Through the Years Reviews: Backlash 2003

WWE Backlash 2003
April 27th, 2003 – Worcester Coliseum in Worcester, Massachusetts – Attendance: 10,000

Hot off the heels of one of the best WrestleManias of all-time, the WWE entered a new phase. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin had retired and The Rock was on his way out. Before he could leave though, he would face Goldberg in his last and Goldberg’s first match in WWE. The only other thing about this show that I recall is that there was a tournament to determine a number one contender for Brock Lesnar’s WWE Title and it was won by John Cena. Considering where these two are now in the WWE, it’ll be interesting to relive their first major fight.

I’d like to point out that the Team Angle poster for this Pay-Per-View is amongst my favorite ever. The intro video focuses on The Rock vs. Goldberg match. It did a good job of bringing up Goldberg’s undefeated streak in WCW. Raw commentary features Jonathan Coachman and Jerry Lawler and Smackdown is Michael Cole and Tazz.

WWE Tag Team Championship
Team Angle (c) vs. Los Guerreros
The story here is that this is Los Guerreros’ rematch from losing the titles to Team Angle back in February. Charlie Haas and Eddie Guerrero kick things off and have a wrestling sequence. Chavo Guerrero gets the tag and showboats so Haas tags in Shelton Benjamin. They have a nice exchange as Cole mentions that Benjamin ran a 4.2 40. That’s legit. Eddie lies, cheats and steals by getting a cheap shot and faking a tag behind the referee’s back. Eddie was so damn good at that and managed to get over a face doing so. It’s an interesting dynamic as the faces are cheating and cutting the ring in half and I appreciate that. Eddie hits a nice dive into the ring, but then Haas gets the tag and it’s time for the heels to be the heels. Haas and Benjamin hit their signature move but Chavo breaks up the pin. Haas stays aggressive but Eddie hits a back suplex and tries to make the tag. Haas takes down Eddie with a badass double leg to stop the tag. Team Angle isolates Eddie which surprises me as I thought Eddie would be the one getting the hot tag. They do a great job of bending Eddie in odd ways. Eddie uses a head scissors and then dives to tag in Chavo who comes in hot. Chavo gets a near fall with a suplex and Shelton hits a STIFF powerbomb on Chavo before eating a missile dropkick from Eddie. Three Amigos time, but Eddie isn’t legal and Chavo takes too long to cover. Eddie, even though he’s still not legal, plants Haas with the Frog Splash. Chavo covers late and Shelton pulls him out at the VERY LAST SECOND. Chavo goes to back suplex Haas, but Shelton trips him up and Haas lands on him. Shelton holds his leg long enough for the three.

Winners and Still WWE Tag Team Champions: Team Angle in 15:03
Great opener. Got the crowd hot, was back and forth and having both teams cheat was a nice twist on tag formula. The finish was cheap but made sense as they got back at the Guerreros who are known for cheating. ***3/4

Chavo Guerrero launches himself onto Team Angle after the match and he and Eddie walk off with the Tag Team Titles. Want to know why they did this? Because they lie, they cheat, they steal. They exit the arena in a low rider, complete with a “La Cucaracha” themed horn. This makes it two straight PPVs with a “La Cucaracha” themed segment.

Torrie Wilson is backstage with Test, telling him to leave her alone. I guess Test is the WWE’s resident creep. Torrie says she won’t do this because she’s Stacy’s friend. Test talks about how many times he’s seen her Playboy. He forces a kiss on her and Sable is shown watching.

Rikishi vs. Sean O’Haire w/ Roddy Piper
Count me as one of the people who felt that Sean O’Haire had a TON of potential. He had the size, the look and the skill. They go through background story saying that Rikishi’s family had been embarrassed by Piper for years. I recall none of this unless Rikishi is somehow related to Jimmy Snuka. The big man starts on the offensive and hits a Samoan drop. He ends up getting sent off the ropes and turns to look at Piper as if they missed a signal where Piper was supposed to trip him. It came off as awkward. O’Haire keeps the pace slow and works him over as the crowd boos heavily. I’m pretty sure there was a fight or someone went streaking as they’re all looking to the side. In the ring, Rikishi calls for the Stink Face but O’Haire launches him away with his feet. Piper enters the ring with the coconut. It’s odd as it does nothing and the men kick each other. Piper tries again and gets the coconut kicked into his face. O’Haire connects with his finisher to win.

Winner: Sean O’Haire in 4:52
Awkward and clumsy. There were missed spots, strange moments and the guys didn’t have much chemistry. I didn’t like this. *1/4

Backstage, Sable catches up to Stacy Keibler in catering. Stacy has a plate of like four tiny vegetables. NO WONDER SHE HAS THAT FIGURE! Sable stirs up trouble, saying that Torrie Wilson is trying to get Test. CONTROVERSY! Stacy, like any logical person, believes Sable, who she just met, over her longtime friend. Cutting away, RVD and Kane have a promo about the upcoming match.

World Tag Team Championship
Kane and Rob Van Dam (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz
Chief Morley is the special referee for this match. Kane is arguably the most versatile performer in the history of the WWE and RVD is another in a long line of guys that he has great chemistry with. RVD and Bubba start with a sequence that involves botches from both men. Bubba and D-Von have a clear game plan of working over RVD. Van Dam seems to be in full botch mode as he messes up a back flip and leg drop. Kane is tagged and he times a big boot completely wrong and whiffs. Kane gets a near fall with a spine buster and Morley has been calling this fairly. RVD overshoots the split legged moonsault. Maybe he’s on something because he has looked bad. He plays the face in trouble for a bit before hitting a variation of the enziguri and makes the hot tag. Kane is on fire but tags RVD back in quickly, who gets in offense. RVD eats a HUGE neckbreaker from D-Von. Like, it’s insane. Kane goes for the Chokeslam but Morley low blows him. Morley disposes of Kane and accidentally hits Bubba. D-Von is pissed and beats him up. Lance Storm of all people arrives to take out D-Von, but he takes a Bubba Bomb. Morley eats the 3D, but that allows Kane to Chokeslam Bubba. RVD follows with the Five Star Frog Splash as a new referee conveniently runs out to count the three.

Winners and Still World Tag Team Champions: Kane and Rob Van Dam in 13:01
Too many botches and overbooking in the end hurt this match. It also ran a bit too long. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t really like it either. **

The saga between Stacy Keibler and Torrie Wilson continues as Stacy confronts her. When Torrie says that Test kissed her, Stacy attacks. Why doesn’t anyone ever just watch the footage?

WWE Women’s Championship
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Jazz w/ Theodore Long
Oh, so this was around the time that Theodore Long returned to the WWE. Before the bell, Long says “Holla” a lot and Jazz says “the bitch is back and the bitch is black.” Yup. I didn’t make that up. Trish is selling a rib injury because she was beaten up by Jazz and the Dudley Boyz six days prior on Raw. Jazz wisely goes after the ribs and back before hitting the Bitch Plant. That name would not go over well in the current PG era. Trish counters a backbreaker into a gut wrench suplex for two. The champion attempts the handstand hurricanrana but Jazz catches her leg, drops to the mat and locks in a Boston crab. Trish powers out and puts on an STF that would shame John Cena. Jazz reaches the ropes and Chick Kick only earns Trish two. Trish survives a dropkick and hits Stratusfaction but, being a full heel, Teddy Long takes off his shoe and throws it at Trish. WHO THROWS A SHOE? I MEAN HONESTLY. Trish throws it back at Teddy, so Jazz gets a rollup with the ropes and wins.

Winner and New WWE Women’s Champion: Jazz in 5:50
Good women’s match. Both girls worked hard, but I felt that a DQ should’ve been called when Teddy Long threw his shoe. **

Booker T talks to Shawn Michaels to question if Kevin Nash is ready. Nash claims he is and he wants Triple H to himself. Uh-oh, I smell a dreadful feud brewing.

Big Show vs. Rey Mysterio
Over the past few weeks, Rey Mysterio has bested Big Show, upsetting him greatly. Right at the bell, Rey uses his speed to annoy Show and nearly get him off his feet. Show gets a hold of him and chops him, nearly caving in Rey’s chest. Show gets tossed around some and grabs a steel chair from outside. Show shoves the official, allowing Rey to level him with it. He follows with the West Coast Pop for two. 619 to the ribs and to the back of the knee are creative. I give them props for going with Rey attempting to cut Show down. He springboards in and gets caught with the Chokeslam.

Winner: Big Show in 3:47
Short and sweet. This was exactly what it needed to be. Rey looked like the smart underdog and Show looked like a dominant beast. Not a classic by any means, but it did its job. **1/2

Rey Mysterio does the stretcher job when Big Show comes back out. What follows is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. Show picks up the stretcher and swings it like a baseball bat into the turnbuckle. Rey hits the mat face first and probably got a concussion.

Lillian Garcia interviews Triple H, Ric Flair and Chris Jericho about the six man tag. They put each other over and Jericho calls Lillian Vivian. Because he’s awesome. Backstage shenanigans continue as Torrie and Stacy brawl in the back AGAIN. Scott Steiner comes to rescue Stacy and we get a delightful upskirt.

John Cena might be the first guy to get a WWE Title shot the month after WrestleMania and not be on that WrestleMania card. To earn the shot, he won a Tournament defeating Eddie Guerrero, The Undertaker and Chris Benoit. Talk about earning the shot.

WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) vs. John Cena
Cena is wearing a Yankees jersey in his home state. I understand trying to get cheap heat, but things like this are part of why he doesn’t ever have a hometown advantage. Brock pounds away on Cena to start, including dual backbreakers and a fallaway slam. Cole states that we shouldn’t count out Cena, starting a trend of Cole telling us that Cena never gives up. Brock goes from front face lock to fisherman suplex and Cena is rethinking his trash talk. Like an idiot, Cena goes for a chair but Brock stops him. It comes off as dumb when someone tries that in a title match if the referee is looking. Cena turns the tide by sending Brock into the steel steps. Brock is now busted open and Cena is in control. They do a good job of selling Brock being in trouble as he is covered in blood and Cena is picking him apart. He charges at Brock but is hit with a MASSIVE spine buster. Cena stops the comeback though with a rear naked choke and Brock’s blood is dripping down Cena’s arms. Brock powers out to break the hold and the two men have some awkward exchanges that end with Brock slamming Cena to the mat. Cena uses a low blow for another near fall and goes for the chain but Brian Hebner stops him. Brock connects with the F5 and retains.

Winner and Still WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar in 15:14
Solid match but there were some awkward points. John Cena wasn’t ready and it’s good that he didn’t win the belt for another two years. He clearly wasn’t ready but the match was still pretty good. **3/4

I’d like to point out that this is something I dislike with a lot of wrestling fans nowadays. They want the “hot” superstar to win the title quickly and don’t appreciate a slow build. Could you imagine the backlash (pun intended) if say, Cesaro got a title shot and lost like Cena just did? “HE GOT BURIED!” Cena wasn’t ready and the fact that it took years and a United States Title run before he made it to the top helped greatly in my opinion.

Booker T, Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels vs. Chris Jericho, Ric Flair and Triple H
Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho start off because they are the most skilled guys in the match and it is their usual good work. Nash gets the tag and slows things to a crawl. Booker enters and hits a big spine buster. HHH ends up getting the tag and hits the DREADED KNEE TO FACE! The teams continue to trade offense and Shawn hits a flying forearm and nips up. Sweet Chin Music to Flair but HHH comes in and hits the Pedigree. Jericho follows with some of the weakest elbow drops ever. Because he does it better than pretty much everyone else, Shawn is playing the face in peril. He eventually makes the hot tag to Nash, who fires away on the heels. He is in dominant fashion, but clearly is moving gingerly. Jericho bumps like a madman for him, making him the MVP of the match. Booker hits Jericho with the Scissors Kick and the crowd pops for the SPINAROONIE! Things have completely broken down as everyone is brawling in and around the ring. Shawn and Flair are in the ring and as Shawn goes for Sweet Chin Music, Jericho intervenes and takes him down. Figure Four is on but Flair isn’t legal so Jericho puts on the Walls. Nash breaks it up before we get a SUPER TELEGRAPHED ref bump. Nick Patrick clearly is moved into position to get knocked down. The Jackknife is hit but with the referee down, HHH enters with a sledgehammer and knocks out Nash. Patrick is conveniently up and counts the three.

Winners: Chris Jericho, Ric Flair and Triple H in 17:51
That was relatively dull which disappointed me since it featured some talented guys. It wasn’t bad, it was just as if the guys were going through the motions. **

The promo for the main event plays and it features Rock’s classic “in WCW, you were a big fish in a little pond, but The Rock is a whale in a teardrop.” Terri Runnels interviews The Rock and it is a thing of beauty. Rock cuts an absolutely fantastic promo, one of my favorites ever. The fans begin to chant his name and Rock looks pretty satisfied with himself. Go watch this, it is near the top of my favorite Rock promos. 

Goldberg vs. The Rock
Hollywood Rock is still one of my favorite characters of all time. Rock is scared at the bell but the fans chanting his name gets him pumped. Goldberg overpowers Rock, who responds with “YOU ARE IN TROUBLE NOW”. Goldberg does it again so Rock slaps him. After some stalling, Goldberg hits a Rock Bottom but misses the Spear. Rock applies his terrible looking Sharpshooter and talks so much smack to the fans at the same time. Goldberg reaches the ropes and Rock uses a timely low blow, but Goldberg hits the Spear from out of nowhere! Goldberg continues to hammer away on Rock and sell his injured shoulder from the missed Spear. Rock rallies with a spine buster and nips up. He hits the Rock Bottom but Goldberg kicks out. It’s so damn hard to boo Rock when he’s so funny. He decides to try the People’s Elbow and hits it but only for two! The crowd doesn’t like this and likes it even less when Goldberg hits a second Spear. “Goldberg Sucks” rings throughout the arena as Goldberg hits a third Spear. A Jackhammer later and Goldberg is 1-0 in the WWE.

Winner: Goldberg in 13:03
Hollywood Rock is entertaining as hell but he was on his way out so Goldberg, the new guy, had to win. The match itself was decent. **1/2

I feel that this hindered Goldberg more than they wanted it to. First of all, he was nowhere near the level of The Rock in terms of star power. Second, even as a heel, Rock was way more likeable so the fans crapped on him, especially when you throw in the fact that he’s a WCW guy.

Overall: 5/10; Mediocre. Absolute middle of the pack show. Nothing on the show besides O’Haire/Rikishi was terrible but nothing besides the opener is really that good. I wouldn’t recommend this show as it’s a far drop from WrestleMania XIX. Outside of the WWE Tag Team Title match, check out Rock/Goldberg, purely for Rock’s antics.

Smackdown Report 11-14-14

Our final stop on the UK Tour is Smackdown and it begins with the return of Chris Jericho, who is hosting the Highlight Reel. Before he introduces his guests, he reveals that he thinks the Bunny is actually Funaki. That leads to a Funaki chant. You can't make this up. The Authority arrive as Jericho's guests. Stephanie says that they give the fans what they want and nobody could do what they do. Jericho says anybody could, but that's not true Chris. Have you seen some of the ideas that people toss around online? Anyway, he mocks the Authority and shows the clip of Stephanie getting tossed into mud or whatever by Vickie Guerrero in June. They get serious and walk out as the crowd sings "hey hey goodbye". I get that this got Jericho on my TV, which I always like since he's my second favorite of all time, but it didn't accomplish much.

What would  Smackdown be without some good old fashioned rematches. Bray Wyatt steps into the ring with Sin Cara just like he did on Main Event two weeks ago. I'd like to point out that I think the WWE is missing an opportunity by not having Sin Cara come out with his NXT Tag Team Title. They could promote that he's a champion. Anyway, this goes just about how you'd expect. It takes just over two minutes and Bray wins. He gets on the microphone and brings up Dean Ambrose's dad again. The dad stuff feels rather forced. Dean responds so Bray goes outside and calls him predictable. He says that it is Dean who wants to fight and he gets back inside only to get punched. Bray quickly retreats and talks about having the light and Dean doesn't have to be in the dark. Bray's stuff is weird and not always in a good way.

Non-Title tag team action follows as the Dust Brothers face Adam Rose and the Bunny. I'm not a fan of the Bunny stuff but I guess the kiddies do like it. Again, this only gets about two minutes but the right team wins as the Champions win. After the match, Rose is not happy and he nails the Party Foul on the Bunny. Dolph Ziggler gets interviewed because he's been put in a Triple Threat Elimination match for his Intercontinental Title. It's basic stuff. Next comes a Ryback video package, followed by an interview with him. He says that Kane should worry about surviving tonight and that he is on Team Ryback.

Speaking of Dolph Ziggler and the Intercontinental Title, he defended it here in a match that went over 17 minutes! This is what I'm talking about. I just wish that this would've been announced in advance, got promoted correctly and could main event. If you could take three of the best workers in the company, Cesaro, Dolph and Tyson Kidd are damn good choices. All three men survive leading into the commercial until Dolph hits a Zig Zag on Cesaro. Tyson dumps him and steals the pin on Cesaro. OH THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD! These two go at it and steal the show before Dolph wins with the Zig Zag. I made sure not to go into play-by-play but damn this was great. You could tell that this was three guys who wanted to steal the show and worked their asses off to do so.

Keeping with theme of the TJ/Nattie family, Natalya looks for revenge after losing to her arch nemesis, Summer Rae last week. Summer's partner Layla takes her on and this went four minuets. Longer than the first two matches actually. It was probably better too. Layla can work and of course, Natalya is damn good. Despite how terrible she seems on Total Divas, she does indeed win with the Sharpshooter. Something Tyson failed to do earlier. Byron Saxton goes to interview Dean Ambrose, but he's attacked by Bray Wyatt! Bray hits Sister Abigail into the wall and delivers more cryptic messages to him. It's odd that most of their build has been on Smackdown.

Unfortunately, that fantastic Triple Threat match wasn't able to main event so we have to sit through Ryback vs. Kane. It went about eight minutes but wasn't great. Of course, because the WWE continues to protect Kane for some unknown reason, not even Ryback is allowed to pin him as he wins via disqualification after Kane uses a chair. Triple H came out to instruct Kane on how to properly give a beatdown but Ryback makes a comeback and delivers one to Kane. Then he's all like "FEED ME MORE" to close the show.

Not the best episode of Smackdown, as nothing is really worth seeing. EXCEPT FOR THAT INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH! Seriously, that was one of the most creative, well thought out and hard fought matches I've seen in a while. With Kidd/Zayn, Zayn/Neville and this Triple Threat match, we've had three awesome matches this week. 5/10. I'll say it again...go see this Intercontinental Title match.

NXT Report 11-13-14

NXT opened with the man that everyone wanted to see following his debut last week, Finn Balor. He came out and said that he came to NXT because he's the future. Tyson Kidd didn't take too kindly to that and interrupted along with Natalya. Justin Gabriel joins him to "Who Are You" chants, which is kind of messed up. They go to attack Balor so out comes Hideo Itami who's all like "Hey bro, I owe you one." William Regal makes a tag match for right now. This was a damn good opener and did exactly what it was supposed to. Kidd and Gabriel played a great heel team, Itami looked better than he has and Balor looked great. He stole the show here. They win with his double foot stomp. Great stuff.

Up next is the NXT Divas as Sasha Banks took on Alexa Bliss. I still think that the combination of Banks and Becky Lynch doesn't work. I love Becky, but she looks awkward coming out to Banks' theme and with her. This was much shorter than I hoped for, but I believe it was due to Bliss injuring his nose during the match. Banks won with the Bank Statement before issuing a challenge to Charlotte for the NXT Women's Championship. I hope she gets the shot soon and wins it.

The Lucha Dragons were in non-title action next, taking on the team of Buddy Murphy and Wesley Blake. Murphy and Blake have grown on me and this was their most impressive match so far. They worked a great style and got to do most of the offense, which was great. The Lucha Dragons made their rally and won, which made sense since they're the champions. A damn good showing from the mostly unknown tag team. Really good show so far.

If you thought the show has been really good so far, you haven't seen anything yet. Sami Zayn, on his road to redemption, steps up to face Adrian Neville for the NXT Championship. These two absolutely stole the show. Sami started in control and seemed to have Neville's number, but the champion rallied. Sami grew frustrated as he couldn't put away Neville. He hit the corner exploder and signaled for the Heluva Kick but Neville was holding his knee. The referee put up the "X" symbol and it looked like Neville was really hurt. Sami checked on his friend and was pulled into a small package to finish it. Great storytelling as Neville once again does anything to retain and Sami can't get it done.

That might have been the best episode of NXT that I can recall seeing. Everything was fantastic. The opener made Itami and especially Balor, look like total badasses. The Divas match was good but short. The Lucha Dragons match was damn good. But the NXT Title match is one of the best matches of the year. Go out and watch this episode even if you don't regularly watch NXT. It continues to be the best show the WWE puts on weekly by a mile. 9.5/10.

Main Event Report 11-11-14

Main Event goes back to its pre-taped style this week due to the WWE still being in the United Kingdom. We open with Stardust competing again, this time against Adam Rose. This came as a surprise since I expected Stardust to face someone from a tag team. Rose still had clear tension with the Bunny but won because of the Bunny's help. This went about four minutes and wasn't bad, but it was just there. I guess they're going to prolong the eventual Rose heel turn a bit. Next comes Divas action when Alicia Fox took on Cameron. It was strange since they're both heels but they played it as Cameron claiming Fox was jealous of her Total Divas success which made join the show. Cameron controlled the match, which wasn't good and it came off as awkward. Fox would end up winning, which I appreciate since she's relatively underrated.

Okay, so Main Event isn't off to the best of starts here. Bray Wyatt's promo from Raw airs before we get the Kofi Kingston "New Day" vignette. I honestly can't wait to see where that goes. Sami Zayn is out so this show is about to pick up. And he's facing Tyson Kidd! I normally don't agree with rematches but I could watch these two all day. And it makes sense since Tyson cheated last week. Tyson has been entertaining as hell over the past week and continues to shine in his new heel role. This was even better than last week. Tyson played up the heel role better, we got a false finish of the tight pulling and Tyson would win again after he pulled Natalya into harm's way. Sami stopped in his tracks and Tyson took advantage. Tyson wins his fifth or sixth straight match and I'm okay with Sami losing on the main roster right now. Great stuff and going to be hard to top as match of the week...or month.

Much like last week when "Bray Wyatt in action" was advertised, we got another throwback squash as "Dean Ambrose in action" was advertised. His obvious victory came against Justin Gabriel. It wasn't as much of a squash as I expected though, considering Gabriel lasted about five minutes and the fans were treated to a decent contest. He got on the microphone after and hyped up his upcoming match with Bray Wyatt. It was decent but not enough I feel like.

After a run of five straight shows earning over a 7/10, this show finally falls under that score. It doesn't fall by much though. The main issue with the show are the first two matches, which were just there. Ambrose/Gabriel was okay but if it wasn't for Zayn/Kidd, this would be a completely passable show. Go out of your way to see it. It was fantastic. 6/10.

Raw Report 11-10-14

Raw was held in the United Kingdom tonight, which means it was pre-recorded. UK shows are really hit or miss and this UK Tour could not have come at a worse time with the recent news that the WWE Network is delayed there. The crowd sings "John Cena Sucks" as he comes out. He plays to the crowd but it doesn't really work.He calls out his opponent for the night, Ryback, who gets a big pop from the crowd. Before Ryback is even able to speak, The Authority comes out with their third team member, Mark Henry. They pitch to Ryback as the fans chant "Where's Our Network?". Cena goes for one of his passionate speeches but Ryback plants him with a spinebuster and commentary gives up hope because this instantly means Ryback is on Team Authority in their minds. It was a good opening segment that showed Ryback gives zero fucks.

So Team Authority is now Seth Rollins, Corporate Kane, Mark Henry and possibly Ryback. I forgot to mention that John Cena has chosen Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger for some reason. Swagger took on Rollins in the opener and this was a solid choice to open. However, the fans didn't care at all for it and did my least favorite thing, which is chant for the commentators. Don't do that. Especially when the match going on isn't bad. Seth wins with the Curb Stomp and, after the match, delivers a second one. They're building the Curb Stomp like it's the 2014 Punt and that's great. This basically takes Swagger out of the running for Survivor Series. Effective stuff to continue to build Seth, but it made Swagger look weak and Cena looks dumb for picking someone who never really had a chance.

A pre-taped promo for Dean Ambrose airs where he says he will not apologize for being a sinner and that he will take Bray Wyatt down. I really feel like the WWE has limited Dean's TV time lately. I'm not saying they don't care about him because they clearly do, but he has been a lesser part of the show lately. Bray vs. Dean is announced for Survivor Series. Going backstage, they play up the Authority/Ryback tension as Kane tries to intimidate him and tell him to follow the Authority's lead. Bad move Kane. Alicia Fox is in the ring when we return for a match with Paige who gets a HUGE pop. Bigger than Ryback's earlier even. Paige wore some Union Jack boots and decided that she was a face in her home country. It worked for what it was. The more Paige I see, the better. 

Stephanie McMahon comes up to Lana and Rusev about Rusev joining Team Authority. Stephanie pulled a Triple H and talked down to Lana, calling her a "Russian Twit." I hated that as there was literally no need for it. They then showed up for Rusev's US Title Celebration, which wasn't great. Sheamus comes out for his rematch and how embarrassing would it have been if Sheamus regained the belt here? Of course he didn't but it was due to Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble distracting Sheamus. Rusev has done more than fine winning matches on his own, so I don't know why he needed this. Oh well, I guess he's on Team Authority. I just hope that after Survivor Series, he's back to being on his own.

Seth Rollins, one of the few members of the roster who has a memory that goes further back than last month, goes up to Ryback and acknowledges their past issues from his time in the Shield. He welcomes him to the team as the Captain. They played more tension up as it's rather clear where this is headed. Tag team action followed as Los Matadores took on my new favorite tag team, The Miz and Damien Mizdow. Miz and Mizdow win a relatively short bout but Los Matadores beat the Champions recently. I sense this is leading towards a multi-team Tag Title match at Survivor Series. So, the best thing about this is that Hornswoggle played a stunt double to counteract El Torito. I laughed so damn hard.

John Cena, ever the good guy, offers Dolph Ziggler a chance to jump ship to the Authority to save his career but he declines. Triple H bans Cena from ringside for Dolph's match with Mark Henry. Before the match starts, we get a Luke Harper creepy eyes promo. Dolph seemed legit weirded out. I wonder where this is going. The match itself wasn't very good, but the crowd was HOT for Dolph. He wins via DQ and Big Show makes the save before announcing that he's joining Team Cena. The angle made sense, but Big Show doesn't excite me. Ever. He should find a partner and help the tag division. A good partner.

So I guess the Xavier Woods/Kofi Kingston/Big E stable is still happening, just not as "Speed Force" because we get a New Day vignette for Kofi. It's similar to the James Brown-esque one that Woods has had over the past week or so. I like this asit gives Kofi something different to do, which he DESPERATELY NEEDS. Team Cena is backstage when Sheamus comes up to them and joins the team. Why didn't Cena ask Sheamus beforehand? I'd take him over Swagger if I was in Cena's shoes. Before Raw, Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee for the Divas Title was announced for Survivor Series. AJ took on Brie here in a battle of Daniel Bryan hookups. The match was decent, with Nikki yelling at Brie throughout. Brie taps out to the Black Widow, allowing Nikki to hit the aptly named Rack Attack on AJ after the match. This was perfectly fine.

Mark Henry continues the trend of Authority team members unwisely irritating Ryback as he goes up to him and mentions that he beat him at WrestleMania. He says he's joking but Ryback wasn't laughing. #CatsandFacts time because Tyson Kidd, my favorite thing about all of last week, comes out for a match with Adam Rose. Despite his attack on the Bunny last week on Smackdown, he comes out as normal Adam Rose. Erick Rowan, WWE's new comedy figure, appears randomly during the match. He walked around saying "she's not here." I wonder if he's looking for Renee Young. Kidd wins but commentary only cares about the tension between Rose and the Bunny. Ugh. They also announce Grumpy Cat will be at Raw next week and I swear, Kidd NEEDS a segment with him. Team Authority complains that Ryback isn't a team player but Triple H says he doesn't have to be.

Bray Wyatt cuts a promo back at Dean Ambrose and it's basic Bray stuff. Same thing he told Daniel Bryan, which was join him or fight him. YOURE EITHER NEXUS OR YOURE AGAINST US! In the main event, Team Cena was barred from ringside but Ryback had Team Authority and the Stooges. This got 15 minutes for some reason as it wasn't very good and neither were their main event matches back in 2013. The crowd wasn't into it and it lacked energy. Kane, sticking to his new gimmick of just interfering in every match possible, jumps in to attack Cena and cause the DQ. Ryback doesn't like this and attacks Rollins. The numbers game takes it toll and out come Sheamus and Show. They don't get it done, but Ryback gets back in and cleans house. Where was Ziggler you ask? Backstage, he was getting tossed into Triple H and Stephanie's office by Luke Harper, who says that he is a Team Player. Interesting.

That was better than a lot of recent Raws, but nothing special. There weren't really any standout matches but the WWE has done a very effective job of building Survivor Series as being important and of building Ryback. The thought of a Luke Harper/Dolph Ziggler program is pretty great as well. 6.5/10.

Random Network Reviews: Bash at the Beach 1996

Bash at the Beach 1996
July 7th, 1996 – Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida – Attendance: 8,300

So, as the grand return of “Random Network Reviews”, I come back with Bash at the Beach 1996. Lucky that my randomizer landed on this because it’s a historic show. For those who somehow have no clue why it’s historic, it’s the infamous night that the nWo officially formed. SPOILER ALERT! Wait, I did that part too late. Anyway, I’m interested in saying for sure exactly how the rest of the show is since most people only remember the important ending. The main event, for those unaware, pits Sting, Lex Luger and Macho Man against Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and the mystery third partner who will be invading WCW.

For being a company with an endless budget to sign stars, WCW has the worst production company in wrestling history. WWE had and still has a top notch team and even ECW had promo videos that worked perfectly for them. WCW’s stuff looks low budget, has terrible stock music and just everything is bad. Commentary tonight consists of Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes. 

Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
An ambitious start considering how unknown these guys were at the time to the general audience. They start the match with some mat wrestling as I see a half crab, bow and arrow and cross Armbreaker within the first moments. Also of note, Mike Tenay joins commentary for this match because he can call the moves and the other guys can’t. They basically admit this, which is sad. They show off athleticism with some springboard moves before Psychosis hits a dive to the outside which blows the commentator’s minds. Back inside, Psychosis hits a leg drop and then a guillotine leg drop that Dusty claims he was going to call but Tenay beat him to it. Sure, Dusty. Psychosis applies a head scissors to wear down Mysterio. They fight to the apron and Rey catapults Psychosis into the ring post before snapping off a hurricanrana that drives the crowd wild. Rey goes back to working the leg so he can ground Psychosis. Rey ties him up in the corner and dropkicks him as Tenay continues to be the MVP of commentary. Drop toe hold and another head scissors from Psychosis puts him back in the driver’s seat. He then lays out Rey outside and hits a top rope senton and again, the crowd has no idea this awesome style existed. Back inside, Psychosis hits an enziguri and Heenan is confused at how Tenay knows the names of these moves. Rey turns things around with a cartwheel that gets him on his opponent’s shoulders and he snaps off another hurricanrana. He hits a springboard dropkick and then a leaping hurricanrana from the top rope, taking Psychosis off the apron. Rey gets a near fall with a springboard moonsault before a springboard dropkick takes Psychosis outside. Rey follows with a twisting Asai moonsault and Heenan is again confused, calling it an Asai hip toss. Back inside, Psychosis counters a springboard hurricanrana with a stiff powerbomb for two. Psychosis sets up Rey on the top for a top rope Outsider’s Edge of sorts, but Rey reverses into a gorgeous top rope hurricanrana to finally win.

Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr. in 15:18
My goodness, the rest of this card has a long way to go to even come close to that. One of the best openers that I’ve ever seen. Go out of your way and watch this now. Two guys going balls to the wall and stealing the show. ****1/2

Mean “BY GAWD” Gene interviews the United States Champion, Konnan and asks him to explain the finish to the previous match. Konnan does so and is like “seriously guys? I have to explain this?” He stumbles a bit through a promo on his match with Ric Flair tonight.

Carson City Silver Dollar Match
Big Bubba w/ Jimmy Hart vs. John Tenta
What’s a Carson City Silver Dollar match you ask? Obviously it’s a match where you have to retrieve a sock filled with silver dollars from a pole in the corner. A sock that looks like a condom by the way. Tenta has no music and is bald except for the right side of the back of his head. We get slow paced action, and I use the term action in the loosest possible way. Tenta steps on Bubba and tries the climb. The sock is FAR too high up for anyone not named The Giant to reach. Bubba hits a poor looking back suplex and climbs. He is standing on the top rope and is still maybe another Big Bubba and a half away from reaching. Tenta stops him and tries again but realizes how far away he is, so he decides to unhook the pole. Wise move since WCW stupidly placed the sock absurdly high. Bubba gets a belt and chokes Tenta out. He then ties Tenta up to the ropes and whips him with the belt. Tenta cuts himself loose after kicking Bubba and cuts the stuff holding the pole in place. Big Bubba stops him and makes Jimmy Hart climb the pole. Hart looks scared for his life since the top of the pole is like six stories up. He retrieves it but Tenta takes out Bubba, gets the sock and lays out Bubba with it to thankfully end this.

Winner: John Tenta in 9:14
Big Boss Man vs. Earthquake might have been a decent money match back in 1991 in the WWF. Here, it was terrible. Slow, plodding and dull with a dumb gimmick and an even dumber setup for the gimmick. DUD

Post-match, John Tenta takes out the silver dollars and lays them on Bubba’s closed eyes. I guess Bubba is dead. Commentary reminds everyone that Eric Bischoff is missing and they basically beg him to reach out if he can. So that’s possible murder and kidnapping on the same night.

Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene interviews Sting, Macho Man and Lex Luger, the team in tonight’s main event. They’re all in Sting face paint and Macho Man steals the show. He speaks first and kills before Luger stumbles through his part to the point where Macho shouts “WHAT’S THE POINT?!” Sting does fine but goodness, Macho Man is the greatest.

Taped Fist Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
I don’t know if they built it up during the prior weeks but Dusty Rhodes calls Jim Duggan the “master of the taped fist”. I had no clue. DDP wasn’t quite a star yet but he was still like 45 years old here. He tries to shoulder block Duggan but fails and oversells by falling all the way outside. Being a heel, DDP rakes the eyes and tapes Duggan’s legs around the corner. It’s a taped fist match DDP, not taped feet. This guy is a total rule breaker. Nick “World’s Greatest Referee” Patrick unties Duggan but that allows DDP to wail away on him. Duggan no sells and starts to beat the hell out of DDP as Dusty starts speaking in gibberish on commentary. They brawl outside for a short while. Also, they’re fighting for a ring that DDP won in Battle Bowl or something like that. Schiavone calls it one of the most prestigious things in our sport, but I’ve never heard of this ring. DDP tries to climb up top but gets crotched and Duggan brings him to the mat hard. Duggan and his 80’s offense smashes DDP into the turnbuckle ten times. DDP then uses the rope to his advantage and hits the Diamond Cutter to win.

Winner: Diamond Dallas Page in 5:39
Abrupt ending to a match that wasn’t great. DDP tried his best and I could tell there was some potential there but Jim Duggan sucks so hard. *1/2

Jim Duggan attacks DDP after the match as Tony Schiavone exclaims “Yes! Hit him while he’s down.” God forbid a heel did this, he would be the scum of the Earth in Tony’s eyes.

More from Mean Gene backstage as he interviews The Giant, Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan. This is just weird. The Giant says that Sullivan isn’t the weak link as Sullivan does strange movements. I’d like to point out that I never found Sullivan interesting in the least. Gene also badmouths Hart before sending it to Lee Marshall and his mustache at the entrance of the arena with Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson. It’s Anderson and Benoit against Giant and Sullivan and if a member of the Horsemen can get the pin a member of the team gets a World Title shot. Anderson delivers his usual good promo and Benoit talks about being silent and violent. I much preferred their stuff to the Dungeon of Doom stuff.

Four Man Dog Collar Match
The Nasty Boys vs. Public Enemy
First things first, no clue why this isn’t just called a tag team dog collar match and is instead a four man dog collar match. Like it’s a Fatal Four Way or something. Jerry Saggs is tied to Rocco Rock and Brian Knobbs is connects to Johnny Grunge. Once things start they instantly go outside and we get what Dusty calls the “Double Trouble Bash at the Beach Bubble”, which is a split screen so we can see both sides of the action. The graphic behind the split screen is just the worst kind of production. They fight to through the aisle as Knobbs knocks out Grunge with an inflatable shark. Yup, and Grunge sold it. Saggs tries to one up Knobbs by hitting Rock with a surfboard. Schiavone, in his infinite wisdom, shouts “YOU CAN DO A LOT MORE WITH A SURFBOARD THAN YOU CAN WITH A SHARK”. We get a near fall on the surfboard as well as this is just ridiculous. Rocco climbs a lifeguard seat and hits a slow front flip off of it onto Saggs. They continue to just bash each other with various weapons. The split screen of bad production makes this tough to enjoy but the guys are at least trying. Rocco puts Saggs through a table in the aisle. The split screen ends as they’re back in the ring and Rocco goes to put Saggs through a table, but Saggs pulls him by the chain off the top and he bounces off the table instead of going through it. Saggs lays Rocco on the table and leaps off the second rope but it still doesn’t break. Saggs sends Rocco off the ropes and he gets tied up badly. They hang Grunge by the chain and send Rocco into it, clotheslining him with it to end it.

Winners: The Nasty Boys in 11:25
I didn’t hate this. It was a fun match with some entertaining spots but the finish came off weird. **1/2

Because this is WCW, commentary says this match settled nothing, tune into Nitro tomorrow and everyone continued to brawl. They then go back to discussing who the mystery third man will be in the main event. We cut to Gene Okerlund in the back and man, they must be paying him a ton because WCW uses him so often. He literally says a lot of nothing and that was useless.

WCW World Cruiserweight Championship
Dean Malenko (c) vs. Disco Inferno
Disco Inferno talks about dancing before the bell. Dean Malenko has such badass theme music. Anyway, Malenko is pissed and throws Disco out of the ring instantly. He takes him back inside and gets a near fall before continuing to pound away. Malenko hits a brainbuster that literally made me leap from my seat. That should’ve been it but Disco kicks out. The Champion continues to beat the hell out of Disco for a while. Dean has targeted the leg because I guess he really doesn’t like Disco’s dancing. Commentary has completely given up on trying to call the match as they just keep talking about the main event. Disco finally gets offense with a series of punches and the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot! Dean gets serious and attacks him outside again. Back inside, he works him over with another submission. Disco reaches the ropes and hits a neck breaker that Schiavone calls a “jawbreaker”. No Tony, you’re wrong. Malenko fights back and tries the Texas Cloverleaf but Disco pulls him into a small package for two. Malenko gets pissed, hits a tiger bomb and puts on the Cloverleaf this time, making Disco give up.

Winner and Still WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko in 12:04
Tony Schiavone calls it a classic, but that’s giving it too much. It’s not bad and allowed Disco to show resilience. ***

Joe Gomez vs. Steve “Mongo” McMichael w/ Debra McMichael
Mongo is the worst Horsemen of all time and nobody should even debate that. Mongo slaps Joe Gomez around and seems like he should be the heel. Gomez gets a near fall with a cross body and he doesn’t look Hispanic at all. This is incredibly dull so far. Mongo hits a backbreaker that looks like crap for two. He applies a camel clutch and then a sleeper hold that Gomez counters with a jawbreaker. Mongo oversells it in a negative way. Mongo tries a figure four shortly after but it’s stopped with a small package for two. Why is this still going on? They trade punches until Gomez hits two dropkicks in a row. They totally botch a sunset flip sequence before Mongo hits a Tombstone to win.

Winner: Steve McMichael in 6:44
Who the hell thought this should be on Pay-Per-View? And get nearly seven minutes? Fire him immediately. This sucked hard. DUD

Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene is back and he’s interviewing Ric Flair backstage along with Miss Elizabeth and Woman. Elizabeth looks tremendous here. Flair’s promo is gold as usual and he sings “La Cucaracha”. 

WCW United States Championship
Konnan (c) vs. Ric Flair w/ Miss Elizabeth and Woman
Early feeling out sequence that Konnan wins and Woman is already upsetting me with her yelling. Konnan gets Flair in an early rest hold and Schiavone says that Flair is in the best shape of his life. Not too sure about that one. A signature short punch from Flair turns the tide a bit but Flair ends up eating the back body drop in his usual way. Woman is awful. Konnan locks in a surfboard before they trade chops. Things spill outside and Elizabeth gets knocked down but is up quicker than most wrestlers. Konnan goes up top, Woman shakes the bottom rope and that somehow causes Konnan to fall. Even worse, this is RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE who doesn’t call it. Good ol’ Nick Patrick. Woman does interference that makes sense by low blowing Konnan behind Patrick’s back. Even though Flair is in control, he continues to use Woman to cheat. Flair works Konnan with rest holds for a few until he rallies behind the crowd and we get the Flair fall. Konnan hits a springboard dropkick as Woman continues to be the worst. Nick Patrick has the gall to stop Konnan from using a closed fist after allowing Woman to cheat in front of him. Konnan applies the Figure Four but Flair, being the master, gets out. Konnan tries a pin but Elizabeth distracts the official and Woman stands on the apron FOREVER before hitting Konnan with her heel. Flair covers with his feet on the TOP rope and gets the three.

Winner and New WCW United States Champion: Ric Flair in 15:39
Decent match, but too much nonsense interference. Nothing special. **3/4

Gene “Hardest Working Man in WCW” Okerlund is at the door of The Outsider’s locker room trying to listen in.

Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant and The Taskmaster w/ Jimmy Hart
So, Ric Flair wrestled as a heel but the other Horsemen worked as faces on this show? Classic WCW. A brawl starts in the aisle between everyone and the Horsemen have Mongo appear to bring The Giant out. The Horsemen are alone with Kevin Sullivan, which is smart. Giant comes down shortly after, so this didn’t accomplish much. Sullivan and Benoit fight in and out of the ring and I can’t get over how much I dislike Sullivan. The Horsemen are beating the hell out of the Taskmaster, so I guess the Dungeon of Doom are somehow faces. Anderson and Benoit work the heel tag team like it’s their job as they cut the ring in half and keep Giant out of there. The Horsemen go for a spike piledriver but Sullivan counters with the WORST SLINGSHOT IN HISTORY. He tags in Giant and fights with Benoit to the back. Well, they don’t fight, they just walk together with no resistance. Giant beats up Anderson in the ring and Chokeslams him to wrap this up.

Winners: WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant and The Taskmaster in 7:58
The tag formula made sense to isolate Kevin Sullivan but this was totally dull. *1/4

The Giant and Jimmy Hart exit, leaving Kevin Sullivan to take a beat down from Chris Benoit. So much for teamwork eh? Woman walks down shouting for Benoit to stop pounding on The Taskmaster. The Giant comes back out, so Benoit leaves with Woman.

We’re taken to more terrible production videos hyping the show before going to Michael Buffer. I hate Buffer and he sucks at everything.

Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Mystery Partner vs. Lex Luger, Macho Man and Sting
Of course, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash arrive alone with no third man. Pretty much right off the bat, Lex Luger is taken out, probably because he’s the worst worker in the match. That effectively makes this a basic tag team match. As things calm down and Luger is stretchered out, Sting and Hall wrestle while Nash and Macho are on the apron. Sting is aggressive as hell before Nash and Macho get tagged. Dusty shouts something about “WHOBADNOW WHOBADNOW WHOBADNOW?” which made less sense because Nash was the one beating on Savage. They try and sell the WCW team as being picked via a “lottery”. Sure, it just so happened that these three were pulled and not Joe Gomez or Super Calo. The Outsiders now isolate Sting and work the tag formula. Tony Schiavone wants to see Nash and Hall get injured, which is something he never calls for. Sting just gets worked over for what seems like a ton of time. However, Savage gets the tag and the place blows up. He does usual hot tag stuff and tosses Hall outside before hitting him with a double axe handle. Hulk Hogan is here! He walks to the ring leading to the infamous “WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?!” remark from Bobby Heenan. Hogan drops the leg on Savage and officially turns heel, crushing the dreams of children everywhere. He high fives Hall and Nash before hitting another Leg Drop on Savage.

No Contest after 16:54
The match was all about anticipation. Everyone was waiting for the third man and the match dragged because of it. **

Commentary is beside themselves as the New World Order is officially formed. Tony Schiavone says this has been pre-meditated since Hogan’s arrival in 1994. Hogan cuts a long promo about his heel turn and, while he looked uncomfortable here, he would grow into a fantastic heel. 

Overall: 5.5/10; Decent. Understand this, the show isn’t amazing but it is damn historic. The opener is phenomenal and the main event is must see from a historical perspective. There are two terrible matches in Tenta/Bubba and Mongo/Gomez, but the Cruiserweight Title is good and the US Title match is solid. Go out of your way to watch the opener and the ending. Next time on “Random Network Reviews” will be ECW Guilty as Charged 2001!

Smackdown Report 11-7-14

With a chance to deliver arguably the best week of WWE television this year, Smackdown opens with a Steel Cage match for the Tag Team Titles. The Dust Brothers took on The Usos in another in their long line of matches. Because they're wrestled so often, these are two teams who can have good matches together in their sleep and this was one of their better ones. I think that starting with a Steel Cage match was an excellent idea as it got the show off to a rocking start. Near the end, an Uso hit a superplex on Goldust, leading to the other Uso splashing him. He covered but Stardust rolled him up to retain in about 10 minutes. Good opener and The Dust Brothers are playing the resilient champions very well.

After a recap of the big finish to Raw, Kane was in the ring. It's weird to see the fire all over the tron and then see him in a suit. He announces that he will take on Dolph Ziggler tonight as a punishment for Dolph denying the Authority, inside of the Steel Cage. Two Cage matches? Yes, please. He calls out someone the Authority is scouting and out comes Cesaro. He cuts his usual awkard promo but it wasn't him that Kane was talking about. He says that if Cesaro wants to prove himself he should beat the guy Kane was scouting, which is Ryback. Ryback wins in about four minutes and, as Kane claps for him, ignores him because Ryback doesn't give a shit.

Uh-oh. Smackdown is threatening to fall off of a cliff as R-Truth is out and to make matters worse, out comes Adam Rose for one on one action. Thank goodness this lasts less than two minutes but it was actually of some importance. See, the Bunny got on the apron and this upset Rose, allowing Truth to score the pin. Adam Rose shoved the Bunny after the match and it looks like he might have turned heel.

Things pick up as Christian returns to host the Peep Show! Before we dive into this, I think that this should become a weekly Smackdown thing. If Christian isn't going to wrestle due to injuries, allow him to host the Peep Show weekly, exclusive to Smackdown. It gives someone promo time and Christian can work with anyone, even helping those who need help and it will also be cool to have ti only be on Smackdown. His guest is Dean Ambrose, who discusses his issues with Bray Wyatt. Ambrose was his usual great self but the star was Bray here. He talked about how he saved Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. He wanted to save Daniel Bryan but Bryan wouldn't listen and now he's never seen. He wants to do the same for Dean. FINALLY SOME SORT OF ANSWERS. Bray hits a verbal low blow by discussing Ambrose's father being in jail. Not sure if that's a real thing. Ambrose goes to attack but Bray uses his tricks to avoid and freak Dean out. This is the stuff I've been waiting for when it comes to this feud. Bray delivers a promo that makes sense and this thing is heating up for sure.

We pretty much see a full recap of the Sheamus/Rusev match that was exclusive to the Network on Monday. For those who don't know, Rusev would capture the United States Title there. My love Renee Young interviews another of my loves, AJ Lee about being attacked by Brie Bella. Brie comes to apologize, allowing Nikki to get in a sneak attack. We get a fantastic shot of some AJ booty and I guess we're heading towards AJ/Nikki. Not bad. 

That segment leads to a Divas match putting the ultimate Total Divas rivalry into the ring. Summer Rae takes on Natalya but the key is that Tyson Kidd continues to be the MVP of the week as he is on commentary. They also show a clip of Summer and Layla flirting with Tyson before the match, which upset Nattie. Tyson calls himself the Wayne Gretzky of the WWE as he assisted on Rusev's US Title win. He accidentally distracted Nattie, allowing Summer to win! 

A long video airs about a Sergeant named Dan Rose, who is a paralyzed army vet. Through a non-profit organization he was provided with a robotic exoskeleton and can now walk. It's pretty cool and the dude is basically a cyborg. We then move into the main event, which I appreciate as it gives Dolph Ziggler a chance to shine. Another thing I feel could help Smackdown would be if the Intercontinental Title got the chance to be the focal point of the show. Especially with Brock Lesnar making limited appearances as WWE Champion. The match was better than I expected and Dolph wisely used an exposed turnbuckle to help him climb over and out.

Well, Smackdown accomplished the feat of a clean sweep of damn good WWE TV. Raw, Main Event and NXT all got at least a 7/10 and tonight's Smackdown earns a 7.5/10. The two Cage matches were very good, the Divas stuff was fine, but the show stealer was The Peep Show segment.