Raw New Orleans Review

Someone must read what people say, as we actually don't start with an Authority promo. Instead, John Cena comes out and cuts his usual tired promo. Things get good when Kevin Owens interrupts though. His nonchalant attitude whenever Cena says anything is brilliant. It's like nothing Cena says affects him. Both guys want to hold an open challenge, so Owens decides that whoever comes out can choose which title to go after. Neville answers and admits that he was close to beating Cena a few weeks ago, but goes for the NXT Title. They work a good match here, though I've seen them have better. Cena was on commentary and did a good job in putting over the upcoming match at Money in the Bank. Owens retained with the popup powerbomb and I like how they are giving the NXT Title and making it seem important. The show is off to a good start.

The WWE's Instagram account was taken over and filled with photos of Dean Ambrose going around New Orleans with the WWE Title. Seth Rollins was pissed about it but the Authority told him he'll be on his own on Sunday and he can choose his own opponent for tonight. The Divas are next as Nikki Bella beats Summer Rae in a non-title match. This was nothing for two minutes but we do get told that Paige and Nikki are meeting again at Money in the Bank. Next, we got our Money in the Bank promo segment. Roman Reigns talked a bit until Kane interrupted. The rest of the participants, sans Neville, showed up but the highlight was R-Truth. He came out and plugged the match, only to be reminded that he's not in it. It was great comedy as Truth is perfect in this role. He's past his prime as a legit threat to anything, but can still be entertaining. However, the segment itself besides that was still lacking and didn't accomplish much. Randy Orton and Sheamus worked their usual match. This was an original idea five years ago, but they've met so much that it's just there. That includes last week. They worked through a commercial, nothing really happened and it ended via disqualification. This was absolutely just filler. Seth talks to J&J Security backstage, giving us a classic moment. J&J claim that Seth needs them because they are Shield 2.0. Jamie says Joey is an upgraded Roman Reigns and he's a better version of Ambrose. This was hilarious. Seth slaps Jamie, who returns the favor and Seth challenges them for tonight for his warm up match.

We continue the lazy booking of having Money in the Bank participants face each other. Dolph Ziggler takes on Kane, and we all know how this ends. There's a distraction that allows Kane to go over. The distraction is Rusev coming out to talk to Lana, only for her to trip and hurt her ankle. Rusev's split personality of monster heel to emotional teenager angry about his ex is fantastic. MizTV is on next, featuring Ryback and Big Show, who will now meet at Money in the Bank for the Intercontinental Championship. Ryback and Miz had a decent back and forth, as Miz is a great douchebag heel. Show interrupted and they got into it. Ryback hit him with the Shell Shock to end the segment, which got the crowd hype, but I would have saved that for the actual match on Sunday. Seems like a waste to do it here.

More images of Dean Ambrose around New Orleans are shown, telling us that he bought a ticket off a scalper. Luke Harper and Erick Rowan defeated Los Matadores with the 3D. It's not a pretty version of it, but I wonder if they're going to bring back the Dudleys to feud with them for a bit. Big E then defeated Titus O'Neil in a match to build towards their Tag Team Title bout on Sunday. Guess how this one ended? Via a distraction. It's like a Raw staple to have it happen multiple times in a show. We get told that on the Money in the Bank Kickoff show, there will be a completely random match between King Barrett and R-Truth. Why? No clue. Roman Reigns worked Kofi Kingston in the final MITB preview match, and it was better than I expected. However, nothing about it really helped as we've had multiple participants in Money in the Bank lose tonight. Why should they deserve that shot? Dean Ambrose then arrived through the crowd with popcorn to watch the main event. It was strange to see that his theme music hit as if he's supposed to be there and not just a guy who purchased a ticket.

The main event was a handicap match pitting Seth Rollins against J and J Security. Kane is at ringside with J&J. The match was fun as Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury can still go, but Seth looking overmatched against guys that have been established as a joke wasn't good. Then, to make things worse, because of a distraction by Ambrose, J&J actually win. I get that it's supposed to give us doubt that Seth will retain on Sunday, but that was a bad move. In the end, this was a really lazy effort on the part of whoever booked Raw. They just threw the MITB guys together and gave some of them losses. Why not have them win against some of the lower card guys? Why have Seth lose here? Why so many distraction finishes? After the opener and the Truth comedy, everything was pretty bland, dull and didn't build to the Pay-Per-View well. 3.5/10.

Fave Five 6/1/15-6/7/15

1) KUSHIDA: For years now, I've been a huge Alex Shelley fan. I loved the Motor City Machine Guns, but when they left TNA, I kind of lost track of Shelley. When I found out that he was part of the Time Splitters, I had to see them for myself. I've grown to like KUSHIDA, though I admit I haven't seen as much of him as I'd like. He had a breakthrough this week by winning NJPW's Best of the Super Juniors and earning a shot next month against Kenny Omega. Also, while it was pre-recorded, he did win the opener on ROH's first episode to air on Destination America. It's nice to see KUSHIDA getting some solo shine, as this was the most notable week of his career from what I can tell. Hopefully, it continues as I really like the guy.

2) Kevin Owens: Fresh off cleanly defeating John Cena, Kevin Owens continued to shine. He cut a great promo on Raw, which was a highlight of the entire show. Cena came out to interrupt but after mentioning a kid with cancer in the crowd, Owens couldn't really combat that. He wasn't on NXT this week, but on Smackdown, held the NXT Title Open Challenge. The promo he cut beforehand was one of the best in recent memory. Hell, it was probably the best I've seen since CM Punk was around. He is nailing this character perfectly. Zack Ryder answered the challenge and lost. Not only was it a big win for Owens, but it also marked the first time that the NXT Title was defended outside of NXT, making it a rather historic moment as well. It's pretty much Kevin Owens' world right now and we're just living in it. As long as creative doesn't botch it in the coming weeks.

3) Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc: There is a lot to like about Lucha Underground. However, my favorite thing is the partnership between Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc. The Trios Champions have so far had my favorite match in Lucha Underground history and continue to deliver each time they are asked to. This week, they defended those titles against Big Ryck, Cage and Delavar Daivari. It wasn't as good as their best stuff this year, but they deserve this nod in a relatively slow week. Do yourself a favor and check these three out because they are phenomenal.

                              4) Roman Reigns: A lot of people still dislike Roman Reigns but he's been impressive. After the Royal Rumble debacle, he's managed to pull out some impressive matches. This week, he wrestled three times on Raw. Had this been January, I would have groaned loudly. Granted, I'd rather not see most guys work three times in a night, but these were fine. He beat Bad News Barrett in a fine match, went over Mark Henry via countout and beat Bray Wyatt. Obviously, he should have pinned Henry clean and not Wyatt, but still. He got to look pretty dominant and is the favorite heading into Money in the Bank. He also worked Sheamus on Smackdown but that was nothing to really write home about. This spot is more based on his performance on Raw.

5) Kyle O'Reilly: Considering who finished first this week, this is a lovely bookend isn't it? Kyle O'Reilly was who KUSHIDA defeated to win the Best of the Super Juniors. While he lost, he was impressive throughout the tournament and maybe this could be parlayed into a singles run. I've been a fan of the guy for a while as he gives me vibes of the next breakout indy guy. This was a big showing for him and his star is on the rise for sure. There were a few guys that could have taken this spot including the Prime Time Players, Jack Evans, Bobby Roode and Austin Aries, but I went with O'Reilly as the Best of the Super Juniors was the biggest news this week.

Raw History: Episode 2

WWF Monday Night Raw Episode 2

January 18th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in New York City, New York

Just six days away from the 1993 Royal Rumble, episode 2 of Raw looks to build on the success that was the first episode. Commentary is once again Macho Man, Vince McMahon and Rob Bartlett. As the show is introduced, Macho Man is attacked from behind by the Repo Man, who then runs off and repossess his signature hat. CONTROVERSY!

Mr. Perfect vs. Terrific Terry Taylor
I've heard, and I'm not sure who accurate this is, that these two were basically a coin flip away from debuting with different gimmicks in the earlier 90's. Curt Hennig as the Red Rooster is a thought that saddens me. As they have a feeling out process, Macho Man returns to commentary because he couldn't find Repo Man. Perfect gets the upper hand and Taylor runs around the ring. The crowd is relatively hot for this. Perfect applies a headlock takeover as Bobby Heenan calls in. He's upset about how he has been replaced by Rob Bartlett of all people. They go to commercial as Perfect has a hammerlock applied. Taylor has the upper hand when they return, hitting a jaw and backbreaker for two. Taylor executes a sweet spine buster and gut wrench powerbomb for two near falls. Perfect rallies with a huge inverted atomic drop, which is the most 90's move you could hit. He hits the neck snap as Ric Flair walks to the ring. He attacks Perfect behind the official's back but once Perfect is rolled back in, he blocks a suplex and counters with the Perfect Plex for three.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 10:31
Solid opening contest. Continued Mr. Perfect's push and Terry Taylor looked good. All in all, can't ask for much more. **3/4

We get ICOPRO and Slim Jim ads and I love that these are still on the WWE Network. Vince McMahon introduces the WWF Champion, Bret Hart. He discusses Razor Ramon's recent attack on Owen Hart. He is not happy with Razor saying he'd slap Stu Hart, who was going to be 78 in 1993. My goodness. Did it's job, but I wish him or Razor had a match on one of these episodes to promote the match. Bret doesn't get enough credit for his promo work.

Glen Ruth vs. Marty Jannetty
You should see the attires these two guys are sporting. So many colors. Marty Jannetty gets leveled from behind by Glen Ruth but quickly gets back in control. Ruth cowers in the corner but Marty hits him with a deep arm drag. Shawn Michaels dials in to hype his Intercontinental Title match this Sunday. Marty hits a nice suplex as this has gone on longer than expected. I guess it's to give HBK time to talk. Ruth actually does a wrist lock but I wouldn't really consider it offense. This has been filled with arm drags, hammerlocks and wrist locks. So, consistency for arm work I guess. Marty hits the Rocker Dropper to win.

Winner: Marty Jannetty in 5:10
Boring. Too much useless arm work that didn't play into the end and it's like they were killing time. *

An ad airs for the Royal Rumble before we go to a clip from SuperStars where Doink beats up Crush with a fake arm. This actually made it all the way to a WrestleMania match. Think about that. Somehow, Crush suffered a concussion even though he was hit in the back.

Sean Mooney is outside and he interviews Repo Man. Macho Man doesn't even react until he sees that Repo Man has his hat. There are some things you just don't do to a man. To be fair, the hat doesn't even match Macho's jacket like it normally does. Royal Rumble Report time! It airs this Sunday at 4PM! It's more of the same except that The Berzerker is announced for the Rumble, making it an instant must watch.

El Matador vs. Ric Flair
Rob Bartlett commits a cardinal sin of wrestling by bashing Ric Flair's robes. El Matador hits some shoulder blocks to “Tito” chants from the fans before applying a headlock. Flair gets out but eats a clothesline and dropkick. They go to commercial during another headlock. Flair blocks a monkey flip and delivers short punches in the corner. He hits some chops but then gets back body dropped as Bartlett continues to be lame on commentary. Tito hits punches in the corner and the fans not counting in Spanish disappoints me. He slams Flair from the top causing Flair to cower and beg for mercy. El Matador calls for and nails the Flying Jalapeno! He goes for it again but falls outside. Mr. Perfect runs out and brings Flair out to brawl. Surprisingly, no disqualification is called. Sgt. Slaughter, Pat Patterson and officials come out to break it up and pull Mr. Perfect to the back. 

Double Count Out in 8:40
I guess they called a double countout. This wasn't bad. Pretty basic stuff. **

Ric Flair angrily is interviewed by Vince McMahon. He challenges Mr. Perfect to a Loser Leaves WWF match next week, successfully booking the first big match in Raw history. After Flair leaves, Mr. Perfect comes out and accepts the challenge. Lastly, Repo Man is shown outside towing Bartlett's car. 

Overall: 6/10; Average. Another cool little episode. We got a solid bout between Perfect and Taylor and Flair/Matador wasn't bad. The Jannetty match was pretty boring though. Everything did serve a purpose and built towards the Royal Rumble pretty well.

Random Network Reviews: The Great American Bash 1997

The Great American Bash 1997
June 15th, 1997 - The MARK of the Quad Cities – Attendance: 9,613

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again here, 1997 was the best year to be a wrestling fan. Smack dab in the middle of the Monday Night Wars, you had WCW leading the charge ratings wise with the red hot nWo angle, while the WWF was in the midst of the epic Austin/Hart rivalry and an underrated Undertaker run as WWF Champion. We land in the middle of that great year on the WCW side of things with the Great American Bash.

Typical mediocre looking video opens the show and it somehow tries to compare DDP’s career to America. So would that make the nWo an opposing country? Commentary is the Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes. I love how ridiculous these three are together so it should supply some great moments.

Respect Match
Psychosis w/ Sonny Ono vs. Ultimo Dragon
Mike Tenay joins commentary for this, because the regular commentary team didn’t know enough moves and the action was usually too quick for them. This is a respect match because Ono wants Psychosis to teach his former client, Dragon some respect. In the early goings, Dragon gets the better, forcing Psychosis to take breathers outside. The crowd is pretty hot for this. Psychosis spits at Dragon and they get into a bit of an awkward exchange before Psychosis nails him mid leap frog. It’s being hammered home that this is a different side of Psychosis. Dragon does his headstand spot in the corner before kicking Psychosis down and the crowd ERUPTS! Dragon hits a tilt-a-whirl back breaker and targets that part of the body. A snapmare takes Psychosis outside and Dragon goes to follow with a plancha but misses and holds his knee. Psychosis distracts the official, allowing Ono to kick Dragon a few times because apparently, he’s a martial arts expert. He drapes Dragon across the second rope and hits a guillotine leg drop. It’s a cool spot but I hate how phony it looks since Dragon has to literally hold himself in place for it. Outside, Ono goes to kick Dragon some more but gets caught. Dragon goes for a suplex as the crowd gets loud but Psychosis stops him. The rally begins by Dragon with some kicks and a handspring elbow. They do a goofy looking rollup spot but make up for it a bit as Dragon hits an Asai moonsault. Back inside, Dragon hits a Tombstone but only gets two. Psychosis comes back with a flying spinning heel kick and then does a suicide dive OVER THE TURNBUCKLE POST! That is a gangster way to do it. They trade near falls inside before Psychosis tries a top rope moonsault, only to be met with a dropkick! Dragon sets up his opponent on the top and snaps off the top rope hurricanrana. He goes for the Tiger Suplex but gets distracted by Ono. Psychosis no sells and takes forever to get up and dropkick Dragon, who waits for it like a moron. Schiavone gets credit for trying to cover this up. Ono gets on the apron and goes for a spin kick but hits Psychosis by mistake, leading right into the Dragon Sleeper! Somehow the kick doesn’t cause a DQ, and Psychosis taps out.

Winner: Ultimo Dragon in 14:21
Really good opener that had potential to be so much more. They botched a few things and had some awkward moments but the action was good. The lack of a DQ near the end was dumb, but again, both guys worked hard and the red hot crowd helped. ***3/4

Chris Benoit is chatting with fans online, but he’s not typing. There’s a nerdy kid typing what he says but by the sound of it, he’s going way slower than Benoit’s words. Poor fan isn’t getting his money’s worth.

Number One Contender’s Match
Harlem Heat w/ Sister Sherri vs. The Steiner Brothers
On his way to the ring, Booker T says “CAN YOU DIG IT SUCKA?” because some things never change. Also, the Steiners had awful music. Scott Steiner was nearing Big Poppa Pump levels of muscle. The bigger brothers start as Stevie Ray goes toe to toe with Scott. Harlem Heat is forced to rethink strategy outside with Sherri and their new plan is to go after Rick. He get the tag and powerslams Stevie. Booker runs in and eats the STEINERLINE! After more regrouping, Stevie Ray slows things with a full nelson. NOBODY HAS BROKEN THE MASTER LOCK OF STEVEIE RAY. Scott does however, but it leads nowhere. Scott tries to fly but misses so he gets hit with a Harlem sidekick after the SPINAROONIE! This has a strange feel to it since the faces are kind of dominating the heels. Stevie suplexes Rick outside, which Schiavone calls a powerslam. There goes that classic commentary I was talking about earlier. Booker and Rick go at it until Rick catches a kick and slams him. Rick makes the “hot” tag, even though he didn’t really take the beating. Scott comes in fresh and does his thing but a cover after a belly to belly is broken up. Rick and Stevie fight outside as Scott hits the Frankensteiner. Vincent runs in and hits a weak elbow on Booker, causing the disqualification.

Winners via disqualification: Harlem Heat in 12:01
Kind of dull and disappointing. It had a strange vibe to it and felt like the teams were kind of going through the motions. Also, the finish was stupid. So the nWo, who had the Tag Titles, don’t want to face the Steiners, which I get. However, that makes Harlem Heat look like a weak team. **

The Steiner Brothers beat up Vincent after the match. Even though the nWo is something like 800 wrestlers deep at this point, nobody comes to help him.

Hugh Morris vs. Konnan
Your name is Hugh Morris. What? Hugh Morris. What? Is that funny? Is that…humorous? What? As he comes out, he tells the camera “SHUCKY DUCKY” and I’ve come to the conclusion that is where Booker T stole the phrase from. Morris and Konnan start with fists as this is apparently a bitter and personal feud. Morris uses his power advantage in the beginning but Konnan fights back with his rolling clothesline. He goes to a headlock and shouts “VIVA MEXICO!” He gives up on that quickly and goes to a dropkick. Hugh Morris breaks free of a submission and launches Konnan into the steel steps. Something about WCW’s steps don’t sound nearly as rough as the WWE ones. Impressive spinning heel kick from Morris before he goes to a rest hold. Schiavone admits that he was wrong about this being a fight with not many wrestling holds. Morris and Konnan are like FUCK STORYTELLING, because they want to work a wrestling match rather than a fight. They continue to trade submissions with the highlight being Konnan pulling a Doink and uses the Stump Puller. They get into an awkward exchange that Brain tries to cover up by saying they’re exhausted. The crowd that was scoring hot during the opener, is now silent. Morris climbs up for No Laughing Matter but takes FOREVER. So long that Konnan telegraphs that he’s going to move, gets halfway up, lays back down for a few seconds, then gets up and pulls him down. Morris hits the buckle on the way down, which somehow knocks him out. Konnan applies the Tequila Sunrise and wins since Morris is out cold.

Winner: Konnan in 10:34
I don’t even know what I just watched. It was supposed to be a fight but ended up just being a boring match. The finish was poorly executed and it completely killed the crowd. DUD

Gene Okerlund pumps the WCW Hotline at 1-900-909-9900, saying that they have juicy news about someone they can’t mention on TV. I never called one of these so I wonder if they ever really had any legit news or if they were just blowing smoke up the fans’ asses. He brings out Public Enemy for an interview. They cut a promo that would have gotten over in ECW but the WCW fans were confused and lost. They did pop at the mention of their city name though. YAY, HE SAID THE QUAD CITIES! THAT’S WHERE WE LIVE!

Glacier vs. Wrath w/ Mortis and James Vandenberg
Oh my goodness, is this seriously on Pay-Per-View? Trying to capitalize on the popularity of Mortal Kombat, WCW came up with Wrath, Mortis and Glacier but it was all ridiculous. WCW reportedly spent a TON of money on Glacier, his entrance and his gear, which turned out to be a giant waste. Mortis is chained to a corner outside, so commentary mentions that if he goes to the corner, things could still be bad. Why not just ban Mortis from ringside? They try and work some karate in with Glacier barely connecting on a dropkick that takes Wrath outside. Tenay is back on commentary even though I don’t think this will have nearly the moves that the opener did. Vandenberg distracts but it leads nowhere as Glacier kicks Wrath. The fight stays outside as Wrath’s whip is countered into the steps. He goes HEADFIRST. Mortis is trying to break the handcuffs while Tenay tries to explain the backstory of Mortis and Glacier. It’s absurd. Inside, Wrath takes control with a sleeper of sorts. Glacier rallies but the crowd doesn’t care and he misses a cross body. Wrath jumps from the apron onto Glacier because he was an impressive big man dammit. I always liked him. He continues with a nice flying clothesline for two. He tries another high risk move but misses. This leads nowhere as Wrath hits a side slam. Schiavone stated earlier that these guys want to pin each other, but now says that Wrath doesn’t to pin Glacier. MAKE UP YOUR MIND MAN! Glacier nails a second rope suplex and Mortis gets on the apron. Glacier knocks him off but walks into a back suplex. Vandenberg throws a chain in the ring but COMPLETELY overshoots Wrath. Glacier picks it up and hits Wrath with it to win.

Winner: Glacier in 12:01
First of all, why did this get twelve minutes? Second, faces cheating is not usually a good thing. Third, despite Wrath’s best efforts, this wasn’t very good. It was nonsensical and Glacier just wasn’t good. *

Mortis gets out of the handcuffs and they gang up on Glacier. He gets handcuffed and tries to attack before magically realizing that he has been cuffed. They literally just jump him because the faces aren’t allowed to stand tall in WCW.

WCW Women’s Championship vs. Career
Akira Hokuto (c) w/ Sonny Ono vs. Madusa
WCW had a Women’s Title? Hokuto attacks instantly and does a hair mare before choking Madusa in the corner. Piledriver from Hokuto before she just blatantly steps on Madusa’s face. She forgets to sell anything that has happened as she connects with two dropkicks. She pulls a Curt Hennig with a running neck snap but Hokuto goes to pulling the hair. The crowd is not hot but they are way more into this than the last two matches. More choking from the champion as Lee Marshall, who joined commentary, mentions that both girls were trained by men. I feel like I haven’t heard Dusty speak in forever. Madusa hits some poor looking kicks and what has to be the fifth or sixth snapmare of the match. Double axe handle from the challenger but she seems to hurt her leg. Hokuto smartly hits a knee breaker, though it looked like crap. Hokuto locks in a surfboard that looks very painful. Despite the bad knee, Madusa hits a variation of Trish Stratus’ handstand hurricanrana, which I had no idea she did first. A powerbomb gets her two but the knee is still giving problems. Hokuto misses a top rope move and eats a German suplex but Ono pulls Madusa’s leg out from under her bridge. Madusa is selling the leg work much better than she was selling stuff earlier. She tries an atomic drop but collapses, so Hokuto drops her on her head and retains.

Winner and Still WCW Women’s Champion: Akira Hokuto in 11:41
That got a lot more time than I expected and was actually my second favorite match of the night. Madusa sold the emotions of her desperation well and the leg work was well done. Impressive. **1/2

Madusa cries in the ring while Bobby Heenan ridicules her. You have to love the Brain. The go to Gene Okerlund who tries to interview Madusa as she’s being helped out by a doctor and referee. He comes off as a total asshole who is like “do you think your knee is out for good? Does that even matter since your career is over?” Madusa slaps the microphone away from him and Gene is somehow surprised at this reaction. The crowd even chants “leave her alone.”

Death Match
Chris Benoit vs. Meng w/ Jimmy Hart
So, I’m curious about what exactly makes this a “death match”. Benoit jumps out and beats on Meng before he even gets into the ring. Once he gets him in the ring, he applies the Cripple Crossface but Meng powers out and nicely sits him atop the turnbuckle. They trade some stuff until Benoit suplexes Meng outside, but it comes off odd and I think Meng got caught on the top rope. Meng is fine as he gets Benoit down and the referee counts Benoit so I guess this is a Last Man Standing match. After a powerbomb from Meng, Benoit is down for about a count of eight. I can’t tell because Nick Patrick isn’t shouting the count and seems to be just waving his arms and not using his fingers. Dragon sleeper by Meng as Ultimo Dragon cries infringement in the back. Chops from Benoit seem to have no effect and Meng hits an impressive splash. He covers, like a dunce so Patrick has to tell him that’s not how you win. Benoit is up, they fight outside for a short while, and once back inside, and Benoit hits a German and bridges it. DO EITHER OF YOU KNOW THE RULES? Meng is up and eats another German. Benoit survives the Tongan Death Grip and the fight goes outside again where both men are just chopping each other. Meng slows things down inside until Benoit locks in the Crossface. Meng reaches the ropes and Benoit is told to break it, but why? This is a “Death Match”. There’s no disqualification. He gets the move back on two more times and the last time, Meng fights hard but fades out. They call for the bell, but I thought this could only end in a 10 count?

Winner: Chris Benoit in 14:59
Disappointing is the word I’d use for this. Benoit was great and Meng was an underrated tough guy but something about this didn’t click. **3/4

Despite winning, Chris Benoit does the stretcher job and Meng is just knocked out cold. It takes forever, but Meng now also does a stretcher job. As they go to Mean Gene, Meng falls off the stretcher and Gene tells the camera to catch it. Gene is a total dick tonight. He plugs the WCW Hotline again before an advertisement airs for Bash at the Beach. Hulk Hogan and Dennis Rodman will be there!

Kevin Greene vs. Steve “Mongo” McMichael w/ Debra McMichael
I expect this to suck hard. Kevin Greene charges the ring and takes him down before a three point stance leads to a clothesline. Mongo turns the tide and goes after the knee on the outside. He brings Greene over to his mom, who wasn’t mentioned before this and she hits Mongo with her purse. Why isn’t she ejected? Mongo gets right back in control inside the ring though, so there’s that. Every time that Greene gets some offense, Mongo jus turns things around. He puts his finger in Greene’s ear, and I never knew that a wet Willy was an offensive move. After forgetting about it, Mongo goes back to the knee. Green climbs to the top, so I guess his knee is fine, and he hits a diving shoulder block. They fight outside and Debra fakes an ankle injury but Greene doesn’t fall for it so she stops. That’s it. Nothing else comes from this. Inside, Greene misses a splash in the corner and Mongo clubs away on him. Even though he’s in control, Jeff Jarrett runs out with a briefcase and goes to hit Greene, but clocks Mongo instead. Greene covers and wins.

Winner: Kevin Greene in 9:21
So, I commend both guys for trying their best. The thing is, they had no business on a Pay-Per-View and even less business going nearly ten minutes. Neither guy is a true worker and this should have been a tag match with maybe Jeff Jarrett and another actual wrestler to help this. However, it was still better than Konnan/Morris earlier. 3/4*

Jeff Jarrett watches the 1-2-3 happen instead of helping Mongo so Debra comes out and yells at him. She would eventually get over it and manage Jeff in the WWF. Madusa is shown in the back and they talk about how she might need reconstructive surgery, which would keep her out about eight months. SHE IS RETIRED YOU CLOWNS! Tony Schiavone never ceases to amaze me.

WCW World Tag Team Championship
The Outsiders (c) w/ Syxx vs. Ric Flair and Roddy Piper
This was when the Wolfpac was just the Outsiders and Syxx before it became its own thing and ended up being stupid. Ric Flair starts hot and his chops cause the Outsiders to talk strategy with Syxx. Or Syxx and Hall are discussing where to get coke. Bad taste? Maybe. Flair bump in the corner and he walks the apron right into a Nash big boot. Flair gets sent into the ropes and clearly sets himself up to have his foot grabbed by Syxx, yet they still mistime it. Nash gets the tag and does basic Nash stuff like elbows in the corner and a side slam for two. Roddy Piper gets the hot tag and applies the Sleeper Hold that Hall sells TERRIBLY! He picks him up and crotches him on the top rope to break it. Syxx gets in a cheap kick on Piper, so Flair forgets the match and decides to light Syxx up with shots going up the ramp and to the back. Piper fights for his life but Nash just pounds on him. Piper tries to tag but realizes he’s alone. He still trash talks and tries to fight but it is futile. The Outsiders just end him.

Winners and still WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders in 10:02
Probably went a bit too long for the guys working. Piper was not good at this time and Hall and Nash were in full mail it in mode. Flair leaving was a dumb move too. *

Michael Buffer is out, which pisses me off because he sucks. He informs us that the main event will be contested under Lights Out rules. The lights in the arena go out but comes back on so I’m not sure what this means.

Falls Count Anywhere
DDP w/ Kimberly vs. Macho Man Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth
Kimberly comes out to the stage and while Randy Savage is watching, DDP comes from behind and starts the fight. He goes for the early Diamond Cutter, which I don’t like. Why would someone who wants his hand on Savage try and end this quickly? DDP actually does a plancha outside but his ribs are hurt. For those who don’t know, DDP had taped ribs for like six years. It’s the equivalent to Bob Orton’s arm injury. He even had them as part of his attire in WCW/NWO Revenge. The fight spills inside and out as they move through the crowd. Savage is taking a beating, being thrown into a wall and the rails. Savage turns things around when they get back to ringside, tossing DDP into steps. He throws powder into DDP’s eyes and then hits him with some foreign object. Savage exposes DDP’s ribs, like the tape is protecting it that much as the crowd chants for “Sting.” Savage chooses to lay out the referee and then piledrives him. WCW folks; taking ref bumps to the next level. Another ref comes out and is taken out too. The fight moves to the aisle, where Savage is still beating on Page. They move to a BBQ area, which I have no clue why it exists. It’s not like it was used for a segment earlier. DDP slams Savage through a picnic table and dumps charcoal on him. As they go back to the ring area, Savage goes for a piledriver on the concrete but Nick Patrick stops him. WHY? IT’S NO DQ! Savage agrees and he takes out Patrick. DDP lays him out with a chair while Dusty shouts to pin him so Heenan shouts “THERE IS NO REFEREE DUSTY!” He rolls him in the ring, even though this is falls count anywhere and gets hit with a low blow. Page doesn’t care because he counters a suplex into the Diamond Cutter. Scott Hall comes out but fails as DDP takes him down with a terrible looking and terribly sold atomic drop. Savage nails him with the title and then he eats an Outsider’s Edge. An elbow drop from Savage finishes this off.

Winner: Macho Man Randy Savage in 16:56
This was literally just a brawl and it was fine at being that. But was there a need for Savage to go over? Also, the crowd wanted to see Sting badly but you end the show like this? Not good.**1/2

Overall: 4/10; Weak. A surprising lack of the nWo gave me hope that this show would be good but it disappointed. The only standout match was the opener. Besides that, there was a solid women’s match, an underwhelming “death match” and a not bad main event. However, the ending was anti-climactic, the two tag matches sucked and let’s not even get started on Glacier/Wrath or the incredibly bad Konnan/Morris bout. Up next on “Random Network Reviews” will be No Mercy 2005!

Fave Five 5/25/15-5/31/15

1) Kevin Owens: Could there be any other top choice? Kevin Owens did something that only about five other guys in the company have done. He beat John Cena cleanly. And he did it in his main roster debut match. If you would have told me a year ago that Kevin Steen would have beaten Cena cleanly on a Pay-Per-View, I would have laughed at you. He attacked Cena on Monday, destroyed Solomon Crowe on Wednesday, cut a great promo on Thursday, got a bunch of new merchandise and beat Cena in one of my favorite matches of the year. All in one week. I expect Cena to get his win back at Money in the Bank, but damn this was an impressive week for the NXT Champion.

2) The New Day: Everyone seems to be split on the Tag Title Elimination Chamber match. I've seen some call it the best Chamber match ever and I've seen some call it one of the worst matches of 2015. I'm kind of in the middle as I enjoyed the chaotic clusterfuck. Once again, New Day was on their game. From being stuck in a pod together, to their tactics against Kalisto to actually retaining the belts, this was a big showing for them. Add in that they got involved in the Smackdown main event and Kofi Kingston is set for the Money in the Bank ladder match, it shows that New Day has been pleasantly thrust into the spotlight and are delivering.

3) Ryback: In recent memory, there is nobody that's been more over than Ryback and accomplished so little. That's not a slight on "The Big Guy", just a fact. That all changed at Elimination Chamber as he stepped inside the structure and won the vacant Intercontinental Title. After his run in 2012, I didn't expect it would take this long for him to win gold. While I thought the match was absolute shit, that doesn't take away from the accomplishment. Ryback finally gets to hold some gold and should get a solid run. This was the biggest win in his career and the feel good moment with Daniel Bryan handing the title over was nice. I may not be the biggest Ryback fan, but this was really cool to see.

4) Drew Galloway: It's very possible that Drew Galloway is the reigning king of the indies. Not only does he hold the Dragon Gate USA Title, but he also has the Evolve Championship. He successfully defended both this weekend at consecutive Evolve shows. At Evolve 43, he retained the DG USA title against Biff Busick before beating Roderick Strong with the Evolve Title on the line at Evolve 44. I've said it before but he is one of the shining examples of a guy that has done fantastic for himself after WWE let him go. I'd also put him up there with EC3 as the biggest missed boats in recent WWE history. The guy has everything you could want a performer. Charisma, size, strength, agility, skill...I could go on and on. I'm very happy that he's found success outside of the WWE, especially with TNA possibly going under. Drew Galloway is awesome and it's about time people recognized.

5) Dean Ambrose: I was tempted to put John Cena here, who deserves credit for his performance in putting over Kevin Owens. In the end, I went with Dean Ambrose. The guy won the main event of Elimination Chamber, albeit via disqualification. It wasn't just a disqualification win though. We got the dusty finish but it showed that Dean is just about to ready to win the title. The fans bought it and it looked right. It's still possible that he never actually wins the title for real, but it was a cool little moment. Not only did he beat Seth via DQ at Elimination Chamber but he also pinned him in a tag match on Raw. All in all, a solid week for the "Lunatic Fringe".

Raw San Antonio Review

As usual with episodes of Raw, we open with the Authority coming out to cut a promo. They whole group comes out and demand that Dean Ambose show up and return the WWE World Heavyweight Title. Instead they get Roman Reigns, who says Dean isn't here but Seth can have the title back if he faces Dean in a Ladder Match at Money in the Bank. Seth accepts after Reigns calls him the "worst WWE Champion" ever. In a cool moment, Seth lost his cool and said he didn't need anyone in the Authority, which was fantastic. That's the Seth Rollins I want. He stormed off and a pissed off Triple H put Reigns into a match with his MITB spot on the line. His opponent was King Barrett. I wouldn't really call that a challenge considering Barrett looks up at the lights so often. Reigns performed pretty well again but there was no drama here because we all knew the outcome. After the match, Reigns was informed that he'd have another match with his shot on the line against Mark Henry later.

Next, Ryback cut a short promo about winning the Intercontinental Championship and was scheduled to defend it against the Miz. If this was the case, why wasn't Miz just put in the Elimination Chamber last night? Anyway, the match never happened as Big Show returned and knocked out Miz before issuing a challenge to Ryback. The idea of Ryback/Show doesn't really interest me, but they did have a good match when I went to NXT in Columbus. I'm just not excited for it. Kevin Owens came out to cut a promo as commentary put over his win. Owens' promo was the best thing about the entire show. His ability to be a killer heel, while also coming off as a guy doing it for the right reasons is masterful. Those are the best kinds of villains. He talked about how he never got to be "Super Cena" for kids because he was out traveling the world to make a living and provide for his kid. John Cena interrupted and put over Owens' win but then went out and questioned his manhood. He also pointed out a kid with cancer in the crowd. I wasn't a fan of that. I know it was a special moment for that child but it came off odd to me. Regardless, this was the best thing about this whole episode. Kevin Owens feels real to me. His promos don't seem like he's an actor just reading a script. It feels like it's coming from the heart and that makes it a million times better.

In a preview of the upcoming Money in the Bank match, Dolph Ziggler faced Kofi Kingston. What is this, 2010? New Day also ran down San Antonio and how they brought a title here, not the Spurs. Ziggler won with a rollup so New Day attacked. The Prime Time Players show up and we get the Teddy Long special. A tag team match playa. The six man tag is fine but the star of it was Titus O'Neil, who looked like a complete beast. They won and I guess are next in line for a title shot. Side note, Lana was also atop the ramp watching. I don't know why she didn't just come to ringside.

I believe the last time we saw Mark Henry, he was a heel. He played a face in the Chamber though. He came out here to face Roman Reigns and guess what? He's a heel again. The match with Reigns wasn't very good but they protected Henry with a countout loss. Remember that. Reigns is then told he'll face Bray Wyatt later with his spot on the line again. Next, Nikki Bella accepted Paige's challenge for the Divas Title. They worked a pretty solid match, as these two have a chemistry that Paige never had with AJ Lee. Paige nearly won until Brie came out from under the ring dressed as Nikki and they pulled twin magic to retain. How fucking stupid was this? Aren't they faces? Or are they heels again? I thought we were past this when both girls got their own characters. And the referee saw that Brie didn't accompany Nikki to the ring, but magically appears dressed EXACTLY like Nikki at the end. And he doesn't question it. Absolutely stupid and atrocious booking. This was another shining example that creative gives zero fucks about the main roster Divas division. In another Money in the Bank preview, Randy Orton faced Sheamus. For the most part, their matches have never really clicked for me. They aren't bad, but not very good either and that was the case here. It ended via disqualification and Sheamus beat the shit out of Orton to stand tall. That worked fine as build, but could have been better.

Rusev was interviewed backstage and seemed sad but he then got angry and serious. We get told that Kevin Owens will host an NXT Title Open Challenge on Smackdown this week. For the first time in a while, I'm excited to watch Smackdown. Bo Dallas came out and said he wants to hurt Neville. Neville came out and beat him again. This was complete filler, but was the right move as it got a MITB guy an actual win while not hurting another MITB guy. In our main event, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt worked a solid match with the Authority around. If the Authority wants Reigns out, why not hit Wyatt and get Reigns DQed? Instead, a guy that has worked two matches already beat Bray Wyatt. Why not have Reigns beat Henry clean and have Bray lose via countout or something? There were so many different and better routes they could have gone here, but instead they went with the absolute worst one. After the match, the Authority surrounds the ring and Dean Ambrose's music hit to a THUNDEROUS ovation. He and Reigns fight off the Authority and that was a fine ending, but the Wyatt booking absolutely sucked hard. It was Divas division bad. As a whole, I was not a fan of this episode of Raw. The Ambrose stuff was fine and the Owens/Cena stuff was great. Everything else was either decent at best or awful like the Divas and Wyatt booking. After some good episodes, we're back to stuff that doesn't deliver. 4/10.

Elimination Chamber Review

So this show as a whole has been polarizing, but this match has especially been that way. I've seen it called one of the worst matches of the year and I've seen it called the best Elimination Chamber match in history. I'm not vehemently in either corner, but I did enjoy it. The idea of 13 people in one Chamber did make it a clusterfuck, but I thought it was really fun. Everybody worked hard to entertain. Hell, even El Torito was bumping for the short time he was around. Kalisto busted out some cool spots and Tyson Kidd and Cesaro were on point. My biggest gripe was that the Prime Time Players eliminated the crowd favorites, Kidd and Cesaro. That made it so the fans weren't really behind them to dethrone New Day. New Day would retain in just under 24 minutes. It went a tad too long but was still fun. ***1/2

Up next, we got the Divas Title match as Nikki Bella defended against Paige and Naomi. Now, Nikki has really good chemistry with Paige, while Naomi and Paige have decent chemistry and Naomi and Nikki have next to none. That made for an awkward match. You could hear them calling spots loudly, (mainly Paige), and Naomi was insanely sloppy. She nearly killed Paige on a tower of doom spot that they should not have done since there was one in the opener. Nikki wasn't really on her game either, making all of the girls responsible for this match not clicking. They tried some things but none of it really worked. Nikki retained in about six minutes. *

I don't know that I've ever seen a non-title match that was bigger than this. Early on, John Cena calls spots incredibly loud, but that dies off the longer we go on. We got the typical Kevin Owens methodical attack and Cena sold it rather well. Owens brought out everything from a Marc Mero springboard moonsault to a package piledriver variation that nearly had me jumping out of my seat. I do think there were a few too many near falls, especially with the popup powerbomb not working the first time. However, having Owens beat Cena clean is insane. He's only the third heel, behind Khali and Brock, to beat Cena straight up since he became the man. Kudos to both guys here for how hard they worked and how they made a star in Owens. Hopefully, Owens doesn't go the route of losing all of the rematches, but this was a big deal and a great 21 minute match. The best singles match on WWE PPV all year. ****1/2

To bring the crowd down after the high of the previous match, we got Neville and Bo Dallas. The two former NXT Champions got the chance to go one on one on a Pay-Per-View and were given time. I was surprised at this considering Neville beat Bo a few weeks ago in short order. However, with all of the leg work that had been done in recent weeks, it made sense that Neville looked a bit out of it. Bo was in control throughout, which is fine to help him look good, but it was kind of dull. It was hard to get into this following the previous match. Neville wins in about eight minutes but it was nothing to write home about. **

The injured Rusev was replaced by Mark Henry in the Intercontinental Title Elimination Chamber match. This was insanely dull. Something about it just didn't click at all. In a cool little heel move, Sheamus used his chain to jam the Chamber door shut so he wouldn't have to come in on time and get extra rest. Unfortunately, the crowd couldn't tell and commentary did a poor job of explaining it. The crowd hasn't been very good all night but they are extra dead here because the match absolutely sucks. Easily the worst Chamber match in history. Ryback is able to eliminate Sheamus to win his first title at around the twenty-five minute mark. This lazy, poorly thought out and just flat. The Ryback moment was nice but the match sucked. 1/2*

I've loved nearly every single match between Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins so far. Thanks to the previous match killing my interest, I wasn't as into the beginning of this as I'd hoped. However, as things went on, I got more into this. Dean seriously needs to cut back on how many rebound lariats he does because I've grown to dislike the move. They made fans pop hard when Dean was announced as the winner in just over 21 minutes, only to pull out he dusty finish and have the referee go for the DQ. This is something the company doesn't use often but it can work. Dean still left with the title with Roman Reigns and they kind of seem to be building towards Reigns winning MITB and cashing in on Dean if he wins at that show. I could be totally wrong with Brock Lesnar coming back soon. Anyway, the match was good, but the finish does hurt the score a bit. ***1/4

Overall, I felt this was a decent show. As I stated earlier, people are split on the show. I've seen people call it shit and some say that it was the best show outside of WrestleMania this year. I rank it as a middle of the pack show. The opener and main event were both solid and fun, but the Owens/Cena match is easily the best match by far. The rest of the card was pretty bad, including the worst Chamber match I've ever seen. Three good matches, three bad ones. 6/10.