Reviewing every WWE PPV in order from worst to best

[Jarf]

Survivor Series 1990 is a nostalgia show for me. 1990 was when I first became a wrestling fan. Ultimate Warrior and Sting were champions of their respective companies. I suspect the reason for the bonus match was so that both Warrior and Hogan could go on last and close the show victorious. One of the ridiculous things about that was the idea that it was automatically going to be babyfaces vs heels. I don't recall there being a storyline explanation other than all babyfaces are friends and all heels are friends and can't team with each other.

The Undertaker/Brother Love pairing makes some sense since it was the idea of visual contrast. Undertaker being pale skin and black clothing, Brother Love being red faced and wearing white and red clothes. Plus the implication that Undertaker was evil because he represented death and Brother Love was a preacher.

I think the Gobbledy Gooker's debut was the other reason why people remember this show. I think I've heard that there were rumors backstage (possibly as a prank) that Mark Calloway was going to be inside the egg. Then a decade later Gooker would appear in the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven in a cheaper, more ridiculous costume. For those who don't know the man in the costume at Survivor Series was Hector Guerrero, brother of Eddie Guerrero.

I genuinely like that you have a fun fact ready to go after my reviews, (and I mean that). But about the whole Hogan and Warrior being on top at the end thing. I got that vibe too. Warrior had a huge ego, but he was also the WWF Champion, so it stands to reason he should be on top at the end. But nah, Hogan has to get the last word. They even called his match with Earthquake at SummerSlam, one half of a double main event. Because Hogan has to be in the main event or else he'll become Thanos and will try to snap away everyone with the Infinity Stones.

 

[Skyefire]

I genuinely like that you have a fun fact ready to go after my reviews, (and I mean that). But about the whole Hogan and Warrior being on top at the end thing. I got that vibe too. Warrior had a huge ego, but he was also the WWF Champion, so it stands to reason he should be on top at the end. But nah, Hogan has to get the last word. They even called his match with Earthquake at SummerSlam, one half of a double main event. Because Hogan has to be in the main event or else he'll become Thanos and will try to snap away everyone with the Infinity Stones.

Oh, I definitely get that. Hogan did it to Randy Savage as well. He got involved in Savage's title win at WrestleMania and raised his hand at the end. Then at Summerslam and Survivor Series Hogan and Savage were tag team partners. Oddly enough though, at the 1989 Survivor Series Hogan was champion and his match was in the middle of the show while Warrior was I-C Champion and he went on last against the Heenan Family.

 

[Jarf]

Backlash 2003

Match 1: WWE Tag Team Championship Match - Team Angle (c) def. Los Guerreros (14:41)

A nice way to start off this show with a good tag team match. What I liked about this match is that the Guerreros didn’t start cheating until after Team Angle did it first. Team Angle isolate Eddie from his corner. Eddie eventually makes the hot tag to Chavo, who’s able to turn the match around for them. Eddie hits the 3 Amigos on Charlie, followed by a Frog Splash, and Chavo makes the cover, but Shelton reaches in and drags Chavo off. This match ends after Chavo attempts a back suplex, but Charlie shifts his body around so he lands on Chavo, and Shelton holds Chavo’s legs down and Team Angle retain, which is a shame the match is over now, it was just starting to get really good. After the match, Los Guerreros attack Team Angle and leave with the titles even though they didn’t win. Lie. Cheat. Steal.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: Sean O’Haire def. Rikishi (4:52)

I think WWE missed an opportunity with Sean O’Haire. Dude looked great and was a pretty good athlete and he got to show that off here. Granted, there is a period of this match that brings the rating down where O’Haire works over Rikishi’s neck. One thing that stood out to me though, was when Rikishi goes for the stinkface, O’Haire shoves Rikishi off him with his legs. He pretty much kicked his ass. Piper misses his cue and gets in the ring before Rikishi and O’Haire can do the dueling superkick spot. Piper gets back in the ring with a coconut. Rikishi takes it out of his hand and hits Piper with it. But Sean gets Rikishi up and hits… WHAT A MANEUVER to win.

My Rating: *3/4

Match 3: World Tag Team Championship Match with Chief Morley as Special Referee - Kane & Rob Van Dam (c) def. The Dudley Boyz (13:01)

I was so confused when I watched this the first time. But I guess the Dudleys were working for Bischoff… against their will. Not sure how that happened. But Pal Penis is your referee to make sure the Dudleys win. I wasn’t big on this match. The first half of the match isn’t anything special. Pal Penis calls the match down the middle at first. The Dudleys isolate RVD from Kane, but the second worst version of Kane eventually gets the tag and he beats the Dudleys ass. He goosles Bubba, but then Morley finally gets involved and low blows Kane. Venis goes to clothesline RVD, who ducks and Val clotheslines Bubba instead. D-Von sees this happen and attacks Morley, who he didn’t like all that much to begin with. Morley ends up getting a 3D. D-Von gets a spin kick from Van Dam while Bubba gets a chokeslam from Kane, and thats followed by the Five Star Frog Splash. Kane and Van Dam retain.

My Rating: **3/4

Match 4: Women’s Championship Match - Jazz def. Trish Stratus (c) (5:50)

Now because this is a women’s match in the 2000s, this didn’t get a lot of time. But if it did, these 2 could’ve done something great, because this match was very good for the time they got. These 2 were really working. But again, sadly it’s 2000s WWE. Trish comes into this match with a bad back so thats what Jazz works on. But Trish makes an inevitable comeback. She hits the Chick Kick, but Jazz kicks out of that. Trish hits the Stratusfaction and has the match in hand, until Teddy Long throws his shoe at her head. Trish throws it back out at him. Trish tries another Stratusfaction, but ends up turning from the headlock position to a sunset flip, but Jazz sits on her and grabs the rope to win the match. It’s a damn shame these two couldn’t work a longer match because this was solid.

My Rating: ***

Match 5: Big Show def. Rey Mysterio (3:45)

Definitely the biggest david vs goliath match they could’ve booked at the time. Rey tries to use his quickness to wear down, frustrate and attack the Big Show. But once Big Show gets a hold of Rey, he just manhandles him. Rey eventually resorts to grabbing a steel chair from under the ring. Big Show swats the referee away so he doesn’t see Rey hit him with the chair. He hits a seated senton. Rey hits a 619 to Big Show’s torso. Then does the same thing through between the middle and bottom ropes to 619 the back of Big Show’s knees, bringing the big man down. Then he hits another 619 to his head. Then he tries the west coast pop, but Big Show catches him and chokeslams him into the mat to win. The match wasn’t much, but Rey’s comeback here is exciting. He makes you believe for a moment that he could do it! But it’s for not. But what most people remember here is the aftermath. Rey is strapped to a spineboard. But Big Show comes back, grabs the board with Rey on it and swings it into the ring post which doesn’t look so bad, but Big Show just lets go and Rey falls and lands head first on the floor! Holy shit! No fucking way would a spot like that fly today with all we know about concussions now! I think Rey was just fine, but that’s a fucking miracle.

My Rating: **

Match 6: WWE Championship Match - Brock Lesnar (c) def. John Cena (15:15)

Brock was the babyface, Cena was the heel. That just feels dirty to say honestly. It very much starts like a modern Brock match, where he tosses his opponent, being John Cena in this case, around like a sack of shit. I thought he was gonna tell him suplex city bitch. But Cena takes control after he reverses an irish whip into the steel steps. Brock’s head gets cut open and then Cena just lays on him for a while. This is why I don’t think Brock should be fighting from down under, because just look at this man. Does he look like an underdog to you? It works against guys like Big Show, but Cena was just a rookie at this point and was still just trying to find his stride. I don’t think Brock can be a babyface, at least not a typical one. Eventually, Brock starts to come back, but Cena gets one last opportunity to beat Brock, and low blows him before rolling him up, but Brock kicks out. Then Brock finishes the job with an F5 and a delayed cover which I can’t stand when they win on a delayed cover.

My Rating: ***

Match 7: Triple H, Ric Flair & Chris Jericho def. Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels & Booker T (17:45)

The first time I watched this match, I was very unimpressed. And I’m still unimpressed, but it isn’t the garbage I used to think it was. Shawn and Jericho start this match, which was good. Kevin Nash wants a piece of Triple H, so Hunter spends most of this match avoiding him. Booker T gets dragged to the heel corner at one point, but fights his way out to make the tag to HBK, who takes on the entire opposing team by himself and hits a superkick on Ric Flair, but Triple H comes around and hits him with a Pedigree, so now Flair and Shawn are down and neither can cover. Shawn ends up getting the isolation treatment. But Shawn eventually fights his way to make the tag to Nash, who does the slowest hot tag comeback ever. But soon enough, the referee loses complete control of the match and everyone is fighting with each other in the ring and outside of it. Flair puts the Figure 4 on Shawn and while that’s happening, Jericho hits him with the Lionsault. Nash is about to put HHH through the announce table, but sees his buddy in trouble and gets in to save him. But in the process of doing so, the referee gets bumped. He jackhammers Jericho, then is about to jackhammer Flair, but Triple H gets in and hits Nash with a sledgehammer and covers him. The referee gets back in to make the count and the heels win… surprised with how dirty they did Booker at this time that he didn’t take the pin honestly.

My Rating: **1/2

Main Event: Goldberg def. The Rock (15:00)

The crowd was so ready for this. Before the match, The Rock cuts one of my favorite promos he ever did where he nearly makes Terri laugh and he has to tell her not to and calls Goldberg a, and I quote, “whisker biscuit, bald headed bitch.” 2003 heel Rock is so underrated. Now I will say that there are times in WWE where they tend to overhype things, like labeling Roman vs Brock at WrestleMania 38 the “Biggest WrestleMania Match of All Time.” This is one of those matches where the hype is real. I know I’ve talked a lot of shit about Goldberg in this thread before, but I will say this, Goldberg, in his prime, was the fucking man! I think this might be The Rock’s best ever performance in the ring too. He really went out of his way to make Goldberg look like a billion fucking bucks. It starts out the way you would expect, with Goldberg overpowering The Rock and making him think “maybe this was a mistake.” Goldberg hits The Rock with his own Rock Bottom and sets up for the Spear, but Rock dodges and Goldberg’s shoulder hits the ring post. Rock later on in the match hits a Spear on Goldberg, and follows it with a Rock Bottom. Goldberg kicks out. Rock sets up for another Rock Bottom, but Goldberg gets a surprise Spear in. But can’t capitalize on it because of the bad shoulder. Rock hits a spinebuster and a People’s Elbow, which Goldberg kicks out of again. The match is soon over, after Goldberg hits The Rock with a Spear and the camera is right up on Rock so you can see him yell “oh my god!” The Rock slowly, very slowly gets up as Goldberg waits in the corner with a smile on his face. The Rock finally gets up, but turns around to get a third Spear. Goldberg then picks him and hits the Jackhammer to win in his debut match in WWE. Not the best match in the world, but the feeling for this was amazing and the crowd was into it the whole time.

My Rating: ***

Cagematch Rating: 5.51

My Rating: 7.5/10

Maybe I've just seen so many shitty PPVs at this point that my standards have lowered, but I thought this was a fine show. The worst match on the show was less than 5 minutes, so that's a positive. The problem with this show is that there isn't enough good shit on it. The opening match was good, but the show drops in quality until the main event, which is what raised this show higher for me because it was just so hype.

Now it's time to Extreme… and by extreme I mean moderately safe. Because it's time for Extreme Rules 2017.

 

[Chris]

I remember reviewing this one for my worst/best show review thread and I had the same thoughts, if this was the worst show of 2003, it was a damn solid year

 

[Jarf]

I remember reviewing this one for my worst/best show review thread and I had the same thoughts, if this was the worst show of 2003, it was a damn solid year

It has its flaws but what PPV doesn't?

 

[Chris]

I think it was just largely how hype people were for Goldberg and Rock and then that's what they got, but I guess watching back knowing how Goldberg's first WWE run went, it was one of the better ones lol

 

[Jarf]

Extreme Rules 2017

Match 1: Intercontinental Championship Match; if Ambrose got disqualified or counted out, he would lose the title - The Miz def. Dean Ambrose (c) (21:03)

And we start off the most EXTREME night of the year with the most extreme stipulation. Now despite the silliness of them doing this match at Extreme Rules of all places, this was a very good match to start the show even if it does go long. Miz tries to do everything he can to infuriate Ambrose early, and it kinda works, but the referee is feeling generous. It follows the standard WWE style, heel wears down the face to get heat, face starts to come back. It doesn’t actually start getting interesting until Ambrose tweaks his knee coming off the top rope, and Miz targets it and puts Dean in the Figure 4. But Ambrose reaches the ropes. Ambrose turns the tables on Miz and puts the Figure 4 on him too. Then they’re both limping and they’re both one legged men in an ass kicking contest. Maryse gets on the apron and Miz tells her to slap him, which she does. Miz tells the referee to ring the bell and the ref nearly falls for it cause referees in wrestling are dumb. But Ambrose talks him out of it and the ref sends Maryse to the back. But while the referee is dealing with her, Miz pushes Ambrose into him and the referee is again, not that bright, so he thinks Dean did it on purpose. So the referee is about to ring the bell and Dean is pleading with him not to, but while Dean’s back is turned, Miz comes up from behind, hits the Skull Crushing Finale to regain the IC Title. This was a good way of finishing the match. I think people expected this match to go one of 2 ways. Ambrose retains or gets disqualified so Miz wins the title back. I don’t think many people actually expected Miz to win by pinfall.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: Rich Swann & Sasha Banks def. Noam Dar & Alicia Fox (6:13)

They really had nothing better for Sasha to do at this point I guess. Obviously, mixed tag rules. Rich Swann and Noam work okay. Sasha unfortunately… didn’t have much to work with. Towards the end of the match, Sasha gets on the top rope in her corner so she hit a meteora on Alicia, but Dar saves her. But he gets the double knees instead. Swann tosses Noam back in the ring and hits a Phoenix Splash to get the pinfall.

My Rating: *1/2

Match 3: Raw Women’s Championship Kendo Stick on a Pole Match - Alexa Bliss (c) def. Bayley (6:10)

Jesus fuck. I forgot about this fucking dreadful. First of all, the entire build up to this match, Alexa pretty calls Bayley a pussy and a little coward. So the last thing WWE wanted to do was make Bayley look bad by proving Alexa right… and that’s exactly what they did here. Who the fuck wrote this shit? Bayley does an interview earlier where she says “she’s not here to hurt.” You’re a pro wrestler. YES YOU FUCKING ARE! Step one in making her look like a pussy. And in this match, Bayley is the first one to get the kendo stick and she chases Alexa around with it, but doesn’t use it! It looks like she’s about to, but she hesitates. So Alexa takes advantage, Bayley drops the stick and Alexa fucking wails her with it. Bliss DDTs Bayley to retain her title. The only way that Bayley could’ve looked worse here is if she came out, shaking a raddle, wearing a bib and sucking on a fucking pacifier. I’m 100% sure this was written with intent on making Bayley look terrible, because I refuse to believe that they thought even a little bit that any of this would be good! If this was a way of building towards a Bayley heel turn, then at least this would look better in hindsight, but it would be another 2 years before she eventually turned so clearly there were no plans of doing that at this point. Fucking idiots!

My Rating: DUD!

Match 4: Raw Tag Team Championship Steel Cage Match - The Bar def. The Hardy Boyz (c) (14:58)

Unlike most Steel Cage Matches, this one had the rule that both team members had to escape the cage to win. No pins, no submissions. This was a really good match, which was needed after the disaster that was the previous match. It’s standard cage match at first, with them throwing each other into the cage. And stopping each other from leaving. One thing I really liked in this match was when both Hardys got a chance to get. Cesaro goes after Jeff, and Cesaro is holding Jeff up by one arm. Cesaro loses his grip though and Jeff gets down. But Sheamus is able to stop Matt. So now it’s The Bar vs one Hardy. Jeff tries to get back in through the door and Sheamus Brogue Kicks the door back in his face. Sheamus hits Matt with White Noise from the top rope. So Jeff rips his shirt off, climbs back up the cage and hits Whisper in the Wind from the top onto the Bar. Unfortunately, it means he has to get back out again and he took himself out with that. Cesaro and Sheamus climb up the cage while Matt drags his brother towards the door. Matt gets out, but The Bar drops down before Matt gets Jeff out and The Bar are again, your tag team champions.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: Cruiserweight Championship Submission Match - Neville (c) def. Austin Aries (17:24)

Huh. It’s weird. I feel like this match should’ve been awesome. It isn’t bad, but when a match is over 15 minutes, it needs to be better than this was. Neville works over Austin’s knee, just cause, which I guess I found weird since Neville’s submission doesn’t damage the knee. Aries misses a missile dropkick and Neville puts Aries in the Brutalizer. I don’t remember what he called it at this time, but Aries reaches the ropes. Aries ends up putting Neville’s submission on him, sort of, but Neville gets out of it. Aries puts Neville in the Rings of Saturn, and Neville rolls outside, yet Aries keeps the hold applied. Aries lets go, gets back in and misses a suicide dive. Neville tosses him back in, hits the Red Arrow and then puts the Brutalizer back on and Aries gives up. And Neville is the winner.

My Rating: ***

Main Event: Universal Championship #1 Contenders Extreme Rules Fatal 5-Way Match - Samoa Joe def. Finn Balor, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins & Bray Wyatt (29:13)

At least the main event delivered. This was great. Admittedly, the first half of the match isn’t that great. It has some spots. Finn gets to dive on Seth, Joe and Bray. Soon enough though, it turns into Bray and Joe working together. That in itself isn’t bad, but it goes on for way too long with too many teases of betrayal, which doesn’t make sense because you know its gonna happen eventually. It finally happens when Bray pulls Joe in front of Seth hitting a suicide dive. Bray drags Seth back in and hits Sister Abigail, but it’s broken up by Joe. While those two are fighting, Finn runs in with a chair and wails both of them with it, payback for these 2 using it on him earlier. Soon here, Joe puts Finn in the Coquina Clutch on the outside, and Roman Spears both of them through the barricade! And while that’s happening, Seth hits a frog splash from the top rope onto Bray through the announce table! After this, that leaves a busted up Roman and Seth to go at it in the ring. Bray eventually makes it back in and tries to hit a Sister Abigail on Roman, but Roman escapes the attempt and hits a Spear. Seth hits Roman with a buckle bomb, but Roman comes out of the corner and hits Superman punch. Finn Balor comes back in and he also gets a Superman Punch. Roman tries a spear but gets a slingblade. Finn hits the dropkick in the corner, and then hits the Coup De Grace and is about to win the match, but Samoa Joe runs back in and grabs Balor, puts him in the Coquina Clutch! And Balor passes out, and Samoa Joe is going to face Brock Lesnar for the Universal Title. Which sounds awesome! So despite the slow start, this match’s chaotic finish raises the rating up.

My Rating: ****1/4

Cagematch Rating: 5.53

My Rating: 7/10

WWE, at least in the modern era, has a history of their terrible booking ruining a show with mostly good matches. This show has more good stuff on it than bad stuff. But that kendo stick on a pole match brings the show down SEVERELY! I just didn’t find a whole lot of enjoyment in this show honestly.

Ya know. There are some things that happen only once in a lifetime… But sometimes, those things that happen once in a lifetime happen TWICE in a lifetime! It’s WrestleMania 29.

 

[Chris]

I fucnin love that main event tho

 

[Stojy]

The opener for me was match of the night. Really good stuff.

Agree with you on the Bliss/Bayley thing. This was such a burial of Bayley after the way this feud had been booked. The fact she didn't use the kendo stick is hilarious. But yeah, easily the worst thing on this card.

I'm not as big on the main event as you guys. Thought it was solid at best, but fell victim to WWE's mantra of "every main event epic needs to go 30 minutes or more" mentality. Started slow to kill time and the part where Joe and Wyatt beat up everybody dragged on for WAY to long. Needed more chaos.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

And people act all shocked Pikachu why some people hated that Alexa run. This feud is why

 

[Skyefire]

Extreme Rules event has become a worn out gimmick. Many of the matches are just regular rules matches, others are just the same. No DQ, Extreme Rules, Hardcore, all the same thing.

 

[Jarf]

WrestleMania 29

So… this was a shitty WrestleMania, but it did give us one thing… or rather, 3. Every single one of the 3 big matches from this show had a moment which has since become a meme.

Match 1: The Shield def. Randy Orton, Sheamus & Big Show (10:33)

Every Shield match I go back and watch is so surreal, because all 3 of them have since become the biggest names of the modern era. Orton, Sheamus and Big Show all came down together to show ‘unity’. But JBL called it before the match began, 3 great individuals cannot beat a great team. That was reflected pretty well in this match. The Shield work together as a team while the other team are out for themselves. Towards the end, Sheamus is crawling to make the tag, and Orton reaches in to tag Sheamus, who was reaching for Big Show. Orton goes buck wild and is about to RKO Ambrose, until Seth springboards in for the distraction. Seth gets hit with an RKO, allowing Roman to run in and hit the Spear, allowing Ambrose to pin him. That’s one thing I thought was cool about the Shield. They weren’t allowed to take a gamble to get the W. I don’t think Seth was trying to get RKO’d, but if it bought Roman time to get in to hit that Spear, it was worth it. Of course, Big Show turns on his team after the match, which probably had to be his 78th heel turn.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: Mark Henry def. Ryback (8:02)

Wow. This was shit. First of all, they pulled the same thing with Ryback here that they pulled with AJ Styles in 2016. Where he loses at WrestleMania and somehow still gets a world title match at the next PPV. Anyway, this was terrible. You have two powerful big guys here and you go with the typical boring, “gotta get heat” “I gotta sit on him” style. Just let those hands be thrown! Henry basically wears down Ryback the whole match. Ryback gets a brief comeback in at the end, and he picks up Henry for the Shell Shock, but then he falls forward with Henry falling on top of him. Henry wins via literally squashing Ryback. Henry tries to do more damage after the match, but then Ryback clotheslines him and then he hits the Shell Shock, but after the match that he already lost, so he just looks like a nerd here.

My Rating: 1/2*

Match 3: WWE Tag Team Championship Match - Team Hell No (c) def. Dolph Ziggler & Big E. Langston (6:17)

Ziggler was 24 hours away from cashing in to become the World Heavyweight Champion to the biggest ovation of his career. So this match is largely forgotten. AJ Lee was Dolph’s onscreen girlfriend at the time, so to mock Daniel Bryan, Ziggler calls AJ up to give her a kiss, then he turns around into a kick to the head and I remember thinking that was it. Ziggler goes outside to retreat, but Bryan takes him out with a suicide dive. Bryan tags in Kane after Dolph tags in Big E. who is wrestling his first match on the main roster. It’s a fast paced match, and Dolph swings at Kane with the MITB briefcase, and Kane ducks before he chokeslams Ziggler to the mat, before he tags in Bryan, who hits the diving headbutt from the top rope for the win.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 4: Fandango def. Chris Jericho (9:11)

Even if everyone expected Fandango to win, this was made to be a huge upset, because duh. Jericho pretty much schools Dango in the beginning because he has far more experience. Dango gets some of his offense in and wears down Jericho. He gets to hit his legdrop from the top rope, which Jericho kicks out of. Fandango gets his knees up on a Lionsault, unfortunately, he’s too close to the ropes and Jericho totally jumps over him. But Jericho tries to put Dango in the Walls of Jericho, and Dango counters it into a small package to win in his debut match.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship Match - Alberto Del Rio (c) def. Jack Swagger (10:30)

Never before had the World Heavyweight Title felt like a midcard title. First of all, they made it pretty clear that they favored one world title over the other with this show. Second, it wasn’t even built up like a potential main event, not that anyone would’ve bought into that anyway because… I mean come on. As much as I hate to give this match any credit… this was a decent, solid, functional match. Swagger worked on Del Rio’s ankle while Del Rio worked on Swagger’s shoulder to set up for their signature submissions. The crowd chants “we want Ziggler” during this match and so did I. Del Rio forces Swagger to tap out in one of the most midcard world title match ever.

My Rating: ***

Match 6: The Undertaker def. CM Punk (22:07)

When I saw this show was next on my list, I was excited and it was solely for this match. I watched this show live and I went into it expecting this to steal the show and I was right on the money. This match was awesome. For the 7th WrestleMania in a row, Undertaker puts on a MOTY candidate. The first move made in the match is a slap. Punk ducks under a punch from Taker, and Punk slaps him in the face. He does it not once but twice. Just trying to infuriate Taker. Halfway through the match, Undertaker tears apart the spanish announce table and tries to Last Ride Punk through it. But Punk drops behind Taker, who turns around into a side kick to the head from Punk. Undertaker falls back, flat on the table, and Punk goes up the top rope and hits an elbow drop onto Taker on the table, which doesn’t break. The referee nearly counts Taker out, but Taker just makes it back in at 9. Punk crawls over and gets put in the Hell’s Gate, but Punk counters that into an Anaconda Vice. But Undertaker sits up while in the Vice, and stares into Punk’s eyes, who looks back in horror. Our memeable moment here. CM Punk hits a GTS, and Undertaker bounces off the ropes and picks Punk up to hit a Tombstone Piledriver, which Punk kicks out of! I remember losing my mind when I watched this match! The referee gets bumped, and Punk hits a knee in the corner, but from that position, Undertaker picks him up in a Powerbomb position for a Last Ride, but Paul Heyman throws the urn to Punk, who hits Taker in the back of the head with it, and gets a 2 count! Punk does the throat slash taunt, and picks Undertaker up for another GTS, but Undertaker reverses it into a Tombstone position. Undertaker goes 21-0! This was just as awesome now as it was then! I love this match!

My Rating: ****1/2

Match 7: No Holds Barred Match with Triple H’s career on the line - Triple H def. Brock Lesnar (23:58)

Sadly, the other 2 “main events” wouldn’t be able to live up to that. First of all, Triple H looks like a badass and a goof at the same time in his entrance. His stomach is coated in dry ice and he just marches to the ring like it’s nothing. Dry ice may not sound that bad, but I’ve touched that shit before and it wasn’t pleasant. It’s a brawl early of course. But Brock takes control and puts HHH through the spanish table, and roars, which is our second memed moment of the evening. Shawn Michaels is in the corner of Triple H and his purpose is get shitcanned by Brock here. Brock elbows Shawn when he gets on the apron and Shawn later tries to superkick Brock for it. But Brock catches his foot and Shawn takes an F5, but then Triple H gets up and hits the Pedigree on Brock for a 2. He goes outside to grab his signature sledgehammer and he tries to use it, but he gets an F5, and he kicks out of it. Triple H gets the Kimura Lock put on him and he’s in it for a long time. Triple H soon enough, wraps Brock’s arm around the ring post and smashes it with a chair. Then he puts Brock in the Kimura Lock. Heyman gets in with a chair, but he gets a superkick from Shawn, which is the most poppable moment of the match. Triple H has Brock in the Kimura for a while now, but Brock gets out of it by slamming Triple H into the steel steps in the ring, but ends up spiking himself into it. Then Triple H finishes it with a sledgehammer shot and a Pedigree on the steps. Triple H doesn’t have to retire.

My Rating: ***

Main Event: WWE Championship Match - John Cena def. The Rock (c) (23:59)

This is one of those matches that makes you question why you’re a WWE fan. WWE had this planned out a few years in advance, where Rock would beat Cena in the first match, and Cena would win the rematch. But what happens when somebody catches fire in that span of time like CM Punk had? Guys who people feel are more deserving of the main event spotlight get passed over because Vince had this planned out already. It just makes your investment feel like a waste is all I’m saying. And on top of that, nobody wanted this match. Absolutely nobody. They wanted the first match, but absolutely nobody was asking for a rematch. Whatever, onto the match now. The first half is pretty boring to be honest, it’s a lot of nothing. And Rock apparently gets hurt very early so that probably hurts it as well. The latter half is decent, but it’s really a whole lot of finisher spams. I think Cena kicked out of 3 Rock Bottoms while Rock kicked out of 2 AA’s. Admittedly, it heightens the drama a little bit, and why wouldn’t they want to end it at that point. But still, it kinda takes away my belief when they keep kicking out. The one thing I did like about this match is how they played the finish to their last match into this one. Rock does the “you can’t see me” taunt before he goes for the Rock Bottom, but Cena gets up to hit an AA which Rock kicks out of of course. Then Cena hits the Rock Bottom on Rock, then tries for the People’s Elbow like he does last year, but he hangs back on the ropes as Rock gets up. Eventually, after what feels like the 7th AA, Cena beats The Rock to redeem himself from the previous year…. Good for him I guess. Solid match actually, but I had no investment in it whatsoever. Everyone knew Cena was winning and nobody wanted that. Honestly, what would’ve saved the show, is if Cena turned heel after the match. Now would’ve been the time to pull that trick.

My Rating: ***

Cagematch Rating: 5.53

My Rating: 5.5/10

This WrestleMania… stunk. WrestleMania is supposed to be WWE’s season finale (I don’t care what WWE says about it being a random Raw in October) You would think you’d want to end your season the best way possible. This card doesn’t give me the feeling of a WrestleMania. Like, Ryback vs Mark Henry? Fandango vs Chris Jericho? Del Rio vs Swagger for the definitely less important than the WWE Title championship? Are you sure this is WrestleMania and not an episode of Raw? It doesn’t start to feel like WrestleMania until we get to Undertaker vs Punk, which saves this show from getting a lower rating.

Next it’s looking like we’ve reached the end of the line, because we’ve hit a roadblock… You probably forgot about this show so you might not get the joke. It’s Roadblock: End of the Line. I didn’t remember it either, it’s okay.

 

[Skyefire]

History of the World Heavyweight Championship 2012-2013:
WrestleMania 28: Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan in 30 seconds to win the title
Extreme Rules 2012: Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan in a Best 2 of 3 Falls Match
Then there are some other title matches probably and at some point Alberto Del Rio becomes champion and that leads us to WrestleMania 29.
That's all I know.

 

[Jarf]

Roadblock: End of the Line

I’m back. And part of the reason it took me so long to watch this show is because I watched this when it happened and I don’t remember it being that good, plus burnout. So I apologize for the wait, but my review for this show is now here.

Match 1: Raw Tag Team Championship Match - Cesaro & Sheamus def. The New Day (Kofi & Big E.) (c) (10:10)

You wanna talk about peaking early, this match was great! Very underrated. They somehow managed to squeeze a 20 minute match in 10 minutes with little to no sloppiness. The match starts with a dropkick from Cesaro to Kofi, they skip the boring stuff right away. This match is a full blown sprint with smart teamwork from both teams. Some standout spots include Xavier kicking Cesaro behind the refs back and Big E. follows that with a Big Ending that Cesaro kicks out of. Xavier gets involved 2 more times during this match. Like they are trying everything to beat their challengers. There is one point where Sheamus is about to Brogue Kick Kofi, but Xavier shoves Kofi out of the way and takes the kick himself! Kofi then hits an SOS on Sheamus, who kicks out. And the ending, OH GOD that ending! I love it so much! Sheamus is about to tag Cesaro, but Cesaro takes his hand away before Sheamus can tag him, and gets in anyway, confusing the commentary team. Cesaro runs at Kofi, who hits him with a Trouble in Paradise. Kofi covers Cesaro, who isn’t the legal man so it doesn’t count, because Sheamus runs over, dives on Kofi and holds him down on the mat, and the New Day’s record setting reign is over! This match was so good! It’s upsetting that nobody remembers it!

My Rating: ****

Match 2: Sami Zayn def. Braun Strowman (I guess) (10:00)

The stipulation going into this match is that Sami Zayn has to last 10 minutes with Braun Strowman. Sami gets an early flurry in, but Braun quickly brings Sami down and just beats on him for pretty much the whole match. Now the point of this is that Sami is supposed to last 10 minutes. And he eventually gets there, but a lot of that can be chalked up to Braun playing with his food and not finishing Sami when he can. And the other thing is that Mick Foley, who was Raw GM at the time, comes down with a white towel, Sami begs him not to throw it, while Braun yells at him to throw it in. Sami grabs the towel and throws it into the crowd. Braun then proceeds to run into shit trying to get Sami, which made me realize how much that happens in his run. Sami hits a Helluva Kick just when time is about to expire. And they announce Sami Zayn as the winner. Now I don’t see how this is supposed to elevate Sami, he just got his ass whipped for most of this and him surviving is mostly because Braun is stupid.

My Rating: **

Match 3: Seth Rollins def. Chris Jericho (17:05)

This probably should’ve been at least a contender for match of the night. But this match was still decent. The crowd was just dead for this one though. Seth has an early flurry, but Chris takes control soon enough and wears down Rollins. It has some solid enough counters. Seth goes for a springboard, but Chris catches his leg and puts him in the Walls of Jericho. Seth manages to reach the ropes. Seth goes for a Pedigree, which was still his finisher at the time, but Jericho reverses it, into a hurricanrana, he rolls through and puts Seth back in the Walls of Jericho. Seth reverses it into a small package pin, which Jericho kicks out of. Kevin Owens comes down and distracts Seth momentarily. Seth goes for the Pedigree again, but Jericho reverses it before he yells at Owens telling him to stay away. Jericho goes for a Codebreaker, but Seth catches him and then hits a Pedigree to win the match.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: Cruiserweight Championship Triple Threat Match - Rich Swann (c) def. TJ Perkins & Brian Kendrick (6:00)

The first 3 holders of the new Cruiserweight Title. And this probably could’ve been awesome if the crowd wasn’t so dead and they had more time. There isn’t a whole lot that stands out from this match. Rich Swann gets to do some crazy shit. TJ and Kendrick use they submission holds on Swann and on each other. With TJ getting Rich in his knee bar, Swann reaches the ropes. Kendrick comes in to get a double superkick, followed by Swann spin kicking TJ to retain. But then, out comes… PAC! I mean NEVILLE! If you take away the N in Neville, it spells EVILLE! He beats the hell out of Swann and when TJ tries to stop him, he beats the hell out of him too.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 5: Raw Women’s Championship Ironwoman Match - Charlotte Flair def. Sasha Banks (c) (34:45)

This was built up as the last epic match between these two after they had played the longest game of hot potato I’ve ever seen. For months, these 2 were just in a cycle where Sasha would beat Charlotte for the title on Raw, only for Charlotte to win it back at the next PPV, repeat. Seriously, Sasha became a 3x champion in the latter half of the year. But anyway, I remember this match being a lot better if I’m being honest. The match is competently worked, it’s just sort of boring and pretty much every match they already had together packed into one in the first 10 minutes. One spot I remember was Charlotte sweeping Sasha’s legs, whose face hits the steps. Charlotte spends the next several minutes wearing down Sasha, who tries to fight back into the match. Charlotte hits her with a Natural Selection, but Sasha kicks out. Charlotte hits Sasha with another from the top rope, which… not sure how that has any added effect, but whatever. Charlotte scores the first fall of the match. Sasha evens up the score with a botched pin. And just before the 6 minute mark, Sasha gets Charlotte in the Bank Statement and forces her to tap. But then the last few minutes is Charlotte targeting Sasha’s knee relentlessly. Then with 2 minutes left, Charlotte puts Sasha in the Figure 4 and holds her there for the remaining 2 minutes. Sasha is in the hold for a long time, and with less than 10 seconds left on the clock, Sasha taps out, evening the score. So with a tie, we go into sudden death overtime. And even though the ending result was annoying as fuck, I can’t deny that this ending is golden! I don’t know how, but Sasha’s nose gets busted and blood runs from her nose, and she has a busted knee. But she manages to hit the backstabber, before clutching her knee. She sees Charlotte stirring, and puts her in the Bank Statement trying to force a submission. But Charlotte twists leg and reverses it to put her in the Figure 4, before transitioning to the Figure 8. Sasha holds on for as long as she can before eventually tapping out. Despite choking once again and losing the title back to Charlotte, AGAIN, Sasha looks cool with her busted up nose.

My Rating: ***1/2

Main Event: Universal Championship Match - Kevin Owens (c) def. Roman Reigns via DQ (23:20)

This match I also remember being really good… and you know what, I think it still holds up, but that finish was awful. Even though I think this match was better than the Ironwoman match, I do think that one should’ve finished the show. I’ll take a disappointing ending over a dumb DQ finish. But before that ending, this match was really rocking. These 2 have always had amazing chemistry together. Also Roman Reigns was the United States Champion at the time. This feels like a brawl all the way through, mostly in Roman’s favor, but Owens sticks in it using his cunning. Back and forth matchup. One spot I remember is Owens sitting on the top rope, Roman hits a Superman Punch, before going up with him, but Owens grabs him and hits a Fisherman Buster from the top rope! Roman hits a driveby, and goes for another, but Owens dodges it and hits a superkick. The announce table that Roman took apart earlier comes into play. Owens superkicks him onto it. Kevin climbs on the barricade to hit a frog splash onto Roman. The table doesn’t break so Kevin tries it again, and this time it breaks. Owens later hits a Pop-Up Powerbomb, but Roman doesn’t kick out, he gets his foot on the bottom rope. Owens goes outside to grab his title and he plans on using it on Roman, but Roman hits him with a Spear, but can’t capitalize. But while both men are down, Chris Jericho runs down, and Owens gets up before Roman somehow. Jericho hits Owens with a Codebreaker, getting Roman DQ’d and Owens wins and retains. After Owens gets up, he realized with Jericho did. Chris smiles and they hug and Chris raises Kevin’s hand… He could’ve done the same thing to Roman and get the same result but ok. The end of this show, Seth comes out and him and Roman lay waste to the best friends. The double powerbomb Chris through a table at ringside, before chasing Owens up the ramp, and powerbombing him through the table on stage and that’s how the show ends… in disappointment. A shitty ending to a match that was going really well.

My Rating: ***3/4

Cagematch Rating: 5.54

My Rating: 5.5/10

Considering the card, this show could’ve been and should’ve been great. But the booking for it is just so fucking weird and inconsistent and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. When I say it peaks early, I mean it peaks early! The opener was the best match and it only went 10 minutes. Seth vs Jericho and the Ironwoman matches really should’ve been better and the main event may have ended up being better than expected, but it’s ruined by that shitty DQ finish. However, it’s not filled with terrible, god awful matches like a lot of other shows I’ve watched, so I can’t rate it lower than them. So really this show is just average.

Next show’s rating is lower than this show’s rating, which I guess is my fault since I took a little vacation from doing this I guess. We’re nearly done with the first 3 SummerSlams, because it’s SummerSlam 1989. Feel the heat or something.

 

[Canadian Dragon]

The Bar were awesome n I actually remember this ppv n match. Good analysis