Royal Rumble 2003
January 19th, 2003 – Fleet Center in Boston, Massachusetts – Attendance: 15,338
So, the average score for the 2002 shows that I reviewed was about a 6.5, which would fall into the above average category. The post WrestleMania/pre-SummerSlam stuff was rough at times. All in all though, I know that 2002 is a great year with SummerSlam, the Rumble and Survivor Series being the best shows. Onto 2003, Kurt Angle was the WWE Champion and had just introduced one of my favorite tag teams ever, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin. Meanwhile, Scott Steiner was gearing up for a big program with Triple H over big gold. 2003 is another year that I remember some stuff fondly from so let's get right into it, especially since Royal Rumble Pay-Per-Views are almost always great. Also, this is the first ever brand split Royal Rumble.
The opening video really does a good job putting over how important it is to main event WrestleMania, and what the Royal Rumble means for that. Nothing else really happens before the first match as we go right to that. Commentary teams are the usual Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross for Raw, and Michael Cole and Tazz for Smackdown.
Royal Rumble Qualifying Match
Big Show w/ Paul Heyman vs. Brock Lesnar
WELP! HERE COMES THE PAIN! It's so odd seeing Brock Lesnar as a face. They start by brawling until Brock impresses like he did at Survivor Series by overhead belly to belly suplexing Show twice in a row. Show blocks a third with a choke hold and he manhandles Brock by tossing outside with ease. Show gets in his offense for a bit but Brock hits a big German suplex for two. Paul Heyman grabs his leg in the referee's view but there's no disqualification called. It's like it's a WCW referee or something. Show hits a big boot and calls for the Chokeslam, but Brock stops him. He hits yet another suplex and brings Heyman in the ring the hard way. He tries to F5 Heyman but gets chokeslam instead. Brock kicks out to genuine surprise from the majority of the fans and myself. He blocks a second one, knocks Heyman off the apron and hits Show with an F5 to advance to the Royal Rumble.
Winner: Brock Lesnar in 6:29
Fine choice for an opener. Brock Lesnar was an incredibly hot act, the fans were into it and it was kept relatively short. **1/2
Terri Runnels interviews Chris Jericho, who is sporting his excellent “Don't be an Ass Clown” shirt. He says that he picked the #2 entry number because HBK got #1. Also, because he's Jericho, he has to bring up being the first ever Undisputed Champion.
World Tag Team Championship
Lance Storm and William Regal (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz
They built an entire Fatal Four Way match at Armageddon around Goldust not being a weak link and winning the Tag Titles with Booker, only to lose them to Storm and Regal before the next Pay-Per-View? Bubba Ray and Storm start things off and I'm just thinking “ECW! ECW! ECW!” D-Von and Regal get tagged and do some basic stuff. Regal and Storm isolate D-Von in what can be considered a hate crime. Bubba Ray gets the hot tag and splashes the champions in the corner while shouting “DIE YOU BLOODY WANKER”. Interesting. Bubba hits a sweet German suplex on Storm for two. Bubba Bomb on Storm is followed by a pin that's broken up by Regal. D-Von blind tags in and it's time for “WASSSUPP!” Instead of D-Von getting the tables, Storm gets a double flapjack and the Dudleys call for 3D. Chief Morley comes out and distracts the official, so Regal gets brass knuckles. It fails as gets the 3D anyway. D-Von knocks out Storm with the knuckles and they win, so Morley coming out was useless.
Winner and New World Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boyz in 7:24
The Dudley Boyz were hot since they had just reunited, but this was nothing to write home about. It was really basic but wasn't insulting or anything. **1/4
We get a vignette for the “Colossus of Boggo Road”, otherwise known as Nathan Jones, otherwise known as one of the bigger letdowns in WWE history.
Dawn Marie vs. Torrie Wilson
I have to admit that it's cool that the Smackdown women got a big angle like this even though the Women's Title was exclusive to Raw. Dawn starts by slapping Torrie to the mat, but Torrie responds with a slingshot into nothing. Torrie actually goes for a German suplex, proving that she watches Smackdown weekly. Dawn counters with a good looking armbar but breaks it for no real reason. She actually continues to work the arm, which is surprising. Who knew that these two could work psychology? Forget what I said because Torrie forgets to sell the arm as she hits an arm drag. Dawn retaliates with a springboard clotheslines and no, I didn't make that up. Torrie hits a swinging neckbreaker from out of nowhere and wins.
Winner: Torrie Wilson in 3:36
They tried. There was some arm work, and Torrie went to back to selling it after the match. As I said, I give them points for effort. *1/4
Stephanie McMahon is walking backstage when she sees Eric Bischoff talking to a nerdy looking Randy Orton. She interrupts and it seems they both want to recruit him. He leaves, allowing Stephanie and Eric to banter. Bischoff has a “bombshell” that he's going to drop to save his job. Stephanie claims to have a bombshell to drop on Smackdown.
A Sean O'Haire, rest in peace, segment is shown. I, along with a lot of other people, thought there was potential in this character. Sadly, it went nowhere. So, O'Haire and Nathan Jones promos on the same show and both were failed experiments.
World Heavyweight Championship
Triple H (c) w/ Ric Flair vs. Scott Steiner
I remember how much of a big deal this had the potential to be, but it would've been huge had it happened in 2001. Trips was coming off of a huge 2000 and Steiner was WCW's hottest star arguably. Triple H has red trunks, which I know wasn't something he did often and he also looks fatter than usual here. A fits fight starts things and Steiner gains the upper hand. He press slams the Champion, who rolls outside to rest. Steiner gets him out there and suplexes him back in. He hits the flex elbow and applies a Boston Crab but HHH breaks it. HHH hits the knee to face but Steiner no sells and locks in a bearhug. Well, this is getting boring quickly. HHH rakes the eyes to break it and Steiner does his first impressive move as he hits a nice belly to belly. He tries the Recliner but Flair pulls HHH out. This allows The Game to hop in the driver's seat as he hits a swinging neckbreaker. Steiner shows more resolve than Dawn Marie because he kicks out. Flair gets in some cheating tactics that draw cheers from the fans. Steiner blocks a Pedigree and hits a very delayed catapult as he's clearly blown up. He hits a suplex and falls down. Literally falls on his own. HHH eats four more belly to belly suplexes as Steiner looks like he's going to die. The crowd has turned on him. Steiner botches a butterfly suplex terribly and hears it from the crowd. HHH and Flair decides to try and leave after a superplex but Steiner stops them with a weak shot. HHH blades and when they get to the ring, Steiner hits, you guessed it, another belly to belly. Steiner stops HHH from leaving again and does push ups but the crowd couldn't care less. Flair distracts Steiner and HHH throws Hebner out of the ring. Hebner violently shakes his head saying he won't disqualify HHH. He wants a clean finish. So Steiner hits a belly to belly again. HHH fights back with a low blow for two before getting the sledgehammer. He hits Steiner with it, causing the disqualification that Hebner said he wouldn't call.
Winner via disqualification: Scott Steiner in 18:14
That was terrible. The match had no redeeming qualities. Steiner sucked hard and was blown up within minutes. The finish was stupid, the match dragged and everything was bad. DUD
Post match, Scott Steiner stops Triple H's sledgehammer attack and takes out both him and Ric Flair but the crowd still doesn't care. We can also see Steiner's thong, which takes away from it.
WWE Championship
Kurt Angle (c) w/ Team Angle vs. Chris Benoit
Team Angle had just debuted and they are one of my favorite tag teams of all time. However, they step in between Chris Benoit and Kurt Angle before the match and get ejected. They start by feeling each other out with some sold wrestling holds and exchanges as one would expect from these two. Angle hits a nice suplex for a near fall as Tazz reminds us that these two were WWE Tag Team Champions a few months ago. Benoit lights up Angle's chest in the corner a few times. He attempts the flying headbutt early on but Angle moves out of the way and goes for the Angle Slam. Benoit blocks and puts on the Sharpshooter only for Kurt to reach the ropes. Angle retaliates with a belly to belly that beats any of the 17 that Scott Steiner did. He goes all Samoa Joe as he locks in a rear naked choke but Benoit breaks free. As they get up they trade German suplexes like they did a few months prior at Unforgiven. Benoit goes up, but Angle meets him up top and hits a top rope belly to belly for two. Benoit mans up and apples the Crossface but Angle reaches the ropes. Benoit changes to an Ankle Lock until Kurt counters with his own. Benoit reverses to a Crossface but Angle reverses to the Angle Slam. These two are amazing. STRAPS ARE DOWN! Benoit blocks the Ankle Lock with a roll up and they trade Germans again. The last one was a release and Angle flips over. Benoit hits a DEEP diving headbutt, like literally across the ring. It only gets a near fall and Angle hits a second Angle Slam for two again. The crowd that died during the last match is alive and wide awake now. Crossface is on! It's reversed into the Ankle Lock! Benoit kicks him off but Angle goes right back to it and won't let go. Angle locks it in with his legs and I've never seen anyone break that. Benoit doesn't and is forced to tap out.
Winner and Still WWE Champion: Kurt Angle in 19:50
Here's the match that showed everyone that Chris Benoit could be the top Champion. This was outstanding and damn near perfect. These two seemingly can't have a bad match together and this is one of my favorite matches. 2003 has a tough job of topping this for Match of the Year already. ****3/4
After a commercial is shown, Chris Benoit is back to his feet and receives a standing ovation from the 15,000+ in Boston there. Great moment. We then cut to RVD and Kane in the back as they discuss the Royal Rumble and how, even though they're teammates, the Rumble is every man for himself. RVD's shirt has a hole in the underarm.
Royal Rumble Match
As we knew from earlier, Shawn Michaels is number one. Number two is Chris Jericho, but his partner Christian is disguised as him in the entrance. This allows Jericho to sneak in from behind and hit HBK with a low blow. He gets a chair and whacks Shawn in the skull, who is now busted open. Chris Nowinski draws the next number and stays outside to let this storyline develop in the ring. Jericho dances as he continues to punch Shawn. Jericho eliminates Michaels' lifeless body to a ton of heat. Back to cheers as Rey Mysterio draws number four. Rey flies around and hits springboard moves while Nowinski stays outside. Rey holds on in a creative way as Nowinski enters and they double team him. Rey's partner to the rescue as Edge runs out at 5. He Spears the world and they knock the heels out before going at each other. Edge nearly goes over and I swear that his long ass legs touched the mat. Rey springboards in but gets caught with a powerbomb. Christian joins the fray for real in his stupid tank top attire. He hugs Edge but eats a Spear. Nowinski thinks he eliminates Edge and Rey but they hold on and double dropkick him, though Edge whiffs. Bronco Buster for Nowinski as number seven, Chavo Guerrero, arrives to his badass LWO theme. He gets fancy with Rey who then hits Christian with the 619 and disposes of Nowinski. Jericho then clotheslines Rey out, which shocked me. Besides Nowinski, the other entrants have all been good to great. Tajiri is number eight. Nothing of note happens here. Bill Demott (your name is Hugh Morris. What? Hugh Morris. What? Is that funny? Is that humorous?) He gets no pop.
Things get extreme as Tommy Dreamer draws number ten. “ECW” chants ring out as he beats up everyone with a kendo stick. Edge helps him, which is the opposite of their 2006 feud. Vitamin C hit him with trash can lids and eliminate Tommy quickly. I must have missed something because Demott is gone. Tajiri goes for the tarantula but Jericho blocks and tosses him, ending JR's rant about how Tajiri had a shot. B2 is out, holding his shoulder for some reason, and lasts about 15 seconds. Chavo hangs on but eats a Spear and we have an all Canadian rumble as it's Edge, Christian and Jericho. Jericho, to continue the HBK feud, skins the cat like it's 1995 and tosses Edge and Christian, leaving himself alone. RVD draws number 12 and these are two guys who can still be counted on to deliver good matches, eleven years later. They have a fun 90 seconds as Jericho survives near elimination. Matt strongly dislikes mustard is today's Matt Fact at Matt joins in next. The heels double team RVD but he fights them off. Side note, Matt's MF-er, Shannon Moore came to ringside with him. RVD hits the Five Star on Jericho as the buzzer sounds and Eddie Guerrero runs out at 14. He gets a monkey flip from RVD that he sells like a champ. Matt stands tall after everyone goes down and Jeff draws 15. The crowd pops as Matt tries to team up but Jeff beats him down. Remember when people thought Matt would go further than his brother? He tosses Matt but Moore props himself under him to keep him in the match. Brilliant! Moore and Matt take a Swanton as 16, Rosey, enters. 3 Minute Warning's theme is dubbed over and I hate life. Test enters at 17 and he gets a pop purely because he's with Stacy Keibler. He dominates actually and JR mentions that Test lasted the longest of anyone in 2000. John Cena arrives next, rapping his way to the ring. It sounds terrible. He wastes about 80 of his 90 seconds doing this. One of my favorites ever, Charlie Haas comes in at 19. RVD knocks Jeff off the top to eliminate him and this has been a Rumble full of talent for the most part.
Number twenty arrives and it's Rikishi. He beats up on Matt and Shannon until Jamal, also known as Umaga, enters. The ring is getting full, which means we need Kane to come in soon and clean house. Jamal eats a stink face. Ask and I shall receive as Kane draws 22. He levels pretty much everyone in the match and even gets Rico, who was outside. He impressively eliminates Rosey and double Chokeslams Matt and Shannon. He goes to dispose of Jericho who hangs on in the most impressive way I have ever seen. Shelton Benjamin draws 23 and instantly does his finisher with Haas. CAN YOU DIG IT SUCKA?! Booker T comes out next and I remember how hot he was at the time. Flapjack on Matt and its SPINAROONIE time! He eliminates Eddie who looks like he messes up his knee on the landing. A-Train is next and he dominates, slamming guys who are much more talented until he eats a kick from Rikishi. Shawn Michaels runs back out and trades shots with Jericho! This allows Test to finally eliminate Jericho, ending a fantastic performance. Michaels launches himself onto Jericho and their brawl continues. Maven, who still hasn't been eliminated from the 2002 Royal Rumble, enters next and goes against Kane. For a former teacher, he's pretty dumb. Goldust draws 27 and he is not in 2014 shape. It's crazy how fantastic he looks now. He shatters Maven's dreams before targeting Haas and Benjamin. Haas dumps him out. DONT MESS WITH THE WORLD'S GREATEST TAG TEAM! They then eliminate the Booker Man. Batista enters at 28 and does good until Test slams him. Test goes to big boot him out, but Batista ducks and he goes over. He then eliminates Rikishi as number 29, Brock Lesnar, joins the fray. He comes in and eliminates Team Angle at the same time before F5ing Matt out of the ring and onto them. DEAD MAN WALKING, Undertaker draws number thirty in his return. He gets rid of Cena and Jamal before Maven dropkicks him and thinks it worked like last year. It didn't. Taker throws him out before A-Train hits a Baldo Bomb on him. Poor RVD is left with A-Train, Kane, Batista, Brock and Undertaker. RVD and Kane work as a team to dump out A-Train before Kane turns on him and eliminates him. RVD understands though, because “whatever, it's cool.” Undertaker and Brock face off, just months after their Hell in a Cell battle but Kane and Batista join in. The four brutes beat each other down and Brock F5s Kane. We get some close calls before Undertaker Tombstones Brock. He then eliminates Batista, leaving Brock alone with the Brothers of Destruction. Taker turns on Kane and eliminates him. Batista jumps back in with a chair but Taker hits him, though it allows Brock to sneak in and win.
Winner: Brock Lesnar in 53:41
Pretty fun Royal Rumble. Chris Jericho was outstanding in arguably the most underrated performances in Rumble history. A lot of fun spots and some solid storytelling. ***3/4
Undertaker gets back in the ring and slaps hands with Brock in a “you got me” sort of way before Brock celebrates to close the show.
Overall: 7/10; Good. The worst of the Royal Rumbles that I've reviewed so far but not bad at all. The first two matches were decent and the women's match was what it should have been. The World Title match is one of the worst I've ever seen but the Royal Rumble was damn good. However, the show stealer was the WWE Title match which is one of the best matches I've ever seen.
I usually watch Smackdown on Saturday morning on Hulu+, but I actually was able to watch it on SyFy last night. It was strange to watch it with so many commercials but anyway, the show begins with Seth Rollins. He taunts the fans for chanting "You Sold Out" and cuts a basic promo until Dolph Ziggler interrupts. I wish that Dolph wasn't the Intercontinental Champion actually. He could face Randy Orton instead of John Cena at Hell in a Cell and, I don't know, throw Kane in there with Cena. Would've helped us avoid Cena/Orton for the 450th time. We get an eleven or so minute match with a ton of action, but of course Dolph suffers the loss.
Dean Ambrose cuts off Seth Rollins' celebration and Seth exits the ring. Dean says he just wanted to talk and hypes Hell in a Cell until Corporate Kane comes out. He's sad that he can't compete in Hell in a Cell so he sets up a match between himself and Ambrose tonight. Hooray. Paige is on commentary and it's unfortunately awkward. AJ Lee is facing Layla because of their issues from Raw and it's a decent but very short match. AJ Lee wins and gets attacked by Paige's bestie, Alicia Fox. She takes her down but Paige comes in and hits the RamPaige DDT before skipping around. I guess Paige/AJ is continuing without the Bellas.
Sheamus and The Usos get interviewed backstage and it's kind of weird. They then go out for six man tag team action, because that's the WWE's go to way of booking the mid-card and tag team division. They would face The Miz and the Dust Brothers. Damien Mizdow is fantastic once again at ringside. We get a solid match that clocks in around ten minutes. It wraps up when Sheamus Brogue Kicks Goldust to win. Finally, Sheamus gets revenge on Goldust for beating him on ECW back in 2009.
Big Show comes out and talks about how people always expected great things from him so he will be the first man to defeat Rusev at Hell in a Cell. He brings up Mark Henry costing him the match on Raw and invites him out. They joke around, Henry is sorry and they hug. Rusev and Lana interrupt. Rusev promises to break Big Show but according to him, his "spine is American made." I've never heard that before. This feud continues to bore me but it's the next logical step for Rusev.
Time for more Divas action as Nikki Bella steps into the ring with Naomi. This actually got more time than AJ/Layla earlier, for some reason, and NIkki wins with the Rack Attack. Gotta say, there is no more fitting name for a move by Nikki than that. Renee Young then interviews Dean Ambrose and it's more of the same "Sexy Eyes" that they give each other. Then we go to the main event, which is the same old Ambrose/Kane match that we've seen before. It goes about six minutes and Ambrose wins via disqualification because of Seth Rollins.
After the main event, the Authority beatdown fails and Dean Ambrose is left standing tall. Overall, I didn't hate this episode of Smackdown. The opener and the six man tag were both good and there was nothing awful on the show. 6/10.
Opening NXT this week was Baron Corbin. I wasn't a big fan of this opening the show. On the one hand, he seems to be growing in popularity, but on the other hand, a ten second match isn't the most exciting opener. He once again wins an incredibly quick match with his impressive finisher. I like Baron but I need more. Besides competitive matches, I want more background on him. Why is he a lone wolf? What exactly makes him a different breed, you know?
Things turn happier as Sami Zayn comes out to cut a promo but he is interrupted by Tyson Kidd. These are two of my favorite guys on the roster. Tyson has been delightful in his new heel role. He shows up in a Sami Zayn shirt, which is fantastic. They trade insults about how Sami can't win the big one and how Tyson is a Total Diva. Fun stuff that would lead to the booking of tonight's main event. The NXT Tag Team Champions stepped up next to face Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy. I'd like to see more of Murphy and Blake as they look like they have potential, but of course, this was a solid win for the Champions.
The NXT Divas would once again be one of the best things of the night as the awesome Becky Lynch would face the NXT Women's Champion, Charlotte. I feel like I've seen this three or four times already. Becky continues to impress me while Charlotte continue to feel a tad overrated in my mind. After a competitive contest, Charlotte would win and continue her momentum. Later on in the show, Becky had an altercation in the back with Sasha Banks and it feels like they might be heading towards a Becky Lynch heel turn. I'm okay with this.
Enzo Amore and Big Cass, otherwise known as the most entertaining tag team in NXT, was set to face the Legionnaires. However, Marcus Louis had his wig and headgear removed by Sylvester Lefort by accident. This would lead to him freaking out and turning on Lefort. He attacked him, splitting the Legionnaires, which I wasn't too keen on. Enzo called out "blue pants" which turned out to be indy star Leva Bates. Side note, I'm a Leva Bates fan from her SHIMMER work. He introduces Carmella as "BADA BING, HOTTEST CHICK IN THE RING". She wins a short match but did impress with her submission finisher. Also, her theme music is a ripoff of "Fancy", which is not good.
Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd faced off in the main event, and I have to point out that Tyson is still wearing the InZayn shirt. As one would expect from these two, this was an awesome main event. Easily the best main event of any match this week. Both guys got the chance to shine and had plenty of near falls. Sami impressed with the Blue Thunder Bomb, which got to be called that for the first time in a long time, which I loved. However, he won with the Helluva (I think I spelled that right) Kick. I love that he's using it as a finisher now.
Overall, another solid episode of NXT. It felt like they tried to cram a lot into 53 minutes but I enjoyed it. The main event was excellent and the Divas match was good. Everything else was solid. 7.5/10. Also, next week, Titus O'Neil gets a shot at the NXT Title and Bayley faces Sasha Banks. Should be a lot of fun. On Superstars, Bo Dallas beat Zack Ryder and Cesaro beat Kofi Kingston. Cesaro/Kingston was solid but it seems like he and Bo have fallen in the past few months. 5/10.
SuperBrawl Revenge
2/18/2001 – Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee – Attendance: 4,395
Now this is going to be interesting. Here we have the second to last WCW Pay-Per-View in history. Heading into this show, if my research is correct, WCW had lost a deal with Fusient Media worth almost $70 million because once they looked into WCW, they realized the debt they were in and dropped the offer to about $6 million. Obviously we know what happened next. WCW would have their television product canceled by one of the guys running things backstage and then the Fusient deal died, leading to Vince McMahon swooping in to buy WCW. This should definitely be a cool look into a time period where I didn't watch much WCW.
The intro video plays like the start of a horror movie with magazine clippings being cut out and put together in creepy ways. It then turns to rock music that skips and we get the fireworks and such. Tony “BIGGEST NIGHT IN THE HISTORY OF OUR SPOT” Schiavone and Scott Hudson are the commentary team.
Six Man Cruiserweight Four Corners Match
Evan Karagias vs. Jamie Noble vs. Jimmy Yang vs. Kaz Hayashi vs. Shane Helms vs. Shannon Moore
Leave it to WCW to have a six man four corners match, which probably confused a bunch of their fans. Billy Kidman was attacked before the show so he had to be replaced by “Sugar” Shane Helms, or the future Hurricane. So, this is a six man match involving three tag teams. Noble and Moore start things and have a nice little sequence. Moore tags in his 3 Count partner and tosses Noble in the air to be caught in a beautiful sitout powerbomb by Helm. Karagias sends them outside and eats a double snapmare from the Jung Dragons, who then hit stereo Asai moonsaults onto the outside. This is fast paced stuff. Kaz blocks a German suplex by landing on his feet and hits a head scissors into the buckle on Noble. Noble stops a hip toss by bouncing off the top rope and then hits a double elbow with Karagias. Seriously, this is fast paced. Karagias pretty much just grabs Yang's Wang and the crowd notices how weird it is. Karagias nails a springboard splash and tags Helms, who beats him up before getting back in the ring. 3 Count hits a nice double team neckbreaker on Yang, but he's saved by Kaz. I think they forgot that this is not a tag match. Things break down and Helms connects with a nice superplex. Every else then tries to hit a splash or moonsault and they ALL miss. They've just given up on caring about tags. Yang hits a backflip kick before Kaz gets caught with a spinning heel kick/cross arm German combo from 3 Count. Kaz slingshots into a moonsault outside before Moore hits a moonsault of his own. Noble somersaults onto them. INEEDABREATHER! Kaz could've been eliminated by a powerbomb/dropkick combo from Noble and Karagias, but they break up each other's pins. IT'S ELIMINATION GUYS! Jimmy Yang goes into ULTIMATE BOTCH MODE, as he whiffs on a kick, hits a weak leg sweep, slips on a springboard moonsault and then somehow eliminates Karagias with a terrible reverse piledriver at 10:21.
Noble then hits a Tombstone to knock off Yang thirty seconds later at 10:51. He deserves it after that performance. Moore hits a top rope Bottom's Up, which is better known as the Fameasser, which gets the duke to eliminate Noble at 11:58. Shortly after, Moore does a backslide to Kaz, but the referee doesn't count, allowing Helms to hit a leg drop. They botch a double team move and Helms goes for the Vertebreaker, but Moore hits Helms with Bottom's up. Moore covers but Kaz stupidly breaks the count, kicking the referee in the back of the head doing so. Moore and Kaz end up double teaming Helms until Kaz turns on him. Moore moves Helms out of the way of a moonsault but eats the Nightmare on Helms Street for his troubles and is eliminated at 15:11. The announce team has not been shy about how this will end because they've been putting over Helms the entire match. We get a series of reversals where Kaz countered Night on Helms Street into a German suplex for two. Helms hits a TKO GTS of sorts for two. After a bit more, Helms hits the Vertebreaker, which is still a favorite of mine, to win.
Winner: Shane Helms in 17:30
Fast paced and exciting, but Yang and Moore were botching left and right which lessens the score. The right guy went over and it was a good opener that got a good amount of time.***1/2
We see Road Warrior Animal talking to Ric Flair in the back, and if I didn't mention it earlier, Animal was the one who attacked Billy Kidman. Chavo Guerrero comes up to them but it's security footage, so we can't hear anything. Hugh Morris cuts a backstage promo on The Wall, mentioning that he was “General Rection” before, but Hugh Morris now. He says Rection a lot and does it with a straight face and I don't understand how.
Scott Steiner is getting massaged by his premiere freak, Midajah when Ric Flair enters with a stupid haircut. He gives Steiner some envelop and leaves. Kronik arrive at the arena and are stopped by Lance Storm. Storm was the commissioner? There's an issue that Adam Bomb isn't cleared to wrestle but he says he is, so he will go see the “Company Doctor”.
Hugh Morris vs. The Wall
Hugh Morris has a generic version of what I believe was Mike Awesome's ECW theme. Their feud has mostly been held on Thunder, so I have no clue how this made it to a Pay-Per-View. This starts as a brawl and Morris sells headbutts from Wall well. They go outside and Morris dropkicks the steel steps into Wall's head. How is that not a disqualification? They go inside and Morris hits a top rope elbow but can't put the Wall away. Wall chops Morris in the corner and then goes to put him in a stranglehold sleeper but Morris blocks it. Wall still leaps off the top, which I did not expect, but Morris moves out of the way. Wall hits a sloppy looking spinebuster but can't make the cover. This crowd must watch WWE as a “we want tables” chant starts. Morris answers by trying to lift Wall, who falls awkwardly, but then hits the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot anyway! Hugh Morris (what? Your name is Hugh Morris? What? Is that funny? Is that humorous?) hits a flapjack and both guys are down again. After a bit more stalling, Morris hits an impressive German suplex and barely nails the No Laughing Matter moonsault to win.
Winner: Hugh Morris in 9:43
Someone was stupid enough to give these two nearly ten minutes. Hugh Morris tried but the Wall was pretty terrible. *
Hugh Morris goes right back up top and hits a second moonsault for good measure. Cutting to the back, Konnan wants to see Ric Flair but ends up brawling with Animal, who is guarding the door. That literally is a 50 second clip or so. We now see a promo for the rivalry between the former Natural Born Thrillers, leading to the Tag Title match.
WCW World Tag Team Championship
Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire (c) vs. Mark Jindrak and Shawn Stasiak
I loved the Natural Born Thrillers name. Quick note, giving Sean Stasiak and Mark Jindrak a variation of Mr. Perfect's theme music is terrible. Also, in true WCW form, they put up the wrong name graphic for the challengers. Stasiak gets cheap heat by dissing the Tennessee Titans. Sean O'Haire retaliates with an awkward promo back as the Champions come out. The contest starts with a brawl until it breaks down to just Stasiak and O'Haire. Jindrak gets the tag and stomps on Stasiak by mistake. O'Haire hits the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot and now the Champions do some double teams. Palumbo nails a nice back suplex to counter a hip toss and the Champions look like the better team here. I think it's cool that the guys on opposing teams used to also be tag team champions. The heels work over Palumbo for a bit. Jindrak hits a nice tilt-a-whirl slam, and it's crazy to think that he was supposed to be in Evolution. O'Haire gets the hot tag and hits about eight straight clotheslines. O'Haire uses the momentum to hit his Seanton Bomb and they retain.
Winners and still WCW World Tag Team Champions: Chuck Palumbo and Sean O'Haire in 11:37
Decent and there's not much else to say. This was something I'm not used to in WCW as it had no screwy finish or anything like that. **3/4
Dustin Rhodes cuts a promo on Ric Flair backstage.
WCW World Cruiserweight Championship
Chavo Guerrero Jr. (c) vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
Oh WCW. Have Rey Mysterio lose his mask because you thought it wasn't marketable. That worked out great didn't it? They replaced the mask with stupid horns. Some fast paced stuff happens instantly and Chavo goes for a sunset flip outside but Rey counters with a hurricanrana. Chavo comes back with a pop up gut buster and the crowd chants “Eddie” at Chavo. Rey ends up in the tree of woe but wriggles free and gets a sunset flip for two. Chavo applies the Gory special but Rey gets out, only to end up back in it and into the Gory Buster for two. Rey blocks snake eyes and hits a sloppy looking tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He springboards right into a dropkick though and this isn't clicking the way it did years later in the WWE. They brawl outside and Chavo takes a Rey Mysterio mask from a fan and puts it on Rey. DONT DO THAT, THE MASK IS LIKE A SUPERPOWER! Rey crotches Chavo in the corner and puts the mask on him before hitting a top rope hurricanrana that comes off weak. Rey hits West Coast Pop and completely botches a springboard moonsault. He just flat dies in the ring as the botches continue. Chavo brings in a chair, Rey stops him and hits a springboard this time, but barely lands on Chavo's shoulders. Chavo EDDIE GILBERT hot shots him and sets up the chair in the corner. Rey fights back and slips on two more springboard attempts before hitting a hurricanrana to the outside. Rey gets the chair and the referee stops him, allowing Chavo to use a chair behind his back. He then connects with a brainbuster to win.
Winner and Still WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 15:54
Rey Mysterio was in botch mode but Chavo did his best to make this awesome. The ropes did seem slipper so it's not all Rey's fault. ***1/2
Lance Storm tells Brian Clarke that he has to go out by himself tonight because Adams hasn't been cleared yet.
WCW United States Championship
Rick Steiner (c) vs. Dustin Rhodes
Rick Steiner was the United States Champion? They brawl as soon as the bell rings and Dustin busts out a DDT for a near fall. I will never understand why Rick Steiner got pushed like a did in WCW. Dustin misses a cross body, and I have no clue why he tries it, so he falls outside. STEINERLINE gets two. They act like nobody ever kicks out of the STEINERLINE...I mean, there was a theme song based on it so I understand. Rick hits a belly to belly and actually puts on a half Boston crab. Mind you, he hasn't worked the leg at all. He breaks the hold for no reason also. Dustin gets a near fall with a backslide but runs into another STEINERLINE! Nobody gets up from two of those...BUT DUSTIN DOES! He takes a stiff looking back elbow before hitting the RHODESLINE and both men are down. Commentary decide to call the match “stiff” because this was during the time that WCW enjoyed saying “insider terms” on television. Inverted atomic drop from Dustin and then another RHODESLINE for two. Dustin nails a bulldog and Rick rolls outside. Dustin tries to use a chair, which is stupid if he wants to win the title. The referee stops him while Rick removes the turnbuckle pad. This sounds awfully familiar if you watched the last match. Rhodes does ten punches in the corner but Rick pulls him down into the exposed buckle. He covers for three with his feet on the ropes.
Winner and Still WCW United States Champion: Rick Steiner in 9:11
This sucked. No psychology, a dusty finish and Rick Steiner is still champion. Not good. *
Rick Steiner hits a Death Valley Driver and then says his catchphrase. Dustin Rhodes is up quickly and Rick tries to hit him with the belt but the referee stops him for some reason, allowing Dustin to shatter his dreams. More meaningless backstage segments as Ric Flair hypes up Lance Storm while DDP pumps up The Cat.
Totally Buff vs. Kronik
I won't lie, even though I'm not a fan of either guy, the idea of Totally Buff was totally cool to me. So Clarke and Adams, even though one is not cleared, run out for the match anyway and it starts as a brawl. Clarke gets laid out with a steel chair and Buff hits Adams with a low blow. Totally Buff use the handicap advantage to stay in complete control. Also, in a last minute decision, the winners of this earn a Tag Team Title shot on the next Pay-Per-View. Clarke is pretty much dead outside as he is still laid out under a chair. Luger is doing some posing in the ring, which costs him. Adams rallies with a gorilla press slam but the numbers game is too much for him. He does end up rallying anyway until Clarke gets in and hits Adams with a German suplex! The real Clarke appears on the stage hurt, as the cameras missed the German and we only saw it on the tron. It turns out that it was Mike Awesome dressed as Clarke. Buff finishes the match and they win.
Winners: Totally Buff in 6:25
That was six and a half minutes, but felt like fifteen. It was a glorified handicap match and with these guys, it wasn't very good. *
Kronik is ejected from the building, which makes them join Konnan and Dustin Rhodes. Basically, every face is getting thrown out so that the main event can have all of the heel shenanigans in the world. Lance Storm comes out, cuts a promo and asks for the Canadian national anthem to play. The Cat interrupts, which is rude.
Battle to be Commissioner
Lance Storm vs. The Cat
The Cat is with a chick that I don't remember. Short wrestling sequence to start things and the Cat gets the better of it by kicking Storm in the face. They go outside and Cat hits Storm with a cup of water from a fan. Tony Schiavone talks down on Storm for underhanded tactics and the Cat chokes Storm with cables, so of course, Schiavone ignores that. Storm starts to take out Cat's leg due to his martial arts ability. Inside, Cat fights back but his leg gives out. For being a match between two guys that aren't brawlers, this has A LOT of outside stuff. Storm gets a sunset flip in the ring but Cat stops him from pinning and then dances before hitting an elbow. He dances some more and hits an uppercut but Storm gets him in the Maple Leaf! Cat is too close to the ropes though and reaches them. Cat nails an enziguri, and “Above Average” Mike Sanders shows up. The lady is Miss Jones according to commentary and she kicks Sanders. The distraction leads to Cat kicking Storm and winning.
Winner: The Cat in 8:07
Good leg work, but too much outside brawling for two guys that aren't good brawlers. **
So, because Cat doesn't officially become commissioner until midnight, Ric Flair also has him ejected. DDP comes out for his match with Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett appears on the stage and replays DDP saying “Yo, Kanyon, anytime, anyplace.” It's a funny remix, and it basically means that Kanyon will wrestle DDP right now.
DDP vs. Kanyon
Kanyon comes out from under the ring to attack Page, but Page no sells and knocks him out. DDP beats him up until Kanyon hits him with a low blow and there is no disqualification called. Kanyon then hits a Fameasser onto the steel steps and again, no DQ is called. Kanyon actually steps on the second rope and hits a suplex into the ring from there which I've never seen before, so kudos to him. Kanyon slows things down and DDP is busted open from the steel steps stuff. DDP rallies and earns a near fall. Kanyon hits the sky high, YOU BETTER RECOGNIZE, for two. DDP gets up like nothing for a sitout powerbomb of his own. Diamond Cutter is countered into a backslide, but Kanyon hits a low blow and then the Kanyon Cutter. DDP kicks out so Kanyon waves Jeff Jarrett down to the ring. He gets on the apron and is knocked off. DDP does a rollup but the kick out causes him to fall on top of the referee, allowing Jarrett to enter and hit the Stroke. Kanyon hits the Flatliner and it's over.
Winner: Kanyon in 8:15
Decent stuff, but in classic WCW form, it had to have a shoddy finish. **1/2
Kanyon gets on the microphone and introduces Jeff Jarrett for his match with DDP now. He calls Jarrett a four time World Champion, which is a sad thought.
DDP vs. Jeff Jarrett
This goes outside instantly and they fight through the crowd. DDP is fighting like he wasn't just in a match and like he didn't just take three finishers. DDP hits a DDT, which I love saying, on the announce table, but Jarrett no sells and retaliates with shots of his own. Inside, Jarrett gets a near fall before eating a discus clothesline. Jarrett hits a sloppy looking jawbreaker before applying a sleeper hold. DDP fades but gets out and hits another DDT as both men are now down. Page drapes his arm over Jarrett but only gets a near fall. DDP starts wailing away on Jarrett and gets another two count. DDP earns yet another near fall after a belly to belly suplex. Something about WCW just kind of bores me. Page sets up for a piledriver but drops Jarrett face first. He covers but Kanyon is back and he pulls DDP out. DDP gives chase but gets clocked with a steel chair shot to the head. Jarrett covers and DDP gets his shoulder up. Jarrett is handed the guitar but DDP dodges and Kanyon gets hit. Diamond Cutter is hit and DDP wins.
Winner: DDP in 8:30
I feel like WCW didn't know what to do with itself unless it had the heels in control. There was so much interference and nonsense in these two matches that it hurt potentially good contests. **1/4
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Retirement Match
Scott Steiner (c) w/ Midajah vs. Kevin Nash
Scott Steiner was definitely one of the few guys that WCW did well with in their dying days. Ric Flair gets on commentary and is going to heel it up for this match, which I'm sure will have a lot of overbooking. Steiner instantly makes me a fan because he kicks Michael Buffer out of the ring. Steiner shows Sid breaking his leg on the previous PPV, which is just as disturbing to see today as it was then. Flair gets in the ring and continues to waste time. Kevin Nash is wheeled out by nurses and has a cast on his leg. The leg injury is fake and Nash enters the ring, hitting Steiner with the title. He follows with a pin in seventeen seconds. Ric Flair freaks out and makes it a two out of three falls match. “I FORGOT TO SAY THAT!” We cut backstage to see DDP walking towards the ring, but he's taken out by Totally Buff. So cutting away mid match is a dumb move. Shenanigans continue as Steiner lays out Nash with a pipe outside but can't move his body inside, so Flair makes it a Falls Count Anywhere match and Steiner pins him to even the score. Nash makes it back inside where Steiner continues to beat on him. Both men are bleeding as we get the dreaded STEINERLINE! Steiner continues to work Nash over and Nash continues to kick out. Nash rallies and hits a big sidewalk slam. Flair hands Steiner a steel chair to which Schiavone exclaims “HE'S DEAD!” Steiner Recliner is locked on but Nash gets out and hits a chokeslam. Steiner kicks out but Midajah still runs in and attacks the referee. That has zero impact on the match as Nash doesn't notice it and the referee is back inside within seconds. Nash hits the Jacknife but Midajah again runs in to stop it. I guess she did it at the wrong time first. Nash plants her with a side slam and covers Steiner again but Flair pulls out the referee and punches him. Another chair shot and a Steiner Recliner later ends it.
Winner and Still WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Scott Steiner in 12:19
Forget what I said about WCW building Scott Steiner right. This was dreadful. It took Flair, Midajah, a pipe, two chair shots, two referees and the entire face roster kicked out for Steiner to win. He looked awful here and the match was terrible. DUD.
Overall: 3.5/10; Not good. Man that show fell off a cliff. The opener, Cruiserweight Title and Tag Title matches were good but everything else was passable. The main event was terrible and was classic WCW in the worst way. It was pretty clear that, while WCW had some good plans, most of the company was awful and it's part of the reason they would close their doors about a month later. My next “Random Network Review” will be none other than In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks.
Main Event opens with The Miz setting up for MizTV. He is particularly great in this role and this is my favorite incarnation of The Miz probably ever. He introduces his guest as Sheamus but it's Sheadow! Damien Sandow comes out with a red wig and white arm and leg sleeves. He speaks in an Irish accent and is great. Things get even better when the real Sheamus comes out to confront Miz. Sandow actually mimics Sheamus the way he does Miz and it was great. Sheamus couldn't even keep a straight face during the promo. In the end, Miz ran off as Sandow ate a Brogue Kick. It was a funny segment and the crowd, despite liking Sheamus, wasn't into the idea of Sandow getting knocked out. Fun opening segment that stole the show.
We move to one of my other favorite things currently going in the WWE and that's the work of Tyson Kidd and his new character. Last week he stole the show by leaving Natalya hanging on a high five and this week he debuted new attire. Not only do his kickpads say "FACT" but the front of his kickpads actually has the faces of his two cats. Seriously. It's amazing. He would unfortunately lose to R-Truth due to Natalya being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Decent little match that I would've enjoyed better had Tyson won.
The following two matches on Main Event were two that I wasn't very interested in. First, Cesaro and his ridiculously terrible theme music faced Justin Gabriel. Can you believe that this was a Pay-Per-View match a few years ago? Anyway, Cesaro wins since he's headed towards a Intercontinental Title shot soon and Gabriel is headed nowhere. Solid match though. The main event got a lot more time than I expected. Rusev, fresh off of being knocked out by Big Show stepped into the ring against Big E. These two had a good series of matches earlier in the year and this was no different. I enjoyed this more than I expected and Rusev obviously won via submission.
Overall, a solid episode of Main Event but nothing special. We got three matches but none were great and none were terrible. Not many storylines advanced except that they officially announced Sheamus/Miz and Rusev/Show for Hell in a Cell. 6/10 for tonight's episode.
Because this is Raw, we have to open with an excessively long promo featuring multiple interruptions. Dean Ambrose comes out and talks about John Cena and Seth Rollins. Of course, Cena interrupts and they get into their usual verbal sparring. Triple and Stephanie cap off the opening of interruptions by announcing that Cena and Ambrose will be partners tonight. They would be in a non-title Triple Threat Tag Team match right now against the Usos and the Dust Brothers. Good start to the show as this was an enjoyable contest. It was a bit boring at the start, but picked up. CenAmbrose won after an AA on Stardust.
Triple H and Stephanie come back out with HHH saying that he lost a bet to Stephanie concerning Ambrose and Cena's ability to work together, so he pays her a buck. I'd give her a single too for certain activities. No? Oh well. Tonight we get Cena/Ambrose in the main event instead of waiting for Hell in a Cell. Next, Divas Champion AJ Lee teams with Layla to face new besties Paige and Alicia Fox. Typical stuff here and it continues the story of AJ being a loner who needs no friends. Layla doesn't want to tag in near the end, so AJ smiles and hits the Shining Wizard on Fox to win. Paige escaped during the match and Layla goes to do the same but AJ catches her and tosses her around.
Randy Orton wants Seth Rollins to stop stealing his spotlight so he wants to face the loser of tonight's contract on a pole match. I feel like Orton getting the loser while Seth gets the winner isn't the best way to be above Seth's spotlight. Another video package for Erick Rowan plays and I'm intrigued by where this goes. Orton faces Dolph Ziggler in non-title action next and it was fantastic. Seriously one of the better matches on Raw in a long while. Seth Rollins watches from the ramp mid-match too. There were times that I actually thought Dolph would pull this out. He takes a vicious corner bump but the highlight was the finish. Orton counters the FameAsser by hoisting Dolph up for a Powerbomb. He launches him up and catches him with a sick RKO!
I can't get over that RKO. For a guy who does a ton of awesome ones, that was top five for sure. Seth Rollins also Curb Stomps Dolph after the match. He gets his chance to show he deserves the spotlight with a match against Jack Swagger. They wrestled on Main Event recently but this was much better. It was actually just a step below the previous match and that's saying something. Seth wins a back and forth bout with a rollup and a handful of tights. I was impressed with the match but felt he should've gotten a cleaner victory to be on par with Orton. Also, Orton hits an RKO on Swagger post match.
Dean Ambrose is interviewed by Renee "Perfection" Young. They make sexy eyes at each other so hard that I don't remember what they spoke about. Big Show then talks about how Rusev has never been beaten. Lana badmouths Christoper Columbus and America. It's cheap heat at it's finest. Rusev and Big Show proceed to have a match that was actually far better than I expected. Don't get me wrong, it was by no means a classic or the match of the night, but it was a solid big man match. Mark Henry comes out near the end and attacks Rusev, resulting in the disqualification. Show and Henry argue about it as the Russian flag comes down. Rusev tries to run in but eats a WMD. Not a bad segment.
With Cesaro seemingly starting a program against Dolph Ziggler, it truly has seemed like the mid card champions have swapped challengers. I say this because Sheamus, the United States Champion, meets The Miz, the former Intercontinental Champion. Nothing special here as Miz takes the countout while allowing the tremendous Damien Mizdow to eat a Brogue Kick. Guest star Nene or whatever stands up for the face Total Divas in the back. At least it was a short appearance. Summer Rae, Cameron and NIkki, also known as the heels of Total Divas, take on the faces in Natalya, Brie and Naomi. If you watch the show, you know that it's hard to root for Brie and Natalya. The faces win. This was the first thing on the show that I wasn't a fan of. Brie did get to pin Nikki, which I didn't expect to happen until their eventual PPV match.
Renee Young interviews John Cena just before the main event, though it's pretty clear that she enjoys this less than the interview with Dean Ambrose. The main event begins with Seth Rollins, Kane and Triple H coming down to ringside. For an "Object on a Pole" match, this wasn't bad but it wasn't the Ambrose/Cena match Id hoped for. However, I expect that if they eventually get a Pay-Per-View program, they could tear the house down. Of course, the Authority gets involved as shenanigans ensue. Dean Ambrose manages to snatch the contract and THANK THE LAWD we get Ambrose/Rollins in the Cell! The flipside is that we have to sit through Orton/Cena for the 15568423rd time, but I'll take it. Ambrose tells Cena "you can't see me" and Hell in a Cell seems brighter.
For the first time in a long time, I thoroughly enjoyed Raw. Everything served a purpose and there was really no filler. I mean, even the Total Divas tag allowed for their celebrity guest to appear and pushed the show. We got fun Ambrose/Cena stuff and two great matches in Orton/Ziggler and Seth/Swagger, plus, we finally officially get Ambrose/Rollins in the Cell. 8/10. Well done Raw.
With Smackdown's 15th Anniversary episode airing recently, it has got me thinking about the history of that program. What began as a catchphrase of The Rock, turned into the second longest running wrestling show in history. In the early years, Smackdown played a vital role and complemented Raw perfectly. Storylines would get shine on Monday nights as always, but once Thursday rolled around, the angles would continue. Then, the brand split happened and Smackdown actually surpassed Raw in some years. Now though, Smackdown is a complete afterthought and I know people who haven't watched it in months and have yet to miss anything of importance. That's a problem and it's time to see what can be done about it.
From it's inception in 1999 until 2002, Smackdown was Raw's brother brand and featured many memorable moments. However, Smackdown didn't become must see television until the brand split. With it's own separate roster and being written by Paul Heyman, Smackdown would actually go on to surpass Raw in ratings, house show ticket sales, merchandise and general all around greatness. During the years 2002, 2003 and even 2009, Smackdown clearly had the better product.
Even early in 2014, Smackdown was at least fun to watch. But in the past few months, Smackdown has become irrelevant television. Instead of being a show that furthered storylines and had good wrestling, it became Raw 2.0 with less angle advancement. If I purchased tickets to a Smackdown event, I'd only look forward to seeing Main Event. The Smackdown portion would feature about six matches and usually one, maybe two go over four minutes. To make matters worse, the matches are mostly rematches from things we saw on Raw and nothing happens storyline wise that matters. There are nearly as many minutes spent recapping Raw with video packages as there is in ring action.
Now, there's news that Smackdown is moving from Friday nights in January. This will only matter if Smackdown gets back to being a vital part of WWE programming. What are some ways to accomplish that you ask? For starters, no more lazy booking consisting of rematches all of the time. What I saw on Raw does not need to be seen again just a few days later. With Brock Lesnar barely being on television the focal point of Smackdown should be the Intercontinental and United States Titles. Make them the belts that people are scratching and clawing for. If they are the focal point of the Friday show, with the right booking, the belts could mean something again. Also, big issue, cut back on the constant Raw recaps. We can see that on the WWE Network's "This Week in WWE" show or on youtube.
I know that a lot of people clamor for the show to go live but that's not going to happen. There have been budget cuts galore since the launch of the WWE Network and going live would cost too much. The biggest issue with Smackdown isn't that it's pre-recorded, it's that it's irrelevant. Something like The Rock's recent appearance on Raw wouldn't work for Smackdown since the shock value would be killed, but give the fans good matches with good story development and they'll watch Smackdown. One of the things hurting it, is the addition of the third hour on Raw as it over saturates the product but with the money they generate from advertising, this won't go away anytime soon. All in all, it's as if creative puts little to no effort in Smackdown and consider it a throwaway show. While a little care and dedication won't get Smackdown back to "A Show" status, it can get it back to important and watchable. After all, isn't the wrestling fan just looking for an enjoyable two hours?
