WWE Money in the Bank 2023

WWE Money in the Bank 2023

London, England - July 2023

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion was Roman Reigns, the WWE World Heavyweight Champion was Seth Rollins, GUNTHER held the Intercontinental Championship, Austin Theory was the United States Champion, the RAW & SmackDown Tag Team Champions were Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, the Women's Tag Team Champions were Shayna Baszler and Ronda Rousey, the SmackDown Women's Champion was Asuka, and Rhea Ripley held the RAW Women's Championship. 

This show kicked off at 3 PM in the United States as it aired live on Peacock from the United Kingdom with the Men's Money in the Bank match between LA Knight, Shinsuke Nakamura, Logan Paul, Butch (who got a rousing "hometown" welcome), Santos Escabar of the Latino World Order, Damien Priest, and Ricochet. Before the match began, LA Knight was described by the commentators as "the people's choice," which was apparent from the crowd response he got but not necessarily something I expected Cole and Barrett to come out and say on commentary. It was 6-on-1 to start, everyone going after Paul before things splintered into brawls on the outside. Anytime Knight was given the spotlight, he received a huge ovation, but the crowd also popped for some of the big spots by Nakamaura, Butch, and Ricochet. Highlights included Damien Priest delivering a perfect spinning forearm into Butch on the floor (and minutes later nailing Logan Paul with an uppercut as he attempted a splash to the outside), Ricochet flying through the legs of the ladder to hit a suicide dive, and Logan Paul executing a Russian Leg Sweep off the ladder before nailing a wild frog splash onto Priest as he lay across a ladder (which the crowd responded to with a "You Still Suck!" chant). One of the craziest spots came when Butch applied a headlock onto Escobar and dragged him into a ladder only for both men to get taken out by a ridiculous 450 (720?) from Ricochet. Considering how much the audience was behind Knight, I was surprised how little he actually shined, with Butch, Rico, and Priest being, to my eyes, the MVPs of the match. The best spot of the match, though, was when Knight knocked Ricochet and Paul into the ropes from a ladder and Ricochet delivered a nasty Spanish Fly on him that sent both men through some tables. Butch looked like he may have had the match won, but Priest tossed him off of one ladder and into another in the corner. This allowed LA Knight, after dispatching Nakamura and Escobar, to make his climb...only for Priest to come back to steal the W. As much as the audience may have been disappointed, I liked the booking here as Priest has had a really good few months and, honestly, LA Knight was underwhelming here. All in all, a very good ladder match, but we get these so often that I doubt anyone will remember it a few months from now. (3.5/5)

The WWE Women's Tag Team Champions, Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler, defended the titles against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez next. As noted on commentary, Morgan and Rodriguez had never actually dropped the titles as they had been forced to vacate them due to a shoulder injury that Liv Morgan sustained. That shoulder came into play as Rousey and Baszler targeted it in the early going. Rousey has undeniably lost a little bit of her star power over the past few years, but her competency and execution has, in turn, gotten better. Its a weird trade-off because the WWE needs both star power and dependable in-ring performers in the division right now, but Rousey can't necessarily deliver both when she's in the midcard working with and against midcard performers. Fortunately, by the end of the match - which was solid - Shayna Baszler had turned on her partner (ignoring the lack of logic here, it was a definite shocker and came out of nowhere to me) and it seems like Rousey and her former best friend will be feuding in the build-up to SummerSlam, a pivot that will hopefully help Rousey regain some of her spark and present Baszler as the killer she was in NXT. Last note: Somebody needs to talk to Rousey about her bizarre and unnecessary make-up. (3/5)

GUNTHER defended his Intercontinental Championship against Matt Riddle in the next match. I really enjoyed seeing a sex creep like Riddle get slapped around and beaten up, but this was no squash. There were some great exchanges here and GUNTHER once again showed why he might be the best in-ring performer in not just the WWE but maybe all of pro-wrestling. Yes, Omega and Ospreay are more agile, more flashy, more capable of pulling off ridiculous spotfests...but for fans of a more "old school" style, GUNTHER is the man and he was terrific here. This one didn't quite hit that "must see" level for me, but got close to it. (3.5/5)

In a wonderful post-match segment, Drew McIntyre returned to the WWE, headbutting GUNTHER and then connecting with a Claymore. I'd have preferred to see McIntyre return as a heel, but a McIntyre/GUNTHER series is bound to be hard-hitting and excellent. Plus, there was no way the UK crowd was going to boo Drew McIntyre. (+1)

Next up - Dominik Mysterio vs. Cody Rhodes. Move-for-move, sequence-for-sequence, these two didn't deliver anything we haven't seen before, but in terms of heat, the crowd was super, super into this. My biggest critique would be that we didn't quite get enough Rhea Ripley, but aside from that, this was a crowd-pleasing bout that didn't overstay its welcome and was booked the right way with Cody Rhodes getting the decisive, clean victory without too many shenanigans. Rhodes remains incredibly popular, though I still hold onto the thought that his WrestleMania XXXIX loss was a booking mistake. An average match nudged to above-average territory due to the passion of the crowd. (3/5)

In another shocking return, John Cena showed up in London and may have even stole the show with his appearance and announcement that London *might be* (?) the site of a WrestleMania in the near future. He was interrupted by Grayson Waller, who did more in his few minutes of shine with Cena that Austin Theory did in his entire WrestleMania feud with him. I'm not super familiar with Waller, but if he can go in the ring, he looks like he could be a decent midcard character. It will take more than that, though, to get to the main event as we've seen similar characters in the past - including the aforementioned Theory - and very few have really been able to crack the main event scene. Another huge, awesome surprise on a show that already had quite a few in the Baszler/Rousey split and the return of Drew. (+1)

The Women's Money in the Bank Match followed as Trish Stratus, Zoey Stark, Becky Lynch, Bayley, IYO Sky, and Zelina Vega competed for the prize. I really liked that there were multiple factions involved in the match and that there was plenty of history between the competitors, with only Zelina Vega seeming a touch out of place compared to everyone else (who have all been feuding on-and-off for close to a year now). The Trish and Lynch interactions showed there is still heat to their rivalry (especially with Zoey Stark's involvement). I wasn't a fan of everyone else in the match disappearing so that the Lynch vs. Stratus/Stark sequence could command everyone's attention - why not just have the other women just brawl around the ring? - but it certainly was effective at furthering that story. Moments later, Vega hit a ridiculous Code Red on Stark from atop the ladder that earned a huge and well-deserved pop. IYO Sky climbed atop the ladder next, but Bayley shoved it over, knocking her stablemate to the floor. Bayley nearly won her second briefcase until Lynch caught her and pulled her down. Lynch looked to have the win within her grasp, but in a brilliant move, IYO handcuffed Bayley and Trish to eachother! IYO then climbed over Bayley to retrieve the briefcase in one of the best finishes to a Money in the Bank match I can recall. While this match may not have had as many huge spots as the Men's version, the Code Red spot was arguably crazier than anything the males did and the finish was certainly far more creative and crowd-pleasing. (3/5)

Seth Rollins defended his World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor in the next contest. I was expecting Balor to have a bit more support from the UK crowd but, to his credit, he's been a great heel as of late and - to Seth Rollins' credit - Rollins is mega-over with the WWE audience (case in point: the legitimately unreal serenading he received from the crowd before the bell rang). The commentators noted that Rollins was coming into this match with some damage to his ribs, which came into play after Rollins' initial shine once Balor connected with a double stomp to his gut. I liked Balor targeting the ribs throughout the match and wish they would've let Balor control an even longer stretch before Rollins made his comeback (at which point things got a little "your turn/my turn"). Things picked up a little bit once Rollins hit a big buckle bomb. He couldn't hit the frog splash as Balor got his knees, though. This allowed Balor to attempt a Cous De Gras but Rollins rolled out of the way and after a nice exchange of counters, Rollins hit the Pedigree for 2. At that point, Damien Priest showed up with briefcase in hand, distracting the champion. The crowd chanted "Cash It In!" but Priest just took a seat. Balor hit a running dropkick that sent Rollins into the barricade and then hit 2 Coups on the outside. Balor shoved Rollins into the ring and hit him with another awesome dropkick, but this time, when he went for the CDG, Priest got out of his seat, distracting Finn and giving Rollins enough time to recover. Rollins hit a Curb Stomp to finish off the challenger. Good enough, but not remarkable. (2.5/5)

A video played hyping the return of Edge who, if I'm not mistaken, as been off TV since WrestleMania. 

After Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn delivered a promo from the crowd and a lengthy, lengthy recap video and a lengthy, lengthy, lengthy entrance from the Tribal Chief, it was main event time - Roman Reigns and Solo Sikoa vs. The Usos in a match that was billed "Bloodline: Civil War," which, if I'm not mistaken, is a portmanteau of a couple Marvel Universe movies, right? There was a nice "Fuck You Roman" chant before the bell rang, the crowd fully behind the Usos. Even after the bell rang, we didn't get much "action" for a couple minutes as Jimmy and Solo took their time to get down to business. Solo got some offense in, but was cut-off by a cheapshot from Jey - I really like that, rather than just becoming 100% pure babyfaces overnight, the Usos pulled out the sorta trick that has helped them be so successful. As soon as it seemed like the Usos were about to gain control, though, Roman called for a tag and we got a cool bit of drama as Solo looked a little hesitant about tagging in the Chief. I couldn't decipher what some of the chants directed at Roman were, but he got a ton of heat throughout the match (I think at one point they were chanting "Tribal Wanker" and, minutes later, they sang a song, "Stand Up If You Hate Roman," that I've never heard before but must be quite popular across the pond). When Roman and Solo took time to regroup outside, Paul Heyman gave a funny pep talk, asking Roman if he wanted his children to be setting at "his table" (referring to Jimmy Uso). I'd hate every match to have this much outright acting and character work, but this has become part of the Bloodline "style" and, if they didn't do it well, it would be a problem. Fortunately, the slower they work, the more they emphasize facial expressions and body language, the more the crowd seems to eat it up. At the pace they worked the first half of this match, it could've gone hours before anyone would've really broken a sweat. Jimmy Uso played the face-in-peril for minutes on end as Solo and Roman pulled out every trick they knew to prevent him from making the hot tag. When Jimmy finally was able to get his brother in, Jey worked like he was shot of a cannon and put on a magnificent show against Solo and Roman, fully living up to his "Main Event" nickname. Jey's luck nearly ran out, though, when Roman hit him with a pair of Superman Punches, but Jimmy prevented him from finishing Jey off with a spear. This led to a break in the action in which all four men were selling exhaustion and then ended up staring each other down before trading blows in and out of the ring. Roman hit Jimmy with a Superman Punch but only got 2 and then attempted a spear but got caught by a Jimmy Uso superkick. Uso went for a splash but ended up in Reign's guillotine submission. It looked like he might pass out, but Jimmy somehow powered his way up to his feet and drove him into the corner. Jimmy made the tag, but in all the chaos, the referee got knocked to the floor. The Usos hit the One-and-Done but there was no referee to make the count! The Usos went to the top, but Solo and Roman caught them with a pair of uranages  and then hit Jey with a lethal Spike-and-Spear combo. Solo then stacked the brothers and allowed Roman to make the count, but the Usos kicked out! That was a terrific false finish (and Solo's reaction was terrific). As Roman practically cried in the ring, Solo continued to beatdown on the Usos, sending Jimmy into the steps and then clearing off the table as per Roman's command. Jimmy ended up on the table and Solo launched himself off the barricade, but Jimmy rolled out of the way and Solo ended up eating it. Back in the ring, Jey and Roman exchanged superkicks, punches, and a spear, but could not put each other way as Jey kicked out of Roman's finisher (delivering a lowblow to Roman to do so). After Jimmy knocked Solo off the apron, Jey connected with a splash from the top and got the 1-2-3, giving Roman Reigns his first pinfall loss in 3 years. The post-match scene was a wild scene too as the Usos celebrated and both Solo and Roman sold anguish on the floor. An easy Match of the Year contender that will be tough to beat and almost the anti-thesis of what an AEW spectacular was (in the sense that this match didn't "pick up" until halfway through, but was incredibly heated and riveting from beginning to end). (5/5)

With a very strong Kwang Score of 3.64-out-of-5, making it one of the highest rated pay-per-views/PLE that I've ever reviewed, Money in the Bank 2023 was a tremendous, all-time great show from top to bottom - as good or better than any show in company history. Yes, it was that good. Every match delivered and multiple matches over-delivered, but not necessarily by "going long" or by being overwrought and "epic." What worked on this show was that the pacing made sense, kicking off with a spotfest before going into a more story-driven Women's Tag Team Championship then going to a physical, more technical match between Riddle and GUNTHER and then a one-two entertainment punch of Cody Rhodes/Dominik Mysterio and the Cena surprise appearance. This show ebbed-and-flowed so nicely that its 3+ hour runtime flew by. Oh, and the crowd, like the one in Puerto Rico for Backlash, was hot all night. 

FINAL RATING - Curt Hennig Level

ECW Heatwave 2000

ECW Heatwave 2000

Los Angeles, CA - July 2000

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Justin Credible was the ECW World Champion, the ECW Television Champion was Rhyno, and there were no ECW Tag Team Champions.

Heatwave 2000 opens with a video of porn star Jasmine St. Claire on the beach with The Blue Meanie, who is looking much, much more svelte than I remember him being at this time. Somehow, St. Claire was his long-time girlfriend, which is a bit mind-blowing considering Meanie was certainly, even at his slimmest, a "body guy" or who I would normally consider to be capable of dating a famous porn star. It ends with the Sinister Minister welcoming the audience to the show, coming into the scene a bit like Rod Serling on The Twilight Zone, and then laughing his head off for an inordinate amount of time.

In the ring we go and, right off the bat, Joel Gertner is slinging out some X-rated lines. Cyrus (Don Callis) shows up, of course. They'd done this sort of segment to kick off nearly every PPV of the past year or so if I'm not mistaken. At this point, ECW knew they were cancelled by TNN (which was getting Raw in its place) so this whole thing is a bit of a "worked shoot" where Gertner finally snaps and attacks Cyrus having essentially quit the broadcast team. This segment - and really, this whole show - is a big F-U to TNN and basically Paul Heyman just letting every possible obscenity and extreme idea fly. After Gertner attacks Cyrus, its time for our first real match...

"Big" Sal Graziano vs. Balls Mahoney in a squash that goes less than 5 minutes. I'm not sure what the story is here, but Graziano gets the dominant and decisive win over the ever-popular Balls Mahoney. Was Mahoney leaving the company? Did Heyman see Graziano as a possible Next Big Thing? If so...I don't know what he was thinking as "Big" Sal was a pretty one-dimensional act (not that Balls Mahoney had tremendous range, but he was over). Graziano eats a chairshot but no-sells it, which was cool at the time but seems reckless now. This was underwhelming and the crowd reacted as such. (1/5)

After a promo from Rob Van Dam hyping his new movie (The Van Terminator), the in-ring action get much, much better as Kid Kash, Danny Doring, and Roadkill take on the team of Simon Diamond, CW Anderson, and Johnny Swinger. A clip of the heels attacking Bobby Eaton plays before the match, which had me hoping we'd get an appearance from Beautiful Bobby, but unfortunately he never shows. I wasn't expecting this match to be as good as it was, but this was a really solid six-man tag with lots of great spots. Plus, Roadkill and Kash were super over with this crowd. Speaking of the crowd, this was ECW's debut in Los Angeles (I'm not sure if that's 100% accurate, but it was their first pay-per-view there at least) and the fans here are very much into every match and segment, which really helps a match like this, which wasn't going to get over with "star power" alone. Roadkill's big spots off the ropes get tremendous reactions and it made me think that, maybe with the right people in his corner or singing his praises or really coaching him (it wouldn't have hurt him to drop a couple dozen pounds as, even in the 00s, the WWE still needed guys who were legit 6'0'' and near-300 pounds), he could've had a shot at a better run in WWE. I also really liked the number of double-team maneuvers that both teams busted out throughout the match. Just a really good, above-average match. (3.5/5)

Backstage, Rhyno cuts a promo about he enjoyed putting The Sandman's wife in the hospital. 

In the ring, Steve Corino makes his way down the aisle with Jack Victory in tow. His opponent tonight is Jerry Lynn, who had rejected Corino and Victory and Cyrus' attempt to have him join The Network stable. Lynn and Corino proceed to have a very good match featuring a good mix of solid "old school" wrestling with some real nasty hardcore elements once Corino gets busted open. Like the Tajiri match, Corino bleeds buckets here. Unlike the Tajiri match, it is way more of an even back-and-forth match as Corino finds way to stay alive and even counter some of Lynn's ever-impressive offense. There's even a late-in-the-match sequence of rolling pins that pops the crowd. There are some questionable moments like when Lynn painting "DIE" on his stomach with Corino's blood, which not only seemed a bit out-of-character but also unwarranted or when, minutes later, Corino sets up a chair, goes to the middle rope, and essentially waits for Lynn to reverse DDT him into it (Lynn appears equally baffled by Corino's actions here and they end up botching the move). I'm not going to go a "full 4" for this one as I wouldn't consider this essential viewing, especially if you're not into the ECW style or knowledgeable about the Network/Lynn storyline, but this came pretty close. (3.5/5)

Backstage, The Sandman is with his wife, Lori Fullington. He talks about having to visit her in the hospital for seven straight weeks with his kids and how torturous it was. Rhyno appears out of nowhere and canes The Sandman in the back. He then grabs Lori and stuffs her head into the toilet. It is a wild, vulgar, and violent scene that would have never flown on TV. As I wrote earlier, a segment like this seems like Paul E. trying to show how "extreme" he could make his show, but, of course, this would've scared off practically any advertiser or cable company that could've helped save his company.

Anyway - New Jack comes down the aisle on crutches and immediately gets attacked by Da Baldiez, who then have a match against Chris Chetti and Nova (who is wearing a Flash-inspired bodysuit for some reason). The best thing to say about this match is that it doesn't eat up too much time. Nova could usually be relied upon to bust out at least one cool move, but they didn't get much time to develop a story and nothing stood out to me aside from just how garish Chetti's hair color/outfit looked. (0.5/5)

The next match is hyped as an International Threeway, but Mikey Whipwreck shows up and joins the other three competitors - Psicosis, Tajiri, and Little Guido - to make it a fourway. We also got a blink-and-you'll miss it cameo from Tony Mamaluke for some reason. Whipwreck doesn't last too long, but he got to shine in his minutes by hitting a huge front-flip dive to the floor. Tajiri was the most over guy in the match by a country mile and had the crowd going wild for his signature offense. Psicosis looked a little lost at times and there were noticeable moments when Tajiri and him had to take a beat before getting to the next spot. Little Guido was the last man eliminated, but he didn't look too strong in this defeat, spending most of the match eating brutal kicks from the Japanese Buzzsaw. This match could've and should've went a touch longer and Guido should've been made to look like more of a threat as he had quietly become one of ECW's most reliable in-ring performers. (2.5/5)

The Sandman finally got his hands on Rhyno in the next match, the two competing for Rhyno's Television Championship. As expected, the majority of this match was made up of Sandman's entrance (or so it felt like). Sandman was never a great worker, but I was hoping that he and Rhyno would have done more to make this feel like the culmination of a blood feud. Instead, its a pretty by-the-numbers hardcore match built around a piece of the guardrail being dragged into the ring, multiple Singapore Cane shots, and then the return of Spike Dudley (to save Sandman from a run-in by Corino and Jack Victory). Dudley gets piledriven through a table onto the arena floor, which was a cool trademark spot for Rhyno, but all the interference took away from the focus that should've been kept on Sandman and Rhyno's rivalry. It may not be fair to call a match as hard-hitting and with as many dangerous spots as this had in its brief runtime as underwhelming, but considering the heat around this feud and the fact that Sandman's real-life family was brought into it, I expected this to deliver much more in terms of violence and emotion. (2/5)

Next up - Rob Van Dam vs. Scott "US Male" Anton. The story here was that Anton had been RVD's best friend but had turned on him at the last PPV. Van Dam had also been hyping the debut of the Van Terminator. This match had more structure than your usual RVD match from the 90s as there was a clear babyface shine stretch to start things, followed by Anton gaining control, and then a third act that saw Rob Van Dam regain control and then deliver not only his patented Five Star Frog Splash but also debut the Van Terminator (his across-the-ring dropkick-into-a-chair in the corner move that Shane McMahon would end up stealing). This match would likely be considered a hidden gem had it shaved off a few minutes and Anton had any sort of build or credibility prior to coming into ECW. Unfortunately, Anton was a lower midcarder-at-best in WCW despite being, for ECW in 2000, probably in the upper tier of actual in-ring performers. The debut of the Van Terminator is an amazing moment that gets a massive, massive pop from the crowd, but at nearly 20 minutes, this match has too many slow parts and multiple poorly-executed overly-choreographed chair spots (what else would one expect in an RVD match from this time?) to be anywhere close to "must see." (2.5/5)

Main event time - Justin Credible (with Francine at his side) defending the ECW World Championship against Tommy Dreamer (with Jazz and former WCW valet Gorgeous George at his side) in a Stairway to Hell match (a ladder match where, instead of there being a title hanging from the rafters, its a whole bunch of barbwire). Dreamer and Credible had been feuding for quite awhile by this point so there was plenty of heat on this match. As Joey Styles noted on commentary, Tommy Dreamer had won the ECW World Championship once before, but only got to hold it for 18 minutes. Before the match even begins, though, a near-riot breaks out in the crowd as a bunch of XPW wrestlers caused a scene (leading to a bunch of ECW wrestlers rushing out from the locker room). This was not a work, as far as I've heard, but rather an attempt by the XPW crew to try to get their name out there. Anyway, once the XPW wrestlers get taken out by security the match begins in earnest...Dreamer and Credible start things off with some actual, old school wrestling (a collar-and-elbow tie-up, a side headlock, even a full nelson) which merits comments from the commentary team (which, for this match, includes a very unprepared Dawn Marie). The action spills to the floor quickly, though, and the brawling begins once they go into the stands. Dreamer walks Credible around the arena, stopping every few moments to throw him into a guardrail or hit him with a random weapon, but really, there's too much prepping and not enough actual action. At one point, Dreamer brings a ladder up to a balcony only to get shoved from atop it onto the floor, but the camera angle and lack of lighting make it impossible to see the actual impact of the move. Credible takes over and drops Dreamer onto the guardrail right on his groin, a classic Dreamer spot if ever there was one. Back into the ring they go where they trade offense involving the ladder. Francine prevents Dreamer from grabbing the barbwire, but ends up crushing her when he falls off the ladder. George and Jazz come in to take Francine out...but George turns on Jazz! Francine attempts a Bronco Buster, but Jazz gets her boot up (according to Styles, as, once again, the camera doesn't quite capture it). Jazz strips Francine's shirt off (her breasts are covered by tape), but gets piledriven by Credible to take her out of the match. Dreamer hits the "Tommyhawk" and then goes for a cover even before grabbing the barbwire, which doesn't make a ton of sense. Dreamer climbs the ladder and brings the wire down before wrapping it around the top rope. Dreamer ends up crotching Credible onto the top rope, which was a pretty convoluted spot. Credible essentially no sells it so he can hit the That's Incredible on Dreamer onto the barbwire. Dreamer kicks out and then, with the accidental help of Francine, hits his own finish on Dreamer for 2. Credible hits a second That's Incredible on barbwire to retain the championship, ending the show with a finish that I doubt any fan in attendance was happy to see (in fact, as Credible celebrates his win, multiple sodas and other pieces of garbage get tossed into the ring). This match lacked any real logic, there were multiple convoluted spots, the transitions were poor, and while there were a few good moments, some of them were barely caught on camera. Not unwatchable - mostly due to the rabid crowd and the undeniable effort - but this was not good. (1.5/5)

This show started off relatively hot with a really good, over-achieving six-man tag and an equally strong Lynn/Corino match, but save for portions of the RVD/Scott Anton match (which is too long and gets too "cutesy" with chair spots at times), none of the rest of the matches on the card even come close to matching those peaks with some of the matches being real disappointments (Rhyno/Sandman, the 4-way match). Eventhough it earned a not-too-shabby Kwang Score of 2.25-out-of-5, I'm giving this one...

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

ECW Hardcore Heaven 99'

ECW Hardcore Heaven 99'

Poughkeepsie, NY - May 1999

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, the ECW World Champion was Taz, the ECW Television Champion was Rob Van Dam, and the ECW World Tag Team Champions were The Dudley Boys.

Is Hardcore Heaven 99' the best ECW pay-per-view? After watching the first hour, I felt like it was certainly in the running. The show kicks off with Chris Candido and his valet/manager/on-and-off-again-girlfriend Tammy "Sunny" Sytch coming down the aisle, announcing that he has hired the Dudley Boyz as his in-ring protection, and calling out the ECW World Heavyweight Champion, Taz. Taz comes down to a sizable pop and takes out Candido in less than 3 minutes (it may even be less than 2) but then gets attacked by the Dudleys. This was an exciting way to kickoff the show and set the tone for the mayhem that was an ECW pay-per-view. Its hard to "rate" this because its more of an angle than a match - and, personally, I'm a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see Taz and Candido actually compete because Candido was a solid in-ring competitor at this time - but it is what it is. I'm just gonna give the angle a point and call it a day. (+1)

The Dudleys then cut a promo, calling out anyone in the back who has the "balls" to challenge them...so out comes Ballz Mahoney, followed a minute or so later by Spike Dudley. I loved the spot where Ballz press slammed Spike onto Bubba and D'Von, who then proceeded to dump him backwards onto the floor. I'm not sure if they were aiming to have him clear the guardrail, but he didn't come close. The biggest spot of the match doesn't even involve a Dudley, though, as Joel Gertner gets involved and, after attempting to throw a fireball at Mahoney, ends up getting a fireball spit at him by Ballz (after Ballz gargles lighter fluid!). It doesn't look great, but the live crowd went nuts for it and, keep in mind, just like today, in 1999, fire being used in a wrestling match was a rarity. Though Mahoney got to spit fire at Gertner, the distraction also cost him the match as the Dudleys hit the 3-D for the win. What I noticed in this match more than in some of the Dudley's previous few PPV appearances was just how much closer the Dudleys were to their WWE presentation. Gertner is still around and still a huge part of the act, to be sure, but Bubba and D'Von were no longer sharing as much of the spotlight with Sign Guy or Big Dick or anyone else, including Gertner (who doesn't get to do any sort of pre-match promo). The match itself only goes for about 7-8 minutes, but it was a fun and engaging 7-8 minutes. (2.5/5)

Super Crazy vs. Taka Michinoku followed and the crowd did not have much love for Michinoku as he was most known by US fans as a "WWE guy" despite not really being around consistently for all that long (Michinoku was most known for his initial run as the company's first Light Heavyweight Champion and then, later on, as a member of the lower card stable Kaientai). As Super Crazy had proven himself in front of the ECW audience, he became the de facto babyface. The crowd was happy with his victory too. Watching Taka here, I was super impressed and a little bit sad that he didn't get to have matches like these in the WWE too much as he just didn't have the type of opponents that made that possible. By 99', matches like these weren't rarities anymore, but this particularly pairing was not something you'd see every week so it is still special to watch it back 20+ years later. A really good match, but not "must see." (3/5)

Tajiri vs. Little Guido in a match built around Little Guido wanting to prove that he was not just a "comedy" wrestler. I really enjoyed this match as it was very hard-hitting, Tajiri was just a marvel to watch, and Little Guido did prove that he was worthy of being taken more seriously as an in-ring performer. You still get some FBI shtick via Big Sal. Unlike the previous bout, which was built on high-flying and came off a bit more like an exhibition, this had more "meat" because Tajiri and Guido were more established as ECW characters and could bring the intensity with their strikes and facial expressions. Tajiri especially looks like a killer-in-the-making in this match as compared to his presentation just 4-5 months earlier and its no wonder he would become an even bigger part of ECW in the 4-5 months after this. There is a beautiful spot where Tajiri hits a basement dropkick on Guido when he's in the Tree of Woe that we've seen hundreds of times since, but I'm not sure I've ever seen delivered with more stiffness. I like that Tajiri controlled most of the match too, but this never really felt like a "squash" because Guido showed toughness by taking a ton of punishment. A very good match and maybe even a career one for the future "Nunzio." (3.5/5)

Next up...Lance Storm (with Dawn Marie) taking on Tommy Dreamer (with Francine). I'm not much of a Dreamer fan, but I'll give him credit because this match worked for me as a real clash of styles between the more technically-savvy Storm and the more passion-fueled brawler type in Dreamer. Despite this being a wild brawl filled with weapons - chairs, the railing, tables, a ladder - you still get some actual wrestling moves out of Storm and the crowd is fully into everything. Not every spot is perfectly executed, but Dreamer was never known for his consistency and Storm was never known for being the kind of daredevil that was truly needed to push this match into all-time classic territory (like, say, Sabu or Jeff Hardy might've). The most famous moment of the match happens when Dreamer ends up holding Dawn Marie up in a piledriver and exposing her underwear to the entire arena, which is the lowest form of crowd-pleasing imaginable, but also undeniably "of its time" and a part of ECW's hardcore, "anything goes" appeal (even if it is, to be extra clear, super cheap). The finish actually hurt this match a bit for me because of Cyrus' unnecessary interference and the "death blow" (a spinning heel kick from Storm onto a garbage can-covered Dreamer) felt convoluted after an otherwise fairly "organic" weapons-based match. (2.5/5)

Don't let the snobs of 2022 fool you - Rob Van Dam vs. Jerry Lynn, the next match on this show, is still as great as it ever was and it was great. Keep in mind, over in WCW, Ric Flair and Roddy Piper were still wrestling and, in the WWE, the main event scene was still heavy on brawling in the crowd and multi-stipulation matches involving the McMahons. This match was all about the athleticism, a battle of endurance and agility, and felt very much like RVD's long-awaited true star-making moment after years of building up a resume with matches that weren't quite as good as this. This match is where Van Dam and Lynn basically "put it all together" or at least got as close as possible for a match built entirely on high-flying, counters, and agility. Is it as good as an Eddie/Rey match or a Rey/Malenko match or a Dean/Eddie match? No, probably not...but this match has something that many of those classics didn't (at least in WCW) because this audience was fully into the match. To the ECW crowd, RVD was a star at a level that I'm not sure Eddie, Rey, or Dean attained in ECW or WCW. The same may not be true for Lynn, but he's still over enough as an underdog character that the dynamic works and the crowd is thoroughly engaged from bell-to-bell. There are some tremendous moments in this match - a sunset flip powerbomb through a table, Fonzie eating a chair to the face, Jerry Lynn legitimately getting his bell rung (probably concussed) on a bump to the floor - and while some would say this match goes too long, lacks real suspense or escalation, lacks selling and a discernible story, they're forgetting the context of this match entirely. RVD and Lynn had been feuding in a "Can you top this?" fashion (in the words of Todd Pettengill), literally doing whatever dive or crazy move they could think of to try to prove they were the better athlete. In other words, this was "wrestling match-as-dunk contest" and the crowd was absolutely there for it. And, at the time, these sorts of matches rarely felt as "big" as this one was. A match with its fair share of detractors (just check out the write-ups on CageMatch) and maybe one that can only truly be understood in that "You had to be there" way, but watching this back for the first time in 20 years, I was still very much impressed and enthralled by the insanity. An absolute must-see. (4/5)

Based on the little bit of research I've done, this was supposed to be Justin Credible was supposed to take on Shane Douglas, but Douglas left the company for WCW, which led to this segment. I guess some people could say Douglas should've stuck around to "put over" Credible, but its not like Credible hadn't had his fair share of big wins and moments in the previous year. The truth is, Credible didn't have enough "it factor," personality, or charisma to be the top guy in ECW but was pushed to that level because there was no one else left. Anyway... Credible comes out to the ring, talks some nonsense, and then gets interrupted by Sid. Sid in ECW is always a cool sight. Sid powerbombs Credible a couple times until Lance Storm shows up and they outnumber the big man. Sabu shows up to take out the heels - known collectively as the Impact Players - and then puts Sid through a table for good measure. This wasn't much a "match," but it was a fun segment and a good way to break up the show between the RVD/Lynn match and the main event. (+1)

Main event time - Taz vs. Bubba Ray Dudley for Taz's ECW World Heavyweight Championship. Throughout the show, the Dudleys had been beating down various midcarders in the locker room, working as hired guns. Before this match, the Dudleys beat down Chris Chetti, who was Taz's cousin. When Taz shows up, he makes this match "FTW rules," which essentially means there are no rules. This basically becomes Taz vs. the entire team of Dudleys, which is a fun concept, but I'm not sure enough planning went into this match to make it truly great. Instead, you just get lots of brawling and weapon shots and there's no real story the way, say, this same match might've been conceived and executed had it been in WWE. This match may not seem "worthy" of being the main event of a PPV on paper, but the Dudleys were very over and very dominant in ECW. I just wish this would've been fought a bit more like a real championship match with actual near falls to make it seem like Bubba actually might win the World Championship but there's barely any of that. A fun match and it doesn't overstay its welcome, but nothing I'd necessarily go out of my way to see. (3/5)

With a Kwang Score of 3.42-out-of-5, ECW's Hardcore Heaven 99' stands firmly as the highest-rated ECW pay-per-view that I've reviewed or likely ever will review by a wide margin (only Heatwave 98' comes close with its respectable score of 3.17). The reason is simple: this show is all killer-no filler, the perfect example of how to book a show by building around your best pieces and just letting them "cook." Sure, this might mean multiple appearances by the Dudleys and Taz, but then again, at the time, they were as over as anybody else on the roster. Using Sid in a "segment" rather than a match was a smart way to add variety to the show. The Jerry Lynn/Rob Van Dam match stands the test of time as not just entertaining and impressive, but one of the more influential contests of the 90s and must-see for any "student of the game." Elsewhere in the midcard, Tajiri/Guido and Taka/Super Crazy offer clashes of style that showcase international talent in a way that even WCW couldn't compete with anymore in 99' (or didn't bother trying to). From top to bottom, this show does not disappoint.

FINAL RATING - Watch It

WWE SummerSlam 91'

WWE SummerSlam 91'

New York, NY - August 1991

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into this show, Hulk Hogan was the WWE World Champion, the Intercontinental Championship was held by Mr. Perfect, and the Nasty Boys were the WWE Tag Team Champions.

This show holds a soft spot in my heart as, if I'm not mistaken, it was the first, second, or third pay-per-view my family ever ordered (the first may have been WrestleMania VII or Survivor Series 90'). I love Vince McMahon's intro for the show as we head to the ring for a six-man tag pitting Slick's team of The Warlord, Paul Roma, and Hercules (the last two were a team known as Power and Glory) against Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, The British Bulldog, and "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich. Its a telling sign of just how much talent the WWE had in 91' that two former NWA World Champions were being used in the opener. This isn't anything special, but any Ricky Steamboat is better than no Ricky Steamboat. Check out Paul Roma getting arm-dragged from the top rope for proof. When Warlord and Bulldog get in the ring together, the crowd goes bananas and offers clear evidence as to why those two had face-offs on seemingly every PPV from 90' through 91' in some way or another. Hercules looks like he took all the steroids, but doesn't look anywhere near as mobile as he did a few years prior (when he was actually surprisingly quick for a guy his size). I liked how out-of-control this got and, again, Steamboat basically carries things as the face-in-peril for the longest stretch of the match. Not a match that I'd seek out, but if you're cueing up this show, there's no need to fast-forward through it either. (2.5/5)

After a word from the champion, Mr. Perfect defends his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Bret "The Hitman" Hart. For the longest time, this was my favorite match ever. It's still probably in the top 10. It is one of those matches that, from an in-ring perspective, is maybe flawless? Bobby Heenan and Roddy Piper's bickering on commentary gets annoying at times, but when they need to, both guys do focus on the action and characters in the ring. There are so many things to love here - Mr. Perfect's bumping is spectacular and really makes Bret look like a hero, the way Bret cinches in the side headlock that they build the first several minutes on (and somehow, its never dull or boring), the excellently-executed nearfalls and swerves in the back half, the kick-out trading and mirror work, Bret's bump to the outside that causes him to collide with an "international photographer." Its all just so good and so well-paced and, for lack of a better term, perfect. I can understand that, 30 years later, this match might seem a bit underwhelming to modern fans or that, even back in 91', if you were hip to the best wrestling action of the 70s and 80s or in Japan, this wouldn't be considered an all-time great match - but for the WWE, aside from the Savage/Steamboat match at WrestleMania III, this sort of match was light years ahead of the typical WWE match. Knowing now that Curt Hennig was suffering a serious back injury makes his performance even more badass. The criticisms lobbed against this match don't hold much water to me because they basically all rely on a knowledge of "better" matches or performances (Hennig's vaunted AWA work) or nitpicking that certain things weren't properly "built to," criticisms that ignore the context of the match, the fact that this was in many ways the first Hart/Perfect match that the broader audience saw (I didn't even know they'd had a series in 89'), and how, compared to what Hogan and Warrior were doing in the main event, this was a much more coherent and realistic match than the WWE audience had ever seen. A match that every wrestling fan should still absolutely see and that I doubt many would ever consider anything less than great. (5/5)

Andre the Giant guest-managed The Bushwhackers in their match against The Natural Disasters in the next contest. Similar to his appearance at WrestleMania, this was just an excuse to bring Andre out in front of the live crowd as he was no longer able to perform in any meaningful way. This wasn't a good match by any stretch of the imagination, but there are moments that make it, I dunno, not terrible the entire time? The Bushwhackers were over so the crowd isn't dead and, at one point, I loved how the heels switched places during a bearhug and the ref was none the wiser because referees in the WWE in the 90s were complete dopes. At a little over 6 minutes, it doesn't last that long and the post-match appearance by the Legion of Doom gets a massive, massive pop that, once again, highlights how much - on paper, at least - the WWE's 91' roster around this time was maybe the best collection of massively over stars that the company ever had at one time (even if more than a couple guys were on the shelf or had one foot the door or were being underutilized in the midcard). (1.5/5)

The next match is better than it really had any right to be, largely due to the excellent work of "The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase, who is defending his Million Dollar Belt against his former manservant Virgil. Their match at WrestleMania VII had ended inconclusively so the feud continued through the spring, building up to this final confrontation. At WrestleMania VII, Dibiase had carried Virgil through a similar match, but here, Virgil showed that he had made some gains in and while it would be too far to say he was ever Dibiase's equal, when it came time for him to shine or rally, he was more than competent (check out the gutsy splash he delivers to the arena floor early on, for example). Dibiase looks so good here that it is surprising that his run as a major singles star was winding down by this point and, within a couple years, he'd be working as a manager. Piper is a bit overbearing on commentary (a problem that lasts throughout the show), but at least it makes a little more sense here as he was Virgil's storyline mentor. Dibiase basically has Virgil beat at one point but is so overly confident that it costs him the match, which was a wise way to maintain Dibiase's credibility. Because this exceeded expectations and had the crowd engaged from beginning to end, I'd consider this a better-than-average match. (3/5)

The Jailhouse Match is next - The Mountie vs. The Big Bossman. Before the match, The Mountie instructs the "hick cops" to treat the loser with "Mountie justice," which is on-the-nose foreshadowing that it'll be The Mountie who ends up in cuffs by the end of this match. The Bossman comes in with a ton of energy and was very over with the crowd, but this was still a bit underwhelming. The finish was a bit of a headscratcher to me too as well as The Mountie kicked out of the Bossman Slam, but ends up losing just 5-10 seconds later to an Alabama Slam (a move I definitely don't remember being very common in the WWE or WCW in 1991, but I could be way wrong). Also, no cattle prod spot? Seems like a missed opportunity there. The after-match shenanigans are classic, though, and nudge this one up a little bit as Rougeau gives an amazing performance, screaming and struggling and fighting as the cops take him out of the arena and the crowd goes wild. (2.5/5)

After a series of interviews, an intermission, and a whole bunch of clips of The Mountie getting hauled into jail (more on these later), its time for  our WWE Tag Team Championship match, a No DQ/No Countout match between The Nasty Boys and the challengers, The Legion of Doom. Despite the stipulation - which seemed a bit unnecessary as this was, to my knowledge, the first of their WWE matches - this is not as violent as one might expect based on their resumes. Instead, this is a straight-forward brawl with some rule-breaking by the heels and Hawk getting worked over until Animal comes in for the hot tag. This got 2-and-a-half stars from Meltzer, which seems a tad generous but also just goes show what was considered good wrestling at the time as nothing really stood out in this match. The crowd was certainly into it and you do get the "feel good" ending, but this wouldn't make either team's Best Of and the Nasties would end up putting on much, much, much better hardcore matches in WCW within a couple of years of this. (2/5)

As noted in the previous paragraph, the second half of this show features multiple segments involving The Mountie being booked at a NYC jail and every single one of them is amazing. Jacques Rougeau's performance in these are legitimately funny in a way that very, very few WWE segments of any era is legitimately funny and well-performed. He is so over-the-top that everything works - except for maybe the homophobic joke at the end when a biker in his jail cell asks him, with a cliche gay lisp, "Isn't it great how leather feels on skin?" Its the kind of "joke" that a 7-year old me would've never got at the time and does nothing but date the segment. Still, aside from that single 2-second tag, Jacques' performance is excellent and makes for some of the best comedy that was ever aired on a WWE program. (+1)

Back to the ring we go for a filler match pitting Irwin R. Shyster (Michael Wallstreet) against Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. I liked Roddy Piper mentioning how tough Valentine is, a little nod to the longtime fans who remembered his series of violent clashes with The Hammer in the early 80s (for the NWA, mind you). Anyway, IRS is a boring worker no matter how many commentators talk up his technical prowess. Valentine wasn't exactly the most thrilling worker either so you end up with a decent-to-good match that doesn't feel PPV worthy. Why not showcase The Undertaker here? Hell, wasn't Repo Man around? I'm not sure if they could legally have Flair appear on-screen yet, but a segment with him would've been preferred too. Honestly, leaving this match off the card would've been addition by subtraction too. (0.5/5)

Main event time - Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior take on Sgt. Slaughter, Colonel Mustafa (The Iron Shiek), and General Adnan. Sid Justice is the special guest referee too so, by my count, that's 6 performers in the ring with Hulk Hogan somehow being the most reliable for a good performance out of the whole bunch. That's saying something and its not saying something good. After an awesome match against Randy Savage at WrestleMania VII, Warrior had a bit of a feud going with Jake Roberts and the Undertaker on-screen, but was not a happy camper backstage and famously held up Vince McMahon before the show, getting himself fired  by the end of the night (I wonder if the finish, which sees Warrior disappear down the aisle in pursuit of Adnan and Mustafa and never return, thus missing the posedown with Hogan and Sid, was altered to get him off-camera). Sid was a "tweener" coming into things and I actually thought his performance as the referee was solid (in the sense that he could've fucked it up, but didn't). I like how got into it with both Hogan and Warrior at various points to add some much-needed drama to this match. The Triangle of Terror gimmick had run its course by April, so stretching it into August certainly wasn't brilliant creative work, but the crowd was into it because Hogan was still a big star and seeing him tag with Warrior to trounce on the heels was a guaranteed crowd-pleasing sight. This show somehow did more buys than WrestleMania VII, but about 100k less than the previous year's show (the WWE's pay-per-view business would continue to dip with only their biggest shows doing more than 400k buyers until things really picked up in 99'). Anyway, the match itself isn't unwatchable, but its not good and is less enjoyable than Hogan and Slaughter's fight at WrestleMania (which had the benefit of actual stakes and some blood). (1/5)

The show doesn't end there, though, as we get the Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth wedding. The softie in me wants to give this segment an extra point, but while every other segment involving these two was gold and really well-produced, the final 10-12 minutes of this show are just a slog to get through (and the Peacock/WWE Network version doesn't include the wonderful wedding party segment with Jake Roberts and Undertaker that would air on WWE TV in the weeks to come). The cheesy Savage/Liz music video that airs before the segment seems to have been overdubbed with new music that takes away even the nostalgia factor from watching this now. Too bad.


Though its Kwang Score - a measly 2.31-out-of-5 - would suggest that SummerSlam 91' is an average show, there are some intangibles that make this much more watchable than one might expect. Obviously, Hart/Perfect is a "must see" match, but the Jacques Rougeau segments are also delightful, the sheer number of babyface victories make the whole show feel joyous, and while the main event isn't a good wrestling match, the star power is there. Heenan and Piper's commentary is distracting at times and they show a surprising lack of chemistry - both guys too busy trying to get their jokes in to focus on the match or to even allow each other to shine - but its rarely dull and certainly keeps the show moving. There are some outright bad matches in IRS/Valentine and Bushwhackers/Disasters, but Dibiase/Virgil overdelivers and did I mention just how great the Jacques Rougeau segments are? 

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

WWE King of the Ring 1996

WWE King of the Ring 96'

Milwaukee, WI - June 1996

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into the show, the WWE Champion was Shawn Michaels, the Intercontinental Champion was Goldust, and The Smoking Gunns held the WWE Tag Team Championships.

The 1996 King of the Ring opens with the first of two semi-finals matches - "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. "The Wildman" Marc Mero. These two were very familiar with each other having had multiple matches against each other in WCW (and most likely on the house show circuit in the WWE too). While Austin had his "Stone Cold" moniker already, he wouldn't deliver his famous Austin 3:16 speech until later in the night and was still very much just a midcard heel coming into this show (though, to be fair, there were already pockets of the audience that were rooting for him). The first half of the match sees Austin in full control and it doesn't necessarily make for the most riveting action. Things get better once Mero makes his comeback and the pace picks up (it certainly doesn't hurt that Austin gets his mouth cut hardway and the addition of "color" to the match definitely makes it feel way more physical). I understand why Owen Hart was put on commentary on this show - as Jerry Lawler has a match later on - but he's a bit too over-the-top for my liking and his best moments are when he's less outright heelish and more of an analyst. Some good nearfalls towards the end before Austin gets the W with the Stone Cold Stunner, which had only been recently introduced (and gets a sizable pop). (2.5/5)

Up next, the other semi-final: Vader vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts. This is another example of Vince not really knowing what to do with Vader despite the template being pretty easy to follow had he just went with what worked in WCW and not tried to fit a square peg into a round hole. Before the match, Roberts cuts a promo with religious references as the commentary team talks up how Roberts overcame drug addiction, found spirituality, and is now making a historic comeback. Owen Hart just repeatedly calls him out for being old. I was genuinly shocked to read that Jake was only 41 when this show happens as he looked much older. Hell, Finn Balor is 41 right now and still looks like he can go for another decade. Anyway...Vader dominates early, but Roberts does at least get to land a few shots in. Roberts kicks out of a big splash and eventually strings enough offense together to capture Vader into DDT position, but as Vader goes down, he shoves a referee and the match ends in a bullshit DQ. Vader shouldn't have been losing to anybody, let alone a Jake Roberts that looked at least 15 years older than he really was, even by DQ. If he needed to be booked into the tournament, they needed him to win it and go on an undefeated streak building towards SummerSlam. Vader gets his heat back (sorta) by hitting the Vader Bomb on Roberts, which also doesn't help Austin later on as, instead of beating a Jake Roberts that was "100%" (which is a stretch considering how haggard Jake looked at this point), Roberts has the out of having suffered "internal injuries" earlier in the show. (1/5)

The WWE Tag Team Championships are on the line next as The Smoking Gunns defended the titles against The Godwinns. This whole storyline centered around Sunny, who had left the Bodydonnas when they lost the titles to the Godwinns, joined the Godwinns, and then turned on the Godwinns to help the freshly-turned Smoking Gunns win the titles. People can criticize the company for putting the focus of the entire tag team division on Sunny but they need to remember that not a single one of the aforementioned teams was (a) over with the crowd and (b) capable of putting on good, engaging tag team matches consistently. There's nothing technically wrong with this match, which follows a fairly standard set-up as the Godwinns get some minutes to shine early before the Gunns cut the ring in half and Henry O. Godwinn plays the face-in-the-peril, aside from just that its boring and the crowd doesn't seem to care about anything aside from Sunny (the few chants that take place in the match all seem to be for her). Phineas gets the hot tag but the ensuing melee allows Bart Gunn to hit one of the pig farmers (I don't recall which) with a boot to get the victory in a match that went 10 minutes but, at times, felt like 20. (1/5)

Jerry Lawler comes out and cuts a long, generic heel promo on the Milwaukee crowd, making fun of the Brewers and the fans to get extra heat. I'm guessing they tacked this onto the front of the match because his opponent, The Ultimate Warrior, could only be relied upon to work 5-6 minutes. Still, I'd rather have seen him just obliterate Lawler for 5 minutes than have to listen to this pedophile berate audience members. The "match" is as bad as one would expect as Lawler controls the first 2-3 minutes, hits his patented piledriver (which Warrior no sells), and then gets demolished in under a minute. The WWE really lacked starpower in 96' and they needed heels for Warrior to destroy, but this rivalry with Lawler felt so minor league and trivial when Warrior was a top-of-the-card act. (0.5/5)

The first of many Mankind vs. Undertaker matches is next. I misremembered things and believed they had already had a PPV match before this (at an In Your House), but this was their first showdown and, though it goes a touch long, its still pretty darn good. I've read quite a few reviews of this that point out that this might be Taker's first great performance or the first time that he really showed his versatility. Personally, I think his matches with Bret Hart and even the match against Diesel at WrestleMania XII showed what Taker was capable of, but that doesn't take away from the greatness of his rivalry with Mankind. Speaking of Mankind, compared to some of the ridiculous bumps he would take in their other matches, this one is comparatively tame...but still features Mankind taking an unprotected chair shot to the head and falling to the floor multiple times. But, really, unlike their other matches, its Foley who is in the driver's seat for much of this, not necessarily dominating or manhandling the Deadman, but certainly on the attack a whole bunch. I loved Mankind's running knee into the steel steps spot and the foreshadowing of Paul Bearer's eventual heel turn in the finish. Not a "must see" match, but certainly above-average. (3/5)

The next match - Intercontinental Champion Goldust defending the title against Ahmed Johnson - starts off incredibly hot and then grinds down to a tedious bore that absolutely didn't need 15+ minutes (especially after a Mankind/Undertaker war that went close to 20). Again, the first few minutes are incredible as Johnson bursts through the entrance (and sends one of the King of the Ring "guards" flying), nails Goldust with a clothesline that causes him to do a flip (great bump there), and then performs a ridiculous running dive out of the ring that could've went all sorts of wrong for him. Once Goldust takes control, though, Johnson basically plays dead as Goldust performs multiple submissions (which wasn't really ever Dustin's strength). Its all building towards Goldust having to "revive" Ahmed Johnson by giving him mouth-to-mouth, which is too outrageous and a bridge too far for me to buy into. Johnson eventually makes the spirited comeback and regains the Intercontinental Championship, but this was too long and dragged too much at times to be considered good, even if you (like me) enjoy Goldust's shtick. (2/5)

After a promo from "The Loose Cannon" Brian Pillman that references Jeffrey Dahmer and includes the word "rape" (just for those that hold steadfast to the idea that Vince wasn't already experimenting with an edgier product in mid-96'), its time for the King of the Ring Finals - Steve Austin vs. Jake "The Snake" Roberts. This isn't much of a match, but it didn't need to be. Austin basically just kicks Roberts' ass until Gorilla Monsoon shows up to check on Jake's status. Jake tells him that he wants to continue the fight, but Austin is never really in trouble aside from taking a few of Jake's patented jabs. Austin hits the Stunner and this one is over. More of an angle/segment than a match, this was efficient and effective but not what anyone would call a "good" match. (2/5)

Austin marches down the aisle to where Dok Hendrix is waiting by the throne and proceeds to deliver arguably the most famous, most important promo of the 90s (or, at the very least, #2 behind Hulk Hogan's heel turn from the same year). Even 25+ years later, it is still a remarkable series of statements from Austin that perfectly captures everything about the "Stone Cold" character, what his attitude was, what his motivations were, and what he thought of the rest of the roster. (+1)

Main event time - Shawn Michaels vs. The British Bulldog with Mr. Perfect as...no, sorry, before the match begins, Mr. Perfect's role as guest referee is changed to being the "lead referee outside the ring." Aside from not counting out Michaels at one point, Perfect plays no major role in the match and I'm unaware of why the switch was made to make Hebner the referee aside from maybe Perfect not being cleared due to his back injury/Lloyds of London policy. Any which way, at nearly 30 minutes, this is a lengthy war of a match, but both Michaels and Bulldog bring their best stuff to keep it interesting, fast-paced, and exciting throughout (even as both guys pull out a variety of "rest hold" submissions). Michaels' bumps in the corner and out of the ring are stupendous, but Bulldog is also putting in a ton of effort here and this, along with his acclaimed SummerSlam 92' match against Bret Hart, might be his "career match" as he unleashes not only some awesome power moves (multiple guerilla press slams, a vicious release superplex, and a wicked powerbomb at one point), but also a cadre of big clotheslines and cut-offs. My biggest gripe was the "tacked on" finish as every other nearfall was so good that Michaels winning with just a single superkick after going through his "3 Moves of Doom" felt uninspired (though, to be fair, this sort of ending was not atypical for the WWE even in 96'). The finish also included a meaningless ref bump that didn't play into Mr. Perfect's involvement at all, making it even more head-scratching as to why he was even included in the build-up for this rematch. (3.5/5)

After the match, Owen Hart and British Bulldog beat up on Shawn until Ahmed Johnson shows up. Then its Vader's turn to run down and make it 3-on-2 until The Ultimate Warrior arrives to set-up the next month's International Incident main event. Of course, that main event would never happen as Warrior left the company and was replaced by Sid. That show was also infamous for Jim Cornette proclaiming on Raw that if his team lost, he would personally pay back all the people who bought the PPV, which has got to be one of the cheapest and lamest marketing plots in PPV history and really reeked of WWE's desperation at the time. 

Overall, King of the Ring 96' is an uneven show book-ended by two very, very good (near great) matches in Austin/Mero and Shawn/Bulldog. I didn't particularly care for Owen Hart being on commentary all night, but I guess it was better than the alternative of having to hear Jerry Lawler make references to royalty all night. The best parts of the show - basically anytime Austin was on-screen, the main event, and the strong Taker/Mankind match - are most interesting because they point to where the company was going, but the low points all involve the stale elements the WWE had resorted to in 94'-95' (a woeful tag team division and aging stars like Roberts, Warrior, and Lawler). With a Kwang Score of 2.06-out-of-5, King of the Ring 96' is a show that is best enjoyed by just cherry-picking the best 45-60 minutes.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver

WWE WrestleMania VII

WWE WrestleMania VII

Los Angeles, CA - March 1991

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, the WWE World Champion was Sgt. Slaughter, the Intercontinental Champion was Mr. Perfect, and the WWE Tag Team Champions were the Hart Foundation.

The story of WrestleMania VII has been told countless times elsewhere, so I'll just summarize: with Operation Desert Storm and the Gulf War on the minds of all Americans in the winter of 91', Vince McMahon had pivoted the WWE away from its usual storylines and put an immense focus on patriotism, taking the title off of the Ultimate Warrior (after a disappointing run as WWF Champion) and putting it onto the nefarious Iraqi sympathizer Sgt. Slaughter with the hopes of selling out the LA Coliseum for their biggest show of the year. Unfortunately for the WWE and Vince McMahon, there were two major factors working against the company by this point. For starters, by late February, the war was over and the political implications and events in the immediate aftermath were too messy to inspire any sort of pro-wrestling angle. Second, the characters involved in this saga - Sgt. Slaughter, Hulk Hogan, but also General Adnan and the Iron Sheik - were all fatigued (and I'm not talking about their military-inspired wardrobes). Hogan was still the WWE's top act, but his star power and the WWE's presence in mainstream pop culture was waning and would only continue to drop in the coming years. Of course, the company line wasn't that ticket sales maxed out around 16,000-out-of-100,000 available in February 91' and they had been too ambitious but rather that "security issues" had made holding the event there too dangerous, implying that WrestleMania could be the target of a terrorist attack and that it was too risky to put that many fans in one place (despite the Super Bowl and countless other major sports events all happening without issue for months when the actual war was still happening). 

After Willie Nelson sings "America the Beautiful," a Mania tradition, it was time for the opening contest - The Rockers vs. Haku and the Barbarian. Haku and Barbarian would go on to team as the Faces of Fear in WCW and worked much better as a tandem there (I'm guessing this wasn't their first outing as a tag team, but they didn't work like a cohesive unit yet at this point.) The Rockers and the Orient Express had put on a clinic at the Royal Rumble a few months prior, but this match isn't nearly as riveting. The Rockers held up their end, though, delivering dazzling double-team maneuvers to keep the crowd engaged. A fine enough opener. (2.5/5)

Backstage, "Mean" Gene Okerlund is with Marla Maples, Regis Philbin, and Alex Trebek. I'm not sure if Maples was married to Donald Trump at this point or not, but he doesn't get a name-check. Trebek and Okerlund do a funny "Who's on First?" type bit that made me smile. 

In the ring, "The Texas Tornado" Kerry Von Erich took on Dino Bravo. This wasn't very good. I'm curious what Vince's long-term plans were for Von Erich as he had an incredible physique and, in his prime, could certainly work well enough to get over in the WWE, but by this point, Von Erich could almost be considered an even darker version of Jeff Hardy, a drug addict who also carried a ton of darkness inside caused by unbelievable trauma that relied on pro-wrestling because it was all he ever really knew. Anyway...this match goes less than 4 minutes but could've gone even shorter because the few minutes we do get are awkward and don't actually make Von Erich look all that strong. By this point, the Tornado had already been the Intercontinental Champion and with Warrior and Hogan still at the top of the food chain, its unclear in what direction he was heading so this win didn't lead to any major storyline push as far as I recall. (0.5/5)

The British Bulldog vs. The Warlord follows and I was absolutely shocked at how much actual wrestling these two do. In a battle of powerhouses (artificial or not), you just don't expect to see as many crucifixes and roll-ups and counters and whatnot. Davey Boy is the one delivering most of these moves, but Warlord isn't just some lazy oaf in the ring either. This is a "long" 8 minutes that feels like a real war has been waged. This exceeded my expectations but also tested my patience as the nearfalls happened and I was just ready to move on. (2/5)

In the back, The Nasty Boys cut a promo to hype up their WWF Tag Team Championship match against The Hart Foundation. I used to hate watching this match as a kid because the Nasties were tremendous heels and I hated seeing Bret Hart lose. Macauley Culkin is in the front row and is shown on-screen. Watching this at least a couple decades since the last time I saw it, I was really impressed with the story they tell. The story isn't a complex one, but it is the "right" one as the Harts show, repeatedly, that in a fair fight, they are the more technically-skilled team. However, the Nasty Boys are ruthless and tough and mean. I didn't care for the repeated rear chinlocks they employ and wish the Nasties would've shown more variety in the ways they were wearing down their opponents, but the crowd is into the extended heat segment and when Bret finally does make the tag out of the "face-in-peril" role, Neidhart gets a huge pop. The final minutes are the right kind of flurry of action that makes it plausible that Earl Hebner would miss blatant cheating in his effort to maintain order. A good-not-great match. (3/5)

One of the more notorious/infamous matches in WWE history follows - Jake "The Snake" Roberts vs. Rick Martel in a Blindfold Match. The build-up for this match was terrific and if there is anyone that could pull off such a high-concept match without making it seem really ridiculous, it might be the master ring psychologist, Jake Roberts. Oh, and Rick Martel is also a fantastic worker. Unfortunately, as good as both guys were, this match was horrendous. One of Martel's best strengths was his facial expressions, which we never get to see. One of Jake's best strengths was his methodical in-ring style and ability to do a lot with a little - his jabs, his short-arm clothesline, his DDT teases. But because Roberts and Martel have to spend so much of the match just "wandering" and literally grasping at air to get over the fact that they can't see eachother, Jake's minimalist-but-effective offense is even more reduced. Roberts and Martel were dealt a tough hand and while the match may have been better with a minute or two clipped off, that would've also made the gimmick even less believable as the stipulation required them to "milk" things a bit. (1.5/5)

The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut in the next match, squashing Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka in under 5 minutes. There are much better squashes to find out there as Taker was still very one-dimensional in the ring at this point and Snuka doesn't really go out of his way to make the Deadman look as powerful as he could've/should've. Interestingly, Gorilla Monsoon refers to Snuka as "The Phenom" early in the match, which ultimately became Taker's nickname. Another match not worth checking out aside from its historical importance at being the first of Taker's lengthy streak of WrestleMania victories. (1/5)

The Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage in a Retirement Match is next on the card. This is a difficult match to rate because, from a technical standpoint, its an Ultimate Warrior match and that means you're not going to see much in the way of submission holds or deft counters or a bevy of snappy suplexes or acrobatic high-flying or any of the usual things that wrestling fans have historically deemed to merit high scores. No, this match is all about the character work and the storytelling and the genius of Randy "The Macho Man" Savage. It is the type of match that, somehow, even after a 5th or 10th or 20th viewing, will still find a way to show you something new to think about and enjoy. The highlights of the match - the way Warrior walks to the ring instead of doing his usual full-speed gallop, Savage bumping for seemingly every single strike (which would come off as comical in any other match but, for some reason, absolutely works here), the Warrior's "It Means Much More Than This" trunks, Savage dropping five elbow drops but not being able to seal the deal - would be enough to consider this among the top 3 matches of Warrior's entire career (and maybe even #1), but what I missed until my most recent watch were how good some of the transitions were, how effective Savage's heel work is early on, and, to be honest, how early the five elbow drop sequence comes into the match (I misremembered it being later and that it leads directly to Warrior's comeback, which it doesn't). I loved how Warrior may have had the match won earlier, but Savage rolls out to the floor to prevent himself from getting pinned only for Warrior to learn from his mistake rather quickly, literally pulling Savage back into the squared circle after a similar (identical?) sequence so that he can finally end the match. If its true that Savage worked out every sequence of a match to the smallest detail, his brilliance is on full display here as, even in a losing effort, its the Macho Man who is clearly delivering the performance of a lifetime. And because it can't be parsed out as a separate element of the production, I'm going to go ahead and include the post-match angle - which saw Sherri turn on Savage and then get tossed out of the ring by the returning Miss Elizabeth - as part of the match. The Savage/Liz reunion is super cheesy and sappy, but listen to the crowd and look at the faces streaming with tears, and it is impossible to overrate just how powerful this whole segment is. A beloved masterpiece that stands the test of the time. (5/5)

Demolition vs. Tenryu and Koji Kitoa follows. This is the post-Ax version of Demolition and I'm fairly sure that by the end of the year Smash had transformed into the Repo Man and Crush was a singles babyface. Tenryu and Kitoa seem like complete unknowns to the audience as they get a mild reception. I know that when I was 7, I had no idea who these guys were and, 32 years later, I still don't know much about them aside from Tenryu being a big deal in Japan. A read-through of Kitoa's wikipedia page reveals that he actually had a wild background in sumo that saw him expelled from the professional ranks in the 80s and then went on to be the other half of a notorious work-turned-shoot match against Earthquake just a week or so after this event. Crazy. Anyway, this is a short popcorn match where Demolition basically rough up Kitoa for awhile until Tenryu comes in with the hot tag. I wonder if Kitoa's reputation for being an asshole had already permeated the roster and Demolition ddn't want to make him look good. Tenryu wins with a powerbomb, which was a move you rarely ever saw in the WWE - in fact, could it be possible that this was the first one in WWE history even? This gets an extra half-point for not overstaying its welcome. (1/5)

Before the next match, Mr. Perfect and Bobby Heenan cut an outstanding little promo dripping with references to the Rodney King beating. As a kid, I had no idea what they were referring to, but watching this years later, I'm shocked that it made it to air. A Network nugget of awesomeness. (+1)

In the ring we go for Intercontinental Champion Mr. Perfect taking on The Big Bossman. This was the culmination of a months-long feud between Bossman and the Heenan Family so the crowd is amped for it. Mr. Perfect's bumping in this match is ridiculous and would probably be considered "over the top" today but works, well, perfectly, in context. Hennig makes Perfect look unbeatable without cheating. The psychology is sound too as Bossman dominates until Perfect gets a hold of the lawman's belt, wraps it around his fist, and gets some strikes in. Hennig slows things down with an abdominal stretch but they don't spend too much time in it. The match shifts gears and gets a little wonky once Andre the Giant staggers to the ring. Andre was in his 40s at this point but looks at least 60 and is not moving well at all. Its kinda sad to see, though the crowd reacts big to his presence. Once Andre shows up, the camera work detracts from the match as it cuts multiple times from Andre back to the in-ring action and we miss seeing Bossman hit the exposed turnbuckle that knocks him "unconscious" and leaves him lying in the ring for what feels like a couple minutes. Perfect inexplicably fails to cover and ends up running into Andre's fist or the Intercontinental Championship belt - again, the camera doesn't really capture it - which causes him to also end up knocked out. The rest of the Heenan Family - Haku and Barbarian - show up and attack Bossman, while Andre basically gets "fed" on the outside to send the heels running. Its a shame that Andre probably couldn't even climb the steps to get in the ring because that would've been a great moment. For what it is, its not terrible, though. Perfect works hard enough, Bossman is a good enough babyface, and the crowd is hot enough to push this one into at least average territory. (2.5/5)

Earthquake squashes Greg "The Hammer" Valentine in the next match. It seems like an Earthquake/Tugboat match would've made sense for this show as they had been semi-feuding since 1990 and never had a big blow-off PPV match...but maybe Vince recognized it would be an eyesore? Instead, Earthquake defeats Valentine in under 5 minutes, but its unclear what the purpose of this match was. Having been unable to beat the Hulkster in 1990, Earthquake was being rightfully being shuffled down the card and would eventually land in the tag division, but this didn't hint at that progression or advance anything with Valentine either. This wasn't PPV worthy. (0.5/5)

Another squash follows as The Legion of Doom defeat Power & Glory (Paul Roma and Hercules) in under 2 minutes. This had the potential of being good as Paul Roma was a better worker than most fans remember him being and Hercules could match power with either of the Road Warriors. It makes sense that the LOD would get the clean win in relatively short fashion - they were in the midst of a push that would see them emerge as the top babyfaces in the tag division - but Roma and Hercules deserved better. According to Roma, the idea for the squash was his idea as he had some nagging injuries that would've prevented him from being able to work a longer bout, and while that might be true, isn't the point of working in a tag match that Hercules could've been the one to work most of the bout? I mean, its not like they were expected to go even 10 minutes on this show, so going 6-7 doesn't seem impossible. Anyway, another meaningless match aside from establishing that the Road Warriors were badass. (0.5/5)

Finally, a match with some significance - Virgil vs. Ted DiBiase. After some words from celebrity guests Donald Trump, Henry Winkler, and Lou Ferrigno, it was time for a serious grudge match between the Million Dollar Man and his former servant. The build for this match was classic WWE storytelling with Virgil, backed by Roddy Piper, finally standing up for himself against DiBiase at the Royal Rumble. Piper plays a huge role in this match as Virgil was still very green. The psychology was really sound too as Virgil comes out firing, but eventually gets overtaken by DiBiase's technical prowess. On a show with not a ton of actual wrestling, DiBiase's performance stands out. DiBiase goes after Piper on the outside, leveling him with a right hand that sends him to the arena floor (Piper was on one crutch after a motorcycle accident). Piper valiantly claws his way back to ringside and uses his crutch to cause DiBiase to spill out of the ring, leading to a countout victory for Virgil. The histrionics don't stop there, though, as Sensational Sherri runs out to the ring to prevent Piper from getting at the Million Dollar Man. Sherri and DiBiase beat on Piper in the ring and, after they leave, Piper refuses any assistance from the referees. Struggling to get to his feet independently, Virgil grabs a mic and yells at him to stand up for himself. What a great touch there. The "wrestling" part of this match is certainly not up to snuff, but boy do DiBiase, Piper, and eventually Sherri - and the hot crowd - push this into above-average territory and maybe even one of the more underrated matches/segments in WrestleMania history. (3.5/5)

A quick note - so much of WrestleMania VII's build-up was initially about beating their own attendance record from WrestleMania III that it is really funny to hear the commentators repeatedly mention that this show had the biggest pay-per-view audience in history...which it most certainly didn't as far as I could tell based on what is online. 

Back to the ring we go for The Mountie vs. Tito Santana. Any time someone mentions that Tito Santana was in the running to win the WWE Championship in 92' or 93' or whenever, I always shake my head in disbelief. While he doesn't lose clean to The Mountie, he does lose in almost comedic fashion in under 2 minutes here to further push The Mountie. Tito gets a good response from the crowd, but I just don't see Vince rehabbing this guy into a World Championship-level guy after he'd become a jobber-to-the-stars for years by this point. Bret Hart was on the rise after SummerSlam 91' and you still had a bunch of other guys on the roster who could've and would've been able to take the ball, even in the short-term, after Hogan left - from the aforementioned Hitman to Randy Savage to Roddy Piper even (he was still active enough in late 91'/early 92' and, obviously, would eventually return to wrestle a number of years in WCW) to guys like Mr. Perfect, The Undertaker, Rick Martel, and Sid Vicious, all of whom were heels at that time but maybe could've been switched over sooner to fill the top babyface role (by 93', you also had Yokozuna and Razor Ramon around). As for this match, not a feather-in-the-cap for either guy and clearly just another filler match before the main event. A half-point awarded for Santana at least hitting his finisher early to make it clear that, in a fair fight, he would've had The Mountie's number. (0.5/5)

Main event time - Hulk Hogan vs. Sgt. Slaughter for Slaughter's WWE Championship. Hogan chases Slaughter around the ring before the bell rings and its awhile before they finally lock up. As much as people deride this main event now, its undeniable that the crowd in this arena, on this night, was fully into this as they chant "USA!" throughout the contest at high volumes and pop every time Hogan hits a big move (mostly shoulder blocks). Hogan controls early and no sells interference by General Adnan, but the distraction allows Slaughter to grab a chair and hit him in the back with it...which Hogan also no-sells. Slaughter begs off in classic heel fashion but then pokes Hogan in the eye. Slaughter puts the boots to Hogan with a series of strikes - an elbow drop, a back elbow, some knees - but then gets caught by a Hogan clothesline. At one point, Hogan rakes Slaughter's back despite him wearing a tee-shirt and a tank top over it. At this point, things get repetitive as Hogan connects with a forearm and then sends Slaughter into the turnbuckle. I'm not a "movez for movez" sake guy, but the amount of Irish Whips into the ropes/turnbuckle followed by a clothesline/right hand is ridiculous. Hogan goes to the second rope - which I'm not sure he'd ever done before in his career - but it doesn't come to anything as he no-sells Slaughter's punch to the gut to counter what appeared to be an axehandle. Hogan then goes to the top rope and this time Slaughter catches him with a press slam that sends him to the mat. Slaughter hits a very weak clothesline on Hogan to send him over the top rope and then follows it up with a series of chair shots to the back on the outside. Slaughter pulls a cord around Hulk's neck, choking him out on the arena floor. Just like with Hogan's control segment, Slaughter's is also quite dull and based on simple strikes and boots (though at least it makes some sense as his finisher relied on damaging his opponent's back). Slaughter applies a Boston Crab and Hogan is literally inches from the ropes - which commentator Regis Philbin notes - but for some reason tries to power his way out until he finally does grab the rope. Slaughter continues working on his back with boots and knees and then goes to the top rope, hitting a big driving boot into the lower back of the Hulkster. Slaughter gets a visual pin over Hogan, but Adnan is such an idiot that he costs Slaughter the match! I'm surprised Hogan was okay with giving Slaughter the visual pin. Anyway, Slaughter nails him with a chair again and now Hogan is busted open. The crowd is going wild having seen their hero get bloodied as Slaughter maintains control. Slaughter applies the Camel Clutch but Hogan won't quit so Slaughter goes back on the attack, stomping on Hulk's back before reapplying the hold. This time Hogan crawls his way out by getting to a vertical base, eventually standing up with Slaughter on his back! Slaughter sends Hogan into the corner and then grabs the Iraqi flag. He covers Hogan up with it and goes for a pinfall, but Hogan kicks out and tears the flag! Hogan then does his "Hulking Up" shtick, no-selling some rights from Slaughter, pointing to the finger, hitting a series of big right hands of his own before hitting the big boot and the legdrop to get the clean W (though, interestingly, Slaughter does do the classic kick-out at 3.1, which I always thought was a "no no"?).  The crowd is electric enough and both Hogan and Slaughter work hard enough to make this an acceptable main event. (2.5/5)

Though its 1.96-out-of-5 Kwang Score would suggest that this show is a chore to get through and I can't deny my nostalgic love for the WWE in 92', WrestleMania VII is not a slog to get through and is, more often than not, a fun show to watch. Though only Savage/Warrior is anything close to a classic, the Tag Titles match is solid, the Virgil/DiBiase match tells a great story, and the main event is a C- match elevated by an A+ crowd. The show's worst matches - Earthquake/Valentine, Von Erich/Bravo, etc. - are all kept short to give time to the matches that mattered most, making for a show with lots of variety and momentum building up to the final bout. 

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