*Enough tv & territory matches. Binged the good stuff for once- 8 Big Two PPV matches ranging from 93-00. Shooting for 4 today and 4 tomorrow.

Barry Windham (c) vs. Arn Anderson- WCW Slamboree 5/23/93- NWA Championship Match

Sad to say I did not care about this match back in the day. The whole Horsemen thing didn't mean as much to me in 93 as it would by 95-96. Arn had only been cool when he teamed with Tully in WWF and I'm pretty sure I didn't even know he was supposed to be a good guy. This would be Double A's only shot at the NWA Championship. In hindsight it's sad and a little tragic that he never even held the US Title. 

This didn't live up to its on paper potential. There were a few nice moments, but just as many uncharacteristically sloppy ones, and the crowd never really got into this encounter despite a good build and years of history between the two former Horsemen. Arn busted Barry open, and Barry bled well, but they didn't get as much out of it as they could/should have. And the finish was awfully contrived. There was a ref bump, a belt shot, and Windham retained to end an ultimately disappointing 11 minute match. Interesting to note Arn broke out the fake punch-DDT spot two years before I thought he invented it vs. Alex Wright, but even that didn't come off smoothly.

Edge (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett w/ Debra- Fully Loaded 7/25/99- IC Title Match

Edge upset JJ at a house show the previous night in Toronto to win his first WWF championship of any kind.

This started out being all about Debra's puppies. The Buffalo chanted for them. Lawler fawned over them on commentary leading to some amusing banter with JR. But the boys won over an indifferent crowd with solid good guy vs. bad guy wrestling. JJ got heat. Edge must have been working a Master of the Rollup gimmick because he got multiple nearfalls off several different variations of the move. JJ targeted the leg but switched to the arm after Edge went shoulder first into the post. Then the booking kicked in...

Gangrel & Edge had just broken up. Lights went out. Gangrel appeared. Only to be beaten up by Edge in the dark! But that Jezebel Debra distracted the ref just long enough for Gangrel to interfere leading to JJ catching Edge with a Stroke to get his IC Title match. This was a solid meat and potatoes 13 match marred a bit by excessive shenanigans. Surprisingly better than AA/Barry though.

Konnan (c) vs. Jushin Liger w/ Sonny Ono- WCW Slamboree 5/19/96- US Title Match

Something of an international dream match here for Apter Mag readers such as myself and smart fans in general. Not sure I had seen Liger in a high profile match yet, though I probably had seen him on WCW tv by this point, and had certainly heard Liger hype from the Three Brothers. This is my favorite Konnan period, though I'll still admit his US Title reign was a flop, and he wowed me a little less every time I saw him. Still, I'll take early 96 Konnan over 97-Today Konnan every day of the week.

They start out with some cool mat stuff. Then they go into the big moves. It's a fun 10 minute 1996 workrate match that filled a niche. Commentary is a trainwreck though. Tenay is doing his wrestling nerd thing and Heenan keeps cutting him off with jokes Lawler would have rejected while Tony tries and fails to get things back on track. Fascinating to hear this chemistry fail right after listening to JR & Lawler bounce off each other so well. Back to the match, Konnan is great on offense! But he doesn't take things well. Not at all. There are a few sloppy moments and one great nearfall where Konnan hits an Alabama into an Owen Hart pin for 2.9. Ono slips in a kick to give Liger a modicum of heel heat, but Konnan ultimately wins with a sitout Razor's Edge. I'll actually put this a hair over JJ/Edge. 

British Bulldog (c) vs. Ken Shamrock- Summerslam 8/3/97- European Championship Match/LOSER EATS DOG FOOD~!

Summerslam 97 had HYPE as this was peak Hartamania but I didn't get to see this show for reasons I forget. Probably parents being party poopers. Missing this one hurt. Don't even recall getting over the phone play by play from the cousin. Remember riding around in Matt The IRS Fan's new black pickup truck earlier that day with the caveat that I HAD to be back no later than 7:30. Alas, it mattered not for there would be no pay per view watching that night, no joy in Mudville Baltimore.

I never did take to Shamrock. Still think he was a bad fit for late 90s WWF. But immediately beefing with the Hart Foundation got him on my bad side from the get go. Only way to get heat quicker with 1997 me would be defecting to WCW. This feud was built around...dog food. Yep. Bulldog had stuffed some into Shamrock's mouth on an episode of Raw.

This was more angle than match and it was effective on that front. Match itself went around 7-8 and had some awkward moments. There were a few weird irish whips that went awry with the opponent not wanting to go where they were supposed to. Felt like Bulldog was the one directing, or at least trying to direct traffic. And there was a real bad botched suplex on the floor. But Bulldog busted Shamrock's lip and business picked up from there. Ballsy move by Bulldog as Shamrock is the last guy I would stiff. Bulldog eventually shoves dog food into Shamrock's mouth again...

Shamrock snaps for the first time. This would become his WWF calling card. He gets DQed for shoving the ref and chokes out Bulldog with a sleeper. The New Jersey crowd didn't get why this particular sleeper was supposed to be dangerous any more than 1997 me would have. Bulldog turns colors in the sleeper. A bunch of refs and agents come out to pry Shamrock off Bulldog. Kenny finally releases the hold. Then he starts suplexing agents and refs. Interesting to note Patterson & Brisco are the only agents to get 'plexed. The crowd, which had been dead for the match aside from one "USA" chant, finally comes alive. They endorse Kenny's bad behavior with a loud "SHAMROCK" chant. Once again proving Bret right that 1997 American fans were bloodthirsty savages who only supported fellow brutes. This was a better overall package than Barry/Arn, but below the other two bouts.

Match also gave us what had to be one of the last appearances of the all time great JR/Vince/Lawler commentary trio. Interesting to note they were already referring to what Shamrock did as "Mixed Martial Arts." I don't remember hearing that term until the early-mid 2000s. Before then it was either "UFC" or "real fighting" here in these parts.

Buff Bagwell vs. "Positively" Kanyon- WCW New Blood Rising 8/13/00- JUDY BAGWELL ON A FORKLIFT MATCH~!

Thinking about Arn never winning the US Title got me to thinking about these two popular latter day WCW stars who never won a single singles championship between them in WCW proper. Stumbling upon the infamous Judy Bagwell match was just a happy accident. Popped when I found out. Genuinely had no idea it was this match. I didn't even know who Buff's opponent was. 

"Positively" Kanyon is Kanyon doing DDP cosplay. Kanyon sounds just like Vince Russo. Judy Bagwell looks like an old school Baltimore "hon."

You know what? This match doesn't deserve the hate. It's a perfectly cromulent ** affair. I'd even rate it a notch above Davey/Shamrock and two notches above Arn/Windham. Even the notorious stipulation isn't as bad as it looks on paper. If commentary, including Mark Madden who is very much the poor man's Jerry Lawler, is to be believed, then Kanyon's whole deal was being a delusional DDP wannabe who wants to make Judy his "Kimberly." Kidnapping a middle-aged dame and making her son fight for her freedom is just the sort of thing a madman would do. So Judy Bagwell on a forklift even makes sense in a roundabout sort of way.

Anyway, Kanyon hits one "innovative" move- a super Russian Leg Sweep- but mostly gets heat with basic offense and heeling. The Vancouver crowd is into the face/heel story. Some jabroni who looks like a fan wearing wrestler gear wanders out late in the match. The ham & egger turns out to be David Arquette. OF COURSE David Arquette would have a cameo in the Judy Bagwell On A Forklift Match. Most natural thing in the world. Most WCW thing in the world. Buff valiantly fights off Kanyon & Arquette, simultaneously taking them down with a Double Blockbuster. Then he pins Kanyon to free his mother from the clutches of the evil DDP cosplayer.

Verdict- Perfectly fine midcard match in front of a good, receptive crowd. Nothing wrong with it in the slightest. Bagwell came off as a popular babyface with star potential.

Sycho Sid w/ Ted Dibiase vs. Henry O. Godwinn- In Your House 9/24/95

How could I not watch a Sid Vicious match after that Other Sid Vicious shirt post the other day? This was part of the great HOG face turn storyline. For months Dibiase had used HOG to do his dirty work with the promise of one day making him a full-fledged Corporation member. HOG eventually realized he was being used and turned on Teddy Wrestling, likely with a bucket o' slop. HOG also slopped Sid on Superstars a day before this match. But Sid would get revenge later in the show by powerbombing the Hog Man on the floor. So our HOG hero is coming in with a bad back. 

This was pretty good and I'm sure I've gone on record before, but if not, allow me to say HOG was officially a Good Wrestler. He starts off fast and furious. Even suplexes Sid, but his back gives out on a bodyslam. Sid takes over. He mostly works the back. It's not very interesting because Sid is not a very interesting wrestler. But they do get something out of a Camel Clutch because HOG is good at selling and Sid had some good facial expressions. HOG makes his come back. The Saginaw, MI crowd is really into it. SLOP DROP! 1-2-NO! That scoundrel Dibiase pulled HOG off before the ref could make the 3 count. HOG gives chase leading to Sid taking over again. Dibiase would later trip Godwinn leading to a big air Sid leg drop. Teddy Wrestling’s cheating was well-timed and well-executed. Powerbomb finishes the HOG man

I wasn't 100% convinced Sid went over here because I remembered Sid doing some unexpected jobs around this time. Turns out I was probably thinking of the time he did the honors for Holly on a house show.

Postmatch sees Sid add insult to injury by "hog rolling" the HOG man out of the ring. OK, that was some good heel work. Oh no! Dibiase & Sid have the slop bucket. They're going to slop HOG when Bam Bam Bigelow makes the save. Heck yes!  That scoundrel Kama runs out to beat up BBB. Oh no! Now the MDC is about to slop Bigelow. But wait? HOG snatches the bucket from Dibiase and slops “The Million Dollar Man.” Hell yeah! HOG man! SOOEY~!

Verdict- Solid match, great postmatch. Good stuff all around. Henry Godwinn is undeniable at this point. Great seller. Good offense. Good size. Over with the crowd. This was the best total package of the 8 matches I watched for this binge, and that's taking into account THE Total Package is still to come! 

Lex Luger vs. Randy Savage w/ Elizabeth- WCW Souled Out 1/24/98

Real star-studded matchup here between two of the biggest names of the past decade+. Michael Buffer does the introductions, so you know it's a big match. NWO theme hits (BOO!) to herald the arrival of Savage. Luger's generic rock theme sounds like the background music to every DVD menu.

Not much to this one. Luger will get control. Then Miss Elizabeth will interfere. Luger gets distracted. Savage hits a Pearl Harbor Knee to take over. This happens a few times. Hogan & Hall wander out down the stretch. Commentary tells us Hall & Savage have had issues of late. Hall gets up on the apron. Luger reverses an irish whip. Savage ends up bumping into Hall. Luger Racks Mach for the insta-submission victory. Hell yeah! Flexy Lexy for the win. Suck it, ya NWO jerks!

BOO! NWO are sore losers so more members of the gang swarm Lex after the match. It's like 8 on 1 when STING runs out to a big pop. Sting then singlehandedly clears the ring with simple strikes and it's a bit too ridiculous even for this NWO hater. But the ending is cool when Sting puts Hogan in the Scorpion as Luger simultaneously Racks Nash to send the fans home happy. It's always nice to see two of the biggest jerks in wrestling get their comeuppance.

Verdict- More feel good moment(s) than match. The whole shebang would have made a great Nitro closer. Unfortunately, this was the PPV main which means it must be held to a higher standard. It's cool to send the fans home happy. Especially since WCW so rarely did during this period. But the match was like a *1/2 affair that only went about 7 minutes and even this sports entertainment leaning McMahonist wants more from a main event. 

Headshrinkers (c) w/ Afa & Lou Albano vs. Yokozuna & Crush w/ Fuji & Cornette- King of the Ring 6/16/94- Tag Title Match

Going into this show I figured Yoko & Crush were a lock to take the tag titles. Yoko was a former WWF Champ already stagnating in the midcard while Crush had been flirting with upper midcard status for a long time. Figured crowning them tag champs would give them something to do for a while. Plus I just wasn't a Headshrinkers guy...

I didn't even care enough to be a Headshrinkers hater. They were just blah. Face or heel, they inspired apathy in me. The Samoan Savage gimmick did nothing for me. Probably needed blood to make that work, and 1994 WWF wasn't about that life. They didn't cut promos, and it took them over a year and a half to finally capture the Tag Titles. Meaning even in kayfabe they were mid. Pairing them with drunk uncles Afa & Albano certainly didn't help matters. Afa & Captain Lou reminded me of those burned-out crazies in the city who would hang around street corners shouting their pet issues at the normal passersby crossing over to the other side of the street because they're just trying to live their normal little lives without being harangued by the local nutjob squad.

I wasn't a Crush guy either and even Yoko, the one guy in this match I still kinda sorta liked, had fallen off hard since losing the title. It's safe to say June 1994 me couldn't have cared less about this match. Real bathroom break material.

Highlight was honestly drunk uncle Art on commentary. Jeez, imagine Art Donovan, Captain Lou, and Afa in the same segment. Feel like I lost a few brain cells just thinking about it. Yoko does a lot more here than he would a year later teaming with Owen. He takes like 5 bumps! OK, so 3 of them were the same 'through the ropes to the floor' bump, but at least he's still moving, still out there trying. Headshrinkers do their hard head schtick. I don't mind it once per match as it was a big part of their gimmick, but they just keep doing it. No selling actual moves to the head is taking an already bad joke too far. One of the 'Shrinkers hits a boss piledriver on Crush. Then Crush hits a real wimpy one on a 'Shrinker....and the 'Shrinker sells it? I guess their heads are selectively hard? Crush almost botches a superplex by inadvertently hitting the Austin Aries super brainbuster, but they somehow manage to save the 'Shrinkers life by turning it into a proper superplex at the last split second. We get a brief "USA" chant. Well, the 'Shrinkers were announced from "AMERICAN Samoa." Luger comes out to distract Crush as Crush recently did the coolest thing of his career by costing Luger a KOTR slot against Double J in a match I well-remember watching on my little black & white tv in my room. A 'Shrinker rolls Crush up off the distraction. I think this was supposed to be the finish, but it didn't come off well, so Crush wisely kicked out. Then the other 'Shrinker superkicks him barely on camera and pins for the win. Thank goodness this trainwreck is over, though I still wish the bad guys had won.

Verdict- Weakest match of this binge. * range. So why did I remember this one the most? Likely because it was the last one I watched.

Going to bury this here rather than the Official Smackdown thread because people are going gaga for WWE these days and for once I don't want to be That Guy.

Smackdown 4/5/24 was the first SD I watched in 4 1/2 years. It sucked. The matches sucked. The promos mostly sucked. Show was boring and poorly paced. There are way too many commercials. I don't like the set. I don't like the themes. I don't even like the way it's filmed. I don't get it, period. But then I only watch like 3 times a year and couldn't care less about most of these people.

*Logan Paul is out to good heat. His lackeys are looking for Orton & Owens in the empty stadium next door. Swerve! Owens & Orton were hiding under the ring. They hit their finishers on Logan Paul. Philadelphia rejoices. This was fine dumb sports entertainment.

*There was an angle where Rey's masked buddy got beat up by a mystery attacker. Carlito was there.

Electra w/ Andrade vs. Zelina w/ Rey was awful. After many minutes of watching a wrestling show with no wrestling, the first in ring action I see is forearm trading. Shoot me now. Zelina looked fresh out of wrestling school. Electra hit a Catatonic and..I think she won? Let's find out...Yep. Elektra won with a Baldo Bomb. Nicest thing I can say is at least it was short. 

*Another angle. Elektra's friends beat up Rey. Andrade turns on them to save Rey and offers to be his partner at Wrestlemania. Andrade is filling in for the guy who got attacked earlier. But wait! Carlito wanted to be Rey's partner. Ooh jealousy. I smell a 'Lito turn coming.

*Bianca, Jade & Naomi cut a promo on their Wrestlemania opponents. I think they're a new stable. This seemed to drag on forever. I'm already regretting my choice to watch 2024 Smackdown when there are Henry Godwinn matches just one click away. It ends with all 3 of them pointing at the sign.

New Catch Republic vs. Austin Theory & Other Lawler was another stinker. Theory & Lawler were Logan Paul's goofy lackeys from earlier. New Catch Republic do a bunch of goofy ass CHIKARA offense. Stuff happens and once again I don't even remember who won. Let's find out… It was New Catch Republic with the *sigh* Birminghammer. D'oh. And Lawler is actually Waller. Now I feel used and abused.

*Judgment Day beats up all 4 guys after the match. This was cool because it meant a DIRTY DOM sighting. He has a world class mullet and hit a Frog Splash.

*Very long video package recapping Bayley's feud with... *checking again* Iyo Sky. They'll be fighting at 'Mania.

*LA Knight promo. Automatic win. He's facing AJ Styles at 'Mania. This was the best part of the show. And it wasn't even that great. LA better win at WM.

Jey Uso vs. Solo Sikoa- Hopefully I can finally remember which Uso is which now that one is good and the other bad. Just need to remember "Jey=Good, Jimmy=Bad." Sikoa is unintentionally hilarious because he's a chubby 250 pounder they're pushing as a monster heel so he no sells everything like he's 6 inches taller and 50 pounds heavier. There are superkicks and lousy strikes all over the place until Solo gets DQed when Bad Uso Jimmy interferes. Solo & Jimmy beatdown Jey until Cody & Seth run in for the save. They run Sikoa off and whip Jimmy a time or two with Cody's belt so Jey can hit the Superfly Splash. Cody cuts a promo and that's that. TIL Solo Sikoa is the Usos younger brother. So that's interesting. At some point Cole calls Uso vs. Uso "a battle of yeet vs. no yeet" and I am obviously Team No Yeet. That means I have to root for Jimmy even if he is the bad guy.

*Oh, and there was another promo segment where some guy dropped a bunch of insider terminology on Lashley. Too lazy to look up this guy's name, but they'll be fighting at 'Mania as well.

Verdict- I have never felt more like a grumpy old wrestling fan than I do right now. Think of all the ground THAT covers. I've been a grumpy old wrestling fan for 15 years! I thought this show was awful. None of the 3 matches I saw were over *. All 3 matches had similar post-match shenanigans. It honestly made me not even want to check out 'Mania over the next two days. But people are loving this stuff! I don't get it.

I'm sure I'll tune in for LA Knight, Dirty Dom, and I am curious to see what happens in the main events, but there's a good chance I zone out during the rest of it.

This was a filler show.

If you were to tell me and my little brother in 94-95-96 that there would be a Ken Shamrock vs British Bulldog match we would have shat our pants, that would have been like an ultimate dream match, the fact that they pulled it off and made it about smearing dog food in each others faces is exhibit A. that 97 Shamrock was one of the biggest balls WWE ever dropped in their history.

Apr 7, 2024 3:36:12 GMT Baker said:

Going to bury this here rather than the Official Smackdown thread because people are going gaga for WWE these days and for once I don't want to be That Guy.

On one hand you couldn't have picked a worse show. On the other it wasn't like the show was a huge departure from what they usually put on.

The big difference between now and four and a half years ago is that they have stars. All the guys that they were pushing a decade ago have grown into their roles and the crowds have turned out in droves. It was like AEW weeded out all the hardcore fans, so the WWE are free to lay everything out organically and deliver on all their big PPVs.

Still, all this talk of a brand Attitude era feels premature. If anything Wrestlemania IL feels like Wrestlemania X-7 and once they start shifting gears from The Bloodline I question whether they can top themselves.

Apr 2, 2024 2:12:01 GMT Baker said:

Match also gave us what had to be one of the last appearances of the all time great JR/Vince/Lawler commentary trio. Interesting to note they were already referring to what Shamrock did as "Mixed Martial Arts." I don't remember hearing that term until the early-mid 2000s. Before then it was either "UFC" or "real fighting" here in these parts.

Interesting for sure that you pointed that out, I believe that was a brand spanking new term at that time and it took years for it to really set in as the name for that sport. I remember still calling it NHB until like 2008

Wrestlemania XL Matches I Watched

Jey Uso vs. Jimmy Uso was shockingly bad considering the year(s?) of build. It was slow mo swing dance wrestling with superkick spam. Literally the worst. Jey is the good guy. He went over with a Superfly Splash. But I was rooting for bad guy Jimmy just because Jey's whole thing is "yeet" and I am not a teenager on Tiktok. Going to give them the benefit of the doubt and assume one was injured. Even if true I've seen enough Usos (3 matches in a year lol) to conclude they were waaaaay better as a midcard babyface tag team a decade ago. Main event Usos are decidedly not for me.

Jade/Bianca/Naomi vs. Damage Control was a solid midcard match. That sounds like lukewarm praise, but I actually mean it as a compliment. It was what it should have been. Bad girls got heat on weak link Naomi. She made the hot tag to Bianca who hit her cool offense. Then they got heat on her for a minute or two before she made another hot tag to next big thing Jade who subsequently cleaned house and scored the clean pin. This whole thing was well booked, smartly laid out, and they wrestled appropriately for their spot on the card. Jade & Bianca are going to make the company a lot of money either as partners or opponents. Preferably both. 

Gunther vs. Sami Zayn was a mixed bag. walter is the best offensive wrestler I've seen over the past 5-6 years and he really does give off ring general vibes. But I was disheartened to see even medium walt succumb to the dumbest tropes of the day, like selling back-to-back half nelson suplexes by immediately hitting a clothesline. Ugh. Plus I totally called Zayn's victory once he survived a sleeper/powerbomb sequence, and the camera kept focusing on his family in the crowd. They just laid it on a little too thick for my liking. Overall walt held the belt 213 days too long and I've never been a Sami Generico guy. Final Thoughts: HTM > WALTER > Gunther > Zayn.
==============
Drew McIntyre vs. Seth Rollins- Seth's mummers entrance was a nice deep cut ECW reference. Drew grew on me during the last two Rumbles and now he hates CM Punk so he's officially a Baker Guy. Match sucked a big one though. It was a 10 minute button mashing finisherfest. Or as I wrote in the Official WM thread "Nuclear Bomb Drops. 2.9 kickout. This Is Awesome chant." Hogan/Warrior really is the most influential match of all time. Every big Wrestlemania match takes inspiration from that true classic. Only with regular Joe ham and eggers in place of larger than life superheroes. Oh well. Drew won Seth's bogus title after hitting his 7th finisher of the match. But I can forgive this dumb dumb match more than the dumb dumb Usos match because Drew kept being a dick to Punk on commentary. Hell yeah! Speaking of cool wrestlers who won me over in Rumbles, where was Nia Jax on this card?

The Philadelphia Screwjob-  Stupid Cry More Punk hit my man McIntyre with two cheap shots like the low class good for nothing scoundrel he is as Drew was celebrating his hard-fought victory. PW's least favorite modern WWE superstar Damien Priest then cashed in his MITB to steal the title from poor Drew in a travesty of justice on par with Montreal. Drew McIntyre is now the biggest non-LA Knight babyface in the company for me. Will watch when Drew ends CM Puke once and for all. Somebody tag me when that match happens.

Lashley's Team vs. Other Team was dumb hardcore fun even if 5 of the 6 guys gave off real Sunday Night Heat vibes. Bubba Ray was special guest ref. Always nice to see him. Snoop was fun on commentary. It was sloppy, and predictably more a WWF Hardcore match than a true ECW bloodbath, but stuff that was set up early paid off late, and the crowd enjoyed it. Similar to the 6 woman tag from the previous night, it was fine as a midcard match that knew its role. No complaints.

LA Knight vs. AJ Styles was MOTW for me. Styles worked Knight's leg and played the heel role well. Knight definitely has enough flash to headline. That pop up super round and round German was sweet.  *** minimum. I won't argue if you want to give it another * for the right finish (LA Knight going over) and yet another * for the first finisher hit actually ending the match. That's a miracle in and of itself. So anywhere from ***-***** works for me. YEAH! 

*There was an insanely long gap between matches here. Swear it was like 20-30 minutes. I got bored. Would have watched more had the pacing of this show not been so poor.

Logan Paul vs. Randy Orton vs. Kevin Owens was a better mixed bag than Gunther/Zayn from Night One. First half ruled hard. Paul, a natural, played the heel role to perfection while Owens & Orton were fabulous as cheeky bro babyfaces one upping each other at Logan's expense before their inevitable falling out over who would score the pin. Double O would make a great tag team. Would watch them in a buddy comedy. 2020s "just happy to be here" babyface Orton is soooo much better than overrated 2000s heel Orton. Unfortunately, it fell apart during the second half as all my least favorite modern wrestling tropes reared their ugly head. We had finisher kickouts and even brass knucks kickouts (after a great Orton sell) in a 3 Way. The beauty of multi-matches is one guy can sell for ages on the floor before swooping in to make those last second 2.9 saves. But they're not even bothering with protecting finishers anymore. Then some "famous streamer" (I'm too old for this nonsense) who was dressed up as Logan Paul's drink bottle mascot (again, too old for this crap) saved Logan from an Orton punt before unmasking, and he too came off as a natural heel before Orton ended him in amusing fashion. Logan then retained his US Title by swooping in for the pin. First half was **** fun but the second half was more like **.

Wrestlemania Matches Ranked

1. LA Knight vs. AJ Styles
2. Logan Paul vs. Orton vs. Owens
3. 6 Woman Tag
4. 6 Man Tag
5. Zayn vs. Gunther
6. Drew vs. Seth
7. Uso vs. Uso

Been on a 2000s kick this week with a bunch of average **1/2 type matches.

Christian Cage vs. Alex Shelley- TNA Impact 5/4/06

Christian is NWA Champion, but this is non-title, and Abyss has stolen the physical belt. Shelley is an evil camera man which somehow worked despite looking awful on paper. I was a big fan of his during the mid 2000s and he immediately justifies my faith in him by holding up the Embassy diamond. These two have heat over Shelley filming something to do with Christian's wife. It worked as an old school Main Eventer vs. Midcarder 8 minute tv main event. Shelley got enough offense to look credible in defeat. He mainly worked Double C's neck. Low point was Christian doing some poor man's Rock mic work leading to the commercial break. CC would ultimately prevail with a rather anticlimactic Unprettier. 

Kid Kash w/ Abyss vs. Jerry Lynn- TNA Weekly PPV 7/9/03

Lynn finally won me over in 2003 TNA as the elder statesman of the X Division while Kash hit his career peak as a great sleazeball heel. This match was pretty sloppy and featured some awful refereeing though. It was basically Lynn in a de facto handicap match against Kash & Abyss. Mr. JL could just barely hang in there during the 1 on 2 situation, but the numbers game proved too much when that scoundrel Justin Credible showed up around the 7 minute mark with a Singapore Cane shot to Lynn's dome. Kash then rolled into an Owen Hart Pin for the cheap win. Kash showed more personality and more flash than Lynn which only furthers my belief in Kash > Lynn as an overall talent. Under **.

Jimmy Rave w/ Prince Nana & Jade Chung vs. Matt Sydal- ROH The Final Showdown 5/13/05

Punk & Ace Steel (BOO!) are still in the ring following a previous match when your hero and mine Prince Nana eviscerates stupid CM Puke on the mic. Hell yeah! Give him the business, Prince! Our other hero Jimmy Rave jumps Cry More from behind. Unfortunately, that jabrone Sydal ruins all the fun by making the save. Boo! Rave could have ended CM Punk right then and there so now I have to hate on Sydal as well for forcing the wrestling world to put up with Controversy Magnet Puke for another 19 years. Thanks a lot, Evan. Punk's jobber students and some local guys serving as one off Embassy members get involved so Sydal has a bunch of bodies to cushion the fall on his big dive. It was so transparent.

Match is one of those standard 21st Century "first half good, last half bad" bouts. Rave is great working over Sydal's midsection and getting heat. Nana is gold on the floor. Crowd is involved. But chickenshit heel Rave survived waaaay too much down the stretch. Sydal hit both his finishers- the Convoluted Driver and Moonsault Belly To Belly. Rave, the cowardly heel, kicked out of both. Ugh. Finish ruled though. Rave kept going for the Rave Clash. Sydal kept escaping until one escape left him vulnerable to a killshot knee strike. That hit and now Sydal was easy prey for the dreaded Rave Clash.  Match worked in elevating Sydal in defeat while still keeping Rave strong for his big showdown with Punk the next night, but I could have done without all Matt's kickouts in this 12-13 minute encounter.

Alex Shelley vs. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Ace Steel vs. Jay Lethal- ROH Testing The Limit 8/7/04

Saw this one live but don't remember anything beyond Scorp's involvement and 2 Cold putting Lethal over after the match. The latter allegedly being an unplanned spot. Scorp was just THAT impressed by Lethal according to the official ROH line in 2004. I remembered so little about this match that I thought Colt Cabana was in it lol. I do remember Colt calling Scorpio his all time favorite and getting to wrestle him somewhere around this time. Scorp looks old from the neck up, but still wrestles young. Shelley stands out as the lone heel. He has beef with Lethal over Jay rejecting Shelley's offer to join Gen Next. Lethal was a really good up and coming babyface around this time. Scorp wrestles smart, playing the others against one another. Ace Steel...is there. Shelley steals it after hitting Shell Shock on Lethal around the 15 minute mark. Prazak & Punk, maybe my least favorite commentary team of all time, were actually alright here as they stuck to calling the match, and did a good job of keeping their natural obnoxiousness in check. Average match.

Victoria (c) vs. Trish Stratus- Raw 11/25/02- Women's Championship Match

This was the first WWF women's feud I ever cared about. I was a Victoria Guy. She had just won the Women's Title from Trish a few weeks earlier at Survivor Series. I was a Trish respecter. She tried a lot harder than she needed too to become Officially Good. But I honestly never thought she was anything that special. Feel like my view was the general consensus when I left the IWC for a few years. Then I come back to a lot of "Trish is one of the all time greats!" chatter and I was like "wtf? when did this happen?" I bring this up because Trish ruled in this match with excellent selling and legit great bumping and now I'm thinking "maybe Trish really is an all time great?" But Victoria doesn't care about Trish's legacy! And ends up wasting her with an awesome Widow's Peak around the 8 minute mark (long for a 2002 women's tv match) for the surprising clean as a sheet heel win. Victoria got a busted lip during the match and would use said bloody lip in biting Stevie Richards' ear at the top of the ramp. Victoria ruled. 

Robert Roode w/ Traci Brooks vs. Jeff Jarrett- TNA Sacrifice 5/13/07

Jeff Jarrett as a white meat babyface! Hell yeah! JJ getting cheered by the TNA crowd after....everything is proof of his greatness. Never thought I'd see the day when the TNA faithful would cheer Double J, but my man pulled it off. Absolute legend. Remember this match happening back in the day. I was even hyped for it. But I think this is my first time actually seeing it.

Roode is real average. Best thing he ever did was have that Glorious theme. He basically wrestles this match as Jarrett by using a bunch of his moves and tricks. That, coupled with the hot pro-Jarrett crowd, Traci's well-timed interference, and Jeff Jarrett's white meat babyface fire are enough for ***. That scoundrel Roode gets the biggest win of his career up to this point after a series of nearfalls by bumping Jarrett's head into a turnbuckle that had been exposed minutes earlier and following it up with a Perfectplex (called as such by the great Don West) around the 13 minute mark. BOO! Post-match sees JJ and his new buddy Eric Young save face by locking Roode & Brooks in stereo Figure Fours to a big pop. YAY!

Scott Steiner vs. Hugh Morrus- WCW Thunder 2/21/01

Remember reading about Hugh Morrus finally getting a push as a respected veteran babyface in dying day WCW. I was happy to hear about it and rooted for him from afar. It's weird what stuck with me during those 4.5 years keeping one eye on the Evil Empire without daring to watch. I no sold countless NWO moments. Basically any time they weren't getting humiliated. But a throwaway Hugh Morrus push when everybody had stopped caring stuck with me for 23 years. TIL Hugh Morrus had his own shirt. Nice. Wonder if anybody actually bought Hugh Morrus merch? I certainly hope so.

Know who I was NOT rooting for? Stupid head case and locker room cancer Scott Steiner from joining the NWO on. Let's go Hugh! This is non-title. They ran an angle earlier in the night where both Steiners tried jumping Morris only to be foiled when all the undercard faces came out to back up their beloved mentor. Aww how sweet.

Steiner scores early with a big powerbomb and later hits a nice Chuck Deluxe. But he mostly works Hugh over with punches and chops that look pretty crummy because his arms don't bend right due to him being so insanely jacked. Scotty does heel on the crowd well. I'll give him that. But the match is a snoozer until Hugh scores with a sick German Suplex more reminiscent of Steiner's own glory days than one of those sawft Germans you'd see in same era WWF. Huge then hits a big flying elbow 2/3 of the way across the ring. He's going for the killshot with his "No Laughing Matter" Moonsault when Steiner moves Super belly to belly and Camel Clutch follow for the win. The Clutch looked awful and the ref instantly went into the arm raise deal rather than just having Hugh submit. It's 2001. There's no need to protect Hugh Morrus. He can cleanly tap to a dominant heel champ. Last few minutes bumped this up to decent. Both big boys hit some bombs. You could get a good highlight package out of this.

Rick Steiner, looking rough- think a young Balls Mahoney, joins his brother after the match. They're looking to end Hugh once and for all with a pipe shot when Steiner's next PPV opponent, DDP, makes the save. Assuming this led to a Steiners vs. DDP & Hugh match on the next Nitro.

Tyler Black & Jimmy Jacobs (c) vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen- ROH Driven 9/19/08- Tag Title Match

January 2006 was the last full ROH show I saw for many years. I still followed them pretty closely online for another year or two but was deeply checked out by the time this match took place. Crazy to think three of these guys would have prominent roles at Wrestlemania 16 years later. Nobody could have predicted that. Including Black, Steen & Generico! Looking at this through 2008 eyes, only Black strikes me as a potential WWE signing. Wrestling is wild, man. Black & Jacobs have been tag champs for a while with Steen & Generico as a perennial thorn in their side. Steen has promised he would win championship gold before 2008 was over. Thanks for the backstory, commentary.

This was a good match bolstered by a great Boston crowd who were deeply invested in seeing the good guys dethrone the bad guys. Steen & Generico got to shine early. Age of the Fall took over when Black bodyslammed Generico from the ring to the floor. Then we went into a long finishing stretch of big moves, timely saves, and high drama as the crowd reached a fever pitch. The Canadians finally dethroned the bad guys when Steen hit a package piledriver on Jacobs and rolled him into a Generico Brainbuster. Now THAT's a finish. I could nitpick it. Jacobs' sore back stopped being a thing halfway through. There was probably one false finish too many. Timing was a little off here and there. But I wouldn't argue if I saw somebody go **** on this. Good stuff!

Chris Jericho vs. Ricky Steamboat- Backlash 4/26/09

Watched this a day or two after it happened on Youtube. Remember liking it a lot. Was happy to see Steamboat back and Jericho was just killing it in the midst of his career peak which began with the Michaels feud in mid 2008. Funny thing is I was far more into old man Steamboat than I had ever been with regard to young man Steamboat. Making up for a wasted youth, brother. Also wild to think more time has passed from this match to today than Steamboat's previous last match in '94 to this match. Time really has sped up.  Anyway, let's see if it holds up. 

Yeah. Didn't think it was going to get there, but it did. Jericho showed no emotion on his way to the ring to take on a known idol of his. Like I said, he was killing during this period. Steamboat's ugly bald spot added to story of his old man-ness. A lesser man would have hidden it with a head shave or even tried a combover. But ultimate babyface Steamboat had no vanity so he goes out there with multiple bald patches in his head. 

Crowd was surprisingly dead early. You could have heard a pin drop. And it wasn't for a lack of effort. Steamboat hit his arm drags, skinned the cat, and even hit a dive. Jericho tried to get them involved with trash talk and jawing with the ref. But nothing. Crowd just wasn't buying it. Which made it all the more impressive when they DID get this awful crowd into it down the stretch. Steamboat hit a bonkers back superplex and got 2.9 off his patented crossbody. Jericho caught Steamboat coming off the top with a Codebreaker for 2.9. Steamboat got one last hope spot by recycling the old small package off a bodyslam from the Flair & Savage matches for 2.9 before Jericho finally put him away with the Walls. Steamboat did awkwardly bumble his way to an attempted Figure Four, but this was a lot of fun. Put a smile on my face. Must see for fans of either guy. Over ***.

Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Tajiri- Smackdown 9/25/03- Cruiserweight Title Match

This match seemed familiar, and it turns out I reviewed it a few years back for a Smackdown project that never went anywhere. So this will be a quickie. It was good as you'd expect from these two. Tajiri displayed his stellar charisma and directed his usual cool offense towards Rey's midsection. There was even some neat mist psychology. I'm a 619 hater but you can't deny it's overness. Philly popped big for it here. Finish was a bit contrived though. They didn't need a ref bump and more referee shenanigans before Tajiri got the win with mist + kick to become the new Cruiserweight Champ. Still, 10 good minutes out of 11 is nothing to sneeze at. *** or more.

Buff Bagwell & Kronik vs. Shane Douglas/Chris Candido/Bam Bam Bigelow- Nitro 6/19/00

Who knew the Triple Threat were together in WCW?  Triple Threat is Shane's backup, so Buff hired Kronik to counter them. Candido's arm is in a sling (again), and he never officially tagged in, so I assume it was a shoot injury. Dude always seemed to have a sore arm. Chris Candido: turn of the century Bob Orton. Bigelow is mentally checked out if his gear is anything to go by. He wears a black shirt and indyriffic baggy pants. No flames in sight. Honestly looked like a bum who stumbled into the ring. Looked pretty washed as a wrestler, too. Crush out there borrowing Crow Sting's hair. He even resembles a stretched out, facepaint-free Crow Sting. Adams had more different looks than Barry Darsow. Franchise's pre-match mic work is annoying as ever, but did get him heat. Crowd chanted "Franchise Sucks" for much of the match. For 30 years I was anti-Bagwell. Best thing about him was the American Males theme. But I'm finally coming around on the Buffster. Dude was over from 97-00. And the last 3 of those times I've seen have been Buff as a babyface. I don't get it, but there's lots of stuff I don't get. Ears don't lie and I can no longer deny Buff's overness. 

Match isn't much though. Main issue is between Buff & Douglas. They tease more than wrestle. Which is fine! That's what PPV is for. Shane hits a real lousy Three Amigos. Kronik hits a nice double chokeslam on BBB and Adams press slams Shane. Candido only comes in once (illegally) to whack Buff with his sling. But our guy Buff survives the onslaught and comes back to finish Bigelow with the Blockbuster. Finish seemed a wee bit off. Under ** but Buff & Shane were good in their respective face/heel roles.

Kofi Kingston vs. Shelton Benjamin- WWECW 6/24/08- Extreme Rules Match

Kofi is in that category with Cody, Natalya, Bellas (and others) in that I only have the vaguest idea of when they debuted "sometime in the late 2000s". Turns out the answers are January 08, July 07, April 08, and August-September 08. Actually, you could probably extend that vagary back to like 03-05 in most cases. Anyway, I never had a strong opinion on Kofi one way or the other. He was...fine...average...just there. Shelton I was a big fan of from 03-05, but an ill-fated heel turn, and lack of in ring and character progression caused me to lose interest as he stagnated. Yet I remember this match being a good one. Also remember it being the first time I saw something in Kofi. Shelton is now an angry veteran heel and Kofi the young up and coming babyface. I assume this was a feud given the stip. Let's see if it holds up...

Eh, not really. First minute and a half ruled as they came out fast and furious the way one should for a grudge match. And the last minute and a half with Kofi constantly whacking Shelton in the head with trashcan lids before winning with the old Bob Boone Jr. extra rotation Spinkick was also fun. But the 5 minutes in between the hot start and fun finish were pretty snoozy. It was mostly Shelton pulling plunder from underneath the ring and being boring on offense. **-**1/2 range.

Fun Fact: Just found out Mike Knox vs. Evan Bourne followed this. That match is notable for being THE match to get me on the Knox bandwagon. Before that he was boring as a Basham. So, all in all, this has to go down as a good episode of WWECW tv.

Apr 17, 2024 2:39:42 GMT Baker said:

Buff Bagwell & Kronik vs. Shane Douglas/Chris Candido/Bam Bam Bigelow- Nitro 6/19/00

Who knew the Triple Threat were together in WCW? 

You better believe that I did. It was clear from the start that it was going to be bad. A shell of its former self, which could only work in ECW, anyway. 

Shane got a Flair match, a gift spot in The Revolution (where everyone was over except him) and a Triple Threat reunion in WCW. And he was bad in all of it. It was a bummer. Really gave credence to the Shane haters that would reduce his ECW run as "Nothing special, just allowed to curse." 

*A week or two ago I revisited an era that I barely visited the first time around. I made a half-hearted attempt to get back into modern wrestling when I joined PW in November 2012. It didn't really take, but I did enjoy a handful of guys. Today I will cover most of the wrestlers I enjoyed during that blah period.

Ryback vs. Dolph Ziggler- Main Event 10/24/12

Ryback was basically the poster boy for the type of wrestler I couldn't stand during the 87-09 glory days of my wrestling fandom. Overpushed musclemen babyfaces were the worst. But Ryback actually stood out as something special in an era of shrunken wrestlers and 50/50 booking. Even though he represented the worst part of a better era, at least he reminded one of said better era. He just worked for me as a throwback. Think an updated, poor man's Goldberg. It was easy to picture him at the top of the card during the 80s & 90s.

Dolph came to WWE right around the time I tapped out. Despite a fun debut vs. Batista (the only 08-09 Dolph match I remember) I immediately dismissed him because his name was Dolph Ziggler. Can't blame me for that. But he too hit the spot when I joined PW. He wore his influences (HBK, Perfect, Billy Gunn*) on his sleeve, and they were good influences. Plus the most annoying people on PW at the time pooh poohed him because...he took awesome bumps. I swear this happened! That's right up there with "Christopher Daniels doesn't botch enough" and "Edge never worked the minors/only succeeded in big time wrestling" when it comes to the most idiotic wrestler criticisms I ever encountered.

Match isn't much though. And the pre-match promos even worse. Despite Dolph holding MITB it's just a basic squash stretched out to 6-7 minutes. Ryback was challenging Punk for the title at the upcoming PPV so I can only assume that's why they put him over so thoroughly here. Dolph bumped big. Crowd was into it with "Feed Me More" chants. But Dolph's Zbyszkoing was half-hearted, and I wanted a more competitive match. Ryback wins with his garbage Muscle Buster, which is just a glorified Samoan Drop. One star. Skip it.

*Dolph openly being a Billy Gunn fanboy was a ballsy move. Billy was hated by the IWC for the entire 2000s. Yet Dolph was out there channeling his inner Mr. Ass. Really think Ziggler deserves at least a little credit for the reappraisal Billy underwent during the 2010s and beyond. 

Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Sandow- Summerslam 8/18/13

Sandow was right up my alley as an updated take on The Genius and Cody was his mustache-wearing Jannetty in a tag team awesomely dubbed "the Rhodes Scholars." They had a falling out over Sandow winning MITB. Cody is now a babyface sans mustache.

Sandow does some real lame pre-match mic work. Gist of it being Holmes & Watson are for tru intellectuals while Batman & Robin are for the rubes. Problem is Holmes & Watson are as mainstream as it gets. I mean at least go with Poirot & Hastings if you're going to do the "intellectual snob" gimmick. That's like the bare minimum. Rosencrantz & Guildenstern would be better still. Idk. Sandow had a habit of doing stuff like this. Great idea, but the execution wasn't always there. He was certainly no Lanny Poffo. I'm not even sure he was on par with Dean Douglas. His Alleluia theme never worked for me either.

Same goes for this match. It was like they were shaping up to go 10+ only to abruptly get the call to go home around the 7 minute mark when Cody anticlimactically hit Crossroads on his first attempt for the win. Sandow was boring on offense. Cody had a nice fiery babyface comeback and generated some good crowd support. Maybe I really did misread these guys back in the day when I had Sandow pegged as a career upper midcarder and thought Cody's ceiling was a lifelong Jannetty. ** if I'm being generous.

Bully Ray vs. James Storm- TNA No Surrender 9/9/12- Bound For Glory Series Match

Bully Ray was the best ring general I saw during this era. He was feeling it every time out. Dude was a real master manipulator who had the crowd in the palm of his hand. Which us old ECW fans already knew. AJ Styles & Austin Aries are well-known great wrestlers, but I swear it was Bully carrying them in those matches. James Storm was a guy I liked a lot in the 2000s who would have had some residual good will left over. This is a match 2012-13 me would have sought out....and maybe I did early in my PW career? But if so, I do not remember.

First half ruled with Bubba ring generaling it up like a champ. Real solid Zbyszkoing from my favorite Dudley. Storm kept one upping him and Bubba would get more and more frustrated. Classic pro wrestling goodness. But then it degenerated into 50/50 filth and the finish was even worse with three ref bumps and Bobby Roode breaking a beer bottle of Storm's head to give Bubba the cheap win. This 14 minute match was slightly better than Cody/Sandow due to the fun opening minutes.

Briscoes vs. War Machine- ROH tv 8/30/14

Briscoes are ROH legends and longtime 6/10-7/10 "pretty cool" types. War Machine are two big, bearded brutes named Hanson & Rowe. Hanson in particular just HIT for me the same way Mike Knox had 5 years earlier. A year later I had grown tired of Hanson and actually came to prefer Rowe, but Hanson was my guy for a hot minute there in 2014. 

We get a pre-match Briscoes promo and those always rule because, to borrow from Hank Hill, those boys ain't right. Unfortunately, this is the 4th disappointment in a rowe (see what I did there?). It's just a basic, run of the mill brawl that went to a draw when the ref lost control around the 8 minute mark. Forearms were hit. Many beards were seen. Briscoes had one nice double team and one of them got put through a table with a Rock Bottom off the apron in a cool post-match spot. But this was yet another match that didn't live up to its on paper promise.