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
Monday, April 27, 2020
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
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
#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
Monday, April 20, 2020
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
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
Monday, April 13, 2020
WWE Backlash 2017 Review
WWE Backlash 2017
May 21, 2017
Rosemont, Illinois
Jinder Mahal gains the chance of a lifetime as he challenges Randy Orton for the coveted WWE Championship. Also, Kevin Owens puts his United States Championship on the line against AJ Styles.
Match 1: Dolph Ziggler vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Dolph Ziggler is the perfect guy for Shinsuke Nakamura to make his WWE PPV debut against since Ziggler is a proven talent and someone who works well with just about everyone. Unfortunately for him, he's about to be the sacrificial lamb for Nakamura. Great choice to have these two open the night up, get the ball rolling with two guys who know how to work a crowd and let Nakamura showcase himself in a better spotlight instead of having them go at it in the middle of the show with a quieter audience. Pace was pretty slow in the beginning but they were definitely working nicely with the already rowdy crowd. However, once the pace picked up, the ball would not stop rolling. Believable nerafalls and fun action before Nakamura was able to hit a Kinshasa for the win. Great way to introduce Nakamura to the main roster fans in his PPV debut. They had the right match to kickstart the show and also did a fantastic job of displaying how brutal a Kinshasa kick can be.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Rating: ***3/4
Match 2: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Usos (c) vs. Breezango
Tyler Breeze & Fandango of Breezango were pretty hot at this point and them making a case as legit challengers against The Usos was serious. This was definitely more of a comedy match above anything but it absolutely worked. Tyler Breeze came into the match dressed up as a janitor with a mop in his hands before later changing into an old lady which certainly had the crowd going. Despite getting the upperhand on The Usos a couple times, The Usos were able to finally eliminate Breeze from the match and isolate Fandango in the ring to score the win. Like I said, more of a comedy match than anything but they made it work and the crowd enjoyed it. Fun would be the right word and there's nothing wrong with that.
Winners: The Usos
Rating: **1/2
Match 3: Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
Getting through some of these midcard matches can be a chore when it came to the brand-exclusive PPVs. While this is not the most exciting match ever on paper, the two here gave us a quality match and made use of the extended time they were given for the PPV which was definitely one of the upsides to these PPVs. Solid match here between two guys who probably didn't get the love they deserved around this time so they took advantage of having a match here on PPV. Both guys got in a good amount of offense against each other throughout the match with Baron Corbin getting the slight advantage. However, one costly mistake at the end of the match led to Sami Zayn hitting a Helluva Kick in the corner to seal the win. Solid midcard match here to keep the ball rolling for the night, Zayn picks up a big win but seeing how much better he works later on as a heel, it's literally night and day.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Rating: ***1/4
Match 4: The Welcoming Committee vs. Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Naomi
I'm probably in the minority when I say that I actually don't mind not having titles defended on PPVs all the time. I almost feel like frequent title defenses make the matches less meaningful and putting the champions in tag matches like this help build up those matches and feuds. With that being said, the champion in Naomi teams up with both Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair to handle some business against Carmella, Tamina & Natalya of The Welcoming Committee. A pretty standard tag match here, just interesting to see how interactions between Natalya and Charlotte, I don't recall the two having a big match against each other. Natalya is able to submit Becky with the Sharpshooter to pick up the win and gain some momentum in her efforts to take down Naomi as the champion. Again, just a standard tag match here, also interesting to see how much Becky and Charlotte have grown since this.
Winners: The Welcoming Committee
Rating: **3/4
Match 5: WWE United States Championship - Kevin Owens (c) vs. AJ Styles
Kevin Owens' run as "The Face of America" was just so strange to me, the dude went from being the top guy in the company to having such an odd gimmick that wasn't getting over too well with the audience. AJ Styles challenges Owens here for the gold in a match that internet wrestling fans had their panties wet over. Anyway, great match between the two here with Owens doing a fantastic job of constantly working on one of Styles' legs throughout the match. This created some extra drama for the match and Styles did a great job of selling the onslaught. Lots of fun action between the two here that saw some pretty sick spots including Styles suplexing Owens on the side of the ring and Owens hitting a running cannonball to the leg of Styles in the corner. Because of Owens putting his attention on that leg of Styles throughout the match, Styles wasn't able to land a Phenomenal Forearm later in the match and finally, got his leg stuck in the announcers table that led to a countout victory for Owens. Love the finish, reward the fans with smart wrestling. Owens isolated a part of the body and it eventually paid off for him in the end. Many weren't happy with the finish but I thought it worked, Owens picks up more steam going into their rematch. Matches don't always have to end with a pin for it to make sense.
Winner: Kevin Owens (via countout)
Rating: ***3/4
Match 6: Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan
Such a bummer that these two didn't get a bigger and better payoff for all their years teaming together. As soon as Bray Wyatt stepped out of the picture, these two were left scrambling with a whole lot of nothing. Very physical match between the two but with the crowd having no real reason to care for anyone to win this match, it created a pretty tough environment for the two to work in. Aside from such a dead crowd, I enjoyed watching the two going at it for a bit and doing their best to work with the situation. Luke Harper is able to escape with the victory in a pretty underwhelming match. Just disappointing that these two were sort of tossed in this position. They were teaming for years, why couldn't this feud extend beyond just a quick match here? Why did Bray have to leave so abruptly? Either way, on to the main event.
Winner: Luke Harper
Rating: **1/4
Match 7: WWE Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. Jinder Mahal
First off, who would have ever guessed that this would actually happen? Jinder Mahal was propelled into this main event spot shortly after WrestleMania and finds himself in the opportunity of a lifetime. With The Singh Brothers by his side, Mahal looks to take down The Viper for his prestigious championship. There's no way Randy Orton is actually going to lose here, right? RIGHT? Welp, Orton tried to gain the advantage early on when he attacked Mahal from behind in retaliation for all the weeks that Mahal had been tormenting Orton. During the match, Mahal did a great job of working on the left shoulder of Orton and Orton was excellent in selling the injury throughout. The dude is subtly a master at this. Orton gets distracted by The Singh Brothers during the match so he takes things into his own hands by tossing them around before finally eliminating them out of the equation with a double DDT in the ring. However, Mahal capitalizes on the situation and naild Orton with the Kallaus to seal the victory! The camera crew does a great job of finding all the shocked faces in the arena as the crowd erupts in disbelief over the win. Wow. Mahal then celebrates around the arena and in the ring with his newly won championship as both Orton and The Singh Brothers lay on the floor. Say what you want about Mahal as the champion but that was awesome and he had some serious heel heat rolling into and out of this match. If you hated everything about his title reign, then I hope you can at least enjoy him coming full circle and winning the biggest prize in the industry.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: ***1/2
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Aside from Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship, this was pretty much just a bland and forgettable PPV. There's a lot of good and a lot of bad with these brand-exclusive PPVs and this event should be a good example. You get some matches that aren't PPV worthy and you get some matches that get the proper time that they deserve. However, you get a lot of forgettable and just downright unflavored shows like this. It's another case of quantity not always being better than quality.
Rating: 6.75/10
May 21, 2017
Rosemont, Illinois
Jinder Mahal gains the chance of a lifetime as he challenges Randy Orton for the coveted WWE Championship. Also, Kevin Owens puts his United States Championship on the line against AJ Styles.
Match 1: Dolph Ziggler vs. Shinsuke Nakamura
Dolph Ziggler is the perfect guy for Shinsuke Nakamura to make his WWE PPV debut against since Ziggler is a proven talent and someone who works well with just about everyone. Unfortunately for him, he's about to be the sacrificial lamb for Nakamura. Great choice to have these two open the night up, get the ball rolling with two guys who know how to work a crowd and let Nakamura showcase himself in a better spotlight instead of having them go at it in the middle of the show with a quieter audience. Pace was pretty slow in the beginning but they were definitely working nicely with the already rowdy crowd. However, once the pace picked up, the ball would not stop rolling. Believable nerafalls and fun action before Nakamura was able to hit a Kinshasa for the win. Great way to introduce Nakamura to the main roster fans in his PPV debut. They had the right match to kickstart the show and also did a fantastic job of displaying how brutal a Kinshasa kick can be.
Winner: Shinsuke Nakamura
Rating: ***3/4
Match 2: WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship - The Usos (c) vs. Breezango
Tyler Breeze & Fandango of Breezango were pretty hot at this point and them making a case as legit challengers against The Usos was serious. This was definitely more of a comedy match above anything but it absolutely worked. Tyler Breeze came into the match dressed up as a janitor with a mop in his hands before later changing into an old lady which certainly had the crowd going. Despite getting the upperhand on The Usos a couple times, The Usos were able to finally eliminate Breeze from the match and isolate Fandango in the ring to score the win. Like I said, more of a comedy match than anything but they made it work and the crowd enjoyed it. Fun would be the right word and there's nothing wrong with that.
Winners: The Usos
Rating: **1/2
Match 3: Sami Zayn vs. Baron Corbin
Getting through some of these midcard matches can be a chore when it came to the brand-exclusive PPVs. While this is not the most exciting match ever on paper, the two here gave us a quality match and made use of the extended time they were given for the PPV which was definitely one of the upsides to these PPVs. Solid match here between two guys who probably didn't get the love they deserved around this time so they took advantage of having a match here on PPV. Both guys got in a good amount of offense against each other throughout the match with Baron Corbin getting the slight advantage. However, one costly mistake at the end of the match led to Sami Zayn hitting a Helluva Kick in the corner to seal the win. Solid midcard match here to keep the ball rolling for the night, Zayn picks up a big win but seeing how much better he works later on as a heel, it's literally night and day.
Winner: Sami Zayn
Rating: ***1/4
Match 4: The Welcoming Committee vs. Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Naomi
I'm probably in the minority when I say that I actually don't mind not having titles defended on PPVs all the time. I almost feel like frequent title defenses make the matches less meaningful and putting the champions in tag matches like this help build up those matches and feuds. With that being said, the champion in Naomi teams up with both Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair to handle some business against Carmella, Tamina & Natalya of The Welcoming Committee. A pretty standard tag match here, just interesting to see how interactions between Natalya and Charlotte, I don't recall the two having a big match against each other. Natalya is able to submit Becky with the Sharpshooter to pick up the win and gain some momentum in her efforts to take down Naomi as the champion. Again, just a standard tag match here, also interesting to see how much Becky and Charlotte have grown since this.
Winners: The Welcoming Committee
Rating: **3/4
Match 5: WWE United States Championship - Kevin Owens (c) vs. AJ Styles
Kevin Owens' run as "The Face of America" was just so strange to me, the dude went from being the top guy in the company to having such an odd gimmick that wasn't getting over too well with the audience. AJ Styles challenges Owens here for the gold in a match that internet wrestling fans had their panties wet over. Anyway, great match between the two here with Owens doing a fantastic job of constantly working on one of Styles' legs throughout the match. This created some extra drama for the match and Styles did a great job of selling the onslaught. Lots of fun action between the two here that saw some pretty sick spots including Styles suplexing Owens on the side of the ring and Owens hitting a running cannonball to the leg of Styles in the corner. Because of Owens putting his attention on that leg of Styles throughout the match, Styles wasn't able to land a Phenomenal Forearm later in the match and finally, got his leg stuck in the announcers table that led to a countout victory for Owens. Love the finish, reward the fans with smart wrestling. Owens isolated a part of the body and it eventually paid off for him in the end. Many weren't happy with the finish but I thought it worked, Owens picks up more steam going into their rematch. Matches don't always have to end with a pin for it to make sense.
Winner: Kevin Owens (via countout)
Rating: ***3/4
Match 6: Luke Harper vs. Erick Rowan
Such a bummer that these two didn't get a bigger and better payoff for all their years teaming together. As soon as Bray Wyatt stepped out of the picture, these two were left scrambling with a whole lot of nothing. Very physical match between the two but with the crowd having no real reason to care for anyone to win this match, it created a pretty tough environment for the two to work in. Aside from such a dead crowd, I enjoyed watching the two going at it for a bit and doing their best to work with the situation. Luke Harper is able to escape with the victory in a pretty underwhelming match. Just disappointing that these two were sort of tossed in this position. They were teaming for years, why couldn't this feud extend beyond just a quick match here? Why did Bray have to leave so abruptly? Either way, on to the main event.
Winner: Luke Harper
Rating: **1/4
Match 7: WWE Championship - Randy Orton (c) vs. Jinder Mahal
First off, who would have ever guessed that this would actually happen? Jinder Mahal was propelled into this main event spot shortly after WrestleMania and finds himself in the opportunity of a lifetime. With The Singh Brothers by his side, Mahal looks to take down The Viper for his prestigious championship. There's no way Randy Orton is actually going to lose here, right? RIGHT? Welp, Orton tried to gain the advantage early on when he attacked Mahal from behind in retaliation for all the weeks that Mahal had been tormenting Orton. During the match, Mahal did a great job of working on the left shoulder of Orton and Orton was excellent in selling the injury throughout. The dude is subtly a master at this. Orton gets distracted by The Singh Brothers during the match so he takes things into his own hands by tossing them around before finally eliminating them out of the equation with a double DDT in the ring. However, Mahal capitalizes on the situation and naild Orton with the Kallaus to seal the victory! The camera crew does a great job of finding all the shocked faces in the arena as the crowd erupts in disbelief over the win. Wow. Mahal then celebrates around the arena and in the ring with his newly won championship as both Orton and The Singh Brothers lay on the floor. Say what you want about Mahal as the champion but that was awesome and he had some serious heel heat rolling into and out of this match. If you hated everything about his title reign, then I hope you can at least enjoy him coming full circle and winning the biggest prize in the industry.
Winner: Jinder Mahal
Rating: ***1/2
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
Aside from Jinder Mahal winning the WWE Championship, this was pretty much just a bland and forgettable PPV. There's a lot of good and a lot of bad with these brand-exclusive PPVs and this event should be a good example. You get some matches that aren't PPV worthy and you get some matches that get the proper time that they deserve. However, you get a lot of forgettable and just downright unflavored shows like this. It's another case of quantity not always being better than quality.
Rating: 6.75/10
Thursday, April 2, 2020
WWE WrestleMania 22 Review (Part 2)
WWE WrestleMania 22
April 2, 2006
Rosemont, Illinois
The biggest show of the year features a stacked card with championships and personal bragging rights on the line. John Cena faces his biggest challenge yet as he defends his WWE Championship against Triple H in the main event. Rey Mysterio must tackle both Kurt Angle and Randy Orton to earn his first World Heavyweight Championship and Shawn Michaels looks to put an end to his personal beef with Vince McMahon.
Match 6: WWE Women's Championship - Trish Stratus (c) vs. Mickie James
We don't talk about this feud enough, super underrated feud of this era. I know nobody likes to really look back at the Ruthless Aggression Era for the Divas but you have to talk about these two and their feud leading into WrestleMania. Mickie James' admiration for Trish Stratus slowly turned into a crush on her before she finally kissed her and turned on her before their match here. James did a great job of working on the left leg of Trish throughout the match and finally capping it off by driving her into the ropes off the top rope. James was able to hit Trish with her own Chick Kick to seal the big win. Great match with a great finish that unfortunately felt a little underwhelming due to a poor reaction from both the crowd and the commentators. Regardless, great call to have the heel leave with a championship.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: ***
Match 7: Casket Match - Mark Henry vs. The Undertaker
First time a Casket Match is ever taking place at a WrestleMania as Mark Henry looks to snap the undefeated streak of The Undertaker. As you would expect, a fairly short match here but certainly one that didn't really need to go any longer than it did. Henry was physical from the start and was handling The Deadman pretty well until Undertaker turned the tides. Once Undertaker was able to hit a Last Ride from the corner, the match was pretty much in the bag. Undertaker was able to hit an impressive Tombstone on Henry and rolled him into the casket right after to win the match and keep his streak alive. Good match for what it was and a remarkable finish that had the crowd on their feet with that Tombstone. They didn't need to go over 20 minutes and drag this out, they went in for a little over 10 minutes and gave us a match that was great for what it was. Not every match has to tear the house down.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: No Holds Barred Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. McMahon
If you've never seen the match between Shawn Michaels and Shane McMahon on Saturday Night's Main Event leading into this, do yourselves a favor and do so! Such an underrated match and a fantastic way to lead into this one. Loved the start to this match that had Mr. McMahon confidently march his way to the ring and pose with his Muscle & Fitness magazine cover before Michaels drilled him over the head with it. Of course, McMahon tried every trick in the bag by bringing out the Spirit Squad and Shane out for help. Michaels was able to easily take them out of the equation along with handcuffing Shane to the bottom rope outside the ring. Hilarious moment came when Michaels shoved Shane's face into the rear side of Vince while Vince was laughing thinking it was Shawn's face. Once Michaels busted McMahon open, it was pretty much a wrap. Michaels landed an elbow from the top of a tall ladder through McMahon on a table. Oh, and McMahon had a trashcan covering him the whole time. Finally, Michaels delivers a hard Sweet Chin Music to wrap up the match. Afterwards, McMahon flips off the camera as he is rolled out in a stretcher. Great match that really shows off how deep Michaels' range is with who he is able to work with in the ring. Their feud would stretch out for a few more months with Michaels eventually reuniting with Triple H later in the summer. However, I really thought that this would be the perfect ending.
Winner: Shawn Michaels
Rating: ***1/2
Match 9: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Kurt Angle (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble to score his opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship while Randy Orton inserted himself into the match with a win over Mysterio at No Way Out a month later. Finally, here we are. Mysterio's career is set to culminate with the biggest match of his life. Unfortunately for him, the spoiled Chicago crowd was more interested in having Kurt Angle retain his gold. Even still, this match was packed with tons of action from the start of the match to the very end. Angle was a suplexing machine as he was tossing the two around like toys while the crowd kept eating it up. Loved the spot of Angle hitting a German suplex on both Orton and Mysterio that had Mysterio flying in the air. Mysterio was later able to escape an Angle Slam and toss Angle out of the ring before hitting a 619 on Orton to secure the incredible win. Had this match gone another five or so minutes, I really think we could have been looking at an all-time classic. Instead, it was just less than ten minutes and things felt so damn rushed. However, the match was still super fun to watch and a great chapter in the epic book of Rey Mysterio. But damn, Angle was such a beast at this time.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ***1/4
Match 10: Playboy Pillow Fight Match - Candice Michelle vs. Torrie Wilson
So we need something to bridge the gap between the two biggest matches on the card... and we get this. There is a bed in the middle of the ring as these two start the match off in dresses before losing them down to their bra and panties. Torrie Wilson scores the win by rolling up Candice Michelle. That was bad... really bad. Either way, on to the main event.
Winner: Torrie Wilson
Rating: 1/4*
Match 11: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Triple H
This is the first singles contest between the two hottest stars in the company and in my opinion, they gave us one of the most underrated main evens in WrestleMania history. Loved the build to this match, Triple H was clamoring over having the easiest challenge of his WrestleMania career with the newer and younger John Cena not backing down from the challenge. By this point, we had seen Cena have to go through guys like JBL, Kurt Angle, Edge and Chris Jericho, but nobody like The Game. Jim Ross was at his best on commentary, doing a fantastic job throughout the match as building the narrative of Cena being outmatched for this and letting the viewers know that him falling to somebody as rugged and experienced as Triple H was a strong possibility. The Chicago crowd was hot for this match as they were booing Cena out of the building and both men in the ring were eating it up and milking it for every drip that they could. With the crowd being so hot, they didn't have to give us flashy spots or anything but instead had a slower paced match that would gradually pick up until Cena nearly fell to a sledgehammer hit after a referee bump. From there, Cena was able to hit an FU before locking Triple H in an STFU. Crowd was on the edge as Cena applied the hold before Triple H had no choice but to tap. If there was any doubt, this showed why Cena was not only the face of the company, but simply the right choice to be the face of the company. He works at his finest with hostile crowds against him and he really knows how to play with the crowd, even here when he was just reaching his peak. I can't believe how overlooked this match gets, every nearfall was convincing and every spot was so nicely calculated. The only reason I don't give this ***** is because I feel like it could have gone a couple minutes longer but then again, this had me itching for the rematch immediately after this. Apparently, a rematch was in the works for next year's WrestleMania before Triple H eventually went down with an injury. Regardless, fantastic match and a perfect one to kick start Cena's WrestleMania main event belt.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This was personally one of my favorite WrestleManias ever. It flowed nicely from the very beginning and you get your mix of different styles of wrestling. While this certainly isn't the best WrestleMania in terms of wrestling quality, it's certainly up there as one of the most fun ones ever. There might be a couple bad matches on here but it's nothing that truly takes away from the rest of the card.
Rating: 8.5/10
April 2, 2006
Rosemont, Illinois
The biggest show of the year features a stacked card with championships and personal bragging rights on the line. John Cena faces his biggest challenge yet as he defends his WWE Championship against Triple H in the main event. Rey Mysterio must tackle both Kurt Angle and Randy Orton to earn his first World Heavyweight Championship and Shawn Michaels looks to put an end to his personal beef with Vince McMahon.
Match 6: WWE Women's Championship - Trish Stratus (c) vs. Mickie James
We don't talk about this feud enough, super underrated feud of this era. I know nobody likes to really look back at the Ruthless Aggression Era for the Divas but you have to talk about these two and their feud leading into WrestleMania. Mickie James' admiration for Trish Stratus slowly turned into a crush on her before she finally kissed her and turned on her before their match here. James did a great job of working on the left leg of Trish throughout the match and finally capping it off by driving her into the ropes off the top rope. James was able to hit Trish with her own Chick Kick to seal the big win. Great match with a great finish that unfortunately felt a little underwhelming due to a poor reaction from both the crowd and the commentators. Regardless, great call to have the heel leave with a championship.
Winner: Mickie James
Rating: ***
Match 7: Casket Match - Mark Henry vs. The Undertaker
First time a Casket Match is ever taking place at a WrestleMania as Mark Henry looks to snap the undefeated streak of The Undertaker. As you would expect, a fairly short match here but certainly one that didn't really need to go any longer than it did. Henry was physical from the start and was handling The Deadman pretty well until Undertaker turned the tides. Once Undertaker was able to hit a Last Ride from the corner, the match was pretty much in the bag. Undertaker was able to hit an impressive Tombstone on Henry and rolled him into the casket right after to win the match and keep his streak alive. Good match for what it was and a remarkable finish that had the crowd on their feet with that Tombstone. They didn't need to go over 20 minutes and drag this out, they went in for a little over 10 minutes and gave us a match that was great for what it was. Not every match has to tear the house down.
Winner: The Undertaker
Rating: **3/4
Match 8: No Holds Barred Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. McMahon
If you've never seen the match between Shawn Michaels and Shane McMahon on Saturday Night's Main Event leading into this, do yourselves a favor and do so! Such an underrated match and a fantastic way to lead into this one. Loved the start to this match that had Mr. McMahon confidently march his way to the ring and pose with his Muscle & Fitness magazine cover before Michaels drilled him over the head with it. Of course, McMahon tried every trick in the bag by bringing out the Spirit Squad and Shane out for help. Michaels was able to easily take them out of the equation along with handcuffing Shane to the bottom rope outside the ring. Hilarious moment came when Michaels shoved Shane's face into the rear side of Vince while Vince was laughing thinking it was Shawn's face. Once Michaels busted McMahon open, it was pretty much a wrap. Michaels landed an elbow from the top of a tall ladder through McMahon on a table. Oh, and McMahon had a trashcan covering him the whole time. Finally, Michaels delivers a hard Sweet Chin Music to wrap up the match. Afterwards, McMahon flips off the camera as he is rolled out in a stretcher. Great match that really shows off how deep Michaels' range is with who he is able to work with in the ring. Their feud would stretch out for a few more months with Michaels eventually reuniting with Triple H later in the summer. However, I really thought that this would be the perfect ending.
Winner: Shawn Michaels
Rating: ***1/2
Match 9: WWE World Heavyweight Championship - Kurt Angle (c) vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton
Rey Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble to score his opportunity for the World Heavyweight Championship while Randy Orton inserted himself into the match with a win over Mysterio at No Way Out a month later. Finally, here we are. Mysterio's career is set to culminate with the biggest match of his life. Unfortunately for him, the spoiled Chicago crowd was more interested in having Kurt Angle retain his gold. Even still, this match was packed with tons of action from the start of the match to the very end. Angle was a suplexing machine as he was tossing the two around like toys while the crowd kept eating it up. Loved the spot of Angle hitting a German suplex on both Orton and Mysterio that had Mysterio flying in the air. Mysterio was later able to escape an Angle Slam and toss Angle out of the ring before hitting a 619 on Orton to secure the incredible win. Had this match gone another five or so minutes, I really think we could have been looking at an all-time classic. Instead, it was just less than ten minutes and things felt so damn rushed. However, the match was still super fun to watch and a great chapter in the epic book of Rey Mysterio. But damn, Angle was such a beast at this time.
Winner: Rey Mysterio
Rating: ***1/4
Match 10: Playboy Pillow Fight Match - Candice Michelle vs. Torrie Wilson
So we need something to bridge the gap between the two biggest matches on the card... and we get this. There is a bed in the middle of the ring as these two start the match off in dresses before losing them down to their bra and panties. Torrie Wilson scores the win by rolling up Candice Michelle. That was bad... really bad. Either way, on to the main event.
Winner: Torrie Wilson
Rating: 1/4*
Match 11: WWE Championship - John Cena (c) vs. Triple H
This is the first singles contest between the two hottest stars in the company and in my opinion, they gave us one of the most underrated main evens in WrestleMania history. Loved the build to this match, Triple H was clamoring over having the easiest challenge of his WrestleMania career with the newer and younger John Cena not backing down from the challenge. By this point, we had seen Cena have to go through guys like JBL, Kurt Angle, Edge and Chris Jericho, but nobody like The Game. Jim Ross was at his best on commentary, doing a fantastic job throughout the match as building the narrative of Cena being outmatched for this and letting the viewers know that him falling to somebody as rugged and experienced as Triple H was a strong possibility. The Chicago crowd was hot for this match as they were booing Cena out of the building and both men in the ring were eating it up and milking it for every drip that they could. With the crowd being so hot, they didn't have to give us flashy spots or anything but instead had a slower paced match that would gradually pick up until Cena nearly fell to a sledgehammer hit after a referee bump. From there, Cena was able to hit an FU before locking Triple H in an STFU. Crowd was on the edge as Cena applied the hold before Triple H had no choice but to tap. If there was any doubt, this showed why Cena was not only the face of the company, but simply the right choice to be the face of the company. He works at his finest with hostile crowds against him and he really knows how to play with the crowd, even here when he was just reaching his peak. I can't believe how overlooked this match gets, every nearfall was convincing and every spot was so nicely calculated. The only reason I don't give this ***** is because I feel like it could have gone a couple minutes longer but then again, this had me itching for the rematch immediately after this. Apparently, a rematch was in the works for next year's WrestleMania before Triple H eventually went down with an injury. Regardless, fantastic match and a perfect one to kick start Cena's WrestleMania main event belt.
Winner: John Cena
Rating: ****3/4
Overall Show Thoughts and Rating:
This was personally one of my favorite WrestleManias ever. It flowed nicely from the very beginning and you get your mix of different styles of wrestling. While this certainly isn't the best WrestleMania in terms of wrestling quality, it's certainly up there as one of the most fun ones ever. There might be a couple bad matches on here but it's nothing that truly takes away from the rest of the card.
Rating: 8.5/10
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