WWE Best Main Events of the Decade: 2010 - 2020 (Disc 1) Review

As the last days of the strangest year of our lives comes to a close, I figured I would take a look back at better times. In particular, times when wrestling fans were able to come together and watch their favorite wrestlers display their abilities in person. I'm not one for collecting DVDs these days but this one certainly caught my eye and would be perfect to sit back and watch to help look back at the days that we have unfortunately took so for granted of.

Match 1: WWE WrestleMania XXVI - No Disqualification - Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker - Click HERE for the Original Review

One of the my more controversial hills that I am willing to die on is that this match is superior to their WrestleMania 25 bout a year prior to this. That in itself makes this match that much more impressive... how do you top a perfect match with expectations that were practically impossible to top? Somehow, they managed to do it. They had to be able to differentiate this match from the year after and create a different type of ambiance behind it as well. Shawn Michaels was so desperate to get his rematch against The Undertaker that it could either lead him to the biggest win of his career or his ultimate downfall. The setting for this match was perfect, in the desert on the biggest stage you could imagine as the last match on the card. Michaels did a fantastic job of working on the knee of The Undertaker throughout the match and in turn, The Undertaker did a great job of nearly making that his own downfall in this match. The entire match had it all from big spots in an emotional roller coaster with Michaels defiantly not giving up until The Undertaker gave him in the biggest Tombstone of his life. Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler were also both great in their commentary roles here and certainly boosted this match to another level. Give Cole credit when it is due. Ultimately, Michaels would go on to wrestle one more match after this but this still remains his retirement match in my opinion because this is easily the greatest goodbye match ever. It had it all and nothing beats seeing Michaels walk away to a standing ovation as the curtain closed. More than a decade later and this match holds up with the best of them.

Winner: The Undertaker

Rating: *****

 

Match 2: WWE Money in the Bank 2011 - WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk - Click HERE for the Original Review

It's no secret, I am not the biggest CM Punk fan in the world but I don't let those personal feelings get in the way of me enjoying his abilities in the ring and on the mic. This is highly regarded as the best match of both of these men's careers and for good reason... it is an absolute dandy. Of course, the story behind this one made it so much sweeter with Punk threatening to leave the company with the belt and obviously... Cena going up against both Punk and his wild hometown of Chicago. Awesome action throughout the match and Cena did a great job in selling the knee injury throughout the match and really embracing his role as the bad buy. Also need to give credit to where it is due with Punk, embracing the love Chicago was smothering him with and this truly felt like the first real time that Punk was holding his own in a main event match. He belonged in that moment. Fantastic roller coaster of a match that included Punk kicking out of Attitude Adjustment later in the match that had the crowd roaring. Finally, Punk was able to hit a GTS on Cena to score the win and escape Chicago with the WWE Championship in hand. Certainly Punk's biggest moment of his career in his wild 2011. While many claim this to be their best match, they had one I believe in 2013 on an episode of Raw that I thought was even better than this one. Regardless, a great match that still holds to this day.

Winner: CM Punk

Rating: ****1/2

 

Match 3: WWE Summerslam 2012 - No Disqualification - Brock Lesnar vs. Triple H - Click HERE for the Original Review

While this may seem like an odder choice of a match to feature on this DVD, I do appreciate them going with matches that have either gone so forgotten about or just never really featured on any other release or Network special. At this point, Brock Lesnar was just a few months into his return to the WWE and his second feud was against The Game. This feud turned extremely personal after Lesnar attacked Shawn Michaels on an episode of Monday Night Raw as they finally face off in the main event of Summerslam. Lesnar has become the huge focal point of Summerslam in years past and this was ultimately just the beginning of what would be many main event matches for him at the event. Triple H instructed Scott Armstrong prior to the match that he did not want to see this match end on a countout or disqualification. They did a great job of really making the odds seem completely stacked against Triple H here until he was later able to drive Lesnar into the corner of the announcers table. The tides seemed to turn for a little bit but Lesnar still proved to be too much for The Game as he had to submit to Lesnar's Kimura submission. Very physical and fun affair between the two, a fitting close to Summerslam that would go on to really be the rise of Lesnar's dominance in the company. Glad this was featured on the DVD, many seem to forget this match.

Winner: Brock Lesnar

Rating: ****

 

Match 4: WWE WrestleMania 29 - WWE Championship - The Rock (c) vs. John Cena - Click HERE for the Original Review

This match has certainly become one of the more controversial WrestleMania main events in recent history because many of the internet fans wanted CM Punk to have some sort of involvement. While I do agree that a triple threat match between the three here would have been great, a rematch where Cena looks to avenge his loss from the previous year was just too good to pass by. I think the right choice was made, this was just too good of a story to pass up on and Punk ultimately challenging The Undertaker led to a memorable moment for the show. While I can't say I remember much from their first encounter, I do recall this match being pretty similar to that one aside from the few callbacks they had in this one where Cena was reluctant at times. The match was fairly slow throughout and the crowd wasn't able to get into things until later on when the nearfalls became more apparent and more believable. Finally, Cena is able to hit an Attitude Adjustment on The Rock to score the win and avenge his loss from the previous year. Afterwards, The Rock congratulates Cena and "passes the torch" to close out the night. A very fitting close to the show with the finishing minutes being as dramatic as you could want from these two.

Winner: John Cena

Rating: ***1/2

 

Match 5: WWE Payback 2014 - No Holds Barred Elimination - Evolution vs. The Shield - Click HERE for the Original Review

After The Shield beat Evolution at the previous PPV, Triple H and the rest of Evolution look to score some revenge in a No Holds Barred Elimination Match. My original review of this match gave it a ****1/2 but after sitting down and watching it again years later, it failed to reach my lofty expectations. I felt like much of this match really just saw Evolution beat down The Shield members for a solid portion of the match until the tides turned once Seth Rollins dove off the stage onto all the members of Evolution once they were done with their onslaught. Afterwards, The Shield were able to eliminate both Batista and Randy Orton before it was just down to Triple H and his sledgehammer. A knee out of nowhere from Rollins that was followed up with a Spear from Roman Reigns was all she wrote. Enjoyed this match a lot but it was nowhere near the level of excitement I felt when I first viewed it years ago. I understand they wanted to beat down The Shield handsomely during this match but it almost felt like it was just dragging on to the point where you expected the comeback. Again, while I was somewhat disappointed in my second watching of this match, I still appreciate this match getting recognition and being featured on the DVD. If people ever remember their matches, it's really just their Extreme Rules match as this one seems to get brushed aside. Crazy to think this match and feud even happened all these years later.

Winners: The Shield

Rating: ***1/2

WWE Summerslam 2000 Review

WWE Summerslam 2000
August 27, 2000
Raleigh, North Carolina

A classic Summerslam event sees the first TLC Match ever with the WWE Tag Team Championship on the line. The main event features The Rock defending his WWE Championship against both Kurt Angle and Triple H in a wild, wild match.

Match 1: Right to Censor vs. Too Cool
Good choice to have this match kick off the night in what was a pretty stacked card. Right to Censor were actually great heels at this point and Too Cool was the perfect babyface time to take them on here at Summerslam. Good action between the two teams that saw Right to Censor try to prevent Rikishi from tagging in throughout the match. However, once he got in, he lit them up and the crowd was hot. I sometimes tend to forget how over Too Cool was around this time, they were a ton of fun to watch. The hot tag from Rikishi looked like he was gonna steam roll his way to a Too Cool victory until Steven Richards was able to interrupt a Worm attempt from Scotty 2 Hotty and pin him for the surprise win. Nice way to get a big W for the heels in a match that looked like it was going the other way. Good opener.
Winners: Right to Censor
Rating: **1/4

Match 2: Road Dogg vs. X-Pac
The former tag partners look to squash their beef after X-Pac inadvertently dropped Road Dogg through a table on an episode of Monday Night Raw. I mean, that happens all the time with my friends and I. Short match here with some decent action that saw X-Pac hit a low blow on Road Dogg while the referee had his back turned before hitting an X-Factor to score the win. After the match, X-Pac wanted to brush the beef aside but instead got met with a Pumphandle Slam from Road Dogg for his troubles. Fine for what the match needed to be, short and anything longer would have probably just made the crowd grow restless since they didn't seem to have much interest in this from the start.
Winner: X-Pac
Rating: *1/4

Match 3: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Val Venis & Trish Stratus (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
Loved the little story between Eddie Guerrero and Chyna going into this, both were so great around this time and it's sometimes still hard to believe they're both gone now. Regardless, odd rules here with the Intercontinental Championship on the line with the person scoring the pin becoming the champion. Essentially, this is just a four-way match. They storied the match around Val Venis carrying the bulk of the match and doing his best to prevent Trish Stratus from entering the match. Crazy to think that Trish Stratus has wrested against both Chyna and Charlotte Flair in a WWE ring. Anyway, Chyna is able to get her hands on Trish alone in the ring and military slam her to the ground to score the win and become the new Intercontinental Champion. Short and pretty decent for what it was, just fun to watch Eddie and Chyna together.
Winners: Eddie Guerrero & Chyna
Rating: *3/4

Match 4: Jerry Lawler vs. Tazz
I loved the little feud Tazz had with the commentators around this time and really came off as such an unlikable heel. This was more of an angle than an actual match and it was pretty enjoyable to watch Tazz trash talk Jim Ross at ringside for the entirety of the match. However, a referee bump allowed the opening for JR to finally take a stand and bash Tazz over the head with a glass candy jar. It was probably the biggest pop of the night and I loved watching this both as a kid in 2000 and here now in 2020. Lawler then pins Tazz to score the win. Give it a watch, it won't kill ya.
Winner: Jerry Lawler
Rating: *1/4

Match 5: WWE Hardcore Championship - Shane McMahon (c) vs. Steve Blackman
I have not seen this match in ages and certainly have fond memories from watching it as a child way back in the day. Shane McMahon was the scared heel who was doing his best to run away from an angry Steve Blackman as they fought in the stands before finally bringing back the fight in the ring where Test and Albert came to Shane's side. The shining spot of this match came when Blackman was dragged to the titantron where he was able to take out both Test and Albert before chasing Shane as he scaled up the stage. Well... you guys know the rest. Blackman stops Shane dead in his tracks and nails him in the back with some kendo stick shots before Shane drops onto some staging equipment. Blackman then dives off the stage onto Shane to pick up the win. Fun match that of course, shines for its awesome ending.
Winner: Steve Blackman
Rating: **1/4

Match 6: 2-Out-of-3 Falls Match - Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit
Definitely one of the more overlooked matches on this card since everyone always remembers the big TLC match along with the main event here. Two of Canada's best going at it in a straight up wrestling match with the winner having to score the first two falls. Chris Benoit was able to score the first fall fairly quickly by submitting Chris Jericho with the Crippler Crossface. However, Jericho was able to score back that fall by submitting Benoit with a Walls of Jericho to even up the score at 1-1. Solid wrestling between the two men to score the final pin as expected. Also kind of interesting to see Benoit work as a heel, he worked ten times better as a babyface. Benoit steals the win after holding on to the ropes for a pin. A few more minutes and this could have easily been a show stealer. Felt like the first two pins went by way too fast and they just wanted to rush to get the final score. That's one of my biggest gripes with these matches, very seldom do we see somebody win 2-0 so the 1-1 is already expected and kind of just feels pointless.
Winner: Chris Benoit
Rating: ***1/2

Match 7: WWE Tag Team Championship - TLC Match - Edge & Christian (c) vs. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz
This is the iconic TLC match between three of the company's top tag teams... do I really even need to go further for this one? Pretty interesting to watch this in 2020 to see how it holds up... and it more than holds up. Some of the spots throughout this match had me wondering how the damn hell they were even able to walk out of this in one piece. Jeff Hardy missing a Swanton Bomb through two tables off a ladder or Bubba Ray Dudley getting tossed off a ladder through four freaking tables are spots that I will just never forget and ones that will boggle my mind every single time I see it. Funny to see Lita come out and interfere to help out The Hardy Boyz and get Speared by Edge for her troubles. Nasty looking Spear that saw Lita hit her head on a ladder on the way down. Edge & Christian were able to will their way to victory and retain the gold in a classic match. I don't think it's even necessary to go any further for this match, we've all seen it and we all know the legacy it has left behind. Classic stuff. 
Winners: Edge & Christian
Rating: *****

Match 8: Stinkface Match - The Kat vs. Terri
This is where The Attitude Era shines... not. Yes, you read that right, this is a Stinkface match between The Kat and Terri with Al Snow in The Kat's corner and Perry Saturn in Terri's. This match was as bad as you would expect. I say this all the time but it is insane how far women's wrestling has come since The Attitude Era. This wasn't even wrestling, it was just these two parading around in barely any clothes before Kat was able to stinkface Terri in the corner for the win. By the way, is stinkface one word or two words? 
Winner: The Kat
Rating: 1/4*

Match 9: The Undertaker vs. Kane
Do we have a count on how many times these two have squared off against each other in a WWE ring? That would be super interesting, I'm pretty sure I've seen just about all of them. Anyway, the bell never rings for this match as the two just brawl both inside and out of the ring with The Undertaker doing his best to rip off the mask of Kane. He is also able to bloody Kane up with some shots with the steel steps along with a steel chair. Kane does his best to fight back but the onslaught of Undertaker is too much and once Kane's mask gets completely ripped off, he dashes to the back and leaves. The bell never rang so the match never officially began but this was more of an angle above anything and it was enjoyable to at least watch. Just doesn't make sense why all the rules get tossed out of the window here. Just take what The Attitude Era gives you. 
Winner: n/a
Rating: **3/4

Match 10: WWE Championship - The Rock (c) vs. Kurt Angle vs. Triple H
The feud going into this one was basically Triple H vs. Kurt Angle as they fight for the love of Stephanie McMahon with The Rock in the background. Loved it, thought it worked here and it certainly would make sense to give the spotlight to someone like Angle while The Rock continues rolling. Triple H doesn't wait for The Rock to enter the match and attacks Angle before it all and lands the infamous Pedigree through the announcers table until The Rock finally comes out as the crowd absolutely erupts for him. I certainly do miss the days when the crowds were always hot for these main event matches. Angle gets the stretcher treatment and gets rolled to the back until Triple H brings him back and refuses to let him leave. Action was fast and furious her and The Rock did a great job in making you feel bad for him as he fought as the underdog. Stephanie inserts herself back in the match and slides a sledgehammer in between Triple H and Angle but ends up getting inadvertently punched in the face by Triple H. The Rock later takes advantage of the mess and hits a People's Elbow on Triple H to pick up the win. Angle then escapes with Stephanie in his hands after the match. Fantastic main event and loved how they put the focus on Triple H and Angle which allowed them to underestimate The Rock who would then take advantage of it all. That is how you tell a story.
Winner: The Rock
Rating: ****1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
As with usual Attitude Era PPVs, there's a lot of good and a lot of bad here. However, the good was undeniable and especially the TLC Match that has gone down as one of the most influential and memorable matches in professional wrestling history. If you can see through the bad, definitely relive this event because you will definitely be pleased. 
Rating: 7.5/10

WWE Summerslam PPV Review Archive

WWE Summerslam 1999 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/08/wwe-summerslam-1999-review.html

 

WWE Summerslam 2000 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/08/wwe-summerslam-2000-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2005 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/07/wwe-summerslam-2005-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2006 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/08/wwe-summerslam-2006-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2007 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2016/08/wwe-summerslam-2007-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2008 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2017/08/wwe-summerslam-2008-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2009 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2014/07/wwe-summerslam-2009-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2011 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2014/07/wwe-summerslam-2011-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2012 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2013/10/wwe-summerslam-2012-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2013 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/02/wwe-summerslam-2013-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2014 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/07/wwe-summerslam-2014-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2015 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2018/08/wwe-summerslam-2015-review.html

WWE Summerslam 2016 (Part 1) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2019/07/wwe-summerslam-2016-review-part-1.html

WWE Summerslam 2016 (Part 2) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2019/08/wwe-summerslam-2016-review-part-2.html

WWE Summerslam 2017 (Part 1) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/07/wwe-summerslam-2017-review-part-1.html

WWE Summerslam 2017 (Part 2) - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/08/wwe-summerslam-2017-review-part-2.html

WWE Summerslam 1999 Review

WWE Summerslam 1999
August 22, 1999
Minneapolis, Minnesota

Jesse Ventura serves as the special guest referee as Stone Cold Steve Austin must defend his WWE Championship against both Triple H and Mankind. Also, The Rock takes on Billy Gunn in a Kiss My Ass Match.

Match 1: WWE European Championship & WWE Intercontinental Championship - D'Lo Brown (c) vs. Jeff Jarrett
How many men can say they have held both the European Championship and Intercontinental Championship at the same time? Before the match, Jeff Jarrett kicks Debra from ringside before D'Lo Brown then allows her to accompany him to the ring for the match. Pretty decent match here, people seem to forget that D'Lo was actually pretty damn good in the ring. Debra distracts the referee as she argues with Jarrett which then allows Mark Henry to interfere... and BOOM. Swerve. Henry nails Brown with the guitar and the referee apparently doesn't hear any of this and doesn't see all the guitar particles laying around the ring. Jarrett wins and celebrates with both Henry and Debra afterwards as they all played Brown. Decent opening match with a nice swerve at the end.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett
Rating: **1/4

Match 2: Tag Team Turmoil Match - Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. Mideon & Viscera vs. Droz & Prince Albert vs. The Acolytes vs. The Holly Cousins
Interesting to see Michael Cole interviewing both Edge & Christian before the match and thinking how relevant the two still are in 2020. Also pretty funny to hear Jim Ross on commentary describe all the competitors as "young and hungry." Also interesting to see The Hardy Boyz work with Gangrel as heels. Times were different in 1999. Action was pretty decent from all teams and slowed down the most once Edge & Christian got eliminated from the match. This led to The Acolytes scoring the win over The Holly Cousins to earn a Tag Team Championship bout... the next night on Raw. Wonderful.
Winners: The Acolytes
Rating: **1/4

Match 3: WWE Hardcore Championship - Big Boss Man (c) vs. Al Snow
Nothing screams Attitude Era more than a Hardcore Championship match and I'm here for all of it. Road Dogg follows the match and does some commentary of his own with a microphone in hand throughout the match. Gee, wonder if he's going to interfere or not. Anyway, Al Snow attacks Big Boss Man on the stage before the fight spills backstage and eventually into the streets of Minneapolis. Fun match here that obviously doesn't take itself too seriously with the fight going from the streets into a little bar where they beat the living daylights out of each other inside. However, Road Dogg attacks Boss Man from behind that leads to Snow covering him for the win. I wonder how many fishy finishes we are going to get for the night.
Winner: Al Snow
Rating: **

Match 4: WWE Women's Championship - Ivory (c) vs. Tori
Holy crap, I totally forgot how ripped Ivory was back in the day because damn! Some of these Attitude Era matches with the women can be brutally bad... and this match was point and case. Pretty sloppy action here with a botched finish that looked like it was supposed to be a sunset flip of sorts. Wow, how far we have come with the women's division. You can skip this. That's pretty much all there is to say about this one.
Winner: Ivory
Rating: 1/2*

Match 5: Lion's Den Match - Steve Blackman vs. Ken Shamrock
Interesting match to have here, Ken Shamrock was very much over at this time and Steve Blackman was such a beast. You can make the argument that both guys were pretty much ahead of their time. Rules for this match are pretty unclear, I guess you have to exit the cage to win the match but the finish saw Shamrock knock out Blackman with a kendo stick to win the match without seeing him exit the cage at all. The match itself was pretty enjoyable for the most part with the two tossing each other into the cage and beating with other up with foreign objects. Just a little too short to really give a better score and when taking into account how the instructions were so unclear, this is the best score I could come up with. Would have loved to see more of this during this time if they just... ya know... figured out the rules for it.
Winner: Ken Shamrock
Rating: **

Match 6: Greenwich Street Fight - Test vs. Shane McMahon
Shane McMahon isn't a fan of Test dating his sister so he's out to make sure to put an end to that here. Pretty funny to see The Mean Street Posse come out to sit ringside for the match on a couch with some champagne. They're definitely not going to interfere, right? The two brawl in and out of the ring with The Posse eventually helping Shane before Test is able to take them out briefly. However, the numbers game would catch up to Test and Shane would get the upper hand and even went as far as hitting an elbow from the top through onto Test through an announcers table. Good stuff. Shane had things in control until Pat Patterson and Gerald Brisco came out to eliminate The Posse from the equation and leave an opening for Test to score the win with a diving elbow of his own from the top rope. Afterwards, Stephanie McMahon comes out to celebrate as she stares down an unconscious Shane. Attitude Era stuff was just so wild.
Winner: Test
Rating: ***

Match 7: WWE World Tag Team Championship - Kane & X-Pac (c) vs. The Big Show & The Undertaker
Always enjoyed watching The Big Show and The Undertaker team up or go against each other for that matter. Crazy to think how long the careers of them and Kane were in the WWE as they feuded with and against each other for so many years to come after this. Kane has the unenviable task of carrying himself and X-Pac to a victory against two behemoths. I liked how they built the story around Kane & X-Pac being underdogs and implementing that into the match really worked with Kane seemingly having to fight against both Show and Undertaker extra hard to rebound for X-Pac in a lot of situations. X-Pac was able to hit use a couple low blows (RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE REFEREE) at times to evade but eventually, Big Show and Undertaker would catch up. Big Show hit a Chokeslam on X-Pac but after only stepping on him for the pin, X-Pac was able to kick out. This allowed Undertaker to enter the match himself and hit a Tombstone to get the win for his team as both Undertaker and Big Show argue after the match about the pin. Not bad but wasn't like I was expecting greatness out of this. It was what it needed to be and just how you would expect a match from these guys to go.
Winners: The Big Show & The Undertaker
Rating: **1/2

Match 8: Kiss My Ass Match - Billy Gunn vs. The Rock
Prior to the match starting, Billy Gunn brings out a rather large woman and declares that this is the butt The Rock will be having to kiss. Hilarious to note how Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were ripping her throughout the match, absolutely no chance the WWE would get away with some of this stuff in 2020. They would be cancelled so fast. Decent match here with some nice back and forth action before Gunn decides to finally bring in the large woman in the ring for Rocky to kiss. Instead, Rock is able to shove Gunn's face into the lady and hit him with a Rock Bottom along with a People's Elbow to score the win. Match was fairly short and good for what it was. Pretty funny to watch Billy Gunn get his head shoved into that woman's behind but nothing too exciting.
Winner: The Rock
Rating: **3/4

Match 9: WWE Championship - Stone Cold Steve Austin (c) vs. Mankind vs. Triple H
Love having Jesse Ventura serve as the special guest referee for this one, his presence always adds to whatever is going on in or out of the ring. He's serving as the referee to prevent any shenanigans going on... I'm sure we know how that one's gonna turn out. Ventura eventually had to throw Chyna out of the match and also had his back turned when Triple H was using a steel chair against Stone Cold Steve Austin. Oh, there was also a random Shane McMahon interference after Ventura refused to do a pin count for Triple H. So much shenanigans but I did like watching Ventura toss Shane out of the ring. The crowd was extremely hot for Austin but much of the match felt like he was just a third wheel, even as the defending champion. Definitely a cluster of a main event here and just never felt like it got out of first gear. The Attitude Era was great in having matches like this one but for whatever reason, this one was so forgettable and didn't feel like a big Summerslam main event. Mankind took some hard bumps throughout the match but nothing like some of the crazier things we've seen him done before. Mankind got a pretty surprising win here after hitting Austin with a DDT. The crowd popped but you could almost hear the disappointment as their hero in Stone Cold lost the match. Weird match that is easily forgettable and just didn't live up to its expectations. 
Winner: Mankind
Rating: ***1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Am I being too hard on the show? Maybe, but you could also make the argument that I'm being too kind on this show. There is absolutely no way the WWE could get away with churning out a show like this in 2020. Let alone it being Summerslam, this was just not a good show. Aside from maybe the main event, this just lacked good in-ring action and didn't have anything that was memorable or worth going back to watch. Sorry, Attitude Era marks, this one just ain't it.
Rating: 3.5/10

WWE Summerslam 2017 Review (Part 2)

WWE Summerslam 2017
August 20, 2017
Brooklyn, New York

If Brock Lesnar wants to hold on to his Universal Championship, he must go through the biggest and baddest stars of the Raw roster. A fatal four-way match determines who leaves the biggest event of the summer as the top dog of the WWE. 

Match 6: Bray Wyatt vs. Finn Balor
Interesting feud heading into this one with Finn Balor bringing out his demon side in his attempt to go against Bray Wyatt and his demons. Dig the entrance from Balor as the children singing "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" before his music hits. Nice touch. The Match itself was pretty bland, Wyatt is able to get in some offense but Balor was too much to contain. Once Wyatt had an opening, he did his signature taunt that had no effect on Balor. Balor was able to quickly hit his Coup de Grace on Wyatt to secure the win in about 10 minutes. Like I said, a pretty bland match but nobody was really expecting anything amazing and it didn't need to be for a match like this. Take it or leave it. 
Winner: Finn Balor
Rating: **1/4

Match 7: WWE Raw Tag Team Championship - The Bar (c) vs. Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Loved the reunion between Seth Rollins and Dean Ambrose during the summer of 2017 as they challenge both Cesaro and Sheamus for the gold. Always love to note how Cesaro and Rollins worked very well with each other in the Ring of Honor days as they now headline big WWE shows, pretty damn cool. Solid action here between the two teams that felt a little like watching a Raw main event for the better part of the match until they finally got the ball really rolling in the latter end. Also loved Cesaro running into the crowd to tear apart a beach ball, legendary shit right there. Rollins is able to hit a hurricanrana on on Cesaro that drives him into Sheamus as Ambrose hits a Dirty Deeds DDT to secure the big win. Solid match and cool to see Rollins and Ambrose win the tag titles at a Summerslam event, makes the belts get a bit of a rub in the process. 
Winners: Seth Rollins & Dean Ambrose
Rating: ***1/2

Match 8: WWE United States Championship - AJ Styles (c) vs. Kevin Owens
Speaking of guys who were once Ring of Honor stars, we have AJ Styles and Kevin Owens going at it with Shane McMahon serving as the guest referee. These two have great chemistry and it certainly showed here. Great action with each guy getting in a good amount of offense against each other and they played the story of Shane being the third man in the match nicely. The nearfalls were believable here and the spots with Shane didn't insult your intelligence like most matches with referee bumps do. Owens thought he secured the win as Shane made a 3 count until cancelling his decision after realizing that Styles had his foot on the bottom rope. Owens and Shane get into a little bit of a shoving match and soon after, Styles capitalizes on the mayhem and hits Owens with both a Phenomenal Forearm along with a Styles Clash to pick up the big win. Great match. 
Winner: AJ Styles
Rating: ***3/4

Match 9: WWE Championship - Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
The hype for Shinsuke Nakamura was for real, everyone and their mother thought that Summerslam 2017 was going to be the event of his official crowning as WWE Champion. Unfortunately for him, the WWE was way bigger on Jinder Mahal. Very cool to see how they showed both broadcasts from the perspective of the Indian and Japanese announcers, nice touch. Nakamura was able to get in his signature offense against Mahal but fighting both Mahal and The Singh Brothers proved to be too much as a late distraction caused Mahal to hit his Khallas finisher to score the win. This was a fairly short match that only ran a bit over 10 minutes and while many were criticizing the match over that fact, I felt like it was exactly what it needed to be. This is their first encounter and it sets up bigger matches between the two down the line after this as Nakamura now his out with the distractions from The Singh Brothers. Mahal just gets way too much hate. 
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: ***

Match 10: WWE Universal Championship - Brock Lesnar (c) vs. Braun Strowman vs. Samoa Joe vs. Roman Reigns
Four of the biggest (maybe even literally) guys in the company and all in their prime... this is the ultimate Summerslam main event. Crowd is pumped for this one and you can feel the buzz in the air as Brock Lesnar circles the ring as his opponents all stare him down. This was a war and Lesnar was the star of it all. Crowd was mostly hot for Braun Strowman going into this one and got even hotter for him when he destroyed Lesnar by driving him through two tables and toppling him with another one. Crowd was going bonkers at this point. However, the only real drawback I had for the match was the few minutes that Lesnar was out of the match, the action in the ring definitely took a step back and the crowd just wasn't as invested as much to what was happening. The action picked up more again once he returned to the ring and eventually hit Roman Reigns with an F5 to secure the win. Interesting choice to have Reigns eat the pin here since it would have made more sense to have Samoa Joe eat it considering he was the last person to challenge Lesnar before this and they still had some beef to settle. Regardless, amazing main event and easily one of the best Summerslam matches in quite some time. Everyone thought for sure that Lesnar was going to drop the belt but they hit us with that swerve. Good stuff.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Rating: ****3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
That main event was worth the price of admission alone. These shows can be way too long and drag at times but this one went by pretty smoothly and most matches on the card played their role nicely. However, the card was still pretty forgettable aside from the main event which was absolutely electric. If there's any real reason to remember this show, it's for that. Brock Lesnar is the best in the game. 
Rating: 7.5/10

WWE Summerslam 2017 Review (Part 1)

WWE Summerslam 2017
August 20, 2017
Brooklyn, New York

If Brock Lesnar wants to hold on to his Universal Championship, he must go through the biggest and baddest stars of the Raw roster. A fatal four-way match determines who leaves the biggest event of the summer as the top dog of the WWE. 

Match 1: John Cena vs. Baron Corbin
Baron Corbin's dreams of becoming a WWE Champion slipped away from him after he failed to successfully cash in his Money in the Bank contract after John Cena caused a distraction against him. John Cena doesn't look worried at all about his competition in the ring and even had time to tell JBL how shook Corbin was while putting on JBL's cowboy hat. However, Corbin was able to get in a decent amount of offense in against Cena but let's face it, we all knew what the end result was going to be here. An Attitude Adjustment from Cena ends the match pretty quickly. As of 2020, this was the last time we saw Cena in action during the biggest event of the summer and it's pretty interesting to see how his career was beginning to really slow down at this point.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: **1/4

Match 2: WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Naomi (c) vs. Natalya
Feel like this match would have been the better option to open up the show. Nonetheless, Naomi puts her title on the line against Natalya. Naomi had some serious steam behind her at this point and was really coming into her own as the brand's champion. Good match here for what it was with the crowd just having trouble sinking their teeth into things. Another reason why I think this would have been better to open the show, crowd would definitely have invested more into this. Regardless, Natalya gets a pretty surprising victory here by submitting Naomi with the Sharpshooter. I liked the ending but the whole match just felt a little too dull for what I was expecting from the two.
Winner: Natalya
Rating: **1/2

Match 3: Shark Cage Match - Big Cass vs. The Big Show
Summerslam has been known to have some bizarre matches... this is one of them. At this point, Enzo Amore was becoming a lost cause and the dead crowd behind his promo before the match proved that. Enzo is being suspended above the ring in a shark cage while The Big Show fights for his honor against Big Cass. As you would expect, a pretty boring match here that probably went on a few minutes longer than it needed to. Enzo tried to add some spice to the match by escaping the shark cage but after quickly getting knocked out by Cass, I question if there was any point to it. Cass hits his Empire Elbow on Show to secure the win.
Winner: Big Cass
Rating: *1/4

Match 4: Randy Orton vs. Rusev
Rusev attacks Randy Orton before the match to get the upper hand on him for the match. Unfortunately, Orton is able to toss Rusev into a turnbuckle before hitting him with an RKO for the win in less than 10 seconds. That was possibly the fastest Summerslam match ever. Guess they just didn't have enough time on the card for these two. 
Winner: Randy Orton
Rating: n/a

Match 5: WWE Raw Women's Championship - Alexa Bliss (c) vs. Sasha Banks
Sasha Banks is looking to score her 4th Women's Championship here against Alexa Bliss. Before the match, Bayley wishes Banks luck which I thought was pretty cool considering their history in the Barclays Center. The whole match was essentially Banks playing defense against Bliss and while there were some cool spots spread out throughout the whole match, much of it felt a bit too slow considering how good these two can be in the ring. Banks is able to lock Bliss in a Bank Statement out of nowhere to submit Bliss for the win. I dug how the submission victory came out of nowhere but it just felt like it was a one-sided affair up until Banks miraculously pulled out the win. Not a fan of the Women's Championship just getting tossed around left and right to everyone.
Winner: Sasha Banks
Rating: **1/4

Match of the Day - 7/30/20: CM Punk vs. Triple H (Night of Champions 2011)

Didn't mean to have two CM Punk matches as the Match of the Day but here we are. On the last post, we looked back at Punk's match with Jeff Hardy from Summerslam 2009 and talked about his epic summer that year, who would have figured that his 2011 summer would completely trump it? Looking back at this match in 2020 is pretty funny considering how real their feud in 2011 was and how the two seemingly have yet to squash whatever beef they have against each other.

Their match at here at Night of Champions can be described as... a mess. A fun mess. A fun No Disqualification match that saw Punk drive an elbow through Triple onto a table, interference from The Miz and R-Truth and finally, some interference from Kevin Nash. Yes, Kevin Nash. Triple H is able to hit a second Pedigree on Punk to score the win. As much as CM Punk annoys me and all, he certainly had a point when he was upset at Triple H not putting him over. It basically shows how much trust and belief they had behind this Punk train. Something tells me Punk still hasn't forgotten this.

Match of the Day - 7/28/20: Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk (Summerslam 2009)

 

I refuse that this match was 11 years ago... 11 freaking years ago! This match was only just a few years ago, right? RIGHT?! Well, 2009 was an extremely successful year for SmackDown with guys like Chris Jericho, Rey Mysterio, John Morrison, Jeff Hardy and CM Punk all shining like the superstars they are. The summer featured an incredible feud between both Hardy and Punk with Punk making his first heel turn in his WWE career. Their feud culminated in a big TLC match here at Summerslam in Los Angeles.

If you haven't seen any of their matches from 2009, do yourselves a favor and do so. As a matter or fact, watch everything Hardy was doing around this time frame. Nobody in the company was hotter than him, not even John Cena. Their match here at Summerslam did not disappoint. I was so stoked to see this match go on last at the biggest event of the summer, nobody else on that card was holding a candle to these men. This match would be one of Hardy's final WWE matches before returning to the company in 2017 so it was evident that he wanted to leave on a bang. That he did. I don't recall a match where Hardy was as reckless as this one, you could almost feel the passion in his eyes watching this one. The shot of him standing atop the ladder as he was ready to hit a Swanton Bomb on Punk was one of the most insane shots you will ever see in a WWE ring.

Punk secured the win and the World Heavyweight Championship in the process before quickly being met with The Undertaker and a Chokeslam soon after. This was my first time watching this match in years and it absolutely holds up with some of the best you will see out there. Hardy seriously left it all out on the line here. Go watch this.

WWE One Night Stand/Extreme Rules PPV Review Archive

ECW One Night Stand 2005 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2016/06/ecw-one-night-stand-2005-review.html

ECW One Night Stand 2006 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2016/06/ecw-one-night-stand-2006-review.html

WWE One Night Stand 2007 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2019/05/wwe-one-night-stand-2007-review.html

WWE Extreme Rules 2009 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2014/07/wwe-extreme-rules-2009-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2010 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2018/04/wwe-extreme-rules-2010-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2011 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2014/07/wwe-extreme-rules-2011-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2012 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2013/07/wwe-extreme-rules-2012-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2013 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/01/wwe-extreme-rules-2013-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2014 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/06/wwe-extreme-rules-2014-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2015 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2018/07/wwe-extreme-rules-2015-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2016 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2018/07/wwe-extreme-rules-2016-review.html 

WWE Extreme Rules 2018 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2018/07/wwe-extreme-rules-2018-review.html 

WWE NXT TakeOver: Chicago 2017 Review

WWE NXT TakeOver: Chicago 2017
May 20, 2017
Rosemont, Illinois

Hideo Itami gets the biggest match of his career when he challenges Bobby Roode for the NXT Championship. In the main event, The Authors of Pain defend their NXT Tag Team Championship against #DIY in a Ladder Match!

Match 1: Eric Young vs. Roderick Strong
Before the match, Roderick Strong takes out both Killian Dain and Alexander Wolfe from behind to try to and limit them as distractions. At this point, Strong is still on the rise to being one of the brand's top babyfaces while Eric Young was being booked as one of the stronger heels on the show. Solid and very physical match here, Young works really well as a heel with his slower and more methodical approach in the ring. This made it so whenever Strong was about to get the upper hand on things, you were almost anticipating a change of power happening. However, the help from both Dain and Wolfe at ringside overshadowed much of the action in the ring. Why didn't the referee kick them out for all the distractions they were creating? It almost became more of an annoyance to watch above anything. Strong was able to seal the win with his awesome suplex into a backbreaker finisher. Good match, just wish they didn't test our intelligence with the stupid interfering in front of the referee.
Winner: Roderick Strong
Rating: ***

Match 2: NXT United Kingdom Championship - Tyler Bate (c) vs. Pete Dunne
Cool to see them put on a match for the NXT UK brand here along with having Jim Ross on commentary for this one. Both Tyler Bate and Pete Dunne are the young stars of the brand and this is a great way for the two to get a rub. Crowd was seriously hot for this one here and they got even rowdier when the match progressed. Loved how they structured this match, slow and methodical in the beginning before ramping things up and hitting us with some spectacular spots and believable nearfalls spread out the match. One of the sweetest spots I've seen in a long time had Bate nail a corkscrew 450 splash off the top rope like it was nothing which led to a nearfall. Eventually, Dunne would nail his Bitter End finisher to score the win. Great match, loved how it didn't go over 30 minutes and hit us with an excessive amount of nearfalls to the point where it exhausted us. Would it benefit from a few more minutes? Sure, but there is a huge card still left to go and you don't wanna break out all the stops in the second match of the night. Either way, great way to put the spotlight on these guys and their brand.
Winner: Pete Dunne
Rating: ****1/4

Match 3: NXT Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs. Ruby Riot vs. Nikki Cross
With Ember Moon being out of action, Asuka still has a tall task ahead of her in defending her gold and undefeated streak against both Ruby Riot and Nikki Cross. Match was very reminiscent of the match at TakeOver: San Antonio but almost at a lesser scale. You get your cool spots in the beginning of the match and the ladies in the ring were great in keeping the action flow throughout the entire thing. But despite that, this match just didn't seem to click like most of Asuka's great matches. Crowd wasn't so into the match and likely because the last match pooped them out a bit or possibly because they all just knew that Asuka wasn't going to be dropping that belt. They didn't help matters when the finish just saw Asuka hit a quick knee strike on Riot before pinning both opponents to score the win. A definitely underwhelming finish to a rather underwhelming match. But still a good match nonetheless, you're not always getting nor do you always need a ***** performance.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ***1/4

Match 4: NXT Championship - Bobby Roode (c) vs. Hideo Itami
First off, how cool is it to see Hideo Itami get a chance at some NXT gold? Loved following him back in the day and to see him get a spot here is pretty darn cool. As usual with most Bobby Roode matches, a slower pace to start things off which is a nice change of scenery when it comes to NXT. His style allows to build for stronger and more dramatic finishing sequences. As expected, very physical action between the two here and while it was pretty evident that Itami wasn't going to be dethroning Roode, they did a great job of building some intense drama as the match progressed. Itami was able to hit a GTS but with Roode quickly rolling out of the ring soon after, he wasn't able to get the victory. Slick way to protect the GTS there. Roode was able to hit two Glorious DDTs in a row to score the big win. Again, nobody really expected Itami to win the match here but they did a great job of keeping the drama alive before delivering us a fantastic finish. Good match heading into the main event.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: NXT Tag Team Championship - Ladder Match - The Authors of Pain (c) vs. #DIY
Both Tommaso Ciampa and Johnny Gargano score another crack at the tag team gold against The Authors of Pain here in the main event of tonight's TakeOver. With these guys going on last, you just get the feeling that something's gotta give. At this point, I've seen way too many Ladder Matches to the point where I'm almost become tired of seeing them so coming into this, I was interested to see what unique things they were going to bring to the table. While the match had its slow points, there was certainly no shortage of drama here and like the last match, they did a great job of building towards an awesome finish. That build saw some nasty spots like Rezar being driven through a ladder set in the corner by Ciampa and a spot that saw both Ciampa and Gargano dive off ladders through both members of The Authors of Pain. However, a final blow with the Super Collider allowed AOP to gain an opening to win the match. Afterwards, Ciampa shockingly turned on Gargano by driving him off the stage. Good match and a solid way to end the show. You can never go wrong with a Ladder Match, especially when the guys in the ring are as good as these guys. However, you do run into the problem of repetitiveness, how many Ladder Matches can you have in a year span before they start getting old? Regardless, credit to the guys in the ring for some great closing action.
Winners: The Authors of Pain
Rating: ****

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another great TakeOver event that had a little bit of everything. You had your big singles title matches that all delivered on what they needed to and you had it topped off with a great main event along with a shocking turn to cap the show.
Rating: 8/10

WWE Money in the Bank 2017 Review

WWE Money in the Bank 2017
June 18, 2017
St. Louis, Missouri

The annual Money in the Bank PPV event sees two wild Money in the Bank Ladder Matches along with a WWE Championship match that has Jinder Mahal defending his newly won title against Randy Orton.

Match 1: Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Charlotte Flair vs. Becky Lynch vs. Tamina vs. Carmella vs. Natalya
This is the first ever Women's Money in the Bank Ladder Match and it looks to be a good one with some great talent lined up for this. Pretty wild to think that less than two years later, both Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch would go on to headline a WrestleMania. But I digress, solid opening match here and nice way to introduce this watch to the women's division. There wasn't anything that was so over-the-top but there was way more than enough here to keep my attention throughout the match with the wrestlers nicely spreading apart some of their bigger spots and really allowing everyone to get a spot in. Not every damn Ladder Match has to have a triple backflip off the top of a ladder or something. With Lynch climbing the ladder and ready to secure the briefcase, James Ellsworth appeared out of nowhere and dropped Lynch off the ladder. Ellsworth then climbed the ladder and retrieved the briefcase for Carmella to win the match. Not sure how I feel about that finish. If they wanted to use Ellsworth, then I would have preferred to see him earlier in the match and not be the deciding factor in the match. But also, it puts some extra heat on Carmella and really got some people talking about this one. I want to hear what you think.
Winner: Carmella
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Usos (c) vs. The New Day
These two teams had a phenomenal rivalry in 2017 with this match being the starter to it all. Since this was just their first match, they didn't pull out all the stops here but instead made sure to give us a nice appetite for things to come. As you would expect from these four guys, great action throughout the contest, they have pretty great chemistry with just about everyone. Also enjoyed watching The Usos as heels, I feel like their vicious and fast style suits them better as heels. The New Day had the win on their fingertips as both Big E and Kofi Kingston landed their Midnight Hour finisher on Jey before Jimmy pulled his brother out of the ring. Afterwards, the two left the ring and walked away from the match with their belts which would then lead to the referee calling for the countout. I get that they don't want to give us a straight finish with this being their first encounter, but I think they could've at least done a fishy pin or something considering the match before this already gave us a lame finish.
Winners: The New Day (via countout)
Rating: ***

Match 3: WWE SmackDown Women's Championship - Naomi (c) vs. Lana
Announcers note that this is Lana's first singles match since WrestleMania of last year. That can't be right... can it? Regardless, nobody was going into this match expecting much and while the match wasn't that bad, it wasn't very good. Carmella entered the match and thought about cashing in her Money in the Bank contract but decided not to when she saw that it probably wouldn't be going her way. Naomi is able to submit Lana to retain her title. Nothing much to see her with Carmella's interference really just being a way to cover up some of the bland action in the ring. But with all things considered, this could have been much worse.
Winner: Naomi
Rating: *1/4

Match 4: WWE Championship - Jinder Mahal (c) vs. Randy Orton
After shocking the world and defeating Randy Orton for the WWE Championship, Jinder Mahal must prove that his championship reign is not a fluke. Prior to the match, they show some past WWE Champions sitting ringside for the match including Bob Orton and Ric Flair. Mahal comes out looking like a million dollars with The Singh Brothers accompanying him by his side. Orton is the hometown hero and comes out to a spectacular ovation from the crowd. Solid action here with Mahal working on the left knee of Orton throughout the match and as usual, Orton doing a fantastic job of selling the injury. You just get the feeling that Orton was really high on Mahal at this point. They did a great job of reminding us about the legends sitting ringside for the match with Orton dropping Mahal on top of the barricade next to them along with Mahal stealing some of the moves from the legends at ringside. The match came to a collision when The Singh Brothers put Mahal's foot on the bottom rope during a count after an RKO from Orton. From there, The Singh Brothers were kicked out but would get their hands on Bob Orton on their way out. This led to Orton beating the living daylights out of the two before hitting an RKO to both of them with one of those being through an announcers table. However, Mahal would capitalize on all the mayhem and hit Orton with a Khallas as soon as he stepped back in the ring. Enjoyed that match but would love to have seen more of just Mahal and Orton. However, they wanted to have another oddball finish to set up their Punjabi Prison match and this was a solid way to do so. Just almost feels like this entire event is setting up for matches down the line and it gets pretty repetitive.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: ***

Match 5: Breezango vs. The Ascension
Welp, we needed a match to bridge the gap between the two main events and this is it. Pretty boring tag match here that had the crowd either sitting on their hands or going to the restroom. Fandngo is able to quickly roll up Viktor to score the pretty easy win for himself and Tyler Breeze. At this point, The Ascension were so lost in the scuffle that there was seriously very little hope in rebuilding the team. On to the main event.
Winners: Breezango
Rating: 3/4*

Match 6: Men's Money in the Bank Ladder Match - AJ Styles vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens vs. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Baron Corbin
Before the match, Baron Corbin attacks Shinsuke Nakamura before the match to grab the upper hand on things and temporarily takes Nakamura out of the action. Definitely the best guys on the SmackDown roster that you could ask for in this match with Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens truly being the two standouts for me in this match. As I said earlier, not every Ladder Match needs to have somebody land a triple backflip and follow it up with a corkscrew moonsault off two ladders for it to be enjoyable for me. In fact, I'd rather much see less of that at this point. Like the first Ladder Match in the night, the spots were nicely spaced out and all of them made sense, it certainly didn't feel like they were just tossing up big spots for the sake of it. Credit needs to go to Owens for taking the brunt of all the nasty exchanges along with Zayn for also tossing himself in the fire many of the times. Also need to credit AJ Styles for the awesome spot of him hanging from the top and trying to grab the briefcase while he was hanging on to the chain, made for a sweet looking spot. Nakamura would later return to the match to take out Corbin when he had an open window for the briefcase but it didn't prove to be much as Corbin was later able to secure the briefcase to win the match. Good main event, maybe a little too long for my liking but it made sense when taking into account how weak the rest of the card was. Also an interesting choice to have a heel win the match with Jinder Mahal being the WWE Champion at the time and it really not looking like he was going to lose the strap anytime soon during this period. The match was fun but nowhere near what I was expecting with the talent in the ring.
Winner: Baron Corbin
Rating: ***1/2

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Easily one of SmackDown's weakest PPV outings with no match on the card really being a standout. There were definitely some great moments throughout the show and the action wasn't bad but nothing was really great either. Money in the Bank PPVs usually deliver but unfortunately, the 2017 edition is a hard pass.
Rating: 5.5/10

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 Review

WWE Money in the Bank 2015
June 14, 2015
Columbus, Ohio

Seth Rollins must defend his WWE Championship against Dean Ambrose in a Ladder Match with his relationship with The Authority also hanging in the balance. Also, John Cena looks to avenge his shocking loss to Kevin Owens in the 2015 edition of Money in the Bank.

Match 1: Money in the Bank Ladder Match - Randy Orton vs. Neville vs. Kane vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Sheamus vs. Roman Reigns
Cool to see the Money in the Bank Ladder Match kick off the night with Roman Reigns being the heavy favorite going into this one. Was never really a fan of having over six guys in this match, creates too much of a clutter sometimes and it gets difficult to really take in the action. However, I didn't really have much of a problem with it here and while there were seven guys in the match, they were able to nicely spread out the spots but still had some times during the match were some of the competitors were questionably out for too long. But they were still able to churn out a few cool spots including Randy Orton giving Neville a sweet RKO off a ladder and Roman Reigns tossing Kofi Kingston outside the ring onto everybody else. Reigns looked like he had a clear route to the briefcase until Bray Wyatt appeared out of nowhere and pushed him off the ladder before planting him with a Sister Abigail. Sheamus is able to fight off Neville to score the pretty surprising win. Was very glad to see Sheamus win here, he definitely earned his spot back in the main event scene and his new look had definitely reinvigorated his career, no matter how many internet geeks hated it. Also a solid way to keep Reigns away from the title picture for awhile with him now having to deal with Wyatt.
Winner: Sheamus
Rating: ****

Match 2: WWE Divas Championship - Nikki Bella (c) vs. Paige
At this point, Nikki Bella is atop the Divas division as both her and her sister are running rampant. Paige steps up and looks to finally put an end to things. Trouble already starts for her when Nikki comes to the ring alone... you already know that Brie is somewhere underneath the ring. Decent match here with just about what you would expect from these two, nothing really out of the ordinary but definitely one of the better Divas matches from this era with them getting 11 or so minutes to work out. Paige thinks she scored the win but it only after Nikki did her switch with Brie who was hiding underneath the ring. The referee didn't end up calling for the bell and instead saw Nikki arrive back to the match to hit a Rack Attack for the win. Interesting swerve to the match but definitely not one that really made too sense.
Winner: Nikki Bella
Rating: **1/4

Match 3: WWE Intercontinental Championship - Ryback (c) vs. The Big Show
With The Big Show punching The Miz out of the title picture, he inserted himself into this spot against Ryback for the Intercontinental Championship. I know, match of the year is ready to go down here. As you would expect, a pretty slow and physical match between the two here with both guys getting in their offenses including Ryback kicking out of a Chokeslam. After Ryback attacks The Miz who was doing commentary, The Miz retaliates by attacking The Big Show with a microphone for the referee to call for disqualification. Pretty lame ending to what was already a pretty uninteresting match. A Miz attack after the match concluded would have been the better call here since we already got a screwy finish in the previous match. Either way, moving on.
Winner: The Big Show (via disqualification)
Rating: *3/4

Match 4: Kevin Owens vs. John Cena
Kevin Owens had one of the coolest main roster debuts in WWE history when he challenged John Cena to a match at Elimination Chamber before beating him CLEAN. Not many can actually hold that accomplishment in a WWE ring. Their rematch was set here at Money in the Bank and much like their first encounter, they did not disappoint here. Cena was in the midst of an incredible United States Championship reign while Owens was still the NXT Champion. Crazy to think how Cena had some of his best stuff so later in his career. Loved how Cena put this dude over a month prior to this and love how he is legitimately being challenged throughout this match. Of course, this forced Cena to toss out some tricks from his bag including hitting a freaking variation of a Canadian Destroyer which had the crowd going rowdy. Every nearfall was believable and made sense before Cena was finally able to hit a stunner and an Attitude Adjustment to score the big win to even out his series against Owens. Wow, another fantastic match between the two and another excellent piece of Cena's extensive catalog of matches in 2015. Dude was a machine. Owens lost but his value still holds high, great stuff.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****1/2

Match 5: WWE Tag Team Championship - The New Day (c) vs. The Prime Time Players
Tough task for these guys to follow that banger of a match but with The New Day having such a great run as heels, they were more than capable enough of getting some easy heat on them before the match with a great promo. Kofi Kingston is out of the mix here after going through his match earlier so this is finally going to be an even match. Always been a fan of The Prime Time Players so it's cool to see them get some shine here against The New Day. Pretty standard tag match with Darren Young being in the ring for the majority of the match as both Big E and Xavier Woods went to work on him before Young was able to score the hot tag to Titus O'Neil. Once big Titus was in the ring, he wrecked havoc on everyone and scored the huge win for himself and Young. Awesome to see O'Neil and Young get the rub here, definitely two underrated guys in the company.
Winners: The Prime Time Players
Rating: **1/4

Match 6: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Ladder Match - Seth Rollins (c) vs. Dean Ambrose
With their last match at Elimination Chamber ending with a fishy finish, the rematch is on in a Ladder Match and Seth Rollins won't be having any of his goons at ringside for it. At this point, having two Ladder Matches on a singular card can get to be a little overkill so I'm glad they at least spaced the two matches out. Action was just as you would expect from the two with the fight spilling out everywhere and the two using chairs and ladders to inflict pain to one another. Of course, Rollins was playing defense for the better part of the match and trying to escape away from Ambrose by leaving him in the crowd at one point. But the novelty of it all kind of wore thin about half way in. They went on for over 35 minutes and it was pretty draining. Finally, the two climb the ladder and both men fall off the ladder simultaneously but with Rollins being the one to hold on to the gold on the way down, he is declared the winner. Afterwards, Rollins is greeted by Triple H for the showing of appreciation for the win. Decent main event but again, too long for my liking and the crowd was definitely lost in the scuffle because of it. However, I did like the finish with Rollins escaping with another debatable win but this time without the help of outside interference.
Winner: Seth Rollins
Rating: ***1/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
John Cena and Kevin Owens easily stole the show and really injected some life into this pretty lifeless PPV. The opening Money in the Bank Match was pretty fun but everything else just felt bland and nothing too exciting. If there's any reason to go back and relive this PPV, it's simply for the Cena vs. Owens match. 
Rating: 6.5/10

WWE's 10 Greatest Matches From the 2010s Review (Part 1)

With WWE being at a very odd state, they uploaded an interesting video on their WWE Network that details the very best matches of the 2010s. I figured it would be pretty interesting to go back and take a look at some of these matches. What did you guys think? How accurate did they get this list down?

#10. WWE WrestleMania 35 - WWE Championship - Daniel Bryan (c) vs. Kofi Kingston (Taken from WWE's Top 10 Matches of 2019 Review - Part 2)
If I had to choose the best feud for the year of 2019, it would probably have to be the one between Daniel Bryan and Kofi Kingston. We all know the story of Kingston's long journey to finally getting a shot at the WWE Championship and the WWE did an amazing job of Kingston scratching and clawing his way to getting an opportunity. Bryan was the perfect opponent for Kingston, someone who had a very similar story to Kingston and ironically stands as the one in the way of Kingston realizing his dreams. Great match here from the start, Bryan fantastic in his role as a heel and giving Kingston some nasty kicks in front of Kingston's New Day partners and using his speed to divert Kingston into harming himself. The rest of The New Day didn't get too involved in the match here until needed when both Big E and Xavier Woods took out Erick Rowan at ringside. With Bryan having nobody by his side, he fell right into a Trouble in Paradise to end the match. Kofi Kingston is a WWE Champion for the first time in his long career in the WWE. What a moment. Big E and Woods reveal the original WWE Championship belt before Bryan redesigned it as they then brought it to Kofi who then celebrated in the ring. Beautiful moment to see Kingston celebrate the win with his kids in the middle of the ring. Incredible story and an incredible match.
Winner: Kofi Kingston
Rating: ****1/2

#9. WWE Elimination Chamber 2014 - The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family (Taken from WWE Elimination Chamber 2014 Review)
The two biggest factions in the industry in one ring going at it for the very first time. This is going to be awesome. As a matter of fact, the crowd is even chanting that before the match even begins. This all began on an edition of Raw when The Wyatts interfered in a match with The Shield that cost them their entry into the Elimination Chamber match. They built the match around two guys, Roman Reigns and Bray Wyatt. They teased them getting tagged in but it was mainly the other four for the better part of the match. WWE always does a great job when it comes to production values and this was no different, they captured perfect facial reactions from Reigns and Wyatt so nicely that you just felt the urgency for them to get in the ring. You just knew something was going down when they would get tagged in. But that's not discounting what was going on in the ring between the other four at all. Because they tore the house down. A frenzy from start to finish with the crowd being behind them every single step of the way. So many unique spots and close finishes that even saw The Wyatts slam Seth Rollins hard through the announcers table as Bray watched with a stoic face. The only member of The Shield left to handle was the juggernaut of the group, Roman Reigns. They surrounded the ring the same way The Shield does and went to work. Wyatt looked to end Reigns before Reigns powers out of Bray's finisher and took out The Wyatts on his own! He looked like an animal and the crowd loved it! Superman Punches for everyone! However, Bray Wyatt got the better of the exchange and scored the big win. What a match. No slowing down from the start and I loved it. Definitely one of the best matches in recent WWE history and hopefully, for a long time to come. However, it did feel like they pulled the trigger too early on this match which makes me question how long these two teams will be together for. Either way, awesome stuff.
Winners: The Wyatt Family
Rating: ****1/2

#8. WWE Money in the Bank 2011 - WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. CM Punk (Taken from WWE Money in the Bank 2011 Review)
It's not time for what might just be the most anticipated main event match in recent WWE history. CM Punk challenges John Cena for the WWE Championship. Let's also not forget to mention that this is CM Punk's last WWE match and that if Cena loses, he will be fired. Oh, and we're in Chicago, CM Punk's homeland. With that being said, CM Punk arrives to a huge crowd reaction. Probably one of the loudest crowd reactions ever! After, Cena comes out to a reaction that can be compared to his one at ECW: One Night Stand back in 2006. The bell tolls and the match has officially begun. Things start off at a good back and forth pace with great chain wrestling which kept the crowd enthralled throughout. Punk gave Cena his best and Cena fired right back and held up his own right against him. Really good interactions with the loud crowd from both men including Punk copying Cena's signature taunts as well as Cena going for a Five Knuckle Shuffle to the crowd's dismay. Once the dust settled and the chain wrestling ended, there was still no clear cut favorite here as both men managed to keep the match flowing at a nice and unpredictable pace. From then on, they turn the notch up with near fall after near fall and submission after submission. Punk manages to kick out of two Attitude Adjustments and also managed to reverse the STF into an Anaconda Vice. The crowd is going nuts for all of this! Cena manages to fire back and reverse Punk's GTS into the STF but Punk managed to dramatically crawl his way out by grabbing onto the bottom rope. However, Punk was able to hit Cena with a GTS later on the latter of the match but unfortunately for him, Cena falls through the second rope and out of the ring! Punk has no other option but to carry Cena's sandbagged body back into the ring but Cena fought back into the match and eventually puts Punk back into the STF once again. As Cena does this, Vince McMahon & John Laurinaitis try to pull another Montreal Screwjob but Cena punches Laurinaitis and tells McMahon that he wants to win fairly. As soon as Cena gets back in the ring, Punk hoists Cena up and nails him with the GTS! Punk covers and gets the win as the crowd goes into a frenzy! Shocked, McMahon calls for Alberto Del Rio to cash in his briefcase but gets drilled in the head with a kick by Punk! Punk blows a kiss to McMahon and leaves the arena with the WWE Championship. Phenomenal main event that is very reminiscent to John Cena vs. Triple H a few years ago in the same building at WrestleMania 22 with a hot crowd and marquee attraction. The involvement of McMahon made things more dramatic and I didn't feel like it took anything away from the match. This match perfectly closes out a great night of wrestling and will definitely be remembered for a long time coming.
Winner: CM Punk
Rating: ****1/2

#7. WWE WrestleMania XXVIII - Hell in a Cell - The Undertaker vs. Triple H (Taken from WWE WrestleMania XXVIII Review)The epilogue after the series of matches between The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels continues here as Triple H gets another opportunity at conquering The Undertaker and The Streak. With Shawn Michaels as the guest referee and the contest being battled inside Hell in a Cell, this is easily one of the most anticipated matches of all time. Just the matches between Michaels and Undertaker, I don’t know where to begin with this one. Just a definite masterpiece in its own right. The ambiance, the production, the lowering of the cage, everything was done masterfully and the match already had its pace set before the bell even rang. Good action from the first few minutes before Hunter seemingly had his grasp on the match. He began to take The Undertaker out with a series of nasty chair shots to the dismay of Shawn who tried to stop the match to Undertaker’s refusal. Hunter calls back to WrestleMania XXVI by telling Undertaker to stay down. Shawn tries to get himself involved until Undertaker takes him out before being saved by Triple H. Good psychology and smart wrestling from the first half until the second half takes off with The Undertaker getting back into the thick of things and gives Triple H chair shots. Plenty of great spacing, kicking out, and spots from the match so far with Michaels dropping Undertaker with Sweet Chin Music in revenge. However, Triple H can’t capitalize and that even after bringing out the sledgehammer, The Undertaker and his streak is safe. After a grueling battle, Triple H tries to hit The Undertaker with one last shot through the sledgehammer to which The Undertaker catches the shot and caps off the match with a Tombstone. Everything worked, this match had so much hype that I didn’t think it would live up to it. However, I was wrong. Amazing action, Shawn was great in his role, and the whole match consisted of smart wrestling psychology. One for the ages. A definite end of an era.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: *****

#6. WWE Battleground 2016 - Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens (Review from WWE Battleground 2016 Review)
If anyone has ever seen these two go at it in Ring of Honor back in the day, then you know what to expect. More specifically, this match reminded me of their match at Death Before Dishonor in 2010. If you have never seen it, then I highly recommend you do so before watching them here. It was their first match against each other in their personal feud that year and very similar to the animosity that was building here. As usual, incredible chemistry between the two with some incredible displays of athleticism that had the crowd reeling. After hitting two consecutive Helluva Kicks, Zayn pins Owens to score one of the biggest wins of his career. Remarkable performance as usual from these two with a very sweet ending as Zayn stared down Owens after the first Helluva Kick and following it up with another second nasty kick to the face. These two truly are destined to fight each other forever.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Rating: ****1/4

WWE Money in the Bank PPV Review Archive

WWE Money in the Bank 2010 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2019/05/wwe-money-in-bank-2010-review.html

WWE Money in the Bank 2011 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2014/07/wwe-money-in-bank-2011-review.html

WWE Money in the Bank 2012 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2013/08/wwe-money-in-bank-2012-review.html

WWE Money in the Bank 2013 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2015/02/wwe-money-in-bank-2013-review.html

WWE Money in the Bank 2014 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2019/05/wwe-money-in-bank-2014-review.html

WWE Money in the Bank 2015 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/04/wwe-money-in-bank-2015-review.html

WWE Money in the Bank 2016 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2018/09/wwe-money-in-bank-2016-review.html

WWE Money in the Bank 2017 - https://rayalmighty1.blogspot.com/2020/05/wwe-money-in-bank-2017-review.html

WWE NXT TakeOver: Orlando 2017 Review

WWE NXT TakeOver: Orlando 2017
April 1, 2017
Orlando, Florida

It's the night before WrestleMania and NXT is ready to steal the show once again. Two big title matches headline this TakeOver event as Asuka puts her NXT Women's Championship on the line against Ember Moon while Bobby Roode defends his NXT Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura!

Match 1: SAnitY vs. Tye Dillinger, Ruby Riot, Roderick Strong & Kassius Ohno
With No Way Jose being attacked before the event, Kassius Ohno was recruited to take on SAnitY here in this opening match. What an odd collection we have here to go against Eric Young's crew but nonetheless, this one was still a fun opener. With Tye Dillinger being the leader of the pack to take out SAnitY, they did a great job early on of isolating him away from his team so the crowd could get hot for when he was tagged in. When that time came, the crowd loved it and Dillinger started cleaning house left and right. However. the numbers game would eventually catch up to him as Killian Dain was able to secure the win for his team in the middle of the ring when everybody else was laid out. A little too chaotic and seemed like there was no real point of having Nikki Cross or Ruby Riot in the mix since they barely saw any time in the ring. Regardless, a good opening match for what it was.
Winners: SAnitY
Rating: ***1/4

Match 2: Andrade Almas vs. Aleister Black
Aleister Black is new to the NXT realm and looks to make his mark against Andrade Almas in the second match of the night. While this match was really supposed to be a showcase for Black, it almost came off as the complete opposite. Crowd was receptive to Black's ambiance along with his cool entrance but they were almost more interested in seeing Almas give it to Black. The match here went on for about ten minutes and they made pretty good use of the time with some nice exchanges between the two along with the two showboating early on in the match to set the tone. Finally, Black was able to land his Black Mass kick to seal the win. Again, good match for what it was but definitely not what I was expecting. Was hoping for a longer bout between the two considering how damn good they are in the ring.
Winner: Aleister Black
Rating: ***

Match 3: NXT Tag Team Championship - Elimination Match - The Authors of Pain (c) vs. The Revival vs. #DIY
Whenever you see these teams listed in a match, you know you are about to get something good. And yes, they more than delivered here with the crowd absolutely eating it up. Loved the dynamic early on in the match with both The Revival and #DIY working together to topple the giants of The Authors of Pain. They've done a fantastic job in building up AOP as the beasts that they are and the other two teams in the match did a great job of demonstrating the struggle of even taking them out early on despite having the numbers advantage. Even by driving Rezar through a table and trying to submit Akam in the middle of the ring, both #DIY and The Revival were still unable to take them out of the equation. Tommaso Ciampa would eventually fall victim to AOP first and get himself and Johnny Gargano eliminated from the match. If AOP was going to drop the gold, it would be to The Revival. Despite The Revival putting up a solid fight, AOP still proved to be too much as they were able to score the win and retain the titles. Fantastic match that had no shortage of action. Main gripe would probably having #DIY get eliminated first before The Revival. The crowd was absolutely hot for them and once they got eliminated from the match, some of the steam they had gained from the match was seemingly lost. But damn, we don't give AOP enough credit to this day.
Winners: The Authors of Pain
Rating: ****1/4

Match 4: NXT Women's Championship - Asuka (c) vs. Ember Moon
At this point, they were still trying to get Asuka over as a heel as she takes on the white hot Ember Moon for the NXT Women's Championship. Asuka worked great as a dominant babyface but it was eventually time for her to switch roles and go against a worthy babyface in someone like Moon. Fun action in the ring with the two not being shy of being physical against each other. Loved watching their trash talk throughout the match, their banter really helped me feel like I was watching an intense match for a world championship. Great finish to this one with Asuka pushing the referee to Moon who was on the top rope. This caused Moon to crash hard and left an opening for Asuka to knock her out cold with a hard kick. If they wanted to get Asuka over as a heel, that was the best possible finish. Great match that would have benefited a lot more with a few more minutes. Regardless, sets up a rematch between the two down the road so the appetite is still there.
Winner: Asuka
Rating: ***1/2

Match 5: NXT Championship - Bobby Roode (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
This is their big rematch from January when Bobby Roode topped Shinsuke Nakamura for the NXT Championship in the main event of TakeOver: San Antonio. Definitely got the big-fight feel for this one with the two coming out to electric entrances. The new NXT Championship was debuted and looked a thousand times nicer than the older one. Roode was quick to work on the left knee of Nakamura early on and also throughout the match in hopes of eliminating that Kinshasa finisher. Match felt pretty similar to their last one, a bit dragged out and almost felt like they went a half hour just for the sake of it. However, that's not to say that the action in the ring was boring because it was far from it. Loved the physicality between the two and Roode works so great as that dastardly heel trying to be cerebral in every move. Despite Nakamura nearly scoring the win when Roode lost track of things by trying to bring the ring bell into the mix, Roode was still able to take out Nakamura with a Glorious DDT after getting some momentum from the top rope. Good main event match but like their first encounter, definitely a bit underwhelming.
Winner: Bobby Roode
Rating: ***3/4

Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Another solid offering from NXT but definitely not the best by their own standards. While the main event was a tad bit disappointing, I think it's still worthy enough for me to recommend someone going back to watch. However, it was really the NXT Tag Team Championship match that stole the show and the main reason why one should go back and take a look at this show. Was I expecting a bit more? Sure, but then again that's just a testament to how high NXT has raised the bar. Their good is better than most people's great.
Rating: 8/10