WWE WrestleMania XL

WWE WrestleMania XL

Philadelphia, PA - April 2024

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the first night of this two-night event, Roman Reigns was the WWE Universal Champion, Seth Rollins was the World Heavyweight Champion, GUNTHER was the Intercontinental Champion, the Judgment Day were both RAW and SmackDown Tag Team Champions, the RAW Women's Champion was Rhea Ripley, the SmackDown Women's Champion was IYO SKY, the United States Champion was Logan Paul, and the Kabuki Warriors held the Women's Tag Team Championships.

The first big surprise of the night occurred before the show even started as we got a new "bumper" - or at least one I'd not seen before - free and clear of any McMahon. It was then time for the usual pre-show video package and Grammy winner Coco something singing the National Anthem. I'm not sure if this was the first time that the Anthem was sung instead of "America The Beautiful," but if so, that'd be another switcheroo from the Vince Era.

Paul "Triple H" Levesque made his way to the ring to officially kickoff the first truly post-Vince WrestleMania. The commentators made that abundantly clear without name-checking their former boss. 

Opening the show up was RAW Womens' Champion Rhea Ripley defending her title against Becky Lynch. They got cool intros with Lynch's playing off her recently-released memoir and Ripley coming out to a live rendition of her entrance music by Pennsylvania metal band Motionless in White. Good back and forth to start things as the commentators noted that Lynch was coming into this match after battling strep throat earlier in the week. Yuck. I've had strep a few times and it absolutely sucks. I'm not sure if it was Lynch not being 100% (likely), but this felt like the Rhea Ripley show more than a clash between two equals. Things picked up in the final few minutes, especially once Becky started getting more aggressive in the corner, bashing Ripley's head into the post at one point. Good stuff there. The finish was a little sloppy with Ripley not fully hitting the Riptide into the buckle the way they'd probably hoped. Liked seeing Ripley get the definitive win to extend her reign. I'm not sure where Lynch goes from here, but most likely a well-earned vacation. A good match, but not a great one like Ripley/Flair. They got plenty of time, but this still felt hamstringed. (3/5)

Both Tag Team Championships were on the line next in a 6-team scramble between #DIY (who were decked out in DX-inspired gear), The New Day, the reigning champions Judgment Day, A-Town Down Under (Grayson Waller and Austin Theory), The Awesome Truth, and New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate). This was your typical spotfest made much better by the inclusion of R-Truth, clearly the most over babyface in the entire match. Some nifty ladder and tabel spots, including New Catch Republic hitting stereo moonsaults on the floor, Grayson Waller getting put through a ladder by #DIY, and JD McDonaugh being sent flying through a table on the floor by Awesome Truth. This was fun for what it was, but nothing worth seeking out especially. (3/5)

Another tag match followed as Rey Mysterio and Andrade took on Santos Escobar and Dominik Mysterio. This was the third Judgment Day match in a row, which just goes to show how much of a cornerstone they are on both brands because, without them around, both this match and the previous probably would've drawn crickets. I really loved the Mysterio vs. Mysterio feud last year, but this lacked any of that spirit or emotion. I like Andrade more as a heel, but I understand the decision to push him as a babyface for now to get him on the card. Cool double-crossbody early on and Joaquin Wilde got to do his trademark assisted-springrope splash to give the fans a WrestleMania moment. The ending saw Jason Kelce and some other Philadelphia Eagle (I don't follow the NFL) come out in lucha masks to help the babyfaces win. It was fitting to have such a disconnected finish tacked onto this match because this match itself felt tacked on. Better than your typical TV match because they were given time and everyone involved is capable of delivering between the ropes, but "good filler" is still filler, especially on a show that runs 4+ hours. (3/5)

Uso vs. Uso was next after a very good video package and a not-as-good "performance" from Lil' Wayne. I wondered what they had to pay to bring him out there because it was not worth it (and I'm a Wayne fan). Jey and Jimmy definitely pulled from the Roman Reigns playbook for this match, milking the moments and adding a ton of melodrama to their match rather than filling it up with huge spots. Jey hit Jimmy with a ton of superkicks and when it came time to deliver the deathblow, Jimmy put his hands up and then apologized to his brother. It was a trick, though, and Jimmy hit his own superkick and then a splash for a 2 count. Jey's kickout led to the finishing stretch, which saw Jey hit a big spear and then his own splash to end the bout. This one could've used a little bit more time and a little bit more action as they basically fast-forwarded through the first act and got right to the trading superkicks/you're turn-my turn mirror stuff before going into the closing stretch. For a match that featured so much stalling and no-selling of superkicks, it felt rushed. (2/5)

The six-woman tag match follows as Damage CTRL's Dakota Kai, Asuka, and Kairi Sane took on the babyface trio of Jade Cargill, Bianca Belair, and Naomi. Asuka and Naomi started things off. Speaking of Asuka, her dancing to Bianca's music before the match began popped me. Bianca got the first tag for her time, giving her the opportunity to shine by basically taking out all of Damage CTRL single-handedly. The crowd wanted to see Cargill come in, but Bianca's tag was cut-off and the heels regained control. A "We Want Jade" chant started up as the heels beat down Bianca in the corner. Cargill got the tag and Asuka and Dakota ran into her elbows and feet. Kairi came off the top but got caught and dropped with a backbreaker. Kai came at her next and ate a back body drop before getting put down with a driver. Cargill went for the cover but it got broken up. The babyfaces still got the big win moments later after Asuka inadvertently misted Kairi and the faces all hit their signature moves (with Cargill getting the pinfall W with Beth Phoenix's old finisher). This was good for what it was, clearly designed to push Cargill as the next big star of the women's division. (2.5/5)

The Intercontinental Championship match was next - GUNTHER defending against Sami Zayn. Before the match, Chad Gable gave Zayn a final pep talk and the camera followed him through the tunnel and the Gorilla Position where we saw him get a final hug from his longtime buddy, Kevin Owens. Cool moment there. This had "big fight feel" more than any match before it, which is a testament to Zayn's overness and how strong they have made GUNTHER. Very physical match with GUNTHER really laying in the chops and clotheslines (as expected). Zayn's suplexes looked great, though, and his fiery comebacks made it clear that he was not going down without a fight. I wish this match had got an extra 3-4 more minutes because I didn't necessarily buy the finish after all the punishment that GUNTHER took, but the emotion was certainly for the surprising finish. I liked how GUNTHER's overconfidence was the key factor, but felt like this was maybe a touch out-of-character for a guy that has been so laser-focused on holding onto the Intercontinental Championship in every major defense before this. The spot of the match was Zayn pulling off an insane brainbuster on the turnbuckle, a move that cut through the noise and really did feel like it was wild enough to flip a match entirely. Maybe weekly viewers of Raw would've been more emotionally invested in this than I was, but I didn't feel it quite to that level and think another minute or two of hard-hitting action before GUNTHER's prolonged heat segment could've got me there. (3.5/5)

Main event time - The Rock and Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins. Cody came out first to a huge reaction from the Philly crowd, following by Rollins, and then The Rock, who arrived with a custom Brahma Bull championship belt  that said "People's Champion" over his shoulder, a belt that Cole explained he'd been given the previous night at the Hall of Fame ceremony. The ring introductions were RIDICULOUS for this with even Michael Cole making note of how "big" Samantha Irvine went for this. And why not? A big staredown to start things, nobody making a move for a solid minute or two. They wanted a Rock/Hogan moment, but I'm not sure they got there, either because the crowd was too cold or just because, ultimately, the electricity wasn't there for all four men in the same way. Reigns and Rollins started things off, the crowd erupting into song to support the Architect of the Shield. Rhodes came in and we got a preview of Night 2's main event with Rhodes working on Roman's arm. Some good wrestling between the two before Rollins came back in and then, with the crowd demanding it, The Rock got brought into the fray. Into a collar-and-elbow they went, Rocky shoving Seth halfway across the ring. Rollins came back at him, though, showing off his quickness and technical skill with a headlock into an armbar before shoving the People's Champion away. The Rock and Rollins traded some blows, Rocky eventually landing a clothesline and then calling for Rhodes to be tagged in. Rollins made the tag and in came the American Nightmare, the crowd now chanting for both guys. The fact is, as much as The Rock has absolutely nailed it as the mega heel coming into this show, Philly has also been a "tough" crowd that might root for the villains, especially ones as cool and dominant as The Rock and Reigns. The match turned into an outright brawl, the action spilling out of the arena. The Rock told the referee not to count anyone out, throwing in a profanity for extra effect. Good stuff there. Into the crowd Rock and Rollins went while Cody and Roman fought on the entrance ramp. A nice throwback moment to The Rock's Attitude Era days when he spat water in Rollins' face. Rollins looked like he was going to go for a springboard something, but Roman yanked him off the apron, twisting his knee from underneath him. The Rock went after Rollins' injured knee, driving it into the post before tagging Reigns in. Rollins played the face-in-peril for the next stretch, selling a damaged knee and taking a serious beating from both Reigns and Rock. Roman went for a Superman Punch but Rollins countered it into a neckbreaker. Rollins tried to crawl his way over for the tag, but Rock dragged him back and nailed him with a nasty low blow. The Rock applied a Sharpshooter, but Cody broke it up with a big slap to the face. Rollins landed a superkick and then a Curb Stomp on The Rock but immediately collapsed afterwards. Rhodes and Roman came in, Cody landing a big slam before hitting the Disaster Kick and then a Cody Cutter for 2. Great nearfall when The Rock landed a Superman Punch moments later. Roman went for the Spear but Cody countered it into a sunset flip and then hit an awkward quasi-Cody Cutter off the top rope this time! Seth landed a huge splash but only got 2, this match now in a higher gear. Reigns hit a big powerbomb but a spear attempt was thwarted by a Rollins superkick and then both babyfaces got shots in. Cody hit the Cross Rhodes, but The Rock pulled the official out of the ring at 2.99. Predictable but well-executed false finish there. Back in the ring, Roman hit a low blow and then a massive spear...but Cody kicked out at 2! Roman applied a guillotine but Cody wouldn't submit or pass out. The Rock pulled Cody's legs out from under him but Rollins broke it up by hitting Roman with a stomp from the top rope! Rock sent Rollins back to the outside and tagged in but before he climbed into the ring, he grabbed the "Mama Rhodes" belt. Before he could use it, though, Cody got in a stomp and grabbed hold of it himself! Cody fired back with a bunch of series of rights and then a Bionic Elbow. Rocky caught him with a spinebuster off the ropes, though, the prelude to a People's Elbow...but Cody cut him off with a Cody Cutter, which actually drew boos from the crowd!  Cody went for a Cross Rhodes but ate a Superman Punch from Reigns. Reigns went for another Spear, but this time Rollins shoved Cody out of the way and Reigns speared The Rock! The babyfaces hit stereo pedigrees, but only got 2s! Wow. I bit on that finish. The fight spilled back onto the floor with Rollins hitting a splash from the top rope onto Reigns while The Rock and Cody fought by the announce table. Rocky went for the Rock Bottom through a table, but it was Cody who ended up hitting the move through the table beside it! A split second later, Reigns speared Rollins through the barricade to another huge pop. Cody rolled The Rock into the ring, but Reigns hit him with a Drive By before he could go for the cover. Reigns, looking dazed, tagged in and beat down on Cody with some big right hands. Cody fought back and hit two Cross Rhodes, but before he could hit the third, The Rock blasted him in the back with the Mama Rhodes belt. Damn. That sounded like a gunshot. Reigns hit the Spear and then tagged The Rock in to wrap things up, the crowd on their feet by this point. The Rock hit the Rock Bottom and then the People's Elbow to score the win. This delivered and even had me doubting at one point where they might actually have the babyfaces win due to Roman spearing The Rock. (4/5)

Night 2 began with a surprise appearance by Stephanie McMahon. Personally, I'm not eager to see any McMahon on my screen right now, especially one that most likely was aware of so much of Vince's evilness. Yuck.

Drew McIntyre came out to challenge Seth Rollins for his WWE World Championship in the night's opener. In another unexpected twist, CM Punk did not get a big entrance and started the night already on commentary, which was very underwhelming and came off to me as a bit of an ego check for ol' Phil. There was plenty of time on the broadcast to give him a simple entrance. The crowd would've certainly erupted. Snoop Dogg, who was guest commentator on the next match, got to hear his theme music play (more on that later). Anyway...the crowd enjoyed this match a ton more than I did. McIntyre fired off a Claymore early and that set the pace for the rest of the match, which was heavy on "bomb-throwing" and very low on psychology. McIntyre was made to look essentially impotent throughout the match, which went way longer than it should have considering how much punishment Rollins had sustained the previous evening. Not my thing at all, though at least McIntyre got the win. (1.5/5)

After the match, McIntyre gloated in CM Punk's face, which caused Punk to take off his arm brace and attack the new champion. This led to Damien Priest cashing in his Money in the Bank Briefcase. A new Champion was crowned and McIntyre's big victory was ruined. This was more of a "segment" than a match, so I'm not going to grant it any points. Personally, I don't see Priest as a top-top guy so I doubt he'll be champion for long but I'm also not sure who they transition the title to if not back to McIntyre (in which case, why even take it off him?)

Moving on...Bubba Ray Dudley came out as the special guest referee, with the aforementioned Snoop Dogg on commentary, for the next match: Karrion Kross and the Authors of Pain vs. Bobby Lashley and the Street Profits in a Philadelphia Street Fight. I had zero expectations for this match so I can't say I was disappointed. Snoop was not good on commentary, though, again, I wasn't expecting him to be Jesse Ventura out there. Doing PG-rated "streetfights" is rarely a good idea, though I'll give Kross and Lashley credit for a cool chair spot early on and Montez Ford doing his best to shine with an absurd splash over the ring post. They paid tribute to the Dudleys at one point but ran into a hiccup when the table they used collapsed before Montez could hit the splash. Whoops. Not there fault, but that was kind of the story of the whole match. They worked hard, but bad commentary and no real heat made this feel like filler and "crowd service." (2/5)

After the Hall of Fame inductees were honored, it was time for LA Knight vs. AJ Styles. This went a minute longer than the opener, but I thought it told a much better story. LA Knight is not a great worker bell-to-bell, but he was over with this crowd. I still think he'll continue to be lost in the mix, especially now that The Rock has come back and Knight's gimmick looks even more like a bad imitation. AJ Styles proved, once again, how effortless he can make having a good match look as he and Knight were thrown out in front of a somewhat "cold" crowd with a story that hasn't been particularly interesting or original and no actual stakes on the line or stipulation. I mean, would it have killed the bookers to make this a Number One Contender's match or something? But this match clicked with me because of the way the action escalated. Something a simple, straightforward, hard-hitting match works because it doesn't overthink things or rely on gimmicks. The best of the first three matches on the show, though still just in the "average" range really. (2.5/5)

The United States Champion, Logan Paul, defended his title against Randy Orton and Kevin Owens in a triple threat match next. Before Owens came out, he ran into Sami in the gorilla position - a nice callback to what we saw the previous night. I also liked KO giving Orton a ride on his golf cart. When the bell rang, though, it didn't take long for Orton and KO to come to blows after initially beating down on the champion together in very entertaining fashion. From there, this match was just a ton of fun with a whole bunch of interesting twists - it almost seemed like these three came to steal the show and put on a main event-caliber match and they knocked it out of the park. Even the hijinks with the streamer in the Prime bottle costume was well-executed. I'm not sure where they go from here but I'd be on-board for a straight-up Owens and Orton match as they put together some excellent sequences. Easily the best match of the weekend up till this point. (4/5)

IYO SKY vs. Bayley for Sky's SmackDown Women's Championship was up next and, within the first 5-6 minutes, you knew you were watching some very special. If the previous match was a little too "fun" and featured too much "ga-ga" for it to be considered a classic, this was a competitive fight filled with excellent spots, masterful selling by Bayley, IYO Sky executing all sorts of moves and counters that finally made it clear - at least to me - why she is considered to be one of the best women's wrestlers of the past decade. This was as good as any Women's Championship match I've seen in the past year. (4.5/5)

Main event time - Cody Rhodes challenging Roman Reigns for the WWE Undisputed Universal Championship. This was a "spectacle" match of the highest order - just an absolute epic war that included some great brawling in the crowd, a whole bunch of finishers and big nearfalls, and then a string of cameos as a bevy of mega-stars came out to counteract the interference from Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, and "The Final Boss" The Rock. The match has been almost universally praised and for good reason as this match needed to be a cinematic clash of good vs. evil and it played out like a blockbuster movie, with The Undertaker serving as the big final reveal after Jey Uso, John Cena, and Seth Rollins had helped even the odds. I wasn't a fan of the post-match celebration and wish it hadn't turned into a weird curtain call for Bruce Pritchard and Triple H and wish they would've cut the show before it, but I'm not going to hold it against the match itself, which was riveting and felt "big" from beginning to end. I'd still consider the previous match to be more of what I personally enjoy in a wrestling match as I didn't bite on any of the false finishes - you knew that with Bloodline rules, the match wouldn't end until we'd seen a ton of run-ins - and prefer a more straightforward match, but this was undeniably must-see and a fitting conclusion to the massive title reign of the former champion. (4/5)

After a not-that-great Night 1, I was skeptical about how good Night 2 was going to be. Night 1 wasn't bad - the worst match was the Usos match and even that match wasn't nearly as bad as some have made it out to be - but aside from the main event, nothing really delivered quite to the level that it could've and should've (even Zayn/GUNTHER felt like it needed more time to really reach "all-time classic" level). Night 2 was an overall better show despite kicking off with the match I enjoyed the least of either night. The US Championship was very fun, the IYO/Bayley match was fantastic, and the main event delivered the big feel-good ending that it needed to. With an overall runtime of close to 8 hours, there's no way to recommend this show in its entirety, but it still earned a respectable Kwang Rating of 2.82-out-of-5 and a final rating of...

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

WWE King of the Ring 93'

WWE King of the Ring 93'

Dayton, OH - June 1993

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the WWE World Champion was Hulk Hogan, the Intercontinental Champion was Shawn Michaels, and the WWE Tag Team Champions were Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Shyster). 

It has been many a year since I watched this show and I was surprised to see that I didn't review it as I could've sworn I did...anyway...the show kicks off with Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon. Nobody on commentary mentions that Bret defended his WWE Championship against Razor at the Rumble in January, which is a bit odd because Bret and Perfect do play up their match at SummerSlam 91' years earlier. Maybe one of those things that the commentators were told not to mention for some reason? The first two-thirds of this match are nothing special as Bret works on Razor's arm and then Ramon takes over after Bret gets run into the steel post. The final third of the match are terrific, though, as Bret regains control and starts delivering signature offense but Ramon continuously kicks out. The finish is a good one as Razor goes with a deathblow - a belly-to-back suplex off the top rope - but Bret is able to counter it into a crossbody and gets the pin. (3/5)

Next up - Curtis Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect in another first round match-up in the King of the Ring tournament. Hughes had some credibility after beating down the Undertaker earlier in the week, but not enough to make him a real threat in this tournament or even a PPV challenger for Taker (who would end up working with Giant Gonzalez again at SummerSlam despite the catastrophe that was their WrestleMania match). Perfect tries his best to get something good out of Hughes but even the great Curt Hennig couldn't necessarily carry the clumsy, one-dimensional powerhouse into something actually good. I'll also give some credit to Perfect here for crafting a match that made sense and kept Hughes relatively strong as Hennig got the DQ win once Hughes opted to stop fighting fair and used the urn against him. About as good a match as one could possibly hope for or expect out of these two thanks to Perfect's selling. (2/5)

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jim Duggan follows. This goes almost exactly 5 minutes and is very forgettable. Duggan was still over with the live crowds, but not to the same level he'd been even 2-3 years earlier. I know Duggan has a ton of fans who love his early work and I'm a big fan of his match against Vader from Starrcade 94', but, for the most part, he's just somebody I always found too goofy in the WWE and WCW. I've become a bigger Bammer fan than I was as a kid now that I've seen his late era WCW work and more of his ECW run, but this wouldn't be a match I'd consider one of his best. (1.5/5)

Lex Luger vs. Tatanka is our next match and the final first round bout of the tournament. These two don't have the arsenals, energy, or even the natural charisma to carry a (spoiler alert) 15-minute draw. Maybe if Tatanka was the one working heel and had DiBiase as his manager like he would in 94'? Maybe if Lex Luger was the popular babyface working from underneath like he did against Ric Flair years earlier? Here, it is Luger who has to set the pace and Tatanka who has to come up with the fun and spirited comebacks and it doesn't work very well until the end, when both guys start wrestling with some actual urgency. The booking here is smart, though, as both Luger and Tatanka came into this match undefeated and it wasn't necessarily the right time for either guy to lose (especially not Luger). The post-match is a great babyface turn tease from Luger - especially when it is watched in hindsight knowing that Luger would become a fully-fledged babyface about a month later - that had me second-guessing my knowledge of Luger's WWE timeline. Not horrendous, but not very good until you get to the last 4 minutes. (1.5/5)

With Luger and Tatanka fighting to a draw, the next match serves as the only semi-final of the tournament: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect in a rematch from SummerSlam 91'. That match is well-known and highly-regarded, but this bout gets praised a ton too and for good reason. Perfect was a babyface by this point, but works heelish at times, which is true to his win-at-all-costs character. Like their SummerSlam match, this one has so many great elements and moments to it - arguably even more than their more famous clash - including Bret coming in with taped-up fingers to sell the damage from his match with Razor, Bret and Perfect both taking fantastic cringe-inducing bumps at times, the way the match goes from being a battle of technicians to an outright fight, and, of course, Bret getting sent into the guardrail from the apron and, later, the suplex from inside the ring to the floor were two huge bumps you didn't see in every match 30 years ago. My biggest criticism - and a fairly typical one - is the finish, which looks a little bit wonky and happens a tad "out of nowhere." The logic is there, but I kinda wish they had built up to it with a few more nearfalls before landing on a more climactic reverse to the inside cradle. (4/5)

The WWE World Champion Hulk Hogan defended his title against Yokozuna in the next match. This is one of those matches that is much more interesting to talk about than to actually watch. The story here is that at WrestleMania IX, Hogan had "ambushed" (or "Pearl Harbor'd") Yokozuna after he had cheated to beat Bret Hart for the title, challenging him to an impromptu match and leaving with the gold. This time around, Yoko would be fresh, making him a much bigger threat to the Hulkster. Meanwhile, behind the curtain, Hogan and Vince were having some issues. Hogan's deal was ending later in the summer, prior to SummerSlam, but I'm assuming they were still negotiating an extension at this point. Hogan had taken some time off following WrestleMania VIII, but the WWE had kept rolling, pushing the aforementioned Hitman as the next top babyface (with The Undertaker also moving higher up the card) while Hogan's contemporaries and longtime rivals, Savage, Flair, and Warrior, were either moved to non-wrestling roles or sent packing entirely. The company had also introduced Monday Night RAW in his absence, a seismic shift in the delivery system of WWE content that would eventually push things further and further into adult territory with its primetime slot compared to the emphasis on Saturday morning TV shows of the previous few years. Watching this match, Hogan stands out as a bit of a relic. The crowd is still behind him and the pop he receives in Dayton is nothing to scoff at, but the act is still undeniably stale. There's good foreshadowing at the start of the match as JR and Savage note the attendance of photographers from around the world, hyping up the global scale of this match. The action isn't great, but what one would expect from these two? It is night-and-day between what these two are capable of and what we saw in the previous bout, but its unfair to compare the two in that regard. Again, the "enjoyability" of this match doesn't really come from the specific moves or the shifts in momentum, but rather from the way it can be dissected and analyzed as a whole. Yokozuna essentially dominates the match, kicks out of Hogan's finisher towards the end, and is never slammed, which is legitimately shocking considering how much that is played up on commentary and how many matches in Hogan's career were built around him finally slamming some massive giant (literally at WrestleMania III) to score the feel-good victory. Despite how much this is played up on commentary, they don't deliver that moment. Nor do they deliver the moment of Hogan kicking out of Yoko's finish before "Hulking Up." This isn't some subtle inversion of the standard, predictable Hogan match - it was seemingly a purposeful decision to not deliver the expected match. But whose decision was it? What were their motivations? This match is a borderline burial of Hogan, especially the post-match, where Yoko does deliver the Bonzai Drop and the commentators go overboard about the "death of Hulkamania." As an angle, it would've been the perfect set-up for a rubber match...but we never got that rubber match. Hogan just "doing business" and putting over Yoko so thoroughly doesn't really jibe with his M.O for politicking, so one is left to assume that he agreed to the "burial" under the impression that Vince was going to cough up the dough to re-sign him. That, of course, did not happen. Instead, Vince essentially gave Luger Hulk's gimmick and tried to prop him up as the company's next leading man, a decision that likely also played into Hogan jumping ship to WCW. Oh, and all the messiness around the steroid trial that would rear its head in the fall. Regardless, the match itself isn't very good, but it is interesting and that's more than can be said about some of the other bouts on this card. (2.5/5)

The next match is boring filler as The Smoking Gunns team up with The Steiner Brothers to take on Money Inc. and The Headshrinkers in an 8-man match that goes under 8 minutes. They don't really have the time or space to present a great match so this isn't really an indictment on the wrestlers, most of whom were solid. In hindsight, this match does highlight how much the WWE's roster was in flux in 93' as the Steiners and Money Inc. were the established teams on their way out of the WWE (the Steiners would spend most of 94' in Japan while DiBiase would retire before the end of the year) and the Gunns and Headshrinkers had not yet had much exposure as top teams in the division. Not actively bad, but not good. (1.5/5)

The Intercontinental Championship is on the line next as "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels defends the title against Crush. Crush was in the midst of a fairly strong push, but he never connected with the crowd and wasn't a very interesting worker inside the ring at a time when, thanks to guys like Bret and Shawn, being able to deliver an entertaining, fast-paced, hard-hitting match was essential if you didn't have the natural charisma or freakish steroid-supported look of the Ultimate Warrior. Diesel had made appearances in Shawn's corner before this event, but wasn't "named" until a pre-match promo. This isn't a career highlight for anyone involved - the soon-to-be great chemistry between Diesel and Shawn wasn't there yet, Crush and Michaels didn't really mix well, and the crowd still seemed a bit deflated after the Hogan loss. Michaels had had some very good matches by this point in his career, but he wasn't "good enough to carry a broomstick"-level yet, nor was he even at the point in his career where he would ragdoll around and bump like crazy to prove he was capable of being "The Showstopper," an attitude that some would deem wildly cocky and arrogant and that of a prima donna (but that would've undoubtedly made this a much more enjoyable match). Interference from Doink leads to the finish, which might be the best part of this bout. Not terrible, but a touch long and forgettable. (1.5/5)

Main event time - Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow in the finals of the King of the Ring Tournament. This is Hart's third match of the night (duh) while Bigelow is coming off over an hour of rest and a relatively short match with Duggan. Not as revered as the match against Perfect earlier on, this match is still quite good and features a bunch of small details that warrant repeat viewing and admiration. Hart is not only still selling damage to his fingers, but now he's also got a slight limp. I love that some of the biggest transitions and cut-offs and comebacks occur outside the ring too, a theme that Bret wove through all three of his matches. I wasn't a huge fan of Luna Vachon's interference as not only was it a weak-looking chairshot but it just felt wholly unnecessary and too "heel-by-numbers." Bigelow's offense looks vicious and Bret sells it all really well. Bret's over-the-top rope dive onto Bigelow on the floor is one of those moments that got shoe-horned into nearly every WWE package for years to become because of how excellent it looked. The false finish coming off of Vachon's interference was a moment I completely forgot about and I'm not a huge fan of it. Just seems like overbooking more than anything, though I guess it gave Bigelow the visual pin. From here, you might expect some sort of bullshit to wrap things up, but they actually extend the match for several more minutes instead of going right into the finish. Speaking of the finish, I really liked how Bret used his cunning to come up with yet another unexpected pin that showed off his technical prowess. Here's hoping that with Vince gone, we see more wrestlers in the WWE stop relying so heavily on their finishers - and often multiple uses of them in a single match - and start doing what Bret did on this night and at multiple other times in his career by capping off his matches with more variety. (3.5/5)

Jerry Lawler attacks Bret during his coronation ceremony in a big post-match angle. I'm not a big Lawler fan, but it is an effective way to kickstart their feud. Like Heenan and Hogan - and I may be misremembering - even when Bret turned heel in 97', I feel like Lawler continued to attack and criticize him on commentary while still backing his favorite Hart, Owen. Closing the show with a heel beating down on a babyface was not at all the norm in the WWE, so this was quite a way to close the show. In fact, I really can't think of another major WWE pay-per-view before this one that ended on such a sad note aside from Flair winning the Rumble in 92'.

Overall, King of the Ring 93' is a good watch thanks to Bret Hart putting in one of the all-time greatest one-night performances. Over the course of 3 matches and something close to an hour of ring time, the Hitman puts on a wrestling clinic. The Hogan/Yokozuna match is worth checking out too. The rest of the show isn't great, but doesn't necessarily drag aside from the underwhelming Crush/Michaels match. Despite a somewhat low rating of 2.44-out-of-5, this one gets a....

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

WWE SummerSlam 92'

WWE SummerSlam 92'

London, England - August 1992

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, "The Macho Man" Randy Savage was the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Bret Hart was the Intercontinental Champion, and the WWE Tag Team Championships were held by the Natural Disasters. 

I've probably been SummerSlam 92' a half-dozen times over the years, but I've never reviewed it, so here goes...

Right out of the gate, I'm giving this a Network Nugget of Awesomeness point for the pre-show video package just because there's a young British boy who declares that the British Bulldog will be winning the main event tonight...whether he likes it or not! Obviously, the Bulldog would very much like to win tonight's match, but I'm sure this set off a light bulb in a young Vince Russo's mind to come up with a wacky stipulation match in which both guys were trying to lose. (+1)

The in-ring action kicks off with The Legion of Doom vs. Money Inc. The Road Warriors' entrance into Wembley is an awesome moment. Some good selling out of Hawk at times (despite him reportedly being super fucked up on Placidyls) and the crowd is hot for the LOD, but this is not my cup of tea. Among Road Warrior superfans, this match has something of a reputation as it was the last appearance of Hawk and Animal in the WWE for several years and supposedly caused their year-long split. I read one review that says that Hawk botched the finish, but I'm curious if DiBiase and Shyster just didn't want to take the Doomsday Device considering Hawk's level of inebriation and their own age. This goes 12 minutes but feels closer to 20 because of the lengthy heel heat segment. Oh, and the Legion of Doom had a ventriloquist dummy as a mascot at this point for no apparent reason. Not as bad some reviewers make it out to be - this is your basic tag match and Money Inc. know enough underhanded tactics to give the match structure - but certainly not anywhere close to the level of the tag openers that teams like the Rockers and the Orient Express had put on in the years before this. (2/5)

Backstage, Ric Flair plays up the mystery over which corner Mr. Perfect will be in during the WWE Championship match. I've always been curious why Flair didn't compete on this show. It really seems like he would've had some natural opponents in Roddy Piper (a guy that would've gotten quite a response at Wembley), Sid (if he was still around), even someone like Tito Santana could've made sense...

Nailz squashes Virgil in the next bout in under 5 minutes. By this point, Virgil was a glorified jobber, but he was a passionate one and could still get sympathy and cheers from the general WWE audience of 1992. Nailz, on the other hand, was a newcomer with a decidely short shelf-life as his gimmick really only made sense matched up against Big Bossman. Nailz dominates, looking like an absolute monster in the process. I also liked his finisher at the end as it looked legitimately dangerous. I know its faint praise and this match did not belong on any sort of pay-per-view, but this wasn't boring, didn't overstay its welcome, and was designed to get Nailz over as much as possible. (1.5/5)

Rick Martel vs. Shawn Michaels was next. I really liked the story that built to this as it was a rare heel/heel match as both villains were essentially competing for The Sensational Sherri, who was Michaels' manager but had also been a little flirty with Rick Martel in the weeks building up to this match. The crowd was into this, though, because the performances carried the story and there was also an underlying generational clash going on as Martel was the crafty veteran and Michaels was the cocky young star. Because of this dynamic, Martel is able to slide into a pseudo-face role and the audience is game for it. Lots of good mirror work. Lots of good - admittedly hokey - "fake-outs" where one guy seems like he's going to break the No Hitting In The Face rule. There's a silly sequence in which their rolling pin attempts lead to both guys mooning the packed stadium. The finish is wonderful too, though I'm not sure I understand the referee not DQing Michaels the minute he decks Martel in the face. Sherri fakes a fainting and Michaels and Martel fight over her till they get to the back until Martel realizes that he's been getting played. I don't recall if Martel turned face after this, but I don't think so - if I'm not mistaken he ended up feuding with Tatanka - which would've been difficult for him as he was so good at getting heat and the crowd loathed his arrogant Model gimmick. This is a fun match more than a great match, but back then, both were sort of rarities as the WWE's in-ring action often leaned heavily into boring restholds and muscle freaks who got gassed after 3 minutes. (3/5)

After some words from the Nasty Boys, The Natural Disasters defend their WWE Tag Team Championships against The Beverly Brothers. This was better than the LOD/Money Inc. match, though its not some hidden classic or anything. The Brothers are better bumpers and sellers at this point than Money Inc. were and the Disasters were natural monsters. This has a very straight-forward story, but its not boring like the opener, which felt considerably longer and dragged at times. (2.5/5)

Crush vs. The Repo Man follows. This was pretty bad. Crush didn't have much charisma, though his booking in 92' makes it clear that Vince thought he could be a big deal. At 4 minutes, this doesn't overstay its welcome, but there's nothing interesting about it. At least Nailz had that cool chokehold finish and Virgil was charismatic in his own way. (0.5/5)

The WWE Championship is on the line in the next match as Randy Savage defends against The Ultimate Warrior. Their match at WrestleMania VII is rightfully considered a classic and arguably the best match of Warrior's entire career, but this one gets less consideration. The storyline isn't as good and there's no big emotional ending, but the dynamic is different and special for its time as it wasn't super often that you'd have a big Face vs. Face match with the company's top heels, Perfect and Flair, on the periphery. I was surprised at how much better this match was than I remembered it being. The first 2/3rds, before Perfect and Flair show up and things get a bit overstuffed with "swerves" and ref bumps, are a really strong back-and-forth between two guys with great chemistry. There's a reason Savage is considered such a good worker and it is fully on display here as he does a fantastic job threading the needle between heel and face work, doing whatever it takes to win but stopping short of outright cheating or cutting corners. They don't mention it on commentary, but, at one point, he refuses to take a count-out victory and, if you're familiar with their Mania match, it almost feels like a callback to Warrior's victory there as Savage doesn't just want to retain the gold, he wants to prove he can actually beat the man that (technically) retired him 15 months earlier. Warrior was not known for his varied moveset or endurance, but he was still very over and his big right hands look great and he does everything he needs to over the course of a match that goes well over 20 minutes. The ending is too muddled (and I found the post-match to be overwrought and too saccharine), but with a tighter, more satisfying finish, this would probably be as beloved as their first match. Not quite "must watch" but almost there. (3.5/5)

Kamala vs. The Undertaker follows. The Undertaker gets a grand entrance that runs longer than the match itself, which goes less than 4 minutes. I wrote in my review of their follow-up match at Survivor Series 92' that, if they'd been allowed to have an outright brawl, a hard-hitting slobberknocker, they showed enough chemistry to warrant getting 8-10 minutes of ring time. Seeing this match, though, I understand Vince's apprehension because these two mesh like oil and water and there is zero sign of them being able to work together for any meaningful amount of time based on the little we see. Taker gets the win by DQ when Kamala's handlers get involved - which is silly because they have such little effect on the Deadman. This doesn't go long enough to be considered a terrible match, but there's not even a glimmer of fun to be had here aside from seeing Taker arrive at Wembley on the back of a hearse. (0.5/5)

Main event time - The British Bulldog challenging Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship in his home country. Is this a carry job caused by the Bulldog being out of shape and drugged/hung-over like Bret claims in his book? If true, is it the all-time best carry job? Or was this really just a straight-up great match where Bulldog held his own against Bret delivering one of his best ever performances? Does it really matter how this match came to be? At the end of the day, this is a classic deserving of its stature and legend. Bret is a master here, subtly (and then not-so-subtly) working heel so that Bulldog can shine and get that underdog support at Wembley. One could criticize portions of the match for featuring too many "restholds," but that is a misnomer in a match like this, built around technical wrestling from the very start and building up to the big slams and throws over time. Unlike Piper/Hart from WrestleMania VIII, another excellent bout, this one is not a battle between a Brawler and Technician, nor is it played as Bret having to overcome Bulldog's raw power. Davey Boy shows off his own agility early on in with a dizzying counter to an armbar and consistently tries to get the best of Bret with crucifixes and other pinning combos. I also really like the "botches" (if they can even be called that), which add realism to the match much better than if everything looked perfect. For example, at one point Bret flings himself to the outside and comes down on Bulldog, viciously cranking his neck in the process. Minutes later, Davey Boy tries to powerslam Bret and ends up dumping him into the ropes and Bret's spill is equally as nasty as he gets tied up in the middle and bottom ropes. The finishing stretch is excellent too and the Bulldog's final pin is arguably among the most historic in WWE history, on par with Bret's win over Piper a few months prior. There's no question that this match is "must watch" and I'm willing to even put it into masterpiece territory thanks to the production and emotion behind it, as well as its historical significance. (4.5/5)

With a not-so-hot Kwang Score of just 2.38-out-of-5, as a whole, SummerSlam 92' is not a show that is worth watching all-the-way-through. The Nailz and Crush squash matches would be below average on an episode of Superstars and have no place on this card except to fill time. The opening contest is a disappointment considering the level of talent and the Road Warriors' undeniable mystique. Martel/Michaels is fun, the WWE Championship match is quite good and generally underrated, and the main event is a "must watch" for any real pro-wrestling fan, though, enough to make this a...

FINAL RATING - Watch It...Without Remote in Hand

TNA Turning Point 2007

TNA Turning Point 2007

Orlando, FL - December 2007

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this event, the TNA World Champion was Kurt Angle, Jay Lethal was the X-Division Champion, AJ Styles and Tomko were the TNA World Tag Team Champions, and Gail Kim was the Knockouts Champion. 

Turning Point 2007 begins with a six-man tables match pitting "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal and the Motor City Machine Guns against Team 3D and Johnny Devine. It was fairly obvious from the mere inclusion of Johnny Devine in this match as to who would be getting put through a table, but the action that leads there is perfectly fine. The Guns have some great double-team maneuvers and they do a wonderful job bumping and selling for Team 3D, especially Devon. The match goes much longer than I expected, but it never gets boring and they don't waste too much time getting to the table spots - which don't always get executed perfectly (there is at least one fairly noticeable botch in which Alex Shelley essentially gets shoved into and through a table but the ref and commentators ignore it) - which are plentiful despite the match being designed to end with just one table spot. I still think the Black Machismo gimmick was too one-note and did nothing for Jay Lethal, but that's just me. Not bad at all. (2.5/5)

Another tag match follows as ODB and Roxxi Laveaux take on Angelina Love and Velvet Skye. Too much comedy, too much raunchiness, too little Angelina Love, who was, to my eyes, the most exciting worker of the bunch. I never really got what made ODB so special aside from her trailer trash gimmick, which felt thin and, for lack of better word, trashy in 2007 and still feels that way now. I was a bit surprised to read, over on Cagematch, how highly speak of Laveaux because, based on this match and the handful of other appearances I've seen of her, I don't see what makes her "one of the most underrated wrestlers in TNA history." There are probably fans who like this sort of match, but I'm not one of them. (1/5)

Next up - Eric Young vs. James Storm. Storm's whole gimmick at this point was being a proud beer drinker, while Eric Young was coming out of a lengthy program with Bobby Roode. Young had embarrassed Storm by defeating him in a drinking contest, which led to this match. These two have good chemistry and are both very skilled workers and I liked Jacqueline's involvement on the outside. Still, there was just something "off" about this for me, like they wrestled the match a bit too "straight" considering that the build-up was kind of cartoonish and full of prop comedy. This match could've actually used some of the "looser" feel of the previous match as it was fought like a serious, back-and-forth wrestling contest rather than a match between two guys whose only really conflict was over who could drink more alcohol. (2/5)

The Feast or Fired Match was next - a super-gimmicky multi-man briefcase-on-a-pole match that was really more about telling a story than offering anything resembling good wrestling. You can't go into a match like this expecting to be blown away by the action, but this was lazily booked without any real highlights or storyline progression. At 12 minutes, this didn't overstay its welcome, which is about the best thing you can say about it. Also, because the reveals of the contents of the briefcases doesn't happen until the next episode of Impact, it feels a bit more like an advertisement for the next show rather than a match or segment that deserves to be on pay-per-view. I don't recall who ended up getting fired from this match, but I don't think it was BG James despite being the most deserving after the god-awful VKM/Christy Hemme feud, maybe the worst storyline I've covered in the past few years. (1.5/5)

Awesome Kong challenged Gail Kim for the TNA Knockouts Championship in the next bout. This was a great match. It doesn't go super long, but they make every minute count and Gail Kim puts on a tremendous babyface performance against the monstrous Kong. The finish leaves things unresolved, which is not a good thing, but these two obviously had the kind of chemistry that makes doing a "one-and-done" feud silly. The crowd is also hotter for this than probably any women's match in TNA history and most certainly more than 90% women's matches that were going on in the WWE at the time (especially after Stratus' retirement that year). I was really impressed by how big the reaction was for Kong getting knocked off of her feet, which Don West claimed was the first time ever. True or not, it got that kind of response, a testament to how well this match was worked. A very good match that is worth one's time. (4/5)

After some more nonsense building up to the main event, its time for the Match of 10,000 Tacks - Rellik and Black Reign vs. Abyss and, subbing for Rhyno, Raven. Rellik was played by former WWE/WCW wrestler Johnny "The Bull" Stamboli. This was a bloody, violent, ECW-style brawl but felt tedious at times and didn't hold my attention for its 15-minute duration. I'm not sure why they opted to give this match that much time when they knew it would be so "one note" and that, at this point, Dustin Rhodes was in horrendous shape. Raven had had some good moments - his feud with CM Punk in Ring of Honor being a highlight from just 4 years prior - but he was aging fast and his role here was a bit player when he's always been much better in stories and angles that he could really sink his teeth into. This match was built to lead-up to a big thumbtack spot, but it really wasn't anything we hadn't seen before as Black Reign (who is covered, head-to-toe in a latex suit) went through a table with tacks on it and then, minutes later, Rellik got Black Home Slam'd into a bunch of tacks in the ring to end the match. Not terrible, but not worth digging up. (2/5)

Robert Roode teamed up with Christian to take on Booker T and Kaz in the next contest. Booker T had come into TNA just a few weeks earlier and still seemed motivated here, though he'd gain a pretty bad reputation for phoning it in as the years went on. Kaz and Roode are clearly meant to "get a rub" from being in the ring with Booker and Christian, but the teams just feel a little random. Kaz goes all out in this match, trying and succeeding to steal it with his energy and high-flying, but it doesn't necessarily make for a great tag dynamic with Booker, who is overshadowed in what should be a big match for him. The lack of chemistry is also felt between Roode and Christian. The match goes close to 20 minutes and everyone works hard, but this match needed to feature more character work and tension, none of which was explored until the post-match when Christian and Roode almost came to blows. Again, the in-ring work, especially out of Kaz, is top notch and the TNA crowd wanted to love this match...but it just didn't tell a rich enough story to make it memorable or worth checking out. (3/5)

Main event time - before the match can begin, after the arrival of The Angle Alliance (Kurt Angle, AJ Styles, and Tyson Tomko) and Kevin Nash, Samoa Joe shows up and cuts a "worked shoot" promo on Scott Hall no-showing the event. According to Nash, Big Daddy Cool slapped Samoa Joe in the face after the show for going too far with his "shoot" and Joe, recognizing that responding in kind would probably result in him getting fired (with little chance of getting to the WWE due to Nash being close with Triple H) didn't fight back. In Hall's stead, Joe brings out...Eric Young. There's no doubt that Eric Young, in 2007, was 10000% a better worker than Scott Hall, but when it comes to The Outsiders, even a decade past their WCW peak, there's always going to be interest in what they do - even if it was sure to be very little and potentially even a massive trainwreck considering Hall's addiction at the time. Anyway...this is not very good and feels very lackluster as a main event. Cagematch says the match goes 16 minutes, but I'm guessing at least a third of that is the Joe pre-match promo. Joe and Styles get a little bit of spotlight and I like Joe teasing that he won't help Kevin Nash when's in the Ankle Lock, but there's really nothing else that happens in this match that makes it feel any different than a random main event from Impact. The fact is, even if Hall had made the show, there were no stakes and therefor very little drama to draw from. (1/5)

With an overall Kwang Rating 2.13-out-of-5, Turning Point 2007 is a sub-par show even for TNA's arguably low standard. If you love Eric Young, this is your show, but for everyone other wrestling fan on the planet, there is only one match worth seeking out - Kim vs. Kong - and even that one suffers a bit from an inconclusive finish.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

AEW Revolution 2024

AEW Revolution 2024

Greensboro, NC - March 2024

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the AEW World Champion was Samoa Joe, the AEW TNT Champion was Christian Cage, the AEW Tag Team Champions were Darby Allin and Sting, Toni Storm was the AEW Women's Champion, the TBS Champion was Julia Hart, the Trios Champions were Billy Gunn and the Acclaimed, and the Continental Champion was Eddie Kingston.

Opening things up, Christian defends the AEW TNT Championship against Daniel Garcia. I'm a Daniel Garcia fan, but an even bigger Christian fan, so I was looking forward to this match and not quite sure which way it would end up. Would Adam Copeland cost Christian the title? Would Garcia finally get that big W? They had a surprisingly even match with both guys working their ass off for nearly 20 minutes. The final third of this match was much more exciting than the initial two-thirds as we got Nick Wayne, Killswitch (Luchasaurus), and Matt Menard all getting involved and then some excellent near-falls. Still, whether its the fact that Garcia is just a better heel than face, or the fact that this bout just went a few minutes too long, this was not the show-stealing match that I thought this could've been and almost felt like it was missing some of the big drama that we got in the build. No Copeland. No "Con-Chair-To." A little underwhelming. (3/5)

Next up - Bryan Danielson challenging Eddie Kingston for the AEW Continental Championship. This ended up being a somewhat controversial match. Danielson beat the living hell out of Kingston over the course of 20 minutes, leveling him with ridiculously stiff kicks, torturing his right arm and hand, and even dropping him with his finisher at one point...but Eddie wouldn't stay down and would rally at just the right moment to connect with his own stiff chops and strikes and power moves. This sort of match is not for everyone, especially if you're not a fan of Kingston, a polarizing figure based on his sloppy appearance as much as his sometimes sloppy wrestling. Then again, the live crowd was with them for the entire thing and the story they told perfectly matched what their rivalry has been all about: Danielson refusing to respect Kingston for who he is. Personally, I'm a big enough fan of both guys to have enjoyed this quite a bit, but I did feel the finish came a bit out of nowhere and lacked the right amount of "oomph" to really make it work. Plus, as others have pointed out, the story being told here - of Kingston refusing to die so he can earn the respect of his opponent - seems a bit like well-trodden territory by now, even if Danielson is the best possible foil for him in that context. A good match, but not one I'd necessarily recommend or even want to watch again. (3/5)

The 8-Man Scramble match followed featuring Chris Jericho, Dante Martin, Magnus of CMLL, Brian Cage, Lance Archer, Powerhouse Hobbs, Wardlow, and HOOK. The live crowd seemed to enjoy this one more than I did watching from home, chanting "Meat!" at various points in the early going when the heaviest hitters were in the ring. I hate to say it because I'm a fan of his work, but Dante Martin had some noticeable gaffes in moments that were clearly designed to spotlight him. Call it ring rust or nerves or just a bad day at the office, but Martin did not come out of this looking like the next big thing. Similarly, Magnus and Archer felt like they were just kinda "there" as filler participants. I liked the teasing of an uneasy alliance-potential rivalry between HOOK and Jericho. Jericho has a tendency to latch onto rising stars, but in this case, I'm not opposed to it just because HOOK hasn't had a ton of direction - aside from the lukewarm feud with Brian Cage - since his showdown with Samoa Joe several weeks ago. Wardlow eventually got the win, which is the right booking move, though I'm personally much higher on Hobbs. Still, if Tony Khan has any hopes of Wardlow being a standout potential main eventer, he had to win here. Not a terrible Scramble match, but nothing really special. (2.5/5)

The AEW International Championship was on the line next as Roderick Strong challenged Orange Cassidy. I'm a fan of both guys, but am ice cold on the Undisputed Kingdom storyline and stable. Still, you knew you were going to get a good-to-great match here because both guys are fantastic and exceptionally smooth in-ring workers. I was curious what role the rest of the "UK" would play and if we'd get a heel turn from Cassidy's "best friend" Trent Barretta, but this was fought as a straight-up one-on-one contest built around an awesome spot that saw Roderick Strong gutwrench powerbomb Cassidy onto the top turnbuckle. From there, the Messiah of the Backbreaker continued to target Cassidy's back and narrowly avoided getting pinned after Cassidy struck him with an Orange Punch and a Beach Break near the ropes. Strong connected with his End of Heartache finisher after Cassidy missed another Orange Punch attempt to win the match 100% clean. A very good match but, because OC had such a tremendous 2023, I wouldn't consider this among his best defenses. After Strong's buddies came out to congratulate, Kyle O'Reilly made his return, shaking Roddy's hand but not putting on an Undisputed Kingdom shirt. (3/5)

A tag team grudge match followed as FTR took on Moxley and Claudio Castignoli of the Blackpool Combat Club. They had a phenomenal match on Collision (I think it was?) several weeks back that went to a time limit draw, necessitating this match. I'm not sure this match was quite as good as that first encounter - and it definitely wasn't as good as the FTR match against Jay White and Juice Robinson last summer - but it was still a very physical, very good match that got better as it went on. Dax ended up sporting a crimson mask, which added to the intensity of the match and eventually led to a finish that saw the referee award the contest to Mox when Dax seemingly passed out in a Rear Naked Choke. I really liked the variety of double-team maneuvers that both teams displayed and the crowd's engagement, but I wouldn't put this quite at "must see" level. (3.5/5)

The AEW Women's Championship match followed as "Timeless" Toni Storm defended the title against relative AEW newcomer Deonna Purrazzo. The crowd seemed deflated for the first 2/3rds of this match, but Storm and Purrazzo didn't necessarily show the same level of chemistry and energy as the participants in the matches before them either. Storm and Purrazzo were always going to have a rough night on a stacked card like this where every match had the potential to steal the show and their storyline feels a little tossed together. Purrazzo isn't super over with anyone but the biggest wrestling fans who have followed her career elsewhere, while Toni Storm's gimmick - as fun as it is - has also cast something of a shadow over the division as she's become, by a very wide margin, the biggest and arguably only major star in the division now that Britt Baker has fallen off the face of the Earth and Thunder Rosa has come back only to be immediately lost in the shuffle. The first match of the night that was sub-average. (2/5)

Will Ospreay vs. Konosuke Takeshita was next. This wasn't Ospreay's AEW debut, but this was his first as bona fide, signed AEW talent. I'm not someone who is super familiar with Ospreay aside from his appearances on AEW TV and his uncanny highlight reel so seeing him work a full match was a treat. Takeshita was incredible in this too, almost to the point of overshadowing Ospreay, which would seem impossible. As Tony noted on commentary, Ospreay's speed and force is remarkable to watch even when doing the "simple" stuff like running the ropes. There were 2-3 sequences in this match that defied logic, which usually isn't my cup of tea, but seeing it performed so flawlessly is undeniably captivating and did elicit an audible "pop" from me as I watched. What can I say? I may like a more traditional style in general, but when you've been watching pro-wrestling for 30+ years and two guys show you something you've never seen before, that is still a special feeling. The brainbuster that Takeshita delivered onto Ospreay in the corner was a legit WTF, holy shit moment and one that I'm sure had TK nervously wondering if one of his biggest investments in years was now heading to the DL. Not to be outdone, though, Ospreay hit Takeshita with a Tiger Driver 91', maybe the most cringe-inducing move in wrestling history. (Knowing that Ospreay/Danielson is likely coming down the pike, I pray that Danielson has the temerity and reasonableness to not take such an unnecessary risk.) Don Callis promised a "match of the decade"-quality match and, if you're a fan of this style - as Dave Meltzer must be - I think this would rank highly for you. To me, the missing factor was the story as this was, on paper, a heel/heel match between two members of the loathsome Don Callis family. When it was all said and done, we didn't get a big turn or any sort of storyline progression. This was "great wrestling for great wrestling's sake" albeit at the highest level possible. A "should watch/must watch"-level match in terms of execution and athleticism, for sure, but not a masterpiece of pro-wrestling drama. (4/5)

Next up - Samoa Joe defending his AEW World Championship against Swerve Strickland and "Hangman" Adam Page in a triple threat match. This was my match of the night. Samoa Joe was amazing in the early minutes, controlling the action because Strickland and Page were too focused on each other and not the reigning champion. Also, just a note - in a night filled with guys doing the whole "hold your guys head down and lightly knee him in the head," Samoa Joe was the only dude who did it with any sort of force or impact and it looked much better than everyone else's version. This was paced really well as they knew the audience would be a little burnt out after the previous match and opted to wait till the final third before they really went "all in" with nearfalls and finishers and Page going overboard by attacking two referees. By that point, the crowd was fully, fully into things and booing the hell out of Page for all his heel stuff. I'll also give credit to TK here as they could've easily had Page disqualified and ended things with a non-finish but, instead, allowed the match to continue despite all the "schmozzing," ending with a somewhat "straight" finish as Page submitted in the Coquina Clutch, either because he really was losing consciousness or because he simply refused to allow Swerve any more chances to win the title (and knew that, by giving Joe the victory, he'd be effectively preventing Swerve from winning the match too). An action-packed 20 minutes with the sort of psychology and storytelling that the previous match didn't feature. (4/5)

Main event times - it's STIIIIIING's final match as he pairs up with Darby Allin to take on The Young Bucks for the AEW World Tag Team Championships. Before the match began, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair were welcomed to ringside. I was expecting to see Lex Luger, personally, but he wasn't allowed to be shown on-screen due to a WWE Legends Contract. A pre-match video showed a bunch of Sting's career highlights, including a few still photos from his WCW days that I'm guessing were the property of Bill Apter (and, thus, were allowed to be shown?). For all the talk about the WWE possibly not allowing AEW to show any footage that they owned, I haven't heard many folks talk about the dearth of TNA footage. Considering AEW and TNA briefly worked together, it surprised me that there was little to no mention of his very successful and memorable run there...ANYWAY, Sting's sons came out in his nWo Wolfpack and original "Surfer" Sting attire as part of Sting's entrance and they, along with Darby, spent the first few minutes of the match taking out the Young Bucks with a series of big Stinger Splashes in the corner. The crowd was obviously red hot for all of this as the EVPs got their deserved comeuppance. Some ridiculous spots in this match, including Darby Allin diving from a ladder inside the ring through a sheet of glass on the floor. We also saw Sting eat a ton of superkicks and go through multiple tables (and a pane of glass too). At one point, Ric Flair tried to prevent the Young Bucks from inflicting any more punishment on Sting but he ate a double superkick too. Every time they went for the cover, though, Sting would kick out and, at one point, flat-out "no sell" some of their offense. Personally, I didn't love that booking as - even in his retirement match,  especially in his retirement match - a 64 year old shouldn't be shrugging off the finishing moves of a team hailed as the best on the planet. Instead, I would've liked to the Bucks hit all those gratuitous moves but then either get "greedy" and waste time or get their pin attempts cut off by Flair and Steamboat and eventually Darby too, giving Sting the time to get a second wind. But, hey, this match wasn't really about logic and the Bucks have always been an "acquired taste" in terms of pushing the boundaries of credibility in order to give the audience a whole bunch of ridiculous "moments" and memorable spots. Meltzer almost gave this a full 5 stars, which is absurd to me just because this was so much more of a "spectacle" than a great match. (3.5/5)

With a very strong 3.17-out-of-5 rating - which is actually on the low end compared to some of the reviews of this show that I saw online - AEW Revolution 2024 was the type of show that has made me more likely to shell out the big bucks for their next offering, which should be the goal of any wrestling promotion putting on a major pay-per-view show. Then again, I had some good luck watching this not-so-legally on a website where you can watch pro wrestling. Not that I would co-sign that method. Anyway...with at least two matches that I'd consider must-see and a main event that closed the book on what of pro-wrestling's most inspiring and important careers (especially in the world of non-WWE American wrestling), this was a very strong showing for AEW. 

FINAL RATING - Watch It

TNA No Surrender 2007

TNA No Surrender 2007

Orlando, FL - September 2007

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Kurt Angle was the TNA World Champion, the TNA X-Division, and one half of the TNA World Tag Team Champions (with Sting). 

Kurt Angle and Sting defended the TNA World Tag Team Championships against "Pacman" Jones and Ron Killings in the opening contest of the show. As I mentioned in the review of the last TNA PPV (Hard Justice), Jones was a huge signing by TNA but was not permitted to have any physical contact, which threw a massive wrench in whatever TNA seemingly had planned for him originally. And so really this is 2-on-1 match with Jones refusing to wrestling/running away from his opponents. It gets heat - which is a good thing - but unless TNA had figured out a work-aound for Jones not being allowed to take any bumps, what good is it if he can't eventually get his comeuppance? Karen Angle shows up and gets in the face of Sting and then feigns being struck by him, which eventually leads to Angle attacking his own partner and Pacman getting the pinfall (which we don't actually see on camera because either the production didn't catch it or because they weren't allowed to him having physical contact with a wrestler). This isn't the worst angle I've ever seen, but knowing the corner they were booking themselves into, I might still consider it one of the dumbest angles I've ever seen. (1/5)

What is it with James Storm and his knack for redeeming himself from awful matches by having an undeniably strong one on the next pay-per-view against the same opponent? This time around, Storm pulls it off with Rhyno after the two had a lame "Barroom Brawl" match the previous month. This one starts off more like a genuine ECW brawl with Rhyno and Storm fighting throughout the Impact Zone before the bell even rings. From there, they have a solid back-and-forth built around signature maneuvers and table spots, delivering a solid, physical 10-minute war. Rhyno gets the feel-good win, but the post-match is botched as Rhyno can't get the mini-keg to work when he tries to give Storm a Budweiser enema (which would've been awful to watch anyway). Rhyno hits a Gore on Jacqueline for good measure, which I'm not sure was planned or improvised but feels like maybe it was done because the keg thing didn't pan out. I wouldn't call this a great match, but it was noticeably better than the "Barroom Brawl," which was an unnecessary gimmick when you can just let these two guys go out and beat the crud out of eachother (as they did here). (3/5)

Kaz vs. Bobby Roode followed. The in-ring action was executed well, the transitions were good, Roode is a fine heel and Kaz did good babyface work...but this still felt a little heatless until the final few minutes. These two guys get hyped as future main eventers on commentary, but their characters were either generic (in the case of Roode at the time) or vague to the point of nonexistence (Kaz). Their feud was based on Roode's mistreatment of Ms. Brooks and Kaz and her becoming increasingly friendly, which did add drama to this match and played into the finish (as Roode attempted to use a chain to win the match but saw his plan thwarted by his manager). Not a bad match, but not one that struck me as "PPV worthy." (2.5/5)

The TNA X-Division Championship was on the line next as Kurt Angle defended the title against Jay "Black Machismo" Lethal. I'm not a fan of Lethal's Macho Man-aping gimmick - not because he did a bad impression, but because the more he did it, the less we saw of who Jay Lethal really was. Before the match, Kevin Nash tells Lethal to take a dive and what could've and should've been a moment for Lethal to "break character" and speak from the heart is...not. What makes things worse is that this match is very good. Angle's suplexes look absolutely devastating and I love how he works on Lethal's back and neck throughout the contest. Angle's performance is not for everyone as this is a clear cut example of his "go-go-go" style of non-stop action (which, y'know, is what TNA prided itself on, right?), but it worked for me here because it really felt like he was testing Lethal, pushing the youngster to really prove if he could hang with arguably the most technically-proficient wrestler (debatable) and biggest star in the company (less debatable). The match only goes 12-and-a-half minutes but it feels like a hard-fought battle and the near-falls are fantastic. Again, the only thing that would really push this into "must watch," to me, would be if this was more of a Jay Lethal vs. Kurt Angle match rather than being a Black Machismo vs. Kurt Angle match. (3.5/5)

I wasn't expecting much out of the next match - Chris Harris vs. Black Reign - as their "match" at the previous show was just a total squash with Dustin bloodying Harris for a few minutes until a gaggle of X-Division guys came out to stop him (with Sonjay Dutt unable to hide a massive smile on his face despite the seriousness of the assault). I wouldn't say Dustin proved he still had "it" here as he was moving slow and he was still years away from busting out anything resembling the agility he has shockingly showcased over the past decade, but Harris brought the fire and the energy and Rhodes did his job of cutting him off. Plus, by going under 6 minutes, it never gets boring. The finish is a bit out of nowhere and doesn't live up to the No Disqualification stipulation as Hebner prevents Rhodes from stabbing Harris, even though, technically, wouldn't that be legal? Still, I'm just glad they kept it as fast-paced as possible and didn't overstay their welcome. (2.5/5)

A pseudo-Royal Rumble match follows, hyped as a 10-team Gauntlet Match but wrestled under the same type of rules as the WWE's January classic (with entrants coming in every 60 seconds). This one starts out fairly hot as AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels, former Tag Team Champions in the early days of TNA, start things off before Homicide shows up. I wish they'd have found a way to let these guys work 3-4 minutes on their own because it would've been stupendous based on the little bit of time they get together before Sabin and Havok (Johnny Devine) join the fray. From here, due to the nature of the match, things get a little crowded and a pattern sets in as the latest entrant comes in, does his signature stuff, gets cut off, rinse and repeat. We finally get a big man at #7 as Brother Devon shows up (followed soon after by Brother Ray at #9). Raven comes in #10 and I really wanted to see him and Team 3D have a "moment," but I guess whoever laid out the match had no interest in an ECW nostalgia pop? Team 3D have a dominant run, making some eliminations and cutting down the herd. BG James shows up, Sonjay Dutt comes in, Tomko comes in...nothing really important or interesting happens until Lance Hoyt arrives and dumps Elix Skipper to the floor in what looked like it could've been some sort of botch that nearly injured Skipper. Kip James comes in at #19, followed by Eric Young at #20. Young ends up hanging till the final three before the final two are AJ Styles, who made it through from the very start of the match, and Alex Shelley...and thus, the match morphs into AJ Styles and Tyson Tomko (who had been eliminated earlier) against Shelley and Sabin, the Motor City Machine Guns. I wish these two teams had been given more time because their work against each other is quite good. I'm surprised to type it, but Tyson Tomko was actually not that bad based on his performance here and the match he had against Abyss at the previous PPV. All in all, this was a solid 25 minutes of action and I liked that they let AJ Styles shine throughout and also made the Guns look like a big deal. At this point in TNA, these guys were very much the highlights of the show in-ring while teams like the Voodoo Kin Mafia were almost embarrassing comparatively (both in-ring and with their lame WWE-spoofing "comedy" segments"). (3/5)

Next up - Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe. Over 15 years later, these guys are still among the best workers in the US. I was expecting this to be a terrific contest, but the DQ finish really bummed me out. The previous 14 minutes were good but a bit one-sided as Joe really took the fight to Christian and dominated for the majority of the contest. I would've liked to see Christian use his crafty veteran knowledge to control more of the match rather than playing the chickenshit heel, but, to be fair, Joe's gimmick has always worked best when he's allowed to have matches like this where he is comes across as a bad ass and Christian bumped and sold well for him. This one never got to the "higher gear," though, that would've made it feel like Joe had lost all control and needed to attack the refs. The post-match provided some cool visuals as Joe hung Christian over the top rope by a tee-shirt wrapped around his neck and then got put in his place by Matt Morgan, who was serving as Jim Cornette's enforcer and did have undeniable size and presence. (3/5)

After announcing that Impact would be going 2-hour, it was main event time - Kurt Angle defending the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against Abyss. I wasn't necessarily expecting much out of this match as Abyss is known most for his hardcore matches and Angle had already wrestled twice on this evening. Had they done 10-12 minutes and ended things with some sort of "schmoz," that probably would've been sufficient...but Abyss and Angle brought out their best and delivered a near-20 minute battle that was smartly worked (as it was built around Angle having to cutdown his opponent and weaken him for the Ankle Lock). I wouldn't call this "must see" but it was above-average and a better match than I expected it to be. The post-match drew "Fire Russo!" chants as Abyss was dragged into the ring by a mysterious hand. I don't know who that hand belong to, maybe Black Reign based on Abyss' next couple months of feuds? A solid match with a surprisingly clean finish that made it clear that, despite losing twice earlier in the night, Angle was still "the man." (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 2.69-out-of-5, TNA's No Surrender 2007 is a solid albeit unremarkable show. The main event is, like several other matches on this show, good but not great. Christian/Joe is underwhelming and has a weak finish. The Tag Team Gauntlet match is funner than I expected it to be, but then fizzles out too quickly once we get to the finals - a surprisingly great few minutes of AJ & Tomko vs. The Motor City Machine Guns. Angle vs. Lethal is a very strong match, the closest thing to a "must watch," but missed the mark with me due to Lethal leaning too far into the Savage cosplay when the match could've been all about Jay Lethal finally winning as Jay Lethal. With no single match that I'd consider truly great and most people's mileage varying on TNA, this one gets a...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth

WWE Elimination Chamber: Perth

Perth, Australia - February 2024

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the WWE Universal Champion was still Roman Reigns, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion was Seth Rollins, the Intercontinental Champion was GUNTHER, the United States Champion was Logan Paul, the Unified WWE Tag Team Champions were The Judgment Day, the RAW Women's Champion was Rhea Ripley, the SmackDown Women's Champion was IYO SKY and the Women's Tag Team Champions were The Kabuki Warriors.

Elimination Chamber: Perth kicked off with the Women's Elimination Chamber match between Bianca Belair, Raquel Rodriguez, relative newcomer Tiffany Stratton, Liv Morgan (who got one of the bigger pops of all the participants), and the two women who started the match: Naomi and Becky Lynch. We got some decent, but weirdly slow, grappling to start things off. I didn't mind the trading of nearfalls and exhibition-style opening, but I've also grown accustom to PG-rated cage matches over the years. Tiffany Stratton came in next and immediately impressed the crowd with some serious gymnastic-inspired offense. A great series of sequences followed with everyone getting some shine. Liv Morgan came in next and went right after Stratton. Morgan slamming Stratton into the cell walls was a tremendous visual and credit to Stratton for taking those bumps with gusto. Morgan was over with the crowd and was wrestling with a ton of spirit, clearly motivated to maximize this opportunity and maybe remind the folks in the back that, at one point, she seemed like a potential major player in the division. Lynch nailed Stratton with a nasty pumphandle slam on the Chamber floor and then applied a Disarmher  through the cage in a great visual. Stratton recovered quickly enough to eliminate Naomi minutes later and Raquel came in next. Like Morgan, Rodriguez was out for awhile due to injury but had some momentum last year. Belair was the last entrant and, like everyone else, went right at it with Stratton. Belair might have the reputation for needing her matches and sequences to be "scripted," but the results speak for themselves and she came in and really pushed the match to the next gear, hitting Raquel with an excellent tornado DDT on the Chamber floor after some exchanges with Lynch and Stratton. We saw Liv hit a senton off the top of a pod and then Stratton and Lynch do some brawling atop it, leading to Lynch getting pushed off rather awkwardly and then Stratton hitting a front-flip splash onto Belair, Raquel, and Lynch to a massive pop. Stratton looked to hit her finisher on Liv back in the ring, but Morgan cut her off and eliminated her - which actually drew some boos from the crowd, though I doubt that was the plan. We got another great spot as Raquel powerbombed Belair from the Chamber floor into the ring. Lynch applied the Disarmher to her but Raquel wouldn't submit. After hitting a ridiculous double power-bomb on Lynch and Liv, Raquel was eliminated by Belair to a somewhat muted response. Again, part of the issue might've been that Raquel had just come off a really impressive streak of maneuvers before she was eliminated. The next few minutes were a bit unremarkable until Morgan hit a sunset flip powerbomb that looked absolutely BRUTAL on Belair. Had it not been for Belair's ridiculous neck muscles, I'm guessing she'd be out for months. Minutes later, Belair somehow hit a 450 on Lynch, but Becky got her knees up at the last second. Belair attempted KOD but Morgan countered with a jawbreaker and then hit a Codebreaker on Lynch, showing that she could hang with both former champs. Belair went for a KOD on Lynch but Becky escaped, allowing Morgan to roll up the EST for a 3 - only for Lynch to hit her with the Manhandle Slam and eliminate Morgan! Great closing sequence there. Really strong match that started a bit slow but built up well to some very cool spots and felt like it pushed Stratton and Morgan as real stars to watch in 2024. (3.5/5)

After a whole bunch of commercials, it was time for the WWE Tag Team Championship bout between Judgement Day (Balor and Priest) and the New Catch Republic (Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate). Before the match began, Dom Mysterio got on the mic and got almost completely drowned out by boos. Bate and Dunne are incredible workers, undersized but very good at adding just enough flair and panache to their moves to give them personality. The heels slowed things down after the babyface shine and Bate played the face-in-peril. Dunne got the hot tag and took it to Balor before landing a moonsault to the outside onto both champions. Bate came back in but so did Priest and the Money In The Bank holder regained control. Balor came back in and stomped on Bate for awhile, but Bate fought back and got Priest up for the airplane spin, dizzying him for close to a full minute. Dunne came in and landed the Bitter End on Balor but Dom pulled Finn's under the bottom rope to prevent the three. The referee ejected Mysterio from ringside and the crowd sang him the traditional exit theme for such an occasion - "Hey Hey Hey Goodbye." As Dom made his exit, Balor hit Dunne with a serious of his signature dropkicks and then attempted a Cous De Gras but couldn't connect. The NCR hit the Double Tyler Driver but only got 2 due to Priest breaking it up. The action continued and was good until Priest had a horrendous botch off of a Tyler Bate head-scissors. Ugly stuff there. The crowd was still into things, for sure, especially as Bate and Dunne regained control and hit a double inverted AA on Priest. Priest fought back, though, and hit a double South of Heaven chokeslam off the middle rope before Finn Balor finished Dunne off with a Cous De Gras. This was fine, slightly above-average even, but the finish was never really in question. (3/5)

Next up - a talk show segment: The Grayson Waller Effect with Seth Rollins and Cody Rhodes. This was a lengthy, lengthy, lengthy segment with close to 10 minutes spent on entrances alone. Cody challenged The Rock to a 1-on-1 match that I don't expect to happen, especially not prior to WrestleMania and Seth Rollins said he had his back. Austin Theory did some of The Rock's shtick, which was awful, not funny, and did nothing for Theory except make him look like even more of a loser. This was a sub-SmackDown segment.

After another lengthy break, it was time for the Men's Elimination Chamber Match featuring United States Champion Logan Paul, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley (selling an injury at the hands of Karrion Kross), Kevin Owens, and the two men that kicked things off - Drew McIntyre and LA Knight. Knight was over with the Aussies, but I'm still not sold on the guy as I just don't see what makes him special as an in-ring performer. Knight took the fight to Drew, bashing his head into Owens' pod repeatedly. Speaking of KO, he came in at #3 and attacked both guys, chokeslamming Knight and hitting him with a standing senton for 2. McIntyre went for a superplex but couldn't pull it off, eventually eating a frog splash for his efforts. Lashley came in at #4, another guy, like Owens, who is consistently great but had zero chance of winning just based on where he's been falling on the card over the past year. I loved Lashley and Drew getting some time in the ring together as the two have great chemistry after working together a whole bunch over the past 8 years. With still no eliminations, Randy Orton came in at number five. Orton has clearly been having fun on this latest run and his work with Kevin Owens had me wondering why I can't recall these two having a real, significant program together considering how long they've been in the same company. Orton hit a draping DDT on Owens on the Chamber floor and sold the damage expertly while Lashley and McIntyre worked on each other in the middle of the ring. Knight hit a DDT onto McIntyre on the floor as well but then got dropped with a back suplex by Orton, who, once again, sold the damage to his own back after hitting the move. Paul came in last but Owens was waiting for him, locking himself into the pod (which Paul had scribbled on like a bored high schooler in a great bit of heeling) so that he could beat down on the US Champion. Paul being in a match like this takes him from his "special" status, but he's also proven to be good enough that he wasn't at all out of place. Lashley drove Owens through a pod wall with a terrific Irish Whip and then speared Paul through the opposite one to a huge pop. Wow. That might've been the spot of the night and I love Lashley selling the damage to his injured forearm as well. McIntyre caught him with a Claymore and rolled him into the ring. McIntyre hit him with a second Claymore back in the ring to eliminate Lashley and then got back into it with LA Knight. Knight looked like he might've been able to eliminate Drew moments later, but Styles somehow got into the Chamber and attacked him with a chair. As Corey Graves noted on commentary, we saw something similar with Logan Paul last year. Styles hit Knight with a Styles Clash on the chair, which was admittedly nifty. McIntyre draped his arm over Knight to eliminate him officially and we were down to 4. On the Chamber floor, Owens and Paul went back at it, with Owens destroying Paul and then cannonballing McIntyre and Orton on the inside. He nearly eliminated the Viper with a senton off the top but only got 2. He went for one on Drew but McIntyre got his knees up and we were back to a four-man lay-around. Drew attempted a Claymore but Owens caught him with a powerbomb and then hit a Stunner on Paul! Orton went for an RKO but got superkicked - only for Orton to hit the RKO when Owens went for a pop-up powerbomb! Orton made the cover and Owens was out of the match. As Orton and Drew did some brawling in the middle of the ring, Paul climbed atop one of the pods and launched himself onto Drew with a huge crossbody. Paul busted out the brass knuckles and gloated - only to eat an RKO out of nowhere in a terrific bit of pro-wrestling production! Terrific elimination there. McIntyre and Orton did some good work in the closing minutes - like McIntyre and Lashley, they have undeniable chemistry from years of working together - but I'm not sure a single person in Perth or anywhere else in the world believed Orton was going to win this match. McIntyre called for the Claymore after hitting Orton with a big spinebuster, but Orton crumbled to the mat before he could get up. Orton was playing possum, though, and hit McIntyre with an RKO! Before Orton could make the cover, though, Logan Paul decked him with the brass knucks and McIntyre got the pin. To me, this was not a great ending for Drew, who really could've and should've won without Paul's interference. Overall, though, this was a solid Chamber match with some very good moments out of Lashley, Logan Paul, Kevin Owens, and Orton. (3/5)

Main event time - Rhea Ripley vs. Nia Jax for Ripley's RAW Women's Championship. The crowd was obviously fully behind Ripley here, it being her home country, and she gave a fantastic babyface performance - though more than just some of the credit should go to Nia Jax, who may have had a career performance here. Unlike Zelina Vega's match in Puerto Rico earlier this year (or really any of the matches at that show), though, this production and sheer magnitude of the massive arena detracted from it a bit - at least for me. Whether it was the mic'ing of the crowd, the way the sound traveled out of the arena, or the card just being a little burnt out after two Elimination Chamber matches, this one didn't quite get to that "next level" that would push it into "must see" category for me. The finish was never in question and nor was the character work; as mentioned earlier, Ripley was clearly working as the babyface here, but because she didn't show even a touch of the badass heel character that has made her arguably the most interesting woman on the roster, the match seemed a bit ho-hum. Maybe an appearance by Dom would've helped? A crowd-pleasing match for those in attendance and the Ripley superfans, but not a modern classic or anything. (3/5)

Elimination Chamber: Perth earned a very respectable 3.12-out-of-5 Kwang Score...but sometimes the numbers can be deceiving. Every match was good, but no match was truly great (the Women's Match, thanks particularly to Tiffany Stratton's performance and a great finishing sequence, came closest). The Cody/Seth/Grayson Waller segment was unremarkble aside from Cody challenging The Rock in the vaguest way possible, a thread that I'm very skeptical about actually leading to a 1-on-1 match. The main event gave Ripley her big hometown victory, but they missed an opportunity to spice things up by having Becky Lynch - in what would've garnered huge heel heat, no doubt - make some sort of post-match appearance to build towards WrestleMania (even a shot of her watching from backstage would've been sufficient really). No Bayley? Boo. The Rock and Roman not appearing was expected, but unless they worked the pre-show, not having either of the Usos also gave the impression that this show was lacking in starpower and relevancy. Pick the parts you are most interested in, skip the rest.

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