Match 1: WWE Tag Team Championships - John Morrison & The Miz (c) vs. Finlay & Hornswoggle
2008's hottest tag team in John Morrison & The Miz defend the gold against the father & son combination of Finlay & Hornswoggle. Yup, professional wrestling can be an odd and beautiful thing. While this seems like an odd match, it was definitely fun to watch. Hornswoggle was great in his role here. Finlay did his best to prevent him from entering the match but he could only try so hard. Once, Morrison & Miz got their chance to get their hands on Hornswoggle, Hornswoggle hilariously threw his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, ready for a fight. But for his guts, Morrison & Miz made him pay for it. Bullying him around, slapping him around, and finally putting the nail in the coffin when Morrison tossed Hornswoggle hard off the top rope to get the win. Nice opening match here, sometimes forget how great the team of Morrison & Miz were back in the day.
Winners: John Morrison & The Miz
Rating: **1/2
Match 2: United States Championship - Matt Hardy (c) vs. Chavo Guerrero
Really felt like we got a very premature ending to 2007's feud of the year with Matt Hardy vs. MVP. Either way, Hardy's title defense here against Chavo Guerrero was the second match of the night. Basic wrestling match here with lots of action on the ground which somewhat took the Dallas crowd out of things. Even still, the action was pretty basic and gradually picked up towards the end. It felt like a very old school way of wrestling but in 2008 and beyond, that style is seemingly dead to an extent. Hardy picks up the win here against Chavo and gets some assistance from the referee to walk to the back.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Rating: **1/4
Match 3: ECW Championship - Kane (c) vs. The Big Show vs. Mark Henry
Funny fact, the titantron features banners for the championships and the ECW Championship is just the former Cruiserweight Championship with an ECW logo plastered on it. Good stuff. Also need to mention that Mike Adamle is on commentary. Again, good stuff. Kane seemingly gets hurt a few minutes into the match but once he got back in, the pace picked up and the crowd started to get into things a little bit more. Some fun action and enjoyable to see three huge guys in a triple threat that saw Mark Henry land a splash on Kane to pick up the win right after Kane hit a superplex on The Big Show. Cool to see Henry finally win some gold, he has always come off as one of the most underrated guys on the roster. Despite the awful commentary, that was a good ECW Championship match that definitely exceeded most expectations.
Winner: Mark Henry
Rating: **1/4
Match 4: World Tag Team Championships - Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly (c) vs. Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes
Ted DiBiase comes out and says that his partner is on his way and should arrive within ten minutes. The referee doesn't care and starts the match without the arrival of DiBiase's partner. Cody Rhodes looks to start the match for his team but DiBiase calls in Hardcore Holly instead. Once Holly was inside, the obvious turn of Rhodes went down as he hit a DDT on Holly. Afterwards, DiBiase took out Holly once more to gain the win. Although obvious, that was a very fitting turn for Rhodes and the team of DiBiase & Rhodes shows promise.
Winners: Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes
Rating: n/a
Match 5: Intercontinental Championship - Chris Jericho (c) vs. Kofi Kingston
Chris Jericho comes out and addresses the Texas audience by putting himself and putting down the hometown boy in Shawn Michaels who couldn't make the short trip to the show. Kofi Kingston comes out as the challenger. Kingston needed a match like this to boost his popularity. A strong match with an established star and one that will truly make him believable as a star. Jericho was leading the way for the better part of the match and looked dominant but Kingston wouldn't let up, very fluid and very much rising to the occasion here. But once Jericho locked in the Walls of Jericho, Shawn Michaels runs through the crowd and hits a Sweet Chin Music on Lance Cade who was watching the match ringside. Michaels climbs on the ring apron for the distraction where Jericho rams him off but once Jericho turned around, Kingston hit a Trouble in Paradise for the win and the huge pop. Jericho pops Michaels in his injured eye after the match as Michaels was being helped to the back. Great match that helps Kingston as he scores his first big win in the WWE despite being overshadowed with Shawn Michaels. Jericho loses the title, but he is on to much bigger and better things. He didn't need that title with him.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: ***1/4
Match 6: Women's Championship - Mickie James (c) vs. Katie Lea Burchill
Always enjoyed Mickie James in the WWE, definitely one of the sexiest and toughest ones in the division. Katie Lea Burchill is accompanied with her brother who constantly screams at her ringside and looks pretty good here. She worked on Mickie's shoulder throughout the match and James did a great job of selling the injury. Not only that, but Burchill was great in her role of doing her best to incapacitate her through the injury. But James was able to hit her DDT finisher out of nowhere to score the win. Decent Divas match but per usual, nothing out of the ordinary.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: *3/4
Match 7: World Heavyweight Championship - Edge (c) vs. Batista
Fun fact, these two wrestled against each other for the same belt in the 2007 version of this event. That match was a Last Chance match, meaning that would have been their final match against each other. Funny how things work out. I loved the dynamic of this match. Sometimes, things don't have to make sense to make sense. Does that make any sense? No? Well, this match may make sense to that. Edge looked to be in control of the match for the better half of that match which somewhat bugged me. Shouldn't he be the slimy heel just trying to get away from an animal in Batista? But once Batista got his offense in, the action did pick up more. He was set to score the win when he his his Spinebuster but Vickie Guerrero came to the rescue. Edge then took out the referee as Vickie then announced a new referee, Chavo Guerrero. Batista then grabbed Vickie into the ring and tossed her out across La Familia. Good stuff. Edge then hits Batista over the head with the gold as Chavo then counted for the finish. Cluster of an ending that made sense for the situation, La Familia is politically trying to get Edge to win and they did everything in their power to have him retain the gold. And don't forget the finish, using the belt out of nowhere as he crushed Batista over the head with it. Slimy, sneaky and ultimately, smart. Edge.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: WWE Championship - Triple H (c) vs. John Cena
I was one of the few that was always bummed these two didn't have their WrestleMania 22 rematch at another WrestleMania since I absolutely loved their first encounter. The build for this match has been remarkable, the videos throughout the show were a nice touch. There's an aura about this rematch that is hard to describe, two of the biggest stars in the business going at it for the richest prize. Solid wrestling from the start as Triple H looks to be in the driver's seat. Cena is seemingly underestimating The Game after their first bout. Michael Cole & Jerry Lawler both note that these two hardly make any mistakes and how true that statement is. Triple H won't let up, not wanting this match to end in the same result that their 2006 match did. The tides finally change when Cena tosses Triple H out of the ring as Triple H lands awkwardly on his knee. This allows Cena to try and score an advantage by focusing on The Cerebral Assassin's knee. The commentators do a fantastic job of noting Triple H's two quad injuries. Triple H reminds us why he is the best in the business, selling the injury to perfection. Hitting the Pedigree on Cena but not being able to cover Cena quickly due to his injury. Cena does his best to regain the momentum, hitting an FU and locking in an STFU to boot. However, Triple H is able to reverse the STFU into his own crossface as the crowd is rocking. Triple H hits a second Pedigree and this time around, Cena isn't able to get up. Triple H wins the rematch and both titles go to the blue brand. Another fantastic main event match from these two that goes forgotten as their previous bout overshadows this one dramatically. They would go on to have a wasted rubber match later in 2009 on an edition of Raw where Triple H once again won. Still, this was a great main event match to close out the PPV and add more exciting questions after the 2008 Draft. Too bad this match doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
Winner: Triple H
Rating: ****1/2
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
A good PPV outing from the WWE as the two main events delivered their advertisements with the WWE Championship match being the gem of the night. Triple H reminds us why he is the best technician in the ring and a genius at the psychology game. If you're going to get something out of this show, it's going to be the main event.
Rating: 7.5/10
Monday, August 31, 2015
Saturday, August 22, 2015
WWE NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn 2015 Review
Match 1: Jushin "Thunder" Liger vs. Tyler Breeze
Seeing the legend that is Jushin "Thunder" Liger on a WWE stage is awesome. The reception he received was simply incredible. Tyler Breeze isn't a joke, this guy just looks like a star and his cool New York entrance proves it. Having these guys open up the show is perfect, Liger was able to get in his signature moves while Breeze was able to show his disrespect throughout the match. However, Liger would get in the last laugh, taking selfies with Breeze's props and finally hitting a Liger Bomb in a WWE ring to secure the win! Would have been cool to see Breeze get the win but either way, it was a damn good opener and the crowd was absolutely hot from the beginning to the finish.
Winner: Jushin "Thunder" Liger
Rating: ***
Match 2: NXT Tag Team Championships - Blake & Murphy (c) vs. The Vaudevillains
Before the match, Alexa Bliss gets on the microphone and puts over the champs until Blue Pants comes out to the delight of the crowd. This is my first time seeing both of these teams so excuse me if I'm a tad bit confused about all this. Both teams are really great here, adapting to the size of a huge audience and made each tag and each cover mean something. The Vaudevillains avoid a couple close calls and are able to hit their Whirling Dervish finishing move to gain the victory and the straps. Another good match that didn't blow me away, but really made me more hungry for the rest of the card. Fun stuff and cool to see these guys win the titles. They look like they made an odd gimmick special and run away with it because they just ran away from Brooklyn with gold.
Winners: The Vaudevillains
Rating: ***1/4
Match 3: Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger
As impressive as Apollo Crews looks, he just seems to have that generic babyface gimmick. But boy, this guy is a stud in the ring. Tye Dillinger isn't no joke either. They weren't given much time on the card but for what they had, they made it work. This is also Crews' debut match on NXT so it made sense, they just needed him to go out and basically display his moveset and try to get over with the audience. He accomplished this task and made it look easy in the process. Crews hits a standing moonsault on Dillenger to pick up the win on his birthday. Really impressive finisher and looks like a force that the rest of the roster has to deal with it.
Winner: Apollo Crews
Rating: **1/4
Match 4: Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe
They showed an awesome video package of their feud and like the others, this is my first time seeing Baron Corbin. This guy looks legit and can cut a good promo, he has the perfect opponent in Samoa Joe. Corbin has a huge frame and looks a bit green in the ring but even still, he looked good here against the veteran Joe. Action was stiff but never got out of hand, good enough to please the audience and have a nice match. Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch for the third time after reversing a pin from Corbin to secure the win as Corbin passes out. Just a good strong-style match with lots of punches and hard hits with a very fitting finish. Corbin takes the loss but has the out for it considering he never actually tapped out. Interesting to see where they go with Corbin and Joe after this.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Rating: **3/4
Match 5: NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley
This is the first of two main events of the night and Stephanie McMahon came out beforehand to put over the women's division. Bayley seems like the second coming of AJ Lee, she has a really cool entrance and the crowd seems to like her. But the crowd loves Sasha Banks, including myself. She just looks, walks, and talks like a star. The Boss looked dominant throughout the match, toying with Bayley and showing her dominance with trash talking left and right. Banks even pulls off the wrapping around Bayley's injured hand before pinning the same hand between the ring steps and the apron where Banks kicks the steps with Bayley's hand lodged in between. Awesome. Before Bayley can have time to recover, Banks jumps out of the ring and lands atop of her. More awesome. Banks looks to be even in more control as she locks in her Bank Statement finisher and stomps on the hand of Bayley before Bayley reverses it into her own Bank Statement! Banks is able to get a rope break and continues to be in control soon after. However, Bayley turns the tides and hits a hurricanrana from the top before hitting a second Bayley to Belly to win! Unbelievable, what a match! Told a great story from the beginning, Banks the bully, her focus on Bayley's hand, the incredible finish. Banks then congratulates Bayley along with Charlotte and Becky Lynch afterwards. This is a fine line between ****3/4 and a perfect *****. It was tough, but I feel like the ***** is more fitting after a quick thought. There really weren't any flaws and from start to finish, they had me locked in. Whatever your rating is, watch this. You won't find a better match than that in any women's division in any company.
Winner: Bayley
Rating: *****
Match 6: NXT Championship - Ladder - Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Chills seeing Kevin Owens make his way down the ramp and shout at the top of his lungs in the middle of the ring. Even more chills when Finn Balor makes an awesome entrance down to the ring with the crowd behind his back. It's on. The main event. The NXT Championship. Owens is such a cool heel, sitting down and reclining on a chair while all of this goes down. Really, what can I say about this match? You already know it's going to be good. You already know they're going to tear the house down. The rematch from last month's The Beast in the East is an even bigger one, a ladder match in front of a full Barclays Center. Ladder matches tend to get repetitive but I felt like this one was and felt more special. It was two guys going balls out and trying to make a statement with some innovative spots like Balor's Coup de Grace off the top of the ladder or Owens falling hard on a ladder set horizontally from the corner of the ring and on another ladder. Both guys were stars in their own rights here, especially Owens. Owens is such a boisterous heel, constantly screaming at Balor and mocking the crowd. He was definitely making the most out of his main event slot. However, it was Balor who got the last laugh as he was able to grab the title hung up and secure the win. If that was Owens' graduation match from NXT, what a way to go out. Good stuff all around.
Winner: Finn Balor
Rating: ****1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another strong NXT outing with two incredible main events. But aside from that, everything else was on point. From the production to the extremely hot crowd, two and a half hours went by in a hurry. This was my first real time checking out an NXT show and I was definitely not disappointed. Check this out.
Rating: 9/10
Seeing the legend that is Jushin "Thunder" Liger on a WWE stage is awesome. The reception he received was simply incredible. Tyler Breeze isn't a joke, this guy just looks like a star and his cool New York entrance proves it. Having these guys open up the show is perfect, Liger was able to get in his signature moves while Breeze was able to show his disrespect throughout the match. However, Liger would get in the last laugh, taking selfies with Breeze's props and finally hitting a Liger Bomb in a WWE ring to secure the win! Would have been cool to see Breeze get the win but either way, it was a damn good opener and the crowd was absolutely hot from the beginning to the finish.
Winner: Jushin "Thunder" Liger
Rating: ***
Match 2: NXT Tag Team Championships - Blake & Murphy (c) vs. The Vaudevillains
Before the match, Alexa Bliss gets on the microphone and puts over the champs until Blue Pants comes out to the delight of the crowd. This is my first time seeing both of these teams so excuse me if I'm a tad bit confused about all this. Both teams are really great here, adapting to the size of a huge audience and made each tag and each cover mean something. The Vaudevillains avoid a couple close calls and are able to hit their Whirling Dervish finishing move to gain the victory and the straps. Another good match that didn't blow me away, but really made me more hungry for the rest of the card. Fun stuff and cool to see these guys win the titles. They look like they made an odd gimmick special and run away with it because they just ran away from Brooklyn with gold.
Winners: The Vaudevillains
Rating: ***1/4
Match 3: Apollo Crews vs. Tye Dillinger
As impressive as Apollo Crews looks, he just seems to have that generic babyface gimmick. But boy, this guy is a stud in the ring. Tye Dillinger isn't no joke either. They weren't given much time on the card but for what they had, they made it work. This is also Crews' debut match on NXT so it made sense, they just needed him to go out and basically display his moveset and try to get over with the audience. He accomplished this task and made it look easy in the process. Crews hits a standing moonsault on Dillenger to pick up the win on his birthday. Really impressive finisher and looks like a force that the rest of the roster has to deal with it.
Winner: Apollo Crews
Rating: **1/4
Match 4: Baron Corbin vs. Samoa Joe
They showed an awesome video package of their feud and like the others, this is my first time seeing Baron Corbin. This guy looks legit and can cut a good promo, he has the perfect opponent in Samoa Joe. Corbin has a huge frame and looks a bit green in the ring but even still, he looked good here against the veteran Joe. Action was stiff but never got out of hand, good enough to please the audience and have a nice match. Joe locks in the Coquina Clutch for the third time after reversing a pin from Corbin to secure the win as Corbin passes out. Just a good strong-style match with lots of punches and hard hits with a very fitting finish. Corbin takes the loss but has the out for it considering he never actually tapped out. Interesting to see where they go with Corbin and Joe after this.
Winner: Samoa Joe
Rating: **3/4
Match 5: NXT Women's Championship - Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley
This is the first of two main events of the night and Stephanie McMahon came out beforehand to put over the women's division. Bayley seems like the second coming of AJ Lee, she has a really cool entrance and the crowd seems to like her. But the crowd loves Sasha Banks, including myself. She just looks, walks, and talks like a star. The Boss looked dominant throughout the match, toying with Bayley and showing her dominance with trash talking left and right. Banks even pulls off the wrapping around Bayley's injured hand before pinning the same hand between the ring steps and the apron where Banks kicks the steps with Bayley's hand lodged in between. Awesome. Before Bayley can have time to recover, Banks jumps out of the ring and lands atop of her. More awesome. Banks looks to be even in more control as she locks in her Bank Statement finisher and stomps on the hand of Bayley before Bayley reverses it into her own Bank Statement! Banks is able to get a rope break and continues to be in control soon after. However, Bayley turns the tides and hits a hurricanrana from the top before hitting a second Bayley to Belly to win! Unbelievable, what a match! Told a great story from the beginning, Banks the bully, her focus on Bayley's hand, the incredible finish. Banks then congratulates Bayley along with Charlotte and Becky Lynch afterwards. This is a fine line between ****3/4 and a perfect *****. It was tough, but I feel like the ***** is more fitting after a quick thought. There really weren't any flaws and from start to finish, they had me locked in. Whatever your rating is, watch this. You won't find a better match than that in any women's division in any company.
Winner: Bayley
Rating: *****
Match 6: NXT Championship - Ladder - Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Chills seeing Kevin Owens make his way down the ramp and shout at the top of his lungs in the middle of the ring. Even more chills when Finn Balor makes an awesome entrance down to the ring with the crowd behind his back. It's on. The main event. The NXT Championship. Owens is such a cool heel, sitting down and reclining on a chair while all of this goes down. Really, what can I say about this match? You already know it's going to be good. You already know they're going to tear the house down. The rematch from last month's The Beast in the East is an even bigger one, a ladder match in front of a full Barclays Center. Ladder matches tend to get repetitive but I felt like this one was and felt more special. It was two guys going balls out and trying to make a statement with some innovative spots like Balor's Coup de Grace off the top of the ladder or Owens falling hard on a ladder set horizontally from the corner of the ring and on another ladder. Both guys were stars in their own rights here, especially Owens. Owens is such a boisterous heel, constantly screaming at Balor and mocking the crowd. He was definitely making the most out of his main event slot. However, it was Balor who got the last laugh as he was able to grab the title hung up and secure the win. If that was Owens' graduation match from NXT, what a way to go out. Good stuff all around.
Winner: Finn Balor
Rating: ****1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another strong NXT outing with two incredible main events. But aside from that, everything else was on point. From the production to the extremely hot crowd, two and a half hours went by in a hurry. This was my first real time checking out an NXT show and I was definitely not disappointed. Check this out.
Rating: 9/10
Thursday, August 6, 2015
WWE Summerslam 2006 Review
Match 1: Chavo Guerrero vs. Rey Mysterio
The opening contest of the night features two guys who are fighting for the same thing, the honor of Eddie Guerrero. They play videos before the match of the strong bonds these guys had with Eddie, really touching to watch and added another layer to the match to make things personal. The action was fine but nothing incredible, Rey Mysterio just had that insane chemistry against Eddie that he just can't find against Chavo. Nearing the end, Vickie Guerrero comes out and does her best to stop the match. She really just makes the match annoying more than anything else as all we can hear are her constant screams. She accidentally knocks Mysterio off the top rope as Chavo takes advantage and hits a Frog Splash for the win. Good match with a faulty finish. I understand that they wanted Vickie to cost Mysterio the match, but this just felt so odd.
Winner: Chavo Guerrero
Rating: **3/4
Match 2: ECW Championship - Extreme Rules - The Big Show (c) vs. Sabu
This match is so WWE in 2006. Both Joey Styles & Tazz are doing their best to hype this match but I think deep down, they both know this is pretty ridiculous. This is the first time the ECW Championship has been defended on the Summerslam stage as The Big Show defends the gold against Sabu. This was a fun mess of a match. They couldn't do much here so they covered it up with table spots. And it actually worked. Sabu drove Big Show through two tables and the crowd responded nicely to them both. However, his little botch after running atop one of the tables was pretty hilarious. Sabu wanted to drive Show through another table but ran into a Chokeslam through it for Show to win and retain his belt. Surprisingly, this wasn't as painful as expected aside from Sabu's botch on the second table spot. Either way, decent Summerslam match but odd to have on the card considering there's another hardcore match on the show.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: *1/2
Match 3: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton
This feels like last year all over again with Hulk Hogan being prominently featured on another Summerslam show. This time, it's against the young, brash Randy Orton. And this time, Hogan puts his opponent over. One of those things I just typed is true and it's not the latter. Crowd is hot for both guys and it's pretty split as tons of boos and cheers are ringing down for both guys. The match was pretty much what you would expect. There really isn't much to be said. It didn't really carry the same vibe or flow like his match last year against Shawn Michaels but Orton held his own and carried Hogan to a damn good match. Orton looked to score the win at one point by hitting his RKO until the referee discovered Hogan's foot was on the bottom rope. Hogan then Hulks up, points, kicks, and drops for the win. Having Orton go up against the biggest legend of all time makes sense, but he's definitely in a tight spot. There's no reason at all for Hogan to be going over guys like Shawn Michaels or Randy Orton. They actively compete on the roster while Hogan does not at all. A loss against either does not hurt Hogan's reputation whatsoever, but a loss for Michaels or Orton baffles the audience. Why are these guys losing to an old man? How am I supposed to believe these guys are legitimate main eventers? Sure, the argument can be made that Orton even being in the same match as Hogan is cool but to me, what really did any of this accomplish? Where does Orton even go from here? Plus, they didn't even let Orton drop Hogan after the match!
Winner: Hulk Hogan
Rating: **3/4
Match 4: I Quit - Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair
After seeing Hulk Hogan back in the ring, we get to see Mick Foley and Ric Flair. What year is this? The two have had bad blood for years and there was tons of blood here. Foley scored advantage of the match as he brought out the barbed wire early on. They made it clear that their feud was finishing here. From Foley wrapping Mr. Socko in barbed wire to him cracking Flair against the face with a board of barbed wire, the blood was flowing. Oh, and don't forget the thumbtacks. But once Flair turned the tables towards his way, things never came back. Foley looked like a mess and Flair was taking advantage of it. Beating him down with a baseball bat covered in barbed wire before Melina comes out and throws in the white towel for Foley. The match continues after Flair denounces Melina being able to make the call. Flair then threatens to beat Melina which leads for Foley to quit. A pretty good and bloody match that told a great story, too. Just weird to see them settling the score in a 2006 match.
Winner: Ric Flair
Rating: ***1/4
Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship - King Booker (c) vs. Batista
This is Batista's first World Heavyweight Championship bout since returning from injury. JBL lets us know that Batista has not competed in a contest of this magnitude for nine months so if there's anyway for Batista to win, it's to finish King Booker early or let the King's conditioning take over. These two had an off-screen altercation during a photo shoot which JBL teased about during the match. He was pretty locked in as a commentator here. They were having a stalemate of a match, nobody really picking up any advantages here and the crowd never really got into the action. Batista looked to score the win by hitting a Batista Bomb before Queen Sharmell jumped on top of Batista and the referee called for the bell. While it's pretty inarguable that they don't have the best chemistry ever, I personally enjoyed the ten minutes of action they gave us here. It leads to a bigger rematch down the road and anticipates more of Batista recapturing the gold.
Winner: Batista
Rating: **1/2
Match 6: D-Generation X vs. Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon
This feud just won't go away. Before the bell tolls, The McMahons call out their goons in Mr. Kennedy, William Regal, & Finlay to take out DX. However, DX still gets the job done until The Big Show appears and runs rampant. He then landed a Chokeslam on Triple H through the announcers table. The McMahons then walk to the ring where they take out Shawn Michaels before Triple H does his best to mount a comeback. Umaga then comes out to the ring and hits a Samoan Spike on The Game and as he approaches Michaels, Kane comes out for the awesome save! I should note that The McMahons hilariously copied other famous tag teams by mocking their finishing moves. Anyway, the match still looks in favor for The McMahons but the tides turn when Shane McMahon wanted to hit his patented Coast to Coast on Triple H but was greeted by a Sweet Chin Music on the way down! Michaels then hits one on Vince McMahon as Triple H then landed a Pedigree following it. Never a dull moment, a regular tag match definitely wasn't the best route here and they probably figured as much. Through all the antics, they made it as entertaining as possible and the crowd ate it up. Good tag match here that definitely beat all expectations.
Winners: D-Generation X
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE Championship - Edge (c) vs. John Cena
The main event for the 2006 edition of Summerslam has John Cena looking to regain the WWE Championship from Edge in a match where if Edge gets disqualified, the title switches hands. The chemistry the two have here is just fantastic. For all the flack Cena gets, he does a great job of selling the match and his opponents. And don't forget about Edge, this is him at the top of his game. Telling a great story in the ring, trying to score the count out victory numerous times throughout the match, and his hilarious facial expressions when Lita hands him a chair or the belt to hit Cena with. The main problem I had with this match is the same one we tend to have with lots of Cena matches. Edge was in control for so much of the match, it was almost as if Cena's offense was strictly coming off of rebounds. This strategy works for him most of the time but Cena just had his dad slapped in the face by Edge, why isn't he rushing this guy? But through all that, the match was great and the finish was awesome. Lita slips Edge a pair of brass knuckles and off a distraction, Edge drills Cena in the back of the head with a thunderous shot that knocks Cena cold out. Cena did a great job of selling the shot and Jim Ross on commentary was nothing short of brilliant to boot. Edge celebrates with Lita as Cena looks on in disbelief. Great ending to the show and really cool to see the heel walk out of a Summerslam PPV as the champ.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ***3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Definitely one of the more disappointing Summerslams in recent memory. Hulk Hogan going over, the bland undercard matches, and a disqualification finish for the World Heavyweight Championship all left a bad taste in my mouth. Thankfully, the last two matches were easy to watch but they didn't have enough firepower to save the show.
Rating: 6/10
The opening contest of the night features two guys who are fighting for the same thing, the honor of Eddie Guerrero. They play videos before the match of the strong bonds these guys had with Eddie, really touching to watch and added another layer to the match to make things personal. The action was fine but nothing incredible, Rey Mysterio just had that insane chemistry against Eddie that he just can't find against Chavo. Nearing the end, Vickie Guerrero comes out and does her best to stop the match. She really just makes the match annoying more than anything else as all we can hear are her constant screams. She accidentally knocks Mysterio off the top rope as Chavo takes advantage and hits a Frog Splash for the win. Good match with a faulty finish. I understand that they wanted Vickie to cost Mysterio the match, but this just felt so odd.
Winner: Chavo Guerrero
Rating: **3/4
Match 2: ECW Championship - Extreme Rules - The Big Show (c) vs. Sabu
This match is so WWE in 2006. Both Joey Styles & Tazz are doing their best to hype this match but I think deep down, they both know this is pretty ridiculous. This is the first time the ECW Championship has been defended on the Summerslam stage as The Big Show defends the gold against Sabu. This was a fun mess of a match. They couldn't do much here so they covered it up with table spots. And it actually worked. Sabu drove Big Show through two tables and the crowd responded nicely to them both. However, his little botch after running atop one of the tables was pretty hilarious. Sabu wanted to drive Show through another table but ran into a Chokeslam through it for Show to win and retain his belt. Surprisingly, this wasn't as painful as expected aside from Sabu's botch on the second table spot. Either way, decent Summerslam match but odd to have on the card considering there's another hardcore match on the show.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: *1/2
Match 3: Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Orton
This feels like last year all over again with Hulk Hogan being prominently featured on another Summerslam show. This time, it's against the young, brash Randy Orton. And this time, Hogan puts his opponent over. One of those things I just typed is true and it's not the latter. Crowd is hot for both guys and it's pretty split as tons of boos and cheers are ringing down for both guys. The match was pretty much what you would expect. There really isn't much to be said. It didn't really carry the same vibe or flow like his match last year against Shawn Michaels but Orton held his own and carried Hogan to a damn good match. Orton looked to score the win at one point by hitting his RKO until the referee discovered Hogan's foot was on the bottom rope. Hogan then Hulks up, points, kicks, and drops for the win. Having Orton go up against the biggest legend of all time makes sense, but he's definitely in a tight spot. There's no reason at all for Hogan to be going over guys like Shawn Michaels or Randy Orton. They actively compete on the roster while Hogan does not at all. A loss against either does not hurt Hogan's reputation whatsoever, but a loss for Michaels or Orton baffles the audience. Why are these guys losing to an old man? How am I supposed to believe these guys are legitimate main eventers? Sure, the argument can be made that Orton even being in the same match as Hogan is cool but to me, what really did any of this accomplish? Where does Orton even go from here? Plus, they didn't even let Orton drop Hogan after the match!
Winner: Hulk Hogan
Rating: **3/4
Match 4: I Quit - Mick Foley vs. Ric Flair
After seeing Hulk Hogan back in the ring, we get to see Mick Foley and Ric Flair. What year is this? The two have had bad blood for years and there was tons of blood here. Foley scored advantage of the match as he brought out the barbed wire early on. They made it clear that their feud was finishing here. From Foley wrapping Mr. Socko in barbed wire to him cracking Flair against the face with a board of barbed wire, the blood was flowing. Oh, and don't forget the thumbtacks. But once Flair turned the tables towards his way, things never came back. Foley looked like a mess and Flair was taking advantage of it. Beating him down with a baseball bat covered in barbed wire before Melina comes out and throws in the white towel for Foley. The match continues after Flair denounces Melina being able to make the call. Flair then threatens to beat Melina which leads for Foley to quit. A pretty good and bloody match that told a great story, too. Just weird to see them settling the score in a 2006 match.
Winner: Ric Flair
Rating: ***1/4
Match 5: World Heavyweight Championship - King Booker (c) vs. Batista
This is Batista's first World Heavyweight Championship bout since returning from injury. JBL lets us know that Batista has not competed in a contest of this magnitude for nine months so if there's anyway for Batista to win, it's to finish King Booker early or let the King's conditioning take over. These two had an off-screen altercation during a photo shoot which JBL teased about during the match. He was pretty locked in as a commentator here. They were having a stalemate of a match, nobody really picking up any advantages here and the crowd never really got into the action. Batista looked to score the win by hitting a Batista Bomb before Queen Sharmell jumped on top of Batista and the referee called for the bell. While it's pretty inarguable that they don't have the best chemistry ever, I personally enjoyed the ten minutes of action they gave us here. It leads to a bigger rematch down the road and anticipates more of Batista recapturing the gold.
Winner: Batista
Rating: **1/2
Match 6: D-Generation X vs. Vince McMahon & Shane McMahon
This feud just won't go away. Before the bell tolls, The McMahons call out their goons in Mr. Kennedy, William Regal, & Finlay to take out DX. However, DX still gets the job done until The Big Show appears and runs rampant. He then landed a Chokeslam on Triple H through the announcers table. The McMahons then walk to the ring where they take out Shawn Michaels before Triple H does his best to mount a comeback. Umaga then comes out to the ring and hits a Samoan Spike on The Game and as he approaches Michaels, Kane comes out for the awesome save! I should note that The McMahons hilariously copied other famous tag teams by mocking their finishing moves. Anyway, the match still looks in favor for The McMahons but the tides turn when Shane McMahon wanted to hit his patented Coast to Coast on Triple H but was greeted by a Sweet Chin Music on the way down! Michaels then hits one on Vince McMahon as Triple H then landed a Pedigree following it. Never a dull moment, a regular tag match definitely wasn't the best route here and they probably figured as much. Through all the antics, they made it as entertaining as possible and the crowd ate it up. Good tag match here that definitely beat all expectations.
Winners: D-Generation X
Rating: ***
Match 7: WWE Championship - Edge (c) vs. John Cena
The main event for the 2006 edition of Summerslam has John Cena looking to regain the WWE Championship from Edge in a match where if Edge gets disqualified, the title switches hands. The chemistry the two have here is just fantastic. For all the flack Cena gets, he does a great job of selling the match and his opponents. And don't forget about Edge, this is him at the top of his game. Telling a great story in the ring, trying to score the count out victory numerous times throughout the match, and his hilarious facial expressions when Lita hands him a chair or the belt to hit Cena with. The main problem I had with this match is the same one we tend to have with lots of Cena matches. Edge was in control for so much of the match, it was almost as if Cena's offense was strictly coming off of rebounds. This strategy works for him most of the time but Cena just had his dad slapped in the face by Edge, why isn't he rushing this guy? But through all that, the match was great and the finish was awesome. Lita slips Edge a pair of brass knuckles and off a distraction, Edge drills Cena in the back of the head with a thunderous shot that knocks Cena cold out. Cena did a great job of selling the shot and Jim Ross on commentary was nothing short of brilliant to boot. Edge celebrates with Lita as Cena looks on in disbelief. Great ending to the show and really cool to see the heel walk out of a Summerslam PPV as the champ.
Winner: Edge
Rating: ***3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Definitely one of the more disappointing Summerslams in recent memory. Hulk Hogan going over, the bland undercard matches, and a disqualification finish for the World Heavyweight Championship all left a bad taste in my mouth. Thankfully, the last two matches were easy to watch but they didn't have enough firepower to save the show.
Rating: 6/10
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