Jump to content
TSM Forums

LFC Blog

A blog by Guest

Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
  • entries
    147
  • comments
    305
  • views
    27077

About this blog

Read about Liverpool and stuff.

Entries in this blog

LFC Blog
 

Review: WCW Starrcade: BattleBowl/The Lethal Lottery, from Atlanta, Georgia, 12/28/1992.

Oh yeah, BATTLEBOWL!!!! I'm tempted to make an out battle beat joke, but I can't do it. ___________________   It's JIM ROSS and JESSE VENTURA on commentary. This is the best possible combination of commentators in wrestling history. Eric Bischoff comes on screen to inform us that Rick Rude will not be able to contend for the WCW Title tonight. Well, gee. Instead, it's going to be Steve Williams. Not quite sure how I feel about that. ___________________   Tony Schiavone's in the ring with Bill Watts and Hank Aaron...this is funny, and surely in the way that you're probably thinking of. Considering how Aaron got Watts fired, and all. The winner of BATTLEBOWL gets a ring next year, so Sting, who won the last BATTLEBOWL, gets a ring this year. That was a serious WTF, I mean, why not just present the ring to the winner of this year's BATTLEBOWL tonight? Anyway, Sting gets his ring and all. As a result of winning last year's BATTLEBOWL, Sting is automatically drawn into a match as part of the Lethal Lottery. And now...we go to Larry Zbybyszszszko and Missy Hyatt, for the first 4 names drawn in the LETHAL LOTTERY. ___________________   The first match is...VAN FUCKING HAMMER and Dangerous Dan Spivey vs. Cactus Jack and Johnny B. Badd.   Wow. I know the Lethal Lottery wasn't legit, but one could believe that it was, with the combinations that get spit out. At the end of the match, Van Hammer's pinning Cactus, but Hammer gets up when Badd comes in, and that causes Badd to elbowdrop Cactus Jack. Cactus then pushes Badd, but gets punched in the face, causing Van Hammer to get the roll-up and 3 count at 6:51. Spivey and Van Hammer are into the final stage of BattleBowl. On a side note, the dubbed entrance music for all the participants is quite catchy. *1/2. On another side note, Badd looks so homosexual that I nearly forgot to mention it in passing. It was like, "yeah, he looked gay." Not even anything more than that. ___________________   The second matchup of the teams drawn by Zbyszko and Hyatt is Dustin Rhodes and Big Van Vader w/Harley Race vs. Kensuke Sasaki and the Barbarian. More weird stuff on the surface, BUT, Dustin Rhodes faced Vader in the King of Cable Semifinals. Something to watch for.   Dustin Rhodes is really over. Really. Anyway, Sasaki's not very well inclined to be doing a match over here. Nobody knew who he was. Barbarian and Vader are stiff as fuck, so this is pretty good stuff, albeit short. Barbarian accidentally runs into Sasaki, who's on the ring apron, so he gets rolled up by Rhodes for 3 at 6:56. I thought for sure that Sasaki would take the fall. Like I said, I try hard not to think about or look for results of the events that get posted on this channel. Something like this show was very easy to forget. Match was **. After the match, Race and Vader attack Dustin. Race gives him a kneedrop, after Vader gives him a clothesline. What nice guys. ___________________   The next result of the draw is Barry Windham and THE GREAT MUTA vs. 2 Cold Scorpio and Flyin' Brian. I love that second team.   Scorpio does a bit of crazy shit throughout, namely a slingshot 450 kneedrop. I shit you not. Muta and Windham are clearly saving some energy for later. Windham gives Scorpio a lifted DDT, and Muta comes off the top rope with a moonsault for the finish at 6:59. **1/4. Short and energetic, which is certainly nothing to complain about. ___________________   The last Lethal Lottery match, obviously featuring Sting...is he and Steve Williams vs. Jushin Lyger and "you had me until right there" Erik Watts.   The main thing I'm sure people (Smues included) want to know about the match was...was the DROPKICK that bad. Yes. Yes it was. Watts kicked his opponent with one foot, in the knee. Not to mention, he looked like he was standing up. I was laughing so hard that I didn't even see who he kicked. I think it was Lyger. Anyway, he gave another dropkick to someone, which looked shitty too, if not as bad. It's really hard to say I've seen a worse dropkick than the famed WATTS DROPKICK. The rest of the match was solid. Watts gave Williams a shitty STF that he sold like death, which really bothered me. So after reaching the ropes, Williams gave Watts a hotshot, to win the match at 9:08. I can't believe anyone would let Bill Watts push his son like that. Awful isn't the best word to describe Erik. It was just as bad watching JUSHIN FUCKING LYGER be his tag partner, and have to make the hot tag to Watts. Honestly, the first three participants I named are 3 of 4 guys who would be in a dream match. I can't rate it too poorly. *3/4, with stars obviously knocked off because of Watts participation. ___________________   So, the final eight who will be in BATTLEBOWL are Dan Spivey, Van Hammer, Big Van Vader, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, the Great Muta, Sting and Steve Williams. ___________________   Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko talk about the upcoming match between The Great Muta and Masahiro Chono for the NWA Title. Well look, here it is! The NWA Title is the Big Gold Belt, FWIW.   Ok, that was dogshit. Bad as it was, I thought it would be like this. The style of the match isn't going to cater to an American fanbase. It was puro-ish. Not only that, but the finishing sequence blew dog dick. Chono won with the STF at 12:49. It seemed much longer than that. Much. It's kinda hard to rate this, because of the way it went. I'll just call it a DUD and leave it at that. If I was able to write a full review, it would sound like this is a great match. It really wasn't. Both were lazy as hell. ___________________   We clip to a WCW Saturday Night...well, clip, that talks about Rick Rude's US Title possibly being stripped as a result of the herniated disk in his back, and the same may be the case for his status as the #1 Contender for the WCW Championship. Rude then comes to ringside during the "live" feed, and says that WCW is conspiring against him. He wound up being stripped of the title and didn't wrestle until April. ___________________   The next match is the match that Rude was scheduled to participate in, for the WCW Title. I'd like to have seen what would've happened had Rude been available for this show. It's Steve Williams vs. Ron Simmons.   Jim Ross has about 20 orgasms during this match while talking about OU and FSU. I wasn't surprised in the least. It's a very strange, long match. Too long. Williams works Simmons over, and given Simmons limitations, it's not as pretty as when Williams does it to better workers. The formula doesn't quite work. Not only that, it's really, really slow. When Simmons does his Hogan-esque charge, he gives Williams a spinebuster, and returns the favor from earlier, with a few chopblocks. Williams did that a few minutes ago, see. Simmons flies through the ropes to the floor, and now they brawl on the outside. Simmons accidentally clotheslines the ringpost, and that leads to a Double Countout at 15:12. Both wrestlers fight after the match, and Williams gives Simmons a face smash to the canvas off the top rope, which causes the referee to change his decision to a DQ win for Ron Simmons. The crowd liked that. They liked Simmons too, which explains why they liked that. Anyway, I thought it was a pretty shitty finish. You can't give your babyface champ a clean win at Starrcade? But this is WCW, so I shouldn't be surprised. *1/2. ___________________   Tony and Larry are on again, talking about the tag title match. See, Barry Windham attacked the champions at Clash XXI, after losing the titles to them while teamed with Dustin Rhodes. Anyway, WCW's tag team scene in 1992 was great. ___________________   So, yeah, the next match is Flyin' Brian and Barry Windham vs. Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat for the WCW World Tag Team Titles.   Here's what I noticed during the match, that was only somewhat related to the match itself. The floor is disgusting. Shane Douglas was thrown out of the ring, and when he came back in, his back was blackened with dirt and food crumbs. Gross. For things related to the match...the heat segments were awesome. Really great stuff. Windham and Pillman (mostly Windham) just beat the shit out of Douglas and Steamboat between hot tags. Yes, there were two. First heat segment was with Douglas, and the second with Steamboat. My only complaint is that after the second hot tag, the finish came a bit too quickly. But as far as tag team wrestling goes, it's hard to find many matches better than this. Douglas cleaned house when tagging in, and Steamboat gave Windham a crossbody which put both guys out to the ramp that was connected to the ring in the old WCW days. Then Douglas gave Pillman that belly-to-belly suplex of his, to finish the match at 20:02. This pretty much rocked it. I read somewhere that Scott Keith gave this **1/4. He must've been on drugs. This was an easy ****1/4. Easy. If you like tag team wrestling, it's worth looking for this match. Douglas really could take a beating then. ___________________   Prior to Big Van Vader w/Harley Race vs. Sting in the King of Cable Final, we get a clip of Sting attacking Vader at one of the WCW TV shows. Probably WCW Saturday Night.   This is another fantastic match. There are many great spots, and I'll name all of them. Sting gives Vader a german suplex, putting Vader on his head. That was worth a YO. After that, he clotheslines Vader over the top rope, which knocks Vader's mask off. Then, Sting comes back into the ring quickly, and pescado's onto both Vader and Race. That's certainly not the last of the WOW spots. Sting places Vader on the top later, and gives him a DDT from up there. Not Randy Orton style, I mean he followed him up there and gave him a DDT. That was great. Moving on, Vader's standing at the guardrail, and Sting tries a STINGER SPLASH. Unfortunately, he misses, and now Vader goes to work. I've gotta say, Ross' commentary throughout the match is fantastic. I can't quote it, because it doesn't give off the same vibe as the desperate situation he describes the match to be. Vader's giving Sting a real beating now. Vader's giving Sting rights and lefts, but Sting's doing the rope-a-dope strategy, much like Ross says. Vader tries for a superplex later, but he gets pushed off by Sting. Because Sting's so beaten up, he falls off too. Sting then gives Vader a huge samoan drop, and gets a splash off the top rope for 2. Vader then returns the favor with a chokeslam after Race distracts Sting, and gives him a big splash from the top. Vader goes for another, but Sting pops up, and gives him a powerslam in mid-move, for the win at 16:50. Sting's the KING OF CABLE. ****1/2. That's probably one of my favorite matches. It would've been better had Vader been in full-on WHO'S THE MAN mode, but he wasn't, yet. Everything about the match was great. ___________________   Now it's time for BATTLEBOWL. Ok, Tony talked to Paul Hornung before the event...and during the conversation, he said this PPV was on Monday, the 28th of December. MONDAY? What the hell?   The eight participants in BATTLEBOWL are Dan Spivey, Van Hammer, Big Van Vader, Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, the Great Muta, Sting and Steve Williams.   Unfortunately, I couldn't keep times, and wikipedia didn't keep elimination times either, so I don't have them. I only have the order of elimination. Before the match, Vader attacked Sting on the entrance ramp. Heh. Sting's then on the ropes, and Vader charges into the ring, taking Sting with him. Van Hammer gets thrown out by Steve Williams, as Dustin Rhodes bulldogs Barry Windham on the ramp. Yeah, that broke something of Windham's, as you could see when he was bleeding later in the match. Sting puts Spivey out, and then, Vader charges into Sting, knocking both he and Sting out. They fight to the back or something, but I was surprised by Windham's blood, so I didn't notice it. The final four are Rhodes, Windham, Muta and Williams. Dustin and Barry beat the crap out of each other, until Williams knocks himself and Rhodes over the top rope. So it's the partners from earlier, Windham and Muta. The crowd liked that. Windham gives Muta a superplex, and then dropkicks Muta over the top. Windham's celebrating, BUT, Muta skins the cat back in, and gives Windham two dropkicks to send him out of the ring. The Great Muta is the winner of BATTLEBOWL. And that's the end of the show, too. 6/10 for a less than spectacular battle royal. ___________________   Rating: Good. It's a must watch show because of the two FANTASTIC matches, but the retardedness of BattleBowl isn't something I would have paid the PPV amount for. When reviewing these, I try to think of the overall rating from the mindset of what I would have thought had I paid the full price for the PPV. I may not have even bought it because of BattleBowl. That's a bad thing. I know I wouldn't have bought BattleBowl '93, although I really want to see it now. Nostalgia factor, and all.   Best Segment: Vader vs. Sting in the King of Cable Final. It was awesome.   Worst Segment: Uh, outside of Erik Watts' dropkick, it has to be Muta vs. Chono. It was awful.   Loudest Sound: Dustin Rhodes, Cactus Jack, Sting, and Vader.   No Sound: Masa Chono, Dan Spivey and Van Hammer, Erik Watts, and Kensuke Sasaki. ___________________   I'll be typing up the Bash at the Beach review in a few days. I'm not promising anything, but if I'm able, I'll post thoughts and not a review about the other shows that are on 24/7 this week.
Guest

Guest

13
LFC Blog
 

Undertaker DVD, Part 6.

Ok, I've had enough days of not doing any of these... ___________________   This match is from No Mercy 2002, and it's a Hell in a Cell match, featuring the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman vs. The Undertaker. Remember, Taker has a broken hand.   Blow-by-blow: Taker swings his hand that's in a cast at Brock and Brock dodges him, then takes him down. Taker elbows Brock a few times, but a Brock powerslam gets 2. Brock charges into Taker, and Taker hits Brock in the gut with his cast. Brock bails out of the ring and Taker chases him, and Taker hits Brock in the head with the cast a few times, making Brock bleed. Quite a bit of blood, too. Taker rams Brock into the steps, then the Cell, and grates his face along the Cell. A cover on the outside gets a 2 count, and Taker torpedo tosses Brock into the Cell afterward. Taker does that legdrop where he sets the other wrestler up on the apron and runs down the apron to legdrop him, then goes up top. He clearly had 2nd thoughts about whatever he was going to do, as he comes down with a "something." I really don't know what it was. Taker kicks the Cell into Paul Heyman, and Heyman blades. Again, a lot of blood. Brock accidentally runs into Heyman, but Brock recovers and spinebusters Taker into the Cell, hard. Heyman hands Brock a belt, and Brock ties Taker up, against the Cell. Brock hits Taker in the back with a chair, and then hits the "broken" hand, repeatedly. The belt breaks, and Brock bites Taker on the hand. Back inside the ring, Brock rips the cast off. Brock does this thing where he swings on one of the Cell support beams like Tarzan and kicks Taker a few times. Taker hits Brock low, down low, then pushes him down into the ring. Taker with an elbowdrop into the ring off the top for a 2 count, and Taker kicks Brock into the Cell. Heyman screams out, "we're losing Brock" and he screams pretty much for the rest of the bout. It's funny. Taker dives out under the top rope onto Brock, and Brock gets up first, tossing Taker into the Cell. Brock throws the steel steps into Taker, and now Taker's bleeding. That's a LOT OF BLOOD, much more than that of the other two who are already bleeding. Brock throws the steps into Taker again, and we go back in the ring. A Brock spinebuster gets a 2 count, and Brock doesn't know what he needs to do in order to win. Taker goes up for OLD SCHOOL, but Brock armdrags him off the top rope. Brock goes for the F5, but Taker counters with a chokeslam for 2. Taker with an avalanche, and he goes for another, but Brock counters with a boot to the face. Brock gets backdropped on a BROCK LAST RIDE attempt, and a Taker running DDT gets 2. The LAST RIDE is countered again as Brock rams Taker into the buckle, and as Brock climbs the corner to punch Taker, Taker FINALLY gets the LAST RIDE. However, Brock grabs the ropes on the cover, so the next logical step is to TOMBSTONE him. Taker goes for the TOMBSTONE but Brock reverses it so that he's in TOMBSTONE position, and then Brock launches Taker into position for the F5, and gets the 3 count to retain his title at 27:15. Brock climbing up the Cell to celebrate is left out of the DVD program, so we'll stop there.   Match Analysis: In good conscience, no, this was not better than Taker's match with HHH at WM 17. But since I felt this match was ***1/4, I need to change the rating of the WM 17 match to ***1/2. It would only be fair. Not only that, this was the last great Hell in a Cell matches before they went to shit for a while. I don't remember whether or not the other ones after the 50 minute classic (sic) was better than this. Good for what it was, a brawl with a lot of blood. ___________________   The next match is from the first Smackdown only PPV, Vengeance 2003, and it's The Undertaker vs. John Cena.   Blow-by-blow: IMO, Cena is far better in this role. As a cocky heel that doesn't give a shit what other people think, that's what Cena does best. His rap is corny, but good. Cena slaps Taker at the start, and gets tossed into the corner. Taker dumps Cena and tosses him into the table where the ring bell is situated. Cena grabs a waterbottle and takes a swig, then spits it into Taker's face. Taker tosses Cena into the guardrail, then back into the ring. Taker gets that apron legdrop, and a cover on the inside gets 1. Taker goes up for OLD SCHOOL, gets it, and a chokeslam, and Taker pulls Cena's head up at 2. Way to make the guy look like a jobber. Taker goes for the LAST RIDE, but Cena jumps over him and DDT's him. Cena goes to unwrap the turnbuckle, but he stops midway through doing so. He kicks Taker and chokes him, then after a Taker clothesline, Cena finishes taking off the turnbuckle pad. Taker misses a charge toward the exposed turnbuckle pad, and Cena knocks him out of the ring with a flying shoulderblock. Taker has some "internal bleeding" going on, but a Taker clothesline gets a 2 count after he misses a big boot. Taker with a dragon sleeper, but Cena gets a spinebuster for 2. Taker with a clothesline after both men trade right hands, and Taker goes for the TOMBSTONE. Cena counters and goes for the F-U, and that's also countered. Taker with a legdrop for two, but Cena hits Taker with his chain. Cena gets the F-U for a 2 count, and for the third straight match on this DVD, Cena goes into the corner to punch Taker, and Taker LAST RIDES him out of there, winning the match. Third straight time that spot has been used...   Match Analysis: I believe the word to use is overrated. I've seen in the past that this match drew pretty good star ratings, but it was a glorified Taker squash. He did nothing to make Cena look strong, Cena was only made to look weak. **1/2. I ain't feelin' it. ___________________   Now, we have a BURIED ALIVE match, it's from Survivor Series 2003, and it's the Undertaker vs. Mr. McMahon.   Blow-by-blow: Vince prays to a "higher power" before the match, which I find incredibly funny for multiple reasons. Well, that didn't take long. Vince blades on Taker's first punch. Vince is GUSHING blood all over the place, and Taker rams Vince's grapefruits into the steel ring post. Heh. Then he does the same on the other side of the ring, and rams Vince into the announce table. Apparently, Vince threatened to have Taker's wife raped during the buildup for this match. Wow. Taker chokes Vince with a television cable and hits him with a TV monitor. Taker goes up to the stage where the grave is, and grabs a shovel. He hits Vince with it and I have to say, this might be the most blood I've ever seen in a match. It's all over the place. Taker grabs the steps and rams them into Vince's left leg, and we go TOWARD THE GRAVE. Vince gets his only offense of the match with a headbutt to the nuts of Taker and he then hits Taker with a shovel. Taker pulls Vince into the grave, and opens the forklift door in order to bury him. Taker, bury? harharhar. Kane comes out of the forklift and puts Taker into the grave, and Vince climbs into the forklift and dumps dirt into the grave for the win, at 11:58.   Match Analysis: Wow. Only thing keeping it from -*'s is the blood. DUD for the blood. Dumb. ___________________   The last match on this DVD set is the return of the Deadman w/Paul Bearer in tow, at WM XX. He's facing Kane.   Blow-by-blow: Taker's entrance was awesome, what with Bearer coming out and the Druids. Kane keeps saying "you're not real" throughout the bout. OK. Kane bails early and Taker whips Kane into the apron of the ring. Taker does that legdrop on the apron, and back inside, avalanches Kane while Kane's in the turnbuckle. Bearer screams, "HOW DO YOU LIKE IT," and Taker goes for the LAST RIDE. Unfortunately, they blow a spot where Kane is supposed to counter and drop Taker along the top rope. As I was saying, Taker does not get dropped along the top rope, he just falls down in a heap. Kane with a big boot and right hands as the MSG crowd thankfully does not chant "you fucked up." Kane gets a sideslam and goes up for a flying clothesline that gets a 2 count. Kane misses a charge at Taker, and Taker gets a running big boot and legdrop. He goes up for OLD SCHOOL, but Kane catches him in a choke. Taker returns the favor, and Taker's the one to try the CHOKESLAM first. However, KANE gets the CHOKESLAM and taunts the crowd for a bit. Taker sits up, and no-sells a Kane big boot, then hits a flying clothesline on Kane. Taker gets the CHOKESLAM, and then the TOMBSTONE for the finish at 6:56.   Match Analysis: 1/2*. Not good, but I don't think it was supposed to be anything other than a quick vehicle to re-establish Taker. I don't think he needed it, though.   That's the end of the DVD! ___________________   Now, ratings for the entire DVD.   Rating: Good. Unfortunately, a large majority of the matches are those that most people have probably seen. No hidden gems here, except for maybe the Bret v. Taker match from One Night Only. That match, and a match vs. Kurt Angle from Smackdown in 2003 were cut from the 24/7 airing of the DVD.   Best Match: Shawn vs. Taker from Badd Blood 1997.   Worst Match: Yokozuna vs. Undertaker from Royal Rumble 1994, and Taker v. Hogan from Survivor Series 1991 gets a dishonorable mention. ___________________     The review of the show from the Spectrum in Philadelphia will be posted either tomorrow or Tuesday. I haven't made up my mind yet.
Guest

Guest

10
LFC Blog
 

Review: Random Thoughts from 1-23-08, featuring RAW and ECW.

This is just a RAW and ECW column. So, you've been warned. RAW is from Hampton, VA. ___________________   The new video wall is Fantastic. I purposefully capitalized that.   And our first match is Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Kennedy.   - Kennedy hasn't been doing his entrance with the microphone recently. I wonder why? I watched the whole show much later than when it occured, so times are going to be there, and sometimes not there.   - When Kennedy couldn't bridge out of the pinning move into a backslide, I thought that was great, as was HBK's somersault pescado. I loved the finish, which constituted HBK going for that reverse figure-four, and getting kicked off. Then HBK kipped up, and hit Kennedy with SWEET CHIN MUSIC at 11:57 (shown) for the victory. ***. This was probably as good as a match between these two could get.   Randy Orton's with Vince McMahon, who's giving him reasons to shake hands with Jeff Hardy tonight, cause they're supposed to shake hands and all. ___________________   The next match was Mickie James vs. Beth Phoenix for the Women's Title.   - Beth finishes with a fisherman's buster at 3:42. I didn't really care, *1/2. ___________________   Todd Grisham is with HHH, who talks about Vince in HD. Mostly about how old he's gonna look, and then, he talks about the Rumble.   After, Brian Kendrick is with Cody Rhodes. Kendrick has to qualify for the Rumble tonight, and Hardcore Holly comes bustin' in, talking about how he'll get rid of anyone, including Rhodes, to win the Royal Rumble. ___________________   So, the next match is the Highlanders vs. Finlay and Hornswoggle.   - What are the Highlanders, super jobbers? Anyway, Hornswoggle gets the pin after a frog splash. *.   And now Chris Jericho comes out, with great pyro, to talk about JBL. He says he'll fight him, to little fanfare. His return has been a disaster.   Vince is now with Jeff Hardy, telling him to never risk someone's life like he did last week. ___________________   Brian Kendrick's Royal Rumble Qualifying Match is against.....UMAGA. Harharhar.   - Yes, I really laughed when I heard William Regal announce that Kendrick was facing UMAGA. This was a super squash, ending with the SAMOAN SPIKE at 2:20. **. ___________________   Mickie James is backstage with Maria, and sad that she can't beat Phoenix. She leaves, and Ashley comes into the picture, talking about a party at the Playboy Mansion. And then, Santino Marella came in and said something so funny that I didn't even write it down.   And why is Big Pussy on Celebrity Apprentice? ___________________   Hardcore Holly w/Cody Rhodes is facing Carlito w/Maria and Santino in a singles match, now.   - Why did Carlito stick around, again? He's been buried so far down on the card that he'll be a Heat regular by WrestleMania. I don't have HD, but even I can see how old Holly's looking. Santino distracts Holly during an Alabama Slam attempt, so Carlito gives him a BACKSTABBER for the win at 3:11. That's one of my favorite finishing moves, but the match was a mess. 1/2*. ___________________   Now, we have HHH's match vs. a mystery opponent. His new entrance setup is the best of all of them. No time, given that I'm watching this via...nefarious means. It's a over-the-top gauntlet match, and his first opponent is Snitsky. Once this was announced as a gauntlet, I knew he'd be in it. What a terrible payoff to a terrible angle. Why'd I expect more? Moving on, HHH throws Snitsky out. And HHH's second opponent is Mark Henry. Uh, brand extension? Henry charges at HHH after a while, but HHH pulls down the top rope, eliminating him. Last is...an IRATE William Regal, who gets destroyed by HHH and tossed out. I guess this whole angle was just for the sole purpose of HHH putting himself over three guys. 1/2*. ___________________   The last segment on this show was the scheduled handshake between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton. Orton says that he respects Hardy, but Hardy says the exact opposite. He says that there's a lot of people whose hands he'll shake before Orton's. First, Jim Ross, second, Jerry Lawler, and third, Lillian Garcia. Then Hardy goes into the crowd, and shakes a bunch of people's hands. When Hardy gets back in the ring, he gives Orton a TWIST OF FATE. Well, Orton's definitely going over, because Hardy's had the better of him the last two weeks. If Hardy won, Orton would look awful. ___________________   Show was...decent, the best segment was HBK/Kennedy, and the worst was that HHH gauntlet trash. ___________________   Last night, I watched ECW, from, well, 1/21/08. This show took place at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. I like that all the shows use the same set, it makes things look, uh, more important.   The first contest was an Over the Top Rope Challenge, between Kane, The Miz, John Morrison, Tommy Dreamer, and Shelton Benjamin.   - Well, I know who's winning this. Dreamer's looking fat, which bothers me. I don't like seeing guys I grew up watching age.   Order of Elimination: Dreamer by Kane at 1:00, Miz and Morrison by Kane and Shelton at 2:58, and Kane by Shelton at 3:01. Shelton skinned the cat and headscissored Kane out, to win. Cool. I was wrong. And THERE AIN'T NO STOPPIN' ME NUUUHHH. Kinda hard to rate that, but I'll go a bit less than **, with a *3/4. ___________________   We get that Best Body Contest I was awaiting so much...at least they did it when I had to use the restroom. I missed most of it, but I saw Coach dancing to the music as I went out. And Kelly Kelly won. Wow. There are nowhere near as many kids in the crowd this week, it feels like RAW. ___________________   Next was Kofi Kingston's debut, against a jobber named David Owen. Kofi's tracksuit is cool.   - That jobber did everything in his power to make Kingston look like shit. He succeeded. Kofi hits him with a really bad looking kick (because his opponent was standing so close to him) at 3:15 for the pinfall. DUD. That was not good.   Edge is with Chavo Guerrero in the back, because Chavo gets his title shot tonight. Soon Vickie Guerrero comes into the picture, cause it's Chavo's night. After, we get a GREAT Royal Rumble video, with facts and figures about the match. That may have been the best part of the show, thus far. ___________________   The white kid is with Tazz again. He's facing the GREAT KHALI this week. About time. Khali gives him the HEAD CRUSH, for the win at 0:37. It's not getting so old, I suppose, but there aren't many other guys to feed him to. Umaga and Snitsky...that's about it, I think. *. ___________________   And now, we have Chavo Guerrero vs. CM Punk in a...NO DISQUALIFICATION MATCH for the ECW Championship. Well, that stipulation was a surprise, but not really.   - Edge is on commentary. I know where this is going. And I don't like it at all. Punk tries to get rough first, by pulling the turnbuckle pad off, although nothing comes of it...yet.   - The crowd is a little mild, but this time, Chavo gets heat. Punk drops Chavo on the exposed turnbuckle, and gives Chavo the GTS. Edge runs into the ring (fuck, not this shit) and gives Punk a SPEAR, which after a LONG period of Chavo lying around, gets Chavo the 3 count and ECW Title at 7:05. Oh, fuck that. *1/2. Well, there's no reason to watch this show anymore, but I will anyway. The Edgeheads bring Vickie down, and they all celebrate. Could they have made Chavo look worse? I'm glad Chavo got a push, but this is more like a bump. He hasn't done anything noteable at all. Awful. Awful. Awful. This match was MUCH worse than their others, as well, *1/2. Hopefully they bump this show up to being taped before Smackdown, because I can't see the people staying in the building to watch Chavo freakin' Guerrero. Just my .02. Nothing good can come of this for Punk, because he's not going to be put over Edge in the LEAST. ___________________   Show was BAD, best segment was...Shelton winning the Over the Top Rope Challenge, and the worst was obviously that AWFUL title change. Horrid booking.   I'll have a CYBER SUNDAY review up on Friday. Or not until Saturday or Sunday. Haven't made up my mind.
Guest

Guest

9
LFC Blog
 

Review: WWE Cyber Sunday 2007, from Washington D.C., 11/28/2007.

I wanted to watch this, just because of the WWE Title Match. The rest looks good on paper, but not too exciting. ___________________   What in the world is this opening video? It's funny, though, as is the entrance setup. It's funny, but absurd all the same. ___________________   The first match is Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio in a...STRETCHER MATCH. Have to push the stretcher with your opponent on it over the line, remember? The other choices were a shillelagh on a pole match, and a NO DQ match.   Blow-by-blow: This should be fun, but for some reason, this show doesn't feel like a PPV. We lock-up, and Finlay pushes Rey away. Both slap each other, and Finlay takes Rey to the canvas. Finlay knees Rey in the back, and tosses him shoulder-first into the ringpost. Finlay clotheslines Rey, and tosses him onto the stretcher, which was outside of the ring. He tossed him like a fish at that place in Seattle. Anyway, here's a lot of stretcher based stuff. Rey kicks the stretcher into Finlay, but Finlay stops that and gives him a front suplex onto the stretcher. Finlay tosses him into the apron, and begins to wheel Rey towards the line, but it's not the end. Finlay gets in the ring, and gives Rey a European uppercut. Finlay rams Rey's throat into the ring apron, but Rey comes back with a flying headscissors, and a seated dropkick. We go to the outside, where Rey kicks Finlay in the head. Both men get in the ring, and go for the shillelagh that's on that pole over there. Finlay ries to get it first, but he's not able to, as Rey dropkicks him in the nuts. Rey goes for the shillelagh , but Finlay pushes him to the canvas. Finlay goes for it, and gets powerbombed off the top by Rey. Rey grabs the shillelagh, and hits Rey in the knee with it, twice. Rey dropkicks Finlay, but gets knocked onto the stretcher. Rey gets off, and kicks Finlay in the knee, before ramming the stretcher into Finlay's nuts. Rey gives him a modified 619 at the ring apron, and gives him a somersault pescado while Finlay is on the stretcher. Cool visual. Rey tries to roll Finlay across the line, but the stretcher is caught around a TV cable. HAHAHA. That was funny. Fortunately, the improvisation is very good. Finlay rams Rey into the stretcher and charges at him, but Rey flapjacks him onto the stretcher, causing Finlay's momentum to roll the stretcher across the line, for the win at 9:45.   Match Analysis: I like the improvised finish, and I liked the match just as much. It was good, as I expected, and just as good as their match at No Mercy. Same rating, **1/2. ___________________   Matt Hardy's bleeding on the Smackdown prior to this show was nuts. And his face is MASHED. MVP's with him, and says they can't fight. That said, MVP has a tough match ahead, later.   And then, JBL campaigns to be the referee in the match later, between The Undertaker and Batista.   Last in this run of segments, we have some Diva costume crap. Good Lord. Maria's wearing a cat outfit (very nice), and Victoria's dressed as Yokozuna. Ron Simmons comes into the picture during Victoria's little thing and says, well, what else.   DAMN. ___________________   I guess that's how we lead into the match between...THE MIZ and CM Punk, for the ECW Title. The other choices to challenge Punk were Big Daddy V and John Morrison. Needless to say, I'd rather have seen Punk face the last one than the others.   Blow-by-blow: Both wrestlers lock up, until Miz takes him down. This is a LOT of chain wrestling to start, and it ain't that good. We'll go past that, to when they start doing things right. Punk gives Miz a leg lariat, and a snapmare, before kicking him in the back. Punk gives Miz a slingshot suplex (one of my favorite moves), for a 2 count. Punk knees Miz a bunch, but Miz comes back with a snapmare and a legdrop. Miz goes up top, and Punk prevents him from doing something, trying for a superplex. Punk can't do it, as Miz knocks him to the canvas. Miz gives him a snapmare for 2 (what kind of transition move for a pin is that), and rams Punk to the buckle. Then Miz gives him that running clothesline in the corner, which is the only thing he does that I like. Miz applies a neck vice, but Punk takes him to the canvas. Miz misses a charge to the corner, and Punk gives him a totally messed up springboard crossbody for 2. Wow. Miz was on his knees for some reason...after, Miz gouges Punk's eyes, and pins Punk for 2. Miz applies a chinlock, as the crowd chants "Y2J." Miz suplexes Punk and goes up top, where Punk gives him a pop-up armdrag. Punk runs into Miz, and begins to kick him in the face. Punk gives him the running knee-bulldog combination at the corner, and a springboard clothesline, for 2. Punk goes for the GO 2 SLEEP, but Miz rolls him up for 2. Punk reverses the roll-up for 2, and Miz goes for the REALITY CHECK. He can't get it, so Punk gives him a GO 2 SLEEP for the win at 8:51.   Match Analysis: This crowd is one of the worst I've ever seen, although that has little to do with the match. I'm only giving it 1/4* because the right guy went over, and I like Punk. That said, this was the worst match I've ever seen with him involved. Simply put, the Miz doesn't belong in a wrestling ring. He's AWFUL. I probably should give this a DUD, but I won't. ___________________   Mickie James is dressed like a squaw for this costume contest, and Torrie Wilson is dressed as a Washington Redskin. I can't really describe how unprofessional this whole thing looks.   Now we get some leadup featuring Randy Orton for the WWE Title match a little later...although you can see how hard they were trying to push Shawn Michaels as the fans eventual selection. Todd Grisham's with William Regal, to determine who's going to face Orton later. The two who aren't chosen will fight each other next; the choices are Mr. Kennedy, Shawn Michaels, and Jeff Hardy. And the winner is...Shawn Michaels. Yeehaw. ___________________   So, obviously, our next match is Jeff Hardy vs. Mr. Kennedy.   Blow-by-blow: Why isn't this an Intercontinental Title match? They trying to make it seem useless? I also wonder how they determine the payouts to the wrestlers for this show. The two wrestlers lock-up, and Hardy takes Kennedy down to the canvas via a headlock. Kennedy grabs onto a headlock of his own, and turns the move into a hammerlock. He goes behind Hardy, but Hardy takes him down with a headlock of his own. Both wrestlers get up, still in the Hardy headlock, and Kennedy gives him a back suplex. Kennedy misses a charge to the corner, and Hardy dropkicks Kennedy out of the ring. Then Hardy follows him out with a plancha, and brings him back in for 1. Hardy takes Kennedy to the corner for a 10 punch, but Kennedy sneaks away and dumps Hardy to the outside. Kennedy hits him with a running boot as Hardy comes in, for 2. Kennedy goes to the chinlock, but gives Hardy a quick DDT for 2. Back to the chinlock we go as Kennedy has a bodyscissor applied, and then gets a clothesline for 2. He goes up to the 2nd rope, but Hardy follows him, and gives him a rana off there. They slug it out, until Hardy gives him two clotheslines. And then he takes Kennedy hard to the canvas, for 2. Jeff goes for the TWIST OF FATE, but gets pushed toward the turnbuckle, where he climbs up and gives Kennedy a WHISPER IN THE WIND, but it only gets a 2 count. Hardy gives Kennedy that weird enziguri he does, and tries to dropkick Kennedy in the corner, but Kennedy swipes his feet, causing Hardy to land on his head. That gets Kennedy the pinfall at 9:07.   Match Analysis: I suppose it was ok, it was just a typical RAW match. I've seen better, and I've seen worse. **, but it was heatless, just like everything else. ___________________   Michelle McCool's dressed as Eve, and Melina's dressed like a Las Vegas showgirl.   Mick Foley's in the back for an interview, but JBL says that nobody gives a damn about Foley. So, JBL runs a campaign video...it's mostly a SMEAR CAMPAIGN! Once that's over, seeing as Foley's standing next to two of those Fathead things (one being Batista, the other, Taker), he calls JBL a fathead. That was kinda funny. ___________________   Our next match is...KANE vs. MVP for the US Title. The other choices to face MVP were the Great Khali and Mark Henry. Needless to say, Kane was the best choice.   Blow-by-blow: MVP bails at the beginning, to take off the t-shirt he's wearing. Smart move, to waste time, anyway. They slug it out, until Kane hits him with a big boot. Kane clotheslines him twice, and gives him a side slam for 2. Kane goes up to the top rope, but MVP knocks him off, and down to the floor, where MVP quickly brings him in. He kicks Kane, and gets a two count, as he begins to go to work on Kane's midsection. He pounds on him, and gives Kane a running big boot, for 2. MVP applies a seated abdominal stretch, and kicks away at Kane's ribs when the hold has to be released. Kane finally takes over, and begins to do the same things MVP was doing. He goes with some knees to the gut, and a backbreaker. He applies an abdominal stretch, and then picks him up and rams him into the turnbuckle. Kane places MVP along the top rope, and kicks him in the gut. That was cool. Kane rams the ribs of MVP into the ringpost and...MVP stays out of the ring for a 10 count, giving Kane the countout victory at 6:39.   Match Analysis: This was headed in the right direction, that being the "this is a hell of a match" direction. And then we had that finish, washing all that goodwill down the toilet. DUD on principle. ___________________   Before anything else, here's a Chris Jericho re-debut spot.   And now, Layla talks about the costume contest, while dressed as a cop. And Kelly Kelly's supposed to be a pimp. Let's not even talk about how gigantic her tits look.   Randy Orton's in the back, and we see video of what he did to HBK at Judgment Day. And now, everyone will have to live with the decision they made, seemingly because he's going to do the same tonight. ___________________   So, our next match is what I've been waiting for, Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship.   Blow-by-blow: Both men lock-up, and separate, before Orton gives Shawn a nice knee to the gut. He works Shawn over, until Shawn does the same. Orton ducks out of the ring on a faux SWEET CHIN MUSIC attempt, and Shawn follows him with that somersault pescado he's been doing lately. We go back in, where Shawn chops away, until Orton gives him a droptoehold. Orton grabs onto a front facelock, but Shawn reverses it into a hammerlock and tosses Orton shoulder-first into the ringpost. Shawn takes him down with a wristlock, and goes to work on the left arm. Then Shawn gives Orton a hammerlock slam, and applies a kelock. Orton gets up and stomps on Shawn's face, but misses a charge to the corner. Shawn applies a hammerlock, and gives Orton a back suplex at the same time. Shawn tosses Orton over the top and follows him to the outside, but Orton gives him a back suplex onto the retaining wall. Ouch. Orton brings Shawn in, and begins to stomp on his arm and knee. He gives Shawn a dropkick for 2, and goes to the chinlock. When Shawn powers out, Orton misses a dropkick, so Shawn gives him a jackknife pin, for 2. Orton goes for a back suplex, but Shawn reverses and lands on top of Orton for a 2 count. Orton gives Shawn the inverted backbreaker (that's what they call Mike Sanders' 3.0, so I'll call it that now too), and it gets a 2 count. Orton places Shawn on the top turnbuckle and follows him up, but Shawn pushes him down and goes for a flying elbowdrop. It misses, and Orton's ready to give Shawn an RKO. Shawn catches Orton and gives him a backslide for 2, as the crowd finally is into something tonight. Shawn gives Orton the flying forearm, and kips up, as usual. An inverted atomic drop follows, and a scoop slam. Shawn goes up to the top, and gives Orton a flying elbowdrop. Now Shawn TUNES UP THE BAND, but Orton forearms him right in the nuts in mid-move, getting himself disqualified at 15:52. Oh boy. Orton's going to kick Shawn in the head after the match, but Shawn quickly gets up and gives him SWEET CHIN MUSIC.   Match Analysis: Does the WWE understand that people PAID to watch this shit? This is a damn PPV, not an episode of Monday Night Raw. I suppose this was the only way to book themselves out of a title change, but really now. This match was fantastic, but I don't like the ending at all. ***1/4. ___________________   Brooke is in the back, dressed as Jane from Tarzan. And Jillian is dressed as Britney Spears. So, JR says this might be the worst costume contest he's ever seen. He said it's terrible. Good on him. ___________________   Our next match is Triple H vs. UMAGA in a...STREET FIGHT. The other match selections were a cage match and a first blood match. So, why didn't anyone pick cage match?   Blow-by-blow: I like that Umaga squashed a jobber in all these match selections on RAW before this show. HHH meets him in the aisle during his entrance, and they brawl. Umaga headbutts HHH, and tosses him into the keyboard that's on the set. On the walkway, to be precise. And no, it isn't a real keyboard. HHH goes for the PEDIGREE, but Umaga prevents it, and they brawl behind the stage. HHH charges at Umaga, knocking both men through the stage, in a cool visual. HHH rams him into the guardrail, and they fight in the crow. Umaga charges at HHH near ringside, but flies over the guardrail, putting him near the ring. Both men get in the ring, and Umaga misses a charge to the corner, giving HHH time to grab a trash can from under the ring. Umaga gets hit with it for a 2 count, but he comes back with a samoan drop. He gives HHH multiple headbutts, and a big splash, for 2. On the outside, Umaga rams HHH into the steel steps and brings him back in, giving him a legdrop for 2. They slug it out, but Umaga gives HHH a bearhug, and then, a belly-to-belly suplex. Umaga then gives HHH the running ass to face at the corner, for 2. Umaga chases the referee out of the ring and grabs a chair, but HHH gives him a lowblow, and a DDT on the chair for 2. HHH gives Umaga the knee-to-facebuster, but gets rammed into the turnbuckle, where Umaga misses a charge. Even still, Umaga's in control, and gives HHH a catatonic. On the outside we go, where Umaga peels all the stuff off each announce table. Uh-oh. Umaga grabs a chair and swings it at HHH, but hits the ringpost. HHH rams him into the table, and Umaga does the same. Umaga places HHH on the ECW announce table, and goes over to the Smackdown announce table. And then, he runs all the way over to HHH, and splashes him through the ECW announce table. That was nice. Umaga acts all crazy after throwing HHH in the ring and goes to the top, where he misses a diving headbutt. HHH gets the SLEDGEHAMMER, but misses, as Umaga hits him in the gut. Umaga goes for the SAMOAN SPIKE, but HHH hits him with the SLEDGEHAMMER after he misses, and gives Umaga a PEDIGREE for the 3 count at 17:23.   Match Analysis: This was pedestrian street fight fare, except for the splash spot on the tables. That part was great. This was just average. We know how I rate average. **1/2. That might be an unpopular opinion. Even during all that, nobody bled. ___________________   So, Mickie James won the costume contest. Whoop-de-doo.   Now we get the hype for Batista/Taker...and the announcement of the special guest referee. JBL says that it's time for someone with talent to grab a mic, and now, announce him as the referee. Mick Foley comes to the ring...to silence. And we find out that STONE COLD STONE COLD STONE COLD is our referee. JBL beats up Foley, until Austin comes out, and gives Foley a STUNNER. JBL begins to beat up Austin, until Austin gives him a STUNNER. And now, for the match... ___________________   The match is Undertaker vs. Batista with Steve Austin as the special guest referee, for the World Heavyweight Title. I really, really expect good things from this, given the way everyone talks about their matches.   Blow-by-blow: The crowd loves Batista, so we finally hear some noice. Batista misses a charge at Taker, and is given a boot to the head. Both men lock-up, and Batista gives Taker a headlock, before Taker gives him a big boot for 1. Taker rams him into the buckle, but Batista reverses and begins to shouldercharge into Taker at the corner. Taker gives Batista a back elbow, and tries to apply a triangle choke. He doesn't, though, but instead clubs away at Batista's back for 2. Jerry Lawler's on commentary with Michael Cole, presumably to sell the beating JBL received from Austin. Taker wraps Batista's arm around the top rope, but misses his charge at it. Batista knocks him out of the ring and rams him into the steel steps, and then the ring apron. Back in, and Taker gives Batista a clothesline for 2. He goes for OLD SCHOOL, but is unable to complete the move. Taker misses a charge at Batista, and lies out of the ring, where Batista rams him into the steps again. Once they come back in, Batista jumps on Taker's back, until he gets thrown out of the ring. Taker places Batista's neck along the ring apron, and gives him a legdrop. The cover only gets 2, so Taker gives him 2 clotheslines. When Taker gives Batista SNAKE EYES, Batista counters with a clothesline on Taker's big boot attempt. That gets 2, and Batista goes for the BATISTA BOMB. Taker takes him to the corner, but Batista whips him to the other side, where he misses a charge. Taker goes for OLD SCHOOL, but Batista catches him on the way down with a spinebuster for a 2 count. Taker applies a triangle choke, but Batista positions Taker so that his shoulders are down, forcing a 2 count that causes Taker to break the hold. Taker goes for the CHOKESLAM once, but gets elbowed away. He tries for it AGAIN, and gets the move. Taker goes for the TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER, but Batista spears him after countering, for 2. Batista goes for the BATISTA BOMB, but gets backdropped out of it. Batista droptoehold's Taker into the buckle, and goes up for the 10 punch. I know what's going to happen here. LAST RIDE by Taker, but it only gets a 2 count. Taker goes for a TOMBSTONE, but gets spinebustered by Batista for 2. Batista gives him the BATISTA BOMB for 2, and ANOTHER gets the 3 count, at 17:25. So, Batista retains his title.   Match Analysis: Hell, I didn't expect the match to be THAT good. But it was. ***1/2, for the Match of the Night. That was really fun, and had I not already known who would win, well, who would know, given the way that match went. And that's the end of the show. ___________________   Rating: Decent. That wasn't a very easy call to make, given two complete non-finishes in seemingly important matches, one botched finish (even though I liked it) and a terrible costume contest. If I ever watch this show again, I'll only watch the end.   Best Segment: Taker/Batista. I think Orton/HBK would have been the better match with a finish, though.   Worst Segment: Costume Contest. Self explanatory.   Loudest Sound: Basically, I'm just going to list the people that got a modicum of crowd reaction. HHH, Batista, Undertaker, Shawn, and Randy Orton.   No Sound: Everyone else. Basically this was the worst crowd I've ever seen, and the WWE shouldn't go back to DC for a PPV anytime soon. ___________________   My next up will have thoughts from the MSG show that's on 24/7, and Smackdown from last night. Should be up on Monday.
Guest

Guest

9
LFC Blog
 

Review: Monday Night RAW and WCW Monday Nitro from 6/2/97.

Nitro is from Dayton, Ohio. Had to get that out of the way. ___________________   The NWO comes to the ring, in this case, that means Syxx and Scott Hall. For a promo, you know. Well, JJ Dillon comes out, and says that Scott Hall MUST face Ric Flair tonight. If Hall doesn't face Flair, he and Nash have to vacate their tag titles, so really, Hall has no choice. He accepts. ___________________   Intro to Nitro and all that, which brings us to Alex Wright vs. Glacier.   - It's Glacier's first match since Slamboree, unfortunately, there's a whole lot of spot miscommunication. In a match that only lasts 1:38, that knocks it down to a DUD. Glacier finished it with the CRYONIC KICK, so now, James Vandenberg comes to the ring, to distract Glacier from the sneak attack of Mortis and Wrath. They attack, but Glacier fended them all off, after Mortis accidentally kicked an eager Wright. Wright wanted to join in, see. ___________________   Our next match, featuring someone who hasn't wrestled on this program since I got 24/7, is Buff Bagwell w/Scott Norton vs. Joe Gomez.   - In a split-screen prior to the match, Buff and Norton talk about NWO in Japan and all that. Buff Blockbuster (awesome move) finishes at 3:07. *1/4.   WCW Saturday Night ad follows, and Mike Tenay is in the crowd, giving us information about Ernest Miller. If only this never happened... ___________________   Hugh Morrus is scheduled to face Prince Iaukea, but before the match, Konnan attacks Morrus at the entranceway. Morrus is dazed, but the match will go on.   - Wow, they blew the finish. Iaukea was supposed to slide under Morrus and roll him up, but Iaukea ran right into Morrus' leg. They do it again, and Iaukea rolls him up for the win at :47. You know what, you get -* for fucking up the only thing that was supposed to happen in the match. ONLY THING. That finish exposed the business so bad that my MENTALLY HANDICAPPED cousin asked me if wrestling was fake. Naturally, I told him no, otherwise, he'd try to do wrestling moves on his brother. Don't want any part of that. ___________________   JJ Dillon is with Mean Gene, because he's looking for a future #1 contending tag team. See, he says that the Steiners will be #1 contenders, if they win tonight. If. They'll face the winner of Piper/Flair vs. the Outsiders, I believe. Harlem Heat come out, and they're pissed.   DDP video, from when he was a jobber, to now. Great American Bash hype and all that, he's facing Randy Savage again. ___________________   The next match is the Steiner Brothers vs. Masahiro Chono and the Great Muta.   - This is a dream match, although it won't work out the way it should. Not that much happened at the beginning, but the crowd was in the palm of their hands. After the heat segment, Chono accidentally gives Muta a YAKUZA KICK! Harlem Heat come to the ring and attack Rick Steiner with a chair, and that allows Muta to pin Rick for the 3 count at 8:53. This was one of those matches you kinda need to see, just because. **3/4. JJ Dillon comes to the ring, and announces that this match is up for review. Harlem Heat have a match later, as well.   Hour #2 starts, and Mean Gene is with Ric Flair. Flair cuts an insane promo on Hall, and storms off. This was nuts, even for Flair. ___________________   Michael Wallstreet is up against Dean Malenko for the US Title...   - Nick Patrick is a referee, so we're going to have some friction between he and Wallstreet. I absolutely cannot stand this angle. There's some good action in here, but I'm kinda bothered with how I know this match is going to end. Anyway, Jeff Jarrett tried some interference, but it didn't help. Malenko applies the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF, and Patrick stands in front of Wallstreet so that he cannot reach the bottom rope in order to break the hold. Wallstreet submits at 6:22, **.   After the match, Mean Gene is with Jarrett and Debra. Jarrett is going to face Malenko next week in Boston, and for some reason, Mongo comes out and says that he wants to know when Jarrett comes to the ring. Then he cuts a bad promo on Kevin Greene that I don't care about. ___________________   We get to the Harlem Heat match, as they're facing Ciclope and Damien.   - Ciclope has the best getup of any luchador. For real. Barbarian's supposed to face Chris Benoit later, but it wasn't shown.   - The Steiners come to ringside and hit Booker T with a chair, before tossing him back into the ring, where Damien comes off the top with a big splash for 3 at 3:31. *. Now that's an upset. ___________________   Like I said, Benoit/Barbarian was skipped, so now, it's time for the main event, that being Ric Flair vs. Scott Hall w/Syxx.   - There's a whole lot of Syxx interference, but I don't have a problem with it. Flair did this little thing where he Flair Flipped onto the apron and jumped onto Syxx, who was on the floor. That was cool. This was a nice little TV main event, until Hall hit Flair with his title belt at 7:49, getting himself disqualified. **3/4. Hall and Syxx continually attack Syxx, until Jarrett and Mongo save him from the attack. Good match. ___________________   Some NWO members are coming to the ring, this time, it's Randy Savage and Elizabeth. Savage takes Mean Gene hostage, and tells him to come along with him to the ring. Macho says that he's the best ever, which causes JJ Dillon to make ANOTHER appearance. Dillon tells Savage not to put his hands on announcers, so Savage attacks him. Bischoff comes to the ring to make Savage stop, and Bischoff tells Dillon that he deserves it, seeing as he kept running his mouth. That's the end of the show. ___________________   Stupid ending to a good show. Two DUD's, but two pretty good matches as well. Best segment was Hall/Flair, and the worst was Morrus/Iaukea. Nitro is less of a program because Syxx is holding the Cruiserweight Title and not defending it. That's just my opinion. ___________________   RAW is from Huntington, West Virginia this week. Expect huge reactions for Steve Austin. ___________________   To begin the show, the Undertaker makes his way to the ring, for an interview with Vince McMahon. Taker says that he pretty much had to join Paul Bearer. He then runs down Paul Bearer, to the point where Bearer makes his way to the ring. Bearer says that he will RULE THE WORLD, so you just know that Psycho Sid will have something to say about that. Sid trashes Bearer for joining up with Bearer, and wants his rematch, that he never received after WrestleMania. Taker accepts, and Faarooq has something to say about that. This time next week, he says he'll be the Champion. Sure. ___________________   Ahmed Johnson faces Faarooq now...   - Before the match, there's a hype video, seeing as this is a long-running feud, and all. The Nation was sent away from the ring, but they came back anyway.   - At the end, Taker whips Faarooq into Ahmed, who rams his own head into the steel steps. Faarooq throws Ahmed in, and pins him for the 3 count at 3:09. *3/4. Surprisingly good. After the match, Taker chokeslammed Ahmed, cause he pushed him. He shouldn't have done that. ___________________   The Hart Foundation is in the ring with Vince, and HBK and Austin are on the TitanTron. Because Austin attacked Bret, Bret can't wrestle at King of the Ring. HBK's really pissed off at Austin, so he goes off to fight him. They argue instead, as the Harts are planning something. They want Austin to face HBK at King of the Ring, and on next week's show, Austin will face Brian Pillman. ___________________   The next match was Bob Holly vs. Owen Hart w/the Hart Foundation for the Intercontinental Title.   - This was competitive, while it lasted. Honestly, they tore the house down for 3:17. The SHARPSHOOTER finished things up, so Owen retained his title. **1/4.   HBK says that he'll face Austin at King of the Ring...and later, we get to see more of the Mick Foley interview. YES! ___________________   In another singles match, we have Goldust w/Marlena taking on HHH w/Chyna.   - They're really digging into the old feud vault here. There were some highlights before the match, typically.   - Goldust's face paint is BIZARRE. HHH accidentally knees Chyna in the back, which gives Goldust the distraction he needs to roll HHH up for 3 at 3:48. *1/4. Hopefully that feud's done. ___________________   Before this match, the Legion of Doom cut a promo. Typical LOD promo, Hawk blabbering and all that.   So yeah, it's the Legion of Doom vs. HBK and Steve Austin for the WWF Tag Team Titles.   - The Warzone has begun, and judging by the initial reaction, HBK is the heel. Like I said, these people love their STONE COLD STONE COLD STONE COLD. There's a commercial break...   - Back from the break, Austin and HBK duck out to confront the Hart Foundation at ringside, but they wind up fighting each other instead. That gets them counted out at 7:05 (shown). HBK gets the better of the brawl, but as for the match itself, the champions pulled out all their little tricks in order to have a good match. And it worked...**1/2. ___________________   Jerry Lawler is on commentary for this Mankind vs. Savio Vega in the first round of King of the Ring match, but first, we get to see part 3 of the Mankind interview. He talks about the deathmatch tournament in Japan, mostly.   - Mankind's sorta in-between. The adult males are cheering him, but otherwise, no. When he attacked Jerry Lawler, he won some of them over. Crush accidentally punched Savio Vega, so Mankind was able to pin Vega for the win at 3:02. Crush and Vega argue after the match, in somewhat of a precursor to GANG WARS. *1/2. ___________________   So, the King of the Ring card is shaping up like this. Undertaker vs. Faarooq for the WWF Title, Mankind vs. Jerry Lawler and Ahmed Johnson vs. HHH in King of the Ring action, LOD and Sid vs. Owen Hart, the British Bulldog and Jim Neidhart, and Austin vs. HBK. I think that's it, as for what was advertised. ___________________   Psycho Sid vs. Undertaker w/Paul Bearer in a non-title match is both the main event and our "WrestleMania rematch..."   - I don't get the non-title part. I never do. JR makes a reference to Sid and softball, which had me laughing for a bit. This was better than the WrestleMania match, which isn't to say a whole lot at all. The TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER finishes at 4:46, 1/2*. So yeah, they basically buried Sid for no-showing a few months back. He got only a little offense. The Nation of Domination attacks, but Sid tries to fend them off. He can't, and the Nation beats both Sid and Taker to end the show. ___________________   I suppose RAW was good. That said, for once, I think Nitro was better. More matches of length, but not only that, there wasn't any of that stupid Paul Bearer stuff that's beginning to get on my nerves. The best segment on RAW was LOD vs. Austin/HBK, and the worst was LOD's promo. I've never been able to understand what they're trying to say. ___________________   Things are going to change. I'm done reviewing current shows, because I don't have the time. I'll stick to PPV's, old RAW's and Nitro's, SNME's, Clash shows, and anything else like that, such as Coliseum Video's or overseas programs like European Rampage '91. So yeah, random thoughts are dead, although I'm keeping the review style for the MNW program. Doing it this way gives me more time to write things, which is better for me. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop writing about these programs. I could always put in a paragraph if something catches my eye. I'll have a Royal Rumble '02 review up soon.
Guest

Guest

9
LFC Blog
 

Predictions for Sunday's NCAA Tournament Games.

My fucking entry got deleted, so I'm in a bad fucking mood. Short, sweet and to the point. Fuck posting records at this point, because it's meaningless.   Chicago, Illinois. West, Midwest.   1. Kansas v. 8 Kentucky. Kentucky is just there. Kansas got the easy road to the Elite Eight. Comfortable win here, this will be the only 1 v 8 that I don't think will end at the wire.   2. Wisconsin v. 7 UNLV. Lovin' UNLV and they've got teh athletes. Goes against my, if shit in the first round they'll be good in the 2nd theory, but whatever. UNLV with some cool shit late.   New AWLINS, Louisiana. Midwest, South.   1. Florida v. 9 Purdue. This one's going to be close, because I think on paper, this is the one that looks like it could be a blowout. Arizona needs to purchase their players brains, that's a top 10 team athletically. Florida kinda late.   (2) Memphis vs. (7) Nevada. Man, I really think Nevada's athletes can keep up with Memphis. But Memphis has that turn-on capability, where they can run any team in the tourney out of the building and to the airport. I think Memphis doesn't have the experience with their big time players, so I'll take the Wolfpack.   Spokane, Washington. First game is from the Midwest Region, 2nd is from the East Region. Shitty tournament venue, by the way. Keep this shit in Seattle so I can go next time. Thx.   (3)Oregon vs. (11)Winthrop. Here's my "two-way pick". This is going to be an Oregon blowout, similar to the USC game last week, or it's going to be a close Oregon victory. This Duck team is really good guys. Really good. Pullin' the THEORY on this one. Double the gimmick, double the fun.   (4)Texas vs. (5)USC. There isn't a fucking chance of me picking against USC here. Nick Young is rockin' the MOHAWK~! those Horns need to be fucking hooked, and we fucking owe them. My fucking goodness, we owe those damn cocksuckers. I'm getting excited thinkin' about it. I want to blow these fucking bitches the fuck onto a fucking airplane headed back to fucking Austin. I'm fucking psyched.   Now that I'm heading to the games in Columbus, Ohio I can calm down. Talkin' about the Spokane shit gets me wired. West, South. Feel bad for the organizers at this site, there's no big draw.   (4)Southern Illinois vs. (5)Va. Tech. I think the Hokies proved how I felt about them at the beginning, with the way they played today. Man, I don't like them at all. Southern Illinois big.   (4)Virginia vs. (5) Tennessee. The Vols made firm believers out of me this afternoon. That Long Beach State shit was a beating. I said that the Hoos couldn't get to the Sweet 16 unless they played at home, so Tennessee in the only OT game of the day.     I did pretty good outside of the LBSU debacle. I'm probably going to update this blog often because I have a lot to say about sports that'll get me in trouble on the board. On Monday I'll talk about whatever's the big news that's buggin' me. I'll post some thoughts about each of the results from the weekend on the corresponding days. Comments are way appreciated, even if you disagree. It'll probably lead to some nice discussion.
Guest

Guest

8
LFC Blog
 

Review: WWF Survivor Series 1990, from Hartford, CT, 11/22/1990.

My brother didn't come home, but fuck it, I'm watching this anyway. ___________________   The intro to the show is great, as were most of the intros that Vince did the voiceovers on. His announcments of each participant and the team name are great.   Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper are on commentary, and Piper goes into a rant about how the Iraqis are going to pay. Remember, at the end, there's a match of Ultimate Survival. Of course, it involves all the Survivors. ___________________   The first match on this show is The Warriors (WWF Champ, the Ultimate Warrior, Intercontinental Champ Kerry Von Erich, and the Legion of Doom, Animal, and Hawk) vs. The Perfect Team (Mr. Perfect, Demolition Ax, Demolition Smash, and Demolition Crush), who are accompanied by Bobby Heenan and Mr. Fuji. Warrior's wearing a white title belt, which matches his attire later. He didn't wear different color belts because the WWF was afraid "he'd lose them." He wore them to match his attire. The babyfaces cut a promo before the match, and what is it with Warrior and sacrifices? You'd think the guy was a cannibal or something. His expressions during the promo are awful. Awfully funny, harharhar. The first man listed in each runthrough of the participants on each team is the "team captain."   Blow-by-blow: The heels all enter to Mr. Perfect's music, while the faces enter to their own individual music. Where's the equality? Animal and Smash starts, and Animal rams Smash into Hawk. All the faces take their turn beating up Smash, and Smash takes control somehow. Smash prevents a backdrop by Animal, and suplexes him. Perfect comes in and chops Animal, then Smash comes in and gets powerslammed by Animal. Perfect gets beaten up by everyone now, and Tornado and Ax come in. Tornado applies THE CLAW, but Smash breaks the hold up. Warrior tags in and shoulderblocks Ax, then flying shoulderblocks Ax and big splashes him for the pin at 3:22.   The Warrior dumps everyone out of the ring as the heels go on the attack, but Crush comes back in quickly with a clothesline. Smash is in with a backbreaker, and then he tags Crush in, who gives Warrior a flying kneedrop off the top rope. It only gets a 2 count, and Crush misses a charge into the corner. Hawk comes in along with Perfect, and Perfect gets choked. Hawk whips Perfect into the corner but Perfect trips over his own feet and blows the spot, so they repeat on the other side, which leads to Hawk missing a charge and ramming his shoulder into the ringpost. Crush comes in and works Hawk over, with the notable part of his offense being a backbreaker. See, Crush always sucked. Hawk comes back with a shoulderblock and flying clothesline from the top rope, but Smash breaks up the cover. Now LOD and Demolition brawl, and both teams are disqualified at 7:36.   Tornado and Warrior are left against Perfect, and Perfect begs for Warrior to tag out. Warrior does, and Perfect gets discus punched by Tornado. Supposedly he has a powerful right hand, at least that's what I heard. I don't know why Vince gave this guy a chance, he's not special in the ring, he can't talk, and he's a walking pharmacy. But he looks good. Well, I just answered my own question, didn't I? Warrior rams the heads of Heenan and Perfect together outside the ring, then tosses Heenan into the crowd. No wonder Heenan doesn't like him. On the inside, Perfect gives Tornado a kneelift. Perfect thumbs Kerry in the eye, and rams him into the exposed turnbuckle, which leads to a Perfectplex that eliminates Tornado at 11:00.   Perfect then gives one to Warrior, but Warrior kicks out of it. A Perfect dropkick gets a 2 count, and a clothesline does the same. Piper's not very good on commentary, he mostly rambles, but he says that there's a "lot of heat" here. He tries to cover it up a few seconds later by saying that the temperature in the building has risen, but we all know now that he screwed up. He screws up and says things he shouldn't a LOT throughout the show. Warrior starts his comeback, we all know the drill. Clothesline, clothesline, clothesline with Perfect's 360 sell, a flying shouldertackle and a big splash that gets the pinfall at 14:20.   Survivor: The Ultimate Warrior.   Match Analysis: It goes without saying that these matches are quickly paced. They have to be, cause there's no excuse for restholds in an 8 man elimination tag. Still wasn't very good, though. *3/4. ___________________   The next match is the Million Dollar Team (Ted DiBiase, Greg Valentine, Honky Tonk Man and a Mystery Partner) accompanied by Jimmy Hart and Virgil vs. The Dream Team (Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware, and the Tag Team champs, Bret Hart, and Jim Neidhart). Ted DiBiase introduces the mystery partner and it's.....THE UNDERTAKER. His music had no gong to open it up. Brother Love is his manager, and I don't really care for that. He should have went solo. He doesn't walk slow enough to the ring yet, either. Bret lost this brother Dean before this event, so Piper says that Bret wanted to dedicate the match to him. Heel promo is first, and then...   Blow-by-blow: Taker starts things off with Bret (heh), and Taker gives him a quick chokeslam as Bret is running. I don't think anyone really knew how to take that move yet. The Anvil comes in, but his shoulderblock doesn't do a thing to Taker. Taker slams him, and Koko comes in. Almost immediately, Koko gets TOMBSTONED at 1:43. Taker disposes of him like a child's diaper, meaning that he tosses him out of the ring.   Bret comes in along with DiBiase and after a DiBiase chop, Neidhart and Valentine tag in. Valentine gives the Anvil a high knee, then tags in Honky. Honky does nothing at all, and gets powerslammed by Neidhart for the pinfall at 4:22.   DiBiase comes in and is clotheslined by Neidhart, and finally, Dusty tags in. Elbows for DiBiase, and a dropkick(?). It didn't look too bad, surprisingly. He tags Neidhart in, and they both elbow DiBiase for a 2 count. A Neidhart suplex gets two, and then, Virgil trips him and Neidhart gets clotheslined by DiBiase at 5:55 for the pinfall.   Bret enters the ring with a few right hands, then Dusty comes in. Dusty does that 'juke and jive' punch thing, then Taker comes back in after a DiBiase clothesline. Taker gives Dusty a flying kick, and tags in Valentine. Bret tags in too, and as Taker's still in the ring after the tag, he chokes Bret. DiBiase comes in after a few Valentine kicks and is given an inverted atomic drop by Bret. DiBiase gives Bret a few elbows, and tags in Taker. Taker goes up to the top rope and gives Dusty a BIG double axehandle, leading to Dusty's elimination after the pin at 8:31.   It's 3 on 1 now, with Bret facing DiBiase, Valentine and Taker, as Brother Love's stomping A MUDHOLE, BAH GAWD in Dusty, on the outside. Dusty was dispatched in the same fashion as Koko, and I forgot to mention something. Dusty wasn't wearing polkadots, and he didn't look too pleased to even be involved with the event. Suck it up, bitch. Anyway, Dusty recovers from the beating and begins to put a whoop on Brother Love's ass, so Taker leaves the ring and brawls with Dusty to the back, being eliminated by countout, at 9:24. By brawl, I mean, he basically beat Dusty up.   Back inside, Valentine goes for the figure-four, but he gets rolled up and eliminated by Bret Hart at 10:00. That was quick.   The crowd's going batshit for Bret. Bret atomic drops DiBiase out of the ring, and planchas onto him. He punches DiBiase on the outside, and rams him into the ringpost. Back in the ring, he gives Ted some stiff European uppercuts. DiBiase rams Bret into the turnbuckle at about 100 mph, but it only gets 2. A Bret backslide gets 2, and on a whip, Bret trips over DiBiase. Bret plays possum, which makes me wrong about the WM 8 match being the first time.   I WAS WRONG.   There. I can admit it. He rolls DiBiase up for 2, and the entire crowd thought the match was over. They were into this sequence. Ted gets kneed on accident by Virgil, and Bret rolls him up again, but only gets 2. The fans bought it, again. Bret with a backbreaker and elbow from the 2nd rope for 2, but unfortunately, DiBiase reverses a crossbody for the 3 count at 13:59.   Survivor: The Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase.   Match Analysis: IMO, this probably was when the WWF realized they had something in Bret as a potential singles wrestler. Well, not when they realized, but when they saw that the fans were behind such an idea as well. Match is **1/4, but the Bret/DiBiase portion was awesome, as was the debut of Taker. ___________________   There's a promo for "The Main Event," which took place on the night after Survivor Series, although it was taped about a month before. The hyped match was the Ultimate Warrior vs. Ted DiBiase. ___________________   The third match on this Thanksgiving Night was The Vipers (Jake "the Snake" Roberts, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty) vs. The Visionaries (Rick "the Model" Martel, The Warlord, Hercules, and Paul Roma), who were accompanied by Arrogance and Slick. Jake's got the "I'm blind in one eye" thing goin', and the Rockers just kick ass. Snuka's on more juice than anyone else on this show, or so it would seem. The guy is huge. The babyfaces cut a promo in the shower area, cause remember, that's Jake's thing, to keep the snake cool. When Power and Glory walk to the ring, presumably because of the strange nature of the entranceway, they look like badasses. Watch it, and you'll see. I thought they were cool when I rented tapes as a kid. I'm ashamed of that one.   Blow-by-blow: Piper calls Warlord a "walrus." Guess he doesn't like him. Warlord and Marty start, and Marty uses his speed to outsmart the Warlord. Marty tries three dropkicks, but they don't do anything to the big man. Marty sunset flips Warlord but can't bring him over, so Shawn runs in and dropkicks Warlord, but unfortunately, the move only gets a two count. Shawn tags in and gets a hiptoss after a cool looking reversal, and he follows with a dropkick and monkey flip. Martel tags in, and so does Jake, but Martel bails out in a HURRY. Roma comes in, and Jake grabs onto an armbar. Snuka tags in, and Roma punches him. But islanders have hard heads, so it doesn't affect the SUPERFLY. As deteriorated as he was here, I love him. Hercules comes in and shoulderblocks Snuka, but Snuka comes back with that chop that his opponent runs into, and the crowd loves it. Warlord tags in and slams Snuka, but Snuka comes back with a dropkick. Marty comes in, and gets bearhugged. You guys have no idea how hard it is to keep track of who's who in these matches, considering that guys have so many matching initials. Fact is, if I focused on typing, and typing alone while I was doing this, it'd only take me about 2 hours. Instead, it takes much longer. Like tonight, I was watching the Kings and Lakers game while typing this. Anyway, Marty mongolian chops the Warlord, but goes up for a crossbody and gets powerslammed by the Warlord for the 3 count at 5:18.   Shawn gives Warlord a frankensteiner (I feel like calling it that for now), and Jake tags in. A Jake clothesline does nothing, and a high knee does nothing. A second clothesline puts the Warlord down, and Shawn tags in and covers him for a 2 count. Warlord gets a huge backdrop on Shawn, and he tags in Hercules. Shawn does a 360 sell off a Herc clothesline, and Martel tags in. Martel gets a kneedrop and backbreaker which each get a two count, and Roma comes in. Roma whips Shawn into the buckle and Shawn goes upside down, and after that, Roma misses a charge into the corner. Snuka comes back in, and gets a flying forearm for a 2 count. Too bad for him though, he tries a crossbody and it gets reversed at 9:43 by Martel, as Martel was holding Snuka's tights. Sneaky little fellow.   Jake comes in and Martel runs away again, so Hercules comes in. Jake gets a kneelift, but he can't get the DDT. I don't know what it is, but Jake is off tonight. Well, I do know what it is, and so does everyone else. He was on a lot of shit. The Visionaries huddle up, and Martel clotheslines Jake from the ring apron, while Jake was unawares. Piper calls Martel a "cheap ass," and then immediately apologizes. Piper on live TV. Gotta love it. Roma slams Jake, but misses a fistdrop from the top rope. Shawn comes in with a back elbow and suplex, and an elbowdrop from the 2nd rope gets 2. It's decidedly uglier than the one he used later in his career. Shawn then gets an atomic drop and dropkick, until Hercules attacks him. Herc gets a press slam, and it's POWERPLEX TIME. Power and Glory hit that, and Shawn's gone at 15:18. In case you don't know, it's a Hercules superplex, and a Roma big splash. FWIW.   It's 4 on 1 now with Jake being the only good guy left, and he fights with Warlord. Well, Warlord gets a bearhug and after a while, Jake gets a DDT OUT OF NOWHERE on Warlord. The referee wasn't paying attention, so no count. Martel tries to spray Roberts with Arrogance, but he misses and Jake grabs Damien, his snake. He chases Martel to the back at 18:05, and Jake is counted out. HOWEVER, Rick Martel isn't counted out, because he wasn't the legal man. Therefore...   Survivors: Rick Martel, The Warlord, Hercules, and Paul Roma. That's the first time an entire team has survived, kids.   Match Analysis: Ran too long. Shawn can do no wrong though, he was excellent. The Warlord was in this match for WAY too long. *1/2. ___________________   A promo for Royal Rumble 1991 pops onto the screen, as we lead into...The Natural Disasters (Earthquake, Haku, Barbarian and Dino Bravo) accompanied by Jimmy Hart and Bobby Heenan vs. The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Big Bossman, Jim Duggan, and Tugboat). Tugboat's music is terrible. The babyfaces cut a promo first, and Tugboat's been spending too much time around Hulk. Mainly because he says "brother" after every sentence.   Blow-by-blow: It looks like Hogan got a haircut the day of the match...anyhow, a Hogan chant picks up almost immediately. Duggan and Haku start, and after Haku misses a springboard crossbody, Duggan clotheslines him a whole bunch and yells, HOOOOOOOOOOO. Duggan gets an UGLY backelbow and clothesline, and Bravo tags in. Bravo gets an inverted atomic drop, and Haku and Bossman enter. Bossman quickly gets the Bossman Slam, and that eliminates Haku at 3:15.   Heenan gets rammed into the turnbuckle by Bossman, but Barbarian regains control. He gets a suplex and slam, but he misses an elbowdrop from the 2nd rope. Duggan comes in and gets a backdrop, then Earthquake comes in. Earthquake rams Duggan into the buckle, and Duggan can't slam him. Duggan does 2 shoulderblocks, but on the third attempt, Jimmy Hart pulls down the top rope so Duggan flies out of the ring. Duggan chases Hart with the 2x4, and hits Earthquake with it at 6:04, so he's disqualified. Duggan is poof, gone.   Hogan's in and body slams for all, the 10 punch in the corner starts, but Earthquake powerslams him out. Bravo tags in and gets an elbow drop, but surprisingly, he gets rolled up in a small package at 7:59. He's gone.   I just noticed that the "mystery egg" hasn't been discussed at all. Thankfully. Piper says that "Hogan should get the hell out of the ring." Bossman attempts a crossbody, but doesn't bring Earthquake to the canvas. Hogan pushes Bossman on top of Quake, but the cover only gets 2. Earthquake gets 2 elbowdrops on Bossman, and that's enough to get the pinfall at 9:08.   Hogan gives Quake a big boot, and I've noticed that Tugboat hasn't even been in the ring. Hogan can't slam Quake, and Quake falls on him for a 2 count. Ok, by this point, it's safe to say that they need to take the match home. Quake misses a big splash and finally, Tugboat comes in. Tugboat and Earthquake take their brawl to the outside, and they both get counted out at 11:32.   Hogan and Barbarian are left, and Barbarian lands the ugliest piledriver ever. Gorilla and Piper both acknowledge that Hogan's head was never close to the canvas and landed on Barbarian's legs instead. Hogan should never have sold that. Barbarian gets a big boot, and a top rope clothesline for 2. NOW COMES THE HULK-UP. Three punches, big boot, DROP THE FUCKING LEG, and that's the end of the match at 14:49. Hogan grabs a fan's banner to celebrate, and he wipes his sweat on it before giving it back. What a guy. He poses for 3 minutes, and this part ends, and part two now begins.   Survivor: Hulk Hogan   Match Analysis: Junk. Shit. Crap. 1/2*. This match was everything I hate about wrestling. ___________________   The MACHO KING RANDY SAVAGE has an interview with Gene Okerlund in which he basically foreshadows his retirement. He says if he wins the title, he'll retire. Forever. He calls the Ultimate Warrior the Ultimate Chicken/turkey/loser. Savage is dressed like the guy from Mary Poppins, so it's hard to take him seriously. ___________________   The next match is The Alliance (Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana, Butch, and Luke) vs. The Mercenaries (Sgt. Slaughter, Boris Zhukov, Sato, and Tanaka), accompanied by Mr. Fuji and General Adnan. Slaughter cuts a promo before the match, says Okerlund needs to stand at attention, and wonders what American soldiers had in their K-Ration on Thanksgiving. Piper gets all worked up about it, and I laughed. All the Mercenaries are wearing camo face paint.   Blow-by-blow: Zhukov and Butch start, the Bushwhackers give Zhukov a double clothesline, and Tito tags in and gives Zhukov the flying forearm, and gets the pinfall at 0:48. Lol.   Tito kicks Sato, and Butch tags in. The Bushwhackers almost immediately give Sato the battering ram, eliminating Sato at 1:47.   Tanaka misses a big splash, and gets eliminated by the flying forearm of Santana at 2:10.   Volkoff comes in and gets elbowdropped by Slaughter four times, cause remember, Slaughter's the only Mercenary left. He rams Volkoff into the turnbuckle while Adnan screams at him in whatever language he uses, and Slaughter gets a dropkick. Oddly enough, while 3 elbowdrops can't finish Volkoff, only one does a bit later, and Volkoff's gone at 5:24.   Butch comes in and both the Bushwhackers slam Slaughter, after Luke tags in. A double clothesline gets two, and then Luke goes up, but eats knees on a splash attempt. Slaughter gives Luke a chestbreaker, and Luke's gone at 6:30.   Butch comes in and gets clotheslined by Slaughter at 6:54. Quick eliminations here...   Tito and Slaughter are left, and Tito gives Slaughter a dropkick. He can't monkey flip Slaughter though, so Slaughter gets a neckbreaker for 2. A Slaughter backbreaker gets 2, and Sarge follows it up with a suplex. Slaughter rams Tito into the ref, and Adnan comes in with the Iraqi flag. He rams it into the stomach of Santana after Tito's flying forearm on Slaughter, and then, Slaughter applies the camel clutch. The referee wakes up, though, and disqualifies Slaughter at 10:47 for use of the flag. The referee was down, but he was watching the action, see.   Survivor: Tito Santana   Match Analysis: 1/4*. At least it ended quickly. ___________________   Sean Mooney is with the Visionaries and Ted DiBiase for their promo before the Ultimate Survival match, but first, we have to reveal what's inside the mystery egg. For some reason, DiBiase had blood in his mouth. ___________________   Anyway, yeah, inside the mystery egg, it's the Gobbledygooker. The Gooker's one of the dumbest things ever to happen in wrestling, and the only thing that is definitely worse, IMO, was the WCW "shoot" angles in 2000. I wonder, though, was Gooker supposed to work matches? That would have been ridiculous. Whoever thought of this should have been shot. Or fired. The crowd shit all over it, though. ___________________ The last match tonight, is the match OF ULTIMATE SURVIVAL. On one team, it's Tito Santana, the Ultimate Warrior, and Hulk Hogan. On the other team, it's Ted DiBiase, Rick Martel, the Warlord, Hercules, and Paul Roma w/Virgil and Slick. Warrior changed his attire and facepaint, and there aren't any team captains in this match. Hogan entered before the other two babyfaces. I don't think he was too happy about it, or so it looked. Warrior got NO pop.   Blow-by-blow: Almost immediately, a Santana flying forearm pins the Warlord. 0:28 was the time.   DiBiase comes in and gets a suplex. Tito gets a clothesline and backdrop but misses the flying forearm, and DiBiase hotshots him along the top rope for the pinfall at 1:51.   DiBiase gets a big boot on Hogan, then tags in Hercules. Herc rams Hogan's head into the buckle, and DiBiase comes back in with a few fistdrops. Tag Hercules, and Power and Glory go for the POWERPLEX, but it only gets a 2 count. Hogan gives Roma a lariat, and he's gone at 5:37. Seriously, that was a stiff clothesline. He treated Roma like a jobber...oh wait. He is one. LAWL.   Warrior finally tags in, and kicks Martel. Warrior with a backdrop and he goes to punch both heels that were standing in the corner. The ADRENALINE'S MOVIN' NOW, and Warrior slams Martel twice. He rams Martel's face into the mat, and tags in Hogan. Hogan clotheslines Martel over the top and out, but Martel's leaving. NOW THEY'LL HAVE TO IMPROVISE A NEW FINISH. Sorry, since I mentioned WCW 2000, I couldn't help it. Time of Martel being counted out was 7:17, btw.   DiBiase and Hercules are the only ones left of the heels, and Hogan slams DiBiase into the mat. Big boot, DROP THE FUCKING LEG, pin at 8:37.   Hercules is the only one left, Warrior clotheslines him, clothesline, clothesline, flying shouldertackle, big splash and the pinfall at 9:07. Warrior and Hogan toss Slick out of the ring, and that's it.   The Ultimate Survivors: The Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan.   A promo for the Royal Rumble wraps things up. All done.   Match Analysis: DUD. I'm glad they didn't do the Ultimate Survival thing again. The crowd couldn't have cared less. ___________________   Rating: Poor. Good for nostalgia, but in reality, it wasn't any good. I hate how the WWF didn't even use the early versions of this show to further angles. Outside of the one exception, the double turn with Demolition and the Powers of Pain. There have been much better shows. If not for the nostalgia, it would have been awful.   Best Match: The Million Dollar Team vs. The Dream Team. That's not saying a whole lot.   Worst Match: The match of ULTIMATE SURVIVAL.   Loudest Sound: Bret Hart during his comeback, and Demolition. Ax's last appearance in the WWF was a quick one.   No sound: Everyone in the Alliance vs. Mercenaries match (except for Slaughter), and Warrior later in the show.   I must say, I love the finishes at the Survivor Series. Guys getting pinned by elbowdrops? I know it's tough to book these matches, but they could do something better, couldn't they? ___________________   I don't know what I'm reviewing next, but it'll be up on Monday. Probably Prime Time Wrestling, cause I don't want it to disappear before I can write about it.
Guest

Guest

8
LFC Blog
 

Review: Random Thoughts from 2/9/08, featuring a Boston Garden house show from the 80's, an original ECW show, and Smackdown.

I usually don't do the house shows unless something really catches my eye, and in this case, something did. You'll see what it was, later. So yeah, 9-6-86 show from the Boston Garden. ___________________   So, our first match from Boston is a fantastic singles competition between Sivi Afi and Pete Doherty.   - Jobberific! Gorilla says something about how Afi wanted to be called "Toma" now...I believe this indicates that Afi was going to be the second Islander, as Haku's partner. If anything, it's a rough draft, so to speak.   - Afi's matches are usually paced well, but not this one, because Doherty has quite a few years on his body, to say the least. Afi gives him a crossbody off the top at 7:02, and that gives him the victory via pinfall. *1/4. The rating is self explanatory. ___________________   This is one of the reasons I watched the show, but not THE reason. Yes, it's the Hart Foundation vs. the US Express.   - I suppose I'll never understand why Rotunda's name always changed to Rotundo, and vice versa. I don't think I could ever get used to the Hart Foundation not wearing pink and black. Black and turquoise here...   - Bret botched a leapfrog over Spivey in the middle of the match, because Spivey is so tall. I laughed. The Express sorta play heel, but because they represent the US, the crowd never boos them, you see. At around 10 minutes, I was pretty sure that this was going to be a 20 minute draw. It was a 20 minute draw after the bell rang at 18:32, but my favorite part of the match was the extremely long chase around the ring sequence. Spivey chased both members of the Hart Foundation in succession for about 30 seconds each. **1/2. The crowd didn't really care all that much. ___________________   Although I know that George Steele is the guy facing Macho Man Randy Savage w/Elizabeth for the Intercontinental Title, this is the reason I watched the show. I never can get enough of watching Savage.   - Steele attacks Savage at the start with...a BODYSLAM! Wow, Steele did an actual wrestling move. Savage hits Steele multiple times with a foreign object that he had hidden in his tights, and I loved it. Talk about a blind ref, he didn't even notice.   - They be brawlin', until Savage gets hit with a chair by Steele at...no time. I don't even think the bell sounded to start the match. Obviously, Steele gets disqualified. Savage runs backstage, and while Steele celebrates, Savage attacks him. Steele comes back, and Savage runs backstage, only to come back again and be thwarted in his attack by Steele. *1/2, which is saying a lot in regards to a Steele match. Steele brings a few kids in the ring, and they eat turnbuckles with him. How nice. ___________________   Rene Goulet vs. Pedro Morales is....   Whoops, I believe I accidentally hit the fast forward button on my remote control. ___________________   Our next match is King Kong Bundy and Big John Studd w/Bobby Heenan vs. The Machines. Big and Super are the two Machines taking part in this match.   - Big Machine is played by Blackjack Mulligan, and Super Machine is played by Bill Eadie, who most would know as Demolition Ax. There you have it.   - Hosstastic! There's a lot of beef in the ring. Heenan comes on commentary...lots of trash is being thrown at Bundy and Studd, throughout the match. It gets worse when Studd and Bundy argue, and even worse than that when Heenan breaks up a pin attempt on Studd, getting his team DQ'd at 9:06. Brain grabs a microphone, and wants the Machines to get a partner for next month. Oh yeah, son! *3/4. ___________________   Seeing as Heenan got all upset, he won't be accompaning KING Harley Race for his match against Corporal Kirchner.   - This show is pretty star-studded. The guy in the front row has two fingers for Kirchner. Guess which ones.   - This is a strange matchup, to put it nicely. The match is a showcase of all Harley's signature moves and bumps, so I enjoyed it. It's a little too long, though, as evidenced by the bored crowd. Kirchner comes off the rope with a crossbody, but Race reverses it, getting the win at 13:46. **. Such an overused finish in the 80's, but I rarely see it now. Not sure if that's good or bad, but everything now is hit your finisher (or multiple finisher sequence), pin. Throw in some variation, please. ___________________   Cowboy Bob Orton is facing a hillbilly, thankfully, it's the one that can wrestle a little, Cousin Luke.   - Orton is Adrian Adonis' bodyguard at this time, which explains his pink hat that he wore to the ring. There's a gigantic boring chant, so this ended quickly. Figured. Luke charged into an Orton knee, and got pinned at 4:12. 1/2*. With Luke's buddies, this could've been terrible. ___________________   Our main event is Nikolai Volkoff and The Iron Sheik w/Slick vs. The British Bulldogs, for the WWF Tag Team Titles.   - Volkoff's rendition of the Russian national anthem always gets big heel heat. There's only been two dead wrestlers on the show. I was taken aback by that, because most of the time when watching these old shows, I think about how so many wrestlers that I used to watch have died.   - Gorilla Monsoon talked with Slick during a part of the match, and said that Slick had big lips. Ok, Gorilla didn't really say that. He said he'd give him bigger lips than the ones he already has if he didn't shut it.   - The scroll in the scoreboard area at Boston Garden says that it'll be PIPER MACHINE teaming up with the Machines against Heenan, Bundy and Studd next month. I figured they'd give it away to sell tickets. Bulldog rolls Sheik up at the end of an underwhelming match, the cradle gets reversed twice by Dynamite and once by Volkoff, but it still gives the British Bulldogs the win at 10:57. **. Sheik and Davey were on the canvas for about a 30 count. For real. That's the end of the show, obviously. ___________________   Show was, eh, good. For a house show, your standards have to be lowered. You just have to be glad to see a good collection of talent in competitive matches. We had that here, so its good. I try to take the perspective of a fan that paid good money for a ticket with house shows. Best match was the Hart Foundation vs. the US Express, and the worst was probably Rene Goulet vs. Pedro Morales. The worst I watched was Bob Orton vs. Cousin Luke. ___________________   ECW from 2/18/96 was next...this show was a jumbled mess, albeit fun, so my typing is going to look like a jumbled mess too. ___________________   Missy Hyatt and Sandman talked about masturbation with Sandman's singapore cane at the beginning of the show, which somehow segued into a 6 man tag, as the Bad Crew took on Dino Sendoff, the Dirtbike Kid and Don E. Allen.   The crowd SHIT all over it. The Bad Crew squashed these guys, and Sandman came in after the match, to cane all of them. The audience liked that. ___________________   Intro to the show and all that, as Joey Styles is in the ring. The lights go off...and it's BRIAN FUCKING PILLMAN, who appears in the middle of the ring ! Sign Guy has a sign that says, "don't work me!" That was great. Obviously, this is the scene of his insane promo. I'll just post it.     My favorite part was when Shane said, "he's shooting!" See, those words, for me anyway, have become synonymous with WCW, so to hear them here reminded me of Shane Douglas in WCW 2000. ___________________   Joey Styles hypes Taz as being a real loose cannon, so Bill Alfonso has to start talkin', on this little video. I love him. He rambled the whole time..."I'm eating steak!"   The Gangstas were supposed to face The Headhunters on this show, but New Jack found himself in jail. Excuse me for a second. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Anyway, the Headhunters beat on Mustafa Saed.   Now we get to the Headhunters match, and they're taking on the surprise team of...the BRUISE BROTHERS. Oh no. Tommy Dreamer had brought them in for the night, Joey says. More on that later.   - Yeah, they were facing a surprise team. I guess when they meant surprise, they meant it in the worst way. The Bruise Brothers are the Harris Brothers, in case you didn't know.   - It's a brawl, but you couldn't see anything for a good sized portion of what was shown. Is that a good thing? I think so. One of the Harris Brothers pinned a Headhunter, and a Headhunter pinned a Harris, at the same time. But the Harris Brothers won, as their pin was the one that was counted. ___________________   We get the marcea hatt omves lal runoda with Lance Wright, and then, clips from Stevie Richards and the Eliminators vs. The Pitbulls and Francine in a Dog Collar Match. There's really nothing of importance, except for a few Super Bombs. We moved forward, and as the Eliminators were choking out the Pitbulls with their chains, Francine pinned Stevie for a 3 count. For that, everyone was Totally Eliminated after the match. That's the price you pay.   The Eliminators cut a promo, and show us a video of many of their TOTAL ELIMINATIONS. ___________________   Buh Buh Ray Dudley faces Mr. Hughes right now...I never got the whole Mr. Hughes thing. Big Dick Dudley wouldn't allow Hughes to beat on Buh Buh, so he kicks Hughes' ass, and Buh Buh gives Hughes a big splash off the top for the 3 count after about 30 seconds. DUD. ___________________   Joey Styles is with Tommy Dreamer....but here comes Raven. Raven talks about what happens to liars in other countries, and since Tommy got Beulah pregnant, he insinuates that he'll cut Tommy's dick off. The Harris Brothers and Shane Douglas come to the ring at the sound of that, and Tommy asks Shane to get Beulah out of here. When Shane's gone, the Harris Brothers attack Tommy and ram him dick-first into the ringpost, over and over. Remember, the Harris Brothers were supposed to be Tommy's friends. That's the end of the show. ___________________   Next time, I'll just write a paragraph or two about the ECW show. It was all over the place. I can't even rate it. ___________________   Last, I watched Smackdown, from Corpus Christi. ___________________   The first segment is a repeat of Monday. You know, how all 6 participants in the Elimination Chamber came to the ring and cut promos, but this one ended as Taker appeared in the ring after the lights were turned out. Also, we get a 6 man tag tonight, just like on RAW. USE DIFFERENT IDEAS. ___________________   The first match on the show was a rematch from ECW last week, Shelton Benjamin vs. Kane.   - Before the match, THERE AIN'T NO STOPPIN' ME NUUUH   - Kane gets a LOT of offense. After knocking Shelton back into the ring from the outside, Kane gets counted out, at 6:02. *1/2. Kane getting all that offense wasn't necessarily a good thing. ___________________   Chuck Palumbo faced Jamie Noble w/Michelle McCool next....   - Too much punch, kick. Noble flew off the top to the outside and landed on Chuck's bike, so Chuck tossed Noble into the ring and finished him off at 3:56. *.   After the match, Chuck whipped Noble's ass. The only bad thing about this angle is that I don't necessarily buy Chuck as a guy who has the "whoop ass mentality." Chuck was going to run Noble over with his motorcycle, but he didn't. He should've.   WWE did some positive stuff in China, because they have an office there. This was one of those, "we're a company who cares about the people" pieces. ___________________   The next match was a tag team match, featuring Jesse and Festus who were taking on Deuce & Domino w/Cherry.   - Is Festus supposed to be a retard? Anyway, the ringbell rang and he went nuts. The match finished with after a flapjack variation by Festus at 4:00. 3/4*, that gimmick is AWFUL. ___________________   Edge has his interview segment up next, that being the CUTTING EDGE, and his guest is Vickie Guerrero. Edge says he has a surprise for her on Valentine's Day, but what he really wants is for Rey Mysterio to come out and apologize to her for accidentally giving her a 619 at the Rumble. Rey comes out, and tries to explain himself, but gets slapped twice by Vickie. Edge attacks Rey, and grabs two chairs from outside of the ring. Rey kicks one into his face, and gives him a 619. Edge goes out of the ring, but Rey jumps onto him, ending their little spat. Rey tells Vickie he's sorry, and leaves. ___________________   This new interviewer is with Edge, and asks him if he's going to propose to Vickie Guerrero next week. He says that it isn't any of her business. ___________________   Shannon Moore and Jimmy Wang Yang are set to take on the Edgeheads...   - Just kill me now. I hate Yang's stupid dance.   - At one moment, I thought Yang had hurt his wrist, but really, he just sold it very well. Curt Hawkins pinned Shannon Moore after a curtain call at 3:31. *1/4. Glad to see Moore and Yang lose. ___________________   Time for the main event, that being The Great Khali, MVP and Big Daddy V vs. Batista, the Undertaker, and Finlay.   - There's a commercial break after the entrances, and when we come back,the match is on. I really want to know who thought it was a good idea to repeat booking on both brands. I also want to know if anyone thinks the Elimination Chamber with these six will be any good.   - There's really no other way to put it, except that this is awful. You have two guys who only do good work with each other, and they're on the same team. You have two that cannot wrestle, one whose age is seemingly beginning to affect his in-ring work, and the last one is too small for his heat segment work with Taker to be believable. After 14:26 of DOGSHIT, Finlay hits Khali with the shillelagh, getting himself disqualified. The babyfaces tease dissension, and that ends the show. DUD. ___________________   First hour was good, second was probably the worst TV I've seen from WWE in the last month and a half. Show was TERRIBLE. Now that I've finally called a show terrible, I can explain how I rate shows like that. For PPV's, it takes two negative star matches, and nothing over ****. For TV shows, it takes nothing over *1/2, and at least one DUD, plus uninteresting angles, like the Edge/Vickie and Jesse/Festus stuff. Best segment was...Chuck Palumbo's beatdown of Jamie Noble, and the worst was easily the awful six man tag which ended the show. ___________________   The Savage and Liz Coliseum Video review will be up sometime tomorrow. I almost forgot. Entry #100. Yay.
Guest

Guest

7
LFC Blog
 

Review: WWF Royal Rumble 2002, from Atlanta, Georgia, 1/20/2002.

It's time to Rumble. It's time for the ROYAL RUMBLE!!! Sorry for the early 90's-ish reference. ___________________   The opening video is great, and showcases part Royal Rumble victories...   And our first match is the Dudley Boyz w/Stacy Keibler vs. Spike Dudley and Tazz for the WWF Tag Team Titles.   Blow-by-blow: Ha, WWF New York. That's funny. Yeah, they showed it at the beginning of the show. I love Tazz's entrance, but the Dudleys attack him during it. They back suplex Taz on the floor, and do the same to Spike Dudley in the ring. Bubba gives Spike a neckbreaker, and takes off Spike's neckbrace. See, they 3D'd Spike on concrete at some point before this PPV. Bubba gives Spike another neckbreaker, and a suplex. D-Von tags in, and gives Spike a necksnap, then tags Bubba back in. Bubba gives Spike a WWE-ized brainbuster, and when he tries it again, Spike reverses it and gives him a DUDLEY DOG. Tazz comes in, but the referee never saw the tag. In the meanwhile, the Dudleys give Spike a GIANT FLAPJACK. Wow. D-Von goes to the top and misses a flying headbutt, so Bubba comes in, to cheat. Bubba and D-Von charge at Spike, but they clothesline each other, giving Tazz room to tag in. Clotheslines for all, belly-to-belly suplexes and t-bone suplexes for all, and a northern lights suplex for D-Von, which gets 2. Spike comes off the top rope with a crossbody, and he gives Bubba a DUDLEY DOG. Stacy Keibler gets on the apron to distract, but Tazz applies a TAZZMISSION. Bubba rams into Tazz which knocks Stacy off the apron, and Spike tries to give D-Von a DUDLEY DOG. D-Von dumps Spike to the outside during the move, but Tazz applies the TAZZMISSION, which causes D-Von to tap out at 5:05.   Match Analysis: That was a really good opening tag. It was short, but still, it was good. The unlikely title run by Spike and Tazz was fun, too. **1/4. ___________________   The next match is William Regal vs. Edge for the Intercontinental Title, but first, there are a few things to take note of. Edge cut a promo on Regal, but before that, we saw the history, which was basically Regal hitting Edge with brass knuckles and Edge laying him out with a chair on the Smackdown which occured a few days later.   Blow-by-blow: The referee is looking for weapons, and he found brass knuckles in Regal's trunks. Way to go. Edge attacks Regal at the beginning of the match, and backdrops him. Edge stomps away, and gives him the boot choke prior to ramming Regal's face into the mat, twice. Regal comes back with a few knees to the gut, but Edge backslides him for a 2 count. Regal rakes away at Edge's face, but Edge gives him an enziguri. Regal gives Edge a half-nelson suplex, for a 2 count...I always found it funny how WWE was so strictly against headdrops, but Regal used that. Weird. Anyway, Regal applies a cross armed choke, but gets backdropped when Edge makes it to his feet. Regal gives Edge a double-underhook powerbomb for a 2 count, and places Edge on the ring apron. Edge reverses Regal's attempted hold, and gives Regal a nice looking DDT, on the ring apron. Both men collide in the ring, and Edge gives Regal a spinning heel kick after a short rest. Regal gives Edge another half-nelson suplex, but Edge clotheslines him for 2. After a few left hands, we have a REGAL STRETCH...but Edge makes it to the ropes. That means that we get an EDGE STRETCH, but Regal also makes the ropes. Edge dropkicks Regal and rolls him up for 2, before going to the top rope. Regal knocks him down and tries a HUGE double-underhook suplex, but Edge comes off the top with a spinning heel kick. Regal grabs the brass knuckles out of his trunks, and Edge accidentally spears the referee. Regal runs over and clocks Edge, and after about a minute, the eventual cover gets a 3 count, at 9:46. The crowd hates it, and so does Michael Cole. That's why he goes over to Regal for an interview. Regal talks about his gifted left hand, and the power of the punch. Edge stays down during the whole interview, at least until a parade of officials is able to revive him. At least we have a new champion.   Match Analysis: I don't think these two have very good chemistry. Started out shaky, but definitely picked up. Not great, though. **1/2. ___________________   On Smackdown, Jazz attacked Trish Stratus, shutting her hand inside of a chest. So that means Jazz will challenge Trish for her Women's Title, you see. Jackie is the special referee...I have no idea why.   Blow-by-blow: This should be very short. Jazz attacks Trish, and gives her a big splash for a 2 count. Trish fights back and sunset flips Jazz for 2, which leads to a big "pin each other all around the ring" sequence. I like when that happens. Jazz drops Trish throat-first along the top rope, and legdrops her for a 2 count. Jazz wrenches away at Trish's hand, and she begins to argue with Jackie. That's real smart. Trish rolls Jazz up, but Jazz reverses it for a SLOW 2 count. Because Jazz and Jackie were arguing, see. Trish gives Jazz a jawbreaker, but Jazz throws her off during a DDT attempt. Jazz tries a back suplex, but Trish counters and gives her STRATUSFACTION. The cover gets 2, as does the cover after a Jazz DDT. Jazz misses a charge to the corner, and that gives Trish the opening to give her a bulldog, getting the pinfall win at 3:43.   Match Analysis: Not the best match, but these never are. At least it was short. *. ___________________   The next match is a street fight, featuring Ric Flair, who's taking on Vince McMahon.   Blow-by-blow: Before the match, there's a video package, of course. I liked this angle, just because it was Flair's return to action. Counting WCW, he hadn't been involved in anything that made sense for years. They lock-up, and Vince pushes Flair to the ground, Hogan style. He poses and all that, and shoulderblocks Flair. Vince struts, mocking Flair, but Flair takes him down to the canvas. Flair chops away after being mocked again, but Vince rakes the eyes. Vince tosses Flair into the buckle, but Flair isn't able to make it over with the flip, so he gets on the apron and Vince clotheslines him out. Vince grabs a "Keep Off" sign from the guardrail near the entrance, and he wallops Flair upside the head with it. Vince rams him into the guardrail, and goes to grab a trash can, which he hits Flair with. Flair's bleeding now, so Vince rams him into the ringpost and then the steel steps. Vince slams Flair on the outside, and goes over towards Flair's daughter. He grabs her camera, and takes a picture of he and a bloody Flair. How sweet. Back in the ring we go, and Vince begins to work on the knee. He rams FLair's leg into the apron and the post after some prior legwork, which brings him to apply the FIGURE-FOUR! The hold lasts for a while, until Flair reverses it. Vince makes the ropes, and goes to the outside to grab a lead pipe that he used to attack Flair on Smackdown. Flair gives him a lowblow, and knocks Vince out of the ring. Flair gets a television monitor, and he hits Vince in the head with it, causing him to bleed. We go back to the chops and over to Flair's family, where his daughter takes a picture of him biting Vince. Flair lowblows Vince inside the ring, hits him with the lead pipe, and applies the FIGURE-FOUR for the submission at 14:54.   Match Analysis: Better than I thought it would be, but that's not to say it was great. **1/4. ___________________   Nick Patrick is with Michael Cole, for some reason, Stephanie McMahon shows up. She says that HHH will kick everyone's ass, and rambles a bit about the uselessness of Debra. STONE COLD STONE COLD STONE COLD heard that, and makes his way over. WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT, and Stephanie runs away. Stone Cold will win the Rumble. How do you feel about...WHAT? Sorry, I love that. ___________________   We quickly segue to THE ROCK vs. Chris Jericho for the Undisputed Title...I said quickly because there was no video package or prior buildup throughout the show.   Blow-by-blow: Jericho's Undisputed Title run meant absolutely nothing. IMO, it was always treated as a joke, plus, look how he won his important matches. Jericho tells Rock to JUST BRING IT at the beginning of the match, and well, the Rock does. He gives Jericho a back elbow and samoan drop to start, which gets a 2 count. Jericho bails to the outside, but Rock chases him back into the ring, where he spears Jericho. Jericho clotheslines Rock, but misses a charge to the corner. so Rock rams his face into the mat. Rock charges at Jericho, but Jericho drops him throat-first along the top rope. Rock comes back with (haha) a back elbow, but Jericho counters with a spinning heel kick for 2. Jericho gives Rock a suplex, and the COME ON BABY pin for a 2 count. I liked that. Jericho takes a turnbuckle pad off one of the turnbuckles, and goes for the WALLS OF JERICHO. Rock pushes Jericho away, but Jericho replies with a seated dropkick. Jericho comes off the top with a missile dropkick for 2, and he goes to the chinlock. A long chinlock. Rock fights his way out, but Jericho gives him a back elbow, prior to going up top. Rock crotches him, and gives him a superplex. Rock comes back with a belly-to-belly suplex for a 2 count, but Jericho responds with a bulldog and two LIONSAULTS. That only gets a 2 count, so Jericho pushes Earl Hebner. Hebner pushes back, so Jericho gives up on that fight. Jericho goes up to the 2nd rope, but Rock catches him on the way down and applies the SHARPSHOOTER. Lance Storm runs down to the ring to distract the referee, but Rock knocks him off the apron. Christian comes out of the crowd and tries to hit Rock with one of Jericho's title belts, but he misses and gets tossed out by Rock. Jericho gives Rock a ROCK BOTTOM, but that only gets a 2 count. Jericho gives Rock a senton, and then goes for a JERICHO ELBOW. Rock kips up, and tosses Jericho over the top rope. Hey, there will be a lot of that in the next match. Rock rams Jericho into the steel steps, and tears apart the announce table. Jericho rams Rock into the table, and tears apart the Spanish Announce Table. Jericho tries to give him a ROCK BOTTOM on it, but Rock counters and gives Jericho the ROCK BOTTOM, onto the English Announce Table. Back in, the Rock covers Jericho, but it only gets a 2 count. Rock goes for the ROCK BOTTOM, but Jericho fights him off and applies the WALLS OF JERICHO. Rock makes it to the ropes, and rolls Jericho up for a 2 count. Jericho accidentally forearms Hebner, and goes to grab a title belt. He hits Rock with the title belt, and Nick Patrick runs down to make the 2 count. Rock DDT's Jericho, but Patrick won't count. What the fuck sense does that make? This is overbooking central right here. Rock gives Nick Patrick a ROCK BOTTOM, then gives Jericho a spinebuster. Time for the PEOPLE'S ELBOW, but there's no referee. Rock wakes up Hebner, but Jericho lowblows Rock and rams him into the exposed turnbuckle, which allows Jericho to roll up Rock while putting his feet on the ropes for the 3 count at 18:50.   Match Analysis: You see, this is a prime example of how to make your champion look like shit. Way too much WCW type shit going on in this one. We'll knock off 1/4* for each instance of excess booking. Christian...Lance Storm...rope pin and exposed buckle (isn't one of those enough?)...non-counting referee, and the first belt shot. I think that's it, as the table spots are pretty much standard fare at this point. I would've given this ****1/4 without the excess. 5 instances of excess bring this one down to ***. Not very hard to bring the rating down, I don't feel guilty about it. ___________________   Shawn Michaels is with us from WWF New York...he looks drugged out of his mind. ___________________   It's time for the ROYAL RUMBLE. Winner goes to WrestleMania, yeah yeah yeah   Blow-by-blow: #1 is Rikishi. Boo. #2 is a returning GOLDUST. Yay! Wish he had never left the WWF in the first place, although him leaving gave us a lot of Seven bullshit in WCW. If you don't know what that is, just wait until you'll be able to see it on 24/7. #3 is the Big Bossman. Damn, he's looking old then, too. #4 is Bradshaw. If you aren't familiar with how I do these, basically I ramble, cover eliminations and entrances, and that's it. Unless something else happens. I thought Bradshaw would clothesline everyone, but he didn't. Instead, we were treated to Rikishi giving Bossman a stinkface. Rikishi eliminates Bossman at 5:25 after a clothesline, and #5 is Lance Storm. There's a dead period before the #6 entrant, Al Snow. Hey. Bradshaw gives Storm the CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL, and #7 is Billy Gunn. Snow and Storm begin to fight on the ring apron, and Snow kicks Storm out, at 11:03. Like I said, there was a dead period. Billy tosses out Bradshaw when he was trying to eliminate Goldust, at 11:31, and then, here comes the Deadman, entering at #8. He chokeslams Goldust over the top and to the floor at 13:01, and clotheslines Rikishi out of the Rumble at 13:39. Gunn goes out soon after at 13:46, leaving Taker all by himself. #9 is a returning Matt Hardy, who runs right into the ring and along with Lita, stomps on the Undertaker. #10 is Jeff Hardy (saw that one coming), and once he comes out, they both hit their finishers on Taker. Jeff goes for Poetry in Motion, but Taker catches him and dumps him out at 18:22. Matt gets tossed over the top after a LAST RIDE at 18:53...and #11 is MAVEN. Yes. We all know what happens. Maven dropkicks Taker out at around 20 minutes or so, so Taker beats his ass. Taker gives him a chairshot and blades Maven's forehead (yes, it was that obvious), and #12 is Scotty 2 Hotty. Well, Taker knocks him out, and brings Maven back into the ring, and throws him over the top rope at around 23 minutes. #13 is Christian, who just fights during this assbeating that Taker has laid upon Maven. Of course, Taker takes him up the stairs, and tosses him through a POPCORN MACHINE. Man, that's still funny, even today. Christian's in the ring posing with his European Championship, until DDP enters at #14. I liked DDP's WWF run, which puts me in the minority for sure. Scotty gives Christian the WORM, and then he gets tossed by DDP at 28:28. Chuck Palumbo is #15...good God, get a haircut. That's the worst hair I've ever seen in wrestling. #16 is the Godfather, and during his entrance, Christian eliminates DDP. Godfather's entrance is super long, HO TRAIN and all that; as soon as it's over, #17, Albert makes his way to the ring. There have been WAY too many jobbers in this match. Ridiculous. Chuck and Christian toss Albert at 34:00, and they both clothesline Godfather over the top at 34:42. #18 is Perry Saturn. For fuck's sake, spare me. #19 is Steve Austin, who cleans house. Christian goes out at 37:44, Chuck goes out at 37:58, and Saturn goes out at 38:04. Austin looks at his "watch," and there's a lot of time left before the next entrant. So he brings Christian in, beats his ass, and tosses him back out. #20 is Val Venis. What is this, 1999? Going along with that thought, #21 is Test. Austin clotheslines Venis over the top at 43:07, and does the same to Test at 43:19. For #22, IT'S TIME TO PLAY THE GAME OMG RETURNING SUPERSTAR TRIPLE H. Seeing as Austin and HHH are the only guys in the ring, I got the thought that it's really odd these two never faced each other at WrestleMania. Of course, they fight, at least until the HURRICANE comes in at #23. He wants to be like Mike, so he tries to chokeslam both Austin and HHH at the same time. Not gonna happen. Austin and HHH toss him out at 48:05, and #24 is Faarooq. Jobber after jobber after jobber. While this hasn't been super boring, it's been boring. At this point, I can name each person who will enter the Rumble, although not in order. HHH knocks Faarooq over the top at 49:36, and #25 is a returning MR. PERFECT. A mark-out moment for sure. This is his first Rumble since 1993, btw. Long interval there. #26 is Kurt Angle...Angle vs. Perfect in their primes would've rocked. #27 is the Big Show, who chokeslams Angle and Perfect. #28 is Kane, who bodyslams Show over the top at 58:19. Yes, he did. Angle gives Kane the ANGLE SLAM to put him over the top at 58:34, and #29 is RVD. About 30 seconds after he comes in, HHH PEDIGREES him. #30 is Booker T, as RVD is still lying on the canvas. Booker T just picks him up and throws him out at 1:01:39...man, he really was made to look like a bitch just like people said. That was a burial. Austin gives Booker T a STONE COLD STUNNER, which sends him over the top at 1:02:03, and we're down to our Final Four. It's Austin, Angle, Mr. Perfect and HHH. Angle gives Austin multiple german suplexes, but he can't get rid of him. Eventually he does at 1:04:10, and we're down to three. Austin comes back in with a chair, hits everyone with it, and leaves. Perfect and Angle fight, and Perfect gives him the PERFECT PLEX! HHH clotheslines Perfect over the top rope at 1:07:04, and we're down to Angle and HHH. By this point it was obvious would would win. Angle tosses HHH over the top rope, HHH sneaks in, and clotheslines Angle over the top rope for the win at 1:09:19. HHH IS GOIN TO WRESTLEMANIA BY GOD HEALED TORN QUAD. The end.   Match Analysis: That wasn't the best Rumble I've seen. Honestly, it's one of the worst. **3/4. Whoever thought HHH vs. Jericho would be a main event worth watching needs to be slapped. That was an idiotic decision. That's one of those matches where you have absolutely no doubt as to who's going to win. No doubt at all. ___________________   Rating: Decent. Not the worst show, but not enough good stuff to rate the show higher. Jericho/Rock was a gigantic disappointment, namely because of the booking. The Rumble was boring, although still ok. The rest was good to watch. Standard fare show.   Best Segment: Austin's promo about winning the Rumble.   Worst Segment: Jazz/Trish. It just wasn't very good. ___________________   I'll put up the Monday Night RAW review from 6/9/97 tomorrow, because those are super easy to type up. For the arena shows like the stuff from MSG they show, starting next month, I'll just post one big review at the end of the month containing tidbits from all the shows. I can't just ignore the MSG shows, some are quality, some aren't, and they're all worth talking about.
Guest

Guest

7
LFC Blog
 

Review: Undertaker DVD, Part 4.

Now, the DVD set moves into the heart of the Attitude Era. I don't mind that, as it's a time period I enjoy. Most people say that a person's favorite wrestling period is the one they grew up on. I don't necessarily disagree, even though late-80's NWA is my favorite, this is right behind. I don't give a damn how many people look back and think it sucks. If you disagree, comment and we can discuss it.   And since the Kings won, I'm doing this tonight. Otherwise, I wouldn't work on it until tomorrow.   ___________________   From IYH: Unforgiven in 1998, we have The Undertaker v. Kane w/Paul Bearer in an Inferno Match.   Prematch: This is the end of the UT/Kane feud until they come full-circle with partners they each don't trust, and then they decide to team up themselves. Rinse and repeat about 10 times, and you have Kane's career. The inferno visuals are cool, they kept the flame low so everyone could see.   Blow-by-blow: They trade punches (and I had the feeling I'd be saying that a lot...), until UT avalanches Kane in the corner. Kane's in this phase where he sells nothing, from nobody, so that's what he does. It's even worse than when Taker does it. UT goes up for OLD SCHOOL and the fire blaze gets really high, almost to the knee of UT as he's standing on the ropes. Kane just drops him on the turnbuckle, and hits him with some rights. Whip hard to buckle, rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times. Kane powerslams UT and they both try to smother each other, until Bearer tosses a chair into the ring. Kane hits UT with the chair, and then the camera pans to Bearer wiping the sweat off his face. Yeah, I'm sure those flames are hot. Kane pushes UT toward the flame AND BAH GAWD HE'S GONNA PUT HIS ASS ON FIRE, but Taker finds his way away from it. Taker gives him a russian leg sweep and a legdrop. CHOKESLAM, CHOKESLAM STRAIGHT TO HELL by Kane, so logically, Taker must return the favor. Then, both guys give each other a big boot. It looked weird. Undertaker misses his running, flying clothesline, and he almost flies too far and into the flames. That was close. Kane sideslams Taker and goes up to the top rope, but UT crotches him on the turnbuckle, then superplexes him. Kane gets tossed out over the top rope, but the flames don't get him. OK. What's the point of the match then. As Kane walks towards the back, Vader makes his first televised appearance since No Way Out of Texas, and gives Kane a piece of his mind. The two wrestlers get a little closer to the ring, and UT FLIES over the top rope with a tope, knocking both men down. Taker chases Bearer onto a stage set-up on the side, and puts a drum through Bearer's head after Bearer gives him a WEAK ASS chairshot. Bearer does a blade-job, and back at the ring, Undertaker knocks Kane into the fire after Kane CLEARLY put on a flame-retardant sleeve or something, and that's it. HE'S ON FIRE, OH MAH GAWD. The bell rings at 16:01.   Match analysis: It was weird. Really weird. Not negative star worthy or anything, but the booking was bizarre. The guys never should have left the ring, but then again, Kane would never have been able to put on the flame-retardant sleeve. It's not BAD though, like one would expect. The gimmick (and other reviews out there) tends to have people thinking the match is dogshit. *.   ___________________   From King of the Ring 1998, it's Mankind vs. The Undertaker, in Hell in a Cell.   Prematch: We all know what happens here. UT limps out and climbs the cell. Nothing else sticks out except for the sheer number of lighters while the lights are turned out. Goodness.   Blow-by-blow: Undertaker goes up the Cell, takes a few chairshots and throws Mick off the Cell. The bump still holds up to this day, and it will hold up forever. Two shittier workers, and nobody would have given a fuck. But because it was these two guys, because the Undertaker character was going in a darker direction, and because Mick Foley was supposed to be a sick sonofabitch, it worked. Moving on from that, I like seeing Hugo Savinovich of the Spanish announce team sprawled out after the giant throw off the Cell. It always makes me laugh. Terry Funk, Sgt. Slaughter and Vince McMahon make their way out, he does a stretcher job, BUT HE AIN'T DONE, BAH GAWD, HE'S CRAZY, HE'S SICK!   Stop here. Nothing tops this. I would have loved to seen Mick return the favor, and that would have been the perfect way to end the match, IMO.   They both re-climb the Cell, and Undertaker headbutts Mick. That's a strange thing to see Taker do. Then Taker chokeslams Mick through the Cell. This bump is more impressive than the first, I think. Once UT struggles to get through the hole in the Cell, he chokeslams Terry Funk out of his shoes. Legit LOL there, from both my brother, my father and I. Like I said, I don't watch these alone. This channel brings back good, old memories. Taker punches Mick, and Mick falls down in a heap. It's almost funny, in a sick way. Then the infamous clip of Foley's tooth in his nose follows, and he SAYS that he was trying to stick his tongue through a hole in his lip, but his beard kept everyone from seeing it. For some reason, I'm not so sure about that one. Taker goes up for OLD SCHOOL, but Mick knocks him off. Taker grabs the stairs because Mick can't hold them, so they improvise and Taker launches the stairs into Mick's injured shoulder. Geez, dude. Watch out. Taker then flies into the cell, and you can see the guy scraping his blade up toward his face, trying to get his face to cut. Business exposure, kids. Learn to love it, learn to live with it, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, AND SO ARE THE FOUR HORSEMEN. Sorry. Back in the ring...Mick piledrives Taker onto a chair for two. I'm calling him Mick because his mask is gone, see. A legdrop onto Taker as a chair is draped over Taker's face gets 2, then Mick gives him an ugly looking double arm DDT. He goes under the ring...and we have TACKS. OH MY GAWD, TACKS, TACKS, HE'S SICK...but Mick gives UT FINGERS IN THE MOUTH a MANDIBLE CLAW instead. UT lifts Mick on his back, and then drops him onto a small portion of the TACKS. But Mick ROLLS IN THEM. A chokeslam on the tacks gets most of them stuck to Mick's back, and then Mick gets TOMBSTONE'D for the finish at 17:38.   Match analysis:   1. Both bumps off the top of the Cell were nuts.   2. Most people deride the match because they think all it was, was two big bumps and some thumbtacks.   No.   Fuck those people. The match told a story. A story about two sick motherfuckers that would do anything to win. The only thing that irks me, is that they weren't trying to win anything in particular. Except for pride. And with the history of these two, that's all it takes. I'm stuck in the middle about how I really feel about this match. I've watched it about 10 times including the live airing, I have it on DVD, and my opinion still hasn't changed. So my rating shall be in the middle, as well. **1/2. It isn't the best one of these matches, but it's memorable, and with damn good reason.   ___________________   From King of the Ring 1999, it's a World Wrestling Federation Championship match, with the challenger being The Rock, and the Champion being The Undertaker. Undertaker is accompanied by Paul Bearer...   Prematch: Undertaker is just sick at this point, I'll leave it at that. Yes, this is the PPV where Billy Gunn wins the King of the Ring. No, I haven't seen the whole PPV, or this match. I made a point not to order any WWF PPV's post WM XV until Royal Rumble 2000, and I haven't seen a single one in between, although I watched RAW all the time. My parents felt that ripped off by WM XV, and I didn't disagree. Instead, we ordered WCW PPV's.   Yeah.   Blow-by-blow: Ref bump quick and early before anything starts, and if history is any indication, it should be good. Remember Ground Zero 1997? Unfortunately, when Vince Russo's booking, both logic and history is thrown in the garbage. This match was 3rd from last at this PPV, Billy Gunn's KotR win and a shitty Austin ladder match followed. Anyway, ROCK BOTTOM, HE JUST HIT ROCK BOTTOM, but there's no ref. The new one gets to the ring, and Bearer pulls him out while he was making the count. Fuck. Overbooking at the start? I'm used to that at the finish. Bearer punches the new ref to the ground, and a UT chokeslam gets 2. This match is going in reverse. Rocky clotheslines Taker to gain control, and does his spit punch to finish the combination. This guy was, and is, GOLD. He throws UT out of the ring, and now we brawl. They beat each other up near the stage, and on the way back toward the ring, Taker suplexes Rocky in the entranceway. Back in, and an Undertaker cover gets a 1 count. Armwringer and OLD SCHOOL follows, but nope, Taker's nuts must suffer after being crotched along the top rope. Rocky has a water bottle, and he takes a swig and spits it out at Taker. He's still getting the catchphrases down, and stuff. Into the crowd we go, and Rocky pours beer on Taker. Back near the announce table after some shitty brawling, and Rocky rams the face of Taker into the ringbell. Taker grabs the bell, and Rocky has a chair, and the weapons meet. Who the fuck came up with that idea. The visual is terrible, and accomplishes nothing other than that hitting a bell with a chair hurt Rocky. Bearer then hits Rocky with his shoe. Uh. Lots of Taker punches, and his running DDT gets 2. To the chinlock we go, then Rocky powers out and gives Taker a samoan drop for 2. Double clothesline follows, and Rocky's up first. A Taker TOMBSTONE attempt leads to a Rocky counter, as Rocky DDT's him. Ref bump after a whip and collision, and we HAVE THE PEOPLE'S ELBOW. THE PEOPLE'S ELBOW PAD COMES OFF, AND HE DROPS THE FUCKING ELBOW for no count, as there isn't a ref to do so. Taker gives Rock a nutshot, and Bearer has a rag. He soaks it with ETHER. AND BAH GAWD, IT SMELLS LIKE ETHER. This shit is so fucking stupid, I remember when Taker was going to embalm Steve Austin alive and that sort of booking really reminds me of it. Maybe because it's done by the same guy, I dunno. Well, actually, I do. Rocky steals the rag after a clothesline, and smothers Undertaker with it. But Triple H HAS to come to the ring, and he HAS to PEDIGREE Rocky, and JR has to call him a lousy, no good son of a bitch, and we have to have a run-in, and just fuck it I want this to be over. Taker somehow gets his finger on Rocky as both are out, but Rocky kicks out at 2. Taker gets up first, and TOMBSTONE'S Rocky for the win at 19:47. HHH came out because he's in the Corporate Ministry, ya know?   Match analysis: It's a really shitty, really overbooked title match. My initial rating while watching it was *1/2, but after thinking about it, there's really no way I can go that high. The brawling sucked. The booking sucked. The promos before this match on RAW sucked (yes, I do remember. Learning tree yourself, bitch.). Just the overall writing of the company sucked, but damn, I look on it fondly. The match is 1/2*, and I can't possibly watch it again. If you can't book a 20 minute straight wrestling match ONCE in your ENTIRE fucking life, chances are you're on the wrong business. And you show me a match that Russo booked all by himself that went more than 20 minutes, without run-ins, ref bumps, ether soaked rags, human torches, graveyards, celebrity world champions, a tazer, a heel turn, a "shoot", "blood" coming out of the ceiling, partners that hate each other, tits and ass, or any other shitty gimmick out there...   and I'll show you Michael Jordan. Seriously, if anyone can find a straight, non-gimmicked, Russo booked wrestling match with none of the things I mentioned, I'll review it. I don't think such a thing exists. To be truthful, in this case, Undertaker carried the match. I'm not shittin'. I don't know if this match, with this booking, could have been any better.   ___________________   And that's it. I don't know what I'll do next, but I'll have something done tomorrow. I sure would like to see some comments after some of the statements I've made...   This part of the DVD is worth a watch, if you haven't seen the Inferno match. But if you want to watch it until the end, please take caution. And try to laugh, as often as possible.
Guest

Guest

6
LFC Blog
 

Review: Mostly RAW from 1/7/08.

Ok, nothing for Smackdown. I barely even watched it, although I like that Rey's going to face Edge at the Royal Rumble. I thought Chavo's match against Funaki was good, that was the only thing I watched in its entirety. Also, I like the "Edge Heads" gimmick, although the shorter guy doesn't seem to be a very good wrestler. That's all I have to say. ___________________   So, the first show I watched in its entirety was ECW from 2-11-96.   - The segment at the beginning of the show was gigantically long. Like about 20-25 minutes long. First, Taz attacked Rey Mysterio. The SHAH and JT Smith came out to help Rey, and they started fighting. Guess that makes sense. Woman then came out, and 2 Cold Scorpio carried her out of the building. Stevie Richards then came out to the ring, along with the Blue Meanie. They offered Sandman a chance to back out of his match against Raven, and he said no. He canes all of them, and we cut away, to Raven at the ring. Stevie has a surprise for him, and it's that he's suing Missy Hyatt. She comes out, and then Sandman comes out, who canes the members of Raven's Nest, and joins Missy Hyatt. I deliberately typed that as convoluted sounding as possible, because, well, it was a convoluted segment. One that I didn't care for.   - The next thing on the show was an advertisement for the video tape, "Big Apple Blizzard Blast." A Current Affair was shooting footage, and the main things on the show were Sabu vs. Mr. Hughes and The Gangstas vs. 2 Cold Scorpio and the Sandman. Yeeeeah. ___________________   We have our first match next, it's Tommy Dreamer and Shane Douglas vs. Stevie Richards and Raven. Now, the rundown of things I thought were notable.   - Stevie put on a Razor Ramon t-shirt, and threw a toothpick at Shane. That was funny, at least until Shane ripped the Razor t-shirt off and went to work on Stevie.   - Cactus Jack runs in, and tries to beat up Shane. He leaves after a little bit. See, that's the one thing I don't get about run-ins during the middle of the match. Why wouldn't you stick around for the duration, instead of getting one or two punches in and leaving?   - Sandman canes everyone, and leaves. After that, there were many nearfalls.   - When Tommy gets introduced to the match via hot tag, weapons make their appearance. Meanie accidentally gives Stevie a moonsault, and Tommy gets knocked out, on a double collision. Beulah's been out there the whole time, so she tapes a frying pan to Tommy's right foot. He then gets up and gives Stevie Richards an enziguri, for the pinfall. Time announced was like 19:something, but that much certainly was not shown. Anyway, I liked it. ___________________   Lastly, was the match between Taz and the Shark Attack Kid. Talk about a good wrestling name. Taz wins the bout after the Tazmission and multiple suplexes, and afterward, grabs a microphone. He talks trash about 911, until 911's "music" hits. At least the geniuses at WWE 24/7 use the same dubbed music for each wrestler, instead of having it be different all the time. Otherwise I really wouldn't have understood the segment. Well, Tod Gordon comes to the ring instead of 911, and says that 911 is gone. GONE. And now, Bill Alfonso wants to fight Tod. So they do, until Tod gets the upper hand, at which point Taz comes in and beats up Gordon. BAM BAM FUCKING BIGELOW hits the ring, and chases off Taz. I knew that was going to happen because of the program description, but still, it's Bam Bam Bigelow. He grabs the microphone and says that Taz won't be able to suplex him. End show.   Well, I liked the ending, and was indifferent to the rest. The show was decent. This Bam Bam thing could be great... ___________________   The last show I watched in between my last review and this one, was Monday Night RAW, last night. So, here's how it went.   - At the beginning of the show, Vince McMahon was at the RAW ROULETTE WHEEL with William Regal. He tells Regal that he'll be facing HHH tonight, so now, we spin the wheel. And it's a FIRST BLOOD MATCH!!!! Regal leaves the room, and HHH attacks him in the hall. Ha. This should be fun.   The first match on the show was going to be Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Kennedy, or so it would seem. But the wheel lands on a...STRANGE BEDFELLOWS MATCH. I didn't have a clue as to what this was, but McMahon says that both HBK and Kennedy will be teaming up against another strange team. So, it winds up being HBK and Kennedy vs. Charlie Haas and Trevor Murdoch.   - Haas' gimmick blows. I thought it was funny, in the worst way possible. That won't last for long. In case you didn't know, he goes under the ring at some random point during the match and puts on a mask.   - Toward the end, Kennedy wouldn't help HBK make the tag. So HBK made the comeback all by himself, giving both opponents SWEET CHIN MUSIC. Unbeknownst to HBK, Kennedy had made a blind tag, so after giving Haas SCM, Kennedy gave HBK the "Mic Check," gaining him the pinfall over Haas. I didn't time it, as I was doing something else. Again, sorry. *1/2, with the forewarning that Haas' gimmick has the potential to ruin matches. The Mic Check is just a fancy name for a downward spiral. Also, Kennedy's spray-on tan was coming off. It looked disgusting. His skin color looked like that of Hulk Hogan, at least where the tan was still remaining. ___________________   The next match was Hardcore Holly vs. Carlito in a "Trading Places" match. Ok, I can't believe another WWE wrestler doesn't copy gimmicks, much in the same fashion of this match. Trading Places denotes that each wrestler dresses like the other.   - I was surprised to see that Holly wasn't taking the gimmick too seriously. He had fun with it, which definitely was a surprise, this being Hardcore Holly, and all.   - Holly spit an apple in Carlito's face, and gave him the Alabama Slam for the victory. Carlito stuck around to do jobs for Hardcore Holly? *. ___________________   Before the commercial, Jim Ross sneaks in a "SPIN THE WHEEL, MAKE THE DEAL" reference. I knew he would. Only makes sense, don't it.   Vince McMahon and Maria were backstage, to determine a match for all the Divas. The wheel landed on "Submission," but Vince moved the wheel over to a Lingerie Pillow Fight. That's not all, though. Afterward, Vince tells Hornswoggle that he needs to find a partner for a tag match, in which the winning team qualifies for the Royal Rumble.   The Pillow Fight was on after the commercial. I didn't pay attention, all I know is that Ashley pinned Jillian Hall after a flying elbow. What I saw, sucked. Hard. These are unrateable anyway. ___________________   So, Hornswoggle was looking for a partner. Santino laughed at him. I was reading the RAW thread, and I have to agree with something Conspiracy_Victim said. Playing to the stereotype with Santino would be great.   Ok, the next match is the First Blood match, between HHH and William Regal.   - I liked it, but there really wasn't a whole lot to say. HHH punched Regal a whole bunch, and made Regal bleed. The end. **1/2. After the match, HHH gave Regal a PEDIGREE and celebrated. I'm not an HHHater, but I still think that was unnecessary. He's still putting people over, though, so why complain? That said, the product is about 1,000,000 times better than when I quit watching. I really like what I've seen thus far, for the most part. ___________________   The next match was Chris Jericho...in what was a HANDICAP MATCH. He's facing Snitsky and...JBL. Not much surprise, there. Besides, the newer fan needs to see JBL in-ring before the Rumble, so this is acceptable.   - Ok, JBL looked a little flabby. Why is this a bad thing? I see way too much hypocrisy from Smarks these days. These guys aren't supposed to use steroids, and you make fun of those who do. But when you see a guy who doesn't, you make fun of him too? Idiots.   - JBL hits Jericho with the ring bell at the end of the match, giving Jericho the win by DQ. 1/2*. Now, JBL grabs a cable, and begins to choke Jericho with it. He ties a noose around Jericho's neck, and drags him all the way towards the entrance. He begins to hang Jericho on the scaffolding on the side of the entrance, but various officials/road agents come out to stop the beating. Ok, that was cool. And now, the thing with Benoit never crossed my mind, nor would it ever have unless someone mentioned it. I'm kinda sensitive when it comes to things like that (although not a straight out bitch), but really guys, let it go. There's really nothing offensive about the Jericho segment at all. Plus, a segment like that could garner a few more PPV buys. Note that I said could. ___________________   Now, it's time for the Hornswoggle tag team match, as he's found a partner to face the Highlanders. It's some guy named BK Jordan. However, MICK FOLEY, being the man that he is, ABSOLUTELY MUST help the little guy. So he decides to be Hornswoggle's partner.   - The match was way too long, let's put it that way. Hornswoggle won the bout after a frog splash. Sorry, I'm not calling it a tadpole splash. *1/4. The match was too long, it should've been a Foley squash. I wonder why Foley's going to be in the Rumble. I have this feeling that he'll get in the Elimination Chamber and win, OR, he'll go after CM Punk in a face vs. face thing leading up to WrestleMania. Hell, he could do both, putting Punk over huge at WrestleMania. Or he could do neither and disappear after the Rumble, considering that the WWE would never let Foley pick up pinfalls in an Elimination Chamber match, and losing in such a match would damage any possible rub he could give Punk. ___________________   In the main event, it was Jeff Hardy vs. Umaga in a cage match. Randy Orton's at ringside, btw.   - Ok, here's the first of many cool spots. Umaga backdropped Hardy into the cage...   - Randy Orton threw multiple chairs into the ring, and Umaga complied with Orton's wishes by hitting Hardy in the back with one of them...   - Jeff Hardy threw a chair at Umaga...but before that, he crotched Umaga on the top rope, and delivered a Poetry in Motion to him, knocking Umaga into the cage.   - Jeff gave Umaga a DDT into a chair, and while trying to escape through the door, Orton shut the door in his face.   - Umaga tried to give Jeff a SAMOAN SPIKE, but Jeff gave him the TWIST OF FATE. Then, Hardy climbed up the cage, and delivered a WHISPER IN THE WIND FROM THE TOP, which helped him to gain the pinfall, after a match that lasted around 15 minutes. Ok, that match rocked. I guess I was right about these two being able to have a really good match, wasn't I? ***3/4. Umaga's nerve hold was the only negative to what was a great match. Hardy then climbed up the cage, and stared down Randy Orton to end the show. Honestly, I thought Hardy was going to jump off onto Orton. That would've been awesome. ___________________   This show was pretty good, and far beyond my expectations. As long as the product stays like this, I'll keep watching. And the Royal Rumble card looks great, IMO. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do with the Ladder Match DVD. Needless to say, my next "Random Thoughts" piece will have something to say about that, ECW from later today, and the MSG show from 1980.
Guest

Guest

6
LFC Blog
 

Review: WWE Survivor Series 2007, from Miami, Florida, 11/18/2007.

Opening video, and there we are, Survivor Series 2007. ___________________   The first match is John Morrison vs. the Miz vs. CM Punk for the ECW Championship.   Blow-by-blow: Much like Last Man Standing, three-way matches are not my favorite. Morrison and Miz stomp on Punk at the start, but Punk comes back on Miz with a sunset flip for 2. Morrison slingshots Punk into the turnbuckles, but Punk flies back off with a springboard crossbody for a 2 count on Morrison. Punk tosses both Morrison and Miz out of the ring, and flies out onto both with a tope. Punk goes for the slingshot clothesline but Miz blocks him, and Morrison attacks Punk. Morrison and Miz give Punk a double suplex, but Miz dumps Morrison out afterward. Miz gives Punk a back suplex for 2 and applies a camel clutch, but Punk powers out and gives him an enziguri. Morrison dropkicks Miz out and gives Punk a neckbreaker for 2, before applying a strang looking chinlock. Morrison tosses Punk over the top, but as Punk tries to skin the cat, Miz grabs onto his legs and pulls him down to the floor. Morrison suplexes Miz in for a 2 count, and Miz replies with a stroke on Morrison that gets a 2 count. Miz clotheslines Morrison in the corner for a 2 count, but misses a charge, and Morrison responds with a SPLIT-LEGGED SKY TWISTER PRESS for a 2 count. Yes, I just said that. Punk comes back into the ring and places Morrison on the top, where he gives him a frankensteiner. Unfortunately, he frankensteiner'd Morrison into the Miz, who powerbombed him. Punk gives Miz a leg lariat, and follows that up with the knee to the head and bulldog for a 2 count. Punk gives Miz a double-underhook backbreaker for 2, and Morrison quickly comes in, rolling Punk up for a 2 count. Punk tries to give Miz a GO TO SLEEP, and isn't able to, but after Miz gets Morrison out of the way, he's able to give Miz a GO TO SLEEP for the win at 7:58. Yeah, Punk retains.   Match Analysis: Yeah, that was good. Probably would've been better if longer, but I didn't care for the finish. The rest of the match was good, especially for an opener, so **3/4. ___________________   Friday on Smackdown, MVP attacked Matt Hardy's knee, putting him on the shelf.. He has an interview, and yeah, Matt Hardy won't be in the elimination match later tonight. ___________________   Now, we have a 10 Diva tag team match, which features Beth Phoenix (Women's Champ), Layla, Jillian, Victoria and Melina vs. Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Maria and Mickie James. I can't really review this, for two reasons. #1, it's meaningless, and will take up more space than I want it to. #2, I assign letters to each name, when I take notes. There are so many matching letters that begin each persons name, making it impossible to keep track. Anyhow, this was non-elimination, and at first, I didn't think there would be time for everyone to tag in. But they did. There were a few comedy spots, and Mickie James gave Melina an UGLY kick for the pinfall victory at 4:41. 1/2*. ___________________   Coach and Regal are in the back, watching Hornswoggle. You know, he's facing the Great Khali later. Earlier though, Randy Orton and Shawn Michaels had some things to say about their match later tonight. ___________________   That leads us to Hardcore Holly and Cody Rhodes vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the World Tag Team Titles...   Blow-by-blow: Honestly, I can't fathom how this could make it to PPV. Seriously. Cade shoulderblocks Rhodes to start things off, and follows it up with a hiptoss. Rhodes responds with a dropkick, and a sunset flip for 2. Cade gives Rhodes a backbreaker, and Murdoch tags in. He tries to give Rhodes a back suplex, but he counters and tags in Holly. Holly chops away, but Murdoch rams him into the buckle. Cade tags in and misses a charge, so Holly sets up that kick to the nuts he's been doing forever. He clotheslines Cade over the top, and Rhodes tosses Murdoch over the top onto Cade. Cade comes in and misses a charge to the corner, so Holly rolls him up for 2. Murdoch comes in and gives Holly a big boot, following it up with a cover for 2. Cade tags in, and after a Murdoch slam, he drops Murdoch onto Holly, which gets a two count. Murdoch tags right back in, and after a snapmare, he goes to the chinlock. He tries a suplex, but Holly blocks it and gives him one of his own. Cade tags in, but he misses an elbowdrop...although he's able to follow it up with a clothesline. Murdoch tags in and Cade tries to drop him on Holly again, but that misses. Rhodes makes the lukewarm tag, gives Murdoch a clothesline, and then a backdrop. He gives Murdoch a bulldog, and comes off the top with a missile dropkick. Holly clotheslines Cade over the top, and Rhodes goes for a DDT, but Murdoch gives him a Rey Mysterio style sunset-flip powerbomb for 3 at 7:18. After the match, Holly leaves Rhodes in the ring. I guess that counts for dissension nowadays.   Match Analysis: Typical WWE tag match. Not good, and not bad. Just ok. *3/4. ___________________   Todd Grisham is with Kane, Rey Mysterio, Jeff Hardy and HHH in the back, for an interview. Without Matt Hardy, they're a man down. And you know what, HHH has history with two of the other three, as mentioned. He says he's sorry for the Katie Vick thing, and he's also sorry for beating the hell out of Jeff back in 2001. Great guy, that Triple H. ___________________   Yeah, this is our only traditional Survivor Series Match. It's Mr. Kennedy, Finlay, Big Daddy V, MVP (US Champion) and UMAGA vs. Jeff Hardy (Intercontinental Champion), Triple H, Kane, and Rey Mysterio.   Blow-by-blow: On the heel side, there is not a single credible wrestler. Not a one. On the face side, you have 3 former World Champions, and another who will be the fourth soon enough. Rey and Kennedy start, and Kennedy applies a wristlock. Rey reverses, and shoots Kennedy into the ropes, where Kennedy gives him a shoulderblock for 2. Kennedy misses a charge at Rey, and Rey gives him a flying headscissors. Rey gives him a sunset-flip powerbomb for 2, and tags in Hardy. Hardy gives Kennedy a POETRY IN MOTION, and rams him into the buckle. Kennedy comes back with a clothesline, and MVP tags in, with a cover for 2. Viscera tags in, and gives Jeff a headbutt. That's followed up with a shoulderblock, and Viscera walks over Jeff. Kane tags in, HOSS CENTRAL, Viscera gives him a belly-to-belly suplex. Kane gives Viscera a clothesline, and MVP gets side-slammed. Kane comes off the top with a clothesline, and he chokeslams Finlay. Viscera gives Kane a surprise samoan drop, and the BIG ELBOWDROP for 3 at 5:29. An ode to old Survivor Series matches, with that elbowdrop and all. Unintentionally funny.   With Kane gone, HHH comes in and gives Viscera the knee-to-face, but Viscera follows up with a clothesline. He misses a splash, and Umaga tags in. Umaga misses a charge to the corner, but comes back with a belly-to-belly suplex. He misses a diving headbutt off the 2nd rope, and Rey tags in. Umaga tries to sit on Rey after a big kick, but he misses, and Rey gives him a seated dropkick for 2. Rey is unable to give Umaga a springboard hurricanrana, but he rana's Umaga into the ropes, for the 619. It connects, but the seated senton which follows only gets a 2 count. Umaga gives Rey a GIGANTIC swinging side slam, and the SAMOAN SPIKE follows for the pinfall at 9:18. Wow, what a good finish to the fall.   Down to 2 on the babyface side, so Hardy goes into the ring to face Umaga. Kennedy tags in though, but misses a charge to the corner. Hardy dropkicks Kennedy, but lands on his head after missing that seated dropkick of his in the corner. MVP tag in, and gives Hardy a gorilla press slam out of fireman's carry position. MVP misses a big boot, and Hardy pins him for three after a TWIST OF FATE at 12:51.   Kennedy comes in, but Hardy gives him an enziguri, before making the tag to HHH. HHH clotheslines Kennedy for 2, and gives him a spinebuster. Viscera comes in on the pin attempt and accidentally gives Kennedy an elbowdrop, so he charges at HHH. HHH pulls down the top rope to send Viscera out, and pins Kennedy for the 3 count at 14:24. Kennedy laid there for a while.   Jeff gets rammed into the post by Viscera on the outside, and brings him back in. He works on HHH, and sets things up so that he can squash both. Both Jeff and HHH avoid him, and give Viscera a double DDT for three at 15:28.   Now we're down to 2 on each side, with it being Finlay and Umaga vs. Jeff and HHH. Yeah, that's an even matchup. Finlay comes in, and gives HHH a european uppercut. That's followd up with a clothesline and elbowdrop, but Finlay misses a jump off the top, eating boot. Jeff tags in, and gives Finlay the seated dropkick in the corner for 2, but Umaga gives Jeff a big foot to the face on the ring apron. Inside, Finlay clotheslines Jeff for 2, but Jeff counters an Irish whip with a WHISPER IN THE WIND. After a Jeff enziguri, HHH tags in. High knee for Finlay, spinebuster, PEDIGREE and Finlay's gone at 21:17. Umaga comes in, takes HHH to the corner, and misses the running ass-to-face. HHH gives him the PEDIGREE, and tags Jeff in for the SWANTON BOMB, getting the three count and the victory at 22:09.   Survivors: Jeff Hardy and Triple H.   Match Analysis: The match slowed down when we got to 2 on 2. That sucked. Before that, the match was **** quality. As it was, I'll give it ***1/4. In hindsight, is this the match that jumpstarted Jeff's mini-push? I'd say no, judging from crowd reaction. The fans weren't as amped about this as they were when he beat HHH at Armageddon. ___________________   You know, Shaq's in the crowd. Too bad he doesn't play for the Heat anymore.   Regal and Coach are still with the midget, Vince McMahon comes in, and tells Hornswoggle he has a reputation to uphold. ___________________   Now, we have the match, Hornswoggle vs. the Great Khali. Shane McMahon comes out for some reason, to no crowd reaction. Well, that went well. Vince comes out too, and then, Hornswoggle. Ranjin Singh comes out with Khali, and says that this is a sanctioned match and all that. The fans chant that they want Shaq, but they're not getting it. Anyhow, Hornswoggle gives Singh green mists, beats him up, and goes under the ring to grab a shillelagh. Khali tosses it away and smacks Hornswoggle, so Finlay runs out to get Hornswoggle disqualified at 3:15. Finlay beats up Khali. Wow. This was about 3:15 too long, so in that case, I'm going to rate it -***. Brutal angle, brutal "match." ___________________   Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Title is next, and if Orton is disqualified, he loses his belt. If HBK uses Sweet Chin Music, he doesn't get another title shot at Orton for the duration of his reign. Simple? I think so.   Blow-by-blow: To start, Shawn goes to a neck vice, and continues it, until Orton tries to slam him. He can't, so Orton stomps HBK anyway. HBK chops away and shoulderblocks Orton, before going to a chinlock. To a front-facelock we go, until HBK tosses Orton out of the ring. HBK baseball-slides Orton, and follows it up with a quebrada. Haven't seen him do that in forever. Shawn tosses Orton into the ring, and comes off the top with a crossbody, although it's reversed for a 2 count. Shawn takes Orton down and applies the SHARPSHOOTER...you know why? Its been 10 years since Montreal, that's why, although this spot would've been better served being near the end of the match. Orton makes the ropes and drops Shawn neck-first otno them, and gives him a few kneedrops. Orton gives Shawn an elevated DDT for 2, and he goes to the chinlock. After 10 minutes this has been slow, but still, good. So far, anyway. Shawn powers out and chops away, before following it up with the flying forearm, and kip-up. He gives Orton an inverted atomic drop, but Orton responds with a dropkick for 2. Shawn rolls Orton up for two, and slams him twice, before heading up top. Shawn comes down with a flying elbow, and he TUNES UP THE BAND FOR SWEET CHIN MUSIC. Oh wait, he knows he'll get DQ'd, so he cradles Orton for 2. Crowd really liked that. Orton reverses a Shawn roll-up for two, so Shawn replies by putting him in the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE! That move elicits a strange reaction, but Orton makes the ropes. Orton rolls through a crossface attempt, and clotheslines Shawn for a 2 count. Orton gives him the 3.0 backbreaker, and gets ready for the RKO...but he decides to kick Shawn instead. Shawn catches the punt attempt and goes for the ANKLE LOCK, he gets it, and applies the HEEL HOOK as well. Should be death...but it ain't. Orton makes the ropes, so Shawn tries to apply the FIGURE-FOUR, but Orton kicks him into the ringpost. He goes for the RKO, but Shawn counters...and goes for SWEET CHIN MUSIC. In mid-move he realizes he can't do that, so Orton gives him the RKO for the victory at 17:48.   Match Analysis: I didn't think it was as good as Cyber Sunday, simply because it didn't quite pick up from the start. An enjoyable **3/4 match, but nothing you'd remember for longer than a few days. ___________________   The main event is The Undertaker vs. Batista for the World Heavyweight Championship in a Hell in a Cell, but first, there's a Saveus.22 promo, cause he'll be there tomorrow.   Blow-by-blow: I hate when the Champion enters first. Hate, hate, hate. The cell is a lot taller than it used to be, which is the easiest thing to notice, visually speaking. They lock-up, and when shot into the ropes, Batista gives Taker a shoulderblock. Taker comes back with some punches and goes for the chokeslam, but instead he clotheslines Batista for 2. He gives Batista an elbowdrop and takes him to the buckle, for SNAKE EYES. The big boot follows for 2, and seeing as it only got two, Taker's pissed. He goes to grab a chair, and when bringing it in, Batista spears him. Batista grabs the chair, but Taker boots it into his face, and clotheslines him for a 2 count. To the outside, and Taker rams Batista into the steel steps. He grates Batista's face along the fencing of the cell, and gives him the apron legdrop. Taker puts a chair on Batista's throat, and rams it into the steel steps, driving the chair into his throat. Batista bites the blood capsule, as Taker chokes him with his boot, and rams the chair into Batista's chest. Back in and the cover gets two...so Taker goes for OLD SCHOOL. Batista catches him and gives him a spinebuster, and they slug it out afterward, ending in a Batista clothesline for a 2 count. Batista clotheslines Taker and powerslams him, which gets a 3 count. Outside, Batista whips Taker into the cell and clotheslines him, and then he torpedo launches Taker into the cell. You know, JBL is an awful commentator. Taker hits Batista in the head with a chair, so now Batista is bleeding. On the inside we get a cover for 2, and Taker goes for OLD SCHOOL AGAIN, but Batista crotches him and superplexes him. Batista goes for the cover, but Taker applies the TRIANGLE CHOKE. Batista makes it to the ropes and bails to the outside, so Taker dives onto him. Taker grabs the steel stemps, but Batista kicks them away and rams him into the post. Batista hits Taker with the steps, and Taker does a lazy bladejob. You can see the guy swiping at his forehead...it looked ridiculous. Anyway, Taker's bleeding pretty bad, and when brought back in, Batista takes Taker to the corner for a 10 punch. Taker comes out with a LAST RIDE, and from being a fresh spot at WM 17, I think I've seen it about 20 times on 24/7 over the past few months. I hate it now. The cover only gets two, and Taker follows it up with a CHOKESLAM, but that only gets 2. Taker tries a TOMBSTONE, but Batista counters and gives him a spinebuster. This is the good stuff. The cover only gets 2, so Batista goes outside to get...a TABLE. Hell yeah. He BATISTA BOMBS Taker through it, and that gets a 2 count. Batista goes to grab the bottom of the steps from the outside, and on a BATISTA BOMB attempt, Taker backdrops him onto them for a 2 count. A TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER also can only get a 2 count, but a TOMBSTONE on the STEEL STEPS does the job. Batista would've been down for three, but EDGE (to no surprise, although making his return) comes out from under the ring and pulls the referee to the outside. He clocks Taker in the head with a TV camera, and grabs the bottom of the steps that are currently in the ring. He gives Taker a con-chair-to using those steps as the 2nde, and puts Batista on top of Taker, giving Batista the pinfall victory at 21:25. No DQ, so the ref had to count. After the match, Edge hits Taker in the head with a chair, and that's the end of the show.   Match Analysis: Hell of a match...with great use of interference. I don't understand how these two slugs always have good matches, but they do. Hell, I think these two have had the best hoss vs. hoss matches that have taken place in the WWF/E. I'm going to rate it ***3/4. Worth watching. It was better than the match at Cyber Sunday, but I have a hard time giving it ****. 90% of all other hoss matches are shit, so...this is a rarity. ___________________   Rating: Good. There were four matches near the *** mark, so that's good. Plus, Hell in a Cell was very memorable.   Best Segment: Hell in a Cell.   Worst Segment: Hornswoggle vs. Khali. You know, I didn't know if something would top the Diva match, but this certainly did, in the worst way imaginable. ___________________   I'll have a Saturday Night's Main Event review up next. The one that'll be up on 24/7 is SNME #5.
Guest

Guest

6
LFC Blog
 

Review: Saturday Night's Main Event #5, from Phoenix, Arizona, 3/1/86.

There's a whole bunch of stuff here. Hogan vs. Muraco, The British Bulldogs vs. the Dream Team...you really must watch this. There's one other thing, too, but we'll keep that a surprise. ___________________   Mean Gene is with Mr. T during his training for his boxing match later, he's ready to go to war. The intro to this show is great as always. As for the match Mr. T was talking about, Hulk Hogan set it up on Piper's Pit.   First, Mean Gene is with Bob Orton and Roddy Piper, who rag on Mr. T, as per usual.   Then Gene is with Mr. T, who doesn't care about Roddy Piper at all. ___________________   At this point, I think it's obvious what the next match is going to be. It's Mr. T vs. Boxing Bob Orton in a 10 round boxing match.   Blow-by-blow: If you think I'm going to review this seriously, I'm not. Mr. T using "Eye of the Tiger" as his entrance music was a nice touch. At the beginning, this looks better than the match this was used as set up for. Jesse Ventura says something about how Vince's ancestry (Irish) doesn't mean he knows everything about boxing. I laughed. Orton thumbed T in the eye, so there was a little break. When the bell to end the first round rang, Orton sucker punched Mr. T. Near the beginning of Round 2, Orton kneed T and worked on him with the referee distracted, but T punched Orton, knocking him over the top rope. That also gets the KO victory at about a minute into round #2. After the bout, Orton attacks Mr. T from behind, and Piper whips him with a belt. Jesse says this is Roots 2...nobody would ever get away with saying that now. They'd be lynched.   Match Analysis: Better than the boxing match that took place at WrestleMania 2, but it still wasn't very good. Out of kindness, DUD.   After the match, Gene Okerlund's with Mr. T, who wants Piper, ASAP. ___________________   Mean Gene is with King Kong Bundy and Bobby Heenan, who say that Bundy wants Hogan. They have a little plan cooked up, as well.   King Kong Bundy has a match though, he's facing Steve Gatorwolf.   Bundy takes him to the buckle, and after a few chops, gives him the AVALANCHE for the 5 count at 41 seconds. You know, because Bundy has to get a 5 count. Afterward, he takes the microphone from Howard Finkel, and says that he wants Hogan. NOW. 1/2*. ___________________   Mean Gene is with the Magnificent Muraco, and seeing as Mr. Fuji is sick...Bobby Heenan's going to be his manager tonight. The shot clips to a sick Fuji, and honestly, if I would've had something in my mouth, I would've done a spit-take. That was hilarious.   Mean Gene's with Hulk Hogan, who's ready, BROTHER. All my Hulkamaniacs, BROTHER. ___________________   So yeah, the Magnificent Muraco w/Bobby Heenan is facing Hulk Hogan for the WWF Title.   Blow-by-blow: This is the debut of Real American as Hogan's theme music. Cool. Muraco gives Hogan a shot to the gut, and rams him into the buckle. Muraco follows it up with a backrake, but Hogan backdrops him. Hogan stomps away and clotheslines Muraco, before giving him an atomic drop. He rams him into the ringpost, and sends him back into the ring. They slug it out, and the sequence ends with a big Hogan right hand for 2. Hogan gives Muraco a bearhug, but a Muraco headbutt breaks the hold. Muraco gives Hogan a legdrop and kneedrop for 2, and that is followed up with an Asian spike. Muraco headbutts Hogan down low...way down low, and gives him a russian leg sweep. Muraco comes off the 2nd rope with an Asian spike for 2, and now...it's time for the HULK-UP LITTLE DUDES. 3 punch, back elbow, boot, DROP THE FUCKIN' LEG, but Heenan runs in to get Muraco DQ'd at 6:53. Hogan has Heenan in a chokehold, but KING KONG BUNDY comes down to the ring, to attack Hogan. He gives Hogan three AVALANCHES in the corner, and two big splashes, before leaving. Hogan does a stretcher job and an ambulance ride...Gene Okerlund will be following him.   Match Analysis: It was ok, but not nearly the best match these two have had. Obviously that was because it was used as a vehicle to set up the possibility of a Bundy/Hogan match at WrestleMania. *3/4. ___________________   Before this match, Okerlund interviewed the Dream Team. Their non-title loss to the challengers on Championship Wrestling which aired on 2/1/86 meant nothing, they say.   You know who the challengers are? The British Bulldogs. Yeah, they're facing the Dream Team for the WWF Tag Titles.   Blow-by-blow: The Dream Team enter to "We Are the Champions." On most other shows, this would be the funniest thing on the night. But it wasn't on a different show, and it wasn't better than the clip of a sick Mr. Fuji. Valentine and Davey start, and Davey gives him an atomic drop. Dynamite headbutts Valentine from the apron, which Smith tries to capitalize on, only getting a 2 count though. Davey suplexes Valentine in for a 2 count, and then tags in Dynamite, who along with Davey gives Valentine a double clothesline. Dynamite headbutts Valentine for 2, but Beefcake is able to tag in. Dynamite knees him and rams him to the buckle, before Davey tags in. He works on the arm, and gives him a back elbow...which inadvertently allows Valentine to tag in. Davey press slams him for a 2 count, and after a tag to Dynamite, follows it up with a double headbutt. Dynamite gives the Hammer a kneedrop, and a back suplex. A falling headbutt comes soon after for 2, and a kneedrop from the 2nd rope does as well. Davey comes in and trades blows with Valentine, but Davey gets the best after a dropkick. Davey cradles Valentine for a 2 count, and tags in Dynamite. Valentine gives Dynamite an inverted atomic drop, and tags in Beefcake, but the managers are ARGUING ON THE OUTSIDE. We go to a   commercial break   and we're back, with Dynamite and Beefcake in the ring. Davey tags in, and gives Beefcake a missile dropkick. A big splash gets a 2 count, but Beefcake takes enough control to tag in Valentine. Valentine applies the FIGURE-FOUR leglock, but Dynamite quickly comes in and legdrops Valentine to break the hold. Dynamite tags in now and headbutts away, but Valentine elbows him and elbowdrops him from the 2nd rope for 2. A Valentine shoulderbreaker gets a 2 count, and he rams Dynamite into Beefcake's foot, before making the tag. Beefcake takes Dynamite to the canvas and kicks him for 2, before bringing Valentine back in. He forearms Dynamite for 2 and goes to apply the FIGURE-FOUR, but Dynamite kicks him away. Valentine goes to the top rope, but Dynamite slams him off and goes up, nailing Valentine with a missile dropkick for 2. Dynamite clotheslines Valentine for 2, and suplexes him for a 2 count. A shmoz ensues, but it ends when Valentine gives Dynamite a shoulderblock and falls on top of him for the pinfall at about 12 minutes or so.   Match Analysis: What a match. ****. Perfectly placed, with a well-done surprise ending. Saw the finish line coming, but didn't see how they'd get there. ___________________   Mean Gene's at the hospital, and he'll relay information on Hulk Hogan whenever possible. After, we have the premiere of the REAL AMERICAN video.     Felt like I should share that. It's great. ___________________   The last match on the card is Adrian Adonis w/Jimmy Hart vs. the Junkyard Dog, but first, Adrian Adonis is with Gene Okerlund. To say he acted gay is an understatement and a half.   Blow-by-blow: JYD's "Another One Bites the Dust" music is great. Honestly, if you haven't seen this stage of Adonis' gimmick, let's just say that he acts way more gay here than at the end of it. Adrian flames his way around the ring, so JYD beels him across the ring. JYD headbutts Adonis and sends him over the top, but Adonis is tied in the ropes, facing JYD. So JYD nails him a few times, and slingshots him in from the apron. JYD clotheslines Adonis which is accompanied by a 360 sell for 2, and in response, Adonis punches away. Like a sissy. JYD sends him to the buckle, upside down and over the top. JYD headbutts Jimmy Hart and imitates Adonis, then brings both of them into the ring. He throws Hart into Adonis, which knocks both men over the top rope. Adonis comes in and JYD misses a headbutt, so Jimmy Hart ties him onto the bottom rope with some of Adonis' entrance attire. Adonis chokes away on the JYD, until the referee pulls him off. Adonis gives JYD a fistdrop for 2, and goes for a piledriver. In mid-move JYD accidentally kicks the referee, so Adonis tries to grab Jimmy Hart's megaphone, to cheat. JYD takes the megaphone and rams it into Adonis, which gives him the pinfall victory at sometime between 8 and 9 minutes. After the bout, Adonis clocks JYD upside the head with the megaphone.   Match Analysis: This featured a lot of great spots, but that's all it was. Very little wrestling, so it'll get a *1/2 rating. All that said, it was a lot of fun. ___________________   Mean Gene's at the hospital with a report on Hulk Hogan, the physician says that Hulk's neck, ribs, and back are messed up. Recap of the show follows, and that's it. ___________________   Rating: Good. Has to be, with that great tag title match.   Best Segment: The British Bulldogs vs. the Dream Team/ Mr. Fuji being sick.   Worst Segment: Uh, the boxing match. Cannot stand. ___________________   WrestleMania 2 review will be up next.
Guest

Guest

6
LFC Blog
 

Review: Monday Night RAW and Monday Nitro from 6/23/1997.

From Detroit, Michigan, it's MONDAY NIGHT RAWWWWW ___________________   This show is in memory of Stan Stasiak, and I'm glad to see that wasn't cut out.   The Nation of Domination make their way down to the ring, because they have an interview with Vince McMahon. Ahmed Johnson does a majority of the talking, and he sucks at it. Just shut up already. The other Nation members say some stuff, and talk about Ahmed finally getting a shot at the Undertaker. O RLY? Crush and some white boys show up, all of them riding motorcycles. You see, Crush wants to ride 'til he dies. These guys are the Disciples of Apocalypse. They must hate blacks, because now they fight with the Nation, until officials and police come down to the ring and break it up. ___________________ Preview of the show....and after a crazy LOD promo, we have Rockabilly w/Honky Tonk Man taking on Ken Shamrock.   - Shamrock finally has the same music for a second week in a row. Dan Severn is on commentary, FWIW.   - Vince goes to bat for the UFC, and starts talking about how officials are trying to have it shut down...needless to say, Vince would not be defending the UFC today, or even talking about it. Shamrock ANKLE LOCK gets the tapout at 2:38. 1/2*. Honky wanted to hit Shamrock with his guitar, but Shamrock turned around before that could happen. Honky just left, and now, Severn and Shamrock are staring each other down. They shake hands, and Shamrock raises Severn's hand. Lame. ___________________   The Godwinns have something to say, and they say it before their first round tag tournament match with the Legion of Doom.   - The Godwinns toss foilage at LOD before the match...it wasn't even slop, for cryin' out loud. They're out of the farmer phase as well, as evidenced by the lack of yellow shirts.   - Apparently Ken Shamrock has been attacked by the Hart Foundation...we're supposed to hear more about that, but we never do. Hawk gives Henry a flying clothesline off the top, giving LOD the pinfall victory to advance into the semi-finals, at 3:42. It was an awkward looking finish as Henry landed on Animal's back, so I'll give it *. The Hart Foundation (sans Bret, who's at the stage) comes down to the ring and attacks LOD with chairs, leaving them down and out in the middle of the ring. ___________________   Thomas Hearns is there...YEAH, boy. Probably my favorite fighter of all-time, although Shane Mosley is my favorite of the present.   Paul Bearer and the Undertaker are in the back, and the Undertaker is tired of Paul's shit. He chokes Bearer, and chokes Vader as well once Vader enters the picture. Then Taker leaves.   Owen Hart has an interview, in which he talks about a conspiracy against him. You know, it isn't fair that a Canadian has to fight two Americans in a triple threat match on US soil.   Last in this little block of junk, we have a promo for the "Cause Stone Cold Said So" video, it's rated M, because Austin is a crazy motherfucker, you see. ___________________   Flash Funk vs. Sabu w/Bill Alfonso is our next contest...   - Funk cuts a promo prior to the bout, needless to say, this could be very good. Paul E. is on commentary, and we see some footage of Sabu's ECW matches before this. Now, here's what I've gotta know. Why is Vince showing this footage? It makes the WWF look like amateur punk stuff. I sure know I wouldn't have let that run on my TV time.   - Hell of an exhibition here, which ends as both are counted out at 4:38. Sabu sets Funk up on a table outside the ring and gives him a quebrada, but it doesn't break the table. A big splash doesn't break the table as Heyman talks about non-pre cut tables in the WWF, so now, Sabu has to go back up top. A legdrop off the top finally puts Funk through the table, and Sabu leaves through the crowd, to much applause. **1/2. ___________________ Mankind vs. the British Bulldog is our next match, in a non-title affair...   - Mankind makes his way to the ring wearing an Austin 3:16 shirt, and a sign around his neck that reads "PICK ME STEVE." Haha. You know, he wants to be Steve Austin's tag team partner. Mankind grabs a microphone next, and he says that he's dedicating this match to the absent Steve Austin, because Austin is the toughest SOB in the World Wrestling Federation.   - Yes, Mankind wrestles with the sign around his neck on. Austin's on the phone, and says he'll be back on Saturday. Not only that, but he gives Mankind some credit for wearing that shirt. After 4:10, Bulldog hits Mankind in the back with a chair. Then in the face, unprotected. Mankind gets up after a bit, and gives Bulldog the MANDIBLE CLAW, as Bulldog was focused on his posing. Ha. *1/2. ___________________   Now, we have the first triple threat match in the history of the WWE, AFAIK. It's Goldust w/Marlena vs. HHH w/Chyna vs. Owen Hart w/Brian Pillman.   - Before the match, there was some controversy surrounding Brian Pillman being allowed to come to ringside with Owen. Gorilla Monsoon said yes, and that's all that matters. We're in the Warzone, and the special guest referee for this match is the first Intercontinental Champion, Pat Patterson.   - Goldust has another false title victory, this one coming after a CURTAIN CALL at 3:15. Owen's foot was on the ropes, just like the British Bulldog's was on 6/9/97. This part was *1/4, and a bit funny, seeing as this is a new concept for the Fed. After the commercial and much banter, this match restarts.   - The 2nd version of the match is better, IMO. Chyna gives Goldust a hurricanrana, in our notable interference of the contest. Goldust inadvertently gives HHH an elbowdrop from the top, and that allows Owen to pin HHH for the three count at 3:45. ** for that portion, add them, round and add personal bias, we get *3/4. ___________________   Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart now make their way to the ring, and see, Bret and Anvil are the best tag team of all time, not LOD. Bret starts calling Thomas Hearns a thief, subsequently pissing him off. Bret tells Tommy to bring his ass into the ring, and Tommy does, knocking down the Anvil after entering. Officials separate Tommy and Bret, so that's over. The crowd loved it, Hearns being from Detroit and this being Detroit. ___________________   Before the next match, Savio Vega comes into the Nation's lockerroom while they're cutting a promo, so Faarooq whips him with a belt, like an angry parent would do to their child. That next match is Scott Taylor vs. Brian Christopher w/Jerry Lawler.   - Christopher cuts a promo about the Light Heavyweight Division, so yeah, that's coming soon. Lawler insinuates that Christopher is not his son, and after a short affair, the bout ends with a Christopher legdrop off the top for 3 at 2:54. *3/4. ___________________   Paul Bearer and Vader are in the back, and they say that the situation between them and the Undertaker has been straightened out. We'll see for ourselves, as Vader and the Undertaker w/Paul Bearer are taking on Faarooq and D'Lo Brown w/Kama Mustafa in the final matchup of the first round of the tag team tournament.   - Ahmed Johnson was injured during the brawl earlier, so he's not going to participate in this match. Thank fuck he didn't come back until SummerSlam, because I shudder to think what would've happened had he stuck around. Maybe no Rock? The Disciples of the Apocalypse come to ringside early, and they brawl with everyone but Vader, who just stands in the ring doing nothing. To a commercial...   - Back from the break, Bearer and Taker are having a war of words as Vader's going at it alone. Vader goes to tag in Taker, but Taker punches him, and Faarooq pins Vader at 5:03 (shown). Wow, he jobbed to a PUNCH. 3/4*. Taker and Vader fight, Taker gives Vader a TOMBSTONE, and chases Bearer out of the ring. Bearer grabs a microphone, and next week, he'll reveal the secret, which is basically what everyone in the crowd and the viewers watching at home have wanted Bearer to do for weeks. End show. ___________________ Show was in some ways bad, but at best, decent. Best segment had to be THOMAS FUCKIN' HEARNS getting in the ring and the worst was probably LOD vs. the Godwinns. I can't stand when those two teams face each other. ___________________   MONDAY NITRO is from MACON, GEORGIA!!!! ___________________   We flashback to last week, and to start the show, Mean Gene is with Diamond Dallas Page and Kimberly. His partner at Bash at the Beach is going to be a complete surprise, Page says, and not only that, but he's facing Scott Hall tonight. ___________________ Public Enemy vs. Damien and La Parka is our first match...   - The Public Enemy thing is so lame. I hate it, at the moment. There isn't a whole lot to say besides the result, other than the usual table demolition Public Enemy does.   - La Parka hits Johnny Grunge with a chair, and gets the pinfall at 2:55. Yawn. *. ___________________   Eddy Guerrero is in the aisleway for an interview with Mean Gene, and he says that when he didn't wrestle last week, it was because he wasn't cleared to wrestle. He wants Chavo Guerrero to come out, but Chavo says that he didn't exactly offer to wrestle Dean Malenko, Eddy told him to. Eddy has a shot at Syxx's Cruiserweight Title later on, and he says that he'll give that title shot to Chavo to show that he's sorry for ordering him around. Of course, Chavo takes the opportunity. ___________________ Alex Wright vs. Chris Jericho is some return match from that Nitro in Boston that WWE 24/7 skipped...   - You see, Alex Wright's new attitude is because he hates America. That explains everything.   - This is fairly good, although the crowd doesn't give a shit. They only make noise when Wright dances. After Jericho makes him tap to the LIONTAMER at 4:41, Wright isn't dancing. **. ___________________   We flash to the Great American Bash, when Vincent interfered in Harlem Heat's business. Obviously, that means we're going to see Harlem Heat w/Sister Sherri take on the Steiner Brothers.   - This match is for the #1 contenders spot, in case you didn't notice. Scott has this goatee going, and it looks ugly. There's some hype for the house show at the Great Western Forum, which is being called The Show that Eric Bischoff Doesn't Want You to See. I suppose that's a good name.   - Good match, by Nitro standards. Rick Steiner bulldogs Booker T from the top, and pins him at 8:12 to win the #1 contendership. I think that's what you'd call it. **3/4.   Gene Okerlund is now with Scott Norton and Buff Bagwell, who call themselves "Vicious and Delicious." What a terrible name. They also want a title shot, and they leave, as the Steiners make their way up the ramp. The Steiners want Hall and Nash for the belts next week in Vegas, and that's all there is to it. ___________________ Hector Garza vs. Villano IV is the pissbreak match...   - Seriously. Tons of empty seats, and the match certainly isn't good enough to bring people back to those seats any quicker. Garza finishes the bout with a standing moonsault at 4:47. 1/2*. ___________________   Mean Gene invites Lex Luger and the Giant to the ring, obviously for interview time. Luger's wearing this Farmer John type shirt, I only mentioned it because it made me laugh. At Bash at the Beach, Luger's going to get revenge on Hogan for last week in Chicago. The Giant's going to put a hook in the Worm, AHHHHH! ___________________   Hour #2 begins, and the match to start that off is Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Syxx w/Scott Hall for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.   - Scott Hall's expressions are hilarious. He's outside the ring, going through all of them, and I'm laughing at it. Eddy Guerrero's standing in the entranceway, because he's watching Chavo's back. Chavo gets in quite a bit of offense, but Scott Hall comes into the ring with the referee distracted and gives Chavo the OUTSIDER'S EDGE. Eddy does nothing, so really, he was just watching Chavo, not his back. The BUZZKILLER gets the submission and Syxx retains his belt at 6:01. **1/4 for another solid affair. ___________________   Konnan is taking on Mongo McMichael w/Debra, now.   - Jeff Jarrett is on "Horsemen Probation." Now I've heard everything. Hugh Morrus comes to the ring with a kendo stick, but he isn't allowed into the ring. BUT, that distracts Konnan, and Mongo gives him a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER, giving Mongo the pinfall victory at 3:14. 1/2*. ___________________   We're ON THE ROAD in Vegas, yadayada. Those fake slot reel sounds in the background are all too typical.   Roddy Piper comes down the aisle to talk to Gene Okerlund, and Piper says that he's still not happy about Slamboree. Apparently, that pissed Ric Flair off, so here he is. Flair says that what happened at Slamboree was in their best interests, and that Piper shouldn't be questioning him. That brings Mongo and CHRIS BENOIT to the ring. Uh-oh. Both having something to say (although Benoit's spiel is edited out), and then, Piper attacks Mongo and Benoit. Now they all fight, including Ric Flair trying to beat up Piper. He can't, but the briefcase to the back fixes all that, and Benoit gives Piper the CRIPPLER CROSSFACE. Officials come to ringside to break things up, and we go to a commercial. ___________________ We're back, and it's Glacier & Ernest Miller taking on High Voltage.   - The arena lights always stay dimmed during Glacier's matches...I have no idea why I just now noticed that, or noticed it at all. Mortis and Wrath are nearby, of course.   - Miller gives Rage a flying kick off the top for the win at 2:15. Mortis and Wrath now come to ringside, but they don't attack. *.   Now we have a Hollywood Hogan and Dennis Rodman video package, for some unexplained reason. ___________________   Finally, the main event is here. Diamond Dallas Page w/Kimberly is taking on Scott Hall w/Randy Savage and Elizabeth.   - Needless to say, this one is not going to end clean. Kimberly left early, because she didn't want to be around Savage. Makes sense. What doesn't make sense is that this feud will continue in some fashion until OCTOBER.   - Savage comes in at 5:28, getting Hall DQ'd. No surprise. *1/2. Hall gives DDP a back suplex from the top and when Savage goes up for the FLYING ELBOW...   IT'S STING!   He's in the crowd, oh no! Savage drops the elbow on Page anyway, bringing Sting down to the ring. Savage and Hall plot on the outside about how they'll take this on, and they run into the ring, only to be clobbered by Sting's bat, ending the show. ___________________   Show was good. Best segment was the end of the show, and the worst was Glacier and Miller's tag match. Nitro was better this time. ___________________   Next up is a tripleheader of epic proportions. Just house shows.
Guest

Guest

6
LFC Blog
 

Lakers win a thriller, and I am shocked.

I'm partly doing this to move discussion here, hopefully.   The Lakers win, Nash choked and has an injured back. The Lakers had no business being in that ballgame. They got very lucky that Nash positioned himself on the baseline twice.   Hopefully, I'll get some comments to talk about the game, if not, oh well.   I'm just ecstatic that the Lakers will play the Clippers in the 2nd round, and once again the focus of the basketball world will turn to Los Angeles.
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

I'm so uncontent.

I need to find work. I need a job where I come in contact with a lot of people, because the lack of contact that I've had with people over the last few months due to not having work or class is driving me crazy. I'm probably going to work at the grocery store or some shit so that I can save enough money for this ghetto JuCo up the street. It's not like I have to pay a car payment or an insurance payment, because I gave my older, already paid for car to my brother so that I wouldn't have to pay the insurance. I don't pay rent either, only for my food out of money that I earn doing odd jobs.   I'm broke as fuck, and not really liking my situation right now. It's not like I'm some fat slob that's just sitting here on the computer all day doing nothing, I'm a healthy guy that has been doing stuff every day in order to curve my boredom. That stuff costs, and I'm out of a way to pay for it. It's not like there's something wrong with me that's keeping me from getting a job, but for some reason, I don't have one. I've looked for work constantly. I'm pretty fortunate to be where I am right now, with people that care about me, but I need to find something for myself. I feel kinda empty. If this sounds like some angsty rant, well, it probably is, because I'm tired and pissed off at myself right now. After all, that's what blogs are for, pissing and moaning.
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

Predictions for Saturday's NCAA Tournament Games.

These do not coincide with my brackets at all, these are mostly my gambling picks. I make my ballsy picks here, not in the brackets where I have the chance to brag.   Lexington, Kentucky. South Region.   (1) Buckeyes (30-3) vs. (9) X (25-8). I'm lovin' X here. Reasons for this are...   #1. They're playing close to home.   #2. Thad Matta is Xavier's former coach. His recruits will come out to play.   #3. One 8 will beat a 9. I like this matchup better than the other ones.   (3) Texas A&M (26-6) vs. (6) Cardinals (24-9). My analysis on the Stanford game is enough to not trust me on this one. However, I really underestimated the early start time and the Louisville press. I think A&M has enough athletes to break it, so they win. CLOSE.     Sactown, California. West and East.   (2) FUCLA (27-5) vs. (7) Indiana (21-10). This is an awesome matchup for those that like the low-scoring games. This one's going to be real close, if you ask me. I'll go with a UCLA padded victory after teh free throws, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it go the other way.   (3) Wazoo (26-7) vs. (6) Vandy(21-11). Don't get Vandy. Hate Wazoo. Wazoo will get to the Sweet 16, because I really don't get Vanderbilt's success. If someone could explain it to me, it would be helpful. Another close one.     Winston Salem, North Carolina. East Region.   Some prior analysis....     (1) North Carolina (28-6) vs. (9) Sparta (23-11). This game can go one of two ways. UNC blowout or Nazi boy shows up and gives North Carolina a scare. This game could prove my prior analysis right. I know it's not the smart pick, but I want to take Michigan St. here. But I can't, so UNC in a blowout where Neitzel does nothing.   (2) Hoyas (27-6) vs. (7) BC. (21-11). Georgetown is going to make BC pay for leaving the Big East. BC has the experience, but Georgetown needs to show WHY they're a sexy Final Four pick. Georgetown, not in a blowout, but by enough to keep everyone from sweating.   City of Losers, New York. Only Midwest matchup on the day and a Western matchup.   (4) Terps (24-8) vs. (5) Butler (27-6). I have this theory about teams that play real shitty and find their way into the 2nd round. They explode once they get there. Time for Butler to test it, I think they'll win.   3) SHIT Panthers (27-7) vs. (11) VCU (27-6). I'm having a real hard time not picking VCU here. Pitt let Wright State get back into the game before closing them out. Commonwealth has a lot more talent than Wright State. Best game of the day, another down to the wire game.     It almost makes me glad to see these matchups and no upsets, because these are some pretty fucking good matchups. I got 12 of 16 games today right on this blog, so I did a pretty good job. I'm picking with an unbalanced mixture of heart and head here.        
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

Review: The first RAW, and other stuff. Yeah, boy.

First, we have RAW. I was watching the Laker game, so I tuned in at 9:48. I flipped over and saw HBK giving Trevor Murdoch SWEET CHIN MUSIC, and I know there was some Diva crap before that. There was some stuff with Orton and Hardy too, and they have an Intercontinental Title match later. Now, we begin. Again, this is an exact copy of my great notes.   The colors are to let you know that I'm talking about a different program. ___________________   When I tuned in, the first thing on was HHH vs. Snitsky. Boy oh boy.   - Snitsky is one ugly motherfucker. Not only that, but he makes these strange sounds while on offense. I don't like this guy, but I think he's funny. Why exactly is he in the WWE, again?   - Back from the commercial break, and that was probably a rough two minutes for the live crowd. I don't really want to think about it. JR calls Snitsky "Bowling Shoe Ugly." Well, I have to agree. At least there haven't been any restholds.   - Nevermind. There's a bearhug! On a PEDIGREE attempt, Snitsky backdropped HHH over the top rope. Then, he tries to hit HHH with the steel steps. He's unable to, though, as HHH gets disqualified by hitting Snitsky with a steel chair, at 10:06. HHH grabs the SLEDGEHAMMER, hits Snitsky in the gut with it, and PEDIGREES him. Whoop-dee-doo. 1/2*...why was this 10 minutes, again. Anyway, HHH destroys the small screen below the actual TitanTron, and Vince allows him to go back into the Rumble, IF he wins his match next week. ___________________   JBL cut a promo on Chris Jericho next, in which he talked about Jericho's kids needing to know that his father's a coward. Then there's lots of pyro, to end the whole thing. ___________________   Next up was a 5 Man Royal Rumble, with 30 second intervals between appearances. This was some Hornswoggle thing, so I expect stupidity. And Lord, did I get it. The crowd can't even see the fuckin' thing, for one, second, nobody wants to watch a midget Royal Rumble. There was a mini-Kennedy, mini-Mankind, mini-Batista and mini-Kane. Lastly, Khali came out, but was beaten up by Finlay. -***** for that whole thing, I never want to discuss it again. Went about 7:50. Afterward, Finlay has a discussion with Vince, in which he says he doesn't want their deal to be broken. Uh... ___________________ How are they going to squeeze the main event and this Flair match into such a short time? Well, it's Ric Flair vs. William Regal.   - Both wrestlers come to the ring and we go to a commercial?   - Well, Flair cheats to win on a roll-up, while holding Regal's tights. Only 2:07 of the match was shown. This Flair stuff is being bungled beyond belief. Moreover, he's looking so worn down that I don't even think he'll be able to make it to WrestleMania. Just my opinion. Match was unrateable. ___________________   Randy Orton vs. Jeff Hardy in a match for the Intercontinental Title, yeah, yeah, yeah.   - Orton kicks Hardy in the nuts after 8 seconds, ending the match via disqualification. No rating, again. My original thought was, why give this match away on free TV? Well, they didn't, thankfully.   - Both men brawl to the stage, where Orton goes to punt Hardy in the head. Hardy gets up and backdrops him onto some sort of platform, a bit below the stage. I can't really do this angle justice, so bear with me. Hardy climbs up a support beam beside the stage, stops and...CLIMBS UP MORE. He's way up there. Then, he gives ORTON A FUCKING SWANTON BOMB, from about 15 feet up. Holy shit. This got over huge. HUGE, I tell you. JR and the King (no, not me) immediately stopped their commentary, as paramedics stretchered both men off to end the show. Hardy's gotta get the strap at the Rumble. GOTTA. He's their most over performer right now. What a good way to end a shitty show. Hardy's being put over so strong that this can't possibly be fucked up. He's been made into a star.   The show as a whole was terrible, but the ending was great. Meet in the middle and we'll call it decent. ___________________   I didn't have time to watch the show from MSG that was posted on 24/7. Sorry. I got a bit through it and fell asleep. Kerry Von Erich looked too young, even for him. ___________________   Next up, THE FIRST EVER MONDAY NIGHT RAW. Of all the updated stuff, I was waiting for this the most.   Sean Mooney starts things off, and you know, Bobby Heenan's not allowed in the building tonight. Rob Bartlett's on commentary instead. And the 1993 intro to the show is just as kickass as I remember it. ___________________   WELCOME EVERYONE TO MONDAY NIGHT RAW. Commentary team is what you'd expect, Vince, Savage, and Bartlett.   Koko B. Ware vs. Yokozuna w/Mr. Fuji is our first match. Hey, the High Energy version of Koko.   - WHAT THE FUCK. I didn't realize that High Energy used what would stick around and become Owen Hart's music. Sorry, that threw me for a loop. I love Koko's ring attire.   - So, to sum things up, Yoko doesn't hit the canvas all match, and finishes things up with the BANZAI DROP at 3:46. *. Bartlett couldn't stop talking about Yoko's ass. Well, things like that are going to become commonplace throughout the show.   The promo for Royal Rumble 1993 is cool. Then we flash to Jim Ross talking about the importance of RAW to the business as a whole. Well, I agree there. ___________________   Bobby Heenan then cuts a pre-taped promo in which he talks about "Narcissus." It's a good thing they changed that to "Narcissist." The original was not the best.   That serves as our lead-in to The Executioners vs. the Steiner Brothers.   - The Executioners aren't important, so you missed nothing. The Steiners have this entrance music that I can't describe. Meaning that I don't know whether or not it's good. BTW, Doink the Clown is in the crowd. Good.   - Even then, Scott was really roided up. One of the Executioners blow an Irish whip, so they'll be punished for it. The Steiners fuck 'em up, as ECW fans would chant in the same building a few years later (though totally unrelated to the match at hand), and the bout ends via pinfall after Rick bulldogs one of the EX'S as they were seated on Scott's shoulders. I love that finisher, even if it probably injured a lot of guys. Thoroughly enjoyable contest, **. ___________________   Heenan's dressed as a woman, but he's not allowed in the building, as Mooney finds him out. Well, darn.   Edge talks...basically, whenever I say someone talks, it's about the importance of RAW. ___________________   Now we have an interview with Razor Ramon. I covered his accent in the PTW writeup from a few weeks before this, I think. Well, he's ready for the Rumble, MANG. Numero uno, mang, the #1 contender. He wanted this to be personal, so he attacked Owen on WWF Mania last week. After the interview's over, he tosses his toothpick at Vince. Yes!   Back at the announce table, the guys talk about Headlock on Hunger. And Tatanka has something to say about that. SPIRITS AND NONSENSE!!! ___________________   The next matchup is Max Moon vs. Shawn Michaels, for Shawn's Intercontinental Championship.   - I don't know what to say about Max Moon. He does some cool stuff, like a running seated senton off the apron to Shawn as Shawn was standing up at ringside, much later in the match.   - During the "commercial break," HBK talked about RAW. Yeah, they placed that in there.   - Doink comes to ringside, as Bartlett is doing this AWFUL Mike Tyson impersonation. What did we do to deserve that? I was surprised to see that this wasn't a squash. Shawn wins the bout, by gaining the pinfall after the SIDE SUPLEX. It's just a back suplex, but since Gorilla Monsoon took extra care to make sure it was called the Side Suplex, hell, I'm calling it the Side Suplex. **. 7:52 of the bout was shown, who knows how long the commercial was. I know I can steal use the time from thehistoryofwwe.com, but I don't want to. ___________________   HHH talks, and then...   We cut to a RUMBLE REPORT, with Gene Okerlund. Shawn Michaels will face Marty Jannetty, with Sensational Sherri at ringside. Shawn says that Sherri will most certainly be with him. Marty says he'll get everything he wants, including the Intercontinental Title, and that Shawn doesn't really know what Sherri's going to do. Now Okerlund starts listing a few (a lot, really) of the Royal Rumble participants, but I'll just list the guys who cut promos. Mr. Perfect said that he has a perfect opportunity to win the Rumble. Well, he didn't say that, I did, cause that's what he should've said. Mr. Fuji babbles on about how Yokozuna's going to win the Rumble, and lastly, Jim Duggan talks about how he'll win the Rumble. Tough guy this, tough guy that, USA, USA, HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN HOOOOOOO, alright. You know, the Rumble winner goes to WrestleMania this year. Also, Bret Hart faces Razor Ramon. But that's seemingly an afterthought, isn't it. ___________________   Heenan tries to sneak in AGAIN, this time as a Rabbi. I was so pumped up after that RUMBLE REPORT that I wrote Rabbi as "Rumble." I'd show you, but there are so many things on this piece of paper that I don't want you to see. Mooney catches Heenan again, so Heenan gets all upset.   Mick Foley talks about RAW, now. From what I've been told, Reverend Slick converted Kamala last week on WWF Mania. WHAT? I'm glad I haven't seen some of this stuff. ___________________   Our main event is DAMIEN DEMENTO vs. The Undertaker, with Paul Bearer as Taker's manager. I tuned out Bartlett after the Tyson stuff, so he could've been bad this whole time. I don't know.   - Vince thanks DON IMUS for Rob Bartlett being there. That explains a lot about Bartlett's awfulness, doesn't it.   - Well, it's a squash. Taker finishes it off with the TOMBSTONE at 2:25. *. ___________________   Vince talks about RAW, and how the live audience helped make the show what it is today. Definitely.   Doink comes to ringside, and talks about how he's not bothered by Crush. Crush comes out, and talks some trash, brah. Well, Doink squirts him with a water pistol (yes, I call it that), so Crush chases him. How is Doink supposed to be the heel in all this? The crowd at the Manhattan Center loves the gimmick. Crush chases Doink, but eventually, he leaves the poor guy alone, so we can listen to Crush's great entrance music. ___________________   I know I said that I pride myself on not being silly, but I really took it to another level with this show. I couldn't help it, because, after all, WWF 1993 IS silly. Don't worry, I won't do that again for a while, likely until another RAW or a WWF Superstars is posted from 1993. By my standards, that was a good show. I was entertained throughout, and by my "would I have liked it then, but with a smarkish mindset" standards, undoubtedly I would have. If you can, watch it. If you can't watch it, find it. Unless you've seen it already, or have it on video. ___________________   Last, I watched WWECW, last night. ___________________   The "Cutting Edge" opened the show. Yeah, that's some interview segment with Edge as the host. Edge talks about the Rumble, and when mentioning Rey Mysterio, you immediately notice that there's a lot of kids in the crowd. Like, a whole lot. This'll have something to do with what I say later. Anyhow, he shows us what happened last week on Smackdown, when he and the Edgeheads beat up Rey Mysterio after Rey's match with Chavo Guerrero. So, this somehow gets to the point where CM Punk is the guest. Edge says he's been watching Punk, and that he reminds Edge of himself. Punk says he respects his opponents, but he can beat Chavo if he faces him again. And he can beat Edge too. Chavo then comes out, and challenges Punk. Punk accepts, but is pushed by Chavo into Edge. Then Punk gets his ass beat, and his shoulder gets rammed into the post by both guys, who then leave with the damage done. I didn't know what to think about that, on one hand, you gave the guy no rub from a confrontation with Edge, secondly, you took all the heat away from Chavo, who's in the middle of this program. Unless we're getting to Edge/Punk in the near future, I don't like this at all.   After the commercial break, Edge leaves. That means he'll be there later. ___________________   The next match is a tag team match, with the Highlanders facing John Morrison and the Miz. I don't know if this was a WWE Tag Team Title match or not.   - Miz and Morrison need to start entering together. It's tiresome to watch tag team partners have two separate entrances. Yeah, "they have big egos." So what. Make them argue over how they enter or something.   - I don't understand why the Highlanders are here, and why they're playing pseudo-babyfaces. Pseudo because nobody is cheering them, see.   - Of the two Highlanders, I like Robbie better. The match finishes after the Reality Check (kneelift, neckbreaker) at 2:57. *1/2. That finisher sucks, but I expected it, given that the Miz is the guy who does it. ___________________   Here's another Kofi Kingston vignette. It won't be hard for him to get over, because the general public (AFAIK) likes the whole Jamaican thing. I expect great things from him, given what I've read about his in-ring work. He debuts next week, on ECW. Good. Perfect show to debut him on. ___________________   Kelly Kelly comes out, and talks about HD. Then she disrobes. Anyone watching the show saw what she was wearing, and if you didn't, don't worry, it was nothing much. Literally. I kinda have a problem with this, given the number of kids in the crowd. If you want the product to be marketed toward kids, which given characters like Hornswoggle is what they want, do that, and get rid of this. You want to show this stuff, stop with the kid oriented stuff. Make up your mind. ___________________   The white guy from the past few weeks is with Tazz again. He'll be facing Kane this time. Chokeslam finishes after 1 minute. 1/2*. I don't know about the rest of us, but I'm starting to get bored by this.   The ECW GM, that Estrada guy, is with CM Punk. The match will go on. Well, duh. ___________________   The injury report from Hardy's dive last night is that Hardy left the hospital before being evaluated, and Orton had to stay overnight. They're putting over Hardy so strong in this whole thing that I have a hard time believing he won't win at MSG. It's unfortunate that WrestleMania is coming up, seeing as HHH is probably going to win the Rumble. The trigger was probably pulled too quickly on this feud, but it should go until No Way Out at the least. ___________________   So, it's Shelton Benjamin vs. Nunzio.   - Hey, someone from actual ECW. Have I mentioned that Shelton's turnbuckle powerbomb is great?   - Shelton's inverted bulldog finishes at 3:05. Move needs a name, and I think Tazz gave it one, inadvertently so. "The Gold Standard." After the match, Shelton grabs a mic, then says, THERE AIN'T NO STOPPIN' ME NOWWWWWW, and gives him another inverted bulldog. I know a few people hate that catchphrase, but I love it. His voice cracked toward the end, making it that much better. *1/2. ___________________   Now we have our main event, Chavo's 3rd Chance, featuring him taking on CM Punk. Taken directly from my notes, to let you know what I was thinking about the booking here.   - Punk's favoring his shoulder, of course. I don't like this, because I suppose it hurts Chavo's....status. While he's not been portrayed as strong, there needs to be incentive to care about the eventual title match, so winning semi-clean is the only acceptable course of action.   - There's Edge, going on commentary. Told ya so. A good thing is, with Edge there, people aren't going to lose focus on the match, or leave, like last time. We're going to have another long overrun, which is ok. I don't like knowing exactly when the show will end.   - When Chavo punches, it looks SO weak. Why that is, who knows. It's like he's too cautious. Each of these matches have been distinctly different, which is good. This one is better than the other two, I believe. Punk gets tossed outside, and clobbered in the head by Edge's World Heavyweight Title. So, Chavo wins by countout, at 11:18. **3/4. That was pretty much the worst ending possible. Let's look at the possible options.   Draw. Yeah, right. Punk wins. That's fine. Punk loses by DQ, after Edge hits Chavo with his title. That's ok. Chavo gets the pinfall, clean. Not happening. Chavo gets the pinfall, after Edge interference, and his own finisher. Best possible option. Chavo wins via an arm-oriented submission. This is ok, too. Chavo wins by countout, while having no direct impact on the end of the match at all. Dogshit.   Again, why should I care about the title match? It doesn't do anything for either participant, and given the booking, I doubt this match will happen at the Rumble. If it does, it won't be of any length. Tazz said that Chavo would probably want to have his title shot next week, given his mindset. Punk isn't going to face Edge anytime soon, so...I don't get it. If he did face Edge, he'd only lose. That shouldn't even be an option, but it's the only way this thing will go. He's not going to get a rub from it either, as it could only last until No Way Out. It'll never go to WrestleMania. ___________________   Anyway, that was a shitty ending to a pretty good match. Decent show. In the next installment, I'll have a whole bunch of stuff to read, including my thoughts on Smackdown. But first, the HHH/HBK RAW has to go up, which it will, tomorrow. I'm not typing up anything about the first ECW on TNN show, because it was basically a clip show. The segments on that will be reviewed on it's own merit when posted on it's original program, whether it be Hardcore Heaven '99 in the case of Lynn/RVD, or wherever that Taz/Rhyno match came from.
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

Review: WWF St. Valentine's Day Massacre, from Memphis, Tennessee, 2/14/1999.

I wasn't able to watch RAW on Monday, and I wasn't able to watch ECW, nor am I going to be able to watch Smackdown this Friday. So, to fill this space, I figured I could put something good up. ___________________   The opening video to this event is great...haven't seen this one in 4 or 5 years, I think. Michael Cole is on commentary with Jerry Lawler...oh no. Rock vs. Mankind and Austin vs. McMahon. OMG! ___________________   The first match on the card is Goldust vs. Bluedust.   Blow-by-blow: Bluedust = Blue Meanie. The backstory is ridiculous, I can't really get into it without wasting space. Goldust starts the match with a spinebuster, and punches away at Bluedust, who bails to the outside after a clothesline. Goldust goes to grab him after a stall, but Bluedust gains control and humps Goldust's leg during a spinning toehold inside the ring. Goldust kicks him away, and pulls up Bluedust's outfit so that his ass shows. Thanks for that. Goldust goes for SHATTERED DREAMS, but that misses. Bluedust goes up top and misses a moonsault, which gives Goldust the opening for a CURTAIN CALL, which also gets the three count at 3:08. After the match, Goldust gives Bluedust SHATTERED DREAMS.   Match Analysis: Usually, I'd just DUD this. But it's offensive, so -*. Self explanatory, isn't it? One of those things that makes me embarassed to be watching this, at that.   On Sunday Night Heat, Vince McMahon called Steve Austin to the ring and spat on him. What a fellow. ___________________   The next match is Al Snow w/Head vs. Bob Holly for the vacant WWF Hardcore Championship.   Blow-by-blow: Man, I miss this belt. Snow attacks at the beginning of the match, and tosses Holly over the top rope. Say goodbye to the ring, cause that's the last you'll see it during this match. I can't believe that Bob Holly still has this "tough-guy, rah rah rah I'm hardcore" gimmick after all this time. Hell, I didn't even think he'd be around 3 years later. They brawl through the crowd, and Holly slams Snow on some stairs as they go toward the back of the arena. Holly extinguishes Snow's head, and he hits Snow over the head with a glass cup. Snow extinguishes Holly, but Holly hits Snow with one of those, watch out for the wet floor signs. Holly hits Snow with a garbage can, but Snow comes back and hits Holly with a telephone. Snow then throws a garbage can at Holly, but Holly grabs a few floor tiles and breaks them over Snow's head. Holly hits Snow with a beer cooler, and with a pan. Snow gains control, and breaks some mops over the back of Holly. Perry Saturn cries. They're outside, where Snow covers Holly for a 2 count. Snow rams Holly into a production truck, but Holly grabs a "no parking" sign and hits Snow with it. They inch closer and closer to the river, but before they get down there, a whole lot of stuff happens. Snow rams Holly into a concrete wall, but Holly makes a comeback and rams him into steel fencing. Snow returns the favor, and chokes Holly with barbed wire. For some reason, there's a stop sign lying around in the brush near the river, so Holly picks it up and clobbers Snow with it. They're at the river now, where Bob Holly moves a wheelbarrow. WHAT? Holly rams Snow into a tree, and hits him with some object that was hanging from said tree. Snow chokes Holly, which allows him to toss Holly into the frigid Mississippi River. Man, I loved watching this when I was younger. Holly slams Snow into the water when Snow charges at him, and hits him with a tire. Snow comes back with a shoe to the face of Holly (yes, they find all this stuff on the ground), and grabs a rolled up section of steel fencing. He opens it up, but Holly hits him with a stick in the back, and wraps Snow up in the fencing, which allows him to gain a pinfall for the victory at 9:58. The fencing kept Snow from kicking out, so Bob Holly is our new Hardcore Champion. Holly goes to the ring to grab the title, as Snow is trapped outside in the freezing cold.   Match Analysis: Man, that was fun, and a reminder of what the Hardcore Title used to allow us to see. Now, I know that NOT having the Hardcore Title leads to backstage brawls and that sort of stuff being portrayed as meaning more, but honestly, I think fans would like it if they saw this sort of stuff all the time, as opposed to once or twice a year. But that's just my opinion. Anyhow, this match showed most of what was good about the Hardcore division. It also showed a lot of what was bad about it, that meaning you can only push the out-of-arena brawls so far. **1/2. The match held up, surprisingly. ___________________   Prior to our next match, WWF.com had a camera backstage with the MINISTRY OF DARKNESS. You know, four of the people in this group have been a World Champion at some point in their career? No shit. I don't count the TNA Title (or the current NWA Title) as a World Title, though. Sorry, Christian. Not that I'm saying he was a bad champion or would be a bad champion if he had it again, but if you had told me BRADSHAW would hold the WWE Title, I would've laughed at you. If you'd have told me he'd do it with a stockbroker gimmick, I'd have laughed harder. ___________________   Unfortunately, that promo leads to bigger and more terrible things. By that, I mean that Mideon is facing the Big Bossman.   Blow-by-blow: While I liked Bossman's later persona, this cannot be good. Mideon carries an eye to the ring in a jar filled with yellow liquid, honestly, I think it looks like he pissed in it. They lock-up to start, and Bossman gains control at the outset with a shoulderblock. Bossman chokes Mideon with his boot, and tells the ringside crowd to kiss his ass. Gee. Mideon clotheslines Bossman afterward, but The Guardian Angel quickly tosses Mideon over the top rope. Bossman grabs a chair to hit Mideon with, but swings and hits the ringpost instead. Mideon bites him, and rams his hand into the steel steps. Bossman gives Mideon a nice "rope-clothesline," and we go back in. Bossman chokes, and Mideon returns the favor soon after. This heel vs. heel stuff just doesn't work. Bossman grabs onto his nose to get Mideon to stop, and splashes onto him in the corner. Why is this on PPV? A gigantic "BORING" chant commences, as Bossman applies a full-nelson on Mideon. Mideon reverses the hold and gives Bossman a back suplex, for a 2 count. Bossman tries a powerbomb, but Mideon backdrops him, as they both clothesline each other in the center of the ring. Back up, and after a Mideon back elbow, we get the BOSSMAN SLAM for the win at 6:20. After the match, the Ministry makes their way to ringside. Oh no. Is this going to be a bloodbath? Well, the lights go out, and here comes the Undertaker. Bossman is down in the ring as Taker is in the aisleway, and Viscera splashes Bossman three times. Everyone except Taker and Bearer carry him to the back...we all know where this goes and how dumb it got before it ended. You can say that for every single storyline Vince Russo has ever written.   Match Analysis: Another awful match. Another awful rating, although on a different premise. DUD. I never want to see any part of this again. ___________________   Before our next match, Mark Henry, D'Lo Brown and Ivory are with Kevin Kelly, for an interview. We see a clip of Ivory arguing with Debra on Heat, which brings us to...   Mark Henry and D'Lo Brown w/ Ivory vs. Jeff Jarrett & Owen Hart w/Debra for the WWF Tag Team Titles.   Blow-by-blow: Before the match, Sexual Chocolate gives Ivory a Valentine's Day present. I'll give Vince Russo some credit here, he made Mark Henry entertaining. After all this time, nobody else has figured out how to do that. Owen and Henry start, and Henry pounds away at him. He clotheslines Owen, and tags in D'Lo, who gives Owen a back elbow. Owen gives D'Lo a bulldog, and he tags in Jarrett, who dropkicks him. D'Lo powerslams Jarrett in return, and slams Owen before clotheslining both of them. Owen tries to kick D'Lo, who pushs him off the apron. That allows Jarrett to give D'Lo a single arm DDT, which causes Owen to come in, for a double team. They both clothesline D'Lo, and Owen clotheslines D'Lo at the corner, before tagging in Jarrett. Owen gives D'Lo a spinebuster, and Jarrett comes off the 2nd rope with a fistdrop for 2. Owen tries for a suplex, but D'Lo reverses it into one of his own. D'Lo goes for the tag, but Owen gives him an enziguri in order to prevent it. Jarrett tags in, and along with Owen he gives D'Lo a double back elbow for 2. Jarrett goes to a short chinlock, and when Owen tags in, he gives D'Lo a spinning heel kick for 2. Owen brings Henry in via distraction, and D'Lo comes back with a crossbody for 2. Owen charges into D'Lo shoulderfirst, and goes for a 10 punch in the corner...which gets reversed into a SKY HIGH. Jarrett and Henry tag in, but Henry misses an avalanche in the corner. D'Lo dropkicks both of his opponents, and gives Jarrett a SKY HIGH for 2. D'Lo slams Owen, and legdrops him, as Debra gets onto the ring apron. Ivory comes over to argue with her, as D'Lo separates them. While this is going on, Owen hits Henry in the knee with the GUITAR, which leads Jarrett to apply the FIGURE-FOUR, for the win at 9:34. Jarrett and Owen retain, but after the match, Ivory tries to rip Debra's clothes off. Jarrett stops that, and covers Debra up with he and Owen's tag titles.   Match Analysis: Not the best match, but better than some of the other stuff that's been on this show. *1/2. Liked the finish, even though I generally hate the guitar use...but seeing as Owen Hart won the match, yes, I like it. ___________________   Kevin Kelly is with Mankind, you see, on Heat, he was attacked by the Rock, and bludgeoned in the knee with some sort of weapon.   Before the next match, there's a Val Venis/Ken Shamrock hype video...   Obviously, that means that our next match is Val Venis w/Ryan Shamrock vs. Ken Shamrock with Billy Gunn as the guest referee, for the Intercontinental Title.   Blow-by-blow: I'd rather not talk about the Ryan Shamrock thing. Not only that, but this storyline goes the route that you'd expect it to go, that being the land of "this makes no sense." The whole Hello, Ladies thing commences, until Ken Shamrock runs out and attacks Venis. He didn't get the better of it, meaning that he was clotheslined and worked over in the corner. Val Venis takes him down with a snapmare, and Gunn counts the fall slowly, although it still gets 2. Shamrock takes Venis to the buckle, and clotheslines him, before kicking him twice in the back. Shamrock forearms Venis, on the outside of the ring, and they quickly come back in. Shamrock slams Venis, and kneedrops him after choking away. Shamrock goes for a suplex, but Venis blocks it, and gives him an inverted atomic drop. Crowd's dead, and has been all night. Look at the last PPV from Memphis I reviewed...the crowd reaction was the same. Why does WWE still run PPV's in Memphis? Venis chokes Shamrock, and elbowdrops him for a slow 2 count. VEnis gives Shamrock a double-underhook suplex, and a backbreaker submission.Venis gives up on that, and slams Shamrock into the ringpost outside the ring. Venis gives Shamrock a chinlock, and a surfboard style pinning combination for a 2 count. Val goes to a chinlock for a while, and knees Shamrock in the gut when they get up for 2. Venis drops Shamrock along the top rope, and he chokes Shamrock with his boot. Shamrock comes back with a high kick, and a DDT for a 2 count, seeing as Gunn wouldn't count. Shamrock gives Venis a back suplex during a Venis sleeperhold, and Ken follows it up with a powerslam for 2. Venis gives Shamrock a fisherman's suplex for 2, and Shamrock counters soon after with a la magistral for a 2 count. Venis gives Shamrock a russian leg sweep, and gyrates, before mounting Shamrock and punching away at him. Venis is doing everything, but there's this one little problem so far. SHAMROCK ISN'T SELLING. His face has stayed the same all bout, I'm serious. Venis goes to the top, but Shamrock slams him off and gives him a hurricanrana for a 1 count. Shamrock gives Venis a belly-to-belly suplex, and applies the ANKLE LOCK. Ryan Shamrock pulls Venis to the ropes, and Shamrock goes to the outside, to confront their sister. Shamrock is starting to GET INTO THE ZONE, so she slaps him. Billy Gunn tries to prevent things from setting off, but Shamrock pushes him. Gunn hits Shamrock and tosses him into the ring, where Venis gives him a small package (harharhar) for 3 at 15:53. We have a new Intercontinental Champion, that being Val Venis. After the match, Shamrock attacks Gunn. After Gunn gets up, he runs back to the ring and attacks Val Venis. Yippie.   Match Analysis: Needless to say, that title change didn't mean shit. With the Gunn thing, it became an after thought. Even worse, the Billy Gunn/Ken Shamrock thing was never paid off, making this all a gigantic waste of time. They blew their chance to make Gunn the IC Champ at the Royal Rumble. Too bad. Match was nothing great, and that being the fault of Ken Shamrock. *1/2. ___________________   Part two of our program is next, as is HHH and X-Pac vs. Kane and Chyna. First there's a video, because Chyna split from DX, you see.   Blow-by-blow: The full DX entrance finally gets the crowd exited, as does HHH wiping his ass with one of those Chyna Syndrome shirts and throwing it at her. Shane McMahon's on commentary, which is nice. He's a funny guy. HHH and Kane start, when HHH attacks him. Kane clotheslines HHH, but misses a charge to the corner, although he comes right back out with a clothesline. Kane misses an elbowdrop, which allows X-Pac to tag in. Or should I say, "X-Punk." Chyna comes in, and shoulderblocks X-Pac, but she misses a charge to the corner. X-Pac goes for the BRONCOBUSTER, but he misses, and Kane tags back in. He and Chyna argue, so X-Pac kicks Kane. Kane chokes him, but HHH attacks him and goes back to the corner, so he can tag in. HHH goes to the top, and clotheslines Kane, but Chyna hits him, allowing Kane to regain control. Kane slams HHH, and goes up to the top, where he clotheslines HHH. Chyna comes in, and tries a suplex on HHH, but HHH reverses it, which Chyna counters as well. Chyna slams HHH, but misses an elbow drop, allowing X-Pac to tag in. Kane tags in too, but misses a charge to the corner. HHH comes in, and DX gives Kane a double suplex. HHH slams Chyna off the top into Kane, and DX gives him a double DDT, before clotheslining him over the top rope. Kane pulls X-Pac out of the ring, and they fight, but Kane hits the ringpost on accident. X-Pac hits Shane O-Mac, and we go back into the ring. X-Pac tries a spinning heel kick, but Kane catches him and slams him to the canvas. Chyna tags in, and powerslams X-Pac for a 2 count. Kane rams X-Pac into the buckle after the tag, and clotheslines him. Chyna tags back in, and drops X-Pac, nut first onto the top rope for a 2 count. Chyna gives X-Pac a sleeper, but X-Pac back suplexes his way out of it. HHH makes the not-so-hot tag, and cleans house on Kane. HHH gives Chyna a high knee, but Kane pulls him over the top rope. X-Pac comes in during an apparent ref bump, and is finally able to give Chyna the BRONCOBUSTER! Shane comes in the ring, which causes X-Pac to chase him all the way to the back. HHH rams Kane into the steel steps, and tosses him back in, where he gives Chyna the knee-to-facebuster. HHH goes for the PEDIGREE on Chyna, but Kane chokeslams him and the ref awakens as Chyna pins HHH, for the win at 14:45.   Match Analysis: I read that Scott Keith gave this match ****. Wait a second. HAHAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHA . Ok, now for what I thought about it. It was good, but not anything that I'd even think of giving a great rating to. Too much excess in the finish, but more than that, the crowd didn't do anything throughout. Crowd is KILLING this show dead, but I'll still give this **. ___________________   There's an ambulance in the back, because they're putting over how brutal this match could be, and we also get a nice video package, featuring everything in this feud.   Yeah, that's right. It's THE ROCK vs. Mankind in a Last Man Standing Match for the WWF Championship.   Blow-by-blow: Everyone knows the rules. Everyone knows I generally do not like this stipulation. Mankind turns his back, much like at the Royal Rumble, and the Rock attacks him. When the "Rocky Sucks" chant starts, Mankind turns his back and then hits Rock with his title belt, which gets an 8 count. Mankind bites Rock, so Rock bails. They go to the back, where Mankind throws Rock into these little light structures they have up by the entrance. Mankind does it again, and they go a little further back up the aisle, where Rock gains control. Rock rams Mankind into the stage, but Mankind comes back and rams him into a table, before DDT'ing him THROUGH a table. Nice. They go back toward the ring, but Rock back suplexes him on the concrete. Ouch. At ringside, Mankind rams him into the steps, and brings him in for a...PEOPLE'S ELBOW! He misses it, and Rock knocks him out of the ring, before suplexing him three times on the floor at ringside. Rock goes on commentary to enlighten us, but Mankind tackles him, and clears the table for something crazy. Mankind places Rock on the table, and elbowdrops him from the apron, not breaking the table. Mankind powers water onto Rock, and brings steps into the ring. Rock kicks the stairs into Mick's face, and grabs a chair, that he hits Mankind with multiple times. Rock accidentally hits the top rope with a chair, and the chair backfires and hits him in the face. Mankind clotheslines him down to the floor, and attempts to piledrive him. He doesn't, so he just hits Rock instead, and gives him a swinging neckbreaker. He rams him into the announce table, and sets things up for a piledriver. Rock backdrops him off the table (Mick's head hit the table on the way down, and his leg hit the ring bell. Ouch.), and goes into the ring. Rock grabs the steel steps which were already in there, and throws them onto Mankind. Goodness. Back in, where Rock slams Mankind and gives him the CORPORATE ELBOW. Rock goes to grab a mic, as that move only got a 5 count. Rock sings us a fantastic song, until Mankind applies a MANDIBLE CLAW, which also happens to knock the referee outside of the ring. Mankind makes the referee count to 9, until the Rock gets up and lowblows Mankind. Rock gives Mankind a DDT, which only gets a 5 count. Rock swings and misses with a chair, so Mankind double arm DDT's him onto it, for a 9 count. SOCKO, but Rock lowblows Mankind. SOCKO again, but we get ROCK BOTTOM, for an 8 count. Both get up, grab a chair, and hit each other at the same time, which causes both to be down for a 10 count at 21:53. Both do stretcher jobs, as the crowd shits all over the match. Fuck you guys, you don't deserve to be rewarded with a good finish to anything. Both wrestlers leave in ambulances...yes, Mick Foley really went out on his back.   Match Analysis: Draw knocks a bit off, but this was great. Loved the in-match promo, and the overall violence that took place. I'll probably watch this one again before the program expires. ***3/4. Better than the I Quit match, I dare say. ___________________   Our main event, preceded by a hype video, is Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Vince McMahon in a Steel Cage Match. If Austin wins, he gets a shot at the WWF Champion at WrestleMania. No Corporate members are allowed to interfere, or they'll be FIRED!   Blow-by-blow: I can't believe this was 9 years ago. NINE! This is the first "Austin era" show I've reviewed, as well. I began timing when Vince hit Austin for the first time, which he did when Austin was trying to enter the cage. Before that, Austin was inside, not allowing Vince to enter. Austin falls off the cage, and feigns injury...once Vince comes over, Austin clotheslines him at ringside, and they fight into the crowd. Uh, even though I know that they get in the cage, there's a serious logic flaw in this booking. I don't even know if I've seen a main event from the Attitude Era without an "in the crowd" portion. Vince goes up the stairs to leave, but Austin brings him back down to ringside. Vince and Austin try to climb up the cage, but Austin knocks Vince off and through the Spanish Announce Table. YES! A stretcher comes to the ring, which makes Austin grab a mic. He says that he didn't win. "You think this is over, ah-ah." So he goes out, chases down the stretcher, and rams it into the steel cage. He hits him with the stretcher, and tosses McMahon into the cage, starting the actual match after 12:23 (my time). Austin clotheslines Vince, as the crowd has definitely awakened for this one. Austin goes up to the 2nd rope, and elbowdrops Vince, then he does the same thing again. Austin is about to leave the cage, but Vince gives him the finger. Ha. Austin returns to the ring, to stomp a mudhole and walk it dry on Vince McMahon. Vince lowblows Austin, and rams Austin into the cage. Vince climbs up the cage, but Austin pulls him back down and rams him right into the cage. Austin rams him into the cage again, which makes Vince bleed. Austin goes to leave via climbing up and out of the cage, but once he gets near the floor, Vince gives him two middle fingers. Austin goes back in, and rams Vince into the cage, before a STONE COLD STUNNER. Austin goes to leave the cage, but Paul Wight (the Big Show/Giant) comes through the ring and rams Austin into the cage. Wight tosses Austin hard as possible into the cage, which causes the cage door to break and swing open, giving Austin room to get his feet onto the floor, winning the bout at 20:26. That's also the end of the show.   Match Analysis: Not the greatest match...it doesn't really hold up all that well. Just like this show, I'd say. Anyhow, it was basically a 20 minute squash. *1/2. Wasnt' even close to being Vince's best match. ___________________   Rating: Ah...this one was VERY close to being put in the terrible category. Lots of crap. Lots of *1/2 stuff, too. I think I use that rating more than any other, but that isn't by coincidence. I suppose I have to call it...bad. Honestly, had I ordered it, I would've been pissed off. Non-finish in the WWF Title match, stupid finish in the main, and crap for almost the entirety of the show.   Best Segment: Rock vs. Mankind in Last Man Standing.   Worst Segment: Goldust vs. Bluedust. Awful.   All that said, I'm glad I watched this. It was a good nostalgia trip to an era that (match quality aside) I still enjoy for some reason. Yeah, I know a lot of dumb stuff happened, but that doesn't bother me at all. Could've been worse, as in, they could've posted WrestleMania XV. ___________________   I'll either put the RAW/Nitro review up tomorrow, or on Sunday. I'll be gone all day Saturday.
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

Review: WWF WrestleMania IX, from Las Vegas, Nevada; 4/4/1993.

I tinkered with the idea of putting "from Ancient Rome" in the title, but I decided not to. You know, because of this show's motif. ___________________   Gorilla Monsoon introduces the show, but he's not our announcer. JIM ROSS is, and making his WWF debut to boot! ___________________   Finkus Maximus introduces Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, then our announce team. Randy Savage is accompanied by a few vestal virgins (ha), and Bobby Heenan rides a camel to the ring, backwards, of course. When he gets off, Savage pulls up Heenan's toga to reveal a pair of BVD's. Funny. ___________________   The first match on this card is Tatanka w/Sensational Sherri vs. Shawn Michaels w/Luna Vachon for the Intercontinental Championship.   Blow-by-blow: To start, both men do a little indy applause stance segment, to no applause. Shawn's hammerlock is reversed, so Shawn reverses Tatanka's hold into a top wristlock. Tatanka powers out, but Shawn takes him to the canvas with a headlock for a 2 count. Shawn tries another takedown, but Tatanka gives him a back suplex. Tatanka misses a charge to the corner, but he gives Shawn an armdrag as Shawn leaps off the top rope. He sends Shawn into the corner where Shawn goes upside down and onto the apron, then he chops Shawn down to the floor. Shawn rams Tatanka into the buckle when on the apron, and comes off the top with a sunset flip for a 2 count. Tatanka gives Shawn an inverted atomic drop, and then a DDT, before going to an armbar. A long one, at that. Tatanka then gives Shawn a shoulderbreaker, and a tomahawk chop from up top. Tatanka goes up for a third, but Shawn superkicks him on the way down. Shawn tosses Tatanka over the top and to the floor, then taunts Sherri from the ring apron. Uh...a neckbreaker from Shawn follows for a 2 count, and so does a dropkick which also gets 2. Shawn goes to the chinlock, and when Tatanka powers out, he gives Tatanka a botched victory roll for a 2 count. Don't think they were supposed to do that, as evidenced by going right back to that spot and Tatanka dropping Michaels to the canvas from his shoulders for a 2 count. Shawn gives Tatanka an axhandle from the second rope, but now, Tatanka is using POWERS OF THE SPIRITS ABOVE, so nothing's hurting him. Tatanka chops away at Shawn, and gives him a crossbody for 2. He slingshots Shawn into the ringpost, and a roll-up gets 2. he goes for the END OF THE TRAIL, but Shawn counters with a roll-up for a 2 count. Shawn goes to the top soon after, but Tatanka catches him in mid-leap and powerslams him for a 2 count. Shawn dumps Tatanka, and from the apron, he misses a crossbody, hitting the steel steps. Shawn pulls the referee out of the ring for some reason, and when Tatanka gives Shawn the END OF THE TRAIL, the bell rings. Why, whatever could be going on here? Finkus Maximus says that Tatanka wins by COUNTOUT, but he does not win the Intercontinental Title. BOO. Time was 18:16. After the bout, Luna attacks Sherri. Jim Ross says that Sherri needs help, and in response Bobby Heenan says that she always has needed help, starting with her makeup. LAWL.   Match Analysis: A good opener for WrestleMania, but a lot was missing. Namely crisp spots. Too much stuff seemed sloppy, but outside of that and the terrible finish, it was an ok match. There will be better matches, just not necessarily on this show. **1/2. ___________________   Mean Gene Okerlund is with the Steiner Brothers, giving them an interview before their match vs. The Headshrinkers w/Afa. So yeah, that.   Blow-by-blow: Bill Alfonso is the referee...thought that was of note. Fatu and Scott start the match, and Scott takes Fatu down with an armdrag. A Scott hiptoss follows, and so does a STEINERLINE. The ring fills up as both teams try to take control, and the Headshrinkers win that battle, by tossing the Steiners out of the ring. Both Steiners go to the top rope, and they clothesline the Headshrinkers on their way in. Rick and Samu have entered the match, and they both clothesline each other. Scott tags in and gives Samu a double underhook powerbomb, before giving Fatu a nice dropkick. Samu nearly kills Scott when dropping him out of the ring as most have seen before, and Afa only furthers the damage by hitting Scott with a kendo stick. Fatu gives Scott a backbreaker back on the inside, and follows it up with a flying headbutt off the 2nd rope for a 2 count. The Headshrinkers give Scott a double headbutt, but Samu misses a charge to the corner. That doesn't allow Rick to tag in, though, but Fatu does and tosses Scott out of the ring. Fatu gives Scott a thrust kick after his face is rammed into the mat, you know, because Samoans have hard heads and they don't get hurt. Fatu goes to the NERVE HOLD, but both clothesline each other. After Samu tags in and misses a flying headbutt from the top rope, Rick Steiner makes the hot tag. Rick gives everyone STEINERLINES, and tries a noggin-knocker, but obviously that isn't going to work, and the Headshrinkers give him a double front-russian leg sweep. They try for a doomsday device type move, but Rick gives Samu a powerslam out of mid-air. Yo. Scott gives Fatu a belly-to-belly as the excess makes their way out of the ring, but Samu slams him. Scott gives Samu a FRANKENSTEINER as the ropes are being ran, and that finishes Samu for the victory at 14:23. Match Analysis: Much better than I remembered it being. After all, thinking about it, all matches between late 80's era NWA tag teams should be fun. **.   If you cannot stomach bad wrestling, quit watching the show right here. Seriously. ___________________   Mean Gene is with Doink for an interview, see, Doink drew on a statue of Julius Caesar, so Okerlund feigns outrage. We flash to when Doink attacked Crush with a prosthetic arm...laughable, ain't it? ___________________ So now, we have Doink vs. Crush. Reasons for this are stated above.   Blow-by-blow: Bobby Heenan is still pushing the "Doink is some wrestler that we've seen before" thing...when did that end? Doink squirts Crush with the flower on his coat, causing Crush to chase, and eventually slam Doink on the outside. Crush rams Doink into the ringpost, guardrail, and back into the ring, before giving Doink a neckbreaker. A backbreaker follows, but Doink uses the rope as help and gives Crush an axhandle off the top rope. Doink goes to the 2nd rope twice and gives Crush a few punches, before giving him a PILEDRIVER. Doink eats a boot on his way down from the top, and Crush gives Doink a powerslam from the 2nd rope. This is bad. And it has no heat. Crush clotheslines Doink over the top, which causes Doink to LOOK UNDER THE RING! Oh no. Crush prevents Doink from crawling under the ring, then sends him inside, for a gorilla press slam. He now applies the HEAD CRUSH, but Doink makes it to the ropes. When Crush turns around he hits the referee with his elbow, so now he's out cold. Doink tries to go UNDER THE RING, but Crush prevents him again, to give him the HEAD CRUSH. Back in with that, and a 2ND DOINK comes out from UNDER THE RING, to hit Crush with a prosthetic arm, giving Doink the oomph he needed to get the pinfall at 8:29. I didn't forget to mention that both Doinks did this little mirror-image routine that was super-retarded, of course, before the pinfall. Bill Alfonso comes to ringside to point out that there was a second Doink, and when looking under the ring, referee Joey Marella seemingly busted his noggin or something. He's acting like a malaria patient. Guess that constitutes an angle in those days.   Match Analysis: You know, I was ready to give it a DUD, until Joey Marella started acting like he had a headache. That was brutal. Just a simple -*. Wrestling was horrid (in the sense that Crush is terrible, and did not belong in the ring), but that can easily be forgiven if spots are not botched and with a simple ending to the match. Retardedness cannot be forgiven. ___________________   Todd Pettingill is in the crowd, asking about this Doink situation. Thankfully this is short, and ignorable. ___________________   Bob Backlund vs. Razor Ramon is our next contest, and Razor enters to a...favorable reaction. Heh.   Blow-by-blow: Razor tosses the toothpick at Backlund, to another favorable reaction. A big "Razor" chant begins, as Backlund trips Razor a few times. Razor slams Backlund twice in response, as Randy Savage talks about Lex Luger knocking out Bret Hart at the brunch earlier. They did that to set up a little run on the house shows, as you can see by checking thehistoryofwwe.com. Backlund gives Razor two hiptosses and a dropkick, before following that up with a double underhook suplex. Backlund gives Razor an atomic drop, causing Razor to bail out, cause Backlund's in SUPREME CONTROL. Backlund brings Razor in the hard way, but Razor rolls Backlund up for the victory at 3:44.   Match Analysis: Well, I suppose they weren't trying to make Razor look good. He looked anything but. 1/2*. I didn't really understand that match. ___________________   Money Inc. are with Mean Gene for an interview, and see, Gene thinks that the Mega Maniacs are going to have their numbers. On RAW, Brutus Beefcake was attacked with Money Inc's briefcase, so now, he has to wear a mask. Jimmy Hart tried to help even though he was Money Inc's manager, but he unable to do anything. IRS says that they're facing the "Mega Morons" and that Hogan was attacked at a gym last night, so his face is all screwed up. We'll see about that. ___________________   WHOA, LOOK AT HOGAN'S FACE.   Quite obviously, the Mega Maniacs w/Jimmy Hart are facing Money Inc. for the WWF Tag Team Titles.   Blow-by-blow: The champions instantly attack the Maniacs, but much like all other Hogan matches, he and Beefcake manage to clear the ring. Beefcake looks like a big douche with all this red and yellow and the mask he's wearing too, so to start the match, it'll be him and IRS. DiBiase quickly comes in to work on Beefcake, the height of that being a back elbow. IRS comes in for the double team and stays in, with a few punches for Beefcake before tagging back out. DiBiase tries to punch Beefcake in the face, but Beefcake's mask is keeping the punch from doing damage. Beefcake gets rammed into the buckle which also does nothing, so Beefcake returns the favor and tags in the HULKSTER. He gives Ted a 10 punch in the corner and a clothesline, before Beefcake comes in and they give DiBiase a double big boot. Hogan gives DiBiase an axhandle from rope #2, and clotheslines him over the top, bringing IRS in. Money Inc. want to leave when IRS gets tossed over the top rope, but the referee does the whole, "you better come back by the count of 10 or you'll lose your titles" thing, so of course, they come back. DiBIase and Hogan are in the ring, so DiBiase chokes Hogan a whole lot. The last three minutes have been non-sense, and once the MILLION DOLLAR DREAM gets slapped on, we can make that five minutes of nearly nothing at all. Hogan doesn't power out or anything, but the referee gets taken out of the picture or something and Beefcake gives DiBiase a sleeper, getting him to break the hold. Beefcake tags in now with the referee alive and well, and he gives IRS a high knee. DiBiase gets atomic dropped out, but after Beefcake punches IRS, DiBiase comes in and hits Beefcake in the back with the briefcase. Mongo blatantly stole that gimmick, in case you were thinking about it. DiBiase rips Beefcake's mask off, so he can go to work. The referee gets bumped when Beefcake puts the sleeper on IRS, so Hogan's able to make his way in, un-impeded. Hogan hits both champions with Beefcake's mask and both pin the champions at 18:14 w/Jimmy Hart counting the fall...but the bell is rung, and the match is over. The Mega Maniacs celebrate like morons, but a new referee comes into the ring and raises Money Inc's hands. Haha. The champions try to hit the Maniacs after the match with their tag belts, but it doesn't do anything. Jimmy Hart tosses Danny Davis over the top, Hogan poses, and they give money from Money Inc's briefcase to the crowd. Whoop-de-doo. The crowd went nuts when Hogan had the money, that being the only positive thing to come out of this. Match Analysis: Like I said, this was the worst tag title match at WrestleMania. It was absolutely terrible. 18 minutes of fast-forward material for sure, and it's clear to see why. When Beefcake has to help carry a match, the match sucks. DUD. ___________________   For 24/7 viewers, now we're on Part 2. Todd Pettingill asks Natalie Cole a few questions, thankfully, that's just a fluff piece.   Now, Mr. Perfect has a promo, in which he gets his words confused with one another. Poor guy. ___________________   Mr. Perfect vs. LEX LUGER is next...   Blow-by-blow: One of my favorite characters, this version of Lex Luger. Too bad it didn't last. You'd figure that with some of the great matches Luger has had, this would be one of them, Hennig being a participant and all. Perfect gives Luger a kneelift and a dropkick, but Luger quickly responds with an elbow before Perfect takes him to the canvas. Perfect works on Luger's leg with a spinning toehold, but Luger makes it to the ropes. Perfect tries to kick away, but Luger sends Perfect to the corner and tosses him over the top. Luger gives Perfect a backbreaker on the inside for a 2 count, and when Perfect misses a charge to the corner, Luger covers him for 2 while putting his feet on the ropes. Luger gives Perfect a powerslam for 2, but Perfect responds with a sunset flip for 2. Perfect applies a sleeper, but Luger rams him right into the buckle. Perfect gives Luger an inside cradle for a 2 count, and a backdrop to boot. Perfect then gives Luger three clotheslines, which get a 2 count, and a swinging neckbreaker, which also gets 2. Perfect comes off the top with a missile dropkick for 2, but Luger pins Perfect with a backslide for a 3 count with Perfect's feet on the ropes at 10:56. That looked as weird as it sounded. Soon as the decision is announced, Luger gets up and hits Perfect with the LOADED FOREARM. Poor Perfect.   Match Analysis: Not good. Not good at all. Perfect did his best, but it just wasn't working for me, nor was it working for the live crowd. *. ___________________   After the match, Mr. Perfect heads to the back, obviously to fight Lex Luger. What he doesn't know is that Shawn Michaels is talking to Luger, and Michaels is not going to put up with Perfect's shit. Shawn beats down Perfect, until officials break it up. How embarassing.   Heenan and Savage nearly fight when talking about Luger's forearm, and then, Gorilla Monsoon hypes the rest of the show. And boy, do these matchups ever need the hype. ___________________   Giant Gonzales w/Harvey Wippleman vs. The Undertaker w/Paul Bearer is our shitty match du-jour...   Blow-by-blow: Talk about a freakshow. Yeesh. Taker gets wheeled to the ring in a chariot of death or something, accompanied by a vulture. Both men have a staredown, and then they choke each other. Taker gives Gonzales OLD SCHOOL, but Gonzales comes back with a running clothesline. Gonzales selling is so funny...you just have to see it. Gonzales beels Taker before going to the chinlock, and then, he tosses Taker out of the ring. He rams Taker into the steel steps, and brings him back in, for a headbutt. Gonzales gets knocked down after a few Taker punches, and then Taker focuses his attention on Harvey Wippleman, who he chokes. Gonzales hits Paul Bearer, and smothers Taker with a chloroform soaked rag, for the DQ at 7:33. Gonzales gives Bill Alfonso a chokeslam, which causes the crowd to chant for Hulk Hogan. Thank God we never had an epic matchup between Hulk Hogan and Giant Gonzales. Taker gets taken to the back on a stretcher, he has risen from the dead, and he clotheslines Gonzales to the ground, causing Gonzales to leave.   Match Analysis: Not as bad as most would have you believe, but still. Horrendous angle, horrendous wrestling, selling, and everything else. My dad was laughing at Gonzales selling when he got home and watched part of the match, so yeah, it was that bad. -***. ___________________   Next we see a video of Hacksaw Jim Duggan getting destroyed by Yokozuna, and the contract signing of Bret vs. Yoko that's currently on 24/7. Hulk Hogan has an interview, and he talks about how the HULKAMANIACS ARE WITH BRET, BROTHER. He challenges either Bret or "the jap" to a match, and he guarantees that the title will be staying in the United States. Why, whatever does he mean?   Todd Pettingill's in the crowd, his teeth look rotten, and I couldn't even pay attention to what he said. ___________________   Bad matches have killed the crowd before the main event, which features Yokozuna taking on Bret Hart for the World Wrestling Federation Championship.   Blow-by-blow: Bret gives Yoko a dropkick right at the start, but his go-behind doesn't work, and Yoko gives him a shoulderblock. Bret catapults himself in from the outside and punches away, before going to the 2nd rope and giving Yoko a nice elbowdrop. Bret clotheslines Yoko twice although he can't put him down, but a Yoko clothesline in response ends Bret's little rally. Yoko slams Bert and gives him a big legdrop, before going to his favorite hold, the nerve hold. Bret takes Yokozuna to the canvas from the 2nd rope after a missed Yoko charge, but Yoko gives Bret a thrust kick and goes back to the nerve hold. Another Yoko missed charge comes, and Bret gives Yoko a bulldog from the 2nd rope, for a 2 count. A 2nd rope elbow from Bret follows for 2, and a clothesline from the 2nd does good work as well. Bret clotheslines Yoko to the canvas, and on a 10 punch, he rips the turnbuckle pad off. Bret rams Yoko into the exposed buckle and gives him the SHARPSHOOTER, but...Mr. Fuji throws powder or salt into Bret's face. That puts Bret down for the three count, at 8:56. Boo on that.   Hulk Hogan runs down to the ring, which gives Mr. Fuji the gall to issue a challenge. If Hogan wants to face his Yokozuna, they can do it, RIGHT NOW. Bret tells Hogan to accept, so Hogan jumps in the ring. Fuji misses a salt toss and blinds Yokozuna on accident, so our new champion is in trouble. Clothesline, DROP THE FUCKIN' LEG, pinfall and Hogan's a 5 time WWF Champion. Crowd goes nuts and Hogan poses to end the show. Really, when thinking about it, that was the only way to send the crowd home happy. The match didn't have a whole lot of heat, and Bret didn't get a huge reaction when entering the ring, so, I'm for it, now.   Match Analysis: I'm only rating the Bret/Yoko match. Simply put, a * affair. Terrible idea for a finish, much like the entire rest of the show. That's sad. I'm glad Yoko got the belt back, as for some reason, I thought he was a worthy champion. ___________________   Rating: Terrible. Simply put, the worst show I've watched in years. The only moments where a face got the better of the heels were when the Steiners won, and when Hogan beat Yoko. I don't think that the Maniacs got the better of Money Inc., because the heels held onto their gold. Can you believe that they were going to do Kamala vs. Bam Bam Bigelow as well? That would've made the show even worse.   Best Segment: HBK vs. Tatanka. By a fair margin the best match, but no finish makes this one taste sour.   Worst Segment: Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales. Doink vs. Crush is close, for the utter stupidity of the referee possibly having brain damage or whatever it was. ___________________   RAW and Nitro from 6/23/97 are next.
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

Review: WWF King of the Ring 1993, from Dayton, Ohio; 6/13/1993.

Here we go, the first King of the Ring on PPV! ___________________   Ross, Savage, and Heenan on commentary. And we jump right to...Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart in a King of the Ring Quarterfinal Match.   - This is also a rematch from the Royal Rumble, in case you forgot. Both guys are O-V-E-R. There's a big 1-2-3 chant in reference to Razor's loss to the Kid a few weeks ago. I haven't seen that in a while.   - Razor clotheslines Bret, sets him up on top for a back suplex, but Bret lands on top, picking up the pinfall victory at 10:27. So, Bret advances to the semifinals, to face the winner of our next bout. Also, I must mention that Razor stomped on Bret's fingers at some point in the match.   -When Razor wants to work, he can. I thought that Bret's cradle after slipping out of the Edge would be the victory, but it wasn't. Always nice to be surprised. Anyhow, I've got no problem slapping a ***1/4 rating on this. Wrestling was good, crowd loved it, and I did too. All that needs to happen, did. ___________________   We look to Superstars, when Giant Gonzalez and the Undertaker were fighting. Then Mr. Hughes came in, and hit the Undertaker with his own urn. Hughes stole it, too. ___________________   Quite obviously, that means Mr. Hughes w/Harvey Wippleman is going to face Mr. Perfect in a King of the Ring Quarterfinal Match.   - Anyone who wrestles while wearing sunglasses is fine by me. We go to a split-screen in which Bret Hart says that he'd rather face Mr. Perfect than Mr. Hughes. Ok. Hughes botches a Perfect crossbody attempt, so he and Perfect dosey-do down to the canvas. That was funny.   - Hughes grabs the stolen urn, and hits Perfect with it for the DQ loss at 6:01. Ugh. Dumb finish. Especially made dumb by Hughes not ever facing Taker in a big television or PPV match, but hey, what can you do? I also don't understand why Hughes didn't make the jump back to WCW when he left the WWF...Oh yeah, the rating. 3/4*. The botched crossbody was super funny. ___________________   Mean Gene is with Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna...Fuji says that Hogan cheated to win the belt. I don't disagree. Then Yoko says some stuff about America, and we're done. ___________________   Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan is our next Quarterfinal Match...   - Hooooo!!! Lock-up, and Bigelow's shoulderblock does nothing.   - Duggan's three point stance shoulder-tackle misses, hitting the buckle, so Bigelow's up top, diving headbutt, pinfall win for the Beast from the East at 4:59. Average. Made better by Duggan losing cleanly...that's really all there is to say. *1/4. ___________________   Lex Luger vs. Tatanka is our final King of the Ring Quarterfinal Match.   - That was a really fast transitition to this match. Had to have been edited. Anyhow, about Luger, I can't believe Vince couldn't make him a success. The referee makes Luger wear an elbowpad, so he can't use the LOADED FOREARM.   - Heenan begins to ramble about Tatanka..."Many moon come before I win match." I really laughed, just because. We cut to a split-screen with Bam Bam Bigelow. He wants to face the Indian.   -Tatanka misses a chop off the top, so Luger gives him a clothesline and powerslam for two. Luger follows with a suplex, that gets two. A backbreaker gets two, and we have a DRAW at 14:58. 15 minute time-limit, remember? After the match, Luger asks for five more minutes, to a big pop. Tatanka turns around to leave, and gets hit with the LOADED FOREARM. To another ovation. Well, no wonder he made the turn. Bam Bam gets a bye to the final.   - Pretty good show these two put on, IMO. Could've been worse, given what was in there, but I thought Luger did well. You could see the positives from having good matches with others. I'm going to call this **1/4. I might be all alone with that rating. ___________________   Mean Gene stirs up shit with Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect, who are facing each other in the Semifinal Round of the King of the Ring. Gene asked whose dad was better and that sort of thing. Good stuff.   - Perfect acts like he'll let Bret back in, but he kicks him. Heh. Now, you know who's going to play heel. Perfect launches Bret from the apron into the steel guardrail, so now Bret's knee is hurt, in addition to a few fingers that were taped up at the beginning of the match.   - We go to the SHARPSHOOTER, but Perfect grabs Bret's injured fingers and stomps on them. Oh hell no, you monster. He tries a PERFECT-PLEX, but Bret suplexes him down ot the floor. Fantastic match. Perfect cradles Bret for two back on the inside, but Bret reverses for the pinfall, advancing to the King of the Ring Final and a match with Bam Bam Bigelow at 18:56.   - Much like Scott Keith, I think this was better than their meeting at SummerSlam 1991. Shocking! Particularly liked how the broken fingers came into play. That was choice. ****1/2. ___________________   Mean Gene is with Hulk Hogan, who is defending his WWF Championship against Yokozuna, right now!   - Who doesn't like Jimmy Hart, now, seriously? The placement of this match on the card definitely gives away the result. A Yoko belly-to-belly gets two, so we have a HULK-UP. Yawn. Hogan finally puts Yoko down after THREE big boots, but the LEGDROP only gets a two count. Now a photographer gets on the apron, shoots a fireball at Hogan, and Yoko drops a leg of his own for the victory at 13:11. BANZAI DROP afterward, and it's over for Hogan. ALL OVER.   - Uh, awfully boring. Historic, but really bad. If Yokozuna has to carry a match, well, it's going to be shit. I like him because he was on the first PPV I ever watched, but seriously now. 1/2*. I did like Yoko's title reign, though. It was good stuff (for a fat lug), especially the shit with Crush. ___________________   Shawn and Diesel are in the back, and Shawn is just TEARING INTO Hulk Hogan. I'm going to guess this was a contingency plan in case Hulk stayed. Hulk feuds with Diesel to get to Shawn. LOL. Like I said, a guess. Shawn called Hogan a dinosaur, which was good for a laugh. ___________________   Next up, an eight-man tag. We've got the Steiner Brothers and The Smokin' Gunns vs. Money Inc. and the Headshrinkers w/Afa.   - Non-elimination, btw. DiBiase's looking a little pudgy.   - MILLION DOLLAR DREAM...but Billy puts DiBiase in a small package for the victory at 7:03. After the match, they brawl, and the faces get the best.   - Rick Steiner didn't even enter. That was weird. Anyway, just a simple, throwaway match to try and bring the fans back. We'll see how that last part worked out later on. **. ___________________   Crush is facing Shawn Michaels w/Diesel for the Intercontinental Title, after Yokozuna had an interview in the back.   - This is a strange match. IMO, Crush came around about three years later than he should have. Perfect gimmick for the 80's. Savage talks about potential for Crush/Yoko...   - Crush dominates the match, until he clotheslines Shawn over the top. Doink is at the ramp...I SEE THREE OF THEM. WHAT THE FUCK. Actually, it's two. They distracted Crush somethin' good, so Shawn superkicked the big Hawaiian in the back of the head for the victory at 11:14. Crush chases the Doink's to the back, of course. **1/4 is my rating. Shawn did all the work, but Crush held up his end of the bargain. This could've been brutal. ___________________ Mean Gene talks to Bam Bam Bigelow before he faces Bret Hart in the King of the Ring Final...   - Bret favors the leg on the way down. And gets dominated throughout. Luna Vachon came down and hit Bret with a chair, stacking the odds further. Bret comes in afterward, gets slammed and given the flying headbutt off the top for three at 9:23. NO, WAIT A SECOND. Another referee comes out, and says no. No, because of Luna. Some people are leaving, but the match will restart. And everyone runs back to their seats.   - Bret and Bam Bam proceed to tear the house down, ya heard. Bam Bam misses a charge to the corner, and Bret gives him a victory roll for a three count and huge pop at 18:17. Great match, highly underrated. ****. Savage congratulates, as...   Bret moves to the stage, to be crowned king! Jerry Lawler comes to the stage, and says that he's the only king in the World Wrestling Federation. Bret needs to bow and kiss Lawler's feet, he says. Bret calls him the Burger King, which births a chant that I abhor to this day. As thanks for said chant, Lawler takes Bret out with a scepter. Then Lawler tosses the throne onto Bret, and beats the shit out of him. He kicks Bret off the platform, and we're out of time. That was an intense angle. I loved it, as is the case with many end of show PPV angles. ___________________   Rating: Great. Bret's one man show. Must see. All that stuff.   Best Segment: I've gotta give the angle with Lawler and Bret its due. The crowd was really, really hating Lawler. On one hand, the show was almost all in favor of heels. That's something for the live fans to not like.   Worst Segment: Hughes vs. Perfect. For meaninglessness. ___________________   I'll review King of the Ring 1994, just like I did this one. My brother graduates tomorrow, so I won't watch it until later in the week.
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

Review: WCW Monday Nitro and WWF Monday Night RAW from 8/11/1997.

After Road Wild, and The Giant has been given a restraining order. Oh Lord, these angles suck. Also, we're from Denver! ___________________   The Wolfpac come out, talk about the Steiners, and then, The Outsiders take on two jobbers.   - The Steiners music hit, which introduced the Outsiders opponents. How cute. Nash jackknifes the one with red hair for the win at 1:28. 1/4*. Lame. Steiners run through the crowd and beat the Wolfpac up. Good! ___________________   Meng is taking on Wrath w/James Vandenberg...   - They meet in the aisle, and Meng beats him up on the inside. Haku vs. Adam Bomb is the stuff of dreams. Meng applies the TONGAN DEATH GRIP, which gets THE WIN at 2:40. So, Wrath's first TV loss is to a lower midcard guy in less than three minutes. That makes a lot of sense. *. Mortis and Barbarian run down to beat each other up. ___________________   The Steiners and Ted DiBiase are with Gene Okerlund, for an interview. They say that the Outsiders were lucky to have had such an incompetent official for their match at Road Wild. ___________________   Eddie Guerrero faces Chris Jericho here...   - One of many matches soon to take place between these two. After Jericho german's Eddie on his head, he gives Eddie a GIANT SWING. Eddie crotches Jericho on the top rope, and FROG SPLASHES him from all the way across the ring. All over at 4:33. **1/4. Entertaining. ___________________   Alex Wright invades during a Nitro Girl performance, then cuts a promo about how bad these fans are. ___________________ Now we've got Dean Malenko against Jeff Jarrett w/Debra for the US Title.   - Road Wild explains this matchup. Read the results. Jarrett wanted to leave the area, but an appearance from Mongo brought him back to the ring. Some WarGames hype follows from our commentary crew, and then Dean applies the TEXAS CLOVERLEAF. Eddie Guerrero runs in, and along with Jarrett, beats Dean up for the DQ at 4:13 (shown). *1/2. Mongo hits all the heels, and Dean beats up Mongo when he comes to. Weird. ___________________   Mean Gene is with Curt Hennig and Ric Flair...then the other Four Horsemen come out, and they talk about Hennig's match against Savage later tonight, and the Clash XXXV tag between Hennig & Flair who are facing Konnan and Syxx. ___________________   Hour #2 begins, with Scott Norton and Eric Bischoff coming down to the ring. The Giant was supposed to face Norton, but this whole restraining order thing got in the way. Other NWO guys came out and sung happy birthday to Hogan...so, the guy wins the World Title on the previous night and doesn't come to TV the next day. That makes a ton of sense. Buff Bagwell spraypaints the fifty feet line, and the Giant comes out to cross it. WHOA. Larry Z comes out to bring him back, and Scott Hall toothpicks Larry. They nearly fight. All done! ___________________   Lex Luger calls out Hulk Hogan, and then, we have Buff Bagwell w/Vincent vs. DDP.   - Strange matchup. Not very entertaining, although competitive. DIAMOND CUTTER finishes at 4:09 after Vincent botches interference. *. ___________________   On the Road... ___________________   We've got Mortis w/James Vandenberg vs. Ultimo Dragon for the Television Title...   - Now THIS is a strange matchup. Dragon powerbombs Mortis from the second rope and locks in the DRAGON SLEEPER for the submission at 3:09. *3/4. I do not understand why Mortis and Wrath have been jobbed out tonight. ___________________   JJ Dillon wants Sting back, Sting comes to the ring, and Dillon offers him a contract to face Syxx. Syxx? That's a step down from last week, when Dillon asked him to face Curt Hennig. Sting rips the contract up and leaves. ___________________ In our main event, we have Curt Hennig vs. Randy Savage w/Liz.   - All I can think about while watching this is, if only this had happened 9 years earlier. Page runs down for the no contest at 3:05, and he gets beaten up by Hall and Savage. Elbowdrops galore, as Hennig has been tossed out. Luger runs down, and we have our Clash XXXV main event. Easy as that. 1/2*, end show. ___________________   Rating is poor, didn't care for this at all. Best segment was Eddie/Jericho, worst was Savage/Hennig. Cause it was disappointing, you know? ___________________   RAW this week is from Biloxi, Mississippi. ___________________   Shawn Michaels is out, talking about SummerSlam and such, before the crowd chants that he's gay. "Why don't you ask your mom and sister how gay I am?" Slaughter comes out, spits in Shawn's face, and tells him to face Mankind. Okay. HBK talks about his insurance policy... ___________________ The British Bulldog and Owen Hart are out, to watch Hawk face Henry Godwinn in a Country Whippin' Match.   - To win, you must toss your opponent out of the ring. Both guys have straps, but they are not attached to each other. Owen and Bulldog both challenge the Patriot during commentary...   - Both men's partners run in, and Henry gets knocked out by Animal at 3:48, so Hawk wins. 1/2*. ___________________   Slaughter tosses Pillman his ring gear, as a guy named Tony Williams faces Scott Putski.   - Goldust comes out to watch, because he's going to show us a split-screen view of Pillman putting on his dress. Oh Lord. Pillman's really distraught about this whole situation, and he can't even get the dress on. Polish Hammer wins, I had to open the front door so I don't have the etime. Anyway, Slaughter makes Goldust leave after the match. *. ___________________   Taker's going to watch Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind later. Okay.   Flash Funk is facing Brian Pillman.   - Nice dress! Vince and the crew hype Hardcore Heaven 1997 a bit, then Slaugher says that Bulldog and Owen will face the Patriot and a partner of his choosing. All these fucking cameos during matches are pissing me off. Ridiculous. Goldust comes out, and shows us the footage of Pillman putting on his dress. Funk cradles Pillman from behind for the win at 3:16. *1/4. ___________________   Dude Love comes out, for an interview. It's pretty funny. He talks about the damage Mankind will do to Shawn Michaels, until Shawn Michaels appears on the TitanTron and rebutts these statements. ___________________ Warzone begins, with Owen Hart and the British Bulldog facing the Patriot and his mystery partner...KEN SHAMROCK!   - With Shamrock being the partner, Bulldog is quite terrified. After a commercial, we come back, and Bret Hart is on the walkway. Patriot makes the hot tag, and cleans house. Slaughter keeps Bret from walking down the ramp, and the referee is distracted as well. A chair comes in, the Hart Foundation can't use it, but Patriot full-nelson slams Bulldog onto the chair for the win at 8:06. **. ___________________   Shawn's with his insurance policy...but you can't see his face.   During a Patriot interview, Bret attacks the Patriot. Of course, he kicks his ass. Obviously. ___________________ Faarooq is scheduled to face Chainz...   - This will suck. Chainz clotheslines Faarooq into the referee on accident, and...Rocky Maivia(?) runs into the ring. ROCK BOTTOM on Chainz(!), and Faarooq pins him for the win at 3:04. What a surprise. 1/2*. I like it! ___________________   Sable's supposed to be the ring announcer for this next match, but Patriot comes to the ring and calls out Bret Hart. Bret Hart comes, and they fight. When the Hart Foundation come down, they really kick the Patriot's ass. Nobody runs in either. ___________________   Mankind tells Shawn Michaels that his insurance policy had better be life insurance...   and after a Brakus vignette, we have ___________________   Shawn Michaels vs. Mankind in our main event.   - Mankind brought a trash can. Unfortunately, Shawn put it on Mankind and the trash back stayed on the big lug. All covered up! This is a huge brawl, featuring lots of weird shit. Mick gets backdropped onto the announce table, and then for some reason, Shawn flies off the apron with an elbowdrop onto the announce table. These two have good chemistry. After Shawn rans Mankind's head into the post and back suplexes him onto the announce table, HHH and Chyna make their way out, as we head to a commercial.   - We're back, and Mankind's mask has been ripped off. RICK RUDE(!) walks down to the ring, stands there for a moment, and then grabs a chair. He clocks Mick in the head with it, and SWEET CHIN MUSIC leads to the pinfall victory at 8:42. ***1/2 for an outstanding TV match. Undertaker heads down to the ring, but Paul Bearer shows up on the TitanTron. KANE IS COMING. You will BURN IN HELL!   So yeah, show over. ___________________   Raw was good this time around, best segment was HBK/Mankind and the worst was Putski/Williams, in which we had to watch Pillman get dressed. Ugh.   Way better than Nitro. ___________________   REVIEW WCW THUNDER       Yeah, I'm reviewing that next.  
Guest

Guest

5
LFC Blog
 

The Stanley Cup champions reside in San Jose.

I have never seen a team as complete as the Sharks. They are unreal. The only true threat to them is the Stars, but they have questions in net. I am convinced that the Sharks will put California hockey on the map, at which point I will kill myself.   On another note, Luc Robitaille's final game is tonight. He is a legend in every sense of the word. Ranks 10th all-time in goalscoring, ranks 1st among LW's in goalscoring, and is 1st in LA Kings goalscoring. I'll miss hearing the Staples Center chant Luuuuuuuuuuuuccccccccc every time he touches the puck. Most underrated player of all time? I think so. Can't wait for his number to be retired, which will undoubtedly be against Montreal next season.   He will be missed.
Guest

Guest

4
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
×