Random Network Reviews: Clash of the Champions XX

Clash of the Champions XX
September 2nd, 1992 – Center Stage Theater in Atlanta, Georgia

For the big 20th Clash of the Champions, WCW would celebrate twenty years of being on TBS and they would do so with a pretty big card. I haven’t seen much of it, but I have heard great things about WCW in 1992. They had some serious talent in Cactus Jack, The Steiner Brothers, Steve Austin, Vader, Ricky Steamboat and more. This will also only be the second ever Clash of the Champions that I watch on the WWE Network.

The show opens with old footage of Andre the Giant before we go to a scrapbook of WCW’s history on TBS. For 1992, it’s not half bad. Tony Schiavone and Missy Hyatt are outside of the arena with Gordon Solie and Andre the Giant. Andre is in bad shape as we’re near the end of his life. Ron Simmons, the WCW World Champion arrives and they’re making this out to be like an award show. Sting and WCW executives also show up but things get AWESOME when Teddy Long is shown in a suit and SPARKLY PURPLE DU-RAG. If you’re wondering, I’m not making this up.

Commentary for the evening consists of Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura, so I’m sure this will be a highlight of the broadcast. An eleven year old girl, accompanied by Johnny B. Badd sings the National Anthem and is pretty terrible. I feel bad since she’s so young, but it’s bad. 

WCW World Television Championship No Disqualification Match
Steve Austin (c) w/ Paul E. Dangerously vs. Ricky Steamboat
Well I am excited for this opener considering it features two Hall of Famers and a manager who is sure to make it in. Dangerously has to be put into a cage and raised above the ring, so this will be one on one. Steamboat is nursing some previously broken ribs and Austin goes right for them. Steamboat wisely goes to the mat to avoid a slugfest on his ribs. Austin nails a hip toss and elbow but ends up back in a headlock. Austin goes to back suplex out of it but Steamboat lands on his feet and applies it again. He gets tired of that and just pulls the Dragon’s hair to break it. Steamboat is set up top and Austin launches him, rib first to the mat. You can tell it’s the early 90’s as Austin uses a good old fashioned abdominal stretch and it makes perfect sense here actually. Hip toss gets Steamboat out and the rally is on. He hits a cross body but Austin rolls over and gets two. Slingshot on Austin also earns a near fall before Austin uses the ropes and can’t win. Nick Patrick always reminds me of Danny McBride. The competitors swap Tombstone positions until Steamboat hits one that looks better than most Kane ones for two. Austin wants a superplex but Steamboat reverses and leaps off into a right hand. Inside cradle gets two for one of them, I couldn’t tell. Austin sends Steamboat over the top but he skins the cat before Shawn Michaels made it cool in 1995. He ends up getting knocked out anyway, which doesn’t end this because it’s no DQ. Steamboat crawls under the ring to the other side, climbs the top and nails the flying cross body to win the strap.

Winner and New WCW World Television Champion: Ricky Steamboat in 14:44
I appreciated the psychology of the rib work here. Also, I was going to mention that the No DQ stipulation was useless until the end when Ricky flying from the top rope to win put it into play. Good stuff but could’ve been better. ***

Clips showcasing the history of tag teams on TBS are shown. We get some of the Briscoe Brothers, the Fabulous Freebirds, the Road Warriors and others. It’s a cool idea but each clip lasts far too long. Next, a promo airs for Halloween Havoc. SPIN THE WHEEL, MAKE THE DEAL! Jesse Ventura interviews Michael Hayes, who is going to manage Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton, saying they are a mix of the three best tag teams of the 80’s.

Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton w/ Michael Hayes vs. Dick Slater and Greg Valentine w/ Larry Zbyszko
Both of these teams are heels so the crowd isn’t sure what to do here. Eaton and Anderson double team Valentine to Slater runs in and all four heels are just TOTALLY ignoring the official. This happens once again and the poor referee looks lost. Both teams are doing the most basic of offense and don’t seem too motivated tonight. Valentine locks in the Figure Four so Eaton breaks it up. DOUBLE A SPINEBUSTER but Slater breaks it up. Zbyszko goes to cheat but hits Valentine by mistake and Eaton nails the Alabama Jam, which allows Anderson to make the pin.

Winners: Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton in 5:42
The fact that both teams are heels made this strange. The crowd didn’t know who to cheer for and this was just there. *1/2

We get an interview with Bruno Sammartino, who praises WCW and says negative things about the “other league”. We also hear from Teddy Long, Bob Armstrong, Ted Turner and Tony Schiavone. Brad Armstrong, the Light Heavyweight Champion, was injured in Japan so he had to be stripped of the title.

Brad Armstrong is interviewed but interrupted by Brian Pillman. Armstrong talks about his heart while Pillman calls him a coward. It’s been about 10 minutes since we’ve had a match as another 20 Years on TBS scrapbook is shown. Oh my goodness, more video packages as the SPTIN THE WHEEL MAKE THE DEAL promo comes back. A Ron Simmons vignette airs before another scrapbook comes on.

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Ron Simmons (c) vs. Cactus Jack
Finally some wrestling is back on. Ron Simmons uses his upper body strength to his advantage in the early stages, as Cactus Jack is more of a brawler. Cactus hits a running headbutt, which I don’t think I’ve seen before. They go outside and Simmons is ready for a fight there, which makes Cactus give this second thoughts and he stays in. The Champion gives up on the idea of a wrestling match and just pummels Cactus in the corner. They continue to trade shots and I completely thought Cactus would do an enziguri, but instead he spins and nails a clothesline. He slows things with a rest hold but Simmons fights out, only to eat more headbutts. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it hard to consider Simmons a serious World Champion. I just don’t think he is flag-bearer material. Three point stances from Simmons leads to two forearms for near falls. Because he’s Cactus Jack, he hits a body slam on the floor and drops the apron elbow. They go back inside and Simmons hits a powerslam from out of nowhere to win. 

Winner and Still WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Ron Simmons in 8:49
That was an abrupt ending. Simmons was in trouble and hits a powerslam from nowhere. This was below average. **

A recap airs of Masahiro Chono winning the NWA World Heavyweight Title from Rick Rude in Japan is shown. The match looks like it was probably pretty good. Next up…yet another SPIN THE DEAL MAKE THE WHEEL promo. Yes, I wrote that backwards on purpose. Cactus Jack, standing with Barbarian, cuts a promo introducing Butch Reed as The Barbarian’s upcoming tag team partner and a threat to Ron Simmons since they used to be partners.

The Barbarian and Butch Reed vs. Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes
He was good, but man Dustin Rhodes was bland as heel before Goldust. He starts with Barbarian and Cactus Jack joins commentary. Dustin sunset flips over Barbarian and Windham nails him with a shoulder block. Back to back double dropkicks from the Texans get a pop. Rhodes and Reed do battle and Dustin misses a shoulder block in the corner and flies to the outside. I’ve never seen that as he COMPLETELY missed the post. Because of this, Dustin will be playing the face in peril. In the WWF, Reed was the “Natural” and in WCW, that’s Dustin’s nickname. Commentary puts over Dustin’s resilience, even Cactus. A backdrop from Dustin nearly gets him the hot tag, but he’s stopped and does the double clothesline spot with Reed. Windham gets the hot tag and comes in on fire, hitting a superplex on Barbarian. After another double dropkick, Barbarian kicks Windham in the face and scores the pin.

Winners: The Barbarian and Butch Reed in 8:12
Basic tag formula and I emphasize the word basic. Nothing special here, move it right along. **

Eight Man Elimination Tag Team Match
Nikita Koloff, The Steiner Brothers and Sting vs. Big Van Vader, Jake Roberts, Rick Rude and Super Invader w/ Harley Race & Madusa
My randomizer must have known that it’s Survivor Series time of the year as it selected a Clash of the Champions with an elimination match. Two things of note; one is that it’s so strange to see Rude and Roberts teaming and two; Super Invader is Hercules but with a mask. Rick and Vader start by exchanging shots. Vader nails the Vader Bomb in the corner and clotheslines Rick down. Rick impresses the hell out of me with a belly to belly suplex and poses with his brother while Vader regroups. Both guys tag out and in comes Invader and Koloff. They go back and forth and I see that Invader’s mask is just like, a stocking. Scott and Rude are in now but that changes quickly as Invader is tagged in. Scott hits him with a double underhook suplex and goes for the Frankensteiner but Rude blind tags in and undercuts him. Rude Awakening is nailed but doesn’t even get a one. WHAT? Vader gets the tag and beats the hell out of Scott. Tag goes to Koloff but he gets rolled up by Roberts and is gone at 7:27. Sting comes in and kills because he’s Sting. He pins Invader with a facebuster at the 8:04 mark. 

Rick takes out Vader with the STEINERLINE before hitting a PHENOMENAL German suplex on Vader. It’s one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen, right up there with Cesaro walking with Big Show at WrestleMania XXX. Vader splashes Rick from the second rope but only gets two. Rick ends up slamming Vader from the second rope but Rude breaks up the count. He tries to get Vader on his shoulders and does it somewhat, allowing Scott to hit a big clothesline. Because Scott came off the top, and this is early 90’s WCW, he is disqualified at 11:33. Rick gets counted out after falling there at 12:25. Sting is all alone but he comes in on fire, hitting a Stinger Splash. He goes for the Scorpion Deathlock but Rude breaks it up. Vade also gets disqualified for jumping off the top at 14:23, even though he landed on his partner by mistake. Jake signals for the DDT and actually connects to win.

Winners: Big Van Vader, Jake Roberts, Rick Rude and Super Invader in 15:23
This was fun but needed something more. I think Sting should have made the big rally, even if he lost in the end. Instead, he just went and lost. Rick Steiner, I can’t believe I’m saying this, is the MVP. **3/4

An extended Halloween Havoc commercial is shown. SPIN THE DEAL, MAKE THE WHEEL! It features Sting, Madusa and Jake Roberts mainly.

Overall: 5/10; Mediocre. Well, it was better than the last Clash of the Champions that I watched. Nothing about this show sucked, it just was there. The opener was good and the main event was decent. Everything in between was average or below average. What also hurt was the fact that there were a million video packages and not enough in ring stuff. Side note, this was the last ever television appearance by Andre the Giant. Up next on “Random Network Reviews” will be In Your House: Canadian Stampede!

Smackdown Review 2/26/15

Daniel Bryan opens this week's Smackdown, by cutting a promo about how he main evented WrestleMania last year, but failed to repeat the feat this year. He promises that the "Yes Movement" isn't dead and he says that he has big plans for WrestleMania this year. Before he can tell us what, Bad News Barrett interrupts. Barrett tells him that he's a loser so he doesn't get a spot at WrestleMania. As he threatens Bryan, out comes Dean Ambrose, carrying Barrett's Interconinental Title. Ambrose immediately brawls with Barrett outside, leaving the title inside. Bryan picks it up and stares at it until Ambrose comes in and they both nail the champion. On the WWE App, it was announced that at WrestleMania, Barrett will defend his belt in a multi-man ladder match. It's a big step down for Bryan for sure, especially since I feel that Ambrose HAS to win because he just keeps losing at PPVs constantly. The top two faces in the company, Bryan and John Cena, look like they will be in mid-card title matches at the biggest show of the year. While that's good for those titles, it says something about Roman Reigns being in the big title match over them.

Dean Ambrose stayed in the ring for a match against the Miz. Damien Mizdow was not around because he's reportedly off shooting the commercial that he was offered. The match it around three minutes and Bad News Barrett comes back out to take back his title. Ambrose beats Miz with Dirty Deeds and isn't happy about Barrett having his gold back. After some recaps of the Randy Orton return and Raw main event, it's time for Divas action. Naomi, with the Usos, would take on Natalya, with Tyson Kidd and Cesaro. The girls have a nice little athletic contest that actually goes longer than the opener. Granted, it was only about 10 seconds longer but still much better than the 30 seconds he ladies got on Raw. After the guys go at it, Nattie wins after pulling a Bret Hart and playing possum with the ankle she hurt on Raw. I am absolutely loving Nattie's descent into heeldom. She adds something to the already great tandem of Kidd and Cesaro.

Rusev and Lana are now out, to discuss the John Cena situation. They rightfully discuss how Cena doesn't really deserve a rematch. I liked how it started but hated them going back to the Vladimir Puin stuff as Lana read an e-mail from him, praising Rusev. Jack Swagger, obviously forgetting what went down during the summer and at TLC, comes out to confront Rusev. It ends the same way it always does. With Rusev killing him. The segment was disappointing. Rusev and Lana have been on point lately but the Putin and Swagger stuff is tired for sure. Next, we get a non-title match as Bad News Barrett faces Daniel Bryan. R-Truth is on commentary again, and hilariously keeps calling Byron Saxton "Coach". Insane R-Truth is almost always fun. He even tells him that he loved his work on Sportscenter. This is our longest match of the night so far, spanning a commercial break and going nearly ten minutes. During the bout, Truth sneaks up and hides the IC Title under his shirt. BNB is frantically searching for it and questions Truth, who denies knowing anything. He looks so sad and deflated. Oh, and he lost. At least this is a loss that makes some sense for the IC Champion. Barrett is like 0-8 since winning the belt.

Byron Saxton conducted a sit-down interview with Roman Reigns earlier in the day. Like Brock Lesnar, he's better in these situations but still not very good. He says that he will bear Brock at WrestleMania. Backstage, R-Truth gives the Intercontinental Title to Dean Ambrose. Strange that he'd do that if he wants the belt. Hold it hostage for a shot at Barrett. Anyway, Fandango is in the ring before we're joined by Curtis Axel. #AxelMania! He brags about having never been eliminated from the Royal Rumble and even has a giant clock now that shows how long he's been in the Rumble. We are now at around 32 days and 7 hours. He botches the promo, and commentary shits on him even though they're worse a their jobs. Unfortunately, he loses to Fandango in a minute. I have enjoyed the AxelMania stuff and feel he could be a solid mid-carder but he's booked as a joke. We see a clip of Daniem Sandow filming his commercial until the Miz interrupts. The director wants Miz instead, even though he tosses the script aside. Miz dismisses Sandow and takes his spotlight.

After highlights of the Sting/Triple H confrontation, we get a match between Adam Rose and Goldust. Again, this is kept rather short and Goldust wins. As he's leaving, a Rosebud attacks him, and reveals himself to be Stardust. He finishes off his brother with Cross Rhodes. If you aren't Cody anymore, then why do his finisher? Bray Wyatt cuts another promo on the Undertaker. He wonders when Undertaker will stop dodging him. I wonder if he's actually going to show before WrestleMania. Our main event is a Fast Lane rematch as Dolph Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback take on Seth Rollins, Kane and Big Show. It's similar to the match at Fast Lane and goes for about the same of time too. J&J Security get involved but it doesn't matter. A superkick and ShellShock is enough to put down Seth Rollins and give the faces the win this time around. I liked this, but didn't see why Seth had to take the pin. Maybe it's punishment for the nude photo stuff. I don't know.

Another solid yet unspectacular episode of Smackdown. They've gone back to the format of solid wrestling but not much storyline advancement, which is not the way to go if you want people to tune in. You could miss Smackdown and not really miss anything important. The wrestling portion was pretty good though, which made this episode rather fly by. 6.5/10.

Bash and Kevstaaa Wrestling Podcast: WrestleMania IX Review

NXT Report

You can check out my NXT Report here. http://goo.gl/KAawxc

Fave Five 2/16/15-2/22/15

Side Note: This is a bit late this week because of the Fast Lane review.
1) Rusev: It was very tempting to put Roman Reigns at the number one spot. However, scoring a win over John Cena is too big to not place at the top of the list. It was one of the cleaner victories over Cena in history too. Yea he hit a low blow, but that was about it. And, in the record books, it goes down as a submission victory. I don’t think Cena has a submission loss on his record since like 2004. I fully expected more cheating or a DQ win, but I was pleasantly surprised. I like Rusev and, with the exception of his outdated gimmick, he’s grown on me. This was the biggest win of his career.

2) Roman Reigns: I fully expected it and it happened. Roman Reigns was supposed to go into Fast Lane as the unproven guy who seemingly didn’t belong in the WrestleMania main event, but come out looking like he belonged. Well, I guess I was partially right. On the one hand, he still isn’t ready for the biggest stage but he looked great last night. Not only did he beat Daniel Bryan cleanly, but he showed that he can go. The crowd was less enthusiastic than I would have liked, but that was more due to the crowd sucking the entire night in general. Roman Reigns is officially on a collision course with Brock Lesnar, whether he is ready or not. He took a pretty big step last night.

3) Tyson Kidd and Cesaro: Nothing on Fast Lane made me happier than seeing Tyson Kidd and Cesaro win the Tag Team Titles. When they were paired together, it seemed like it was going to be a random thrown together team that goes nowhere. Instead, Kidd has taken the character that he developed in NXT and on Total Divas, and helped this team along. Along with that personality that he brings, their in-ring work is what steals the show. I never expected them to win but I marked out at the result. I’d love to see this culminate in a tag team ladder match at WrestleMania, but I doubt it. Still, they deserve some praise.

4) MVP: This past week on Impact, TNA hosted a Royal Rumble style match. It featured 20 men and the winner earned a World Heavyweight Championship shot at Bobby Lashley. The victory went to MVP, who now earns a match with Lashley. It will be more than just a title shot since they have a personal history, especially due to the BDC stuff. With Samoa Joe leaving the company, MVP becomes even more of the focal point in the BDC. I don't see him winning the title but it's still a big win for him.

5) Awesome Kong: Since her return to TNA, Awesome Kong has been on a warpath. After topping the most dominant girl in the company, Havok, at Lockdown, she came out this week and targeted the Knockouts Champion. After Taryn Terrell successfully defended her title against Angelina Love, Kong took her out. Gail Kim came out to stop it, leading me to believe that Kong may win the title and feud with Gail again. It was a big statement for Kong.

Raw Review 2/23/15

With Fast Lane in the rear view mirror, we're officially on the Road to WrestleMania. Fresh off his return at Fast Lane last night, Randy Orton opened things up. He called out Seth Rollins right off the bat, but was greeted by the other members of the Authority. Stephanie McMahon is the main one doing the talking as she tries to convince Randy to come back to the Authority. Big Show does some convincing too. Stephanie brings up the stuff Orton even did to her years ago (DDT and kiss), as a reason to not hold grudges. They want to hold a business conference with him, and he agrees. This was a strange move. The crowd was hot for Orton because they want him to get his hands on the Authority so why go this route? I get that he has heel tendencies but that is actually what makes Orton a solid face. He can work the anti-hero angle very well.

Bad News Barrett is here for a non-title match with Dolph Ziggler. Not only does BNB not have his Intercontinental Title, but he has no character anymore. He no longer gives out "bad news" or anything. R-Truth is out on commentary because he beat Barrett on Smackdown last week. Oh my god. Are we seriously gonna have Truth involved in WrestleMania somehow? Fuck. The match was very solid and Ziggler won. Barrett continues to be booked completely horribly since winning the Intercontinental Title. Dean Ambrose came out to have a stare down with Barrett before he bumped Dolph and head off. I guess we'll get some sort of multi-man match for the IC Title. I prefer Ambrose/Barrett/Ziggler and leave Truth out of it. We waste time highlighting Sting and Triple H from last night. The Authority have their big meeting backstage, and all it does is lead to Seth Rollins and Randy Orton vs. Roman Reigns and Daniel Bryan for our main event. Moving on, Sheamus is returning. Soon, we still don't know when. Unless the plan is for him to be in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal, he's running out of time to start an actual angle leading into WrestleMania.

The randomly reunited Prime Time Players get the jobber entrance. They square off against the undefeated Ascension. And guess what? They won. Now, I think that the PTP are the better tag team, but if they were serious about building the Ascension, this was not the time for them to lose.The match wasn't very good either. We are now joined by Roman Reigns. He doesn't speak for long because Daniel Bryan cuts him off. Bryan steals the show with his promo. It seemed like he spoke from the heart about how he didn't believe in Roman because he felt he was just the next big guy with the "look." He says that he has more heart than every chosen one in the WWE before he gives him respect and puts him over. Two straight nights, Bryan has done everything in his power to put the man over. Paul Heyman comes out and now it gets sickening. It's one thing for Heyman to put over Roman, but it's another to flat out lie. He had the balls to say that Roman would be the smart against Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, Steve Austin, John Cena, Triple H and the Rock in their primes. Seriously Paul? This Roman Reigns cock sucking segment got way out of hand. Reigns came off looking better than normal during a promo but it was a bit nauseating.

After winning the WWE Tag Team Titles at Fast Lane 24 hours earlier, Tyson Kidd and Cesaro had to defend them as the Usos used their rematch clause. Just like last night, this was a fun match. They got a bit more time than they did last night, but this one didn't have a clean finish. Kidd tried to cheat so Naomi knocked his feet off the apron. This led to Natalya shoving her and then getting very pissed as she knocked an Uso off the top rope, resulting in the disqualification. I'm loving how Nattie is slowing moving towards going full on heel with her champions. She also seemed to hurt her ankle, but I'm not sure if it was legit. Backstage, Damien Mizdow thanks Miz because he's getting commercial offers. Miz will be in the Andre the Giant battle royal. Bray Wyatt cuts a promo with a casket to continue the build for his match with the Undertaker. It was fine but this needs to have some sort of Undertaker appearance. Stardust faces Jack Swagger next, and after a short time, Goldust distracted his brother and Swagger won. This was a shit finish for a match that didn't help either guy.

Top of the third hour and here comes John Cena, fresh off his loss to Rusev. He calls Rusev's finisher the Acolyte in the midst of "Generic John Cena Promo #6". This is the one where he admits defeat, hypes the crowd, talks seriously and yells some. He ruins everything when he says that he didn't mind losing but has a problem with losing. Oh gee, well I guess not winning that United States Title is totally fine. Why should anyone root for someone to win that belt again? Lana and Rusev appear to run him down. Cena wants to win the US Title at WrestleMania, but Rusev is all like "the fuck did you do to deserve another shot?". He's not wrong. I guess Cena has to prove himself over the next few weeks. Paige come sout before we go to a long video about Sting's career. This video was way longer than the actual Divas match that followed. Paige and Emma lost to the Bella Twins in less than a minute. Earlier, R-Truth tried to get #GiveTruthAChance trending. Instead, the number two trend worldwide was #GiveDivasAChance. It's true. Why is it that on a three hour show, you can't find ten minutes to give these girls? I would surely take that over wasting that time recapping the shit that we've seen already earlier in the nigh. It's absolutely criminal that people with the talent that Paige, Emma and even the Bella Twins have, get pigeonholed into three minutes at the most. They are given time on Main Event, NXT and Superstars and those are one hour programs. This pisses me off to not end since Paige is one of the main reasons that I watch Raw on a weekly basis. Next, we get the video for the Bushwackers going into the Hall of Fame. Hooray.

Curtis Axel shows up, with a #AxelMania shirt. He says that he's been in the Royal Rumble match for 29 days now. He enters himself into the Andre the Giant battle royal and wrestles another guy who will be in it, Ryback. RYBAXEL EXPLODES! BUT THEY'RE FRIENDS! THIS ISN'T COOL! Ryback wins quickly, but this was at least somewhat fun. The main event comes up and is probably the match of the night. I was pretty surprised to see Roman Reigns make the hot tag to Daniel Bryan instead of the other way around. Bryan comes in with the big knee and pins Rollins for the victory. Randy Orton was not happy and hit Jamie Noble with an RKO. He seemed to be gearing up to do the same to Seth, but instead just exited and left the rest of the Authority confused. This was a really lame way to end the show. Orton should be salivating to get his hands on Seth, not doing this tease nonsense.

Talk about a soft way to begin our trek to WrestleMania. There's only 34 days left and we know a few things but nothing tonight really made me want to watch the big show. From a match perspective, this wasn't an awful show. The main event, opener and Tag Team Title matches were all good stuff but as a WrestleMania build show, this sucked. 3/10.

Fast Lane Review

Unlike most prior months, we didn't get a match on the Kickoff Show. We had MizTV, which won't be reviewed. Moving into the main broadcast, things started with the six man tag. Dolph Ziggler, Ryback and Erick Rowan took on Seth Rollins, Kane and Big Show. I think this was a pretty good choice to open. The crowd is hot for Ziggler and Ryback, but they make the mistake of having Rowan play the face in peril. The problem is that nobody cares about Rowan. They should have worked over Ziggler and gave Ryback the hot tag. This was decent but the finish sucked. Kane pinned Ziggler after a WMD from Show in about 13 minutes. If the Authority had to win, Rollins should have gotten the pin on Rowan. The big story though, was the return of Randy Orton. He came out, cleaned house of the Authority and is leading to what I assume is a WrestleMania match against Seth Rollins. **1/4

Our second contest took us to the Dust Brothers exploding. Stardust went one on one with Goldust. A lot of people are divided on this. You have some people who considered this to be awful and some who loved the storytelling aspect of it. I find myself somewhere in the middle. These two have wanted a WrestleMania match for so long, but couldn't really deliver a Mania caliber match tonight. Stardust is fantastic at playing his character though and it shined brightly here. They got a little over nine minutes and unfortunately, they totally botched the finish. The referee didn't even count to three but called for the bell. Goldust wins with a crucifix. It was strange to say the least. Backstage, Stardust attacked Goldust in front of their father and continued to say that Cody Rhodes, "the breakout of Legacy, Intercontinental Champion, Dashing, the Prince", is dead. **1/2

If there was one match on the card, besides the obvious Daniel Bryan main event, that I was looking forward to, it was the Tag Team Title match. It also just happened to have the most satisfying conclusion of any match for me at least. Tyson Kidd and Cesaro wisely worked the knee of Jimmy Uso. I got that this was done to set up for Kidd's Sharpshooter and that did come into play. However, it was a kick to that injured knee that helped set up Kidd hitting his finisher and giving this team the belts. I was honestly totally shocked as I saw the Usos retaining and carrying the belts into WresleMania. This was a good surprise and the match was fun. It got just under ten minutes and seeing them win the titles was a mark out moment for me. I love these guys and am glad to see them get some shine. ***1/4

You could tell that Triple H meant business tonight and you want to know how I know? He wore a leather jacket, jeans and taped fists. In other words, this wasn't the COO. It was the Cerebral Assassin. Or at least that was how we were supposed to look at it. He called out Sting, who appeared for the third time on WWE television. It's still surreal. Basically, Triple H ran down WCW and called Sting a failure for sticking with them. Sting didn't say a word again. HHH said he could keep his legacy alive with merchandise and such. How is that a valid offer when WWEshop.com already has a TON of Sting merch and he has his own DVD. Things get physical, HHH takes him down and tries for the sledgehammer. Sting busts out the bat, backs him off and points to the WrestleMania sign. The match is made official later in the night.

The Divas Championship match was up next. Nikki Bella and Paige had a damn fine match on Main Event a while back, but that was given twelve minutes and this only got about six. I enjoyed it though. I figured Nikki would retain, but after meeting Paige at Comic-Con the night before, I was totally 100% behind her and think I will be from here on out. Yes, I somehow love her even more. Both girls did good except for a botched school girl into the turnbuckle. NIkki even busted out the Alabama Slam. She retained with a rollup and a handful of tights, making me think the feud continues. Maybe AJ Lee returns soon and we get Paige and AJ vs. the Bella Twins. I also want to commend Paige for selling the anguish of losing better than most people do. **1/2

Here's another match that I was kind of looking forward to. The Intercontinental Championship is my favorite title in the company and I love the work of both Bad News Barrett and Dean Ambrose. Ambrose hasn't won a singles match on Pay-Per-View since sometime in 2013. Unfortunately, that didn't change here as he lost via disqualification. Something about this match just screamed that it belonged on Raw or Smackdown. I feel they are capable of something more, and I assume we get that leading into WresleMania. After Ambrose lost, he picked up the IC Title and left with it. I think it says a lot about Dean that he can be booked to lose so often and still be as over as he is. The stolen belt angle has never been done by a face that I can recall, so this should be interesting. The bout went nearly eight minutes. **1/4

After weeks of cryptic promos from Bray Wyatt, seemingly alluding to the Undertaker, we get the arrival of the Deadman himself. Or so people thought. The druids, the gong, the music and the casket. It was all very well orchestrated. I had a feeling it wasn't him though and I was correct. Out of the casket comes Bray Wyatt. He cuts a promo about how he will take the Undertaker's soul at WrestleMania and that he's the new face of fear. I want to be excited for Wyatt/Taker but I don't know. With the aura of the Streak gone, I just can't. Also, anyone else think it's weird that Undertaker was obsessed with HHH after having to be carted off at WM27 and winning, but he's just perfectly accepted that Brock actually ended the streak? Strange and inconsistent if you ask me.

If there is one guy that has improved more than anyone in the past year, it's Rusev. When he debuted on the main roster, I claimed that he was far from ready and that was true. However, he has managed to turn me into a believer. This was another of those moments. He does all of the little things to make himself even better. John Cena was his usual self, which was fine. This followed a similar pattern to a fair amount of Cena matches. It started rather slowly but really got going near the end. Rusev joined the now very long list of people that have kicked out of the Attitude Adjustment. I wish that Cena would have just passed out in the Accolade, instead of having to be kicked in the groin and the face before being put back in it. Still though, this was a big win for Rusev in 18 or so minutes. ***

Ah, another match that totally divided people. Unlike the Dust Brothers bout though, this was more about the result than the match itself. Tons of people, like myself, wanted Daniel Bryan to win. Tons wanted Roman Reigns to win. The most important thing though, is that they delivered. In Reigns' first shot at a singles PPV main event, he had a great showing. Yes, part of it was because he was in there with Bryan, but he more than held his own. The match was great and they got 20 minutes. Reigns' hernia injury came into play, which was brilliant. Reigns became the first person to kick out of the running knee besides Randy Orton at WrestleMania. He wouldn't get hit a second time though as he met Bryan with a huge Spear to win. Great stuff. I still don't think that Reigns is anywhere near ready enough to main event the biggest show of the year, but this was a step in the right direction, which I believe was the whole point. ****

Overall, I thought the show was really enjoyable. It never dragged and moved along briskly. I can see what some people mean when they say that this felt like a special episode of Raw, rather than a PPV. However, no match was bad though some disappointed slightly. The main event delivered in spades and the promos from Triple H and Bray Wyatt were solid and built towards WrestleMania well. I liked this a hell of a lot more than the Royal Rumble. 6.5/10.

WWE FastLane Predictions

How crazy is it that the hottest heel in the company for 2014 wasn’t officially booked until the last minute? Seth Rollins has been the best thing about the WWE since the Shield split. However, he hasn’t won on PPV since Hell in a Cell. I don’t see that changing here. Erick Rowan, Ryback and Dolph Ziggler have all faced a ton of hardships from the Authority and haven’t really been able to get them back since Survivor Series. I fully expect the faces to get some revenge but they won’t pin Rollins. Or, at least they shouldn’t. Knowing the booking as of late, Seth will eat a pin while Show and Kane get protected.

Winners: Erick Rowan, Dolph Ziggler and Ryback

I wish that the Rhodes Brothers split was handled better. It was far too obvious but Cody Rhodes killed it in his post match promo with Dusty and again on Smackdown. Whatever you give Cody, he will turn it into gold. I know that they badly want a WrestleMania match, but I’m not sure if I see them fitting into the card, especially with Miz and Mizdow get a match. I’ll accept this match for now, and I’m sure it will be a lot of fun. They may go all out in case they don’t get the Mania match.

Winner: Stardust

I wasn’t very into this program early on but Naked Paige and her post match promo on Raw helped me out. Nikki Bella has improved and is a fun heel champion but she needs to drop Brie from her side because she’s awful as a promo. Anyway, my heart really wants me to choose Paige because she’s my favorite but I see Nikki carrying the belt into WrestleMania. If they are given time and can have a match similar to the one they had on Main Event a month or so ago, this can be a sleeper.

Winner and still champion: Nikki Bella

I won’t lie, the Fast Lane card surprisingly shaped up to be one of the stronger ones in recent months. This is one of the reasons why. Dean Ambrose has suffered with his booking as of late but hopefully a spirited Intercontinental Title program can help. I feel that he and Bad News Barrett can have a fun, hard hitting series of matches. Part of me sees BNB retaining via disqualification or something, but part of me sees this is as a bit of a reward for Ambrose for staying super over despite his losses. I feel that he wins the belt here.

Winner and new champion: Dean Ambrose

There may not be another match on the card that I’m more pumped for. I have been a huge fan of the Tyson Kidd and Cesaro pairing, and love that they are getting TV time. Their promos, especially Kidd’s, have become damn good. FACT. This will be a fun and fast paced match. FACT. I hope to see this get a fair amount of time and give all four guys the chance to shine. I see Naomi and Natalya getting involved in some shape or form, but I hope it doesn’t play into the finish. The Usos will retain because they are the franchise of the tag team division and need to carry the straps into Mania. FACT.

Winners and still champions: The Usos

Color me surprised, but I’ve enjoyed the build for John Cena vs. Rusev. I feel like the gimmick is horribly outdated, but I think highly of Rusev’s work and I definitely like Lana. That being said, with all of the work they’ve done on Rusev, I don’t see him getting fed to Cena instantly. I suspect he’ll win and retain here for the huge win before Cena gets his even bigger win back at WrestleMania. I get that the face has to win out and that’s fine, but they shouldn’t pull another Bray Wyatt this time around.

Winner and still champion: Rusev

I said it before, but I see this being a situation where Daniel Bryan is going to be used to get Roman Reigns over. If fans are looking at this as if Roman is getting this spot over guys that have paid way more dues than him, the WWE could see it being a situation where Roman beats him to earn some of that respect. Bryan shakes his hand post match after what is hopefully a very good match. I still don’t really care for Reigns/Lesnar and much prefer Bryan/Lesnar; I just don’t see it happening.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Bash and Kevstaaa Wrestling Podcast: SummerSlam 1991 Review

Smackdown Report 2/19/15

Smackdown opens with a match and not an Authority promo, meaning I have no idea what to do with that. It's so rare. Daniel Bryan takes on The Miz here and I appreciate that they showed pictures of NXT season one, as Miz tried to take credit for Bryan's success. My only issue with this was Michael Cole taking Bryan's side, when during that whole run, he wouldn't shut up about Miz. After kicking Damien Mizdow to the back, Miz lost to Bryan in just three minutes. It took Roman Reigns nearly ten to beat Miz a few weeks back, yet he's the bigger threat to Brock Lesnar? Sure. We aren't playing games tonight as we go right into the next match. Ryback goes one on one with Kane. This sucked at TLC and it wasn't very good here either. At least this is rather short too, going just about four minutes before Ryback Shellshocks Kane and picks up the win. So Roman couldn't get a clean pin on Kane on Raw, but Ryback can? Who is booking this?

Dean Ambrose is out next for commentary. He runs down Bad News Barrett for not being a fighting Champion as BNB wrestles R-Truth in a non-title match. I don't understand the TV time that Truth has been randomly getting. Maybe Vince thinks his new "Womp, there it is" line is topical. Of course a distraction here allows Truth to beat BNB. Seriously, who is booking this week? Ambrose killed on commentary at least. We move into the recap of the John Cena/Rusev stuff from Raw because Cena doesn't work Smackdowns. After three quick matches, it's time to continue the string of promos as Bray Wyatt cuts another odd one on the Undertaker. Again, he's doing well here but it won't really stand out until they actually do something together.

It's kind of cringevworthy to watch the New Day come out to no reaction. They meet the Ascension, who cut a pre-recorded promo on Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair for appearing on Raw. Since they aren't here now, New Day gets it instead. Again, this is kept rather short, as the Ascension win in about three minutes. Luke Harper is in the ring as we return, for a match against Roman Reigns. Anyone else think the product would be slightly better if Harper and maybe BNB were in Kane and Big Show's position in the Authority? I enjoyed this match and wish that Harper had more to do. He is too damn good to be stuck in midcard hell. His Intercontinental Title reign is pretty forgotten already. Of course he loses here, after eating a Spear. Again, I have to question things. I'm totally okay with Reigns pinning Harper but he should pin Kane too. Why are we protecting Kane instead of a Harper? Moving right along, we get a rundown of the Triple H/Ric Flair segment from Raw. Triple H is pulling a Cena tonight and not working Thursdays.

It's a night for TLC rematches as Erick Rowan meets Big Show. It's like they wanted to take the two worst matches from that show and randomly shove them into tonight's show. I guess Show wasn't in the mood to do this again and he attacks Rowan during his entrance. This leads to a Chokeslam win in less than two minutes.The Bella Twins appear for commentary during the match pitting Cameron against Paige. Cameron didn't give Paige clothes to wear on Monday after the Bellas stole her attire. Hey, some continuity! That combined with the Bryan/Miz stuff earlier is cool. Again, Nikki Bella is fine on commentary but Brie is BEYOND awful. She should stick to in-ring work. We get a recap of Stardust turning on Goldust before Renee Young interviews him. It seems like we're getting Stardust vs. Goldust at Fast Lane. Stardust interrupts on the screen and cuts another damn good promo. Cody Rhodes never fails to deliver.

After a quick pre-recorded promo from Tyson Kidd and Cesaro, we get a match between Kidd and Jimmy Uso. Tyson says that teaming with Cesaro was the best decision of his life and Natalya's reaction is golden. Less than a minute into the match, Rusev appears. He takes out both Usos and Tyson. The heels wisely leave but the beatdown continues on the Usos. John Cena once again proves to be the worst friend in history as he doesn't help a team that has helped him a million times. He then rambles on about Cena. Main event time, and it's an odd choice. Not because Seth Rollins vs. Dolph Ziggler isn't main event material, I just assumed it would be either Reigns or Bryan. For some reason, J&J Security is barred from ringside. Isn't the Authority in power? Really good ten or so minute mach that Rollins wins. Ryback, Erick Rowan, J&J, Big Show and Kane all get involved, leading to a brawl between everyone. The Authority stands tall, and I believe a six man tag was announced for the PPV. Not sure though.

All in all, this was a pretty fun episode of Smackdown. None of the matches, except for the main event, was really long but it flowed well and moved along rather nicely. It did a decent job of building towards Fast Lane on Sunday, though the Bryan/Reigns match didn't get much shine. They did have a lot on Raw so that's fine. An enjoyable two hours here. 6.5/10.