Random Match Review 8/10/17

Stretcher Match: Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy; Smackdown 4/10/09

First off, thanks to everyone who voted in my StrawPoll. This match won 4-3-3-3 in a tight race.

For some backstory, Jeff Hardy was the hottest star in WWE. His popularity rose, his merchandise was moving and he was rivaling John Cena as THE MAN. At least, it felt that way to me. He made it to the top of the WWE, but they couldn’t quite trust him, so his title run was cut short after a month when his brother turned on him. They met at WrestleMania XXV, five days before this, in an Extreme Rules Match that Matt won. Matt opened this episode by badmouthing Jeff and saying he wanted to erase (or DELETE) him from existence. Teddy Long, playa, came out and booked a Stretcher Match for them in case one got drafted to Raw the following week.

Todd Grisham decided he had to explain the rules of a Stretcher Match to fans. Simple enough, you get your opponent on the stretcher and drive it up the ramp past the finish line. Not the most creative stipulation, but it has produced some damn good matches (See: Batista/HBK at One Night Stand 2008).

This was a heated battle, as they came out of the blocks firing. Thank goodness, too. Too many matches start with typical grappling, even if it’s a bitter feud. Normally, I wouldn’t like Jeff going for the win early, since he should want to hurt his brother. However, in Matt’s promo to open the show, he kept called Jeff a disappointment and a loser, so I could see why he’d want to get the win and even the score more than putting a hurting on Matt. Ever the fun daredevil, Jeff did a cool spot where he skateboarded on the stretcher down the ramp and jumped off onto Matt. After a commercial, the violence continued with the use of steel chairs and stairs. Jeff missed a huge leg drop onto the stretcher, which played into their Mania match as Jeff lost because of a bad risk. Like an idiot, he tried it again, but with a Swanton, and missed. It cost him again, as Matt pushed him over the line to win at 14:04.

I’d say this was one of their better matches together. It was smartly worked, with Jeff wanting to win but still managing to be the right amount of violent. My main issue was Jeff going for the big spot twice in the end. Once makes you look like a daredevil who took a bad risk. Twice just makes you look dumb. I was also happy to see Matt win. Beating Jeff, who was such a big deal at this time, twice in five days was kind of a big deal. Unfortunately, it didn’t lead to a ton for Matt. [***½]

Kevin's Random Reviews: WCW Spring Stampede 1998

Spring Stampede 1998
April 19th, 1998 | Denver Coliseum in Denver, Colorado | Attendance: 7,428

It was around this time that the WWF finally overtook WCW in the Monday Night Wars, breaking a streak of 84 straight losses. Actually, they had the lead for two straight weeks coming into this event. WCW was feeling the pressure. Obviously Steve Austin and the WWF itself was a big reason for this, but WCW ended 1997 in a terrible way, crapping on what should have been the ultimate good guy moment as Sting defeated Hulk Hogan.

The opening video package focuses on the power struggle within the nWo between Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Kevin Nash. Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay are on commentary and they bring us breaking news that Savage’s cast is coming off tonight and the main event will be No DQ.

Goldberg vs. Saturn w/ Kidman
We are seven months into the run of Goldberg, who is 73-0. He also has a US Title shot the next night apparently. The crowd loves him. Saturn tries to wrestle but Goldberg is basically against that and just tosses him around. Kidman tries to intervene but gets press slammed outside. I see why Saturn shaved his head. His hair is pretty bad looking here. They continue the trend of Saturn doing some stuff only for Goldberg to just kick his ass. Saturn tries a springboard back elbow or something, but slips and just falls on his ass. Goldberg gets his shoulder worked on a bit though he completely ignores it as he makes the comeback. When he hits the Spear, the places explodes. Kidman distracts the referee, allowing Saturn to use a low blow that counters the Jackhammer. Goldberg then hits the rarely seen second rope press slam before kicking the ass of the entire Flock, who jumped the guardrail. Saturn does get the Rings of Saturn applied, but Goldberg powers out right into a Jackhammer to remain unbeaten.

Winner: Goldberg in 8:10
One of the better early Goldberg matches I can remember. It wasn’t great by any means, but there were some cool moments. The second rope press slam and finish were really good. The early portions were a bit sloppy though. **½

Chavo Guerrero w/ Eddie Guerrero vs. Ultimo Dragon
The commentary team puts over how Eddie Guerrero is kind of riding Chavo to be better. They work a quick back and forth to start. The fans chant “Eddie sucks”, showing they care more about him than either guy in the ring. Dragon goes all Doink all works a stump puller. Chavo creatively gets out before going into a bit of a flurry. They continue to go back and forth, with neither guy gaining a real advantage. Dragon has been more impressive. Also, his gear is pretty sick tonight. He does what Saturn couldn’t earlier and hits a sweet Asai moonsault. Eddie uses this opening to shout at Chavo. This motivates Chavo, who gets up first and hits a corkscrew dive of his own outside. Back inside, Dragon seems to get hurt, so Chavo looks worried. Eddie shouts that this is Chavo’s chance. Chavo is reluctant but goes on the offensive, only to have a suplex reversed into a small package for two. He nails Eddie’s trademark Brainbuster, but chooses to tell Eddie instead of winning. He tries a tornado DDT, but Dragon blocks and locks in the Dragon Sleeper. Chavo taps.

Winner: Ultimo Dragon in 11:49
That was much better than I expected. They did a really great job of playing up the fact that both men even. Another highlight of the match was the story between Eddie and Chavo. It’s simple stuff but Chavo trying to remain good while failing to impress his uncle and having it cost him was the right move. Really well done. ***½

WCW Television Championship
Booker T (c) vs. Chris Benoit
It’s interesting to see one of these matches that isn’t part of their classic Best of Seven Series. There is no time limit here. The commentators discuss the fact that Benoit has never held a title in WCW. Early on, Booker nearly gets a countout but doesn’t want it. They want to prove who the best is after having two time limit draws on WCW television. Benoit seems very pumped, which costs him at times as Booker takes advantage. Booker hits a nice backbreaker and goes to work on the arm. Benoit gets back in the driver’s seat and ends up hitting the diving headbutt. He’s too hurt to cover instantly though. Booker, like a veteran, rolls to the corner and gets his foot on the ropes. Time for Benoit to go with the Germans, hitting three on Booker. Benoit brings him up top and hits a super back suplex. He lands hard on the back of his head, which always looks extra worse to me considering what would happen to Benoit. Booker comes back with a spinebuster that, as always, Schiavone calls a sidewalk slam. How can one man be so wrong so often? Booker’s axe kick catches the official when Benoit pulls him in the way, so when Benoit puts him in the Crossface, nobody is there to call it. Booker reaches for the ropes and hits the mat, seeming like a tap out but there’s no way to tell. Benoit helps the official up, but Booker hits a big kick over the ref to retain.

Winner and Still WCW Television Champion: Booker T in 14:11
This match was here, with no time limit, to settle the score that couldn’t be done on TV. I would normally be upset that it was given the classic WCW ref bump and such, but it did lead to the eventual Best of Seven Series so maybe they had bigger plans on the horizon. I’d call this a solid match that would lead to bigger things. ***¼

British Bulldog w/ Jim Neidhart vs. Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude
It looks like Rude and Neidhart are going to be handcuffed at ringside. For some reason, Neidhart has to be topless for this. Bulldog attacks quickly once they are handcuffed and stomps away on Hennig. In their primes, both of these guys were pretty damn good, but here they just keep hitting each other with no real purpose. Rude attempts to get involved but Neidhart pulls him back. Why would he even try? Bulldog works a lazy looking submission on Hennig’s bad knee. The crowd is silent. They finally make noise to count as Bulldog smashes Hennig’s head into the buckles. Bulldog applies a Sharpshooter and Neidhart starts choking Vincent, who is dressed as a cop at ringside. Rude uses the keys to get free, which Neidhart somehow doesn’t notice. Bulldog lets go of the Sharpshooter for some reason, is thrown into the post and loses.

Winner: Curt Hennig in 4:48
What the hell was this? It was two guys doing next to nothing and then giving us a lazy, poorly executed finish. ¼*

After the match, the assault continues on both Neidhart and Bulldog.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Prince Iaukea
I had a WCW figure of Chris Jericho in this attire. He cuts a short pre-match promo that includes his classis “I want you to want me” line, while he also badmouths Dean Malenko. Iaukea does some early stuff though the crowd isn’t really behind him. Jericho is a dick at every turn though, helping to get the heat that this needs. He tries to skin the cat but Iaukea dropkicks him before somersaulting off the apron. Back inside, Jericho and his tiny headband take over, complete with smack talk in between moves. Iaukea comes off the ropes and is caught in the Lion Tamer, but he reaches the bottom rope. They go up top and just simply fall off the top and to the floor. They get in together, where Jericho counters a rollup into the Lion Tamer, only for Iaukea to counter that into a rollup of his own. Iaukea hits a Northern lights suplex that looks awkward but Jericho grabs the rope to break the pin. They do another rollup spot where Jericho reverses into the Lion Tamer and retains.

Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Chris Jericho in 9:56
Better than I thought it would be. I’ve never been into Prince Iaukea though this was one of his better showings. They certainly had some awkward moments, but they managed to get a dead crowd somewhat into it. Jericho was his usual great self. **½

Buff Bagwell and Scott Steiner vs. Lex Luger and Rick Steiner w/ Ted Dibiase
Buff Bagwell shows up with a fake cast and says that his hand is injured so the match can’t happen. This was during the drawn out Rick/Scott feud. JJ Dillon comes out and wants to bring a doctor to prove it. They trick Buff into showing that his hand is fine and the match is on. This starts as a brawl because Rick wants to get his hands on Scott badly. It backfires and he ends up on the receiving end of a beating. Scott slips on an Irish whip and looks uncomfortable throughout for some reason. Rick takes the heat for a dull while and Luger gets the hot tag. SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES FOR EVERYONE! When it ends up nearly being Rick vs. Scott, Scott just runs away like a coward. Rick chases but returns. With Buff being alone, Luger racks him and he gives.

Winner: Lex Luger and Rick Steiner in 5:58
This screamed Thunder match. Nothing about this felt like it belonged on a Pay-Per-View. The match was completely filler only here to further an angle between the Steiners. The efforts from everyone involved tells you how much they cared. *

La Parka vs. Psychosis
According to Tony Schiavone, this is a special, unadvertised bonus match between partners. Psychosis still has his mask here. As La Parka starts with offense, he chooses to dance. I love that guy. Psychosis quickens the pace, hitting some high flying stuff and La Parka looks to slow things down. They trade stuff but the crowd isn’t really into it outside of La Parka’s dancing. Psychosis hits a Frankensteiner off the top, leading commentary to wanting to change the name so Scott gets no credit. Heenan says they call it “El Frankensteiner”. Gotta love the Brain. Psychosis also hits a nice twisting corkscrew move on the outside. Inside, La Parka gets some pinfalls but he keeps picking up Psychosis. It costs him as he eats a guillotine leg drop and loses.

Winner: Psychosis in 6:59
A fine little match here. The biggest issues were the lack of heat from the crowd and reasoning behind it. It was just two guys wrestling. There was nothing on the line, so the fans really couldn’t get into it.**

Baseball Bat on a Pole Match
Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash vs. The Giant and Roddy Piper
Roddy Piper instantly climbs and tries to retrieve the bat, so Hogan slams his face into the pole a few times. There is tension between Hogan and Nash, but they work well as a team to start. This goes on for a while until Giant gets the tag and stars whipping Hogan. Literally, he does it with Hogan’s weight belt. The poor fans had to see Hogan’s ass even. The crowd is pretty wild for this. Later on, Nash wants the Giant, telling Piper to tag back out. About four months earlier, Nash dropped Giant on his neck when trying a powerbomb. Giant gets in most of the offense, kicking Nash’s ass. They run and hit each other with big boots. It’s like the double clothesline spot but with boots. Tags go to both old timers and Piper takes down Hogan. Things break down and Giant gets the crowd to their feet with a dropkick. Piper get the sleeper on Hogan, who reaches the ropes. Piper gets the bat but Hogan tosses it away. The Disciple is out with a second bat. Hogan accidentally ends up hitting Nash with one of the bats before striking Piper with the other and winning.

Winners: Hulk Hogan and Kevin Nash in 13:23
I kind of expected this to be dreadful. It wasn’t though that doesn’t mean it was really any good either. They did about as well as one could have hoped for. The Disciple involvement and two bat stuff wasn’t needed either. *½

Kevin Nash isn’t happy with Hulk Hogan but quickly decides to forgive and powerbomb the Giant. As he preps for it, Hogan whacks Nash in the back with the bat. THE NWO EXPLODES! The Giant runs Hogan off.

They hype Slamboree 1998, saying it is an event so big it will change wrestling history forever. It didn’t.

WCW United States Championship Raven’s Rules Match
Diamond Dallas Page (c) vs. Raven
DDP is champion but Raven has the belt here. Raven rakes a while in his entrance, only choosing to attack when a Flock member jumps the rail and holds DDP. It fails as DDP starts beating on him. DDP’s ribs are taped, which they were for pretty much his whole career. Sickboy of the Flock gets beat up after DDP hits a plancha. The fight moves up to the ramp where DDP dives off of a weird wagon set up by the stage into bales of hay. DDP uses a trash can and even throws Raven through some stuff by the stage. Raven turns things around and hits his own dive off a railing onto a table. It doesn’t break, making it look like it hurts more. As Raven grabs a cowbell, Tony delivers a great line of “THERE’S A BULL HERE”. His delivery on it is so unintentionally hilarious. They fight back to the ring where Sickboy gives Raven the kitchen sink. Yup, he’s going to use everything including that. DDP drop toe holds Raven onto the sink and both men are down. Kidman interferes but splashes Raven by mistake. DDP dumps him out and covers for two. Van Hammer runs in and gets hit with the sink. Raven continues to kick out of everything. A STOP sign comes into play, reminding me of the Revenge video game. DDP nails every Flock member with it and ends Kidman with a Diamond Cutter. Some random dude is in and he whacks DDP with the STOP sign. Raven nails the Evenflow and wins.

Winner and New WCW United States Champion: Raven in 11:52
There you have your match of the night. This was pretty much what I wanted it to be. They made very good use of the Raven’s Rules stipulation, creating something different than everything else on the card. DDP was usually someone that could be counted on for a good match and that’s what we got here. ***¾

WCW World Heavyweight Championship No Disqualification Match
Sting (c) vs. Randy Savage w/ Miss Elizabeth
Savage attacks as Sting gets in the ring and the fight is on. Like the last match, they brawl up by the entrance and Sting tosses Savage onto a wheel. Schiavone acts like this is some extreme moment. Tossing Savage into the stage stuff is not bad for this match, but we literally just saw it in the previous match. Back by the ring, Sting misses a Stinger Splash outside and eats rail. They just continue battling outside. Sting hits a suplex out there while Heenan talks about how resilient Savage is. They finally enter the ring, where Savage crotches Sting on the top rope. Even though it’s no DQ, it’s WCW so we get a ref bump. Lizabeth hits Sting in the back with a chair but he doesn’t feel it. He tries the Stinger Splash but Savage pulls Elizabeth in the way. Sting, ever the good guy, is sad about it, opening the door for Savage to hit him with the chair. Savage goes up for the elbow but Hogan comes out and shoves him off the top. Sting hits the Scorpion Death Drop and now Nash is here. Why didn’t he just go after Hogan? They had to have crossed paths. Nash Jackknifes Sting and puts Savage over Sting. The referee counts and there is a new champion.

Winner and New WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Randy Savage in 10:08
I honestly think that having the Raven’s Rules match on right before this hurt it. Most of what they did lacked drama because we had just seen a lot of it. Then, in typical WCW fashion, we got a bunch of overbooking in the end, which hurt what was already not a great match. **

Overall: 4.5/10; Below average. There was certainly some potential on this show. The Television Title, United States Title and Chavo/Ultimo Dragon matches were good stuff. Most of the event was filled with the classic WCW overbooking and referee bumps. There were a few matches that were absolutely dreadful, but there are some things worth a look. Check out the matches I mentioned and skip the rest. Next on “Random Network Reviews” is TLC 2012!

Lucha Underground "Bloodlines" Review

The Cueto Cup continues and Gift of the Gods Medallions are on the line!

Gift of the Gods Aztec Medallion: The Rabbit Tribe vs. The Worldwide Underground w/ Jack Evans
Ricky Mandel was dressed just like Johnny Mundo. The winning trio would all get medallions. There wasn't much to this. Taya got some shine, while the Rabbit Tribe were pretty fun. Paul London's excitement at Taya hitting running knees on him and his buddy in the corner was comical. As expected, Madel was the weak link, losing to a London SSP at 4:27. Decent fun. [**]

Worldwide Underground's new manager was not happy with their loss and neither was Johnny Mundo. Mundo decided to keep them around but the manager wanted them fired. However, Mundo told them to step up.

Cueto Cup Quarterfinals: Jeremiah Crane vs. Mil Muertes w/ Catrina
There's a little extra behind this, with Crane and Catrina's mysterious past. Mil jumped Crane during his entrance before the commercial. When they returned, Dario officially made it a No DQ outing and Mil just tossed him through a door. They brawled around the Temple before entering the ring for the official start. They still went back outside, where Crane lapped the ring, only to run into a huge spear. The violence only got amped up, including a backbreaker on chairs, slamming a chair onto an open chair onto Mil's throat, a powerbomb on a table and a cannonball through another. Crane made the mistake of jumping into a Flatliner to lose in 14:04. The intensity to that was off the charts. A great, violent brawl that was the kind of thing I love from Lucha Underground. [***3/4]

Post-match, Catrina kissed Crane on the mouth, causing Mil to hit him with another Flatliner.

An FBI agent entered Dario Cueto's office, as the order's official replacement for Delgado. Dario was unaware of Delgado's death, but said he never liked him anyway. The order isn't upset because everyone who has a God placed in their body has some issues. He said he's a Pentagon Dark fan and that everyone's flesh will fry when the "great war" comes. The order is everywhere and they'll make sure Gods rule again.

Cueto Cup Quarterfinals: Pentagon Dark vs. Texano
During this match, Famous B and Brenda came down, since they're courting Texano as a client. Texano and Pentagon had a solid brawl, which worked to the strengths of both men. Texano busted out an Indian death lock, which was very surprising. I don't believe I've ever seen him do that. After he got a near fall on a leg lariat, Famous B slid in a horseshoe. Pentagon intercepted and whacked Texano with it to win at 6:09. It started with some good action, but became more about Famous B once he showed up. [**1/2]

After the match, Pentagon looked to break Texano's arm. Famous B entered to stop him, telling Pentagon to back off. Pentagon superkicked him and broke his arm. Not done, he also broke Brenda's arm. Petagon remains wildly over despite his stalled momentum.

Next week, we get the semi-finals of Puma vs. Fenix and Pentagon vs. Muertes. Despite those guys being the Mt. Rushmore of Lucha Underground, and there being a Mil/Pentagon feud in season two, those matches feel fresh. Kudos to the booking.

In the police station, Catrina appeared in Captain Vasquez's office. They knew each other and Vasquez said she needs her help with Cage's gauntlet. Vasquez said she gave Catrina life with the medallion they share. There was a fantastic shot of them both holding the medallions at similar angles to form one. She said the only man who can get the gauntlet is Mil. OH MY GOD THE POTENTIAL IN MIL VS. CAGE! Catrina said she's in purgatory, in between life and death because of the medallion. Vasquez offered her half of the medallion, losing her own immortality, if Catrina could get the gauntlet. It was revealed that VASQUEZ IS CATRINA'S MOTHER! WHAT? Love the plot twist.

Overall: 7.5/10. This is one of those episodes that Lucha Underground does so well. The Crane/Muertes match was the only thing to stand out from an in-ring perspective, but this show nailed everything else. Pentagon's post-match stuff, the FBI agent/Dario angle and the big Catrina moment at the end were all awesome.

Want to watch Lucha Underground, Raw and Smackdown and don't have cable? Try signing up for Fubo.tv. Stream USA, El Rey, NBA TV, SyFy and many other channels by getting Fubo.tv right here!

Raw History: Episodes 106-108

Raw History
Episode #106
April 10th, 1995 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York

Following last week’s cliff hanger ending, we with some quick clips of what we missed last week. We will see the full footage later tonight. Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are on commentary, standing in front of some more awful green screen effects.

Adam Bomb vs. Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase
Okay, Tatanka’s run with the company should be over soon right? Vince tries to hype the fact that Adam Bomb was popular during the WrestleMania festivities but he never really took off. Tatanka’s offense is mostly just chops throughout this match. They go to a commercial after Bomb gets a flying clothesline in. Like this really needed to go two segments. After the break, Tatanka is back in control and scores two on a DDT. Commentary continues to try and get the “Bomb Squad” (Adam Bomb fans) over. He starts to rally and the match moves outside where Adam slams Tatanka’s face into the steel steps as the referee counts to ten.

Match ends in a double countout in 5:50
Oh man, this was painfully boring. I like Adam Bomb, but Tatanka led the way and he’s pretty horrible as a heel. The finish did nothing to help this out either. It’s like this was booked to simply fill time on the card. ¾*

The Headshrinkers w/ Capt. Lou Albano and Afa vs. Mike Bell and Tony DeVito
So wait, the Headshrinkers got their managers back? Did I miss something? Like all Headshrinkers squashes, they pretty much dominate the jobbers. I haven’t seen Tony DeVito job in a while. Fatu wins it with a splash.

Winners: The Headshrinkers in 2:55
Standard squash stuff from the Headshrinkers.

A vignette airs to hype Jean-Pierre Lafitte. Translation, they repackaged Pierre from the Quebecers as a pirate. He will already be debuting next week.

Now it’s time for the unaired stuff from last week to be shown. Sid freaked out because Shawn Michaels said that he didn’t need him. He snaps and delivers not one, not two, but THREE powerbombs to Shawn. They were pretty sloppy in all honesty. Judging by the crowd reaction, Sid came off like a babyface. As Vince tells the story though, he really hammers home that Shawn is the sympathetic babyface here. Vince’s update on Shawn is that he will be out for “some time”. He’ll only miss one PPV.

Kama w/ Ted Dibiase vs. Scott Taylor
It’s Scotty 2 Hotty and the Godfather! Two of the most over acts in the Attitude Era. Obviously, this isn’t competitive. Taylor is too small to do anything to the character that Kama is supposed to be right now. Kama wins with a pump splash.

Winner: Kama in 2:43
Meh.

In something much better than Kama, we see a recap of the really good Blayze/Nakano match from last week. Blayze won back the WWF Women’s Championship, only to get attacked by a mysterious woman.

The 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly and Bret Hart vs. Hakushi and the WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna w/ Jim Cornette, Mr. Fuji and Shinja
Man, Vince loves pumping the “Modern Day Kamikaze” nickname for Hakushi. I swear he’s said it a dozen times tonight. Holly lights up Hakushi with dropkicks and arm drags before a commercial. Kid gets tagged to battle with Hakushi. They would go on to have a pretty fun match a few months down the line. Tag to Owen who has a fast paced exchange with the Kid. When Yokozuna gets the tag, things obviously reach a standstill. He wears down the 1-2-3 Kid. I don’t mind him slowing the match though since Kid is great at taking the heat. Kid gets beat up for a while before tagging Bret. Bret is still the only man besides the Undertaker and Hulk Hogan to defeat Yokozuna, so he takes it to him for a while. We get our first interaction between Hakushi and Bret until Yokozuna interrupts with a shot to the back. Owen works over Bret, who slips out of a slam and gets a blind tag to Holly. Holly rolls up Owen to sneak out with a victory.

Winners: 1-2-3 Kid, Bob Holly and Bret Hart in 8:38
This was a pretty fun sprint. It didn’t go overly long and the Yokozuna work was kept to a minimum, maximizing the potential. Fun stuff. ***

Vince McMahon continues his obsession with the football players that were at WrestleMania, sending us to the entrances, in full, of all of them at WrestleMania. After that, we get informed that Owen Hart and Yokozuna will defend the gold against Bob Holly and the 1-2-3 Ki next Monday.

Overall: 4.5/10. Well, there was certainly at least one good thing about the show, which was the fun main event. I also liked that we got to see the Sid/Michaels angle, which was a huge move in turning HBK face, leading to his title win in 1996. The rest of the show was very skippable and not anything that needed to be seen.

Raw History
Episode #107
April 17th, 1995 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York

The first thing we see is that, this past weekend on Superstars, Ted Dibiase introduced Sycho Sid as the newest member of the Million Dollar Corporation. Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler host the show tonight.

Duke Droese vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte
This is the official re-debut of Pierre from the Quebecers. Duke has already moved into high-end jobber territory. He starts by getting his ass hand to him but then he sends Pierre over and out. Pierre hits the first big move with a diving leg drop but it isn’t enough. Commentary sells it like the match should have ended for sure there. Pierre ties up Duke in the ropes and then starts hitting cross body blocks. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen that strategy before. Duke fires up and starts a comeback but Pierre puts a quick end to that. Pierre misses a second rope move, leading to an actual rally for Duke. He hits a powerslam and climbs to the top, but misses a headbutt. He legit just went SPLAT. Pierre goes up top and hits a top rope somersault to win.

Winner: Jean Pierre Lafitte in 8:31
Surprisingly, this wasn’t terrible. It got off to a slow start, but they were given a decent amount of time and did their best with it. Jean Pierre Lafitte was pretty underrated in my eyes. **

Bob Backlund cuts a promo on the beach somewhere while the cameraman continues to try and check out ladies.

Doink vs. Roy Raymond
If you’ve seen once Doink squash in the post Matt Osburne era, you’ve seen them all. Whoopee Cushion and Dink interaction ends it.

Winner: Doink in 3:21
Too long for the quality of the match.

Todd Pettengil brings us the first ever In Your House Report! These shows were two hour Pay-Per-Views for half the price of the big five events. He announces that the main event will be Diesel taking on Sid. Diesel has to defend the WWF Title against Bigelow next week, but if he retains, the belt will be on the line at the PPV. Todd also hypes that they are giving away a home.

WWF Tag Team Championship
Owen Hart and Yokozuna (c) w/ Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji vs. 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly
Kid starts against Owen, getting this off on the right foot. Kid wins their exchange before he and Holly nail a double back body drop. Holly starts hot but Owen turns things around and the tag comes to Yokozuna. It’s time for things to slow to a crawl. Holly surprises me by yanking Yokozuna down by the hair, but can’t capitalize as Owen pulls the top rope down on him, sending him to the mat. Yokozuna is already blown up. Bob takes the heat for a while, with mostly Owen handling the heavy lifting for his team. When Yokozuna does come in, he applies his trademark NERVE HOLD! It’s like, the laziest move on the planet. Cornette directs traffic as his guys just dominate. Kid finally gets the tag and comes in hot, hitting everything in sight. He makes one crucial mistake when Yokozuna catches him on a dive and plants him with a belly to belly suplex.

Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart and Yokozuna in 13:44
Solidly worked tag team match. Some of the heat was rather dull, especially the stuff by Yokozuna. However, the finish was lovely. Just when you bought into Kid doing it, he gets flattened. ***

Henry Godwin vs. Rich Myers
While Henry Godwin goes through his stuff, they got a call in from a character named Cornfed from the Duckman show that aired on the USA Network. Godwin wins after a Slop Drop.

Winner: Henry Godwin in 2:00
Typical stuff from HOG.

Overall: 5.5/10. A pretty solid episode here. The main event was a rather enjoyable match and the Lafitte debut was one of the better debuts so far on Raw. Everything else was pretty lackluster, holding this back from being a really good episode.

Raw History
Episode #108
April 24th, 1995 | Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska

It’s one of those good old live episodes. We get a video package that discusses the fall from grace of Bam Bam Bigelow. Why he gets a title shot tonight after a fall from grace is beyond me. Anyway, he’s kind of become a pariah within the Million Dollar Corporation.

The Smoking Gunns vs. Barry Horowitz and the Brooklyn Brawler
It’s an all-star jobber tag team. One of the reasons why they are high status ham and eggers is because they can bump pretty well and make the stars look good. Vince hypes the Smoking Gunns getting their Tag Team Title rematch at In Your House, as well as the Bret Hart/Hakushi clash. Brawler is in for the entire match and loses to a double team back suplex.

Winners: The Smoking Gunns in 2:17
This was a rather fun squash. The Smoking Gunns worked quickly and did some alright moves.

Backstage, Ted Dibiase and Bigelow discuss the main event tonight. Bigelow is sporting a huge black eye. Vince seems to insinuate that it is courtesy of the Million Dollar Corporation.

After a commercial, Diesel is in the back and gets interviewed. He says that he is following in the footsteps of Bret Hart by being a fighting champion. Oh, so that explains why Bigelow gets a shot despite the struggles.

Bertha Faye w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. La Pantera Serena
It’s only her second appearance but Bertha is already completely different. She has a manager/boyfriend and is wearing polka dots, bright colors and skips. She mostly throws Serena around and none of it really looks any good. McMahon and Lawler just spend time making fat jokes and references to Bertha’s weight throughout the match. She wins with a gorilla press slam.

Winner: Bertha Faye in 3:56
Yea, this was pretty awful.

In Your House Report time, brought to you by Todd Pettengill and his mullet. New additions to the card include Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid taking on Jeff Jarrett and the Roadie, Bret Hart facing the undefeated Hakushi and the Smoking Gunns against Yokozuna and Owen Hart for the Tag Team Titles.

WWF Championship
Diesel (c) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Ted Dibiase
Despite his struggles, Vince and King both think Bigelow will be the new champion. They play into his lack of success early, as Diesel basically kicks his ass for the entire first third or so of the match. It does kind of paint Bigelow in a bit of a resilient light. He survives most of Diesel’s offense before getting into his own. He wears down Diesel for a bit. Diesel reverses a suplex with one of his own for a near fall. Commentary is really playing up the “Bigelow won’t quit” stuff. While Bigelow works a chinlock, the human charisma vacuum Tatanka walks out to the ring. Tatanka gets in some cheap shots behind the official’s back, drawing some actual boos in the direction of Bigelow. Tatanka’s dastardly ways backfire when he trips Bigelow by mistake leading to the Jackknife.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: Diesel in 12:58
This did the job of furthering the issues between Bigelow and the Million Dollar Corporation, while setting up the Bigelow face turn. The match itself was honestly pretty full for the most part though. *¾

Ted Dibiase gets on the microphone and starts badmouthing Bigelow. He’s had it with Bigelow, calling this his third strike and firing him. Tatanka attacks from behind, but Bigelow turns it around and sends that scrub over the top rope. He’s alone with Dibiase, who does the classic heel beg. Bigelow picks up the microphone and quits to a pop. IRS is back for the first time in a while, attacking from behind. They all gang up on him, joined by Sid. Sid nearly breaks Bigelow’s neck with a bad powerbomb. Diesel finally makes it out and cleans house while Sid and Dibiase calmly exit the ring.

Aldo Montoya vs. The Black Phantom
Yes, it’s Justin Credible vs. Gangrel. While they do stuff, Vince plugs the hotline for a word with Bam Bam Bigelow. He then also tells us that Shawn Michaels should be back in about a month. Montoya wins after a second rope cross body.

Winner: Aldo Montoya in 2:43
Fine little squash match to fill time.

A Hunter-Hearst Helmsley vignette airs but he doesn’t say anything. He just looks at the camera with his smug face. To think, this guy would be a Hall of Famer and pretty much be running things twenty years later.

Overall: 2.5/10. Man, I usually prefer the live shows but this one just didn’t cut it. The big WWF Title match was mostly bad and the rest of the show was throwaway. Outside of Bigelow’s face turn, nothing about this show meant a damn thing.

NJPW G1 Climax 27 Night Sixteen Review

NJPW G1 Climax 27 Night Sixteen
August 8th, 2017 | Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium in Yokohama, Japan | Attendance: 4,761

IT’s the penultimate night of the B Block. We got a first time ever battle between Kenny Omega and SANADA (should be awesome), EVIL facing Michael Elgin to keep his chances of remaining relevant alive (should be good) and Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki in a rematch of their awful match from February (could go either way, to be honest). Will this go the route of the A Block and get booked so the final tournament night only has one match that matters? Let’s hope not.

Chase Owens def. Tomoyuki Oka in 5:36
El Desperado and Zack Sabre Jr. def. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Shota Umino in 5:30
Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi def. Katsuya Kitamura and Yuji Nagata in 6:48
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI def. Hirai Kawato, Kota Ibushi and Togi Makabe in 7:35
David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryusuke Taguchi def. BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi and Tetsuya Naito in 6:58

B Block: Satoshi Kojima [2] vs. Tama Tonga [4]
Is it some kind of NJPW rule that in order to play the heel, you have to jump someone from behind? Tonga did it again here and put on Kojima’s robe like he did with Okada. He also stole Kojima’s machine gun chops. Everybody seems to want to do that move. When Kojima turned things around and gave him the chops, I got a chuckle out of Tonga’s high pitched screams. Tonga survived a countout tease, leading to a strong back and forth down the stretch of this one. Tonga avoided a lariat and won with Gun Stun in 10:43. Solid match and one of the better Tonga outings so far, though it’s on the lower end of Kojima stuff. I’ve enjoyed Tonga’s personality on some of these later shows. [***]

B Block: Juice Robinson [4] vs. Toru Yano [6]
Yano went right after the turnbuckle and Juice cut him off. They fought to the outside, where Yano hid under the ring. Juice gave chase and they were both nearly counted out. Juice was nearly counted out when Yano tied his dreadlocks into the guardrail. Back inside, Juice hit a big left hand and won with Pulp Friction in 4:25. Nice to see Juice pick up another win. This was short and fun. We’re back to getting the Yano matches I like. [**¼]

B Block: EVIL [10] vs. Michael Elgin [6]
I really enjoyed their match in last year’s G1 (***½), though I basically knew the outcome of this one before it began. Continuing the never-ending theme of heel stuff, EVIL attacked before the bell. That led to the G1 brawl around the ring and EVIL bringing his chairs into play. Once back inside, the match evened out, with both guys throwing bombs. We got a fisherman buster, Darkness Falls, a falcon arrow and some Germans, all with strikes thrown in for good measure. The finishing stretch was hot, with some great counters and heavy shots. Elgin used a powerbomb, lariat and Elgin Bomb to win at 11:07. I love a good hoss fight and that’s just what this was. Two brutes hitting each other with all they got. The outcome was quite obvious though, as I just knew they wouldn’t allow EVIL to enter the final night in contention. [***½]

B Block: IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega [10] vs. SANADA [8]
They started with some trash talk, before fighting to the outside. Omega nearly killed himself by not rotating enough on his guardrail moonsault and landing on his head. Luckily, he landed on SANADA instead of the floor and didn’t get enough height to really hurt himself. The first half saw them trying to figure the other out, but once they did, this picked up to a great pace down the stretch. SANADA did his signature stuff, like tying up Omega, and eventually applied Skull End. Omega escaped and came close to winning with some V-Triggers. I’m glad to see he hasn’t gone into V-Trigger overkill in recent matches, but that may return with Okada next in line for him. A great series of counters led to Omega rolling out of Skull End and winning with the One Winged Angel in 15:03. Very good match, that was on par with the previous one while being completely different. I’d love to see these two headline an NJPW show down the road. [***½]

B Block: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada [12] vs. NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki [8]
Their G1 24 match ruled (****¼), but I didn’t like their February match at all (*¾). And I may have been generous on that second score. We got the expected brawling on the outside, complete with Taichi and El Desperado getting in cheap shots. I appreciated that this wasn’t as one-sided as their title match. I didn’t want to see Suzuki kick his ass, only for Okada to Superman up and beat him. Still, Suzuki did get a fair amount of ass kicking in. They fought through plenty of counters and both were exhausted down the stretch. Okada could barely stand after Suzuki laid into him with a series of vicious strikes. However, he hit the Rainmaker out of nowhere and guess what? HE HELD THE WRIST. Stop me if you’ve heard that before. He hit a second, but was too tired to instantly take advantage. Suzuki stopped a third Rainmaker by lighting the champ up with slap after slap. Okada fought back with some, but they had a lot less behind them than Suzuki’s. Suzuki put his hands behind his back, daring Okada to hit him. Okada fought off the Gotch piledriver and hit another Rainmaker but couldn’t cover as time expired in 30:00. This was a step up from their February match, but not quite on the 2014 level. I like how Okada’s dominated this year, but lost to EVIL and now couldn’t put away Minoru. He can’t keep the pace he was at for most of the year. They told a great story and it featured a fair amount of action. I would’ve preferred if Suzuki hit the piledriver and then time expired, to really hammer home that maybe Okada is reaching the end of his line. [***¾] 

I know I’ve discussed my dislike for Gedo’s booking before. I was especially harsh after the final B Block match last year. However, this tournament’s booking just irks me. At Wrestle Kingdom, the two main events were Naito/Tanahashi and Omega/Okada. AT Dominion, the two main events were Naito/Tanahashi and Omega/Okada. Now, in the G1 Climax, it comes to Naito/Tanahashi and Omega/Okada. That’s just lazy. I totally get that they’re the top four stars, but come on. The worst part of it all is that entering the final two block shows, they’re the ONLY FOUR PEOPLE ALIVE. That means 80% of the matches on those two nights don’t matter. That’s not good, no matter how you slice it or try to twist it. It’s not creative, it’s complacent. Judging by some of the responses I got on Twitter for saying something similar, you’d think wanting something fresh was absurd.

Overall: 7.5/10. Slightly below the Osaka show in terms of quality B Block shows, but that was to be expected. We got the kind of Yano match I hope for and a fun little match between Kojima and Tonga. Then things picked up. Elgin/EVIL and SANADA/Omega were damn good matches that helped show exactly why EVIL and SANADA should be better positioned in the company. Suzuki and Okada made up for their awful February match, with a fitting main event. My only real issue with this show was the booking.

A BLOCK	POINTS	B BLOCK	POINTS
Tetsuya Naito	12 (6-2)	Kazuchika Okada	13 (6-1-1)
Hiroshi Tanahashi	12 (6-2)	Kenny Omega	12 (6-2)
Bad Luck Fale	10 (5-3)	EVIL	10 (5-3)
Kota Ibushi	10 (5-3)	Minoru Suzuki	9 (4-3-1)
Tomohiro Ishii	8 (4-4)	SANADA	8 (4-4)
Hirooki Goto	8 (4-4)	Michael Elgin	8 (4-4)
Zack Sabre Jr.	8 (4-4)	Juice Robinson	6 (3-5)
Togi Makabe	6 (3-5)	Tama Tonga	6 (3-5)
YOSHI-HASHI	4 (2-6)	Toru Yano	6 (3-5)
Yuji Nagata	2 (1-7)	Satoshi Kojima	2 (1-7)