Random Network Reviews: WrestleMania VII

WrestleMania VII
March 24th, 1991 | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena | Attendance: 16,158

How about that? I pull the rare WrestleMania that I’ve never seen start to finish. I was only a year old when it aired, but have seen the majority of the card over the years. This show has some historical value as it marks the beginning of the Undertaker’s infamous WrestleMania streak. We also see a retirement match between Ultimate Warrior and Randy Savage, while Sgt. Slaughter was in the midst of a turncoat angle that was highly controversial. This is one of those old school 14 match cards, so things should move fast.

We open to a classic promo for the main event that is kept short and sweet. Willie Nelson sings the National Anthem before we go to Gorilla Monsoon on commentary. He introduces “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan to do commentary with him for the first match at least. He is in the most patriotic getup ever.

The Rockers vs. Barbarian and Haku w/ Bobby Heenan
Sean Mooney interviews the Rockers before the match, which is standard stuff, while their opponents get the jobber entrance. The crowd is hot as hell for the Rockers. I worry about the start as Haku applies an early bearhug, but he breaks it quickly so it doesn’t get boring. The future HBK shows off some athleticism to take down Haku. The Rockers do a double hip toss followed by a double elbow and stereo nip ups, only to run into a big clothesline from the Barbarian. They end up taking him out with a double superkick as they look crisp here. Marty wow with an assisted hurricanrana. They go for it again, but the heels are ready and take out Marty with a clothesline/hot shot combo. After that, Marty plays the face in peril for a while. He tries a second rope move but is caught in a big powerslam. Shawn gets the hot tag eventually, and does what you would expect. The Rockers double dropkick Barbarian out of the ring, before a missile dropkick and cross body gets them the win.

Winners: The Rockers in 10:32
Really fun opening contest here. The crowd was red hot throughout it all, the heels played their roles perfectly and the Rockers were great as high flying underdogs. Perfect start for the show. The only real problem was having to listen to Jim Duggan on commentary. ***½

Mean Gene Okerlund interviews our celebrity hosts. Regis Philbin is one and Alex Trebek is another, but I completely zoned out when the female was introduced. Going into the next match, Bobby Heenan has taken over for Duggan on commentary, which is such a vast improvement.

Dino Bravo w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Texas Tornado
This starts fast as Texas Tornado is knocked outside before he can even get his jacket off. It is crazy that Tornado was allowed to have the gear he has when it looks so similar to what Ultimate Warrior wore. As things go inside, Dino does his powerful offense. Tornado kicks out of a side slam, which commentary sells as kind of a big deal. Dino hits an ugly axe handle or something from the second rope. From out of nowhere, Tornado applies the claw. Dino seems to lose consciousness, so Tornado hits the ropes with the tornado punch, wrapping this up.

Winner: Texas Tornado in 3:11
Standard fare stuff. With a fourteen match card, you figure that some matches will be short and nothing special. That’s what we got here. Filler. *¼

British Bulldog vs. The Warlord w/ Slick
Despite being a pretty poor promo throughout his career, British Bulldog’s pre-match interview is actually really solid here. Gorilla Monsoon tells us this will be a battle of power, which is what we get. It takes about five shoulder blocks but Bulldog is able to knock down the Warlord. They trade shots until Warlord busts out a belly to belly suplex. Slick is pretty entertaining at ringside. He moves to a chinlock while having the ugliest look on his face. Bulldog rallies out behind the crowd, getting in some shots to the BREAD BASKET! Gotta love Gorilla. Old school spot with ten had smashes to the turnbuckle and a cross body earns two. Each guys counters one another a few times, leading to some near falls. Warlord hits a big boot and applies his full nelson which Bulldog mentioned in his interview. Warlord believes that Bulldog can’t break it, so of course, Bulldog does indeed break it. He moves into the running powerslam and earns the win.

Winner: British Bulldog in 8:13
Better than I expected. British Bulldog was just starting his singles run and this was a good starting point. The power battle was fun, while the story of who has the better finisher was well done. **¾

WWF Tag Team Championship
The Hart Foundation (c) vs. The Nasty Boys w/ Jimmy Hart
Interesting note for tonight as it marks the final WrestleMania tag matches for both Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels. The Nasty Boys were relatively new to the WWF after jumping from WCW. Bret starts with Jerry Saggs, just outwrestling and outsmarting him. The crowd is hot as Anvil gets tagged and pounds away on Brian Knobbs. He sends both heels packing. Anvil was good at playing the powerhouse role. The Foundation are just kicking the Nasty Boys around until Knobbs gets in a cheap shot to turn the tide. They work the heat on Bret for a while though it is rather dull. I mean, they do four camel clutch like moves in the span of about four minutes. The Harts give us a few false hot tags before Jim Neidhart is officially in and cleans house. They hit the Hart Attack but a distraction allows a cheap shot with the Nasty Boys helmet, and the three count on Neidhart for the upset.

Winners and New WWF Tag Team Champions: The Nasty Boys in 12:08
Pretty good match here except for the boring and sluggish middle portion. At the time, this was a pretty shocking result, adding to the overall match. Seriously though, if we were just counting the beginning and end, this would be much higher. **¾

Blindfold Match
Jake Roberts vs. Rick Martel
Here we have a rather infamous match that a ton of people hate. This had been building for a really long time, which I appreciate. The crowd is very into it, trying to guide Jake Roberts to Rick Martel. The psychology here is pretty good early on actually. Obviously there isn’t much action as it’s all about Roberts trying to find Martel. In present day, this wouldn’t work as the crowd would crap on it, but the audience was totally into this. Finally, Jake is able to hit the DDT and pick up the victory.

Winner: Jake Roberts in 8:33
I didn’t hate that the way a lot of folks do. Granted, it had little to no action, but I found it rather fun to watch Jake Roberts use the crowd to find Rick Martel. Speaking of the crowd, they play a big part here in helping make this fun. *½

After the match, Jake Roberts puts the snake on Rick Martel, causing him to run scared. Damien is a pretty huge snake. We go to Marla Maples backstage. I guess she was the celebrity chick from earlier that I missed. She tries to interview the Nasty Boys but it’s just debauchery as all of the Jimmy Hart clients celebrate with champagne.

Jimmy Snuka vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer
Gorilla Monsoon calls Jimmy Snuka the “Phenom” before we start, which is interesting. It’s crazy to think this was at a time where Undertaker was only four months into his run. I expect standard early 90’s Undertaker stuff. As a character he was incredible but for the most part, he moved like a zombie in the ring. He shuts me up a bit with a nice leaping clothesline. Snuka tries to rally but is knocked outside and suplexed back in. Snuka makes a big mistake when trying to springboard at Undertaker. He gets caught, leading to a Tombstone and the Streak begins.

Winner: The Undertaker in 4:19
Historic match considering it is the start of the infamous Streak. However, the match itself isn’t very good. Jimmy Snuka was way past his prime and the Undertaker wasn’t at a point where he put on great matches yet. *

Retirement Match
Macho King w/ Queen Sherri vs. The Ultimate Warrior
Before the entrances, Elizabeth is spotted in the audience. Ultimate Warrior and Macho King trade stuff early, with Warrior using his power to gain an advantage. Sherri continually tries to get involved and it fails. Things get personal as Warrior slaps Macho right in the face, causing him to step outside and regroup. The crowd being on the edge of their seats is not just a saying here, it is absolutely true. A cheap shot from Sherri followed by a double axe handle on the outside swings this in Macho’s favor. They do so much with little things like their looks and mannerisms. Warrior’s face pain is pretty much completely gone at this point. We get the classic double clothesline spot and both guys are down. Warrior gets a small package but Sherri distracts the referee. As he complains, Macho drives his knee into Warrior, which then leads to a ref bump. Sherri leaps from the top with her shoe but hits Macho instead. The referee is up rather quickly and Macho is back in control just as soon which is odd. Macho hits FIVE ELBOW DROPS IN A ROW but somehow Warrior kicks out! Warrior begins to hulk up and hits the press slam/splash finish. Savage is able to get his shoulder up though! The crowd is losing their damn minds right now. Savage now wants to do a double axe handle while Warrior is on the guardrail but he moves and the Macho King crashes and burns. Inside, Warrior hits three shoulder blocks to finally end Savage.

Winner: Ultimate Warrior in 20:46
Excellent match right here. Best match in Warrior’s career and one of the greatest in WrestleMania history to this day. The drama, in-ring work, storytelling, build, near falls and everything was tremendously done. *****

Queen Sherri is pissed after the match and begins to yell at Macho King. She even gets in some kicks on the fallen and now retired Superstar. Elizabeth sees enough and hops the guardrail to make the save. She pulls Sherri off by the hair and throws her out of the ring before checking on Savage, who thinks it’s still Sherri. He finally notices who it is, as the crowd is waiting in anticipation. They see the tears in Elizabeth’s eyes and they want it. They get it as they hug! The moment is incredible. There are tons of fans bawling their eyes out, telling you how great this storytelling is. They reenact the WrestleMania IV pose and Savage even holds the ropes for her to exit, which is the opposite of how they would do it when he was a heel.

We get a series of interviews conducted by Alex Trebek and Regis Philbin. It’s like an intermission of sorts.

Demolition w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kaito
This is not the same Demolition that was awesome in the late 80’s. They no longer have the awesome theme music and this is the bastardized version featuring Crush. The crowd doesn’t seem to care much for them either, though most are still in the bathroom or on line to get food. The match is nothing special as the two teams seem unenthused and most of the moves look sloppy. The best thing is hearing Bobby and Gorilla’s exchange over the names of the Japanese wrestlers. A powerbomb earns the win for the foreigners, sending Demolition into obscurity.

Winners: Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kaito in 4:41
Not very good but at least it was kept short. Both teams seemed to be going through the motions and just looking to collect a paycheck. *

Interviews come for Big Bossman and Mr. Perfect. Bossman’s is fine work as he is intense and still pissed about Rick Rude disrespecting his mother. Perfect is…well…perfect. He absolutely nailed that gimmick.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Mr. Perfect (c) w/ Bobby Heenan vs. Big Bossman
Bossman had run through every member of the Heenan Family and the Intercontinental Champion was the crown jewel at the finish line. Bossman slaps Perfect, who oversells, before getting tossed around the ring for a bit. Perfect weathers the hot start by the agile Bossman. I miss the little heel tactics that guys would use, like Perfect does when he uses the ropes for leverage on a simple chinlock. The crowd bites on a near fall as Bossman counters the Perfecplex into a small package. Perfect does a neck snap that looks like it could have hurt Bossman. Bossman comes back and pulls Perfect crotch first into the ring post. The momentum swings again when Bossman is sent into the steel steps and Heenan gets in some cheap stomps. Andre the Giant walks out to even the odds. He’s moving much better than expected for this time period in his life. He grabs the IC Title so Perfect complains to the referee. Bossman gets a near fall, leading to the Heenan Family coming out and causing the disqualification.

Winner via disqualification: Big Bossman in 10:26
Solid outing here. I thought both guys worked hard for the duration until the end. The finishing sequence was kind of just Perfect standing around and Bossman on his back. That ending hurt the score, but still not bad. **¾

Big Bossman and Andre the Giant send the Heenan Family packing so the fans aren’t upset.

Earthquake w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Greg Valentine
During the entrances, Mean Gene shows us the celebrities in the crowd including Donald Trump, Chuck Norris, Lou Ferrigno and Henry Winkler. As for the match, I’m seriously disinterested in it. Earthquake squashes him with an early slam but only gets two. It’s basically a squash match as Hammer only gets in a few offensive moves before Earthquake puts him down.

Winner: Earthquake in 3:16
An extended squash match. I guess they used it as a placeholder match but it was pretty pointless. ¼*

The Legion of Doom vs. Power and Glory
This is the WrestleMania debut for the Legion of Doom. They had recently finished off Demolition in a feud and beat Power and Glory here in less than a damn minute with the Doomsday Device.

Winners: The Legion of Doom in 0:58
I can’t really give this a score because it is far too short. NO RATING.

Ted Dibiase vs. Virgil w/ Roddy Piper
At the Royal Rumble, Virgil turned on his former master to a MASSIVE ovation. Roddy Piper is limping due to a motorcycle accident that Heenan classically calls a tricycle accident because his skirt got stuck in the bike chain. Virgil starts hot and does an odd handshake with Piper that they clearly never planned. Dibiase stalls a lot to avoid Virgil’s offense. Dibiase knocks Piper out of the chair and its hilarious how he struggles to get up. Unfortunately, the cameramen focus far too much on Piper, which takes away from the match. Dibiase ends up jawing with Piper a bit too much outside and gets counted out.

Winner via countout: Virgil in 7:35
I get that they were holding this off until SummerSlam, but shouldn’t the blow off be at WrestleMania? Anyway, the match was rather dull and I wasn’t a fan. *½

After the match, Ted Dibiase locks the Million Dollar Dream on Virgil until Roddy Piper intervenes. This brings out Sensational Sherri, who aligns herself with Dibiase and they take out Piper.

The Mountie w/ Jimmy Hart vs. Tito Santana
Can you believe that the Mountie character would be Intercontinental Champion, even for a few days, in under a year? Tito Santana was nearing the end of his run before turning into El Matador. They do some short sequences before Mountie uses the shocker on Tito and steals a quick win.

Winner: The Mountie in 1:21
Much like the Earthquake match, this was just a squash. It gets a new heel over a relatively established face and does it quickly. *

WWF Championship
Sgt. Slaughter (c) w/ General Adnan vs. Hulk Hogan
The heat here is insane as this was a very controversial angle. As one would expect, Hulk Hogan starts hot because, AMERICA! Adnan tries to get involved several times, but Hogan knocks him down each time because he sucks so badly. Hogan is just beating Slaughter from pillar to post right now. He makes the mistake of going up top and takes the Flair bump to turn the tide. Slaughter pounds on Hogan with a steel chair and chokes him with cables outside but Earl Hebner isn’t calling for the bell. He continues to beat on Hogan, even applying the Boston crab. Adnan tries to heel it up and assist but he just holds Slaughter’s head in an odd way. Slaughter hits Hogan right in the head with a chair, leading to one of the more obvious blade jobs in history. I have no idea why the referee hasn’t called a DQ. The camel clutch gets locked in, which looks cooler with Hogan’s bloody face. Hogan won’t quit so Slaughter ends up trying a pin with the Iraq flag but Hogan kicks out and rips it in half. It’s HULK UP time. You know what comes next and we have a new champion.

Winner and New WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan in 20:22Another match that exceeded my expectations. Granted, it wasn't great but it was pretty solid. Hulk Hogan did what he was supposed to early before giving Slaughter a good chunk of offense and making the comeback for America. Basic but the atmosphere bumps it up a notch. ***

Overall: 7/10; Good. When a show has fourteen matches, I don’t have high hopes. However, this was rather enjoyable. It moved briskly despite clocking in at over three hours. The Retirement match is an absolute must see classic, while the WWF Title and a few other matches are good stuff. If this was cut down by three or four matches it really could have been something special. Instead it’s a good but not great WrestleMania. Up next for “Random Network Reviews” will be King of the Ring 2001!

Bootyham Raw Review

As a welcome change of pace, Raw didn't start with the usual long Authority opening promo. Instead, we got Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman. Heyman did his usual great promo, selling the Fastlane main event. Dean Ambrose interrupted and came face to face with Brock. This was great because Dean is the first guy to straight up not show fear against Lesnar since he broke the streak and because of his character, it was believable. Dean admitted that provoking Brock isn't a good idea but that he's willing to do anything, even take a trip to Suplex City, to become the WWE Champion. He came out to say that to Brock's face out of respect. He left right after. That segment sold me on Brock vs. Ambrose more than any of the Reigns/Brock angles from the road to WrestleMania last year.

The United States Champion, Kalisto, took on Rusev next. Rusev had that Rock banging whore Lana with him. Alberto Del Rio was on commentary because we're getting Del Rio/Kalisto V at Fastlane. Del Rio was so boring on commentary. Just let him be a face and let him be him. It's so much better than this uncomfortable heel stuff he's doing. Heel Del Rio has almost never worked. Commentary as a whole sucked here, calling Kalisto a mosquito about 200 times. Kalisto won via countout, which at least protected Rusev. Backstage, Stephanie McMahon tells Ambrose and Reigns that they will face New Day tonight. She also attempted to drive a wedge between them, calling Ambrose Reigns' sidekick. After discussing Nikki Bella's neck surgery, we move to a tag match. But first, we have to make fun of Lillian Garcia for saying Grammy instead of Slammy. They even replay it. It seemed like it was in good fun, but that also feels like they were going out of their way to poke fun. Lillian has been making tons of mistakes over the past year or so, and I wonder why they chose to focus on this one. The Usos defeated the Social Outcasts in a decent tag match. The weird thing is that they make the Social Outcasts out to be jobbers, but actually had them be competitive here. Bo Dallas/Bo Rida wasn't there due to BlackJack Mulligan being hospitalized. Bray Wyatt wasn't in attendance either.

                             There would be no AJ Styles match this week on Raw, but he was the guest on MizTV. I was a bit worried because Miz is so good on the mic and talking isn't AJ's strong suit. However, this was masterfully done. Miz cut off AJ at every turn, not allowing him to speak but telling AJ's story. Miz did it in a way that he came off like a dick, but he also put over AJ. He did so well that he got the dead crowd into the segment and they exploded when AJ finally got fed up and attacked Miz. Serious props to the Miz for his work here. It led to a match this coming Thursday on Smackdown. Honestly, if there's anything from Raw that you should see, it's this and the Ambrose/Brock stuff.

Most likely because Nikki is injured, Brie Bella is a face again. The Bellas are like the female Big Show. Brie faced Charlotte in a non-title match. Ric tried to get involved but Alicia Fox stopped him and Brie stole a win. Is this going to lead to something? Does Brie leap frog Sasha and Becky? Or was this just to plug Total Divas? I doubt creative knows either. In a rematch from their epic encounter at TLCS 2014, Big Show met Erick Rowan. Show even grabbed the steel steps beforehand, reminding us of their terrible stairs match. Show beat Rowan handily, in about a minute. The Wyatts, sans Bray, then beat up Show. Why should I take them seriously? The Wyatts have become a big joke. Anyway, continuing the trend of short matches, Titus O'Neil defeated Tyler Breeze. Breeze has officially become pretty much nothing on the main roster. Instead of pushing a guy like Breeze, they push Titus simply because he gets those father awards and it's good PR. I have nothing against Titus, but Breeze shouldn't be getting squashed by him.

The never ending series of matches between Dolph Ziggler and Kevin Owens continued They don't really have bad matches but they're never really that good. They're kind of just there. This one seemed better than most, but I couldn't get into it because of my feelings towards the series. Owens dominated here but ZIggler rallied and scored his first win over Owens. I wonder where this is going. Sasha Banks came out next and cut a promo saying that she's going to be on her own now. Team BAD showed up and took issue with this, but Sasha said they're still friends. Sasha wrestled Becky Lynch for a few minutes until Team BAD tried to intervene. Sasha stopped them, causing them to attack her. Becky helped out and two NXT standouts sent the lesser women packing. Again, I have no clue where this goes but at least Sasha is away from Naomi and Tamina.

Chris Jericho gets interviewed about AJ Styles. It seems like we will get that at Fastlane. Goldust meets R-Truth in the bathroom and wants him to be his partner still. It was a pretty funny segment. I'd still mark for a Cody/Goldust reunion though. New Day was out for the main event and once again stole the show. Their promo involved them calling the Rock a potty mouth, telling a kid in the front row that they would fight him and mentioning the Ambrose/Reigns Tumblr fangirls. The main event match itself was pretty good. They worked the hot tag to Dean and not Roman which was different. The faces won and Brock Lesnar came out. New Day attacked them before anything could happen. Roman dealt with Kofi outside, leaving Lesnar open to lay out Ambrose with the F5, closing the show.

Overall, I felt this was a middle of the pack episode of Raw. There was some good, like the MizTV segment, the New Day promo and the Ambrose/Brock stuff. Some stuff was alright like the Sasha segment, Owens/Ziggler and the main event. Some of it sucked like Rowan/Show, Breeze jobbing and Del Rio on commentary. 5/10.

Fave Five 1/25/16-1/31/16

1) Shinsuke Nakamura: Nobody made more headlines this week than Shinsuke Nakamura. First, news broke that Nakamura was officially joining NXT and the match that was announced for NXT TakeOver: Dallas sounds all kinds of amazing. Then, he had to have his final match in New Japan Pro Wrestling. The show was focused on him, with multiple guys giving him small tributes throughout the evening. In the main event, Nakamura teamed with his Chaos buddies Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii to defeat Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata and Hirooki Goto in a great six man tag. Nakamura got an emotional sendoff and was carried out of Korakuen Hall on Okada's shoulders in a really cool moment.

                          2) Takashi Sugiura: Before a classic match against Minoru Suzuki last year, I had never seen any of Takahashi Sugiura. He just so happened to rack up the biggest win of the week, when he captured the GHC Heavyweight Championship from Naomichi Marufuji. For those that don't remember, Marufuji just won the belt from Suzuki-Gun leader Minoru Suzuki at the end of December. Sugiura, who had a classic with Suzuki earlier in the year, turned heel and joined the Suzuki-Gun stable. Sugiura was able to dethrone Marufuji and shift the balance back to Suzuki-Gun, who dominated throughout 2015. Things certainly look interesting for NOAH in 2016. Part of me is pretty sad about this. I selfishly would like to see Suzuki-Gun, mainly Minoru, work in the G1 Climax later this year. I don't know if that happens now since Suzuki-Gun is back atop the world of NOAH. One has to now wonder where this endgame leads to. I don't think Marufuji wins the belt again and I can't think of many other top faces in NOAH. Maybe Nakajima gets some shine?

3) King Cuerno: Of everything that happened in wrestling this week, my favorite was the return of Lucha Underground. LU was my pick for the best promotion in 2015. They always put on a fun show and it's so different from everything else. The season two premiere was absolutely fantastic and kicked off with a great match. Fenix, the holder of the Gift of the God's Championship, wad made to defend his belt by order of Catrina. His opponent was one of the guys I felt was a bit overlooked in season one, King Cuerno. After a really good, fast paced match, Cuerno put down Fenix to win the title. He now holds a title shot at the Lucha Underground Championship whenever he wants, but he does seem to have a deal with Catrina to not use his shot. It'll be interesting to see this play out.

4) AJ Styles: After making a splash by debuting at the Royal Rumble, AJ Styles had to keep up the momentum. It started on Raw, when AJ Styles was put in what many called a dream match. Styles' official Raw debut came against Chris Jericho. While the match they had wasn't great, it was certainly a really good showing from both man and Styles was able to win with a rollup. They teased some heel stuff from Jericho, making me think this might become a program. Then, AJ Styles made his Smackdown debut. At the Royal Rumble, he eliminated Curtis Axel, who was in the Rumble for over a year in his mind. Axel and the Social Outcasts tried to hand Styles his first loss, but AJ nailed the Styles Clash for the first time on WWE TV and defeated Axel. Hopefully the wins keep piling up for AJ and he gets to play a prominent role heading into WrestleMania.

5) Ivelisse: As noted in my write up for King Cuerno, Lucha Underground returning this week was so great. I was very close to picking Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes here but I went with Ivelisse in the end. First of all, Ivelisse faced her partners Angelico and Son of Havoc in a three way match. This was a fun showing that Ivelisse managed to win. I was very happy that my favorite team in LU got some shine on the first episode. It didn't end there though. Ivelisse now had a shot at the title against the monster that is Muertes. They built and booked this expertly. Ivelisse was obviously no match for Muertes, but they made sure we all bought into her hope spots. It was a great performance from everyone involved and Ivelisse came out looking great. Here's hoping she wins more gold this season.

NJPW Road to the New Beginning 1/30/16 Review

Road to the New Beginning

January 30^th, 2016 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan

New Japan Pro Wrestling held a particularly special show this morning. It was one of their typical “Road to” shows, setting up the upcoming New Beginning shows, but it also served as the final NJPW appearance for Shinsuke Nakamura before he heads to NXT.

David Finlay Jr. def. Hirai Kawato in 4:38

I’ve mentioned before that the young lions are among my favorites to watch in New Japan. They don’t deliver greatness, but they work hard and usually produce good matches. My favorite young lion, Yohei Komatsu, is unfortunately gone for now. David Finlay Jr. has been around for a while, but Hirai Kawato is completely fresh out of the dojo. Due to that, Finlay got in most of the offense. It seemed more like a showcase for Finlay as Kawato has to take losses right from the start. He submitted to the Boston Crab. The match was short, basic and to the point. Fine for what it was. **

YOSHI-HASHI def. Jay White in 6:19

Speaking of young lions, Jay White was in action next. He is another that I’m usually a fan of. YOSHI-HASHI is a member of the Chaos stable alongside the star of the day, Shinsuke Nakamura. He’s way down on the totem pole compared to him though. Similar to the opener, I thought this was fine for what it was. YOSHI-HASHI was as average as he always is, while Jay White continues to show some improvement. HASHI, being higher on the card, bested White via a powerbomb. **¼

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger and Satoshi Kojima def. Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask IV and Yuji Nagata in 10:34

It’s a bunch of old men beating the hell out of each other. Honestly, because of that reason, I found this to be pretty fun. They pulled the whole “knock Nakanishi off the apron a bunch” stuff again, which I always find enjoyable since he’s so slow at trying to get back up. Tenzan and Kojima showed great chemistry as always. When Nakanishi finally got the tag, he did about as good a hot tag as he could with his speed or lack thereof. Nakanishi was walking wild. Tencozy connected on a 3D before Kojima hit a lariat and gave his guys the win. Acceptable stuff here that had moments of fun. **¾

Bad Luck Fale and Yujiro Takahashi def. Kazushi Sakuraba and Toru Yano in 6:57

At the upcoming New Beginning in Osaka show, Toru Yano and the Briscoes will defend their NEVER Openweight Titles against Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi. Or, the same match we saw at Wrestle Kingdom 10. This worked as a preview of that match, with no Tama Tonga or Briscoes. They continued the angle of Fale getting frustrated and annoyed with Yano and his antics. Yano was his usual fun self, Fale and Takahashi were there and Sakuraba honestly didn’t seem too interested in this match. Fale put down Yano with the grenade, building some suspense for the upcoming title match. About as expected. **

BUSHI, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito def. Captain New Japan, KUSHIDA and Ryusuke Taguchi in 8:58

Coming out of intermission, we started getting some of the heavy hitters in New Japan. Again, this had some build for the New Beginning, when IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA defends his gold against BUSHI. I am looking forward to this as I like both guys, especially KUSHIDA. I have to say it again, but EVIL’s is too over the top for me. Sometimes over the top can work but it doesn’t here. I can’t help but laugh at his weird green finger lights. This was worked at a brisk pace, filled with the usual Los Ingobernables shenanigans. It was the best thing on the show up to this point. The BUSHI/KUSHIDA interactions were fun, making me believe their title match will deliver. I also realized that I want to see a KUSHIDA/Naito singles match at some point. BUSHI spit the mist at a spring boarding KUSHIDA and EVIL pinned Captain New Japan with the STO. BUSHI cut a promo on KUSHIDA after the match. ***

Cody Hall, Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Kenny Omega def. Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe in 11:46

The Bullet Club went after the babyfaces before the bell, similar to what Fale and Takahashi did earlier. Good to see stables being consistent. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson face Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe for the Tag Team Titles at the New Beginning in Nigata, giving this some more build for that show. Michael Elgin was here to show off his power based offense, which he did with some impressive stuff like a powerbomb on Anderson to the outside and a cool fallaway slam while carrying two men. Kenny Omega is obviously in the midst of a push, while Juice and Cody were here to fill spots. Elgin continues to look so much better in Japan. Omega was still a bit over the top at times and while I’m not a big fan, I do really like how this ended. Omega pinned Juice with his own version of Nakamura’s Boma Ye. Considering Nakamura is leaving instead of defending the belt against him after Omega pinned him at New Year Dash, this made total sense and worked well. ***

Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii def. Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata in 21:52

Before the match started, we got a great video package chronicling Shinsuke Nakamura’s career in New Japan Pro Wrestling. It was set to a slow version of his theme song, “Subconscious”. The crowd was absolutely hot and popped bit for Nakamura. It looked like we would get Tanahashi and Nakamura to start, which the crowd popped for, but Goto pushed Tanahashi back, wanting Okada. For the rest of the match, Goto was mercilessly booed. His interactions with his New Beginning opponent, Okada, were great. The same goes for Ishii and Shibata, who will meet yet again at the upcoming event. Nakamura got to have some cool moments with everyone. Shibata playfully mocked some of his mannerisms and his back and forth with Tanahashi was classic. Ishii picked up the wins for his guys with a Brainbuster on Shibata, gaining momentum before his NEVER Title match. After the match, Kenny Omega showed up to run down Nakamura for leaving instead of facing him. Tanahashi stepped in and revealed that he was “X”, meaning it’ll be him facing Omega at the New Beginning for the vacant Intercontinental Title. Nakamura gave a speech and was carried out on Okada’s shoulders. They were very emotional as was the crowd. A great match capped out by an emotional moment. ****

Overall: 6.5/10. In terms of pure match quality, this was a pretty average show. It started slow before intermission and got good after that. However, this is still a highly recommended show to check out the final Shinsuke Nakamura match in New Japan. Also, even though most of the matches aren’t great, this is a very easy watch that flows nicely. If you can only see one thing, make sure it’s everything Nakamura related.

Top Ten Thursday: February Pay-Per-View Matches

The month of February is here and in honor of that, I'm going to look at the best Pay-Per-View matches that I've ever seen take place in the month. The list will include WWE, WCW and NJPW. I have seen some ROH and TNA February Pay-Per-Views, but they didn't quite crack the top ten.

10. WWF Championship Hell in a Cell: Triple H (c) vs. Cactus Jack – WWF No Way Out 2000

This is my third top ten list to feature a match between Cactus Jack and Triple H. Their match a month before this made my “Non-Rumble Royal Rumble Matches” and “Matches I’ve Seen Live” lists. The chemistry between these two was always something to behold. It just clicked. Despite being a barbaric war, this one is sometimes forgotten due to the nature of their first battle. This was one of the earlier Cell matches and like Undertaker/Mankind or Undertaker/Michaels, it remains one of the best. Like the Royal Rumble match, these two really showcase the hatred for one another. You watch it and you feel like Cactus really wants to kill Hunter. They were smart to add the retirement stipulation, upping the ante from their prior matches. They played off their past, bringing in the barbed wire 2x4, but adding fire to the mix. Outside of the bumps in the King of the Ring 1998 Cell, this had the biggest that I can remember as Cactus took a back body drop through the roof of the cell and through the ring itself. Following that, Triple H hit a Pedigree to retain the title and send Foley into retirement.

9. Barry Windham, Larry Zbyszko, Ric Flair and Sid Vicious vs. Brian Pillman, the Steiner Brothers and Sting – WCW WrestleWar 1991

The lone WCW outing to make this list is a good old fashioned War Games match. For those unaware, the War Games matches work like a big series of hot tags. Things start with two men and the rest join in, one at a time, with the advantage swinging each time. This is one of the better worked War Games matches, but not on the level of the one that would take place in 1992. Still, this was a blast. Everyone seemed to be on their game. It played out like a really violent match. Pillman started with Windham and Windham was busted open before the next guy could even enter the match. That’s what I like to see. That would not be anywhere near the end of the bloodshed either. There were more than a few cool spots throughout this. At one point, multiple figure fours were locked in and they panned to a shot of the fans pretty much losing their minds. The infamous finish came when Sid nearly killed Pillman on a powerbomb before hitting a second powerbomb. El Gigante lumbered out to check on his friend and the match was called. This was certainly one of the better War Games matches in history.

8. Daniel Bryan vs. Roman Reigns – WWE Fastlane 2015

The most recent entry on this list main evented the inaugural Fastlane Pay-Per-View. Brock Lesnar was the reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion, but was working his part-time schedule. Due to that, a lot of main events around this time didn’t involve the title. Roman Reigns won the Royal Rumble, but Daniel Bryan never lost his title, relinquishing it due to injury the year before. They met in Memphis on this night, with the winner facing Brock at WrestleMania. Wisely, they went with a smart and easy story to tell. Bryan was the better wrestler, but Reigns was clearly the better brawler. It’s simple, but effective. Reigns’ Rumble win was met with sever backlash as he was VERY unproven in the ring. This was the kind of star making performance that he needed. They played into the power vs. technical stuff so very well. Reigns didn’t dominate and neither did Bryan. The viewers knew that neither guy had a serious upper hand so they made sure that the match was even throughout. Unlike a lot of WWE matches, they didn’t overdo the false finishes. They were even wise enough to bring Reigns’ hernia injury into play. Reigns won with the Spear, getting the rub from Bryan, who shook his hand afterwards. At the time of this writing, it remains the best Reigns match.

7. WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero – WWE No Way Out 2004

Part of what I said about the Reigns/Bryan match can be applied here. This was one powerful man and one smaller, highly skill guy. The WWE, and wrestling in general, have done plenty of David vs. Goliath stories but I haven’t seen many done better than this. Brock Lesnar was on a roll as the WWE Champion and it was possible that he would head into WrestleMania with the strap. Eddie Guerrero was red hot but it was hard to see him beating Brock. Eddie was a guy that was looked at as someone who would never make it to the top. Not many people had beaten Brock to that point. Off the top of my head, I can remember Kurt Angle and the Big Show doing so. Eddie took a beating in the match, but was so resilient. He was such a likable babyface that the fans were behind his every rally. Despite his best efforts, Brock was still too much. Until Goldberg showed up. Goldberg and Brock were in the midst of a cross-brand rivalry. Goldberg’s involvement led to Eddie hitting the Frog Splash and picking up one of the more emotional title wins in WWE history. It was the crowning moment for one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of wrestling boots.

6. World Heavyweight Championship: Kurt Angle (c) vs. The Undertaker – WWE No Way Out 2006

Think about the best matches that the Undertaker has had in his career. You’ll remember stuff with Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart, Edge and other guys that are smaller than him. He and Kurt Angle were the same way for the most part. This match at No Way Out was their best outing for sure. After Angle retained his World Title at the Royal Rumble, Undertaker showed up and basically issued a challenge. That led them to this match, which was a great battle of Undertaker’s size going against Angle’s technical ability. Even though Undertaker had the size advantage, he stepped out of his comfort zone and busted out some technical stuff. Undertaker sold the leg work very well, which is something he started doing very well in this era of his career. Kurt Angle was allowed to come off looking like a total badass throughout the entire match. My only issue with this match was the finish. The company wanted to protect both guys so they did a controversial finish that saw Angle retain. Even so, this was a great match and I really think it should have happened at WrestleMania that year instead of Undertaker/Henry.

5. NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW The New Beginning in Sendai 2015

Shortly after I had to cancel my New Japan World account early in the year, this show was held. I heard nothing but incredible things about the NEVER Openweight Title match between Tomoaki Honma and Tomohiro Ishii. I was finally able to check it out and didn’t really enjoy it the first time around, though I blame that on me being preoccupied when I saw it. I’ve see it twice more now and think it’s great, but I’ve never gotten the full five star vibe from it that a lot of people had. So, Togi Makabe was the NEVER Champion but was out injured and these two wrestled for the vacant belt. It was a brutal affair, with both guys just going to war with each other. The crowd absolutely loves Honma, meaning they are not only completely into everything he does, but they bite on every near fall, despite his terrible win/loss record. That red hot crowd reaction added to this. The match goes 24:46 which is not the usual case for my favorite matches these guys have. They both, especially Honma, excel in the G1 style shorter matches, but this was pretty great. Ishii won back the title with a Brainbuster after they beat the hell out of each other for the whole match.

4. WWF Championship: Bret Hart vs. Steve Austin vs. Undertaker vs. Vader – WWF In Your House: Final Four 1997

This was a pretty interesting concept. It wasn’t your typical Fatal Four Way match, since those weren’t even used by the WWF at this time. At the Royal Rumble, Steve Austin illegally got back into the ring and Bret Hart, Undertaker and Vader were all eliminated. None of those eliminations should have counted, so they made up this match. It was elimination rules and you could get dumped by going over the top rope. Shawn Michaels had to vacate the WWF Title when he lost his smile, leading to this being for the vacant belt. These four guys beat the hell out of each other in one of my favorite matches ever. Vader was the MVP by far, just doing some great things and bleeding a ton. Austin was the first one thrown over the top after injuring his knee. I’ve heard that the original plan was for Austin to win here. I’m glad it didn’t happen because his title win at WrestleMania XIV was something special. Anyway, Vader was out next, leaving it to come down to Undertaker and Bret. They went at it, Austin came back out to get involved, but it still resulted in Bret sending Undertaker over the top to win his fourth WWF Title.

3. NEVER Openweight Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii – NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka 2014

There would probably be more New Japan stuff on this list if I was able to see more of their shows. I have been going back and watching more, but I’ve only seen the 2014 and 2015 stuff. Tetsuya Naito and Tomohiro Ishii have both become two of my favorite performers in NJPW. The Osaka crowd was not feeling Naito at all, following his failed push after winning the G1 Climax in 2013. Ishii had quickly risen to become one of the bigger cult favorites in Japan. With the crowd completely behind Ishii, the face Naito wised up and made sure to show off his heel tendencies. It was a precursor to the excellent heel run that Naito would have a year later. Ishii had his shoulder worked on, while Naito had his leg targeted. Naito had issues selling the leg during the G1 Climax a year prior but did a really good in doing so here. It was a great way that featured two guys doing everything in their willpower to break each other. Some of the near falls down the stretch were absolutely insane. I knew the result the first time I watched this and still was on the edge of my seat. Ishii won, finally getting himself a big moment in front of a hot crowd.

2. The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family – WWE Elimination Chamber 2014

Just a few weeks after the number three match on this list, this one took place. Throughout the entire 2013 year, the Shield was far and away the best thing about the WWE, as well as the clear cut MVPs. In the back half of 2013 though, a new threat emerged on the scene, known as the Wyatt Family. These two factions were both dominant and you could kind of sense that they would collide at some point. They even teased it on a late 2013 episode of Raw. After the Wyatts cost the Shield a spot in the WWE World Heavyweight Title Elimination Chamber match, the two units were set for war. Something about this match felt really special and I really wish that it was saved for WrestleMania. However, it took place in February and this was spectacular. I’ve never seen anything quite like this. There was unbelievable hype and they more than lived up to it. The crowd was chanting “this is awesome” before they even locked up. This came off as a war. They went on to have a few more matches, but none ever reached this nearly perfect match. The Wyatts won, with Bray pinning Roman Reigns. Of course, this led to Bray Wyatt losing to John Cena at Mania, but on this night, Bray looked like a start.

1. Three Stages of Hell: Steve Austin vs. Triple H – WWF No Way Out 2001

The Three Stages of Hell stipulation hadn’t ever been done coming into this match. Steve Austin was out of action for almost ten months after being hit a car. It was revealed that Rikishi drove the vehicle, but Triple H was the mastermind behind it. They had a match at Survivor Series 2000 which ended with Austin nearly murdering Triple H. This would be the ending of their rivalry and it ended with a bang. This was a Two Out of Three Falls match where the first fall was a regular match, the second fall was a street fight and the third fall, if needed, would be a Steel Cage match. I’ve mentioned how the last matches on this list were wars, but this was on a whole different level. Surprisingly it was Austin who won the standard match and Triple H who took the Street Fight. Then, the cage lowered with weapons still inside the ring, allowing them to continue to keep the hardcore theme while trapped in the cage. After a marathon of brutality, Austin and HHH hit each other at the same time with a 2x4 and sledgehammer. Triple H fell on Austin and scored the win, which was a surprising result since Austin had a WWF Title shot at WrestleMania. This went on for nearly forty minutes and was one of the best matches in the storied careers of either guy.

Lucha Underground Season Two Premiere Review

Following a spectacular first season, Lucha Underground returns. However, things are quire different. Dario Cueto is no longer around so there's a new sheriff in town. Catrina, the manager of Lucha Underground Champion Mil Muertes and Trios Champions the Disciples of Death, is taking over for Dario. She literally holds ALL of the power. 

Now, the best thing about Lucha Underground is the way that it blends great wrestling with the cinematography and general all around feel that makes films great. That was evident from the start with a video package showing Vampiro getting out of an insane asylum. He snaps and attacks the doctors, even biting one like a vampire. It was only a vision though and Vampiro gets out, meeting up with Matt Striker in the desert. They head out but Striker warns him the Temple is a darker place now. Vampiro gives a sly smile, which I absolutely loved.

Fenix, the current Gift of the God's Champion, shows up in Catrina's office. She doesn't allow him to cash in for a Lucha Underground title shot, instead saying he has to defend it tonight.

Gift of the God's Championship: King Cuerno def. Fenix (c) in 7:47
Last season, Lucha Underground started with Blue Demon Jr. vs. Chavo Guerrero. Needless to say, this was a far better way to kick things off. Commentary put over the fact that this was the first ever meeting between the two but you would not have believed that. They worked at an incredibly fast pace, moving seamlessly from one move to another. They did some things that I had never seen before. Fenix found ways to innovate the diving double stomp, hitting one to the back of Cuerno's head while he was seated atop the turnbuckle, and a springboard 450 splash. He survived Cuerno's signature Thrill but lost the title when Cuerno hit a packaged Tombstone. Excellent match, perfect choice for the opener and the title change was a great surprise. ****

The former Trios Champions, Angelico, Ivelisse and Son of Havoc arrive. They instantly see Catrina and want their belts back. Catrina declines saying that Mil Muertes wants them to face each other. They initially scoff, but when they find out that a Lucha Underground title shot is on the line, they agree. That's such a great way to mess with the champions and keep them away from Mil.

Backstage, Catrina meets up with King Cuerno. They seem to have struck some sort of deal. I guess Cuerno won't be cashing in his shot.

Number One Contender's Match: Ivelisse def. Angelico and Son of Havoc in 6:07
I would like to add that throughout the night, Mil Muertes has been seated on a throne up where the band used to play in the Temple. It looks so fucking cool. I haven't seen Ivelisse fully healthy in a long time. This was one of those matches that was good but made better by the story involved. The three teammates played off of their strengths and chemistry together. It all worked very well. Havoc seemed like he would win but Ivelisse stopped him and rolled up Angelico to pick up the win. Well done stuff and the emotional reaction to realizing that Ivelisse now had to face a monster like Muertes hit me hard. Only Lucha Underground does that to me this often. ***

Some random dudes are 375 miles away from the Temple and they're looking for it. They find Black Lotus who will take them where they need to be.

Lucha Underground Championship: Mil Muertes (c) def. Ivelisse in 4:32
Before the match, the Disciples of Death showed up and attacked Son of Havoc and Angelico. Muertes and Catrina held Ivelisse and made her watch as they carried them off to the back, leaving Ivelisse all alone. Due to the obvious mismatch, this wasn't the greatest match ever, but it was expertly booked. They made sure to have Muertes look like an absolute monster, while having Ivelisse take advantage of any and every small opening. She applied some submissions but Mil was able to power out of each. Catrina got involved when Ivelisse had an opening. Ivelisse avoided a Muertes spear and he took out Catrina. Ivelisse then rolled him up for a near fall that I COMPLETELY bought into. Muertes planted her with the Flatliner to retain. Again, Lucha Underground totally pulled me into this and I was more emotionally invested in this than most matches in the past few months. ***

After the bell, Catrina seems to go for the lick of death but decides against it, wanting Mil to inflict more damage. Former Lucha Underground Champion Prince Puma runs in, making his return to the Temple to save Ivelisse. He pulled Ivelisse away and had a stare down with Muertes. Then, unexpectedly, PENTAGON JR shows up and hits the backstabber on Muertes. The look on Vampiro's face was absolutely priceless. Pentagon continues to give CERO FUCKS when he breaks Muertes' arm! Holy shit what an ending.

Closing things out officially, Black Lotus brings those random dudes to Dario Cueto. Lotus beats one of the dudes up for calling her a chick. Dario asks each guy for $20 to enter the "underground fight club." They go in and we hear the sounds of Matanza basically killing them.

Overall: 9.5/10. Wow. I've waited almost five months for Lucha Underground to return and was incredibly hype for the premiere. It lived up to my expectations and then some. They focused on the people I love most in LU (Pentagon, Ivelisse, Mil, Puma, Fenix, Cuerno, etc.) All three matches were good, with Cuerno/Fenix being really great. The Dario angle is interesting and the ending of the show was insane. The cinematics and storytelling are still on point. Lucha Underground is back and it remains the best wrestling show on TV.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV right here: https://goo.gl/P1r65m.

Top Five 1/18/16-1/24/16

1) AJ Styles: No, he didn't win and no, he didn't even make it to the end. However, the biggest news coming out of the Royal Rumble was the debut of AJ Styles. His arrival at #3 was met with a great reaction, even though some were worried the fans wouldn't know who he was. He went toe to toe with Roman Reigns, while also getting to interact with a lot of guys that I'd love to see him face one on one. Styles lasted 28 minutes before getting eliminated by Kevin Owens. Before midnight, his new WWE t-shirt was already sold out. He got to keep his name, his nickname and his logo, which is great. His arrival was a truly special moment in wrestling.

            2) Triple H: I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually think that HHH as WWE Champion in 2016 is not bad. That's just what happened at the Royal Rumble. Triple H was a "surprise" entrant at #30 and squared off with Roman Reigns. He got to have a pretty cool faceoff with Bray Wyatt before throwing Reigns out, guaranteeing a new champion. Reigns and Dean Ambrose were the final two competitors and HHH gave Ambrose a fair amount of offense before dumping him out to win his 14th WWE Title. Considering the amount of injuries in the company right now, HHH/Reigns makes sense as the Mania main event.

3) Kamaitachi: So far, January has produced some really great matches (Ishii/Shibata, Styles/Nakamura, Scurll/Ospreay and Ambrose/Owens), but the one at FantasticaMania for the CMLL World Lightweight Title is easily top three so far. Kamaitachi and champion Dragon Lee had one of the better rivalries in 2015 from what I heard. I was only able to see one of those matches though. When I heard they would be meeting in Korakuen Hall at FantasticaMania, I knew I had to see it. It was incredible. Two men just went balls to the walls and had a fantastic sprint. You'll be hard pressed to find something else this year that works so well despite being so fast paced. Kamaitachi was able to pick up the win and become the new champion. Go see this match as soon as possible.

            4) Dean Ambrose: I know that a lot of people feel the WWE doesn't have faith in Dean Ambrose but I disagree. They see something in him as they had him make it to the final two in the Royal Rumble. He came within a hair of eliminating Triple H and becoming a double champion. Along with his performance in the Royal Rumble match, earlier in the show, he retained the Intercontinental Championship against Kevin Owens in a great match that was my favorite the WWE has put on so far in 2016. Ambrose is one of the MVPs of the WWE and has been for a while. I expect a strong 2016.

5) Matt Hardy: Recently, I put Ethan Carter III on this list for winning back the TNA World Heavyweight Title. Well, that all quickly changed. During this week, it was Matt Hardy who won the belt back from EC3. Not only was it a major title win for Matt, but he also became the first man to pin EC3 after more than two years. I don't get the plan since it was Matt who gave up the title to create a tournament in the first place. Anyway, Matt won and the company managed to pull off a pretty good double turn. EC3 is now face and Matt is a heel, which has led to some fantastic heel work on Twitter from Matt.

Royal Rumble Fallout Raw Review

In an absolutely unsurprising move, the McMahons and Triple H opened up Raw this week. Vince and Stephanie first showed up to give Triple H a 10 minute verbal handjob. Stephanie mentioned the losers of the Rumble, with AJ Styles getting the biggest pop and Vince asking "who?" Way to be subtle Vince. Triple H was brought out and revealed the title under his jacket. He cut a long promo about how Roman Reigns can be great but he lacks respect. It was actually pretty good.. Stephanie said that they will evaluate the roster tonight to decide the main event of Fastlane. That main event will determine Triple H's opponent for WrestleMania. The opening match saw Kevin Owens take on Dolph ZIggler. Kudos to Owens for continuing to sell the Last Man Standing match from the night before. They worked a solid match that we've seen a million times from them and Owens won. Nothing has come yet from Sami Zayn's appearance in the Rumble.

Because Raw was in Miami, Flo Rida was in the crowd. The Social Outcasts showed up and the feud between Heath Slater and Flo Rida continued. This time, in the form of a rap battle. It was Bo-Rida that faced him and honestly, Bo out rapped him. It was pretty damn hilarious. This led to the Dudley Boyz coming out and we got them against Dallas and Axel. Since Flo Rida sucks, the crowd didn't even care for the celebrity moment and they were flat. This was nothing. Backstage, Renee Young interviewed AJ Styles and my heart couldn't handle that. Chris Jericho interrupted, called AJ a "kid" and was basically a complete dick.

            It was now about that time for the first ever official singles match of AJ Styes' WWE career. It was great to see him go against Chris Jericho, though I think they should have saved this and given it some build. Not even for a Pay-Per-View or anything, but at least next week. Maybe have AJ go over a Neville or someone like that, and then announce that he faces Jericho next week. Still, what we got was a pretty good match. AJ looked pumped, while Jericho seemed to be lacking a bit, though that may have been because Jericho was working a more serious heelish style. AJ teased the Styles Clash again, but Jericho countered with a rollup. AJ countered that and picked up the win. They shook hands afterwards, but there was clear tension. Like I could handle this, they put Sasha Banks on right after AJ Styles. She faced Becky Lynch but this was more of an angle than a match, which I'm fine with. Charlotte interfered around the four minute mark. She beat up both girls, giving us more hope for a Triple Threat match in the coming months. That was fine. Backstage, Goldust wanted R-Truth to be his partner. Truth thought it was partner in life because gay jokes are hilarious, right? Anyway, Goldust is back to stuttering from the electrocution years ago. He has the best continuity in the WWE. Also, if he needs a partner, Stardust did tweet that he was done. Maybe a Rhodes Brothers reunion?

Bray Wyatt beat Kane in a seemingly pointless match. With no Brock, they just needed to give Bray something to do. We were told all night long that a major Superstar was returning. Since it was in Miami, we all knew it would be the Rock. He showed up backstage and was a dick to Miz and Big Show, but that was fine. He saw Lana and then things got shitty. He basically said that they hooked up behind Rusev's back. He then mentioned this in front of Rusev. Poor Lana went from strong female manager to easy hoe in under a year. Rock made it to the ring and did some unentertaining stuff. He seemed very hyped up to the point where people made cocaine jokes. The New Day came out and absolutely OWNED him on the mic. From Xavier Woods telling Rock to watch the product to them answering Rock's Plan B mention with "I already been snipped", they delivered. Rock brought out the Usos and they all beat up the New Day. This took up a massive chunk of time.

Things were mostly rapid fire for the rest of the show since Rock took up so much time. Paige and Natalya beat Brie Bella and Alicia Fox in the Total Divas promo special. Miz was upset about Rock interrupting him but then got interrupted again as Kalisto came out. The new United States Champion beat him in a match that better than I expected. Our main event saw Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns beat Sheamus and Rusev. Afterwards, they Shield powerbombed Rusev through the announce table. Stephanie McMahon came out to announce the Fastlane main event. Reigns vs. Ambrose vs. Brock Lesnar! It sounds dope but if you were evaluating the roster based on Raw, how would Brock make it in the match? Also, if you just spent the entire 2016 trying to get the belt off of Roman, why give him another chance? They should have picked two people and then had Roman bring up his rematch clause to get into the match. It's simple, logical booking that they forget. Anyway, overall, this was a solid Raw. Styles/Jericho was good, we got some forward movement with the Divas, New Day delivered and we got a good Fastlane main event. Outside of the Rock segment, most of the show moved by rather quickly, so that's good. 6.5/10.

Royal Rumble 2016 Review

The Royal Rumble has been a pretty big debacle for a few years, so I had low expectations. Kicking things off, Mark Henry and Jack Swagger on a four way tag to get spots in the Rumble. No need to go into detail. The actual PPV opened with the first ever Last Man Standing match for the Intercontinental Title. Dean Ambrose and Kevin Owens have had two previous PPV matches but it always felt like they were kind of holding back. That rang true as they had their best match so far here. The crowd was hot and they worked like two guys who hated each other, which is what their feud has felt like. Owens creatively used a kendo stick, they brought tables into play and had some really close calls in the end. Owens would take a big bump through two tables, sealing the win for Ambrose. A great opener that was one of the better matches in a crowded January. ****

The New Day's Tag Team Title reign has been a ton of fun, but some of their matches have honestly lacked. Outside of SummerSlam and TLC, most of it in the ring has been lackluster. This match was different though. The chemistry between real life friends the New Day and the Usos really clicked here. They worked at a very good pace and did some smart things. Xavier Woods brought out a new trombone, which may have gotten a bigger pop than 90% of the Rumble participants. In a very cool finish, Big E caught an Uso in midair with the Big Ending as the New Day retained. Two for two in good matches. ***1/4

Up next, the fourth match in the series between Alberto Del Rio and Kalisto happened. Kalisto won their first match on Smackdown, then won the United States Title on Raw, only to lose it back to Del Rio on a Smackdown. Like those matches, this one was good but didn't quite cross into great territory. They worked at a quick pace, which led to them botching a few things. That tends to be a thing with Del Rio, where if one mistake happens, he is unable to recover. It reared it's ugly head here. Kalisto bumped well for Del Rio before rallying and regaining the belt with Salida Del Sol. I kind of wish he never won it on Raw. A program where he finally won it at the PPV would have made this a better feel good moment. Still, this was solid. ***

For the first time in a very long time, I was invested in a Divas Championship feud. Becky Lynch is so likable and I badly wanted to see her capture the belt and beat Charlotte. Their match was pretty good, but not on the level of their outing on Smackdown a few weeks ago. Ric Flair was, of course, at ringside and kissed Becky at one point. When Becky locked on the Dis-Arm-Her, Ric threw his jacket over her. She let go, which freed up Charlotte to steal it. Sasha Banks came out to the biggest pop I may have ever heard for a female. She kicked Becky and teased a BFF reunion with Charlotte, only to attack her and pose with the title. I suspect we get Sasha/Charlotte at Fastlane before a Triple Threat at Mania. The match itself was alright but the post-match angle was a blast. **3/4

So far, the show had been a really good effort but the Royal Rumble itself needed to deliver. Obviously, Roman Reigns was first. Rusev was next but was quickly disposed of. I was disappointed though things quickly turned around. An unfamiliar theme hit and AJ Styles made his debut at number three. He and Reigns had a little back and forth before some other guys got involved. While there weren't many surprises like last year, it was a much better match. Chris Jericho lasted a ton of time but honestly spent a good chunk of the match laying down. The League of Nations showed up and attacked Reigns. However, they pulled him out of the ring and put him through a table. Like, why not just eliminate him? They came off looking dumb.

Kofi Kingston was the only New Day member in the Rumble. Big E saved him from elimination and they ended up having a fun moment. Big E walked around with Kofi on his shoulders and they ate popcorn from a fan. Jericho eliminated him though the cameras missed it because they were shoddy all night. Kevin Owens limped out and got rid of Styles after 28 minutes. Then, in our second surprise, Sami Zayn arrived and got right into it with Owens. It was great. Sami sent him out, finally getting some sort of revenge on Owens for their long rivalry. Brock Lesnar came out and got into it with the Wyatt Family. He dumped them out and then Bray Wyatt showed up.

It was cool seeing Bray and Brock get into it, but the rest of the Wyatts got back in the ring. Brock tried to fight them off, but they proved to be too much and teamed up to eliminate him. Why didn't the Wyatts just keep doing that? Instead, they gave up after that and allowed Bray to get chucked out too. Reigns returned after Sheamus arrived at 29. He cleaned house until HHH was the "surprise" 30th entrant. He had some cool interactions with Bray and Reigns. Reigns eliminated Sheamus only for Triple H to get rid of him. They left it down to Triple H and Dean Ambrose. Ambrose gave him everything he had, but HHH ducked down and sent him out to win his 14th World Title. This now sets up HHH/Reigns at Mania for the gold. I thought this was a marked improvement on the 2015 Rumble, which was awful. ***3/4

After a terrible Rumble Pay-Per-View last year, this was one of the better ones. Every match was good, with one really standing out as great (Ambrose/Owens). The other title matches were fun, the show flew by and the Royal Rumble match itself was pretty fun. Plus, seeing Sasha Banks in the title picture, the appearance of Sami Zayn and the debut of AJ Styles really added to the show for me. 8/10.

Royal Rumble Predictions

What the hell is this? I hate it when they don't even try with the pre-show. At least at last year's Rumble we got New Day vs. Kidd and Cesaro. I do give them props for adding spots in the Rumble as a stipulation. I think this is quite obvious.

Winner: The Dudley Boyz

This has been a strangely booked series. They're already wrestled three times in about two weeks, so the appeal of their matches is pretty lackluster. Still, I think they could have a really solid match. Picking a winner is kind of tough though. On the one hand, another loss for Kalisto would be rough on his young career. On the other hand, Alberto Del Rio can afford the loss but the WWE is paying him so much that I can't see them taking the belt off of him. I'm still waiting for Del Rio to look as motivated as he did in Lucha Underground. Anyway, I suspect Del Rio retains here, but consider it a test to see how Kalisto does in his first major singles match.

Winner: Alberto Del Rio

It's really hard for me to pick against the New Day. I voted them as my Tag Team of the year for 2015 and they've been the best thing about the WWE throughout the second half of the year. Their opponents are the Usos though, who the WWE really seems to love. I'm sure this will be a good tag match, with potential to be the best New Day has had since Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. As it stands, the New Day are too good to have them drop the belts here. They should retain through nefarious terms. If the endgame is for the Usos to get back atop the tag team mountain, save it for WrestleMania. They could win the yearly pre-show multi-team match.

Winners: The New Day

A Divas match on the main roster that I actually care about? It's a goddamn miracle. Charlotte was really good in NXT, but has sputtered since leaving the friendly confines of the Performance Center. Her character needs work too and the baby Naitch stuff isn't very good. The reason I'm invested is simple. Becky Lynch. I can't remember the company EVER having such a naturally likable babyface Diva. Even going back to the days of Trish and Lita, there were reasons you could find to dislike both women. Becky is adorable, plucky, fun and damn good in the ring. I would be beyond ecstatic if she won and faced Sasha in a TakeOver: Unstoppable rematch at Mania. Instead, the WWE loves Charlotte, so she'll retain. Hopefully we can see Sasha/Charlotte/Becky at least at Mania.

Winner: Charlotte

I pray that this is the show stealing match I've wanted for months. I thought their outing at Survivor Series was good, while TLC was heavily disappointing. Their television matches have all been pretty good, but I feel like this stipulation is what they've been waiting for. They always seem to be holding something back, but this should allow them to really deliver. Picking an outcome is a bit tough. I don't expect Kevin Owens to walk away as champion. However, I can see one of two scenarios happening. Either Ambrose wins straight up, or they do a no contest like HBK/HHH in 2004 to set up more matches. Part of me senses the latter, but I'm going with an Ambrose win.

Winner: Dean Ambrose

Man, I really want to like the Royal Rumble. I usually do but last year's was pretty bad and I've personally been disappointed in the winner for the past four or five years. This year, instead of focusing on multiple stories, it's been all about Roman Reigns. Even the WWE Title takes a backseat to Reigns. The WWE has spent the past few months basically telling us that Reigns, Cena and part-timers are kind of the only people on the roster that matter. So I'm going with someone from that list. Cena is out. Reigns winning from 1 to retain the title might be a bit much even for a guy booked the way that he is. Brock is an option but I think they go another route for him at Mania. That leaves another part-timer. That honestly leaves Triple H. I think he was happy with 13 title reigns but desperate times. He wins here to drop it to Reigns at Mania. Although if I was personally booking it, I'd put the belt on AJ Styles.

Winner: Triple H

2015 Prediction Record: 60-35