Reviewing every WWE PPV in order from worst to best

[Skyefire]

Ultimate Warrior as WWF Champion is what made me a wrestling fan. I loved the Warrior back then. It's not very well known, but it was Warrior who was the first to beat Mr. Perfect. That happened a few weeks before this at Madison Square Garden. While it wasn't nationally televised the show was televised on MSG Network. I'm not sure how far that stretches beyond NYC.

The Roddy Piper vs Bad News match wasn't a whole lot to write home about. I have that match on DVD, on the Rowdy Roddy Piper "Born to Controversy" DVD, and also I own this whole show on DVD from the WrestleMania Anthology which I bought used a few years ago. The match is mostly a brawl and the two get counted out while brawling on the outside and they continue brawling on the way back to the locker room. During the prematch interview he refers to his two sides as "Hot Rod" and "Hot Scot" and actually does the John Travolta "Staying Alive" dance while humming "Billie Jean". Apparently he thought the dance was supposed to a Michael Jackson dance. He said on the DVD that he was going for Michael Jackson with the whole thing. One thing about that that's not very well known is that some of the older guys in the back, including Gorilla Monsoon if I'm correct, played a prank on Piper by dumping out the pain remover and replacing it with just plain water so the paint wouldn't come off right away, he'd have to have that paint on until it wore off. He also talked about going to the U.S. the next day for a show and having to go through customs with the paint on.

 

[Jarf]

Crown Jewel 2023

Match 1: World Heavyweight Championship Match - Seth Rollins (c) def. Drew McIntyre (18:24)

Great match to start the show and considering these 2 are gonna go at it again in just 15 days, it’s a nice prelude to their match at WrestleMania this year. Drew had yet to turn heel so it suffers slightly from both men being babyfaces, but other than that, this was great. Drew goes after Seth’s back and it starts when Drew catches Seth on a suicide dive and tosses him overhead on the floor. But it’s pretty back and forth for the most part. These 2 had plenty of good counters. Drew tries a RAINMAKER and Seth flips under Drew’s armor and back on his feet to hit a Pedigree which Drew kicks out of it. Drew attempts a Claymore out of the corner, but Seth hits him with a superkick and then a Curb Stomp which Drew kicks out of it. After that, Seth goes for a Phoenix Splash, but McIntyre rolls out of the way and hits Seth with the Claymore for a 2 count! Seth gets the best of Drew at the end, he gives Drew a superkick, but Drew tries to clap back with a Claymore, which Seth ducks out of the way of. He gives Drew another Pedigree and then another Stomp to retain his title. Great match. Then, after the match is over, Damian Priest tries to cash in his briefcase, but Sami Zayn jumps him and takes off with it.

My Rating: ****

Match 2: Women’s World Championship Fatal 5-Way Match - Rhea Ripley (c) def. Nia Jax, Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler & Zoey Stark (11:05)

I thought this was a fun sprint honestly. A really fun showcase of all their different skillsets… and Nia Jax was also in the match. As you can imagine, everyone spent a lot of the match trying to get a quick pin. Shayna Baszler puts 3 different submissions on Raquel, Rhea and gets Nia in the Kirifuda. Zoey Stark puts her talent to good use. There’s a tower of doom spot, Rhea and Raquel double superplex Zoey from the top rope with Shayna coming in to powerbomb Rhea and Raquel. Zoey springboards off the rope onto Rhea and Raquel on the outside. The finish to this match was pretty sick. Rhea hits Shayna with the Riptide, but Zoey stops her from winning and takes her up the turnbuckle. Raquel crawls over to cover Shayna, but Rhea Riptides Zoey onto the 2 below them and Rhea retains by pinning Shayna.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 3: Solo Sikoa def. John Cena (16:10)

A slow paced match that honestly, I couldn’t help but enjoy. This match hinges on one thing, The Samoan Spike. Cena already got it a couple weeks before on SmackDown and avoids that shit like the plague. Solo dominates a lot of this match and Cena gets in little comebacks throughout the match and nearly has Solo tap out to him. Cena avoids the Spike 4 different times during this match, reversing it into a crossface and STF and even a chokeslam at different points. But after Solo escapes the STF, he shoves Cena off him. Cena tries to go back on the attack, but Solo jabs his thumb into his throat… And does it again… and again… And again… No joke, Solo spikes Cena 11 times before he finally pins him and then proceeds to do fuck all for the next 4 months. Is this the end of Cena’s wrestling career? I doubt it. But if it is, then what a hell of a career.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 4: United States Championship Match - Logan Paul def. Rey Mysterio (c) (17:52)

Good match with cool spots, but it felt like these 2 couldn’t get the ball rolling. To me at least, even though he’s good, I think being in the ring with Rey showed that Logan still has much to learn. Logan wears Rey down with body shots and holds and wears down his torso. But Rey begins to turn the tide after Logan’s shoulder hits the ring post. Rey then dives through the ropes onto Logan and tosses him back in. Rey begins mounting a comeback. A few of the standout spots include Logan hitting a fallaway moonsault on Rey! Where he gets Rey in a fallaway slam position from the middle rope and flips back like a moonsault. Rey hits a sunset flip powerbomb from Logan’s shoulders off the middle rope. After a code red by Rey followed by a kickout from Paul, one of Logan’s buddies (couldn’t tell you his name) comes out and hands him some brass knucks. But Rey kicks Logan into the corner, where Logan accidentally throws it to the outside. Logan’s friend tries to grab it but Santos Escobar comes out from the crowd, picks them up and leaves them on the apron before chasing Logan’s pal out. Rey kicks Logan into the middle rope, Logan grabs the knucks while he’s there. Rey hits the 619, but as he springboards in, Logan hits him in mid-air and wins the title… Like a dick.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: WWE Women’s Championship Match - Iyo Sky (c) def. Bianca Belair (16:33)

On the last show, the crowd helped take Hogan and Warrior’s match to a great match. Here they did the exact opposite because the match itself and it’s wrestling isn’t that bad. But this crowd… This crowd is so dead… Rarely in my life have a seen a deader crowd. It’s a damn shame because these 2 put on a decent match. Pretty early on, Iyo works over Bianca’s knee and that’s the focus of her offense for much of the match. Once we come down to the wire, Bayley comes out in my new favorite pair of pants ever. Iyo hits her moonsault onto Bianca on the outside. She springboards off the top rope, but Bianca sidesteps and picks Iyo up and dropping her with a Glam Slam. Bianca covers Iyo, but Bayley gets on the apron. Bianca tries to take Bayley out and picks her up in a KOD position, but Kairi Sane makes her return to WWE to make the save… to no reaction. Kairi throws Bianca into the ring post. The referee starts to count her out, but Bianca makes it back in and as soon as she does, Iyo goes up top and hits the Moonsault to retain and celebrates with her old friend as Bayley’s life flashes before her eyes.

My Rating: ***

Match 6: Cody Rhodes def. Damian Priest (11:04)

Damian jumps Cody as he gets in the ring to get an early advantage. Another decent match, but again, not crazy about it. That seems to be the theme of this show. Cody also has a bad knee and favors that throughout the match. Priest hits a Reckoning on the announce table. But by the time Priest gets Cody back in the ring, Cody recovers and hits Cross Rhodes. Finn Balor comes down to the ring and distracts the referee. JD McDonagh gets in but eats a Cross Rhodes instead. Dirty Dom comes out to a chorus of boos with a steel chair. Only to get superkicked by MAIN EVENT JEY USO! IT’S JUST HIM UCE! He gives Finn a superkick and then JD and chases them to the back with the chair, making it a fair fight between Cody and Priest! After some more back and forth. Cody eventually hits the Cross Rhodes once again to win the match.

My Rating: ***

Main Event: Undisputed WWE Universal Championship Match - Roman Reigns (c) def. LA Knight (20:03)

I love this period of WWE that we’re in where people can get over on their own, and not get punished for it. Poor Zack Ryder. I’ll admit that I didn’t care for LA at first like everybody else did, but he eventually won me over. Sadly though, this match wasn’t that good. It’s competently worked, it’s just boring for the most part. Still a pretty solid match. LA starts the match off hot, but Roman starts wearing Knight down and its a snore. Halfway through the match, Knight starts making a comeback and has Roman on the ropes. Knight leapfrogs over Roman’s Spear attempt and gets him on the top rope. Roman fights LA off, but LA leaps up to the top rope and hits a superplex. But as with every Roman match, the Bloodline has to get involved. Solo comes halfway down to the ring, distracts the referee and LA while Jimmy Uso pulls Roman out of the ring. LA sees Jimmy and grabs him, but Roman hits a Superman Punch, and Spears LA. But Knight kicks out. Roman then gets LA in the Guillotine choke, and just refuses to let it go. But Knight hot shots Roman on the top rope to escape and hits the BFT. But unfortunately for him, Roman was still too close to the ropes and Jimmy saves his ass by putting his foot on the bottom rope. He goes outside to bounce Jimmy’s head off the announce table. Roman’s goes out and LA bounces his head off the table too. Knight puts Jimmy through the announce table with a Randy Orton back drop. Roman recovers and spears Knight through the barricade, and tosses him back in the ring to hit another Spear to retain again.

My Rating: ***

Cagematch Rating: 5.92

My Rating: 6/10

A shame that this show gets the rating it does. First a positive. When your show doesn’t have a match any less than 3 stars, that’s pretty good. But at the same time, every one of these matches got a pretty decent amount of time, and pretty much the only one worth watching would be the opener between Seth and Drew. Maybe Solo and Cena if you have enough patience. And add to that, this crowd was dead as fuck for much of this show. Kairi Sane returning was pretty cool but she got pretty much no reaction. Still, I’ve seen much, much worse. It’s just not very interesting.

Coming up next will be the show to feature one of the only Last Ride matches. No Mercy 2004.

 

[Jarf]

No Mercy 2004

Match 1: Eddie Guerrero def. Luther Reigns (13:13)

Luther Reigns’ haircut was the most scuffed shit I’ve ever seen. Holy hell. Also, this match was really lame. This is how you knew Luther Reigns wasn’t gonna go far. Because when you can’t have a good match with Eddie Guerrero, it’s pretty telling. Reigns overpowers and wears Eddie down throughout the match until Eddie begins making a comeback. Eddie tries for 3 amigos, but Luther throws him off. Eddie goes outside, goes up behind a security guy at ringside and takes his baton (which extends) out from his belt and hides it in his boot. Eddie brings a chair into the ring and Luther tries to take it away and gets it out, but Eddie dropkicks the chair back into Mark Jindrak who was standing on the apron and it must have been the gust of wind from the impact that knocked him off because that chair did not come close. Eddie goes to the top rope and tries for a Frog Splash, but Reigns moves out of the way. As the referee is getting rid of the chair, Eddie takes the baton back out and knocks Reigns out with it to win the opener.

My Rating: **

Match 2: Cruiserweight Championship Match - Spike Dudley (c) def. Nunzio (8:44)

IT'S BOSS TIME! Nunzio starts off schooling Spike, but he makes the mistake of going to the top rope. While Bubba is occupying the referee, D-Von throws him off the top rope. Nunzio gets hit with a dropkick after coming off the middle rope. Spike gets powerbombed off the middle rope. Nunzio hits the Fameasser from the middle rope, but Spike is too close to the ropes and gets his foot on it. D-Von grabs Nunzio’s foot as he runs the ropes, and Johnny Stamboli runs over to fight with D-Von. Nunzio tries a splash in the corner, but Spike dodges and while the ref’s back is turned, Bubba trips Nunzio and pulls his crotch into the ring post by his legs and Spike pins him to retain.

My Rating: **3/4

Match 3: Billy Kidman def. Paul London (10:33)

I’m going to hit you guys with some truth about this match. They portrayed Kidman as the heel but I think he was completely justified. After injuring Chavo Guerrero with the Shooting Star Press, Kidman didn’t wanna hit the move ever again. And to be fair to London, it did cost them the Tag Team Titles, but he should’ve been a better buddy to Kidman instead of berating him. So then everyone is surprised that Kidman slams a chair into London’s back. Not to mention the fact that Teddy Long goes to Kidman and tells him “EvErYoNe WaNtS yOu To UsE tHe ShOoTiNg StAr PrEsS.” Playa, he injured someone on your roster with the move. This is the best match on the card really, and it’s only 10 and a half minutes. London gets off to a fast start, and pulls off some pretty sick flips. He springboards off the second rope, over the top rope onto Kidman on the outside with a moonsault! But Kidman turns the tide and starts to work over London’s ribs, wearing him down and using moves that target the ribs. Kidman goes up for the Shooting Star, but has second thoughts. But he decides to get back in the ring. London hits him with a heel kick and goes up and says “if you won’t use it, I will.” And tries the Shooting Star, but Kidman gets his knees up and then hits the Shooting Star Press to win the match. Then after the match, London’s bleeding from the mouth and as doctor’s come out to check on him, Kidman goes back up and hits another Shooting Star Press. And Cole and Tazz condemn him on commentary. Like, ya’ll wanted him to use the move. So he did. Hell, he even did it twice for ya. I say Kidman was a justified heel.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 4: WWE Tag Team Championship Match - Rene Dupree & Kenzo Suzuki (c) def. Rey Mysterio & Rob Van Dam (9:09)

Not as good as their match they’d have at Armageddon a couple months later, but still a decent match nonetheless. This match is much of the same as this one. Rey and RVD carry their challengers to a decent match, just without the amount of time that one got. RVD got Rene to do the standoff spot he used to do with Jerry Lynn all the time in ECW. Like huh? RVD and Rey hit duel planchas over the top rope onto them. RVD goes up for a Frog Splash on Kenzo, but Rene throws him off into the barricade. They wear down Van Dam until Rey gets the tag and he springboards into the ring with a headbutt to the chest of Suzuki. Coming down to the end, Rey hits a 619 on Kenzo. But as he tries to springboard, Rene grabs his foot from the floor and pulls him down and Rey gets hot shot on the rope. RVD dives off the apron onto Rene while Kenzo takes advantage and covers Rey to win.

My Rating: ***

Match 5: Big Show def. Kurt Angle (15:06)

The theme of this PPV is apparently justified heels. Because please explain to me how it makes Kurt Angle the bad guy that in retaliation for THROWING HIM OFF A LEDGE AND NEARLY KILLING HIM, Kurt only shaves his head. That was Kurt’s revenge. I mean, he also tranquilized him before shaving his head, but Big Show THREW HIM OFF A LEDGE!!! If you ask me, Kurt didn’t do enough. But whatever, Big Show’s the good guy and Kurt’s the bad guy. Sure, whatever. Big Show beats the shit out of Kurt for the first half of the whole match. Kurt tries to leave and gets counted out. But then Teddy Long who walks much, much funnier than Vince McMahon and I will stand by that, comes out and tells Kurt that if he doesn’t get back in the ring, he’ll be fired and will never work on SmackDown again… So he could still go to Raw. But Kurt still goes back to the ring receives his beating from Big Show. Big Show punches a chair back into Kurt’s face. Big Show tries to finish the match with a chokeslam, but Kurt turns and rolls through Big Show’s legs and gets him in the Ankle Lock. He has Big Show in this hold for a solid minute before he gets kicked off. Kurt goes outside to grab a chair and uses it to Big Show’s ankle and knee. Kurt later on hits an Angle Slam and Big Show kicks out. Kurt goes back out to grab a tranq gun, which is definitely reason for a DQ I would think. Big Show grabs it and snaps it in half and finishes Kurt off with a chokeslam from the top rope.

My Rating: ***

Match 6: Match 5 in the Best of 5 Series for the United States Championship - John Cena def. Booker T (c) (10:20)

It started off okay, both men brawled with each other and it was pretty even. But Booker soon takes control and wears down Cena after a hot shot to Cena and a side kick. Not a bad match, but it’s pretty average, I’d say. Nothing special or really solid. Cena starts fighting back after a hard clothesline, he hits a Five Knuckle Shuffle, but after Booker escapes an FU attempt, he hits a Book End, and Cena kicks out. Booker goes outside for a chair, but realizes he can’t retain on a DQ and goes back in, attempting a Scissors Kick, which Cena avoids. He picks Booker back up and hits the FU to win back the US Title.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 7: Rico, Charlie Haas & Miss Jackie def. The Dudley Boyz & Dawn Marie (8:44)

This storyline ended at Armageddon (as far as I know) So you mean to tell me they did this dumb affair angle for at least 2 months? Sheesh, shit was rough back then. If you don’t remember, Charlie was engaged to Miss Jackie and Dawn tried to say that he was fucking Charlie behind Jackie’s back, which turns out she was. The Rico is gay stuff comes into play during this match. Bubba tries to force Jackie to kiss him, but he shuts his eyes so he doesn’t see her tag in Rico. Rico kisses Bubba (which is a sentence I didn’t think I would have to type out when I started this show) When Bubba realizes what happened, he has the biggest exaggerated reaction I’ve ever seen. He fakes leaving, but comes back down to crotch Rico on the top rope. They wear down Rico, but Charlie eventually gets tagged back in. He hits the Dudleys with germans and dropkicks. Dawn Marie and Jackie get into a catfight at some point. Rico gets tagged back in and the Dudleys are gonna do the wazzup to him... But D-Von doesn’t want to because Rico’s gay? Like, whether they’re gay or straight, you’re actively diving your head into another man’s crotch, what is so different this time? But whatever, it allows Charlie to throw D-Von off. Charlie hits Bubba with a crossbody, and Rico hits a moonsault to win the match.

My Rating: *1/4

Main Event: WWE Championship Last Ride Match - JBL (c) def. The Undertaker (21:02)

Pretty slow paced main event, but it’s still alright. Decent match. The crowd is dead for most of it, which doesn’t help it. Undertaker beats the shit out of JBL early in the match, but after JBL rams the steel steps in Taker’s face, it’s more of an even match. If you don’t know what a Last Ride match is, it’s an Ambulance Match, but with a hearse. The crowd comes alive after Undertaker hits a Tombstone on top of the steel steps, and JBL gets busted open from that. He gets a last gasp with a chairshot to the head of Taker. But it’s all but over when Undertaker chokeslams JBL through the spanish table from the english table. Undertaker carries JBL to the hearse, but Heidenreich was in the back the whole time, and he rubs chloroform on his glove to make the Undertaker pass out. But it doesn’t work, the hearst stops and Undertaker gets out. He attacks Heidenreich. But JBL has enough left in him to hit the Clothesline From Hell and with Heidenreich, he tosses Undertaker in the back of the hearse which drives backstage as JBL is declared the winner. The show ends with Heidenreich driving a truck into the back of the hearse which might be the 47th attempt from anyone at killing The Undertaker at this point.

My Rating: ***

Cagematch Rating: 5.93

My Rating: 5/10

For the most part, pretty weak if you ask me. Kidman and London was a good match, but none of the others stand out all that match. The booking for this was extremely weird with how they portrayed their heels. A couple weak matches there. The match before the main event being the main one, and now I can officially say that Eddie Guerrero has a had a bad match and it was on this show.

It’s time to get that money. Time for Money in the Bank 2014 next time.

 

[Jarf]

Money in the Bank 2014

Match 1: WWE Tag Team Championship Match - The Usos (c) def. The Wyatt Family (13:13)

While not as good as their Battleground match, this was still a very good match to kickoff the PPV and a nice prelude to that match. The Usos get off to a good start but the Wyatts take control quickly and isolate Jey from Jimmy. But Jey soon gets the hot tag and the match dials up to 11. Jimmy turns the tide for The Usos and there's some good near falls and spots here. Rowan catches Jey on the outside and Jimmy dives on him from the inside. Jimmy continues to fight with Harper on the inside. And after a powerbomb from Harper, the Wyatts almost have it won, but Jimmy kicks out. Harper hits Jey with a suicide dive. Jimmy tries to dive on Rowan, but big red catches him and holds him in place for Harper to dive on him. Back and forth these teams go until we come down to the end. Harper eats a superkick which takes him out for the rest of the match. The Usos hit Rowan with a double superplex from the top rope and then both him with Splashes to retain.

My Rating: ***3/4

Match 2: Divas Championship Match - Paige (c) def. Naomi (7:10)

Me personally, I don't get why the rating for this match is low. It's not great, but it's certainly better than most matches the women's division were having at this point. They didn't really do a lot but the stuff they did do was smooth. Naomi dives on Paige on the outside early in the match. They both end up falling to the outside after an attempted superplex where Paige hurts her knee. Both ladies make it back in the ring before the 10 count. Naomi hits the She Calls That the Rear View (shout-out to my fellow big bois who get that joke) for a 2 count. Paige reverses a reverse DDT into a cradle DDT to retain her title.

My Rating: **3/4

Match 3: Adam Rose def. Paul Revere (4:13)

My oh my. How far Damien Sandow had fallen in just a year. The year before at MITB he was practically a guaranteed future World Champion. And here he was… Paul Revere. I don't think they even called him Sandow on commentary either, he was just Paul Revere. Anyway, this match sucks. Sandow wears Rose down for like a couple minutes, even hits his finisher which was just a Full Nelson Slam, but Rose kicks out of it. Like, how embarrassing is that. He hits his finish and the comedy wrestler kicks out of it. Anyway, Rose hits the BFT to win.

My Rating: 1/2*

Match 4: Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Seth Rollins def. Dean Ambrose, Dolph Ziggler, Rob Van Dam, Kofi Kingston & Jack Swagger (23:14)

God damn! What a match. This was amazing. I'll put this up there as one of the best Money in the Bank matches ever. The match gets off to a fast and furious start. Ambrose gets in the ring and immediately goes for Rollins, taking outside while the others stay in the ring where Kofi hits Dolph with a Trouble in Paradise. There's a few standout spots during the match. A large ladder is set up in the corner of the ring, Swagger powerbombs RVD from halfway down the ladder, and with Seth still up there, Ambrose comes in and hits a superplex from the top of the ladder which was insane looking. Ambrose is taken to the back halfway through the match for a shoulder injury. Kofi bridges a ladder between the ropes and the rungs of the ladder in the ring and backdrops Seth onto the bridged ladder! Dolph Ziggler, after getting his ass whooped pretty much the entire match, gets a sudden burst of adrenaline and takes out the rest of his opponents and the crowd is losing it. Swagger comes in and puts Dolph in the Ankle Lock on the ladder, but Dolph hits him with a Zig Zag and goes up the ladder, but is stopped by Seth with a chair, who takes it to Dolph's ankle and wails him with it. Seth is going back up, but Ambrose runs back out and takes a chair to Seth and makes the climb. But Kane's music hits and he makes his way down and what I like here is that there's a legitimate reason for Ambrose not being able to get the briefcase cause he has a bad shoulder as opposed to waiting for Kane to get to the ring. Kane drags him off the ladder and hits a Chokeslam and a Tombstone, allowing Seth to climb up the ladder and retrieve the briefcase after a hell of a Ladder Match.

My Rating: ****1/2

Match 5: Goldust & Stardust def. RybAxel (7:45)

What a weird match to watch in 2024. It's almost a given that Cody Rhodes will walk out of WrestleMania with the title this year. Anyway how to sum up this match. Stardust does some weird shit. RybAxel beat up Goldust and keep him away from his corner. Ryback beats his chest for WAY too long. Stardust gets the hot tag. He reverses the Shell Shock into a Cross Rhodes and covers him. And I think that was supposed to be it, but Axel is too quick to break it up. Stardust pushes Ryback into Axel and rolls Ryback up a second later.

My Rating: *

Match 6: Rusev def. Big E. (7:17)

This match was alright. Rusev was just at the beginning of the biggest push he would ever get though so E wasn't winning. Rusev wears E down until Big E. hits Rusev with a belly to belly and they make a point of saying that when Rusev gets hurt, he gets angry and he shows it. Big E. hits the running Spear of the apron and tosses Rusev back in, with the Bulgarian bleeding from his mouth now. Big E. sets up for the Big Ending, but Rusev hits him with a kick and gets E in the Accolade. Big E. tries to fight out of it but eventually taps out.

My Rating: **3/4

Match 7: Singles Match with Fandango as Special Referee - Layla def. Summer Rae (3:45)

Listen… if I wanted to watch a soap opera, I would just go watch a soap opera. If you don’t remember this, Fandango broke up with Summer and got with Layla. And instead of moving on, Summer started attacking Layla and tries winning Fandango back. So this match is just Summer and Layla fighting (if you could call it that) and trying to be sexy for Fandango. All it takes is a kick to the face and Layla is able to pin Summer. And then Fandango makes out with her and leaves. (I would've made the same choice tbh.

My Rating: DUD

Main Event: Ladder Match for the vacant WWE World Heavyweight Championship - John Cena def. Randy Orton, Roman Reigns, Kane, Bray Wyatt, Cesaro, Sheamus & Alberto Del Rio (26:30)

A main event that doesn't really live up to the hype, but still pretty good. Everyone starts out brawling immediately. Randy Orton gets cut open badly early on in the match after having a ladder slam into his head. The doctors patch him up though. Pretty sweet moment is when Cesaro (who is the MVP of this match) and Sheamus are both hanging onto the titles with no ladder under them and they fight in mid-air. Another cool moment also involving Cesaro and Sheamus is when a ladder gets bridged between both sides of the ladder in the middle of the ring. Roman tips the ladder over and so now it's being supported by the ladder bridged between the sides of it. And so Cesaro is hanging off his side! That's something I don't think I've seen in a Ladder Match before. Roman gets that Superman moment and everyone takes a turn getting a piece of Roman. Towards the ending stretch, Randy Orton is going up, but is stopped by Bray Wyatt, who gives him a Sister Abigail. But Bray is stopped by Del Rio with an enziguri and a superkick. Sheamus hits him with a Brogue Kick. Cesaro hits him with an uppercut and a Neutralizer. And Cesaro eats an RKO off the ladder. Orton once again starts making the climb as his wound gets opened again and the blood starts running down his forehead and into his eyes. Roman tries to stop Orton, but Kane comes back in and gives him a Chokeslam. Then Cena comes back and gives Kane an AA. Cena pulls Orton off the ladder and gets AA'd onto Kane. Cena goes up the ladder and takes both titles and HHH's reaction basically mimics everyone who was watching.

My Rating: ***3/4

Cagematch Rating: 5.94

My Rating: 6.5/10

With a good opener and main event and an amazing match in the middle of the card, I can't rate it too low. But this also shows the problem with booking 2 stacked Ladder matches on the same show in that it doesn't leave much for your other matches. True, there is that good Tag Title match but other than that, nothing basically. 3 terrible matches with dumber than shit angles also doesn't help this show.

Next up the 24TH, not 25th Anniversary of WrestleMania! And I'll be honest, I'm excited to watch this next show and I'm sure you already figured out why.

 

[Jarf]

WrestleMania XXV

Match 1: Money in the Bank Ladder Match - CM Punk def. Kane, Christian, MVP, Shelton Benjamin, Kofi Kingston, Mark Henry & Finlay (14:24)

You can’t get the show off to a hotter start than with a Ladder Match. And I feel like this one doesn’t get brought up very often because it takes place on such a sub-par WrestleMania. Very fun way to open the show. Because it’s one of the shorter Money in the Banks, there aren’t a whole lot of spots but what they do is good stuff. Each man gets a turn to dive on the others on the outside, but biggest dive goes to Shelton, who sentons onto the crowd of opponents on the floor from the top of a tall ladder! As Mark Henry is holding a ladder standing up, Kofi tries to scale it and go for the briefcase, but Henry drops the ladder and catches Kofi before hitting him with a World’s Strongest Slam onto it! A ladder gets bridged between the top rope and the rungs of a ladder on the inside, and Christian hits the Unprettier on Punk from the bridged ladder. Shelton picks MVP up on his shoulders in a powerbomb position and throws him outside onto a small crowd of opponents. Finlay tries to stop Shelton, but he’s unsuccessful and falls back on the bridged ladder, but Christian goes up the ladder, the ladder gets tipped over and Shelton crashes to the mat while Christian stops his fall by placing a foot on the top rope and bounces back on the ladder into the middle of the ring. Punk comes back in to stop Christian from winning, but then in comes Kane, who grabs Christian by the throat and Chokeslams him from the ladder. Then he grabs Punk by the throat, but Punk kicks him in the head a few times to send Kane to the mat, allowing Punk to become the first (and to this day, only) 2x Money in the Bank winner.

My Rating: ****

Match 2: Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal - Santina Marella won by last eliminating Melina & Beth Phoenix (5:53)

So after a fucking 4 hour Kid Rock concert that I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit through, we get this piece of shit. And I’ll be honest, I was not keeping track of who was being eliminated. All I saw were bodies being flung out of the ring at a rapid pace. It’s also weird as fuck that nobody on commentary mentioned the muscular female standing in the ring that nobody had seen before. This “woman” doesn’t do anything until the very end, when Melina is hanging onto Beth’s back and Santina throws them both over. They really built up this match just to get to a “man dressed like a woman” bit… Are you laughing? Why aren’t you laughing? Maybe you didn’t understand it… Ya see…

My Rating: DUD

Match 3: 3-on-1 Handicap Elimination Match - Chris Jericho def. Ricky Steamboat, Roddy Piper & Jimmy Snuka (8:57)

As if that wasn’t bad enough, now we have Chris Jericho vs the old men. And ironically, this Chris Jericho would hate Chris Jericho today. But anyway, the geriatrics have Ric Flair in their corner too. Piper and Snuka are very stiff and very slow, it’s pretty sad actually. Well, for Piper at least, fuck Snuka. But Ricky Steamboat can still go. Not as well as he used to but still much better than his partners. Jericho eliminates Snuka with a Walls of Jericho and Piper with an Enziguri. Steamboat shows off a bit and like I said, not as good as he used to be, but that’s expected. For someone who hadn’t been in the ring for 15 years, and someone of his age, his mobility is impressive here. He almost has Jericho beat a couple times, but Jericho puts Steamboat down with a Codebreaker. Flair comes in and tries to beat up Jericho, but he also gets his. Then Jericho calls out Mickey Rourke who was in the crowd. Rourke gets in the ring and knocks Jericho on his ass.

My Rating: **1/4

Match 4: Extreme Rules Match - Matt Hardy def. Jeff Hardy (13:15)

I really think this match isn’t looked back on fondly because people had high expectations for it. Which was fair, but even though it’s not a classic or anything, it’s still a good match in my opinion. Jeff is in control for a lot of this match, as he uses whatever he can get his hands on to beat up Matt. Matt pulled a shop vac from under the ring at some point and hit Jeff in the head with it. Why was that under the ring? Matt hits the Twist of Fate after Jeff misses a Swanton, but Jeff kicks out. Towards the end of the match, Jeff places Matt on a table on the outside and then another table over him, standing on that table, Jeff then climbs up the turnbuckle and dives through the tables and Matt. Jeff sets up 2 ladders in the ring, a really tall one and a slightly shorter one behind it. With Matt below, Jeff leaps over the taller ladder, but Matt moves out of the way and Jeff crashes ass first into the mat… Ow. Matt traps Jeff’s head between a chair and hits the Twist of Fate again to pin Jeff.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: Intercontinental Championship Match - Rey Mysterio def. JBL (c) (0:21)

Before this match starts, JBL comes out and promises to give us the most dominant WrestleMania victory in history. JBL boots Rey in the head and beats him down in the corner before the bell can even ring. Once, the bell does ring, Rey ducks a clothesline, hits JBL with an enziguri, a dropkick into the middle rope. He hits the 619 and a Frog Splash to beat JBL in record time and win his first Intercontinental Title. JBL grabs a mic after the match and says that he quits… and he actually does it.

Match 6: The Undertaker def. Shawn Michaels (30:42)

I think this is the point everybody should’ve realized Dave Meltzer is biased and stopped taking him seriously. 3 things are certain in life. Death, taxes and this is a 5 STAR MATCH! What can I say other than this is one of the greatest matches of all time! The beginning stages of this match is these two building up to the later spots. HBK puts Undertaker in a Figure 4, and Undertaker puts Shawn in Hell’s Gate. But when Shawn attempts a moonsault to the outside, the match goes into that next all timer gear. The referee goes out to check on Shawn and Undertaker goes to dive on him. Shawn shoves the ref away and pulls the camera man in Taker’s way… and does not catch Undertaker. Now from what I understand… the streak was legitimately a second away from ending here. Shawn pulls the referee back in the ring and tells him to start counting Undertaker out. And Undertaker apparently told the ref, if for whatever reason he can’t make it back in the ring, to count him out. Undertaker gets back in the ring at the count of 9. And here… And after he does, it’s like a switch gets flipped. I haven’t heard a commentary team get so into a match before or after. Shawn goes for a superkick, but Undertaker sidesteps and hits Shawn with a Chokeslam, but Shawn kicks out. Shawn avoids another Chokeslam attempt and hits the first Superkick of the match, but Undertaker kicks out! Shawn avoids the Last Ride at first, but Undertaker gets it a moment later and Shawn kicks out again! Undertaker goes to the top rope and tries for an elbow drop. When both men recover, Shawn runs at Taker, but Taker sidesteps and Shawn goes over the ropes, but hangs on and tries skinning the cat, but Undertaker catches him into a Tombstone and by this point, this match was already 5 stars for me. They didn’t have to keep going… but Shawn kicks out and Undertaker’s face has become legendary at this point! They didn’t have to keep going, but they do! Undertaker attempts another Tombstone, but Shawn reverses it into a DDT and tunes up the band. Undertaker pulls himself up with the ropes and eats that Sweet Chin Music! And kicks out again! And for the second time in the match, Shawn gets caught in a Tombstone after going for a moonsault and Taker drops him again to go 17-0 at WrestleMania! Death, Taxes, and this is a 5 Star Match!

My Rating: *****

Match 7: World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Match - John Cena def. Edge (c) & Big Show (14:43)

I feel bad for these guys, having to go out and follow that match, but this is still a solid match, that does get a little boring at points, but there’s still some pretty neat things that stood out to me in this match. Pretty early on in the match, Vickie Guerrero gets on the apron and Edge ends up accidentally Spearing her, so she’s a non-factor the rest of the match. Edge takes a run off the steel steps and drives Big Show through the barricade, taking him out for a little bit. Edge gets back in the ring and tries to Spear Cena, but Cena counters it into an STF. Edge is in this hold for a bit and tries to reach the ropes. Big Show comes back to save the match, grabbing Edge’s hand and with his other grabbing Cena by the throat and pulling him outside. Cena and Edge work together to double suplex Big Show and clothesline him outside. Towards the end of the match, Cena gets on the top rope to try a legdrop, but Big Show climbs the steps and pushes Cena off into a Spear from Edge. And the end of this match is nuts. Cena shows how strong he really is with this ending. Edge is on Big Show’s back, trying to put him in a sleeper, and Cena comes over and lifts both men on his shoulders! Edge slides off, but Cena had both Edge and Big Show on his damn shoulders. He drops Big Show before dropping Edge on Big Show as well and Cena covers Show to win the match.

My Rating: ***

Main Event: WWE Championship Match - Triple H (c) def. Randy Orton (23:35)

Time for the main event… and man, do I have some stuff to say about this. How did WWE fumble this so hard? I will cut a tiny bit of slack since they had to follow one of the greatest matches of all time. But this match had such a good build up. One of the best build ups to a WrestleMania match ever I would say. Orton punting HHH’s in-laws, RKOing and DDTing Stephanie and kissing her out cold body right in front of HHH. Orton was a fucking menace. HHH went to Orton’s house to beat the shit out of him. Like this build up, had pretty much every personal stake you could think of. So this match NEEDED to have a No DQ stipulation! It needed to! You can’t just have a personal feud like this and have these guys go out and have a “gorsh, let’s have a nice good old fashioned wrestling match, let the best man win, hehe.” NO! You can’t just do that! It doesn’t reflect the hatred they have for each other. So that was their first mistake, second mistake is adding the stipulation that if HHH gets counted out or DQ’d he loses the title…. What. Are. You. People. DOING?!?! You may have noticed, I’ve spent most of this part talking about the way they booked the match, it’s because there is really fuck all to say about this match. They went for 23 and a half minutes and did almost nothing that whole time. And every time HHH would stomp Orton out in the corner, the ref would be like “Ahugh, I’ll disqualify you.” Fuck outta here ref! They each hit their finishers within a minute of the match too, so that was something but until the end, nothing. The referee gets bumped so he’s down. Orton goes out to grab a sledgehammer, but gets punted in the head. HHH then grabs the sledgehammer himself and hits Orton in the face with it. Then with the referee up, he hits a Pedigree to retain his title. I say Orton should’ve won this match, but after a boring, long ass match, I didn’t care. I think this match is worse than HHH’s match with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 32. Because at least in that match, they got A pop when Roman Speared Stephanie.

My Rating: *1/2

Cagematch Rating: 5.96

My Rating: 7/10

First the positives. Undertaker and Shawn Michaels had one of the greatest matches of all time, but it’s not a one match show like everyone says it is. That opening Ladder Match was really fun, and Matt vs Jeff, while underdelivering was also good. Now the negatives… Oh, boy, and these are some pretty hard negatives. The Battle Royal won by a man just because a certain old man probably thought it’d be hilarious. Jericho vs the old men. That main event that just dragged the show down so hard. If that main event hadn’t been such a stinker, this show would’ve gotten a higher rating, but it completely drains the show.

Undertaker used an interesting line in the video package leading up to his match with Shawn “sometimes, it is hell trying to get to heaven.” Appropriate considering this next show he’s in a Hell in a Cell Match. At Armageddon 2005.

 

[Skyefire]

If I recall the title match at MITB was supposed to be the contract match until Daniel Bryan got hurt and had to give up the belt and they made it a title match and created another match for the contract. This was right on the heels of the Shield breakup. I've never heard what the plan was as far as who was supposed to win the contract before the change, possibly Roman would be my guess.

As dumb as the Miss WrestleMania Battle Royal was I'm surprised they didn't hold it off until later in the show, WWE loves the throw the pointless matches on later as a filler between good matches. On the DVD (not sure about WWE Network), the Kid Rock concert is actually cut from the show because they couldn't get permission to show it. Not sure if that's changed since he's now in the Hall of Fame.

Matt Hardy vs Jeff Hardy falls along the lines of "the rematch was better than the WrestleMania match." I really enjoyed the rematch those two had at Backlash in an "I Quit" Match.

John Cena doing an F-U to Big Show, and almost a double, was really the highlight of Big Show's involvement in the match. Once again a far better rematch between Cena and Edge at Backlash in a Last Man Standing Match.

 

[Jarf]

Armageddon 2005

Match 1: JBL def. Matt Hardy (6:20)

To start the show, we get a long winded promo from JBL that gets interrupted by Matt’s music. But Matt doesn’t come down the entrance way, he comes from behind and attacks JBL before the bell rings. But the tide of the match turns entirely when JBL tosses Matt into the ring ropes and Matt’s head gets caught between the top and middle ropes, choking him. JBL doesn’t let the ref get him out and beats Matt while he’s choking. And for the rest of the match, Matt only gets a couple more offensive moves in, the rest is JBL just beating the shit out of him. Matt gets a DDT and a moonsault in, but JBL takes the pad off the top turnbuckle and irish whips Matt into it before ending the match with a Clothesline From Hell and a middle finger to the crowd.

My Rating: **1/4

Match 2: MNM def. The Mexicools (8:50)

Originally supposed to be for the Tag Team Titles, but MNM lost their belts to Batista and Rey on SmackDown. The Mexicools start off quick against MNM. Super Crazy hits a leaping senton over the referee and over the ropes onto them on the outside. MNM begins isolating Psicosis from Crazy for a little bit. Psicosis is able to get to his corner after hitting Mercury with an enziguri. Crazy goes… well crazy and is able to mount a short comeback and comes close to winning here. Mercury takes Psicosis out on the outside and Crazy has to fight both men on the inside. Crazy runs into Mercury, who picks him up on his shoulder and MNM hits the Snapshot to win.

My Rating: **3/4

Match 3: Match 4 in the Best of 7 Series for the United States Championship - Chris Benoit def. Booker T (20:11)

This match starts with an interesting setup going into it. Booker is already up 3 to 0 in this series, meaning if he wins this match, he’ll be the United States Champ and sweep Benoit. The first half of the match is mostly them trying to get the better of the other which is fine. Booker beats the hell out of Benoit in this match. But halfway through the match, Benoit Booker with Three Amigos and 3 German Suplexes and thats when the match starts picking up. Benoit reverses a Book End into a Crossface, and Booker has to claw his way over to the ropes. Booker almost has the match won when Sharmell low blows Benoit with the referee’s back turned. And Booker tries to put the finishing touches on Benoit with a Scissors Kick. But Benoit kicks out. Benoit hits 3 more Germans and then a diving headbutt, which Booker kicks out of. Benoit tries to get Booker into another Crossface, but Booker rolls through and ends up kicking the referee in the head. Benoit gets Booker on his back and puts him in the Sharpshooter, and Booker T taps out, but there’s no referee. But Sharmell gets in with a broom (because Booker was gonna sweep Benoit, get it?) But it has no effect. While Benoit is distracted by Sharmell, Booker gets back up and tries for another Book End, but Benoit reverses it into a DDT. He flips Booker over and puts him back in the Crossface to earn his first point in the series.

My Rating: ****

Match 4: 2-on-1 Handicap Match - Bobby Lashley def. William Regal & Paul Burchill (3:30)

William Regal is a master of facial expressions. His face coming to the ring is comical here. Lashley begins using his power to have the advantage, but Regal slams his knee into the back of Lashley and Burchill follows that with a spear to the back. Regal and Burchill work over Lashley’s back to weaken him. Regal holds Lashley down on the mat, allowing Burchill to dive his knee into his back. But Lashley comes back, tosses both opponents around and hits Burchill with a Dominator to win the match.

My Rating: **

Match 5: Cruiserweight Championship Match - Kid Kash def. Juventud (c) (9:00)

Pretty nice solid match between these two which you can expect. Juventud starts out quick, throwing Kid Kash off with his quickness and dives on him from the inside. But Kash turns the match around after throwing Juvi into the ring post. Kash wears down Juvi for several minutes, until he tries for a moonsault from the top rope and Juvi gets his knees up. As the match goes on, it’s looking more and more like Juvi might retain. Het hits a leaping hurricanrana from the top rope and even hits a Fisherman buster for a close two count. Juvi goes for a 450, but misses and gets hit with a Dead Level Brainbuster from Kash and Kash is the new Cruiserweight Champion.

My Rating: ***

Match 6: World Tag Team Champions Kane & Big Show def. WWE Tag Team Champions Batista & Rey Mysterio (8:33)

Surprising outcome I have to say, considering this is a SmackDown PPV and Batista is their World Champion. It takes a little bit to get going, but once it gets going, it’s pretty decent. The match starts with Batista and Big Show, and Batista takes Big Show to the mat with a flying tackle. Big Show tags Kane in and Batista gets a suplex on him. Rey Mysterio gets tagged in and his kicks have no effect on Kane. Batista and Rey show great teamwork. Rey goes for 619 on Kane, but Kane moves outside and gets clotheslined by Batista. Rey sees Big Show try to get in, but kicks his knee out, which sends him to the floor. Rey tries the 619 again on Kane, but he gets tripped by Big Show. Rey gets beat on for a few minutes, but reverses a Chokeslam into a bulldog which allows him to tag in Batista. Batista spears Kane and attacks Big Show in the corner. One cool double team happens when Rey runs into Batista. Batista catches him and swings him into Big Show. Batista clotheslines Big Show over the ropes and tackles him over the announce table. Rey hits Kane with a 619 and goes for the West Coast Pop, but Kane catches him, throws him overhead. Rey lands on his feet but turns around into a Chokeslam from Kane.

My Rating: **3/4

Main Event: Hell in a Cell Match - The Undertaker def. Randy Orton (30:29)

Underrated Cell Match in my opinion. I really loved this. I only really have one criticism and that involves Bob Orton coming out holding Undertaker’s urn. This match was bloody and brutal and just a battle all the way through. Undertaker busts Orton open early in the match with 2 hard chairshots to the head and just proceeds to torture him. But Orton manages to give himself a chance after hitting an RKO on Taker on the top rope. Orton opens up Undertaker with the steel steps and now he’s in control. He chokes Undertaker with a steel chain and hits him in the head with the chair. Undertaker makes a brief comeback but after he misses an elbow drop from the ropes, Orton goes outside to grab a table. He sets it up in the ring and sends Undertaker to the outside with a kick. Bob Orton grabs Undertaker by the hair through a hole in the cage. Randy punches Taker repeatedly, but Undertaker boots Randy and grabs Bob by the arm. He pulls Bob into the cage repeatedly which cuts him open pretty badly which I thought did a good job of showing the brutality of the match. That not even non participants in the match are safe if they get involved. Undertaker hits Randy with a chokeslam, but Orton gets his foot on the bottom rope. Undertaker takes a run at Orton in the corner. Taker’s leg gets hung over the ropes and Orton uses the chain from earlier and hits Taker in the junk with it. He sets Undertaker onto the table and hits him with a splash through it. The referee gets knocked out of the ring after Orton dodges a punch and Taker hits him. Undertaker goes for another Chokeslam, but Orton reverses it into an RKO. They open up the door in order to help the original referee out while another one takes over. It also allows Bob Orton to get into the cage. After Undertaker kicks out of the RKO, he picks Randy up and drops him with the Last Ride. But on the count, Bob pulls the referee out and knocks him to the floor. Undertaker goes out to put the boots to Bob before going back in and picking Orton up for the Tombstone, but Orton reverses it and hits Taker with the Tombstone himself! After another referee gets in, Undertaker kicks out by sitting up. Taker grabs Orton by the throat, but Bob gets in with the urn, Undertaker boots him. Orton tries the RKO, but Taker shoves him off. Undertaker picks the urn up, hits both Ortons with it. He picks Bob up and hits the Tombstone and then picks Randy up to make the Legend Killer rest in peace. What a match! Extremely underrated in my opinion. This match doesn’t get enough attention. My one criticism is that they made it seem like the Ortons having the urn was going to make a difference for them. And it did fuck all. It made absolutely 0 difference. But that’s my only complaint. I can’t complain too much after such a great match.

My Rating: ****1/4

Cagematch Rating: 5.97

My Rating: 6.5/10

2 pretty great matches is enough to get this show an above average score. But the problem is that every other match is just very average. That coupled with a couple segments sprinkled in there that I thought were totally unnecessary (one of them having dragged on for way too long and was pretty tasteless) None of the matches were really that terrible, but a lot of them feel like filler compared to the 2 matches which got all the time for this show.

Next event is fittingly an event named after the Undertaker (but he doesn’t main event funnily enough) In Your House: Revenge of the Taker.

 

[Jarf]

In Your House 14: Revenge of the Taker

Match 1: WWF Tag Team Championship Match - The Legion of Doom def. Owen Hart & British Bulldog (c) via DQ (10:11)

Believe it or not, this match was going pretty well. It was well on its way to be a very good match. It's just that the overbooking killed it for me. LOD start out beating up Owen and Bulldog, but the champs take control and isolate Animal from his corner. But Animal eventually tags in Hawk who bulldozers the champs. But Owen gets sent out of the ring and it looked like LOD had this match in hand. Hawk tags Animal, and lifts Bulldog up in a stalling suplex and onto Animal's shoulder who was on the middle rope and Animal drops Bulldog in a powerslam from the second rope and pins him! LOD are your new Tag Team Champions… psych bitch. A second referee who apparently paying better attention than the one in the ring comes out to point out Owen was the legal man and Finkel announces the match will continue. Owen and Bulldog just wanna leave with their titles but Finkel announces they have until the count of 10 to get back to the ring or they'll lose their titles. Obviously, they run back in and looks like it's their match to win until Bulldog is sent outside and LOD hit Owen with the Doomsday Device and are about to take it… unfortunately the referee forgets what comes after 2 and it allows Bret Hart to make it down to stop the pin and cause the DQ… and this is gonna be a problem throughout the night.

My Rating: **3/4

Match 2: Intercontinental Championship Match - Savio Vega def. Rocky Maivia (c) via countout (8:33)

That's right baby! A night of non-finishes! Nothing's progressing tonight! We got your fucking money! This match is hindered by the fact that most of the time, they focus on Faarooq on commentary, but I doubt my rating would've changed very much if they worked. Its kinda crazy how The Rock would be an almost entirely different man at the end of '97. Most of the match, commentary just talks about Faarooq and Ahmed Johnson. They don't give a damn about this match. But why should they, don't do much. Savio wears down Rocky. Rocky makes an ever so brief comeback before he gets sent to the outside into Crush. With the referee's back turned. Crush gives Rocky a heart punch which gets Rocky counted out. Savio and Crush look like they're about to fight after the match, but Faarooq gets in and forces them to get along and then they gang up on Rocky and even whip him with a belt… How appropriate considering Rock's been doing that a lot lately. Ahmed runs down to save Rocky and accepts Faarooq's challenge for the Gauntlet Match at A Cold Day in Hell. So basically this whole match was an advertisement for that match.

My Rating: *1/2

After this match, Stone Cold is jumped by Owen and Bulldog in the bathroom. Why is it always the bathroom where Austin's getting jumped?

Match 3: Jesse James def. Rockabilly (6:46)

What's hilarious about this is that this is Billy Gunn's first match as Honky Tonk Man's protégé, Rockabilly. And he loses. This match between the 2 future New Age Outlaws sucks. Just straight up bad… like, I'd rather watch paint dry kinda bad. It's the shortest match on the card but feels longer than the first 2 matches. And you mean to tell me this show is almost a 6 on Cagematch? Sheesh. This whole match is just Billy wearing Jesse down and dancing. It's just so boring. Jesse wins with a small package… good for him. Let's move on please.

My Rating: 1/2*

Then after the match, we get a backstage segment with Stone Cold, Gorilla Monsoon and Kevin Kelly. Austin says nothing is gonna stop him from fighting Bret Hart. Monsoon says that in order to give Austin time to recover before his match, he's flipping the lineup of the final 2 matches. Undertaker and Mankind will be next while Austin and Bret will main event. Poor Undertaker. The shows named after him and he doesn’t even get to close it lol.

Match 4: WWF Championship Match - The Undertaker (c) def. Mankind (17:26)

In the build up to this match, Mankind burns Undertaker's face, so he comes out with a bandage over his right eye. This is just a fight between 2 men who hate each other. Undertaker doesn't bother with the whole lighting up the arena bit, just gets in and the fight is on. I think this match would've been better if it were no DQ. Halfway through the match, Mankind hits Undertaker with a glass pitcher and a steel chair and doesn't get DQ'd for it. Undertaker's eye gets exposed and it's got a gross burned scar across it. Undertaker hits a Chokeslam which Mankind kicks out. And towards the end, Undertaker starts to take his revenge. After the referee gets bumped, Paul Bearer slides a chair into the ring, but Mankind wants the steps. So he brings them in and Undertaker throws a dropkick into the steps back into Mankind's face. Undertaker picks up the steel chair and hits Mankind with it. Mankind's head gets caught in the top 2 ropes and his mask comes off as he's getting out. He stands back up on the apron and Undertaker slams those steps into Mankind's face and Mick crashes head first through the announce table. And I mean his whole upper body through the table with his lower half still out, as if he was putting his head into the ground! That was an awesome spot! But I know that had to suck. Taker brings Mankind back in the ring and hits a Tombstone to win the match. A borderline 4 star match but a great one nonetheless! And then after the match, Undertaker brings Paul into the ring. Mankind pulls out a lighter and tries to burn Taker again. But Taker gets it from Mick and burns Paul's face as payback. The show isn't called "Revenge of the Taker" for nothing.

My Rating: ****

Main Event: WWF Championship #1 Contenders Match - Steve Austin def. Bret Hart via DQ (21:09)

A great match to end the show despite yet another annoying non-finish. The forgotten match in the Bret/Austin trilogy. The fight starts immediately as Austin is getting in the ring and they brawl to the outside with Austin having the upper hand. But the match turns in Bret's favor once the referee goes down and Bret uses a chair on Austin's knee. Bret just abuses Austin’s knee during this match, putting him in a figure 4 around the ring post and removes his metal knee brace. Austin makes a few comebacks here and there but Bret puts Austin’s knee through agony here. Austin sells it perfectly too. Halfway into the match, he tries to piledrive Bret, but his knee gives out. Coming down to the wire, Bret puts Austin on the top rope and superplexes him, and Austin’s knee even lands on his own knee brace. Bret looks to finish it with the Sharpshooter, but Austin hits Bret with the brace and puts Bret in the Sharpshooter himself, trying to make him submit to his own hold! Owen and Bulldog run down. Monsoon and a bunch of referees try to hold them back, but Bulldog gets in and hits Austin in the back with a chair which now makes Hebner call for the bell and award the match to Austin via DQ… Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! They push Owen and Bulldog back while Bret hangs back and tries to cause more damage to Austin with the ring bell, but Austin takes the chair Bulldog brought in and uses it against Bret’s knee. Austin damages Bret’s knee and puts him back in the Sharpshooter, eventually he’s forced to let go and Owen and Bulldog help Bret to the back… Great match, but… ya couldn’t just let Austin get a clean win here? Like holy hell.

My Rating: ****

Cagematch Rating: 5.99

My Rating: 4.5/10

The last 2 matches were so good and saves the show from getting a much lower rating, but this show… is still a pile of shit. Every match hit a different wrestling pet peeve of mine. Yes, even those last 2 matches. 5 matches on the card and 3 of them have a non-finish, including the main event. That’s so fucking lazy. Makes this show feel absolutely pointless. The only match that went off without a hitch was the WWF Title Match. Doesn’t deserve to be nearly as high as most of the shows I’ve watched.

Now this next show, I didn’t watch myself, but I got the gist of how the main event ended and just couldn’t help but think “what the fuck are they doing?” Extreme Rules 2021.

But that will have to wait a couple days because it’s WRESTLEMANIA WEEKEND BABY!!!!

 

[Skyefire]

IYH: Revenge of the 'Taker was the third consecutive PPV in which Owen & Bulldog defended their belts in a match that ended in a DQ or countout (Final Four: Owen & Bulldog lost to Funas & LaFon by DQ, WrestleMania: Owen & Bulldog fought Vader & Mankind to a double countout). Owen & Bulldog would only have one other PPV tag title match in 97 and that was at Ground Zero in which they lost in a 4-Way match for the vacant titles so they didn't win a PPV tag title match in all of 1997.

 

[Jarf]

IYH: Revenge of the 'Taker was the third consecutive PPV in which Owen & Bulldog defended their belts in a match that ended in a DQ or countout (Final Four: Owen & Bulldog lost to Funas & LaFon by DQ, WrestleMania: Owen & Bulldog fought Vader & Mankind to a double countout). Owen & Bulldog would only have one other PPV tag title match in 97 and that was at Ground Zero in which they lost in a 4-Way match for the vacant titles so they didn't win a PPV tag title match in all of 1997.

Mother of God. Why?

 

[Jarf]

So I decided I'm gonna do something slightly different from now on. And that's have match graphics up for each match I review. Or if the match doesn't have a graphic, I'll just throw in a random piece from the match.

 

[Chris]

So I decided I'm gonna do something slightly different from now on. And that's have match graphics up for each match I review. Or if the match doesn't have a graphic, I'll just throw in a random piece from the match.

Love it, something I was always too lazy to do for my own reviews lol

 

[Jarf]

Love it, something I was always too lazy to do for my own reviews lol

I'm in the process of adding them to my previous reviews lol

 

[Jarf]

Extreme Rules 2021

So… What was so extreme about this show? Aside from extremely dumb.

Match 1: The New Day def. Bobby Lashley, AJ Styles & Omos (18:13)

Watching this after hearing the news Big E. will probably never wrestle again is depressing… He was riding high after becoming the WWE Champion. But why was this a 6-Man instead of a Title Match? They announce Big E. vs Lashley for the title the next night on Raw during this show. It’s like they use the PPV to build up to the weekly show instead of the other way around. Match starts with AJ and Xavier. AJ puts Xavier in the Calf Crusher. Kofi comes in and AJ takes his leg out and says he’s gonna take Big E’s leg out. E gets in and bulldozes AJ. Lashley gets in and he gets a unicorn stampede. But soon Lashley takes control and they start isolating Kofi from his corner. Omos gets tagged in once during this whole match by the way. AJ and Lashley do literally all the work. After Lashley pulls E off the apron and slams him into the steps, Xavier gets the hot tag and he briefly starts a comeback but it gets snuffed out by Lashley with a running powerslam. After a missile dropkick, Xavier gets the tag to Big E. who gets back on the apron. Chaos ensues in the finish. Lashley and AJ are outside, Kofi takes a run and E throws him over his head, but Kofi just falls into a slap to the chest from Omos. AJ takes Xavier out with an elbow, and Lashley sneaks back in from behind Big E, hits a facebuster and sets up for the Spear. But AJ tags himself in and says let me finish it. But as he springboards, Lashley tags himself back in. AJ misses the forearm, Lashley tries to Spear E, but ends up spearing Styles instead. E hits the Big Ending to win this 6-man with no stakes. Good opener.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 2: SmackDown Tag Team Championship Match - The Usos (c) def. The Street Profits (13:45)

Very good match that could’ve been match of the night. This was very enjoyable and I love smart wrestling, and this match had plenty of it. Montez comes into this match with taped ribs so you know The Usos are gonna go after that. They isolate Montez from Dawkins, but after Jey misses a stinger splash in the corner, Dawkins gets the tag and briefly turns it around for the Profits. Dawkins picks Jey up in electric chair position and Montez tells him to suck it before hitting a blockbuster from the top. Jey doesn’t see Montez tag himself in, and so as he runs to Dawkins in the corner, he gets kicked in the face by Montez, gets a spinebuster from Dawkins and Montez goes for a splash, but Jey gets his knees up and nearly has the match won there. Montez hits that sweet dive over the corner and onto both Usos. He tosses Jey back in the ring and now hits the splash for a close 2 count, but its saved by Jimmy. Usos go for a double superkick to Montez, but Dawkins pushes his partner out of the way and takes it himself. But it was all in vain as Usos hit Montez with the double superkick and then a double splash to retain their titles.

My Rating: ***3/4

Match 3: Raw Women’s Championship Match - Charlotte Flair (c) def. Alexa Bliss (11:26)

Worst match on the card, but it’s honestly better than I expected. As you can expect, Charlotte dominates most of the match. And listen, I like Alexa Bliss, so it pains me to say this… but this match really did her no favors because it didn’t look like she could keep up with Charlotte. However, there is one sweet counter from Alexa. Charlotte has her in a Gory Special, but Alexa sits up onto her shoulders and hurricanranas Charlotte into the bottom turnbuckle. Charlotte tries to hit a moonsault, but Alexa dodges, but Charlotte lands on her feet and hits a standing one instead. But despite all that, they really make you think Alexa might beat her a couple times. Charlotte attempts another moonsault, Alexa gets her knees up and hits a yoshi-tonic for a 2. But Charlotte finishes her off with Natural Selection. And after the match, Charlotte takes that lily doll and rips it to shreds. Alexa attacks her after the match, but Charlotte tosses her over the announce table. Alexa emerges after Charlotte leaves and mourns Lily the same way I was mourning over NXT at the time.

My Rating: ***

Match 4: United States Championship Triple Threat Match - Damian Priest (c) def. Sheamus & Jeff Hardy (13:20)

I wasn’t as impressed with this match as a lot of people might have been. It’s kinda botchy, not gonna lie. Ironically, Sheamus and Jeff were the best parts of this match. Jeff was really over and the crowd was behind him. Sheamus starts the match with a knee to Jeff’s face. Taking him out and leaving just him and Priest in the ring. Sheamus is without a doubt the best part of this match, he really carries this match. But Jeff is no slouch because he hits a Whisper in the Wind on both men. Sheamus hits an Alabama Slam on Jeff, but loses his phantom of the opera mask in the process. Jeff hits Sheamus with a Stunner of Fate. Damian comes back in and tries to hit a Reckoning, but Jeff reverses it… kind of… and hits a Twist of Fate to Priest. He goes up for a Swanton Bomb, but Sheamus pushes him off and goes up himself. He waves his arms like Jeff before coming off the top rope with a kneedrop to Priest. Priest hits Sheamus with a chokeslam from the top rope to middle of the ring and covers him and Hardy impressively leaps into the middle of the ring with a Swanton to both men! And while I didn’t enjoy this whole match, I’ll give them this. It had a pretty hot finish. Priest and Jeff go at it for a bit. Priest attempts a disaster kick off the second rope, Sheamus pushes Jeff out of the way and knees Priest in the face as he comes off. Sheamus hits Jeff with a Brogue Kick, but he gets rolled up by Priest and the champ retains.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 5: SmackDown Women’s Championship Match - Becky Lynch (c) vs. Bianca Belair ended in a no contest (17:27)

A match that gets overlooked. I thought this was a great match. Not as good as their Mania match, but you can see something was there. I still think they did Bianca dirty because they just made her look like a whiny crybaby during the build up to this match but the match itself at least delivered despite the dumb way this match ended. Bianca starts the match immediately going for the KOD, but Becky escapes. Bianca thwarts Becky at every turn at first, but Becky takes control soon enough. Becky puts her in a sleeper and is on her back, but Bianca switches Becky so she's in front and counters it into a suplex. Bianca presses Becky above her head, but Becky slides down the other side and crucifixes Bianca and transitions it into a Dis-Arm-Her! Bianca manages to escape though. Bianca tries for a suplex, but Becky reverses it, looking like she's trying for a small package but transitions it into an armbar which Bianca tries so hard to stop from being applied. Bianca powers Becky up and hits a powerbomb for a 2 count. Becky gets Bianca down into a Dis-Arm-Her again, but Bianca powers her up into position for a KOD. But Sasha Banks would come out and cause the bell to ring. She attacks Bianca and then attacks Becky. Lame finish to a great match.

My Rating: ****

Main Event: Universal Championship Extreme Rules Match - Roman Reigns (c) def. Finn Balor (19:41)

This match was going so well. It was so good… And it’s such a shame it gets ruined by the dumbass finish. Finn pulls out 3 kendo sticks cartoonishly taped together and uses them on Roman. I also find it funny that Roman put on a mask to go into the crowd to brawl with Finn, I thought that was good. They end up at the kickoff desk and Finn hits a crossbody off it through a table. Finn gives the crowd what Roman denied them earlier. Tables. He sets it up in the ring, but Roman ends up putting him through it himself. Finn kicks out after that and these two escalate it into trading shots. Roman hits the superman punch and then a Spear. But Finn low blows Roman on the kick out, which is karma because Roman did it to him in their match weeks earlier, (I honestly wouldn’t have known that if Michael Cole didn’t mention it). He kicks Roman out of the ring, dives over the ropes on him and throws him back in to hit the Coup de Grace! Finn covers Roman, but the Usos pull him out and hit him with a double superkick. They pull out another table and try to put Finn through it. But Balor escapes, takes both Usos out, even hits a powerbomb on Jey through the announce table. But Balor ends up getting speared through the barricade. Everyone is down… And here’s where the match starts getting dumb. The lights start to flash red… and Finn… Flops like a fish on land for some reason? The lights go completely red and Finn gets back up like nothing happened… That I can handle. It’s dumb but its an enjoyable kind of dumb. I can handle that. Finn grabs a chair and wails Roman with it, before dropkicking Roman through the table. He tosses Roman back in the ring and sets up the Coup de Grace… and takes his sweet ass time hitting it… Then, the top rope breaks, the lights stop being red… Finn is on the mat and Roman spears him to retain…. What? Then Roman looks up at the ceiling as if thanking someone… so you’re telling me that God broke the top turnbuckle? Is God an honorary member of the Bloodline? Where was he at WrestleMania 40 then? Wow… what a truly shitty time it was.

My Rating: ****

Cagematch Rating: 5.99

My Rating: 7/10

I honestly wish I could give this a lower rating just for the lazy way this show is booked. But I can’t deny that it was good. When the worst match is 3 stars, that’s a win in my book. However… What was extreme about this show? Legitimately, the only match with a No DQ stipulation was Roman vs Finn. I thought this was the show where every match was supposed to have an extreme stipulation? I guess I was wrong. The funniest part is that the opening package ends with Becky Lynch saying “tonight, anything goes.” How funny, considering her match is the only one that ended via interference. Most shows with the match quality that this show has would normally get a much higher rating from me. But the booking is dumb as shit. And maybe I’m a little biased, but this show also came at a time when I was completely fed up with this company. They released Bray Wyatt a month before and Vince had taken over NXT and gave it a cartoony reboot that I knew would suck. I was over it. And I just stopped watching. And I said that as long as Vince is in charge, I would not be watching… Little did I know, that day would come quicker than I expected.

So this is awkward… in the time since my last review and this one, Armageddon 2003 fell down the list… like hard fall actually. A few notches down actually. So I’ll be reviewing that show next.

 

[Jarf]

Armageddon 2003

Match 1: Booker T def. Mark Henry (9:12)

Not exactly a hot opener but I wouldn’t say it was bad. Booker did an excellent job of fighting from down under in this match. He gets a couple good shots on Henry early and tries this Scissors Kick, but Teddy Long gets on the apron to distract him which allows Henry to take control and just… lay on Booker for ages. But the way Booker sells Henry’s offense makes Henry look very powerful. But Booker eventually starts to make a comeback and hits Henry with the Scissors Kick, but Henry kicks out of it. Henry hits Booker with a super sketchy powerbomb that could’ve turned into a Brock/Bob Holly situation! Booker hits another Scissors Kick to beat Henry.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 2: Intercontinental Championship Match with Mick Foley as Special Referee - Randy Orton def. Rob Van Dam (c) (18:02)

Very good match. This is one of those few times when focusing on the referee actually helps the match. Mick doesn’t do a whole lot but what he does do is great. RVD has Orton on the ropes early. Orton can’t seem to get the gears going, until he shoves RVD off the top rope. Van Dam’s face hits the barricade and Orton starts to wear him down. Orton chokes RVD on the middle rope. Foley sees Flair coming and gets out to tell him to back off. The middle kind of drags a bit because Orton just lays on RVD. Van Dam tries to get a comeback going a couple times, but Orton snuffs it out. RVD does get that comeback rolling with a spinning heel kick to Orton’s throat. RVD just gets all his shit in, aside from the Five Star. But Orton hits the draping DDT before it was ever one of his signature moves. RVD takes Orton down with another spinning kick and gets on the top rope. Flair tries to interfere with brass knuckles, but Foley stops him, but the distraction buys Orton enough time to dropkick RVD off the ropes and hit an RKO to win the IC Title.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 3: Christian & Chris Jericho def. Lita & Trish Stratus (6:42)

A bit of an awkward watch because you do have 2 men beating up 2 women… but I have to give everyone in this match credit for making it work. They did they’re absolute best to work an actual match. It also has a bit of a story going into it with Jericho falling for Trish and not wanting to hurt her… Although he’s perfectly fine with hurting Lita I guess. But Lita and Trish get way more offense in than I was expecting. Christian takes more shots than Jericho does as he’s all in on this match and even gets low blowed by Lita when the referee’s back is turned. Lita tags in Trish and she ends up hitting Christian with a Chick Kick. Christian tries to toy with Trish, but Lita hits him with a Hurricanrana. Jericho pulls Lita out and throws her into the barricade, and its a miracle she didn’t snap her neck because jesus christ, the way she hits it is nasty. Christian ends up winning the match with a rollup which is… preferable to another way I guess. The angle is a bit awkward. But it wouldn’t be fair to these 4 who put on a solid match to give a low rating.

My Rating: ***

Match 4: Shawn Michaels def. Batista (12:20)

Me personally, I liked this match better than the match between RVD and Orton. I thought this was really good. What we have here is a masterclass in elevating someone in defeat. Shawn really helped make Batista look like a beast! Now Shawn starts off using his speed to frustrate Batista and it looks like its working. But after Flair gets in Batista’s ear, Batista starts to wrestle a smarter match. He just dominates Shawn and goes after his back which put Shawn out of action for 4 years. At some point, Shawn tries to do his 2K comeback, but Batista gets right back up as Shawn kip ups and knocks him right back down. Shawn eventually does start to get his comeback going. Shawn tunes up the band, but Batista hits him with a Spinebuster out of it. He hits another one and picks Shawn back up. He picks him up for the Batista Bomb, but Shawn slides off his shoulders on his feet and hits a Superkick before falling on Batista to win the match. Shawn won the match but it looks more like he survived.

My Rating: ***1/2

After Flair lets Batista know he lost the match, Batista throws a tantrum in the ring and refuses to leave. But Maven comes out because he’s supposed to wrestle Matt Hardy next. Matt comes out and fights with Maven outside before tossing him into the ring. Batista beats the fuck out of Maven and there’s no match. Oh nooooo. I was really looking forward to that match. Oh well.

Match 5: World Tag Team Championship Tag Team Turmoil Match - Batista & Ric Flair won by last eliminating The Dudley Boyz (c) (21:24)

What a drag this match was to watch. Now I’ll admit, the match does get better as the Dudleys get in, but only slightly. The match starts with Rosey and The Hurricane against La Resistance. It’s a standard tag match, Hurricane hot tags Rosey and La Resistance gets eliminated after a splash from Hurricane off Rosey’s shoulders while he was on the middle rope. That was kinda neat I’ll admit. Jindrak and Cade are next and jump Hurricane and Rosey from behind. They throw Rosey out and roll up Hurricane in seconds. Then next is the team of Val Venis (fuck sake) and Lance Storm. This portion isn’t so bad but it’s uninteresting. Storm and Venis get their shit in before they’re eliminated. Now the Dudleys come in to a huge pop and fight with Jindrak and Cade for a few minutes. The younger team gives the Dudleys a run for their money, but in the end, it’s the 3D that wins them this round. But Cade attacks both men before he takes his fallen comrade and leaves. Then the “last team” is Scott Steiner and Test, who I guess mutually decided they didn’t want Stacy and just wanted to be bros. This is probably the longest round in the Turmoil Bubba gets weakened on the outside by Steiner after he tosses his shoulder into the ring post a few times. They wear down Bubba until Bubba is able to make the tag to D-Von. D-Von makes a small comeback, but they snuff it out, but Test accidentally big boots Steiner in the process. Test goes outside to grab on the titles and a chair. He throws the title in the ring to distract the ref while he hits D-Von in the back with the chair. The match is saved by Bubba, who hits a Bubba Bomb on Test which allows D-Von to drape an arm over him and retain their titles… or so they think. Eric Bischoff comes out and announces that the real last team will be Batista and Ric Flair. While Flair puts Bubba in the Figure 4, Batista hits D-Von with a powerbomb and wins the Turmoil.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 6: Women’s Championship Match - Molly Holly (c) def. Ivory (4:15)

Really not a lot to say here. Just a quick filler match really. It feels kinda out of place and it’s kinda messy honestly because they only got 4 minutes. This match had one spot and that was one Molly takes the pad off the top turnbuckle. She tries to throw Ivory into it, but Ivory throws her instead and rolls her up… maybe. If that’s what you can call that, but Molly reverses it… Oof is the way I would describe that finish.

My Rating: 1/2*

Main Event: World Heavyweight Championship Triple Threat Match - Triple H def. Goldberg (c) & Kane (19:30)

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this match so I can’t exactly say I’m disappointed. I was pretty unimpressed with this match. I didn’t like how most of the match is Kane and Triple H working together against Goldberg. It’s so boring. Also, doesn’t Kane hate Triple H at this point? Like… as much as I hate to reference it, Katie Vick? Kane had to take off his mask because he lost to Triple H. Now Goldberg gets quite a bit of offense during this time, but a good portion of this match is Kane and HHH double teaming him. Until Kane clotheslines HHH over the top rope. Kane goes to chokeslam Goldberg, but Triple H comes back in with a chair and nails Kane in the head with it. Goldberg beats up HHH until Kane recovers and pulls Goldberg out of the ring. Goldberg goes to suplex Kane through the spanish announce table, but HHH hits Goldberg in the ribs with the chair and Kane chokeslams Goldberg on, not through the table. But HHH finishes the job with an elbow through the table. HHH picks up the chair, Kane sees it and is like “what are you doing with that?” HHH begs Kane off and because Kane is an idiot, he turns his back on HHH, who immediately throws him into the steel steps. HHH goes for a Pedigree on the floor, but Kane backdrops him. As they fight, they end up on the ramp, where Kane Chokeslams HHH. Kane drags HHH back to the ring, where Goldberg comes back in and Spears Kane. They try to double team Goldberg again, but he gives them a double clothesline and each of them a Spear. Evolution eventually run down. Goldberg knocks Orton and Flair out and gets into a choke off with Kane (hehe). HHH low blows Goldberg and Kane chokeslams him. But here comes Batista, who pulls Kane out and holds him back while HHH covers Goldberg and continues the reign of terror much to the chagrin of everyone who paid for this show I’m sure. To close out the night, Evolution pose with their titles because now, they have all the gold.

My Rating: **1/4

Cagematch Rating: 5.95

My Rating: 5/10

The first half of this show was pretty decent. The opener felt more like a Raw match than a PPV match, but then the next 3 matches were actually worth a watch. But that’s just a snippet of this show. Once that Tag Team Turmoil starts, you can feel the show start to drag. And drag hard. And that main event really underdelivered. Not a terrible show, but it isn’t good either.

This next show is a divisive one for me. There was some things on this show I loved and other things on it that I hated. WrestleMania 34.