Through the Years Reviews: Survivor Series 2002

Survivor Series 2002
November 17th, 2002 – Madison Square Garden in New York, New York – Attendance: 17,930

SummerSlam 2002 is widely considered one of the best Pay-Per-Views of all time, but the other 2002 Pay-Per-View that seemingly gets universal acclaim is Survivor Series. Now, first of all, it's held in my favorite arena ever, Madison Square Garden. Second, it features the first ever Elimination Chamber match which is still such a cool concept. The other things I remember from this show include the WWE Title match between Big Show and Brock Lesnar, as well as the debut of Scott Steiner, a Hardcore Women's Title match and the Smackdown Six being featured. I won't lie, I'm very excited for this and can't wait to get started.

The intro video focuses on Paul Heyman being nervous when it comes to the Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show match. He feels that Brock may have bitten off more than he could chew with the Big Show. It then cuts to Eric Bischoff talking about his invention that is the Elimination Chamber. Ooh, the theme is “Always” by Saliva and I happen to love that song. I love that they're using the MSG side entrance too.

Six Man Elimination Tables Match
Bubba Ray Dudley, Jeff Hardy and Spike Dudley vs. 3 Minute Warning and Rico
We start with a big brawl that the faces win and Bubba press slams Pike into 3 Minute Warning. They catch him though, so Jeff leaps off of Bubba onto them in a cool spot. The Hardys and the Dudleys met in this building over two years ago in the first tables match so cool to have Jeff and Bubba together. Jeff and Bubba do a “WASSUP” variation where Jeff hits a leg drop and Bubba is all like “GETS THE TABLES!” The future S.H.I.T. Throws Spike and Jeff around before missing a spear and putting himself through the table. It has to be an offensive move so it doesn't count and he no sells the table by beating everyone up. 3 Minute Warning counter a Dudley Dog and alley oop Spike through the table. That looked like it hurt a lot. 3 Minute Warning both climb up top but get crotched leading to Poetry in Motion on one of them. Bubba gets the Bubba Bomb on the future Umaga, and goes outside to save Jeff Hardy from going through a table. Because it's MSG, Jeff Hardy climbs the crowd and, just like Royal Rumble 2000, hits a Swanton Bomb off of one of the exits and through the table to eliminate Rosey! Rico attempts to put Bubba through the table but gets crotched. Jeff hits Whisper in the Winds on Jamal before running the guardrail and falling. He ends up eating a table to the face. Jamal hits a splash off the top and to the outside to eliminate Jeff. Back inside, Jamal actually attempts to hit a top rope hurricanrana on Bubba, but it's countered into a powerbomb through it. We're down to Rico and Bubba Ray and I think I know how this one ends. 3 Minute Warning doesn't leave and keep it 3 on 1 until D-Von Dudley runs out to a huge pop! HES NOT THE REVEREND ANYMORE! He cleans house and it's time for a 3D through the table on Rico!

Winners: Bubba Ray Dudley, Jeff Hardy and Spike Dudley in 14:22
Really fun opener. The Tables were used well, there was never a dull moment and the crowd popped hard for the Dudley Boyz reunion. I enjoyed this a lot but it had some sloppy spots.***

We go to The World where Stacy Keibler is looking perfect. She talks about her PR work for Test and his Testicles. Yes, if you don't remember, Test's “fans” were known as his testicles thanks to Stacy. She introduces Saliva who perform “Always” at the World. This is the second 2002 Pay-Per-View to have them perform after WrestleMania X8. Oh, this performance is done while a video package shows promoting the show. We see highlights of the Trish/Victoria buildup as well as the ridiculous Smackdown Tag Team Title Triple Threat match. Then it focuses on the two World Title matches. So yea, this card is stacked.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
Jamie Noble (c) w/ Nidia vs. Billy Kidman
Can I just say that I LOVE the shine that the Cruiserweight Title got in 2002? It's been on nearly every Pay-Per-View, especially since Jamie Noble won it at King of the Ring. Side note, this was the debut of Kidman's “You Can Run” theme music. Quick start involves Kidman picking up numerous near falls. Noble hits a sweet neckbreaker as Michael Cole notes that he's the longest reigning Champion in the WWE. Noble pulls out a suicide dive, which he doesn't do that often. He goes to the top again for a cross body but Kidman meets him with a pretty dropkick. Kidman gets another round of “oohs” from the crowd with a TKO/Go to Sleep combo if you will. Noble fires back with the falcon arrow, so these guys are trying to bring it for sure. Kidman hits another big facebuster and goes up for the SSP, but Nidia pulls Noble out of harm's way. Kidman decides to hit a splash anyway onto him outside. Slingshot leg drop back in from Kidman earns him two and Nidia gets involved by grabbing his leg. Noble accidentally runs into her and Kidman hits the Sky High, I THINK YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE, for a near fall. A series of counters finishes when Noble counters a backslide into the Tiger Bomb, but only gets two. They fight to the top and Kidman hits a top rope sitout DDT but only gets two! Are you serious? Noble DDTs Kidman from the top and again can only get two. My goodness. Again he tries the SSP but Nidia distracts him. The two guys fight up top again and Kidman knocks him off before hitting the Shooting Star Press to win.

Winner and New WWE Cruiserweight Champion: Billy Kidman in 7:29
Well that was something. I didn't expect to see all of those big moves and near falls. They went out and tried to steal the show as this show is off to a very strong start. Fun spotfest.***1/4

Kurt Angle is watching backstage and says that if BILLY FREAKIN KIDMAN can win a title tonight, then they should have no problem if they don't get in each other's way. They argue a bit but make up and it ends with a hug. Chris Jericho is shown preparing for the main event. Then Victoria is shown talking to a mirror and asking who the prettiest Diva is. Apparently, the mirror said Trish Stratus so Victoria freaks out and tears up a Trish cardboard cutout that's in her locker room for some reason.

WWE Women's Championship Hardcore Match
Trish Stratus (c) vs. Victoria
They have built a great feud on Victoria's jealously from their time as fitness models because Trish got all the chances and she didn't. Victoria attacks at the start and grabs the first weapon, which is a broom. THAT WITCH! Trish ducks and leaps over the first two shots but gets choked by it anyway. Trish fires back with a trash can lid, but Victoria shrugs it off and connects with a front flip leg drop. Impressive stuff. She sets up a trash can in the corner, but it backfires when Trish slingshots her into it. Trish starts whipping Victoria like A GOVERNMENT MULE with a kendo stick. Victoria has a bloody nose as he blocks Trish's handstand hurricanrana, only to get hit with a trash can lid twice more. These two are not holding back at all. Victoria gets a mirror from outside and has to spit out blood. Chick Kick from out of nowhere gets a near fall. They botch a bulldog in the corner which sucks because they've been doing so well. Victoria gets a fire extinguisher that she struggles to get to work and sprays Trish. Once inside, a snap suplex earns her the surprising win.

Winner and New WWE Women's Champion: Victoria in 7:01
Despite the botch near the end, these two went out and got brutal with each other. It helped to solidify Trish as a badass chick and made Victoria legit with the title win. ***

Jonathan Coachman, future stooge of Eric Bischoff, interviews him about the Elimination Chamber. He brags about how he continues to outdo Stephanie McMahon. Big Show interrupts to tell him that trading him was a mistake because he's going to win the WWE Title. Brock's back, which is bigger than most people is shown. Paul Heyman clutches the WWE Championship because he's worried about the Big Show. I guess it's time for the Brock face turn.

WWE Championship
Brock Lesnar (c) w/ Paul Heyman vs. Big Show
WELP. HERE COMES THE PAIN. God, the Undisputed Title looks so perfect on Brock Lesnar. He gets right in the face of Big Show to start and pushes him. Brock was becoming very popular, very quickly. Loud “Let's Go Lesnar” chants. The crowd is HOT as he tackles Show to the mat and they brawl outside. Show targets the injured ribs and throws Brock into the post. Back inside, Brock fights back with a weak looking back suplex but he makes up for it with a big German suplex. Show counters the F5 with some knees and the referee ends up getting hit. Brock hits an overhead belly to belly and my god that man is strong. Heyman tosses in a steel chair and Lesnar whacks Show with it. Brock hits the F5 and holds Show up for a good amount of time. That was one of the most impressive shows of strength ever. A new referee runs out and counts but Heyman pulls him out of the ring. Brock is pissed. He chases Heyman, which leads to Show hitting him with the chair a few times before Chokeslamming him on it to become the Champion.

Winner and New WWE Champion: Big Show in 4:19
The best five minutes that we were going to get with these two. Show didn't do bad, Brock looked like a total badass and the match made sense. Except for the Heyman turn, which was dumb. **3/4

Big Show and Paul Heyman run into a limo and escape the arena. Seriously, the only reason I see this happening was to have Brock Lesnar run as a face. However, Champion Big Show doesn't excite me.

WWE Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Match
Edge and Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle vs. Los Guerreros
DIS GUN BE GUD! I would like to point out that there's an hour and a half left on this show and only two matches. Benoit and Mysterio kick things off and Benoit tears into him with some hard ass chops. A few tags happen and the Guerreros are enjoying just standing on the apron, so Angle tags in Chavo. Edge and Mysterio work him over and get a near fall with a splash. Chavo flapjacks Rey into another stratosphere before Eddie gets the tag. Rey and him do some good old late 90's WCW cruiserweight stuff. Because Rey is practically a midget, he hurts his head on the top rope when running them. Angle tosses Rey up and I think he was supposed to land on the top, but he slips and falls hard. Angle and Benoit now isolate Rey and beat him up for a while. Los Guerreros are genius because they are getting as little involved as possible. Both Angle and Rey need tags, and they go for the Guerreros but Eddie and Chavo back off the apron. Edge hits Angle with a belly to belly that, while impressive, can't top Brock's to Show earlier. Edge goes to Spear Angle, who counters with a drop toe hold. He locks on the Ankle Lock while Benoit has the Crossface in. SWEET JESUS HOW DIDN'T HE TAP? Rey breaks it up. As Benoit does rolling Germans to Edge, Eddie hits him with a sunset flip and it's like a double near fall. Business has picked up for sure. Eddie hits a Frog Splash on Edge but his counter is broken up by a headbutt from Benoit. Eddie is in the Ankle Lock, while Edge is in the Crossface, so Chavo hits Benoit with the belt. Angle takes it from him and Benoit sees him with the belt and they get into a shoving match. Benoit ends up eating a Spear and they're eliminated! Angle and Benoit are both machines and they're upset so they beat up everyone in the match except Eddie, who is outside. Los Guerreros, being the fresh team, isolate Edge for a while. He hits a double flapjack and I have to commend how good Edge was at playing the underdog babyface. Hot tag to Rey who does stuff too fast for me to type out in full. Just know it's fun. Edge Spears Chavo into Eddie, who then gets dropkicked. Eddie perched up top as Edge catapults Rey onto his shoulder and he hits a hurricanrana for two. 619 connects but the referee is telling Edge to leave, opening the door for Chavo. He LIES he CHEATS he STEALS and he hits Rey with a tag title. Eddie applies the El Paso Lasso and Rey taps.

Winners and New WWE Tag Team Champions: Los Guerreros in 19:25
As has been the case since the inception of those belts, the WWE Tag Team Titles are put up in yet another great match. The Smackdown Six are on a roll and it continues here. A good showing of how tag team wrestling should be done. ****1/4

Christopher Nowinski comes out instead of the start of the Elimination Chamber. I swear, this dude had the most potential of any of the early Tough Enough participants. He disses New Yorkers and their sports team before Matt Hardy VERSION 1 joins us. Matt keeps the room at a toasty 75 degrees and he only drinks low fat milk. He teases being a face by saying New Yorkers aren't stupid, but then classifies them as losers because the arena isn't overflowing with Mattitude. The Version 1 character was golden in my eyes. They continue to debate if New York is full of losers or stupid people until a familiar siren is heard. The place absolute goes NUTS for the debut of SCOTT STEINER. This pop doesn't get talked about as much as it should, probably because his WWE run was terrible, but this was the right place to debut him. He suplexes both guys around the ring and the place continues to go nuts. Jim Ross pisses me off throughout this by calling him the “Big Booty Daddy”, it's the “Big Bad Booty Daddy.” 

Shawn Michaels and his stupid haircut are interviewed by Terri Runnels but it's interrupted by RNN BREAKING NEWS! I totally loved this. Randy Orton and his own goofy haircut informs us of where to e-mail his get well cards to and he gives us a dumb smile. We then get the video package for the Elimination Chamber to the tune of “Always” by Saliva. It's awesome. Triple H gets interviewed and puts over the match.

This show seems to be stalling as now Eric Bischoff comes out and enters the Elimination Chamber. I do have to admit the Chamber is a badass looking structure. His promo goes over the rules and puts over the match. 

World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber
Triple H (c) vs. Booker T vs. Chris Jericho vs. Kane vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Shawn Michaels
Jericho's “King of my World” theme is performed at The World by Saliva and he's one half of the World Tag Team Champions here. Speaking of themes, Kane's “Slow Chemical” is still one of my all time favorite entrance songs. RVD and Triple H start things off and RVD counters a backdrop that sends HHH onto the steel outside. You would think that HHH would figure out that he shouldn't try to Pedigree someone who is right next to the ropes. RVD throws the Champion into the steel so many times that the door comes unlatched. It's been like three minutes and the Game is bleeding. RVD hits a monkey flip and rolling thunder onto the steel. RVD climbs on top of Jericho's chamber, so Jericho decides to be a douche and he pulls his leg from inside. This doesn't help Hunter, who is still getting worked over by RVD when five minutes hits and Jericho enters. He ducks a cross body from RVD, who latches onto the cage in a Spider-Man like move, before turning and hitting a cross body anyway. Fun spot. Shortly after, Jericho and HHH begin to double team RVD. Van Dam eventually stops this by front flipping over Jericho and he's been the MVP of the match so far.

Booker T comes in next, cleans house and it's SPINAROONIE time. He gets into it for a bit with his future tag team partner, RVD. RVD calls for the Five Star on Triple H, but climbs atop a chamber. He nails it and, if memory serves me right, nearly kills Triple H because he injures his throat badly. Earl Hebner throws up the “x” while Booker eliminates RVD with a missile dropkick at 13:40. Kane comes in at the fifteen minute mark and, being the fresh monster, feeds on his opposition. Kane throws Jericho through the bulletproof glass in a spot that gets a big reaction from the crowd. At the 17:43 mark, Booker T is eliminated after a chokeslam, followed by a Lionsault. Jericho is busted open as Kane pounds away. Kane misses a big elbow drop and now the bloodied pairing of Jericho and HHH try to eliminate him. Shawn Michaels enters to a big pop for his second match in four years. He comes in hot and is the only real fan favorite left. I mean, Kane is popular, but the crowd was more into Booker and RVD than him. Kane chokeslams all three guys and signals that it's over. His Tombstone to HHH is countered and he's pushed into Sweet Chin Music from HBK. Kane sits up like a beast though, but is put down with a Pedigree and Lionsault at 22:53.

Jericho throws Shawn into the cage a bit and the heels are working together against him. Michaels ends up bleeding as well but he's fighting back hard. He goes to piledriver Jericho but it's reversed into a back drop. Back inside, Shawn hits HHH with a flying forearm and nips up, only to be bulldogged down by Jericho. He hits the Lionsault but Shawn kicks out! Shawn whips out a moonsault of his own on Jericho for two. Talk about being ready to be back in the ring. Jericho and HHH end up fighting and HHH winds up in the Walls of Jericho. DX lives because Shawn saves HHH with Sweet Chin Music and pins Jericho to get rid of him at 30:43. I feel that Triple H and HBK being the last two was way too telegraphed. It makes sense from a story perspective though and it's worth it after their SummerSlam classic. They fight outside and HHH slingshots Shawn through the glass of another Chamber. He honestly looks like he might be dead. They take a while to get in the ring so Shawn is able to kick out. Shawn's comeback is stopped by the DEADED knee from HHH. He comes back anyway and climbs to the top of a Chamber. He hits en elbow off of it and the crowd can sense the end is near. Shawn starts to tune up the band, and I have to do a side bar here because I always wondered why nobody ever heard this coming. Anyway, HHH catches the foot and nails the Pedigree. He covers and only gets two, so he tries another Pedigree but gets back body dropped. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music and covers to win for an enormous pop!

Winner and New World Heavyweight Champion: Shawn Michaels in 39:21
The first Elimination Chamber would not be the best but it was damn good. Great even. Everybody got to do their part. RVD had cool spots, Booker did his Spinaroonie and got an elimination, Kane looked like a beast, Jericho was his usual self, HHH was the iron man and Shawn had the special moment. Really good. ****

Shawn gets the confetti filled celebration and it's well earned.

Overall: 9/10; Incredible. I remembered how great SummerSlam was but forgot how good Survivor Series was. The worst rating I gave out was just under three stars. Every single match was at the very least fun and we got all new Champions which is always intriguing. Seriously, one of the better shows I've reviewed and one of the best Survivor Series Pay-Per-Views.

Random Network Reviews: Hog Wild '96

WCW Hog Wild
8/10/1996 – Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota – Attendance: 5,000

I'm just going to get this out the way. I expect this to be bad. Like really bad. Yes, this was right after the formation of the nWo so that was still fresh in our minds but shows in Sturgis are usually bad and part of it is because the crowd is bad. The fans don't really even care for wrestling, it's free and they just rev their motorcycles non-stop. This is the only Hog Wild Pay-Per-View ever as it was changed to Road Wild the following year. Last note, I believe that this is a 16 match card. Yes, 16. Eight of them aired on WCW Saturday Night because this was a Saturday night Pay-Per-View. I have to review sixteen WCW matches, someone help me.

The intro video package talks about how great Sturgis is and shows some WCW guys riding around on motorcycles. This had to stem from Eric Bischoff's obsession with motorcycles. Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes are on commentary and Schiavone is showing off his arm tattoo. Also, it looks like the WWE Network only shows the eight matches that aired on Pay-Per-View for this show and not the eight that aired on TBS' Saturday Night program. I'm happy about that.

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Rey Mysterio Jr. (c) vs. The Ultimo Dragon w/ Sonny Ono
Mike Tenay joins the commentary booth simply because the existing team has NO CLUE how to call a match like this. They even basically admit it. The crowd surprisingly react to an early exchange between the two. Heenan brings up the fact that Rey isn't 100% because he got thrown into a trailer like a dart by Kevin Nash recently. The fans chant “USA” at Ultimo Dragon which is dumb when both competitors are foreign. We get an impressive array of athleticism as they try to one up each other but the crowd is silent. Dragon kicks Rey all over and ends the flurry with a dropkick. He hits a running powerbomb but doesn't go for the cover and instead applies a figure four variation. Mysterio escapes and takes a breather outside but once he comes in, Dragon locks on a torture rack/airplane spin and drops down with it. He goes for the surfboard but Rey gets out and hits a springboard dropkick. A baseball slides follows and then a plancha that the camera misses. Now, the ring is on a pedestal and Dragon was on the floor so this was a bigger plancha than you'd normally see. Back inside, he leaps off the top into a hurricanrana but Dragon fights back with a big dropkick. He hits a baseball slide variation, skins the cat back in and nails a plancha back out. When they get inside, Dragon hits a bridging German for two and an Asai moonsault. He decides not to cover and connects with a top rope moonsault but Rey kicks out! He counters Dragon's running powerbomb and hits a top rope hurricanrana to keep the gold.

Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio Jr. in 11:35
Good opener despite the crowd not being very big on it. They did their best to overcome the fans and I thought it was good. ***3/4

Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene discusses the WCW Hotline while wearing a dumb hat and sleeveless jean jacket. 1-900-909-9900! Tony Schiavone tries to discuss how cool Sturgis is but actually calls the people there odd. Good going.

The Ice Train vs. Scott Norton
The epic breakup and rivalry of the decorated tag team known as Fire and Ice comes to a head tonight! Ice Train has his shoulder HEAVILY taped. Seriously, it's more tape than I've ever seen for an injury. Norton wisely targets that and things spill to the outside. Norton rams Train's shoulder into the post and they go right back inside. Train powers up for a slam but it obviously pains him greatly. Norton targets the shoulder some more until Train chops him a few times. Norton shrugs that off and goes back to the shoulder. Train busts out a powerslam as Norton comes off the ropes but Norton hits a single arm DDT and applies an ARMBAR forcing Train to submit.

Winner: Scott Norton in 5:05
Rather boring but the focus on the shoulder made a lot of sense and I appreciate that. *1/2

A clip is shown of a Ric Flair interview where he discusses how upset he is that Arn Anderson was injured at the hands of the nWo. Mind you, Double A wrestled on the Saturday Night portion of this show before the Pay-Per-View aired. So yea. More shots of Sturgis are shown before we get a plug of the WCW Hog Wild merchandise. $89.95 for a jean jacket that says Hog Wild on the back. Who would spend $90 on this?

Battle of the Bikes
Bull Nakano w/ Sonny Ono vs. Madusa
First of all, I saw this in 1994 in the WWF. Second, what the hell is a “Battle of the Bikes”? This is what Madusa left the WWF for. Nakano attacks before the match begins with a nunchuck. Seriously, Dusty Rhodes says “nunchuck” like five times and it's hilarious each time. More “USA” chants though it makes more sense now since Madusa is in stars and stripes. Madusa bridges out of a pin nicely and gets a big pop for some clotheslines. Nakano ends up putting Madusa in the Scorpion Cross lock, which is awesome, and it's so cool that Paige does this 18 years later. She doesn't do it well though as it's only for like three seconds. Madusa ends up hitting a hurricanrana, which gets another pop and a spinning heel kick. She goes for another but eats a big clothesline. Madusa hits a German for two but then Nakano hits one and Madusa gets counted down for three it seems. The referee doesn't call for the bell but Ono grabs a sledgehammer and starts to destroy Madusa's motorcycle. 

Winner: Bull Nakano in 5:25
I guess Bull won. They tried and the crowd was actually into it. **

Oh, the official raised Madusa's hand after the match. So she won somehow? Classic WCW.

Chris Benoit w/ Miss Elizabeth and Woman vs. Dean Malenko
Miss Elizabeth's WCW run featured some of her hottest looks. Heenan seriously states that the current Four Horsemen, which includes Mongo, is the best Horsemen ever. I'm done with WCW commentary. The early portions here have a feeling out process highlighted by a Malenko stalling suplex. Benoit viciously attacks Dean's neck for a bit before lighting his chest up with some chops. They trade near falls and Benoit impressively bridges up before more quick near falls and Malenko bridges out. They do some very solid wrestling holds but the crowd is not feeling it. Benoit always had one of the best snap suplexes in wrestling and he uses it here. Heenan continues to make fun of the people that you'd find at Sturgis. Malenko connects with a tombstone as The Undertaker gets furious watching this. Who am I kidding? He's not watching. He hits a cross body on Benoit that sends both men to the mat outside. After about an eight count, they get in and Benoit hits a big superplex. Malenko fires back with an absolutely gorgeous release German suplex for two. Shortly after, Benoit hits a German of his own for two as the announcers informs us that there's five minutes remaining in the time limit. He locks on the LionTamer basically before he gets a near fall with a very impressive roll up. Malenko gets a near fall with another roll up and I've seen like ten of those in the past few minutes. A powerbomb from Benoit couldn't put him away either as one minute remains. Benoit goes up top but Malenko meets him and hits a release second rope suplex but again Benoit kicks out. Time expires so they decide to do a five minute overtime and the crowd doesn't seem too excited for it. Benoit gets yet another close call with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER in the corner and both guys are down. Benoit applies a figure four type move as the five minute extension also runs out of time! This crowd boos another five minutes because they don't care about wrestling. Heenan tries to play off the boos but we know what's going on. Malenko with a dragon screw but Benoit comes back with a nice dragon suplex. Benoit misses a dropkick so Malenko locks on the Texas Cloverleaf! Woman intervenes to distract Malenko which allows Benoit to win with a rollup.

Winner: Chris Benoit in 26:55
I can't believe there was a time where WCW would allow Benoit and Malenko to go to double overtime and get nearly thirty minutes. However, the cheap finish hurt it as it's classic WCW.****

WCW World Tag Team Championship
Harlem Heat (c) w/ Sherri and Colonel Parker vs. The Steiner Brothers
The STEINERLINE song is just absolute trash. While I was never a big fan of either team, they're both amongst the best of the 90's and Scott and Booker went on to become top players for WCW. For some reason, the fans decide to rev up their bikes and be very loud, which upsets Harlem Heat. Scott and Booker start and Scott nearly immediately plants him with a tiger suplex before he tosses Stevie Ray, causing the Champions to regroup. Back inside, Scott ducks an axe kick and hits a gorilla press slam. The crowd is totally into the Steiners more than anyone else on the card so far. Stevie Ray tries his hand but fails and once Scott tags in Rick, I lose some interest. Rick hits a suplex despite Booker's attempt to block it. So it looks like it's time for Rick to become the face in peril as Stevie Ray applies a dreaded rest hold. It starts as a nerve hold but turns into a headlock. Scott gets the hot tag and hits some dropkicks before putting on an STF. I've never seen him do that. Heenan won't shut up about how into the show the crowd is, which besides this match, is untrue. While another rest hold is applied, Schiavone continues the lying by calling WCW the worldwide leader in pay-per-views. SPINAROONIE! Shortly after, with Stevie and Rick outside, Parker tries to throw powder in the eyes of Scott but misses and hits Booker. ITS OKAY because he hits Scott with his cane and the champions retain.

Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat in 17:53
Decent tag team match but could've been better. Both teams disappointed me. **1/2

The fans throw garbage because they hated Harlem Heat once they saw them and I can only assume it's because their black. I could be wrong though. We get a recap of the Sturgis rally so far. It's lame.

WCW United States Championship
Ric Flair (c) w/ Miss Elizabeth and Woman vs. Eddie Guerrero
Two of the greatest of all time? I'm all for this. Bobby Heenan says that Guerrero has no chance because he's not in Flair's league. As the bell rings, Flair tells a girl in the front row that after this, it will be him and her. Flair and Eddie get into a shoving match and every Eddie push sends Ric to the mat. He gets mad and shoves the referee instead. The same thing happens when slap each other, causing Flair to take a breather outside. Eddie applies a headlock in the ring but Flair counters it into multiple near falls. He slams Eddie down by the hair, but Eddie pops right back up. It gets extremely dark for a moment as Flair chops Eddie down. Flair takes his signature bump in the corner and Eddie dropkicks him off the apron. Eddie has looked like a million bucks so far. Flair begs Eddie to stop, because he's Flair and that's what he does but Eddie chops him until he walks out and falls. Being the dirtiest player in the game, Flair pokes Eddie in the eyes and hits a low blow. WOO! He blocks a sunset flip but ends up taking a drop toe hold. Eddie has the balls to apply a Figure Four which surprised me. Flair gets out but because Eddie is in control, he struts a bit. Flair goes up top, which never works, and gets slammed to the mat for a near fall. As Eddie tries to bring Flair down for a pin, Flair ends up mooning the crowd with his white ass. Eddie pokes Flair in the eyes because HE LIES, HE CHEATS, HE STEALS. He actually hits the Frog Splash but hurts his knee and can't make the cover. The Nature Boy is like a shark smelling blood as he instantly applies the Figure Four with extra leverage from Woman. Eddie's shoulders get pinned to the mat for three.

Winner and Still WCW United States Champion: Ric Flair in 14:14
Very good match. Flair let Eddie get in all of the offense and a rookie mistake of the high risk move ended up costing him. ***3/4

We got to Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene who is with the WCW Champion, The Giant and his manager Jimmy Hart. They talk about how The Giant was a huge Hogan fan who will avenge all Hulkamaniacs tonight. Wasn't he the one that came with the Dungeon of Doom to destroy Hogan?

Lex Luger and Sting vs. The Outsiders
This match stemmed from the infamous six man tag at Bash at the Beach where the nWo formed officially. Because the Outsiders are cool, they decided that Hall will start with a game of rock, paper, scissors. Hall holds serve early on until Luger hits a hip toss and scoop slam. I feel like Luger has the most basic moveset in wrestling. Like, he learned the basics and was just like “I'm good” and stopped there. Big Sexy gets the tag as Luger does about a hundred titty flexes. Nash wants Sting, who obliges. Sting fails to slam Nash so he decides to just fire away with punches and gets the slam after a thumb to the eyes. Despite this, the heels end up working over Sting in the corner for a while. Hall hits a fallaway slam and gets a near fall. The Outsiders are not only beating on Sting, but they're slapping him around and trying to humiliate him. It's actually rather boring to be honest. Sting finally makes the hot tag to Luger who hits a clothesline with THAT DAMN LOADED FOREARM! He fires away on Hall in the corner while Sting hits Nash with the Stinger Splash. Luger tries the Torture Rack and Nick Patrick gets hit. Hall ends up covering Luger and Patrick gives a bit of a fast count.

Winner: The Outsiders in 14:36
Kind of boring. It followed the tag formula like you'd expect, but something about it just didn't click. All four guys seemed to be going through the motions. *3/4

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
The Giant (c) w/ Jimmy Hart vs. “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan
Bobby Heenan says that he always knew Hogan was scum, which is pretty accurate since he hated him during their WWF run kayfabe wise. The bell rings and Hogan is stalling by walking around the ring and up the aisle. I feel like a good majority of this match will be stalling. He gets in the ring and can't overpower the Giant so he stalls some more. We get a VERY long test of strength, with both guys getting the advantage at different times until Giant wins. Hogan ends up working the arm in another boring sequence. I swear this is a never ending wristlock. Giant finally fights out and knocks Hogan outside. They fight outside but it's not much better and when get get inside Giant whips Hogan into opposite corners and he hits so soft you wouldn't believe it. Hogan ends up with the upper hand but the Giant hulks up on him! We're talking big boot and everything. He signals for the Chokeslam but here comes Scott Hall. He climbs to the top like an idiot and gets slammed down before eating a Chokeslam. Nash is out but also gets stopped by Giant. Hogan lays out the Giant with the World Title and wins it.

Winner and New WCW World Heavyweight Champion: “Hollywood” Hulk Hogan in 14:56
Whoever laid this match out isn't very good at his job. This was boring and did the Giant no favors. Worst match of the show. *

Nobody from WCW shows up to assist as two guys brings out a cake and the Booty Man, also known as Brutus Beefcake is with them. He has an nWo shirt and the Booty Man is a stupid name. The announcers sell Booty Man's betrayal like this is the end of WCW because he's gone. Hogan cuts a promo and says Booty Man without cracking a smile so that's the best acting he's ever done. The cake is for Hogan's birthday and Booty Man congratulates him. Mind you, the dominant Giant character is laid out from ONE SINGLE BELT SHOT still. I've seen mid carders get up from that quicker. Hogan says that he loves the Booty Man, which still makes me laugh, but he's not nWo, so they beat him up. If Giant is still down from the belt shot then Booty Man might be dead after he gets one too. In an iconic moment, Hogan spray paints nWo on the title. They exit to close the show and yes, The Giant is STILL KNOCKED OUT. 

Overall: 7/10; Good. I always split WCW into two time frames. Before and after the nWo and this show was a precursor of things to come. Most Pay-Per-Views after the nWo featured a good undercard and a poor main event scene. Here you had three really good to great matches in Mysterio/Dragon, Benoit/Malenko and Flair/Guerrero. There was some crap like the WCW Title match but this was still actually an enjoyable show and I did not expect that. My next “Random Network Review” looks like it will be Halloween Havoc '94!

Tuesday Night Network Report 9-23-14

Oh my goodness, SLATERGATOR has a mashed up theme song now! They came out for tag team wrestling after Adam Rose and his bunny were on commentary. Also, one of his rosebuds totally looked like Alicia Fox. SLATERGATOR's entrance video features their floating heads spinning and it's glorious. They would meet Los Matadores in a quick little opener. Primo and Epico won after Rose and Bunny distracted Slater and the Gator. Could've used a better opener.

Mark Henry came out to cut a promo about how sad he is that he lost to Rusev. He's even more upset, and has a written statement, saying that because he lost, all of a sudden he isn't the fan's boy anymore. Big Show comes out and says "you're still my boy", they hug and they leave as huge brothers. I guess this is leading to Show/Rusev next? We get a recap of John Cena/Brock Lesnar from Night of Champions before AJ Lee joins us for commentary. Paige meets Naomi next and Paige's new gear is a thing of beauty. The glove, the attire, the colors, everything. Paige wins a good Divas match and, after the match, AJ Lee strikes her with the Divas Title. 

The beautiful Renee Young interviews the Usos because they will get a Tag Team Title rematch on Smackdown, which should be fun. Kofi Kingston was out next to face Bo Dallas. Again, we only got about two minutes and Kingston wins for some reason. I honestly don't understand why Kofi won here as he's going nowhere fast, while Bo is in an angle. The show closes with an episode of MizTV featuring Dean Ambrose as a guest. Two things stuck about this. One was Dean's answer for how he escaped the room on Raw, which was "there was a back door." Hilariously simple. The second thing was how incredible Damien Mizdow is. He's perfect and words can't express how much I enjoy him. Ambrose lays out both guys to close the show. Entertaining segment for sure.

Wrestling wise, this was a weak episode of Main Event. There were three matches for a total of about less than ten minutes. The Mark Henry segment could've been saved for Smackdown, I'm sure instead, we'll have to sit through 40 minutes of Raw recaps. Still, the MizTV segment was fantastic fun. 5/10. The Monday Night War episode tonight was about ECW being a huge part of the Wars with their style and talent heavily influencing WCW and WWE. It was another entertaining episode, but this series continues to give me no new information and be more about profiling things that happened during the Wars, while throwing in ratings talking and such last minute.

Lastly, the Tuesday Night Network run ended with another episode of Countdown. This one was focused on High Flyers. Number ten was Seth Rollins, which I liked. Nine would be Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and it's fun to see Chris Jericho mark out over him. Sabu comes in at eight, which I didn't expect. If we had a top botchers list, he's a shoe in for top three. At seven comes Eddie Guerrero and the highlight of this is CM Punk's extremely bold statement that Eddie is the best wrestler of all time. Better than himself, Ric Flair and everyone else. Six is Jimmy Snuka which you'd expect. Five is Rob Van Dam, and it's pretty funny how they say he gets "higher" than everyone else. Also, Joey Styles' talk about RVD's shrugs is classic. At four, John Morrison comes in and I think this is WAY too high for him. We get an honorable mention for Shane McMahon which I absolutely love. I miss Shane. Three is Lita, and I totally respect this. She was one of a kind. At two is Jeff Hardy and I would've put him number one on this list. I never thought I'd think this, but I miss Jeff Hardy. One is Rey Mysterio, which was true until like, 2005. Then he started to do less high flying. 

All in all though, a fun list that wasn't far off from the truth and an enjoyable night on the Network.

Raw Report 9-22-14

Raw opens in the best way possible, as Dean Ambrose comes down and recaps getting his stomped on through cinder blocks. He decides to try and takeover the show, like he's NXT or something, by staging a sit down strike until the Authority shows up. John Cena's music hits so he's either the wrong person to show up or he's joined the Authority. He wants his hands on Seth and Dean is all, "That's my man!" Seriously though, Dean gets snippy with him which was interesting for sure. The Corporation comes out saying Seth isn't going to fight either of them so Cena and Ambrose run out and brawl with the Authority. Things even go backstage and Seth Rollins uses his Grand Theft Auto skills and steals a car to escape. Chaotic start to say the least.

Triple H tells Kane that he'll be facing Dean Ambrose tonight and announces everyone's favorite match, John Cena vs. Randy Orton. Yay! Orton says that Seth Rollins needs to stop starting fire that they have to put out for him. The opening contest is an Intercontinental Title rematch from Night of Champions. Damien Mizdow continues to be amazing with a replica Intercontinental Title. This match was a vast improvement on the one from Night of Champions. As Miz tried to win with a handful of tights again, Dolph countered with his own tights pulling rollup to win back the belt. I didn't expect that and I'm surprised at this result. I don't know why they're flip flopping the belt so much.

Match three in the series between Bo Dallas and Jack Swagger is next, but I prefer this to the normal series of nonsense rematches because there is actually a feud here. Regardless, their chemistry isn't great and this was another ho hum contest between them. Swagger wins to take a 2-1 series lead. Total Divas showcase follows as Summer Rae meets Natalya, and if you watch Total Divas, you know that Natalya is incredibly catty and dislikes Summer Rae for literally, no reason. They try to paint Summer as the heel but it doesn't look that way and Natalya seems like a pretty terribly person. She wins here though. After a fun start, this show has gone a bit downhill.

We get our usual recaps of things that have recently happened before moving into Kane vs. Dean Ambrose. I know that Randy Orton has been booked poorly since his heel turn but at least he's not the corporate whipping boy that Kane is. It's understandable with Kane as he's over 40 years old and has slowed down considerably. This wasn't awful and Ambrose was on the verge of victory until Seth Rollins returned to cause the disqualification. Ambrose retaliates and takes down Seth until Kane gets involved. The Authority do their thing, but Ambrose is back up by the end and daring them to return.

Triple H tells Seth Rollins the same thing Randy Orton said earlier, about not starting fires. They are cut off by Dean Ambrose attacking Seth in the office. JAMIE NOBLE BOY is part of the crew who stops him and they go to eject him but Stephanie McMahon, being the observant one, notices that the people they kick out never stay out so they lock him in a room with security. It worked on Paul Heyman last week. And, just like last week, we get a six man tag pitting the new Tag Team Champions and Cesaro against Sheamus and the Usos. Just like last week too, it's a fun match and the faces win. #RematchCity

Seth Rollins thanks Randy Orton for facing John Cena tonight and, as a token of his appreciation, promises a gift for Orton tonight. This won't go well. Sad Mark Henry comes out to apologize to America for losing to Rusev. Just ask Bo Dallas, you let down like 300 million people or something. Lana and her legs, oh and Rusev, come out and mock Mark Henry and America. I'll give you three guesses as to what happens next. If you guessed rematch, then you are correct. Rusev locks on the accolade and this ends via ref stoppage, which is probably how it should've ended at the Pay-Per-View instead of having Henry tap out. Swagger didn't even submit.

So Adam Rose teams with the Bunny here. Yes, I said that. They face the awesome team of SLATERGATOR! Unfortunately, this goes as you'd expect because the Bunny's team wins and JBL constantly plugs #bunnymania by saying it won't trend. Reverse psychology eh WWE? Sadly, it probably worked. Nikki Bella shows up to talk, which means this won't be a good segment. She blames Brie Bella's pre-match interview for her loss in the Divas Title match at Night of Champions. It would've been better if, you know, Brie actually cost her the match. She calls Brie and her awful music which leads to a Bella brawl. Brie tries to apply the Yes Lock even. AJ Lee, with her Divas Title, comes out for a match with Nikki. Paige is on commentary and AJ wins with the Black Widow.

I have no clue what the above move is supposed to be. During the break, a giant black box is brought to ringside. Anyone who doesn't expect Dean Ambrose to be under it is lost. John Cena and Randy Orton meet for the 4,522,120th time and they pretty much just go through the motions for the entire contest. Of course we get a DQ finish as Seth Rollins and Kane cut things off during the STF. The Authority beat down on Cena and go to reveal the gift, and guess what? It's Dean Ambrose! He beats up Seth Rollins and stands tall, along with Cena, to close this edition of Raw.

This was better than recent Raws, and having Dean Ambrose back is probably a big part of that. It still wasn't great as the only really good match was Dolph Ziggler/Miz. Everything else was relatively basic. I'd give it a 6.5/10 and say that it at least intrigued me.

Night of Champions Review

As I stated yesterday, I had to start this show about an hour and fifteen minutes late, so I actually got an alert on my phone spoiling the outcome of the opener. I decided to not look at my phone until after the show. The WWE Tag Team Title match opened the show and this was a good, fun choice. These are the two best tag teams in the WWE and they showed why. They've performed better, but the leg work went with the prior story and both teams worked hard. After about 13 minutes, Stardust rolled up an Uso to end their near seven month reign. My only real gripe is that the change should've been more definitive. The Usos did a fantastic job of selling how much it hurt to lose the straps. ***1/4

The United States Championship match came up next. Sheamus showed up with a longer beard, which is a look that suits him. Much like their match at Payback, I expected this to be a hard hitting battle and that's exactly what it was. The build up to this was lacking but they went out and decided to just beat the crap out of each other, which is exactly what these two should do. Seeing Cesaro be the first man to counter the ten Beats of whatever and pull out a variation of the Alpamare Waterslide to reverse the Brogue Kick was awesome. Sheamus would win in just over 13 minutes in what would turn out to be the match of the night. I hope we get a dominant Cesaro over the new few weeks and he earns a badass rematch. ***3/4

Stunt Doubles galore as The Miz and Dolph Ziggler competed for the Intercontinental Championship next. For some reason, Florida Georgia Line was out on commentary and hearing JBL just reel off their accomplishments, which he had to repeat since there aren't that many, was annoying and took away from the match. Speaking of the match, it wasn't the greatest. While these guys have chemistry, this didn't work as well as their SummerSlam match and the Miz won with a cheap rollup in 9 minutes. I didn't like that we got another rollup win and I hate that the title is a hot potato. I need Bad News Barrett back. **1/4

We get a recap of the Roman Reigns injury story before Seth Rollins comes out and gives Reigns until the count of 10 to face him. Of course, he doesn't show up so Seth is given the forfeit or countout victory. He then issues an open challenge, which never goes well. A taxicab is shown pulling up to the arena and out steps Dean f'n Ambrose. The Tennessee crowd doesn't give the man the pop he deserves, but it's still a good one. Ambrose and Rollins have another exciting brawl around the arena. Ambrose plays the lunatic role to absolute perfection and this was as fun as it could be. Ambrose/Rollins at Hell in a Cell, in the cell please.

Sporting new patriotic gear, Mark Henry came out for his match with Rusev. The national anthem played, Henry had tears in his eyes and everything is incredibly overdone. Even more overdone considering the fact that nobody cares about this angle. Seriously, can't anyone just wrestle Rusev? Why does it have to be about America? It's so forced. Also, Rusev has yet to really have a good match so I don't get the continued push. He makes Henry submit in eight minutes. **

In the ultimate match that nobody cares about, Chris Jericho stepped into the ring with Randy Orton. I've already stated how much I dislike the idea of having a match because of an attack that occurred due to it being the "season premiere" of Raw. This was the definition of a filler match as, even though it got 15 minutes, it didn't matter. Orton won a solid match by catching Jericho in an RKO, but it did nothing. The crowd didn't care either. **3/4

The pre match promo for the Divas Title match was excellent. Paige really shined during it and I just felt that she needed to retain here. Let me get this out of the way first, Nikki Bella impressed me. She wasn't amazing, but she held her own with two of the better Diva workers and took a nasty bump to the outside that I have to give her props for. However, it just seemed like Nikki was just there, while the real story was Paige/AJ. They continued their sexual tension and frenemy angle before AJ made her tap out to the Black Widow in nearly nine minutes. Solid Divas match, but again, why does AJ need the title? Paige should've kept it to continue to establish her. This title swapping is killing me. **1/2

Main event time as Brock Lesnar defended the WWE World Heavyweight Title against John Cena. This was a more competitive match than SummerSlam, but I enjoyed it less. Maybe because I'm not a big Cena fan. Oh well, Cena pulled out everything including an STF for like three minutes and FOUR Attitude Adjustments! As he made the cover after the fourth AA, Seth Rollins rushed out and nailed him with the briefcase, resulting in the disqualification. Seth then laid out Cena and planted Brock with the Blackout. He was cashing in! I was losing my mind in my house but then Cena cock blocked and stopped the cash in. Brock, always doing what the fans want, nails Cena with the F5 to close the show. ***1/2

Overall, this was a solid show. Nothing was terrible and everything was between two and four stars. It was mostly an enjoyable three hours and featured some exciting moments. I'd give it a 7/10.