Main Event Report 11-11-14

Main Event goes back to its pre-taped style this week due to the WWE still being in the United Kingdom. We open with Stardust competing again, this time against Adam Rose. This came as a surprise since I expected Stardust to face someone from a tag team. Rose still had clear tension with the Bunny but won because of the Bunny's help. This went about four minutes and wasn't bad, but it was just there. I guess they're going to prolong the eventual Rose heel turn a bit. Next comes Divas action when Alicia Fox took on Cameron. It was strange since they're both heels but they played it as Cameron claiming Fox was jealous of her Total Divas success which made join the show. Cameron controlled the match, which wasn't good and it came off as awkward. Fox would end up winning, which I appreciate since she's relatively underrated.

Okay, so Main Event isn't off to the best of starts here. Bray Wyatt's promo from Raw airs before we get the Kofi Kingston "New Day" vignette. I honestly can't wait to see where that goes. Sami Zayn is out so this show is about to pick up. And he's facing Tyson Kidd! I normally don't agree with rematches but I could watch these two all day. And it makes sense since Tyson cheated last week. Tyson has been entertaining as hell over the past week and continues to shine in his new heel role. This was even better than last week. Tyson played up the heel role better, we got a false finish of the tight pulling and Tyson would win again after he pulled Natalya into harm's way. Sami stopped in his tracks and Tyson took advantage. Tyson wins his fifth or sixth straight match and I'm okay with Sami losing on the main roster right now. Great stuff and going to be hard to top as match of the week...or month.

Much like last week when "Bray Wyatt in action" was advertised, we got another throwback squash as "Dean Ambrose in action" was advertised. His obvious victory came against Justin Gabriel. It wasn't as much of a squash as I expected though, considering Gabriel lasted about five minutes and the fans were treated to a decent contest. He got on the microphone after and hyped up his upcoming match with Bray Wyatt. It was decent but not enough I feel like.

After a run of five straight shows earning over a 7/10, this show finally falls under that score. It doesn't fall by much though. The main issue with the show are the first two matches, which were just there. Ambrose/Gabriel was okay but if it wasn't for Zayn/Kidd, this would be a completely passable show. Go out of your way to see it. It was fantastic. 6/10.

Raw Report 11-10-14

Raw was held in the United Kingdom tonight, which means it was pre-recorded. UK shows are really hit or miss and this UK Tour could not have come at a worse time with the recent news that the WWE Network is delayed there. The crowd sings "John Cena Sucks" as he comes out. He plays to the crowd but it doesn't really work.He calls out his opponent for the night, Ryback, who gets a big pop from the crowd. Before Ryback is even able to speak, The Authority comes out with their third team member, Mark Henry. They pitch to Ryback as the fans chant "Where's Our Network?". Cena goes for one of his passionate speeches but Ryback plants him with a spinebuster and commentary gives up hope because this instantly means Ryback is on Team Authority in their minds. It was a good opening segment that showed Ryback gives zero fucks.

So Team Authority is now Seth Rollins, Corporate Kane, Mark Henry and possibly Ryback. I forgot to mention that John Cena has chosen Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger for some reason. Swagger took on Rollins in the opener and this was a solid choice to open. However, the fans didn't care at all for it and did my least favorite thing, which is chant for the commentators. Don't do that. Especially when the match going on isn't bad. Seth wins with the Curb Stomp and, after the match, delivers a second one. They're building the Curb Stomp like it's the 2014 Punt and that's great. This basically takes Swagger out of the running for Survivor Series. Effective stuff to continue to build Seth, but it made Swagger look weak and Cena looks dumb for picking someone who never really had a chance.

A pre-taped promo for Dean Ambrose airs where he says he will not apologize for being a sinner and that he will take Bray Wyatt down. I really feel like the WWE has limited Dean's TV time lately. I'm not saying they don't care about him because they clearly do, but he has been a lesser part of the show lately. Bray vs. Dean is announced for Survivor Series. Going backstage, they play up the Authority/Ryback tension as Kane tries to intimidate him and tell him to follow the Authority's lead. Bad move Kane. Alicia Fox is in the ring when we return for a match with Paige who gets a HUGE pop. Bigger than Ryback's earlier even. Paige wore some Union Jack boots and decided that she was a face in her home country. It worked for what it was. The more Paige I see, the better. 

Stephanie McMahon comes up to Lana and Rusev about Rusev joining Team Authority. Stephanie pulled a Triple H and talked down to Lana, calling her a "Russian Twit." I hated that as there was literally no need for it. They then showed up for Rusev's US Title Celebration, which wasn't great. Sheamus comes out for his rematch and how embarrassing would it have been if Sheamus regained the belt here? Of course he didn't but it was due to Joey Mercury and Jamie Noble distracting Sheamus. Rusev has done more than fine winning matches on his own, so I don't know why he needed this. Oh well, I guess he's on Team Authority. I just hope that after Survivor Series, he's back to being on his own.

Seth Rollins, one of the few members of the roster who has a memory that goes further back than last month, goes up to Ryback and acknowledges their past issues from his time in the Shield. He welcomes him to the team as the Captain. They played more tension up as it's rather clear where this is headed. Tag team action followed as Los Matadores took on my new favorite tag team, The Miz and Damien Mizdow. Miz and Mizdow win a relatively short bout but Los Matadores beat the Champions recently. I sense this is leading towards a multi-team Tag Title match at Survivor Series. So, the best thing about this is that Hornswoggle played a stunt double to counteract El Torito. I laughed so damn hard.

John Cena, ever the good guy, offers Dolph Ziggler a chance to jump ship to the Authority to save his career but he declines. Triple H bans Cena from ringside for Dolph's match with Mark Henry. Before the match starts, we get a Luke Harper creepy eyes promo. Dolph seemed legit weirded out. I wonder where this is going. The match itself wasn't very good, but the crowd was HOT for Dolph. He wins via DQ and Big Show makes the save before announcing that he's joining Team Cena. The angle made sense, but Big Show doesn't excite me. Ever. He should find a partner and help the tag division. A good partner.

So I guess the Xavier Woods/Kofi Kingston/Big E stable is still happening, just not as "Speed Force" because we get a New Day vignette for Kofi. It's similar to the James Brown-esque one that Woods has had over the past week or so. I like this asit gives Kofi something different to do, which he DESPERATELY NEEDS. Team Cena is backstage when Sheamus comes up to them and joins the team. Why didn't Cena ask Sheamus beforehand? I'd take him over Swagger if I was in Cena's shoes. Before Raw, Nikki Bella vs. AJ Lee for the Divas Title was announced for Survivor Series. AJ took on Brie here in a battle of Daniel Bryan hookups. The match was decent, with Nikki yelling at Brie throughout. Brie taps out to the Black Widow, allowing Nikki to hit the aptly named Rack Attack on AJ after the match. This was perfectly fine.

Mark Henry continues the trend of Authority team members unwisely irritating Ryback as he goes up to him and mentions that he beat him at WrestleMania. He says he's joking but Ryback wasn't laughing. #CatsandFacts time because Tyson Kidd, my favorite thing about all of last week, comes out for a match with Adam Rose. Despite his attack on the Bunny last week on Smackdown, he comes out as normal Adam Rose. Erick Rowan, WWE's new comedy figure, appears randomly during the match. He walked around saying "she's not here." I wonder if he's looking for Renee Young. Kidd wins but commentary only cares about the tension between Rose and the Bunny. Ugh. They also announce Grumpy Cat will be at Raw next week and I swear, Kidd NEEDS a segment with him. Team Authority complains that Ryback isn't a team player but Triple H says he doesn't have to be.

Bray Wyatt cuts a promo back at Dean Ambrose and it's basic Bray stuff. Same thing he told Daniel Bryan, which was join him or fight him. YOURE EITHER NEXUS OR YOURE AGAINST US! In the main event, Team Cena was barred from ringside but Ryback had Team Authority and the Stooges. This got 15 minutes for some reason as it wasn't very good and neither were their main event matches back in 2013. The crowd wasn't into it and it lacked energy. Kane, sticking to his new gimmick of just interfering in every match possible, jumps in to attack Cena and cause the DQ. Ryback doesn't like this and attacks Rollins. The numbers game takes it toll and out come Sheamus and Show. They don't get it done, but Ryback gets back in and cleans house. Where was Ziggler you ask? Backstage, he was getting tossed into Triple H and Stephanie's office by Luke Harper, who says that he is a Team Player. Interesting.

That was better than a lot of recent Raws, but nothing special. There weren't really any standout matches but the WWE has done a very effective job of building Survivor Series as being important and of building Ryback. The thought of a Luke Harper/Dolph Ziggler program is pretty great as well. 6.5/10.

Random Network Reviews: Bash at the Beach 1996

Bash at the Beach 1996
July 7th, 1996 – Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida – Attendance: 8,300

So, as the grand return of “Random Network Reviews”, I come back with Bash at the Beach 1996. Lucky that my randomizer landed on this because it’s a historic show. For those who somehow have no clue why it’s historic, it’s the infamous night that the nWo officially formed. SPOILER ALERT! Wait, I did that part too late. Anyway, I’m interested in saying for sure exactly how the rest of the show is since most people only remember the important ending. The main event, for those unaware, pits Sting, Lex Luger and Macho Man against Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and the mystery third partner who will be invading WCW.

For being a company with an endless budget to sign stars, WCW has the worst production company in wrestling history. WWE had and still has a top notch team and even ECW had promo videos that worked perfectly for them. WCW’s stuff looks low budget, has terrible stock music and just everything is bad. Commentary tonight consists of Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes. 

Psychosis vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.
An ambitious start considering how unknown these guys were at the time to the general audience. They start the match with some mat wrestling as I see a half crab, bow and arrow and cross Armbreaker within the first moments. Also of note, Mike Tenay joins commentary for this match because he can call the moves and the other guys can’t. They basically admit this, which is sad. They show off athleticism with some springboard moves before Psychosis hits a dive to the outside which blows the commentator’s minds. Back inside, Psychosis hits a leg drop and then a guillotine leg drop that Dusty claims he was going to call but Tenay beat him to it. Sure, Dusty. Psychosis applies a head scissors to wear down Mysterio. They fight to the apron and Rey catapults Psychosis into the ring post before snapping off a hurricanrana that drives the crowd wild. Rey goes back to working the leg so he can ground Psychosis. Rey ties him up in the corner and dropkicks him as Tenay continues to be the MVP of commentary. Drop toe hold and another head scissors from Psychosis puts him back in the driver’s seat. He then lays out Rey outside and hits a top rope senton and again, the crowd has no idea this awesome style existed. Back inside, Psychosis hits an enziguri and Heenan is confused at how Tenay knows the names of these moves. Rey turns things around with a cartwheel that gets him on his opponent’s shoulders and he snaps off another hurricanrana. He hits a springboard dropkick and then a leaping hurricanrana from the top rope, taking Psychosis off the apron. Rey gets a near fall with a springboard moonsault before a springboard dropkick takes Psychosis outside. Rey follows with a twisting Asai moonsault and Heenan is again confused, calling it an Asai hip toss. Back inside, Psychosis counters a springboard hurricanrana with a stiff powerbomb for two. Psychosis sets up Rey on the top for a top rope Outsider’s Edge of sorts, but Rey reverses into a gorgeous top rope hurricanrana to finally win.

Winner: Rey Mysterio Jr. in 15:18
My goodness, the rest of this card has a long way to go to even come close to that. One of the best openers that I’ve ever seen. Go out of your way and watch this now. Two guys going balls to the wall and stealing the show. ****1/2

Mean “BY GAWD” Gene interviews the United States Champion, Konnan and asks him to explain the finish to the previous match. Konnan does so and is like “seriously guys? I have to explain this?” He stumbles a bit through a promo on his match with Ric Flair tonight.

Carson City Silver Dollar Match
Big Bubba w/ Jimmy Hart vs. John Tenta
What’s a Carson City Silver Dollar match you ask? Obviously it’s a match where you have to retrieve a sock filled with silver dollars from a pole in the corner. A sock that looks like a condom by the way. Tenta has no music and is bald except for the right side of the back of his head. We get slow paced action, and I use the term action in the loosest possible way. Tenta steps on Bubba and tries the climb. The sock is FAR too high up for anyone not named The Giant to reach. Bubba hits a poor looking back suplex and climbs. He is standing on the top rope and is still maybe another Big Bubba and a half away from reaching. Tenta stops him and tries again but realizes how far away he is, so he decides to unhook the pole. Wise move since WCW stupidly placed the sock absurdly high. Bubba gets a belt and chokes Tenta out. He then ties Tenta up to the ropes and whips him with the belt. Tenta cuts himself loose after kicking Bubba and cuts the stuff holding the pole in place. Big Bubba stops him and makes Jimmy Hart climb the pole. Hart looks scared for his life since the top of the pole is like six stories up. He retrieves it but Tenta takes out Bubba, gets the sock and lays out Bubba with it to thankfully end this.

Winner: John Tenta in 9:14
Big Boss Man vs. Earthquake might have been a decent money match back in 1991 in the WWF. Here, it was terrible. Slow, plodding and dull with a dumb gimmick and an even dumber setup for the gimmick. DUD

Post-match, John Tenta takes out the silver dollars and lays them on Bubba’s closed eyes. I guess Bubba is dead. Commentary reminds everyone that Eric Bischoff is missing and they basically beg him to reach out if he can. So that’s possible murder and kidnapping on the same night.

Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene interviews Sting, Macho Man and Lex Luger, the team in tonight’s main event. They’re all in Sting face paint and Macho Man steals the show. He speaks first and kills before Luger stumbles through his part to the point where Macho shouts “WHAT’S THE POINT?!” Sting does fine but goodness, Macho Man is the greatest.

Taped Fist Match
Diamond Dallas Page vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
I don’t know if they built it up during the prior weeks but Dusty Rhodes calls Jim Duggan the “master of the taped fist”. I had no clue. DDP wasn’t quite a star yet but he was still like 45 years old here. He tries to shoulder block Duggan but fails and oversells by falling all the way outside. Being a heel, DDP rakes the eyes and tapes Duggan’s legs around the corner. It’s a taped fist match DDP, not taped feet. This guy is a total rule breaker. Nick “World’s Greatest Referee” Patrick unties Duggan but that allows DDP to wail away on him. Duggan no sells and starts to beat the hell out of DDP as Dusty starts speaking in gibberish on commentary. They brawl outside for a short while. Also, they’re fighting for a ring that DDP won in Battle Bowl or something like that. Schiavone calls it one of the most prestigious things in our sport, but I’ve never heard of this ring. DDP tries to climb up top but gets crotched and Duggan brings him to the mat hard. Duggan and his 80’s offense smashes DDP into the turnbuckle ten times. DDP then uses the rope to his advantage and hits the Diamond Cutter to win.

Winner: Diamond Dallas Page in 5:39
Abrupt ending to a match that wasn’t great. DDP tried his best and I could tell there was some potential there but Jim Duggan sucks so hard. *1/2

Jim Duggan attacks DDP after the match as Tony Schiavone exclaims “Yes! Hit him while he’s down.” God forbid a heel did this, he would be the scum of the Earth in Tony’s eyes.

More from Mean Gene backstage as he interviews The Giant, Jimmy Hart and Kevin Sullivan. This is just weird. The Giant says that Sullivan isn’t the weak link as Sullivan does strange movements. I’d like to point out that I never found Sullivan interesting in the least. Gene also badmouths Hart before sending it to Lee Marshall and his mustache at the entrance of the arena with Chris Benoit and Arn Anderson. It’s Anderson and Benoit against Giant and Sullivan and if a member of the Horsemen can get the pin a member of the team gets a World Title shot. Anderson delivers his usual good promo and Benoit talks about being silent and violent. I much preferred their stuff to the Dungeon of Doom stuff.

Four Man Dog Collar Match
The Nasty Boys vs. Public Enemy
First things first, no clue why this isn’t just called a tag team dog collar match and is instead a four man dog collar match. Like it’s a Fatal Four Way or something. Jerry Saggs is tied to Rocco Rock and Brian Knobbs is connects to Johnny Grunge. Once things start they instantly go outside and we get what Dusty calls the “Double Trouble Bash at the Beach Bubble”, which is a split screen so we can see both sides of the action. The graphic behind the split screen is just the worst kind of production. They fight to through the aisle as Knobbs knocks out Grunge with an inflatable shark. Yup, and Grunge sold it. Saggs tries to one up Knobbs by hitting Rock with a surfboard. Schiavone, in his infinite wisdom, shouts “YOU CAN DO A LOT MORE WITH A SURFBOARD THAN YOU CAN WITH A SHARK”. We get a near fall on the surfboard as well as this is just ridiculous. Rocco climbs a lifeguard seat and hits a slow front flip off of it onto Saggs. They continue to just bash each other with various weapons. The split screen of bad production makes this tough to enjoy but the guys are at least trying. Rocco puts Saggs through a table in the aisle. The split screen ends as they’re back in the ring and Rocco goes to put Saggs through a table, but Saggs pulls him by the chain off the top and he bounces off the table instead of going through it. Saggs lays Rocco on the table and leaps off the second rope but it still doesn’t break. Saggs sends Rocco off the ropes and he gets tied up badly. They hang Grunge by the chain and send Rocco into it, clotheslining him with it to end it.

Winners: The Nasty Boys in 11:25
I didn’t hate this. It was a fun match with some entertaining spots but the finish came off weird. **1/2

Because this is WCW, commentary says this match settled nothing, tune into Nitro tomorrow and everyone continued to brawl. They then go back to discussing who the mystery third man will be in the main event. We cut to Gene Okerlund in the back and man, they must be paying him a ton because WCW uses him so often. He literally says a lot of nothing and that was useless.

WCW World Cruiserweight Championship
Dean Malenko (c) vs. Disco Inferno
Disco Inferno talks about dancing before the bell. Dean Malenko has such badass theme music. Anyway, Malenko is pissed and throws Disco out of the ring instantly. He takes him back inside and gets a near fall before continuing to pound away. Malenko hits a brainbuster that literally made me leap from my seat. That should’ve been it but Disco kicks out. The Champion continues to beat the hell out of Disco for a while. Dean has targeted the leg because I guess he really doesn’t like Disco’s dancing. Commentary has completely given up on trying to call the match as they just keep talking about the main event. Disco finally gets offense with a series of punches and the EDDIE GILBERT hot shot! Dean gets serious and attacks him outside again. Back inside, he works him over with another submission. Disco reaches the ropes and hits a neck breaker that Schiavone calls a “jawbreaker”. No Tony, you’re wrong. Malenko fights back and tries the Texas Cloverleaf but Disco pulls him into a small package for two. Malenko gets pissed, hits a tiger bomb and puts on the Cloverleaf this time, making Disco give up.

Winner and Still WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko in 12:04
Tony Schiavone calls it a classic, but that’s giving it too much. It’s not bad and allowed Disco to show resilience. ***

Joe Gomez vs. Steve “Mongo” McMichael w/ Debra McMichael
Mongo is the worst Horsemen of all time and nobody should even debate that. Mongo slaps Joe Gomez around and seems like he should be the heel. Gomez gets a near fall with a cross body and he doesn’t look Hispanic at all. This is incredibly dull so far. Mongo hits a backbreaker that looks like crap for two. He applies a camel clutch and then a sleeper hold that Gomez counters with a jawbreaker. Mongo oversells it in a negative way. Mongo tries a figure four shortly after but it’s stopped with a small package for two. Why is this still going on? They trade punches until Gomez hits two dropkicks in a row. They totally botch a sunset flip sequence before Mongo hits a Tombstone to win.

Winner: Steve McMichael in 6:44
Who the hell thought this should be on Pay-Per-View? And get nearly seven minutes? Fire him immediately. This sucked hard. DUD

Mean “BAH GAWD” Gene is back and he’s interviewing Ric Flair backstage along with Miss Elizabeth and Woman. Elizabeth looks tremendous here. Flair’s promo is gold as usual and he sings “La Cucaracha”. 

WCW United States Championship
Konnan (c) vs. Ric Flair w/ Miss Elizabeth and Woman
Early feeling out sequence that Konnan wins and Woman is already upsetting me with her yelling. Konnan gets Flair in an early rest hold and Schiavone says that Flair is in the best shape of his life. Not too sure about that one. A signature short punch from Flair turns the tide a bit but Flair ends up eating the back body drop in his usual way. Woman is awful. Konnan locks in a surfboard before they trade chops. Things spill outside and Elizabeth gets knocked down but is up quicker than most wrestlers. Konnan goes up top, Woman shakes the bottom rope and that somehow causes Konnan to fall. Even worse, this is RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE who doesn’t call it. Good ol’ Nick Patrick. Woman does interference that makes sense by low blowing Konnan behind Patrick’s back. Even though Flair is in control, he continues to use Woman to cheat. Flair works Konnan with rest holds for a few until he rallies behind the crowd and we get the Flair fall. Konnan hits a springboard dropkick as Woman continues to be the worst. Nick Patrick has the gall to stop Konnan from using a closed fist after allowing Woman to cheat in front of him. Konnan applies the Figure Four but Flair, being the master, gets out. Konnan tries a pin but Elizabeth distracts the official and Woman stands on the apron FOREVER before hitting Konnan with her heel. Flair covers with his feet on the TOP rope and gets the three.

Winner and New WCW United States Champion: Ric Flair in 15:39
Decent match, but too much nonsense interference. Nothing special. **3/4

Gene “Hardest Working Man in WCW” Okerlund is at the door of The Outsider’s locker room trying to listen in.

Arn Anderson and Chris Benoit vs. WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant and The Taskmaster w/ Jimmy Hart
So, Ric Flair wrestled as a heel but the other Horsemen worked as faces on this show? Classic WCW. A brawl starts in the aisle between everyone and the Horsemen have Mongo appear to bring The Giant out. The Horsemen are alone with Kevin Sullivan, which is smart. Giant comes down shortly after, so this didn’t accomplish much. Sullivan and Benoit fight in and out of the ring and I can’t get over how much I dislike Sullivan. The Horsemen are beating the hell out of the Taskmaster, so I guess the Dungeon of Doom are somehow faces. Anderson and Benoit work the heel tag team like it’s their job as they cut the ring in half and keep Giant out of there. The Horsemen go for a spike piledriver but Sullivan counters with the WORST SLINGSHOT IN HISTORY. He tags in Giant and fights with Benoit to the back. Well, they don’t fight, they just walk together with no resistance. Giant beats up Anderson in the ring and Chokeslams him to wrap this up.

Winners: WCW World Heavyweight Champion The Giant and The Taskmaster in 7:58
The tag formula made sense to isolate Kevin Sullivan but this was totally dull. *1/4

The Giant and Jimmy Hart exit, leaving Kevin Sullivan to take a beat down from Chris Benoit. So much for teamwork eh? Woman walks down shouting for Benoit to stop pounding on The Taskmaster. The Giant comes back out, so Benoit leaves with Woman.

We’re taken to more terrible production videos hyping the show before going to Michael Buffer. I hate Buffer and he sucks at everything.

Scott Hall, Kevin Nash and Mystery Partner vs. Lex Luger, Macho Man and Sting
Of course, Scott Hall and Kevin Nash arrive alone with no third man. Pretty much right off the bat, Lex Luger is taken out, probably because he’s the worst worker in the match. That effectively makes this a basic tag team match. As things calm down and Luger is stretchered out, Sting and Hall wrestle while Nash and Macho are on the apron. Sting is aggressive as hell before Nash and Macho get tagged. Dusty shouts something about “WHOBADNOW WHOBADNOW WHOBADNOW?” which made less sense because Nash was the one beating on Savage. They try and sell the WCW team as being picked via a “lottery”. Sure, it just so happened that these three were pulled and not Joe Gomez or Super Calo. The Outsiders now isolate Sting and work the tag formula. Tony Schiavone wants to see Nash and Hall get injured, which is something he never calls for. Sting just gets worked over for what seems like a ton of time. However, Savage gets the tag and the place blows up. He does usual hot tag stuff and tosses Hall outside before hitting him with a double axe handle. Hulk Hogan is here! He walks to the ring leading to the infamous “WHOSE SIDE IS HE ON?!” remark from Bobby Heenan. Hogan drops the leg on Savage and officially turns heel, crushing the dreams of children everywhere. He high fives Hall and Nash before hitting another Leg Drop on Savage.

No Contest after 16:54
The match was all about anticipation. Everyone was waiting for the third man and the match dragged because of it. **

Commentary is beside themselves as the New World Order is officially formed. Tony Schiavone says this has been pre-meditated since Hogan’s arrival in 1994. Hogan cuts a long promo about his heel turn and, while he looked uncomfortable here, he would grow into a fantastic heel. 

Overall: 5.5/10; Decent. Understand this, the show isn’t amazing but it is damn historic. The opener is phenomenal and the main event is must see from a historical perspective. There are two terrible matches in Tenta/Bubba and Mongo/Gomez, but the Cruiserweight Title is good and the US Title match is solid. Go out of your way to watch the opener and the ending. Next time on “Random Network Reviews” will be ECW Guilty as Charged 2001!

Smackdown Report 11-7-14

With a chance to deliver arguably the best week of WWE television this year, Smackdown opens with a Steel Cage match for the Tag Team Titles. The Dust Brothers took on The Usos in another in their long line of matches. Because they're wrestled so often, these are two teams who can have good matches together in their sleep and this was one of their better ones. I think that starting with a Steel Cage match was an excellent idea as it got the show off to a rocking start. Near the end, an Uso hit a superplex on Goldust, leading to the other Uso splashing him. He covered but Stardust rolled him up to retain in about 10 minutes. Good opener and The Dust Brothers are playing the resilient champions very well.

After a recap of the big finish to Raw, Kane was in the ring. It's weird to see the fire all over the tron and then see him in a suit. He announces that he will take on Dolph Ziggler tonight as a punishment for Dolph denying the Authority, inside of the Steel Cage. Two Cage matches? Yes, please. He calls out someone the Authority is scouting and out comes Cesaro. He cuts his usual awkard promo but it wasn't him that Kane was talking about. He says that if Cesaro wants to prove himself he should beat the guy Kane was scouting, which is Ryback. Ryback wins in about four minutes and, as Kane claps for him, ignores him because Ryback doesn't give a shit.

Uh-oh. Smackdown is threatening to fall off of a cliff as R-Truth is out and to make matters worse, out comes Adam Rose for one on one action. Thank goodness this lasts less than two minutes but it was actually of some importance. See, the Bunny got on the apron and this upset Rose, allowing Truth to score the pin. Adam Rose shoved the Bunny after the match and it looks like he might have turned heel.

Things pick up as Christian returns to host the Peep Show! Before we dive into this, I think that this should become a weekly Smackdown thing. If Christian isn't going to wrestle due to injuries, allow him to host the Peep Show weekly, exclusive to Smackdown. It gives someone promo time and Christian can work with anyone, even helping those who need help and it will also be cool to have ti only be on Smackdown. His guest is Dean Ambrose, who discusses his issues with Bray Wyatt. Ambrose was his usual great self but the star was Bray here. He talked about how he saved Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. He wanted to save Daniel Bryan but Bryan wouldn't listen and now he's never seen. He wants to do the same for Dean. FINALLY SOME SORT OF ANSWERS. Bray hits a verbal low blow by discussing Ambrose's father being in jail. Not sure if that's a real thing. Ambrose goes to attack but Bray uses his tricks to avoid and freak Dean out. This is the stuff I've been waiting for when it comes to this feud. Bray delivers a promo that makes sense and this thing is heating up for sure.

We pretty much see a full recap of the Sheamus/Rusev match that was exclusive to the Network on Monday. For those who don't know, Rusev would capture the United States Title there. My love Renee Young interviews another of my loves, AJ Lee about being attacked by Brie Bella. Brie comes to apologize, allowing Nikki to get in a sneak attack. We get a fantastic shot of some AJ booty and I guess we're heading towards AJ/Nikki. Not bad. 

That segment leads to a Divas match putting the ultimate Total Divas rivalry into the ring. Summer Rae takes on Natalya but the key is that Tyson Kidd continues to be the MVP of the week as he is on commentary. They also show a clip of Summer and Layla flirting with Tyson before the match, which upset Nattie. Tyson calls himself the Wayne Gretzky of the WWE as he assisted on Rusev's US Title win. He accidentally distracted Nattie, allowing Summer to win! 

A long video airs about a Sergeant named Dan Rose, who is a paralyzed army vet. Through a non-profit organization he was provided with a robotic exoskeleton and can now walk. It's pretty cool and the dude is basically a cyborg. We then move into the main event, which I appreciate as it gives Dolph Ziggler a chance to shine. Another thing I feel could help Smackdown would be if the Intercontinental Title got the chance to be the focal point of the show. Especially with Brock Lesnar making limited appearances as WWE Champion. The match was better than I expected and Dolph wisely used an exposed turnbuckle to help him climb over and out.

Well, Smackdown accomplished the feat of a clean sweep of damn good WWE TV. Raw, Main Event and NXT all got at least a 7/10 and tonight's Smackdown earns a 7.5/10. The two Cage matches were very good, the Divas stuff was fine, but the show stealer was The Peep Show segment.

NXT Report 11-6-2014

I've been waiting for this episode of NXT for a long time. Things start off on the right foot with the continued "road to redemption" for Sami Zayn as he took on a guy that he's never defeated before, Tyler Breeze. These two stole the show back at the first NXT TakeOver special and they did just that again here. While this wasn't quite on the level of that match, it was still damn good and Sami Zayn earned a win to continue his run towards the NXT Title. They've handled Sami so perfectly down on NXT and when he eventually wins the belt, it will be HUGE.

We get the arrival of Dash Wilder next and he's someone that I have no clue about. I assumed that he would get squashed by Baron Corbin or Dull Dempsey. That was a typo, but I decided to leave it there since I find Bull to be Dull. Instead, Tyson Kidd came out which made my day. Tyson being on Raw, Main Event and now NXT this week has been tremendous as he's one of the most entertaining guys on the roster. This took a lot longer than I thought it would and was rather competitive but Tyson wins and continues to be enjoyable.

The third and final match on tonight's shortened card would be a tag team contest pitting Bayley and Charlotte against Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks. Again, I love the idea of Becky Lynch as a heel but I don't like the pairing with Sasha. Alex Riley tried to say it could be a new BFF team but Becky doesn't fit right with her. She should be a heel on her own. Bayley looks dumb for teaming with Charlotte and trusting her after she turned on her months ago. Regardless, this was a good match even though the angles aren't something I'm fond of. The only thing I like is that Sasha got the pin and this could be leading to Sasha vs. Charlotte.

It was now time for the end of the show, which was going to be a face to face pitting The Ascension across from Hideo Itami. Itami promised to bring a friend and the friend turned out to be Finn Balor! Balor was previously known as Prince Devitt and is one of the WWE's biggest signings along with Itami and Kevin Steen. Balor got a huge pop from the fans and, along with Itami, beat the hell out of the former NXT Tag Team Champions. It was a great debut and he looked more polished than Itami has so far.

Even with the show being only three matches, less than usual, I enjoyed this episode greatly. Sami Zayn and Tyler Breeze had a great match, Tyson Kidd's stuff was decent and the tag match was solid. Finn Balor's debut was the big, memorable thing about this episode and it came off very well. 8.5/10. This has been one great week for the WWE so far, let's hope Smackdown can continue that trend.

Top Ten Thursday: Survivor Series Teams

With all of the build and hype being done on WWE television for Team Cena vs. Team Authority at the upcoming Survivor Series Pay-Per-View, it made me think about doing this top ten. Stephanie McMahon says she wants Team Authority to be the greatest team in Survivor Series history, but they have a long way to top these teams. An honorable mention goes out to Team Smackdown in 2005 and Team Savage in 1987 but they had weak links in Bobby Lashley and Jim Duggan.

10. Team Miz in 2010

We're focusing on the team on the right here. Team Miz. The Miz was in the midst of a huge run towards the WWE Title and put together a team of future stars. Dolph Ziggler, who would become a two time World Champion and Jack Swagger, a one time World Champion, would get eliminated. Miz would survive along with future multi-time World Champion Sheamus and Drew McIntyre. It was clear that the WWE had big plans for all of them and while most never panned out, this was an extremely talented team. 

9. The Shield and The Real Americans in 2013

Jack Swagger makes the list again but man, this team was loaded. Granted, the opposing team is not full of slouches. The Brotherhood, Rey Mysterio and the Usos are all talented guys. The heels though, are on another level. Swagger is talented and Cesaro, while void of a personality, can go with the best of them and nearly never has a bad match. Then there's the Shield. Seth Rollins is the current Money in the Bank holder and the future of the WWE. Dean Ambrose is arguably the most entertaining part of the WWE currently. Roman Reigns is possibly the company's next mega star. The Shield was something special and the Real Americans were a badass team. Roman Reigns would be the sole survivor and eliminate four of the five opponents and kick start his uber push.

8. The Teamsters in 1994

Diesel was the key player in 1995 for the WWF but in order to get there, he had to turn face on Shawn Michaels. That would happen during this Survivor Series match against Razor Ramon's "The Bad Guys." The team was very good as we all know how impressive Diesel and Shawn were, but it also had Owen Hart, in the midst of a fantastic 1994, and solid workers like Jeff Jarrett and Jim Neidhart. The team dominated until Shawn pissed off Diesel, leading him to chase Shawn to the back. The rest of the team followed and all got counted out. It was a dumb ending but was the first big step in Diesel's rise to the top. He would win the WWF Title days later in fact.

7. The Hulkamaniacs in 1989

This was a damn good team. First, you had THE GUY in the 80's, Hulk Hogan. That is enough to pretty much guarantee that the team would not lose but the rest of the team is excellent. Demolition is one of the best tag teams that I can remember and Jake Roberts is one of the best guys to never win the World Title. The surprising thing is that this team went on in the mid-card and, while Hogan being the sole survivor was predictable, it made sense.

6. The Radicalz in 2000

As a team at Survivor Series they weren't very successful but they have to be near the top in pure talent. While Perry Saturn and Dean Malenko may not have had big time careers in the WWF but they could be counted on for good matches. Chris Benoit, before his 2007 debacle, was one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. The man made it to the top of the company in 2004 and the same goes for Eddie Guerrero. A fantastic team of talent even though they lost when they teamed up in 2000.

5. The Warriors in 1990

I truly miss the late 80's and early 90's when Survivor Series was totally focused on the elimination matches. In 1990, the then WWF Champion, The Ultimate Warrior put together a team of "warriors" and it was a fitting name. Kerry Von Erich was highly touted and the Legion of Doom were also known as the Road Warriors, so they fit in for sure. The team was impressive and they opened the show, with Warrior being the sole survivor. He would go on to the "Grand Finale" match which featured all of the night's survivors and survive then too, along with Hulk Hogan.

4. Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boyz in 1999

One month removed from turning themselves into superstars, Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boyz would join forces at Survivor Series. After they stole the show at No Mercy, people were foaming at the mouth to see these guys on the same team. While they didn't really deliver, the obvious talent and chemistry is there. I feel that the WWF missed the boat by having them lose to The Hollys and 2 Cool. Terrible booking move as they could've capitalized on the momentum that these guys had. Oh well, it didn't bite them in the end as the four guys went on to have successful careers.

3. Team Austin in 2003

2003 featured Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff as the two men ran Raw together. Before we get into the key moment of the match, let's talk about the team. The Dudley Boyz are the most decorated tag team in history. That's a good start right there. Next up, Rob Van Dam and Booker T are two guys who would win World Titles and can always be counted on to deliver. Then, you have Shanw Michaels, quite possibly the greatest performer in the history of pro wrestling. The key point is that Shawn Michaels was left alone against Christian, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. Michaels put on one of the greatest performances of his career as he rallied and nearly won before falling to an RKO. Go out and see this match because Michaels is phenomenal.

2. Team WWF in 2001

The Alliance vs. The WWF storyline was poorly done as the WWF guys dominated. I'd like to point out that at WWF Invasion a few months earlier, there was a ten man tag with two great teams. Austin, Angle, Jericho, Undertaker and Kane against Booker, The Dudley Boyz, DDP and Rhyno. Good stuff. Here, Team Alliance disappointed due to Shane McMahon being on the team. I love Shane, but he's the clear weak link. Team WWF was badass though. Big Show was the worst member, and was eliminated first. But then you have the top guy at the time, The Rock, the hottest rising star in Chris Jericho and then the Brothers of Destruction. Team WWF would win a great 45 minute bout as The Rock survived for Team WWF.

1. Team DX in 2006

Only one team on this list completed the rare clean sweep at Survivor Series and it was these guys. For good reason too. DX features two of the greatest Superstars in WWE history and the Hardy Boyz are one of the best teams ever. CM Punk, the fresh act, was the wild card in this match but he proved he belonged. The match had fun moments like Mike Knox being eliminated within seconds and Shawn MIchaels asking "who was that guy?" The other team consisted of Randy Orton, Edge, Knox, Johnny Nitro and Gregory Helms. Team DX annihilated them and rightfully so. There has never been a greater group of talent on one team.

Main Event Report 11-4-14

I was more excited for this episode of Main Event than I have been for pretty much any other and you'll find out why later. The show opened with Stardust taking on Jey Uso. It was cool to see them in singles matches since they've had about a million tag team matches. This one got about five minutes and was decent but unspectacular and Jey wins with a superkick. The show picks up when Natalya tries to tell Tyson Kidd how much she loves him backstage, but he has his headphones on under his hoodie and fakes like he was listening. Tyson is great.

Justin Gabriel gets the jobber entrance as he's already in the ring for the next match. Out comes Curtis Axel and I guess he had to wait for Ryback to come back before he could work again even though they aren't teaming. After about four minutes, Axel gets the win but I don't see this going anywhere for him in the long run. Now, onto the reason I was excited. Sami Zayn tweeted that he was going to be on Main Event! We get a video package to hype him up before he faced Tyson Kidd. Everything about this match worked. Tyson was in full heel mode, celebrating little moves or making Natalya kiss him mid match. Sami was awesome as he got the crowd behind him and they loved this match. It got twelve or so minutes and Kidd won with a rollup and a handful of tights. The match was great and Tyson celebrated like he won a World Title. Go out of your way to see this, it's exactly how I like to see NXT get their shine.

The final match on Main Event was a throwback of sorts. The WWE billed it as "Bray Wyatt in action", like they used to in the 90's when a star was clearly going to win a match against a jobber. The jobber tonight was Sin Cara as Bray was allowed to win an extended, dominant squash. I enjoyed it as it was a nice call back to the old days and it was good to see Bray, or any Wyatt Family member, work a match again actually.

Overall, another solid episode of Main Event that is worth watching. The first two matches were decent, Sami Zayn and Tyson Kidd were great and Bray's squash made a lot of sense. I'd give this show a 7/10.

Raw Report 11-3-14

Raw got off to an exciting start as "No Chance in Hell" hits to a huge pop. Vince McMahon, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon show up to greet the Buffalo crowd. I love seeing Mr. McMahon but as I expected, this wasn't going to be an earth shattering appearance. It was partly based on hyping the free month of the WWE Network, with the hashtag #FreeFreeFree being promoted. This was anticlimactic even though he announced that Team Authority vs. Team Cena would have a stipulation added. If Team Authority loses, they must be no more. Stephanie looked nervous, Triple H seemed okay with it. This was alright but ended abruptly and Stephanie's awful dress was distracting in a bad way.

Dean Ambrose's theme hit and I was hoping for something exciting between Ambrose and The Authority/Mr. McMahon. Instead, Vince shook Ambrose's hand and it leads to Ambrose vs. Cesaro. We also got a backstage segment where Vince said he had faith in Triple H and Stephanie but they reacted very nervously. Because both guys can flat out go, Cesaro and Ambrose put on a hell of a match, but it suffered from the same problem that a lot of matches on TV do. We've seen it before. A lot. Even this past Friday. Bray appears on stage in his rocking chair but does nothing of note. Ambrose goes after him after the match but his signature hits and suddenly he's gone. So the live crowd just watched him get up and walk away? This feud has underwhelmed so far. It's another Bray feud that makes no sense.

More from The Authority as they discuss how they need to have the strongest Survivor Series team possible. That'll be tough with the current roster. Trips want to call Randy Orton but Stephanie doesn't think it's a good move. Back to the ring, Jimmy Uso of Total Divas fame goes one on one with The Miz. The Miz has gone from Intercontinental Champion, to United States Title contender to a tag team, so I fully expect a Tag Team Title shot soon. I actually love the idea of Miz and Mizdow in the tag team division and Miz wins here while Mizdow continues to be awesome.

So, it was announced that after Raw tonight, exclusively on the WWE Network, Sheamus defends the United States Championship against Rusev. However, with the limited roster, Sheamus competes on Raw as well. He takes on Tyson Kidd, which instantly gets me enthralled in this because Kidd is fantastic. But, everything was wrong with this. Sheamus should've squashed someone to look strong like Rusev, heading into the Title match. Instead, Kidd went toe to toe with him and won via countout. I didn't see the point in this. Kidd could've done this against someone else. Sheamus kicks Kidd post match, so nobody will remember the countout anyway. Bad booking of two talented guys who should have gone against other people.

One thing that the WWE has had serious issues with it over the past few years is the booking of the mid-card champions. Dolph Ziggler comes out and gets Authority treatment as Triple H, Stephanie, Corporate Kane, Seth Rollins and the Stooges came to address him. They tempt him to join Team Authority because they want the best possible team. That makes Dolph seem like a big deal for sure. They claim that if Team Cena wins, Cena will take all of the credit and Dolph will get none. It's a good point and Dolph was great at selling how he contemplated this. He stands up to them and is made to defend the IC Title against Seth Rollins. They had a great sixteen or so minute match that stole the show for me and it ends via disqualification when Randy Orton appears with an RKOOUTTANOWHERE! Great job done here with Dolph and the IC Title. I hope it continues.

Randy Orton and Triple H have an intense segment where Orton demands a match with Seth Rollins. He threatens to join Team Cena so Triple H gives him the match and tells him to get it out of his system. He cuts a good promo about needing the "Viper" that he faced for years in the past. Good stuff. We get that strange "eyes" promo and it seems like it's Luke Harper which is interesting. Titus O'Neil is in the ring and it's time for DA BIG GUY. I'm still not the biggest Ryback fan but he does well in this role. He beats Titus and the Authority is shown scouting him. Another small thing that helps pump up a guy like Ryback. Renee Young, in her infinite perfection, interviews Big Show who will face Mark Henry later. He also says he'd join Team Cena if offered the chance.

The Authority scouts this match as well but they could have just put on the WWE Network and watched one of the 3,550 Mark Henry/Big Show matches from the past few years. Show beats the hell out of Henry and tries to make him submit to his new submission move. Henry ends up hitting the World's Strongest Slam but it's not strong enough to end it, and Henry nails him with the steel steps for the DQ. Meh. I've seen it before. Kane is sent to talk to Mark Henry about joining Team Authority. I could see Henry and Show joining this match for sure.

Divas time as Nikki Bella goes one on one with Emma. The match was there as it wasn't anything special but the commentary was what we needed to pay attention to as AJ Lee was on it. Nikki wins and orders Brie to slap AJ. AJ retaliates by laying out Brie and chases Nikki up the ramp. I guess Nikki/AJ is up next. It's strange to see the Divas on so late in the show. I guess with Total Divas on hiatus, no need for a bunch of Divas match. Also, before the match, Renee interviewed the Bellas and Erick Rowan interrupted to touch Renee's hair and call her pretty. Rowan got game.

We see a strange vignette of Xavier Woods. I guess the Speed Force team with Big E and Kofi Kingston has been scrapped because now we see him playing James Brown or something. I wanted to see Speed Force dammit, they could help the tag division. Rusev is out to pull double duty like Sheamus and this was done right. He completely squashes Zack Ryder and Sheamus should've done something similar earlier. Stephanie approaches them about joining Team Authority and Lana says they need to consider it to find out which side Putin is on. At least they're making Team Authority vs. Team Cena seem like a big deal. Fernando of Los Matadores then beat Stardust. No idea at all why. I guess Los Matadores get the next shot? Whatever.

I guess Fernando's win really means nothing because on Smackdown, The Usos gets a Tag Team Title shot inside of a Steel Cage. Should be good. Main event time as Seth Rollins faces Rand Orton. The crowd seemed tired by this point but the guys put on a good match. Seth wins with a backslide so it keeps Orton strong. After the match, there's tension but Orton shakes hands with the Authority. Seth apologizes but eats an RKOFROMOUTTANOWHERE! Orton goes for the Punt but Triple H stops him, leading Orton to punch him. This leads to the Authority beating him to the point where there was actually blood. ATTITUDE ERA IS BACK GUYS! Seriously, good way to turn Orton and continue to build Seth. Kane trips in the end, stealing the show.

After the show, on the WWE Network, Rusev beat Sheamus to win the United States Title. I'm all for this as it makes sense to have Rusev as US Champion since it will gain him more heat. Sheamus hasn't been doing anything with the belt anyway. The show itself tonight earns a good score. It had some blood, no John Cena, solid matches, good angle advancement and built towards Survivor Series well. That's all I want from my three hours. 7.5/10.