WWE NXT (7/4/12)

Full Sail University

Orlando, FL

July 4, 2012

Commentators: Jim Ross & Bryon Saxton

After the great debut show two weeks ago, last week's NXT felt like an old episode of WWF Superstars with vignettes and squash matches. Hopefully the upcoming weeks will be better once everybody is introduced and they can all just wrestle. We got a women's match and Kassius Ohno making his debut. JR thanks us for joining and sends us right to our first match.

Match 1

Sofia Cortez vs Paige

Sofia Cortez was Ivelisse Velez on Tough Enough the year earlier and she was actually the protoge of indy legend Steve Boz in Chicago before being signed. Her opponent was actually a 19 year old Saraya Bevis who made her debut at the age of 13 in her native England in 2005. She's the daughter of Sweet Saraya and Roy Bevis, both English wrestlerts. This is booked as a "divas" match and Saxton gets excited before the bell. They lock up but Paige throws Sofia backwards. Sofia ducks under a clothesline and goes for a waistlock but Paige blocks it with a headbutt. Sofia blocks a hiptoss with a headscissors into a frankensteiner. Paige bails to the outside as JR brings up Sofia;s singing talent and martial arts skills. Back inside Sofia kicks and punches away in the corner and tells the ref to shut up. Paige follows with right hands but Sofia lands a martial arts kick. Sofia covers for a 1 count and locks in a arm-trap chinlock but Paige flips out of it and chops Sofia. Paige eats a kick to the face and Sofia executes the Mysterio DDT. She covers for 1....2....3 and that's it. This was definitely nearing the end of the "divas" era as 19 year old Paige looked pretty good selling here and just needed more experience. Sofia gets the duke as JR puts over both having a future. We go to the highlight of the finish as Saxton calls it an impressive debut.

Time of match: 2:27

Winner: Cortez by pinfall

Saxton hypes up Kassius Ohno's debut later tonight but up next is Seth Rollins taking on Camacho with Hunico in his corner. After the commercial break we go right to the match.

Match 2

Camacho (with Hunico) vs Seth Rollins

Camacho was born Tevita Fifita, the son of Haku. He was signed in 2009 as Tonga before becoming Donny Marlow in FCW. He made his main roster debut as Camacho, bodyguard of Hunico. Hunico was born Jose Arriaga who won the Texas state wrestling tournament his senior year of 1996 and was voted tournament MVP. He turned pro in 1999 and worked as Mistico in Mexico until someone else named Mistico (Luis Urive) showed up and Arriaga had to change his name. He signed with WWE in 2009 under the name Hunico and was in their developmental program when WWE signed Urive to work as Sin Cara. When Urive got suspended for 30 days following a wellness violation, Arriaga became Sin Cara. We all know how Sin Cara vs Sin Cara came out of that and eventually Arriaga became Hunico again doing a cholo gimmick. Now he's backup for Camacho against Rollins who made his debut the week before. Rollins makes his entrance punching up the ramp like Donkey Kong before getting in the ring. Rollins and Camacho slug it out at the bell but Camacho takes his head off with a big elbow. Camacho works him over in the corner before whipping Rollins off the ropes who turns it into a cradle for a deuce. Rollins trips up Camacho and covers for a 1 before chopping Camacho. Rollins works him over in the corner then whips Camacho into the other corner. A charge eats boot to drop Rollins and Camacho drops a leg before stomping away. Camacho pulls Rollins into the middle and covers for 1 before taunting him. Camacho executes a back suplex and covers for 1....2...nope. Camacho stomps away at Rollins as JR calls Seth highly regarded. Saxton says that's driving Camacho to beat him up if everyone's high on Rollins. Rollins nips out of a giant swing to hit an enziguiri to stun Camacho and drives Camacho into the buckle with a one armed ddt. Rollins hits a dropkick and kicks Hunico down but runs into a big forearm by Camacho.  Camacho holds Rollins for Hunico to hop up on the apron. Rollins sends Camacho into Hunico then hits the curb stomp on him. He covers for 1....2....3 and that's it. Hunico gets in and beats up Rollins with Camacho joining in. They doubleteam Rollins until Bo Dallas hits the ring to save Rollins. Rollins had a bright future ahead and he did the best he could in that.

Time of match: 4:33

Winner: Seth Rollins

We go right to the next match after commercial.

Match 3

Corey Graves and Jake Carter vs CJ Parker and Nick Rogers

Tag team match to showcase the four new guys. Parker we know but Corey Graves was born Matthew Polinsky and started wrestling in 2000 at age 16. He took the name Sterling James Keenan which was a tip of the hat to Sterling Sharpe of the Green Bay Packers and Maynard James Keenan of Tool. In 2006 he worked dark matches with WWE before signing a developmental deal in 2011. Jake Carter is the son of none other than Big Van Vader and played football for Oklahoma University before injuries derailed him. He also got a developmental deal in 2011. Rogers was born Austin Spencer and he made his name on the Canadian indies before signing with FCW. He had a good run there and now he's here on NXT. Graves & Carter were the FCW tag champs right around the time FCW closed. Parker starts with Graves at the bell and Graves gets in a sideheadlock before Parker monkey flips him. Graves gets mad and rams Parker in the corner who punches Carter. Carter tags in and beats up Parker before landing a forearm. Graves tags in and holds him down before Carter splashes Parker in the corner. Graves chokes Parker on the middle rope before Parker fights back with punches and a backdrop. Rogers gets the tag but runs into a Carter spinebuster who had tagged in. Carter knocks Parker off the apron and tags Graves. They hit their finisher "Bottoms up" on Rogers and Graves covers for 1....2...3 to win the match. Carter & Graves definitely had chemistry and it showed in this match. Just a basic squash to get the team over.

Time of match: 2:25

Winners: Graves & Carter by pinfall

We go to JR and Byron and JR calls Kassius Ohno a knockout artist. We go to a highlight package of Kassius before we go to commercial. Back from commercial we get a Bray Wyatt vignette saying he's not afraid of anything and feels no pain. He tells his future opponents they need to run as we hear sinister laughing. Wyatt is making his debut next week.

Match 4

Mike Dalton vs Kassius Ohno

Ross says Dalton was trained by Lance Storm as Dalton starts with an arm-bar but Ohno overpowers him. Dalton sends him off the ropes and hits a drop toe hold before high school pinning Ohno for a 1 count. Ohno reverses a prawn hold and hits a dropkick to the face. Ohno goes in the corner and shouts "OHHHH....NO" then delivers a clothesline in the corner followed by a jumping forearm. Ross says Ohno prefers knocking people out as Ohno kicks Dalton around. Ohno chops Dalton in the corner and locks in a cobra clutch. Dalton fights out of it and hits a spinning wheel kick. He covers for 1...2...nope. Ohno rakes the eyes then hits the K.O. punch. Ohno covers for 1...2....3...its over. Dalton is out cold as Ross puts over the discus punch as something special. Ohno grabs the mic and says he knocks people out and when they hear him coming they say "Oh no!". Gonna need to do better than that but its a start.

Time of match: 2:32

Winner: Ohno by pinfall

We go to commercial then straight to the next match.

Match 5

Derrick Bateman vs Jinder Mahal

Both Mahal and Bateman won in the previous weeks before so it makes sense to put them together to give someone a possible winning streak. Bell's gone and they tie up to start with the crowd starting a small USA chant, ha! Bateman takes advantage with a northern lights suplex and clotheslining Mahal over the top rope to the floor. Bateman dives onto Mahal on the floor before sending him back inside. Mahal snaps Bateman off the top rope and covers for a near fall before choking him on the second rope. Mahal drops some knees to the sternum and goes for a Rude Awakening but Bateman counters with a backslide for a deuce. Bateman catches Mahal with a cradle for a two count then a slam with a roll up for yet another near fall. Bateman drops Mahal with two clotheslines and a facebuster. A running neckbreaker by Bateman gets a two count and Derrick gets frustrated. Bateman is sent into the ropes and Mahal delivers a knee to the back of the head. Mahal then locks in the camel clutch and Bateman quickly submits. Mahal sold his ass off for Bateman yet one move turned the tide for him. The crowd boos but Mahal is your winner.....but wait! Mahal puts the clutch back on as JR says there's no call for this. Guess he needed some more heat.

Time of match: 4:02

Winner: Mahal by submission

Late breaking news, tonight's main event is now a six man tag with Michael McGillicutty teaming with Hunico and Camacho against Tyson Kidd, Bo Dallas and Seth Rollins. Dusty Rhodes isn't wasting any time plus Rollins & Camacho are pulling double duty. After an obligatory "Don't try this at home" commercial we got to our main event.

Match 6

Seth Rollins, Bo Dallas and Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty, Hunico and Camacho

Guest Commentator: William Regal

Stemming from the match to start the night, now we got an impromptu six man. Kidd and McGillicutty had a great match two weeks earlier and Dallas was victorious last week. Dallas starts with Michael who Michael tells to scram. Tyson tags in so Hunico does as well. JR complains about Hunico's durag as Kidd hits a top rope headscissors. Hunico gets a boot to the mid-section and a Gory Special and uses it as a pinfall attempt for 1...2...no. Kidd uses his abdominal strength to sunset flip out of it for a two count then Kidd victory rolls out of a waistlock. Kidd armdrags Huncio and tags in Dallas who drops an elbow to the left arm. Rollins tags in and goes to town on Hunico in the corner before splashing him in the other corner. Rollins gets distracted by Camacho allowing Hunico to nail him from behind. Camacho tags in as we cut to commercial. We're back with Camacho covering Rollins for a near-fall before locking in a chin-lock. Rollins fights out of it but is in the wrong corner as Hunico tags in to stomp away. Hunico charges but eats boot then Rollins monkey flips Hunico halfway across the ring. Rollins rolls into the corner to tag Dallas but Camacho tags in. Camacho falls down so Dallas somewhat misses a big elbow so they repeat the spot. Dallas kicks Camacho in the head then knocks Michael off the apron. Camacho counters by throwing Dallas head first into the bottom buckle. Regal says Camacho manhandles people with ease. McGillicutty tags in and and puts the boots to Dallas. Michael gets in a chinlock and punches Dallas for good measure. Dallas powers out of it but Michael locks in a leglock to keep Dallas from tagging. Hunico tags in and delivers a double-underhook backbreaker then covers for 1...2.....nope. Hunico locks in a chinlock as Regal tells a cockamamie story of how Camacho saved Hunico in the barrio from a gang stabbing by biting the nose off the guy stabbing Hunico. Hunico tags in McGillicutty to deliver more damage before executing a backbreaker. The cover gets a deuce and Michael pounds away as Regal says Dallas suffered a kidney injury a few months earlier. McGillicutty cheap shots Rollins but that allows Dallas to make the tag to Kidd. Kidd cleans house of the heels and hits a dropkick to the face. A pier sixer develops with Dallas taking out Hunico to the floor. Rollins dives off the top onto Dallas, Hunico and Camacho. Down to Kidd and McGillicutty, Michael chopblocks Kidd and hits the McGillicutter. He covers for 1...2....3 that's it. Good booking to have Michael get a big win after putting Tyson over two weeks earlier. Hunico struts around as JR signs off. Damn good match for time constraints and it showcased the stars of the future. Kidd and McGillicutty took command but the others kept up nicely.

Time of match: 13:19

Winners: McGillicutty, Camacho and Hunico by pinfall

That was a better show than last week as they're still in weeding out mode. They're trying to establish everyone's skills before they start storylines. It's fairly obvious a lot of these guys could go like Kidd, Rollins & McGillicutty and NXT was to develop character. Paige was only 19 here which is a blessing that NXT was established to get her experience before being put in a WWE ring. Kassius Ohno is a bit of a gimmick but he can definitely work on it. Jinder has a GREAT look and he could be a special heel someday. Bray Wyatt makes his debut next week so let's see what the former Husky Harris has in store.

WWE NXT (6/20/12)

June 20, 2012
Full Sail University

Winter Park, Florida

Commentators: Jim Ross, William Regal

For all intents and purposes THIS is the first episode of NXT in the format we know of today. To give a little backstory, NXT started in 2010 to replace the failing WWECW. It was basically Tough Enough under a different name taking "rookies" and seeing who'd be a future WWE star. Unlike the earlier Tough Enough's where they'd hire people off the street or small time independent wrestlers, the 2010 class featured veterans such as Daniel Bryan and Wade Barrett. Up until 2012, NXT kept the game show, elimination format until right around this time in June. Someone had the bright idea to merge their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling with NXT to create one big developmental conglomerate. As FCW came to a close, one by one their top stars started making their way to NXT. 

The show opens with a montage of the WWE legends and saying the next ones are on the way, the future begins...right now. The theme song is pretty badass and worth a listen if its your first time hearing it. William Regal is on the voice-over greeting us when Jim Ross makes his entrance. He welcomes everyone and introduces your new general manager Dusty Rhodes. Dusty says the main event will be Michael McGillicutty and Tyson Kidd one on one. Dusty says NXT will be wilder and crazier than ever and we're sent to a montage of a new NXT rookie named Bo Dallas. Dallas says he's the grandson of Blackjack Mulligan, son of Mike Rotunda and nephew of Barry & Kendall Windham. He says he knew he was going to be a wrestler his whole life and he says he's ready to fulfill expectations. He like to smile....yay. Its time for the first match

Match 1

Bo Dallas vs Rick Victor

Dallas makes his debut against FCW's Rick Victor. Ironically around this time Victor had beaten Seth Rollins to be the FCW Champion. Victor was a 10 year veteran of the independent scene so he definitely had experience going into his developmental deal. Dallas is in the black and white striped trunks and Victor is in the long purple tights. Victor starts with a headlock and Dallas gets in a top wristlock. Ross says Victor is a superbly conditioned athlete as Regal reminds us that he was trained in the legendary Dungeon with Bruce and Ross Hart. They trade armringers before Dallas gets a fireman's carry takeover followed by a few armdrags. Victor backs Dallas into the corner and chops away but Dallas reverses it with right hands. Dallas heaves Victor across the ring then hits a clothesline in the corner. Dallas tosses Victor again and hits a powerslam. Dallas hits a spear and covers for 1...2...3 that's it. Dallas wins it quickly and that was pretty good for what it was supposed to be. Rather them go 2 minutes than 10 and bore everyone.

Time of match: 2:20

Winner: Bo Dallas by pinfall

After the match Briley Pierce in a coat and tie interviews Bo. Pierce is none other than Ryan Nemeth, the real life brother of Dolph Ziggler who was nursing an injury at the time. Dallas says he had a gameplan and he executed it. He says its just the beginning for him and his smile is here to stay. "You will know Bo!" He's only 22 years old here so this is the perfect training ground for him. Ross then says another guy will be making his debut the following week, you might have heard of him......Seth Rollins. As mentioned earlier, Rollins was the former FCW champion and in the montage, he says he's the change we've all been waiting for. He called that one. Ross hypes up the main event and the debut of the intellectual Damien Sandow next before we go to commercial.

Back from commercial we get a montage for another guy about to make his debut, Antonio Cesaro. The next match was supposed to be Damien Sandow making his NXT debut against Jason Jordan. In case you forgot, Sandow was Idol Stevens back in 2007. His opponent is actually former Indiana University wrestler Nathan Everhart going by the name Jason Jordan. The announcer incorrectly calls Palo Alto "Palto Alto" causing Sandow to get pissed off and say he's not wrestling Jordan. No I'm not kidding, Sandow legit leaves.....the only time I'd ever seen that before is when Diamond Dallas Paige refused to wrestle a jobber in 94 or 95. Ross says he doesn't know whether to be mad or thankful as we go to a vignette introducing The Ascension. Longtime developmental wrestler Ryan O'Reilly was rechristened Conor O'Brien and his partner is Kenneth Cameron aka Thomas Latimer....yes, Charlotte Flair's ex. The British accent of Kenneth works here as Conor says they're the gateways of the future and they will rise.

We go to the Raw Rebound where we show John Cena vs John Laurinitis from the recent Raw. Vince McMahon had fired Laurinitis and he came out in a neckbrace saying he made a main event handicap match of David Otunga, Big Show and himself against Cena. Big Show says thanks for the contract and leaves Johnny Ace high and dry. In the actual match, Cena beats the crap out of Otunga and Laurintis refuses a tag. Then when Otunga gets the upper hand, Laurinitis tags in and beats up Cena causing Otunga to turn around and leave too. Cena hits three FU's in a row on Johnny and locks in the STFU to send him off TV. On to the next match.

Match 2

The Ascension (Conor O'Brien and Kenneth Cameron) vs CJ Parker and Mike Dalton

The Ascension's entrance is pretty cool, especially when Conor's eyes light up. For those that don't know, CJ Parker is now known as Juice Robinson and we got a young Tyler Breeze (Mike Dalton) here. Cameron bullrushes Parker to start with takedown punches before knocking Dalton off the apron. Cameron heaves Parker in the corner and stomps away before tagging in Conor to do the same thing. They frequently tag to stomp and drop elbows on Parker.. Cameron screams and tags in Conor before hitting a jawbreaker. Parker turns right into a flapjack by Conor who Ross calls The Downcast. Conor covers for 1..2....3 and that's it. Ascension makes quick work of Juice & Breeze to establish them as mean looking fellas. Cameron and Conor pose over the fallen Parker as we go to the replay. Regal says the rest of the roster is in a panic over them. Standard jobber match, not much to say.

Time of match: 1:18

Winners: The Ascension by pinfall

We go to a vignette of another fella making his debut, a weirdo named Bray Wyatt. Hmmm, where have we seen him before? Its Husky Harris under a new gimmick. He cuts a promo saying monsters and boogeyman are real. Of course he's real, he beat Booker T at Wrestlemania! We then cut to Derek Bateman, today known as EC3 looking for Johnny Curtis, now known as Fandango, in the bathroom.  Next week its going to be Bateman vs Curtis in the main event. Its funny how Curtis towers over Bateman and Bateman admonishes him for not washing his hands. Curtis says he's going to win next week and washes his hands on Bateman's shirt. Derek calls Johnny a dirtbag as we cut. Today Curtis is known as Dirty Dango on the indies so I guess this is where he got the "dirty" part from. Anyway let's go to the main event.

Match 3

Tyson Kidd vs Michael McGillicutty

Both these guys had their runs in WWE before being sent down to NXT to get some fresh feuds. Both of them will be back on the main roster but for now they go one on one here to show the "rookies" how its done. Before the match, Regal calls Johnny Curtis a "dirty, filthy swine." The match starts and Regal says Kidd started wrestling when he was 12 years old in the Dungeon. Ironically Kidd came from the Hart clan and their battles with Michael's father Mr. Perfect are well documented. They lock up and Kidd gets in an armringer before Michael grabs the rope. Ross explains the rope break rule as Kidd gets in a headlock. Kidd and Michael exchange go-behinds as Regal says both men have evilness about them that he respects. Kidd and McGillicutty circle before Kidd gets in another headlock before exchanging takedowns. Kidd drops McGillicutty and Michael bails to the outside to stall for some heat. The crowd chants and Kidd caters to them as Michael gets back in. Michael gets a greco-roman knucklelock to gain control but Kidd springboards into an armdrag as Regal says its wonderful to watch. Regal says Kidd was heavily influenced by Owen Hart which makes sense since Kidd made his debut in 95 when Owen was still alive. He also says the aggression he sees in McGillicutty reminds him of Mr. Perfect and Larry "The Axe" Hennig. Michael kicks at him in the corner and hits a snap suplex. Michael covers for a deuce but puts his head down and eats a boot. Kidd clotheslines Michael over the top to the floor and Tyson hits a suicide dive through the ropes. We cut to commercial and when we come back Kidd rams Michael's head into the buckle. Tyson stomps on Michael and hits a dropkick. A cover gets a deuce and Michael blocks a headscissors attempt to throw Tyson on the apron. Tyson goes for the shoulderblock but Michael blocks it with a knee. Michael nails a second rope neckbreaker and covers for 1...2.. nope. Michael rakes the ear across the apron and Regal likes that. Jim Ross "You're essentially an evil man." Regal "Yes." Kidd takes a sternum bump into the corner and Michael covers for another deuce. Michael locks in a chinlock but Kidd powers out of it. Kidd tiltawhirls into a sunset flip for a two count and Michael hits a powerful clothesline to stop the momentum. Another lateral press gets a two and ties Kidd into the tree of woe. Michael pounds away on the chest and chokes him from under the bottom rope. Michael covers for 1...2..nope. Michael goes for the Tajiri dropkick but Kidd rolls up, sending Michael nut first into the ringpost. Kidd strikes with hard kicks to the quadriceps and one to the face. A dropkick drops Michael and covers for 1..2....nooooo. Michael runs into a boot and a kick on the apron. Kidd springboards but Michael counters with a dropkick of his own. Michael covers for 1...2...nooo, Tyson gets the shoulder up at the last second. Michael sets up Tyson for a superplex but Tyson shoves him down. Tyson comes off the top with a moonsault but the cover only gets two. Kidd goes for the Dungeon Lock but Michael holds onto the apron to kick him off. Michael then hits a Saito suplex then covers for 1...2...nope. Michael applies the sharpshooter to add insult to injury but Kidd makes it to the ropes. Michael goes for the Perfect Plex but Kidd counters with an inside cradle for 1...2...nope. Kidd rolls up Michael then finally applies the Dungeon Lock. Michael taps and this one's over, Kidd wins it. Regal says he's proud to be a wrestler and there's no losers here. He's right about that, that was a great match and the crowd salutes it. McGillicutty made one mistake and Kidd made him pay. We go to the highlights and Kidd salutes the crowd after its over. That was a hell of a match between two guys that know what they're doing. Kidd had been wrestling for 17 years at that point and Michael 5. They were perfect to end this show by showing what veterans can do. As the FCW stars began to migrate toward NXT the vets would be called up to the main roster and anyone not getting over would get the boot. No way in hell these two were getting the boot, both had a future.

Time of match: 14:06

Winner: Tyson Kidd by pinfall

Ross and Regal sign off and that's it for the first episode of the "new" NXT. With the FCW stars such as Rollins, Wyatt and Cesaro coming, it was the end for what people called "NXT Red". It was only the beginning as NXT as been WWE's version of Triple A baseball ever since. Basically half of the crew for Wrestlemania 30 were in or going to be in NXT around this time. That's how great a crop WWE had at the time. They also had the perfect team in Regal and Ross to do the commentary as Ross shills his ass off for anyone in the ring and Regal puts over any and all dirty, underhanded tactics he himself would have done. All in all this was pretty good for a "debut" show that was now trying to take itself seriously after that weird period where NXT Redemption just kind of ended with no notice. Next week we got Curtis vs Bateman, the debut of Antonio Cesaro and the debut of Seth Rollins. That should be good.

WWE Sunday Night Heat (11/17/02)

WWE Sunday Night Heat

Madison Square Garden

New York City, NY

November 17, 2002

Hosts: Jonathan Coachman and Lita

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

Here we go, its time for Survivor Series and we bring you the pre-show with Jonathan Coachman & Lita as your hosts. We start with the elimination chamber construction video from Raw and Coach says its a rainy night here in New York. Coach runs down the card and marvels at the elimination chamber hanging over the ring. 

Coach sends us to our first vignette video, Trish Stratus vs Victoria for the Women's Championship and what led to it. Long story short, Victoria and Trish were fitness models and Trish went on to fame, leaving Victoria behind. Now Victoria is out for revenge an wants to beat Trish at her own game. Victoria beat the daylights out of Terri Runnells on Raw but was dropped by Trish. Coach says our Heat match will be Goldust and The Hurricane against William Regal and Lance Storm later. Cut to commercial.

Back from commercial Coach and Lita thank our sponsors as fans start to file into the Garden. We then cut to last night's WWE Confidential for an interview with Scott Steiner....after a vignette with WCW highlights and commentary. Steiner says he's the big bad booty daddy and always goes balls to the wall because you never know when it'll end. He says he's still in his prime and wants to get stronger every day. Steiner says he doesn't know what show he'll appear on because him vs Lesnar or him vs Triple H would be interesting. He has no problem working with Eric Bischoff again and there's challenges he hasn't faced yet. He wants to be world champion and its going to be interesting because he's back.

Coach sends us to The World where Saliva performs a soundcheck. Apparently they're going to play tonight during Survivor Series. Stacy Keibler barges in their dressing room and wants them to write a song about the testicles because testicles love Saliva....yay dick jokes. Our upcoming Smackdown road schedule is this Tuesday in the Hartford Civic Center, next Saturday in Syracuse, next Sunday in Elmira, North Carolina and next Monday in Raleigh, North Carolina, then a week from Tuesday they'll be in Columbia, South Carolina.

Back from break the Overdrive of The Night is HHH hitting the pedigree on Shawn Michaels from Raw. Coach and Lita talk about the Elimination Chamber which they can't show under Eric Bischoff's orders. Lita can't pick a winner and even Coach can't pick a winner. Our rules are four guys will be in individual chambers with 2 men starting in the ring. Every 5 minutes a randomly chosen chamber opens. Elimination occurs at anytime via pinfall or submission and the last man standing is the World Heavyweight Champion. We cut to Chris Jericho on The Best Damn Sports Show Period who is out of character and jovial, although he does say he's going to win. 

We then hype up the triple threat tag team title match with a highlight package going back to last month at No Mercy leading up all the way to tonight. After that, Coach hypes up our pre-show match coming up before we go to another break, Back from break we got a WWE Anthology commercial with Trish Status saying she's a huge fan of Lil Kim...yippie. Eric Bischoff goes to knock on the door of Stephanie McMahon's office but thinks better of it. Coach and Lita bring up the kiss without actually saying so then cut to this week's episode of Tough Enough 3. Jamie is a tomboy and Jonah can't stand her but the eventual John Morrison is indifferent. This is the reality show BS I could never stand. We get the Raw road schedule which was tomorrow night in Bridgeport, CT, next Monday night is North Charleston, South Carolina, a week from Saturday in Amarillo, Texas, two weeks from today in Laredo, Texas and two weeks from tomorrow night is Austin, Texas.

After break, our WWE rewind is Jamal splashing Jeff Hardy and Spike Dudley through a table on Raw. Coach brings up the six man tables match, the Cruiserweight title match, and Brock Lesnar vs Big Show. We then get a hype package video for Lesnar and Show as Coach says its been a while since Big Show main evented a ppv. That's why randomly booking Show as an unstoppable monster doesn't work if you don't book him as such for a year. 

Back from commercial, Coach and Lita send it to Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler for our pre-show match.

Match 1

The Hurricane and Goldust vs William Regal and Lance Storm

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

With Booker T in the elimination chamber match, The Hurricane takes his place teaming with Goldust against Regal and Storm on Heat. Bell rings and Hurricane switches out of a waistlock only to get kicked in the head. Hurricane hits a clothesline and covers for a two then goes to punch Storm in the corner. Regal snaps Hurricane off the top rope and Storm hits a heel kick. Regal tags in and hits a t-bone taz plex and covers for a deuce. Regal and Storm isolate Hurricane and Storm covers for a two count. Hurricane rolls out of a suplex and goes for an O'Connor Roll, but Regal makes the blind tag. Regal forearms Hurricane off and hits knees to the head. Regal covers but Goldust breaks up the count. Storm splashes Hurricane in one corner but a charge in the other one eats elbow. Shane hits the blockbuster then tags in Goldust who goes to town on both Regal & Storm. Goldust backdrops Storm and invert atomic drops Regal. He powerslams Storm and covers but Regal breaks it up. All for men are in and Regal runs into the ass bump by Goldust while Hurricane goes for the chokeslam on Storm.  Hurricane hits it and Goldust goes for the curtain call but Regal clotheslines him, allowing Storm to cradle him up for 1...2...3 to win the match. Regal and Storm win it. Suddenly Tommy Dreamer appears out of nowhere and wipes out both heels with the singapore cane. Since its New York, gotta have the New Yorker stand tall. Only had 3 minutes so can't expect much there.

Time of match: 3:01

Winners: Storm and Regal by pinfall

After the match we get another elimination chamber vignette set to Always by Saliva before we sign off. The time for talking is over, the chips are on the table. Its time for Survivor Series. Will Brock Lesnar be able to withstand the onslaught of the Big Show? Will Billy Kidman dethrone Jamie Noble for the Cruiserweight title? Will 3 Minute Warning prevail in the tables match? Will Victoria crush Trish Stratus in the hardcore match? Who will walk out the new tag team champions? Who will win the elimination chamber match? I'll see you at Survivor Series.

WWE Sunday Night Heat (10/20/02)

OCTOBER 20, 2002

ALLTELL ARENA

LITTLE ROCK, AR

Commentators: Jonathan Coachman & Lita

Welcome to a special edition of Heat as its the night of WWE No Mercy. This entire show will mostly be hype for the upcoming ppv with one match for the DVD most likely. Our hosts are Jonathan Coachman and Lita who's still recovering from her injury. Lita says she's no longer a virgin of pay-per-views and Coach gives her a look. Coach hypes up the main event Hell In A Cell match between The Undertaker and Brock Lesnar for the WWE title and Kane taking on Triple H for the World Heavyweight Championship. The WWE tag team title finals as Edge & Rey Mysterio Jr face Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit. Coach sends us to the tag team title tournament highlights which had Edge & Mysterio defeat Brock Lesnar and Tajiri (yes I'm serious). Los Guerreros defeated Mark Henry and Rikishi and Reverend D'Von and Faarooq defeated Billy & Chuck in the first round. Stephanie orders enemies Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit to team together and if they fight, they'll be suspended a year without pay. Angle and Benoit put their differences aside to defeat Billy Kidman and John Cena in the first round only for Los Guerreros to attack Chris Benoit. Angle & Benoit defeat Los Guerreros in the semi-finals with Edge and Mysterio defeating D'Von and Faarooq to set the stage for No Mercy. Edge & Rey can get along, but will Kurt and Chris? Coach hypes up Saliva's Always with Saliva themselves performing at The World....yippie.

Before we go to commercial we get Paul Heyman alone giving his thoughts on Hell In A Cell. He talks about how it ends careers and shortens lives. He mentions Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Tim White never was the same after it. Paul says when Brock retains the title, he'll come out a different man and nobodies lives will be better. Talk about long term storytelling. We then get our road schedule with Raw in Nashville tomorrow night, Tuesday night in Memphis, Friday night in Topeka, Saturday night in Witchita, one week from tonight in Toledo and next Monday night in Detroit. Back from commercial, Coach and Lita hype up Tough Enough 3...ugh. We recap the audition process where the superstars went to 25 different people to personally invite them. Somebody named Wendell says he's the best athlete but gets cut for talking back to Al Snow when he half-asses calisthenic drills. Then the crew has to bike for 3 miles with Bill Demott yelling at them then has to run another 3 miles. You gotta be in great shape to survive that. The 13 that survives are the ill fated Matt (Cappotelli), Rebekha, Justin, Jill, Jonah, Eric, Chad, Lisa, Nick, Jamie, Scott, John (Morrison) and Kelly. Out of the 13 that were picked, only two made it to OVW with one a lengthy WWE career. Out of the 11 that didn't make it, only two had minor success. That means only 4 really had any kind of success out of 25 picks....and that's the problem with taking athletes and trying to teach them to wrestle, they might not have the passion. Whereas indy vets that have nothing to lose will never see the big time.

Back to Coach and Lita who hype up the World Tag Team title match between Chris Jericho and Christian taking on Booker T and Goldust. Then we got a grudge match between Ric Flair and Rob Van Dam after Flair turned heel and cost Rob his WHC match with Triple H. We get a highlight of Tim White getting knocked out at Hell in A Cell at Judgment Day and we got to an interview with White himself. He says there's no winners, only survivors and his livelihood was taken away. He never wants to be in another HiAC match ever. One of the commercials is Pete Rose insulting wrestling fans coming to his door for Halloween until the real Kane shows up.

Back to Coach and Lita, they hype up Kane vs Triple H unification title match. We get a montage of all the great Intercontinental champions of the past. Also included is Goldust winning the title, Steve Austin getting paralyzed by Owen Hart, Steve Austin throwing The Rock's belt into the river, Chyna becoming the first women's champion, Kurt Angle becoming the Euro-continental champion and highlights of various matches. They wanted to get rid of the IC title to have just five titles in the company, two sets of tag champs, two sets of world champs and the Cruiserweight champion. We then show Saliva backstage at The World, guess they're up next.

Back from commercial, Coach and Lita sends us to The World in New York City. They interview Saliva who's new CD comes out November 12 called Back Into Your System. They worked with Chris Jericho on King Of The World and Saliva kayfabes saying they want to slap the taste out of his mouth. They explain what their new song is about and they go right into Always. After the song, we go to an interview with The Undertaker who downplays being the "master" of Hell in A Cell saying its not a compliment. Its war and anything goes in the match. Undertaker says he shortened Shawn Michaels' life and Mick Foley's career and he has no idea what he did to himself. He says only he and Lesnar go in, but one man comes out.

Back from commercial we go to the Slam of The Week. Jamie Noble and Nidia were supposed to fight each other with Tajiri as the ref and naturally they turn on Tajiri. Was anyone fooled? Jamie Noble puts the title on the line against Tajiri and then Dawn Marie faces Torrie Wilson....ugh. We then go to the recap of the feud between Kane and Triple H....and its not pretty. Kane enjoys a babyface run culminating in winning the IC title but Eric Bischoff says "One show, one champion. Kane vs Triple H winner take all". Usually title vs title means the IC Champ wins but this is unification rules.....and Triple H goes into the Katie Vick storyline which doesn't need to be told here. Back to Coach and Lita, Lita says Kane may not be 100% in the head and he has to worry about Ric Flair as well. Coach and Lita are going to send it to Michael Cole and Tazz when they come back. But first, we got to Brock Lesnar for an interview. He's not nervous about Hell In A Cell, he's excited. If he beats The Undertaker at his own game, he'd be unstoppable. Lesnar says Taker has won before but he won't tonight. Lesnar says Taker's broken hand will be a factor one way or another. Lesnar says he won't just be WWE Champion but Hell In A Cell champion as well. After commercial we go to our pre-show match.

Match 1

The Hurricane vs Steven Richards

Commentators: Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel

Last month we had a Smackdown pre-show match and tonight its the Raw crew. Richards attacks Hurricane at the bell but Hurricane counters with a sunset flip. Hurricane eats a back suplex as JR brings up how Chris Jericho and Christian defeated Hurricane and Kane to win the tag straps last Monday. Richards delivers a snap suplex then locks in a surfboard. Hurricane powers out of it and flips over Steven. Hurricane delivers a neckbreaker then a big clothesline. Richards charges but eats elbow and Hurricane hits a neckbreaker off the second rope. Hurricane kicks Richards in the head and covers for 1...2...nope. Hurricane calls for the chokeslam but Richards counters with a knee. Richards hits a Stevie Kick and covers for 1...2...no. Richards puts Hurricane on the top turnbuckle and goes for a superplex. Hurricane knocks Steven off then delivers a vertebreaker. He covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. Short and sweet but Hurricane wins it. Serviceable crash style match that hypes the crowd up for tonight's show.

Time of match: 3:05

Winner: Hurricane by pinfall

JR and King sends us to a montage of the events leading up to tonight. Taker and Lesnar fought to a draw at Unforgiven and Lesnar broke Taker's hand with a propane tank. Stephanie tells Paul Heyman and Brock that Taker will fight Brock in a rematch anyway in Hell in a Cell. Then we get the stupid "Tracy" storyline where she lies about sleeping with Taker and gives one of the worst slaps in wrestling history. Taker says he's going to take it out on Brock at No Mercy. Lesnar intimidates Stephanie and lays out Taker, stomping on Taker's injured hand. Taker fights back and beats up both Heyman & Lesnar before they retreat. Michael Cole and Tazz are in the ring and describe how Hell In The Cell works and how evil the match is. The cell lowers and it would have been funny if Cole and Tazz had an impromptu match inside it. Cole asks will Lesnar finally put an end to the dead man or will Taker keep his master of the cell streak alive? Find out tonight at No Mercy!

WWF Mania (1-1-94)

 

Host - Todd Pettengill

Happy New Year everyone! As the calendar turned to 1994 the kids tuned in on this day for the recap of last week's events. You would have had to be a masochist in order to get up at 10 AM to watch this show as an adult after drinking the night before. Anyway the show opens with Todd singing the New Year's song and saying Randy Savage isn't here yet. Todd says Shawn Michaels, Lex Luger and Razor Ramon will be in action plus an interview with Crush. Also, an Undertaker workshop vignette along with Johnny Polo's in ring debut. Jeff Jarrett will also be featured as Todd brings up the circumstances around Johnny Polo's debut. Todd sends us to our first match, which was the Polo vs Marty Jannetty match from last week's Raw.

Match 1

Johnny Polo vs Marty Jannetty

Commentators: Vince McMahon, Quebecer Pierre, Quebecer Jacques

This will be a repost from last week's Raw. Jannetty enters wearing the green and black bodysuit with Polo in polo pants and striped singlet. Jacques and Pierre speak French to annoy Vince as the bell rings. Johnny backs off before getting in a go-behind to start. He hiptosses Marty as Jacques says he's the man. Marty and Johnny exchange wristlocks before running into an armdrag by Polo. Jacques says Marty is over the hill and did nothing since he split with Shawn Michaels....ouch. Marty tricks Polo into diving into the corner. Polo hops over the top rope onto the apron but Jannetty slingshots him back in. Marty delivers an atomic drop, ducks under a right hand and delivers a back suplex. Marty covers for a deuce as Jacques says Marty is good but Johnny was in Honolulu recently. Marty tilt-a-whirls into a sunset flip for a 1 count. Marty armdrags Johnny and works an armbar as Jacques says Marty has a black eye courtesy of Johnny. Marty goes for a bodypress but Polo ducks and Marty goes crashing over the top rope. Polo hits a plancha as Jacques claps for him. Polo looks at the camera and says "Polo fever...CATCH IT!" 

TAPE EDIT

Marty goes upstairs but Polo crotches him and goes for a superplex. Marty counters and front suplexes Marty down before hitting a bodypress for 1..2....NOOOOO. Jacques "Don't count your apples before they grow." Marty leapfrogs Polo and rolls him up for a two count and Jacques continues to annoy Vince with French. Polo kicks Marty in the head as Pierre gets up from the table. Jacques tells Vince to mind his business as Marty dropkicks Polo over the top rope to the floor. Pierre picks up Johnny and Marty baseball slides both men down. Jacques "That'll make him mad, shouldn't have done that." Jacques "Ou es Pierre?" He's right there you idiot! Pierre trips up Marty and he turns his attention to him. Polo goes to attack but Marty goes to counter with the superkick but Polo is too close so he grazes him in the stomach. Marty sidesteps and hits the real superkick and goes upstairs. Pierre pulls Johnny outside and Marty flies on top of Pierre and punches him. Polo goes back in the ring and Marty gets on the apron. Marty shoulderblocks Polo and goes for the sunset flip but Pierre assists Polo by grabbing on to him during the counter for 1...2....3 and its over. Johnny Polo needed a lot of help from Pierre but makes good on his pre-match prediction by beating Marty Jannetty. Jacques says they are the greatest and laughs about it. Vince says he's never seen anything like this as Polo walks away victorious as Pierre rejoins Jacques at the announce table. After the match, Marty complains to referee Joey Marella and goes to attack The Quebecers. Joey says the result is final but throws Pierre out of the arena. Marty grabs a chair and Vince tells him to take it easy. Marty and Jacques look to square off as Marella tells Pierre to hit the bricks. I don't think I've ever seen a referee throw out an announcer before or since. 

Time of match: Edited

Winner: Johnny Polo by pinfall

Back to Todd who says The Quebecers should have known not to get involved since Randy Savage was thrown off the commentary team after getting involved. Todd segues by saying Randy "got involved with this guy." We go to a WWF Mania exclusive interview with Crush flanked by Mr. Fuji conducted by....Howard Finkel? Fink says Crush is one of the 30 participants in the Royal Rumble and Randy Savage will also be in it as well. Fink asks Crush what his plans are, Crush says Randy should call himself the Macho Crybaby. Crush says Fuji has been pulling knives out of his back from day one and Savage was using him as a stepping stone. Crush says he hopes Savage is in the ring when he gets there and will make the Rumble his worst nightmare.

Back to Todd who gets cut off by none other than Randy Savage himself. Randy is blowing streamers and Todd yells at him to stop it. He asks where Randy has been and Randy says he's been up 19 hours partying. Knowing him, I wouldn't doubt it. Todd shows Randy the Crush interview we just saw and Randy cuts a promo on the video monitor saying he's going to take care of business. He tells Todd he's out of there as we go to the next match.

Match 2

Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo with Oscar) vs "Iron" Mike Sharpe and Mike Bell

Commentators: Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon

Its the tag match from last week's Superstars only with Ross and Monsoon on the overdub. Mabel starts with Sharpe and Mike does a hilarious double charge off the ropes only to bounce off Mabel. Sharpe does another Yosemite Sam charge only to eat a drop-toe-hold. Mabel does the Viscera roll on top of Sharpe as Mike gets up frustrated and flexes his muscle. Ross asks Monsoon what it would be like on a long car ride with Sharpe and Monsoon responds he'd rather take a long walk off a short pier. Mike wants a test of strength that Mabel wins easily before the big man drops an elbow on the neck of Sharpe. Mabel hits a scoop slam and a suplex before Mo tags in. Mo hops off the top with an axehandle to the back. Mo wrenches the arm and executes a northern lights suplex but Mike rakes the eyes. Sharpe brings Mo into his corner where Mike Bell finally tags in. Monsoon hasn't heard the Royal Rumble rap yet as Bell slugs away at Mo. Mo fights out of it with right hands but Bell gets in a rake to the eyes. Bell runs into a back elbow smash and Mo tags in Mabel. Mabel whips Mo who does a clothesline to Bell then whips him into a spinning wheel kick by Mabel. Mabel covers for 1.....2....3 that's it. This show cuts out right here so that's it for the Mania edition. You can see why Vince would later put his faith in Mabel because he showed flashes of brilliance as a 22 year old.

Time of match: 3:00

Winners: M.O.M.

We get a commercial for the upcoming Royal Rumble, Saturday the 22nd. Then we get the same Undertaker workshop vignette from this past Monday with him and Paul Bearer making Christmas puns. Then inexplicably we go to the next match with no warning already in progress.

Match 3

Scott Taylor vs "Double J" Jeff Jarrett

Commentators: Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon

We're joined in progress from last week's Wrestling Challenge. Taylor hiptosses Jarrett and says to come on. Taylor armdrags Jarrett and chops him in the throat. He whips Jeff into the corner who does an up and over to punch Scott in the face. Jeff rams Scott's head into the other buckle and chokes him on the top rope in front of the camera guy to talk trash. Monsoon asks what kind of western getup Jarrett is wearing as Ross claims they're not western, they're from Oklahoma and Tennessee. Taylor tries an up and over himself but Jarrett catches him and hits a running powerslam. Jeff drops an elbow and calls for the finish. Jarrett whips Scott off but puts his head down, Taylor responds with a right hand to the face. Taylor continues to rock Jarrett with right hands but eats a right hand to the mid-section. Jarrett hits a jumping DDT and hooks the tights for 1...2....3..and its over. That was actually a hell of a sell job by Jeff to give Taylor that much offense and to have to hook the tights at the end. It definitely didn't go unnoticed as Taylor would eventually get full-time status 3 years later. As for now, Jarrett gets the duke. Jarrett does the Fargo strut after the match and grabs a mic to spell his name.

Time of match: Joined in progress

Winner: Jeff Jarrett by pinfall

Back to Todd and the Macho Man. Todd hypes up the Rumble three weeks from that day with Randy pulling silly string out of nowhere while explaining what you have to do to survive the Rumble. I'm not taking advice from the guy who tried to pin someone in the Rumble the previous year but that's just me. Todd runs down the 18 guys currently in the Rumble match and the theme plays impromptu. Randy Savage, Bret Hart, Owen Hart, Mabel, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Crush, Kamala, Doink, Scott Steiner, Adam Bomb, Bam Bam Bigelow, 123 Kid, Bob Backlund, Rick Steiner, Samu, Fatu and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. Kamala hadn't been seen in about 6 months and Valentine had left nearly two years earlier. Still got 12 slots to go and one of them may or may not be Lex Luger. Speaking of which, he's in the next match.

Match 4

Barry Horrowitz vs Lex Luger

Commentators: Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon

This also was from last week's Raw only we got Ross and Monsoon on the overdub. Monsoons ays the fan poll has overwhelming stats that favor Luger going in to the Rumble match. Lex gets in a go-behind then an armdrag on Barry. Lex poses for the crowd and Barry just lets him before Lex does an arm-ringer. Monsoon calls the 34 year old Horrowitz a "youngster" but Barry gets the upperhand with a boot to the midsection then a knee lift. Barry kicks away in the corner, but  Luger whips him into a chest bump in the corner and rolls him up for a deuce. Barry gets a thumb to the eye, a back rake and a European uppercut. Barry gets a jawbreaker in before forearming Lex in the side of the head. Barry taunts the crowd and punches Lex in the face. Barry rams Lex's head into his boot and goes to work in the corner. Monsoon says Yokozuna may not make it to Wrestlemania 10 as the champiomn as Barry chokes Lex in the corner with his foot. Ross says The Undertaker has never lost a casket match as Barry does a series of shoulderblocks in the corner. Lex roars out of the corner with a clothesline before powerslamming Barry. Lex looks out at the crowd then sets up Barry for a superplex. Lex hits the superplex and covers for 1...2...3 to end the match. Ross sends it back to Todd and Savage directly after.

Time of match: 4:25

Winner: Lex Luger by pinfall

Back to Todd and Randy and Todd asks Randy if Luger will be in the Rumble. Savaage says if its up to him, Lex will be because Randy will win the Rumble and he doesn't want the victory tainted if Lex isn't in it. Randy says he's got nothing against Lex Luger but he's got something against everyone in the Rumble including Lex and 29 other guys he's going to beat. Todd shills the upcoming Lex vs Jacques match later today on Superstars which was mentioned on last week's Raw. Todd goes to say something but Randy hits him in the head with a balloon before we get a vignette of slow motion action featuring various WWF stars. Then Bret Hart tells us not to drink and drive this holiday season. Randy says he doesn't drink or drive so he's all set, (HA!). Todd then says Bret and Owen are reunited and will face The Quebecers for the WWF tag belts at the Rumble. Savage says the Harts will win as it will be Owen's first title shot. Todd says he has something in common with Shawn Michaels and says he's a former IC champion as well. He lifts his shirt up and he's wearing the foam IC title belt kids can get at the merch stands. Savage gives him a double high five and says to tell Shawn that. Todd says no and we go to our next match.

Match 5

Phil Apollo vs "Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Ross

Its the match from last week's Superstars only with Monsoon and Ross on the overdub. Shawn starts with a go-behind, full nelson and a snapmare as Ross talks about valet parking. Shawn gets in a chinlock but Apollo puts him in a head scisssors. Shawn nips out of it and drops Apollo with a clothesline. Shawn sends Phil off, misses a line and gets hiptossed by Apollo. Shawn recovers with a dropkick, arm-drag and arm-ringer. Shawn gets in a Fujiwara armbar and then drops a knee on it before turning it into a pin for a 1 count. Shawn continues to work the left arm before rolling over into a hammerlock. Shawn shouts he's the undisputed Intercontinental Champion as Monsoon scoffs. Apollo gets in a hard elbow to the face to break the hold then shoulderblocks HBK down. Shawn puts his head down and Phil gets a kneelift in. Phil kicks away at the mid-section but puts his own head down, Shawn countering with a Russian leg-sweep. Shawn hits Sweet Chin Music then hops up on the second rope before delivering a jumping, twisting fist-drop. Shawn covers for 1....2.....3 that's it. Shawn rolls Apollo out of the ring as we cut here. That was actually a good jobber match as HBK got down and wrestled and gave Apollo some shine.

Time of match: 2:59

Winner: Shawn Michaels by pinfall

Ross sends us to the vignette of Kwang shown from last week's Raw. Why Vince decided to have a Puerto Rican ninja I'll never know but at least he came to his senses a year later. Back to Todd and Randy, Todd brings up the upcoming tag-team match on Raw where Bam Bam Bigelow and Bastion Booger take on The Smoking Gunns. Randy then pops a balloon while saying the Gunns are a pistol. Todd says Johnny Polo will be the guest commentator as well but then shifts to Razor Ramon. Todd asks Randy since he's been in the locker room if IRS has Razor's gold. Randy says he heard a few guys talking but he's not Columbo. We go Todd who shows a camera angle of a recent match where they do a close-up on the open briefcase of IRS which shows he indeed has the gold. Randy raises Todd's hand in victory as we go to our final match.

Match 6

Derek Domino vs WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Ross

Its the match from last week's Raw only with Monsoon and Ross on the overdub. Domino works over the left arm but Razor takes him down. Domino chops Razor in the corner and Razor counters with chops of his own before sending Domino flying across the ring. Domino ducks a clothesline but Razor catches Domino mid-air. Razor goes upstairs and hits a top rope fallaway slam. Ross talks about the upcoming college football bowl games as Razor does his STF slaparound. Ross talks about a potential IRS matchup with Razor drops Domino with a back elbow smash. Monsoon calls Irwin a crybaby and a wuss as Ramon locks in an abdominal stretch. Razor plants Domino on the top rope and hits the back suplex.  Razor calls for the Razor's Edge and hits it, then covers for 1..2...3 to end the match. Ross says Razor is marked by Shawn Michaels and has a date with IRS soon. Standard jobber match, not much to say.

Time of match: 3:52

Winner: Razor Ramon by pinfall

We get a commercial for the upcoming Royal Rumble upcoming Saturday January 22nd. Back to Todd with Randy who brings up a special interview with Lex Luger next week on Mania. Randy says his New Year's Resolution is to win the Rumble and take Crush out then find different colors to wear. Todd says his resolution is to tag with Randy in a match, yeah that would have gone over well. Todd then thinks better off it and signs off with Randy trying to hilariously convince him to wrestle. All in all that was a standard Mania. It went with the holiday theme and showed matches already seen on television. The only thing new we learned was Crush and Savage are going after each other in the Royal Rumble. It was interesting to see Howard Finkel handle the interview and anytime the Fink is on TV is always a good thing. As for moving forward, we got Quebecer Jacques vs Lex Luger on Superstars later to day and The Smoking Gunns vs Bam Bam Bigelow and Bastion Booger coming up on Raw. See you later today for Superstars!