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Pro Wrestling

2018 RDTWorldofSport Wrestling Awards

RDTWorldofSport 2018 Wrestling Awards

Honesty time. This is pretty much my opinion with some searching around to see what some respected wrestling forums and writers think. Also this will mostly be WWE (but not all), basically because that’s what I watched 99% of the time. But if something else catches my eye, it could make the awards. 2018 was an interesting year, for sure. Again, if you disagree, fine. But just remember, I don’t watch NJPW or anything else really.

Moment of the Year

Winner: The Man Comes Around RAW

You know what the easiest way to determine if what someone is doing is great? Take an angle that’s been pretty horrible for years (in this case, the forced RAW-Smackdown “invasions” or whatever for Survivor Series) and turn it into a masterpiece. And that’s what Becky Lynch did. In a pretty lame year for WWE angles, this ridiculously stood out.

Second Place: Penta-Jericho at All-In

Third Place: Ronda Rousey Debuts at the Royal Rumble

Fourth Place: Asuka wins the Smackdown Women’s Title at TLC

Fifth Place: The Undertaker Returns to Confront John Cena

Debut of the Year

Winner: Ronda Rousey in WWE

Her actual debut at the Rumble felt like an absolute shock, and then she proceeded to string together good match after good match all year. Has anyone felt so natural in WWE as Ronda (samoan drop and awkward smiling aside).

Second Place: Ricochet in NXT

Third Place: War Raiders in NXT

Fourth Place: Matt Riddle in NXT

Fifth Place: AOP in WWE

Return of the Year

Winner: Daniel Bryan (WWE)

It wasn’t even the strongest return as Bryan was saddled with trying to make something of Big Cass. But like always, he was too good to be kept in the midcard for long. His heel turn is perhaps the 2nd best story in the company at the moment, and winning the world title and having an excellent match with Brock shows Bryan hasn’t lost a step.

Second Place: Drew Mcintyre on RAW

Third Place: Rey Mysterio at the Royal Rumble/Smackdown

Fourth Place: The Undertaker at Wrestlemania

Fifth Place: Nikki Bella at the Royal Rumble/Smackdown

Match of the Year

Winner: NXT Championship: Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Johnny Gargano

I feel like I need to add the “I didn’t watch much NJPW” disclaimer like I did last year. I think it’s also worth mentioning, while great matches, the Gargano vs. Ciampa series didn’t completely do it for me for whatever reason (probably because Ciampa was gone too long). Gargano vs. Almas had a perfect story. Gargano’s focus was on becoming Johnny Wrestling again after a post-DIY slump, while Almas had just recently went through the same thing before Zelina Vega got him back on track. The match itself is incredible. Not only did it give Gargano a legit argument at best in the world, it elevated Almas into something special as well (that’s been wasted on Smackdown, but whatever).

Second Place: WWE Smackdown Women’s Championship – Evolution: Charlotte vs. Becky Lynch

Third Place: WWE Women’s Championship – TLC: Charlotte vs. Asuka vs. Becky Lynch

Fourth Place: WWE Survivor Series – Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan

Fifth Place: NJPW WrestleKingdom 12 – Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega

Feud of the Year

Winner: Becky Lynch vs. Charlotte

Becky Lynch’s heel turn on Charlotte launched one of rare moments of someone getting megaover (the last one I can remember is Daniel Bryan in 2013). Becky and Charlotte’s beef makes a lot of sense from a storyline perspective and while Becky has just absolutely killed it, Charlotte’s done quite well herself. As a result, we’ve had some great matches and launched a megastar in Becky.

Second Place: Johnny Gargano vs. Tommaso Ciampa

Third Place: AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe

Fourth Place: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Fifth Place: Aleister Black vs. Johnny Gargano

Biggest Disappointment of the Year

Winner: The Roman Empire Crashes

While the very end of Roman’s run wasn’t his fault at all, the rest of it was an unnecessary mess it didn’t have to be. First, Wrestlemania vs. Brock was an embarrassment. Whoever wrote that needed to be fired. The cage match at the Greatest Royal Rumble was there. The Summerslam main event, where Roman FINALLY won the title was bad (and we needed Braun Strowman to be taken out just so people wouldn’t root for a cash-in). Nonetheless, I was all for a fighting champion Roman storyline and perhaps a strong feud with Braun (who he has great chemistry with; it was my 2017 Feud of the Year). Somehow the writing got worse, where Braun turned heel (no one wanted this), wasted his Money in the Bank contract (what) to face Roman in Hell in a Cell…which went to a no contest (sigh). For as strong as Roman gets pushed, he didn’t get a clean run once he won the title. Sadly, Roman was forced to vacate the title due to real life Leukemia returning. Roman’s ridiculously talented and quite frankly I think the WWE Universe would love to cheer for the guy as a top guy. But his booking is atrocious. The way Roman’s been booked not only hurts Roman, it hurt Samoa Joe (Backlash), Brock (the whole thing), Braun (for his forced heel turn that wasn’t needed), Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose (for the botched SHIELD reunion and Ambrose turn). Roman has megastar potential. But not this way.

Second Place: Asuka pre-TLC

Third Place: Sasha Banks and Bayley’s never ending storyline

Fourth Place: AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura feud

Fifth Place: Finn Balor doing next to nothing

Best Show of the Year

Winner: All-In

A non-WWE show! I don’t know if All-Elite Wrestling is going to make it or anything, but wow did Cody Rhodes and company make waves for the American wrestling landscape not really seen for a long time. Good matches (Omega vs. Pentagon was considered for my Top 5), good stories (Cody Rhodes’ path to the NWA title), big names (Rey Mysterio was in the main event), good surprises (Jericho as Penta is my #2 moment of the year) and some other fun stuff (the Battle Royal) far exceeded my expectations. It takes a lot for me to watch a non-WWE show. It takes a real lot for me to enjoy one.

Second Place: NXT Takeover: Philadelphia

Third Place: NXT Takeover: New Orleans

Fourth Place: WWE Survivor Series 2018

Fifth Place: WWE Royal Rumble 2018

Non-Wrestler of the Year

Winner: Kurt Angle, RAW

Not a great year for non-wrestlers. Angle did wrestle here and there, so this may be cheating. He did fine with what he had to work with though, especially since his main feud ended up being with Baron Corbin (almost made my disappointments list, what a mess that’s turned out to be). Bringing back the Conquistador though, hard to top that.

Second Place: Zelina Vega, Manager (A stretch I know)

Third Place: William Regal, NXT General Manager

Fourth Place: Paul Heyman, Manager

Fifth Place: Paige, Smackdown General Manager

Best Surprisingly Good Angle

Winner: The Ultimate Deletion

One of the few feel good stories in WWE this year. Br Woken Matt Hardy got to do a WWE-style Ultimate Deletion match…and it was a lot of fun! And while Bray Wyatt is capable of much more, the post-Deletion team, the Eater of Worlds, were fun and a good way for Matt Hardy to go out.

Second Place: Daniel Bryan Turns Heel

Third Place: Kurt Angle as a Conquistador

Woman of the Year

Winner: Becky Lynch (WWE)

Like this was a question. Becky’s the most over act in WWE at the moment and arenas everywhere are chanting her name. I’m begging that WWE doesn’t give her the 2012-2013 CM Punk treatment. To give an idea of how big Becky’s year was, she didn’t even make my Top 5 in this category last year.

Second Place: Ronda Rousey (WWE)

Third Place: Charlotte (WWE)

Fourth Place: Asuka (WWE)

Fifth Place: Shayna Bazsler (NXT)

Tag Team of the Year

Winner: The Undisputed Era (NXT)

It was a rough year in WWE land for tag teams, let me tell you. Thank goodness the Undisputed Era continues to be awesome. New Day, Bar and Usos, good as they all are, are stale. Bo Dallas and Curtis Axel were champions at one point. And so was a 10 year old kid? Thank you Undisputed Era.

Second Place: The New Day (WWE)

Third Place: The Bar (WWE)

Fourth Place: The Deleter of Worlds (WWE)

Fifth Place: The Bludgeon Brothers (WWE)

Wrestler of the Year

Winner: Becky Lynch (WWE)

This one was a tough one for me between three people – Becky, AJ Styles and Kenny Omega. Each had pros and cons. Omega did a lot for wrestling that isn’t non-WWE, was called the most important World Champion by Sports Illustrated and won Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s #1 spot on the PWI 500. He had a lot of great matches and I would guess would be the top draw not named Jericho for All Elite Wrestling if it happens. But the truth is, I don’t watch enough to comfortably judge Omega and his influence. If it wasn’t Jericho I wouldn’t have even watched his match at Wrestle Kingdom. If he came to WWE would he even start on the main roster? Tons of people would say of course not. Others would call me stupid for even suggesting it. So I don’t feel he’s #1. AJ Styles’ year is quite strange, but as WWE does whatever around him, he’s a constant top guy where no one else can be consistent. He would have easily won this year (for the third straight time in three WWE years), but unfortunately a lot of his dream feuds fell a little flat. The feud with Nakamura wasn’t bad at all, but it was built as this dream feud and we got…a string of good to very good matches. Samoa Joe, same thing. The feud with Bryan has some potential and I think could be the dream match in the right situation. Still, AJ still put together a very good year (and I don’t even think any of this was his fault). The knock against Becky is she didn’t get a chance to do anything notable before Summerslam. So basically, can she win a year-long award for a strong four-five months. But wow what a four-five months it was. As I wrote earlier, this is the first time since Daniel Bryan in 2013 where the fans are all-in and WWE has a transcendent star in their hands. Becky has delivered ever since. And, it’s not like Becky’s pre-Summerslam was bad. Had AJ had a stronger year or had I saw more of Omega, I would have given one of them the nod most likely, but Becky stole 2018 with a super strong finish.

Second Place: AJ Styles (WWE)

Third Place: Kenny Omega (NJPW)

Fourth Place: Johnny Gargano (NXT)

Fifth Place: Aleister Black (NXT)

Pro Wrestling

RDTWorldofSport 2017 Wrestling Awards

RDTWorldofSport 2017 Wrestling Awards 

I don’t have a real basis for this to be perfectly honest. It’s mostly my opinion with some searching around to see what some respected wrestling forums and writers think. Also this will mostly be WWE (but not all), basically because that’s what I watched 99% of the time. But if something else catches my eye, it could make the awards. With that being said, here goes. (Yes, I wrote the same thing last year).

Moment of the Year

Winner: The Undertaker Loses to Roman Reigns and Gets a Standing Ovation

 

Can’t say he retired, because we don’t know that yet, but it was one heck of a moment after he lost to Reigns. He sure looked like he was retiring, that’s for sure.

Second Place: The Festival of Friendship – Kevin Owens Turns on Chris Jericho

Third Place: Kurt Angle returns as RAW GM

Fourth Place: Chris Jericho challenges Kenny Omega for Wrestle Kingdom 12

Fifth Place: The Hardy Boyz return at Wrestlemania 33

Debut of the Year

Winner: Samoa Joe in WWE

 

WWE has already seemingly screwed up some NXT talent debuts, but one they haven’t messed up at all has been Samoa Joe. He came in as Triple H’s heavy to take out Seth Rollins, and has been near the top of the card ever since. He could be that big match killer that Brock Lesnar is sooner than later.

Second Place: Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE

Third Place: Tye Dillinger in WWE

Fourth Place: Aleister Black in NXT

Fifth Place: Asuka in WWE

Return of the Year

Winner: Kurt Angle on RAW

 

It feels so right to see Kurt Angle back in WWE. He got an insane reaction when announced as Raw GM. His in-ring return was I guess a bit underwhelming, but it was also refreshing to see him come back in the flow as opposed to a massive big built match. He also was pretty good in the TLC match. It’s great to see Kurt home.

Second Place: Chris Jericho to NJPW to challenge Kenny Omega

Third Place: The Hardyz at Wrestlemania

Fourth Place: Paige in WWE

Fifth Place: Drew McIntyre in NXT

Match of the Year

Winner: WWE Championship: A.J. Styles vs. John Cena – WWE Royal Rumble 2017

I didn’t watch any NJPW, so I can’t speak on anything Okada and Omega did, but there still was a strong WWE selection. It may have been weaker than the Summerslam 2016 match, but AJ and Cena delivered once again it what seemed to almost be a greatest hits version of their match. Those were some pretty great hits.

Second Place: Brock Lesnar vs. A.J. Styles – Survivor Series 2017

Third Place: WWE U.K. Championship: Pete Dunne vs. Tyler Bate – NXT Takeover Chicago

Fourth Place: War Games: Undisputed Era vs. Sanity vs. Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong – NXT Takeover War Games

Fifth Place: WWE Championship – Elimination Chamber: John Cena vs. A.J. Styles vs. Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz vs. Baron Corbin

Feud of the Year

Winner: Roman Reigns vs. Braun Strowman

 

Say what you want about Roman, him and Strowman had some great matches and this feud elevated Strowman into a top guy. The Last Man Standing match at Great Balls of Fire almost made my top five. It also gave us an edge to Roman’s character that’s been missing since he was elevated to top guy status. Great stuff all around.

Second Place: Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Owens

Third Place: The Usos vs. The New Day

Fourth Place: Shane McMahon vs. Kevin Owens

Fifth Place: Asuka vs. Ember Moon

Biggest Disappointment of the Year

Winner: Former NXT Talents Get Buried

 

Man where to start. Finn Balor went from the first ever Universal Champion to doing a whole lot of nothing. After his feud with Bray Wyatt eroded into a joke, he was saved with a great match with A.J. Styles at TLC only to just get jobbed out the next night to Kane. Word is Vince doesn’t see what’s so special about him. I mean come on. He even has a marketable Demon gimmick and everything! We had fans booing Bayley at one point, which is incredible really. Talk about a lost year. Shinsuke Nakamura debuted on Smackdown during a Miz promo and that ended up being the highlight of his entire run in 2017. Too bad he couldn’t just feud with Miz. Feud with Ziggler was okay at best. Wrestling Jinder for the WWE Championship and not winning it only hurt him. Bobby Roode has also done a whole lot of nothing since debuting on Smackdown and also had an okay feud with Ziggler. There’s already worry about Asuka’s booking. At least Samoa Joe looked great I suppose.

Second Place: Bray Wyatt

Third Place: Jinder Mahal as WWE Champion

Fourth Place: Survivor Series 2017 Main Event

Fifth Place: Jason Jordan as Kurt Angle’s son

Best Show of the Year

Winner: NXT Takeover: War Games

Everything ranged from good to great here. Lars Sullivan vs. Kassius Ohno? Good start for Sullivan. Aleister Black and Velveteen Dream told a great story in their match and could be near the top of some match of the year lists. The four way for the vacant NXT Women’s title was solid. Drew McIntyre and Andrade Almas had a surprisingly good match with a shocking outcome. War Games is 4th on my match of the year and really put over the Undisputed Era as an up and coming great faction.

Second Place: NXT Takeover: Brooklyn III

Third Place: NXT Takeover: Orlando

Fourth Place: NXT Takeover: Chicago

Fifth Place: WWE Royal Rumble 2017

Non-Wrestler of the Year

Winner: Paul Heyman, Manager

Got to give it to Heyman. He made every match against Lesnar this year a really special feel. From the Goldberg match to the Samoa Joe match to even the A.J. Styles match, he put over everyone. He even put over Finn Balor. All while Brock ran through all of them.

Second Place: Daniel Bryan, Smackdown GM

Third Place: Kurt Angle, RAW GM

Fourth Place: Shane McMahon, Smackdown Commissioner

Fifth Place: William Regal, NXT Commissioner

Best Surprisingly Good Angle

Winner: The Festival of Friendship

Sometimes those type angle miss (see “This is Your Life” for Bayley this year) and sometimes they hit. I guess when Chris Jericho is doing it, it hits. There was a painting, a Gillberg, a new list…and a truly great heel turn. I think Owens vs. Jericho should have been the Universal title match at Mania, to be honest.

Second Place: Enzo Amore becomes the face of 205 Live

Third Place: Aliester Black vs. Velveteen Dream

Woman of the Year

Winner: Asuka (NXT/WWE)

Asuka carried the NXT Women’s division in the post Charlotte-Becky-Bayley-Sasha world. She had great matches with Ember Moon, and has yet to be screwed up in WWE yet, although the start hasn’t been all great either. After the “women’s revolution”, it hasn’t been a super strong year for women. Asuka at least had a strong year.

Second Place: Alexa Bliss (WWE)

Third Place: Sasha Banks (WWE)

Fourth Place: Charlotte (WWE)

Fifth Place: Ember Moon (NXT)

Tag Team of the Year

Winner: The Bar (WWE)

 

What amazing chemistry Cesaro and Sheamus have! What began as a best of 7 series between two guys who had nothing to do turned into an amazing tag team that complement one another well. They had good matches with the Hardyz this year and also were a good team to put together with the Miz in the feud with the Shield.

Second Place: The Usos (WWE)

Third Place: Authors of Pain (NXT)

Fourth Place: The New Day (WWE)

Fifth Place: The Hardy Boyz (IMPACT/ROH/WWE)

Wrestler of the Year

Winner: A.J. Styles (WWE)

 

How can it not be Styles? I asked that last year. He came in as WWE Champ. Participated in my 2017 Match of the Year at the Royal Rumble and another contender for it at Elimination Chamber. Carried Shane McMahon to the best or second best match at Wrestlemania. Had a good, if not too long feud with Kevin Owens over the US Title in the summer. Surprisingly won the US Title at a MSG house show. Had to save the TLC show and Finn Balor’s early career by replacing Bray Wyatt and having a great match. Even Vince realized he was too good to not be WWE Champ, so the Jinder experiment ended with AJ winning another WWE Title. As a result he saved Survivor Series and had a Match of the Year contender with Brock Lesnar. Pretty good year for AJ. That’s 2/2 when it comes to WWE years too. Hope he main events Wrestlemania.

Second Place: Brock Lesnar (WWE)

Third Place: The Miz (WWE)

Fourth Place: Samoa Joe (WWE)

Fifth Place: Kevin Owens (WWE)

Pro Wrestling

Wrestlemania XXXIII Preview

It is the biggest show of the year. Unfortunately, WWE treats it that way. Now you may say “isn’t that a good thing” but in this case it’s not. WWE manufactured every single “moment” at Wrestlemania XXXII, somehow failing to realize that the best part about Wrestlemania moments are when they are organically created. I mean The Rock basically came out with a neon sign that said “Wrestlemania moment coming now”.  It was a terrible show.

Has WWE learned from that? Wrestlemania XXXI was basically the opposite, with fans not entirely being excited about the card and instead getting an amazing show filled with great moments (The DX and NWO run-ins and Seth Rollins’ shocking title win, for two examples). What Wrestlemania will we get tonight? Let’s go through each match, pre-show and all, and throw in some potential appearances that could turn into real, organic moments.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship: Neville© vs. Austin Aries

Should be a really fun match on the pre-show and definitely the highest profile match for the division possible without Brian Kendrick. I expect Neville to retain the title though, he hasn’t held it long enough for the credible reign he needs. Potential moment? Some crazy high flying move from Neville probably.

Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal

It’s kind of a shame that this is on the pre-show. Last year it was moved to the main card and rumors ran rampant that John Cena was going to win it…only for that move to mean Shaq was in it. Baron Corbin winning was pretty good though and WWE did capitalize it. Braun Strowman seems like the obvious winner, but I kinda think they are going to give it to Big Show again as a token of appreciation, especially with the Shaq match falling apart. Moment potential is Show’s win if it turns out to be his last match, or perhaps someone slamming him out like Cesaro back at Mania XXX.

Smackdown’s Women’s Title: Alexa Bliss © vs. Becky Lynch vs. Natayla vs. Naomi vs. Mickie James vs. Carmella

I was a bit surprised to find that Naomi made her return on Smackdown and was announced for the match. That could have been a cool Wrestlemania moment unless WWE thought she would be a disappointing surprise entrant. Also, I’m not sure if other Women can still be in this match or if it’s an official six-pack challenge. I’m not sure who’s winning here, but I am guessing the title will go back to Naomi here.

Raw World Tag Team Title: Gallows and Anderson © vs. Enzo and Cass vs. Cesaro and Sheamus

Throwing a ladder into the mix seemingly made this match feel more important. It should be a bit of a real old school ladder match though, as there isn’t a high flyer in this thing and that’ll be interesting. Seems about the right time for Enzo and Cass to win the titles, which would be a moment in itself.

Intercontinental Title: Dean Ambrose © vs. Baron Corbin

It’s been a rough year for Ambrose. He finally got a crack at the top and was completely exposed at that level. Now he’s in the IC title picture and should be dropping the title to Corbin. And I think he will. Not sure what moments can come from this really other than Corbin’s win. Making Corbin a clutch Wrestlemania type guy (he won the Andre Battle Royal last year) would be a great thing for him.

WWE Hall Of Fame

 

I don’t really know when this is going to happen on the card. But seeing Kurt Angle at Wrestlemania would be something. Maybe Angle will get involved in something?

John Cena and Nikki Bella vs. The Miz and Maryse

Kudos to The Miz to getting himself into a high profile match at Wrestlemania. It’s a shame he’s not winning but really it’s what WWE does with Miz over the next year that really matters. The potential moment here is obvious, John Cena proposing to Nikki Bella. Get ready for that wedding at Summerslam.

United States Title: Chris Jericho © vs. Kevin Owens

JERIKO EXPLODES. It’s a bit of a shame this isn’t for the Universal title, but it should be a good one nonetheless. I also have a sneaky suspicion Chris Jericho is going over here, only for him to lose to Owens at Extreme Rules or whatever the next PPV is. Moment here could be something involving Jericho emotionally being upset about their Friendship being destroyed.

RAW Women’s Title: Bayley © vs. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks vs. Nia Jax

I really don’t buy Nia Jax in this match. She’s just not ready. I expect her to get Big Show at Wrestlemania 2000’d and be out quickly after a triple team. From there, it could be anyone and I think it’ll be Charlotte. It’s not like WWE suddenly pulled the plug on making Charlotte important. Potential moment: Sasha gets eliminated 2nd and turns on Bayley, leading to the Charlotte title win.

Shane McMahon vs. A.J. Styles

While I was hoping for a different match for Styles, putting him with a McMahon is still the highest profile match he’s ever had. And if anyone can get an amazing match out of Shane, it’s Styles. I’m pulling expecting some crazy jump from Shane that he’ll miss and AJ will win as a result. That’ll be your moment obviously.

Legends Segment

The Rock? Stone Cold? HBK? Mick Foley? I kinda expect Foley since it would be a shame he’d miss Mania after being around most of the year. As long as it isn’t the mess the Rock did last year it could be entertaining. Maybe Ronda will show up?!

Seth Rollins vs. Triple H

Can’t fault HHH for putting over Reigns then Rollins back to back. This match should be quite good, and frankly I am surprised it isn’t main eventing. It’s the only match other than Styles vs. Shane that guaranteed to be good and has big match appeal. Rollins will then sink or swim as a top guy afterwards. I expect Samoa Joe to be involved…and if somehow HHH wins a Summerslam rematch will take place too. Then again Finn Balor could show up to fight off Joe.

WWE World Title: Bray Wyatt © vs. Randy Orton

I really wanted this story to continue. Orton’s turn came too early for me, and a triple threat with Luke Harper is much more interesting. I really hope we just aren’t going to see Orton pin Wyatt and that’s that, but Vince has reportedly been impressed with Orton, and he kinda owes him one for what Brock did to him at Summerslam. I see the title switch here, unfortunately.

WWE Universal Title: Goldberg © vs. Brock Lesnar

Either there will be tons of smoke and mirrors, or Lesnar is going over in three minutes max. I really hope it’s the latter. The Goldberg thing was interesting for a bit, but the ending needs to be Lesnar squashing him and moving on.

The Undertaker vs. Roman Reigns

This is the rumored main event, which makes me think it’s Undertaker’s last match. Sad to say, but Taker looked pretty bad at the Rumble and Roman’s getting booed out the building. Undertaker deserves better than this if this is the end. I’m sure A.J. could have gotten a great match with him. The right decision is for Roman to go over, sadly.

And that’s Mania. I don’t like how it sounds, but WWE has surpassed the hype before and I hope this is one of those times. Enjoy.

Pro Wrestling

Wrestlemania XXXII Predictions

Wrestlemania 32! This year’s Wrestlemania card seemed lacking at first glance, but hopefully the natural progression of Dean Ambrose and the nostalgic excitement around Shane McMahon vs. The Undertaker can save the show. Anyway, let’s get some Wrestlemania predictions going!

wm32kalistoryback

The Kalisto-Ryback rivalry goes back to Survivor Series when Kalisto upset Ryback in the WWE Championship tournament. While WWE clearly hasn’t given up on Ryback  yet and he’s now sporting a new look I think WWE really likes Kalisto and are going to give him a Mania win.

Winner: Kalisto

wm32divas10

Brie Bella’s last match! Truthfully I really dislike how these teams are set up as Lana and Summer Rae were enemies last year and I don’t think anyone on the Total Divas team likes Eva Marie. My suspicion is that WWE wants to get Eva Marie over and a Mania kickoff win will be the way to do it. Plus the Total Divas TV show is probably going to go over.

Winners: Team Total Divas

wm32usosdudleyz

No reason for the Dudleyz to win here unless they are going to challenge the New Day in the upcoming months. I assume they are going to put the Usos over here.

Winners: The Usos

wm32newdayleague

The New Day have to fight 3 to 4 odds, but the fans will be behind him and with Wade Barrett on his way out he’ll probably be the one to take the fall. There’s a backstory here too that I’m sure has been forgotten…that the New Day walked out on Sheamus at Survivor Series.

Winners: The New Day

wm32andre

I think Braun Strowman is the popular choice here but I think WWE’s quickly losing faith in him. Another popular theory is that Cesaro will return and win his 2nd Memorial Battle Royal. I’m going to go one greater than that. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the Battle Royal was moved to the main card. And with recent reports that perhaps John Cena is healthy I’m going to call him as a surprise return pick to win the Battle Royal and give it the prestige that it lost when it was moved to the kickoff last year.

Winner: John Cena

wm32ajjericho

While this is a dream feud, we saw these two fight last month. It really only makes sense for Jericho to put over AJ Styles here. Perhaps Jericho wins and AJ wins the rubber PPV match next month, but I hope that’s not the direction that its going.

Winner: AJ Styles

wm32ictitle

It’s too bad we’re not getting Owens vs. Zayn straight up. Anyone I’d be shocked if anyone other than one of these two won this match and I think the belt is staying with Owens.

Winner: Kevin Owens

wm32divastitle

I guess this is proof of the Divas revolution? While Sasha Banks is probably the crowd’s favorite to win I think WWE is going to build to Bayley vs. Charlotte for the title. Charlotte will cheat to win again.

Winner: Charlotte

wm32takershane

I am stunned at how many people think Shane McMahon’s winning this match. While I understand that people want to move past the Authority, Shane was clearly brought in as a short term part timer and isn’t going to be sticking around. There just simply wasn’t anyone else to put against Undertaker. Undertaker might not have the Streak anymore, but losing to Shane at Mania will devalue what Brock did two years ago and put a damper on the history of those other 22 victories. And I think WWE realizes that. And Goldberg’s not showing up either.

Winner: The Undertaker

wm32ambrosebrock

This is the big chance for WWE to make a huge star out of Dean Ambrose. Is Ambrose wins here he immediately becomes a bonafide Main Event guy. Too bad that I don’t think WWE is going to take that chance. Not that they really have to either, since Brock is still amazing.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

wm32hhhroman

The Rock is going to show up and help Roman beat HHH to win the title. I’d be shocked if this went any other way. If I thought Rock would wrestle another match in the future I’d go Rock heel turn and Roman vs. Rock next year, but that’s not happening.

Winner: Roman Reigns

Pro Wrestling

RAW vs. Nitro Week 7 – 10/16/95

Week 7

Posted Image

RAW: 10/16/95
Grand Rapids, MI

I’m just going to point out that this is Week 4 of the tapings at Grand Rapids. This is also the go home show for the In Your House PPV.

Isaac Yankem, Jerry Lawler and Bret Hart all cut promos with dental puns about tonight’s Steel Cage match.

We now have the “new” RAW theme. Unfortunately it’s bland and it sucks.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Doink the Clown

I had no idea Doink made it this long into 1995.

Apparently Mabel was fined $7,500 for what he did to The Undertaker last week. Gorilla Monsoon is announcing a replacement for Undertaker at In Your House later tonight.

Doink grabbing HHH’s nose is a bit funny.

Doink somehow makes himself dizzy and HHH takes him down.

HHH pins Doink. Pedigree wins. Match was decent I suppose, but not exactly the hot opener to keep people from switching to Nitro.

Barry Horowitz tries to teach Hakushi American concepts like baseball. What a waste of Hakushi.

Monsoon selects Yokozuna to face Mabel. Oh boy.

WWF Tag Team Championship
The Smokin’ Gunns© vs. PG-13

I don’t know if PG-13 was supposed to be taken seriously, but JC Ice pretty much makes an ass out of himself here.

Lawler actually adds some psychology into this match, saying PG-13 are purposely acting stupid to take advantage of the Gunns being overconfident…and then that’s what happens!

Billy Gunn pins Wolfie D to retain the titles. PG-13 got some offense in, but ultimately this was a squash. You know considering the Tag Team Division consisted of the Gunns, the Godwinns, The New Rockers and the Bodydonnas for the next year PG-13 getting a shot might have been a good idea. Ah well.

Bertha Faye vs. Alundra Blayze next week for the Women’s title.

Random British Bulldog interview that happened at a house show. The Bulldog doesn’t feel respected. And he’s gonna beat Diesel for the title.

Ahmed Johnson interview. He takes about how his mom made minimum wage to let him go to school and such. Hard to understand.

Dean Douglas vs. Joe Morgan

We’re still doing the jobber thing eh? Clearly Vince didn’t have anything left on this taping.

Notably, the Shawn Michaels getting beat up by 10 men in Syracuse deal took place the weekend before this RAW. Surprisingly Lawler says it was because HBK mouthed off at a nightclub (closer to the truth). HBK guarantees he’ll be at In Your House…although we all know how that went.

Dean Douglas wins by pin. Fisherman’s Suplex wins it.

Vince and Lawler run down the upcoming In Your House card.

Goldust promo on Marty Jannetty. It’s short, yet somehow a lot better than the Ahmed one we got earlier.

Now a Paul Bearer promo. He’s worried Taker will never look the same again and never be the same again, but he’s coming back soon and he’s going to crush Mabel and Yokozuna’s soul.

Steel Cage Match
Bret Hart vs. Isaac Yankem

There’s also a smaller cage at ringside that Jerry Lawler must enter if he interferes in the match.

Yankem takes some big bumps off the top rope when tryng to climb the cage. This has been pretty slow, but at least Yankem’s trying.

Apparently Lawler switched the locks on the cage door, and when Bret tries to escape the ref can’t unlock the door.

Bret locks Yankem in the Sharpshoter then tries to climb out, but Lawler knocks him back in. Lawler gets locked in the small cage as a result. The cage also rises and Lawler’s apparently afraid of heights.

Bret Hart seems to be going at half speed here. A few times now he’s fallen and messed up straddling himself on the top rope.

Lawler gets a nosebleed and starts crying. He’s stealing the show here.

Bret Hart wins in 19:50. Bret gets a bulldog and a top rope forearm before escaping. This went way too long and was pretty boring. Yankem tried for sure, but he just wasn’t any good yet. Bret seemed to be going at half speed. And there’s a reason for that.

So apparently this show was just a leftover of whatever unused bits that was filmed for the tapings. Despite this being the go home show for the PPV we got a pretty horrible show. HHH vs. Doink? Dean Douglas vs. a jobber? It was written that Bret vs. DDS wasn’t even going to air on RAW, but it had to after the WWF realized it needed to fill the 4th taping.

Last week the WWF gave us a really hot match and post-match beatdown that at least helped sell the PPV. But this week? Nothing. At least for Bret he would be reinserted into the title picture after finishing off Yankem here.

The WWF had given us some solid shows since this Monday Night War began, but this was easily the worst one so far. And to no one’s surprise no one bought the PPV either.

The rating held though, so at least the WWF had that going for them.

TV Rating: 2.6 (0.0)
Grade: C

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Nitro: 10/16/95
Albany, GA

WCW clearly wins the opening video package war now.

Bobby Heenan makes fun of Steve McMichael’s dog and even that’s funny. The Brian is truly a genius.

On WCW Pro Sting agreed to be Ric Flair’s partner for Nitro and Halloween Havoc. Sting warns Flair that if he crosses him Flair is dead.

Heenan really hypes up Sting teaming with Flair, telling us that it hasn’t happened since 1990.

Television Championship
Diamond Dallas Page© vs. Johnny B. Badd

Page beats Badd down with the title belt and gets DQed. No match here. Page is hilarious though, pinning Badd and then using the Badd Blaster when he counts his own three.

Chris Benoit vs. Eddy Guerrero

This is Benoit’s WCW debut (after he appeared last week).

Great headscissors sequence from Benoit. Fast paced action so far.

Eddy goes flying and takes out Benoit on the floor!

Guerrero sends Benoit into the post…then Guerrero runs and slams into the post himself. That looked so real…

Springboard Tornado DDT from Guerrero!

Crazy hurricanrana sequence from Guerrero! Great stuff here all around.

Benoit with a stiff as hell powerbomb! Wow! Fans gasped after that one.

Chris Benoit pins Eddy Guerrero in 8:45. Dragon suplex wins it. Awesome match that not only show cased Benoit, but also made Guerrero look great too. Great action.

Apparently WCW is creating a Cruiserweight Division. That would be awesome for the next couple of years for sure.

Mean Gene tries to sell the hotline. Someone from the WWF was fired! It was Bill Watts. He also teases information about a wrestler getting beat up by a fan. He’s referring to HBK there.

Taskmaster and The Giant are on their way down.

Promo is all about Sullivan being evil and Hogan having an evil side too. Sullivan has to say the word evil about 20 times. It’s still hard to take the whole Monster Truck deal seriously.

Disco Inferno is out dancing again.

Meng vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

Duggan falls down for no reason to move out of the way of an elbow drop.

Meng wins in 2:00. The spike makes Duggan give up. Only two minutes, but it was pretty bad anyway. Just a win to give Meng as he prepares to face Lex Luger in a couple weeks at Halloween Havoc.

A black clad Hulk Hogan cuts a promo on the Giant and how he’s evil too. He mentions too that Hulkamania makes promotors cry because it’s bigger than the whole promotion. Another shot at Vince I guess? He actually says he’s going to bury the Giant next toAndre as well. Ugh.

Sting and Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson and Flyin’ Brian

Sting doesn’t come out and Flair goes at it alone.

Flair does pretty well nonetheless as he chops everything that moves.

Pillman and Anderson finally get the upperhand…and here comes Sting!

Sting gets tagged in and goes crazy on Pillman and Anderson. Crowd is going wild for the Stinger too.

Sting and Flair win by countout. Sting tosses Anderson and he doesn’t make it back. Of course, this was a really good set up for Halloween Havoc which I won’t spoil here. Really fun main event even if it had a bad finish. Sting looked like the biggest star in the business here. Sting tells Flair he has a lot of guts fighting his former brother in Anderson and Flair calls Sting the best. Man this angle is awesome.

It had some dull spots, but this was a really fun show just for the main event and Benoit vs. Guerrero.

TV Rating: 2.2 (-0.4)
Grade: B+

Weekly Review

It’s easy this week. RAW was a poor show at a bad time. Jobber matches and poorly taped shows aren’t going to cut it in the Monday Night War era. Nitro gave us a hot Benoit vs. Guerrero match and a fun main event with Sting and Flair teaming up. It’s a testament to how deep WCW’s roster was here that we got a great show despite no Randy Savage or Lex Luger.

The ratings told a different story as RAW won the week. I assume this was because we did get a really good show last week and people cared about Bret Hart. Curious to see what we get next week rating wise from RAW. WCW still needs time to establish their brand, and it’s not like they’re getting killed on the ratings front or anything. But show quality wise, WCW won the week easily.

TV Ratings Score: 3-1-2 RAW

Grade Score: 2-2-2

Pro Wrestling

RAW vs. Nitro Week 6 – 10/9/95

Week 6

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RAW: 10/9/95
Grand Rapids, MI

I won’t lie, I really prefer the classic RAW theme (that gets brought back at some point in ’96).

Yokozuna, Owen Hart and The British Bulldog vs. Shawn Michaels, Diesel and The Undertaker

A huge main event kicks off RAW and honestly I can’t think of a better start!

Really cool segment where Shawn Michaels talks about doing a charity with kids. Honestly, 1996 HBK could have used a lot more of that. It seemed genuine and really cool overall.

Shawn and Owen kick the match off and we get a cool double arm drag.

Everyone’s in there early. Double big boot from Taker and Diesel take out Yokozuna!

Undertaker’s DDT on Yokozuna is always awesome.

Waylon Mercy is watching for some reason. Jerry Lawler mentions on Superstars that Diesel will face Mercy in what would turn out to be Mercy (Dan Spivey’s) last match.

Camp Cornette finally takes control on HBK.

Dean Douglas is out here now as he was feuding with Shawn at the time.

Vince McMahon hypes AOL chats with HBK and Lawler. Feels weird that AOL chats were 20 years ago now.

Owen Hart comes off the top rope right as we get a commercial break. On one hand it’s frustrating to see a commercial break right in the middle of a big spot like that. On the other hand it might have been a good idea because you want to see if Owen landed or not (which we are shown he missed). I’m against commercial breaks in any matches though.

HBK tags Diesel in and he cleans out until Owen gets a cheap shot in. Running powerslam from the Bulldog doesn’t get it down as Undertaker makes the save!

Camp Cornette wins when the British Bulldog pinned Diesel. When the referee tries to get Undertaker out, Yokozuna comes in and drops a big legdrop on Diesel and the Bulldog gets the pin. Good finish that at least gives the fans some hope that the Bulldog could beat Diesel for the title (not much hope though). Great match as 1995 RAW continues to impress.

Undertaker tries to fight Camp Cornette off, but Mabel comes down and the numbers are too much for Undertaker to handle. Yokozuna and Mabel continually drop legdrops and splashes on the Undertaker. This is where Mabel infamously broke Undertaker’s face which led to the Phantom of the Opera Undertaker. Douglas comes down to stop HBK from helping and hits a front suplex on the steel steps. The Bulldog continues his beatdown on Diesel. You even see Undertaker’s eye all purple from the injury. Awesome stuff absolutely everywhere here. A great first half of RAW.

We get a replay of the Bret Hart-Jean Lafitte match from last week and DDS attacking Bret. Next week on RAW: Bret vs. Yankeem in a cage.

For some reason we get a replay of the entire Yankeem vs. Bret match at Summerslam. A cheap way to get a Bret match on RAW without him wrestling perhaps? This was already the third RAW of the taping, and Bret wrestled on taping two and will on four.

Jerry Lawler is telling us Mabel is trying to get into Undertaker’s dressing room.

Fatu vs. Skip

I’m guessing this was an excuse to get Sunny on RAW?

In a pretty funny spot, Skip comes off the top rope with a flying headbutt, but Fatu’s samoan so you know how that went for Skip…

Fatu pins Skip. Flying splash off the top finishes Skip. Match was fine…although I don’t really like Vince trying to sell Skip as someone who is in good shape but is stupid. Also, the placement of the match seems strange. Unless people really like Sunny I assume they were switching to Nitro here.

We get a replay of the destruction of the Taker-Diesel-HBK team…especially the Mabel-Taker stuff.

Hilarious Cornette interview as he calls out Jim Ross for just barging into the Camp Cornette locker room and as a bonus the Bulldog is wearing a stupid hat. Turns out the hat is a gift from Princess Diana herself! Mabel comes in and says Undertaker will get buried at In Your House! Of course we wouldn’t get that match since Mabel broke Taker’s face here.

Even though it’s based off of one match what a great show this was. The big match delivered and pushed several storylines in one. Even though it was a replay we got some good hype for Bret vs. DDS. Fatu vs. Skip was fine and we had a good promo at the end by Cornette. I have to take a little off as a PPV match replay is a bit cheap…and the second half of the show didn’t live up to the first half. Still, RAW felt like a big deal.

TV Rating: 2.6 (+0.1)
Grade: B+

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Nitro: 10/9/95
Chicago, IL

We see what happened to Hulk Hogan last week at the hands of The Taskmaster and The Giant. IS HOGAN’S CAREER OVER?!

Nitro opening is so freakin’ cool.

Bobby Heenan says Hogan’s in the building but there’s a restraining order in place. Sting shows up though. He says he’s going to fix the Luger-Savage issue we’ve had in the past few weeks.

US Title: Sting© vs. The Shark

Sting retains by pin. Match takes about a minute. Shark gets some offense in, but Sting hits a couple of Stinger Splashes and a top rope cross bodyblock for the win. While it was short, Sting got a good reaction and it got Nitro off and running on a positive note. This was pretty much the end for John Tenta though.

We get a replay of what happened last week with Hogan and being attacked by Grandma Sullivan. Sounds like I’m making fun of it sure…but this was pretty awesome.

Sabu vs. Mr. JL

That’s right, Sabu vs. Jerry Lynn four years before it would be a big ECW match.

WCW fans give us a “Sabu” chant. It’s still quite bizarre that Sabu had a WCW run.

Sabu starts quickly with a somersault legdrop over the top rope. He follows up with a leg lariat.

“Hogan sucks” chant now. Smark crowd in ’95!

Suicide dive from JL!

More flying from Sabu! Over the top rope somersault to the outside!

Air Sabu into the railing!

German suplex then a running dropkick by JL! Really fun match here!

JL drops Sabu with a DDT where Sabu was propped on the top rope. That was the Randy Orton-RVD finish at Armaggedon ’03 I think.

Sabu makes Mr. JL submit. JL comes off the top rope but Sabu counters and locks in the Camel Clutch for the win. Maybe it was a bit of a spot fest, but this still gets the 1995 curve of being awesome stuff that just wasn’t on TV yet. And it was fun. For the heck of it Sabu hits JL with a bit of a botched sunset flip over the top rope onto the floor. But it still worked.

For some reason Eric Bischoff has to talk about Hogan as the camera cuts to him…even though Sabu is still attacking JL. Come on!

Sting is in the ring with Luger and he calls out Savage. Savage actually gets some boos. Really smarky crowd. Savage questions Sting right off the bat and wants to know why the Giant has chokeslammed Hogan, Luger and himself…but not Sting. Sting thinks Luger and Savage should go at it if they beat Meng and Kamala in their respective matches. Luger is hesitant and Sting basically calls him a whiny coward.

Seems weird that Sting came up with this solution. Segment was fine.

Chris Benoit comes to Nitro in a limo. “WCW, where the big boys play”. Bischoff really puts Benoit over as well. WCW made a big deal out of everything and that really worked early on.

Disco Inferno is dancing for some reason.

Big Bubba vs. Road Warrior Hawk

Both Hawk and Bubba walk past a dancing Disco. For some reason Disco put a WCW hat on Hawk’s spiked shoulder pads. Not sure what the point of Disco doing this was.

Hawk gets a huge chant. Obviously this is because this is his hometown.

Big Bubba wins by countout. Disco jumps onto the apron at about the 2 minute mark and Hawk goes after him and beats him up down the aisleway. What the heck was that?

Here comes Hogan and he gets some boos. This was the beginning of Hogan’s short term dark side period where he wore black all the time. Even the neckbrace is black.

The Giant is Andre’s son angle felt tasteless even though it technically wasn’t. Hogan seemingly takes a shot at Vince here as he says in New York City the promotor got jealous over Hulkamania’s success. He gets back to wanting to fight the Giant. What a random shot that was though.

Here comes a monster truck with the Dungeon of Doom in it! Police are in pursuit! Hogan goes out to face the Giant. Not Hogan’s best promo to be honest.

Does Monster Truck vs. Monster Truck really sound like a great idea for a gimmick match?

Bischoff is told by police that Hogan and the Giant are being kept apart.

Cage Match
Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson

Bischoff brings up that normally you have to buy a PPV to see a match of this caliber. That’s a good point you know. Exciting as it is, hotshotting is dangerous in the long run.

Flair is pretty much dominating this match, slamming Double A into the cage multiple times.

“We Want Blood” chant. Jeez.

Flyin’ Brian tries to get into cage…and Flair knocks him off the side of the cage onto the floor!

Arn Anderson pins Ric Flair. Anderson hits Flair with brass knuckles or some object and gets the pin. Too short for what Flair vs. Anderson in a cage should be. It wasn’t bad or anything but I’m left disappointed.

Flair challenges Anderson and Pillman to a handicap match on Nitro.

Heenan: “I’ve had enough of Hulk Hogan shoved down my throat all these years.” I know Heenan respects Hogan, but man what a comment that is considering it’s not a shoot comment.

Next week we get DDP vs. Johnny B. Badd and Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero!

I’ll be honest, I didn’t like most of this show. The beginning with Sting was fine as was the Mr. JL vs. Sabu match. Sting helping make Savage vs. Luger was weird but okay. Hawk vs. Rogers? Yuck. Hogan’s promo? Not good and the Monster Truck silliness didn’t work for me. Flair vs. Double A could have been a lot better.

Still, Nitro got a solid rating this week. I guess that’s what counts.

TV Rating: 2.6 (+0.1)
Grade: C+

Weekly Review

I wrote for last week that RAW only had a chance if the Hogan-Giant angle got too hokey…and well that’s what happened. Hogan taking shots at Vince for no reason was also unnecessary. While Nitro had some enjoyable parts I didn’t really enjoy the show overall. RAW on the other hand came out like a house of fire with the big six man tag team match and only didn’t score a higher grade because the rest of the show was merely okay.

Another tie in the ratings, but RAW definitely had the stronger show this week. WCW still has tons of cards to play though as the Flair vs. Anderson feud can easily be great next week just because of who’s involved. Plus Eddie vs. Benoit? We don’t know what’s going to happen next with Hogan either. If they can just get a little more serious about the feud, perhaps it’ll come off better on TV. I can only see the Giant screaming and riding a monster truck so many times.

TV Ratings Score: 2-1-2 RAW

Grade Score: 2-1-2 RAW

Pro Wrestling

RAW vs. Nitro Week 5 – 10/2/95

October 1995 Background

WCW Nitro had come out and shockingly given Vince McMahon a run for his money. Still, it had to be a promising sign that the current WWF stars: Diesel, Bret, Undertaker, Shawn seemed to be drawing as well as Flair, Hogan, Luger, Savage, Sting on TV. Maybe Vince is right about all those guys (sans Sting) being washed up. Or maybe the WWF brand is really what matters.

Still, WCW had a really strong start. Vince still needed some time to build to one of his big events: Survivor Series. Could WCW put on the pressure with the Hogan vs. Giant feud? Could Vince make the October In Your House mean something?

Week 5

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RAW: 10/2/95
Grand Rapids, MI

We get a recap of last week’s RAW, where the Smokin’ Gunns regained the Tag Titles.

Now we recap the history between Razor Ramon and The 1-2-3 Kid. It’s cool to see an angle referenced back to 1993. Kid beat Ramon twice now, once in 1993 and two weeks ago thanks to Dean Douglas. I don’t understand what Vince means by “will the third time be the charm for the Kid?” Um…he’s won both times!

Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid

Hot start. Kid and Ramon waste no time and go back and forth until Ramon catches him for a fall away slam.

Dean Douglas is out here taking notes once again. Dean Douglas was not a bad character to be honest.

Razor Ramon pins the 1-2-3 Kid. Clothesline ends it. Surprising ending. But wait, the Kid wants to keep going…and the match continues?

During the break, the Kid gets driven hard by a Ramon powerbomb after Kid came off the top. Ramond got ANOTHER pin…but the Kid wanted a SECOND rematch.

Razor Ramon pins 1-2-3 Kid. Ramon teases the Razor’s Edge, but then beats the Kid with a small package. Ramon beats the Kid three times…but he didn’t go out to injure him. Ramon and Kid shake hands…then Kid tries a small package which Razor kicks out of. Razor actually smiles, showing admiration for the Kid. This is pretty great storytelling. The Kid was the youngster who felt like he needed to earn Razor’s respect and did so without having to win. Great start to RAW.

Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Barry Horowitz

Horowitz was actually pretty over after his upset of Skip at Summerslam.

Pretty cool armbar takedown leading to a shot to the face with the leg by HHH.

Last week was the most watched RAW ever. The Monday Night Wars really ejected an adrenaline shot into pro wrestling that WCW would take advantage of a lot better than the WWF would.

It’s amazing how over Horowitz was. He gets several creative near falls and the fans are with him at every turn.

HHH pins Horowitz. Horowitz makes one mistake though, as an attempted backdrop becomes the Pedigree and it’s over. Good match. HHH continues his undefeated streak and Horowitz keeps doing the underdog thing.

PG-13 vs. Al Brown and Sonny Rogers

PG-13 are the USWA World Tag Team Champions. They can be described as a cross between ECW and Too Cool.

Really don’t care about a jobber match. This is the stuff the WWF needed to get rid of when facing Nitro.

Gotta give credit where it is due though. Some great double team moves from PG-13. Dropkick + Russian Legsweep combo for example.

PG-13 wins by pin. Cool twisting slam by Wolfie D on JC Ice onto Green. I wonder why the WWF didn’t keep going with PG-13. They challenged the Gunns and everything!

Bret Hart vs. Jean Pierre-Lafitte

A rematch from In Your House a couple of weeks ago.

Early on Bret slams Lafitte into the ring steps. Seems pretty extreme for WWF 1995!

Lafitte eventually takes over and Bret makes him look like a million bucks.

Jerry Lawler’s anti-Bret commentary is pretty great here as well.

Bret Hart wins by submission. Superplex and Sharpshooter. Great main event, although I believe this was the end of Lafitte. Bret confronts Lawler and beats him up afterwards before Isaac Yankem shows up and attacks Bret. That’s the last midcard feud Bret would deal with before setting sight on the WWF Title again.

Vince hypes up next week’s RAW Main Event: Diesel, Shawn Michaels and Undertaker vs. Yokozuna, Owen Hart and the British Bulldog. To say that’s a huge main event is an understatement and it shows Vince was giving it a real shot against Nitro here.

Anyway, I enjoyed this show from top to bottom, even the PG-13 stuff. These 1995 RAWs are pretty good!

TV Rating: 2.5
Grade: B+

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Nitro: 10/2/95
Denver, CO

Ric Flair with a crazy promo to kick things off. Nice. He’s coming for you Double A!

We kick it off with a match that feels like it should be on PPV, Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage with Luger’s WCW career on the line. While it feels like this is something that happened too fast, I guess this was definitely something you couldn’t miss.

Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage: If Luger loses he leaves WCW

Randy Savage wears the most ridiculous colors for his attire and it doesn’t matter one bit. Savage is so good.

The promo for the Monster Truck Match for Halloween Havoc is hilarious. Absolutely hilarious.

The match has had two spots where neither man got the advantage. It’s pretty well done. Luger eventually gets a neckbreaker on the floor and the advantage.

Ref is out and Savage hits the big elbow…and here comes The Giant!

Lex Luger wins when Randy Savage doesn’t respond to the referee in 12:30. Luger gets Savage up in the Rack and Savage is out from a Giant chokeslam, and Luger keeps his career. It’s oddly not treated as a huge deal that Luger just saved his career, but whatever. Pretty good match, a lot better than I was expecting. It went back and forth and it continues telling a great story about Luger (is he a good guy or bad?)

Disco Inferno! Eddy Guerrero interrupts Disco’s dancing (with Juvi‘s future music).

Dean Malenko vs. Eddy Guerrero

Basically ECW’s TV Title feud of 1995 here.

Malenko kips up from being pushed down, which was freakin’ awesome.

Just awesome sequences early on.

We get a side by side camera shot with the match…as Hulk Hogan shows up. Ah, the WCW tradition of ignoring the match in the ring for Hogan.

We don’t even see the match anymore. It’s all Hogan!

Back to the match, and Malenko and Guerrero are putting on a technical exhibition.

AWESOME top rope plancha from Guerrero to Malenko on the floor! He hit the aisleway!

Eddie Guerrero pins Dean Malenko in 5:41. Ending came out of nowhere where Eddie trapped Malenko on the mat, similar to Bret-Bulldog at Summerslam ’92. Shame it was so short as it was owning. Malenko says Guerrero got lucky and wants a rematch. Guerrero said any place any time.

Here comes Hogan in a neck brace. I am annoyed his stuff cut into the last match.

Generic promo where Hogan says he is going to get the Giant since he’s not out yet. Hogan decides to slap all the fans hands and is attacked by a random old woman (which Mean Gene hilariously calls). Of course, it’s Kevin Sullivan. Giant makes his way out and “breaks” Hogan’s neck. American Males and Nasty Boys run in but Giant and Zodiac Man take them out. The Dungeon of Doom shave Hogan’s mustache off. While Hogan’s promo was nothing to write home about, the attack was pretty brilliant and the Giant looks like a bad ass heel taking out everyone.

We get the Halloween Havoc promo again. Just hilarious.

Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson

They just go at it right from the outset, knocking each other down with chops and hard shots.

A good back and forth that really showed Arn was at an elite level.

Ric Flair wins by DQ in 8:30. Flair has the Figure Four when Brian Pillman comes flying off the top to cause the DQ. Anderson and Pillman beat up Flair. Shame about the DQ. Solid match.

Apparently, we’re getting Flair vs. Arn Anderson in a cage on Nitro next week! Screw waiting for PPV!

WCW brought it this week, but I thought shortchanged two of their matches. Luger defeating Savage seemed like something that just happened, and Luger’s career hanging in the balance was an afterthought. Guerrero vs. Malenko was good but short, and overshadowed by Hogan. BUT, those matches and the main event were all solid, and the Hogan beat down was well done too. Another good Nitro. Best of all for Nitro, their rating has stabilized in the mid 2s.

TV Rating: 2.5
Grade: B+

Weekly Review

Both shows brought it this week once again. I think the WWF’s only real shot here is if the Hogan-Giant angle gets too hokey. I mean, a Monster Truck Match is pretty out there. Then again, we just had a pirate in the main event of RAW. The big victory for WCW is that Nitro is hanging tough with the WWF and even outshining them at some points (like Malenko vs. Guerrero).

A pure tie this week. Both shows brought it this week and it showed in TV Ratings. Hopefully both can keep the momentum. Hotshotting is becoming a bit of an issue, especially with career ending matches on Nitro (and a potential feud ending cage match next week).

TV Ratings Score: 2-1-1 RAW

Grade Score: 1-1-2

Pro Wrestling

RAW vs. Nitro Week 4 – 9/25/95

Week 4

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RAW: 9/25/95
Grand Rapids, MI

RAW won last week with the go home show for In Your House. This week, we’ll get the RAW that followed that show. It should be noted there was a controversial decision at the PPV that probably ticked off a lot of fans, but we’ll get there, we’ll get there.

Well, Vince is going over it anyway, so let’s explain.

The match was Diesel and Shawn Michaels against Yokozuna and Owen Hart. Diesel was the World Champ, Shawn the IC Champ, and Owen and Yoko the tag champs. All titles were on the line and the show was sold on the fact that there was a guaranteed title change.

Well, Owen didn’t show and The British Bulldog took his place. Owen though interfered in the match and Diesel ended up pinning him to win the tag belts. Now we get a segment of Jim Cornette and his lawyer (the debut of Clarence Mason!) arguing with President Gorilla Monsoon that Owen wasn’t legally in the tag match. Monsoon agreed, and Yoko and Owen kept their belts. So basically, the WWF said screw you to the fans with their “guaranteed title change” proclamation. Perhaps it was a way to drum up interest for RAW…but I mean, then you need a better segment than Vince explaining it to us. Bad start there.

Skip vs. Marty Jannetty

Vince tells us that Jannetty is returning to the WWF here. Really had no idea he was even gone at this point. I do remember a 1995 ECW run from him though.

Sadly when I think Jannetty and Candido I think of two guys who should have achieved a lot more in professional wrestling. Same goes for Sunny. This REALLY rings true for Jannetty though.

Ha, Sunny and Skip hug, but when Sunny yells at the crowd Jannetty attacks Skip. Sunny then turns to hug “Skip”, but hugs Jannetty then panics realizing what happened. THAT’S where Shawn Michaels learned that spot…he did that to Melina at Survivor Series 2006.

Dean Douglas comes out to take notes on the match. Seems like a step down.

Marty Jannetty pins Skip in 9:41. Jannetty nails the Rocker Dropper and then a top rope first drop for the win. This was a very good back and forth opener. It would be nice to say Jannetty finally cleaned up his act (he could have been a really good IC title foil for Goldust in 1996), but he got stuck in the New Rocker Tag Team and didn’t make it through 1996.

We get more information about why Owen and Yoko kept the belts…but Monsoon adds that the champs will defend the titles on RAW vs. The Gunns.

WWF World Tag Team Championship
Owen Hart and Yokozuna© vs. The Smokin’ Gunns

There’s history here. Owen and Yoko debuted as a team at Mania XI when they beat the Gunns for the tag title.

Billy Gunn takes Yoko down with a bulldog. I always thought Yoko sold a little too much later in this WWF run. It’s how you knew he was never getting back to the very top.

Owen’s neckbreaker gets semi-botched as Gunn drops too early.

Does Yoko EVER hit that elbow drop?

The Smokin’ Gunns wins the Tag Titles when Bart Gunn pinned Owen Hart in 12:13. Owen and Yoko collide, and Yoko falls in the corner. The Gunns hit the Sidewinder, and Yoko accidentally squashes Owen. Billy dropkicks Yoko out, and Bart pins Owen. Another good match! Crowd popped HUGE for the title change. If Yoko and Owen were in line for pushes, this makes a lot of sense. Problem is, that didn’t happen. Shawn and Diesel come in to celebrate with the Gunns.

Next week we have Bret Hart vs. Jean Pierre Lafitte II and a Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid rematch as well.

Gorilla then runs down the next In Your House card. Goldust vs. Marty Jannetty. Undertaker vs. Mabel (which would change to something a lot worse), and for the WWF Title: Diesel vs. the Bulldog. Bret also gets the winner at Survivor Series. By the way, that card listing is awful.

The British Bulldog vs. The Undertaker

Interesting spot here now. The super protected Undertaker vs. the #1 Contender to the WWF Title that needs to look strong: the British Bulldog.

Great heel manager spot: Undertaker goes for the Rope Walk (feels weird calling it Old School in 1995), but Cornette shakes the ropes allowing Bulldog to armdrag Undertaker off the top.

Taker gets clotheslines over the top, but lands on his feet and choke grabs Cornette. More awesomeness here. Bulldog gets the advantage here with an attack from behind.

King Mabel is looking on! Oh boy!

Now Waylon Mercy is looking on. I actually don’t know where that one is going. Taker-Mercy feud was potentially in the works perhaps?

Taker is selling the leg injury big time. I didn’t know Taker sold stuff in 1995.

Great piledriver from the Bulldog!

The Undertaker wins by DQ in 9:20. Mabel comes in, but Taker confronts him. Bulldog nails Taker into Mabel, who plants Taker with a belly to belly suplex. Bulldog and Mabel attack, but Shawn and Diesel make the save. Owen, Yoko and the Gunns all come down. Eventually Taker makes it to his feet and shakes all the faces’ hands, which is a little weird. Anyway, Taker had this won with a chokeslam before Mabel came in, so I don’t know how strong the Bulldog really looked…but I think it’s doable overall. Match was also really good. Taker did an awesome sell job, even afterwards (which is strong enough for the Bulldog I think) and Bulldog looked really motivated here. Probably because he had a bunch of PPV main events lined up. 3/3 for RAW tonight!

Shawn dances to bring us home for some reason.

If this show had any remote historical significance, it would get a super high rating. But did anything here matter at all long term? The only major thing that comes out of this is that it does lead to Owen vs. Shawn eventually, which is the concussion angle of course.

It should be noted that despite the good show, the rating for RAW pretty much blew. I think one thing hurt this that wasn’t Nitro related: the PPV the night before. I just don’t think a bait and switch like that is going to work. Then again, maybe Nitro did something that was just blow away.

TV Rating: 1.9 (-0.8)
Grade: B+

Posted Image

Nitro: 9/25/95
Florence, South Carolina

Alex Wright vs. Disco Inferno

We first saw Wright on Nitro a couple of weeks ago against Sabu.

I like how Disco Inferno had no character development for three years. He’s the same guy until he tries to join the Wolfpac.

Alex Wright almost messed up that springboard dropkick bad. It was passable though.

McMichael kills Monday Night Football on the broadcast. He says the Niners have it won. I like that RAW wasn’t the only show they took shots at.

Alex Wright pins Disco Inferno in 4:00. Wright gets a backslide out of nowhere for the win. It was a pretty good match with Disco controlling it, then it just ended abruptly. Not bad, but it could have used a proper Wright comeback if they are going with him.

WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan has a neck brace, but he’s letting us know he hasn’t missed a workout since Fall Brawl. Hogan makes the challenge for a Monster Truck Match at Halloween Havoc against The Giant. And then he challenges him to a WCW Title match as well. Hogan actually says he’s gonna bury Giant right next to his father, which seems distasteful although I’m sure he didn’t mean it that way.

SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!

We go over what happened last week with Lex Luger and Randy Savage.

It doesn’t take long for Luger and Savage to verbally go at it again. Savage is brilliant here. Luger challenges Savage to a match on Nitro next week. Luger says he’ll leave WCW if he can’t beat Savage. Well, that’s a headliner for sure. I wonder if this segment was key in the ratings war this week.

Bischoff hypes “MACHINE VS. MACHINE”. I wonder if he really thought that was a big draw.

Sgt. Craig Pittman vs. Kurasawa

Kurasawa is hyped as the man who broke Road Warrior Hawk’s arm.

A lot of kicks from Kurasawa.

Crazy back and forth here. Each guys turn armbars into suplexes.

Kurasawa pins Pittman in 4:26. Kurasawa gets a German Suplex, but Pittman flails around and it looks pretty bad for the three count. Still a pretty good match for 4 minutes. It seems like they both just threw whatever moves they could out there and just hoped it worked out, which it did.

Arn Anderson and Flyin’ Brian Pillman interview.

Pillman with a great promo, running down Ric Flair. Double A points out that Flair’s been asking help from guys he’s turned on over the years (Savage, Sting, etc.). It’s a pretty brilliant promo.

We get a replay of the Savage-Kevin Sullivan beach fight we saw last week.

Kevin Sullivan vs. Randy Savage

The Zodiac makes his way out and posts Savage quickly.

Kevin Sullivans wins by DQ in 2:58. Savage throws Sullivan to the outside, brings the Zodiac in, beats him up, then throws the ref for the DQ[/b]. Fun little brawl for three minutes I guess, but not much to say here.

The Giant lays out Savage! Some WCW jobbers I never heard of come down and Giant kills them. Alex Wright runs down, also killed by the Giant. Lex Luger comes in…but stands over Savage. Giant attacks him and hits a chokeslam, and Sullivan takes him away angrily. GREAT segment to get the Giant over there. Giant’s falling chokeslam is awesome.

Meng runs down for his match with Luger, since Luger is still down.

Lex Luger vs. Meng

We get told Hogan will be on Nitro next week.

Nice piledriver from Meng on Luger.

Sadly after that piledriver it slows down as we get a bunch of chokes. Ah well.

Gutwrench hip breaker with the foot by Meng? Okay then.

Meng pins Lex Luger in 6:46. Meng gets the spike and knocked Luger out in his comeback for the pin. WHAT? How was that a finish that made any sense? Meng beats Luger without any help or anything. And I’m supposed to buy Luger against the Savages and Giants of the world? Huh? Match was decent if not a bit boring. A downer of a main event.

I think Nitro won this rating battle because of its segments and not its matches. Double A and Pillman were gold. Savage and Luger were good. Hogan’s promo was ridiculous but probably was “must see” since he didn’t get a “live” interview of him the week before. The wrestling wasn’t bad either, although the main event left something to be desired. Still, most of the character development hit here, especially with The Giant.

TV Rating: 2.7 (+0.8)
Grade: B+

Weekly Review

Oddly enough, RAW had the wrestling this week while Nitro had the interviews and segments. While RAW’s matches were very good, the build-up to the next In Your House was really disappointing. I mean, all we get is Gorilla Monsoon announcing the matches for the next PPV? What kind of build is that? At least we got some Taker-Mabel interaction for build, but soon we’ll see that won’t mean a thing. But good wrestling is good wrestling, and we got a title change no less.

Nitro continued its great build for Halloween Havoc. We are still missing some of the excitement we got from the first two shows, but when you have strong segments like the Double A and Pillman interview, the Luger-Savage challenge and the Giant killing everyone, I’m going to buy that.

A tie for this week seems appropriate. Nitro’s first win in the ratings column had to be very exciting for them as well. I assume again it was because of the strong promos and the Giant.

TV Ratings Score: 2-1 RAW

Grade Score: 1-1-1 Tie

September 1995 Monthly Review

Stats

9/4/95 (Nitro 2.5, RAW: N/A)
9/11/95 (RAW 2.5, Nitro 2.4)
9/18/95 (RAW 2.7, Nitro 1.9)
9/25/95 (Nitro 2.7, RAW 1.9)
Rating Average: Nitro 2.48, RAW 2.37
TV Ratings Score: 2-1 RAW

9/4/95 (Nitro A+, RAW: N/A)
9/11/95 (Nitro B+, Raw B )
9/18/95 (RAW B, Nitro C+)
9/25/95 (RAW B+, Nitro B+)
Grade Average: Nitro B+, RAW B
Grade Score: 1-1-1 Tie

The first month of the Monday Night Wars was a full on assault from WCW and I think they delivered. First they attacked when RAW wasn’t on and put on a can’t miss show. They had a major surprise with Lex Luger. They put Hogan and Luger on in the main against RAW right away. They gave away HBK vs. Sid. Attack, attack, attack from Nitro. For WCW to just debut on Monday Night and be on par and at times better than the WWF was pretty incredible. WCW only had one show early on that I thought was a miss.

It’s not like the WWF had a bad month. It was a pretty strong run of shows considering most of them were taped and still had squash matches. Vince definitely picked it up on the 9-25 show though. He was in the fight of his life.

Overall, Nitro was just better this month.

September 1995 Grade
Nitro: A
RAW: B+

Pro Wrestling

RDT Reviews WWE Hell In a Cell 2009

WWE Hell in a Cell 2009
October 4, 2009
Newark, NJ

In 2009 WWE decided to brand their PPVs after match titles. As a result, No Way Out became Elimination Chamber, No Mercy became Hell in a Cell and Armageddon became TLC. Unfortunately, and especially in the Hell in a Cell case, this forced WWE to use these match types at these respective events. Instead of organically having a feud that led to a Hell in a Cell match, fans would expect a feud that began in August or September to have a Hell in a Cell match in October. Also, this ruled out having Hell in a Cell matches at any other point in time, taking away a potentially exciting twist for feuds that take place during any other part of the year. (This led to tons of excitement when HHH-Taker at Mania XXVIII became a Cell match, since it was absolutely unexpected).

The other issue with this was that WWE had become PG. Now, WWE had become PG about 15 months earlier and Edge and Undertaker had a great Hell in a Cell match anyway, so all hope wasn’t lost. The idea of three HIAC matches on one show had fans salivating at the possibilities of what could happen.

The Card

World Heavyweight Championship: Hell in a Cell
CM Punk© vs. The Undertaker

We had another Montreal Screwjob at Breaking Point, where Teddy Long turned heel and called for the bell when Punk had Taker in the Anaconda Vise. Taker captured Teddy and this forced Teddy to make Punk vs Taker at Hell in a Cell (first point to make about the PPV title…of course we knew this was happening already because the next PPV was Hell in a Cell). So here we are.

This is a surprising opener for sure. Being there live this was the match I was most looking forward to. I was really getting into Punk’s character here…and the Undertaker is the Undertaker.

Match starts fun enough with Taker throwing Punk into the cage.

Taker shoves Punk off the ring apron into the cage. Again, really fun start.

Suicide dive from Punk into Taker and the cage!

Legit shocked at a Punk chair shot to the head to Undertaker. When were headshots banned? I forgot.

The Undertaker pins CM Punk to win the title in 10:24. We get a really fun back and forth for five minutes…then Taker finishes Punk. Man, this was a really fun match that just gets cut off. Give this 6-7 more minutes and you potentially have a classic. Despite the good match, it’s still pretty disappointing in the name of Hell in a Cell. At least at the time it was.

Intercontinental Championship
John Morrison © vs. Dolph Ziggler

At the time Morrison seemingly looked like the future while Ziggler was just a midcard guy. Funny how that’d change over the next two years.

Ziggler starts with some solid mat wrestling, which is something he should do more of honestly.

Match has mostly been Ziggler, but it’s turning into a fun back and forth.

John Morrison retains by pin in 15:41. Starship Pain for the win. Really good match here, but I have to question this going five minutes longer than the opening World Title match. Match did tell a good story in regards to Ziggler getting close but not close enough. I don’t remember what the led to though.

Mysterio and Batista interview. Does a great job with Mysterio referencing his past with Chris Jericho and even hints a little bit about Batista’s future heel turn.

Diva’s Championship
Mickie James © vs. Alicia Fox

Michael Cole mentions…with no hint of irony…that many are shocked Fox is the #1 contender this early in her career. I love Alicia now, but she was awful back then.

This is pretty solid to start, although sometime you can tell Fox’s timing is off (like when she takes the neckbreaker).

Mickie James retains by pin in 5:20. Mickie hits a Tornado DDT that Alicia doesn’t take correctly, and while it looks devastating you have to fear for Alicia there. Anyway, this didn’t seem bad at all, but it was pretty boring and the crowd was dead for it.

World Tag Team Championship
Chris Jericho and Big Show© vs. Batista and Rey Mysterio

It should be noted that Chris Jericho pretty much saved rescued the tag division in the latter half of 2009. He also helped a floundering Big Show, who despite being in a World Title match at Mania and a feud with Cena, had been regulated to fighting Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne before Jericho’s 1st partner, Edge got injured.

With these four top guys contending for the tag belts, it really feels like the Tag belts matter.

Big Show is just killing Rey and it’s awesome. Brutal slap that sends Mysterio to the floor!

Jericho and Show’s beatdown of Mysterio is fantastic. What a good match so far.

Tornado DDT from Rey to Big Show! Wow!

Great sequence where Big Show gets 619ed, then Jericho gets dumped on him. Show catches him, but Batista takes them both down.

Big Show and Jericho retain when Show pinned Rey in 13:41. Rey goes for a springboard, but Show punches him right in the face as he comes down to win it. KO Punch was just getting established here, but it was working for sure. Awesome match. Jericho, Show, Batista and Rey just have awesome chemistry together. It was the perfect finish too, Big Show pinning Rey doesn’t hurt Rey and further established Big Show.

WWE Championship: Hell in a Cell
John Cena© vs. Randy Orton

Orton beat Cena at Summerslam, but Cena got Orton in an “I Quit” match at Breaking Point. Rubber Match time.

Shocked this isn’t the main event. I think that’s a problem too. Either Punk-Taker or Cena-Orton should be main eventing this.

Cena and Orton also went to the top of the Cell on RAW. It was good build for sure.

Here’s the problem with this match. There’s nothing here that’s done to really use Hell in a Cell. It’s just a regular match inside the Cell. I mean what’s the point?

Randy Orton pins John Cena to win the title in 21:24. Orton traps Cena in the ropes and chokes him out…and then finishes with the Punt to regain the title. I liked the finish and Orton’s mannerisms were spot on. He really became an awesome heel in 2008-2009. I still am quite disappointed in the match though.

R-Truth vs. Drew McIntyre

McIntyre is new, and there’s a respect problem between the two. R-Truth has a pretty good promo before the match.

McIntyre still had generic rock music here too. That didn’t help him at all.

No be honest, no one cares. Boring chant breaks out. McIntyre would never make it as a high level guy either…although he definitely had the potential for sure.

Drew McIntyre pins R-Truth in 4:38. Future Shock DDT. If this was designed for the crowd to take a break after Orton-Cena, it succeeded.

Orton tells Dibiase and Rhodes that once you enter Hell in a Cell, you don’t just walk out. I’d take him more seriously if he actually used the Cell in the match.

United States Championship
Kofi Kingston© vs. Jack Swagger vs. The Miz

Miz hilariously runs down Newark. What the heck happened to him? He was so good on the mic.

Miz and Swagger double team Kofi for most of it, but Miz betrays him.

Crowd is dead for this too.

We get some fun three-way spots at least. Kofi’s putting a show on out there.

Kofi Kingston retains when he pinned Miz in 7:53. Swagger hits Miz with the Swagger Bomb, but Kofi knocks him out with Trouble in Paradise. I enjoyed this for the most part, but again, crowd really wasn’t into it and seemed burned out.

Hell in a Cell: Legacy vs. DX

For all that’s said about HHH and HBK holding people down and whatnot, they made Legacy look like stars throughout this feud.

Great booking decision here: Legacy attacks DX during their entrance.

Great brawl to start outside of the ring. Legacy take out Triple H, then slam the cage door on Michaels’ knee. Again, brilliant booking in this one.

In more brilliant booking, Legacy traps HBK in the Cell and lock HHH out!

Legacy proceeds to beat the living crap out of Shawn in the Cell with HHH trying to find ways to get in.

A Million Dollar Dream and a Figure Four around the ringpost at the same time is a pretty awesome double submission. HHH makes his way back in.

DX now trap Dibiase outside of the Cell. Poor Cody.

DX win when HBK pins Rhodes in 18:02. Cody gets a Sweet Chin Sledgehammer, and it’s over. Fantastic booking. I remember being disappointed when I first saw this, but I really don’t know why. This was fun and different, and actually used the HIAC in a unique way. Also, Legacy controlled most of the match, and even in losing looked like future stars. Of course, only Cody would take advantage of that.

Hell in a Cell is an interesting show that promises one thing, but you get something totally different. Sure Taker vs. Punk and Orton vs. Cena were good, but given expectations both fell short. The main event at least did something totally different. The second half of the card also falls off a cliff, as the US Title match and McIntyre-Truth just kills the crowd. IC Title match was fun and Tag Title match stole the show.

Sadly, CM Punk would get pushed down the card for some reason after this (well, after Survivor Series), but everything else storyline wise would progress nicely.

It’s a fine show, but I just can’t get past the expectations of what three Hell in a Cell matches were supposed to be. This was the beginning of WWE watering down its ultimate feud ender.

Final Grade: B-

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