WWE Crown Jewel 2023

WWE Crown Jewel 2023

November 2023 - Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion was Roman Reigns, the World Heavyweight Champion was Seth Rollins, the Intercontinental Champion was GUNTHER, the United States Champion was Rey Mysterio, the Judgment Day held the RAW and the SmackDown Tag Team Championships, the RAW Women's Champion was Rhea Ripley, the SmackDown Women's Champion was IYO Sky, and the Women's Tag Team Champions were Piper Niven and Chelsea Green. 

Seth Rollins defended his World Heavyweight Championship in the opening contest against Drew McIntyre. As Michael Cole noted on commentary, McIntyre has been in a bit of a 3-year rut, failing to win any major singles championship since his run as the WWE Champion during the pandemic of 2019-2020. According to rumor, part of the reason is because, during that time, McIntyre has been wishy-washy about signing a long-term contract, though I think the real reason is much simpler: Roman Reigns has had the most dominant run of any major superstar since Hulk Hogan, leaving little to no room for anyone else to really "break out" as a top, top guy. Regardless, this match was good but the result was never really in question and there was no face/heel dynamic to play off of. Some good nearfalls in the last third as Seth Rollins sold his damaged back but still managed to get the 100% clean victory. Where does McIntyre go from here? At this point, I expect him to turn heel but have zero interest in him joining the Judgment Day, which already has two fairly established heavy hitters in Balor and Damien Priest. Speaking of Priest, his post-match cash-in attempt got thwarted by Sami Zayn, a guy I would love to see get a more serious push going into the Rumble and WrestleMania. (3/5)

A Fatal Five-way for Rhea Ripley's RAW Women's Championship was next as she defended the gold against Raquel Rodriguez, Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax, and Zoey Stark. Like the opener, this wasn't bad, just not very suspenseful as Ripley was all-but-guaranteed to come out victorious. While Ripley is a heel, she was the most over act in the match by a country mile. Baszler has no momentum after the lackluster match with Ronda Rousey at SummerSlam in August and Rodriguez doesn't either after her failed attempt to beat Ripley months back. I can understand not wanting to "burn" a Ripley/Nia Jax one-on-one...but if that is the big match looming on the horizon, Jax should've had more of a spotlight. There were some cool moments with Baszler busting out a number of crafty submissions, but her overall credibility remains an issue compared to how dominant she came across in NXT years ago. (2.5/5)

The next match was arguably the least predictable of the evening as John Cena, who has somehow been winless in (I assume) televised singles match over the past 5 years, took on Solo Sikoa. On one hand, the fact that Cena was coming into this match on such a huge losing streak meant that he was "due" a victory. At the same time, however, the WWE is clearly building up Sikoa as a formidable monster and a victory over Cena would only solidify that. They told a simple-but-effective story from the start to the finish with Cena using his experience and craftiness to control the early going before Sikoa's power started wreaking havoc on Cena's strategy. I liked how they built the match around Sikoa's lethal Samoan Spike with Cena coming up with counter-after-counter until he finally got caught with a wild desperation spike in the final minutes. I was less enamored with Cena continuing to apply the sloppiest, loosest STF possible, but hey, that kinda goes with the territory these days. I would've liked to hear Cole and Barrett play up the fact that Cena was taken to his limit many years ago by Sikoa's uncle Umaga and that, 20 years ago, Cena even faced Solo's old man (Rikishi) on an episode of SmackDown. They don't seem to be hiding the fact that Cena is in the sunset of his career - in fact, Cena's age and deterioration was a key theme of the story - but didn't necessarily connect the dots with how much of a witness Solo has been to Cena's success, a run that saw him come out on top, again and again, against The Bloodline until Roman Reigns usurped him. I'm wondering if we get a rematch at WrestleMania, which would make sense to me. This wasn't a Match of the Year candidate or anything, but it was good for what it was and showed that even if Cena has lost a step in terms of speed and athleticism, he can still deliver in the story and character department as good as anyone. (3/5)

This segment was followed by The Miz bringing out a guy that looked like the Saudi Arabian version of Kevin James. They were interrupted by Grayson Waller. Whatever. This show was filled with propaganda for Saudi Arabia, its airline, and its various "entertainment spots." They forgot to mention that using marijuana will land you in prison and that alcohol consumption is strictly prohibited. The WWE is also opening a museum there - which I'm sure dozens and dozens of tourists from around the world will flock to. 

The match of the night followed as Rey Mysterio Jr. defended his United States Championship against Logan Paul. Mysterio is arguably among the top 10 babyfaces of all time and while he may not have all the speed and agility he had 20+ years ago, he still gets more mileage out of doing the simple stuff than many wrestlers can do today doing maneuvers that are way more complicated and risky. Mysterio is also a guy that has a real knack for elevating the talent he works with - I mean, how many guys have had their career-best match against Mysterio? Psicosis is an easy pick, but I'd also include Dean Malenko, Kane, Chavo Guerrero, maybe even Eddie Guerrero, Chris Jericho, and Dolph Ziggler too. And so Logan Paul may have had his easiest match yet - he wasn't just in there against an absolute pro, he was working against a guy whose specialty is making others, even guys with sizable gaps in their game, look incredible. Paul brought the goods, though - while he may not have taken as many high risks as he has done in the past, his mannerisms and aggressiveness remained. For the first time (maybe ever?), Paul got to show off his strength. I really wish they had kept the interference to a minimum in the other matches on this show as it took away from Escobar's involvement and the eventual finish, which saw Logan once again come away with the victory due to outside involvement and a pair of brass knucks. (3.5/5)

Back to the ring we go for the next contest - IYO Sky challenging Bianca Belair for the SmackDown Women's Championship. Sky and Bianca have excellent chemistry but this match was met with mostly crickets. Belair's high energy and Sky's expert timing and execution were basically wasted on this crowd. In front of the right audience, this might have even been a "match of the night" candidate but there just wasn't enough energy to feed off of and the biggest spots of the match all fell a little flat. Given over 15 minutes, these two told a good back-and-forth story and I really liked the execution of the swerve in the finish as Kairi Sane made her return to the company by attacking Belair on the outside. Again, in front of a more invested audience - hey, maybe even one that actually views women as not being lesser - I think this would've felt special, the way their Backlash match really left an impression due to the passion of the crowd. (3/5)

Cody Rhodes vs. Damien Priest followed. This felt like a RAW main event or a house show match - not necessarily a bad thing, just missing a raison d'etre. Also, had Priest successfully cashed in earlier in the night, would that have made this a World Championship match? I've complained about other matches having fairly predictable outcomes, but will give them some credit here as I wasn't 100% sure how this would turn out. My money was on Cody just because Cody has been on a big roll as of late, especially on Premium Live Events. At the same time, Judgment Day has also had a ton of success and really needs victories to maintain their credibility, no different than Roman Reigns and the Bloodline. Plus, Cody is over enough that a loss here wouldn't have damaged him, especially if it came from outside interference. Rhodes and Priest had a good physical match, but not a very lengthy one; it seemed like this was put on the card to appease the audience by giving them a Cody appearance rather than to progress any storyline. The live crowd was more into this than the previous bout, but, at home, I wasn't nearly as enthralled. Ultimately, this match needed some sort of stakes to keep me captivated and the interference of Judgment Day and then Jey Uso felt by-the-numbers. Not bad and maybe even slightly above-average in terms of what was actually done between the bells, but ultimately, forgettable and meaningless. (2.5/5)

Main event time - LA Knight vs. Roman Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. The question here wasn't whether LA Knight would do the impossible - it was whether he'd be able to leave a strong enough impression to become a true "main event" level guy. Nobody can say that Reigns didn't allow Knight to look strong here, but this match suffered from not only a predictable end but an overreliance on what have become tropes of his entire reign. First, there was some involvement from Heyman on the outside, then it was Solo Sikoa making an appearance, and then, like clockwork, Jimmy Uso showed up too. Knight got to kick out of a Spear and nearly get the victory with his finishing move, but aside from what will likely be a feud with Logan Paul (which I predict will not be nearly as good as some might think and result in a very average match), I also just don't see LA Knight as having some big main event run in his future as long as Reigns is still around. Speaking of Reigns, he'd feel more dominant if they peppered in some more dominant wins during this reign. It was nice of him to "give" so much to LA Knight, but we're supposed to see Reigns as this unbeatable monster now and I'm not sure LA Knight really deserved to get as close to winning as they presented here. Paint-by-numbers main event. (2.5/5)

Earning a Kwang Score of 2.86-out-of-5, the latest edition of "WWE Blood Money" was a disposable, forgettable show. While none of the matches were actively bad, there also wasn't too much that left any sort of impression. If there was supposed to be a star-making moment for LA Knight in the main event, I missed it. The opener looked like it might've led to some much-needed character development for Drew McIntyre, but no such thing took place. The Solo/Cena match was good-not-great and the same could be said of both Women's Championship matches. The match of the night was Logan Paul/Rey Mysterio, but I wouldn't call it "must see." All in all, a bit of a glorified house show that the most rabid, current WWE fans would find enjoyable, but inessential viewing for anyone else and hardly the best entry point for the lapsed viewer.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

WWE Elimination Chamber 2014

WWE Elimination Chamber 2014

February 2014 - Minneapolis, MN

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Randy Orton was the recognized WWE and World Heavyweight Champion, the Intercontinental Championship was held by Big E, the United States Champion was Dean Ambrose, the New Age Outlaws were somehow the WWE Tag Team Champions, and AJ Lee held the Divas Championship. 

Elimination Chamber 2014 starts off with a match that deserved a more enthusiastic crowd as Big E defends his Intercontinental Championship against Jack Swagger in a physical match with plenty of great spots (almost all from Big E), including an awesome leapfrog early on, a spear into the steps that looked nasty, and, later, the signature spear through the ropes and onto the floor. What hurts this match most is that Big E's character was not yet fully defined while Swagger was actually beginning to get face pops for his "We The People" bit despite being a heel. There's a brief spell when they lose the crowd, but the action is good throughout and I love that this match was given the time needed to feel like a hard-fought victory for Big E. (3/5)

Bad News Barrett makes an announcement about how "Mother Russia" had more gold medals in the Winter Olympics and then we get a promo out of Daniel Bryan backstage after a video package recaps the punishment he'd endured at the hands of Kane over the previous few weeks. 

Back in the ring, The New Age Outlaws defended their WWE Tag Team Championships against The Usos. The Outlaws get a good reaction for their pre-match promo (no surprise there), but really had no business being presented as a top team in 2014. Ironically, Billy Gunn is much more interesting and fun to watch now a decade later. Maybe its because working with The Acclaimed (and his sons) is fresh and this was stale out of the box? I'm also not going to lie - I find Road Dogg insufferable and didn't think he was particularly great back in the 90s either. The Usos, like Big E, would grow to become much better, fuller characters. At this point, they were indistinguishable and not yet even known for delivering great matches. There are audible "CM Punk" chants around minute 6-7. I'm guessing the Outlaws were brought back not only as part of the Authority angle but also as a way to capitalize on nostalgia in the lead-up to the unveiling of the WWE Network (which launched the day after this show), but they would've been better in small doses and them having the titles almost seems like an insult considering how solid the rest of the tag team division had become by 2014 (with not only the Usos climbing the ranks but Rollins and Reigns, The Rhodes Brothers, The Real Americans, and, if I'm not mistaken, Los Conquistadors (The Colons) all around). (1.5/5)

At ringside, Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and JBL review how to use the WWE Network. Riveting stuff. 

Darren Young took on Titus O'Neill in the next bout. The former tag partners had broken up on SmackDown a month earlier, bringing about a feud that I don't remember at all. I always thought O'Neill was a solid hot tag but that Young was about as bland as bland gets. An audible "We Want Lesnar" chant breaks out in the first minute, which tells you how into this match the crowd was. Neither of these guys are great wrestlers and, without someone else in the ring to really carry the match, both get exposed here. Young, the better all-arounder, is less awkward than his opponent, but he's also less charismatic and interesting. Titus, meanwhile, has presence and there are moments - like when he slaps the shit out of Young's chest while applying an abdominal stretch - when he is very impressive, but he looks less so the longer the match goes and the more he needs to sell. His athleticism is undeniable and I can see the reasoning behind letting these guys go out and have the most competitive match possible, but by having such an even match, nobody was really elevated here. (2/5)

"Bad News" Barrett cuts another promo antagonizing the fans. We then go to the night's panel - The Miz, Mark Henry, and Rey Mysterio. They give their predictions for the night's Elimination Chamber match with all three in agreement that we will see a new champion crowned because Randy Orton has been on a cold streak.

The Shield took on The Wyatt Family in the next match, a battle that has been widely hailed as one of the best matches the WWE has produced in the past 20 years. I'm not sure I'd go quite as high on it...but I do think the context of the match is a bit lost on me. Watching this a decade (or close it) later, much of the mystique has dissipated. Beside the fact that two-out-of-six of the participants suffered tragic deaths, something that is hard not to think about, there is still a lingering sense that this match - a match that was supposed to be the genesis of years and years of great storylines built around both teams - ends up being arguably the peak of the Wyatt Family and the beginning of the end for the Shield. Though I do think The Shield's war with Evolution yielded some unbelievably great matches (in fact, I actually prefer their match at Extreme Rules 2014 more than this), I was not a fan of any subsequent reunion or the various other feuds and matches they had with one another in the years that followed. But, even ignoring these things, its also hard to appreciate this match for how action-packed and exciting it was when, in the years that followed, the WWE would go on to have multiple outstanding multi-man matches and AEW's use of six-man tags would push things even further. This match has an undeniably awesome atmosphere, the work is uniformly great and there are multiple elements that stand out - Rollins getting double-chokeslammed through a table is a fantastic spot, there's some great powerhouse stuff from Roman and Rowan, Bray Wyatt and Dean Ambrose's character work - but I do think this match was a bit overrated at the time just because, compared to what else was on this card, it stood out as special. Had I reviewed it at the time, I might've gone a bit higher, but in 2023, I'm only going with 4 stars. (4/5)

AJ Lee was supposed to defend her WWE Divas Champion against Natalya (I think? I forget), but defended it against Cameron of the Funkadactyls instead. Classic WWE there as Cameron was the more "conventional" beauty (read: lighter skinned and less curvy) but was seemingly less driven and less athletic than her fellow Funkadactly, Naomi, who ended up being a Women's Champion and having a very well-received run in TNA/Impact Wrestling. Anyway, this is about what you'd expect for a sub-4 minute match featuring a relatively untrained challenger going up against AJ Lee, who was good for her era but certainly not an all-time great or anything, and probably not even in the top 50 of any era if we included international talent. Tamina Snuka, who looks only a hair more coordinated than Cameron. This would've been worse if it would've went longer, but the placement of this match on the show tells you all you need to know about how much confidence the WWE had in their women's division at this point. A point awarded for Cameron's charisma (she may not have been a mat technician, but she did exude a good babyface personality) and AJ doing what she does to the best of her ability. (1/5)

Next up - Batista's singles return against Alberto Del Rio. This was an absolute mess from start to finish. Batista had returned at the Royal Rumble but had been met with a much more lukewarm reaction than anticipated as the crowd was fully behind Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson) and simply didn't want anyone else as the top babyface of the company at the time, even John Cena. Meanwhile, Del Rio was a bit of a lukewarm heel at this point. He'd been thoroughly vanquished by Cena in two consecutive PPVs and his title reign prior to that was flat so he was coming into this zero momentum. To try to get heat, Del Rio comes out in a neck brace and a cast and Jerry Lawler and pretends to be injured so he can sneak attack Batista. Jerry Lawler notes on commentary that he did the same trick on Bret Hart years earlier. He means 20 years earlier and while it was goofy then, the WWE product was goofier in general and Bret Hart was a beloved babyface and Jerry Lawler was a despised heel. In 2014, the WWE's main event scene was way more serious and had been more serious for decades, Batista was not over as a babyface, and Del Rio was getting "go away heat" and clearly unmotivated. And so, watching Del Rio dominate Batista through treachery doesn't garner boos, it gets mildly cheered while a segment of the audience alternates between chanting "Bootista" and "CM Punk" (also "Y2J" at one point). When Batista does make his comeback, its not very riveting because of how predictable it all is (the big transition is Del Rio running his shoulder into the post, which was just about the most overused momentum-flipper in history in 2014 and is even moreso 10 years later). This match goes 7 minutes but feels like 14 when it should've gone maybe 3-4 and felt like 2. The shits. (0/5)

Main event time - Randy Orton defending his WWE Championship against John Cena, Cesaro, Sheamus, Daniel Bryan, and Christian in the Elimination Chamber. Cesaro and Sheamus started things off, these two showing off their undeniable chemistry. I don't recall if it was later this year or the following year that they'd end up having a series of big matches against eachother...Anyway, Daniel Bryan comes in third and is clearly the fan favorite. Bryan is selling a shoulder injury caused by Kane but he still gets to show off his toughness, speed, and ridiculously stiff kicks. Again, the chemistry with both Sheamus and Cesaro is on full display and its a shame that Bryan's eventual WWE Championship run was cut short by injury because both guys would've made strong TV opponents for Bryan later in the spring/summer (it is believed by most that the plan was for Bryan to drop the title to Lesnar at SummerSlam). Christian comes in at four and, kinda like Sheamus, his role in this match seemed to be to serve as "the glue" more than actually getting much spotlight for himself (which seems reserved for Bryan and, to a lesser degree, Cesaro). Things really pick up when Cena comes in as its clear now that we're headed towards some eliminations...though its not clear who and how will be the first to eat a pin. The best spot of the match might be soon upon Orton's entrance, though, as the heel hides in his cell and mocks Sheamus until the Celtic Warrior hits a nasty Brogue Kick through the cell wall. Its not pretty, but that's kind of the point. With everyone in the ring, we got a whole bunch of cool cut-offs and exchanges, including Cesaro doing the Swing to Orton, Christian eliminating Sheamus with a frog splash only to get struck with Bryan's flying knee to finish him off, and Cesaro managing to lift Cena and Bryan at the same time for a suplex. After Cesaro was finally finished off (after an impressive 30+ minutes in the ring), it was down to three and we got our first controversial finish as the Wyatts showed up and beat up on Cena (and Bryan to a lesser degree). The live crowd loved this and it was a nice way to build towards the Wyatt/Cena match that would take place at WrestleMania XXX. With all the drama going on, Kane also ended up in the pod, though his involvement in the final minutes was a little bit less well-received. If I'm not mistaken, the conventional wisdom at the time was that Bryan would somehow leave the Chamber with the title - but that Orton, through a rematch clause, would then insert himself into the Mania event to make it a 3-way with Batista. There were also many, many people who just thought the WWE was going to keep Bryan out of the main event of Mania altogether - myself included at times. Kane screwing Bryan out of a victory here seemed to point in that direction (and potentially a Kane/Bryan match at Mania that absolutely nobody wanted to see), which may help explain why the crowd was so disappointed with this chapter of the story. All in all, this was one of the better PG-versions of an Elimination Chamber, especially up to this point, but I think it has been surpassed more recently as the WWE got better and better and the wrestlers pushed the envelope more and more. (3.5/5)

I wouldn't call this a "one-match show" as the main event has some great moments and the opener is strong, but Elimination Chamber 2014 is mostly remembered for the epic Shield/Wyatt match and, unfortunately for the WWE, two horrible booking decisions (the finish to the Chamber match and everything that went into Batista's return). The Cameron/AJ Lee match and the aforementioned Batista bout are among the worst matches the company had put on in the 2010s and the Titus/Young and Tag Titles matches aren't all that much better. With a Kwang Score of 2.14-out-of-5, but at least one match that is arguably one of the top 5 best WWE six-mans of all time, this earns a.

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

ECW Massacre on 34th Street

ECW Massacre on 34th Street

December 2000 - New York, NY

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the ECW World Champion was Steve Corino, the World Tag Team Champions were the FBI (Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke), and the ECW Television Champion was Rhyno. 

The show kicks off with your typical ECW stuff - a backstage promo from ECW World Champion Steve Corino and then an in-ring segment featuring Joey Styles and Joel Gertner - before we get a tag team match pitting Joey Matthews and Christian York against the heel tandem of Simon Diamond and Swinger. Before the match, Dawn Marie shows up and announces that she will agree to manage whoever wins the match. That was a nice way to give this match some extra "pep" and some stakes, even if it reeked of lazy sexist/misogynistic booking whereby we, the audience, are meant to believe that female managers are automatic sex partners for whoever they manage? Anyway, these teams have good chemistry, put in a ton of effort, keep the pace brisk, and deliver a bunch of great tag team maneuvers and high-impact moves. The match and the teams involved are a bit too irrelevant - even in the context of ECW in 2000 - for this to be considered "must see," but it is above-average and a hot match to start the show. After the match, Dawn Marie (shockingly) doesn't join up with the babyfaces, but aligns herself with the heels. (3/5)

EZ Money vs. Balls Mahoney follows a promo from Rhyno. I wasn't expecting much of this, but Balls brought the goods, this match being much of a straight-up wrestling match than I thought it'd be. As Styles always notes on commentary, for a guy known for delivering chairshots and wild brawls, Mahoney could wrestle with the best of em' too (or at least the best of ECW's roster). I liked how Hot Commodity (EZ Money's stable with Elektra, Chris Hamrick, and Julio Dinero) all got involved and that it took a team effort to defeat Mahoney. Again, nothing I'd consider "must see," but an above-average match that exceeded my admittedly somewhat low expectations. (3/5)

Mahoney getting screwed leads to an impromptu match as Nova makes the save and then finds himself wrestling Julio Dinero. This might've been Nova's peak in terms of overness as the crowd was fully behind him and his always-innovative offense. This wasn't as good as either of the matches that came before it, but it was also an "impromptu" bout and didn't get as much time as either other bout. For what it was, it was fine. (2.5/5)

Next up - the ECW World Tag Team Champions Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke defend their titles against Danny Doring and Roadkill. The story coming into this match was that Doring and Roadkill were rumored to be leaving the company (personally, I don't remember anything about that) and promised that, if they did not win the titles, they would split up forever - which played into the rumors. I really liked the visual of seeing Roadkill standing up and being dwarfed by Big Sal Graziano, which is no small feat. Doring and Guido started things out for their respective teams, the Sicilian Shooter and the Dastardly One trading holds and showing off their respectable technical skills before making the tag to their partners. Mamaluke used his speed and agility to take the fight to Roadkill, but Roadkill was able to cut him off using his size advantage, eventually planting him into the ring with a sidewalk slam (affectionally dubbed the "Dirt Road Slam" by Styles). Out to the floor they went, where Roadkill and Sal did a bit of brawling before Mamaluke came flying out of the ring. Back in the ring, the heels took over, cutting the ring in half and working on Doring. Roadkill got the hot tag and took out both members of the FBI, powerbombing Tony Mamaluke before delivering an awesome springboard splash onto Big Sal on the outside. Doring looked to hit something off the top rope but Guido cut him off. Doring eventually brought Mamaluke down with some sort of fireman's carry-type move that look horrendous and drew a "That Move Sucked" chant. Doring looked to go for a pedigree but got smashed in the head by a title belt shot from Guido. Roadkill came back in but got caught in a double team submission. Doring made the save, superkicking Mamaluke off the apron and over the guardrail in a tremendous spot. That looked like it might've killed him. Roadkill caught Guido and hoisted him up for Doring to hit his legdrop and we got new tag champs! The crowd was really into Doring and Roadkill's victory. This wasn't perfect as there were a few questionable/"botchy" moments, but this was still really, really good and felt like a big moment, which was very rare for ECW at this time. Not quite "must see" or "should see," but I could see the argument for it. (3.5/5)

CW Anderson took on Tommy Dreamer in what was billed as an "old school grudge match" on commentary. Anderson spit in Dreamer's face before the match, which was a good set-up for the fight that followed. Dreamer was mega over with the Manhattan Center crowd (no surprise there). Anderson was a good opponent for Dreamer as he was a solid overall worker - sells well, offense looks impactful, knows how to tell put a match together. Dreamer is not a guy I rate very highly, but Anderson is a much better worker than I thought he was. I really liked the viciousness of CW's attack on the outside, targeting Dreamer's shoulder with assistance from a chair. Dreamer gets busted open and they fight their way into the crowd. Dreamer goes for a suplex on the floor, but Anderson counters it and then drags Dreamer back towards the ring. The Innovator of Violence retakes control briefly before Anderson cuts him off by attacking the shoulder again. Anderson applies an armbar but Dreamer reaches the ropes. CW continues to work on Dreamer's arm and puts a chair into the corner. Dreamer whips him into it and both men are suffering. CW looks to hit a bulldog onto a chair, but Dreamer counters it into an atomic drop and then launches himself off the second rope for an elbow drop. Dreamer uses the ring boy's towel to pull CW's face along the top rope in a bit of a goofy spot. CW then drags the ring boy himself into the ring and whips him into Dreamer. CW comes charging but the ring boy gets his feet up! Dreamer hits a Tornado DDT but only gets 2! I'm not a huge fan of the goofiness there (especially considering how intense and good this match was), but the crowd loved it. Lou E. Dangerously gets involved and Anderson hits a DDT. This brings out Paul E. Dangerously, who cracks Lou E. with a cell phone. Dreamer hits a Spiccoli Driver and this one is --- not over! Only a 2 count for that. Wow. Good false finish there. The match continues and CW hits a suplex before grabbing a chair. Anderson stacks up the chairs and goes charging into the corner, but crotches himself on the 2nd buckle. Dreamer hoists CW up onto the post and has him in a Tree of Woe. Dreamer places the chairs in front of CW's head and hits a running dropkick! That looked wicked. Dreamer hits a piledriver but doesn't go for the cover for some reason, opting instead to grab a table. He slides the table into the ring and hits Anderson with a sidewalk slam onto it. Anderson gets up and tosses a chair into Dreamer's skull. Didn't like the no-selling there. Anderson hits a superplex off the top rope onto th table but only gets 2. Anderson grabs another table and puts it into the corner. Dreamer hits a big neckbreaker to cut him off, though, and then sets up the table with the legs pointing outward. Dreamer looks to slam CW onto it, but CW reverses his momentum and ends up driving Dreamer onto the underside of the table! I must admit to not having seen that before. Anderson makes the cover and gets the victory, a bit of a shocker considering how established Dreamer was as a top guy in ECW. Like the previous bout, this never reached the level of being "must see," but it was very good and maybe even a career match for Tommy Dreamer. I wasn't a big fan of all the shenanigans that took place as these two didn't really need it. At the same time, I did enjoy the escalation of violence for the final third of the match and absolutely loved the finish. (3.5/5)

Rhyno defended his ECW Television Championship against Spike Dudley in the next match. This one was never going to be a lengthy battle of technical prowess, but that's not the point - sometimes you just want to see two guys bust out all their signature stuff, throw in a ton of high-risk and high impact weapon spots, and keep the violence coming. I really like how Spike brought the fight to Rhyno right from the start, trying to use his quickness and ingenuity to cut the big man's legs out and prevent him from hitting the Gore. The Manbeast is simply too tough, though, and when he dominates, he absolutely punishes his undersized opponent. There were some really cool moments throughout this contest including a ridiculous balcony dive from Spike Dudley that looks like it could've ended very, very badly. I'm a bit surprised that this match isn't really talked about as anything special as I found it to be a solid 10-minute match that served both characters/performers well. (3.5/5)

Mikey Whipreck and Tajiri took on Super Crazy and a mystery opponent - Kid Kash - in the next bout. These four have tremendous chemistry and, while I'm sure ECW fans at the time might have been a bit tired of seeing these guys work together, watching this match in isolation offers plenty of evidence of why Paul Heyman would book them in so, so, so many matches together. Tajiri and Whipwreck's double-team maneuvers are insanely good, though I don't think their "odd couple" alignment made enough sense outside of the ECW bubble for WCW or, more realistically, WWE to ever bring them in. That's a shame too because they were awesome. The teams get plenty of time - close to 20 minutes - and do a great job of escalating the violence and throwing in every high spot imaginable. Not everything is executed perfectly and there are some moments of glaringly obvious cooperation, but not enough to keep this from feeling like a competitive, physical battle and a hell of an entertaining match. The finish was terrific too as double stomps off the top rope (assisted by tables and chairs) were ultra rare back then, even in ECW. (4/5)

Main event time - Steve Corino defending his ECW World Championship against Jerry Lynn and Justin Credible in a 3-Way Dance. One month prior, Corino had won the title in a similar-style match - Double Jeopardy - which also involved The Sandman. I criticized that match for ending with a heel/heel final, noting that the booking seemed like it only got Corino halfway to being a fan favorite by not doing enough to make him sympathetic or to make Credible look like the corner-cutting cheat he should've been. Here, the match's layout puts even more of an emphasis on Corino's toughness, but makes the same mistake again. Credible grabs the microphone at one point and berates his opponents as he beats them down - a move that reeks of being straight-up lifted from a much more charismatic and over performer (The Rock). Francine is involved in the finish and ends up eating a great superkick out of Credible but while this might've worked to put more heat on Credible, Francine was so loathed that its more of a "just desserts" thing than a spot that makes us hate Credible more. He basically beats Lynn clean with the That's Incredible and we're back to what was once again basically a heel vs. slightly lesser heel match. The crowd chants for The Sandman, which is a shame because Corino was such a great worker at this time. Really, his bumping and selling throughout this match is so good that it's a shame that so much of the story and spotlight seemed to be built around Credible, the least over and least interesting worker of the three. In hindsight, it would've been cool if they had run this as just Lynn vs. Corino and seen what the fan reactions were. I'm guessing Lynn would've had more support initially...but Corino had a way of really getting the crowd behind him by the end of his matches as he took crazy punishment and kept fighting. The biggest spot of the match is ruined by poor camerawork as Credible and Corino make their way up to the balcony and Corino hangs off of it, only to get blasted by repeated cane shots that send him to the floor. We don't see him land (or what he landed on or how he landed), which is a shame because better footage would've probably made it a more memorable moment. Then they make their way back to the ring and Corino counters something to hit his finish for the win. Not a fitting ending for what was, at times, a serious, violent brawl. Your average ECW main event in that all three guys worked hard but the booking was highly questionable and things might've been better with a more simple set-up. (2.5/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.19-out-of-5, this may be the best overall ECW pay-per-view of all time despite happening near the very end of the company. Few would consider ECW's 2001 roster to be the best in the company's history, but a show like this proves that there was still enough talent in the locker room to put on a great show from beginning to end. Doring and Roadkill had come into their own as a babyface tag team. Tajiri could still be counted on to put on great matches. Steve Corino was awesome. CW Anderson had stepped up. While not the highest rated ECW pay-per-view on this site - that honor goes to Hardcore Heaven 99' - there is plenty to enjoy on this show, a late-era, slept-on delight that offers a little bit of everything that made ECW great, from hardcore brawling to lucha-style high-flying to old school wrestling anarchy.

FINAL RATING - Watch It

NWA TNA: Against All Odds 2007

TNA Against All Odds 2007

February 2007 - Orlando, FL

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the NWA World Heavyweight Champion was Christian Cage, the NWA World Tag Team Champions were the LAX (Homicide and Hernandez), and the X-Division Champion was Chris Sabin.

Against All Odds 2007 begins with a video hyping the then-current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Christian Cage. Its a cool opening video built around his nickname as "The Instant Classic." Unfortunately, things grown to a near-immediate halt as our opening contest is The LAX vs. The Dudley Boys in a "Little Italy Streetfight." There's probably more than a dozen things wrong with this match but I'll just rattle off a few of them: the Impact Zone was in Orlando and the closest "Little Italy" that I could find in the state was Fort Lauderdale some 200 miles away, nobody in this match was ever really depicted as Italian (while Bubba Ray is Italian, he was famously billed from Dudleyville and his Italian heritage didn't come up a single time in the dozen years he'd been wrestling for national promotions as far as I recall), there is no such thing as a "Little Italy" streetfight (and I don't think they ever did one again), it is inexplicably a non-title affair, and there are strippers hanging around outside the ring because....? On commentary, Mike Tenay does explain that this match has come about because these two teams have brawling in all sorts of locales, including a strip club, but that still doesn't explain why this match has such a ludicrously corny gimmick that buries both teams with its cartoonishness. At one point, the strippers grind on Bubba, which spits in the face of the seriousness and the intensity. But even if you ignored that, this is not a good brawl and the interference of a 4 randos in the middle of the match doesn't help either. D-Von bleeds a gusher to give the appearance that this a wild and dangerous melee, but there's nothing creative or interesting that happens at any point (even the pizza cutter and cheese grater spots are too overtly tame, a page lifted out of New Jack's playbook but without the commitment to actually stepping into true death match territory). (1.5/5)

After sharing his thoughts backstage and nearly coming to blows, Austin Starr (aka Austin Aries) takes on Senshi. By this point in his TNA run, Senshi (Low Ki) was no longer getting a major push as a serious character, though the commentary team did try to build him up. Still, it was clear that his run as a martial artist bad-ass hadn't clicked and that he would've needed a series of big, definitive wins to get him there. This is not that. At 10 minutes, they have a good amount of time to tell a story and there are good exchanges, but this match needed more "sizzle" - if I can make a lame pun, some stakes would've helped - beyond the predictable arrival of Bob Backlund during the post-match. The finish is a bit awkward; designed to protect Starr in a loss by making it seem like he might've actually won the match, it seems pretty clear to my eyes that the final 3 count occurred when Senshi was on top (with his shoulders really only touching the mat for maybe half of the count). Not bad, but not something worth seeking out for even the biggest Aries or Low Ki fan. (2/5)

The next match is absurd as Christy Hemme takes on The Big Oily Naked Guy. Kinda like the Little Italy Street Fight, there's more than a couple things wrong with this: Christy Hemme is fighting for equality but her sole emotion is anger (which sort of makes her come off as a buzzkilling heel), the Big Oily Naked Guy is big and naked by the end of the match but doesn't seem to have any oil on, the original intention of introducing the Big Oily Naked Guy was to make fun of the WWE for presenting such a character on their TV but then TNA used their parody character for MONTHS and had him wrestle on a pay per view, and the match is fought under Tuxedo Strip rules because...? As one might expect, this is horrible, unfunny, and Don West goes crazy at the "upskirt" shots the camera man gets. I really hope he was coached to be a perv - ala Jerry Lawler - and that he actually isn't that guy. After the match, Kip James (Billy Gunn) shows up and teases that he's going to strip only to (surprise * surprise) rip of Hemme's shirt. There is nothing redeeming about this. (0/5)

Oh...between a bunch of these matches, we get some Paparazzi Productions stuff as Alex Shelley shares a "sex tape" of Traci Brooks and Eric Young that he secretly filmed. I don't really know all the details, but the only thing funny about any of these segments is Alex Shelley making random Blondie jokes in reference to one of TNA's interviewers (who I don't know the name of)...

Back to the ring we go for Lance Archer vs. Dale Torborg. A pre-match video explains how this feud started, as it was built around TNA having MLB stars AJ Pierzynski, Johnny Damon, and David Eckstein. I guess if you were a baseball superfan, their involvement would've made for an interesting story, but this didn't interest me at all. Johnny Damon is the only one of the three I'd ever heard of (though a cursory glance at Wikipedia reveals that these other guys were no slouches in their prime either) and he doesn't appear on PPV. Torborg was formerly the KISS Demon in WCW, as Mike Tenay notes on commentary, which basically tells you how good of an in-ring competitor he is. Lance Archer had not yet become the big, stiff, hardcore brawler he is now 16 years later, though he does move well for his size and I'm not surprised the WWE came calling not long after this (though his run in WWE was not very successful). This wasn't as bad as what came before it, but it wasn't very good either and certainly not worth paying for. (1/5)

After another Paparazzi Productions segment, its back to the ring for AJ Styles vs. Rhyno in a Motor City Chain Match. Again, Orlando is nowhere near Detroit, but at least Detroit is Rhyno's hometown so this was essentially "his" gimmick match. There are two poles on opposite sides of the ring, one holding a police baton and the other holding a key to unlock the handcuffs that are keeping these guys chained to each other. Yup, its overbooked nonsense when just a plain ol' chain match would've been much better. AJ Styles was so good, even back then, that this match is still the best thing that has happened on the program up to this point by at least a couple hundred miles. I've seen enough good Rhyno matches to appreciate what the Man Beast can do and he and AJ have good chemistry - but I daresay that whoever was the agent or whoever helped them breakdown this match or put it together (or if it was AJ and Rhyno doing it themselves), they threw too many disparate ideas and elements into a match that just needed to be violent and built around the stipulation. The false finish where referee Earl Hebner decides to help Rhyno just because AJ is kind of a prick? Unearned. The inclusion of a police baton? Unnecessary. The best moments of this match revolve around the chain, AJ's athleticism, and Rhyno's explosive Gore. The fact that the chain is discarded entirely by the end of the match felt like a lost opportunity to really explore all the different ways they could incorporate that element to build to a deserving, clean finish. Not bad, but not as good as it could've and should've been. (3/5)

Chris Sabin defends the X-Division Championship against former mentor Jerry Lynn in the next contest. There's good work throughout this and Sabin does some good character work as a detestable heel, but some of his shtick is just too hammy and generic. Lynn, meanwhile, is his usual self for better and worse. On one hand, Lynn is as crisp, fluid, and technically skilled as ever. On the other hand, there's a reason his best work often came from working with guys that could make up for his lack of natural charisma. At 13 minutes, they have plenty of time to showcase their agility and, again, the work itself is uniformly well-executed and delivered with gusto, but I just found the whole thing unremarkable and hoping that there would eventually be some sort of twist to bring the match to a higher gear. (2.5/5)

The next match pits James Storm and Jacqueline vs. Gail Kim and Petey Williams. Williams was/is a very good worker, a guy that, the more I see of him, am convinced that he would've been a relatively bigger star had he come around 10 years later when his size wouldn't have been such a hindrance and the "super junior" style became much more common in the WWE (and, now, AEW). James Storm, on the other hand, is a guy who I still haven't seen "the best of" yet and am not sure I ever will, though I'll readily admit that I haven't really done a huge dive into early TNA or the Beer Money years or anything more recent. Anyway, this is about what one would expect from a mixed tag team match built around personality conflicts and not necessarily a great blend of talent. Williams does his thing - which is fun and impressive - but it doesn't really mesh well with Storm's more "old school" style and the same can be said of Kim and Jacqueline. Chris Harris makes his return, still sporting an eye patch, during the post-match, running off the heels. At under 10 minutes, this doesn't overstay its welcome, but its still sub-par. (2/5)

Bobby Roode and Traci Brooks make their way down the aisle and announce their newest "acquisition" as part of Bobby Roode Inc.: Eric Young. This is a solid segment and the crowd is definitely behind Young as an underdog, nerdy babyface who is being bullied by Roode. Not good enough to warrant a +1 point or anything, but perfectly fine 'rasslin' stuff.

Sting vs. Abyss in a Prison Rules match follows. The storyline leading into this match was over-the-top and ridiculous, but I liked that it was a bit of a throwback to some of Sting's goofier storylines in WCW (the feud with Abdullah the Butcher, the angle with Robocop, even the Vampiro stuff). While I have a soft spot for this sort of stuff, I still wouldn't call this match good. There's only a couple memorable spots - Abyss smashing a siren light over Sting's head, Sting launching himself off a dumpster onto Abyss through a table - but the rest felt sort of cookie cutter, which is maybe a bit unfair but, well, Abyss had done a fair amount of matches that were even more hardcore and violent, so this came off as underwhelming comparatively. I also didn't like the stupidity of Sting spending so much time going after James Mitchell and leaving himself vulnerable to Abyss's attack. A veteran worker like Sting just shouldn't be ignoring a monster like Abyss to get revenge on a manager until he knew Abyss was fully incapacitated or locked in the cage. Not terrible and maybe about as good as one could've hoped, but nothing worth seeking out. (2.5/5)

Main event time - Kurt Angle challenging Christian for his NWA World Heavyweight Championship with Samoa Joe serving as the Special Guest Ring Enforcer. For some reason, Samoa Joe isn't ringside at the start of the match, which makes no sense. Also not ringside? Scott Steiner - the guy who had played a big role in the build-up to the match and was Christian's hand-picked equalizer. Anyway, this was overbooked and featured multiple ref bumps and interference from not only the aforementioned Joe and Steiner but also AJ Styles and Tyson Tomko. This felt like a "WWE style main event," which could be expected considering Christian and Angle's history, but I kinda wish they had opted to do something really wild and, y'know, just have a straight-up great match with lots of counters and cut-offs and technicality (something more akin to the matches that Christian had with Orton years later). I liked Samoa Joe's work as the enforcer (when he did eventually show up) as he didn't intervene too much and didn't take much of the spotlight, but he was also pretty ineffective from a kayfabe perspective if you consider that Christian was still able to have three different cronies interfere on his behalf (not to mention the two ref bumps again). This was a disappointment, but it wasn't terrible - just average. (2.5/5)

Earning a Kwang Score of 1.89-out-of-5, this show had few bright spots and only a single match of nine could potentially be considered above-average (the AJ Styles/Rhyno match). Meanwhile, matches like Torberg/Archer and the absolutely awful Christy Hemme match are actively bad and should be avoided at all costs. As bad as the worst pay-per-views I've reviewed in close to a decade now.

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville

ECW November to Remember 2000

ECW November to Remember 2000

Chicago, IL - November 2000

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the ECW World Champion was Jerry Lynn, the ECW Television Champion was Rhyno, and the Full Blooded Italians - Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke - were the ECW Tag Team Champions.

The final ECW November to Remember kicks off with some hype from tonight's participants in the first-ever "Double Jeopardy" match (or matches?) and then the usual pre-match shtick from Joey Styles and Joel Gertner, who get interrupted by Simon Diamond. Diamond complains about not getting credit for taking out Tommy Dreamer - which, unsurprisingly, leads to Dreamer coming out and going after Diamond. This brings out Diamond's buddy Johnny Swinger and then the guys that Diamond and Swinger fought at the last pay-per-view - Christian York and Joey Matthews. This "match" goes lightning fast with very little back and forth, though I did like the amount of double-team moves on display. Overall, though, a pretty unremarkable opener and a bit of a waste of Tommy Dreamer, whose appearance could barely even qualify as a "cameo." (1.5/5)

The previous match morphs into CW Anderson vs. Kid Kash. Kash was very over with the ECW audience that was still around in 2000. Having now seen quite a few CW Anderson matches, I've gotta say, this guy improved a ton in a short period of time and was unjustly underrated by me initially. His offense looks great and he's a great foil against the high-flying Kash in this match. Plus, they pull off a stalling vertical superplex! I wouldn't call this a hidden gem because its not a "must see," but it is more than solid because Kash and Anderson have great chemistry and the crowd is into things much more than they may have been 6-8 months earlier when these guys were less established. (3/5)

A six-man tag match follows as Chris Hamrick, EZ Money, and Julio Dinero (with Electra) take on Danny Doring, Roadkill, and....Spike Dudley! Hamrick stands out as the best heel of the bunch and Spike Dudley is mega over with the Chicago crowd. Some of the spots were a bit contrived, but hey, that's not a bad thing when you have a match like this that is basically just organized chaos. Slightly above-average match. (3/5)

Before the match begins, Chris Chetti and his manager Lou E. Dangerously come out and Chetti announces that his bout with former tag partner Nova will now have a "Loser Leaves ECW" stipulation attached. I really liked how "personal" this match was, especially at its start, as Nova and Chetti brought the physicality and really got over the intensity of their rivalry. Nova was known for his innovative offense and there are some terrific spots in this match, though I'm not a fan of his Venom-inspired ring gear. I guess the rumor was that Chetti was headed to the WWE, but I couldn't find any actual evidence beyond someone mentioning in a review of this show that Meltzer reported it in the Observer. This one sort of fizzles out by the end, but I'd still consider slightly above average. (3/5)

After a crazy promo from New Jack, its time for a Flaming Tables match pitting Da Baldiez against Balls Mahoney and Chilly Willy. This is the sort of wild brawl that ECW built its reputation on, only its nearly impossible to see most of the action that happens in the crowd and, by 2000, there was nothing new to see here and the talent involved was far less interesting (aside from the only true "ECW original" in the match, Mahoney). There are stiff chair shots galore and I liked Angel delivering a powerbomb to Willy through a pair of chairs in the aisleway. This one ends with Mahoney putting Angel through a flaming table with a powerbomb. All in all, this isn't my sort of match, but I've seen worse and more boring brawls. (2.5/5)

Rhyno defended his ECW Television Championship against New Jack in the next bout. This is about what I expected - which is unfortunate because the mental bar I set was pretty low and Rhyno and New Jack couldn't surpass it. Rhyno can be a good-to-very good (I'm not sure I'd go as far as to say "great" based on what I've seen from him), but New Jack's one-note shtick had really become played out by 2000 and Rhyno, while certainly capable of getting as hardcore as anyone, didn't bring out anything new or exciting from the Original Gangsta. 3 years earlier, New Jack was part of a wild brawl that I gave 3.5 points to, but this was way less inspired and felt much less "dangerous," which is really the only thing that New Jack often brought to his matches. With all the silly weapons, he had almost become the Carrot Top of hardcore wrestling by this point when, years earlier, he exuded an undeniable amount of menace. (1.5/5)

Thankfully, the next match actually delivers the kind of wild-and-crazy chaos and hard-hitting action that the previous didn't as Little Guido and Tony Mamaluke defend the ECW World Tag Team Championships against Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck. When he was "on," Mikey Whipwreck was a very fun worker to watch, Tajiri and Guido might be the most underrated and underappreciated acts in ECW history, and while Tony Mamaluke wasn't a phenom, he was a capable tag worker and had the speed and agility to keep up with the other three. I loved the combo work of Tajiri and Whipwreck, but found Whipwreck's phony injury a bit of an unnecessary swerve and, based on the crowd response, not much of a "swerve" because almost instantly after Whipwreck is helped to the back, the crowd begins chanting for Super Crazy. After withstanding a bit of a 2-on-1 beatdown, Super Crazy makes his arrival and the match gets even better as he was mega over with the crowd and his offense looks (mostly) fantastic. Super Crazy eventually hits a moonsault off the balcony, which gets a huge response (as expected), but it also ends up costing his team the match because Tajiri is left alone in the ring and has to deal with both members of the FBI. I enjoyed this match quite a bit more than anything else on the card up to this point. (3.5/5)

Backstage, porn star Jasmin St. Claire and The Blue Meanie (her real-life boyfriend somehow) are in a shower together plugging ECW's website. At this point, Meanie had lost a ton of weight and was looking pretty svelte.

Main event time - the Double Jeopardy match: Steve Corino vs. The Sandman and Jerry Lynn vs. Justin Credible happening at the same time with the winners competing for the ECW World Championship. Jerry Lynn came into the match as the ECW World Champion and starts the match essentially fighting on a 2-on-1 battle against the heels, though Corino and Credible end up brawling too. I like the realism in that but I don't always seek that out in wrestling, especially in ECW, where way too often there were matches that lacked a real structure and "through-line." The Sandman eventually shows up and does his extended introduction, which pops the crowd but serves no purpose in the context of the match. Again, for The Sandman's character and for his motivation, it would make total sense to not really care all that much as Jerry Lynn got beaten down in the ring - I mean, a beaten-up Lynn would only help The Sandman win his fourth ECW World Championship - but, in terms of storytelling, I kinda wish The Sandman had come in and started cleaning house, taking out the heels before bashing Lynn in the skull too. Anyway...from a wrestling perspective, Lynn doesn't really get the opportunity to shine much because this match is mostly a brawl, while Steve Corino stands out for his bumping and selling. Really, at this point, Corino might have been ECW's best overall character and worker and - spoiler alert - totally deserved to win the title here. Speaking of Corino, he and Credible defeat their respective opponents simultaneously, which (I'm guessing) was designed to push Corino even further into babyface territory as he had become somewhat popular over the previous months by proving his toughness in some brutal matches against Tajiri, Dusty Rhodes, and others. The crowd isn't fully behind Corino, though, and there are a ton of boos when the match becomes "heel vs. heel" (not a surprise there), though the crowd does cheer for Corino a bit more when Dawn Marie turns on him. I understand the booking here...but I'm not sure the execution was as strong as it could've/would've been if the Dawn Marie turn would've happened earlier and Credible had done more to "screw" Jerry Lynn rather than pinning him relatively cleanly (the extra heat on Credible would've helped Corino garner even more support going into the final minutes). All in all, I found this to be as messy as I suspected it would. (2/5)

For ECW, the writing was certainly on the wall by this point. Having lost their television deal (the WWE was in the process of jumping from USA to TNN/Spike), ECW's new plan was supposedly to put on monthly pay-per-views until they could land on a new network. That being said, their other issue was a roster that lacked legitimate stars after multiple years of seeing their biggest names leave the company (Tazz, The Dudleys, Shane Douglas, Terry Funk, among others) and then, when a select few would return, they no longer had the "buzz" they once did (Raven and The Sandman). That's not to say ECW didn't have some great young talents on its roster - Tajiri and Steve Corino delivered great work at this time, Jerry Lynn could always be counted on to bring the goods from bell-to-bell, and the tag division was arguably better than it had ever been now that the company had moved on from the garbage brawling of The Dudleys and Gangstas and got back to its pro-wrestling roots with solid teams like the ever-improving Roadkill & Doring, Mamaluke and Guido as a more serious version of The Full-Blooded Italians, and relative newcomers York & Matthews. Still, this show is hard to recommend with only one match worth checking out and a Kwang Score of 2.5-out-of-5...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2013

WWE TLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs 2013

Houston, Texas - December 2013

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Randy Orton was the WWE Champion, John Cena was the World Heavyweight Champion, Big E was the Intercontinental Champion, the US Championship was still held by Dean Ambrose, AJ Lee was the Divas Champion, and the WWE Tag Team Champions were the Rhodes Brothers.

Our opening contest pitted CM Punk against all three members of The Shield in a handicap match. This match is somewhat notorious as it became one of the focal points of CM Punk's infamous post-WWE interview on former best friend Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast months later. According to Punk, Vince McMahon pitched the concept of the match to Punk as an effort to placate him at a time when he was noticeably peeved with the company (Punk thought the notion of him winning a 3-on-1 match against three guys who were getting a massive push was stupid) but also made sure to note that he wanted Roman Reigns to come out of the match looking particularly strong. Despite these somewhat contradictory marching orders, Punk and The Shield manage to make things work for the most part. An unconvincing "eye injury" keeps Reigns out of the match and essentially makes things 2-on-1 for the finishing stretch, which makes the pill of Punk beating three men single-handed easier to swallow. As other reviewers have said, this was about as good as a match like this could be as Punk had good chemistry with everyone and the crowd was very much behind him. The execution of the finish was well done too. (3/5)

Next up - AJ Lee defending the WWE Divas Championship against Natalya. This match was built up over several months and, compared to most women's matches of this era, was actually given a fair amount of time at 6+ minutes (in 2023, most women's titles matches go beyond 10). Unfortunately, this match just didn't click with me and certainly didn't wow the live crowd either. It was more hard-hitting and technical and "serious" than the type of matches that the WWE would routinely present from their women's division, but that doesn't necessarily make it very engaging or interesting to watch. This is the type of match that you want to exceed your expectations because both women are capable performers who were arguably among the best workers on the women's wrestlers on the roster at the time, but it doesn't quite get there for some reason. (2/5)

The Intercontinental Championship was on the line next as Big E defended against Damien Sandow. A rather generic match built from maybe the most generic transition in wrestling history (a guy shoulder-tackling the post), I have grown to really not like Damien Sandow - a guy who is maybe a nice dude and was pretty funny on I Think You Should Leave, but really underwhelms me once the bell rings. He has some natural charisma, but I find my mind wandering whenever I watch one of his matches, uninterested and often waiting for things to just wrap up. Maybe its the the thin "better than you" gimmick? The uninspired look? Meanwhile, while Big E would eventually become one of my favorites of the past decade, he's still inside his shell here a bit and had not yet connected all the dots to get himself over as a the lovable, fun powerhouse babyface that could get an entire arena behind him. I kinda wish this had been more of a squash and less of a back-and-forth match, but, at the time, I believe there was still some optimism about Sandow breaking out which is why it wasn't a dominant win for E. Nothing special here, but not totally offensive. (2/5)

The WWE Tag Team Championships were on the line as Goldust and Cody Rhodes defended the straps in a 4-way match against The Real Americans, Big Show & Rey Mysterio, and Rybaxel (Ryback & Curtis Axel). Unsurprisingly, Rybaxel got eliminated first and Goldust was the MVP of the match. Goldust might be one of the most underrated workers in wrestling history just because not enough people put him in the top 10 - but this guy's longevity, multiple successful gimmicks, and multiple "comebacks" are unparalleled. The Real Americans - particularly Cesaro - were actually over as babyfaces, more than likely because they had a cool catchphrase and the Cesaro Swing is a 100% babyface move. Overall, a good match, but not a great one. Mysterio and Show were a good pairing, but after being such a key figure in the Authority storyline, I'm not sure I understood why Big Show was seemingly right back on the midcard hamster wheel competing against the Rhodes Brothers who, if I remember correctly, he was in a very clear alliance with just a few weeks prior (in fact, didn't he help them beat The Shield for the titles and keep their jobs???). Not a ton to say about this match, just kinda there. (2.5/5)

R-Truth took on Brodus Clay in the next match. Clay was in the midst of a heel turn at this point, breaking off from the Funkadactyls and "Sweet T" (aka Lord Tensai, aka Matt Bloom with a hip-hop inspired moniker). R-Truth was backed up by Xavier Woods. This match went 6 minutes and they weren't good or interesting. Not much else to say about this aside from, in my research, I found that Brodus Clay completed his heel turn the next night on Raw and then basically lost to everyone he had been feuding with/involved with over the next several weeks. I'm guessing he appeared at the Rumble the next month, but I'm not 100% on that. 6 months later, he was out of the company after, based on his Wikipedia, a short stint in NXT where I'm guessing they were hoping to get him a bit smoother and more dynamic in the ring as, despite undeniable size and a unique look and even some charisma, he was just not fun or interesting to watch once the bell rang. (1/5)

The next match - Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz - was much better than the loud and audible "boring" chants would lead you to believe. These two brought the intensity and really tried to have a hard fought match, but The Miz was not appreciated at all at this time so the live crowd just wouldn't give him any sort of response. Kofi was even less over than The Miz, nowhere near as beloved as he would become when The New Day basically saved his (and Woods' and Big E's careers). Again, watch this match with the sound off and you are going to see some really good work - this felt like a real personal fight between two guys who genuinely hated each other - but the live audience shits all over it because they didn't buy into the animosity and intensity shown by the two characters, neither of whom were known for having that "second gear" yet. (2/5)

A second 3-on-1 match follows as Daniel Bryan takes on all three members of the Wyatt Family - Bray Wyatt, Luke Harper, and Erick Rowan. If the Punk/Shield match was worked smartly but maybe had the wrong ending, this one is arguably the best 3-on-1 handicap match I've ever seen. From beginning to end, Bryan takes the fight to the Wyatts, going after his much larger opponents with stiff kicks and explosive high-flying offense. He is a whirling dervish in the ring and the crowd is red hot for him. What pushes this past the Shield match from earlier is that the story, while simple, is much more effective as the juxtaposition of characters - the undersized underdog vs. the dark monsters - makes for a funner, more chaotic match. That chaos is particularly useful because, if the match were worked straight - like some of the Shield/Punk was - Bryan really wouldn't stand a chance. There are also some specifically cool moments as Bray Wyatt busts out the horror movie-inspired crab walk (which draws "That was creepy!" chants from the Houston crowd) and I loved Bryan's selling throughout and his plancha to the outside. This is just a great 12-minute match that furthered a story without sacrificing anyone's overness. (3.5/5)

Main event time - John Cena vs. Randy Orton in a WWE Championship/World Heavyweight Championship title unification fought under TLC rules. Cena and Orton have had a ton of matches over the years, but I'm not sure I've ever truly loved one. Their match at Bragging Rights 2009 - an Anything Goes Ironman Match - is often cited as their best and I only gave that a 3.5 on the Kwang Meter, while this match had a bit of reputation for being a bit cold due to the fact that, in 2013, there simply was no hotter babyface than Daniel Bryan and one could even argue that CM Punk was as over as Cena was. Meanwhile, Orton is...well, Orton. Orton has always been a crisp worker with great timing, a natural heel with innate charisma and a good sense of "old school pacing." However, this deliberate style - much like that of his mentor Triple H - doesn't always result in the most riveting matches and Orton, years later, became a much more exciting worker when he was allowed to cut loose a bit and have more fun, RKOing out of nowhere and playing to the crowd as a tweener/babyface that relishes in punishing his opponents as a cocky badass. He is not that Orton yet here and so the match doesn't feel like anything fresh. There are good spots throughout, but nothing as incredible as what Cena did with Edge 7-8 years earlier. Neither guy is known for their high-flying, so we don't get any crazy dives. The final spot of the match looks incredibly painful, but one suspects that Cena - who gets pulled off the top of a ladder and into a table shoulder-first - was meant to actually crash through the furniture, leaving it in splinters, rather than just taking a very awkward (and probably much more painful) landing. The crowd was into this match, but you can hear, especially early on, a smattering of "Daniel Bryan" chants coming through. The Houston crowd isn't dead or indifferent, but one does have to wonder if this match wouldn't be more well-regarded had it occurred at a time when there was more interest in these performers, both of whom were guys that some of the audience had undoubtedly tired of. (3/5)

I wouldn't call this a "notorious" show because, 10 years later, few remember it - but this was certainly a controversial show at the time as Daniel Bryan was the most popular guy on the roster, CM Punk wasn't far behind, and yet neither guy was being positioned at the top of the card. Meanwhile, Cena and Orton's popularity in large parts of the "IWC" had taken a serious hit as both veterans were seen as the "corporate choices" being pushed down the fans' throats. This was undeniably true and had been true since at least 2005, but by 2013, Cena and Orton really had accomplished all there was to accomplish in the company, their acts coming off as stale and staid in comparison to what Bryan and CM Punk had been doing for the past year. It is this huge grey cloud of fan cynicism that covers this otherwise solid show, keeping the main event from ever really working and making so many of the other matches seem inconsequential and safe. I mean, why bother investing in some of these characters and performers when, ultimately, Vince is going to promote lame acts like The Great Khali and Brodus Clay over guys like Ziggler or Evan Bourne or Heath Slater, guys who were on the main roster and capable of putting on much better matches than the aforementioned monsters. With a Kwang Score of 2.38-out-of-5, the 2013 edition of Tables, Ladders, and Chairs isn't a total slog - the 3-on-1 matches are surprisingly good-to-great, The Miz/Kofi match deserved a more enthusiastic reception, and the main event is fine - but the rest of the card is a bit dull. 

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

WWE Fastlane 2023

WWE Fastlane 2023

Indianapolis, Indiana - October 2023

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the WWE Universal Champion was Roman Reigns, the World Heavyweight Champion was Seth Rollins, the Intercontinental Champion was GUNTHER, the United States Champion was Rey Mysterio, the Judgment Day's Finn Balor and Damien Priest were the Unified Tag Team Champions, the SmackDown Women's Champion was IYO Sky, the RAW Women's Champion was Rhea Ripley, the Women's Tag Team Champions were Chelsea Green and Piper Niven. 

Fastlane 2023 opened up with a video package featuring Pat McAfee. Having not watched much of any of the WWE's weekly programming, I was a bit underwhelmed with the card. Nakamura and Rollins' match at last month's show was good - maybe even the best either man has had in awhile - but I didn't necessarily see how it could've led to a rematch here. Meanwhile, the Bloodline saga without Roman Reigns feels a bit like when Redd Foxx wasn't on Sanford and Son to me. 

Anyway, the in-ring festivities began with Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso challenging the WWE's Unified Tag Team Champions, Finn Balor and Damien Priest of the Judgment Day. With everyone getting big, lengthy introductions, this match didn't even get started until like the 10-12 minute mark of the show (which tended to also show what the WWE's plan was as far as filling out a show that only had 5 advertised matches). Balor and Priest dominated Main Event Jey early, cutting the ring in half and building the heat by preventing Cody Rhodes from making the tag. Cody eventually came in to a big reaction and landed an insane vertical superplex from the corner that looked absolutely devastating to both men. Jey Uso came back in and got the crowd chanting his name, landing a big splash off the top for 2. This match was worked a relatively slow pace with some lengthy breaks between the big spots, but everyone got a chance to shine and the crowd was with them from beginning to end. Rhea Ripley's presence late in the match spiced things up nicely, but the Damien Priest hurricanrana-into-Coup De Gras spot looked a bit awkward and choreographed. Cody made the save, which led to a 2-on-2 brawl. Priest went for a spingboard something and fell into an awkward superkick from Cody that looked ugly. Uso ate a briefcase to the face for a great false finish, so well executed that it made up for the clumsiness of the previous few minutes. Priest hit a sidewalk slam on the edge of the ring, but after McDonough inadvertently struck his stablemate with the briefcase, Rhodes hit his finish on Priest on the announce table. Uso came flying out of the ring soon, landing on Finn and McDonough. The faces continued their rally with a beautiful combo of a Superkick into an Uso-assisted Cody Cutter to win the titles in what I would consider something of a shocker. A really good match with a few sloppy moments, but, overall, plenty to enjoy and a great crowd-pleasing finish. (3.5/5)

After a commercial aired for this week's major NXT show - which will feature appearances from John Cena and Cody Rhodes (in an effort to counterprogram AEW's Tuesday night special) - the all-too-familiar sound of the Undertaker's gong went off. I'm guessing the Deadman is going to make some sort of appearance on the show, though I can't imagine why. I doubt the Phenom has any matches left in the tank, though a "cinematic" match like the one he had against AJ Styles some years ago seems within the realm of possibility. Anyway...

The Street Profits and Bobby Lashley took on Rey Mysterio, Santos Escobar, and what was supposed to be a mystery partner in the next match. I didn't know Mysterio was the reigning United States Champion but learning that put a smile on my face as Mysterio continues to be one of the best performers on the roster even after 20+ years of working. When the match began, it was 3-on-2, but the babyfaces started off hot with Escobar landing some big moves, including a wild hurricanrana off the top rope onto Montez Ford. Speaking of Ford, he and Dawkins were so popular as babyfaces that I'm not sure it was the wisest move to turn them heel, but maybe the longterm plan is to slowly build Ford as a singles guy? Their heel shtick wasn't bad, though, and I did like some of Montez's audible lines in reference to this match being noticeably sponsored by Pizza Hut. As a bit of a Lashley mark, I really liked his minutes with Rey, these two having natural chemistry just because of the peanut butter-and-jelly contrast of their characters and styles. Ford took out Escobar on the outside, which led to Mysterio having no one to tag in until we got the return of Carlito, who got a huge ovation and looked considerably more swole than he did the last time he was a regular on WWE programming. Carlito hit a Backstabber on Ford to get the W. My only real gripe is that Carlito now has new music which is much more "hype" than his old music but not nearly as unique. Another above-average match. (3/5)

Shameless Pizza Hut promotion followed as Graves and Cole got a pizza delivered to them by Xavier Woods. This was then followed by an ad for the upcoming Crown Jewel event. 

What was more interesting was the on-screen debut of Jade Cargill, who was shown arriving at the arena and shaking the hand of Triple H while wearing what can only be described as "barely anything." I take it that this means Cargill will not be working at NXT - at least not yet - and will be debuting right on the main roster. We'll see how that turns out...

Next up - Charlotte Flair vs. Asuka vs. Iyo Sky for Sky's SmackDown Women's Championship (or whatever it is called now). Asuka used her mist in the first seconds of the match, a shockingly brilliant strategy that nearly won her the match right from the bell. This led to Iyo and Asuka essentially working a 1-on-1 match for the next few minutes as Charlotte went to the outside to get the mist away from her eyes with help from the medical team. Iyo and Asuka put on a great show against eachother but the live crowd seemed fairly disinterested until Charlotte came back into the ring. I'm a big Flair fan and thought she looked good here, holding her own against two very skilled competitors. Asuka hit a nasty german suplex from the second rope at one point, a match highlight, but Flair chopping down both women got an even bigger reaction. I was less impressed with Flair needlessly doing a front cartwheel before hitting a double clothesline, but its not like half the men on WWE's and AEW's roster don't embellish their moves with that sort of stuff. Shirai hit an awesome crossbody to the floor. The match tended to dip everytime Flair was out of the mix but only because the crowd seemed dead despite seeing some really good stuff. After hitting her trademark moonsault to the outside, Flair looked to be in control, taking out Asuka with a big boot back in the ring. Flair went to the ropes but Iyo caught her with a great simple uppercut and then the two battled on the top turnbuckle. Flair went for a fireman's carry, but it turned into a ridiculous Tower of Doom spot instead. Again, such a cool spot should've got a big reaction, but the crowd's enthusiasm seemed to dissipate soon after. Maybe the issue is that, with Iyo still sorta alligned with Bayley and Asuka essentially being a "tweener" character for so much of her run, there was no clear babyface? There were some good nearfalls towards the end of the match, including a would-be victory for Charlotte off of a spear. Bayley came down to help Iyo, but her involvement seemed to distract the champ more than help her. Asuka hit a flying knee for 2 and the match continued. Flair applied the Figure 8, but Bayley distracted the referee, allowing Iyo to hit the moonsault from the top rope and retain the championship. I wouldn't say this was "must see" but it was very good. I totally get that people hate Charlotte Flair for the way she is presented on TV and booked so strongly...but when you're this good, what other kind of booking should you get? (3.5/5)

Before the next match, Indianapolis' own Pat McAfee showed up and tried to wake the crowd up before the next match - LA Knight and John Cena vs. Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso. Cena spent most of the match on the mat, eating punishment for a good while before making the hot tag. LA Knight was super over with the crowd, but I still don't really get the appeal - especially from an in-ring standpoint as he doesn't really have all that flashy of a moveset and I don't think his bumping and selling are all that special either. Then again, this is  much precisely what was said about John Cena back in the day. Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa make for a fine team and I liked Paul Heyman's work on the outside, but this match did not warrant the "This is Awesome" chant it eventually got. (2.5/5)

Before the next match, we saw the Judgment Day nursing their wounds backstage. Rhea Ripley convinced Damien Priest not to attempt to cash-in the briefcase even though Rollins and Nakamura would be fighting in a Last Man Standing match. 

Main event time - Seth Rollins vs. Shinsuke Nakamura in a Last Man Standing match. The story coming into this match was that Nakamura was going to target Rollins back and, from the very start, that is what he did - ramming Rollins' back-first into the ring apron and the guardrail. Rollins fought back, though, and we got all sorts of weapon shots and furniture damage over the course of the contest. Last Man Standing matches are hard because, for starters, AEW has obviously raised the bar of what fans can and will get in terms of hardcore wrestling from a major mainstream promotion, delivering death match style contests on TV nearly weekly, something that even the WWE didn't do in the Attitude Era (and, I'd argue, ECW didn't do it when they were on TNN in the late 2000s either). For 20 years, the WWE version of a "hardcore match" was usually the only one most fans were seeing and TNA, while a bit wilder, wasn't pushing the envelope all that much further. The second issue is that, relying on a 10-count to finish a match, you really have to have workers capable of delivering big, high-impact moves or take ridiculous bumps or utilize uncommon set pieces (as we saw in the Lesnar/Reigns version at SummerSlam a few years back or the various John Cena LMS matches over the years). I'm not sure Rollins or Nakamura were the right characters for that. Rollins, even doing his Joker-inspired/Asuka-lifted over-the-top act, is still, when the bell rings, a wrestler that is all about workrate, counters and reversals, and often working a fast paced match that doesn't lend itself well to stopping for 7-8 seconds at a time. Nakamura may not be as quick and agile, but he's hardly a guy known for hardcore, weapon-filled matches either and almost seemed less dangerous with this stipulation. As the King of Strong Style, his strikes alone are supposed to deadly and adding kendo sticks and trash cans felt sorta cheap. Now, that's not to say this match didn't have some real highlights - Nak's double-knees through a table spot looked vicious, as did the Kinchasa that sent Rollins through another table moments later. I thought the Falcon Arrow looked good, even if I'd argue it wasn't "big" enough to properly end the match. I thought Nak's continued work on Rollins' lower back was a good through-line for the entire contest. Still, I don't think all the pieces and parts made for a particular memorable match or one that was "must see." Above-average, sure, but not a match I bet people will be raving about or even remembering a year from now. (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.1-out-of-5, Fastlane 2023 was an overall strong show that looked a little thin on paper but ended up benefitting (mostly) from featuring matches with lengthier runtimes. The SmackDown Women's Championship was my Match of the Night and a quiet contender for being in the top 4-5 best women's matches of the year. The opener was excellent, the main event was what it needed to be, and only the Cena match underwhelmed. Overall, a worthwhile show to catch if you're a fan of the current WWE product.

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