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After an awesome cage match in which Shawn Michaels beat Diesel to retain the WWF title, Michaels went back into the cage and stood and danced over the prone Diesel. He then bent over and kissed him. Razor Ramon came out and hugged Michaels. Then out came Hunter Hearst Helmsley, making the clique sign. He hugged both guys. Diesel then “awakened†and stood up. Four of the five members of the clique then went to the corners of the top of the cage and extended the clique sign to the fans, most of whom ate it up completely.
We were told that the guys did this on their own and that Vince McMahon did not endorse it. In fact, we were told he was dead set against them doing it. But obviously, he did not stop it, and I think was the right move. Throughout the night, the fans in the building knew that both men were leaving as they heard alternating chants of “Please don’t go†and “You sold out,†with Diesel hearing much more of the latter (Lord only knows why).
A precursor to what was to come came earlier in the night. After Ramon’s match, most of the crowd was chanting, “You sold out†to him so he rubbed his fingers together in a money gesture. He took the mic and said, All I have to say is say goodbye to the Bad Guy.†Midway through, the company cut the mic off. They could not stop what happened at the end of the show, as the friendship of four men was more important, to them, than breaking kayfabe.
Given the professionalism that both men showed on their way out of the promotion, and also the classy way that the company did not bury them upon leaving, it was one of those times in this business that it makes all of us proud to be wrestling fans. In addition, I think all sides handled the situation the right way. No bridges were burned on either side, and if WCW handles the departing wrestlers the way they did the last time they had them, they could come back to Titan.
There are some who will be aghast by the breaking of kayfabe, but personally, I have no problem with it. Very few, if any, people “believe†that the business is anything but a work, and those who got to see this event will never, ever, forget it.
The other big moment of the card, which drew a sellout of more than 20,000 people we were told, was when the Godwins beat the Bodydonnas for the WWF Tag Team Titles. There is a lot of talk that the straps were taken off of the Bodydonnas because Sunny seems to be too outspoken for her own good, grating on the nerves of many in company. As the story goes, she has gotten too cocky for her own good and the taking of the titles was meant to take her down a peg. WWE had cameras present for the title change, but not the farewell."
With Michaels firmly in place as the WWF champion, and the future Outsiders off to WCW, the lion's share of the punishment went to Helmsley, who had his planned King of the Ring win the next month nullified and spent several months in purgatory, losing every match. That decision set the stage for Steve Austin to instead win the tournament, allowing him to cut his Austin 3:16 promo, sparking his career and legend. While WWF did not film the farewell themselves, a fan with a camcorder in the upper deck did. That footage was eventually shown on WWF television years later during the early vignettes for the DX group.
Dave Scherer asked me to do this. I didn’t want to, not particularly. I haven’t been watching too much of the WCW stuff recently. And I’ve never liked the “BattleBowl†concept. In a truly random drawing, you would not have two current teams being kept intact, and three other teams on opposite sides of the ring from each other. But if you have a random drawing, there’s no angles, and no heat. So WCW did the right thing in announcing the first-round match-ups.
The first thing I saw on the Main Event pre-show was an interview with
Jim Duggan and V. K. Wallstreet-Rotundo (the hyphenation being my own).
Duggan doesn’t trust Wallstreet, and to show how much he doesn’t trust him,
Jim shouts a lot.
There a video of the Giant chokeslamming everyone,
including the nice bump Luger took through a table on the 5/13 Nitro. Sting
and Luger do an interview, Lex telling Sting he’s got nothing to worry about
from Jimmy Hart, and Sting sounding ready to go. The Giant, with Jimmy Hart,
interrupts the interview from the video wall. The Giant says that Sting
doesn’t sound fired up, asks Luger how his back is, and then warns that the
same will happen to Sting, that he’ll end up on a stretcher.
We then go *LIVE* to the Riverfront Centroplex in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The place looks sold-out (I’ll be interested in hearing ticket sales when that information is available), and the crowd is primed. On the mic is Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan. So far, so good. A WCW show without my two least-favorite people: Hogan and Bischoff. Throughout the night, they do an OK job of focusing on the matches. Heenan gets off some good one-liners. Dusty Rhodes is a cabbage.
Road Warrior Animal/Booker T & Road Warrior Hawk/Lex Luger go to a double count-out in 5:55. There’s early heat between Hawk & Booker T, Luger and Animal. The match itself is one big tease to see if the Road Warriors will face each other. Oh yeah, and a bunch of no-sells and blown spots. Booker T in particular looks terrible with some kicks that don’t come within a foot of their target. When the Warriors are finally both in, they brawl, Animal against Luger, Hawk against Booker T, all the way back to the locker room. A most inauspicious beginning.
Public Enemy beat “Taskmaster†Kevin Sullivan/Chris Benoit in 4:43. Benoit gets a nice pop. He’s over, due to the Four Horsemen thing. Chris and Rocco Rock do some nice spots to begin with. Rocco lands a flying head scissors, then a Frankensteiner. A second Frankensteiner is countered with a powerbomb, Benoit tags Sullivan, and the brawl is on. Kevin is throws chairs everywhere, and Johnny Grunge tries to catch them with his forehead. Sullivan is laid out on a ringside table, but Benoit clotheslines Rocco as he runs to flip outside of the ring. Benoit gets suplexed to the outside. Kevin Sullivan is draped on top of Benoit, who is on the table. Sullivan moves at the last second as Grunge & Rock both crash through Benoit in an awesome-looking spot. Sullivan gets helped back to the locker room by Jimmy Hart as Benoit is dragged into the ring and pinned. ECW-style match, short as it was. Tony Schiavone questions the reaction of the Horsemen to Kevin Sullivan’s actions, so it looks like the Horsemen vs. DoD feud will continue for awhile.
Rick Steiner/Booty Man beat Scott Steiner/Craig Pittman in 7:57. “Booty Babe†Kimberly looks unbelievable. Booty Man looks even worse than he normally does compared to the background of the Steiners and Pittman. When held next to these three potatoes, he looks like an Easter Egg. The Booty’s spots are all offensive, both in nature and in execution. Pittman gets a German suplex on Rick, then takes a crotch-lift suplex in return. At 3:45 of the match, the teasing is over, and it’s Rick against Scott. Rick with a textbook hip throw, then some mat work. Scott comes back with a Saito-style suplex. Rick with the Steiner Line. Scott puts Rick in a full nelson, Rick reverses, lands a dragon suplex. Rick goes to the top rope so that he can get belly-to-bellied off it. Booty Man tags in, instantly misses a shoulder block on Scott. Pittman tags in, works over the arm, gets the Code Red. The Code Red, for you purists, has been changed from the Fujiwara-style arm bar that Maxx Payne used, to the straight arm bar called a jujigatame in judo. Booty fights it off, tags Rick, who lands a German suplex with a bridge on Pittman for the pin. In my opinion, best match of the first round.
Jim Duggan/V.K. Wallstreet-Rotundo beat Steve Regal'David Taylor in 3:13. Duggan gets a really strong crowd reaction from a fan base that used to idolize him in Mid-South. Heenan says Duggan recovered really quickly, with the punchline being that he just served as a brain donor. There’s lot of heat between Duggan & Wallstreet-Rotundo. As V.K. is outside with Regal, Duggan tapes his fist and decks Taylor for the pin. Whatever.
Dick Slater/Bobby Eaton beat Alex Wright/Disco Inferno in 2:57. Inferno’s gimmick just kills me every time. As the first collar-and-elbow leads him into a corner, Inferno complains loudly that Slater is messing up his hair. Wright and Disco get some offense going, but as Inferno starts to dance in celebration, Slater nails him in the back of the head with his cowboy boot.
“Diamond†Dallas Page/Barbarian beat Hugh Morrus/Meng in 5:21. The commentary during the match was all about Page’s fall from the top, due to the Booty Man, then how he was rescued from the gutter by some anonymous benefactor. How long do you think this “who is helping DDP?†angle will run? I’ll guess that the unveiling occurs at Fall Brawl, maybe even later. Anyway, Hugh Morrus goes for a plancha over the top early, but Page moves and Morrus lands with a sickening “thud.†Morrus sells his butt off for the Barbarian for awhile, then tags Meng. The two tag-team partners chop the sh** out of each other, Meng getting the upper hand. Morrus hits an elbow drop from the top rope, goes up again, but is caught by the Barbarian with a belly-to-belly from the top rope, Meng making the save on the pin attempt. Morrus hits a great moonsault, DDP makes the save. Finally, Meng covers Page, Barbarian covers Morrus. Page has his foot out of the ring, so the ref just counts the fall for Dallas & the Barbarian, as he should. This match was a highlight for Hugh Morrus. Man, I hope they use him more. He’s got the “psycho†gimmick down cold, works his butt off, and has some tremendous looking spots. That’s why the DoD tends to opt for Ze Gangsta types, I guess.
Scott Norton/Ice Train beat Big Bubba/Stevie Ray in 3:50. Lots of beef in there. No wrestling to speak of. But this raises a question: if Bubba changes his gimmick, but there’s no one there to hear it, and he doesn’t get a push, does anyone care? Not me. Bubba gets jobbed out to a double-clothesline, the standard Fire & Ice finisher.
Ric Flair/Randy Savage beat Arn Anderson/Eddy Guerrero. Flair doesn’t
come out the first time his music plays, so Savage comes down first. He gets
beat on by Arn, then Flair comes out and joins in. Eventually, Eddy Guerrero
saves Savage and we start a real match. Flair and Guerrero work superbly
together. Savage struggles to his feet after about two minutes, so Flair
elbows him in the head, tags him, and then forces Guerrero to tag Arn. Randy
rallies after a minute, but gets caught in a spinebuster for a 2-count.
Guerrero comes back, hits a swinging DDT on Flair (my favorite spot in
wrestling). Eventually, Flair and Arn double-team Savage outside the ring
after Arn laid Eddy out with a DDT and let Flair pin him. Miss Elizabeth
slaps Savage while the Horsemen hold him, then they leave him laying on the
outside, helpless. Whooooo, or something.
Mean Gene then draws a couple
of teams for the next round of Battlebowl and hits on some Baton Rouge
Hooters' talent.
Dean Malenko beat Brad Armstrong in 8:28 to retain the WCW Cruiserweight title. I was very impressed at how much the announcers talked about this match, and how it was the first Cruiserweight title defense on PPV. My non-wrestling friends thought this was the second-best match of the night, but the Baton Rouge crowd was more interested in trying to see themselves on the video wall. They didn’t care at all about what was a pretty solid match. Armstrong dominates early, Malenko owns the middle five minutes. Brad comes back, hits the Texas Cloverleaf, but Dean gets to the ropes. Eventually, Dean gets Brad on the top rope, delivers a gutbuster from the top for the pin. Great-looking move, but the setup was clumsy and it took forever.
The PPV has an ad stating “Our World is About to Change,†“Blood Runs Cold,†then shows a Japanese hubcap and states “Coming to WCW.†What? Huh? We have been told that, in spite of the rumors, Brian “Adam Bomb†Clark has not signed with WCW.
Mean Gene is lecherous as hell while having the Hooters girls draw the rest of the Battlebowl teams. That poor poor man.
Dick Slater/Bobby Eaton beat Jim Duggan/V. K. Wallstreet-Rotundo in 4:09. Duggan and Wallstreet-Rotundo brawl each other before the bell, then Slater and Eaton attack both of them. Duggan and V. K. fight their opponents off, then turn to each other. At four minutes of the match, V. K. swings wildly at Eaton in the corner, hitting Duggan. Duggan decks him back, and knocks Wallstreet-Rotundo right into a rollup by Eaton for the pin.
Public Enemy beat Ric Flair/Randy Savage by default. Savage doesn’t come out for his music, so Flair comes down first with Elizabeth and Woman. Randy runs Ric down in the entrance aisle, creating a brawl that took two cops and a bunch of security hacks to break up. No match, so P.E. dance again. Did I mention that I think Johnny Grunge’s new haircut makes him look like a Breck Girl??
Dallas Page/Barbarian beat Booty Man/Rick Steiner in 4:33. Dallas talks to Kimberly as the match begins, then gets knocked out of the ring by Booty Man in a great bump. Page ends up tangled in electrical cables, and choked with them. Rick Steiner sells (!) for a couple of minutes, since Booty can’t spend too much time in the ring. Rick makes the hot tag, Booty with the jumping knee for a pin, Page makes the save. Page makes another save with an elbow drop to the back of Booty’s head, Barbarian makes the cover, 1-2-3.
Konnan beat Jushin Liger in 9:28 to retain the U.S. heavyweight title. Konnan is knocked out of the ring early, then attacked with some nice-looking kicks by Sonny Onno. As he chases Onno around the ring, Liger dives out with an over-the-top plancha. Not only does Konnan deflect Liger, so that Jushin has to take all of the bump, but then he sells it anyway, so that he can lay down for awhile and rest after 30 seconds. Konnan has a great physique, but no work ethic whatsoever. He can go, which pisses me off when he doesn’t. Liger hits a belly-to-belly from the top rope, then a splash for a 2 1/2-count. Konnan goes out for a breather, Liger goes for a plancha from the top turnbuckle, Konnan counters with a boot to the gut. Liger comes back in the ring with a Fishermanbuster suplex for a 2 3/4-count. Konnan turns a head scissors into a powerbomb, 1-2 3/4. Konnan goes for his Splash Mountain-style power drop, Liger rolls into a cradle, 1-2. Inside cradle, 1-2. Liger hits a powerbomb, 1-2 3/4. Liger goes to the top rope, dives, Konnan gets his feet up. Hits the Splash Mountain drop for the pin. The last three minutes were fine, but Konnan needs to realize he has to work from the opening bell to the close. You can’t generate rest opportunities that aren’t there.
Ric Flair/Arn Anderson interview, bagging on the Macho Man and then turning their attention to Steve McMichael. Mongo comes down, says that his partner for any match they want to sign in the future will be Kevin Greene. Greene comes out, there’s a staredown that’s broken up by Doug Dillinger’s crack team.
Dallas Page won Battlebowl in 9:35. Page is knocked out of the ring early, but catches himself and slides back in. One foot touched the floor, but Schiavone made a big deal out of pointing out that the referee didn’t see it. Why do I get the feeling that Page will get “screwed again?†Rocco Rock is tossed out at 3:43. Bobby Eaton is next at 4:03. As Eaton hits the floor, Col. Robert Parker comes over and smacks Bobby with his hat. Eaton retaliates with a right, and Dick Slater comes out of the ring at 4:14 to join in the fray. Page hits the Diamond Cutter on the Barbarian, Ice Train, and Johnny Grunge, in quick succession. He covers Grunge for a pin at 5:38, Ice Train for a pin at 5:44, then covers Barbarian, who kicks out at 2 1/2. Barbarian hits a good-looking tombstone piledriver at 7:34, Page kicks out. Dallas is put in a sleeper hold, uses a strategically-placed mule kick to get out of it. But he’s groggy, and the Barbarian powerbombs the sh** out of him. Still can’t finish Dallas off as Page rolls out of the way of the Barbarian’s head butt from the top rope. DDP hits the Diamond Cutter, getting the pin. He wins the Battlebowl ring, the “Lord of the Ring†title, and a shot at the WCW champ. Nice night for Page, and in my opinion, well-deserving of the push he’s getting.
The Giant beat Sting in 10:39 to retain the WCW heavyweight title. Sting gets the biggest pop of the night. Luger and Jimmy Hart are handcuffed to each other. They do a lot of little-man-trying-to-get-big-man-and-failing spots early, with the Giant missing a drop kick. This is the best big-man athlete I’ve seen since Ernie Ladd. Sting sells his butt off, getting dragged out of the ring at 6:30 to get chokeslammed through a table. Luger holds Jimmy Hart down on the table, so the Giant can’t do it. Sting makes his comeback a minute later, lands a Stinger Splash on the Giant, who is draped over the top turnbuckle. Jimmy Hart gets up on the corner apron, pulling Luger (?) up with him. The Giant grabs Luger by the throat, and it takes several splashes and kicks to the leg by Sting to save his partner. There’s a ref bump, and the Giant is down. Luger drapes Jimmy Hart on the turnbuckle, but when Sting goes for the splash, Luger falls down and drags Jimmy Hart off the turnbuckle. There’s a question of Luger’s intent, and I’d say believably so. Sting hits a Snuka-style dive from the top rope as the ref comes around, covers, 1-2 1/2. When the Giant kicks out, Sting lands on referee Randy Anderson and the poor guy is out again. Sting hits another dive. Luger and Hart are up in the corner again, this time fighting over the megaphone. Sting puts the Giant in the Scorpion Death Lock, but too near the corner, and Luger and Hart swing the megaphone around in their struggle, decking Sting with it. The Giant chokeslams Sting, the ref comes around, 1-2-3. Again, more question of intent. My friends thought this was the best match of the night, and I thought it was pretty good for what it was supposed to do. I'm looking forward to seeing Sting vs. the Giant on June 1st in Los Angeles, which I wasn’t before.
Overall, this wasn’t a bad show. There were too many matches, and this is compounded by the fact that most matches in the Battlebowl format are meaningless and make guys look bad. After all, these are supposed to be four of your best, and yet they get beat consistently in five minutes or less. No, sir, I don’t like it.
This show, for me, took a lot of the heat off of Kevin Sullivan as a booker. It was relatively fresh, there were no screwjob finishes (minor screw in the main event, but Sting still ended up lying down clean), and the Page push worked out fine. No coffee, no shoes, no handcuffs. No Hogan.
1997 -WCW ran Asheville, NC for a Monday Nitro taping at the Civic Center featuring the following results:UNDERTAKER defeated HULK HOGAN to capture the WWE Undisputed World Title in
11:18. Undertaker still had Hogan's weight belt. He used it on Hulk before the
bell. Hulk then got the belt and used it on UT until referee Earl Hebner got it
and threw it from the ring. UT took a backdrop. Hogan tore off his shirt to a
big pop. There was good crowd heat, which was the otherwise weak match's only
saving grace. UT took a bump into the stairs. He also got crotched. UT slowly
worked on Hulk's leg to supposedly prevent him from doing the legdrop. Hogan
still hit the boot to the face and went for a legdrop but UT rolled clear. UT
got a busted lip. UT hooked a half crab but Hulk made the ropes. UT went for a
chokeslam but Hulk didn't go up for it and it looked very bad. Hogan then did
the no-sell Hulkamania comeback. He hit the boot and legdrop but UT kicked out
at two. Hulk booted a chair into UT's face and hit another legdrop. This time,
Vince arrived and distracted the ref. Hogan walloped Vince and gave him a
legdrop. But UT clocked Hulk with a chair and hit a chokeslam, which Hulk went
up for this time, and got the three count. Vince smiled. Afterward, UT vowed to
make Hogan pay for destroying his motorcycle and jammed Hulk's throat into a
chair, doing an apparent injury angle. A bad WWE main event but at least the
live crowd got into it.
This would be the last WWE title, to date, Hulk
Hogan has held.
2002 - Prior to the PPV, WWE broadcast a live episode of
Heat. John Keane filed the following TV report:
Live from the
Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
Your hosts are
Jonathan Coachman and Raven.
Your Judgment Day pre-game show.
Show
opens with video hyping tonight’s PPV Main Event: The Undertaker challenging
Hulk Hogan for the Undisputed Championship.
Coach and Raven say howdy as
the crowd files in. They talk up the above and 2 of our other matches: Chris
Jericho vs. HHH in Hell in a Cell, and Stone Cold Steve Austin taking on The Big
Show and Raw owner Ric Flair in a handicap match. Video rolls documenting the
bad blood between Austin and Show/Flair. Coach informs us that Stone Cold
suffered internal injuries during a beatdown on last weeks Raw, and isn’t
expected to be at 100% tonight. As we see Ric Flair and his crony Arn Anderson
entering the arena, Coach informs us we’ll be having a match right here on Heat
later on: D’lo Brown challenges William Regal for the European Title. Break.
(Commentary: D’lo/Regal! Got my wish!)
Back, we get our Tough Enough
2 recap. Male contestant Hawk dropped out due to unspecified personal problems,
and female contestant Jackie appeared to suffer a leg injury in the ring. The
season finale will air after Smackdown week after next. Break.
WWE
Rewind: The Hardyz get a DQ victory over Brock Lesnar last week on Raw.
Coach and Raven return to go over some of the other matches on tonight's card.
The Hardyz take on Brock Lesnar and his ‘agent’ Paul Heyman, also Billy and
Chuck (presumably with Rico) against Rikishi and a mystery opponent to be chosen
by Smackdown boss Mr. McMahon-Billy and Chuck’s Tag titles will be on the line
for that one. Focus is on Edge vs. Kurt Angle in a ‘hair vs. hair’ match-the
loser gets his head shaved. After video of their recent in and out of ring
exploits rolls, we see the barber chair and haircutting utensils backstage. More
hype for the Euro title match precedes a break.
Snap of the Night: Trish
Stratus defeats Jazz last week on Raw to re-gain the Women’s Championship.
Back, we see Vince and his personal assistant Stacy Keibler arriving at the
arena. They’re accosted by Billy, Chuck and Rico, who want to know who Rikishi’s
partner will be. Vince knows, but he won’t spill. He and Stacy then take their
leave-the lovely Miss Keibler has a match to prepare for.
Coach and Raven
talk up the above-mentioned match-tonight, Stacy gets her shot at Trish’s
Women's title. This one features a Dudley Boyz reunion of sorts-Vince has
assigned the Reverend D-Von to be in Stacy’s corner, and Bubba Ray is expected
to accompany Trish. We also have another title match tonight-Rob Van Dam
challenges Eddy Guerrero for the Intercontinental strap.
Cut to Terri
interviewing Eddy backstage-he does his standard lascivious promo, wonders if
RVD is ‘feeling froggy’.
Back to our announcers, who have what I feel is
a pretty big announcement. Next Saturday at 11 p.m. on TNN, the WWE will debut
‘Confidential’, hosted by (drumroll please…) Mean Gene Okerlund! The show will
feature personality profiles, and Shawn Michaels will be the guest for the debut
episode. Break.
Coach and Raven return to hype tonight's main events,
focusing on the HHH/Chris Jericho ‘Hell in a Cell’ match. Video documents their
recent feud. We see the roofed enclosure, unused for nearly 2 years, hanging
over the ring. Break.
(Slanted Commentary: Go Y2J, break down the
walls-clean!)
Our hosts return to send us down to Jim Ross and Jerry ‘The
King’ Lawler at ringside…
Heat match: For the European Championship: D’lo
Brown vs. champ William Regal.
Crowd despises William (who looks like he
needs to start watching his weight), likes D’lo fine. Lockup, D’lo forces
William to corner, ref calls for break. William retreats for a bit, exchange of
wristlocks follows, William then slaps on a side headlock. D’lo makes it to
ropes, breaks hold, shoots William off opposite ropes, William scores with a
shoulder, D’lo down, William gets a trio of 2-counts. Up, William scores an
uppercut, forces D’lo to corner, lays in elbows to face, ref calls for break.
William tries for whip, reversed, William to corner, takes back body drop as he
bounces back in. Up, D’lo scores with a clothesline/dropkick pair of knockdowns,
William rolls out of ring for a breather. William attempts to ascend apron, D’lo
gives him an assist, suplexing William in for a 2-count. William crawls to
corner, begs off, D’lo scores boot to gut, William up, D’lo lays in punches and
forearms. D’lo attempts whip, reversed, D’lo off ropes, William tries for
hiptoss, D’lo blocks, scores with a backslide, only good for 2. Up, D’lo gets in
boot to gut, punch, bodyslam, William down, D’lo drops the elbow, covers for 2.
D’lo up, scores his famous legdrop, still just gets 2. Up, D’lo gets in a
forearm to face, whips William off ropes, sets for back body drop, not this
time, William scouts it, scores boot to face. D’lo doubled over, William off
ropes, gets in another boot to face, D’lo down. William slowly covers, just gets
2, he brings D’lo up, tosses him neck first into second rope, D’lo down again.
Regal wave is followed by choke on ropes, ref calls for break. William scores
boot to gut, then another neck first toss into ropes. D’lo down, William drops
the knee, gets a 2-count. William slaps on a reverse chinlock, ref checks D’lo’s
consciousness, arm drops once, twice, stays up at 3. D’lo gets to feet, elbows
out of hold, goes off ropes, William scores with a knee, D’lo down. William lays
in boots, gets warned by ref, brings D’lo up, scores pair of knees, headbutt,
D’lo down yet again. D’lo to ropes, William whips him off opposite, D’lo ducks a
clothesline, tries for powerslam, William counters with modified facebuster,
both men down for a 7-count. Up, the 2 exchange punches and forearms, D’lo whips
William off ropes, scores a kneelift/clothesline/sidekick series of knockdowns,
covers, just gets 2. William groggily to feet, D’lo scores punch, D’lo attempts
whip, reversed, D’lo off ropes, ducks a clothesline, off ropes again, attempts
crossbody block, William catches him, D’lo gets crotched on top rope. He falls
to mat, William scores a schoolboy rollup with the requisite tug on the tights,
gets the 1-2-3.
Winner and Still European Champion: William Regal.
J.R. and the King go over the nights main events. Video package for
Hogan/Undertaker ends the show.
Yep, standard PPV preview show. Match was
pretty good, maybe William has finally found someone he can work with that won’t
send the crowd to the concession stands-hope this is the start of a feud. Enjoy
the PPV, and don’t forget to set your VCRs for ‘Confidential’.
2003 - The WWE Raw roster paid tribute
to Ric Flair in Greenville, SC at the Bi-Lo Center after Raw went off the air.
The main event of the taping saw World Heavyweight Champion Triple H pin Ric
Flair with the Pedigree at 7:24 after blocking the challenger's attempt at a
Pedigree with a backdrop. After the show went off the air, many of the Raw
roster filled into the ring as a surprised Flair was hoisted onto their
shoulders in a showing of respect and tribute. The tribute, an idea Tommy
Dreamer suggested, would later be released on WWE's Ultimate Ric Flair
Collection DVD release.
Tim Whitehead filed the following Raw TV report:
The 5/19 edition of RAW IS IN FLAIR COUNTRY aired live from Greenville, SC. I
liked most of the show, especially the Flair angle. I thought the car assault
stuff was stupid, though, and I still think Austin is upstaging the active
wrestlers too much.
Steve Austin came out to the ring as Jim Ross & Jerry
Lawler noted that Austin got Eric Bischoff drunk at Judgment Day. Austin put
over the PPV to the usual "whats", but said the one negative was having to share
his skybox with a jackass like Bischoff. Austin had the footage shown of
Bischoff throwing up after drinking too much. It aired a ridiculous number of
times, including in slow motion. He predicted Bischoff wouldn't be very active
tonight due to a hangover. Austin called himself the hardest working redneck in
show business, and said June's PPV will be called "Stone Cold Steve Austin
Presents Bad Blood". He said with his name on it, it will be guaranteed to be
good. He looked into the camera and said "trust in me and I will never let you
down". Austin next turned his attention to the car attack on Goldberg. He
claimed to have been investigating the incident all week, and vowed to reveal
the assailant's identity later. He promised to give Goldberg a match against the
assailant, whomever he may be. Next, Austin turned his attention to the RAW
World Title, bringing Triple H out as still the champ. Ric Flair came out with
HHH. Austin cut HHH's entrance routine short, saying he didn't have time to
watch him spray that stupid-ass water all over the crowd. HHH didn't appreciate
the interference. Austin said he was trying very hard to maintain composure and
asked HHH to take his sunglasses off so he could look him in the eye. HHH
removed them and got right in Austin's face. Austin told HHH that he got his ass
whipped last night by Kevin Nash, and retained the belt only by virtue of the DQ
rule. He asked HHH if he felt proud over the fact that he used a sledgehammer on
referee Earl Hebner to get himself DQ'ed. Austin said he would make HHH wrestle
on RAW. HHH said most people think Austin's a drunk, but that he's really drunk
with power. HHH noted that the bottom line is he's still the champ. He claimed
to have enough stroke not to have to wrestle on RAW if he doesn't want to.
Austin repeated that HHH would have to wrestle, but said he'd give him the
choice of fighting any former world champion, which meant he could choose from
Kane, Shawn Michaels, Chris Jericho, or Nash. Apparently they were limiting this
to WWE champs, because Goldberg and Booker T weren't included. HHH shrewdly
reminded Austin that Flair was a former world champion, and said he'd wrestle
him. HHH said "that's the bottom line, because HHH said so". Austin looked a
little upset that HHH appeared to have outsmarted him, but since Flair was
indeed a former WWE world champ, Austin had no choice but to agree to HHH's
selection.
JR & Lawler announced a poll on WWE.com where fans could vote
on who they thought tried to run over Goldberg.
The Dudleys defeated
Rosey & Jamal in 6:09. D-Von got doubled on until hot tagging Bubba. The Dudleys
delivered the wazzup. They went for a table but it got kicked into D-Von's face.
Jamal hit Bubba with a Samoan drop but he wasn't the legal man so the ref
wouldn't count his pin attempt. Rico slid the table in and Jamal tried to put
D-Von through it, but D-Von rolled clear and Jamal went through. Bubba then
pinned Rosey after a 3D. Afterward, Rico threw a tantrum and said he was sick of
Rosey & Jamal losing. He arrogantly announced that he was leaving them (like a
wife walking out on her husband or something) and stormed off.
Austin
visited Bischoff, who was sick as dog from last night's drinking and food binge.
Austin offered him another beer but Bischoff said he just couldn't take Austin's
redneck lifestyle. Austin said that lifestyle has served him very well and held
a beer can under Bischoff's nose. Bischoff got sicker and threw up all over his
big photo on the wall. Clearly someone on the writing staff is still hooked on
the Beavis & Butthead humor stuff.
Austin encountered Nash after leaving
Bischoff's office. Austin told Nash that he kicked HHH's ass all over the arena
last night until the DQ. He said that makes Nash the number one contender, and
that he'll get a title shot against whoever wins the HHH vs. Flair match later.
Nash was pleased.
Flair told HHH he was honored that he chose him as his
opponent. Flair was talking like he planned to make it a serious match, as if
HHH had selected him because he wanted the best competition or something. HHH
told Flair that he was sore and bruised up from last night's match against Nash
and did the old "wink-wink, nod-nod" routine of explaining to Flair that his job
was to go out there, maybe talk a little trash, but in the end to just lay down
and let himself be pinned. Yeah, that gimmick really did wonders for WCW and
their title. Flair didn't seem to like HHH's attitude, especially since they
were in Flair country.
Chris Jericho came out for his Highlight Reel
segment. He put over his segment as the hottest on TV, and proudly displayed his
new plasma TV monitor. He called it the Jeritron 5000 and said it cost more than
the fans' homes did. Jericho aired footage from Judgment Day of Christian
eliminating him in the IC Battle Royal, and accused him of betraying him. He
thus called out Christian to be his guest. Christian came out, sporting a new
haircut and clothes. Jericho at first went off on him for eliminating him, but
then admitted that he would have eliminated Christian if he had had an opening,
and they hugged. He congratulated Christian on his success. Christian said he
couldn't have done it without the support of all the fans, saying "My heart
beeps for my peeps". He said to forget about Clay and Rubin, since he's the real
American Idol. Jericho said he achieved that without even being American. He
then noted that there are people who say Christian won by cheating, and aired
the closing moments of the battle royal where Booker T eliminated Christian, but
the ref didn't see it since he was unconscious. Christian went illegally back in
and eliminated Booker, which the revived ref saw. After this aired, Christian
said the fact is that Booker just isn't championship material and he doesn't
have wicked-ass clothes or a cool-ass haircut. Jericho said Booker's hair looks
like a pineapple. Christian tried to inaugurate "Christian rules" as a new catch
phrase. This brought Rob Van Dam out. RVD said he had a better catch phrase:
"You've got the belt, you're making big bucks, but everyone still knows,
Christian sucks." RVD challenged Christian to defend the title against him.
Christian refused and said he didn't appreciate RVD intruding on his victory
celebration. He then sucker punched RVD. Jericho joined in and they doubled on
RVD until Kane made the save. As Christian & Jericho were retreating, Austin
appeared on the Titantron. He said Christian will have to defend the IC belt
soon, but for now he was scheduling an RVD & Kane tag title defense against
Jericho & Christian. That didn't make a whole lot of sense coming from a
supposedly babyface general manager. But in any event they went to a commercial
break so Jericho's Highlight Reel props could be removed from the ring.
Hour two began with RVD & Kane beating Jericho & Christian by DQ in 10:26 to
retain the tag titles. Kane threw both foes from the ring and RVD hit them with
a somersault plancha. RVD did the rolling thunder on Jericho. The heels got heat
on RVD, tying him up in their corner. JR & Lawler got off on a tangent talking
about who the car assailant was who tried to run down Goldberg. Lawler mentioned
Kane as a poor driver and I was scared to death he was going to mention Katie
Vick, but he didn't. Kane hot tagged in and had both Jericho and Christian
reeling. He chokeslammed Christian and RVD went up for the frog splash, but
Jericho shoved him off to the floor. Christian revived enough to give Kane a low
blow. Jericho hit Kane with the lionsault but only scored a two. Jericho and
Christian each got a chair and they were about to do the "concerto" on Kane.
They didn't complete it, but the ref still DQ'ed them for ignoring his warning
to drop the chairs. Before they could hit Kane, Booker T ran in for the save to
a big pop. Booker cleaned house and pounded Christian into the mat. Jericho &
Christian fled as Booker did the spinaroonie. Pretty good match!
Shawn
Michaels approached Flair backstage. He told him it would be wrong for him to
lay down for HHH. He said that fifteen years ago he saw Flair doing a promo as
world champion where he called himself the greatest and said he was the
measuring stick for all wrestlers to aspire to. Michaels said that promo
motivated him to go out and become the best he could be, and that he likes to
think he reached that level. He told Flair that a wrestler is only as good as
his last match, and that he knows Flair still has it in him to beat HHH. Flair
actually cried, acting legitimately touched by what Michaels had to say.
Rodney Mack beat Spike Dudley in 4:59. Theodore Long & Mack came out. Mack
complained that the crowd was too white. Long said that over the past few weeks,
Mack has defeated a lot of white boys, but admitted they weren't exactly top
competition. So he issued a challenge for any established white boy superstar to
come out and last five minutes with Rodney. Spike Dudley came out. Long did
color commentary as always. He accused JR of having once employed a black nanny.
The match continued, with Long starting to get a little worried as Spike had
Mack confused with his aerial tactics. But in the end, Mack hooked on a cobra
clutch-type submission hold which Long called the Blackout. Spike tapped with
only one second to go in the white boy challenge.
Footage aired of Trish
Stratus getting a busted lip during the women's title match at Judgment Day. JR
reported that she had the night off as a result. JR also reported that Flair
seemed to be having second thoughts about laying down for HHH.
Austin
barged into Bischoff's office shouting over a megaphone, which did wonders for
Bischoff's hangover. Austin also banged on a garbage can lid and set off a
siren. He told Bischoff that the way to overcome a hangover is to have a couple
of women. Bischoff said he was too sick for that, but Austin said he had a
couple of "girls" for him. The girls turned out to be Fabulous Moolah & Mae
Young. Hey, Bischoff said he likes mature women! Bischoff was enraged and threw
them both out.
Flair stood in front of a mirror in his sequined robe. He
started getting self-motivated, strutted, and shouted "whoooo!"
La
Resistance defeated Scott Steiner & Test in 2:05. Steiner took a bump out almost
immediately and got rammed into the stairs. Stacy Keibler went over to help him.
This left Test to fight both Frenchmen on his own. Steiner recovered and got on
the apron, where Test collided with him. Test staggered back and was cradled for
the pin by Sylvan Grenier. Steiner and Test argued afterward. Test tried to
leave with Stacy but Steiner grabbed Stacy and tried to leave with her himself.
After some more shoving and arguing, Stacy walked out on both of them, leaving
them in the ring as she stormed off up the ramp.
Austin entered a room
with a sign on the door reading "Interrogation Room". Meanwhile, it was revealed
that the top 10 assailant suspects voted for by fans on WWE.com were: 1) Rock
29% of the vote, 2) Christian 18%, 3) HHH 14%, 4) Austin 13%, 5) Jericho 10%, 6)
Eric Bischoff, Rodney Mack, and Lance Storm tied at 4%, 9) Theodore Long 3%, 10)
Flair 1%.
After a break, Austin interrogated Lance Storm in the darkened
room. Austin was acting like some out-of-control police detective while Storm
was acting scared to death. Austin revealed that it was Storm's rental car that
struck Goldberg's limo door. Storm stayed quiet at first but then admitted he
was the driver. He claimed it was an accident, that the accelerator got stuck,
and that he wasn't used to driving in America, claiming they drive on the other
side of the road in Canada. Austin said Storm was insulting his intelligence,
noting that Canadians don't drive on the other side. Storm then claimed it
wasn't his idea to try to run Goldberg down. Austin sent Storm out to take his
punishment by wrestling Goldberg, not even trying to follow up on the lead of
who it was who put Storm up to the attack. Sorry, but this was silly.
HHH
had his ribs taped up by the doctor. Flair walked in and HHH tried to engage him
in small talk by mentioning some funny stories from Fred Blassie's book, but
Flair wanted to be serious. He did an awesome promo, saying that six months ago
HHH took him on as a manager because he wanted the best there is to be in his
corner. He said HHH inspired him to rise to the occasion. Flair agreed that HHH
was banged up from last night's match but said he went into the ring thousands
of times banged up after a brutal match the night before. He said HHH is The
Game and he can rise to the occasion and they can have a great match. Flair left
triumphantly, having stood up for himself in Greenville. HHH looked worried.
Goldberg squashed Storm in 1:10 with the spear and jackhammer. Afterward, he
choked Storm until he agreed to tell who put him up to try to run him down.
Storm said it was Chris Jericho. Goldberg smiled, seemingly happy to find out it
was Jericho.
HHH beat Flair in 7:27 to retain the RAW World Title. Flair
came out to a great pop. Footage aired of the ugly bump HHH took at the PPV when
Nash sent him through the announcer's desk. HHH tried to talk Flair into laying
down for him. HHH strutted and refused. Flair hit some chops. HHH came back with
an elbow. Flair punched HHH in his sore ribs and sent him over the top to the
floor. They traded more chops and Flair did his bump over the turnbuckles. This
time he did it successfully, and came off the top to nail HHH. Flair hit a chop
block and hooked the figure four. HHH made the ropes. The traded a ton of chops.
The ref got bumped and HHH went out to get the title belt. He swung it at Flair
but missed. Flair raked the eyes, hit a low blow, and flattened HHH with the
belt. The ref revived and counted, with HHH kicking out at two. HHH then caught
Flair with a pedigree out of nowhere for the three count. Good match with great
heat. Clearly the live crowd was disappointed that Flair didn't win his
seventeenth world title, but I guess that just can't be in the cards at this
stage. I still enjoyed seeing Flair be Flair. After the match, Nash came out and
HHH beat a hasty retreat, though he collapsed when he reached the ramp top.
Austin came out to end the show by informing HHH that he'll face Nash to defend
the title in the Hell in the Cell at Bad Blood. HHH looked very worried. Nash
was delighted.
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS:
How great is the Nature Boy?
Since when is the punishment for attempted murder a singles match against
the proposed victim?
Why does anyone act shocked when Rosey & Jamal lose?
Why didn't someone the caliber or Goldberg or Steiner come out when Long
made his white boy challenge?
How silly was this entire car attack
scenario?
And what was in it for Lance Storm to try to run down Goldberg
for Chris Jericho?
2003 - WWE
Smackdown ran Johnson City, TN at Freedom Hall. Tim Whitehead filed the
following live report:
WWE ran a heated Smackdown house show at Johnson City's Freedom Hall this
evening. The crowd was red hot and into every match. It was the first WWE show
in Johnson City in 14 years (though they ran nearby Bristol about a
year-and-a-half ago). For years Freedom Hall featured events several times per
year from Jim Crockett's NWA and later WCW. It also housed monthly shows for
Smoky Mountain Wrestling from 1992 through 1995. Tonight's show was the first
wrestling event in the building since a WCW house show more than two years ago,
shortly before the promotion's demise.
MATT HARDY defeated JAMIE NOBLE to
retain the Cruiserweight Title. Shannon Moore was with Hardy, while Nidia was
with Noble. I love watching Nidia work the crowd. It was a good opener with both
guys doing their standard spots. The finish saw Moore wallop Noble with the
Hardys' book, setting him up for a chokeslam.
NIDIA defeated TORRIE
WILSON in a match where Sable was ring announcer and Dawn Marie was special ref.
Not much wrestling but everyone loved the puppies. Torrie went for a pin but
Dawn Marie faked an arm injury to stop at two. Torrie argued with her. Nidia
cradled Torrie from behind and scored the pin when Dawn Marie's injury
miraculously healed. Torrie stripped Nidia's top and Dawn Marie's bottom off
afterwards.
RHYNO defeated A-TRAIN. Standard match, with A-Train
dominating most of the bout with brawling and power moves. Rhyno made the big
comeback and won with the gore.
CHRIS BENOIT defeated SEAN O'HAIRE.
O'Haire got in some early offense to get himself over. Benoit looked sharp as
always. O'Haire rolled clear on a diving headbutt attempt by Benoit. Benoit
immediately rebounded and won with the crossface.
THE FULL BLOODED
ITALIANS defeated RIKISHI & BILL DEMOTT & KANYON. The FBI sold early, fleeing
the ring to avoid Rikishi's ass. They threatened a walk-out. Eventually, the FBI
tied DeMott up in their corner and worked him over. Rikishi came in and would
have backed his ass up on Johnny Stamboli had Chuck Palumbo not saved him. The
surprise finish saw Kanyon pinned by Palumbo after a double team slam.
Afterward, the babyface team laid the FBI out, with Rikishi backing his ass up
on both Palumbo & Nunzio. Kanyon pulled his tights down in the back and backed
his ass up on Stamboli. Rikishi and his partners got a huge pop afterward for
dancing.
EDDIE GUERRERO & TAJIRI beat TEAM ANGLE to retain the WWE World
Tag Titles. They did comedy at first, with Shelton Benjamin getting crotched
over and over. Tajiri told Team Angle that they suck in Japanese. Eddie was
hilarious, doing his cheating routine over and over. Good solid back-and-forth
action. The finish saw Eddie pin Charlie Haas after a frog splash as Tajiri tied
Benjamin up with a tarantula.
BROCK LESNAR & REY MYSTERIO JR. beat BIG
SHOW & JOHN CENA. Cena did his rap routine and said the Vols suck. Show acted
terrified of Lesnar, to the point of tossing his own partner Cena into the ring
to avoid fighting. The heels finally got heat on Mysterio, pounding him in their
corner. Lesnar hot tagged and Show fled again. The finish had Mysterio give Cena
a 619, which kicked him back into an F5 from Lesnar for the pin.
Overall
a really fun house show with excellent crowd heat. I'm not the best guy at
estimating crowds but I'd guess the place was two-thirds full, or about 4,000
attendance.
2004 - NWA: TNA ran their weekly Wednesday night PPV in Nashville, TN, featuring Ron Killings (now known as R-Truth) winning his first and only NWA championship. Mike Johnson filed the following PPV report:
Interesting Note: The words "FOX Sports Network" were deleted out of all the
clips from last week during the pre-game show. The Total Nonstop Action
Wrestling name was pushed as well.
This week's edition of NWA:TNA opened
with X-Division champion Frankie Kazarian asking everyone not to steal the PPV
signal from their cable company. I agree, if I have to pay $10 a week because my
crummy cable company doesn't carry the monthly gimmick, so should all of you
people! I think they should have Team Canada do these every week, as they were
hysterical!
They aired a video feature on last week's PPV to get everyone
caught up on the storylines, including clips of David Young losing to D-Ray 3000
on the syndicated Xplosion show.
The opening bout featured Jerry Lynn
taking on Team Canada's Bobby Rude with the special stipulation that Lynn would
get five minutes in the ring with Lynn if Rude lost while Lynn would step down
as the Team NWA captain if he was not victorious. Lynn hit Rude with a
headscissors, followed by a dropkick, sending Rude to the floor. Lynn soon
followed with a dive off the ring apron. Lynn threw Rude into the apron and
tossed him into the ring. Rude and Lynn battled in the corner and Lynn hit a
facebuster off the ropes. Lynn hit a back elbow off the ropes on Rude and hits a
guillotine legdrop through the ropes on Rude. Rude takes over and gets several
near falls, including one after a neck breaker. Rude tried to keep Lynn down but
Lynn battles out and hits a flip into a sunset flip out of the corner for a two
count. Rude hits a flapjack maneuver. Ruder drops an elbow and nearly gets a two
count. Rude locks in a reverse chinlock but Lynn bridges out. Rude goes for a
senton off the ropes but misses. Lynn hits a clothesline off the ropes. Lynn
covered Rude but Scott D'Amore pulled the referee out of the ring. Rude went to
hit Lynn with the Canadian Flag but Lynn ducked and hit a side russian leg sweep
using the flag. Lynn got a 2 count as the referee tried to get back in the ring.
Rude went for the Canadian Bomb (spinning powerbomb) but Lynn landed on his
feet, kicked Rude and hit the Cradle Piledriver for the pin. Your winner, Jerry
Lynn.
Interesting to note that while plugging Impact! During the bout,
Mike Tenay said, "check your local listings of your regional sports carrier to
see where you can see Impact! Every week." I am guessing that is because it's
not on FOX Sports in every region, as we've heard of numerous markets not
carrying the series.
As a result of winning, Lynn got 5 minutes with
Scott D'Amore in the ring. They had a countdown clock in the corner, which was a
nice touch. Lynn was exhausted. D'Amore began stripping down to a red t-shirt
and black running shorts and began kicking Lynn and clotheslined him. Mike Tenay
noted that D'Amore wrestled for well over a decade although in recent years he's
been working as a trainer. D'Amore dropped a legdrop on Lynn. D'Amore continued
to beat down Lynn and hit an overhead release suplex. D'Amore grabbed the
Canadian flag and wrapped it around Lynn's shoulders to mock him. It only
enraged Lynn who began battling back, but was cut off with an thumb to the eye.
Lynn hit a headscissors and dropkicked D'Amore, who landed in the corner. Lynn
came off the turnbuckles with a low headbutt. Lynn set him for the cradle
piledriver, but Bobby Rude attacked him.
Scott Hudson interviewed Vince
Russo and said that the scuttlebutt is that there are rumors of new stipulations
for tonight's main event. Russo said that all "the usual suspects", naming
Konnan, Sabu, BG Jammes, and Sabu, will be fired if they interfere tonight.
Russo all said that AJ will be in with "his equal" tonight so no one can say
Russo is favoring him.
They went back to the Arena, where David Young
made his way to the ring. Mike Tenay noted that Young is now 0-38 in recent
bouts. D-Ray 3000 (who reminds me of a thin Rocky King from early 1990s WCW)
made his way to the ring as Tenay noted his Xplosion victory was the biggest of
his career. Young attacked D-Ray at the bell. D-Ray nearly got a 3 count with a
bodyblock. Young hit a powerslam but D-Ray kicked up. Young hit a sitdown
powerbomb but D-Ray put his arm up. D-Ray hit a small package for a two count.
Young backdropped D-Ray. D-Ray hits a forearm for a two count. Ray got another
off a legdrop. Another two count off a back elbow. In the crowd, the NYCs were
beating down Irish Pat Kenny. Kenny began fighting them back with a leather
strap. Young was distracted by the melee and looked to see what was going on.
D-Ray rolled up Young and scored the 3 count. Kenny and the NYCs brawled into
the ring and began whipping them. Trinity jumped off the top but was laid out by
Kenny. Kenny began slapping Trinity in the rump with the strap. The NYCs all
tripled on Kenny as Young watched. The announcers wondered if Young was confused
or if he was watching out of loyalty to his old friends. The NYCs stuffed Irish
Spring soap in Kenny's mouth and made him eat it. Security hit the ring as Young
still looked on, shocked from his loss.
They aired a video feature on the
World X Cup.
Backstage, Team Canada was interviewed by Scott Hudson. He
said that what happened to Lynn was uncalled for. D'Amore said it was called for
by Lynn last week and he couldn't last 5 minutes with D'Amore but his ego put
the whole NWA Team in jeopardy. D'Amore said Lynn won the battle but Team TNA
lost the war.
Back in the Arena, Team Japan's Nosawa,Ryuji Hijikata, and
Mitsu Hirai Jr. battled Team Mexico's Heavy Metal, Mr. Aguila, and Abismo Negro.
Nosawa hit a boot to the head off Aguila. Aguila hit a powerslam for a two
count. Negro and Hijikata had a test of strength. Heavy Metal and Hirai Jr.
tagged in. Team Japan hits a triple team powerbomb on Metal. Aguila tagged in
but is locked in a camel clutch as Hijikata hit a kick to the face. Negro
cleaned house with clotheslines and back breakers. Metal began kicking Hijikata.
Hirai interfered to break it up and tagged in. Hirai hit a sitdown powerbomb but
Aguila his a missile dropkick off the ropes to break up a pin. Nosawa went for a
splash and missed. Metal missed a moonsault. Hirai accidentally hit Nosawa. Team
Mexico doubled on Hijikata and scored the pin. Fun match but way too fast to
cover. They were pushing that Team Mexico is undefeated in the X Cup tournaments
during the bout and whether they would remain that way "next week." Your
winners, Team Japan!
Goldilocks and Abyss made their way to the ring.
Goldi got a house mic and said she was looking for Erik Watts. Tenay said that
Watts wasn't there and they had to go to Sonjay Dutt vs. Amazing Red next. She
said she can do anything she wants because she can play the legal card. West
made a joke about her and she went off on West. The idea is that Goldy swindled
Watts out of all his money. That 1992 WCW contract sure lasted him awhile! The
announcers tried to get the crowd to chant "Crazy" at Goldilocks. Watts showed
up with a baseball bat. He took out Abyss and chased her into the crowd. He
grabbed her for what looked to be a chokeslam but Abyss slammed a chair across
his back. Abyss propped a chair in the corner, but Watts reversed it and sent
Abyss into it headfirst. Watts hit Abyss in the stomach with a bat. Security hit
the ring and calmed Watts as Goldylocks and Abyss bailed out.
They went
to a video feature on Sonjay Dutt vs. The Amazing Red.
NWA:TNA X-Division
champion made his way to the ring to join the announcers for commentary.
Kazarian lasted for the first minute of the bout before excusing himself to
scout his future opponent. They started out fast with Red tossing Dutt over the
top and hitting a running flip dive on Dutt, hitting him glancingly in the
aisle. Red whipped Dutt towards the ring steps but Dutt grabbed the ring ropes
and pulled himself around in a "619" like move. Dutt brings him back to the ring
for a one count. Kazarian hit a springboard moonsault press for a near fall.
Dutt springboarded off the corner ropes twice and dove on Red, but overshot and
missed Red, which the announcers called. The announced pushed how hard the
timing of the high impact maneuvers can be, which was great improvisation. Dutt
got another near fall and peppered him with forearms. Red and Dutt began kicking
each other in the legs. Each man hit clotheslines on the other at once. Red went
for his sunset flip powerbomb but Dutt powered him over and red slipped out. Red
hit an enziguiri on Dutt. Red hit Infrared for a two count. Red went for a top
rope hurrancanrana, but Dutt caught him and hit a top rope powerbomb for a two
count. Red and Dutt battled in the corner and Red came off the top with a sunset
flip powerbomb for a two count. Red came off the top. Dutt moved and Red rolled
through. Dutt cut him off and hit Red's Infrared standing shooting star for a
two count. Dutt went for the 450 splash but Red moved. Dutt rolled over on his
feet. Red hit the Infrared for a two count. Red went for a tornado DDT but Dutt
broke free. Red finally hit it and scored the three count. Your winner, The
Amazing Red, who will challenge Kazarian in two weeks on PPV. Kazarian got in
the ring and began mockingly praising Red, and offered a handshake. Kazarian
pulled him close and tried to intimidate Red. Red kicked off Kazarian and sent
him flying out of the ring and held the X-Division championship aloft in the
air.
They went to a video feature on Kid Kash & Dallas vs. James Storm &
Dusty Rhodes.
Backstage, James Storm and Dusty Rhodes were interviewed.
Rhodes said he made the National Wrestling Alliance and the Bunkhouse Brawl
famous. Rhodes cut a hell of a promo saying Kash and Dallas need to be taught a
lesson.
The next bout was the Bunkhouse Brawl with NWA Tag Team champions
Kid Kash and Dallas against Dusty Rhodes and James Storm. Oddly enough, only
Rhodes looked to be in Bunkhouse attire. Kid Kash tried to lure Dusty in to
start the bout. He punched Dusty and then acted arrogant while stalling. Dusty
hit the bionic elbow and Kash retreated. Dallas and Storm tagged in and Dallas
shrugged off a running shoulderblock. Storm hit a series of kicks to take down
Dallas, who tagged out to Kash. Kash takes over and locks a figure four on
Storm. Storm hits a powerslam for a two count. Storm tagged in Dusty but the
referee didn't see it and wouldn't allow it. Dallas and Kash continued to
doubleteam Storm's leg. Storm escaped. Kash dove off the top but Storm moved.
Dallas caught him. Dallas and Storm battled in the ring and Storm hit a
facebuster, then tagged in Dusty. Dusty cleaned house but the referee "didn't
see the tag" and forced him out. Storm used a trash can on Kash and Dallas.
Storm came off the ropes with a spinning reverse DDT for the pin but Kash came
off the top and hit him with a lead pipe. Dusty attacked Kash and laid him out
on a table outside. Dusty tossed his cowboy boot to Storm in the ring and hit a
superkick with the boot for the pin. Your winners, Dusty Rhodes and James Storm.
Backstage, Scott Hudson interviewed Monty Brown. Brown made Hudson get down
on the floor and said Hudson was at the bottom of the food chain. Brown then
said he is at the top of the food chain. Brown bullied Hudson and said he will
have his eye on the Deadly Draw because it's taking place on his hunting ground
with his animals. He said that the winner will have to face Brown. Brown vowed
that tonight someone will be his prey. Brown is showing tons of charisma and has
a lot of enthusiasm. I'm really enjoying his stuff.
Mike Tenay and Don
West plugged the NWATNA.com website, the TNA wrestling school, and Impact! They
plugged next week's PPV. Team NWA came out and Christopher Daniels cut a promo,
running down each team. Daniels said that the difference is that TNA invented
and perfected the X-Division style. He promised victory next week.
Backstage, Scott Hudson interviewed Konnan. Konnan said that Vince Russo was
behind everything that happened to 3 Live Kru last week and they are tired of
talking to Russo. BG Jammes said that everything points to Russo and if Russo
thinks they are just going to watch Ron Killings get screwed out of the title,
he has another thing coming. Jammes said that tonight may be the night 3 Live
Kru gets even with Russo.
They aired a video feature on the Deadly Draw
featuring comments from each competitor.
They went to the ring for the
Deadly Draw. NWA champion AJ Styles made his way to the ring first. Chris Harris
came out, as he drew #1 so he gets five minutes with Styles before the second
contender comes out. They had a clock in the corner counting down the round.
Harris hit an inverted atomic drop on Styles, then hit a lariat for the pin.
Harris whipped Styles into the corner where he took an upside down bump into it.
Harris got a two count. Styles battles back. Styles hit a bicycle kick on
Harris. Styles drops a high knee on Harris. Styles and Harris battled back and
forth as the "first round" ended. Harris went for the pin after a Catatonic but
the referee stopped him. Raven hit the ring as he drew #2. Raven threw Styles
out of the ring and peppered Harris with punches. Raven bulldogged Harris.
Everytime Styles tried to get back in the ring, Raven would knock him back to
the floor. He finally got back into the ring and tried to go for the Styles
Clash on Raven, but Raven charged him into the corner. Styles locked on a
sleeper. Raven shot him into the ropes and locked in a sleeper of his own.
Styles tried to slam Raven into the turnbuckles, but Raven held it. Harris
locked a sleeper on Raven, so they did the classic ECW Night the Line Was
Crossed spot. All three collapsed. Styles hit a clothesline on Raven but Harris
broke it up. Raven tried to cover Harris but Styles broke it up. Raven went to
kick Styles, but he ducked and it connected with Harris. Styles hit a discus
clothesline on Raven and all three were down as the clock counted down to zero.
Ron Killings hit the ring, as he drew #3. Killings beat down all three. Everyone
ended up on the floor and AJ hit a springboard shooting star press on all three
challengers. They showed Monty Brown watching in the back. AJ tried to climb to
the top but Raven held his leg. Killings hit an over the shoulder fisherman's
buster, getting a two count. Harris locked on a sharpshooter as Styles locked on
a spinning toehold. Raven kicked off Styles, slamming him into Killings and
Harris. Styles was tossed out of the ring. Harris went for the Catatonic but
Raven stopped it and hit a superkick. Styles climbed back in the ring, left with
Killings. They brawled back and forth. Styles went for a monkey flip out of the
corner but Killings stopped it. Styles went for a styles clash off the ropes but
Killings blocked it. Styles finally hit it for a two count, but Raven broke it
up. Styles went for one on Raven but Jeff Jarrett came out. He hit Styles with a
guitar. Raven made the cover but Harris pulled him out of the ring. Harris came
off the top with an elbow and covered Styles for a two count, but the referee
was pulled out of the ring by Killings. Raven tackled Harris through the ropes
and they went to the floor. Killings hit an axekick and scored the three count.
Vince Russo came out with a bunch of officials and after several seconds of
arguing, they announced that the decision stands. Jarrett challenged Killings
for next week as the other members of 3 Live Kru held Killings back. Raven and
Harris weren't happy with the ending because there was interference. Your winner
and new NWA champion Ron Killings.
WWE Hall of Fame Steve Austin, who routinely verbally jousts with Punk via Twitter, quoted Heyman and responded, "Agreed."
In the midst of all this Punk commented to Heyman, "oh you know me, if I don't have heat I'm doing something wrong. Keeps me warm."
Within two months, Punk would be the most talked about WWE personality...and the WWE champion.
2011 - TNA broadcast Impact Wrestling. Stu Carapola filed the following TV report:We kick the show off with a recap of Mick Foley's “wrestling matters†speech and introduction of Chyna from last week and comments from Kurt Angle after Sacrifice, plus highlights of Sting vs Rob Van Dam and the postmatch confrontation between Sting and Ken Anderson.
From there we go into the new opening, which is way better than the old one, and then we're off to the newly redesigned Impact Zone as Eric Bischoff and Immortal kick the show off with an in-ring promo. Bischoff asks the fans if they like what he and Hogan did with the place, even though Mick Foley had nothing to do with it and if it were up to him, it'd be thumbtacks matter, not wrestling, and he wonders when he woke up and saw Frank Gotch in the mirror. Bischoff says Hogan is in New York meeting with Mick Foley and network executives, and he'll be done with Mick Foley soon. Since everyone else is gone, Eric Bischoff, Ric Flair, and Immortal are running the show, and anybody who gets in their way is going to pay the price.
Brian Kendrick's music hits, and he comes out with the X-Division crew out to the ring. Kendrick says Bischoff's accusing of wrestlers getting in his way on a wrestling show, and that's funny coming from a non-wrestler who has leeched off the business since Kendrick was a kid. Bischoff comes out to the aisle to meet Kendrick face to face and he says he's glad Kendrick came out to express his feelings, but Bischoff says he's going to make history by wiping out the X-Division once and for all. Since it's not about weight limits but no limits, there really will be no limits when Frankie Kazarian faces Abyss, Mildly Moderately Red will face Samoa Joe, and Generation Me will have their dream come true when they get into the ring with one of their idols, Matt Hardy, and Hardy's partner...Eric Bischoff, who is going to kick some vanilla **** ass. Kendrick asks if Bischoff has anything for him, and Bischoff responds by slapping him in the face, leading to an all-out brawl with Immortal laying out the X-Division guys. Fortune runs out and attacks Immortal and clears them out of the ring. The fight continues out to the aisle before cooling off, but Flair goes after James Storm and the fight breaks out again. The X-Division guys recover and go after Immortal, clearing them out of the ring and hitting a series of big dives. It is just bedlam as the fight tears its way around ringside, and then Flair challenged Robert Roode to meet him out in the ring later in the evening.
Up next: Knockouts six-woman action, and outside the building, someone wearing Sting's old neon outfit is getting out of a limo! Is there ANY chance at all that it will actually be Sting? Find out...NEXT!
Time for our first match...
Sarita, Rosita and Madison Rayne vs Mickie James, Tara and Miss Tessmacher
Hernandez and Anarquia come out to the broadcast booth for the next match. Madison and Tara start, but Madison tags out to Rosita before any contact is made, so Tara steps out and Mickie comes in to face Rosita. Rosita gets up in Mickie's face, so Mickie shoves her on her ass and gets a hammerlock into a side headlock. Rosita uses the hair to take Mickie back to her corner and tags out to Madison, and the three of them triple team Mickie in the corner. Mickie fires back with right forearms and tags in Tara, but Madison runs back to her corner and tags Sarita in, and Sarita dropkicks Tara in the back and charges her in the corner, Tara gets a sunset flip, Sarita rolls through, and Tara wipes Sarita out with a clothesline dn tags Tessmacher in. They take Sarita out with a double clothesline and Tessmacher hits a running elbowdrop for 2. Tessmacher with a series of forearms but Rosita grabs her from the outside and now the heels beat Tessmacher down 3-on-1 in the corner. Tessmacher gets a rollup for 2 and then tags out to Tara, and Madison again tags out to Rosita, who gets killed by clotheslines from Tara. Tara with a spinning side suplex for 2, then all hell breaks loose in the ring as Madison sneaks up on Tara. Madison tosses Rosita to Tara, who hits a Sky High and pins Rosita for the win.
Winners: Tara, Mickie James & Miss Tessmacher
Solid match, Tessmacher needs to learn how to sell but otherwise pretty good.
Frankie Kazarian defends the X-Division Title against Abyss...next!
Whoever is impersonating Sting is wandering around backstage, and then we see Eric Bischoff telling Abyss that he wants him to destroy Kazarian, and ask himself what would Sansu do. No idea what that means, so we'll just move on to the match...
X-Division Title Match: Frankie Kazarian vs Abyss
Abyss charges Kazarian in the corner, but Kazarian dodges out of the way and lays in right hands. Kazarian dodges another charge and goes up for the ten punches in the corner. Kazarian with a flying forearm, slides between the legs of Abyss, and hits a dropkick, but then Abyss catches him with a back elbow. Abyss whips Kazarian to the corner and follows in with a running splash and tries a chokeslam, Kazarian slips out of the way and dodges yet another charge, then hits a springboard dropkick and both men are down. Kazarian with a flying headscissors out of the corner, a springboard elbow, and a Lionsault gets 2. Kazarian tries kicking Abyss' legs out and gets backdropped to the apron, Kazarian nails Abyss and goes up top but Abyss catches him coming off and goes for a chokeslam and Kazarian reverses to a victory roll for 2. Abyss picks Kazarian up and hits Shock Treatment and goes for the Vader Bomb, but Kazarian rolls out of the way and Abyss hits hard on his knee. Kazarian goes right after the knee like a shark, but the referee backs Kazarian off. Kazarian brushes past him, but Abyss kicks him coming in with the big boot, revealing the leg injury to be a ruse, and hits the Black Hole Slam for the win and the title.
Winner and NEW X-Division Champion: Abyss
Taz says he bets the internet is burning up right now as Abyss tells the camera how smart he is for faking the leg injury to sucker Kazarian in.
Gunner is stalking around angrily backstage as we head back to the ring for our next match...
Samoa Joe vs Amazing Red
Red charges Joe in the corner and runs right into the STJoe. Joe unloads with hard right hands, Red ducks and dodges around Joe and tries a spinning enziguiri, but Joe ducks and rams Red to the corner, hits a leaping enziguiri of his own, and finishes with the Muscle Buster for the win in just over a minute.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Joe continues attacking Red after the match and repeatedly drills him in the corner with punches, drawing Crimson out and the two of them start brawling. Crimson hits a T-bone suplex and Joe scurries out to the floor and hightails it to the back.
Still to come: Matt Hardy and Eric Bischoff take on Generation Me!
AJ Styles is in the ring wearing a neck brace and tells Tommy Dreamer to get out to the ring so they can talk. Tommy comes on out, and AJ tells Tommy that he'll be in the neck brace for the next few weeks because Tommy Dreamer gave him a piledriver through a table. Maybe AJ came back a little too early because he's a pro wrestler and that's what he does, and they went out at Sacrifice and killed themselves because of Bully Ray, Hulk Hogan, and Immortal, and if Dreamer wasn't at their beck and call, his contract would cease to exist and that's why AJ doesn't hold him responsible for Sacrifice. Truth be told, he would have done the same thing in Tommy's position, but he knows that wrestling means as much to Tommy as it does to him. Tommy asks him if AJ thinks he couldn't beat AJ if he didn't have a hurt neck already, and if AJ thinks he can walk a mile in his shoes for all he has done for this business? Is AJ saying that he's better than him? Tommy says he built a wrestling company and didn't have his hand held through the whole time, he wrestled hurt and would get put out and didn't get paid for it. The first time he piledrove AJ through the table, it's because he was forced to do it, but now he does what he does because he wants to do it. Tommy suckerpunches AJ and says the fans will turn on him in a heartbeat because they don't care about him. He elbowdrops and stomps the crap out of AJ while yelling at the fans for turning on him after all he had done, and tells AJ to do it for the fans who will turn on him, the fans who pay his bills for him. AJ takes Tommy down with a double leg but Tommy twists the neck, yanks the neck brace off, and drills him with right hands. Finally, Christopher Daniels runs and and shoves Dreamer off of AJ and asks what's wrong with him. Dreamer goes to leave but comes back to nail Daniels, but Daniels saw him coming and went after him first. Daniels beats Dreamer down in the corner, but bully Ray runs in from behind, suckerpunches AJ with the chain, and then Daniels turns around and sees Ray. Dreamer lowblows Daniels from behind and Ray boots him in the face as the fans chant “you sold out†at Ray and Dreamer. Dreamer yells at the fans “I sold out, right?†and then picks AJ up and delivers another piledriver as we go to commercial.
Sting is backstage saying he hasn't forgotten his focus, because it's still on Hogan and Bischoff and he'll have more to say later in the evening. Meanwhile, the guy who is dressing up as Sting is walking around backstage.
Back to the ring, and a broadly smiling Kurt Angle comes down to the ring to share his thoughts. He says ding dong, the bitch is dead because after months and months, the big fat throbbing pain in his ass is gone. He gives credit to Chyna for coming back after ten years in hiatus to do a special favor for him, and asks the crowd if any of them saw the match, and if they didn't (crowd starts a “this is awesome†chant), Chyna planted Karen's face in the mat and proceeded to break her ankle. He wants to thank Chyna and is indebted to her, but after six long, grueling months, he gets a one-on-one match with Jeff Jarrett at Slammiversary, and Mick Foley just told Kurt that the winner of that match will become the #1 contender to the TNA World Title, and he's going to make Jarrett tap at Slammiversary. Jeff Jarrett comes out to confront Angle, and says that Kurt ought to ask Foley what he did to deserve one final match with him, and Kurt can come out and cry foul all he wants because every time they've faced one another, he's beaten Angle. He can put all the heat he wants on Karen, but they both know that's total bull(bleep), because it was Kurt who allowed himself to be distracted due to his ADD and mental incompetence. Crowd starts a “you tapped out†chant at Jarrett, who says he's kept his eye on the ball and stayed focused and didn't allow any distractions because he's better then Kurt. Kurt gets right in his face and Jarrett repeats that he's better than him, and he can't believe that a gold medalist who is adored by millions of kids will come out here and make excuses, but if they want to go one final time, then Jarrett's up for that and if Kurt believes that he's better than Jeff, then he'll have no problem agreeing to a special stipulation because if he beats Kurt at Slammiversary, he wants Angle's gold medal. Jarrett extends his hand to Angle, who smiles and shakes it, then pulls Jarrett in and they go face to face. Suddenly Jarrett's music hits and Karen Jarrett, in a wheelchair, comes up through the floor a la Kurt's entrance and tells Kurt that Jeff won't be alone at Slammiversary and (Velvet Sky sneaks out of the back behind Karen) Kurt will never, ever take her out. Velvet snatches the mic out of Karen's hand and asks the crowd if they want to see Karen go for a ride. She shoves Karen's wheelchair down the ramp and Jeff tries to stop her, but she comes flying out of the chair anyway and gets knocked silly while Velvet and Kurt laugh it up.
Generation Me are backstage talking about the bad things they did to each other, but they're going to put it aside to defend the X-Division, and tonight they're going to show that bloodis thicker than water.
Eric Bischoff is getting ready for the match and the phone rings and it's Hulk Hogan, and Bischoff is apparently happy with what he hears and tells Hogan that he's going to lay out a couple of vanilla *****es.
The Jarretts are backstage and Jeff is on the phone with Eric Bischoff and tells Karen that Velvet will never be a problem again because she will take on Winter and Angelina Love in a handicap match tonight.
Generation Me vs Matt Hardy & Eric Bischoff
Jeremy and Matt start, and Matt gets a go behind and a cheap forearm to the back. Jeremy gets a boot to the gut and exchangex wristlocks and headlocks with Matt, Matt takes Jeremy down with a pair of shoulderblocks, but Jeremy gets a dropkick and tags out to Max, who comes off the top with a double axhandle to Matt's arm. Tag out to Jeremy, who comes in with a double stomp to Matt's arm, but Matt catches Jeremy with the Side Effect, then hits it a second time. Matt points to Bischoff and says he's going to set him up nice, then gets a three quarter nelson and cranks it hard. Jeremy elbows his way out and makes a blind tag to his brother, and they hit a quick series of double teams. The Bucks continue double teaming Matt and hit him with Poetry In Motion, then Jeremy spears Matt and starts drilling him with punches until Bischoff kicks him from the outside. Max tags in and trades punches with Matt, and Matt comes out on top and hits a vertical suplex for 2. Matt with a side neckbreaker and crawls over to make the tag, but Bischoff tells him to get back to fighting the Bucks. Jeremy tags in and hits a top rope splash on Matt for 2, then goes back up for a 450 but Matt gets the knees up. Jeremy quickly tags out to Max, who quickly gets caught in the Icepick, but Hardy lets Max out of the hold and then tags out to Bischoff and holds Max so Bischoff can hit a leaping spinkick and a knockout kick to the head. Bischoff then rolls Max over and cradles him for the win.
Winners: Matt Hardy & Eric Bischoff
Bischoff and Hardy stand with their arms raised in victory in the middle of the ring acting like they just won the World Tag Team Title.
Winter says that it's over after tonight and once Velvet Sky is gone, they'll be alone just like before, in a different time and place. Winter asks Angelina if she remembers, then kisses Angelina (who is still zombified) and leads her out to the ring.
Okay, time to get our obligatory insane segment out of the way...
Winter & Angelina Love vs Velvet Sky
Velvet and Winter tangle briefly before Winter tags in Angelina. Velvet suckerpunches Winter off the apron and then nails Angelina, but Angelina no-sells and tags out to Winter. Winter with a go behind into a waistlock, but Velvet pops out and gets a snapmare and a diving baseball slide for 2. Winter rams Velvet into her corner and tags out to Angelina and they go for a double clothesline, but Velvet ducks and wipes both of them out with stereo clotheslines. Velvet with a sleeper on Angelina, but Angelina doesn't have the required equipment to make this hold effective and easily escapes. Winter snaps Velvet down on the top rope and Angelina wipes her out with a clothesline and then rains punches down on Velvet. Winter and Angelina tag in and out on Velvet and work her over, then Winter hits a spinning uranage backbreaker. Angelina comes in and goes to pick Velvet up, but Velvet small packages her and gets the win out of nowhere.
Winner: Velvet Sky
Winter is irate, and suddenly ODB comes out of nowhere and blindsides Velvet, laying her out and telling her to “kiss my ass, you dirty whore!†I wonder how ODB really feels.
Miss Tessmacher is backstage and freaking out because nobody told her that she had a photo shoot, and it looks like Eric Young is the one conducting the photo session. Eric takes his shirt and pants off and shows Tessmacher how to pose, but Gunner comes in and gets in Young's face. Eric says they took each other to the limit last Thursday to get the TV Title, and they have respect and love each other, but-Gunner tires of Young's talking and beats the crap out of him and says this isn't a joke. He takes the belt and walks off, and Young says that's a great idea, and Gunner better hold the old belt while he handles the TV Title.
Ric Flair comes out to the ring and tells Robert Roode to come out to the ring and come face to face with him. Roode joins him, and Flair says he hasn't slept since he tapped out to Roode in Cincinnati, and he asks what makes Roode think he can jump on Flair like that. Roode says that flair came to TNA and taught him a lot, but Lockdown was a war and one of the things Flair taught him was taking advantage of opportunities and if the shoe was on the other foot, Flair would have done the same to him. Flair says he's wrong because if the shoe was on the other foot, he would have put Roode out for the rest of his career. He got Roode drunk and got him laid and taught him how to wrestle and play harder and wrestling is what they're selling now. Roode says that he's a man and don't underestimate him and they can just forget about what happened at Lockdown and Flair's had his time. Flair says people have been telling him that for 25 years, and he's not Ken Anderson, he's Ric Flair. He's glad Roode did it and he's said to be the man, you have to beat the man, but becoming the man and staying the man are two different things and tells Roode to come at him again right now. Roode says this is over, but Flair slaps him and says it's not over until he says it's over. Flair grabs Roode by the throat, so Roode takes Flair down with a Fujiwara armbar and cranks on it until the rest of Immortal run into the ring and beat himdown 4-on-1. Hardy holds Roode down while Bully Ray whips him with his chain, then he tells Abyss to go get two chairs. Ray continues to whip Roode as Abyss gets the chairs, then Gunner puts one chair vertically on Roode's arm and Hardy slams the other chair onto it to drive it into Roode's arm like a spike. Roode starts writhing around on the mat in agony.
Sting is backstage, and he's...WALKING! And so is his impersonator!
Sting comes out to close the show and gets a big reaction from the crowd, then says he wants to take a minute to acknowledge a great wrestler: Rob Van Dam, who took him to the limit last Sunday. RVD chant starts, and Sting says he got by by the skin of his teeth last Sunday, but he hasn't lost his focus on Hogan and Bischoff and taking the power away from them and putting it back where it belongs. Being the World Champion makes you a target and he knows that because it wasn't even a minute after getting his hand raised that Ken Anderson was in his face. Suddenly, Sting's music hits again and as if we all didn't know exactly who it was going to be, the lights go out and when they come back up, Ken Anderson is dressed as the old neon Sting, nails him with a baseball bat, and gives him a Scorpion Deathdrop, then kneels over him and yells ANDERSON in his face as we go off the air.
2011 - Bo Rotunda defeated Lucky Cannon to win the FCW title at a Florida Championship Wrestling TV taping in Tampa, FL. Dusty Rhodes and Mike Rotunda both came to the ring to celebrate with Bo. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV taping results:
Before the first show was taped, they filmed a segment for the Tough Enough Finale on June 6th. The announcers were Matt Martlaro and Booker T.
In an exhibition match, Bill Demott faced Tough Enough finalist Christina Crawford.
In an exhibition match, Bill Demott faced Tough Enough finalist Luke Robinson.
The turnbuckles and ring apron were switched for the first episode of FCW Television.
Results for June 12, 2011
Your announcers are Matt Martlaro and William Regal.
Match Number One: FCW Tag Team Champions Big E Langston and Calvin Raines defeated Los Aviadores (Hunico and Epico) to retain the FCW Tag Team Titles when Langston pinned Hunico after hitting the Big Ending.
Match Number Two: Percy Watson defeated Bobby Dutch with a floatover DDT
James Bronson was interviewed.
Match Number Three: Desean Bishop defeated Rick Victor with a full nelson slam.
Leakee was interviewed and he said that he has dealt with adversity his entire life, but he will win the FCW Championship.
Maxine comes to the ring with Damien Sandow, FCW Champion Lucky Cannon, and FCW Divas Champion and Queen of FCW Aksana. Maxine mentioned the issues she has had with Mr. Florida and she knows that it is Bo Rotundo. Mr. Florida will be facing Lucky Cannon later on this week’s show.
Match Number Four: Mr. Florida defeated FCW Champion Lucky Cannon in a non-title match after Bo Rotundo interfered and speared Cannon, allowing Mr. Florida to get the win. Rotundo was sitting in the front row and throughout the match, Cannon and other members of the FCW All Stars would get into arguments with Rotundo.
After the match, Rotundo returned to the ring and he speared Damien Sandow. Rotundo also speared Mr. Florida.
Results for June 19, 2011
Your announcers were Matt Martlaro and William Regal.
Match Number One: FCW 15 Champion Seth Rollins defeated Damien Sandow to retain the FCW 15 Title. The final totals were Seth Rollins with three falls and Damien Sandow with two falls. Rollins got two falls in the last minute of the match to win.
FCW Tag Team Champions Big E Langston and Calvin Raines were interviewed.
They showed a segment in FCW General Manager Maxine’s office with Lucky Cannon and Aksana. Maxine told Lucky that he would have to defend the FCW title tonight against Lucky Cannon. Steve Keirn enters and tells Maxine that she is being relieved of her duties as FCW General Manager and her replacement is Norman Smiley. Smiley tells Maxine that she will have a match later tonight.
Match Number Two: Leakee defeated Ricardo Rodriguez (with Brodus Clay) with a running forearm.
Leo Kruger was interviewed and he said that he was overlooked and he pointed out that he wrestled with a broken neck. Kruger vowed that he would win the FCW Title next week.
Match Number Three: Ms. Florida defeated Maxine (with Aksana) with a rollup in about five seconds. Before the match started Maxine wanted Aksana to take care of Ms. Florida who Maxine thought was Naomi, but Aksana said that she does not work for Maxine any more since she isn’t the General Manager so she wished Maxine good luck before leaving the ring.
Match Number Four: Bo Rotundo defeated Lucky Cannon (with Damien Sandow) to become the new FCW Champion with a spear.
After the match, the faces in the locker room came to the ring to celebrate Bo’s victory. After they left the ring, Bo’s father Mike ‘IRS’ Rotundo came to the ring and celebrated with his son. Dusty Rhodes was also at ringside for the celebration.
The Tough Enough ring apron and turnbuckles replaced the FCW ring apron and turnbuckle pads for the next set of Tough Enough segments.
Your announcers were Matt Martlaro and Booker T.
In an exhibition match, Bill Demott faced Tough Enough Finalist Andy Leavine.
In an exhibition match, Peter Orlov faced Tough Enough Finalist Jeremiah Riggs.
Results for June 26, 2011
Your announcers are Matt Martlaro and William Regal.
New FCW General Manager Norman Smiley comes to the ring and he brings out the New FCW Heavyweight Champion Bo Rotundo. Norman mentions that Bo is the youngest FCW Champion (which was true when Bo held the title for about five minutes before he lost it to Lucky Cannon). Norman announces a Fatal Four Way Match for the FCW Title as Bo’s first title defense of this title reign. Bo will be facing Richie Steamboat, Leo Kruger, and the former FCW Champion Lucky Cannon.
Cannon comes out and he says that it is a sham and a fluke. He mentioned that he has beaten Rotundo for the last five months in every redneck town. He also demands to get his rematch in a one-on-one match.
Rotundo punches Cannon and then Leo Kruger and Richie Steamboat get involved in the brawl until referees separate the men.
Jinder Mahal cuts a promo before his match and he says that we will see the new and refined Punjabi superstar.
Match Number One: Titus O’Neil defeats Jinder Mahal by disqualification after Damien Sandow interfered. Sandow and Mahal attacked O’Neil.
In the back, Maxine tries to convince the new General Manager Norman Smiley to reconsider his decision after she apologizes to Norman.
Match Number Two: Xavier Woods defeated FCW Tag Team Champion Calvin Raines (with Big E Langston) with a rollup.
Match Number Three: FCW Tag Team Champion Big E Langston (with Calvin Raines) defeated Briley Pierce with the Big Ending.
Match Number Four: FCW Champion Bo Rotundo defeated Leo Kruger, Lucky Cannon, and Richie Steamboat in a Fatal Four Way Match to retain the FCW Title when Bo pinned Kruger after a spear.
Thoughts on the Tapings and Other information
Before the show Ricky Steamboat was signing autographs as you entered the arena.
The Wild Samoans Afa and Sika were in the crowd for the tapings. Sika is the father of FCW wrestler Leakee.
I don’t know if it was because of the Tough Enough taping, but it was the biggest crowd that I saw outside the building before the doors opened. It was also the largest crowd of the four tapings that I have attended.
I have to give credit to Elite subscriber Jacob Cohen for this, but the unofficial nickname for FCW Tag Team Champions Calvin Raines and Big E Langston is Chocolate Raines.
I thought the best match of the night was the FCW 15 Match between Damien Sandow and Seth Rollins. Because they took the tag titles off Steamboat and Rollins, I was thinking that they were going to take the FCW 15 medal off Rollins with the hope that he would make it to the ‘big show’ very soon. I was surprised that there were five falls in the match. The first fall went to Seth Rollins by disqualification after Sandow refused to release a Boston Crab while on the turnbuckles. Despite this, Sandow was able to get the next two falls on Rollins to take the lead in the match. I thought Sandow did a great job working on Rollins back throughout the match. He also impressed me with the way that he hit the Maple Leaf on Rollins during the match. I thought Sandow was going to take a three to one lead only to see Rollins get a desperation fall to cut it to three-to-two in the same way that a hockey team falls behind and gets what some consider a meaningless goal to cut the lead. Rollins got the fall to tie the match with just under a minute left with an inside cradle. Then even though he did not need to get another fall, Rollins was able to win the match instead of retaining after a tie.
I was surprised to see Maxine’s group disintegrate, but with what was reported on the site this week, it seems reasonable.
It appeared that they were trying to set up some issues between the members of Chocolate Raines with the matches on the third show. I was not surprised that Xavier Woods got the win over Calvin Raines because it would set up a tag title match with Woods and a partner of his choice. Then I thought they were going to have Briley Pierce get the major upset over Langston. Instead, Langston squashed Pierce.
This was the first time that I saw Briley Pierce in the ring and he looked okay, at least what you could tell from someone being destroyed by Langston.
Since he is Dolph Ziggler’s brother, maybe they can call Briley Pierce “Mr. Zigglerico IIâ€
I really liked that they had Mike Rotundo come to the ring to celebrate with his son since the episode that he wins the FCW title will air on Father’s Day.
Also in attendance were Mike Rotundo and Dusty Rhodes.
Mr. Florida was Trent Barreta.
Ms. Florida was Naomi Knight.
While he did not appear in any matches on this week’s show, I did see Jon Moxley at the building. I know that I was looking forward to seeing his FCW television debut this week.
The next FCW Television Tapings are on Thursday, June 9, 2011 with a 7:00 PM Bell Time.
Because of the Tough Enough segments, they did not have an intermission like they normally do for the television tapings between the first and second episodes.
My Thoughts from the Tough Enough Segments in my detailed spoilers
They used the cameramen for Tough Enough during the first three segments. I did not see them during the exhibition with Jeremiah and Peter Orlov. I don’t know if this means that Jeremiah is going to be eliminated before the finals. I thought it was weird that Bill Demott did not participate in the exhibition with Jeremiah.
Based on the ending of this week’s episode of Tough Enough, I was surprised to see Christina come out for the first exhibition.
It appears that AJ finally gets eliminated on next week’s episode of Tough Enough. I wonder if they will avoid an elimination on the Memorial Day episode and then get rid of someone at the start of the finale and then show the exhibition matches, with Jeremiah getting a match if he is eliminated in fourth.
Of the three exhibition matches with Bill Demott, the crowd gave the best reaction to Andy. The second best reaction was given to Christina, with Luke getting the worst reaction of the three who wrestled with Bill Demott. It felt like Jeremiah got a better reaction than Luke.
I thought Andy looked the best in the ring of the four finalists. Christina surprised me with her performance and I thought she did a better job than Luke. Jeremiah looked okay with Orlov but he was a little awkward when he came off the top turnbuckle.
2011- WWE broadcast WWE Superstars. Richard Trionfo filed the following TV report:
We start off this week’s show with the Smackdown brand and your announcers are Matt Striker and Jack Korpela.Match Number One: Tyson Kidd with Michael Hayes versus Yoshi Tatsu in a Battle of NXT Pros
Before the match starts, Michael Hayes says that it has been a long time since he has been in Corpus Christi and he mentions the Von Erichs and Freebirds. He says that everyone is having a good time and it makes sense because they have escaped from their pathetic lives. Michael says that it helps to hear the truth. The truth is that they don’t have what it takes to get. They have nothing special about themselves, just like Yoshi Tatsu. Tyson Kidd has something special because he has something that everyone else lacks . . . ambition. He says that you can sit back and watch everyone get to the top because they don’t have ambition. Hayes wonders if the people can spell ambition. The referee tells Michael that they have a match to take place.
Kidd kicks and punches Yoshi while the referee deals with Hayes.
Kidd sends Yoshi into the turnbuckles and then he hits a snap suplex and gets a near fall. Kidd with an elbow to the nose followed by a back heel kick and a drop kick to the head for a near fall. Kidd stands on Yoshi’s hand and then he kicks Yoshi in the chest. Kidd sends Yoshi into the turnbuckles and he punches and kicks him while the referee warns Kidd.
Yoshi with chops in the corner and Hayes gets on the apron to talk to the referee. This allows Kidd to hit a neck breaker. Kidd with a snap mare and drop kick to the back followed by a knee drop. Kidd gets a near fall on Yoshi. Kidd with a cravate on Yoshi. Kidd with a knee but Yoshi with a kick and drop kick. Yoshi clotheslines Kidd over the top rope to the floor.
Hayes argues with the referee while Yoshi hits a pescado onto Kidd. Yoshi sends Kidd back into the ring and Kidd with a baseball slide that sends Yoshi into the ringside barrier. Kidd with kicks to Yoshi while the referee starts his count. Kidd with a kick to the chest and Kidd returns to the ring and Hayes with a moonwalk on the apron as we go to commercial.
We are back and Kidd with a reverse chin lock on Yoshi. Yoshi gets back to his feet and he connects with elbows but Kidd with a kick. Yoshi gets a near fall on a lateral press but Kidd with a clothesline and then he chokes Yoshi in the ropes. Hayes taunts Yoshi and then Kidd kicks Yoshi.
Hayes talks to the referee while Kidd chokes Yoshi in the ropes. Kidd has Yoshi on the middle rope and Kidd hits a running boot to the head but Kidd can only get a near fall. Kidd returns to the reverse chin lock on Yoshi. Yoshi with a snap mare and then he gets a near fall with a crucifix. Yoshi misses a drop kick when Kidd holds on to the ropes. Kidd with a kick to the head and then he slaps Yoshi and puts him in a rear chin lock.
Hayes tries to convince the referee that Yoshi tapped out. Kidd with an Irish whip but Yoshi with a drop toe hold into the turnbuckles. Hayes warns Kidd but Yoshi with a kick and chops to Kidd. Yoshi with more chops followed by kicks. Yoshi kicks Kidd into the corner. Yoshi with the running knees into the corner followed by a spinning heel kick for a near fall.
Yoshi goes to the apron and the top turnbuckle but Kidd crotches Yoshi. Kidd sets for a superplex and he hits it and both men are down. Kidd gets a two count and that shocks Hayes because he thought the match was over. He tells Tyson to stop showboating. Kidd puts Yoshi in the Sharpshooter but Yoshi is able to get to the ropes. Kidd chokes Yoshi in the ropes again and then he tries for a slingshot leg drop to the apron but Kidd misses.
Kidd with a shoulder from the apron and then tries for a rollup but Yoshi counters with a rollup of his own. Yoshi with a round kick for the three count.
Winner: Yoshi Tatsu
After the match, Hayes checks on Kidd and he applauds him, but it is simply faint praise? Hayes picks up Kidd and Hayes punches Kidd. Hayes tells Kidd that he failed him.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Did You Know that a lot of videos are available on YouTube?
It is time for the Raw portion of this week’s show and your announcers are Josh Mathews and Scott Stanford.
We see footage from last week when Curt Hawkins helped his former tag team partner Zack Ryder get a win over Vladimir Kozlov.
Match Number Two: Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov versus Zack Ryder and Curt Hawkins
Ryder and Marella start things off and Santino goes for the legs and he takes Ryder down and gets a near fall. Ryder with a knee to the midsection followed by a forearm to the back and a choke with his knee. Ryder with an Irish whip but Santino floats over and sets up for the Cobra.
Hawkins tags in and he hits a hip lock take down. Kozlov tags in and Kozlov with an arm drag. Hawkins with a waist lock but Kozlov with a take down. Hawkins with a punch and side head lock. Kozlov with a shoulder tackle and Hawkins goes to the floor.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Kozlov with a slam to Ryder and then he sends Zack into the turnbuckles. Kozlov with a running shoulder tackle followed by a fallaway slam on Ryder. Ryder rolls to the floor and he drops Kozlov on the ropes. Hawkins tags in and he hits a flying clothesline and gets a near fall.
Hawkins with a knee to the head and then he runs Kozlov into the turnbuckles. They hit a side Russian leg sweep and Downward Spiral combination for a near fall. Ryder with a kick to Kozlov’s head and he gets a near fall. Ryder with a reverse chin lock on Kozlov but Kozlov with a fireman’s carry to get out of the hold. Ryder grabs Kozlov’s legs and then he knocks Marella off the apron. Ryder and Hawkins are able to pull Kozlov into their corner. Hawkins tags back in and he chokes Kozlov.
Hawkins with a kick to Kozlov and then he gets a near fall. Hawkins with a front face lock but Kozlov tries to power his way to his corner to make the tag. Hawkins prevents Kozlov from making the tag but Santino punches Hawkins and Hawkins gets back body dropped and Santino tags in. Santino with a split followed by a hip toss. Kozlov with a spinebuster on Ryder as Santino hits the diving head butt on Hawkins. Santino hits the Cobra for the three count.
Winners: Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov
We take a look at the Over the Limit Pay Per View card.
We go to commercial.
Match Number Three: Drew McIntyre versus Evan Bourne
They lock up and Drew with a waist lock take down into a front face lock. Bourne with a hammer lock on Drew but Drew with an elbow and Drew with a side head lock. Drew with a shoulder tackle and he looks impressed with what he did. Bourne with an arm drag followed by a Japanese arm drag. Drew puts Bourne on the turnbuckles and he slaps Bourne. Bourne comes off the turnbuckles with an arm drag and then he drop kicks Drew and Drew goes to the floor and he almost pulls off the cover on the announce table.
Drew with a forearm but he misses a clothesline. Bourne with a head scissors but he is sent ot the apron. Drew clotheslines Bourne on the apron and it flips Bourne. Bourne lands awkwardly on the apron and the referee checks him on the floor.
We go to commercial.
We are back and Drew tries for a suplex but Bourne escapes the hold. Drew with a big boot to Bourne. Drew with kicks in the corner. Drew looks bored with his match and then he puts Bourne on the turnbuckles and he punches Bourne. Drew goes up top and he sets for a superplex but Bourne punches Drew. Drew responds with head butts and Drew with a delayed superplex for a near fall. Drew shows some frustration that he hasn’t finished off Bourne yet and they go to the apron. Drew tries to send Bourne into the ring post but Bourne escapes and he sends Drew into the ring steps.
They return to the ring and Bourne with kicks to Drew and then he gets a near fall on Drew. Bourne sets for the Yakuza kick into the corner and then he goes up top for the Shooting Star Press but Drew goes to the floor. Bourne with a clothesline to Drew on the floor.
They returns to the floor and Drew blocks a rana and he turns it into a Buckle Bomb and then Drew hits the Future Shock DDT for the three count.
Winner: Drew McIntyre
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