WWE In Your House #9: International Incident

WWE In Your House #9: International Incident

Vancouver, BC, Canada - July 1996

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Shawn Michaels was the WWE Champion, Ahmed Johnson was the Intercontinental Champion, and the Smoking Gunns were the World Tag Team Champions. 

International Incident can only be described as a lesser PPV in a series of purposefully lesser PPVs, one of the most forgettable and uneventful In Your House events the WWE ever put on, the card made up of matches that were likely near-identical to what one might've seen at a house show. But is this necessarily a bad thing?

The show begins with WWE Tag Team Champions, The Smoking Gunns, now heels managed by Sunny, taking on Sunny's former team The BodyDonnas in a non-title match. Before the match, the 'Donnas explain why they've dropped "Cloudy," basically saying that she showed them that what they needed all along was the fans' support and, having done that, she's no longer needed in their corner. Sure. Like I wrote in my review of Good Friend, Better Enemies, the tag team division in the WWE in 95'-97' was woeful. Billy and Bart botch a double-team move and that failed spot might get the biggest reaction of the whole bout. A referee distraction results in the BodyDonnas getting the win, which made them top contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championships, but they'd end up split and out of the company within a couple months of this event. Not a great way to start the show. (0.5/5)

Things do get better, though, as Mankind takes on Henry Godwinn. Godwinn isn't a great worker or anything, but re-watching some of his matches from this era, he was better than I remembered. I love Foley during this time too as he was clearly working his ass off, in probably the best shape of his career, and trying to get noticed by doing crazy bumps but also getting this new, bizarre character over. Compared to the TL Hoppers, Duke Droeses, and Mantaurs that had been filling the WWE's cards in 95', Mankind was a revelation and these early matches are fun to watch because the audience, expecting something like the dull opener, end up getting something action-packed and way more violent. Its also worth noting that this was originally going to be Roberts/Mankind, but Jake had either shown up drunk or been sent to rehab so, instead, Lawler (at Vince's request I'm sure) cracks jokes about his real-life struggle with addiction throughout the show. Roberts and Lawler feuded throughout the spring and summer so it is "part of the show" but it makes me cringe hearing it years later knowing what Roberts was going through. Further proof that Vince was a scumbag all along. Anyway, not a match I'd necessarily recommend, but Mankind drags it into watchable range. (2.5/5)

Another surprisingly solid match follows as "Stone Cold" Steve Austin takes on "The Wildman" Marc Mero. These two crossed paths quite a bit in WCW (I'm guessing) so its not that much of a shock to see that they have decent chemistry, but Mero's WWE work has a bad reputation and Austin was obviously not yet at his peak in terms of his character yet. Still, like the Mankind match that precedes, there's more twists and turns and high spots and violence than one would expect considering what the WWE was like at this time. I like how this match involves progresses two storylines as Mero and Austin have beef from the previous month's King of the Ring show (where Mero busted Austin's lip open hardway) and there was also a simmering issue between Mero and Goldust (Marlena makes her way down the aisle at one point). Another above-average match. (3/5)

Speaking of Goldust...he faces The Undertaker next. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed their Beware of Dog match when I reviewed it some months ago but this one just doesn't have the same energy, likely because Taker dominates most of it rather than actually making Goldust out to be a real threat. The most interesting thing about this match - aside from the finish, which I'll get to - is how much different the Undertaker is working than he was just a year earlier when he was still pretty much just doing Zombie Wrestler. Here, he backs off when Marlena gets involved (something kinda valiant for a zombie), attempts to use the steps as a weapon (showing an anger and desperation never really seen before) and at one point even tries to win the match with an inside cradle. The aforementioned finish occurs when Taker hits the Tombstone and seems to have the match won but Mankind emerges through the ring and drags him underneath. Its a cool visual that should've ended with some mystique, but instead, Taker emerges from the other side of the ring and the two brawl their way to the Boiler Room, foreshadowing their epic encounter at SummerSlam. (1/5)

Main event time - Shawn Michaels, Ahmed Johnson, and Sid vs. Vader, Davey Boy Smith, and Owen Hart. There's two big plot points worth mentioning here: first, Sid was a somewhat last-minute replacement for the Ultimate Warrior, who had started no-showing scheduled appearances and was suspended and then fired off-screen. Second, Jim Cornette had guaranteed victory for his team, promising that if Camp Cornette lost this match, he would personally refund everyone in the arena and the fans who had purchased the PPV. Talk about desperate McMahon marketing ploys...Anyway, considering that Vince was never going to pony up refunds, the only question is how the babyfaces will get screwed, not if. As I noted in the introduction, this match plays like something you'd get at a house show - but that's not necessarily a bad thing because Michaels has working boots on, Owen and Davey were always solid tag wrestlers, and Sid is over (as he almost always was when he showed up after a lengthy break, in this case 6+ months off TV). When Michaels makes his way down the aisle, the guardrail collapses. Then, way, way later, a fan tries to rush into the ring but gets blocked by Davey Boy and Ahmed. Michaels is the face-in-peril for the bulk of this match's 25 minutes. And it is a loooong 25 minutes. Like the Vader/Razor Ramon match from the previous In Your House show, Vader is a bit exposed here, eating a Sid chokeslam at one point and a powerslam from Ahmed Johnson too. He miraculously kicks out of a racket shot from Michaels, but it would've been a bigger deal if he'd kicked out of the Sweet Chin Music, which HBK never gets to hit because Cornette grabs his foot (allowing Vader to squash him in the corner and then hit a Vader Bomb for the relatively clean win). This wasn't a terrible match and the crowd was undoubtedly into it, but it doesn't feel at all like a worthwhile pay-per-view main event. I've seen some write-ups that praise this match and, in a vacuum, the work is good...but I can't get past the nagging feeling that there aren't really any stakes, Vader doesn't come out of it looking strong enough to beat Michaels at SummerSlam, and there's really no drama due to the counter-productive guarantee put out by Cornette. (3/5)

In Your House: International Incident starts out awful, picks up with the Mankind and Austin bouts, and then settles into just passable range. Anyone who paid $20 to see this should've been real, real upset that the babyfaces lost and they didn't get their refund. With a Kwang Score of 2-out-of-5, this one gets a...

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville

WWE In Your House: Good Friends, Better Enemies

WWE In Your House #7: Good Friends, Better Enemies

Omaha, NE - April 1996

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Shawn Michaels was the WWE World Champion, the Intercontinental Champion was Goldust, and the World Tag Team Champions were The Body Donnas. 

Owen Hart and the British Bulldog take on Jake Roberts and Ahmed Johnson in the opening contest. What's somewhat confusing is that this was supposed to be Bulldog vs. Roberts one-on-one, but when Jake's snake is barred from ringside it somehow turns into a tag team match. I'm guessing this was because Vince realized that Bulldog and Roberts would've absolutely stunk up the joint, Ahmed Johnson was damn over, and Owen Hart could probably do enough to make this one passable (he does). Roberts isn't at his worst here but he's nowhere near his best either, slow and worn down and unable to make his offense or his bumps look good. I like that this match also teased a Bulldog/Johnson showdown, a battle of powerhouses that I'm not sure was ever actually realized. The finish comes when the distracted referee misses out on Bulldog using Cornette's racket to take out the Snake's knee. If Bulldog was penciled in to be Shawn's next challenger, why doesn't he get a stronger win? Not a good match, but not the worst thing I've ever watched. (1.5/5)

Next up - Goldust defending his Intercontinental Championship against The Ultimate Warrior. This could've and should've been great but because Warrior was an unprofessional prick, it is arguably one of the worst matches I've ever seen. Even if you don't count it as a "match" and just consider it a "segment," it's awful. Warrior intimidates Goldust out of the ring and then proceeds to sit in Marlena's Director's Chair, smoke her cigar, put on Goldust's robe, yadda, yadda, yadda, until he somehow convinces Goldust and Marlena to come back into the ring. Warrior plays nice and they share a cigar before Warrior burns Goldust with it and then runs him out of the ring, basically winning the "match" by count out. I'm not sure whose idea this bait-and-switch was but it is not a fun segment at all and make even Warrior's worst 80s and early 90s segments - the body contests, the visits to the Undertaker's crypt, the voodoo episodes with Papa Shango - look like TV gold. Oh, and just because the trivia is worth mentioning, Warrior also takes out Goldust's one-night bodyguard, who goes unnamed but was played by the same guy who played Mantaur. (0.5/5)

Backstage, the Bulldog is enraged and trying to get into Shawn Michaels' locker room. This would serve as the start of the Bulldog/Michaels feud, which was based on Michaels supposedly hitting on Bulldog's wife, Diana.

Vader took on Razor Ramon in what I believe was Scott Hall's final WWE appearance (though he might have showed up on Raw the next night?). What's shocking about this match is how much Vader/McMahon gives to Ramon, including having him kick out of the dreaded Vader Bomb. That move should've been booked as an absolute death move, especially considering that Hulk Hogan kicking out of it had already hurt its credibility, but here we are in Vader's first year with the company and Ramon gets to kick out of it on his way out. It just makes no sense and makes me even more sympathetic for the Man They Called Vader and his plight in the WWE. This is an example of a match that is technically decent but because it doesn't accomplish what it should - at least in my mind - it fails. Maybe Vince wanted to have them go out and do a 50/50 match as a way to at least give the fans something good after the godawful matches that preceded this? Vader eventually gets the win because Razor can't get him up for his finish, which is not a good finish at all. Why not just save the Vader Bomb till the end? The only thing that finish accomplished was making Vader seem like he was just another big, fat guy - a Yokozuna or a King Kong Bundy - when Vader was much more dangerous beyond just being 300+ pounds. Vince never understood him and this match might be the perfect example of it. (2/5)

The WWE Tag Team Champions, The Bodydonnas, put their titles on the line against The Godwinns next. The WWE's tag team division had fallen on very, very, very hard times after the Legion of Doom left in 92' (?) and didn't recover until the late 90s when the Hardys, Edge and Christian, and the Dudleys started putting on ridiculous spotfests. The most over performer in this match is Sunny at ringside and its not remotely close. Not a great match or even a good one, but its passable because Henry Godwinn was a decent big man and it doesn't stretch too long. (1.5/5)

Main event time - Shawn Michaels defending the WWE Championship against Diesel in a No Holds Barred Match. This match has been hailed as one of the best of the 90s and is worth revisiting (or viewing for the first time) if you've never seen it. I'm not sure its quite up there with the Mankind match at Mind Games a couple months later, but I think an argument could be made that it is the perfect endpoint of the New Generation Era. Diesel and Michaels have lots of history and I appreciate the pre-match video going through the bulk of it, something the company should still be doing but inexplicably doesn't these days. Heel Diesel in 96' is the best Diesel and isn't dissimilar to the "Kevin Nash Character" he'd bring to nWo as, even here, he gets some verbal jabs in against Vince McMahon (he also throws his leather jacket at him, another nice little moment that foreshadowed Diesel's departure in a way). Michaels comes out and instead of doing a big dance or posing, the fight kicks off immediately. Good psychology there as these two were promising a fight - not a technical wrestling contest - and they went right at it. Michaels grabs a cowboy boot from one of the Spanish announcers to introduce the first weapon into the match, something you typically don't see a babyface do but makes perfect sense in this environment as Diesel has the height and weight advantage. Michaels takes a huge, chin-first bump into the guardrail off the apron. We've seen that one before but, hey, it looked devastating so who cares? Diesel takes over and while he's been criticized for his limited offense, he makes everything he does look impactful and Michaels doesn't no-sell anything so it all looks good. When you watch a match like this, with this sort of pacing and selling, you really wonder what Shawn is teaching the kids in NXT. Diesel attacks Earl Hebner for seemingly no reason - I mean, why would he need to if the match was No DQ, right? - but then takes Hebner's belt off, which answers that question. Diesel then hangs Shawn Michaels by the neck outside the ring! Wow. That spot would be extreme in 2021 so in 1996 it comes across as absolutely insane. Good on Shawn for "hanging in there" but that was maybe too grotesque. Diesel grabs a chair and uses it twice before Shawn dodges and the chair hits him in the face to a huge pop! Shawn tries to take advantage but Diesel cuts him off with a low blow! The crowd is into this. At this point we get one of the most memorable spots of the 90s as Diesel powerbombs Shawn Michaels through the announce table. Bret Hart had taken a table bump in a match against Diesel in 95' that is often cited as the WWE's first table spot but this one was arguably even more impactful and significant because Hart's was designed to almost look "accidental" while this one was purposeful. Diesel grabs the WWE Championship and puts it on, celebrating what he assumes to be an assured victory. This is the first "misstep" of the match to me as Diesel looks like an idiot not bringing Shawn into the ring and just pinning him. I understand that they wanted Shawn to sell the bump - especially considering it had never been done before in a WWE ring - but they should've come up with a better way to buy time. Shawn eventually gets up to crawl into the ring, wisely grabbing a fire extinguisher and blowing it into Diesel's face. This is also where the match gets a bit cartoonish as Michaels goes into "Hero Mode" a bit, the cut-offs no longer really cutting him off as much as momentarily fazing him before he fights back. Diesel ends up going to the outside and tearing Mad Dog Vachon's prosthetic leg off and looks to use it, but Michaels hits him with a lowblow! Very good callback to earlier in the match there. Michaels uses the prosthetic and then hits a Sweet Chin Music to get the victory. Arguably a top 5 match for both guys - Nash for sure, maybe for Michaels - and, nudging it into All-Time Classic territory is that its also an interesting match historically. If you're going to put on a 1-Match-Show, you want that 1-Match to be this good. (4.5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.0-out-of-5, this show is impossible to recommend in its entirety and would likely be considered one of the worst pay-per-view events in company history if it wasn't for the excellent main event, a WWE Match of the Year candidate for 96'. 

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

WWE Royal Rumble 2005

WWE Royal Rumble 2005

Fresno, CA - January 2005

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Champion was JBL and the World Heavyweight Champion was Triple H. The Intercontinental Champion was Shelton Benjamin while John Cena was the United States Champion. The WWE Tag Team Champions were the Basham Brothers, though they did not appear on the show, while the World Tag Team Champions were La Resistance (Robert Conway and Sylvan Grenier). Finally, the Women's Champion was Trish Stratus and the Cruiserweight Champion was Funaki. 

Royal Rumble 2005 opens with Shawn Michaels vs. Edge. I didn't dig this one too much. Edge and Michaels don't have much chemistry and Shawn really overdoes it with the 2.999-shoulder up kickouts. Edge's spear was in the process of being a credible finish, but because it wasn't fully there yet, the moments when he hits it don't feel like believable match-enders. The match also goes close to 20 minutes, which seems excessive. Edge has a reputation for being at his best when there are tables, ladders, and chairs for him to utilize, but I think with him it really comes down to chemistry with his opponent. Cena? Taker? Jeff Hardy? Mysterio? Sure. But Edge vs. Shawn? Edge vs. Jericho? For whatever reason, those matches tend to underwhelm me. Not the worst match ever or anything, but nothing I'd revisit. (2.5/5)

The Undertaker took on Heidenreich in a Casket Match next. This one was all smoke-and-mirrors with the best part of the match coming, surprisingly enough, when Snitsky ran in and the Undertaker looked to be in serious trouble of a 2-on-1 beat down until Kane emerged from the ringside casket on evened up the odds. That moment drew the biggest pop of the match and it deserved too. The rest of the match was nothing special, though the Deadman did hit Heidenreich with the Tombstone (which was an impressive feat of strength). Running only a little bit over 10 minutes, I felt like this moved quickly enough not to drag and, again, it helps that they filled it with as much bells-and-whistles as possible. Heidenreich wasn't a good worker, nor was Snitsky, and though I think they'd hang around in the company through 2005 and maybe even into 2006, this was arguably their career peak. (2/5)

The show continued with more of your typical Royal Rumble hijinks including Eddie Guerrero stealing Ric Flair's number and Christian doing a freestyle rap mocking John Cena, plus on-going tension between Batista and Triple H (which kinda gives away the fact that Triple H will be retaining his championship against Orton in the night's RAW main event). 

Back in the ring we get SmackDown's main event - JBL defending the WWE Championship against Big Show and Kurt Angle in a triple threat match. Very forgettable bout that played out as a real "Ruthless Aggression Greatest Hits set" with a big table spot, the television monitor getting used as a weapon, a ton of interference involving a bunch of jobbers towards the end, and everyone hitting their signature spots but nobody getting the W because there's always someone to break up the count. The eventual finish came when JBL caught Angle with a Clothesline in Hell while Big Show was dealing with two other big muscle freaks who never amounted to much in the WWE - Jindrak and O'Haire - on the outside. This one was even shorter than the Casket Match. (2.5/5)

Triple H vs. Randy Orton for Triple H's World Heavyweight Championship is next. The rest of Evolution - which was now only Batista and Flair - was banned from ringside, which I guess was supposed to make fans believe that Triple H might lose but it seems so clear already that Batista/HHH was going to be the Mania main event that I didn't once believe Orton was going to capture the title. Now, that's not to say there aren't some good teases of the RKO, but ultimately, the only question I had as the match progressed was how Triple H was going to retain, not whether or not he actually would. The story of the match is Triple H working on Orton's knee, but because Triple H wasn't really known for his arsenal of submissions - focusing on the knee or not - it doesn't quite work as well as when, say, Ric Flair does it or when Bret Hart works on his opponent's lower back. It also doesn't play into the finish at all, which involved Triple H countering a DDT and Orton falling back hard and suffering a (kayfabe) concussion, then a ref bump, than a sledgehammer tease, and then an eventual Pedigree. In other words, convoluted, overbooked, somewhat unnecessarily confusing and ultimately unsatisfying. Its hard to review a match like this so many years after the fact because we now know that Orton would need to basically be re-built over the next year before he was back to being a main eventer and it all happened away from Triple H while Triple H would end up putting over Batista multiple times in the spring, which means he might've actually benefited from a stronger, cleaner victory here. For what it was, this is not a match I'd ever recommend or revisit really, but it wasn't too bad. (2.5/5)

Its main event time - the 2005 Royal Rumble! Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit are the first entrants, a nice callback to the previous year's end-of-the-show WrestleMania celebration. Both men last quite a long while, but its fairly clear that they - and eventually Jericho, Edge and Rey - are really in this match to carry the little bit of actual wrestling that needs to happen between the arrival and departure of various "monsters," including Luther Reigns, Viscera, Kane, and Batista. Unlike the Rumbles that would come over the next few years, this one is devoid of any real surprises (unless you count the inexplicable involvement of Jonathan Coachman as an entrant) and doesn't build up a single WrestleMania match aside from Kurt Angle and Shawn Michaels, whose heated interactions are a highlight but also make it somewhat glaring how little storyline development is happening with anyone else. One of the other more memorable segments of the match involved Muhammad Hassan, the anti-American Arab-American, who comes out to massive heat and gets beaten down by every single other Rumble entrant before getting hit with a 619 and tossed out of the ring. The other, maybe less memorable but still awesome, spots worth mentioning was Snitsky's elimination of Paul London off the apron. Snitsky clotheslined him and London basically hit a Spanish Fly onto the arena floor that looked like it legitimately broke his neck on the landing. Later, the crowd goes crazy for Cena and Batista, who both get some big eliminations to reinforce their status as the two emergent stars of this post-Lesnar world. I really liked the double elimination spot too and would argue it was better executed and timed than the Luger/Hart one from 94'. With both men seemingly eliminated, Vince McMahon made his way out - and tore his quad getting into the ring, forcing him to restart the match from down on the mat in a seated position. You gotta think Vince was pissed at himself in that moment. I like the way Cena and Batista both believe they've won the match and toss eachother before the match restarts and Batista gets the definitive win. Just really well-booked and well-executed (aside from Vince's injury) with a crowd-pleasing result. (3/5)

Royal Rumble 2005 plays exactly like what it was - a precursor to better things on the horizon, but not yet there itself. Based on the crowd reactions they received, it was clear that Cena and Batista were poised to be the breakout stars of the year and, with the right booking, be top guys for years to come. By the end of this show, its also obvious that Orton and Edge's potential has been nearly reached but that they too need something to cement them. For Orton, that would be a heel turn and a new habitat (he would feud with The Undertaker in the build to WrestleMania XXI before officially jumping to SmackDown in the summer) while, for Edge, it would end up being something totally unplanned - a real-life scandal that briefly made him (and Lita) the most despised heel act in the company and eventually led to him capturing the WWE Championship in December. By the 2006 Rumble, the WWE would lose both Eddie Guerrero and Chris Jericho, but as a whole, I'd still consider the 2006 Rumble entrants list a touch stronger thanks due to the inclusion of Big Show and Rob Van Dam, along with some nostalgia entrants in Tatanka, Goldust, and Road Warrior Animal. With a Kwang Score of 2.5-out-of-5, Royal Rumble 2005 is a show that falls squarely in the middle of my scale, so I'm going to go with a...

FINAL RATING - Watch It...Remote in Hand

WWE Payback 2013

WWE Payback

Chicago, IL - June 2013

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Champion was John Cena while the World Heavyweight Champion was Dolph Ziggler. Wade Barrett was the Intercontinental Champion, the US Champion was Dean Ambrose, Kaitlyn held the Divas Champion, and the World Tag Team Champions were The Shield.

The first Payback show hailed from Chicago and kicked off with the Intercontinental Champion Wade Barrett defending the title against The Miz and Curtis Axel. The Miz was supposed to be the babyface, but was not over at all in that role (and wouldn't really have a decent face run until years later). Curtis Axel had become a "Paul Heyman Guy" after CM Punk and Brock Lesnar took time off following WrestleMania and was getting a decent TV push, but not one that really went anywhere on PPV after the summer/fall. To me, his haircut was the biggest issue as it made him look like a chode. Despite this being essentially a heel/heel/heel match, over the course of its runtime, they win the crowd over and the nearfalls towards the end get major reactions. The pace is kept brisk, which keeps the already red-hot crowd engaged, and we get lots of signature spots too, including a PerfectPlex out of Axel that gets a big pop. The finish comes when The Miz applies the Figure 4 on Barrett and looks to have things sewn up before Axel rushes in and makes the cover on Barrett. The crowd gives this a big reaction too, probably due more to a surprise at the title change than anything else. In hindsight, its hard to say whether giving Axel the Intercontinental Championship was the right choice. On one hand, it did elevate him from the lower midcard (albeit briefly), but at the same time, as the IC Title had stopped being treated like a stepping stone to the World Championship years before this, it also served as a ceiling for him after having TV matches against Cena and Triple H that were "bigger" than anything he'd do with the IC Title. (In fact, in a segment later on the show, Triple H essentially turns down a rematch with Axel when its offered by Vince McMahon, which is its own kind of squash in a way). A better match than it would seem on paper due to a crowd that was fully involved (even if they were Fandago-ing in the early minutes). (3/5)

The Divas Championship is on the line in the next contest - Kaitlyn defending against AJ Lee. I don't remember Kaitlyn at all, but she actually held the title for several months. AJ Lee, meanwhile, is someone I remember mostly from her work with Daniel Bryan and Dolph Ziggler. The video recap helped me out, though, as it seems the Kaitlyn/AJ split was built around a faux secret admirer angle involving Big E. The match starts hot with Kaitlyn tossing AJ over the announce table with plenty of force and the crowd eats it up. Unfortunately, when you start a match with a big spot like that, things tend to cool down when actual wrestling holds get applied...but, hey, credit where its due - in 2013, women's wrestling was still rarely given any time so they had to make their minutes count and grab the audience as best they could out of the gate. I read in another review that Kaitlyn and AJ were real-life friends and that sort of comes out in this match as its clear that they wanted to bring out the best of each other, not hold back, and showcase Lee's quickness and ring savvy while also allowing Kaitlyn to dish out plenty of power moves and punishment. There are a bunch of "little things" in this match that help tell the story and these blink-and-you-might-miss-them turnarounds are what make this match stand out as not just "good for the girls" but legitimately must see, including a finish that might make Kaitlyn seem a bit dumb, but works because Kaitlyn can't help herself from trying to add insult to injury. Its a heel thing to do and eventhough Kaitlyn comes into this match as the sympathetic figure, she'd never really become a babyface. This is a match where the chemistry is there, the performers know their characters and motivations, and they clearly went in with a game plan that they knew they could execute and execute well. No minute is wasted and they had the crowd caring for all the big moves and shifts in momentum. I've got no problem calling it a "must see." (4/5) 

After a short backstage segment, a Wyatt Family promo airs. 

Back in the ring, Kane challenges Dean Ambrose for the United States Championship. While The Shield had not turned face yet, Ambrose gets a babyface reaction from the Chicago crowd and Kane gets booed. Nothing special about this match. Kane had been feuding with The Shield for months and months in mostly tag situations with Daniel Bryan. Ambrose eventually wins by countout, which was designed to keep Kane strong but doesn't do anything for Ambrose. (1.5/5)

A video hyping the return of Rob Van Dam plays. 

The next match is one of the more memorable bouts from this era - Dolph Ziggler defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Alberto Del Rio. I don't recall all the details around this, but the story essentially goes that Ziggler had cashed in his Money In The Bank briefcase the night after WrestleMania and defeated Del Rio (who was a babyface) to win the title - which received a huge ovation because Ziggler was seen by many as being "held back" for years. In the week or two that followed, though, Ziggler received a concussion (from Jack Swagger on an episode of SmackDown, I believe) and his program with Del Rio was put on hold until this night. And so, with the smart Chicago fans in the loop, this match became all about Del Rio (still the face) attacking Ziggler's head (a heel move) and thus executing a rare "Double Turn." As Ziggler was always an excellent bumper and seller and Del Rio was about a million times better as a heel than as a face, the Double Turn works perfectly. What's also great about this match is that, while the story could've been told in a 6-8 minute squash that saw Del Rio target Ziggler's head and just mercilessly beat him down, Ziggler gets in quite a few hope spots and, at times, it seems like he might even pull one out despite obviously suffering massive head damage. AJ Lee's distress outside of the ring adds to the drama perfectly. While this isn't what I would consider a great wrestling match, the storytelling is what makes this a career highlight for both men. (4/5)

Next up - the return of CM Punk to take on longtime rival Chris Jericho. Almost a full year before this, Jericho and Punk had fought in a Chicago Street Fight at Extreme Rules 2012, but that bout is barely mentioned which is a lost opportunity to give the storyline going into this match more depth beyond just being Punk's triumphant return. I didn't love that Street Fight when I reviewed it earlier this year so I wasn't sure what to expect with this match being "straight up" with no stipulations. Jericho comes down and gets a decent bit of applause but its nothing compared to the ovation that CM Punk receives from his hometown crowd. I forget if it was the "script" from this match or their match at WrestleMania in 2012 but in one of his books Jericho shares how detailed these two could get in counters and reversals and nearfalls and this match is just loaded with them. Instead of this being all about CM Punk coming in with the momentum and blowing Jericho away, Y2J doesn't ever go down without a fight and even looks like he might play the spoiler at times - a booking decision that wouldn't have been all that out of place in the WWE (where babyfaces often lose in front of their hometown crowds). They get plenty of time to their hard-fought back-and-forth story, the match going beyond 20 minutes and closer to 30 when you include the emotional entrances and post-match celebration. Some might argue that there are too many finisher kickouts, but the crowd (and me watching at home) bit on the nearfalls and felt like the match could go either way, which is not something you could say about other "finisher spamming" matches where it feels like they're just putting on a fireworks display (and then no-selling them) instead of actually busting out the big guns as a strategic way to finish their opponent off. I wouldn't call this an All-Time Great match, but its close to it, especially if you're a Punk or Jericho stan. (4/5)

The WWE Tag Team Championship Match followed, The Shield's Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns defending against the "odd couple" of Daniel Bryan and Randy Orton. What surprised me here was that (a) Daniel Bryan didn't get as big of an ovation as I expected considering the timeline of his rise to being the top face in the promotion and (b) that I completely forgot that Orton and Bryan were paired together just a few weeks/months before feuding with each other through the fall of 2013 and all the way to WrestleMania XXX. Anyway, the crowd definitely seems a bit deflated when this starts having exhausted much of their energy during the Punk match. They chant for RVD which would imply that the action in the ring is not to their liking but they chanted for RVD during the Ziggler/Del Rio match (and would again during the action-packed Cena/Ryback match) so I think it has less to do with not enjoying what's happening in the ring as much as it has to do with chanting for the return of a "hardcore darling." This is a solid tag match but nothing phenomenal. As Lawler notes on commentary, the story here is all about The Shield being a finely-tuned unit and Orton and Bryan, despite being solid singles wrestlers, not being able to combine their efforts adequately enough to maintain control. Every time Orton or Bryan gets on a roll, the momentum is lost because they can't or won't trust their partner and, ultimately, their lack of timing and awareness of eachother costs them the match. Its a simple story, but its executed right and the "star power" is there even if Rollins and Reigns weren't as big of stars as they would be a year later. I like the finishing sequence too as it really came down to whoever landed their big finish last. (3/5)

Main event time - a 3 Stages of Hell match between WWE Champion John Cena and his rival Ryback. The first stage as a Lumberjack match and it might be the best "match" of the three, thanks in large part to the respectable psychology employed by Ryback and the heel lumberjacks (who all seem to thoroughly despise Cena, a tone reminiscent of how in the 80s, every heel was unified against Hogan). A big "RVD" chant broke out in the first few minutes. The most memorable spot of the match also happened during this first round as Cena flies off the top rope into a sea of humanity, popping the otherwise sour Chicago crowd. At the 8 minute mark, Ryback hit the Shellshock to get the victory. This is one of those times where you really wish the commentators would play up the idea that Cena may have "given up" the first fall knowing that he had the veteran advantage going into the second round - a Tables match - but nobody bothers so it just seems like the champion got beaten clean. The Tables match began with Ryback hitting a spear and drawing a "Goldberg" chant. Another 8 minutes pass of unremarkable action before Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment and sent Ryback through a table to win the second match. The final round was an Ambulance Match. Before the bell rang, though, Ryback sent Cena through an announce table on the outside. That spot would've felt like a much bigger deal if we hadn't just seen Ryback shrug off of a table bump and/or the Ambulance was set up and Ryback could capitalize. Instead, they go back into the ring and multiple minutes pass before it dawns on Ryback that maybe he should actually try to win the match. The final third of this match really flies by as Cena and Ryback repeatedly send eachother into various parts of the Ambulance until Cena climbs to the top. Ryback follows him up and after some back-and-forth, Cena hits an Attitude Adjustment and Ryback goes through the top of the ambulance. A really cartoonish ending, but I guess it fits with what these two were doing in their matches - which was basically just meandering through a series of set pieces and stunts. Not a career high point for either guy. (2/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.07-out-of-5, Payback 2013 could've been an all-time great show...if it weren't for its unremarkable main event and pedestrian US Championship match. The opener overdelivers, AJ Lee and Kaitlyn put on a hidden gem, Punk and Jericho have an all-out war that I found more engaging than their Chicago Street Fight a year later, and the Ziggler/Del Rio match is rightfully considered a career peak for Dolph and also one of the best things Del Rio did in his entire WWE run. Its worth noting that some reviewers have also praised the Shield/Orton and Bryan match. All in all, a very good show marred only by a perfunctory main event that really highlighted the lack of chemistry between Cena and Ryback (even given basically carte blanche with a "3 gimmick matches-in-1" opportunity) and Kane's general boringness.

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

WWE Hell in a Cell 2021

WWE Hell in a Cell 2021

The Thunderdome, Orlando, FL - June 2021

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Roman Reigns was the Universal Champion, Bobby Lashley was the WWE Champion, Apollo Crews was the Intercontinental Champion, and the United States Champion was Sheamus. The RAW Women's Champion was Rhea Ripley, the SmackDown Women's Champion was Bianca Belair, and the Women's Tag Titles were held by Tamina Snuka and Natalya. Finally, the RAW Tag Team Champions were AJ Styles and Omos, while the Mysterios - Rey and his son Dominik - held the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. 

The opening contest was Bianca Belair defending her SmackDown Women's Championship against Bayley in a Hell in a Cell match. This was my first time hearing Pat McAfee on commentary with Cole too. I enjoyed their match at last month's Backlash show quite a bit so this was probably the match I was looking forward to the most aside from Reigns/Mysterio, which was inexplicably moved to Friday night's show. Before the match began, Cole also mentioned that this would be final "PPV" in the Thunderdome and I hope he's right. Anyway...Bayley went after Belair's shoulder and arm at the start of the match, but that aspect of the story kinda got lost as more and more of the bout became about how Bayley would use Belair's braid against her. That allowed for some good innovation and some absolutely striking moments of violence...but it also feels a bit like a crutch that has come to be used all too often in Belair's biggest matches. Highlights included an insane sunset flip powerbomb from Bayley to Belair that sent her crashing into the cell wall, some well-executed chair cut-offs by Belair, a nasty face-first drop into the corner from Bayley that looked like it may have knocked a tooth loose, and a fitting end to the match with Belair hitting the KOD onto a ladder. In front of a live crowd, I think this would've felt even "bigger" and, like many Hell in a Cell matches of the past decade now, its really a shame that the athletes aren't allowed to get real "color," which would've elevated this match to a level of must-watch and maybe even a WWE Match of the Year contender. As it was, this was a well above-average match bordering on "must see." (3.5/5)

Cesaro vs. Seth Rollins followed and, as expected, these two pulled out all the stops to try to deliver a dizzying, workrate-heavy modern classic. I'm personally burnt out on this style of wrestling, much more impressed these days with matches that put more thought into clever storytelling and character building (see Roman Reigns' recent work or just about anything Daniel Bryan has done in the past 7 years), so I wasn't as engaged and enthralled by this match as others likely were. Not much to say about this match beyond the fact that, as well executed as everything was, I didn't bite on any of the near falls despite the match not ending with either guy hitting their finishing move. Its just too unbelievable at this point to expect someone to secure a victory with a powerslam. Unlike the opener, I don't think a live setting would've helped this match either as it probably just would've led to corny "Fight Forever" chants and knee-jerk "This is Awesome" chants for any back-and-forth match that goes longer than 9 minutes. I'm not as down on Rollins as I once was, but he remains a guy that I think lacks a true character, which means that I'm rarely invested in any of his matches. I also think the wrong guy one. Cesaro has had big victories before - against Rollins at Mania, against Sheamus on multiple shows in the past, the Andre Battle Royal - but they rarely mean anything because he just ends up back in the midcard/upper-midcard after a few weeks of being on a "hot streak." Cesaro, coming off a series of victories against Rollins, is a much more interesting and intriguing position for him than Cesaro splitting wins with Rollins. Hamster wheel booking here. (3/5)

Shayna Baszler vs. Alexa Bliss followed in a match built around Alexa Bliss's creepy doll Lilly. As I don't watch Raw regularly, I haven't seen all the various plot points of this storyline but from what I saw, in heavily edited form, it was the right kind of silly for me. I'm also an unabashed fan of both Bliss and Baszler so as crazy and zany and stupid as the storyline is, my tolerance - and the fact that I wasn't watching this play out in real-time - is going to be higher than the folks who actually devote hours of their week to watching this sort of stuff. Anyway, as much as I wanted to enjoy the cartoonishness, this still felt undercooked at times. Was Bliss enjoying the pain being inflicted? If so, that aspect of her character seemed inconsistent at times. Again, its a tough position to be in to have to work like you're the original Undertaker or a Road Warrior when you also look like Alexa Bliss (and are also sort of doing a split personality gimmick between Evil Incarnate and Psychotic Schoolgirl). The big moment that everyone is talking about happened when Alexa Bliss used mind control to inhabit the body of Nia Jax (yes, seriously) and slap Reginald. Its unclear why Bliss, with the power to control the people who stare into her eyes - a gimmick straight out of Ghostbusters II - wouldn't use this power to have Jax destroy Baszler, but I guess we're still also meant to believe that Bliss actually cares about winning and losing, which doesn't seem like it should be part of her gimmick but is. Anyway, I'm sure many fans shit on this match but I at least found it somewhat refreshing in the "at least they tried something different" way. (2/5)

I will readily admit that I did not have high expectations for the next match - Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens. I've been loving the Sami Zayn we've had the pleasure to watch over the past year and, while I'm not a huge Owens fan, I'll give credit where its due and say that Owens is one of the most consistently good-to-great performers on the roster, a guy that, even when I'm not totally engrossed in his storylines, delivers the goods more often than not when the bell rings. Obviously Zayn and Owens have tremendous chemistry...but they've also had lots of matches against each other over the years and I was unsure if they'd come up with anything new to set this match apart. Boy was I wrong. If I do a Top 10 WWE Network Matches of 2021, this will make the list and maybe even be in the top 3. This match started perfectly with Owens just whipping Zayn around the ring and Sami taking some awesome bumps off the ropes. From there, when Zayn took over, he made his own offense count, eventually hitting a front flip splash onto the floor and causing Owens damage to his wrist that Owens would sell throughout the rest of the match. When you add in the fact that, from beginning to end, Owens was also selling the damage caused by the two Nigerian Nails (thumb jabs to the throat) that Owens suffered at the hands of Commander Azeez on SmackDown, you really had a masterclass in how to effectively get over longterm damage without ever really "dying" or making your actual opponent look like they're just taking advantage. I loved the intensity of Sami and Owens' strike exchange too. At this point, if you're going to bust out that sort of sequence, it has to look like you're legit punching each other in the face and that's what they did. An extra half-point for the unexpected blood out of Zayn's mouth too. It wasn't gratuitous, but it was enough to get over the physicality of the match and how, even as he was clearly less than 100%, Owens was not going to go down without getting his own shots in. Throw in a clean finish that actually does seem like it could lead to bigger things for Zayn? I liked this one a ton. (4/5)

The RAW Women's Champion Rhea Ripley defended her title against Charlotte Flair next. Flair is one of my favorites, though I know she's not everyone's cup of tea. I think her resume speaks for itself, though, as she is easily one of the most consistent performers on the roster (male or female) and, against the right opponent, with the right stakes, brings a "big fight feel" to her matches that very few can (especially now that Sasha and Becky are out of the picture). Ripley I'm less high on. To me, she just hasn't lived up to any of the hype - though the booking of her character after her first strong NXT run is maybe the biggest reason for that as her initial call-up was blunted by a loss to Charlotte at WrestleMania XXXVI and then, by going back to NXT, it felt like a demotion. Anyway...I liked Charlotte's performance here, essentially showing Ripley how to be a heel because, well, that's what "The Queen" does best. It was a nice storyline to give the match rather than forcing Ripley into full-on babyface mode. It also further established that Charlotte is the crafty veteran, still basically the top talent on Raw even if Ripley is technically the champion. That positioning is sure to ruffle some fans' feathers but, hey, its true. Some really hard-hitting spots, as expected, included a very, very stiff back-headbutt to Ripley's face that looked maybe a bit too legit. Charlotte has been criticized over the past few years for some of her errant strikes and, famously, basically heaving Kairi Sane around like a ragdoll when she was clearly concussed - but I'm not going to go too hard on her for it when, for years, this sort of recklessness was applauded by the men. That's what makes Charlotte a breath of fresh air in the WWE and I still view some of her stiff work as accidental and coming from being "lost in the moment" rather than going into business for herself or unprofessional conduct. Its the difference between Vader, legendary for his stiff work, and Scott Steiner in the early 90s, carelessly treating job guys like garbage and risking paralyzing many of them, or even Goldberg or Warrior, who were relatively "green" and considered unsafe in the ring by many of their peers. Anyway...the finish of this was really lackluster but I guess it furthered the storyline as Ripley essentially got too frustrated to continue, tore off the top of the announce table, and sent it into Charlotte's face. Why was that a DQ, though? People go through tables in championship matches all the time and isn't that essentially the same thing? Just not a strong enough act to get DQ'd for, if you ask me. Slightly above-average and maybe the best Ripley match I've seen in a few months, but not something I'd seek out. (3/5)

Main event time - Bobby Lashley defending the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in a Hell in a Cell match. From the build-up package and the commentators' gushing over Lashley, the finish of this one seemed fairly foregone to me. I've written this elsewhere but McIntyre, after dropping the title at WrestleMania XXXVII, really needed to be shuffled somewhere else - into a program with (gulp) The Fiend or maybe partnered up with an unexpected ally against AJ and Omos or even into some short-term rivalry with an NXT call-up. Instead, McIntyre quality 2020 seems like it will just be a footnote to Lashley's legitimately dominant 2021 run (that is unless Lashley ends up doing the job for Lesnar at SummerSlam as is currently rumored). The bell rang and Lashley immediately went for a weapon, but McIntyre was right on him, sending him face-first into the cage (and then followed it up by driving him back-first into it as well). McIntyre grabbed the steps and tried to heave them at Lashley, but Bobby cut him off. Lashley went for a suplex but Drew countered it, suplexing McIntyre into the cell wall. Drew then connected with the steps shot he was going for initially before they made their way back into the ring. Some good exchanges inside, Drew launching Lashley with an overhead suplex that sent Lashley to the outside. Drew found himself a kendo stick and went to work on the champ but seemingly got bored of it and set up a table. Meanwhile, MVP slipped his cane to Lashley through the cell, allowing the champion to regain some control. Lashley used his strength to McIntyre into the apron and then into the wall before getting hit with a devastating White Noise on the stairs. McIntyre set up another table but before he put it into play he opted to shove Lashley's head into the cell wall repeatedly. In under 10 minutes, these two might have used the cell wall more than any other Hell in a Cell match in history, which is quite a feat considering that this has to be the 30th or so one of these by now. Lashley whipped Drew into the wall but he came back with a clothesline. Drew then grabbed a trio of chairs, tossing them into the ring and setting one up in the corner. Lashley stopped Drew from whipping him into the corner, but Drew ended up catching him with an elbow and then hit him with the reverse wheelbarrow slam onto a chair for 2. Drew nailed the champion with a steel chair to the back and then went to the top rope, looking to bust him from above, but Lashley caught him and nearly applied the Hurt Lock. Drew escaped, though, and not only hit a spinebuster for 2, but also a big powerbomb for another nearfall. Back outside the ring they went, where Lashley caught Drew with the steps, ramming into the cell wall and then following it up with a series of big right hands. Lashley, with MVP's help, used the kendo stick to lock Drew up against the wall and then hit him with even more strikes, this time a series of stiff body shots. McIntyre escaped but Lashley maintained control, bringing him back into the ring to drop him with a face drop onto the chair twice-in-a-row (though Drew did seem to block the first one). Lashley struck Drew with a number of kendo stick shots, but they only seemed to revitalize the challenger, who then grabbed a chair. A ref bump happened just as Drew sent Lashley into the chair-in-the-corner and then hit the FutureShock DDT for the visual pin. As a second referee scrambled to get back in the ring, Drew continued his assault, hitting a Claymore for yet another nearfall - only this time it was MVP who kept the ref from making the count! Great false finish there. At this point, though, MVP was now locked in the cell and Drew hit him with a Claymore that knocked him out of the ring. As McIntyre looked to inflict even more punishment on MVP, Lashley applied the Hurt Lock on the outside. Drew escaped by dropping back into a table that had been propped up a good 10-12 minutes earlier! Good spot there even if we've kinda seen it before. McIntyre's back was shredded at this point, showing a whole bunch of nasty welts and scratches from all the bumps into the wall. Back in the ring, McIntyre grabbed a chair and brought it down on the champion's back again, but Lashley wouldn't quit either! Drew slammed the chair repeatedly and then set up for another Claymore, but Lashley dropped to the mat and dodged it! Lashley then caught Drew on the apron and hit him with a ridiculous chokeslam through a table on the outside! Lashley dragged McIntyre back into the ring and went for a spear, but Drew dodged it! Drew went for the backslide but only got 2. He hit the Glasgow Kiss and then a FutureShock DDT but didn't go for the pin, instead calling for a final Claymore. This time, though, MVP pulled him into the corner, allowing Bobby Lashley to come from behind and schoolboy him for a 1-2-3! Lashley had the tights too (though because it is a No DQ match, I'm not sure that would mean anything either). Kind of a crumby finish, at least for Drew, as he once again lost in cheap fashion and was basically outsmarted by the Hurt Business. (3.5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.17-out-of-5, Hell in a Cell 2021 was an enjoyable watch featuring some solid-to-great performances in both Cell matches plus a very, very good Owens/Zayn bout. The low-point of the event was the Baszler/Bliss nonsense, but even that was at least interesting? Rhipley/Flair wasn't as good as I'd hoped it could be or would be, but that has more to do with Rhipley's undefined character than it does the actual action (which was hard-hitting and mostly well-executed). This was a show that would be please fans of the current WWE product but if you're sick of Seth Rollins or Charlotte Flair or burnt out on watching McIntyre strike out in title matches, their matches won't change your mind. 

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