TakeOver: Respect Predictions

I would have loved to have seen Asuka vs. Emma here, but I feel like that will be a more competitive match. I'm not saying that Asuka will squash Dana Brooke, but this should work as a bit of a showcase for Asuka. From the rumblings that we've recently heard, they want to do Asuka/Bayley down the line, which could certainly be interesting. I see Asuka winning here and moving onto better programs. I hope she also gets a match with Eva Marie at some point so she can just annihilate her.

Winner: Asuka

Poor Tyler Breeze. He is the biggest victim of NXT bringing in the top indy talent in the world. A little over a year ago, he looked like a future NXT Champion. Since then he has fallen further down the card in NXT and has just one win on a TakeOver special. That doesn't look like it will change here. Apollo Crews has the look and ability of someone who may just be the next big thing. Part of me can see Tyler winning through nefarious terms to give Crews a loss to a legit opponent while keeping him strong, but the other, bigger feeling thinks that Crews is getting the W.

Winner: Apollo Crews

The booking of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic has been odd. Why is this heel vs. heel? Baron Corbin and Rhyno have worked surprisingly well as a tag team and I wouldn't mind if they stayed as a team while Corbin continued to grow as a performer. That being said, this needs to be Chad Gable and Jason Jordan's night. They are consistently entertaining and a tag team that should head the division for a long time coming. Do the right thing and go with Gable and Jordan. 

Winners: Chad Gable and Jason Jordan

I'm pleasantly surprised to see the Mechanics getting shine as they are a good team. I'd have preferred Corbin and Rhyno losing to Finn and Joe, while Gable and Jordan went over Enzo and Cass or something though. This should be a solid match as the face team never fails to deliver and the Mechanics will be looking to prove themselves. Finn and Joe should win here as I can't see them losing to the Mechanics. The Mechanics will save face since they lost to two top guys and they've beaten the Tag Team Champions, so they should get a future shot.

Winners: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe

Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. That is the finals that I wanted the second I found out the teams in the tournament. With the news that Cody Rhodes and Goldust will be presenting the winners with the trophy, I could see Finn and Joe winning to have the faces accept in a nice moment. However, I can't go against Gable and Jordan, especially given the tension that has been teased by Finn and Joe lately. I feel like they will have some sort of miscommunication that will lead to a win for Gable and Jordan. It'll be a huge rub for them and should lead to Balor/Joe at TakeOver: London.

Winners: Chad Gable and Jason Jordan

My biggest issue with NXT callups is that a lot of them happen while the person in NXT is still wrapping up a program. That made Bayley's win rather obvious at TakeOver: Brooklyn. Granted, the match was incredible but it's a similar situation here. With Sasha Banks on the main roster, I cannot see her win here. The same went for Balor/Owens recently. Anyway, do I think this match can best the Brooklyn one? No. But I don't think that's the point. We are witnessing history here. Not only are two women being given 30 minutes to tell a story, but they are main eventing a major event. They absolutely deserve it too. The Ironman stipulation is certainly a tricky one to get right as most of these matches are hit or miss. I have confidence that these girls will hit and it should be another great performance from both. Bayley retains to cement her as THE woman left in NXT.

Winner: Bayley

Note about Raw Reviews

With a new work schedule, I am unable to fully watch Raw. I may check out snippets the following morning but that's it. Due to that, I will be taking a break from writing Raw reviews. If I'm able to catch a full episode, I will do one, but that's it. I've also come to not really enjoy Raw for the most part the past few months and feel like taking a break from it will only make me enjoy things more. There will still be Fave Fives, Random Match Reviews, Raw History reviews, NJPW reviews, etc.

Top Five 9/28/15-10/4/15

1) Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada: I haven't been following Pro Wrestling NOAH as much as I'd like but I do have a buddy that has kept me posted on results and reviews of their shows. The big angle in the company right now has been the invasion and dominance of Minoru Suzuki's stable, Suzuki-Gun. They hold every championship in the company and with it, all of the power. Atsushi Kotoge and Daisuke Harada's GHC Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title win was more than just a normal title victory. It represents a shift in the balance of power in NOAH as it's the first time Suzuki-Gun has dropped a belt since the invasion began.

            2) Matt Hardy: Coming in at number two this week is one of the more baffling booking choices of the year.To close out Bound for Glory 2015 in North Carolina, Matt Hardy captured the TNA World Title by pinning Drew Galloway in a Triple Threat match. I think the decision to put the title on Matt was pretty terrible, especially with it coming at the expense of Ethan Carter III's reign. EC3 has consistently been, far and away, the best thing about TNA this year, so him losing the title, even if he didn't get pinned, is a bad move. Especially to Matt Hardy. Still, winning a World Title is enough to land someone high on this list, regardless of how I feel about the booking decision.

3) Shinsuke Nakamura:  Probably the best show on television this week was ROH TV. To close out a fun episode, Shinsuke Nakamura took on Adam Cole in the main event. While I don't believe the match was as great as I expected it to be, it was still the match of the week for me. Nakamura, who recently won back the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, bested Cole. With ROH and NJPW working together and what happened at Field of Honor between Jay Lethal and Nakamura, part of me wonders if there will be a title match down the line. Maybe a ROH Title match or an Intercontinental Title match if Lethal really wants to be greedy. Either way, Nakamura once again performed well. It's very possible that Nakamura will be on this list again very soon with an Intercontinental defense against Karl Anderson coming up on October 12th. I can't see one half of the Tag Team Champions winning the belt and expect Nakamura to take it to the Tokyo Dome in January.

4) John Cena: To start the week, it looked like John Cena might not be able to make the top five this time. He issued his open challenge, which was accepted by Xavier Woods. Cena won via DQ but then lost a six man tag against New Day, where he teamed with the Dudley Boyz. He managed to turn things around at the Madison Square Garden WWE Network special. In the main event, Cena put the United States Championship on the line against WWE Champion Seth Rollins in a Steel Cage. They would have another solid match, but it wasn't as good as their SummerSlam or Night of Champions matches. Cena was on the verge of a loss until Kane showed up. Seth got stuck and didn't want to leave to face Kane, so he jumped back into the ring. That allowed Cena to score with an Attitude Adjustment and retain his belt. If you're keeping score, since their feud restarted in the summer, Cena has gone 4-1 against the top champion in the company.

5) Kevin Owens: On Smackdown, Kevin Owens took a loss, purposely getting himself counted out to retain the Intercontinental Championship. He would rectify that at the Madison Square Garden live special. In a first time ever contest, Owens took on Chris Jericho, the man who holds the record for most Intercontinental Title reigns. The match itself could have been more, as they were only given eight or minutes, but Owens was able to retain the belt with a small package. What stuck out to me on both shows was Owens' great ability to do heel things. On Smackdown, he realized he could take the countout and keep the belt and his face when he notices it is great. In MSG, it was a well timed rake of the eyes that led to the win.

Live in MSG Review

Last night, the WWE hosted a Network Special from the historic Madison Square Garden. I miss the old school MSG set up. Anyway, things started with a tag team match putting Dolph Ziggler and Randy Orton against Rusev and Sheamus. Orton was insanely over. They worked your typical house show tag team match, though the fact that the crowd was pretty hot helped things along. A superkick into an RKO put down Sheamus. After the match, Rusev calls Sheamus a stupid non-American and demands that he pack his suitcase and leave. I've really grown to love Rusev. Sheamus laid him out with a Brogue Kick to end the segment though. **1/4

Up next was another in a long line of matches between Neville and Stardust. We've seen it a million times but honestly, these two work so well together that I don't get that tired of it. They both seemed to have fun with everything that they did and I think that added to my enjoyment of the match. It also may hep that I really like both guys. As stated though, it was kind of the same as their other matches with an added treat of Stardust stealing Neville's cape at one point. Neville was able to put him down with the Red Arrow. Solid work but we've been here before. **1/2

Our next match was a six woman tag because ITS THE DIVAS REVOLUTION MAGGLE! Paige is still teaming with Team PCB for some stupid reason as they took on the Bella Twins. This whole thing is stupid. They work their typical match but it gets even dumber when Charlotte gets surprised that Paige acts like a bitch. Did you completely forget what happened on Raw? Becky and Charlotte leave Paige alone for her actions and she eats a Rack Attack. After the match, she cuts a promo about how she would never do that to her friends. The match wasn't good, the angle is shit and creative's lack of consistency and care for the women continues to shine. *1/4

The Intercontinental Championship was up for grabs in the next first time ever match. Chris Jericho came out first and cut a long promo about it being his anniversary in wrestling and pointed out Lance Storm and Cyrus in the front row. They showed off some good chemistry and had a nice back and forth match. It wasn't anything special and felt like they had a really good match in them if they ever meet in the future. After some cool counters, Owens used a thumb to the eye and a small package to retain. Solid work and I loved that Owens shouted "HAPPY ANNIVERSARY" after he left the ring. I would like to see an actual PPV or at least a 15 minute match between them down the line. ***

Before the WWE Tag Team Championship match, the New Day cut a pretty great promo about how the Dudleys are stuck in the past. It kind of would be fitting to discuss the WWE in general. The Dudleys did not get the pop that I was expecting. They worked a similar match to Night of Champions and the Dudleys looked to be on the verge of a win. Then they pulled the EXACT SAME FINISH from Night of Champions. Xavier Woods caused the DQ and they nearly put the Dudleys through the table. However, the Dudleys turned the tide and put Woods through one. It wasn't outright bad but it was the same damn thing we've seen already. **

When Brock Lesnar enters an arena, things just feel very different than at any other time. I can't buy Big Show as a threat after Brock murdered Show at Royal Rumble last year. Here, Show got off to a hot start, throwing Brock outside and then hitting three chokeslams. Brock got up from each, ducked a WMD and then went on a suplex barrage. He won with an F5 before going back after the match and delivering more punishment. This was a fine battle of monsters. It was pretty much exactly what it needed to be. Now just make sure Brock goes over Undertaker at Hell in a Cell and things will have been done as right as possible. **1/2

The main event was a Steel Cage match for the United States Championship between John Cena and Seth Rollins. They faced at SummerSlam and Night of Champions, as well as two episodes of Raw since August. Their chemistry is really good but none of those matches have been great in my eyes. That was the case here. This was better than the Orton/Rollins cage match at Extreme Rules at least. Seth had a chance to win but Kane appeared and instead of climbing down with the CRAZY amount of time that Seth had to do so, he stayed up there like an idiot. As Kane finally got near, he tried a frog splash into the ring but missed and ate an AA to lose. Kane attacked him after the match. ***1/4

In the end, this was nowhere near the level of the Beast in the East Special. For one thing, this show had nothing that reached the levels of Jericho/Neville and Balor/Owens from that show, but another issue was that this didn't feel different. I get that it was supposed to be a house show, but if you're going to air it on the Network, at least make it feel like one. Outside of the crowd looking dark, this looked like most WWE TV. Instead of being a Network Special, this was just another WWE event. 5/10.

Top Ten of 2015: Lucha Underground Matches

I plan on turning this into a series where I will be reviewing the best matches of the year from each promotion that I watch. WWE (I'll separate NXT), NJPW, ROH and Lucha Underground. For the other companies, I'll do the list at the end of the year or the start of next year, but with Lucha Underground done until 2016, I figured now would be a good time to make this list. So here are my picks for the top ten matches in Lucha Underground in 2015. That's literally the only criteria. Just take place in 2015 in Lucha Underground.

10. Match 5 in Best of Five Series: Aerostar vs. Drago - 4/15/15

There were a lot of people that I really grew to like thanks to Lucha Underground and Drago is one of those people. His style was just so much fun to watch. Here, he was in the midst of a pretty great Best of Five against Aerostar, with the winner getting one of Dario Cueto's "unique opportunities." Side note, I really love Dario Cueto. He stayed out at ringside to watch this, giving it a bit of a big fight feel. He looked so happy to watch these two just go at it for his enjoyment. They played off the previous matches in the series, which was great. Even though a table was brought into play, this was more about respectable competition. When Drago won with a rollup, Aerostar wasn't upset and showed respect post match. ***¾

9. Cero Miedo: Pentagon Jr. vs. Vampiro - Ultima Lucha

Yea, I probably rated this match higher than most people but dammit if I didn't love it. Throughout the entire season, Pentagon Jr. was breaking arms and became one of my favorite people to watch. While I enjoyed the build to his match with Vampiro, I felt like it was kind of a let down as I was never big on Vampiro throughout his career and he looked to be in pretty bad shape on commentary. He proved me wrong by going out and doing everything in his power to have the best, craziest match possible. Normally, I'm not a fan of the light tubes and the flaming tables, but it all worked here given the angle. It wasn't just violence for the sake of violence and it played right into the angle. The post match reveal of Vampiro being Pentagon's master was fantastic and should make for some fascinating television in season two. ***¾

8. Steel Cage Match: Johnny Mundo vs. King Cuerno - 3/11/15

One of the cool things about Lucha Underground was that I don't recall them doing many specialty matches more than once. This was the only steel cage match they did all season and it worked wonderfully. Johnny Mundo was one of the bigger names in LU and King Cuerno made a name for himself with some top notch performances. Their feud was built up as them hating each other and they just brawled instantly at the bell, which was very much appreciated. Cuerno wanted to escape and win but Mundo wanted to stay in and finish him. It played into the finish as Mundo chose to hit a corkscrew moonsault off the top of the cage, rather than escape. The risk paid off as he got the 1-2-3. ***¾

7. Alberto El Patron vs. Johnny Mundo - Ultima Lucha

Besides Wrestle Kingdom 9, Ultima Lucha was my favorite show of the year. The second night, which was the better show, started with Alberto El Patron taking on Johnny Mundo. Two guys who have been revitalized since leaving the WWE. Mundo threw Alberto through a window earlier in the season and Alberto wanted blood. Mundo played the cowardly act early on, frustrating Alberto. They built towards bigger stuff later on in the match and there was a ref bump. Normally, I'm not into ref bumps, but it wasn't overused in Lucha Underground and it led to a cool moment where Melina made her debut to attack El Patron. This allowed Mundo to win, but keep El Patron rather strong. I figure the AAA Mega Champion couldn't take a clean loss. El Patron did get some revenge by throwing Mundo through a window, leaving Mundo a bloody mess. It was a damn good opener for a damn good show. ***¾

6. Falls Count Anywhere: Cage vs. The Mack - Ultima Lucha

Technically, the actual opener for all of Ultima Lucha was this Falls Count Anywhere match between Cage and the Mack. Throughout the season, Cage was built up as an absolute beast, even taking Prince Puma to the limit at times. The Mack had more of a fun style but their styles worked really well together for this opener. They kept the match short, going less than eight minutes, but it's hard to find a more enjoyable eight minute match. The Falls Count Anywhere stipulation was taken very seriously as they never even entered the ring. They fought through the crowd, into this strange closet like room, used multiple weapons and it was a blast. Mack parodied Stone Cold in a funny moment but things got a bit serious with the finish. Cage curb stomped Mack through a cinder block in what might have been my favorite finish of the year. Just a great, short, fun match. ****

5. Trios Championship: Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc vs. The Crew - 4/22/15

I absolutely loved the Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc group. Early on in the show, I felt that Ivelisse and Son of Havoc were a bit underutilized, but once Angelico entered the picture, things just turned around. Here, they believed that they won the Trios Tournament and became champions, only for Dario Cueto to throw a wrench in their plans and make them face the Crew in a no DQ match. Maybe I overrated this a bit too because of how much I loved the performers but the story told here was great. Ivelisse was really damaged  while Angelico and Son of Havoc were taken out, leaving her alone. Angelico did one of the biggest spots all year, diving from the top of the Temple to take out the Crew. They went on to win the Trios Title, and it felt extremely earned by the end. Just great stuff. ****

4. Aztec Warfare - 1/7/15

The earliest match on the list to take place was one of my favorites. I remember playing Royal Rumble matches in games like No Mercy where they allowed pinfalls and I thought it was cool. Lucha Underground had a giant Royal Rumble style match that allowed for pins as well as a No Disqualification stipulation to determine their first ever champion. It lasted nearly an hour and took up an entire episode of the show. There are very few Royal Rumbles in history that I liked more than this, as this was just so entertaining. Having no over the top rope rules allowed for everyone to get in their fantastic dives and give it a different feel. I appreciate how they made sure to revisit the rivalries that had been established up to that point. Storytelling was such a great aspect of Lucha Underground throughout the season. The final two were Mundo and Puma, which was fitting as they main evented the first ever episode. Puma won with a 630 to become the first ever champion in a fantastic showing. ****¼

3. Lucha Underground Championship: Prince Puma (c) vs. Mil Muertes - Ultima Lucha

The final act of season one of Lucha Underground saw Prince Puma, the first and only champion in history, take on the monster that is Mil Muertes. The booking of both men throughout the season was fantastic. Puma knew that he had to come at Muertes with speed, while Muertes used his power. They involved Catrina in cool fashion outside, with Puma picking her up and using her as a weapon. Speaking of weapons, this match involved a steel chair and a table. Puma's 630 had beaten everyone but when he hit it here, Muertes kicked out. Then Puma kicked out the Flatliner. See how effective a finisher kick out can be when it doesn't happen every week? Puma went for another 630 but Muertes got up and hit a top rope Flatliner to win the gold. This was a fitting end to a fantastic season of television. ****¼

2. Lucha Underground Championship All Night Long: Prince Puma (c) vs. Johnny Mundo - 6/17/15

Here go these two men once again. They faced off on the first episode and were the last two guys in Aztec Warfare. The difference here was that Johnny Mundo had turned heel. I liked his face work in LU, but once he turned heel, he kicked it up a notch. Similar to Aztec Warfare, this match took up an entire episode, hence the All Night Long name. After Puma won the first fall, Mundo won four straight to take a commanding lead. That was only like 15 minutes in, giving it a really fun start for an Ironman match. The second fall that Puma scored came after they took a huge spill through two tables in a major spot. He scored another and Mundo wisely played prevent defense. He ran away, frustrating the fans and Puma. El Patron returned to stop this and it led to Puma tying it up. Puma would win with a 630 in the final seconds to retain. It can tough to do a match like this since they tend to be hit or miss, but this worked masterfully. They played off their history, worked smart, kept things entertaining, set up the future Mundo/Alberto match and allowed Puma to pick up a massive resilient victory. ****¼

1. Grave Consequences: Fenix vs. Mil Muertes - 3/18/15

Of everything I saw in Lucha Underground this year, nothing topped this match. It's on my overall top ten matches of the year and for good reason. This was a casket match and it was the best one I've ever seen. Considering their rivalry and the booking of Mil Muertes, this was expertly done. It boggles my mind that Judias Mesias sucked so hard in TNA, but found magic in the Mil Muertes role. He brutalizes Fenix, who sold like a champ throughout. The violence in this match is top notch. Fenix bleeds a ton and Muertes even rips his mask, adding to how personal this was, while also giving a great visual. I loved that with this match being so heated, neither guy tried to put their opponent in the casket until the finish. They did a great job in using the casket as a weapon at times. Fenix finally put Muertes in the casket to win and even after this, they managed to build Muertes right back up into champion. Do yourself a favor and check this match out. ****½

Random Match Reviews: Shawn Michaels vs. Shelton Benjamin

Show: Raw
Date: 5/2/05
Location: Boston, Massachusetts

My brother is a massive Shelton Benjamin fan, so I've seen this match multiple times. This though, is my first time seeing it in a few years. For some backstory here, the WWE was holding the Gold Rush Tournament on this night and the matches were a surprise. When then Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin was in the ring, people wondered who his opponent would be. Shawn Michaels' music hit and everything was perfect. Shelton's stunned expression, Jim Ross' commentary and the crowd's reaction was great. It wasn't just "yay it's Shawn Michaels." The reaction was more of "oh my god, it's Shawn Michaels and he's going to wrestle Shelton Benjamin."

There were so many things about this match that I liked. Shawn, being the veteran, gets outworked on the mat and kind of laughs it off. When Shelton continues to do this, Shawn grows frustrated, knowing this isn't a game and Shelton is serious. They do well to make sure that the first half of the match isn't at a breakneck pace, building towards the climax, which is great. Shawn does a kip up, Shelton does one back. Shawn tries a superkick, Shelton blocks it. Shelton tries one, Shawn blocks it, but gets kicked anyway. They managed to have a great back half without overdoing the false near falls or having people kick out of finishers. The Sweet Chin Music and Exploder both get blocked, protecting them until the end where Shawn hits, arguably the best Sweet Chin Music in history. This is one of the best matches in the history of Raw for good reason.

Match Time - 14:52 ****¼

Raw History: Episodes 17-18

Raw History
Episode #17
May 17th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Commentary hypes up tonight as a huge show, featuring Tatanka, an interview with Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon and a match between Yokozuna and Kamala. Footage airs of the brawl between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect outside of the Manhattan Center last week.

The Smoking Guns vs. Glenn Ruth and Tony Vajda
This is the Raw debut of the Smoking Guns, who would go on to become a rather successful tag team. They come out shooting cap guns which is pretty lame actually. Bart and Billy both get in some offense on the jobbers. They do the WWE video game generic double team move, which is a drop toe hold into an elbow drop. I literally chuckled at the sight of it in real life. The Guns win with an interesting finisher as Billy back body drops a jobber into Bart, who catches him with a piledriver. It’s a nice idea in theory, but it came off very awkward.

Winners: The Smoking Guns in 3:41
A bit longer than I expected, but a good showcase for a new team. With them and the Steiners, the tag division seems to be heating up. SQUASH

Vince McMahon is in the ring for a special interview with the WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Our now weekly “Shawn is Gay” chants ring out. Shawn calls himself a man of his word because he said he would be champion and he is. He said he would walk out of the Lumberjack match as Champion and he did. He badmouths Mr. Perfect as well before talking about how he fears no man. Suddenly, a man in a hoodie comes over the guardrail and gets into the ring. Shawn tells the “fan” to sit back down, but it’s revealed that the “fan’ is Marty Jannetty! I don’t think he’s been around since losing to Shawn at the Royal Rumble. It’s crazy that Shawn put him through the Barber Shop window all the way back in 1991. Marty challenges Shawn to prove he’s a man of his word and defend the title against him tonight.

The Kid vs. Razor Ramon
Two weeks ago, he was the Kamikaze Kid and last week he was the Cannonball Kid. Sean Waltman goes with the Kid only this week even though his ass says L. Kid. Even though he’s a heel, there are “Razor” chants because he was so damn cool. Razor, being so much bigger, just manhandles the Kid. He hits a chop that is louder than the cap guns we heard earlier. Razor nails a fallaway slam, and his was probably the best ever though JBL gives him a run for his money. He misses a move in the corner, Kid climbs and nails a moonsault, scoring the three!

Winner: The Kid in 2:10
Here we have one of the most iconic and historic moments in Raw history. The crowd is stunned because, as we’ve seen in these reviews, the jobbers never win. This would be the launching pad for Waltman and showed everyone that anything could truly happen in the WWF. **¼

Scott Taylor vs. Tatanka
Scott Taylor mocks Tatanka at the start, which just leads to him getting back body dropped. The crowd starts doing the Tomahawk Chop again. Bobby Heenan starts giving us useless facts about toilet paper. Tatanka is just dominating this thing. Heenan is still complaining about the Kid winning, making up stories about him using a double backflip in the air. Vince calls him the 1-2-3 Kid and Heenan complains it will catch on. You think? Tatanka wins with the Samoan Drop.

Winner: Tatanka in 3:41
I’ve grown very tired of Tatanka. He’s been on nearly every Raw and has the same match most of the time. SQUASH

Mean Gene takes us to the King of the Ring Report. He informs us of the brackets so far as Bret Hart faces Razor Ramon, Tatanka meets Lex Luger and Bigelow takes on Jim Duggan. On Superstars this week, Shawn Michaels meets Crush in a non-title qualifying bout while Kamala faces Mr. Hughes. No word on what happened in the second Doink/Mr. Perfect qualifier. Way to be consistent Gene!

Kamala vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji
Both men literally just stare across the ring at each other for the first minute or so. They charge at each other and neither budges, but the second time, Yokozuna stumbles. Kamala chops away but Yokozuna doesn’t go down. That’s basically the entire story here as Kamala just keeps trying to take him down. Mr. Fuji grabs Kamala’s foot, allowing Yokozuna to do this thing. A Banzai Drop later and this is over.

Winner: Yokozuna in 3:39
Well, it wasn’t a squash which was different. I appreciated the story of Kamala trying everything to get him down, but it was still rather boring. *½

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Marty Jannetty
So, Shawn Michaels is now defending his Intercontinental Title for the third straight episode of Raw. Bobby Heenan calls Jannetty just another ham and egger. I love that term. After Shawn starts a bit hot, Marty rallies and knocks him outside, following with a baseball slide. He skins the cat back inside before diving out onto him. The crowd is red hot. Marty brings Shawn back in and ducks a superkick before snapping off an arm drag and head scissors for two. This is fast paced, which the crowd needs after the previous bout. Shawn gets out of the head scissors but misses his next shot and takes his signature bump in the corner, sending him outside. Shawn is done with this as he grabs the belt and leaves. Unfortunately for him, Mr. Perfect blocks his exit. After a commercial, Marty tries another head scissors but eats the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot. With that, Shawn starts to wear down Marty, which makes sense since he’s been a ball of fire throughout this. Marty catches a dropkick attempt and slingshots Shawn into the corner. He also hits a pretty powerslam for two and they have the crowd in the palm of their hands. Marty fakes out Shawn and hits a cross body for two. They both get near falls, with Shawn having a handful of tights. He hits the Superkick but smack talks Mr. Perfect instead of pinning. A small package earns Marty the shocking win!

Winner and New WWF Intercontinental Champion: Marty Jannetty in 8:55
Hot damn, this was a fun main event. It was fast paced and played off of the fact that they knew each other very well. The title change made for one of, if not the best ending to a Raw so far. ***½

Overall: 8/10; Great. While the actual wrestling, apart from the main event, wasn’t splendid, this was a very important Raw. First, we get a showcase for the hot new tag team before we see a total shocker in the Kid beating Razor Ramon. Marty Jannetty returning was a nice surprise and the main event more than delivered. This is what Raw is all about. The shock value of anything can happen on a live show.

Raw History: The $2500 Challenge
Episode 18
May 24th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

I don’t know about everyone else, but Raw feels much more important when it’s in the Manhattan Center. Whenever I see an early episode from another venue, it ends up being a throwaway show. Before our opener, Lord Alfred Hayes is outside of the Manhattan Center with Doink, even though he just walked to the ring. TOO MANY DOINKS!

King of the Ring Qualifying Match
Doink the Clown vs. Mr. Perfect
So these two have tried to qualify twice and both ended in draws. Doink attacks at the bell, choking Mr. Perfect with his own towel. Perfect retaliates though and works over the leg, wrapping it around the ring post. Doink knocks Perfect outside with a stiff forearm while still selling the leg work. He takes Mr. Perfect down with a fireman’s carry, only to be put in a head scissors. The straps are down on Mr. Perfect and Doink’s paint is nearly halfway gone but they continues to mat wrestle. Mr. Perfect applies a modified figure four that looks like it hurts a ton. After he gets out, Doink rakes Mr. Perfect’s face across the top rope and we spill outside. Doink has been working the shoulder, which is a great contract to Mr. Perfect’s offense. Doink uses one of my personal favorites, which is a body slam onto the arm that you’ve spent the match working. After a commercial, both guys are just slapping each other until Mr. Perfect nails a clothesline and takes him out. A second Doink comes out and rolls under the ring before switching places with regular Doink. Doink #2 is obviously well rested, but it’s clear that his paint isn’t messed up at all. It doesn’t matter though as he falls victim to the Perfect Plex.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 11:41
This was given a lot of time, had a clean finish and was a damn fine wrestling match. Both guys can work and they focused on an opposing body part, leading to a well thought out contest.***½ 

Bobby Heenan, who the entire match has been saying that it was only one Doink and the others were an illusion, now exclaims that Mr. Perfect beat the wrong Doink. The two Doinks attack until Crush makes the save brudda.

During this week’s King of the Ring Report, we get our first Hulk Hogan appearance since winning the WWF Title. With Mr. Perfect qualifying just now, he will face Mr. Hughes in the first round of the Tournament. Hogan’s promo is about how great it is to be on Raw. Technically, he’s not on Raw. His muscle definition is significantly down. He talks about the five commandments or amendments of Hulkamania. Seriously, it was hard to hear what he said.

Non-Title Match
WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc. vs. Mike Bell and Tony DeVito
I have no clue why Money Inc. is still the Tag Team Champions. If there was any title that should have changed hands last week on Raw, it was the tag belts. Before the match, Ted Dibiase gets a fan to shine their shoes for $100. The kid does it but only gets $30 because the tax man comes for him. I’ll admit, I chuckled a bit. We are told that instead of Money Inc. defending their belts and losing them at King of the Ring, they will be in an eight man tag teaming with the Headshrinkers against the Smoking Guns and the Steiner Brothers. This was your basic extended squash.

Winners: Money Inc. in 3:59
Total squash that took way too long. SQUASH

Crush vs. Jobber
Seriously, I don’t know if I missed it or what but I didn’t get this ham and egger’s name. We are told that Crush and Shawn Michaels had a qualifying match over the weekend, but they fought to a double countout. They don’t get a million rematches like Doink and Mr. Perfect? Oh, it’s Bobby Hill or something like that. Crush dominates, but it’s boring as he even does a bearhug. YOU’RE NOT A HEEL DUDE! Crush uses the Kona Clutch to win.

Winner: Crush in 3:26
Another squash that was dull. SQUASH

Vince McMahon is in the ring to conduct an interview with Razor Ramon. Razor personally requested this time but looks pretty funny in sweatpants. His fake Spanish is hilarious. “McMang” and “Silencio” are delivered in a terrible way. Razor offers the “little cockroach” the 1-2-3 Kid $2500 to step into the ring with him again. When they bring up the King of the Ring, his first round opponent, Bret Hart comes out. He starts a “1-2-3” chant. Bret basically just says it’s going to be “1-2-3” when they wrestle at King of the Ring.

Adam Bomb w/ Johnny Polo vs. Phil Apollo
Even though he appeared on Superstars recently, this is the Raw debut of Adam Bomb. Yea, we saw Kronik in the last two matches. I’ve always been a big fan of Adam Bomb. He does a rather impressive dropkick and back suplex. A top rope clothesline is impressive here before he wins with a powerbomb.

Winner: Adam Bomb in 2:34
Another squash, but at least this one was to hype a new star. SQUASH

It’s so strange to see Raven dressed as Johnny Polo. A short interview is conducted with Bam Bam Bigelow as he faces Marty Jannetty for the Intercontinental Title next week. He’ll have Luna Vachon in his corner and Marty will have Sherri. Hey look! It’s continuity.

Overall: 5/10; Mediocre. This started off so well. Mr. Perfect and Doink had one of the better matches on Raw this year, right up there with Marty/Shawn, Bret/Fatu and Perfect/Flair. The rest of the show was just squashes and, while they make sense sometimes, can be a chore to watch.

Buffalo Raw Review

With the United States Title back in his grasp, John Cena brought back the Open Challenge. It is answered by the sound of John Cena's theme being played on a trombone! New Day came out to save us from another dreary Cena promo and were fantastic. Xavier Woods was the one to accept the challenge, which I loved since he tends to get the least amount of shine, despite being very good. New Day ran in to cause the DQ, bringing out the Dudley Boyz. This led to the Teddy Long Special, as we got a six man tag. New Day would win the fun six man tag, building up their title defense for MSG, while allowing the show to get off to a different start. I appreciated all of this as, while it wasn't great, it was all fine and enjoyable.

Backstage, we have the Authority and a rep from HR who is going to review Kane after an anonymous complaint. It's clear that it was Seth Rollins who complained. Kane was hilarious as the happy go lucky Director of Operations. Raw was off to a pretty fun start but then, right as I was thinking about it, we got Big Show vs. Mark Henry. Yuck. Show won in short fashion to try and hype his MSG match with Brock Lesnar. Moving on, MizTV was next, with Charlotte and Becky Lynch as the guests. This was a mess last time, but went a bit better here. Becky was the star, delivering some pretty good lines, though Charlotte seemed to struggle. Team Bella came out to ramble about nonsense before Paige showed up. She took credit for the fame of the NXT women and delivered some zingers to everyone, especially the Bellas. Teddy Long must be running things backstage as we get a six person tag match playa. Paige teaming with Charlotte and Becky was so dumb here. JBL quickly pulled the "all women are catty and hate each other" mantra to try and cover up for the pointless decisions the Divas make. They did a miscommunication thing that caused Paige to leave. Did the booking team forget that the team already split? She should have gotten the the hot tag, kicked ass and then left because she doesn't need this and proved her point. Natalya tried to take her place, but Paige attacked her and the Bellas won. Also, Charlotte at the pin because "fuck strong champions" right?

Time for the big hype video to promote Big Show against Brock Lesnar for this Saturday. Who gives a fuck? There is a backstage segment with Seth, Kane and HR Ashley that's kind of just there. Going to a tag match, Luke Harper and Braun Strowman defeated the Prime Time Players. Yes, those guys that were JUST Tag Team Champions, are back to losing. Where are Los Matadores? Next, Stardust was set to face Neville for about the 100th time. They worked for a few minutes until Bad News Barrett returned. He laid out both men and told everyone to hail the returning king. There were zero fucks given because none of these three men are booked competently.

Ashley from HR is out to give Kane his evaluation. Yup, in under two hours she's done. Seth shows up to show a video of Kane being evil, so Kane shows one of Seth being a dick. Ashley decides that Kane is fit for the job but Seth could use an evaluation. Seth attacks Kane and takes out his leg with a chair. Kane has to be taken out in an ambulance and Seth gets to look good. Then Kane returns as the "Demon" and proceeds to kick Seth's ass. Kane could still look like a viable challenger without making Seth look like a total joke. Whatever. Randy Orton then beat Bo Dallas in under two minutes. That was fine as nobody was harmed by a loss and Orton got a free win.

The great Tong Po (Rusev) was set for a match against the great Kevin Owens next. I was worried because if one guy turned face down the line, this could be a damn good PPV match. Instead, they wisely threw the match out as both guys attacked Ryback at ringside. This led to Dolph Ziggler showing up to make the save. This was fine as I guess we're going towards a four way for the IC Title. That's okay. Paul Heyman was out for the next segment, to hype Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar. He tried, but it wasn't on the level of the normal Heyman stuff. He can build a match but it's the Big Show and he's no miracle worker.

Bray Wyatt vs. Roman Reigns was the main event. Commentary reminds us that the feud has been going for five months though it seems like it has been about a year. They went through the motions until we got a double countout. Only then did things get interesting as they had a big brawl through the crowd and Reigns speared Bray through the announce table. This is all obviously going to lead to a Hell in a Cell type match between some combination of them. Fine ending but the match wasn't good. Raw started well with the New Day, but as usual, it went way downhill after. There was a sever lack of Sasha Banks and Cesaro as well, which wasn't good. The booking continues to be nonsensical at times and the in-ring work isn't helping the cause. Just another poor episode of Raw. 3/10.

Fave Five 9/21/15-9/27/15

1) Shinsuke Nakamura: The biggest news coming out of the two Destruction shows this week was that Shinsuke Nakamura is once against the IWGP Intercontinental Champion. He's become synonymous with that belt and is the main reason that it has been elevated to the level that it has. Earlier this year, he lost it to Hirooki Goto before also losing the rematch at Dominion in July. During the G1 Climax however, he defeated Goto, earning him another shot. Nakamura was able to hit a big time Boma Ye and entered his fifth reign with the belt. You have to figure that he will carry it into WK10 and co-headline alongside the Tanahashi/Okada main event against a big name. I'm hoping for Styles/Nakamura in the Tokyo Dome.

2) reDRagon: I firmly believe that the best tag team in professional wrestling is none other than reDRagon. reDRagon went 2-0 during the NJPW Destruction shows. On Destruction in Okayama, they defeated Mascara Dorada and Jushin Thunder Liger in what was a bit of a warmup match. It was a decent match but was just setting them up for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title defense in Kobe. They faced the Time Splitters. I went in expecting the Time Splitters to win considering KUSHIDA had just dropped the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title in Okayama, but reDRagon retained in a really fun match. It wasn't on the level of their best work (Power Struggle last year), but it was still good and capped a strong week for Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish in Japan.

3) Togi Makabe: The first Destruction show this week was the one in Okayama. The main event of the show was for the NEVER Openweight Championship, held by Togi Makabe. I badly wanted Kota Ibushi to win the title here but it was not to be. Despite this, they delivered a strong main event and showed that they deserved a headlining spot. The match was hard hitting and damn good, with Makabe having to alter his finisher slightly to win since Kota had him well scouted. I've gone on record in saying that I'm not the biggest fan of Togi. Maybe it's because I'm only just now brancing out and watching his past stuff, but in 2015, I haven't been wowed. This was my favorite match I've ever seen of his. Makabe's team may have lost at Destruction in Kobe, but his main event win was enough to crack the top three.

                              4) Ethan Carter III: The one thing about TNA or Impact Wrestling that I still really love is Ethan Carter III. He has been the single best thing about the company in 2015 and even further back than that. This week, he defeated Rokstar Spud to retain the TNA World Heavyweight Championship. These two had a classic earlier this year in a Hair vs. Hair match, in a star making match for Rockstar, only for TNA to fumble that opportunity. Their rematch this week wasn't on that level, but was still a solid match. EC3 has been having one of the best years in all of wrestling but it often goes overlooked, by myself included, because of the company he works for.

5) Matt Sydal: This may come as a surprising pick for number five this week. With Kenny Omega winning the Jr. Heavyweight Title, Hiroshi Tanahashi picking up a big win over Bad Luck Fale, the Bullet Club retaining their belts and a big win for Tetsuya Naito all this week, this was a tough choice. In the end, I went with Matt Sydal. Sydal made his New Japan debut at the Destruction shows. First, in Okayama, he teamed with Tanahashi in a fun win over Fale and Tama Tonga. That in itself is a pretty nice rub for your debut. He was featured in the Jr. Heavyweight Title match later on and challenged by Kenny Omega to be the next challenger. Then, in Kobe, Sydal pinned Omega in a six man tag and is next in line to challenge for the belt.