Random Network Reviews: In Your House D-Generation X

D-Generation X: In Your House
12/7/97 – Springfield Civic Center in Springfield, Massachusetts – Attendance: 6,358

The best year in wrestling history, 1997, was coming to an end. Off of the heels of the most controversial moment in wrestling history, the Montreal Screwjob, Shawn Michaels was now the WWF Champion for a third time. His new stable with Triple H and Chyna would get a Pay-Per-View named after themselves. There are a few things of note about this show. One is that the In Your House title comes after the DX name, when all other IYH shows that I know of had the IYH part first. Second, this show features the first one on one match between The Rock and “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, kick starting one of the greatest rivalries of all time. The Attitude Era was still in its early stages and this Pay-Per-View would be the last of a phenomenal year.

The intro video shows how D-Generation X has run rampant through the WWF over the past few months. Not only will Shawn Michaels be defending his WWF Title against Ken Shamrock, but Triple H will face Commissioner Slaughter in a Boot Camp match, whatever the hell that is. Your commentary team for the evening is Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. 

Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament Finals
Brian Christopher vs. Taka Michinoku
Too Sexy opens with a slam and an armdrag as he does his trademark laugh. The fans chant “Jerry's Kid” at him. He celebrates all of his offense, even the tiniest of moves. I wish the Light Heavyweight Division would've taken off like the Cruiserweight Division did. Taka lands on his feet to counter a German and dropkicks Christopher multiple times. As he ends up outside, Taka nails a springboard plancha to a positive reaction from the fans. Brian ends up crotching Taka on the top rope and knocks him outside. He goes for a fist drop (sure he's not Jerry's kid) but misses. He hit the guardrail hard and is bleeding from the mouth. Taka hits a nice looking tornado DDT for a near fall. Hurricanrana follows that sends Christopher outside, so Taka follows out with a moonsault. His offense is impressive for this time. Lawler gets up from commentary to check on his son. It has no effect on the match. Christopher manages to hit the Stroke, so if this was TNA in 2005, he'd be World Champion. He connects with a nice sitout powerbomb, but his cocky cover only gets him two. He hits the Rocker Dropper, so Billy Gunn is probably pissed backstage. Christopher hits a clothesline that looks like they double clotheslined each other, so that's weird. He does hit a sweet German suplex but continues to showboat instead of pin. He goes for the top rope leg drop but misfires. Michinoku driver finishes it.

Winner and New Light Heavyweight Champion: Taka Michinoku in 12:01
Really fun opener. Christopher impressed as the more powerful of the two, and Taka was always pretty good. They got a good amount of time and used it well. It's crazy to think that Taka isn't even 40 yet in present day. ***

Six Man Tag Team Match
Disciples of Apocalypse (Chainz, Skull and 8-Ball) vs. Los Boricuas (Miguel Perez Jr., Jesus Castillo Jr. and Jose Estrada Jr.) w/ Savio Vega
The only thing I disliked in 1997 was the gang warfare stuff. Just look at this match. Why are all of the Boricuas juniors? Los Boricuas rap their theme to the ring and it sounds awful. Savio gets kicked out because Tim White is obviously racist judging by his name. I'm not sure which Boricua is which. The hairy one, who Ross says is Miguel, starts with Chainz...I think. “Shave your back” chants start directed at Miguel. The Harris Brothers double clothesline Jose. Miguel gets in some cheap shots from the apron as we have a hate crime going on in the corner. Spanish A-Train seems to injure his leg and tags out to Jose. The match continues to bore me as Savio comes out to replace Miguel. Tim White continues to be racist and prevents this. Miguel was faking the entire time as he comes in and hits a leg drop, allowing his team to steal the win.

Winners: Los Boricuas in 7:58
Maybe it's because I don't care about anyone in this match, but I was not a fan of this. It bored me to tears. *

Dok Hendrix is standing by with Butterbean, who just won a boxing match on Pay-Per-View the previous night. He's going to box the FIVE TIME NEW YORK STATE GOLDEN GLOVES BOXING CHAMPION! Butterbean struggles through the promo before we cut to nerdy Michael Cole and Sable. Because she held up the title for Butterbean last night, people question if she's going to be with him and not Mero. She'll be with Mero, who interrupts because she's stealing his spotlight.

Toughman Match
Butterbean vs. “Marvelous” Marc Mero w/ Sable
So, this is like a cross between a boxing match and a straight up fight. Four rounds at two minutes a piece of tough fighting. Mero stalls by hugging the ropes for a bit. As he goes to the ropes, Butterbean nails him and he falls outside. Back inside, Mero gets in some shots and actually survives Round 1. Mero attacks him after the round and they need to be separated. Mero's trainers distract Mike Chioda which allow Mero to choke him with a string and use heel tactics. The fans find this to be boring and I'd have to agree somewhat. He survives Round 2 and dropkicks Butterbean in between rounds again. Round three involved Butterbean getting Mero into the corner and firing away. Knowing what he did to Bart Gunn, it's obvious that he's not being Butterbean for real here. Butterbean finally gets a knockdown as the third round is coming to an end and is saved by the bell. IT'S ALL RIGHT CUZ I'M SAVED BY THE BELL! As the fourth round starts Butterbean knocks down Mero again, causing Mero to hit him with a low blow.

Winner via disqualification: Butterbean in 10:20
This should not have gone 10 minutes. It wasn't very entertaining, though Mero tried hard with his antics. *1/4

Mero hits Butterbean with a stool, but he shakes it off and forces him to get a case of the limber tail. The Artist Formerly Known as Goldust and Luna come out and it's as weird as you would expect. I hated this incarnation of Goldust. It was by far the worst run he had as the character. He reads a weird version of green eggs and ham that goes on for far too long. Luna gets tired of it like I did and shoves him down.

Michael Cole interviews the Legion of Doom and it's horrible. Hawk spews off lines about boogers. I'm serious.

WWF Tag Team Championship
The New Age Outlaws (c) vs. The Legion of Doom
Road Dogg's pre-match promo is about the Legion of Doom being dinosaurs. LOD is sick of their smack talk and they chase them up the ramp so the Outlaws stall a bit more. Officials come out to make them compete and this starts as a brawl. Things settle down rather quickly and Hawk hits a sweet looking neckbreaker on that D-O-DOUBLE G. He goes to talk strategy with Billy, so Hawk hits a double clothesline off the apron. Later on, Dogg tries to leapfrog over Animal but gets caught with a powerbomb. Things spill outside so Dogg hits Hawk with a trash can of sorts and Billy low blows him. Billy Gunn gets the tag for the very first time finally after a while. Hawk poorly sells a kitchen sink and I guess Hawk shouted a curse or something because something gets bleeped. Animal gets the hot tag and does what one would expect as he hits a big powerslam and shoulder block. LOD sets up for the Doomsday Device but Henry Godwin comes out and hits Animal with the slop bucket. Hawk hits Billy Gunn with it and gets disqualified like an idiot.

Winners via disqualification and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: The New Age Outlaws in 10:32
Not the greatest tag match ever. LOD was pretty rough to enjoy at this time, and Road Dogg did too much of the work for his team. *3/4

Boot Camp Match
Sgt. Slaughter vs. Triple H w/ Chyna
Triple H is wearing jeans, so if you didn't know what a Boot Camp match was, you now know it's a street fight basically. They sell the fact that Sarge made the Boot Camp match famous but this is the only one in history. Last thing to point out, the Sarge is using Kurt Angle's theme or, in other words, the Patriot's theme THAT HE JUST USED LIKE 3 PPVS AGO. The Sarge starts in control because he's all business tonight. Going outside, Slaughter continues to beat the future 13 time World Champion down. He attempts a cover outside leading the official to tell him that it's not falls count anywhere. HOW DOESN'T HE KNOW? HE MADE THE MATCH UP! The belt comes off and the Sarge takes Hunter to the woodshed. Hunter prevents the Cobra Clutch and takes over as things go outside. Hunter steals the ring bell from recently released Mark Yeaton by knocking him out. THAT MAN HAS A FAMILY. HHH wraps the belt around Slaughter's neck and sends him across the ring. He puts a chain around his hand and hits Slaughter with it before delivering a fist drop off the second rope. Somehow that's not all. Sarge climbs to the top because he's apparently an idiot, so HHH slams him from the top. Why is this taking so long? HHH puts on a sleeper hold, so yay! Sarge counters and applies the Cobra Clutch! Chyna gets in and shoves the official before raking Sarge in the eyes. Chyna tries to hit him with a chair but Slaughter throws powder into her eyes, allowing Hunter to hit him with his boot. He goes for it again but gets put back in the Clutch. Chyna blindly enters and kicks him in the nuts. A Pedigree on a chair follows to end it.

Winner: Triple H in 17:39
Horrible. Triple H couldn't go over in a Street Fight over Sgt. Slaughter without help from Chyna? He looked awful and the match was boring as hell. *1/4

Michael Cole interviews Jeff Jarrett about his in-ring debut. So, his mid-90's run didn't happen? Also, do they have no other interviewers in the company?

Jeff Jarrett vs. The Undertaker
I had no clue that this match ever happened. It's oddly placed in between the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker and Kane/Undertaker feuds. Jarrett hits right hands and runs, which is a wise strategy. Undertaker gets in the driver's seat and and it's OLD SCHOOL time. Undertaker charges into the corner, so Jarrett meets him with an elbow and goes for the knee. Taker misses a big boot and Jarrett targets the knee again. He continues to work the leg and The Undertaker is actually selling it well with some very visible limping. Even the backbreaker that he ends up hitting is with the good leg. He does hit a leg drop with it so it's not the world's greatest sell job. The lights go out just as The Undertaker is rallying back and Kane's theme plays. Kane's entrance pyro used to be absurdly huge. As he enters the ring, he chokeslams Jarrett to everyone's surprise and causes a disqualification.

Winner via disqualification: Jeff Jarrett in 6:40
I was liking this until Kane showed up. That's our third disqualification in six matches. **1/4

Kane slaps his brother and, when The Undertaker doesn't retaliate, he leaves. Jarrett attacks Undertaker from behind and goes for the Figure Four. Undertaker blocks it and hits a pretty piss poor looking Chokeslam. Jarrett should've quit while he was ahead. Michael Cole is back, this time in the crowd with Mark Henry. They talk about some nonsense and his return, which he says is about a week away. He picks Austin to beat the Rock even though he would join the Nation shortly after.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin (c) vs. The Rock w/ The Nation of Domination
Rock has the Intercontinental Title even though he's not the Champion. Austin drives to the ring in his pickup truck and IT'S ON! He gets in and pounds away on the Rock until the Nation overcomes him before the bell rings. I would like to point out that the crowd is red hot. As the referee clears the ring, Austin backdrops D-Lo onto the windshield and hits a Stunner on the truck. The bell sounds and it's a fist fight between two of the best of all time. LOU THEZ PRESS! PISTON LIKE RIGHT HANDS! Rock uses Austin's momentum to send him flying over the top. Faarooq and Kama assault Austin on the outside and Kama gets a chair but misses and cracks Faarooq. Austin then throws him into the truck and goes inside, but Rock stomps on him. Rock slows the pace as Austin is still pretty limited since SummerSlam. He does sell a kitchen sink way better than Hawk does though. Austin hits the Stunner on the referee by mistake and Rock goes to hit him with brass knuckles but it's blocked and Austin hits the Stunner. Another referee rushes out and counts the three.

Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Steve Austin in 5:28
Despite the Rock slowing it down, it was a short but fun little match. They would obviously best this in the future, but I enjoyed it. **1/2

The pre-match promo focuses on Ken Shamrock being insane but the highlight is Shawn Michaels and Triple H twisting HBK's ankle a million times on Raw to show that he can handle the Ankle Lock. So there is another interviewer, as Jim Cornette talks to Ken Shamrock about the main event. It's not the best promo work ever.

WWF Championship
Shawn Michaels (c) w/ DX vs. Ken Shamrock
If I recall correctly, Shamrock made his in-ring debut in May of 1997 and already has a WWF Title shot. Impressive. A feeling out process starts things and it's very fast paced. Shamrock kicks the hell out of Shawn in the chest, sending him outside. Shawn gets back inside and gets tossed around by Ken before taking his signature corner bump and regrouping again. Chyna attempts to distract Shamrock but he sees Shawn coming and levels him. When Shawn goes outside with Triple H again, Shamrock grabs their heads and DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! Shamrock continues to dominate as he sends Michaels all over the ring and the Champion oversells everything. He goes for the belly to belly but Shawn holds onto Earl Hebner to stop it and hits a low blow. Shawn gets Shamrock outside and dives onto him, and by the way, this is one of my favorite HBK attires of all time. Shawn drives his elbow into Shamrock from the second rope. HHH gets in like 15 rapid fire cheap shots while HBK distracts the official. Shawn decides that it's rest hold time because Shamrock nearly got INTO HIS ZONE. Shamrock powers out and starts to GET INTO HIS ZONE! Anytime he screams I just picture X-Pac's impersonation of him. He hits a hurricanrana and starts to pound away on Michaels. Michaels goes for a hurricanrana of his own but it's reversed into a powerbomb for two. Triple H and Chyna again get in cheap shots on Shamrock. Back in, Shawn hits an elbow and sets up for the Sweet Chin Music. Shamrock dodges and hits a big belly to belly before locking in the Ankle Lock! Triple H and Chyna run in for the DQ as they break it up.

Winner via disqualification: Ken Shamrock in 18:27
Another disqualification finish to another relatively disappointing contest. I was hoping for more but these two didn't click that well. **1/2

As DX beats down on Shamrock, a man in a hood rushes out and attacks Shawn Michaels. It's OWEN HART! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH AND ITS TIME FOR A CHANGE! When Triple H comes out for the save, Owen escapes through the crowd.

Overall: 4/10; Weak. Too many disqualification finishes. Of the eight matches, four of them ended in a DQ. The opener was the best match and the final two matches weren't terrible. The six man tag, Butterbean stuff, Tag Title match and Boot Camp match were all crap though and that's too much crap on one show. Up next on “Random Network Reviews” will be from the Old School Vault! MSG from 10/28/1991. That's different and should be interesting.

Smackdown Report 8-29-14

Coming off of another loss to John Cena, Bray Wyatt was now looking to be fed to Roman Reigns. It's surprising that this is opening the show and I totally expect it to not have a clean finish. What follows is a solid four or so minutes of action before Luke Harper and Erick Rowan enter the ring and cause the disqualification. This brings out Mark Henry and Big Show, who now have matching attire, and of course, because Smackdown is still run by Teddy Long in spirit, tonight's main event will now be a six man tag team match playa. 

After commentary finally introduces us to the show, we get another match between Seth Rollins and Rob Van Dam. I guess I was wrong when I said that RVD's last match during this run was on Main Event. He won that Main Event match via countout, but took the loss here tonight. It was pretty good but short at four minutes. It's weird that Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns were two of the first guys we see yet they didn't interact. Next up, we have to sit through the god awful Bella Twins segment from Raw. It was terrible on Monday and it was terrible here. 

We get a quick spot saying that we can relive the first episode of Smackdown on the WWE Network and the best part is that it features the original Smackdown theme. Short matches seem to the theme of the night as the Divas Champion Paige is out next to face Emma. The difference between their NXT matches and this one minute match is startling. I loved the NXT Women's Title Finals and their match at ArRival was really good. Whatever. Stupid main roster. AJ Lee shows up after with a box of chocolates and offers it to Paige. She takes one and eats it but then spits it AJ. That was the one thing they've done that I didn't find hot. They're still awesome though.

We go from AJ, Paige and Emma to Lana. I appreciate this. She cuts a promo putting over Rusev and Putin. We must watch Rusev against Jack Swagger again because this isn't getting old. Rusev beats him. Again. That's like, 5-1 and Swagger's one win came via disqualification or counout or something like that. This loss was because of Bo Dallas, as the Dallas/Swagger dynamic continues, although it's weird. Dallas attacks after the match as well. In the back, Miz was being annoying so he gets booked against Sheamus.

Goldust apologizes for his and Stardust's actions on Raw where they attacked The Usos after beating them by countout. It looks like it's going to be Stardust taking on Jimmy Uso. Because it's Smackdown and they'd rather use the two hours on recaps than in ring action, this gets about one minute. Jimmy Uso wins with a rollup so The Dust Brothers get pissed again and attack them. I'm all for an Usos/Dust Brothers match at Night of Champions. I'm not all for Smackdown having nothing but short bouts. Oh well, here's some WWE 2K15 Goldust for you.

Sheamus comes out for his match with The Miz but once again, Miz brings out his stunt double, Damien Mizdow. If Kane wants to punish Miz, why does he allow this? Another short match that Sheamus wins. Miz tries to attack Sheamus after the match but fails, so Dolph Ziggler shows up and sends him back in the ring. Miz escapes the Brogue Kick, so Damien Mizdow gets it instead. Another boring segment. The biggest news is the announcement that Sheamus will defend the United States Title at Night of Champions against Cesaro. Should be hard hitting fun.

We get another hype video for Brock/Cena again and man, I really hope that Brock retains. There is literally no point in Cena getting the belt back at this time. The six man tag pitting Roman Reigns, Mark Henry and Big Show against the Wyatt Family came up now and got about fifteen minutes. It was decent but nothing really special. The Wyatt Family loses again because they are pretty worthless at this point. Seriously, the constant losing really hurts them even if Bray is someone who doesn't care about wins and losses.

Another week, another ho hum Smackdown. The matches were too short to be really enjoyable. 5/10. Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa.

NXT and Superstars Report 8-28-14

When Smackdown moves to Thursdays on 10/2/14, I'm not going to be as excited for Thursdays anymore. Unfortunately, tonight's show opened in a way that I'm not a fan of. The Ascension came out and guess what they did guys? They beat two jobbers. I do appreciate the fans chanting "Let's Go Jobber" which is one of the funnier chants I can remember. The Ascension won rather quickly and then a cut promo about how they're going to retain at NXT TakeOver.

The new General Manager of NXT was introduced next and it was revealed to be William Regal. While I will greatly miss Regal on commentary, he should be good in a GM role as long as he gets television time. He was really good as the WWF Commissioner early in the last decade (wow that sounds so long ago). He wants to announce the main event for TakeOver so Adrian Neville comes out. Tyson Kidd interrupts and thinks he's instantly the number one contender. Tyler Breeze interrupts because that "uggo" shouldn't get the title shot. Sami Zayn comes out and wants a shot because he's SAMI ZAYN DAMMIT! Neville wants to fight all three so Regal makes a Fatal Four Way at TakeOver. THAT GUN BE GUD!

Sasha Banks and her awesome new theme came out next as it's time for a rematch from a few weeks ago as she faced Bayley. Two of my three favorite Divas on the NXT roster and they did it again by putting on another really good match. Bayley picks up the win with the Belly to Bayley and gained momentum heading into TakeOver. I'll take these two again on September 11th over anything involving Charlotte. Bayley gets interviewed by Renee Young after the match and those two sharing a ring broke world records of adorableness. Charlotte interrupted and the ring got a LOT uglier. They had a good promo and Bayley discussed how she wants to accomplish her dream. Good stuff.

So, Bull Dempsey was out next as he looked to squash Angelo Dawkins. He did just that and the worst part of it all was the announcement that Dempsey would face Mojo Rawley at TakeOver. I would like to know who booked this and thought "this is gonna be a good match." At ArRival, Mojo and CJ Parker stunk up the joint and at TakeOver, I was happy that Rusev destroyed Mojo. That's three specials for Mojo while Sasha Banks has had none. Just saying. Also, Jojo is doing a fantastic job as NXT ring announcer and is now more valuable on the roster than Eva Marie.

Earlier in the show, William Regal decided to make tonight's main event a tag team match pitting Tyler Breeze and Tyson Kidd against Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville. Of course this was a great match. Duh. Lots of fast paced action, some cool spots and a dash of storytelling. Neville gets kicked in the fact by Zayn accidentally, allowing Tyson Kidd to sneak in an pin the NXT Champion, something he's yet to be able to do. Zayn would kick him in the face after the match and stand in the middle of the ring holding the NXT Championship. It looked damn good.

Superstars was a very forgettable program this week. Adam Rose faced Curtis Axel in basically the same match they had on Main Event, which is fine, but did nothing special as Rose won again. We get a bunch of recaps before the main event which featured R-Truth against Fandango. Another ho hum match, and it's funny that both guys had matching pants nearly. Fandango won with a rollup and I wonder what happened to the SummerLay/Fandango saga. Oh well, NXT was great and gets an 8/10, while Superstars earns a 2/10. No good pictures of Superstars so you get more Sami Zayn and you like it.

Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa

Top Ten Thursday: Future WWE Champions

Looking into the future, I figured I'd look at the current WWE roster, including NXT, and try to see who has the potential to be a future WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Now, let me point this out right off the bat; I'm not saying that all ten of these guys will be future champions. I'm saying that these guys have the most potential to do so of the WWE roster. Now, despite the high upside that KENTA, Kevin Steen and Prince Devitt have, I will not be including them since they have yet to debut.

10. Ryback

I still say that Ryback should have beaten the Big Show for the World Heavyweight Title at WrestleMania 29. He was WAY more over than both Alberto Del Rio and Jack Swagger at the time as "Feed Me More" was that year's "Yes!" movement. Now, this is currently a bit of a long shot since Ryback has fallen down the card hard. He's improved in the ring and as a character, as his team with Curtis Axel is highly entertaining. Many would say that there is no salvaging him, but the crowd in Las Vegas a few weeks ago proved that there is still hope, albeit slim hope, for Ryback.

9. Rusev

I'd like to point out that if other monster characters, mainly Umaga, never got a run as WWE Champion, then Rusev probably shouldn't. That being said, Rusev has grown on me lately. While his in ring work isn't on the level of Umaga, he is serviceable and he sells like it's his job. The key to him is Lana. Behind every great man is a great woman right? Lana is the key to everything Rusev related. She can draw heat like not many on the WWE roster and as long as she's by Rusev's side, he will get the reaction that the WWE wants.

8. Cesaro

Back after WrestleMania XXX, you might have had Cesaro number one with a bullet on this list. He had just won the "Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal" and split from The Real Americans. He was destined to be a big face. But the WWE decided to turn him heel and stick him with Paul Heyman. Heyman is normally good for one's career but not here. While Heyman spent a lot of time putting over Brock Lesnar, Cesaro's character could never get right. One week he wears a robe, the next a jacket. One week he has a towel on his head, the next he walks with his chest out. Regardless, if they can figure out something that works, the man's in ring ability will carry him to a WWE Championship one day.

7. Bad News Barrett

When he debuted with the Nexus in 2010, everybody pegged Wade Barrett as a World Champion within the year. The WWE fumbled the Nexus badly and went with The Miz as WWE Champion over Wade Barrett. After that, Barrett seemed to be stuck in the mid-card with no way out. Multiple Intercontinental Title reigns aren't a bad thing, but it seems like Barrett has the tools for more. He got the Bad News Barrett character and people said it had no chance. But, he made it work and won another Intercontinental Title. This reign was different though. He was more over than he's ever been, but once again was hit with the injury bug. Basically, if Wade Barrett can stay healthy, he could win a WWE Title down the line.

6. Cody Rhodes

Early on during his run with Legacy, I liked Cody Rhodes, but I felt that Ted Dibiase Jr. would be the breakout star. That obviously did not happen and Cody stood out. Give him a dashing character? He kills it. Undashing? Brilliant. Cocky Intercontinental Champion? Well done. Give him a stupid mustache? The crowd chants "Cody's mustache." Underdog face? He played it perfectly. Weird ass Stardust? He's making it work. No matter what you give Cody Rhodes, the guy does his very best with it. While some people feel that the Stardust character could be the end for Cody, I think he still has future WWE Champion written all over him.

5. Bray Wyatt

In the same vein as Cesaro, around the time of WrestleMania XXX, Bray Wyatt would be a shoe in for a top spot on this list. However, he was fed to the John Cena machine and that may have killed Bray. Losing at WrestleMania was one thing, but a terrible showing at Extreme Rules, followed by another loss at Payback really hurt this character. His feud with Chris Jericho was lackluster and there seems to be no direction for Bray. He should be a very protected gimmick but he's not being treated as so. If creative can get their head on straight, the sky is the limit for someone like Bray Wyatt.

4. Sami Zayn

I loved El Generico. I love Sami Zayn. You should love Sami Zayn. With Daniel Bryan on the shelf there is NO BETTER IN RING PERFORMER than Sami Zayn. Quote me on it. He's already had match of the year candidates from his bouts with Cesaro and he's the best thing about the best show in the WWE. They seem to be going for a slow burn with his character's road to the NXT Championship, similar to that of Daniel Bryan. I can see him having a Daniel Bryan type effect on the main roster. His in ring work should be able to get the crowd behind him no matter what and a Sami Zayn WWE Title run would be one of my favorite things of all time.

3. Dean Ambrose

Far and away the most interesting member of the Shield and the most entertaining guy on the WWE roster right now is Dean Ambrose. The WWE is extremely high on Roman Reigns and they want him to be the guy, but his reactions from the crowd aren't quite matching Ambrose's. I'm not badmouthing Roman Reigns here, but the WWE might not be able to derail the Ambrose train. He has a very special something about him and he is must see television. There is honestly not enough that I can say about Dean. He can go in the ring, he can brawl with the best and he has the best promos of anyone in the WWE. Yes, even ahead of Bray Wyatt. Even if they go the Roman route first, there should be no reason that Ambrose doesn't become a WWE Champion.

2. Roman Reigns

Speaking of Roman Reigns, the WWE's next big star comes in at number two here. He is also probably the safest bet since he seems destined to win the WWE Championship. While I find him to be the least entertaining of the Shield members, he still has a certain "it" factor to him. With a lot of the fans knowing that he's groomed as the next big thing, it could cause some fan backlash though. Regardless, after eliminating a record 12 Superstars in the 2014 Royal Rumble and being the runner up, he seems like a sure bet to win the 2015 version. That would allow him to main event WrestleMania 31 and maybe be the guy to beat Brock Lesnar. Whatever the plan is, he's a near guarantee to be Champion.

1. Seth Rollins

Quick, name the best thing going in the WWE today. If your answer was the rivalry between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose, then you are correct. After being a huge Tyler Black fan during his Ring of Honor run, he got signed to the WWE and I worried. He was sent to FCW for a long time and I thought that this would not be good, but it turned out to be a wise choice. He was young enough that he had enough time and when he came to the main roster, he was part of the Shield. We all know how the Shield turned out as they're the top three on this list. I put him ahead of Reigns because I feel that he has more longevity than him and is a better character. Plus, he has the Money in the Bank briefcase, which seems to be a sure bet unless you're John Cena or Damien Sandow.

Tuesday Night Network Report 8-26-14

It's episode 100 of Main Event. I'm surprised they didn't make more a big deal out of this actually. I love that Main Event still opens with the actual opening video package while Raw has seemingly abandoned that. The show opens with the biggest match as Mr. Money in the Bank, Seth Rollins goes head to head with Mr. Tuesday Night (for tonight at least) Rob Van Dam. While RVD may no longer be the "Whole Fucking Show", he can still be counted on for good matches, and Seth Rollins is on absolute fire lately. In the end, RVD picked up the countout victory which surprised me. According to reports, this is RVD's last match during this run with the company and I would've expected him to lose to Seth here. 

Next up, Curtis Axel would be facing Adam Rose. This came about because Axel refused to hop aboard the Exotic Express. Axel will be flying solo for a bit according to reports because Ryback seems to be taking some time off. Anyway, Axel can usually go in the ring and there were actually "Let's Go Axel" chants. Not good for Rose. Rose would win with the Party Foul but this wasn't great. It was a decent little match and that's never a bad thing. If only I got to hear Axel's theme completely. Sigh, he came out during a commercial. 

Because it's WWE television that's not named NXT we have to get the obligatory 96 recaps. Brock Lesnar is shown dominating John Cena at SummerSlam before we see the stupid Hall of Fame forum again. The final match of Main Event airs next as the newly turned Goldust and Stardust took on Los Matadores. Despite being heels now, The Dust Brothers haven't changed much up. Their offense seems to be the same style and their characters haven't changed. That's an interesting choice but maybe I would have them be more aggressive like they were after the Usos match on Raw. They could've beaten up Los Matadores. Instead, we got a solid little tag team match that the Dust Brothers won.

The only other new thing premiering on the WWE Network last night would be the second episode of the Monday Night War show. Now, I didn't discuss the first episode here and I apologize for that. It was very good and it focused on the early stages. Hulk Hogan signing with WCW, Eric Bischoff taking over, Nitro's debut and Lex Luger jumping ship. This second episode was all about the Scott Hall and Kevin Nash leaving, Hulk Hogan turning, the nWo and Fake Razor and Fake Diesel. It was a cool look as it wasn't one sided like a lot of things are. I appreciated that. I'd heard before that because of Fake Razor and Fake Diesel, Nash and Hall got even more money from dumbass WCW but it's always fun to see Nash's reaction when telling the story. 

Both shows were good tonight. Main Event earns a 7/10 and I recommend checking out the Monday Night War. Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa.

Raw Report 8-25-14

Over the past few days the "Hall of Fame Forum" has been hyped up to open Raw. Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels would kick things off by discussing the upcoming match between John Cena and Brock Lesnar. I wonder if Hogan has any hard feeling towards Shawn overselling the hell out of his offense at SummerSlam 2005. That's still one of the funniest matches I can remember. Anyway, Hogan continues to say that John Cena is the greatest thing since him, while HBK and Flair are realists who think that Brock is going to kill Cena. Cena comes out and says he's going to get his revenge because HES FEARS NOTHING AND REGRETS LESS! He didn't actually say that but it was the usual Cena stuff. This was only alright, not the big promo that it probably should have been. The best thing was Shawn Michaels being sassy.

SummerSlam rematch time as Jack Swagger, sans Zeb Colter since he's recovering from Rusev's kick at SummerSlam, faced Rusev. With their constant back and forth and matches on Main Event, Battle ground and SummerSlam, these two have developed some good chemistry. We got another solid outing between them that ended via ref stoppage again. I like this idea because it makes Rusev look like a beast while Swagger never gives up. Bo Dallas makes sure to inform Swagger that he once again let his country down.

The United States Champion came out next to do some color commentary. Similar to how Cesaro did commentary for his match on Main Event last week. Can I just point out that while I like the new WWE logo, it's so strange that it's on the right side of the screen. It belongs on the left side dammit. Anyway, Rob Van Dam went one on one with Cesaro and the winner would become the number one contender to the United States Title. So, it doesn't matter that neither guy has the best win/loss record huh? This wasn't as good as their SummerSlam kickoff match and Cesaro picked up the win. Oh well, their match at Payback was really good so I look forward to more Sheamus/Cesaro. They will have some badass hard hitting matches.

Time for the rematch of the rematch. Natalya vs. Paige III. Despite beating Paige twice last week, Natalya doesn't earn a Divas Title match. Seriously? This couldn't be a title match? Whatever. Their stuff is good and Paige wins before skipping around the ring. Of course, AJ Lee comes out and the distraction allows Natalya to clothesline Paige. AJ calls Paige an english muffin and says she's more sincere about loving her. She kisses Paige's hand and leaves and I am LOVING the mind games between the two.

Seth Rollins held a eulogy for his fallen former brother in arms, Dean Ambrose. We all know that Ambrose is off filming a movie so I wonder what's next for Rollins until then. He cuts a good promo and puts himself over for creating the Shield. Seriously, Seth can go on the microphone and it was the one thing I was worried about when he first got hired by the WWE. Roman Reigns decides to remember that he was part of the Shield finally and comes out. It's honestly bugged me badly that he just gave up on having an issue with Seth. He brawls with Kane and crashes the eulogy. Decent stuff and I wonder if we're getting Rollins/Reigns at Night of Champions. Where would that leave Randy Orton?

The Tag Team Titles were up for grabs next as The Usos defended against the team that beat them last week, the Dust Brothers. The fans weren't really into it but it was a good little match. Cody continues to nail the Stardust character even if he's honestly above it. One of the Usos messed up their knee and got counted out. Goldust demanded a rematch right now as he seemed to think that a countout win for the titles wouldn't earn them another rematch next week. I guess if Natalya didn't get a title shot, they probably wouldn't get another. Cody and Goldust attack the Usos and the heel turn is on! I'm quite surprised by this but I really like it. I'm sure Cody and Goldie can do good things with this and it sets up what should be a good one at Night of Champions.

I guess the Authority is off tonight, so Kane decides to book himself and Seth Rollins against Roman Reigns for later tonight. Then we get another vignette from Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman to build towards Night of Champions. It was really good as this is when Brock's promos are at their best. He can say little badass things while Heyman sells everything. Anyway, up next we were supposed to get Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz again but we got Miz's stunt double, Damien Mizdow instead. Miz was on commentary and this didn't click. The whole segment was pretty poor.

So, Jerry "The King" Lawler was now going to be psychiatrist with the Bella Twins. This sounds like it will be dreadful. Brie Bella was sincere and apologized for whatever she did to upset Nikki. Nikki wants no part of it and says that Brie acts like the victim. They talk about ultrasounds for some reason and Nikki berates Brie's looks and Daniel Bryan. This whole thing has been cringeworthy so far. This should just be about Brie abandoning Nikki and that's it. I can't believe that Brie is an attention seeker when Nikki went out and got huge fake boobs. Seriously, when looking at the Bella Twins together, Nikki's rack is the first thing a guy notices. Nikki slaps Lawler, which the camera misses, and she beats up Brie. Besides this being terrible, why the hell can Brie ruin Daniel Bryan segments but John Cena and Nikki Bella never interact on screen?

Handicap match time as Seth Rollins and Kane faced Roman Reigns. This wasn't a long match and Seth attacked Reigns with the Money in the Bank briefcase. Rollins and Kane bust out the cinder blocks again, but Roman Reigns is no Dean Ambrose and he saves himself. Rollins escapes but Reigns ends up laying out Kane with the Superman Punch. This all did not get anywhere near the level of crowd reaction that Ambrose doing this would. It was actually a pretty lukewarm reception. I still wonder what role Randy Orton will play in all of this or at Night of Champions period.

Los Matadores met SLATER GATOR in a match that the crowd cared nothing about. It was a total filler segment. For some reason Los Matadores get the win here before we cut to the FOURTH recap of the Hall of Fame forum. I fucking hate all of these damn recaps. WRITE A FULL THREE HOUR SHOW AND THIS WOULDN'T HAPPEN. Bo Dallas beat Kofi Kingston next in another short match and he badmouthed Jack Swagger, which caused the Real American to come out and slam Bo. Also, Big Show and Mark Henry vs. Erick Rowan and Luke Harper is announced for Smackdown, while Main Event gets RVD/Seth Rollins.

When the WWE announced that John Cena and Bray Wyatt would main event Raw my first reaction was, well, Bray's going to lose to him yet again. John Cena runs to the ring and it's like the savage beating that Brock gave him never happened. Yay. No bandages or taped up ribs or anything. Harper and Rowan get involved, so out come Big Show and Mark Henry. In a move that Theodore Long would love, this is turned into a six man tag team match playa. Even with the six man tag though, John Cena cleans house, makes Harper submit and hits all three Wyatt Family member with AAs. So, this was so stupid. First of all, can John Cena look vulnerable? How bad would it have been if Bray was able to beat him with a bit of cheating because of the beating that he took from Brock? Whatever. The Wyatts are pointless and it's all thanks to the Cena feud.

Another mediocre episode of Raw. It seems like it's either hit or miss with this show. There was some good like the eulogy for Ambrose, the Cesaro/Sheamus stuff, the AJ/Paige stuff and the Dust Brothers heel turn. There was some terrible with the Wyatt Family death, the Bella segments and the absurd amount of recaps. This episode screamed "meh". 4/10

Through the Years Reviews: Unforgiven 2002

Unforgiven 2002
September 22, 2002 – Staples Center in Los Angeles, California – Attendance: 16,000

Obviously, I consider SummerSlam to be the peak of 2002, at least Pay-Per-View wise. It was the first show that I've fully reviewed to earn the coveted 10 out 10 perfect rating. So it would be hard for the WWE to best that the following month, but they could build on how positive it was. Brock Lesnar was set for his first Pay-Per-View WWE Title defense and it would be against the former Champion, The Undertaker, in a first time ever match! Also, Eric Bischoff was engaged in a feud with his rival General Manager Stephanie McMahon, that could result in some HLA! HLA! HLA! Lastly of note before we begin, Bischoff handed Triple H Big Gold and dubbed it the World Heavyweight Championship and he would have his first defense on this very show. 

The opening video package is pretty cool and highlights how we now have two World Titles. The Undertaker's heel turn lasted about seven months only and both title matches sound like they'll be pretty good.

Eight Man Tag Team Match
Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Goldust and Kane vs. The Un-Americans (Christian, Lance Storm, Test and William Regal)
I have no idea where Kane was form WrestleMania until now, but he has badass attire and the great “Slow Chemical” theme. He will NEVER have a better theme. Goldust and Bubba do identical punch sequences together on the Tag Team Champions in a fun spot. The Un-Americans isolate Goldust and he gets a mudhole stomped in him by Test. Goldust manages to tag in Booker, and the crowd pops pretty big for him. Booker whiffs on a kick that gets him a near fall. He then replaces D-Von as the black guy who does the diving headbutt in the WASSUP sequence. He continues to be the token black guy as Bubba Ray is all like “BOOKER...GET THE TABLES!” The table gets baseball slid into Booker's face by the Champions. The heels work over Booker, but he rallies out of it and plants Christian with a spinebuster. I assume the hot tag is coming to the returning Kane. I was right. Kane comes in and beats up the entire Un-Americans. The pier six brawl breaks out as everyone goes to war outside. Test hits Kane with the pump handle slam but eats a Scissors Kick from Booker. SPINAROONIE! Christian ruins the fans' fun with a reverse DDT though. Kane nearly hits Storm with a Chokeslam but Christian low blows him. He eats a Bubba Bomb before Regal knocks him outside. Goldust sets up Christian in the corner and it's time to SHATTER SOME DREAMS! Test hits Goldust with a big boot but gets a flying clothesline from Kane. He Chokeslams Storm and it's over!

Winners: Booker T, Bubba Ray Dudley, Goldust and Kane in 9:51
Really fun opening contest. The crowd was hot and frantic finish with everyone getting some shine was entertaining as hell. ***

Stephanie McMahon is giving Billy and Chuck a pep talk because if they lose to 3 Minute Warning tonight, Stephanie has to engage in some Hot Lesbian Action.

Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Ric Flair
Their feud from SummerSlam carries over into Unforgiven, but with the Intercontinental Title on the line this time around. Jericho shoulder blocks Flair down, but fails when trying to come off the top rope. Flair lights up Jericho's chest with chops and goes for the Figure Four, but Jericho blocks it. He hits a springboard dropkick and is very proud of himself. A missile dropkick follows and I find it odd that Jericho would do the same move twice in a row. Jericho applies the dreaded abdominal stretch but Flair counters with a hip lock takeover. Flair goes his corner bump but is right back on the offensive and sends Jericho over the turnbuckle and outside. Flair targets the leg and goes for the Figure Four but Jericho counters with a small package. Lionsault misses and Jericho seems to hurt his leg more. He sells it like his leg is about to fall off and a medic comes down. When Flair turns his back, Jericho gets to his feet and attacks. ITS A BY GAWD MIRACLE! He locks on the Walls of Jericho and Flair submits.

Winner and Still Intercontinental Champion: Chris Jericho in 6:16
Nothing special, but it had the good story of Jericho outsmarting the dirtiest player in the game. **

Eric Bischoff now gives a pep talk to 3 Minute Warning. For those who don't know, this team consists of the future Superhero in Training, Rosey, and Umaga! He announces that Rico will be in their corner tonight.

Ah, this is the first ever Pay-Per-View in the Staples Center. That's cool. Shaq and his son are in the front row and its' highlighted. MAD TV's Will Sasso is actually behind the announce table but they don't focus on him.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge
Edge comes out aggressively so Eddie uses that against him to start. Edge hits a very nice looking suplex for two. I'm so glad that the WWE realized that Eddie should be a face. He cheats well, obviously, but I don't think he did enough to draw good heat. He hits a tornado DDT and stomps away. He works the neck for a while. A huge right hand from out of nowhere helps Edge to turn the tide. Edge is playing the desperate face here and it works pretty well. He hits a few big moves in a row but is unable to put him away. THE SMACKDOWN SIX! I just had to throw that in there. Eddie hits a jawbreaker and goes for a hurricanrana but Edge counters into a big powerbomb that only gets a near fall. Edge goes for a Spear, Eddie dodges and Edge nearly hits the corner but stops himself. He hits the Edgecution, but, not yet being a veteran, Edge covers too close to the ropes and Eddie gets his foot on the ropes. Crowd chants for Eddie as Edge misses a missile dropkick. Eddie exposes the turnbuckle but it backfires when he gets whipped into it and Speared into it. Edge puts Eddie on the top but Eddie counters and slams Edge's face into the exposed buckle! He follows with a big sunset flip bomb and pulls the tights for good measure to win.

Winner: Eddie Guerrero in 11:55
Really good stuff from these two again. They told a good story and Edge's desperation coupled with Eddie's need to cheat was fun. ***1/2

Triple H is walking around with big gold and he enters the Raw locker room. He finds RVD, who is all “whatever and cool” instead of being nervous, so HHH calls him out. He points out Ric Flair in the locker room and says that he doesn't have things like “desire” or “determination” now. Flair gets upset but RVD backs him up and HHH leaves.

Billy and Chuck vs. 3 Minute Warning w/ Rico
The stipulation here is that if 3 Minute Warning win, Stephanie McMahon has to perform HLA. If Billy and Chuck win, Eric Bischoff has to kiss Stephanie's ass. So, it's a win-win for us guys. 3 Minute Warning don't have their awesome theme just yet. They do get the advantage early because they're much tougher than the former Tag Team Champions. They double headbutt Chuck and because they're Samoan, he might be dead. But he kicks out. A “Rico's gay” chant starts which has to be like, politically incorrect or something. Rosey misses a second rope moonsault, which impressed me and a lot of people. Billy gets the hot tag and he wails away on both opponents, hitting a dropkick and big clothesline. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER, but they're Samoans you idiot! That's like, wrestling rule #3. They no sell it and take down Billy. Chuck hits Rosey with a superkick but then eats one from Jamal. Jamal sends Billy up for a flapjack but he counters into the Fameasser! Rico enters but gets tossed out, allowing Rosey to send him into Jamal for a pop up Samoan drop to end it.

Winners: 3 Minute Warning in 6:38
So it took twice as long as three minutes. A decent little tag team match that I enjoyed, but nothing special. **

Jonathan Coachman interviews Eric Bischoff, who like every other straight male, is excited about Stephanie and lesbians. He makes three lesbians in his office chant “HLA” and, cutting to the announce table, so is Jerry Lawler.

World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
I hate when Triple H has no facial hair. In the early goings it's a battle of RVD's athleticism and care free attitude against Triple H's power and serious demeanor. RVD out wrestles Triple H at one point, causing him to regroup, so RVD takes his water bottle and totally steals HHH's taunt. You just wasted a finisher dude! We get a bit of sloppy wrestling for a moment as RVD does an impressive bridge before sweeping the leg like it's Karate Kid or something. Triple H starts to get more aggressive as he sends RVD's outside and nearly gets a countout win but RVD makes it back in. Triple H is picking apart RVD because he's the CEREBRAL ASSASSAIN! HHH gets two with the high knee. He goes to mock RVD on the top, allowing the challenger to slam him off. His rally is cut short by a sleeper hold though. He breaks out of it and both guys are down. RVD uses his educated feet to mount a comeback and hits the cartwheel moonsault for a near fall. He picks up another near fall with a kick to the mouth and seems to get frustrated. Triple H absolutely tramples the referee so of course it's time for RVD to attempt a pin. He's all like, screw it and hits a Five Star before going for the pin again like an idiot. HHH uses this time to nail a low blow. He goes to use his sledgehammer but it backfires until Ric Flair runs out. He threatens to take out HHH with it but instead levels RVD! Triple H follows with the Pedigree as Flair wakes up Earl Hebner to count the three.

Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H in 18:17
Good match. Everything made sense from HHH being methodical to RVD surprising everyone and even the referee bump made sense to lead to Flair and Hunter joining forces. The first seeds of Evolution are planted here. ***1/4

D-Lo Brown and Billy Kidman are talking about Ric Flair's heel turn when a soap opera star appears. It's an odd segment.

Women's Championship
Molly Holly (c) vs. Trish Stratus
Molly starts the match in control and Trish misses an elbow to keep her in control. Molly gets a near fall with a clothesline and slams Trish's face into the mat before tossing her outside. We continue to see a mean streak from the Champion as she throws Trish into the steel steps and guardrail. Trish gets a counter in the ring, but it again goes nowhere when Molly dropkicks her. Trish pulls her into a small package for two. Trish busts out a bulldog but Molly is able to kick out. The challenger also nails the Chick Kick but again can't win the gold. Molly goes up for the Molly Go Round, but Trish attempts her handstand hurricanrana. Molly catches her leg and gets her in the tree of woe. She goes all Chyna and does some gymnastics before bumping Trish in the corner. Trish hits another bulldog from out of nowhere and wins the belt!

Winner and New Women's Champion: Trish Stratus in 5:46
Decent stuff. Very fast paced though and didn't have much direction but we got a lot of near falls. *3/4

Jonathan Coachman interviews Trish Stratus, who is emotional about the win and clearly loves what she is doing for a living. Cutting backstage, 3 Minute Warning and Rico are enjoying the ladies, which is kind of pointless since they're all lesbians. Bischoff picks his two girls for Stephanie's HLA.

Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle
I had no idea that this was on the card. DIS GUN B GUD! This honestly stemmed from these two laughing at each other over getting Stinkfaces. Yup. Feeling out process early on as they try to out wrestle each other. A series of pinfall attempts ends in multiple near falls before Benoit tries to apply the Crossface. Angle wriggles free and catches his breath outside. Angle gets angry, sends Benoit outside and throws him into the guardrail. He applies a seated bear hug of sorts but Benoit eventually gets out. He turns the tide when Angle misses and goes shoulder first into the corner. Benoit is like a shark smelling blood as he focuses on the shoulder because PSYCHOLOGY! Angle doesn't care about that and hits a belly to belly suplex. Both men are down but when they get to their feet, Benoit hits two Germans, only to have Kurt block the third. He then hits two Germans but Benoit blocks a third and hits another German of his own. Angle counters and finally hits three straight. My goodness, eight Germans. STRAPS ARE DOWN!Benoit ducks a shot and hits a release German! Benoit goes up for the headbutt, but Angle scurries up and hits a top rope belly to belly. Angle slaps on the Ankle Lock but Benoit kicks him off. They do some tombstone reversals and Benoit wins with a shoulder breaker. He goes back to the top and hits the headbutt but can't cover in time. He gets a near fall but goes right into the Crossface! Angle puts on the Ankle Lock WHILE IN THE CROSSFACE! He ends up countering it into just the Ankle Lock, but Benoit rolls through and gets on the Crossface. Kurt reverses it back and I don't even know what to do with myself anymore. Benoit reaches the ropes so Angle pulls him back and puts him in the Crossface! Benoit gets close to the ropes, so Angle uses his foot to push the bottom rope away like a genius. Benoit counters and pins Angle for three with his feet on the ropes.

Winner: Chris Benoit in 13:55
I just witnessed a classic. Once they got their reversals going the crowd ate this up and two of the very best of all time, put on an excellent match. Their best match together up to this point. ****1/2

Brock Lesnar gets interviewed backstage, which means that Paul Heyman gets interviewed. Time for the HLA segment. If you don't remember it, Bischoff teases that the two lesbians are going to get down and dirty with Stephanie. He cuts them off and brings out a huge, ugly lesbian for Stephanie. This turns out to be Rikishi and Bischoff gets a stinkface. Stupid segment, and I didn't get my damn HLA. Like, wouldn't Bischoff know the lesbian that he hired to make out with Stephanie? So he should know that it was Rikishi.

WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. The Undertaker
The build up video for this match is pretty great and the Undisputed Title looks perfect on Brock. At the bell, they go so face to face that they basically kiss. Taker overpowers Brock and send shim flipping outside. Brock rushes in and tries to wrestle, but Taker knocks him outside again so he kicks the steps. Back inside, Brock jumps with Taker's jumping clothesline, making it look cooler. OLD SCHOOL! A Heyman distraction allows Brock to take control with some shoulder thrusts. Brock targets the ribs, but Taker fires away on him with SOUP BONES. Following a powerslam, Brock puts Undertaker in a bear hug for like five minutes. Taker fights out and they brawl outside. Heyman distracts Brian Hebner, allowing Brock to nail Taker with the title. Undertaker is busted open but isn't going down without a fight. He hits two big clotheslines and a big boot for two. Snake eyes and a second big boot gets him another near fall. The referee ends up getting bumped just before Undertaker hits a Chokeslam. Matt Hardy of all people runs out to attack The Undertaker but he just eats a Last Ride. That allows Brock to hit a stiff spinebuster for two. Undertaker fights back and goes for the Last Ride, but Brock blocks it and the referee gets knocked out again. Heyman brings a chair into play. Lesnar goes to use it but takes a big boot to the face. Taker picks up the chair and clocks Brock with it. The chair is completely bent as he absolutely nailed him. Undertaker nails a leg drop but can only get a near fall. Brock reverses the Last Ride and Undertaker counters the F5! They brawl in the corner and Hebner continues to try and stop them so Brock throws him into the corner and they continue to brawl until they call for the bell.

Winner via disqualification: The Undertaker in 20:27
Solid brawl. Could have been better but it was still entertaining. I would've liked it more if it was shorter. I didn't mind the DQ ending. **1/2

Overall: 7.5/10; Very good. I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Angle and Benoit had one of the best matches of 2002, while the main event was a decent brawl. The opener, World Title and Eddie/Edge matches were all very good and nothing on this card was bad at all. Solid follow up to an outstanding SummerSlam.