NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku
April 23rd, 2017 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Hirai Kawato and Tomoyuki Oka vs. Katsuya Kitamura and Syota Umino
It’s a young lion battle! Kawato and Oka are my favorites right now, so it was cool to see them team up. Kawato beat up Umino, looking happy to have someone he can do that to. He and Oka took turns working him over and avoiding the jacked monster that is Kitamura. Kitamura got the hot tag and had a fun exchange with Oka. I’m looking forward to future wars between them. Umino became legal again and survived the young lion crab from Oka. Oka hit a powerslam and put it back on to win at 7:59. The young lions are always fun. They all bring energy and that Oka/Kitamura exchange felt like something we’ll be seeing on bigger shows in a few years. [***]
El Desperado and TAKA Michinoku vs. Jado and Will Ospreay
Pair the exciting Ospreay with the most boring man in NJPW, Jado. Ospreay started quickly, trying to bring some fun to the match. Jado came in and everything went to shit. Desperado did his best to make Jado look good, but it’s impossible. Ospreay got choked with a chair, leading to a heat segment on Jado. Ospreay got the hot tag and again, brought energy. They overcame some typical Suzuki-Gun underhanded tactics and Ospreay pinned TAKA after the Oscutter at 8:08. Bland as hell when Jado was in, with Ospreay providing a bit of relief. Somehow, this is the best Jado match since Wrestle Kingdom I think. [*¾]
The Bullet Club (The Guerillas of Destiny and Yujiro Takahashi) vs. David Finlay and TenKoji
I stand by my thought process that Finlay is TenKoji’s adopted son. They previewed TenKoji against Haku’s kids a bit since they’re both part of a three way Tag Title match at Wrestling Dontaku. The NJPW tag division is a joke. It’s these two teams and War Machine. Tenzan got worked over by the three BC members for a bit. Kojima got tagged and brought chops with him. Yujiro came in and ate the Koji Cutter. It came down to Yujiro and Finlay, with Finlay picking up several near falls. Yujiro got the win though, hitting Pimp Juice at 9:47. Standard stuff from these guys. Nothing you need to see.[**]
CHAOS (NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Roppongi Vice and Toru Yano) vs. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Again, this is here to build RPG Vice/shitty Jr. Tag Champions and Suzuki/Goto. Of course, this started with the typical Suzuki-Gun brawl around the ring. Yawn. The Jr. tag teams faced off and Beretta even got to steal the bell hammer from Taichi. More brawling outside followed, with Suzuki and Goto fighting through the entrance and bringing a chair into play. Back inside, Beretta tried standing up to Suzuki but got his ass kicked for it. Besides the preview for upcoming matches, we got some Yano/Iizuka interactions, which weren’t great. RPG Vice stopped Iizuka from using his iron hand and Yano rolled him up to take it at 11:39. Multi-man tags follow similar formulas, but the Suzuki-Gun ones are already tired and dull. There wasn’t even enough Goto/Suzuki interactions to save this. [**]
BUSHI, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi and SANADA vs. YOSHITATSU and NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi
Hey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this specific LIDJ combination before. Takahashi and Ricochet started, giving the impression that their upcoming match is gonna be wild. YOSHITATSU had half his face painted like the Japanese flag. The match dipped in quality whenever he came in. Taguchi came in and got worn down by LIDJ with frequent tags. Ricochet eventually got the hot tag and worked the crowd into a frenzy. There was a great spot where Takahashi caught a handspring elbow into a German suplex. They made the mistake of tagging TATSU back in. He did hit an ugly looking Pedigree but only got a near fall. We got a flurry of offense from everyone before SANADA made TATSU tap to the Skull End at 9:30. As usual, LIDJ delivers the goods in a multi-man tag. Ricochet has been a breath of fresh air in these combos too. [***]
The Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens and Kenny Omega) vs. CHAOS (IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI)
Okada and Fale opened things, previewing their Wrestling Dontaku match. Fale held serve, continuing the story of his dominance over Okada. YOSHI and Ishii came in and did their thing after, before Ishii ran into a double superkick from Owens and Omega. Ishii got worked over in the Bullet Club corner for a lengthy period. It was easily the longest of the night. Ishii made a comeback but was cut off by a rana from Omega. He still found a way to make the hot tag to Okada. He did well but continued the angle of wanting to prove how much better he is than his opponent and it costed him here. Okada got out of trouble by tagging YOSHI and things broke down. Ishii and Omega cancelled one another out, Fale took out Okada with the Grenade and then again used the tombstone, this time on YOSHI. He placed Owens on top for the three count at 15:17. Another solid match here. They’re doing better than usual in building up Fale, while the Omega/Ishii interactions were again a highlight.[***¼]
EVIL and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito vs. NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Robinson
GO ACE! Juice grew tired of watching Naito kick the title to the ring and launched himself onto him with a plancha. See, Gedo? You do know how to get to the brawling outside part without the heels having to jump the faces. Tanahashi and Juice were in control until a cheap shot form EVIL allowed LIDJ to swing the momentum. EVIL got to do his corner chair spot to Tana before smashing it over Juice’s leg while on the guardrail. Look at them setting up Naito’s knee bar. That led to Juice taking the heat and selling his leg. EVIL toyed with him at times. Tanahashi got the hot tag and proceeded to kick EVIL’s ass. I was happy to see some Tanahashi/Naito interaction after their awesome Wrestle Kingdom match. We got more of Juice and Naito going at it, with Juice bringing fire. Down the stretch, we got the barrage of signature moves from everyone. Juice and Tana busted out a double team slingblade. Juice took Naito out with a huge lariat before hitting Pulp Friction on EVIL. High Fly Flow finished him at 21:33. Best thing on the show and it was on its way to being a great match but it felt long by the final stretch. My favorite part was seeing Juice counter Destino, which adds intrigue to their upcoming title match. There was a fair amount of action and good build for the 4/29 show, which is all I can ask for. [***½]
Overall: 5.5/10. Not as good as yesterday’s show. Again, the final two matches were the highlights but neither was anything that I’d consider must-see. However, the show did do a fine job of building to the bigger upcoming shows and are always easy watches thanks to their runtime. Give me more young lions and less Suzuki-Gun though.
Evolve 82
April 22nd, 2017 | La Boom in Woodside, New York
Another Evolve double shot weekend is upon us. This time, it features the culmination of the Ethan Page/Darby Allin feud, a final appearance by Drew Galloway, the return of Kyle O’Reilly and more. No Lenny Leonard on commentary, so we got the shitty dude from FIP.
WWN Champion Matt Riddle came out to cut a promo. He talked about being the champion of champions and starting things off by beating “trashy” Tim Thatcher, who he’s never beaten.
WWN Championship: Matt Riddle (c) vs. Timothy Thatcher w/ Stokely Hathaway
They grappled from the start, which made sense since it’s what they’re best at. The crowd popped for every advantage Riddle got. They love him and hate Thatcher. Thatcher took control with a crab and gutwrench suplex for a near fall. He worked an armbar into a triangle choke that Riddle powerbombed out of. Even so, Thatcher caught his BIG BOY SENTON into another sleeper. But again, Riddle learned from past matches and found a way free. They continued to counter each other, with Thatcher turning the Bro to Sleep into an armbar, complete with his ugly mug screaming at the camera. Riddle fought, turning it into the Bromission. That move has been built as a big deal and Tim tapped at 10:14. I liked this. It was kept short and physical. It felt like a struggle between two guys who knew he each other well with Riddle finally getting the monkey off his back. [***¼]
Thatcher and Hathaway had an awkward face off after the match. Tim left and Hathaway pitched himself to Riddle. He wanted Matt to do the wrestling and he could market him. Matt said he kicks it with the fans because it’s fun and he does whatever he wants.
ACH vs. Austin Theory
Without a history between them, this was played like a straight match of two guys trying to gain momentum. They worked a fast paced opening until ACH stopped Austin with a kick. ACH revved up the aggression and started hitting some of his signature stuff, including the apron soccer kick. His uranage got two and each time Theory kicked out, he grew more frustrated. As if he felt he should be putting down this rookie easier. Theory showed fire in a comeback attempt, busting out a rolling blockbuster for a near fall. ACH made Mauro Ranallo proud with USHIGOROSHI! They traded stuff down the stretch and Theory came close a few times. They rocked each other with forearms and then ACH hit a brainbuster to take it at 13:41. They told a simple, yet effective story here. ACH grew frustrated at the youngster’s resilience. He had to get more violent to put him down. Theory continues to impress at just 19 years of age. [***½]
Drew Galloway came out for a promo and said he was done with Evolve. He said he gave everything to Evolve but was constantly disrespected. Galloway said he’ll be happy not to return to this shitty nightclub and will burn it to the ground over the next two days. Drew laid out the referee and promised to make Zack Sabre Jr. quit the business. Sabre came out and they began brawling.
Non-Title Match: Drew Galloway vs. Evolve Champion Zack Sabre Jr.
The first few minutes of this brawl went down before the bell rang. To combat Drew’s harder strikes and size, Sabre used the guardrail to get leverage on an octopus hold. Once back inside, Drew went back to work but Sabre fired off European uppercuts. Galloway went for a choke bomb only for Zack to catch him in an armbar. Before Drew could tap, Ethan Page and the Gatekeepers ran out to jump him. Page picked up the Evolve Title and handed it to Drew, who grabbed a sledgehammer. Keith Lee charged out and made the save for the Evolve Title. Sabre grabbed a Gatekeeper and snapped his arm in a strange way, which commentary sold like it was broken. Lee picked up the title and placed it on his shoulder. I can’t really rate this since it wasn’t a match. It was more of an angle. [NR]
Keith Lee vs. Kyle O’Reilly
It’s Kyle’s return to Evolve. I’m much happier having him here than ROH. Kyle played it smart, avoiding Lee’s grasp and kicking at his legs. It reminded me of the first Danielson/Morishima match from ROH. Keith continued to show off his athleticism with a spin kick attempt and leap frogs. Kyle grounded Lee at every chance but then Lee would just throw him like he weighed nothing. It was quite funny watching Kyle latch onto Keith’s leg and be dragged like a child. Though he had a smart game plan, Kyle made his fair share of mistakes. He turned to trying to lift Lee, which consistently failed. Each shot from Lee sent Kyle to the mat but he wouldn’t stop getting up and firing off his own strikes. They fought outside and took out the guardrail with a Kyle knee off the apron. Lee still fired up and came close with a huge spinebuster. They battled up top and Kyle went for a quad kick but missed and kick Lee in the dick, resulting in a DQ at 16:11. Kyle told the ref it was a mistake. Lee took a microphone and didn’t want this to end that way. He called it an accidental kick to the “people’s anaconda.” As soon as the bell rang, Kyle viciously stomped on his head. He got more heat as the match progressed. More came when he interrupted Keith’s “bask in my glory” stuff with a submission. Lee fought out but Kyle finally got him up with a brainbuster to win at 19:44. The crowd booed the result and though I love Kyle, Lee shouldn’t be losing as often as he does. He should’ve beaten Ricochet during Mania weekend for sure. Kyle had a game plan and executed it early but got pulled into trying to one up Lee. Lee has been awesome since arriving in Evolve. I’m a sucker for a good “cut the big man down to size” match. Not a fan of the mid-match DQ stuff though, keeping this from being in great territory. [***¾]
Evolve Tag Team Championship: Fred Yehi and Tracy Williams (c) vs. Chris Dickinson and Jaka
This has been built up for quite some time as Catch Point takes on Catch Point. There’s tension among the champions after Tracy was a dick to Yehi in the WWN Title match. Jaka and Yehi started and they know each other well, so Jaka managed to avoid Yehi’s signature stomps. Tracy and Dickinson went at it as well. Jaka ran wild, so Yehi busted out a top rope stomp on his exposed feet. Even Tracy got involved in the stomping. The referee allowed a lot of leeway, as both teams did a fair amount of tandem offense. The champs applied their signature submission at the same time, then switched opponents and put them back on, which was cool and different. Yehi surprised by kicking out of the death trap. Tracy got tagged and came in hot but got in trouble. Dickinson hit the Pazuzu Bomb at 15:03 to capture the titles. I like Yehi and Williams but am still not sold on Dickinson and Jaka. The match was good and advanced the Catch Point story. I’m intrigued that they haven’t gone with the obvious Dickinson and Jaka turn, instead slow burning what seems to be a Tracy turn. [***]
Post-match, the four men did the Catch Point handshake. Shit stirrer Larry Dallas came out with rumors that Stokely Hathaway is in talks with Tracy Williams to become Catch Point’s agent. Hathaway showed up and told Dallas to shut up. Catch Point is pissed as Tracy and Stokely left. Yehi hit Dallas with a dropkick and German suplex before also taking out Earl Cooter. The crowd wanted more, so Yehi hit two more Germans and another running kick.
Last Man Standing Match: Darby Allin vs. Ethan Page w/ A Gatekeeper
I was surprised this was booked considering their match at Evolve 81 felt like a blowoff. Page brought a shovel out with him. Right from the start, they went to war. Allin showed off his madman tendencies by diving out onto the stage. Page tried taping a chair to Allin’s back but failed at it so he just slammed him onto it. Darby brought out the Coffin Drop with a chair to the outside. At some point, Page got busted open, which made for a cool visual. Allin looked to hurt his leg and slipped off the top, leading to a package piledriver. Paige whacked him with the shovel, which cut Allin’s arm badly. After the show, it was tweeted that Allin went to the hospital and wouldn’t be doing matches like this going forward. Not content, Page got thumbtacks, put them in the body bag with Allin and zipped it up. He rolled him around and then powerbombed the body bag! Still not done, Page unzipped the bag to show Allin’s cuts. Austin Theory ran out for the save but the Gatekeeper battled him. Priscilla Kelly came out, looking hot as hell, and distracted Page. It went nowhere as Page just tossed Allin into her. He powerbombed Allin onto an open chair, had a bunch of chairs thrown in the ring and hit the spinning Dwayne. Page buried Allin with the chairs and tossed Kelly and Theory onto him, finally winning at 18:48. I liked this match but nowhere near as much as their Evolve 81 outing. The run-ins near the end were kind of odd since the Kelly/Allin/Theory group has never been explained. They did their best to one up the violence factor and accomplished it at parts. [***¼]
Overall: 7/10. Another good effort from Evolve. As usual, there was nothing bad on the card, though this show was missing something to make it great. Every match gets at least three stars. There’s good tag wrestling, a violent brawl, grappling and some good storytelling throughout. Evolve also managed to advance several angles, from the Catch Point stuff to Drew McIntyre’s farewell.
NJPW Road to Wrestling Dontaku
April 22nd, 2017 | Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan
Hirai Kawato vs. Syota Umino
Umino is a newer young lion and the son of referee Red Shoes. He debuted on the recent Lion’s Gate show, which I saw most of, but didn’t have time to review. Kawato is one of the more fun young lions, connecting with the crowd through his willingness to take a beating and bump like a madman. They worked some solid back and forth, which was helped by the crowd being into it. Kawato tried a few quick pins but Umino responded with forearm shots. Umino survived a camel clutch, but couldn’t escape the young lion crab. He tapped when Kawato added the knee to the back at 4:49. Short, sweet and energetic. Kawato continues to be a blast, while Umino was solid in his Korakuen debut. [**¼]
Tomoyuki Oka vs. YOSHI-HASHI
I firmly believe that Oka can be a big player once his young lion stuff is up. He brought the power here, sending YOSHI to the mat with a shoulder block. Pissed as this young boy for kicking his ass a bit, YOSHI upped the aggression with loud chops before wearing him down a bit. YOSHI called for Oka to hit him harder but YOSHI continued to shrug his shots off. Oka brought a spinebuster and saito suplex when YOSHI fought off the crab. YOSHI slapped the crab on him. I guess even after your young lion status is over, you never forget these things. Oka tried fighting off the butterfly lock but had to submit at 9:43. Another solid match involving a good young lion. Oka got a good amount of offense, while YOSHI still managed to look superior. I hope they don’t send Kawato or Oka off to ROH or something for an excursion. I don’t think it’ll help them as much as sticking around. [**½]
Jado and Toru Yano vs. TAKA Michinoku and Takashi Iizuka
This sounded like absolute dog shit from the start. And I say it as a guy who enjoys Yano and thinks TAKA is solid. Iizuka has been awful since the Suzuki-Gun return and Jado is the worst wrestler in NJPW. They brawled outside during introductions because it’s Suzuki-Gun. Jado took the heat, while Suzuki-Gun worked all their usual bullshit. Underhanded tactics galore. This went on for what seemed like forever. Iizuka saved TAKA from a crossface, then used the iron hand or whatever on Jado, ending it at 9:33. I take back everything I said about CHAOS vs. Bullet Club sucking. I’ll take that any day over CHAOS vs. Suzuki-Gun. Yano wasn’t as entertaining as usual and Jado continues to suck the life out of everything he’s involved in. [½*]
Bullet Club (Chase Owens, The Guerrillas of Destiny and Yujiro Takahashi) vs. David Finlay, Katsuya Kitamura and TenKoji
Sometimes, the New Japan Dads like to team with their kids. Kitamura looked to make an early impression, demanding to start for his team. Owens saw Kitamura flex and was like “NOPE” and tagged Tama Tonga in. The numbers game eventually overcame him. After a brutal chop to Owens, Kitamura tagged Tenzan. Time for the dads to teach their sons a thing or two. Finlay came in and took a bit of a beating to give the heels the advantage. Kojima got the next big tag, lighting up the BC with chops. Roa cursing up a storm while taking them was funny, which is all I think he’s good for. Kitamura got a hot tag and ran wild. Dude is absolutely ripped. Unfortunately, he’s still a young lion, so he was here to eat the pin, falling to a Yujiro DDT at 11:36. This was better than expected. Everyone seemed to bring something to the table, with Kitamura showing a ton of fire. I’m liking this crop of young lions. [**¾]
CHAOS (NEVER Openweight Champion Hirooki Goto, Roppongi Vice and Will Ospreay) vs. Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado, Minoru Suzuki and IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
This is to build the upcoming Jr. Tag Title match with Roppongi Vice and the NEVER Title match between Goto and Suzuki. Guess how this one started? A Suzuki-Gun attack during introductions. How original. Following some floor brawling, RPG Vice took over inside. Things went back outside for a bit, and Rocky ended up taking the heat for his guys. We got Goto vs. Suzuki, which was good hard hitting fun and a small sample of their upcoming match. Suzuki worked a knee bar but Goto reached the ropes. Ospreay ended up getting worked over by the three heel juniors but was saved by his teammates. The final stretch saw everyone get involved and RPG hit stereo suicide dives. Ospreay got left alone with Desperado and hit a flurry of offense capped with the Oscutter to win at 13:52. I enjoyed this despite the similar formula in all Suzuki-Gun matches and the Jr. Tag Champions being shit. There was enough energy from Ospreay and manly battling between Goto and Suzuki to make up for it. Also, Will’s win gives him some momentum before BOTSJ. [***]
Juice Robinson, YOSHITATSU, NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito)
Oh, fuck. YOSHITATSU is back. This is the latest chapter in LIDJ vs. Tanahashi and his lads, though they came out to Juice’s theme here. This builds Ricochet/Hiromu (which should be phenomenal since Hiromu is legitimately up for WOTY so far), a future NEVER Tag Title match, Tanahashi/EVIL and Juice/Naito. Naito literally kicked the IC Title to the ring. This started with yet another before the bell brawl. So uncreative. Naito got stuck taking a series of corner attacks from the lads. There were some good spots, like Naito pulling Juice’s hair for added leverage and Tanahashi doing a double dragon screw on SANADA and EVIL. Ricochet and Juice showed off some great tandem offense that made me want to see them as a straight tag team, even for just a few matches. YOSHITATSU gets left alone to take a kicking and taps to Skull End at 9:51. This was an awesome sprint. These guys all click and Ricochet killing it canceled out YOSHITATSU’s awfulness. Non-stop action and it made me want to see the upcoming bigger matches even more. [***½]
After the match, Naito jumped Juice, SANADA tied up Taguchi outside and Takahashi showed off his strange dolls with his and Ricochet’s names on them.
Bad Luck Fale and Kenny Omega vs. IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii
Fale meets Okada and Ishii takes on Omega at Wrestling Dontaku. Oh shit. We got black tights/no shirt Omega, which typically means he cares about this match. Okada and Fale started, with Fale beating him down. Ishii came in and took the heat, with Fale and Omega using quick tags to keep him in their corner. Their offense wasn’t anything special but Ishii sells so well that you feel sympathy for him. Ishii made the hot tag but Okada fucked up and tried to slam Fale. He failed at first but used a head of steam to nail it the second time. The interactions between Ishii and Omega were great and their rematch could be even better than the New Japan Cup outing. Ishii fought off the One Winged Angel a bunch again. They ended up outside, while it came down to Fale and Okada. Okada escaped the Grenade but then fell to his own tombstone at 17:19. This was a really good main event. Omega and Ishii were awesome together and Fale was booked tremendously. He looked like a threat and pinning Okada with his own move was a great decision. I’m slightly more interesting in their match now. [***½]
After the match, Fale beat down on Gedo and hit the Grenade on Okada. Omega cut a promo about the title coming to the Bullet Club. When Ishii interrupted, Omega ordered Fale to splash him.
Overall; 6/10. Standard “Road to” show from NJPW. An undercard that featured some solid but unspectacular matches before things picked up in the second half. An easy way to spend two and a half hours (especially if you skip Jado) but if pressed for time, just check out the final two matches.
Raw History
Episode #91
December 19th, 1994 | Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
Once again, Shawn Michaels is co-hosting with Vince McMahon. They’re wearing Santa hats.
IRS w/ Ted Dibiase vs. Lex Luger
A druid shows up to stand at ringside with Ted Dibiase. Luger is on offense to start, causing IRS to catch a breather outside. Luger gets two on a clothesline, though he surprisingly doesn’t scream with it. Consider me disappointed. As they head to commercial, the camera zooms in on the druid’s ring, which looks familiar according to Vince. IRS hits a backbreaker for two. IRS takes control and Luger starts to rally with a knee lift. He goes after the druid because he is easily distracted. The druid is revealed to be Tatanka. SHOCKER! Luger again comes off looking like a buffoon as he gets counted out.
Winner via countout: IRS in 7:01
As expected with these two, this wasn’t the most exciting of matches. They went through the motions until the finish with nothing of note happening. *¼
A recap is shown of the start of the Tag Team Championship Tournament from Superstars. Tatanka and Bigelow defeated Men on a Mission. Mo got pinned by one finger.
Another Jeff Jarrett in Las Vegas promo is shown. He runs into Rip Taylor, who happens to be a Jarrett fan.
The Smoking Gunns vs. Chris Avery and Roy Raymond
Shawn Michaels decides that the Smoking Gunns are going to be his verbal whipping boys tonight. He disses them throughout the entire match. As expected, the Smoking Gunns get in pretty much all of the offense. They work a few double team moves highlighted by a jumping leg drop/side slam combo. They win with one I haven’t really seen yet. It looked very sloppy and it seems like they have a new finisher each time out. They haven’t quite figured it out yet.
Winners: The Smoking Gunns in 4:07
Fine little squash here. It flew by because they busted out some okay double teams.
Next week, the British Bulldog faces Tatanka and Henry Godwin makes his Raw debut.
King’s Court time, with Jerry Lawler’s guest, Bob Backlund. Lawler talks about Backlund realizing his dream only for Diesel to ruin it. Backlund badmouths the fans, Vince McMahon and Bret Hart. He rambles on for far longer than he should. He even calls Diesel by his real name. Michaels takes credit for telling Backlund that Diesel’s name is Kevin Nash. He then just walks away.
Bob Holly vs. Chris Kanyon
Remember a few weeks ago when Kanyon was much better than the guy squashing him? Well that’s actually not really the case here. Kanyon’s attire is pretty ridiculous, but he actually bumps rather well again. He also gets in some offense this time. Holly wins with a flying elbow though.
Winner: Bob Holly in 3:36
Another solid little squash here. Bob Holly and Chris Kanyon were both pretty game tonight and it made for an alright bout.
Time for our first Royal Rumble Report, which is a little over a month away from Tampa, Florida. Since it is a beach theme, the host of the Rumble will be Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson. This was huge at the time because she was a massive star. Also, the main event is announce as Diesel defends the WWF Title against Bret Hart! Diesel cuts a promo on the match, putting over Bret, but himself even more. It’s not bad but isn’t really good either. Also, ten names have been announced for the Royal Rumble match itself. Lex Luger, Bob Backlund, King Kong Bundy, Doink, Kwang, Henry Godwin, Duke Droese, Aldo Montoya, Adam Bomb and Dick Murdoch.
The Bushwhackers w/ Howard Finkel vs. Well Dunn w/ Harvey Wippleman
Howard Finkel is in Bushwhackers gear and does their trademark walk with them. They start hot and send Well Dunn outside before celebrating with the Fink. Well Dunn ends up in the driver’s seat for a bit, beating on Luke. None of this is really well done, pun intended. Steven Dunn comes off the top with the awful spot where he goes for no move but leaps right into Luke’s boot. I’ve always hated that spot. Butch comes in hot after a tag. Harvey tries to cheat but Fink pulls him off the apron, removing his pants in the process. Butch sits on Dunn, I think, and gets the win.
Winners: The Bushwhackers in 5:20
This wasn’t as bad as a lot of Bushwhackers matches that I see from this era. That being said, it still wasn’t something I’d classify as good. At least it wasn’t offensively bad. ¾*
Jim Neidhart vs. Nick Barberry
Surprisingly, there is no Owen Hart with Jim Neidhart tonight. Before the match, Neidhart shouts at the Spanish announce team for some reason. Poor guys never catch a break. Neidhart bullies and dominates the ham and egger here, finishing him with the camel clutch.
Winner: Jim Neidhart in 2:16
The usual squash from Jim Neidhart.
Overall: 2.5/10. It’s not a good thing when the best part of the show are the squash matches. The two actual competitive matches are pretty bad and the King’s Court is just Bob Backlund rambling for far too long. Not a good episode, but at least we got Royal Rumble news.
Raw History
Episode #92
December 26th, 1994 | Liberty Central in Liberty, New York
Here we go with the final Monday Night Raw of 1994. I can’t believe I’ve covered two full years already. Things start with Vince McMahon doing a voiceover hyping the Raw return of the Undertaker and Diesel being on the King’s Court. Shawn Michaels is Vince’s co-host.
British Bulldog vs. Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase
Like a lot of WWF matches in this era, the babyface starts very hot and causes the heel to regroup. I feel like Tatanka’s heel turn made him give up. He’s packed on a fair amount of pounds in recent months. Tatanka gets a near fall just as we go to commercial. There goes that poor timing again. Bulldog gets two on a cross body and Tatanka kicks out so hard he sends him outside. You don’t see that happen to a powerhouse very often. Tatanka comes off the top with a chop but Bulldog hits him in the stomach and rallies. Dibiase pulls the top rope down, causing Bulldog to fall outside. Lex Luger runs out to check on Bulldog. A pissed Luger gets in and brawls with Tatanka, causing a DQ.
Double disqualification in 6:41
Not a bad match but it didn’t really ever get going. It was kind of just there and neither guy seemed to really bring their “A” or even “B” games. *½
Todd Pettengill brings us the Royal Rumble Report. Six more participants have been added to the Royal Rumble match itself and they include Mabel, Mo, Bob Holly, the 1-2-3 Kid, the British Bulldog and Shawn Michaels. Two more matches are also added. Jeff Jarrett gets a shot at Razor Ramon’s Intercontinental Title and Undertaker gets to face IRS in what was most likely a dull affair.
Henry Godwin vs. Mike Khoury
Raw debut alert! It’s just Henry Godwin, but still. It seems like they were trying to really make Henry seem gross. He has stains all over his ripped shirt and he scratches his back on the entrance. I’m glad they went away from that a bit over time. Godwin dominates, just pounding on his opponent. HOG takes the win with the Slop Drop.
Winner: Henry Godwin in 3:46
Perfectly acceptable debut here. Henry Godwin got to have a dominating win and looked alright in doing so.
HAKUSHI IS COMING TO THE WWF! I loved his look. It is kind of funny how his hype video shows him wrestling in a WWF ring.
Jerry Lawler introduces his guest for the King’s Court, the WWF Champion Diesel. Lawler congratulates Diesel on his success and offers a handshake. Diesel squeezes his hand until Lawler begs for mercy. Lawler now runs down Diesel and puts over Shawn Michaels as the guy that knows Diesel well enough to beat him. He then says that Diesel bit off more than he can chew by offering an open challenge to Bret Hart. Diesel gets tired of this, steals Lawler’s crown and tosses him outside.
Footage is shown from Superstars, where the Heavenly Bodies beat the Bushwhackers to advance in the tournament.
Kwang w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Rich Myers
While Kwang squashes Rich Myers, Howard Finkel appears on a split screen to apologize for pulling Harvey’s pants down last week. Kwang is just tossing Myers around. Tonight has not been the night for jobbers to get in offense. Kwang uses a spinning heel kick for the 1-2-3.
Winner: Kwang in 2:43
Typical Kwang squash. Nothing special.
We now devote some time to hype an upcoming boxing match. Vinny Pazienza talks while working out about an upcoming fight that I give no fucks about.
HE’S TOUGHER THAN TYSON! MORE MENACING THAN SEGAL! FASTER THAN VAN DAMME! HE’S KAMA! THE SUPREME FIGHTING MACHINE! Oh boy.
Backstage, Stephanie Waind and her weird face interviews Ted Dibiase. Lex Luger and British Bulldog challenged Bigelow and Tatanka. Dibiase is pissed, but accepts.
The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. The Brooklyn Brawler
It’s one of the most legendary Superstars in history and one of the most legendary jobbers in history. THE IRRESISTIBLE FORCE MEETS THE IMMOVABLE OBJECT! The Brawler charges but runs right into a big boot. Shawn Michaels does the weekly USA movie plug while Undertaker throws the Brawler around. We also get told that Jeff Jarrett will finally make his singing debut next Monday. Undertaker is tired of kicking ass and hits the Tombstone.
Winner: The Undertaker in 3:12
Completely one-sided, but it gets some cool points because Undertaker was a rare treat on Raw even then.
IRS shows up after the match with some druids. Nothing happens.
Overall: 4.5/10. Not the ideal way to end the year, but actually not a bad episode. While the Bulldog/Tatanka match wasn’t anything special, the squash matches did their job. Henry Godwin looked alright and the Undertaker is always cool to see. The King’s Court was kind of just there, but this episode actually kind of flew by.
As a special treat, here are my top ten matches in Raw history so far!
WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. 1-2-3 Kid – 7/11/94 - ****½
2 Out of 3 Falls: Doink vs. Marty Jannetty – 6/21/93 - ****
Loser Leaves WWF: Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair – 1/25/93 - ****
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Marty Jannetty – 5/17/93 - ***¾
Bret Hart and British Bulldog vs. Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart – 11/7/94 - ***½
Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels – 8/1/94 - ***½
WWF Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Marty Jannetty – 7/19/93 - ***½
Doink vs. Mr. Perfect – 5/24/93 - ***½
WWF Championship: Bret Hart (c) vs. Fatu – 3/1/93 - ***½
WWF Championship: Yokozuna (c) vs. Macho Man – 2/28/94 - ***¼
Raw History
Episode #93
January 2nd, 1995 | Liberty Central in Liberty, New York
The first Raw of 1995 seems to have been recorded at the end of 1994. Jeff Jarrett cuts a promo about his singing debut. Gorilla Monsoon and Shawn Michaels are the hosts, standing in front of a horrid green screen.
Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase vs. British Bulldog and Lex Luger
The tandem of Lex Luger and British Bulldog don’t quite have the “Allied Powers” name yet. The heels attack Luger as he enters the ring before Bulldog arrives. HBK correctly points out that Luger again looks like a moron. He has to be setting a record for that since his face turn. Bulldog makes the save and this breaks down into a standard tag match. Shawn Michaels actually says “you gotta wonder what Lex Luger would do if he couldn’t use the clothesline”, basically calling out the SCREAMING CLOTHESLINES like I have. Luger ends up taking the heat, while Tatanka applies the lazy bearhug. The heels cut the ring in half on him. Dueling tags to Bulldog and Tatanka, who have a better encounter here than their match last week. Because he’s on fire, Dibiase pulls Bulldog outside. This leads to a big brawl that results in a double countout.
Double countout in 8:44
About as basic and average as you can get. The things they did were solid in theory, but the execution was lacking, making for a match that I didn’t really enjoy. *¾
Todd Pettengill brings us the Royal Rumble Report. It doesn’t seem like he has anything new to tell us.
Duke Droese vs. Mike Bell
Gorilla Monsoon tells us that Duke Droese has entered himself into the Royal Rumble. Umm, does he have the power to do that? Also, he was announced weeks ago. Duke gets in almost all of the offense and wins with the Trash Compactor. We also find out that William Shatner will be on the second anniversary of Raw special next week.
Winner: Duke Droese in 1:35
They kept it short. That’s what I’m talking about.
Another Kama vignette airs. I’m sure he’s going to light the WWF on fire.
King’s Court time with Owen Hart. Jerry Lawler loves what Owen did to Bret at the Survivor Series to get the belt off of him. He even says that Stu and Helen may put him up for adoption. Owen laughs about it but then says that he’s going to do what Bret did, only better. He’s going to win the Tag Team, Intercontinental and WWF Titles, but he promises he won’t give them up and that he’ll retire as champ.
We find out that Owen Hart has been added to the Royal Rumble.
Next week, on Raw’s 2nd Anniversary, Owen Hart meets Razor Ramon in an Intercontinental Title match. Also, Harvey Wippleman takes on the Fink in a Tuxedo Match.
Jeff Jarrett w/ the Roadie vs. Buck Quartermaine
Jarrett hits all of the offense while HBK talks about partying with him. Before Jarrett applies the Figure Four, he sends Roadie to get the guitar. Quartermaine submits.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett in 2:43
This was just there. Nothing to write home about.
It’s time for Jeff Jarrett’s musical performance but he stalls through it. He has sound issues and spotlight issues, so he declines singing. Monsoon highlights this by asking “WHERE’S KEVIN DUNN?”
Gorilla Monsoon interviews SUPER DAVE, who is just gonna have an upcoming TV show. It’s just a plug.
Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka w/ Ted Dibiase vs. British Bulldog and Lex Luger
Since this match had the non-finish earlier, they’re finishing it now and we join it in progress. I wasn’t exactly clamoring for more. Shawn Michaels again destroys Luger on commentary, saying he’s been exposed for his lack of talent. He also throws in, “Luger’s bad, not good.” Wow. Luger is again taking the heat. Shawn says this match feels like it has been going all night. I mean, he’s not wrong. Hot tag to the Bulldog. DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER! After some slams, Bulldog whips Tatanka into Bigelow, knocking him off the apron. Then Bulldog just covers him.
Winners: British Bulldog and Lex Luger in 4:59
Why didn’t they just do this earlier? Having it extend later into the show accomplished nothing. I’ll just include the earlier portion with this for an overall score that gets lowered by the dumb decision to split it. *½
Overall: 2/10. The first Raw of 1995 doesn’t do much to improve on a very lackluster 1994. I’ll slightly excuse it since it was recorded in 1994. We’ll start officially getting into ’95 with next week’s second anniversary show. Anyway, this show featured a pretty bad marquee match and they basically did it twice, while the rest of the show was blah.
With a bit more than a quarter of the year behind us, here's an updated list of great matches I've seen in 2017 so far.
****+ Matches by company
WWE
WWE World Championship: AJ Styles [c] vs. John Cena - Royal Rumble - ****3/4
NXT Tag Team Championship: The Authors of Pain [c] vs. #DIY vs. The Revival - TakeOver: Orlando - ****3/4
WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Finals: Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate - UK Championship Tournament - ****1/2
WWE World Championship Elimination Chamber: John Cena [c] vs. AJ Styles vs. Baron Corbin vs. Bray Wyatt vs. Dean Ambrose vs. The Miz - Elimination Chamber - ****1/2
AJ Styles vs. Shane McMahon - WrestleMania 33 - ****1/4
WWE United Kingdom Championship Tournament Semi-Finals: Mark Andrews vs. Pete Dunne - UK Championship Tournament - ****
NXT Tag Team Championship: #DIY [c] vs. The Authors of Pain - TakeOver: San Antonio - ****
AJ Styles vs. Dean Ambrose - Smackdown 1/31 - ****
NXT Women's Championship: Asuka [c] vs. Ember Moon - TakeOver: Orlando - ****
WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville [c] vs. Austin Aries - WrestleMania 33 - ****
NJPW
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Katsuyori Shibata - Sakura Genesis - ****3/4
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 11 - ****1/2
RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata [c] vs. Will Ospreay - New Beginning in Osaka - ****1/2
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. Dragon Lee - New Beginning in Osaka - ****1/2
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito [c] vs. Michael Elgin - New Beginning in Osaka - ****1/2
New Japan Cup First Round: Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup - ****1/2
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA [c] vs. Hiromu Takahashi - Wrestle Kingdom 11 - ****1/4
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [c] vs. Kenny Omega - Wrestle Kingdom 11 - ****1/4
New Japan Cup Semi-Finals: Katsuyori Shibata vs. Tomohiro Ishii - New Japan Cup - ****1/4
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi [c] vs. Ryusuke Taguchi - 45th Anniversary Show - ****
Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask W - 45th Anniversary Show - ****
PROGRESS
Flash Morgan Webster, Jimmy Havoc and Mark Haskins vs. Pete Dunne, Trent Seven and Tyler Bate - Old Man Yells at Cloud - ****1/4
PROGRESS Championship No Disqualifications: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Jimmy Havoc - Galvanize - ****1/4
PROGRESS Atlas Championship: Matt Riddle [c] vs. Trent Seven - PROGRESS: Orlando - ****1/4
No Disqualifications: Pastor William Eaver vs. Sebastian - Old Man Yells at Cloud - ****
PROGRESS Tag Team Championship: Trent Seven and Tyler Bate [c] vs. The South Pacific Power Trip - Galvanize - ****
Fans Bring The Weapons Loser Leaves PROGRESS: Jimmy Havoc vs. Will Ospreay - I Like To Chill Out Here and Shoot Some Dinosaurs - ****
JML vs. The South Pacific Power Trip - PROGRESS: Orlando - ****
PROGRESS Championship: Pete Dunne [c] vs. Mark Haskins - PROGRESS: Orlando - ****
Evolve
Chris Hero vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Evolve 77 - ****1/4
Evolve Championship: Timothy Thatcher [c] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Evolve 79 - ****1/4
Donovan Dijak vs. Keith Lee - Evolve 81 - ****1/4
ACH vs. Matt Riddle - Evolve 76 - ****
Keith Lee vs. Ricochet - Evolve 80 - ****
Fred Yehi vs. Matt Riddle - Evolve 81 - ****
Pro Wrestling NOAH
GHC Heavyweight Championship: Katsuhiko Nakajima [c] vs. Go Shiozaki - Great Voyage in Yokohama - ****1/4
GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hajime Ohara [c] vs. Daisuke Harada - The First Navigation 1/21 - ****
GHC Tag Team Championship: Go Shiozaki and Maybach Taniguchi [c] vs. Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya - The First Navigation 1/21 - ****
Eddie Edwards vs. Go Shiozaki - Spring Navigation 3/25 - ****
Dragon Gate
Big R Shimizu vs. Takehiro Yamamura - Open the Truth Gate 2/2/17 - ****
CIMA, Dragon Kid, Eita, Naruki Doi and Takehiro Yamamura vs. Cyber Kong, El Lindaman, Punch Tominga, Shingo Takag and T-Hawk - Glorious Gate 3/8/17 - ****
RevPro
RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata [c] vs. Matt Riddle - RevPro High Stakes - ****1/4
Style Battle
Anthony Henry vs. Fred Yehi - Style Battle S1:E1 - ****
FIP
FIP Championship: Fred Yehi [c] vs. Brian Cage - Ascension - ****
ROH
Bobby Fish vs. Jay Lethal - 15th Anniversary Show - ****1/4
The Briscoes, Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and the Young Bucks - Honor Rising - ****
ROH World Television Championship: Marty Scurll [c] vs. Lio Rush - 15th Anniversary Show - ****
BJW
BJW Tag Team Championship: Twin Towers [c] vs. Strong BJ - Big Japan 1/2/17 - ****
