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March 14th
On this day in history in ....
1887 - Evan "Strangler" Lewis defeats Joe Acton in Chicago, Illinois to win the
World Catch-as-Catch-Can Heavyweight Title.
1918 - Young Hackenschmidt (Neil Olsen) defeats Louis Nelson for the World
Welterweight Title in New York City, New York.
1944 - Babe Sharkey defeats Ed "Strangler" Lewis to win the Maryland World
Heavyweight Title in Baltimore, Maryland.
1947 - Vic Christy defeats Orville Brown to win the Midwest Wrestling
Association World Heavyweight Title in St. Joseph, Missouri.
1950 - Miguel Guzmán and Rito Romero defeat Al Lovelock and Danny McShain to win
the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in Dallas, Texas.
1952 - Hombre Montana and Leo Nomellini defeat Ben and Mike Sharpe for the San
Francisco NWA World Tag Team Title in Oakland, California, ending the Sharpes'
fifth reign.
1960 - Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff defeat Ilio DaPaolo and Whipper Billy Watson to
win the NWA Canadian Open Tag Team Title in Toronto, Ontario, ending DaPaolo and
Watson's second reign.
1964 - Bryan Clark, known by his given name as well as Adam Bomb and Wrath, is
born in Tallahassee, Florida.
1968 - The Mighty Yankees (Frank Morrell and Eddie Sullivan) defeat Len Rossi
and Tamaya Soto to win the Mid-America NWA World Tag Team Title in Chattanooga,
Tennessee.
1968 - Larry Hennig defeats Kurt Von Brauner for the Amarillo NWA Brass Knuckles Title in Amarillo, Texas.
1969 - Beulah McGuillicuty was born.
1970 - Dale Lewis and The Missouri Mauler defeat Bronko Lubich and Chris Markoff
for the NWA Florida Tag Team Title in Tampa, Florida.
1973 - Tommy Gilbert and Eddie Marlin defeat Bobby Hart and Lorenzo Parente to
win the NWA Mid-America Tag Team Title in Nashville, Tennessee, ending Hart and
Parente's third reign and began Gilbert and Marlin's second.
1977 - Guy Mitchell wins his third Vancouver NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Title
in Vancouver, British Columbia, ending Gene Kiniski's sixth reign.
1977 - Nick Gulas' promotion in Memphis, Tennessee held a tournament for the
Mid-America NWA Southern Tag Team Title at the Mid-South Coliseum. The title was
vacated in February after Porkchop Cash and Gorgeous George, Jr. split up.
Dennis Condrey and Phil Hickerson defeated Ricky and Robert Gibson in the finals
to win the vacant title, beginning their third reign.
1978 - Dino Bravo and Dominic DeNucci defeat Mr. Fuji an Prof. Tanaka in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the WWWF World Tag Team Title, ending Fuji and
Tanaka's third reign.
1979 - Santino Marella was born.
1980 - Tiger Conway, Jr. and Jose Lothario defeat Mr. Hito and Mr. Sakurada for
the World Class American Tag Team Title in Houston, Texas.
1980 - The Junkyard Dog defeats Ernie Ladd to win the Mid-South Louisiana
Heavyweight Title in Shreveport, Louisiana.
1980 - Chavo Guerrero defeats The Hood (Johnny Mantell) for the NWA Americas
Heavyweight Title in Los Angeles, California, to begin his 16th and final reign.
1980 - Bruiser Brody defeats Mark Lewin to win the NWA Texas Brass Knuckles
Title in Houston, Texas. This began and ended each man's fifth reign.
1981 - The WWF held an event at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The
results:
- Pete Doherty defeated Fred Marzino.
- Johnny Rodz defeated Joe Crugnale.
- Bruno Sammartino defeated Stan Hansen in a steel cage match.
- The Moondogs (Rex and Spot) defeated Pedro Morales and Dominic DeNucci.
- The Hangman defeated Steve King.
- Hulk Hogan defeated John Callahan.
- Special Delivery Jones defeated Baron Mikel Scicluna.
1981 - Killer Karl Krupp defeats Pierre Martel for the WWC North American
Heavyweight Title in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, ending Martel's second reign.
1982 - The WWF held an event at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New
York. The results were:
- Tony Garea and Rick Martel defeated The Executioner (Baron Mikel Scicluna) and
Charlie Fulton.
- Pat Patterson defeated Lou Albano by countout.
- The Fabulous Moolah and Wendi Richter defeated Velvet McIntyre and Princess
Victoria.
- Steve Travis defeated José Estrada.
- Greg Valentine defeated Special Delivery Jones.
- André the Giant and Rick McGraw defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Mr. Fuji and
Mr. Saito in a two-out-of-three falls match.
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Pedro Morales pinned Adrian Adonis to retain the
title, after he lifted one of his shoulders after a suplex where both men's
shoulders were down.
- WWF Heavyweight Champion Bob Backlund pinned Jesse Ventura with a bridging
roll-up, and a fast count by guest referee Ivan Putski.
1982 - Bobby Eaton and Sweet Brown Sugar defeat Ricky and Robert Gibson in a
tournament final in Louisville, Kentucky to win the AWA Southern Tag Team Title.
1984 - Mike Rotundo and Barry Windham defeat Black Bart and Ron Bass for the
Florida NWA United States Tag Team Title in Miami, Florida.
1986 - Brad Armstrong defeats Robert Fuller to win the NWA Southeast Continental
Heavyweight Title in Mobile, Alabama.
1987 - The WWF aired the 10th edition of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC,
which got an 11.6 rating. The show was taped on February 21 in Detroit, Michigan
at Joe Louis Arena. The results were:
- WWF Intercontinental Champion Randy Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated
George Steele by countout after Savage hit Steele with a chair on the floor.
Savage retained the title and Miss Elizabeth, as both were on the line.
- Hercules won a 20-man battle royal, last eliminating Billy Jack Haynes. Also
in the match were: André the Giant, Ron Bass, Brian Blair, Jim Brunzell,
Demolition Ax, Demoliton Smash, Haku, Hillbilly Jim, The Honky Tonk Man, WWF
Champion Hulk Hogan, Blackjack Mulligan, Paul Orndorff, Lanny Poffo, Butch Reed,
Sika, Tama, Nikolai Volkoff, and Koko B. Ware.
- King Kong Bundy (with Bobby Heenan) defeats Jake Roberts by disqualification,
after Roberts attacked the referee after he tried to prevent Roberts from
grabbing his snake bag.
- WWF Tag Team Champions The Hart Foundation (Bret Hart and Jim Neidhart (with
Danny Davis and Jimmy Hart)) defeated Tito Santana and Dan Spivey, when Hart
pinned Santana after Davis hit Santana with Jimmy Hart's megaphone while Santana
had Bret in the Figure Four leglock.
- Ricky Steamboat pinned The Iron Sheik (with Slick) after a chop off the top
rope.
1987 - Ivan Koloff and Dick Murdoch defeat Ron Garvin and Barry Windham for the
NWA United States Tag Team Title in Atlanta, Georgia.
1987 - Frankie Lancaster ends Invader III's sixth WWC World Junior Heavyweight
Title in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico.
1989 - William Cobb, better known as Happy Humphrey, dies of a heart attack at
age 62. He was one of the heaviest professional wrestlers of all time, averaging
750 pounds throughout his career during the 1950s and 60s.
1993 - Saigoncito Dragon defeats Orito for the CMLL World Mini-Estrella Title in
Mexico City, Mexico.
1994 - Eddie Gilbert defeats Brian Christopher to win the USWA Heavyweight Title
in Memphis, Tennessee. This began Gilbert's second reign and ended Christopher's
10th.
1994 - Yamato defeats Canek for the UWA World Heavyweight Title in Puebla,
Mexico, ending Canek's 12th reign.
1997 - Stix 'n' Stones (Bone Crusher and Quinn Magnum) defeats J.B. Destiny and
Dennis Gregory to win the Pro Wrestling eXpress Tag Team Title in North
Versalles, Pennsylvania.
1999 - WCW held the fifth-annual "Uncensored" pay-per-view at Freedom Hall in
Louisville, Kentucky, before 15,930 fans. The results were:
- WCW Cruiserweight Champion Billy Kidman pinned Mikey Whipwreck after a
shooting star press to retain the title.
- Stevie Ray pinned Vincent in a Harlem Street Fight, after hitting him with a
slapjack, to gain control of nWo black and white.
- Kevin Nash (with Miss Elizabeth and Lex Luger) pinned Rey Misterio, Jr. after
a Jackknife powerbomb.
- Jerry Flynn defeated Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo in a handicap match by
pinning Onoo.
- Hak (The Sandman) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Raven (with Chastity) in a
Falls Count Anywhere Triple Threat match, by pinning Raven after Chastity hit a
low-blow headbutt on Raven.
- Chris Benoit and Dean Malenko defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions The West
Texas Rednecks (Curt Hennig and Barry Windham) in a Lumberjack match, when
Benoit pinned Hennig after a diving headbutt, to win the title. The lumberjacks
for the match were Arn Anderson, Bobby Duncum, Jr., Kenny Kaos, Meng, Hugh
Morrus, Prince Iaukea, Norman Smiley and Kendall Windham.
- Saturn pinned Chris Jericho (with Ralphus) in a Dog Collar match, after a
Death Valley Driver.
- Booker T pinned WCW World Television Champion Scott Steiner to win the title,
after Buff Bagwell hit Steiner with a chair intended for Booker. This began
Booker's sixth reign as TV champ, and ended Steiner's second.
- Ric Flair defeated WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan in a First Blood
Steel Cage match to win the title. Flair pinned Hogan with Hogan in the
Figure-Four leglock. Flair bled first, but referee Charles Robinson never
stopped the match. This began Flair's sixth reign and ended Hogan's fifth. This
also was Flair's overall 16th official World title win.
1999 - Naoya Ogawa ends Dan Severn's four-plus-year reign as NWA World
Heavyweight Champion in Yokohama, Japan. Severn had held the title since
February 24, 1995, when he won the title from Chris Candido at a SMW event in
Erlanger, Kentucky.
1999 - Moody's Mob (The New Dr. X and Bull Schmitt) defeat The Blackbird Posse
(Larry Green and Chris Young) for the NWA Texas Tag Team Title in North Richland
Hills, Texas.
2001 - The infamous Bob Costas interview of Vince McMahon airs on HBO's "On the
Record with Bob Costas". McMahon looked very intense and visably upset when
Costas asked him questions about the fledgling XFL and the sex and violence in
the WWF.
2001 - Ultimate Pro Wrestling held "When Worlds Collide" at the Galaxy Theatre
in Santa Ana, California. The show featured wrestlers from ECW and All Pro
Wrestling, along with the usual UPW crew. The results:
- The Definition of Pain (Alkatrazz and Bad Boy Basil (with Rio Storm)) defeated
Hell's Bells (Mike Bell and Smelly).
- The Blue Meanie (with Diane and Elaine Power (the Klimaszewski twins))
defeated UPW Internet Champion Navajo Warrior (with The Big Schwag) to win the
title.
- Evolution (Frankie Kazarian and Nova) (with Looney Lane) defeated Hardkore,
Inc. (Hardkore Kidd and Adam Pearce) in a UPW Tag Team Title Tournament
semifinal match.
- UPW Southern California Champion Tony Jones defeated King Faviano.
- Hi Impact (Andy Van Dam and UPW Lightweight Champion The Prodigy) defeated Da
Playas (B-Boy and Funky Billy Kim).
- Bison, Horshu and Luminous defeated Andy Judge and The Cash Money Brothas
(John Black and Under Pressure).
- Roadkill defeated Keiji Sakoda (with The Big Schwag).
- Michael Modest and Donovan Morgan (with Roland Alexander, All Pro Wrestling
promoter) defeated The Urban Outlaws (Marshall and Mike Knox (with Savvy)).
- The Prototype (John Cena) defeated C.W. Anderson.
- The Ballard Brothers (Shane and Shannon) defeated The Ultimate Army (Jon
Heidenreich and Nathan Jones) in a UPW Tag Team Title Tournament semifinal
match.
- Samoa Joe defeated UPW Heavyweight Champion Christopher Daniels in a Loser
Leaves UPW match to win the title.
- Rob Van Dam defeated Mikey Henderson (Suicide Kid).
2003 - A.J. Styles defeated Super Hentai for the International Wrestling Cartel
Super Indy Title in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania.
2004 - WWE sets a record for the highest grossing wrestling event ever held in
Madison Square Garden in New York City, pulling in over $2.4 million in ticket
sales for WrestleMania XX, which was headlined by Chris Benoit defeating Triple
H and Shawn Michaels in a three way match for the World Heavyweight Title. The
event also sees the final WWE appearances (to date) for Brock Lesnar and Bill
Goldberg.
Here is Tim Whitehead's original report on the show:
The twentieth annual WrestleMania (3/14 from a sold-out Madison Square Garden)
was one of the best hyped shows in WWE history, and fortunately it turned out to
be a strong show. Lasting over four-and-a-half hours, it had its share of
"filler" matches, but with four bouts in the very good to excellent range it was
a clear thumbs' up show. Chris Jericho vs. Christian, the handicap tag match,
and the two world singles title matches all delivered. Perhaps the most
anticipated match, Brock Lesnar vs. Bill Goldberg with Steve Austin as referee,
was a basically good match given their styles, though the crowd turned on both
the wrestlers and the match. Other bouts were about what one would expect to see
on RAW or Smackdown, namely regular action. The evening gown match was bad, but
it was very short and delivered on its promise to show some scantily clad babes.
Commentary from both teams was solid, except for Jerry Lawler's usual drooling
during the women's bout. Crowd heat varied, as one would expect on such a long
show. The top matches were heated but things got pretty cold during some of the
lower tier bouts. The show opened with the Harlem Boys Choir singing "America
the Beautiful". This was followed by a very emotional video putting WrestleMania
over as a truly major event and pushing the theme that WM XX is where it will
all begin again. Some would say the sight of Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero
standing as the two reigning world champs at the end of the show is itself a
turning point many of us never dreamed we'd see.
JOHN CENA defeated BIG SHOW to capture the U.S. Title in 9:13. Cena did his
pre-match rap. Show overpowered Cena, including hurling him over the top rope
for a bump. Cena came off the top but Show caught him and slammed him for a two
count. Show did the methodical big man offense, clubbing Cena with blows and
tossing him all over the ring. Cena took a big boot to the face. Show hit a
legdrop and hooked the cobra clutch. Cena managed to escape. Show missed a
charge into the corner when Cena moved. Cena hit the FU out of nowhere, but Show
kicked out at two to a good pop (even though fans were behind Cena they liked
the kick-out). Cena grabbed his chain and threatened to use it. The ref took it
from him. As the ref was disposing of the chain, Cena pulled out brass knux,
walloped Show, and pinned him after a second FU. The crowd popped big for the
title change. Kind of slow paced since Show was on offense most of the match,
but the good crowd heat made it okay.
Jonathan Coachman was walking around backstage, greeting guys like Tom Prichard
and Theodore Long, as if he was the company owner or something. He visited Eric
Bischoff, who was talking with apprentice Johnny Spade. Bischoff ordered Coach
to get an interview with Undertaker. Coach seemed afraid, and tried to get out
of it by noting that UT is a Smackdown wrestler. But Bischoff wanted to get the
scoop over Smackdown by being the first to put UT on live TV since his return
from the "dead". So Coach headed off in search of UT.
Randy Orton did a long promo recapping his feud with Mick Foley. He noted that
their first encounter was last year when he threw Foley down a flight of stairs
right there in the Garden.
ROB VAN DAM & BOOKER T won a four-way match over THE DUDLEYS, LA RESISTANCE, and
MARK JINDRAK & GARRISON CADE in 7:51 to retain the RAW World Tag Titles. RVD hit
some kicks on Rene Dupree, bumping him from the ring. Bubba Ray pounded Booker
and gave him a neckbreaker. Booker stopped Bubba's Dusty routine by kicking him.
Cade laid Booker out but somehow Rob Conway ended up tagging in. He worked
Booker over. RVD hot tagged and began throwing his kicks all over. He went to
the top, but D-Von shoved him off and he took a bump. Everyone began brawling.
Cade stopped the Dudleys from 3D'ing Booker. Most of the guys brawled out to the
floor. In the ring, Booker hit the scissor kick on Conway and RVD, who had
recovered, frog splashed him for the pin. Standard action. The crowd,
anticipating bigger matches to come, stayed cool except for a pop at the finish.
Coach failed to find UT, but he did hear some noises coming from a room. It
sounded like people were having sex inside. Gene Okerlund emerged, with his hair
and clothes all messed up. Well, the clothes were, anyway, as he has no hair.
Bobby Heenan then came out with his hair and clothes looking the same way. When
they saw Coach they began making various excuses for what was going on in that
room, denying there was anything sordid going on. But then Fabulous Moolah & Mae
Young came out of the room and began kissing on Okerlund & Heenan. I guess Vince
McMahon just had to put this on the show.
CHRISTIAN defeated CHRIS JERICHO in 14:52. Jericho went after Christian with
fists, an elbow, and a suplex. He backdropped Christian out to the floor and
then dived out onto him. Jericho threw Christian back in and hooked the walls
hold. Christian escaped to the ropes. Christian sent Jericho out for a major
bump. He scored several twos on Jericho after a knee lift and some other basic
moves. Jericho tried for the walls again, with Christian raking the eyes to
escape. Both went down after a collision. Jericho revived first and called
Christian a "creepy little bastard". Jericho hit an enzuigiri. They traded twos
with a series of roll-ups. Jericho scored with a Northern Lights suplex. Jericho
hit the bulldog but Christian got his knees up when Jericho went for the
lionsault. Christian hit a swinging neckbreaker. Jericho rolled through when
Christian did a bodypress off the top for a near pin. Christian hooked the Texas
cloverleaf. In a great move, Jericho reversed it into the walls. Christian made
the ropes. Jericho hooked the walls on the floor but had to break it fast to
avoid a DQ. Both went to the top, and after nearly falling off, Jericho hit a
superplex. Trish Stratus came out and began cheering for Jericho. Christian hit
one of those scary straight down on the head DDT's on Jericho and then dragged
Trish into the ring. He threw Trish down. Jericho went to her, wanting to get
her out of the ring so she wouldn't get hurt, but she elbowed him in the face.
Jericho staggered back and was rolled up and pinned by Christian. It was made to
look like she elbowed Jericho because she thought he was Christian. She
apologized to Jericho for causing him to lose, and though disappointed, he
accepted it. Christian began taunting Jericho from the apron. Jericho started
after him, but suddenly Trish lit into Jericho like a wildcat, slapping his face
over and over. Christian then laid Jericho out with the unprettier and left arm
in arm with Trish. They kissed passionately at the ramp top, with Trish coming
off as a real vixen for betraying Jericho. The match was very good with solid
heat, and the angle with Trish came off great because no one saw it coming and
the crowd reacted huge to it.
Lilian Garcia interviewed Foley, who was about to have his first official match
in four years (not counting the non-sanctioned one on RAW a few weeks ago).
Foley said he hoped the hate and emotions he has toward Evolution wouldn't get
the better of him. Rock arrived and told Foley to use his emotions to his
advantage. Rock did a hot promo, saying everyone knows it's the Rock & Sock
Connection's night. He pointed to Hurricane & Rosey, Jimmy Snuka & Don Muraco,
and the live crowd as examples of people who know. He got in most of his catch
phrases, and also told Lilian to stop staring at him since the buffet is closed.
Rock ended by telling Foley to slap the lips off Evolution and then kick their
asses.
RIC FLAIR & RANDY ORTON & BATISTA defeated ROCK & MICK FOLEY in a handicap match
in 16:59. They all brawled at the bell, with all three Evolution guys bailing
out. Order was restored and Flair started off against Rock. Rock did the Flair
strut. Flair chopped Rock. Rock backdropped Flair in the ring and then
backdropped him on the floor. Foley walloped Flair and did the bang-bang. Foley
punched out Orton and hung him upside down, where he took blows from both Foley
and Rock. Rock lariated Orton. Batista pulled down the ropes, causing Rock to
bump out. Batista and Flair worked Rock over. Flair did his strut. Flair went to
the top, but got tossed off as always. Rock tagged Foley in, who punched out all
three foes. Batista lariated Foley, who bumped out. Orton rammed Foley into the
stairs. Foley fought back and put the mandible claw on Batista. Orton broke it
up. Rock hot tagged and destroyed everyone until Batista flattened him with a
spinebuster. Flair wanted to do the people's elbow on the downed Rock, but he
spent too much time strutting during the rebounds off the ropes. Rock revived
and gave Flair a spinebuster. He then gave Flair the people's elbow. Rock gave
Orton a Rock Bottom. Flair grabbed a chair and ran around threatening to use it.
This was done to distract the ref so Orton and Batista could double on Rock.
Batista gave Rock a sit-down powerbomb, but Rock kicked out at two. Foley tagged
in and DDT'd Orton. He pulled out Mr. Socko, but as he went to apply it, Orton
revived and, out of nowhere, hit the RKO on Foley to score the surprise clean
pin. Great match with strong heat. Foley once again put a guy over in the best
tradition of building toward the future. Afterward, Foley was despondent over
being pinned but Rock hugged him and the crowd chanted "Foley" to revive his
spirits.
Footage aired of the previous night's Hall of Fame ceremony. This year's
inductees were then announced. They were Bobby Heenan, Tito Santana, the late
John Studd, Harley Race, Pete Rose, Don Muraco, Greg Valentine, the late
Junkyard Dog, Superstar Graham, Sgt. Slaughter, and Jesse Ventura. Studd was
represented by his son John Minton, Jr. and JYD by his daughter Latoya Ritter.
Everyone got a nice pop except Rose, who was booed, though I guess that fit his
character. Heenan bit back tears, as he has been fighting throat cancer and was
clearly moved by the crowd response to him. Ventura now looks like a Yukon
lumberjack. This was a very nice ceremony, hosted by Gene Okerlund.
TORRIE WILSON & SABLE beat STACY KEIBLER & MISS JACKIE in a Playboy evening gown
match in 2:33. Unlike normal evening gown matches, the goal wasn't to strip
one's opponent of her gown. Instead, it was a regular match. Sable, Torrie, and
Stacy stripped down to bra & panties before the bell. For unknown reasons,
Jackie refused, so Sable & Torrie stripped her. So I guess it really wasn't an
evening gown match. The match was pretty bad as far as wrestling goes, though
Torrie did do a bodypress off the top onto Jackie. Mostly they rolled around and
teased showing more skin. After a bunch of roll-ups and reversals, Torrie pinned
Jackie. Jackie acted mad and stormed off. Stacy seemed mad at Jackie, too.
Eddie Guerrero visited Chris Benoit, who was pacing back and forth in his locker
room, on pins and needles over his big upcoming match. Eddie said that win or
lose, he'll be proud of Benoit for his effort. Benoit took that as less than a
full vote of confidence and seemed upset. Eddie then said that no one really
thinks Benoit can win the big one. Benoit exploded and was furious with Eddie,
but Eddie then laughed and said he was just trying to get Benoit angry to psych
him up. He hoped the anger would bring out the Benoit who fought all those
legendary matches in Japan and who has the heart of a champion inside him. Eddie
predicted both of them would leave 'Mania with a world title.
CHAVO GUERRERO JR. won a nine man gauntlet match to retain the Cruiserweight
Title at 10:29. The rules were that each man entered via a number chosen in a
random drawing, except for Chavo who was awarded the last entry position for
being the reigning champ. The first two in were ULTIMO DRAGON and SHANNON MOORE.
Lots of fast paced spots. Moore missed a corkscrew moonsault when Dragon rolled
clear. Dragon won at 1:18 with his unique DDT maneuver. JAMIE NOBLE went in.
Dragon hit some kicks and a neckbreaker but Noble forced him to tap at 2:16 to a
legscissors submission. FUNAKI was in next. He immediately went for a bodypress
off the top, but Noble rolled through on it and pinned him at 2:24. NUNZIO went
in. He traded spots with Noble until taking a bump out. Noble then somersault
splashed him on the floor. Nunzio ended up counted out at 4:17. Though
eliminated, Nunzio dragged Noble out and fought with him on the floor. The next
entrant, BILLY KIDMAN, nailed both with a shooting star press which saw Kidman
almost land on his head. Back in the ring, Kidman hit an enzuigiri on Noble. He
then pinned Noble at 6:08 with a powerbomb off the top. REY MYSTERIO JR. was
next. Kidman hit him with a killer dropkick. Akio, who was at ringside, tripped
Mysterio. But Mysterio came back and pinned Kidman at 7:28 with a sunset flip
off the top. TAJIRI came in. He hooked the tarantula. Mysterio hit the 619 but
Tajiri evaded the West Coast Pop. Akio tried to interfere but it backfired.
Tajiri ended up misting Akio. Mysterio cradled Tajiri for the pin at 8:36. Chavo
came in as the final entrant. Tajiri had sucker punched Mysterio on the way out,
so Chavo lit into him. Mysterio rebounded with a springboard huracanrana. He
kicked Chavo Guerrero Sr., who was threatening to interfere. Mysterio vaulted
over the ref's back onto Sr. on the floor. Mysterio went for a sunset flip back
into the ring, but Chavo dropped on him and, with some illegal leverage from
Sr., pinned Mysterio at 10:29. The match was all good action, but the pinfalls
came ridiculously fast. Seven guys got pinned or submitted, plus one counted
out, in amazingly short order. They'd have been better off with one regular
Cruiserweight match, but since this was 'Mania they wanted more guys to get show
time so they went with this format.
BILL GOLDBERG beat BROCK LESNAR in 13:42. Steve Austin was the special ref. He
called it right down the middle. The crowd tore into Lesnar as soon as he hit
the ring with "you sold out" and "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye" chants. JR mentioned
the "rumor" that Lesnar is leaving WWE for the NFL. Both wrestlers stalled
forever, which was done for psychology but the crowd, already predisposed to be
pissed at Lesnar, and also not sure of Goldberg's WWE future, turned against
both guys and the match. They finally tied up at 2:45 but neither could
overpower the other. They traded shoulderblocks. The crowd started a "boring"
chant. Goldberg press slammed Lesnar, but Lesnar sidestepped when Goldberg went
for the spear. Goldberg hit the post. I'm not sure of the practicality of a
finisher that backfires as often as Goldberg's spear. Lesnar put the boots to
Goldberg and suplexed him. There was a "Goldberg sucks" chant, but anti-Lesnar
heat soon drowned it out. Lesnar hooked a chinlock, a rest hold which drew more
negative heat. Lesnar threw some shoulderblocks. Goldberg came back with a
lariat, a neckbreaker, and the spear. Lesnar kicked out at two, to Goldberg's
dismay. Lesnar then hit the F5, with Goldberg kicking out at two, so each got to
survive the other's finisher once. Lesnar thought he got a three count, but as
he argued with Austin he got hit with another Goldberg spear, this time followed
by a jackhammer for the three count. The crowd sang "Na Na Hey Hey" yet again to
Lesnar, who flipped the crowd off. He looked legit a little pissed over the
crowd reactions. Austin got a huge pop for giving Lesnar a stunner. Goldberg
celebrated his win by drinking beer with Austin, but Austin gave him a stunner,
too. The match is kind of hard to rate. It was okay for a bout with two
musclemen with conflicting styles. There was a lot of heat, but much of it was
crowd anger rather than positive heat. The one thing clear was that the guy most
expected to really get put over was Austin, and he was.
Vince McMahon thanked the fans for supporting twenty years of WrestleManias. Los
Angeles was announced as the site for WM XXI.
RIKISHI & SCOTTY 2 HOTTY won a four-way match over THE A.P.A., THE BASHAMS, and
CHARLIE HAAS & SHELTON BENJAMIN to retain the Smackdown World Tag Titles in
6:00. Bradshaw started off by pounding Benjamin. Haas gave Danny Basham a
backbreaker. Scotty suplexed Haas and did a moonwalk. Haas & Benjamin doubled on
Scotty. The Bashams then worked Scotty over. Rikishi came in and flattened
everybody. Rikishi sent Benjamin flying with an ass bump, which was pretty
funny. Rikishi also backed his ass up on Haas. Haas & Benjamin both ended up on
the floor. Bradshaw tossed Doug Basham out onto them. He then gave Danny the
lariat from hell. Rikishi Samoan dropped Bradshaw and gave Danny the Banzai ass
drop for the pin. No heat all atl. Haas & Benjamin deserve better matches.
Ventura came out and interviewed Donald Trump, who was on the front row. Trump
promised to finance a future Ventura presidential candidacy, with Jesse hinting
at a 2008 run.
VICTORIA defeated MOLLY HOLLY to retain the women's title in 4:52. Molly bailed
out quickly, so Victoria lariated her on the floor. Molly hit a suplex and some
kicks when the action returned to the ring. She scored some twos, but again
there was no heat. Lawler dwelled on panties. Victoria hit a powerslam. Molly
did a sunset flip off the top and almost lost it. Victoria then scored a quick
pin with a backslide. A typical women's match like we might see weekly on RAW,
though the main focus here was the hair stipulation. Molly had signed to be
shaved bald if she lost, so after the match she fled. Victoria chased her. Molly
ambushed her backstage and dragged her to the barber chair. Molly was about to
start cutting Victoria's hair, but Victoria recovered, laid Molly out, and
strapped her into the barber chair. Victoria shaved Molly bald, and I mean
totally bald, as Molly threw a tantrum. I'm glad they followed through on the
stip. After this, any guy who loses a hair match and fails to get shaved bald
will really look like a wimp.
EDDIE GUERRERO defeated KURT ANGLE to retain the WWE World Title in 21:32. They
traded mat spots, as most fans chanted for Eddie, though a decent sized minority
were for Angle. They each did shoulderblocks, with Eddie getting the best of the
deal as Angle bailed. Back to the ring, they did some great mat stuff. The crowd
was a little slow to get into it, but they eventually did. Eddie blocked a
suplex and hit some arm drags. They traded suplexes. Angle tried to suplex Eddie
off the apron but Eddie blocked it and Angle bumped to the floor. Eddie came off
the top. Angle moved and Eddie crashed onto the ring barrier. Eddie sold a rib
injury from this. Angle went to work on the rib area, hitting a bunch of
suplexes as well. Both went to the top. Angle took a bump off to the mat. Eddie
went for the frog splash, with Angle rolling clear and Eddie crashing hard to
the canvas. Angle pounded Eddie with fists. Eddie hit lariats and a suplex.
Angle did a German suplex. Eddie countered an Angle slam attempt into an arm
drag. Eddie hit a spinning headscissors and several suplexes. Angle hooked the
ankle lock, with Eddie managing to escape. Angle hit a superplex and another
German suplex. Eddie hit an excellent DDT and nailed the frog splash, but Angle
kicked out at two to a huge pop. Eddie coutered anoher ankle lock attempt. Angle
bumped out. Eddie loosened his bootlaces, acting as if he was sore from the
earlier ankle lock. Angle came back in and hooked the ankle lock yet again, but
the loosened boot came off, causing Angle to lose the hold. Eddie then rolled
the surprised Angle up for the pin. Excellent match with a huge pop for the
finish.
UNDERTAKER beat KANE in 7:46. Paul Bearer led Undertaker out, past an army of
Druids with torches. Kane freaked out at the sight of UT. UT attacked Kane at
the bell. They brawled out to the floor. UT legdropped Kane on the apron. Kane
tried to hotshot UT on the ropes but he was too far away and it looked pretty
bad. Kane fought back with his slow offense. UT hit a boot to the face. Each
tried to chokeslam the other, with Kane scoring. But UT sat back up. UT then won
with a chokeslam and a tombstone piledriver. It wasn't a good match, but the
crowd was into seeing UT back with his dead man character so they popped for it.
CHRIS BENOIT beat TRIPLE H and SHAWN MICHAELS in a three-way match to capture
the RAW World Title in 24:46. Benoit and the Heartbreak Kid chopped each other
as HHH watched. HBK threw HHH out, and he stayed out there a while just to watch
Benoit and HBK beat on each other. HBK twice blocked Benoit from hooking the
crossface. The crowd was totally behind Benoit here, to the point that many of
them booed HBK. HHH blindsided HBK and threw him over the top. HBK skinned the
cat and dumped Benoit out to the floor. HBK backdropped HHH. HHH hit a high knee
on HBK. HHH went out after Benoit on the floor, with HBK moonsaulting on them
from the top. Back in the ring, HHH set HBK up for a pedigree but Benoit stopped
it by lariating HHH. Benoit sent HBK crashing shoulder-first into the post.
Benoit suplexed HHH. Throughout all this, there were occasional pin attempts,
all ending with only a two count. HBK hit a flying forearm on HHH. HBK kipped up
afterward and was immediately lariated by Benoit. Benoit did the multiple German
suplexes on HHH. HHH superplexed Benoit. Benoit put the crossface on HHH. HBK
broke it up. Benoit gave HBK the multiple Germans and a diving headbutt for a
near fall. An HBK flying forearm sent Benoit crashing to the floor. HBK lariated
and slammed HHH. He hit the sweet chin music on HHH, but Benoit broke the pin
up. Benoit sent HBK into the post and he juiced a major gusher. Benoit hooked
the crossface on HBK. In a neat spot, HBK lifted his arm to tap out, but HHH
stopped the arm from hitting the mat and then broke up the crossface. HHH and
Benoit fought out to the floor, where HHH sent Benoit into the stairs. All three
ended up fighting on the Spanish broadcast desk. HHH & HBK joined forces to
double suplex Benoit from the Spanish table through the French table. HHH and
HBK ended up fighting back to the ring. HHH took a bump back out and landed on a
cameraman. HBK posted HHH and he juiced big. HHH fought back and pedigreed HBK.
HHH almost scored the pin, with Benoit barely reviving in time to make the save.
Benoit put the sharpshooter on HHH to great heat. HBK nailed Benoit with the
chin music, saving HHH. HBK went for the pin on Benoit, who kicked out at two to
a huge pop. Benoit ducked a second chin music attempt and dumped HBK out to the
floor. Benoit blocked a pedigree from the revived HHH, and hooked the crossface.
With HBK still out on the floor, HHH, after a struggle, tapped out to the
crossface for the title change. There was a massive pop, as this was a great
match and this was the perfect ending the fans wanted to see. Benoit nearly had
tears in his eyes as he was presented with the belt. Eddie Guerrero came in and
they hugged, with Eddie literally crying. What a great ending! There was once a
time when two wrestlers like Benoit and Guerrero, no matter how great, could
never dream of holding a WWE World Title because of their size. To see them both
leave 'Mania as world champs is literally amazing. Where it all begins again,
indeed!
2004 - Momoe Nakanishi defeats Yoshiko Tamura to win the NWA Pacific Women's
Title in Kawasaki, Japan, ending Tamura's fourth reign.
2005 - WWE held the 616th episode of RAW live and taped the 341st Sunday Night
Heat at The Arena at Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Georgia, suburban Atlanta. The
results were:
Heat:
- Viscera pinned Simon Dean with a splash.
- Chris Masters defeated Jimmy Rave by submission with the Masterlock.
- Maven and Molly Holly defeated Val Venis and Victoria, when Maven pinned Venis
with a roll-up following a low blow.
RAW:
- Kane defeated Christian and Tyson Tomko in a handicap match, by pinning Tomko
after a chokeslam.
- WWE Intercontinental Champion Shelton Benjamin pinned Edge after the T-bone
suplex.
- The Rockers (Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels) defeated La Résistance (Rob
Conway and Sylvain Grenier), when Jannetty pinned Grenier after the Rocker
Dropper as Michaels hit the Sweet Chin Music on Conway. This was The Rockers'
first match together as a team since December 30, 1991.
- Batista defeated Gene Snitsky by disqualification when Ric Flair interfered
and clipped Batista's knee while he had Snitsky up for the Batista Bomb.
- In a dark match after the show, Batista and Shawn Michaels defeated Edge and
World Heavyweight Champion Triple H (with Ric Flair), when Batista pinned Triple
H after Jake Roberts came out, scared Flair away, and distracted Triple H. After
the match, Triple H was DDT'd by Roberts and Roberts put his snake on him.
2006 - WWE taped the 190th Velocity and 344th Friday Night SmackDown! at the
CenturyTelCenter in Bossier City, Louisiana. The results:
- In a dark match, Test defeated Sylvan.
Velocity:
- Tatanka defeated Vito (with Nunzio).
- The Gymini (Jake and Jesse (with Simon Dean)) defeated The Mexicools (Psicosis
and Super Crazy).
- Paul London defeated Brian Kendrick, Kid Kash and Jamie Noble in a four-way
match to become #1 contender for the Gregory Helms' WWE Cruiserweight Title.
SmackDown!:
- Finlay defeated Bobby Lashley in a Lumberjack Money in the Bank qualifying
match.
- Paul Birchill and Kristal defeated William Regal and Jillian Hall.
- Booker T defeated Jeremy Young.
- Matt Hardy defeated The Road Warrior by disqualification in a Money in the
Bank qualifying match. This was the debut of the Road Warrior character for the
former Road Warrior Animal.
- WWE United States Champion Chris Benoit defeated Orlando Jordan.
- World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, Jr. and Randy Orton
defeated Mark Henry and WWE Tag Team Champions MNM (Joey Mercury and Johnny
Nitro).
- In dark match after the show, World Heavyweight Champion Kurt Angle defeated
Mark Henry, Randy Orton and The Undertaker to retain the title.
2007 - Ohio Valley Wrestling held it weekly television taping at Davis Arena in
Louisville, Kentucky. The results were:
Dark matches:
- T.J. Dalton and Jamin Olivencia defeated The Frat Pack (Mikey and Nicky).
- Tomasso defeated Vic D. Vine.
- Kassidy James defeated ???.
- Tony Braddock defeated Ranger Milton.
- OVW Women's Champion Katie Lea defeated Serena.
- K.C. James defeated Mike Tolar.
- Sylvan defeated Jake Hager.
- Johnny Jeter and The Miz defeated Deuce and Domino.
Televised matches:
- The Belgium Brawler and Nick Sinn defeated Terminal Velocity (Chet the Jett
and Steve Lewington).
- Boris Alexiev defeated OVW Television Champion Mike Kruel, beginning his
second reign.
- Cody Runnels and Shawn Spears defeated OVW Southern Tag Team Champions Charles
Evans and Justin LaRouche to win the title.
- Idol Stevens defeated OVW Heavyweight Champion Paul Birchill to win the title,
ending Burchill's second reign.
2008 - Vince McMahon receives a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. At the ceremony, Vince jokes about how happy he is to be situated next to Kermit the Frog's star. Shaun Gaurino filed the following report:
The walk of fame ceremony was well attended here in Los Angeles. At least 300+ were here to celebrate Vince McMahon on his special day (and it was made "Vince McMahon day" by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in honor of his star today).
The crowd was VERY vocal with WHAT chants being tossed at the host of the ceremonies, who was trying to introduce Vince (and to note, this guy had hardly any idea who Vince was. He read his bio, badly, off a script).
Shane McMahon spoke first with a very emotional speech about what his father meant to wrestling and his family. He was followed by the favored son, HHH, doing a half work, half shoot speech thanking Vince for everything, including his daughter.
Then Vinny Mac himself spoke. After a hearty chant of "speech" from the crowd, Vince starts his speech with "SHUT UP, you'll get your speech...", then continued with a heartfelt thank you, followed by a worked "I have no one to thank but myself" Mr. McMahon diatribe.
It was a fun half hour with a hot crowd and a grateful, entertaining Mr. McMahon and crew. The best part of the day is when HHH got done with the emotional "thank you" part of his speech, my friend yelled PEDIGREE from the crowd which cracked everyone up.
2008 - Dr. Gary Brandwein, a Florida doctor who wrote prescriptions for steroids and human growth hormone to celebrities and professional wrestlers plead guilty in an Albany, New York Court to criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Brandwein made the guilty plea as part of a plea bargain agreement with prosecutors and will serve a year in jail followed by another year on probation. In return, Brandwein agreed to assist prosecutors in their investigation against the Signature online Pharmacy that serviced a number of WWE wrestlers.
Ten WWE performers, including Edge, Chavo Guerrero and Ken Kennedy, among others were suspended in August 2008 after prosecutors brought their Signature connections to the attention of World Wrestling Entertainment management, while Mike Bucci, who was running the WWE developmental program at the time, was let go when his name came up in conjunction with Signature as a customer.
Bucci stated to several at the time that he was undergoing legitimately prescribed hormone replacement therapy, never had any direct link to Signature, but that his physician had taken care of his prescription fulfillment. Booker T, who was with World Wrestling Entertainment at the time and was also suspended, cited similar concerns, and claimed he had never ordered anything from Signature, later quitting WWE over his suspension. He would not return to the company for several years.
2008 - Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" filmed the climactic moments of the film, featuring Randy the Ram vs. The Sheik in Dover, NJ as part of a Ring of Honor event. Adam Abdallah filed the following live report from the event:
Ring of Honor debuted last night in Dover, NJ at the Baker Theatre. The show was a backdrop for filming of "The Wrestler" and there was more of a mom and pop atmosphere with a lot of families as opposed to the sausage factory feel of most ROH shows. I liked it way better this way, because I didn't feel surrounded by the usual litany of sc**bags.
Quick results:
*Roderick Strong defeated Pelle Primeau with the Gorilla Lock.
*Claudio Castagnoli pinned Nigel McGuinness with the Pyramid Bomb in a four way with BJ Whitmer and Erik Stevens.
*Delirious defeated Necro Butcher with a roll-up after Daizee Haze and Lacey
*Bryan Danielson and Austin Aries defeated The Vulture Squad (the newly unmasked Jigsaw and Ruckus) after Eddie Kingston appeared in the crowd and began chastising the Vulture Squad, yelling and questioning Ruckus's allegiances. This distracted Jigsaw and Julius Smokes enough than Dragon and Aries pummeled Ruckus with the Horns of Aries/MMA Elbow combination for the tap out.
*Go Shiozaki defeated Brent Albright with the moonsault.
*Following Albright-Shiozaki, Larry Sweeney came out in an awesome white suit with Bobby Dempsey. He offered Albright his services. Albright ripped up his card and said "I don't associate with scumbags." Sara Del Rey then came out and quit Sweet N Sour Inc. as well.
*Kevin Steen defeated Davey Richards with the Package Piledriver. Richards kicked the hand of a rambunctious little kid. It ruled.
*The Age Of The Fall (Joey Matthews & Tyler Black) defeated the Briscoes after Joey hit a double underhook DDT onto a chair on Jay Briscoe. This was a southern style tag match, as Joey Matthews hand demanded prior to the match. Necro, Matthews, and Black beat down the Briscoes until Daizee Haze and Delirious made the save.
As I noted above, they were filming for the Wrestler. Mickey Rourke's stunt double was Kid USA from the New York indy scene and he did a run-through of a match with Ernest Miller of WCW fame, who plays Rourke's nemesis in the film. The match was awesome, not from a technical standpoint, but from the old school way that it was laid out. There was some grumbling among ROH fans about it holding up the show since they filmed between the ROH bouts. The reality was the show was a film shoot first and a ROH house show second and anyone who didn't get that after two seconds was being bitter they weren't getting a Manhattan Center blowaway show.
Rourke came out later doing a ring entrance to the sweet tunes of Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine" and even HIT A PLANCHA.
The film crew controlled the production of the show and had posters and T-shirts for Rourke's character, Randy the Ram.
Marissa Tomei was backstage filming scenes but did not appear before the crowd.
One of the producers of the film tried to fire up the crowd by saying they had filmed at CZW and JAPW, taking shots at their crowds to try and rile up the ROH crowds. That was sort of silly.
The production crew had extras in the building for crowd shots as well and filmed reaction shots during the afternoon before the show. A lot of the ROH performers and staff were included in the backstage shots to help give it an authentic feel. Some of the wrestlers had been in town for several days.
2009 - John Cena made an unadvertised appearance during the opening sketch of Saturday Night Live, playing a security guard who was punched out by Tracy Morgan.
2010 - Adam Pearce regained the NWA championship, defeating Blue Demon Jr. and Phill Shatter in a three-way bout at the NWA New Beginnings event in Charlotte, NC./p>
2010 - Former TNA star Andy Douglas retired in the ring at the Nashville Fairgrounds Sports Arena. Douglas' surprise announcement came after losing a steel cage match for the SAW International Title to Chase Stevens, who he partnered with for seven years and became two-time NWA World Tag Team Champions with as The Naturals.
2010 - Bill Behrens, on behalf of the National Wrestling Alliance, issued the following:
The NWA mourns the passing of NWA Hall Of Fame wrestler, Francois Miquet
also know as Corsica Joe who died in Nashville, TN on 3-14-10 at the age of 90.
Joe and his tag team partner Corsica Jean were inducted into the NWA Hall of
Fame in 2008 at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, GA. The team held the NWA World
Tag Team Titles (Mid-America Version) 5 different times from 1957-1959. The team
was also 2 time NWA Southern Tag Team Champions (Georgia version) in 1965.
Joe was married for 43 years to professional wrestler Sara Lee who died Apil 5,
2008.
Both Joe & Sara appeared for NWA TNA on the early weekly PPVs.
2011 - WWE broadcasts Raw featuring Snooki of the Jersey Shore as the guest star. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
We are live from St. Louis, Missouri and your announcers are Michael ‘I’m going to call out Albert Pujols tonight’ Cole, Josh ‘What will happen to Evan Bourne in his home town tonight’ Mathews, and Jerry ‘Twenty Days until Cole Slaw’ Lawler.We begin with a photo of the Rock and he is ‘on the phone with the President’ and he is talking about John Cena’s promo from last week. Rock says that nobody laughed at that segment because it stunk. The thing that bothers him the most is that he tries to talk to him like a man, but he reacts like a child.
John Cena’s music plays and Rock has to hang up.
Rock says that Cena has a lot of nerve coming to his house to talk to him face to face. He tells Cena that he has his final chance to talk like a man.
In walks a child dressed like John Cena and he tells Rock that he can’t see him.
Rock walks up to the child and he tells John to not even think about it. He tells him not to rap because he isn’t gangsta and he isn’t from the hood. He wants him to talk like an adult.
The child says that his name is John Cena . . . he’s puttin’ on the hurt. I’m a big tough guy with the bright purple shirt.
He tells Rock if he wants some to come get some.
Rock sits down and he tells ‘John’ that they should have had this talk long ago. It is time to have a talk with the People’s Champion. When he left seven years ago, John ran with the ball. He didn’t run that far. He eventually became the man in the WWE. He says that John tried and he succeeded. He asks John to think about the cultural influence he has made. There was Kermit The Frog, then Barney, and now him. He owns the two to five year olds.
He asks ‘John’ if he knows why he won’t be as good as the Rock.
‘John’ says that it is because he isn’t talented.
Rock says bye-bye to the giant elephant in the room. He asks ‘John’ how he feels. Before ‘John’ can answer, he tells him IT DOESN’T MATTER how he feels.
‘John’ starts to cry. Rock says that ‘John’ shouldn’t cry but the people who watch his movies should cry. He gives ‘John’ a Cena shirt to blow his nose since he doesn’t have Kleenex.
Rock tells ‘John’ to turn that frown upside down. He has a gift for ‘John’. Rock gives him a box of Fruity Pebbles.
‘John’ says that he is happy because he has hustle, loyalty, respect, and Fruity Pebbles.
Rock says that maybe ‘John’ can have muscles like him. He tells ‘John’ to take his cereal and enjoy it. He tells the untalented ‘Fruit Loop’ to leave.
Rock tries to remember where he was and he has something to say to Miz. He says that he is right that they have not been properly introduced. Rock says that he is the most electrifying man in all of entertainment. He is the People’s Champion.
Last Monday night, Miz made some statements. First, he knocked out John Cena. Then he used the People’s Elbow and talked trash about his family. Miz made another statement. That statement was that he clearly wants the Rock to lay down the single biggest ass whooping of a lifetime. He says that we can all agree that the time for talk is over. It is time for Wrestlemania. As he promised and gave his word, he will bring it live on Monday Night Raw.
It doesn’t matter when because the only thing that Cena and Miz should be concerned with is how badly he layeth the Smacketh down on their candy asses.
If you Smelllllllllllllllllllllllalalalalalalalala what the Rock is cooking.
Snooki is in the back with Trish Stratus.
Michael Cole is in his isolation chamber to make sure that Jerry Lawler doesn’t beat him up.
Miz comes out and Cole marks out as only Cole can do.
We see highlights of what happened between Miz and John Cena over the last few weeks.
Miz starts off with a really for the St. Louis crowd and then he gives us another. He says that the Rock’s t-shirt says ‘I Bring It’. He agrees that Rock brings it. He brings out of date catchphrases, bad tattoos, awful movies, and pointless twenty minute diatribes that only a has been can bring.
Rock has issues with him insulting his family. Miz says that Rock’s father and grandfather were good. Miz says that they were never WWE Champion. That means that he is better than the both of them and he can say whatever he wants.
Miz says that Rock likes to make six year olds cry. He tells Rock to come into the ring and he will make him cry and scream like a little girl. Unlike Rock, instead of talking about beating up John Cena, he has done it. He has done it three weeks ago. Miz tells Rock that he doesn’t own John Cena, he does.
Miz says that doesn’t faze him and nothing that the people says fazes him. He tells Rock that week after week, Rock says that he is going to bring it. Miz prays that Rock will bring it. Maybe Rock will bring it to St. Louis.
The crowd goes wild.
Miz says that whenever the Rock brings it, he will be overshadowed by the most Must See WWE Champion in history. Miz tells us who he is and that he is AWESOME.
We kill all momentum from those promos and Michael Cole gets to read from the dingy dingy Raw General Manager. Cole leaves his cone of insipidness to go to the computer but Jerry gets in the way. Cole yells at Jerry for taking his job.
Jerry tells Cole to go back into his cage.
The General Manager has announced two first time ever matches for John Cena and him. John Cena will face Alberto Del Rio.
Miz asks about himself since he has beaten everyone. Lawler tells Miz that he will be facing The Great Khali.
We go to commercial.
Match Number One: Miz versus Great Khali with Runjin Singh
Miz with a kick to the knee and punches to Khali. Khali pushes Miz down and he punches him in the head. Khali with a chop to Miz’s chest and he goes down. Khali with the Khali Krush but Miz tries to get to the ropes. Miz finally gets to the ropes.
From out of nowhere, Alex Riley attacks Miz and the referee calls for the bell.
Winner: Great Khali
Khali chops Riley and then he hits the vertical choke slam.
Miz hits Khali in the legs and back with a steel chair. Miz with more chair shots to the back. Miz hits Khali in the back so many times that the chair breaks in a moment reminiscent of Rock hitting Mick Foley with numerous chair shots to the head.
Miz with a DDT onto the chair.
While the official checks on Khali we see the damage that has been done to his back.
Michael Cole says that he is going to expose Jerry Lawler to the world. Cole says that he has a special guest who will tell the world who Jerry Lawler really is.
We go to commercial.
We are back and John Cena has five million fans on Facebook.
Josh talks about the match between Undertaker and Triple H and their No Holds Barred Match.
We go to footage from last week’s Smackdown when Triple H returned fire on the Undertaker with footage of his own.
John Morrison is in the back and he is talking to Snooki. He says that she probably takes a punch better than half the guys. Snooki says
Vickie says that it is Miss Gym Tan Laundry hitting on a loser superstar. Vickie says that Snooki is to stay away from Dolph. She says that Snooki isn’t that great because she is on the cover of Rolling Stone. She says that she was offered the cover of Playboy.
Snooki says that it must have been a centerfold because they can’t fit Vickie on one page.
Vickie tries to slap Snooki but Snooki blocks it and slaps Vickie in the face.
Vickie screams and we go to commercial.
We are back and Did You Know that a lot of autographs will be signed at WWE Axxess.
Match Number Two: Sheamus versus Daniel Bryan with Gail Kim for the United States Title [and Sheamus’ career]
They lock up and Sheamus with a head lock take down. Sheamus follows that with a shoulder tackle and he gets a near fall. Sheamus with kicks to Bryan and then he connects with forearms. Bryan flips over Sheamus and then hits a drop toe hold and he tries for the LeBell Lock but Sheamus gets to the ropes. Bryan kicks Sheamus to the floor and then he hits a suicide dive.
Bryan rolls Sheamus back in and then he goes up top and hits a missile drop kick and gets a near fall.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Sheamus with a rear chin lock on Bryan and he has his knee in Bryan’s back. We see footage from the commercial break when Sheamus hit a back breaker and clothesline.
Bryan with elbows but Sheamus with a back elbow. Sheamus puts Bryan in the ropes and he connects with a forearm across the chest. He adds more forearms and then he adds more for good luck. Sheamus with a running knee lift while Bryan was hanging in the ropes and he gets a near fall.
Bryan with a kick to Sheamus and then Bryan avoids a back breaker with an inside cradle. Bryan back body drops Sheamus over the top rope and Sheamus appears to have reinjured his ankle.
Sheamus returns to the ring and the referee keeps Bryan away but it was a trap. Sheamus misses the pump kick and Bryan locks in the LeBell Lock. Sheamus gets to the rope right before he was going to tap. Sheamus punches Bryan in the midsection and then he Irish whips Bryan and then he goes for a power bomb but Bryan counters with a sunset flip for a near fall.
Sheamus and Bryan exchange forearms until Bryan gains control. Bryan with kicks to Sheamus and then he unloads with a series of kicks to the chest and then one to the head but Sheamus is able to kick out.
Bryan goes up top but Sheamus connects with the pump kick and he gets the three count.
Winner: Sheamus
After the match, Sheamus goes to the announce table to celebrate his victory.
Michael Cole climbs on his chair to kill the celebration.
Cole says that he is going to commit the verbal equivalent of regicide. He tells us that is killing a king. He says that he is going to bring out a man from Lawler’s past to talk about who Jerry Lawler really is.
We go to commercial.
We are back with the Slam of the Week: Michael Cole having Steve Austin becoming the guest referee at Wrestlemania.
Michael Cole is in the ring and the crowd is showing their love. Cole wants to know if the people enjoy that Steve Austin can come out and inject himself into Cole’s ‘main event’ at Wrestlemania. Cole guarantees that Austin will have a minimal effect at Wrestlemania when he beats Jerry Lawler. Cole says that he knows how defensive Lawler gets when they talk about his family, whether living or dead. Cole isn’t going to talk about his family tonight. His family is going to talk about him.
Michael Cole brings out Brian Christopher. Brian and Cole dance in the ring while Brian’s music plays.
Michael gives Brian a mic and he welcomes him back to WWE. Cole brings up Brian’s character names and he points out that he never used Brian Lawler.
Brian says that is because all of his life, growing up, he never felt like he had a father. He tells Michael that while Jerry Lawler was off traveling the world being ‘The King’, he neglected one thing . . . him. Jerry Lawler never really wanted a child. Jerry never wanted anybody or anything to get in his spotlight.
That is why when he made it on his own to the WWE, Jerry wouldn’t acknowledge that he was his son.
Jerry gets a mic and he tells Brian that he doesn’t really know what to say. He is not the only one who is glad that Brian didn’t use the Lawler name. He says that Brian is a bigger screw up than Charlie Sheen. Just the fact that he would associate himself with a jackass like Michael Cole tells everyone what kind of a person he is.
Brian asks Jerry how it makes him feel to know that he competed at Wrestlemania before Jerry did. Brian reminds everyone that as part of Too Cool, he was one of the biggest superstars in WWE at one time. Brian asks Jerry one more time how it made him feel. Brian calls him ‘daddy’ and then he pushes Jerry. He wants to know if Jerry is going to answer him and then he slaps Jerry in the head.
Brian bumps into Jerry and then he slaps him in the head again. Brian tells Jerry that the reason he never used the Lawler name is because he is ashamed of him.
We see Cole laughing in the ring as Brian walks away from his dad. Cole says that he thought that Jerry didn’t care about his family and then he calls him a coward, pathetic, and a loser.
The Oklahoma fight song plays and Jim Ross comes out to the ring. Cole says that he was wondering when this moment would come and he would do his best John Wayne impersonation riding into the spotlight on his white horse.
Jim asks Cole if this is going far enough. He talks about Jerry’s family, he brings out Jerry’s father to humiliate and embarrass Jerry Lawler. He tells Cole that this has gone far enough.
Cole tells Ross to go away. He tells Jim that it is his show now and he is the voice of the WWE. Cole gets in Jim’s face.
Ross says that he has been meaning to talk to Cole about being the voice of the WWE. Jim says that he had the honor of sitting at ringside with Jerry Lawler. He was able to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame thanks to Raw. Jim Ross says that no one will be the ‘voice of WWE’. It is the people in the crowd and the people watching at home.
Jim says that Cole has been carried by Lawler. He has been like a mother kangaroo carrying Cole around in his pouch. He says that Cole isn’t a lovable animal. He calls Cole a varmint and a rat bastard.
Cole asks if that is how it is going to be. Michael Cole in his ring being the bigger man standing up for himself while JR walked out of the ring into the sunset with his tail tucked between his legs.
Jim was about to leave the ring, but he makes his way back into the ring. Ross takes off his jacket and Cole does the same. Cole remembers to take off his tie.
Jack Swagger comes through the crowd and he attacks Jerry Lawler.
Swagger comes into the ring and Ross wants Swagger to stop. Cole tells Swagger to teach Ross a lesson.
Swagger kicks Ross and then he puts Ross in the ankle lock. Cole gets in Ross’ face and asks him how it feels.
Lawler pulls Swagger off Ross and then Cole jumps on Lawler’s back. Swagger attacks Lawler and puts him in the ankle lock.
Cole puts Ross in the ankle lock and then he tells Ross that this is what happens when you disrespect him.
We go to commercial.
We are back with the WWE Rewind: Randy Orton doing his best to limit the membership in Nexus.
Before our next match, we see that Randy’s wife and daughter are in the crowd.
Match Number Three: Randy Orton versus Mason Ryan with CM Punk in a If Mason wins, he can be at ringside for Punk’s match at Wrestlemania but if he loses, he will probably get kicked in the head Match
They lock up and Ryan backs Orton into the corner and then he tries to punch Orton in the corner on the break but Orton moves. Orton with punches and European uppercuts. Ryan with a kick and punches to Orton. Orton with punches of his own. Ryan with an Irish whip but Orton with a clothesline out of the corner. Ryan with a boot to Orton and Randy goes down.
Ryan with a back breaker to Orton and he gets a near fall. Ryan with another back breaker and then he picks Orton back up for a third one and he gets a near fall. Ryan with a bear hug on Orton. Orton punches and head butts Ryan while we see from Punk’s vantage point. Orton with a clothesline but Ryan with a Side Effect for a near fall. Ryan looks at the Wrestlemania sign and then he picks up Orton but he takes too long and Orton with an RKO for the three count.
Winner: Randy Orton
After the match, Orton poses on the turnbuckles and then he looks at Punk. Orton hesitates before leaving the ring and then he starts to make his way towards CM Punk. Orton thinks about it and he looks at Ryan getting up in the ring. Orton remembers that he had something to do on his ‘to do’ list. Orton runs into the ring and he kicks Ryan in the head. Punk gets into the ring and Orton does push ups in front of Punk as they stare down.
Punk leaves the ring and watches the medical staff bringing out a stretcher for Mason.
We have an Earlier Tonight Moment of the confrontation between Snooki and Vickie Guerrero.
We go to commercial.
We are back and it is time for the newest addition to the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame and it is former Royal Rumble participant Drew Carey.
Michael Cole interrupts Josh Mathews and he wants to remind everyone what happened earlier tonight. It was the premiere of the Michael Cole ankle lock on Raw. Cole says that he has mastered the ankle lock and he will use it to beat Jerry Lawler and humiliate him at Wrestlemania. Cole tells Jim Ross that ankle lock was a slobberknocker and he stomped a mudhole into him.
Trish Stratus is walking in the back with Snooki and Zack Ryder stops her and he asks her about his ‘situation’. Snooki likes it and then she walks with Trish as we go to commercial.
We are back and it is time for the Guest Host to come to the ring and it is Snooki. She makes her way to the ring. She says that she has been waiting for this moment all week long. She says that she is really looking forward to seeing Trish Stratus shut up Vickie Guerrero’s big mouth.
Vickie says that not only will she defeat the legend Trish Stratus, she will be rehired for Raw. Vickie says that she has some words for Snooki. She tells Snooki not to lay her hands on her again. Vickie yells at Snooki for stealing her spotlight. Vickie says that Snooki stole something very important from her. We see the cover of Rolling Stone. Vickie says that was her cover shoot. Vickie shows us the original cover. Vickie says that by the end of the night she will be the true Miss Media Darling. Vickie says that she will win tonight. Deep down inside, she is a good person.
Match Number Five: Vickie Guerrero versus Trish Stratus in a Career on the Line Part Two Match
Vickie tells Trish to wait a second so she can do some jumping jacks and other training. Trish with a rollup for a near fall while Vickie was not looking. Vickie tries for a kick but Trish blocks it and she sends Vickie to the mat. Vickie loses a shoe and Trish chases after her. Vickie gets her shoe back and she laughs maniacally. Vickie throws her shoe and she misses. Vickie gets her other shoe but Trish with a kick to Vickie and then Trish takes the shoe and she spanks Vickie with it.
Dolph Ziggler comes into the ring and she begs Trish to stop. John Morrison goes after Dolph and sends him to the floor. Morrison with a corkscrew plancha onto Dolph.
LayCool come to the ring and Michelle and Layla attack Trish and Michelle with a kick to the head for the three count.
Winner: Vickie Guerrero
After the match, Layla and Vickie take a photo with the defeated Trish. LayCool and Vickie celebrate in the ring as the reunion is complete.
Layla and Michelle make fun of Snooki after they realize that she is at ringside.
Michelle has something to say and Snooki gets in her face. Michelle pushes Snooki but Snooki pulls Michelle off the apron. Snooki with a Thesz Press to Layla and then Trish with a Thesz Press to Michelle. Trish punches Michelle while Layla tries to get away from Snooki.
LayCool and Vickie are able to get out of the ring.
Snooki, Trish, and Morrison celebrate in the ring and Dolph tells Morrison isn’t a girl.
Vickie tells Snooki that she is in over her head. Vickie says that this is her show now. Vickie says that she cannot wait to show them what they deserve on the biggest stage of them all.
She makes a challenge for Morrison, Trish, and Snooki to face Dolph Ziggler and LayCool at Wrestlemania.
Snooki accepts the challenge.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Sin Cara is in a ring surrounded by fired as he shows off what he can do in the ring.
It is time to talk about the Undertaker/Triple H match and it is time for part three of the Shawn Michaels scouting report. Shawn says that to say that the Undertaker is not intimidating, it is not true. There is a mystique, a mystery, a darkness. He is six foot ten inches tall and weighs nearly three hundred pounds. The biggest factor about Undertaker is the streak and it plays to his advantage. There is a lot of smoke and mirrors and distractions with the Undertaker if you let it get to you. You need to stay with the task at hand and it is difficult when it comes to the Undertaker.
The dynamic of the Undertaker at Wrestlemania takes a life of its own. You have him standing in front of you and that is enough, but then you add the streak and it can be too much to handle. He has never been beaten at the biggest show of them all. Shawn says that he does not know if it will be broken. He says that beating the Undertaker at Wrestlemania is the toughest thing to do.
Match Number Five: Alberto Del Rio with Brodus Clay versus John Cena
They lock up and Del Rio with a knee to Cena. They lock up again and Del Rio with a side head lock and take down. Del Rio with a shoulder tackle but Cena with a hip toss and a drop kick. Del Rio goes to the floor and we go to commercial.
We are back and Del Rio with a drop kick to Cena and he gets a near fall. Del Rio with a side head lock but Cena with a belly-to-back suplex. Cena and Del Rio both go for clotheslines and both men are down. Cena and Del Rio exchange punches as the crowd is conflicted over who to cheer and who to boo. Cena with two flying shoulder tackles followed by the Blue Thunder Bomb. Cena sets for the Five Knuckle Shuffle and he hits it to finish the Legendary Sequence. Cena gets Del Rio up for the Attitude Adjustment but Clay punches Cena and the referee calls for the bell.
Winner: John Cena by disqualification
After the match, Clay and Del Rio attack Cena.
The Rock’s music plays and It is Miz with a bald cap and a Rock t-shirt.
Cena punches Clay and then he kicks Del Rio. Miz gets taken down by Cena but Clay takes care of Cena.
Miz with a Rock Bottom on Cena. Del Rio hits the running enzuigiri in the corner. Clay hits a Fallaway Slam and Cena goes to the floor.
Miz gets on the turnbuckles and poses like the Rock. Miz pulls off the bald cap and he stands over John Cena and he picks him up and runs Cena’s back into the ring post.
Miz gets on the mic and he asks Cena how his road to Wrestlemania is and then he hits Cena in the head with the mic. Miz tells Cena that he has owned him the last three weeks and he will own him for the next three, all the way to Wrestlemania. Cena gets up and Miz hits him again with the mic. Cena starts to crawl up the ramp and Miz picks up Cena and suplexes him on the ramp.
Cena punches Miz and gets him up for the Attitude Adjustment but Miz gets away and he hits a DDT on the stage. Miz picks up Cena and he throws Cena into the spinning WWE logo on the stage. Cena tries to get back to his feet and Miz waits to hit the Skull Crushing Finale and he hits it on the base of the Spinning WWE Logo.
We go to credits.
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