morantjavonte Reviews

Survivor Series (2011 TV Special)

Mediocre Show. Not much to remember.

[29 February 2024]

Survivor Series 2011 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2011 was the 25th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. The show took place on November 20, 2011, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Attendance was sold out at 16,749 with the buyrate from home being 281,000. I know right? Even The Great One making his in-ring return couldn't boost this long-time annual PPV up a big notch.

6 matches were on the card with the main event being R-Truth & Miz vs. The top face of the company John Cena and his upcoming WrestleMania opponent, The Rock (who was wrestling his first match since March 2004). Another notable feud saw CM Punk finally getting his one-on-one opportunity to get his WWE Championship back from Alberto Del Rio, who cashed in the MITB contract at SummerSlam earlier in the year against Punk. This would be the beginning of Punk's Milestone reign as the WWE Champion.

The Good - Opening match for the US title was pretty good. It had a small issue with the smarky crowd jeopardizing it with numerous chants but Ziggler and Morrison both were able to go through it without frustration. I also enjoyed the Survivor Series match as it was really fun. It was well paced and the Survivors Cody and Barrett looked like good heels with potential in the future. It's too bad this victory didn't lead them into anything in the future (at least for the few upcoming years of one of them). The WWE Championship match had the crowd hot all match. Punk & Del Rio had great chemistry and the victory was probably one of Punk's most satisfying in his career with titles.

The Meh - The Rock no doubt still had it. And he looked phenomenal in the ring. The match though was meh. Just your regular tag team match that you see all the time but made for the Rock to close with the hot tag. Another issue with it was the thin roster that lacked any heels worthy enough to take on Rock & Cena. R-Truth and The Miz just weren't to be taken seriously enough as threatening or big heels. But it was entertaining and The Rock fought well.

The Bad - I didn't care for the Divas title match at all I truthfully don't remember hardly anything it. I will compliment the two stars going at (Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres) being ahead of their time for two good performers. Mark Henry vs. Big Show was a boring match with a lousy ending but it did in some way managed to pop the crowd with a particular moment. Sad how much the World Heavyweight Championship declined around this period.

Overall - Nothing really blows my mine out of this show. Two good title matches and a fun Survivor Series match but that's it. I don't think it's worth an entre rewatch for a long time.

Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. John Morrison vs. Dolph Ziggler: WWE United States Championship - 3/5

2. Beth Phoenix vs. Eve Torres: WWE Divas Championship (Lumberjills Match) - 1.5/5

3. Team Barrett (Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Dolph Ziggler, Hunico & Jack Swagger) vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Mason Ryan, Sheamus & Sin Cara) (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

4. Big Show vs. Mark Henry: World Heavyweight Championship - 1/5

5. CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio: WWE Championship - 3.5/5

6. Awesome Truth vs. John Cena & The Rock - 2/5

Best Match - CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio

Worst Match - Mark Henry vs. Big Show

Most Memorable Moment - Rock's Rock Bottom on Cena

Top 5 Performers

1. CM Punk - Good Performance

2. Alberto Del Rio - Good Performance

3. The Rock - Still had it.

4. Dolph Ziggler - Heavily underrated at the time

5. Wade Barrett - Good Performance.

No Way Out (2000 TV Special)

Early Era of Tremendous PPVs.

[8/10 · 12 February 2024]

No Way Out 2000 Thoughts

No Way Out 2000 was the 2nd No Way Out PPV event produced by the WWF. It was held at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut on February 27, 2000. Event had an attendance of 12,551 and an average buyrate (by year 2000 standards) of 480,000. The business was stronger than ever with even the lowest brought PPVs were still great numbers. Top guy Austin and veteran leader Undertaker were both huge names out of for this show and the first few PPVs of year 2000 but names like The Rock and Triple H were entering their break out periods of their careers and the mid card was strong as well with the likes of Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz and Dudley Boyz boosting the tag team division and former WCW talent, The Radicalz making their PPV debut.

9 matches took place on the card. The biggest feud had Mick Foley in his Cactus Jack persona, putting his career on the line in a title rematch against the then-WWF champion Triple H, in a Hell in a Cell match. Fokey has often been praised to be the guy to help jumpstart Triple H as the top heel in the industry. 2000 is arguably HHHs best year. We also had The Rock putting his title opportunity at WrestleMania on the line against the Big Show after Big Show exposed footage of Rock actully being the wrong winner of the Royal Rumble. To settle it, out they would clash at this night.

The Good - The main event was outstanding and one of the best hell in a cell matches of all time. I don't see it as a 5 star match like their previous match at the Royal Rumble a month prior to this one due to some slow pacing at the top but it was an instant classic. HHH was definitely on his game here. I also love to praise the Tag Team number 1 Contenders match between The Hardys and Edge & Christian. They all connected so well that even with it being 15 minutes, it just made you want more. It sucks the crowd wasn't all into it like they would be in their later matches and their previous ladder match but it was solid. The Radicalz performed well too against Too Cool. Some might think it was an odd choice to have them lose their first PPV match but I don't think it hurt them in any way. Opening IC title match was good and the No Holds Barred match was fun for a brawl match even though it was a little too short.

The Meh - The Rock vs. Big Show didn't really have my attention full on aside from the surprised ending of Shane McMahon coming back and costing The Rock the match but it wasn't quite a dull match like a lot of Big Show matches were back in the old days. Dudley Boyz vs. New Age Outlaws could have been better if Billy Gunn wasn't as limited as he was in the match. They pretty much had this matched booked to simply write him off. Crowd also couldn't connect with it because both teams were heels and "Heel vs. Heel" matches don't usually work well with audiences.

The Bad - Mark Henry vs. Viscera was exactly what you would expect. It had boring chants and I am one to agree with. A side note, I don't this it was a dud match because it did end pretty fast and it wasn't one of the painfully bad matches. Tazz vs. Big Bossman too was really nothing more of just an overlong angle/segment of Tazz getting beat up and was not a good look for the new ECW legend in his early run of the WWF.

Overall - 2000 was a year where the WWF PPV qualites were very good and this was another strong one, even a better than the then-upcoming WrestleMania. The WWF had just one thing missing the previous years on the big rise over WCW and that was great in-ring wrestling as the company was praised for its entertainment mostly. This was one of the early shows that showed they are pretty much that near perfect promotion having great wrestling on the card. Definitely recommended.

Score 8 out of 10: Really Really Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Chris Jericho vs. Kurt Angle: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 3/5

2. The New Age Outlaws vs. The Dudley Boyz: WWF Tag Team Championship - 2/5

3. Mark Henry vs. Viscera - 1/5

4. Edge & Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz: Number 1 Contenders - 3.5/5

5. Tazz vs. Big Bossman - Not Worth It

6. Kane vs. X-Pac (No Holds Barred) - 3/5

7. Too Cool vs. The Radicalz - 3.5/5

8. The Rock vs. Big Show: Number 1 Contender - 2/5

9. Triple H vs. Cactus Jack: WWF Championship (Hell in a Cell) - 4.5/5

Best Match - Cactus Jack vs. Triple H

Worst Match - Mark Henry vs. Viscera

Most Memorable Moment - Foley spot from the top of the cage falling into the middle of the ring.

Top 5 Performers

1. Cactus Jack - Outstanding Performance. Took his usual big bumps.

2. Triple H - Outstanding Performance in his best year as top heel.

3. Edge & Christian - Great Performance

4. The Hardy Boyz - Great Performance

5. Radicalz - Big PPV Debut (Tag Teams can be counted as one whole)

WWE No Mercy (2016 TV Special)

Not bad. Just a bad match order.

[6/10 · 5 February 2024]

No Mercy 2016 Thoughts

No Mercy 2016 was the 12th No Mercy PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on October 9, 2016, at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California with an Attendance of 14,324.

The show was a Smackdown Exclusive PPV on the WWE Network with 7 matches being featured on the card. One huge major change for this show was the advertised main event involving then-WWE World Champion, AJ Styles defending the belt against John Cena and Dean Ambrose in the opening bout. It was changed right on this exact date due to the second U. S. A presidential debate airing at 9:00 PM this night. On top of that they had an MLB playoff game and a Sunday Night Football game to go head-to-head with. Instead Randy Orton battled Bray Wyatt in the main event and the opening the first time the WWE Championship match ever opened a PPV show. Another hyped match was The Miz defending the Intercontinental Championship belt against Dolph Ziggler which was no doubt one of the best feuds in the WWE at the time (maybe among the main roster). It was a Title vs. Career match which ig Ziggler loss, he would have to leave the WWE.

The Good - Intercontinental Championship match was outstanding and the crowd loved every second of it. It told a huge story of Ziggler being this guy who just can't succeed and just constintly fails every time. The Miz was also on a role post the second brand split and this was the peak of the Miz's career as he IMO would be one of the best Intercontinental Champions of all time after this reign. The opening was great and had a clever ending that is rarely seen in Triple Threat matches of someone remembering the obvious No DQ to use a weapons to an advantage of a pinfall of submission. A big problem was still it being the opening match which I will get to.

The Meh - I understand WWE wanting to not counter the presidential debate but I still believe the wrestling fans both in attendance and at home who still chose this show come first. Pretty much it ain't the easy way but it's the right way. The opening while great was definitely going to give every match post-it its run. Even on top of that, I thought that was the importance of the Intercontinental Championship? I don't see why that couldn't main event the show. It would have been another boost of importance and how prestigious the championship is following the WWE World Championship. The Tag Team Championship match was good but felt like a typical TV tag match and the main event was somewhat meh. The ending was kind of flat despite the return of Luke Harper helping Bray Wyatt secure the win (R. I. P to the both of them).

The Bad - Worst match of the night was Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss. It originally going to be Becky Lynch defending her Smackdown Women's Championship against Bliss but an injury changed things. It short with the crowd barely reacting to the quick roll up ending. Nikki Bella vs. Carmella was also pretty Lackluster. Nikki Bella (who I don't think is as bad as people say her and her sister are) was just not to be so hype for in a match and Carmella at the time was questionable if she was ready for a main roster run when she was pulled from NXT during the draft. Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger was boring with it just being a typical match to put Corbin over in a small feud. Crowd was dead for majority of the match as well.

Overall - It was kind of a forgettable show with the match order really doing a number on it overall. I feel if the IC title match would have ended as the main event, it would have given this show a boost for at least ending on a high note. Unfortunately we ended with an average and forgettable match that was definitely affected on the quality for how great 2 matches were before it.

Score - 6 out of 10: Decent

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. John Cena vs. Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles: WWE World Championship - 4/5

2. Nikki Bella vs. Carmella - 1.5/5

3. Heath Slater & Rhyno vs. The Usos: WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship - 2.5/5

4. Baron Corbin vs. Jack Swagger - 1.5/5

5. Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz: WWE Intercontinental Championship & Ziggler's Career - 4.5/5

6. Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss - 0/5

7. Randy Orton vs. Bray Wyatt - 2/5

Best Match - Dolph Ziggler vs. The Miz

Worst Match - Naomi vs. Alexa Bliss

Most Memorable Moment - Ziggler's Victory. Too bad he pretty much went nowhere after this feud ended months later.

Top 5 Performers

1. Dolph Ziggler - Top 3 match of his career

2. The Miz - Outstanding Performance

3. AJ Styles - Great Performance

4. John Cena - Great Performance

5. Dean Ambrose - Great Performance.

WWF in Your House: Badd Blood (1997 TV Special)

One Match Show that Includes a Legendary Debut.

[3/10 · 20 January 2024]

Badd Blood: In Your House Thoughts

Badd Blood: In Your House was the 18th In Your House PPV event produced by the WWF. It took place on October 5, 1997 at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Attendance was at 21,151 with a buyrate from home being approximately 168,000. There are a number of things this event is notable for including one of the greatest debuts in WWE/F histroy of a future hall of famer in the gimmick that revolutionized his career. The show is also in retrospect seen as the last PPV of the New Generation Era as it was held a month before the Montreal Screwjob took place which WWE views as the beginning of the Attitude Era.

7 matches were held on the card. The most memorable and legendary match on the card featured The Undertaker facing the Heart Break Kid, Shawn Michaels in the first ever Hell in a Cell match in history. Feud started with HBK accidentally giving Undertaker a chair shot as special guest referee which ended up causing him the WWF Championship. Since then, Taker's been in HBK's "nightmares" wanting payback. The feud was set to conclude where the winner of the upcoming Hell in a Cell match would face the WWF Champion at Survivor Series. Meanwhile, teases of a sibling of the Undertaker named Kane would be showing up very soon. I also like to point out the legendary Brian Pillman was scheduled to face Dude Love but was found dead earlier in the afternoon thus the match did not take place as Vince annonced to the crowd during the pre-show.

The Good - The main event in retrospect was definitely one of the biggest highlights in history. The Hell in a Cell was a new concept and no one knew what to expect and it had the crowd on their feet all match. After all the hype too of the mysterious Kane, the introduction was perfect and to this day is one of the greatest debuts in pro wrestling history and Glenn Jacobs as Kane is today one of the all time greats. The match itself honestly IS the show if you know what I mean.

The Meh - I should note a lot of stars were believed to not be quite themselves because of the tragic death Brian Pillman annonced earlier and then having to work through it. This is highly noticeable with a few great performers like the Hart Foundation not having high quality matches like usual. The Tag Team Flag match was okay but went on too long. Opening was okay but at this time the Legion of Doom were pretty much past their prime.

The Bad - Majority of the card is not even memorable with the roster still being quite thin. Major blows include Austin out with injury and of course the death of Pillman. The WWF even using dwarf talents for filler too was a pretty bad call. The crowd weren't familiar with them nor do they even care of the match. The IC title match was bland and the 8 man tag team match was awful and a waste of time. At this period, this feud was getting stale. A major thumbs down of this included Bret Hart not defending the WWF Championship. This was the time where Hart's frustration of Vince not believing in him starting to kick in and while not main eventing at least for this night as champion was a risk, not defending the belt too was a major blow.

Overall - The show all around was lame until the end which is the only match worth talking about of course for obvious reasons. Hey it's a 5 star match and it featured one of the most memorable moments in WWE/F histroy. But again there is a part of me that feels the emotions got into some of the talent because of a co-worker who was a friend/brother to many of them. You can't blame them on that as it's tough to lose anyone. Recommend only the last match.

Score - 3 out of 10: Bad

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. Legion of Doom vs. Nation of Domination (Handicap Match) - 2.5/5

2. Max Mini & Nova vs. Mosaic & Tarantula - 1.5/5

3. The Headbangers vs. The Godwinns: WWF Tag Team Championship - 1/5

4. Owen Hart vs. Faarooq: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 1/5

5. The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas - 0/5

6. The Patriot & Vader vs. Bret Hart & British Bulldog (Flag Match) - 2/5

7. Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker: Number 1 Contender (Hell in a Cell) - 5/5

Best Match - Shawn Michaels vs. Undertaker

Worst Match - The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. Los Boricuas

Most Memorable Moment - Kane's debut and attack on Undertaker

Top 5 Performers

1. Shawn Michaels - Outstanding Performance

2. Undertaker - Outstanding Performance

3. Legion of Doom - Random. Kicked off the crowd

4. Rocky Maivia - Good Performance

5. Kane - Career Highlight.

Survivor Series (2010 TV Special)

Not recommended. Very weak show.

[5/10 · 16 January 2024]

Survivor Series 2010 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2010 was the 24th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. It was held at the American Airlines Center in Miami, Florida on November 21, 2010. Attendance was at 18,000 with the buyrate from home being 244,000. This was the last Survivor Series of the original brand split which by this point was barely cared about.

8 matches were held on the card. It's the end of 2010 which in retrospect for me, was my slow decline of nostalgia days of wrestling. Everyone has their own era and periods where they loved wrestling the most. Me loving the Ruthless Agreesion stars and majority of the legends across the 2000s would put this as a regressed year. The WWE was not quite great on star power and tried to push a bunch of rookies into a stable called the Nexus in hoping to create a new generation. It didn't go well due to someone refusing to have some names on the top with him. That someone would have his career (kayfabe) put on the line should then-WWE Champion Randy Orton successfully retained his belt against leader of the Nexus, Wade Barrett. The someone was John Cena.

The Good - I say the first part of the show had quite some good regular one on one matches. Daniel Bryan defended his US belt and Morrison faced Sheamus in some typical bullying storyline match and both were good as they should have. Even the weakest one among the first 3 matches being Kaval vs. Dolph Ziggler was fun despite the lack of interest from the crowd. Kaval (better known as Low-Ki) was one of the best indy workers of the 2000s but sadly couldn't make it in his WWE run. The Survivor Series match was also great which mainly was focused on the heat between new comer Alberto Del Rio and Rey Mysterio who both were captains respectively of the teams. Issues was the match not really meaning much though but it was fun.

The Meh - The main event and feud. Was it really worth pretending John Cena was leaving WWE? No one was buying it. Randy Orton vs. Wade Barrett just couldn't click at all as the two had very little chemistry in this match. On top of that, Orton was entering his face run for the first time as a big name and he just wasn't quite as interesting like he is as a heel and Wade Barrett was just not ready for the main events.

The Bad - The World Heavyweight Championship match between Kane & Edge was bad with a stupid feud. Edge apperently suppose to be a face was being written as this sort of sick man. And he's suppose to be the good guy. It was one of the worst feuds of 2010 that ain't worth to tell a whole story. The match itself just was bland and the ending was poor booking to continue it. The Handicap match for the Divas title was honestly barely a match. It was short with the most memorable thing of it being the aftermath of Beth Phoenix returning. The tag team title match was also Lackluster.

Overall - Your regular average show. The opening and midcard matches were fine. After them, the show just went down hill. The main event also being highly disappointing adds a bad conclusion of this show. I'm saying had it been a good main event it might have boosted the show.

Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Ted DiBiase vs. Daniel Bryan: WWE United States Championship - 3/5

2. John Morrison vs. Sheamus - 3/5

3. Dolph Ziggler vs. Kaval: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 3/5

4. Team Del Rio (Alberto Del Rio, Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger & Tyler Reks) vs. Team Mysterio (Chris Masters, Kofi Kingston, Montel Vontavious Porter, Rey Mysterio & The Big Show) (Elimination Tag) - 3.5/5

5. Natalya vs. Lay-Cool: WWE Divas Championship (Handicap Match) - 1/5

6. Kane vs. Edge: World Heavyweight Championship - 1/5

7. Heath Slater & Justin Gabriel vs. Santino Marella & Vladimir Kozlov: WWE Tag Team Championship - 1.5/5

8. Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton: WWE Championship - 2/5

Best Match - Team Del Rio vs. Team Mysterio

Worst Match - Edge vs. Kane

Most Memorable Moment - Cena saying goodbye. He would be gone for a very very long time...

Top 5 Performers

1. Rey Mysterio - Good Performance

2. Daniel Bryan - Good Performance

3. John Morrison - Good seller.

4. Ted DiBiase - Good Performance

5. Kaval - Good Performance.

WWE Cyber Sunday (2007 TV Special)

Not a great show but worth the watch. Kind of fun.

[6/10 · 18 October 2023]

Cyber Sunday 2007 Thoughts

Cyber Sunday was the 4th annual Cyber Sunday (originally known as Taboo Tuesday) event produced by the WWE. The show took place on October 28, 2007 at the Verizon Center in Washington D. C. Attendance was at 10,094 with a buyrate from home being 194,000. This was the second lowest PPV brought from home in the year 2007 (second only to One Night Stand). The concept was for fans to have the ability to vote the stipulations or certain aspects of the match by logging online to WWE.com.

We had 7 matches on the main card. Undertaker renewed his rivalry against Batista who finally was able to regain his World Heavyweight Championship belt back after months of fighting to get it back. The two pretty much agreed to go at it once more with a special guest referee being added by the choice of the fans. Shawn Michaels also returned weeks earlier to get payback against Randy Orton who nearly ended his career. Orton this time was the WWE Champion and would have to defend against HBK after the fans voted him over Jeff Hardy and Mr. Kennedy. Triple H had a score to settle with Umaga after Vince unleashed the Samoan Bulldozer who was annoyed of Triple H's childhish acts. Fan votes also lead to The Miz facing CM Punk for the ECW Championship, Rey Mysterio battling Finlay in a Strecher Match and Kane facing MVP for the US Championship.

The Good - Show started out pretty slow but the 3rd act of the show did great. The main event of Batista/Taker was a great closure. Batista beating the Undertaker clean was a perfect booking point and of course the rivalry wasn't going to end but Batista after all his encounters with Taker eventually needed a W. I think it was one of the best moments in Batista's career as Undertaker losing clean was a rare thing. I would need to rewatch to decide if it was better than the WM match but it's definitely top 2 among their 5 clashes on 2007. Triple H vs. Umaga was your good street fight. It is sad though the late-great Umaga could never go over the big faces on the main roster. HBK vs. Randy Orton was a good match too. I think the ending of Orton getting DQ was smart as the feud had to continue but it's spot wasn't the right timing on the card after another match right before it had ended in a count out. I enjoyed the opening Strecher Match too.

The Meh - Show started off pretty slow. We had a good opening but the ECW Championship match that followed had little to no interest from the crowd. The Miz wasn't quite that interesting guy we know of today that he eventually would be after his tag team Alliance with John Morrison. Mr. Kennedy vs. Jeff Hardy was meh with lack of importantance and was just thrown in there. It felt like a regular TV match. Jeff Hardy maybe should have defended the IC title which for some odd reason he didn't even carry.

The Bad - The only poor match on the card was Kane vs. MVP. It was just Kane beating the crap out of MVP all match which lead to a count out victory for Kane as MVP didn't recover in time. Also the polls had that same toll the previous years had where everything was obvious on who's or what's going to be picked. Example, John Morrison and Big Daddy V were the other options for the ECW title match against Punk. Morrison and Punk had battled a dozen times and Big Daddy V was just Punks opponent at the previous PPV. Miz for weeks cut promos of why he should be the next guy and plus it was a fresh match. Same goes for Austin being choosed as ref over Foley and JBL.

Overall - A watchable show at least. It did have Lackluster buildup though pretty much not really needed on the Calendar for the month of October already having No Mercy. Show started off slow but picked up towards the final 3 matches. Star power was also improving at the time as well after a miserable summer with injuries.

Score - 6 out of 10: Decent

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Rey Mysterio vs. Finlay (Strecher Match) - 3/5

2. CM Punk vs. The Miz: ECW Championship - 2/5

3. Mr. Kennedy vs. Jeff Hardy - 2/5

4. MVP vs. Kane: WWE United States Championship - 1/5

5. Randy Orton vs. Shawn Michaels: WWE Championship - 3/5

6. Triple H vs. Umaga (Street Fight) - 4/5

7. Batista vs. The Undertaker: World Heavyweight Championship - 4/5

Best Match - Batista vs. The Undertaker

Worst Match - MVP vs. Kane

Most Memorable Moment - Batista's victory. It's his only clean win against Undertaker in his career if I recall.

Top 5 Performers

1. Batista - Great Performance

2. Undertaker - Great Performance

3. Triple H - Great Performance

4. Umaga - Great Performance

5. Orton/HBK - Good Performance.

WWE Night of Champions (2009 TV Special)

A Good Show at Best. Recommended.

[7/10 · 16 October 2023]

Night of Champions 2009 Thoughts

Night of Champions 2009 was the 3rd annual Night of Champions PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on July 26, 2009 at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Attendance was at 17,774 with a buyrate from home being 267,000.

8 matches took place on the card with all being title matches with the concept of the show being every championship on the line. The most notable and anticipated one was the World Heavyweight Championship match between Jeff Hardy & CM Punk. This feud was the hottest feud of the year which saw Punk as a villain using his real life straight edge persona against Jeff Hardy who was battling his drug issues. Punk was portrayed as this villain who was honest but harsh much to the fans hate while Jeff Hardy was the most beloved guy on the roster at the time. Also on the card we had another world title match, a Triple Threat match for the WWE Championship which saw a WrestleMania rematch featuring Randy Orton as the champ defending against Triple H and John Cena.

The Good - The main event was great and it told a big story. Jeff Hardy after going through so much to get to another title on his waste was once more a special moment for the fans. As for the feud, I don't think it was their best as Punk and Hardy would have an instant classic the next month as SummerSlam but it was still a great closure for the show. The triple threat was also good and I might have liked a little more than their WrestleMania 24 clash. The ending was cheap but of course, Orton had to be protected as champ. Rey Mysterio and Dolph Ziggler's match for the IC title was fun but the two had a better match a month later but Ziggler was improving time and time again and was a great upcoming star. I enjoyed the ECW and US title matches too as they were fine mid-card matches.

The Meh - The opening tag title match was just okay. It was kind of hard to get invested as both teams were heels that weren't suppose to get any love so it didn't get much reaction even as an opener from the crowds. Jericho & Big Show (later known as Jeri-Show) would be one of the most dominating tag teams on a WWE roster in recent years at time. The WWE Women's Championship match also was okay but not too memorable. It was hard to care about Women's wrestling at the time and the finish of a roll up didn't get much of a reaction.

The Bad - The WWE Divas Championship match fell victim of its spot on the card. It was way too long for what it had to follow. Mickie James tried her best but unfortunately Maryse was just improving at the time in terms of in-ring skills. I honestly don't believe she was ready for the A-Show at the time. I mentioned how the WWE Championship match was good but again the logic behind the confusion of the referee and commentary did a lot of damage to the match.

Overall - It was your typical PPV. It did its job of at least being fun and enjoyable but not so much of a must watch as it lacks a match that would blow minds off. If anything, I feel the show is mostly worth watching to see the main event for one the Legend's greatest moments of his career.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

1. Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase vs. Chris Jericho & Big Show: Unified Tag Team Championship - 2/5

2. Tommy Dreamer vs. Christian: ECW Championship - 3/5

3. Jack Swagger vs. Carlito vs. The Miz vs. Primo vs. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP: WWE United States Championship - 3/5

4. Melina vs. Michelle McCool: WWE Women's Championship - 2/5

5. John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Randy Orton: WWE Championship - 3.5/5

6. Maryse vs. Mickie James: WWE Divas Championship - 1/5

7. Rey Mysterio vs. Dolph Ziggler: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 3.5/5

8. CM Punk vs. Jeff Hardy: World Heavyweight Championship - 3.5/5

Best Match - Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk

Worst Match - Maryse vs. Mickie James

Most Memorable Moment - Jeff Hardy's title win

Top 5 Performers

1. CM Punk - Great Promo and Great Performance

2. Jeff Hardy - Great Performance and Career Highlight

3. Randy Orton - Good Performance

4. John Cena - Good Performance

5. Triple H - Good Performance.

WWE Money in the Bank (2011 TV Special)

Spectacular Show. One of the Best Among the Era

[9/10 · 18 July 2023]

Money in the Bank 2011 Thoughts

Money in the Bank 2011 was the 2nd annual Money in the Bank PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place at thr AllState Arena in Rosemont, Illinois with a sold out attendance of 14,815 (according to WWE). The buyrate was 195,000 which was impressive in this period due to PPVs not selling like they use to. This PPV is often considered by many to be one of the greatest PPVs in WWE history containing one of the greatest feuds in modern history at the time. It was also the last PPV of the original brand extension.

We had 6 matches on the card including the money in the bank ladder matches which for the second year was now it's own brand concept and today remains one of the WWE's most important PPVs. But it wasn't the ladder matches everyone brought to mainly see. CM Punk cut a wild work-shoot promo a month ago about behind-the-scenes and reality of the WWE which we call the pipe bomb. It was one of the greatest promos of all time. Punk here was down to his last month of contract and confirmed that he was leaving once he wins the WWE Championship. Vince McMahon, who doesn't like people leaving his company with the belts said he will fire John Cena if he doesn't retain the Championship. It was a wild feud that focus on kayfabe & reality with crazy promos heading up. Randy Orton also battled Christian in a last chance match for the World Heavyweight Championship where if he was to get disqualified he will lose the championship.

The Good - CM Punk vs. John Cena is no doubt an outstanding match and arguably the best match in both men's respective careers. The near-falls and long activity that took place gave everyone goosebumps and the crowd was on fire for the match the entire time. It was doing some tremendous story telling in the match to where Cena has his down looks of "what can I do" after Punk kicks out of 2 AAs and survives the STF. Cena was known to have a lot of repetitive Hulk-Hogan-like matches of the typical get beat up and comeback to win which gave him lots of heat of "you-can't-wrestle" but when giving more time and allowing him to do stuff, he can be amazing. Aside from that I enjoyed the SD MITB match as it was a surprise at the time to the WWE have a sign for a Daniel Bryan push who many knew was better than he looked. Christian vs. Randy Orton was good but probably their weakest match of their feud which says a lot about the chemistry the two had. You could hear the smarky Chicago crowd booing Orton a bit as many were still not pleased at how Christian was booked after that terrible title lost on Smackdown in April.

The Meh - Raw's MITB match I felt wasn't as good as the SDs. In fact it looked a bit like a spot fest with many stars doing unnecessary things with the ladders. It was good but not great. I will boost Mark Henry vs. Big Show for being what it was as just a match to put over Mark Henry (who was in his best run of his career).

The Bad - We only had one bad match and that being the Divas Championship match of Brie Bella vs. Kelly Kelly. I luckily didn't give it a 0 star match due to knowing how crap it was going to be. I mean Women's wrestling in the WWE at this time was just embarrassing. The crowd was dead for it and not anyone had the energy to care for this match.

Overall - It delivered. Is it really one of the best PPVs ever? Maybe but I don't feel it's a perfect. I think the Vince/Cena/Punk storyline pretty much impacted this show a lot to give it the praise it gets by many. It still lived up to expectations with the hype and I think having one of the greatest matches in the PG era gives this a solid double thumbs up.

Score - 9 out of 10: Awesome

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Sin Cara vs. Wade Barrett vs. Justin Gabriel vs. Sheamus vs. Cody Rhodes vs. Heath Slater vs. Kane vs. Daniel Bryan: Smackdown Money in the Bank (Ladder Match) - 4/5

2. Kelly Kelly vs. Brie Bella: WWE Divas Championship - 1/5

3. Big Show vs. Mark Henry - 2/5

4. Alberto Del Rio vs. R-Truth vs. Evan Bourne vs. Rey Mysterio vs. The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston vs. Jack Swagger vs. Alex Riley: Raw Money in the Bank (Ladder Match) - 3/5

5. Christian vs. Randy Orton: World Heavyweight Championship - 3.5/5

6. John Cena vs. CM Punk: WWE Championship - 5/5

Best Match - John Cena vs. CM Punk

Worst Match - Brie Bella vs. Kelly Kelly

Most Memorable Moment - Cena knocking down Laurinaitis and refusing to win the infamous way. That gave nods to the Montreal Screwjob.

Top 5 Performers

1. CM Punk - Outstanding Performance

2. John Cena - Outstanding Performance

3. Daniel Bryan - A career highlight

4. Christian - Good Performance

5. Randy Orton - Good Performance.

WWE Vengeance (2002 TV Special)

PPV worth checking out. A pretty good one.

[7/10 · 18 July 2023]

Vengeance 2002 Thoughts

Vengeance 2002 was the 3rs annual Vengeance PPV event produced by the WWE. It was held at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan on July 21, 2002. Attendance was at 12,000 with a buyrate of 375,000. The WWE was in a wild period where the brand split had just began 4 months earlier and the roster was heavy in talent. We were also just beginning the underrated Ruthless Agreesion Era where one of our most notable stars being John Cena wrestling on his first ever WWE PPV.

8 matches were held at the show with the main event featuring The returning Rock facing the defending WWE Undisputed Champion Undertaker and Kurt Angle in a triple threat match. Ths Rock drew some numbers on this PPV as he was on his Hollywood career and would be part-time for a little period. We had multiple other title matches too including Rob Van Dam vs. Brock Lesnar for the Intercontinental Championship as Lesnar was a rising star set to compete against the winner of the WWE Undisputed Championship match at SummerSlam. Another major storyline in this show saw a Smackdown GM Stephanie McMahon and Raw GM Eric Bischoff taking shots at one another for both wanting to include Triple H who was a free agent on their respective rosters and he would decide by this night of who he would sign with.

The Good - The main event was an excellent closure to the show and I loved how it wasn't a typical "lying down wating for your role" type of triple threat. The close near-falls kept the crowd loud and The Rock's victory lead to a another great highlight. The opening tables match was pretty good and the table spots were executed well. I was impress with the Intercontinental Championship match and while the ending was kind of a bummer, it made sense for protecting Lesnar and not wanting to give the IC title to him. I don't really like segments on PPVs but the promo of DX reuniting and Hunter coming to Raw was great. Of course the reunion didn't last long as we know in the future.

The Meh - The World Tag Team Championship match unfortunately is a bit of a disappointment. It's in plain sight that Hogan was in struggle of keeping up with the other stars and he should have been in a retirement storyline by now. It also was extremely random having Edge & Hogan as tag team champs. The Cruiserweight Championship match didn't quite click either as the crowd couldn't get into it from the atmosphere but the two would have better matches later. Cena vs. Y2J was kind of meh. Cena was sent down to the lower card after this match with Jericho but it's obvious it was a great idea after seeing what the legend is today. Both the No DQ and the European title match were forgettable especially the later as it was a pointless belt since day one. Funny enough the next night on Raw or a week later, the belt would be retired as it was Unified with the Intercontinental title.

The Bad - There wasn't anything really bad to hate. However we maybe could have had one more spectacular match that WWE didn't give us that could have made a better show.

Overall - Some might call this a one match show thanks to the great main event and nothing coming close but I would say we had other matches that are fun and worth checking out. They did a good job at setting up too what was to come for the next great PPV SummerSlam like Rock vs. Brock Lesnar and HBK vs. HHH. One spectacular match gives this a good score and although we didn't have any "bad" match, we also didn't have any other tremendous match to give it a better rating.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 =Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Bubba & Spike Dudley vs. Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit (Tables Elimination Tag Match) - 3/5

2. Billy Kidman vs. Jamie Noble: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - 2.5/5

3. Jeff Hardy vs. William Regal: WWE European Championship - 2/5

4. Chris Jericho vs. John Cena - 2/5

5. Rob Van Dam vs. Brock Lesnar: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 3/5

6. Booker T vs. Big Show (No DQ, No CO) - 2/5

7. Christian & Lance Storm vs. Hulk Hogan & Edge: WWE Tag Team Championship - 2.5/5

8. Kurt Angle vs. Undertaker vs. The Rock: WWE Undisputed Championship - 4.5/5

Beat Match - The Rock vs. Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle

Worst Match - Jeff Hardy vs. William Regal

Most Memorable Moment - The Rock's victory

Top 5 Performers

1. Kurt Angle - Outstanding Performance

2. The Rock - Outstanding Performance

3. Undertaker - Great Performance

4. Bubba & Spike Dudley - Good Performance

5. Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit - Good Performance.

WWE Vengeance (2003 TV Special)

One Hell of a B-Level PPV.

[8/10 · 13 July 2023]

Vengeance 2003 Thoughts

Vengeance 2003 was the 3rd annual Vengeance PPV event produced by the WWE. The show took place on July 27, 2006, at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Attendance was set at 9,500 with a buyrate of 365,000 which was very good for a PPV not part of the Big 4. It was also the first ever brand exclusive PPV event held from the Smackdown Brand (not counting the UK event from the previous year).

We had 8 matches held on the card and I will say going into this show, a lot at the time had high expectations as Smackdown was the favored show among WWE fans. Quality in and out of the ring was great. I would say it was a heck of a lot more interesting than Raw that year which had a disappointing show a month prior. Main event saw Brock Lesnar renewing his feud with Kurt Angle who returned from a near career-ending neck injury. Lesnar accepted another challenge against Angle but the Big Show who was feuding with Lesnar while Angle was absent wasn't having Angle come and just get a title shot just like that so the match was eventually set for a triple threat for the WWE Championship. The WCW United States title was brought back and now rebranded as the WWE United States Championship and saw a tournament to crown our new champion. Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit ended up being in the finals and faced each other at this event. Other notable matches included John Cena facing the Undertaker, Mr. McMahon, World's Greatest Tag Team against Billy Kidman & Rey Mysterio for the WWE Tag Team Championship and Mr. McMahon facing Zach Gowen a man who became the first and only disabled one-legged wrestler to compete in a WWE ring.

The Good - Again a very good PPV build up and the main event was a spectacular triple threat match. I loved how Big Show was taken out for awhile and a brief partnership by Lesnar & Angle only for it to backfire as Lesnar & Angle were selling of barely having anything in them after beating the crap out of each other and Big Show would be the most fresh and having a big momentum. It was a surprise to see Angle pin Lesnar at the time as many thought Lesnar would be protected for a rematch should Angle win by pinning Big Show. The tag team match was also very good and it felt like a PPV level tag match which was a struggle for the tag team divisions of both Raw and Smackdown at the time. John Cena vs. Undertaker was really good. It was a big brawl match and Cena cut a great heel promo disrespecting the old school. Last Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit was overall a great match. The two could always make something great. It tiny problem was the over booking at the end that dropped a rating but we saw some great classic Eddie moments.

The Meh - Well McMahon vs. Zack Gowen turned out better than it should have been. I'm not sure if that storyline of Vince mocking a disabled person would sit well today. Again it was better than expected being some what of an average match.

The Bad - The only boring match was Jamie Noble vs. Billy Gunn in a very silly storyline. It wasn't that interesting and the crowd didn't really care for the match either except for the ending. Stephanie McMahon vs. Sable was also pretty bad but it could have been worst and it wasn't long and dreadful. Though I did get reminded of how much of bad actress Stephanie McMahon could be at times. Won't talk about the APA Invitational Bar thing as it wasn't really a match.

Overall - This was a very good PPV. It probably could have been something more if one match didn't blow it with the last few minutes (Eddie/Benoit) which still was great. I highly recommend the Tag Team Championship and Triple Threat match to anyone. A solid show especially for a B-Level PPV.

Score - 8 out of 10: Really Really Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 =Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. Eddie Guerrero vs. Chris Benoit: WWE United States Championship - 3.5/5

2. Jamie Noble vs. Billy Gunn: Incident Proposal - 1.5/5

3. APA Invitational Bar Room Brawl - Not worth it

4. World's Greatest Tag Team vs. Rey Mysterio & Billy Kidman: WWE Tag Team Championship - 4/5

5. Stephanie McMahon vs. Sable - 1/5

6. John Cena vs. Undertaker - 3.5/5

7. Mr. McMahon vs. Zack Gowen - 2.5/5

8. Kurt Angle vs. Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar: WWE Championship - 4/5

Best Match - Kurt Angle vs. Big Show vs. Brock Lesnar

Worst Match - Stephanie McMahon vs. Sable

Most Memorable Moment - Kurt Angle's surprising victory pinning Lesnar.

Top 5 Performers 1. Kurt Angle - Outstanding Performance

2. Brock Lesnar - Outstanding Performance

3. Big Show - Great Performance

4. World's Greatest Tag Team - Great Performance

5. Mysterio & Kidman - Great Performance.

King of the Ring (1993 TV Special)

A Pretty Good Show in a Bad Year? Shocking!

[7/10 · 13 July 2023]

King of the Ring 1993 Thoughts

King of the Ring 1993 was the first ever King of the Ring PPV event produced by the WWF. It took place on June 13, 1993 at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio with an attendance of 6,500. The buyrate was 245,000 which was very good at the time and would be the most brought KOTR PPV till 99 which was the company's peak years. Of course the concept wasn't new as it started in 1985 as a tournament would be held annually every year with the winner being crowned the "King of the Ring." There was one year of an exception. However the tournaments were held at house shows for attendance boost. Adding a fifth PPV would make King of the Ring one of the most important PPVs for the next 9 years. Last this event is notable for being the last WWF appearance of Hulk Hogan who departed to start a movie career only to join the rival promotion WCW 1 year later. He would finally make his return in 2002.

Show featured 9 matches at the event. Buildup to this PPV saw qualifying matches to see who would be part of the tournament thus we were scheduled to have an 8 man tournament to see who be our King of the Ring. Hulk Hogan defended the WWF Championship to Yokozuna in his last match of his original WWF run. This was originally not the plan as originally Hogan was suppose to defend the belt sometime around here against the Hitman but 2 stories by both men are out of why it was changed. It's a long story but let's just say this, it's easy to choose who to believe considering one is a huge liar and the other despite being a crybaby sometimes is usually not afraid to share anything. Additional matches also included was an Intercontinental Championship match featuring Shawn Michaels defending his belt against Crush and an 8 man tag team match.

The Good - Bret Hart. Is it any surprise? The Hitman pretty much stole the show with his incredible in-ring technique. Him once more facing another of one of the greatest technical performers of all time, Mr. Perfect made what might have been the best match of 1993. I think it was even better than their outstanding match they had almost 2 years prior which was also an instant classic. We saw some callbacks during a few moments in the match and they had a hilarious backstage promo leading up to the match. Bret has said in an interview "Curt Hennings was one of his favorite co-workers to ever work with in the ring". I can see why. I also enjoyed his matches with Razor Ramon and Bam Bam Bigelow with the later being made into a big story of Bam Bam still being fresh for getting a bye in the semi-finals. The odd thing about it was the angle of referee Earl Hebner coming out forcing Joey Marella to make a reverse decision because of interference from Luna Vachon. I mean by logic why was this done for this match but never ever done for all the other billion times wrestlers had managers due damage behind a ref's back? I don't know.

The Meh - Majority of the show that didn't feature Bret Hart could have been booked better. The IC title match was above average. Was what with expected with HBK in the ring with an opponent not that solid in the ring. The WWF Championship match was your usual Hulk Hogan formula match with him dropping the belt to Yokozuna in a lackluster match with a good atmosphere all across the arena. You noticed Hogan being a lot slimmer. That's because of "juice" being under heavy watch around this period. The 8 man tag was forgettable and the Luger/Tatanka match was okay but too long for what it was to set up a cheap ending. Crazy Luger just out of nowhere was turned face weeks later in rush to find a top dog in replace of Hogan.

The Bad - Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes was what you expected. A bad match. Unfortunately it was smart to not have Mr. Perfect not go too long againt Hughes, who wasn't a good wrestler, in save of energy for his upcoming outstanding match against Bret. I won't give too much heat to the 3rd round match of Bam Bam vs. Jim Duggan as it was really a match to have Duggan put over Bam Bam Bigelow. It was still pretty bad as Jim Duggan by this point had nothing interesting left for the WWF to book him in.

Overall - A good show mostly because of one big name. I could dubbed this show under something of Bret Hart. I mean this PPV also progressed him into being a bigger star. The show also in its time period was also surprisingly good as 1993 was one of, if not the worst year in the company's history for in-ring quality and star power. The King of the Ring concept getting moved to as a traditional PPV also was a great idea and way to build up new stars for awhile so props as an inaugural event.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon: First Round - 3.5/5

2. Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect: Second Round - 1.5/5

3. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jim Duggan: Third Round - 2/5

4. Lex Luger vs. Tatanka: Fourth Round - 2/5

5. Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect: Semi Finals - 4.5/5

6. Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna: WWF Championship - 2/5

7. The Steiner Brothers and Smoking Gunns vs. Money Inc. And Headshrinkers - 2/5

8. Shawn Michaels vs. Crush: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 2.5/5

9. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bret Hart: Finals - 3.5/5

Best Match - Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect

Worst Match - Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect

Most Memorable Moment - Jerry Lawler's promo and attack on Bret Hart post the main event.

Top 5 Performers

1. Bret Hart - Outstanding Performance. His show

2. Mr. Perfect - Outstanding Performance

3. Bam Bam Bigelow - Good Performance

4. Razor Ramon - Good Performance

5. Shawn Michaels - Carried someone to a decent match.

Survivor Series (2009 TV Special)

Predictable and not much excitement heading into

[6/10 · 12 July 2023]

Survivor Series 2009 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2009 was the 23rd annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on November 22, 2009 at the Verizon Center in Washington D. C. Attendance was at 12,500. However the buyrate was at a low of 225,000. I point this out as a low because this almost ended up being the very last Survivor Series show. The show bombed so badly that Vince and WWE crew were seeing this as a concept outdated. There was even an announcement of Survivor Series being rebranded in the beginning of 2010 as Bragging Rights (which was its own thing) but it was later scrapped.

6 matches were on the show with a rare card of 2 Triple Threat matches both for their respective world titles. One major criticism about this was one of these featuring 3 stars who've wrestled so many times that people weren't interested in them main eventing again. That would be the WWE Championship match between Cena, HHH and HBK. Undertaker defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Big Show and Chris Jericho who were this dominant tag team known as Jerishow and were the Unified Tag Team Champions. 3 traditional survivor series matches were held and a personal feud continued with a new heel Batista facing Rey Mysterio.

The Good - The main event was a great closure as you would already expect from future hall of famers. But holy was HBK's superkick out of nowhere at the start of the match a hell of a moment. No one saw it coming and it was brilliant booking to fool everyone who thought we were going to have a typical formula of partners briefly teaming up at the start of a multi man match. It also lead to a slightly no change where everyone got a one on one fight from the start until the very last 5-10 minutes. However that did lead to a bit of notable "lying down until it's my turn" issues that downgraded the match. The opening match was also pretty good and it had a fresh ending with the face trying to last as long as he could against the heel team despite being outnumbered and it made the heels look good. The second survivor series match was a bit more interesting with Kofi at the time getting a strong push and having a huge upset W against Orton's team as the sole survivor. What made it more special was just him taking out Orton like it was nothing as Orton has a great history at Survivor Series. Sadly the push didn't continue too long due to a botch that upset Orton and Vince.

The Meh - The World Heavyweight Championship triple threat match was just a bit disappointing. Went far too long as a handicap match inside a triple threat with Y2J & Big Show teaming up way too long. Big Show looked to have had an injury too and you can see them protecting him with his long selling outside of the match multiple times. It was an average match during Undertaker's great run as your champ carrying the Smackdown brand. And Batista's W against Rey was just what K would say was an extended squash. They try hard to make Batista look so bad to get booed but it funny enough wasn't going to work in his hometown.

The Bad - Bad match was our women's survivor series match. It was hard to care for it with eliminations happening every minute. No story or real importance to the match.

Overall - Not a bad show but not too great. The 2 big matches were highly predictable as you couldn't see any slight hint of any other choices of the winners at the time. Show also showed a sign that they needed to build up more stars for the main event as I mentioned earlier how at the time, the same big names were in the title pictures and other names were not main event material yet. A funny thing to notice was the lack of video promos. That's a sign of not so great buildup heading into the show.

Score - 6 out of 10: Decent

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Team Miz (The Miz, Dolph Ziggler, Drew McIntyre, Jack Swagger & Sheamus) vs. Team Morrison (John Morrison, Evan Bourne, Finlay, Shelton Benjamin & Matt Hardy) (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

2. Rey Mysterio vs. Batista - 2/5

3. Team Kingston (Kofi Kingston, MVP, Mark Henry, R-Truth & Christian) vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Ted DiBiase, William Regal & CM Punk) (Elimination Tag) - 3.5/5

4. Undertaker vs. Big Show vs. Chris Jericho: World Heavyweight Championship - 2.5/5

5. Team Mickie (Mickie James, Melina, Eve, Kelly Kelly & Gail Kim) vs. Team Michelle (Michelle McCool, Layla, Beth Phoenix, Alicia Fox & Jillian Hall) (Elimination Tag) - 1/5

6. John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels: WWE Championship - 4/5

Best Match - John Cena vs. Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

Worst Match - Team Mickie vs. Team Michelle

Most Memorable Moment - HBK sweet chin music Triple H.

Top 5 Performers

1. Shawn Michaels - Great Performance

2. John Cena - Great Performance

3. Triple H - Great Performance

4. Kofi Kingston - Great Performance

5. Christian - Underrated at the time.

Survivor Series (2008 TV Special)

What a weak PPV for such a good year

[5/10 · 7 July 2023]

Survivor Series 2008 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2008 was the 22nd annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on November 23, 2008, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. With attendance was at 12,498. The buyrate was at 319,000 which for consecutive year was lower than the previous year's event. This was the first Survivor Series of the PG Era and the first Survivor Series to be broadcast in HD.

6 matches were held on the card. The main event featured the returning John Cena, who was out since August after suffering an injury in a match against Batista. He faced Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Championship. Cena was not suppose to be back due to an injury but everyone knows Cena ain't human so this was a big story of him returning in his hometown to face Y2J who was having his best wrestling year yet. Triple H was set to face both Jeff Hardy & Vladimir Kozlov but unfortunately he ended up only facing the later (for most of the match) as Jeff Hardy was physicaly unable to wrestle after being found unconscious at his hotel the previous night. Unfortunately this was put into storyline as well as Jeff was still having his drug issues. We had 3 traditional survivor series matches and a casket match set for the night as well.

The Good - Well both of the men survivor series matches were good. I liked the second one that featured Batista's team against Orton's team. I think the pace was excellent for eliminations and a clever win for the heel team of survivors. This was the time they were building up Orton as a lead of a stable of new generation stars (later named Legacy). The opening was good too although one funny thing about it was the lack of use for the Great Khali who was a survivor along with Shawn Michaels & Rey Mysterio who did most of the action for the match. The main event was good. It was kind of slow too as Cena was getting the ring rust off but it was a good closure to the show and is memorable for Cena winning the World Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career. The two had a better match a month later at Armageddon.

The Meh - Surprisingly the divas Smackdown vs. Raw survivor series match was pretty decent. It didn't seem so rushed like a lot of the divas matches back then. Sadly this was a dark period for women in WWE so it wasn't really something to care much about either. The casket match featuring the Undertaker against Big Show was disappointing. It was way too slow paced. They attempted to push Big Show (again) as this giant monster heel that can take out anyone with a huge punch and it was not interesting. I will say this was Undertaker's weakest feud during his last 3 years as a full-time competitor.

The Bad - The WWE Championship match was a dud as expected with Triple H suppose to be carrying an awful performer like Vladimir Kozlov. Not even the angle of Edge returning to win the belt could save it. The crowd didn't care for it since the start with numerous chants of "boring, TNA & Hardy" and who could blame them when you were expecting someone who was clearly not main event level to headline a PPV.

Overall - Not much of a memorable show. Matches I would say were interesting to keep eyes on but nothing really interesting that would blow anyones mind off kicked in. The crowd was also not that great even when the hometown guy was in action so I say the atmosphere was low too. Not recommended at all.

Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre

0 = Terrible 1 = Bad/Lackluster 2 = Decent 3 = Good 4 = Awesome 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. Team HBK (Shawn Michaels, Shad, JTG, Great Khali & Rey Mysterio) vs. Team JBL (JBL, MVP, John Morrison, The Miz & Kane) (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

2. Team Raw (Beth Punk, Candice Michelle, Jillian Hall, Kelly Kelly & Mickie James) vs. Team Smackdown ( Michelle McCool, Maryse, Maria, Natalya & Victoria) (Elimination Tag) - 2/5

3. Big Show vs. Undertaker (Casket Match) - 2/5

4. Team Batista (Batista, Kofi Kingston, CM Phoenix, Matt Hardy & R-Truth) vs. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes, Mark Henry, Shelton Benjamin & William Regal) (Elimination Tag) - 3.5/5

5. Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov (vs. Edge): WWE Championship - 0/5

6. John Cena vs. Chris Jericho: World Heavyweight Championship - 3/5

Best Match - Team Batista vs. Team Randy Orton

Worst Match - Triple H vs. Vladimir Kozlov

Most Memorable Moment - Edge's return and victory.

Top 5 Performers

1. John Cena - Good Performance

2. Chris Jericho - Good Performance

3. Randy Orton - Good Performance

4. Shawn Michaels - Good Performance

5. Rey Mysterio - Good Performance.

Survivor Series (2007 TV Special)

Not one of the best but an enjoyable show to watch.

[7/10 · 30 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2007 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2007 was the 21st annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. The show took place on November 18, 2007 and was held at the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. Attendance was at 12,500 with a buyrate of 341,000. This was the last Survivor Series PPV event under TV-14 as the 2007 marked the last full year of the product's program being TV-14 as the WWE begin to tone down slowly starting in May 2008 with most shows being PG and by the end of the year would launch a complete new era of PG programming which WWE dubs "The Universe Era". Also from the spoiler of a poster, somebody made a return.

I will say at this time things were beginning to step up after a rough summer for many things including injuries, suspensions and of course, the the Benoit tragedy. With 7 matches on the card, I can't say this show was low on star power. Not this one. However, one notable star missing was the big face of the company. John Cena as he was out with an unexpected injury and was expected to be out for awhile (and we thought). I remember despite featuring strong names on the roster, Raw's ratings didn't do better after Cena's absense. Some would say holiday seasons but others believed it was just John Cena really being that draw haters didn't want to admit he was. Batista & Undertaker continued that legendary feud in a hell in a cell match for the World Heavyweight Title after an even record of 1-1-2 against one another since the start of their clash. HBK battled Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in personal feud of Orton nearly ending HBK's career and hurting his family's heart. A rule was made that if HBK were to Superkick Orton he would be DQ but if Orton gets DQ, he loses the belt. A traditional survivor series match was also set but this time a 4-5 after Matt Hardy was written out after a injury he got from his knee.

The Good - There is mix-feelings of the main event from a lot of people. Some say it was a disappointment but others said it went to expectations. I personally thought the main event was awesome. It wasn't the best of their clashes as I think their Smackdown match and their WrestleMania clash were the better matches. But to see this in a category as possibly their weakest goes to show how strong these two connected. I wasn't a fan of the cheap finish but Edge back was a special moment. Crowd seemed tired by the end which affected the atmosphere of the main event. Shawn Michaels put up an excellent performance doing random moves every couple of minutes selling the struggle of not using the sweet chin music. The match was pretty solid. I enjoyed the Survivor Series match and you can see a small hint of Jeff Hardy's push set for the future with him taking the last pinfall for the victory side by side next to Triple H. Hardy was so over by then as a singles star. ECW Championship match had a good opener though the ECW Championship at this point was just another title.

The Meh - The Tag Team Championship match was decent I'll give it that. Couldn't get into it really and neither did others but there was mild support for Cody Rhodes who was 22 at the time. Tag Team wrestling wasn't so strong this period around. Awkward finish seeing Trevor Murdoch's finishing move too.

The Bad - Hornswoggle vs. Great Khali was such a waste of time and such a stupid storyline going on. This goofy thing of Hornswoggle being Vince's son was really not going well and was painful to look back at again. Wasn't even really match as it looked more like an angle. I think what we should have gotten was the women's tag match (which was just a generic quick tag match) being a Survivor Series match and not this abomination wasted on the card.

Overall - If I look back at that time, this was probably the best PPV since Backlash of April that year. You can see things started to progress the end of that year heading into 2008 (which in my opinion is an under appreciated year). I might also have a little bias liking to this show due to seeing it a many times as a kid on DVD. At the end, an enjoyable show I recommend watching.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. CM Punk vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison: ECW Championship - 3/5

2. Beth Phoenix, Layla, Jillian Hall, Victoria & Melina vs. Maria, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, Torrie Wilson & Michelle McCool - 1/5

3. Cody Rhodes & Hardcore Holly vs. Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch: World Tag Team Championship - 2/5

4. Team Triple H (Triple H, Kane, Rey Mysterio & Jeff Hardy) vs. Team Umaga (Umaga, MVP, Mr. Kennedy, Finlay & Big Daddy V) (Elimination Tag) - 3.5/5

5. Hornswoggle vs. The Great Khali - 0/5

6. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton: WWE Championship - 3.5/5

7. Batista vs. The Undertaker: World Heavyweight Championship (Hell in a Cell) - 4/5

Best Match - Batista vs. Undertaker

Worst Match - Hornswoggle vs. Great Khali

Most Memorable Moment - Edge's return.

Top 5 Performers

1. Shawn Michaels - Outstanding Performance

2. Undertaker - Great Performance

3. Batista - Great Performance

4. Randy Orton - Great Performance

5. Triple H/Jeff Hardy - Good Performance.

Survivor Series (2006 TV Special)

Another Lackluster PPV from that Year.

[4/10 · 30 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2006 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2006 was the 20th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on November 26, 2006, at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with an attendance of 15,400 and a buyrate of 383,000. Despite being the 4th most brought PPV of the year, I also like to mention the buyrate starting at this Survivor Series got lower and lower every year. Many believed the concept was just outdated or Vince just didn't care about this PPV like he did of the other big 4. This would also be the first ever Survivor Series PPV event to feature the ECW brand.

The show featured 7 matches on the card. The main event had Batista face King Booker for the World Heavyweight Championship in which would be Batista's last chance of attempting to win back the belt he never lost. A stipulation was added before the bell that if Booker were to be disqualified or counted out, then he would lose the belt. We had 3 traditional survivor series matches and 2 other championship matches as well. Undertaker also continued a feud against Mr. Kennedy in a first blood match.

The Good - Only match I think I would consider a thumbs up is survivor series match lead by John Cena against Team Big Show. It wasn't a spectacular match and not even close but it was enjoyable and really the only match that went where it needed to be for a good match. John Cena & Bobby Lashley being the sole survivors was a perfect booking choice for the top face and the other being a star they were looking to build. Some of the combo moves used by Lashley & Cena looked really good.

Ths Meh - Majority of the card is just disappointing. We had no match go over 15 minutes and a few matches based on the competitors involved would look great on paper but turned out to be forgettable or letdown. Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero had that issue the way the crowd started getting invested only for the ending to happen so fast. Lita vs. Mickie James I guess was okay but it ages even worse knowing it was Lita's last match for years and she didn't get a proper goodbye. Interview from Lita mentioned how much she felt disrespected for having this way to get written off. I mean was the segment after really worth it? The sweep by Team DX against Rated-RKO was kind of a unique way to put over the babyface team in a dominating way as prior to this, no team has ever done this against anyone at Survivor Series. When you look at the heel team though, you would agree they could have maybe given them one or two eliminations. The main event I was alright but I don't think many were that interested in it considering how Smackdown by this period wasn't much of a favored show let alone the World Heavyweight Championship being looked down as a second rate title.

The Bad - Our only pure bad match was the opening. I mean for what it was, you couldn't expect something great from the older legends. It was really a typical match to get rid of that terrible stable and start a feud for Ric Flair against the only member WWE creative cared about on that team, Kenny (later known as Kenny Dykstra).

Overall - Not a good show. I don't think at the time they gave people their moneys worth spending with no match being more than 15 minutes or even having an instant classic in my opinion. One of the more disappointing survivor series PPVs of the 2000s.

Score - 4 out of 10: Boring

0 = Terrible : 1 =Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Team Flair (Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Ron Simmons & Sgt. Slaughter) vs. The Spirit Squad (Johnny, Nicky, Kenny & Mikey) (Elimination Tag) - 1/5

2. Chris Benoit vs. Chavo Guerrero: WWE United States Championship - 2.5/5

3. Lita vs. Mickie James: WWE Women's Championship - 2/5

4. Team DX (Triple H, Shawn Michaels, CM Punk, Matt & Jeff Hardy) vs. Team Rated RKO (Randy Orton, Edge, Gregory Helms, Johnny Nitro & Mike Knox) (Elimination Tag) - 2.5/5

5. Undertaker vs. Mr. Kennedy (First Blood) - 2/5

6. Team Big Show (Big Show, MVP, Test, Umaga & Finlay) vs. Team Cena (John Cena, Bobby Lashley, Kane, Rob Van Dam & Sabu) (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

7. King Booker vs. Batista: World Heavyweight Championship - 2/5

Best Match - Team Big Show vs. Team Cena

Worst Match - Team Flair vs. The Spirit Squad

Most Memorable Moment - Nothing really

Top 5 Performers

1. John Cena - Good Performance

2. Bobby Lashley - Good Performance. Looked strong for a push.

3. CM Punk - Didn't too much. Just so darn over.

4. Batista - Career Highlight

5. Undertaker - Putting over Kennedy.

WWE Survivor Series (2005 TV Special)

A very fun Survivor Series PPV.

[7/10 · 26 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2005

Survivor Series 2005 was the 19th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on November 27, 2005 for the 3rd time (1991, 1999) at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Attendance was set at 15,000 with buyrate from home being 400,000. The major unfortunate thing about this PPV is it took place 2 weeks after the loss of the late-great Eddie Guerrero. It was a rough month for the wrestling world losing such a beloved wrestler gone way too soon. After his death, shortly WWE would invent the Wellness Policy.

6 matches were on the main card with our biggest hype of the show being our Smackdown vs. Raw feud that featured 5 Raw superstars against 5 Smackdown superstars in a Survivor Series elimination match. The feud began during a special episode of Monday Night Raw that saw Smackdown invade Raw and over course would continue to take jabs at each other both in and out of the ring. One major thing I should add was that Eddie Guerrero was suppose to be representing Smackdown unfortunately after his death was replaced by Randy Orton. Eddie Guerrero was also suppose to be taking the World Title off Batista some time as the Animal was suppose to take time off due to an injury but that ended up being delayed. Batista unfortunately had an injury later which forced him to be out of action longer than intended. John Cena also continued his feud with Kurt Angle for the WWE Championship but this time a special guest referee added into the mix and Triple H & Ric Flair closed out their feud in a last man standing match.

The Good - The Smackdown vs. Raw feud was very entertaining. Sure it was no where near as a classic as the Monday Night Wars but people don't realized how much this was a golden part of people's childhood. The main event was fun. I feel Raw had a much weaker team in terms of star power rate but some of their top guys were in other feuds so it makes sense and you had Edge being protected since his feud with Matt Hardy ended as everyone looking back now knows why when one of the greatest moments in Edge's career pops up over a month later. It again was overall a fun main event. The last man standing was the best match of the night. Flair at his age was still a great performer when he straight out needed to be. Him and HHH had a brutal but awesome last man standing match. The only thing that stops it from being an instant classic is how long it was as I feel it could have been cut about 5 minutes shorter. Opening match was also good for the start of the BOS series (something WWE has never managed to finish off properly sadly).

The Meh - John Cena vs. Kurt Angle was a bit of a mess with it being just a complete overbooked match. All the ref walk ins and repeated fails by Kurt got a bit too crazy. Angle leaving the next year for TNA though makes you wonder what a match between him and Cena would be like later as Cena became a much better performer just about right after Kurt Angle left but at this time, he was one of those who needs a great in-ring opponent to have a great match. Women's match was also pretty okay. Won't crap on it as it was one of Melina's early WWE matches but she did fine in the ring with a great legend like Trish.

The Bad - The only abomination we had that really was a waste of time was Eric Bischoff vs. Theodore Long. IMO it was failed comedy that didn't work. I believe something like a Cruiserweight Championship match or something would have been a much more relevant spot than this. Also unfunny was the segment backstage of Vince using the "N" word. I'm not sure what it was suppose to be but it clearly wasn't funny and more cringy. Apperently most viewed it as more of a thing of Vince showing how he can get away with just about anything.

Overall - Not much to complain about. It was a fun PPV. I would also give props to them working hard just 2 weeks after the passing of Eddie as it was very hard for a lot to recover from such a beloved legend gone way too soon. It's not one of the best Survivor Series PPVs ever but a great show to just sit and watch.

Score - 7 out of 10: Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. Booker T vs. Chris Benoit: Best of Seven Series United States Championship - 3/5

2. Trish Stratus vs. Melina: WWE Women's Championship - 2.5/5

3. Triple H vs. Ric Flair (Last Man Standing) - 4/5

4. John Cena vs. Kurt Angle: WWE Championship - 2/5

5. Eric Bischoff vs. Theodore Long - 0/5

6. Team Smackdown (Batista, JBL, Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley & Rey Mysterio) vs. Team Raw (Shawn Michaels, Carlito, Chris Masters, Big Show & Kane) (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

Best Match - Triple H vs. Ric Flair

Worst Match - Eric Bischoff vs. Theodore Long (probably one of the worst of that year)

Most Memorable Moment - Undertaker's Return. Truth, mostly because it's a meme now.

Top 5 Performers

1. RIc Flair - Guy still had it at this time. Woooo!

2. Triple H - Great Performance

3. Shawn Michaels - Good Performance

4. Randy Orton - Good Performance

5. JBL - Oddly, Good Performance.

WWE Survivor Series (2004 TV Special)

An okay Survivor Series. Nothing too spectacular.

[6/10 · 16 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2004 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2004 was the 18th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on November 14, 2004 in Cleveland, Ohio at the Gund Arena. Attendance was said to be sold out at 17,500 with a buyrate from home being 325,000. This was the 4th Survivor Series PPV to ever take place in Ohio. *note a notable big name missing from this show is Shawn Michaels as he suffered a legit injury a month prior at the PPV Taboo Tuesday and was out for a few months.

We're at the end of 2004 which I would describe as an interesting and fun year to tune in for Raw. For Smackdown though, not so much. You can say everyone including the casual fans were starting to see the show as the B-Show for WWE. Brock Lesnar leaving and Kurt Angle out all the way till the end of summer this year left SD low on star power for while. I think the later half of this year got a bit more interesting for the show but seriously, JBL was the WWE Champion. Anyway, we had 7 matches that were placed on the card including 2 survivor series elimination matches from both shows. Raw's match had a stipulation added where the winning team would get control over the show for one month. We also had 4 Championship matches and The Undertaker battling Heidenrich.

The Good - I think Raw's main event great. It had a lot of chaos happening and the crowd was invested in it through out the entire match (which oddly wasn't much of a hot crowd for majority of the night). WWE attempting to push Orton as the top face is pretty funny to look back at now but for this night, he was over. The elimination spots were perfectly timed and it seems everyone knew their role. Another match that started off slow but ended up being a really good match was the Intercontinental Championship match. Benjamin & Christian did some unique technical work and were both two of the most underrated talents at the time. The opening fatal 4-way for the Cruiserweight Championship was a great start and was something you expected from the stars competing.

The Meh - Smackdown's survivor series match was a bit of a letdown. The babyface team mostly just squashed the heel team and not many highlights added. Cena's chase against Carlito before the start of the bell was really the only thing memorable of it. But it was a decent match overall. JBL vs. Booker T was meh and kind of boring with just repetitive interfering from Bradshaw's manager, Orlando Jordan and was what you expected from JBL with majority of his wins as a heel. JBL a great talker but not the guy to watch for in-ring action.

The Bad - Undertaker unfortunately had his time wasted in the horrible feud with Heidenrich. The match was bad and too long. Must remember, as great as it was seeing the Undertaker with his old school gimmick back and in better shape, it took time for WWE to use him well as he was not in many interesting feuds (Dudley Boyz, JBL & Heidenrich). I won't complain too much of Lita vs. Trish as it was more of an angle than a match but you feel bad of how the women didn't get anytime really for this show. Wasted use of talent for the women's division.

Overall - Started out pretty good, got a bit bland in the middle, ended the night with a satisfying closure. It was an average show at best. You can see the WWE was taking time to build up talent around this period so it was a bit of a hard show to book. That's totally fine in fact they did payoff to with some of those names being Batista, John Cena, Randy Orton and Edge. Worth a watch.

Score - 6 out of 10: Decent

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Rey Mysterio vs. Billy Kidman vs. Spike Dudley vs. Chavo Guerrero: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - 3/5

2. Christian vs. Shelton Benjamin: WWE Intercontinental Championship - 3.5/5

3. Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Luther Reigns, Mark Jindrak & Carlito Cool) vs. Team Guerrero (Eddie Guerrero, Big Show, Rob Van Dam & John Cena) (Elimination Tag) - 2.5/5

4. Undertaker vs. Heidenrich - 1/5

5. Trish Stratus vs. Lita: WWE Women's Championship - 0.5/5

6. JBL vs. Booker T: WWE Championship - 2/5

7. Team Orton (Randy Orton, Chris Jericho, Chris Benoit & Maven) vs. Team Triple H (Triple H, Batista, Edge & Gene Snitsky) (Elimination Tag): One Month Control Over Raw - 4/5

Best Match - Team Orton vs. Team Triple H

Worst Match - Undertaker vs. Heidenrich. Yeah I gave the women's match a lower score but watch and you'll understand.

Most Memorable Moment - Randy Orton once more as the sole survivor. At the time the second year in a row and looking back another major highlight of his career.

Top 5 Performers

1. Randy Orton - Great Performance

2. Triple H - Great Performance

3. Edge - Great Performance

4. Shelton Benjamin - Insanely Underrated

5. Christian - Also Insanely Underrated.

Survivor Series (2003 TV Special)

Meh. Watchable but a pass TBH

[5/10 · 14 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2003 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2003 was the 17th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. The event took place on November 16, 2003 in Dallas, Texas at the American Airlines Center. Attendance was at 13,487 with a buy rate being 450,000. This event had many notable stars making their Survivor Series debuts and the last night we would see the Undertaker as the American badass before he would make his deadman gimmick return months later at WrestleMania.

7 matches were on the card. It's the end of 2003, the WWE were setting up for the future as many notable upcoming talents were making a name for themselves such as John Cena, Batista and Randy Orton and other veterans like Chris Benoit and Eddie Guerrero were slowly getting the long-time pushes fans been wanting. A major storyline saw Steve Austin putting his Co-GM position on the line by having his own team representing him against Eric Bischoff's team. Austin depsite retiring was still popular with the fans that it was a creative idea to have him as the on-screen GM. Smackdown also had their own traditional survivor series match that put the WWE Champion Brock Lesnar with a large group of large heavyweights against Kurt Angle and his allies. Shane & Vince McMahon battled Kane and Undertaker respectively in personal feuds (both in gimmick matches) and Goldberg defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Triple H.

The Good - Boy did Raw's survivor series match delivered. The action and pace was tremendous. Shawn Michaels of course with his big selling after getting busted open and fighting to his last breath stole the show. Is it really a surprise? Austin in the aftermath thanking everyone and beating up security was a touching moment. The finish of the match of having Batista interfere and giving Orton the victory might be a bit of a bummer to some but it didn't damage anything. Shane McMahon vs. Kane I guess was fun for your regular brawl match. It was a bit of a silly feud just to put Kane over as a now psychotic heel but it was entertaining.

The Meh - Smackdown's survivor series match was a pretty good kickoff. However major damage to the match was some sloppy wrestling. I love John Cena but this was a throwback that he needed to improve upon the years. He was just turned face though not to long before this night because of his popularity which was smart because of how charismatic he was. The match was fun but it wasn't tremendous and some eliminations were insanely fast. I will get to a negative soon though involving two competitors. The World Heavyweight Championship match honestly went through as expected as Goldberg unfortunately didn't really connect well with anyone during his first WWE run. With an injury angle heading into this event (which was obviously set for protection of someone who's limited), the match went almost as predicted.

The Bad - One of the worst performances of the night featured Nathan Jones and Matt Morgan. I think Matt Morgan became a better performer later in his wrestling career when he departed and went to TNA but he wasn't so good here tonight. Nathan Jones couldn't keep up on the pace at all and had about 3 botches and a late selling causing a different camera angle needed. The WWE Tag Team Championship match was forgettable and felt like a regular TV match and the Women's Championship match was very sloppy and the crowd couldn't get into it. Undertaker vs. Vince was just Taker beating the snot out if the boss until the interference from Kane was all set and ready. Luckily it leads us to a great legendary gimmick return months later.

Overall - To be honest, show didn't look that impressive on paper so I had low expectations. I think one match saved this show a lot from being such a bad PPV and that obviously goes to the Raw survivor series match. We also indeed had a bunch of teases set for future feuds and pushes that eventually occurred so it is quite a memorable show.

Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Team Angle (Kurt Angle, Bradshaw, Chris Benoit, Hardcore Holly & John Cena) vs. Team Lesnar (Brock Lesnar, Matt Morgan, A-Trian, Nathan Jones & Big Show) (Elimination Tag) - 2.5/5

2. Lita vs. Molly Holly: WWE Women's Championship - 1.5/5

3. Shane McMahon vs. Kane (Ambulance Match) - 3/5

4. The Brasham Brothers vs. Los Guerreros: WWE Tag Team Championship - 1.5/5

5. Team Austin (Shawn Michaels, D-Von Dudley, Bubba Ray Dudley, Rob Van Dam & Booker T) vs. Team Bischoff (Chris Jericho, Christian, Mark Henry, Scott Steiner & Randy Orton) (Elimination Tag) - 4.5/5

6. Undertaker vs. Mr. McMahon (Buried Alive Match) - 1/5

7. Goldberg vs. Triple H: World Heavyweight Championship - 2/5

Best Match - Team Austin vs. Team Bischoff

Worst Match - Undertaker vs. Mr. McMahon

Most Memorable Moment - Stone Cold segment after the lost.

Top 5 Performers

1. Shawn Michaels - Outstanding Performance

2. Chris Benoit - Great Performance

3. Chris Jericho - Great Performance

4. Christian - Great Performance

5. Randy Orton - Career Highlight.

WWE: Extreme Rules (2009 TV Special)

Not so Extreme but a decent show TBH

[6/10 · 12 June 2023]

Extreme Rules 2009 Thoughts

Extreme Rules 2009 was the first ever Extreme Rules PPV event produced by the WWE. It took place on June 7, 2009, at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana. Attendance was at 9,124 (what you expect in a small arena) and buyrate from home was 213,000. This show was a continuation of the concept of every match being hardcore that was of the former PPV, One Night Stand. Though viewed hy some as a successor of One Night Stand 2008, WWE has noted this to be an inaugural PPV. This was also the last appearance of Umaga as Edward Smith Fatu was released following this event for violation of the Wellness Policy and passed away in December that year.

8 matches were set for the card with an additional match later added at the end of the night (an angle actually). Most hyped up was of course the main event between long time rivals Jeff Hardy & Edge who were in a ladder match for the World Heavyweight Championship. The two were having a tremendous feud leading up to this show and at the time Smackdown was the must watch show for the WWE. We also had another great feud representing Smackdown which was Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio for the Intercontinental Championship that saw a heel Y2J ranting on the legacy of Rey Mysterio and his lucha style wrestling. Major feuds on the Raw side included Batista vs. Randy Orton for the WWE Championship in a Steel Cage and John Cena vs. Big Show in a Submission Match. The ECW brand featured a Triple Threat hardcore match for the ECW Championship.

The Good - The ladder match was a spectacular match as expected. It was a little bit of a spot fest but it still was enjoyable and told another story in the feud and in both men's careers. But boy the aftermath was such a harsh move (in a good way) to book CM Punk to cash in the briefcase right after Hardy's victory. I'll admit when seeing it again on my favorite wrestler as an adult still hurts a little but it was a brilliant way to build up Punk's future heel turn who was pretty much a tweener after this. The No Holds Barred match was excellent too as Y2J and Rey Mysterio had one of the best Intercontinental Championship feuds in years. I think they had a better match a PPV earlier but this was still good. I also enjoyed the Triple Threat match for the ECW title. I almost forgot how Christian made ECW worth watching when he joined in. Him and Dreamer who won the belt would go on to have a great face-feud in the future. Only drag was that ECW commentary was awful.

The Meh - Opening for the US title was fine. It was really just a generic fatel four way match and not much else. I felt bad though for 2 stars in that match (Matt Hardy & MVP) who both kind of regressed after being drafted to the Raw brand a month in a half earlier. CM Punk vs. Umaga was okay but I wasn't much of a fan of the stipulation.

The Bad - The Raw brand as a whole looked embarrassing with the matches represented on this show. First I won't get into that stupid comedy match of Vickie & Chavo vs. Santina (Santino) which was more embarrassing rather than funny but Batista vs. Randy Orton had potential to be a great and brutal match but it ended up being a short and wasted match. 90% of the match is either Orton & Batista beating each other up or Orton trying to escape the cage but out of nowhere Batista wins by a pinfall just like that in 7 minutes. The pinfall was what I feel hurt the match a lot and it does for a lot of Steel Cage matches actually. Cage matches don't even feel special anymore when booked like that. Cena vs. Big Show was way too long and a snoozed fest. It's unfortunate a botch finish was noticeable to the point where even the camera hidding couldn't fool anyone.

Overall - EXTREME.... Not really. I think this concept was a bit hurt by wrestling being PG now. I mean no blood and lack of weapons for most matches kind of made this felt like any other regular PPV. Also easy to see just how divided WWE was in 2009 when you noticed the Raw matches being awful but the Smackdown/ECW matches at least being above average.

Score - 6 out of 10: Decent

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Kofi Kingston vs. MVP vs. Matt Hardy vs. William Regal: WWE United States Championship - 2.5/5

2. Chris Jericho vs. Rey Mysterio: WWE Intercontinental Championship (No Holds Barred) - 4/5

3. CM Punk vs. Umaga (Samoan Strap Match) - 2/5

4. Christian vs. Tommy Dreamer vs. Jack Swagger: ECW Championship - 3/5

5. Chavo & Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella (Hog Pen Match) - 0/5

6. Batista vs. Randy Orton: WWE Championship (Steel Cage) - 1.5/5

7. John Cena vs. Big Show (Submission Match) - 1/5

8. Jeff Hardy vs. Edge: World Heavyweight Championship (Ladder Match) - 4.5/5

9. Jeff Hardy vs. CM Punk: World Heavyweight Championship - Not Worth It

Best Match - Jeff Hardy vs. Edge

Worst Match - Chavo Guerrero & Vickie Guerrero vs. Santina Marella. Dreadful

Most Memorable Moment - CM Punk's cash in

Top 5 Performers

1. Jeff Hardy - Outstanding Performance

2. Edge - Outstanding Performance

3. Chris Jericho - Great Performance

4. Rey Mysterio - Great Performance

5. CM Punk - Career Highlight.

Survivor Series (2002 TV Special)

What an awesome night to fight for Survival!!

[9/10 · 9 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2002 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2002 was the 16th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWE. The event took place at the world's most famous arena, Madison Square Garden in New York City with a sold out attendance of 17,930 and a great buyrate of 340,000. This survivor series is notable for being the first in Survivor Series event in multiple categories. It was the first Survivor Series under the new WWE name as the World Wrestling Federation was changed to World Wrestling Entertainment in May of 2002 due to a name dispute lawsuit in which "WWF" would now go only for World Wildlife Fund. It was also the first Survivor Series of the Ruthless Agreesion era and the first post the introduction of the Brand Extension.

The show featured 6 matches under the main card and for the second time since the birth of the PPV in 1987, we did not have a traditional survivor series match placed on the card (the other year being 1998). Instead we were introduced to the Elimination Chamber which in storyline was a match concept created by then-raw general manager Eric Bischoff. Going into the show, no one knew what to expect as the match didn't have the rules explained till moments before the match. Triple H defended the World Heavyweight Championship against Shawn Michaels (who had just returned out if retirement months prior), Chris Jericho, Rob Van Dam, Booker T and Kane. Triple H was used as the top guy as Austin was on a leave-of-absence after backstage disputes of booking and The Rock was off to Hollywood again. We also had Big Show battled Brock Lesnar for the WWE Championship and the legendary Smackdown Six in action for the WWE Tag Team Championships. We had some other great matches I'll get too. I lastly will like to conclude this was the re-debut of Scott Steiner. Too bad his run didn't go well.

The Good - Boy the star power. Remember this is a year many will look back and say the WWE declined slowly. Reality, it was all of what was being followed. The legendary period of the Attitude Era ended and we were off to a new generation with many changes. When you look at the power of this show, it shows how under appreciated we as fans can be. The Elimination Chamber was an awesome match and of course a successful idea that played out well. Brutal selling with the structure and the crowd loved the match. RVD accidentally gave Triple H a legit throat injury after doing a dangerous frog splash from the top of the pod. HHH deserved praise for fighting throw the injury and finishing the match. It was also a touching moment seeing Shawn Michaels win the belt as it told a story when he had unfortunately retired over 4 years ago. I also thought the opening was awesome and the crowd was on fire for it too. The spots were sloppy but most of them executed perfectly. Jeff Hardy's Swanton was a major highlight. Dudleys reuniting at the end too was smart as neither stars were doing much in their singles run. I enjoyed the WWE Cruiserweight Championship & Women's Championship match too. It was rare at the time for either division with the competitors involved to get the amount of time they had to show talent. The WWE Tag Team Championship match was fun and enjoyable. I think their No Mercy match and divided matches they had on Smackdown television were much better but the storyline involving Benoit & Angle struggling to work together was fun. All 6 competitors did well.

The Meh - By far our weakest match was more of a mini brawl than an actual match. Not sure if the quick timing was to protect Lesnar due to injury or because of Big Show's bad shape. Either way the ending angle was by far the big surprise. Lesnar also turning face weeks heading up into this match was the right call based on crowd response. I'm not sure if Big Show was right to be the person to end the undefeated streak and take the title but they needed to get that belt away from Lesnar some how to set up that dream feud of him and Kurt Angle.

The Bad - Nothing to really be over critical.

Overall - A tremendous show all around. 5 title changes across the show is wild but it wasn't a recurring thing so it felt like a big thing that happened this night. The WWE months before this already had another excellent PPV (SummerSlam) and to have this too with great build up shows how hot the Ruthless Agreesion was at during this start.

Score - 9 out of 10: Awesome

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. 3 Minute Warning & Rico vs. Jeff Hardy, Spike Dudley & Bubba Ray Dudley (Tables Elimination Tag) - 4/5

2. Billy Kidman vs. Jamie Noble: WWE Cruiserweight Championship - 3.5/5

3. Victoria vs. Trish Stratus: WWE Women's Championship (Hardcore Rules) - 3/5

4. Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show: WWE Championship - 2/5

5. Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit vs. Los Guerreros vs. Edge & Rey Mysterio: WWE Tag Team Championship (Elimination Match) - 3.5/5

6. Shawn Michaels vs. Triple H vs. Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam vs. Kane vs. Booker T: World Heavyweight Championship (Elimination Chamber) - 4.5/5

Best Match - Elimination Chamber Match

Worst Match - Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show (weakest)

Most Memorable Moment - A lot too remember. I'm going to pick Shawn Michael's title celebration.

Most Memorable Moment

Top 5 Performers

1. Shawn Michaels - Outstanding Performance

2. Triple H - Outstanding Performance with injury

3. Chris Jericho - Great Performance

4. Rob Van Dam - Took a dangerous spot

5. Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit - Great Performance.

Survivor Series (2001 TV Special)

Great PPV for such a botch storyline.

[8/10 · 8 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2001 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2001 was the 15th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWF. The show took place on November 18, 2001 in,Greensboro, North Carolina at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. Attendance was at 13,142 with a buyrate of 450,000. This was the last Survivor Series of the WWF banner and in some people's eyes, the last of the Attitude Era. I would be one of them. While it's classified by many that the AE ended at WrestleMania of that year, I personally view 2001 as an Attitude Era year. This would also be the last Survivor Series before the introduction of the brand extension in March 2002.

With the tagline "Winner Take All" this would mark the end of the Invasion angle which which had slowly began after Vince McMahon purchased World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling but finally went into another level in the middle of the year. It's unfortunate this angle that had potential to be one one of the greatest storylines in wrestling history did not go well. 7 matches on the card took place with every match meaning something as one promotion was only going to stay alive (kayfabe).

The Good - Main event obviously was the tremendous match you would expect looking at the loaded talent in the ring. The match is often looked at as one of the greatest matches in terrible feuds. I think the match ages better than ever when you see the legends involved in the match. It was a great Survivor Series match all around. I think every elimination was well booked. It was predictable though don't get me wrong. I see the Steel Cage match doesn't get much love. I think it was a really good match. The only issue was the start of the match being some sort of tag match in a cage which made no sense. Much of the cage wasn't much of a valuable weapon used by either team. The ending was weird even for character of Jeff Hardy which was suppose to be a tease of the Hardys breaking up but that didn't happened. The WWF European title match was a fine opener and Edge vs. Test was better than expected. This was the start of Edge's solo career and he was ready now as bigger star than he was years ago when he debuted as a sole star.

The Meh - The 1 year Immunity Battle Royal wasn't really all that. It was just your typical battle royal and nothing else. I thought the Women's Championship match was entertaining at best. It was fast paced and the women worked well despite a few sloppy movements.

The Bad - The only bad match was Tajiri vs. William Regal which was just a rushed filler that didn't do anything. It was just about 2 minutes with a few brutal shots.

Overall - As a wrestling PPV, hell yeah it's worth watching this show. Majority of the matches are good from the start to the end. Of course, one of the dumbest things people ain't going to ever forgive the WWF/E of doing was botching this storyline and rushing to conclude it in 4 months with little to no patience. I mean the low star power for the Alliance couldn't help. Ric Flair debuting soon and the NWO coming the next few months showed us we could have had so much more. Still a great show to enjoy despite the botch story.

Score - 8 out of 10: Really Really Good

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Christian vs. Al Snow: WWF European Championship - 3/5

2. William Regal vs. Tajiri - 1.5/5

3. Test vs. Edge: WWF Intercontinental Championship & WCW United States Championship - 3/5

4. The Dudley Boyz vs. The Hardy Boyz: WWF Tag Team Championship & WCW Tag Team Championship (Steel Cage) - 3.5/5

5. 1 Year Immunity Battle Royal - 2/5

6. Ivory vs. Molly Holly vs. Jazz vs. Jacqueline vs. Trish Stratus vs. Lita: WWE Women's Championship (6 Pac Challenge) - 2/5

7. Team WWE (The Rock, Undertaker, Kane, Big Show & Chris Jericho) vs. Team Alliance (Steve Austin, Booker T, Kurt Angle, Shane McMahon and Rob Van Dam) (Elimination Tag - 4.5/5

Best Match - Team WWF vs. Team Alliance

Worst Match - William Regal vs. Tajiri

Most Memorable Moment - Angle hitting Austin. I mean it's the conclusion.

Top 5 Performers

1. The Rock - Great Performance

2. Stone Cold - Great Performance

3. Chris Jericho - Great Performance

4. Kurt Angle - Great Performance

5. Rob Van Dam - Great Performance.

Survivor Series (2000 TV Special)

Pretty lackluster show in a strong year for PPVs

[5/10 · 8 June 2023]

Survivor Series 2000 Thoughts

Survivor Series 2000 was the 14th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWF. It took place on November 19, 2000 at the Ice Palace in Tampa, Florida. Attendance was at 18,602 with a buyrate being 400,000.

The main story feud of the show featured Steve Austin's rivalry with Triple H. One year earlier at Survivor Series, Austin was taken out when a car ran him over in a parking lot. In reality, it was set to write him out as he had major neck surgery and missed 11 months of in-ring action until he returned in October 2000 at No Mercy. It was later revealed that Rikishi was the driver of the car, so Austin took him out and then we found out Triple H was the accomplice that put Rikishi to do it. This led to Austin renewing his rivalry against Triple H. We also had The Rock face Rikishi which was Rikishi not feeling the respect he should have gotten after "what he did for The Rock". Kurt Angle faced the Undertaker for the WWF Championship and Kane battled Y2J in one of the dumbest setups for a feud at the time.

The Good - Well...I highly enjoyed The Rock vs. Rikishi. A lot of people would agree that Rikishi's attempted push was a silly idea but it was worth a try. He overall wasn't the guy to be put in the main event spotlight with the likes of The Rock, Stone Cold and Triple H. His match here with The Rock still was really good and the best match of the night. The Survivor Series match featuring The Hardys, Dudleys, Edge & Christian and RTC was fun. I don't think the match deserved to be placed in the spot it was in which was pretty much bathroom spot. It would explain heavily of why the atmosphere for the match was not that great. I think that did a number on it. I mean come on, you see the talent in the match? Kane and Y2J had good match. I mentioned earlier the story of why these 2 were having a grudge with each other earlier was dumb. Y2J spilled coffee, Kane now is mad. Kind of lame. But they had a good match. I believe they had a better one later though.

The Meh - The WWF Championship match was somewhat of an okay match. It was mostly Taker beating the crap out of Angle. The biggest issue with it was the cheap ending for Kurt as champion. It wasn't Kurt Angle but a stunt double (I guess) that some how cut in to take the shots from Taker. In reality it was Kurt Angle's brother who looked a hell of a lot like him. Main event was good and it made sense to book HHH/Austin in a NO DQ. No doubt it wasn't a classic like the No Way Out encounter they would have months later. The ending though I will get too.

The Bad - Well Lita & Ivory unfortunately had a botch that got their match to be blown. Lita was cut open and moved in slow pace. Props to her for continuing even though she didn't have to. Regal vs. Holly was a waste of time and heck so was the belt at the time. European Championship was dead at this point and had no purpose in the company. However one major negative on this show was the ending. It was cringy and kind of stupid. The pre-taped camera cuts just didn't work and it really didn't lead to anything (looking at it from a later date). I didn't seem crowd we're too keen on it either.

Overall - 2000 is probably the greatest year in quality among PPVS in WWF/WWE history. I mean it's almost a fact based on critic & fan reviews and the numbers. Unfortunately this was at the bottom of the categories. It almost seemed based on the ending angles of each match that this was more of a buildup to the upcoming PPV at the time, Armageddon. Not recommended and forgettable among Survivor Series.

Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Test, Albert & Trish Stratus vs. Steve Blackman, Crash Holly & Molly Holly - 2/5

2. Billy Gunn, Chyna, K Kwik & Road Dogg vs. The Radicalz (Elimination Tag) - 2.5/5

3. Kane vs. Chris Jericho - 3/5

4. William Regal vs. Hardcore Holly: WWF European Championship - 1/5

5. Rikishi vs. The Rock - 3.5/5

6. Lita vs. Ivory: WWF Women's Championship - 1/5

7. Undertaker vs. Kurt Angle: WWF Championship - 2.5/5

8. Edge & Christian and Right to Censor vs. The Hardy Boyz and The Dudley Boyz (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

9. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Triple H (No DQ Match) - 3/5

Best Match - The Rock vs. Rikishi

Worst Match - Hardcore Holly vs. William Regal

Most Memorable Moment - The Car stunt. It was cool but it was not the way to end the show.

Top 5 Performers

1. The Rock - Biggest pop of the night

2. Rikishi - One of his better singles matches

3. Stone Cold - Good Performance

4. Triple H - Good Performance

5. Jeff Hardy - Good Performance.

Survivor Series (1999 TV Special)

Another Mediocre 99 PPV.

[5/10 · 6 June 2023]

Survivor Series 1999 Thoughts

Survivor Series 1999 was the 13th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWF. It took place on November 14, 1999 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan. Attendance was at 18,735 with a very good buyrate of 448,000. Event is notable for being the in-ring debut of Kurt Angle on TV (who looked like the type of guy who just sucks) and a storyline angle taking place that had Austin off TV for a while. Heading towards the end of 1999, the WWF business was booming and kicking the lights out of rival WCW.

10 matches took place on the card with a build up triple threat match as the main event. Triple H was set to defend the WWF Championship against The Rock and Stone Cold. Unfortunately Stone Cold was replaced by the Big Show in the middle of the show with an angle of a mysterious person charging a hit-in run incident on Austin that gave him an injury he was forced to recover from. In reality, Austin needed spinal surgery to repair damage stemming from a serious neck injury he got over two years prior at SummerSlam 1997 in a match against Owen Hart. The undercard featured some title matches, our regular survivor series matches and Kurt Angle having his introduction in a match against Shawn Stasiak (*Korath: Who?*)

The Good - I really enjoyed one of the traditional survivor series matches which was the one that featured the likes of Edge & Christian, The Hardys, Too Cool and the Hollys. The crowd (which was not that good for the night) wasn't really invested into the match but months later the talent in the ring would start to get over more of course with 2 of the teams becoming some of the greatest tag teams in history. You look at the talent before the match started, I definitely expected at least an above average match and it was good. As for the main event, it was really good. Had a bit of a side effect due to something I believe was a mistake but I'll get to it later. It overall was fun and a good closure to the show.

The Meh - I guess Chyna vs. Chris Jericho was entertaining but again, you still saw a bit of a slow start for Y2J's early WWF run of being underutilized. Really though. Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Stasiak was a decent match. It was really just a match to introduce Kurt Angle and put him over and he looked good actually. Of course he becomes a hot rookie and one of the all time greats. The tag team championship match was a bit slow paced that went on too long and the opening was quite forgettable but fun opener.

The Bad - I don't recommend the Survivor Series match involving the likes of Val Venis, Mark Henry and British Bulldog as it really wasn't a good match and it lead to nothing. The Women's match which I'm not sure was suppose to just be comedy was awful and a waste of time. Kane & X-Pac had potential but it's DQ ruined it. They did have a better match a month later no doubt. I also feel we didn't have a good atmosphere tonight for even some of the most over stars.

Overall - First half of the show kind of stinked and things got a little more interesting towards the middle. This was at the end of 99 where in-ring quality started to Improve based on talent signing and booking with Vince Russo moving on next door. I also think advertising Austin only to planned on not having him compete was a bad move. At the end, more like an extended Raw than a PPV.

Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Godfather, D-Lo Brown and The Headbangers vs. The Dudley Boyz & The Acolytes (Elimination Tag) - 2/5

2. Shawn Stasiak vs. Kurt Angle - 2/5

3. Val Venis, Mark Henry, Gangrel and Steve Blackman vs. British Bulldog and Mean Streat Posse (Elimination Tag) - 1/5

4. Debra, Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young & Tori vs. Ivory, Jacqueline, Terri Runnels & Luna - 0/5

5. Kane vs. X-Pac - 1.5/5

6. Prince Albert, Big Bossman, Mideon & Viscera vs. Big Show (Elimination Handicap) - 0.5/5

7. Chyna vs. Chris Jericho: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 2/5

8. Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz vs. Too Cool and The Hollys (Elimination Tag) - 3/5

9. The New Age Outlaws vs. Mankind & Al Snow: WWF Tag Team Championship - 2/5

10. The Rock vs. Triple H vs. Big Show: WWF Championship - 3.5/5

Best Match - The Rock vs. Big Show vs. Triple H

Worst Match - Debra, Fabulous Moolah, Mae Young & Tori vs. Ivory, Jacqueline, Terri Runnels & Luna

Most Memorable Moment - Austin getting run over by a blonde guy.

Top 5 Performers

1. Big Show - I mean, his career night.

2. Triple H - Good Performance

3. The Rock - Good Performance

4. Jeff Hardy/Christian - Good Performance. Little random

5. Kurt Angle - Good debuting Performance.

Survivor Series (1998 TV Special)

Important show in the books but not one of the best.

[5/10 · 5 June 2023]

Survivor Series 1998 was the 12th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWF. It took place on November 15, 1998, at the Kiel Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Attendance was at 21,179 with a buyrate of 400,780 which is the highest paid Survivor Series in history. The event was also the first Survivor Series PPV to not feature Bret Hart or include any Survivor Series elimination matches (though the term "survival" was used as the concept to describe winners through the tournament that was held this night).

1998 is one of the best years in pro wrestling history as the WWF & WCW were trading ratings all year long. As for WWF, they were just around the corner of dominating completely after losing for 2 years prior to WrestleMania. We had 14 matches scheduled for the night. Obviously that wasn't normal as we had a tournament that was set to crowned a new WWF Champion. The belt was vacated after a dispute involving Stone Cold, Vince McMahon, Undertaker and Kane. We also had a WWF Tag Team & Women's Title Match as well.

The Good - Well our great huge moment of the night was spectacular booking and a great start of long term story-telling of The Rock turning heel and joining in an alliance with Vince McMahon to win the WWF Championship. The Rock just turned face a couple of months prior to this after a great match with Triple H and to see this screw up outta no where was genius. Sure to some it might seem like a complete copy of what happened last year but this time set up but it was a clever heelish move. Vince already hated and to see fans upset with him after this was glorious. The match overall with The Rock & Mankind was really good. They though would have two way better matches later. Austin & Mankind had a good match too. Only problem was the angle bookings setting up for later (which I will get to).

The Meh - I think we really didn't need the amount of stars for the tournament. I think it being reduced to about 8 would have been much better instead of having a lot just to pull angles (which again I will get to). Some matches were decent but could have been longer.

The Bad - The angles really really hurt a lot of this show especially the firsf half. All the angles and lack of clean finishes felt ridiculous. Like said of the tournament didn't need all the stars, this was evident when some matches happened that could have just been a thing set up on Raw or were a complete wasted being short and flat. Even some of the longer matches were Lackluster. The Rock/Undertaker not much going on with the two never having good chemistry and ending in a DQ as well as Kane vs. Undertaker being set for another confusing turn of "are they allies or what". The Women's Championship match was forgettable as the women's division was just on the rise and the Triple Threat Tag Team match was awful and too long even for a bathroom break match.

Overall - This show is kind of a mixed-bag. I think it's important to watch for career highlights involving many the stars but the show isn't that great. If you're in for in-ring wrestling, this is an awful show for you as this show lacked good wrestling. All the twist & Turns happening across this show to set up what's to come, I guess it may impress some people. I honestly had an even worse score than what I graded this but I feel it's relevance in history will give it 2 bonuses.

Score - 5 out of 10: Mediocre

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time :

1. Mankind vs. Dwayne Gill - Not worth it

2. Al Snow vs. Jeff Jarrett - 1.5/5

3. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Big Bossman - 0.5/5

4. X-Pac vs. Steven Regal - 2/5

5. Ken Shamrock vs. Goldust - 2/5

6. The Rock vs. Big Bossman - Not worth it

7. Kane vs. Undertaker - 1.5/5

8. Al Snow vs. Mankind - 1.5/5

9. The Rock vs. Ken Shamrock - 2.5/5

10. Sable vs. Jacqueline: WWF Women's Championship - 1.5/5

11. Mankind vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin - 3.5/5

12. The Rock vs. Undertaker - 1.5/5

13. The New Age Outlaws vs. The Headbangers vs. D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry: WWF Tag Team Championship - 0.5/5

14. The Rock vs. Mankind: WWF Championship - 3.5/5

Best Match - The Rock vs. Mankind

Worst Match - New Age Outlaws vs. Headbangers vs. D-Lo Brown & Mark Henry

Most Memorable Moment - Vince screwing Mankind and The Rock's is champion.

Top 5 Performers

1. The Rock - Good Performance. First WWF Championship Run.

2. Mankind - Good Performance

3. Stone Cold - Good Performance

4. Mr. McMahon - Evil boss role playing well

5. Ken Shamrock - Good Performance. Also kind of random.

Survivor Series (1997 TV Special)

Controversial moment somehow leads to a big future!!

[4/10 · 5 May 2023]

Survivor Series 1997 was the 11th annual Survivor Series PPV event produced by the WWF. It was held on November 9, 1997 at the Molsen Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Attendance was at 20,593 and the buyrate was at 250,000 which was a lot better than the previous Survivor Series events. The WWE considers this event as the birth of the Attitude Era thanks to a controversial incident that took place on this night that also gave birth to an evil boss we would know as Mr. McMahon. Boy is there a lot too explain on this show. Also marked the in-ring debut of Glenn Jacobs as Kane.

The Incident I mentioned would later be known as the Montreal Screwjob and it marked Bret Hart's last appearance on WWE live TV for over 12. Bret Hart was set to defend the WWF Championship but Michaels won in a controversial fashion when Vince McMahon ordered referee Earl Hebner to end as HBK held Bret Hart in the sharpshooter even though Hart did not submit much to the anger to Bret Hart and confusion of the Broadcast and everyone around. If you want a full story, documentaries, Auto Bios, and Interviews are everywhere. Again this show had one moment that is too much to explain and give up in one review. We also had our Survivor Series matches as usual and Kane's in-ring debut against Mankind.

The Good - Well for the main event, it was a good match overall. HBK & Bret Hart had beef dating back to the rise of both men at the top. With the feud having that real-life heat with both men taking shots at one another with shoot promos and even a real physical fight backstage, it's a real shocker to see them still do a match. The match is good at the end but the unfortunate thing is that it's overshadowed by the aftermath. We had a good Canadian crowd all night. Canadians are always great for shows.

The Meh - Midcard very underwhelming despite the talent involved in the matches. They are were just generic elimination tag team matches. The Nation of Domination vs the team lead by Ken Shamrock was a little interesting when it all counted on Shamrock to win but we also get reminded of how non-important the Road Warriors were to the WWF. Kane's debut against Mankind wasn't all that but it was a good debut match. Really the important goal was to put over Kane which went well.

The Bad - The Disciples of Apocalypse vs. The Truth Commission was awful. That's all I would say. Such an awful match that really didn't need to be on the card. Hell the gimmick of the DOA didn't even last that long. I also feel it was not smart to have Stone Cold in the ring this early after the neck injury botch that he was still in recovery from SummerSlam of that year. You can see he is so limited and it felt pointless putting him in this match that didn't even go 5 minutes.

Overall - This show had an incident that makes this show Memorable. That incident is sooo huge that someone would lie to you if they said that the Montreal Screwjob is not the first to come in mine. The incident was so crazy it almost makes everything else on this show not even cared to be talked about. Some say Bret screwed Bret, some say Vince screwed Bret, some say Shawn & Earl screwed Bret and hell some still to this day think it was all a worked. For my quick ghoughts of the Montreal, I think I can sympathize with both sides of who screwed who but this whole thing is something to be talked about on a different topic. For the show it's not really that good.

Score - 4 out of 10: Boring

0 = Terrible : 1 = Bad/Lackluster : 2 = Decent : 3 = Good : 4 = Awesome : 5 = One of the Best of all Time

1. The Goodwins, Billy Gunn & The Road Dogg vs. The Headbangers & The New Blackjacks (Elimination Tag) - 1/5

2. The Disciples Of Apocalypse vs. The Truth Commission (Elimination Tag) - 0/5

3. Goldust, Marc Mero, Steve Blackman & Vader vs. Team Canada (Doug Furnas, Jim Neidhart, Philip LaFon & The British Bulldog) (Elimination Tag) - 2/5

4. Kane vs. Mankind - 2/5

5. Ahmed Johnson, Ken Shamrock & The Legion Of Doom (Road Warrior Animal & Road Warrior Hawk) vs. The Nation Of Domination (D-Lo Brown, Faarooq, Kama Mustafa & The Rock) (Elimination Tag) - 2.5/5

6. Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Owen Hart: WWF Intercontinental Championship - 0/5

7. Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels: WWF Championship - 3.5/5

Best Match - Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels

Worst Match - DOA vs. Truth Commission

Most Memorable Moment - The obvious

Top 5 Performers

1. Bret Hart - Good Performance

2. Shawn Michaels - Good Performance

3. Ken Shamrock - Good Performance

4. The Rock Good Performance

5. Kane - Good Performance.