Raw History: Episodes 9-10

Raw History

Episode #9

March 15th, 1993 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York

So Monday Night Raw leaves the Manhattan Center for the very first time. They don’t go far as they’re still in New York, but in Poughkeepsie. Commentary is Bobby Heenan, Gorilla Monsoon and Rob Bartlett dressed as Vince McMahon. I fully expect Bartlett to annoy me but I absolutely adore the tandem of Heenan and Monsoon. The real Vince and Macho Man are accepting some award somewhere so they aren’t here.

Razor Ramon vs. Russ Greenberg
Russ Greenberg gets tossed around and hit with a fallaway slam before applying the abdominal stretch. Razor loved that move for some reason. It’s clear in this match that Razor is starting to become popular, which would lead to his face run soon. Razor ends it with the Razor’s Edge.

Winner: Razor Ramon in 3:02
Your basic good old fashioned squash. Razor looked good and had the crowd behind him. SQUASH

LA Gore vs. Typhoon
LA Gore looks absolutely ridiculous. Not only is he in strange ring gear, but he has a full mullet and mustache. He applies a headlock and smiles like it’s his first offensive maneuver. Bartlett is BEYOND annoying as Vince McMahon right now. Typhoon squashes Gore, literally, and wins.

Winner: Typhoon in 2:57
Another total squash. SQUASH

Bobby Heenan is in the ring as he is set to interview Harvey Whippleman and the Giant Gonzalez. Whippleman, I think I’m spelling that right, hypes up Gonzalez as a viable threat to The Undertaker at WrestleMania. Sure he is Harvey.

We then cut to a WrestleMania promo that totally hypes up Hulk Hogan over the WWF Title match. Not surprising at all.

Bob Backlund vs. Papa Shango
Two guys I don’t care about at all. Backlund works the arm at the start as Bartlett has reached all new levels of annoying. How Heenan and Gorilla had the strength to not knock him out is beyond me. I can’t even focus on the match and nether can commentary as Gorilla had to shout “STOP” at Bartlett. Shango uses the ropes for leverage on a rest hold and now I’m distracted by Mike Chioda’s mullet. Despite being dominated for the entire match, Backlund uses a small package to earn the win.

Winner: Bob Backlund in 6:58
From what I saw, this was your basic match. The crowd wasn’t that into it and neither guy did anything special. It was hard to concentrate due to the AWFUL commentary from Bartlett. *

The WrestleMania Report is brought to us by Gene Okerlund, who informs us that WrestleMania IX will be the “World’s Biggest Toga Party.” We get promos from Money Inc. and The Undertaker.

The Headshrinkers vs. The Nasty Boys
I have no idea where Afa is. The Nasty Boys and Headshrinkers trade double team work in the early stages. For not being the best workers, the Nast Boys have great chemistry and play to their strengths. The Headshrinkers end up in control, working over Saggs until a missed headbutt from Samu allows Knobbs to get the hot tag. He comes in on fire and takes down both opponents. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! Things spill outside and all four guys brawl to the concession area. Fatu and Knobbs throw food on each other as the bell rings.

Double Countout in 9:01
Much like the Backlund/Shango match, this was basic stuff. The brawl to end was fun though. *3/4

Overall: 1/10; Poop. This episode totally blew. Nothing about it was good or relevant. Razor hasn’t even been booked for WrestleMania but got a squash. Typhoon is going nowhere, yet got a squash. Backlund/Shango was boring and the main event also has no relevance on WrestleMania. Bartlett was BEYOND TERRIBLE on commentary, the matches weren’t good and didn’t build towards WrestleMania at all.

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Raw History

Episode #10

March 22nd, 1993 | Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

We return to the Manhattan Center with hopes that Raw can bounce back from its worst episode so far. An interesting note is that this episode clocks in at only 36 minutes, which is about ten minutes shorter than usual. Commentary is back to Vince McMahon, Macho Man and Rob Bartlett.

The Bushwackers vs. Damien Demento and Repo Man
The Bushwackers take a while to appear and it’s because they are up on the second deck of the crowd with the fans. It’s pretty cool but I have no clue how they were allowed to lick fans. Trademark Bushwackers shenanigans are in order with biting and taunting. Repo Man is in terrible shape. Demento and Repo Man work the heel stuff by distracting the ref and getting in cheap shots. Butch gets the mild tag and comes in to hit a DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! Things are awkward for a bit until the Bushwackers win.

Winners: The Bushwackers in 5:28
Dull and odd. The Bushwackers have terrible offense and Repo Man and Demento were not a real team so they had no chemistry. The heels seemed to mail it in too. DUD

Reno Riggins vs. Tatanka
Finally, a match that actually involves someone doing something at WrestleMania. Reno Riggins is wearing cheetah print trunks, white boots and no knee pads. It looks ridiculous. He locks in a sleeper hold but Tatanka breaks it quickly and chops him a bunch. A big powerslam and all Tatanka offense ends this.

Winner: Tatanka in 3:30
Basically all Tatanka. SQUASH

A short tribute to Andre the Giant is shown as he is going to be the first inductee into the WWF Hall of Fame.

Non-Title Match
Jess and John Armstrong vs. WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc.
Are John and Jess members of the famous Armstrong wrestling family? No. I don’t expect this to last long. Bartlett has a second, smaller monitor and is flipping through channels to laugh at the “competition”. Money Inc. is dominating as one would expect. The Armstrongs have the jobber look down perfectly. IRS gets the pin in short time.

Winners: WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. in 3:02
Another squash, but just like the Tatanka one, at least it involved people heading to WrestleMania. SQUASH

WrestleMania Report time and it’s brought to us by ICOPRO. YOU GOTTA WANT IT! No new news is given out here.

Doink vs. Kamala w/ Slick
Kamala not using Slick’s “Jive Soul Bro” theme is a travesty. Doink has a gift with him but it’s just for distraction. His green wig is more of a straight afro tonight and he quickly applies a submission. It’s awesome how methodical Doink was. He continues to work Kamala with slow holds for a while. Kamala chases Doink outside, who offers him the gift. Kamala opens the empty gift but the distraction allowed Doink to get in and win via Countout.

Winner via Countout: Doink in 5:59
The best match of the night but that’s not saying much. Doink is damn good but this wasn’t special. *3/4

Doink tries to attack Kamala with a chair after the match but is outsmarted and chased by the Ugandan Giant. After they leave, the fat ring girls are by commentary and one makes out with Rob Bartlett. Yuck. They hype up “The March to WrestleMania” this Sunday, which has a better card than most episodes of Raw. Macho Man vs. Yokozuna and The Undertaker vs. Bam Bam Bigelow. 

Overall: 3.5/10; Not Good. It’s a step up from the previous week but it’s still not good. While the squashes made sense this week, it still wasn’t good wrestling. The opener was awful and, while the main event was decent, it wasn’t enough to save this show. I guess there is no Raw next week as episode 11 aired on 4/5/93 and WrestleMania is on 4/4, which means that WrestleMania IX is next!

ROH Field of Honor Review

ROH Field of Honor
August 22nd, 2015 | MCU Park in Brooklyn, New York | Attendance: 2,200

This is definitely one of the more interesting settings I’ve ever seen for a Ring of Honor show, taking place outdoors at a baseball stadium, the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones. The first shot we get is Taeler Hendrix throwing out some kind of first pitch to Steve Corino, who is dressed as a cow. 

Side note, this will be more of a recap than a play-by-play review.

Adam Cole def. Christopher Daniels in 11:37
For some reason, Christopher Daniels is dressed as a general. The Kingdom’s theme rules. Daniels doesn’t follow the code of honor, so Adam Cole kicks his ass in a hot start. Daniels wisely targets Cole’s recently injured left shoulder, giving us the story for the match. It’s really well done work that looks vicious at times. Steve Corino, in his cow outfit, spends the duration of the match making some cow based puns and is highly entertaining. My favorite spot probably comes as Cole kicks out of a move, only for Daniels to turn it right into a Koji Clutch. I’ve always loved how seamless Daniels’ offense can be. Cole starts the comeback, which works well because he’s so over. He hits a German suplex and shining wizards for two before applying a figure four. Out comes Chris Sabin, but his distraction backfires as he eats a superkick. Cole won with a Brainbuster onto the knee, which is a sweet finish. This worked very well as an opener. It got the crowd excited, didn’t overdo anything, smartly played into Adam Cole’s shoulder injury and the right guy went over. I suspect Cole is going to be Jay Lethal’s challenger for the ROH World Title at Final Battle, so all singles wins for him are good. I could be wrong though. ***½

War Machine def. The Killer Elite Squad in 10:05
Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer was the Killer Elite Squad and they are the reigning GHC Tag Team Champions. There is no code of honor and the teams instead brawl. I like that Davey Boy Smith Jr. has done his best to add some MMA stuff to his offense. As a corner bronco buster is missed, Steve Corino steals the show with a line of “that will hurt your lower ding ding.” Commentary sells that War Machine is a hot commodity because NJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH are both negotiating with them. That’s a good way to put them over. We get some classic tag formula that works well. K.E.S. nearly win a few times, which I think a lot of people expected considering they hold the gold. War Machine survives and hits Fallout to win. A good tag team match here. War Machine brings something different, due to their size, than the rest of the ROH tag team division. The Killer Elite Squad is a good team for them to have a badass match with, which is what we got here. ***

Judging by the post-match interaction between the teams, War Machine shouts that they are coming to NOAH and want a shot at the GHC Tag Team Titles.

Watanabe wins a Gauntlet Match for a shot at the ROH World TV Title in 24:53
The two guys to get the unlucky draw and start are Adam Page and Dalton Castle. Page cuts a promo on Jay Briscoe again beforehand. Castle is insanely over. His antics are the highlight of this first battle for sure. Page does a good job of drawing heat by mocking Castle. Their battle is really good as the crowd is into everything and there are some good near falls. Castle advances, but Page attacks him, making him easy picking for Frankie Kazarian. Even with Dalton down, Chris Sabin cheats for Kazarian. Castle is able to reverse a victory roll and beat Kazarian. Kazarian and Sabin then attack Castle. Poor guy. Next up is Silas Young, who is in a feud with Castle. He runs out to cover but Castle kicks out. He hits his finisher to get rid of him. Out now is Bushwhacker Luke. That is not a typo. He is knocked out of the ring and then just does his Bushwhacker walk around the bases with a huge grin. “You still got it” chants make me laugh as he is counted out. MOOSE! MOOSE! For being so new to the business, Moose is pretty damn good. He puts down Silas to advance. Truth Martini’s Donovan Dijak is next out. They do a good job in playing up that the big Dijak is a threat to Moose. Both of them get to showcase how agile they are for being their size. After the managers chase each other to the back, Moose puts him down. Cedric Alexander is next, but instead, we just get Veda Scott. Cedric sneaks in while she distracts and lay out Moose with the wrench again to eliminate him. Watanabe is out now. I must again praise commentary as they mention Alexander having won a gauntlet match previously. After a good back and forth, Moose appears again, which distracts Cedric. Shortly after, Watanabe picks up the win to Veda’s dismay. I honestly can’t think of a way that this could have been booked better. Page and Dalton was a good match but everything after made sense. They advanced programs (Dalton/Young and Cedric/Moose), while keeping everyone strong. The winner may have been a bit of a surprise too, which is cool. ***½ 

ACH, Matt Sydal and the Young Bucks def. The Kingdom and Roppongi Vice in 14:38
Matt Taven takes Steve Corino’s cow head and humps it. I’ve never enjoyed the work of the Young Bucks, so I may be mixed on this. As you should expect, this is very fast paced. While I’ve commended Steve Corino and commentary throughout the night, every single time he shouts SUPERKICK PARTY, I die a little inside. ACH steals the show by jumping over Maria on the apron with a ridiculous dive outside. Another rather fun spot sees Roppongi run the bases before hitting a knee on Sydal. The Kingdom try it but it leads to the most obvious of superkicks. The match ends after a ton of high spots. The Bucks hit More Bang for your Buck, followed by an ACH 450 splash and Sydal’s Shooting Star Press. It was a giant spotfest, and those can definitely be fun. However, I feel like each time I see the Young Bucks, I dislike them more and more. Anyway, outside of the running the bases stuff, this was pretty much every Bucks/RPG Vice like spotfest that you get. Fun, but nothing groundbreaking. ***

Hirooki Goto def. Michael Elgin in 12:42
During the G1 Climax, these two had a really good match and I hope for more of the same here. Goto’s theme is one of my favorites. Similar to that match, this is just two badass dudes hammering away on each other in a fun manner. Elgin is a very polarizing figure but he got super over in New Japan, doing things like his major stalling suplex, which he does for more than thirty seconds here. In a fun contrast to the G1 match, Goto got in more of the offense here. Probably a good way to get him more over in the States, like how Elgin got more in the G1 to get him more over with Japan. They built to a good finish, with both guys getting in some higher impact moves as time went on. Goto wins clean with the Shouten Kai. A strong ROH debut for Hirooki Goto. While both of their matches have been good, and were on about the same level, neither has wowed me. Still though, Michael Elgin seems to be rejuvenated and it’s leading to some of the best work of his career. I honestly found the result to be a surprise since Goto beat him in the G1. I figure Elgin would win here and set up an Intercontinental Title match down the line. Still, a good old fashioned hard hitting battle. ***½ 

The Briscoes def. The Time Splitters in 16:07
More New Japan gold here as KUSHIDA is the reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Alex Shelley and his old partner, Chris Sabin, had some of my favorite tag team matches ever against the Briscoes back in 2008, so I’m looking forward to this. I like this starting with the Briscoes being the aggressive guys and the Time Splitters using their incredibly quickness. At one point early on, Shelley has his two front teeth knocked out. ROH would pay for them to be fixed, which was cool of them. KUSHIDA does the hoverboard lock, which gets a major pop but doesn’t stay applied for long. Jay is able to win it with the Jay Driller. All in all, this wasn’t on the level of those old Briscoes/MCMG matches but I didn’t expect it to. The Briscoes did a good job in the role of hard hitting team, while the Time Splitters were good as the fast paced guys. Alex Shelley deserves credit for his efforts with the broken teeth. It started a bit slow, but really picked up once the Time Splitters got going. ***¾
Kazuchika Okada def. Roderick Strong in 17:23
Kazuchika Okada is the current IWGP Heavyweight Champion. This is Mr. ROH against arguably the top dog in NJPW, outside of Hiroshi Tanahashi. This starts off rather slow, but in a good way as Roderick Strong wants to dictate the pace. When they go outside, he hits a back suplex onto the guardrail, channeling his heel persona from PWG. Roddy does a good job throughout in using the entire environment with his offense. Roderick Strong did a great job in having the Rainmaker scouted, managing to avoid and counter it several times. One of them leads to a sick kick for a very close near fall. It takes two Tombstones but the Rainmaker is yet again countered. After nearly four attempts, the Rainmaker finally puts down Strong. A great battle between two of the very best in the world. Roderick Strong dominated at points, playing the guy that was doing any and everything to try and win to earn a future title shot. Strong showing heel tendencies was definitely interesting as I usually prefer Okada to play that role. Commentary hypes that Strong could be in line for a future shot anyway. I like him having the Rainmaker scouted and that it took so very long to finally hit it. Very smart stuff. ****

Jay Lethal and Shinsuke Nakamura def. reDRagon in 21:28
The crowd absolutely loves Shinsuke Nakamura. The contrasting personalities of Jay Lethal and Nakamura makes for an interesting dynamic early. Lethal is a dick to him, so Nakamura doesn’t tag and lets reDRagon kick his ass for a bit. Hilariously, Nakamura makes up for this by offering Lethal a hug. Following that, the oddball pairing start working better as a unit. They made sure to showcase that Kyle O’Reilly is a viable threat to Lethal considering his upcoming title shot. Truth Martini tries to get Nakamura to cheat but he declines, throwing the book to the pitcher’s mound. Nakamura then counters Kyle’s rebound lariat into his gorgeous armbar. Lethal nails the Lethal Injection on Fish to win. Fun is the best word to describe this match. The dysfunction between Jay Lethal and Shinsuke Nakamura was highly entertaining and, considering they are two of the best singles wrestlers in the world against, in my opinion, the best tag team in the world, this delivered. Awesome match that sets the stage for All-Star Extravaganza and maybe even a future Nakamura/Lethal match. ****

After the match, Shinsuke Nakamura shakes hands with reDRagon and goes to do the same with Jay Lethal, but Lethal disrespects him by declining and walking off.

8.5/10. All in all, I feel like this was a great show. Nothing on the entire card was bad and I gave everything at least three stars. That’s impressive. The final two matches are the best but there is seriously nothing really worthy of skipping. It’s one of the easiest shows I’ve watched all year and would only be slightly behind TakeOver as the best show from the big wrestling weekend of the summer.

Raw History: Episodes 7-8

Raw History
Episode #7
March 1st, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Tonight's show opens with Bret Hart's theme as he comes out to defend the WWF Title against Fatu. Makes sense that the constantly defending champion would put the belt on the line for his first ever Raw match. Commentary is the usual Vince McMahon, Macho Man and Rob Bartlett. Bartlett is dressed as Elvis and it sucks.

WWF Championship
Bret Hart (c) vs. Fatu w/ Afa
Bret Hart starts with a headlock, eats a scoop slam and then fires back with an arm drag. Bret does some arm work and I'd just like to point out that I loved how Bret would give everyone a shot at the title. Fatu hits a superkick from out of nowhere to earn a near fall and a pop from the crowd. Vlad the Superfan is in the front row, which is always cool. Bret counters a hip toss but Fatu blocks his and clotheslines him down. He applies the dreaded nerve hold, which is a move I hate. It looks like it does nothing. As Fatu picks up a near fall, Samu stalks his way to ringside. Bret hits a cross body but is knocked outside. Afa distracts the official as Samu slams Bret on the mat. Fatu works Bret's back for a while and even throws in a signature Samoan headbutt for good measure. Fatu hits a piledriver, which is awesome to see considering the fact that it's now banned but it's only good for two. Bartlett is pretty unbearable on commentary but Vince calls a side slam a suplex and takes the cake for tonight. A second rope headbutt only gets Fatu another near fall. He goes for another one but Bret meets him and hits a second rope suplex for two. Bret hits his perfect backbreaker and applies the Sharpshooter but we get shenanigans from the Headshrinkers who interfere and switch out. The switch does nothing as Samu gets a near fall and brings Fatu back in. Bret knocks Fatu into Samu, who gets his head stuck in the ropes and knocks Afa off the apron. The Sharpshooter is locked in and Fatu gives up.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: Bret Hart in 15:06
Back to back shows with fifteen minute matches? Me like. This was great as Bret Hart looked golden and he made Fatu look better than he's ever looked, even during his Rikishi run. ***1/2

Mean Gene brings us to the WrestleMania Report. He announces that Money Inc. will defend the Tag Team Titles against the Mega Maniacs before running through the card that we already know of. Oh, The Narcissist vs. Mr. Perfect is added.

Vince McMahon interviews Crush, who is flabby as hell and apparently was just swimming in the ocean. He speaks in his terrible Hawaiian accent before crushing a coconut because that's what he's going to do to Doink at WrestleMania.

Doink the Clown vs. Koko B. Ware
Vince McMahon calls Koko a young man, which has to be wrong since he's been in WWF since like 1985. Doink attacks before the bell and Bartlett makes his first funny remark by saying he loved Koko on Different Strokes. Doink applies a much better STF than John Cena has ever done but breaks it. He then seems amused by how baggy Koko's pants are before continuing the leg work. He polishes off Koko by making him submit to the Stump Puller.

Winner: Doink the Clown in 1:48
Just used to get Doink over. I enjoyed the leg work even though it was short. SQUASH

Rob “Elvis” Bartlett interviews Doink, who has a gift, after the match. Rob asks for what's in the box, Doink gives him a small pie before hitting him in the face with a big one.

After commercials, Vince McMahon is in the ring awaiting the arrival of the WWF Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. Ted Dibiase talks about some rich dude making $700,000 a year in retirement and saying it was too cheap. He gets down to business, calling Jimmy Hart an overpaid gopher and they promote WrestleMania a bit. IRS also calls his briefcase the beef case. It's strange but I guess a guy who fathered Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt has to be a bit odd.

“The Narcissist” Lex Luger vs. PJ Walker
For the uninitiated, PJ Walker is the future Justin Credible of ECW fame. Luger throws him into the corner hard as Vince McMahon goes to a phone conversation with Bobby Heenan. Luger hits a rib breaker as Vince McMahon continues to push this ANNOYING Elvis/Bartlett stuff. After hitting the forearm, Luger pins Walker with his pinky.

Winner: Lex Luger in 2:59
All Luger. Another squash, but in this day and age, it made sense. SQUASH

Post-match, Lex Luger throws PJ Walker out of the ring and calls him a typical male. He berates him before knocking him out again.

Duane Gill and someone vs. The Steiner Brothers
I did not hear the name of Duane Gill's partner, but they both have ridiculous hair. Black on the sides with blonde mullets over. Fantastic. Before the bell, Vince calls them Scott and Rob Steiner. Scott hits a belly to belly on Duane's partner before tagging in his lesser brother. Rick clotheslines no name outside and then runs around the ring. The Steiners allow Duane to get tagged in because they know they got this. Rick hits a backbreaker and laughs before tagging Scott who tosses Duane around. THIS WOULDNT HAPPEN IF HE WAS GILLBERG DAMMIT! The crowd is red hot for the Frankensteiner and he nails it. It looked weak as hell, but was enough to get the job done.

Winners: The Steiner Brothers in 4:43
A third straight squash and the Steiners looked really good. SQUASH

Overall: 6/10; Average. I wanted to like this episode so much more. The squashes were what they were, which is fine but the gem here is Bret Hart vs. Fatu. A really good contest and second to only Ric Flair/Mr. Perfect for best Raw match so far. The Elvis stuff made the show unbearable at points though.

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Raw History
Episode #8
March 8th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

A pre-taped promo from the Mega-Maniacs airs where Hulk Hogan talks about Humpty Dumpty. It actually has to do with them accepting the challenge of Money Inc. for WrestleMania IX. Hogan also sings and steals the Saturday Night Live opening while Beefcake looks awkward and tries to mimic Hogan’s words. It’s odd. Commentary is the usual combination of Vince McMahon, Rob Bartlett and Macho Man.

Non-Title Match
El Matador and Virgil vs. Money Inc.
Tito Santana was cool in his prime, but man I never liked anything at all about Virgil. Ted Dibiase clearly reminds Virgil about his past as his bitch basically. When Virgil gets the tag, Bartlett says that he and Montel Williams are the same person, making it two straight weeks where he’s said something comical. This is the definition of two teams going through the motions and having a basic tag team match. Virgil applies a wrist lock and IRS has the balls to try a nip up and fails miserably. This gets a commercial break for some reason as El Matador plays face in peril. Virgil gets the hot tag, which is a sentence that should never be the case. Thanks to a trip from Dibiase, IRS nails a suplex that is enough to beat Virgil.

Winners: Money Inc. in 8:02
This was incredibly basic. It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t terrible but nothing of note happened here. *3/4

After a clip of Tatanka pinning Shawn Michaels last week is shown, Rick Martel comes out to switched places with the ring girl. I won’t lie, I laughed really hard at this.

Phil Apollo vs. Tatanka
They start by blocking each other’s hip tosses until Tatanka does one that takes Apollo over and out. Apollo has the tiniest lightning bolt on his trunks and I had to point it out because it looks ridiculous. Shawn Michaels calls in to commentary and badmouths Tatanka. It sounds awkward and he stumbles through it. Can you believe this guy would become arguably the greatest of all time? Tatanka rallies and hits some Tomahawk Chops before a Samoan Drop to end it. Why the hell is a Native American doing a Samoan Drop?

Winner: Tatanka in 2:42
Literally all Tatanka. SQUASH

Mean Gene takes us to the WrestleMania Report and, because it’s Hulk Hogan, they’re billing WrestleMania as a “Double Main Event”. Sure. We also get a Bret Hart promo in there about being the underdog and one from Mr. Fuji about Yokozuna. 

Mike Edwards vs. Papa Shango
I’ll give you three guesses on how this one ends guys. The future Kama/Godfather pretty much manhandles Mike Edwards here. Edwards is a hairy man. Like only behind Albert and that dude from Los Boricuas. Shango could’ve won but chose to lift Edwards for more damage. He could’ve won with a second back suplex but decides against it again. He finally chooses to end it, thankfully.

Winner: Papa Shango in 2:31
Another complete squash. I don’t really get this one though since Papa Shango wasn’t going anywhere. This could’ve been used to showcase the Headshrinkers since they’re set to face the Steiner Brothers at WrestleMania. SQUASH

Bob Backlund vs. Tony Demoro
Vince McMahon says that Bob Backlund is on a hot streak but it must be on Superstars since all I’ve seen of him is how he lasted an hour in the Royal Rumble. They stall a bunch as Backlund offers a handshake and then the crowd actually starts to chant for him after he takes down Demoro. This is boring. I guess they’re trying to showcase how Backlund knows some amateur wrestling. He hits a double underhook suplex and chooses to pin Demoro in an odd way.

Winner: Bob Backlund in 3:51
Dull. Yes, it was a squash but it was a terribly boring one. SQUASH

Rob Bartlett interviews Rick Martel who runs him down for his ridiculous attire and brags about being a model. 

Mr. Perfect vs. Rick Martel
Two good workers should put on a good main event here. They feel each other out in the early goings and Rick Martel wants to make sure he doesn’t get hit in the face. Martel also dodges a move, does a cartwheel and some jumping jacks. Perfect dodges a move with a cartwheel too, which was cool. Martel and his gut start to focus on the arm to wear down Perfect. Martel uses a gut wrench suplex for two and I don’t see nearly as much of that move as I’d like. A camel clutch is applied and the crowd attempts to rally Perfect. He fights out of it but Martel stays in control until Perfect blocks a double axe handle. He follows with two atomic drops and THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! They go to commercial and Perfect wins during the break.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 7:57
Decent match but I hate that the ending happened during the break. I get the whole “anything can happen” thing but it still sucks. **1/4

Mr. Perfect brings out two girls that Rick Martel was rude to earlier in the night and celebrates with them in the ring. We are then told that next week Kamala will be in action as well as Razor Ramon! Plus, Typhoon vs. Bam Bam Bigelow! 

Overall: 2/10; Terrible. Not the strongest episode. You had three squash matches and then two matches that weren’t very good. It didn’t even build towards WrestleMania well. This had the feeling of a show that the WWF just threw together. My least favorite episode of Raw so far.

Fave Five 8/17/15-8/23/15

1) Bayley and Sasha Banks: I honestly could not decided between the two girls. Yes, Bayley won the match but I can't put one girl's performance above the other. I watched nearly every match the WWE has put on this year, I watched Lucha Underground, the entire G1 Climax, Wrestle Kingdom 9 ROH and a ton of wrestling, but my match of the year is Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and I don't care what people say. Everything from the entrances (Bayley with the Dusty tribute, Sasha with the Escalade) to the story they told to the moves they did to the emotion of the crowd, was perfect. The atmosphere in the Barclays Center was something that wasn't topped all weekend long. Sasha Banks attacking Bayley's hand was genius and done viciously. Stomping on her hand during the Bank Statement and the somersault outside were both highlights. I always liked Bayley, but felt she was the worst of the NXT four. I thought that there was no way these two would top what Banks and Becky Lynch did in May. I even wrote a long article about that match. Instead, they shut me up and bested it. There was nothing about this match that I would change. I was emotionally invested in a way that I didn't get for anything else I've seen all year. If you would have told me a few years ago that, on a weekend with Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Tyler Black, Kevin Steen, John Cena, Claudio Castagnoli and many others, SHIMMER's Davina Rose and Snoop Dogg's cousin would outperform them all, I would have never believed you.

2) Seth Rollins: After sitting in the front row for TakeOver, it certainly seemed like Seth Rollins came out trying to steal the show at SummerSlam. While I don't think his match with John Cena was better than either of the double main events at TakeOver, but man he tried. Seth brought out a diving double stomp in the corner, a superplex rolled into a falcon arrow and three consecutive suicide dives. Seth brought it and did his best to deliver in what was probably the biggest match of his career. I know that a lot of people have been down on his booking, and it has been rough at times, but the guy has been successful as hell. Here, he won the United States Title, adding to his WWE Championship. That's an accomplishment, especially with the effort Cena put into making the title relevant again. Seth Rollins truly is THE man for the time being and I'm loving it.

3) Finn Balor: In our third slot this week, the NXT Champion, Finn Balor, takes it. There was a tough task ahead of Finn Balor and Kevin Owens to follow the MOTY at the close of TakeOver, but they did an admirable job in doing so. Looking back, I wasn't a huge fan of their first match but really liked the one in Japan. This one lived up to the Japan match. It started a bit slow but really picked up and they put on an awesome match. Finn Balor was able to retain and should finally put Kevin Owens behind him. Now, he can move on to new challengers, hopefully beating Samoa Joe before a feud with a returning Hideo Itami. That's just my wishes though. Finn Balor successfully retained the NXT Title in the main event of their biggest event ever, so he clearly earns this spot.

4) The New Day: How can anyone dislike the New Day? They have consistently been the most entertaining thing about the WWE for a while and it got even better this week. Yea, I used a gif from after 8/23, but so what, it's classic. During the week of 8/17-8/23 though, they picked up a major win at SummerSlam. New Day was the best thing about a surprisingly fun Tag Team Title match and then they would actually capture the belts again. The New Day deserved it too because they've been the best thing about the tag division in recent months. I just want to make sure they keep getting TV time and shine.

5) The Vaudevillains: Over the past few months, I became worried about the Vaudevillains. They were close to the NXT Tag Team Titles last year, but fell to the Lucha Dragons. Then BAMF got a lengthy run and Enzo and Cass looked to be on the verge of winning the straps. Then, they were given the shot at the biggest NXT event ever and I felt that if they lost, it would be  a wrap for them. Instead, they brought out Blue Pants to a massive pop, and got a great reaction themselves on that night, when I was worried the fans would be wanting Enzo and Cass. The match itself surprised me as the tag team division has been NXT's biggest weak point for a long time. They had a really fun match and Aiden English and Simon Gotch capped it by winning the gold. A pretty great moment for a really fun tag team.