Random Network Reviews: No Mercy 2005

No Mercy 2005
October 9th, 2005 – Toyota Center in Houston, Texas – Attendance: 7,000

Unfortunately, this show must be viewed with a bit of a heavy heart as this would turn out to be the last Pay-Per-View that the late Eddie Guerrero would ever compete in. After viewing Backlash ’99 (Owen Hart’s last PPV) and One Night Stand ’07 (Chris Benoit’s), hopefully I don’t have to do many more like this. Enough of that though, this is a show that I don’t believe I ordered live so it should be a first time viewing for me and those excite me. Let’s dive in!

The opening video talks about Eddie Guerrero’s heel turn where he said he’s no longer addicted to pills but he’s addicted to being the World Heavyweight Champion. I do feel that Eddie did good work during this heel run, but the fans wanted to cheer him badly. It also promotes the Undertaker vs. Randy Orton feud. Michael Cole and Tazz introduce the show as this is a Smackdown exclusive PPV. Spanish commentary is there too, so expect a table spot.

Six Person Intergender Tag Team Match
Legion of Doom and Christy Hemme vs. MNM
I never really found Melina to be that hot but the split was great with her short skirt. It pains me to write Legion of Doom for an old, out of shape Animal and Heidenreich. Oh my god, they were the WWE Tag Team Champions. Heidenreich is a dirty fighter because he brings Johnny Nitro in while MNM is talking strategy. His face paint is strange for sure and he nails a huge clothesline. Animal gets the tag and he somehow kicks out of the Snapshot. To be fair, it did take a bit to pin him. Animal is sporting some shoulder tape, so MNM starts to target it. Melina even gets in some cheap shots from the apron on Animal. Didn’t Tatanka come back around the same time as Animal? What was Smackdown thinking? Mercury tries a cross body but is caught with a powerslam for two. Heidenreich is tired of waiting for the hot tag and comes in before going outside with Nitro. Melina tags herself in as Mercury is down and leaps into Animal like a moron. She gets caught and Christy gets the tag. They steal the Hart Attack clothesline and I die a little inside. Christy botches a hurricanrana and they signal for the Doomsday Device. Christy goes to the top and they actually hit it. Christy covers and that’s all.

Winners: Legion of Doom and Christy Hemme in 6:26
The crowd was surprisingly hot for this. MNM worked the shoulder, which made sense and it was kept relatively short. Basically, it was inoffensive and that’s more than I expected. **

Batista is shown warming up in the back when Eddie Guerrero walks in. He stares him down and wishes him good luck through gritted teeth before Batista says it back and that’s it.

Bobby Lashley vs. Simon Dean
Before the match, Simon Dean cuts a promo about the city of Houston being the fattest city in America. He also brought out twenty double cheeseburgers and says that if he loses, he will eat all twenty. Dean is wrestling with a cast because Lashley broke his hand a few weeks ago. Lashley tosses him around and when Dean goes to use the cast, gets caught and suplexed hard. He does dodge a move and Lashley hits the turnbuckle. He then throws a cheeseburger in what has to be one of the best referee distraction techniques ever. He hits Lashley in the head with the tray but it has zero effect. What is he, Samoan? Lashley throws him into the corner and slams him before planting him with the Dominator to win his PPV debut.

Winner: Bobby Lashley in 1:53
Exactly what I expected this to be. A squash but I will admit that it was more entertaining than I expected. SQUASH

Post-match, Lashley shoves a cheeseburger in Simon Dean’s mouth. I guess he’ll eat the other 19 in the back. Some backstage announcer that I don’t recognize, interviews JBL about the possibility of Raw Superstars invading. Jillian Hall and her stupid face growth is with him. JBL calls his opponent for the night, Rey Mysterio a tortilla or something. Rey shows up, speaks Spanish and then says that JBL may want to hide his face in shame behind a Mysterio mask. JBL declines so Rey says that Jillian needs it more. He’s not wrong.

United States Championship Fatal Four Way Match
Chris Benoit (c) vs. Booker T w/ Sharmell vs. Christian vs. Orlando Jordan
One of these things just doesn’t belong here. I’m looking at you Orlando Jordan. Man, the WWE missed the boat with Christian in 2005. Chris Benoit gets knocked outside so Christian and OJ double up on Booker. Booker has the crowd firmly behind him, being from Houston and he goes for the Scissors Kick but Christian trips him up and throws him into the steel steps. Benoit gets the Crossface on OJ, which is what won him the belt at SummerSlam in like 20 seconds. Christian breaks it up and eats a snap suplex for his troubles. Benoit suplexes OJ on Christian as well before a drop toe hold drives Christian into OJ’s crotch. After seeing his TNA gimmick, he might have liked that. It’s like its 1999 as Booker connects with a missile dropkick. Benoit and Booker end up as the only guys in the ring and commentary mentions that they are friends. They bring up the classic Best of Seven from WCW and the WWE would redo it shortly after this. Their stuff gets interrupted by the heels. Benoit and Christian fight on the top when Booker is sent in and knocks them both off and to the outside. OJ charges into a rollup but Booker only gets two. Booker hits a Double A like spinebuster but Christian messes with the pin. Booker stays hot by hitting Christian and then kicking Benoit. HOUSTON SPINAROONIE! Scissors Kick connects on OJ but that Creepy Little Bastard breaks it again. He goes for the Unprettier on Benoit but it’s reversed into Germans. It’s broken up before the third but he eventually hits it anyway. He decides to say fuck it, I’ll do another three Germans. He goes up top but misses the diving headbutt. Crossface ends up locked in on Christian anyway until OJ breaks it. He is thrown out, so Benoit locks Christian in the Sharpshooter and Captain Charisma is forced to tap.

Winner and still WWE United States Champion: Chris Benoit in 10:23
That was nothing if not fun. It went at a breakneck pace and never slowed down. Everybody played their roles well and the Sharpshooter finish was unexpected, which I like. ***1/4

Booker T is crushed that he couldn’t win in his hometown and Sharmell, ever the vindictive woman, blames Chris Benoit. She says that he is not Booker’s friend, leading to their feud. We cut to see Lashley making Simon Dean eat the cheeseburgers.

Hardcore Holly vs. Mr. Kennedy
Mr. Kennedy makes sure to introduce himself before the bell, which he was so damn captivating at. Hardcore Holly is actually introduced by Tony Chimel as the “Alabama Slamma”. I can’t make this up. Kennedy is tentative but is brought in the hard way. At this point, Kennedy was undefeated and had beaten two former World Champions in Rey Mysterio and Booker T. Hardcore snaps off his dropkick, which was for a long time, the best in the business. Holly dominates the start until Kennedy pulls him outside. He drives his shoulder into the ring post for a one count. Kennedy works the shoulder for a bit, using one of my favorite moves, the single arm DDT. Despite that, this is pretty dull stuff. Holly rallies but the crowd doesn’t care and he hits a big full nelson slam for two. Kennedy oddly goes for a high kick and ends up trying Trouble in Paradise. Holly looks confused and blocks it, which was funny. Holly goes up top, so Kennedy meets him with the Green Bay Plunge to stay undefeated.

Winner: Mr. Kennedy in 8:49
I liked the arm work as Kennedy worked it well and Holly sold it better, but the crowd knew the outcome and didn’t care for Holly’s rally. They did pop for the finish, but it was too little too late. *3/4

Officials come out to check on Holly’s arm but because he’s Hardcore, he wants no help. Sylvan, Smackdown’s fashion consultant, comes out and attacks Hardcore Holly. I didn’t care and nobody else did either.

More of Simon Dean having to eat burgers and he finds a hair in the food. That’s awful. Sharmell is shown yelling at Booker T because Chris Benoit is a winner and Booker isn’t. Mr. Kennedy interrupts and is his usual brash self. Booker wants to hit him but Sharmell says that Kennedy and Benoit aren’t the problem. He is! Booker should’ve given her the Scissors Kick.

John “Bradshaw” Layfield w/ Jillian Hall vs. Rey Mysterio
Tazz spends the first few seconds just talking about Mil Mascaras but he butchers his last name, even though he says it about fifteen times. JBL tries to bully Rey but the underdog responds with kicks. JBL grounds him with a headlock for a while. Rey gets free and begins to play cat and mouse with JBL. It’s funny to see JBL chase him and get tired. Rey uses a dropkick to the knee for a near fall and is wisely uses his speed and going after the leg. Rey goes for the 619 but misses. He goes to springboard out but JBL pulls Jillian in the way. For some reason, he turns his back and allows Rey to bulldog him. JBL changes the pace by driving Rey’s face into the steel steps. The next big spots comes from a second rope fallaway slam by JBL but instead of going for a pin, he does another fallaway slam. JBL goes outside and hits a third out there. Rey shows that heart and desire by kicking out, which frustrates JBL. He applies a bearhug but Rey counters with a tornado DDT. He hits a springboard cross body and a hurricanrana before busting out the bronco buster. Jillian gets on the apron, giving up an upskirt view. JBL almost runs into her by mistake but stops and is grossed out by her face. Rey hits a moonsault for two. Clothesline from Hell is stopped by a dropkick and Rey nails the 619. He goes for the West Coast Pop, but JBL dodges and strikes with the Clothesline from Hell to end it.

Winner: John “Bradshaw” Layfield in 13:23
You know what? That was much better than I expected it to be. Rey Mysterio always plays the underdog amongst the best to ever do it and JBL was great as the ruthless bully. Good big man/little man match. ***

Handicap Casket Match
“Cowboy” Bob Orton and Randy Orton vs. The Undertaker
The Ortons attempt to corner Undertaker but it fails and he ends up laying into both of them in the corner. Randy hits a low blow that takes Undertaker down. Good to know; even if you’re dead, a shot to the nuts still hurts. Taker survives some shots and goes to throw Randy in the casket but Randy dodges the box. Bob is selling every shot like it’s killing him but when he goes in the casket, he moves faster than I’ve ever seen him move. I’m talking even back in the 80’s. Undertaker is wisely focusing on Randy, hitting him with Old School before punching Bob. He hits a Downward Spiral, which I don’t remember him having in his arsenal. He goes for Old School on Bob but Orton crotches him. The Ortons do a double second rope suplex that Cole calls a “duperplex”. Someone fire him right now. They try to do another one into the casket, which makes no sense, so Taker counters into a double DDT. Bob goes in but Orton survives with a neckbreaker. Bob gets a fire extinguisher and is walking like he’s in quicksand. Undertaker stops him obviously and gets a chair. He hits Randy in the back which puts him in the casket. He struggles to get Bob’s fat ass in, so he uses a triangle choke to do so. A “rest in peace” chants starts, which I’ve never liked. Both Ortons are in but Randy stops it from closing. He nails a powerslam inside and tries to end it, but Undertaker hits a low blow. They trade blows in the ring and Randy goes for his Last Ride. As he goes to place Randy in the casket, Bob comes out from it and sprays him with the extinguisher, leading to an RKO. Bob goes to roll him in but a choke stops that, so Randy lays him out with the extinguisher. Undertaker pulls Randy in with him and both are locked in the casket. BOB ORTON WINS! They open it and Randy hits him with a steel chair before closing it.

Winners: Bob and Randy Orton in 19:16
Knowing that I enjoyed their WrestleMania 21 match, I had higher hopes for this. It was a handicap casket match though, so it wasn’t very great. They did their best but that’s not much.**1/2

The Ortons drags the casket up to the entrance and Bob gets an axe. Randy starts chopping it up like he’s a lumberjack. Bob brings out gasoline and they set the casket on fire. They celebrate but guess what guys? DID YOU NOT WATCH THE 1998 ROYAL RUMBLE? THIS DOES NOTHING BUT GIVE THE UNDERTAKER A VACATION!

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Nunzio (c) w/ Vito vs. Juventud w/ Psicosis and Super Crazy
Poor cruiserweights are supposed to go on after the crowd thinks The Undertaker died. So Juvi earned this shot by winning a battle royal on Velocity, leading to the FBI and Mexicools clashing in a battle of which group stereotypes their race more. We get like seven near falls in the first minute. Looking at the waist on Juvi, I wouldn’t consider him a cruiserweight. He goes up top but Nunzio pulls him down and earns a near fall. They botch a victory roll spot for two and Nunzio retaliates with an Italian leg sweep. See what I did there? Both guys go up top and do like a double facebuster or something. After dueling near falls, a spin kick from Juvi is followed by a dropkick for guess what? Two. Flying head scissors is reversed into a bomb for two again. Juvi uses a craft move to take out Vito on the outside and hits a cross body, but Nunzio rolls through for two. Juvi hits a northern lights suplex right into the Juvi Driver and captures the gold.

Winner and New WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Juventud in 6:37
I’ll give them credit for trying. The fifteen or so near falls was a neat concept but the problem was that the crowd didn’t care, so they didn’t bite on them. **3/4

Of course they get Spanish commentator Hugo to interview Juvi. He rambles in Spanish, as does Super Crazy but Psicosis claims that “your ass is grass and we’re the lawnmowers.” Yup. We get another stupid Lashley and Simon Dean segment.

World Heavyweight Championship
Batista (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero
From what I see in the video package, the Eddie Guerrero/Batista angle was interesting and pretty well done. Things begin with a feeling out process and Batista uses his power to make Eddie regroup outside. Inside, they trade some holds and Batista scores the first near fall with a body slam. Eddie steps outside and grabs a steel chair, causing Cole to shout “I KNEW IT! THE OLD EDDIE GUERRERO!” Eddie decides against it and Batista is pissed, so he grabs him around the throat. Eddie snaps him on the tope rope and connects with the Frog Splash on Batista’s back, but only gets two! Is a Frog Splash to the back not as effective as one on the chest? Regardless, Eddie targets the back with a dropkick and a half Boston crab. He removes the tag rope but again goes against cheating. STORYTELLING! Eddie applies a rear naked choke of sorts but Batista manages to power out. He goes with a bearhug but Eddie breaks it by clapping behind his head. Batista gets fired up and charges, but Eddie dropkicks him in the knee and tries the Lasso from El Paso. Batista counters with a small package for two. Eddie knocks out the referee by accident. He realizes that both the official and the Champion are down, so he grins and grabs the steel chair. He struggles with himself and again goes against it, so Batista is able to take control. He beats him from pillar to post and a back body drop is followed by a Spear. He goes all Ultimate Warrior with the rope and attempts the Batista Bomb but Eddie rolls forward because Batista’s back is out. He still hits a spinebuster but is too hurt to cover on time and only gets two. Eddie blocks an elbow and hits the Three Amigos. The signals for the Frog Splash and the crowd pops. He misses and runs into a spinebuster, which is surprisingly enough to end it.

Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: Batista in 18:40
The story of Eddie Guerrero trying to stay reformed and fighting with his instincts was great. Batista sold the back well throughout, Eddie looked great and things made sense. Even the spinebuster finish made sense since Batista couldn’t do the Batista Bomb. ***3/4

Batista picks up Eddie Guerrero after the match and raises his arm. He backs away and extends his hand for Batista, who reciprocates. Eddie gives an intriguing grin as Batista turns around and it seemed like this was going to get much more interesting if it wasn’t for Eddie’s untimely passing.

Overall: 6/10; Average. Going in, I didn’t have high expectations as I knew that brand exclusive PPVs could sometimes drag. This was a bit better than I thought it would be. The main event told a great story, the US Title match was a lot of fun and JBL/Rey was big man vs. little man done right. The main issue is that everything else is subpar at best. Next time on “Random Network Reviews”, I take a long look at the very first ever Clash of the Champions!

Raw History: Episode 4

Monday Night Raw “RIP Andre” [4]
February 1st, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Can the WWF continue off of a great episode of Raw? Let's find out. For the first time, we go straight into a match. Commentary is back to Vince McMahon, Macho Man and Rob Bartlett.

Damien Damento vs. Tatanka
I must have missed it on the first episode but Damien Damento is introduced as hailing from the “outer reaches of your mind.” Tatanka hits a hip toss and body slam before knocking Damento outside. Instead of regrouping, Damento decides it's best to talk to the heavens for some reason. Back inside, Damento uses an eye rake to take control and he connects with a big clothesline. Damento continues with a big leg drop for a near fall. Vince reminds us that Tatanka is undefeated. Damento is getting in way more offense than I expected as he uses a rest hold to wear down the Native American. He rallies out and no sells a shot to the turnbuckle. He must be a Braves fan as he Tomahawk Chops and dances around before finishing off Damento.

Winner: Tatanka in 4:10
Nothing match really. Damento controlled too much of it for Tatanka to be impressive to me. *1/4

In a cool video, we see highlights of the WWF's recent live event at Madison Square Garden for “Headlock on Hunger.” It shows Bret Hart presenting a check for charity.

We return to see Vince McMahon in the ring as he is going to interview a returning great. It's Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. So, I guess we're false advertising now huh? They discuss his parasailing injury and how he's returning now. He talks about the rough times that he has had lately including getting a divorce and having family members die. They're showing shots of the crowd and they GIVE NO CARES. That is, until Beefcake mentions Hulk Hogan! Nope, they're still dull. It's an incredibly strange promo as he's just rambling. I hated this segment.

High Energy vs. “Iron” Mike Sharpe and Von Crush
The ring girls are terrible looking, even the ones who are not purposely ugly. For those who are unaware, Von Crush is the future Vito and he's not in good shape. Neither is Mike Sharpe, but he's awesome so it's okay. Sharpe and Owen start. While Sharpe overpowers Owen, he uses hit athleticism to take over. Double team offense works although they allow Sharpe to tag in Vito. I guess they figure he's an easier target. Koko hits a missile dropkick that allows Owen to get a rollup and a win.

Winners: High Energy in 1:31
Really short and not much happened. SQUASH

We go to a video of Doink attacking Crush with his fake arm on Superstars two weeks ago. This would keep Crush out of the Royal Rumble and he won't be returning for a few weeks.

Doink the Clown vs. Typhoon
Add Typhoon to the list of guys that I don't recall lasting long in 1993. Doink wisely goes for the big man's legs and shows that he's such a good wrestler. I just remembered that Typhoon would go on to have a SHOCKING debut in WCW soon. Doink continues to work various holds to wear down Typhoon until he breaks free and applies a bearhug. Doink rakes the eyes to break it and goes back to a front face lock. Typhoon gets out and hits a slam but misses a corner splash. Doink hits a second rope shoulder block and earns the win with a handful of tights.

Winner: Doink in 3:11
Boring contest that too many slow and wear down holds. It made sense but wasn't fun. *1/2

Vince McMahon interviews Todd Pettengill about WWF Mania before we go to a ten bell salute for Andre the Giant, who had recently passed. We then get the ICOPRO and Slim Jim commercials, however, sandwiched in between was the awesome Hasbro action figure commercial. It makes me all nostalgic.

Bobby DeVito vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji
Macho Man does such a great job at putting over talent, he's easily been the bright spot on commentary. Bobby DeVito is the future ECW Baldie, Tony DeVito. DeVito charges at Yokozuna like an idiot and it fails. Jim Duggan calls in because he is challenging Yokozuna. He's not too bright. While he rambles, Yokozuna continues to squash DeVito and ends it with the Banzai Drop.

Winner: Yokozuna in 2:02
Another squash. Tonight has not really had any competitive matches. SQUASH

Vince McMahon conducts a ringside interview with the WWF Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. Vince tries to get the fans to boo Ted Dibiase but it doesn't work so well. They badmouth Brutus Beefcake until Jimmy Hart comes out to try and get them to chill out even though he's their manager. Money Inc. challenges Beefcake next week to face either one of them.

Before the next match, The Narcissist poses in front of a mirror in the ring until he's interrupted by the sight of the biggest ring girl ever. We also see the incredible Mr. Perfect football vignette. The one where he throws the football to himself and his theme hits. You could say, it's the perfect vignette.

Jason Knight vs. The Narcissist
In a continuing trend of future ECW wrestlers doing jobs, Jason Knight would face the Narcissist in his first match. Lex Luger screamed natural heel to me. He poses after nearly every single move he hits. Luger busts out the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot and I'm upset that it has taken four episodes for this to happen. Luger misses a forearm badly and the fans tell him that he missed it so he just does it again. He pins with only his pinkie.

Winner: The Narcissist in 2:38
Another squash. Not a great show from a match standpoint. SQUASH

Lex Luger does a Cesaro Swing, but an incredibly poor version, after the match. They then advise us that Raw will be back in two weeks because the Dog Show airs next week.

Overall: 3/10; Bad. The first Raw that I can truly say I did not like. They managed to get in five matches but three of them were straight squashes and the other two weren't very good. The Beefcake segment was ridiculously strange. The WWF fails to build on the strong third episode.

Wrestlers of the Half-Year (20-11)

20) Daniel Bryan: If it wasn't for the injury he sustained, again, Daniel Bryan would have ended up higher on this list most likely. He returned shortly before the Royal Rumble and had a disappointing showing there. However, after that he was pretty great. He worked a 45 minute turmoil match on Smackdown before putting on one of the best matches of the year against Roman Reigns at FastLane. Following that, he captured the Intercontinental Championship in a multi-man ladder match at WrestleMania. There was also a rather good match against Dolph Ziggler the night after WrestleMania and one where he got busted open by Sheamus. His year didn't last much longer than that though as he was forced to relinquish the belt due to injury, but for the time he was actually around, Bryan was his usual great self.

19) Ryback: From the standpoint of just match quality, I wouldn't put Ryback here. I can't think of one really good to great match that he's had all year, but he was able to win the Intercontinental Title at Elimination Chamber, which is a career highlight. Hell, even the match he won the title in was one I would consider the absolute worst Elimination Chamber match in history. Despite this, Ryback was a favorite to win the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, before moving into a feud with Bray Wyatt. While neither of these led to wins, his early year work and Intercontinental Title victory put him on this list.

18) Tyson Kidd and Cesaro: When Tyson Kidd and Cesaro were randomly paired up, I expected it to be a short lived team. Instead, they managed to gel together, showing off a chemistry that heavily impressed me. After a win on the Royal Rumble Kickoff Show, they moved into a feud with the Usos. They earned a title shot at FastLane and surprised myself and many others by winning those belts. They became one of the best acts on the entire roster and successfully retained the belts at WrestleMania. After that, things went downhill though as they dropped the belts and Tyson Kidd suffered an injury that will keep him out of action for nearly a year. Still though, their performance throughout the year was an absolute blast and the injury came at the worst time considering Kidd had the most momentum of his career. Kidd and Cesaro should remain a team when Kidd eventually returns as they are too damn good at it.

17) Shinsuke Nakamura: It is very possible that he would place higher if I saw more of him. I don't get to watch as much NJPW as I'd like to, but when I do see it, Shinsuke Nakamura is the one I look forward to the most. His match at Wrestle Kingdom 9 against Kota Ibushi is still my favorite match of 2015 and it happened only four days in. I also got to see him defend the title against Yuji Nagata as well as his loss to Goto. Besides that, I witnessed some of his matches outside of NJPW, like a really good one against Roderick Strong in Ring of Honor. The guy is highly entertaining and one of the best in the world, but I can't bring myself to put him higher since I didn't see enough of him. Yes, that's my fault but still.

16) Ethan Carter III: For a long time now, Ethan Carter III has been the best thing about TNA Wrestling. In 2015, he had my favorite match in TNA all year against Rockstar Spud. He's another guy that I think could have placed higher if it wasn't for injury. He spent a good chunk of the year out of action, while still maintaining his character due to his ability to cut solid promos. He staked his claim to become the next TNA World Heavyweight Champion, and should absolutely win that but the time hasn't come for the match just yet. EC3 continues to be undefeated since the start of his tenure in TNA and not losing in 2015 has to count for something.

          15) The New Day: When the New Day debuted in late 2014, they were kind of a bust. Their lack of character development and bland face run hurt. The fans turned on them, but once they took that and ran with it, the New Day became must see television. Their run as heels who believe they should be loved makes them enjoyable as hell. They won the Tag Team Titles at Extreme Rules and held them for about two months. During that time they were one of the best things about WWE week in and week out. Hell, they even beat Randy Orton and Roman Reigns and now, Kofi is set up to wrestle Brock in Japan. While the match against Brock will most likely be a squash, it's still a big deal to work him. IT'S A NEW DAY, YES IT IS!

14) Dean Ambrose: Following a terrible second half of 2014, Dean Ambrose has rebounded nicely in 2015. He competed in the Intercontinental Title ladder match at WrestleMania but lost. After that it was pretty good stuff though. He won his first singles PPV match since 2013 against Luke Harper before earning a spot in the WWE Title picture. At Elimination Chamber, he won, only to have the decision overturned. It went a long to show that Ambrose has loads of potential as a future WWE Champion even though some people, including me, didn't see that a few months ago.

           13) Brock Lesnar: There is no bigger special attraction in pro wrestling right now. It's hard to place Brock Lesnar higher because he isn't around very often. At the Royal Rumble, he had my second favorite match of the year and retained against Seth Rollins and John Cena. At WrestleMania, he had another great bout against Roman Reigns. The night after Mania, he stole the show by destroying commentary and cameramen. He just returned this past week and it was once again, another fun performance until the end. Brock Lensar is must see television and a game changer for wrestling. Every single time I see him, I feel like it's worth it.

12) John Cena/Finn Balor: Some people may not like me putting John Cena out of the top ten but hear me out. This is mostly nothing against Cena. I've enjoyed him more this year than most others. He had a match of the year candidate against Seth and Brock at the Rumble before putting over Rusev at FastLane. My biggest issue with his year comes here. After FastLane, everything against Rusev was either disappointing (Mania) or flat out awful (Extreme Rules and Payback). Despite this, his Open Challenge for the US Title was a weekly highlight that gave us really good matches against Sami Zayn, Neville, Dean Ambrose, Stardust and more. Coming out of that, he's had the best things he's done all year, which is the rivalry with Kevin Owens. This produced the two best Cena matches all year, but I'll get more into those a bit later on. It's odd to have a tie here but I didn't know who to place higher. Finn Balor has been good in big matches (against Owens, Neville and Breeze), but his weekly TV performances haven't been all that great. Regardless, he's fun and one of the very top guys in all of NXT.

11) Kurt Angle: I've been outspoken about how I don't think that Angle should TNA Champ. I still stand by that, but it doesn't change how good he's been in the ring. Kurt Angle is able to have good matches with just about anyone. He and Bobby Lashley had some great matches early in the year, leading to Angle winning the title. He's defended it against the likes of Rockstar Spud, Austin Aries, Eric Young and more. He's been champion for a few months and deserves a spot on this list. If he drops the title to EC3, which he absolutely should, I'll have a bit more respect for him. Angle has become TNA's go to guy, and while I don't prefer it, I can see why.

Raw Indianapolis Review

SUPLEX CITY BITCH! Brock Lesnar jogs out to the stage to open this week's show, giving us a different feel from the usual Authority opening promo. Paul Heyman tells us that Brock is off suspension but he has to apologize to commentary. Brock gives Michael Cole a noogie while saying sorry which was funny. The rest of the segment was just Heyman putting over the Brock/Seth match. Acceptable stuff here because of how good Heyman is. Our opening contest pits Dean Ambrose against Kane. Stop me if you've heard this one before. You know what bugs me? How every single match has to have the "person falls outside so we can go to commercial break" spot. Annoying. Seth Rollins distracts Ambrose, allowing Kane to win. Kane shouldn't be going over guys like Ambrose in 2015, but I guess it will lead to Ambrose/Kane at Battleground or something. As usual with Kane in 2015, I couldn't care less.

In the back, Seth Rollins attempts to get back into Kane's good graces since he needs help. The Prime Time Players come out for a non-title match against the Ascension. It is announced that at Battleground they defend the belts against New Day. PTP obviously win while New Day watches in the back. Fine stuff. To headline hour one, Sheamus takes on Roman Reigns. Sheamus pinned Reigns in the Smackdown tag team main event. This was a solid hard hitting match, but it seemed pretty heatless. Like the fans were just waiting for the Bray Wyatt interruption, which we got. He came on the titantron, seemingly having a tea party with Roman's daughter, but as Roman gave chase, it is revealed he was talking to an empty rocking chair. Roman is counted out I guess, though it is never officially announced. When he finds where Wyatt was, it's empty but there's a recording of Bray singing "I'm a Little Teapot" and a strange shrine to Roman. The pictures of him had his eyes and mouth cut out. I'll admit, most Wyatt stuff tends to run together, but this was serial killer like and I dug it.

Now we get Seth Rollins trying to get J&J Security back on his side but they decline too. Neville takes on Kofi Kingston next to extend Neville's friendship with PTP and their feud with New Day. PTP came out to help, leading to New Day getting ejected and Neville winning. I just wish Neville had more to him than "the guy who hits the Red Arrow" though. There is a lot more he can do. An ad airs for the July 4th Japan WWE Network special, which now starts at 530AM. I guess I won't be getting up for that. King Barrett defeats Zack Ryder next, because this is about the only match he can win these days. R-Truth's pre-match insert promo was the best thing about this. Barrett should have squashed him though, as it was too competitive. John Cena shows up, back from the apron powerbomb. He's much stronger than Sami Zayn isn't he? He talks about how important the US Title is and how disrespectful Kevin Owens is. Owens showed up and agreed that the US Title is a symbol of excellence and he wants it to be a symbol of his excellence. He played off Cena's need for approval and pulled out the "evil foreigner" gimmick by speaking in French. Brilliant considering the pretty bad Rusev/Cena feud earlier this year. Cena said it's not about Owens being foreign, but then proceeds to speak in TRUE INDIANA AMERICAN when he agrees to defend the title against him at Battleground.

Rollins complains to Stephanie and HHH who suggest that he apologize to J&J and Kane. He will do that tonight. Since Alicia Fox helped Brie Bella on Smackdown, she accompanies the Bellas to ringside in their merchandise. I don't get it. The Bellas work a short match and beat Tamina and Naomi. But the real question is...why? There was no advancement for the Bellas/Paige feud. I get that Paige was off doing Tough Enough, but we couldn't get a pre-taped promo or something. It's just lazy and boring. This accomplished absolutely nothing and had no substance. The Divas division continues to be an albatross and one of the worst booked things in the entire company right now.

Ryback faced Mark Henry with Big Show on commentary. Ryback/Show/Miz is announced for Battleground. Ryback wins with a frog splash and is then interviewed backstage by Jojo. He calls himself Flyback, which made me laugh. Show interrupts and they brawl backstage. No Miz involvement. In our "main event" Adam Rose faces Dolph Ziggler. Lana is wearing less makeup than usual and accompanies Dolph all the way to the ring. Rose and Rosa get mic time to discuss their love and it grossed me out. Ziggler wins before making out with Lana, who lets her hair out of the bun. Rusev watches in the back and is sad. I felt bad for him as he threw his crutch and fell. That is until Summer Rae showed up looking great. She helps Rusev up and I guess things aren't all bad for him. I mean, he's gone from one of the most feared men in the company to an emotional wreck, but Summer Rae isn't a bad prize at all.

Our final segment features Seth Rollins coming out to apologize to J&J and Kane. He says sorry and it's dull until Brock Lesnar comes out. J&J and Kane seem to ditch Seth, but get involved. Brock takes them out, and actually unfortunately injures Jamie Noble. Noble was stretchered out and suffered three broken ribs. Brock takes Seth to Suplex City a few times until Kane gets involved. The numbers game takes its toll and it leads to Seth standing tall. I get that Seth needs to seem like some sort of threat to Brock but 2015 Kane should in no way be effective to the man who pretty much murdered John Cena and Roman Reigns. They're building towards Battleground decently but this Raw just felt like it was on autopilot. I don't think the episode was terrible, it just felt like nothing special was happening at all. Everything feels the same, like it's a copy of a copy of a copy. 4/10.

Fave Five 6/15/15-6/21/15

1) Jay Lethal: Honestly, there is literally no other possible choice to top the list this week. The Best in the World main event between Jay Lethal and Jay Briscoe was billed as the biggest match in ROH history and it had a claim to that title. The ROH Television Champion of over 440 days took on the ROH World Champion in a title vs. title match. Not only was it a damn good match, but they pulled the trigger and Lethal became the 20th World Champion. Lethal snapped an incredibly impressive but unheralded streak by becoming the first person to pin Briscoe in over 800 days. That is pretty ridiculous. Lethal has been one of the best heels in wrestling over the past two years. Seeing him go from Special K to Black Machismo to this is something special. You could see it in his eyes when he held both titles high. "You deserve it" indeed.

2) Prince Puma: In a week dominated by the ROH Best in the World Pay-Per-View, two men shined in Lucha Underground. One was Johnny Mundo but the bigger star was again, Prince Puma. Lucha Underground had an entire show based around one match, which lasted the duration of the program. Mundo has been solid in his new heel role, but Puma has been THE MAN since day one. The match was not only great, but held my attention throughout the entire hour (or 38 minutes of actual wrestling time). It was an impressive feat and another moment to solidify how vital Puma is to Lucha Underground. He has been an excellent champion and this may be the defining moment of his reign.

3) Roderick Strong: Yea, it's hard to find pictures from the ROH PPV so I used an old one. In 2015, there have been very few, if any, better than Roderick Strong. The man just continues to have great performance after great performance. His match with Zach Sabre Jr. at PWG's "Don't Sweat the Technique" is one of my favorite matches of the year. While the triple threat match at Best in the World against Moose and Michael Elgin wasn't a classic, it still kicked off the second half of the show, which was great. Roddy impressed more than anyone and won to become the number one contender. That sets up what should be another great match against Jay Lethal at the next PPV.

4) Kevin Owens: It's basically a given that Kevin Owens will be on this list each week. The guy just continues to absolutely deliver with every given opportunity. After losing to John Cena at Money in the Bank, he had two of the better segments on Raw. First, he beat Dolph Ziggler in a good match before stealing the show and making headlines by powerbombing special guest Machine Gun Kelly off the stage. Then, on NXT, he faced Samoa Joe in a non-title match. There was no winner but it was a nice preview of what those two can do with more time on a bigger stage. Lastly, on Smackdown, he was challenged by Cesaro. They went out and had a slightly disappointing match, but Owens was able to win. The man faced Ziggler, Joe and Cesaro in a week, while having a big time interaction with a guest star. That's a pretty damn good week if you ask me.

5) The Addiction: Here's another example of not being able to find the right photo. Oh well. I've always enjoyed Christopher Daniels and I dig the pairing with Frankie Kazarian. At Best in the World, they had a No Disqualification Tag Team Title defense against reDRagon. As usual, these two teams were able to put on a good showing and I dug the No DQ rule. The Addiction won with an assist from Chris Sabin. They busted out some ladders, leading me to believe this will all culminate in a Ladder War. Regardless of how it ends, they came out on top this week, earning them a spot on this list.

ROH Best in the World Review

This was my first time watching a Ring of Honor Pay-Per-View live in a really long time. We opened with Mark Briscoe, with ODB at ringside against Donovan Dijak, with Truth Martini. I haven't seen much of Dijak but commentary continually discussed how much of a prospect he is. Mark Briscoe is a ton of fun with his wacky persona and worked well in his lower card position. I wasn't that impressed with Dijak here but this was a fun match. Mark won in a decent contest. Worth checking out only because Mark is an absolute blast. Also, at one point ODB ripped Truth Martini's book and grabbed her boobs, causing Steve Corino to say "SHE TOUCHED HER MAMMARIES". Funny stuff. **1/4

The next match was a tag bout pitting Matt Sydal and ACH against the Decade of Adam Page and BJ Whitmer. Page plays the heel that wants no part of one of his opponents, as he avoids ACH throughout. Both ACH and Sydal were given mildly hot tags. Colby Corino got involved to save the match for the Decade. Again, it's cool to hear Steve Corino's take on this. Page wins this for his guys with the right of passage. Another decent but unspectacular bout here. ACH and Sydal are a really enjoyable tag team. **

Nakamura, Okada and KUSHIDA will be coming back to ROH later in the year. Next up was Dalton Castle vs. Silas Young. I realize the gif I used of Castle isn't from the show but I'm limited on images. I thought this was an interesting contest. Castle is delightful and Young's "last real man" gimmick is like, perfect foil for him. Castle busted out a dead lift German and was impressive throughout. Young disappointed me as he was sloppy. Castle won this following a low blow. I probably scored this high which was totally due to Castle being fun as hell. After the match, Young laid out one of Castle's boys with a TKO. I think the match went a bit too long and there was too much sloppiness from Young but overall, I liked this purely due to Castle. **3/4

Another tag team match followed featuring C&C Wrestle Factory taking on War Machine. Cedric Alexander just defeated Moose and showed off a mean streak here. However, this was all about War Machine as they won in less than four minutes. Alexander didn't even try to save Caprice Coleman and just let him get pinned. After the match, Alexander seemed like he would attack Coleman but decided against it and just told him that they were done as a team. This felt more like it was a TV match than a Pay-Per-View match. *

So far, the undercard has been underwhelming. This is where the show picked up big time. Roderick Strong, Moose and Michael Elgin went at it with the number one contendership for the ROH World Heavyweight Title on the line. Moose continues to impress me and Elgin was there, but the star of this match was Roderick Strong as you'd expect. This dude has been on a tear in recent months and is one of the best things going on the indies. He won a thirteen minute match and should make for a very good challenge against whoever the champion is at the end of this show. Post match, Veda Scott got mad at Moose, leading to Cedric Alexander showing up and laying him out. Veda left with Cedric. Not a great match but a good one that was the best on the show so far. ***1/2

A six man tag match followed as the Bullet Club took on the Kingdom, with Maria. Here is your match of the night to this point. It was fast paced, the action never stopped and was so much fun. This match happened at War of the Worlds a while back and was good there too. They played off that match and once again, Maria Kanellis got involved. She took two superkicks and the Pele at the same time, effectively eliminating her from ringside. We saw a triple Indy Taker and just too many spots to fully write down. After an Indy Taker, Adam Cole ate a Styles Clash to end this. The Kingdom seemed to tease a possible breakup from Cole as Matt Taven and Mike Bennett didn't seem pleased with him. A really fun six man tag that was a big shot in the arm to this broadcast. ****

The first of our final two matches was a No Disqualifications match for the ROH World Tag Team Championship. The Addiction defended against former champions reDRagon. These two teams always work well together and this was yet another example of that. The no DQ stipulation worked here as Chris Sabin got involved to save his boys. They brought in a ladder, which leads me to believe they are teasing an eventual Ladder War to finish off this rivalry. The Addiction retained with Celebrity Rehab. The crowd took a bit to get into this as they were worn out from the previous match. I would have switched up the order of the show a bit. ***3/4

The main event is billed as the biggest match in the history of ROH and I admit it's up there. Jay Lethal stalled early, which I expected since he's a heel in what should be a long match. Both guys' parents are shown in the crowd, giving this a big fight feel. The House of Truth was ejected and I appreciated the slow build this match had. They went from a methodical pace and built to the bigger spots and moments. We saw a bunch of reversals and near falls. Hell, Lethal even took a Jay Driller through a table at ringside. He hit Briscoe with a Jay Driller of his own, followed by the Lethal Injection and finally scored the win. ****1/4. I really liked this match and seeing the emotion on Lethal after he won and Jay Briscoe shook his hand was a great moment.

Overall, while the first hour and undercard of this show underwhelmed me, everything from the Number One Contender's Triple Threat on was great. That made this an enjoyable show, but not a classic. I look forward to Lethal/Strong as well on the next PPV. Good show tonight. 7.5/10

Smackdown 6/18/15 Review

Instead of an Authority opening promo, we are joined by Mr. Money in the Bank, Sheamus. He bragged about how he will become WWE World Heavyweight Champion and nobody will get in his way. Dean Ambrose interrupts and says some surprisingly corny jokes. Kane comes out and books a handicap match. He and Sheamus beat up on Ambrose until Roman Reigns makes the save. You know what that means don't you? Our main event will be the Teddy Long special, a tag team match playa. I really wonder if the WWE even tries with Smackdown anymore. I rarely see any effort whatsoever and it's rather annoying. It sometimes feels like the WWE should not even produce Smackdown if they're going to put on the shows they do.

The Divas are next as Paige takes on Brie Bella. They're still playing the "Paige against the Bellas" things. When the putrid Brie Mode theme hits, Paige covers her ears. They worked a solid match through the commercial break. Alicia Fox came out and shoved Paige off the top, allowing Brie to win. I get Divas not helping Paige but why would they help the Bellas? This should all lead an NXT girl or two coming to Paige's aid. Renee Young interviews Kevin Owens about what he did to Machine Gun Kelly. Owens says that Kelly touched him first and also blames John Cena. Cesaro interrupts and mocks Owens for talking and not fighting leading to a match later tonight, which should be good.

Bo Dallas shows up and cuts a promo about Lana being on the rebound after Rusev. Dolph Ziggler obviously takes offense to that especially after Bo makes a Tinder joke. This was your standard Bo Dallas match, lasting a pretty short time. Ziggler wins to fix his losses from Money in the Bank and Raw. He kisses Lana after and that's all. I don't get pairing him with Lana. It's done ZERO for either character. Lana was red hot at the end of her run with Rusev and now she's just there. Our next match pit Neville against Xavier Woods. Fun match here and when New Day tried to get involved, the Prime Time Players joined evened the odds. Neville wins with the Red Arrow, continuing the theme of New Day winning with the advantage but losing when the odds are even. Seth Rollins is out next to cut a promo. He talked about being the future and being the best. He was shocked to see Brock Lesnar on Raw but understands why, since he's beaten everyone else. In his mind, Lesnar lost his mystique when he Curb Stomped him at WrestleMania. Solid work from Seth who has become one of the better mic workers in the company, which is definitely a long way from his work in Ring of Honor. We see highlights of Bray Wyatt's promo on Roman Reigns from Raw before seeing Reigns and Ambrose prepare backstage. Ambrose brings up Wyatt, which upsets Reigns. It's a small thing but it did a good job to show that Bray has gotten into Reigns' head.

In the battle between Kevin Owens and Cesaro, I came out a bit disappointed. It looked like they had a really good match in them, but cut it down and just had a solid one. Owens obviously wins. I hope Cesaro gets something of note to do while Tyson Kidd is out. He's too good to just have in meaningless matches. Miz cuts a promo about movies before we get out main event. They worked the match you'd expect until Wyatt appeared on the tron to sing "I'm a Little Teapot". This distraction allowed Sheamus to score with the Brogue Kick and win. The lights go out and when they come back on, the picture of Reigns and his daughter is in the ring. Maybe I was a bit hard on Smackdown earlier but for the most part, nothing of real note or consequence happens on Thursdays. You could miss it weekly and be in tune with what's going on. That being said, this wasn't bad television, it just wasn't very good either. 5/10.

Fave Five 6/8/15-6/14/15

1) Seth Rollins: While 2014 may have been the year of Seth Rollins, 2015 has been off to a rough start. Sure he won the WWE World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania, but since then, he has been booked pretty terribly. His record in 2015 before that and since has left something to be desired. Hell, he even lost to J&J Security this past Monday. However, what he did in the main event of Money in the Bank was enough to overcome that and take the throne here. He went out, on his own and retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Dean Ambrose. This was a brutal ladder match that showed how good Seth can be. Some of the stuff he did reminded me of Triple H's "Cerebral Assassin" style. He was cunning. he was vicious, he looked like a badass and it was exactly the kind of title defense that his reign has lacked so far.

            2) John Cena: John Cena has actually been very good so far with the United States Title. With the exception of two stinkers against Rusev at Extreme Rules and Payback, he has been on fire. After putting Kevin Owens in a big way at Elimination Chamber, Cena evened the score at Money in the Bank. It was another thrilling match, though I preferred their first encounter. Cena winning is obviously the biggest reason for his spot on the list, but he did his best to step his game up. He busted out some new offense and while most of it isn't technically pretty (that springboard stunner is still hideous), I give him props for trying new things. Also, taking the apron powerbomb after allowed Owens to keep some heat despite the loss. Cena is doing really good for the WWE this year and I hope it continues. He just needs to put Owens over in the rubber match so we don't get the same old thing we've seen countless times.

3) Sheamus: Man, people were pissed about Sheamus winning Money in the Bank. I saw as many negative posts about that as I did Game of Thrones fans after that finale. In my mind, besides Roman Reigns, Sheamus was the best choice. He's been great as the bully heel. I'm not sure that he successfully cashes in since there is only one world title now, but this is still a big win for him. He adds it to his long list of accomplishments that includes two WWE Titles, a World Title, two US Titles, a King of the Ring and a Royal Rumble.

4) Kurt Angle: I have expressed the fact that I dislike TNA putting the title on Angle before. That hasn't changed, but the guy has put on consistently good matches with it. This week, he had two successful TNA World Title defenses in one episode. First, Angle defeated Rockstar Spud, who I am happy to see get a shot since he's been great as of late. Then, Austin Aries used his Feast or Fired briefcase to get his title shot. Aries joined a list of people to unsuccessfully cash that in. Seriously, nobody has been able to successfully cash in the World Title briefcase. Anyway, Angle put on two good matches, winning both and adding to a good reign. Hopefully it ends to EC3 very soon though.

5) Prime Time Players: The WWE has played hot potato with the Tag Team Titles lately and the Prime Time Players are the latest benefactors. Kidd and Cesaro and New Day were both red hot when they dropped the belts so I wasn't hoping for a change here. However, it was still a cool moment to see. Darren Young and Titus O'Neil honestly should have been champions way back in 2012 but we had to wait through a break up, reformation and three years to get it. I don't think they were the best option for champs, but they deserve to make this list.