Random Network Reviews: SuperBrawl IX

For those who are unaware, I've numbered every ECW, WCW and pre-2001 WWE Pay-Per-View, and placed them in a random generator. I get a random number and review the Pay-Per-View that comes out. Today, it's WCW SuperBrawl IX.

SuperBrawl IX
2/21/99 – Oakland Arena in Oakland, California

WCW shows are definitely the toughest to get through. Even a good WCW show can be tough due to Tony Schiavone's grating voice or their weird sounding ring. However, there was just something I can't put my finger on that makes WCW so weird. In 1999, I was 100% into the WWF, even though there were a few guys from WCW that I really enjoyed. So, we come to a show that I don't remember at all. As with most WCW Pay-Per-Views, I've either only seen them once or never at all. After doing my research I found that this show drew 16,000 but a year later, WCW couldn't even sell out the Cow Palace. I've seen ROH draw good at the Cow Palace.

The opening video package has Torrie Wilson in a hotel room talking to the cameraman. He gives her tickets somewhere and that's all we see from that. For as much money as WCW had, their production company needed to be better. They hype up Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow and Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan. They show another promo, this one for the Tag Team Tournament final. The Tournament looked like one of the biggest booking messes of all time.

Still no match as “Mean BY GAWD” Gene talks about the WCW Hotline. I thought Hotlines were dead by 1999. 

Booker T d. Disco Inferno in 9:19
Disco Inferno is a member of nWo Wolfpack here. Yes, I said it. They do some good old fashioned wrasslin' to start and Booker clearly has the upper hand. Booker also has the power advantage. Disco gets a little bit of offense and dances around the ring. Booker T doesn't appreciate the showing off and begins to beat down on Disco. He has all of the offense for a while until Disco hits a club. Disco locks on a sleeper and Booker's face shows no pain and he easily reverses. The crowd is hot for this. Booker hits the Axe Kick, but doesn't cover. Disco hits an atomic drop, but gets his next move reversed into a spinebuster that Tony Schiavone calls a sidewalk slam. Disco goes for his finisher but Booker counters into a belly to back suplex. SPINAROONIE! Booker goes to the top, Disco nails him and stupidly showboats. Booker shoves him off and hits the Harlem Hangover for the 1-2-3. Solid opening contest that the crowd was hotter for than I expected. Booker wasn't in his future Superstar form just yet though. **3/4

Chris Jericho w/ Ralphus d. Perry Saturn via countout in 11:17
I loved Ralphus! He's sporting a dress. Saturn has to wrestle in a dress and, if he wins, can make Jericho wear the dress. Jericho smack talks to start so Saturn knocks him down. They fight into the crowd for a few. Back inside, Saturn hits a T-Bone and Bobby Heenan seems off his game. Saturn catapults Jericho to the outside and dives onto him. Saturn brings Ralphus into the ring and strips him before Jericho dropkicks him in the back. Textbook vertical suplex followed by the “COME ONE BABY” pin. Jericho taunts to the crowd, hits a bodyslam and misses a ridiculous looking spinning splash. Saturn plants him with a scoop slam and kicks him in the corner. He hits ten punches in the corner with his dress over Jericho's head. Saturn gets a near fall and hits another kick but Jericho reverses his powerbomb and hits a German. Cross body connects, but Saturn rolls through and puts on a Rings of Saturn. That was such a badass submission. Jericho reaches the ropes and hits a Lionsault after Saturn missed one of his own. Saturn kicks out and nails the Death Valley Driver. Instead of pinning, he drops the referee with the DVD too. Saturn walks out and leaves the arena, eventually getting counted out. I guess the story is that he likes wearing the dress. Good match despite the odd finish. ***

The wcw.com booth interviews Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. Rey's mask is on the line tonight so we all know how this will end. Konnan says they will win, mainly because he gets BOWDY BOWDY AND ROWDY ROWDY!

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Billy Kidman (c) d. Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 8:26 to retain the title
I must be too used to the WWE as Chavo looks weird in trunks. Sloppy start to the match as Kidman and Chavo mess up one move and Kidman whiffs on a dropkick right after. Going outside, Kidman throws Chavo into the guardrail. Even though he's a face, Kidman offers a handshake and instead clotheslines Chavo. They go back outside, which is odd for a cruiserweight match. They aren't usually brawls. BRAINBUSTER by Chavo gets a near fall. They go from brawl to chinlock rest hold within seconds before Kidman is knocked back outside. Chavo somersaults over and out, which was impressive. Back inside, they mention that Kidman's three month reign is one of the longest in history. Chavo busts out a sweet tilt-a-whir backbreaker. Kidman hits a back body drop but Chavo is still in control. He gets a near fall with a Frankensteiner and Kidman gets one with a nice powerbomb type maneuver. DDT off the top as it's like they're trying the biggest moves possible. Kidman reverses a powerbomb into a facebuster and hits the Shooting Star Press to retain. Odd match as it wasn't sure what it wanted to be early on, and then it became a spot fest of big moves. **

Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko d. Barry Windham and Curt Hennig in 19:34
Because this is WCW, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko have to win twice to win the belts. Malenko and Windham start and it's decent before it turns to Benoit and Hennig. Also, quick side note. The tournament happened because Rick Steiner and Kenny Kaos were champs until Rick got hurt. Kenny Kaos ladies and gentlemen. Hennig in '91 or '93 against Benoit in '04 would've been a classic. Hennig and Windham need a breather and they mention that Benoit has yet to win a title in WCW. Seriously? Benoit and Malenko run the show because they're awesome. Benoit hits the flying headbutt on Hennig but Windham breaks the pin attempt. The heels now work over Malenko while Benoit plays the babyface who the referee focuses too hard on. Benoit gets the tag and lights up Hennig. Windham doesn't seem sure if he's a face or a heel. Double suplex on Benoit earns a near fall. The crowd has gotten hot for the faces. Hennig hits a neck snap for two. Benoit is now the face in peril. Malenko gets the tag and dropkicks everyone before getting the Cloverleaf on Windham. Crowd is hot but Hennig breaks it up. Benoit gets to Hennig now and Malenko juts puts the Cloverleaf back on and Windham taps. Good tag formula and I enjoyed that. Didn't feel like nearly 20 minutes. ***1/4

WCW World Tag Team Championship
Barry Windham and Curt Hennig d. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in 1:02 to win the titles
Windham takes off his belt and chokes Malenko with it. He follows with a clothesline and continues to choke him. The referee counts the three. Oh WCW, there you go again. Malenko and Benoit worked their asses off for nearly 20 minutes to get the crowd completely behind them and hot. Then Windham and Hennig cheat and win the second match in a minute. Stupid, stupid, stupid booking. DUD

A video package airs to highlight the Roddy Piper/Scott Hall US Title match later. This was during the Bret Hart/Will Sasso saga. There goes WCW putting on 90's WWF matches again as Piper met Bret on Nitro in a WrestleMania 8 rematch. Whatever. 

Hair Versus Mask
The Outsiders d. Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. in 11:00
Lex Luger was supposed to compete but due to injury, Scott Hall replaces him. I watched Halloween Havoc '98 recently, which was just five months before this, and Nash and Hall were feuding. Liz was still hot in her nWo time. Mysterio was incredibly tiny at this point in his career and Eric Bischoff felt that Rey wasn't marketable with a mask. Well, it got super over in the WWE. Hall exerts his dominance by shoving Rey around the ring. Rey out wrestles Hall. He impresses with some high flying moves and hits both Outsiders. He makes a mistake and Hall drops him with a fallaway slam. The Outsiders start to dominate, which causes the match to slow to a crawl. Rey escapes the Outsider's Edge and Konnan gets the tag. He cleans house but it must be uncomfortable to wrestle in sagging jeans. Nash clubs him to end his rally. The Outsiders work over Konnan, who is not being BOWDY BOWDY or ROWDY ROWDY. Rey does get the tag and he flies all over the place. He uses both Nash and Konnan as catapults on separate occasions. Luger pulls Konnan out of the ring, leaving Rey alone. He hits a moonsault on Nash and has the three, but Liz distracts the ref. Hall clubs him and hits the Outsiders Edge. He places Nash on Rey and it's over. When Rey was in, it was fun. Besides that, this did nothing for me. *3/4

Rey has to remove the mask and he looks like he's 12. Not many non-diehard fans remember this though because WCW was pretty bad at this point. Nash tells him to put the mask on and Schiavone calls him a handsome young man. 

WCW World Television Championship
Scott Steiner (c) d. Diamond Dallas Page in 13:53 to retain the title
The Wolfpack theme ends from the previous match and starts over nearly instantly for this one. I'm pretty sure that Scott Steiner held every belt in WCW. The story here is that Big Poppa Pump wants Kimberly Page. DDP is totally serious as he doesn't even do his entrance taunt. He comes at Steiner with right hands and just beats him up for a bit. Buff Bagwell arrives and DDP takes turns whipping on both of them. The brawl spills outside with Steiner in control. Back inside, he hits a sloppy clothesline and gets a two with an elbow. Buff cheats and gets in some shots on DDP, but he shrugs them off and throws Steiner into the corner. That is for naught though as Steiner hits a belly to belly. DDP rolls him up for two before Steiner goes back on the offensive. Yay. Steiner is boring as hell right now. Even though he's in control, Steiner has Buff distract the ref so he can hit DDP with a chair. It's incredibly loud so the ref should've heard. Buff exposes the turnbuckles while DDP hits a low blow on Steiner that the referee sees and ignores. Charles Robinson does kick out Buff though. Outside, Steiner throws DDP into the steps. Steiner argues with the ref, allowing DDP to hit him with a clothesline, but it again goes nowhere as DDP eats a Frankensteiner off the top. He kicks out though and counters a hip toss into a DDT. DDP goes for the Diamond Cutter but he gets shoved off into the exposed buckle. Twice. And the referee is somehow blind. Steiner now hits multiple slams into the exposed corner and gets the Steiner Recliner. DDP passes out to end it. That was slow paced as hell. The Buff interference was dumb and I disliked pretty much everything. 1/2*

DDP gets taken out on a stretcher to a chorus of “DDP sucks” chants. For some reason. 

WCW United States Championship
Scott Hall w/ Disco Inferno d. Roddy Piper (c) in 8:19 to win the title
The Wolfpack theme plays for Disco and for Hall separately. I'll never understand who thought it was a good idea to put a title on Piper in 1999. Piper struggles to take off his shirt but puts his kilt over Hall's head and wails away on him. Hall retaliates with some shoulder blocks and a wristlock. They take turns cheating with pokes to the eyes and at least the crowd is into it. Piper is struggling to get anything to look right though. Heenan says that Hall, in 1999, is a top 5 athlete in the world. Yea, sure. Piper hits a low blow and I swear WCW officials are totally blind. With Piper in the tree of woe, Disco gets in shots. Piper gets put in the abdominal stretch and the heels cheat with more leverage and Piper hip tosses out. Forget what I said about a hot crowd earlier. They're dead now. Piper gets on the sleeper hold. Hall is fading but signals for Disco to run in. Piper nails him and there's no DQ called. Kevin Nash shows up and takes a low blow though Piper botches that. Hall hits him from behind and pins him with his feet on the ropes. My goodness, did Scott Hall need to look that bad? Mike Tenay says they have the US, World and TV Titles. This was just as bad as the previous match, if not worse and stupidly overbooked. DUD

After the match, Scott Hall talks smack to Roddy Piper, but ends up getting beat up. Kevin Nash and Disco Inferno join in and Piper escapes. This was useless.

Goldberg d. Bam Bam Bigelow in 11:39
Bam Bam has no music. Tony Schiavone says Goldberg can't be beaten unless you have a taser. Well, if I was Bam Bam, I would get a damn taser then. Goldberg is easily the most over guy, so having him in a pointless match here, while two old ass men fight for the WCW Title is classic WCW booking. Goldberg isn't bothered by a shoulder block and slams Bigelow as the crowd is pumped. Fireman's carry into an armbar as Goldberg is off to a dominating start. Bam Bam gets on the offensive and targets the leg. Bam Bam is focusing on the leg and slaps on a chinlock is what has become a boring ass affair. My goodness this is bad. After a long and I mean long time of Bam Bam using rest holds, Goldberg comes from out of nowhere with a Spear. He forgets about the attack on his leg all night and hits two more Spears before mercifully ending this with a Jackhammer. Whoever set this match up is a moron. Goldberg dominates early on, then the whole match is Bam Bam until Goldberg hits a few moves. So bad. DUD 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan (c) d. Ric Flair in 12:53 to retain the title
Hogan vs. Flair would've been a great move for WrestleMania 8 in 1992. In 1999, not so much. Especially for the title. Hogan starts with some face offense as he plays to the crowd and they're chanting “Hogan.” Hogan gets a near fall because Flair's leg is under the ropes and the referee doesn't call it, Hogan just stops pinning Flair. Hogan gets a chair and hits Flair with an extremely weak shot. Holy crap, the next one is even softer. It's like he laid the chair on Flair's back. Flair is busted open of course and is trading chops. Is this match No DQ? Sure seems like it. Hogan no sells two chops and Flair dies off of a punch. Hogan now whips him with the DEADLY WEIGHT BELT. Flair no sells it and does a double leg take down but eats the belt to the face. How all of this is okay is beyond me. Hogan no sells more chops and the crowd pops for that. They've turned on Flair. The Nature Boy hits two low blows that again, don't cause a DQ. Flair now beats on Hogan with the belt and I have no clue why these guys are blading for this match. Torrie Wilson comes down for her debut and she slaps Flair. Flair hits another low blow and continues to work on Hogan while Schiavone lies and calls this a great match. Hogan kicks out of a suplex and the ref gets hit. Hogan drops an elbow on his for good measure. Then he goes for the Leg Drop. Which wouldn't work because you just took out the referee. A “masked man” in a Wolfpack shirt arrives and uses the stun gun on Flair while he has Hogan in the Figure Four. Hogan pins to keep the belt. Another awful match. That's like four or five in a row. My god. DUD

The masked man holds hands with Torrie and reveals himself to be David Flair. For some stupid reason he joins nWo. His dad dedicated the match to him and the nWo beat the hell out of him at the last show. The turn makes no sense and is classic WCW for you. 

Overall: 2/10; God awful. The worst show that I've reviewed so far. The first half of the show is not bad with a decent opener, good Jericho/Saturn match and solid tag match. Once you get to the second tag match, everything is terrible. Bad booking, stupid swerves and boring wrestling. Just horrible. Next up, Survivor Series 1995.

Top Ten: CM Punk

By. Kevin Pantoja

Right at the start, I have to note that normally I would only do a Top Ten Thursday. However, given the circumstances of CM Punk being removed from the active roster on WWE.com, I decided to make a top ten dedicated to him in honor of his retirement. Now, this is not a top 10 matches or moments. It's just a top 10 related to Punk. Could be matches, gimmicks, promos or something else.

10. Pipe Bomb II

On the first Raw of 2013, CM Punk not only retained the WWE Championship in a TLC match against Ryback, but he also came out to close the show. He removed the WWE logo from the microphone and went on to drop a pipe bomb that was filled with hate. He mentioned that everything he does is for himself and not the fans. He brings up the underused Tyson Kidd and the dumb gimmick that Brodus Clay was saddled with. Things got serious when The Rock appeared though and CM Punk hit him with the infamous "your arms are just too short to box with god" line. Badass indeed.

9. Classic Matches

There were too many to give each a spot so I bunched them together. You want technical wrestling? Watch his Over the Limit match with Daniel Bryan. Want a brawl? Watch his match with Brock Lesnar or the Chicago Street Fight with Chris Jericho. Want a classic WWE spectacle? See WrestleMania 29 against The Undertaker or any match that he's had with John Cena. CM Punk could do it all, and putting on great matches is included in that for sure.

8. The Best and The Beard

I know that this didn't last long, and really was only to face Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at Survivor Series, but man this was awesome to me. My two favorite guys in the WWE roster teaming up. Especially after their feud for the WWE Championship and their days on the indies. The Best and the Beard was a really cool name and their match at Survivor Series was the best on that show. Plus, who could forget their in ring promo with the amazing Renee Young. Funny stuff and I wish this got more shine.

7. Attires

This might seem like an odd thing to include but I've always been a fan of a cool attire and CM Punk has had some of the best. There was the Macho Man inspired attire after his untimely passing, the GI Joe attire from WrestleMania 26, the Chicago flag trunks from MITB 2011, the Bret Hart style attire from SummerSlam 2012, the Undertaker attire from WrestleMania 29 and the Yankee pinstripe attire he sported in Boston. That's a good way to get heat. There were also non-special attires that were cool like Royal Rumble 2013. But yea, attires are cool.

6. ECW

When he first debuted in the WWE in August 2006, CM Punk started on the ECW brand. Now, I was not a fan of that brand at the start, but Punk was one of the things that interested me as I heard so much about him. He impressed me as I watched him there, but he didn't wow me. However, I became a fan and watched as he came close to the ECW Title many times, before finally winning it in September of 2007. His run with the title didn't feature many great moments and he dropped it to the underwhelming Chavo Guerrero, but I still enjoyed his time there. He did win a Money in the Bank briefcase while there so there's that.

5. Money in the Bank wins

Going into WrestleMania 24, everybody picked Jeff Hardy to win the Money in the Bank briefcase. He was unable to make the show due to a suspension I believe, which opened the door for CM Punk to win. This shocked me because, as a member of the ECW brand, I didn't expect him to win. But he did and was drafted to Raw, where he successfully cashed in against Edge. That title run didn't go far, and he was back in the Ladder match at WrestleMania 25 the next year. Once again, I had a different guy pegged to win in Christian. CM Punk surprised me again by winning once more before cashing in two months later on Jeff Hardy and turning heel. Both matches are really good and were big moments in Punk's career.

4. Money in the Bank 2011

You have to know how much I love CM Punk if I have this gem at number four. Besides the fact that the entire Pay-Per-View was great, the atmosphere in Chicago that night was unbelievable. I remember I was unable to watch this live because I had to work that night but I got home, went right to bed and watched it on DVR the next morning. Avoiding all spoilers, I don't know if I've ever been more into a match. The crowd was 100% behind Punk, it was one of the best matches I've ever seen and Punk ran out of Chicago with the WWE Championship. Everything about it was perfect and can never be duplicated again. John Cena and CM Punk have had plenty of amazing matches but none will top this for me.

3. Straight Edge Society

Man, I miss the Straight Edge Society. If you don't remember or you ignored Smackdown, you missed great stuff. CM Punk came out and preached how much better he was than others because he was straight edge. He started to attract followers like Luke Gallows and Joseph Mercury. Things got real interesting when he added Serena, who I knew from SHIMMER, and she agreed to shave her head and cleanse herself like the rest of the group. So many memorable moments came from this. Punk singing happy birthday to Rey Mysterio's daughter was great. Let's not forgot how Punk dominated the early goings of the 2010 Royal Rumble either. His run with the mask was cool too and just everything about this group was great.

2. Pipe Bomb

The infamous moment that got people who hadn't watched wrestling in years interested again. CM Punk, with his contract set to expire in a few weeks, sat atop the stage in a Stone Cold shirt and delivered an epic promo that is now dubbed the "Pipe Bomb". It's easily one of the top 10 moments in the 20+ year history of Raw. If you haven't seen, go watch it right now because the things I can write about it won't do it justice.

1. 434 Days

There could be no other choice for first. CM Punk's 434 day title reign from November 2011 until January 2013 was my favorite thing that he's ever done. After his pipe bomb, the WWE fumbled Punk by having him drop the belt to Alberto Del Rio and get into a useless feud with Triple H. But at Survivor Series, in Madison Square Garden, Punk bested Del Rio and began an incredible title run. During the run he defeated Del Rio, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Big Show, John Cena and Ryback. And that's only the people I can remember. On televised events. Yes, he should've main evented more PPVs but regardless, he was the best thing going at every show while he was champion. It's a shame that he couldn't enter WrestleMania 29 as Champion after this reign and he had to lose it to The Rock, but I'll always remember this outstanding run.

Main Event Recap

Main Event opened last night with the WWE's "A-Lister" The Miz. He came out looking fashionable and decided to read a letter to the fans. It was similar to the infamous LeBron James essay, but saying he was leaving home instead of coming home. He also called himself Cleveland's favorite S-U-N, which was pretty comical. Of course, this would be interrupted by his opponent for the night, Sheamus. Both of these guys are strong picks for the Intercontinental Title Battle Royal at Battleground. While not much of note happened in this segment, it was entertaining.

The opening contest pitted former Funkadactyl Cameron, and her new theme music, against Emma! I was definitely happy to see Emma back on my TV screen for the first time since her unfortunate arrest. While Cameron is still not impressive in the ring, she is nailing her heel character and seems more comfortable in that role. Naomi was on commentary and did a fine job there, better than I expect. The same could be said about the match as it was better than I expected. Emma won, which was great and surprising and I'm all for more Emma wins.

Next up, we witnessed a tag team match between four of the guys in the Battleground Battle Royal. Rybaxel took on Kofi Kingston and Big E in what was a fun little match. Big E and Kofi were randomly thrown together here. It made a little sense on Raw because of the connection that they've both faced Cesaro. Anyway, Rybaxel continues to be one of my favorite things on the current product, but they unfortunately took the loss here. Kofi and Big E impressed me and I wouldn't mind if they joined a floundering tag team division.

The main event of Main Event was next, and Sheamus continues to be the MVP of this show. No, not the Montel Vontavious Porter, the Most Valuable Player. Every week he has a good match and he is usually booked to appear on Main Event. Much like their match on Raw, Miz and Sheamus treated the fans to a very good match, though I prefer this one. There was a funny spot where The Miz ducked for cover like a bomb was going off when Sheamus went for the Brogue Kick. The United States Champion was able to avenge his loss from Raw and is probably the favorite to win the Battle Royal and unify the belts.

Another really good episode of Main Event as Tuesdays have become a great time for me. Following Main Event, I would normally discuss WrestleMania Rewind and Countdown but there were no episodes last night. Instead we were treated to a Beyond the Ring featuring CM Punk. This is surprising since Punk was finally officially moved to the Alumni section of the WWE.com roster page. Normally, when someone is on their way out, they are completely ignored but Punk has been featured the last two weeks. It was a lot of fun to watch this documentary again as it's one of the best the WWE has put out.

That's all for now folks, another fun Tuesday night for me. I will dig more into CM Punk officially leaving later as I will present an special Top Ten later today, this one featuring the "Best in the World". 

Follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa

Through the Years: Royal Rumble 2002 Review

Royal Rumble 2002
January 20th, 2002 – Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia

While 2001 was a fun year to go back and watch, I'm more excited for 2002. I remember this year fondly as I thought that WrestleMania X8 was good, we had the return of the nWo, the rise of Brock Lesnar, the return of Shawn Michaels and the brand split that I loved so much. The WWF was about to become the WWE and Chris Jericho was the Undisputed Champion. Interesting time period for sure. Time for the first Pay-Per-View of that calendar year. 

Tag Team Championship
Spike Dudley and Tazz (c) d. The Dudley Boyz w/ Stacy Keibler in 5:26 to retain the titles
Why Tazz and Spike won the Tag Team Titles is beyond me. Anyway, a brawl begins but things quickly simmer as Bubba and Spike start. Spike is wearing a neck brace, so Bubba rips it off and targets the neck. Good god, Stacy looks hot. A near brainbuster from Bubba before he taunts Tazz. He tries it again, but Spike reverses and hits the Dudley Dog. Classic heel work as the referee doesn't see Spike make the tag and the Dudleys double flapjack Spike and he damn near hits the ceiling. D-Von misses a splash, the Dudleys accidentally clothesline each other and Tazz gets the tag. NAPOLEON RAMPAGE! He suplexes both Dudleys and then Bubba oversells offense from both Spike and Tazz. Stacy tries to get involved and gets put in the Tazzmission. D-Von stops that but gets the Tazzmission too and he submits. Decent enough. Not sloppy, kept short and that's all you could ask for. **

Recap of the Edge/William Regal feud before Lillian Garcia interviews the Intercontinental Champion in the back. Edge says that they can play dirty because he's broke Regal's nose with a steel chair and he can play dirty with the best of them. 

Intercontinental Championship
William Regal d. Edge (c) in 9:25 to win the title
Nick Patrick inspects Regal's trunks and discovers brass knuckles. Edge is on the offensive at the start as he comes out aggressively. He slams Regal's surgically repaired nose into the mat before eating a knee trembler. Regal suplexes Edge on his face in a bit of revenge. Weird how Edge goes from King of the Ring, to Intercontinental Champion, to wrestling over a freaking shampoo commercial at WrestleMania. Edge counters a double underhook powerbomb but Regal holds on and hits it anyway. He goes for the bomb again from the apron to the outside, but Edge blocks it and hits a DDT to continue focusing on Regal's face/nose. I don't know if I've ever seen a match where a guy targets the nose. Back inside, they run into each other and both men are down. Regal counters the Edgecution into the Regal Stretch because he's awesome. Edge, because he too is awesome, reverses into his own Regal Stretch. Dropkick and schoolboy get Edge a near fall before coming off the top with a spinning heel kick. Regal pulls yet another pair of brass knuckles out and levels Edge with it after Nick Patrick gets Speared by mistake. Regal covers and wins the gold. Much better than their match at Vengeance. This probably should have opened the show. ***1/2

Women's Championship
Trish Stratus (c) d. Jazz in 4:06 to retain the title
Working with girls like Lita and Jazz probably has a lot to do with Trish's vast improvement. Jacqueline is the referee for some reason. Actual Divas story here as Jazz smashed Trish's hand on a recent episode of Raw. They go for a series of quick rollup reversals to make Jackie work hard. Jazz targets the arm before dropping a leg across Trish. She wraps Trish's hand around the bottom rope and Trish sells the injury well. Jazz gets into a shoving match with Jackie, so the referee is slow to decide to count when Jazz gets a pin attempt. Jazz again destroys the hand. Trish wriggles out of Jazz's grasp and hits Stratusfaction but Jazz reverses the pin shockingly. I watched Jazz defeat men in ECW so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Trish hits a bulldog with the injured hand to win from out of nowhere, so not sure on that. Not bad, with good selling for the most part. Jazz still looked like a beast throughout, so that's good. **

Ric Flair is shown arriving with his son and daughter. It's Reid, who passed away a few years ago and Leah, the non-wrestling Flair. 

Street Fight
Ric Flair d. Vince McMahon in 15:05
My goodness does Flair look young compared to the present day. Vince is jacked, especially when standing next to Flair. Vince overpowers Flair and poses before getting him in the corner and chopping him. Flair has none of that, switches places and lights Vince's chest on fire to massive “woos” from the crowd. Vince continues to control with his strength as things go outside. As they fight up the aisle, Flair is gushing blood which was expected. Vince taunts Flair's kids before going inside and focusing on Flair's legs. So far, this is kind of disappointing. I normally love Vince's brawls. Vince slaps on the Figure Four and Flair reverses it. Vince grabs a pipe and Flair hits a low blow. Flair now takes control by using the old ass monitors on Vince. Seriously, it's 2014 and they're still using the same dumb monitors. Leah takes a photo of Vince's now busted open face. The Nature Boy hits Vince with the pipe and dancing before putting on the Figure Four and a bloody Vince taps. That was underwhelming. It wasn't bad, but I expect more from a Vince brawl. Also don't know why Vince controlled the entire match. **1/2

Stephanie McMahon interrupts as Michael Cole tries to interview Nick Patrick. She calls Triple H the favorite to win the Royal Rumble until Steve Austin comes up behind her. He delivers about 100 “whats” to run her off and then he does it to Cole. I still wish that we got Austin/Hogan at WrestleMania X8 instead of Rock/Hogan or Austin/Hall.

WWF Undisputed Championship
Chris Jericho (c) d. The Rock in 18:55 to retain
Alright, so after No Mercy and Vengeance, I have high hopes for this. Staredown highlighted by Jericho talking trash in Rock's face. Rock goes to retort and Jericho goes all WWF No Mercy/WCW Revenge by stealing his taunt. Rock levels him and we're underway. They trade moves in the ring until Jericho busts out the EDDIE GILBERT HOTSHOT! Jericho hits a spinning heel kick, and after seeing Edge busts one out earlier, it must be the Canadian theme of the night. He goes for the “COME ON BABY” pin but obviously doesn't win. Jericho exposes the turnbuckle very early and continues to hold serve. Rest hold time as Jericho puts on a headlock. Rock fights out of it and hits a second rope suplex. I refuse to call it a superplex unless it's from the top. Rock is in control until Jericho hits a face buster and Lionsault. A second Lionsault follows but Rock kicks out, so there goes his finisher as legit. Jericho pulls a HHH and gets into a shoving match with Hebner. They telegraph a spot where Rock catches Jericho in the Sharpshooter. Jericho taps but Lance Storm is out to distract the ref. Christian enters and Rock disposes of him. Jericho hits the Rock Bottom but Rock gets his shoulder up again. Jericho goes for the Jerichoholic Elbow but Rock tosses him outside. They clear off the announce tables and Jericho gets Rock Bottomed through one of them. Back in the ring, Rock gets a near fall. Jericho locks on the Walls but Rock reaches the ropes. Jericho tries again but gets pulled into a small package for two. Referee goes down and Jericho cold cocks Rocky with the belt for yet another near fall. Rock plants him with a DDT and Nick Patrick acts like he doesn't see. That's weird because he was the ref who sent Christian and Storm to the back. Rock takes him out and hits the People's Elbow but Hebner is still out. Rock goes to wake him and Jericho goes ultimate heel with a low blow, sending Rock into the exposed turnbuckle and rolling him up with his feet on the ropes. SUPER HEEL. Great match again as they have awesome chemistry. Just a shade below their other matches. ***3/4

HBK is LIVE...AND IN YO FACE at WWF New York. His prediction for the Royal Rumble is between The Undertaker and Steve Austin because they're all from Texas. And because it's Austin and the Undertaker. The Royal Rumble video package has generic music over it as I guess Kid Rock's “Cocky” is something they don't have the license for. 

Royal Rumble
Triple H wins in 71:24
Rikishi was number 30 last year and he's number 1 this time around. The returning Goldust draws number two. Basic back and forth with Goldust sneaking out around two minutes. It's weird to think that Goldust currently wrestles against Rikishi's kids. Big Bossman joins and I had no idea he was still employed. Goldust and Bossman double Rikishi and try to get him over. Business picks up as Bradshaw is out next. He shoulder blocks the hell out of Goldust. Stink Face and superkick for Bossman is followed by a clothesline that eliminates him. If this can be serious for a minute, Lance Storm draws number five. Time gets wasted by futile efforts to eliminate people. I miss the Storm/Hurricane tag team. Even their names say they should have lasted longer. WHAT DOES EVERYBODY WANT?! Al Snow enters at six. Bradshaw takes Storm's head off with a Clothesline from Hell. Not any credible threats in right now, which means someone like Kane needs to enter and clean house soon. Number seven arrives in the form of Billy Gunn. He eats a big boot from Bradshaw who is dominating. Storm and Snow do battle on the apron as Snow superkicks Storm and rids the match of him. Billy eliminates Bradshaw, which is disappointing. Intervals are longer than two minutes oddly. I asked for Kane, but The Undertaker at eight will do just fine. Taker chokeslams the hell out of Gunn and disposes of Goldust. Snow, who was getting a good pop is out as is Rikishi. Why would they leave Billy Gunn in of all of them? And there goes Gunn. Undertaker is alone. Matt Hardy is next, returning from Undertaker taking out both Hardys. Lita jumps in and hits Taker with a low blow. Lita and Matt stomp on Taker but he quickly recovers and runs things again.

Number ten arrives and it's Matt's brother Jeff. Now, Jeff, Matt and Lita stomp on Undertaker. Jim Ross is totally fine with Lita interfering in anything but not other valets. Undertaker shows that he's the big dog in the yard again but the Hardys don't give up. Twist of Fate and Swanton work but Poetry in Motion fails as Undertaker catches Jeff and dumps him. Matt goes for his Last Ride and is eliminated as well, leaving Undertaker alone once again. Well that was fun while it lasted. Tough Enough winner Maven draws unlucky number 11 and he looks very concerned. He runs into a big boot and Taker goes to eliminate him but Lita gets on the apron. Taker piefaces her hard and the Hardys are back in. Undertaker thwarts them and Maven dropkicks him out. The look on the Undertaker's face is one of the greatest things of all time. Undertaker proceeds to beat the holy hell out of Maven all around the arena. Scotty enters at 12 but also gets hit by Undertaker. Christian, his European Title and his epic entrance are number 13. Undertaker has now beaten Maven up even by the popcorn machine. YO, ITS ME, ITS ME, ITS DDP. I like him, you like him and he's gonna help you like you. In a preview of the European Title match at WrestleMania X8, DDP and Christian square off. Scotty hits Christian with the Worm. Halfway home as Chuck is out next. Scotty is dumped out as Christian and Chuck work over DDP. The Godfather arrives at 16 with the hoes. And more hoes. And more hoes. DDP is knocked out. Godfather's entrance takes up the entire 2 plus minutes. 17 is the hip hop hippo Albert. He doesn't last long as he and the Godfather are eliminated before weird ass Perry Saturn comes in at 18. He is wearing cow pattern on his trunks. The roof comes off as Steve Austin draws number 19. He beats Christian, Saturn and Chuck up and eliminates all three. 

Because there's still time for number 20, Austin brings Christian and Chuck back in the ring to give them Stunners and eliminates them again. In a callback to 1997, Austin checks his watch. The Big Valbowski returns at 20. He puts up a good fight against Austin and survives the two plus minutes. Test is in to no reaction. Weird how Test went from seven feet when he first arrived to “nearly 6'8” tonight. Doesn't matter as Austin ends up dumping both of them out. Triple H draws number 22 and ITS ABOUT TO GO DOWN. The Two Man Power Trip collides. The Game takes nearly as long as Godfather to make it to the ring where a fist fight ensues. Number 23 quickly arrives and its the Hurricane. Austin and HHH do the double clothesline spot allowing the Hurricane to pose. He goes to double chokeslam them and Austin and Hunter realize this and toss him out before focusing on each other. Faarooq draws number 24 and puts up a better fight than Hurricane but doesn't last much longer. Mr. Perfect enters at number 25 and I'm loving this. He does his thing but HHH and Austin try to knock him out until Kurt Angle arrives at 26. This is his first Rumble ever and he goes right for Triple H. “YOU SUCK! WHAT?” chants from the crowd. Austin saves Triple H from getting eliminated weirdly. I guess he still believes in the Two Man Power Trip. Big Show hits the scene next and he dominates as big men do. Chokeslams and big boots for everyone. Number 28 is Kane, who has beef with Show after their tag team failed miserably at Vengeance. They trade punches and both go for a chokeslam. Kane hits Show low and body slams him over and out, but it was nowhere near as good as Cesaro at WrestleMania XXX. A Stunner and Angle Slam cause Kane to be eliminated, putting us back to four. This is a star studded back end as Rob Van Dam is 29 and he instantly hits a Five Star Frog Splash. RVD owns everyone and hits Austin with Rolling Thunder. He turns into a Pedigree from Triple H though. The last man in is Booker T. He comes in and eliminates RVD to the crowd's dismay, but he turns that to cheers with a spinaroonie. Austin hits him with the Stunner and the final four is the same four that have been in for the most part. Austin reverses an Angle Slam and a Pedigree. Perfect and Angle nearly eliminate Austin but he holds on. Austin surprisingly is the first of the four out regardless and he takes Perfect outside to beat on him. Angle throws him into the steel steps but Austin gets a chair and lays out all three guys in the ring. They all slowly get up and Perfect gets a pop when he avoids elimination and hits the Perfect Plex. Triple H clotheslines him out though and it's down to Triple H and Angle, which should've been obvious because of their issues since HHH returned. Angle nearly gets him out and prematurely celebrates, which allows HHH to hit a knee to the face and clothesline him out.

Long Royal Rumble, but it kept me entertained throughout. We had Goldust returning, The Undertaker/Hardys portion, the Undertaker/Maven moment, Austin dominating and Triple H returning. Overlooked Rumble that doesn't get its due. ****1/4

Overall: 8/10; A great show. That's three straight years with a really good Rumble Pay-Per-View, but this was below both 2000 and 2001. Still, a solid Intercontinental Title match, decent brawl between Flair and Vince, really good Undisputed Title match and great Royal Rumble give this a high grade. Go out and see it.

Raw Recap and More

Last night, we saw an episode of Raw from Richmond, Virginia. Sting sent out a tweet last week that made sure everyone's eyes were on the 7.14.14 Raw. We are just six days away from a Battleground Pay-Per-View that is shaping up to be much better than last year's travesty. 

Before I get into the actual beginning of Raw, I'm going to talk about the biggest news coming out of last night and that's the insanely awesome WWE 2K15 commercial that we were treated to. Everyone now knows what 7.14.14 meant as the commercial featured an orchestra playing Sting's "crow" theme, before the man himself appeared. I don't ever pre-order these games because I don't usually care for the exclusives, but if Sting is only pre-order then I'm going to have to do it. Awesome to see Sting on WWE TV even if it's just a commercial.

Onto Raw, which opened with John Cena who came out and said a lot of nothing. He went over the rules of a Fatal Four Way match even though we've seen about a million of them. Roman Reigns interrupted and the crowd went nuts. They bicker until Dean Ambrose appears on screen to an even bigger pop and tells them to focus on the match tonight. Kane, Randy Orton and Seth Rollins show up behind him and beat him down. In a total badass moment, Ambrose asks if "that's all they've got." They continue the beating and it's totally selfish of Reigns and Cena to just stand in the ring and watch this. Assholes.

The Miz is up next and he is trying hard with this Hollywood gimmick. I know it may seem like a watered down 2003 Rock but it's different. See, The Rock was on his way to becoming a legit movie star while the Miz has starred in D list movies, yet he thinks he's bigger than he is. Anyway, he faced Sheamus, who has been on a tear of really good matches since his return at the Royal Rumble. This was no different as it was yet another solid match that Miz surprisingly won with a rollup. I feel that Miz is a strong pick for the Battle Royal at Battleground and I really hope Sheamus doesn't win an unify the belts. Also, Sheamus can get some revenge in a rematch tonight on Main Event. And we know how I love Main Event.

The Dolph Ziggler/Fandango/Summer Rae/Layla love rectangle had it's next chapter when Dolph and Fandano met in a singles match next. Not a special match or anything, but Summer Rae and Layla decided to dance on the announce table and distract both men. Dolph would win after a Fameasser and then became the luckiest man in Richmond when Summer and Layla joined him in the ring and kissed him on the check. Dolph takes his shirt, "Stealing the Show and your Girlfriend" very seriously. There was also an instagram photo with Summer and Layla grabbing Dolph's butt.

The next segment was pretty much nothing. Damien Sandow was dressed as a Sonic worker and for those who look forward to his impersonations, you have to be disappointed by this. Adam Rose comes out and sends Sandow away in a pointless segment that wasn't very funny. The Usos came out for a match but got taken out by Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Despite the fact that they've met many times, it's always good and their 2 out of 3 falls match at Battleground has show stealing potential.

Zeb Colter and Jack Swagger went head to head with Lana and Rusev in a Detente. It was pretty much just a giant argument that had the crowd into it. Lana is an absolute heat magnet and the Real American character can easily get over as a face because people love to be patriotic. I don't see Swagger beating Rusev at Battleground, but it should be a decent bout. I actually would like to see Swagger win though and solidify his face turn. How strange is it that after the Real Americans broke up, a few months later Swagger is the face and Cesaro is the heel? WE THE PEOPLE!

In another preview of the ridiculously huge Intercontinental Title Battle Royal, Rob Van Dam went one on one with Alberto Del Rio. Seriously, this battle royal is going to end up with as many people as the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. These two can have a decent match in their sleep as they're both good in-ring workers. Del Rio gets RVD to tap out as RVD can't beat him just like last year at Battleground. Also of note, Del Rio and RVD were interviewed on the Pre-Show by Renee Young and it's listed as Live, but Renee is doing Superstars commentary at this time. Blasphemy!

It's interesting that the WWE was willing to let Brie Bella and her shitty acting potentially ruin Daniel Bryan's storylines but they keep Nikki Bella away from John Cena. Like, the Authority doesn't want Cena as Champion and they're picking on Nikki because of Brie, but wouldn't those two go good together? And it would work a lot better than Brie acting scared of Kane, who was just walking around in a suit a few weeks prior. Nikki also keeps coming out happy every week like she doesn't expect this unfair stuff by now. Rant over, Nikki Bella loses yet another handicap match, this one to Cameron and Alicia Fox. They could be the New Funkadactyls like how the Hardy Boyz became the New Brood for a bit.

Goludst and Stardust have yet another bizarre and awesome segment backstage. Cody, who could be doing so much more than this character, does seem to embrace it and is knocking it out of the park. Next up, we got a match with Big E and Cesaro. Cesaro is coming off of two consecutive losses to Kofi Kingston, including one during a commercial. He must be the new Rusev as he's facing all of the black guys on the roster. Xavier Woods, you're next. Cesaro is the opposite of Rusev though as he loses yet again. I don't know if they're going for a losing streak leading to a surprise title win at Battleground, but Cesaro losing to these guys going nowhere is hurting for sure.

Chris Jericho calls out Bray Wyatt in a fun segment because both are just fantastic on the microphone. This is another potential show stealer on the Battleground card. But we all know that Jericho invented promos and show stealing. Jericho brings up beating The Rock and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin on the same night and his triumphant victory in musical chairs. Bray asks if Jericho is afraid of the dark, and I'm sure Jericho has seen the Nickelodeon classic. The Wyatt Family appears and take out Jericho. Fun little segment. The WWE does ignore that this Sunday will NOT be the first meeting between Bray and Jericho.

AJ Lee, my favorite Diva, met my second least favorite Diva, Eva Marie next. Yes, I prefer Eva Marie to Rosa Mendes. After beating her just like she did on Smackdown, AJ Lee decided to join Paige on commentary. She continues to do little homages to CM Punk, like her "Best Diva in the World" reference the night after WrestleMania, by sitting on the announce table while talking to Paige. This "frenemies" thing is interesting. Lance Storm tweeted that Chris Jericho should do a remix of the Fozzy hit "Enemy" and turn it to "Frenemy". I decided to tweet him the remixed lyrics and he retweeted it which was cool. But enough about me, I'm eagerly anticipating the Divas Title match at Battleground.

After beating El Torito in a hard fought match last wek, Bo Dallas was challenged by the opposite of El Torito, The Great Khali. Dallas continues to amuse me as he shouts "BAD GIANT" at Khali during the match. Dallas would win by countout before calling Khali his "big buddy." Khali chops him and Dallas leaves feeling the pain. A nothing match but Dallas is entertaining as hell in this character.

The gorgeous Renee Young interviews the Nature Boy Ric Flair next. I bet he's not missing MEAN BY GAWD GENE! He seems drunk. He goes to the ring and talks about being the man. He picks John Cena to win at Battleground because he must have some kind of inside scoop that we don't know about. /endsarcasm. Roman Reigns interrupts but just shakes Flair's hand. As Flair leaves, Cena comes out and gives him the World Heavyweight Title. THEY BETTER NOT GET RID OF THAT BEAUTIFUL BELT! Because Cena and Reigns didn't bother to help Ambrose earlier, the main event is now a handicap match. Not a bad main event that ends via DQ and Roman Reigns stands tall at the end after Spearing Randy Orton.

Overall, we got a decent episode of Monday Night Raw. Did a good job in building towards Battleground but it had a lot of seemingly filler matches due to so many guys from the Battle Royal getting singles matches. Also of note, Seth Rollins may have injured his leg during the main event but it hasn't been reported if it's legit or not.

That's all for now, but expect a new review up later today of "Through the Years." Tune in next time, same Stone Cold time, same Stone Cold channel.

Random Network Reviews: Beware of Dog

In Your House: Beware of Dog
5/26/96 & 5/28/96 – Florence Civic Center in Florence, South Carolina & North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston, South Carolina

This show is infamous for two reasons. The first obvious one is that it is held over two dates at two separate venues. This is because during the original Pay-Per-View airing, the feed went out and three of the five matches never aired. I remember watching this show as a kid and being pissed. They finished the show in the dark for the fans in attendance, then did it again on Pay-Per-View in a different arena a few days later. The review is for the pieced together version. The two matches that originally aired the first night and the three made up matches that aired a few nights later. The second interesting thing of note with this show is that it is the only Pay-Per-View in WWE history to emanate from South Carolina. Let's get to it.

The opening video package focuses on the storyline that Shawn Michaels was trying to hook up with Diana Smith behind Davey Boy Smith's back. It was all false, but it did get the British Bulldog a title shot.

“Wildman” Marc Mero w/ Sable d. Hunter Hearst-Hemsley w/ random girl in 16:22
The future Triple H has a beef here with Marc Mero because of how he treated Sable, who would join Mero. Mero chases Hunter outside the ring but once they get in, Hunter hits him. It's like Marc has never seen a heel work before. He ends up on top though and dives onto Hunter on the outside. Mero hits a slingshot leg drop and is impressing me. Hunter does his best HBK impersonation with a turnbuckle spot. Hunter targets the shoulder by throwing Mero into the corners before doing a curtsey. He busts out a single arm DDT, which I appreciate. Mero's comeback attempt fails because of his shoulder so Hunter continues to target it. That good old psychology. Hunter drops his dreaded knee onto the arm. Hunter hits one of the worst top rope moves of all time before working the arm some more. Mero comes back with a top rope hurricanrana. A flying head scissors shows again that Mero's offense is ahead of its time. He continues to sell the arm injury despite his offensive outburst which ends when he lands awkwardly on the outside. Hunter decides against the Pedigree because he wants Sable to watch and she refuses. This allows Mero to reverse it into a slingshot and he gets the three. Holy crap that was much better than I expected. Great opener and both guys impressed. ****

Mr. Perfect is backstage to interview Camp Cornette. Jim Cornette hypes up the Yokozuna/Vader match and the WWF Title match. He secured a manager's license for the Slammy Award Winner, Owen Hart, so he can join Bulldog for the main event. Jim was really good as a manager.

WWF Championship
Shawn Michaels (c) w/ Jose Lothario and The British Bulldog w/ Owen Hart & Diana Smith wrestle to a draw in 17:20. Shawn retains the title
Vince McMahon discusses HBK's “interview” with Playgirl. Says it's just an interview. Sure, Vince. Clarence Mason serves HBK a lawsuit that he rips up and Bulldog attacks him from behind. Michaels busts out some arm drags and Bulldog dodges Sweet Chin Music by going outside, so Michaels leaps outside onto him. HBK hits an enziguri after a long headlock. He continues to work in mat wrestling as the pace has slowed by a lot. Bulldog powers out and then applies a submission of his own. HBK gets out but gets slammed. Another slow rest hold from Bulldog. Shawn seems to throw a fit while in a chin lock, doesn't sell and argues with Hebner about wrapping up the match. The action goes outside for a bit as Bulldog is in control. Things pick up as HBK hits a flying forearm and body slam. He connects with a double axe handle and Bulldog absolutely levels the official by mistake. Michaels calls for Sweet Chin Music and hits an interfering Owen with it. HBK counters the Bulldog's powerslam and hits a bridging German for three. But Bulldog's music plays. CONFUSION! Diana tries to leave with the belt until Gorilla Monsoon he-haws out like a jackass (thanks Austin) and snatches the belt. He declares it a draw as all four shoulders were on the mat and it's a draw. Not their best and Shawn's tantrum doesn't help. Disappointing. **3/4

We now move to Beware of Dog 2, where we will see the three matches that happened in the dark during the storm on night one. Mr. Perfect and Jim Ross call the action.

Caribbean Strap Match
Savio Vega d. Steve Austin w/ Ted Dibiase in 21:23
If Savio wins, Ted Dibiase says that he will forfeit his career. They continually mention that Savio is undefeated in Caribbean Strap Matches. Austin pounds away on Savio to start but when he goes outside, Savio pulls him into the apron a few times in a creative spot. Savio whips Austin back in the ring and Austin does everything to bail. Savio suplexes Austin in and gets to two turnbuckles before Austin pulls him back. Austin's turn to whip on Savio until they get tangled up and seem to cuddle on the apron. After some fighting in the aisle, Austin chokes Savio with the strap and suplexes him in. He hog ties Savio and gets two turnbuckles, but Savio stops him. The third vertical suplex happens on the mat outside. Austin prevents Savio from winning and wears him out with the strap. Now we get a superplex by Savio as that is the favorite move of the match it seems. Austin hits a spinebuster to stop Savio. They reverse Tombstones until Savio flips outside and The Undertaker is pissed in the back, I'm sure. Austin pulls Savio away within inches of winning and the crowd is hot. Savio gets two buckles while in the Million Dollar Dream but he breaks the hold before he can continue. Austin hits three without knowing that Savio is hitting them behind him. They struggle over the fourth until Austin pulls Savio into the corner ending it. That was another great match. Surprised this got 20 minutes but they used it very well. The best match of Austin's WWF career to this point. ****1/4

Savio Vega and the fans sing goodbye to Ted Dibiase, who would leave for the nWo. This song worked better for Savio than it did for Stephanie McMahon recently. We then see Shawn Michaels chatting with fans on AOL and he's struggling to find keys on the keyboard. Ah, the 90's. 

Vader w/ Jim Cornette d. Yokozuna in 8:53
Vader didn't win the WWF Championship and that pisses me off. Yokozuna was absurdly big at this point at 641 pounds. Slug fest to start that Yokozuna wins. They get into a growling contest before Yoko goes to a sumo stance and Vader goes to a three point stance. Nothing happens though. Vader and Cornette stall until they go into their stances again. Yoko takes Vader off of his feet when they collide and knocks him outside. Vader takes control as they brawl back in the ring and he goes to slam Yoko. JR says only Ahmed Johnson slammed Yoko, so the WWF is just ignoring the Lex Express deal. Vader doesn't join that list and Yoko goes for the Banzai Drop. Cornette gets on the apron and brought inside by the former WWF Champion. Yoko goes to Banzai Cornette, but Vader pulls him out of the way and Yoko crashes. Vader targets the leg and hits the Vader Splash to end it. The slug fest that you'd expect, but Vader looked weak throughout. *1/4

A rundown of the upcoming King of the Ring card is shown as they announce a rematch for the WWF Title between Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog, the Smoking Guns against the Godwins for the Tag Team Titles and the Ultimate Warrior vs. Jerry Lawler. The bracket is big with 16 guys. Goldust and Warrior went to a draw while Vader beat Ahmed on Raw. The other matches are Henry Godwin vs. Hawk, Jake Roberts vs. Hunter, Bob Holly vs. Steve Austin, Savio vs. Marty Jannetty, Yoko vs. Owen and Skip vs. Mero. Captivating huh? 

Intercontinental Championship Casket Match
Goldust (c) w/ Marlena d. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer in 12:36 to retain the title
Cool to see The Undertaker competing for the Intercontinental Title. He appears right behind Goldust to start the match. This was a fun sub-feud during Taker's awesome rivalry with Mankind. Undertaker dominates early. A body slam, leg drop and Old School continue that trend. I feel like, between 1994 and 1996 there were more Casket Matches than the rest of wrestling history combined. And that's with Undertaker missing a good chunk of '94.Goldust starts to get in offense but totally whiffs on a shot before actually hitting Undertaker with a Tombstone. Undertaker sits right up though. Goldie nearly gets him in the casket regardless, but Taker fights him off. Goldust slows it down with a sleeper hold and gets Taker in the casket, but he keeps his arm out and stops it from closing. Shortly after, Goldust goes for a pin because he forgot this was a casket match. Goldust goes for Old School and Undertaker yanks him off the top. Undertaker hits the Tombstone but when he opens the casket, out comes Mankind! Mandible Claw gets latched on and Undertaker goes in the casket and to sleep as the lid closes. Interesting dynamic and Goldust played some alright mind games. Decent, but nothing special. **1/4

Smoke rises from the casket and when it gets opened, The Undertaker is gone.

Overall: 7.5/10; Very good show and one of the better In Your House Pay-Per-Views. The opener is great and the Caribbean Strap Match steals the show. Two awesome matches, plus a solid though disappointing WWF Title match, on a five match card make this worth it. Up next on my random reviews will be SuperBrawl IX.