Thursday, August 6, 2026

Juggalo Championship Wrestling 8/6/2026 JCW Lunacy Episode 94

Juggalo Championship Wrestling 8/6/2026 JCW Lunacy Episode 94

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/juggalo-championship-wrestling-7302026.html

Mark Roberts, Joe Dombrowski and Veda Scott are on commentary.  

Caleb Koley and Vince Russo talk in the parking lot. Vince says he looks like $10 million dollars. Big Al walks in. She says she barred HoKane from the building tonight so there's no interference from her. Russo says she also made it so Kerry Morton could get a title shot when he wasn't around. Russo says Al's JCW Women's Title match is cancelled and she will have to qualify for a shot. Russo says she will never get one over on her. 

Big Al then gets attacked from behind by Rae Larson and Rae says welcome to "The Relentless One". Russo then tells her that's her opponent.

Mr. Anderson comes out. Someone says "@sshole" and he says, "Yes, I am". He says a lot has happened since he was last here in JCW. He says someone stole his JCW Title right under his nose. He says he was told to go home and chill out because he asked for more money. He says he's happy monetarily and because he was told the first person he faces will be the one who took his title out. He then asks for CoKane to come out. CoKane comes out.

They stare down. Anderson says let's get a ref out right now.

Mr. Anderson vs CoKane

Anderson boots him and punches him in the corner. Kane's head is banged off the buckles. Kane no sells it and then bangs his own head off the buckles. Kane hits some punches. Kane corner lariats him and bangs Anderson's head off the buckles.

Anderson trips him then catapults his throat into the bottom rope. Anderson chinlocks him. Kane hits elbows to the gut. They fight on the buckles and Anderson goes down. Kane top rope diving lariats him. Kane pinning backdrops him for 2.

Anderson pushes the ref and Kane is crotched on the top rope. Anderson goes for a green bay plunge and Kane blocks it. Kane knocks him off the buckles and top rope swantons him for 2. Kane pours cocaine on himself. Anderson then low blows him and gets DQ'd.

Thoughts: It was a lame ending to an otherwise acceptable match. To his credit, Anderson did not look like he was going to win, so it is better to get DQ'd, but a finish would have been nice. It was a bit of a slower match but they were able to work together alright enough. 

Anderson stomps CoKane after. "Cowboy" James Storm then comes out. Storm hits punches on Anderson and Anderson slides out. Storm says Anderson forgot about him. He says Anderson injured him when they last fought and put him in a wheelchair for a month. Storm says he will wear his @ss out when they fight.

Barnabas The Bizzare does a video. He says he hasn't seen The Outbreak in a weak. He then knocks Mac Davis' papers out of his hand. He asks where The Outbreak are. They argue about Dani Mo being banned from the building. He says if Dani wants to play these games, then it's game on.

The Brothers of Funstruction and The JWO play with a rubber chicken. The Bros are in JWO colors. The Luciano Family walk in. Vito says he has come in peace and says him and Violent J need to have a talk. Vito talks about the Goregames match they were challenged to. Vito says he came to say he accepts the challenge. Vito says when they win, one of Violent J's guys comes to work for his crew. Violent J agrees. He says when the JWO wins, one of Vito's crew works for the JWO for a month. Vito goes to shake his hand and J gives him the finger. They all then argue. Vito says he will see them real soon and calls them pieces of sh!t.

The hosts talk and run down today's line-up.

Father Bronson talks before his match. He asks who came to get some Red Love? He says he wasn't always our leader and the American champ of the world. He says he was once an orphan without any guidance on how the world works. He says the fans are still figuring it out. He says Red Love found him when he was most vulnerable and freed his soul. 

Kerry Morton vs Father Bronson

They lock up and Bron side headlocks him. Bron takes him over and KM headscissors him. Bron hammerlocks him then snapmares him. KM rolls him up for 2. Bron shoulders him over. KM hiptosses him and armdrags him into an armlock.

KM goes up and over and armdrags him into an armlock. Bron misses a corner charge and throws KM out. KM is sent knee first into the steps. Bron lifts him up by the arm and armdrags him. Bron hammerlocks him. 

KM misses a corner charge. Bron top wristlocks him and misses a stomp on the arm. KM rolls him up for 2. KM hits punches. KM dropkicks him. KM flying back elbows him twice. KM misses a flying pumping knee. Bron codebreakers the arm. Josh Bishop then comes out with Joel Gertner. KM pushes Bron into Josh, Josh nails Bron and this one is ruled a no contest.

Thoughts: Bron targeted the arm a little here which was nice. We didn't get a real finish here and I'd say it was average overall. That's two matches in a row with no clean finishes.

Josh pounds on Bron. Kerry turns Josh around but backs off. Josh hits a razor's edge on Bron. Kerry flying pumping knees Bron in the corner and counts his own pin on him.

Vince Russo says he can't stand Kerry Morton. He says Kerry always gets one up on him. Big Vito comes in. Vito says to let him deal with it and it's done. Vito says he does stupid sh!t like write books. Russo says that's how he makes money. Vito tells him to keep writing as Russo writes books and he throws them at people. Vito asks Russo to lend him Krule for GoreGames. Russo says he likes it as Krule is a ratings draw. Vito says he needs a favor and says to get the camera out of his face.

We see Dani Mo arrive with The Outbreak.

Mac Davis interviews Joel Gertner and Josh Bishop. Mac says Joel has gone through his sisters closet. Joel says he's big money and so is Josh. Joel says Russo tried to buy Josh months ago. Joel says you either sell or get sold and says they swerved Russo. Joel says Russo isn't a buyer but a seller and he sells BS. Joel says Josh never forgets. Josh says he remembers receipts. Joel says Father Bronson deserved the beatdown weeks ago. 

Krul then comes in and jumps Josh from behind. Josh is thrown into the wall and goes down. Krule yells "receipt".

#1 Contenders Match - Rae Larson vs "Big Al" Alice Crowley

The winner of this gets their title shot at Bloodymania.

Al ducks a shot and hits forearms. Al armdrags her twice. Al hits forearms. Al kicks her in the knee and running headkicks her for 1. Rae pulls her down over the 2nd rope. Rae clubs on her and chokes her on the ropes. 

Rae chops her and Al chops back. Rae hits forearms and bangs Al's head off the buckles. Rae snapmares her and sliding lariats her for 1. Rae sleepers her. Rae hits 2 suplexes and double throat thrusts her. Al boots her out of the corner and lariats her down twice. Al pump kicks her down.

Al backdrops Rae and pulls her neck into the ropes. Al lariats her from behind for 2. Rae double underhook suplexes her for 2. Al running lariats her down and pins her.

Thoughts: It was about average but it wasn't that bad. Rae did alright enough. Al's lariat at the end looked good here and she mostly just stuck to strikes.

Jasmine St. Claire walks in with Donovan Dijak.

Mac Davis interviews Jasmine St. Claire and Donovan Dijak. Jas says all Violent J did was mock her. She says she found the biggest and baddest guy. She says Dijak is the stepdaddy to her child. Dijak says he makes everyone who faces him his son. He says he knows stuff other want to know. He says he will make sure others in JCW respect this woman and bow down to him.

The JWO and The Brothers of Funstruction talk in the back. Violent J says he has an important announcement for Goregames and Bloodymania. He says he will not be on a team that night as he feels like he's lowering their chances of success. J says an extremely talented gentleman will take their place and says they might find out by tonight if the cards fall into place.

Dani Mo tells The Outbreak to stay there outside and not to come inside. Dani walks in and runs into Barnabas. Barn says the saddest day of his life was when Dani's mom died while giving birth. He says it should have been Dani. Dani slap him and Barn backhands her down. He then throws her into the door and clubs on her. Barn says he made and he created her.

He says she deserved this for 25 years and knees her in the face. He says he waited 25 years. He hits punches on her. He says he knows his wife who died is looking down and smiling as Dani deserved this and should be dead. The Outbreak walk in and check on Dani. 

Barn grabs The Outbreak by the hair and asks if they forgot who he is. He says he made them and is their master. He says they will obey or he will make their existence more of a nightmare.

The Lucian Family come out. Vincenzo is back with Vito and Sally. Vito says he comes out here week after week. He says he talks about the family business. He says Italian's have loyalty and respect. He says they have a problem they will take care of tonight. He says there some things Sally has to learn and they will teach him about the family business tonight. He says if you don't follow the rules, you have nothing. 

He talks about people who broke the rules. He says Sally spoke out of turn and he had to go to Italy because of it. He says he got him a pass and says Sally would have gotten shot if he didn't do that. He says it didn't sit well with him that Sally wants to run the business. He says he runs business over 52 states and overseas. He says his problem becomes Sally's problem tonight. He then kisses him and tells Vince Russo to "send them out". Krule then comes out.

Sally hits shots on Krule. Krule chokeslams him. Krule then hits another chokeslam. Krule back elbows him down. Vito tells Krule to do more. Krule clubs on Sally's chest. Krule then hits another chokeslam and then chokeslams him from behind. Vincenzo then walks Sally to the back.

We see someone arrive in a car, but don't see who comes out of it.

Blast from the Past


The Iron Sheik vs Izzy High is this week's match. Sheik won as expected and submitted him with the camel clutch.

Caleb Konley vs Jeeves

Vince Russo is on commentary for this. Krule is at ringside.

Cal shoves Jeeves and slaps him. Jeeves hits shots to the gut. Cal double foot presses him down in the corner. Cal chops Jeeves down and sends him chest first into the buckles. Jeeves brainbusters him for 2. Jeeves spits at him. 

Jeeves lariats him down twice. Cal throws him off of a tornado ddt attempt. Cal backhands him. Cal burning hammers him three times in a row. Josh Bishop comes out and fights with Krule. EC3 gets in the ring and stunners Cal. EC3 then puts Jeeves on Cal for a close 2. EC3 then looks at Russo and headlock drivers Cal. Cal wins via DQ.

Thoughts: Oh wow, another non-clean finish. I liked the story of Jeeves being up against the wall here and almost pulling off the upset against Caleb. I think they could have milked it a bit more bu the nearfall was nice. It was a one-sided match though.

EC3 holds up Jeeves. The JWO and The Brothers of Funstruction come out. They present EC3 with a JWO jersey. EC3 puts on the shirt and he'll be the 5th man in Goregames. Russo complains and leaves. The JWO then celebrate to close the show.

Overall thoughts: It was the usual JCW show. We had 4 matches and only one of them had a pinfall/submission finishes. It wasn't a bad ep though. JCW's weaknesses were in-ring action, so they've cut some of the matches and brought in some better talent. That has fixed that issue a bit. Meanwhile, they are still focusing on the longer term storylines and keeping the people who make those work more active on the show. Anderson/CoKane was acceptable. Morton/Bronson was average as was the women's match. The main event was one-sided, but there was a reason for it. The end of the show with EC3 being revealed as the last JWO member for Goregames was kind of fun. They also have some okay stories going with Vito/Sally, Russo and Caleb vs Kerry and Dani Mo vs Barnabas. There's nothing you have to see here but the show was fine overall. I'd give it a 6 out of 10 as the non-wrestling stuff made up for some of the in-ring stuff and the in-ring work has gotten a little more tolerable. 

Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Mayhem 8/5/2026

Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling Mayhem 8/5/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/maple-leaf-pro-wrestling-mayhem-7292026.html

We are in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Don Callis and Mauro Ranallo are our hosts.

Johnny TV does a video. He says Canada loves him more than they love his wife, and she's from here. He says the news media is talking about him and the locker room loves him. He says Evil Uno sounds like a knock off of a card game. He says no one talks about TJP and calls Jonathan Gresham "Jonathan Gremlin". He says everyone wants screen time and has to stand next to him for it.

TJP vs. Johnny TV vs. Evil Uno vs. Jonathan Gresham

TJP is pushed into Uno and goes down. JTV shoulders Uno over. JTV takes a double hiptoss. Uno shoulders JG over. Uno hits corner lariats on him. Uno then hits corner lariats on the other two in front of him. Uno short arm lariats TJP and JTV.

JG does an octopus on Uno and TJP does an octopus on JTV. JG and JTV chop each other while doing it. JG eye rakes TJP. Uno eye pokes JG. JTV high kicks and superkicks Uno. TJP hits a spin kick combo on JTV. TJP triangle 619's Uno. JTV slides out of a move from JG then tope con hilos Uno and TJP over the 2nd rope. JG then shove JTV into the steps. 

We go to break and return. JTV springboard enzugiri's TJP off the apron. We get a 3 person tower of doom with JTV getting suplexed down. Uno punches TJP in the face. Uno misses a corner splash and is spin kicked in the face. TJP does facewash kicks on Uno and trips JTV into Uno's crotch. JTV then takes facewash kicks.

TJP tornado ddt's JG. Uno forearms JTV down. Uno blocks JG's crossbody off the ropes with his chest. Uno then misses a senton. JG and JTV trade forearms. JG totally misses a step up enzugiri that is sold anyway. JTV hits a moonlight drive on him. JTV gets on the 2nd rope and is knocked down onto JG. TJP top rope double stomps them both. JG cradles TJP for 2. 

Uno facekicks JG and TJP. Uno ddt's TJP. Uno hits an ataxia variation on TJP and pins him.

Thoughts:
It got a little too cute at times here with the eye pokes and people stacking others in the corners for moves. I'm not a big fan of Uno winning this one, as Johnny TV is being pushed as this big star and a top heel. This could have been a little better but it's not like it was boring or had a ton of botches. I'd say it was acceptable.

Adam Copeland does a video. He says he spent most of his childhood watching shows from Maple Leaf Gardens. He talks about his first wrestling show there and says it set him on the course for what the rest of his life will be. He says you can feel the history there. He says it's a place he always wanted to perform him. He says there's always things to chase in your career and Maple Leaf Gardens was his. He says it will be a special night and will be nostalgic. He says he was born, raised and groomed for this.

Alice Crowley vs. Taylor Rising

Tay has Kris Chambers with her.

They lock up and Tay is backed up in the corner. Al side headlock takeovers her and Tay headscissors her. Tay side headlocks her. Tay is thrown into the ropes and gets her neck caught on them. Al shoulders her over.

Tay trips her. Al chops and forearms her in the corner. Al hiptosses her and armdrags her. Al dropkicks her in the knee and running facekicks her for 2. Tay eye rakes her. Al's head is banged off the buckles. 

Tay hits mounted punches on her. Tay suplexes Al for 2. Tay running back elbows her and forearms her. Tay chinlocks Al. Al lariats her and back elbows her. Al spinning forearms her then backdrops her. Al then rolls her up off a casadora and pins her.

Thoughts:
It was simple and not that good. Both girls are pretty basic wrestlers and they don't exactly provide the thrills. It also got a bit more time than needed.

Tay nails Al from behind after then pounds on her. Al's head is banged off the buckles and Tay chops her. The lights go out and a coffin appears on the stage. Someone named Destro the Destroyer reveals PCO in the coffin. He then has some jumper cables and puts them on PCO. PCO then wakes up.

PCO comes in and Kris Chambers chairs him. PCO swats the chair away and chokeslams him. PCO goes for a vader bomb and Taylor saves Kris.

We get another Mo Jabari video. Bret Hart says he had passion and he could tell it was his dream. He says Mo had passion and an opportunity. He says Calgary is where you can get started as a wrestler. Bret says Mo's technique is great and says he's living his dream. 

Michael Allen Richard Clark vs. Luigi Primo

Zach Gowen is on commentary for this. Primo swings his pizza around as usual.

Mike wristlocks him. Primo tosses dough at him and wristlocks him. Primo trips him. Mike wristlocks him and Primo tosses his pizza. Primo armdrags him then walks up the buckles and armdrags him. Primo throws pizza dough in his face then dropkicks him. Mike dropkicks him through the ropes then plancha's him outside.

Mike hits mounted punches on him inside then short arm lariats him. Mike takes the pizza and slowly pulls it away from him. Mike elbow drops his back then stomps the pizza. Primo gets mad and whips him with the pizza. Primo flipping neckbreakers him for 2. Primo boots him out of the corner. Primo is caught off the 2nd rope and Mike inverted death valley drivers him. Mike pins him.

Thoughts: I didn't like this that much. Primo was tossing dough even while selling which was too silly. Primo should have also been DQ'd for whipping him with dough. Clark tried at least.

We get a video on an unknown wrestler in the Indian language. We see him running an he says paint isn't your enemy, but fear is.

MLP Canadian Tag Team Title Match - 1st Faction (Brent Banks & Sheldon Jean) (c) vs. Subculture (Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews)

Mark and BB go at it. BB wristlocks him. Mark headflips out and wristlocks him. BB knees him in the gut. BB takes a double enzugiri in the corner. SJ shoulders him over Flash then knees him in in the gut. SJ is double hiptossed then he takes a standing moonsault for 2.

Flash's chest is pulled into the rope connectors then SJ facekicks him off the apron. We go to break and return. Mark forearms his opponents and back body drops BB out. SJ is sent out. Flash is tagged in. Flash top rope flip dives his opponents outside.

Flash pumping knees BB in the corner. Flash 2nd rope moonsaults him. Flash angel's wings BB for 2. BB back elbows Flash. Flash's team double team falcon arrows BB for 2. SJ and Flash are sent over the top and out. Mark takes a corner facekicks from BB then a jumping leg lariat from SJ. Mark takes a spinning slam and BB top rope splashes Mark for 2.

SJ piefaces both opponents. The four trade shots in the middle of the ring. The faces hit stereo chest headbutts and send the heels out. The faces then hit stereo tope con hilos outside. 

Mark flips into a stunner from the 2nd rope on BB. Flash top rope swantons BB's back. 1st Faction's buddy Bryce Hansen saves them. Dani Luna nails Bryce. The MLP Women's champ then fights with Dani to the back. Flash chops BB and jumping knees him. SJ lariats Flash. Flash takes a sitout powerbomb + neckbreaker and is pinned by SJ.

Thoughts: It was fine. Nothing too great or anything, but it was athletic, it got enough time and they kept it moving. I thought Subculture would win here and was surprised when they didn't.

Stu Grayson does a promo outside. He says everyone wants to be the guy and stand on the top of the mountain. He says no one talks about what it takes to stay on top. He says if you want to be champ, you don't hit someone from behind, you take it from the man standing on top. He tells Rohan Raja that he's still standing.

Overall thoughts: It was the usual MLP. Nothing was particularly great or anything you'd really seek out. The opener got a little silly at times but it was acceptable. The wrong man won though. The women's match wasn't that good. Luigi Primo's match was pretty similar to other Primo matches with it not being good and having some goofing around. The main was alright. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 as it was average overall. It's like a Canadian version of AEW developmental and the talent + booking both leave a lot to be desired.

EPW Wrestling Unleashed 7/25/2026 Episode #252

EPW Wrestling Unleashed 7/25/2026 Episode #252

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/epw-wrestling-unleashed-7182026-episode.html

Gene Jackson and Joey Gross are our hosts. We are in Booneville, MS. The hosts hype up the show. 

The Initiative (Jason Genesis and Trace Lee Hunt) vs Chris Styles and Dakota Gage

Arynanne is with The Initiative. The Initiative get a tag title shot if they win. 

Chris and Hunt fight for a hiptoss and Hunt is sent out. Hunt is back body dropped. JG takes a hiptoss and armdrag. JG takes a double shoulderblock for 2. DG blue thunders JG for 2. DG is thrown out then Aryanne slaps him. Hunt slingshot plancha's DG. JG gets a 2 count on DG.

We go to break and return. DG hits chops on JG. DG is back body dropped into a powerslam. DG cradles Hunt for 2. DG cutters Hunt. JG styles clashes DG for 2. DG step up enzugiri's JG. 

DG back body drops Hunt and goes for the tag, but Chris had been pulled down from the apron. DG takes a backbreaker + 2nd rope legdrop combo for 2. Hunt takes a superkick from Chris then DG tags Chris in. Chris hits shots on the heels. Arynanne pulls Chris' leg. Hunt is back body dropped over the top. DG spinebusters JG. 

DG goes for the sunset flip but Arynanne holds onto Hunt's arm while he's on top of DG. Hunt pins DG.

Thoughts:
It was an alright bout here. The hot tag section could have been a little better. The faces were a makeshift team so them losing makes no difference. Hunt had a good night here as usual.

Sevyn Cruz is holding an audition. K-Swiss tells Sevyn Cruz that he can take him to the next level if he hires him as a manager. Cruz asks why he would hire him when he can't keep a job. Swiss gets mad and asks if he will give him a job. Cruz says no and tells him he's dismissed. Two people who I'm not familiar with come in. They say Cruz is a joke. Cruz says everyone loves him and asks when the last time someone clapped for them was. The guys tell Cruz to watch what he says. 

Sevyn Cruz vs Jared x Rawlings

Jared slides between the legs and rolls him up. Sev then rolls him up too. Jared rams him in the corner and hits forearms. Jared side headlock takeovers him. Sev headscissors him. Sev boots him away on a roll up and gets a 2 count on him. Jared trips him then basement dropkicks him for 2. Sev suplexes him and The Order runs in. The Order attacks both and causes the no contest.

Thoughts:
It was short with a run in finish. This wasn't much to speak of before it ended.

The Order beat up both guys after.

#1 Contender to the Apex Title - Moses Cain vs Xero

They lock up. MC backs him up on the ropes then shoulders him over. Xero spin kicks him and hits forearms. Xero dropkicks him and flying shoulders him over for 2. Xero is up top and MC throws him across the ring. MC hits punches to the gut. 

MC hits a world strongest slam for 2. MC slams him then splashes him for 2. Xero jawbreakers him. Xero tries a seated springboard but takes a hard last ride down. MC headbutts him. They cut away for a second and Xero does some kind of dropkick to him. Xero jumps off the top and is caught with a black hole slam. MC pins him.

Thoughts
: They had the right idea. I didn't like Xero shouldering over Moses though as he's too thin for it. It was a big vs smaller man match here and Moses picked up the win as expected. 

Moses stares down Eli Knox at commentary after. Eli gets scared as he's going to have to face him. 

Raven Black vs Judy Lee Taylor

They lock up and RB hits her in the gut. Judy trips her and front facelocks her. RB side headlock takeovers her. Judy headscissors her. RB clubs on her and chokes her on the ropes. 

Judy side headlock takeovers her. Judy codebreakers the arm and hits short arm lariats. Judy lariats her down. Judy 2nd rope dropkicks her for 2. RB spinebusters her. RB reverse curbstomps her and pins her.

Thoughts: It was a shorter bout and not that good. Judy's still green and the time wasn't there for this to really develop.

Sevyn Cruz and Jared X Rawlings are interviewed. Cruz says he's not feeling good and says he feels bad Jared got dragged into this. He says Jared didn't need to get involved in this. Jared says if Cruz is in this, he's in this. They then shake hands.

Dorian Vain vs Shawn Aries

SA running euros him in the corner and enzugiri's him. SA running spears him. SA goes up top and DV rolls out. SA double axe handles him off the apron. SA hits punches and chops. DV chokeslams him into the post. 

DV hits punches in the corner then short arm lariats him. DV spinebusters him and single underhook suplexes him. SA atomic drops him and hits punches. SA springboard kicks him. SA then hits another springboard kick. Eli gets on the apron and SA punches him. SA misses a 450 off the top. DV cobra clutches him. SA is out and DV wins.

Thoughts
: We didn't get a lot of it but what we got was fine. SA flew around a little and got put down as expected. It wasn't very long at all and Vain won as expected.

Vain puts the cobra clutch on again after. SA has a chair put around his leg. Aaron Roberts comes out to help. He drops Eli then trades shots with Vain. Aaron facekicks him down then chokeslams Eli. Shawn top rope 450's Eli.

Overall thoughts: We had some okay action here though the matches were mostly all on the shorter end as usual. The opener, the Moses/Xero match and the main were all fine for what they were and the opener was the match of the night. I'd give it a 5 out of 10 overall and the show was acceptable.

AEW Dynamite 8/5/2026 Grand Slam Mexico

AEW Dynamite 8/5/2026 Grand Slam Mexico

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/aew-dynamite-7292026.html

We are in Mexico City, Mexico. Excalibur, Nigel McGuinness and Tony Schiavone are on commentary.

Adam Copeland, Christian Cage and The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson) vs The Death Riders (Jon Moxley, Wheeler Yuta, Daniel Garcia and PAC)

Pac holds up an England soccer jersey at the crowd.

Cage side headlocks Page then Yuta knees Cage in the back from the apron. All 8 men fight and the heels are sent out. Pac takes a double enzugiri in the corner and a reverse ddt + side slam combo from Cope and Cage. Yuta is dropkicked through the ropes and a Buck corkscrew dives outside. Cage plancha's off the top rope outside. 

We go to PiP break and return. A Buck takes running corner attacks. Yuta germans a Buck. Garcia then sharpshooters that Buck. A Buck pulls Garcia and Yuta into each other. A Buck then top rope diving headscissors + armdrags the heels. Cope running lariats Mox a few times then hits him and Pac. Cope hits a double lariat then lariats Pac over the top. Mox cutters Cope.

Mox takes a splash on the back over the 2nd rope from Cope. Cage stands on Mox's back over the 2nd rope. Mox then takes a double 619 from Cope and a Buck. Cage top rope diving headbutts Mox and a Buck top rope elbow drops Mox. Cage hits Mox low then Mox is hit with a triple superkick for 2. 

The Bucks do springboard plancha's out. Mox takes an impaler ddt from Cope. Shafir pulls on Cope's hair. Cage pulls Shafir down and gets slapped. Cage kicks her in the crotch. Yuta flying knees Cope. Cage takes an STO + flying knee combo. Garcia is double superkicked by The Bucks. Yuta takes an assisted shiranui and a running knee. DG is ddt'd. Pac rebound germans a Buck and takes a headbuster from Cope. Cope rolls up Mox for 2. Cope spears Mox but the ref is distracted. Mox rolls up Cope and pins him while holding the tights.

Thoughts
: It was a fun match. The crowd was into it and the wrestlers were really trying hard here. Cope and Cage stepped it up a bit. It had a lot of action and a fast pace. 

The faces argue after about the loss.

We get a video on Omega vs Ospreay.

#1 spot in the Casino Gauntlet at All In - Tomasso Ciampa vs Andrade El Idolo vs Komander

TC poses on the ropes. He and Idolo shove each other. TC pounds on and stomps Kom. TC and Idolo trade shots. TC eye pokes him. Idolo chops TC. Kom springboard diving headscissors Idolo. TC ear claps Kom. TC is pulled out by Idolo. Kom rope walk springboard corkscrew dives them outside. Idolo springboard triangle tornillo's Kom outside. 

We go to PiP break and return. Idolo and TC double lariat each other. Idolo and TC trade shots. Idolo flying forearms him. Idolo takes his pants off. Idolo triple suplexes Kom. Idolo is crotched up top and goes down.

TC throws Kom out and pumping knees him. TC stomps on Idolo's pants, then he tries to pin the pants. Kom misses a springboard 450 and takes a powerbomb backbreaker for 2. TC is up top and gets chopped by Idolo. Kom springboard poisonrana's Idolo off the 2nd rope. TC 2nd rope air raid crashes Kom for 2. 

Idolo corner meteora's TC for 2. Idolo spinning back elbows TC. Kom 2nd rope springboard spinning poisonrana's Idolo. Kom rope walk ssp's TC. Idolo hits his DM (spinning double underhook drop) on Kom and pins him.

Thoughts: I didn't like it. They went way too far near the end with Idolo kicking out of a poisonrana off the 2nd rope then a regular poisonrana. Kom should have been done a lot longer from the 2nd rope air raid crash too. They just threw all selling out the window in the finishing stretch of this one.

Idolo gets on the mic and talks in Spanish. He says he wants more and will win the Casino Gauntlet (?) at All In. He says he wants to win the World Title for Mexico. He then does his "How you know?" line.

MJF comes out. MJF hits Idolo from behind with his Triple B version of the AEW World Title. He takes Idolo's Dynamite Diamond Ring and hits him with the ring. Idolo is busted open. MJF pounds on him on the ramp. MJF throws him off the ramp to the floor.

MJF gets on the mic and sends to get that piece of trash from this piece of sh!t country out of the arena now. MJF says he's the best wrestler in the world and says he's the AEW champ. He says he had Kenny Omega beat at Beach Break until Ospreay got involved. He says it's thanks to Ospreay that Kenny gets to walk around with a toy belt. He says Wembley was his main event. He says he always gets what he wants. He says he will be in the match for the #2 spot in the Casino Gauntlet. He says he will win that and dogwalk Idolo again. He says he will win the contract again. He says the only title that should be recognized is his Triple B and he should be the only champ recognized. He says he doesn't care who wins at Wembley as he will remind the world that he's the one true champ.

Willow Nightingale and The Brawling Birds (Jamie Hayter and Alex Windsor) vs Mercedes Mone and Divine Dominion (Megan Bayne and Lena Kross)

Meg and Alex shove each other. Alex chops Meg and shoulders her over. Meg rams her in the corner and hits corner spears. Meg misses a corner splash and Alex hits forearms on her. Meg is booted over then senton'd for 2. Meg jawbreakers Willow.

Mone boots Willow in the corner. The 6 girls trade forearms. Mone is foot choked. Lena is pulled over the top. Willow and Kris hit cannonballs off the apron. Jamie top rope plancha's all 3 heels outside. We go to PiP break and return.

Mone and Willow run into each other and both go down. Lena is formed by The Birds then takes a double headbutt. Jamie 2nd rope dropkicks Jamie. Lena takes a facekick into a russian legsweep for 2. Dominion and The Birds trade forearms. Dominion hit germans on them Jamie drops Meg with a big lariat.

Willow and Mone trade forearms. Mone knees her in the face. Willow muso's her for 2. Mone 2nd rope meteora's Willow. Alex headbutts Mone in the face. Lena TKO's Alex. Everyone starts getting a move in one by one. 

Willow lariats Mone. Dominion take stereo germans. Willow backslides Mone and pins her.

Thoughts: It was alright. There were a lot of stereo moves here and a lot of focus on The Birds vs Dominion. Willow got the upset win over Mone here. There were a lot of people getting thrown around in this one.

We then see on the screen that The Birds challenge Divine Dominion for the AEW Women's Tag Titles at All In. 

AEW International Title - Kyle Fletcher (c) vs Mike Bailey

Both guys come out with masks. Kyle stomps his Mistico mask and Mike just takes his off.

Mike kips up and armdrags him then is slammed. Kyle shoulders him over and is swept. Mike headscissors him. Mike sunset flips him for 2. Mike walks up the buckles, rope walks and diving headscissors Kyle. Mike topes out, Kyle catches him and lawn darts him into rails. 

Mike backslides Kyle for 2. Mike rolls him out of the ring and triangle asai moonsaults him outside. Mike spin kicks him in the gut, axe kicks him and chest kicks him. Mike running ssp's him for 2. They fight on the buckles. Kyle 2nd rope michinoku drivers him for 2. We go to PiP break, full break and return.

Kyle chops him out of the ring. Kyle goes out and Mike top rope moonsaults outside. Mike rolls him up for 2. Mike armdrags him and 2nd rope flying headscissors him. Mike then rolls him up for 2. Kyle half-nelson suplexes him. Kyle facekicks him, ending him down on the ramp. Mike diving headscissors him off the steps on the stage and sends him onto the stage. Mike then moonsaults off those steps onto Kyle. 

Mike misses an ultimate weapon inside. Kyle goes for a crossbody and Mike standing moonsault slams him off of it. Kyle michinoku drivers him for 2. Mike hurricanrana's Kyle over the top but Kyle holds on and apron powerbombs him. Kyle corner facekicks Mike then brainbusters him for 2. 

Mike 2nd rope poisonrana's him on his head. Mike top rope ultimate weapon's him for 2. Mike sunset flips him for 2. Kyle lawn darts him into the 2nd buckle. Kyle running facekicks Mike. Kyle brainbusters him on the top buckle. Kyle then pins him.

Thoughts: It was the usual dumb Kyle match. They did way too much here and none of it meant anything. Kyle took a nasty 2nd rope poisonrana on his head that was meaningless seconds later and Mike was able to go for another 10 minutes after taking a 2nd rope michinoku driver.

Kyle celebrates with the title and Kazuchika Okada comes out for his match. Okada interrupts Kyle's music to make his entrance. Kyle then holds his title up at Okada on the ramp and they stare down.

Chris Jericho, Darby Allin & Mistico vs. Don Callis Family (Hechicero, Kazuchika Okada & Kevin Knight)

KK springboards onto DA as he heads down to the ring. KK pounds on him. KK throws DA off the ramp and he goes crotch first onto the rail. Hech step up knees Mist in the corner. CJ and Okada fight. Okada dropkicks him. KK pounds on CJ and euros him. CJ AA's KK. 

DA springboard diving armdrags Hech. DA dropkicks Hech. DA topes outside and Okada flying knees him in mid-air. We go to PiP break and return. KK and DA bangs heads. Mist springboard crossbodies KK. Hech stomps Mist. Mist flying headscissors KK, 619's Okada and springboard diving headscissors Hech. Mist goes up top and springboard corkscrew armdrags KK.

CJ codebreakers Okada. DA and KK trade forearms. DA scorpion deathlocks KK and KK ropebreaks. Mist springboard diving headscissors Hech. Mist's springboard is caught and Mist spinning headscissors Hech.

CJ top rope plancha's Okada and DA coffin drops outside. Mist walks up the buckles and plancha's Hech outside. DA is in tree of woe, KK goes for a coast to coast and CJ spinning back elbows him in mid-air. Mist hits a la mistica on Hech while CJ crabs Okada. DA coffin drops KK. DA pins KK.

Thoughts: It was a fun tag. Mist did his usual flying routine. DA went for a tope outside here and Okada flying knee'd him in mid-air which was cool. It was a pretty tame night for Darby though. The crowd booed Mist here, which they sometimes do.

Kris Statlander vs. Persephone

They lock up and Pers armdrags her. Kris armdrags back. Kris backflips and handstand walks. Pers bridges out of a lariat and they go for armdrags at the same time. Kris chops Pers then lariats her over the top. Kris moonsaults off the apron onto Pers. 

Pers basement dropkicks Kris outside. Pers tope con hilos Kris outside. Thunder Rosa is in the front row and Pers gets in her face. Pers chinlocks Kris. We go to PiP break and return. Pers finlay rolls her. Pers misses an asai moonsault and takes a gutbuster. Kris germans Pers. 

Kris running euros Pers and flying knees her in the corner. Kris michinoku drivers her for 2. Kris armdrags her and seatbelt's her for 2. Pers running lariats Kris.

Kris and Pers trade chops. Pers superkicks her. Pers is tripped into the ropes and Kris crossbodies her from behind. Kris misses a 450 legdrop off the top and lands hard. Pers spears her for 2. 

Pers grabs Rosa and her title outside. They grapple a bit and Pers hits Rosa with the Mexican National Title. Kris dives on Pers off the apron and nails the ref in the process. Kris backdrops Pers on the floor.

Kris goes for a pin inside. Hikaru Shida comes in and hits Kris with the title. Pers springboard splashes Kris but the ref is still down. The ref comes in and Pers pins Kris.

Thoughts: It was a bit of an odd one here with ref bumps and interference. The match was going well too, so it's a shame they had to bring it down with all of that. Kris' 450 legdrop off the top looked painfaul. Pers had a couple of nice spears. I did like this minus the finishing sequence.

Maya World and Hyan run out to check on Kris after.

AEW World Trios Title Match - The Demand (Bishop Kaun, Ricochet & Toa Liona) (c) vs. Adam Page & Brodido (Bandido & Brody King)

Page's team comes out in sombreros and poncho's. KeMalito is with them and they have a Mexican band. 

The heels attack from behind to start. King throws Rico ut and Ric dropkicks him in the knee. Ric stomps him outside. Pge flying headscissors Toa. Page facekicks Toa. King walks up the ropes, seated moonsaults and double armdrags Kaun and Toa. Ric is thrown out. Band is helped up to the top and springboard swantons out.

The faces then dance and the heels interrupt. Band pump kicks Kaun out of the corner. Kaun 2nd rope backbreakers him on the top buckle. We go to PiP break and return. Kaun chops Band. Band superkicks Kaun. Kaun bodyscissors throws Band overhead while on the ropes and sends him to the apron. Kaun hiptossed Band from the ramp to the ring.

Ric bangs Band's head off the buckles. Ric springboards and Band dropkicks him in mid-air. Page comes in and cleans house. Page fallaway slams Ric then slingshot plancha's Kaun. Page lariats Kaun. 

Ric spin kicks Page and Page sitout powerbombs him for 2. Kaun throws Band over the top near the post. Band and King are sent into the rails. Ric flying pumping knees Page off the apron. The heels then hit triple dives out.

Page takes corner attacks and a pumping knee. Ric running ssp's Page for 2. Toa corner splashes Kaun on accident then King corner splashes both. King corner cannonballs both. Ric springboard diving lariats King. 

Ric pumping knees Page and Page spinning lariats him. Ric flips out of a 21plex. Band one arm gorilla press slams Ric. Toa puts all 3 opponents on his shoulders and samoan drops them together. Toa misses a corner charge and his head banged off the post. King lariats Toa then topes Ric and Kaun. Toa takes a buckshot lariat into a german and is pinned.

Thoughts: The match was alright though it did got a little long here. Toa's triple samoan drop was impressive. I don't like these title changing hangs. When then AEW Trios Titles were initially announced, I was concerned as trios titles tend to get hotshotted around with random teams. That is exactly what is going on now as we've had 2 title changes in only a few weeks.

The faces dance in the ring after.  

No Outside Interference Mexico City Street Fight - Mark Davis vs. Will Ospreay

Mark comes out with a chair and he misses when he throws it at all. Will hits forearms. Mark eye rakes him and lariats him over the top. Mark slams and sentons Will. Will hits forearms on Mark. Mark knees him in the gut then Will flying headscissors him.

Will slingshot plancha's Mark. Will bangs Mark's head off a chair. Mark boots Will in the gut and slams him on a tire outside. Mark is sent into the rails. Will jumps off the rail and flip dives onto him. Will springboard flying forearms Mark inside.

Mark chairs Will in the gut and back. Will handspring corkscrew kicks Mark. Will's flying headscissors is caught off the apron and Mark apron edge powerbombs him.

Mark throws a chair at Will. Mark powerbombs Will over the rail into a "fan" in the front row. We go to PiP break and return. Will hits Kawada kicks on Mark. Mark hits Will with some kind of board and Will rolls down the steps on the stage. Mark throws Will over the top. 

Will hook kicks Mark. Will is sent into a chair between the buckles. Will is busted open. Mark hits downward elbows. Mark chairs him. Mark forks Will is in the head. Will dropkicks Mark in the knee, sending him into a chair. Will jumps off a chair then springboards into a cutter on Mark. 

Will then forks Mark in the head. Mark lariats Will. Mark hits a nasty over the shoulder piledriver on Will through 2 chairs. Mark rakes barbed wire in Will's face. Will throws a chair at Mark's head.

Mark headbutts Will on the apron. Mark rakes Will's back with barbed wire. Will grabs him by the crotch and Will high kicks. Will apron piledrivers him.

Will hidden blades Mark in the ring for 2. Mark hits a nasty piledriver for 2. Will styles clashes him for 2. Mist puts barbed wire around Mark's head and hits a hidden blade. Will then pins him.

Thoughts: They overdid it here with apron piledrivers not even being enough to put people down. Both guys bled here and there were a lot of weapons being used. It wasn't quite the match I expected and Mark's size could have maybe been protected a bit better. I don't know if their feud has been big enough to justify all that went down here, but there was definitely no lack of effort. It was acceptable but flawed overall.

Overall thoughts: It was probably the longest Dynamite yet at about 2 hours and 52 minutes. I knew this was going 2 hours and 30 minutes at least due to how big this card was. This was a PPV level card and I'd argue it was better looking in some ways than Redemption was. The crowd was hot and the wrestlers really did put out some extra effort for this. I liked the opener best here. While there were some matches I didn't care for, this was an absolutely memorable show and probably one of the better shows AEW has put out. There was no excuse whatsoever for Kenny Omega not being here, but he's done this stuff before and his top priorities will always be video games and Japan, not AEW. The show also did not build up All In that well and that's a problem since All In is the biggest show of the year. I'd give this an 8 out of 10 as the wrestling and general spirit carried this. I thought it was a great show overall.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

WWE Evolve 8/5/2026

WWE Evolve 8/5/2026

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2026/07/wwe-evolve-7292026.html

We are at the Performance Center. Robert Stone and Blake Howard are on commentary.

Harlem Lewis does a video. He says tonight may be a fatal four way, but he doesn't fight the odds, he fights the men standing across from him. He says he won't let his title slip away. He says the Harlem Violence World Tour continues tonight. Aaron Rourke says sorry, not sorry if Lewis loses his title without being pinned. Tristan Angels says we get to see him take his place on the throne and win the title. Max Abrams says they can lookmax more with the title around his waist because that's main man energy.

The Mog Squad come out to talk. Max says he's moodmaxing as his friends bought him a new pair of sunglsses. They then clap the mic for that. Max says there's some people who are "chopped" here and says they will never know how it feels to have a Hot Boy Summer. Max says that's the whole roster though. Max says you will have to acknowledge them as the supreme moggers when he wins the title tonight. 

CJ Valor hugs Max. He says the only thing they are missing is the Evolve Title. Santi says Jacari a gangster and says they are unstoppable. Jacari says him and Santi are on the same page. He says everyone is jealous as they ball and mog harder. Max says he can't believe people in this world would dislike them. Max has them mog for the crowd and we cut to the commentators. Max says they are the reason they are employed. Santi says the whole world will love The Mog Squad when Max wins the title.

Shido Ash and Viktor Zanov then come out for their match. 

The Mog Squad (Santi Rivera and Jacari Ball) vs Shido Ash and Viktor Zanov

Santi knocks Vik's hat off before the match. Vik throws Santi over the top on the lock up. Vik overhead belly to belly suplexes Santi. Vik throws Ball by the arm. Vik hits a hard lariat on Ball. Ash monkey flips Ball then hip throws him for 2. 

Vik slams Ball then slams Ash onto him. Vik then does that Santi. We go to break and return. Vik misses a corner charge. Ball hits corner spears on Vik then Santi hits corner spears also. Vik boots Santi out of the corner then takes an enzugiri in the corner. Ball jumps off Santi's back and hits a splash on Vik.

Ball dropkicks Vik. Ball karelin's lifts Vik and holds on for 2 more. Ball jumps off Santi's back and misses a corner splash. Ash comes in and drops the heels with shots. Ash corkscrew kicks Santi then hits a ranhei variation on Santi for 2.

Ash flying euros Santi. Santi is thrown up into a Vik german. Vik pins Santi.

Thoughts
: It wasn't bad. Vik is definitely not a face but he had a good showing here. Ball hit a nice dropkick. I'm interested to see where thing go with Vik and Ash.

Timothy Thatcher comes out and tells Max Abrams that The Mog Squad is banned from ringside tonight.

Marcus Mathers talks to Romeo and Dar in the back. He says it's been tough for ID 1.0 since they lost to The Mog Squad. It's Gal comes in and says he beat Kale Dixon. Dar says he doesn't have the mental capacity for this. Cappucino Jones comes in and tells Gal to shut up. Mathers rips Gal for losing to Cutler James. Gal puts over Darkstate as tough and says Cutler would beat him. He tells him to ask for a match. Gal asks Cap when the last time was that he won anything. Mathers says he was right and he needs to prove that he belongs in Evolve.

Skylar Rae vs Anya Rune

Sky side headlock takeovers her then AR does the same. Sky headscissors her and we go to break. We return and Sky wristlocks AR. Sky rolls and headflips out of a wristlock. Sky then backflips. Sky trips AR and shoulders her over. Sky headscissors her down.

AR double chops Sky down for 2. AR euros her in the back. AR wants to go up top but is hesitant. Sky then cradles AR for 2. Sky dropkicks AR then running back elbows her. Sky bulldogs AR for 2. AR backslides Sky. AR hits soul foot on Sky then Sky does it right back to her. Both go down.

Sky la mistica's her into a collar and arm lock. AR rolls her over to escape. AR clotheslines Sky with her own arm for 2. AR goes up top and is thrown down. Sky top rope frogsplashes AR and pins her.

Thoughts: This was fine. Sky had a good showing and definitely has a high ceiling. AR's gimmick worked a little better here but I'm not sure about it. Sky had near grounded collar and double arm submission.

Gianna Capri jumps Rune after and stomps on her. Rune is thrown into the post. 

Elijah Holyfield is outside and has a message for Brooks Jensen. He asks where Brooks is and asks if he's ducking him. He says Brooks isn't a bad man, he's just bad at when he speaks. He says he flipped a switch in him that he wished he never touched. He says he will find him and put his fist through his chin.

Timothy Thatcher talks. He says it's Wren vs Sloane next week. Chazz Hall interrupts. He says he wants to face Cap Jones next week. Hall says they need to duke it out and Tim says he won't cancel Cap's match vs Gal next week. Hall says he will fight both and wants a triple threat. Tim agrees and complains about him trying to sit on his desk.

Next week has Charlie Dempsey vs Ulka Sasaki as well.  

 Harley Riggins is in the VIP Lounge.

WWE Evolve Title - Harlem Lewis (c) vs Aaron Rourke vs Tristan Angels vs Max Abrams

Lewis misses a charge and goes into the buckles. AR's tornado ddt is stopped. AR takes running corner attacks. AR double dropkicks his opponents. Lewis hits a double lariat. Lewis uranage's Max onto TA. TA lariats Lewis over the top and goes with him. Max pump kicks TA on the apron. AR is thrown out and caught by Lewis. TA dropkicks them over outside. Max dropkicks TA through the ropes. 

We go to break and return. Max chinlocks AR and throws him down. Max drops TA from the apron with a punch. AR jawbreakers Max then lariats and back elbows him. AR leg lariats Max. AR running euros Max in the corner. TA step up enzugiri's AR. 

Max takes a fallaway slam from TA but Lewis germans TA as he does it. AR stomps Lewis' head into the apron over the 2nd rope. AR is bounced off the top and takes a neckbreaker on the landing. Max superkicks AR and TA back elbows Max. 

AR goes for a handstand hurricanrana on the ropes but is pushed down and splashes Max off of it. TA takes a backhand up top. We get a tower of doom spot with TA getting superplexed. Max flying hip attacks Lewis. AR double stomps Max out of the corner. AR molly go round's Max for 2. Lewis flying knees AR. Lewis jackhammers Max and pins him.

Thoughts: It was a shorter and fast paced match. There was a ton of action and some creative spots. It did go pretty well for the little time they got and I think they had about the best match they could have done here. I liked it, but it's a shame it didn't get more time. I'm just glad Lewis escaped with the title.

Lewis holds his title up at Harley Riggins outside after. Lewis says he waited a long time for this and Riggins getting a few wins doesn't get him a shot. Riggins tells him to kick rocks and count his days.

Overall thoughts: I liked the show. It was faster paced. It was only 45 minutes so it was a little shorter and it was a rather wrestling heavy show. It just felt different overall and that was for the better. We had 3 matches and all were fine here. I'd give this a 6 out of 10 and thought it was a good show overall.

WWE Wrestlemania 19 3/30/2003

WWE Wrestlemania 19 3/30/2003


Note: I originally reviewed this in 3 parts and wanted to put this into one post. My original reviews are here:

Part 1 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wrestlemania-19-review.html

Part 2 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review.html

Part 3 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/wwe-wrestlemania-19-review_3.html

Wrestlemania 19 was the first ever Wrestlemania I ordered on PPV. I really loved WWE around this time. Okay, Raw wasn't the greatest but Smackdown had a pretty legendary roster. Every week there would be a mix of stuff from the famed Smackdown Six of Rey Mysterio, Edge, Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. We also had the up and coming Brock Lesnar who was turning into a heck of a worker, A-Train who had good performances at times, Tajiri and Rhyno. While we did get crap like Mr. America, there was more than enough good stuff to make up for it.

The big story going into this was whether Kurt Angle would actually be able to wrestle or not. Kurt Angle has always been banged up and broke his neck coming into the show. The rumor was that Chris Benoit was going to be his replacement if he was too injured to wrestle. I was legit worried for Kurt Angle and was hoping not for a good match, but for Kurt Angle to not get injured any worse.

The other big news was that Stone Cold Steve Austin was hospitalized the night before. He was under a lot of stress and overdid it with energy drinks and almost ended up missing Wrestlemania completely. I didn't really know much about this though at the time.

Hulk Hogan vs Mr. McMahon was a heavily pushed match for this show and some would say it led to the show not doing as well as it should have.

Wrestlemania 19 is one of my favorite Wrestlemania's. I usually have it at #2 below Wrestlemania 17. The match quality was top notch and it had a great mix of stars and wrestling.

One final note is that Bill Goldberg debuted on Raw the night after this show. Why they had Goldberg not debut at Wrestlemania is beyond me, but whatever.

---

Pre-show Match -  WWE World Tag Team Championship -  Kane and RVD vs Sean Morley and Lance Storm

Ah, Kane makeshift tag team #1000. The Dudley Boyz were at ringside here.

Storm got the win here after Bubba Ray Dudley hit an elbow on RVD. Odd match here which I could definitely use some help in understanding. Apparently the Dudleys were siding with the faces for some reason but then turned on them anyway? I dunno. I also don't know why the ref didn't DQ someone when the Duds were in the ring. The faces looked good here with Kane busting out a dive which was cool, but the storyline was dumb.

Main Show

We are in Seattle, WA. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler are on commentary for some matches and Tazz/Michael Cole are on commentary for the others.

WWE Cruiserweight Title - Matt Hardy vs Rey Mysterio

Matt Hardy got the win with a reverse of a roll-up from the Electric Chair position. Good match here with a fast pace. This was all action and both guys looked pretty good. There was a little too much interference from Shannon Moore but it's hard to complain about anything else here. Rating:***1/4

The Miller Light Catfight Girls argued over which match they wanted to see more.

Nathan Jones was laid out by The Big Show and A-Train. I'm not sure what the reasoning behind this was other than, it's Nathan Jones. Nathan Jones had everything you would want in a wrestler, except for the fact that he was clumsy and couldn't work to save his life. They pushed him as this deranged ex-con but after seeing him in the ring, my interest waned. He had a really cool background though being in the World's Strongest Man, PRIDE FC and being a ripped 6'10 guy.

Handicap Match - The Undertaker vs A-Train and The Big Show

The Undertaker got the win with a tombstone on A-Train. The match wasn't bad at all with the heels doing holds on Taker until Taker made his big comeback with some help from Jones. A-Train was in shape here and actually had abs, which you know meant this was old. Show looked fine and Taker did a fine job as a face. The crowd liked it too. Rating:**3/4

The girls talked about how much they loved each other. Stacy Keibler brought up her advertising campaign with Test with the fans of Test being called "The Testicles" and she said she had some idea for the girls.

WWE Women's Title - Jazz vs Victoria vs Trish Stratus

Jazz was one woman I never got. She wasn't good looking and she wasn't a good worker. I thought she was too small to be Chyna and I thought Jacqueline was better.

Trish Stratus beat Victoria with a kick to the stomach/ribs. Good match here surprisingly. They kept the pace high, everyone made the extra effort and they hit some nice stuff. The crowd was into it and it really wasn't bad at all. Trish wasn't bad at all here and neither was Jazz or Victoria. Rating:***

The Rock was angry that the fans were calling him a sell-out and booing him. He said he was here to fulfill his destiny and beat Steve Austin at Wrestlemania. He was 0-2 against Austin at this point at Wrestlemania. 

The Rock said this was the last chapter of their feud and The Rock said he would win.

WWE Tag Titles - Team Angle vs Chris Benoit and Rhyno vs Los Guerreros

Team Angle got the win after Rhyno gored Chavo and Shelton got the pin. This was disappointing. There were too many people out there and they got under 10 minutes which wasn't close to enough time at all.

Stacy and Torrie argued over whether McMahon or Hulk created Wrestlemania, then the catfight girls argued over it as well and then argued over whether to do it in ring or in bed. You know, when you have to have other people argue your case for your own ego, you have severe ego problems.

Shawn Michaels vs Chris Jericho

I remember being really excited for this one and hoping for Jericho to get the big win that he could have used.

Shawn Michaels got the win with a reverse on a backdrop. Excellent old-school match. There were lots of submissions with Jericho launching a nice gameplan of working on HBK's back and HBK trying to fight through it. Jericho got cocky and mocked HBK's mannerisms and just couldn't put him away en route to losing. Good heat here and a very good performance and smart match from both guys. Rating:****1/2

I do think the wrong person won here though. HBK had little to gain and a loss to Jericho would have done him little harm. Jericho losing showed WWE's lack of faith in him and the fact that while they did try to push him before, he was always a secondary guy. 

Jericho hugged HBK after the match then kicked him in the nuts.

Sylvan Grenier was in referee attire and looking for Vince.

They did a commercial for Goldberg, saying he would come to Backlash.

Limp Bizkit performed and they did a catfight thing with Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, The Coach and The Catfight Girls. The less said the better.

World Heavyweight Championship - Triple H vs Booker T

Ah, the infamous long crawl match. This was during Triple H's never ending title reign of terror. I was hoping Booker T would win this going into it, but I would have cheered Nathan Jones if he had a title match at that point.

There was some really awful commentary during the early portions with both JR and King agreeing that WCW was a joke.

Triple H beat Booker T with a pedigree. The pin to get there wasn't as long as its made out to be but it was kind of silly. The match just wasn't that great. They didn't click and Triple H wasn't that interesting. The commentary was really bad though. King made Booker seem like such a loser that he telegraphed the finish. He really buried him.

Street Fight - If Hulk Hogan loses, he retires - Mr. McMahon vs Hulk Hogan

Hulk Hogan got the win with the legdrop. This was a long brawl but it wasn't too bad. Both men bled a lot and you have to give them credit for going all out at their old ages. Roddy Piper came down to get some shots on Hogan and McMahon and Sylvan Grenier came down to help Vince out too. IT wasn't enough though. Vince made some great evil faces and with his blood, it made for good shots. His legdrop off the ladder was also pretty cool. Good match, surprisingly. Rating:***1/2

Shane McMahon came down to check on his dad after.

The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin

I wasn't really interested in this one going into it. Austin had just returned and The Rock had just returned as well. The Rock fought Hogan a little bit before this and got mad that Austin won the "Superstar of the Decade" Award. It was Rock/Austin III at Wrestlemania but we kind of already had been there and done that and the match seemed to be thrown together. There wasn't much build to it either. Starting in 2002, Steve Austin just kind of felt like old news to me in WWE and it was clear that his best days were gone.

I should also state again that Steve Austin was hospitalized the night before this. He was stressed and had too many energy drinks and ended up in the hospital from it.

One last note is that this ended up being Stone Cold Steve Austin's last match.

The Rock beat Steve Austin with 3 Rock Bottom's. Good match here with great crowd heat and Rock really stepping it up with big bumps. They mostly relied on mocking each other and stealing finishers, but it worked. They both brought their A-Game here and The Rock was on fire. I loved Rock's selling and the cameras captured all of it well. Austin mostly got dominated here en route to losing. This wasn't the WM 17 classic, but it was very good and a nice way to cap off their feud. Rating:****1/4

WWE Championship - Kurt Angle vs Brock Lesnar

As I stated, Kurt Angle broke his neck a few weeks before this and I was mostly hoping he would make it out alive. I was very excited to see this one though as Lesnar and Angle just seemed like natural opponents for each other.

Brock Lesnar got the win with an F-5. Excellent match here. They mostly wrestled and exchanged holds and it was great. Kurt Angle was pretty awesome here with all of his submissions and represented wrestling well. Brock Lesnar's failed Shooting Star Press was really memorable and I thought he was dead after it. This was a great wrestling match with an old school feel to it. Good stuff here that is worth a look. Rating:****1/4

Overall thoughts:
This is still my second favorite Wrestlemania of all-time. Great show from top to bottom. Only Triple H's match was bad and even then, it wasn't that bad. The main, Austin/Rock, HBK/Jericho and Hogan/Vince were all pretty good and it was a great effort altogether. I really loved WWE at this time and if I could go back in time and watch a few shows live, this would have been one of them. This is a must see show and it is great from top to bottom!

WWF Wrestlemania 17 4/1/2001

WWF Wrestlemania 17 4/1/2001

Note: I originally reviewed this in 2 parts and wanted to put this into one post. My original reviews are here:

Part 1 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/wwf-wrestlemania-x-seven-review.html

Part 2 - https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/03/wrestlemania-x-seven-review.html

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Welcome to my review of Wrestlemania X-Seven. Wrestlemania X-Seven is in my opinion the best Wrestlemania of all-time and is by far my absolute favorite. The show was a classic and WWF at its best and I've been looking forward to reviewing this one for a while.

For a fun fact, I actually paid around  $70 for this a few years ago before WWE started heavily getting into selling DVD's. This was rather rare and expensive back in the day and next to Wrestlemania 2000, was one of the more expensive WWE DVD's. 

We are in Houston, Texas. Jim Ross and Paul Heyman are on commentary.

Pre-Show:

Steve Blackman agreed to be Grand Master Sexay's partner on Sunday Night Heat.

Pre-show Match - Grand Master Sexay and Steve Blackman vs X-Factor (X-Pac and Justin Credible)

X-Factor won with double superkicks. The match wasn't bad. X-Pac looked great throwing some nice kicks and Sexay was into it. Even Blackman was kind of fun here.

Wrestlemania 17 Main show:

Intercontinental Title - Chris Jericho vs William Regal

Chris Jericho won with a lionsault. The finish was a little unexpected but the match was very good. They both beat the crap out of each other and brought their best stuff out. I loved Regal's leg counter of the Walls of Jericho into the Regal Stretch and Regal's release german was nasty. Great match here. Rating:***1/2

Shane McMahon arrived in the limousine with the WCW1 license plate.

The Acolytes were in the back playing cards and looking for Tazz. Bradshaw then encouraged them all to get up and get going as its Wrestlemania, after a long speech.

Tazz, Farooq and Bradshaw vs Right to Censor (Val Venis, The Goodfather and Steven Richards)

Steven Richards tried to talk before the match before getting interrupted.

Bradshaw won with a clothesline from hell on The Goodfather. Short and sweet match here. They kept it action packed and did a good job considering some of the talent levels of wrestlers in there. Bradshaw really nailed Venis with the top rope backdrop and whammed Goodfather with the clothesline for the win. Rating:**3/4

Steph asked Linda how good it felt to have one child turn out okay and asked Trish to crack some ice with her hands.

WWF Hardcore Title - Raven vs The Big Show vs Kane

Kane won with a legdrop off the cage. The match was really fun as they put out all the stops. They went through walls, doors, glass and even ran each other over with cars. This was wacky and crazy and I really enjoyed it. Everyone went all out here and this was pretty memorable. Rating:***

Kurt Angle was in the back and was watching footage of Chris Benoit tapping him out. He was trying to rationalize it and say that since it wasn't an official match, it wasn't an official tap out. Edge and Christian tried to cheer him up, but Kurt was focused on Benoit.

We saw Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka at WWF New York.

WWF European Title - Eddie Guerrero vs Test

Eddie Guerrerro won with a belt shot. Good match here but it was loaded with interference. Saturn got involved twice and Malenko got involved during the finish. Test looked good here and I really liked his powerbombs.

Mick Foley said he would call the match right down the line tonight even though Vince McMahon fired him from being the commissioner.

Kurt Angle vs Chris Benoit

Kurt Angle won with a roll-up and a pull of the tights. Very good match here but I think it could have been better. I didn't like the ref bump, but everything else was good. I would have loved to have seen more suplexes, but what they did was good. I liked them stealing each others finishers and I loved Kurt's moonsault. The technical wrestling to start was also very good. Rating:***1/2

Michael Cole was talking to Regal when Kamala jumped in his office.

Kurt Angle was asked if he now respected Chris Benoit. He said no and Benoit attacked him.

Women's Title - Ivory vs Chyna

Chyna won in a quick squash. Not much else to say about this here, but it was one of Chyna's last WWE matches. She was in really good shape for this.

Vince McMahon told Trish to double Linda's medication and to bring her down when Shane McMahon was totally immobile.

Cole wanted to ask about the shocking development of Shane McMahon signing with WCW and Vince told Cole that if he wanted shocking, he will get it.

Street Fight - Special Ref: Mick Foley - Vince McMahon vs Shane McMahon

Shane McMahon beat Vince McMahon with the coast to coast dropkick with a trashcan. Well, this was all theatrics and drama. Those parts were pretty good with father vs son, turns, violence and Linda recovering. You can't really ask for more than that. The actual match had about 3 moves, with all of them coming from Shane. Shane also sold for a long time inbetween them with him probably laying down after the table bump for an easy 5 minutes. They did a really good job with it though and made this one a big match on the big stage.

Matt Hardy was interviewed about TLC and said none of the teams will be the same after it tonight.

TLC II - WWF World Tag Team Championship - The Dudley Boyz vs Edge and Christian vs The Hardy Boyz

Edge and Christian won TLC II when Christian grabbed the belts while on Rhino's shoulders. Obviously, this was a heck of a match. This was the Mankind vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell of TLC matches and was TLC at its peak. This was a stunt show and completely insane. They were extremely creative and went beyond putting it all on the line for the big show. These 6 killed each other and I believe that to this day, they are still feeling remnants from it. There were three big highlights which included Jeff Hardy's swanton off the 16 foot ladder, Edge's spear to Jeff Hardy who was hanging in the air and Bubba and Matt going through 4 tables off of a ladder. It was excellent, exciting and it was well done storyline wise. This was an epic on the biggest stage possible and a truly unforgettable match. Rating:*****

Gimmick Battle Royale

The Iron Shiek got the win here due to being the only person who really couldn't take the bump. The match was quick and short as it should have been and after the match Sarge put the Cobra Clutch on Shiek.

The Undertaker vs Triple H


The Undertaker won with The Last Ride. This was a lot better in memory than in actuality. The match was mostly weapon shots and little else. The big spots here were also kind of goofy. Triple H got backdropped off a camera tower and it appeared to be a good bump. Then they showed it again and it was little more than a crash pad that HHH seemed to bounce nicely off of. The second was the sledgehammer shot near the end. HHH hit Taker in the back with it and somehow this caused Taker to bleed from his forehead. The pacing to the match was good though and it was set-up nicely, just the big spots really didn't deliver. Rating:***1/2

WWF Title - No DQ - The Rock vs Stone Cold Steve Austin 

Stone Cold Steve Austin beat The Rock in 28:07 to win the WWF title. Excellent match. They brawled wonderfully and put everything in it. They used each others moves, they used moves they hadn't used in years and they even referenced Austin being Sharpshootered by Bret at Wrestlemania 13.  They bled and even did submission work. This match had it all. It was a per

fect cap to the Attitude Era and I don't think the announcers knew how true their words were that the WWF would never be the same again after this. This is probably the best match in Wrestlemania history and was a super classic. This is must see. Rating:*****

Overall thoughts: This is one of the best shows of all-time. Every match was good and the show featured two 5-star matches. This is a must see show and the last show of the Attitude Era.  This show had something for everyone and is a Wrestlemania that may never be matched.