancho catapults him and a double tag brings in Jackson and Carpenter. Jackson is more famous as Dink the Clown. He wins with a middle rope cross body in about 100 seconds. NEXT.

Off to THE PIT!

The guest is Tito Santana. Roddy makes fun of Latinos so Tito goes on a rant and says he’ll fight anyone, even Piper. Tito leaves and Piper says he’s a coward. That was quick but MAN there could have been some awesome matches in there.

Steve Lombardi vs. David Schultz

Schultz is managed by Piper and is challenging Hogan at the Boston show so what do you think is happening here? Total dominance here as Schultz works on the back. Two middle rope elbows win this.

Schultz says he’s ready for Hogan.

Rocky Johnson/Tony Atlas/SD Jones vs. Goldie Rogers/Ron Butler/Charlie Fulton

Atlas and Johnson are tag champions. Johnson and I think Butler start us off. Atlas comes in and beats Butler up as we’re back in squash world here. Then again, that’s perfectly normal here. Here’s Fulton who is at least a name. Back to Jones who actually gets punched down by Fulton who is rather tall. Jones headbutts him down and here’s Rogers who has a big beard. Jones stretches the hamstrings out via a wishbone and Johnson helps him. Atlas gorilla presses Butler and pins him with a splash.

Rating: D+. I have no idea how to call this one. I mean, it’s a squash that runs about four and a half minutes. How much is there to say there? Fulton is the only one that got in a few shots and that’s it. Nothing to see here but Johnson and Atlas were pretty awesome so it’s always fun to see them.

Time for more promos. Up first: Schultz says Hogan isn’t going to succeed in his title defense. Schultz is from Tennessee so he has the thick accent. He also rants about Hogan being Irish on St. Patrick’s Day or something.

There’s another show in New Jersey with a battle royal. Hogan is defending against Schultz and goes on a big rant about how everything has changed since he won the title. It’s the old belt still too.

Tony Garea/Brian Blair vs. Bill Dixon/Frank Williams

The jobbers here have some very slight name recognition. Dixon lost to Hogan in Hulk’s first match back from the AWA and Williams was destroyed by Piper on the Pit once. Garea and Williams start us off and let the pain begin. Off to Blair who isn’t a killer yet but he is a bee apparently. The good guys work on Dixon’s arm as the show is almost over. To give you an idea of the era, Garea wins it with an abdominal stretch.

Overall Rating: D+. I don’t know what I can really say about this. Everything was a squash and that’s how almost all of these shows are going to be. Occasionally we might get an angle but it’s not that likely. Either way, the early months and the first full year of Hogan’s title reign is a different time as they didn’t have a big challenger for him yet so they plugged in whomever was handy, which is what Schultz was. Nothing much to see here but I have a bunch more of them.

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Found, put on a list, and will be randomly selected for reviews eventually. It’s mainly 80s syndicated stuff from WWF, WCW and a few other territory companies. This should be awesome.

KB

No Mercy 2001
Date: October 21, 2001
Location: Savvis Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 15,647
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

So I’m down to just No Mercy and Backlash now which makes me shake my head very hard. Anyway, this is during the Alliance Era but it’s the very tail end of it. The main events tonight are Jericho vs. Rock for the WCW Title and Austin defending against RVD and Angle. We also get Edge vs. Christian for the IC Title. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is about the triple threat and what everyone wants in it.

WCW Tag Titles: Hardy Boys vs. Lance Storm/Hurricane

Matt and Jeff are champions coming in. The triple threat later is now No DQ. Ivory and Molly are with the Alliance team and Helms is European Champion. Hurricane vs. Jeff gets us going. Naturally they move around very fast and the Hardys hit a move they used called the Spin Cycle. Off to Matt and Storm makes a blind tag so the Alliance can double team. Matt comes back with a double clothesline and here’s Jeff.

Ivory trips him up and Storm takes over. Hurricane sets for a dive but Matt makes the save. Molly gets in for no apparent reason as Hurricane dives onto both Hardys and part of Storm. The challengers take over on Jeff for awhile but he comes back with a Whisper in the Wind on Storm. Hurricane stops the tag….and then Jeff makes it a few seconds later. Matt speeds things up and Poetry in Motion takes Storm down. Middle rope legdrop gets two on Hurricane. A Twist attempt is countered into a double superkick to Matt. Everything breaks down and the girls get into it. Litarana, Twist, Swanton to Hurricane and the Hardys retain.

Rating: C+. Fine opener here to get the crowd fired up. Opening with a tag match, especially one with four smaller and faster guys out there, is a great idea and it always will be. The Hardys would pretty much stop meaning anything as a team soon after this and they would be split in less than a year.

RVD arrives and is greeted by Regal. Regal thinks RVD should apologize to Austin for Frog Splashing him last week but RVD doesn’t think so. He isn’t on Vince’s side either.

Vince arrives and Cole annoys him. This is a return apparently. Vince promises answers before the night is over and he’s here to make an impact.

Test vs. Kane

Brothers vs. Test/Booker so there’s another match later. Kane starts fast with the high impact stuff and a powerslam gets two. Test gets thrown to the floor where he manages to hit a bell shot to Kane. JR wants to know why that isn’t a DQ which is a fair question. Nick Patrick is referee which should explain that. Back in with Test in control. A middle rope back elbow gets two.

Sidewalk slam puts Kane down for no cover. The Canadian misses the top rope elbow and here comes the Big Fried Freak. More power and we go to the floor again. Test sends him into the post and the big boot puts Kane down. Back in the ring Kane hits a quick chokeslam but the cover is delayed to make it two. The top rope clothesline misses but Test hits the pumphandle slam for a close two, as does the top rope elbow. All Test has left is the big boot but he gets a chair instead. Kane busts out a dropkick (decent one too) to kick it back into his face. Patrick steals the chair and the big boot (clearly missing) gets the pin.

Rating: C-. Not bad here but the ending really hurt things. Test was on a huge roll at this point and would win the Immunity Battle Royal at Survivor Series before fading into nothing over the next few years. Kane would be on Team WWF at the Survivor Series so that shows what a win on PPV gets you.

Kane chokeslams and powerbombs Patrick post match.

Coach wants to talk to Austin but gets Debra instead. Austin yells a promo through the door which Debra repeats. Not exactly funny but whatever.

Stacy is here. She shows him her lingerie for the lingerie match with Torrie. She leaves and Lita comes up. He seems a bit preoccupied.

They actually recap the lingerie match. Do you think I’m really going to bother here? Stacy caused Torrie to be put through a table. That’s about it.

Torrie Wilson vs. Stacy Keibler

This is a lingerie match which means they wrestle in it. Let’s get this over with. I can’t stand these kind of matches. I mean, the girls look great but when I can see them in even less for free on the internet, what’s the point? Stacy has a riding crop or something and spanks Torrie and the referee. They “wrestle” for a bit and exchange a bunch of rollups. Torrie wins with a handspring elbow. This was worthless.

Angle talks about Vince wanting RVD to join the WWF. He however has his eyes on both Austin and RVD. Vince comes in and wishes Angle luck.

Christian says he’s better than Edge and incorporates the St. Louis Cardinals into it.

We recap Edge vs. Christian. Christian said he was superior after winning the IC Title with some cheating. Their mom allegedly had a car wreck on Monday (I forgot I had reviewed that Raw) but Christian faked the whole thing and joined the Alliance.

Intercontinental Title: Edge vs. Christian

Oh and did I mention this was a ladder match? The brawl starts in the aisle with Edge taking over. Backdrop puts Christian down so he hits the floor. Here comes the first ladder but Edge hits a baseball slide into it, sending the ladder into Christian’s ribs. They head into the crowd over by what appear to be hockey boards. There’s nothing to do out there so they head back to the ring.

Christian is laid on the floor and catapulted into the ladder which is up against the ring. The ladder is bridged between the steps and barricade with Edge being dropped onto it. They fight onto the ladder and Christian gets crotched. Edge looks to put the ladder inside the ring but Christian manages a see-saw shot to the face to take over. Christian goes up but Edge makes an easy save.

Christian pins Edge in the corner with a ladder and gets a chair. For some reason he goes to the top with that chair and is promptly slammed onto the ladder. Both of them are sent into the ladder with Edge going in second. Here comes another ladder which Christian climbs. Edge sets up the original and goes up as well, resulting in an Edge-O-Matic from the ladder. That looked awesome. Edge goes up, but Christian hits a reverse DDT off the ladder to get us back to even.

The champ rolls to the floor and gets a pair of chairs. This isn’t going to go well is it? Edge avoids the Conchairto and brings in a third ladder for some reason. A ladder is propped up between two chairs and Edge splashes Christian onto it with the ladder not moving at all. FREAKING OW MAN!!! Edge climbs but Christian jabs him down with a ladder.

Christian goes up but Edge dives off the ladder with a spear to take him down. There are three ladders set up in the ring now: two next to each other and one perpendicular to it. As in the third one’s legs are facing the two ladders which are facing the cameras. Both of them go up and they crash down to the floor.

The fans are way into this and I can’t say I blame them. Christian gets back in first and climbs but Edge hits him low which is what Christian did to win the title in the first place. Edge puts him on the top of the ladders, puts a chair under his head and delivers a One Man Conchairto to KILL Christian. Edge pulls down the title which is academic.

Rating: B+. What else were you expecting here? The ending looked great and is a great way to end this feud. At the end of the day, these two are masters at this kind of match so giving them 22 minutes to have one is about the best thing you can possibly do. Great match and it did exactly what they were hoping it would do.

Spike is at WWF New York and drinking. The Dudleys half killed him on Smackdown a few weeks ago so he’s injured. Spike says he’s here to watch the Dudleys lose and Paul makes fun of him for getting dumped. A decent looking chick comes up and Spike gets preoccupied.

WWF Tag Titles: Dudley Boys vs. Big Show/Tajiri

I think Show came out to help Tajiri for some reason and this is the results. Tajiri starts with Bubba and the Dudleys take over. D-Von comes in but walks into a superkick for two. Here’s Big Show and D-Von gets gyrated on. The Dudleys get sent to the floor and Tajiri hits a nice flip dive to take them out. Sidewalk slam gets two on D-Von. Back to Tajiri who walks into a Bubba Bomb to give the champs control again.

Flapjack gets two and a Midnight Express reference. Off to the chinlock by D-Von as the idea is the obvious one: keep Big Show out of there. Tajiri gets in a shot but Bubba distracts the referee so the tag doesn’t count. What’s Up Tajiri. Tajiri counters a powerbomb into a DDT and both guys are down.

There’s the tag to Big Show to almost no reaction. He cleans house but a chop block breaks up a chokeslam. Show is knocked to the floor as Tajiri gets a Tarantula on D-Von. Double handspring elbow takes down the Dudleys. The Mist hits the referee though before Show chokeslams Bubba. Rhyno runs in and Gores Show to take him out. Buzzsaw Kick gets two on D-Von but Tajiri walks into a 3D keeps the titles on the Dudleys.

Rating: C-. Not a bad match but they were doing what they could here. The tag titles were rapidly becoming worthless, partially due to there being two sets of titles which just weren’t needed. They would be unified at Survivor Series but it’s not like that helped anything. The division was dying because you only had three teams that ever won anything.

Regal praises Rhyno.

Test and Booker fire each other up. Shane is here too.

Booker T vs. Undertaker

No real reason for this other than WCW big name vs. WWF big name. Booker jumps him to start in the aisle and takes over. Now they get in the ring and the bell rings. Big boot gets two and Booker takes over quickly. Booker’s shoulder hits the post so Taker works it over. An armbar goes into a Fujiwara version and then Old School. Booker heads outside and sends Taker into the steps.

He grabs the ring bell ala Test earlier but this is a WWF referee so it isn’t allowed. Taker gets in a right hand and they go into that ever present empty space in the front row of the crowd. Back in and Booker hits a missile dropkick for two. Hook kick puts the big man down for a delayed two. The Spinarooni is postponed and Taker comes back with right hands. Snake Eyes is countered into a neckbreaker by Booker for two.

Booker jumps into a boot and Taker punches more. For a guy based in MMA, he really like to box. And Booker like to kick, as he hits a spinwheel kick for two. DDT takes Booker down and man I’m doing a lot of play by play in this. The lack of story really can hurt matches. Leg drop gets two for the Dead Man. There’s the Harlem Side Kick by Booker and SPINAROONI!!!

Scissors Kick gets two. Man Booker likes throwing kicks. I said that already didn’t I? Chokeslam is countered by a low blow and then were get to the end. Booker makes the eternal mistake of punching Taker in the corner and gets caught in the Last Ride. Man if I never see that finish again it’ll be too soon.

Rating: D. That ending didn’t help anything. The striking gets old but it wasn’t that terrible. I really wasn’t into this at all and I think it’s due to the lack of the story here. The match isn’t exactly bad but it was pretty boring. Booker was treated like a goon in WWF as the heel turn really never worked for him at all.

Jericho says he has to go win the big one, which is the big knock on him up until this point in his career.

We recap Rock vs. Jericho. Jericho accidentally hit Rock with a chair and cost him a match. Rock asked what was that and Jericho said he was just trying to win. Rock wanted Jericho to say it was a mistake and it turned into a fight. Jericho beat RVD for a WCW Title shot here tonight. Rock said that Jericho didn’t always choke. He just isn’t good enough to win the big one. This was a very well built up feud.

WCW World Title: The Rock vs. Chris Jericho

Feeling out process to start and Rock grabs a headlock. Jericho grabs an armbar but shifts over to chopping instead. Rock Bottom and Walls are both countered so Jericho dropkicks him to the floor. Back in Jericho hits a top rope back elbow for two. They’re starting kind of slow which says to me that they have a ton of time to work with. They chop away in the corner but Rock walks into a spinwheel kick to take him down for two.

Senton backsplash puts Rock down even more. Rock fires off a jumping clothesline but walks into a Stun Gun. Belly to belly by Rock puts both of them down. It’s been mostly Jericho so far but Rock is hitting enough stuff to stay in there. There’s another suplex and a Samoan Drop for two. Jericho knocks him down so Rock nips up. Rock knocks him to the floor for a bit. Back in a vertical suplex gets two for Rocky.

Rock throws him to the floor and once we’re back in, Rock throws on a chinlock for awhile. Jericho gets catapulted into the corner so Rock can load up a superplex. Chris knocks him off and a missile dropkick puts both guys down. Jericho wins a slugout and a rana gets two. Rock comes back but Jericho catches him in a Rock Bottom. Lionsault gets two as this has gotten awesome.

Jericho loads up a People’s Elbow but Rock moves. Because, you know, it’s an elbow. Rock hooks a Sharpshooter and the Canadian is in trouble. Jericho finally gets to the rope and the fans aren’t sure what to do. Out to the floor and it’s Spanish Announce Table time. Rock Bottom puts Jericho through the table and the place pops big. Back in the ring and Rock stalks Chris.

Another Rock Bottom is countered but Rock manages a spinebuster and loads up a People’s Elbow of his own. Jericho picks the ankle into the Walls and Rock is in trouble. Rock reaches for the rope but Jericho pulls him back to the middle. And here’s Stephanie because what’s a great title match without a McMahon? She throws in a chair and Rock DDTs Jericho. She cheers for Rock so Rock brings her in for a Rock Bottom. Jericho catches Rock in a Breakdown (Skull Crushing Finale) onto the chair for the pin, the title and a BIG pop from the crowd.

Rating: A-. I’m bringing this down a bit because of Stephanie. I mean there just was no need for her to be in there. It was minor but what in the world does she need to be there for? Jericho winning is still huge, but it should have been without her out there. The chair is fine, but why did we need her? The match was GREAT otherwise though with them mirroring each other perfectly.

Rock gets the chair post match but hands it to Jericho instead of hitting him with it.

We recap the triple threat. Austin is champion and paranoid, RVD is the most popular guy in the Alliance and might as well be a face, Angle is the WWF guy that wants the title that Regal screwed him out of. Austin told RVD to reach for the stars so Foley became commissioner and made this match because the fans wanted to see RVD in the title scene. Rob was seen getting out of a limo with Vince so Austin doesn’t trust him. You know, along with the fact that he’s Austin. Van Dam hit a Frog Splash (intentionally) on Austin and Vince came out to do the RVD finger point.

WWF World Title: Kurt Angle vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Steve Austin

No DQ here. Kurt suplexes both of them just before the bell. The Alliance guys team up to kick Kurt to the floor and it’s time for their showdown. Angle gets back in before too much happens and RVD goes down. Austin takes over and beats them both down but Kurt grabs the ankle. Rob breaks it up and fires off kicks on Austin. Angle tries to suplex him but gets kicked as well. Rolling Thunder gets two on Kurt. Angle is knocked to the floor so Austin hits a spinebuster for two on RVD.

Half crab is broken up by Kurt. Angle’s bad luck continues as Austin knocks him to the floor and then channels his inner Cena for an STF on RVD. Kurt breaks it and they go to the floor where Angle is launched into the post. Van Dam’s legs get some post too. They’re moving very quickly in this. Everyone not named RVD fights into the crowd for about 8 seconds. Rob Dives onto the floor to take everyone out.

Austin is left on the floor so Angle suplexes Van Dam. Moonsault hits and I don’t ever remember seeing that happen in WWF. Austin tries to steal the pin but only gets two. Angle and Austin both try Stunners but wind up clotheslining each other down. Five Star misses both guys so Angle Germans him with a bridge for two. Kurt gets caught in a Stunner but Rob saves it.

Angle Slam gets two on Rob but Steve breaks it up and throws Kurt to the floor. For some reason he goes after him instead of going after the down RVD. Now the English announce table gets loaded up but Austin gets backdropped onto it, although it doesn’t break. Van Dam dives onto Kurt as he turns around and everyone is down. And here comes the Boss.

Austin is the only one on the floor now and Kurt goes off on Van Dam. A spinwheel kick takes Kurt down as JR writes Austin off in this one. Geez man it was just a backdrop. Five Star is loaded up but Kurt runs the corner and slams him off. Austin gets back in and Stuns Angle to the floor. Vince runs in with a chair and pops Austin in the back. The great feuds never die. Five Star to Austin but Vince gets Angle back in to break it up. Time for rolling Germans to Van Dam, four in this case. Angle Slam hits and Shane runs in to break it up. Vince and Shane fight as Austin Stuns Van Dam to keep the title.

Rating: B+. That might be a bit high but I really enjoyed this one. They never stopped moving in it and that means a lot when you consider that it’s over fifteen minutes long. The ending hurt it but the rest of it worked quite well. I don’t think anyone believed Austin was going to lose here but an obvious ending can be perfectly fine at times. This was quite good.

Overall Rating: A-. I went back and forth on this but at the end of the day, it’s a great show and that’s all you can ask for. The main events were great and I really liked the tag match. When you have three matches that are very good to excellent and the rest of the matches are at least decent, you really can’t get much better. Very good show and worth checking out if you’re in the mood for a show that doesn’t mean much (the IC, WCW tag, WWF Tag and WCW World Title were all changed within 15 days), this is a good one.

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Best of the WWF Volume 5
Host: Gene Okerlund
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Jesse Ventura, Vince McMahon, Bruno, Sammartino

Just three of these left so let’s knock this one out. I won’t do the other two just after this because these shows can be hard to sit through at times. This one is from very early 1986 so most of the matches are from 1985 and a few of them revolve around the Women’s Title, which was a much bigger deal back then with Wendi Richter, the chick that basically caused the Rock N Wrestling Connection (ok not really but she was part of it) main eventing house shows when Hogan wasn’t there. Think about that for a minute. Let’s get to it.

Don Muraco vs. Ricky Steamboat

MSG from November of 85. They’re slow to start so I’m assuming this is going to go on for awhile. Steamboat speeds things up and a kick sends Don to the floor. Back in and Steamboat claps Muraco’s ears to send him right back to the floor. Back in and Muraco walks into a superkick and chops. Steamboat hooks the rare face chinlock (it’s a neck crank but I call them all chinlocks).

Muraco comes back but walks into more shots from Ricky to send him back outside. Back in again and Muraco STILL can’t get anything going. Backdrop sets up some armdrags and off to something resembling an STF. Now into a camel clutch. Steamboat grabs a nose lock before shifting to a front facelock. Clipped to later in the facelock as we hear about how this is a revenge match for the Dragon.

Muraco finally gets in some offense with an atomic drop and a clothesline. Steamboat goes face first into the post and he’s busted. Muraco goes after the wound like an evil man. Now it’s Steamboat on the floor as Gorilla wants a doctor to take a look at Steamboat. A slingshot puts Ricky into the post. Steamboat staggers around on the floor for a bit before getting slingshotted back in. That’s a popular move in this match.

Ricky chops away in the corner and the people get all exciteable. Muraco comes back again and Fuji throws in the cane. They fight over it but Steamboat kicks him off and into the referee. A cane shot misses Ricky so Steamboat kicks him in the back of the head and grabs the cane. The fans are LOSING IT. A cane shot draws the DQ loss for Steamboat though.

Rating: C+. Not a classic or anything but for what it was, this was fine. They let the guys do their thing and they worked the crowd into a frenzy because of it. What else do you really need to do in a place like New York? Steamboat was great and while Muraco was just a step past his prime, he could still go and do 20 minutes like he did here. Fine match.

Dragon breaks the cane and gouges it into the head of Muraco. He had a mean streak to him. Steamboat beats on Muraco for a bit because he’s Ricky Steamboat and he can. Don is busted too.

Hart Foundation vs. Killer Bees

I told you these teams always hooked up. I think we’re in Philly here. Blair clears house to start and it’s off to Brunzell. Bret is in trouble early and the Bees stay on the arm, which the announcers criticize them for. Bret gets in an elbow and here’s the Anvil. Blair is in trouble but gets in a right hand to a big pop. He doesn’t do anything after that but it shows you how strong the crowds were back in the day.

The Dream Team has the belts at the moment so this is late 85-early 86. Bret misses a charge into the ropes and it’s off to Brunzell. Brunzell hits his dropkick on Hart but Anvil makes the save. Everything breaks down but Bret and Brunzell go to the floor. And there’s the LAME double DQ. This didn’t run long enough to really get going.

Rating: C-. These two were incapable of having a bad match but they needed more time here. The double DQ came in way too fast and that really hurt things. You could easily watch any of these guys’ matches and you would get a good match out of it. Fun stuff here, while it lasted at least.

Hart Foundation/Barry O vs. Killer Bees/Paul Orndorff

This is joined in progress in the same city. Blair is getting beaten on but he goes through Orton’s (that’s what the O stands for) legs and brings in Orndorff who would be a huge star at this point. A spinebuster/dropkick combination pins Barry in like two minutes shown. Not enough to rate of course but I’d certainly hope the full thing was longer.

Tag Titles: British Bulldogs vs. Dream Team

Wrestlemania preview if you want to really stretch things. Dream Team has the belts. Valentine vs. Dynamite to start. Dynamite sends him flying to start and into the corner where he rams into Beefcake. Double tag brings in Smith and Bulldog. The Dogs speed things up and work over the arm. Davey fires off dropkicks for everyone but double teaming takes him down.

Not that it matters as he makes a tag just a few seconds later and Dynamite beats on the champs for a bit. Backbreaker gets two on Valentine. Dynamite goes up for presumably the Swan Dive (not called that yet) but Luscious Johnny V shoves him off the top for ANOTHER lame DQ finish.

Rating: C-. Same explanation as the previous tag match: these teams can have a good match if you give them the time but they cut it short here with the DQ ending. They would have by far and away the best match of the night at Wrestlemania. Beefcake wasn’t much at this point which is why they put him in there with Valentine who could more than carry a match.

Now it’s time for the fun part of this. Ok so back in the 80s there was a show called Tuesday Night Titans, which is basically a WWF variety/talk show. Picture any stupid or funny segment that you remember from the 80s and this is where it came from. There was a running idea on here where Mr. Fuji and Don Muraco were convinced they were too talented to be in the WWF anymore so they made their own series of TV pilots such as Fuji Vice (Hawaiian cops), Fujito Bandito (western) and this one: Fuji General. It’s a comedy skit but the idea is that it’s supposed to be pure drama with the two in perfect character.

Muraco and Fuji are on the set of TNT (the show was set up like a late night talk show) and Muraco says this is an awful script with a bad director but they’re the only ones talented enough to make it work. It’s at a hospital with overly dramatic music. Muraco is a doctor who hits on a nurse who isn’t interested. His name is Norman here. The idea is that they can’t act to save their lives but they think they deserve Oscars. The nurse turns him down and the dramatic music hits again.

He keeps clearly reading off cue cards so the director yells cut about how bad the acting is. Fuji comes in with the had, bowtie, doctor coat and thick accent. We cut to a new scene in a patient’s room and Fuji keeps looking straight at the camera. They hit on the nurse again or something and Fuji fires the nurse. Muraco hits on her again after Fuji leaves so the director yells again. “Stop being a wrestler for a bit and act!” Muraco tries to get the nurse to have an affair with him so he hits on her and looks at the camera/cue cards the whole time. The director yells again so Fuji comes in and it’s a big argument. Fuji and Muraco quit.

Back to the set of the talk show and everyone is cracking up, which is a regular ending for these segments. Vince says that was the worst acting he’s ever seen. When Vince McMahon is making fun of your film making, YOU SUCK.

Women’s Title: Wendi Richter vs. Lelani Kai

Richter broke the 20 or whatever year reign of Moolah and is defending here. Joined in progress with Kai in control. Moolah has been training Kai apparently. Kai misses a charge and hits the floor. A woman just went crashing onto concrete so of course the MSG fans cheer. Richter suplexes her back in and hooks a bad surfboard. This is in mid-February of 85 in case you’re curious.

Richter takes her down and works on the arm to control. This was back in the day when Moolah basically trained every chick there was so you can expect to see a lot of the same stuff and the same look from most of the girls. Kai comes back with a choke and the announcers blast the referee for being out of position. The match isn’t very good but the fans loved Richter (or maybe her manager, pop star Cyndi Lauper) so it works.

Big boot puts Lelani down as does a slam. Must be watching a lot of Hogan stuff around this time. Moolah goes after Lauper and you would think the President was being attacked. Moolah looks like she’s wearing the same sweater that Liz wore at Mania 7. Either way the distraction and a right hand to Richter are enough for Kai to backslide her for the pin and the title. Richter would get it back at the first Mania in about 6 weeks.

Rating: D-. This was all about the shock of the title change so that they could do another title switch at the first Mania which is fine. Richter’s outfit was probably smaller than what most of the Divas wear today if you can imagine that. Very bad match from an in ring perspective though. For the life of me I don’t get why they brought Kai out of mothballs for Mania 10 and a match with Alundra Blayze.

Women’s Title: Wendi Richter vs. The Spider

Now THIS is a famous match for reasons I’ll get to at the end. Spider is in a mask. Joined in progress again and from November of 85. A flying headscissors gets two for Richter. Richter gets a “clothesline” for two. Small package looks to get two for Spider but when Richter is trying to kick out (and gets her shoulder up) the referee keeps counting three. And that my friends is a shoot.

Post match Wendi keeps going because that wasn’t the planned finish and rips the mask off to reveal Moolah. Here’s what happened: Richter was having contract issues (details of which vary based on who is telling the story. Richter says money, Vince/WWF says her contract was up) and Vince decided to get the title off her. Spider Lady was supposed to be some random chick but instead it was Moolah, a legit tough chick. After this, Richter quit on the spot and left the arena in her gear. She never appeared again and allegedly never spoke to Moolah or Vince again. This is known as the Original Screwjob.

Intercontinental Title: Jesse Ventura vs. Tito Santana

Interesting point to start: we’re told that Jesse and Adonis held the tag titles. They did, but they were the AWA tag titles. They said this regularly but it wasn’t something you expect to hear. I think this is in Toronto. Jesse complains about the closed fist because that’s what heels do before punching their opponents. He calls Santana Chico which is always awesome. Jesse keeps getting caught in holds and heading for the ropes.

Time for a wristlock as the fans are almost all behind Jesse. They pop for Tito’s reversal as well though so I guess the Canadians are confused here. Off to a headlock but Jesse gets a knee to the ribs to take over. Out to the floor now and it’s confirmed that we’re in Toronto. Jesse’s offense is pretty basic but he knows how to work a crowd like a master which is more important.

Tito gets in a few punches but Ventura pokes him in the eye to stop him. Win if you can, lose if you must but always cheat. Backbreaker gets two and an atomic drop does the same. Here’s a bearhug which makes sense given the back work that was done earlier. Tito smacks him in the head to escape. Gorilla: “Look at that firey Mexican!” Tito grabs the Figure Four but Jesse gets the rope. They fight up the ramp and Tito puts the Figure Four on out there but Jesse kicks him into the ring for the countout win.

Rating: C. Not bad here but it worked for the most part. It was actually a double countout if you care. This was fine for a house show title defense, especially with someone like Jesse who was a rarity to see in the ring at this point. He knew how to work a crowd but the people loved him which is the right idea.

Andre the Giant/Jay Strongbow/Ivan Putski/Rocky Johnson vs. Wild Samoans/Samula/Big John Studd

This is the ultra rare three out of five falls match. And in an eight man tag too. Not bad for a gimmick match main event. You should know most of these people. Samula is the third Samoan and more or less just a backup guy. He’s more famous as Samu of the Headshrinkers. We’re in Philly here and Samula starts with Rocky. This is a pretty high profile tag match.

Afa steps in, Andre steps in, Afa steps out. Afa is in again to face Rocky. Rocky was very popular back in the day and I like him more every time I see him. For some reason the teams are on full sides of the apron instead of in one corner each. Off to Studd to take on Rocky but Andre wants in. You don’t tell a giant no so it’s off to Sika. Andre rams John and Sika’s heads together and waits on an opponent.

Sika begs off but Andre destroys him anyway. This is 1983 so Andre can still move. Here’s Strongbow who still looks like a human. He hooks the sleeper and everything breaks down. Johnson grabs Sika so Andre can chop him. Double headbutt takes Strongbow down. The Samoans are tossed around by Andre and there was a bell for some reason. Gary Capetta is the announcer if you care. The first fall is a DQ against the Samoan team so it’s 1-0 heroes.

Jay is one of the people in but we don’t have an opponent. Ok so it’s Samula. Studd choked Jay to give the Samoan the advantage and Andre isn’t pleased. A headbutt puts Strongbow down and a falling version of it ties us up. Strongbow whips Samula into Andre’s boot which is good for the third fall, making it 2-1. It might have lasted 20 seconds. 23 actually.

Round four starts and the fans want the battle of the giants. Putski hasn’t been in yet. It’s Strongbow vs. I believe Afa to get this one going. Now we get some Polish Power. He rams Samoan heads together and pounds on Afa. Sika finally gets a shot in and the Samoans take over on Ivan. A double headbutt sends him flying, but he flies right to Andre. The Giant cleans house and breaks up a triple team. Samula jumps into a boot and Andre sits on him to win three falls to one.

Rating: C. The match wasn’t all that exciting but this was to fire up the crowd with something new and I think you can safely say they did just that. Not a great match or anything but it got a lot of big names in there and the fans got everything but the top request they had, but that was certainly coming. Fun way to end things.

Overall Rating: C. Not a terrible tape here and certainly watchable. One thing I never got: why isn’t Hogan in a lot of these? I mean he’s in most of them but you would expect a series that started in like 1983-84 (he was on volume 1) to have more of him in it. Anyway, this was fine although nothing worth going out of your way to see, except Fuji General but I’d recommend finding the TNT Coliseum Video (remember that’s Tuesday Night Titans) which has I believe all of them in one tape.

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Smackdown
Date: July 20, 2000
Location: Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, New York
Attendance:
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler

This is another request. It’s the go home show for the Fully Loaded 2000 PPV which has the Rock vs. Benoit for the title if I remember right. It also had the Flying Samoan as Rikishi jumped off the cage and crushed Venis but somehow lost the match. Other than that I have no idea what the request is for but let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Raw where Benoit clocked Rock with a chair but Rock went into the locker room and drilled him with the same chair. They fought through the back with Rock destroying him for a good while. Rock Bottom onto the hood of a limo ended it.

Here’s Commissioner Foley to open things up. Mick talks about how he sucks up everywhere but this is his hometown. He says that on Monday, everything turned violent. That of course gets cheers. He enjoys being backstage but that isn’t his job. The thing he needs to deal with tonight is the Rock situation. Rock is going to go all insane on Sunday and likely get himself disqualified about two minutes in. Therefore, if Rock gets disqualified, he loses the title. The violence must come to an end.

Cue Jericho who has taped ribs and is ticked off. Jericho likes the idea of getting rid of the rest of the violence, but he wants just a little more. HHH hit him with the sledgehammer recently and it made him wacky. He feels like a hunter now and wants to join the “I just beat HHH within an inch of his life and left him almost dead” club, of which Foley is a member. There’s going to be a last man standing match on Sunday between them, but he wants to be in the club tonight.

Cue Benoit as this segment is getting long, especially when the ending is very clear from a few miles away. Oh and Shane is managing Benoit at this point. Benoit yells about Rock attacking him on Monday and Rock Bottoming him on the hood of a car. He says he’s awesome and makes fun of Jericho. Shane says Rock can’t beat Benoit and everyone knows it, including the people. He wants the PPV title match with the same stipulations tonight.

Cue HHH and Stephanie now to keep this going. In the distraction, Benoit puts Jericho in the Crossface. HHH runs down and Pedigrees him but here’s the champ. Rock runs off Benoit and clears the ring other than Foley. Foley makes the obvious tag main event for later. Somehow that took 18 minutes to get to. Teddy Long really is a model of efficiency.

European Title: Eddie Guerrero vs. Dean Malenko vs. Perry Saturn

Eddie is defending and has Chyna with him here. Perry turned on Eddie on Monday, possibly due to Terri’s instructions. Eddie and Perry start fighting before Malenko gets here. Dean is Light Heavyweight Champion at this point and comes out with two women on his arms. Dean gets knocked to the floor and Chyna pops him in the face. Eddie is still in his t-shirt.

Eddie vs. Dean at the moment with Perry on the floor. Scratch that as he’s back in and it’s a two way now with Dean down. This is certainly in the usual triple threat formula already. They all fight at once for a nice change of pace but Saturn is knocked into Dean who Eddie rolls up for a fast pin to retain.

Rating: D+. It’s hard to complain when they only have about three and a half minutes to do anything here. The Radicalz were an interesting bunch because they could fight so many times but you could mix them up just enough so that things wouldn’t get too boring. The fast ending was a nice touch here too.

Post match, Perry clotheslines Chyna and hits his finisher, a modified Jackhammer. A top rope elbow is saved by Eddie, who takes it for Chyna.

We go to a pub where Edge and Christian are celebrating a win over the APA on Monday. They want to invite the Acolytes down to drink with them.

Just Joe comes in to visit the APA and can’t quite get it right.

Kurt Angle vs. Kane

This is a challenge by Kurt who gets Taker on Sunday. He wants to know why he’s been afraid of a man that rides a bicycle. Angle goes after him in the aisle which doesn’t go that well for him. Kane is still in the old school attire that he debuted in. Taker is watching in the back. Kane’s powerbomb is countered but a powerslam hits. He loads up the chokeslam but has to settle for a big boot instead. Kurt goes for the knee and Kane is in some trouble. Kane fights him off, so Kurt goes out and gets a chair which draws a DQ.

Rating: D. Too short to be anything but this was a pairing that didn’t usually work all that well. Their match at Mania a few years later never did anything for me either. That being said, this was more about Taker than anything else and that’s fine. It’s a perk you get when you have Kane around. Weak match though.

Angle destroys Kane’s knee/ankle post match.

A guy in the back asks HHH for his autograph and then asks for an autograph from Rock. HHH goes off on him. Well that happened.

Dick Butkus is going to coach an XFL team. That takes about five minutes to explain.

Hardcore Title: Steve Blackman vs. Al Snow

Steve is champion. Blackman kicks him down to start and goes to the floor to grab a trashcan lid. A fire extinguisher shot gets Snow out of trouble as well as a bucket full of sodas. Snow brings in more weapons and they do a sequence resulting in Snow’s head going between Blackman’s legs. A DDT onto a trashcan gets two for Snow. Snow loads up the bowling shirt but takes too long and gets beaten down.

Out to the floor and into the crowd now. Up by the stage and Blackman hits him in the head with a monitor. Crash Holly pops in and goes after Blackman. He takes Steve back to the ring where Blackman destroys him with nunchucks. Now Snow comes back but here’s Taz, Snow’s opponent on Sunday, to choke Snow out. Blackman pins the out cold Snow to retain.

Rating: C+. This was your run of the mill hardcore match. The run-ins were nicely done though so that adds a little to it. They did their thing though and it really wasn’t all that bad. These matches could do some entertaining stuff if you turned off your brain, which you almost had to here.

The same autograph seeker is still bothering HHH and says the Rock autograph is for his son. HHH says bring your son back here and he’ll see what he can do.

Hardy Boys/Rikishi vs. T&A/Val Venis

T&A&V? Make your own jokes. This is happening because there was something involving a ladder on Monday as Trish and Lita went up. Trish shoved Lita off and through a table so the redhead is gone for tonight. Val is IC Champion and is defending against the Fat Samoan on Sunday. Val and Jeff start us off. Off to Albert quickly and the Hardys start double teaming. T&A use their power and double team Matt down.

Off to Val who misses a dropkick to give Matt control. They’re moving very quickly out there. Val grabs a Blue Thunder Bomb for two. A powerbomb is countered into a Twist of Fate and it’s hot tag Rikishi who cleans house. He and Val fight up the aisle and the two tag teams have a small match of their own. Albert is knocked to the floor as Test hits the pumphandle slam on Matt. Jeff breaks up the cover with a Swanton though and Matt gets the pin.

Rating: C. I liked this as they were moving out there. This was a very fast paced match which is what you want in something like this. Combining two feuds into one like this is always a good thing as you can cover a lot of ground at once. The PPV matches were pretty good on top of that.

T&A destroys the Hardys post match until Lita comes out….and is promptly destroyed as well. Trish whips Lita’s bad back with a belt.

The autograph dude brings the kid to the back and HHH won’t give his kid one. Instead here’s the Fink who is going to ask about Rock’s autograph instead because Rock doesn’t like HHH.

Edge and Christian are still in the bar waiting for the APA.

The autograph seeker (he’s a production guy apparently) is with his son when Rock comes in to sign something for him. Rock signs but Benoit and Shane sneak in and put him in the Crossface. HHH stands over him because he’s an evil person.

Bull Buchanan vs. Godfather

It’s still the pimp version but he’d turn soon enough. Buchanan has just joined up with Richards it seems. Richards goes on a big rant about how you have to have rules or everything would be chaos. Godfather stands up for freedom and women before the match and now we’re finally ready to go after five minutes of chatting beforehand. They start off fast with Godfather hammering away on Buchanan in the corner. This is far more of a brawl than a match. The girls go after Richards and Stevie gets in, kicks Godfather and allows Bull to get the pin. Too short to rate but I think it did what it was supposed to do well enough.

Joe goes to talk to the APA again and Faarooq finally says let him say what he wants to say. He tells the guys about what Edge and Christian are saying. They throw Joe out and then decide to go get some beer, at a bar.

Big Bossman vs. Undertaker

Taker pounds Bossman into the corner to start and here comes Angle about 15 seconds into the match. Taker sees him and Angle runs. He comes back and has something in a bucket with the word caution on it. Kurt pours it over and it sizzles the bike. Hot wax maybe? Taker goes after him and it’s a countout.

In the back Taker goes after him but Angle jumps him with a wrench. Kane hobbles in for the save.

The APA get to the bar and the Canadians are gone. The other patrons try to fight them which fails. The APA walks out and chats for a bit before Edge and Christian jumps them from out of an alley and drive off.

Chris Benoit/HHH vs. The Rock/Chris Jericho

Rock and Jericho sprint in and here we go. The matches on Sunday pair off and it’s a war outside. Jericho and his bad ribs are dropped onto the table as the other pair is in the ring. Rock and Benoit officially start it off but the Game is in quickly. That’s a pairing that never gets old. Jericho is up on the apron and in now to pound HHH down. Trips gets in a shot to the ribs and the heels take over again.

Benoit comes back in and they work on the ribs even more by draping Jericho over the top rope. Back to HHH and the rib work continues. See how easy psychology is? Go for the injury that is right there in front of you! Jericho gets in a shot but the Lionsault eats knees. HHH takes him to the floor and slams him into various things which gets two back inside.

Jericho tries to get something going but walks into a facebuster. Now here’s a fine example of someone thinking in the ring. You’re all familiar with HHH’s facebuster where he grabs the guy’s head, jumps, and rams the opponent’s head into his own (as in HHH’s) knee. Well here HHH rams the knee INTO THE RIBS. Now THAT is a sign that someone is thinking out there. I love that. Rock finally has had enough and comes in to break up a Pedigree. Benoit takes a spinebuster but there goes the referee for the DQ.

Rating: B+. I really liked this. They had a lot of stuff going out there and the psychology was flowing and flowing hard, especially from the ring general that is HHH. He was absolutely on fire at this point and it was definitely his best period. Very fun stuff here and they even add in the ending to play up the main event on Sunday. THIS is how you book a frantic main event tag match and how it should go.

Shane comes in and gets knocked around. Rock Bottom to Benoit and there’s the Walls for HHH. Crossface to Benoit and the place is going manic. Both heels pass out to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It took awhile to get there, but sweet Christmas I was loving the last 15 minutes of this show. The main event angles here tonight were just nailing it and I want to watch Benoit vs. Rock now, and that was a great match in its own right. Very good ending here, but the rest of it was pretty ho-hum. I want to watch the PPV now though, and for a one off show that’s pretty good.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: February 27, 1995
Location: Macon Coliseum, Macon, Georgia
Attendance: 2,751
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Jim Cornette

This is (as close as I can tell given how messed up and screwy WWE is at a simple thing like counting) the 100th episode of Raw. With the 1000th episode coming in July, I thought it might be fun to look at every 100th episode and see how things have changed. Now it’s very possible this isn’t exactly the 100th but it’s close enough. Let’s get to it.

The opening opens us up.

Tonight we’re going to hear from Lawrence Taylor himself.

The announcers chat for a bit and that siren is getting old quickly.

Lex Luger talks about the big showdown with Tatanka tonight. This started back at Summerslam where Lex was supposed to have sold out to DiBiase but it was his friend Tatanka that did it. Tatanka has jumped Lex a few times and beat up Chief Jay Strongbow as well, which of course means war.

Lex Luger vs. Tatanka

Well you can’t say they’re keeping us waiting. This is when DiBiase and his Million Dollar Team had stolen the Undertaker’s urn. Strongbow comes out with Luger. It’s a chase to start and Tatanka chops him in the corner. Lex hammers away and Tatanka hides on the floor. After a lengthy stall out there, Tatanka comes back in to hammer away. Luger no sells all of that and Tatanka goes outside again.

This time though Tatanka uses the tights of Luger to pull him through the ropes and into the barricade so Tatanka can take over. Strongbow with the full headdress is a bit distracting. A chop gets two as we take a break. Back with the racial stereotype still in control. Off to a bearhug by Tatanka which looks like some high impact cuddling. Lex, could you at least look awake?

He fights out of it and hits a suplex and this slow match somehow gets even slower. Tatanka chops away in the corner but Lex veeeeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooooooowly Huuuuuulks Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuup. And now he grabs a sleeper. Are you kidding me? That used to be Strongbow’s finisher apparently so Tatanka is mad at him for not teaching it to Tatanka. The headdress is destroyed and Strongbow chops him.

Lex goes after Tatanka and takes over as we take a break. Back with Luger running over Tatanka and knocking him to the floor. Tatanka tries to walk out but Lex makes the stop. Tatanka tries to walk out again but fails AGAIN. Dude just run! Lex rams him into the buckle a bunch of times but has to stop DiBiase. Tatanka walks again and this time escapes for the countout.

Rating: D. This was like a lawnmower that kept sputtering when you pulled on the rope. It was trying to start but it kept dying every time. The constant attempts to run away and then they finally got it to work. That was kind of a letdown but the match was nothing to see in the first place. That’s almost half of the show too.

We get a clip from a battle royal on Superstars where Lawler was put out but landed on one foot. He hopped around the ring until Bret stomped on the foot on the floor.

Owen Hart vs. Larry Santo

Owen is pretty freshly out of the main event here and is still in the upper midcard. Cornette tries to tell us that Larry Santo is the son of El Santo. Santo works over the arm and Owen is having some issues to start. Larry walks into a spinwheel kick though and Owen takes over. It turns into a squash with Owen doing various painful things to Santo. A missile dropkick sets up the Sharpshooter for the tap out.

Rating: D. Just a quick squash here. Owen would I think hook up with Yokozuna soon after this to win the tag titles. He had just finished a nearly year long feud with Bret which was pretty awesome and made a couple classics in the process. Santo was a guy from SMW so no wonder Cornette had jokes about him.

Lawrence Taylor says he wasn’t being disrespectful to Bam Bam Bigelow. The idea is that at the Rumble, Bigelow and Tatanka had lost in the finals of a tag team title tournament and Taylor laughed in his face. Bigelow shoved him and this is the big Mania angle and was the main event. Taylor says he’s tired of seeing the footage. He says he’s still weighing his options and might fight him at Mania. Cornette wants to talk to Bigelow and brings him into the interview. Thank goodness because this was going nowhere. They talk trash and I Dream of Jeannie is mentioned. They’re going to meet at a cafe. This was awful.

Doink the Clown vs. Bob Cook

Cornette goes on an anti-clown rant as Dink comes in to be annoying. Dink interferes and this is just bad. It’s “comedy” don’t you know? Off to the arm as Vince talks about weight loss or something. Doink hammers on him a bit and wins with the Whoopee Cushion (seated senton splash from the top). Total squash.

Video on how Davey was in the Rumble #2 but lost to Shawn in the amazing finish. Somehow WWE.com declared this the greatest moment ever in the Rumble. There was another battle royal on Sunday and Michaels eliminated himself. Bulldog won the battle royal and next week they’re having a match.

Kama Mustafa vs. Ken Raper

What an awful last name! Can you imagine all the jokes he had to get? Imagine, being named after the dead dad in The Lion King. Kama pounds him down and we’re in another squash. He’s the Supreme Fighting Machine which means a striking master. Belly to belly sets up a modified STF to end this. Nothing, again.

Davey says he isn’t worried about Shawn and/or Sid next week.

They talk about the press conference tomorrow to wrap up the show.

Overall Rating: D-. The feature match was boring, the big promo was boring, the feature mach didn’t end anything, and the squashes were boring as well. Nothing to see at all here but it was the 100th episode (we think). Unfortunately this was an absolutely HORRIBLE time for the company as no one cared about anything. Bad show but thankfully we won’t be back here for a long time.

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WWF St. Louis
Date: January 1, 1984
Location: The Chase, St. Louis, Missouri
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Gene Okerlund

Now as some of you may know, WWF would have a lot more house shows back in the day. What they would do is film these shows in their major cities and have commentary for them, then air them on local television. They did this in New York and MSG for years. They would also split these up and air them on syndicated shows. This is one from St. Louis. This is about three weeks before Hogan won the world title so it’s an era we don’t really see. Let’s get to it.

The Chase is a legendary wrestling venue in St. Louis but is actually a hotel. The NWA ran shows there for years and WWF came in at the very end to do a few months worth of shows.

Vince and Gene run down the card.

Dennis Stamp/Jerry Valiant vs. Rocky Johnson/Tony Atlas

Johnson/Atlas are tag champions but this is non-title. Stamp vs. Rocky starts us off. Rocky is called The Rock and it’s off to Atlas. Atlas hits some bad dropkicks and we’re in squash city here. Off to Valiant who is more of a brawler. Not that it does him any good as he gets knocked backwards quickly by right hands. A flying headscissors by Johnson takes Valiant down and it’s back to Tony.

Off to a test of strength because Valiant is stupid enough to try that with him. Now Atlas uses a headscissors. Symmetry people! Valiant takes him down into a chinlock as this match is getting more time than I expected it to. Back to Johnson who gets double teamed in the corner as well. And never mind as Atlas comes in, gorilla presses Stamp and splashes him for the pin.

Rating: C-. Just a long squash here but that’s what a lot of TV back then was supposed to be. Johnson and Atlas are a team that the more I see of them the more I like of them. Atlas especially as he’d be a great guy to have around today with his look and power. Decent match here and a good way to showcase the champs.

Ken Jugan vs. David Schultz

Schultz is most famous for attacking a journalist who asked if wrestling was fake. He’s known as Dr. D. Schultz grabs a headlock to begin and rides him on the mat. Jugan hasn’t gotten in a single shot yet. Schultz pulls him up after an elbow drop and keeps beating on him. Out to the floor as the beating continues. A backbreaker gets two. This is getting boring now as it’s been going on way too long. Back to the floor again as there’s nothing to talk about in this. Schultz hits various offense and Jugan gets nothing in at all. Jugan gets in some very weak punches and then gets tombstoned (called a southern piledriver) for the pin.

Rating: D-. Like I said, there’s only so much you can get out of a guy getting destroyed for this long. One thing that’s kind of different: the announcer reads the time and even says what the finishing move was. Ok he didn’t here but he did in the first place. This ran over seven minutes so you can see how it gets a bit uninteresting.

Bill Dixon vs. Hulk Hogan

Oh my goodness! Now THIS is an historic moment. This right here is Hulk Hogan’s first match back in the WWF after being gone for about four years and becoming a superstar in Rocky III. He comes out to Eye of the Tiger and is way over. Hulk would jump into the world title scene in about two weeks, winning the title in about three weeks and holding if for four years.

Actually, this is being reviewed on the anniversary of his title win so that’s appropriate. Hogan takes him to the mat with a Fujiwara Armbar ala Del Rio. Dixon hammers away but Hulk comes back with a big boot, slam and the big leg (I’m assuming making its WWF debut) ends this. Total squash but the crowd reaction tells you everything you need to know here. This is history people.

The local network president welcomes WWF to St. Louis. It lasted about two months.

Hulk says he loves St. Louis and that he’s focused on an upcoming battle royal. He wants a world title shot. Bear in mind he’s 1-0 (by his own admission) and he’s just declared himself #1 contender.

Murdoch and Adonis say they want the tag titles. They would get them in about 4 months.

Johnson and Atlas come in and say St. Louis is their home away from home.

Big John Studd says he’s awesome. He has a new manager named Magaw Maginaw. No idea who that is but he looks like Luscious Johnny V.

Jimmy Jackson vs. Big John Studd

In the words of Rocky III, “my prediction? PAIN.” Jackson tries to slam him and that goes nowhere. Studd offers him a top wristlock which goes just as well. Over the shoulder backbreaker ends this quick. Another squash.

Bill Berger vs. Ivan Putski

Putski is a Polish dude that is short but incredibly muscular. See, he’s really strong. That’s about it. And he’s Polish. This is just Putski using his strength to break almost everything and throw Berger around. Eventually the Polish Hammer (double axe to the chest) ends this.

Rating: D-. No idea what there is to say here. Putski is a pretty boring guy and this was no exception. His shoulders are huge but he has little chicken legs. Nothing really to see here and these squashes are certainly a generational thing. You couldn’t get away with this if your life depended on it.

Terry Daniels/Kevin Collins vs. Adrian Adonis/Dick Murdoch

This is probably the main event. Adonis vs. Daniels gets us going. Really I don’t know what to say here. After like 6 squashes there’s only so much you can say. Daniels is sent to the floor and thoroughly pummeled. Back in and he gets beaten up even more. Collins comes in and gets beaten up as this is really boring. Adonis puts Collins to sleep to end this.

Rating: D. See any other match already tonight to get the idea here.

Overall Rating: D+. This is a hard one to grade. There were certainly a lot of big names on here and for a TV show that aired locally, there isn’t really a lot to complain about. For the masses, this wouldn’t have been much. Most of 1984 was pretty generic stuff, but once 85 got here things took off like a rocket. Not much here, but you have to keep some specifics in mind.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: June 25, 2001
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 13,763
Commentators: Jim Ross, Paul Heyman

Ok so we’re past King of the Ring now and there are a few more developments. Benoit isn’t going to be back for over a year after having the injury angle last night that wrote him off after he hurt his neck in TLC 4. Edge is the new King of the Ring. Booker T has debuted, and Austin is still champion. Tonight something huge (well kind of huge at least) happens, so let’s get to it.

Here’s Vince immediately and he’s not happy. Austin talks about a rumor that said if Benoit or Jericho won the title, they would defect to WCW. Granted that’s not an issue because Austin is still champion so who cares? As for Booker T though, what does the T stand for? Maybe it means terrible, trash or Troglodyte. Or maybe tempo….I spelled Troglodyte right? I’m stunned. It might mean temporarily employed because all of WCW is going out of business. I thought they already did that.

No WCW star has any business being in MSG, because this is hallowed ground. We get a clip of Vince’s dad being inducted into the MSG Hall of Fame, complete with Todd Pettingil voiceover. This is more like a career retrospective on Vince Sr. and we hear various praise for him with Gorilla Monsoon getting the loudest pop. Oh this is his Hall of Fame induction video. Got it.

Vince guarantees more memorable MSG moments here tonight. That takes us to the theme song.

Brothers of Destruction vs. Dudleys for the titles tonight.

Hardcore Title: Test vs. Rhyno

Test had used the newly debuted Stacy to distract Rhyno into losing the title so this is Rhyno’s rematch. Rhyno starts out strong and hits a running shoulder in the corner. Out to the floor already as Rhyno looks for a weapon. They do a fairly nifty sequence with a trashcan resulting in Rhyno charting head first into it. The announcers talk about MSG instead but that’s probably more interesting anyway.

They go into the crowd and Test suplexes him onto a piece of a barricade to bend it in half. They go to the back now and Test tries to put him through some tables but Rhyno stops him. And never mind as Test puts him through them anyway with an elbow for two. There’s a cart involved but Test is backdropped onto the concrete. A quick Gore puts the title back on Rhyno.

Rating: D. If you’ve seen one of these, you’ve seen them all. Test was nothing of note but somehow he wound up with Stacy Keibler in real life and Stephanie on TV. The match was your usual I hit you, you hit me thing which is only so interesting when it’s not being played for comedy. Not much here.

What is much here is that Mike Awesome (with short hair) runs up the tunnel, hits Rhyno with a pipe and wins the title. That’s the first time a WCW wrestler has had a “match” in MSG ever to my knowledge, which is your historical thing I mentioned in the intro.

Light Heavyweight Title: Jeff Hardy vs. X-Pac

Jeff is 23 here. I’m 23 now so that makes me shake my head. Things speed up very quickly to start and the fans are all over Pac. They do some flips and Jeff fires off a baseball slide to take over. He loads up Whisper in the Wind but Pac kicks him off the top and into the barricade. Pac counters a rana into a powerbomb for two. This is a rematch from last night. A dropkick knocks X-Pac out of the air and here comes Jeff. Bronco Buster meets boot but the Swanton misses and some feet on the ropes give Pac the title.

Rating: C+. Fun old school Cruiserweight style match here with both guys flying all over the place. Jeff was fun to watch when he was on and he was on around this time. Unfortunately they put him back into the Hardy Boys and while they were good, it was kind of a step back for them at this point.

Vince freaks out and tells Austin he was raped by WCW. Austin basically tells him to get over it because he kept the WWF Title here on his own and Vince wasn’t there when Austin needed him. Vince: “How are you?” Austin: “YOU DON’T EVEN CARE!” Vince: “I care.” Austin: “Promise?” They hug and Debra looks like she can’t find a divorce soon enough.

Video on some of the best moments and performers in MSG history, with this one being about Sammartino.

Big Show hits on Trish. This is disturbing.

Vince, Austin and Debra share a vegetable plate. Kurt comes in to a pop and Vince congratulates him for his victory last night. Angle says he’s banged up but he’ll make it. Austin FREAKS and Vince tries to smooth things over with the offer of carrots. Angle sits but won’t have any right now. This is hilarious stuff.

Billy Graham is the next Garden Classic.

Tazz vs. Steven Richards

Richards doesn’t like New York so here’s Tazz to kill him. Lasts 20 seconds, Tazmission. Taz is just MAD over in New York.

Regal and Tajiri have a trophy for Edge. It looks like the Stanley Cup.

Angle has loosened up and is having some vegetables. Austin and Vince have a pow wow and Austin wants Kurt out. The idea is he’s jealous of Vince playing with someone else. Angle: “Hey Steve you want a carrot?” Angle compares their careers and says they could be related. Austin looks like he could break a moose in half. Angle has some celery. These two had some awesome chemistry together when Angle was playing the simpleton.

Time for the King of the Ring coronation ceremony. Regal isn’t thrilled to be in New York but he brings out Edge who won the tournament last night. Regal suggests a five second pose but Tajiri gets in it somehow. Christian takes the trophy and gives an acceptance speech for some reason. He talks about how he had to face harder competition (which is true) and Edge doesn’t sound thrilled.

Now it’s time for Edge’s speech and he welcomes us to a new Era: the Era of AWESOMENESS. And here’s Billy Gunn because he has to be here whenever this tournament is brought out. He whines about never getting to be able to defend his crown but instead had to be at WWF New York. This is heel Billy which is even more annoying.

Edge is talentless apparently but congratulations anyway. Edge says Billy sucks and blows at the same time. Edge asks Billy for a favor: if he’s not on the card in 2003 and just has to host at WWF New York, please shoot him in the head. Edge promises not to Billy Gunn the title, because he’ll actually be entertaining. A match is proposed and made. Basically a face turn for Edge.

Garden Classic: the Alley Fight with Patterson vs. Slaughter. It’s called a boot camp match here but I’ve never heard it called that before. Either way, find it as it’s one of the best brawls you’ll ever see.

Tag Titles: Dudley Boys vs. Undertaker/Kane

Sara comes out with Taker now. The champs are quickly knocked to the floor and the beating is on. Bubba vs. Taker officially starts us off and there’s Old School already. Off to D-Von and the champs hit the double team neckbreaker for two. Off to Kane for more beating. He’s IC Champion here. Kane beats them up on his own (the tag champions remember) and there’s the top rope clothesline for two. Everything breaks down and here’s Albert to Baldo Bomb Kane so D-Von can pin him. Too short to rate but it was basically a squash. Albert won the IC Title on Smackdown.

Bubba takes a chokeslam post match as Kane goes after Albert. And then Page pops up to blast taker with a chair. Page takes Sara down and steals hair extensions.

Regal is ticked off about WCW and in particular…..Jericho…..for rumors saying he might defect if he won the title…..which he didn’t. His punishment is a match with Tajiri. Ok then.

European Title: Matt Hardy vs. Big Show

Trish comes out with Show at the potential promise of a European vacation. Matt has to dodge and move here and chooses to work on the arm. That gets him sent to the floor, where Show hits the post. All Big Show anyway as he drops Matt on the barricade. Trish kisses Matt for some reason, prompting Lita to rip her top off. Show goes after Lita who hits Show low to protect herself. That’s a DQ win for Show in a match too short to rate, but it was basically a squash up until then.

Saturn and Terri are at WWF New York but Shane invades it. Shane talks about how WCW isn’t on TV because of Vince. You know, instead of the losing a million bucks a week for a year. Therefore, since they can’t get on TV, it’s time for an invasion of the WWF. He calls Booker over and it amazes me how different Booker was in just a few months. This is the one that was the only guy in WCW that got over for like two years before they went under and was a guy that could have been awesome. He calls out Austin and I’d love to see that feud, instead of what we got, which is Booker the bumbling idiot.

Vince and Austin are all fired up and since they’re both in New York City, Vince says Austin should go fight Booker right now. Austin recruits Angle as backup.

The APA starts the war effort with guys like…..Funaki and Steve Blackman and Essa Rios. If you can’t see why this is the biggest bomb in wrestling history, I’ve failed at my job.

Garden Classic: Snuka dives off the cage which apparently inspired EVERY WRESTLER EVER to be a wrestler.

Edge vs. Billy Gunn

Fast paced stuff to start but Billy heads to the floor. Baseball slide puts him down and a missile dropkick gets two back inside. Billy hits a spinebuster for no cover. Out to the floor with Billy in control. There’s a guy in the crowd doing a Hogan impression and since we’re watching a Billy Gunn match, the fans cheer for Hogan.

Edge spears him down and makes a comeback until Christian accidentally hits him. Billy gets two off a rollup and Jackhammers Edge for two. There’s a boring chant. Who thought giving BILLY GUNN a long match in 2001 was a good idea? Billy loads up the Fameasser but Christian comes in with a backbreaker so Edge can Impale Billy for the pin.

Rating: F+. And 99% of that is for Gunn. What in the world were they thinking by pushing him OVER AND OVER AGAIN??? I mean he just kept getting time on TV and less and less people cared every time until he owed the people some caring for the interest getting so low. Terribly uninteresting match and the crowd turned on it. Why is Edge facing Billy Gunn anyway? He beat Kurt Angle last night to win the King of the Ring and now he’s got Billy Gunn?

Austin is caught in traffic and doesn’t like it. Angle is a dork. This is all on the phone with Debra.

Classic Garden: the first Wrestlemania.

Chris Jericho vs. Tajiri

Jericho says he’s taking out his aggression on Tajiri. They start off fast, which would be normal speed for everyone else. Jericho looks for the Walls but gets kicked in the head for his luck. Superkick (kind of) and a spinwheel kick get two for Tajiri. Octopus has Chris in trouble and Tajiri kicks a lot. A missile dropkick gets two. Jericho comes back with some clotheslines for two. Regal takes a baseball slide and Tajiri gets caught in the double powerbomb. Regal comes in and beats up Jericho but takes the mist in the face. Lionsault ends this.

Rating: C+. Pretty decent match here. Tajiri was pretty much wasted in WWE as they used him as a comedy character who couldn’t speak English (and finally got a translator with like a week to go before he left) and that’s about it. Fun match though as they let two guys with talent go and it worked as it should have.

Austin and Vince have a plan or something.

We get a shot from WWF New York where Austin and Angle go in…and there’s no Shane or Booker. OH NO! WHO WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING??? Austin: “Booker said he wanted to axe me something. AN AX IS SOMETHING YOU CHOP A TREE DOWN WITH!” Booker and Shane come out, Booker destroys Vince (loosest use of that word ever) and the APA comes out with their army to save him and end the show. Yep that’s it.

Overall Rating: C+. Decent show but not as good as last week with us reaching the Invasion full bore. This never worked at all because Vince couldn’t let anything work on its own pace and the whole thing was wrapped up in like 5 months instead of in like 3 years as it easily could have been. Still though, decent show but it would go downhill after a brief pick up soon.

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Monday Night Raw
Date: June 18, 2001
Location: Ice Palace, Tampa, Florida
Attendance: 10,264
Commentators: Jim Ross, Paul Heyman

It’s the go home show for King of the Ring and that’s about all we’ve got for that show. The tournament gets set tonight I think and we have a main event, but other than that I don’t remember anything being made for the card. The Invasion would get its first big name at that PPV though, so at least there’s that. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is from Smackdown with Austin trying to get a petition together to present to Linda that says the triple threat is unfair. Spike ripped it up when Austin called Molly a bimbo, resulting in Spike getting a world title shot.

Dudleys/Austin vs. Canadians/Spike later. Now this is where things get confusing. That’s what the graphic says, but JR says it’s just Dudleys vs. Canadians for the titles. Oh boy. I wonder who’s getting fired over this one. Now the Dudleys would indeed get a title match later this week on Smackdown (and they’d win the belts), but that’s not what we saw on the screen.

We open with Spike and Molly of all people. Spike talks about how he’s shocked to have been in this ring and gotten to wrestle for the WWF Title and that could have been his moment in the sun. However, Austin had to go after Molly after that, so Spike calls out Austin. Heyman’s reaction is very funny.

Austin and Spike introduce themselves and Austin says he’s not going to be called out by someone like Spike. Spike says he just did and Austin starts to walk away. Spike asks the fans and they want to see it for the title. Austin still says no but says Spike has guts. No one else would, but Molly is still a bimbo. Spike: “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!” Molly slaps Austin and Heyman erupts. Austin looks….happy? That earned Molly respect so Austin sticks his hand out. Spike shakes it and Austin pulls him but doesn’t attack. Molly however gets a Stunner though.

During the break, the Dudleys didn’t seem mad.

Molly is getting looked at and the Dudleys show up. They praise Spike for standing up for himself. However, they want to know what’s wrong with a picture when Spike has been here three months and has gotten a title shot while they’ve gotten zero in a year and a half. Spike says he’ll do something about it.

Now the graphic says the titles are on the line in the main event. Interesting.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Hardy

This would be a TNA PPV main event today, almost 11 years later. Angle snaps off a quick German and Jeff is in trouble. He goes after the leg but Jeff speeds things up and we go to the floor where Jeff runs the railing into a clothesline. Angle hits the release German this time but the Slam is countered. A jawbreaker looks to set up the Swanton but Kurt rolls away before Jeff jumps. The moonsault is as gorgeous as ever but Kurt misses, allowing Jeff to hit the Swanton for two. Jeff goes up but gets pulled down into the ankle lock for the tap out.

Rating: B-. What the heck was that??? Jeff Hardy is a midcard guy on his best day in 2001 but this was AWESOME. Well, awesome all things considered. I mean it was just a three minute match but they cranked out a very fun match here, especially when you consider where Jeff was on the ladder at this point. Jeff’s best match ever might have been with Kurt in 2010 so this isn’t really shocking.

Austin needs someone to talk to who understands him. His wife, Debra, volunteers. Austin: “I said someone that understands me.” Debra says understands about titles because she used to be champion. Austin laughs and Debra is hurt.

Tajiri and Regal are talking about the tournament which Tajiri is in when Austin enters. Spike asked for a match with him and Regal made the aforementioned six man, saying the title match will wait for tomorrow. Austin says he’ll do it but he needs someone to talk to and he picks….Tajiri? Regal is confused but goes along with it and leaves.

Tough Enough commercial. Josh Matthews is I believe the only one left from that season.

Tazz, one of the Tough Enough trainers, says that there’s a preview at WWF New York. Hardcore Holly comes up to make fun of him and a match is made.

Kane is at WWF New York…and he’s playing a crane game to win prizes. He doesn’t win so he breaks the glass and steals a bunch which he gives to a kid. You know, I watched a Raw earlier today and Kane was about to win the world title from Austin. The last thing I expected him to do was play a crane game to win prizes. Just throwing that out there.

We recap the Undertaker’s wife stalker thing with Sara being stalked. That’s about it.

Taz vs. Hardcore Holly

The entrances are cut off by a new stalker video of the stalker watching Taker and his wife leaving their house. She almost comes into what I guess is a garage where he is but doesn’t. The voice says tonight he’ll reveal himself. Back to the match. Holly starts out fast with his usual stuff and drops a top rope leg for two. Taz comes back but walks into a powerslam. And there’s the Tazmission out of nowhere to end this.

Austin explains how Linda McMahon is ruining his life. Tajiri replies in Japanese as Austin rants against women. Austin thanks him for the talk and bows to him. Regal comes in and says that Tajiri is up next. Funny stuff at least.

Christian isn’t happy that he has to face Big Show and teases tension with Edge. Angle breaks it up.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Rhyno vs. Tajiri

The winner gets the winner of Edge vs. Saturn. Lillian sounded a step off on the announcing for some reason. Rhyno takes over with power but Tajiri ranas him down and they go to the floor. Back in a spinebuster gets two for Rhyno. Tajiri hits the handspring elbow which is always cool. There’s an Octopus Hold which he shifts into the Tarantula. Buzzsaw kick misses and Rhyno powerbombs him half through the ring. Rhyno loads up the Gore but Tajiri KICKS HIS FREAKING HEAD OFF to counter. Tajiri goes up for some reason but jumps into a Gore for the pin.

Rating: C+. Not as good as the opener but that ending was very good stuff. There’s something awesome about seeing Tajiri just kick the tar out of people and also seeing Rhyno blast someone with a Gore. This was very entertaining and the show is on a roll to start so far.

Post break Regal GOES OFF on Regal. I mean there’s a vein coming out of his head.

Here’s Taker…..or not. It’s the Stalker as Taker is in Houston. He immediately unmasks and it’s Diamond Dallas Page to an ERUPTION. Yep they’re cheering a crazy stalker. He says Taker never saw this coming, just like a Diamond Cutter. Page talks about doing this because he wanted to make an impact, so he went after the biggest dog in the yard.

A few weeks ago, Taker went off on Austin for mentioning Taker’s family. Taker said he’d make Austin famous if he tried that. “You idiot, Steve Austin is already famous!” He says Taker is a liar for some reason so he wants to be famous and he wants to use Taker to get him there. He’ll be at King of the Ring. Security chases him off. Ross tries to tie it into the Invasion but it only kind of works.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Edge vs. Perry Saturn

Saturn is nuts still. We get a clip from a double date on Thursday and Saturn took another shot to the head. See it’s funny because he has brain damage and might go psycho and murder his wife and children before killing himself. Get it? Saturn starts fast and pops Christian but walks into an Edge-O-Matic for two. Edge is in control but Saturn grabs a crucifix for two. Edge goes up but jumps into a belly to belly suplex. Fisherman’s suplex gets two. Christian gets kicked in the face and the Impaler ends Saturn.

Rating: D+. Not great but WAY down from what we had been seeing so far tonight. Edge would be about to start his singles push which didn’t really stop for the rest of his career. Saturn just kept getting hit in the face until he found a mop that he liked better than Terri and that was about it.

Vince arrives, over halfway through the show.

Foley was on Regis and…..Tony Danza?

European Title: Matt Hardy vs. Albert

Albert was in the middle of pretty much the push of his life and he runs over Matt to start. A splash misses though and Matt can keep hitting and running. Matt jumps into a gorilla press attempt which he escapes and hits a running tornado DDT for two. Paul: “Albert is the Rabbi of Retribution.” JR: “Oy vey.” Albert destroys him until he chokes too long for a DQ. Weak.

Pac and Credible run in and hit a double superkick. Jeff runs in and takes them both down. Lita hits the usual gorgeous top rope rana. Albert gets back in it and destroys everyone.

Vince is with Austin and Austin feels good. Austin is getting in touch with his feelings and Vince isn’t wild on it. Austin rants about the divorce and says pick Austin or Linda.

During the break Vince left.

Spike thanks the Canadians for helping Molly last week. Benoit goes off on him, talking about how this wasn’t about him at all. And then they crack up laughing.

Edge and Rhyno get into an argument over who should be #1 contender if they win the tournament. Christian comes in and whines again.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Big Show vs. Christian

Angle is on commentary. Christian jumps him and just guess how well that goes. Edge tries to interfere which goes about as well. Show destroys him but they go to the announce table and Angle gets shoved for running his mouth. An Angle distraction allows the Conchairto to end Show and Christian puts all of Team RECK in the final four.

Steve Austin/Dudley Boys vs. Spike Dudley/Chris Benoit/Chris Jericho

Jericho vs. Bubba to start things off. Ray uses power to start but runs into the speed of Jericho. Off to Benoit and D-Von and the Canadian hits a German on the Dudley. Spike comes in with a double stomp and a rana to have D-Von in trouble. Here comes Austin to pound on Spike. Things finally calm down as Spike remembers he’s Spike and Austin remembers he’s Austin and the beating begins.

Austin calls for some tables but isn’t happy when they come out for some reason. Back to Bubba after Austin freaks due to getting rolled up for two. Bubba loads up What’s Up and both Austin and D-Von go up at the same time. That’s rather awesome. The middle rope backsplash misses and there’s the tag to Benoit. Everything breaks down and D-Von is sent through a table by Jericho.

Dudley Dog to Bubba and it’s time for the Canadian to hit Rolling Germans on the American. The Swan Dive misses though and Austin takes over. A Dudley Dog attempt results in Spike going through a table and Austin grabs a chair. Jericho comes back in for the save and we get the insanely awesome Walls of Crossface double submission to make Austin tap. Hebner asks about 4 times before calling for the bell.

Rating: C+. This was fine for a six man main event and most importantly, it made Jericho and Benoit look like a legit threat for the championship. Until then it was a bunch of fluke victories in tag matches. This was good stuff though as Austin looked like he was about to snap in that double hold.

Overall Rating: B. With all of the good to very good matches tonight, this was a pretty awesome Raw. Throw in that with the comedy from Austin and Vince and how can you go wrong? The DDP thing would be pretty underwhelming on Sunday but that’s life. Also very little mention of Angle vs. Shane, but the focus was on the tournament so that’s ok. Good show here.

Here’s King of the Ring if you’re interested:

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