WWE Night of Champions 2013

WWE Night of Champions 2013

Detroit, MI - September 2013

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Randy Orton was the WWE Champion while Alberto Del Rio held the World Heavyweight Championship coming into this show. The United States Title was held by Dean Ambrose, the Intercontinental Title was held by Curtis Axel, and the Divas Champion was AJ Lee. Finally, the WWE Tag Team Champions were The Shield's Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins.

Night of Champions 2013 begins with a bit of table-setting as the WWE's COO, Triple H, comes out and announces that tonight's WWE Championship match between Randy Orton and Daniel Bryan will be held with no interference. I've never seen this show before but I'm guessing that, yes, in fact, there will be some sort of bullshit interference. Before Triple H leaves, Paul Heyman and Curtis Axel show up. Heyman begs to be taken out of tonight's handicap match against CM Punk, but Triple H refuses, noting that Heyman doesn't even need to tag in, that he can let Curtis Axel do all the work...if he trusts Curtis Axel can take care of CM Punk. Heyman doesn't look so sure but accepts that answer only for Axel to jump in and bring up how he, on the first night he became a "Paul Heyman Guy," actually beat Triple H (by countout, I believe). Taking umbrage with that fact, Triple H announces that Curtis Axel will now defend his Intercontinental Championship against the first guy he comes across backstage...

And that guy is Kofi Kingston! These two get plenty of time to put on a good match and it is a good enough opener...but after the initial pop for Kofi, the match definitely loses the crowd's interest. At this point, Kofi was a wrestler on a hamster wheel, incapable of moving up the card, not "new and exciting" or a truly beloved wrestler. Axel, meanwhile, was a solid worker and showed moments of character but strikes me as a guy who came through the business at the wrong time for the wrong company. Because this match had no build, the audience doesn't get behind Kofi much even on the nearfalls. When Axel finally does hit his finisher to get the win, it only gets a mild reaction. This is one of those things where putting Axel with Heyman actually ended up doing more damage to his character than it helped. Yes, he got to have a good manager (arguably the best of the past 20 years), but he was also booked as a guy who didn't really pose a threat to anyone and had to go close to 15 minutes just to defeat Kofi Kingston, who was, at the time, considered a lifetime midcarder. So, is Axel actually a credible, talented 3rd Generation star or is just a tomato can that Heyman uses to stave off his own enemies? (2/5)

A forgettable Fatal Fourway Followed - AJ Lee defending the Divas Championship against Brie Bella, Naomi, and Natalya. This was not good and the commentators made no attempt to make it seem good. At one point, Naomi laid on top of Brie Bella for upwards of 8 seconds, both women's shoulders on the mat, and the referee didn't even bother to make a count - which was noted repeatedly by Cole. This led to a Natalya "double Sharpshooter" that AJ Lee broke up to get the win in well under 5 minutes. This was the kind of match that makes you feel sorry for the women involved because there's no way they didn't know how much it sucked but went out and did their job anyway. (0/5)

The World Heavyweight Champion, Alberto Del Rio, defended his title against Rob Van Dam next. One would imagine that RVD would've been mega over considering he was wrestling in front of something like a hometown crowd, but he gets much bigger responses in places like Phillie and NYC than he did here. Kinda odd. Speaking of muted reactions, I'll continue to point to Del Rio as a guy that the WWE pushed into a spot that he just wasn't ready for as he doesn't come across as a main event heel here. They had plenty of time to deliver a good match and they obviously worked hard, but this match just never really hooked me or even the live crowd. The post-match action got a much bigger reaction than any of the nearfalls as I believe everyone and their mother knew that Del Rio wasn't dropping the belt. (2.5/5)

The Miz vs. Fandango is next and this match just dies an almost immediate death. The crowd is into Fandango's entrance music a little bit, but beyond that, it is crickets and the occasional chant for tables. I think this match could've won the crowd over if they had bothered to involve Summer Rae, who was the most over performer in the match it seemed. The Miz had zero support as a babyface and the figure four was an awful finisher for him. Why didn't he just keep the Skull Crushing Finale? A match that is worse than the sum of its parts. (0.5/5)

One of the more anticipated bouts of the evening - CM Punk vs. Curtis Axel and Paul Heyman in a No Disqualification Handicap Elimination match - follows. The crowd so clearly wants this to be a legendary ass-kicking but they can't get out of their own way, chanting "Boring" and "We Want Tables" to the point that both Punk and Axel look a bit thrown and perturbed. The match isn't actually boring, but it is undeniably hamstrung by having to be "PG" and Punk not being allowed to actually deliver the ass-kicking that he has promised. In hindsight, the pay-off should've been all about something that Punk could deliver, like promising to choke out Heyman or promising to embarrass him in some way, but by practically guaranteeing bloodshed, there was simply no way this was going to work. Plus, of all the guys who should be getting two spotlight matches a night, Curtis Axel is a weird choice and the crowd treats his minutes as perfunctory, clearly just eager to see him get taken out so that Punk can get Heyman alone. Punk wants to give these fans a story built around kendo sticks and a chair in the corner and Heyman being a coward, but this crowd just wants table destruction and blood and nothing else...and when they don't get it, they audibly complain. Eventually, Punk does Heyman alone and does beat down on him a bit but before he can deliver the coup de grace - a kendo stick to the face - Ryback shows up and spears him through a table (to a huge "Goldberg" chant). Again, you almost feel bad for Punk and Heyman and even Ryback here as this was intended to be a major angle but the crowd basically just mocked it. Then again, the WWE sorta walked into this as Ryback had been de-fanged over the prior 3 months, famously losing to Mark Henry at WrestleMania 29 for no apparent reason and then turning heel just to get squashed by John Cena at successive PPVs in the spring. A disappointment that is only salvaged by the performance of Punk and Heyman, who carry it into average range but no higher. (2.5/5)

Dolph Ziggler challenged Dean Ambrose for Ambrose's United States Championship next. This is another match that doesn't benefit at all from 8 years of hindsight. The crowd doesn't really get behind Ziggler all that much and Ambrose is milquetoast, not yet giving off even a fraction of the charisma and character he would in the ensuing years. At the time, there were rumors that Ziggler was basically being punished for getting cheered against Del Rio, who the company inexplicably believed could get over as a babyface. Whether that was true or not, Ziggler was now a babyface but had lost his feud with Del Rio, which cooled him considerably. Ambrose and The Shield, meanwhile, were dominating the midcard but weren't necessarily doing much more than that - and, in fact, wouldn't really be featured in a major way until after WrestleMania XXX. And so, this match just kinda happens. Ambrose gets the clean win, which does give him some credibility, but it still seems like a lost opportunity to actually tell a story and get Ambrose and the Shield more over as heels. A perfectly fine match, but nothing worth revisiting and the crowd is mostly indifferent. (2.5/5)

One might be surprised, but in front of this crowd, The Prime Time Players were one of the most over acts on this card. They challenged Ambrose's Shield buddies - Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns - for the WWE Tag Team Championships next. I'm not sure if the crowd was just eager for a tag team match or hopeful that the Players might somehow score the victory (again, at this point, The Shield had been cycled down the card a bit) and they would see a title change, but they're solidly behind Titus and Darren Young. Unfortunately, the match underwhelms and Rollins and Reigns don't show much of the star power or attention-grabbing charisma that would make them top-of-the-card talent just a little under 2 years later. In fact, the announcers mostly praise Titus O'Neill and, honestly, its not hard to see why. The guy had tremendous size, natural charisma, and was a great hot tag. Anyway, another so-so match, but nothing special. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Daniel Bryan challenging Randy Orton for the WWE Championship and the right to call himself "The Face of the WWE." I'm not going to waste too much time delving into the back story between these two, but its worth noting that - up till this point - one could argue that the WWE had done a good job of developing Bryan's role as the chasing babyface and Orton's role as The Corporate Champion. Unfortunately, instead of giving Bryan a series of obstacles to overcome on successive PPVs, they jumped right to a rematch with Orton - which made sense because of "rematch clause" bullshit or whatever, but also meant that the WWE was now stuck in the corner of having to devise a way to not bury their hottest babyface in at least a decade but also not necessarily end the storyline prematurely. In that sense, the match suffers a bit from the audience expecting something screwy all along (this is likely why Triple H made the announcement he did at the start of the show - to ensure the fans that they would, in fact, get a title match and not an overbooked schmoz). Would this have been better with a million run-ins? With Big Show making his way down the aisle and leaving fans wondering what role he would play? Or if Cody Rhodes, who had been fired, made a shocking appearance to screw over his former mentor? We get a Bryan/Orton match and because Bryan is so over and so good and Orton is so easy to loathe, the crowd is more engaged for it than anything on the show - even the Punk/Heyman beatdown - but it wouldn't even rank in the top 30 Daniel Bryan matches in the WWE or probably the top 100 of his career. Its just not a riveting, exciting match. Orton works slowly and methodically, but not interestingly. And then we get to the finish - a fast count by the referee Scott Armstrong straight out of the WCW/nWo playbook only this time its the referee helping the babyfaces. The intention was to give the crowd a feel-good win, but its unearned and while the live crowd is very enthusiastic for his victory, on re-watch, the commentary team not noting it and Bryan celebrating so righteously despite the obvious fast count is not a good look. (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 1.94-out-of-5, Night of Champions 2013 is hard to recommend. No match lives up to its expectations, none outperform them, and some of them just have no place on a pay-per-view that, in 2013, would've cost you $40+ to purchase. Hell, even for $9.99 this show would've been a major disappointment and the crowd's general disinterest isn't undeserved. There's also a wee bit of false advertising too - from the relative nonexistence of real brutality in the CM Punk match/post-match to Triple H's guarantee of no shenanigans in the main event (only for there to *shocker* be shenanigans) to just the inherent promise of good, quality matches involving RVD, Del Rio, Ambrose, and Ziggler. I'm not sure if there was a stomach bug going around or the pacing of the show itself is too blame but even these otherwise typically solid performers seem "off" on this show, unable to muster the charisma and character to sell these mostly meaningless, inconsequential contests. There are shows with lower scores all over this blog, but are there any that feature the same number of really talented performers?

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville

WWE Elimination Chamber 2021

WWE Elimination Chamber 2021

The Thunderdome, St. Petersburg, FL - February 2021

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this match, the Universal Champion was Roman Reigns, the WWE Champion was Drew McIntyre, the United States Champion was Bobby Lashley, and the Intercontinental Champion was Big E. The RAW Women's Champion was Asuka, the SmackDown Women's Champion was Sasha Banks, the RAW Tag Titles were held by The Hurt Business (Cedric Alexander and Shelton Benjamin), while the SmackDown Tag Titles were in the possession of Dolph Ziggler and Bobby Roode (aka the Dirty Dawgs). Finally, Bad Bunny was the 24/7 Champion and the Women's Tag Team Champions were Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax. 

Elimination Chamber 2021 kicked off with, well, one of the night's two Elimination Chamber matches - SmackDown superstars Daniel Bryan, Cesaro, Baron Corbin, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, and Jey Uso doing battle in the structure. I would consider this one of the best editions of the Chamber since the WWE went full "PG," thanks in large part to the work of the two men that started things off - Bryan and Cesaro. Is Daniel Bryan the best Elimination Chamber worker of all time? I kinda feel like he has a claim to it, especially considering that he's won 2 of them (if not 3?). Cesaro had a tremendous showing as well in this match, tapping Corbin with the Sharpshooter after giving him his trademark swing. I also really liked Jey Uso's work in this match - slamming the Chamber entrance door on Kevin Owens and then superkicking the heck out of him until he was basically rendered unconscious. Paired up with the way Uso spoiled what looked to be a potential Cesaro elimination of Daniel Bryan and Uso came out of this match looking like a tremendous thorn in the side of anyone who dares take on Roman Reigns. The comparison may not be apt quite yet, but continued booking like this and Jey Uso is going to live up to being the Double A to Roman's Nature Boy and that relationship made for many years of great TV. I would be remiss not to mention that Sami Zayn was an excellent heel here too - funny but not so funny that you forget he can dish out punishment. Really, the only weak link was Baron Corbin - but credit to whoever booked this because he was the first guy out and, aside from Jey, this felt a bit like a reunion of Ring of Honor/Pro Wrestling Guerrilla guys going out there and just having an absolute ball beating the hell out of each other. I've got no problem calling this one of the first must-see matches of the year just because you really can't go wrong when you've got Bryan, Cesaro, Owens, and Zayn all putting on performances where their motivations were clear, their characters are well-defined, and their history and interlocking stories are elaborated on by adequate commentary. (4/5)

Immediately after this match, Roman Reigns showed up and defended his Universal Championship against Daniel Bryan. This was the exact type of squash one would expect and because this title defense was more of an angle than anything, I'm not going to rate it. After defeating Bryan in under 2 minutes - which made complete logical sense - Edge showed up and speared Reigns, effectively kickstarting their WrestleMania feud. I wonder how a live crowd would have reacted to this. I'm guessing it would've been a positive reaction but you never know...it's possible they could've turned on it a bit as Daniel Bryan remains as beloved a wrestler as anyone and there does seem to be something in the air with Cesaro.

Bobby Lashley was supposed to defend his United States Championship against Keith Lee in the next match, but because of injury or Covid or some other unknown reason, a number one contender's match was held during the pre-show and somehow John Morrison and Matt Riddle both won. Regardless, Lashley was made to look like an absolute monster - which is a good thing - and it took the combined effort of Morrison and Riddle to inflict any sort of damage on him. I liked the fact that this match told that story, told it well, and had enough fireworks to keep me engaged from bell-to-bell. Morrison has always been more flash than substance to me so a match like this is how I like to see him used. I'm not a fan of Matt Riddle as a person, but as a worker, he undoubtedly puts intensity into what he does. MVP was his usual brilliant self on the outside, jawing with JoMo and getting his crutch taken away (which led to the finish). I'm not sure where they go from here; Lashley seems ready for a push back into the title hunt so getting the US Title off of him makes sense, but it also would seem silly for him not to want some measure of revenge on Morrison and Riddle after not really losing the title here.  Any which way, they have me at least a little intrigued - which is kind of the point - and I liked this match more than I expected going into it. (3.5/5)

The Women's Tag Team Championships were on the line next with Shayna Baszler and Nia Jax defending their gold against Sasha Banks and Bianca Belair. This was a fine-not-great match and I definitely like Nia Jax in tags considerably better than I do in singles (though I'm not as "down" on her as others). I didn't expect Banks and Belair to win the titles so I wasn't as surprised by the finish as much as I was surprised that it revolved around Carmella's sommelier Reginald, a character that I find to be about as interesting as white bread. Why does the WWE seem to shoo away any would-be great manager after a couple months, letting talented mouthpieces and seconds go without hesitation, and then work so hard to try to get rather unremarkable characters like Reginald over? Seems like if Carmella needed a puppy dog lackey or Sasha needed an obsessed fan, you could use someone with a touch more charisma. Perfectly reasonable match. (2.5/5)

The RAW brand Elimination Chamber match was next - Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton starting things off in a match that also featuring Kofi Kingston (who inexplicably taunted Orton's quads viciously as he entered the Chamber), Sheamus, AJ Styles, and the WWE Champion himself, Drew McIntyre. I don't usually like when a champion has to defend their title in an Elimination Chamber as it doesn't quite make sense, but credit to the WWE for making things feel truly "random" and having McIntyre come in third and just start kicking ass, a nice way to solidify his status as a strong, world-beating, fighting champion. I also like the structure of this match and how it compared to the one earlier in the show. That match, aside from Corbin's early dismissal, featured 5-out-of-6 performers all working different parts of the ring for a lengthy stretch, while this was one was built mostly around 3-man competition. First, it was Hardy/Orton/Drew, then, when Kofi came in and got a somewhat-shocking elimination on Randy, it became built around Kofi/Hardy/Drew (and AJ Styles, who entered the match early). At a certain point, AJ seemed to "disappear" from the match, and by the time he got back involved in a major way, Sheamus had also joined and eliminated Kofi with a Brogue Kick. Hardy got some momentum soon after, but ended up eating a Claymore to get eliminated and we were back down to 3 within just a few minutes. This three-man stretch - McIntyre, Sheamus, and AJ - was the best of the part of the match as these guys worked terrificly together and had me longing for a potential full-blown triangle match between them on a big stage (not just a throwaway Raw where it will probably happen if it hasn't already). The finishing sequence was fantastic too, with Sheamus delivering a Brogue Kick to Drew that looked like it might end the match only to get hit with a Phenomenal Forearm from AJ to get eliminated himself. AJ then went back to the top for another one, but got Claymore'd in mid-air from McIntyre to give him a hard-earned, credible victory that also didn't bury AJ or Sheamus. While not as good as the first Chamber match on the show, this one was well-paced and featured solid work out of the champion, Styles, and Sheamus especially. (3/5)

Before the show ended, though, Bobby Lashley showed up and destroyed McIntyre, allowing The Miz to then come in and capture the WWE Championship, his first major title win in 10 years. I'm a big Miz fan - especially when he's a heel, especially when he plays the "spoiler" - but this title win was a bit too "outta nowhere" to me and seems like an unnecessary hiccup in what could've been a more straightforward build towards Lashley/McIntyre. Had The Miz not spent the past couple months in comparatively "sillier" storylines, had him and Morrison actually been positioned as an important, relevant tag team, if Drew McIntyre hadn't of already dropping his title in the midst of what should've been a dominant run, I'd have been much happier with The Miz getting his hands on the belt, but this felt like a suprise-for-suprise's sake moment. Well executed, but still not nearly as exciting as I believe Vince thought it would be.

All in all, I enjoyed Elimination Chamber 2021 quite a bit. The show moved briskly between matches and there weren't any out-and-out awful matches, with even the least interesting bout - the Women's Tag Team Championship - being at least an average match. With a Kwang Score of 3.25-out-of-5, this will probably stand as one of the best WWE shows of the year, digestible and enjoyable from beginning to end.

FINAL RATING - Watch It

NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day

NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day

Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, FL - February 2014

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the NXT Champion is Finn Balor, the North American Champion is Johnny Gargano, the NXT Women's Champion is Io Shirai, and the NXT Tag Team Champion are Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch.

After a short music video entitled "NXT, Will You Be My Valentine?" by Josiah Williams, it was time for Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai to take on Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart in the finals of the Women's Dusty Tag Classic. Before the match begun, we learned that Wade Barrett listened or at least knew who My Bloody Valentine was which is neat. Gonzalez started things out for her team and got to show off a few power moves, but definitely looked the "greenest" of any of the competitors involved in this match, including some telegraphed moments. Things got better when Kai came in and Ember Moon got to show off her impressive and stiff offense. The layout of this match was a bit weird - with Kai playing the heel-in-peril for a little while and the babyfaces bending the rules a little bit to prevent her from making a tag. When Gonzalez came back in, she hit a series of fallaway slams on Moon and then one for good measure on Shotzi, a considerable show of strength. Blackheart struck back with some direct-to-the-face slaps, but after an attempt at a hurricanrana, Shotzi got powerbombed into the barrier wall in a great spot. Back in the ring, Ember Moon took a ton more punishment, but caught a break when Gonzalez inadvertently hit Kai with a clothesline. Moon hit her finisher, but Kai distracted the referee before he could make the count. Blackheart came back into the match and hit Gonzalez with a missile dropkick, but Moon still couldn't keep her down for 3. Blackheart then got tagged in and cleaned house but couldn't get the victory. Shotzi attempted a weird reverse something-or-other from the top rope on Gonzalez before taking out Dakota Kai with a much better looking dive through the middle rope (and Moon's legs). Moon and Shotzi hit a series of big offensive moves but still couldn't keep Gonzalez down. They then hit an INSANE Doomsday Crossbody on Kai on the outside that looked like it might've knocked Kai out cold. Moon applied a submission to Gonzalez and it looked like the match might be over - until Kai came in and booted her in the mush! Blackheart and Kai went at it in the ring and Kai hit her Kairopractor move to get another 2 count. Dang. Moon went for a tornado DDT on Gonzalez but got lifted and sent to the ramp in a great bump (followed by another one as Gonzalez shoved Moon off the entranceway). As Gonzalez came back in the ring, though, Blackheart caught her with a nasty strike, but ultimately, Blackheart ended up chokeslammed by Raquel and covered by both women to end it. This match didn't have me hooked at first, but by the end, it was really, really good. A very strong opener, nearly a must-see. (3.5/5)

Next up - Johnny Gargano defending the NXT North American Championship against KUSHIDA. I liked the twist during the opening as Gargano and his Way followers made their way towards the ring only for Austin Theory to seemingly get kidnapped by Dexter Loomis? It was a clever way to explain away Gargano's posse not being at his side for this match (as Candice LeRae and Indi Hartwell went searching for Theory). KUSHIDA and Gargano started things off with some mat wrestling, a style we hadn't seen much of in the opener. From here, we got an outstanding sequence of counters and reversals before Gargano finally put KUSHIDA down by sending him into the steps. Gargano attempted a suplex on the outside, but KUSHIDA countered it with one of his own and then applied an arm bar on the floor. KUSHIDA controlled for a little while, but Gargano cut him off with a nifty reverse neckbreaker in the ropes. Gargano sold the damage to his left arm brilliantly and I loved the fact that he then went after KUSHIDA's arm in retaliation. This led to yet another dazzling sequence of pinfalls and counters, a stretch that I would typically call out for being overly choreographed but here - well, it was a thing of a beauty and actually looked organic somehow. The war raged on and we got a whole slew of awesome moments from KUSHIDA, including a vicious german suplex, a ridiculous arm-behind-your-back suplex, and a nice variation on running a guy shoulder-first into the post on the apron. Gargano wouldn't stay down, though, coming back with his own dazzling offense (including a spinning front superplex and a tornado DDT for a nearfall). KUSHIDA attempted his patented back elbow, but Gargano caught him into the Gargano Lock. KUSHIDA was able to counter out of it, applying the Kimura. We got another series of crazy counters leading a superkick from Gargano, but KUSHIDA came back with a strike ofis own before getting lawn-darted into the corner. Wow. I'm not sure this isn't the best Gargano match since his instant classic with Andrade Almas several years ago. KUSHIDA hit a chickenwing suplex into the corner, though, both guys showing tremendous fatigue. To the top rope they went where KUSHIDA flipped Gargano onto the mat with a belly-to-belly-into-an-armbar! Gargano looked like he might tap, but Gargano somehow managed to get his feet to the ropes - but KUSHIDA won't let go! Gargano rolled out of the ring, but KUSHIDA would not let go until Gargano started ramming him back-first into the apron and the barrier. Gargano rolled onto the entrance ramp, but KUSHIDA came running at him and delivered a ridiculous kick to his left arm! KUSHIDA attempted another submission, but Gargano escaped and hit him with a tornado DDT on the ramp soon after and then another back in the ring to get the 100% clean win. (4/5)

The Men's Dusty Tag Classic Finals followed - The Grizzled Young Veterans (James Drake and Zack Gibson) vs. MSK (Nash Carter and Wes Lee). MSK are relative newcomers to NXT, joining the company after a meteoric rise in Impact Wrestling under the name of The Rascalz. I like that this year's finals are between two actual teams rather than a pairing of singles stars as the NXT tag division used to be strong enough to main event Takeovers and really never recovered after the Authors of Pain and the Revival got called up and #DIY broke up. The GYV are your back-to-basics, cut-the-ring-in-half heel tag team while MSK are young high-flyers and, when you pair two teams that are as good as what they do as these, the results are never going to be less than good. After a respectable face-in-peril stretch, Wes Lee got the hot tag and exploded with strikes, flips, and a huge dive over the ring post. MSK really came across as a team that should've skipped NXT altogether as they have a definite "it" factor and feel like the type of team that add some much needed vitality to either one of the main roster's tag divisions. The GYV rely mostly on technical wrestling and teamwork, but that's not to say they don't have some nifty offense themselves - specifically Drake's 450. As the match wore on, both teams started hitting all sorts of tandem maneuvers and high-flying moves, including a Doomsday Device on the floor that should've led to the finish because of how brutal it was. Instead, the heels ended up being unable to put Nash Carter down and Lee made the save, ultimately leading to a feel good ending. This was a really, really good match, but I didn't love the ending as it felt like the Doomsday Device on the floor should've been a match-ender. (3.5/5)

The NXT Women's Championship was up for grabs next - Io Shirai defending the title against Mercedes Martinez and Toni Storm. This match suffered from a lack of strong personalities or at least personalities that seem strong to me (an admittedly irregular viewer). There was some cool moments in this match - Shirai delivering a ridiculous crossbody from the top of a lightning beam, Mercedes Martinez showing off some power moves - but I couldn't get invested in the plot. As good as Shirai is, I'm still not sure I get much of her personality and getting lost in the shuffle of multi-person matches doesn't help. Ditto for Toni Storm, who seems like a hodge-podge of a bunch of different, more remarkable women on the roster. Martinez is the "new kid on the block," but, if I'm not mistaken, the most experienced woman in NXT and maybe even the whole company. Being a veteran can be used as a core component of one's gimmick, but because the WWE doesn't really acknowledge any companies outside of their own (except when they do - like they did for Asuka and Kairi Sane), Martinez doesn't seem like someone that the division can be built around either. And so, while this was definitely an above-average match, it didn't feel like an important match or one that has me particularly excited about the division. A good match for good matches' sake with good wrestlers who I still couldn't really describe in terms of specific character traits. (3/5)

Main event time - Finn Balor vs. Pete Dunne for Balor's NXT Championship. I like Pete Dunne. I like Finn Balor. I didn't love this match. The action and wrestling was intense, hard-hitting, and well-executed but this one, to me, felt like exactly what goes wrong when you decide to headline a show with what was essentially a heel/heel match. Is Balor a 100% villain? Maybe not as much as he was several months ago...but he's definitely not an underdog that fans want to get behind for his story (like Kyle O'Reilly), he's definetly not the smiley guy who fights for what's right (like Keith Lee), and he's definitely not the fresh, new "dark" hero who also tended to fight for what was right (like Aleister Black). He's a tweener. Pete Dunne, meanwhile, was a really promising babyface for a good stretch, but turned heel when he joined Pat McAfee's lazily-named Kings of NXT group in October and has stayed in that role ever since. Who was I meant to be rooting for in this match? A few months ago, I wanted Balor to lose to O'Reilly. Now I want him to beat Dunne, though? Or am I supposed to cheer for Dunne because he's not gotten his chance to shine despite having lost to Adam Cole cleanly at Survivor Series 2019? In terms of the physicality and the exchanges, this match offered much of what the O'Reilly/Balor match offered months ago, but it forgot that what set that match apart was a clear story built around O'Reilly's emergence as a guy who didn't need the Undisputed Era behind him, who had toiled for years to get his shot, who took the NXT Champion to his limit. That match had heart. This match just didn't. Speaking of O'Reilly, he was arguably the best part of this match and he only had a cameo. While Pete Dunne's clean loss is going to be very, very hard for him to recover him - at least in my eyes - Kyle O'Reilly's respectful treatment of Finn Balor and Adam Cole's incredibly negative reaction to it (a superkick to the chin) was the kind of angle that firmly cemented O'Reilly as not only a still-viable, still-deserving number one contender for Balor's NXT Championship, but a sympathetic babyface who will clearly have to overcome a fairly big obstacle - his former allies in Undisputed Era - to achieve his dream. How Roderick Strong and Bobby Fish play into this is still in the air, though they don't have to get too fancy because O'Reilly has been shining recently and is clearly the brand's best bet to be the next guy on top. This is the kind of match that, come December, people will go gaga over but that I will have likely forgotten about by then because of the lack of emotional resonancy. (3.5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.5-out-of-5, NXT Takeover: Vengeance Day was another solid offering from NXT - arguably one of the better shows they've put out in quite awhile - though only the KUSHIDA/Gargano really match was what I would consider a potential Top 10 Match of the Year nomimee (which, for some, would be blasphemy). The weakest match of the night was the Women's Champion Match, but not for lack of effort, while the opening bout exceeded my expectations thanks to strong performances out of Dakota Kai and Ember Moon. I didn't love the main event or the finals of the Male Dusty Classic as much as others around the web - some of whom heaped 4+ stars on those bouts - but I'll readily admit to being a bit cooler on the Grizzled Young Veterans than many and, as I wrote above, not necessarily intrigued by the heel/tweener dynamic between Dunne and Balor. NXT has become a bit of a divisive brand at this point, one that almost guarantees to satisfy fans of workrate-intensive wrestling, will definitely impress non-regular viewers with innovative sequences and stunning execution, but has slowly lost its appeal to me personally as the roster has thinned out, certain performers seem stuck in place, and the shows have become almost uniformly built around having good matches for good matches' sake (instead of developing intriguing stories and characters).

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

WWE Royal Rumble 2021

WWE Royal Rumble 2021

The Thunderdome, St. Petersburg, FL - January 2021

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Drew McIntyre is the WWE Champion and Roman Reigns is the Universal Champion. The United States Champion is Bobby Lashley and the Intercontinental Champion is Big E. The SmackDown Tag Team Champions are The New Day, while The Street Profits hold the RAW Tag Team Championships. The Women's Tag Team Champions are Charlotte and Asuka (who is also the RAW Women's Champion), while Sasha Banks holds the SmackDown Women's Championship. 

After a video package hyping tonight's Royal Rumble matches, somewhat surprisingly, the show kicked off with Drew McIntyre defending his WWE Championship against Goldberg. After even more video packages, McIntyre finally made his way to the ring and it was time for our opening contest. McIntyre burst out of the gates with a headbutt and spear before both guys went to the outside. The match had not officially begun at this point, as Goldberg retalliated with a spear through the barricade on the outside. Goldberg waited back in the ring while McIntyre sold the damage. When the bell finally rang, Drew blocked a Spear attempt and then hit a Claymore, but only got 2. Wow. Why? Drew went for another but missed and Goldberg caught him with a Spear! Instead of making the cover, Goldberg hit another! Drew kicked out of 2 spears, though! Goldberg hit the Jackhammer...but again Drew kicked out! Goldberg prepped for another Spear, but McIntyre dodged and connected with a Claymore, this time getting the W. My favorite McIntyre matches have had some interesting back-and-forth and clashes of styles. This match offered none of it. It was a finishers-only affair and, sadly, a predictable one at that, not dissimilar to the awful match that Drew had against Lesnar at last year's WrestleMania. Maybe in front of a live audience this one would've been more suspenseful and the audience might have "bitten" on some of the nearfalls, but in this context, I was unimpressed. I'll award some points for the right man winning, McIntyre's kickouts (which were well-timed), and Goldberg at least not botching any moves. (1.5/5)

Sasha Banks defended the SmackDown Women's Championship against Carmella next. I dug that match at TLC last month so I was excited for this. Banks goes for the Banks Statement early on, but Carmella blocks and rolls to the outside. Carmella's "sommelier," Reggie, gets involved early, serving as a stepladder for a Carmella clothesline on the outside. Back in the ring, Carmella applied a nifty headscissors tarantula-esque maneuver, showing off a bit of submission technique. Mella is an interesting worker to think about as, 15 years ago, she'd arguably be in the top 1% of wrestlers in the division but, in 2021, she's probably not even in the top 10 if you count the NXT roster. Just goes to show how high the bar has been raised in the past 6-7 years.  Reginald got sent back to the lockerroom, but the distraction allowed Carmella to capitalize and hit an INSANE dive through the middle rope that looked like it might've broken her neck! Mella went for a cover, but only got 2. Man, that move just looked absolutely brutal. Banks regained control, but Carmella didn't stay down long, eventually locking in her own Cone of Silence submission. Some good back-and-forth followed including a strong superkick sequence out of Carmella that looked like it might end the match but only got 2.9. Carmella tried to drag her into the ring, but Banks caught her and applied the Banks Statement, tapping out the challenger in a bit of a flat ending. This was good, but not as good as their match the previous month. Still, a strong showing out of Carmella and the right woman won. (2.5/5)

The Women's Royal Rumble was next. Reviewing these things can sometimes be a little bit tough so I'll just note some highlights (and lowlights). Bayley and Naomi started things off with Biance Belair coming in soon after (followed by Billie Kaye). I liked that Belair, Naomi, and Bayley all got some spotlight moments - though Bayley's elimination not being picked up by the cameras and not being a "big spot" bothered me as she was putting on a great performance and her getting tossed by Belair should've been treated like a game-changer in this match. I also really liked the way Billie Kaye was given a bit of a spotlight here too. Her trying to "buddy up" with various entrants before finally finding a friend in Jillian Hall was fun without detracting from the seriousness of the match. Speaking of fun, I'm a bit of an Alicia Fox mark so I didn't her winning the 24/7 Championship in the Women's Royal Rumble - but I wish she'd been allowed to keep the thing. I get that its kind of R-Truth's gimmick, but Fox is great too. Ruby Riott, Rhea Rhipley, Torrie Wilson, and Nikki Cross - who looks to be in the best shape of her career - all came in and delivered the goods. Wilson was the biggest shocker in that regards because she wasn't particularly known for her physicality (but landed a nice suplex at one point). I liked Charlotte's mean streak after seeing her father escort Lacey Evans down the aisle. Blending in but not shining in this match were Shotzi Blackheart, Mickie James, and Mandy Rose. To further her gimmick and heel run, why Carmella was given an opportunity in this match despite losing her title match to Sasha Banks earlier. Naomi had a ridiculous spot where she landed on her back and then used Belair's hair to help her get back in the ring, resulting in a ridiculous exchange on the apron. Lana returned in what would only be a shocking moment if one really, really cared deeply about the midcard of RAW's women's division. What made little sense to me was that they brought Lana back in a position that didn't allow her to immediately go face-to-face against Nia Jax. Alexa Bliss came in at #27 to Bray Wyatt's children's show theme music. After a little bit of dominance, Bliss got beaten down...only to tease a "transformation" before getting dumped out of the ring by Rhea Rhipley. Ember Moon came in next, a reliable hand but not a very exciting entrant only because she was treated like such an afterthought during her last main roster run. Jax came in second-to-last and her and Baszler went to work together, eliminating a number of talents and having an interesting exchange with Tamina before going after each other (with Jax eventually tossing Baszler). I love the poor sportsmanship of Baszler and Jax coming back (after Jax had been eliminated by Lana) into the ring and just destroying people for the sake of it. The final three were Belair, Rhipley, and Charlotte, all three being rather worthy of a win (with Charlotte being the clear favorite). I really liked Flair's elimination - she put in a terrific performance in this match, every bit the star. With the pressure on, Rhipley and Belair delivered a strong final stretch to the match including some dangerous near-eliminations, but there were also a handful of half-speed moves and a bit of a telegraphed ending (with Rhipley noticeably "jumping" to help Bianca deliver the clothesline that sent her over the top). That being said, this is ultra nitpicky stuff and, for the most part, this Rumble absolutely delivered and, at least to me, ended in a deserved feel-good moment. A strong Rumble, but maybe not an all-time classic. (3.5/5)

Roman Reigns vs. Kevin Owens in a Last Man Standing match followed. This one would not be everyone's cup of tea - I mean, in terms of pure, actual wrestling, there just wasn't much of it - but the big spots worked for me. Kevin Owens nearly getting run over with a golf cart did come across as violent. The various table spots, including Owens doing a somesault senton off a forklift, "popped" me. Unfortunately, what was a pretty good - maybe even borderline "must see" - Last Man Standing match will likely always be remembered for the botched finish, which saw Reigns get handcuffed to the bottom of a stage light and, after brilliantly pulling the ref face-first into the edge of the structure, being unable to break free despite assistance from Paul Heyman. Clearly they had issues with the handcuffs and it was clear as day that the referee had no choice but to "buy time" by simply stopping his count for no apparent reason. It was a glaring gaffe that wasn't helped at all by the immediate finish that came after it as Kevin Owens, who had to oversell the damage he'd suffered despite being in full control moments earlier to explain why he didn't just attack Paul Heyman, got locked into Reigns' guillotine and rendered unconscious. I would've totally bought that finish if the moments that had come before hadn't been so, so painfully botched. Which does call to question - why was this match, which at times felt very "cinematic" and that it may not have been 100% live, not afforded the benefit of being pre-taped like so many of the more complicated matches and segments we've seen over the past year? I'm guessing they assumed they could this pull match off and, for the most part, they absolutely did (though Reigns' fake blood coming from a non-existent cut was also obvious), but the finish will keep this one from ever being worth revisiting or recommending. (2.5/5)

Main event time - the 2021 Men's Royal Rumble! Like I did for the women's edition, I'll just note the highlights and lowlights. Edge and Orton started things off with Sami Zayn coming in 3rd. I enjoyed the interplay between Zayn, Ali, and Orton, especially Orton eventually turning on his "friends" and delivering a series of RKOs. Soon after, Edge attacked Orton's knee with a chair and the Viper was taken out of the match. Lame. I really dislike shenanigans in my Rumbles except when they play into a major storyline. This time around it just felt like a way to "protect" Orton or not force him to work 45 minutes or give us the false finish we eventually got. Just not half as clever as someone probably thought it was in 2021. The big surprises of the match were Christian, Carlito (who looked a Puerto Rican Scott Putski), The Hurricane (who had a nice comedy spot with Big E and Lashley), and the return of Seth Rollins. Speaking of Lashley and Big E, I liked that they both got some moments to shine, as did Braun Strowman, who came in #30. Daniel Bryan was generally "hidden" in the match until the near end, when, while dealing with Matt Riddle, he was unceremoniously eliminated by Rollins. Of any guys on the roster, I think the 2 I would be interested in seeing him work the least at WrestleMania would be Rollins and Riddle for very, very different reasons (one is far too hit-and-miss for my liking and the other seems like the worst kind of "bro"). All through the match, Edge hug in and, to his credit, sold some near-eliminations throughout. The finish was not going to be popular with everyone, but I didn't have a problem with it as much as I kinda wish they had maybe swapped Edge's number with #5 or #6. The way the Rumble is now operated, "going the distance" has just never mattered less when there are shenanigans and 90-second entrances and guys constantly sliding out of the ring by going under the ropes to get a breather or allow for the guys in the ring to prep for a "big spot." Orton eventually did make his way into the ring and seemed to have the match won, but Edge basically just used his momentum against him and ended up tossing him to get the W. Not an all-time great Rumble and I have no problem calling the women's edition the better version on this show, but this was still no worse than average. (2.5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.5-out-of-5, Royal Rumble 21' wasn't a homerun or a strikeout. I enjoyed the Women's Royal Rumble match best, but the Banks/Carmella got plenty of praise on the internet and, if you're an Edgehead, you'll likely enjoy the Men's Rumble quite a bit. The Goldberg/McIntyre match was further proof that Goldberg really does not belong anywhere near the title scene and should only be used sparingly to destroy jobbers that can suffer a loss. The Roman Reigns/Owens match will, unfortunately, be remembered most for the botched finish, but I was engaged and entertained by all the "stunts" the match featured so I wasn't extra harsh in my grading. 

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

ROH: Bloodstained Honor DVD

I don't often review DVD collections, but I was able to borrow the Ring of Honor DVD Bloodstained Honor from the library of all places. I've seen a very, very small amount of Ring of Honor - probably more than most WWE fans, but definitely less than 30 matches - in my day, but wasn't sold on purchasing the Honor Club app based on the reviews I've read. So, instead of making that move, I opted to see what I could find via the CPL. Enough back story...

Samoa Joe defends the ROH Championship against Jay Briscoe in a Steel Cage Match in the first match of this collection. This match is from March 2004. They start things off at a blistering pace with Joe on the attack, but Briscoe takes almost immediate control. I like Briscoe's psychology here - when he's in control, he wants to impress, but as soon as he gets into trouble, he's heading for the door at every second. Good cocky heel stuff there. It doesn't take long before Joe starts ramming Briscoe into the cage. He grabs a chain and locks up the cage door - cool babyface twist there as Joe doesn't want to lose the title on an escape. Briscoe is busted open by this point and Joe lays into him with a chop to the back of the neck and then a knee drop. Joe rubs his face into the cage and Briscoe is a bloody mess. Joe hits him with the running boot in the corner, drawing an Ole chant from the crowd. Joe goes for another battering ram into the wall, but Jay escapes and hits a superkick. Briscoe tries to climb out but Joe back-suplexes from the top rope! Joe peppers him in the corner with a flurry of strikes. He sends Jay the other way, but Briscoe dodges him on the comeback and hits Joe with a back suplex of his own. Up to the top rope they both go and Briscoe hits a Diamond Cutter off the top rope to get another "holy shit" chant. After leveling Joe with a clothesline, Briscoe tries to climb out again, but Joe follows him up and they have an exchange on the ropes. Briscoe eventually boots him and Joe falls back into the ring - only for Jay to lose his balanc and follow him down. Cool moment with the cage wall bending open and Mark Briscoe trying to pull his brother through. Joe pulls him back in and delivers a powerbomb for 2 and then converts it into an STF. Briscoe doesn't tap, though, and for some reason, he gets a rope break. I guess that meant Joe had to break the hold under ROH rules? Joe hits another bunch of chops, but Briscoe hits him with an enziguiri and then an underhook piledriver. Mark Briscoe tries to climb in, but gets stopped by AJ Styles (who then hits him with a Styles Clash on the floor). Jay Briscoe tries to climb out again but Joe catches him and hits him with a nasty Muscle Buster for the win! This match didn't run long, but it still felt like a war. No wasted time, no superfluous spots, no needless histrionics, just a kickass match. (3.5/5)

Next up - CM Punk and Ace Steel vs. Dan Maff and BJ Whitmer in a Chicago Street Fight from July 2004. Punk and Steel won't let The Prophecy enter the ring so the heels pull their opponents out and the fight begins in earnest. The Prophecy keeps control, putting the boots to Steel in the ring as Punk looks for a way to get into the ring. He pulls Whitmer out and sends him back-first into the guardrail with authority. The Second City Saints deliver a double back-body drop to Maff. Punk hits a T-Bone Suplex on Whitmer and BJ is sent to the outside too. The fight continues on the floor as Whitmer grabs a chair and uses it to regain control. Steel and Punk end up busted open as this brawl gets even more wild. Whitmer and Maff take off their belts and start brutally lashing their opponents, the sounds loud enough to cut through the raucous crowd's chanting. Steel rallies, though, and the crowd favorites get to dish out some punishment of their own. A series of insane spots follow soon after, including CM Punk sliding a chair across a table into a chair that is held in front of Whitmer's face. It is just a nasty, nasty move. At one point, Punk wraps his hand in a belt and punches Whitmer with it, screaming "This is punk rock!", which is actually kinda stupid, but who cares. Punk grabs a barbwire 2x4 and attempts to smash it over Maff, but Whitmer stops it and uses it to assist him on a Russian Leg Sweep. Maff then drops it, barbwire first, onto Punk's crotch as the crowd chants "You Sick Fuck." The velocity of these barbwire 2x4 shots is not great and make it look a little too safe, like Triple H's sledgehammer shots, but its not like I'd be lining up to take part in any of this. Maff brings out a barbwire board, the crowd anticipating something huge. Punk tries to tornado DDT Whitmer into the board, but Whitmer counters and sends him chest-first into it. Whitmer goes for an Exploder, but Steel stops him and delivers a suplex - but only after Maff pulls the board away (which draws boos from the crowd). Maff places the board in the corner and they tease having him fall into it, but we don't see anyone go through it until, moments later, Maff spears him through the thing to draw a huge holy shit chant. Wow. That was legitimately brutal. Kudos to the way these teams are building up the big spots, sometimes pulling away at the last moment but always delivering in the end. Steel sends Maff into what remains in the board and that also looks nasty. Steel hits a Tiger Driver on Maff but only gets 2 somehow. All 4 men grab chairs and we get an old-fashioned Swing Dance as the Second City Saints eat two chairshots to the skull before delivering a pair of their own. You don't see that in 2020. The Prophecy swing back with 2 more, but the Saints won't go down and hit 2 more of their own, sending Maff to the outside as a massive ROH chant starts up. Maff and Whitmer start launching chairs into the ring and so does the crowd in a crazy callback to the famous ECW moment from a decade or so earlier. With the ring filled with chairs, both teams re-enter the ring and go to work against eachother. Maff hits a half-nelson suplex on Punk, but Punk won't stay down, delivering a belly-to-back of his own! Punk sets up a table but is too exhausted to do much of anything for the next few moments as the cameraman loses Maff and Steel. Finally, they're found in the aisleway. Maff sets up a ladder between the guardrails and places Steel on it. Whitmer looks like he might fly through it, but Punk pulls him back into the chairs. Steel places Maff on the ladder and Punk goes to the top rope, flying off the post onto Maff. That was probably a spot that they thought would look better than it actually did. Still pretty crazy to attempt it. Steel places Whitmer on the table in the ring, but BJ won't stay put and meets him on the buckles. They duke it out for awhile before Steel hits him with a tombstone piledriver through the table to get the win. Well, that was about as wild a brawl as I can recall seeing in the 00s. (4/5)

CM Punk faces Jimmy Rave in a Dog Collar Match from May 2005's Manhatten Mayhem show is next. Punk had had a fairly famous dog collar match against Raven in 2003 for Ring of Honor as the commentators note. The setting is cool. Its a bit like a smaller Hammerstein Ballroom at The New Yorker Hotel. Punk controls early, dishing out lots of punishment with the chain before grabbing a steel chair from the outside. Before Punk can use it, Rave pulls the chain and Punk goes into it face-first, drawing blood. In control, Rave slows the pace a bit, delivering nothing more than rights and stomps. As basic as it may seem, its effective. Back in the ring, Rave attempts his "Rave Clash" (a Styles Clash), but Punk escapes and hits him with a full-force Shining Wizard right in the mush. Punk delivers a series of clotheslines and then a heel kick before bringing Rave down with a superkick for 2. Punk attempts a powerbomb by Rave escapes and comes off the ropes, applying a chain-assisted crossface. A cool sequence follows as Punk and Rave counter eachother's offense and Punk applies a half-crab. Prince Nana distracts him though and Rave delivers a devastating running knee for 2. Rave sets up Punk for a Pepsi Plunge, but Punk backdrops him and then follows it up with a powerbomb. Punk brings him back and hits him with another powerbomb. He hits him with a third powerbomb but still can only get 2, so he applies the Anaconda Vice. Punk breaks the hold to go after Rave's stablemates in The Embassy and then delivers a Pepsi Twist. All sorts of run-ins happen here and Punk is able to withstand all of it but eventually Rave gets a hold of a chair and just absolutely levels Punk with it in the head and chest. I liked this match a good deal. It was bloody, it effectively made the point that Punk had the match basically won if not for The Embassy's interference, but the actual finish also felt completely credible and made Rave look like somebody that, with The Embassy behind him and in a No DQ scenario, could take out whoever he wanted. Another match that makes total sense on a DVD like this. (4/5)

Generation Next (aka Austin Aries, Matt Sydal, Roderick Strong, and Jack Evans) took on The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss, and Prince Nana) in a Steel Cage Warfare Match from December 2005 next. This was no regular cage match, though, as Aries and Rave started things 1-on-1 for 5 minutes before their partners showed up one-by-one in rules reminiscent of War Games. Aries and Rave don't last long in the ring, though, brawling outside of the cage and all the way around it before ending up back inside. Aries is mega-over with the Ring of Honor crowd so when Shelley comes in next and the heels get the 2-on-1 advantage (as usually happens in matches like this), the crowd is not happy to see him. Alex Shelley was one of my favorite wrestlers around this time, though I'll admit to only knowing his TNA work. Rave and Shelley's 2-on-1 work is brutal, at one applying a cobra clutch with extra leverage that I had never seen before. Matt "Evan Bourne" Sydal comes in to even things up for Generation Next, making an immediate impact with an awesome standing Shooting Star Press on both members of the Embassy stacked atop eachother. Unlike a War Games match, this one involves eliminations, which is why both Sydal and Aries attempt pinfalls before everyone has entered on both sides. Sydal and Aries perform a double bow-and-arrow spot that gets an applause from the crowd, not because it doesn't look a bit convoluted but because you gotta applause something never seen before. Abyss comes in next, a guy that I've never been a huge fan of but, in this match, I do appreciate the role he gets to play as the resident monster. Plus, because Ring of Honor put lots of emphasis on workrate, its not like Abyss is going to just lumber around - he actually dishes out some high impact offense. Aries takes a nasty chairshot and then gets his face driven into the steel chair repeatedly by Shelley. Its a nasty move executed perfectly by the cocky Shelley. "The Messiah of the Backbreaker" Roderick Strong comes in to even things up and immediately starts dishing out his trademark backbreakers. Strong is great now in 2021, but he was already very, very good back then. His momentum is cut off by an awesome belly-to-belly into the cage wall by Abyss, the crowd chanting "holy shit" afterwards. Abyss follows it up with a Black Hole Slam on Sydal soon after before Rave hits the pedigree to the sound of boos to eliminate Sydal. With the heels in control (and still waiting on Prince Nana), the match goes into a bit of a downtime, something I don't recall happening too often in your typical War Games match - but, then again, the typical War Games match didn't have as much craziness as this and ended with a single "I Quit." Prince Nana struts out, his team dominating Shelley and Aries in and out of the ring. Shelley's trash-talking during this spell is brilliant and a reminder that, in 05'/06', he might've been in the top 10 of charismatic wrestlers in the US. Before Jack Evans comes out, Jade Chung shows up and calls out her former boss Prince Nana. Evans comes in and immediately does something INSANE, jumping to the top of the cage and hitting a ridiculous DOUBLE MOONSAULT (??) onto Nana and a bunch of other guys and nearly paralyzing himself. Wow. You don't see that everyday or ever. We get a "Please Don't Die" chant as Evans does another insane move, springboarding off of Rave's belly (who was hoisted on top of Strong's shoulders) near the top of the cage onto Abyss to eliminate the monster. If this match was very good before, Jack Evans' offense pushed it into "must see" territory as his high-flying is bananas. Unfortunately, Evans is the next man eliminated (which draws huge boos and even a sizable "Bullshit" chant). The match is now basically just a really, really good tag team cage match between Aries/Strong and Rave/Shelley (with Nana not doing too much on the outside). With the heels in control, Nana comes in and tries to hit them with a series of hip attacks - but he accidentally gets his own men! The little bit of comedy is broken up by a ridiculous number of backbreakers by Strong onto Rave and then a Lion Tamer to make him tap while, simultaneously, Aries hits a fisherman DDT onto Shelley through a chair to eliminate him. Aries and Strong beat down on Nana in the corner and put him out of his misery with a backbreaker followed by an Aries 450. That match was fun, but not nearly as gory as the matches that preceded it on this DVD (not that this is a bad thing). There are a few lulls in the match, which was not necessarily what one would expect out of a bunch of guys who were sometimes labeled "spot monkeys" - but this match proves they were much more than that, bringing lots of emotion in the match and building up the bigger spots. I'm not going to call this a masterpiece, but it is real close it and I'm guessing that if I was regular viewer of ROH in 2005, it would've checked all the boxes. (4/5)

Next up, Homicide vs. Colt Cabana in a Ghetto Streetfight from February 2006 follows. This one starts before a bell can even be rung, Cabana going right after Homicide (literally chasing him to the ring from the back). Its a start to a match that one would think had happened hundreds of times before but...well..it was new to me. Good brawling to start this, both guys not bothering with restholds and just trying to punish each other any way they can. Cabana gets sent into the post and then barricade and ends up busted open. Homicide shows his nastiness by digging his nail into the cut for a gruesome visual. Homicide then tosses a chair into his face before bashing him with part of the barricade. Cabana gets bashed with a chair again but refuses to quit, leading Homicide to slide into his skull even more with a shaving razor! Homicide then sends him into the barricade propped in the corner and, man, this is a serious ass-whupping. Cabana gets back onto his feet, though, eventually striking with some chest chops before getting poked in the eye. Cabana is really channeling Tommy Dreamer here with this attitude, just refusing to stay down despite Homicide's dominance. After another flurry of hope offense, Homicide lands a tornado DDT and then applies a ridiculous single-leg boston crab with the arm tied up too! That does not look comfortable at all. Homicide goes after the ref as the crowd begins to demand tables. After bashing Cabana with another chair shot, Homicide goes to the top for a splash but Cabana rolls away. Cabana attempts a powerbomb but Homicide escapes so he has to settle for a clothesline and then a choke and a scoop slam. Cabana attempts a moonsault but Homicide rolls away and catches him with a lariat. Homicide applies the camel clutch before getting tossed a coathanger by his right-hand man Julius Smokes. Homicide uses the coat hanger to choke out Cabana, the ref forced to end the match as the crowd boos. Cabana crawls his way to the ropes, though, and demands for the match to continue, telling Mr. 187 that he'll need to kill him to end this. Homicide comes back to the ring and they trade blows but Cabana can't maintain control, cut off by a neckbreaker. Cabana damages Homicide's shoulder and continues his assault on it, fully aware that this is Homicide's weak point. At one point, he even bites the thing! Cabana attempts to use a chair, but Smokes stops him and Homicide regains control. At this point, Homicide, Smokes, and Ricky Reyes (I think?) tie up Cabana in the corner and unload on him, Homicide tossing yet another chair into his face. After Homicide does it again, the referee once again ends the match and the crowd chants "He's Not Dead." Again, though, Cabana demands Homicide return to the ring and finish him off. Cabana gets some offense in and even fights off Smokes for a bit, but eventually falls prey to a ridiculous piledriver through a table that looks like a legit crippling. This match is not going to be every's cup of tea, but I really liked the story and the escalation of violence from beginning to end. All the character work was brilliant. I loved the creative start to the match and the insane lengths Homicide had to go to finally put Cabana out. (4.5/5)

The next match is from April 2006 and was part of the lengthy and bloody promotion war between Combat Zone Wrestling (represented by Necro Butcher, Super Dragon, and Chris Hero) and Ring of Honor (represented here by Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce, and BJ Whitmer). Like the match that preceded it on this DVD, this one starts off with wild action right away. Some of the better spots early on include Samoa Joe hitting an Ole Kick on Chris Hero that sends him over the barricade, Necro Butcher and Adam Pearce trading the kind of chairshots that have been allowed in the WWE for close to two decades now, and Joe and Whitmer teaming up to double-suplex Dragon into a pair of chairs. Whitmer's bleeding from within the first few minutes is just disgusting to see; the guy looks like he's been stabbed in the skull. With the action taking place all over the arena, the camera doesn't always capture the biggest hits - but that's what makes a match like this feel legitimately dangerous and "real" (on top of the inanity of guys taking unprotected chairshots to the head). When guys actually get in the ring and start delivering moves or going for pins, it makes things even more surreal as this "match" doesn't feel at all like something that could possibly end with a traditional pinfall. As fun as it is to see these guys delivering ever more creative and violent maneuvers, the shapelessness does work against the match as a whole. There's really no story or raising of stakes in the match. Say what one may about the WWE's versions of these type of matches - the ONS II classic between Edge & Foley vs. Funk & Dreamer, for example - but the best version of those matches not only deliver all the violence one could ever want, but do so in a way with a clear beginning, middle, and end. This match is a violent spectacle with no structure and while this sort of thing has its own appeal, it doesn't make for a truly great bell-to-bell match. Unlike the Steel Warfare match, it also doesn't really allow anyone to be highlighted (though Samoa Joe is clearly the most over guy of the bunch). Later on, we get even more insane violence as Super Dragon does a double-stomp on Whitmer's head as it lays on a chair, Necro Butcher eats a nasty chairshot from Pearce while trying to escape the ring, and Dragon hits an astounding Torture Rack Driver through a table on the outside of the ring on Whitmer. Unfamiliar with CZW's roster, I'm not sure who the guy is that shows up and starts helping out his comrades - John Zandig? - but when he does show up, he's tossed out by a young Cesaro (then working under the name Claudio Castignoli). Of course, because Claudio was also buddies with Hero, he ends up turning on Joe and CZW maintains control (leading to the Ring of Honor crowd chanting for Homicide to come out). Pearce ends up eating a double-sidewinder from the Kings of Wrestling to end the match in somewhat anticlimactic fashion. Not a match I'd really recommend to anyone aside from the biggest fans of hardcore, ultra-violent wrestling - and, even in that case, there's better versions of this. (3/5)

Colt Cabana vs. Jimmy Jacobs (with Lacey) in a Windy City Deathmatch from February 2007 is next. One can really notice the difference in production value compared to the earlier matches on this set as the ring is fully lit up. Lacey gets involved early which allows Jacobs to take control, but Daisy Haze shows up to take her out and chase her to the back. Cabana busts Jacobs open with an elbow - but wait, he's got a pair of scissors in there! Cabana then digs the scissors in, showing he's every bit as hardcore as they get. Jacobs looks for the spike in his boot, but Cabana's got it! He drills it into Jacobs' face and then puts his Chicago flag to good use. Jacobs is able to fight back, though, bloodying Cabana with the broken flag pole. With both guys sporting crimson masks, the match slows down a bit and becomes all about weapon shots. Jacobs tries to level Cabana with a chairshot and Cabana, thankfully, covers himself a little bit. Of all the matches on this set so far, this one may actually be - pint for pint - the bloodiest. Colt attempts a Colt 45 but Brent Alrbight shows up and hits him with a half-nelson suplex. Albright is a semi-interesting case of a guy who had a lengthy run in OVW and the WWE's development program but never amounted to much when he was called up as Gunner Scott. BJ Whitmer shows up to make the save - ironic since he had feuded extensively with the Second City Saints stable 3 years prior in a rivalry highlighted on this very DVD. This all leads to an Asai Moonsault from Cabana onto the heels which wows the crowd. Cabana grabs a hammer from under the ring and tries to hammer the spike into his head - but misses the spike and just cracks him with the hammer instead! Jacobs ends up in the corner and Cabana tosses two chairs at him before hitting him with a bodyslam in the middle of the ring and then a moonsault onto a chair on Jacobs for 2. The fight spills back to the outside where Jacob sets up a table and Cabana sets up a ladder. Cabana goes for a splash, but Lacey knocks him off and he crotches himself on the top rope. Jacobs sets up the ladder in the ring and, in an insane spot, hits a senton off the ladder onto Cabana through a table. The crowd erupts in a deserved holy shit spot. Somehow this does not end the match, though, as by the time Cabana gets rolled into the ring, he is able to kick out at 2. Jacobs goes back out for a table while Cabana crawls around the ring. Jacobs sets up a table in the corner but when attempts to spear Colt through it, Cabana dodges and Jacobs goes through it instead! Lacey tries to get involved but Cabana tosses her aside and hits a Colt 45 on Jacobs and then Lacey as well to get the W. Cabana may be known for his podcasts, his one-time best friendship with CM Punk, and his fun-loving persona, but this DVD makes a case for him being one of the best deathmatch wrestlers around. (4/5)

Kevin Steen and El Generico take on The Briscoe Brothers in a Non-Sanctioned Boston Street Fight from Death Before Dishonor Part V (Night 1) in August 2007 in the next match of the set. As one might expect, this one blows up as soon as the two sides see each other, the brawl starting outside the ring and involving lots of fists, headbutts, and chairs. This, like the CZW/ROH match from earlier on the set, doesn't bother with any preliminary bullshit, wasting no time getting wild and crazy. What makes this one a touch different is that the guys actually perform some moves - suplexes and a spinning DDT and a running neckbreaker between chair shots. There are actually elements of "fun" to this match too - Owens calling for his mother, the borderline cartoonish use of barricades - that gives one the sense that, unlike the "reality" of the CZW/ROH war, these two teams are winking to the audience a bit, collaborating to pop the crowd with ever-more-ridiculous carnage. That's not to say that it isn't a stiff, violent, bloody brawl, but there's a nearly sardonic tone to it (no doubt because Kevin Steen, even back then, was kind of a sardonic character, a prizefighter who doesn't wrestle for the love of it, but mostly just because he found out he was good at it and could make money doing it). Once they do finally get in the ring, they're all exhausted and we get a series of sequences that just lead to everyone basically dying in the ring in rapid succession. There's a cool spot where the Briscoes pop-up Generico and let him drop belly-first onto two chairs, but it only gets 2 when Steen breaks up the pinfall with a chair. Steen sends one of the Briscoes through a table head-first but when he tries to go for a follow-up moonsault, the other Briscoe shoves him off (and through a table). Generico connects with a big boot and then attempts a superplex...but is cut off by the Briscoe, resulting in a Razor's Edge/Neckbreaker combo that draws a huge pop. One of the Briscoe's makes a cover, but the ref gets pulled out of the ring! A Doomsday Device from the Biscoes looks like another victory moments later, but Steen breaks up that pin attempt too. A ladder finds its way into the ring a minute or so later and Steen gets back-dropped onto it. One of the Briscoes looks to launch himself off it, but Generico prevents him by pulling him down with a neckbreaker. The match caps off with a Kevin Owens' package piledriver into a ladder, a final extreme moment on a DVD celebrating some of the craziest spots of the 2000s. (4/5)

I'm not going to give this DVD collection a rating like I normally would for the PPVs and supercards I've viewed, but I would consider this a solid rent and, if you can find it for under $10, a solid addition to any wrestling fan's DVD collection (if they still own one). 

WWE Elimination Chamber 2011

WWE Elimination Chamber 2011

Oakland, CA - February 2011

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, the WWE Champion was The Miz while the World Heavyweight Championship was held by Edge. The United States Champion was Daniel Bryan, the Intercontinental Champion was Kofi Kingston, and Eva Torres was the Divas Champion. Finally, Santino and Vladimir Koslov were the World Tag Team Champions. 

The show begins with the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship, Alberto Del Rio, taking on Kofi Kingston in a non-title match (Kofi was the Intercontinental Champion at the time). Del Rio had had the "rocket" strapped on his back in January when he won the Royal Rumble and would continue to get some favorable booking throughout the rest of the year despite never really feeling like a true top guy (the same would happen in 2015 when he was brought back after a year-long hiatus). Del Rio was considered a "can't miss" prospect, but I just never  saw the "it" factor. Kingston, meanwhile, shows more spirit and general grasp of psychology than he had in 2009 (the last time he was given a serious singles push), but still seems to be not quite ready to break through, the je ne sais quoi not fully there (he'd find it 8-9 years later as part of The New Day). There's good action here, great execution from both men, and even some believable false finishes (including one featuring Ricardo Rodriguez), but this still feels a bit perfunctory and predictable. A solid opener, but not a career highlight for either man. (3/5)

After a brief word from Edge backstage and a video package, its time for the Elimination Chamber match - Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show (a last minute substitute for Dolph Ziggler, who'd been fired by Teddy Long) vs. Wade Barrett vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Edge. I'm not quite sure why Edge would put his title - or be forced to put his title on the line - but whatever. Edge and Mysterio start things off. These two have worked together for so long, they have no problems getting things started before Barrett comes in. A few minutes later Big Show comes in and while there is some fine action, nothing really amazing happens. In fact, we don't get our first real moment of superviolence until Drew McIntyre comes in and lawn darts Rey into a pod wall before getting sent through a pod door himself. That's it. These are the two big spots of an otherwise not-so-noteworthy Elimination Chamber match. Blame it on the PG rating, but really, the structure itself should carry part of the blame - aside from taking back bumps on the cage floor or getting your face rubbed against the cage walls, its just not a structure that lends itself to great matches unless you've got a real interesting story to tell within it. This match feels like a collection of guys wrestling a perfunctory Elimination Chamber and really only one guy - Drew McIntyre of all people - giving much of a shit. Eventually it whittles down to Rey and Edge, which is how the match started, and Edge gets the clean W. At the time, I think this match was reviewed so highly because there were some storyline entanglements on display (Big Show and Wade) and people were excited about Drew McIntyre, but it all seems so predictable in hindsight that Edge would retain and face Del Rio (as Del Rio/Mysterio had already had several matches against eachother by this time). It all makes for a match that, in terms of execution and good ol' fashioned wrestling, is perfectly fine...but, in hindsight, didn't mean anything. (3/5)

After the match, Del Rio attacks Edge and applies his armbar submission. I like that they tried to get that move over as incredibly dangerous, but to me, its a real uphill battle to try to establish a "death move" out of something that (a) is not usually a death move by other wrestlers and (b) can and had been escaped from. Christian makes the save, which is cool. I wonder if Edge was already aware of his impending retirement when this happened.

Before the next match, we get a segment involving the return of Trish Stratus, who is announced to be the next coach on the (failed) revamp of Tough Enough. Meaningless segment that gets a very mild reaction from the audience.

Next up, Santino and Koslov vs. Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel. I watched all 5-6 minutes of this match and barely remember anything aside from some of Koslov's headbutts, which looked good, and the finish, which was fine. Gabriel could fly but Slater was still a very generic worker who wouldn't find himself for another couple of years. Still, the Santino/Koslov pairing wasn't working, so the finish is the right one even if we're talking about trading ham salad for chicken salad - both things that I generally detest. This match isn't actively bad, but boy is it forgettable and proof that Santino, as good as he could be, still needed a foil to get his shtick over. (1.5/5)

Vickie Guerrero comes out to tremendous heat and begs Teddy Long to rehire Dolph Ziggler. He refuses - but does rehire Kelly Kelly. This show really is so 2011. Side note - how many retirements/firings/returns has Dolph Ziggler had over the course of his career? Anyway, this somehow leads to LayCool and Trish Stratus duking it out. I generally enjoy segments like this because they provide variety on the show, but this isn't entertaining. 

The Miz defends the WWE Championship against Jerry "The King" Lawler in the next match. I haven't mentioned it yet but, throughout the whole evening, Michael Cole is on full heel mode and, in this match, he goes from being at an irritable 8 to an incredibly annoying 11. Unfortunately, Cole's heel act distracts from the match and without anyone to really counter his commentary - Booker T is not now and has never been a great color guy and Josh Matthews has always lacked authority - the whole thing comes across as yet another "angle" more than an actual match. This match would've benefitted tremendously from commentary that took it seriously and not like the afterthought that it cleary was. I mean, going into it, there was just absolutely no way that anyone expected Lawler to win - but maybe with JR on commentary selling it as a real contest? Maybe with the magic of Pat Patterson's booking skill we could've had some believable false finishes? Maybe if Randy Orton or John Cena or John Morrison or someone else with history with The Miz had shown up to even the odds? This isn't a bad match, but its not nearly as fun or interesting as it could've been. Its more about setting up a Lawler/Cole match, which nobody wanted to see, than it is about delivering something of quality. (2/5)

Main event time - John Morrison vs. Sheamus vs. CM Punk vs. Randy Orton vs. R-Truth vs. John Cena in an Elimination Chamber match to decide who will face The Miz at WrestleMania. If the first Elimination Chamber match of the night underwhelmed me its collection of wrestlers, this one was only slightly better. I mean, what business does R-Truth have in a match like this? But unlike the SmackDown edition, this one came together in a much more intriguing way thanks in large part to the throughline that the WWE had started way back even before the Royal Rumble, where CM Punk cost Randy Orton the WWE Championship in his match against the aforementioned Miz. Here, the Orton/Punk rivalry is given lots of focus, Punk's magnificent heel work serving as not only the match's backbone but also the subject of the match's biggest "swerve" (Punk's cell door not opening allows Orton to put the boots to him and eliminate him in under 2 minutes only for the mysterious RAW GM to reinstate him). Meanwhile, John Morrison quietly puts on the kind of performance that makes it believable that he may somehow end up with his arm raised at the end, not only because he gets some great offense in, but also because his history with The Miz makes him not-that-far-fetched a candidate (especially because, at the time, there were still rumors that Cena could face The Rock). In the end, Cena gets the W (which is what most people expected), but there was enough drama throughout the rest of the contest to keep me engaged and not feel like they were just going through the motions. I wouldn't call this a "must see" match, but it comes close to it - especially if you're a fan of CM Punk, who is just amazing here from the very start to the end. This is the CM Punk that made him arguably the best wrestler and character the WWE had that year, if not for the next 2 years. (3.5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.6-out-of-5, Elimination Chamber 2011 doesn't feature a single "must see" match, but its relatively short runtime and the fact that its built around two above-average Elimination Chamber matches makes it a fairly breezy watch. If the opener had been hotter and more thought and plotting had been put into The Miz/Lawler match, this show could've been great, but without those things (and with the tag title match being barely Main Event-worthy let alone PPV worthy), it never goes beyond just being an "okay" show. CM Punk superfans will enjoy the main event and while I wasn't as enthralled in the match as others, at the time, the SmackDown Chamber Match was considered one of the best versions of the match ever, but I certainly wouldn't rank it as highly.

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

WWE Royal Rumble 1998

WWE Royal Rumble 98'

San Jose, CA - January 1998

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, Shawn Michaels is the WWE Champion, the Intercontinental Champion is The Rock, the European Champion was Triple H, and the Light Heavyweight Champion was Taka Michinoku. The WWE Tag Team Champions were the New Age Outlaws.

The through-line of this show is all about the bounty (?) that the McMahons have put on the head of "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. I forget if there actually was a legit bounty that McMahon had announced, but his rivalry with Austin was already a couple months old by now. This leads to all sorts of backstage segments where wrestlers try to corner Austin, but he evades them at every turn. It doesn't create any "all time great moments" or anything, but it does help move the show along and make the backstage segments meaningful. Meanwhile, Mike Tyson is also shown in attendance, watching from the McMahons' skybox. 

The in-ring action begins with Goldust taking on Vader in something like a grudge match, though, I honestly don't recall any of the story beats leading up to this match. This one is a bit hard to watch. At this point, Goldust was more about his zany, colorful BDSM outfits than he was about playing actual mind games. Neither guy is looking too great physically either. In WCW, these two most likely had some barnburners, but here, Vader is nothing like the dominant and dangerous force he was then and the fire of the old Dustin Rhodes is nowhere to be found either. The crowd is mostly indifferent too, the biggest pop happening when Luna Vachon - Goldust's new manager - jumps onto the back of Vader during his Vader Bomb finish. I'm not sure what the intention of this match was, but neither guy comes out of it more over than they were going in. A real disappointment. (1/5)

Next up, a 6-mini-man match pitting Max Mini, Mosaic, and Nova (no, not Simon "Nova" Dean) vs. El Torito, Tarantula, and Battalion. The guest referee is Sunny, who looks very good but refs very poorly and botches her one big spot (a leapfrog over Max Mini). This is "classic" early Attitude Era stuff as the WWE was really throwing all sorts of shit at the wall and seeing what would stick. The crowd is mostly indifferent, which is unsurprising considering that this was just filler for the sake of filler. I'm guessing Vince found having these "minis" funny - using little people for comedy gimmicks is as a tradition that dates back to the 80s in the WWE and maybe even earlier - but it also kinda shows how little he understood the appeal of the luchadores and Japanese wrestlers that had made WCW's cruiserweight division "must see" television. The "wrestling" is better than what we got in the opener, but because this is ultimately meaningless and serves no purpose, its the same level of uninteresting. (1/5)

The Intercontinental Championship is on the line in the next match - The Rock defending against Ken Shamrock. These guys feuded extensively and I know how much they appreciated that long stretch of matches...but I can't say that I'm a huge fan of this or really any of the matches I've seen between the two. Shamrock was a better wrestler in theory than I found him to be during his WWE run, where he should've just been steamrolling through people and forcing them to tap within minutes but typically just wrestled matches like this: standard, pedestrian, unremarkable. The Rock, meanwhile, was still finding his character at this point, a character that would really start to blossom in the summer of 98' (by which point he'd moved onto a feud against Triple H that would deliver at least one great match at SummerSlam), but had not put it all together yet. This match is really carried by the overness of both guys more than anything; The Rock is absolutely despised by the crowd and Ken Shamrock was over enough for the fans to want to see him rip through the entire dastardly Nation of Domination (especially after seeing Mark Henry turn on him on RAW in the build-up to this match). The finish helps keep Shamrock strong without giving him the title, which is smart because, even then, it was clear that The Rock was a future main eventer (and Shamrock was probably never going to be "take off" beyond the level he'd reached here). This was better than either of the matches that came before it, but still felt longer than its 10-minute runtime. (2/5)

The Legion of Doom challenge the New Age Outlaws for the WWE Tag Team Championships next. When people look back at the Road Warriors' run in the late 90s, it is often spoken of with 100% derision and more than a couple of mentions of the Hawk suicide angle - which would come several months after this - and the debut of Darren "Puke" Drozdov as a 3rd member of the crew. While these events cast a shadow on the final years of the Legion of the Doom, it should be mentioned that, even as late as January 98', the WWE was still pushing these guys. Jim Ross hypes them big time on commentary and they get a pre-match video package that makes them look like the monsters they once were. They still get a fairly big pop when they enter the arena, but its not what it was even a year earlier when they were feuding with the Nation of Domination. The New Age Outlaws had not yet reached their full potential as slogan-slinging fan favorites and were never a very interesting in-ring combo, but I do like their heelishness. After cuffing Hawk onto the bottom rope, they still put Animal over strong, ultimately taking the DQ loss after using a chair on the lone Road Warrior left. Hawk eventually uses his incredible strength to break the cuffs apart and cleans house, signaling that this feud is far from over even if there really wasn't all that much more to do with these teams. Another sub-10 minute match that was more interesting to talk about than actually watch. (1.5/5)

It's Rumble time! Cactus Jack and Terry "Chainsaw Charlie" Funk start things off and, after eliminating Tom Brandi (who comes in at #3 and lasts less than a minute), we get some weapons-based fun with The Rock (in at #4). A year later, Foley and The Rock would be engaged in one of the longest-running feuds/rivalries/eventual partnerships in WWE history. From here we get lots of entrants and very few eliminations and most of them are guys who stood absolutely no chance of main eventing WrestleMania - Mosh and Thrash, post-Blackjack/pre-Acolyte Bradshaw, Phineas Godwin, Steve Blackman, etc. Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart further their feud, which I forgot ever happened. Kurrgan makes an appearance and it got me thinking about how, for at least a year, the early internet wrestling rumor mills - like RSPW, for example - worked themselves into a lather every couple months about how Kurrgan was one of Vince's pet projects and was going to be booked to feud with Austin over the title. Never happened. In fact, he was relegated to lower midcard tag matches for the rest of 98' and through 99' (when he was released). Anyway, throughout the first third of this match, all the real hype is about when Steve Austin will appear - its a real Poochie on The Simpsons vibe with everyone talking and wondering when Austin will show up whenever he's not on-screen. Other not-so-great entrants come in, including The Honky Tonk Man and a very angry looking Ahmed Johnson. I've written about Johnson before, but I totally thought he'd left the company by this point (in fact, he'd leave a month or so later). After feuding with the Nation of Domination in early 97', Johnson had then joined them in the fall - but got injured again - and was kicked out of the group in the summer and back to being a babyface. Anyway, he doesn't last too long in the match. It is interesting to think, though, what might've been in Johnson's future if he'd not been battling family issues, drug issues, and nagging injuries as he, at his physical peak and when motivated, had definitely connected with the audience and could've been a player in the Attitude Era (which had really only just begun by this point). Austin comes in at #24 and wisely evades detection by sneaking into the match through the crowd and tossing mofos the minute he gets into the ring. From here, things don't get any more or really less exciting - they just wrap up the way they're supposed to wrap up with Austin eventually toppling The Rock, Farooq, and Dude Love (who enters at #29) to get the victory. This isn't a bad Rumble, but its not a great one either, and the lack of depth to the roster really shows. On the plus side, they didn't overbook this either; Austin comes into the match fairly late, which prevents him from being overexposed or making him look like a Superman, which was never his gimmick (plus, they'd already kinda been down that road the year prior). (2/5)

Our main event is a match that got barely any mention on this show - The Undertaker vs. Shawn Michaels in a Casket Match for the WWE Championship. With the show built around Austin (and Tyson), its really not until just before bell time that JR and Lawler delve into the history that brought us to this match (with help from a nice, comprehensive video package that's only flaw is that it leaves out the role that Bret Hart played entirely). Taker and Shawn Michaels had put on a bit of a forgotten classic at In Your House: Ground Zero several months before this and then tore the roof off at Badd Blood in the first Hell in a Cell match, but this match shouldn't be slept on. It is all action from beginning to end and features some absolutely great spots - Michaels hitting a piledriver on the steel steps, Undertaker hitting a Tombstone Piledriver into the casket, a crowd-pleasing elbow drop from Shawn onto Michaels into the thing, the great visual of Michaels crotch-chopping Undertaker only to get grabbed by the throat from a never-say-die Deadman. Its worth noting that Michaels also aggravates a nasty back injury within the first 5 minutes of the match on a bump into the edge of the casket but goes on with the match. The finish isn't great - its basically a retread of the Yokozuna/Undertaker finish from a couple years prior - but it does lead to a Kane "heel turn" (predictable but the crowd bit on it) and a great post-match scene in which Kane and Paul Bearer douse the casket in gasoline and set it ablaze. I'd have to review a full list of casket matches to know for sure, but I think this might be the best Casket Match in history and that's a respectable honor to hold. The only thing that sorta hurts this - aside from the schmozz ending - is that its wrestled a bit more like a grudge match than a title match, with Taker's drive to regain the WWE Championship that Shawn Michaels kinda screwed him out of never driven home by the commentators. (4/5)

With a not-so-hot Kwang Score of 1.92-out-of-5, the 1998 edition of the Royal Rumble doesn't stand out as all that great. The main event is clearly the best match of the night and would probably land in the Top 10 Matches of the Year for the WWE, but this show really highlights (lowlights?) how thin the roster was at this point - which further proves just how over Steve Austin was. Yes, the Undertaker/Kane angle was big, yes, DegenerationX was a cool heel group (at this time), but, no, they weren't really moving the needle the way "Stone Cold" Steve Austin was. The rest of the roster? Mere backdrop at this point. But even if you're a massive Austin fan, you'll find much better moments of his career on other shows in 97' and further down the line in 98'.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver