REVIEW: WCW SuperBrawl IX (1999)

Usually this is Adorable Adrian Adonis’ gimmick, but I’m gonna take it over for a moment.

FEBRUARY 21, 1999

It was a period of decline in WCW. The year prior, WWF had broken WCW’s 83-weeks win streak in the ratings, and WCW seemed to continually shoot itself in the foot trying to regain supremacy. This show follows Kevin Nash supposedly taking over creative and booking himself to the moon, specifically by ending Goldberg’s streak, and the infamous Fingerpoke of Doom™. This is one of the final shows between the Fingerpoke™ and Vince Russo’s arrival in September, so it’s one of the final shows that has at least some semblance of coherence in its storylines.

Ric Flair defeated Eric Bischoff at Starrcade ’98 to become president of WCW. At that same show, in probably still the most hotly debated angle of all-time, Kevin Nash defeated Goldberg with the help of Scott Hall and his taser to end Goldberg’s (supposed) 173-match winning streak. Nash remained nonplussed about this situation and claimed Hall was acting on his own. He gave Goldberg a rematch eight days after Starrcade. However, the night the match was supposed to take place on Nitro, Goldberg was arrested after Miss Elizabeth accused him of “aggravated stalking.” She eventually admitted to lying, but Goldberg was unable to make it back from the police station in time for the match (despite the station being across the street from the Georgia Dome). Hulk Hogan, who had announced his retirement a month earlier to focus on his supposed presidential candidacy, arrived to take Goldberg’s place. Hogan came out with Scott Steiner and Nash came out with Scott Hall. After circling each other for a bit, Nash pushed Hogan, then Hogan lightly poked Nash in the chest. Nash’s reaction has been compared to “getting hit in the chest with a cannonball” as he fell on his back and allowed Hogan to pin him, signifying the reunion of the nWo Hollywood and Wolfpac factions. President Ric Flair was beside himself, and announced himself and the #1 contender for the WCW title, which brings us to SuperBrawl IX.

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NXT Review, 6/13

WAR RAIDERS VS. RICKY MARTINEZ & JUSTIN STORM

Understatement by Nigel when he says it’s gonna be a “tough night” for Martinez and Storm. Tag team squashes are even more uncomfortable because there’s double the pain and punishment, which a friend told me some guys will pay extra for. I love Rowe dragging Storm over to his own corner so Martinez could tag himself in. Their guillotine neckbreaker finisher looks like it could kill someone. I enjoy that even though they don’t really have a spot in the tag team division yet they still get featured each week, even in a squash. They challenge The Mighty/TM61/Whatever the Aussies call themselves now, and holy shit I thought they were gonna break Storm’s neck with that toss and spear/slam. Hopefully this is the start of their ascent to the top of the division.

Match Rating: Six Gold Medals

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205 Live Review, 6/12

They show a replay of Hideo Itami interfering in the Buddy Murphy vs. Mustafa Ali main event from last week, and Drake Maverick annoucnes that Itami will not be allowed to compete on tonight’s show. A week removed from Itami’s interference last week, I’ve really come to appreciate what 205 Live has morphed into now. I’ve always enjoyed this show from the very beginning and have never missed an episode, but I can see where it turned people away during the time period when you have the Cedric Alexander-Noam Dar-Alicia Fawwwwwwwwwwwx love triangle, weekly PowerPoint presentations, and a champion whose best in-ring skill was berating the rest of the cruiserweight division. Continue reading “205 Live Review, 6/12” →

SmackDown Review 6/12

OPENING SEGMENT: MONEY IN THE BANK SUMMIT (?)

Lana’s accent is gone tonight, so I’m sure it’ll be back next week. At least all the MITB competitors aren’t perched on ladders like on Raw. God damn that was stupid. Interestingly, three of the four SmackDown female MITB competitors are faces, and you could even argue that Lana is a face as well with the cheers she gets now. The Iconics come out, pretty much ensuring there’s going to be an eight-woman tag team match tonight, the four in the ring vs. The Iconics, Sonya DeVille, and Mandy Rose. The Iconics do their awful impressions to garner some heat. And on cue, here come DeVille and Rose. Just call me Teddy Long playa. Looks like Lana IS a face, at least tonight. It’s sad to admit that the best mic work of this whole segment came from Billie and Peyton.

Segment Rating: Four This Is Your Lifes

this is your life.jpg

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Vote on the next Gorilla Fighters

Raw Review 6/11

OPENING SEGMENT

It looks dumb to have all of the Raw MITB participants on ladders in the ring. Yes, we get it, there’s going to be ladder matches. Having ladders strewn about the Raw and SmackDown stages for the past month and a half is enough to get the point across. Kurt calls it the most grueling match in WWE history. I guess they forgot about TLC, Hell in a Cell, Elimination Chamber, Punjabi Prison, Iron Man matches, Street Fights, Boiler Room Brawls, etc. Baron shaved his head. Weird. This is really obnoxious having all the wrestlers give promos on ladders. Really, this was terrible and accomplished absolutely nothing.

Segment Rating: Eight Katie Vicks

katie vick

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RETURN RUMOR (UPDATE: It’s not happening) (UPDATE: It might be happening!)

ellsworth

There’s reports that James Ellworth will return at Money in the Bank and interfere in the Asuka vs. Carmella championship match. That could be a way to give Asuka the win while keeping the title on Carmella, which would make sense. One has to wonder if he’d also interfere in the women’s ladder match for the second year in a row. I can’t see that happening again, but anything can happen. I’m happy about this, I’ve really felt like there’s been a chinless turtle-sized hole in the roster.

UPDATED 6/12:

Ellsworth will be in China on Sunday. That’s upsetting.

UPDATED 6/14:

Ellsworth has cancelled his China trip. CHINLESS TURTLE SIGHTING!

NXT Review, 6/6

OPENING SEGMENT: SHAYNA BASZLER & NIKKI CROSS

Shayna threatens Nikki Cross. Nikki comes out. I get wet. Shayna threatens her again and bounces the microphone off her tits. Then it gets PHYSICAL. OH HELL YEAH! Nikki stomps a mudhole in Shayna. MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE. I’ve wanted this feud so badly. I can’t wait to see the match in Chicago.

Segment Rating: Seven Gold Medals

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205 Live Review, 6/5

LINCE DORADO W/ LUCHA HOUSE PARTY VS. THE BRIAN KENDRICK W/DREW GULAK ON COMMENTARY

This is a really good back-and-forth match with the pace changing depending which wrestler is in control. I’ve really enjoyed how each week Gulak, Kendrick, and Gallagher have wrestled with the members of Lucha House Party because of the way the styles mesh, the submission and striking specialist heels vs. the quick high-flying faces. It’s a lot of the same type of match each week, but it’s really enjoyable and I’m glad they keep doing it for now. I’m sure it’ll run its course eventually but at the moment it’s a formula that works. I though Lince Dorado jumped too far on his suicide dive and was gonna break his neck on the announce table. Gulak and the other members of Lucha House Party start to jaw at each other before Dorado hits a kind of springboard stunner for the win. Gulak attacks all the luchadors, and stomps “Lindsey Dorito” following his win.

Match Rating: Six Gold Medals

TJP VS. BRIAN KEITH

They keep matching TJP up with jobbers to get him more frustrated with his lack of opportunities. It’s a smart tactic to get him angrier and get him more and more heat for humiliating local wrestlers. This time he impressively does it while cutting a promo, and continues to threaten to go to NXT, Raw, or SmackDown if he doesn’t get better opportunities. TJP got his message across effectively and the squash match and promo succeeded in progressing his story.

Match/Promo Rating: Seven Gold Medals

Holy shit, Lio Rush is coming to 205 Live! I hadn’t seen him wrestle before NXT, and when I did see him wrestle I was blown away. I love this.

It’s announced that Lucha House Party will take on Gulak, Gallagher, and Kendrick next week. Bring it on.

MUSTAFA ALI VS. BUDDY MURPHY

The early part of the match stresses Murphy’s strength, the announcers play it up and Murphy no-sells Ali’s chops. Ali recovers from Murphy’s attacks and his a really cool-looking corkscrew suicide dive. He’s ridiculously athletic and exciting. Murphy innovates some kind of rib-breaker from the top rope where he falls to the mat and and Ali bounces off the top rope. I’m certain I’ve never seen it before. As he did in their last match, Murphy smartly continues to attack the ribs and slow Ali down. I thought Murphy broke his damn neck when Ali hit that revere hurracanrana. God damn. That couldn’t have been the right way to land. Ali hits a few kicks. You guys know I love my kicks. Ali hits a springboard crossbody splash with Murphy elevated off the mat, that looked fucking awesome. Ali then gets in a striking contest with Murphy, of which he surprisingly comes out on the better end. These guys are so damn quick. Murphy hit a pop-up knee to the jaw as these guys continue to kick, knee, punch, and elbow each other in the face. Ali then hits an X-Factor on the ring apron. I’m seeing lots of stuff tonight that I haven’t seen before. Murphy is hitting moves that… I don’t even know what they are, but they look awesome. Then HOLY SHIT, with Murphy on the floor, Ali jumped from the top rope and hit a DDT. Then HIDEO ITAMI interferes, likely thrusting himself into the main event picture, and taking out both guys. I love this. This match was incredible, and now Itami is finally going to be high up on the card. I expect him to be the next Cruiserweight Champion.

Match Rating: Ten Gold Medals

Overall Show Rating: Nine Gold Medals

SmackDown Review, 6/5

Sorry this is later than usual, I had important sleep and baseball to attend to, so hopefully the Hulu version doesn’t leave out anything significant.

OPENING SEGMENT

Carmella had one of the best promos I can remember in a long time. It felt very Attitude Era-like in the style and presentation. Asuka should have started choking out Carmella immediately. I dig that Asuka is gonna take on Mandy Rose and Sonya DeVille. I can’t get over how tremendous Carmella is as a heel. She’s so over, she’s great as champion, and she has some of the best promos in the business.

Segment rating: Eight This Is Your Lifes

this is your life.jpg

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