The Scottish View: Survivor Series 2005

Survivor Series 2005 Review


On this night it was Raw vs Smackdown. Probably to promote the game series. Also coming up is a Last Man Standing match, the WWE Title will be on the line, and we get the epic finale to the feud of the year, Bischoff vs Long! Let's see what the show is like.



Booker T vs Chris Benoit
This was their first match in their Best of Seven Series for the US Title. The feud wouldn't end until No Way Out in February, so it lasted a while which wasn't a bad thing since they had chemistry in the ring. Good choice for the opener as it was an exciting contest that built well towards the finish, and the crowd was solidly behind Benoit. Booker cheats to get the pin to go 1-0. ***



Backstage, WHAT THE HELL DID VINCE SAY? : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nn-x6tMm-M



Melina vs Trish Stratus
Womens Title is on the line. This is an interpromotional match as Melina was on the Smackdown roster and Trish was Raw. Mickie James accompanied Trish, as she was in her awesome psycho bitch stage. Melina wasn't really an established wrestler at this point, but she performed well here. Very solid divas match and one of the better ones I've watched. **1/2



Triple H vs Ric Flair : Last Man Standing
Wasn't the IC Title on the line at Taboo Tuesday? Why wasn't it here? Oh yeah I forgot: HHH would never dream of holding a midcard Title. It's a shame as it could have given the Title a bit more prestige. The match is pretty damn brutal, and it's amazing that Flair was having these kind of matches this far into his career. Unbelievable that it took three pedigrees and a sledgehammer shot to put Flair down. Only Undertaker has survived through that. Flair looked like the ultimate underdog here and the crowd got right behind him because of it. Good luck to the match that has to follow this. One hell of a war. ****



Edge comes out to announce the debut of the Cutting Edge on Raw the next night, and makes fun of the Detroit Tigers. Well that riled the crowd up. Kind of a pointless segment, but it was fun so I can't fault it.




John Cena vs Kurt Angle
Daivari is the guest referee in this match for the WWE Title. These two have had dozens of matches together and I think this may have been their last one, so hopefully their chemistry in the ring was at it's peak. They kept trying to make Cena an underdog, but it just seemed to make the fans hate him even more, leading to his 50/50 fan reaction you even hear today. This was a good match, but the referee shenanigans did water it down a bit. Still good though. ***1/4




Eric Bischoff vs Theodore Long
And this show was going so well. Who in the name of hell thought that this was a good idea? Why did it need two referees as well? Boogeyman comes out to attack Bischoff and that gives Long the win. Well at least it's the only bad thing tonight. DUD



Carlito / Chris Masters / Kane / Big Show / Shawn Michaels vs Batista / Randy Orton / JBL / Rey Mysterio / Bobby Lashley
Here's the traditional Survivor Series match for the night, and it's Smackdown vs Raw! There's nothing on the line except bragging rights for the winners, and shame for the losers. Well for one night at least, it'll probably be forgotton about in a couple of weeks time. The commentators were annoying as they argued the entire time, but that didn't stop this from being a great little Survivor Series match. It did start off a bit slow, but it was tons of fun once Lashley had been eliminated. Great stuff here. Team Smackdown leaves with the win. ***3/4


After the match the lights go out, the druids appear with a casket, and here comes the Undertaker to kick the asses of some jobbers and William Regal. Orton escapes as we wait for the Hell in a Cell match to end the feud.



8/10. Well this was a nice surprise! Quite the gem here as I really wasn't expecting this show to be great, but it managed to exceed my expectations by some margin. The only bad thing was the general managers match, but that was pretty short. Everything else was entertaining at the least, including the divas match and even Edge's in-ring promo. The Last Man Standing match and the main event are matches that are definitely worth a watch. Check this one out.

The Scottish View: Armageddon 2004

Armageddon 2004 Review


I first saw this event the day after it aired when I was just ten years old. I loved it because I loved everything WWE related at the time. I see that Raw was quick to drop this PPV after their bad 2003 event, and shove it over to Smackdown. Would they do a better job? Let's find out.




Rob Van Dam & Rey Mysterio vs Kenzo Suzuki & Rene Dupree
The Tag Titles are on the line. Dupree and Suzuki really didn't look like threats to the Titles, mainly because RVD and Mysterio had only just won the titles, so there was no way they were losing to these guys. The match was going well until the heel heat segment that almost sucked the life out of the crowd and myself. It got back on track afterwards. A solid opener that did it's job and fired up the crowd. **3/4


Daniel Puder gives a pretty shitty promo for his match later.


Kurt Angle invites Santa Claus to come out and fight him. Angle calls Tazz one of Santa's elves and I'll admit, it made me laugh. Angle's pissed that his daughter would rather write to Santa rather than spend time with her dad. The bell rang but I'm not rating it. Kurt beat Santa immediately. Santa looked like Domino from the Deuce N' Domino tag team.


Mike Mizanin gives a decent promo. Better than Puder's anyway. They show a video of all seven competitors and I didn't realise that Ryback was one of them.

Teddy Long comes out to tell the fans about the Tough Enough match, but they are pretty much silent, and Teddy looks like he's really struggling out there. Suddenly I really don't feel like watching the rest of the show, but I'll press on.


Daniel Puder vs Mike Mizanin : Dixie Dogfight
This really doesn't deserve to be on PPV and the fact that it's a boxing match makes it worse. I think if you told someone at the time that Mike would become a WWE Champion and a Grand Slam Champion, they would think you were on some strong drugs, but here we are. Puder won this but he wouldn't go onto anything except for a PPV appearance in the Rumble in which he was basically a punching bag. The crowd started booing after the second round. Just awful. Big fat DUD. WWE should be refunding anyone who had to watch this. There was really no point either as the fans still had to vote for who won. This took up WAY too much time.


Hopefully we'll get back to some wrestling.



Charlie Haas & Hardcore Holly vs The Basham Brothers
This is an impromptu match that wasn't even mentioned on the back of the DVD case. Haas would reappear later on in the night as a special ref. Really just a filler match and not a good one at that. It even received the dreaded 'boring' chants from the crowd. Dawn Marie comes out to help Charlie and Miss Jackie comes out to yell at here. This leads to a bad small package to give the Bashams the win. Just bad. 1/4*


Hilarious ad for the 2005 Royal Rumble plays.



John Cena vs Jesus : Street Fight
US Title is on the line. This is the only match I can remember Jesus ever participating in (not a religious joke, I was genuinely talking about Carlito's bodyguard). He's not much of a bodyguard and even got his ass kicked easily by Cena at Survivor Series. This was another ass kicking for Jesus except that this time it was a proper match and for some reason the Title was on the line. Just a very boring match in which Jesus got basically zero offense in and looked like a complete jobber. 1/2*. Afterwards Cena takes out Carlito with his chain.



Four matches in and we've only had one match that was over one star. And we have a divas match next. This isn't looking good.



Miss Jackie vs Dawn Marie
Charlie Haas is the special referee for this one. Jackie and Charlie were engaged and Dawn kept hitting on Charlie, so this match was made. At least I think that's the story. I think it started two months before this show. How does Dawn Marie keep getting put in awful storylines? Anyway another awful match for tonight. DUD. Afterwards Charlie dumps both of them and no one cares.



Good god this show sucks. Luckily Kurt Angle's on next, so hopefully the show is back on track.



Big Show vs Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak & Kurt Angle
Couldn't this just have been a one-on-one match between Show and Angle? No one cares about the other two. This feud had lasted for a couple of months after Angle and company decided to shave Show bald, into the look that we all know today. It's hard to make a handicap match a good match, and this one fell into that same pitfall. It was decent when Show was on offense, but dull when he wasn't and even Angle couldn't make it fun. Show wins with an F5. When did he start using that? Ok match. *1/2



Spike Dudley vs Funaki
Seriously? Funaki was the only challenger for the cruiserweight title? Wasn't Chavo Guerrero a face at this point? The fans weren't into this one with another 'boring' chant. I was hoping that the cruiserweights could somehow have a show-stealing match here, but alas, we have yet another borefest. Funaki actually manages to pin Spike and win the Title. No wonder the Title wasn't considered anything special. *


I'm gonna have to watch Summerslam 2013 after watching this show to remind myself that wrestling is actually good. The main event would need to be Undertaker vs Shawn Michaels from Mania 25 to save the show.



JBL vs Undertaker vs Booker T vs Eddie Guerrero
The WWE Championship is on the line. What made this pretty cool is that JBL had a history with all three of these men throughout 2004. It was pretty unpredictable as it was hard to tell who would win the match. Everyone was sick and tired of JBL as the champ and winning every match unfairly. So how does this match end? Unfairly with JBL still champ. Goddamn it. It didn't help that the finish also continued the boring Taker/Heidenreich feud. This match started off slowly, but got a little better as it went on. It was thanks to Eddie that the match wasn't too dull. Good match to end this horrible night. ***



2/10. Holy hell what a bad show. Easily one of the worst PPVs I've ever watched and maybe the worst. All you have is a solid opener and a good main event, but neither one is worth going out of your way to see. Nothing really changed on this night except the whole Charlie Haas thing. Whoopdy doo. God I need a drink after that. Stay away from this one.

The Scottish View: Armageddon 2003

Armageddon 2003 Review


I've heard that this PPV is pretty awful, so of course, I'm looking forward to it. Let's see how it is.




Lilian Garcia sings the American National Anthem. I'm not sure of the occasion or why they're putting it in the show, but Lilian does a great job as usual.



Oh right Saddam was caught, that makes a lot of sense now. And now for some wrestling. Hopefully.




Booker T vs Mark Henry
I'm not sure why these guys were feuding, but I think it was because Henry pinned Booker a couple of times. Bit of a sore loser then. Unfortunately this is the Henry that hadn't figured out how to be an awesome monster heel yet. Not a bad match here, and it even had a nice nearfall towards the end. The finish did seem a bit out of nowhere though. **



Backstage, Eric Bischoff tells Jericho and Christian to embarrass Lita and Trish.


Co-GM Mick Foley enters the ring and gets a cheap pop. He does a Dr Evil impression and says that the petition to bring back Steve Austin has one million signatures. Way to make the Survivor Series match look pointless. Stacy Kiebler comes out as a sexy cheerleader to brighten up the place. And just when I thought this was all pointless, Randy Orton comes out to further the soon-to-be-awesome feud between himself and Foley. Foley reveals himself as the guest referee and starts the IC Title match.


I've already reviewed this match in my Evolution of a Predator Blu Ray Review, so I'll just re-do it. Here's the original match review:



Randy Orton vs Rob Van Dam
From Armageddon 2003 . Big moment and match for Orton here as this was the contest in which he won his first and only IC Title . Mick Foley was the guest referee for the bout .This was a good match and it made Orton look good as well . Orton hits a sick looking RKO to win the match . ***1/4


(Well this is certainly a historical match thanks to Orton's first Title win that would help him on his way to stardom. He did look very good coming out of the match, and even made the IC Title look prestigious, as you could tell that he was overjoyed to win it. This might have been the first time that Orton used the rope DDT. Orton's sleepers were boring, but apart from that this was a very good match. I'll keep the rating at  ***1/4)




That's enough of the re-doing for this show.



Chris Jericho & Christian vs Trish Stratus & Lita
This was billed as the Battle of the Sexes. This story would have it's culmination at Wrestlemania when (SPOILER ALERT) Trish turned on Jericho. Jericho didn't want to fight, but Christian had no problem fighting the women. Jericho was fine with fighting Lita, just not Trish. The match was good at getting the guys heat from the crowd. This was never gonna be a technical classic, but it was entertaining, especially when the women had the advantage. **1/2




Shawn Michaels vs Batista
This feud started at Survivor Series when Batista cost Shawn the match with a powerbomb. Batista was still green at this point and hadn't had a lot of PPV matches, but if one guy could give him a good match, it would be HBK. HBK has a good record of great matches with big guys. This was quite slow due to Batista's offense, but Shawn made it as good as he could. Solid match. The ref did seem to ignore the fact that Shawn's shoulders were down during the pin. Still, it was a good effort. **3/4



Maven comes out as he was scheduled to face Matt Hardy, but Batista is still in the ring, so they fight outside the ring. Hardy tosses Maven into the ring and Batista takes him out, so the match doesn't take place. I don't think anyone is really disappointed.




Tag Team Turmoil Match
Tag Team Titles are on the line here. For some reason I like these kind of matches. La Resistance and Hurricane & Rosey start the match off. The Frenchmen are eliminated by a big frog splash, and that brings out Jindrak & Cade who sneak attack the Superheroes to get a very quick pin. Val Venis and Lance Storm are out next. Crowd didn't seem to care about either of these teams. Venis eliminated and that brings the Dudleyz out. The 3D takes out Jindrak & Cade, and that brings out Scott Steiner and Test. This match is WAY too long. Team 3D seemingly win, but Bischoff comes out and adds Batista and Flair as a team. Batista hits the powerbomb to win. This match was too long and only decent at best. *3/4



Molly Holly vs Ivory
Womens Title is on the line. I didn't even know that Ivory was still in the WWE at this point. This match was basically just here as filler until we got to the main event. JR and King's commentary during this match was just atrocious. The match wasn't too bad, but it was too short. *1/2



It's time for the main event and hopefully it can save the show.



Goldberg vs Triple H vs Kane
World Heavyweight Title is on the line. I think Kane was just added because the HHH/Goldberg feud was boring, and they had to give him something to do after that silly feud with Shane McMahon that lasted for three or four months. Pretty good triple threat match, and I liked the power-move style of the match. HHH wins to put himself back on top, and to give Evolution every Title on Raw. ***




4/10. Damn this was a pretty dire show. There's nothing truly terrible here, but the only thing going out of your way to see is Orton's first Title win, which you can find on his DVD anyway. Give this one a miss guys.

The Scottish Re-Do: CM Punk - Best in the World

Best in the World DVD Re-Do Review


It's been over a year since I purchased and reviewed this fantastic DVD set. To be honest I'm only really re-doing because I really want to watch it again. Is it as good as I remember? Let's find out.


                                                                                                                                                                 



The documentary was fantastic . It was pretty revealing and even put the higher-ups of the WWE in a bad light which I wasn't expecting since they usually get the final word on everything . It lasts an hour and fifty minutes , and would have loved an extra hour . Hell I would have loved an extra two hours ! The doc. on its own I would give 9.75/10 , but add in the interesting special features from the first disc and it's an easy 10/10 , and easily one of the best features the WWE has ever released . Worth the price of the set just for this one disc . I would easily put this up against the Rise and Fall of ECW DVD set .


(Yeah the documentary is still fantastic and still one of, if not the, best they've ever put together. It's such a rewatchable feature, and you can't really say that about the Rise and Fall of ECW feature since that one runs for three hours. Two hours still feels too short because Punk's story is so interesting and he's just so charismatic. He truly is the Best in the World. Full points from me. 10/10)



I'm pretty sure the matches will make this even better .


(Oh yes they will)



Disc 2 :




CM Punk vs Brent Albright
From an OVW event . This was apparently one of the biggest feuds in OVW history . Punk says he thought he had great chemistry with Brent and loved wrestling him . Punk looks to have injured his leg at one point , but the match continues . Brent wins as Punk passes out from an STF . Overall I'll give it  *** .


(I'm still a bit disappointed that we never got to have any ROH matches on the set, but an OVW match will do fine, especially a good one like this. I should say that I like the sidebars for the non-HD matches, as they don't distract from the matches at all. This was a good indie-style matchup. ***)



CM Punk vs Justin Credible
Here we have Punk's WWE debut , which took place in ECW . The ECW fans welcomed Punk and that helped give us a nice , exciting debut match for Punk . Credible taps to the anaconda vice . **


(Nice to see the ECW TV show before it all went to shit and became just another WWE show. Good little debut for Punk who got a great reception from the ECW crowd. Solid match. **1/4)



CM Punk vs John Morrison
These two had some disappointing matches before this one . This is the match that they finally clicked on . This was Punk's last chance to win the title . I love that WWE kept the action shown , even through commercial breaks . Why not do that with all matches ? Punk wins the ECW Title with a GTS . ***1/2


(Yeah their PPV matches weren't very good and were solid at best, but on this night they were ready to steal the show and show that they had talent. They were finally given enough time to put on a proper match, and they used it very well. I still love that we get to see what happened during the commercial breaks. An awesome TV match that had some nice nearfalls, and the crowd went wild for the finish. ***3/4)





Money In The Bank : Wrestlemania XXIV
One of the best spotfests in WWE . It worked really well for a match that had 2 faces and 5 heels . Loved the sunset flip suplex off the ladder and Shelton falling all the way outside the ring onto another ladder . Brilliant match . Punk wins his first , but not his last , MITB . ****

(Probably one of the better MITB matches in history. At the time I thought having only two faces was bad, but look at the recent MITB match that had nothing but heels! (2013). Anyway this match was awesome all the way through, and just about everyone had something to bring to the match. It was all about the spots, but they were all awesome. The interference of Matt Hardy was very well done too. Punk deserved the big win, and even though the Title run wasn't great, it did bring him a step closer to the top. ****)



CM Punk & Kofi Kingston vs Cody Rhodes & Ted Dibiase
Tag titles on the line . Punk described his partnership with Kofi as a lot of fun . Another match that has action where the breaks are meant to be . Hopefully this is now the norm for DVD sets . Punk wins the tag titles with a GTS to Dibiase . ***


(I really don't remember Kofi and Punk as a team, but they both looked like they were having fun together. These guys were given plenty of time and they gave us a nice tag match out of it. Much better than I remembered. ***1/2)


CM Punk vs William Regal : No DQ Match
Now here you can expect a real stiff match . I suspect it's also going to be a great match . IC Title on the line . A little too short as I was enjoying it , but still a very good match . Punk wins the IC Title with a GTS . ***1/4

(Regal and Punk were good friends backstage, and I think Regal requested this match. Even though they were friends, they still worked a stiff match to entertain the fans. Punk was also in Chicago, so the loud fans made things even better. It was pretty damn short but it was very good and made the IC Title look pretty prestigious. ***1/4)




Disc 3 :



CM Punk vs Jeff Hardy : TLC Match
One of the best feuds of 2009 hits its breaking point with a TLC match . Jeff Hardy's specialty match . Nice to see they got the main event spot . Jeff being dropped onto a set-up chair looked brutal . The superplex on the ladder looked very sick . Jeff's swanton onto the announce table was the holy shit moment of the match . Punk knocks Jeff off the ladder and grabs the title to become the new champ . Incredible . ****1/4


(It's been a while since I've watched this one, so I was looking forward to it. This was probably the best feud of 2009, as the two had a great feud with their polar opposite personalities, and the fact that they had chemistry in the ring. This was the best match of their feud and it was an awesome car crash style match with a good story behind it. I don't know what they were thinking with that superplex on the ladder, but it looked fucking nasty and still makes me flinch. The swanton bomb through the announce table is still an awesome moment. ****1/4)



CM Punk vs Rey Mysterio : Hair vs Pledge
Can these guys actually have a match less than 3 stars ? Brutal when Rey was thrown into that barber chair. Hated when they stopped the match for blood , it just kills all the momentum . But Punk managed to pick it up by going crazy on Rey . Just an awesome match here . ****1/4


(I do love the feud these guys had in 2010, and this is still probably my favourite match of their series. Quite the historical match as well, since it led to the haircut that Punk still has today. I know that the blood stoppage did stop the momentum a bit, but they definitely picked it back up with an awesome back and forth contest. Still  ****1/4 to me)



John Cena vs CM Punk
What can i say about this match that hasn't already been said ? The best example of a modern day WWE classic . The crowd was absolutely electric for the match and that made it much better . Just half an hour of great wrestling and breathtaking action , with a finish that no one saw coming . I think about 95% of fans thought that Cena would leave with the title or a MITB winner would leave , but no , CM Punk left as WWE champion . A classic in every sense of the word . *****


(Oh yeah as if the rating on this match is gonna change. Not much else to say, it's still one of the greatest matches of all time and one of the best of the modern era. Punk and Cena's best match ever in my opinion. *****)

CM Punk vs Chris Jericho

The match started off a bit slow but Jericho's heel antics trying to get disqualified were awesome and kept it going . Great finishing sequence where no one knew what was going to happen . This gets better with every viewing . Punk retains with the anaconda vice . A modern Wrestlemania classic . ****

(I always seem to change my mind on the rating for this one. Hopefully this time it'll stick. They had to deal with a crowd that was saving their energy for Cena/Rock, but they worked through it well and managed to get the crowd fired up. They even worked through the restricting DQ Title change stipulation. Jericho trying to get Punk to DQ himself was pretty cool. Just great action throughout, including a painful-looking suplex to the floor. Awesome stuff. Probably the best match between these two. I'll increase the rating to  ****1/2)


CM Punk vs Daniel Bryan
The match we'd all been waiting for . This was just amazing , with both these guys putting on a great performance . Apparently the match lasted for 25 minutes but for me it felt like 15 as the match just whizzed by . This is what we want WWE ! After a spectacular showing , Punk is able to roll Bryan up for a three count . ****1/2


(This is another match I haven't watched for quite a while, but I'm really looking forward to experiencing this one again. Such a great way to end this phenomenal DVD set. At the time, I was disappointed that Bryan didn't win the title, but now that he won it at Summerslam I can love this match even more. Bryan looked great in this match, and looked like Punk's equal, and even managed to make him tap out at the end of the match. Pardon my French, but this match fucking ruled. Even better than I remember, and I remember it being amazing! This is a WRESTLING match. It really reminded me of the Bret/Owen Mania match with both men trying to one-up the other. An absolute classic that would be the best of 2012 if not for HHH/Taker. *****)




9.5/10 . Absolutely fantastic set . One of the best ever . You get easily of the best wrestling documentaries and every match on the set felt like it should have been there . Not to mention the amount of classics here . Buy this as quickly as possible !



(10/10. Aside from no ROH matches, I can find no fault with this set. Even the cover is fantastic! Still the amazing set I remember, and I even increased a lot of the match ratings. One of the best documentaries ever, filled with some of the greatest matches ever. If you still don't have this one I would totally recommend it. An astounding set)

The Scottish View: No Mercy 2003

No Mercy 2003 Review



Sorry it's taken me a while to do another review of an older show, I've just been working on other things at the same time such as a three re-dos (History of the WWE Title, CM Punk DVD, Brock Blu Ray) and the History of the World Title DVD. For those who would like to know, the next PPV I plan to review will be Armageddon 2003. For now here's No Mercy 2003.


This is an event that I've never watched before, except for the McMahon family soap opera match, so I'm looking forward to seeing some matches I've never watched before. After their first amazing PPV, would Smackdown be able to replicate another one? Let's find out.



Rey Mysterio vs Tajiri
The Cruiserwight Title is on the line. This is how you start off a show, with some high-flying cruiserweight action. This one might put some people off though, as it was slower paced compared to most cruiserweight matches, but that doesn't make it boring as there's some nice arm work by Tajiri, and Mysterio brought the high-flying action. The pace definitely picked up towards the end with some nice nearfalls and innovative moves. Great opener. ***1/2



A-Train vs Chris Benoit
I know that these two had a ton of matches in 2003, probably because Benoit was the only guy that could give him a good match. The match was pretty boring when A-Train was on offense, but it got rolling once Benoit was on the attack. Benoit took a nasty head bump right onto a steel chair. Damn that looked painful. A-Train taps to the sharpshooter to end the match. Pretty good stuff here. **3/4




Matt Hardy vs Zach Gowen
This would be Zach's last PPV match in the WWE. After Zach's feud with Vince McMahon, they really didn't have anything for him and this was proof of it. This match is taking place because Zach wants a win. Zach didn't get much of a reaction from the crowd during his entrance. It was a pretty entertaining match while it lasted though, and gave Zach his first win. **



Backstage Vince makes the rule that Stephanie can with the I Quit match by pinfall and submission, while Vince can only win by submission. And it's also No Holds Barred.



The APA vs The Bashams
The Bashams challenged the APA to this match on Sunday Night Heat. The Basham's got no reaction at all during their entrance. This was obviously just a filler match but it was actually quite fun while it lasted, which I wasn't expecting. Shaniqua interferes to give the Bashams the win. **1/4


Next up it's McMahon time! The only one you won't see is Shane who was on Raw taking on Kane.



Vince McMahon vs Stephanie McMahon : I Quit
I think this might be the only mixed gender I Quit match in history. I don't think it's technically an I Quit match though since Stephanie can pin Vince. Vince was sick of Stephanie as the general manager of Smackdown, and so wanted to get rid of her like any normal boss would do. Try and beat her to death. Apparently this was 6 days before Stephanie's wedding, so they had to be extra careful here. I have to admit, the nearfalls were very well done. Unexpectedly good match here. Linda throws in the towel for Stephanie to give Vince the win. **1/4



John Cena vs Kurt Angle
This was just before Cena would turn face and his career would skyrocket to the top. This match was based on respect and some funny rap battles between the two. Cena got quite a face reaction here. Cena still seemed a little inexperienced here, but Angle still managed to pull a great match out of him, and made him look good in the process. It looked like Angle hurt his neck on that powerbomb in the corner. Angle kicked out of the FU, and barely anyone gets to do that now. Great match here and the best match of the night so far. ***3/4




Eddie Guerrero vs Big Show
US Title on the line. Show wasn't having very good matches at this time, but if anyone could get one out of him, it would be Eddie. I don't get the point of Show winning the Title since he would defend it about three times between this PPV and Wrestlemania XX. He's like a very long transitional champ. Show got most of the offense here and it was pretty dull. When Eddie was on offense it was entertaining. He used his Lie, Cheat and Steal mentality to make it fun. Solid match overall I'd say. **1/4



Brock Lesnar vs Undertaker: Biker Chain Match
WWE Championship on the line. I'm pretty sure the show would have a lower buyrate if the words 'on a pole' were added to the match gimmick, even if that's essentially what is it. I'm a fan of the matches these guys had in 2002, so I was looking forward to this. Cole says it's ironic that Stephanie made this match and this led to her match. In what way is that ironic? Sadly I was disappointed by this match, thanks to the gimmick of it and because of the run-ins from the FBI and Vince McMahon to set up the Buried Alive match at Survivor Series. The action was pretty boring at times too. The piledriver on the steps was pretty cool though. Decent match. **1/2



5/10. This was nowhere near as good as Vengeance was. Just not a very good show here, as their was nothing terrible, but there was nothing worth watching outside of the opener and the Cena/Angle match. The I Quit match might be worth a watch, but it wasn't spectacular.

The Scottish View: Raw 25/11/13

Monday Night Raw Review: 25/11/13 or 11/25/13



Here we are the night after Survivor Series.


According to Cole this is episode 1070. Raw takes place in Long Island, so hopefully we'll see Zack Ryder at some point.



WWE Champion Randy Orton makes his entrance. He wants an apology from the cynics. Here comes the McMahon-Helmsley regime to tell Orton that their proud of his victory. Orton's pissed off that his win was tainted because of them. Huge Daniel Bryan chant starts. Orton says that no one can take away his title, and that brings out Cena. Cena says that everyone is sick of the Authority. True. Cena thinks there should be only one champ. Hopefully we'll have unified Titles. Cena challenges Orton with both Titles on the line. HHH makes the match for TLC in a Tables Ladders and Chairs match. I'm looking forward to that one.



Rey Mysterio & The Rhodes Brothers vs The Shield
Before the match we're shown pictures of Roman Reigns amazing performance at Survivor Series. With the amazing quality of WWE's tag matches at the moment, this one should be good. Rey was great in this match, and took away my fears that he was close to retirement. I really wish this had been longer because it was so much fun while it was going. Roman Reigns looked like a beast once again. Ambrose hits his finisher for the win. **3/4



Michael Strahan is here next. I don't watch American Football so I don't know who he is.



MizTV is here for an interview with Michael Strahan. After Miz's heel turn I'm actually looking forward to this for once. Strahan comes out, but it's not him, it's Titus O' Neill dressed like him. They both make fun of Strahan for a little bit. I've missed this Miz. The real Strahan appears. He makes the main event of Orton and Del Rio taking on Cena and Big Show. Strahan wants to take a hip toss, but Miz is too weak and so is Titus. Strahan gives Miz and Titus a hip toss. This was a very long segment, plus I'm pretty sure that Strahan broke kayfabe and called wrestling 'pretend'.



Curtis Axel & Ryback vs Big E Langston & Mark Henry
Henry and Langston would make an awesome tag team combination. Ryback has a shiner on his left eye. Must have been from the PPV match. Ryback managed to press slam Langston, and it did impress me. Short match to show the domination of Langston and Henry. *



Up next we have a rematch of the traditional Survivor Series divas tag match. I'd rather have the other traditional match.



Total Divas 'Stars' vs Total Divas Rejects
Straight away the crowd has started to chant for JBL. This was just the same as the divas match at Survivor Series, with the quick elimiantions and the crowd not caring. Tamina looked pretty good though. Natalya and Tamina will never be able to find their own identities if the announcers won't stop mentioning their fathers. AJ Lee got the biggest crowd reaction. Summer Rae got a good reaction too. *




Damien Sandow vs Dolph Ziggler: Hardcore Match
This is the WWE App match for the evening. The other choices were Street Fight or a Lumberjack match. I'm happy with the Hardcore match. There are some strange weapons in the ring like tennis balls and racquets. Even some golf clubs. Dolph is wearing a Zack Ryder shirt and I love him for it. It inspires a 'We want Ryder' chants. This wasn't as good as the Broadway Brawl, but it was still very entertaining. Sandow gets the win with a full nelson slam on a trash can. **3/4



Erick Rowan appears backstage to give Strahan a goat mask. Ok then.



CM Punk and Daniel Bryan are interviewed in the ring by Renee Young. Punk asks a bunch of questions and Bryan answers Yes! almost everytime. Punk also questions HHH's creativity. Nice intensity from both Punk and Bryan. Here come the Wyatts to start the match.



CM Punk & Daniel Bryan vs The Wyatt Family
The tag match from Survivor Series was awesome, so hopefully the addition of Bray Wyatt will only make it better. This one was going greatly until the match ended because the ref lost control. Good match and I'd love to see more between both teams in the future, especially if Bryan is as fired up as he was tonight. ***



After the match the Wyatts carry Bryan out of the arena. Punk goes to make the save but takes a spear from Roman Reigns. Do the Shield and the Wyatts have an alliance? Or was HHH pissed off at Punk's comments? I guess we'll find out soon. This was some awesome stuff though.



Kofi Kingston vs The Miz
This a rematch of the Survivor Series pre-show match that I didn't see because my connection sucked. I'm still just so glad that Miz is no longer a face. All I need now is R-Truth to go crazy heel again and I'm good. The crowd wasn't really into this, but it was ok, even if it was paced quite slowly. Miz gets a lucky pin for the win. *



I don't like it when WWE shows their merchandise table with superstars trying to shill products, but it was worth it this time to see Mick Foley, Dude Love and Mankind! Too bad Cactus Jack wasn't around.

Jerry Lawler interviews a benefit auction winner who calls himself the Kosher Butcher, who says that his finisher would be called the 'Circumcision'. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything because that caught me off guard and I couldn't stop laughing.



Xavier Woods vs Heath Slater
For some reason Xavier used Brodus Clay's music and the Funkadactyls for his entrance. Is there a rule that every debut has to feature a member of 3MB? The crowd chants for the Kosher Butcher. Just a squash for Woods here. 1/2*


Backstage the Divas meet Strahan and Goldust snorts at him. Goldust was the most interesting person here.



Randy Orton & Alberto Del Rio vs John Cena & The Big Show
Does this count as a rematch from Survivor Series? I like to think it does. Big Show is still pissed off about his loss against Orton. This was just an average tag match here, with Cena and Orton rightfully not interacting too much to build up their match. The crowd (and myself) wants Ryder, but we're not getting him. Decent match. **


Orton attacks Cena afterwards and holds up both belts.




Not a good show tonight, as there wasn't anything memorable outside of the TLC match announcement and the stuff with the 2 on 3 handicap match. A weak show indeed.

The Scottish View: Survivor Series 2013

Survivor Series 2013 Review


WWE haven't had a stand-out PPV since the amazing Summerslam PPV of August. Would this big four show get it right? Let's find out.


The Usos / Rhodes Brothers / Rey Mysterio vs The Shield & The Real Americans
After all the amazing tag matches we've seen over the past couple of months, I was expecting this one to be great, and I'd say it delivered. I love these elimination matches, as they are usually tons of fun, and this one was no exception. It was never really boring, and the eliminations weren't too quick or slow either. It also managed to make a star with it's sole survivor Roman Reigns. I can see a bright future for him. Seth Rollins and Antonio Cesaro also stood out as two very talented performers. Mysterio didn't look to have any ring rust and hit every move nicely. Overall a great match and maybe the best of the night. ***3/4



Big E Langston vs Curtis Axel
I didn't really have any high hopes for this one, as their Raw match wasn't great and it was pretty obvious as to who the victor would be. The match was actually quite solid, even if the crowd didn't care about it, although this crowd was pretty shitty tonight. The bout was only slightly better than the Raw match, but it wasn't bad. **



Total Divas 'Stars' vs Total Divas Rejects
I wish the WWE would stop trying to get the Total Divas over. No one gives a shit, and the only person on their team that got a reaction from the crowd was Jojo, who was destroyed by the daughter of Jimmy Snuka anyway. The match was just basically a 'finisher' fest with a member of each team being eliminated in turns, and Natalya came out as the winner even though Nikki Bella was never eliminated (pretty big fuck-up from the commentators). *



Ryback vs Mark Henry
Henry finally makes his return here in this Wrestlemania rematch. I was petrified that Khali would answer Ryback's challenge, but thankfully we got Sexual Chocolate. I enjoyed this match a bit more than their Mania match, even if it was still pretty slow. I'm just happy that Henry's back. *3/4



John Cena vs Alberto Del Rio
This was another match I wasn't particualry psyched for, as I was pretty certain that Cena was gonna win. To be honest you could just look at what I said about their Hell in a Cell match, as it was pretty much the same match again with the same finish. A good match even if a tad predictable and quite unspectacular. ***1/4



CM Punk & Daniel Bryan vs The Wyatt Family
I had the privilage of seeing this match live earlier this month, but this was so much better. Punk and Bryan were their usual great selves here, but Luke Harper impressed, and Rowan managed to hold his own as well. I'm surprised that this seemed to be the definitive ending of the feud with Punk winning clean, as I thought they might have continued the feud. All in all a great match that is tied with the opener for Match of the Night. ***3/4



Randy Orton vs Big Show
A lot of people weren't looking forward to this match when it was announced, but I wanted to give it a chance. It's now safe to say that I was wrong and that this was pretty damn bad. I didn't think the match would be great, but I wasn't expecting what would have even been a bad TV match. Neither guy seemed to care about the match and there were some pretty sloppy moments too. A bad main event to the show, no doubt about that. *


John Cena comes out to show Orton his belt. Oh great this feud again.



5.5/10. This was a pretty bland show, but it might be the best one since Summerslam so it's got that going for it. You should definitely check out the opening elimination match and the Punk & Bryan tag match, but there's really nothing else besides Mark Henry's return and the World Title match that is just the same as their last match.