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Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWE Summerslam 2008

WWE Summerslam 2008
August 17, 2008
Indianapolis, IN

2008 was shaping up to be a very good year.

Everyone just seemed to be hitting their stride. Triple H had been a solid top face. Edge an amazing heel. Everything didn’t feel booked around John Cena for the first time in years…which also worked wonders for Cena. Chris Jericho and JBL, both coming off huge layoffs and rough comebacks, had gotten back into stride and were entertaining top guys again. Undertaker somehow became one of the best, if not the best worker in the whole promotion. Jeff Hardy was being groomed for the top, although he made some mistakes along the way. CM Punk surprisingly was at the top, at least kind of as he was the World Champion although in the middle of the pack still. Even someone like Mark Henry was suddenly realizing his potential with his strong run as ECW World Champ.

A lot of awesome stuff was happening…and it built up to a pretty good looking Summerslam.

Could WWE keep a good year going?

The Card

We get a promo of the big main event, which is the presumed blow off of the pretty awesome Edge vs. Undertaker feud.

Jeff Hardy vs. MVP

This was still part of Hardy’s “punishment” after getting a wellness strike before Wrestlemania 24 and losing out on his shot at winning MITB. He would get past this and be on top soon enough though.

It’s astonishing to me that MVP didn’t work out in WWE. He was one of the most entertaining heels in the whole promotion at this point.

There are huge “MVP” chants, which is surprising as Hardy was one of the most popular stars in WWE at the time.

MVP pins Jeff Hardy in 10:21. Shelton Benjamin appears at ringside and Hardy takes him out, but that distraction leads to Hardy missing a Swanton and MVP hitting the Drive-By for the win. I pretty surprising result, as Hardy would be on the fast track to the World Title shortly after this. Really good match.

Santino and Beth Phoenix interview by Maria. Santino just recently dumped Maria for Beth. Santino really found his way as a comedy heel here.

WWE Intercontinental and Women’s Championship Match
Kofi Kingston (IC Champ) and Mickie James (Women’s Champ) vs. Santino and Beth Phoenix

Until the New Day run, I swear Kofi was the same exact character for six years.

Michael Cole says that RAW GM Mike Adamle made this “Adamle Original” match. That was one awful part of 2008, GM Mike Adamle.

Santino takes a monkey flip from Mickie, and even that’s hilarious.

Santino jumps in Beth’s arms to avoid a Kofi dive. Just great stuff.

The Mickie vs. Beth stuff is awesome. Beautiful hurricanrana.

Tornado DDT from Mickie to Santino!

Beth Phoenix and Santino win the titles when Beth pinned Mickie in 5:45. Glam Slam wins it. Great for what it was. Depending on how you felt about the IC Title this was either a travesty or awesome. Since the US Title seemed to be the serious title (Benjamin was the Champ at this point I believe) this was more than fine.

Shawn Michaels makes his way out the ring to announce his retirement with his wife Rebecca. HBK was slammed into the Jeri-Tron 5000 by Chris Jericho, which is one of the best heel turns ever done in my opinion. This led to an eye injury that led to HBK’s retirement here.

At least until Chris Jericho shows up. Jericho, who had begun doing the whole suit and tie thing and, as amazing as Edge was at this point, was the best heel in the business. Jericho demands that HBK admit that Jericho is the reason he is retiring. HBK fires back that Jericho needs to live with the fact that he’s not Shawn Michaels.

Jericho goes for a punch…and decks Rebecca. Jericho is in shock, as is HBK. After reading Jericho’s 3rd book, it turns out Jericho accidentally decked her for real. While horrifying, it added so much to this segment and the entire segment is pretty incredible. While I don’t like how he won it, there is no surprise in the fact that Jericho was given the World Title shortly after this. This continued a pretty amazing feud (although I actually don’t like their Unforigiven match) which led to a fantastic ladder match at No Mercy ’08.

ECW World Championship
Mark Henry© vs. Matt Hardy

Mark Henry owned here at this was the peak of Matt Hardy’s popularity. Neither would actually maintain it, although Henry would return to form in 2011.

Matt Hardy wins by DQ in 0:31. Must have been short on time. Tony Atlas pulling out Matt to cause a DQ though just further shit on what the ECW Brand was though. Sadly, something similar would happen with the ECW World Title next year too.

World Heavyweight Championship
CM Punk© vs. JBL

Punk had won the title from Edge using MITB, and JBL felt he was an undeserving champ. Punk probably wasn’t ready for the World Title yet, and as described on his documentary, this was a really a midcard feud with the World Title involved, although JBL and Punk were both pretty good at this point.

Just a fun big man vs. little man match here. Feels like an IC Title Match though.

CM Punk retains by pin in 11:09. GTS gets the win. A little short, but very good. It was a solid, clean victory for Champ Punk and one of the better JBL matches. Just a shame it was stuck in the midcard.

WWE Championship
Triple H© vs. The Great Khali

I thought it was pretty weird for Khali to get one more shot at the top here. This would be the last time though, as Khali became the comedic “Punjanbi Playboy” in October and never gave up that role.

HHH does his best here. Khali dominates with nerve holds and his chops and such, and HHH makes the most out of it, selling for Khali, making him look like a million bucks.

HHH retains the title in 9:18 by pin. Probably Khali’s 2nd best match. Give HHH tons of credit, it’s good considering who his opponent is. This was the end of any main event run for Khali, who soon became a comical babyface.

John Cena vs. Batista

The story is that this came from a miscommunication from a Tag Match, but that was a set-up for the obvious “dream match” scenario.

The promo video really pushes the whole idea of Batista and Cena being the top guys in the company and finally colliding. Interestingly though, this isn’t the main event. I think this was because Batista wasn’t really at his peak here and had been cast aside on Smackdown. Peak Batista is from 2005 through mid 2007, then again in early 2010.

Batista using the Figure Four is a nice touch with Flair’s retirement back at Mania.

I like that Batista is busting out moves we don’t normally see from him. A Figure Four before, and now a variation of a rear naked choke.

Awesome counter: Cena goes for his top rope legdrop on a bent over opponent, only Batista turns it into a Batista Bomb. And it’s not even the finish!

Batista pinned John Cena in 13:44. The 2nd Batista Bomb wins it cleanly. Not a surprising finish as Batista was the one that needed a little re-establishing, and a clean win over Cena was the perfect solution. Both of these guys also showed great chemistry that would be seen again a couple years later. I don’t think anyone was expecting a great match here, but that’s what they got.

Hell in a Cell
The Undertaker vs. Edge

If Jericho vs. HBK wasn’t your 2008 Feud of the Year, then this was. Taker and Edge had brilliant matches at Wrestlemania, Backlash and a classic at One Night Stand. Edge won that last won for the title that “retired” the Undertaker…but a vengeful Vickie Guerrerobrought The Undertaker back.

I will say the Edge-Vickie marriage was just something that didn’t really work, but Edge was so good it pretty much didn’t matter. There was also a brilliant segment in the lead-up where Edge beat up Mick Foley in Foley’s last great WWE segment.

Some real creative stuff early on using the ring steps. Snake eyes from Taker, then an Edge dropkick and spear with Taker sitting next to the steps.

This is a flat out a great brawl. Bonus points for Edge invoking what he did to Mick Foley before dropping an elbow with a chair off a ladder onto Taker.

A big surprise…Edge spears Taker through the Cell! I believe this was the first time in six years that the Hell in a Cell participants went outside the Cell.

In a ridiculously dangerous spot, Edge jumps off one table and spears Taker through the other one. Just sick.

In a brilliant callback, Edge whacks Taker with a TV camera. He did the same at Survivor Series ’07.

The brawl keeps on and eventually Taker gets the upperhand and puts an epic beatdown on Edge. Poor Edge gets whacked with the camera, goes flying through the tables and Is the recipient of a vicious con-chair-to. Talk about a feud ender.

The Undertaker pinned Edge in 26:40. Tombstone finished it off. Really a TLC match in a Hell in a Cell match…but it was a great match nonetheless and the last great Cell match until Wrestlemania XXVIII. It was weird at the time that there was no blood or anything…but really it was just a sign of the times as blood would become a thing of the past. A great ending to a great feud. As long as we ignore the hokey post-match beat down where Taker chokeslams Edge through the ring and then lights the hole on fire. We can just ignore that if that’s okay (don’t worry, Edge would show up three months later at Survivor Series and win the World Title).

This is a pretty awesome show all around. Everything except the short ECW World Title match basically hit. CM Punk showed he can be a great World Champion (not that WWE let him run with it or anything…we’d have to wait a year for that), HHH showed he can actually get a good match out of the Great Khali, the two main events were great AND we got that whole HBK-Jericho segment. This is as close to an A+ as you can get without getting one…but it feels like it just comes short. This might have not been the best Taker-Edge match or even Cena-Batista match…and historically, Punk got nowhere.

Still a great show though.

Final Grade: A

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews The 1993 WWF King of the Ring

WWF King of the Ring ‘93
June 13, 1993
Dayton, OH

The New Generation was hit with Hulkamania brother!

Hulk Hogan had “retired” at the conclusion of Wrestlemania VIII. After a top feud of Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage, Vince McMahon had Flair drop the World Title to Bret Hart. While Bret was a new face on top of the card, he had been an excellent IC and Tag Champion over the years. There weren’t any heels built for Bret to face off with, but Bret still carried the top title with pride and his match quality night in and night out proved he was worthy of being the Champion.

Who knows why the decision at Wrestlemania IX was made to have Bret drop the title to Yokozuna who then immediately dropped it to a returning Hogan. The crowd was hot for the finish, sure, but long term that was one of the worst the WWF had ever made. Unless of course, we were getting Hogan vs. Bret at Summerslam ’93. But first we’re getting Hogan vs. Yoko II. Bret will have to carry the PPV match quality wise…while Hogan has to “draw the money”, brother.

The Card

This is being billed as the first King of the Ring, but there were previous non-televised KOTRs before.

King of the Ring Qualifier: Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon

This is a rematch from the ’93 Royal Rumble. Ramon had just began his program with The 1-2-3 Kid, which would lead to a face turn.

Razor was such a cool character. Really could have been a top guy in pretty much any era.

Razor definitely has heat…huge “1-2-3” chants.

Pretty awesome false finish where Bret tries for a backslide out of a Razor’s Edge, but then flips over Razor by using the turnbuckles and rolls Razor into a small package.

Bret Hart wins via pin in 10:25. Razor goes for a belly to back suplex off the top, but Bret turns in midair and lands on Razor for the 1-2-3. Good match that made Razor look really strong as he went toe to toe with Bret. Interesting to see a Bret match where he doesn’t go for the legs at all.

Man, I can’t believe they were building toward a Mr. Hughes vs. Undertaker program. I mean how dreadful does that sound?

King of the Ring Qualifier: Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes

This was Mr. Perfect’s short WWF comeback, but it wouldn’t last and he’d retire again shortly. He would be back in 1997 of course.

The role of selling for the monster is something Perfect was a master of…but this isn’t pretty to watch.

Ha. Bret gets asked who he would wrestle between these two. I mean, you think he laughed like hell before or after he answered Mr. Perfect?

Hughes crotches the 2nd rope and he sells it like he’s taking a shit. I think I’ve had enough.

Mr. Perfect wins in 6:02 by DQ. Hughes takes the urn and whacks Perfect for the DQ. I mean whatever really. This match can be best described as Mr. Perfect wrestling himself. But even then, it was better than it had any right to be. And we get Perfect vs. Bret II.

Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna interview. Trying to save face about Wrestlemania IX here. I don’t remember Yoko ever cutting English speaking promos though, so that was something.

King of the Ring Qualifier: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

One of the last WWF matches of Duggan’s early WWF run. He’d show up in WCW when Hogan did.

Match is built around whether or not Duggan can slam Bigelow or not. A small story is better than none I guess.

Duggan gets the slam…but the end would be near for him.

Bigelow wins via pin in 4:59. Duggan misses the 3 Point Stance clothesline, and Bigelow comes off the top with the headbutt to advance. Interestingly, if I were watching this without knowing the results I would have assumed Luger was coming from the other side of the bracket against Bret, but Luger vs Bigelow would be heel vs. heel, so either Tatanka was going over or something screwy was happening.

King of the Ring Qualifier: Tatanka vs. Lex Luger

Luger was still the Narcissist here (with awesome music). I assume if Bret were still champion and Hogan wasn’t around, Luger would be winning this tournament to face Bret at Summerslam.

Interestingly, both Luger and Tatanka were undefeated, so something had to give here.

Refs make Luger cover the metal plate in his arm with an elbow pad…which doesn’t make any sense, but it works.

This hasn’t been too bad. Luger still gave a shit at this point it seemed.

Only real complaint here: announcer’s pretty much give away the finish bringing up the time limit constantly.

Draw: Time Limit: Other complaint: Luger and Tatanka don’t really gain a sense of urgency as time ticks away. Luger gets big cheers asking for five more minutes. I wonder if Vince had the idea of turning him face at this point. Luger then whacks Tatanka without the elbowpad!

Match was a solid back and forth affair. They would have much worse matches later for sure. Anyway, this draw puts Bam Bam in the finals.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect

First, Bret and Perfect have a hilarious promo, which includes Bret saying Stu Hart beat Larry Hennig, and Perfect responding with “your dad never beat my dad”.

The commentators tell the story about Razor stomping on Bret’s hand in their earlier match. According to Bret’s book, this was to allow Bret to use three different finishes and give him an excuse not to use the Sharpshooter.

So far this match has been ahead of its time. Hard, crisp moves that remind me a bit of the Angle vs. Benoit series.

Ridiculously stiff European uppercut from Bret late in the match. What a match this has been.

Great psychology! Bret goes for the Sharpshooter and Perfect grabs Bret’s damaged hand!

Vertical suplex sends both men to the outside, which was a unique spot for sure.

Bret Hart wins via pin in 18:56. Perfect puts Bret in a Small Package…but Bret reverses into his own and wins! Amazing match, possibly the 1993 Match of the Year. Very similar to technical matches a decade later.

Hogan interview. The last in his WWF career for some nine years.

WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan© vs. Yokozuna

Whatever you think of Hogan’s drawing power at this point, the live crowd was still pretty hot for him.

This is the rematch from Wrestlemania IX.

Match starts off really slowly, with Yokozuna just beating on Hogan.

Hogan goes for the slam! But doesn’t get there.

Hogan no-selling a belly to belly isn’t exactly putting Yokozuna over here…

Yoko surviving the big legdrop though…that definitely is putting Yokozuna over.

Yokozuna wins the WWF Title by pin in 13:08. Hogan calls for a slam after Yoko kicks out of the legdrop…but is distracted by a camera man. The camera blows up in Hogan’s face, and Yoko hits a big legdrop of his own to finish off Hulkamania in the WWF until Hogan returned at No Way Out 2002.

Match is awful. Maybe it flew for 1986, but in 1993 Bret had shown the main event style was headed in another direction. He also didn’t put over Yokozuna clean either. I mean an exploding camera? Interestinly, Undertaker would do the whole surviving Yokozuna’s splashes and such better in 1994, although those matches had other problems. Crowd was very pro-Hogan for what it’s worth, which isn’t much at this point.

Yoko lands a Banzai Drop on Hogan to finish him for good.

We get an interview with the IC Champ Shawn Michaels. He names his new bodyguard Diesel here.

Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers vs. The Smokin’ Gunns and The Steiner Bros.

Seems like a thrown together match just to include the tag division.

The Gunns and Steiners win when Billy Gunn pinned Ted Dibiase in 6:49. Dibiase takes out Billy with the Million Dollar Dream, then cockily let’s go. Billy rolls him up for the win, which is a pretty lame finish. Probably done to get the Gunns over as Dibiase’s career was coming to a close anyway.

Yokozuna victory celebration!

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Shawn Michaels© vs. Crush

This was near the end of Crush’s good guy run. I never saw Crush as a money drawing top face, but some thought he should have gotten the run instead of Luger. I would disagree though.

Match started off okay with Crush hitting HBK with power moves and HBK selling them to death.

Match terrible slows down though when Diesel rams Crush into the post and HBK then locked in a headlock. Killed the match.

Shawn Michaels retains by pin in 11:14. Two Doinks show up and distract Crush, and HBK gets a superkick to the back of the head for the pin. A contender for HBK’s worst PPV match post-Rockers to be honest.

King of the Ring Finals: Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

The beginning of the match can be described as Bam Bam viciously kicks Bret Hart’s ass.

The middle of this match can be described as Bam Bam viciously kicks Bret Hart’s ass.

Luna Vachon gets a chair shot in, and Bigelow finishes Bret with the flying headbutt! A second referee comes in to say the match continues because of Luna’s interference. Weird moment there, as I mean, should Hogan have gotten a 2nd chance earlier then?

Bigelow STILL kicks Bret’s ass, and to be honest it’s pretty awesome.

Bret makes his comeback and we get a great back and forth.

Bret Hart wins King of the Ring via pin in 18:11. Bret gets the victory roll for the win. A tremendous big man vs. little man match. Shockingly, there was no Bigelow vs. Hart program afterwards (makes sense with the screwjob finish in the middle), but Bigelow went nowhere after this. Don’t you think Taker vs. Bigelow makes more sense than Hughes vs. Taker? Come on now.

Jerry Lawler attacks Bret during Bret’s coronation, legit injuring Bret’s ribs. Lawler even throws the throne chair at him. Great heel stuff from Lawler as the PPV ends.

There’s a some great (Bret-Perfect) and a bunch of good (Bret everywhere else). There’s some historical significance here too with Hogan’s last WWF PPV for nine years and Diesel’s PPV debut. There’s a lot of bad too, showing that the WWF just didn’t have a deep talent roster at this point (Mr. Hughes?!) or didn’t know what to do with such talent (The Steiners or even Doink here). Luger vs. Tatanka was okay, but the rest of the non-Bret matches just weren’t good.

But Bret Hart showed that World title belt or not, he was the MVP of the WWF at this time. Soon Vince would have no choice than to put the strap on him.

Final Grade: B-

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews ECW Heatwave ’98

Heatwave ‘98
August 2, 1998
Dayton, OH

There’s nothing special about ECW anymore.

Okay, that’s not exactly true, but with WWF Attitude changing the landscape of wrestling suddenly ECW looks bush-league. If anyone randomly caught ECW at 2 AM or whenever they were on, they would probably think it was a WWF rip off show. While it wasn’t their worst year, or even a bad year, 1998 was the year ECW lost its unique place in wrestling and ultimately the year where ECW stopped changing the business and just purely survived.

It didn’t help that quality wise, ECW was lacking. While still having many great performers, a terrible PPV back in May was something ECW could ill-afford. I assume Paul Heyman knew it too, because new talent was brought in for Heatwave ’98. There’s no random Bam Bam Bigelow vs. New Jack match here (what was Paul E. thinking with that one?) ECW still could survive at this point, it just needed to show it could put on a show at the level of the big leagues.

The Card

The Hara Arena looks pretty big for an ECW arena, which is a pretty good look.

ECW World Champion Shane Douglas is hurt, so he’s doing color commentary with Joey. Douglas being hurt for most of 1998 was another strange dynamic. The 1998 Triple H look in yellow isn’t doing Douglas any favors.

We get an f-bomb from Douglas right away. He hypes up the Taz vs. Bigelow rematch. Taz of course was chasing Douglas at this point.

Joey gets his face rubbed on Francine’s chest. Sure why not.

Justin Credible vs. Jerry Lynn

Jerry Lynn had put over Justin Credible for the better part of 1997 and most of 1998. I always felt the Credible-Lynn series did a good job elevating both guys to bigger things: Credible to the ECW main event and Lynn to the RVD feud. Joey hypes this as the rubber match to this feud, which means while Credible won all the house shows, Lynn and Credible must have split the big show matches.

Credible has an interesting group with him: Chasity, Nicole Bass and Jason.

Slight timing error for Lynn, but Lynn makes up for it with a nice twisting crossbody.

It’s hard not to notice how many ripoff characters we have here. Credible is a poor man’s X-Pac, Bass is a poor man’s Chyna and Jason is a poor man’s Buff Bagwell…and maybe a stretch but Chasity is a poor man’s Luna Vachon.

This match is pretty good so far though. A very good back and forth.

Pretty nice Bossman Slam from Credible.

Hurricanrana from the top rope through a table on the floor by Jerry Lynn? Nice!

Credible’s band of freaks gets owned by Lynn when they saved Credible. Bass gets a low blow and a chair shot, and Chasity gets Tombstoned.

Justin Credible pins Jerry Lynn in 14:36. That’s Incredible Piledriver from the top rope ends Jerry Lynn for the pin. Great finish to a very good opener. Heatwave is off to a great start. I think Lynn carried things here…but Credible did hold up his end of the bargain, and that’s all you need.

They also sell the finish like death for Lynn too, as they should, it being a tombstone off the top and all.

We must have skipped something on the Network because we go straight to the next match.

Chris Candido vs. Lance Storm

A well booked feud here. Storm tried to join the Triple Threat, but was double crossed by Candido. The only thing that really kept Storm and Candido from destroying one another was the fact they were tag team champions. They lost those belts (well, Candido and replacement partner Douglas) to RVD and Sabu. So now all that’s left is for them to go one on one.

Tammy Lynn Sytch is here with Candido too. Remember, at Living Dangerously Storm thought it was a good idea for Sytch to be his mystery partner. So that plays into this too. I assume Sytch had been fired from the WWF at this point.

Storm’s non-extreme style was perfect for him as a heel later.

Chris Candido has to be up there with most underrated wrestlers ever.

Suplex on Candido to the floor from the apron just looks like it hurts bad with the concrete floor in play.

Chris Candido pinned Lance Storm in 11:00. Sytch provocatively shoves Storm on the top rope and crotches him. Ref gets involved and accidentally pulls Sytch’s top off, which gets a big reaction. Blonde Bombshell finishes Storm, which is an awesome finish. Another really good match here.

Apparently The Dudley Boys and Jack Victory beat the crap out of New Jack in the parking lot earlier. That should tell you how that match is ending later.

Mike Awesome vs. Masato Tanaka

AKA: the match that proved Paul E. needed to go into a new direction and did so.

RVD sneezing ”Hakushi” for some reason was hilarious to me when referring to Jinsei Shinzaki for some reason.

If seeing these two stiff the hell out of one another is what you want, this match is for you.

Tanaka no sells a release German where he landed on his head. Tanaka always seemed to do stuff like that and truthfully I never got it.

When someone the size of Mike Awesome does a springboard axehandle smash into the crowd, it’s hard not to be impressed, even if the landing wasn’t the great.

Tanaka no sells some chair shots. Again, I never really got it. It’s also quite cringe worthy today.

Tanaka drops Awesome right on his head through a table on the concrete floor from the ring. Sometimes I’m amazed I loved this stuff once. To me now it’s just scary.

Masato Tanaka pins Mike Awesome in 11:49. Tornado DDT on two chairs wins it. Very good brawl and the match of the night so far. I can’t stand Tanaka’s no-selling (it’s part of his character, not something he does maliciously) and Awesome seems to half-ass any moves that doesn’t involve killing his opponent (like clotheslines, big boots), but everything else was stiff as hell and it made a very good match. 3/3 for Heatwave so far! This was the future of ECW, believe it or not.

Taz was money on the mic in ECW and I’m surprised that didn’t translate to the WWF.

ECW World Tag Team Championship
Rob Van Dam and Sabu© vs. Jinsei Shinzaki and Hayabusa

Heyman brought in Tanaka, Awesome, Shinzaki and Hayabusa to draw for Heatwave (Well Tanaka and Awesome were there earlier) after the disaster that was Wrestlepalooza. And it worked, this match has a huge match feel for it and I’m surprised it didn’t main event.

Real sloppy start from RVD and Hayabusa. Two early botches, one off a roll up and the other off a springboard clothesline by Hayabusa.

There are some really smart spots in this one too. RVD with a cocky backflip to dropkick when Hayabusa was trapped in the Camel Clutch…but when he played to the crowd Shinzaki took him out with a springboard dropkick of his own.

Beautiful Asai Moonsault from Hayabusa!

Bow and Arrow by RVD on Shinzaki…then Sabu comes off the top with a chair!

Awesome twisting splash from RVD! The camera angle made it seem like he flew out of nowhere!

Perfect 450 from Hayabusa!

Van Daminator when Hayabusa was straddled on the top rope. Funny enough, Hayabusa no sells it.

RVD and Sabu when Sabu pinned Shinzaki pin at 20:51. It gets messy at the end, but Sabu and RVD drive Shinzaki and Hayabusa through a table and get the win. Sabu shoves RVD away for the pin, which a great little nod to their story. I know a lot don’t like this match because it boils down to such a spotfest…but it’s a damn fun spotfest and I loved most of it. I’d say it’s a great match, but it was quite sloppy at many points and some of the spots don’t quite hit the mark. But fun is fun.

FTW World Championship
Taz© vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

The FTW World Title is the title Taz said meant he was the real World Champ because he couldn’t get to Douglas.

In Taz’s big monster push, Bigelow was the only man to beat him…at Living Dangerously when he put Taz through the ring. Bigelow is Douglas’ right hand.

I’m surprised this isn’t main eventing either.

We’re told that this is Falls Count Anywhere, which kinda gives away the finish.

Taz just no sells an immediately hard powerbomb from Bigelow which is whatever to me. That’s not a move that should be no sold.

We’re already brawling on the outside and Taz gets a kick that knocks Bigelow off the ramp into the crowd, which seems pretty dangerous for the fans.

This has been 70% in the crowd. This was the wrong way to go about this match.

Taz with a tornado DDT through the rampway, and this time I think it’s overdone. It was just done to go one step further from the finish at Living Dangerously.

Taz wins by submission in 13:21. Bigelow emerges from the hole…but so does Taz! Taz locks in the Tazmission and Bigelow seemingly reaches for the ropes, which is considered a tap out. Uh…even that was pretty terrible, since it seemed clear he was reaching for the ropes. I thought this match absolutely sucked. This should have been Taz suplexing Bigelow around the ring for 10 minutes and choking him out clean. And what’s the deal with two straight Bigelow matches on PPV that did a tour of the arena? Why are we wasting Bam Bam Bigelow here?

Dudleyville Streetfight
Bubba Ray, D-Von and Big Dick Dudley vs. Tommy Dreamer, The Sandman and Spike Dudley

I loved the feud. The Dudleyz hit Beulah McGillicutty with 3D when Tommy Dreamer was handcuffed to the ropes. Beulah never came back. To say I bought the hatred Dreamer had for the Dudleys would be an understatement.

We get about 20 minutes of Bubba Ray and Joel Gertner promos/intros, followed by the Sandman, Spike and Dreamer’s entrance. I’m sorry, but that was a huge waste of time there.

Surprisingly good wrestling sequence with D-Von and Dreamer that doesn’t make any sense within the context of the story, but I’ll take it.

We actually get a bit of a wrestling match for the first half of this. Bubba throwing around Spike is always fun.

Once the Sandman got in there, all wrestling ended. It’s now a pier six.

Spike Dudley comes off a huge ladder in the ring and flies into many on the floor! Cool moment for Spike!

Somersault senton by the Sandman on the ladder. Some interesting ladder spots for 1998, messy as they are.

Bubba hits his own 2nd rope senton with Dreamer under a ladder. Bubba was huge then!

Somehow we get Judge Jeff Jones piledriving a blow up doll to mock Beulah. Dreamer spikes him for that.

Dreamer, Sandman and Spike win when Dreamer pins Bubba Ray in 14:26. DDT on a ladder gets it done. Jack Victory shows up and takes out Dreamer…and here comes New Jack of course! The Dudleys get the crap kicked out of them to end the show. Anyway, it’s just garbage wrestling, but I had no problem with any of this. An ugly old fashioned street fight where Tommy Dreamer got his revenge and some Dudleys got beat up. That’s ECW in a nutshell, isn’t it? There’s also a really cool visual at the end with Jack, Spike, Dreamer and Sandman all on ladders with their hands raised.

ECW needed a good PPV badly, and they delivered. The next step, Douglas vs. Taz, was set up. Dreamer can move on now (not sure if he does though), RVD and Sabu teased their eventually break-up. Credible and Lynn helped one another. Awesome and Tanaka injected some much needed new blood. This is easily the best ECW PPV so far.

I can’t put it in the A range, Bigelow vs. Taz was a mess and the time between that and the Dudleyville Street fight was absolutely wasted, killing the flow the show had. Why not give Candido and Storm a little more time?

But it was close and the right step for ECW.

Final Grade: B+

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews: WWF Wrestlemania X7

WWF Wrestlemania X7
April 1, 2001
Houston, TX

It’s over.

Good bye WCW. It was a good run and you put on a great effort, but the WWF has won. When the last Monday Nitro basically became a commercial for Wrestlemania X7 it was over for good.

The WWF set one of the truly great stacked PPV cards of all time for Wrestlemania X7. They were fortunate as unlike last year, no top guys were injured. Last year the WWF was missing The Undertaker and Stone Cold. For Mania X7, they have both. The WWF also did an effective job making new stars, evident by Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit’s run in the latter half of 2000. The WWF owns the wrestling world now. Things can only get better from now on, right? (Hindsight says…ha!)

Let’s talk a little bit about Stone Cold.

Is he as popular as he once was? Is he on the way down? Is he stale? Why are ratings not as strong? Why didn’t his comeback lead to another big ratings streak?

All great questions. At the end of Wrestlemania we’ll see how Vince answered them.

The Card

Houston Astrodome is packed. This is also the first Wrestlemania promo where I really felt the epicness of the event.

Limp Bizkit’s “My Way” was a perfect fit for this event.

Paul Heyman, replacing the temporarily departed Jerry Lawler here, says ECW about three minutes into the broadcast. I chuckled.

Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho© vs. William Regal

It was an interesting time for Jericho. After spending last summer as nearly a top guy, Jericho found himself back in the midcard…at least for now.

Regal was still a relative newcomer, debuting in September. But, we are also at the beginning of perhaps Regal’s best work, as he was clean at this point and a great heel as the Commissioner.

This was the feud that had Jericho peeing in Regal’s tea. A legendary moment if there ever was one. This also had Jericho running in on Regal when he was dressed as Doink.

Fast start, probably because they know they only have about 8 minutes for this.
Jericho almost overshoots Regal on a flying bodypress to the outside. Would have been a bad start to Mania there.

Double underhook suplex on Jericho from the top. Nice move from our Commissioner!

Regal’s STF makes me wonder how WWE ever thought John Cena could pull it off.

Chris Jericho retains by pin in 7:08. Lionsault out of nowhere gets the win. Crowd even seemed surprised. They tried to jam a 15 minute match into an 8 minute match, and while it wasn’t a bad match, it was nothing special and a bit disappointing.

Shane McMahon arrives in a WCW limo!

Bradshaw explains just how important this match in Texas is by going over historical events that took place in the Astrodome. Six man tag is next.

The APA and Tazz vs. The Right to Censor

I don’t recall how Tazz got involved, but the APA and RTC didn’t get along for obvious reasons.

Weird botch when Tazz gets whipped into the ropes and just falls into them and rockets back. Quite strange there.

The APA and Tazz when Bradshaw pinned the Goodfather in 3:52. Clothesline From Hell wins it. Just a way to get the guys on the card and to pop the crowd early on. This would be the end of the RTC (well, Undertaker would end them for good a week later) and virtually the end of Val Venis, Goodfather, Steven Richards and Bull Buchanan. None of these four would ever regain the popularity they had before.

Trish Stratus rolls Linda McMahon into the Astrodome, and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley says she’s late. I kinda forgot about the whole Linda in a catatonic state thing.

Hardcore Championship
Raven© vs. Big Show vs. Kane

While a step down for both Kane and Big Show, Kane it seemed to work for while it just seemed like something for Big Show to do. Show would be stuck in mid and even lower card hell until Survivor Series 2002.

Big Show never even gets to the ring as we’re fighting in the crowd now.

Raven pops up out of nowhere to attack Kane. The story of this match will be Show and Kane going at it, and Raven attacking out of nowhere.

Kane tries to throw Raven through a wall. Ouch.

Smartest move of the match: Big Show locks himself, Raven and the ref in a cage with Kane out. Kane rips the door off its hinges anyway.

Raven gets thrown through a window by Kane. Crowd responded to that for sure.

Show and Kane actually go through a wall this time. Raven attacks. One thing I didn’t like about this match: Raven basically no sells being thrown through a window.

Raven nearly gets run over by a golf cart. I hope he got a good paycheck for this match.

Kane wins the title by pinning Big Show in 9:17. Big Show presses Raven over his head to throw him off the stage, but Kane boots him and they both go flying off. Kane follows with a flying legdrop and wins the title. Garbage wrestling, but it was well done garbage wrestling. This is one of my favorite Hardcore title matches in the history of WWE. Shame they went back to 24/7 soon afterwards. Paul Heyman also somehow makes Raven look like a million bucks on commentary, which is a bonus.

Kurt Angle angrily watches over his tapping out to Benoit. Edge and Christian joke around, but Angle’s serious. Alliances like Angle, Edge and Christian are just things you don’t see in wrestling anymore. They aren’t a team, but they work together and are friends.

European Championship
Test© vs. Eddie Guerrero

No one cared about Test at this point. He had just come off the T and A run, which got Trish over more than anyone else.

Unfortunately, Guerrero was on his way down too. Personal problems had been catching up with Guerrero and he wouldn’t last much longer.

Perry Saturn seconds Guerrero and has a ridiculous hat on. It would only get more ridiculous for Saturn as 2001 went on.

Test actually gets a decent pop. Maybe he was cared about here and I didn’t remember.

Test gets his foot caught in the ropes. I don’t think it was intentional. Guerrero gets him out.

Ref definitely saw Saturn interfere there.

Eddie Guerrero wins the title by pin in 8:30. Test has it won with a big boot, but Dean Malenko pulls him off. Guerrero hits Test with the European title for the win. Match wasn’t bad, it really looked like Eddie Guerrero was doing just about everything to make it good. Test would get a strong push in 2001, but by 2002 it was pretty much over for him as a top guy. Guerrero would fall apart…but then get his life together in 2002 and go on a great three year run. Still, in the long term this match meant nothing.

Mick Foley is the king of the cheap pop.

Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle

There wasn’t much of a story here, it basically spawned from Angle being shut out of the world title picture and Benoit and Jericho’s feud running its course. Most recent storyline between them: Benoit made Angle tap out on RAW.

Angle runs down Texas. Brilliant mic work.

We get a straight wrestling match to start. It’s an interesting way to start as 2001 didn’t have a lot of that.

Predictably, Angle takes the first liberty. Amazing how the can make a punch a heel move, but here it is.

This whole match is the prototype from their amazing Royal Rumble 2003 match. The biggest difference? The fans didn’t truly trust Benoit as a good guy yet.

Angle taps to the Crossface! But there’s no referee. That guarantees this program would continue (and it would be great).

Kurt Angle pins Chris Benoit in 14:04. Angle gets a crucifix pin after a sequence, and holds the tights for the win. Finish makes sense to continue the feud, but it was a pretty cheap win for Wrestlemania (next year would be worse). This is a very good match, but they would have better.

Kamala has invaded Regal’s office! Great stuff.

Great line from Heyman. JR: “Why aren’t you in the gimmick battle royal?” Heyman: “What, you want me to bring my telephone in the ring?”

Benoit attacks Angle post-match, and Angle taps out again!

Women’s Championship
Ivory© vs. Chyna

This is the ending of the Chyna broke her neck angle. Considering Chyna is considered equal to the men, there’s not a chance in hell Ivory wins.

Chyna wins the title by pin in 2:38. Chyna begins the burial of the division here. Shame she went crazy, as she was still mega over. Chyna finished with a Gorilla Press Slam, which I wonder was a reference to Warrior going over HHH at Mania XII (or a shot at HHH).

Street Fight: Mick Foley is the Referee
Mr. McMahon vs. Shane McMahon

Vince foreshadows his alliance with Stone Cold in a quick interview with Cole.

I always wondered how Shane got away with being a momma’s boy without being booed for it.

This was also the famous feud where Shane showed up on Nitro and stole WCW.

Shane absolutely destroys Vince…until Stephanie pulls Vince off a table than Shane was flying towards.

That’s all it takes for Trish Stratus to wheel down the comatose Linda McMahon!

Trish turns on Vince! Trish beats up on Stephanie afterwards.

Trish chases Stephanie away, and Vince takes Foley out with a chair (including a chair shot to the back of the head, which Foley wasn’t expecting). Vince rolls the comatose Linda into the ring.

Of course Linda awakens and kicks Vince right in the jewels.

Shane McMahon pinned Mr. McMahon in 14:12. Shane-Terminator (ECW’s gone a month and already we’re stealing moves) puts an explanation mark on a very entertaining street fight. Sure, it’s not really the best “match”, but it was fun all the way. Also, if you’re into the McMahon storylines, you would have loved all of this, as I did.

This is already a pretty great show…and we’re only half way through!

World Tag Team Championship: Tables, Ladders and Chairs
The Dudley Boyz© vs. Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz

At No Mercy ’99, Edge and Christian along with the Hardyz changed the Ladder Match game with their tag team ladder match. At Wrestlemania 2000, the Dudleyz were added. Summerslam was the first official TLC match. All these matches were amazing and stole the show. There had also been lesser known matches in-between, such as a Tables match with the Dudleyz and Hardyz at the 2000 Royal Rumble, for example.

It doesn’t take long for E and C to introduce the ladder and take out the Hardyz!

Something you don’t see in a lot of multi-man ladder matches anymore: build up. We get some minor knockdowns off the ladder early on here.

The Hardyz bring it to the next level by doing their legdrop/splash combo onto Christian off a pair of ladders.

The Dudleyz build a table fort on the outside…back when we may have not realized they would be involved in the finish.

Spike Dudley runs in and hits a Dudley Dawg on Edge off a ladder, then hits Christian with one from the ring to the floor.

Here comes Rhyno!

GORE GORE GORE!

Now Lita’s here! She stops Edge from getting the belts.

Lita breaks a chair over Spike’s head…but then gets the 3D!

Jeff Hardy relives his moment from last year with another 20 Foot Swanton Bomb through a table on the floor!

I believe the hanging off the belts spot was invented here. Jeff Hardy almost hopsteps ladder to ladder to ladder, but the ladder gives. Still ridiculous.

Jeff Hardy in another famous spot, he ends up hanging off the belts…and Edge spears him off a ladder! Crazy. Just crazy.

Rhyno comes in and sends Matt and Bubba through the table fort create earlier off a ladder.

Edge and Christian win the title in 15:47. After that, Rhyno helped Christian up the ladder to get the belts. In my opinion, this is still the greatest multi-man ladder match in history. Innovative spots, crazy bumps, excellent use of Rhyno, Lita and Spike. Just crazy. 2001 is where WWE would oversaturate the ladder match though. Hell, they gave away a TLC on Smackdown two months later (that was also insane).

It’s a shame this match meant nothing in regards to the titles though. The Hardyz were supposed to win, but it was switched when it was decided Undertaker and Kane were getting the belts for Backlash, so heels needed to win.

Still. Amazing.

Gimmick Battle Royal

I won’t get into all the gimmicks, but Doink gets a huge pop. And of course the Gobbledy Gooker. Hillbilly Jim did as well.

The Iron Sheik wins in 3:07. Sheik last gets rid of Sgt. Slaughter. Slaughter with a post-match attack. It was horrible, but that’s the point. It was just a fun battle royal with all the old timers. Bobby Heenan seemed like he had more fun on commentary than he had in years.

The Undertaker vs. Triple H

The story was simple. HHH beat Austin at No Way Out and pointed out how he beat everyone that there is to beat. Undertaker told HHH he “ain’t ever beat me”.

HHH Motorhead Live entrance is pretty awesome.

JR brings up that Taker is 8-0 at Mania at this point. Probably the earliest mention of the Streak, other than a 4-0 mention at Mania XI.

This match had no waiting out period. Taker and HHH are just beating the hell out of each other right away. Well, Taker is at least.

It only takes about five minutes, but we have a sledgehammer!

The referee is bumped and Taker gets a chokeslam…but the ref only makes a 2 count. Taker then beats up the ref…and the brawl all over the arena is on!

They end up fighting in the tech/computer area, which is something you don’t see every day. It leads to some awesome visuals, especially when HHH hits Taker with the chair. It feels like a real fight with spectators surrounding them.

Speaking of cool visuals, Taker chokeslams HHH off the tech area, which is like a 10 foot drop (although a replay shows the soft landing for HHH). It looked like Taker dropped HHH off the face of the earth. The moment HHH is up in Taker’s grasp is awesome. Taker comes flying off with an elbow drop for good measure!

We get a Tombstone, which had just become special…but the ref is still gone (way for there to be no 2nd ref!)

In perhaps the forgotten great near Streak-stopper, Taker lifts HHH for the Last Ride, but HHH brings the sledgehammer with him and just whacks Taker in the head with it. I was amazed when I was younger that didn’t finish it.

Undertaker pins HHH in 18:57. HHH makes the mistake of corner punching Taker, as that leads to the Last Ride and 9-0. Just a great knock down drag out brawl. Easily the best Undertaker match of the early American Bad Ass era, at least until Mania X8.

We still have the main event left!

WWF Championship
The Rock© vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

Of course, the promo video for this may be the best over. (Limp Bizkit’s “My Way”).

Austin gets a huge pop and The Rock gets booed for the 1st time as a top babyface…although it wouldn’t be the last time.

Again, no wait period! Austin and Rock tear right into one another!

Kind of a funny moment, but Rock is on the announce table trying to get back to his feet, and the table just falls apart.

In all seriousness, this is an amazing brawl.

Rock explodes out of the corner and nails Austin with a clothesline and the crowd boos the shit out of him. It’s Austin’s crowd in his home state!

There’s something brilliant about having a bloodied Austin trapped in a Sharpshooter at Wrestlemania.

Another amazing idea: Austin busting out the Million Dollar Dream! And JR explains why it’s a big deal!

Here comes Vince!

Rock gets the People’s Elbow, but Vince pulls the Rock off. Some fans boo, realizing what’s about to happen.

It becomes official once Austin asks McMahon for a chair.

Stone Cold wins the title by pin in 28:07. In another genius finish, The Rock, who was getting booed out of the building earlier, gets some big cheers as he survives Austin’s onslaught. Austin pounds The Rock with a chair some 16 or 17 times and gets the pin. Austin and Vince shake hands, which basically marked the end of the Attitude Era and the last boom period in professional wrestling. Great great match. Arguably Austin’s last great match, although I like the Mania XIX match too.

This was the perfect match: two of the biggest wrestling stars of all time at the top of their games. It wasn’t like Hogan-Andre because Andre wasn’t in his prime. It wasn’t like Hogan-Warrior because Warrior wasn’t a sure thing and it was treated like Hogan was passing the torch. It was two guys at the very top of wrestling going toe to toe at the height of wrestling’s popularity at the WWF’s biggest event of the year.

And yet, that’s what makes the ending such a disappointment. Wrestlemania X7 is perfect with the hometown hero completing his comeback and winning the WWF Title. Instead, we got a shocking heel turn that no one wanted. No doubt, Austin was a great heel, but he was a once in a lifetime babyface. The WWF hasn’t reached the level they were at here since. The real Stone Cold was gone, as Austin devolved into a (still entertaining) comedy heel with a serious side to him. Austin wrote in his book about how he thought about just calling an audible when he saw the crowd reaction, realizing that Stone Cold still had the potential to be an elite top face. The finish also showed stubbornness, as Vince had to know he had to change plans after acquiring WCW.

Look, if you have any issues with this show, pro wrestling is not for you. I once thought Wrestlemania XX was the superior show, but really, it’s not. This is perfection, sans the ending. It’ll have to go with 99.9% then.

Hands down, the greatest professional wrestling PPV ever.

Final Grade: A+

Pro Wrestling

RDT’s Quick Thoughts on Wrestlemania XXXI

This isn’t a full blown review (I wait a couple of years for the event to really set in. It’s easy to get too overly excited or overly down on something right away), just some thoughts about what turned out to be a pretty awesome Wrestlemania.

Good for Cesaro and Tyson Kidd to retain the tag belts. Hopefully with this whole “taking the secondary titles seriously” deal, they include the tag titles too. Kidd and Cesaro make a great team and hopefully they get a long reign. Match itself was messy but fun. It felt like one of those indy matches back in the early 2000s we all would have went nuts for. That’s not a negative either, sometimes that type of match just fits.

Big Show winning the battle royal was okay I guess. Nice tease with Cesaro picking up Big Show again. My pick, Ryback, made the final four but got taken out by Show. Mizdow turned on Miz at the end, but left himself with Big Show all alone as a result. He almost pulled off the miracle (with the 2004 Benoit finish) but Show tossed him. Will WWE go with Mizdow?

Something that I thought was awesome in the battle royal, Miz and Mizdow double teaming Alex Riley, and the announce team actually referring to Miz and Riley’s history. There needs to be more of that.

I’m not sure it’s just me, but I’m kinda over multi-man ladder matches. It was still fun and a good match, and the right man won with Daniel Bryan (as long as they do take the IC title seriously). Still, seeing Dean Ambrose take that powerbomb through the ladder is was cringeworthy. When I see guys like Edge talk about how TLC matches were probably the main reason his career ended early, and how guys all over the industry refer to TLC matches as arguably the most dangerous, I just don’t enjoy them as I once did.

The finish to Randy Orton and Seth Rollins was pretty incredible (Curb Stomp into RKO!). Match was good too. Where was a cool reversal sequence on the Orton rotation slam which I don’t remember ever being countered. Good stuff.

HHH was out to terminate Sting

HHH was out to terminate Sting

Triple H vs. Sting is the match that you either hated and didn’t care about or loved every moment. I am in the latter category. On one hand it may have seemed off to have the nWo be on Sting’s side, but if I am buying the WWE vs. WCW narrative I assume Sting would side with them over the WWE. But having HHH with DX on one side against Sting and nWo on the other was nuts. Even if none of these guys are in their prime or even close to it, everyone did their part well. HHH winning doesn’t completely bother me either. I mean, who is going to be wrestling more matches in the future, HHH or Sting? Oh, and I loved both entrances, even if it seemed like WWE got Sting and The Great Muta confused for his.

All the legendary IC Champs congratulating Bryan is a nice touch. Bryan can potentially be so good that in a few months we might be regarding the IC Title as THE title. Factoring in booking though makes that quite unlikely. Still, hearing Bryan on Chris Jericho’s podcast made me think that yes, not everyone can be the Hulk Hogan or even Bret Hart of the company…it takes a special kind of combination of look, timing, ability and success in a pressure packed situation to pull that off. But everyone can be Terry Funk if they work hard at it. I think Daniel Bryan is the Terry Funk of his generation in terms of looking to put people over. And that’s ok.

I leveled myself for sure picking The Bellas to go over AJ and Paige. As much as I like AJ, it does seem that it is time to move past her in the Diva’s division. Those NXT women are ready.

Rusev rode a tank. It may be the most bad ass thing I’ve ever seen in wrestling honestly. We knew John Cena was winning, but I didn’t like how he won. Rusev needed more to go down there. Rusev also being frustrated with not being able to beat Cena made no sense since he beat him last month. I hope Rusev endures. He’s great. John Cena had a springboard stunner in there and in the ring, he’s still great. The character of John Cena though is just so damn boring at this point.

The Rock confronts the Authority, and to my shock Stephanie McMahon actually outduels Rock on the mic. The Rock brings in Ronda Rousey…who might be the 2nd most dangerous person in the ring overall (Brock) for the night. She armdrags HHH and almost breaks Stephanie’s arm. Rock and Rousey vs. HHH and Stephanie would be something next year.

The crabwalk vs. the situp

Bray Wyatt’s entrance with the scarecrows was awesome. Also awesome was the fact there was nothing special about Undertaker’s entrance. I always took Taker having a spectacle of an entrance as him playing mind games with his opponent. But there’s no playing mind games with Wyatt. As big an Undertaker mark that I am, him winning here made little sense to me. There’s no more pressure of being the one to break the streak. So why did Undertaker go over? And now what happens to Wyatt? It should be noted that Undertaker looked like Wrestlemania XX Undertaker here, with leather pants instead of tights and his hair grown back. It was a throwback of what was a throwback to begin with. He looked MUCH better than he did last year. Match was fine, but closer to that 2004 Undertaker than what he was over the last decade. And that’s okay at this point. (Also, Wyatt apparently screwed up his ankle right before the match, so kudos to him).

Boy did the main event deliver. WWE stuck with the Roman Reigns vs. Brock Lesnar plan and it paid off (and I’ll throw in a surprisingly). Reigns showed he can hang tough with Lesnar and they had a great match before the incredible finish. Lesnar destroyed Reigns. It was crazy. But kudos to Reigns. I’m back on your side.

rollins-title
Rollins shockingly captured the title

 

So, I never thought Seth Rollins would win the World Title with his MITB after Lesnar won the title. I didn’t see Brock dropping the belt…well, to anyone really. I held with the underdog Bryan storyline as the best way to unseat Lesnar. Well, until I actually saw what WWE did. With Lesnar bloodied (when’s the last time THAT happened in WWE?) and Reigns out of it after a fourth F5, Seth Rollins cashed in the Money in the Bank DURING the match, making it a triple threat and pinned Reigns to win the title. Genius. Brock still hasn’t lost and remained a protected monster. Rollins got the title with strong challengers or Reigns AND Orton. Brilliant. Good show WWE. Good show. Please keep it up.

 

Pro Wrestling

The Transitional Wrestlemania…and Wrestlemania XXXI Predictions

Wrestlemania XXXI is this Sunday, and truth be told, it’s looking similar to Wrestlemania XXVII in terms of it being a transitional Wrestlemania.

Remember Wrestlemania XXVII? That was the one where The Rock opened with a 20 minute promo, the one where Triple H and The Undertaker had either an amazing match or a match where they just laid down most of the time and just did big spots every five minutes, depending on who you ask (they had an amazing match). It was the one where The Miz won the main event of Wrestlemania, beating John Cena after a dubious double countout was overturned by special guest host Rock. In the end, seeds for HHH-Taker II and Rock vs. Cena (the latter of which was set the night after Wrestlemania) at Wrestlemania XXVIII were already planted.

With news about Wrestlemania XXXII already being leaked, Wrestlemania XXXI is that transitional Mania. It’s been reported by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE is trying to get every part timer to be on the card that they can to pack 100,000 fans in the AT&T Stadium. If that’s true, expect a lot of empty pushes for talent in 2015. It’s going to hard to put a lot of value on some of the matches at Wrestlemania XXXI, especially those with newer talent, if WWE is going to treat them as secondary characters this time next year.

That WWE treatment of newer talent is a big reason why Wrestlemania XXXI feels a bit on the weaker side. Don’t get me wrong, on paper I believe this is a great show and I actually think we are going to get a very good show as well. But after years of Rock vs. Cena and Taker vs. HHH…and even last year’s Cena over Bray Wyatt it’s hard to completely believe in all of these new guys. Hell, if the fans didn’t revolt Randy Orton vs. Batista was your Wrestlemania XXX main event…and even the guy who actually won the main event last year, Daniel Bryan, is in a midcard match this year. Still, this is the pessimistic view. In reality WWE fans should be excited as every year we moan about there not being any new talent, and this year we have four new guys in big matches (Wyatt…although he did fight Cena last year, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins and Rusev), three of which have done a great job and one that isn’t as bad as everyone says. So, with that being said, how will Wrestlemania pan out?

Mania32tag

Pre-show: World Tag Team Championship: Cesaro and Tyson Kidd© vs. The Usos vs. The New Day vs. Los Matadores

At first glance this looks like a way to just give the Usos back the belts to get an opening of the show pop. I do hope I’m wrong though. Kidd and Cesaro have amazing chemistry together and since WWE is looking in restoring credibility with their titles, a long Kidd and Cesaro reign would be the best idea. I think New Day and Los Matadoes have no chance here. I expect Nattie and El Torito to have some interaction as well…and maybe Cesaro spins El Torito around 100 times or something. Anyway, I’m going to go with Cesaro and Kidd. With the battle royal on the pre-show now, perhaps WWE thinks they can get that pop with that. Fans will probably pop for Cesaro anyway.

Mania32andre

Pre-show: Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

Shame this is pushed to the pre-show in only its second running. You know, now that these events are primarily on the Network, why do we even have a pre-show and show. Can’t the whole thing be the show?

Anyway, odds favor Damien Mizdow. Mizdow has been absolutely fantastic in his role as The Miz’s stunt double/personal assistant. Since it’s the only storyline going for anyone in that battle royal other than whatever Kane and Big Show had been teasing and #AXELMANIA, (Curtis Axel has a legit outside shot to win, especially with the Hogan segment this past Monday) it seems like a safe bet.

Or does it? I think it’s far more likely that Mizdow turns on The Miz at some point in the battle royal to cost him the match, but I don’t see WWE giving Mizdow the trophy. Instead, I think they’ll use the battle royal to help re-establish someone, and that someone is Ryback. Before I would be all on the Sheamus bandwagon here, but the match being pushed to the pre-show makes that unlikely now. I pick Ryback.

Mania32rollinsorton

Randy Orton vs. Seth Rollins

I think WWE may open with this to tease that Rollins will cash in Money in the Bank at the end of the show. Seth Rollins has made himself a star over the past year and his performance at the Royal Rumble showed he is ready for the main event. WWE will still give this one to Orton though. The loss shouldn’t really hurt Rollins, although it is preferable he’d go over. Rollins will get the win at Extreme Rules I assume anyway. So I’m going with Orton…probably on Rollins’ jumping from the top rope into a RKO.

Mania32ladder

Seven Man Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match

Interesting that they brought back a multi-man ladder match for Wrestlemania. Smart money here is on Daniel Bryan to win the title to give credence to the establishing the secondary titles that has been floating around. I think WWE uses Sheamus here, either in the match to set up a close finish with Bryan and Sheamus, and/or have Sheamus do a post-match attack to set up that feud. I’m going with Bryan.

Mania32CenaRusev

US Title: Rusev© vs. John Cena

As much as I would love Rusev to retain, they aren’t using Cena to just push Rusev to some higher level. It was a great run and a great story Rusev, and I hope WWE doesn’t ruin you afterwards. But Cena’s winning the US Title here for the same reason Bryan is winning the IC title. I also could see the Sheamus deal going on in this match too, especially since there is history here (Rusev beat Sheamus to win the US Title in the first place). I am picking Cena.

Mania32divas

The Bella Twins vs. Paige and AJ Lee

Believe it or not, this is one of the best built Divas’ matches in Wrestlemania history (despite some cringeworthy moments). We have here four legitimate Divas who can wrestle. After Nikki and Paige put on a great match on RAW I wouldn’t be surprised to see this get a little more time than usual. I also have the Bellas winning here with Paige and AJ continuing their story of not being able to co-exist. One will turn on the other here, and my bet is AJ does the turning to freshen her up, leading to AJ vs. Paige for the title once the Bellas leave at some point.

Mania32wyatttaker

The Undertaker vs. Bray Wyatt

There’s no reason to do this match and have Undertaker win. I love the Undertaker. He’s been my favorite wrestler since I was a kid and I’m thrilled he’s on this show. But he shouldn’t be going over Wyatt. He will draw in whatever match he’s in next year no matter what. Bray Wyatt needs to go over and be the top guy he can be. His promos are off the charts. I think Undertaker understands this. I think Vince McMahon understands this. You can do Undertaker vs. Sting next year anyway. There’s no streak pressure anymore. Bray Wyatt needs this win. And I think he gets it. I hate right now that betting odds have Undertaker as the favorite.

Mania32hhhsting

Triple H vs. Sting

It’s a deceptive match, as on one hand you can’t imagine Sting would come in just to lose to Triple H at Wrestlemania. On the other hand, the feud primarily was about WWE vs. WCW, and it would be weird to see WCW go over at Wrestlemania. Good thing Sting said fighting for WCW was ridiculous at this point. Sting is winning. He didn’t wait all this time doing shoot interviews about how was worried about how he’d be used, just to job to HHH right off the bat. Sting wins.

mania32lesnarreigns

WWE Championship: Brock Lesnar© vs. Roman Reigns

I don’t blame Roman Reigns for his reactions. He was pushed way too fast way too soon for this spot. I also don’t think he’s winning the WWE Title now. The only hope Reigns has now is if The Rock flies in from New York to help him win the title to set up Brock vs. Rock at Mania XXXII. That’ll kill Roman dead though, as that would be twice that Roman Reigns needed The Rock’s help to get things done. I don’t think WWE makes the same mistake twice in regards to having Lesnar lose and thus hurt his special attraction status, at least not yet. Brock Lesnar wins, and leaves as Champion. I expect some Lesnar vs. Reigns vs. Rollins deal (Reigns wins Elimination Chamber perhaps and Rollins’ MITB contract) in the future. Rock might show up to close the show and attack Lesnar, just like he did to Miz at Wrestlemania XXXII. It’s all set up for Wrestlemania XXXII.

Pro Wrestling

Happy 50th Birthday Undertaker! 50 Great Undertaker Moments

Happy birthday to The Undertaker! This is the Phenom’s 50th birthday, and I figure what better way to celebrate than reliving 50 great Undertaker moments of the last 25 years. Of course, we’ll get some more at Wrestlemania XXXI when Undertaker faces Bray Wyatt.

50 Great Undertaker moments. These are in chronological order. Enjoy all!

#1: The Undertaker debuts. (Survivor Series 1990)

What a way to start. Ted Dibiase announced his mystery partner, the Undertaker. Undertaker took out Koko B. Ware and Dusty Rhodes before being counted out. Just the first example of the strength the phenom would show over the next quarter of a century.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij4RluraYSo

#2: The Undertaker finds his first Wrestlemania victim. (Wrestlemania VII)

The vaunted Undertaker Wrestlemania streak began with a dominant victory over the legendy Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hyDIQKu3D0

#3: The Undertaker wins his first WWF World Championship. (Survivor Series 1991)

Merely a year in the WWF, the Undertaker challenged WWF Champion Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series, and with a little help from Ric Flair, won his first WWF World Title. It wouldn’t be the first time he beat Hogan for the belt either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYQ4bzY8msg

#4: The Undertaker goes 2-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania VIII)

The Undertaker joined the side of good against Jake “The Snake” Roberts, and Tombstoned him on the floor to move to 2-0 at Wrestlemania.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ITpKDUzs44

#5: The All-American Deadman. (Superstars, November 1993)

The Undertaker joined the All-American team of Lex Luger and The Steiner Brothers against the evil Foreign Fanatics, led by WWF World Champion Yokozuna. Undertaker would stalk Yoko for the next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjeVPDhJKGM

 #6: The Undertaker returns to face Dibiase’s Imposter. (Summerslam ’94)

After disappearing at the Royal Rumble, Ted Dibiase claimed to have bought the Undertaker. Paul Bearer brought back the real Undertaker, with an updated look and feel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH7Xts_fctg

#7: The Undertaker stuffs Yokozuna in a Casket. (Survivor Series 1994)

The Undertaker avenged his Royal Rumble defeat at the 1994 Survivor Series, stuffing Yokozuna in a casket once and for all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFZSPLg5zps

#8: The Undertaker returns to get revenge on King Mabel. (Survivor Series 1995)

Injured at the hands of King Mabel, The Undertaker sought revenge, with a new scary face mask to protect his face.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gqcmq_wwf-survivor-series-1995-team-mabel-vs-team-undertaker_sport

#9: The Undertaker drags Diesel to Hell. (In Your House: Rage in the Cage 1996)

After Diesel cost Undertaker the WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble, The Undertaker got revenge in the most devilish way yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82yxwkXcJJ8

#10: The Undertaker goes 5-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania XII)

A tough challenger, but in the end Diesel couldn’t put down the Undertaker despite two jackknife powerbombs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lChZopIjHGk

#11: The Undertaker rises from the grave. (In Your House: Buried Alive 1996)

Mankind proved to be Undertaker’s toughest foe yet, and even managed to bury Undertaker alive. Undertaker showed that he “would not Rest in Peace”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NmIfPAmmZY

#12: The Undertaker wins his 2nd WWF World Championship. (Wrestlemania XIII)

Moving to 6-0 at Wrestlemania, Undertaker receives an assist from Bret Hart in dethroning Sid for the WWF Championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeCTS9LKqmc

#13: The Undertaker sends Shawn Michaels flying off Hell in a Cell. (Badd Blood 1997)

In the first ever Hell in a Cell Match, Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker put on a classic that ends with a bloody and beaten Heartbreak Kid…and a blast from Taker’s past. Taker sending Shawn off the side of the Cell was an iconic moment that defined what Hell in a Cell was about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coa9zWwAGh8

#14: The Undertaker returns to face Kane. (RAW 1998)

After being locked in a casket and being set on fire, The Undertaker returned to face his monstrous little brother Kane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvPpXVXiek8

#15: The Undertaker goes 7-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania XIV)

It takes three Tombstones, but the Undertaker put down his younger brother at Wrestlemania XIV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-g6WjexuBA

#16: The Undertaker destroys Mankind in Hell in a Cell. (King of the Ring ’98)

One of the most famous matches in wrestling history, Undertaker destroys Mankind and ends the Taker-Mankind feud once and for all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgYoYTbnPo4

#17: The Undertaker wins his 3rd WWF World Championship. (Over the Edge 1999)

On the side of evil now, The Undertaker beats Stone Cold thanks to some help from Shane McMahon for a third WWF World Title reign.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x9lflm_the-undertaker-vs-stone-cold-over-t_sport

#18: The Undertaker returns…and the American Bad Ass debuts. (Judgment Day 2000)

After a lengthy hiatus, the Undertaker returns to get Vince, and this time he’s coming out to Kid Rock and riding a motorcycle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVQR9Cs6If8

#19: The Undertaker shoves Rikishi off Hell in a Cell. (Armageddon 2000)

The Undertaker causes more destruction in a Hell in a Cell match as he sends Rikishi flying off the top.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RTx6DmAb3Y

#20: The Undertaker goes 9-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania X7)

The first of the Undertaker-Triple H Wrestlemania matches, where Undertaker wins a war that goes all around the Astrodome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P03DdaeAEc

#21: The Undertaker wins the Hardcore Championship. (Vengeance 2001)

Looking for respect, the Undertaker decides to beat it out of Rob Van Dam and shows an edge we hadn’t quite seen from the Undertaker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rva_uOFQwxA

#22: The Undertaker goes 10-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania X8)

The Undertaker hits the historic 10 win mark at Wrestlemania, this time defeating the legendary Ric Flair.

#23: The Undertaker wins his 4th WWE World Championship. (Judgment Day 2002)

11 and a half years later, Undertaker pins Hulk Hogan again to win the Championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9TqP5suWoA

#24: Undertaker returns in the Royal Rumble. (Royal Rumble 2003)

The Undertaker makes his return after being attacked by Big Show in late 2002, and tries to win the Royal Rumble.

#25: The Gong. (Royal Rumble 2004)

Buried Alive by Kane, The Undertaker teased his return at the 2004 Royal Rumble…and sent Kane a message.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epMHPN7J4h4

#26: The Deadman Returns. (Wrestlemania XX)

One of the most iconic moments in WWE history…the Deadman returns to once again face Kane at Wrestlemania.

#27: The Undertaker returns to Smackdown! (Smackdown 2004)

Paul Heyman was a tyrant running Smackdown…and said there wasn’t a man alive who could stand in his way. Well then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvCat5GarQ0

#28: The Undertaker goes 13-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania XXI)

“The Legend Killer” Randy Orton tried to end the Undertaker’s now historic Wrestlemania streak, but fell to the Phenom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND3B-gk4lEc

#29: The Undertaker comes from the burning casket. (Survivor Series 2005)

Taking a page from Kane, Randy Orton stuffed Undertaker in a casket and set it on fire. Undertaker wasn’t happy about that one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybe5fkMTvD8

#30: The Undertaker challenges Kurt Angle. (Royal Rumble 2006)

After finishing off Orton at Armageddon 2005, The Undertaker set his sights on Kurt Angle’s World Championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mn2Ck5uIJw

#31: The Undertaker dives onto Mark Henry. (Wrestlemania XXII)

In extending his streak to 14-0, the Undertaker also brought back his trademark dive over the top rope. He cleared the casket too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLcJjOwE39s

#32: The Undertaker wins the Royal Rumble. (Royal Rumble 2007)

One of the few accolades the Undertaker had yet to win, the Undertaker beats Shawn Michaels and earns a World Title match at Wrestlemania.

#33: The Undertaker wins his 5th World Championship. (Wrestlemania 23)

The Undertaker won his 5th World Championship and went 15-0 at Wrestlemania after defeating Batista.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDPKji_fGZ8

#34: The Undertaker wins the Elimination Chamber. (No Way Out 2008)

The Undertaker concluded his rivalry with Batista, finishing him off in the Elimination Chamber and earning a World Title shot at Wrestlemania.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aO7hpmltzU

#35: The Undertaker wins his 6th World Championship. (Wrestlemania XXIV)

The Undertaker won his 6th World Championship and 16-0 at Wrestlemania after defeating Edge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZE8DTSW9U0

#36: The Undertaker leaves WWE “forever”. (One Night Stand 2008)

Edge wins back the World Championship…and the Undertaker has to leave WWE forever. The way he walks off makes it feel like it’s for real as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfOpK_i2SVI

#37: The Undertaker returns in Hell in a Cell. (Summerslam 2008)

Forever wasn’t long, as The Undertaker looked to finish off Edge once and for all in Hell in a Cell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccOtCL_xr6A

#38: The Undertaker goes 17-0 at Wrestlemania. (25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania)

Shawn Michaels tries…but in the end the Undertaker stood tall at Wrestlemania in a five star classic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCHbbw8CcXg

#39: The Undertaker returns and goes after CM Punk. (Summerslam ’09)

The Undertaker surprises CM Punk, gunning for his World Championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA9MQYw0cjU

#40: The Undertaker wins his 7th World Championship. (Hell in a Cell 2009)

In the vaunted Hell in a Cell, the Undertaker pins CM Punk and wins his 7th World Championship.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwyeZmEeCRg

#41: The Undertaker retires Shawn Michaels. (Wrestlemania XXVI)

Shawn Michaels tried to end the Streak one more time…but ultimately lost his career at the hands of the Deadman.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO5guP45itg

#42: Paul Bearer returns to help Undertaker fight Kane. (Smackdown 2010)

The Undertaker looks one more time to the power of the urn to face Kane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCL4g9k_UVM

#43: 2.21.11 (RAW 2011)

The mysterious 2.21.11 meant the return of the last outlaw…until Triple H returned as well to challenge the Streak.

#44: The Undertaker goes 19-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania XXVII)

The Undertaker made Triple H submit to the Hell’s Gate to keep the Streak intact.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUY5LLf0tas

#45: The Undertaker returns to challenge Triple H. (RAW 2012)

Unhappy with how he left Wrestlemania XXVII…the Undertaker returned to challenge Triple H one more time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOaovYjh2Eg

#46: The Undertaker goes 20-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania XXVIII)

The Undertaker beats Triple H a third time at Wrestlemania, this time in Hell in a Cell.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGbiswEm-Pk

#47: The Undertaker returns to RAW 1000. (RAW 2012)

The Undertaker returns to help Kane one last time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlIqOxxQPqM

#48: The Undertaker goes 21-0 at Wrestlemania. (Wrestlemania XXIX)

CM Punk had proven to be the “Best in the World”, but even that wasn’t enough to beat the Streak.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq8ukQNy8oM

#49: The Undertaker returns to challenge Brock Lesnar. (RAW 2014)

When Brock Lesnar and Paul Heyman said there were no worthy challengers for Brock at Wrestlemania, the Undertaker stepped up to prove otherwise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIqv_DR6ij0

#50: The Streak Ends. (Wrestlemania XXX)

The Undertaker walked down the ramp way at Wrestlemania XXX a loser for the first time at Wrestlemania…but with the respect of everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fglyZ5M4l2s

 

Happy Birthday Undertaker!

Pro Wrestling

Running Diary of the Go Home RAW for Wrestlemania XXXI

Just a running collection of my thoughts regarding the RAW before Wrestlemania. I haven’t really been able to get through RAW since…a while now. I’m already sold on the show since I have the Network…but this is the chance to really sell me if that makes sense. You have three hours WWE (I’m not watching Smackdown!).

8:00: Sold out Staples Center. Lesnar-Reigns face to face tonight! We get Snoop Dogg AND Bill Simmons tonight.

8:02: We kick off RAW with Sting. It does feel weird to write that. I really hope they go with the WCW crow theme at Mania and now the Unholy Alliance remix they’ve been using.

8:05: Sting already alleviates one of my fears for Mania. The build-up has been about WCW vs. WWE where Sting is WCW. Sting here says he’s not fighting for a forgotten war, he’s just here to bring HHH down. Good.

8:06: Here comes Stephanie!

8:09: Steph rambles a bit, but she tears into Sting well despite bring back the WCW narrative Sting just killed and she goes for the slap! Sting blocks! Here comes HHH!

8:11: Steph gives HHH the sledgehammer…but Sting has his trusty bat! HHH walks away from this one but Sting wants more! Steph says to save it for Mania. I can’t help but think they should have went with this more fun Sting than the dark brooding Sting for this feud. Anyway awesome segment to open.

8:14: No commercial here. Dean Ambrose is on his way out. I assume this is a tag with the IC Title ladder match guys. THEN we get the commercial.

8:19: It’s R-Truth and Ambrose against Stardust and Harper with IC Champ Barrett doing commentary.

8:29: Tornado DDT from Ambrose on Harper. There’s a move you don’t see often anymore.

8:30: Truth and Ambrose win. Truth getting the pin makes me feel like he’s not winning (not that I thought he would). Good tag team match nonetheless. Dean Ambrose starts dancing with Truth. It’s be great to add an edge to Ambrose’s character and have him knock out Truth, but he doesn’t.

8:38: Pre-taped interview with Roman Reigns. Nothing special here. Reigns just isn’t the man….yet. They should have done this for Mania 32.

8:40: Bill Simmons on commentary. Let’s do it!

8:42: Amazing what a reaction Mizdow gets.

8:46: 10 Man Tag involving all the guys in the Andre the Giant Battle Royal. There’s two big multi-man matches at Mania and they are both getting what seems to be meaningless tag matches as their final build up. I guess that’s okay though for the battle royal at least.

8:53: Ryback pins Miz to win for his team. Not sure what Bill Simmons was supposed to add here.

9:00: We get the Randy Orton match for the 9 o’clock slot. This match was voted by the fans online. He faces either Big Show, Kane, or Rollins and J&J Security. I’d be shocked if it wasn’t Rollins.

9:01: Rollins and J&J wins 77% of the vote. There was 11% who wanted Orton vs. Show. Well then.

9:03: IN-RING RETURN OF JAMIE NOBLE!

9:06: Noble does the job for Orton. Just build here of course.

9:09: AJ and Paige can’t decide who gets the WWE Divas Championship match later. It seems like they are just going to rehash the frenemies deal again.

9:10: I can believe Bray Wyatt is the new face of fear. Let me believe WWE.

9:15: Looks like Paige was picked. Paige and AJ used to hate one another, no? Then again, so did the Bellas.

9:26: A second Alabama Slam tonight. I wonder if that’s forshadowing a Hardcore Holly return. I think Paige is winning this by the way.

9:27: Oh, I shoulda saw that coming. AJ accidentally elbows Paige and Nikki gets the Rack Attack to retain. I thought Paige was winning as it’s rumored the Bellas are leaving soon. But the obvious AJ-Paige mishap was obvious. Ah well. By the way, that was an awesome match and hopefully a result of #GiveDivasaChance. Nikki has improved leaps and bounds.

9:30: Ziggler vs. Bryan where one of the other IC Title ladder match participants is the special ref? Now that’s an interesting stip!

9:31: Snoop Dogg is next. Yay?

9:36: The crowd does not care about Snoop Dogg.

9:37: #AXELMANIA!

9:39: I did not expect Hulkamania that’s for sure. Hogan went over Mr. Perfect back in the day…maybe he’ll put over Hennig’s kid?!

9:42: Snoop gets to throw Axel out of the ring. I really hope they don’t keep Axel going with just laughs. I’m as shocked as anyone thinking this, but there’s money in Curtis Axel.

9:44: Brock Lesnar: “At Wrestlemania I am gonna fuck up Roman Reigns. The End.” That’d make a good t-shirt.

9:48: 6 Person Inter-species tag match. Matadors and El Torito against Cesaso, Kidd and Nattie. Usos, Cesaro and Kidd, Los Matadors and New Day at Mania pre-show. I will say Tyson Kidd deserves tons of credit for remaining relevant all this time. It’s not his fault he became irrelevant at one point though.

9:53: El Torito pins Nattie for the win. Well then.

9:55: IC Champ Barrett is asked by Kane to give him the IC belt to hang up. I wonder if this is planting a face seed for Barrett.

10:00: OMG where’s Lana?

10:02: WE WANT LANA! WE WANT LANA! Of course we do.

10:05: Rusev finishes off Jack Swagger pretty quickly. Rusev doesn’t let the Accolade go, so of course here comes Cena for the save. Rusev gets the better of Cena. That does not bode well for Rusev at Mania.

10:10: Rusev destroys Cena. What a convincing bad ass. All serious here too.

10:17: Wyatt time!

10:23: Amazing promo from Wyatt. Just give him all the belts and main events now. Seriously.

10:28: Kevin Nash in the Hall of Fame. Makes perfect sense. Diesel was my first favorite wrestler actually.

10:33: Tyson Kidd is hilarious. It’s great that he finally has a chance to show off his personality.

10:36: Weird how Bryan and Ziggler are basically in the midcard…yet there are six world titles between them.

10:36: Dean Ambrose wins the vote to be the ref.

10:51: Ziggler beats Bryan again. Ambrose attacks afterwards of course. All the IC guys go at it afterwards. This is much better build than earlier.

11:00: Well…Here Comes the Pain. Yeah I know that’s a dated reference but it still applies.

11:09: Paul Heyman might be the best ever on the mic. Roman Reigns is here now and he’s getting booed out of the building.

11:11: Wow, show closes with Reigns and Lesnar doing a tug-o-war with the title. Probably smart not to have Roman say anything after Heyman’s incredible promo.

I won’t lie though, after a string of pretty bad RAWs, this one was a great one in the lead up for Wrestlemania. Good stuff WWE.

 

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWE TLC 2012

Wwetlc2012

WWE Tables, Ladders and Chairs 2012
December 16, 2012
Brooklyn, NY
Reviewed on February 5, 2015

Change is coming.

Ever since the ”Summer of Punk” last year, WWE has focused on bringing in new and popular talent that also happen to be popular on the internet as well. For the first time, it looks as if WWE is listening to the “IWC” and the “smarks”.

Daniel Bryan, the former Bryan Danielson, is a former World Champion at this point. CM Punk is the reigning WWE Champion and has been for the past 13 months. Antonio Cesaro, the former Claudio Castagnoli, is at the US/IC title level. The Shield, who debuted a month prior in the main event, have one “WWE type” in Roman Reigns, but two IWC types as well in Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins (Jon Moxley and Tyler Black). Perhaps most importantly for this show is Dolph Ziggler, in the main event here against John Cena.

Rest assured though, those old school WWE type talents are still around. Ryback went from squashing jobbers to fighting CM Punk for the title. Sheamus held the World title for most of the year. Kane is still ticking in a fun tag team with Bryan.

But the point is there is tons of talent and for once, the IWC, the smarks, are seeing things their way. And to be honest, their way looks pretty damn awesome.

The Card

Tables Match: #1 Contender to the World Tag Team Championship
Team Rhodes Scholars vs. Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara

This was the last gasp attempt to get Sin Cara over, which was to team with Mysterio.

I don’t remember if both men have to go through tables here, but I am assuming that’s the case.

Sandow and Cody run down the crowd. If you are watching on the Network, the crowd shot at the 6:18 mark would feature me in the middle. Yeah, I’m the goof in the black shirt.

Awesome twisting armdrag for Sin Cara. Moves like that was what go Mistico over in the first place.

Innovative move here. Cody traps Sin Cara’s leg between the steel steps and the ringpost, then drives a table into the steps.

Team Rhodes Scholars win in 9:30. Sin Cara goes for a springboard, but Cody Rhodes runs in and pushes him off the top rope and Cara goes flying into the table. Awesome finish and a great opener to start the PPV. Right team went over too. This might have been the original Sin Cara’s best match in the WWE. He just never got it going. Sandow and Rhodes didn’t beat the tag champs for the belts though.

Nice Shield promo. It’s on glitch old security camera footage, which is a nice touch. It’s also a great promo, as they run down Ryback, Daniel Bryan and Kane. Interesting comment about Ryback being reckless and such, I wonder if that was a semi-shoot there.

United States Championship
Antonio Cesaro© vs. R-Truth

Cesaro had the remixed Malenko music here…which to be honest I think he should bring back.

R-Truth does a crazy man comeback. I do like that WWE never ignored his transition to a crazy man in 2011 when he turned heel.

Cesaro pins R-Truth in 6:39. Neutralizer (which I never really liked as a finisher) gets the win. Back and forth standard match here. Good for what it was. Cesaro cuts a post match promo, pointing out that the fans booing the US Champ is like the fans booing the US. Shame he’d basically be in the same spot, if not lower, two years later.

Ziggler promo. He thinks John Cena is getting preferential treatment. He wonders why Cena gets a shot at MITB when he lost his MITB earlier in the year…and he has nothing on the line. Yeah…that’s a good point actually.

Miz TV. 3Mb are his guests, and they end up arguing with the Spanish announcers. That draws out Ricardo Rodriguez, and 3MB threaten him. Alberto Del Rio basically turns face in making the save. A very effective reason to turn, as it’s been shown that the only person Del Rio really cared about was Ricardo. It would pay off until the Mania feud where Jack Swagger’s involvement killed any heat Del Rio had.

Two other things to point out from this: Miz is a pretty terrible face. And 3MB were awesome. While Drew McIntyre should have probably done better, I would have never guessed Jinder Mahal would work out in any way.

Intercontinental Championship
Kofi Kingston© vs. Wade Barrett

Kofi was beyond stale at this point. He had been doing the same thing for 4 years at this point. As a result, Barrett was getting huge cheers.

Amazing side slam by Barrett, but it was really Kofi’s selling by swinging around that made it awesome.

Kofi Kingston retains the title by pin in 8:39. A close Trouble in Paradise wins it for Kingston. Pretty disappointing result, although Barrett would win the title soon enough anyway. Match was solid. That’s never been the problem with Kingston afterall.

A pretty good start to this PPV so far.

We get CM Punk in his own personal skybox! Promo time!

It’s a brilliant promo. Punk states that his 392 day world title reign is just the beginning. Shame that wasn’t true.

Tables, Ladders and Chairs
The Shield vs. Ryback, Kane and Daniel Bryan

This came about as this was to be Punk vs. Ryback for the WWE Title, but as Punk explained, Ryback injured him two weeks ago and he couldn’t compete.

This would be the Shield’s first WWE match.

Action packed from the start. Ryback gets some boos, some cheers and some Goldberg chants.

The beauty of the Shield: everything they did gelled like they were a team. They save one another. They control the ring together. All that stuff. It’s why they ended up being so effective.

Reigns gets propped up against a ladder and receives a dropkick from Daniel Bryan. Imagine how WWE fans would feel about that now!

Ryback had the advantage a bit…but the Shield has taken over. Triple powerbomb through the Spanish announcer’s table to Ryback!

Bryan nearly gets decapitated by a table side that was propped on the top rope. Ouch!

Double superplex off the table that was on the top rope! Kane makes the save!

They try to superplex Kane, but Kane just shoves Rollins off the top to the floor!

Chokeslam to Ambrose on an open chair! My god!

Reigns spears Kane through the barricade. It’s just awesome spot after awesome spot here.

Curb Stomp to Bryan on an open chair! I don’t think that was Rollins’ finish yet though.

Ryback is back!

The Shield get the advantage on Ryback too, and beat him down the entry way. They get Ryback on a table and Rollins climbs a 15 footer. Ryback comes to though and catches Rollins…and sends him flying though a stack of tables!

The Shield win when Roman Reigns pinned Daniel Bryan in 22:46. Roman Reigns hits a top rope powerbomb through a table on Bryan, and Ryback can’t get back in time to make the save. Just wow. Incredible match, incredible debut for the Shield. My 2012 Match of the Year. An action packed 22 minutes for sure. Ryback and The Shield looked great.

Diva’s Championship
Eve© vs. Naomi

Naomi won a pre-show battle royal for this title shot. Kaitlyn and Eve had been feuding, and Eve cost Kaitlyn the battle royal earlier.

Eve retains by pin in 3:07. Spinning neck breaker wins the match for Eve. Better in some ways than the standard Divas match as Naomi did some flippy fake outs, although she also botched a jump to the top rope and a leg lariat in the corner. It was still passable.

Chairs Match: World Championship
Big Show© vs. Sheamus

This was a pretty awesome heel run for the Big Show, and to be honest I wasn’t expecting it at this point. At Survivor Series, Sheamus hit Big Show with 30 chair shots, setting up this match.

Slow start, but crowd wakes up when Sheamus begins to beat the crap out of Big Show with a chair…then slams him!

Vader Bomb from the Big Show with a chair on top of Sheamus. Wouldn’t that hurt Show more?

Sheamus his White Noise on two open chairs on Big Show! Ouch. Sick move.

Big Show retains by pin in 14:17. Big Show gets a giant sized chair and the chairshot wins it. Silly, but I think that’s a good creative finish actually. Match wasn’t too bad either, even if it was a bit slow. Definitely was the end of the Sheamus run as an elite-top guy though. Big Show would continue his effective heel run and put over ADR huge on Smackdown…in a match that should have been at Mania.

AJ Lee is apologizing to John Cena for screwing something up. The Barclay’s Center is dying for an AJ heel turn with Dolph winning tonight for sure.

3 Man Band vs. Alberto Del Rio, The Miz and ?

This match was set-up earlier. Miz announces The Brooklyn Brawler as the surprise partner. I mean, it’s fun because we’re in Brooklyn and he gets a good pop.

Del Rio with an awesome suicide dive out of nowhere to McIntyre.

Del Rio, Miz and the Brawler win when Jiner Mahal submitted in 3:24. “Brooklyn” Crab for the win. Just a fun cool down match before the main event.

MITB Briefcase on the Line: Ladder Match
Dolph Ziggler (MITB) vs. John Cena

Storyline here: AJ Lee was the General Manager of RAW, but resigned because of allegations of an affair with John Cena. Even in traditional terms no idea why Cena would be the face here. Ziggler and his girlfriend, GM Supervisor Vickie Guerrero were trying to put the screws to Cena. Vince McMahon got Vickie to make Cena vs. Ziggler in a MITB Ladder match (way to give up Dolph there Vickie). So here we are.

Ziggler just looks like a superstar here.

Cena slightly messes up a monkey flip. Of course the fans are all over him for that.

Ziggler locks Cena in a sleeper, but Cena carries Ziggler up the ladder. Unfortunately for both, Cena passes out, and both go flying off and crash through a table. Cool spot.

Ziggler climbs the ladder…but Cena ends up pressing the ladder AND Ziggler over his head. Ziggler escapes. Another really cool spot there.

One of the worst looking hurricanranas I’ve seen into a table by Cena. Somehow it worked though.

Vickie Guerrero comes out with a chair…but AJ takes out her using all Cena moves, including a Five Knuckle Shuffle.

Dolph Ziggler wins in 23:16. Cena climbs the ladder…but AJ turns and pushes the ladder down! Ziggler runs in with a superkick to finish off Cena. AJ flashes a crazy smile, then skips off as Ziggler wins to a huge reaction. Great main event here with the right result. Ziggler looks like a real superstar here and SURELY WWE would capitalize on him in 2013.

Of course, that didn’t actually happen. Cena actually got his win back on RAW that luckily no one remembers. Ziggler put on a great show in the Rumble, but Cena won that. Big E. Langston got involved in the AJ/Ziggler pairing, and at first was just the muscle. After Ziggler cashed in MITB and won the World Heavyweight Title, the crowd was solidly behind him. Then it all went downhill with an ill-fated double turn with him and Del Rio, then Big E. turned on him as well. That feud went nowhere, and suddenly Ziggler was back in the US Title scene. It was really a shame. Had Ziggler cashed in on new WWE Champ Cena, he’d be cemented today as a top guy (assuming he didn’t lose, of course).

The Ziggler story kind of defines this show overall. TLC 2012, without considering anything else, is a great show. Everything was pretty good, and the big matches were great. But long term…nothing other than the Shield mattered. Ziggler went back to midcard status after a pseudo-top run. Sheamus has been trending downward ever since. They didn’t know what to do with Ryback past the next few months, and an ill-fated heel turn followed. Again, only the Shield really kept going and became big stars.

Big, big stars.

Final Grade: A-

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWE Wrestlemania XXVIII

WrestleMania_XXVIII_poster

WWF Wrestlemania XXVIII
April 1, 2012
Miami, FL
Reviewed on July 13, 2014

Once in a Lifetime…(Of course, this was only true if you died with the next year or if you were born after this match)

The Rock vs. John Cena was one of those dream matches you always hear about. What would happen if Sting fought Shawn Michaels? The Undertaker vs. Andre the Giant. Kurt Angle vs. Bret Hart…CM Punk vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin.

So what would happen if The Rock took on John Cena?

In theory there was nothing wrong with this main event. The Rock was the top guy in the late 90s early 00s, Cena is the top guy now. Wrestlemania 28 made a ton of money to the surprise of no one.

But even so, even this was a little bit missing for the hardcore fans. Hardcore fans would have preferred Punk vs. Austin as a top guy vs. top guy dream match for sure. The Rock coming back was exciting, but without the Attitude Era he was a bit watered down, regulating his gimmick to saying Cena liked Frutty Pebbles and Froot Loops and that Vickie Guerrero was fat. Cena…was just Cena. Booed and all. It was a bit underwhelming. To be fair, it didn’t really need buildup anyway.

This show was designed to get the Attitude watchers back. In conjunction with WWE ’13 later, which was Attitude themed, WWE really was pushing to grabs those fans back and hope that they’d connect with the current roster, specifically CM Punk.

So as a result, we have HHH vs. Undertaker III. Inside Hell in a Cell. Basically the HIAC Dream Match.

How did Once in a Lifetime fare?

The Card

Lillian Garcia’s voice is amazing.

World Heavyweight Championship
Daniel Bryan© vs. Sheamus

Sheamus won the Royal Rumble and was rewarded by being in the Mania opener.

Interestingly, these two were slated for a US Title match at Mania 27, but was cut to make sure The Rock could talk for 20 minutes.

Bryan won the World Title in a MITB-cash in scenario at TLC 2011, and became an entertaining annoying heel champion. He also began to get “YES!” over here.

Sheamus pins Daniel Bryan to win the title in 0:15. Bryan kisses AJ and gets his head kicked off by Sheamus. One of the most awful ideas in WWE history here. I purposely reviewed Mania 11 before this because there is a connection here.

I wrote about in the Mania 11 review that the Diesel strong kickout really hurt his run and caused fans to feel sympathy for HBK, leading to an ill fated face turn. Well, this is that times 1000. It killed Sheamus dead as a top face so badly he still hasn’t recovered in 2014. It ironically MADE Bryan. Fans were already chanting YES!, but now it was deafening. WWE smartly didn’t turn Bryan face either, they let it build up. Sheamus winning a solid 12-15 minute match would have been solid for him.

Also, while this should never really be done, it can be done just fine sometimes even for the World Title (see Diesel vs. Backlund). But the opener of WRESTLEMANIA and a WORLD TITLE match shouldn’t be 15 seconds.

It was also reported later people were filing in and didn’t even realize they missed the match until later. Incredible.

Team Johnny in the house. The Miz received a huge demotion, since he was in the main last year.

Randy Orton vs. Kane

Kane was still wearing the steel mask here in his 2011 monster comeback. Apparently this feud is over Kane losing to Orton in some forgettable match in the summer of 2011, and he was disappointed in himself for shaking Orton’s hand.

This was after Kane’s “Embrace The Hate” campaign with Cena and Zack Ryder. For the record, this should have been Ryder and not Orton.

Daniel Bryan chants start the match. Way to go WWE. Way to go.

Interestingly this is the third straight Mania with Orton far away from the main event. Streak would end at 4.

Michael Cole calls Orton’s DDT a bulldog. Good to see Cole is on tonight.

Pretty boring match overall.

Kane pinned Randy Orton in 11:00. Chokeslam from the top rope wins it. Didn’t look nearly as good as when Matt Hardy took it at Summerslam ’04, but it got the job done. Interestingly, this match was apparently decided this way to screw up betting lines.

Santino and Mick Foley advertising Deadliest Catch. Good thing Mick never had a pirate gimmick…

DAMN!

Intercontinental Championship
Cody Rhodes© vs. Big Show

Ludicrous idea of Big Show wanting a Wrestlemania moment after being a joke in so many Wrestlemanias. Sorry if I don’t buy a multi-time World Champion (including as recently as a few months prior) as thinking winning the IC title is his big Mania moment.

The intro video for this is gold though.

I became a big Cody Rhodes fan around this time.

Spear off the Disaster Kick was cool I guess.

Big Show wins the title in 5:18. Knock out punch for the win. Big Show cries afterwards. Again, pretty ridiculous. Match was a whole lot of nothing. It was a shame Rhodes’ long reign ended here.

Kelly Kelly and Maria Menounos vs. Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres

I do think it is pretty awesome that Menounos is a huge WWE fan.

I always thought it was interesting that the Stinkface became a Diva move even thought it was originated by Rikishi.

Nice somersault senton from Kelly.

I miss Beth Phoenix.

Maria and Kelly win when Maria pinned Beth in 6:49. Roll-up for the win. Not bad considering one team is Kelly and a celebrity.

End of an Era Hell in a Cell Match
Triple H vs. The Undertaker

Shawn Michaels is your special guest referee.

This is a long storyline that really began at Royal Rumble 2007 with HBK vs. Taker’s Rumble finish.

Last year, Taker beat HHH at Mania 27, but didn’t walk out. That was his justification for the match, he didn’t want that to be his last memory. This is HHH’s chance again to Break the Streak.

Jim Ross will be calling this!

Somehow a bald Undertaker still looked bad ass.

Surprisingly we get the Metallica theme on the Network for the Cell.

No wasting time here. Both men go right at one another.

A good knock out brawl so far. Each throwing the other into the cell. Steel steps. How HIAC’s in the PG era need to be done.

HHH goes for a pedigree on the steel steps…and Taker backdrops him off. Nice!

Spinebuster on the steps! Taker shocks HHH right afterwards with Hell’s Gate! HHH powerbombs Taker out of it! Good play on the Mania 27 ending.

Out comes the chair! Also a good play on last year’s match.

HHH goes nuts with the chair. HBK tries to stop him, but that’s not gonna fly in HIAC of course.

This establishes HBK’s conflict. HHH tells HBK if he wants it to be over, then to end it himself. HHH then shoves HBK away. Taker tells him not to stop it. It is really pretty awesome and the crowd gets into it.

HHH takes it to a level he didn’t last year and brings in the sledgehammer!

Sldegehammer to the face. Kinda believable as a finish, and fans get into the false fall.

HBK stops HHH from squashing Taker’s head with the sledgehammer, which woulda been something.

At the time it was pretty believable that HBK could end it at some point to end the streak, which is what makes this so effective.

Taker locks HBK in the Hell’s Gate to stop him from ending the match…and HHH comes down on Taker’s head with the sledgehammer! Wow!

Taker gets Hell’s Gate on HHH…there’s no tap out or referee though. It leaves all three men lying.

Charles Robinson in the house!

Chokeslam, HHH kicks out. Taker responds by chokeslamming Robinson of course.

Taker goes for the Tombstone, but HHH pushes Taker into Sweet Chin Music from HBK! I swear, that was the streak right there. Pedigree…and Taker kicks out! I was shocked when I first saw that. That was perhaps the greatest false finish I’d ever seen.

HHH throws HBK out of the ring…and then Taker shocks HHH with a sit-up! Amazing.

Tombstone…but HHH survives.

Pedigree…but Undertaker survives. Crowd is eating all of this up.

Taker’s turn to beat the shit out of HHH with the chair. HHH’s professional receipt.

Taker stops HHH’s sldeghammer attack. One last DX crotch chop and Taker whacks him with the sledgehammer as HBK’s back is symbolically turned.

The Undertaker pins Triple H in 30:45. Tombstone for the end. Taker, HHH, HBK walk out together in what SHOULD have been Taker and HHH’s last match. It couldn’t have been more perfect. Anyway, right here is a sure top 10 Wrestlemania match, and arguably top 5. It had everything and booked two guys perfectly. A perfect match of history, carnage and false finishes. This is why Brock Lesnar vs. HHH DIDN’T work next year, and arguably why Lesnar vs. Taker didn’t two years later. Incredible. My co-Match of the Year in 2012, only because TLC 2012’s Kane/Bryan/Ryback vs. Shield match was insane. I have trouble deciding between the two. But incredible. Absolutely incredible. It really should have been the End of an Era. It was perfect.

Hall of Fame time. Flair in the Horsemen, Edge are the main events. Weird that Edge retiring was three years ago.

Heath Slater gets beat up by Flo Rida. Slater is pretty hilarious.

Team Teddy (Santino, R-Truth, Kofi Kingston, Zack Ryder, The Great Khali, Booker T) vs. Team Johnny (The Miz, David Otunga, Mark Henry, Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre)

Winning Team’s GM becomes sole GM or something like that.

I always hate the color shirts thing for big teams. It totally takes away from the individuality of the wrestlers. Same for them not having their own music.

Why the hell was Otunga the team captain?!

Same goes for Santino.

Eve came out with Ryder as well. Never guess how that goes wrong.

Booker T gets a majority of the time. I like Booker T, but that seems counterproductive at this point in terms of giving younger guys a chance.

Somehow throwing Hornwoggle at Mark Henry was a good idea? Seriously?

Ziggler has to save Miz from a Cobra. Long way from fighting Cena I see.

Awesome Rough Rider where Miz counters…but Ryder lands on Ziggler anyway.

Team Johnny wins in 10:38 when Miz pins Zack Ryder in 10:38. Eve does the WOO WOO WOO taunt with Ryder in the ring, but the ref tries to get Eve out and this distracts Ryder. Miz gets the Skull Crushing Finale for the win. This would build up to Miz vs. Ryder right? Of course not…

Eve then kicks Ryder low. Just kill off a popular young guy why don’t we? People who hate Ryder now just ignore how over he really was. Worst part was Ryder was actually showing some character here of actually getting pissed at Eve instead of just being the happy-go-lucky face he was.

Anyway, good way to get everyone involved. Sure as hell better than the other crappy multi-man tag matches we saw in the past (like at Mania 27, for example).

WWE Championship
CM Punk© vs. Chris Jericho

Big Johnny runs into Punk and waives the DQ rule, so if Punk is DQed he loses the title. Not Punk’s best acting job there…

Story here: Jericho came back to challenge for the Best in the World title. For some reason, this turned into a Punk is sober/family isn’t sober angle, which missed what this feud could have been. It did lead to some Punk anger stuff which fits the Big Johnny waiving the DQ rule.

They try to tease some DQ stuff early on with Punk, Jericho slapping him in the face and Punk going nuts, etc.

Jericho asks Punk how his sister is…and Punk gets a chair.

He’s about to nail Jericho in the head with the chair, with Jericho giving Punk his head yelling “your father’s a drunk!” It actually looks pretty awesome.

Jericho suplexes Punk from the apron to the floor, which looked great.

Match surprisingly slows to a crawl. It’s not a bad wrestling match, but it is surprisingly how the crowd really isn’t into it. Unfortunately, I think they were burned out emotionally from Taker vs. HHH, and it’s hard to buy Punk’s anger here.

Excellent Lionsault into the Walls of Jericho, even if bother were countered.

Codebreaker is an awesome move.

Very nice impact on the Lionsault. That’s one of the downfalls of the move as it often looks okay at best, but it looked great here.

Punk goes for the hurricanrana…and Jericho stops it and locks in the Walls of Jericho! Great counter that woke up the crowd!

Punk’s flying clothesline is countered into a Codebreaker! Nice spots!

Punk gets ready for the GTS, and Jericho counters into the Old School Walls of Jericho (which I would consider the Lion Tamer). Coulda bought it as a finish for sure.

Really cool Anaconda Vise sequence where Jericho kept getting pin attempts.

CM Punk retains the title in 22:38. Punk gets Jericho in the center of the ring with the Vise this time. No way out for Jericho and he taps. Despite some odd points towards the beginning, the match owned otherwise. They should have just the straight wrestling match without all the silly anger stuff. Main events are coming through for sure.

We get Brodus Clay. He tells the fans to call their mama’s on their phone. Then Brodus’s “mama and her bridge club” come out and dance to the Funkasauras music. An absolute waste of time. If I were Sheamus or Daniel Bryan I would have quit the company on the spot.

The Rock vs. John Cena

We get some musical performance from MG Kelly and Flo Rida and a whole lot of other people that should have also had Sheamus and Bryan thinking about quitting.

In all seriousness, obviously they’d not quit over this, but they should have been offended over this. Some world title. What a shame since Sheamus and Bryan tore it up next month.

They get booed. And then the real boos come out, here comes John Cena! You would think if WWE wanted him to get at least a 50-50 reaction they wouldn’t dress him up in Boston Celtic green in Miami but what do I know.

Nice strategy from The Rock, making Cena listen to Flo Rida first. No wonder he won.

Here it is. A year of build-up.

All this “both legends in their prime” thing is a little off. No way The Rock in in his prime.

This definitely has a huge match feel for sure.

Cena does get some “Let’s Go Cena” chants.

This is a pretty good back and forth match, with both guys trying to see who’s got what.

Fans are really in this the whole way. First AA Rock kicks out of, of course.

Rock Bottom! Kick out!

This is the kinda thing that bothered me about this match. Cena hits his top rope legdrop when Rock was coming up, a standard move, and he’s shocked it didn’t beat Rock. That doesn’t fit the context of the match.

Rock’s sharpshooter was always a thing of beauty…lol.

Cena’s STF is so terrible.

The People’s Elbow was a good false finish.

Rock actually hits the crossbody off the top, something he hadn’t done since 1997, and Cena rolls though with an AA. Great false finish as Rock kicks out!

The Rock pins John Cena in 33:34. Cena mocks Rock and goes for a People’s Elbow…but Rock gets up and hits the Rock Bottom for three! A lot better of a match than I remember it, pretty good back and forth contest of two wrestlers of their level. The image of Cena sitting on the ramp a loser is pretty strong. This of course set up Cena-Rock II.

Well, this is an interesting show as the main events all delivered and everything else was there. All three main events delivered big time too, especially Taker vs. HHH.

Historically, it didn’t do too much it was meant to do. CM Punk’s reign kept going, Cena got his revenge next year (although was nearly killed by Lesnar on the way), Taker and HHH unended an era? No one really got over any more than they were coming into Wrestlemania.

Except Daniel Bryan.

It’s a huge blunder on this show, the whole Sheamus-Bryan incident. Forget about Bryan for a second, he was getting over at some point no matter what. Sheamus has been ruined for years now. They ran with him through 2012 and he was booed throughout. Fast forward to 2013 when Cena is about to choose his Summerslam opponent and he asks the crowd about Sheamus while fans wanted Bryan. People still haven’t forgotten.

This could have been an A, but it drops to An A- with the Bryan stuff, and down to a B+ as the first hour wasn’t good AND the Brodus Clay and musical acts were just a slap in the face to the World Title.

Final Grade: B+