Raw Montreal Review

The Montreal crowd is red hot as things open with Randy Orton. He talks about what he's going to do at Payback before he's interrupted by Roman Reigns. They trade barbs until New Day surprisingly cuts them off. The WWE Tag Team Champions cut a fun promo before facing Orton and Reigns in a 3 on 2 handicap match. After seeing what Orton did to the tag team division in recent weeks, I was scared about the Tag Champions jobbing here. It was a competitive match and a miscue where Reigns speared Orton allowed Kofi to get the win. Fine booking here as your champions get a win, but your top World Title contenders don't lose straight up. Kane comes out and books Orton/Reigns for our main event. We also get told that Dean Ambrose will face Seth Rollins later tonight. After a break, the perfect Renee Young is in the ring and she brings out Ryback. He cuts a promo about how his injury early in his career and managed to turn the crowd around from shitting on him to cheering him, which is impressive. He isn't scared of Bray Wyatt, who appears on the titantron and cuts one of his usual promos. It was fine but I think Bray shouldn't talk every week. His words would mean more if he spoke less. Also, add in the fact that it's hard for me to by into him as the new "Face of Fear" when he lost to the Undertaker at WrestleMania.

Next, we moved to a tag match pitting Tyson Kidd and Cesaro vs. the Ascension. It was a solid bout that the crowd loved because of Kidd and Natalya's connection to Montreal. Cesaro ran wild with like ten straight uppercuts and looked great. They won, and didn't have to go over the champions so we don't get a thousand rematches. For some reason, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins aren't headlining. Especially when Kane comes out to say that if Ambrose wins he gets added to the Payback main event. That's great as it gives this a real reason for happening and got me, the viewers and live crowd even more into it. The match itself was the usual greatness between these two. Despite interference from J&J Security, Ambrose was able to roll up Seth and win. This makes the Payback main event much more interesting and though I'm sure Dean is there to take the fall, it's still fun. The booking of Raw has been spot on so far.

After some short backstage segments, we move to Rusev vs. Fandango. The crowd is totally giving Rusev the Marc Mero treatment, though I hope he doesn't end up jobbing like him because Rusev is really good. Lana ends up Fandangoing, so Rusev sends her away to boos. They're executing this right as Lana is way over. Fine segment here. Next, Stardust faces R-Truth and the match involves fake spiders. I shit you not. This was the worst thing on the show so far. Actually, it was the only bad thing so far. With how much Cody Rhodes gives to the Stardust character, he should be booked much better. I mean, he did win here but still, this was dumb.

So, John Cena's Open Challenges have been some of the best things going each week. However, lately we had the Heath Slater one which disappointed. Here, after an overly long promo, his challenge is answered by Bret Hart! The crowd goes nuts at this as Bret actually comes to the ring! He is here to introduce someone but Slater shows up. The running gag continues which is fine since Heath is fantastic in this role. Bret takes him out with the mic and introduces SAMI FUCKING ZAYN! I marked so hard, you have no idea. The hometown reaction Sami gets is awesome. During the match, Sami injures his shoulder which hurts the match a bit but I thought it was still very good. Sami was the ultimate underdog, the crowd was ridiculously hot and Sami looked great in defeat. They took advantage of where they were and it worked perfectly. Also, Michael Cole was shockingly great through this whole affair. After the match, Cena left the ring to allow the fans to give Sami a standing ovation.

The Bella Twins walk backstage and see that New Day is still celebrating. I love these guys. See what a little mic time and character development can do? As the Bellas go to the ring, they are attacked by Naomi and the returning Tamina Snuka. This basically tells us that Tamina will continue her bodyguard role, which is a fine spot for her. The pairing with Naomi could be interesting. We move to a tag team match pitting King Barrett and Sheamus against the Lil Fellas, Dolph Ziggler and Neville. This was a good match where Barrett pinned Neville after the New Sensation went high risk and jumped into the Bull Hammer. Glad to see the King get the win.

The main event is set to begin at 11PM so you know the match won't be very long. We get a bunch of Authority shenanigans but the big issue is that the crowd is pretty dead at this point following Rollins/Ambrose and Zayn/Cena. The no contest finish happens as the Authority attacks, bringing Dean Ambrose out. They send Seth and the Authority packing before Randy Orton hits Roman Reigns with an RKO. Ambrose wisely takes out Orton with the Dirty Deeds and actually stands tall to close things. Overall, this Raw felt like it was booked by a completely different team, in a good way. Ambrose is in the title picture, the Tag champs looked great and Sami Zayn faced John Cena. With the exception of Stardust/Truth, I found no issues with this episode of Raw. 8.5/10. 

Fave Five 4/27/15-5/3/15

1) Hirooki Goto: First, I apologize for my lack of updates this week. I've been rather busy so I missed some reviews. I've mentioned before that I only recently got into NJPW. My favorite performer there is Shinsuke Nakamura and I love the prestige that the IWGP Intercontinental Title has. This weekend, Nakamura dropped the belt to Hirooki Goto. I have yet to see the match but I've only heard good things. Hopefully, we get a great reign out of Goto. The fact that the title is so important really hammers home how big this win was and why he's deserving of the top spot this week.

2) Prince Puma: Prince Puma has been fantastic as the Lucha Underground Champion and has continued to reign over all challengers. I recently lost all of my access to see Lucha Underground, which saddens me deeply, but when I was able to watch, Puma was enthralling. He is the right choice to carry the title for so long because he embodies what makes Lucha Underground a ton of fun. This week, he makes the list because of a successful title defense against Drago, who is also on the list of the most exciting performers in LU. That now makes Cage, Drago, King Cuerno and more that Puma has defended the belt against, which is a pretty impressive and growing list.

3) Kenny King: So Kenny King captured the X-Division Championship this week. He defeated champion Rockstar Spud, Tigre Uno and Mandrews in a ladder match. Unfortunately, along with losing Lucha Underground, I no long can watch Impact weekly so I missed this. Also, after a star making performance against Ethan Carter III a few weeks back, I do not think Spud should have dropped the title so soon. However, King's win is still big. With the BDC, he has been kind of on the back burner, but this should bring him to the spotlight a bit more as he's one of the more talented guys that TNA has employed. Also, I do feel a bit weird about using this photo for him this week but it's all I could find.

4) The Young Bucks: Man, those IWGP Jr. Tag Team Titles change hands at nearly every show huh? I was really looking forward to seeing Roppongi Vice get a nice run with the gold because they are so damn fun. Alas, it was Matt and Nick Jackson regaining the belts at this week's New Japan show. They not only defeated Roppongi Vice, but reDRagon was involved as well, making this all the more impressive. I am still not a major Bucks fan, but I can't deny that this was a big win and they continue to be one of the more entertaining tag teams in the world.


            5) Kenny Omega: Keeping with theme of the Bullet Club, Kenny Omega gets the fifth spot. The reigning IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion picked up another successful title defense this week. He bested one of my absolute all time favorite wrestlers in Alex Shelley. It's one of the matches that I'm looking forward to most from the show for sure. Omega has grown on me because I wasn't a big fan when I first saw him in 2008 but now, I've enjoyed a fair amount of his work.

Fave Five 4/20/15-4/26/15

1) Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc: Apologies for this being late, but that happens with PPVs. Even with that PPV though, I couldn't go against this choice. Early on in Lucha Underground's run, I enjoyed Ivelisse and Son of Havoc, but felt they were underutilized. Then, Angelico joined the fray and added something to their run. LU brought in their Trios Titles and last week, we saw the first champions crowned. Not only did these three beat King Cuerno, Texano and Cage, but also Big Ryck, the MACK and Killshot. They were then thrown a swerve and forced to face the Crew. What followed was brilliant storytelling and a sick spot from Angelico before they captured the belts. Excellent work from all three performers.

2) Becky Lynch: Again, despite a solid PPV, I stray away from the main roster for this pick. One of my favorite matches all week was the Number One Contender's Triple Threat match between Becky Lynch, Charlotte and Bayley. The women of NXT never fail to deliver and they did so again. All three girls did great work as Charlotte played the dominant Diva, Bayley was the sympathetic babyface and Becky as the ultimate opportunist. After nearly ten minutes of good work, Becky stole the victory. She now earns her first solo crack at the title, gives us a fresh matchup and picks up the biggest win in her career. I fully expect this to lead to a big moment for Becky on the next NXT TakeOver special.

3) The New Day: As a big fan of Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, it certainly pains me to put these three on the list but they deserve it. The Tag Team Title match got moved to the main card and absolutely delivered. Not only was it the match of the night, but all three members of New Day did their part. Big E and Kofi Kingston actually won the gold/bronze, but we can't forget Xavier Woods, who entertained at ringside. Hell, he even sold Natalya's slap minutes later in the back. I don't think it was time for Kidd and Cesaro to drop the titles, but I have to give credit where credit is due. The New Day flopped as faces, but the overly positive heel role has fit them much better, similar to Bo Dallas. This could be fun.

4) Taryn Terrell: TNA's "Night of Knockouts" Impact was headlined by a Knockouts match. Taryn Terrell defended her Knockouts Title against Awesome Kong. Kong always makes for a spectacle of a defense but Taryn shocked everyone when asking for a No DQ match. The match itself was good but brought another twist when the new Dollhouse appeared. Marti Belle and Jade hit Kong with kendo sticks and then they triple powerbombed her through a table. Taryn retained and announced that she was a part of the Dollhouse. It was not only a worthy main event, but swerve that worked well. Not the usual TNA stuff where it was a swerve for swerve's sake. We still don't know the exact reason but Taryn as a heel sounds very refreshing.

5) Roman Reigns: I have to give Roman Reigns credit. The match I was looking forward to the least on Extreme Rules was his Last Man Standing bout against Big Show. However, he and Show managed to surprise many and put on one of the best matches on the card. Reigns was not only able to put on a good match with Show, but he actually won over the Chicago crowd, which is no easy task. while I enjoyed the match, I think the finish could have been better. Still though, Roman Reigns continues to improve week in and week out.

King of the Ring Review

As noted in my Raw Review yesterday, the King of the Ring has returned in 2015. This special on the WWE Network starts with a recap of the First Round of the Tournament, which aired on Raw last night. We then get interviews with both Neville and Sheamus, who are opening things. These two had a good match on Smackdown recently which ended via disqualification. I feel like their match on Smackdown was better than this outing. Granted, this wasn't bad but it was just there. Playing off of last night's Dolph Ziggler involvement, Sheamus was nearing a win only for Dolph to show up and distract him. This allowed Neville to take advantage and win with the Red Arrow. The win was good but having Dolph get involved kind of put a damper on it. Dolph and Sheamus then had a good brawl that ended with Sheamus' eye being busted open. Our next Semi-Final match pitted R-Truth against Bad News Barrett. I prefer the first match to this one but this was fine. They did solid work and Truth did cut a funny promo about spiders beforehand. He's really good as a comedy character. Barrett wins with the Bull Hammer and advances, giving us an all England finale.

The Finals would turn out to be the best match of the night. Their match on the KickOff Show during Extreme Rules was good but I think this was slightly better. we got some cool near falls and Neville looked great. He came very close only to get overzealous and fall victim to the Bull Hammer. This gave us King Bad News Barrett. I was pulling for Neville but I like this route. The King angle works best for heels and I'd love to see a rubber match between the two at Payback. Maybe two out of three falls. Overall, this could have been done much better if it were planned a bit more in advance. It felt rushed but was still an enjoyable way to spend an hour. I'd love to this as an annual thing again and it's a step in the right direction. 7/10.

King of the Ring Raw Review 4/25/15

Some of the coolest news coming out of Extreme Rules had to be the announcement of the return of the King of the Ring. First Round matches would happen on Raw, with the Semi-Finals and Finals on the WWE Network tonight. I'll be reviewing that as well. Raw opens with Seth Rollins coming out to brag about retaining last night. He takes some shots at Kane, who gets pissy. Randy Orton shows up, claiming that because Seth won with the banned RKO, he deserves a rematch. Roman Reigns also appears saying that after his win against Big Show, he deserves it. Kane will let the WWE Universe decide and tonight's main event is Reigns and Orton against Seth and Kane. Yawn. The actual KOTR Tournament begins with Bad News Barrett taking on Dolph Ziggler. They had a fine match until Sheamus came out to distract Dolph. This allows Barrett to hit the Bull Hammer and advance. Not the best finish, but I like that Barrett advanced. King Barrett has a nice ring to it.

At Extreme Rules, The New Day shocked a lot of people and won the Tag Team Titles. It looks like they will defend them under the Freebird rule, which is pretty cool. Big E faced Tyson Kidd which had potential, but was booked to last less than two minutes. That made no sense. The finish, where Xavier Woods held Kidd's legs so Big E could pin him was fine, as was New Day's over the top celebration, I just wish it lasted longer. With us taking a break from the KOTR, we move into Ryback squashing Bo Dallas. After that, the lights went out and Bray Wyatt appeared to take out Ryback. This will be different, but I still feel like there is no direction for either guy really. Maybe Bray just wanted to help his brother. Continuing on, John Cena came out for the weekly Open Challenge but first he had to cut his usual promo of saying the crowd is hype and pumping Rusev/Cena IV at Payback. Heath Slater comes out to accept the challenge but is attacked during his promo by Rusev. Lana appears but Rusev kicks her out, drawing more heat than ever. Rusev just cuts a promo, says America a few times and his Russian flag drops down. Nothing we haven't seen before. That's the issue with this feud continuing. It's gone too long and isn't interesting at this point. Backstage, Seth Rollins complains about the WWE Universe getting to pick his opponent and gets in Kane's face, so Kane decides to make a third option where the fans can put Seth Rollins in a Triple Threat match against both Orton and Reigns at Payback.

The King of the Ring Tournament continues as R-Truth takes on Stardust. Considering the talent in this thing, these two shouldn't be matched up as some of the bigger names were better suited for the final four. They worked a solid, fun little match that R-Truth won. I do not understand why he would win though. In this week's "How the Fuck did this make it to Raw?" segment, Adam Rose faced Fandango. Fandango was in control throughout until Rosa Mendes' ugly ass appeared. She did some god awful dancing to distract Fandango, allowing Rose to win. Rosa made out with poor Adam Rose after the match. Why is any of this happening? I like mid-card feuds, but with guys that are actually talented and interesting. Backstage, Brie Bella is interviewed about Daniel Bryan's health. She plays the face role, for reasons unknown until Naomi attacks her.This leads into a rematch from Raw last week, Brie Bella vs. Naomi. The Bellas play face and again, we have no fucking clue why and no reason to cheer for them since none of this had any build. It was better than their match last week as Naomi seems to be growing into the heel role which is great. She won with a rollup and a handful of hair.

The third First Round match in the King of the Ring pitted Sheamus against Dean Ambrose. Michael Cole makes a dumb comment that Ambrose stole an SUV last night, which is incorrect since it was Luke Harper driving. I was loving this match until the finish. Ambrose and Sheamus both don't mind working a gritty style and that's what this was, making it feel different from the rest of the show. As they fought outside, Ziggler ran down to attack Sheamus and caused the DQ. Dolph looked like an idiot for doing something that helps Sheamus win. Also, should it have been Sheamus over R-Truth and Ambrose over Stardust so four bigger names advance instead of R-Truth? Whatever. Damien Sandow came out to cut a promo about how he isn't going to mock anyone more because he lost the respect of his peers. Curtis Axel is out to do his Hulk Hogan stuff, so Sandow takes him down and mocks Hulk Hogan. Why would you say you weren't going to do something and then do that something? It made no sense. We are then told that Kidd and Cesaro get their rematch this Thursday on Smackdown. We then get basic stuff from Bray Wyatt as he promotes his new feud with Ryback. I'm not excited for this at all. Our last First Round KOTR match takes place as Neville faces Luke Harper. Here is your match of the night as both guys worked hard and had a really good match. Harper is a great base for a guy with Neville's offense. Solid match which Neville won following the Red Arrow. Neville vs. Sheamus tonight should be really good.

Time for our main event, which got nearly twenty minutes. It wasn't bad, just something that isn't new in any way. The miscommunication between Seth Rollins and Kane continued, leading to Seth getting pinned again,  just like he did on Smackdown. Why couldn't Kane just eat the pin? Whatever. At least it made more sense here than when Seth ate the pin on Smackdown for no reason. The fans choose the Triple Threat, which was obvious. The Champion looked like a bitch to close Raw. The King of the Ring itself could have been booked better, but it was the best thing about this episode. Everything that didn't involve the KOTR seemed to just be filler. Average episode of Raw, that could have been so much better. 6/10.

Extreme Rules Review

Originally, the plan was for New Day vs. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro to be on the Kickoff show. However, the Tag Team Title match was moved to the main show in favor of a match between Bad News Barrett and Neville. Daniel Bryan could not compete so instead we got this. And what we got was fun. Neville and BNB worked well together and put on a fine show. It wasn't anything special but was a good first outing for Neville's first Pay-Per-View match. They did well with their time, had some cool spots and everything looked good. In the end, Neville picked up the win with a beautiful Red Arrow. A fun start to the show. ***

To open the actual Pay-Per-View broadcast, we got the Chicago Street Fight. Dean Ambrose, who hasn't won a singles PPV match since September 2013, took on Luke Harper. This was exactly what it needed to be as it was two guys having a fun hardcore match. This gave me a feeling of the Attitude Era Hardcore Division as they brawled backstage and used as many random weapons as they could. They would leave in a car, giving me flashbacks of the Hollywood Backlot Brawl. Harper and Ambrose wouldn't return until an hour later, where the fight made it back to the ring and they brought out a ton of chairs. Technically, this went about 55 minutes, but Ambrose was able to finally win a PPV match. What we actually got was relatively fun and enjoyable. ***

Next, we move into the "Kiss Me Arse" match between Sheamus and Dolph Ziggler. Even with the strange stipulation, I knew these two could deliver and that's exactly what they did. Unfortunately, the early goings were a bit dull as they seemed to be filling time. Once it kicked into next gear though, things got really good. We saw some hard hitting stuff and a good amount of near falls that weren't overdone. Dolph won with an inside cradle, which surprised me, but it was wise since it didn't make Sheamus look bad. He refused to kiss Ziggler's arse though, so he low blowed him, hit him with a Brogue Kick and shoved Dolph's unconscious face into his pasty white ass. It ended up being really good, despite the ass. ***1/4

I'm so happy that the Tag Team Championship match made the main show because it was great. Despite the New Day gimmick not being very good, the guys involved can still work, and of course our Tag Team Champions are damn good. Everyone played their part and Kidd and Cesaro looked surprisingly comfortable in the face role. Cesaro got the hot tag and the match picked up big time. They seemed to have things won but a distraction from Xavier Woods allowed Kofi Kingston to roll up Cesaro with a handful of tights and win the titles. Absolutely shocking as I didn't expect this, but man this was fun. The only issue I had with it, is the fact that we got rollup finishes in two straight matches. However, it was important to keep Kidd and Cesaro looking strong. ***3/4

Next on the card is the Russian Chain Match for the United States Championship. John Cena vs. Rusev Part III. This is the first Strap/Chain match that I can recall having light gimmicks on the corners. I guess us millennials can't count on our own. They worked a slower style old school match but it didn't click the way their previous encounters did. Rusev kicked Lana out from ringside, taking away the best thing about this. Cena won after an AA and touching the fourth turnbuckle. This was the wrong stipulation for these two as it was not at all the way they should have ended this thing. Then, we get told later in the show that it isn't the end. Lana goes to the Authority and sets up an I Quit match between the two next month. So, there's the WWE booking Rusev great for a year only to have him say I Quit on TV. Terrible. *1/4

Nikki Bella takes on Naomi next for the WWE Divas Championship. Naomi finally ditched the Brodus Clay theme, wore strange shades and had neon, color changing boots. This was better than I expected it to be, but it was still odd that it seemed like the Bellas don't know if they're supposed to be faces or heels. They're in the dark like the fans. Naomi got some near falls and the Bellas seemed like faces early, but then Brie got in a cheap shot kick that allowed Nikki to score with the Rack Attack and retain the title. It's nice to see another girl get in the title picture but there was just something missing here. *3/4

Our semi-main event was Roman Reigns against Big Show in a Last Man Standing match. I expected this to suck hard but it didn't. Show didn't want to use weapons early because he felt he didn't need them which was cool. The spots came big as he was put through a table, then Chokeslammed Reigns through two tables outside but he still somehow got up. They did the tired Spear through the guardrail spot but busted out a cool one from one announce table through the other. That should have been the finish in my mind. Instead, Show got up, just to sit back down so Reigns could put the announce table on top of him. I got the idea behind it but maybe he should have done the spear and then instantly put the table on top. Having Show get up and sit down was strange. Still, better than I expected by a fair amount. ***1/2

The main event was on, and of course, Kane was a big factor. Honestly, it seems like the WWE has forgotten how to book Steel Cage matches. I can't remember the last really good one. Considering we had the awful Bray/Cena one last year I didn't have high hopes here. Basically, Kane gets pissed in the end, comes in and Chokeslams everyone. Why is the story about Kane and not about the two great performers and the WWE Title? Orton would RKO Kane, followed by Seth RKOing Orton before exiting the cage and retaining. But the RKO was banned. So we got a screwy finish, mixed in with the over use of Kane. This felt like a cheap WCW like ending. Not a very good match. **1/4. Overall, the entire show was solid. Nothing was out of this world but there were three matches that I thought weren't very good. 6/10.

Extreme Rules Predictions

You know, I had a harder time picking the winner for this than I expected. Had this been straight up face New Day, it would be an easy win for Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. With the New Day working towards a full on heel turn, I could see them winning here and turning heel with the belts. I was real close to picking them. However, I see them actually losing here, which finally causes them to snap. I don't think Kidd and Cesaro should lose the belts until it is to the Lucha Dragons. Though with the way the WWE seems to care about this division, I expect them to flip a coin to pick the winner.

Winners: Tyson Kidd and Cesaro

I do not see this match taking place. What I see is Daniel Bryan being forced to relinquish the belt and Bad News Barrett cockily takes it. However, he gets told that he has to defend it to fully earn it. Out comes Neville and we get an Intercontinental Title match. Neville did pin Barrett on Smackdown. Part of me could see Neville capturing the belt here but I see Barrett retaining through nefarious terms. Neville should eventually dethrone him but it probably won't mean much since I can see Barrett getting bitched out while champion and losing a ton of non-title matches. It's a shame.

Winner: Bad News Barrett

This is another case of not knowing what to do with your midcard. The middle of the WWE is super talented, but has little to no direction. Dean Ambrose hasn't won a singles PPV match since September 2013. He has to win here...right? Right? I mean, Luke Harper has even less direction than he does. They should tear the house down, but I'd like to see Harper get a solid push after this. He should be the guy in Big Show and Kane's position on the card. Ambrose for the win here, though I'm not confident considering history.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

I don't understand what is going on with the Divas division. I understand Naomi turning heel, but are the Bellas faces now? Why doesn't Naomi have new music? Why is Brie Bella okay with Nikki after their feud last year? Whatever. I'm not sold on heel Naomi just yet and I'd rather Nikki work heel since she's become pretty great at it. I don't see Naomi winning here and I really don't want her to.

Winner: Nikki Bella

There is potential for this to be the best match on the card, but the stipulation is so ridiculous that it's hard to take it serious. I can just imagine Vince McMahon cackling because someone is going to have to kiss someone else's ass. Obviously, Sheamus isn't going to lose with his new heel persona. Hopefully, there is a way for Dolph Ziggler to lose and not actually have to kiss Sheamus' ass. Maybe as he's out cold Sheamus just shoves his face into his rear end? I don't know. Whatever.

Winner: Sheamus

And it's the match that nobody gives a flying fuck about. Chicago will most likely shit on this. Big Show should NOT be a relevant part of the main event in 2015. Thinking about it though, this might have been the best route to go. Chicago will probably be anti-Reigns if he faces anyone that's actually, you know, good. So put him against Big Show and maybe they think the crowd won't be as negative towards him. However, they'll probably just be negative to the match in general. Regardless, faces always win the Last Man Standing match against Big Show. Just ask Alberto Del Rio, MVP, etc. Roman Reigns will win and hopefully move onto someone of value.

Winner: Roman Reigns

This has to be the end of the feud right? I mean, it's the rubber match and it started way back in January. What makes this a Russian chain match instead of just a chain match is beyond me. I think the rivalry has been good but there's no way Rusev walks out as champion. John Cena has new merchandise with the US Title, and his open challenges has been one of the best things on weekly programming. Rusev won't get pinned so there's that. The real question is...what's next for him?

Winner: John Cena

At WrestleMania, Seth Rollins provided us with an awesome moment as he cashed in Money in the Bank and won the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Since then, his booking has gone back to shit. He looks like a complete bitch when it comes to Randy Orton but even more so when it comes to Kane. There is no way that the top guy in your company should look like a bitch against Kane in 2015. Add in that he got pinned on Smackdown in a match where his partner was Luke Harper, who loses all of the time anyway and it's all bad. Despite all of that, Seth retains here. He has to get his win back for Orton beating him at WrestleMania. With Kane as the guardian of the gate, I expect shenanigans though.

Winner: Seth Rollins

Impact Wrestling Review 4/24/15

To open things tonight, Kurt Angle comes out to call out his opponent, Eric Young. Kurt wants to know which EY he faces tonight, and EY says it will be the real Eric Young. The best one. It's the opposite of crazy Eric that we've had lately. Austin Aries appears and says the real EY is the one who turned his back on Bobby Roode. He then says that he is going to use his briefcase for a title shot tonight, stepping in EY's way. It's a solid opening promo but I'm not a fan of Aries wasting his cash in tonight. I just can't see him taking the belt tonight. Our first match is a Four Way Knockouts Number One Contender match between Gail Kim, Brooke Tessmacher, Angelina Love and Madison Rayne. I thought that "A Night of Knockouts" meant it was all Knockouts, but I guess we get some guys thrown in there. Brooke's entrance is pretty cool, but Madison Rayne disagrees as she attacks during it. This is a really fun seven or minute match and I even see Brooke bust out Monty Brown's POUNCE! Period. These girls even do a sweet four way submissions. Brooke is able to win, which is good since the other three have held the belt a combined 15 times I believe. We move to a hype video for the Rising before an interview with Eric Young. He is pissed that he loses out on a title shot tonight, which I assume means that crazy Eric Young will be around. The rivalry between the Beat Down Clan and the Rising continues as Kenny King faces Mica. I'm still surprised that of all people, TNA signed Camacho to a deal. Unfortunately for Kenny King, he loses here, which of course leads to a brawl that sees Homicide bust out a pipe. He takes out Drew Galloway with it. This match was just there as while I like King and Galloway, I'm not big on this feud.

We get a vignette for the Dollhouse, who are making their debut tonight. Marti Belle yells at Christy Hemme for the way she says their name. Jade is Mia Yim for those unaware and she's pretty fantastic actually. They come out swinging each other like they are two school girls and it's really odd. Her opponent is Laura Dennis, better known as Cherry Bomb. A "Cherry Bomb" chant even breaks out. As Marti gets involved, she is ejected, but decides to attack even more, resulting in the disqualification. When Hemme announces the DQ, she gets attacked too. They dropkick her into the steel steps and seem to shove a jawbreaker in her mouth. Really strange. We get more stuff between Kurt Angle and Eric Young backstage, where Angle says he didn't expect Aries to do this and EY is pissed because things like this keep happening. Back to the ring, where Magnus introduces Mickie James and her enormous rack. She says that her focus in life is her son now and she's going home to be the best mom she can be. This brings out James Storm. He puts Mickie over at length and gets the crowd to chant "one more match". Mickie buys into this and decides she wants to do one more. Storm and the fans are happy, but Magnus is not pleased at all. After the commercial, they have a talk and Davey Richards appears to tell them that Storm is out to deceive them. He then comes out for a match with Manik. Davey wins a good match before the Revolution attacks. The Hardys make the save and run them off. The crowd seemed pretty into this, which was a pretty cool segment.

Moving on, tt's time for the best thing about TNA on a weekly basis, Ethan Carter III. He says that he has an announcement regarding #EC32015. Tyrus is in a suite, hat and is carrying balloons. He has a podium and declares that he is the next TNA World Heavyweight Champion. He mentions that he's undefeated for 20 months and he's beaten every TNA Hall of Famer. The heat is crazy right now. It's a great promo that he perfectly delivers. See it for yourself as I won't do it justice here. Mr. Anderson interrupts and I guess this will be EC3's placeholder feud until he, hopefully, wins the big one from Kurt Angle. They brawl but EC3 escapes the Mic Check.

It's time for the big main event between Taryn Terrll and Awesome Kong. The video package we get beforehand is some of TNA's best production work. They use the No DQ rule to their advantage and have a really good war. They use kendo sticks and tables which is wise. Surprisingly, Marti Belle and Jade run out to help Taryn and allow her to retain in shocking fashion. She cuts a post match promo about being part of the Dollhouse, cementing a heel turn. I did not see this coming and kudos for TNA for that. I'm very intrigued by where this goes. We are supposed to get Austin Aries vs. Kurt Angle next but Eric Young comes out and brutally assaults Aries. He piledrives him on the outside and on the steps. Angle runs out for the save but also gets beaten down and is bloodied. He gets locked in the figure four as the show goes off the air. Another solid outing from TNA with some interesting stuff going forward. 7/10.

Random Network Reviews: Backlash 2000

Backlash 2000
April 30th, 2000 – MCI Center in Washington, D.C. – Attendance: 17,867

This wasn't scheduled to be my next review, but after hearing that my favorite Pay-Per-View review podcast, Getting Networked was doing it, I chose to bump it up. Check them out at thefanspodcast.com.

The year 2000 was a banner year for the WWF. Coming off of an incredibly profitable 1999, they would lose Stone Cold Steve Austin to surgery, but managed to pick up steam with two great PPVs to start the year. WrestleMania would be a bit of a letdown but the WWF would look to right that ship with a Backlash card that has tons of potential. The announcement that Steve Austin would be making his first PPV appearance since Survivor Series helped this show scored a massive buyrate.

Right from the opening video package it seems like music has been dubbed over. Or maybe not. I don’t know. It focuses on the build for the WWF Title match that we should have had at WrestleMania, but are getting it a few weeks late. As always in this era, Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on commentary. Debra makes her return to Lawler’s delight to be our guest ring announcer. This was when the company had nothing for her.

WWF Tag Team Championship
Edge and Christian (c) vs. Road Dogg and X-Pac w/ Tori
Road Dogg and X-Pac come out to the WWF Aggression version of the DX theme. Debra is the most unenthusiastic ring announcer that I’ve ever heard. “X-Pac sucks” chants as the bell rings. He gets into a fun little exchange with Edge that ends with Edge hitting a trademark X-Pac spinning heel kick. The crowd has interesting reactions to stuff since neither team is really face. E&C work their Poetry in Motion type move for two on Dogg. I guess DX are the bigger heels as they work the heat on Christian and get in some cheap shots. Edge gets the tag but the referee doesn’t see it, in classic tag team booking. Bronco Buster, Juke and Jive and Shaky Legs knee drop all hit as DX is getting in their stuff. Mid-air collision as both Dogg and Christian attempt cross bodies. X-Pac comes in for a cheap shot, but it distracts the ref so Edge can hit a headbutt on Dogg. Christian nails a double reverse DDT and hot tags Edge! He comes in with a powerbomb on X-Pac for two. He hits a Spear and Tori tries to get involved by X-Pac hits her by mistake. Roll up from Edge gets a near fall that the place pops for. X-Factor is nailed but the ref is distracted, so Christian uses the ring bell on Pac and scores the pin.

Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Edge and Christian in 9:23
With neither team being true faces, it allowed both to be sneaky, which made this interesting and different. The crowd was red hot near the end which is always a plus. ***¼

WWF Light Heavyweight Championship
Dean Malenko (c) vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
Scotty 2 Hotty was more over than most of the current active roster. Dean Malenko had just won the title from Scott three days earlier. They go at it right at the bell with Scotty getting the early upper hand. Even when Dean tries a powerbomb, Scotty is ready to counter with an arm drag. He counters a headlock into a back suplex too, but wastes time moonwalking allowing Malenko to take him down with a hellacious clothesline. Malenko strikes with a dropkick to the knee and it becomes time to work the leg. Dean’s serious demeanor is great to play off of the playful Scotty. He slams the leg on the ring post and kicks it out from under him like a good old fashioned, vicious technician. Kudos to Scotty, who takes a corner bump hard. Scotty gets two on a rollup before they tumble outside. Scotty drives his face into the apron and has a chance. He goes up top where Dean meets him with a superplex. Backslide and small package get Scotty close near falls. He gets free of Dean and hits the facebuster as the fans come UNGLUED for the Worm. The ridiculous move hits but Dean rolls him up with his feet on the ropes and is caught. That’s a smart spot since the ropes helped Dean win the title. Tiger bomb gets Malenko two and he hits an Orton like powerslam for two as well. Dean is the one who seems to make a mistake by climbing up top. Scotty tries a superplex but it’s countered into a super DDT that just spikes Scotty. It’s enough to end this.

Winner and Still WWF Light Heavyweight Champion: Dean Malenko in 12:59
I expected a total styles clash but this ended up working out. Dean Malenko looked like a great technician who worked the leg for the Texas Cloverleaf although that didn’t play into the finish. I’d be more upset about this if this finish wasn’t awesome. ***¾

Backstage, Mr. McMahon wants to make sure that Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco are set for tonight. Stephanie looks damn fine here.

The Acolytes vs. Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan
After two fine wrestling matches, this is going to be nothing more than a brawl. Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan are totally the founding fathers of the Shield judging by their attire only. Bull Buchanan actually shows impressive athleticism on a front flip but is taken down with a spear. Both teams bust out frequent tags and the crowd is more into this than I thought. “Bossman sucks” chants ring out. Bradshaw gets in some shots on Bossman outside. The Acolytes surprisingly work over Bossman with quick tags before he gets the tag to Bull. The crowd doesn’t care AT ALL for that since they hate Bossman. Warm tag to Bradshaw who hits a shoulder block. Faarooq and Bossman brawl outside, with Bossman coming out on top. He then gets to Bradshaw and allows Bull to hit a second rope suplex for two. Shortly after, Bossman hits Bradshaw with the nightstick. That, coupled with Buchanan coming off the top with a scissors kick gets them the win.

Winners: Big Bossman and Bull Buchanan in 7:51
Not very good. Both teams are pure brawlers and they tried to wrestle here which failed. The finishing spot was cool at least. *¼

Backstage, the Hardy Boyz discuss being against each other tonight and they have an understanding. The Holly Cousins discuss it too, but Hardcore just slaps Crash.

WWF Hardcore Championship
Crash Holly (c) vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy vs. Perry Saturn vs. Tazz
Crash Holly wisely tries to avoid the ring but Saturn takes him out and suplexes him. The rules state that Crash has to pin someone or be pinned himself to end this. Crash continues to take a beating, including a Northern Lights Tazzplex. He tries to escape, leading everyone to fight in the entrance. This is the old awesome Backlash set with the steel hooks and Crash climbs it to get away. Matt follows and hits him, as his leg gets stuck like Owen Hart at SummerSlam 1994. It looks like it hurts. Matt leaps off onto everyone in a cool spot before Saturn front suplexes Crash onto another hook and breaking it. Jeff uses one as a swing to hurricanrana Saturn as the Hardy’s ability to innovate works wonders in this environment. Back to the ring and everyone is using weapons before Saturn uses an abdominal stretch like move. DO YOU NOT REALIZE THE KIND OF MATCH THIS IS? It’s hard to keep up with this. Crash is just taking a beating while only getting in a few offensive moves. Tazz has suplexed him a million times or so. Poor Saturn was minding his business outside when Matt reaches over the ropes and hits him with a cookie sheet. Every pin has been interrupted throughout. Hardcore hits the Falcon Arrow on a chair but the pin is broken. The Hardys bring in a ladder to the biggest pop of the match. Matt’s Twist of Fate, followed by a Swanton from the ladder leads to them fighting over the pin. Tazzmission is applied as the crowd pops but Saturn breaks it up with a stop sign shot. The Hardys dive onto Saturn and Hardcore outside, while Crash drapes an arm over Tazz to retain.

Winner and Still WWF Hardcore Champion: Crash Holly in 12:20
One of the most fun Hardcore Title matches you will ever see. The Hardy Boyz were an excellent addition and got to be innovative and use ladders. Everyone contributed and Crash barely retaining made sense. ***½

Jonathan Coachman interviews Shane McMahon about him being the special referee in the main event. Shane promises to be fair, which nobody believes.

The Big Show vs. Kurt Angle
This was brought upon because Big Show had turned into a fun loving impersonator and when he was set to be Kurt Angle’s partner for a Tag Title match, he joked around, which upset Kurt. After Kurt badmouths the fans, Big Show comes out dressed as Hulk Hogan. As Kurt attacks, Show Hulks up, which Jim Ross calls “the old no sell”. Show hits the big boot and the Leg Drop as the fans are loving this. Kurt kicks out though and takes out the leg. JR also gets in jokes about the 19,000 fans here being the most to chant for Hogan in years. Show gets serious and ends this with a Chokeslam.

Winner: The Big Show in 2:57
Fun little comedy match. I know people would be upset that Kurt Angle jobbed so quickly, but the guy would be WWF Champion within six months so he was fine. **

Up next is a tag team match with an actual storyline build. I miss these. Bubba Ray was obsessed with putting women through tables, but every time he got close to doing it to Trish, she would kiss him or seduce him and he’d fall into a trance. 

The Dudley Boyz vs. T&A w/ Trish Stratus
My god, Trish’s table segments were some of the hottest things in WWF history. Trish is unbelievably hot here. Like there is nothing even close. It’s enough to make Bubba chase her only to run into a clothesline from Test. Once Bubba gets on the offensive, he shouts at Trish “I’M GONNA GET YOU, YOU LITTLE BITCH” which gets a pop. This is two teams brawling and it works a lot better than the earlier tag match. T&A get two on a cool double team as they isolate D-Von. They play the hot tag tease really well as the crowd is dying for the Bubba tag. When he does get the tag, they don’t pop as hard as I expected. The Dudleys do a double team back suplex that commentary mistakes for 3D. I hated when they did that. Test misses the top rope elbow, which gets Bubba two. Bubba calls to end this, but Trish gets on the apron and removes her coat. THAT BODY! The distraction allows Test to hit the big boot on Bubba, causing Trish to jiggle in all the right places, and get the win.

Winners: T&A in 11:43
Longer than I expected but still fine. They worked tag formula really well and the crowd was mostly hot because of the Trish angle. Solid stuff. Plus, Trish looked incredible. **¾

After the match, the Dudleys Boyz go after Trish. When Bubba grabs her, she kisses him but it fails this time. Bubba puts her through the table to a big ovation from the crowd.

WWF European Championship
Eddie Guerrero (c) w/ Chyna vs. Essa Rios w/ Lita
Eddie Guerrero and Chyna are just arriving because they were at Eddie’s prom. Wasn’t he getting his GED? I’m trying to remember the angle. Anyway, it’s the first time Eddie drives to ringside. Eddie is in slacks and a bowtie but it doesn’t impact his ability. He hits a nice front flip before Chyna gets in a shot on Rios. Lita does nothing about this. Missile dropkick from Rios gets two and I can’t help but chuckle at Eddie’s attire. The high flying continues when Eddie hits a plancha outside. He goes for a powerbomb outside and Lita attempts to jump on him but Chyna shoves her off and she hits her jaw on the announce table. Essa reverses the powerbomb into a back drop and follows with an Asai moonsault. In the spot of the night, Essa front flips over the turnbuckle and out onto Eddie. Inside, Rios hits a top rope arm drag but misses his next move. Eddie capitalizes with an airplane spin into a neckbreaker to retain.

Winner and Still WWF European Champion: Eddie Guerrero in 8:44
Really fun high flying action here. Just the kind of thing that we hadn’t seen tonight and it was a nice change of pace. My only real issue was that the finish was rather anti-climactic. ***½

Jonathan Coachman interviews Triple H and Vince McMahon in their office. Triple H just says he will prove that he is that damn good, while Vince says Austin may not make it here tonight. Cut to Michael Cole, who interviews Chris Benoit about his upcoming bout.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Chris Benoit (c) vs. Chris Jericho
The red hot Chris Jericho had actually won the WWF Title a few weeks prior but had to give it back. Their collar and elbow tie uptakes them outside, so they turn to slapping each other. Inside, they get into a series of rollups and a series of hard chops. High impact stuff is coming early as Benoit hits two Germans, but Jericho blocks the third. Benoit goes for a suicide dive but Jericho side steps and he hits the floor head first. In an innovative spot, Benoit whips Jericho into the steps, but he leaps over only to turn around and have it dropkicked into him. Back inside, Benoit reels off some nice looking suplexes for near falls. These two are working pretty stiff as Jericho elbows Benoit down and connects on the Lionsault. The pace is quickening as Jericho hits a bulldog for two. In the series of suplexes that Benoit hit earlier, one of them saw him hang up Jericho on the top rope, and Jericho now returns the favor. Up top, Jericho tries a second rope back suplex, but Benoit lands on Jericho instead for two. A series of counters ends with Jericho hitting two great looking powerbombs for a near fall, but as Benoit kicks out he goes right into the Cripple Crossface! Jericho fights it but Benoit is rabid, pun intended. He finally reverses into the Walls of Jericho as the crowd is on their feet. Benoit makes it to the ropes and the referee is knocked out by mistake. Benoit sees the opening and lays out Jericho with the belt but only gets two. He goes up top for the flying headbutt but Jericho gets the belt up to block it and is disqualified.

Winner via disqualification: Chris Benoit in 15:08
Wow. Those two can pretty much do no wrong against each other. This had everything as it was technical, stiff and featured high flying. While the finish to the match hurt the score, it allowed their rivalry to continue, which everyone enjoyed. ****

WWF Championship
Triple H (c) w/ Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley vs. The Rock
Shane McMahon is our special guest referee. The ovation the Rock gets is monumental. A slugfest opens things as I continue to wonder why this didn’t main event WrestleMania. Triple H tries an early Pedigree but it gets countered. Shane gets in his face, allowing HHH to hit a neckbreaker and take this outside. Vince throws Rock into the post as we see the decked stack paying off already. HHH does an old school favorite of mine where he pins three times in a row. He works a sleeper for a while to slow things. Rock begins to rally but runs into the double clothesline spot. Out of sheer worry, Vince nailed Rock with the WWF Title. Rock kicks out though and sends Triple H outside. The Game hurt his arm and is now holding it. Rock hits a DDT and Shane blatantly chooses not to count so Rock takes him out. The fight makes it to the Spanish announce table where HHH tries a Pedigree. Rock stops it with a low blow before going for the Rock Bottom. Shane tries to stop it so Rock grabs him and nails a DOUBLE ROCK BOTTOM THROUGH THE TABLE! Vince’s facial expression is absolutely golden. In the ring, Vince gets a cheap shot that the Rock shrugs off. However, HHH hits the Pedigree but Shane is dead outside so Vince calls out the Stooges. Rock gets a shoulder up so the Stooges puts the boots to him. The stacked deck continues as the crowd is salivating for Austin. Vince hits Rock with a chair before the glass breaks the arena goes BALLISTIC for Austin! He comes wielding a chair and hits Patterson, Brisco, HHH, Vince and Shane with it. “AUSTIN! AUSTIN! AUSTIN!” screams Jim Ross as he leaves and Linda McMahon comes out with Earl Hebner. Triple H fired him recently. Stephanie gets in Linda’s face and gets shoved to the mat. Spinebuster and People’s Elbow from the Rock as Hebner slides in to count. 1-2-3 and the roof blows off the building.

Winner and New WWF Champion: The Rock in 19:24
This is a truly perfect example of how overbooking can work in certain situations. The odds were not in Rock’s favor and they did everything to showcase that. Whenever Rock did something, the crowd popped and Austin’s arrival came off perfectly. The ending to this was fantastic and remains one of the best feel good finishes to a wrestling show I have ever witnessed. ****½

As the Rock is celebrating his first run as WWF Champion in over a year, Steve Austin comes back out with the burned down DX Express and they share a beer.

Overall: 9/10; Incredible. Not only is this among the best non Big Four Pay-Per-Views ever, but it’s also one of the best PPVs ever, period. The depth of this show is phenomenal as there is a little bit of everything. Benoit and Jericho put on a classic, Trish got what was coming to her, the Hardcore Title was a ton of fun, Eddie and Essa flew all over the place, we had a fun opener and the main event was pretty much the perfect WWE style big match. This show is not only must-see but it’s a must-own event.