Royal Rumble 2004 Review

Royal Rumble 2004 Review 


When I first got into wrestling, this was one of the first PPVs that I ever watched, so it's pretty nostalgic for me. This event is mainly remembered for who won the Rumble match, but what else did the show contain? Let's find out.



Batista & Ric Flair vs The Dudley Boyz : Tables Match
Tag Titles are on the line. Batista and Flair won the titles unfairly at the Armageddon PPV, and the Dudleys wanted them back in their favourite kind of match. The match was very short and seemed very sloppy at times. It didn't help that the Coach got himself involved. Not the best opener for a show that's for sure. 1/2*



Rey Mysterio vs Jamie Noble
Cruiserweight title is on the line. Noble's girlfriend, Nidia, was still in her 'blind' stage where she kept costing Noble matches due to her 'blindness'. These two deserved more than just three minutes for this match. They've had great matches in the past and I'm certain that, with more time, they would have had a great match. *



So far the show hasn't been good.



Eddie Guerrero vs Chavo Guerrero
What is it with matches not getting enough time? It's a shame they were only given eight minutes to work, and with another ten I'm sure they would have had a classic. This was the start of Eddie's singles run that led to his WWE Championship win a month later. Match was enjoyable while it lasted, but the finish was pretty anticlimactic, with Eddie easily beating his nephew. **




Brock Lesnar vs Hardcore Holly
Holly? Seriously? There was no one else? I mean the guy's a good wrestler but he's not WWE Title material. Holly didn't have a chance in hell here, and of course, Brock gets the decisive win. The match wasn't bad, even with Brock's long restholds, but it was another one that had to deal with time constraints. Luckily this is the last match that'll have that problem. *1/2



Triple H vs Shawn Michaels : Last Man Standing Match
Check out the blade job for the match :

Yeah it was pretty gruesome. This one had a hard time living up to the classic match that these guys had on Raw in December, but that didn't stop it from being a great match. Usually when these two have a match involving no DQ (aside from their dull 3 Stages of Hell match) it ends up being great and this was no exception.  Even the double count-out finish was fine, since that ended up leading to the five star, Triple Threat match at Mania 20. It's not the best match they've ever had, but to me, it was a lot of fun. ***1/2



Finally a good match on this show!


And now for the match we've all been waiting for.




The 2004 Royal Rumble Match
The best rumble ever? If you can get over the fact that Benoit won the match, then, arguably, it is. It's easily my favourite Rumble match ever. The 1992 Rumble comes close, but 2004 just beats it. For its one hour run time, it's entertaining all the way through, and, unlike most other Rumble matches, it doesn't have a dull moment. Benoit winning was also an amazing moment at the time, which has obviously been extinguished now. Amazing match that I would say is must-see. *****



6/10. This show was awful up until the Last Man Standing match. That match and the Rumble match absolutely saved the show. If you can't stomach Benoit I definitely wouldn't recommend this show, but if you can, get the DVD and skip everything except for the World Title match and the Royal Rumble match.

The Shawn Michaels Story: Heartbreak & Triumph DVD Review

The Shawn Michaels Story: Heartbreak & Triumph DVD Review


The HBK book of the same name was not very well received by wrestling fans, but how does the three disc set of the same name come across? Let's find out.




Disc 1 :

I always forget that Shawn's actual surname is Hickenbottom. Catches me by surprise everytime. Also, knowing that José Lothario was in fact his trainer at the start of his career makes the Iron Man match at Mania XII look a bit better. An annoying thing about the feature is that you can't understand a word that Marty Jannetty is saying, but it's a minor annoyance. A lot of the stories on this documentary are interesting to listen to, such as the Rockers' first firing from the WWF. Nothing is really held back about Shawn, as they mention how his in-ring work was amazing, and how his personality outside of the ring was just the opposite. The story of how the Wrestlemania X Ladder match came to be is pretty interesting. Shawn wouldn't send the belt back and so a new one had to be created. Kind of a dick move, but if it didn't happen we might not even have ladder matches today. Even the Curtain Call for the Kliq at The Garden is talked about which was pretty controversial for breaking kayfabe. I was interested to hear Shawn's take on the infamous 'Lost Smile' promo and he claims that his knee was really hurt, so make of that what you will. The birth of DX and the Montreal Screwjob segments were very interesting, especially when you hear the opinions of other superstars and legends. Ok I don't want to keep going over the moments in this DVD, as they're worth watching for yourself and there are a lot of them. Overall this is one of the better superstar documentaries that the WWE has released, and it was one that could have went downhill, but they kept it interesting all the way through and nothing was really sugercoated. Definitely one to watch, especially for it's story of redemption from hated, drug-taker to a clean born-again Christian. Great stuff. 9/10


And now for some great matches!



Disc 2:



Shawn Michaels vs Billy Jack Haynes
Very early match from WCCW in 1985. The ring announcer doesn't even pronounce Shawn's name correctly. No one could have predicted that that jobber from San Antonio would go onto become one of the best wrestlers of all time. Very short, squash match. 1/4*




The Midnight Rockers vs Buddy Rose & Doug Sommers
From the AWA in 1987. This feud is mentioned a lot when talking about HBK's early career, so it must have meant a lot to him. Sensational Sherri was managing Rose & Sommers, and she would become Shawn's manager in 1992. Solid, if unspectacular, old-school style tag match. I wonder why they don't bring back the time limit for modern matches? Could be a good idea. Anyway it's an entertaining match, but I have a feeling that it's not the best from this feud. **3/4



The Midnight Rockers vs Super Ninja & Ninja Go
Another AWA match from 1987. Shawn looks as if he's hungover here. Probably is. And the arena is looking pretty empty as well. Didn't really matter as the crowd was really hot for this bout. Holy crap, one of the Ninjas has a swastika on his wrist! What the hell is up with that? Anyway this was a fun, well paced tag match that had the crowd's interest the entire time. Worth a look. ***1/2



The Rockers vs The Brainbusters
Taking place in MSG in 1989. The first WWE match of the set. I remember an excellent match between the two teams and I think it may have been on the Saturday Night's Main Event DVD. Both teams are friggin' awesome. The start of the match was strange with the Rockers getting the illegal tags, and the ref stopping the Brainbusters from tagging. Kind of a role reversal. This was an excellent tag match, especially for its time. ***3/4



The Rockers vs Hart Foundation : 2 out of 3 Falls
Man it is such a shame that the ref couldn't figure out that he had to fix the rope for the match to continue properly. I think it may have been a near five-star match if the rope hadn't broke. As it is, the first part of the match is fun, but once the rope breaks it becomes dull. The Rockers win the Tag Titles, but the win wouldn't exist in the history books and the match was never aired. **1/2



The Rockers vs The Orient Express
From the 1991 Royal Rumble. I've heard a lot of great things about this match, so I'm looking forward to it. The match started straight away with an unbelievable pace that was awesome to watch. The great pace continues as the match goes on. Such a fantastic tag match with some awesome double team moments. I'm pretty sure the show has just been stolen. One of the best tag matches I've ever had the privilege of watching. ****1/2



Shawn Michaels vs The British Bulldog
From Saturday Night's Main Event in November 1992. Poor Bulldog had only held the IC Title for two months at this point before losing it here. The winner of this would face Bret Hart for the WWE Title at Survivor Series. Very entertaining back and forth match here that had the fans hot for it. Some nice back psychology as well. This was good, but they'd go on to have much better matches a few years in the future. ***1/4



Royal Rumble Match 1995
They show the full rumble here. This definitely wasn't the best Rumble that there'd ever been, but it certainly wasn't the worst. Only a few wrestlers looked like they could have won such as HBK and the British Bulldog. The match is mainly remembered for its famous finish of having Shawn touch only one foot on the ground and then come back in to win it. **3/4


I think the 1996 Royal Rumble match would have been better here than the 1995 edition, as HBK won it and then went on to beat Bret Hart in their famous Iron Man match at Wrestlemania. At Mania 11 he lost to Diesel. It's probably just there for the famous finishing sequence. Anyway, onto disc 3!




Disc 3 :


Shawn Michaels vs Jeff Jarrett
From In Your House 2. Man, Shawn gave us so many memorable matches from the IYH PPVs starting with this one. This is easily Jarrett's best match in WWE, but I've not really seen any of his TNA stuff so I don't know if anything topped this. Jeff was in his hometown and was still getting booed by the crowd. There's tons of heat for this one, and the pacing is just excellent. A phenomenal back and forth match here, that is must-see in my book. ****1/2



Shawn Michaels vs The British Bulldog
From King of the Ring 1996. This event is mainly remembered for Austin's classic 3:16 speech, but this was the match that stole the show. These two always have good matches and this was one of their best, if not the best. I think Bulldog's a heel here. Never even knew that he had a heel run. The match seems to change in pace throughout, as sometimes its a nice, quick pace, and sometimes its a slower, more controlled pace. That doesn't stop it from being a very entertaining match. Having Owen Hart on commentary was a bonus too. Awesome match overall. ****



Shawn Michaels vs Triple H
From Raw in December 2003. The first match from HBK's comeback. These two have had many matches against each other but, aside from their Summerslam classic, this is easily their best one, and it's definitely the best one without any gimmick applied to it. Just a straight up, who's better than the other, World Title match. Easy MOTYC for 2003. Just a shame that it's not really remembered. ****1/2



The Rockers vs La Resistance
This is from Raw in 2005, when the Rockers had a reunion for one night only. I think Marty was meant to come back full time, but couldn't stay sober and had to be let go. I could be wrong about that. Anyway, the match was a lot of fun, and would have been nostalgic for the older fans. It was short, but it was very enjoyable while it lasted. **1/2



Shawn Michaels vs Kurt Angle
From Vengeance 2005. The rematch that everyone wanted to see. I don't think there was any way that they could have topped their all time classic Wrestlemania match, but they were damn sure gonna try here. That German suplex on the announce table looked awesome. What I love about this is that you could watch this and the Mania match back-to-back, and see two different matches. Not as good as the original, but still a very worth sequel, as Shawn gets his win back. ****1/2


I think I'm running out of stars to give!



Shawn Michaels vs John Cena
From Raw in the UK in April 2007. WWE called this the greatest match in the history of Raw. It's definitely one of the best, but I think the best is Punk vs Cena from February 2013. Anyway, this fifty minute, non-title match was able to stay entertaining all the way through, and lived up to the exceptional original at Wrestlemania. In fact I'd say its even better than the Mania match. Another reason why this match is so great, is because it was the match that made Chris Jericho return to wrestling, which is a huge win in my book. The commercials are irritating as usual, but that doesn't stop it from being an excellent match. Watch this one immediately. ****3/4



9.5/10. Excellent DVD from WWE and one of their best. The first disc is brilliant with a very interesting two hour documentary on the Heartbreak Kid. But the matches are where this set really shines. This set is filled with amazing matches, and the best thing is that you can't get a lot of them on other DVDs. In fact I think only the KOTR and Jeff Jarrett IYH matches can be found on other sets. This is a must-have set for any wrestling, and it's worth the price of purchase just for the epic Raw matches with HHH and Cena.

Judgment Day 2008 Review

Judgment Day 2008 Review



Found this little gem pretty cheap in a shop today. I've never seen it before so I'm looking forward to seeing how good it is. Right let's begin.




John Cena vs JBL
Very rare to see Cena in the opener. I think this was his last time in the opener, and I doubt he'll ever be there again. I'm not sure why these two were feuding, but it may have had something to do with the Backlash fatal four way match. JBL's heel offense, as usual, wasn't very interesting, but the work on Cena's arm was done quite well. Cena barely gets in any offense until the very abrupt finish of Cena hitting the FU to win. Not a great match, but at least it was better than their Mania match. **



CM Punk & Kane vs John Morrison & The Miz
Tag Titles on the line. Dear God I forgot that Mike Adamle was a commentator. Oh this is gonna be long. I'd completely forgotten that Kane was a former ECW Champ. I wonder what the passionate ECW fans think of that one. It wouldn't be long until Punk cashed in his MITB to win his first World Title. It's weird that they'd have the MITB winner take the loss, but WWE has a tendency of doing that. Fun match that kept the action fast and furious. **1/2



Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho
Oh yeah! This is more like it! The start of the best feud of 2008, and one of WWE's best feuds of the decade. I think that Shawn was meant to be the heel here, but the fans just didn't want to boo him. Luckily that led to Jericho becoming a heel once again, and what a fantastic heel he was. And yes of course this was an awesome match, what else would you expect it to be? Just the usual brilliant, technical, back and forth contest from both guys and easily the Match of the Night. It's amazing that their feud and their matches would only get better as time went on. ****



Mickie James vs Melina vs Beth Phoenix
Good luck following that one ladies! Womens Title on the line. These are three very capable divas, so it should be entertaining at the least. This was good while it lasted, but unfortunately it didn't last very long. If this had an extra five or ten minutes it could have been great. Beth with both women on her shoulder was a sight to behold though. **1/4



Undertaker vs Edge
Another of the year's best feuds continues here. The World Title was vacant here, as Taker was stripped of the Title for using his Hell's Gate submission hold too many times and injuring other superstars. I was fine with this match ending with no new World Champ, as it led to an awesome TLC match and, eventually, the excellent HIAC match. Sure this wasn't as great as some of their other matches, but it's still a great addition nonetheless. Similiar to HBK and Y2J, these two can't have a bad match. ***3/4



Jeff Hardy vs MVP
Hooray! Jeff is back from suspen.... I mean injury. This match wasn't originally on the PPV card, but it's a nice bonus. Poor MVP lost to two different Hardys on two PPVs in a row, as he lost to Matt at the Backlash show. Solid little match that was entertaining and got the crowd behind Jeff Hardy once again. Whisper in the wind did seem like a strange way to win though. **1/2



Triple H vs Randy Orton : Steel Cage
This isn't the first or the last time these two would feud. This is definitely one of the better matches they've ever had together, and that's kind of hard to do in a modern-day cage match. Cage matches aren't as good as they used to be, especially with no blood, but both guys managed to do it. Very good cage match that had the fans hot for it and is really worth a watch. ***1/2



8/10. This was a great show here and one that seems overlooked. There weren't any bad matches, and the worst was the opener, which was still enjoyable. You'll also find an overlooked classic between Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho which stole the show, an underrated Taker vs Edge match, and a main event that definitely delivered, not to mention all the other solid matches.

Summerslam 2010 Re-Do Review

Summerslam 2010 Re-Do Review


Didn't really enjoy this one the first time I reviewed it. Have my opinions changed? Let's find out.


                                                                                                                                                            



Kofi Kingston vs Dolph Ziggler
IC Title up for grabs . I'd call this a bittersweet way to open up this Summerslam . These are two guys that can put on great matches , but they're only given about eight minutes until it turns into an unnecessary clusterfuck . The match ends in a no contest after the Nexus interfere . **


(This definitely could have been a great match if they had more time, had been given a proper finish, and hadn't played second fiddle to the Nexus invasion storyline. At least it was entertaining while it lasted. **)



Melina vs Alicia Fox
Thank god they finally took the title off of Fox . The girl just cannot wrestle . This was just a standard WWE divas match . Melina wins the title with a faceplant . 1/2*


(Is this the match that always gets referenced when talking about all time great matches? It's not bad for a divas match even if it did end quite abruptly, but Alicia was able to keep up with Melina and it was pretty enjoyable. *1/4)

(Laycool come out afterwards to set up a Night of Champions title unification match)



Big Show vs The Straight Edge Society
How the mighty have fallen . For the last few months , the SES were a great faction with a great amount of heel heat . Now they were losing matches to Show and not looking so good . Match was entertaining as Show pins both Gallows and Mercury . **


(I really felt bad for the Straight Edge Society after this. They were such a great faction and didn't last long after this. Punk had become a glorified jobber by this point, but luckily he came out on top a year later. Anyway the match was fun, even if it didn't make the SES look too good. **1/4)



Sheamus vs Randy Orton
This match is actually really good for a WWE Championship match that ends with a DQ . Then again these two usually did have good matches against each other . Sheamus keeps his title with the championship advantage after grabbing a chair and then throwing the ref out of the ring . ***1/4


(With the WWE Title match going on this early, it was obvious that there may have been some cop-out ending, and that's what we got with the DQ finish. I guess they couldn't have had either guy lose, but there must have been some better way than a DQ. Luckily the match was pretty great so that made up for it a little bit. I'll go with  ***1/2)



Kane vs Rey Mysterio
This was another surprisingly good match , considering that everyone was complaining that they faced each other too much . I was also surprised that Kane retained but I was also happy with it . Kane wins with a chokeslam . ***

(Everyone knew that this would be the return of the Undertaker and it was awesome as always to see him. The way he came out of the casket the second time instead of the first time when everyone thought he would was cool. The match itself was pretty damn good and worth a watch, especially with the nice finishing sequence. ***1/4)


After the match , Undertaker comes out of the casket in a return that just about everyone saw coming . He doesn't get his revenge though , as Kane gives him a tombstone .


(Kane looked like a friggin' badass after taking out both Rey Mysterio and Undertaker. Too bad the following feud was disappointing)



Team WWE vs The Nexus
Here we are , the reason people bought this show and the saviour of this show . Elimination rules apply here . Daniel Bryan made his big WWE return in this match . Bryan quickly takes out Darren Young with the Lebell lock . Morrison eliminates Tarver with starship pain . Sheffield takes out Morrison with a big clothesline . Another big clothesline takes out R-Truth . Crowd went crazy when Bret came in . Bret DQ's himself with a steel chair shot . Edge pins Sheffield with a spear . Otunga taps to the walls of jericho . Slater eliminates Jericho . Seconds later he also eliminates Edge . Slater taken out with the Lebell lock . Miz runs in and hits Bryan with a briefcase which takes him out of the match . Cena pins Gabriel . Cena wins the match by making Barrett tap to the STF . ****


(I wouldn't say it's the saviour of the show since both the WWE and World Title matches were very good, but this is still the reason that people bought the show. It had been so well built up since the debut of the Nexus and up to this point. It was only after this show that the Nexus was booked pretty poorly. A lot of people complained that Nexus should have won the match, but I think this needed to happen, that the Nexus needed their comeuppance, and it was done very well here. I'll put the rating up to  ****1/4)


5/10 . At least the main event really delivered . The world title matches were also good . The rest you can skip .



(6.5/10. Much better show than I remembered. The undercard may have been poor, but the three main events definitely made up for it, even if the WWE Title match didn't have a proper result. Worth another look)

Night of Champions 2013 Review

Night of Champions 2013 Review : Bryan Beats the Odds Again


This event was quite anticipated, mostly for the well built main event of Orton vs Bryan, but how did the whole show pan out?



Weirdly enough the night starts with HHH coming out to say he approves of the PPV. Paul Heyman also comes out to complain about being in the handicap match tonight, but HHH says he's still in it, which brings me to my first problem. HHH did nothing to look like a heel tonight. After all those episodes of Raw in which he looks like the biggest bastard in the world, he's suddenly doing everything the crowd wants him to, like giving Axel an extra match, or saying there'll be no interference in the main event. It's like if at Over the Edge 1998, Vince McMahon decided to call the Austin/Love match right down the middle. It just makes no sense. This talking should have been taken care of on Raw. Well at least that sets up our first match.




Kofi Kingston vs Curtis Axel
One thing I like about this match is that it gives Axel an excuse when he's pinned by CM Punk later on. The match was much better than I was expecting, as they had a nice back and forth match that had the crowd's interest throughout, and started the night off well. Axel even got a nice clean win and retained his IC Title. ***


AJ Lee vs Naomi vs Brie Bella vs Natalya
I was terrified that WWE would decide to put the title on Brie or Naomi to promote the awful-looking Total Divas show, but thankfully they saw the light. The match wasn't as bad as I thought it might be either, except for a botched flying crossbody by Naomi. Natalya showed her awesome skill as she put on a double sharpshooter. AJ got the win with her black widow submission move. *1/2



Rob Van Dam vs Alberto Del Rio
I thought this seemed pretty low on the card, but I should've known that signalled a bad finish. Yes a DQ finish in a World Title match on a PPV. Are you kidding? Who the hell thought that this would be a good idea? The match was a carbon copy of one that you would see in a Smackdown main event. Seeing the Van Terminator again was pretty cool, but it also made the fact that Damien Sandow didn't cash in even sillier. The champ was knocked out! What more do you need? Disappointing match, even if the actual action portion of the match was pretty good. **3/4



Fandango vs The Miz 
There were already time constraints on this show and they decide to throw this pointless match on? To watch PPVs here in Scotland, I have to stay up from 1am to 4am and this match almost put me back to sleep. It doesn't help that it's shitty babyface Miz in the match using his shitty variation of a figure four. *



CM Punk vs Curtis Axel & Paul Heyman
And now we're back to some good stuff. The Punk/Axel portions of the match were good, and even Axel got to look good by wearing down Punk. I thought Punk's suicide dive on Heyman was pretty cool. When it was just Punk and Heyman left, it was fun to see Punk finally getting his revenge and looking like he genuinely enjoyed beating up Paul. And then we got the most random interference for the finish as Ryback came in and took out Punk to give Heyman the win. ***


So is Ryback now a Heyman guy, or is he just continuing his bully persona on anyone he can? I guess we'll find out on Raw but, for some reason, I'm not really looking forward to it. Can't they just bring back Lesnar and make it briliant again?



Dean Ambrose vs Dolph Ziggler
I'm still confused as to how Ziggler was first in line for a US Title match. He'd lost a couple of matches to Ryback, was beaten by the Shield, and basically jobbed to Bray Wyatt on Raw. How does that give him a shot? Anyway the match itself was fun while it lasted but felt rushed due to there only being an hour left on the show. Feeling rushed seems to be a theme for this show. Ambrose gets a surprisingly clean win to retain his title. **1/2



Prime Time Players vs The Shield
I thought for sure that the PTP would win the titles here, due to the fact that all the other heels had retained their titles by this point. This was another matched that felt very rushed. It was fun while it lasted though and made the PTP look pretty good in their defeat. Titus takes a spear from Reigns to end the match. **



Randy Orton vs Daniel Bryan
This match had to save the show. I don't know if it did that but it was a great match anyway. I do feel like they should have given it much more time, but again there was another rushed feeling. That didn't stop the action from being fast and furious though, making this easily the match of the night. The ending did seem to come out of nowhere though with a very fast count to give Bryan his second WWE Championship. I have a feeling it'll be stripped from him very soon. ***3/4


4.5/10. I was wondering what would end up being my worst PPV of the year with WWE seemingly on a role, but this show stopped it dead. A very disappointing show, especially after coming off of a spectacular Summerslam. The whole night felt rushed and there were some questionable finishes to the main matches of the show. The main event is worth a watch and the Curtis Axel matches are entertaining but that's about it. I would avoid this one.

Summerslam 2011 Re-Do Review

Summerslam 2011 Re-Do Review


Still my favourite Summerslam event, but do the matches still hold up? Let's find out.

                                                                                                                                   


Kofi Kingston , John Morrison & Rey Mysterio vs Alberto Del Rio , The Miz & R-Truth
It's a shame they couldn't come up with storylines for all these guys , although this was a great match . High-flying all round and Mysterio picks up the victory for his team with a 619 to Truth . ***1/2


(Michael Cole was still in his very irritating Miz-loving stage, which I had forgotten was so annoying and distracting. Makes me thankful he's not a heel anymore. R-Truth was also in his conspiracy period, which he should still be doing because it was hilarious. I think I overrated this one just a bit, but it was a ton of fun with an exciting finishing sequence. I think I'll go with  ***1/4)


Sheamus vs Mark Henry
It's amazing to see , almost one year later , how these two superstars rose to the top of the WWE . Well the World title scene at least . Sheamus managed to hit Henry with a brogue kick but he fell out of the ring . Mark drives Sheamus through the barricade ! That gets a count out and Henry wins . **3/4

(Actually one year later I think Henry was injured and Sheamus was still getting booed for the 18 second match at Mania. Anyway Mark Henry had started his show stealing Hall of Pain phase, and was turning all of his critics, including myself, into fans. This was a good big man vs big man match and never really became boring, even with Henry's slow offense. Usually I hate count-outs at PPVs, but here it worked. Neither guy could afford a loss and it even made Sheamus look tough by trying his best to get back in the ring. I'll go with ***)



We get a Cee Lo Green mini-concert which I would say is skippable .

(Yeah it is)

Kelly Kelly vs Beth Phoenix 
These two actually fought 3 PPVs in a row ? Well it's no Orton/Christian . At least Beth's here . Always a plus . Another really solid match between these two . Kelly wins with a roll through from the glam slam . **1/4

(Actually looking back, their series of matches was pretty good. In fact I'd say it was the one to beat until AJ and Kaitlyn's series. Anyway this match was very enjoyable and entertaining, even though it gets the Worst match of the night honors, showing how good this show is. I'll stick with **1/4)


Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett
Glad to see these two made it to the Summerslam card and not be relegated to the dark match . Gave these two a chance to shine , and shine they did . Just great wrestling in this one . Wade gets the three count after a wasteland . ***1/2

(I can't remember why these guys were feuding, but I don't care since it gave Bryan a PPV match. Just wait a couple of years Bryan and you'll be right at the top. Anyway I think they're usung the Smackdown MITB match as the reason for the feud. Great little gem of a match from both guys, even if the fans weren't always into it. ***1/2)

Before this next match starts , Christian announces that Edge will be in his corner and Edge comes down the aisle . Edge says he was proud of Christian until he started to whine and became a moaning little bitch .

(This was a nice touch as it was nice to see Edge again, and made Christian look like a guy that deserved his comeuppance)


Randy Orton vs Christian : No Holds Barred
I would say this is the best match of their entire feud , and that is saying A LOT . They have 3 matches that are 4 stars or more , so that is big . This was a brutal match . Christian went through 3 tables during the match and Orton cut his thumb open . Orton wins after hitting a sick RKO on the steel steps . Just an awesome match here . ****1/2


(This is easily my favourite match of this feud and probably one of my favourite matches of this decade so far. It could be the best singles match in both guys careers as well. Just insanely entertaining from start to finish and they used the stipulations very well. ****1/2 seems like the perfect rating for it)


John Cena vs CM Punk : Special Referee : Triple H
Here we go . The WWE Champion vs WWE Champion . Someone had to win here and leave as the only WWE Champion . I don't really see why HHH was needed here though . At least there weren't any shenanigans until after the match . I'm glad Punk was allowed to win here because I was so sure that the golden boy was gonna win it . Crowd is really hot for Punk . Punk wins with a GTS even though Cena's foot was on the rope . **** . After the match Kevin Nash appears and knocks down Punk with a jacknife . Alberto Del Rio runs down .


(There was no way in hell that they were gonna replicate their MITB classic, but they were damn sure gonna try. HHH definitely wasn't needed here, and he would only become worse as the year went on. Both guys being the WWE Champion made things very interesting, and the insane chemistry between the two only added fuel to the fire. The counter wrestling was awesome as the match went on, and it kept the match unpredictable. A brilliant back and forth contest that ended in controversy. I'm increasing this one to  ****1/2)


CM Punk vs Alberto Del Rio
Del Rio cashes in his MITB , hits Punk with a kick to the head and there is a new WWE Champion . N/R

(An unexpected return from Kevin Nash and a surprise cash in from Alberto Del Rio make a great finish to this awesome PPV)


8.5/10 . This was an awesome Summerslam with the main events being fantastic and 2 other great matches . The big twist at the end helped too .


(Easily a 9.5/10 for my money. One of the best and underrated PPVs ever with two fantastic main events, a great undercard, even the divas match, and a surprise ending that came out of nowhere. This is a must-see show)

Summerslam 2012 Re-Do Review

Summerslam 2012 Re-Do Review



I haven't posted here for a while due to college stuff and the amazing Summerslam 2013 event got me back in the mood for reviewing, and I thought I'd start with this show and see if any of my opinions from last year have changed at all. By the way, I still can't decide what's better : Summerslam 2002 or 2013.


Ok let's get started, you know the drill for re-dos.

                                                                                                                                                                




Dolph Ziggler vs Chris Jericho
Pretty damn great match to start off the 25th annual Summerslam . This match was all about Jericho not winning any big matches since he returned . Great back and forth match as Jericho makes Dolph submit to the walls of jericho . ***1/2 .


(Definitely the best choice for the opener as it they fired the crowd up with a great match. The only problem is that it overshadowed just about everything else on the card. Jericho put over just about everyone in 2012, but the one guy he defeated could have used a win over the big star, and that was Ziggler. There were a couple of sloppy moments, but they were able to work through it with some nice nearfalls and great chemistry. Great opining match. ***1/2)



Daniel Bryan vs Kane
This feud started with AJ being in love with both guys . She has been punishing Bryan the past couple of weeks and so decided to put him in a match with Kane . Crowd was hot for Bryan . Bryan gets the big upset with a small package pin . **3/4


(I can barely even remember that AJ was the general manager at one point. It's amazing to think that this match led to a great tag team between the two, that made the tag titles popular again, which in turn led to Bryan's huge babyface push and made him the most popular superstar on the roster. The match itself is pretty entertaining and has a great moment with Kane grabbing Bryan by the throat as he goes for the diving headbutt. I'll stick with my  **3/4 rating)


Kane goes batshit crazy after the match .


(Yes he does)



Rey Mysterio vs The Miz
IC Title on the line in this one . Rey's wearing a pretty cool Batman outfit from my pick for film of the year . This should be a good one . The Miz looked great in this match . Miz retains his title after a skull crushing finale . ***1/4


(Dark Knight Rises is not my pick of the best film of 2012. Think I'd go with Avengers on that one. Anyway back to the match. At least they made the IC Title look a little important with a former World Champ challenging for it against a former WWE Champion. Why can't Miz go back to being a heel? He showed that he was a good heel during this match. I thought the original rating would have been a bit high, but after a second watch I still think it's a very good match, even a little underrated. Good, non-stop action from the start. ***1/4)



Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio
World Title up for grabs here . WWE has tried their hardest to make us care about this match considering we've already seen it a few times . I'm still not very interested . I think this was as good as their MITB match , maybe even a little better . Sheamus hits Del Rio with a show and then a backbreaker . He gets the pin even though Del Rio's foot was on the rope . ***


(Good god what a pointless and long feud this was. At least the matches were good, so they had that going for them. The match started off a bit slowly, but really started to pick up steam once Sheamus hit his first comeback. If it had been longer it could have been great, but as it is it's still a good match with a couple of nice nearfalls at the end. The screwy finish didn't really help things either. ***)



Kofi Kingston & R-Truth vs The Prime Time Players
This is for the tag titles . I don't know how well the Prime Time Players will do without AW as their manager . The fans even start a ' Kobe Bryant ' chant . This has been the worst match of the night so far . Truth gets the pin with a Li'l Jimmy . *

(Yeah the Prime Time Players didn't go anywhere after AW was fired, but they seem to be getting a push now that Darren Young publically came out. Just really a filler match here. It was entertaining but no one really cared about it and, as a result, it just seemed dull. I'll go with  **)


John Cena vs CM Punk vs Big Show
Triple threat match for the WWE Championship . The crowd is really cheering for Punk . Show catching Punk off the suicide dive was a great visual . Show taps to a double submission hold from both Cena and Punk . AJ restarts the match . This match started slow but got better as it went on . Punk pins Show after Cena hits him with an AA . ***

(At the time, I was disappointed that we weren't going to see Cena and Punk in a one on one contest, but instead Big Show would be added to the mix. At least they had their singles match at the next PPV, and this match was actually good. The restart hinders things a little, but it doesn't stop it from being a good match. I'll give this  ***1/4)



We see come stars in the audience like Rick Rubin , David Arquette with a world title and an asshole known as Fred Durst .

Kevin Rudolf gives a god awful performance of one of his songs . Thankfully the crowd shits all over it . Seriously WWE stop with the music .

(It's hilarious when they show the same members of the crowd dancing because they were the only ones doing it)



Triple H vs Brock Lesnar
This feud has been brewing ever since the night after Extreme Rules and so for that it was the most anticipated match on the card . This had a big fight feel . I'm pretty sure the match has No DQ even though it wasn't announced .  Crowd wasn't really into it . It's a disappointing match : I was expecting a four star brawl . HHH taps to Lesnar's arm lock . Still pretty good though . ***1/2


(At the time, it was exciting to finally see these two go one on one, but now it's a feud that no one wants to see again. What makes it even worse is the fact that at this year's Summerslam, Punk had a match with Lesnar that had the same stipulations and the same amount of time, and put on a five star match. So what happened here? Were they keeping the best stuff for Wrestlemania? That doesn't seem likely seeing how mediocre that was. There were some nice moments like Lesnar taking his gloves off, and applying the kimura straight after taking a DDT. This definitely should have been a huge brawl though, instead of Lesnar constantly working on the arm, even if it was good psychology. Towards the finish it really did pick up though and it helps that it felt like a big fight so I'll stick with my  ***1/2 rating)




8/10 . A very Good Summerslam with four nice matches and two great matches .


(I'll bring this down to 7.5/10, as it wasn't great enough to warrant an 8. It was filled with fun matches and a couple of great ones, but nothing really stood out except, perhaps, the main event. Worth your time for some good wrestling fun)