Backlash 1999
April, 25th, 1999
Providence Rhode Island
Host: Jerry Lawler and Jim Ross

Opening Match: Mideon & The Acolytes vs. The Brood.

Brood was a part of the Ministry, but Christian chickened out and told Shamrock where Stephanie was. They start some basic brawling early on. Christian gets the hot tag and gets two off an Inverted DDT. The Brood hits a pair of moves. Christian gets a close near fall off a Tornado DDT on Bradshaw.Christian goes for 10 punches in a corner, but Bradshaw hits a stiff powerbomb. The brawl goes to the floor where Viscera attacks Christian from behind. Back in, JBL hits the closeline from hell. ONE-TWO-THREE @ 10:20. The brood showed potential here of being something great down the stretch. JBL was in an ass kicking mood for some reason tonight. Mideon really held this match down, though. * ¾

• The Undertaker gives the Ministry a pep talk.

Hardcore Title: Hardcore Holly vs. Al Snow.
They brawl around the ring. Holly hits Al Snow with a water jug and bust him wide open.They brawl back down where Snow uses some kung-fu with the hockey stick. Al sets up a table, but that allows Holly to recuperate and drill him with the hockey stick. Al pops up; then hits Hollywith a cookie sheet shot. They brawl to the back where Holly has a kitchen sink. Snow breaks the sink with the fire hose, which made Holly drop it. Outside the area, Snow gets tossed into a dumpster. ONE-TWO-NO. Snow hiptosses him onto a car below the production truck, but only gets two. They fight back to the ring, and Snow nails him with a pan. Al sets up for a table spot, but Holly gets up and nails him with the pan. Holly hits a super-plex through the table. The ref starts counting for no reason. Holly covers him at nine, but only gets a 2. Al Snow crawls over and hides head under him. They both get up. Al Snow nails Holly with head for the win @ 15:20. Some decent stuff, but the pace was way too plodding and slow at times. Some spots and parts of the match felt way to contrived; like when they do all these huge spot and end the match with Holly losing by getting hit with head. That would be like Neo killing Agent Smith with a toothpick after they dodged bullets in the Matrix. * ¾

• · Michael Cole gets a word with new Hardcore Champ, Al Snow. This all takes place in the bathroom.

Intercontinental Title: The Godfather (w/Hoes) vs. Goldust (w/Blue Meanie).

Meanie distracts the Godfather long enough for Goldust to jump him from behind. Meanie beats up Godfather outside. He sneaks Goldust some powder, but it backfires and gets knocked into Goldust face. Meanie gets involved, but Goldust can’t see so he attackes Meanie. The Ho Train followed by the DVD @ 5:22. A typical non-believable, contrived midcard 1999 match; Russo loved these. The hoes were more over than anyone in the ring. *

#1 Contender’s Match: The New Age Outlaws vs. Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart (w/Debra.)

I really feel bad for Owen Hart at this time. With all the stuff going on with his brother, and the way WWE booked him in the Attitude Era. Ugh. He was so much better than the way they treated him, and steps and steps better than the sub-par midcard talent they had. Owen would have blended in nicely and been able to show off some of the good stuff he was capable of if he was around for one more year. Road Dog dodges a Jarrett splash on the ropes and back-slides him for two. Owen nails Road Dog with a leg lariat. Jarrett and Road Dogg collide airborne. Billy gets the hot tag and cleans some house; then gets a powerbomb on Jarrett, but only gets two. Debra gets up on the apron. Owen goes for the Sharpshooter, but Billy instead hits the Fameasser for the win @ 10:34. Solid formula tag match with a good finish. Too bad we didn’t see much of those in this era. ** 1/4

Boiler Room Brawl: The Big Show vs. Mankind.

This is Mankind getting payback on Big Show from WM. Both guys are babyfaces in the match. Big show walks into the boiler room, and looks massive. Mankind dominates early on, but Big Show won’t fall. Show puts Mick in the shopping cart and wheels him into equipment stuff. Mankind turns and drills a glass plate over Show’s head that cuts Show open. Mankind gets a ladder and tries to get something on top of the roof. Show grabs him and chokeslams him through some nearby tables with glass on them.Foley’s hand his bleeding; hard way I assume. Show slams him on a cart; then wheels him into a pile of medal pieces. Mankind knocks off the faucet to one of the pipes that shoots steam into Show’s face. Show walks away selling the steam. Mankind throws Big Show into pipes. Mankind gets out of the boiler room at @ 7:34. Instantly after the match, Test and Big Bossman attack Mankind. Show makes the save and beats up both of them. Bossman runs away, and leaves Test with Mankind. Mankind pulls out Mr. Socko, and applies it on Test. A pretty neat, well thought out brawl that doesn’t get lost in time. Everything was done nicely, and made sense. Foley showed the reason why he is the hardcore legend and Big Show looked good, also. The finish could have been a better, but then if Big Show got too hurt than it would have been unrealistic for him to make the save. ***

Triple H (w/Chyna) vs. X-Pac.

HHH has his old music and the old paints. This rivalry started at WM when HHH and Chyna reunited at WM, but double crossed X-Pac. Since we all know Russo uses Wrestlemania to build up the smaller shows *sigh*. HHH dominates most of the match. X-Pac by accident hits the referee with a dropkick, so there’s no one to count when he hits the X-Factor. Chyna sneaks in, and hits X-Pac with a reverse DDT; then puts Hunter on top of X-Pac. Kane comes out to get revenge on Chyna. Kane hits a chokeslam on HHH and Chyna. He puts them both in the corners. X-Pac pops up and hits the Broncobuster on Helmsley, and Chyna, but as he is hitting the Broncobuster on Chyna, HHH recovers and nails the pedigree @ 21:20 Wow that was really, really, really long. The match would have been okay if it was cut into half, but they had a 10 minute match and dragged it out to 20 minutes. HHH dominated way too much of this match and X-Pac didn’t look credible at all. This match gets tons of praise, but I couldn’t get too much into this. I will go ** ½ more so for the quantity than quality.

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Ken Shamrock.

Undertaker had been stalking the McMahons for no reasons at this. Shamrock was Vince’s helper in this story line.Shamrock goes after Taker’s leg early. He stomps Taker’s leg on the ringsteps, trying to break it.  Shamrock works over Undertaker, but ‘Taker hits a backbreaker with the same leg that Shamrock worked over the whole match. Taker hits a legdrop, but Shamrock grabs the leg and counters into a leglock. Crowd is dead silent. Shamrock nails an elbow, and then a flying knee but runs into a big boot. ONE-TWO-THRE-No. Earl stops the pinfall because Shamrock never kicks out.Undertaker puts Shamrock on his shoulders, but Shamrock counters into an ankle lock.  Bradshaw wants to play some baseball, so he brings a bat with him. Shamrock releases the hold and tries to hit him. That allows Taker to retaliate and pick Shamrock up for the chokeslam. Shamrock rolls into a cross armlock but lets go of the move and goes after Paul Bearer. Shamrock attempts to pick up the Undertaker, but Taker counters into a Tombstone for the win @ 18:47. At this time, Undertaker didn’t have that flax MMA wrestling style that Shamrock was using. So, these two just didn’t click in the ring. There was some good strategy on Shamrock’s behalf of trying to eliminate one of Undertaker’s legs, but the leg work became pointless because Undertaker did everything he would have done on two strong legs. I guess that is just his deadman powers. This match also had way too much interference; I didn’t understand why they wanted to protect Shamrock so much against Undertaker. It wasn’t like they had something big planed for Shammy down the road. He was just a glorified midcarder, and stayed one as one until he left WWF. These two styles never meshed in 1999, but it would be a “dream match” if we ever got to see it in 2007 or so. *

• Vince McMahon kisses Stephanie and puts her in a limo surrounded by guards to keep her safe. Can we please have some days of our lives playing in the back round?

WWF Heavyweight Title: Steve Austin vs. The Rock; Shane McMahon is the special referee. (No holds barred)

The story in Austin wanted his old belt back. Rock threw Austin off the bridge with the belt. But Rock kept the title and fooled us all. Vince was in a war with Undertaker, so Shane was running Corporation. So, Shane wants to screw Austin out of the title by being the ref. He also adds the stipulation of if Austin touches him, Austin will be dq. Austin runs to the ring, and they start going at it. Austin starts to get the upper hand, but Shane pulls him off. They brawl up to the entertance way, and uses objects to throw them into. Back to the other side, Rock gives Austin a Rock Bottom through the Spanish announce table. He stars doing some commentary. Rock grabs the cameraman’s camera, and starts filming Austin. Rock shows the crowd on the camera, but when he turns around—Austin is flipping him off, and then hits a Stunner. Awesome spot, just awesome. In the ring, Rock hits the Rock Bottom, but he can’t cover. Shane puts Rock on top of Austin. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO! Rock picks Austin up and Shane goes to clock him with the belt. Austin ducks and Rock oversells it to death. Austin hits the Stunner, but Shane refuses to count. Shane gives Austin the finger and runs away. Austin goes after Shane, and here comes Vince with Earl Hebner and the Smoking Skull Belt. Shane talks some trash to his daddy, and gets nailed by the title from Vince. Rock hits Austin with the other belt. ONE-TWO-THRE-NO! Vince almost has a heart attack from that near fall. Austin gets back up; kick to the gut, and then a Stunner. Rock doesn’t fall, so Austin nails him with the belt. ONE-TWO-THREE. Austin retains @ 17:10. Unlike others, I find Austin-Rock matches overrated at times, but I actually find this match pretty underrated. It had great intensity, non stop action, good drama, and great brawling. I would say this is their second best match together and just slightly behind the WM-17 match. This is when Russo booking works at its best. The interference, biased ref, and other shenanigans added more drama into the match and most importantly made sense. Austin is one of my favorite wrestlers, but I love how people complain that Cena overcomes the odds all the time yet they never complain about Austin, though. Anyways, it was a great match. *** ¾

• Outside at the limo, the Ministry comes out and approaches the limo. The security guards tell the driver to take off.  Stephanie is upset that the driver forgot about her Dad. But little does she know the driver is the Undertaker. Undertaker asks her the famous quote; “Where to, Stephanie.” As Vince McMahon is celebrating not aware of what is happening.

Going Home: Much like most things in WWF 1999, this was a mix-bag. The show had its ups and had its downs. The wrestling for the most part was good, but the booking in some aspects was terrible. The matches that needed more time didn’t get enough—and the matches that didn’t need a lot of time got tons of time. It is really mind-boggling to me that they actually thought it was a good idea to invest more time into X-Pac-HHH and Undertaker-Shamrock rather than the mainevent. I will go ahead and give this show a mild recommendation, but be sure to try and skip Undertaker- Shamrock because it will make you want to crave your eyes out. Other than that most of the stuff is watchable for the most part.

Thumbs in the Middle.



World Wrestling Federation presents RAW 1-25-1993
From: Manhattan Center, New York City

Sean Mooney is outside and is shortly joined by the Repo Man. Repo cuts a promo about repossessing Randy Savage’s career just like he did his hat.

RAW Opening Video

Vince McMahon welcomes everyone to RAW alongside Bobby Heenan and Bob Bartlett. They go over tonight’s show. Heenan of course sides with Flair beating Mr. Perfect later tonight.

Opening Contest: Randy “Macho Man” Savage versus Repo Man
The contest was really just a brawl that eventually killed the crowd. Repo surprisingly controls most of the contest. Savage comes back several times but Repo stops his momentum quickly. Savage manages to comeback and win the contest following a flying elbow drop after nearly nine minutes of action. *½

A promo by Bob Backlund talking about the “Headlock on Hunger”.

Commercials

There may have been a blooper as Heenan was talking to I believe Vince asking if they were on, but not in a typical goofy voice, but rather a serious tone.

Wrestle Mania video package/hype

Second Contest: Kamala versus The Brooklyn Brawler
Throughout the contest, Kamala attempts pin falls but continues to roll Brawler onto his stomach. Kamala eventually hit’s a big splash and correctly pins Brawler.
After the match, Vince goes over to Rev. Slick and Kamala. Slick credits the fans for helping Kamala’s conversion to goodness.

Gene goes over the results of the Royal Rumble. Bret Hart retained the WWF World Heavyweight Championship defeating Razor Ramon. Lex Luger ended up being Bobby Heenan’s surprise. Yokozuna won the Royal Rumble and will face Bret Hart at WWF Wrestle Mania IX. Also at the pay per view Shawn Michaels retained the WWF Intercontinental Championship defeating Marty Jannetty. Lastly, a man known as the Giant Gonzalez attacked the Undertaker during the Royal Rumble match.

Commercials

Main Event: Ric Flair versus Mr. Perfect (Career vs. Career)
McMahon really puts over how important this match is to both men. Perfect slaps Flair a few times as Flair tries to back Perfect into the corner. Perfect with a drop toe hold and another slap to knock Flair down. Mat wrestling by both men with Perfect getting the advantage with a hammerlock. Flair elbows Perfect in the corner and trade chops with Perfect. Flair with the Flair flop after one of the chops. Early on, Perfect is able to reverse everything that Flair does. Flair with a few closed fists in the corner but Perfect with several chops and jabs of his own. Flair with a eye rake and sends Perfect over the top to the floor. Flair grabs a chair and goes to hit Perfect, but the referee leaps off the apron to pull it away from Flair. Flair sends Perfect into the corner and Perfect flips over the corner and apparently hits his head on the ring post. Flair with several punches in the corner and Perfect has been busted wide open. Perfect staggers to his feet and trades slaps and chops with Flair. Perfect connects with a clothesline and gets a near fall. Perfect manages to backslide Flair down after a brief struggle for a near fall. Perfect with a big back body drop. Flair backs off in the corner but Perfect drags Flair to the center of the ring. Perfect works on Flair in the corner with several punches until Flair atomic drops Perfect. Flair with a roll up for a near fall. Perfect suplex’s Flair from the apron back into the ring for a near fall. Flair locks in a sleeper hold and Perfect is fading. Perfect prevents his arm from dropping three times and rams Flair’s head into the top turnbuckle. Perfect looked to leapfrog Flair but instead locks in a sleeper hold. Flair takes Perfect down with a back suplex. Flair goes for and locks in the Figure Four! Flair is using the ropes for leverage behind the referees back. The referee sees Flair using the ropes for leverage and breaks the hold. Flair works on the knees of Perfect with a few boots. Flair goes to the top rope but is slammed down to the mat by Perfect. Flair goes into his knee pad and nails Perfect with brass knuckles. Flair drops a elbow coming off the ropes and only gets a near fall as Perfect gets his foot on the bottom rope and kicks out on a second pin attempt. Flair with several right hands to open the cut on Perfect’s forehead. Perfect no sells some chops and Flair begs off. Perfect with chops of his own in the corner and backdrops Flair down. Flair flip in the corner and runs to the other corner leaping off but is met with a clothesline in midair which gets Perfect a near fall. Flair trips Perfect up and goes for a roll up using the ropes for leverage but Perfect rolls through with his own cover and gets a near fall. Flair sends Perfect into the ropes and drops his head too soon which allows Perfect to connect with the Perfect Plex and picks up the biggest win of his career after nearly nineteen minutes of action! Ric Flair is gone from the WWF! ****
After the match, Mr. Perfect celebrates the win as Ric Flair and Bobby Heenan are furious with the outcome.

End of Show

My Take: I was glad to see Repo Man control Randy Savage for a good portion of their match. Savage really should be used better than he was back in 1993. One of the bigger draws for the WWF, and he is stuck at the announcers table. As you can tell, and hopefully have seen, the Career match between Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair was a damn good contest. The fans were into the match from the beginning and exploded when Perfect got the biggest win of his career to the point. Flair is headed back to WCW and Mr. Perfect, you would think is on his way to main event status.. Or is he?

WCW Monday Nitro
October 28, 1996
Phoenix, AZ
America West Arena

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Ric Flair (7/7/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders (10/27/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (8/20/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Dean Malenko (10/27/1996)

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko.

Right off the bat as it should be, Tony tells the world that the Outsiders won the tag team titles and Hogan retained the world title last night at Halloween Havoc. And what do you know, after Hogan won the match, Roddy Piper showed up and we see stills from that. Don’t worry – they will show us what was said later in the show.

• WCW World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal vs. Juventud Guerrera
  

This is our first look at Regal as the TV champ since he regained it back in August. And speaking of first looks, we spot the Crow Sting for the first time sitting up in the rafters. Last time we saw him in the black and white face paint confronting the nWo, he was speaking. Now he just looks like a sad mime wearing a trench coat. So much is happening outside of this match, it’s as if the match is an afterthought. We see some nWo picket signs go across where the hard camera points. Syxx shows up in the crowd and welcomes everybody to nWo Nitro. So that he’s not the only one without a belt, he wants the cruiserweight title. Uhh, wrong match pal. Anyways, Juvi ranas out of a butterfly powerbomb, but misses the 450 SPLASH. How about a REGAL STRETCH? Yeah, you will take the Regal Stretch. And with that, Juvi gives it up. (3:20) When everybody starts paying attention to Sting, he leaves. It appears Tony was supposed to interview Regal, but he just walks off to the back instead. Whoops. It’s LIVE TV, folks! ½*

Stills are shown of the Luger-Anderson match from Halloween Havoc.

• Diamond Dallas Page vs. Mike Enos
  

They brawl to the floor and send one another into the guardrail. Back inside, Page hits the Sitout Powerbomb for two. As DDP calls for the Diamond Cutter after a flying clothesline, Hall and Nash show up in the crowd acknowledging him. DIAMOND CUTTER? Nope, Enos shoves him off into the corner and takes him over with an overhead suplex for two. Enos hits a reverse neckbreaker and then dares the Outsiders to come on down for a FIGHT. As Enos goes for a running powerslam out of the corner, Page hooks his feet on the top rope and powers out into a DIAMOND CUTTER. Good night. (4:37) Uh oh, the Outsiders seem interested in recruiting the man with the deadliest finisher around. Will DDP join the new World order?!

We see stills from Malenko-Mysterio from last night.

• WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko vs. Jim Powers (w/Teddy Long)
  

Really? Jim Powers is a cruiserweight? Power forward AC Green for the Phoenix Suns is in attendance. He was here last time Nitro was in Phoenix. This time he’s wearing an nWo shirt! Tony and Larry Z are offended. While Powers is slamming Malenko around, Psychosis steps out the tunnel to get a closer look at Malenko. Nobody knows this yet, but Malenko-Psychosis is set for World War 3. Powers escapes a chinlock and hits an atomic drop. Turnbuckle smashes abound! Running knee lift sets up a powerslam. He’s got the cover, but ref Nick Patrick is talking to Teddy Long when he’s not even on the apron. WHAT. When Powers goes over to grab Patrick, Malenko gets him with a rolling clutch pin for the 1-2-3. (5:04) Another week, another argument between Long and Patrick. HOLLLLA HOLLA HOLLA. *

WCW Saturday Night! Watch it IF YOU WEEL! 6:05PM eastern! TBS! This week, the Rock N Roll Express against the Faces of Fear! Also, Chris Jericho meets Chris Benoit! Jimmy Graffiti, Big Bubba, and Kevin Sullivan will all be on the show as well! Don’t miss out! It’s the MUTHASHIP! PAY WINDAHS, CLUBBERIN, AND PLUNDAH, BABY!

Stills of the Faces of Fear-Horsemen match are shown.

• Jeff Jarrett vs. Ricky Morton
  

What a southern-fried chicken match this is. At least in the beginning, it goes like this: Jarrett move, strut. Jarrett move, strut. Jarrett move, strut. Finally, Morton hits a slowww crossbody out of the corner and goes after the arm for a while. Jarrett escapes an armbar with a hotshot and hits the Bossman straddle. He nails Morton with a flying bodypress, but Morton rolls through for 1-2-NO! Just as he gains the advantage, Morton telegraphs a backdrop and takes a swinging neckbreaker. Morton gets one hope spot with the Jack Brisco rollup, but then Jarrett catches him with a shinbreaker and finishes him off with the FIGURE-FOUR. (4:34) Here comes the Giant out of the stands with the US belt draped over his shoulder. He thinks Jarrett and the Horsemen are a bunch of rats. They’re all scared of him, too!

Jarrett responds with a message to WCW to unite to take out the new World order.

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Your hosts are Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay.

• The Amazing French Canadians vs. High Voltage
  

Either High Voltage hates Canadians or they can’t stand hearing a grown man sing a song, but they interrupt the Canadian national anthem and clean house on the AFC. Rougeau trips up Kaos from the floor to take over. Oulette bearhugs Kaos while Rougeau comes off the top for a seated senton on him! The AFC look for the QUEBECER CRASH when the Nasty Boys attack High Voltage while the AFC head to the back. No contest? (3:43) They just wanted some interview time. They’re pissed about Hogan and the nWo. Whether WCW wants them around or not, they are NASTY. Long story short, Hall and Nash – let’s get ready to rumble. ¾*

• Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Jimmy Graffiti
  

Rey stands on the middle rope so he could see the crowd over the top rope (HA!) and Graffiti brings him down with an electric chair drop. Sitout Doctorbomb gets two. Mysterio comes back with a monkey flip and dropkicks Graffiti when he tries a crossbody out of the corner. Split-legged moonsault gets two. To the floor, Graffiti reverses a whip into the guardrail and then wipes out Mysterio with a CANNONBALLLLLL. Back in, Mysterio flips all around Graffiti and then mule kicks him to set up the SPRINGBOARD HURRACANRANA for the win. (3:24) Action-packed, but not as long as Graffiti’s match with Malenko to really get something going. *½

On the Road with Lee Marshal: He’s in Grand Rapids Michigan pumping people up for next week’s Nitro. The man can’t talk long – he’s at a Monday Nitro Halloween party (really?) and somebody just showed up in a weasel suit.

• Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit (w/Woman)
  

Eddie has a broken rib, Benoit has a taped-up shoulder. This is not your typical fast-paced Benoit/Guerrero classic we’re used to see, but it is a lesson in *selling* an injury. That is if they’re really selling and not actually in excruciating mind-numbing pain which knowing their history, it could actually be excruciating mind-numbing pain. Steve McMichael and Debra head down to make sure everything goes smooth. In other words, Eddie’s taking the briefcase in the ribs. And he does. Benoit covers for the 1-2-3. (8:23) Again, great lesson in selling if nothing else. **¼

Tony Schiavone interviews ref Nick Patrick and his attorney. He’s like Clarence Mason, but white and has some Harvard-like hair. While the attorney fellow puts Patrick over for doing his job at the best of his ability, Chris Jericho attacked him last night at the PPV and injured him. That brings out Chris Jericho to lay down the law. Jericho tells Patrick that there’s nothing wrong with his neck and that he’s a paid employee of the new World order. The attorney fellow questions Jericho on the subject of anger problems and not being able to get along with others. Jericho ignores him as Teddy Long (who apparently is “handling” Jericho now) comes out to yell at the attorney. He calls him a “scam artist” and says if he didn’t have a degree, he’d be holding a squeegee and washing windows. Patrick’s attorney accuses Long of ’slander’ and they all continue to argue until we go to commercial break. Alright! I love it when segments are supposed to answer questions and absolutely nothing is settled!

• Lex Luger vs. Booker T (w/Sister Sherri)
  

Luger cleans house to start. Back in, Booker gets in some offense, but gets distracted by AC Green and runs into a boot in the corner. Booker goes low and hits a Side Slam, but misses a flying fist drop. Commercial time! AND WE’RE BACK! Luger turns Booker inside out with a clothesline, but Lex telegraphs a backdrop and receives the SCISSORS KICK! Cover, 1-2-NO! Booker misses the HARLEM HANGOVER and as Luger sets up for the TORTURE RACK, he somehow spots Sting who is standing in the gateway over in the crowd. Gate 105, 106. Lex drops Booker and jumps the rail to go after him. Once he’s halfway to him, Sting leaves and Booker wins via countout. (9:10 shown) As much as Booker carries Harlem Heat, somehow he’s still not ready to go alone. *½

Due to time constraints, they replay only a short amount of the Piper-Hogan confrontation. Probably the best parts though. Here comes Hollywood Hogan, Ted DiBiase, Vincent, and the Giant to respond to Piper’s comments without Piper here to interrupt him. Hogan demands to have that “Hollywood” spotlight put on him for this promo. He tells Randy Savage not to worry about Elizabeth because he’s going to take real good care of her. *wink wink* As for Roddy Piper, he says he think he saw some fear in his eyes last night. He goes on to congratulate the Outsiders for winning the tag team belts because now that they have the world title, the US title, and the tag titles – that pretty much means they have accomplished their hostile takeover. Now it’s time to pose for the Hogan fans before he goes out to party with the rest of the nWo, BROTHER.

And we out.

World Wrestling Federation RAW 1-18-1993
From: Manhattan Center, New York City

Vince welcomes us to RAW, along with Rob Bartlett and Randy Savage.
- Bartlett rips up a Bobby Heenan picture.
- Repo Man comes over and attacks Savage from behind and steals his hat.

RAW Opening Video

Mr. Perfect defeated Terry Taylor in 8:01 via pin fall after the Perfect Plex.*½
Late in this contest, Ric Flair comes down to the ring and attacks Mr. Perfect on the floor. However, seconds later, Perfect manages the win with the Perfect Plex.
The contest may have been “slow”, but there was an even amount of offense from both men.

Commercials

Bret Hart joins Vince McMahon in the ring for an interview.
- Bret says that Razor is the lowest scum in the WWF, basically because Razor wants to slap his father.
- Bret doesn’t use his usual quote of being the best there is..

We see a promo by Undertaker

Marty Jannetty defeated Glen Ruth in 5:11 via pinfall after the Rocker Dropper. DUD
- Just a boring squash that really shouldn’t have gone five minutes.

We see footage of Doink attacking Crush on Super Stars from last week. Doink delivers several shots with a fake arm. Crush is an idiot even trusting Doink, and would it make sense to trust a clown? You never trust a clown, ever.

Commercials

Vince says that Crush may have suffered a concussion from that attack.

We go to Mooney who thinks he has gotten Repo Man.
- How could you not know? Everyone walks around with REPO MAN jacket.
- They are fighting over a stupid hat. I can’t believe this. It makes sense for the character, but a hat?

Royal Rumble Report.

Tito Santana fought Ric Flair to a no contest in 7:08 when Mr. Perfect attacked Flair. *

Late in the contest, Mr. Perfect comes down and brawls with Ric Flair on the floor just as Flair did earlier.The match itself wasn’t anything special, but was again evenly contested. Tito did have the advantage when Perfect came out.

Commercials

Ric Flair comes back down to the ring, and cuts a psycho promo and challenges Mr. Perfect next week to a “Career Vs. Career” match.  That is how much he hates Perfect.  Flair says Perfect will never be able to say he beat Ric Flair.

Mr. Perfect comes down to the ring, he must have walked past Ric Flair.  Perfect quickly accepts the match for next week.

We see Repo Man with Savage’s hat, and Rob Bartlett’s car.

End of Show.

My Opinion: Nothing really was good, maybe the fact that Savage was really putting over the strength of Repo Man. All three matches this week were very lackluster. You would never have guessed that RAW would be WWF’s top priority judging by the matches on the show. Next week’s show appears to be a pretty good line up with Perfect/Flair and Savage/Repo. Also, the next RAW will have the fallout from the Royal Rumble. Once again, once the shows have more important matches, for instance matches that have competitive nature weekly, the recaps of the matches will be much more indepth. To me, their isn’t any point to review squash matches with great indepth, at this point.

Monday Night Raw 11/9/09
Sheffield Arena
Sheffield, England
Announcers: Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler

- We start this week’s show with a recap of last week’s goings on involving JeriShow, DX and John Cena. We then hit our opening animation before heading inside the Sheffield Arena where we are on tape from Jolly Ol’ England! Michael Cole welcomes us to Raw as we are just a scant two weeks away from Survivor Series. And right out of the gate, Justin Roberts brings out tonight’s Guest Host: Ricky Hatton. He makes his way out, escorted by the Bella Twins, natch. The crowd welcomes him warmly as Cole and King put him over a bit. Hatton welcomes us to Raw and talks about his memories in Sheffield. We even get some clips of his title unification match from a few years and 75 pounds ago. He talks a bit more about his excitement before he is rudely interrupted by JeriShow. They are looking super swank as always as they strut down to the ring with smiles on their faces. Show gets right up to Hatton and stares down at him, saying his breakfast was bigger than Hatton is. Show isn’t impressed with Hatton’s credentials and asks him to leave the ring. Hatton wants to why Show has to act like this because he is a big fan of WWE and Big Show. Well, he loves when Show got knocked out at Wrestlemania anyway. Show says he wants to give Hatton a free shot, just like he did for Mayweather. The difference is that Show gets to knock Hatton out after he takes his swing. Show awaits but Hatton says he needs a ladder to take up the challenge. Show drops to his knees and offers the shot again. Hatton is about to strike but Jericho cuts him off and calls him “little man”. Jericho doesn’t want Show to get embarrassed by another lowlife boxer. They get into a little argument about their upcoming triple threat match at Survivor Series. Show calls Jericho “Napoleon” and says he will be walking out as the new Champion at Survivor Series. Hatton has had enough and he wants to see JeriShow defending their tag team titles against DX. Jericho rips on Hatton, the British fans and the Royal Family. Hatton says he can’t understand a word Jericho is saying and asks him to speak English. Jericho calls him a “punch drunk” but Hatton says Jericho is just a guy with a bad haircut. They circle around Hatton until DX heads to the ring to save Ricky. Hunter asks JeriShow why they keep messing with the Guest Hosts when they always end up getting embarrassed. He says Hatton was ten seconds away from knocking both of them out before DX came out. The crowd chants for Ricky as Hunter thanks him for the match tonight. Shawn wants to throw down right now instead of later. Show disrobes as Jericho hits the deck. Show shakes his fists a bit before quickly turning around and leaving the ring. JeriShow head up the aisle as Hatton and DX play to the crowd and we head off to break.

- The Ratchet & Clank Slam of the Week takes us to last week’s Diva Battle Royal, which was won by Alicia Fox. Back live, we head to the ring for our opening match.

1) Kelly vs. Alicia Fox

Kelly makes her way out first and she is joined by Gail Kim, her partner at the upcoming Survivor Series. Alicia is out next and she is accompanied by Jillian. Cole tells us that Alicia will get her title match next week on Raw, live from MSG. Kelly takes Alicia down and hammers away at her. Alicia drives her into the middle rope and then spikes her into the mat face first for two. Melina is watching the match backstage as she preps for the title match next week. Alicia clotheslines Kelly and then she spikes her into the mat again. Alicia hooks a rear chinlock but Kelly works out of it. She lands a clothesline and a face plant and then follows with a headscissors takeover for two. Kelly hits a Rocker Dropper and gets another near fall. Kelly goes for another headscissors takeover but Alicia hot shots her across the top rope. Alicia follows with a big scissors kick for the win. Alicia d. Kelly with a scissors kick; Grade: .5

- Alicia mocks Kelly as Cole takes us to a special Wrestlemania ticket sale video package. Backstage, Ricky Hatton and his son are walking the walls and greeting various people, including John Cena. After an unintelligible exchange, the Hattons head off as we go to break.

- We are back and the King is thanking Art of Dying for the Survivor Series theme song “Get Thru This”. Cole then takes back to last week when Sheamus made his Raw debut by destroying Jamie Noble. King tells us that Noble is contemplating retirement after that beating.

2) Sheamus vs. British Jobber

As Sheamus hits the ring, we find out that he will be on Miz’s team at Survivor Series. Sheamus has the mic and takes credit for ending Noble’s career last week. They lock up off the bell and Sheamus just clubs the jobber down. He clubs away at him and beats him viciously all around the ring. He crushes him with the Urinage backbreaker and then drills him with a stiff kick. He hoists the jobber up and drops with a Crucifix Powerbomb for the win. I am so pumped that move is finally back! Sheamus keeps on rolling. I hope they give him the Bad News Brown treatment at the PPV and have him walk out on his team. Sheamus d. Jobber with a Crucifix Powerbomb; Grade: 1

- Sheamus celebrates his destruction as we take a break.

- We are back from break and Cole is pimping the Survivor Series section of WWE.com. They then show us some stills of the Hatton Health & Fitness Center in Hyde. Backstage, the Bellas are chatting up Ricky, giving him a chance to promote himself. I don’t have an idea about anything he is saying, sadly. The Bellas as Ricky for some darts lessons but Santino Marella interrupts, dressed in some interesting boxing garb. Apparently he is “Ricky Fatton”. Santino says that British ladies love fat guys with bad teeth. Chavo now comes in for more of our weekly hijinks. Chavo says he won the Cinco Dart Mayo competition three years in a row and wants to show off a bit. Chavo grabs a dart but misses badly. Hatton steps up and drills a bulls-eye. Chavo shrugs it off and challenges Santino to a match. Hatton steps in and says he wants to see boxer vs. wrestler so he will take on Chavo tonight. The crowd likes that one. Chavo storms off as Santino offers to be in Hatton’s corner.

Elsewhere, Josh Matthews is with Miz. Miz reminds us that he defeated John Morrison at Bragging Rights and claims he will do it again at Survivor Series. He puts over his team, calling them the future of WWE. Before he can finish, Jack Swagger comes in to chat. Swagger reminds us that he is still undefeated, per his promise from five weeks ago. They argue a bit more until Swagger heads of and we hit a break.

3) Evan Bourne vs. Jack Swagger

We are back from break and Evan Bourne is heading down to the ring for our next bout. Swagger is out next and is oozing confidence. Swagger picks up Bourne off the bell and slams him down the mat. Swagger spikes Bourne down and then hits a Vader Bomb. Swagger hooks a surfboard submission as the crowd rallies Bourne. Swagger buries a shoulder to Bourne’s gut but he eats a knee on a follow up attempt. Bourne takes Swagger down for two. He roll Swagger up and gets another near fall. Bourne kicks away at Swagger but jack clubs him back down. Swagger hoists Bourne up but he rides Swagger down with knees to the face. Swagger kicks Bourne down as Miz’s music fires up and the captain heads down to the ring. Swagger hits a Urinage but he allows Bourne to roll to the apron. Bourne blocks a suplex and kicks Swagger in the face. Bourne heads up top and hits a beautiful Air Bourne for the win! Swagger’s streak is dead. Bourne picks up a nice win in another good match between these two. Bourne d. Swagger with Air Bourne; Grade: 2

- Miz reminds Swagger that he is the team captain at Survivor Series and not Swagger. Jack stares at Miz as we take a break.

- When we return, we see some clips of two weeks ago when Kyle Busch and Joey Logano showed off their WWE race cars. We then get highlights of them racing said cars this past weekend. Busch won the race as well and showed off his WWE Championship belt post race. Back in the arena, the VIP Lounge is set up and MVP and Mark Henry are chilling inside it. MVP welcomes us to the show and Mark Henry brings out their guest, Kofi Kingston, with a great introduction. MVP also tells us that Kingston is the captain of their Survivor Series team. Kofi hits the ring and is all smiles. Kofi puts over MVP and Henry a bit before MVP tells the tale of Kofi destroying Orton’s car. Henry then takes us to clips from last week when Kofi, MVP and Henry defeated Legacy. Kofi says that is only a taste of what is to come at Survivor Series. MVP has Henry pop a bottle of champagne so they can raise a toast to Kofi. Before they can drink up, Legacy stalks down to the ring. They try to get into the VIP Lounge, but the security guard stands in their way. Orton stares him down until he opens the rope and lets them in. All six men stare each down until Orton starts to speak. He says Henry, MVP and Kofi are low class street thugs. Henry stole a victory last week, MVP is the definition of a common criminal and Kofi should be in jail after destroying Randy’s car. The only reason Orton hasn’t put Kofi down yet is so he can embarrass him at the PPV. Cody calls MVP “Montel” and rips on the VIP Lounge. Ted makes fun of the pleather couches and cheap champagne. He also tells MVP that his bank account is larger, but MVP clarifies that it is his dad’s account. Orton says Legacy belongs in the ring while Henry, Kofi and MVP belong in the hood where they came from. An intense stare down rages on as we take a break.

4) Mark Henry vs. Randy Orton

When we return from break, the match is already underway. They circle around each other until Orton grabs a side headlock. Henry plants him with a shoulderblock but Orton kicks his knee and trips him into the middle buckle. Orton stomps away at Henry and then hammers away in the corner. Henry hooks a bear hug but Orton slugs free. Henry knocks him back to the mat and gets two. Henry misses an elbow drop and Orton lands some boots to the arms and legs. He follows with a leaping kneedrop for two. Orton keeps putting the boots to Henry before hooking a front facelock. Orton gets a near fall and then drops some more knees to the face. Orton hooks a chinlock as the crowd stirs a bit. Cole tells us that MVP and DiBiase will wrestle on Superstars this week. Henry fights up and slams Orton to the mat for two. They trade some right hands before Henry plants Orton with a clothesline. Orton bails to the corner and Henry splashes him. He lands a series of headbutts as Orton is staggering in the corner. Henry drops his head down on a whip and Orton goes for a sunset flip. Henry fights it and pulls Orton up by his throat but Orton slinks free and hits the RKO for the win. That was a basic match that had a neat finish. Orton gets a much needed win there too. Orton d. Henry with the RKO; Grade: 1.5

- Kofi comes in to check on Henry but Orton comes in get in his face. Kofi fights him off and Legacy bails as we take a break.

- As we return, Cole tells us that the new Raw theme will debut next week. It is entitled “Burn it to the Ground” and is performed by Nickelback. Sigh.

5) Chavo Guerrero vs. Ricky Hatton in a Boxer vs. Wrestler Mixed Martial Arts match

And with that, Chavo Guerrero is making his way down to the ring. Lawler talks about his boxer vs. wrestler match with Leon Spinks back in the day. Hatton is out next, wearing his boxing gear and a sombrero to mock Chavo. This is Hatton’s first match since May. Justin Roberts gives us the big match introductions and runs down the rules. Hatton gets a big hometown pop and apparently only weighs slightly over 140 pounds and Lawler is as incredulous about that one as I am. Chavo bails to the apron to start, avoiding the charging Hatton. The crowd is serenading Hatton as he eggs them on. Hatton peppers Chavo with some jabs in the corner but Chavo quickly rolls out to the floor. Chavo comes back and takes Hatton down, but Ricky escapes and both men get back up. Chavo catches him with a kick and clubs on his back. Chavo tries to take him down but Hatton smacks him with a big right hand. Chavo can’t beat the count and Hatton wins the match via knock out. Hatton d. Guerrero via knockout; Grade: 0

- Hatton greets his fans around ringside as we go to break.

- Back live, Cole and King run down the Survivor Series card as the show is just two weeks away. Backstage, John Cena is talking to Hornswoggle, who is still wearing the DX gear. Cena warns him to stop wearing it or he will lose a lot of money in court. Horny runs off as DX comes in looking for him but Cena tells them to focus on their match tonight instead of finding Horny. They discuss Survivor Series as Hunter gets a funny “Tweeting” joke in, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Michaels says that Cena is distracting them and playing the old shell game in hiding the Leprechaun. Cena calls the “whimsical Leprechaun” Horny back in and he is now wearing Cena gear this time. After DX takes off, Horny rips off the Cena shirt and hat to reveal the DX merch. He laughs and crotch chops as we take a break. That was a funny little segment.

- We are back and Cole takes us back to last week to see clips of the Osbournes taking Raw for a ride on the crazy train. I could watch Chris Masters’ performance art presentation of Crazy Train all day long. Not that there’s anything wrong that. Back live, Cole tells us that Roddy Piper will be in the house next week as he hosts Raw from MSG! We are then joined by John Cena who gets a big split reaction, as is the norm. Cena hops in on commentary as it is main event time.

6) Shawn Michaels & Triple H vs. Chris Jericho & Big Show in a non title match

JeriShow is out first as Cole reminds us that Jericho will take on Undertaker on Smackdown. It is the first ever one on one match for those two, so check it out. DX is out next and they get a jolly good pop. Cena is so much better when he just speaks like a normal human being as he is doing on commentary right now. Jericho and Michaels kick things off as Chris puts him down with a shoulderblock. Michaels comes back with a chop and then tags in Hunter. He runs Jericho into the corner but eats a boot on a charge. Jericho slugs away and follows with some boots to the gut. Hunter ducks a clothesline and lands a high knee. Hunter takes Jericho down and slingshots him over the top to the floor as we take our final break. When we come back, Jericho drills Michaels with a kick to the face before tagging in Show. Michaels dropkicks Show’s knee but can only get a one count. Michaels leaps onto Show but Show spikes him back to the mat with a headbutt. Show walks across Michaels and tags in Jericho. Cena is proving some good insight about the upcoming triple threat match on commentary. Jericho tags in Show, who clubs Michaels across the back to maintain control. Michaels is able to crawl over and tag in Hunter. He hits a facebreaker and goes for the Pedigree but Show backdrops out of it. He nails Hunter with a spear and beats on him a bit before tagging Jericho back in. Jericho hooks a modified sleeper as Hunter fights to his feet. Jericho takes Hunter down and gets two. The crowd is pretty much dead at this point which is surprising. Jericho tags in Show and they give Hunter the wishbone treatment. Show stands on Hunter’s back as Cena’s commentary continues to be the best part of the match. Show hits a big splash and gets two. Show grabs a reverse bear hug and then releases it and lands some hard right hands to the gut. He tags in Jericho but Hunter starts to fire back a bit. Jericho regains control but Hunter catches him with a spinebuster. Hunter crawls over and tags Shawn. He hits all the Vintage Michaels maneuvers on Jericho, taking out Show in the process. Shawn tunes up the band but Jericho ducks it and takes Shawn down. Shawn avoids the Walls but Show splashes him from behind. Show swings at Michaels, but he ducks and Show cracks Jericho with a big right hand. Hunter takes Show out and Michaels covers Jericho for the win. This was totally paint by numbers and pretty heatless. Michaels & Triple H d. Jericho & Show when Michaels pins Jericho after a Show punch to the head; Grade: 2

- As DX regroups in the ring, Justin Roberts tells us that next week’s main event will see DX battle JeriShow and Cena & Undertaker in a triple threat match! Taker appears to a huge pop. He stands on the ramp and all six men stare each other down as we fade out. This was a solid enough show tonight and I will say that it was very focused throughout. Hatton was fine in the role but he was hard to understand. The crowd was pretty flat and wasn’t nearly as hot as past British crowds. Still, we got some really good PPV build and a couple of decent matches mixed in. Next week’s show brings us home to New York City as Raw will emanate live from Madison Square Garden. See you then!

Final Grade: C-

Drama’s Smackdown Report 11/6/09

Friday Night Smackdown!
November 6, 2009
Providence, Rhode Island
Todd Grisham and Matt Striker

OPENING ANIMATION

Todd & Matt welcome us to Providence and the Dunk! Tonight’s main event has the “new” Batista taking on Matt Hardy, after last week’s sneak attack. But we begin with the gong, the darkness, the lightning, and the World Heavyweight Champion. Still the greatest entrance in wrestling history. Down comes the Undertaker to a big ovation. Taker has the mike and says it seems like an eternity ago that the creature of darkness arrived to strike fear in all mortals. He says at Survivor Series the dark birth of the Undertaker occurred, and all who opposed him perished. Year after year they still come for this, and he raises the World Title. He says they all want a chance, but he says it’s the Holy Grail for all who step in the ring. Taker says Big Show betrayed an entire team for an opportunity to become Champion. He says what he won was a termination at the hands of the Deadman. Now to Chris Jericho. Taker says there are few things in this world that bring joy to his dark heart. One of those things is to fight alongside his brother Kane. The second thing is to fight against his brother Kane. Last week Chris Jericho took that opportunity away. At Survivor Series he will be vanquished too. Taker is interrupted by said Chris Jericho, 1/3 of the triple threat match at Survivor Series. Jericho says after 10 years this is what the WWE Universe was waiting for. These two great superstars meeting face to face, but Jericho asks Taker what a Phenom is. Jericho says based on the definition he is the Phenom. He’s exceptional with all the accolades, the best at what he does. Jericho says for years Taker’s been brainwashing these gelatinous tapeworms and enabling them that he’s something he’s not. Jericho says he’s not a Deadman, he’s just a man. Just like Kane, John Cena, Big Show, men Jericho has defeated. At Survivor Series he will defeat Undertaker and be World Champion for the sixth time. Jericho says he’s not afraid of the smoke and the gong, for Taker is just a man. Jericho is not afraid and never will be. Taker grabs Jericho by the throat and they brawl. Taker boots him in the head and Jericho bails.

-Todd & Matt recap what happened with Batistas & Rey Mysterio at Bragging Rights & Smackdown last week.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Dolph Ziggler & Hart Dynasty vs. Intercontinental Champion John Morrison & Cryme Tyme

Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…I’m bored of Cryme Tyme now. They have their funny segment but since losing the Tag Title match at Summerslam, they kind of lost their luster. As for the Hart Dynasty, they need to go on a run and get the Tag Straps. They deserve it more than anyone, even more than Legacy. Legacy has passed the moment where they need the straps. They’re borderline main eventers now. Hart Dynasty on the other hand have about a .500 record on TV and that’s not good enough. Stop giving wins to Cryme Tyme and give them to Hart Dynasty. They have a future, Cryme Tyme doesn’t. As for Ziggler/Morrison, just put them in an IC Title match and get it over with. It doesn’t matter who wins, although Ziggler should probably have a run with it, he’s earned it. Morrison may be ready for the next level. This match is basic TV, and for once the right team won. Ziggler pins Gaspard for the win, and the Harts pick up a much needed win. WINNERS: Dolph Ziggler & Hart Dynasty (Grade: 2)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-Josh Matthews is with Rey Mysterio alone in the locker room. Rey says he’s upset, since one of his own family members walked out on him, over something so small. Rey starts talking Spanish. Josh announces that Rey and Batista will meet at Survivor Series. Rey says that Batista’s watching, and he says that Batista’s not listening to logic or anything, and he threw away the spirit of Eddie Guerrero. Whatever it is, Rey says he’ll get it out. Rey’s never seen this side of Batista before, but at Survivor Series, everyone will see a side of Rey no one has ever seen.

Beth Phoenix vs. Brittany Carter

Wondering if this Carter girl is a local worker, but my Rhode Island friends have never heard of her either so who knows. It’s a glorified squash, as they seem to be rebuilding Beth as a hot monster again. WINNER: Beth Phoenix (Grade: 1.5)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

Drew McIntyre vs. Jimmy Wang Yang

Wow, this feels like a 1988 episode of Superstars, with back to back jobber squashes. Well this isn’t really a squash as McIntyre pearl harbors Yang and tosses him out of the ring. McIntyre says this party isn’t even starting. Although Yang wants the bell rung to fight, so we will have a match. DDT later and its over anyway. WINNER: Drew McIntyre (Grade: 0)

-Josh Matthews stops Batista backstage, and he asks why he’s attacked Rey and Matt Hardy. Batista says it’s about being Champion, and that’s it. He doesn’t want friends anymore; he wants to be #1.

Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox

I look at Mike Knox and I can’t believe that when ECW started in 2006, he was “dating” Kelly Kelly. Knox dominated the action early, pounding Rey in and outside the ring. Even with Rey winning this match, it still made Knox look like a big-time monster. I would move Knox back to ECW and have him join William Regal’s crew with Kozlov and Zeke. Then maybe they can have a tag title on the show. Rey wins with the 619 & Slingshot Splash, but Knox wrestled a good match and controlled the pace. WINNER: Rey Mysterio (Grade: 2)

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-Todd & Matt announce that next week on Smackdown Dolph Ziggler will get his Intercontinental Title shot against John Morrison.

CM Punk vs. R-Truth

Pretty cool combination here as they’ve never met in the ring together. I hope with Batista turning heel that CM Punk doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. There’s definitely not enough faces on Smackdown, which made it even more annoying that John Cena won at Bragging Rights and didn’t leave Raw. I just realized that Scott Armstrong is refereeing the match, and Punk doesn’t like what he thinks is a slow count. Punk starts jawing with him about counting too slow, then R-Truth rolls him up and Armstrong counts just a little bit faster for the upset win. Surprisingly good result as Punk is flipping out. WINNER: R-Truth (Grade: 2)

Backstage, Mickie James, Michelle McCool and Layla jaw with each other about the Survivor Series match, the Women’s Title, and she calls Layla “Scary Spice”. Nice outside shot of the Dunk. We then go back to last week when Matt Hardy tried to reason with Batista, and got his ass kicked for his troubles.

COMMERCIAL BREAK

-Back from break with the Raw Rebound, looking back at Ozzy & Sharon’s performance. We return with Josh talking with Matt Hardy. Matt says he knows about betrayal and what happened between he and Jeff. Batista’s either scared, selfish or forgotten where he came from. Tonight there will be no talking, but there will be plenty of fighting.

Matt Hardy vs. Batista

I wonder when they’ll change his entrance theme music. He no longer does the machine gun pyro thing, he just…walks alone. Now the key thing here is Batista will have to change his style, and start to dictate pace and be a little dirty. Sure he was like that when he was in Evolution, but he was also a lower mid-carder and no one really cared. Now with the spotlight clearly on him, except for those single match shots with Shawn Michaels and John Cena in 2008 he really needs to be vicious and overpowering on a grand heel scale. Striker’s starting to get a little more heel edge since joining the show, as he’s clearly behind Batista in this situation. The match ends when an off-the-wall Batista cracks Hardy in the back with a monitor off the SD table. He continues beating Hardy down and throws him into the steps. WINNER: Matt Hardy by disqualification (Grade: 2)

-Batista throws Matt into the ring and was about to go for a Demon Bomb, but instead throws Hardy down and leaves the ring and with that we’re out. Next week an IC Title match, and for the first time ever…Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho one on one.

FINAL GRADE: B

WCW Halloween Havoc
October 27, 1996
Las Vegas, NV
MGM Grand Garden Arena

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Ric Flair (7/7/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat (10/5/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (8/20/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio (7/8/1996)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes.

• WCW World Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko
  

Can Malenko regain the gold? That’s the question. Malenko brings Rey’s mask that he stole and places it in the corner for the last time as his *motivation*. Tenay joins the threesome for this one. Malenko tries for the win early with a back suplex and attempts the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF, but Mysterio shrugs it off. Oddly enough, the crowd seems to be more behind Malenko than Mysterio. He catches a quebrada and a rana, but a satellite headscissors puts him on the floor as Mysterio fools him with the fake dive. On the apron, Malenko eyes the mask and gets distracted for some reason, so Rey dropkicks him to the floor and dives out FOR REALZ with a beautiful somersault plancha. With Malenko down, Rey grabs his stolen mask and changes masks! That fires Mysterio up momentarily as he catches Dean with a couple headscissors into nearfalls, but Malenko blocks one with a side slam. Now Malenko goes after the back, culminating with a NASTY back superplex. GEEZ. Cover, 1-2-NO! Mysterio reaches the ropes on a headscissors, but winds up taking a brainbuster anyways. Small package from Rey gets Malenko a little pissed. He goes after the back again by grinding on a backbreaker and then transitioning over to a camel clutch. Malenko catches Rey with a sleeper and drops down into a body scissors. Oh snap. Mysterio elbows out, but runs into a knee and receives a release hammerlock northern lights suplex. Yeah, it sounds complicated. It’ll break your arm – plain and simple. That gets two. They both fight to the top rope and punch each other down, which happened in their rematch on Saturday Night that led to a double countout. Aren’t you glad you have a nerd like me to point out these things? Down on the floor, Mysterio slips on a headscissors off the safety rail spot, but they improvise and make their way back inside. Springboard somersault senton (the Triple S!!!!) puts Malenko down for two. Waistlock exchange sees Malenko getting stuck in a bridge pin for 1-2-NO! Back to the floor, Rey shows off with a springboard corkscrew moonsault. Back in, Rey gets a quick rana for 1-2-NO! Rey goes for it all with the SPRINGBOARD HURRACANRANA, but Malenko catches him for a sitout powerbomb for 1-2-NO! Rey knees away the Super Gutbuster and tries the Top Rope Rana, which Malenko shrugs off and stops Mysterio from trying another springboard by bringing him off the ropes with a SUPER DOCTORBOMB! Rey’s done on that one. Malenko covers for the 1-2-3. (18:29) HUGE pop for Malenko’s win. Just an excellent match with plenty of time to play off all five of their previous encounters. I mean with FIVE matches, they ought to know one another pretty well by now. A low top-ten MOTYC by my standards. ****¼

• Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eddie Guerrero
  

At least Tony is honest. He has no idea where the stupid Battlebowl ring is that these two are supposed to be fighting over. And what do you know, the referee is the sketchy one himself – Nick Patrick. Good to see Eddie back. It tried to start off with a bang (pun not intended) with some guardrail action, but they bring it inside for some headlocks. DDP does that thing where he’s stuck horizontally in the ropes and gets kicked to the floor. Page ducks a pescado attempt. Eddie’s not dumb enough to go with it anyway and jumps to the floor to meet DDP with some chops. After a ride into the guardrail, Guerrero brings Page back inside for a Hilo that gets two. Eddie gets crotched and eats the steps. DDP calls Eddie “girlfriend”? Back inside, DDP covers with his feet on the ropes for two. The tide turner comes as DDP hoists Guerrero up off a whip and lets him drop to the mat. I hate his gutbuster off the shoulders. That gets two. Page uses the ropes off an ab stretch and follows up with a tilt-a-whirl sideslam for two. That pisses him off a little bit to the point where he gets into a shoving match with Nick Patrick who shoves him back and gives Page a good finger pointing. DDP shakes his hand and avoids a charge as Eddie goes crashing to the floor. Back in, they trade back and forth off a nearfall sequence which ends with a clothesline from Page. DDP misses the big field goal kick and takes the ten-count corner punch. To the floor, Eddie gives DDP his best dive off the top. Back in, Page hotshots Eddie and delivers the Pancake Slam for two. Spinning sitout powerbomb from Page gets 1-2-NO! And just like that, DDP drops Eddie with the DIAMOND CUTTER for the 1-2-3. (13:38) Anti-climatic finish sure, but for good reason as Eddie broke a rib during this match. For that reason, this was all DDP. And what do you know, the ring was in Nick Patrick’s back pocket the whole time. **½

• The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett (w/Ric Flair)
  

Before the start of the new World order matches, Ted DiBiase talks some junk up in the crowd. Since the nWo wouldn’t realistically be allowed backstage, they would have to enter through the crowd. Also, Giant brings the stolen U.S. title belt with him. Nick Patrick works this match as well. This works like most every Giant match ever unless his opponent’s name is Hulk Hogan where the guy works sleeper holds and tries to slam him and fails. Giant gives up on a backbreaker when Flair gets on the mic and tells Jarrett to get up and kicks some nWo butt. WOO! You better believe there’s a bearhug in this match too. Eventually, Jarrett gets Giant all wobbly and puts him down (!) with a flying bodypress, but Giant presses him off the cover at two. A failed Figure-Four puts Jarrett on the floor. Giant tries to splash him up against the ringpost and misses. Jarrett clamps on the FIGURE-FOUR, but Giant GOOZLES out of it. When Jarrett’s a second away from taking a CHOKESLAM on the floor, Flair comes over and low blows Giant in plain sight of the ref for the DQ. (9:54) Well, Jarrett did say he wouldn’t take the Chokeslam and he didn’t. Pretty average Giant match though. I liked how they remembered the finish from April where the Giant won the world title by stopping the Figure-Four with a Chokeslam. Continuity is cool. On the other hand, shouldn’t Flair be trying to steal back the U.S. title here instead of you know – not? In case the Giant wants to rip Flair’s arms off and beat him with them, the rest of the Horsemen come down to stand by his side. Why is Arn Anderson wearing the Hog Wild jean jacket? Whyyyyyy? *

• Chris Jericho vs. Syxx
  

Here is Syxx’s WCW PPV debut. Another match involving the nWo, another match with Nick Patrick. Feeling out process to start. Jericho rolls under a spinning heel kick and spots Dungeon of Doom members (Kevin Sullivan, Big Bubba, and Konnan) watching on in the crowd. Tony says they’re working security? Shouldn’t that be handled by actual security officers? Jericho kicks and chops Syxx around, but gets caught up top and takes a spill to the floor. Somersault pescado by Syxx takes Jericho down. Back inside, Syxx punishes Jericho in the corner with his signature kick combo. Jericho escapes a chinlock and catches a spin kick, but Syxx uses his other foot to kick Jericho down. Nice. Syxx elbow drops Jericho on the apron, but misses a charge in the corner. From there, Jericho mounts a comeback and springboard dives onto Syxx. COME ON BABY! Back in the ring, Jericho nails a flying back elbow for 1-2-NO! Syxx comes off the top, but Jericho dropkicks him in mid-air for a nearfall. Nick Patrick is taking forever to get down to the mat. Lionsault and a nice bridge rollup gets a slowww one-count thanks to Nick Patrick. Springboard crossbody by Jericho still only gets him a two-count even when Syxx had been covered for a good four-count. Jericho goes over and yells at Nick Patrick, but turns back around into a Spinning Heel Kick from Syxx for the normal 1-2-3. (9:48) According to the commentary, it looks like that was supposed to be a fast count much like the one at Starrcade 1997, but didn’t happen. Some nice high risk stuff you would expect, but I don’t think these two ever realized their full potential against one another. For that matter, even in the WWF. Afterwards, Jericho chases Nick Patrick out of the ring and then the guy helps Syxx to the back. **½

• Lex Luger vs. Arn Anderson
  

Arn’s here to punish Luger for the loss at Wargames. He’s already worn his back down with chairshots, but Lex isn’t selling them here with any rib tape or anything. AA treats Lex like he’s nothing to start. Big mistake. Luger comes back with a press slam and a clothesline to the floor. Lex follows him out and drives Arn into the ringpost. Back in, Luger hits a powerslam and hammers on the back for a while. And just when AA looks done for, he catches Luger for a desperation Spinebuster. Back to the floor, this time Arn is in control. In the ring, AA cheats with an ab stretch and goes for the DDT, but Luger hooks the ropes to block . Now the ref gets bumped and Arn tries to nail Luger with a chair up against the ringpost. Luger ducks and catapults Arn into the ringpost instead. From there, Luger gives Arn a suplex on the floor and beats his back with the chair for some added revenge. That leaves Arn in dire straits and the TORTURE RACK is academic. And with that, Arn Anderson submits. (12:14) What? Yes, Arn FN Anderson submits. It’s definitely a rare moment. This was just both guys wearing each other’s backs down for ten minutes until somebody got to use a chair. While it makes sense, it was all too predictable booking. This also proves to be Arn’s final big PPV match due to his career-ending neck injury and since I’m a HUGE AA fan, it’s pretty saddening that I won’t be covering anymore of these. ITS STILL REAL TO ME, PEOPLE! Nah, I’m kidding. With Anderson laid out in the ring, Flair and Jarrett come out to check on him and he ends up doing a stretcher job. *½

• Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael (w/Woman & Debra) vs. The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart)
  

More of the Horsemen v. Dungeon of Doom. Mongo and Meng start us off and get into a shoulderblock battle. Barbarian roughs Benoit up in the corner, but then he takes Barbarian over with a Northern Lights suplex for two. Benoit rolls out of a Boston crab and stomps a mudhole down in him. Sullivan, Bubba, and Konnan protest from their seats. Back to Meng and Mongo, they try some sumo stuff. Meng wins that and chops Mongo back into the corner. After he poses, Meng turns back around into a series of chopblocks. A kick to the head stops all that. Mongo comes back with an Erik Watts dropkick, but Meng swats off a second one. Meng misses a splash and Benoit gets the tag. He chops away on Meng, but winds up taking the backdrop into a powerbomb from Barbarian! So freakin awesome. Cover, 1-2-NO! From here, Barbarian launches Benoit from one end of the ring to the other with a SUPER BELLY TO BELLY THROW! Of course that was mostly Benoit, but who cares. It looked cool. That gets two. The Faces of Fear deliver the STEREO FLYING HEADBUTTS while Woman shrieks at ringside. Cover, 1-2-NO! Mongo makes the save. Suplex-flying splash combo connects, but Mongo says “enough of this”, pulls Benoit out off the cover, and wallops Meng in the head with the Haliburton briefcase. Meanwhile, Benoit ascends to the top for the SWANDIVE HEADBUTT! That gets three. (9:24) I’m actually kind of surprised that Meng SOLD the briefcase shot. Fun watch just to see Barbarian throwing Benoit around all over the place. After the match, the rest of the Dungeon of Doom jump the rail and help the Faces of Fear lay out both Benoit and McMichael. And since Flair has left with AA to the hospital, there’s nobody left to save them. Sullivan says something to Woman along the lines of “I’m the man”. ***

• WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri & Col. Robert Parker) vs. The Outsiders
  

Scott Steiner was out with an injury and instead of just waiting to put the belts on them to drop to the Outsiders, they got impatient and decided to just have Harlem Heat drop the belts to Hall & Nash instead, which makes no sense if WCW wants fans to boo them. And the crowd’s reaction shows exactly who’s side they’re on by getting super loud with Razor & Diesel chants. Booker and Hall start the match. He catches Hall with a hook kick, but Hall comes back with his signature punches. The hiptoss across the ring spot puts Hall on the floor to take a beating from Stevie Ray. Back in, Hall spits on Stevie Ray and tags out to Nash. He takes Stevie Ray to the corner and unloads with knees and elbows. Stevie Ray battles back, spits at Hall, and beats Nash down into the corner. Booker T tags in for a Scissors Kick for 1-2-NO! Nash comes back with a Side Slam on Stevie Ray and tags Hall. He hits the second-rope bulldog on Stevie Ray for two. Booker tags in for a chinlock, but Hall fights out and sends him into Nash for a club to the back. Tag to Nash, he hits a Big Boot and the Snake Eyes. Booker staggers over into a clothesline from Hall on the apron. The crowd approves! Back over to Hall, he gives Booker a Chokeslam for two. Fallaway Slam connects and Sherri hops up on the apron, so Hall lays a big ol’ fat half-drunken kiss on her. Isn’t that like a standard babyface action? Hmm. HUGE undeniable “Razor” chants go up. They trade sleepers until Booker gets crotched on the top rope. Double-KO sets up a not-so-hot tag to Stevie Ray. Nash takes a clothesline to the floor as the Heat deliver the HARLEM HANGOVER to Hall! The ref is too busy trying to get Booker T out of the ring, allowing Col. Parker to try and whack Nash with his cane. He gets scared and instead, hands Nash the cane, who breaks up Stevie Ray’s pin with Parker’s cane. Hall turns over on top for the 1-2-3. (13:06) Huge pop for the Outsiders. No one should really be surprised by that though. **

• WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Randy Savage
  

Hogan wears his “3 Ninjas” toupee to the ring. He looks freakin ridiculous. Last time we saw Savage, he was covered in black leather and talking all emolicious. Tonight he makes his entrance and looks as though nothing happened. Maybe it’s because he’s got a monster truck of his own now? Ref Randy Anderson sends Giant away because that big guy can’t be out here. Several minutes of stalling from Hogan to start. Once they do lock up (Hogan still has his sunglasses and headband on), he quickly exits back to the floor. Back in, Hogan finally goes low and hits the running clothesline. Savage fires back and flying double ax handles Hogan’s glasses off. He puts those on and then grabs a chunk of Hogan’s toupee before punching *that* off. And he continues to punch Hogan to the floor, where he makes him eat his toupee. Hogan eats the ringpost and takes a chairshot to the top of his cranium. Umm, DQ? Ref Randy Anderson stops a second chairshot, allowing Hogan to nail him from behind and give him a chairshot while he’s down. From here, Hogan sends him into the post and gives him another chairshot – this time to the back. Hogan atomic drops him on the guardrail when what do you know. Miss Elizabeth heads down to ringside with her concerned face on. In the ring, Hogan gets distracted by her as Savage schoolboys him for 1-2-NO! Savage grabs him a handful of trunks so Hogan can moon the crowd. They brawl to the floor where Hogan uses Liz as a shield. He does it a second time and throws Liz at Savage so he can nail him. Back in, Hogan hits the Big Boot and while he’s posing in the corner, Liz jumps in the ring and lays on top of Randy. Hogan takes her up by the chin and tells her what it’s all about over in the corner. Now he goes for the LEGDROP, but Savage moves. Hogan pulls out some taped knux, but Liz takes it away from him and jumps out to the floor where DiBiase regains the object. Savage ducks a running clothesline and ref Randy Anderson gets nailed. In comes Nick Patrick and you know where this is heading. Savage fires back on Hogan and slams him for the MACHO ELBOW for 1-2-NO! Nick Patrick’s neck is killing him and he can’t keep counting. Savage starts ripping him apart. There goes another $500! Meanwhile, DiBiase hands Hogan the taped knux, but Savage blocks the blow and nails Hogan. When Savage heads up for another MACHO ELBOW, DiBiase grabs the legs to make Savage jump down and give chase. Here comes the Giant to stop that. CHOKESLAM ON THE FLOOR! Inside the ring, Giant puts Hogan on top for the 1-2-3. (18:35) From the way he was talking on the last Nitro before the PPV, you’d think Savage would be tearing Hogan limb from limb. Just a really weak main event with such a storied personal feud behind it. *

CMONNNNN who wouldn't want to see this? It opened up thirteen years ago today!

Right when Hogan tells everybody to go see Santa With Muscles, some bagpipe music plays all over the arena. Who comes out to bagpipe music? You guessed it. ROWDY RODDY PIPER! Since Hogan is so bored, he’s here to break the monotony. Back in the ’80s, they were running neck and neck as far as star power goes. Hogan even admits it. Piper says that he’s the only guy Hogan has never beaten. Piper shakes his hand, tells him to shape up, and starts to leave. But then Hogan has to call his kilt a skirt. Oh no he didn’t. That gets Piper pretty pissed. They go nose-to-nose and Hogan says that maybe they should have the war that didn’t settle the score. Ooo, nice reference. Piper tells Hogan that he’s the reason he’s got no hair. Your day is coming, Piper. Uh oh, he grabs Hogan’s belt which creates a problem, but it doesn’t matter because we have to leave.

Final Thoughts: Another pretty important PPV for the new World order as Hall and Nash gain the tag team titles, however the match quality is way down compared to Fall Brawl. The opener is fantastic and there’s a few solid matches interspersed throughout the card. Make your own judgment calls there. While the main event was lame, the angle at the end with Piper’s WCW debut was great. While he says he’s not for either WCW or the nWo, having anybody go up against the heel group is a plus now that there’s no babyfaces left except for maybe Luger. Not a must-see show, but at least check out the opener. If you can’t grab a copy, find the newer Rey Mysterio DVD and watch it that way. I’m going with a thumbs in the middle for Halloween Havoc 1996.

No need to delay – let’s keep this thing rolling.

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho – Ladder Match (Royal Rumble 2001)
  

Matt: Once again, the ladder match gets reinvented. These two rethought what Shawn and Razor did with ladders in 1-on-1 matches and then centered their already established offensive moves around the ladder. It’s quite amazing how well this worked with so many different moves from both men. Ladder matches have been done to death during this decade, but I don’t think there’s been one quite as good since (as far as singles matches go) that didn’t rely solely on insane falls and super dangerous high spots like this one. From my view, we’re talking ****¾ territory.

Justin: The rivalry from 2000 was the hook in this slugfest and these two great athletes went out there and tore the house down. The whole match was just super stiff as these two beat on each other with their fists and the ladder. The chair shot on the Benoit tope was just nasty and adds to the legend of this match. Another sick spot was the top rope leg sweep using the ladder. The Walls on top the ladder was also impressive and was the big spot of the match. After a weak last few months of 2000, Jericho was quickly elevated back into the upper midcard with this bout. These two really stepped it up, showed off their chemistry and came up with some innovative new spots in this match, and that mixed in with the sheer brutality helped make it an instant classic.

Scott: No surprise about this match. The more stipulations you add, the better this matchup gets. It’s tough to argue whenever these two get together that you’re going to have at least a 3.5 match and that’s if both are totally off. I always like the dynamic when Benoit was the heel, and Jericho was the face. Benoit took the violence meter to the next level in this match, but when Jericho put the Walls on him on top of the ladder, that’s when you knew this became a classic.

• Steve Austin vs. Triple H – 3 Stages of Hell (No Way Out 2001)
  

Matt: You talk about a way to finally end a feud. This was the first of its kind in the WWF where each fall is a different type of match. The first fall was a standard match, the second fall was a street fight, and the final fall was a cage match. How in the world could you possibly take this feud any higher? Somebody had to go when this was over. Everything worked well in this match and they pulled off the different gimmick matches effortlessly. Much like WrestleMania x8 where the main events were backwards, this should have closed the PPV instead of the world title match. But hindsight is 20/20 and all that. An easy ***** affair in my opinion with both guys busting their butts for 40 exciting minutes in one of the greatest rivalries of all-time.

Justin: The buildup here had been well detailed and this was a highly anticipated showdown. Triple H had put Austin on the shelf for the year. Austin got some revenge a year later when he nearly killed the Game with a forklift. Since then, both men had cost the other World title matches, so things were at a boiling point heading into what was expected to be a brutal battle. The crowd was amped right from the entrances and there was a definite buzz in the arena for this one. This was the match that officially signaled to everyone that the real Stone Cold was now back in the house and he was ready to go balls to the wall. The first fall is a nice dichotomy to what would come, as the two men trade holds and work body parts to try and wear the other down for the more vicious falls still to come. After the first two falls, JR pointed out that Hunter had won Austin’s type of match and vice versa. At that point, the match was a classic, but there was still more to come as the cage lowered. Both men were ravaged and bloodied and just tried to outlast the other inside the steel. Triple H would barely eek out the win, and it was somewhat of an upset at the time, as Austin was heading to the main event of WrestleMania. The match was wonderfully done and was loaded with drama and excitement. This was just a masterpiece between two of the best. The match showed that Triple H was still one of the top dogs in the WWF and proved that Steve Austin was back in a big way.

Scott: Words cannot describe how much I love this match. It honestly goes down VERY close to Savage/Steamboat as my favorite match of all time. Two guys who know everything about how to produce a main event match with every ingredient possible. One of the few matches that felt like a title match without a title. Both men brought 100% of the hate and the violence to the match, and it anchored what was one of the greatest PPV’s in WWE history. I recommend this match to anyone and everyone.

• WWF World Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz – TLC II (WrestleMania X-Seven)
  

Matt: Apparently these six just love hurting themselves and one another. Spike Dudley, Rhyno, and Lita all make appearances in this one. Being the most instrumental in the match, Rhyno assists his buddies Edge and Christian to help them regain tag team gold for their seventh reign in one year. The highlight of the match has to be Edge bringing Jeff down as he’s hanging off the belts with the spear. It’s a moment few hardcore fans will forget. While you’d think after a match like this, E&C would get a lengthy reign, but nope. Nearly three weeks later, they get stomped out by the Brothers of Destruction and never really recover as a team. PLEASE BRING THEM BACK, WWE! Another ***** match for 2001.

Justin: The three top teams over the past 12 months square off again on the biggest stage of the wrestling world. Rhyno, Spike and Lita would all eventually hit the ring and play a role in the bout, and I liked that as it added some chaos and excitement to an already great match. After a brutal war, Rhyno would hit the ring and prop Edge on his shoulders and carry him up to the belts, allowing E&C to retain their precious tag titles. The match was an all out war and in a way appropriately capped the glory run that these teams experienced over the last 16 months. They would continue to see success, but this sort of brings an end to their intense rivalry that has warred on from show to show. One year ago, these six men put this type of battle on the map and here they perfected it with another crazy classic.

Scott: Yet another chapter to the war between these three teams. One of many matches at one of the greatest WrestleManias of all time, this one was different because it didn’t have to carry the show as much as their first match the previous year. More great violence, more high-flying maneuvers. Edge & Christian cement their legacy with another big win over their rivals in another violent encounter in front of 68,000 fans.

• WWF World Champion The Rock vs. Steve Austin – No-DQ Match (WrestleMania X-Seven)
  

Matt: I know it’s a commentator’s cliché, but now THIS is a main event anywhere in the world. In a sold-out Astrodome, the two biggest names of the day arguably at the peak of their popularity fight tooth and nail for thirty minutes. They trade Stunners, they trade Rock Bottoms, and then the impossible happens when Vince McMahon heads out to ringside. What is he going to do? He breaks up the pin on Austin after the Peoples Elbow! Now they start beating the Rock down with chairshots, but he refuses to quit! Austin opens up a can of chairshots all over Rock until finally the man is completely out and finished for the 1-2-3. Quite the dramatic finish and while the crowd thought Vince had turned good, there’s no way you could cheer for the guy who just killed the Rock with a barrage of chairshots. That’s not a hero. However, they cheer Austin anyway. Just an unbelievable moment in wrestling history ends the PPV as Austin and Vince share a beer together. It’s about ****¼ for me.

Justin: Who better to battle at the end of the biggest show of the modern era than Stone Cold and the Rock? The whole story heading in here is Austin’s obsession and desperation to become champion. Ever since he was taken out in 1999, Austin has been away from his belt and he was starting to crack. I liked how Austin is visibly frustrated throughout the match. I actually think they could have made his heel turn a bit more effective and subtle. The two men would bust out the bloody Sharpshooter spot from WrestleMania XIII and the crowd just goes nuts for it, but Austin was able to survive. I dug Austin’s desperation here as he, and the announcers, added a lot of importance to the championship by putting over how Austin needed it to live. I never cared for the finish here with Vince standing in the ring over Austin as he just beat on Rock with a chair. It helped advance Austin’s paranoid personality, but just took away from an epic match and moment. I really think they should have had Vince “accidentally” help Austin win the belt at WrestleMania, but still had Austin walk out a face with the top belt. His pop would have been stronger and it would have been a better moment to close out the show. Then, they could still do a cage match the next night on Raw, and that is where you have Austin and Vince officially join forces and complete the heel turn. I think that would have been more subtle and effective and not compromised what had been an all time classic. With a stronger ending, this was a perfect match for the time frame, but that ending bugs me enough to knock it down a peg. It is still a fantastic brawl with tremendous heat and commentary, thus putting it at the top of the list of greatest WrestleMania main events.

Scott: I really liked their title match two years earlier at WrestleMania XV. This one was amped up even more due to two things: the No DQ stipulation, and the fact that both men were big over faces going in. Obviously being in the heart of Texas, Austin was way more over which made the eventual heel turn maybe half work. The match itself is incredible and was a fitting capper to one of the greatest WrestleManias of all time.

• WWF World Tag Team Champions Steve Austin & Triple H vs. Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho (Raw is War 5/21/01)
  

Matt: I remember this match like it was yesterday. This was good TV as Ric Flair might call it. Benoit and Jericho were my favorites at the time and to see them hang in there with the perennial main events as though they were equals was absolutely incredible. Like Scott said, everybody remembers this for Triple H’s first quad tear (and still finished the match!), but I remember it well for the satisfaction of seeing Benoit and Jericho finally putting one over not only on just the 2-Man Power Trip, but for every wrestler who said Benoit and Jericho weren’t good enough for the main event. And now that every combination from the main eventers in the Attitude Era had been burned out, this paved the way for some new future main eventers for the WWF. Easily a ****½ match in my book.

Justin: At the time, this fantastic tag match seemed to be a passing of the torch of sorts. Benoit & Jericho were the internet darlings that had been held down since the dawn of time. They were finally getting their chance to step up and run with the big boys, and that was to start with a decisive title win over the two top dogs in the company. The match was thrilling throughout and Triple H’s gruesome quad tear and subsequent gut wrenching Walls of Jericho only add to its legend. Jericho & Benoit take the titles from the Power Trip and it finally felt like the dawning of a new era. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last very long.

Scott: One of Raw’s gems from 2001. Of course this match will be remember for the ripping of Triple H’s quad that kept him out for the rest of the year. Otherwise this match is pretty awesome. The San Jose crowd was off the charts for this one, which is rare considering California wrestling crowds are usually pretty weak. Great match, even if my favorite guy was lost for 8 months.

• WWF World Tag Team Champions Chris Benoit & Chris Jericho vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz – TLC III (Smackdown 5/24/01)
  

Matt: During this summer, Benoit and Jericho were my heroes. Seeing them run things on the babyface side was incredible. This was their punishment for taking the tag gold from Vince’s boys and they would pay a heavy price. For those who care about that sort of thing, this was the first TLC match and one of the few ladder matches ever on free TV at this point. And just like TLC matches promise, this was another wild and crazy affair with Benoit leaving the match injured half-way into it. When it looked like their tag title reign would be cut extremely short, Benoit toughed it out and returned to the match to pick up the storied victory for him and Jericho. One of three excellent MOTYC TV matches in ten days. At least ****½.

Justin: This is a tough one for me. On one hand, it was another thrilling, violent and reckless affair. On the other hand, it was proof that WWF was starting to panic a bit and was running their workhorses into the ground because of it. The same week in which they won the tag titles, Jericho & Benoit were forced to go right back out and battle in a crazy trainwreck for a taped TV show. While I am all for providing big time matches on TV, this one just smacked of excess. Many of the guys that went all out in these types of matches would end up with some hardcore injuries, and it was during this stretch that they were run out there at a crazy pace. With all that said, this is a hell of a match as they all smacked each other senseless and put on a dramatic bout for the SD fans. Jericho & Benoit would keep their belts, but Benoit would pay dearly in the weeks to come.

Scott: From 2001-03, its possible Smackdown was the better show than Raw. This was a main reason for it. It was very rare for Raw to have great matches like this. They had their share, but it always seemed like Smackdown put together the better matches, even if Raw had the star power. This match is not watched as much as the other TLC’s because those others are on PPV, but get the WWE Ladder Match DVD and you can really enjoy it.

• WWF World Champion Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit (Smackdown 5/31/01)
  

Matt: The match of TEN THOUSAND GERMAN SUPLEXES! That’s a little exaggerated, but still Austin took a lot of them in this match. Benoit gets his big chance to wow his hometown fans and boy does he. Just when it looks like Benoit has the edge with the Crippler Crossface, Vince comes out and takes a bunch of chairshots from Benoit. That’s all the distraction Austin needs as he schoolboys him up with a handful of tights for the victory. Kind of a lame finish to an otherwise awesome match. Something like ****½ here.

Justin: The mega push of Chris Benoit continued here as he and Austin tore each other apart in front of Benoit’s hometown fans. They would just wreck each other with German suplexes as the battle wore on. The crowd was off the hook here and it looked like Benoit was going to steal the title, but Austin would be the one to steal the victory after interference from Mr. McMahon. Benoit was proving he could hang with the top of the card stars, but a major injury would derail him at his peak.

Scott: Most definitely one of Smackdown’s forgotten matches and again because of what happened to Chris Benoit you will never see this match again unless you taped that Smackdown episode. I remember watching this match at home while recovering from Strep Throat, and it made me smile, even it if it hurt to do it. Austin was going all out as the heel champion and this was Benoit’s first legit shot as a babyface in WWE. They worked great together and minus the screwy ending, it would be almost perfect.

• WWF World Champion Steve Austin vs. Kurt Angle (SummerSlam 2001)
  

Matt: With Benoit gone to get his neck fused, Jericho slipped back into the upper mid-card, and the Rock just now returning after the filming of the Scorpion King, Kurt Angle arises as the top babyface to defend the WWF against the WCW/ECW Alliance. I reviewed this match for the Kurt Angle mixtape and I had forgotten just how hard fought this match was. Lots of German suplexes and drama over the anklelock. Another bad DQ ending, but it worked out for Angle so he could have a title win in his hometown of Pittsburgh the next month at Unforgiven. As I said in the review, just an unbelievably awesome match on a string of ****½ matches.

Justin: After months of tension and jealousy, Austin and Angle finally squared off for the World title and for brand pride. Angle would get his share of suplexes in as he punishes Austin with seven straight Germans. After a super stiff Austin superplex, Angle would even kick out of multiple stunners, which was impressive and pushed the crowd over the edge. Austin would get desperate and bloody Angle with a nasty beating on the floor as he just hammered him with fists and bashing his head into the ring post repeatedly. Austin would also kill him with a suplex on the floor, but Angle was booked like a warrior here and he would hit a nasty belly to belly on the floor as well. After each man kicked out of the others finisher one more time, Austin’s desperation was too much and he smacked the ref. That drew Nick Patrick out and he calls for the BS DQ on Austin to save his title. The flurry at the end was pretty good even though the finish was a bit weak. In retrospect, it works out fine as furthering Austin’s paranoid character and building to a rematch the next month. This was a great bloody war between two men in their prime busting their asses to put on a great match. The crowd was rocking the whole way through and Angle was made out to be a beast. Before this show, it was yet to be seen if Angle could be a top level face, but his match proved he had what it took to connect with the fans.

Scott: This match was fun because of the chaos factor of the California crowd and the fact that it was the first time in his career that Kurt Angle was a legit babyface. I honestly wasn’t crazy about all the ref bumps, which kind of takes the grade down a little for me, but The emotion for this match is off the charts as you can see Angle, with dried blood on his face, completely beside himself that he should be WWF Champ, and the Alliance screwed him. A much needed rematch is coming. This was an awesome job by both men who played their roles perfectly and put together the match of the night.

• World Heavyweight Champion The Rock vs. Chris Jericho (No Mercy 2001)
  

Matt: If I’m not mistaken, this is the only time during the thick of the InVasion angle where two WWF wrestlers really feuded with one another. Not to mention this was a big match for Jericho that seemed to catapult him as the first guy to become the “undisputed” champion. For some reason during the match, they had people believing Jericho had joined the Alliance with Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley coming out and sliding a chair in the ring, but that never went anywhere. All the same, excellent back and forth match with loads of drama. Like I said, a huge match for Jericho at least for the time being until Rock won the belt right back a few weeks later on Raw leading up to Survivor Series. Around ****-****¼ for me.

Justin: After years of being held down in both promotions despite being consistently over, Chris Jericho finally wins the big win and takes home his first World title. The story is clear from the start: can Jericho win the big match. Both men were pretty over here, but Rock out pops him in the entrances. However, as the match wore on, the crowd actually started turning towards Jericho and turning against the Rock. The coolest part of the match was the tons of flash bulbs going off as the two men first stared each other down and that actually continued throughout the bout. The atmosphere gave the contest a big match feel as did the commentary. The hottest near fall of the match would come when Jericho hit a Rock Bottom and Lionsault in succession. It was a great tease, because it was one of those moments where you assume he isn’t winning if he didn’t win there. Rock would fire back with a Rock Bottom on the announce table and, as the crowd started backing Jericho, Rock started acting a bit more heelish, which shows just what a pro he was. Jericho would come close again as he hit an awesome reversal by avoiding the People’s Elbow and turning Rock into the Walls of Jericho. That should have been the ending right there and Jericho would have been put over even stronger, but instead the actual finish ends up being a bit weaker. Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley would end up running in and inadvertently costing Rock the match when she tossed a chair in the ring. Rock took her out, but Jericho dropped him on the chair for the upset win. The crux of the continuation of the feud was Rock putting some doubt in Jericho’s mind about if he could have won cleanly or if he needed a chair to get it done. This was a great match and these two would actually put on even better ones in the coming months, including a couple of weeks later on Raw.

Scott: This was the match of the night as both men bring their all, particularly Jericho. once again proves doubters wrong and goes all out in a really great match with someone who everyone thought was a better wrestler than him. Maybe technically he is better than Rock, but unlike other main eventers throughout history he and Steve Austin did a great job of meshing with their opponent’s style to make the match better.

• The Rock, Chris Jericho, Undertaker, Kane, and the Big Show vs. Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Rob Van Dam, Booker T, and Shane McMahon – 5-on-5 Elimination Match (Survivor Series 2001)
  

Matt: Kind of a personal favorite for me. I’ve only been to one live WWE PPV and this was it. In a sort of “SCREW YOU” to Greensboro and the history behind that town, Vince decided that this was where he wanted to hammer the final nail in the coffin of WCW. You know what, good for him. The crowd was electric, all the stars were here, and it was just incredible to sit back and watch all this take place right in front of you. Also in a rare moment, I got to see Rock/Austin trade some stuff which didn’t happen except for on the BIG shows. Cool match and definitely an important match for wrestling history – even though WCW was technically declared dead eight months earlier. With all that star power, it couldn’t possibly have been bad. I’d say it was around ****.

Justin: After six months of battling, the Invasion all came down to one match filled with the top five guys from each side. Well, nine and Shane McMahon but Shane definitely busts his ass to fit in here. To add to the angle, Heyman does get a good, and accurate, rant in on Vince about his predatory ways when he comes to other promotions. Rock and Austin started it off right out of the gate and the crowd was digging it. RVD was booked strong throughout once again but Jericho eliminated him in a continuation of the huge push he was currently receiving. As Austin and Rock battled at the end, the big shocker occurred when Jericho snapped and let a personal vendetta blind him as he slid in the ring and pasted Rock with a chair. The crowd went absolutely berserk but Rock was able to stay alive. We then got another swerve when Kurt Angle returned, took out Austin and gave Rock and Team WWF the win. The Alliance would be no more and Vince came out to celebrate his win. Rock was now clearly positioned as the top gun in the company and he had a ready-made feud with Jericho. The way I understood it was that Angle was sent undercover by Vince to help screw up the Alliance. So, with that said, I thought it was fairly logical and not just a series of haphazard turns. The whole thing becomes a bit clearer the next night when Angle is repositioned as Vince’s top guy for helping save the WWF. It would be a key part of Angle’s heel turn as well as the crowd still boos him and he takes umbrage since he was the self proclaimed savior of the WWF. With all that said, I really enjoyed the match as the stakes were high and everyone delivered. The crowd was rocking and all ten guys busted it to deliver a fun match.

Scott: This match is laid out like most matches that are 45 minutes long: The first 10 minutes are exciting, the middle 30 minutes are quite slow, and the last 5 minutes are off the charts. As exciting as this match was, due to all the logic holes in the storyline, it takes away some of the juice of the match. Really the end with Austin/Rock carries the match in general.

And that’s all for now. Let us know what you think and maybe some picks that we missed that you enjoyed! Next Saturday, we will unveil another ten matches from the year 2002! Don’t miss it!

March 28, 1999
Live from Philadelphia, PA.
Your hosts: Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler

WWF Hardcore Title: Billy Gunn vs. Hardcore Holly vs. Al Snow (w/Head).
Holly is insanely over at this time with the crowd. Holly suplexes Snow on the outside. Snow beats down them with a hockey stick. Gunn thumps him with a food-tray and then breaks a stick over Holly’s back. Snow goes low on him with the broomstick and does some kung-fu stuff. Snow nails Holly with a broomstick and beats up Gunn. Al takes Head and nails both guys. He places up a table in the corner. Holly sends Snow through the table. Gunn hits Snow on the chair with his finisher. As Gunn is pinning Snow, Holly nails him with a chair, and pins Snow himself @ 7:06. Defiantly not a masterpiece, but had some fun spots and got the crowd into it. Not the worst way to start off the PPV,but not the best either. It was funny that everyone who held the hardcore title, which had no credibility, got over immensely with the crowd. * ½

• Highlights are shown from Tag Team Battle Royal hyping up the next match.

WWF Tag Team Titles: Owen Hart & Jeff Jarrett (w/Debra) vs. Test & D’Lo Brown (w/Ivory).

The Tag Titles here meant less than they did now, and they wouldn’t pick up until Edge, Christian and the Hardy Boys came along. D’Lo goes for the Powerbomb, but Owen comes off the top and missile dropkicks him. Jarrett rolls into a jackknife for the win @ 3:58. Four minutes for a tagteam match on Wrestlemania!? Give me a break. At least they tried to pack as much as they can in such little time they had, but they couldn’t do that much in four minutes. * ¼

• People give their opinion on the Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn match, as they try to hype it up.

Brawl For All: Butterbean vs. Bart Gunn.

Butterbean catches him with a solid right and stubbles him. He tilts in and knocks Gunn down. Gunn says he’s alright, but Butterbean moves in and nails him with a right cross @ 0:35. Well that’s one way to get a famous person on the show;however, it still sucked.  N/R

Winner Referee’s the Main Event: Paul Wight vs. Mankind.

This was around the time where they couldn’t think of a name for Paul, but then they finally came up with Big Show, and it stuck with him. Show misses a swing. Mankind puts Mr. Socko in. Show starts fighting out of it, but Mankind keeps the hold in. Show finally picks him up and squashes him down to the canvas.  On the outside of the ring, Show hits Foley with a chair. Big Show then beats up Mankind in the ring, and eventually draws a DQ @ 6:50. Vince McMahon comes out pissed, and he starts yelling at Big Show for ruining the plain; then Vince pimp slaps Big Show, and then Big Show levels him. Vince wants to have Big Show the ref because he wants to give Austin a disadvantage, but Big Show screws the plain up. The match would have been better placed on Raw rather than the number one PPV of the year. Also, am I the only one who finds it funny that this beatdown put Mankind out of action, but his fiercer beat downs didn’t? ¼*

• Backstage, Vince wants Big Show to be arrested.

WWF Intercontinental Title, Four Corners: Road Dogg vs. Val Venis vs. Goldust (w/the Blue Meanie & Ryan Shamrock) vs. Ken Shamrock.

Ryan wounded up screwing Val, Billy Gunn, and Golddust to irate Shamrock, whore! Shamrock and Dogg start out the match. RD hits a dropkick and tags in Golddust. Golddust strikes away and throws Shamrock in Val’s corner. Val tags in and attacks Shamrock.Road Dog counters a Northern-Light and gets the Shake, Rattle, and Roll. Shamrock puts in the anklelock, but Val makes it to the ropes. They take it to the outside, and fight up the walkway where they both get counted out. Road Dog and Goldust are left. Shamrock obliterates them. Ryan by mistake grabs Golddust’s ankle, costing him. He gets a powerslam, but Road Dog rolls through it @ 9:47. No story, no structure and zero-percent of psychology; a bunch of spots thrown into one match with no flow. *

Kane vs. Triple H.

A San Diego Chicken comes out and goes after Kane. It turns out to be Pete Rose, but Kane gives him a TombStone, and it is enough distraction for Triple H to sneak behind and lowblow Kane. Kane tosses HHH away after some punches. Triple H sends him to the floor, but Kane lands on his feet, and pulls HHH out. Hunter irish-whips him into the steps.  Triple H gets him over and slams his face on the announce table. Kane nails H’s ribs into the ring-post. In the ring, Kane throws Hunter to the turnbuckle. Chyna then makes her way down to the ring. Hunter gets out of a Tombstone. Kane charges with the steel steps, but Hunter kicks them back in his face. Hunter trips him,and Kane goes face first into the steps. Triple H lariats him over the top. He goes for the Pedigree on the ring steps, but Kane backdrops him. Kane gets the chokeslam, and Chyna gets up on the apron with a chair. Kane turns him back and whack! SWERVE!  Kane wins by dq @ 11:30. HHH and Chyna start doing a beat down on Kane and DX lives on. Couldn’t Chyna have turned on Kane, and still gave us a real finish; seriously, who wants to see a DQ finish on Wrestlemania? Nothing reached 2^nd gear in this match up; kind of felt like both wrestlers were on auto-pilot.  It is amazing how much HHH would improve over the course of this year. ¾*

WWF Women’s Title: Sable vs. Tori.

Sable gets on the mic, and whoever thought it was a good idea for her to talk should have been fired. Tori wrestles her down and punches her in the face. Tori nails her with a sunset flip. Tori accidentally takes out the referee. Tori mingles out of the Sablebomb and goes for her own—but Nicole Bass press slams her. Sable finishes Tori with the Sablebomb at 5:06. This is not even the worse match of the night. -*

European Title: Shane McMahon (w/Test) vs. X-Pac.

Shane avoids the Broncobuster and runs. Test illegal attacks X-Pac from behind and puts him groin first in the ring post. Shane gets pimp slaps X-Pac around. He misses the Corporate Elbow, but Test distracts the ref while Shane gives X-Pac a low blow. Shane takes Test’s belt and beats up X-Pac. Shane to the top, but X-Pac dropkicks him on the top rope. Test takes X-Pac to the outside, but the Pac dodges him. X-Pac kicks the poop out of Shane and nails the Broncobuster. Test gets in and levels him with the belt. Shane misses the Broncobuster. X-Pac nails a spinning wheel kick on Test; followed by the Broncobuster on Test. Triple H runs down and pulls Test out. Chyna distracts the ref long enough, but HHH turns on X-Pac. Shane covers and gets the win at 8:41. The Corporation beats down X-Pac, but Kane makes the save. Shocking swerve by HHH; at least at the time. It was surprising to see of all the matches in the mid-card; this was the best one out of all of them. It would have been better with less overbooking, less inconsistency of the rules and more time. But overall, it was still a solid match, which felt like a breath of fresh air compared to the other crap on this show. ** ½

Hell in the Cell: Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Big Bossman.

They trade blows, and Taker gets a near-fall off a clothesline. Bossman comes back with a neckbreaker. Taker starts beating him down. Taker jolts him into the cell’s post. Bossman ties Taker up with chains and hits him with his nightstick. The cuffs snap and Taker falls down. Taker gets busted open. Taker hits him with a chairshot. Taker rams Bossman into the cell. Taker hits a flying clothesline for only 2.Taker goes up but can’t hit the Ropewalk forearm because the Cell in too small. Bossman takes the advantage and crotches him on the rope. Taker comes back with the Tombstone Piledriver for the three @ 9:46. Heel vs. Heel barely ever works because the fans don’t know who to cheer for or to boo, so it usually ends up being a dead and a not very interesting crowd. Not only did that take place, the match was awful also. Not the worse match I have ever seen, not even Taker’s worse match I have ever seen, but still pretty damn bad. -***

WWF Heavyweight Title, No DQ: The Rock vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Jim Ross replaces Michael Cole and commissioner Shawn  Michaels removes Vince McMahon as ref. Austin and Rock brawl in the crowd, which. They fight to the staging area where Austin throws him into the railing. Austin tries a piledriver, but Rock backdrops him.Austin comes back and stomps a mudpile in the nuts. Austin strangles him with an extension cord and whips Rock into the entrance sign. Back near the announce tables, Rock gives him a water spot. Austin Snake Eyes him on the ring barrier, and follows by an elbow through the Spanish table. Back in, Rock hits a Rock Bottom. ONE-TWO-THR—NO! Rock gets a chair, but Austin takes it away from him. Austin hits the referee with the chair on accident. Austin blocks a chair shot, but can’t hit the Stunner. Rock beats on him with the chair. Tim White comes in. ONE-TWO-NO. Rock puts in a chinlock. Austin fights out of the chin lock but runs into a Samoan Drop for 2. Rock takes the ref out with a Rock Bottom. Rock turns around right into the Stunner! Rock does his overselling on the Stunner. Earl Hebner is the new ref. ONE, TWO, THRE-NO! Vince McMahon comes down and distracts Austin. McMahon nails Earl Hebner and joins the Rock in beating down Austin. Mankind comes out and throws Vince out of the ring. Austin gets two off a schoolboy, but hits a Thez Press. Rock regroups with the Rock Bottom. The Corporate Elbow misses, and Austin counters another Rock Bottom to the Stunner. ONE-TWO THREE! Austin wins @ 16:51. The typical Russo overbooking works here as this match is very fun. Not on par with their matches to come such as WM-17 and 19, but a great effort here. Some noticeable flaws in the match, and an obvious botch, but it didn’t make this less exciting. The match really didn’t have a dull moment, which it good, but I could have gone without the typical Attitude Era crowd brawling. The final sequence was really put together well, and created some good drama. One of the best matches of WWF in 1999, but that’s not really saying much. *** ½

Going Home: This is what happens when you allow Russo to book a Wrestlemania; it turns out to be one of the worse ones up to date. 2 out of 10 of the matches are above bad, and everything else basically is garbage. Wrestlemania should be about wrestling, mostly. Of course you can have your actors, famous people, and all the other entertainment stuff, but Wrestlemania is you’re “A” show, and you should build previous shows up for this one. In this case, Russo used this show to build up angles for the future, and for the show. Wrestlemania shouldn’t be based on storylines and angles; it should be focused on the wrestling. Raw is where you mostly focus on angles and storylines. It is pretty much 101 booking that you use TV shows to build up PPV. Russo still to this day does not understand that concept, and TNA’s buyrates are that low for that reason.

Two Thumbs Way Down.

WCW Monday Nitro
October 21, 1996
Mankato, MN
Civic Center

The current WCW champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hollywood Hogan (8/10/1996)
WCW U.S. Champion: Ric Flair (7/7/1996)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat (10/5/1996)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (8/20/1996)
WCW World Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio (7/8/1996)

According to the Nitro intro, Hulkamania is still running wild.

HOUR NUMBER ONE! Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Larry Zbyszko.

Flashback to last week when Randy Savage walked out after Eric Bischoff showed him a heartfelt video confession from his ex-wife Elizabeth. Seriously, what was Eric thinking?

 

• Chris Jericho vs. Bobby Eaton

 

Yay! Bobby isn’t pretending to be British anymore. As Jericho heads to the ring, Tony lets us that Sting is in the building. Before the bell sounds, we see that Syxx and the bogus Sting are up in the crowd videotaping Jericho’s match. Chris Jericho takes on Syxx at Halloween Havoc, folks! After a commercial break, the match begins. Jericho flips out of a back suplex and dropkicks Eaton down for a half surfboard. Eaton escapes and they have a little trouble getting off a powerslam, but Eaton makes it work for two. They trade a hammerlock and Jericho spinning heel kicks Eaton to the apron for his springboard dropkick. Bobby snaps Jericho’s neck on the top rope to take control. Jericho punches out of an armbar and they wind up punching each other out to the floor. Man, Eaton tastes the ringpost and then takes a backdrop on the concrete! Back in, Eaton surprises Jericho with a Swinging Neckbreaker like old times. Jericho tries to stop the FLYING KNEE DROP, but Eaton shoves him back down and connects for 1-2-NO! And just like that, Jericho catches Eaton with a jumping kick to the face and delivers a Missile Dropkick for the 1-2-3. (7:15) Good TV match and good to see Eaton not being a British person from Alabama anymore. Syxx gives Jericho the ‘crotch chop’ from the stands. Is it just me or does it seem like Syxx is coming up with the wolfpack signs and the crotch chop all on his own? **½

Tony Schiavone gets a word with Jericho after the match. He points out Syxx and the bogus Sting were watching your match. Jericho finds it ironic that Syxx would be watching his match because in six days at Halloween Havoc, the undefeated new World order and most importantly Syxx will be leaving Las Vegas with a loss! BA-ZING!

Video package of Rey Mysterio Jr. is shown

 

• Dean Malenko vs. Jimmy Graffiti

 

Jimmy Graffiti is my favorite Heavenly Bodies member Jimmy Del Ray with shorter hair in Super Calo clothing minus the mask. He actually looks and dresses like my neighbor which is quite strange. Just imagine BG James. This is also his WCW debut. Still carrying the mask, Malenko is only SIX days away from taking back his cruiserweight title from Rey. Nice wristlock exchange to start. Graffiti shoves Malenko down to the mat, which he rolls through, and flips back onto his feet to take Graffiti down into a drop toehold. Graffiti fights out of a chinlock and hits a hurricane DDT for two. Awesome. Sitout powerbomb gets another two for Graffiti. Superkick earns him another nearfall. Malenko yanks Graffiti into the corner and takes over. Malenko knocks him around while we look up to see the bogus Sting videotaping the match. Back suplex from Malenko gets two. He follows up with the Jumping Shin Kick and delivers the running corner clothesline. Vertical suplex sets up the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF, but Graffiti kicks him off. Crossbody block by Malenko puts them both on the floor, but Malenko ends up eating the ringpost. Back in though, Graffiti flies down into the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF for real and that gets the submission victory he needs going into the PPV. (6:42) Great debut for Graffiti that showed off some of what he could do. I kind of miss the hip swiveling goodness though. Sadly, I don’t remember Graffiti doing anything else in WCW but have this one good match. ***

WCW Saturday Night! Watch it IF YOU WEEL! 6:05PM eastern! TBS! Featured on the show will be Dean Malenko, Jeff Jarrett, Ron Studd, Chris Benoit, the Faces of Fear, Eddie Guerrero, and more of nWo Saturday Night with Hall and Nash in tag team action! Don’t miss out! It’s the MUTHASHIP! PAY WINDAHS, CLUBBERIN AND PLUNDAH, BABY!

 

• Diamond Dallas Page vs. Sgt. Craig Pittman (w/Teddy Long)

 

Page gets a video package filled with Diamond Cutters to put over how deadly the finisher is. And what do you know, Nick Patrick is the referee, which means there’s an argument coming with Teddy Long. This is all DDP until Pittman throws him off the cover onto Nick Patrick. They go to the floor where Pittman posts the arm and takes him back into the ring to break it off with the CODE RED. For some reason, Teddy Long hops up on the apron while Page is supposedly submitting. Nevertheless, he makes the ropes. When Pittman goes to yell at Patrick, he gets spun back around for the DIAMOND CUTTER to give DDP the victory. (2:55) And since it seems to be a weekly habit, Teddy Long points and screams at Nick Patrick for costing his man the match. ¾*

Since there’s still no Gene Okerlund, Tony talks with Nick Patrick about the finish of the last match and makes another loud assumption about Nick Patrick being the ref for nWo Saturday Night. Patrick threatens Schiavone that he’ll get rid of him just like he did Gene Okerlund for talking junk about him. The man is OFFENDED.

Flashback to two weeks ago when the new World order beat up Ric Flair and stole his US title.

 

• Jeff Jarrett vs. Ron Studd

 

Another booking habit is that everybody goes through Ron Studd before they face the Giant. Jarrett is no exception. Ric Flair comes out to the ring in his street clothes (a suit) to have a strut-off with Jarrett. One of the most embarrassing things about wrestling is stuff like this. Obviously without question, the crowd chooses Flair over Jarrett. They shake hands and Flair leaves the ring to let Jarrett squash big Ron Studd. Jarrett receives a choke lift, but blocks a suplex using the ropes and takes Ron Studd up and down with a suplex. FIGURE-FOUR gets the submission. (1:29) But can he put the Figure-Four on the Giant? Find out at Halloween Havoc! ½*

Tony talks with Jeff Jarrett after the match. Jarrett says WCW needs to stop playing defense and start playing offense against the new World order. Giant’s has dished out chokeslams for everybody except Jeff Jarrett and it won’t happen at Halloween Havoc. Ric Flair comes by to put over Jarrett for saying good things about him and while Flair rants on about the new World order, we look over and see the Giant watching on from the stands. WOOOO!

HOUR NUMBER TWO! Your hosts are Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay.

 

• Lex Luger vs. Roadblock

 

Here’s another WCW debut in Roadblock. He’s just a bigger version of Balls Mahoney. Did Bischoff just say Luger has a successful rack? I think he did. Pretty typical Luger match. He takes a bunch of fat people moves while Arn Anderson delivers a pre-taped promo on the split-screen. After that’s over, Luger hits a powerslam and calls for the TORTURE RACK. It takes him a couple tries, but Lex eventually gets the big guy up on his shoulders for the submission win. (3:48) ROADBLOCK. ½*

The same old nWo t-shirt ad airs. BUY THE SHIRT.

It’s time for On the Road with Lee Marshal. He’s in Phoenix Arizona for next week’s Nitro, but in the meantime he’s going to hang out with some old high school and college buddies since he went to Arizona State. SUN DEVILLLS! I thought he said he went to school in California so I don’t know if this guy is just plugging colleges along the way or what he’s doing.

 

• WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri & Col. Robert Parker) vs. The American Males

 

Just so he doesn’t have to compete with Turner’s own Atlanta Braves, Bischoff tells you the score to game two of the ‘96 world series happening on your local FOX station. Braves 4, Yankees 0. I must say I do love that score though. Too bad the Braves lost FOUR STRAIGHT after that. I’ll never forget! Anyways, Stevie Ray starts off against Riggs. He spends much of that time missing clotheslines until he catches Riggs for a big slam. Double back elbow from the American Males gets two. In comes Booker, he and Bagwell do the ‘hiptoss across the ring’ spot that puts Booker out to the floor. Back inside, Bagwell is in charge as we go to commercial. When we return, the American Males are still controlling Booker. Just as I say that, Stevie Ray kicks Bagwell from the apron into a powerbomb. Wait a minute – now Hall and Nash are in the stands videotaping the match and wearing BREATHE RIGHT STRIPS. HAHAAHHAHA. This gets the Heat distracted a little bit, but not enough to turn the tide back over to the Males. Booker connects with the flying forearm, but flies down into a dropkick from Bagwell. HOT TAG TO RIGGS! Double dropkick to Stevie Ray! Sherri and Parker get up on the apron and when Parker goes to defend his lady, he gets decked. That’s all the distraction Booker T needs to nail Riggs when he turns around with the Jumping Leg Lariat. Stevie Ray jumps on him for the cover and gets the 1-2-3. (9:35) Of the three I remember, this might have been their most competitive match to date where the American Males didn’t look like underdogs. *½

 

• The Faces of Fear (w/Jimmy Hart) vs. The Fantastics

 

Well they have the Rock N Roll Express, now the Fantastics, all they need is Stan Lane and the late ’80s tag division can be reborn. Poor formerly most cutest man in wrestling Bobby Fulton has darkened his hair color, gained some flab, and stopped being tan. It’s truly sad. The only thing that appears to have changed for Tommy Rogers is his hair is a little longer. Other than that, he looks the same to me. Too bad they’re about to get annihilated by my FAVORITE tag team in WCW right now – the Faces of Freakin Fear. I mean, Bobby Fulton takes a backdrop INTO a powerbomb from Barbarian. That’s power ladies and gentlemen. NASTY backbreaker is followed by a running slam into the corner. Meng delivers a piledriver to set up STEREO DIVING HEADBUTTS. Rogers gets the hot tag and peppers Barbarian. He even knocks him off his feet with a missile dropkick. The Fantastics deliver a double back suplex to Barbarian and STEREO MISSILE DROPKICKS. Cover, 1-2-NO! Rogers comes off the top with a flying bodypress, but Barb catches him as Meng walks in with the KICK OF FEAR! Good night. (5:21) Thanks for trying. Look out Benoit and Mongo. They’re coming for you two at Halloween Havoc! *

Once again, they replay the Elizabeth confession video and Savage’s reaction.

 

• nWo Sting vs. JL

 

Some people thinks its Sting and then everybody realizes it’s not really him. The rest of the new World order come down through the crowd and surround the ring. Basic Sting squash where he hits the Stinger Splash and follows through with the SCORPION DEATHLOCK until the REAL Sting makes his first appearance since 9/16 Nitro with white face paint and wearing a black trenchcoat. (1:45) He grabs the bogus Sting off JL and delivers the SCORPION DEATHDROP. Jumping elbow drops! How about a Stinger Splash? Why not. He hooks on the SCORPION DEATHLOCK with his back turned to the nWo, but releases the hold when they all get in the ring. DiBiase introduces the audience to the real Stinger. DiBiase, Hall, and Nash all try to convince Sting to ‘break on through to the other side’. The real Sting calls the bogus Sting a cheap imitation since the real Sting isn’t exactly in their price range. All you can say for sure about Sting is nothing’s for sure. And the real Sting drops the mic and walks out. The new World order has no idea what to make of what just happened. And by the way, we don’t hear Sting’s voice again until January 1998. No rating.

 

• Randy Savage vs. Chris Benoit

 

No match. Savage comes late down the aisle looking all emo and wearing black leather from head to toe. Bischoff stops him again and shows him another video. WHAT. This time it’s from Hollywood Hogan on the set of ‘3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain’. And what do you know – Hogan has hair! Hogan takes over the film and replaces the director with the Giant. Hollywood puts Liz in front of the camera and wants her to make Randy believe that she still loves him. All she wants is for Hogan to leave her alone. When she doesn’t do what she’s told, Hogan sends her to her trailer. Since she won’t tell the camera how much she still loves Randy, Hogan says he’s going to give her some acting lessons. When he’s done with her, she’ll only be thinking of Hollywood Hogan. See you in Vegas, Macho Creep!

Back to the arena, Savage hesitates but finally says something into the mic – “It just occurred to me how fragile friendships and relationships can be. And you and I Eric Bischoff, we both know how fragile business can be. Even marriage is fragile, but Hulk Hogan – life is fragile.” And then he walks out. Whoa, Savage is SERIOUS.

And that does it for me. Halloween Havoc 1996 is next!

Speaking of Halloween Havoc, here’s the final card.

MAIN EVENT: WCW World Champion Hollywood Hogan vs. Randy Savage
WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat vs. The Outsiders
Chris Benoit & Steve McMichael vs. The Faces of Fear
Lex Luger vs. Arn Anderson
Chris Jericho vs. Syxx
The Giant vs. Jeff Jarrett
Eddie Guerrero vs. Diamond Dallas Page – Battlebowl Ring!
WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Dean Malenko