Through the Years: No Way Out 2002

No Way Out 2002
February 17th, 2002 – Bradley Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

The Royal Rumble 2002 was a very good way to start the new year. I remember WrestleMania X8 being good, not great and I, of course, remember this No Way Out show for the return of the nWo. I never agreed with the decision to bring them back as it was beaten to death in WCW, so doing it again in WWE was something I wasn't interested in. Still though, we had Chris Jericho as Undisputed Champion and some guys who were very good to great in the ring, so let's see if No Way Out can be another good show in 2002.

A familiar chord strikes as the nWo comes out to a massive pop. The entrance reminds me of the semi that Hollywood Hulk Hogan would eventually use to nearly kill The Rock. Kevin Nash is so cool because he uses terms like “heat” and “marks”. Scott Hall wants to share a drink with the boys but Nash advises against it. Hogan talks like a face as they all did and they just want a chance. I know that I normally am against promos to open Pay-Per-Views but it made sense here as the nWo was what everyone wanted to see.

Tag Team Turmoil
The APA d. Billy & Chuck, Scotty 2 Hotty & Albert, Christian & Lance Storm, The Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz in 16:39
Scotty and Albert start against the future UnAmericans. Scotty and Storm start until Albert gets the tag and slams Storm. Christian runs in and CESARO SWING! Albert bicycle kicks Storm but Christian breaks up the count. Scotty and Christian become the legal men and Scotty hits a superkick. Albert and Storm end up outside as Scotty gets ready to release his worm. Storm interrupts, allowing for the Unprettier and the 3 in 2:56. The Hardy Boyz are out next to a big pop. Storm and Christian stop the Hardys momentum and slow things down until Matt hits Christian with the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot. The Hardys are in control from there on and win with the Swanton in 3:15

The Dudley Boyz with Stacy Dudley are next in a match we've seen hundreds of times. Poetry in Motion works once, but the Hardys go to that well one too many times and it backfires. Dudleys in control now but Matt manages to hit a second rope leg drop. Double team move from the Hardys until Stacy gets involved. Lita takes her down as the crowd pops. Bubba Bomb to Matt before Lita takes out Bubba. Matt now reverses a D-Von move into a school boy and wins it after 4:40. The Dudleys decide that ain't cool and beat up the Hardys post match. Billy, Chuck and their fantastic theme song are out next. Jeff ate a 3D outside, so Matt is alone in the ring. He fights hard but can't beat two guys and he takes a pin in 1:10. 

The last team to enter is the APA. They brawl for a bit until Billy and Chuck get the upper hand. They work over Faarooq in the corner for a while. Bradshaw eventually gets the hot tag and murders Billy with a vicious Clothesline from Hell in 4:10. I don't understand the booking here. Billy and Chuck were the team on the rise but they lose to an APA team that is past their prime. Regardless, the whole thing wasn't great. It didn't feel like it took 16 minutes which is a plus. **

Michael Cole is standing by with the Nature Boy, Ric Flair. He says that the minute the nWo gets out of line, he can see the locker room putting them in their place. The Undertaker interrupts him and is watching him, as part of the run towards their WrestleMania match.

Rob Van Dam d. Goldust in 11:08
I've always been a huge Goldust fan, and RVD was the man at this time so hopefully this is good. It's crazy to think that both of these guys are still active. No offense to Goldust, but this is a bit of a demotion for a guy who was red hot in 2001. Goldust attacks at the bell but RVD uses a kick from out of nowhere to turn the tide. Snapmare, spinning leg drop and ridiculous cartwheel back flip by RVD causes Goldust to regroup outside. Goldust pulls RVD out but ends up taking a spinning leg drop on the guardrail for his troubles. Goldust hits a bionic elbow and sends RVD back into the ring. Goldust hits Naomi's future REAR END for two. It obviously works better when you have a massive backside. Goldust puts RVD on the top, goes out to the steps and pulls back on RVD's face in a spot I've never seen before. He focuses on RVD's back and drops a knee on him. REST HOLD time! RVD creatively gets free and both guys are down. Spinning heel kick, monkey flip and flying kick from Van Dam, whose offense comes in bursts. Rolling Thunder gets him a near fall. He misses the Five Star and eats a DDT. RVD kicks out, so Goldie goes for the Curtain Call but RVD counters. Goldust misses a bulldog, take an enziguri and the Five Star Frog Splash to get the three. Solid little match. Surprised they got over ten minutes but they made it work. Nothing spectacular, but what it should've been. **3/4

Steve Austin is backstage with his “What?” shirt and he runs into the nWo. They seem to sarcastically say hello and offer him a six pack. Austin tosses the six pack and they let him walk on by. That was rude of Austin. I hear those nWo guys are super trustworthy.

Tag Team Championship
Tazz and Spike Dudley (c) d. Booker T and Test in 7:19 to retain the titles
Good god the tag team division was suffering. Tazz and Spike weigh a combined 398 pounds. That has to be a record. Test starts by abusing Tazz in the corner. Spike gets tagged and hits two dropkicks before countering a powerbomb from Test. Tazz punches Test into a rollup from Spike that gets, like, a seven count but the referee is distracted by Booker. Seriously. Booker and Test botch a double team move. Test and Booker now work over Spike for a while. It's basic heel tag team stuff. SPINAROONIE! Spike hits a weak looking DDT and makes the tag to Tazz. NAPOLEON RAMPAGE! It's what I've been waiting for. Tazz cleans house and Spike hits the Dudley Dog on Test. Tazz pins and gets a near fall before Test tries to get a pin with his feet on the ropes but the official catches him. He argues with the ref and gets put in the Tazzmission. Test taps out and Spike and Tazz somehow remain champions. Average match. Nothing bad, nothing too good. **

The Rock cuts a promo about how he's going to beat The Undertaker. He calls The Undertaker a dead man walking. 

Brass Knuckles on a Pole for the Intercontinental Championship
William Regal (c) d. Edge in 10:22 to retain the title
William Regal has a new theme, which is so much better than the one he used the last two months. Things start outside as Edge is desperate to go into WrestleMania in Toronto as Intercontinental Champion. Inside, Edge hits a suplex and goes for the pole, but Regal stops him. They trade blows in the ring until Regal throws Edge on the apron and he nearly gets to the pole. Regal stops him again and they fight into the crowd. Back in, Edge hits a missile dropkick but ends up getting thrown onto the top rope. Regal puts on an abdominal stretch that makes sense since Edge has rib injuries. Regal uses the ropes for leverage. Edge breaks free and nearly gets the brass knuckles but Regal shoves him to the outside. Regal butterfly bombs him on the outside, but he has yet to climb. He puts Edge, who is bleeding from the mouth, in the Regal Stretch. Another butterfly bomb inside and he gets a near fall. I thought they couldn't “win” until after they got the brass knuckles. On the apron, Regal tries a third bomb but Edge reverses it into a botched hurricanrana. They struggle to get up and Regal gets the knuckles but takes a belly to back suplex off the top. Regal kicks away the brass knuckles but Edge hits an Edge-o-matic and Spear. He gets the knuckles from outside, but Regal sneaks a pair out from his trunks and knocks out Edge with them. Another disappointment between two guys I truly like. Not bad, the stipulation was odd. It made sense with the storyline, but not within the match. **1/2

Lillian Garcia interviews Kurt Angle, who is confident tonight because he is a gold medalist. He earned them and didn't get them out of a box of lucky freakin' charms.

The audio during the build up video for Rock vs. Undertaker gets terribly low. 

The Rock d. The Undertaker in 17:28
The Rock sprints to the ring because this match is intense, or supposed to be at least. A fist fight starts this off and the Rock wins with a big clothesline. Man, I hate how Rocky throws his punches. Rock hits an ugly looking neckbreaker before Undertaker takes control. I feel like this could've been a big feud, but it was thrown on a rather filler PPV and quickly forgotten. Anyway, Undertaker works a plodding offense until they head outside and the announce table is open for business. Taker crotches Rock on the guardrail, then sits down and talks trash to him. The fight goes deep into the crowd as we've given up all hope of a countout finish. Back at ringside, Undertaker drops a big leg on the Rock while he lays on the apron. The Rock hasn't done anything in forever as Undertaker puts him in a bearhug. Rock fights out and hits a DDT. Undertaker stops the People's Elbow, but takes a low blow. More Taker offense as he hits a chokeslam but Rock kicks out. Undertaker throws the referee into the steel steps and goes to use a pipe but Flair shows up and stops him. Undertaker no sells and big boots Flair. Rock ducks the pipe, hits a spinebuster and tries the sharpshooter. Vince McMahon runs down and Rock levels him. Flair hits Undertaker with the pipe and the Rock is all “I'll take it” and hits the Rock Bottom. Decent brawl, but it went too long and was too one-sided for too long. Could've been better. **1/4

Mr. Perfect is at WWF New York and man, I still wish that we got Kurt Angle vs. Perfect at WrestleMania. He seems messed up and very drunk here, so maybe that's why we didn't get it. He makes fun of the customers. 

The video package for Triple H/Angle shows the whole angle where Stephanie McMahon lied about being pregnant. Then Triple H knocked her down and her nipple showed. That's not part of the PPV.

Number One Contender's Match
Kurt Angle d. Triple H in 14:42
Stephanie McMahon is the extremely hot referee for this contest. I never liked when a WrestleMania title shot is one the line before WrestleMania. Anyway, Stephanie announces that she dropped Hemsley from her name. I'll never understand why a heel guest referee doesn't quick count everything, pull a Montreal Screwjob or call a quick DQ. She partially shuts me up by doing quick counts on two Angle rollups. Small “she's a crack whore” chant breaks out before it turns to “take your shirt off”. If she did, this PPV would easily be a 10/10. Early on, Angle misses a clothesline on Triple H and hits Stephanie with it. She falls to the outside. Stephanie is helped to the back as HHH hits a neckbreaker. Suicidal Tim White is out as Angle hits three Germans for a near fall. Triple H goes for a clothesline but gets caught in a belly to belly suplex. Angle gets a near fall, hits another, gets a near fall and hits a third for yet another two count. Sleeper hold from Angle and HHH eventually breaks it but doesn't get on the offensive. Angle goes for ten punches in the corner but is caught with a powerbomb. They get up at the count of nine and slug it out before HHH hits a high knee. Angle runs into a spinebuster for two. Angle makes HHH chase him outside and when he gets in, nails Tim White from behind. Angle hits the Angle Slam and Stephanie returns but she's too hurt to fast count so Hunter kicks out. Ankle Lock but HHH kicks off and Angle crushes Stephanie. DDT but there's still no referee. He tries to wake Tim up, which allows Angle to hit another German. He gets a chair, HHH ducks and hits the Pedigree. Tim White slowly gets in and counts but Stephanie drops an elbow on him and kicks him in the balls. HHH goes for the Pedigree on Stephanie but Angle takes him out with the chair and, after an Angle Slam, wins. Not as good as Royal Rumble 2001, but still solid work. Also, none of this mattered as HHH still went to the title match at Mania. **3/4

The nWo run into the Rock now and Hogan asks for a picture with him because Rock is Nick Hogan's favorite wrestler. He says something under his breath and The Rock goes off on the three of them. This is must see because Rock is hilarious in it. One of his comedic moments that stands the test of time. 

Undisputed Championship
Chris Jericho (c) d. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin in 21:35 to retain the title
Austin and Jericho goes face to face at the bell and Jericho gives him the finger. Austin replies with one of his own and they lock up. Right hand by Jericho only gets a smile from Austin. Austin lights up Jericho's chest with chops. He rams Jericho's head into the corner, earning a “What?” from the fans each time. More chops as Austin is taking Jericho around the ring with them. Now chops from Jericho before failing on a top rope move. Austin clotheslines the Champion outside and continues to pound away out there. Things go up the the aisle as Austin throws Jericho into the truck a few times. Back in the ring Austin hits three second rope suplexes for a near fall. Austin is literally beating Jericho from pillar to post. Out of desperation, Jericho shoves Earl Hebner and hits a low blow. I've seen about a hundred chops in this match as Jericho fires away with some on Austin. He goes for the Walls of Jericho but Austin blocks it. Austin rallies back and we see the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot. Seriously, I never noticed how often that spot was used. Jericho side steps Austin and sends him outside. They brawl outside for a bit and Jericho misses the Lionsault inside. He puts Austin in a sleeper because it must REST HOLD TIME! Austin busts out and spinebusters Jericho before hitting a powerslam for two. Jericho reverses a whip and barely connects with the Lionsault so he does it again. He gets the Walls locked on but we all know that face Austin doesn't tap. Just ask Bret Hart. Jericho grabs the belt and accidentally hits the ref. Austin hits another spinebuster, this one on the belt but Austin kicks out. Jericho then counters the Stunner into the Breakdown on the belt but Austin kicks out now. The ref goes down from a clothesline and Austin makes Jericho tap to the Walls. He follows with a Stunner but out comes the nWo. Austin beats them down until the numbers game becomes too much. Jericho covers after the beatdown and retains. A pretty damn good match that gets its score bogged down due to it being yet another dirty finish. ***1/4

I don't understand why the nWo didn't attack Jericho too if they were here to “inject poison and kill the WWF”. Taking out the Champion would be kinda vital. Anyway, the nWo beat on Austin more and spray paint him.

Overall: 5/10; Mediocre. The definition of a filler show. It was clear that this was just to establish the nWo and kill time between the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania. A show with nothing under two stars and only one over three. Passable show with nothing being a necessary watch.

NXT/Superstars Report

NXT opened with a tag team match. The main problem that NXT has suffered from is a lackluster tag team division. The divas on NXT get more shine than the ones on the main roster and there are singles stars, but the tag division has been The Ascension and nothing more. However, both the Vaudevillains and Enzo Amore & Colin Cassady have shown some potential. Not only that, but the Legionnaires interrupted to distract Big Cass and allow the Vaudevillains to win. Solid little match and tag team wrestling is heating up in NXT.

CJ Parker met Xavier Woods in the next match and one of my tweets appeared at the bottom of the screen for the third straight week. Giving myself a pat on the back here. The match was decent as I'm not a big fan of Parker's ring work, but he makes his character work which is important. Not much of note here but CJ Parker won.

Divas on NXT are easily one of highlights. Next week, it's announced that Summer Rae gets her Women's Championship match against Charlotte in the explosion of the BFFs. The seemingly forgotten BFF, Sasha Banks, was in action against the upstart Alexa Bliss. A few weeks ago, Bliss beat Banks and shortly before that, she upset former Divas Champion Alicia Fox during the Women's Title Tournament. Alexa blows glitter in her entrance the same way that Stardust blows stars. Sasha, is in my opinion, the best worker of the BFF group and she won here with her sick new submission move. Seriously good stuff.

Tyler Breeze was interviewed in awesome fashion backstage. He says that he hasn't rushed to his title shot because he injured his finger during a devastating hand modeling incident. Just great writing right there. They aired his music video once more and it's still pretty fantastic. Adam Rose defeated Jason Jordan in a return to NXT. They say that Jordan's partner, Tye Dillinger, who you may or may not remember as Gavin Spears from ECW in 2009, is injured. Adam Rose still hasn't done much to impress me in-ring wise, but I do think the character works. Added bonus, Jojo from Total Divas Season 1 was a rosebud and it's always fun spotting rosebuds you recognize. 

Devin Taylor interviews Kalisto when he's interrupted by the Vaudevillains. They arrive to their theme and stay silent while Kalisto speaks. Funny stuff. He says he will get a partner to face them next week. Main event time as Sami Zayn went one on one with Tyson Kidd. I always knew this would be a great match and it was. Tyson Kidd does still struggle in his promos, but he's doing some fine work down in NXT. This is probably the happiest he's been in a long time. Meanwhile, I don't think Sami Zayn can have a bad match. He once again stole the show tonight and should have an extremely bright future. He would win a hard fought match in about 11 minutes with the Koji Clutch. Great main event.

After last week's episode not being great, NXT returned to form with a really good episode. The only way to follow up NXT for me, is to enjoy some of the endlessly adorable Renee Young on commentary during Superstars. The show opened with a match between two Total Divas, Naomi and Rosa Mendes. The WWE is going to give Mendes TV time heading into the new season of Total Divas, so prepare for some bad matches. This one wasn't terrible though and the right girl won as Naomi got some momentum before her match with Cameron on the Battleground kick off.

Because it's Superstars, it was filled with a lot of Raw and Main Event recaps to fill out the hour, since there are only two matches on Superstars. In the main event, Ryback and R-Truth went at it. Man, look at how far Ryback has fallen. At least he's gone on record saying that he's very happy with Curtis Axel and they're making the best of it by becoming an entertaining tag team. Another solid little match that Ryback won. Superstars was decent as I'd expect. There are no photos that I could really find for this match, so I leave you with some Sting because I'm about to pre-order WWE 2K15.

That's all for now folks. Follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa

Random Network Reviews: SuperBrawl IX

For those who are unaware, I've numbered every ECW, WCW and pre-2001 WWE Pay-Per-View, and placed them in a random generator. I get a random number and review the Pay-Per-View that comes out. Today, it's WCW SuperBrawl IX.

SuperBrawl IX
2/21/99 – Oakland Arena in Oakland, California

WCW shows are definitely the toughest to get through. Even a good WCW show can be tough due to Tony Schiavone's grating voice or their weird sounding ring. However, there was just something I can't put my finger on that makes WCW so weird. In 1999, I was 100% into the WWF, even though there were a few guys from WCW that I really enjoyed. So, we come to a show that I don't remember at all. As with most WCW Pay-Per-Views, I've either only seen them once or never at all. After doing my research I found that this show drew 16,000 but a year later, WCW couldn't even sell out the Cow Palace. I've seen ROH draw good at the Cow Palace.

The opening video package has Torrie Wilson in a hotel room talking to the cameraman. He gives her tickets somewhere and that's all we see from that. For as much money as WCW had, their production company needed to be better. They hype up Goldberg vs. Bam Bam Bigelow and Ric Flair vs. Hulk Hogan. They show another promo, this one for the Tag Team Tournament final. The Tournament looked like one of the biggest booking messes of all time.

Still no match as “Mean BY GAWD” Gene talks about the WCW Hotline. I thought Hotlines were dead by 1999. 

Booker T d. Disco Inferno in 9:19
Disco Inferno is a member of nWo Wolfpack here. Yes, I said it. They do some good old fashioned wrasslin' to start and Booker clearly has the upper hand. Booker also has the power advantage. Disco gets a little bit of offense and dances around the ring. Booker T doesn't appreciate the showing off and begins to beat down on Disco. He has all of the offense for a while until Disco hits a club. Disco locks on a sleeper and Booker's face shows no pain and he easily reverses. The crowd is hot for this. Booker hits the Axe Kick, but doesn't cover. Disco hits an atomic drop, but gets his next move reversed into a spinebuster that Tony Schiavone calls a sidewalk slam. Disco goes for his finisher but Booker counters into a belly to back suplex. SPINAROONIE! Booker goes to the top, Disco nails him and stupidly showboats. Booker shoves him off and hits the Harlem Hangover for the 1-2-3. Solid opening contest that the crowd was hotter for than I expected. Booker wasn't in his future Superstar form just yet though. **3/4

Chris Jericho w/ Ralphus d. Perry Saturn via countout in 11:17
I loved Ralphus! He's sporting a dress. Saturn has to wrestle in a dress and, if he wins, can make Jericho wear the dress. Jericho smack talks to start so Saturn knocks him down. They fight into the crowd for a few. Back inside, Saturn hits a T-Bone and Bobby Heenan seems off his game. Saturn catapults Jericho to the outside and dives onto him. Saturn brings Ralphus into the ring and strips him before Jericho dropkicks him in the back. Textbook vertical suplex followed by the “COME ONE BABY” pin. Jericho taunts to the crowd, hits a bodyslam and misses a ridiculous looking spinning splash. Saturn plants him with a scoop slam and kicks him in the corner. He hits ten punches in the corner with his dress over Jericho's head. Saturn gets a near fall and hits another kick but Jericho reverses his powerbomb and hits a German. Cross body connects, but Saturn rolls through and puts on a Rings of Saturn. That was such a badass submission. Jericho reaches the ropes and hits a Lionsault after Saturn missed one of his own. Saturn kicks out and nails the Death Valley Driver. Instead of pinning, he drops the referee with the DVD too. Saturn walks out and leaves the arena, eventually getting counted out. I guess the story is that he likes wearing the dress. Good match despite the odd finish. ***

The wcw.com booth interviews Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. Rey's mask is on the line tonight so we all know how this will end. Konnan says they will win, mainly because he gets BOWDY BOWDY AND ROWDY ROWDY!

WCW Cruiserweight Championship
Billy Kidman (c) d. Chavo Guerrero Jr. in 8:26 to retain the title
I must be too used to the WWE as Chavo looks weird in trunks. Sloppy start to the match as Kidman and Chavo mess up one move and Kidman whiffs on a dropkick right after. Going outside, Kidman throws Chavo into the guardrail. Even though he's a face, Kidman offers a handshake and instead clotheslines Chavo. They go back outside, which is odd for a cruiserweight match. They aren't usually brawls. BRAINBUSTER by Chavo gets a near fall. They go from brawl to chinlock rest hold within seconds before Kidman is knocked back outside. Chavo somersaults over and out, which was impressive. Back inside, they mention that Kidman's three month reign is one of the longest in history. Chavo busts out a sweet tilt-a-whir backbreaker. Kidman hits a back body drop but Chavo is still in control. He gets a near fall with a Frankensteiner and Kidman gets one with a nice powerbomb type maneuver. DDT off the top as it's like they're trying the biggest moves possible. Kidman reverses a powerbomb into a facebuster and hits the Shooting Star Press to retain. Odd match as it wasn't sure what it wanted to be early on, and then it became a spot fest of big moves. **

Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko d. Barry Windham and Curt Hennig in 19:34
Because this is WCW, Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko have to win twice to win the belts. Malenko and Windham start and it's decent before it turns to Benoit and Hennig. Also, quick side note. The tournament happened because Rick Steiner and Kenny Kaos were champs until Rick got hurt. Kenny Kaos ladies and gentlemen. Hennig in '91 or '93 against Benoit in '04 would've been a classic. Hennig and Windham need a breather and they mention that Benoit has yet to win a title in WCW. Seriously? Benoit and Malenko run the show because they're awesome. Benoit hits the flying headbutt on Hennig but Windham breaks the pin attempt. The heels now work over Malenko while Benoit plays the babyface who the referee focuses too hard on. Benoit gets the tag and lights up Hennig. Windham doesn't seem sure if he's a face or a heel. Double suplex on Benoit earns a near fall. The crowd has gotten hot for the faces. Hennig hits a neck snap for two. Benoit is now the face in peril. Malenko gets the tag and dropkicks everyone before getting the Cloverleaf on Windham. Crowd is hot but Hennig breaks it up. Benoit gets to Hennig now and Malenko juts puts the Cloverleaf back on and Windham taps. Good tag formula and I enjoyed that. Didn't feel like nearly 20 minutes. ***1/4

WCW World Tag Team Championship
Barry Windham and Curt Hennig d. Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko in 1:02 to win the titles
Windham takes off his belt and chokes Malenko with it. He follows with a clothesline and continues to choke him. The referee counts the three. Oh WCW, there you go again. Malenko and Benoit worked their asses off for nearly 20 minutes to get the crowd completely behind them and hot. Then Windham and Hennig cheat and win the second match in a minute. Stupid, stupid, stupid booking. DUD

A video package airs to highlight the Roddy Piper/Scott Hall US Title match later. This was during the Bret Hart/Will Sasso saga. There goes WCW putting on 90's WWF matches again as Piper met Bret on Nitro in a WrestleMania 8 rematch. Whatever. 

Hair Versus Mask
The Outsiders d. Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr. in 11:00
Lex Luger was supposed to compete but due to injury, Scott Hall replaces him. I watched Halloween Havoc '98 recently, which was just five months before this, and Nash and Hall were feuding. Liz was still hot in her nWo time. Mysterio was incredibly tiny at this point in his career and Eric Bischoff felt that Rey wasn't marketable with a mask. Well, it got super over in the WWE. Hall exerts his dominance by shoving Rey around the ring. Rey out wrestles Hall. He impresses with some high flying moves and hits both Outsiders. He makes a mistake and Hall drops him with a fallaway slam. The Outsiders start to dominate, which causes the match to slow to a crawl. Rey escapes the Outsider's Edge and Konnan gets the tag. He cleans house but it must be uncomfortable to wrestle in sagging jeans. Nash clubs him to end his rally. The Outsiders work over Konnan, who is not being BOWDY BOWDY or ROWDY ROWDY. Rey does get the tag and he flies all over the place. He uses both Nash and Konnan as catapults on separate occasions. Luger pulls Konnan out of the ring, leaving Rey alone. He hits a moonsault on Nash and has the three, but Liz distracts the ref. Hall clubs him and hits the Outsiders Edge. He places Nash on Rey and it's over. When Rey was in, it was fun. Besides that, this did nothing for me. *3/4

Rey has to remove the mask and he looks like he's 12. Not many non-diehard fans remember this though because WCW was pretty bad at this point. Nash tells him to put the mask on and Schiavone calls him a handsome young man. 

WCW World Television Championship
Scott Steiner (c) d. Diamond Dallas Page in 13:53 to retain the title
The Wolfpack theme ends from the previous match and starts over nearly instantly for this one. I'm pretty sure that Scott Steiner held every belt in WCW. The story here is that Big Poppa Pump wants Kimberly Page. DDP is totally serious as he doesn't even do his entrance taunt. He comes at Steiner with right hands and just beats him up for a bit. Buff Bagwell arrives and DDP takes turns whipping on both of them. The brawl spills outside with Steiner in control. Back inside, he hits a sloppy clothesline and gets a two with an elbow. Buff cheats and gets in some shots on DDP, but he shrugs them off and throws Steiner into the corner. That is for naught though as Steiner hits a belly to belly. DDP rolls him up for two before Steiner goes back on the offensive. Yay. Steiner is boring as hell right now. Even though he's in control, Steiner has Buff distract the ref so he can hit DDP with a chair. It's incredibly loud so the ref should've heard. Buff exposes the turnbuckles while DDP hits a low blow on Steiner that the referee sees and ignores. Charles Robinson does kick out Buff though. Outside, Steiner throws DDP into the steps. Steiner argues with the ref, allowing DDP to hit him with a clothesline, but it again goes nowhere as DDP eats a Frankensteiner off the top. He kicks out though and counters a hip toss into a DDT. DDP goes for the Diamond Cutter but he gets shoved off into the exposed buckle. Twice. And the referee is somehow blind. Steiner now hits multiple slams into the exposed corner and gets the Steiner Recliner. DDP passes out to end it. That was slow paced as hell. The Buff interference was dumb and I disliked pretty much everything. 1/2*

DDP gets taken out on a stretcher to a chorus of “DDP sucks” chants. For some reason. 

WCW United States Championship
Scott Hall w/ Disco Inferno d. Roddy Piper (c) in 8:19 to win the title
The Wolfpack theme plays for Disco and for Hall separately. I'll never understand who thought it was a good idea to put a title on Piper in 1999. Piper struggles to take off his shirt but puts his kilt over Hall's head and wails away on him. Hall retaliates with some shoulder blocks and a wristlock. They take turns cheating with pokes to the eyes and at least the crowd is into it. Piper is struggling to get anything to look right though. Heenan says that Hall, in 1999, is a top 5 athlete in the world. Yea, sure. Piper hits a low blow and I swear WCW officials are totally blind. With Piper in the tree of woe, Disco gets in shots. Piper gets put in the abdominal stretch and the heels cheat with more leverage and Piper hip tosses out. Forget what I said about a hot crowd earlier. They're dead now. Piper gets on the sleeper hold. Hall is fading but signals for Disco to run in. Piper nails him and there's no DQ called. Kevin Nash shows up and takes a low blow though Piper botches that. Hall hits him from behind and pins him with his feet on the ropes. My goodness, did Scott Hall need to look that bad? Mike Tenay says they have the US, World and TV Titles. This was just as bad as the previous match, if not worse and stupidly overbooked. DUD

After the match, Scott Hall talks smack to Roddy Piper, but ends up getting beat up. Kevin Nash and Disco Inferno join in and Piper escapes. This was useless.

Goldberg d. Bam Bam Bigelow in 11:39
Bam Bam has no music. Tony Schiavone says Goldberg can't be beaten unless you have a taser. Well, if I was Bam Bam, I would get a damn taser then. Goldberg is easily the most over guy, so having him in a pointless match here, while two old ass men fight for the WCW Title is classic WCW booking. Goldberg isn't bothered by a shoulder block and slams Bigelow as the crowd is pumped. Fireman's carry into an armbar as Goldberg is off to a dominating start. Bam Bam gets on the offensive and targets the leg. Bam Bam is focusing on the leg and slaps on a chinlock is what has become a boring ass affair. My goodness this is bad. After a long and I mean long time of Bam Bam using rest holds, Goldberg comes from out of nowhere with a Spear. He forgets about the attack on his leg all night and hits two more Spears before mercifully ending this with a Jackhammer. Whoever set this match up is a moron. Goldberg dominates early on, then the whole match is Bam Bam until Goldberg hits a few moves. So bad. DUD 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan (c) d. Ric Flair in 12:53 to retain the title
Hogan vs. Flair would've been a great move for WrestleMania 8 in 1992. In 1999, not so much. Especially for the title. Hogan starts with some face offense as he plays to the crowd and they're chanting “Hogan.” Hogan gets a near fall because Flair's leg is under the ropes and the referee doesn't call it, Hogan just stops pinning Flair. Hogan gets a chair and hits Flair with an extremely weak shot. Holy crap, the next one is even softer. It's like he laid the chair on Flair's back. Flair is busted open of course and is trading chops. Is this match No DQ? Sure seems like it. Hogan no sells two chops and Flair dies off of a punch. Hogan now whips him with the DEADLY WEIGHT BELT. Flair no sells it and does a double leg take down but eats the belt to the face. How all of this is okay is beyond me. Hogan no sells more chops and the crowd pops for that. They've turned on Flair. The Nature Boy hits two low blows that again, don't cause a DQ. Flair now beats on Hogan with the belt and I have no clue why these guys are blading for this match. Torrie Wilson comes down for her debut and she slaps Flair. Flair hits another low blow and continues to work on Hogan while Schiavone lies and calls this a great match. Hogan kicks out of a suplex and the ref gets hit. Hogan drops an elbow on his for good measure. Then he goes for the Leg Drop. Which wouldn't work because you just took out the referee. A “masked man” in a Wolfpack shirt arrives and uses the stun gun on Flair while he has Hogan in the Figure Four. Hogan pins to keep the belt. Another awful match. That's like four or five in a row. My god. DUD

The masked man holds hands with Torrie and reveals himself to be David Flair. For some stupid reason he joins nWo. His dad dedicated the match to him and the nWo beat the hell out of him at the last show. The turn makes no sense and is classic WCW for you. 

Overall: 2/10; God awful. The worst show that I've reviewed so far. The first half of the show is not bad with a decent opener, good Jericho/Saturn match and solid tag match. Once you get to the second tag match, everything is terrible. Bad booking, stupid swerves and boring wrestling. Just horrible. Next up, Survivor Series 1995.

Top Ten: CM Punk

By. Kevin Pantoja

Right at the start, I have to note that normally I would only do a Top Ten Thursday. However, given the circumstances of CM Punk being removed from the active roster on WWE.com, I decided to make a top ten dedicated to him in honor of his retirement. Now, this is not a top 10 matches or moments. It's just a top 10 related to Punk. Could be matches, gimmicks, promos or something else.

10. Pipe Bomb II

On the first Raw of 2013, CM Punk not only retained the WWE Championship in a TLC match against Ryback, but he also came out to close the show. He removed the WWE logo from the microphone and went on to drop a pipe bomb that was filled with hate. He mentioned that everything he does is for himself and not the fans. He brings up the underused Tyson Kidd and the dumb gimmick that Brodus Clay was saddled with. Things got serious when The Rock appeared though and CM Punk hit him with the infamous "your arms are just too short to box with god" line. Badass indeed.

9. Classic Matches

There were too many to give each a spot so I bunched them together. You want technical wrestling? Watch his Over the Limit match with Daniel Bryan. Want a brawl? Watch his match with Brock Lesnar or the Chicago Street Fight with Chris Jericho. Want a classic WWE spectacle? See WrestleMania 29 against The Undertaker or any match that he's had with John Cena. CM Punk could do it all, and putting on great matches is included in that for sure.

8. The Best and The Beard

I know that this didn't last long, and really was only to face Luke Harper and Erick Rowan at Survivor Series, but man this was awesome to me. My two favorite guys in the WWE roster teaming up. Especially after their feud for the WWE Championship and their days on the indies. The Best and the Beard was a really cool name and their match at Survivor Series was the best on that show. Plus, who could forget their in ring promo with the amazing Renee Young. Funny stuff and I wish this got more shine.

7. Attires

This might seem like an odd thing to include but I've always been a fan of a cool attire and CM Punk has had some of the best. There was the Macho Man inspired attire after his untimely passing, the GI Joe attire from WrestleMania 26, the Chicago flag trunks from MITB 2011, the Bret Hart style attire from SummerSlam 2012, the Undertaker attire from WrestleMania 29 and the Yankee pinstripe attire he sported in Boston. That's a good way to get heat. There were also non-special attires that were cool like Royal Rumble 2013. But yea, attires are cool.

6. ECW

When he first debuted in the WWE in August 2006, CM Punk started on the ECW brand. Now, I was not a fan of that brand at the start, but Punk was one of the things that interested me as I heard so much about him. He impressed me as I watched him there, but he didn't wow me. However, I became a fan and watched as he came close to the ECW Title many times, before finally winning it in September of 2007. His run with the title didn't feature many great moments and he dropped it to the underwhelming Chavo Guerrero, but I still enjoyed his time there. He did win a Money in the Bank briefcase while there so there's that.

5. Money in the Bank wins

Going into WrestleMania 24, everybody picked Jeff Hardy to win the Money in the Bank briefcase. He was unable to make the show due to a suspension I believe, which opened the door for CM Punk to win. This shocked me because, as a member of the ECW brand, I didn't expect him to win. But he did and was drafted to Raw, where he successfully cashed in against Edge. That title run didn't go far, and he was back in the Ladder match at WrestleMania 25 the next year. Once again, I had a different guy pegged to win in Christian. CM Punk surprised me again by winning once more before cashing in two months later on Jeff Hardy and turning heel. Both matches are really good and were big moments in Punk's career.

4. Money in the Bank 2011

You have to know how much I love CM Punk if I have this gem at number four. Besides the fact that the entire Pay-Per-View was great, the atmosphere in Chicago that night was unbelievable. I remember I was unable to watch this live because I had to work that night but I got home, went right to bed and watched it on DVR the next morning. Avoiding all spoilers, I don't know if I've ever been more into a match. The crowd was 100% behind Punk, it was one of the best matches I've ever seen and Punk ran out of Chicago with the WWE Championship. Everything about it was perfect and can never be duplicated again. John Cena and CM Punk have had plenty of amazing matches but none will top this for me.

3. Straight Edge Society

Man, I miss the Straight Edge Society. If you don't remember or you ignored Smackdown, you missed great stuff. CM Punk came out and preached how much better he was than others because he was straight edge. He started to attract followers like Luke Gallows and Joseph Mercury. Things got real interesting when he added Serena, who I knew from SHIMMER, and she agreed to shave her head and cleanse herself like the rest of the group. So many memorable moments came from this. Punk singing happy birthday to Rey Mysterio's daughter was great. Let's not forgot how Punk dominated the early goings of the 2010 Royal Rumble either. His run with the mask was cool too and just everything about this group was great.

2. Pipe Bomb

The infamous moment that got people who hadn't watched wrestling in years interested again. CM Punk, with his contract set to expire in a few weeks, sat atop the stage in a Stone Cold shirt and delivered an epic promo that is now dubbed the "Pipe Bomb". It's easily one of the top 10 moments in the 20+ year history of Raw. If you haven't seen, go watch it right now because the things I can write about it won't do it justice.

1. 434 Days

There could be no other choice for first. CM Punk's 434 day title reign from November 2011 until January 2013 was my favorite thing that he's ever done. After his pipe bomb, the WWE fumbled Punk by having him drop the belt to Alberto Del Rio and get into a useless feud with Triple H. But at Survivor Series, in Madison Square Garden, Punk bested Del Rio and began an incredible title run. During the run he defeated Del Rio, The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Chris Jericho, Mark Henry, Kane, Daniel Bryan, Big Show, John Cena and Ryback. And that's only the people I can remember. On televised events. Yes, he should've main evented more PPVs but regardless, he was the best thing going at every show while he was champion. It's a shame that he couldn't enter WrestleMania 29 as Champion after this reign and he had to lose it to The Rock, but I'll always remember this outstanding run.

Main Event Recap

Main Event opened last night with the WWE's "A-Lister" The Miz. He came out looking fashionable and decided to read a letter to the fans. It was similar to the infamous LeBron James essay, but saying he was leaving home instead of coming home. He also called himself Cleveland's favorite S-U-N, which was pretty comical. Of course, this would be interrupted by his opponent for the night, Sheamus. Both of these guys are strong picks for the Intercontinental Title Battle Royal at Battleground. While not much of note happened in this segment, it was entertaining.

The opening contest pitted former Funkadactyl Cameron, and her new theme music, against Emma! I was definitely happy to see Emma back on my TV screen for the first time since her unfortunate arrest. While Cameron is still not impressive in the ring, she is nailing her heel character and seems more comfortable in that role. Naomi was on commentary and did a fine job there, better than I expect. The same could be said about the match as it was better than I expected. Emma won, which was great and surprising and I'm all for more Emma wins.

Next up, we witnessed a tag team match between four of the guys in the Battleground Battle Royal. Rybaxel took on Kofi Kingston and Big E in what was a fun little match. Big E and Kofi were randomly thrown together here. It made a little sense on Raw because of the connection that they've both faced Cesaro. Anyway, Rybaxel continues to be one of my favorite things on the current product, but they unfortunately took the loss here. Kofi and Big E impressed me and I wouldn't mind if they joined a floundering tag team division.

The main event of Main Event was next, and Sheamus continues to be the MVP of this show. No, not the Montel Vontavious Porter, the Most Valuable Player. Every week he has a good match and he is usually booked to appear on Main Event. Much like their match on Raw, Miz and Sheamus treated the fans to a very good match, though I prefer this one. There was a funny spot where The Miz ducked for cover like a bomb was going off when Sheamus went for the Brogue Kick. The United States Champion was able to avenge his loss from Raw and is probably the favorite to win the Battle Royal and unify the belts.

Another really good episode of Main Event as Tuesdays have become a great time for me. Following Main Event, I would normally discuss WrestleMania Rewind and Countdown but there were no episodes last night. Instead we were treated to a Beyond the Ring featuring CM Punk. This is surprising since Punk was finally officially moved to the Alumni section of the WWE.com roster page. Normally, when someone is on their way out, they are completely ignored but Punk has been featured the last two weeks. It was a lot of fun to watch this documentary again as it's one of the best the WWE has put out.

That's all for now folks, another fun Tuesday night for me. I will dig more into CM Punk officially leaving later as I will present an special Top Ten later today, this one featuring the "Best in the World". 

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