February 1997 was a tumultuous time for the WWF. Shawn Michaels had lost his smile and vacated the WWF Title, while Bret Hart was in the midst of turning against the fans who he felt had turned on him. A young Rocky Miavia was struggling to gain fan support, while talk of an ECW 'invasion' were abound. Meanwhile, the WWF Title was awarded to Bret Hart after he won a fatal four-way match at the PPV Final Four. This episode of Monday Night Raw took place the day after Final Four took place, on February 17, 1997, and the announcers for this show are Jim Ross and Jerry 'The King" Lawler.
No time is being wasted on this episode, as 'Sycho' Sid is coming out to face the new WWF Champion, Bret Hart in a Title match. I must say that I love Sid's entrance, from his theme song to the giant "SID" sparking sign over the ring. Hart comes out to a great ovation from the fans, so I guess he's still a face at this moment. Staredown to start, but OH HERE GO HELL COME as Steve Austin enters the ring and attacks Bret Hart. The two trade blows, then Sid decides he wants some of Austin so he attacks. While security separates the two, Austin chop blocks Sid in the back of the knee, and the big man is hurt. After Austin is escorted from the ring area, Sid tries to walk off the injury (and drops an audible f-bomb in the process) and the match is delayed until the end of the show.
Clips are shown from Shawn Michaels vacated the WWF title on last week's Raw because he "lost his smile". Yes, that was the reason given. I don't remember Lou Thesz or Harley Race vacated world titles because of a 'lost smile', but this was the 'New Generation'. Then, still shots from last night's main event are shown. Vader took a nasty cut above his eye, while the Undertaker was so close to winning the title, but thanks to interference from Austin, Hart came away with the victory and the championship. But don't worry about 'Taker, because it was announced that he will face the winner of Bret vs. Sid for the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania. To the back, where Kevin Kelly is with Sid. Sid tells Kelly to shut up, then proclaims that it will take more than a knee injury to keep him from his destiny of becoming the WWF Champion. Also, he is the master and ruler of the world.
Wildman Marc Mero comes out with Sable to face off against the Nation of Domination's Savio Vega. Sable's apparently becoming more involved in matches, including smacking Leif Cassidy last night in his match against Marc Mero. Vega comes out with a cadre of Nation members, including PG-13, who are rapping over the NOD theme song. Meanwhile, Faarooq and Clarence Mason are in the crowd above the entranceway, and everybody gives the Nation salute before the match starts. Mero gives Vega a series of arm drags before Savio bails to the outside, but that doesn't go well as Mero catches buth Savio and Crush with a somersault plancha. Back in, Savio has the advantage for a while, but that changes and Mero backs Vega into the corner for a 10-punch. However, Savio drops Mero face first on the turnbuckle, then throws the Wildman to the outside so PG-13 can stomp away at him. Sable comes over, and knocks JC Ice down with a couple of kicks that don't exactly inspire visions of Kawada. Mero and Vega continue the fight, with Mero taking Vega down with a Samoan drop, but the rest of the NOD is pissed at Sable, so they chase her into the ring and cause the match to be thrown out. While Mero and Sable are cornered, Ahmed Johnson comes out with a 2 x 4, in a bright orange jumpsuit for some reason. Johnson chases off the Nation and good prevails. This match was just filler, and not very entertaining filler at that.
To the back, where Bret Hart is interviewed by J.R. and The King about his upcoming match with Sid. Hart predicts victory for himself tonight, to which Lawler takes slight offense to. Well, Bret says that he's looking out for number one because if you "don't look out for number one, you end up stepping on number two". Not quite as catchy a catchphrase as Austin 3:16. Lawler comments that Bret is probably thrilled about Stone Cold injuring Sid's leg, so Bret simply tells the King to shut up. Good one. Up next is a match between Leif Cassidy and the Intercontinental Champion, Rocky Maivia. Rocky comes out with a goofy smile on his face to a lukewarm reaction. Before the match starts, Sunny comes out to serve as the guest timekeeper. A flimsy excuse to bring her out, but I'm not complaining. Lockup to start, Leif and Rocky start trading blows with Rocky eventually getting the better of the exchange and clotheslining Leif over the top rope. Leif comes back in and the two start trading holds. While the two are wrestling, we get an interview with Hunter Hearst Helmsley in the back, who says a lot of words but the basic gist of the message is that he will defeat Rocky Maivia for his I/C Title and Goldust for getting involved in his match with Maivia last night. Back to action, and Leif starts to do a lot of holds on the left arm of Rocky. Rocky nearly gets the pinfall after a rollup, but a thumb to the eye turns the momentum back Leif's way. After some more work on the arm, Rocky recovers long enough to get a pair of two counts with various pinning holds. However, an armbar DDT from Cassidy gives the challenger the advantage. Cassidy goes to the top after a body slam, and hits a diving axe-handle on Rocky. That gets two. Cassidy decides that since it worked before, it will work again and climbs the top rope, but this time Rocky recovers and throws Cassidy off the top. Some fists follow from Rocky, then the champ hits a cross body block from the top rope, but doesn't go for the cover. Instead, Rocky decides to finish Cassidy off with a running shoulderbreaker, and that proves to be the winning move, as Rocky retains his title. Post-match, Sunny rings the bell, while Jerry Lawler goes on a rant about ECW thanks to some fan waving an "ECW Rules" sign in his face. For some reason, Lawler compares the wrestlers of ECW to the denizins of 'Escape from New York', referring to them as a bunch of misfits who couldn't make it in the WWF. Of course, about half the roster would sign WWF contracts at some point, but whatever. Lawler concludes his diatribe by challenging the ECW wrestlers to show up on next week's Raw. Anyway, the match was decent enough, even if the audience weren't too interested in either man and therefore, seemed bored by the match.
Hey, Jesse James was on TNN's Prime Time Country a few days prior, so good for him. Kevin Kelly is out in the ring and introduces Goldust and Marlena for an interview. Goldust is not too thrilled about Hunter Hearst Helmsley's obsession over Marlena, and promises to make Hunter pay for his indecent proposal. Goldust continues his point by stating that the only way Hunter will get to Marlena is over his dead body. Marlena gets the mic, and proclaims that despite all the weird actions and psycho head games, Goldust is all man and more of a man than HHH will ever be. Well then. That brings Helmsley out, and the two men jaw at each other for a while before Hunter grabs a drink and throws it in Goldust's eyes. Helmsley then pounds away on Goldust before laying him out with the Pedigree. Marlena is none too thrilled about this turn of events, so she slaps HHH. Helmsley looks back in anger, but WAITAMINUTE, a female 'fan' jumps over the guardrail and puts Marlena in a reverse bearhug, shaking Marlena like a ragdoll. That 'fan' would later be known as Chyna, but the announcers had no idea who she was at this point in time. Marlena has to be carried to the back by Goldust.
The Headbangers come out to the ring to face the Hardy Boys, who are not high enough on the card to even receive a proper entrance. The Headbangers waste no time by going right after the Hardys before the bell rings. Jeff gets a couple of moves in early, but after he tags in Matt the Headbangers take control of the match. During the middle of the match, we go to the back where Faarooq and the rest of the NOD are interviewed. Faarooq claims that Ahmed Johnson is not a man of the streets, but that Ahmed is lucky since "most people have to die to go to hell, but you're already in it". Faarooq also claims to be Ahmed's devil and the Nation are his demons. Faarooq finishes the interview by challenging Johnson to a 'Chicago Street Fight'. Back to the match, and the Headbangers are punishing match with moves such as a bodyslam into the ropes and a cross body block from the top. Thrasher misses an elbow drop, which gives Matt a chance to tag in Jeff. Jeff throws a couple of dropkicks at the Headbangers, but takes a big bump off a Mosh clothesline. Mosh sets Jeff up for a powerbomb, and Thrasher comes off the top with a legdrop for the Stage Dive, which gets the three count. Not a bad match, but nothing memorable.
Up next is the WWF Title match between Bret Hart and Sid. Sid seems to be walking without a limp, so his leg must be fine. The Hitman's music hits, but before he can get to the ring, Steve Austin attacks him in the hallway. Sid comes back there and security must separate the three men. Once again, the title match is delayed. Kevin Kelly is with WWF President Gorilla Monsoon, and despite the delays, Monsoon promises a WWF Title match tonight. EVERYBODY HERE COMES Flash Funk with the Funkettes. He's here to face Slammy Award winner Owen Hart. The two exchange armbars to start the match, then after some other holds, both men try a dropkick at the same time, then have a standoff. While Funk and Owen do a series of Monkey Flips out of a double-knuckle lock, ECW head Paul Heyman calls in the show and tells Jerry Lawler that he and the rest of the ECW athletes will be there on Raw next week. The two trade insults for a minute before Heyman hangs up. Owen knocks Funk down, then tries to go for a sharpshooter, but his manager Clarence Mason is on the apron for some reason. Owen is distracted by this, and Funk dropkicks Hart over the rope. While Owen argues with Mason, Funk dives off the top onto Owen. The British Bulldog comes out, and tells Mason to scram. Back in, Funk gets a two count after a backslide, then Owen gets a two count after a German suplex with a bridge. Stone Cold Steve Austin is interviewed next, and I'm really getting tired of every match being interrupted by an interview. Stone Cold feels he should be champion because he won the Royal Rumble and Shawn Michaels vacated the title, so in protest he will open up a keg of whoop-ass upon the WWF. Back to action, and Owen tries for a splash in the corner, but misses. Funk goes on the attack with a back drop, then gets a two count after a cross body block from the top rope. Funk slams Owen down a goes back to the top, where he connects with a moonsault. Somehow, Owen kicked out of that as well. Owen reverses a Funk Irish whip, and Bulldog hits Funk in the back with the Slammy Award, allowing Owen to hit a spinning heel kick and get the three count, with Bulldog holding Funk's legs down from the apron. Good match between two good wrestlers, even if the constant interruptions detracted slightly from the action.
Beehtoven's Ode to Joy plays through the loudspeaker as Hunter Hearst Helmsley comes out for his match. A video recap of Chyna's actions against Marlena plays before Bart Gunn is introduced as Helmsley's opponent. Meanwhile, the Honky Tonk Man is the guest commentator for this match for some reason. While Helmsley's standing in front of the announcer's table, J.R. takes this opportunity to ask about the mysterious woman attacking Marlena, and Triple-H denies any association with said woman. The match starts with some arm wringers by both men while HTM talks about his quest to find the next great superstar to mentor. Helmsley takes a dropkick to the mouth from Bart, who then follows up with an armbar while J.R. plugs the WWF Hotline. I really don't care much about this match, and neither do the announcers as they talk about everything but the match. Eventually, Goldust runs in and chases Helmsley through the stands, giving Bart Gunn a countout victory which was probably forgotten by the next show. This match was filler and the only purpose was to further the Goldust-Helmsley feud. That said, it was probably the worst match of the night.
A clip of Dr. James Andrews is shown in which he talks about Shawn Michaels's knee injury. Apparently, Michaels may or may not need surgery depending on how the knee responds to four to six weeks of rehab. It is finally time for the WWF Title match between the champion, Bret Hart, and Sycho Sid, provided that Steve Austin does not interfere again. The match starts with both men trading punches, Bret backs Sid in the corner, only for Sid to turn it around and fire away a few shots to the gut. For much of the first few minutes, the match is an exchange of punches and kicks, with a few moves mixed in. Bret uses the Russian leg sweep and the side backbreaker, while Sid employs a short arm clothesline and a backbreaker of his own to great effect. Sid's got Bret trapped in the corner and seems to have the advantage, but Bret remembers that the Sycho one has a bum knee, so he attacks it with kicks at first before going to work on it. Bret has Sid down and drags him to the post, where he first slams the knee against the steel before debuting the ringpost figure-four. I tried that once with a bedpost, but it didn't go too well. Anyway, back from break, and the Hitman still is attacking at Sid's knee. Just when Hart seems to have the advantage, Sid comes back and hits a big clothesline. He follows that up with a legdrop for a two count. Sid slams Bret hard down on the mat, then climbs to the second rope. This seems like a bad idea, but Sid, after nearly slipping, comes down with a leg drop that sort of connects and gets another two count. A chokeslam is attempted by Sid, but Hart gets out of that and backs Sid against the ropes. He charges for a cross body block, but Sid moves and Hart hits the ropes instead. Sid goes to attack, but Bret uses a back drop in desperation to dump Sid out of the ring. WAITAMINUTE! It's Austin again from the crowd, but Sid has none of that and punches Stone Cold in the face before getting back up on the apron. Sid tries a sunset flip, and remarkably, it's looks rather decent, but Hart rolls through and locks on the Sharpshooter. While the ref is checking on Sid, Austin gets on the apron and hits the Hitman with a chair behind the ref's back. One powerbomb later, and we have a new WWF Champion. Post-match, Sid celebrates, but is interrupted by the Undertaker, and the two big men have a staredown as the show closes. Good match, although it was slightly hurt by Sid forgetting to sell his injury. Still, the best match of the night.
Overall, this show was kind of a mixed bag. On one hand, the Hart-Sid storyline and match was compelling, and Owen and Flash Funk had a pretty decent match as well. On the other hand, a lot of the other matches were just pointless filler, and I was really getting annoyed by all the constant interviews interrupting the matches, especially when the subject had nothing to do with the match at all. I guess this was a decent show, so I'll give it a 5.5 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading. Remember, if you have any ideas for future posts at the Canon Review, than send them to me either by leaving a comment, by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com, or by telling me if you happen to find yourself talking to me.
Owen Hart vs. Flash Funk - WWF Raw 2/17/97 by smarkschoice
Showing posts with label Steve Austin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steve Austin. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Canon Wrestling Review: WWF Smackdown, January 17, 2002
Before I begin, I'd like to apologize for my week-long break from updating this place. Recently I started a new job, and the job left with very little free time between work and sleep. Plus, I'm not exactly the best person at managing my time wisely, so there's that. But never fear, Canon Review readers, as I'm not going anywhere and will continue to provide reviews on a variety of topics whenever possible. Plus, there's the 2011 Canon Review Baseball Preview to look forward to, and that will be due out sometime next week, hopefully before Thursday.
But enough about that, as here's a look back at the January 17, 2002 episode of WWF Smackdown. This show is significant in that it featured the first match in which Triple-H and Booker T were involved in together. Well, maybe it's not that significant, but whatever. Anyway, this is the 'go-home' show before the 2002 Royal Rumble, so I expect a lot of talk about that event on this show. Well, let's start this thing.
The show starts with The Rock arriving just in time. Stone Cold Steve Austin greets The Rock with some good news, as Austin is going to win the 2002 Royal Rumble. But with that news comes some bad news, as Austin explains to The Rock that after Rock wins the Undisputed Title from Chris Jericho at the Royal Rumble, he'll have to face Stone Cold for a third time at Wrestlemania. Austin reminds Rock that he has a 2-0 record against him at Wrestlemania, but the Rock casually proclaims that he doesn't need a reminder, as he thinks about that fact quite often. In fact, Rock thought about it when he pinned Austin at the 2001 Survivor Series just mere months ago. Oh Snap.
Fireworks go off and the show officially starts with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler doing commentary. Nine years after this, and they're going to wrestle each other at Wrestlemania. I can honestly say I did not see that one coming back in 2002. The two explain that in tonight's main event, the former Two-Man Power Trip of Austin and Triple-H will reform tonight to face off against Booker T and Kurt Angle in Triple-H's first match back from injury. But forget all that, because next is Rob Van Dam vs. William Regal. On the previous edition of Raw, Regal used brass knuckles to knock out both Van Dam and Edge and win a tag match along with Test, who is a non-factor here. Van Dam takes Regal by surprise with a series of quick kicks and gets a two-count after a quick leg drop, but Regal uses a massive overhead German Suplex on Van Dam to flip RVD over and take the advantage. Regal continues working over Van Dam with a series of blows and a couple of submission holds before Van Dam begins his comeback. Rolling Thunder by Van Dam gets a two count, as does a body press from the top rope. Regal dodges a Van Dam charge in the corner, drags him over to the apron, and goes outside to grab some brass knuckles conveniently stashed away along with a chair. The ref catches the chair, and Regal seems taken aback as Van Dam catches him with a flying kick to the head. Regal's backed up in the corner again and Van Dam gives Regal a pair of shoulder blocks before backflipping for a third. But the backflip is all the time Regal needs to take the knucks out and blast Van Dam with a punch, and he gets the victory. Decent match considering the time constraints, which is no surprise from Regal.
Kurt Angle is looking for The Rock, but he still has time to berate a security guard. He finds Rock talking his cell phone to Jerry Lynn, and interrupts Rock to tell him that he, Kurt Angle, will win the 2002 Royal Rumble and face Rock at Wrestlemania. Seems like nobody's giving Jericho a chance to make it through as champ to Wrestlemania, does it. Rock digs it, calls it a dream match and tells Angle to close his eyes and imagine the possibilities. However, just as Angle is really getting into the dream of kicking the Rock's butt at Wrestlemania, the Rock gets in his own digs and proclaims that the only way Angle is beating Rock is in a dream world. Angle does not seem to be pleased by this at all. Up next is Billy Gunn, which means that many people back then were wondering what else was on that night. He comes out with Chuck Palumbo to face Tajiri, who is with Torrie Wilson. Tajiri uses his speed to gain the upper hand early on with a headscissors and an enziguri kick, but his momentium is halted quite forcefully by a full-nelson facebuster from Gunn. Gunn keeps him down for a minute, but Tajiri gets back in the match and eventually catches Gunn in the Tarantula hold, setting up for the buzzsaw kick. Chuck comes in, and gets green mist sprayed in his face for his efforts. But Chuck's distraction was worthwhile, as Gunn catches Tajiri with the Famouser (ugh) and gets the three count. Post match, Chuck's still not happy about having green mist in his face, so he Super Kicks Tajiri in anger. Match was what it was, nothing really to write home about as it was too short to build to anything.
The Coach is standing outside Triple-H's locker room when a man that is definitely not Triple-H walks out to inform Coach that HHH is looking for The Rock. Well, Triple-H finds him in his locker room, and as you might suspect, informs the Rock that it will be he that wins the Royal Rumble. I suppose Chuck Palumbo and Lance Storm are also going to tell Rock that they'll win as well. To the back, where Trish Stratus is wearing an ugly green hat and being interviewed by Lillian Garcia. After Lillian stumbles through a question, Jazz attacks Trish Stratus from behind, then slams a crate against Trish's hand before proclaiming that she'll see Stratus again on Sunday as Lawler questions why Jazz attacked Trish. My guess would be that she did it to weaken Trish for Sunday, but what do I know?
Yo, it's DDP, and he's taking on The Big Boss Man. If Page wins, he gets to compete in the Royal Rumble, but Lawler seems to doubt DDP's chances for whatever reason. At first, Bossman seems to be proving Lawler right, punishing DDP with power moves such as a big boot and a powerslam. But a desperation jawbreaker out of a sleeper hold turns the tide for DDP, and a tornado clothesline follows. DDP gets Bossman in the corner for a ten punch, but just as ref Teddy Long tries to get between them, Bossman hits a low blow. Bossman starts jaw jacking about pancakes or whatever to the crowd, then scoops DDP up. But the master of the Diamond Cutter strikes again, as he slithers out of Bossman's grip and drops the former lawman to get the three count and enter the Royal Rumble. Now, he gets to go back and tell Rock that he's going to win the Rumble. Good little TV match here, all in all.
But before DDP can tell the Rock anything, The Undertaker has a word for the "People's Champ". Like everyone else, The Undertaker proclaims that he will win the Royal Rumble, but he's the first man that says that he doubts The Rock will beat Jericho on Sunday. But just in case, he wants The Rock to think about a potential Rock-Undertaker meeting. The Rock has had enough of people telling him about their plans, so he decides to go to the ring. Coming out to a tremendous ovation, The Rock explains that this year's Royal Rumble will be different, because everybody's going to win. He finds a cameraman, takes his camera, and explains that the camera man just whispered that he's going to win the Rumble. The Rock still has the camera, which is badly out of focus at this point, and zooms up on a six-year old kid and a cute blonde in the front row and says that they also proclaimed victory in the Royal Rumble, as did section 108. Finished with the camera, The Rock proclaims that it does not matter if it's Austin, Undertaker, Mr. Perfect, or "Punky Brewster on an ice cream sammich" that wins the Rumble, but whoever it is they'll be facing the Rock for the Undisputed Championship, and nothing can stop that. Out comes the man that can stop that, future Dancing With the Stars competitor and current champion Chris Jericho, and he does not look happy. Jericho seems pissed off that's he being referred to as an afterthought, and tells everyone that they can go to hell. He then reminds Rock that it was Jericho that beat Rock on the way to becoming Undisputed Champion, and that Rock can face whoever he darn well pleases at Wrestlemania, but it won't be for Jericho's title. Jericho then proclaims that this is his show, which the Rock takes exception to, as Smackdown is The Rock's show. Actually, it's Vince McMahon's show, but who's counting. Before the Rock can deliver his trademark line, Jericho interrupts and demands respect from the Rock, proclaiming that he is not a joke. So the Rock comes down to the ramp, and the two have a staredown before Rock promises to deliver a beating upon Jericho if he smells what is cooking. Really good stuff here between two masters of the mic, as this was quite an intense promo and made me want to go back and watch their match from the 2002 Rumble.
Up next is Rikishi in an over-the-top challenge against Lance Storm and Christian that, according to Michael Cole, will draw interest to those not familiar with the Royal Rumble. Well that, or people will vomit after Rikishi sticks his bulbous butt in somebody's face. The two Canadians try to double team Rikishi, but that doesn't go too well, as Kishi dominates the smaller men. He gives Lance Storm a stinkface, then kicks him out of the ring. Christian tries to attack from behind, but gets backdropped over the top onto Storm. But WAITAMINUTE! here comes The Big Show to get some. He clotheslines Rikishi down, but then takes a Samoan Drop for his efforts. Rikishi waits for Show to get back on his feet, which proves to be a mistake, as Show picks him up and carries him across the ring before dumping the Samoan over the top rope. Here comes the APA of Bradshaw and Faarooq, and they eliminate Show after a Bradshaw clothesline takes him over the rope. Bradshaw nearly dumps Faarooq over, but catches him before he can leave. They argue a bit, then Faarooq does the same, and then they make up only for Kane to come down. He gets double-teamed, but is able to duck a Bradshaw clothesline and back drop him over the ropes. Then Kane grabs Faarooq by the throat and slings him over the top before setting the posts aflame with his own two hands. Well, as far as previewing the Royal Rumble, this segment did it's job.
It's the Stacker 2 burn of the week, which sees Spike Dudley pick up the upset victory over his half-brother Bubba Ray thanks to some help from Spike's partner Tazz. Cut to earlier tonight in the parking lot, and The Dudley Boys put a beating on Spike and Tazz once they arrived at the building. Bubba slams Tazz against an 18-wheeler before locking him in the trunk of his own car, then the two Dudleys mercelessly beat up on Spike before dropping him with a 3-D on the concrete floor. Will Spike and Tazz be able to defend their titles at the Rumble? Meanwhile, Debra wants a piece of Stephanie McMahon Helmsley, but since her husband is teaming up with Debra's husband Stone Cold, Austin asks that Debra stay in the back so he can get through tonight's match without distraction. To the back, where Kurt Angle and Booker T are discussing the tag-team main event later tonight, and argue about which one of them will win the Rumble on Sunday. Angle states that this match will be "sweet and sour like an ice-cold shower" Right. Back to the ring, where Edge comes out to face off against Test. Edge starts the match on top with the world's worst Frankensteiner and a spinning heel kick that gets a two count, then Test takes over after an Uncle Slam. After stomping on Edge for a while, Test slips up and takes an enziguri from Edge. Edge gets a pair of two counts after a modified front face buster and an Edge-O-Matic, then the two men take the fight to the outside. Regal comes out and tries to sneak up on Edge, but that doesn't work, then Test tries to come from behind with a steel chair, only to get speared. Edge then wipes out both of his opponents with chair shots to the head. Referee Nick Patrick disqualifies Edge, so Edge decides that Patrick needs a chair shot to the head as well. Match was kind of boring, to be honest.
A video preview of the Royal Rumble plays, set to the song 'Cocky' by Kid Rock. Then it's to the back, where Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley is gloating over Debra not being allowed at ringside. But hold the phone, as Triple-H declares that Stephanie is also not allowed at ringside tonight in this, his first match back from injury. It's now time for the main event of the evening. In his last match, Triple-H teamed up with Stone Cold, but apparently the significance is lost on the announcers as they never mention this. HHH and Austin stare down at the beginning, but Angle tries to charge both men and ends up eating a fistful of fists from both men. Austin dominates Angle early on, then Booker T comes on only to eat a clothesline. Austin holds Booker up, and tags in the game, who fires away on Booker with ruthless aggression. After a distraction from Angle, Booker T hits a thrust kick to knock 'The Game' down. Tag to Angle, and Triple-H does that weird running choke he did for a couple of months after his comeback. Austin comes in, takes care of both men for a while until a standing spin kick from Booker finally knocks down Austin. Booker and Angle double up on Austin for the next few minutes or so, using quick tags and stomps to keep Austin down. Austin tries for a comeback, but a well-timed overhead belly-to-belly suplex from Angle takes care of that. Tag to Booker T, who hits the ax kick, does the Spinarooni and nails Austin with the Harlem Sidekick. Cover, but HHH breaks it up. Angle and Booker continue to work over Austin, but after a missed double team effort, Austin clotheslines both his opponents and then crawls over for the hot tag to Triple-H. He takes care of everybody with running knees and clotheslines. HHH gets a two count on Booker after a knee to the face, then Angle comes in and oh here go hell come as all four men are now brawling. Austin and Triple-H throw their opponents over the top rope, then back into each other and tease a showdown, but Angle and Booker T come in and go after them. That doesn't go too well, as Triple-H sets Booker up for the Pedigree, but Angle takes care of that with a german suplex. Austin comes in, throws Angle over the ropes, ducks a leaping sidekick from Booker and hits the Stone Cold Stunner. But Booker doesn't go down right away, which allows Triple-H the opportunity to Pedigree him and pick up the victory for his team. Post-match, The Undertaker comes down and stares a hole through Austin and Triple-H. Match wasn't too bad, although it seemed like Triple-H was still unsure about his leg at this time. But still, these four men know what they're doing in the ring, and Angle and Booker bumped like mad men for their opponents here tonight.
Overall, not a bad show, but not one that really stands out either. The best part of the night was The Rock's 'camera promo' followed by his verbal confrontation with Jericho, while the main event was the best match of the night. Other than that, a lot of stuff seemed to be either filler or just not that interesting. Overall, I'd give this episode of Smackdown a 5.55 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
But enough about that, as here's a look back at the January 17, 2002 episode of WWF Smackdown. This show is significant in that it featured the first match in which Triple-H and Booker T were involved in together. Well, maybe it's not that significant, but whatever. Anyway, this is the 'go-home' show before the 2002 Royal Rumble, so I expect a lot of talk about that event on this show. Well, let's start this thing.
The show starts with The Rock arriving just in time. Stone Cold Steve Austin greets The Rock with some good news, as Austin is going to win the 2002 Royal Rumble. But with that news comes some bad news, as Austin explains to The Rock that after Rock wins the Undisputed Title from Chris Jericho at the Royal Rumble, he'll have to face Stone Cold for a third time at Wrestlemania. Austin reminds Rock that he has a 2-0 record against him at Wrestlemania, but the Rock casually proclaims that he doesn't need a reminder, as he thinks about that fact quite often. In fact, Rock thought about it when he pinned Austin at the 2001 Survivor Series just mere months ago. Oh Snap.
Fireworks go off and the show officially starts with Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler doing commentary. Nine years after this, and they're going to wrestle each other at Wrestlemania. I can honestly say I did not see that one coming back in 2002. The two explain that in tonight's main event, the former Two-Man Power Trip of Austin and Triple-H will reform tonight to face off against Booker T and Kurt Angle in Triple-H's first match back from injury. But forget all that, because next is Rob Van Dam vs. William Regal. On the previous edition of Raw, Regal used brass knuckles to knock out both Van Dam and Edge and win a tag match along with Test, who is a non-factor here. Van Dam takes Regal by surprise with a series of quick kicks and gets a two-count after a quick leg drop, but Regal uses a massive overhead German Suplex on Van Dam to flip RVD over and take the advantage. Regal continues working over Van Dam with a series of blows and a couple of submission holds before Van Dam begins his comeback. Rolling Thunder by Van Dam gets a two count, as does a body press from the top rope. Regal dodges a Van Dam charge in the corner, drags him over to the apron, and goes outside to grab some brass knuckles conveniently stashed away along with a chair. The ref catches the chair, and Regal seems taken aback as Van Dam catches him with a flying kick to the head. Regal's backed up in the corner again and Van Dam gives Regal a pair of shoulder blocks before backflipping for a third. But the backflip is all the time Regal needs to take the knucks out and blast Van Dam with a punch, and he gets the victory. Decent match considering the time constraints, which is no surprise from Regal.
Kurt Angle is looking for The Rock, but he still has time to berate a security guard. He finds Rock talking his cell phone to Jerry Lynn, and interrupts Rock to tell him that he, Kurt Angle, will win the 2002 Royal Rumble and face Rock at Wrestlemania. Seems like nobody's giving Jericho a chance to make it through as champ to Wrestlemania, does it. Rock digs it, calls it a dream match and tells Angle to close his eyes and imagine the possibilities. However, just as Angle is really getting into the dream of kicking the Rock's butt at Wrestlemania, the Rock gets in his own digs and proclaims that the only way Angle is beating Rock is in a dream world. Angle does not seem to be pleased by this at all. Up next is Billy Gunn, which means that many people back then were wondering what else was on that night. He comes out with Chuck Palumbo to face Tajiri, who is with Torrie Wilson. Tajiri uses his speed to gain the upper hand early on with a headscissors and an enziguri kick, but his momentium is halted quite forcefully by a full-nelson facebuster from Gunn. Gunn keeps him down for a minute, but Tajiri gets back in the match and eventually catches Gunn in the Tarantula hold, setting up for the buzzsaw kick. Chuck comes in, and gets green mist sprayed in his face for his efforts. But Chuck's distraction was worthwhile, as Gunn catches Tajiri with the Famouser (ugh) and gets the three count. Post match, Chuck's still not happy about having green mist in his face, so he Super Kicks Tajiri in anger. Match was what it was, nothing really to write home about as it was too short to build to anything.
The Coach is standing outside Triple-H's locker room when a man that is definitely not Triple-H walks out to inform Coach that HHH is looking for The Rock. Well, Triple-H finds him in his locker room, and as you might suspect, informs the Rock that it will be he that wins the Royal Rumble. I suppose Chuck Palumbo and Lance Storm are also going to tell Rock that they'll win as well. To the back, where Trish Stratus is wearing an ugly green hat and being interviewed by Lillian Garcia. After Lillian stumbles through a question, Jazz attacks Trish Stratus from behind, then slams a crate against Trish's hand before proclaiming that she'll see Stratus again on Sunday as Lawler questions why Jazz attacked Trish. My guess would be that she did it to weaken Trish for Sunday, but what do I know?
Yo, it's DDP, and he's taking on The Big Boss Man. If Page wins, he gets to compete in the Royal Rumble, but Lawler seems to doubt DDP's chances for whatever reason. At first, Bossman seems to be proving Lawler right, punishing DDP with power moves such as a big boot and a powerslam. But a desperation jawbreaker out of a sleeper hold turns the tide for DDP, and a tornado clothesline follows. DDP gets Bossman in the corner for a ten punch, but just as ref Teddy Long tries to get between them, Bossman hits a low blow. Bossman starts jaw jacking about pancakes or whatever to the crowd, then scoops DDP up. But the master of the Diamond Cutter strikes again, as he slithers out of Bossman's grip and drops the former lawman to get the three count and enter the Royal Rumble. Now, he gets to go back and tell Rock that he's going to win the Rumble. Good little TV match here, all in all.
But before DDP can tell the Rock anything, The Undertaker has a word for the "People's Champ". Like everyone else, The Undertaker proclaims that he will win the Royal Rumble, but he's the first man that says that he doubts The Rock will beat Jericho on Sunday. But just in case, he wants The Rock to think about a potential Rock-Undertaker meeting. The Rock has had enough of people telling him about their plans, so he decides to go to the ring. Coming out to a tremendous ovation, The Rock explains that this year's Royal Rumble will be different, because everybody's going to win. He finds a cameraman, takes his camera, and explains that the camera man just whispered that he's going to win the Rumble. The Rock still has the camera, which is badly out of focus at this point, and zooms up on a six-year old kid and a cute blonde in the front row and says that they also proclaimed victory in the Royal Rumble, as did section 108. Finished with the camera, The Rock proclaims that it does not matter if it's Austin, Undertaker, Mr. Perfect, or "Punky Brewster on an ice cream sammich" that wins the Rumble, but whoever it is they'll be facing the Rock for the Undisputed Championship, and nothing can stop that. Out comes the man that can stop that, future Dancing With the Stars competitor and current champion Chris Jericho, and he does not look happy. Jericho seems pissed off that's he being referred to as an afterthought, and tells everyone that they can go to hell. He then reminds Rock that it was Jericho that beat Rock on the way to becoming Undisputed Champion, and that Rock can face whoever he darn well pleases at Wrestlemania, but it won't be for Jericho's title. Jericho then proclaims that this is his show, which the Rock takes exception to, as Smackdown is The Rock's show. Actually, it's Vince McMahon's show, but who's counting. Before the Rock can deliver his trademark line, Jericho interrupts and demands respect from the Rock, proclaiming that he is not a joke. So the Rock comes down to the ramp, and the two have a staredown before Rock promises to deliver a beating upon Jericho if he smells what is cooking. Really good stuff here between two masters of the mic, as this was quite an intense promo and made me want to go back and watch their match from the 2002 Rumble.
Up next is Rikishi in an over-the-top challenge against Lance Storm and Christian that, according to Michael Cole, will draw interest to those not familiar with the Royal Rumble. Well that, or people will vomit after Rikishi sticks his bulbous butt in somebody's face. The two Canadians try to double team Rikishi, but that doesn't go too well, as Kishi dominates the smaller men. He gives Lance Storm a stinkface, then kicks him out of the ring. Christian tries to attack from behind, but gets backdropped over the top onto Storm. But WAITAMINUTE! here comes The Big Show to get some. He clotheslines Rikishi down, but then takes a Samoan Drop for his efforts. Rikishi waits for Show to get back on his feet, which proves to be a mistake, as Show picks him up and carries him across the ring before dumping the Samoan over the top rope. Here comes the APA of Bradshaw and Faarooq, and they eliminate Show after a Bradshaw clothesline takes him over the rope. Bradshaw nearly dumps Faarooq over, but catches him before he can leave. They argue a bit, then Faarooq does the same, and then they make up only for Kane to come down. He gets double-teamed, but is able to duck a Bradshaw clothesline and back drop him over the ropes. Then Kane grabs Faarooq by the throat and slings him over the top before setting the posts aflame with his own two hands. Well, as far as previewing the Royal Rumble, this segment did it's job.
It's the Stacker 2 burn of the week, which sees Spike Dudley pick up the upset victory over his half-brother Bubba Ray thanks to some help from Spike's partner Tazz. Cut to earlier tonight in the parking lot, and The Dudley Boys put a beating on Spike and Tazz once they arrived at the building. Bubba slams Tazz against an 18-wheeler before locking him in the trunk of his own car, then the two Dudleys mercelessly beat up on Spike before dropping him with a 3-D on the concrete floor. Will Spike and Tazz be able to defend their titles at the Rumble? Meanwhile, Debra wants a piece of Stephanie McMahon Helmsley, but since her husband is teaming up with Debra's husband Stone Cold, Austin asks that Debra stay in the back so he can get through tonight's match without distraction. To the back, where Kurt Angle and Booker T are discussing the tag-team main event later tonight, and argue about which one of them will win the Rumble on Sunday. Angle states that this match will be "sweet and sour like an ice-cold shower" Right. Back to the ring, where Edge comes out to face off against Test. Edge starts the match on top with the world's worst Frankensteiner and a spinning heel kick that gets a two count, then Test takes over after an Uncle Slam. After stomping on Edge for a while, Test slips up and takes an enziguri from Edge. Edge gets a pair of two counts after a modified front face buster and an Edge-O-Matic, then the two men take the fight to the outside. Regal comes out and tries to sneak up on Edge, but that doesn't work, then Test tries to come from behind with a steel chair, only to get speared. Edge then wipes out both of his opponents with chair shots to the head. Referee Nick Patrick disqualifies Edge, so Edge decides that Patrick needs a chair shot to the head as well. Match was kind of boring, to be honest.
A video preview of the Royal Rumble plays, set to the song 'Cocky' by Kid Rock. Then it's to the back, where Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley is gloating over Debra not being allowed at ringside. But hold the phone, as Triple-H declares that Stephanie is also not allowed at ringside tonight in this, his first match back from injury. It's now time for the main event of the evening. In his last match, Triple-H teamed up with Stone Cold, but apparently the significance is lost on the announcers as they never mention this. HHH and Austin stare down at the beginning, but Angle tries to charge both men and ends up eating a fistful of fists from both men. Austin dominates Angle early on, then Booker T comes on only to eat a clothesline. Austin holds Booker up, and tags in the game, who fires away on Booker with ruthless aggression. After a distraction from Angle, Booker T hits a thrust kick to knock 'The Game' down. Tag to Angle, and Triple-H does that weird running choke he did for a couple of months after his comeback. Austin comes in, takes care of both men for a while until a standing spin kick from Booker finally knocks down Austin. Booker and Angle double up on Austin for the next few minutes or so, using quick tags and stomps to keep Austin down. Austin tries for a comeback, but a well-timed overhead belly-to-belly suplex from Angle takes care of that. Tag to Booker T, who hits the ax kick, does the Spinarooni and nails Austin with the Harlem Sidekick. Cover, but HHH breaks it up. Angle and Booker continue to work over Austin, but after a missed double team effort, Austin clotheslines both his opponents and then crawls over for the hot tag to Triple-H. He takes care of everybody with running knees and clotheslines. HHH gets a two count on Booker after a knee to the face, then Angle comes in and oh here go hell come as all four men are now brawling. Austin and Triple-H throw their opponents over the top rope, then back into each other and tease a showdown, but Angle and Booker T come in and go after them. That doesn't go too well, as Triple-H sets Booker up for the Pedigree, but Angle takes care of that with a german suplex. Austin comes in, throws Angle over the ropes, ducks a leaping sidekick from Booker and hits the Stone Cold Stunner. But Booker doesn't go down right away, which allows Triple-H the opportunity to Pedigree him and pick up the victory for his team. Post-match, The Undertaker comes down and stares a hole through Austin and Triple-H. Match wasn't too bad, although it seemed like Triple-H was still unsure about his leg at this time. But still, these four men know what they're doing in the ring, and Angle and Booker bumped like mad men for their opponents here tonight.
Overall, not a bad show, but not one that really stands out either. The best part of the night was The Rock's 'camera promo' followed by his verbal confrontation with Jericho, while the main event was the best match of the night. Other than that, a lot of stuff seemed to be either filler or just not that interesting. Overall, I'd give this episode of Smackdown a 5.55 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Canon Movie Review: The Expendables
Last week, I was discussing the Oscar Nominations with a few people when it occurred to me that I hadn't watched any of the movies that were nominated. Furthermore, I realized that I haven't seen any movie that came out in theaters in 2010. I'm not sure why this happened, as while it is true that I really don't watch a whole lot of movies, I usually go to the theater a couple times a year to check out some flick. Heck, I even saw Van Helsing when it came out in theaters, and that movie wasn't too good, let me tell you. But, here we are. So, in an attempt to rectify that, I decided to watch The Expendables. Sure, it wasn't nominated for any Oscars, but hey, it's a start.
The Expendables is a 2010 film directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone. The movie also stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Bruce Willis. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal were also offered roles in the film, but both men declined for different reasons. Wesley Snipes was also offered a role in the film, but due to legal troubles he was unable to star. Other than that, pretty much every big time action movie star of the past 30 years, with the glaring exception of Chuck Norris, was in this film. The plot of The Expendables is rather simple, as a group of mercenaries called The Expendables led by Barney Ross (Stallone) take up a mission to overthrow a dictator of a fictional island and the ex-CIA Agent (Roberts) who has pretty much taken over the island and its illegal drug trade. So, of course, they go to the island and blow lots of stuff up. A few notes about this film, and yes there will be SPOILERS, so read carefully:
- When watching The Expendables, I expected a lot of action-scenes full of fighting and gunfire and explosions, and while there was a lot of it, the action shots itself were not well shot at all. For one, a lot of the scenes were way too close up on the actors, so you couldn't tell which Expendable was doing what half the time. Furthermore, Stallone for some reason used the camera shaking technique a lot, particularly in the climatic scene, which I must admit I am not a fan of at all. I guess he did it to add some sort of realism to the fight, but damn it I wasn't watching this film for realism, I was watching it in the hopes of getting a well-shot action sequence, and I got neither.
- The acting in The Expendables is a mixed bag. Li is hardly in the film and he's either doing martial arts scenes or complaining about money (I wonder if he did that behind the scenes), Crews and Couture are one-note members of the Expendables, although Crews does better in his role. Stone Cold plays Stone Cold as Eric Roberts's enforcer, while Stallone and Lundgren at least try to act, but their performances are average at best. Statham is rather believable as the knife throwing expert Lee Christmas (despite the dumb name). Sure, he's given a side story with Charisma Carpenter that goes nowhere, but he still does well in those scenes. Rourke is easily the best actor in the whole film, and his scene where he reminisces about a girl he didn't save in Bosnia is the most emotional scene in the film, even if Stallone almost ruined it by staring blankly for a minute before disappearing off the screen.
- The Expendables apparently have an unlimited budget. I mean, they have their own plane complete with two big guns that fire hundreds of rounds a minute, and they also have tons of grenades, remote explosives, more guns than an NRA convention, motorcycles, and Ross drives around in a souped up 55 'Ford pick up. At one point, I thought to myself 'I wonder what their overhead is?' A dumb thing to think I know, but still.
- The Expendables are also hella tough, as despite fighting an entire army loaded to the teeth they hardly suffer a scratch. The only time any of the Expendables are in real danger is when they're fighting each other, or when Stallone's character must take on Steve Austin. This total domination of their opponents kind of takes away from the danger of the film, as it's pretty clear from the beginning what's going to happen at the end since nobody is made out to be vulnerable.
- Filming for The Expendables was somewhat hard on the actors, as Sylvester Stallone actually broke his neck during his fight scene with Austin. Speaking of Austin, he also suffered many injuries, and according to Stallone nearly lost a leg when an explosion went off too close to him. I'm also surprised that Randy Couture didn't burn himself considering he punched a man that was ON FIRE, although it was probably a special effect.
Overall, The Expendables was billed as a throwback to the big-time action films of the 1980s with big guns and lots of explosions. While it had some of that, The Expendables just seemed to be missing something that those films had. Stallone tries to give this film some sort of deeper meaning, but it just doesn't come across too well, and the action scenes were a mixed bag at best due to some poor cinematography. There are a lot worse way to spend an hour and a half, but while The Expendables is a decent time-killer where you don't have to think too much, I was hoping for a little more. Overall, I'll give it a 4.75 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
The Expendables is a 2010 film directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone. The movie also stars Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Bruce Willis. Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Segal were also offered roles in the film, but both men declined for different reasons. Wesley Snipes was also offered a role in the film, but due to legal troubles he was unable to star. Other than that, pretty much every big time action movie star of the past 30 years, with the glaring exception of Chuck Norris, was in this film. The plot of The Expendables is rather simple, as a group of mercenaries called The Expendables led by Barney Ross (Stallone) take up a mission to overthrow a dictator of a fictional island and the ex-CIA Agent (Roberts) who has pretty much taken over the island and its illegal drug trade. So, of course, they go to the island and blow lots of stuff up. A few notes about this film, and yes there will be SPOILERS, so read carefully:
- When watching The Expendables, I expected a lot of action-scenes full of fighting and gunfire and explosions, and while there was a lot of it, the action shots itself were not well shot at all. For one, a lot of the scenes were way too close up on the actors, so you couldn't tell which Expendable was doing what half the time. Furthermore, Stallone for some reason used the camera shaking technique a lot, particularly in the climatic scene, which I must admit I am not a fan of at all. I guess he did it to add some sort of realism to the fight, but damn it I wasn't watching this film for realism, I was watching it in the hopes of getting a well-shot action sequence, and I got neither.
- The acting in The Expendables is a mixed bag. Li is hardly in the film and he's either doing martial arts scenes or complaining about money (I wonder if he did that behind the scenes), Crews and Couture are one-note members of the Expendables, although Crews does better in his role. Stone Cold plays Stone Cold as Eric Roberts's enforcer, while Stallone and Lundgren at least try to act, but their performances are average at best. Statham is rather believable as the knife throwing expert Lee Christmas (despite the dumb name). Sure, he's given a side story with Charisma Carpenter that goes nowhere, but he still does well in those scenes. Rourke is easily the best actor in the whole film, and his scene where he reminisces about a girl he didn't save in Bosnia is the most emotional scene in the film, even if Stallone almost ruined it by staring blankly for a minute before disappearing off the screen.
- The Expendables apparently have an unlimited budget. I mean, they have their own plane complete with two big guns that fire hundreds of rounds a minute, and they also have tons of grenades, remote explosives, more guns than an NRA convention, motorcycles, and Ross drives around in a souped up 55 'Ford pick up. At one point, I thought to myself 'I wonder what their overhead is?' A dumb thing to think I know, but still.
- The Expendables are also hella tough, as despite fighting an entire army loaded to the teeth they hardly suffer a scratch. The only time any of the Expendables are in real danger is when they're fighting each other, or when Stallone's character must take on Steve Austin. This total domination of their opponents kind of takes away from the danger of the film, as it's pretty clear from the beginning what's going to happen at the end since nobody is made out to be vulnerable.
- Filming for The Expendables was somewhat hard on the actors, as Sylvester Stallone actually broke his neck during his fight scene with Austin. Speaking of Austin, he also suffered many injuries, and according to Stallone nearly lost a leg when an explosion went off too close to him. I'm also surprised that Randy Couture didn't burn himself considering he punched a man that was ON FIRE, although it was probably a special effect.
Overall, The Expendables was billed as a throwback to the big-time action films of the 1980s with big guns and lots of explosions. While it had some of that, The Expendables just seemed to be missing something that those films had. Stallone tries to give this film some sort of deeper meaning, but it just doesn't come across too well, and the action scenes were a mixed bag at best due to some poor cinematography. There are a lot worse way to spend an hour and a half, but while The Expendables is a decent time-killer where you don't have to think too much, I was hoping for a little more. Overall, I'll give it a 4.75 out of 10. Well, thanks for reading, and if you any ideas for future posts, or thoughts about this post, than either leave a comment on the blog or send them to me at e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Let's talk about Kurt Angle
Recently, a wrestling magazine out of the UK called Powerslam released it's annual top 50 wrestlers of the year list. Number one on that list is Kurt Angle, as you probably guessed by the title of this post. So, in tribute of this accomplishment, I have decided to watch a few videos on Kurt Angle and review them for your amusement. I will be choosing which videos to watch by searching the Google Video search engine, and picking videos with random numbers, so who the heck knows what I'll get. So, without further adieu, here's a look at a man that shares a birthday with me (albeit a few years apart), Kurt Angle.
Video 1: A Look at Kurt Angle Training
So, we all have wondered how an Olympic Gold Medalist who switched over to professional wrestling and became the most intense individual in a profession full of intense people trains. Well, it may have been just me. Actually, I was never terribly interested either, but this video released by TNA shows us just how Kurt Angle trains to get in shape to carry Mr. Anderson to a decent match. According to this video, all Kurt Angle does to train is lift weights, be it with his legs, arms, whatever. Most of the video is Angle talking about his decision to drop himself out of the top 10 rankings in TNA and beat every wrestler ranked 1-10 on the list in order to earn a World Title match. I'm going to assume that he eventually realized this goal, or maybe he didn't. It is kind of odd to see Angle with some stubble on his face, as I'm more used to seeing him clean shaven. Anyway, I guess this wasn't that bad, so the video gets a 2 out of 5.
Video 2: WWE Kurt Angle Moonsaults From Cage
This video is from 2001, and features Kurt Angle in a commercial selling insurance. No, not really. As the title suggests, Kurt Angle does a moonsault off a cage in a match against Chris Benoit. He ends up missing Benoit and bouncing hard off the ground, which isn't surprising considering he did a backflip from about 12 feet high and landed straight on his torso. Even though it was a planned spot, that still probably didn't feel good. I'll give the video a 2.5 out of 5, because at least it was what it said it was.
WWE Kurt Angle Moonsaults From Cage
Uploaded by johncena77. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.
Video 3: TNA: Kurt Angle Threatens Jeff Jarrett
Yep, it's just as it says, Kurt Angle threatens Jeff Jarrett. This video is from late in 2008, just before TNA Final Resolution 2008. At that show, Kurt Angle is to face Rhino with the stipulation being that if Angle wins, he gets a match with Jarrett, whom he lost to at the previous TNA pay-per-view. If Angle loses, he leaves TNA for good. Obviously, Angle won in a match that I actually reviewed earlier this year. So Angle calls Jarrett out, and tells him to celebrate, because Jarrett's celebrating somehow makes Angle stronger. Angle declares that he's more focused on beating Jarrett then he was winning the Gold Medal at the 1996 Olympics, which either means that he really hates Jeff Jarrett or his priorities are out of whack. Or maybe Angle just lacks perspective. Angle then mentions the issues, both in the ring and out, that he and Jarrett have had since Angle arrived on the scene in 2006. Of course, now they probably have more issues than ever since Jarrett is now married to Angle's ex wife, but that's neither here nor there. Jarrett looks bemused for the first few minutes of Angle's diatribe, until Angle decides to bring up Jarrett's family. That set off Jarrett to the point where now he stood on the entrance ramp with an angered look in his eyes. Angle concludes that stating that he will take Jarrett's company and family away from him because he's Kurt by God Angle, and Jarrett responds that the only way Angle will accomplish that is "over my dead body". Well, I'm sure that's pretty much what Angle stated he was going to set out and do, but whatever. The promo was ok, although it's funny that TNA was building to an Angle-Rhino match when Rhino was hardly mentioned. I'll give it a 2.15 out of 5.
Video 4: John Cena vs. Kurt Angle and Tyson Tomko, Handicap Match
All right, finally a match. This match is from the September 12, 2005 edition of WWE Raw, and Eric Bischoff is out on the ramp to root on Tomko and Angle. Tomko gets the advantage for his team by attacking Cena from behind. Cena gets out of a back suplex and takes down Tomko with punches. Cena off the rope, but Angle gets a shot in from the apron, casuing Jim Ross to react as if Angle sodomized Cena. Tag to Angle, but Cena gets the advantage after a raised boot from the corner, and gets a two count after a side slam. Angle rakes the eyes and tags Tomko, but Cena's vision clears up in time to hit a cross body on Tomko out of the Irish Whip and follow up with a Bodyslam. Cena fights both men off for a while, knocking Angle off the apron, battling with Tomko, then baseball sliding into Angle, which knocks Kurt back against the barricade. Finally, Tomko hits Cena with a crummy looking big boot and Super Cena is down. Cena is able to kick out at one, but all men are down on the mat as we head to commercial.
Back to the action, Angle's stomping away on Cena, and for some reason they show a replay of Tomko's awful boot. Cena goes behind out of a side headlock and hits a back suplex on Angle, and the ref starts to count both men down. Angle's up first and tags in Tomko. Tomko has no success against Cena, as he takes a series of punches and clotheslines before Cena catches him with his awful arm drag after Tomko rebounds from the Irish Whip. Cena's fired up, which can mean only one thing, Oh, Here Go Hell Come. Cena delivers a suplex to Tomko and catches Angle with a Spinebuster. Cena sets up Tomko for the FU, but Angle German Suplexes Cena while he's holding Tomko in the air, and all three men come crashing down to the mat. Angle with another German Suplex, but Cena is able to counter out of the third. Tomko goes for the big boot, but Cena ducks and hits Angle instead. Cena finishes Tomko off after a shoulder block and the FU, and gets the victory. This match felt as if they crammed 10 minutes worth of stuff into a five minute match, as nobody sold anything for more than three seconds. I'd give it a 1.65 out of 5.
Video 5: Kurt Angle VS The Rock VS Stone Cold VS The Undertaker VS Triple H VS Rikishi Hell In A Cell
Oh Here go Hell in a Cell Come, as this is the main event from WWF Armageddon 2000 and is for Angle's World Heavyweight Title. Everybody's facing off against everybody as Kurt Angle and the Undertaker are the first to actually wrestle in the ring. Undertaker gets a two count after a big punch, while The Rock tries to choke Rikishi with a cord on the outside of the ring. Austin slams Triple-H against the cage a couple of times, while the Rock and Rikishi take their turn in the ring. Rikishi counters the Rock's series of punches, but The Rock rebounds with a flying clothesline after an Irish Whip. They leave, while Austin and Triple-H enter the ring to do a sequence that culminates with an Austin Thesz press into punches, followed by a front elbow drop. That gets a two count, and Austin gets another two count after setting Triple H up against the second rope and doing a rope straddle on his back. Triple-H catches Austin with a high knee, then drags Austin to slam his knee against the ring post before they leave and the Rock and Angle come in. Rock gets a two count after a Samoan drop. Now everybody's brawling on the outside, with Triple-H suplexing Austin on the outside mat. The Rock gets slinged into the cage by Rikishi, but Rikishi gets caught with a Kurt Angle baseball slide from the ring. Austin and Undertaker team up on Triple-H, and everyone's just sort of mindlessly brawling at this point. Triple-H becomes the first man to bleed after Austin rakes his head against the cage. Austin then walks all around the ring, raking HHH's face against the cage as he goes before finally stopping and slamming HHH against the cell wall. Austin throws HHH in the ring and goes to enter himself, only to get caught with a big leg drop from Rikishi on the back of his head. Rikishi and Triple-H seem to be an alliance, but Triple H changes that with a Pedigree on Rikishi, and only a last-second save by The Rock keeps The Game from winning the match. Angle saves Triple-H from losing to a DDT from the Rock, and then Olympic Slams the Rock, only for Austin to break up the count. Austin with the Stone Cold Stunner on Angle, but the Undertaker breaks up the cover and chokeslams Austin, only for Triple-H to pull Taker out of the ring. Taker responds by slamming Triple H against the cage a few time while the other men are down in the ring. Austin hits both Rikishi and the Undertaker with clothelines, and reverses a Rikishi Irish Whip with a Thesz Press and punches combo. All of a sudden, here comes Vince McMahon on the back of a flatbed truck.
Vince hooks the door to the back of the truck, and the truck is able to break the door off with ease. Vince then tells the crew of the truck to hook the chains up to the cell and take it down, which is probably not safe for the wrestlers inside. Here come Commissioner Mick Foley, who enforces the rules by force with punches to stooges Patterson and Brisco, before having Vince escorted out by security. Triple-H exits the cell door first, and Stone Cold follows, taking Triple-H down with a clothesline from behind. Austin slams Triple H onto the hood of a conveniently placed clunker. I don't know why there are a few junk cars next to the entrance ramp, but since they're here, why not use them? Austin uses a camera to smash Triple-H in the gut with, while everybody else have found their way to the car lot. Austin and Triple-H brawl around the construction truck, and eventually Triple-H slams Austin face first through a window. That makes Austin bleeder number two. Meanwhile, The Rock attempts to Rock Bottom HHH on the top of a car, but a Triple-H low blow puts a stop to that. Pedigree by Triple-H on the Rock, on the top of a car. Now The Rock is bleeding, meanwhile, Rikishi tries to brain Austin with a barrel, but Austin is able to kick Rikishi in the gut to bring a stop to that. Undertaker slams Angle on the hood of a car, and I believe Angle has a cut on his arm, but I'm not sure. Austin catapults Triple-H onto a car hood, and then tries to smush Triple-H with a barrel, but misses. Meanwhile, Undertaker and Angle are now around the announcer's table, and the Undertaker bonks Kurt on the headwith a microphone. While the others brawl, Angle somehow gets the advantage and bashes the Undertaker's head in with a chair. Now the Undertaker's busted open, and Triple-H has decided to climb the cage wall and go on the roof, with Austin right behind him. The two start brawling on the cage, with Triple-H teasing a fall off the cage, but eventually they move towards the middle and now Angle and the Undertaker have joined in the fun on the roof. Austin with an awkward looking Stunner on the roof. Angle becomes the fifth man to bleed from the forehead after The Undertaker bashes his head against a support beam on the roof of the cell.
Triple-H decides that it would be a good idea to climb down, and Austin follows. Rikihsi and The Rock are now on the roof, while a timekeeper throws The Undertaker a chair, and Taker uses it to bash Angle in the head. The Rock has decided to leave while Rikishi takes the chair to slug Taker. While Rikishi is busy with Undertaker, Angle decides that now would be a good time to head to solid ground. Kishi and Undertaker brawl on the cell, and get perilously close to the edge. Oh No, Taker chokeslams Rikishi off the cage roof into the back of the previously introduced flatbed truck, leaving Rikishi in a mess of wood chips and other stuff. The crowd goes into a frenzy as Rock and Stone Cold square off with each other, ending in a Rock Spinebuster. Rock goes for the People's Elbow, but Triple-H puts an end to that. The Rock knocks Triple-H out of the ring, then counters an Angle offensive attempt with a Rock Bottom. Cover, but Austin breaks it up before three. Both Austin and Rock struggle to their feet, and Austin hits the Stunner on The Rock, allowing The Rock to do his mega sell of that maneuver. Triple-H catches Austin before he can cover The Rock, and hits the neckbreaker on Stone Cold. That allows Kurt to roll over and drape his arm over The Rock, and get the three count to retain the title. Post match, Austin sends a message to Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner. Well, this was a mess of a match, but at least it was an entertaining one. I'll give it a 3.25 out of 5.
Well, thanks for reading The Canon Review's look at Kurt Angle, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Video 1: A Look at Kurt Angle Training
So, we all have wondered how an Olympic Gold Medalist who switched over to professional wrestling and became the most intense individual in a profession full of intense people trains. Well, it may have been just me. Actually, I was never terribly interested either, but this video released by TNA shows us just how Kurt Angle trains to get in shape to carry Mr. Anderson to a decent match. According to this video, all Kurt Angle does to train is lift weights, be it with his legs, arms, whatever. Most of the video is Angle talking about his decision to drop himself out of the top 10 rankings in TNA and beat every wrestler ranked 1-10 on the list in order to earn a World Title match. I'm going to assume that he eventually realized this goal, or maybe he didn't. It is kind of odd to see Angle with some stubble on his face, as I'm more used to seeing him clean shaven. Anyway, I guess this wasn't that bad, so the video gets a 2 out of 5.
Video 2: WWE Kurt Angle Moonsaults From Cage
This video is from 2001, and features Kurt Angle in a commercial selling insurance. No, not really. As the title suggests, Kurt Angle does a moonsault off a cage in a match against Chris Benoit. He ends up missing Benoit and bouncing hard off the ground, which isn't surprising considering he did a backflip from about 12 feet high and landed straight on his torso. Even though it was a planned spot, that still probably didn't feel good. I'll give the video a 2.5 out of 5, because at least it was what it said it was.
WWE Kurt Angle Moonsaults From Cage
Uploaded by johncena77. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.
Video 3: TNA: Kurt Angle Threatens Jeff Jarrett
Yep, it's just as it says, Kurt Angle threatens Jeff Jarrett. This video is from late in 2008, just before TNA Final Resolution 2008. At that show, Kurt Angle is to face Rhino with the stipulation being that if Angle wins, he gets a match with Jarrett, whom he lost to at the previous TNA pay-per-view. If Angle loses, he leaves TNA for good. Obviously, Angle won in a match that I actually reviewed earlier this year. So Angle calls Jarrett out, and tells him to celebrate, because Jarrett's celebrating somehow makes Angle stronger. Angle declares that he's more focused on beating Jarrett then he was winning the Gold Medal at the 1996 Olympics, which either means that he really hates Jeff Jarrett or his priorities are out of whack. Or maybe Angle just lacks perspective. Angle then mentions the issues, both in the ring and out, that he and Jarrett have had since Angle arrived on the scene in 2006. Of course, now they probably have more issues than ever since Jarrett is now married to Angle's ex wife, but that's neither here nor there. Jarrett looks bemused for the first few minutes of Angle's diatribe, until Angle decides to bring up Jarrett's family. That set off Jarrett to the point where now he stood on the entrance ramp with an angered look in his eyes. Angle concludes that stating that he will take Jarrett's company and family away from him because he's Kurt by God Angle, and Jarrett responds that the only way Angle will accomplish that is "over my dead body". Well, I'm sure that's pretty much what Angle stated he was going to set out and do, but whatever. The promo was ok, although it's funny that TNA was building to an Angle-Rhino match when Rhino was hardly mentioned. I'll give it a 2.15 out of 5.
Video 4: John Cena vs. Kurt Angle and Tyson Tomko, Handicap Match
All right, finally a match. This match is from the September 12, 2005 edition of WWE Raw, and Eric Bischoff is out on the ramp to root on Tomko and Angle. Tomko gets the advantage for his team by attacking Cena from behind. Cena gets out of a back suplex and takes down Tomko with punches. Cena off the rope, but Angle gets a shot in from the apron, casuing Jim Ross to react as if Angle sodomized Cena. Tag to Angle, but Cena gets the advantage after a raised boot from the corner, and gets a two count after a side slam. Angle rakes the eyes and tags Tomko, but Cena's vision clears up in time to hit a cross body on Tomko out of the Irish Whip and follow up with a Bodyslam. Cena fights both men off for a while, knocking Angle off the apron, battling with Tomko, then baseball sliding into Angle, which knocks Kurt back against the barricade. Finally, Tomko hits Cena with a crummy looking big boot and Super Cena is down. Cena is able to kick out at one, but all men are down on the mat as we head to commercial.
Back to the action, Angle's stomping away on Cena, and for some reason they show a replay of Tomko's awful boot. Cena goes behind out of a side headlock and hits a back suplex on Angle, and the ref starts to count both men down. Angle's up first and tags in Tomko. Tomko has no success against Cena, as he takes a series of punches and clotheslines before Cena catches him with his awful arm drag after Tomko rebounds from the Irish Whip. Cena's fired up, which can mean only one thing, Oh, Here Go Hell Come. Cena delivers a suplex to Tomko and catches Angle with a Spinebuster. Cena sets up Tomko for the FU, but Angle German Suplexes Cena while he's holding Tomko in the air, and all three men come crashing down to the mat. Angle with another German Suplex, but Cena is able to counter out of the third. Tomko goes for the big boot, but Cena ducks and hits Angle instead. Cena finishes Tomko off after a shoulder block and the FU, and gets the victory. This match felt as if they crammed 10 minutes worth of stuff into a five minute match, as nobody sold anything for more than three seconds. I'd give it a 1.65 out of 5.
Video 5: Kurt Angle VS The Rock VS Stone Cold VS The Undertaker VS Triple H VS Rikishi Hell In A Cell
Oh Here go Hell in a Cell Come, as this is the main event from WWF Armageddon 2000 and is for Angle's World Heavyweight Title. Everybody's facing off against everybody as Kurt Angle and the Undertaker are the first to actually wrestle in the ring. Undertaker gets a two count after a big punch, while The Rock tries to choke Rikishi with a cord on the outside of the ring. Austin slams Triple-H against the cage a couple of times, while the Rock and Rikishi take their turn in the ring. Rikishi counters the Rock's series of punches, but The Rock rebounds with a flying clothesline after an Irish Whip. They leave, while Austin and Triple-H enter the ring to do a sequence that culminates with an Austin Thesz press into punches, followed by a front elbow drop. That gets a two count, and Austin gets another two count after setting Triple H up against the second rope and doing a rope straddle on his back. Triple-H catches Austin with a high knee, then drags Austin to slam his knee against the ring post before they leave and the Rock and Angle come in. Rock gets a two count after a Samoan drop. Now everybody's brawling on the outside, with Triple-H suplexing Austin on the outside mat. The Rock gets slinged into the cage by Rikishi, but Rikishi gets caught with a Kurt Angle baseball slide from the ring. Austin and Undertaker team up on Triple-H, and everyone's just sort of mindlessly brawling at this point. Triple-H becomes the first man to bleed after Austin rakes his head against the cage. Austin then walks all around the ring, raking HHH's face against the cage as he goes before finally stopping and slamming HHH against the cell wall. Austin throws HHH in the ring and goes to enter himself, only to get caught with a big leg drop from Rikishi on the back of his head. Rikishi and Triple-H seem to be an alliance, but Triple H changes that with a Pedigree on Rikishi, and only a last-second save by The Rock keeps The Game from winning the match. Angle saves Triple-H from losing to a DDT from the Rock, and then Olympic Slams the Rock, only for Austin to break up the count. Austin with the Stone Cold Stunner on Angle, but the Undertaker breaks up the cover and chokeslams Austin, only for Triple-H to pull Taker out of the ring. Taker responds by slamming Triple H against the cage a few time while the other men are down in the ring. Austin hits both Rikishi and the Undertaker with clothelines, and reverses a Rikishi Irish Whip with a Thesz Press and punches combo. All of a sudden, here comes Vince McMahon on the back of a flatbed truck.
Vince hooks the door to the back of the truck, and the truck is able to break the door off with ease. Vince then tells the crew of the truck to hook the chains up to the cell and take it down, which is probably not safe for the wrestlers inside. Here come Commissioner Mick Foley, who enforces the rules by force with punches to stooges Patterson and Brisco, before having Vince escorted out by security. Triple-H exits the cell door first, and Stone Cold follows, taking Triple-H down with a clothesline from behind. Austin slams Triple H onto the hood of a conveniently placed clunker. I don't know why there are a few junk cars next to the entrance ramp, but since they're here, why not use them? Austin uses a camera to smash Triple-H in the gut with, while everybody else have found their way to the car lot. Austin and Triple-H brawl around the construction truck, and eventually Triple-H slams Austin face first through a window. That makes Austin bleeder number two. Meanwhile, The Rock attempts to Rock Bottom HHH on the top of a car, but a Triple-H low blow puts a stop to that. Pedigree by Triple-H on the Rock, on the top of a car. Now The Rock is bleeding, meanwhile, Rikishi tries to brain Austin with a barrel, but Austin is able to kick Rikishi in the gut to bring a stop to that. Undertaker slams Angle on the hood of a car, and I believe Angle has a cut on his arm, but I'm not sure. Austin catapults Triple-H onto a car hood, and then tries to smush Triple-H with a barrel, but misses. Meanwhile, Undertaker and Angle are now around the announcer's table, and the Undertaker bonks Kurt on the headwith a microphone. While the others brawl, Angle somehow gets the advantage and bashes the Undertaker's head in with a chair. Now the Undertaker's busted open, and Triple-H has decided to climb the cage wall and go on the roof, with Austin right behind him. The two start brawling on the cage, with Triple-H teasing a fall off the cage, but eventually they move towards the middle and now Angle and the Undertaker have joined in the fun on the roof. Austin with an awkward looking Stunner on the roof. Angle becomes the fifth man to bleed from the forehead after The Undertaker bashes his head against a support beam on the roof of the cell.
Triple-H decides that it would be a good idea to climb down, and Austin follows. Rikihsi and The Rock are now on the roof, while a timekeeper throws The Undertaker a chair, and Taker uses it to bash Angle in the head. The Rock has decided to leave while Rikishi takes the chair to slug Taker. While Rikishi is busy with Undertaker, Angle decides that now would be a good time to head to solid ground. Kishi and Undertaker brawl on the cell, and get perilously close to the edge. Oh No, Taker chokeslams Rikishi off the cage roof into the back of the previously introduced flatbed truck, leaving Rikishi in a mess of wood chips and other stuff. The crowd goes into a frenzy as Rock and Stone Cold square off with each other, ending in a Rock Spinebuster. Rock goes for the People's Elbow, but Triple-H puts an end to that. The Rock knocks Triple-H out of the ring, then counters an Angle offensive attempt with a Rock Bottom. Cover, but Austin breaks it up before three. Both Austin and Rock struggle to their feet, and Austin hits the Stunner on The Rock, allowing The Rock to do his mega sell of that maneuver. Triple-H catches Austin before he can cover The Rock, and hits the neckbreaker on Stone Cold. That allows Kurt to roll over and drape his arm over The Rock, and get the three count to retain the title. Post match, Austin sends a message to Angle with a Stone Cold Stunner. Well, this was a mess of a match, but at least it was an entertaining one. I'll give it a 3.25 out of 5.
Well, thanks for reading The Canon Review's look at Kurt Angle, and if you have any comments about this or previous posts, or ideas for future reviews or posts, than share them either by leaving a comment or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Canon Wrestling Review: WWF Monday Night Raw: June 30, 1997
Well, the Braves have ticked me off over the last two days, so I have decided to let out some frustration by watching some pro wrestling. In this case, it is the June 30, 1997 episode of Monday Night Raw, which features Jim Neidhart in the main event, so it's got to be a great episode. Let's get ready to rumble, shall we?
A video detailing the relationship between Paul Bearer and the Undertaker plays to begin the show. Paul Bearer has promised to reveal a deep dark secret that will destroy the Undertaker. I guess that didn't work, since the Undertaker is still around today. The intro plays, and tonight's announcers are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler. "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock comes out to face off against Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who comes out to Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy'. I still think that was his best theme song. A video plays of Chyna proclaiming herself the World's Most Dangerous Woman, and the match starts. Shamrock frustrates Helmsley with a pair of arm drags and a arm lock. Triple-H gets the advantage with an eye gouge, and goes to stomping Shamrock in the corner until the ref has enough and pulls him out by his hair. So Triple-H changes tactics, using a running knee lift and a knee drop to get a two count. Both men are back up, and Helmsley is able to catch a running Shamrock and throw him to the outside of the ring. Triple-H distracts the ref, allowing Chyna to whip Shamrock hard into the steps. Back in, it looks as if Helmsley is about to put Shamrock away, but here comes Mankind, who distracts Helmsley. This proves to be unfortunate for Triple-H, as Shamrock uses a belly-to-belly suplex to pin Triple-H. Helmsley leaves yelling at a Mankind as Jim Ross promotes their match at the next pay-per-view six days from this episode. Match was decent enough, but too short. I'll give it a 1.9 out of 5.
A video package of Ahmed Johnson plays, as Ahmed had recently joined the Nation of Domination and turned on the Undertaker. Last week, while Ahmed tried to explain why he joined the NOD, the Disciples of Apocalypse debuted and got into a big brouhaha with the NOD, and Ahmed walked too fast and tore his knee up, costing the big Johnson his title shot at the Undertaker. Ahmed promises revenge against the DOA and the Undertaker, and says some other stuff I couldn't really understand.
Up next is Michael Cole, who apparently is cool these days since he's a heel, interviewing the Legion of Doom about their upcoming tag match with Faroouq and D'Lo Brown of the NOD. Hawk promises to turn the Nation into small animal excrement. That's nice. The match is next, but before that Sunny shows a casket full of money that the WWF is giving away. Yes, I said casket full of money. The two teams come out in a semifinal match of a tournament to determine the number one contenders to the tag titles, and the Legion takes control of Faroouq early. A tag out to D'Lo doesn't do much good, as Hawk suplexes Brown down to the mat. D'Lo gets the advantage after catching a ducking Hawk with a boot to the face, and takes control for a minute or so with stomps and punches. Hawk is able to catch D'Lo with a swinging neckbreaker, and tags out to Animal. The Godwins come out and watch from the stage as Hawk and Faroouq brawl on the outside. Doomsday Device on D'Lo, and man that move is dangerous, as Henry Godwin could attest to. Speaking of which, apparently Mr. Godwin is upset about having his neck broken a few months before due to the Device, so he clobbers Hawk in the back of the head with his trusty slopbucket while the ref isn't looking. Faroouq gets the pin after the interference, and the L.O.D. chases after the Godwins. Match wasn't really bad, it was just boring. I'll give it a 1.5 out of 5.
The Nation, however, is not done, as they call Vince McMahon up and blast his decision to give Vader the title shot that Ahmed Johnson originally had instead of one of them. Yeah, like people would pay to see the Undertaker vs. Kama or D'Lo. Savio Vega has had enough of Faroouq's talking, and the recently displaced Nation member informs Faroouq that he was not fired, but rather he quit. Well, whatever gets you through the night. Faroouq challenges Savio to bring it, and Savio does, along with a few of his friends. This moment marks the birth of the greatest stable in wrestling history, Los Boriquas. They brawl with the Nation some, and here comes the Disciples of Apocalypse, to a rather large pop, I must say. Everybody brawls with each other until security breaks it up and we go to commercial.
Michael Cole interviews Savio and his friends, and Savio declares his group Los Boriquas before everyone starts yelling at the mic for whatever reason. Up next is a match between Scott Putski and Brian Christopher. Putski looks jacked to the gills during this period. Putski takes control early on with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex and a sidewalk slam. Christopher gets the advantage back with the Skull Crushing Finale. He follows that up with a dropkick from the second rope and a nice northern lights release suplex. Christopher tries to hurracanrana Putski, but gets powerbombed for his efforts. Putski follows that up with a series a clotheslines and a big splash from the top rope. Christopher's father Jerry Lawler gets on the apron. Christopher charges at Putski, but instead Putski ducks and knocks his father off the apron. Putski scoops up Christopher, but is tripped by Lawler and lands on his head as Christopher rolls him up for the three count. Afterwards, father and son beat down on Putski, as Jerry tells Scott to inform his father, the legendary Ivan Putski, that the only thing good to come out of Poland was an empty boat. Well then. Match was fast paced with a lot of moves in a short time, but nothing was really linked together. Still, not too bad. I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5.
The Undertaker is in the back, and he asks for the fans to let him tell his side of the story after Paul Bearer reveals his dark secret. A video montage of the Great Sasuke is shown, promoting his debut at Canadian Stampede. Brain Pillman is out, and a video is shown of his comments prior to his match with Mankind, where he promises to show Marv Albert and Mike Tyson something about biting another human by taking a chunk out of Mankind's good ear. Mankind comes out bearing a gift and wearing a sign that says "Pick Me, Steve", as he really wants to be Austin's tag team partner. Mankind presents the gift to Jim Ross, which is a plaster hand shaped like Mankind's, mandible claw in all. Pillman is not amused, as he takes the hand and beats Mankind with it before throwing it back to Ross, and the match is on. Pillman gets control early, but Mankind gains control with brawling tactics, and then delivers a running knee to a downed Pillman in the corner. The two continue fighting as Triple-H and Chyna show up on the stage. The match goes to the outside, and Pillman uses the referee trying to hold back Mankind as an opportunity to bash Mankind with the ring bell behind the ref's back. Pillman then uses a pencil to stab Mankind with a couple of times before the ref takes it away. Mankind eventually gets the advantage and sets Pillman up against the stairs, but Pillman moves, and Mankind goes knees first into the metal steps. Back in, Pillman fulfills his pre-match promise to bite Mankind's good ear. But Mankind comes back, and eventually drags Pillman over to the ring post, where he slams his bad ankle against the medal post, then crotches Pillman for good measure. The mandible claw is put on Pillman, but here comes Triple-H to break it up while Chyna distracts the ref. That gets a mandible claw for Helmsley on the outside, until Pillman breaks it up by beating Mankind with one of his boots. Pillman tries to hold Mankind up for a chairshot, but Helmsley misses and Pillman takes the chair instead. Mankind goes after Triple-H, but gets counted out as Pillman is able to beat the ref's count, giving Pillman the victory. Interesting match, I'd give it a 2.65 out of 5.
Paul Bearer is in the back, as he promises to deliver the secret that will mark the beginning of the end for the Undertaker. Out comes Mr. Bearer, and before he reaches the ring, a female fan comes out and easily takes down the big man before security drags her away. That was weird. Bearer talks for a while, but the gist of the secret is this, Bearer was working at a funeral home owned by the Undertaker's family, and the Undertaker burned that funeral home down, killing his parents and his brother. Of course, if Bearer did know this, than why was he the Undertaker's manager for six years prior to this? This mystery will keep me up for days. Back from commercial, Vader congratulates Bearer for making his announcement, and Sable and Marc Mero show off the cash casket.
Next is the second semifinal of the tag tournament, as the Headbangers take on Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith. The Headbangers start with the advantage after a Mosh dropkick and a double pancake on Owen. Thrasher comes in, so does Davey Boy. Thrasher seems to be in control until Owen comes in after a blind tag and lands a spinning heel kick on Thrasher. That gets two. From there, Owen and Davey Boy are in control, as they show off moves such as Davey Boy's stall suplex, a double back elbow, and others, getting a number of two counts in the process. Meanwhile, Bret Hart is on the phone from Calgary, promoting his team's upcoming 10 man tag match at Canadian Stampede. Owen goes for a suplex, but Thrasher counters with a small package, and nearly gets the pin. This does give Thrasher an opening to get the HOT TAG to Mosh, who comes in with body slams, clotheslines, and dropkicks for everybody. Owen's in trouble, as the Headbangers set him up for the stage dive, but Davey Boy crotches Mosh, and Owen is able to roll up Thrasher to get the victory. Match could have used five more minutes to really get going. I'll give it a 1.8 out of 5. Afterwards, Jim Cornette returns, and he's brought a new tag team in. That team turns out to be the Headhunters, who at first brawl with both teams before Davey and Owen just leave. The Headbangers seemed to be in control at first, but a Cornette distraction allows the Headhunters to gain the advantage, and they finish up the brawl with one delivering a diving headbutt that just barely connects, while the other does a pretty nifty moonsault from the top rope.
Time to go back to the Undertaker's locker room, where he offers a rebuttal to Paul Bearer's secret. Taker admits that a fire at the funeral home killed his family, but it was not he, but rather his brother Kane that set the fire inadvertently when he combined matches with embalming fluid. The Undertaker was out doing chores during the day, and once he returned, the funeral home was burned down to the ground. Undertaker also claims that Paul Bearer made the Undertaker look at the charred remains of his family, which is probably not the best thing for a grieving child. Undertaker concludes by saying that he will draw strength from the dead to strike Paul Bearer down. In the hands of most other wrestlers, this would just be ridiculous, but the Undertaker is convincing enough in this speech to make the angle work.
Rockabilly is led out to the ring by the Honky Tonk Man for his match against Vader, who is led to the ring by Paul Bearer. Of all the gimmicks in Billy Gunn's career, Rockabilly just might be the worst. Rockabilly decides not to waste time, so he slams his guitar into Vader's back. That didn't work, as Vader barely flinched and proceeds to pepper Rockabilly with lefts and rights. The Undertaker comes out and beats on Vader while Paul Bearer screams "murderer" at the top of his lungs. That enrages the murderous Undertaker, so he grabs Bearer by the collar and paintbrushes him, demanding to tell the fans the truth. Instead, Bearer reveals another secret, that Taker's brother Kane is alive. Now, 13 years later, and Taker and his 'brother' Kane are still feuding. Anyway, Vader attacks the Undertaker from behind, and then he and Bearer run to the back, with Taker chasing close behind. This wasn't really a match, which is all right since Rockabilly v. Vader isn't that appealing a match anyway.
It's main event time on Raw, as Jim Neidhart is waiting in the ring. Out comes Steve Austin to a DOA-like pop. Neidhart jumps Austin early on, but Austin is able to counter with punches and clotheslines before slamming the Anvil down for a two count. Anvil comes back with a pair of big shoulderblocks, but Austin is Irish Whipped into the ropes, which allows him to Thesz Press the Anvil. Austin tries for a sharpshooter, that doesn't work, so Austin instead sinks in the abdominal stretch. To the outside, and Austin slams Neidhart down on the entrance ramp before the show cuts to commercial.
Back from commercial, and Bret Hart has flown in from Calgary to Des Moines, Iowa in 30 minutes to attack Ken Shamrock in the back. Meanwhile, during the break, Neidhart took control of the match after whipping Austin into the ring steps, and continues to control the action with a series of rest holds and brawling tactics. Austin is able to counter a Neidhart sleeper with a jawbreaker, which gets a two count. However, Neidhart uses his gut to stop Austin's charge and lock in a front face lock. Anvil slams Austin down, but misses a second rope dive. Austin takes control with punches and stomps, before Bret Hart comes out. The Hart Foundation double team Austin and drag him to the post, where Hart locks Austin in his patented ring post figure four, which I'm surprised somebody hasn't lifted the move for their own repertoire. Mankind comes out to rescue Austin, but the rest of the Hart Foundation attack Mankind as the show concludes. Match was rather boring and Neidhart was gassed early on. I'll give it a 1.3 out of 5.
Overall, the show wasn't too bad nor all that great. There were a couple of decent matches, and the Paul Bearer-Undertaker angles were compelling at the very least. Plus, the show marked the debut of the Los Boriquas and the first mention of Kane, so it's quite a historic show. Overall, I'd give the show a 5.35 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this show or the wrestlers involved, or have an idea for a future review, than feel free to share those either by leaving a comment on the blog or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
A video detailing the relationship between Paul Bearer and the Undertaker plays to begin the show. Paul Bearer has promised to reveal a deep dark secret that will destroy the Undertaker. I guess that didn't work, since the Undertaker is still around today. The intro plays, and tonight's announcers are Vince McMahon, Jim Ross, and Jerry Lawler. "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock comes out to face off against Hunter Hearst Helmsley, who comes out to Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy'. I still think that was his best theme song. A video plays of Chyna proclaiming herself the World's Most Dangerous Woman, and the match starts. Shamrock frustrates Helmsley with a pair of arm drags and a arm lock. Triple-H gets the advantage with an eye gouge, and goes to stomping Shamrock in the corner until the ref has enough and pulls him out by his hair. So Triple-H changes tactics, using a running knee lift and a knee drop to get a two count. Both men are back up, and Helmsley is able to catch a running Shamrock and throw him to the outside of the ring. Triple-H distracts the ref, allowing Chyna to whip Shamrock hard into the steps. Back in, it looks as if Helmsley is about to put Shamrock away, but here comes Mankind, who distracts Helmsley. This proves to be unfortunate for Triple-H, as Shamrock uses a belly-to-belly suplex to pin Triple-H. Helmsley leaves yelling at a Mankind as Jim Ross promotes their match at the next pay-per-view six days from this episode. Match was decent enough, but too short. I'll give it a 1.9 out of 5.
A video package of Ahmed Johnson plays, as Ahmed had recently joined the Nation of Domination and turned on the Undertaker. Last week, while Ahmed tried to explain why he joined the NOD, the Disciples of Apocalypse debuted and got into a big brouhaha with the NOD, and Ahmed walked too fast and tore his knee up, costing the big Johnson his title shot at the Undertaker. Ahmed promises revenge against the DOA and the Undertaker, and says some other stuff I couldn't really understand.
Up next is Michael Cole, who apparently is cool these days since he's a heel, interviewing the Legion of Doom about their upcoming tag match with Faroouq and D'Lo Brown of the NOD. Hawk promises to turn the Nation into small animal excrement. That's nice. The match is next, but before that Sunny shows a casket full of money that the WWF is giving away. Yes, I said casket full of money. The two teams come out in a semifinal match of a tournament to determine the number one contenders to the tag titles, and the Legion takes control of Faroouq early. A tag out to D'Lo doesn't do much good, as Hawk suplexes Brown down to the mat. D'Lo gets the advantage after catching a ducking Hawk with a boot to the face, and takes control for a minute or so with stomps and punches. Hawk is able to catch D'Lo with a swinging neckbreaker, and tags out to Animal. The Godwins come out and watch from the stage as Hawk and Faroouq brawl on the outside. Doomsday Device on D'Lo, and man that move is dangerous, as Henry Godwin could attest to. Speaking of which, apparently Mr. Godwin is upset about having his neck broken a few months before due to the Device, so he clobbers Hawk in the back of the head with his trusty slopbucket while the ref isn't looking. Faroouq gets the pin after the interference, and the L.O.D. chases after the Godwins. Match wasn't really bad, it was just boring. I'll give it a 1.5 out of 5.
The Nation, however, is not done, as they call Vince McMahon up and blast his decision to give Vader the title shot that Ahmed Johnson originally had instead of one of them. Yeah, like people would pay to see the Undertaker vs. Kama or D'Lo. Savio Vega has had enough of Faroouq's talking, and the recently displaced Nation member informs Faroouq that he was not fired, but rather he quit. Well, whatever gets you through the night. Faroouq challenges Savio to bring it, and Savio does, along with a few of his friends. This moment marks the birth of the greatest stable in wrestling history, Los Boriquas. They brawl with the Nation some, and here comes the Disciples of Apocalypse, to a rather large pop, I must say. Everybody brawls with each other until security breaks it up and we go to commercial.
Michael Cole interviews Savio and his friends, and Savio declares his group Los Boriquas before everyone starts yelling at the mic for whatever reason. Up next is a match between Scott Putski and Brian Christopher. Putski looks jacked to the gills during this period. Putski takes control early on with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex and a sidewalk slam. Christopher gets the advantage back with the Skull Crushing Finale. He follows that up with a dropkick from the second rope and a nice northern lights release suplex. Christopher tries to hurracanrana Putski, but gets powerbombed for his efforts. Putski follows that up with a series a clotheslines and a big splash from the top rope. Christopher's father Jerry Lawler gets on the apron. Christopher charges at Putski, but instead Putski ducks and knocks his father off the apron. Putski scoops up Christopher, but is tripped by Lawler and lands on his head as Christopher rolls him up for the three count. Afterwards, father and son beat down on Putski, as Jerry tells Scott to inform his father, the legendary Ivan Putski, that the only thing good to come out of Poland was an empty boat. Well then. Match was fast paced with a lot of moves in a short time, but nothing was really linked together. Still, not too bad. I'll give it a 2.5 out of 5.
The Undertaker is in the back, and he asks for the fans to let him tell his side of the story after Paul Bearer reveals his dark secret. A video montage of the Great Sasuke is shown, promoting his debut at Canadian Stampede. Brain Pillman is out, and a video is shown of his comments prior to his match with Mankind, where he promises to show Marv Albert and Mike Tyson something about biting another human by taking a chunk out of Mankind's good ear. Mankind comes out bearing a gift and wearing a sign that says "Pick Me, Steve", as he really wants to be Austin's tag team partner. Mankind presents the gift to Jim Ross, which is a plaster hand shaped like Mankind's, mandible claw in all. Pillman is not amused, as he takes the hand and beats Mankind with it before throwing it back to Ross, and the match is on. Pillman gets control early, but Mankind gains control with brawling tactics, and then delivers a running knee to a downed Pillman in the corner. The two continue fighting as Triple-H and Chyna show up on the stage. The match goes to the outside, and Pillman uses the referee trying to hold back Mankind as an opportunity to bash Mankind with the ring bell behind the ref's back. Pillman then uses a pencil to stab Mankind with a couple of times before the ref takes it away. Mankind eventually gets the advantage and sets Pillman up against the stairs, but Pillman moves, and Mankind goes knees first into the metal steps. Back in, Pillman fulfills his pre-match promise to bite Mankind's good ear. But Mankind comes back, and eventually drags Pillman over to the ring post, where he slams his bad ankle against the medal post, then crotches Pillman for good measure. The mandible claw is put on Pillman, but here comes Triple-H to break it up while Chyna distracts the ref. That gets a mandible claw for Helmsley on the outside, until Pillman breaks it up by beating Mankind with one of his boots. Pillman tries to hold Mankind up for a chairshot, but Helmsley misses and Pillman takes the chair instead. Mankind goes after Triple-H, but gets counted out as Pillman is able to beat the ref's count, giving Pillman the victory. Interesting match, I'd give it a 2.65 out of 5.
Paul Bearer is in the back, as he promises to deliver the secret that will mark the beginning of the end for the Undertaker. Out comes Mr. Bearer, and before he reaches the ring, a female fan comes out and easily takes down the big man before security drags her away. That was weird. Bearer talks for a while, but the gist of the secret is this, Bearer was working at a funeral home owned by the Undertaker's family, and the Undertaker burned that funeral home down, killing his parents and his brother. Of course, if Bearer did know this, than why was he the Undertaker's manager for six years prior to this? This mystery will keep me up for days. Back from commercial, Vader congratulates Bearer for making his announcement, and Sable and Marc Mero show off the cash casket.
Next is the second semifinal of the tag tournament, as the Headbangers take on Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith. The Headbangers start with the advantage after a Mosh dropkick and a double pancake on Owen. Thrasher comes in, so does Davey Boy. Thrasher seems to be in control until Owen comes in after a blind tag and lands a spinning heel kick on Thrasher. That gets two. From there, Owen and Davey Boy are in control, as they show off moves such as Davey Boy's stall suplex, a double back elbow, and others, getting a number of two counts in the process. Meanwhile, Bret Hart is on the phone from Calgary, promoting his team's upcoming 10 man tag match at Canadian Stampede. Owen goes for a suplex, but Thrasher counters with a small package, and nearly gets the pin. This does give Thrasher an opening to get the HOT TAG to Mosh, who comes in with body slams, clotheslines, and dropkicks for everybody. Owen's in trouble, as the Headbangers set him up for the stage dive, but Davey Boy crotches Mosh, and Owen is able to roll up Thrasher to get the victory. Match could have used five more minutes to really get going. I'll give it a 1.8 out of 5. Afterwards, Jim Cornette returns, and he's brought a new tag team in. That team turns out to be the Headhunters, who at first brawl with both teams before Davey and Owen just leave. The Headbangers seemed to be in control at first, but a Cornette distraction allows the Headhunters to gain the advantage, and they finish up the brawl with one delivering a diving headbutt that just barely connects, while the other does a pretty nifty moonsault from the top rope.
Time to go back to the Undertaker's locker room, where he offers a rebuttal to Paul Bearer's secret. Taker admits that a fire at the funeral home killed his family, but it was not he, but rather his brother Kane that set the fire inadvertently when he combined matches with embalming fluid. The Undertaker was out doing chores during the day, and once he returned, the funeral home was burned down to the ground. Undertaker also claims that Paul Bearer made the Undertaker look at the charred remains of his family, which is probably not the best thing for a grieving child. Undertaker concludes by saying that he will draw strength from the dead to strike Paul Bearer down. In the hands of most other wrestlers, this would just be ridiculous, but the Undertaker is convincing enough in this speech to make the angle work.
Rockabilly is led out to the ring by the Honky Tonk Man for his match against Vader, who is led to the ring by Paul Bearer. Of all the gimmicks in Billy Gunn's career, Rockabilly just might be the worst. Rockabilly decides not to waste time, so he slams his guitar into Vader's back. That didn't work, as Vader barely flinched and proceeds to pepper Rockabilly with lefts and rights. The Undertaker comes out and beats on Vader while Paul Bearer screams "murderer" at the top of his lungs. That enrages the murderous Undertaker, so he grabs Bearer by the collar and paintbrushes him, demanding to tell the fans the truth. Instead, Bearer reveals another secret, that Taker's brother Kane is alive. Now, 13 years later, and Taker and his 'brother' Kane are still feuding. Anyway, Vader attacks the Undertaker from behind, and then he and Bearer run to the back, with Taker chasing close behind. This wasn't really a match, which is all right since Rockabilly v. Vader isn't that appealing a match anyway.
It's main event time on Raw, as Jim Neidhart is waiting in the ring. Out comes Steve Austin to a DOA-like pop. Neidhart jumps Austin early on, but Austin is able to counter with punches and clotheslines before slamming the Anvil down for a two count. Anvil comes back with a pair of big shoulderblocks, but Austin is Irish Whipped into the ropes, which allows him to Thesz Press the Anvil. Austin tries for a sharpshooter, that doesn't work, so Austin instead sinks in the abdominal stretch. To the outside, and Austin slams Neidhart down on the entrance ramp before the show cuts to commercial.
Back from commercial, and Bret Hart has flown in from Calgary to Des Moines, Iowa in 30 minutes to attack Ken Shamrock in the back. Meanwhile, during the break, Neidhart took control of the match after whipping Austin into the ring steps, and continues to control the action with a series of rest holds and brawling tactics. Austin is able to counter a Neidhart sleeper with a jawbreaker, which gets a two count. However, Neidhart uses his gut to stop Austin's charge and lock in a front face lock. Anvil slams Austin down, but misses a second rope dive. Austin takes control with punches and stomps, before Bret Hart comes out. The Hart Foundation double team Austin and drag him to the post, where Hart locks Austin in his patented ring post figure four, which I'm surprised somebody hasn't lifted the move for their own repertoire. Mankind comes out to rescue Austin, but the rest of the Hart Foundation attack Mankind as the show concludes. Match was rather boring and Neidhart was gassed early on. I'll give it a 1.3 out of 5.
Overall, the show wasn't too bad nor all that great. There were a couple of decent matches, and the Paul Bearer-Undertaker angles were compelling at the very least. Plus, the show marked the debut of the Los Boriquas and the first mention of Kane, so it's quite a historic show. Overall, I'd give the show a 5.35 out of 10. Thanks for reading, and if you have any thoughts about this show or the wrestlers involved, or have an idea for a future review, than feel free to share those either by leaving a comment on the blog or by sending me an e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
The Canon Review of Clash of the Champions XVI (16)
Today, I was in the mood to watch some old-school WCW action. So I did, and decided to watch Clash of the Champions XVI: Fall Brawl 91. This show took place in Augusta, GA on September 5, 1991. Our announcers for the evening are Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone, with interviews to be done by Eric Bischoff, Missy Hyatt, and the Man that won't pay Mike Thor himself, Paul E. Dangerously. Let's get to the action
The first match is a 15 man battle royal deemed the "Georgia Brawl". The participants are the World Six Man Champions, Z-man, Dustin Rhodes, and Big Josh (apparently WCW drew three names out of a hat and gave them the titles), along with PN News, Bobby Eaton, TV Champion Steve Austin, Barry Windham, OZ, El Gigante, Tracey Smothers, One Man Gang, Buddy Lee Parker, Ranger Ross, Thomas Rich, and Terrance Taylor. An eclectic mix of talent in this match, to be sure. This battle royal was about 10 minutes too long, which is not good considering it went 15 minutes. The production team also missed at least three eliminations. Anyway, the final four were Oz, OMG, Dustin Rhodes, and El Gigante. Oz and the Gang team up to eliminate Rhodes and celebrate near the ropes, allowing Gigante to come in and double clothesline both men over the top, although it took Oz quite a while to get over that top rope. The crowd goes mild for Gigante, the first and probably only winner of the Georgia Brawl. Even if you love battle royals, I wouldn't recommend this one.
The next match is a semifinal match in the WCW Light Heavyweight Title tournament, Badstreet comes to the ring first, wearing a ridicoulous black costume and mask with crazy neon colored lines all over it. Mr. Badstreet (Brad Armstrong) comes out with the Freebirds. His opponent is the newly reinstated Brian Pillman. The ref orders the Freebirds to the back so we can have a fair fight. These two wrestlers were ready for this match, as the match was quick-paced and interesting throughout, plus Pillman took some heinous bumps. Pillman took a suplex off the ring apron to the outside, and both men nearly landed on their heads. After both men got up, Badstreet kicked Pillman off the apron, and Pillman took his trademark chin into the guardrail diving bump. The match kept going, with Pillman doing all sorts of high-flying manuevers that few men in American wrestling could do at this time. At one point, with Badstreet on the outside, Pillman did a tope suicida and rammed himself head-first not only into his opponent, but into the guardrail as well. Remarkably, Pillman was unharmed. After an exchange of two counts, Pillman blocks a Badstreet superplex, and hits his Air Pillman bodypress for the finish. A heck of a match, easily the best one of the night.
We get a look at the WCW Top 10, which the announcers referred to at least 49 times throughout the broadcast. I don't exactly remember the order, but El Gigante and the Diamond Studd were on it, so good for them. Anyway, our next match is United States Champion Sting against Johnny B. Badd, in a rare face vs. face match. These two start out at a breakneck pace, as the two combine for three top rope moves and three near falls in the first 90 seconds. However, the match slows considerably, and when an eight foot tall refrigerator box wrapped up is wheeled to the ring, the match screeches to a complete halt. At one point, Sting goes to whip Badd into the corner, but for no reason whatsoever, Badd just stops and drops to his knees. The end comes after both men are staring at the box, and Sting uses the distraction to roll up Badd sloppily for the three count. Afterwards, Cactus Jack comes out of the box, slams Sting on the outside of the ring, climbs up the turnbuckle, and does an awesome looking flying elbow over the ringside announcers table right onto Sting's chest. Cactus celebrates while Ross and Tony are concerned about Sting.
The second semifinal match of the WCW Light Heavyweight Title is next, and it features Richard Morton (w/ Alexandra York) going against Mike Graham. Graham was never that good to begin with, and Morton's not much of a heel, so this match is rather boring. I was amused by Tony Schiavone putting over Mike Graham at every opportunity, even if he was taking punches, he would compliment Graham on trying to stand up. Anyway, the match mercifully ends after York distracts the referee, which allows Morton to launch Graham head first into the turnbuckle and roll him up for the three count while holding the tights. So the finals of this tournament would be Pillman vs. Morton. Try to guess who won that match.
Bill Kazmier's got a big tag team title match with Rick Steiner against The Enforcers, Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko. But first he wants to bend a long steel bar with his head and neck, because he's the World's Strongest Man, and has won the World's Strongest Man competition to prove it. He's also got traps the size of Eric Bischoff's head, so bending the bar proves easy. But WAITAMINUTE! Anderson and Zbyszko come out and hit Kazmier in the ribs with a 45 pound weight that someone brought in the ring for some reason. Steiner comes out, but the damage has been done. Will Kazmier be able to fight tonight?
The next match is a tag match between The Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) and The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip and Todd Champion). The Patriots are billed as being from WCW Special Forces. I spend the rest of the match wondering what missions the WCW Special Forces go on and what training one must go through before becoming a member of the WCW Special Forces, because this match is quite boring and I am easily distracted. Also, Ross compared the Patriots to the Atlanta Braves because they were a young team on the rise and the Freebirds to the Mets because both teams suck or something. Or maybe that was my interpretation. From what I remember, Chip took most of the offense, and The Patriots looked as if they were wrestling there first match, as they were quite clumsy and awkward looking in everything they did. The finish was good, as the ref was trying to hold back Champion, Chip got the cover on Garvin, and Hayes dropped an elbow right on Chip's noggin, allowing Garvin to get the win, showing that the Freebirds were the savvier team.
Paul E interviews Cactus Jack, who congratulates Sting on a stellar career that is now over thanks to Cactus Jack. Another giant box is wheeled out, and Cactus, thinking it's his partner Abdullah the Butcher, goes to give him a big ol Cactus Jack hug. Instead Sting comes out of the box and whoops up on Jack, hip tossing him off the entrance ramp and dropkicking him off the ramp as well. The two fight to the back, and somehow a trash can gets involved as both men take turns hitting each other with it before security finally separates the two.
We get a statement from Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, congratulating Ron Simmons on his upcoming title shot against World Champion Lex Luger. After that, the Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) comes out to face Simmons. After the Studd hits a few moves on him, Simmons takes control, and hits the spine buster and the shoulderblock for the three count. Quick match, but I do wonder how good a match between these two would have been if given 10 minutes. Might be interesting. Afterwards, Paul E. interviews Simmons, who calls out Luger but instead gets Luger's manager Harley Race and Luger's enforcer Mr. Hughes. Simmons then goes to the back to find Luger.
Van Hammer makes his debut here against Terrance Taylor. The crowd is actually very into Van Hammer's act, even if it does seem kind of forced, and Hammer gets a quick squash over the Taylor Made Man after the world's weakest looking top rope knee drop. To the back with Missy Hyatt and Lex Luger, but Ron Simmons interrupts and eventually goes through the door after launching himself from a three-point stance. Chaos ensues.
The next match is for Steve Austin's Television Title, as he takes on the Z-Man. I was really looking forward to this match, but in the end I must say it was a disappointment. It wasn't a bad match, per se, but it was very slow paced and plodding, and quite frankly I was looking forward to something more. Then again, it was the second best match of the night, so perhaps I shouldn't complain too much. The match picked up towards the end, as Z-Man hit a sweet looking suicide dive on Austin on the elevated ring ramp. But after missing a flying body press, Austin is able to gain the advantage and hit the Stun Gun on Zenk. Interestingly, Austin doesn't go for the cover, as he goes to pick up Z-Man and nearly gets rolled up for the three for his troubles. Z-Man catches Austin in a sleeper hold, and Austin scoots towards the ropes, allowing Steve's manager Lady Blossom to sneak him some brass knuckles. Austin counters a back suplex by tapping Z-Man on the noggin with the knucks, and gets the victory. The announcers are not happy about this, but Austin and Lady Blossom sure are.
Next is the contract signing for Halloween Havoc's main event, between WCW Champion Lex Luger and Ron Simmons. They really are pushing Simmons here, as a video is shown of him giving a speech to a bunch of kids, and later taking two busloads full of those kids to the arena to watch him wrestle. Simmons, his wife, and for some unknown reason Dusty Rhodes is seated at one table, while Luger, Race, and Mr. Hughes are at another table. Simmons changed into his suit rather quickly, I must say. Things go smoothly until Luger offeres Simmons a job as his personal driver, and Simmons does not take too kindly to that job offer, as he chases Luger and Race to their limo. The two drive off into the night with Simmons giving chase on foot until he wisely elects to give up on that idea.
It's main event time, as this is the finals of a tournament for the vacant WCW Tag Team Titles. The titles became vacant after an injury to Scott Steiner, and Rick Steiner has a chance to regain those titles with a different partner this time in Bill Kazmeir. Kazmeir does come out to wrestle this match, although his ribs are heavily taped up. Steiner starts by attacking both of the Enforcers, but eventually Anderson and Zbyszko get the advantage. Steiner won't give up, as he hits the Steinerline on one opponent and suplexes the other to the mat. However, the numbers prove too much for Steiner, and since he refuses to tag Kaz in, it looks bleak. After a couple of minutes, Kazmaier tags himself in and starts cleaning house. He lifts Zbyszko over his head, but Arn headbutts him in his already damaged ribs, causing the big man to collapse and Zbyszko gets the cover to crown new Tag Team Champions. Afterwards, Arn states that "If you can't breathe, you can't win". Match was way too short for a main event, but then again, I don't think Kazmaier could last 10 minutes without sucking wind. I would have much rather seen the Steiners against the Enforcers, as that could have been one heck of a match.
Overall, this was a below average show, as there was one good match and one decent match. I will say that the commentary was very good, especially by Jim Ross. Say what you will about him, but at least on this show, Ross was able to keep up with the action quite easily, was able to both preview the upcoming matches and call the in-ring action without any trouble, and did his darnedest to get everybody over with his commentary, especially Cactus Jack, Pillman, and Simmons. Schiavone wasn't too bad either, even if he did love him some Mike Graham. But even their excellent commentary could not make up for a bad show. Overall, I'll give it a 3.530 out of 10, and the only match I'd recommend would be the Pillman-Badstreet match.
Well, thanks for reading. If you have any ideas for future reviews about well, anything, then send them to me either by leaving a comment on this here blog or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. Here's two videos from the Clash of the Champions XVI if you want to see them.
Flyin Brian vs Badstreet-WCW Light Heavyweight Semi Finals
Uploaded by TSteck160. - Check out more sports and extreme sports videos.
Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko attack Bill Kazmaier
Uploaded by TSteck160. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.
The first match is a 15 man battle royal deemed the "Georgia Brawl". The participants are the World Six Man Champions, Z-man, Dustin Rhodes, and Big Josh (apparently WCW drew three names out of a hat and gave them the titles), along with PN News, Bobby Eaton, TV Champion Steve Austin, Barry Windham, OZ, El Gigante, Tracey Smothers, One Man Gang, Buddy Lee Parker, Ranger Ross, Thomas Rich, and Terrance Taylor. An eclectic mix of talent in this match, to be sure. This battle royal was about 10 minutes too long, which is not good considering it went 15 minutes. The production team also missed at least three eliminations. Anyway, the final four were Oz, OMG, Dustin Rhodes, and El Gigante. Oz and the Gang team up to eliminate Rhodes and celebrate near the ropes, allowing Gigante to come in and double clothesline both men over the top, although it took Oz quite a while to get over that top rope. The crowd goes mild for Gigante, the first and probably only winner of the Georgia Brawl. Even if you love battle royals, I wouldn't recommend this one.
The next match is a semifinal match in the WCW Light Heavyweight Title tournament, Badstreet comes to the ring first, wearing a ridicoulous black costume and mask with crazy neon colored lines all over it. Mr. Badstreet (Brad Armstrong) comes out with the Freebirds. His opponent is the newly reinstated Brian Pillman. The ref orders the Freebirds to the back so we can have a fair fight. These two wrestlers were ready for this match, as the match was quick-paced and interesting throughout, plus Pillman took some heinous bumps. Pillman took a suplex off the ring apron to the outside, and both men nearly landed on their heads. After both men got up, Badstreet kicked Pillman off the apron, and Pillman took his trademark chin into the guardrail diving bump. The match kept going, with Pillman doing all sorts of high-flying manuevers that few men in American wrestling could do at this time. At one point, with Badstreet on the outside, Pillman did a tope suicida and rammed himself head-first not only into his opponent, but into the guardrail as well. Remarkably, Pillman was unharmed. After an exchange of two counts, Pillman blocks a Badstreet superplex, and hits his Air Pillman bodypress for the finish. A heck of a match, easily the best one of the night.
We get a look at the WCW Top 10, which the announcers referred to at least 49 times throughout the broadcast. I don't exactly remember the order, but El Gigante and the Diamond Studd were on it, so good for them. Anyway, our next match is United States Champion Sting against Johnny B. Badd, in a rare face vs. face match. These two start out at a breakneck pace, as the two combine for three top rope moves and three near falls in the first 90 seconds. However, the match slows considerably, and when an eight foot tall refrigerator box wrapped up is wheeled to the ring, the match screeches to a complete halt. At one point, Sting goes to whip Badd into the corner, but for no reason whatsoever, Badd just stops and drops to his knees. The end comes after both men are staring at the box, and Sting uses the distraction to roll up Badd sloppily for the three count. Afterwards, Cactus Jack comes out of the box, slams Sting on the outside of the ring, climbs up the turnbuckle, and does an awesome looking flying elbow over the ringside announcers table right onto Sting's chest. Cactus celebrates while Ross and Tony are concerned about Sting.
The second semifinal match of the WCW Light Heavyweight Title is next, and it features Richard Morton (w/ Alexandra York) going against Mike Graham. Graham was never that good to begin with, and Morton's not much of a heel, so this match is rather boring. I was amused by Tony Schiavone putting over Mike Graham at every opportunity, even if he was taking punches, he would compliment Graham on trying to stand up. Anyway, the match mercifully ends after York distracts the referee, which allows Morton to launch Graham head first into the turnbuckle and roll him up for the three count while holding the tights. So the finals of this tournament would be Pillman vs. Morton. Try to guess who won that match.
Bill Kazmier's got a big tag team title match with Rick Steiner against The Enforcers, Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko. But first he wants to bend a long steel bar with his head and neck, because he's the World's Strongest Man, and has won the World's Strongest Man competition to prove it. He's also got traps the size of Eric Bischoff's head, so bending the bar proves easy. But WAITAMINUTE! Anderson and Zbyszko come out and hit Kazmier in the ribs with a 45 pound weight that someone brought in the ring for some reason. Steiner comes out, but the damage has been done. Will Kazmier be able to fight tonight?
The next match is a tag match between The Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) and The Patriots (Firebreaker Chip and Todd Champion). The Patriots are billed as being from WCW Special Forces. I spend the rest of the match wondering what missions the WCW Special Forces go on and what training one must go through before becoming a member of the WCW Special Forces, because this match is quite boring and I am easily distracted. Also, Ross compared the Patriots to the Atlanta Braves because they were a young team on the rise and the Freebirds to the Mets because both teams suck or something. Or maybe that was my interpretation. From what I remember, Chip took most of the offense, and The Patriots looked as if they were wrestling there first match, as they were quite clumsy and awkward looking in everything they did. The finish was good, as the ref was trying to hold back Champion, Chip got the cover on Garvin, and Hayes dropped an elbow right on Chip's noggin, allowing Garvin to get the win, showing that the Freebirds were the savvier team.
Paul E interviews Cactus Jack, who congratulates Sting on a stellar career that is now over thanks to Cactus Jack. Another giant box is wheeled out, and Cactus, thinking it's his partner Abdullah the Butcher, goes to give him a big ol Cactus Jack hug. Instead Sting comes out of the box and whoops up on Jack, hip tossing him off the entrance ramp and dropkicking him off the ramp as well. The two fight to the back, and somehow a trash can gets involved as both men take turns hitting each other with it before security finally separates the two.
We get a statement from Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, congratulating Ron Simmons on his upcoming title shot against World Champion Lex Luger. After that, the Diamond Studd (Scott Hall) comes out to face Simmons. After the Studd hits a few moves on him, Simmons takes control, and hits the spine buster and the shoulderblock for the three count. Quick match, but I do wonder how good a match between these two would have been if given 10 minutes. Might be interesting. Afterwards, Paul E. interviews Simmons, who calls out Luger but instead gets Luger's manager Harley Race and Luger's enforcer Mr. Hughes. Simmons then goes to the back to find Luger.
Van Hammer makes his debut here against Terrance Taylor. The crowd is actually very into Van Hammer's act, even if it does seem kind of forced, and Hammer gets a quick squash over the Taylor Made Man after the world's weakest looking top rope knee drop. To the back with Missy Hyatt and Lex Luger, but Ron Simmons interrupts and eventually goes through the door after launching himself from a three-point stance. Chaos ensues.
The next match is for Steve Austin's Television Title, as he takes on the Z-Man. I was really looking forward to this match, but in the end I must say it was a disappointment. It wasn't a bad match, per se, but it was very slow paced and plodding, and quite frankly I was looking forward to something more. Then again, it was the second best match of the night, so perhaps I shouldn't complain too much. The match picked up towards the end, as Z-Man hit a sweet looking suicide dive on Austin on the elevated ring ramp. But after missing a flying body press, Austin is able to gain the advantage and hit the Stun Gun on Zenk. Interestingly, Austin doesn't go for the cover, as he goes to pick up Z-Man and nearly gets rolled up for the three for his troubles. Z-Man catches Austin in a sleeper hold, and Austin scoots towards the ropes, allowing Steve's manager Lady Blossom to sneak him some brass knuckles. Austin counters a back suplex by tapping Z-Man on the noggin with the knucks, and gets the victory. The announcers are not happy about this, but Austin and Lady Blossom sure are.
Next is the contract signing for Halloween Havoc's main event, between WCW Champion Lex Luger and Ron Simmons. They really are pushing Simmons here, as a video is shown of him giving a speech to a bunch of kids, and later taking two busloads full of those kids to the arena to watch him wrestle. Simmons, his wife, and for some unknown reason Dusty Rhodes is seated at one table, while Luger, Race, and Mr. Hughes are at another table. Simmons changed into his suit rather quickly, I must say. Things go smoothly until Luger offeres Simmons a job as his personal driver, and Simmons does not take too kindly to that job offer, as he chases Luger and Race to their limo. The two drive off into the night with Simmons giving chase on foot until he wisely elects to give up on that idea.
It's main event time, as this is the finals of a tournament for the vacant WCW Tag Team Titles. The titles became vacant after an injury to Scott Steiner, and Rick Steiner has a chance to regain those titles with a different partner this time in Bill Kazmeir. Kazmeir does come out to wrestle this match, although his ribs are heavily taped up. Steiner starts by attacking both of the Enforcers, but eventually Anderson and Zbyszko get the advantage. Steiner won't give up, as he hits the Steinerline on one opponent and suplexes the other to the mat. However, the numbers prove too much for Steiner, and since he refuses to tag Kaz in, it looks bleak. After a couple of minutes, Kazmaier tags himself in and starts cleaning house. He lifts Zbyszko over his head, but Arn headbutts him in his already damaged ribs, causing the big man to collapse and Zbyszko gets the cover to crown new Tag Team Champions. Afterwards, Arn states that "If you can't breathe, you can't win". Match was way too short for a main event, but then again, I don't think Kazmaier could last 10 minutes without sucking wind. I would have much rather seen the Steiners against the Enforcers, as that could have been one heck of a match.
Overall, this was a below average show, as there was one good match and one decent match. I will say that the commentary was very good, especially by Jim Ross. Say what you will about him, but at least on this show, Ross was able to keep up with the action quite easily, was able to both preview the upcoming matches and call the in-ring action without any trouble, and did his darnedest to get everybody over with his commentary, especially Cactus Jack, Pillman, and Simmons. Schiavone wasn't too bad either, even if he did love him some Mike Graham. But even their excellent commentary could not make up for a bad show. Overall, I'll give it a 3.530 out of 10, and the only match I'd recommend would be the Pillman-Badstreet match.
Well, thanks for reading. If you have any ideas for future reviews about well, anything, then send them to me either by leaving a comment on this here blog or by e-mail at KtheC2001@gmail.com. Here's two videos from the Clash of the Champions XVI if you want to see them.
Flyin Brian vs Badstreet-WCW Light Heavyweight Semi Finals
Uploaded by TSteck160. - Check out more sports and extreme sports videos.
Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko attack Bill Kazmaier
Uploaded by TSteck160. - More professional, college and classic sports videos.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)