Raw History: Episodes 7-8

Raw History
Episode #7
March 1st, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Tonight's show opens with Bret Hart's theme as he comes out to defend the WWF Title against Fatu. Makes sense that the constantly defending champion would put the belt on the line for his first ever Raw match. Commentary is the usual Vince McMahon, Macho Man and Rob Bartlett. Bartlett is dressed as Elvis and it sucks.

WWF Championship
Bret Hart (c) vs. Fatu w/ Afa
Bret Hart starts with a headlock, eats a scoop slam and then fires back with an arm drag. Bret does some arm work and I'd just like to point out that I loved how Bret would give everyone a shot at the title. Fatu hits a superkick from out of nowhere to earn a near fall and a pop from the crowd. Vlad the Superfan is in the front row, which is always cool. Bret counters a hip toss but Fatu blocks his and clotheslines him down. He applies the dreaded nerve hold, which is a move I hate. It looks like it does nothing. As Fatu picks up a near fall, Samu stalks his way to ringside. Bret hits a cross body but is knocked outside. Afa distracts the official as Samu slams Bret on the mat. Fatu works Bret's back for a while and even throws in a signature Samoan headbutt for good measure. Fatu hits a piledriver, which is awesome to see considering the fact that it's now banned but it's only good for two. Bartlett is pretty unbearable on commentary but Vince calls a side slam a suplex and takes the cake for tonight. A second rope headbutt only gets Fatu another near fall. He goes for another one but Bret meets him and hits a second rope suplex for two. Bret hits his perfect backbreaker and applies the Sharpshooter but we get shenanigans from the Headshrinkers who interfere and switch out. The switch does nothing as Samu gets a near fall and brings Fatu back in. Bret knocks Fatu into Samu, who gets his head stuck in the ropes and knocks Afa off the apron. The Sharpshooter is locked in and Fatu gives up.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: Bret Hart in 15:06
Back to back shows with fifteen minute matches? Me like. This was great as Bret Hart looked golden and he made Fatu look better than he's ever looked, even during his Rikishi run. ***1/2

Mean Gene brings us to the WrestleMania Report. He announces that Money Inc. will defend the Tag Team Titles against the Mega Maniacs before running through the card that we already know of. Oh, The Narcissist vs. Mr. Perfect is added.

Vince McMahon interviews Crush, who is flabby as hell and apparently was just swimming in the ocean. He speaks in his terrible Hawaiian accent before crushing a coconut because that's what he's going to do to Doink at WrestleMania.

Doink the Clown vs. Koko B. Ware
Vince McMahon calls Koko a young man, which has to be wrong since he's been in WWF since like 1985. Doink attacks before the bell and Bartlett makes his first funny remark by saying he loved Koko on Different Strokes. Doink applies a much better STF than John Cena has ever done but breaks it. He then seems amused by how baggy Koko's pants are before continuing the leg work. He polishes off Koko by making him submit to the Stump Puller.

Winner: Doink the Clown in 1:48
Just used to get Doink over. I enjoyed the leg work even though it was short. SQUASH

Rob “Elvis” Bartlett interviews Doink, who has a gift, after the match. Rob asks for what's in the box, Doink gives him a small pie before hitting him in the face with a big one.

After commercials, Vince McMahon is in the ring awaiting the arrival of the WWF Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. Ted Dibiase talks about some rich dude making $700,000 a year in retirement and saying it was too cheap. He gets down to business, calling Jimmy Hart an overpaid gopher and they promote WrestleMania a bit. IRS also calls his briefcase the beef case. It's strange but I guess a guy who fathered Bo Dallas and Bray Wyatt has to be a bit odd.

“The Narcissist” Lex Luger vs. PJ Walker
For the uninitiated, PJ Walker is the future Justin Credible of ECW fame. Luger throws him into the corner hard as Vince McMahon goes to a phone conversation with Bobby Heenan. Luger hits a rib breaker as Vince McMahon continues to push this ANNOYING Elvis/Bartlett stuff. After hitting the forearm, Luger pins Walker with his pinky.

Winner: Lex Luger in 2:59
All Luger. Another squash, but in this day and age, it made sense. SQUASH

Post-match, Lex Luger throws PJ Walker out of the ring and calls him a typical male. He berates him before knocking him out again.

Duane Gill and someone vs. The Steiner Brothers
I did not hear the name of Duane Gill's partner, but they both have ridiculous hair. Black on the sides with blonde mullets over. Fantastic. Before the bell, Vince calls them Scott and Rob Steiner. Scott hits a belly to belly on Duane's partner before tagging in his lesser brother. Rick clotheslines no name outside and then runs around the ring. The Steiners allow Duane to get tagged in because they know they got this. Rick hits a backbreaker and laughs before tagging Scott who tosses Duane around. THIS WOULDNT HAPPEN IF HE WAS GILLBERG DAMMIT! The crowd is red hot for the Frankensteiner and he nails it. It looked weak as hell, but was enough to get the job done.

Winners: The Steiner Brothers in 4:43
A third straight squash and the Steiners looked really good. SQUASH

Overall: 6/10; Average. I wanted to like this episode so much more. The squashes were what they were, which is fine but the gem here is Bret Hart vs. Fatu. A really good contest and second to only Ric Flair/Mr. Perfect for best Raw match so far. The Elvis stuff made the show unbearable at points though.

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Raw History
Episode #8
March 8th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

A pre-taped promo from the Mega-Maniacs airs where Hulk Hogan talks about Humpty Dumpty. It actually has to do with them accepting the challenge of Money Inc. for WrestleMania IX. Hogan also sings and steals the Saturday Night Live opening while Beefcake looks awkward and tries to mimic Hogan’s words. It’s odd. Commentary is the usual combination of Vince McMahon, Rob Bartlett and Macho Man.

Non-Title Match
El Matador and Virgil vs. Money Inc.
Tito Santana was cool in his prime, but man I never liked anything at all about Virgil. Ted Dibiase clearly reminds Virgil about his past as his bitch basically. When Virgil gets the tag, Bartlett says that he and Montel Williams are the same person, making it two straight weeks where he’s said something comical. This is the definition of two teams going through the motions and having a basic tag team match. Virgil applies a wrist lock and IRS has the balls to try a nip up and fails miserably. This gets a commercial break for some reason as El Matador plays face in peril. Virgil gets the hot tag, which is a sentence that should never be the case. Thanks to a trip from Dibiase, IRS nails a suplex that is enough to beat Virgil.

Winners: Money Inc. in 8:02
This was incredibly basic. It wasn’t bad and it wasn’t terrible but nothing of note happened here. *3/4

After a clip of Tatanka pinning Shawn Michaels last week is shown, Rick Martel comes out to switched places with the ring girl. I won’t lie, I laughed really hard at this.

Phil Apollo vs. Tatanka
They start by blocking each other’s hip tosses until Tatanka does one that takes Apollo over and out. Apollo has the tiniest lightning bolt on his trunks and I had to point it out because it looks ridiculous. Shawn Michaels calls in to commentary and badmouths Tatanka. It sounds awkward and he stumbles through it. Can you believe this guy would become arguably the greatest of all time? Tatanka rallies and hits some Tomahawk Chops before a Samoan Drop to end it. Why the hell is a Native American doing a Samoan Drop?

Winner: Tatanka in 2:42
Literally all Tatanka. SQUASH

Mean Gene takes us to the WrestleMania Report and, because it’s Hulk Hogan, they’re billing WrestleMania as a “Double Main Event”. Sure. We also get a Bret Hart promo in there about being the underdog and one from Mr. Fuji about Yokozuna. 

Mike Edwards vs. Papa Shango
I’ll give you three guesses on how this one ends guys. The future Kama/Godfather pretty much manhandles Mike Edwards here. Edwards is a hairy man. Like only behind Albert and that dude from Los Boricuas. Shango could’ve won but chose to lift Edwards for more damage. He could’ve won with a second back suplex but decides against it again. He finally chooses to end it, thankfully.

Winner: Papa Shango in 2:31
Another complete squash. I don’t really get this one though since Papa Shango wasn’t going anywhere. This could’ve been used to showcase the Headshrinkers since they’re set to face the Steiner Brothers at WrestleMania. SQUASH

Bob Backlund vs. Tony Demoro
Vince McMahon says that Bob Backlund is on a hot streak but it must be on Superstars since all I’ve seen of him is how he lasted an hour in the Royal Rumble. They stall a bunch as Backlund offers a handshake and then the crowd actually starts to chant for him after he takes down Demoro. This is boring. I guess they’re trying to showcase how Backlund knows some amateur wrestling. He hits a double underhook suplex and chooses to pin Demoro in an odd way.

Winner: Bob Backlund in 3:51
Dull. Yes, it was a squash but it was a terribly boring one. SQUASH

Rob Bartlett interviews Rick Martel who runs him down for his ridiculous attire and brags about being a model. 

Mr. Perfect vs. Rick Martel
Two good workers should put on a good main event here. They feel each other out in the early goings and Rick Martel wants to make sure he doesn’t get hit in the face. Martel also dodges a move, does a cartwheel and some jumping jacks. Perfect dodges a move with a cartwheel too, which was cool. Martel and his gut start to focus on the arm to wear down Perfect. Martel uses a gut wrench suplex for two and I don’t see nearly as much of that move as I’d like. A camel clutch is applied and the crowd attempts to rally Perfect. He fights out of it but Martel stays in control until Perfect blocks a double axe handle. He follows with two atomic drops and THE STRAPS ARE DOWN! They go to commercial and Perfect wins during the break.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 7:57
Decent match but I hate that the ending happened during the break. I get the whole “anything can happen” thing but it still sucks. **1/4

Mr. Perfect brings out two girls that Rick Martel was rude to earlier in the night and celebrates with them in the ring. We are then told that next week Kamala will be in action as well as Razor Ramon! Plus, Typhoon vs. Bam Bam Bigelow! 

Overall: 2/10; Terrible. Not the strongest episode. You had three squash matches and then two matches that weren’t very good. It didn’t even build towards WrestleMania well. This had the feeling of a show that the WWF just threw together. My least favorite episode of Raw so far.

Fave Five 8/17/15-8/23/15

1) Bayley and Sasha Banks: I honestly could not decided between the two girls. Yes, Bayley won the match but I can't put one girl's performance above the other. I watched nearly every match the WWE has put on this year, I watched Lucha Underground, the entire G1 Climax, Wrestle Kingdom 9 ROH and a ton of wrestling, but my match of the year is Bayley vs. Sasha Banks and I don't care what people say. Everything from the entrances (Bayley with the Dusty tribute, Sasha with the Escalade) to the story they told to the moves they did to the emotion of the crowd, was perfect. The atmosphere in the Barclays Center was something that wasn't topped all weekend long. Sasha Banks attacking Bayley's hand was genius and done viciously. Stomping on her hand during the Bank Statement and the somersault outside were both highlights. I always liked Bayley, but felt she was the worst of the NXT four. I thought that there was no way these two would top what Banks and Becky Lynch did in May. I even wrote a long article about that match. Instead, they shut me up and bested it. There was nothing about this match that I would change. I was emotionally invested in a way that I didn't get for anything else I've seen all year. If you would have told me a few years ago that, on a weekend with Brock Lesnar, Undertaker, Tyler Black, Kevin Steen, John Cena, Claudio Castagnoli and many others, SHIMMER's Davina Rose and Snoop Dogg's cousin would outperform them all, I would have never believed you.

2) Seth Rollins: After sitting in the front row for TakeOver, it certainly seemed like Seth Rollins came out trying to steal the show at SummerSlam. While I don't think his match with John Cena was better than either of the double main events at TakeOver, but man he tried. Seth brought out a diving double stomp in the corner, a superplex rolled into a falcon arrow and three consecutive suicide dives. Seth brought it and did his best to deliver in what was probably the biggest match of his career. I know that a lot of people have been down on his booking, and it has been rough at times, but the guy has been successful as hell. Here, he won the United States Title, adding to his WWE Championship. That's an accomplishment, especially with the effort Cena put into making the title relevant again. Seth Rollins truly is THE man for the time being and I'm loving it.

3) Finn Balor: In our third slot this week, the NXT Champion, Finn Balor, takes it. There was a tough task ahead of Finn Balor and Kevin Owens to follow the MOTY at the close of TakeOver, but they did an admirable job in doing so. Looking back, I wasn't a huge fan of their first match but really liked the one in Japan. This one lived up to the Japan match. It started a bit slow but really picked up and they put on an awesome match. Finn Balor was able to retain and should finally put Kevin Owens behind him. Now, he can move on to new challengers, hopefully beating Samoa Joe before a feud with a returning Hideo Itami. That's just my wishes though. Finn Balor successfully retained the NXT Title in the main event of their biggest event ever, so he clearly earns this spot.

4) The New Day: How can anyone dislike the New Day? They have consistently been the most entertaining thing about the WWE for a while and it got even better this week. Yea, I used a gif from after 8/23, but so what, it's classic. During the week of 8/17-8/23 though, they picked up a major win at SummerSlam. New Day was the best thing about a surprisingly fun Tag Team Title match and then they would actually capture the belts again. The New Day deserved it too because they've been the best thing about the tag division in recent months. I just want to make sure they keep getting TV time and shine.

5) The Vaudevillains: Over the past few months, I became worried about the Vaudevillains. They were close to the NXT Tag Team Titles last year, but fell to the Lucha Dragons. Then BAMF got a lengthy run and Enzo and Cass looked to be on the verge of winning the straps. Then, they were given the shot at the biggest NXT event ever and I felt that if they lost, it would be  a wrap for them. Instead, they brought out Blue Pants to a massive pop, and got a great reaction themselves on that night, when I was worried the fans would be wanting Enzo and Cass. The match itself surprised me as the tag team division has been NXT's biggest weak point for a long time. They had a really fun match and Aiden English and Simon Gotch capped it by winning the gold. A pretty great moment for a really fun tag team.

Dick Kick City Raw Review

Raw opened with a shot of Triple H and Seth Rollins at WWE Headquarters, where HHH tells him that he is no longer the future, but he is the man now. They will reveal a statue of Seth tonight. In the actual arena, Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman come out and they are pissed. Heyman does his usual masterful promo that says Brock wants a rematch with the Undertaker tonight. Instead of Taker, Brock gets Bo Dallas. NO BO! YOU'RE GONNA DIE! Hilariously, Bo calls him "Mr. Brock" and takes a trip to suplex city. Brock even leaves twice, only to come back and deliver more punishment, ending with the F5. You know, for basically being a jobber, Bo has had segments with Daniel Bryan, Brock, Sting, Rock and Shawn Michaels.

Our opening contest features the Lucha Dragons against the new Tag Champs, New Day. They came out singing a cover of "New York, New York" set to Xavier Woods on the trombone. Everything this group does is golden and that was clear here. They are simply fantastic. New Day defeats Lucha Dragons in entertaining fashion while the Prime Time Players are on commentary. Then, shit got real because the DUDLEY BOYZ showed up! The place went nuts and I legit marked out. They took out New Day with their signature stuff, including a 3D through a table. They even had a staredown with PTP, which I was happy about since they weren't just left to stand by and watch. I loved this as it was damn cool and gives the tag team division a shot in the arm. Raw is off to one hell of a start.

In that good old fashioned PPV rematch special, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns took on Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper again. They kind of just went through the motions for the most part. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as the match they had at SummerSlam. Reigns looked to be on the verge of winning when the Wyatt signature hit. Then, this incredibly large top heavy man in a black sheep mask appeared. He removed it to reveal that he was someone we didn't recognize. He destroyed Ambrose and Reigns, resulting in a DQ finish, but the Wyatt Family grows. Good to see Bray have followers since his gimmick works better in a cult like setting. The man is Braun Stowman, but the reaction wasn't great since nobody knows who he is. Also, it looks like he seriously skips leg day.

A MizTV segment featuring the ladies of Team PCB followed and has become a big deal. However, for all of the wrong reasons. Miz tried to play up there being competition between the ladies, which should be the case. End all of this team stuff please. Instead, the girls remained friends. Out came Team Bella and the teams trade horribly forced barbs. Miz was an ass so PCB went after him, only to be attacked from behind and lead to a six woman tag. All of this happened while the crowd loudly chanted "We Want Sasha." The match happened and was a colossal failure. The crowd ended up chanting for CM Punk, doing the wave and even chanting the awful "We Are Awesome." No you weren't. Look, this was a poorly done segment but things like that are terrible and have no place. The Bellas won and, while I disagree with what the fans did, this goes back to the booking. Why should we care about this? The teams just trade wins and none of it matters. It's sad that two girls can have a classic two nights earlier and have the crowd in the palm of their hands, and then booked to the point where the crowd gives no fucks.

King Barrett came out for a tag match with Stardust. Instead, Stardust attacked him. Then Neville came out and sent him running. I don't get it. Jon Stewart then came out to explain his actions from SummerSlam. He says that he didn't want to see John Cena tie Ric Flair's record. This brings out Flair, who calls himself god and says that records are meant to be broken. Cena came out and fucking says that he's at peace with what Stewart did. Wow, way to make the match last night seem important. Cena ends it by hitting Stewart with an AA. Am I really supposed to cheer for this guy? Whatever. Then the camera shows Stewart walking the AA off. Man, that move really doesn't put anyone down does it?

I'm guessing that Dolph Ziggler didn't get the "debut new attire on the PPV" memo. He shows up in long pants for an eight man tag. His partners are Randy Orton, Ryback and Cesaro and they face Rusev, Big Show, Sheamus and Kevin Owens. The match was your typical multi-man tag and was decent fun but nothing we've never seen. Except for Owens mocking Ziggler's ass dance. That I'd never seen. Show made a mistake and hit the WMD on Sheamus, allowing Orton to pin him. Look at that everyone. Orton and the Bellas get their wins back, rendering SummerSlam useless. After the match, Owens and Rusev beat up Big Show for being shitty. Then, the faces decided to do something too and hit him with a massive team up assist RKO. Seeing Ryback and Cesaro lift Show was impressive.

It's time for the Seth Rollins statue reveal. Beforehand, the Authority kick John Cena out of the building. They sing happy birthday to Vince McMahon. Triple H puts over Seth for his Hustle, Loyalty and Respect. Seth shows up and does his best HHH impression with an overly long promo. They go to reveal the statue and Sting is there instead! He attacks and sends them packing. He holds up the WWE Title afterwards and it's announced on the WWE Network that he'll get a title shot at Night of Champions for some reason. Look, the surprise was cool and the match should be fun. In order for me to enjoy it though, I'm going to have to forget about the WrestleMania debacle involving the handshake with Triple and the loss. Overall, I'd say that this Raw ended up being a mixed bag. The first hour was excellent, the ending was fun but the middle was awful. Also, not having Sasha Banks, at the very least, appear on the show after her performance on Saturday is insane. 7/10.

SummerSlam 2015 Review

With SummerSlam being four hours long, everything made the actual main card. The show opened with Sheamus vs. Randy Orton, just like Battleground did last year. I made the "oil and water" comparison between these two but they surprised me with a strong showing last month. Tonight, they were back to their usual disappointing performance. The match wasn't awful but basically, like two minutes in, I was ready for it to end. It's just hard to care about their matches, especially when they fail to deliver. Orton hit a pretty great RKO but Sheamus rolled out of the ring to avoid the pin. That honestly would have been a good finish. Instead, it ended with Sheamus hitting two Brogue Kicks after 12 minutes. I like that the MITB holder won clean, but it all felt very mediocre. **1/2

There is honestly no act in the WWE more entertaining right now than the New Day. Similar to Bayley at TakeOver, they wore white and gold. Kofi Kingston sung before the match, which was excellent. The match itself was a clusterfuck but dammit, it was absolutely fun. Xavier Woods had me in stitches with his ringside antics. There were a lot of big spots here, like Big E splashing Darren Young on the apron, Woods nearly killing Torito and Titus O'Neil taking out everyone. Granted, there were some botches like Sin Cara's dive outside being met with a dropkick. Still though, New Day stole the pin after about 11 and a half minutes. Their celebration was the stuff of legend. They are absolutely the right choice to have the belts again because there is no tag team more over right now than them. While the build up to the match was lackluster and lazy, the match itself was enjoyable and I had a good time, which is all I can ask for. ***1/4

Up next, Rusev took on Dolph Ziggler and Rusev was sporting a new jacket for the show. As expected, the match they worked was decent. Both guys are usually solid in the ring and that was the case here. However, it was hard to get into any of it because you just knew that Lana and Summer Rae had to get involved. Any false finish before that just couldn't be bought. Lana and Summer got into it outside and Ziggler superkicked Rusev onto the announce table. This led to a dumb double countout finish after 12 minutes. After the match, Rusev and Ziggler fought, leading to Summer and Lana fighting, meaning the feud continues. This was bad booking. Rusev should have won here and then, Ziggler and Lana could win the eventual mixed tag where Lana would pin Summer. Lana stays over, the faces win out and Rusev never has to lose while looking strong. The finish hurts the score here. **1/2

The team of King Barrett and Stardust took on the Red Arrow, Neville and the Green Arrow, Stephen Amell. Amell wore the green hoodie, but wrestled in basketball shorts, stealing Kevin Owen's look. Amell showed off some impressive athleticism throughout, but they built to the hot tag to Neville, which caused Amell to have to sell. He wasn't very good at that. Still, he did well and looked like he was having a good time. He dove from the top onto his opponents before Neville scored the win with the Red Arrow. This would go for just under 8 minutes and did what I expected it to. Neville and Stardust looked good, Amell showed off his athleticism and Barrett ate the pin. This was fine for what it was. **1/4

Due to Ryback's staph infection, his match against Show and Miz didn't happen last month. Honestly, that should have been a sign that this match didn't need to take place. Alas, it does now. They seemed to try and start the match at a fast pace, which I appreciated, but it's not what works for them. Ryback kind of hit the Shell Shock on Big Show, which is always rather impressive. However, I didn't like the finish. Show knocked out Miz and then Ryback just took him out and pinned Miz. That steal the finish ending is their go to finish in multi-man matches and it's overdone. It works even less when your giant face champion does it. He should have looked rather dominant and this probably means we get another Show/Ryback match. **

It was time for diet war as the remnants of the Shield took on the remnants of the Wyatt Family. They hyped this as a war and they did their best to sell that. It started hot and pretty much never slowed down. There were bodies flying everywhere, it was chaotic and entertaining. That's basically what this needed to be. It clearly wasn't on the level of the original Shield/Wyatts match last year, but I enjoyed it. Reigns was taken out early and got "Roman's Sleeping" chants. He eventually got the hot tag and was booed. I mean, he got booed, but I don't understand it anymore. He's not being shoved down our throats as much anymore and the guy has been delivering on most Pay-Per-Views. I'm still not someone who goes out my way to root for him, but I'm also not gonna boo him. Anyway, he spears Bray Wyatt to win after 11 minutes. Pinning Bray made sense if this was the end, but Michael Cole made sure to tell us that this wasn't over. Eh, it was a good brawl and probably the best thing so far. ***1/4

Surprisingly, the big Title for Title match between Seth Rollins & John Cena went on now. Due to Brock Lesnar and the Undertaker, I knew this wouldn't headline but didn't expect it here. It seemed like Seth was trying his best to steal the show, going out of his way to bust out the big moves. A diving double stomp in the corner, three suicide dives in a row, a superplex rolled into a falcon arrow and things like that. I've seen some people say this was MOTY level but it never reached that for me. I was ready to give it about four stars, but then the finish came. We got a ref bump and Jon Stewart, the host of SummerSlam, ran out with a chair. He telegraphed what he was going to do badly. He debated between both guys before finally hitting Cena with the chair. This allowed Seth to hit a Pedigree on the chair and win the United States Title in just under 20 minutes. While I enjoyed the match overall, and it was the best of the night, it wasn't a classic. WWE now has the heel double champion that ROH has, but he didn't do it cleanly. I didn't expect him to, but this Jon Stewart ending was pretty dumb. Still though, Seth is a double champion and I can't be mad about that. ***3/4

The DIVAS REVOLUTION match was on next. Did you know that there is a DIVAS REVOLUTION happening Maggle? Stephanie McMahon started the DIVAS REVOLUTION! With the plugs out of the way, I can discuss the match. They tried early on, bringing out the big dives outside. That part was fine, highlighted by Sasha Banks and Naomi doing somersaults. However, team BAD was gone after six minutes. The woman who stole the entire weekend, Sasha Banks, was nothing in this, working for about 30 seconds. Then, Team Bella bored us with some work before Becky Lynch eventually came in and got the win in 15 minutes. This was another case of "just give the girls time and people will care." It's not just about getting 15 minutes, it's what you do with it. This was nearly the complete opposite of Bayley/Sasha. It just never clicked and was a colossal disappointment. Hopefully, this dumb three team thing is over soon. *3/4

In our next match, Kevin Owens faced Cesaro in a match of two guys that shouldn't lose. That makes things tough but I expected both guys to deliver. That's exactly what they did. I felt like the match was really good, but slightly disappointing. Part of what hurt it is, is that they weren't fighting for anything. The match felt like it was kind of just there. I still say this should have been for the US Title if we had to get Seth vs. Cena on this event. Regardless, they worked well and Owens picked up the win after 14 minutes with the Popup Powerbomb. Again, good match that could have been better with higher stakes. ***1/2

In our main event, Brock Lesnar took on the Undertaker. Brock attacked during Taker's entrance, showing that this was absolutely going to be the fight it needed to be. Brock got busted open and Undertaker took an F5 through the table. The best part about this was Brock laughing only for Taker to sit up and do a HILARIOUS laugh back at him. Show stealing. They bested their poor WrestleMania XXX showing and were on their way to a match that was better than I expected. Then the shit finish came. Brock had Taker in the Kimura and the bell rang. The timekeeper saw Taker tap out but because of Charles Robinson's poor position, he missed it. As they talked about this, Undertaker went to his new finish, the Dick Shot, and then put Brock in the Hell's Gate. Brock flipped him off and passed out, giving Taker the win. I said from the start that this match shouldn't happen, and if it did, Brock should win. Instead, they end the second biggest show of the year with a shoddy finish. ***1/4

Overall, I felt that the show was better than I thought it would be, though that might be because I had some seriously low expectations. Nothing on the show was truly awful to me, but nothing was really great in my eyes. The finishes to Rusev/Ziggler, Brock/Taker and Seth/Cena were not very good and hurt the overall feeling of both matches. I'd say, like most WWE events this year, this was a middle of the pack show. 6/10.

SummerSlam Predictions

A prime example of the WWE's lazy booking can be found here. Instead of putting in the effort that it takes to book a competent Tag Team Title program, they just throw darts at team names on the wall and put them in a multi-team match. They did at WrestleMania and they're doing it here again. It's basically just been the three teams trading wins and losses while the champions do commentary. New Day is easily the best thing in the tag team division and should honestly win back the titles. That's what I'm going to pick here.

Winners: The New Day

Remember when Kevin Owens beat John Cena cleanly and everyone thought things were going to be amazing for him? Well, that win over Cena now looks like a complete fluke and he's now in a SummerSlam match that is sure to be good but kind of pointless. How much cooler would this be if Owens, you know, had the US Title? Anyway, I can totally see Owens losing for obvious reasons, but I've picked a lot of faces so far so I'm going with him. The fans will stay behind Cesaro if he loses in a good effort and that's what I see happening here. Should be the match of the night.

Winner: Kevin Owens

Heading to Battleground, I called these two the "oil and water" of the WWE. Both guys are good in their own right, but they almost never produce good matches. Outside of a Hell in a Cell match in 2010 and the Battleground match that turned out pretty good, I like none of their stuff. This should move to the Kickoff show or something. It's tempting me to rip my eyes out. I'll pick Sheamus here since the MITB winner gets jobbed out but wins once in a while and his current record against Orton has to be something like 6-119.

Winner: Sheamus

Remember that amazing Shield vs. Wyatt Family match at Elimination Chamber last year? Well, at SummerSlam this year, we get a diet version of it. I may be down on it but this has potential to be somewhat fun. A lot of people seem to be expecting the Dean Ambrose heel turn and part of me sees it too, but I'm going to pick it. Luke Harper is best suited to eat the pinfall here and I see that happening. Maybe Dean turns a bit later on in the feud.

Winner: Diet Shield

Man, this match just seems like it will suck. The fact that it couldn't happen at Battleground should have been a sign that it shouldn't happen period. But the WWE is sticking to their guns and giving it to us here. Miz is an extremely good heel, but he's had multiple runs with the belt within the past year or so. Big Show is always a possibility, but I have no desire to see that. I get the feeling that Ryback retains since he hasn't been able to have a good reign. Hopefully it turns around after this feud.

Winner: Ryback

Obviously the John Cena program did much more harm than it did good for Rusev. However, he has been far more entertaining in his new role. Honestly, along with Sasha Banks, Stardust and New Day, I look forward to Rusev segments more than anything else on Raw each week. Dolph Ziggler returning makes me feel like it will be a feel good story, but I've picked a ton of faces so far. Not only that, but Rusev has still only been pinned by two guys and I don't think that number grows here. Expect Ziggler and Lana to win the eventual mixed tag though.

Winner: Rusev

This is the right kind of celebrity involvement. You have someone who is a legit fan and is in phenomenal shape. I'm sure he can do whatever bumps are required of him and he should put his all into this considering how much he loves wrestling. Pairing the Green Arrow with the guy who does the Red Arrow makes sense, but King Barrett felt so out of place. Then, they did the Cosmic King thing and I was sold. This is the type of feud that you just enjoy and don't take too seriously. The celebrity wins here.

Winner: Neville and Stephen Amell

 I'm a massive Sasha Banks fan and I love Becky Lynch as well. I'm glad to see them getting a chance to shine but I'm still unsold on this whole thing. Giving them more time and saying "#DivasRevolution" 15 times per match doesn't actually make it a Divas Revolution. There needs to be more defined roles, better character development and for fucks sake, can someone tell the Bella Twins that they are heels? Don't do Daniel Bryan style kicks and try to rally the crowd. Anyway, this could either be fun or a clusterfuck. Either way, I get the feeling that Team PCB wins here. They are the clear faces and, with a heel Divas Champion, someone from that team needs to be next in line. I suspect it's Charlotte.

Winners: Team PCB

The booking of this SummerSlam is all wrong to me. I really wish that John Cena was having a big United States Title match away from the WWE Title picture. It's been refreshing to have him out of the title picture. What's going to happen at the end of this? Will the US Title go away or will they have the winner defend both? Part of me thinks that Seth Rollins will win to even the score after tapping out a few weeks ago but the other part of me is sticking to my guns and sticking to what I said earlier this year. I'm not picking against Cena until he loses one of these big feuds. It's why I picked him all three times in the feud with Owens, the last three times he faced Rusev and why I'm going with him here.

Winner: John Cena

 I think this is a terrible booking decision. Yes, you have the star power that you want on a big show like this, but everything about this feud, outside of the big brawl, has sucked. Brock Lesnar owns the Undertaker so now Undertaker has come back and is pretty much grumpy that he can't beat Brock. So what does he do? He costs him the WWE Title and kicks him in the dick. That sounds really in character for the Deadman. Also, regardless of the outcome, it's bad. If Undertaker loses, what was the point of him coming back here? If Brock loses, what was the point of him ending the streak and killing everything in his path over the last year? He can murder John Cena, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins, but when he faces a 50 year old dick kicker, he just loses? Bad decision all around. I say Undertaker wins since Brock has mentioned that he wanted to repay guys like him and Rock for putting him over.

Winner: The Undertaker

2015 Prediction Record: 34-23
2014 Prediction Record: 22-18 (Only five PPVs)

NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn Review

According to the WWE Universe Twitter account there are 15,000+ on hand and, from what I’ve read, they were red hot for the stuff they’ve already taped. The Pre-Show panel is Renee Young, Corey Graves, Lita, her cleavage and Byron Saxton. From the looks of it, the pre-show is not live. The fans chanted “Full Sail Sucks” to the tune of the “New Day Rocks” chants. There is an exceptional Bayley/Sasha video package. They also tease Lita being the woman to help the Vaudevillains tonight. Finn Balor arrives with Neville and is greeted by Cesaro.

Triple H revealed on Twitter that NXT debuts in the UK in December.

The official show begins with Triple H talking in the ring. He talks about the growth of NXT and how the future is now. He throws his arms up and the lights come up to reveal the largest crowd in NXT history.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Tyler Breeze

Tyler Breeze gets another big entrance with runway models set to a New York theme. He gets a loud pop. Jushin Liger gets “Liger” chants from the start. Breeze knocks him down with a shoulder block and poses on the corner. Liger takes him down and then does Tyler’s corner pose to a loud pop. Tyler charges but gets taken down into a modified surfboard stretch. Tyler gets free but Liger just puts him in a different variation. He monkey flips Breeze, who sells it like John Morrison. Liger takes the selfie stick and takes a poses with it. He lights up Breeze with chops so Tyler goes to remove the mask. He hits the Supermodel kick for two. They mention that Tyler is 1-3 at TakeOver events. He gets two on a leg drop. Tyler connects on a modified lungblower More “Full Sail Sucks” chants now. Liger breaks free of a front face lock but shows the effects of it. He comes out with a rolling kick and tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. He climbs up but Breeze gets his knees up. Breeze gets a near fall on a crucifix. Breeze gets in some kicks in the corner, but as the referee pulls him back, he just shouts at him. Liger knocks him down and he rolls outside. Liger hits a somersault from the apron and does the Hulkamania pose. Back inside Liger scores with the Liger Bomb and wins.

Winner: Jushin “Thunder” Liger in 8:38

Really solid opener. They looked like they had a lot of fun out there, they didn’t overdo anything and it was crisp for the most part. ***1/2

Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and X-Pac are in the front row.

Bayley is shown getting ready, with Dusty Rhodes polka dots on her headband. Becky Lynch and Charlotte come up to wish her luck.

A Nia Jax vignette airs.

NXT Tag Team Championship: Blake and Murphy w/ Alexa Bliss vs. The Vaudevillains

The Vaudevillains are out with trenchcoats and top hats. They are pretty over. Their attire is blue and Blake is now wearing trunks. BAMF in general are wearing red and gold. Alexa gets on the mic to say that the Vaudevillains couldn’t find anyone to help. A “We Want Blue Pants” chant starts and she comes out to a massive pop. Simon Gotch starts against Blake. “Blue Pants City” chant. Gotch does some of his fun offense and kicks Blake to the grown before rolling into an armbar. Aiden English gets the tag and continues to work the arm. He manages to double arm drag both of the champions before applying an arm wringer on Murphy. English continues to hit everything moving until Blake pulls him off the apron. The champs cut the ring in half on English now. None of what they do is that impressive, just some wear down holds and basic double teams. They then do a double neckbreaker for two. English manages to get them to bump into each other and make the hot tag. His diving tag is super over dramatic. Gotch busts out his fun, unique offense. THE STRAP IS DOWN! He hits some forearms and dodges from Blake that hits Murphy. English gets tagged back in as they set up a double team, but Murphy gets free and crotches English up top. His superplex is blocked, so Blake joins him, but Gotch powerbombs both of them. English hits the swanton for a very close near fall. Alexa gets on the apron and is chased by Blue Pants. They fight inside , allowing Murphy to send English outside and roll up Gotch for two. They score with the Whirling Dervish to win.

Winners and New NXT Tag Team Champions: The Vaudevillains in 10:14

Much better than I expected since neither team has been able to really deliver great matches on TakeOvers. Granted, it was good, not great, but still a lot of fun. Enjoyable stuff here. ***1/4

Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger

Tye Dillinger has a 10 shaved into his head. The crowd is pumped for Apollo Crews. Tye gets out of the corner and does a cartwheel before flashing ten fingers a bunch. Crews does some flips to get free and does his own “ten” taunt. He then hits a nice dropkick. He tries a springboard but eats a dropkick. Tye pats himself on the back. Tye wears him down and then hits a superkick for two. He’s getting in more offense than I expected. Crews catches the second superkick and hits a jumping kick of his own. He follows with a big corner splash and jumping clothesline. Crews scores with a gorilla press and a beautiful standing moonsault to end things.

Winner: Apollo Crews in 4:40

Tye Dillinger got much more offense than I expected. Still, this accomplished the goal of getting Apollo Crews over. Could have been better, but Crews impressed. **

William Regal announces the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. It will be a massive tag team tournament in Dusty’s honor that starts on 9/2 and ends on 10/7.

Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe

Samoa Joe goes for the rear naked choke early but Baron Corbin slips out to rest outside. Joe dares him to come back in. Joe hits an elbow and jumping kick in the corner before a dropkick knocks Corbin outside. Joe follows with the elbow suicida but Baron meets him with a forearm. Inside Joe ducks a punch and gets in some shots before rolling into a pin. That gets two and he moves right into a half crab. He then transitions to a crossface but Corbin reaches the ropes. Baron sends Joe outside and goes to the apron but Joe trips him up and tosses him into the guardrail. They go back inside and Baron locks in a heel hook. Commentary does a good job in selling the hold. Joe hits him with a big shot but Baron catches him in a Bossman slam like move for two. He misses a move in the corner but hits Joe with a superkick, only for Joe to retaliate with a kick of his own. Both men are down. Joe hits a series of strikes but Corbin blocks a big one and throws his own. They just trade shots which is exactly what I wanted from these two. Joe looks for the Muscle Buster but Baron fights him off and hits a big boot. He follows with a suplex variation for a near fall. Baron is drawing major heat and playing them up. He tries the End of Days but Joe ducks and tries the choke. Baron counters with a snapmare and hits a chokebomb. Joe kicks out turning it into the rear naked choke. Corbin passes out.

Winner: Samoa Joe in 10:21

Started out slow but really picked up near the end. They started getting stiff and it worked well doing the job it was meant to. **1/2

Baron Corbin is up right after the bell, seemingly arguing that he didn’t pass out.

Ric Flair, Sgt. Slaughter, Kana, Naomi and Tamina are all in the front row.

Stephanie McMahon comes out to put over the NXT women’s division and NXT itself. They then play the awesome video package for Bayley/Sasha.

NXT Women’s Championship: Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley

Sasha Banks rides up in a car with security. Security even lifts her into the ring. Sasha is sporting Spider-Man inspired attire. She trash talks to start so Bayley takes her down and they brawl. Bayley hits a back elbow and clothesline for two. Dueling chants from the crowd, which is red hot. Sasha drives Bayley into the top turnbuckle but she HULKS UP and puts Sasha in the tree of woe. She springboards off the bottom rope for an elbow for two. “Sash’a ratche” “No she’s not” chants. Bayley springboards into an arm drag, causing Sasha to rest outside. Either her lipstick is smeared or she cut her lip. Bayley charges outside hitting her corner baseball slide. Sasha comes back with a knee but misses her trademark corner knee drop. She pulls Bayley to the top and kicks her in the knee, knocking her outside. Sasha taunts her and then rubs her face in the mat. She then does Bayley’s back elbow, taunts her again and just straight up slaps her. Sasha works a neck wrench for a bit before changing into a straight jacket choke. They move to the corner, where Bayley hits some strikes. Sasha survives them and Bayley again is ready for the knee drop. She catches her but Sasha just uses her legs to send her right back in the corner. She puts Bayley on the top rope this time and hits the double knees from up there for two. Sasha shouts that Bayley is pathetic but she fights back with some shots. She then hits a drop toe hold and doesn’t do her fun spinning move, instead just pounding away on Sasha. Outside, Sasha rips the tape off of Bayley’s injured hand. She slams it into the steel steps, stomps on it and places it between the steps and apron before kicking the steps into Bayley’s hand. As Bayley gets up, Sasha somersaults out onto Bayley! Inside, Sasha is only able to get two and seems frustrated. She just slaps Bayley again, and runs up the ropes holding Bayley’s hand. She tries to bring it over the top but falls outside. It looked awkward. Sasha gets inside and they blows. Bayley hits a series of axe handles and a shoulder thrust. She then hits a back elbow and suplexes Sasha into the corner. Bayley goes for the finish but Sasha blocks it by dropping to a knee. Bayley goes for a rollup but rolls through for a German. Sasha again blocks it and plants her, locking in the Bank Statement! Bayley gets near the ropes to Sasha stomps on the broken hand. She rolsl through and Bayley counters into her own Bank Statement! Sasha is able to reach the ropes. Bayley goes after Sasha but eats a kick. She then pulls Sasha up right into the Belly to Bayley but Sasha kicks out. Bayley goes to pick up the limp Sasha again, putting her in the corner. She seems to be looking for a super Belly to Bayley but Sasha fights her off. Bayley leaps back up with a forearm. She gets up for a super rana but Sasha holds on and Bayley lands in rough fashion. Sasha leaps down with double knees but Bayley again kicks out. Sasha sets Bayley up top but she elbows her off. Sasha comes back with shots and Bayley hits elbows again. She goes all the up with a SUPER REVERSE RANA! Bayley tightens the hairband and Bayley to Belly wins the belt.

Winner and New NXT Women’s Champion: Bayley in 18:15

An absolutely incredible match. Every single TakeOver, I can’t picture the girls topping themselves but they did it again here. The storytelling, the selling, the emotion, the atmosphere. Everything about this was incredible. Again, they bust out the best women’s match I’ve ever seen. Yea, I’m giving it the perfect score and I don’t even care. *****

Becky Lynch and Charlotte come out to hug Bayley. Sasha Banks gets up and hugs her too. All four women embrace for what may be the final time in NXT history.

NXT Championship Ladder Match: Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens

As Finn Balor makes his grand entrance, Kevin Owens is sitting outside incredibly unimpressed. Kevin Owens talks smack and shoves Balor before going after the ladder. Finn pulls him back and hits a dropkick. He follows with some running chops in the corners. Owens takes control, throwing Balor around and nailing the cannonball. The crowd chants “Ole” and Owens taunts them by holding his arm in fake pain. Balor takes advantage with a slingblade. They go after the ladder, with Finn knocking Owens over on the ramp. They have a tug of war over it at ringside with Owens winning by shoving Finn into the apron. He sandwiches Finn between the apron and ladder. He charges but slows down and just punches Finn. He’s such a fucking heel. Finn comes back with a shot and they brawl into the crowd. Owens goes for a powerbomb but Finn backdrops him over the railing only to leap into Owens’ arms. He slams him into the rail and tosses him across the announce table. Owens removes the cover and throws it at Finn before mocking Finn. He pulls a ladder out from under the ring but Finn dropkicks it into him. Finn then hits his beautiful front flip dive to wipe out Owens. He starts to climb the ladder but Owens gets in and prevents him from making it to the top before sending him into the ladder. He tries to throw it into Balor but he ducks and hits the Pele. Finn then heads in for the dropkick but is met with a clothesline. Owens drives the ladder into Finn’s ribs. He slams Finn on the ladder and hits a senton. He opens the ladder on it’s side and looks to kill Finn with a powerbomb but gets backdropped onto it. Owens tries to come back but misses the cannonball into the ladder. Finn lays into him with a corner dropkick and nails the Coup de Grace. Finn gets near the belt but Owens pulls him down into a powerbomb! Owens starts the slow climb but Finn tilts the ladder back, sending Owens crashing into the corner. He pulls Finn out and tries the apron bomb but Finn blocks it and kicks him. He then leaps from the apron with the Coup de Grace and Owens moves. He then hits the apron bomb but falls out as well. That basically killed Sami Zayn and John Cena. Owens climbs to the top, but Finn is up and knocks over the ladder. Owens lays him out with a big kick. Finn tries getting up, and Owens just tells him to stay down. Finn doesn’t listen and is hit with another superkick. Owens continues to talk trash and beat on him. He sets up a ladder in between the rung of an open ladder and the bottom turnbuckle. He climbs up and wants to superplex Finn through it but Finn blocks. Owens headbutts him. He tries again but Finn fights him off. He then slams Owens head into the top of the ladder and he falls onto the other ladder. The way Owens bounces is all kinds of bad. The ladder is off center and he isn’t close enough to the belt. Owens tries but is kicked off. Finn still isn’t close enough but sees a downed Owens and hits a super Coup de Grace. Now, he moves the ladder to the middle and retrieves the gold.

Winner and Still NXT Champion: Finn Balor in 21:37

Considering the level of the women’s match, these two had one insanely tough act to follow. It started slow but built towards a really great finish that had me on the edge of my seat. On the level of their Japan match and the best ladder match I’ve seen this year. ****1/4

Originally, I gave this a perfect score coming off of the high of that incredible Women's Title match. Instead, I'll give the show a 9/10. They went 25 minutes over their run time and delivered completely. The opener was fun and used Liger well and the Tag Team Title match was better than it had any right to be. Apollo Crews debut was a solid showcase and Corbin/Joe was a decent hoss match. The final two matches stole the show though. Sasha/Bayley is my new MOTY and this is coming from someone who watched the entire G1 and every WWE show this year. The main event couldn't quite follow it but this delivered big time. After some disappointing NXT shows, they rebounded big time here. Best special since R-Evolution.