Random Network Reviews: Old School 10/28/91

Old School
10/28/91 – Madison Square Garden

As you recently saw with my Clash of the Champions XIV review, I'm expanding “Random Network Reviews” a bit. It started as just Pay-Per-Views but I've added Clash of the Champions, Saturday Night's Main Events and Old Schools from the WWE Network to this section. I picked out my first Old School card and it's from a time period that I thought was pretty cool. October of 1991 and this show is from my favorite wrestling venue, Madison Square Garden. Looking at this card, I think it has some potential to be a fun viewing for me and I hope it goes well.

The intro video that the WWE Network has put together for their “Old School” vault is cool. I'd like it if they turned this into a “Live Event” section so we could get some recent live events too. The commentary team tonight is Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan and Lord Alfred Hayes.

Big Bully Busick vs. Texas Tornado
If you are unsure of who Busick is, just know that he has one of the best mustaches in the history of our sport. Yes, I went Tony Schiavone there. Tornado knocks him down after a feeling out process and the crowd really likes him. He whips Big Bully into the corner and hits a hip toss coming out of it. A test of strength is won by Tornado until Busick uses a cheap shot. The announce team promotes the upcoming Survivor Series event. Big Bully's offense seems to be exactly what it should be and that's power. He works over Tornado with a clothesline and some clubs before hitting a scoop slam. Bully mistakenly climbs to the second rope and Tornado TOTALLY TELEGRAPHS that he's going to counter this. Once Bully jumps, Tornado catches him with a sloppy looking Claw that he's able to break with the ropes. The crowd has quieted significantly and Bully applies a sleeper hold. Tornado breaks it in the ropes and hits the big Tornado punch to win.

Winner: Texas Tornado in 7:05
Boring opener as they killed a crowd that was pumped for the Texas Tornado. It also went too long. *1/4

The British Bulldog vs. Irwin R. Schyster
Before the match, IRS calls out the people of New York for their tax cheating ways. Surprisingly, in the early goings, IRS is in control. Bulldog gets sick of that and slams IRS around a few times before hitting him with a big running clothesline. IRS takes a breather or two as he stalls for a while. Bulldog impresses with a leapfrog, causing IRS to take yet another breather outside. Apparently, Irwin was undefeated at this point. He does a far less impressive leapfrog and Bulldog dropkicks him outside, where Irwin regroups again. Way too much of that right now. We get a little wrestling sequence back inside that IRS wins with a head scissors and he uses the ropes for leverage. IRS uses Bulldog's momentum later and sends him outside, though it looked sloppy. Time for another rest hold as IRS uses the abdominal stretch and again holds the ropes for leverage. A leg drop gets Irwin a near fall. Bulldog gets sent outside AGAIN. There's been more standing around than anything in this match. Want to know what comes next? ANOTHER REST HOLD. IRS puts him in a headlock and uses the ropes again. He hits a kitchen sink for two and again goes for a headlock. My goodness, why is this so damn long? Bulldog fights out but takes a shoulder block. IRS continues to take his time and doesn't pin. Bulldog finally knocks IRS outside and they announce that there's less than three minutes left in the time limit. Oh my god this is going to go to a draw. They continue to stall and the time expires.

Time Limit Draw at 20:00
It's clear now why they stalled so damn much. This was terrible. A whole lot of nothing was going on and it featured way too many nonsense rest holds. Couldn't this have had a 10 or 15 minute time limit? DUD

They tease five more minutes, but I forever love IRS for backing down and leaving.

Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart vs. The Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart
Neidhart calls Mountie a jailbird before the match because the last time the WWF was in MSG was for SummerSlam '91 and the Mountie got arrested. Neidhart wants to wrestle but Mountie kicks him in the gut. He goes to slam the Anvil, but realizes that it's a dumb idea. Anvil scoop slams him three straight times and we get another heel who decides to stall outside. Mountie challenges Neidhart for a shoulder block and gets run down. He goes for it again and wisely drops down but still gets hip tossed. He goes outside for consultation again and then uses a distraction from the Mouth of the South to get in the driver's seat. Mountie now uses underhanded tactics to get the crowd to continue to boo him. Anvil ducks under two leapfrogs and slams Mountie's face into the mat before following with a backdrop. Neidhart misses a knee and runs into the corner, allowing the Mountie to roll him up with a handful of tights.

Winner: The Mountie in 11:18
The best match of the night so far, but that's not saying much. There was still too much stalling, but they both played their roles well. **

Ric Flair w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Roddy Piper
How cool is it that Ric Flair walked around with the WCW World Title during this time? Flair does a clean break to start and lets out a hearty “woo!” He does another and Piper spits at him. This is Flair's first ever match in Madison Square Garden, which is pretty historic. Flair was in control in the early goings until Piper rallies. The crowd is really into this one as they spill outside. Back inside, Flair uses a thumb to the eyes to take back control and drops a knee on Hot Rod. Piper uses a rally and a big kitchen sink to change things yet again. Flair begs and backs away into the corner, so Piper delivers ten punches there. He goes for a bulldog and WHAT A SURPRISE, gets shoved right into Earl Hebner. A second official comes out and Flair argues with him, allowing Piper to roll him up for two. They trade chops in the corner and Flair does his signature bump. With the referees both preoccupied, Flair whacks Piper with a steel chair and covers. Somehow, Piper kicks out and gets Flair in the Sleeper Hold! Flair quickly counters with a back suplex though and climbs up top. Because it's Flair, this of course fails and he gets slammed to the mat. Piper eats a bunch of Flair chops that have no effect and hits a neckbreaker. Piper tries to use a chair but gets stopped, so Flair levels him and pins him with his feet on the ropes.

Winner: Ric Flair in 11:59
Not bad at all. Both guys tried their best and the crowd was red hot. The main issue was the abrupt and out of nowhere finish. **3/4

Roddy Piper uses the chair and takes out the referee and Ric Flair after the match. Cutting backstage, Sean Mooney interviews Flair. He continues to call out Hulk Hogan because he's the real World Champion. Man, Flair/Hogan should've happened at WrestleMania XIII, but whatever. Macho Man/Flair was awesome.

The Big Boss Man vs. Colonel Mustafa
HES THE IRON SHIEK, I DONT CARE WHAT YOU SAY! Oh great, as if he didn't bore me enough earlier, IRS comes out and claims that Boss Man shouldn't be allowed to wrestle because he's a tax cheat. The Iron Sheik uses that distraction to club away at the Boss Man, but he fights back and delivers ten punches in the corner. I believe that I just saw Fred Savage, or whichever one was from the Wonder Years in the crowd. Sheik uses some sort of weapon from his boot on Boss Man. Commentary has completely ignored this match as they are just talking about Flair and Hogan. Despite Sheik's cheating, he gets caught in the Boss Man Slam and stays down for the count.

Winner: The Big Boss Man in 4:54
Nothing match. Was used as filler after the Flair/Piper match. *

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Bret Hart (c) vs. The Berzerker
Bret is sporting his fantastic pink jacket and Gorilla Monsoon mentions that he's never seen the Berzerker pin anybody which is funny. He attacks Bret at the bell as the crowd goes “Huss! Huss!” Bret hits a series of dropkicks and the last one knocks Berzerker outside. He runs back in but gets clotheslined right back out, only to run in and get an atomic drop that takes him outside. The challenger uses a headbutt to turn the tide and commentary has now decided to turn the discussion to Berzerker's Ugg like boots. Berzerker is in control because who would give Berzerker offense and make him look good? BRET HART THATS WHO! Berzerker misses a second rope leg drop like an idiot but hits a big kitchen sink, which was apparently a popular move in 1991. REST HOLD TIME! Berzerker hits a piledriver but Bret kicks out. He is really dominating this match but misses a shoulder block and Bret crotches him on the top rope. Ever the technician, Bret tries a small package and gets two, followed by the best backbreaker in wrestling history. Second rope elbow earns him a near fall though. Just like he would in the future against guys like Diesel and the Undertaker, he targets the legs. He goes for the Sharpshooter but Berzerker blocks it. When they get up, Bret uses a crucifix to retain.

Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion: Bret Hart in 10:18
Would've been better if the Berzerker didn't control things. Bret sold like a champ though so that helped. **1/2

El Matador vs. Hercules
According to Gorilla, this is the debut of El Matador. He starts the match by goading Hercules into charging at his Matador cape or whatever they're called. Matador and Hercules run the ropes and Matador hits a drop toe hold. OLE! They go in the corner and Chico Santana reels off a few of the ten punches and gets a near fall with it. OLE! Hercules is tired of these games and clotheslines the jalapenos out of Santana. Am I racist for throwing out all of these OLE and jalapeno references? No because his finisher was the flying jalapeno. He applies every powerhouse heel's favorite submission, the bearhug! He fights out but gets clotheslined down anyway. Bearhug is back on. Matador fights out again, OLE! The Flying Jalapeno is hit but Hercules is too close to the ropes. Matador hits a flying forearm to the back of the neck and wins.

Winner: El Matador in 9:11
Decent little filler match. Again, a bit too much rest time with the bearhug but it kept my interest. **

WWF Tag Team Championship
The Legion of Doom (c) vs. The Natural Disasters w/ Jimmy Hart
This should be a barn burner, also known as a brawl that's not going to be the best worked match of the night. I could be wrong. We get multiple tests of strength in the early goings as LOD are really good at keeping up with the much bigger Natural Disasters. Animal knocks down Earthquake with an impressive shoulder block. Earthquake puts on a bearhug, big surprise, but actually does surprise me with a belly to belly suplex. Things stall heavily with, you guessed it, another bearhug. Earthquake should've won with a slam as Hawk was late to break up the count and the referee had to stutter. Hawk gets the hot tag and fires away, even hitting a dropkick. The Natural Disasters are near victory but things break down and they toss the referee out of the ring, resulting in the disqualification.

Winners via disqualification: The Legion of Doom in 8:02
Kept relatively short and featured some hard hitting stuff, so that was fine. **

Hawk clears the ring of the Natural Disasters and helps Animal up to close the show.

Overall: 3/10; Poor. Maybe because it was a non-televised event, but guys didn't seem to bring their A game. The best match was under three stars and British Bulldog and IRS bored me to tears. It could've been worse though as a few things clocked in around two or so stars. Next time on “Random Network Reviews” I take a long look at WCW Hog Wild 1996!

Smackdown Report 9-5-14

The lack of an actual intro video bothers me more than it probably should. John Cena opens things to play to the crowd and promote his upcoming rematch with Brock Lesnar. He talks about his usual stuff but then says that he wants to beat Brock because he's not at the end of his line like people think. Kane and Seth Rollins come out and Cena must read my blog as he calls them poster children for Men's Warehouse. Roman Reigns interrupts to cut the same promo he's been cutting since the Shield split. I smell a Teddy Long tag team match. The Wyatts magically appear but John Cena eats them alive so this shouldn't be a problem. Chris Jericho comes out with Big Show and Mark Henry because the more the merrier I guess. Triple H now, my goodness, this is too much. He actually impersonates Teddy Long and makes a ten men tag team match. THE TEDDY LONG THEME ACTUALLY PLAYS! 

The Intercontinental Champion Dolph Ziggler would meet Cesaro in the opening contest tonight. These are two guys who pretty much never have a bad match and this was no different. Sheamus was on commentary and it irks me to no end that because we have to get 44 recaps throughout the show, we can't see the wrestlers come to the ring. This got about ten minutes and Dolph won with a rollup. Post match, Sheamus continues to be the biggest cheap shot hitter in the WWE as he nails Cesaro with a Brogue Kick.

Stardust and Goldust continue to be bizarre in a backstage segment before the cameras cut to a match between Jimmy Uso and Heath Slater. Jey Uso is selling his leg injury hard as he has a crutch. Jimmy Uso is able to win a short bout and it's officially announced that the Usos will face the Dust Brothers for the WWE Tag Team Titles at Night of Champions. That honestly should steal the show or it at least has the potential to do so. After a Raw divas recap, Stephanie McMahon announces that Paige will defend the WWE Divas Championship against AJ Lee and Nikki Bella at Night of Champions.

Byron Saxton, who has lost all commentary jobs besides NXT, interviews Nikki Bella who thanks Stephanie McMahon for the Divas Title opportunity. Lana and Rusev arrive to talk about how Rusev is going to destroy Mark Henry once he gets the chance. Same old promo as always, but Lana always looks fine. AJ Lee joins commentary for the upcoming Divas match and Nikki Bella is also out there, but she's not talking. 

Paige and Brie have only wrestled once before and it was interrupted by Kane back in April. Paige mocks Brie in the early goings which was funny. AJ and Nikki end up getting into it outside and Brie goes to break it up. Once she gets back inside, Paige greets her with the RamPaige DDT and ends things. Brie, ever the good girl, is unable to triumph here. I feel that either she will be added to the Night of Champions match or she will cost Nikki the match. At least I hope so. I don't want the Title near the Bellas.

We get a Wyatt Family promo, which no longer seem to captivate me the way they used to. Maybe it's because Bray Wyatt is no longer a threat. Anyway, this is followed by a singles bout between the inspiration Bo Dallas and Zack Ryder. Because he's Ryder, he loses. In less than a minute. He goes to turn "We the People" into "Bo-Lieve in Me" or something like that after the match but it brings out Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter. Swagger and Bo trade shots and Swagger wins out by knocking Bo out of the ring.

Main event time as ten of the biggest superstars in the WWE went at it in a huge tag team match. Okay, maybe ten of the biggest is a stretch but whatever. This was given a lot of time, about 25 minutes, and everybody got a chance to shine. It did not end with a winner though as things broke out. After the match, the brawl continued until the faces all busted out their finishers on the heels. Typical stuff, but it was entertaining at least. A decent episode of Smackdown that wasn't just a throwaway so that's good. 6/10.

Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa

NXT and Superstars Report 9-4-14

Despite being just one hour, this episode of NXT has 6 matches! How awesome is that? We start with the insanely cute Alexa Bliss taking on the NXT Women's Champion, Charlotte. I've my feelings on Charlotte clear before as, even though she's the Champion, she has impressed me the least of any of the NXT Divas. This was a short, but solid match and Charlotte won with the Bow Down to the Queen. Bayley came out, so my night was made, and they continued the build to TakeOver as she hit the Champion with the Belly to Bayley and held the Women's Title. Good stuff.

We get a short promo from Tyler Breeze about the Fatal Four Way match at TakeOver before he competes in singles action. He would face and defeat Tye Dillenger in a short match. Tye retweeted me during the show as I mentioned that he was the "Stan" that Shawn Michael superkicked on Cyber Sunday a few years ago. The biggest news though came during the commercial for TakeOver as it was announced that KENTA would be making his debut! It's going to be awesome to see him and it's great that he gets to keep his name!

The matches with the participants of the Fatal Four Way continues as Tyson Kidd looks to avenge his struggles against Adam Rose. Before the match, Kidd cut a decent promo about all of his good qualities and how they outweigh any and every thing about his opponents. He forced Adam Rose to submit in what has to be his first singles loss. Sami Zayn would also go the route of a singles match and defeated Marcus Louis in a decent bout. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady came out with hair removal cream as they were going to remove Sylvester's hair, but he escaped. I forgot to mention that Enzo and Cass had a funny promo with NXT Diva Carmella at a hair salon. Check it out.

It was now time for the NXT Champion, Adrian Neville, to get his singles win heading into TakeOver. I like the idea of showcasing all of the participants, but it made the outcomes very predictable. He met CJ Parker, which I wasn't a fan of. I'm not the biggest CJ Parker mark but he just came off of a winning feud against Xavier Woods and maybe he shouldn't have been fed to Neville. Although losing to the NXT Champion isn't a bad thing. 

The NXT Tag Team Title Number One Contender's Tournament comes to an end as the two finalists meet in our main event. The awesome Vaudevillains went up against Sin Cara and Kalisto. While I'm becoming a big Kalisto fan, Sin Cara still bores me to tears so I was not at all happy that the Luchadors won. The Ascension came out to interrupt their celebration and stood atop the ramp signaling that they would break their challengers at TakeOver. I see the Ascension retaining but neither team impresses me that much.

Overall, I enjoyed NXT. It built towards every TakeOver match except Bull/Mojo well and I could never see them interact again and be happy. Every match was enjoyable and it gets a 7/10. Onto Superstars, which featured the third match in four weeks pitting Emma against Alicia Fox. They keep putting these two together because they keep doing well. Their chemistry is on point and they stole the show again. Alicia Fox won this time around. Then, in a match of two irrelevant guys when it comes to the main roster, Sin Cara bested Justin Gabriel. It was nothing special. 5/10. I leave you with some Renee Young.

Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa

Top Ten Thursday: Favorite WCW Nitro Moments

With the addition of about the first two years in the history of WCW Monday Nitro being added to the WWE Network, I figured it was time to do a Top Ten based on my favorite moments in that program's history. Now, I was always a WWF/Raw guy, but I watched my fair share of Nitro. I would record both and I do have some fond WCW memories. I also want to point out that this is a list of my personal favorite moments and maybe not the ten greatest. Honorable mentions go to the Ric Flair heart attack promo and the Raw/Nitro simulcast.

10. DDP as La Parka 7-9-1997

I don't know how many people remember this, but I thought it was very cool at the time. "Macho Man" Randy Savage and Diamond Dallas Page were in the midst of a pretty hot feud in the summer of 1997. On this particular episode of Nitro, Savage was set to face La Parka and everyone pretty much knew the outcome. But then La Parka put up one hell of a fight and eventually hit the Diamond Cutter. Page unmasked the place went nuts. He outsmarted Savage and while this might not be a particularly important moment in history, it was damn cool and as a kid, I loved it.

9. Lex Luger Wins The WCW Championship 8-4-1997

Since the inception of the nWo, Hollywood Hogan and that group ran roughshod over WCW. After winning the WCW Championship at Hog Wild in August of 1996, Hogan retained the title over and over for the next year or so, and nearly always through underhanded tactics. That all changed one night on Nitro when Lex Luger finally won one for the "good guys". He defeated Hogan for the WCW Title in another moment that got the crowd stoked. It was a cool moment as WCW was able to at least get one over on the nWo. Of course, this title reign did not last long and Hogan won the belt back a mere five days later.

8. Rick Rude Simulcast 11-17-1997

I guess maybe simulcast is the wrong word to use here, but Rick Rude was the first and I believe only person to ever appear on Raw and Nitro on the same night. If you don't know the story, Rick Rude was on Raw, which was taped the previous week. He jumped ship to WCW and appeared on their live episode of Nitro. As a fan, to see the same guy on both shows was crazy. To go from DX to nWo member within the same night was unheard of and was a shocking thing to see.

7. Lex Luger Jumps Ship 9-4-1995

With this episode of Nitro available on the WWE Network and highlighted on the first Monday Night War episode, you can go back and re-live this right now. Nitro aired it's first episode unopposed as Raw was not airing this week. Lex Luger has just wrestled a house show for the WWE the night before and nobody knew that he signed a deal with the WCW. Eric Bischoff kept it quiet and had him just walk out onto Nitro as he shouted to get the camera off of him on commentary. It gave Nitro a real feel to it, which it would keep for a while and it helped them dominant the ratings war for a long time.

6. Four Horsemen Parody 9-1-1997

Okay, I totally understand that Ric Flair and Arn Anderson were pissed at this, but it was damn funny. Kevin Nash is hilarious when he wants to be and this was one of the first times I really noticed it. He would reach his peak during the PCS in TNA, but this is about the Horsemen parody. Nash as Double A was genius and Syxx as Ric Flair was pretty solid. This is the Nash show with his "not bald spot, dog spot, but MY SPOT". If you haven't seen it, watch it and enjoy a hearty laugh.

5. Owen Hart Tribute Match 10-4-1999

Growing up, I was a HUGE Bret Hart fan and I was just as big of an Owen Hart fan. I was crushed when I found out that Owen passed away and Bret went away for a while. After returning, Nitro held a show in the same arena where Owen met his tragic demise and WCW allowed Bret Hart and Chris Benoit to go out and have a match in Owen's honor. What followed was an absolute classic and one of the best Nitro matches of all time. Seeing the Sharpshooter countered into the Crippler Crossface and vice versa was excellent and this match holds a special place in my heart.

4. Sting From the Rafters 1-20-1997

I enjoyed Sting as a kid, but I was never a big fan. Then he changed gears in 1996 and became the "crow" like character and I was hooked. Walking around the rafters and being mysterious was so cool to me. Quick note, think about how crazy it was that he went about a year without wrestling. One of the biggest names in wrestling, in the prime of his career, and he took a year off for character development. That's badass. Anyway, this was the first time that Sting descended from the rafters and it was an outstanding moment. I got goosebumps and thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

3. Chris Jericho Man of 1004 Holds and Conspiracy Victim 3-30 and 6-1-1998

I couldn't decide between these two moments. Really anything that Chris Jericho did from 1998-1999 was gold. The Man of 1004 Holds was a genius promo where Jericho brought out 90's printer paper and read off the fact that he knew four more moves than Dean Malenko. Even though he said ARMBAR more than a few times. Just hilarious. Then his conspiracy victim angle was just as good as he walked around the Nation's Capital with his hair tied up oddly and a suit. He complained to any and everyone that he was a conspiracy victim after losing the Cruiserweight Championship. You need to see it to truly enjoy it.

2. Goldberg Wins the WCW Title 7-6-1998

First things first, WCW really messed up by giving this away on free television and not making people pay to watch this huge showdown. Hollywood Hogan had reigned over WCW since 1996 and couldn't even be beaten cleanly by WCW's savior, Sting. So when he ran into the undefeated monster that was Goldberg, it should've gotten WCW a HUGE buyrate. However, they did it on free TV and it gave us an awesome Nitro moment. Goldberg beat Hogan cleanly in front of 30,000+ in the Georgia Dome and the roof nearly came off the arena. It was the last time that I can remember a crowd really going apeshit at a WCW show.

1. Scott Hall Debuts 5-27-1996

Nitro debuted and it was clear that the WWE had a bit of a threat on it's hands. Then shit got real on this night. The former Razor Ramon appeared in the middle of a match between two mid-carders, walking down through the crowd. The match abruptly stopped as Hall got a microphone and declared war on the WCW. Nobody knew what to think. It was as if the WWF was invading the WCW and people lost their minds. This was in an era before the internet and nobody knew what was going on. It was the start of the nWo and WCW's eventual dominant run for 84 weeks over Raw and the WWF.

Through the Years Reviews: No Mercy 2002

No Mercy 2002
October 20th, 2002 – Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas – Attendance: 10,000

After a disappointing King of the Ring Pay-Per-View, 2002 has stepped it's game up. Vengeance and Unforgiven were both very good shows and SummerSlam was outstanding. I don't remember much about this show except for the fact that The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar had their rematch and it's inside of the Hell in a Cell so I'm looking forward to that. I also remember that this had the finals of Smackdown Tag Team Title Tournament where Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit teamed up to face Edge and Rey Mysterio. Last little note for now is that this remains to this day as the only WWE Pay-Per-View to ever be held in Arkansas.

Opening with a backstage segment can be hit or miss. This one shows The Undertaker sitting backstage, looking at his hand in a cast. Kane sits next to him and asks how his week was. That's it. That's all. We go to the opening video package that focuses on the infamous KATIE VICK STORYLINE! These two couldn't just feud over it being Champion vs. Champion? The video shifts to the main event, which is Brock vs. The Undertaker in Hell in a Cell.

World Tag Team Championship
Chris Jericho and Christian (c) vs. Booker T and Goldust
Last time I saw the Tag Team Titles defended on Pay-Per-View at SummerSlam, Christian was Champion...with Lance Storm and was an Un-American. Also, Vitamin C took it from Kane and The Hurricane, so I missed a lot when it comes to title changes since Kane is also the Intercontinental Champion on this show. Christian and Goldust start out and Goldust eventually takes control with butt bumps. Yes, butt bumps. He slingshots Jericho outside onto Christian but when he attempts ten punches in the corner, Christian gets in a cheap shot. The heels work him over for a bit until Goldust hits a powerslam. Booker can feel it as the crowd rallies, but Goldust gets cut off from the tag. He counters and tags in anyway. So, Booker and Jericho have a one on one feud in the midst of all of this. Booker misses the Scissors Kick but hits a stiff spinebuster for two. Goldie makes a blind tag and hits a double bulldog before connecting with Shattered Dreams behind the ref's back. Jericho counters the Curtain Call and locks in the Walls of Jericho. Booker breaks the hold and nails the Scissors Kick. Christian pulls Goldust out to stop the pin. Booker goes up top and nails a missile dropkick so its SPINAROONIE TIME! The second rope breaks on Jericho when he attempts a springboard dropkick. That's something you don't see every day. Ever the improvisor, Jericho hits a bulldog on Goldust onto the tag belt and then a top rope moonsault instead of the Lionsault to retain.

Winners and Still World Tag Team Champions: Chris Jericho and Christian in 8:46
Decent stuff but I know that these four can do better. I wasn't as into it as I hoped I would be. **1/2

Backstage now with SMACKDOWN NUMBA ONA ANNOUNCER, Funaki! He's with Al Wilson and he asks about the Dawn Marie giving him sneak peeks before many lingerie and bikini contests previously. Because Smackdown had one pretty much every week. He is unable to speak about anything and Funaki, always the one to ask hard hitting questions, wants to know why Al Wilson was wearing clothes in the shower with Dawn Marie. When Al finally speaks, he pulls a Bill Clinton.

Dawn Marie vs. Torrie Wilson
This one should be a barn burner. Torrie hits a sunset flip that doesn't look terrible, which is surprising. Neither of these girls were ever any good but man did they have an extended rivalry. Dawn actually works on Torrie's back because PSYCHOLOGY! Seriously, a whip into the corner, some stomps on the back and even a surfboard variation! Dawn headbutts her in the groin which gets a big pop from the perverted fans. Catfight time as the girls roll around and the referee gets involved. Torrie hits a suplex for two and this is more competitive than I thought. Dawn charges in but gets met with the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot! You're on your way Torrie. And as I called it, a swinging neckbreaker earns Torrie the win.

Winner: Torrie Wilson in 4:41
That got more time than I thought and was better than I expected. Still not very good though. *1/4

Jonathan Coachman is in the back with Rob Van Dam and asks him about his match with Ric Flair. RVD paraphrases Flair's limousine riding stuff, and says that's not his style. He's a CHAIR SMASHING, FROG SPLASHING, RISK TAKING, YINNING AND YANGING, VAN DAMINATING dude. It's funnier to see because he struts and woos with each one. RVD heads off and Coach finds Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. He goes for ask for thoughts on this, but Heyman and Brock leave. Tracy is left behind and I have no clue who she is. Apparently she is accusing The Undertaker of something. She's like, on a Brie Bella level of poor acting, but not Claire Lynch bad. 

Ric Flair vs. Rob Van Dam
Things start on the outside as RVD is still pissed that Flair cost him the World Heavyweight Title at the last Pay-Per-View. He hits his trademark leg drop on the guardrail and back inside, sends Flair in for his signature corner bump. The dirtiest player in the game knows what he's doing though with a thumb to the eye and chop block. Flair chops away in the corner and RVD tries to rally, but he's selling the leg injury well. Flair pokes the eye again and hits another chop block. His moveset seems pretty limited right now. Short punches in the corner for a bit. Figure Four gets locked in as RVD sells it like his leg is broken. Well done. RVD fights out and they struggle to do a backslide but it ends in a two. He takes a risk and it fails, allowing the safer Ric to try the Figure Four. They're yin and yang. STORYTELLING! RVD counters the Figure Four into a small package and Flair goes upstairs. Of course, he doesn't hit the move and gets slammed form the top. Rolling Thunder connects and Flair gets his foot on the rope. All of a sudden, RVD's leg is fine. Five Star Frog Splash hits and it gets him the duke, even though his pin pulled Flair's shoulder off the mat.

Winner: Rob Van Dam in 7:58
Considering Flair's limited offense and RVD forgetting the leg work that he sold so well throughout the match, this had potential to be better. *3/4

Big Show is complaining to Stephanie McMahon about how upset he is with Raw. I'd be pissed too. Smackdown is miles ahead at this point. Eric Bischoff shows up and is furious with Big Show. Show is not happy that he hasn't been on Pay-Per-View since July and hasn't headlined in forever. Show threatens Bischoff and leaves.

A video package highlighting the history of the Intercontinental Title is shown because the WWE is stupidly retiring the belt in his Katie Vick Unification match.

Cruiserweight Championship
Jamie Noble (c) w/ Nidia vs. Tajiri
IT'S JAMIE NOBLE BOY! Tajiri hits a baseball slide before the bell rings and gets a near fall once they enter the ring. Jamie Noble comes back and hits a very nice looking electric chair drop. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Noble and he focuses on the back. Noble shouts “YEA BOY” because he's JAMIE NOBLE BOY. I don't know why, but I love doing that. I always loved Noble as Champion because he was different then your typical high flying cruiserweight. Tajiri knocks Noble off the tops and goes for a moonsault but misses. He lands on his feet and connects with a nice tornado DDT. Tajiri cuts down Noble with some vicious kicks and hits the handspring elbow. A variation of the airplane spin from Tajiri and a German suplex gets him a near fall. TARANTULA! He misses the Buzzsaw Kick though, and Noble goes for the Tiger Bomb. Tajiri reverses and slingshots him into the corner followed by a big kick. He gets the pin but Nidia distracts the referee with a kiss. Noble hits the Tiger Bomb but Tajiri kicks out! Tajiri attempts a victory roll but Nidia holds Noble's feet, allowing him the leverage to win.

Winner and Still Cruiserweight Champion: Jamie Noble in 8:15
I enjoyed this. It was a good Cruiserweight match and Jamie Noble is rolling as Champion. Fun stuff. **3/4

Tajiri grabs Nidia after the match and plants a kiss on her. She likes it and falls to her knees, so Noble gets mad and drops to his knees to show Tajiri how it's done. As he kisses her, Tajiri kicks him in the head. Cutting backstage, Chris Benoit is looking for Eddie Guerrero because Kurt Angle is beating up Chavo. Eddie hears Chavo getting beat up and says he doesn't believe it's him. It sounds like a little girl in his mind. It is, in fact, Chavo leading to a pull apart brawl. Angle and Benoit are one formidable tag team.

Winner Take All Champion vs. Champion Match
Kane (c) vs. Triple H (c)
For those who don't know, Kane is the Intercontinental Champion and Triple H is the World Heavyweight Champion. I loved Kane's attire during his 2002 until unmasked run. Kane comes out of the gate firing because he's pissed that Triple H, disguised as him, hooked up with Katie Vick. Kane continues to beat HHH from pillar to post. HHH stops his momentum with the dreaded knee to face and clotheslines him out. Triple H is going all CEREBRAL ASSASSIN as he targets Kane's neck. The crowd is pretty dead and this is pretty boring so far. Triple H decides that the way to wake the fans up is to apply a sleeper hold. Kane counters with a backdrop. He hits a flying clothesline and Flair runs out and slides into the ring with more athleticism than I've ever seen. Kane knocks him down and HHH nails him with the World Title. Kane kicks out because belt shots don't do much nowadays. ITS A BIRD! ITS A PLANE! ITS THE HURRICANE! He comes out and takes out Flair, but eats a Pedigree on the outside. Kane sits up and he's in dominant demon mode. HHH blocks a superplex and goes for a top rope move like an idiot, so Kane boots him in the face. The referee also eats a big boot, so you know more shenanigans are coming. Kane uses this time to hit a chokeslam through the announce table. Flair brings in the sledgehammer but Kane blocks it and big boots him. HHH levels Kane in the mid section with the sledgehammer, but he shrugs it off and hits another chokeslam. A new ref runs out and Flair takes him out before he count three. Kane chokeslams Flair as he continues to dominate, but HHH hits a perfectly timed Pedigree and Earl Hebner wakes up to count the three.

Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion and New Intercontinental Champion: Triple H in 16:13
Boring at the start, but for once, shenanigans actually made it better. It spiced the match up. HHH and Flair looked really weak though as Kane dominated them. **

Stephanie McMahon is in her office when that damn Jezebel Tracy is back. Stephanie tries to say that Tracy has strong feelings for the Undertaker, but she denies. SHE CALLS HIM MARK! KAYFABE DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE! Stephanie tricks her into spilling the beans with nearly no effort. Tracy is an idiot. The Undertaker hears her confess and she gets kicked out.

WWE Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals
Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle vs. Edge and Rey Mysterio
Paul Heyman mentioned on Talk is Jericho that once he saw that Raw had a weak tag division, he wanted to make Smackdown's amazing. This is a good start on paper. Angle and Mysterio start the match and Angle works him over on the mat and slaps him around. He tosses Rey hard and demands that he tag in Edge. Rey declines and gets Angle down with multiple dropkicks. A nice springboard hurricanrana is followed by him slapping Angle around in a cool turn of events. Edge comes in and has a fine exchange with Kurt before Benoit enters. They go back and forth, with Edge targeting the lower back. Edge gets a near fall with a flapjack and Angle gets in a cheap knee to the back. Edge retaliates with a Spear that knocks him off the apron. He comes in the ring soon after and works over Edge for a bit. Angle goes all Samoa Joe with a rear naked choke that Edge rallies out of. That rally is stopped with a belly to belly. Benoit's back in and sends Edge into the corner for the Bret Hart sternum bump. Edge is in real trouble when Benoit reels off his German suplex hat trick. The Crippler signals for the finish as he goes up top but Edge stops him. Superplex from Edge! HOT TAG TO REY who instantly knocks Angle off the apron and hits a flying head scissors on Benoit. Angle runs in and takes a dropkick. Rey gets Benoit draped on the second rope and hits a guillotine leg drop for two! Benoit counters a Rey bulldog into the Crippler Crossface! That was awesome. Edge breaks up the submission but gets pulled outside by Angle. Rey dropkicks Benoit and goes for the 619, but Benoit catches him. Edge comes off the top with a missile dropkick and Rey gets a near fall. Rey goes up top but Angle leaps up and hits a second rope belly to belly! Benoit covers for only two! My goodness. Angle gets near falls on Rey with a backbreaker and a snap suplex. Rey surprises everyone with a belly to belly of his own, but he runs into one from Angle. Benoit and Angle now pick apart Rey with stiff ass offense. Rey sends Benoit into the corner with a reversal. HOT TAG! Both Angle and Edge come in and Edge is on fire. Edge-o-matic gets two and it's time for double teams. Edge nails Benoit in the corner before Rey runs in with a bronco buster. After Edge rams his shoulder into Angle, he puts him on the top. Rey charges, Edge catapults him onto Angle and he hits a hurricanrana off the top! Edge covers and Benoit goes for the headbutt to break it up but he hits Angle by mistake! Edge covers and somehow Kurt kicks out. Once they get up, Kurt hits a German and taunts for another, but Edge launches Rey into him. Benoit trips up Edge and locks in the Crossface. Edge gets near the ropes, so Rey hits a 619 to break it up! Angle Slam on Rey and THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! Ankle Lock on Edge, but he counters into a small package for a close two count! He bounces off the ropes with the Spear but Benoit breaks the pin. Rey knocks him outside and Edge catapults him onto him. Edge goes for the Edgecution, but Kurt counters into the Ankle Lock. Edge rolls forward into his own Ankle Lock! HOLY POOP! Angle reverses back into his own and forces Edge to submit.

Winners and First WWE Tag Team Champions: Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle in 22:03
I don't even have words for that. That might be the best tag team match that I've ever seen and if it's not, it's damn close. Match of the year for 2002 so far. ****3/4

Undertaker is getting his hand checked on and he threatens a medical worker to give him some type of shot to get him through the match tonight. 

WWE Women's Championship
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Victoria
Either this was before Victoria had “All the things she said” as her theme or it's dubbed over. Victoria shows her power advantage early on but a furious run from Trish makes Victoria regroup outside. Trish goes after her but Victoria, being the more aggressive of the two, wins the battle out there. Back inside, Victoria front flips from the apron into the ring with a leg drop for two. That was more impressive than 90% of what the Divas of today do. They do a sloppy monkey flip and Trish hits her handstand hurricanrana for two. Victoria nails an impressive side slam but the fans are pretty dead. Lawler continues to mention that Divas are Raw exclusive as Trish hits an electric chair drop. Trish ducks a clothesline and hits the Chick Kick but only gets two. She follows with consecutive swinging neckbreakers and Victoria blocks Stratusfaction. Trish rolls up Victoria and gets the 1-2-3.

Winner and Still Women's Champion: Trish Stratus in 5:31
Kind of awkward and disappointing. Their matches would get better with more chemistry over time. *1/2

Victoria is pissed so she kicks Trish in the face and has to be held back by the referee. We go to The World where Rikishi is there to talk about the Hell in a Cell match because he's been tossed from the top of one by The Undertaker.

WWE Championship Hell in a Cell
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. The Undertaker
It's clear from the get go that this is going to be a war. Undertaker levels Brock in the mid section with his cast. Lesnar is rethinking tonight as he tries to break the door but he's not Kane so it doesn't work. Brock takes control with heel tactic #4 as he goads Taker into following him into the ring and stomps on him. Undertaker fights back and busts Brock wide open with the cast. He starts to toss him around outside of the ring. Paul Heyman is yelling like his child is being beaten to death. Taker grates Brock's face on the cell and is manhandling the Champion. Guillotine leg drop on the apron from old Booger Red is followed by an incredibly poor looking knee from the top rope. It's like Undertaker thought of a top rope leg drop and then realized that he's nearly seven feet. Heyman finds a hole in the cage and reaches in but is nowhere near Taker. Undertaker gets pissed and big boots him before grabbing him through the hole and bringing him into the cage, busting open Heyman. He charges at Brock, who flapjacks him into the cage and drives him into the post and cage. Heyman hands Lesnar his belt and he wraps it around Undertaker's wrist and Heyman holds him in place from outside. Brock wails on Taker in the back with a steel chair before OBLITERATING his hand with it. Undertaker fights back with desperation but Brock targets the hand again. In the ring, Lesnar removes Undertaker's cast and this is a brutal ass match. He puts Undertaker on the top and grabs hold of the ceiling as he stands on the top and kicks him repeatedly. Taker uses a low blow and shoves Brock off. He shoves Lesnar off the apron and into the cage as Heyman pleads with Brock. That man can act. The Undertaker actually does a suicide dive because why not tonight. Brock uses the steel steps to take out Undertaker and now he is bleeding like a stuffed pig. I mean, the man is gushing. Brock doesn't care and he hits him with the steps again! Back inside, Undertaker won't die as he fights back but Brock plants him with a spinebuster. Taker uses his broken right hand to punch Lesnar and he stomps on Brock's finger, which looks like it hurts like hell. He attempts Old School but Brock slams him to the mat. Tazz says that Undertaker has never been pinned, which is just dumb. He counters the F5 and hits a Chokeslam but Brock is able to kick out. It's hard to look at Undertaker and all of the blood. Brock goes for the Last Ride to mock Taker but it's reversed and Taker hits a big DDT. Undertaker gives the signal and he goes for the Last Ride, but Brock shoves him into the corner and drives his shoulder into his ribs numerous times. Brock goes for ten punches but Taker counters out with the Last Ride! He's a mess and Brock gets his hand on the bottom rope. Taker calls for the Tombstone but Brock reverses into an impressive ass F5 that finishes it

Winner and Still WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar in 27:18
That was so damn brutal. We'll never get a Hell in a Cell like that again and that made up for the disappointing Unforgiven match. Both men bled and beat the hell out of each other, and no climbing the cage spot which I feel is overused. With a little more hand selling from Undertaker, this could've been a classic. Brock has been legitimized. ****

Overall: 6.5/10; Above Average. Let me get this straight right off the bat. Parts of this show were poor. Nothing on the Raw side was memorable and only one match passed two stars. Smackdown's side though had a solid Cruiserweight Title match, a brutal main event and an outstanding tag team title match. Shows you where the shows were at this point. See the Hell in a Cell and WWE Tag Team Title match, but everything else is not really worth it.

Tuesday Night Network Report 9-2-14

I have to watch these shows first thing on Wednesday mornings now that I work until 915 on Tuesdays. Oh well, lucky me, I still get NXT Thursdays off. Anyway, Damien Mizdow was in the ring for MizTV to open Main Event. Damien is tremendous with this because he plays it so seriously. Dolph Ziggler rudely interrupts Samien's monologue as Michael Cole badmouths the Miz, which is weird considering he spent 2010-2013 absolutely crushing on him. Mizdow steals the show here but Dolph ends up dropkicking him and knocking him outside. After the commercial, they would have a five or so minute match. It wasn't bad but was nothing special. Dolph obviously won. Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz is officially booked for Night of Champions.

A recap of Stephanie McMahon's promo about making Nikki Bella the face of the Divas division is shown, including her getting a Divas Championship match and the shenanigans from Brie, AJ and Paige. Now, it's Total Divas tag team time, like we didn't already get this on Raw the previous night. Natalya teamed with the absolutely terrible Rosa Mendes to face SummerLay. I feel like I'm going to hate this season of Total Divas because Rosa is the worst. Rosa continued to be dreadful, while SummerLay continues to have my heart. The biggest news was that Rosa's butt was exposed during the match, which would've been better if it wasn't the WORST looking Diva on the roster. Rosa tags herself in and eats the pin as I feel like this is sadly building towards her first win for the show. Sigh. At least SummerLay won and anytime I get to hear the LayCool theme, I love it.

We get a recap of the Highlight Reel from Raw where John Cena, Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins and the entire main event scene besides Brock Lesnar had a discussion that led to a six man tag team match. Then, the Dust Brothers, well on their way to a Tag Team Title match at Night of Champions, would go up against Los Matadores in the final contest. This started slowly, but really picked up near the end and proved that the tag team division does have potential. The Dust Brothers would win and gain more momentum heading into their eventual title shot. 

Another solid edition of Main Event. Three decent to good wrestling matches, only two recaps and a funny opening promo. Can't ask for much more than that. 7/10. Next on the WWE Network, comes episode 4 of the Monday Night Wars series. It focused on D-Generation X and how they sort of ushered in the new attitude, pun intended, of the WWF, which helped turned things around and allowed them to best WCW. Another good episode of this show, which has been entertaining and interesting. I don't want to recap much as we all know most things involving DX, but you should also watch it for some extra insight.

Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa

Labor Day Raw Report 9-1-14

Raw opens with the Highlight Reel, which, as announced last week, was supposed to feature Randy Orton. Instead, the Authority comes out looking like a Men's Warehouse fashion show. Triple H does his usual WWE Network plugs and everyone trades childish insults. HHH threatens to change the WWE Title match for Night of Champions, so everyone stakes their claim. Orton, Kane, Chris Jericho and Seth Rollins all say their piece and Seth gets the loudest pop as we're in his hometown. Cena arrives and complains that he's going to take HHH to court, which HHH makes a joke about. Orton makes the good point about still being owed a WrestleMania rematch. Anyway, Roman Reigns comes out and this is basic stuff. The WWE continues to channel Teddy Long because playa, we gonna have ourselves a six man tag team match.

The opening match was an improvement over the opening segment. The United States and Intercontinental Champions, Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler, teamed up to face their top contenders, The Miz and Cesaro. Miz now has an entourage that includes Damien Mizdow and a makeup chick. I like where his character is going. This was a fun match because all four guys can work and Miz even tags in his stunt double at one point! That allowed Miz to hit the Skull Crushing Finale and get the pin. I enjoyed this. However, things go downhill as we get a "Growing Up Bella" segment where Nikki Bella claims that Brie Bella stole her prom date. I have a feeling these are going to get worse.

We get a bit of a Total Divas bout now as Layla, Naomi and Summer Rae joined forces to face Cameron, the awful Rosa Mendes and Eva Marie. I will never be able to fathom why you have to have one minute messes on a three hour show. Stop showing me nonsense recaps all night and have time for the actual matches. Whatever. The faces win, and Summer Rae is I guess a face officially now. Rosa's eight year losing streak continues. She's like the Barry Horowitz of the divas division. 

It's time for one of them rematches that we love so much, Big Show and Mark Henry against Erick Rowan and Luke Harper. I smell another loss for the Wyatt Family. This actually got about ten minutes, but it felt like thirty. The crowd got bored and started to chant "Sexual Chocolate" at Mark, which led to Rusev coming out and causing a disqualification. This was the worst encounter between these two teams as they haven't been bad over the past few weeks. "Growing Up Bella" continues with Nikki speaking about Brie being selfish. Nikki tells a story and, if it's true, doesn't make Brie seem sympathetic, it makes her sound selfish. Not the way the face should be painted. 

Brock Lesnar vs. John Cena hype video package time as it looks like we might not see Brock until Night of Champions and I'd be perfectly fine with that. No need for him to make useless Raw appearances and it makes seeing the Champion a special treat. Jack Swagger faced Curtis Axel next, who is without the "Big Guy" Ryback as he is healing up from a variety of injuries. Bo Dallas shows up mid match on stage and Swagger wins via submission. Bo brings out random Americans that Swagger failed, including a farmer who lost everything by betting on Jack, a tailor who lost his citizenship test and a woman who has kids that want to be like Vladimir Putin after Swagger lost. Not bad stuff.

The WWE invited Michael Sam to Raw next week and I guess it's for publicity, since no other seventh round pick that got cut would ever be invited to Raw. Adam Rose beat Titus O'Neil is a useless match as the bunny beat up Heath Slater. No point to this whatsoever. More "Growing Up Bella" as Nikki talks about what a good sister she is. The best thing about this are the memes that have gone up online where Nikki says Brie did ridiculous things. One was Nikki saying "Brie told Vince that Bret screwed Bret." Funny.

Rusev kills Zack Ryder next and Mark Henry comes out for revenge, but again gets beaten down. Meh. Stephanie McMahon comes out for the next segment, and trades admiration with Nikki Bella, who is thankful to get to tell her story. The crowd gives it some "boring" chants and Stephanie wants Nikki to be the face of the Divas division so she gives her a title match. Brie comes out to whine again until AJ joins us to make this interesting. She tells Stephanie that she's the number one contender because she has yet to get her rematch. Paige shows up and it's like the opening segment all over again. Her and AJ seem to poke some fun at Nikki Bella and then Brie shoves Nikki into Paige. Things end there and it seems like they're merging these feuds. On one hand, I want just Paige and AJ, but on the other hand, it might make the Bellas tolerable.

Chris Jericho vs. Bray Wyatt in a Steel Cage is announced for next week, which should be a good match, but with a predictable outcome. Goldust defeated Jimmy Uso next and the Dust Brothers continued their heel tactics by assaulting the champions. I feel that this has to lead to a Tag Team Title match at Night of Champions and the Dust Brothers should win. Big Show tells Mark Henry in the back that they could be the Tag Team Champions but he needs to deal with Rusev on his own and for his country. Show sounds like he wants no part of Rusev right?

The six man tag main event got over twenty minutes, which is pretty cool. This is where Roman Reigns is at his best, when he can be shielded, pun intended, by his partners. The fans were treated to a good main event with a lot of action and Roman Reigns got the win with a Spear on Kane. The right man to eat the pinfall. Triple H and Stephanie McMahon are at ringside to observe, and after the match, John Cena hits Seth Rollins with the Attitude Adjustment on the announce table because he's supposed to be a more serious Cena heading into Night of Champions, but I see no change.

Tonight's Raw seemed like they mailed it in. Nothing special happened but it wasn't an awful episode. 5/10. For next week, in addition to the Steel Cage match, Roman Reigns vs. Randy Orton is announced and Paige will face Brie Bella on Smackdown. Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa.