WCW Halloween Havoc 1991 Review (An Example Of Great Talent Saving A Certified Shitfest)

October 27, 1991
Live from Chattanooga, TN
Announced attendance: 8.900 (capacity: ca 11.000)
PPV buyrate: 120.000

Welcome everybody to my review of WCW’s Halloween Havoc 1991, featuring a strange yet unique opening “chamber of horrors” match. Ron Simmons looks to make history by becoming the first-ever black World Champion, as he challenges reigning WCW Champion Lex Luger in the main-event. Plus, a battle of two future Attitude Era popular megastars takes place over the TV Title, with not-Stone-Cold-yet Steve Austin defending against the future controversial “Goldust”, Dustin Rhodes. That and much more.

The champions in WCW heading into this event:

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger [105th day of his reign] – previous champion: Ric Flair, before it was vacated
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Sting [63rd day of his reign] – previous champion: Lex Luger, before it was vacated
WCW World Television Champion: ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin [146th day of his reign] – previous champion: ‘Beautiful’ Bobby Eaton
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) [52nd day of their reign] – previous champions: The Steiners, before it was vacated
WCW United States Tag Team Champions: The Patriots (Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip) [76th day of their reign] – previous champions: The Fabulous Freebirds
WCW World Six-Man Tag Team Champions: The York Foundation (Richard Morton, Terrance Taylor & Thomas Rich) [19th day of their reign] – previous champions: ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk, Dustin Rhodes & Big Josh
WCW Light Heavyweight Champion: inaugural champion to be crowned on this show!

Enjoy the review!

The hosts are Jim Ross & Tony Schiavone

Eric Bischoff greets multiple WCW wrestlers arriving before the show, which ends with Barry Windham being injured by the Enforcers and taken to the hospital

Chamber of Horrors Match (4 vs. 4) – Sting, The Steiners (Rick & Scott) & El Gigante vs. Big Van Vader, Cactus Jack, Abdullah the Butcher & The Diamond Studd

The ring is surrounded by an electrified cage, and the goal is for a wrestler to place one of his opponents in the FATAL CHAIR OF TORTURE before finishing him off by pulling the energy switch. Nope, not making any of this up, I swear! Sting doesn’t even finish his entrance, going after the man who tried to take him out of WCW for good, Abdullah. Big brawl to start, as we get a taste of the “refer-eye”, a camera that the referee holds in his head throughout the match. Not making this one up either. Suddenly, some masked geek comes out of a casket, only for Scott Steiner to dispatch him rather quickly. What a mess already, and we’re barely even a minute into it. Next up, they kinda walk around and pretend to choke away in the corners like this is a battle royale or something. Sting clotheslines Vader out of the ring after three tries and follows him out with a dive, finally waking up the crowd. Just as we get another look at the brand-new technological innovation that almost changed wrestling forever, the REFER-EYE, the second mini chamber containing the actual chair required for the finish comes down and nearly squashes Foley, who barely rolls away at the last second. After a brief pause to let the chamber make its grand entrance, the match resumes as Rick dumps Vader with a Steinerline. This whole thing is indeed… unique.

Rick rams Cactus’ face into the cage a number of times, and Foley is busted open. Because of course Mick Foley will kill himself to get his stuff over, even if it’s the goddamned chamber of horrors. Suddenly another masked jobbers appear from another caskets, but they do nothing and get abused in short order too. What the fuck is the whole point of this? Foley takes an insane upside-down bump onto the cage off an irish whip by Sting, apparently determined to carry this match on his back for eight people. Now there’s one bump he could’ve saved. Sting gets put in the chair by Studd, who I had honestly forgotten was apart of this match, but Scott Steiner prevents him from finishing the job. Meanwhile, Jim Ross openly says on commentary that this match is hard to call and apologizes, which is code for “sorry folks, this sucks and we know it”. I guess bowling shoe ugly was still a few years away. Sting and Abdullah start bleeding in the middle of the confusion as well, and Jack climbs the cage near the lever switch. Abdullah puts Rick in the chair and asks Foley to pull the switch, but Rick explodes with a belly-to-belly onto the chair, and Foley electrocutes his own partner to give the babyface team the win at 12:33. After a few minutes of being unconscious, Abdullah gets up from the chair and beats up everybody in front of him, including Foley.

Rating: I apologize if you find my rating incredibly generous, but I don’t give away negative star ratings. DUD

PN News & Big Josh vs. The Creatures (#1 & #2)

IMG credit: WWE & prowrestling.fandom.com

The Creatures are nothing but your masked jobbers of the month. PN News literally runs over one of them with his belly, before Josh uses News’ shoulders to launch himself into the other guy. Big Josh follows it up with a German and he chops away, but the other guy gets involved so he gets thrown around as well. Back to PN News for a fisherman suplex (the not-so-perfectplex) and then Josh with a belly-to-belly. He picks him up to hit a razor’s edge, but he still doesn’t want the cover. Alright we get it, you can beat up jobbers, now pin the damn guy so we can move on with the show. He adds a splash, but PN News wants to do one as well. Josh obliges and the squash is finally over at 5:16.

Rating: A five minute squash match on pay-per-view. About as good and interesting as it sounds. 1/4*

‘Beautiful’ Bobby Eaton vs. Terrance Taylor(w/ Alexandra York)

IMG credit: WWE & wrestlingdvdnetwork.com

RIP Bobby. This will actually be my first time reviewing a Bobby Eaton match since his recent death this summer. Lockup gets things going, with Taylor celebrating a couple of early armdrags as if he won the Olympics. Eaton blocks another one and responds with a few armdrags of his own, as Taylor bails. Back in, Bobby clocks him with a big left, but Taylor manages to dump Eaton and send him into the stairs, only for Eaton to backdrop him over and into the crowd. Back in, Eaton gets a right hand for two before working a wristlock. Taylor escapes and goes for an armdrag, blocked by Bobby who grabs Taylor’s arm and turns it right back into the wristlock – slick! Taylor uses his own head to escape the hold with a jawbreaker and takes the fight to the ramp, where Bobby catches him with an atomic drop followed by a slam. He then goes up for a flying knee and connects. Bobby throws Taylor back inside, who catches Eaton coming in on the apron and sends him into the post, before sending him flying into the railing with a high knee to the back. Back in, a Flair-like kneedrop gets two. Taylor proceeds to dump Bobby once more, adding more punishment to the back with a sitout-gutwrench powerbomb on the ramp. Bobby crawls back inside right into a number of quick knees to his injured back. A powerslam by Taylor sets up a flying splash, but it only gets two.

Taylor works the back some more with a chinlock, which Eaton is able to fight out of, but his back is too hurt for him to capitalize and Taylor dumps him again. Bobby breaks the count-out at 8 and he gets a sunset flip for a very close nearfall, only for Taylor to take back control with a clothesline. Taylor continues to smartly go after the back, this time working a camel clutch. Eaton escapes that, and also out of a sleeper (with a jawbreaker of his own, returning the favor), but Taylor gets his knees up to block a splash. Taylor goes up for a hanging splash and now it’s him who eats some knees, as Bobby finally makes the comeback. Taylor looks to block Eaton’s series of punches in the corner with an atomic drop, only for Bobby to reverse that reversal and hit a suplex for two. Swinging neckbreaker follows and Eaton is thinking Alabama Jam, but Taylor climbs up and meets him there. However, Beautiful Bobby knocks him right back down, and finishes with the Alabama Jama at 16:00.

Rating: I said earlier it was my first time reviewing a ‘Beautiful’ Bobby match since his passing a few weeks ago, and it turned out being a really good one. Bobby had already delivered one of the matches of the year a couple of PPVs before with Arn Anderson over the TV title, and while this one wasn’t on that level, it was a fantastic midcard match. I loved how they built Bobby’s comeback and kept milking the hell out of it by having Taylor constantly going after the injured back. Great work from both men. ***1/2

Johnny B. Badd(w/ Theodore Long) vs. Jimmy Garvin(w/ Michael Hayes)

IMG credit: WWE & classicwrestlingreview.com

We got a weird heel-versus-heel scenario here. Hayes was actually the one originally scheduled to face Johnny here, but he’s got an injured arm and was thus replaced by Jimmy Jam. Lots of stalling and posing to start, but the crowd eats it all up and clearly sides with the Freebirds, so they’re the faces-in-peril here. Criss cross and they fight over a hiptoss, won by Garvin who sends Johnny flying over the top rope, which should be a DQ but the referee conveniently ignores it. Take a drink! Hayes adds a cheapshot with his “injured” arm and winks at the camera, obviously showing he faked it. Back in, Garvin gets the upper hand once more, and Badd bails to talk some strategy with Teddy Long. Back in, Badd finally turns things around with a clothesline. Garvin makes the ropes but Long distracts the ref, and Badd chokes away. Badd adds another clothesline and he goes up for a half-assed flying sunset flip that gets two. Johnny goes up once more, this time with a flying elbowdrop for two more. He goes up a third time, and this time Garvin catches him with a punch to the midsection in mid-air. Johnny misses a charge and is sent flying, as then they both go for a leapfrog at the same time and noggins are knocked. Johnny’s left is blocked by Garvin, who hits the DDT instead, but Teddy has the referee distracted. That causes Garvin to go after him, which ultimately gives Johnny more than enough time to hit the KO punch for the win at 8:16, with Teddy knocking Garvin’s foot off the ropes.

Rating: This was never going to be a technical masterpiece, and I definitely wasn’t expecting one coming in. With that said, I did find this match entertaining, with a very hot crowd that definitely made it more fun to watch. **

WCW World Television Championship – ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin(c)(w/ Lady Blossom) vs. Dustin Rhodes

Stunning" Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes - WCW Television Championship Match: Halloween Havoc 1991 | WWE — IMG credit: WWE

Lockup is won by Dustin to start, with Austin taking a second to regroup. Austin gets a takedown and works the leg, which Dustin blocks and turns into a half crab, but Austin makes it to the ropes and hits a shoulderblock. Fast criss cross sequence sees Dustin hit a clothesline followed by a dropkick for two. Side headlock by Dustin is smoothly transitioned by Austin into a headscissors, and we get a stalemate. Now it’s Dustin who turns an Austin side headlock into a headscissors, and they get into an awesome submission reversal sequence. Dustin criss crosses into a hiptoss but Austin can’t follow up with an elbowdrop. Dustin fails to catch him with an O’Connor roll too, but does manage to dump Austin over the top rope with a clothesline. No DQ obviously, so TAKE ANOTHER DRINK! Back in, Dustin predicts a telegraphed backdrop with a knee to Austin’s head and he’s thinking bulldog, but Austin blocks it. Dustin works the count a couple of times with a headlock, and we get the “ten minutes remaining” announcement. Dustin gets a crossbody for two and he goes for the headlock again, but Austin pushes him into a headscissors by the hair. Dustin escapes and he goes for yet another crossbody, but this time Austin moves out of the way and Dustin’s sent flying all the way to the floor. Austin follows him and slugs away on Dustin, who’s bleeding.

Macho Stunning Steve follows it up with a flying double axehandle before throwing Dustin back inside, where he goes to work on the cut. Gutwrench suplex gets two. We learn there’s five minutes left on the clock, while Austin works a rope-assisted headlock, until the ref catches him and forces the break. Rhodes shows some life and tries to make his comeback, but Austin grabs the ropes to block a monkey flip and turns him inside out with a big clothesline for two. Four minutes remaining and Austin goes for a slam, but Dustin cradles him for two. Austin reverses it into his own for two, but Dustin reverses it back and gets two more. Dustin moves out of the way of another big Austin clothesline, and hits one himself for two. Dustin knocks himself out on a missed dropkick and Austin gets two. Austin chokes away on the ropes and Lady Blossom adds a few bitchslaps just to add insult to injury, with three minutes left to go. Austin misses a blind charge and gets caught on the ropes, opening the door for Dustin’s big comeback. Atomic drop into a clothesline, but Austin’s on the ropes. Dustin sends Austin into the railing to make him bleed as well, and then throws him back inside for a powerslam that gets two. Dustin slugs away on the bloody Austin and the bionic elbow gets a nearfall. One minute left. Dustin slugs away in the corner and knocks Austin silly, with just 30 seconds to go. He goes up for a flying clothesline, but the time expires before the pinfall as Austin retains via time-limit draw at 15:00.

Rating: Great match between two young wrestlers with an incredible future in the wrestling industry. Fantastic sequences of smooth mat-wrestling, as well as submissions and pinfall trade-offs between the two. Very good TV title match that showcased not one, but two promising young midcard wrestlers. ***1/2

THE ONCE INCREDIBLE YET NOW A JOBBER BECAUSE HE REFUSED A SALARY CUT OZZZZZZZ vs. Bill Kazmaier

Well, here’s one that certainly promises to bring this PPV back to shite territory. Kazmaier works a sloppy headlock before Oz no-sells a shoulderblock. A clothesline takes him down, but a slam is again no-sold. Suddenly this turns into Hogan vs. Warrior II with an extended test of strength, only without the crowd participation because not one single soul makes any kind of noise in the arena. You’d think they’d call an audible an move on to something else, but nope. They stand around until Kazmaier gets a hiptoss out of the corner, to crickets. Ouch. That’s your cue to go home, guys. Nash pulls out a backdrop suplex(!!!) for two, but then he goes right back to the slugs as this just keeps going. Billy the Dragon skins the cat back in and makes the comeback before ending Oz with the WORLD’S STRONGEST torture rack at 3:59.

Rating: Jim Ross: “it was effective, but it wasn’t pretty”. Not sure about the first part, but the second part describes this match better than I could. DUD

Van Hammer vs. Doug Somers

IMG credit: WWE & thewrestlingsection.blogspot.com

Van Hammer completely forgets what to do in his first move of the match, settling for a clothesline instead. Powerslam and a backdrop set up an elbowdrop, followed by a powerslam. Hammer sets up for the finish with a “we will rock you” like-clap, before nearly dropping the poor guy on his head off a slingshot suplex. That ends the worst and least effective squash match I have ever seen at 1:13.

Rating: One would think a 70 seconds squash match with five moves would be way too simple and too short to suck. One would be wrong. DUD

Inaugural WCW Light Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final Match – Flyin’ Brian vs. Richard Morton(w/ Alexandra York)

IMG credit: WWE & tapemachinesarerolling.wordpress.com

Morton scores with an armdrag to start but soon bails to the outside and goes to the computer already. Back in, Morton cheapshots him but a second armdrag is blocked by Pillman, who then slams Morton followed by a spinning wheel kick. And Morton takes another powder. Pillman fakes a high crossbody and instead delivers a flying double axehandle for two. Brian gets a couple more nearfalls with basic wrestling moves, until Morton turns a side headlock into a headscissors. Brian fights back with a number of armdrags, and back to the side headlock goes Pillman. Morton escapes with an elbow smash, but Pillman cuts him off and once again goes back to the side headlock. Yeah, heel Ricky Morton just doesn’t do it for me. Morton turns a charging Brian’s leapfrog into an atomic drop and he goes to work on Pillman’s injured shoulder. However, Morton gets too cocky and Pillman nearly surprises him with an O’Connor roll that gets two, but Morton immediately cuts him off with a clothesline. Morton punishes the arm some more with submissions, with Brian not being able to make a comeback. Jim Ross cracks me up with the line of the night, ‘every seat has been sold’, despite their announced attendance number being 2.000+ seats away from the venue’s capacity. Pillman finally brings some life to this surprisingly dull match after hitting an enziguiri and throwing some nice chops. A double shoulderblock ends up sending both guys to the outside, where Morton manages to send Pillman’s injured shoulder into the post. However, Morton takes too long getting back inside, with Brian being already up on the top rope when he does so, surprising Morton with a flying crossbody for the win to become the inaugural champ at 12:45.

Rating: Holy moses, what in the hell happened here? These two just didn’t click at all, delivering a slow-paced match (and not a very good one at that) instead of the exciting fast-paced little sprint that they probably should’ve, 100x more fitting of the ‘light-heavyweight’ style. For my money, this is one of the more disappointing PPV matches of the entire year. Yikes. *1/2

‘WCW Halloween Phantom’ vs. ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk

If that ravishing moustache doesn’t tell you who the ‘Phantom’ is, I don’t know what will. The Phantom, ahem, rudely jumps Zenk before the bell to get an unfair advantage. Rud… I mean Phantom nearly takes Zenk’s head off with a clothesline before dropping some knees. Zenk tries to make a comeback but his dropkick is no-sold, and Phantom finishes with the Rude Awakening at 1:27. If that ravishing finishing move doesn’t tell you who the ‘Phantom’ is, I REALLY don’t know what will.

Rating: Just a squash really, but a fun one because of who was involved. 1/2*

WCW World Tag Team Championship – The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko)(c) vs. The Patriots (Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip)

Zbyszko and Chip fight over an abdominal stretch to start, with Zbyszko losing and immediately tagging out, humiliated. Arn can’t get the upper hand against him on the mat either, and he bails. Then AA complains to the ref that it only happened because Chip has too much oil on his body. That is a guaranteed extra 1/2* right there!! Back in, Todd gets the tag and he goes to work on the arm. Arn takes back the upper hand for a second and pounds him down, but gets overpowered and sent over the top rope to the floor. Yep, you know what that means, don’t ya? TAKE ANOTHER DRINK! Arn is thinking piledriver on the floor, but Todd backdrops him out and works a bearhug back inside. Zbyszko comes in and tries to interfere, and instead both the Enforcers eat a double clothesline from Todd. These certified legends are out here killing themselves and trying everything to get these couple of kids over, yet fast forward 30 years later and their tag team doesn’t even have a Wikipedia page. Nothing screams ‘nope, you didn’t make it’ more than that! Back in, Arn dumps Todd over the top rope behind the ref’s back – THE ULTIMATE HEEL DICK MOVE – to finally put the Enforcers in control. Powerslam followed by a neckbreaker by Zbyszko gets two. More classic tag wrestling by the Enforcers until Todd makes the ice-cold tag to Chip. He runs wild for a while until chaos ensues and IT’S BREAKING LOOSE IN TENNESSEE, and AA’s spinebuster ends him at 9:51.

Rating: Technically there was nothing particularly wrong about this match. However, when the crowd doesn’t give a crap about the babyfaces during a tag team match you’re pretty much doomed, as it kills the whole flow and body of the match. This was an example of that. *1/2

Paul E. Dangerously reveals his plan to end Sting

Paul E reveals he has the right man to bankrupt WCW (not that they needed much help in that department!) and finish Sting’s career. No, it’s not the Black Scorpion, don’t worry. That person is the masked ‘WCW Halloween Phantom’, who takes his mask off and is revealed as ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude. What a shock!! Rude cuts a fantastic promo to introduce himself to the WCW audience, before telling Sting that he’s coming after his US Heavyweight Title. This would mark the start of Paul E’s stable, the Dangerous Alliance.

Main Event – 2 Out Of 3 Falls Match – WCW World Heavyweight Championship – Lex Luger(c)(w/ Harley Race & Mr. Hughes) vs. Ron Simmons(w/ Dusty Rhodes)

Simmons gets a great ‘All-American’ babyface video package, showing him training to get ready for the match of his life. Hard lockup goes nowhere to start, and we get a stalemate. Luger with the first takedown into the side headlock, headscissors by Ron, and another stalemate. Simmons suddenly explodes out of the corner and tries a dropkick, but Luger hangs on to the ropes and Ron knocks himself out. That allows Luger to take over with a running elbow, and he slugs away. Ron faceplants Luger and goes for the comeback, hitting a clothesline and a powerslam to set up the spinebuster for the first fall at 4:54.

Lex Luger 0-1 Ron Simmons

The second fall starts with Luger trying a suplex, blocked by Simmons into his own suplex followed by a backdrop. Luger rakes the eyes to try and turns things around, but ends up eating an elbow on a blind charge and Ron hits a bulldog for a great nearfall. Inside cradle gets two more. Luger tries to cut him off by dumping him to the floor, but that only gets Ron more fired up, getting two with a sunset flip followed by a clothesline. Luger dumps Simmons to the floor once again, but this time he does get the upper hand and he pounds away. Choking follows and gets Dusty all worked up on the outside. Luger with a powerslam gets two. Luger starts having back problems due to the spinebuster earlier, but he still manages to hit a clothesline out of the corner for two. Suplex gets two. Luger goes to the chinlock with some rope-assistance, but Simmons fights out and gets a close nearfall with a roll-up. Backslide gets two but Harley trips up Ron and holds his tights while Luger charges, causing Luger to go over the top rope while Simmons does not, which gives Luger the second fall via DQ at 15:00.

Lex Luger 1-1 Ron Simmons

Luger takes over with a cheapshot to start the final fall, but Ron no-sells one of Luger’s punches and the crowd goes insane. Simmons runs wild and slugs away in the corner to make the comeback. Luger tries to atomic drop him out of the corner, but Ron blocks it and clotheslines him for two. Backdrop gets two more. Ron with an atomic drop and up top for a superplex that gets a great nearfall. Powerslam sets up the flying shoulderblock, but fortunately for Luger the impact sends him to the floor instead. Simmons follows him but ends up eating post on the outside, putting Luger back in the driver’s seat. Back in, Luger hits the Attitude Adjustment piledriver for the third fall and the win to retain at 18:59.

Lex Luger 2-1 Ron Simmons

Rating: It started off a bit too slow and the first fall ended rather quickly, but overall this was a very good main-event with great action and plenty of false finishes that got Ron Simmons more over with the people with every passing minute. Good stuff. ***1/2

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: Three quality matches saved a rather lifeless PPV, full of squashes or people screwing up 90 second matches in the undercard. I would strongly recommend skipping everything, especially the fucking Chamber of Horrors (good lord), and watching Austin/Dustin, Eaton/Taylor and the Luger/Simmons main-event. Thumbs in the middle leaning down for Halloween Havoc ’91. Very low & generous 5/10

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POINT SYSTEM

To know more about my point system click here

Wrestler	Star rating	Result	Main-eventing	Extras	Total
Lex Luger	3.5	1	1	+1 for retaining a title +1 for winning two falls -0.5 for losing a fall	7
Steve Austin	3.5	–	–	+1 for retaining a title	4.5
Bobby Eaton	3.5	1	–	–	4.5
Flyin’ Brian	1.5	1	–	+2 for winning a title	4.5
Arn Anderson	1.5	1	–	+1 for retaining a title +0.5 for winning the fall	4
Dustin Rhodes	3.5	–	–	–	3.5
Larry Zbyszko	1.5	1	–	+1 for retaining a title	3.5
Ron Simmons	3.5	-1	1	+0.5 for winning a fall -1 for losing two falls	3
Johnny B. Badd	2	1	–	–	3
Terrance Taylor	3.5	-1	–	–	2.5
PN News	0.25	1	–	+0.5 for winning the fall	1.75
Rick Rude	0.5	1	–	–	1.5
Big Josh	0.25	1	–	–	1.25
Jimmy Garvin	2	-1	–	–	1
Sting Rick Steiner Scott Steiner El Gigante Bill Kazmaier Van Hammer	0	1	–	–	1
Todd Champion Richard Morton	1.5	-1	–	–	0.5
Firebreaker Chip	1.5	-1	–	-0.5 for losing the fall	0
Tom Zenk	0.5	-1	–	–	-0.5
Big Van Vader Cactus Jack Abdullah the Butcher The Diamond Studd Oz Doug Somers	0	-1	–	–	-1

Thanks so much for your time as always. Don’t miss the next reviews here on the blog, including WWF Survivor Series and WCW StarrCade, as we get closer and closer to the end of 1991. Until then, stay safe!

Rating The Champ – NXT Edition: Adam Cole

Welcome to a new series on the website, called Rating The Champ. This will follow my prior World Title Series, where I reviewed each and every WWE Heavyweight Champion in history from Hulk Hogan’s first title win in 1984 all the way to the current days. Money in the Bank cash-ins will not be included for obvious reasons, unless it was a proper match (ie: Rob Van Dam at One Night Stand 2006). Royal Rumble and battle royales won’t be included as well.

In this new series, I will rate all the PPV matches from each and every WWF/E Heavyweight Champion in history. To be fair, since this is the WWF/E title, I’ll only rate their PPV matches in the WWF/E. In this edition, we’ll be heading over to NXT and looking back at the TakeOver career of the one and only, former NXT Champion, Adam Cole.

2017

Triple Threat WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. SAnitY vs. Roderick Strong and The Authors Of Pain (TakeOver WarGames) ****1/2

2018

Extreme Rules: Vs. Aleister Black (TakeOver Philadelphia) ****1/2
Ladder Match: Vs. Ricochet vs. EC3 vs. Lars Sullivan vs. Killian Dain vs. Velveteen Dream – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver New Orleans) ****3/4
Dusty Rhodes 2018 Tag Team Classic Finals: W/ Kyle O’Reilly vs. The Authors Of Pain vs. Roderick Strong and Pete Dunne – NXT Tag Team Championships (TakeOver New Orleans) ****
Vs. Ricochet – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver IV) ****1/4
WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. War Raiders, Ricochet and Pete Dunne (TakeOver WarGames II) *****

2019

2 Out Of 3 Falls: Vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT Championship (TakeOver New York) *****
Vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT Championship (TakeOver XXV) *****
2 Out Of 3 Falls: Vs. Johnny Gargano – NXT Championship (TakeOver Toronto II) *****
WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. Team Ciampa (TakeOver WarGames III) *****
Vs. Pete Dunne – NXT Championship (Survivor Series) ****1/2

2020

W/ Undisputed Era vs. IMPERIUM (Worlds Collide) *****
Vs. Tommaso Ciampa – NXT Championship (TakeOver Portland) ****3/4
Backlot Brawl: Vs. Velveteen Dream – NXT Championship (TakeOver In Your House) N/R [Not Rated] (C)
Vs. Pat McAfee (TakeOver XXX) ***3/4
WarGames: W/ Undisputed Era vs. Team McAfee (TakeOver WarGames IV) ****3/4

2021

Unsanctioned: Vs. Kyle O’Reilly (TakeOver Stand & Deliver Night 2) *****
Vs. Karrion Kross Vs. Johnny Gargano Vs. Kyle O’Reilly Vs. Pete Dunne – NXT Championship (TakeOver In Your House II) ****1/2

TOP FIVE

5. Vs. Johnny Gargano (TakeOver Toronto II 2019)

4. W/ Undisputed Era vs. War Raiders, Ricochet and Pete Dunne (TakeOver WarGames II 2018)

3. Vs. Kyle O’Reilly (TakeOver Stand & Deliver Night 2 2021)

2. Vs. Johnny Gargano (TakeOver XXV 2019)

1. Vs. Johnny Gargano (TakeOver New York 2019)

Average rating per year

2017 – 4.5
2018 – 4.5
2019 – 4.9
2020 – 4.56
2021 – 4.75
Overall average rating
4.64/5

Don’t miss the next article here on Rating The Champ, where we’ll be looking back at former NXT Champion, Tommaso Ciampa.

Rating The Champ – NXT Edition: Johnny Gargano

2016

W/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Revival – NXT Tag Team Championships (TakeOver Brooklyn II) ****1/2
2 Out Of 3 Falls: W/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Revival – NXT Tag Team Championships (TakeOver Toronto) *****

2017

W/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Authors Of Pain – NXT Tag Team Championships (TakeOver San Antonio) ****
Elimination: W/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Authors Of Pain vs. The Revival – NXT Tag Team Championships (TakeOver Orlando) ****1/4
Ladder: W/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Authors Of Pain – NXT Tag Team Championships (TakeOver Chicago) ****1/2
Vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (TakeOver Brooklyn III) ****1/2

2018

Vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas – NXT Championship (TakeOver Philadelphia) *****
Unsanctioned: Vs. Tommaso Ciampa (TakeOver New Orleans) *****
Chicago Street Fight: Vs. Tommaso Ciampa (TakeOver Chicago II) ****3/4
Last Man Standing: Vs. Tomamso Ciampa – NXT Championship (TakeOver Brooklyn IV) ****1/2
Vs. Aleister Black (TakeOver WarGames II) *****

2019

Vs. Ricochet – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver Phoenix) ****3/4
2 Out Of 3 Falls: Vs. Adam Cole – NXT Championship (TakeOver New York) *****
Vs. Adam Cole – NXT Championship (TakeOver XXV) *****
Vs. Adam Cole – NXT Championship (TakeOver Toronto II) *****

2020

W/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. Moustache Mountain (Worlds Collide) ****3/4
Vs. Finn Bálor (TakeOver Portland) ****1/2
Vs. Keith Lee – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver In Your House) ****
Ladder: Vs. Damian Priest Vs. Cameron Grimes Vs. Bronson Reed Vs. Velveteen Dream – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver XXX) ****1/2
Vs. Damian Priest – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver 31) ***3/4
Vs. Leon Ruff Vs. Damian Priest – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver WarGames IV) ****1/4

2021

Vs. KUSHIDA – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver Vengeance Day) ****3/4
Vs. Bronson Reed – NXT North American Championship (TakeOver Stand & Deliver Night 2) ***1/2
Vs. Karrion Kross Vs. Adam Cole Vs. Kyle O’Reilly Vs. Pete Dunne – NXT Championship (TakeOver In Your House II) ****1/2

TOP FIVE

5. W/ Tommaso Ciampa vs. The Revival (TakeOver Toronto 2016)

4. Vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas (TakeOver Philadelphia 2018)

3. Vs. Tommaso Ciampa (TakeOver New Orleans 2018)

2. Vs. Adam Cole (TakeOver XXV 2019)

1. Vs. Adam Cole (TakeOver New York 2019)

Average rating per year

2016 – 4.75
2017 – 4.31
2018 – 4.85
2019 – 4.94
2020 – 4.29
2021 – 4.25

Overall average rating

4.57/5

Don’t miss the next article here on Rating The Champ, where we’ll be looking back at former NXT Champion, Adam Cole.

WCW Clash Of The Champions 16 (XVI): Fall Brawl 1991 Review (The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same)

September 5, 1991
Live from Augusta, GA
Announced attendance: 2.800 (capacity: ca 9.167)
TV rating: 3.7

Hi everyone and welcome to my review of the 16th edition of WCW’s Clash of the Champions, featuring Sting vs. Johnny B Badd for the United States Championship, Steve Austin vs. ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk for the World TV Championship, a tournament final match for the vacant World Tag Team Championship, and more.

Here is the list of champions in WCW heading into this show:

WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger [champion since July 14th 1991 – previously vacant – previous champion: Ric Flair]
WCW United States Heavyweight Champion: Sting [champion since Aug. 25th 1991 – previously vacant – previous champion: Lex Luger]
WCW World TV Champion: Steve Austin [champion since June 3rd 1991 – previous champion: Bobby Eaton]
WCW World Tag Team Champions: vacant [since July 20th 1991 – previous champions: The Steiners]
WCW United States Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin)* [champions since May 19th 1991 – previously vacant – previous champions: The Steiners]
WCW World Six Man Tag Team Champions: ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk, Dustin Rhodes & Big Josh [champions since Aug. 5th 1991 – previous champions: The Fabulous Freebirds]

*The Patriots (Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip) were technically the champions, but the title change only aired two days after this show

Enjoy the review!

IMG credit: WWE & atomicdrop.wordpress.com

The hosts are Jim Ross & Tony Schiavone

Battle Royal

Who the fuck opens with a battle royal? The participants are ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk, Thomas Rich, Bobby Eaton, Ranger Ross, Tracy Smothers, The Incredible OZZZZZZZZZZ, PN News, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Stunning Steve Austin, Dustin Rhodes, Terrance Taylor, Big Josh, Barry Windham, One Man Gang and El Gigante. It’s your usual battle royal mess to start that you can barely follow. Gigante chokes Buddy Lee on the top rope, but slams him back inside instead of eliminating him because he’s dumb. Almost two minutes after I typed this last sentence, I’m still here waiting for something to happen. Meanwhile, Big Josh eliminates both Taylor and himself, while Ranger Ross also goes out at the hands of Windham. Tommy Rich gets eliminated off camera by god knows who, and Windham dumps another one, this time Buddy Lee Parker. Good job Windham, keep cleaning this house. Tom Zenk is also gonzo off camera. Austin backdrops Tracy Smothers out. One Man Gang dumps both Eaton and PN News, as Windham & Austin eliminate each other and continue to brawl outside.

Final Four: One Man Gang, El Gigante, Dustin Rhodes & OZZZZZZZ

Yes, really. OMG & Oz work together and toss Dustin out like nothing, and then both turn around and get double clotheslined out by your winner, El Gigante… Yes, really.

Rating: Again, who the fuck opens with a battle royal? Especially a useless one like this. There’s nothing to see here, absolutely awful. DUD

Inaugural WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Tournament Semi Final Match #1: Flyin’ Brian vs. Badstreet

This is the first semi final match of the night to crown the inaugural WCW Light Heavyweight Champion, with the final set to take place at Halloween Havoc the following month. The belt wouldn’t even last one full calendar year, and we would have to wait until the Nitro days for some real cruiserweight greatness in WCW. The Fabulous Freebirds come out with Badstreet, but referee Randy Anderson sends them to the back before we’re underway. Pillman strikes with a shoulderblock to start, prompting Badstreet to fake a handshake and cheapshot him, but Pillman headscissors him out the corner and follows up with a reverse hurricanrana for two. Brian catches a charging Badstreet right into an armdrag, but Badstreet makes the ropes and gets in another cheapshot on the clean break. Badstreet shoves Brian onto the apron, who comes in with a springboard sunset flip for two. Brian doesn’t even give Badstreet a chance to breath, connecting with a dropkick as soon as Badstreet gets up from the kickout. Badstreet then suplexes Brian off the apron right into the outside in a crazy spot. You already know what this means. Top rope DQ rule conveniently ignored = take a drink! Brian slowly tries to make his way back up to the ring, but Badstreet meets him with a big boot that sends Pillman flying all the way off the apron into the railing. Pillman eats some post next as the beating continues, but Pillman nearly surprises him with a high crossbody back inside for two.

Badstreet turns things around with a slam and he goes up, but Pillman meets him there and dropkicks him off the top all the way to the floor before meeting him with a SCARY DIVE WITH EXTRA MUSTARD that nearly sent the railing into the fans in the front row! Pillman goes for a missile dropkick back inside, but Badstreet meets him with his own dropkick for the double KO spot. Brian blocks a backdrop with a faceplant and a spinning wheel kick gets two. Badstreet catches him with the DDT, though, which gets two. Pillman responds with a backslide for two. This match is one of those that would have Vince McMahon going crazy on commentary calling it a SEE SAW MATCH UP BACK AND FORTH! Brian goes for a crucifix pin, but Badstreet smartly blocks it and turns it into a Samoan drop. Or is it a Badstreet Atlanta GA drop?! Badstreet tries a superplex next, but Pillman headbutts him off the top and gets a flying high crossbody for the win and the title shot at Halloween Havoc at 6:52.

Rating: Now this is what should’ve been the opener of this show. These two just went out there and made the most of their seven short minutes, putting on a great action-pack little match full of hot nearfalls and sequences. Brian Pillman just kept on delivering regardless of the style of the opponent at this point in his career, slowly and quietly becoming one of (if not the) more solid young wrestlers in both WCW and WWF at the time. Very enjoyable fast paced sprint here. ***1/4

And now, the best part of the show!

THE WCW TOP TEN RANKING

WCW World Championship top ten contenders list: 10) Beautiful Bobby Eaton (rest in peace legend); 9) Z-Man Tom Zenk; 8) The Diamond Studd (LOL); 7) One Man Gang; 6) Dustin Rhodes; 5) Stunning Steve Austin; 4) El Gigante (are we really still doing this?); 3) Barry Windham; 2) Ron Simmons; 1) Sting – the champion is Lex Luger

Well, it certainly could’ve been worse!

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship – Sting(c) vs. Johnny B Badd(w/ Theodore Long)

Badd was still undefeated on television at this point in his young WCW career. We recap a wild Abdullah the Butcher appearing to attack Sting a few weeks earlier before the match, which would culminate with an opening eight men tag match at Halloween Havoc. Badd works a wristlock to start but misses a charge in the corner, and now it’s Sting who goes after Badd’s left arm, to prevent Badd’s TKO finishing move. We get a stalemate as Sting then pounds away on Badd. Mucho kicky punchy action follows, until Long helps Badd escape the Stinger Splash. Badd’s TKO is blocked, though, and Badd cheapshots him. However, a white box appears on the ramp and the match literally stops while both Sting and Badd look at it, before they look at each other and… Sting cradles him for the win at 6:11. What a stupid finish. And then the returning Cactus Jack pops up from the white box and destroys Sting with a flying elbowdrop on the floor, continuing to set up the aforementioned eight men tag match at Halloween Havoc.

Rating: Post-match angle aside, the actual match was slow, boring and plain uninteresting. Badd’s first televised loss was nothing but a total afterthought. *

Inaugural WCW Light Heavyweight Champion Tournament Semi Final Match #2: Richard Morton(w/ Alexandra York) vs. Mike Graham

Here we go with another chapter of Ricky Morton’s dumb heel run. Graham gets a shoulderblock to start, and a mat-wrestling reversal sequence results in a stalemate. Morton catches a charging Graham and rolls over on the mat into a Boston Crab, as then a pinfall reversal sequences gives both guys a number of two counts, before Morton stalls. They get into another nice pinfall reversal sequence, and Morton stalls some more. Graham slugs away but eats knee on a blind charge in the corner and Morton gets two. Morton goes up, but Graham follows him and brings him down with a German suplex off the top rope for two. Morton turns things around and takes over with a couple of cheapshots. Morton pulls Mike by the hair into a hold, which goes as far as a hold usually goes – nowhere – and Mike escapes and turns it into an Indian deathlock. Morton escapes and gets visually pinned by Graham with an O’Connor Roll, but Alexandra has the referee distracted. Morton eventually sends Graham face-first into the buckle on the kickout to steal the win and the spot on the PPV with Pillman at 7:40.

Rating: Good technical match that lacked the crowd participation that Pillman’s semi-final match had earlier, but it was still pretty technically sound regardless. **3/4

Bill Kazmaier tries to break his own Guinness World record by bending a steel bar around his neck. Yep. However, the Enforcers attack him and hurt his ribs to add some heat to the upcoming main-event.

The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) vs. The Patriots (Todd Champion & Firebreaker Chip)

This is a non-title match to promote the US Tag Team Title match coming up the following Saturday between these very same tag teams. Now that’s logic. Usual stalling from the Freebirds to start as literally nothing happens for the first minute or two. Chip makes the comeback with, wait for it, a sleeper on both Freebirds. From there he works a wristlock on Garvin, and an O’Connor Roll gets two, with Hayes adding a cheapshot on the kickout. Hot tag Todd who runs wild on both Hayes and Garvin, with the latter breaking up a pin on Hayes after a flying back elbow. Double clothesline takes down both ‘Birds, and Chip adds a flying double clothesline off the top. The Patriots add a double-team clothesline for the pin, but the ref gets distracted with Todd being inside the ring, allowing Hayes to come in behind his back with an elbowdrop to the back of Chip’s head, giving Garvin the cheap win at 5:42.

Rating: Just a match here, really. How this lame finish (another one) was supposed to make people want to watch the rematch for the titles on television is beyond me. The Freebirds’ matches are getting pretty repetitive and incredibly boring at this point, unfortunately. 1/2*

Paul E Dangerously interviews Cactus Jack

Foley says he wants to end Sting’s career, and that he’s an ally of Abdullah the Butcher. The giant white box appears on the ramp again and Cactus leaves to give Abdullah a “Cactus Jack hug”… but Sting is the one inside it and he destroys Cactus. Water is wet and Mick Foley obviously takes one of his crazy dangerous bumps, a hiptoss from the apron all the way onto the concrete floor.

Meanwhile, we take a look at Ron Simmons‘ Florida state jersey (#50) getting retired and his coach speaks on Ron’s upcoming World Title shot against Lex Luger at Halloween Havoc.

Ron Simmons vs. The Diamond Studd

So this is where the big boys job, huh? Hall cheapshots Simmons to start and he slugs away, actually hitting a chokeslam for two. This is already more offense from Scott Hall than I expected. He adds a bulldog and the ARROGANT COVER OF MACHISMO gets two. Simmons finally turns things around and posts Hall’s little chicos on the outside, following it up with a number of atomic drops. Scott gets in another cheapshot, but runs right into Simmons’ spinebuster. The ALL-AMERICAN FOOTBALL SHOULDERBLOCK OF DOOM (pun possibly intended) ends the future Bad Guy’s night at 2:25. Ron calls out Lex Luger after the match.

Rating: Just a squash to give Ron Simmons a win heading into the PPV. 1/2*

Terrance Taylor(w/ Alexandra York) vs. Van Hammer

Van Hammer couldn’t look more like Ultimate Warrior and Brian Pillman’s secret child. Taylor jumps Hammer with the computer before the bell, but that takes him nowhere rather quickly as Warri… hmm, I mean Van Hammer, makes the comeback with a series of clotheslines and some rope-shaking, before finishing with a horrible-looking flying kneedrop for the win at 1:07.

Rating: Remember when WCW tried to pretend they had Jim Hellwig signed with the ‘Renegade’ gimmick in the mid 90s? Well, this was WCW pretending they had Jim Hellwig signed in the early 90s. DUD

Meanwhile, Ron Simmons finds Lex Luger in the locker room but a fight is broken up by a number of wrestlers and officials.

WCW World Television Championship – Stunning Steve Austin(c)(w/ Lady Blossom) vs. ‘Z-Man’ Tom Zenk

A number of lockups go nowhere to start, and Austin works a headlock before transitioning it into a hammerlock, blocked and reversed by Zenk into his own, which Austin then turns into a headlock, and eventually by Zenk into a hammerlock with a few extra knees to the arm to boot. Very nice technical action to kick this one off. Zenk works a headlock and hits a shoulderblock, as Austin bails. Zenk goes back to the headlock and gets another shoulderblock, but gets taken down by Austin into a headlock, which Zenk immediately prevents by catching Austin with a headscissors, but Austin makes it to the ropes to break. Zenk armdrags Austin and now goes to work on the arm, which Austin eventually blocks with a shoulderblock, but an attempt at a second one finds a superkick. Backdrop follows for two and Austin stalls, only for Zenk to meet him outside with a big dive. Back in, Zenk misses a high crossbody and gets caught in Austin’s headlock yet again. Zenk escapes and goes for the comeback, but walks into the stungun. Austin picks him back up for some reason and nearly gets pinned with an inside cradle, as now Zenk finally makes the comeback with… a sleeper. However, Austin makes it to the ropes, where Lady Blossom quietly puts some brass knuckles on Austin’s right hand. Zenk blocks a shot and tries a backdrop suplex, but Austin gets him this time around and steals the win to retain the TV title at 9:07.

Rating: Decent little match that started pretty good, but got quite repetitive as the match went longer, with them going back to the same holds over and over again. It looked like it was going to be better, but it was still pretty alright as it was. **1/2

Now we take a look at Ron Simmons visiting a school and giving some advice to the kids to always try in life.

Lex Luger & Ron Simmons contract signing

Eric Bischoff is hosting this. Simmons signs first and so does Luger, but not before kindly reminding him he is giving him the chance to be the first ever black World Heavyweight Champion. Luger adds Ron would be more than qualified to be his new driver, which is enough to provoke the inevitable brawl, but Luger manages to get in his limo and escape.

Main Event – Tournament Final Match – vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship – The Enforcers (Arn Anderson & Larry Zbyszko) vs. Rick Steiner & Bill Kazmaier

Scott Steiner was injured at this point, in case you’re wondering. The Enforcers have the advantage here, having badly injured Bill’s ribs earlier in the broadcast. Steiner is a house of fire as he cleans house to start, nearly killing Anderson with the mother of all powerslams for two, with Zbyszko breaking up the pin. Zbyszko goes to work on the arm as the Enforcers cut the ring in half, beating up Steiner while using frequent quick tags. Zbyszko vertical suplex gets two. Arn comes in and goes for a suplex, which is the last thing you want to try on a Steiner, and indeed Rick reverses it and hits his own. Rick catches Anderson with a Steinerline and takes him up for a crazy overhead superplex, but Zbyszko comes in and jumps him, allowing Arn to follow up with a flying clothesline. Kazmaier makes the hot tag and runs wild on both Enforcers with a number of shoulderblocks, but Arn cheapshots him right in the broken ribs while he’s trying a gorilla press slam on Zbyszko, who falls on top for the win and the vacant tag titles at 3:33. The new champs cut a quick promo to close the show.

Rating: They were clearly running out of time here, this was a very basic quick match that saw the heels (smartly) take advantage of the big man’s injured ribs to steal the belts. Nothing to write home about here at all. 3/4*

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: Nope, not good. Nothing here was particularly memorable, with Pillman/Badstreet being the best match by far, while the rest of the card was filled with nothing but typical TV squashes, or that stupid battle royal. If I had to recommend something from this show, it would obviously be the aforementioned Pillman/Badstreet light heavyweight tournament semi final match, but otherwise you can give this Class a good ol’ pass and you’ll miss nothing, trust me. 3/10

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POINT SYSTEM

To know more about my point system click here

(The battle royal participants won’t be included, outside of winner El Gigante, because the whole thing was a mess and they missed many eliminations anyway)

Wrestler	Star rating	Result	Main-eventing	Extras	Total
Larry Zbyszko	0.75	1	1	+2 for winning a title +0.5 for winning the fall	5.25
Arn Anderson	0.75	1	1	+2 for winning a title	4.75
Steve Austin	2.5	1	–	+1 for retaining a title	4.5
Brian Pillman	3.25	1	–	–	4.25
Richard Morton	2.75	1	–	–	3.75
Sting	1	1	–	+1 for retaining a title	3
Jimmy Garvin	0.5	1	–	+0.5 for winning the fall	2
Mike Graham	2.75	-1	–	–	1.75
Ron Simmons Michael Hayes	0.5	1	–	–	1.5
Tom Zenk	2.5	-1	–	–	1.5
El Gigante Van Hammer	0	1	–	–	1
Rick Steiner	0.75	-1	1	–	0.75
Bill Kazmaier	0.75	-1	-1	-0.5 for losing the fall	0.25
Johnny B Badd	1	-1	–	–	0
The Diamond Studd Todd Champion	0.5	-1	–	–	-0.5
Terrance Taylor	0	-1	–	–	-1
Firebreaker Chip	0.5	-1	–	-0.5 for losing the fall	-1

And that’s all for today. Make sure you keep tuning in and that you don’t miss any of the upcoming reviews, as we enter the fall of 1991 and we get closer to WWF’s Survivor Series as well as WCW’s Halloween Havoc, which is coming up next here on the blog. Until then stay safe, and thank you very much for your time!

WWE NXT August 3rd 2021 Review

Hello, readers! Prince Osborne here, back with a review of this week’s NXT on Syfy Network. This will be the final week of a spoiled show as we will return to the USA Network from next week. After witnessing a recap of last week, we’re set to start things with a tag team match.

Tag Team Match: Hit Row (Top Dolla & Ashanthe “Thee” Adonis) w/Isaiah “Swerve” Scott & B-FAB vs Legado del Fantasma (Raul Mendoza & Joaquin Wilde) w/Santos Escobar
Hit Row def. Legado del Fantasma by disqualification @7:23 after Escobar hit Top Dolla with a steel chair. A solid match to kick-off the proceedings and this rivalry takes a slow turn to become a really good one for both. Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

Backstage, Samoa Joe is surrounded by security as William Regal orders not to have any altercations with Karrion Kross until TakeOver: 36. How much did Joe miss this?! But, there’s something that we missed and it’s next! The man who returned last week and made a statement, Ridge Holland is back in action next!

Singles Match: Ikemen Jiro vs Ridge Holland w/Pete Dunne & Oney Lorcan
Ridge Holland def. Ikemen Jiro by pinfall @3:13 after a unique suplex. Extended squash for the returning superstar. Rating: 1 out of 5 stars

Post- match, Pete Dunne ran his mouth on Tommaso Ciampa & Timothy Thatcher and billed as “people will act bad until the real bad men arrive.” Interesting!
Coming up next, another match from the broken pieces of The Undisputed Era as Bobby Fish takes on the leader of Diamond Mine, Roderick Strong next!

Singles Match: Bobby Fish vs Roderick Strong w/Diamond Mine
Roderick Strong def. Bobby Fish by pinfall @12:40 after Strong hit the End of Heartache for the win. A solid match that was put together nicely. I’m totally in for Diamond Mine and I really don’t know what’s in store for this group. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Up next, a match straight form last week’s entertaining ‘golf course’ battle as Grizzled Young Veterans face the impromptu team of LA Knight & Cameron Grimes.

Tag Team Match: LA Knight & Cameron Grimes vs Grizzled Young Veterans (Zack Gibson & James Drake)
Grizzled Young Veterans def. LA Knight & Cameron Grimes by pinfall @4:45 after GYV hit the Ticket to Mayhem on Grimes for the win. Another short match but more improvement on the storied feud between Knight & Grimes. The sympathy built around Grimes was so pleasing to watch. Rating: 2.25 out of 5 stars

Post-match, Ted DiBiase Sr. came out and consoled Grimes for being a man of his word. He requested Grimes to find a solution to get away from this as he carries Grimes to the back. But, someone stabbed their back last week as Dakota Kai made her intentions clear by attacking her former best friend, the NXT Women’s Champion, Raquel Gonzalez. She’ll address her actions next!

Dakota Kai addresses her actions
Dakota said that she needed the help of Raquel when she saw her being knocked out of the Mae Young Classic tourney so that she could watch and learn from a veteran like her. But, she learnt and didn’t repay. All she did was become selfish and take the spotlight from her. That’s what happened when Raquel won the NXT Women’s Championship at TakeOver: Stand & Deliver and when she had her beautiful moment the following week with Rhea Ripley & Bianca Belair. This made Dakota furious that she will prove to all that she is not worth of being a sidekick. A good video package that showcased Dakota’s dark side very well. Grade: B

Up next, the final match in the first round of the NXT Breakout Tournament is bound to happen!
First Round Match – NXT Breakout Tournament: Trey Baxter vs Joe Gacy
Trey Baxter def. Joe Gacy by pinfall @5:10 after Baxter hit the 450 Stomp for the win. I’ve seen Baxter’s work outside WWE and I’m impressed already but Gacy is super talented too. Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

We were shown a video from last week, where Io Shirai and Zoey Stark had a hanging out situation in a sushi restaurant. That didn’t sit well with Stark as she didn’t like the food. Ha! Comedic relief worked really well. Grade: B+

Karrion Kross came out suddenly and provoked Joe, which led to Joe thrashing the guards. He followed suit by locking a guard with the Coquina Clutch and warning Kross that he’s coming for him. Incensed Joe is really dangerous!

WALTER vs Ilja Dragunov: Prime Target
This rivalry is one of the very best from NXT UK as this video was put together so well with the thoughts collected from main roster stars like Drew McIntyre & Sheamus and from the NXT management. Both men are poised to prove their own statements – Dragunov wants to show who he is again to the champion, while WALTER wants to knock some sense into Dragunov’s head and say that he’s fragile all along. Great hype for what is billed as another stellar contest! Grade: A

It’s time for the main event! Either you’ll get the girl or you’re away from her! Lumis vs Gargano, next!

Before we head to the main event, we had a challenge being accepted as KUSHIDA nods to the call-out of Roderick Strong! Expect a hard hitting match-up.

Next week, we will have Raquel Gonzalez respond to Dakota’s actions while Adam Cole and Kyle O’Reilly come face-to-face under the mediation of the NXT General Manager William Regal! And, we have ourselves a first time ever match between Ember Moon and Sarray! And, Ilja Dragunov will be in attendance for the very first time in the CWC! Next week looks super stacked!

Singles Match – Love Her or Lose Her: Dexter Lumis vs Johnny Gargano
Johnny Gargano def. Dexter Lumis by pinfall @12:49 after Gargano hit the One Final Beat for the win. Such an entertaining main event. Apart from the solid in-ring action, the story of InDex almost coming together was told really well and it benefitted both sides in a positive way. Grade: 2.75 out of 5 stars

Post-match, Gargano & LeRae console Indi for her heartbreaking “loss” but Indi is not accepting it! She runs back to the ring, jumps onto Lumis and kisses the life out of him! InDex is alive! A happy ending to a solid episode of NXT.

Overall Match Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Overall Show Rating: 7.5 out of 10 points

This was another solid episode of NXT with really good matches and promising segments. Fish vs Strong bagged the MOTN while WALTER vs Dragunov’s Prime Target and InDex becoming official were the key moments of the show. Tonight was a really good mix of fast-paced action and great storytelling. Satisfied with tonight’s show and can’t wait for next week!

What are your thoughts on tonight’s show? Mention in the form right below. Until next time, see you all and enjoy wrestling!

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WWE RAW August 2nd 2021 Review

Hello, readers! Prince Osborne here with another review of Monday Night Raw from Chicago which is ought to be an interesting event after what were conspired in the company. Let’s cut to the chase!

Bobby Lashley kicks off the show
MVP and Lashley were out to address the challenge issued by Goldberg, who had a thunderous chant of boos when MVP mentioned his name. Then, he billed Lashley as a “titan” who can’t be dethroned. Out comes Goldberg and he stated that no matter what his age is, how good his health is and how different his in-ring work is right now – he’s still Goldberg. He found that deep inside, Lashley is scared of him. So, at SummerSlam, Lashley’s next!
After Goldberg left, MVP warned Goldberg’s son who was in the front row. Goldberg came out again and speared MVP. A decent segment to start the show. I’m not a fan of Goldberg challenging Lashley but let’s see what happens. Grade: B

Two on One Handicap Match: Drew McIntyre vs Shanky & Veer w/Jinder Mahal
Drew McIntyre def. Shanky & Veer by disqualification @3:14 after Jinder interfered the match and hit McIntyre with a chair. More of an angle to elevate the rivalry between McIntyre and Mahal. Rating: 0.5 out of 5 stars

Singles Match: Rhea Ripley vs Nia Jax w/Shayna Baszler
Rhea Ripley def. Nia Jax by pinfall @4:42 after Ripley rolled up Nia when Baszler was distracting. A very decent yet nasty match that put Ripley over ahead of SummerSlam. Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

We were shown footage from last week, when Mustafa Ali and Mansoor shockingly defeat MACE and T-BAR. Now, we’re in with a rematch, next!

Tag Team Match: Mustafa Ali & Mansoor vs MACE & T-BAR
MACE & T-BAR def. Mustafa Ali & Mansoor by pinfall @02:41 after T-BAR pinned Mansoor. Welp! Looks like time for payback. Rating: N/R

Charlotte Flair addresses the WWE Universe
Charlotte came out and started by saying that Nikki A.S.H. stole the Raw Women’s Championship from her and further stated that a MITB cash-in is a cowardly way of reaching the top of the chain. She is pissed that most of women MITB winner cashed-in on her. She went further to warn Nikki that tonight won’t be like last week. She can’t escape from the sights of The Queen. But, Nikki sneak attacks with a steel chair on the back of Charlotte. A solid but basic promo from Charlotte to hype the main event of tonight’s Raw. Grade: B-

Singles Match: Tamina vs Doudrop w/Eva Marie
Tamina def. Doudrop by pinfall @3:42 after Tamina hit her with a superkick. Basic match that did nothing. Rating: 0.5 out of 5 stars

Miz TV ft. Damian Priest
The Miz and John Morrison started to make a mockery out of Damian Priest billing him a “cheater” who unmasked Sheamus during their match last week. Priest then replied, asking about The Miz’s knee injury and doubting if it’s legit. Then, we had a back-and-forth exchange between Morrison and Priest which led to a challenge laid out by Miz to face Morrison. Priest accepted and knocked both men with dripsticks! Well…. That happened. Grade: C+

Singles Match: Damian Priest vs John Morrison w/The Miz
Damian Priest def. John Morrison by pinfall @4:03 after Priest hit the Sit-out Chokeslam on Morrison. Another short match that elevated Priest ahead of SummerSlam. Rating: 1.75 out of 5 stars

Tag Team Match: Damian Priest & Ricochet vs Sheamus & John Morrison w/The Miz
Damian Priest & Ricochet def. Sheamus & John Morrison by pinfall @3:52 after Priest hit The Reckoning on Morrison. Another short, low interesting match. Priest is 4-0 against Morrison and undefeated in singles action which is a good record. Rating: 1.25 out of 5 stars

Up next, Bobby Lashley will answer the challenge laid out by Golderg laid out earlier tonight for SummerSlam!

Back from the commercials, and Lashley accepted Goldberg’s challenge! It is official!

Singles Match: Riddle vs Omos
Omos def. Riddle by pinfall @2:35 after Omos hit a double handed chokeslam. A squash that put Omos over. Rating: N/R

Up next, another rematch from last week is upon us as Keith Lee faces Karrion Kross.

Singles Match: Keith Lee vs Karrion Kross
Keith Lee def. Karrion Kross by pinfall @5:59 after he hit the Spirit Bomb to secure the win. I’m really glad that Keith got the rebound he needed after his underwhelming return to the scene. Kross is good but needs more polishing in certain aspects and he got his win last week. Solid match from these two again! Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Now, Reginald goes under a name change, and it’s….. Reggie. Simple as that.
Singles Match – 24/7 Championship: Reggie (C) vs Akira Tozawa
Reggie def. Akira Tozawa by pinfall @2:05 after he hit the front-flip splash for the win. Another entertaining display from Reggie. He has huge potential to be a great comedic character like R-Truth is, right now. Rating: N/R

Now, it’s main event time! Nikki A.S.H. faces Charlotte Flair in a No Holds Barred match!

No Holds Barred – Raw Women’s Championship Contender’s Match: Nikki A.S.H. vs Charlotte Flair
Nikki A.S.H. def. Charlotte Flair by pinfall @11:02 after Nikki hit the swinging neckbreaker for the win. Good match that lived up to the stipulation for the time being. Nikki winning was predictable but felt right as she needs a huge ratio of momentum ahead of SummerSlam. Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Match Rating: 1.25 out of 5 stars
Overall Show Rating: 3.5 out of 10 points

Today was the same old shit from last week with main parts improved a bit while most of the show was filled with rematches and squashes. Keith Lee bouncing back with a huge win and the main event were the noteworthy parts of this show. Chicago is always vocal and this was another example but the management somehow feared to express the open response of the crowd so that they had to pipe in faux crowd noises during certain moments like Miz TV. In overall, another hot garbage show with little to zero moments that turned heads.

What do you think of tonight’s show? Did you feel the same pain or did this show hit different? Chime in your thoughts right below in the feedback form. I’ll see you guys tomorrow for NXT! Peace out.

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WWE RAW August 2 2021 Review