WWE Hell in a Cell
October 30th, 2016 | TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts | Attendance: 16,119
Man, these kickoff shows can really be a drag right? Even with the lovely Renee Young working the Raw pre-shows. Anyway, the match itself on the pre-show was pretty good. Contracted guy Cedric Alexander, Lince Dorado and Sin Cara defeated non-contracted fellows Tony Nese, Drew Gulak and Ariya Daivari. It was a fun six man sprint that saw Alexander pick up the win with the Lumbar Check at 9:42. Like most cruiserweight matches though, it didn’t seem to matter or have much reason for people to care. Just an enjoyable few minutes of wrestling. (***)
WWE United States Championship Hell in a Cell: Roman Reigns (c) def. Rusev in 24:49
When people talk about Hell in a Cell matches not being anything special anymore, this could be the match they point to. This was really just two guys having a No DQ match where the cell just happened to be around. The fight half of this was largely uninteresting. Things picked up a bit as the match progressed, but it never got that good. Both guys used the kendo stick a fair amount of times. Rusev mostly beat up Reigns though so we got the Reigns superman comeback. He powered out of the Accolade, including once with a steel chain wrapped around him and won with a Spear while Rusev was on the steps. Ho-hum. It went too long, Rusev looked like a monster for a bit and then came off weak. Not at all on the level of Reigns/Wyatt last year. **½
Bayley def. Dana Brooke in 6:27
Dana Brooke was on the road to becoming a pretty solid competitor in NXT. Her team with Emma was working wonders and I thought there was potential there. Then she got called up too fast, Emma got hurt and she got saddled with Charlotte in a combination that has never clicked. This rivalry has featured some pretty bad matches and this was sadly probably their best, but still not good. Dana worked the arm, but Bayley decided not to really sell it and won with the Bayley to Belly. A really lackluster outing. *¾
Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows def. Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady in 6:42
Enzo and Cass were great on the mic before the bell as always. Those dudes, especially Enzo, just have a lot of charisma. This was a decent match that was missing something. I think the issue was that while the crowd loves Enzo and Cass, they stay quiet for parts of their matches. They didn’t seem to care about the heat segment on Enzo and maybe part of it is because Anderson and Gallows have been booked like total shit, so nobody takes them seriously. Once Cass got the hot tag, the fans woke up a bit. It didn’t mean much though since once Enzo became legal again, he fell to the Magic Killer. A really generic tag with little heat. **¼
WWE Universal Championship Hell in a Cell: Kevin Owens (c) def. Seth Rollins in 23:13
The match between these two at Clash of Champions was a massive disappointment. This was much better. They wrestled like they wanted to steal the show and the match was heading down that road. Then Chris Jericho got involved. Don’t get me wrong, Jericho has been the highlight of the feud but it was too much here. Other than the SummerSlam match between Jericho and Rollins, every Universal Title match has been marred by overbooking and interference. I would have liked something different here. Owens took an insane bump where Seth powerbombed him through two tables, one of which was wedged at an angle between the cell and the ring. Jericho broke that pin up and Seth still pulled his best Roman Reigns impersonation by kicking his ass anyway. In the end, the 2 on 1 disadvantage was too much and Owens powerbombed him onto two open chairs to retain. It was a spectacle of a cell match, which was good. I would have liked to see Owens be handled better here but this was still the MOTN up to this point by far. ***¾
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: The Brian Kendrick def. TJ Perkins (c) in 10:29
This was on pace to be the best match of their series thus far. Their chemistry gelled better here than in previous matches but the crowd was dead after the cell match. It came down to the story in the end. Kendrick has wanted Perkins to throw the match and let him win. Kendrick started to sell a knee injury. The official checked on him but Perkins and commentary both couldn’t even take a guess that he was faking. Perkins played stupid babyface, checked on him, got headbutted and then tapped out to the captain’s hook. I know face characters are dumb but goodness. The fans never bought the finish, TJ looked dumb and this had a weak atmosphere. **½
Raw Tag Team Championship: Cesaro and Sheamus def. The New Day (c) w/ Kofi Kingston via disqualification in 11:21
I was surprised to see Kofi Kingston sit this out, while Xavier Woods got the ring time. I wasn’t upset about it though since I like Woods. Their match on Raw was really fun but this one never quite reached that level. It was still pretty good and I totally bought into a false finish near the end, despite the fact that I never thought New Day’s reign would end here. Cesaro had Woods locked in the sharpshooter and Woods is the guy who lost in their first title reign. Woods held on while Sheamus went at it with Big E. Kofi laid him out though and the referee called for the DQ at the same time that Woods tapped out. I get the idea behind it, since it extends the New Day reign, while also setting up a rematch, but it just felt kind of flat. **¾
Raw Women’s Championship Hell in a Cell: Charlotte def. Sasha Banks in 22:11
As the cell was being lowered, Charlotte attacked Sasha and they fought outside. Charlotte powerbombed Sasha through the announce table and they overdid the whole “CAN SASHA CONTINUE?” angle. It took a long time, Sasha’s stretcher job was over the top and Charlotte yelling things during it made me mute my TV. Sasha got up eventually and the match officially began. Once it did, it was among the most brutal women’s matches in history. Chairs and tables were brought into play. Sasha had the spot of the match with a Spider-Man like springboard off the cell Meteora. I felt scared for Sasha several times throughout though as she seems hell bent on breaking her neck on some spots. The best decision here would have been Sasha winning in her hometown but instead, Charlotte brutalized her and won after throwing her into a table several times and hitting Natural Selection. Not only was the decision bad, but the finish felt anti-climactic after everything they had done to each other. Add in that this now means the feud must continue when it was already dragging ass and this was just a really sour way to end things. I liked Sasha’s back injury causing her to fail on the powerbomb which led to her defeat though. Anyway, the only things that kept this from being truly great were the finish, result and the overdone angle beforehand. Other than that, this ruled and the women showed that they were worthy of a main event spot. ***¾
Overall: 6.5/10. There was some good on this show, some bad and a whole lot of mediocre. Okay, the only bad thing was Bayley/Dana but two of the three cell matches were really good in Owens/Rollins and Charlotte/Sasha. The rest of the show was very middle of the pack. A disappointing US Title cell, Tag Title match and Cruiserweight Title match, along with a ho-hum Enzo & Cass tag match rounded out the show. It continued to suffer from the issues that Raw suffers from. It went too long (I don’t believe the Smackdown PPVs have gone over three hours) and had several questionable booking decisions.
NJPW Road to Power Struggle
October 30th, 2016 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Dome
The final show to air on NJPW World before Power Struggle. It features the semi-finals of the Super Jr. Tag Tournament and several multi-matches to build towards the show.
Teruaki Kanemitsu def. Hirai Kawato in 6:03
This was typical young lions stuff. These guys are relatively new, so it’s unfair to expect the Jay White/David Finlay/Yohei Komatsu levels of awesome that the most recent young lions were. They had some good back and forth before Kanemitsu survived a Boston crab. Kanemitsu rallied and ended up winning with that very same Boston crab, which is pretty much the young lion special. Basic stuff, but not bad. **¼
Juice Robinson and YOSHITATSU def. Bone Soldier and Yujiro Takahashi via disqualification in 7:12
Everything about this feud sucks. Soldier, Takahashi and Tatsu are all uninteresting, the Tatsu Triple H cosplay is trash and Yujiro doesn’t even use his dope theme song. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO CARE ABOUT HERE? I mean, Juice is alright at least. Juice saved this from being a total dud. He brought fire and pulled a Gedo by shouting profanity in English to get a pop. None of it mattered though since it ended with a Bone Soldier low blow for the DQ. Again. This feud is terrible. ¼*
Jushin Thunder Liger, TenKoji and Tiger Mask IV def. Angel de Oro, Manabu Nakanishi, Titan and Yuji Nagata in 8:43
So they fused the NEW JAPAN DADS with some CMLL juniors. I enjoyed Oro and Titan in their match with Roppongi Vice last time out. Again, they were a blast here, starring alongside TenKoji. I just love something about TenKoji. Kojima and Nagata had a really fun back and forth at one point. Eventually, Tiger Mask scored with a tiger suplex to get the win for his team. A good, fun multi-man tag featuring several guys who actually worked hard. I with the CMLL guys got the win though. Tiger Mask doesn’t need it and I’d like to see them return. **¾
CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI) def. The Bullet Club (Chase Owens and IWGP Tag Team Champions The Guerillas of Destiny) in 10:26
This is just a massively uninteresting rivalry. This was less enthusiastic than the previous match. It’s as if the guys involved are just as tired of Bullet Club vs. Chaos as I am. To be fair, it did start and end rather well. The middle parts were pretty dull though. The problem is that the heel team is just so lame. They did some uninspired stuff before Chaos rallied. Owens took the pin for his guys after eating a brainbuster by Ishii. Standard stuff here without much hard work from the guys involved. **¼
The FantasticaMania shows were hyped next and we got a Time Bomb promo.
The Elite (Kenny Omega and the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions The Young Bucks) def. Chaos (Gedo, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay) in 16:14
The Elite were dressed as Ghostbusters and a ghost. I didn’t hate it. The comedy bits spilled to the actual match and it felt odd for Omega to do so much when he’s about to headline the biggest show of the year. Also, I thought Gedo yelling random shit was much funnier than the Elite’s stuff. Once the match got serious, it picked up a bit. The Bucks were what you’d expect, Gedo was funny, Ospreay flew all over the place and Omega and Okada’s interactions were just enough to wet the whistle of the people clamoring for that match. I for one am not. I was surprised to see Ospreay take the pin after falling to the One Winged Angel. I fully expected Gedo to do so. I know it’s a heavyweight but Ospreay probably shouldn’t take the pins when a guy like Gedo is around. Anyway, this was rather enjoyable but nothing special. ***
Los Ingobernables de Japon (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, NEVER Openweight Champion Katsuyori Shibata, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma in 11:20
The cool factor of LIDJ knows no boundaries. They did the right thing by building towards Tanahashi/SANADA and EVIL/Shibata, which are coming up at Power Struggle. BUSHI is set to face KUSHIDA, but KUSHIDA is on the shelf right now. I enjoyed seeing BUSHI interact with guys like Shibata and Makabe. After things ended up breaking down, Honma was alone with Naito. BUSHI ran in and spit the mist, which Honma sold hilariously again. Naito kicked him low and EVIL nailed a lariat. Naito used a jackknife pin to win for his guys. This was good, paint by numbers stuff. It built to the matches it needed to (and a possible one with GBH in the World Tag League), while being entertaining. I dig it. EVIL knocked out Shibata with the NEVER Title after the bell. ***
Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament Semi-Finals: Roppongi Vice def. Fuego and Ryusuke Taguchi in 15:26
I wish the music for Fuego and Taguchi played because their entrance looked like fun again. The tension between RPG Vice continued, even when they were in control. They argued and tried to one up each other. Fuego and Taguchi were on the same page and ready to have a good time. Neither team gained a clear advantage. Again, Romero against the CMLL guy was good. Romero straight up shouted “FUCK YOU” instead of tagging in Beretta near the end. It backfired when Taguchi went on the offensive. Beretta eventually ran wild and got the tag. As the match went on, it got better. Beretta survived a twisted ankle, several ankle lock attempts and Dodon. RPG Vice won with strong zero. Good match that advanced the angle it needed to. RPG Vice had to get past their issues and Beretta being banged up to win, which I liked. I suspect they lose in the finals and split. ***¼
Super Jr. Tag Team Tournament Semi-Finals: ACH and Taiji Ishimori def. David Finlay and Ricochet in 15:57
I absolutely love that Finlay got a chance to main event in Korakuen Hall here. We were treated to the expected fast paced stuff between these four guys. Finlay, being the least experienced, was targeted and isolated by ACH and Ishimori. Ricochet got a hot tag and was all over the place. From high flying offense to making Ishimori hit ACH with a face buster, he was everywhere. ACH had the highlight of the match with a fosbury flop. A really strong final few minutes saw the teams trade big blows and near falls. In the end, Ishimori and ACH won with stereo 450 splashes. The main event was the best match on the show but didn’t quite reach great levels. Lots of fun, athletic spots and the teams played to their strengths. ***¾
Overall: 6/10. A relatively enjoyable “Road to” show. It hit most of the points that it needed to in terms of building to Power Struggle, though some things were hard to get into. The Bullet Club/Chaos matches just don’t really bring anything new to the table. The Super Jr. Tag Tournament matches were both good, with the main event being slightly better than the ACH & Ishimori/Young Bucks match from round one.
Honestly, who cares about this result? I like some of the guys involved (mainly Cedric Alexander and Sin Cara), but the cruiserweight division has been handled rather poorly on Raw. This is basically going to be six guys in a match for the sake of having a match. It's hard to predict because nobody is gaining any real momentum. However, I'm going with the Alexander/Cara/Dorado trio. From what we know, Nese and Gulak do not have official contracts. Plus, I think Alexander is a great choice for the next contender for the title. Maybe the division will pick up when Jack Gallagher and Gran Metalik show up.
Winners: Lince Dorado, Rich Swann and Sin Cara
I pray that the WWE figures out something of relevance for Bayley to do once this Sasha/Charlotte feud is over. I assume that she'll be part of the giant women's tag at Survivor Series, but after that, hopefully she becomes important. It's a shame that she's being wasted in a shitty feud with Dana Brooke. Speaking of Dana, she's gotten progressively worse since the Emma injury. Bayley's going to be fun here and Dana will try, but I'm not expecting anything really good here. Bayley needs to win here.
Winner: Bayley
I really like the New Day, but there is zero reason why Gallows and Anderson didn't take the titles over the past few months. Both teams were at fault, as well as creative, for how bad the feud was and I think that a win for the former Club would have been for the best. Then they could have transitioned into this rivalry over the titles. Anyway, this isn't for the belts and doesn't really sound interesting. On one hand, Enzo and Cass could use the win, but I think Gallows and Anderson need it a bit more.
Winners: Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows
More from the poorly booked cruiserweight division. At the very least, the segment of Brian Kendrick asking TJ Perkins to throw the match for him on Raw gave this some intrigue. For the most part the feud has been "grizzled old man" vs. "young guy who makes too many video game references." Oh, and they used to know each other. It's all been so weirdly handled. They've wrestled twice so far and neither time has lit the world on fire. I'm thinking this will be their best outing together, but still not crack the great level. I love Perkins, but I think Kendrick takes it here. The story of the well known veteran keeping the title away against the younger guys of the division could be fun.
Winner: The Brian Kendrick
The Best of Seven nonsense between Sheamus and Cesaro ended in dumb fashion, though I do like them as a team. The match on Raw was absolutely stupid to do but it was good. I sense this one will be even better and could potentially steal the show. That being said, I can't see Sheamus and Cesaro taking the titles, at least not yet. The WWE love their odd couple teams, so Sheamus and Cesaro could vault ahead of Enzo and Cass or the Club for a title run. I think it won't happen here though since the New Day are more than likely to at least hold it until they break Demolition's record. After that, all bets are off. For now, I'm sticking with the champs.
Winners: The New Day
Leave to the Raw creative team and the continued mishandling of the Roman Reigns character to make a Rusev feud dull. Rusev has been one of the best things about the company for a long time now but he is suffering from the same fate as his feud with John Cena. He comes out looking like a chump time after time. At least then Rusev felt like a heel with his anti-America stuff and how he treated Lana. Honestly though, he's come off like the babyface in this program. Reigns has been a jerk for no reason, while Rusev defends the honor of his wife. Why should I cheer Roman again? Add in their lackluster matches thus far and this feud has been a total bust. Reigns and Wyatt killed in the Cell last year, so hopefully these two can deliver this time. Reigns wins because, duh.
Winner: Roman Reigns
Again, leave it to the Raw creative team to fumble a Kevin Owens/Seth Rollins feud. Like, this isn't hard. These are two studs in the ring, who can deliver on the microphone and have almost no holes in their skill sets. Instead of something awesome, we've gotten way too much focus on Stephanie McMahon, an overbooked mess of a match at Clash of Champions and a feud where the most interesting person by far has been Chris Jericho. I believe that Owens and Rollins can clearly do better but the way Raw has gone in recent months doesn't give me much hope at all. Triple H shows up to help Owens retain.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Ah, the "women in the cell for the sake of saying this is history" match. Look, I'm an admitted big Sasha Banks fan and Charlotte can flat out go from bell to bell. They're going to be motivated to justify the main event slot or, if they don't go on last, be motivated to show that they should have. I expect a great match featuring two women willing to nearly kill themselves and each other. The feud doesn't fell HIAC or main event worthy, but nothing on Raw really does. They were worried about an injured Sasha at SummerSlam, but now that she's cleared, her retaining shouldn't be an issue. She has to win the feud and breathe new life into the division since Charlotte as champion is beyond stale. Sasha for the win.
Winner: Sasha Banks
2016 Prediction Record: 55-31
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35
Slamboree 1993
May 23rd, 1993 | The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia | Attendance: 7,008
Here is a timeframe that I am not all that familiar with. I do know that in this year, Davey Boy Smith had joined WCW and was in the midst of a pretty big push, even getting a title shot on this show. Looking at the card, there is also a dark match that features 2 Cold Scorpio and Chris Benoit on opposite, which I would have liked to see. Interestingly, this would be the first ever Slamboree Pay-Per-View event, and the WCW would continue to use the name until going out of business.
The show starts with the ring filled with a bunch of legends. Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko introduce the show and send it to Maxx Payne and his guitar, Norma Jean. Some incredibly oily men in speedos carry someone out to the ring in a cart. It is revealed that the person is the Fabulous Moolah, who is the “Queen of Slamboree 1993.”
Okay, I guess those dark matches are on this thing.
Bobby Eaton and Chris Benoit vs. Marcus Bagwell and Too Cold Scorpio
Just how I’d want it, Chris Benoit and Too Cold Scorpio start the match and instantly go into a quick exchange that is pretty fun. I’m guessing Benoit and Eaton are the heels as they cheat early but Scorpio and Bagwell weather that and hit some stereo dropkicks. The heels continue to use underhanded tactics to take control. Everything that Benoit does looks incredibly fluid. The heat gets worked on Bagwell. It takes Bagwell getting his knees up on a Benoit splash to lead to the hot tag. Scorpio’s work is fun, as he’s just a joy to watch. The heels miscommunicate, allowing Scorpio to hit the Tumbleweed on Benoit and win.
Winners: Marcus Bagwell and Too Cold Scorpio in 9:22
I am glad that this was included. It was a fun opener as both teams gave a good effort. Benoit and Scorpio were the show stealers here, as one would expect. ***
Col. Robert Parker brings out the returning Sid Vicious to basically kill Van Hammer, who he had issues with.
Sid Vicious vs. Van Hammer
Sid pounds on Van Hammer and powerbombs him. That’s it.
Winner: Sid Vicious in 0:36
Hard to really rate this due to how short it is but it made the impact they wanted. NO RATING
Now the show moves into some “Legends Matches.” Oh boy.
Dick Murdoch, Don Muraco and Jimmy Snuka vs. Blackjack Mulligan, Jim Brunzell and Wahoo McDaniel
Were these teams just randomly chosen? Regardless, everyone gets their turn here as each guy gets to give the fans a treat. Things don’t get remotely interesting until Jim Brunzell hits a nice move. He then becomes the face in peril. It doesn’t really lead anywhere though as soon, Snuka and Muraco get into it despite being teammates. This ends up leading to a brawl between everyone that causes a double DQ.
Double Disqualification in 9:26
Honestly, that wasn’t as bad as I expected. They did their best to just have some fun and get the crowd to pop. Nothing to write home about, but nothing awful. *¾
Ivan Koloff and Baron Von Raschke vs. Thunderbolt Patterson and Brad Armstrong
More legends stuff here. Bob Armstrong is supposed to wrestle here, but had surgery, so his son Brad takes his place in street clothes. Von Raschke looks like he is dying. Armstrong does most of the work for his team, which makes sense. Baron applies the dreaded CLAW but it doesn’t end things. The tag comes to Thunderbolt who does some mild stuff. He hits a double chop to Baron’s throat, which is sold terribly, to end this.
Winner: Thunderbolt Patterson and Brad Armstrong in 4:40
While I thought the first match was a good effort that wasn’t greatly executed due to the abilities of those guys, this featured neither. It wasn’t an enjoyable contest, but at least it was kept short. ½*
We now go to a live edition of “Flair for the Gold.” Flair claims that tonight will see the return of the Four Horsemen. He brings out Arn Anderson first, dressed in a suit. Ole Anderson is out next and Flair tells them to get comfortable. He brings out the “special addition” to the Horsemen, Paul Roma. This would prove to be a flop as Roma, along with Mongo later on, is considered by many to be the worst Horseman ever.
Dory Funk Jr. w/ Greg Kiniski vs. Nick Bockwinekl w/ Verne Gagne
This is billed as AWA vs. NWA. Johnny Valentine joins the commentary booth for this. Both competitors are in their 50’s here. They just say forget anything exciting, we are going to mat wrestle you all to death. I mean, technically, it is some fine stuff, but the crowd doesn’t seem to care at all. Ten minutes in and nothing of note has happened. I get that they are playing up both being technicians and evenly matched, but it’s just dull. The crowd finally reacts to something when Dory tries the spinning toe hold. They go to the time limit draw.
Time limit draw in 15:00
Despite being dead for the entire match, the fans give them a bit of a standing ovation. I understood the idea behind the match and why they did what they did, but it was painfully dull at points. Well executed for the most part though. **
Dustin Rhodes and Kensuke Sasaki vs. Paul Orndorff and Rick Rude
Dustin Rhodes’ “Natural” theme is pretty bad. Man, Sasaki is short. Rick Rude makes fun of his look before posing on his own. From what I’m reading online, it looks like Orndorff and Sasaki were both working through injuries, which kind of limits things. The bout is a basic tag match, made slightly better by Rude and Orndorff adding trash talk to draw heat. Sasaki gets a warm tag and works over Rude, who sells this stuff hilariously. Orndorff tosses him from the top, leading to the Rude Awakening and that’s all folks.
Winners: Paul Orndorff and Rick Rude in 9:43
Man, I was disappointed by this. Granted, I know that two of the guys were injured, but then they should have let Rhodes and Rude handle the heavy lifting and put on a good match. Instead, they all seemed to just go through the motions. *½
Gordon Solie hosts the first ever WCW Hall of Fame now, inducting Lou Thez, Verne Gagne, Eddie Graham and Mr. Wrestling II.
The Prisoner vs. Sting
Yup, the Prisoner is Nailz. In his exact attire from WWF. This was supposed to be Sting vs. Scott Norton I guess, but Norton no-showed. They try and saw that the Prisoner ran into Norton and beat him up. Wanna know what Prisoner’s offense is? Choking. That’s pretty much it. When he gets tired of using his hands, he tries to hang Sting with some wires. Sting rallies and wins with a flying clothesline.
Winner: Sting in 5:16
What the hell was this? Was Nailz really the best they could find? He was awful and having him choke Sting for a vast majority of this match was dull. DUD
WCW Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match
The Hollywood Blondes (c) vs. Dos Hombres
So the story goes that Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas weren’t allowed another shot at the Tag Team Titles, so they dressed as “Dos Hombres” and won a non-title match. They are even introduced under their names here but the gimmick stuck because Douglas had quit WCW and they had to do this match. From what I’m reading, it was Tom Zenk filling in. Steamboat, I think, just tosses the Blondes into the cage multiple times. Austin sells it well. He even takes a suplex into the cage and gets stuck in a TREE OF WOE UP THERE! Steamboat hilariously parodies their camera taunt. The Blondes turn things around and Zenk plays the face in peril for a while. Steamboat gets the hot tag and does his thing. The crowd was pretty dead before this, as I’m guessing the legends style matches really killed them. Steamboat removes the mask and climbs the cage, bringing the crowd even more to their feet and flies off onto both Blondes with a massive cross body. He covers and the bell rings though he only gets a near fall. It’s confusing. The faces hit stereo dropkicks for two. Steamboat gets hit with a DDT right after Zenk takes a stungun. That gets Austin the 1-2-3.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Hollywood Blondes in 16:09
Along with the opening contest, this is easily the best thing on the show. It was a bit disappointing though since I thought that it would be better. The dead crowd and having to replace Douglas hurt this one for me. **¾
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
Barry Windham (c) vs. Arn Anderson
This is during that odd time where there was the NWA World Title and the WCW World Title. They feel each other early, with neither gaining a clear upper hand since they know each other so well. The fight spills to the ramp for a bit and Anderson tries to come off the top, only to be hit with a clothesline. It’s as if Arn knows he’s never won the big one and is trying to go out of his comfort zone to finally get it. Outside, Arn slams Barry face first into the guardrail, which would have been a DQ under WCW rules, but this is the NWA BAYBAY! Windham is busted wide open. Like, it’s bad. Arn again tries to go up but Barry meets him with a big dropkick. Windham gets some near falls inside until Double A busts out the spinebuster! He takes a bit to cover, allowing Windham to roll outside. Windham then tries to leave but Anderson brings him back. After a ref bump, Windham lays him out with a belt to retain.
Winner and Still NWA World Heavyweight Champion: Barry Windham in 10:57
I rather liked this match. The story of these two knowing each other well and Anderson going out of his comfort zone was interesting. I think the blood definitely added something to the match, though I was disappointed by the finish. ***
WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Big Van Vader (c) w/ Harley Race vs. Davey Boy Smith
It always surprised me how hard Davey Boy Smith was pushed in WCW. It’s like, because he did huge business at SummerSlam 1992, they thought he was a legit main event player. He no sells some Vader stuff early, showing that he’s a threat. They spill outside where Davey slams him in an impressive feat. Vader gets tired of selling for him and starts to kick his ass, causing Smith to bleed from the mouth. Smith nearly wins after Vader falls on his ass, literally, but only gets two. Smith starts the rally, picking up some near falls along the way but Vader is just too big and bad. Finally though, he is able to hit the big powerslam but Race grabs him and pulls him outside. Vader then takes a chair and whacks Bulldog.
Winner via disqualification: Davey Boy Smith in 16:18
Solid power match between two really strong guys. It lulled at certain points and definitely could have been better though. I also wasn’t a fan of that finish considering the previous match ended in unclean fashion. ***
After the match, Too Cold Scorpio and Marcus Bagwell try to make the save, but it’s Sting who actually stops Vader.
Overall: 3/10; Poor. Man, some of the things on the show are absolutely dire. To get the good stuff out of the way first, the main event, NWA Title match, opener and Tag Title match are all solid to good matches. That’s four watchable things but the rest of the card is pretty awful. The legends stuff did not work and effectively killed the entire crowd for the relatively good stuff later. This was a chore to get through. Next on “Random Network Reviews” will be Royal Rumble 1998!
The episode begins in Dario Cueto's office. Sexy Star walks in with the Gift of the Gods Title. She says that Matanza doesn't scare her and she wants to cash in her title shot next week. Dario agrees, but tells her that she has to defend the title against Johnny Mundo tonight. She says Mundo will be a warmup match, so Dario says she's not a guy, but she does have huevos. If Fenix, Aerostar or Drago interfere, they will be banned from the Temple.
Marty Martinez w/ Mariposa def. Ivelisse in 4:18
Marty continued to do creep on Melissa Santos. Ivelisse beat Mariposa a few weeks ago but got attacked by the siblings. Marty took control and, as always, nailed every facial expression and character trait throughout. Ivelisse fought from behind and locked in a guillotine choke. He broke it with a spinebuster and won with a full nelson slam. Lackluster stuff here. They played the roles I expected, but it never fully connected. *3/4
The Martinez celebration is cut short by the arrival of Sami Callihan, who appeared in a segment backstage as Ivelisse's boyfriend. he took out Marty and went to powerbomb Marpiosa but Marty broke it up. Ivelisse got back involved and they all went to war. When things died down and the Martinez siblings escaped, Sami apologize to Ivelisse and they hugged.
The creepiest "white rabbit" video package aired. He looks different here, but this is Paul London for those who didn't notice.
Ivelisse was shown storming off to her car. Sami apologized again and said that Dario gave him an offer to compete because he wants to hurt people for money. "The couple that slays together, stays together." She goes to leave and Sami says that Temple can make them stronger. She agrees and calls Dario a piece of crap. If he puts them to fight each other, she'll kick his ass.
Dario meets up with Councilman Delgado in a limo.They discuss someone's "ascension" and Dario says that he has two bodies selected as a "host", meaning Texano and Cage. He's given a mystery box and leaves with it.
Match Three in Best of Five Series: Texano [1] def. Cage [2] in 7:33
Like the second match of the series, they worked this with some actual purpose. Cage even got his "get your shit in" chants. This was hard hitting and featured some good near falls with a hot crowd. Cage went for a powerbomb but Texano countered into the air raid crash for two. Both guys continued to bring the big offense. Texano kept kicking out because he knew that he was down 2-0. He then countered a Cage suplex attempt into a small package to stay alive. These matches are progressively getting better, which I appreciate. ***1/4
In his office, Dario was looking at the box, when Rey Mysterio Jr. entered the office and asked for a minute. He's sick of Chavo (like the rest of LU fans) and wants a Loser Leaves Lucha match next week. Dario agrees.
Gift of the Gods Championship: Johnny Mundo def. Sexy Star (c) in 10:58
Mundo took control early with his mat wrestling ability. They went back and forth for a bit until it became time for shenanigans. Sexy had a pin and submission but the referee was down for both. Jack Evans and PJ Black showed up to attack Sexy Star but she was resilient and kicked out. Since Sexy's buddies were banned, her old friend The Mack came out to give her assistance. Even that failed though because Mundo used brass knuckles to steal the title from Sexy. This disappointed heavily. Too much bullshit in this one. I get that the heel should cheat sometimes and it made sense but it was too much. *1/2
Prince Puma was shown working out in the back. Vampiro came up to him and said that Puma wasn't done with Mil. He brought up Konnan and said that he hated him but it wasn't him that put Konnan in a coffin. Vamp said that he always respected Puma.
Overall: 5/10. I just couldn't get behind this episode. Sometimes LU nails the intergender matches and sometimes they really don't. Neither intergender match was any good here. Cage and Texano saved this show from an in-ring standpoint, while the Ivelisse/Sami and Dario stuff were fun outside of it.
If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here with Fubo.tv!
WWE Raw
October 24th, 2016 | Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota
It’s the go home show before Hell in a Cell! Brock Lesnar is on the show and Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho do battle in a triple threat match.
Speaking of Chris Jericho, he opened the show. According to commentary, it was supposed to be Enzo Amore vs. Karl Anderson kicking things off. This is the better option for sure. Jericho is upset because someone has stolen the list of Jericho. Oh no! He refused to leave the ring until he got it. Kevin Owens showed up and was greeted with “where’s the list?” chants. Owens didn’t have the list and didn’t care, but promised to help Jericho after they took care of Seth Rollins. Out came Stephanie McMahon, because she has to in the show’s main storyline. She told Jericho to stop being ridiculous, so Jericho freaked out about the list again. Seth Rollins interrupted to a big pop and he had the list behind his back. Jericho freaked out again about Seth having it and Seth had some fun with him. Seth revealed that both Stephanie and Owens were on the list, which Jericho denied. Seth ran down a list of his own of the body parts that he’s going to hurt on Owens at the PPV, with the last one being Owens’ ego. Seth left the list and told Jericho to come get the list.
In the back, Stephanie McMahon walked up to Seth Rollins and said that Jericho wanted the list still. Seth claimed that Stephanie only wants the list so the match can happen and Jericho and Owens can soften him up for the Cell. He believed that Stephanie just wanted to make sure that her and her husband’s chosen one won on Sunday. He also claimed he didn’t have the list anymore.
Enzo Amore w/ Big Cass def. Karl Anderson w/ Luke Gallows in 7:17
A tag match between the duos has been announced for Hell in a Cell. Gallows and Anderson interrupted the usual pre-match opening Enzo promo. They paid off someone to shut off Enzo’s mic so, in a really cool moment, Enzo and Cass do their entire opening without a microphone since the crowd knows every single word and did it for them. They worked through a break and Anderson was in control. Enzo started in with his comeback but Anderson outsmarted him and sent him into the corner. Some distractions by Cass and Gallows allowed Cass to big boot Anderson and Enzo stole it. Not much here. Anderson can go as a singles guy but hasn’t shown it here, while Enzo is clearly a better tag guy. *½
The Roman Reigns vs. Rusev Hell in a Cell match got previewed. Rusev spoke and basically said that he was going to do despicable things to Reigns on Sunday. He made a good point about Reigns disrespecting his family.
Time for the W (gyrate) W (gyrate) E (gyrate) World (gyrate) Tag (gyrate) Team (gyrate) Champions (gyrate)! They praised Cesaro but not Sheamus. His name is “shame us” after all.
Non-Title Match: Cesaro and Sheamus def. The New Day w/ Xavier Woods in 11:41
I never understood giving away a match on free TV before the PPV. The New Day had control because, as Xavier put it, they live and train together. After a commercial break, Sheamus and Cesaro isolated Kingston but they still weren’t working together. It was more of them one upping each other. Big E got the tag and came in hot, delivering belly to belly suplexes. Cesaro and Kofi went at it, which was cool. They had a phenomenal match on Main Event a few years ago. Sheamus blind tagged in and missed the Brogue Kick. Big E launched Kofi outside right into an uppercut. Sheamus got back in and hit the Brogue Kick this time for the win. Really fun match that got awesome in the finishing run. I just don’t see why you do this now and again in six nights. ***¼
Time to recap Goldberg’s return last week.
Jericho continued to look for the list in the back. The Shining Stars offered him a timeshare but Jericho said that he hated the Dominican. He complemented Titus’ scarf game and called Jinder Mahal a stupid idiot.
Next up is supposed to be Dana Brooke vs. Bayley in a rematch from last week. Brooke got on the microphone before the match to say that her win last week wasn’t an upset and bragged about having a better look than Bayley. She said that the rematch is an arm wrestling contest and not a wrestling match. Bayley was wearing the Cesaro shoulder tape. The fans gave this a “this is stupid” chant. Dana won handily but saw the bad right shoulder on Bayley so she wanted to go with the left arms. “Boring” chants. Bayley near won and Dana hit her with a cheap shot. So it was every arm wrestling match in wrestling history. Bayley turned it around and sent Dana packing. This fell flat on its face and the only positive was that it was short. They have no idea what to do with Bayley. Hopefully she does something of note once the Charlotte/Sasha feud ends.
Chris Jericho came up to Stephanie McMahon, still upset that he can’t find the list. Stephanie told him to get focused and compete whether or not he finds the list. If he doesn’t compete, he’s suspended.
Curtis Axel was in the ring when they came back from commercial. He believed in Bo, but after Bo took him out last week, he had to re-evaluate his life. He mentioned his roots and being from Minnesota. Curtis name dropped his grandfather and father. The crowd got way behind him.
Bo Dallas def. Curtis Axel in 2:57
Axel also ditched the stupid shorts that he would wear and was back in his old trunks. He started hot to the crowd’s liking. Axel hit the Perfect Plex for two, which pissed me off. YOU DON’T KICK OUT OF THAT DAMMIT! Axel stayed hot but Bo rolled him up in a school boy that got the three. This was surprisingly fun thanks to the Minnesota crowd being way into it. **
A Rich Swann video package aired. He faces Brian Kendrick later tonight.
Chris Jericho was walking backstage, seemingly ready to walk out. A worker came up to him and said they saw someone with the list. An excited Jericho kissed him on the head and turned the corner to see Braun Strowman reading the list. Braun gave it back to him after making Jericho say please. Braun wasn’t happy that Sami Zayn wasn’t on it but gave it up and left. Jericho said Sami was on page four and put Braun on the list for touching it. There were big pops for Jericho getting it back and putting Braun on it.
Roman Reigns now spoke about the upcoming Hell in a Cell match with Rusev. It wasn’t interesting, like most Reigns promos, but he kept it serious and short, so that was fine.
The Golden Truth w/ Mark Henry def. The Shining Stars w/ Titus O’Neil in 3:59
Titus and Mark were around due to a segment last week. I missed it since I didn’t catch Raw last week, so I apologize. The crowd didn’t care about anything going on in this one. Titus and Henry argued outside. Henry shoved Titus, who sold it horribly and jumped back onto the apron, where he accidentally knocked Primo off the top, allowing the Golden Truth to win. Really boring and nobody gave a damn. *
Mick Foley was in the ring for the contract signing for Sasha Banks vs. Charlotte on Sunday. Foley again made it feel like they this match is just in the Cell for the sake of “making history” rather than because the story calls for it. Charlotte was introduced first, then Sasha. Sasha looked like a good 10/10. Charlotte and Sasha both had trouble not smiling. Charlotte wanted the contract, but Foley was hesitant to give it to her, so she yelled at him. He held back because it was time for Mick to give the “Hell in a Cell is dangerous” speech. Sasha called herself a student of the game and said that she studied everything to know what she’s getting into. Mick still spoke about how they can’t be sure of what they’re getting into. Charlotte yelled a lot and said that she’s why the title matters. Sasha admitted that Charlotte was the first champion but will go down as the greatest. She doesn’t care if she has to crawl up the ramp broken, as long as she’s champion. Charlotte broke up Sasha’s injuries and called her weak. Foley interrupted again to talk about how he left the Cell as a different man. Mick got all emotional when bringing up Ric Flair and Eddie Guerrero. Charlotte signed and so did Sasha. This was good at times, weird at others. They all yelled a ton and some of it felt passionate, while some just felt annoying. Foley saved it with his emotional stuff near the end.
They ran another Emmalina hype video with shots of her in bikinis. The name is stupid, but she’s incredible looking.
Rich Swann def. The Brian Kendrick in 8:30
TJ Perkins joined commentary for this one. Swann played the fun babyface and Kendrick was the wily, angry veteran heel that he’s done so well with this year. Swann came close to winning on a sweet top rope rana. Swann hit a great tiger driver with a jackknife pin. Kendrick went for the Captain’s Hook but Swann slipped free and rolled Kendrick up to win. This was a fine match. My issue is the result. I get that they wanted it to seem like TJ is somehow in Kendrick’s head, but the top contender shouldn’t be losing. I’d have had Kendrick get disqualified for going nuts on Swann and TJ could have made the save. **¾
Kevin Owens was interviewed. He said that like Charlotte and Sasha, he hasn’t been in the cell before, but has wanted to for his whole life. No kids will talk about how cool the cell is after Sunday because he’s going to dismantle Seth in it. On Sunday, they’re going to hell together, but Kevin believes he’ll be the only one coming back.
We were supposed to get Braun Strowman vs. Sami Zayn here. Strowman demanded a microphone. He called out Mick Foley and said that he wanted competition. He didn’t see any real competition in Sami. Sami leveled him from behind and then slapped him. He ran and played some cat and mouse with Braun. He dropkicked him twice, but made the mistake of attempting to dive on him and got sent into the guardrail. Strowman then just walked away. Sami got back in the ring and wanted to keep fighting.
In the back, Brian Kendrick walked up to TJ Perkins and asked for help. TJ wasn’t ready to forgive him for the past few weeks. Kendrick said that he needs this. TJ is young and could win the title back one day, but Brian said that he needed to win at Hell in a Cell to provide for his family. He asked TJ to let him win on Sunday. TJ just walked off, while Brian cried.
BORK TIME! Heyman put over Brock for a few and then spoke about the fans jumping on the Goldberg bandwagon. They stood around while the fans split chants for the two men. Heyman was upset about the split crowd and they unceremoniously left.
Next week is Raw Halloween and Goldberg will be in attendance.
Non-Title Match: Seth Rollins def. Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens in 9:47
Seth had to play divide and conquer here. He isolated Jericho for a bit but Owens caught him and sent him into the guardrail. Unfortunately, I missed part of this match due to issues with my cable provider. For some reason, the screen went black and got fuzzy for a bit. When it came back, Seth was back at it with Jericho and kicked out of a Codebreaker. Owens came back in with the cannonball and took over with Jericho. Seth got free from the top and won with a double powerbomb, pinning both opponents. I can’t give this a fair rating since I missed a good chunk of it, but from what I saw, it was only okay. I also don’t like that Seth pinned the champion going into Sunday.
Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho put the boots to Seth Rollins after the match. Security came out to break it up but Seth got free and attacked Owens after Jericho left. Owens shouted that he was the man before powerbombing Rollins on the apron. Commentary sold this as if Seth wouldn’t be able to compete on Sunday.
Overall: 3/10. I couldn’t get into this episode at all. The only thing entertaining on the show was the New Day/Cesaro and Sheamus match (which was dumb to do right before the PPV) and Jericho’s antics. The main event felt lackluster, as did most of the matches on the show. Part of the Sasha/Charlotte promo came off well but for the most part, this failed to get me more interested in the upcoming PPV, which is the job of a go home show.
