This is it. The famous Invasion feud that took place in 2001 made its arrival to PPV when Stone Cold Steve Austin led Team WWF against Team WCW/ECW in an ultimate match throughout an ultimate night of wars for company supremacy.
Match 1: Edge & Christian vs. Lance Storm & Mike Awesome
The
first match of the WWF vs. WCW PPV features two top teams from each
company. Edge & Christian face off against WCW's Lance Storm
& Mike Awesome. Jim Ross on commentary is quick to note the
Canadian flavor to the match. Action was pretty basic but definitely fun
to watch, easy to forget how fundamentally sound Storm is. But Edge
& Christian are as good as it gets for tag team wrestling. They
really know how to build a match from a slower pace to a fast and
frantic finish. Both teams get in a nice amount of offense before
Christian hits a Spear on Mike Awesome as he was about to hit an Awesome
Bomb on Edge. Good finish and a good match to start the show. They
established the companies feuding early on, the referees being picked
via coin toss, and took into account the crowd that was more partisan
towards the WWF.
Winners: Edge & Christian
Rating: ***
Match 2: Earl Hebner vs. Nick Patrick
Mick
Foley is the guest referee here as WWF's senior referee goes against
WCW's senior official. What a weird match this was. Earl Hebner gets in
more offense as the two just basically punch each other before their
teams get involved. The WCW officials kicked Hebner when he was on the
floor which led to Foley tossing them out. Back in the ring, Hebner hits
an ugly Spear of sorts for the win. Foley then introduces Nick Patrick
to Mr. Socko soon after. That was dumb, really dumb.
Winner: Earl Hebner
Rating: 1/4*
Match 3: APA vs. Sean O'Haire & Chuck Palumbo
This
is the second tag match of the night and it is between each company's
tag champions. This felt more of a squash match than anything. It's
almost as if WWF is making the whole show make WCW look like a
completely inferior brand, imagine that. Some decent and quick action
that saw Bradshaw hit Chuck Palumbo with a nice Clothesline from Hell to
win the match and Team WWF is undefeated in the first three matches of
the night.
Winners: APA
Rating: *1/4
Match 4: Billy Kidman vs. X-Pac
This
match features WWF's Light Heavyweight Champion taking on WCW's
Cruiserweight Champion. They needed a match to get WCW back on the board
and this was it. This match felt like a breath of fresh air for the
night, faster and more fluid action from the two experienced wrestlers.
Crowd was pretty split for this one and it made for a change of pace as
the WWF-sided crowd finally wanted a WCW guy to score a win. Despite the
crowd's disdain for X-Pac, he put on a good performance here with
Kidman getting the advantage as he was able to hit his Shooting Star
Press.
Winner: Billy Kidman
Rating: **1/2
Match 5: Raven vs. William Regal
After
WCW gets on the board, Raven looks to make it two in a row as he is the
first ECW representative. As you would expect and wouldn't expect, this
was a slow-paced wrestling match that Willaim Regal has become famous
for. And seeing him go against someone with a different style like Raven
is really interesting to watch. Very methodical and very psychological
wrestling which didn't seem to fare too well with the audience, but
that's nothing new. Tazz runs out and drops Regal with a suplex as the
referee was distracted which led to Raven hitting his finisher for the
win. Two wins in a row for Team WCW/ECW.
Winner: Raven
Rating: *1/2
Match 6: Billy Gunn, The Big Show & Albert vs. Shawn Stasiak, Hugh Morrus & Chris Kanyon
Talk
about a filler of a match. Just a forgettable match to simply get these
guys on the card that saw Shawn Stasiak help score his team the win to
even up the scoreboard. Basic match that led to the WWF guys laying waste to the WCW/ECW guys. Sign of things to come as a point is still added to the WCW/ECW side despite the result after the match.
Winners: Shawn Stasiak, Hugh Morrus & Chris Kanyon
Rating: *1/4
Match 7: Tazz vs. Tajiri
Always thought it was a shame the way the WWF treated Tazz, dude was so good. Loved his style and loved how it meshed here against Tajiri in this quick match. Crowd was definitely more into this match after the dull tag match before this with some sweet kicks and tosses from both guys. Tajiri spits out the green mist before landing a sweet Buzzsaw Kick to win the match for himself and the WWF.
Winner: Tajiri
Rating: **1/4
Match 8: Hardcore Championship - Jeff Hardy (c) vs. Rob Van Dam
This is the only match on the card with a title on the line as Rob Van Dam looks to take one of WWF's championships to the other side. This match unfortunately gets overlooked too much because of the main event but these two guys brought the goods here. They brought the fight around into the stands and pulled out some daring spots like RVD shoving Jeff Hardy off the ladder to the floor and RVD kicking a steel chair into Hardy's face that saw him fall off the stage. Hardy looked to seal the win with a Swanton Bomb before RVD reversed it and hit a Five Star Frog Splash as the Hardcore Championship was placed on Hardy's body for it. Sweet finish to a great match, definitely one of the few highlights of the night.
Winner: Rob Van Dam
Rating: ***3/4
Match 9: Bra & Panties - Stacy Keibler & Torrie Wilson vs. Trish Stratus & Lita
Once
again, Mick Foley has the unenviable task of being referee again as the
four top female competitors go up against each other. This was the
typical stupid fun you would expect as Jim Ross & Michael Cole
do their best to make the match bearable aside from the ladies ripping
their clothes off. Tris Stratus & Lita literally pull off the
easy win as we head to the main event. What else do you want me to say?
Winners: Trish Stratus & Lita
Rating: 1/2*
Match 10: Inaugural Brawl - Stone Cold Steve Austin, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Kane & The Undertaker vs. D.D.P., Booker T, Rhyno & The Dudley Boyz
Wow, this is one of the most star-studded main events that I can remember. What I really loved about this match was the fact that everybody had a reason to win the match for their team. From Steve Austin simply standing up as the leader for Team WWF or The Undertaker looking to destroy D.D.P. for stalking his wife. To be upfront, I liked this match. But I feel like there were so many missed opportunities and only maybe until the finishing stretch did I actually feel like this was a war. It made sense to have Vince McMahon in the corner for Team WWF and Shane McMahon, Stephanie McMahon and Paul Heyman in the corner for Team WCW/ECW, but the constant focus on them become quite the annoyance. The action was fine but like I said, it was the finishing stretch that really defined this match. The table spots outside the ring were fun, Undertaker going after D.D.P. was cool, and the pop that Kurt Angle was receiving was incredible. Angle looked to wrap things up for Team WWF when he had Booker T tapping out to the Ankle Lock. But a previous referee bump was not in the line of sight. Austin then tossed the referee into the ring but Austin takes out Angle! The referee is in shock as Austin places Booker T upon Angle's body. A shocking moment as the Invasion story takes a drastic turn with Austin now representing Team WCW/ECW. The WWF referee showing remorse in making the count was such a nice touch. Great way to end the show and a great way to really kick out the big feud. Takes me back to watching this as a kid and being so shocked at Austin. Good times.
Winners:
Rating: ****
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
A very disappointing PPV start for the sport's biggest feud in history. They put all their eggs in one basket by focusing on the main event that the rest of the card just felt so poorly put together and so rushed. However, the show accomplished its main purpose in furthering the feud along with having Stone Cold Steve Austin turn to the dark side. Even still, it doesn't justify a bad card.
Rating: 5.25/10
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Sunday, September 13, 2015
WWE Night of Champions 2009 Review
Match 1: Unified Tag Team Championships - Chris Jericho & The Big Show (c) vs. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
Before the match, Chris Jericho comes out and talks trash against his former partner in Edge and bashes him for being prone to injury. He then introduces his new partner, The Big Show. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase have a look of disbelief on their faces as their chances to make sure Legacy walks out with all the gold have dwindled. The Legacy team did a good job of keeping Big Show out of the match and singling out against Jericho. However, once Show got into the ring, it was a whole new match. Show came in to clean house and once he locked in his Colossal Clutch finisher, game over. Decent match but didn't come strong enough for the debut of Jericho's new teammate. However, after reading Jericho's The Best in the World book, everything made sense. He wanted to reinvigorate Show's career and make him look like a beast again. This match right here was the perfect start.
Winners: Chris Jericho & The Big Show
Rating: *3/4
Match 2: ECW Championship - Tommy Dreamer (c) vs. Christian
This is Tommy Dreamer's "triumphant return" to Philadelphia as the ECW Champion where he defends his gold against Christian. I forgot how hilarious Matt Striker is as he totally exaggerates enormously to everything from the crowd responses to noting that the title has changed numerous times in the city. Regardless, I enjoyed this match. It sucks that they don't make the ECW Championship feel like a bigger deal but they still put on a good match as both guys got in an equal amount of offense. Nobody was in the driver's seat and the cool finish saw Dreamer reverse a Killswitch from Christian into a DDT before Christian reversed once more to hit his Killswitch. Good match, another strong ECW match for Christian's 2009 hot streak. It was pretty evident that Dreamer's title run was simply WWE's way of saying thanks. Good match but nothing to get too excited over.
Winner: Christian
Rating: ***1/4
Match 3: United States Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Carlito vs. Jack Swagger vs. The Miz vs. Primo vs. MVP
Definitely like how they went for the six-man match instead of a singles match, keeps the show fresh considering there are so many title defenses. The hard part comes in keeping things interesting throughout the match and they did a fine job here. Primo is The Big Show's replacement and he played his role great as he had to also compete against his brother in Carlito. The match was fun but wasn't as chaotic and hectic as you would hoped for. But that isn't to say that this was a bad match because it far and away was not. Good pacing and some cool spots to get the crowd going. Ending came when Carlito hits his Back Stabber finisher on his brother until Kingston lands a Trouble in Paradise right after to retain the title.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: ***
Match 4: Women's Championship - Michelle McCool (c) vs. Melina
Before the match even starts, Michelle McCool kicks Melina as she does her signature pose on the apron. This is their rematch from last month and things definitely seem more heated this time around. Everyone complains that the Divas need more time in the ring to develop better matches and they definitely got it here. But the match quality really wasn't anything out of the ordinary. With that being said, I am a fan of both these competitors and felt like they could have done more here. McCool gets a second win over Melina and retains the gold.
Winner: Michelle McCool
Rating: *1/2
Match 5: WWE Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena vs. Triple H
The rematch everybody wanted to see, right? If I had a dime for every time these guys faced off against each other on PPV. Revisiting this show, it's almost impossible for me to get excited to give this match another watch. Randy Orton continues to play the role as the wild card as John Cena and Triple H continue their beef with one another. While it admittedly was hard to really soak my teeth into the match, it didn't feel like a chore to watch. These three are definitely more than experienced with one another which made the fluidity cleaner and the match itself easier to watch. They also knew when to kick it into second gear. They took the fight out to the announce table outside where they continued back in the ring where both Cena and Triple H locked Orton in submissions at the same time. Orton taps as the referee wraps his arms around his head looking like a complete idiot and losing any credibility in this match. Finally, DiBiase & Rhodes come out for the save as Orton is able to hit an RKO on Cena to retain. That ending was ridiculous. Some may have thought it was clever but that just made the match lose all credibility and made both the referee look stupid and Orton look weak in the process. Orton retains but at a cost.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Match 6: Divas Championship - Maryse (c) vs. Mickie James
A second Divas match. The Philadelphia crowd is absolutely dead for this one. This was almost like watching a carbon copy of the Divas match earlier. Mickie James tries to get the crowd going by bringing out the hairspray but nobody cares as the referee then takes it away. Pointless to the max. James is able to hit her DDT finisher on Maryse to win the gold as the crowd mildly reacts accordingly.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: 1/2*
Match 7: Intercontinental Championship - Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
It's easy to forget how incredible SmackDown was in 2009 since it's always overshadowed from the 2003 version. But this feud was one of 2009's best from the blue brand. The new Dolph Ziggler looking to make a statement against the champ in Rey Mysterio. No complaints for Ziggler here, holding his own against the faster Mysterio and the two had some great exchanges and cool spots. Ziggler looked legit here. And if there was any doubt, Jim Ross is simply the best in the game. Nobody knows how to build a superstar like him. Constantly pointing out how good the younger Ziggler looks against the more experienced Mysterio. Really makes the viewer believe that a title change wouldn't be so surprising. The only real problem I had with this match was the finish. The 619 came out a little out of nowhere and little too fast. In a way, it made sense if you consider that Ziggler's inexperience quickly led him to lose the match. But Ziggler needed a match like this to really get him over and a better finish would have been nicer.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: World Heavyweight Championship - CM Punk (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
Seemingly out of nowhere, this feud came in and swept the wrestling world by storm in 2009. Both guys were coming off an amazing 2008 and here they are in 2009, headlining PPVs. This is Jeff Hardy's rematch from The Bash where CM Punk kicked the referee in the back for the disqualification. This match was just hard for me to get into. As good as Jim Ross was (again) on commentary and doing his best to build the match, I felt like there should have been more. There needed to be more aggression and that wasn't really what we got here. But that isn't to say I didn't enjoy the match. The first few minutes were a bit slow but once it picked up, they brought the pretty quiet crowd back to life. Hardy failed to hit his Swanton Bomb twice while Punk was able to hit a GTS for a close count. Punk then grabbed his title and walked up the stage where Hardy attacked him from behind and finally nailed a Swanton Bomb for the win. Hardy was top dog of the company at the time and his win should have been celebrated better. Plus, the finish of Punk walking out was a bit odd but in the same odd way, it made sense. However, this only leads to a bigger and better rematch.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: ***1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
One of WWE's weaker PPV outings. The concept of this PPV has potential but the execution here went south. Some matches were good but nothing too great and nothing really worth going out of the way to watch. The WWE Championship match was the same rehashed match we've seen for a long time and the ending was just ridiculous. The main event had so much more potential but again, the execution fell flat. This was Hardy's big redemption, shouldn't there have been a bigger deal? This show should have been so much better than what we got.
Rating: 6/10
Before the match, Chris Jericho comes out and talks trash against his former partner in Edge and bashes him for being prone to injury. He then introduces his new partner, The Big Show. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase have a look of disbelief on their faces as their chances to make sure Legacy walks out with all the gold have dwindled. The Legacy team did a good job of keeping Big Show out of the match and singling out against Jericho. However, once Show got into the ring, it was a whole new match. Show came in to clean house and once he locked in his Colossal Clutch finisher, game over. Decent match but didn't come strong enough for the debut of Jericho's new teammate. However, after reading Jericho's The Best in the World book, everything made sense. He wanted to reinvigorate Show's career and make him look like a beast again. This match right here was the perfect start.
Winners: Chris Jericho & The Big Show
Rating: *3/4
Match 2: ECW Championship - Tommy Dreamer (c) vs. Christian
This is Tommy Dreamer's "triumphant return" to Philadelphia as the ECW Champion where he defends his gold against Christian. I forgot how hilarious Matt Striker is as he totally exaggerates enormously to everything from the crowd responses to noting that the title has changed numerous times in the city. Regardless, I enjoyed this match. It sucks that they don't make the ECW Championship feel like a bigger deal but they still put on a good match as both guys got in an equal amount of offense. Nobody was in the driver's seat and the cool finish saw Dreamer reverse a Killswitch from Christian into a DDT before Christian reversed once more to hit his Killswitch. Good match, another strong ECW match for Christian's 2009 hot streak. It was pretty evident that Dreamer's title run was simply WWE's way of saying thanks. Good match but nothing to get too excited over.
Winner: Christian
Rating: ***1/4
Match 3: United States Championship - Kofi Kingston (c) vs. Carlito vs. Jack Swagger vs. The Miz vs. Primo vs. MVP
Definitely like how they went for the six-man match instead of a singles match, keeps the show fresh considering there are so many title defenses. The hard part comes in keeping things interesting throughout the match and they did a fine job here. Primo is The Big Show's replacement and he played his role great as he had to also compete against his brother in Carlito. The match was fun but wasn't as chaotic and hectic as you would hoped for. But that isn't to say that this was a bad match because it far and away was not. Good pacing and some cool spots to get the crowd going. Ending came when Carlito hits his Back Stabber finisher on his brother until Kingston lands a Trouble in Paradise right after to retain the title.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: ***
Match 4: Women's Championship - Michelle McCool (c) vs. Melina
Before the match even starts, Michelle McCool kicks Melina as she does her signature pose on the apron. This is their rematch from last month and things definitely seem more heated this time around. Everyone complains that the Divas need more time in the ring to develop better matches and they definitely got it here. But the match quality really wasn't anything out of the ordinary. With that being said, I am a fan of both these competitors and felt like they could have done more here. McCool gets a second win over Melina and retains the gold.
Winner: Michelle McCool
Rating: *1/2
Match 5: WWE Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. John Cena vs. Triple H
The rematch everybody wanted to see, right? If I had a dime for every time these guys faced off against each other on PPV. Revisiting this show, it's almost impossible for me to get excited to give this match another watch. Randy Orton continues to play the role as the wild card as John Cena and Triple H continue their beef with one another. While it admittedly was hard to really soak my teeth into the match, it didn't feel like a chore to watch. These three are definitely more than experienced with one another which made the fluidity cleaner and the match itself easier to watch. They also knew when to kick it into second gear. They took the fight out to the announce table outside where they continued back in the ring where both Cena and Triple H locked Orton in submissions at the same time. Orton taps as the referee wraps his arms around his head looking like a complete idiot and losing any credibility in this match. Finally, DiBiase & Rhodes come out for the save as Orton is able to hit an RKO on Cena to retain. That ending was ridiculous. Some may have thought it was clever but that just made the match lose all credibility and made both the referee look stupid and Orton look weak in the process. Orton retains but at a cost.
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: ***
Match 6: Divas Championship - Maryse (c) vs. Mickie James
A second Divas match. The Philadelphia crowd is absolutely dead for this one. This was almost like watching a carbon copy of the Divas match earlier. Mickie James tries to get the crowd going by bringing out the hairspray but nobody cares as the referee then takes it away. Pointless to the max. James is able to hit her DDT finisher on Maryse to win the gold as the crowd mildly reacts accordingly.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: 1/2*
Match 7: Intercontinental Championship - Rey Mysterio (c) vs. Dolph Ziggler
It's easy to forget how incredible SmackDown was in 2009 since it's always overshadowed from the 2003 version. But this feud was one of 2009's best from the blue brand. The new Dolph Ziggler looking to make a statement against the champ in Rey Mysterio. No complaints for Ziggler here, holding his own against the faster Mysterio and the two had some great exchanges and cool spots. Ziggler looked legit here. And if there was any doubt, Jim Ross is simply the best in the game. Nobody knows how to build a superstar like him. Constantly pointing out how good the younger Ziggler looks against the more experienced Mysterio. Really makes the viewer believe that a title change wouldn't be so surprising. The only real problem I had with this match was the finish. The 619 came out a little out of nowhere and little too fast. In a way, it made sense if you consider that Ziggler's inexperience quickly led him to lose the match. But Ziggler needed a match like this to really get him over and a better finish would have been nicer.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ***1/2
Match 8: World Heavyweight Championship - CM Punk (c) vs. Jeff Hardy
Seemingly out of nowhere, this feud came in and swept the wrestling world by storm in 2009. Both guys were coming off an amazing 2008 and here they are in 2009, headlining PPVs. This is Jeff Hardy's rematch from The Bash where CM Punk kicked the referee in the back for the disqualification. This match was just hard for me to get into. As good as Jim Ross was (again) on commentary and doing his best to build the match, I felt like there should have been more. There needed to be more aggression and that wasn't really what we got here. But that isn't to say I didn't enjoy the match. The first few minutes were a bit slow but once it picked up, they brought the pretty quiet crowd back to life. Hardy failed to hit his Swanton Bomb twice while Punk was able to hit a GTS for a close count. Punk then grabbed his title and walked up the stage where Hardy attacked him from behind and finally nailed a Swanton Bomb for the win. Hardy was top dog of the company at the time and his win should have been celebrated better. Plus, the finish of Punk walking out was a bit odd but in the same odd way, it made sense. However, this only leads to a bigger and better rematch.
Winner: Jeff Hardy
Rating: ***1/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
One of WWE's weaker PPV outings. The concept of this PPV has potential but the execution here went south. Some matches were good but nothing too great and nothing really worth going out of the way to watch. The WWE Championship match was the same rehashed match we've seen for a long time and the ending was just ridiculous. The main event had so much more potential but again, the execution fell flat. This was Hardy's big redemption, shouldn't there have been a bigger deal? This show should have been so much better than what we got.
Rating: 6/10
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