WWE Battleground 2017

WWE Battleground 2017

Philadelphia, PA - July 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Jinder Mahal is the reigning WWE World Champion, AJ Styles holds the United States Championship, and the Usos are the SmackDown Tag Team Champions coming into tonight's show. The SmackDown Womens' Champion is Naomi, though she will not defend the title.

COMMENTARY: Tom Phillips, Byron Saxton, and JBL

The Usos vs. The New Day for the Usos' SmackDown Tag Team Championships is our opener - a questionable decision considering its the only tag match on the card (and maybe the only guaranteed great match considering the chemistry of the teams involved). The Usos began in control, bending the rules from the jump with Jimmy tieing up Xavier on the ropes far from his designated corner. As Jay Uso continued to work on the face-in-peril Xavier Woods, the crowd stirred, rallying him to block a superplex and hit a big dropkick from the top. Kingston came in for the hot tag and hit some of his signature stuff, including a New Day Boom Drop. Kingston attempted a Trust Fall from the top to the outside but ended up double-powerbombed on the arena floor in a great spot. Woods was the legal man, though, so Jimmy Uso tossed him back in the ring and attempted a wheelbarrow face-buster only to get it reversed into a unique driver for 2. Woods would find himself in trouble soon after, though, taking a big double-team samoan drop for another close near fall. In one of the craziest spots I've seen this year (and one captured expertly by the WWE camera crew), Woods attempted an elbow drop from the top rope but missed his mark and was hit straight in the jaw by an Uso superkick. Jimmy Uso attempted to end it with a half-crab on Woods, but the New Day was able to grab the bottom rope and make the tag to Kingston, who flew off the top rope for the Midnight Hour. Kingston went for another big move from the top, but Uso dodged it and connected with a superkick instead before tagging in his brother for a big splash from the top for 2 and 3/4ths. A deserved "This is Awesome" chant broke out as the Usos took to opposite corners. Woods tossed one of the Usos off the ropes, though, allowing Kingston the time to get up and hit the Trouble in Paradise. In a nice callback to Woods earlier attempt to put the match away with a big elbow, Woods would hit his finish from more than halfway across the ring to snag the W. I would've liked to see Big E get involved in some capacity, but overall, a very good opener and potentially even a Top 10 WWE Match of the Year candidate in a year that hasn't necessarily seen too many great matches. (3.5/5)

Next up - the uber-popular Shinsuke Nakamura taking on the man who spoiled his Money In The Bank chances, Baron Corbin. Before Corbin could make his way down the aisle, a loud "Nakamura" chant began, the crowd obviously backing the King of Strong Style in this one. Not a lot of big moves early on and at least one very noticeable spot-calling moment as Corbin tossed Nak into the ropes before applying a bearhug. Portions of the crowd tried to get into this one, but compared to the opener, reactions were flat during the heat stretch. A mild "Nakamura" chant started up again as he started to rally and hit some of his signature offense, but the biggest pop of the match to this point would actually be earned by a brutal Corbin clothesline that flipped Nakamura inside out. The Lone Wolf attempted a suplex, but Nak fought back with repeated knees to the skull followed by his half-suplex facebuster thing. Nak went for Kinchasa but got caught in the Deep Six for two. This was followed by a better-than-average striking sequence between the two, a nice touch considering Nak's MMA background and Corbin's boxing background. Nak took control with a backstabber and then a shot to the back of the neck but Corbin played possum to avoid the Kinchasa. Disappointing DQ finish from a blatant low blow by Corbin. This match started off a bit slow, got a touch better as it built to its finish, and then hit a brick wall. A good example of the bookers trying to protect both guys but doing neither a favor because, while Nak looked like he was clearly en route to victory and Corbin got the last laugh with a post-match End of Days, the unimaginative banality of a contest ending with a low blow DQ in 2017 left a bad taste in the audience's mouth. (2/5)

A video package hyped the next match - a 5-woman Elimination Match to determine who will challenge Naomi for her SmackDown Women's Championship between Charlotte, Natalya, Becky Lynch, Lana, and Tamina. In a nice touch, reigning champion Naomi joined the commentary crew, a wise move in building towards SummerSlam. Tamina and Lana's partnership came into play early as they double-teamed Charlotte. Lana's offense wasn't great, in fact, a spin kick drew a chorus of boos after it noticeably missed its mark, but it also didn't help that the target of the two-on-one was one of the most unsympathetic babyfaces on either roster. In fact, once Becky got involved, the crowd perked up a bit. After a good sequence between the two Horsewomen, Natalya came in guns blazing for her own spotlight minutes before getting taken out with a Becksploder. Lana would eat one too, but Tamina was able to counter and connect with a nasty superkick and a Samoan Drop, stealing a page from her cousins' (by marriage, I think?) playbook. Tamina's onslaught would continue minutes later with another Samoan Drop to Becky and then an ugly-looking spear to Charlotte outside of the ring. Lynch wouldn't stay down, though, applying the Disarmer to both Tamina and Lana to effectively eliminate them in rapid succession. Natalya snuck from behind, though, and rolled up Lynch for the penultimate elimination. Charlotte took control for the next few minutes, the match essentially turning into a 1-on-1 contest. After hitting several big moves, though, in a somewhat shocking twist, Natalya would score the pinfall after counting a moonsault and bashing Flair's skull into the bottom turnbuckle. There was more I liked here than I didn't, but I wouldn't say this was anything more than average with the good sequences slightly outweighed by the sloppy work of Lana and Tamina and the questionable booking. (2/5)

The United States Championship was on the line in the next contest - former champ Kevin Owens challenging relatively new champion AJ Styles. This one began how I'd expected with AJ getting in an initial flurry of offense but Owens eventually wearing Styles down and taking him to the mat to hush the crowd. Speaking of the crowd - like in the Nak match, after some loud reactions for the entrances, they got pretty quiet, even the stiffest of strikes from both men not seeming to register. AJ's offense continues to be as dazzling now as ever - the fireman's carry neckbreaker, the springboard 450, and the pele kick are all still winners. Owens, meanwhile, has gotten a bit less flashy since his debut matches against Cena, but no less ferocious. While we may not get the small package drivers, his current moveset gets his character over better. For example, late in this match, Owens countered a Styles Clash into a simple-but-effective toss into the referee, just one of a few moments when Owens opted to do anything, simple or innovative, to maintain control and put a hurting on his opponent. This was not the best match these two probably could've had - in fact, the aforementioned ref bump ended up serving no purpose at all as Owens didn't take advantage of the situation (an idea I'm not sure I even understand considering how proudly "heelish" Owens likes to claim he is on Twitter). Styles and Owens, on their best nights, are exciting, captivating workers but they're also two guys that may be at their best when matched against worthy foils (Cena and Reigns, for example) or when working a match that actually features some semblance of cohesion. Would it have been so bad for one of these guys to work a limb? (2/5)

Rusev made his way down the aisle next to face the returning John Cena in a Flag Match. I understand the desire to have Lana compete in the women's division - but what I don't get is how that means she can no longer be in Rusev's corner? With so much in the current WWE landscape broken, why spend time fixing the rare act that isn't? Anyway...Cena got a huge (and expectedly mixed) reaction for his return, the one-time Marine (in film) laying the patriotism on extra thick lest anyone not take this gimmick match seriously. In the past, these two have put on some decent bouts - I have none of their 2015 matches rated below 3 stars - but two years ago, Rusev was coming off some huge wins and though the Cena victories were no less predictable, there was at least freshness to the rivalry. On this night, though, we got a house show main event masquerading as a "big deal," the stakes arguably higher than in any of their 2015 matches but the finish so obvious that there was little to no drama from bell to bell. It didn't help, either, that the rules of this match differed from a traditional flag match with the added requirement of carrying the flag not to the opposing corner (which I think I've seen before) but all the way up the entranceway. Granted, the addition of this component led to the best segment of the match, Rusev launching Cena onto the floor with an excellent fallaway slam in one particularly good spot. The application of the Accodale and denial of Rusev's victory was cartoonish, but at least it was fun (as was the final blow inflicted by John Cena). Predictable result aside, this one proved that one can make all the excuse they want about a "cold crowd," but good storytelling and building drama can work to deliver a match that, while certainly not top shelf, was easily the best thing the show had offered in at least an hour. (3/5)

One of the best gimmicks going came next - Breezango's reveal of who has been behind trashing their office. The culprits? After teasing that it was the Ascension, it was revealed that it actually noneother than...nope, still not revealed. Was there a promise that it would be revealed? I feel like there was. Oh yeah, a cursory glance at WWE.com mentions "all will be revealed" at Battleground. Guess not. (-1)

Here we go - my favorite new act (based entirely on their outrageously awesome entrance music) Mike Kanellis and his manager, Maria, taking on plucky babyface hero Sami Zayn. I enjoy the character work of the Kanellis duo probably more than most, but there's no denying that this is a "TV act" in much of the same way that Breezango are. That being said, you don't establish the credibility of a newcomer by having them lose their first major appearance so, as much as I like Zayn, I didn't get the booking here at all. A match like this would be fine on TV, but on a Network special, its sub-average. (1.5/5)

Main event time - Randy Orton challenging Jinder Mahal for his WWE World Championship in a Punjabi Prison Match. Even with the impressive Punjabi Prison structure, Mahal and Orton had their work cut out for them when it came to waking up this unenthusiastic Philly crowd. Before the bell was sounded, the Punjabi Prison was lowered all the way to the floor and vaguely threatening Middle Eastern music played. The competitors were then introduced, both getting a somewhat mixed response - which shows how bored of Orton people are and not necessarily how popular Mahal is. Wisely, these two didn't waste much time going for the exits and establishing the danger of the stipulation (and the need for sound strategy to win it). Before opening the second door, Mahal targeted Orton's arm, trying to wear him down as the crowd chanted something indecipherable (maybe something a jawn?). Orton got the upperhand back, though, tossing Mahal into the cage wall after the second door got closed for good and nearly connecting with the hangman DDT. After pinning Orton between the ropes and inner structure, Mahal got a little bit of offense in, but Orton used his strength to suplex Mahal into the wall twice before calling for the third door. As most anyone could've predicted, the third door was closed off before either man could get out. For no particular reason this was followed by both guys overselling damage and then basically just looking at eachother for a minute or two, ostensibly building suspense but really just boring the already half-asleep crowd. Orton hit his powerslam and hangman DDT, but couldn't manage to connect with his first RKO attempt after having the 4th door opened up. With 20 seconds to go, despite taking an RKO, the Singh Brothers pulled Mahal through the door and Orton was left behind in the ring, the match seemingly over. Orton climbed from the inner structure to the outer structure, though, essentially lapping Mahal. The two brawled at the top of the second structure, trading fists and headbutts until Mahal dropped to the arena floor. The Singh Brothers pulled Orton down and attacked him as the crowd booed, the numbers game too much for the Apex Predator. As Mahal climbed for a second time, though, the Viper fought back, breaking free to pull Mahal back down again. After beating down the Singhs, Orton fell victim to some stiff shots from a kendo stick as Mahal attempted to set him up for the Khallas. Again, Orton broke free, though, grabbing his own kendo stick to do some damage to the champion and his henchman. Orton did a nice job selling the damage to his left arm as he made his escape, eventually halted by Samir Singh (who ended up taking an absolutely crazy bump through the announce table outside of the structure). The bump, which earned a brief "Holy Shit!" chant, was outstanding, once again the Singh Brothers' bumping being the best thing about an otherwise ho-hum, not-so-special main event (though I also liked Orton hitting a second hangman DDT off the outer structure wall). Bleeding from his back, Orton pulled a chair out from under the ring and blasted the remaining Singh brother in the back (as well as the champ), the Viper doing everything he could to overcome the odds. Having taken out his adversaries, Orton set to climbing the wall, still selling the damage to his arm, but was prevented from hitting the arena floor by the return of...The Great Khali?!? Choking Orton through the bars, the former King of the Kiss Cam's interference allowed Mahal to ascend the structure and retain the title. Points awarded for the insane Singh bump and Orton actually looking like he gave a shit for most of it. This wasn't the train wreck that it could've been, in fact parts of it were fairly intense, but I still have no desire to see another one anytime soon. (2/5)


With a pretty horrendous Kwang rating of 2.0-out-of-5, Battleground 2017 ranks as the absolute lowest Network show I've reviewed on the blog. With the amount of talent on the Blue Brand roster, it is shocking just how poorly booked this show was. Orton/Mahal ran its course a month ago. Cena/Rusev was a failed attempt to microwave a program from 2 years ago and hope it'd still taste good. Owens and AJ may be excellent workers and characters, but their match was threadless. With only the tag team opener being worthy of your time, this one earned an undeniable rating of...

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville

WCW Clash of the Champions XI: Coastal Crush

WCW Clash of the Champions XI: Coastal Crush

Charleston, South Carolina - June 1990

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Ric Flair is the reigning WCW World Champion, Doom are the World Tag Team Champions, the Midnight Express hold the United States Tag Team Titles,  Arn Anderson is the TV Champion, and the United States Title is held by Lex Luger.

COMMENTARY: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

Tony Schiavone welcomes fans to the 11th Clash of the Champions special, running down tonight's card before sending it to the ring where JR and Bob Caudle will handle the play-by-play.

The Southern Boys take on The Fabulous Freebirds in the opening match. Fast-paced action to start, things slowing down a bit as Hayes draws heat from the crowd and taunts the wiry Steve Armstrong. Garvin comes in and Armstrong's in trouble, withstanding a backbreaker and an armbar out of P.S. A fun little tag match follows, the action staying fast-paced for the most part and the crowd getting increasingly into it. Very good finish on this one. (2.5/5)

Tommy Rich takes on Bam Bam Bigelow (with "The Big Kahuna" Sir Oliver Humperdink) next. Rich gets in some offense at the start, the former NWA World Champion surprising his opponent with the effectiveness of his arm bar. Coming into this, I expected it to be all about Bigelow, but Rich maintains control for a lengthy stretch before the Bammer finally puts him on the mat with an atomic drop. Bigelow ends up getting himself disqualified by refusing to let go of a joke, a finish that establishes Bigelow as an absolute monster, but also protects Rich from taking a clean pinfall loss - which I'm not sure was completely necessary considering that we're talking about Tommy Rich in 1990. (1.5/5)

A video promo hypes the debut of Big Van Vader by showing his entrance, but nothing else, in a Japanese promotion. Okay.

Back in the ring, Gary Michael Capetta introduces El Gigante, the legit 7-footer. Capetta explains that El Gigante's English is limited, so he conducts the interview in Spanish and interprets El Gigante's responses. I'm sure other reviewers have torn this segment to shreds in the past, but this was arguably the best they could've done in this situation and Capetta's Spanish is respectable. 

"Captain" Mike Rotunda tags up with "The Z-Man" Tom Zenk to take on the Samoan SWAT Team. On the plus side, this one doesn't run very long. On the negative side, for the minutes it does take up, its nothing special and predictable every step of the way. Maybe in 1990 there would be a reason to get excited about seeing these two teams in the ring against each other, but 27 years later, this combination of workers elicits a yawn from me. (1/5)

The next match, on the other hand, is sort of interesting to watch in 2017 - "Flyin'" Brian Pillman vs. "Mean" Mark Callous. Pillman comes running to the ring, but "Mean" Mark beats him down as soon as he gets there. Nonetheless, Pillman tries to rally early but ends up launched throat-first into the guardrail, a bump that he loved to take back then. Callous tries for a side slam, but Pillman escapes and attempts a crucifix. "Mean" Mark regains control almost instantly and hits a body slam and a big elbow as JR hypes his match against Lex Luger at The Great American Bash in July. Pillman's hope spots get huge pops, but "Mean" Mark cuts him off at nearly every turn, eventually finishing him off with a stun gun. I don't like Pillman kicking out at a hair after 3 as it takes away the definitiveness of the victory. I also which it kinda ran just a touch longer, which could've been possible had they just eliminated one of the awful matches that came before it. (2/5)

Any time these two tag teams lock up, you know you're in for something good - The Rock n' Roll Express challenging The Midnight Express for the Midnights' United States Tag Team Championships. Gibson and Eaton start things off, but when Eaton can't get any traction, "Sweet" Stan comes in to try his hand. The Rock n' Rollers maintain control as Ricky Morton comes in, Morton back body dropping Lane and then locking Eaton in an arm bar soon after. Morton pops the crowd with a dropkick and something I'll call a "hesitation hurricanrana" before tagging in Robert Gibson. An eye poke provides the heels their first major opening, Lane eventually coming in for an illegal double team, but the Rock n' Rollers don't stay down for long after a flurry of action. Morton is finally grounded by another illegal double team maneuver, this one a somewhat sloppy powerbomb-like move. Morton doesn't play face-in-peril for long, though, getting the hot tag to Gibson moments later. On the outside, Ricky Morton launches Eaton into the guardrail, but the Rockers end up knocking into each other on the apron. After a great false finish, Lane ends up getting his team disqualified to continue their never-ending feud. (2.5/5) 

Doug Furnas vs. Barry Windham is next. Furnas is an intriguing performer to me - a match like this, this early in his career, shows just how much potential he had as a singles star. Agile and powerful, Furnas' offense is impressive and paired up with a veteran like Windham, he gets respectable reactions. A very basic match in terms of ay-out with the right guy winning, it doesn't overstay its welcome and never slows down. Good TV match. (2.5/5)

After an incredible pre-match pre-taped video promo from Sid Vicious in a tuxedo, its time for his match against the mega-popular United States Champion, Lex Luger, who comes out without the belt (probably because this is a non-title match). Luger goes right after Ole Anderson and then blasts Sid with a clothesline, the confusion causing the big man to lose his concentration and get rolled up for a three-count. This has to be one of the fastest and most meaningless segments I've seen, the definition of a "fluke" win and a very disappointing one at that. (0/5)

At the last major WCW pay-per-view, The Steiners and Doom put on what I would say was one of the better tag matches I've watched this year, a super stiff suplex-fest between two powerhouse teams. This one starts with Scott Steiner popping the crowd by hitting reverse slams (basically fallaway slams with Steiner throwing a backflip in for good measure) on both opponents and then putting Ron Simmons to the mat with nasty clothesline to the back of the skull. Butch Reed comes in for a spell but the crowd comes alive when Scott makes the tag and the Dog-faced Gremlin gets his time in the ring, belly-to-bellying Simmons and clubbing Reed in the mouth with a Steinerline. Simmons gives him a receipt minutes later on the outside of the ring and the World Tag Team Champions take control, beating down Rick Steiner as the crowd loudly chants "Peanuthead" to taunt Doom's manager, Teddy Long. I love how basic-but-impactful Doom's offense is and how eager they are to cheat - the perfect recipe for a dominant heel team. A solid finish caps off a match that doesn't quite measure up to their last outing, but was still pretty good from start-to-finish. (3/5)

The Junkyard Dog hypes his match against Ric Flair tonight with Tony Schiavone. 

Television Champion Arn Anderson takes on "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in a non-title match next. The first few minutes are a "feeling out" with Orndorff consistently getting the upperhand, eventually locking in a sleeper to pop the crowd and, moments later, applying a figure four in a nod to Anderson's stablemate, the Nature Boy. Anderson is able to fight his way back into the match, however, beating down Mr. Wonderful in the corner, using the ropes to cut off his breathing, and then applying an abdominal stretch. Anderson keeps the pressure on with a reverse chinlock that builds to a flurry in the corner that sees Orndorff hit an atomic drop that nearly backfires when Anderson bounces off the turnbuckle and the two men's heads collide. Orndorff is back up first, though, and Mr. Wonderful takes control. After blocking a slingshot splash (Vader Bomb), Anderson goes for an inside cradle, but Orndorff reverses it for a three count. A few noticeable moments of re-positioning and spot-calling and a jerky pace kept this from being anything I'd want to revisit. (2/5)

Ric Flair cuts his typical (awesome) promo running down the "Dudes with Attitudes." Too short to warrant a bonus point, though.

Main event time - The Junkyard Dog vs. Ric Flair for Flair's World Heavyweight Championship. Nonsense match with Flair overselling everything JYD does and JYD no-selling anything that Flair does in return (including a comedic chair shot). This is Flair wrestling himself essentially and while there is some entertainment there and the crowd is certainly hot for it, that doesn't make it a "must watch" in my book. In some circles this match is infamous for being one of the worst bouts in Clash history, but there are plenty of real snoozers in the history of the concept so I'd argue this one can just be called one of the worst *main events* in Clash history. (1/5)

After the brawl that ended the last segment, we're back in the ring with Rocky King (why?) and Sting, who officially challenges Flair for the upcoming Great American Bash. At previous shows, these sorts of post-match angles worked really well and the live crowd definitely enjoys it, but this just seemed like a retread to me and not nearly as heated and wild as the one with Terry Funk from 89'. 


Overall, Clash XI is one of the more disappointing and irrelevant shows in the series. There's not a single match here I'd recommend and while these shows sometimes feature a segment or two that are great, this one doesn't really provide anything of note (even the El Gigante interview, which could've at least been unintentionally hilarious, is unremarkably bland). With an awful Kwang score of 1.8-out-of-5, this one is definitely a...

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville

WCW Starrcade 98'

WCW Starrcade 98'

Washington, D.C - December 1998

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Goldberg holds the WCW World Championship, Bret Hart is the reigning United States Champion, Chris Jericho holds the World TV Title, and Billy Kidman has the Cruiserweight strap coming into this match. According to Cagematch.net, the Tag Team Champions are still Rick Steiner and Kenny Kaos for some reason.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mike Tenay

After a quick promo for a WCW QVC special, its time for the opening contest - Billy Kidman defending the WCW Cruiserweight Championship in a 3-way dance against Rey Mysterio and Juventud Guerrera of the Latino World Order. Right off the bat, Kidman and Rey get to work on the heel Guerrera, popping the crowd with some double-team maneuvers. The alliance doesn't last long, though, as the stakes are just too high. Great spot teasing a Doomsday Device-like move, but Kidman refuses the help of Juvi and ends up Lo-Downing Mysterio onto him. A minute or so later we get another excellent sequence involving a back body drop from Rey into a stiff clothesline out of Kidman to topple Guerrera. The pace lets up momentarily, but they go to the outside and Guerrera nearly botches a springboard splash. He goes for another in the ring, but Rey and Kidman block him with a double dropkick. Absolutely sick springboard frankensteiner from Juvi onto Rey perched atop Kidman's shoulders. Later, Rey takes Juvi out with a hurricanrana of his own from the apron to the floor, but Kidman takes over back in the ring, hitting a perfect leg drop and getting 2 for it. Kidman delivers a powerbomb to Juvi but Rey breaks the count, all three men showing some serious damage. Mysterio attempts a Canadian Destroyer (maybe?), Kidman blocks, but Rey ends up bulldogging him anyway. Juvi hits an over-the-shoulder backbreaker but Rey is able to regain some control, launching himself with a springboard moonsault to the Guerrera and Kidman on the floor. Rey looks like he might have the match won back in the ring, but Juvi reverses his momentum and nails him with a Juvi Driver for 2 after Kidman breaks it up. Another insane spot sees Rey leapfrog Juvi to hit Kidman with a hurricanrana from the top rope. The pinfall is broken up, though, and we're back to everyone essentially even. Mysterio uses a headscissors to bring Juvi to the outside and this time its Kidman who gets some air to the outside, hitting a Shooting Star Press onto both opponents. The crowd boos heavily, though, when Eddie Guerrero shows up, distracting the ref and preventing him from seeing Kidman score a pinfall. Eddie's plan backfires, though, as Mysterio provides the assist needed to right the wrong. Really good cruiser match. (4/5)

Eddie Guerrero proceeds to cut a promo against both Rey and Juventud and his passion is awesome. After saying that "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," Billy Kidman comes back and accepts Guerrero's challenge for an impromptu Cruiserweight Title Match. Unlike the opener, this one is more of a wild fight, Guerrero taking the champ to the mat and trying to wear down his already-tired opponent and force a submission. As the match wears on, Juvi and Rey keep things even on the outside, but their presence is a constant distraction to Eddie. After a short rally from the champ, Guerrero takes over again with a jawbreaker and then uses his boot to knock Kidman in the head (which I'm not necessarily sure should be illegal, but whatever). Eddie hits his classic brainbuster and begins gloating, prepping for the Frog Splash. Eddie wastes too much time, though, and ends up catching him for a superplex! Again, Guerrero is able to cut him off, though, when a dropkick to the knee and then locks in a perfect grapevine. Eddie, with still only one shoe on, mind you, hits a springboard hurricanrana and attempts a powerbomb, but Kidman reverses it into a facedrop and gets a-stompin'! A scoop slam and guillotine leg drop follow, but the crowd seems a bit tired at this point - which isn't shocking because, as good as all these performers are, remember they've been in the ring for well over 30 minutes by now. Some shenanigans, including an appearance by Eddie's bodyguard (Art "Spyder" Flores), follow to lead to a crowd-pleasing finish. Overall, fun addition to the opener but it just goes 1-2 minutes too long. (3/5)

After a video hyping tonight's main event, Norman Smiley makes his way down the aisle to take on Prince Iaukea. I'm not sure there was any build for this match, but I could be way wrong. This is an absolute clinic by Smiley, to the point that somewhere around minute 6-7 I'm not sure he hasn't actually completed tired out and stretched Iaukea to legitimate defeat. The crowd is not as into this match as Smiley devotees would be, but they do pop for the multiple Big Wiggles he tosses in and, again, I'm not sure there was any heat in this match going into it (which shouldn't be the case on a Starrcade card). This one isn't for everyone - Iaukea is palatable but nothing special and Smiley, while fun to watch as a submission specialist, wasn't over enough to warrant a 10+ minute match. (2.5/5)

Scott Hall arrives sporting an Outsiders shirt but no entrance music, as Tenay points out. He proceeds to talk about how he lost everything in 1998, but that 1999 will be his year. Really good promo - too bad the inept WCW booking committee (and, admittedly, a Hall who was still fighting some demons) prevented us from getting to see Hall get a legit main event run in singles. (+1)

A video package highlights the on-going involvement of Bam Bam Bigelow in the main event storyline. At the time, I don't think I was impressed with Bigelow, an upper midcarder-at-best in the WWE, getting such a prominent push in WCW, but looking back, he was scary vicious and, at least upon his arrival, very over with the live crowds. 


Ernest "The Cat" Miller and Sonny Onoo make their way down the aisle. I don't think I've enjoyed one of his matches for months now. His opponent tonight is the increasingly bizarrely-accesorized Saturn (he looks like a male prostitute). Before the match starts, Miller offers to let Saturn leave and (guess what?) the former ECW Eliminator doesn't take him up on his offer. Saturn proceeds to dominate most of the match, his colorful offensive arsenal on full display while the best The Cat can do is try to counter with stiff kicks and chops. Sonny Onoo gets involved, but it ends up costing his man the match. Nothing too offensive here aside from Saturn's pre-match get-up. (2/5)

An excellent Ric Flair promo is followed by an equally excellent video package chronicling the history of Eric Bischoff as an on-screen character. WCW's production team didn't always nail these things, but this one is really well-done and includes moments from one of my favorite nWo sub-angles: the firing and re-firing of Randy Anderson from Nitro. Network Nuggets of Awesomeness point awarded. (+1)

And, for basically no reason, we get a not-even-Worldwide-level match pitting Fit Finlay and Jerry (fucking) Flynn against nWo also-theres Bryan Adams and Scott Norton. I'm usually a Finlay fan and I've come around on Norton quite a bit, but this match did not deserve to be on WCW's biggest show of the year at all. After some decent action out of Finlay and Norton, "Lightning Foot" gets tagged in for a stretch against Crush that isn't as terrible as I thought it'd be. Things pick up momentarily when Norton comes in to punish the Irishman, Norton eventually showing his strength with an effortless shoulder breaker before tagging out to Adams again. After a musclebuster, Finlay is able to make the tag and Flynn comes in and hits an awkward reverse heel kick before a melee ensues. The end result is a nasty powerbomb out of Norton, the best spot of a match that would be filler on a bad episode of Thunder. A full step below average, but not lower than that. (1.5/5)

"Mean" Gene Okerlund is joined by Eric Bischoff. Bischoff apologizes for the pain he's caused to Flair and his family and applauds him for his bravery in stepping in the ring against him. He turns from the plaudits, though, when he explains that Flair is only competing because he's broke, dipping into a bit of a shoot on that point actually. 

Cut to a video from Nitro where Chris Jericho and Ralphus beat up a guy dressed as Konnan. Uh-oh, does that mean what I think it does?

Sadly it does - Jericho vs. Konnan for the WCW Television Championship. Jericho wears the title out, having stolen it from Konnan before this show, and cuts a promo a pretty good promo hyping himself up. Konnan, of course, gets his own intro in, the most crowd-pleasing thing I think he ever did (it certainly wasn't his consistently lazy, spot-calling in-ring efforts). Konnan sends Jericho to the outside early, but ends up eating the guardrail himself in a surprisingly quality bump. Jericho plays to the crowd and hits a vertical suplex for two before applying a chinlock. The action picks up from here, Konnan hitting a nasty Alabama Slam from the corner for two before Jericho ends up taking to the air and landing stomach-first on some steel steps on the outside. Konnan looks like he's in control for a minute, but Jericho nearly catches him in the Liontamer and the back-and-forth continues until the ref ends up on the mat. Jericho strikes the champ with the gold but wastes too much time before making the cover, enraging Y2J.The Tequila Sunrise puts this one to bed. By never really slowing down and not getting too fancy, this one worked and stands as the best Konnan match I've seen in quite awhile. (3/5)

The Giant is backstage with Lee Marshall. I think, by this point, he was confirmed to be heading to to the WWE so I'm a bit surprised they were still featuring him somewhat prominently. 

Eric Bischoff makes his way down the aisle for his showdown with Ric Flair. At Starrcade 97', Bischoff faced Larry Zybysko in a match that is most remembered for being the worst possible debut of a main event superstar (Bret Hart) maybe ever. Flair goes right after Bischoff, laying into him with lefts, rights, and stomps. Bischoff fakes a hurt knee, but when Flair turns his back, he takes the opportunity to hit him with a karate kick to the back of the head, gloating as he takes over the match. Flair blades for no apparently reason as Bischoff continues to strike at him. A low blow evens things up and another one from the Nature Boy draws an even bigger reaction. Flair rips off Bischoff's shirt and chops him in the corner, accidentally knocking Charles Robinson out in the process. Flair kicks Bischoff square in the junk and then brings him to the mat with a back suplex and a classic vertical suplex as well. Flair locks in the Figure Four and the match looks like it is over, but Curt Hennig shows up and gives Bischoff a pair of brass knucks to allow him to make the cover and snag a victory. I remember at the time thinking this finish was terribly stupid and I stand by that assessment in that, at the biggest show of the year, you really don't need Bischoff going over the incredibly popular Flair. Booking decision aside, I'd still call this only moderately entertaining. (2/5)

After a promo video detailing their rivalry, its time for The Giant to take on Diamond Dallas Page. Page comes out swinging, but The Giant takes over and tosses Page around on the outside. Despite completely dominating Page with his strength, The Giant takes DDP to the mat and goes after his knee. Page is able to put some distance between he and the big man by raking at his eyes, but he can't get much more offense in than that before he ends up sent into the corner hard. Again, what might be most interesting here is that The Giant was, I believe, expected to be leaving the company within 30 days or so, meaning there was almost no reason to make him look so strong. Maybe DDP had the good sense of knowing that a more even match would defy logic? Still, this is practically a Giant showcase, especially as he hits a really impressive powerslam that I wish he would've busted out regularly moving forward. Toying with DDP, The Giant looks like he's ready to finish him off but opts instead for a high bearhug, wearing him down even more. Page fights out, going as far as to bite The Giant's nose but ultimately getting hoisted up and dropped into a nasty Giant backbreaker! Jeez - how did the WWE screw up getting this guy in February? Page miraculously gets some offense in, connecting with an off-the-rope DDT that The Giant oversells for no real reason. Page goes for the cover, but Giant hoists him off and Page lands on the ref. Bret Hart shows up but accidentally strikes his nWo buddy with a chair! Page makes the cover but The Giant kicks out at two! Page takes to the air, taking the big man down with a clothesline and then does it again before calling for the Diamond Cutter. He goes for a final clothesline from the top but the Giant catches him in a chokeslam. Giant tries to chokeslam him off the top rope, but DDP turns it into a Diamond Cutter! Certainly not the most logical match and Hart's involvement was classic WCW overbooking, but this was pretty fun for what it was and the crowd was into it. (3/5)

Main event time - Kevin Nash vs. Goldberg for Goldberg's WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Coming into this show, Goldberg was still undefeated while Nash was arguably at his peak in popularity. The match begins with a staredown, Nash taunting the champ with his Wolfpack sign and Goldberg earning an even bigger pop with some flexing in the corner. Nash applies a snug headlock, but Goldberg is able to use his tremendous power to bust out of it with an impressive back suplex. Nash takes a quick powder, but comes back in and the two circle each other again. Nash strikes first, connecting with his signature knees in the corner and then dishing out some big right hands. Nash puts his boot in Goldberg's throat, but Goldberg powers out of it, sending Nash to the mat and we get a pretty sloppy submission sequence that plays to neither guy's strength. Fortunately, they go back to the simple stuff, including a fairly decent spear out of Goldberg on a missed Big Boot attempt by Nash. Goldberg tries to lift Nash off the mat for a Jackhammer, but Nash hits him with a low blow. Nash, back on offense, gets a 2 count on a sidewalk slam and then lands an elbow for 2. Nash maintains control for the next few minutes, Nash eventually leveling him with a vicious short-arm clothesline. Nash goes for what looks like a suplex, but they blow the reverse spot and Goldberg's comeback suffers for it. Goldberg lifts Nash in a powerslam and gets about half the response that the spot deserves because it is undeniably impressive. Disco Inferno shows up and gets taken out because why not have Disco Inferno in your World Title match? Bam Bam Bigelow shows up too and gets taken out, but when the ref's back is turned, Scott Hall ends up on the apron with a stun gun and shocks Goldberg (and the audience). Nash lands the powerbomb and we have a new champion. Parts of this match are really good, but the finish is what everyone remembers and not with fondness. After a year of dominance, Goldberg losing from a cattle prod attack was not how anyone wanted to see the Streak end, especially as one could argue that Nash was popular enough to have deserved to win cleanly and then, over the course of the next few months, maybe trade wins with Goldberg. Instead, WCW overbooked things and made things even worse with the Fingerpoke of Doom angle on Nitro shortly after this (I forget if it occurs the next night or not, but I know it happens soon after). (2.5/5)


Starrcade 97' is often cited as the beginning of the end for WCW, so its easy to forget that, through much of 1998, WCW, while losing the Monday Night ratings war, was still packing arenas and selling tons of Wolfpack and Goldberg merch. Plus, at this point, one could argue that in the midcard, they were still the superior wrestling show. Like the 97' version, Starrcade 98' is more remembered for its missteps than any of its positives. The Flair/Bischoff finish falls flat. Goldberg's streak ending in a screwy, multi-man run-in felt cheap and tainted what could've been an acceptable clean victory for a popular Kevin Nash. In fact, what's often lost in talking about how much Goldberg's stock fell from here is how much Nash's did too, especially after voluntarily handing the title to Hogan in January. Some of this card is utter trash (maybe most?), but at least the opener is good and, hey, The Giant gets a rare showcase on his way out of the company. With a Kwang score of 2.83-out-of-5, I'm giving Starrcade 98' a... 

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver 

WWE Great Balls of Fire!

WWE Great Balls of Fire

Dallas, TX - July 2017

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Brock Lesnar is the WWE Universal Champion, the RAW Tag Team Champions are Sheamus and Cesaro, the RAW Women's Champion is Alexa Bliss, and the Intercontinental Champion is The Miz.

COMMENTARY: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, and Booker T

I don't typically review the Kickoff match of these shows, but with Neville defending against Akira Tozawa, I opted to start my viewing experience a little early. I'm not 1000% sure I made the right move - while Neville and Tozawa worked hard and both were certainly over enough with the Dallas crowd, the fundamental problem with the Cruiserweight division remains: the cruisers don't do anything or enough special to make their matches stand out. I've watched a fair amount of WCW's mid-to-late 90s cruiser action and those bouts look nothing like what was happening in the main event. It wasn't just that you had guys doing moonsaults and hurricanranas left and right, it was the way they sequenced the moves and reversals in lucha fashion to keep things fast-paced from beginning to end. This match started too slow for me, with not nearly enough high-flying action, but improved drastically in its final 4 minutes. Sadly, I didn't find the finish all that convincing and would've preferred a more definitive end. (2.5/5)

Bray Wyatt vs. Seth Rollins opens the show proper. Decent back-and-forth work early until Wyatt was able to send Rollins into the stairs and then the barricade. Rollins looked like he had a chance to regain control when they went to the top rope, but ended up brought to the mat with a big superplex. A dueling chant breaks out as Wyatt continues his attack and then slows things down with a headlock. A missed senton gave Rollins the opening he needed to get some offense of his own, but Wyatt proved elusive, countering nearly everything Rollins had for him. In a bit of a shocker, Wyatt scored the pinfall after a poke-in-the-eye and a swift Sister Abigail. This was a bit of a weird match to start on considering as, on paper, it felt like a heel winning to start the show (not always a great idea), but because Wyatt is half-over as a face (and Rollins is only half-over as a face too), it just felt kinda "there." Lukewarm reaction to a lukewarm match. (2/5)

Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy are backstage to cut a promo about their match-up tonight. 

Enzo Amore makes his way down the aisle for the next bout, a grudge match against his ex-best friend Big Cass. Enzo does his usual pre-match shtick and then cuts a fairly lengthy promo comparing the words of Frank Sinatra's "That's Life" to his own life. Not every point sticks, but the passion was there. Big Cass comes out next and has nothing to say, staring dead-eyed at his former tag partner. The bell rings and Enzo tries to take the fight right to the 7-footer but is very quickly sent to the mat. Cass proceeds to dominate, hitting a fallaway slam and a big splash in the corner as the crowd chants "asshole." Cass gets even more heat by launching Enzo to the outside of the ring with a gorilla press slam and then drilling him with a big boot back in the ring. Completely one-sided squash match, which is what it needed to be. (2.5/5)

The WWE's first (maybe?) 30-Minute Tag Team Ironman Match is next - The Hardys challenging Sheamus and Cesaro for the RAW Tag Titles. Within the first minute we have our first pinfall via a Brogue Kick to Matt. After an initial flurry from the Hardys, the champs proceeded to control the next ten minutes, Jeff working as the face-in-peril for a good amount of that time. With Matt Hardy knocked to the floor by a Cesaro boot, the heels went up 2-0 via a double-team slam, the crowd fairly deflated at this point. Matt came in on the hot tag and finally scored some offense for his team, but couldn't get more than a 2 count or his efforts. Tagging Jeff back in, the brothers cut the lead in half with a Poetry in Motion followed by a Side Effect followed by a Twist of Fate onto Cesaro. Minutes later, Jeff took to the air, using Matt's back to springboard himself over the top rope and onto his opponents on the arena floor. Matt followed, brawling with Sheamus, but the decision bit him when Cesaro tossed him into the steps, knocking him out and giving the heels a count-out fall to go up 3-1 with 12 minutes to go. Over the next few minutes, Cesaro and Sheamus maintained their control, cutting corners left and right but doing so without getting DQ'd. Somehow, though, the Hardys would score the next fall with a clever split-legged pinfall from Jeff onto Cesaro. A Whisper-in-the-Wind couldn't tie things up, though, the clock winding down to the 6 minute mark. A minute later, a tornado DDT looked like it could've done the job, but it only got 2 as the crowd definitely perked up for the closing stretch. A moonsault got another 2, the crowd booing heavily when Cesaro broke up the fall. A loud "Ref, You Suck" chant (I think) broke out, but it was silenced by a Twist of Fate from Matt on Sheamus from the top rope to tie up the match with under 3 minutes left. Jeff went to the top next, but Cesaro pulled his partner out of the ring, allowing Jeff to hit them both with a giant splash. A small "Delete" chant started right before the Hardys would strike a should've-been-fall with a double splash from opposite corners. With under 60 seconds left and the score still tied, Jeff hit his Swanton on Sheamus, but Cesaro made a miraculous cover and went running, the Tag Team Champions managing to steal the winning pinfall. Overall, pretty good, but not a match I'd be too eager to revisit. Like many Ironman bouts, the first third was a bit slow, the second third was a bit more exciting as the faces got some offense in, but the match didn't really go to its highest gear until the last 5-6 minutes. (3/5)

The RAW Women's Championship was next - Alexa Bliss defending against Sasha Banks. I really dug this match from beginning to end, Bliss and Banks pulling out every stop to defeat each other including an excellent, gasp-inducing spot that saw Bliss pop her elbow out of its socket in order to feign an injury. I've since learned that this same tactic was used in a match against Becky Lynch months ago, but kudos nonetheless for waiting to bust it out a second time on pay-per-view. The ploy led to Bliss dominating for an extended stretch before Banks got her comeback in. Both women deserve praise for how hard-hitting and well-executed their offense was. It can not be understated how big the difference is between what these two did in the ring and the kind of women's wrestling that was going on 15 years ago. Sadly, the same can not really be true for the men aside from the fact that there was more blood and weaponry back then. This match was on its way to earning a potential spot on my Top 10 of the Year list when the disappointing finish happened. While I'm looking forward to seeing a rematch (and absolutely loved the post-match spot that saw Sasha hit double-knees on Alexis to the a, had this one ended with a definitive pinfall, albeit even a cheap one, I would be more likely to recommend it. (3.5/5)

The Miz defended the Intercontinental Championship next against former champ Dean Ambrose. The Miz having an entourage is a brilliant move for everyone involved and this match stood out because of their involvement more than anything Miz or Ambrose did. Ambrose is an interesting worker to me, not because I'm really interested in his character work or matches but because I find him to really fluctuate in his energy and charisma level based on who he's working with. Against AJ last year, Ambrose was sympathetic and had star quality. Here (and against Ziggler last summer), I was indifferent to pretty much everything he did. The Miz remains one of my current faves and deserves to be paired up with a hotter babyface as he continues to get solid crowd reactions and had a dynamite year on the Blue Brand in 2016. (2.5/5) 

Ambulance Match time - Reigns vs. Strowman III. The crowd seemed maybe 60-40 in favor of Strowman, cheering the monster on for his initial dominance. Reigns tried his best to rally multiple times, using his speed to try to get quick strikes in, but Strowman caught him at every turn (sometimes literally) and slammed him back to the mat. With all his might, Reign was able to get Braun up for a Samoan Drop and followed it up with Drive-By to Strowman's injured elbow, taking over on offense with help from a steel chair. On his third and fourth swings, though, Braun no-selled the pain (maybe the most babyface thing I've ever seen) before tossing Reigns into the barricade and dragging him towards the ambulance. Brawling on the entranceway, Braun attempted to lay Reigns out with a powerbomb but had to settle for just tossing him mercilessly into the side of the ambulance. Unable to get Reigns into the ambulance, Strowman ate a Superman Punch but retaliated with a series of strikes utilizing a stretcher board and an effortless toss back onto the stage. Attempting to heave Reigns through one of the video walls, Reigns used Braun's momentum against him, sending the monster through the wall as a "This is Awesome" chant broke out. With both men sucking wind, the match proceeded in relative sluggish pace until, in a last ditch effort to spear Strowman into the ambulance, Reigns miscalculated his opponent's fatigue and ended up sending himself straight into the van. Though Strowman got the win on paper, Reigns would have the last laugh, driving the ambulance out of the arena and into the garage, where he proceeded to back it up, at full speed, into the back of a TV truck! Absolutely ridiculous ultra-violent stunt featuring a Jamie Noble cameo. Really entertaining stuff and another must-see encounter from these two. (4/5)

An "impromptu" match followed, Heath Slater taking on Curt Hawkins for no other reason than to play into the gravitas of the previous angle. A "We Want Balor" chant broke out within the first 10 seconds, unsurprising considering his popularity and noticeable absence on the card. Cool production trick when the sound of ambulances being plugged into the PA system to purposely draw attention away from the in-ring contest and put it on the fire engine coming to try to save Braun Strowman. As a match, this was a zero, but as an angle, I'm not at all opposed to how this segment played out. (+1)

Main event time - Samoa Joe challenging Brock Lesnar for the WWE Universal Championship. Before the bell could ring, Joe took the fight straight to Lesnar, attacking him from behind and sending him crashing through the Spanish Announce Table. Lesnar's secret weapon for this most recent run has been his selling and facial expressions, which was uncanny in the early going, not unintentionally reminding viewers of his loss to Goldberg last November. From here, we got the intense grappling and stiff strikes fans were hoping for, Joe locking in the Kokina Clutch early but not tightly enough to bring Lesnar down. Brock then hit a series of big suplexes, each one taking something about of both men. Attempting a fourth, Joe wisely clung to the ropes and pulled the ref away, giving him the opportunity to strike a dastardly low blow. After a two-count, Joe attempted another Kokina, this one even tighter than the first. Using a sick amount of strength, Lesnar was able to escape via a sideslam, following it up moments later with another series of suplexes! Lesnar tried to finish him with an F-5, but Joe countered it into a Kokina Clutch, this time trying to hook him with his legs as well. Looking beet red, Lesnar was somehow able to muster the strength to escape the clutch and hit Joe with an F-5 to seal the victory in under 10 minutes. Others have written it and I'll concur - too short to be truly "great," but great enough for its minutes to be no less than very good. (3.5/5) 


With a Kwang Score of 3.06-out-of-5, the WWE's first annual (?) Great Balls of Fire show was more hit than miss, with several above-average matches and at least one that I would consider "must watch." Rollins/Wyatt was the night's low point, as expected, as their feud was cold when it started and has only gotten colder the longer its gone. On the flip side, Braun/Roman might be the storyline of the year and, after what occurred Sunday, the fact that it might not end any time soon sounds like a good thing. The outcome of Joe/Lesnar suggests we're not going to get a Round 2 at SummerSlam as some were suggesting, but I'm okay with that as long as Joe is positioned into a decent spot after being one of RAW's most captivating performers for the past month. I've read plenty of other critics praising the tag match, but I'm typically not a fan of Ironman matches so I'm not surprised I hold the unpopular opinion of thinking that it was good-not-great. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It...With Remote in Hand

WWE Unforgiven 2003

WWE Unforgiven 2003

Hershey, PA - September 2003

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Triple H holds the World Heavyweight Championship, La Resistance are the World Tag Team Champions, Christian is the Intercontinental Champion, and Molly Holly is the Women's Champion.

COMMENTATORS: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Did the Dudley Boys open every PPV from 2001ish through 2003ish or is it just me? This time around, they're challenging La Resistance and Rob Conway for the World Tag Team Championships in a Handicap Tables Match. Immediately the Hershey, PA crowd (not too far from Philly) lets the Dudleys know that they came for tables and have little time for any actual wrestling or story. After some decent back and forth, the tables come out and the match progresses through a series of relatively tame table spots except for Conway's elimination (I think it was Conway, could've been Grenier, who cares?) which looks like it nearly opens up his skull on the outside. A hot crowd and the Dudleys' dependability in keeping matches like this moving makes it watchable. (2.5/5)

Holy shit. Before the next match, we get a full music video for the song "Suffocate" by the band Cold (think Nickelback meets Puddle of Mudd) all about the Scott Steiner/Test/Stacy Keibler storyline. This has to be the most f'd thing I've seen since my brother showed me a video Sting (musician, not wrestler) in 2011. Incredibly terrible. (+1)

Test and Scott Steiner's feud in 2003 is kind of mind-numbing to think about. Was the idea backstage that these two couldn't be counted on to work with anyone else but that they'd invested so much in both that they needed to keep them on TV? Lawler can't be bothered to talk about anything but Keibler's features while Steiner and Test wrestle to relative crickets until Stacy starts hyping up the crowd. Steiner nearly botches a double-underhook powerbomb before we see the best executed move of the match - Stacy Keibler pulling Test's head onto the top rope. This is followed by a truly dumb spot where Keibler "distracts" Test by showing her ass to the crowd (usually the valet shows her butt to the wrestler because that would distract them). Keibler accidentally levels Steiner with a chair for the finish. At least this didn't go too long, but my god, I can't believe this storyline is going to continue. Not the absolute worst match I've ever seen and one has to admit that Stacy was not only over but able to get huge reactions as a valet. (1/5)

The legend Shawn Michaels vs. The Legend Killer Randy Orton is next. Fun start to this match with Shawn taking Randy to the mat and then one-upping him when Orton "skins the cat." Shawn hits a huge crossbody to the outside and they brawl in the ring, everything they're doing looking great. Shawn gets cheapshotted by Flair on the outside to a big reaction and the tide turns, Randy taking over and locking in an armbar on the mat. I just learned that "Resthold Randy" was always a thing, though at least here it makes sense as Flair had targeted Shawn's shoulder by sending him into the post. Randy continues to go to work on the shoulder as the crowd tries to rally behind HBK. At one point JR refers to this match as an "old school wrestling match" and he's spot on, especially compared to the two previous bouts which were full of weapons and gaga. After some decent offense out of Shawn, Orton changes the tide once again with a ridiculous irish whip into the corner that turns the Showstopper inside out. Orton tries to follow it with something (not sure what) off the second rope but eats Shawn's boot. Shawn attempts a Sweet Chin Music but Orton hits the RKO. Randy can't make the cover fast enough, though, and Shawn kicks out. Kudos to the WWE for re-establishing that finish as a game-ender when Shawn kicked out of it so early in Randy's push. Orton goes for a splash from the top, but Shawn dodges it and heads to the top himself. After decking Flair, Shawn hits his trademark elbow but can't capitalize on it. Michaels tunes up the band again and connects with an unreal, picture-perfect Sweet Chin Music. The ref counts three, but Flair puts Orton's foot over the bottom rope. Flair slides into the ring only to eat a superkick himself. As the ref tries to roll Flair out of the ring, Orton uses a foreign object (brass knucks) of some kind to knock Shawn out when he attempts a back suplex. Good match. (3.5/5)

Women's Champion Molly Holly teams up with Gail Kim (making her WWE PPV debut) against Trish Stratus and the returning Lita. Lita had been out for over a year with a neck injury prior to returning on RAW a week or so earlier. As expected, this is a sub-10 minute nothing match as was fairly common at the time, even when you have four of the roster's best actual workers in the same match (Lita being the least skilled, but still light years ahead of, say, Torrie Wilson or Sable). Much of the spotlight is put on Lita, who shows absolutely no signs of the serious spinal injury that took her out of action for so long, executing a pretty nice kip-up and then finishing the match with her signature moonsault. Nothing too offensive. (2/5)

A Last Man Standing Match follows - Kane battling Shane McMahon. The pre-match video gives us lots of context and craziness, including Shane superkicking Kane into a pit of fire, Kane electrocuting Shane with jumper cables, and Linda McMahon getting tombstoned on the steel entranceway. The match begins the way it absolutely should - with Shane just going nuts with a chair to Kane's skull. I like the logic there because in a straight-up fight, there's no way Shane would have no chance...in hell. More than a couple decent spots follow, including a Coast-to-Coast (Van Terminator) with the steel steps, a fun use of a boom, and in a nod to his King of the Ring showdown with Kurt Angle, Shane McMahon getting tossed repeatedly into the Unforgiven sign. The crowd eats up all of it and though I've definitely become less of a fan of Shane's work over the years, I found myself buying in until the final sequence when Shane needlessly destroys all the heat and tension he had built in order to perform a stunt. Ugh. A Last Man Standing match shouldn't end with a guy beating himself and that is what happens here. The bump he takes is respectable - but what separates what Shane does and what good wrestlers do is the story. Mick Foley didn't jump off the cage, Undertaker threw him off. Eddie Guerrero and JBL didn't bloody themselves, they bashed eachother's skulls open in the heat of battle. Ric Flair's blade jobs were often painfully obvious but at least he always tried to sell them as the result of an opponent's actions. Shane's stunts come off as inorganic and attention-seeking and the finish to this match is as perfect as an example as what he did against Taker a few years back. Its a real shame, too, because everything before that spot is pretty fun. (3/5)

Christian defends the Intercontinental Championship against Rob Van Dam and Chris Jericho next. "Vitamin C" as I believe they were once known take the boots to RVD first, but Mr. Monday Night ends up on offense, suplexing Jericho out of the ring and then hitting a moonsault onto both men on the outside of the ring. This, and RVD's legdrop on Christian back in the ring, get almost no reaction - somewhat surprising considering the crowd had been pretty vocal for previous matches featuring ECW alum. RVD maintains control for awhile until Christian pulls him to the outside and bashes him into the steps. From here, Jericho and Christian work together to try to destroy Van Dam, but eventually their partnership must end as they both seek to capture (or retain) the Intercontinental Championship. Loads of good spots here with all three men working hard and executing not only their signature spots, but some creative and (for the time) relatively fresh sequences, including a Tower of Doom spot that draws a "Holy Shit" chant. The match goes fairly long (close to 20 full minutes) and while the crowd is relatively cold for 3/4ths of the match, by the very end, they have effectively reheated the audience through nothing but in-ring actions and near falls. More than solid match and maybe even the Match of the Night. (3.5/5)

After a promo from Triple H, we get a video recapping the Jonathan Coachman/Jim Ross feud and how it led to the next match. Who thought this would make for good TV? In his years in the WWE, Jim Ross must've competed in a half dozen matches - which is about a half dozen too many by my count (and probably his). Anyway, Al Snow and Jonathan Coachman make their way down the aisle first while their opponents, Lawler and Jim Ross wonder who will be doing the commentary for this match (the answer: nobody). Lawler and Snow start things off because if you factor in the King's age and Al Snow's ability to work as a straight-faced heel and you plug them into a calculator, you might come up with one watchable minute. Snow dominates early and eventually locks in a grounded abdominal stretch because this match definitely needed a rest hold. Lawler eventually lands his piledriver, but Snow is able to avoid getting pinned by draping his foot over the rope with such ease that nobody bites on the near fall. He then immediately takes the match back, too, as the crowd, which was already giving tepid responses, goes completely silent (aside from the occasional "Boring" heckles). Coach gets tagged in to no response, which just goes to show how much heat his heel persona generated. Lawler is able to gain control once Coach gets in the ring and the crowd perks up a bit, chanting "We Want Jim Ross" (likely because everyone knows that his entrance into the match will mark its conclusion). Coach was pretty terrible in the ring and JR is that much worse, though at least he has the crowd behind him. Chris Jericho shows up because he hates Austin and JR is Austin's "Oklahoma Buddy." Actually kind of a clever finish, but also one that would've probably inspired me to stop watching RAW if I had been at the time. Half-point for Lawler's working punches and maybe the finish, which at least was an attempt at a swerve (even if it was one nobody wanted to see). (0.5/5)

Main event time - Goldberg challenging Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship match. The stakes are particularly high here as Goldberg has put his career on the line, vowing to leave the company if he does not wrest away the title tonight. By this point in his run, Goldberg had been exposed at least twice - first as not charismatic enough to win over an already 50/50 anti-Rock crowd at Backlash, then as unable to maintain his aura over the course of a long match against Jericho, meaning that this match was going to require both men giving the performances of their lives and some smart booking to work after minute 5. Promisingly, Triple H bumps big early, taking a huge back body drop and then a suplex. The Game counters a spear attempt with his high knee, an admittedly cool spot, and takes control, though even when he's on "defense," this is H's show all the way. Your personal enjoyment of a Triple H match is what will make the difference between thinking this is good or bad because Goldberg is just a body being led through a series of ho-hum transitions. With almost no heat after 6-7 minutes, Triple H blades and we get a needless ref bump. The sledgehammer shows up but Goldberg pretty much no sells it - which I'll still blame Triple H for because as the "ring general," this match has his fingerprints all over it and the layout is atrocious. Goldberg sells an injured arm well towards the end - too bad Triple H had been attacking his knee up to that point. This needed to be a "Goldberg match," not a Triple H match. (1/5)



Earning a Kwang Score of just 2.25-out-of-5, Unforgiven 2003 is a show to avoid. The main event is tone deaf and below average, the JR/Coach match is so dumb one has to wonder why they'd revisit it with the JR/Cole feud, and while Kane/Shane starts out riveting, the finish is "anti-wrestling," a stunt for stunt's sake. The Intercontinental Title Match is a bright spot, but poor placement on the card seemed to prevent the crowd from getting fully invested. 

FINAL SCORE - DUDleyville