One year after NXT had the biggest TakeOver event in its history, the brand tries to top itself with an even bigger Brooklyn card that featured Asuka putting both her undefeated streak and NXT Women's Championship against Bayley while Shinsuke Nakamura tries to take down the NXT Champion in Samoa Joe.
Match 1: No Way Jose vs. Austin Aries
Good way to open up the match, really love having No Way Jose come out with the conga line of fans around the ring. However, aside from that, his stuff in the ring does not necessarily match up with that charisma. He is talented but nowhere near ready to be placed on the uppercard. He has a tough task in facing the veteran in Austin Aries. The two shared a fair amount of offenses before Aries was able to hit a Last Chancery to secure the win. While nothing spectacular, it was certainly a solid match here that got the crowd going and hungry for more, more than served its purpose. Afterwards, Aries attacks Jose again before Hideo Itami comes out and beats down Aries.
Winner: Austin Aries
Rating: **3/4
Match 2: Billie Kay vs. Ember Moon
Coming into this match, I will admit that I did not know much of the two aside from seeing them on Monday Night Raw in 2018. This was basically a squash match for Ember Moon with Billie Kay being the sacrificial lamb. Kay was able to get a couple moves on Moon but that was it, Moon hit a stunner after launching herself from the top rope to pick up the win. Short match that also served its purpose in getting Moon a spot on the card while letting her showcase her sweet looking finisher.
Winner: Ember Moon
Rating: *
Match 3: Bobby Roode vs. Andrade Almas
Bobby Roode is finally in the WWE! Was always big on Roode from his early days in TNA and I am also a huge fan of Andrade Almas for that matter. Crowd was really into Roode and his glorious theme song with Almas almost being a forgotten second thought. Fun match here that showed the range of wrestlers Roode can hang with along with Almas displaying hints of a charismatic character that will beg for him to be on the main roster someday. Roode secures the win after hitting his Glorious Bomb. While definitely the right call for the white hot Roode to score the win, I wish Almas would have put up a better fight in the process. That dude is money. Mark my words.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Rating: ***
Match 4: NXT Tag Team Championships - The Revival (c) vs. Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano
The team of Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano team up to form the team of #DIY and get a crack at the gold against The Revival. Obviously, the two teams have two completely different styles of wrestling so I knew we were in for a dandy. I know I am going to get some scrutiny for this, but yes, I enjoyed the match but it almost felt like I was watching a glorified indy match. Something I think can be said for many of these NXT matches that always get so much praise. The action flowed nicely but the second half seemed to just focus on them trying to cram in as much offense as they could with as many nearfalls as possible. Go ahead, give me my hate. Regardless, this was still lots of fun to watch and just when you think Ciampa and Gargano had the match in the bag, The Revival came out of nowhere. Finally, a reversed figure four leg lock on Gargano was too much for him to handle as he had no choice to tap since Ciampa had been taken out of the equation. As much as the crowd wanted to see Ciampa and Gargano win, their time will come soon after and it will certainly be sweeter than if they had won here.
Winners: The Revival
Rating: ****
Match 5: NXT Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs. Bayley
Another undefeated streak in the realm of NXT is on the line as the unbeaten Asuka takes on Bayley. A year prior to this, Bayley was featured on the Brooklyn card against Sasha Banks who she ended up beating for the NXT Women's Championship. Much of this match saw Asuka beat down Bayley and almost make her look like an amateur at times, thought this was smart since it made Bayley's retaliating attacks mean more in the second half. This story works well when a super underdog is going against an undefeated monster such as Asuka. Although a little slow in the first half, the second half picked up the pace with Asuka still proving to be too much for Bayley as she was able to successfully pin Bayley. Solid match heading into the main event as the two embrace each other afterwards for their performances before Bayley hugs some NXT alumni who were ringside.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ***1/2
Match 6: NXT Championship - Samoa Joe (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
First off, nobody has a cooler entrance than Shinsuke Nakamura. When I had the opportunity to see it in person for a TakeOver event in San Antonio last year, it was certainly one of the cooler moments I had seen in person. The crowd was insanely hot for this one which of course, doesn't come at a surprise since they are always extra hot for the main event. Loved the beginning of the match where they incorporated an MMA style of match before turning things up an extra gear. Crowd went absolutely bonkers when Nakamura was able to kick out of the Muscle Buster by Samoa Joe. Joe could not believe it and eventually got nailed with a sweet Shinsaka and ate a pin. What a moment and what a match as Nakamura escapes Brooklyn with the biggest win of his career as his music rings in the background while he celebrates with the gold. Fantastic match that may be my favorite one of 2016, so much action and drama that eventually led to a very worthy finish.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Rating: ****3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
What really is there to say? NXT hit it out of the park with another great show before heading into one of WWE's biggest PPVs of the year. Was it their best offering yet? I wouldn't go that far. But still a very memorable show with an incredible main event that may be the match of the year.
Rating: 8/10
Friday, June 22, 2018
Thursday, June 14, 2018
WWE Unforgiven 2005 Review
Edge and Matt Hardy try to solve their love triangle issues with Lita in a steel cage match for the ages before Kurt Angle looks to dethrone John Cena and take his WWE Championship in the main event of Monday Night Raw's exclusive PPV, Unforgiven.
Match 1: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Carlito (c) vs. Ric Flair
Ric Flair has an opportunity to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his storied career here against Carlito. I miss the days of seeing Ric Flair on the Raw roster on a regular basis. The two have been feuding for weeks and even saw Carlito spit an apple in the face of Flair on an edition of Raw. The match served its purpose in getting the crowd going for the first match of the night with Flair doing his usual antics to get nice ovations from the crowd. Carlito looked to spit another apple in the face of Flair but Flair was able to punch Carlito and make him choke on his apple. Flair would then lock in his patented Figure Four to win the match and the Intercontinental Championship in the process. Good opening match with a fun finish as Carlito suffered from choking on an apple and a Figure Four. It was also a cool moment to see Flair celebrate his title victory afterwards.
Winner: Ric Flair
Rating: ***
Match 2: Torrie Wilson and Victoria vs. Trish Stratus and Ashley
Funny to note that this is only the third match in the career or Ashley since she won the Diva Search that year. Always seemed like a slap in the face to the others on the roster. Regardless, it really showed how green Ashley was as some of her moves in this match just made me cringe. Thankfully, most of the action was dependent on Trish Stratus who sealed the win for herself and her partner with a Chick Kick. Moving on.
Winners: Trish Stratus and Ashley
Rating: *
Match 3: The Big Show vs. Snitsky
I really do not have much to say about this match because quite frankly... what is there to say? Just two big guys going at each other for a few minutes until The Big Show was able to hit a Chokeslam on Snitsky to pick up the win. Bland match that really showed how these branded PPVs brought out some of the weakest of matches. Afterwards, Show beats down Snitsky with the ring bell in retribution for what Snitsky did to him on Raw.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: *
Match 4: Kerwin White vs. Shelton Benjamin
Let me admit something, I was never really on that boat that had billed Shelton Benjamin as the most underrated guy on the roster. Was he good? Absolutely. Was he that good? Never really crossed that line for me to say so. And his entrance music is the worst. Regardless, for those who forgot, Kerwin White is Chavo Guerrero who is doing his best to be... well... white. The guys on commentary had a blast teasing Guerrero in the process and it actually came off pretty funny, but I could totally see how one would get annoyed. Benjamin hits his T-Bone Suplex after White tried hitting him with a golf club. Decent match for what it was, just hard to take it seriously when it all just seems like one big joke.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Rating: **1/2
Match 5: Steel Cage - Edge vs. Matt Hardy
One of the hottest feuds of 2005 saw the love triangle between Edge, Matt Hardy and Lita that saw a huge match here at Unforgiven. For a feud that was this heated, it would certainly be a challenge for these guys to keep that intensity throughout. Thankfully, they did and it was a perfect representation of what a steel cage match should be. You could really feel the hate between the two and they kept it at a nice pace throughout until Lita entered the fray. Once Lita got in, the action sped up another notch as Hardy hit a Twist of Fate on her before he kicked out of a Spear from Edge. Finally, Hardy climbed to the top of the cage and dropped a huge leg drop on Edge to pick up the big win. Like I said, this is exactly how a heated feud should be booked with a great steel cage match that had tons of heat and an equal amount of action to go with it. Certainly one of the best steel cage matches I could remember in recent memory from the WWE and definitely one that really made sense from the heated feud they had going on.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Rating: ****1/2
Match 6: WWE World Tag Team Championships - The Hurricane and Rosey (c) vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
Sad to think that two of the guys in this match are no longer with us, best way to keep their memory alive is through watching their work from years past. Basic tag match here with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch still getting their gimmick over as Murdoch even tried snatching a kiss from Lillian Garcia. A DDT on the floor to The Hurricane almost put him out of the match entirely before he returned back inside where Cade and Murdoch hammered the last nail in the coffin. Cade and Murdoch fairly easily secure the championships for the first time. Nothing special here, just a match to bridge the gap between the last match heading into the main events.
Winners: Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
Rating: *1/4
Match 7: Chris Masters vs. Shawn Michaels
Here, we have a 22 year old Chris Masters facing off against the younger and less experienced Shawn Michaels. No? Not funny? WWE was really big on the kid at this time and pitting him against the legend in Michaels could only do wonders for Masters, loss or not. The only problem with Masters at the time... he was really green. You can really tell that Michaels was doing his best to lead the way throughout the way and per usual, did a great job in the process. Masters had a sweet finisher in the Masterlock submission hold and was able to lock it in against Michaels before Michaels grabbed on to the referee and low blowed Masters. Soon after, Michaels was able to hit a Sweet Chin Music for the win. Nothing spectacular, but a good match to have on the card and a smart call to have this match go on before the main event instead of the steel cage match. The steel cage match likely would have taken too much energy from the crowd and this one was enough for the crowd to stay interested in the show but not enough for them to be completely drained out.
Winner: Shawn Michaels
Rating: ***
Match 8: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle
Eric Bischoff's journey to dethroning John Cena has taken serious twists and turns on many editions of Monday Night Raw. This is also Cena's first year as the WWE Champion and for those who forgot, he wasn't always guaranteeing a great match. Much of the hate that came against Cena was that his matches were too one-dimensional in that he would always get tossed around for the entirety of the match before hitting his main moves in the end to pick up the win. That was definitely much of the case here as Kurt Angle was handling Cena easily throughout the better part of the match. However, the match takes a huge turn when the referee gets knocked out and Bischoff comes out to taunt Cena who was stuck in an Ankle Lock by Angle. Cena is able to escape and nails Angle with the WWE Championship belt which the referee sees and disqualifies Cena for. Cena retains the championship via disqualification loss to Angle. Angle tries to take out Cena after the match but only eats an FU through the announcers table for his troubles. Good match and a fun last period that really bumped this match up a star or two. Still unsure if I like the finish or not, I absolutely hate disqualification finishes on PPVs and I think Cena hitting an FU on Angle and pinning him would have been just as effective. Regardless, this sets up for more intriguing weeks of television following this.
Winner: Kurt Angle via disqualification
Rating: ***1/2
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Solid PPV outing from Raw that really showed off how many levels deep the roster is without their main heel in Triple H. In particular, the steel cage and main event stood out as matches that truly made the event. Also, the matches seeing Carlito drop the Intercontinental Championship to Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels beating the young Chris Masters were nice pieces to complete the puzzle.
Rating: 7.25/10
Match 1: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Carlito (c) vs. Ric Flair
Ric Flair has an opportunity to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his storied career here against Carlito. I miss the days of seeing Ric Flair on the Raw roster on a regular basis. The two have been feuding for weeks and even saw Carlito spit an apple in the face of Flair on an edition of Raw. The match served its purpose in getting the crowd going for the first match of the night with Flair doing his usual antics to get nice ovations from the crowd. Carlito looked to spit another apple in the face of Flair but Flair was able to punch Carlito and make him choke on his apple. Flair would then lock in his patented Figure Four to win the match and the Intercontinental Championship in the process. Good opening match with a fun finish as Carlito suffered from choking on an apple and a Figure Four. It was also a cool moment to see Flair celebrate his title victory afterwards.
Winner: Ric Flair
Rating: ***
Match 2: Torrie Wilson and Victoria vs. Trish Stratus and Ashley
Funny to note that this is only the third match in the career or Ashley since she won the Diva Search that year. Always seemed like a slap in the face to the others on the roster. Regardless, it really showed how green Ashley was as some of her moves in this match just made me cringe. Thankfully, most of the action was dependent on Trish Stratus who sealed the win for herself and her partner with a Chick Kick. Moving on.
Winners: Trish Stratus and Ashley
Rating: *
Match 3: The Big Show vs. Snitsky
I really do not have much to say about this match because quite frankly... what is there to say? Just two big guys going at each other for a few minutes until The Big Show was able to hit a Chokeslam on Snitsky to pick up the win. Bland match that really showed how these branded PPVs brought out some of the weakest of matches. Afterwards, Show beats down Snitsky with the ring bell in retribution for what Snitsky did to him on Raw.
Winner: The Big Show
Rating: *
Match 4: Kerwin White vs. Shelton Benjamin
Let me admit something, I was never really on that boat that had billed Shelton Benjamin as the most underrated guy on the roster. Was he good? Absolutely. Was he that good? Never really crossed that line for me to say so. And his entrance music is the worst. Regardless, for those who forgot, Kerwin White is Chavo Guerrero who is doing his best to be... well... white. The guys on commentary had a blast teasing Guerrero in the process and it actually came off pretty funny, but I could totally see how one would get annoyed. Benjamin hits his T-Bone Suplex after White tried hitting him with a golf club. Decent match for what it was, just hard to take it seriously when it all just seems like one big joke.
Winner: Shelton Benjamin
Rating: **1/2
Match 5: Steel Cage - Edge vs. Matt Hardy
One of the hottest feuds of 2005 saw the love triangle between Edge, Matt Hardy and Lita that saw a huge match here at Unforgiven. For a feud that was this heated, it would certainly be a challenge for these guys to keep that intensity throughout. Thankfully, they did and it was a perfect representation of what a steel cage match should be. You could really feel the hate between the two and they kept it at a nice pace throughout until Lita entered the fray. Once Lita got in, the action sped up another notch as Hardy hit a Twist of Fate on her before he kicked out of a Spear from Edge. Finally, Hardy climbed to the top of the cage and dropped a huge leg drop on Edge to pick up the big win. Like I said, this is exactly how a heated feud should be booked with a great steel cage match that had tons of heat and an equal amount of action to go with it. Certainly one of the best steel cage matches I could remember in recent memory from the WWE and definitely one that really made sense from the heated feud they had going on.
Winner: Matt Hardy
Rating: ****1/2
Match 6: WWE World Tag Team Championships - The Hurricane and Rosey (c) vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
Sad to think that two of the guys in this match are no longer with us, best way to keep their memory alive is through watching their work from years past. Basic tag match here with Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch still getting their gimmick over as Murdoch even tried snatching a kiss from Lillian Garcia. A DDT on the floor to The Hurricane almost put him out of the match entirely before he returned back inside where Cade and Murdoch hammered the last nail in the coffin. Cade and Murdoch fairly easily secure the championships for the first time. Nothing special here, just a match to bridge the gap between the last match heading into the main events.
Winners: Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
Rating: *1/4
Match 7: Chris Masters vs. Shawn Michaels
Here, we have a 22 year old Chris Masters facing off against the younger and less experienced Shawn Michaels. No? Not funny? WWE was really big on the kid at this time and pitting him against the legend in Michaels could only do wonders for Masters, loss or not. The only problem with Masters at the time... he was really green. You can really tell that Michaels was doing his best to lead the way throughout the way and per usual, did a great job in the process. Masters had a sweet finisher in the Masterlock submission hold and was able to lock it in against Michaels before Michaels grabbed on to the referee and low blowed Masters. Soon after, Michaels was able to hit a Sweet Chin Music for the win. Nothing spectacular, but a good match to have on the card and a smart call to have this match go on before the main event instead of the steel cage match. The steel cage match likely would have taken too much energy from the crowd and this one was enough for the crowd to stay interested in the show but not enough for them to be completely drained out.
Winner: Shawn Michaels
Rating: ***
Match 8: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Kurt Angle
Eric Bischoff's journey to dethroning John Cena has taken serious twists and turns on many editions of Monday Night Raw. This is also Cena's first year as the WWE Champion and for those who forgot, he wasn't always guaranteeing a great match. Much of the hate that came against Cena was that his matches were too one-dimensional in that he would always get tossed around for the entirety of the match before hitting his main moves in the end to pick up the win. That was definitely much of the case here as Kurt Angle was handling Cena easily throughout the better part of the match. However, the match takes a huge turn when the referee gets knocked out and Bischoff comes out to taunt Cena who was stuck in an Ankle Lock by Angle. Cena is able to escape and nails Angle with the WWE Championship belt which the referee sees and disqualifies Cena for. Cena retains the championship via disqualification loss to Angle. Angle tries to take out Cena after the match but only eats an FU through the announcers table for his troubles. Good match and a fun last period that really bumped this match up a star or two. Still unsure if I like the finish or not, I absolutely hate disqualification finishes on PPVs and I think Cena hitting an FU on Angle and pinning him would have been just as effective. Regardless, this sets up for more intriguing weeks of television following this.
Winner: Kurt Angle via disqualification
Rating: ***1/2
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Solid PPV outing from Raw that really showed off how many levels deep the roster is without their main heel in Triple H. In particular, the steel cage and main event stood out as matches that truly made the event. Also, the matches seeing Carlito drop the Intercontinental Championship to Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels beating the young Chris Masters were nice pieces to complete the puzzle.
Rating: 7.25/10
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