Royal Rumble 1998
January 18th, 1998 | San Jose Arena in San Jose, California | Attendance: 18,542
After a thrilling 1997, the WWF was about to head into the “Austin Era”. Before he could win the big one at WrestleMania, he had to compete in the Royal Rumble. During the build up to this Royal Rumble, the focus was almost 100% on Steve Austin, kind of giving away the outcome. Mike Tyson is a special guest at this event and it’s a pretty historic show for multiple reasons (Mick Foley’s multiple appearances, Tyson and HBK’s last match before semi-retirement). This would be the 11th Royal Rumble Pay-Per-View in history.
The opening video package is well done, hyping the WWF Title match and the Royal Rumble match itself. Commentary is Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, as you would expect for this era.
The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust w/ Luna Vachon vs. Vader
Over the past few weeks, Goldust had dressed stranger and stranger with his outfits ranging from a baby to Sable and tons of odd stuff in between. Jim Ross tries to say that Goldust needs to use his quickness, but he’s in pretty bad shape and isn’t moving fast. He is in control at the start until Vader wallops him with a charging shot. As he starts to comeback, Luna distracts the referee, allowing Goldust to hit a low blow. Vader still is near winning so Luna leaps on his back. Vader just climbs and hits the Vader Bomb with Luna on his back. It’s a cool visual and the fans react accordingly as Vader wins.
Winner: Vader in 7:47
Up until the cool and creative finish, this was nothing. Both guys were in the midst of disappointing runs and seemed to be going through the motions throughout. I gave it a slight bump for the visual of the finish. *¾
Battalion, El Torito and Tarantula vs. Max Mini, Mini Nova and Mosaic
Sunny is the special referee here since they can’t find anything important for her to do. These guys tend to have relatively fun matches, but it felt pretty out of place in this era. Max Mini seems to be billed as the top star as he gets in most of the high flying stuff. The fans can’t get into it despite the efforts of the workers. They never gave these guys any personality and they are here as a novelty act so the fans don’t have a reason to care. Also, Jerry Lawler makes tons of TERRIBLE short jokes throughout. Sunny gets involved, assisting Max Mini at one point. JR gets in a dig, saying that he heard Sunny liked short guys, which could have bene a shot at one Chris Candido. Mini wins for his guys with a rollup.
Winners: Max Mini, Mini Nova and Mosaic in 7:49
Actually, this was rather fun. The fact that the fans weren’t interested, Sunny looked like she didn’t want to be there and Jerry Lawler made awful jokes hurt my feelings towards it, but they did their job. Put on a fast paced match that was a bit of fun. **½
Some Nation of Domination stuff is shown. They try to find Steve Austin to attack him but his locker room is empty. Then the Rock is interviewed before his upcoming match. You could just sense that he was ready for big things.
WWF Intercontinental Championship
The Rock (c) vs. Ken Shamrock
Just one month ago, Ken Shamrock beat the WWF Champion on PPV via disqualification. I like the dynamic between these two early on. Rock is the brash heel and Shamrock is the badass dude that is gonna put him in his place. We have to listen to Jim Ross talk about Rock’s football career for a while. He sure does go to that well often. Rock gets two on that stupid float over DDT he used to do. I always felt like it was a cool idea that never looked very good. You could tell that Shamrock was pretty damn over. He goes into his rally and everything gets a pop. He also had a pretty good hurricanrana. The Nation run out and Shamrock takes them out, only to get hit with brass knuckles. Rock grossly puts them in Shamrock’s tights but he kicks out. Shamrock hits a belly to belly and scores the victory. BUT WAIT! Rock complains to the referee and says to check the tights. Mike Chioda missed the belly to belly and thinks Shamrock used the brass knuckles to win, so he reverses the decision.
Winner via disqualification: The Rock in 10:53
This wasn’t a bad match and would have probably gotten an average score from me up until the finish. That was a pretty dumb ending and it hurts the score of what was a solid little match. Their matches would get better over time. **¼
WWF Tag Team Championship
The New Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Legion of Doom
During the build to this, the Outlaws and DX took out the LOD, putting Animal through a table and shaving Hawk’s hair. It was the first sign of what DX would become. The Outlaws aren’t insanely over just yet. They pull the basic heel stuff with an attack from behind and, when that backfires, they try to head for the hills. This is very much all LOD as it should be considering the story they’ve been telling during the feud. The Outlaws turn things around by beating up Animal, They wisely then manage to handcuff Hawk to the ring post, making Animal ripe for the picking. Or so they think as Animal starts kicking their ass, causing the Outlaws to have to get themselves disqualified.
Winners via disqualification: The Legion of Doom in 7:56
While the actual ring work wasn’t great here, it was a pretty smartly executed bout. They knew the idea was to have the LOD kick ass but for the Outlaws to be cunning. They did that well but the match was rather dull and the finish wasn’t the best. *½
Royal Rumble Match
The first two entrants are Cactus Jack and Chainsaw Charlie, who are tag partners and hardcore icons. As they beat each other with chairs, Tom Brandi arrives third and lasts about 10 seconds. The Rock draws number four after Cactus suplexes Charlie onto two open chairs. Rock slowly walks while they fight until Charlie knocks down Cactus and hilarious falls on his own. Rock takes a beating from both anyway until Mosh draws the fifth spot. Phineas is out next, citing Jim Ross to say that he is what you get when first cousins reproduce. Wow. The jobbers keep coming as 8-Ball is next. Couldn’t he have just drawn 8? Cactus gets eliminated by Charlie. Blackjack Bradshaw is left. Are there nothing by tag team wrestlers in this thing? Since the Rock showed up, things have been pretty boring. Owen Hart gets a solid pop next but Jeff Jarrett attacks him from behind. HEY, YOU GUYS ARE GONNA BE PARTNERS NEXT YEAR! Owen is taken to the back leaving the Rumble in a boring spot. Charlie is skinning the cat all over the place. Steve Blackman shows up ninth.
In tenth is D-Lo Brown. YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE! Despite being there and helping Rock, they end up trading blows. Kurrgan enters at 11 in the midst of a slight push as an unstoppable monster. He eliminates Mosh. The crowd pops next due to the arrival of Sable as Marc Mero draws 12. Kurrgan dumps Blackman and doesn’t get taken off his fest until Ken Shamrock comes in next. This leads to everyone ganging up to get rid of him. Good. Thrasher comes in but the best thing is seeing D-Lo shake his head while trash talking and choking the Rock. To the confusion of many fans, Mankind is next, as Mick Foley makes some history. He gets rid of Charlie. The crowd starts to pop as Shamrock works over Rocky for earlier. Goldust draws number 17 and eliminates Mankind. In a funny moment, everyone is fighting and Mero is in the middle so he just starts to celebrate. Jeff Jarrett struts out next with Jim Cornette. Owen Hart runs out and goes right for Jarrett. The fans respond so positively to him eliminating Jarrett. Honky Tonk Man is 19 for some reason. Triple H and Chyna show up to distract Owen. They use Hunter’s crutches to hurt and eliminate Owen even though he isn’t in the match.
At twenty, Ahmed Johnson steps out. At a point that the camera missed, Rock used a low blow to help eliminate Shamrock. I feel Shamrock should have lasted far longer. Mark Henry, 10+ years away from his best run, enters at 21. JR tells us that 17 people in this thing are making their Rumble debuts. Things continue to stand still until the buzzer goes off for 22 and we get nobody coming out. Ahmed is eliminated like he’s worthless as does Phineas. How did he last so long? Ahmed attacks Phineas for no reason outside. Commentary barely even acknowledges it. D-Lo continues to go after his Nation buddies. Kama draws 23 and shoves Ahmed when he comes out. Ahmed goes to fight back but just stops and turns away. It looks super funny. The glass breaks at 24 and EVERYTHING in the ring stops as everyone wants Austin. He comes through the crowd to dump Mero and then 8-Ball. Some people gave up on trying to fight him but not D-Lo, who eats two low blows. Henry Godwin runs out next. Savio Vega comes out with all of Los Boricuas but they do nothing of note. Lucky number 27 is Faarooq, currently the leader of the Nation. The crowd goes nuts since he goes right after the Rock. Another pop as Dude Love draws 28, giving Foley the complete triple header and he eliminates Bradshaw. The former Underfaker comes in at 29, now going by Chainz. Somehow Honky Tonk Man is still in. Our final entrant is Vader.
Honky finally goes. The ring is far too full and it’s just pretty plodding. As if they hear me, the eliminations start coming in rapid fire form. The final four comes down to former Tag Team Champions Austin and Dude Love opposite from Nation members Rock and Faarooq. Austin and Love work together until Austin is all like “DTA”. Faarooq then tosses Love and Rock turns on Faarooq to get rid of him. It’s down to two of the biggest stars in history. Crazy to think that these two had a PPV Intercontinental Title match a month prior and are now the final two. A Stunner allows Austin to win.
Winner: Steve Austin in 55:24
Not one of the better Royal Rumbles. Early on it was fun but between entrants number 5 until Austin showed up, everyone was kind of just there waiting. Then, even after Austin showed up, too many people stayed in the ring and it made for relatively boring TV. Cool points for Foley’s triple duty and ending with the two next mega stars, Austin and Rock, but other than that, this was disappointing. **¼
WWF Championship Casket Match
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. The Undertaker
These two had an all-time great at Hell in a Cell three months prior where Undertaker beat the hell out of Shawn, only to lose because of Kane. Here, it seemed like Kane and Undertaker may be on good terms. Early on, this follows Hell in a Cell as Undertaker is in control and we see the infamous casket bump that would take out HBK for four years. Since he can’t make Undertaker’s power, Shawn takes to the air but it doesn’t help much. Shawn finally takes some control with a major piledriver on the steel steps. It gets the kind of reaction they wanted. They do a few casket teases. Arrogant Shawn tries to crotch chop Undertaker while standing over the open casket and it backfires big time. Shawn does an ugly elbow onto Undertaker into the casket and dumbass Earl Hebner closes it on both guys. Shawn crawls out and we get the awesome camera shot of Undertaker dragging him back in. Similar to the mugging at the 1994 Rumble, a bunch of heels show up to attack Undertaker. It’s the Outlaws and Los Boricuas. When Kane’s music hits, the crowd loses their minds. Kane makes the save, only to assault his brother. He then puts Undertaker in the casket to give Michaels the victory.
Winner and Still WWF Champion: Shawn Michaels in 20:37
While I don’t think this was a mark on their best work, it was still probably the best casket match in WWE history. Solid work from both guys, especially considering the amount of pain Shawn might have been in. ***¼
Overall: 4.5/10. I really wanted to like this show more. 1998 was a big year for the WWF, but Pay-Per-View wise, it didn’t get off to a great start. It does however start a trend for the WWF during this era. The undercard is not very good, while the main event scene is the best thing about the shows. Only recommended if you want to see it for the historical stuff. Other than that, this is an easy skip. According to my randomizer, the next “Random Network Review” is set to be Fastlane 2015!
NJPW Power Struggle
November 5th, 2016 | Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan
It’s the least interesting NJPW card since I started watching them consistently. Outside of the Super Jr. Tag Tournament Finals, the big bouts are all rematches and while most should be good, it just doesn’t feel exciting. Either way, here goes nothing.
Juice Robinson and TenKoji def. Manabu Nakanishi, Teruaki Kanemitsu and Yuji Nagata in 5:49
Though this aired, it was basically a dark match since it came before the intro video and things like that. I wasn’t planning on reviewing it but I have the time today and I love the New Japan dads. Kanemitsu was clearly here to take the loss. Still, he showed fire and looked to be enjoying working with the legends around him. And Juice. Speaking of Juice, I don’t think he’s great, but he’s a guy who always works hard. His strange small rivalry with Nakanishi continued. We got treated to AIR MANABU! Juice got the win for his team with an Unprettier on Kanemitsu. As expected, this was nothing special. A rather enjoyable match that the fans enjoyed. **½
David Finlay, Jushin Thunder Liger, Ricochet and Tiger Mask IV def. Angel de Oro, Fuego, Ryusuke Taguchi and Titan in 5:28
Nothing on this show will top the entrance of the CMLL guys and Taguchi. Nothing. Please keep Fuego around. He makes Taguchi tolerable. This followed the typical multi-man tag formula in NJPW. Everyone got a chance to get their shit in basically. However, the CMLL guys continued to work their asses off. They, along with Ricochet, Finlay and Liger brought energy to this. Taguchi and Tiger Mask were kind of just there. Ricochet hit the shooting star press and Finlay got the pin in a match that went a bit too short to be really good. Still fun though. Bring back the CMLL guys for sure. ***
BONE SOLDIER, Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi def. Great Bash Heel and Yoshitatsu in 7:36
This need to capitalize every letter in your name is annoying. You don’t deserve it Bone Solider so I’m not doing it again here. This rivalry has been all sorts of awful. The Bullet Club D- minus team attacked before the bell and most of the match was brawling. Togi Makabe didn’t seem to care much, the rest of the guys are pretty bad and only Honma brought anything interesting to this. The BC blocked a Yoshi Pedigree and he ate some finishers, capped by a DDT from our resident pimp to end things. This sucked and yet, it was the best match of their series so far. *
IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Guerillas of Destiny (c) def. Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI in 14:32
If it wasn’t for their theme, you’d be able to hear a pin drop when G.O.D. came out. Absolute silence. Rightfully so since they’ve been dreadful in their time as a time. I mostly blame Tanga Roa. After some basic back and forth to start, YOSHI ended up taking the heat. G.O.D. worked smoother than ever and looked impressive. Ishii got a relatively hot tag and did his thing. YOSHI showed just as much fire before racking up several near falls that the live crowd bit on. They actually made people believe the title would change hands when most, including myself, knew they wouldn’t. It came down to YOSHI and Tama Tonga. YOSHI blocked the Gun Stun and picked up another near fall. Then, in one of the best counters all year, Tonga smoothly turned Karma into the Gun Stun. The champs retained after hitting Guerilla Warfare. That blew away my expectations. Finally a really good match from G.O.D. Ishii and YOSHI brought the energy that we get from them in Chaos tags and it helped immensely. Everyone worked hard to deliver a match that the fans ate up. I expect Ishii and Goto to win the WTL and face G.O.D. at Wrestle Kingdom. This is the highest score I’ve given a IWGP Tag Title match since WK9. ***¾
Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament Finals: Roppongi Vice def. ACH and Taiji Ishimori in 18:49
ACH and Taiji Ishimori are the most interesting, fun and exciting thing to happen to this division since reDRagon. Roppongi Vice have been arguing non-stop for months but reached the finals. Rocky got bested by Ishimori early on and went to hug Beretta in the corner like they do but got aggressively shoved back. They patched things up soon after but quickly found themselves in trouble. Rocky got a pretty hot tag and picked up a near fall. RPG Vice avoided the stereo 450 splashes so ACH kicked the hell out of Beretta and Ishimori took out Rocky outside with a moonsault. Rocky looked dead but fired up with a FUCK YOU and RPG Vice rallied. ACH and Ishimori had some left in them, surviving big double team offense and ACH nailed an awesome fosbury flop. RPG Vice got their knees up on double 450s, continued to go at it and eventually won with the Dudebuster/dropkick combo. Good match, bad booking. ***½
That’s typical Gedo for you. The fresh, exciting team loses in favor of the same old, same old. RPG Vice challenged the Young Bucks for a match at the Tokyo Dome. Matt joked about no four way this year but they accepted. Oh cool. So instead of ACH & Ishimori (who had the best Young Bucks in recent NJPW memory) we get RPG Vice/Bucks again. The only excuse for this is if the NOAH sale means the partnership with NJPW is in trouble. Still, Bucks/RPG Vice sounds pitiful.
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA def. BUSHI (c) in 15:11
This is the fourth match between these two this year. The first (New Beginning) was great, second was really good (BOTSJ) and the third was good (Destruction). They’re getting progressively worse but still not bad at all. Right from the opening bell, KUSHIDA charged and attacked BUSHI, leading to him getting booed a lot. BUSHI weathered the storm but also got booed when he choked KUSHIDA with his shirt. Does the crowd just not like cheating? The stuff they did in the match was mostly good but it really just felt like it was all about KUSHIDA getting revenge. I get the angle but it doesn’t make for the best of matches. KUSHIDA won with a wrenched back version of the Hoverboard Lock. Their downward trend continues. This was good but never even sniffed great. The booking was off again because BUSHI felt like a bump in the road for KUSHIDA, rather than a guy they have faith in. ***
After the match, the Time Bomb finally went off. Out came the former Kamaitachi, now known as Hiromu Takahashi. Takahashi challenged KUSHIDA to a title match at the Tokyo Dome (he even licked the belt while it was around KUSHIDA’s waist). KUSHIDA seemingly accepted. I’ve only seen Takahashi have great matches with Dragon Lee but him against KUSHIDA should be miles better than the last two Dome Jr. Title matches (KUSHIDA/Omega and Omega/Taguchi), which both severely lacked.
The Bullet Club (ROH World Champion Adam Cole, Kenny Omega & IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks) def. Chaos (Gedo, Hirooki Goto, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay) in 14:01
The Bullet Club team is pretty much the IWC wet dream and my nightmare. I don’t think Omega is great but he’s far and away the best guy on that team. We got standard Young Bucks shenanigans, Gedo being Gedo, Ospreay doing athletic shit and a preview of Okada/Omega. An interesting change was that Omega was serious. He shouted at Cole for doing his stupid “ADAM COLE BAYBAY” stuff. Like, shut up dude, we got business to handle. Cole ignored it and did it again shortly after, leading to Gedo kicking him and giving us the gift of “GEDO BAYBAY”. The match progressed as expected and Omega surprisingly pinned Okada with the One Winged Angel. About what I thought I’d get here. Some wackiness and a WK11 preview. My interested in Okada/Omega is still at a 2/10 or so. This match itself was fun though. ***
NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL def. Katsuyori Shibata (c) in 16:15
EVIL defeated Shibata in the G1 Climax (in a disappointing outing) and then attacked him at King of Pro Wrestling. Unlike the KUSHIDA match, the crowd really liked the non-LIDJ member here. Shibata held serve early until they went outside. There, EVIL wrapped a chair around Shibata’s arm and drove it into the ring post. That put the focus on Shibata’s heavily taped shoulder. EVIL kept the pressure on Shibata for the next few minutes. After Shibata’s made a comeback, this broke down into a good old fashioned hard hitting battle. Some of the shots in this were just vicious. This was going along wonderfully and then we got a ref bump. EVIL used the title and then two chairs before a fisherman buster and STO got him the win. They worked the match I hoped for. It was hard hitting and had the crowd way into it. The title change was surprising. I wasn’t a huge fan of the finish but it was still a damn good title match. ***¾
Hiroshi Tanahashi def. SANADA in 21:33
Their match on the first night of the G1 Climax was pretty awesome. On that night, SANADA went after Tanahashi’s injured shoulder. Here, Tanahashi frustrated him early by being one step ahead. SANADA showcased his athleticism advantage with his awesome leap frogs and a dive outside. They fought up the ramp where SANADA nailed a rana and we got the NJPW countout tease special. Back inside, things went back and forth, with SANADA continuing to use his youth and athleticism to his benefit. Tanahashi went to the dragon screws and a sling blade on the apron. After several failed attempts, SANADA got the dragon sleeper on. Tanahashi wasn’t about to tap out again. SANADA missed the moonsault, Tanahashi missed High Fly Flow and when SANADA missed a second moonsault, he landed on his feet but it hurt thanks to Tanahashi working the leg. SANADA survived a cloverleaf and then got his knees up on High Fly Flow. Tanahashi then countered the dragon sleeper FIVE STRAIGHT TIMES. He hit sling blade, a dragon suplex and two High Fly Flows to win. Slightly better than their G1 match. Tanahashi learned from his mistakes and had the dragon sleeper expertly scouted. In two matches with SANADA, Tanahashi succeeded where Okada failed and made him look like a million bucks. ****¼
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) def. Jay Lethal in 24:29
Back at a recent ROH show, Jay Lethal pinned Tetsuya Naito, earning his spot as the replacement for the injured Michael Elgin. These two got along at the start of the year back when Lethal was a heel. There was one glaring issue with this right off the bat. Lethal isn’t well known in Japan and the crowd didn’t really seem to care about him. They traded stuff early and Lethal stole Naito’s taunt. Again though, the crowd mostly sat on their hands. The match wasn’t that bad but it was completely heatless, which is just not something I’m used to from Naito over the past year and a half. We knew coming in that Naito would retain and at no point did they make us believe otherwise. That’s where the Tag Title match succeeded and where this failed. Naito won a match that went too long with Destino. Like I said, not enough heat or believability with a lackluster crowd. I like Lethal, but don’t bring him back. It isn’t working in Japan. **½
After the match, Hiroshi Tanahashi came out to challenge Tetsuya Naito for the Tokyo Dome. It seemed like Naito accepted. If there is any justice in the world, they’ll do a fan vote or something and find a way to get Tanahashi and Naito to main event the Tokyo Dome. Naito deserves the main event after the year he’s had and it would bring everything full circle after he lost out on a Tokyo Dome main event because of a fan vote in 2014. Tanahashi/Naito >>>> Omega/Okada.
Overall: 7.5/10. A show that turned out to be better than I expected. Like I said, the card wasn’t interesting, but most of the matches delivered. The main event severely lacked, the BONE SOLDIER matches continue to suck major ass and the Jr. Title match also disappointed. However, the Tag Title match blew me away and the Super Jr. Tag Finals were really solid. The BC/Chaos tag and opener were both good. The NEVER Title match ruled and SANADA vs. Tanahashi was the show stealer. A strong show with a few skippable parts that set up Wrestle Kingdom rather well.
Evolve 71
October 16th, 2016 | The Orpheum in Ybor City, Florida
I know I’m a bit late with this but I only just got around to watching this show. I looked at the card for Evolve 70 and wasn’t too interested in it, so I went with Evolve 71.
Non-Title Fight to a Finish
Drew Gulak def. Evolve Champion Timothy Thatcher in 14:22
Evolve missed a chance to take the title off of Thatcher at Evolve 70. The Thatcher title run has been horrible since the calendar changed to 2016, filled with shitty storylines and bad matches. In fact, these two had a stinker at Evolve 67. After that match, Thatcher choked out Gulak so this continued. This was a brawl with both men in street clothes. It reminded me of the tag team brawl on Evolve 62 since they fought all around the building. They battled in places I’ve never seen in Evolve before. They even fought into the streets. My main concern with this was that it was hard to see at times because they’d brawl in such dark places. Back to the ring, Gulak won with a dragon sleeper. Much better than their previous outing. When Thatcher goes outside of his comfort zone, he can do good but he’s too stubborn for that a lot of the time. This was good, had a hot crowd and felt different than a lot of what we typically get from these guys. ***½
Stokely Hathaway came out to try and get Thatcher to join the Dream Team. With the Dream Team, Thatcher will be able to just focus on wrestling and Stokely will take other things off of his plate. The last time he extended his hand, Thatcher broke it. Surprisingly, Thatcher accepted and shook his hand.
Tracy Williams def. Justin Kincaid in 18:16
Williams is the unheralded member of Catch Point, while I believe this is the first weekend for the interesting Kincaid. I’ve never seen Kincaid before but he certainly impressed with a very unique move set. It’s always great to see something different in wrestling and that’s what Kincaid brings. He did an awesome running lariat off of the stage. Williams got his stuff in after giving Kincaid a lot. He nailed a brainbuster for a close near fall. Kincaid continued to innovate with a cartwheel powerslam and double stomp, followed by a sunset buckle bomb. Hot Sauce came close again with a turnbuckle DDT and lariat. He went nuts with forearm strikes. After a series of counters, Williams won with a piledriver. A really good match that might have gone a bit too long. Kincaid came off looking great and nearly scored the upset a few times. Williams continues to be his underrated great self. ***¾
The Gatekeepers w/ Ethan Page def. Eric Locker and Joe Coleman in 1:07
Coleman and Locker were in the WWN seminar earlier in the day. The Gatekeepers are the former Devastation Corporation. They attacked before the bell and just annihilated these jamokes. They won with a doomsday device type finisher. The squash that it needed to be.
Ethan Page, in Suicide Squad inspired gear, got in the ring after the bell to put over his team. Page said that because he hit an official last night, he was fined his pay for both shows. He claimed that it was worth it because he enjoyed bringing chaos to Evolve. Since he wasn’t getting paid, Page wanted to end his night as soon as possible, so his opponent came out.
Ethan Page def. Sami Callihan in 13:47
This is Sami’s first WWN appearance since an Evolve Title shot at Mercury Rising. On Evolve 58, Callihan beat Page, but this was a different Ethan. Page recently turned heel and attacked Johnny Gargano on his way out of Evolve. Right from the start, these two just went right after each other. They worked at an aggressive pace and it helped things immensely. Page hit an apron powerbomb which was a highlight. Page was great at the trash talk and giving his offense a little extra something behind it to make it more vicious. Sami survived RK-Ego and Page survived a tombstone variation. Page finally won with the package piledriver. Hard hitting and an improvement on their Evolve 58 match, while also being the bounce back that Page needed after the debacle with Thatcher at Evolve 70. The best singles Callihan match I’ve seen since he left WWE. ***½
Evolve Tag Team Champion DUSTIN def. Darby Allin in 11:00
Allin has made several appearances for Evolve and has nearly hurt himself on big spots in most of those. Grew Galloway, DUSTIN’s’ partner, joined commentary since he’s injured. He continued to talk about Evolve selling out. The opening stretch was full of fire and the best part of the match. DUSTIN took things outside and made it a bit of a brawl. I like DUSTIN/Chuck Taylor but I just don’t buy him as a serious heel which kind of hurt this. Allin is a good underdog babyface but and I don’t think it played too well against DUSTIN. I did like how DUSTIN would hit a move and instead of covering, he wanted the referee to ask if Allin quit. Allin fought hard but fell to the Awful Waffle. Fine match but it was certainly missing something. I love the comparison of Allin to Mikey Whipwreck that I’ve heard a few times. **¾
Zack Sabre Jr. def. Fred Yehi in 20:48
The two last matches on this show are among the most interesting and exciting in recent Evolve memory. Both guys are known for their mat work, but Yehi brings something different to the table as well. He has some unorthodox ways of doing things. For the most part, Yehi stayed right on par with Sabre when they went to the ground. I could watch these two twist each other for days. Yehi bent Sabre’s foot at an odd position and Sabre got out of that by going after Yehi’s fingers. I loved that whenever Yehi seemed to get in trouble, he would drop a fist on Sabre’s foot. It’s just a little thing but it makes sense and was cool. Sabre attacked the elbow, which Yehi sold very well. Yehi came close with the Koji Clutch and several flash pins. Sabre caught a roaring elbow into a submission and transitioned it over into a crazy way to tie up both arms. Just shy of being great. Some awesome grappling, good selling and a certain intensity that I liked. Another great job from Yehi. ***¾
After the match, Sabre put over Yehi and said that he wanted another shot at the Evolve Championship. Ethan Page and the Gatekeepers showed up and beat him down. Darby Allin and some seminar students showed up to try and help but they failed. Page did the old Pillman/Austin chair gimmick on Sabre’s arm. This and the earlier win were about as good as a way as possible for Evolve to make up for Evolve 70. It did seem like Sabre was going heel based off of Evolve 67 so this was odd in that way.
Chris Hero def. Matt Riddle in 17:33
Earlier this year, at Evolve 57, Riddle actually beat Chris Hero. After a relatively slow start for the first two or so minutes, Riddle fired up and just went nuts with strikes on Hero. Hero answered with a big boot that sent him outside. They continued to wail on each other outside but Hero’s shots pretty much sent Riddle to sleep in the corner. Hero did what everyone should do to guys who don’t wear boots. He stepped on Riddle’s feet. Riddle fought from behind with fire, which we don’t see often from him. He would sit up after big shots from Hero and shout “BROOOOO”. Matt came close with the Bro to Sleep but Hero kicked out. Hero looked out of it but was playing possum and drilled Riddle with three elbows. He missed a fourth before blocking the Bromission. Riddle took a tombstone and piledriver before locking in a triangle choke. Hero broke that and hit the sick arm capture piledriver for a near fall. A rolling elbow kept Matt down. Match of the night and exactly what I wanted from these two. It was heated and physical, with some vicious shots throughout. Riddle as the babyface was great since the fans love him and Hero is an amazing bully brute heel. ****¼
Tracy Williams came out to check on Matt Riddle. Chris Hero got mad and Williams issued a challenge to him. Hero beat all remaining Catch Point members in recent months. Drew Galloway and DUSTIN ran out. Hero knocked Williams out and Riddle got beat up outside. Galloway said that though injured, he was there to inspire his troops. He wanted Hero to attack Riddle more but Hero declined and left. Gulak and Yehi showed up to run Galloway and DUSTIN off. Gulak promised that a unified Catch Point would win the war.
Overall: 7.5/10. A strong effort from Evolve here. The lowest rated match (since I didn’t rate the squash), still nearly comes in with three stars. Williams/Kincaid was a great surprise, Yehi/Sabre ruled and Hero/Riddle was a worthy main event. Everything else is pretty good and the show is barely over two hours, making it a really easy watch.
Raw History
Episode #55
March 21st, 1994 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
We are live and 24 hours removed from WrestleMania X, a show that featured two classics. The big title change coming out of the show is Bret Hart as the new WWF Champion.
Non-Title Match
The Quebecers w/ Johnny Polo vs. The Bushwhackers
Why are the Bushwhackers still employed? This starts with the Bushwhackers doing their typical antics. Vince McMahon apologizes because a ten man tag from WrestleMania was cut due to the “teams not being able to get on the same page”. In other words, they were cut for time restraints. The match will happen in two weeks on Raw. The Bushwhackers have control until the commercial break, when the Quebecers take over. This match is getting far too much time. Some Polo interference allows the Quebecers to win this.
Winners: The Quebecers in 9:21
I really hope I never have to see the Bushwhackers on Raw again. This lasted far too long and should have just been the Quebecers beating them rather handily. ½*
As Vince McMahon tries to get a word with the winners, Capt. Lou Albano comes out saying that he’s going to put together a team and wants a shot at the belts. The Quebecers accept. I guess there will finally be some payoff for the Albano stuff that we saw months ago.
After some still images from WrestleMania X, IRS gives us some tax advice. Can you believe this guy would stick around for another year or so?
Tatanka vs. Chris Hammrick
This is the same Hammrick that would be in ECW a few years later if I’m correct. Tatanka had on his GIANT ceremonial headdress. Hammrick misses a move and falls straight to the ropes to the outside. It looked pretty nasty. Tatanka takes too long here, stalling since he knows he must kill time. He wins with his Samoan or Native American drop.
Winner: Tatanka in 4:46
Too long for a squash match, especially considering Tatanka is not really a fun guy to watch. ½*
Todd Pettengill, supposedly in the locker room in Madison Square Garden, brings us a WrestleMania report. Make sure to order the encore!
Diesel vs. Ken Lucia
The Diesel push is about to get serious. Diesel hits a big leaping clothesline or shoulder block. It’s hard to see because the camera angle was far back. Diesel hits his four or so moves, the side slam, snake eyes, big boot and the Jackknife wins it.
Winner: Diesel in 2:36
All Diesel and that’s how it should be at this time. As I said, the mega-push is coming. *
Next week, Lex Luger takes on Rick Martel! Luger is pissed because he came up short in a big match again.
Vince McMahon brings out the new WWF Champion, Bret Hart, for an in-ring interview. Vince recaps how Bret won and Bret says that he will be the fighting champion that he was last year. Vince then brings up how Owen Hart defeated Bret to open the show. Bret gives Owen props for winning and makes no excuses, but says things are different now that he’s champion again.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Koko B. Ware
Is tonight a showcase for guys who shouldn’t still be signed at this point? He hits a shoulder block but Jarrett controls this thing. It’s funny that Owen Hart has gone way high in the card while Koko is still rocking the High Energy gear here. Koko tries to make a comeback after being beaten up for most of the match, but falls short. Jarrett picks up the win with a DDT.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett in 5:04
This wasn’t exactly a squash match, though the outcome wasn’t really ever in doubt. Still, it was relatively dull. ½*
For some reason, Jeff Jarrett gets in Randy Savage’s face after the match. They go in the ring and the crowd wants Savage. He sends Jarrett packing and celebrates with Koko B. Ware.
Overall: 1/10. What the hell was this? You come off of the heels of your biggest show of the year and you follow it up with this? Four bad matches and an interview with the WWF that didn’t really go anywhere? Think about this…the best match was a short Diesel squash and the fallout from WrestleMania episode ends with Koko B. Ware. That’s just horrible.
Raw History
Episode #56
March 28th, 1994 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
Footage from earlier tonight is shown, where Ted Dibiase buys ringside seats from fans. Your hosts tonight are Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette.
Lex Luger vs. Rick Martel
Vince McMahon complains through the first few minutes about Mr. Perfect “costing” Lex Luger the WWF Title at WrestleMania. Going back and watching that match though, it’s pretty clear that Mr. Perfect did the right thing. Luger starts hot with some of his classic SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES! Luger slows things down with an extended headlock sequence. Martel takes over and Luger does some piss poor selling. Cornette actually insinuates that due to losing at Mania, Luger may try to commit suicide. Martel points to his brain to state how smart he is, allowing the Luger comeback, which ends with a torture rack.
Winner: Lex Luger in 14:47
Acceptable wrestling match here. Not too bad and not too good, but a bit dull at times. Luger’s poor selling also takes something out of this as well as the fact that it went too long. *¾
Owen Hart vs. Jobber Freeman
We don’t get the name of the jobber, though he screams jobber in the worst way. During the match, we get a promo from Ted Dibiase from his seat. It’s a strange camera angle to work with. As Vince and Cornette talk nonsense on commentary, Owen has to stall. Hey, Vince calls the jobber “Freeman” so I’ll go with that. Owen wins with the Sharpshooter.
Winner: Owen Hart in 5:09
Normally, Owen Hart delivers here but this was pretty bad. I think the main issue was that he was forced to stall. ¼*
Doink vs. Eric Cody
There hasn’t been much in the way of promos tonight. Dink does some of his annoying antics early. At one point, he steps on Eric Cody, which makes me question why there wasn’t a disqualification called. Doink wins with the Whoopee Cushion.
Winner: Doink in 3:30
Another ho-hum Doink match. I miss Matt Osbourne. ¼*
Jim Cornette brings out Johnny Polo and the Quebecers. As Cornette praises them, Capt. Lou Albano comes out. He wants to know if they accept his challenge from last week. They laugh it off and say they accept, so Lou goes back to get his team. He brings out the Headshrinkers. The Quebecers have second thoughts and Polo tries to back out, but already accepted and is stuck.
Next Monday, a WrestleMania rematch! That’s right, Adam Bomb vs. Earthquake.
1-2-3 Kid vs. Black Phantom
I’ve found out that the Black Phantom is Gangrel. These two would have a PPV match about five years later. Phantom tosses Kid around early but he uses that quick offense to swing the momentum in his favor. Cornette does a good job in mentioning that Kid wins with his speed and risks, but it is also how he loses. He wins here with a moonsault.
Winner: 1-2-3 Kid in 2:24
Why did this get the least time of all of the squashes? They were actually two capable workers. ½*
Crush w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Ray Hudson
Nikolai Volkoff is at ringside again and Vince points out that he’s wearing the same suit. They’re trying to say he’s broke, but it could be because of the long black of tapings. Crush plods through his offense and stalls a bit before winning.
Winner: Crush in 3:22
Again, who keeps giving guys like Crush time? He always sucks. Literally always. ¼*
Overall: 2.5/10. Another bad episode of Raw coming out of WrestleMania. It’s as if they aren’t trying at all. I know that the next PPV isn’t for another few months but there should still be some sort of effort on these episodes.
Raw History
Episode #57
April 4th, 1994 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
The show starts with Adam Bomb and Earthquake arguing backstage. Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon are our hosts and they are CLEARLY standing in front of a green screen.
Adam Bomb w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Earthquake
These two met at WrestleMania. Instead of putting over the new, big guy with some potential, Earthquake won. As Adam Bomb works over Earthquake, it leads to Harvey Wippleman and Howard Finkel getting in each other’s faces. Oh goodness, their feud is coming. Bomb hits a flying clothesline for two. Earthquake actually hits a solid belly to belly suplex. He then wins with the ass splash.
Winner: Earthquake in 4:18
That was slow, boring and had the added awfulness of the ringside antics between Harvey and Fink. Also, the wrong guy won again. ¼*
A recap is shown of Lex Luger coming up short again at WrestleMania when he lost via disqualification. Luger is going to take it out on Mr. Perfect.
Gorilla Monsoon brings out Mr. Perfect for an interview about the outcome of the match at WrestleMania. He says his side of the story, which is the right one. Yes, Luger had Yokozuna beaten but Perfect had to get rid of the interfering managers. Then, Luger pushed him and was rightfully disqualified. Monsoon thinks he had a vendetta against Luger and it ends there.
Razor Ramon vs. Austin Steele
Looking at these two guys, it’s pretty clear how this is going to work. Razor Ramon dominates, slapping the pudgy Austin Steele around. The biggest news comes from commentary. First, Vince tells us that Razor will be defending the belt against Diesel soon. Then, he tells us that Men on a Mission won the Tag Titles on a house show, only to drop them back to the Quebecers two nights later. Razor does his usual stuff and wins with the Razor’s Edge.
Winner: Razor Ramon in 3:43
Standard Razor Ramon squash match. ¾*
A recap is shown of the Headshrinkers and Lou Albano looking for a Tag Team Title shot. Jack Tunney is looking into it and while he does that, next week, the Quebecers are defending the belts. Against who? The fans choose between the Smoking Guns, Men on a Mission and the Bushwhackers. YOU CAN VOTE FOR JUST $1.49 PER MINUTE!
IRS, Jeff Jarrett, Rick Martel & the Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. 1-2-3 Kid, Thurman Plugg, Tatanka and the Smoking Gunns
This is the match that was cut from WrestleMania. Also, didn’t the Headshrinkers turn face last week? Everyone seems to be motivated as they work at a quick pace. Maybe they’re trying to show that they belonged on WrestleMania. IRS gets tagged and thankfully isn’t on offense, so not even he can slow things down. It’s a lot of fun seeing everyone fly around the ring, especially the Kid. Things break down into a major brawl with everyone fighting everyone. IRS steals a pin after 1-2-3 Kid misses a splash.
Winners: IRS, Jeff Jarrett, Rick Martel and the Headshrinkers in 11:47
Hey, that was actually pretty fun. That would have been better to have on Mania than Adam Bomb/Earthquake or 11 minutes of Luger/Yokozuna. **¾
Shawn Michaels and Diesel bring us the first ever HEARTBREAK HOTEL! After putting himself and the idea of this talk show over, Shawn turns the attention to Razor Ramon and the fact that Diesel is going to challenge Razor for the IC Title.
Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Scott Powers
Gorilla Monsoon tries to blame Yokozuna falling at WrestleMania on slippery ropes. Yokozuna dominates and wins with the Banzai Drop.
Winner: Yokozuna in 2:26
All Yokozuna. ½*
Overall: 3.5/10. The best episode of a bad bunch. We finally get some forward movement with the Diesel/Razor stuff and the six man tag match was a fun match. Nothing else was particularly good, but it was a step in the right direction after two piss poor weeks.
Matt Striker and Vampiro tell us that Chavo Guerrero Sr. is in the crowd. Dario Cueto says he talks too much and cuts him off because it's time for DARIO'S DIAL OF DOOM! The spin lands on "Dario's Choice." He teases Rey Mysterio and Pentagon Dark but chooses someone who had his arm broken by Pentagon...Cortez Castro.
Lucha Underground Championship: Matanza Cueto (c) w/ Dario Cueto def. Cortez Castro in 2:19
So this is Castro's punishment for being a cop. We get a trademark Dario RING THE BELL! Cortez tried to work slowly and safely but Matanza just re-broke his arm AND THE CAST! Matanza beats him handily with the Wrath of the Gods. I won't rate this since it was an unfair squash but the broken cast spot was dope.
In Dario's office, Dario and Joey Ryan are laughing at Cortez Castro's injury. Joey leaves and Son of Havoc comes in with Mascarita Sagrada. Mascarita wants a match against Famous B. Dario says that if Havoc can beat Dr. Wagner Jr. tonight, Mascarita gets his match and Havoc can pick the stipulation. If Wagner wins, he gets to pick the stip. Dario makes some short jokes that he finds hilarious.
Prince Puma is in the ring. He reminds the fans that he beat Mil Muertes two weeks ago but that isn't enough for the man who put Konnan in a coffin. He wants to do the same to Mil and challenges him to a Grave Consequences match. The lovely Catrina appears atop the stage and glagly accepts. Muertes comes in from behind, in a dashing ass suit. He fires away on Puma, but Puma turns it around and gets in shots. Puma sent him outside and teased a dive but posed instead. That match should rule. I have the first two Puma/Muertes matches at ****1/4 and ***3/4 and the two Grave Consequences matches at ****1/2 and ***3/4.
Son of Havoc w/ Mascarita Sagrada def. Dr. Wagner Jr. w/ Famous B and Brenda in 5:33
Famous B shit on the fans and put over Wagner and Brenda before the match. Havoc send Wagner outside quickly and followed with suicide dives. They did a fair amount of brawling. Inside, Wagner hit a awkward back suplex for two. Famous B and Brenda reacted to everything hilariously outside. Havoc pulled out the win with a shooting star press. Fine little match. Didn't really stand out though. **1/4
Son of Havoc gets on the microphone and allows Mascarita to choose the match type. He whispers in Havoc's ear and Famous B vs. Mascarita will be a Believer's Backlash match!
We got another White Rabbit video package.
Next week, Puma vs. Muertes in Grave Consequences!
Loser Leaves Lucha: Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Chavo Guerrero in 13:41
I've admitted that this rivalry doesn't excite me. I didn't care for their feuds in WWE either. At least it will be over here. They work at a good pace early on. They know each other so well that even at their age, things move smoothly. Chavo Sr. at ringside gets some screen time throughout this. Chavo takes over and gets "Chavo sucks" chants while working over Rey. Chavo did the Three Amigos but Rey sets up for the 619. Chavo Sr. comes in with a chair and hits his son. He gets the referee to call the DQ, giving Chavo the win. BUT WAIT! Dario Cueto comes out of his office and gets upset with the referee for calling a DQ because Dario loves violence. He restarts the match with no DQ rules. Rey avoids a chair shot from Chavo Sr. and sends both into 619 position. He only hits Sr. and they tease Chavo winning with a half crab. Rey fought out and eventually won with the 619. Pretty good match. I enjoyed the Chavo Sr. tease and Dario not being a stereotypical authority figure in wrestling. **3/4
Overall: 6/10. Another average show this season. Chavo and Rey had a fine match and the Havoc/Wagner match was decent but something was missing again. There wasn't a lot of story advancement. The Puma/Muertes segment ruled and I even enjoyed Matanza killing Cortez.
If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!
