I realize that this is a day late, but I had a very busy Saturday and for that I apologize. But as always, the WWE doesn't stop for anything so Smackdown was still on last Friday. The episode began with some non-title tag team action as The Usos faced Rybaxel. This stemmed from Ryback beating an Uso in singles competition on Main Event. These two team put on a fine opener and The Usos won after pulling some Bella Twin style twin magic. There were reports that Ryback and Curtis Axel had issues after the match, but it wasn't on air so I guess they scratched that. Good news too considering they are a good tag team.
Next up was MizTV. Before the break, The Miz snatched a magazine from a kid and autographed it while the kid and his dad looked on confused. Speaking of dads, The Miz's mom and dad were both at ringside, so the Miz interviewed them as they showed him love. However, when he asked her who her favorite wrestler is, she responded with Roman Reigns and The Miz's reaction was priceless. Bo Dallas came out during Miz's acceptance speech for winning the Intercontinental Title and entertained the hell out of me. Dolph Ziggler also came out but got attacked by Bo. It was a fun little segment and I heard rumblings that this might be a Triple Threat match at SummerSlam for the Intercontinental Championship and I'm all for that. Not just the match but the IC Title getting promo time. Bo would wrestle Dolph and beat him in just over two minutes with a distraction from Miz.
Following a Raw main event where Dean Ambrose got himself disqualified by hitting Cesaro with a steel chair, they got a No Disqualification rematch here on Smackdown. Honestly, this should have been the main event. Not only did they put on a great and, at times, brutal match, but Ambrose got one of, if not, the biggest pop of the night. We had great spots like a body slam on a chair or a suplex on a chair until Ambrose tossed about a dozen chairs in the ring. Seth Rollins came out and attacked him. Cesaro then hit his incredible superplex onto Ambrose onto all of the chairs in a fantastic spot. Ambrose would use a small package to win the match although he would then get attacked by both Cesaro and Rollins. Great match and I feel that Rollins/Ambrose needs to be a gimmick match at SummerSlam.
A sweet video package is shown of the feud between AJ Lee and Paige. It's nice to see the Divas division getting shine. Paige comes out for her match with Naomi and is skipping. I do enjoy Paige, but she is a poor skipper, if you will. Before the match she claims that she's still friends with AJ and that she likes Naomi too. I don't know if I agree with this "psycho" kind of character for her. I just want the Anti-Diva dammit. Cameron's theme hits to distract Naomi, allowing Paige to best her in under a minute. Cameron and Naomi get into a scuffle after the match, that Cameron gets the best of.
Bray Wyatt went one on one with R-Truth and we all know how this one went. Bray got a bounce back win following his loss at Battleground, before cutting another promo on Chris Jericho. Not much to discuss here as we got another match that ran just about two minutes.
Then, because the WWE decides to run seventeen recaps of everything that happens, we had to see Stephanie McMahon get arrested for the 100th time this week. The main event followed as Roman Reigns went one on one with Alberto Del Rio for the very first time. As over as Reigns is, ending the show with Ambrose/Cesaro would have been a much more satisfying conclusion. Reigns/Del Rio was a very good contest and Del Rio continues to make sure that he puts on a good match. I don't see Reigns getting pinned cleanly any time soon, especially by someone on Del Rio's level but it was a decent close to the broadcast.
All in all, a decent episode of Smackdown. Too many matches were too short though. Reigns/Del Rio is worth a watch, but the show stealer was Cesaro/Ambrose. MizTV was also pretty entertaining. Anyway, until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa
Anarchy Rulz
9/19/99 – Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois
ECW was on a pretty big high during this time in 1999. Not only were they being followed by their rabid fan base, but they had just scored a deal with The Nashville Network, which was becoming the National Network, to air ECW on Friday nights. While this would turn out to be much more harmful than helpful, at the time, it was a big deal. Also, ECW's World Heavyweight Champion, Taz, had just signed a deal with the WWF, while former ECW Champion Raven, had just returned from his WCW stint and won the Tag Team Titles with his all time rival, Tommy Dreamer. Also of note, this was the biggest crowd to ever watch an ECW event at just about 6,000 and was on the wwe.com List of 10 Surprising Shows on the WWE Network.
Masato Tanaka has a failed interview because he doesn't speak English. Jeff Jones interrupts and gets his head slammed on a car. Cyrus and Joey Styles welcome everyone to the show. Man, Cyrus could draw heat.
Jerry Lynn vs. Lance Storm w/ Dawn Marie
Dawn Marie looks pretty hot tonight and gets announced as Lance Storm's “own personal bytch”, that's b-y-tch. The crowd is very hot which will help these matches. Really solid wrestling sequence starts things and the crowd appreciates that for sure. Chops in the corner from Jerry Lynn before they counters each other's moves on the apron until Lynn hits a springboard dropkick. More chops on the outside. Back inside Lynn gets a near fall with a crucifix and then hits a judo throw into a headlock. More counters from both guys until EDDIE GILBERT hot shot from Storm and Joey Styles actually mentions Gilbert. Bless him, Joey is great. Beautiful dropkick from Storm. Showing off his athleticism like he's RVD or something, Storm hits a cartwheel splash into the corner. Lynn gets a sunset flip for a near fall and goes for a German suplex but Storm blocks it with a low blow. Leg drop from Storm gets two. Hip toss reversals end with Storm outside as Lynn hits a splash off the top. Missile dropkick back in from Lynn gets a near fall. Jawbreaker from Storm leads to a fist fight and Lynn tosses Storm in the air and kicks him low as he comes down. Storm counters the cradle piledriver and we get a series of near falls that seemingly never ends. Bridging German also earns Lynn two and a standing ovation from the Chicago crowd. Reverse DDT gets another near fall for Lance as Dawn Marie tosses two chairs into the ring. He wedges one in between turnbuckles but is the one sent into it. He does manage to set Lynn up on the top, but Lynn gets a top rope sunset flip bomb for two as Dawn pulls the referee. Storm ducks a chair shot and goes for a powerbomb, but eats a DDT on the chair. Dawn Marie again gets involved by putting Storm's foot on the bottom rope. Backbreaker from Storm who is focusing on the back/ribs. Another series of reversals ends in a Stunner from Lynn for two. Hurricanrana from Lynn gets yet another near fall. That's got to be like, 30 two counts. A kitchen sink followed by a half nelson rollup earns Lance the three.
Winner: Lance Storm in 16:38
Really good opener with plenty of near falls. The ending was a bit anti-climatic but made sense. What didn't make sense was Jerry Lynn taking another loss. He could've used this win after dropping two straight PPVs to RVD. ****
Cyrus and Styles argue about the “office” that Cyrus keeps mentioning. Back in the ring, Simon Diamond has a problem. He needs a tag team partner and asks Tom Marquez, who is at ringside. He tells Tom to be his partner, but when he tries to, Simon didn't say “Simon Says” so he makes Tom sit down. He says no man wants to be his partner, so Jazz shows up so shut him up. Close enough to a dude right? According to Simon it is as he tells her to get her “flat chest and ghetto booty” out of here. She attacks and he sics Tom Marquez on her.
Jazz vs. Tom Marquez w/ Simon Diamond
After the way Simon treated Tom, I don't know why he jumped in for this match. She goes for a cross body and he catches her before dancing and slamming her. He poses over her and she grabs a handful of crotch. Testicular claw is broken by a thumb to the eye but Jazz hits the Jazz Stinger to win.
Winner: Jazz in 0:58
Just used to get Jazz over, but it was lame. *
Simon attacks Jazz and he's randomly joined by Tony DeVito. Nova and Chris Chetti arrive and an ECW impromptu match begins
Chris Chetti and Nova vs. Simon Diamond and Tony DeVito
Nova and Chetti use innovative offense to take the early control. They constantly try to put over how innovative Nova is and how his moves appear on Monday nights after he invents them. Snapmare on Simon but Tony goes low on Nova. Tony STOMPS A MUDHOLE in Nova in the corner. Sloppy powerbomb from DeVito before Simon comes in and hist the Three Amigos before it was cool. Chetti seems to be very hurt on the outside. Nova ducks a clothesline and they botch a uranagi but Tony does it again and gets it right. Roadkill and Danny Doring run out and attack Simon and Nova. A disqualification is called.
No Contest in 3:52
Nothing match that was probably hampered by Chris Chetti's injury. DUD
Doring and Roadkill continue the beating as Miss Congeniality is with them. Man, you could totally tell that Lita got implants. Roadkill was going to splash Jazz but jobbers show up to stop them. A brawl breaks out, which of course brings New Jack out. It's so hard to watch anything New Jack related on the WWE Network thanks to the god awful generic music. “In the ghetto, in the ghetto, in the ghetto” is all you hear. The brawl goes how you'd expect with New Jack and Nova beating on everyone. Angel takes a beating from Jack in a precursor to their feud the following year.
Three Way Dance
Little Guido w/ Big Sal vs. Super Crazy vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri
The FBI have some terrible generic music. Quick start as Guido and Tajiri go after Super Crazy's knees. Tajiri sends Guido onto the aisle hard. Flying head scissors from Tajiri sends Crazy outside but he comes back in with a springboard dropkick, only to eat a springboard cross body from Guido for two. Camel Clutch on Crazy and Tajiri dropkicks him in the face. He goes for it again and kicks Guido this time. Tajiri monkey flips Crazy into a clothesline from Guido. Crazy and Guido all brawl outside and both end up in the first row. Tajiri pulls out an Asai moonsault into the crowd and onto both men. Early on, this is like, the Tajiri show but Big Sal gets in the ring and slams him. A powerbomb in Crazy as well gives Guido the advantage. Top rope famasser on Tajiri, but Guido stupidly covers Crazy instead for two. German from Tajiri for two on Guido. Outside, he front suplexes Guido onto the guardrail and they fight into the crowd. Super Crazy now one ups Tajiri with a top rope Asai moonsault into the crowd on both guys. Back inside, he springboards dropkicks Big Sal off the apron and through a table. Super Crazy blocks a sunset flip, but Tajiri holds on and locks on the Tarantula, allowing Guido to dropkick Crazy. He's fine though as he puts Tajiri in a surfboard stretch and rolls around with it. He turns it into a dragon sleeper before turning it into a camel clutch. Guido joins and puts on the Sicilian Crab with it but no tap out. Unprettier from Guido gets two. Guido gets set up in the tree of woe, but avoids Crazy's dropkick, only to get kicks by Tajiri. Moonsault from Crazy eliminates Guido. “These foreigners are diabolical” says Cyrus in a great heel line. The foreigners counter each other for a while before Crazy gets a near fall with a moonsault. Ten punches in the corner while the crowd counts in Spanish. Handspring elbow from Tajiri gets a pop. Shortly after, Tajiri blocks a dragon sleeper but ends up taking a reverse tornado DDT for two. Crazy's moonsault combination is blocked and he gets two kicks to the head. Tajiri finishes with the BRAINBUSTAAA to win.
Winner: Yoshihiro Tajiri in 14:38
Pretty much just a spot fest, but it was a fun spot fest and that's all I wanted from these three. Good stuff. ***
Steve Corino, Rhino and Jack Victory are backstage. Corino says that he was going to bring in ICP to face Tommy Dreamer and Raven for the Tag Team Titles tonight. The ICP manager canceled because they knew they would lose. Himself and Rhino will challenge for the belts instead. Thank god.
Justin Credible w/ Jason vs. Sabu w/ Bill Alfonso
Credible tried to weasel out of the match with a restraining order but there aren't rules tonight. BECAUSE ANARCHY RULZ! Sabu arrives and attacks Credible. Moonsault gets him two. They spill to the outside and Sabu throws him around for a while. Credible gets Sabu on a table on the aisle and splashes him through it. That gets him a near fall, but Sabu comes back with a dropkick and baseball slide. He springboards from a chair to the top and front flips onto Justin in the crowd. Sabu goes to put Credible through a table but he moves. Sabu hits a stupid guillotine leg drop as Credible had to literally hold himself in place for it. Sabu ends up putting him through a table anyway, before springboarding and hitting it again on the already broken table. Justin is busted open as Sabu applies a camel clutch and botches a leg drop. Distraction from Jason allows Justin to connect with a superkick. Justin now uses a camel clutch. A table gets set up in the corner as Justin dropkicks a chair into Sabu. Sabu botches another DDT for two. Stunner from Credible, who then sloppily puts Sabu through the table in the corner. Sabu gets back in control with a triple jump moonsault before a triple jump leg drop. Sabu counters That's Incredible but eats a Singapore cane shot from Jason. Alfonso enters and kicks Jason as Sabu kicks out. Someone slides in a chair that hits Sabu in the head. Multiple That's Incredible counters until Justin hits one on a chair for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Justin Credible in 14:06
Sloppy and, despite all of the table spots, kind of boring. I've never been a big fan of Sabu as he botches a lot and tonight was no different. *1/2
ECW World Heavyweight Championship Three Way Dance
Taz (c) vs. Masato Tanaka vs. Mike Awesome w/ Judge Jeff Jones
Fans knew Taz was leaving as he was greeted with “you sold out” chants, even though I can't blame him. His career was winding down and going to the WWF was the best choice. Jeff Jones is in the crowd with Mike Awesome and Taz challenges him to join the match. Tanaka and Awesome brawl once the bell rings because they hate each other, while Taz sits back. When he joins, Tazplexes for both of them. NAPOLEON RAMPAGE! More Tazplexes until Awesome lays him out. Awesome Bomb on Tanaka before he goes up top. Top rope Tazplex but then Taz eats a Roaring Elbow. Awesome Splash off the top and a double pin eliminates Taz and guarantees a new champion. The locker room comes out and Taz tells Awesome and Tanaka to go at it. Awesome launches himself outside to take out Tanaka. Sitout Awesome Bomb gets two. He sets up a table outside and is looking to Awesome Bomb him out there but Tanaka gets free. Masato botches a springboard clothesline and gets some steel chairs. They get on the aisle and Tanaka runs past the parted locker room to knock out Awesome with a chair. Tornado DDT off the chair continues Tanaka’s momentum. He follows with a missile dropkick to the back of the head as the bloodthirsty crowd wants tables. Tornado DDT onto two chairs only gets two. He places a chair on Awesome's face, climbs to the top and smashes another chair into his face. Sheesh. That only gets a near fall. Botched bomb from Tanaka that lands softly. Awesome counters a bomb and launches Tanaka outside and through a table with an Awesome Bomb! Alabama Slam once they get back inside and Awesome goes up top. Awesome Splash connects but can't finish it. Tanaka now no sells chair shots to the head, which still amazes me to this day. He nails Diamond Dust, as that's the third Stunner variation I've seen on this show. Awesome ducks the Roaring Elbow and hits a release German, but Tanaka no sells and charges, only to be met with a Spear for two. Awesome comes off the top with a chair shot and sets up a table. Awesome decides that he's tired of this and it's Awesome Bomb off the top through a table time and that is finally enough.
Winner and New ECW World Heavyweight Champion: Mike Awesome in 13:48
Absolutely brutal match. The Taz stuff was done with quickly, which was wise as it allowed one of the classic Tanaka/Awesome battles. It's not great wrestling, but dammit if it's not fun. ***1/4
Taz gets back in the ring, to massive heat, and hands the World Title over. Ironically, he would return the following year and win it back. Taz and the locker room are emotional in the aisle as the fans now chant “Taz.”
Talk about going back far in your video package. The next match gets a video buildup starting in 1996. Interestingly, it's the first ever ECW show I saw which is when Beulah says that she's pregnant with Tommy Dreamer's kid. Tommy comes out and says that even though he's hurt, he will compete. Steve Corino comes out and sends Rhino in after him.
ECW World Tag Team Championship
Tommy Dreamer and Raven (c) w/ Francine vs. Rhino and Steve Corino w/ Jack Victory
Rhino is on the offensive until he takes a hangman's neckbreaker. Corino is 23 here. Wow. Corino tries to get involved but is chased away by Tommy. Tommy does a slingshot cross body back in against Rhino but ends up taking a spinebuster. Corino brings a ladder out but gets taken out. Francine kicks Rhino but then he powerslams her. Rhino is in control until Raven shows up and hits the Evenflow. Jack “High Spot” Victory comes in as he and Corino work over the Champions. Dueling DDTs finish this off.
Winners and Still ECW World Tag Team Champions: Tommy Dreamer & Raven in 3:24
Short, and it kept the crowd into it, but it wasn't much. **
For some insane reason, Axl Rotten challenges Mike Awesome to a title match. I always found Rotten to be terrible. He's cut off by the Impact Players and Johnny Smith. I don't remember him at all but he's scheduled to face RVD. Rotten attacks them but succumbs to the numbers game. Balls Mahoney to the rescue with Spike Dudley. Spike helps by hitting Dawn Marie with the Acid Drop. Balls knocks out Smith as the Impact Players retreat. RVD needs an opponent now so he gets Mahoney.
ECW World Television Championship
Rob Van Dam (c) w/ Bill Alfonso vs. Balls Mahoney
I get that RVD was main eventing a lot of shows because he was the most popular guy on the roster. But this shouldn't be going on last. Balls isn't great and you had a historic World Title match in the mid-card? Things kick off with a back suplex from Balls. RVD retaliates with some kicks but takes a clothesline. Leaping side kick gets RVD back in control, which he follows with a top rope cross body. Unique rollup gets him two and then he dropkicks Balls, who throws himself out of the ring. Outside, Balls takes a beer from a fan in the middle of the beating down on RVD. He gets Balls in the crowd and Mahoney sees the Van Daminator coming, so he throws the chair at RVD. Mahoney is on his third beer from the fans. A series of kicks in the ring from RVD is stopped when Balls connects with a belly to belly suplex. Cyrus and Joey do their best to put over Balls as a wrestler and not just a brawler. The action spills back into the crowd and RVD hits a Van Daminator. RVD goes in the ring, climbs up and somersaults into the crowd. Years later, that's still impressive. Back inside, RVD gets two with a spinning leg drop. Both guys are on top and Balls shoves RVD to the mat. He hits the New Jersey Jam (second rope leg drop) for a near fall. SKY HIGH from Balls, that he calls the Ball Breaker, but D-Lo Brown wouldn't have any of that. Frog splash from Balls but it's not five stars so it doesn't get the win. Second rope suplex from RVD and Alfonso gets in with a chair and does a full roll out of the ring, leaving the chair behind. Hilarious. Rolling Thunder onto the chair is good for a near fall. Balls counters a monkey flip into a powerbomb for two. Again a counter from Balls, this one from a Northern lights suplex into a DDT, gets a near fall. RVD always sells the hell out a piledriver and it's no different here. Vicious chair shot from Balls but he decides to taunt instead of pinning. Alfonso breaks up the count with a chair shot. Balls goes after Alfonso but he ducks the chair shot and RVD hits a top rope Van Daminator. He takes long to cover so he only gets two. It's okay though, Five Star Frog Splash ends it right after.
Winner and Still ECW World Television Champion: Rob Van Dam in 19:39
Decent little TV Title match. Not on the level of some of the things that RVD was doing at the time, but Balls Mahoney surprised me. This had no business in the main event slot though. **3/4
Overall: 6.5/10; Above Average. A good show from ECW with a great opener, two fun three way dances and a decent Television Title match. It's a historic show though as Mike Awesome wins the ECW World Title and wasn't even advertised to be on the show. A lot of ECW stuff I fondly remember, but it doesn't hold up over time. Next on “Random Network Reviews” will be Survivor Series 1989.
Just like last week, things kicked off on NXT with a good old fashioned tag team contest. What made it really old fashioned was that it was a squash against two jobbers for the NXT Tag Team Champions, The Ascension. This was fine for what it was supposed to be, but with the tag team division steadily improving on NXT, The Ascension need this to keep them busy. However, until I see them against real competition, I won't truly be impressed by them. They do look rather imposing though.
The number one contender for the NXT Championship, Tyler Breeze, returned to action from his career threatening hand modeling injury. Let me just say, that this was a brilliant spin for his character on a broken finger. Just so perfectly done. Anyway, he would face my least favorite superstar on NXT, Mojo Rawley. After winning squash matches nearly every weekly and winning at ArRival, he was beaten down by Rusev at TakeOver and has been featured less and less. Tonight, he might have hit his bottom as Prince Pretty bested him in less than a minute with the Beauty Shot. I love Breeze and how he lives and breathes the character, but he is in dire need of a better finisher.
NXT Women's Championship was on the line next and once again, the NXT Divas get time to shine. Summer Rae and Charlotte had a relatively long match and the storyline of the BFFs imploding. This wasn't on the level of some other NXT Divas matches as I still don't believe Charlotte is that great yet and Summer is not on Natalya's level to help carry the match along. It even got some "boring" chants, which I think were a bit unfair. Charlotte retained the gold with the "Bow Down to the Queen".
As I stated earlier, the tag team division continues to rise on NXT. The tremendous Vaudevillains interrupted Kalisto during a backstage promo last week so he challenged them for tonight as he'd get a partner. He picked Sin Cara. So maybe Kalisto doesn't know much of the WWE roster. However, we were treated to a good bout as the Vaudevillains are entertaining as hell as Kalisto stole the show. Sin Cara looked so bland next to his brand of lucha style offense. Kalisto won for his team after a great looking shiranui.
In the NXT main event, NXT Champion Adrian Neville would face the "Bulgarian Brute" Rusev. Lana cut one of her trademark promos about Vladimir Putin before the match as well. This was an interesting clash of styles that worked pretty well. Every single time Neville tried to use his speed or flying ability, Rusev was there to knock him down and crush him. I figured we wouldn't get a clean ending to keep both guys protected, and we didn't as Tyler Breeze came down and knocked Neville off the top rope before he could hit the Red Arrow. This left Neville to be crushed by Rusev to close NXT.
Another solid edition of NXT, though not as good as last week. We move into Superstars, which opened with Heath Slater going one on one with Adam Rose, in a rematch from four weeks prior. The match itself was nothing special, but we get some actual storyline progression on Superstars! Poor Heath Slater has lost Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal recently, plus his tag team with Titus O'Neil, known as SLATER GATOR hasn't taken off the way he'd hope. All he had left was Hornswoggle. But, the Rosebuds picked him up and crowd surfed him. Next thing you know, he's dressed like a Rosebud and dancing, allowing Rose to hit the Party Foul on Slater and win.
In the Superstars main event, we had another rematch from a few weeks back as Alberto Del Rio faced R-Truth. Again, not a bad match, but nothing special. Alberto Del Rio doesn't seem to enjoy working Superstars and he shouldn't. This is a guy who was World Heavyweight Champion less than a year ago and he can still go as evidenced by his battle with Sheamus on Main Event recently.
All in all, fans were treated to another solid Thursday night of wrestling, which is all we can ask for. NXT continues to be my favorite show of the week and Superstars is fun since the addition of Renee Young to the commentary table.
Until next time, follow me on Twitter @the_kevstaaa
Backlash 2002
April 21st, 2002 – Kemper Memorial Arena in Kansas City, Missouri
Coming off of WrestleMania X8 the WWF held a Draft. Raw and Smackdown would be split because Ric Flair and Vince McMahon's egos were too big. Triple H, being the new Undisputed Champion was exempt as he would defend the belt against both shows. The fans wanted Hulkamania and it was running wild as red and yellow was back and in the title match at this show. This is the first Pay-Per-View after the Draft and both shows were represented as the Brand Exclusive Pay-Per-Views didn't start for about another year.
We get a nice video package where Hulk Hogan talks about how the crowd led him back to being Hulkamania Hogan instead of Hollywood while Triple H says that he loves seeing Hogan back but it's sad because he's going to have to kill some of childhood and beat Hogan tonight. It's basically the “best of all time” against the “best right now”. Solid stuff.
WWF Cruiserweight Championship
Billy Kidman (c) vs. Tajiri w/ Torrie Wilson
Torrie Wilson was with Tajiri on TV, but with Billy Kidman in real life. Kidman still has his great WCW theme. Torrie is dressed in a kimono because Tajiri was being a controlling boyfriend. Shoving match to start and Tajiri kicks up once he goes down. Quick offense that goes too fast to report it all, but it's a good start. An arm drag takes Tajiri into the corner. He blocks a hurricanrana and goes for a slingshot, but Kidman lands on the second rope and gets a dropkick. A “Torrie” chant starts. Tajiri hits a nice spot on the guardrail before going back in. With Kidman draped on the bottom rope, Tajiri hits a stiff kick and applies a headlock inside. The crowd is really into this for it being a Cruiserweight Title match. Kidman fights out and snaps off a hurricanrana before taking a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Kidman gets hung up in the tree of (Joey Lawrence) woe for a baseball slide. Backbreaker from Tajiri that he holds onto for a submission. Bill breaks out but Tajiri is still in control. TARANTULA! Tajiri goes for the handspring elbow but Kidman dropkicks him in the back of the head to a nice pop. The Japanese Buzzsaw reverses a back drop and hits a spinning heel kick. He gets a German with a beautiful bridge for two. He ducks a clothesline and nearly kicks Kidman's head off. Kidman does his favorite spot by countering the powerbomb into a facebuster. He misses the Shooting Star Press and gets buzzsaw kicked but kicks out. Everyone is into this as a “Kidman” chant starts. Up top, Kidman hits a powerbomb variation for a near fall. Kidman goes for a powerbomb but gets sprayed with red mist and Tajiri wins.
Winner and New Cruiserweight Champion: Tajiri in 9:08
Kidman and Tajiri were like “we're gonna try and steal the show” and they might have. Really good opener that the crowd was very hot for. It's a shame what happened to this division. ***3/4
Michael Cole tries to interview Tajiri like an idiot. He doesn't speak English. This has been established. Backstage, the APA meet up and miss each other since they were split. The nWo theme hits as Bradshaw faces a member next.
Bradshaw vs. Scott Hall w/ X-Pac
Scott Hall goes from facing Steve Austin at WrestleMania, albeit in the mid-card, to facing Bradshaw. X-Pac is wearing Kane's mask. They try to surround Bradshaw, which brings out Faarooq to back him up. Their reunion after just two weeks apart gets a good reaction. Hall throws his toothpick at Bradshaw and gets lit up by the Texan for it. Bradshaw gets sent off the ropes and hits a big club to the back. “X-Pac sucks” chants. Hall rolls outside but bumps into Faarooq, who lays him out in front of the referee, but there's no DQ or ejection. Lawler wisely calls JR out for not saying anything about Faarooq cheating and JR ignores it. More punches from Bradshaw until Hall gets a thumb to the eyes. More slugging from both men and Hall hits a clothesline in the corner. Hall pounds away on Bradshaw in the corner, but he comes out with a shoulder block. Big clothesline from Bradshaw in the corner before the Clothesline from Hell. X-Pac puts Hall's foot on the bottom rope and Faarooq chases him around the ring. The distraction lets Hall get a low blow and rollup with a handful of tights.
Winner: Scott Hall in 5:45
So many punches and kicks in this match and the nWo looked weak. It's what I expected though. *
Vince McMahon is power walking in the back as he barges into Ric Flair's office. DOUBLE A IS THERE! Vince wants to know why Flair decided to referee the Austin/Undertaker match later tonight. It's rather useless
Women's Championship
Jazz (c) vs. Trish Stratus
Molly Holly, who lost a number one contender's match to Trish Stratus, comes to ringside. Molly was gold in her “wholesome” gimmick. Molly levels Trish, throws her out of the ring and into the steps. Jazz arrives and is all like “I'll take it.” She hits a side slam inside for two. Jazz hits the Green Bay Plunge and shouts at Trish. They do a nice leap frog/roll spot and Trish hits the Chick Kick with the left leg for two. Trish sets Jazz up on the top but gets pushed off and does her handstand hurricanrana. Multiple clotheslines and neckbreaker gets her a near fall. She takes a kick to the face and a sitout powerbomb but kicks out. The Champion misses a splash and Trish rolls her up for two. Stratusfaction gets reversed into a back suplex for two. Lots of near falls for a short Divas match. Jazz does a dragon screw and puts on a Boston crab. She gets near the ropes, but is pulled away. Jazz changes to an STF that looks A MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN JOHN CENAS. Trish is forced to tap.
Winner and Still Women's Champion: Jazz in 4:27
Good little women's match. Jazz was doing good as the dominant chick in the division and Trish has improved leaps and bounds since her first title just six months earlier. **
Video is shown of Paul Heyman being incredibly creepy with Lita and sniffing her panties. Heyman tried to bribe her for Matt Hardy's safety. She refused him of course, so Brock Lesnar basically kills Matt with an F-5 on the stage.
Brock Lesnar w/ Paul Heyman vs. Jeff Hardy w/ Lita
Brock doesn't have his theme yet so it's some generic stuff. This is Brock's first match and Jeff starts by attacking him before the bell. It doesn't faze Brock who sends him outside. He followed and Jeff dropkicks him off the apron before sending him into the post. Jeff nails a cross body for two, so Brock gets mad and destroys him with shoulder thrusts. Brock throws Jeff like he's Hornswoggle. Three backbreakers in a row and the crowd is kind of in awe at Brock. Jeff is selling like he's being broken in half. Heyman keeps yelling that it's all Lita's fault. Jeff fights back but it's a futile effort. Jeff breaks out whisper in the wind and hits a jawbreaker that Brock sells well. Jeff connects with the Swanton and people believed it was over, but Brock powers out at two. Jeff gets a chair but Brock ducks, lifts him up and hits the F-5. Heyman says not to pin Jeff, to hurt him. Double powerbomb from Brock and the impact is insane. More powerbombs from Brock as Teddy Long calls for the bell.
Winner: Brock Lesnar in 5:32
Brock beat the hell out of Jeff Hardy here but that's what it was supposed to be. Jeff getting a near fall was a nice touch but it was never in doubt. **1/2
A video package airs for the upcoming match where Kurt Angle talks about being better than anyone on any roster. Then he lost to Edge and started to target him. This was the feud where Edge brings out the old photos of Kurt with the writing on the back. Great stuff.
Edge vs. Kurt Angle
Angle sporting white boots looks awesome. Shoulder block takes Edge down before Edge reels off some shots. Big elbow from Angle but then he gets dropkicked and flapjacked. Edge uses Angle's momentum to throw him out of the ring. Back inside Edge hits a spinning heel kick but gets German suplexed out of his boots nearly. It baffles me that Kurt was stuck in the upper mid-card until late 2002. Edge tries to get momentum but Angle comes at him with a belly to belly for two. Vertical suplex from Angle and then it's rest hold time. They do the raise the arm three times spot, which I like and Edge fights out. It's useless as he then takes a German. Angle goes for another but Edge fights out and hits a belly to belly of his own! Flying forearm from Edge and a back body drop as the crowd is firmly behind him. Sitout DDT nets him a two. Facebuster earns Edge another near fall. Edge climbs to the top but Angle quickly runs up and belly to belly suplexes him off which gets a near fall. Rolling Germans get Angle two and he sets up for the Angle Slam. Edge gets out and drops Angle on his head with a German. Not good. Both men are slow to their feet but Angle charges Edge, who back body drops him to the outside. Diving cross body to the outside and both guys are hurt again. Missile dropkick back inside but Edge can't earn the three. He now calls for his finisher but Angle counters and gets the Angle Slam! Edge kicks out and Angle is pissed. Ankle Lock time and Edge is in the middle of the ring. He gets close but is pulled away, so he rolls through into a pin for a very close two. Angle grabs a chair but misses, it rebounds off the top and he hits himself. Edge-o-matic follows and somehow only gets a near fall. Edge calls for the Spear but Angle kicks him in the face and a second Angle Slam finishes him off.
Winner: Kurt Angle in 13:26
Great match and the first that really made people realize that Edge was the future. Kurt Angle continues to just put on really good matches and this was one of my favorite feuds of 2002.****1/4
Chris Jericho, who was just the Undisputed Champion, comes out to complain that he's not on the show. That's good booking. He's so mad that he is leaving. Cutting to the back, Ric Flair and Arn Anderson are backstage discussing the Number One Contender's match when The Undertaker shows up and stares him down. That's all he does. Intimidation, like in the Little Giants.
Intercontinental Championship
Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero
Ah, it's been a while since I've been able to review some Eddie Guerrero. Part of this feud is that in Eddie's mind, RVD stole the Frog Splash from him. JR informs Lawler that the first guy in the WWF to use the Frog Splash was, in fact, D-Lo Brown. Quick start and RVD has to taunt. Big monkey flip followed by a spinning heel kick gets RVD two. Eddie blocks a kick and we get a gross looking dragon screw. They trade offense for a bit with RVD botching a floatover suplex. He then blocks a superplex and brings Eddie down on the top rope. The ridiculous cartwheel moonsault earns him a near fall. Small package from Eddie but no win. Eddie reverses a suplex into another rollup for two. Baseball slide sends Eddie to the rail and RVD hits a moonsault off the apron. Spinning leg drop is next as Eddie has barely had an offense. But he uses defense to block Rolling Thunder and get in the driver's seat. “Mullet” chants from this capacity crowd. Latino Heat locks on a surfboard stretch as he gets RVD bent in weird ways. GORY STRETCH! RVD doesn't tap so he takes a slingshot senton before Eddie shows off his athleticism with a hurricanrana. BRAINBUSTAAA! Only gets two so he goes for the Frog Splash, but RVD kicks him to stop. He goes for a superplex but Eddie counters with a sunset flip bomb that might have killed RVD. But it only earns him two. After getting kicked, Eddie gets the belt, but RVD snatches it form him and hits the referee by mistake. Neckbreaker on the belt and Frog Splash allows a new Champion.
Winner and New Intercontinental Champion: Eddie Guerrero in 11:42
Two really good performers put on a good match. It wasn't as good as the Ladder match they would have after this, but still good. Eddie can still go. ***1/4
Number One Contender's Match
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin vs. The Undertaker
Two of the greatest of all time, who had some pretty disappointing matches against each other. I can remember two that I liked and that was SummerSlam 1998 and A Cold Day in Hell. A whole lot of nothing happens for the first five or so minutes. Seriously. Things then get taken into the crowd where they do what they do best and they brawl for a while. For some odd reason, the nWo arrive on the scene. Undertaker tosses Austin into the steel steps and he hurts his leg. This allows Taker to target the leg for a while. We get some slow offense as REST HOLD TIME hits and we get a leg lock and chinlock from the Deadman. Taker goes from the leg to other body parts which is weird. Austin fights back to wake up the crowd but eats a flying clothesline for two. After a double clothesline, Austin stomps a mudhole as the crowd chants “what” with each kick. Flair gets knocked out by accident just before Austin hits the Stunner. Of course the timing is perfect. Low blow from Booger Red and a Chokeslam as Flair gets to his feet. Flair is counting pretty slow, but it's consistent. Taker gets a chair but as Flair disarms him, Austin goes low. Taker no sells that and hits a big boot for two. Taker blocks another Stunner and Flair goes down again. Taker nails Austin with the chair for two. He signals for the Last Ride but it gets blocked. Austin tries to use Taker's dragon sleeper finisher but it gets stopped. Taker misses with the chair, though this makes no sense if he wants to earn a title shot. Mudhole gets stomped. Big boot into the chair gets the three even though Austin gets his foot on the rope.
Winner: The Undertaker in 27:00
Who the hell thought this should go nearly a half hour? The brawling parts were good but the wrestling was rough. That was not a strong point of Taker's game at this point of his career. **
Austin is in sore loser mode as he hits Undertaker with a Stunner. In the back, Jonathan Coachman shows Ric Flair Austin's foot being on the ropes and Flair is all like “aww shit”
WWF Tag Team Championship
Billy & Chuck (c) w/ Rico vs. Al Snow & Maven
Oh, the poor tag team division. Billy and Chuck beat on Maven because, well, he's Maven. “Rico's gay” chants break out. Maven pulls an enziguri from his small bag of tricks and tags his trainer. Al Snow comes in to no pop and takes down both of the Champions. Double team effort puts the Champs back in control. Now Snow is the good guy in trouble as the champs work him over with some boring offense. Billy misses a splash in the corner and Snow drop toe holds Chuck into Billy's crotch. Because they're gay. That's the joke. Maven gets the “hot” tag but ends up getting hit with a Fameasser. Snow pulls Maven out to break the count but eats a superkick. Rico tries to interfere but fails as he hits Chuck. Maven gets a near fall with a cross body but takes a superkick and that's all.
Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: Billy and Chuck in 6:02
Boring and senseless. There were hot tags that went nowhere and failed interference that went nowhere. Weird match. 3/4*
WWF Undisputed Championship
Triple H (c) vs. Hulk Hogan
This was wisely billed as the “best of all-time” against the “best right now.” Hogan's WWE Network generic theme is terrible. The Undisputed Title design was one of my all-time favorites. HHH and Hogan trade battles of who is stronger as they shove each other. HHH heels up a bit when he yells at Hogan for listening to the fans. Test of strength comes with Hogan winning for a bit until HHH regains the advantage. Hogan comes back but eats an elbow from the champion before he applies a wrist lock. Ten punches from Hogan in the corner and then he backdrops Hunter over and out. They brawl outside for a bit and Hogan hits a suplex. HHH is back on the offensive as he whips Hogan into the corner hard. He goes for a Pedigree but Hogan counters and catapults him into the corner. Schoolboy gets Hogan two. Back to back clotheslines and Hogan has the balls to pull out a Diamond Cutter/Ace Crusher/RKO. I've never seen him do that. It earns him a near fall. HHH targets the knee a few times to boos from the fans. It was probably around here that HHH realized he needed to turn heel. We get leg work for the next like seven or eight minutes as this is slow as hell. Hunter applies a figure four and continues to be heel like as he uses the ropes for leverage. Hogan turns it over and HHH breaks it. And from that we go to Triple H putting on a sleeper hold. Do we really need a rest hold now? Hogan “Hulks Up” to break out of it and hits a back suplex. Chris Jericho shows up and lays out Hogan with a chair. HHH notices this and is a face again as he takes out Jericho. Time for more Hulking Up and the fans are pumped. He misses the leg drop and Triple H nails the Pedigree. The referee slowly goes to count but The Undertaker runs out and strikes him. Undertaker now levels Hunter with a chair and I have no idea why all of this is happening. I guess Taker is like “well, Hogan will be easier to beat.” Hogan doesn't want the help and takes out Undertaker. Then he wants the help and drops the leg to win.
Winner and New WWF Undisputed Champion: Hulk Hogan in 22:06
The fans go nuts even though this is the WWF doing what they used to mock WCW for doing and that's putting the belt on a guy like Hogan over their guy Triple H. Whatever. The match was boring but I have to commend Triple H for trying his best. *1/4
Overall: 6.5/10; Above Average. Before the final three matches, this had potential to be one of the better shows. The opener was awesome, Brock beat the hell out of Jeff Hardy, the Divas match was solid, Edge and Angle stole the steal and the Intercontinental Title match was very good. Then Austin and Undertaker had a disappointing brawl, and the final two matches were crap. If you ignore the final three matches, you get an awesome show.
