WWE 205 Live #58 Review

205 Live #58 - 1/2/2018 Review
Amway Center in Orlando, Florida

Akira Tozawa vs. TJP - **¼

Goldust & Cedric Alexander vs. Drew Gulak & Davari - **½

Overall Rating: 5/10.

The opening match was a little longer than it should've been, but I don't understand the dead crowd. Maybe worn out from Smackdown? The match was fine overall. Seeing Goldust again backstage with Cedric was enjoyable, I love seeing Goldust with some TV time, and even though it's through weird circumstances, I can roll with it. Gallagher attacking Itami with a pipe and getting the match called off was an interesting call. I understand it, but it got no reaction from the crowd which is sad. Main event was an average tag match, like the Raw match got a bit more time. Goldust had great segments, but also didn't get the pinfall. Good job by WWE.

WWE Smackdown #959 Review

Smackdown #959 - 1/2/2018 Review
Amway Center in Orlando, Florida

Smackdown Tag Team Championships Match: The Usos (Jey Uso & Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Chad Gable & Shelton Benjamin - NR

Aiden English vs. Xavier Woods - **¾

Carmella, Natalya & Tamina vs. The Riott Squad (Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan) - **

AJ Styles vs. Sami Zayn - **¼

Overall Rating: 5/10.

Notes: Good mic time for AJ, but ruined by Bryan and McMahon. The mistake and instant replay used for Gable/Benjamin vs. Usos was stupid considering they never use the instant replay for anything else. They came back only to have a quick finish. Some how WWE managed to book the worst possible thing for this match. You had 4 great talents in a match and completely wasted them and the titles. Fine squash by Bludgeon Brothers. Aiden vs. Xavier was a good match, both guys are talented and Rusev is extremely over. The women's tag match was enjoyable, Liv Morgan and Tamina both looked great in the match. After a win, Charlotte came out and teamed up with Naomi and a returning Becky Lynch to take out the Riott Squad. Really good stuff for the division. Sami vs. Styles started off good (besides the awful camera switches taking away from the action in the ring) but led into some of the most confusing booking I've seen in WWE in a while. Zayn gets a cheap win, Styles goes on a rant, and now it's Styles vs. Zayn and Owens for the title in a handicap match at the rumble? Good grief.

WWE Raw #1284 Review

WWE Raw #1284 - 1/1/2018 Ratings
American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida

Cesaro vs. Jason Jordan - **

Bray Wyatt vs. Apollo Crews - *¼

Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka - ¾*

Braun Strowman vs. Rhyno - NR

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Samoa Joe - ***

Ariya Daivari & Drew Gulak vs. Cedric Alexander & Goldust - *½

Elias & The Miztourage (Bo Dallas & Curtis Axel) vs. Finn Balor & The Club (Karl Anderson & Luke Gallows) - NR

Overall Rating: 4/10.

Notes: The first segment of the year reeks of the same formula that turned me away from the weekly shows last year. Jason Jordan getting accused of not knowing how tag teams work from Rollins is silly considering American Alpha. Cesaro becomes one of many to target Jordan's knee, the crowd is not into Cesaro vs. Jason Jordan at all. After Rollins distracts Cesaro by attacking Sheamus on the outside of the ring, Jordan gets the win. Bray vs. Apollo was boring, but also showed me how crazy underrated Crews is. I don't mind Titus Worldwide, but man Dana sucks. Another distraction leading into a win for Bray. The WOKEN Matt Hardy promo after the match was extremely weird but I don't mind. Alexa Bliss vs. Asuka was a wasted match and made me hate Alexa even more than I already do. The Samoa Joe promo with Renee Young was great, especially with Renee selling the hatred for Joe due to him injuring Dean. Braun takes on Rhyno, but Heath keeps getting on the apron so Braun grabs a mic and asks Heath if he wants to shut up or catch these hands. A quick squash, followed by 3 powerslams for both Rhyno and Heath. It was great, and brought the crowd to life. Braun is a gem. Corey's line for someone to call Peta for Rhyno was clever too. Balor picking The Club as his tag team partners made me smile and was a nice touch. Roman vs. Joe started off really slow, but the ending false finishes really got the match going and watching the match knowing Roman is going to win makes the finish understandable. Pretty good match. The planned cruiserweight title match is canceled due to Enzo being sick, and I just want to say he better actually have the flu and not just a bad hangover, otherwise this is just another reason to hate this guy as a person. Goldust coming out is desperate booking but hey it kind of worked. Elias and Miztourage segment was funny enough. Match too short to mean anything. Lesnar gets hyped up by Heyman, which is of course great. Kane comes out however and chokeslams Lesnar. Lesnar sitting up and laughing is a brilliant callback to the Taker match. Then the locker room clears even though they were barely brawling... a bit anticlimactic.

Random Topics #1

Welcome to a new series here on the blog, called Random Topics. The concept is basically in the name. I take any topic that I feel like talking about, or one that was suggested that I find interesting. Without further ado, let's get into the first topic!

What I miss about WWE.

This is a big topic, but one I felt like talking about for a couple reasons. First, WWE is obviously in a sub-par state right now, and it makes you miss previous years. The second reason is because I recently went on a little vacation where I had no internet access, so I decided to bring the first 5 or so pay-per-views of the year from 2005. Seeing these really made me realize how poor of a state WWE is truly in right now. There are a couple different points I would like to cover in this, so I'll split them up into different paragraphs.

The first point, is the wrestling. Of course this is a different era, where every match has to be a 4+ star match, and if it isn't then most likely people are quick to dismiss it. But yet, in the years of Ruthless Aggression, we were not getting the best wrestling on any of the pay-per-views. You'd have a great match here and another one there, but you could never expect anything consistent. This era is still considered one of the best ever though. This is because the matches could draw you in. An example here is Judgment Day 2005, one of the shows I watched. The first match I had 0 interest in before hand. MnM vs. Hardcore Holly and Charlie Haas. No promo package, no anything. What a random match to start off this event. But as they started, they drew me in. Holly and Haas were great faces and got the crowd behind them with little things like Holly getting the new blood (Mercury) into the corner and raising his hand. Holly knew that he has a reputation for putting the beatdown on new guys, and with as much heat as MnM were getting, he knew that the crowd would love some hard chops. Nitro and Mercury got the cheep win, which gave them even more heat because of the way the match drew the fans in. Even poor matches like Big Show vs. Carlito accomplished something, having Carlito gain massive heat by using his bodyguard (Matt Morgan) to pick up the win. The only truly bad part from this show was the Orlando Jordan vs. Heidenreich match, which leads me to my next point.

Bad people don't last long. In this time, if you weren't doing at least one thing right, you weren't going to last long. Of course there were people who were bad in the ring, but they made up for it with their character. Examples here are Heidenreich and Kenzo Suzuki. These two were bad no matter what role you put them in (how do you have a really bad match with Undertaker for the former, or just look bad in the ring with Eddie, Benoit, and Mysterio for the latter?) They both ended up gone. Then take someone like JBL. In-ring he wasn't the greatest ever, or anywhere near that. But can you name a better heel in that era? Cause I sure cannot. In this modern day of WWE, they have their most talented roster ever, but we still complain about in ring action. Now no one off the top of my head is particularly bad all-around, but if they are bad in one aspect, they aren't making up for it in another. Jinder Mahal is a good example in this case. His in-ring work is really bad, this is obvious. But usually you would make up for it in something like character. Now his character isn't bad, but it isn't something that makes up for how bad his wrestling is. But he is the WWE Champion. This hurts everyone, whether it be the other superstars on the roster, or the company itself. More users are turning off the channel, even though you have expanded your market. It seems to be a scenario of 1 step forward, 2 steps backwards. How can they help this? That leads into my third point.

Character. Man in Ruthless Aggression, these guys really took their character and rolled with it. Big superstars like Kurt Angle, John Cena, Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar, etc. They all took their character to heart, and made the crowd love them or hate them just like they should. But what makes this stand out from modern day, is letting the lower card guys take a character and do what they want with it. Deuce and Domino are guys that were never going to make it to the top, but still were a reason to tune in to Smackdown cause you wanted to see the smug guys lose to London and Kendrick. Even Boogeyman who couldn't put on a great match, made you want to tune in to see what he would do next, and the crowd loved it. Nowadays WWE has put such a restraint on what guys can do with themselves, it's almost robotic. Let Roman Reigns work the crowd, cause he can do it. I strongly dislike him, but the post-Wrestlemania promo where he said 5 words is one of the best in modern day WWE. But he can't do anything more than that cause the company has his, and almost everyone else's written out word for word. It's simply boring. Look at the fashion files. They really let these guys do what they want, and they have one of the most over stories in the company right now. Then you take someone brilliant like Kevin Owens, who knows how to get heat in the best way, and you restrain him cause people get upset. It's not right, and it's something that I miss from WWE.

That's all for the first Random Topics. If you don't feel like reading the whole thing, I can leave a summed up portion in the conclusion. I miss letting guys put on their own matches, I miss not having sub-par people at the top of the company, and I miss letting guys run with their character. Hopefully you enjoyed this week, and be sure to look out for the next installment.

AJPW Summer Action Series 2017 - Day 2 Review

AJPW Summer Action Series 2017 - Day 2 Review
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo

Well, it's been a while. Life is crazy. How about some AJPW full review?

AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match: Hikaru Sato (c) vs. Minoru Tanaka
I skipped the classic beginning card Japan tag matches, hopefully I didn't miss anything relevant. This was a good first match. They kept up the limb work, and it all looked really nice. The finish was red hot with beautiful submission trades, leading to a modified Armbar that was too much for Tanaka to handle.

Winner: Hikaru Sato in 13:18
Like I said, enjoyed this match and the finish was really great. Can't ask much more than that. ***

I'm not too up-to-date with AJPW feuds, but I popped when Tajiri came out and gave Sato the green mist. Great to see Tajiri doing good for himself.

AJPW World Tag Team Championships Match: The Big Guns (c) vs. NEXTREAM
Going into this match I was somewhat expecting a pretty good match since I know Jake Lee and Naoya Nomura are two incredible athletes. However as the match went on, I learned that I wasn't going to get my good match. Not sure if it was the Big Guns that were the cause (using my prior knowledge to similar looking wrestlers in WWE I would assume this is the case) or if the two teams simply didn't mix well.

Winners: NEXTREAM in 11:28
The titles did change hands here, which hopefully will lead to some great matches from the two young athletes. This match however, I was not a big fan of. **

If you're unfamiliar with AJPW, the only thing that really goes on between matches are interviews with the competitors of the last match. Most of these are in Japanese, so I tend to skip.

Joe Doering vs. Kento Miyahara
This match was definitely the main draw to this card for me. The two put on my current AJPW MOTY back in April, and even though I don't watch much AJPW, this match was still amazing. They both brawl inside and outside of the ring, and when Doering gets the upper-hand, he starts picking apart Miyahara's back. He continued to work the back in the ring, but then the pace slowed. Not a lot happened after that, then they had another exchange, then a couple German Suplexes, and Miyahara had Doering pinned just like that.

Winner: Kento Miyahara in 8:18
A much shorter match than I was expecting. I feel like with 5 more minutes like they had for the Championship Carnival, they could've put on another fantastic match. Nonetheless, this was some great action with a little dullness. If you're in the mood for some non NJPW puro, this is a good choice. ***½

Joe Doering's interview was in English so I decided to listen. He talks about having a disappointing 2017 so far. I hope this leads to a 3rd match between the two with a longer time.

AJPW Unified Triple Crown Championship Match: Shuji Ishikawa (c) vs. Suwama
For about a year now I've seen a couple AJPW posters here and there, and they all seem to have Suwama on them. Is it fair to assume he is AJPW's Okada? That could be both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time. This match was honestly hard to watch. No emotional investment at all, and no notable in-ring action to distract you from the previous point. I say a match is bad when you end up wishing that the ref counts the 3 just so it is finished.

Winner: Shuji Ishikawa in 19:37
Good for the crowd for seeming at least a bit excited in the match, but man this sucked. So much stalling for no reason, and such little action and stalemates, for again no reason. Sad for a pretty good event to end with a sour finish. I'll be a bit nicer with this rating for the decent finishing stretch. *½

Overall: 5/10. A show that was headed to being average, but fell hard with the main event. If you are going to check out this show, I'd say check out the first 3 matches for a good feel of AJPW. Solid action in the opener and in Doering/Miyahara, both should satisfy your puro needs. Looking forward to a stronger showing in the next show I am able to catch.

AJPW New Year Wars 2017 - Day 1 Ratings

AJPW New Year Wars 2017 - Day 1 Ratings
Korakuen Hall in Tokyo

Atsushi Aoki vs. Koji Iwamoto - **½

Keisuke Ishii and Fuminori Abe vs. Yuma Aoyagi and Soma Takao - *¾

Ryoji Sai, Rikiya Fudo and Minoru Tanaka vs. Zeus, Yohei Nakajima and SUSHI - **¼

All Asia Tag Team Championships Barbed Wire Board Death Match: Masanobu Fuchi and Atsushi Onita (c) vs. Jun Akiyama and Masao Inoue - *¼

Suwama, Joe Doering and Hikaru Sato vs. Kento Miyahara, Naoya Nomura and Jake Lee - ***

New Year Battle Royal Match - ¾*

Overall Rating: 3/10. My first recent AJPW show. I didn't know what to expect, but the show overall was lacking. Nothing stands out here, and the only saving grace would have to be the 2nd to last match. Hopefully the shows pick up from here.

Also an update for the blog. I recently sustained an injury while playing baseball, so I am unable to type well. This will stop me from writing full reviews for a while, and instead just give ratings for matches on a show. I will be doing this for random shows, and not Smackdown, since I feel Smackdown should be full reviews. Thanks for understanding.

Smackdown #393 Review

Smackdown #393 Review
Sap Center (AKA HP Pavilion), San Jose, California

YEAHHHH! I WALK ALONE! Batista walks out in the whitest turtle neck imaginable to a crazy pop from the crowd. He speaks more about how he will not be intimidated by The Undertaker. But then... GONG! Undertaker is in a graveyard, seemingly digging a grave for Batista. He says Batista's title reign will REST. IN. PEACE.

Matt Hardy vs. Joey Mercury
This is a Money in the Bank qualifying match, and with their current rivalry, it has a lot of potential. King Booker is also on guest commentary. The match starts going back and forth, but nothing notable. All of the attention is on King Booker's amazing commentary. Joey Mercury did start getting the momentum by working on the left arm throughout the match. We come back from commercial and Mercury is using the ring post to wrench the arm, while King Booker is still saying some gold about how he will win at Wrestlemania. Mercury goes to the top rope, but Hardy catches him and starts mounting some offense. He hits a combination of signature moves, then rips off the protective mask and hits a Twist of Fate from the second rope for the 3.

Winner: Matt Hardy in 13:50
This was an ok opener, made better by King Booker's commentary. I would've preferred it if the match was a bit shorter. **

Backstage with MVP, he makes a statement saying he will be the man qualifying for Money in the Bank.

Scotty 2 Hotty, Shannon Moore, and Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Gregory Helms, Daivari, and Chavo Guerrero
A cluster of a match starting with Shannon Moore and Gregory Helms facing off. They both soon tag out though, and Daivari begins choking out Scotty 2 Hotty. The face team tries to get the crowd to will on Scotty, but the crowd is pretty dead for this match. Chavo, Daivari, and Helms keep Scotty away from his corner, but the crowd remained quiet. Jimmy Wang Yang comes in and flies all over the place and cleans house, but Gregory Helms silents him. Then everything breaks down and bodies go flying, and before you know it Wang Yang hits a moonsault and pins Daivari for the 3.

Winners: Scotty 2 Hotty, Shannon Moore, and Jimmy Wang Yang in 7:18
I'm sure this match was here just because they have no idea what to do with the cruiserweights, which is very unfortunate. If they were going to do this match, the entire thing should've been booked as a car crash, and not trying to start it out as a technical bout. *½

A video is shown, displaying the actions of Vince and Umaga towards Rey Mysterio from last week.

Vince McMahon comes out promoting the Wrestlemania match yet again. We see videos from this past Raw and ECW showing Umaga and Bobby Lashley feuding. Just as I was about to fall asleep from this promo, Lashley's music hits and things get interesting. Vince tells him he'll pay him double whatever Trump is paying him. Lashley of course rejects this offer, but he gets slapped by Vince. Lashley then looks like he is about to murder Vince, and that's the end of the segment. This match has 0 to do with Smackdown, so I question why they have these segments.

After commercial, Mr. Kennedy is backstage with Vince and he says he wants Lashley in a match. So the match that was booked is for the ECW title, and is no holds barred, for Kennedy only.

Ashley vs. Jillian Hall
Jillian Hall starts to sing, but Ashley cuts her off and starts punching her. Ashley starts getting the crowd on her side, and that gives Jillian a chance to get the advantage. Jillian grabs the mic and starts trying to sing, but Ashley cuts her off yet again. Ashley counters a powerslam, and hits an elbow for the win.

Winner: Ashley in 2:26
This was a fairly short match and was just to promote Ashley's Playboy appearance, so I'll leave it unrated.

Finlay vs. MVP vs. Chris Benoit
It is worth to note that Finlay clarifies with the Michael Cole and JBL that Little Bastard's name is Hornswoggle. I've been calling him Hornswoggle from the start so I apologize. The match starts off with all 3 keeping a close eye on each other, with the big stakes of Money in the Bank at risk. MVP and Finlay begin double teaming Benoit, and as they go for pins, the other would pull the other off of Benoit. MVP tosses Finlay outside of the ring, and Benoit hits a nice suicide dive on MVP. Then we get a commercial. We come back and Finlay has control over Benoit back inside of the ring. MVP comes back in the ring and begins working on Benoit. The double teaming continues for a while, until MVP gets a bit too cocky and Finlay takes him down. Chris Benoit gets back into control with a Sharpshooter on MVP which stays locked in until he switches to a Crossface on Finlay, but MVP breaks it up with a huge dropkick. Benoit takes Finlay out of the match afterwards with a nasty german suplex outside of the ring. He then misses a Flying Headbutt onto MVP. This seems to be MVP's match, but with the help of a certain leprechaun, Finlay is able to hit both superstars with a shillelagh for the win.

Winner: Finlay in 11:09
 Another good match coming from the combination of Finlay/Benoit. All 3 come out of the match looking strong, and the set up for mania was great. Although it gets the same rating as the top match, this doesn't quite beat out Finlay/Benoit for best Smackdown TV match. ***

Jerry Lawler is announced for the Hall of Fame.

Two major announcements for matches next week. Undertaker takes on Finlay, and Batista takes on Kane.

ECW Championship No Holds Barred Match For Mr. Kennedy Only: Bobbly Lashley (c) vs. Mr. Kennedy
The match starts off with Lashley dominating, but when he goes to use an exposed turnbuckle, he gets warned by the ref. Kennedy takes advantage of the distraction, and throws Lashley up against it. Back from commercial we see Kennedy still in control, and he goes for a count out win, to no avail. After failing to choke out Lashley, Kennedy grabs a chair and cracks it over Lashley's skull, but it still doesn't put him away. So the chair shots continue, until Kennedy misses a swing and the momentum shifts. Lashley gets Kennedy up and hits him with a running powerslam for the 3.

Winner: Bobby Lashley in 10:35
A shorter match than their No Way Out match, which is much appreciated. This did kind of make Kennedy look weak, but I guess it's alright in order to boost Lashley up for the Wrestlemania match against Umaga. **¾

Overall: 6/10. This was a great week for Smackdown. I did give it the benefit of the doubt when averaging scores because of the opening promo, and learning from past mistakes with the main event. Next week seems to be another good episode as we are getting two huge matches, thanks to the Holla Holla Hall of Famer Teddy Long.

WWE Network Hidden Gems Review #1

WWE Network Hidden Gems Review #1
Samoa Joe vs. William Regal - UPW @ Santa Ana

Welcome to the first Hidden Gems review from the network. Today I'll be looking at a dream match of sorts. If you couldn't tell from the title, we've got Samoa Joe vs. William Regal from Ultimate Pro Wrestling. Now, this isn't going to be the Samoa Joe we all know and love, from as far as I can tell at least. This match is from late 2000, meaning that this is pre ROH Joe. But could he still give us a classic match? Let's find out.

The match started off with a wrist lock and didn't break away from it until the late minute and a half of the match. I'm not exaggerating either, it was a poorly paced technical match with Regal attempting to carry an inexperienced Joe about halfway through the match, and then seemingly giving up. The effort seemed lost, and the match was a great disappointment. It also doesn't help that the crowd was completely silent except for 2 girls who would scream whenever Regal showed some offense. In the end, Joe botched getting tripped, and tapped out to the Regal Stretch. I can give the match one star, but nothing more than that. *  

Smackdown #392 Review

Smackdown #392 Review
PayOne Center, San Diego, California

The night starts off with a video package showing the past 3 weeks of build up to Batista vs. Undertaker at Wrestlemania. This is looking like a pretty great feud.

After the video, Batista walks out and defends his actions at No Way Out against The Undertaker. He seems confident that he will be walking into Wrestlemania as champ, and out still champion.

Matt Hardy, Brian Kendrick, and Paul London vs. Joey Mercury, Deuce and Domino
The match started out with fast tags between Kendrick and London, and some strong offense, until Domino attacked Kendrick behind the ref's back. Deuce was then tagged in, and him along with Domino played excellent heels, keeping Kendrick isolated from his corner just like any good tag match. Kendrick started some offense and got an incredibly hot tag to Matt Hardy. He continued to clean house and with the help of London and Kendrick taking out Deuce and Domino with double suicide dives, he pinned Mercury for the win.

Winners: Matt Hardy, Brian Kendrick, and Paul London in 11:22
This was your average 6 man tag match, and it was a great way to start off this show. Deuce and Domino looked strong as a tag team, and Matt Hardy had some great momentum. **½

We had a weird backstage segment with Krystal and Vickie Guerrero, the latter saying everything was taken care of. Just odd.

The Money in the Bank qualifying match between Edge and Rob Van Dam from Raw was shown to hype up the upcoming qualifying match between Kane and Booker T.

Chavo Guerrero vs. Scotty 2 Hotty
Chavo started off the match fast by attacking Scotty 2 Hotty while he was taking off his shirt, but Scotty didn't back down fighting right back. Chavo took control however, and started beating down on Scotty. He used cheap tactics such as choking him with the ropes to stay in control, and screamed at Scotty repeatedly saying how he wasn't worthy of the Cruiserweight Championship. Scotty fought out of a submission, but was met with a huge big boot, and again was unable to gain control. Chavo went for the triple verticals, but Scotty countered and hit the Worm. Chavo rolled out of the ring, but was caught with a senton from Scotty. Back into the ring, Chavo rolled up Scotty and got his feet on the ropes for the 3.

Winner: Chavo Guerrero in 7:39
This match didn't click well unfortunately. Scotty got a bit of momentum, but it took a bit too long to get it going I think. That really took away for the excitement. *½

Falls Count Anywhere Match: King Booker vs. Kane
King Booker, despite seeming scared, goes right into brawling with the big red machine. The two go back and forth for quite sometime, spilling outside of the ring even. After a while King Booker gets the advantage, and is taking Kane all over the ringside and throwing him up against everything. Booker makes a mistake when trying to use the ring bell, and Kane gains control, taking him up the entrance ramp. King Booker shifts the momentum with a DDT on the solid steel, and he continues to beat up Kane on the stage. However this doesn't last long as Kane hits a huge uppercut, and takes King Booker to ringside, and throwing him into the steps. Booker finally gets to use the bell, and we come back from commercial to see him in control. They continue to go back and forth for a while longer, and just as Kane is about to hit the Chokeslam, The Great Khali comes out and attacks Kane. After the attack, King Booker pins a knocked out Kane for the win.

Winner: King Booker in 17:56
This was a better match than their No Way Out encounter, the only problem was it went on a bit too long yet again. This planted the seed for Kane vs. Khali at mania. It was still kind of random, but doesn't really take away from the match itself. **½

Backstage after the match, King Booker is celebrating, and he shakes hands with Khali. Is this a formed alliance?

There is also a flashback to last week to where Ashley reveals the cover of Playboy and the crowd goes crazy.

Finlay and Hornswoggle vs. Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman
Apparently the match started while a commercial was going on, so I'm not sure how it started. Finlay takes the bag of worms and dumps them out, and stomps on them. Little Boogeyman hit Finlay with a low blow, and begins beating him up, but Hornswoggle comes into the ring and starts to fight with Little Boogeyman. Finlay stops it though, and he turns around into a big boot from Boogeyman, who then turns his attention to Hornswoggle. Finlay hits Boogeyman with his shelaylay and Hornswoggle gets the pin.

Winners: Finlay and Hornswoggle in 4:00
This was a comedic skit, not a wrestling match. DUD

Mr. Perfect gets announced as a part of the Hall of Fame.

Rey Mysterio comes out to the ring, hyping up his upcoming return from his knee injury. As he is talking, Vince McMahon interrupts him. He comes out with multiple security guards and blocks the ring. He doesn't really even acknowledge Rey, he just talks about how is going to beat Donald Trump at Wrestlemania, and shave his head. He then asks Rey who he thinks will win, and Rey tells Vince he's a loser. This makes Vince angry of course, and he decides to bring out Umaga, who is representing him for the mania match. He tries to bully Rey into saying Vince will win. Then he low blows Rey, and gives him to Umaga for a giant Samoan drop. Then he hits a hip attack. Vince decides this still is not enough, and he commands Umaga to jump on the injured knee. This was a heat magnet.

Overall: 4.5/10. Not a terrible show, but not that good either. There was a solid opener, and a solid Kane/Booker match, but 2 bad matches as well along with an ending I don't entirely agree with. I feel as if the segment was ok, I just don't think it should've ended Smackdown.

Smackdown 2007 Statistics:

Pay-Per-View Match of the Year: Royal Rumble Match - Royal Rumble - ****
Smackdown TV Match of the Year: United States Championship Match: Chris Benoit (c) vs. Finlay - ***
Worst Pay-Per-View Match of the Year: ECW Championship Match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Mr. Kennedy - DUD
Worst Smackdown TV Match of the Year: Finlay and Hornswoggle vs. Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman - DUD 

Announcement

So, as most of you know the blog has been very inactive/inconsistent when posting reviews and such. Well I plan on changing that, due to people seeming to want more content. Now I have a schedule planned out for the future of this blog, and I hope you all like it. You can expect 1 2007 Smackdown show a week, and a match review from the Hidden Gems Vault off of the WWE network. Once in a while there may be a 3rd post per week, whether that be an extra post of one of the former mentioned series, or something covering an event in the wrestling world, or even something I just feel like reviewing. I look forward to providing you all with content, and the new Smackdown review should be up in just a bit. Thank you.

No Way Out 2007 Ratings

No Way Out 2007 Ratings
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California

MVP, Johnny Nitro, and Joey Mercury vs. Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy, and Chris Benoit - ***¼

Cruiserweight Championship Open Match: Gregory Helms (c) vs. Scotty 2 Hotty vs. Davari vs. Funaki vs. Shannon Moore vs. Jimmy Wang Yang vs. Jamie Noble vs. Chavo Guerrero - *¼

Finlay and Hornswoggle vs. Boogeyman and Little Boogeyman - ¼*

King Booker vs. Kane - *¾

Paul London and Brian Kendrick (c) vs. Deuce and Domino - *

ECW Championship Match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Mr. Kennedy - DUD

Shawn Michaels and John Cena vs. Batista and Undertaker - ***¾

Overall Rating: 3/10. This was a pretty bad show overall. The opener was a good choice, and the main event delivered, but in between was a hot mess. King Booker vs. Kane could've been a lot better if it wasn't so long. They didn't have nearly enough story for a 12 minute match. Same with Bobby Lashley vs. Mr Kennedy. They went a full 15 minutes, and a very bad finish, and nothing good in between.

Smackdown 2007 Statistics:

Pay-Per-View Match of the Year: Royal Rumble Match - Royal Rumble - ****
Smackdown TV Match of the Year: United States Championship Match: Chris Benoit (c) vs. Finlay - ***
Worst Pay-Per-View Match of the Year: ECW Championship Match: Bobby Lashley (c) vs. Mr. Kennedy - DUD
Worst Smackdown TV Match of the Year: Davari vs. Gregory Helms - ¾*

ECW Review 7/18/2006

ECW Review
American Bank Center, Corpus Christi, Texas

The show starts this week, showing a replay from Saturday's Main Event, which at first didn't seem relevant, but then... the main event is shown and it is Big Show and Khali vs. Undertaker. They beat him down, bad. And that leads to the announcement of the main event, Big Show vs. Undertaker for the ECW Championship. Sounds pretty good. Then the intro for the show plays.

And yet again, Kelly's Expose. Mike Knox grabs her, same old stuff. Instead of going backstage however, Knox takes her to the ring. Kelly tries to show off to the fans and Knox shows her a video of Sandman from last week. He tells her to go to his corner, and Knox calls out The Sandman.

Extreme Rules Match: Mike Knox vs. The Sandman
Once Sandman finishes his entrance, Knox goes right after him. He takes him right outside the ring, and beats on him. Multiple surroundings are used by Mike Knox, including the crowd barrier, the announce table, and the camera cord. After the bashing outside, Knox throws Sandman into the ring, but Sandman comes at him with a large amount of offense, including punches, bulldogs, kicks, etc. They spill back outside of the ring, and Sandman goes to hit Knox with the Singapore Cane but he pulls Kelly in front of him and she takes the blow. They go back inside and Knox hits Sandman with a couple low blows and pins him.

Winner: Mike Knox in 2:38
Sad to say, but this is one of the better matches that has been on ECW. It had a bit of a story, and the action somewhat played to it, I guess? I'm stretching it here. *

A short video showing Shannon Moore is shown, now repackaged with the gimmick of  "The Reject." Sigh. They also show Kelly being stretchered out from the cane shot to the head.

Paul Heyman comes out and continues the rant from last week on how the fans cost RVD the title, not him. Tommy Dreamer interrupts him. He says how he has gone through everything with Heyman, since the beginning of ECW. He goes on to say that Paul proved a lot of people wrong, but on this time, he is way out of line. Tommy also demands an explanation. And Paul Heyman drops the mic and kisses Tommy on the lips. I officially have no idea what is happening. And then Test comes out of no where and hits Tommy with a Big Boot, and then a Fireman's Carry Swinging Neckbreaker. No idea what happened.

Back from commercial, and Balls Mahoney talks about what makes him extreme.

Sabu vs. Stevie Richards
Stevie Richards starts off the match with his game plan, sticking to grappling. Surprisingly, Sabu fires right back with some technical holds. This takes back Richards and he has some strong strikes, and then goes right back to the technical holds. Sabu gets back up and starts hitting a combination of things, trying to start a comeback. We see two nice springboard attacks from Sabu, and then a Camel Clutch to end the match.

Winner: Sabu in 3:13
Another boring match for no reason, but what else is there to expect anymore. ¼*

CM Punk is backstage, and just talks about his training, but still no match from him. What is the point? Kevin Thorn is also backstage and has yet another weird segment with Ariel.

The commentators go on about how Big Show is a monster, and a highlights package is shown.

ECW Championship Match: Big Show (c) vs. Undertaker
The match starts out with Big Show dominating, as expected. A commercial break goes by, and we come back to Taker having the advantage, but that momentum is soon halted. The match continues on in a semi-ok pace, but no big moves to note are hit. Taker is selling as an underdog, and does quite a good job at it. It looks like Show is about to win after hitting an 800+ pound superplex, but Taker not only kicks out, but also sits up. The comeback has started. He starts hitting Show with stiff shots, and they both go for a chokeslam on each other, to no avail. Taker does hit a big boot though which knocks Big Show out of the ring. Taker continues hitting Show, but then Khali comes out and hits Taker to promote their upcoming match at Great American Bash.

Result: No Contest in 13:54
Not a bad match at all. It really does go to show how good of a worker Undertaker is. The crowd stayed entertained, and so did I. Too bad it had a crap ending. **

A brawl continues with Big Show and Khali double teaming Taker. They end up chokeslamming him through the announce table. After this, Khali does some posing and the show ends.

Overall: 2/10. While the overall show was pretty terrible, and was on track to be another 0/10 rank, the main event really showed off. Too bad we probably won't get Taker every week. Speaking of that though, I know Rob Van Dam is suspended, but where is Kurt Angle? Surely he could've been doing something useful at this point. Who knows.

ECW 07/11/2006 Review

ECW Review
Target Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota

We open up the show with a video package showing different segments from last week between Rob Van Dam and Big Show, all leading to the big main event. We see highlights of the match, and the screw job finish by Paul, and the backlash by fans. Then the show intro starts.
After the intro ends, we get an announcement from Joey Styles and Tazz that Big Show will be taking on Ric Flair in the main event of the show.


Paul Heyman comes out to explain his actions last week. He claims that the people are the reason Rob Van Dam is no longer the ECW champion, and that they are also the reason that he had to suspend him for 30 days. I assume this is a semi-clever way to cover up the wellness policy violation. Paul begins talking as if he is a God, using religious vocabulary to try to put over himself. The crowd seems confused on whether or not to cheer or boo him. Paul goes backstage, and walks through a crowd of visually frustrated superstars, and at the end is Tommy Dreamer. Dreamer claims he doesn't know what Paul is thinking, and Paul responds that he would love to explain, but Tommy is in action next.

Tommy Dreamer vs. Test
Test is revealed as the mystery opponent of Dreamer. The bell rings and the two go face to face, and Dreamer is met with a huge slap, two to be exact. This lights a fire in Dreamer as he begins pounding away on Test, and clotheslines Test over the ropes. Test hits a big shot though and the match's momentum immediately goes to Test. He beats Dreamer around the ring, and mocks him, degrades him. Dreamer starts to get a bit of a comeback going, but fails as Test rolls him up and puts his feet on the rope to win.

Winner: Test in 3:54
Why have a monster like Test in a match, but have him almost lose and only have him win by cheating with a roll up? I don't get it. Bad match. ¼*

We see a backstage segment with Kelly and Candice where they say things will get extreme. And as we come back from commercial, Ariel is shown saying the future holds blood, and Kevin Thorn spits blood at the camera. Literally wtf. Kelly and Candice begin dancing and yet again, Mike Knox comes out to cover up Kelly. Sandman comes out however, and beats up Knox with a Singapore Cane. This was a better twist to a useless segment.

Back from commercial, and CM Punk gives a convincing promo about his tattoos.

Sabu vs. Justin Credible
The match starts out with fast paced action, and the two go back and forth. Sabu starts to get the upperhand, so Justin slides out of the ring. Sabu goes right after him with a huge dive to the outside, and follows up with a leg drop to the inside of the ring. Sabu goes back outside again and sets up a table, and sets Justin Credible on top of it and hits a leg drop through it, ending the match.

Winner: Justin Credible in 1:50
Again... what's the point? The entrances were longer (and a little more entertaining) than the match itself. DUD

Balls Mahoney gives an odd promo, saying just because his name may seem all fun and games, he certainly, is not.

Ric Flair is shown backstage, and he is fired up. He dirty mouths Mick Foley, and says his 17th world title will come tonight when he beats down the Big Show.

ECW Championship Extreme Rules Match: Big Show (c) vs. Ric Flair
The match starts out dull, with an inexperienced ref, it seems anyway. I did laugh however, when Ric Flair rolls out of the ring, you can hear a guy in the crowd yell out, "This is very ECW." We come back from commercial and see Big Show dominating, and Flair is already busted open. Despite Flair's best efforts, his chops have no effect on Show. Show then clotheslines Flair over the rope, and the ref says something to Show, which pisses him off. Flair brings out a couple weapons, but Show stops him in his tracks. Ric starts a comeback, but again gets stopped by a few big strikes from Show. So far, the match is extremely slow. Flair begins hitting multiple low blows on the giant, and after he takes him off his feet, he grabs a trash can filled with weapons, and brings it in the ring. The first weapon we see is the classic barbed wire baseball bat. Flair starts to go to town with the weapon, and busts open Big Show. A bunch of other weapons are used on Show, but he still kicks out, with power, at 2. But then! Flair grabs a sack, this can only mean one thing. Thumbtacks! The most ECW thing since the revival. Flair smacks Show with a chair and he lands in the tacks. But this, this only angers the giant. Show hits Flair with a cobra clutch backbreaker, and then proceeds to choke him out.

Winner: Big Show in 13:22
A very, very boring match. Relying on the use of weapons to get any sort of crowd reaction, a little one at that. One of the worst title matches I have ever seen. DUD

After the match, Show picks up Flair and dumps him into the thumbtacks. After the "highlights" of the match are shown, Flair is helped up and out of the ring, and he receives an ovation from the crowd.

Overall: 0/10. This is perhaps the worst show I have ever watched. There was no upside to this show at all (the Punk promo was too short). Two 0 star matches on the same show, and one barely above that. This revival has reached an all time low.

NXT TakeOver: San Antonio Ratings

NXT TakeOver: San Antonio Ratings
Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, Texas

Tye Dillinger vs. Eric Young - ***½

Andrade “Cien” Almas vs. Roderick Strong - ***¾

NXT Tag Team Championships: #DIY (c) vs. The Authors of Pain - ****

NXT Women’s Championship: Asuka (c) vs. Nikki Cross vs. Billie Kay vs. Peyton Royce - *½

NXT Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Bobby Roode - ***

Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk Trilogy Review

Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk Trilogy Review
Ring Of Honor, 2004

Well it's been a while, but I'm back with a review for what is often considered the best trilogy of ROH history. I managed to get my hands on the 3 matches of Samoa Joe vs. CM Punk, and I figured this would be a good post to come back to writing. Going into watching these, the only thing I really knew about the feud was that there was 3 matches, they were fighting for the title, and Dave Meltzer gave one of the matches the coveted 5 stars. Knowing this it was hard to keep my hopes down, but I think I did a pretty good job. I'll be going through the matches one by one, but not play-by-play like I usually do for my ECW reviews. Hope you enjoy.

1st Match:

ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. CM Punk - ROH World Title Classic

So the first match of the series. I'd say the best part about this match was the way they stuck to their game plan. You knew CM Punk wanted to avoid getting into a striking match due to Samoa Joe's history of being able to fight. And you could see Samoa Joe trying to stay away from the mat cause that's where Punk seemed to shine. Joe went into this match cocky due to his past easy title defenses and he wasn't afraid to show his confidence, continually smiling when Punk would strike him, and even making a fool of one of Punk's fans. I think it's safe to assume Punk was playing the heel in this match because he didn't seem to respect the few of his fans there. Back to the game plans, I liked how Punk focused on the head of Joe throughout the match. Joe is a bigger guy so messing with the blood flow and oxygen is a smart strategy to take him down. Joe however tried to stay off the mat and keep Punk hurting. Whenever he started to lose the upper hand, which didn't happen much in the match, he would slide out of the ring, and because there are no count outs, he could wait for Punk to give in and go out there after him, only to be met with a combinations of strikes. Even when Punk would start to gain some momentum, he'd often make the mistake of trying to do fancy moves outside of the ring where Joe is at his best. My main complaint with this match is not necessarily the length of it, because I think the fact that they finished to a draw is one of the most important parts of the feud, but it is more how they filled the time in-between the hour. Closer to the end of the match, probably around the 30-45 minute mark, the pace slowed to a snail's pace. This is what hurt the rating I gave the match. They should've had a plan to fill in this time instead of getting a move every 10 minutes, and after the move you saw Punk go back to head holds which are actually hard to tell if they are rest holds or not. The closing part of the match, around the last 5 minutes things picked back up and we saw them desperately fight each other trying to put the other away, Punk more than Joe. Despite hitting a big move in the final minute, Punk was not able to pin Joe for the 3 count and the match finished with a draw. So overall the match was really good, I just don't appreciate in the middle to end the major slowing of pace. ****¼ 

2nd Match:

ROH World Heavyweight Championship Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. CM Punk - ROH Joe vs. Punk ll
The big 5 star rated match by Meltzer. I was hoping for an improvement from the first match, and spoiler alert! I got it. This match was an absolute work of art. You could see they had the same, but yet different game plans going into this match, They had worked on where they were weak in the previous match, and it showed. Samoa Joe wasn't completely defenseless vs. mat wrestling, and Punk responded to Joe's strikes with seemingly harder strikes. Joe started to realize he was a bit outmatched for the first time in his career, so he went out to ringside where he dominated the last match. But when Punk came out there, Joe was met with clever uses of surroundings and was taken down. The main thing I noticed in this match, was the brilliant use of momentum shifts. Joe started out being dominant as ever, but Punk took him to the mat. Then Joe would get the upper-hand when Punk slipped up with a hold, and Punk wouldn't be able to get momentum back until Joe focused on the ref instead of his opponent. And Punk would dominate even when Joe went outside the ring, hitting him with his own moves such as the Ole Kick. But Punk made the same mistake as the first match, going for a bit too flashy move, and Joe would take advantage of it. They both worked on the same body parts on each other through the entire match, and wouldn't switch their focus until one of them showed a sign of weakness. The time was filled exceptionally with the two focusing on luring the other into a big move they thought would finish their opponent, only for the opponent to kick out. The ringside brawling was outstanding, and so was their finishing sequence on the top rope. The match would end with another draw, but this was a draw that left the crowd and myself begging for more. Punk and Joe were barely able to stand, so you got the sense that these guys really put all they could into this match, but were still unable to put the other away, at least in the hour time limit. Incredible match. *****

3rd Match:

ROH World Heavyweight Championship No Time Limit Match: Samoa Joe (c) vs. CM Punk - ROH All Star Extravaganza ll

Here it is, the finale. Punk's last chance for the belt. The hype in the crowd carried through my screen, it was unreal. The two competitors come out, looking as focused as ever. The match starts, and well, it started off a bit too strong for my taste. They immediately fired the ending moves of the previous two matches at each other, and it seemed to take away some of the special aura surrounding the moves if that makes sense. Punk was opened up early, and if that was planned like it seems, it was completely unnecessary. If not, then what are you going to do, but Punk took a lot more kicks from Joe the last two matches and they didn't have that effect. The two were grappling in the middle of the ring, but kept losing their grips for simple holds like wrist locks and chin locks, and I can't really tell why. It seemed like both were so desperate that they threw away their game plans from the other two matches that had worked out so well. This could've been a good twist in story, but they didn't really seem to play with it at all, they just kept doing random moves that didn't link with the other moves so it was hard to get a good story going. The match finished surprisingly early after a suplex combo from Joe led into a choke, and that was it. There had already been one choke in the match that had confusion because Punk's hand fell for the 3rd arm check but they tried to play it off, and even the commentators were confused. This choke came out of no where, and the ref called the match right away without Punk even tapping. A big let down if you were expecting a conclusive story like you should've been. Still overall I can't deny that the fast paced action, while it hurt the story, was impressive. That is what keeps this match's rank positive. ***½  

So overall, this was a great series of matches. I don't watch too much ROH, but from what I've seen this is the best thing in the company. After a great first match and an amazing second match, it's sad to see the finale wrap up poorly.

ECW 07/04/2006 Review

ECW Review
Wells Fargo Center (AKA CoreStates/ First Union/ Wachovia Center), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Welcome back to another installment of big sweaty men ruining what once was a great brand of wrestling, with a little something for the excited men in the middle of the show, if you get what I mean. No but in all seriousness we are back with the next episode of ECW, and the show opens up with Paul Heyman standing in his office. He addresses the ECW universe, sadly informing them that Rob Van Dam has lost the WWE Championship on an episode of Monday Night Raw. This statement is followed with boos from the audience. He then attempts to cheer us up by saying how Van Dam has worked a schedule unlike any other champion the business has ever seen, fighting John Cena, Kurt Angle, and Edge (twice) all in the span of a week. Right after there is a loud bang, and the camera pans slightly to see Big Show. He walks in and asks Paul Heyman where his title match is. Heyman tries to calm the giant by saying that it's coming soon, but right now RVD is in need of support from everyone in the roster. Show doesn't accept this as an answer and demands his title match tonight.

We go to the commentators, but before they are really even able to say something, they get cut off by the ring announcer who introduces Kelly's Expose. Same old stuff, but with American flags everywhere cause it's the 4th of July. Next time please change the song.

Little Guido vs. Mike Knox
Before the match begins, Mike Knox cuts off the ring announcer to tell the crowd that Kelly is his girlfriend, and only he has the right to stare at her. This is met by "Shut the fuck up" chants from this angered and teased crowd, some of which had to be blurred out for an unknown reason. Little Guido (Nunzio for those who don't know) cut off Knox to let the match begin. Guido gets him some nice offense in the beginning, so it's not a squash match, and even if it is, it's not your typical one. The match shifts into Mike Knox's favor once Guido misses a Sicilian Slice. I can't tell if Knox actually has some great heel heat, or if this is just an amazing crowd, as of this point in the show though I'm going to go with the latter. Knox hits Guido with a bicycle kick followed by a swinging reverse STO, which would later become known as the Knox Out.

Winner: Mike Knox in Unknown Time
This was basically a squash match so I won't give it a rating, but man this crowd actually made me have to set down my water so I didn't spit it out from laughing during this match. You'd go from "Knox sucks cocks" to complete silence, which was soon broken by a single man yelling "FUCK MIKE KNOX". I don't agree with how much offense Guido was able to get in. It really made Knox look not as threatening.

Backstage now, where we see a conflicted Paul Heyman thinking about what he is going to do about Big Show. Rob Van Dam walks in telling Paul that he can't let Show bully him like that, and says that he wants the match. Paul refuses to do it so RVD says he is going out there and accepting the challenge himself.

A vignette is shown saying that Test is making his ECW debut tonight. Exciting!

The commentators are cut off once again, by a guy in a suit. He talks about how he has been watching ECW, and how he is disgusted by what he has seen. He continues to trash to product, and calls everyone sinners. After his little rant is done, he sits down in his chair, and it seems like we are going to move on. But then, Sandman's music hits. The crowd's cheer was incredible, and Sandman comes down to beat up this poor man with his Singapore cane. This was a much better, much more acceptable Sandman segment.

We go backstage to Big Show's lockeroom where RVD barges in and says that he likes that Big Show has challenged him. Out of no where, he slaps Big Show and says he accepts. After RVD walks away, Show has a really awkward smile on his face.

After the commercial break, we come back to a very angry Paul Heyman who is yelling at RVD, asking where his head is at. Van Dam fires right back saying ECW is a place where he is supposed to escape drama and just be able to show what he's got. That seems to turn on a lightbulb in Heyman's head, so Paul gives the ok for the match.

Test vs. Al Snow
The big ECW debut of Test. He comes out to the ring, looking a bit... well... roided up. This was your classic squash match here, but during the match, I realized we have a good crowd this week when the chants of  "You took steroids" begin. Kind of sad to think about it now. Test hit a big boot, and some sort of a spinning modified neck breaker.

Winner: Test in 01:03
Like I said, just another squash matches. It's kind of hard watching a show where 2/3 of the matches are No more than 4 minutes. No rating for such a short match. Right after the match is over, Test kicks head into the crowd.

After the match we get an odd message from Sabu, saying that he is suicidal, homicidal, and genocidal. Maybe an attempt to repackage after losing to John Cena? I'm not sure.

We come back from the commercial break to a very familiar Pepsi tattoo, well familiar to anyone that watched any WWE from 2011-2013. CM Punk as a short promo, introducing himself and a straight edge guy addicted to wrestling.

ECW Championship Extreme Rules Match: Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Big Show
RVD looks to get some quick offense off on Big Show, which ultimately fails. Show starts beating up Van Dam and takes him all over the arena, including the crowd. After we get back from commercial the two are back in the ring, and Show is still in control. Van Dam gets a nice kick in and goes to the top rope, and is stopped immediately by Show, and then Show hits him with a superplex. The rough landing by RVD gets some "Holy Shit!" chants from the crowd. Big Show remains in control, picking apart Van Dam for another 4 minutes, but finally Van Dam gets some offense in when countering a Chokeslam into a DDT. He capitalizes on this momentum by hitting a Rolling Thunder. He doesn't stop the offense after that. He goes to the top rope and goes for a spinning lariat but is caught quite awkwardly by Show, and then tossed to the floor. Show went to hit RVD with the steel steps, but Van Dam goes low with a kick and Show lands on the steps. After a failed splash, Show is back into control. As RVD goes back into the ring, he meets a Chokeslam, which only gets a 2 count. The ref is then tossed by Show. The two are both layed out in the ring after RVD hits him with a Van Daminator followed up by a Five Star Frog Splash. He barely is able to pin Show, and Heyman comes out to count the pin. 1! 2! ... Huh? Heyman stopped counting, and a smile comes to his face. RVD is obviously angered, and as he is looking at Heyman, he turns around to a huge chair shot by Big Show. Heyman then tells Show to Chokeslam RVD on the chair, and Paul does in fact do the 3 count.

Winner: Big Show in 17:30
This wasn't too bad of a match actually. The pace was slow which definitely hurts the rating, but the story development is fantastic. The reaction to Big Show winning and Paul Heyman selling out is really good, and the great crowd only made it better. Drinks were thrown into the ring. So much liquid was spilled in the ring that the ECW logo in the middle of the ring was completely smeared. **

Overall: 3/10. Same rank as last week, The show was going to get the worst ranking, but was saved by the Paul Heyman story development throughout the entire show, and finally hitting the climax during the main event. I'm actually looking forward to where they go with this Heyman sold out storyline.

ECW 06/27/2006 Review

ECW Review
Berglund Center (AKA Roanoke Civic Center), Roanoke, Virginia

The ECW episode fresh off of Vengeance, which was a very successful showing on their part. I gave the ECW part of the show a very solid 7/10. I'm anxious to see how they capitalize off of this momentum. I'd also like to note that my copy of this episode starts with Sabu entering the ring, so I am not entirely sure if there was anything relevant other than the intro to the show that happened.

Roadkill vs. Sabu
The opening match to kick off ECW is an odd one. These guys have had 0 story together, but I guess they are keeping the pattern going that they started last week. That is starting the show off with a random Sabu match to get fans in the extreme mood. I'm not going to lie, I kind of like it. The match was well paced and the only botch that I noticed came from when Sabu was going for a flip of sorts over the top rope and landed right on his head. The match continued back and forth until Sabu got the upperhand thanks to the use of a chair and finished Roadkill off with a modified Camel Clutch. Modified thanks to the chair Sabu was sitting on.

Winner: Sabu in 5:21
Definitely a solid opener. Nothing special by any stretch but the match got you in the mood for some extreme wrestling. Not much else to say. *½

After the match, we go to Joey Styles and Tazz, who have some big news. Apparently, the main event for the night will be Rob Van Dam vs. Kurt Angle for the ECW Championship. The match kind of comes out of nowhere, but these two are terrific wrestlers, so who knows what to expect.

We come back from commercial break to Tommy Dreamer standing in the ring. He says he has gained new respect for the Big Show for that beating he took last week, and asks if he can have another. Sorry for my ignorance, but I do believe that is a throwback to the original ECW when Dreamer was being beaten by Sandman, correct me if I'm wrong. Big Show walks out quite mad, and begins pounding on Dreamer. He hits him with numerous powerslams, and finishes with his Cobra Clutch Backbreaker. I still haven't figured out the point of these, maybe building to a match? Personally I feel these could've been matches themselves, but maybe I could be proved wrong.

The camera cuts backstage where we see Kelly Kelly flashing Mike Knox (we don't see anything, don't get your hopes up). He says how he only likes it when she shows him, and says if you want to be out in public so bad why don't you just come to the ring tonight with me. I don't even get the point of these segments.

Then we cut to Kurt Angle, standing by himself. It starts out like a normal promo, but gets a little emotional and actually does a great job explaining why the main event is the way it is. He talks about how every day since he lost the championship at Wrestlemania 22 is a failure, and that he has wanted this match so bad. And how he can see it in his daughter's eyes when she hugs him that he is no longer champion. The part that clarifies everything is when he says that he will do what it takes, even if that means taking Rob Van Dam, and man who he has no personal issue with, and beating him to a pulp. I really liked this promo clarifying things.

Danny Doring vs. Mike Knox w/ Kelly Kelly
I was going to call this a classic squash match, but it did involve a little extra. Kelly Kelly went to "expose" herself to what I believe was a placed fan, and Knox came over during the match and pushed the fan away. This caused Kelly to storm off, and Mike Knox would roll back into the ring and finish off his opponent.

Winner: Mike Knox in 01:54
Not going to give a rating for this squash match, but I would like to point out that since I'm watching every episode of Raw from 1998 for the first time (I'm only on episode 2 so no spoilers please) this gimmick type thing from Mike Knox and Kelly Kelly remind me of a modern day Marc Mero.

After the match and commercial break, we come back to yet another installment of Kelly's expose. Same stuff, Knox comes on stage to cover her up, whatever.

Some guy comes out, seeming to be a male stripper. I didn't catch his name, but it was another Sandman segment, but at least this time it wasn't a match. Sandman beat the crap out of him, drank beer, same old stuff.

We go backstage to find Paul Heyman talking to RVD about the importance of the match tonight. He tells RVD that he needs to win, but RVD responds confidently and says have you seen me these past few days? I've been smoking (ok I have to admit I liked that pun).

Edge shows up at ECW, not sure if he will have anything to do with the main event, and if not, I don't know what the point of showing Edge kicking a few fans out of their seats is. Edit: We come back from commercial and Tazz is in the crowd interviewing Edge, and it seems it was just to cement Edge as a heat magnet.

ECW Championship Match: Rob Van Dam (c) vs. Kurt Angle
As soon as the bell rings we get what any good Kurt Angle match starts out with, mat wrestling. Angle does slip up with his grappling which gives Van Dam and opening to get the advantage. He goes to the top rope a bit too early however which allows Angle to push him off the top rope to the barricade outside of the ring. We come back from commercial to see Angle in control, constantly trying to get that Ankle Lock locked in, but RVD keeps finding a way to counter it. Soon enough Angle goes for an Angle Slam which gets countered into a beautiful DDT and RVD follows that up with a Five Star Frog Splash for the win.

Winner: Rob Van Dam in 17:11
It was an interesting attempt for a mix of styles, one that sadly didn't work out as well as I'd hoped. That's not to take anything away from these two great superstars, it's just that RVD's aerial offense and Angle's technical offense just didn't click. I liked the experiment but hopefully we don't see these two together again, for a while anyway. **¾ 

Overall: 3/10. Slightly better than the 1st episode, but not close to how good the second episode and Vengeance were. You'd expect better from a show headlined by RVD vs. Kurt Angle, but it was just constantly brought down by bad segments. I know they don't have much time for these shows, but man you'd think you could get at least 2 matches over 8-10 minutes. Hopefully next week is better.