Reviewing every WWE PPV in order from worst to best

[Jarf]

Night of Champions 2009

Match 1: Unified Tag Team Championship Match - Chris Jericho & Big Show (c) def. Legacy (9:35)

This match is okay, but I thought it was a weird choice for them to start the night with heels vs heels. And it’s especially weird when you have Chris Jericho cutting a promo on Edge (who was injured before this show), calling him selfish for getting injured and just being a douche. But then you have Cody and Ted play the heels who isolate their opponents. Jericho announces Big Show as his partner and that kinda throws a wrench in Legacy’s plans. Big Show as a partner immediately starts to pay off for Jericho, but then he gets in there and he ends up filling the shoes of the babyface who has to reach his partner. Cody and Ted keep Jericho away from Big Show for a while. Jericho eventually reaches him and it doesn’t take much effort for Big Show to completely turn the tide for his team. Jericho gets a codebreaker in on Ted behind the referee’s back and Big Show puts Ted in the colossal clutch (camel clutch but without hooking the arms). Ted taps out and champs retain.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 2: ECW Championship Match - Christian def. Tommy Dreamer (c) (8:35)

This show was in Philadelphia. So I must say, I was surprised by the dead reaction that Dreamer got. But anyway, I’d put this match in the same realm as the last one. It was alright. I’d say it’s more competitive, but not special. They’re pretty even throughout the match. But I don’t think there was really anything that stood out from this match. Dreamer goes for a backdrop, and Christian flips back on his feet, hits the Killswitch and retains his title.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 3: United States Championship 6-Pack Challenge - Kofi Kingston (c) def. MVP, The Miz, Jack Swagger, Carlito & Primo (6:40)

Here we go. For the short amount of time this match got, it was pretty enjoyable. This is exactly how I would expect a match like this to go. Fast paced and frantic with everyone trying to get the first fall. And there was an added story touch with Carlito and Primo, as Carlito had turned heel and betrayed his brother. The action doesn’t stop once during this match. Fast paced the whole way through. There’s a few notable spots in here with Kofi hurricanranaing Primo into a Gutwrench from Swagger. Carlito springboards onto MVP on the outside. Kofi, Carlito and Primo have a standoff with each trying to get a pin. Swagger goes ham on everyone. Carlito tricks his brother into helping him, only to give him the Backstabber. Then Kofi comes in from behind and drops Carlito with a Trouble in Paradise to retain the US Title. For such a short match, they did a lot here and I love it.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: Women's Championship Match - Michelle McCool (c) def. Melina (6:15)

Oh here we go. Typical women’s match in the 2000s right? Wrong! This match was actually pretty decent all things considered. Like, I was surprised by the quality of this. Of course it isn’t a classic but for a pre-2015 women’s match, this was pretty good. Michelle kicks Melina off the apron as she does the split, just getting the match started that way. And pretty early in, they wind up outside with Melina standing on the barricade, she brings Michelle up. And what happens here. Well Michelle drops Melina on the barricade with a DDT of course… Wait huh? Different for a women’s match. Melina is almost counted out, but gets back on the apron. Michelle goes to dropkick her back to the floor but Melina pulls her body up and Michelle falls under her to the floor. Then Melina comes off the apron and takes Michelle face first to the floor. This is a pretty smooth match, I was pleasantly surprised. Now I’m wondering if Melina has another run in her. Melina turns up the aggression until the end where Michelle reverses a roll through and stacks Melina up, pretty much laying on her to get the win.

My Rating: ***

Match 5: WWE Championship Triple Threat Match - Randy Orton (c) def. John Cena & Triple H (22:50)

Good match, but not “one of the greatest matches of all time” like John Cena told us this would be in the build up. (Yes, he actually said that) Now admittedly, this match is pretty mid at first. I thought it was pretty funny that Cena and HHH double teamed Orton at first though. I’d say the first time HHH and Cena are left alone in the ring is when this match started to pick up. They go at it for a few minutes until HHH gives Cena the Pedigree. The match is saved by Orton, who takes HHH outside and takes apart the announce table. He goes to RKO HHH on the table, but HHH gives him a low blow. Cena runs over and tosses Orton from the table to the crowd. And then Cena gets on the table and reverses a Pedigree into an STF on the table. Which… okay, why? Then it’s broken up by Orton and he takes Cena back in the ring. So no table spot? Man, thats bogus. Orton goes for the RKO, but Cena throws him away. HHH comes back in, but gets put back in the STF. Orton sees this, and he makes the face. The meme face. Orton goes to punt kick Cena, but Cena dodges it. Coming down to the wire, HHH tosses Cena out of the ring and gets Orton in the Sharpshooter, which I didn’t see coming. And Cena comes in and puts Orton in the Crossface. So Orton taps out to both submissions and the referee is like “Uhhhh, what do I do?” But Orton is saved by Rhodes and DiBiase. DiBiase takes HHH outside while Rhodes takes out Cena and tries to help Orton back up. Cena picks Cody up in an AA position, but Orton recovers and drops Cena with an RKO to retain. So, not the classic Cena promised but we did at least get this from it.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 6: Divas Championship Match - Mickie James def. Maryse (c) (8:35)

Now we’re on, what’s really the only bad match on the show. Just… so dull, thats basically it’s only problem. Because its not bad wrestling wise, its just a bad crowd and nothing interesting. Maryse tried to use hairspray to spray it in Mickie’s eyes. But Mickie kicks out it and tries to use it herself. She should be thanking the referee for taking it from her because he definitely would’ve and should’ve DQ’d her for it. Someone in the crowd started chanting “boring”. And he was right. It was. Maryse goes for the French Kiss, and Mickie reverses it into a leaping DDT to win the Divas Title.

My Rating: *1/4

Match 7: Intercontinental Championship Match - Rey Mysterio (c) def. Dolph Ziggler (14:20)

Man, this match deserved better than the audience of crickets that it had. Now to be fair, the constant rest holds does kill its momentum quite a bit. But they really were making it seem like Dolph had Rey’s number. So while Dolph showed he was still green, I think he also showed he was good. Dolph has Rey scouted at every turn it seems like. He starts the match with a dropkick that seemed to catch Rey off guard. Of course, it wouldn’t be very competitive if Rey didn’t get his shots in as well. And Rey, being the veteran, outsmarts Dolph a few times in this match, but for the most part, this is Dolph’s match. Rey comes off the top rope and Dolph catches him with a nice dropkick. Dolph runs at Rey in the corner and Rey sidesteps and kicks Dolph’s leg out, which has Dolph do this weird flop into the corner and nearly land on his head. Rey goes for something off the top rope, but Dolph picks him up and comes off the ropes, dropping Rey’s gut right over his knee. Rey finally manages to score the win after an enziguri that makes Dolph land in position for the 619. Rey follows it with a splash to retain after a show stealing match.

My Rating: ***3/4

Main Event: World Heavyweight Championship Match - Jeff Hardy def. CM Punk (c) (15:00)

I still can’t believe this ended the show over the Triple Threat. Not that I hate it, but just think about it for a second. In 2009, CM Punk and Jeff Hardy were main eventing a PPV on a card that had Orton vs Cena vs HHH on it. Just goes to show how popular Jeff Hardy really was at the time. God, think of how much better his run could’ve been if he just kept off the drugs. Now, the match isn’t anything that great, but I thought it told a satisfying story. CM Punk was slowly morphing into the straight edge asshat. Early in the match, they each have a crash and burn moment where CM Punk goes for a suicide dive, misses. Jeff comes off the top rope and misses Punk, hits the barricade, ribs first. Punk wears Hardy down, but soon Hardy starts to make a comeback and now we have a match. Hardy makes 2 attempts at Swanton, both of them fail, the second one being worse because Hardy actually lands on Punk’s knees. Punk goes for a springboard, but Hardy dodges, tries for the Twist of Fate, but Punk gets out of that and hits Jeff with the GTS. Punk covers Hardy, 1, 2, kickout! After that, Punk makes the mistake of going out to grab his title, and tries to leave. Why? He was still in control. Well in any case, it ends up costing him because Jeff doesn’t let him leave and brings him back to the ring. He beats on Punk in the corner, and the referee has to get between them. Punk comes out, only to get hit with a Twist of Fate. Jeff goes back up, hits Punk with the Swanton and we have a new champion. Which, sends the fans home happy and ends the show on a high note.

My Rating: ***1/2

Cagematch Rating: 6.30

My Rating: 7.5/10

A bit of an underrated show. (Especially by this crowd, they stunk) Yeah, I know, this show didn’t have any match of the year candidates on it, but it was at least, for the most part consistent. The night started off slow, but a couple solid shorties in there, with 3 matches that delivered in their own ways, I’d say this show was a good one.

 

[Chris]

I have no recollection of that Mania rematch triple threat happening and I mostly remember this show, crazy

 

[Jarf]

I have no recollection of that Mania rematch triple threat happening and I mostly remember this show, crazy

Well now you really have something to remember. Is it bad that I popped for this? Lmao

 

[Skyefire]

I used to own the Best PPV Matches 2009-2010 DVD which included the US title match and I knew nothing about the match prior to watching that DVD and I was blown away by it.

 

[Jarf]

I used to own the Best PPV Matches 2009-2010 DVD which included the US title match and I knew nothing about the match prior to watching that DVD and I was blown away by it.

Hey I had that one too

 

[Jarf]

The Great American Bash 2008

I didn't realize it until midway through. But this is a historic PPV for the fact that it was the last PPV they before going PG.

Match 1: WWE Tag Team Championship Fatal 4-Way Match - Curt Hawkins & Zack Ryder def. The Miz & John Morrison (c), Jesse & Festus, Finlay & Hornswoggle (9:06)

Starting the show off lackluster. I wasn’t big on this match. It's okay but it follows the regular tag team formula of "keep this guy grounded. Don't let him tag." And it will never not bother me that most of these matches don't have 1 member from each team in the ring. What's the point of it being a 4-way at that point? Early in the match, Miz and Morrison get Finlay down and begin wearing him down. Morrison gets too close Hawkins and Ryder's corner after he and Finlay butt heads. For a few minutes, Ryder and Hawkins ground Finlay. Finlay eventually tags in Hornswoggle, who hits a hurricanrana on Hawkins. Jesse tags himself in (I can never see him without thinking "Fuck Dr. Death"). Festus gets tag in, he takes out most of the competition and it looks like the rednecks who love biscuits and gravy are gonna take it. But Ryder pulls Festus out of the ring, Hawkins yanks Jesse off the top rope and covers him to win the Tag Team Titles.

My Rating: **1/4

Match 2: United States Championship Match - Shelton Benjamin def. Matt Hardy (c) (9:40)

A solid match here. Watching this match, Shelton had Matt scouted at nearly every turn. Shelton tosses Matt into the ring post from the apron and from there, Shelton begins wearing Matt down. And cuts him off at every pass. But it wouldn't be a very good match if it was a squash so Matt eventually does start making the comeback and the match actually starts to get good in the closing few minutes of the match. Matt Hardy misses a moonsault where Shelton had to get his knee up, right in the face of Hardy. Shelton drops Matt with the Pay Dirt and breaks the 23 year streak of US Champions retaining at the Bash. (Cause they mentioned that before the match).

My Rating: ***

Match 3: ECW Championship Match - Mark Henry (c) def. Tommy Dreamer (5:30)

All I can say is thank God this match didn't go any longer than it did. Even for a short match like this, this sucked. ECW sure had it rough. I don't know if any of you remember Colin Delaney, doubt it. But he came to the ring with Dreamer. He was just a jobber. He lost pretty much every match he had. Henry dominates the first few minutes, doing his best to put me to sleep. Dreamer makes a brief comeback, drops Mark with a DDT. Delaney gets on the apron as Dreamer climbs the middle rope. As Dreamer comes off, Delaney grabs Tommy's arm and hangs him on the top rope behind the referee’s back. Henry hits the World's Strongest Slam and wins the match.

My Rating: *

Match 4: Chris Jericho def. Shawn Michaels via referee’s decision (18:20)

Now for the highlight of this evening. This match may be one of the most underrated matches of all time. This was insanely good! Which, it's Y2J and HBK, of course it was gonna be good. But just how brutal this got towards the end makes it. Before we get to that point, Jericho and Shawn also have just another great wrestling match. Jericho hurts Shawn's ribs pretty much at the start, in just the first minute, Jericho has already created a weakness in Shawn and goes after it. The first bulk of the match is mainly Jericho targeting Shawn's back and ribs. But soon enough Shawn starts hitting his 2K comeback and tunes up the band. But Lance Cade, Jericho's heavy at the time, comes down and Shawn makes quick work of him. Jericho takes a run at Shawn who, counters and launches Jericho onto Cade outside. But Shawn catches an elbow right in the eye from Jericho. That's the other story going into this match, is how good is Shawn's eye. And after Shawn catches this elbow, Shawn starts GUSHING blood above his eye. Jericho sees this and goes right on the attack. He mercilessly attacks Shawn's eye. Shawn tries to get a sneaky victory with a crossface, but Jericho escapes and goes back to attacking Shawn's eye. The referee pretty much pleads with Michaels to let him stop the match. It gets to the point where Jericho wraps one of Shawn's arms around his head and traps his other arm between his legs. So now Shawn can't even get his hands up to defend himself as Jericho punches and elbows Shawn's eye. And finally the referee steps in and lays on Jericho, pushing him off of Shawn and calls for the bell. Chris is announced as the winner as Shawn is left laying on the mat, blood still pooling from his head. Not a technical masterpiece you'd expect from these two, but matches like these are what makes wrestling so great. The villain wins this battle in brutal fashion, which will make it all the more satisfying when the hero comes back and returns the favor. This entire feud was cinema, but this match. Whew. Criminally underrated in my opinion.

My Rating: ****1/2

Match 5: Divas Championship Match - Michelle McCool def. Natalya (4:45)

Ya gotta give the cleaning crew credit. I didn’t see a smidge of blood on the mat during this match. This match was to crown the first ever Divas Champion. And it's alright, but it's only 4 and a half minutes. This match is short and sweet I'd say. In the short time they had, they traded submissions and worked over each other. Natalya gets Michelle down in the Sharpshooter, but Michelle reverses her and gets Nattie in a heel hook and gets her to tap out. But before she can really celebrate, Jericho comes back out with a microphone.

My Rating: **1/2

I'll sum up Jericho's promo quick. He said tonight was Shawn Michaels' last match. That he's been diagnosed with a detached retina. And he ends the promo saying "Shawn Michaels can take comfort in one thing. For Shawn, the worst has finally come." Hell of a promo honestly… but you had to do this as Michelle was celebrating? First Champion ever and you overshadow it like this? Sheesh.

Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship Match - CM Punk (c) vs. Batista ended in a double DQ (11:10)

This match was torn apart on Cagematch. And I can get why. The finish is super lame. But I thought Punk and Batista were having a fine match before that. Punk cashed in MITB to win the title so of course, he had an easy path to the title. So the story of this match is that Batista is the clear favorite and that Punk is the underdog. And this match is actually pretty competitive. Batista uses his power to his advantage. Punk stays in the match by being crafty and just his ability to hang in there. Not a whole lot from the match stands out is the only issue. Oh, and the finish. Punk comes off the apron and Batista catches him and drops Punk on the floor with a Spine buster. Batista tosses Punk back in the ring, but Kane comes down and attacks Batista. Referee calls for the bell and Kane gets in to Chokeslam Punk. And before he leaves, Kane kicks the camera guy for fun I guess. Now the weird thing is, referee calls for the bell before Kane attacks Punk, but rules the result a double DQ? Weird. Not that it matters much, this finish sucks either way.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 7: New York City Parking Lot Brawl - JBL def. John Cena (17:00)

What's surprising to me is that this match has a pretty high rating on Cagematch. Matter of fact, before I put in my own for this show, it was higher than Jericho vs Michaels. And I honestly don't see why. It's not horrible, but halfway through the match, I said "this match is kinda dumb." And normally I love matches like this, but i just didn't think this was good. They just do moves around a bunch of cars and damage them. That's not interesting to me. At one point, JBL throws Cena in the back of a car, pours gasoline all over it and lights it on fire, which was incredibly stupid. A bunch of guys walk over and put the fire out. And then Cena hops out totally fine and JBL makes the surprised face from Dragon Ball Z. Cena whips JBL's ass and tosses him in another car and uses a forklift to lift the car and bring it to the arena. Odd, I thought this was a Parking Lot Brawl. But okay. The finish comes when Cena goes to FU JBL off the stage and onto the car. Buy JBL escapes and throws Cena into the windshield. (Real glass. Cry me a river). JBL covers Cena on the windshield to win the match. Crazy finish, but otherwise, I thought this match was dumb. And I'm not sure how it's so popular on Cagematch.

My Rating: **1/2

Main Event: WWE Championship Match - Triple H (c) def. Edge (16:45)

I've always remembered 2008 as being a good year for WWE. And then there's storylines like this that make think "maybe it wasn't." In case you don't remember, let me refresh your memory. Basically Edge cheated on Vickie Guerrero with Alicia Fox and HHH hid a camera to catch them making out. Yeah, soap opera bullshit. The match wasn't that great either. It's decent but not great. Pretty early in the match, Edge picks up HHH and drops him ribs first on the barricade and begins going after them. This match is basic wrestling 101 for the most part. No unique story or anything. Heel wears down the babyface. Face makes a comeback. You know how it goes. Alicia Fox runs down and tries to hand the title to Edge for use, as if this wouldn't get him DQ'd. But Vickie Guerrero, like a woman scorned, comes down. She grabs the title and sets up to hit Edge. But then Alicia comes in and starts fighting with Vickie. Edge goes to Spear Fox. I think? But she moves and he Spears Vickie instead. HHH gets back up, he Pedigrees Edge and retains his title. Sending the crowd home indifferent I imagine.

My Rating: ***1/4

Cagematch Rating: 6.32

My Rating: 7/10

The Jericho/Michaels match was incredible and for that, it definitely earns some points with me. But mainly, I thought this show was uninteresting and oddly booked. The build up to the main event was ass. The other world title match didn't have a winner. And that Parking Lot Brawl was just dumb. Which is a shame, because half this card was decent.

 

[Skyefire]

Jericho and Michaels had several great matches in 2008 all leading up to the ladder match at No Mercy. If only WWE had kept the TV-14 rating just a little longer we could have seen some blood in the Edge vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell Match at Summerslam. And as far as cleaning up the blood goes, you don't see it on TV, but you see it if you're there live, there are actually multiple layers of ring mat and the ring crew removes a layer multiple times through the show.

 

[Chris]

Yeah I saw that at one of the AEW shows I went to, they just pulled up the bloody mat lol I was like oh

 

[Jarf]

Bad Blood 2004

With Bad Blood in just a few weeks, this show came in the list appropriately timed.

Match 1: World Tag Team Championship Match - Edge & Chris Benoit def. La Resistance (c) via DQ (10:08)

Benoit’s working double duty this evening. First, teaming with Edge, against La Resistance. The poster makes you think that Edge has a much bigger role than he does which was weird. The match starts off well for Benoit and Edge, they have control of the match early. But La Resistance quickly take the advantage and begin to keep Edge away from his corner. They do this for several minutes. Edge reverses a double suplex attempt into a double neckbreaker to Grenier and Conway. Edge manages to make it over to Benoit. Who comes in like a house of fire and lights up both members of the team. Benoit puts Sylvain in the Sharpshooter, that’s broken up by Conway. But inevitably, Benoit gets Sylvain down in the Crossface, and Edge takes Conway out with a Spear. But as it looks as if Sylvain is about to tap, Kane’s pyro goes off and he marches to the ring. He boots Benoit and Edge in the faces. He Chokeslams Benoit and Edge before he takes Benoit outside and throws him hard into the steel steps. Making sure that Kane is much healthier than Benoit going into their match later.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 2: Chris Jericho def. Tyson Tomko (5:59)

Jericho comes into this match with busted up ribs thanks to a powerbomb from Tomko through a table a few weeks before. Tomko has Trish Stratus in his corner which has Jerry Lawler being horny on air because of course. Tomko dominates Jericho for the most part, going after those ribs. Jericho begins making a comeback. Jericho tries to put Tomko in the Walls of Jericho, but Trish gets on the apron and Tomko throws Jericho off of him. Jericho lands in front of Trish. Tyson runs at Jericho, who dodges and Tomko ends up knocking Trish off. Jericho hits an Enziguri and covers Tomko for the three.

My Rating: *3/4

Match 3: Intercontinental Championship Match - Randy Orton (c) def. Shelton Benjamin (14:48)

As Randy Orton is doing an interview, he overhears the crowd booing him. (Even though they were cheering him during this match. So I actually think they were cheering him.) Orton throws a temper tantrum and goes out to the arena with a mic and cuts a promo. Shelton’s music hits, he comes out and says that since they both have their gear on and are already in the ring, they just have their match now. And not even 5 seconds later, a referee slides in and rings the bell. It happened so quick, it’s actually startling how quick that referee slid in there. So now we have a match and Benjamin nearly takes it after rolling up Orton from behind. Orton tries to leave with his title immediately and Benjamin says “nuh uh.” Shelton brings the fight early but Orton soon enough takes control and starts wearing down Shelton. Then Ric Flair comes down to the ring to just watch obviously. Midway through the match, Orton goes for a crossbody and Shelton moves out of the way. Then these two just start throwing fists at each other which I wasn’t expecting but not complaining about. Shelton hits a T-Bone Suplex, but Orton was too close to the ropes, so Flair was able to reach in and put Orton’s foot on the bottom rope. Shelton then hilariously goes out to grab Flair and throws him in the ring and starts whooping his ass now. Shelton even puts Flair in the Figure 4 and rolls Orton up in a small package as he has the hold on Flair. It’s kinda hilarious actually. Shelton knocks Flair out and goes to the top rope, he tries for a crossbody, but Orton rolls through and pins Shelton’s shoulders to retain his title.

My Rating: ***1/2

Match 4: Women's Championship Fatal 4-Way Match - Trish Stratus def. Victoria (c), Lita & Gail Kim (4:44)

Pretty decent match for the time they got. They sort of shoehorned 10 minutes into just under 5. They managed to get all their stuff in in a limited amount of time. This match was just these 4 trying to get the win as quickly as possible. Tyson Tomko came down with Trish, but was thrown out after he pulled Lita off a pin on Trish. After that, Lita hits Trish with a Twist of Fate and nearly has it, but the pin is broken by Victoria and Gail. Gail Kim shows her submission prowess. Victoria shows off her strength. Lita takes Victoria out and hits Gail with a DDT. She goes to cover her, but Trish rolls in and rolls Lita up from behind to get the sneaky victory.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 5: Eugene def. Jonathan Coachman (7:37)

Wow. This match is horrible. First off, Eugene was an absolutely awful gimmick so there’s that. I’ll give Nick credit where credit is due. He did the best with what he had to work with. Here, I’ll sum up this match because there’s pretty much no wrestling here. Eugene makes a fool out of Coach. Coach brings out a woman in a bikini (of course) with a tray of cookies to fool Eugene. Lance Cade comes down and rips Eugene’s stuffed animal up. (It’s weird I got 2 shows in a row where Lance Cade interferes in a match.) Eugene hits Coach with a Rock Bottom, he hits Cade with an absolutely atrocious Stunner. He hits Coach with a Legdrop to win the match. And then for good measure, he hits Coach with another Stunner.

My Rating: 1/2*

Match 6: World Heavyweight Championship Match - Chris Benoit (c) def. Kane (18:20)

I really, really liked this match. It’s a little slow at first, but it really starts to pick up towards the end when Benoit starts making his comeback. The crux of the match is the Crossface. Ross and Lawler especially keep making a big deal out of the Crossface and whether or not Benoit would be able to get Kane in it, and even if he did, if Kane would even tap out. They set this up early with Benoit going after Kane’s arm. But Kane pretty much picks Benoit apart early in the match. He overpowers Benoit and dominates him. Then Benoit starts going after Kane’s legs, trying to chop him down instead. Benoit even manages to get Kane in the Sharpshooter, but Kane reaches the ropes to force a break. Benoit throws Kane around with 3 German suplexes. Then looks to hit the diving headbutt, but stops when Kane sits up. Benoit immediately tosses Kane around again with another 3 German suplexes. And then he’s able to hit the Headbutt to Kane. But as Benoit takes a moment to recover, Kane sits after about a minute. Kane drops Benoit with a Chokeslam, but Benoit kicks out. Kane nearly loses his shit, and goes up to the top rope coming off with an attempted diving clothesline, but Benoit catches his arm and tries to bring Kane down into the Crossface and Kane fights it. Benoit fakes Kane out though by switching to the other arm and brings Kane down to his knees, but instead of going for the Crossface, he rolls Kane up 1, 2, 3. And leaves with the World Title. Not the flashiest match in the world, but very enjoyable.

My Rating: ****

Main Event: Hell in a Cell Match - Triple H def. Shawn Michaels (47:26)

As Fred Durst once said. “You know what time it is.” That’s right. It’s time for another Lord of the Rings movie starring Triple H! Fuck, why does all his matches have to be so fucking long? Yeah, this 100% went too long. But I will give them this. For as long as it was, it could’ve been so much worse. Like… so, very much worse. I’ll talk about what I liked about this match first. Because this felt like a Hell in a Cell Match. And what I mean is that this really felt like a blood feud that could only end with this and these two wanted to ruin the other. This was a blood bath and actually did a good job of showing the danger of Hell in a Cell. Triple H gets cut open a few minutes into the match. Not a lot but enough to draw blood. Then HHH starts going after Shawn's bad back, working it over. HHH brings the steel steps into the ring. But Shawn starts to come back. Shawn goes for a superkick, HHH ducks under it and Shawn favors his back, giving HHH enough time to lift the steps and slam them into Shawn's face. And it looks as if Shawn's whole face was smashed because not only does he bleed from his head, but it seems to be coming from his nose too. HHH picks the steps back up again and slams them, again into Shawn's head. He covers Shawn, who kicks out. Shawn hits a low blow on HHH and gives him a DDT before he grabs a steel chair in the ring and swings it at HHH's head. Cutting him open even worse than earlier. Shawn grabs a ladder from under the ring and laughs before he brings it in the ring. And hits HHH in the head with it. HHH starts to beg him off and Shawn finally starts enjoying himself. Shawn brings a table into the ring next and sets HHH on it, before he climbs the ladder and drops an elbow through HHH and the table. Shawn tunes up the band and goes for a superkick, but HHH drops and low blows Shawn, before hits him with a Pedigree. And takes forever to cover Shawn. Shawn kicks out. They get back to their feet. Shawn hits the superkick finally and takes forever to cover HHH. Like they really fucking drag these last 6 minutes on. I've never seen a match end 10 minutes before the bell even rings. HHH hits another Pedigree. A weak Pedigree and then they lay there again. Both men start to stir and HHH hits a 3rd Pedigree before he rolls over to place an arm over Shawn's chest. Finally, this Lord of the Rings movie is over. I was so tired by the time this ended. Jesus Christ.

My Rating: ***

Cagematch Rating: 6.33

My Rating: 6/10

Honestly, I think this show was alright, but I don't think it was great to be honest. It had goodness sprinkled throughout the show, but it also had some trash added in there. Looking at you, Eugene and Coach. The Cell match also takes up like 25% of this show, which is actually insane to think about. And that match itself was sort of 50/50 in terms of its quality. So I don't think it's fair to rate the show lower but I sure aren't going to rate it higher. I think 6 is where it belongs.

 

[Jarf]

SummerSlam 2004

Match 1: The Dudley Boyz def. Rey Mysterio, Billy Kidman & Paul London (8:06)

The night starts off with a match that wasn’t even mentioned in the opening package. Seriously, they ran through the entire card except this one in the opening to this show. Honestly, a fine way to start the show. Spike Dudley turned out to be in charge of the Dudleys. (I bet you guys didn’t know he’s the oldest brother did ya). The Dudleys take the advantage very early and work over London, keep him away from his corner, but eventually Rey Mysterio gets that tag. Pre-”I’ve had surgery 5 times in my left knee” Rey Mysterio was insanely smooth and he shows that here. He makes the tag to Billy Kidman, who comes in, and now the match is just chaotic. I liked the particular spot where London flew off Kidman’s back over the top rope onto Bubba. Mysterio and Kidman hit the Hart Attack on Spike, which I wasn’t expecting. Kidman slingshots Spike into the middle rope, Rey hits the 619 and then Kidman hits the Shooting Star Press and nearly has it won. But D-Von pulls Billy out of the ring. Rey springboards to the outside, but hits the barricade after D-Von moved. And then he lays London out with a hard clothesline. The Dudleys hit Kidman with a 3D. Spike places his hands on Kidman’s chest like he was the one who dealt the finishing blow like an ass and The Dudleys win.

My Rating: ***

Match 2: 'Til Death Do Us Part Match - Kane def. Matt Hardy (6:05)

Ew! Ew! Ew! Fucking fuck this storyline for real. Normally, I try not to let the storyline dictate how I feel about a match. Because matches with a poor build up can still be amazing. But I’m making an exception with this one. This is the most rotten storyline I think I’ve ever seen from WWE. Like, this is below Katie Vick in my eyes. There’s so much fucked up about this storyline. I guess I should talk about the match itself…. I guess. Matt Hardy actually holds his own quite a bit. He gets most of the offense in this match. But what man wouldn’t fight like hell in this situation. Jerry Lawler makes it even worse on commentary, talking as if Kane isn’t the most horrible human on earth and it isn’t a totally fucked up situation for Lita to possibly have to marry her rapist. Lita throws the ring bell in the ring, and distracts the referee. Matt hits Kane with it, but Kane was too close to the ropes and got his foot on it. Kane goes up top and gets crotched on the top rope. Matt makes the mistake of going up with him and gets Chokeslammed from the top rope and Kane wins… Thankfully, I think I’m almost to the point where I don’t have to be reminded that this story exists.

My Rating: *1/2

Match 3: Match 1 in the Best of 5 Series for the United States Championship - John Cena def. Booker T (6:20)

A lot of people seem to hate this match enough to rate it really low. It’s not great. Hell I wouldn’t even say it’s good, but it’s not horrible. It’s just an extremely uninteresting match that would’ve been better served on TV. I think it’s just to get Cena and Booker on the card. Booker wears down Cena for a bit. Cena starts to make a comeback. Typical average match. Except the weird ending. Booker hits Cena with a Scissors Kick and then hits the spinarooni. He goes to Cena, who gets up pretty much right away and hits the FU to beat Booker. Oh, okay.

My Rating: **

Match 4: Intercontinental Championship Triple Threat Match - Edge (c) def. Batista & Chris Jericho (8:16)

Looking at the 3, this match could’ve been better. This is also the part of the show where the crowd starts to go in a weird direction. The show is in Toronto, where Edge is from. But they’re booing him and cheering Jericho. Edge is knocked out of the ring pretty much immediately before the bell rings. Batista goes to powerbomb Jericho, but Edge comes in and clips Batista’s leg. Edge and Jericho take Batista out of the ring and go at it amongst themselves. Jericho gets Edge in the Walls of Jericho and the crowd goes nuts for it. Batista saves the match. But Jericho and Edge still do more of the work. There’s just not a whole lot to be impressed about with this match. Jericho dropkicks Batista off the apron and Edge spears him to win the match. And the reaction is…. Silence. Absolute crickets. Edge looked so confused.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 5: Kurt Angle def. Eddie Guerrero (13:36)

A very good match here. These two had some really good matches together which, you can only expect from these two. Angle goes after Eddie's ankle for the whole match. They try to outwrestle each other and Kurt is gonna win that fight every time. But Eddie early in the match, puts Kurt in the ankle lock, and then later in the match uses the Angle Slam. And as you know by now, I’m a sucker for finisher steals. Kurt starts unlacing Eddie’s boot. Trying to get it off because if you’ve ever seen their WrestleMania Match, Eddie won by faking Kurt out with his boot. Kurt eventually gets the boot off and puts Eddie’s exposed foot in the ankle lock, but Eddie rolls through and Kurt is sent into the referee, who’s down for only a couple minutes. This one’s more resilient than most. Eddie uses this opportunity to use his boot against Kurt Angle and also hits Luther Reigns outside in the head with it. Eddie makes an attempt at the Frog Splash, but Kurt gets up and leaps to join him and throws Eddie off all the way across the ring. Eddie hits Kurt with a DDT, makes another attempt at the Frog Splash and misses. After hitting the 3 amigos, Eddie makes yet another attempt at the Frog Splash and this time, he hits it. But Kurt still kicks out! Eddie’s in actual disbelief. And he makes a mistake by stepping over Kurt’s body towards the referee, and Kurt snatches that exposed ankle and twists it until Eddie taps out. Not the classic match you would expect but a well worked match regardless.

My Rating: ***3/4

Match 6: Triple H def. Eugene (14:07)

How did we get to this point? In two months, Eugene went from “wrestling” The Coach on PPV and Triple H went from warring with Shawn Michaels to fighting each other at SummerSlam. That’s nuts to me. I’ve already made my feelings about the Eugene gimmick clear, but I actually thought this match was good. Jim Ross says during HHH’s entrance that if Eugene manages to defeat Triple H, it’ll be the biggest upset in SummerSlam history. And I wish that WWE had had the balls to put Eugene over in this match. He would’ve gotten booed because apparently Toronto didn’t like Eugene. But can you imagine if I had to write “Eugene def. Triple H” instead? That would’ve been absolutely hilarious. HHH is just a bastard. He has fun playing with the mentally handicapped man. He fakes an injury and poor Eugene actually felt bad, only for HHH to blindside Eugene from behind. But Eugene gets back at him later. HHH actually extends his hand out to Eugene, and Eugene takes it… so he can pull Triple H in and hit a Rock Bottom. Eugene starts to comeback and the crowd starts to get behind him a little bit after he flips HHH the bird and gives him a Stunner. Eugene drops a legdrop on HHH. Ric Flair comes down to the ring and Eugene drops HHH with a Pedigree! But he covers HHH too close to the ring ropes and Flair puts his foot on the bottom rope. The referee notices this and throws Flair out. But as Flair is going towards the back, out comes William Regal, with a pair of brass knuckles and knocks Flair to the floor. Eugene sees Regal and waves to him, not realizing HHH is back up and pissed off. Eugene turns around into a Pedigree from HHH. 1, 2, 3. Very well worked match. I was impressed with Nick Dinsmore.

My Rating: ***1/4

Match 7: WWE Championship Match - JBL (c) def. The Undertaker via DQ (17:38)

Does JBL have a following on Cagematch or something? This is the second match in a row which has a rating higher than it honestly deserves. I thought this was boring as hell. Their match at No Mercy was much better. From what I’ve seen, these two have basically no chemistry. A few minutes into the match, JBL goes after Undertaker's knee. With Taker's legs wrapped around the ringpost, Orlando Jordan distracts the referee and takes a chair to Taker's knee. He works over Taker’s knee and then the crowd starts doing the wave. Which, I didn’t wanna watch this shit ass match either so I can’t exactly blame them. Taker eventually starts making a comeback, you know how it goes. Undertaker goes for a Tombstone, but because everyone in wrestling is easily distracted, opts to attack Orlando who got on the apron, so JBL can take advantage of the distraction and hit a Clothesline From Hell which Taker kicks out of.vOrlando Jordan slides the WWE Title in the ring for JBL to use, then distracts the referee. JBL hits Taker in the face with it and covers Taker. But Undertaker kicks out. The referee ends up getting knocked down. Undertaker sees the WWE Title on the mat and hits JBL with it, but the referee sees this and disqualifies Undertaker. JBL wins the match and keeps the title on a DQ. So Undertaker decides that JBL must die. He cuts JBL open on the steel steps, rips the horn off the hood of JBL’s limo and pulls JBL on the roof of the limo, and Chokeslams JBL through the roof of the limo. Which was pretty cool. Undertaker smears JBL’s blood on his chest and leaves. So the aftermath of the match was pretty sick but the match itself was super boring.

My Rating: *1/2

Main Event: World Heavyweight Championship Match - Randy Orton def. Chris Benoit (c) (20:09)

We end the night with a great match. This was the day that Randy Orton found the World Heavyweight Title after it went missing 5 months before. In all seriousness though, I thought this was an awesome match. This match is also nuts to think about 20 years later. Here, Orton was challenging a veteran, basically had everything to prove against and now Orton is that guy that young guys have to prove themselves against. They try to get the upper hand early, neither one really outwrestling the other. Orton reverses Benoit’s Sharpshooter attempt and puts Benoit in one himself. But Benoit pushes Orton off and gets Orton in the Sharpshooter. I also like the story in this match. Even though Benoit was the veteran with years of experience and still at the top of his game, Orton looked like he could hang with him despite being only 24. Benoit took some awfully disgusting headshots in this match. He tried to suicide dive on Orton and took the barricade right to the head. They start throwing forearms at each other at one point. Orton survives in the Sharpshooter for a solid bit before be grabs the rope. Benoit starts throwing Orton around, takes him to suplex city and then goes up for the diving headbutt. And Orton, instead of his knees, puts both his legs up, and Benoit's head connects with those. Orton crawls over and stacks up Benoit. But Chris kicks out and puts Orton in the Crossface. Orton escapes by reversing it into a pin. Benoit lets go and tries to German Orton. But Orton escapes that attempt. Benoit tries to get Orton in another Crossface, but Orton twists out of it and RKOs Benoit. 1, 2, 3. Randy Orton wins. And wins clean. He wins without cheating and without interference. Then after the match. Benoit extends his hand for Orton to shake, which Orton does after about 20 seconds.

My Rating: ****

Cagematch Rating: 6.33

My Rating: 6/10

I remember this show being worse. And it certainly has its fair share of trash on it. Whether it's awful storylines (Kane) or just plain boring matches (Undertaker). But there is still some good to be found on this show too. This show was pretty much all about the last 4 matches. The first 4 were all quick and under 10 minutes, while the last 4 got the most time. And aside from one of them, they were the best part of the event.

 

[Chris]

I have a lot of nostalgia for that show bc I think it was the only event DVD or VHS I owned (outside of a bootleg copy of Uncensored 97 I stumbled upon myself when I was like 5) bc I normally thought the wrestler specific ones, I didn't care as much to rewatch PPVs that had already passed

 

[Jarf]

I have a lot of nostalgia for that show bc I think it was the only event DVD or VHS I owned (outside of a bootleg copy of Uncensored 97 I stumbled upon myself when I was like 5) bc I normally thought the wrestler specific ones, I didn't care as much to rewatch PPVs that had already passed

I used to have a DVD of this too but come to think of it, I don't know if I've ever finished it in one sitting before

 

[Jarf]

Backlash 2006

I’ve seen some pretty unhinged shows so far… most of them during the Ruthless Aggression Era. But this show actually feels like a fever dream.

Match 1: Carlito def. Chris Masters (9:58)

The night starts off with former tag team partners going at it. I did that even though Carlito was now a babyface, he still felt like the same character. The match is fine as an opener, but I wouldn’t call this “starting the night hot.” Not a whole lot stands out from this match, but one part that I thought was funny was Carlito trying to put Masters in the Masterlock. It doesn’t work obviously because why would it? Masters picks Carlito up in a powerbomb position and just hits a Buckle Bomb. And then Masters starts wearing Carlito down. Carlito starts to comeback. I like Carlito being clever and throwing his apple to distract Masters, and then he kicks Master’s legs out. Masters tries to put Carlito in the Masterlock and Carlito runs into the corner, Master’s face hits the top turnbuckle. Carlito hits Chris with the Backstabber, really close to the ropes and Carlito covers Masters while putting his feet on the rope. The babyface uses heel tactics to win. But I like that he’s consistent. Too often do I see the heel turn into a badass when they turn babyface and vice versa, where the babyface turns into a coward once they turn heel. It’s a dumb trope.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 2: Umaga def. Ric Flair (3:29)

Umaga’s PPV debut. I like this better than the first match honestly. I thought this was a pretty good way to debut Umaga to a wider audience. It looks like it’ll be an easy night for Umaga until Flair pokes Umaga in the eye, and behind the referee’s back, he low blows Umaga… twice. Umaga takes a run at Flair outside and his head hits the ring post. Flair chops Umaga’s legs out and tries for the Figure 4, but Umaga pushes him off with just a foot and from their, it’s pretty much over. Umaga dominates Flair and finishes him with a Samoan Spike. Big win at Backlash.

My Rating: **1/2

Match 3: Women’s Championship Match - Trish Stratus def. Mickie James (c) via DQ (4:05)

Man, it’s a shame. It really is. I truly think these two could’ve had a banger with the time and the resources. Part of me thinks that the finish to this match was called on fly because Trish might’ve gotten hurt. If the finish was planned… Then that’s super fucking lame. If you’re confused, let me explain. After WrestleMania, they apparently, for whatever reason, decided to run a storyline where Mickie dressed like Trish, and vice versa. But that’s pretty much made pointless by the fact they come out dressed as themselves. Trish beats the shit out of Mickie early, kicks her right in the face. She starts punching Mickie in the corner, but Mickie pushes her over the ropes down to the floor and it looks as if Trish hurt her elbow or shoulder or whatever. And then they spend the next couple minutes not doing anything other than Mickie stomping on Trish, so that’s why I think the finish was called on the fly. Mickie gets on top of Trish and starts to choke her and the referee disqualifies her on 5. So Mickie retains by DQ.

My Rating: *1/2

Match 4: Winner Take All for the Intercontinental Championship and Money in the Bank Contract - Rob Van Dam (MITB) def. Shelton Benjamin (IC) (18:41)

You can’t go wrong putting these two against each other. This was a damn good match. First half of the match I’m not that crazy about because Shelton just lays on RVD for seemingly forever. But eventually, the pace begins to pick up. First of all, Shelton gets the advantage after sunset flipping over the and RVD and powerbombing RVD to the floor. Shelton has the rolling thunder scouted, popping up and dropping Van Dam with a samoan drop. RVD starts making a comeback and gets Shelton down so he attempts the 5 Star Frog Splash, but Shelton moves out of the way and hits a DDT and RVD pretty much spikes himself. Shelton goes out and grabs the MITB briefcase, RVD goes out after him, but gets a kick to the side of the head for that. Shelton then proceeds to be the biggest show off in the world by standing on the top rope and just bounce up and down before he leaps off for a crossbody. With the referee’s back turned, Shelton tries to use the briefcase against Van Dam, but RVD causes him to drop. Then he picks it up himself, chucks it at Shelton, who catches it and then RVD kicks that briefcase back in his face! And RVD finishes the job with a beautiful Frog Splash.

My Rating: ***3/4

Match 5: Kane vs. Big Show ended in a no contest (8:00)

This is the part of the show where it starts to feel unreal. Like I’m not really awake. Let’s talk about a very special date on the calendar. That date is May 19th. The date that drove Kane absolutely insane. If anyone knows if this story had a conclusion, I would like to know because it feels like it didn’t. Also the two teams who opened WrestleMania are fighting each other on this show. But anyway. I hate this match. Not only is it absolutely boring to watch, but the goofy spooky “ahh” red light. “Ahh” voice in my head ending doesn’t help. I won’t talk about the match, there’s not really anything to talk about. I’ll just talk about this dumb ending. So all of a sudden, the lights go red and a voice starts playing, it’s Kane’s voice. And he’s saying “MAY 19TH!” “It’s happening again.” “Sir, this is a Wendy’s!” Or some shit. It’s just a loop of Kane saying this shit. It goes on for like 3 minutes, it felt like. Big Show seems conflicted on what to do. So he goes outside, grabs a steel chair and hits Kane in the head with it. And then just leaves.

My Rating: DUD

Then after that garbage, we get a backstage segment that Vince definitely wrote himself verbatim, involving himself and Candice Michelle. I don’t think I need to elaborate. Just know I cringed so fucking hard. And then after that, we cut to a shot of Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler. Jim takes off his glasses and says exactly how I felt in that moment. “What the hell was that?”

Match 6: 2-on-1 Handicap No Holds Barred Match - Vince & Shane McMahon def. Shawn Michaels (19:59)

Technically, this is Vince and Shane booked against Shawn Michaels and (ahem) God. I truly believe that this match solely exists so Vince could say “I beat God.” Listen, I’m an atheist so the only thing I find offensive here is the ridiculousness. I did get a good kick out of Vince telling the referee to “check him.” Him, being God, and the referee is like “huh?” Then Vince makes this match No Holds Barred pretty much out of the blue. So Shawn Michaels comes down and he beats on the McMahons, bringing Shane up the ramp with him and Vince following behind soon after. Shawn tosses Shane into the stage setup, while he crossbodys Vince, sending them both off the stage. I thought that the match was starting this hot, this should be good. Then Shawn gets back up on to the stage and Shane blasts him in the face with a chair, opening him up. Shane’s white jersey gets stained with red from Shawn’s blood. Then the McMahons pretty much take turns beating up Shawn for a few minutes. As Vince is in the ring, he berates “God” standing in the corner, and then he looks up the ramp and asks “Where you going?” So basically Vince is trying to say God is scared of him. Vince tries to go for Sweet Chin Music, but Shawn catches his foot and starts fighting back. He manages to take both McMahons off their feet. He tunes up the band, hits Shane with the Superkick before he hits one on Vince as well. And then he hits them “suck it” chops. Almost as if they were setting something up. Shawn could’ve won this match because Vince and Shane are down and out for the next several minutes. Shawn takes several minutes to set up this spot that never comes. He grabs 2 tables, sets them up in the ring and sets a McMahon on each table. He tries to be entertaining as he does it, but this spot is really taking a while to set up. Shawn then grabs a ladder, a huge ladder and sets it up in the corner of the ring. But he sees the Spirit Squad coming and shifts his direction and dives off this huge ladder in the ring onto the Spirit Squad on the floor. The Spirit Squad quickly swarm him though and they wake Vince and Shane up from their nap. They actually lift Shawn into the ring, each have a hold of one of his limbs before they throw him into the air and Shawn falls through one of the tables. Vince tells them to back up before he covers Shawn. 1, 2, 3. Uh, wasn’t too crazy about this match.

My Rating: **1/2

Main Event: WWE Championship Triple Threat Match - John Cena (c) def. Edge & Triple H (17:34)

To close out the show, we get a fantastic Triple Threat. These guys really killed each other for that title! Edge exits the ring immediately, but after Cena and HHH get sick of him sitting outside. They start teaming up on Edge and then even have a contest to see who can bounce Edge’s face off the announce table harder. Cena is thrown outside by HHH, leaving him with Edge. Edge and HHH go at it for a bit before Edge puts a sleeper hold on HHH, Cena comes in and picks them both up on his shoulders. But Edge slides off and Spears Cena as he has Triple H up. Edge goes outside to basically try and eliminate HHH from the match and catapults him into the ring post. Which busts HHH open horribly! Edge then gives him an Edgecution on the spanish table. HHH is out temporarily. So Edge goes back in to face Cena. Cena reverses an Edgecution into an STF. Edge crawls towards the ropes and HHH comes back. He grabs Edge’s hand and slams a microphone into Cena’s head. Then HHH grabs a steel chair and slams it into Edge’s head, a chairshot I’ve seen on chairshot compilations so many times. HHH goes back inside and Cena drops him into an STF. HHH screams no as his blood pools down into Cena’s hands. Triple H uses pretty much every bit of strength his has to reach the bottom rope. But after reversing a Pedigree attempt, Cena drop toe holds back into the STF again. But Edge starts to come back and climbs the top rope. Cena sees him, and lets go of HHH to go after Edge. Cena gets on the middle rope and picks Edge up on his shoulders. HHH comes from behind and lifts Cena up on his shoulders and hits an electric chair. Sends Edge out of the ring again and Cena flat on his back. HHH stands back up and doesn’t see Lita behind him with a chair. Lita takes a run at HHH, who spinebusters Lita. HHH then goes outside and grabs a sledgehammer from under the ring. Before he gets a chance to use it though, Edge comes at him with a Spear. Edge picks up the hammer himself and runs at Cena with it. But gets picked up in position for the AA (The FU as us old folk like to call it). HHH low blows Cena, who stumbles back to the ropes, dumping Edge over to the floor. HHH plans to hit a Pedigree to finish this, but Cena sweeps HHH’s legs and pulls a Jackknife Pin to retain. 1, 2, 3. And before he can bask in his victory, HHH attacks Cena from behind. He picks up the sledgehammer, hits the referee with it, then Edge and finally Cena. Then he hits his signature pose and hits them “suck it” chops. So you can see, a DX return was definitely planned by this point. No way you have Shawn and HHH do the chops in the same night by coincidence. But as far as this match goes, I loved it. I thought this was awesome and slightly overlooked unfortunately.

My Rating: ****1/4

Cagematch Rating: 6.34

My Rating: 5.5/10

You might expect me to give this show a higher rating given 2 certain matches on the card, but nah. I don’t think it deserves to be very high. Matter of fact, it would be lower if that Triple Threat had sucked. From the rocky start, to the insane and downright insulting to the intelligence booking in the middle. I glossed over a segment that happened between the Handicap Match and Triple Threat involving Eugene and Matt Striker that ended with Eugene making Matt eat one of his boogers… I almost shut the show off right there. Who fucking wrote this show? A 6 year old? Well considering you also have Vince McMahon booking himself into a creepy ass segment with Candice Michelle too. I hope not. If you watch anything from this show, make it the IC/MITB match and the main event. I’m actually encouraging you to skip everything else.

 

[Skyefire]

"Coincidentally", May 19 was the day Kane's movie See No Evil came out in theaters.

Now you have the two teams that faced each other for the Tag Team Championships at WrestleMania have split apart and are facing each other, meanwhile Spirit Squad are walking around with the belts. Carlito & Masters should have gotten a run with the belts.

 

[Chris]

I've told this story elsewhere plenty but why not here too

When I was little, my neighbor who was a year younger than me so would have been 9 at this time had Kane as his favorite wrestler (red flag and it made sense) and his birthday was also on May 19th. That year for his 9th birthday he refused to celebrate it and he would attack anyone that said the date at him like Kane did