Showing posts with label The Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Rock. Show all posts

Saturday, March 1, 2025

WWE 2025 Elimination Chamber (3/1/25)



2025 Elimination Chamber
The Skydome
Toronto, Canada
March 1, 2025


Commentators: Wade Barrett, Pat McAfee and Michael Cole

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor


The road to Wrestlemania takes an interesting turn as tonight's the night we find out who faces Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania 41. So what's been going on lately? Well the Men's Elimination Chamber match is self explanatory. John Cena is the odds on favorite to win since he wants one last main event before he retires this year. Standing in his way is his long time rival CM Punk who also wants to main event Wrestlemania for the first time in his career (despite being the WWE Champion in 2012). Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre have been at each other's throats and each wants to get back in the main event picture. Seth Rollins not only despises just about everyone in the match, he was the one who had Cody's back at Wrestlemania last year, he wants a crack at him this year. The wild card is Logan Paul who could bring millions of social media views to Wrestlemania if he wins. In other matches, Cody Rhodes dispatched Kevin Owens in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble and Kevin took his frustrations out on long time friend Sami Zayn. Even throughout Kevin's heel turn in the fall, Sami remained in his corner. Not anymore! Tonight they fight in an "unsanctioned match" which is just mumbo jumbo for no disqualification. The women's chamber match will determine who faces Rhea Ripley at Wrestlemania. The contestants are her rival Liv Morgan who she defeated for the title back at the first Raw on Netflix. Naomi and Bianca Belair have formed a pretty nifty tag team with Jade Cargill out with a storyline injury but they'll be opponents here. Alexa Bliss made her return at the Royal Rumble and wants to make the big comeback with a win tonight. Bayley lost the WWE Women's Championship to Nia Jax and was never able to get it back. If she can't beat Nia, maybe she can beat Ripley. The wild card is Roxanne Perez, the former NXT Women's Champion. She could sneak into the main event of Wrestlemania to face the "eradicator". The final match is a standard women's tag team match with the "divas" Trish Stratus and WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton against former champion Nia Jax and her sidekick Candace Larae. It was definitely a Canadian thing going on with Trish, Sami and KO taking center stage for sure. Let's get right to it.

Michael Cole welcomes us saying Wrestlemania 6 and 18 were held in this arena. He hypes up The Rock and Cody Rhodes' confrontation. We're shown Kevin Owens arriving to the arena in a Bret Hart jacket while stealing some wrenches for the match later. Sami Zayn arrives as well as Damian Priest and Seth Rollins. Logan Paul is chillin with some people as Drew McIntyre also arrives. CM Punk arrives and Cole says our first match will be the Women's Elimination Chamber. We're shown an introductionary vignette starting with John Cena's interview at the Royal Rumble saying he's always done what's best for business. What is best for business is he main events Wrestlemania, by winning Elimination Chamber. The sad part is The Rock is rehashing the original Vince McMahon and Steve Austin storyline from 1998 where Vince wanted Austin to be his "corporate" champion. Cole welcomes us with Pat McAfee and Wade Barrett and McAfee goes on a rant saying Canada is a terrible country that booed their national anthem. Get used to that tonight....and I can't blame him.



Match 1

Liv Morgan vs Naomi vs Bianca Belair vs Bayley vs Roxanne Perez vs Alexa Bliss in an Elimination Chamber Match

Winner faces Rhea Ripley (or Iyo Sky) at Wrestlemania and no sense going over the rules since everyone knows them by now. Liv Morgan starts with Naomi as Cole says Liv beat Iyo to qualify for this match. Liv taunts Bianca with her women's tag title belt and walks in a circle taunting everyone in the pods. Bell's gone.....and Jade Cargill's theme hits. Liv Morgan looks absolutely terrified as Jade runs into the ring before the cage was closed. Jade then....beats the living daylights out of Naomi. WHAT? It was implied that Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez was the one who put Jade out of action but apparently it was Naomi? Bianca kicks and screams in the pod because she can't get out as Jad rams Naomi into the side of the chamber. Jade heaves her into Bayley's pod as McAfee & Barrett thinks Naomi attacked her. Jade hits a pump kick on Naomi directly into Bianca's pod. The crowd starts a "welcome back" chant as Naomi tries to crawl away, only for Jade to close the door on Naomi's head. Wade "Jade Cargill came for her pound of flesh". Jade storms off angry as the stretcher comes out for Naomi. Liv in the ring says "I told ya so" and starts taunting Bianca. Bianca pounds on her pod as NAOMI is declared eliminated by Alicia Taylor over the house mic. The crowd taunts Naomi with a "Na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye" chant before the countdown begins.

Bianca Belair is released and she runs right to the door to check on Naomi, getting attacked from behind by Liv Morgan. Liv rams her into Alexa's pod then Bayley's pod. Liv throws Bianca into the ring and Bianca rallies with a forearm. Bianca shoulderblocks Liv in the corner and punches away, but is pushed off the top rope by Liv. Cole on commentary says it might be Naomi that attacked Jade months ago. Bianca misses the handspring moonsault and Liv hits a shining wizard, covering for 1...2...no. Liv throws Bianca face first into the mat twice before kicking her in the ribs. Liv taunts the irate crowd and clobbers Bianca in the corner. A charge in another corner eats boot and Bianca follows with a spinebuster. Bianca hits the handstand moonsault for 1...2...no. Cole says the crowd is still in shock and McAfee can't help but say they're lousy.

The countdown begins and Roxanne Perez is released next. Perez hits a headscissors and goes nuts on both Liv & Bianca. She avalanches both women in opposite corners and rolls to the middle of the ring. Roxanne misses a charge but recovers to hit a top rope frankensteiner to Bianca then faceplants Liv. Roxanne covers for 1...2..no. Roxanne goes for another frankensteiner outside but Bianca catches her in mid-air. Roxanne blocks the powerbomb by climbing the chamber but again Bianca catches her in mid-air. Roxanne then counters another powerbomb with a russian leg sweep into the chamber. Roxanne ties Bianca's hair into the chamber and Liv dropkicks Roxanne out of nowhere. Liv throws Roxanne into the ring and covers for a deuce. Liv hits a running knee and both women duck each other's moves before dropping each other with a double clothesline. Cole asks Barrett how long it took him to realize how dangerous the match is in his Chamber match and he said 10 seconds.

The countdown begins and Bayley is released. Roxanne cuts her off but Bayley rams her into the pod, destroying it in the process. Bayley dribbles Roxeanne's head off the pod window then Liv into the chamber. Liv's elbow is bleeding as Bayley hits a Bayley-To-Belly against the chamber on Roxanne. Bayley spots her old rival Bianca in the ring and they go at it. Bayley reverses a go-behind to throw Bianca out by the hair, hitting her with a forearm. The crowd chants for Bayley as she catches Bianca with a knee to the jaw. Bayley hits a sunset bomb on Belair and covers for 1...2...no. Bayley heaves Liv out of the ring and sets up Bianca in the center. Bayley goes upstairs and drops a big elbow. She covers for 1...2...no.  Bayley goes up top again but Roxanne from out of nowhere powerbombs her onto the steel. Roxanne goes upstairs and hits a frog splash on Bayley inside the ring. She covers for 1...2...no! Roxanne screams and Liv hits a codebreaker on her. Liv covers for a deuce as the countdown begins.

A smiling Alexa Bliss is released and she very slowly makes her way to the ring, stalking Liv Morgan. Alexa throws her down by the air and punches away at her. Roxanne pulls her off and Alexa catches her with a back elbow smash. Alexa takes her down and clubs away at her with some stiff shots before delivering a jawbreaker to Liv. Alexa hits a dropkick on Liv but Bayley rolls her up for 1....2..no. Alexa drops Bayley witha  right hand and jumps on Bayley's back. Alexa hits a rolling neckbreaker and covers for 1....2...no. Alexa slaps Bayley and hits double knees to the stomach. Roxanne then heaves Bliss outside then into the chamber. Roxanne calls herself the prodigy but Alexa hits a backbreaker. Wade "You cannot be cocky with veterans like Alexa." Alexa flies off the top rope but jumps into Bayley and Bianca who slam her down. Bayley hits a modified stunner on Bianca and dives on both her and Bliss. Liv heaves Bayley into an open pod twice. Bayley hits what looks like a New Delhi Devasator on Liv but Roxanne rolls up Bayley inside the ring for 1...2...no. Roxanne hits a head scissors and turns it into a Crippler Crossface. Bayley rolls outside with Roxanne still holding on until Perez breaks it. Perez then hits a modified stunner through the ropes then goes for the second rope moonsault. Bayley gets her knees up but Roxanne blocks the Rose Plant. Roxanne is dumped onto the chamber outside but Liv from out of nowhere hits ObLivion on Bayley. Liv covers for 1....2...3 to eliminate BAYLEY.

Liv runs for her life from Bianca who climbs to the top of a pod. She klicks away at Bianca who joins her up there. Liv rams Bianca's head off the pop and tries to pulls her off by the hair. Bianca uses her hair as a whip that knocks Liv to the floor. Pat "YEE-IKESSSS". Bianca flies off the top hits all three remaining women with a crossbody. Liv has a legitimate welt from the whip as Bianca covers both Roxanne and Liv for two counts. Bianca shoulderblocks Alexa in the corner and goes for a superplex, but Liv and Roxanne team up for the powerbomb plex. Liv screams "I HATE YOUUU" and goes for ObLivion on Bianca but jumps into a superkick from Roxanne. Roxanne throws Belair into the ring and goes for Pop Rox, but Bianca heaves her into Liv. Liv executes a code breaker to drop Roxanne and Alexa hits Twisted Bliss from off the top rope. She covers Roxanne for 1...2....3 to eliminate ROXANNE PEREZ.

Down to three and Alexa sits cross-legged in the center of the ring with the other two in opposite corners. Alexa drops Liv and punches away at Bianca. Bianca goes for the KOD on Alexa but she hits a frankensteiner on Liz instead. Alexa drops Bianca with a drop toe hold and stands on her until Liv clubs her off. Liv then hits 3 Amigos on Bianca and does the Eddie Guerrero pose. Liv hits a shining wizard on Bianca and calls for the 619. She gets intercepted by Bliss who goes for Sister Abigail but Liv pushes her away. Liv rolls out of the KOD attempt by Bianca although Bianca rolls her up for a two count. Liv kicks her off right into Alexa for the Sister Abigail attempt. Alexa hits it but Liv jacknife pins Alexa for 1....2....3 to eliminate ALEXA BLISS.

Liv waives bye to Alexa and pulls Bianca into the center of the ring. Liv covers for 1...2....no. Liv rams Bianca into the chamber by the hair multiple times and back in the ring, Liv covers for 1..2...no. The crowd starts a small EST chant as Liv hits a codebreaker. Bianca no sells it and spears Liv, covering for 1...2..no. Bianca goes for a powerbomb outside but Liv blocks it. Bianca then rams Liv's head off the pod then the cage, finishing with a powerbomb inside the ring. Cole says Liv had nothing left as Bianca goes for the 450 splash. Liv gets her knees up and goes for the ObLivion. Instead Bianca ducks it and goes for the KOD. Liv rolls out of it and hits another codebreaker. She goes for Oblivion again but this time Bianca slides through it, hitting the KOD. Bianca covers for 1..2....3 to win the match. Damn good effort by Liv to take all that punishment the whole match and Alexa for her first big time match in years. Cole runs down the whole match including the Jade Cargill run-in and yet Bianca wins anyway. People have wanted Bianca vs Ripley for years and it looks like we're headed in that direction.


Time of match: 29:16

Winner: Bianca Belair


Bianca celebrates after the match as we go to the replays. Then Rhea Ripley appears behind her at the entrance and stares her down. Then Iyo Sky walks out and stares them both down. Monday night on Raw will decide who faces Bianca as we go to break. Back from commercial we get a plug for WWE Evolve this coming Wednesday, the newest WWE show which will be the Double-A show compared to NXT being Triple-A. We're shown a highlight of 2006 Unforgiven in Toronto where Trish Stratus defeated Lita for the WWE Women's Championship. 18 years later she'll team with Tiffany Stratton against Nia Jax and Candace Larae. After the recap vignette, its showtime.



Match 2

Trish Stratus and Tiffany Stratton vs WWE Women's Champion Nia Jax and Candace Larae

The hometown hero Trish teams with Tiffany in a generational tag team for the ages. Trish was the Tiffany of 25 years ago and she's backing up Tiffany against the monster Nia. Wade "Trish, what the hell are you thinking putting your body on the line here?" Cole says this is the first time Trish's children have ever seen her compete live. Damn we're old. Bell;s gone and Trish starts with Candace. Trish hits a Thesz Press and punches away at Candace. Trish ducks a line from an interfering Nia who runs into a Tiffany punch. Tiffany and Trish hit a double dropkick to send Nia flying as Trish hits a neckbreaker on Candace. Trish covers for 1...2...no. Cole says Trish has never lost a tag match in Canada as Tiffany tags in. Nia pulls Trish outside and decks her but Tiffany comes off the apron with a Supergirl punch. Larae hits a baseball slide on Tiffany as Cole points out Trish eliminated Canadace from the Royal Rumble. Larae sends Tiffany into the steel steps then throws her inside. Candace rams Tiffany into the corner and tags in Nia. Candace whips Tiffany and Nia botches a senton as her ass never left the turnbuckle but Tiffany dropped down anyway. Nia mocks Trish and throws Tiffany down, saying "You're not shit without me." A small "you can't wrestle" chant starts as Nia sits on Tiffany on the second rope. Nia gets in a chinlock as Cole says Nia eliminated 9 women in the Rumble including Trish. Nia avalanches Tiffany in the corner and goes for the banzai drop. Pat "This is the worst place to be in the history of wrestling". Personally I'd rather be under Nia than Yokozuna, just ask Dan Dubiel. Tiffany pulls Nia off the rope and tags in Trish. Trish rallies with right hands as McAfee says "That's Stratusfying". Trish chops away in the corner and then hits the Chick Kick. Trish hits a tornado DDT and covers for 1....no. Candace gets in and Trish hits a spinebuster on her. Trish goes for the Stratusfaction but Nia counters with a back suplex. Nia covers for 1....2..no. Nia grabs Trish by the hair and mock chants "USA, USA" McAfee "I'm okay with it." Nia does a Chyna bearhug and throws Trish down much to the crowd's chagrin. Nia tells Tiffany to kiss her buttocks and lifts Trish up in a stretch muffler. Nia rams Trish's head against the buckle as Candace hits a dropkick. Candace covers for 1...2...no. Candace rams Trish face first as we get a replay of the double team attack. Candace goes for the arm-bar and Trish tries to escape, but is thrown back down by Larae. She covers for 1...2...no. Candace hits a snap suplex and covers for 1...2..no. Candace drags Trish to her corner and Nia tags in. Nia hits the Umaga bump in the corner and delivers a stinkface to Trish. She took a few of those from Rikishi back in the day. Candace tags in to stand on Trish in the corner but Trish rallies with forearms. Candace backs Trish in the corner and then knocks Tiffany off the other apron. Trish and Candace pull each other down by the hair. Tiffanyt gets the hot tag and she unloads on Candace with clotheslines and a shoulderblock. Trish hits a handspring back elbow in the corner before knocking Nia off the apron. Candace rolls through a cradle but Tiffany executes the Alabama slam. Tiffany then hits a spinebuster on Nia before delivering a double dropkick. She covers Candace for 1....2....no. Tiffany goes for the moonsault and damn near breaks her neck when she's pushed off by Candace. Candace makes the tag and Jax tags back in. Nia hits a big leg drop and covers for a deuce. Tiffany pushes Nia into Candace and hits a back suplex on the big lady. Trish gets the tag but runs into a back elbow by Candace. Candace gets caught in the Stratusphere but Nia breaks up the pinfall attempt. Nia clotheslines Tiffany down and tags back in legally. Nia throws Trish in the corner and goes to the second rope, but Trish counters with a kick. Trish hits the Stratusfaction from the top rope and covers for 1...2.....no, Trish moves out of the way as Candace hits a moonsault on Nia by accident. Tiffany tags in who dumps Candace on the apron. Tiffany hits the moonsault on Nia and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. Better than I thought it was gonna be and Tiffany gets some momentum heading into her Wrestlemania showdown against Charlotte Flair. 


Time of match: 11:40

Winners: Tiffany and Trish by pinfall



Back from commercial break, Michael Cole tells us WWE will be back in Australia sometime this year and then gives our Wrestlemania itinerary. Smackdown will be Friday April 18th, NXT Stand & Deliver will be Saturday afternoon the 19th with Wrestlemania 41 in Las Vegas Saturday and Sunday night with Raw on Monday the 21st. The rapper Travis Scott enters the arena as we get a plug of the Elimination Chamber merch stand. After more advertisements, Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre are shown preparing as Seth Rollins takes of his wedding band. Uh oh, don't tell Becky Lynch that. We're shown Cody Rhodes in shirt and tie contemplating tonight's decision. Then we go to another vignette showing how The Rock has taken the company into the stratosphere and he's the "Final Boss." After this, our attendance is 38,493....which is nowhere near Wrestlemania 6 of over 60,000 legit. FINALLY, we get to our next match. Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn in the "Unsanctioned match." We're shown a backstory of them betraying each other over the years with KO doing the honors this time. Alicia Taylor says WWE is not legally responsible for anything that happens in this match. There are no rules and the ref is only here to count to three or declare a submission. Here we go.



Match 3

Sami Zayn vs Kevin Owens

Long story short, KO was mad Sami didn't interfere in the ladder match at Royal Rumble so he injured Sami's neck. Sami vowed revenge and here we are. Sami enters looking mad and determined which is a far cry to his usual demeanor. Michael Cole says KO and Sami met at an indy show in 2002 and brings up Ring of Honor's El Generico vs Kevin Steen. As the bell rings, Cole mentions how two years ago these two main evented Wrestlemania and put the first crack in the Bloodline's armor, and now here they are bitter enemies. Despite both men being Canadian, the crowd is absolutely dead to start. There is a cool spotlight shown in the ring which is a nod to the old territorial "Lights Out" matches. They slug it out to start with Sami getting the upper hand. KO recovers and drops Sami with a back elbow smash. KO drops Sami ribs first on the top rope and hits a running senton. Sami heaves KO into the ring post outside but KO chops him. Sami sends him into another ring post and grabs a chair from underneath the ring. He then starts heaving multiple chairs into the ring. KO grabs one and hits Sami in the back with it first. KO continues to crack Sami with the chair as Cole says the referee can't do anything about it. KO swings and misses, hitting himself in the head on the ricochet. Sami then takes over with the chair on the back of KO. Sami cracks KO in the back again and KO bails outside. Sami cracks him outside as well and throws him back inside. Sami stacks chairs on KO's chest and goes outside. He grabs a hockey stick which does get a pop from the crowd. He waffles the chairs with the hockey stick and KO bails outside again. The crowd starts a small Sami chant as he grabs a table much to the crowd's delight. KO grabs Sami and heaves him into the ring post before grabbing the hockey stick. Kevin chokes Sami with the stick and bites the top of his head as Cole almost gags. Cole "This guy is NUTS!" KO grabs another table and stacks it on the other table. Sami grabs the stick and checks KO over the barricade into the crowd. They brawl up some steps as KO chokes Sami with some security tape. Sami rallies with right hands and grabs a trash can. Sami waffles KO with the trash can as Pat says "HE JUST HIT KEVIN OWENS IN THE HEAD WITH DOMINIK MYSTERIO!" Barrett "Completely unnecessary but very funny, man." Sami puts the trash can on his head and Cole says Owens is grouchy. Ha! Sami stalks KO into a watering station and hits the Blue Thunder Bomb through the table set up. Sami  hits another Blue Thunder Bomb through another table as Barrett calls Sami unhinged. Sami throws Kevin down and hits him in the head with a trash can lid. Sami keeps whacking him back toward the ring but KO whacks Sami with the ring bell to stun him. KO clobbers him with the trash can lid a few times then hits him with one of the announce team's TV monitor. KO rolls Sami into the ring and goes up to the top rope. Sami cuts him off and goes for the fisherman buster, but KO slides under him and shoves him off the top rope through the stacked tables. Cole says Sami is clutching his neck while Barrett says good that he's not paralyzed. Back inside, KO hits a brainbuster on a chair and covers for 1....2...no. KO kicks Sami in the face and goes for the pop up bomb, but Sami turns it around into a Taz Plex. KO doesn't sell it and instead charges only to get Tax plexed right onto a chair. Cole "KEVIN OWENS MAY BE DEAD!"  Sami goes for the Helluva Kick but KO pulls referee Rod Zapata in the way. Zapata is out cold and KO hits the stunner on Zayn, but there's no ref to count. Charles Robinson sprints to the ring and counts 1...2...no. KO decks Robinson with a lariat as McAfee asks what's wrong with Owens. Referee Ryan Tran hits the ring and checks on Charles as we got to the replays of the refs getting wiped out. KO goes to the floor and gets another table as Sami continues to sell the neck. Barrett says he's been there and its not going to work. KO waffles Sami in the head with a chair as Cole tells Sami to give it up. Owens sets up Sami on the table with a chair on top but Sami pops up and throws the chair at KO. His facial expression is priceless and Sami smacks him in the face. Sami goes for the superplex but KO counters with a fisherman's buster through the table. Wade "Get this match over with!" KO covers for 1......2.....no. Cole "Sami I am begging you to just stay down!" Petey Williams of the Suit Brigade hits the ring and tells KO that Sami's had enough. KO props up Sami in the corner and says its all his fault. He runs to the other corner but Sami from out of nowhere hits the Helluva Kick. Sami covers for 1....2...no. Cole "And this massacre continues." Sami then goes under the ring and pulls out a chair wrapped in barbed wire. Cole "OH JESUS!" Barrett "Who the hell set THAT up under the ring?" Sami stalks Owens with the chair, kicks him and waffles him in the back with it twice. Sami sets the chair up and hits a drop toe hold on it with KO rolling around grabbing his face. Sami sets the chair up on two others and hits the blue thunder bomb on it. Sami covers for 1..2....noooooo. KO staggers to the corner but counters the Helluva Kick with a pop up powerbomb. Sami then bails to the floor grabbing his neck and KO grabs another chair. He wraps it around Sami's neck and sends him into the ring post. He sends him into another ring post as Cole screams "KEVIN ENOUGH!" KO hits a powerbomb on the ring apron and Cole shouts "YOU SICK BASTARD!" The rest of the Suit Brigade shows up and tells Kevin its over, but Owens hits another powerbomb against the side of the ring. KO throws Sami inside as Barrett calls him sub-human scum. KO covers for 1...2....3 to win the match. That was a war and the commentary team throwing professionalism out the window made it seem like classic JR and King from the 90's/00's. Forget holds, forget workrate, that was a FIGHT. Owens gets the last word with Sami to pretty much end this feud.


Time of match: 27:34

Winner: Owens by pinfall



After the match the stretcher comes out for Sami with security telling Owens to beat it. Owens beats up the security guards and pulls the protective mat off the floor. Owens drags Sami out of the ring and goes for the package piledriver on the floor....until Voices hits. Sure enough, out comes Randy Orton for the save. Owens stands in the center of the ring as the crowd sings Voices. Orton sheds his vest and runs in to beat the crap out of Owens. Randy hits the RKO and grabs the chair, standing over KO's fallen body. Randy throws the chair out and loads up the punt for the first time in years. Just as Orton is about to deliver the punt, he's intercepted by the Suit Brigade. KO makes a hasty retreat and Orton hits the rKO on members of the security team. Randy stares at the Wrestlemania sign to signify where this feud is going before posing for the crowd.

Back from commercial the announcers give their regards to Sami Zayn and hypes up Stephanie McMahon's talk show on ESPN+ coming up with Pat McAfee. We're shown Logan Paul getting ready for the chamber match with CM Punk on his way to the ring. The chamber is lowered and its go time.



Match 4

Logan Paul vs Damian Priest vs CM Punk vs John Cena vs Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre in an Elimination Chamber Match

Logan Paul enters the arena waiving the American flag which was GENIUS heel heat. Rollins and McIntyre are going to start as Barrett brings up how everyone but Cena had to qualify for the match. Bell's gone and McIntyre stares at Rollins to start. McIntyre goes for the claymore early and misses and Rollins misses the curb stomp as well. Rollins punches McIntyre in the corner and bites his forehead. McIntyre slams Rollins on the chamber steel outside of the ring. He rams Rollins back first into the cage then rakes his face against it. CM Punk from the pod says to McIntyre to stay alive so he can get him some. Rollins rams McIntyre's head against Punk's pod as Punk screams harder. Back inside Rollins hits a flying knee and a kick, covering for 1...2..no. Logan Paul draws on his pod with a marker as McIntyre hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, covering for a two count. McIntyre backdrops Rollins on the steel and kicks him in the chest. McIntyre ribs the turnbuckle pad off and slingshots him into it. The countdown begins as McIntyre sits in front of Punk.

Damian Priest enters and stares down McIntyre. They chop it out in the middle of the ring amd Priest hits a discuss punch. Priest splashes Rollins in the corner and flatlines McIntyre. Priest hits a Razor's Edge on Rollins on top of McIntyre. Priest runs into a Glasgow Kiss from Drew and he calls for the claymore. Rollins cuts him off with a superkick and avoids South of Heaven from Priest. Rollins superkicks Priest but runs into a spinebuster by Drew. McIntyre powerbombs Rollins on top of Priest and covers Seth for 1...2...no. Logan Paul draws something on the pod causing the crowd to chant "Fuck you Logan". McIntyre is tied into the tree of woe and Rollins goes for a superplex. McIntyre holds on to Rollins for a german suplex as the countdown begins.

Logan Paul is next and he hits a springboard crossbody on McIntyre for 1...2..no. Logan hits a standing moonsault on Priest for 1..2...no. Paul hits some boxing jabs on Rollins and a 3 handled credenza on him. He covers for 1...2...no. Paul taunts the crowd but Priest catches him with a bellringer. Priest clotheslines Paul over the top rope to the steel floor then rams him into the pod. Priest knees Paul against the cage but McIntyre attacks from behind. Priest walks the top rope and hits a frankensteiner on McIntyre. Paul hits a big right hand and a gut wrench suplex on Priest then gets back in the ring. Paul sets up Rollins but runs into a superkick. Rollins covers for 1...2...no. The countdown begins with Rollins eyeballing the two remaining guys in the pods.

John Cena is next and he shoulderblocks Rollins twice. Cena hits the FU on Priest and the back suplex on Paul. Cena hits the FU on Rollins and calls for the 5 knuckle shuffle. Cena hits it on Logan Paul and hits the FU next. McIntyre from out of nowhere hits the Claymore kick on Cena. Before he can cover, Priest hits a crucifix for 1...2....3 to eliminate DREW MCINTYRE. Cole says he was too fixated on Cena to worry about Priest, which doesn't make sense since he was about to pin Cena. Drew pulls a sore loser and hits the Claymore on Priest. Drew leaves as Logan Paul heads to the top rope. Logan then climbs on Punk's pod and hits a frog splash on Priest. He covers for 1...2....3 to eliminate DAMIAN PRIEST. Paul stares down Punk as the countdown starts.

CM Punk is the final entrant and he says "You know its me, open the fucking door" to the ref. He and Paul trade blows before Punk suplexes Logan on the floor. Punk hits a running knee to Paul and rams him into the pod. Punk rams Paul into the cage and starts to climb it, pointing at the Wrestlemania sign. Punk then eyeballs his old rival Cena as the crowd pops for the two legends. Punk and Cena both say they're going to Wrestlemania as Rollins hits a kick to Punk from out of nowhere. Rollins rallies with right hands and Cena pulls him off. Rollins shoves Cena and Cena says "Ohhh, what?" Rollins "He's mine! Go back and film more movies, stay out of this!" Rollins goes to attack Punk again but Cena again pulls him off. Rollins responds with a kick and a pedigree attempt. Cena goes for the FU but Rollins rolls out of it. They play "Yay, boo" with Cena getting the yays (try imagining that 10 years ago). Paul comes out of nowhere and double clotheslines both men down. Logan goes for the slingshot clothesline but Punk rolls out of it and slaps him in the face. Punk goes for the GTS and hits it, covering for the 1...2....3 to eliminate LOGAN PAUL.

Down to three, Punk taunts Paul by doing a grave digging motion. Punk and Cena eyeball each other again but Rollins stares at Punk. Cole says the three men left have 26 world championships between them. Punk says the other two will go to sleep while the crowd chants "Let's go Cena, CM Punk" like its 2012 again. Punk and Cena stand side by side and Rollins fights them both off until the numbers game catches up. Cena holds Rollins and Punk hits a Hart Attack, nice touch. Cena and Punk stare each other down as Rollins rolls way. Punk "Now we can get down." Cena extends a hand and Punk hugs him instead. They trade blows and the crowd yays both of them. Cena drops Punk with a shoulderblock but Punk rolls through the back suplex with a headlock takeover. Punk hits the running knee in the corner but Cena hits the back suplex. Cena calls for the 5 knuckle shuffle and goes "you can't see me" but Punk tries to kick him. Cena catches the leg and spins him around for the STFU, but Punk rolls out of it. Cena runs right into the GTS attempt, but rolls out of it. He applies the STFU in the center of the ring. Punk sells for awhile then locks in the anaconda vice. Cena rolls him on his back for 1...2....no. Punk goes up to the top rope and hits an axehandle smash on Rollins outside. Punk goes back to the top and tries a crossbody, but Cena rolls through it. Cena hits the FU and covers Punk for 1...2...noooooo. Cena goes up to the top but Rollins crotches him. Rollins powerbombs Cena into the side of the cage then rams him through one of the empty pods. Rollins stalks Punk inside the ring but walks into an inside cradle for 1...2...no. Rollins recovers by countering the GTS with the pedigree. He covers for 1..2...nooooo. Rollins goes for the pedigree on the steel floor but Punk backdrops Seth into the ring.  Punk looks to the Wrestlemania sign for power and goes back to the top rope. Seth climbs the rope and goes for the superplex but Punk drops him. Punk hit the flying elbow drop and calls for the GTS. Rollins rolls out of it and buckle bombs Punk in the corner. He hits the curb stomp and covers for 1...2...nooooo. Rollins pounds the mat in frustration and goes up to the top. Cena intercepts Rollins and goes for the FU, but Rollins wiggles free....right into the GTS. Rollins staggers into and FU by Cena and Punk covers for 1..2...3 to eliminate SETH ROLLINS.

Down to Cena and Punk, Cole says Rollins had Cena dead to rights when he threw him into the pod, but his bloodlust against Punk cost him. Cena and Punk stare each other down with dueling chants like its thirteen years ago. Punk then hits the GTS out of nowhere and covers for 1.....2...nooooo. Cena's turn as he hits the FU and covers for 1.....2.....noooooo. McAfee "Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein!" Punk kicks Cena down but Rollins hits the curb stomp on Punk out of nowhere. Cena drags Punk into the ring and locks in the STFU. Punk fades and the ref calls for the bell....Cena wins it. John Bradshaw Layfield used to call him "Big Match John" because he always seemed to win the big match, and Cena just did once again. It'll be Cena vs Rhodes at Wrestlemania in a hell of a match.


Time of match: 32:40

Winner: John Cena



Cena thanks the fans in the ring but Cody Rhodes' music hits. Guess its time for "the decision". Cena sits on the rope to let Cody in and stands in the corner. Cena "They know its you and me at Wrestlemania, we're gonna throw down for the championship." They shake hands....and The Rock's music hits. Nevermind...its rapper Travis Scott. He's holding the Muhammad Ali title and NOW The Rock comes out to his Hollywood theme. The Rock and Travis get in the ring with Scott sizing Cody up. Cena and Scott stand off to the side together and The Rock grabs Cody by the head and says "Cody Rhodes, the moment has arrived." He says he'll open arms for Cody to embrace him as his brother and Cody as his champion. He wants his mind and soul...NO! He NEEDS his soul and if he says yes, the American nightmare will live forever. If the answer is no, the dream dies tonight....again. Cody "I want it all, Rock. My soul no longer belongs to me. And you know why? Because I gave my soul to this ring and these people a long time ago. Hey Rock, GO FUCK YOURSELF!" The crowd LOVED that and Rock's expression is cold. Cena hypes up Cody to the crowd as Rock stands there motionless. Rock then backs up and looks at Cena. Cena laughs at Rock and Cody extends his hand. Cena takes it and hugs Cody as the crowd cheers. Rock suddenly makes a slit throat motion and nods to Cena. Wait...what? John then boots Cody in the gonads meaning...OH YES....JOHN CENA HAS TURNED HEEL FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 22 YEARS! Cole "What the...." Rock, Cena and Scott stare at Cody until Cena steals Cody's watch. He punches Cody with it as McAfee says The Rock always has a plan. Cena punches him with it a second time and unloads with right hands. Cena grabs the mic and cracks Cody in the head with it. Cena then grabs the WWE Championship and clobbers Cody with it too. Rock looks out at the crowd as Cena stares at the crowd with a scowl, holding up the WWE title. Cody is busted wide open and Cena hits him a second time with the belt. Cole "Somebody stop this! John you want to go out like THIS?" Cena rips Cody's shirt off and chokes him with it. Cole "After everything he's accomplished in his career, he's gotta stoop to this shit? You gotta be kidding me!" Hell yeah Cole. Scott and Cena hold Cody only Scott grabs Cody and pulls him up, with Cena having to push him back down in a subtle hint to Scott to stop what he's doing. Scott then punches Cody for real as The Rock whips Cody with his weight belt. Cena stands on Cody's head and poses with The Rock with Scott behind them against the ropes. Cole shouts to Cena "What are you doing? There are millions of children that look up to you." Rock whips Cody with the weight belt one more time and Cena throws the WWE Championship down at him. Cena leaves the ring to a chorus of boos as Rock and Scott leave as well. Michael Cole himself gets in to check on Cody as the three heels stand at the entrance and stare at Cody to end the show.

Holy shit that was awesome. You had betrayals out of nowhere, you had cursing, you had blood.....this was a show for the ages. People are already comparing it to Bash at The Beach 96 with John Cena in the Hulk Hogan role. The sky is the limit for this feud as its going to be heel Cena vs Cody at Wrestlemania with The Rock in his corner. Only question is will Cody have help like he did last year? Joe Tessitore after the show said the signs were there at the Royal Rumble press conference when he said he did everything the right way his whole career but demanded to be in the Elimination Chamber. It also makes sense, John Cena wants to be the GOAT with a record 17 world championships and The Rock most likely promised to take him there. Also Jade Cargill is back and Naomi is in deep doo-doo. Bianca will go to Wrestlemania but what's her situation going to be like? Rhea Ripley vs Bianca has been a dream match for years but Jade Cargill vs Bianca seems to be on the table for some reason. KO vs Randy Orton seems Wrestlemania bound with Sami dispatched and Tiffany vs Charlotte is all clear now that Nia Jax and Candace has been dispatched. Either way the road to Wrestlemania just got interesting. The next show after this is tomorrow night's Raw. I'll see you there.

Monday, January 6, 2025

WWE Raw (1/6/25)



WWE Raw
Intuit Dome
Los Angeles, California
January 6, 2025


Commentators: Michael Cole & Pat McAfee

Ring Announcer: Alicia Taylor


Welcome to the most overhyped Raw in decades. Raw leaves its home on USA where its been for 19 years and comes to Netflix. Now Raw won't have to cater to USA standards and practices and a fixed run-time. This was more or less being hyped as a ppv and that's how it might be treated tonight. Jey Uso takes on Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins takes on CM Punk, John Cena returns and Roman Reigns goes one on one with Solo Sikoa in Tribal Combat. Let's get to it.

Michael Cole welcomes us to Los Angeles and Cole says Seth Rollins will be in the biggest match of his career....what? Not Wrestlemania against The Rock and Roman Reigns last year, not Triple H in 2017 or Sting at Summerslam....a match on Raw against CM Punk? We're shown CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Judgment Day and Rhea Ripley entering the arena.

Before anything happens, we're treated to a vignette hosted by Triple H about the history of wrestling. Wrestling had been around in the Roman times and in carnivals but television changed wrestling. Wrestling needs a face (a painting of Hulk Hogan) and a heel (Andre The Giant). The late 90's changed how we looked at who was good and who was bad (with a nice montage of the nWo and the Montreal screwjob), the real, and unreal. "Every damn story had an element of truth. The screens get smaller but the show gets bigger." From television to streaming, from America to the world, never to end....story of WWE. The giant curtain drops and HHH is standing in the ring. HHH "17,000 plus sold out Los Angeles LET ME HEAR YOU!" Triple H says this is the moment they're all being seen and heard by the entire globe. HHH says show them who you are and tell them that his is the WWE and we are louder than anything you have ever seen before. HHH knows the answer but he asks anyway, ARE YOU READYYYYYY. "Then, welcome to Monday Night Raw, welcome to the Netflix era". Great opening montage, didn't do too much, just said wrestling grew over the last 70 years.

HHH leaves and the lights go out.....IF YA SMELLL, WHAT THE ROCK...IS COOKIN. Here comes The Rock with the Muhammad Ali belt shaking hands with the fans. He greets some dignitaries at ring side before posing for some fans. Rock even shakes hands with Michael Cole and Pat McAfee before greeting Rock's two youngest daughters Jazzy and Tia along with his mother, Ata Maivia-Johnson. Cole also brings up Rock has a claim to be high chief of Samoa as well. Rock talks about how he used to travel with his father when he was just a pebble (there goes my nickname for Ava Raine). He says back then you either bought a ticket or had to be in front of your TV on Saturday morning. He goes on to say you're watching it worldwide on Netflix and they broke another gate record. "Finally WWE has come back to Netflix....no no no that's bullshit, get to the real one." Rock "FINALLY, THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO LOS ANGELES!" The Rock thanks some Netflix execs in the VIP suite and says if Netflix glitches when he's in the ring, he'll go Squid Games on their candy asses. This was a reference to the Mike Tyson/Jake Paul fight that broke Netflix. The Rock then puts over Cody Rhodes for carrying the company on his back the past year and he's shown in the crowd. Rock "Tell mama Rhodes I said hello." Rock then shouts out Roman Reigns which gets a huge OTC chant from the crowd. Rock says Tribal Combat is next and the world will be watching. He puts himself over as high chief and says the winner of this match will be deserving of tribal chief. IF YA SMELLLLLLL...WHAT THE ROCK....IS COOKIN. Rock shakes hands with Cody at ring side and says hi to his kids as he leaves. Now its time for Tribal Combat. This has been building since Wrestlemania. After Roman Reigns lost to Cody Rhodes, he went on vacation. While he was gone, Solo picked up the Ola Fala and took over the Bloodline. He got rid of Jimmy Uso and Paul Heyman while adding Jacob Fatu and the Tongans. Then little by little the OG Bloodline returned culminating in Roman Reigns and Jimmy Uso recruiting Jey Uso and Sami Zayn to reform the original Bloodline. After the OG's were victorious at Wargames, its still been OG vs New until now. If Solo wins, the OGs are done. If Roman wins, the New is essentially useless. It actually would be a lot more interesting if Solo wins but the writing is on the wall.



Match 1

Solo Sikoa vs Roman Reigns (with Paul Heyman) in Tribal Combat

Alicia Taylor introduces Solo but Paul Heyman introduces Reigns as the "reigning, defending" OTC. Bell's gone and Solo says the Ola Fala is his as they tie up. Solo and Roman back each other up until Roman throws Solo out of the ring. Solo backs Reigns into the ring post outside as Cole says this is Roman's first one on one match since Wrestlemania.....wow. The death of house shows really shows here. Solo rams Roman's head into the announce table and back inside the ring. Solo drops Roman with a clothesline and delivers a headbutt. Roman then floors Solo with back to back lariats. Roman clubs Solo in the corner with forearms and brings up all the HoFers Roman has beaten as Reigns big boots Solo to the outside. Roman goes outside and walks right into a Rock Bottom onto the announce table, clearing out Pat and Michael. Solo grabs a monitor and decks Roman with it. Solo taunts the irate crowd as Cole says he has to get the hell out of here. Solo grabs the ring steps and tells Roman to get his ass up. Cole "This is gonna be one of those nights, Pat." Solo rams Reigns with the steps as we go to break. Back from commercial, Solo grabs a chair and gets in the ring. Solo hits Roman in the ribs then in the back. Solo then caves in Roman's ribs with the chair and puts it around his neck. Solo taunts Roman that he gave him everything and always loved him. Solo goes for the Umaga but Roman rolls out of the way. Roman grabs the chair and hits Solo in the ribs, then the back with it. Roman unloads on Solo with the chair and rams his head into it. Roman goes for the Conchairto but Solo moves. Solo hits a low blow and another spinning Rock Bottom . He covers for 1...2....no. Cole brings up the very first Raw was January 11, 1993 and we've had 1,649 episodes total on cable TV....until tonight. Solo grabs a table from under the ring but Roman hits a dropkick from the apron. Roman throws the table into the ring and sets it up, but Solo whacks Roman with a singapore cane. Solo wails on him with the cane while taunting Heyman. He then chokes Roman with the cane and says to acknowledge him. He loved Roman but he never loved him back. Roman then uses his strength to push the cane off him then powerbombs Solo through a table. Roman covers for 1.....2....noooo, Tama Tonga pulls referee Chad Patton out. Here comes the shenanigans. Jacob Fatu comes in from the other side, slaps Reigns, hits a superkick and delivers the Impaler. Fatu then hits the standing moonsault and picks Solo up. Solo hits the Samoan spike on Roman and covers for 1...2...NOOOOOOO! Jacob can't believe it as the crowd chants OTC. Jacob backs down Chad in the corner but Solo has to tell him to back off.....so he can hit the samoan spike on Patton. Cole says that was dumb as nobody's there to count the fall. Here comes Sami Zayn and Jimmy Uso to even the odds. Sami heaves Jacob into the ring steps as Jimmy throws Tama into the ring post.  Inside the ring, Jimmy superkicks Solo and Sami follows with the Helluva Kick. Roman hits the spear and covers but there's no ref. Finally here comes another ref to count 1....2.....NOOOOO. The crowd chants "This is awesome" and now we got a stalemate. Jimmy and Sami dive outside and fight to the back with Jacob & Tama. Roman loads up another spear but here comes Kevin Owens of all people. He hits a stunner on Roman and tells Solo to pin him. This makes no sense, why would KO help either of them considering Solo made his life a hell too. Solo covers for 1..2....nooooo. KO pummels Roman and goes for the package piledriver as the crowd chants for Cody Rhodes.....and here he comes. Cody in the suit and tie hits the Cody cutter, causing KO to bail. Cody brawls with him into the barricade and we're back to one on one. Solo blocks the Superman punch, but Roman ducks under the Samoan Spike. Roman hits the spear. Roman caters to the crowd and calls for another one. Roman hits a second spear and covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. That was a damn good PPV style match that would have fit right in at the Rumble. Roman ends the Solo Bloodline once and for all.


Time of match: 23:27

Winner: Roman Reigns by pinfall



Paul Heyman goes to put the Ola Fala back on Roman but here comes The Rock to steal the spotlight AGAIN. The Rock takes it from Heyman and presents it to Roman. They shake hands and the crowd cheers. Roman takes a full minute to soak in the emotion before we cut to the back where CM Punk is preparing for his one on one match with Seth Rollins. Cole says this is one of the biggest matches in wrestling history....how?? We're then shown the VIP suite where Byron Saxton, Kayden Carter, Jaida Parker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller, Zoey Stark, Austin Theory (in a hilarious red suit) are having a party. Then we go to ringside to see Gabriel Iglesias holding the big gold belt, naturally he has a special airing the next day. Ashton Kutcher and his son are shown as well as Netflix comedian Michael Che. Then we're shown LA Knight, Rey Mysterio, Erik and Ivar sitting in the front row. Why are they treating these guys like common fans? Rey is wearing an Eddie Guerrero jacket to boot. 

John Cena is here to begin his farewell tour. He holds up "The last time is now" towel as he runs to the ring. Cena caters to the crowd and thanks the fans, causing a massive "Thank you Cena" chant. Cena says the fans are smart and the audience just got a lot bigger. He tells the crowd to let the world know they can see them. Cena thanks Netflix for the experience of airing Monday Night Raw and for letting him wear jorts in the ring one last time. He says the farewell tour kicks off in LA because he used to sleep in his car working for Gold's Gym and wrestled for UPW in Orange County. Cena rented a two bedroom apartment 600 feet from this building because Inglewood was up to no good. He says this is where his first gimmick "The Prototype" was born and where he won the WWE title at Wrestlemania 21. He says for 25 years LA has allowed him to perform in the ring and he humbly thanks the fans. Cena says this year is about making moments and who he's going to face at Wrestlemania or his last match in December. He lists Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Logan Paul, Gunther...Cooooody Rhodes. He says people are asking when he becomes the record holding 17 time world champion but he wants to be honest, he doesn't see it happening. Cena says he's got a streak going on, its been 2,446 days since he won his last match. One look at Google shows the mixed tag match he won on New Year's Day 2019 confirms this.....wow. Cena says his time up and their time is now (the fans boo). Cena says title 17 is never gonna happen then catches himself and says never say never. Cena says it would take a miracle and has a better chance of winning an Oscar. Cena says he can't just waltz into the main event with a streak like that unless he wins Money In The Bank, Elimination Chamber.....or the Royal Rumble. Cena "Wait.....maybe I could win the Royal Rumble." He says its a long shot but he can't win the lottery if you don't play. Cena says he's officially entering the Rumble for the last time. Cena says he'll never give up and he's going to win the Rumble. "YOU WANT SOME, COME GET SOME!" So this long speech was to set up Cena entering the Rumble, good.

We cut to a Logan Paul vignette. He puts himself over and plays off the very real heat he has with people and says everyone hates how successful he is. Logan Paul himself is shown in the crowd and says its his time now. Liv Morgan then makes her entrance for the next match with Dom Mysterio and Raquel Rodriguez in tow. Cole has to give Liv her props for potentially being superstar of the year in 2024. Before Rhea makes her entrance, we're shown more celebs. Seth Green, longtime WWE fan Macaulay Culkin, O'Shea Jackson Jr (who's a hilarious troll on Twitter), Wil Friedle and Danielle Fishel from Boy Meets World. Will is not mentioned, only Danielle....wow, Eric Matthews gets the shaft. Right in front of them are Naomi and Bianca Belair, the women's tag team champions. Next to them is X-Pac and Shinsuke Nakamura, the US Champion. McAfee drools over Ripley during her intro as Cole says "she lost her way and was manipulated into Judgment Day by Edge". Wow, throwing shade at Edge now? Cole says it was his influence that led her to turn on Liv Morgan and set Liv on the path of turning on her in return. We get a frightening graphic that since May of 22 Rhea Ripley is 22-0 against everyone else but only 3-2 against Liv Morgan. On to the match.



Match 2

Rhea Ripley vs Liv Morgan (with Raquel Rodriguez and Dom Mysterio) for the World Women's Championship

Bell's gone and they brawl to start. Rhea stomps on her foot and grabs her by the throat. She choke bombs Liv down and Liv bails to the outside. Rhea cannonballs onto Raquel Rodriguez as Cole says unlike Tribal Combat, there are rules here. If referee Daphanie LaShaunn catches Dom or Raquel doing anything funny, that's it....even if it screws Ripley. Speaking of Dom, he grabs her foot allowing Liv to knock Rhea off the apron. Liv goes for a head scissors but Rhea powerbombs her onto the announce table. Pat and Cole heckle Liv as we go to break. Back from commercial, Liv apparently has been dominating during the commercial break. Liv stands on Rhea in the corner and shrieks at Daphanie. Liv elbows Rhea and hits a tornado bulldog, covering for 1..2....no. McAfee "This dumbass Dom can't even count to three" and Dom heckles him in return. Liv kicks Rhea in the head and in the ribs before stepping on her. Liv rakes the back which only makes Rhea mad. Rhea no-sells a few slaps and says "You fucked up" before clotheslining Liv down twice. Rhea kicks Liv in the ribs and face plants Liv. Rhea hits a shining wizard and goes for a package piledriver that she turns into a suplex much to Dom's dismay. Liv goes for a victory roll but Rhea hits a reverse Taz plex. She covers for 1.....2...no. Rhea goes for Riptide but Liv slips out of it to apply a backstabber. Liv hits a tornado DDT and covers for 1..2....no. Liv hits a step up enziguiri but Ripley slides under Liv, hitting riptide. Ripley stacks her for 1...2...NOOOOO. Somehow Liv kicked out and Ripley can't believe it. Raquel throws a chair in the ring only for Ripley to knock her off. Liv hits ObLivion onto the chair. Cole "Referee didn't see it, she was dealing with dumbass Dom." Liv covers for 1...2....NOOOOO. McAfee "The wrestling gods are blessing us this evening." Liv can't believe it and she goes for the three amigos. She hits all three and goes up to the top for the frog splash. Liv hits it and covers for 1..2...nope. Ripley blocks ObLivion and shakes her head no. Rhea blows her a kiss, throws her down, hits Riptide twice and covers for 1...2...3 to win the match. The crowd explodes as we have a new World Women's Champion. Odd decision for to Rhea get her revenge on Raw instead of a PLE, but it was a good match. Liv couldn't beat Rhea straight up and Rhea finally caught her.


Time of match: 11:29

Winner: Ripley by pinfall (New World Champion)



Post match Dom sneaks up on Rhea. Cole "Oh what is this idiot doing?" Rhea turns around and Dom wants a hug. Cole calls him a gold digger and McAfee calls him a rat bastard (ha!). Rhea "You want me?" She kisses the belt and puts it down. She fakes a hug and kicks him full force in the gonads much to Cole & McAfee's delight. Rhea hits Riptide and the crowd explodes. McAfee "The kick was good" We get a highlight of Rhea winning the match before she celebrates on the ramp. Suddenly The Undertaker's theme hits and sure enough, here comes the deadman on a motorcycle to "American Bad Ass" by Kid Rock like its 2000 again. Cole brings up how Taker main evented the first Raw in history (against Damien Demento) and he salutes Rhea. They raise their fists as the fireworks go off.

We go back to the VIP section where Cruz Del Toro, Joaqin Wilde, Kayden, Maxxine Dupri, Saxton and Dragon Lee celebrate. Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods aren't so happy and Cole points out he wants to interview them soon. We cut to Cathy Kelley standing nearby as Adam Pearce and Bayley have a conversation. Cathy asks what can we expect moving forward but here comes all four members of American Made (Ivy Nile, Julius Creed, Brutus Creed and Chad Gable) to interrupt. Gable says his group are elite and he's destroyed Alpha Academy. He says he wants the single best luchador and send him his way. Pearce asks if he's sure about that and Chad says absolutely. Adam has a smile and says he's got to make a phone call. This should be good.

We cut to Jey Uso about ready to make his appearance as we go to break. Drew McIntyre is on his way to the ring as well. Back from break, we're shown The Rock's instagram as he was leaving. He greeted Jimmy Uso, Paul Heyman, Triple H, Roman Reigns, rapper Travis Scott and Cody Rhodes. Rock drives off with a bottle of tequila in his hands saying he'll be at NXT tomorrow night....just don't tell the cops. We're shown more celebs including Bill Simmons flashing a Boston Celtics logo, perfect for heel heat in Los Angeles. We're shown more Netflix execs and actress Vanessa Hudgens. Then we're shown Michelle McCool, Iyo Sky, Dakota Kai and Lira Valkyria. Lira and Dakota go one on one next week in the Women's Intercontinental Championship Finals. Travis Scott is here holding a belt and hitting a dab before Jey Uso makes his entrance right behind him. Cole and McAfee Yeet on the table and Cole doing it in suit and tie makes it even funnier. McAfee "Wait for the beat to drop, Cole." Cole "How the hell do I get down now?" Before the match we get a graphic of the most televised wins in 2024 and Jey Uso is tied for fifth place with 21 behind Pete Dunne (??) with 22, Damian Priest with 23, Bron Breakker with 24 and Bianca Belair with 29.



Match 3

Jey Uso vs Drew McIntyre

Cole was in the middle of bringing up how Drew McIntyre's entire heel turn was based around never getting over the Bloodline costing him the WWE title at Clash at The Castle....when Jey immediately suicide dives him before Drew gets a chance to take off his ring jacket. Jey suicide dives through the ropes on top of Drew but Drew counters with an overhead suplex. Cole finishes his thought from earlier that once Jey Uso came to Raw, Drew was never the same. Drew inside the ring goes for the claymore as the bell officially rings. Jey hits an avalanche in the corner followed by a running enziguiri. Jey goes for the up and over but Drew kicks him in the head. Cole says Jey has never beaten Drew one on one as Drew gets in a big right hand. McIntyre mocks the Yeet to the irate crowd and chops the nine time tag team champion. Drew chops him again before punching him in the corner. Drew chops again before doing 10 punches in the corner...as a heel? Jey does a sit down powerbomb and they slug it out in the middle of the ring. They play "Yeet/boo" with Jey hitting an enziguiri. Jey hits the Umaga in the corner and hits a top rope crossbody for 1..2....no. McIntyre hits a reverse neckbreaker and kips up before staring at Jey. He calls for the Claymore but runs into a superkick. Jey covers for 1.....2...no. Jey goes for the Uso splash but McIntyre gets his knees up. Drew hits a spinebuster and jackknife covers for 1..2...no. Drew tries a sitdown powerbomb and covers for 1...2...nope. McAfee says Drew should be a champion but gets inside his own head. The crowd plays "Let's go Drew/Let's go Jey" as they slug it out in the center of the ring. Drew's future shock is blocked by Jey but his samoan drop is blocked. Drew hits future shock and covers for 1..2...no. Drew calls for another Claymore but runs into the spear. Jey covers for 1..2....nooooo. Jey hits a superkick to the left arm then catches him in the jaw. Jey goes for another spear but Drew kicks him in the head. Jey superkicks him into the ropes but Drew fires back with a Claymore Kick. Drew covers for 1...2....noooooo. Drew can't believe it and unloads on Jey with right hands. Drew picks up Jey and chops him relentlessly in the corner. Drew does a Glasgow Kiss and calls for another Claymore. Drew runs but Jey collapses in the center of the ring. Drew laughs at him and then taunts the irate crowd. Drew tells him to get up so he can finish him. Drew goes for the Claymore but Jey ducks under it and crucifixes Drew for 1..2...3 to win the match. Drew goes ballistic inside the ring as Jey bails as the winner. Jey had never beaten Drew until now in a good match. That was a hell of a fight and McIntyre loses another big match to add to his misery.


Time of match: 10:22

Winner: Uso by pinfall


We go to a vignette on Gunther to show he's an emotionless killer. Back to Cathy Kelley who's with comedian Gabriel Iglesias. He's got a new special dropping tomorrow but before he can say anything, here's New Day to interrupt. Xavier Woods says they haven't been allowed to explain why they dropped Big E Langston as Kofi Kingston says this is the biggest platform on earth and Cathy should be talking to them instead of the "fluffy buffoon". Gabriel "Buffoon? Dude, I liked you guys better when you had cereal. What's going on?" Woods "Its always jokes with you, isn't it?" Alpha Academy shows up and says Happy New Year and puts their arms around Iglesias. He thanks the Universe and he leaves with Otis, Maxxine Dupri and Akira Tozawa serenading "New....Day sucks. New....day sucks." 

We cut to Paul Heyman singing Roman Reigns' praises as they walk down the hall. Heyman says they need a platform to when the world can acknowledge him. He says January 27th.....what? Oddly specific but okay. We show a determined Seth Rollins in the locker room before we go to break. Back from break we're shown more celebs in the crowd. Finally IC Champion Bron Breakker and WWE Women's Champion Tiffany Stratton are shown in the crowd as well. If anyone should be in the ring tonight its them. We're shown Nikki Bella in the crowd as well when a familiar theme song hits.

Hulk Hogan comes out with none other than Jimmy Hart in tow and gets booed relentlessly despite Michael Cole and Pat McAfee singing his praises. Hulk goes into his familiar promo of "Well ya know something brother" and he says the fans have been his greatest tag team partner. He says he has a new tag team partner, his own beer company. He talks about his ex-partners like Randy Savage and Andre The Giant but the best partner ever is WWE and Netflix. Hogan rips off his shirt to reveal a Netflix is Raw t-shirt and poses as the crowd doesn't give a rats ass. Poor Jimmy Hart, he didn't deserve that.

Next week Lira Valkyria takes on Dakota Kai to determine the first Women's Intercontinental Champion and Sheamus takes on Ludwig Kaiser, Chad Gable will face a mystery luchador and Damian Priest faces Finn Balor in a street fight. We're shown Stephanie McMahon herself in the crowd next to Rory Culkin as BURN IT DOWNNNN hits.



Match 4

Seth Rollins vs CM Punk

This goes all the way back to Survivor Series 2023 when Punk returned to a VERY unhappy Rollins response. Rollins' storyline beef was Punk walked out in 2014 and he himself stayed all these years. Injuries to both Punk and Rollins delayed their inevitable showdown until now. The bell rings and they have dueling chants to start. They brawl to start with Punk getting the upper hand. Rollins clubs him against the ropes then Punk ducks a line, clotheslining over the top to the floor. Punk misses a dive to the floor and Rollins hits a suicide dive onto Punk. Rollins rips apart the announce table early as referee Rod Zapata gives him shit for it. Rollins yells "Let it rideeeeee" to him but Zapata is having none of it. Punk outside sends Rollins over the barricade and dives on top of him. Back over the barricade Rollins goes for an axehandle, but gets punched by Punk for it. Punk throws the top of the table on him as the crowd duels chants. Punk slides in the ring and narrowly misses the curb stomp. Rollins blocks the GTS attempt and kicks Punk in the corner. Zapata yells at Rollins again and Punk boots Seth in the face. Cole points out Rollins is too obsessed with the ref to concentrate on Punk. Punk hits a swinging neckbreaker from off the top rope as we go to break. Back from commercial Rollins clubs away at Punk in the corner and yells at him to get up. Rollins runs into the corner but Punk was right behind him with the running knee. Punk hits a second knee but Rollins blocks the bulldog. Punk rallies with two clotheslines and a swinging neckbreaker before calling for the GTS. Punk pulls Rollins up by the hair and snaps him off the top rope to the floor. Punk throws Rollins inside and goes to the top rope. Rollins rolls through a crossbody and hits a GTS of his own, sending Punk to the outside. Rollins just stares at Punk on the floor for a bit before coming out to get him. Rollins caters to the crowd to let Punk breathe a bit before throwing him inside. Rollins slides in and Punk hits a curb stomp of his own, covering for 1...2..no. Punk rallies with right hands and calls for the GTS. Rollins blocks it and hits the GTS himself, covering for 1...2...noooo. Punk rolls out of the ring and Rollins throws him onto the announce table. Punk goes for the GTS but Rollins rolls out of it. Rollins hits the pedigree on top of the announce table and sells his own knee. That looked for real. Rollins rolls him inside and hits the pedigree in the center of the ring. Rollins covers for 1....2..noooo. The crowd chants for both men again as they slug it out in the center of the ring. Punk goes for the running knee but Rollins hits the buckle bump followed by the curb stomp. Rollins covers for 1...2...nooooo, foot on the rope at the last second. Rollins can't believe it and he picks Punk back up onto the the top rope. Punk pushes him off and Rollins gets mad. He scales the top rope and hits a superplex, rolling through for the Falcon Arrow attempt. Punk blocks it and hits GTS. Rollins staggers into the ropes and back into Punk for a second GTS. Punk covers for 1.....2...3 to win the match. That was certainly a choice to have Punk win but this feud is far from over. Punk gets the opening salvo in a damn good match. Rollins is bleeding from the eye as we end the show.


Time of match: 19:54

Winner: Punk by pinfall




This was a pay-per-view style show but only four matches is criminal. So much time was wasted with The Rock, Hulk Hogan and Gabriel Iglesias that you could have had the Women's IC title match or have some of the guys in the crowd in the ring. Still, tribal combat was fun, Rollins vs Punk was great and Rhea winning the strap back was monumental. Jey vs Drew was okay but its just the fact you had four matches in a 3 hour show isn't good. Raw and SD going to 3 hours was supposed to enhance the roster, not shrink it to only a few matches a night. How sad is it that WWE did more in 2002 with a 2 hour show than it does with 3 now? Still, the matches themselves were good and that's the most important. Netflix is off and running so hopefully this was a one time event to kiss their ass before moving on to more important things as the Royal Rumble approaches. The next show after this is tomorrow night's NXT, I'll see you there.

Saturday, August 10, 2002

WWE Global Warning Tour (8/10/02)


After the whole brand extension, Smackdown and Raw stars went overseas to do certain shows in different countries. Smackdown took off to Melbourne, Australia right before Summerslam to do a ppv for the Aussies. The WWE is no stranger here for they did mammoth shows in the 80's as some of those matches are featured in the extras on the DVD. This ppv has basically no importance to Summerslam but it does give the Aussies something to watch, quite like Insurrexion and Rebellion are to the Brits. The recorded figure for this event was 56,000 people..which if they aren't lying is quite impressive. The main event would be The Rock vs Brock Lesnar vs HHH in a triple threat match for the WWE title.....why? They've been hyping The Rock vs Brock Lesnar all month so why would they ruin the storyline by having a match mere weeks before? Ah well, least this was only shown in Melbourne with Smackdown wrestlers so Summerslam would go off without a hitch.

 
AUGUST 10, 2002
COLONIAL STADIUM
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
Commentators: Michael Cole and Tazz

 
 We open up with Stephanie McMahon on her way to the ring.....uh oh. Luckily, all she does is thank the fans for coming out and we head for our first match.


Match 1

Rikishi vs Rico (Kiss My Ass match)

 As absurd as this match sounds, the fans actually went wild for this one. Before the match Rikishi and Stephanie dance on the entrance way.....a sign of things to come unfortunately. The rules of the match are whoever loses has to kiss the other's ass. Rikishi poses in the ring as the bell sounds and Rico whacks him in the back.....bad idea. Rico tries to escape but Rikishi flings him back in and goes on offense before Rico counters with a superkick. Michael Cole mentions Rikishi got the scar on his stomach in a drive by shooting when he was a teenager, which they turned into an goofy angle about 7 years before this where Rikishi would "hit the streets to make a difference and keep kids away from violence." It was a nice idea in theory but promoting anti-violence in a violent environment such as wrestling is just wrong no matter how good the message you're trying to get across is. Anyway back to action Rico gos to work in the corner and hits a nice jump kick that stuns the big man. Rico goes for a sunset flip but wisely crawls away just as Kish was about to sit on him. Rikishi hits a BtB and drags Rico to the corner and goes for the banzai drop, but Rico moves at the last second. Rico hits a low blow out of nowhere and Michael Cole chastises referee Jimy Korderas. Rico hits a Bolo Yeung style leg underneath the arm/kick to the face combo but poses for too long. Rico goes upstairs but misses the moonsault and Rikishi scores with the samoan drop then covers for 1..2...3 to win the match. Sheesh, that was short....on a ppv no less. Rico protests to the ref about kissing Rikishi's massive ass so instead he attempts to spin kick Rikishi...and fails. Rikishi hits a superkick and does the running ass slam. Rikishi backs it up and hits the stinkface as Tazz sounds like he's about to throw up.  The crowd goes wild and Rikishi celebrates in the ring by bringing 2 blond boys in the crowd into the ring and they all dance together. As for the match.....it was too short to decide if the match was good or not so if you thought what I typed was good, you be the judge.

 
Time of Match: 2:31

Winners: Rikishi by pinfall

 The next segment is Jamie Noble and Nidia going surfing on Ocean Road and its nice to see them out of character for once and not act like trailer trash. Its also funny to see the guy giving them surfing lessons has to be a good foot taller than the both of them. Nidia can't surf for beans but Noble looked pretty good for a first timer. They show the two walking on the beach with huge mounds of seaweed on the ground then going to a national park and talking about how beautiful the place is.


Match 2

The Hurricane vs Jamie Noble (with Nidia) for the WWE Crusierweight Championship

  Noble had beaten Hurricane for the title at King of the Ring and finally Hurricane gets his long awaited rematch.....in an Australian ppv. As Hurricane makes his entrance, Tazz admits his favorite superhero as a child was Ricky Ravioli and Michael Cole calls him an idiot. Hurricane hip tosses Jamie into the ring to start the match and unloads with offense, California rolls under a clothesline attempt and pokes Jamie in the eye.  Hurricane ties Noble in the tree of woe and stands on his package....ouch. Hurricane calls for the chokeslam but Jamie counters it and runs into a superkick. Noble rolls outside but Hurricane goes upstairs and hits a flying bodypress from the top rope to Noble on the floor. Hurricane rolls Noble back in and Nidia comes from out of nowhere and kisses Hurricane, causing him to say "WAZZUPWITDAT!" Hurricane chases Nidia in the ring and runs into a clothesline from Noble. Jamie hits a snap suplex and covers for a 2 count as Tazz and Cole discuss Australian Football. Noble hits a snapmare and locks in a surfboard before Hurricane powers out of it but runs into a back suplex. Noble walks over and kisses Nidia but Hurricane counters with a small package for 2. Tazz "Every time I hear the words small package I think of you Cole" Hurricane hits a body press and goes for a victory roll but Noble falls backwards with an electric chair, crashing Hurricane to the canvas. Cole hypes up the bra and panties match as Noble chokes Hurricane on the bottom rope. Jamie distracts the ref and Nidia chokes Hurricane down before Noble catches him in a sleeper. Hurricane does the fade then revive routine as Tazz says referee Jimmy Korderas usually refs matches like a jackass. Hurricane hits a sleeper of his own before Noble switches out of it and runs into a spinning head scissors. Hurricane goes back on offense and hits a running neckbreaker for 1...2. NOOOO. Noble charges but eats boot and Hurricane hits the blockbuster for 1....2..NOOOO, just in time Noble got the shoulder up. Hurricane calls for the finisher but Noble slides under him and hits a t-bone Tazz plex. Sick spot...the cover gets 1...2...nope, kicked out just in time. Noble goes for the tiger bomb but Hurricane reverses it and hits his finisher. He covers......1....2...wow, Noble just gets the shoulder up as Nidia screams. Hurricane goes for the un-prettier (wtf?) but Noble gets out of it and hits Northern Lights for 1...2, nope. Hurricane takes a breather in the corner, but moves as Jamie charges and Noble goes shoulder first into the ringpost. Both of them go upstairs and Hurricane hits a swinging neckbreaker from off the top.....ouch. Hurricaine slowly covers for a long 2 count and calls for the chokeslam, but Nidia distracts him long enough for Noble to sneak up behind, hit a backslide with the feet on the ropes for 1....2....three, Noble retains the title in a great match. Nidia grabs the belt and hits the ring to revive Noble but Hurricane cuts her off and stands on the belt. Nidia hits on him but Hurricane comes to his senses and calls for the chokeslam, then gets out of the way of a charging Noble and he crashes into Nidia. Hurricane hits the chokeslam on Noble, poses with the belt and spanks Nidia before leaving the ring. Its a shame we had to wait 4 years before Hurricane could just be himself and put on 5 star matches like this one without the goofy gimmick.


Time of match: 8:45

Winner: Jamie Noble by pinfall (still Crusierweight champ)


 The next segment is Lance Storm, Christian and Kurt Angle getting rides from a local motorcycle gang, throwing boomerangs and hitting up the zoo. Christian is somehow able to throw the boomerang in a straight line and Angle has a blast making fun of him for it. Later on Kurt admits he's never seen a giraffe before as Lance has camera duty. Kurt steps on a scale and is shocked to see the number but then notices Lance's foot on it. Christian tries to feed a kangaroo some leaves and it runs away and Christian has this hilarious look in his face. You can hate Lance, Kurt and Christian for their in-ring characters but seeing them act sympathetic toward animals to me is special because it shows they are human beings with hearts. Kurt said it best "There's a time to be tough, and time to let your soft side out" Well now its time to get tough because its on to the tag team title match.


Match 3

Billy Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr vs The Un-Americans (Lance Storm and Christian) for the WWE Tag Team Championship

  It is the ppv debut of the legendary Rey Mysterio Jr, one of the greatest and fastest cruiserweights finally is here and he gets a huge ovation from the crowd. Remember one of WCW's last stops before dying in 2000 was Australia and they did huge numbers over there, so no doubt they remember Rey, Kidman and Lance Storm. As the heels make their entrance Cole talks about Lance, Christian and Angle being in marsupial heaven and Tazz says "What the HELL is a marsupial?" The cruiserweights get a huge ovation from the crowd as Cole says Mysterio owns over 75 masks...wouldn't doubt it. Lance and Kidman do a nice chain wrestling sequence including a flying snap mare by Kidman followed by head scissors and a dropkick. Lance hits a jawbreaker and tags in Christian as some guy walks across the screen with a huge FOLEY IS GOOD sign. Lance and Christian double team but they're both clotheslined by Kidman who tags out to Mysterio. Rey goes up to and hits a hurracurrana on Christian and a springboard bulldog. Christian gets the upper hand with boots in the corner before Rey goes back up top and is thrown to the floor by Christian. Storm takes advantage and tosses him back inside as Tazz says there's no Stacker 2 in Australia. Christian puts the boots to Rey as the Un-Americans make frequent tags and hit a huge hot-shot on Mysterio. Christian clubs away at the back of Mysterio's head as Michael Cole stirs the pot by saying it was Tazz's fault Christian wasn't hired by ECW way back in 97 and Tazz points the finger at Heyman. Christian baits Kidman in the ring as Storm chokes Mysterio down, and then Christian locks in a rest hold. Mysterio powers out of it and hits a springboard dropkick from the second rope. Christian grabs Mysterio by the boot to prevent him from tagging out but gets caught with an enziguiri. Rey crawls over but Storm intervenes and knocks Kidman off the apron allowing Christian to drag Rey into the corner. Lance hot-tags and flapjacks Rey 6 feet into the air and locks in an arm-bar. Rey powers out of it so Lance goes for a german suplex which Rey lands on his feet. Rey hits a spinning heel kick and tags in Kidman, who proceeds to clean house. Kidman rolls through a back suplex and bulldogs Lance and covers for 1..2...nope. Billy hits the sit-down powerbomb but Christian grabs a tag title belt and runs into the ring. Kidman cuts him off and clotheslines him down but turns around into a superkick by Lance Storm. Lance covers.....1....2....noooooo, Mysterio breaks it up with a dropkick. Christian hoists Rey on his shoulder and Lance goes upstairs for a Doomsday Device but Kidman crotches Storm with a dropkick. Rey kicks Christian onto the second rope and calls for the 6-1-9 and hits it. Rey runs into Kidman who launches him into Lance and hits a hurracarrana. They drag Lance into their corner and Kidman goes upstairs for the 7 Year Itch as Mysterio poses for the crowd. Kidman hits the Itch and covers for 1....2...NOOOOOO, Christian pulled the ref out of the ring. Kidman responds with a baseball slide and launches Mysterio into an asai moonsault down across Christian....great spot. Lance Storm crawls over, grabs the tag belt and waffles Kidman with it and covers for 1.....2....3 to win the match. The winners hardly look like it as Kidman and Mysterio had all the momentum going, and this was just the beginning of Mysterio Jr's run in WWE.


Time of match: 8:42

Winners:  The Un-Americans by pinfall (Still tag team champions)

    
The next segment is Edge, Billy Kidman and Torrie Wilson hitting up the city. Kidman admits he's not much of a shopper and they lose Torrie in Queen Victoria's Market for a bit causing Billy to scoff at her to Edge's delight. Billy and Edge walk by a bunch of trash bags and Kidman says "These are all her bags here, all the stuff she's bought!" Billy and Torrie are actually married in real life so I guess its ok to jab at each other. Edge stops to check out a black Elvis impersonator....hahaha. Kidman, Torrie and Edge proceed to have the biggest pieces of cake and pie I have ever seen. How are Americans such fat asses when Aussies have those monstrosities? On to the next match before I get hungry.


Match 4

Chris Jericho vs Edge

    This inter-promotional match takes place because Jericho jumped to Raw and Edge wants one last shot at him. Edge comes out with a video camera and records the 56,000 strong in attendance. Tazz says Edge is wearing Smackdown colors while Y2J is wearing Raw colors....which is true, Jericho has red tights and Edge has blue. Jericho grabs the mic and cuts a whiny heel promo saying he's king of the world and has no idea what a wanker is. Edge just stands there as Jericho says Australia sucks and so does Edge....then Edge catches him with right hands. Jericho slides under the rope and gets chased back inside by Edge and runs into a forearm. Edge hits a flapjack and mount punches before Y2J gets a thumb to the eye. Jericho gets tied up on the tope rope Andre the Giant style and Edge hits the spear and a spinning heel kick. The cover gets 1...2..nope. Jericho bearhugs Brian Hebner to distract Edge long enough to droptoe hold him into the corner. Jericho hits a clothesline and stomps away before doing the hand to the ear taunt, then chokes him on the second rope. Jericho jumps on him and hits the ali shuffle then hits an elbow to the sternum. Cole says NYC cabs stink while Melbourne ones are very clean as Jericho hits a back suplex on Edge. Tazz scoffs at Cole's comment since he's from Brooklyn as Jericho locks in a surfboard. Cole "The drivers are very hospitable" Tazz "The drivers are what, they spit on ya?" Edge powers out of it and hits a running roll up for a 2 count before Jericho hits another clothesline. Y2J hits a delayed suplex as Cole once again hypes up the bra and panties match. Jericho exposes the steel turnbuckle and Edge rolls him up, but Hebner's too busy putting the turnbuckle back on to count the pinfall attempt. Jericho hits a standing dropkick and an abdominal stretch, then uses the rope for leverage IRS style. Hebner notices Jericho grabbing the rope and kicks the arm off, allowing Edge to hiptoss Y2J. Jericho hits a clothesline and chokes Edge on the second rope and goes for a second jump/shuffle attempt but this time Edge rolls out of the way. Edge rallies on offense with clotheslines and a face buster for 1...2...nope. Jericho flips over Edge in the corner and charges right into snake eyes. Edge goes upstairs but Jericho chops him and goes for the superplex, but Edge turns it into a sit-down facebuster from off the top rope. Edge covers for 1...2...noooooo, Jericho gets the shoulder up. Edge goes for a flying forearm but nails Brian Hebner when Jericho moves out of the way. Y2J hits the headlock takedown and goes outside, shoves ring announcer Tony Chimel out of the way and grabs a chair. Tazz "Hit Chimel while you're at it!" Jericho goes to hit Edge but runs into a spear, but Hebner's out so there's no cover. Edge goes for another spear but Jericho leaps over it and hits the running facebuster. Jericho misses the lionsault and Edge hits yet another spear. Hebner comes over for 1....2...NOOOO, barely gets the shoulder up. Jericho picks the chair up and hits Edge in the throat then hits the lionsault for 1...2....NOOOOO, wow Edge kicked out. Jericho slaps at Hebner then tries a frankensteiner but Edge catches him and slingshots Chris into the second rope. Edge hits edge-o-matic and covers for a long 2 count. Jericho reverses the Edgecution and goes for Walls of Jericho, but Edge turns it into a cradle like Cena did at Vengeance for 1....2..THREE. Wow, talk about deja-vu, 2 ppv's in a row Jericho's been cradled out of the Walls of Jericho. Jericho shoves over the steel steps, whacks the ringpost with a steel chair and heaves a plastic chair into the ring as Edge watches the whole tantrum. Edge sets the plastic chair up and sits in it and watches Y2J leave. Edge then leaves the ring and climbs halfway up the metal pillars that holds the roof up to celebrate. Again, good match and these two won't meet again until the Royal Rumble with Jericho headed to Raw.


Time of Match   14:59

Winner: Edge by pinfall

   The next segment is Fan Frenzy, where they show the fans chilling with the wrestlers. Mark Henry is shown winning 19 straight Smackdown: Just Bring It matches and Stacey Keibler posing with about a hundred people. They even have a Make Test Laugh contest which ends with the whitest Australian you'll ever see imitating Booker T causing Test to howl with laughter.


Match 5

Stacy Keibler vs Torrie Wilson (Bra and Panties match)

 You know, these two "divas" have been around the business for three years at this point and they still stink up the ring every time. But fear not.....we got VAL VENIS as the special guest ring announcer so maybe we can salvage this one. Tazz says his great-grandfather invented disco with Led Zeppelin before Val's promo starts. In this epic speech, he talks about being an expert on "going down under" before introducing Stacy Keibler. Val introduces Torrie Wilson saying he'd like to get it on to the brink of dawn (his words not mine) with Torrrie before introducing her. I don't want to ruin the ending for anyone, but Torrie is wearing red leather pants and a shirt while Stacy is wearing a short black skirt and a tanktop, which wardrobe you think would be easier to rip off someone? Stacy shakes the refs hand and goes for Torrie's but then slaps her across the face to start the contest. Stacy hits a scoop slam which Torrie lands on her side instead of her back as Tazz asks why Michael Cole is checking out Torrie's elbow when there are better things to look at. Stacy whips Torrie off and hits another slam before applying a side headlock. Stacy grabs Torrie by the hair and takes her down, but Torrie counters with a hiptoss. Torrie hits a series of clotheslines and tries to rip Stacy's clothes off but fails. Stacy tries to boot Torrie in the mid-section and her foot comes nowhere close and Torrie sells it anyway....ugh. Stacy swings and misses as Torrie hits a series of chops before Stacy hits a hotshot on the top rope. Stacy manages to get Torrie's shirt off and waves it around to the crowd before Torrie yanks her down by the hair. Torrie yanks Stacys tanktop off and Stacy leapfrogs over the top rope to the apron. Stacy snaps Torrie off the top rope but Torrie hits a baseball slaide to quel the momentum. Back inside Torrie hits an actually decent snap suplex then goes to remove Stacy's skirt, but Stacy victory rolls through it and tries to pull Torrie's pants down. Torrie hits a schoolgirl and from the camera angle I'm watching on the DVD, it looks like she's shoving her whole hand up Stacy's ass....she's really not doing that, but still that's disturbing. Stacy swings and misses again and Torrie takes her down, they proceed to roll around over the ref as Tazz scoffs "That's the most action he's had in a month!" The ref gets up and smiles from ear to ear as Tazz calls him a sick pervert and Stacy looks at him funny. Torrie comes from behind and pulls the ref's pants down exposing his red underwear.....ewwwwwww I'm gonna hurl. As the ladies share a laugh at the ref's expense NIDIA comes from out of nowhere and attacks Torrie. She and Stacy doubleteam before Torrie double clotheslines them both. Torrie hits a nice swinging neckbreaker on Nidia and pulls her jean shorts down and off....ok I feel better now. Torrie throws the shorts over the top rope and Nidia races to get them like a dog playing fetch. Stacy hits another one of her boots to nothing (aiming for the midsection again) but Torrie counters by slingshotting her into the corner. Torrie rolls her up and removes the skirt exposing the Paul Stanley Special (black lace panties) to win the match. Val Venis calls Torrie a laundry list of compliments in his announcing of the winner as she spanks Stacy out of the ring. As a straight male fan, the match would have been perfect if they didn't pull the ref's pants down in the middle of it. If Val Venis was the ref, then maybe the female fans would have the big O but not this guy. This was the drawback to having "divas" that could barely work, either have bad matches or this kind of crap.


Time of Match: 4:43

Winner: Torrie Wilson

   The next segment is highlights from the Challenge Charity Dinner held for cancer victims.  Remember the auction from Insurrexion I covered on that review, same thing here only difference is its for people in Australia. Anyway on to the main event.


Match 6

Triple H vs Brock Lesnar (with Paul Heyman) vs The Rock in a No-DQ match for the WWE Championship

  For a once in a generation ppv, they sure had the home run shot. The three biggest names in the business at the time are gonna get it on for the big one in front of 56,000 people. As great as the match sounds it kind of takes away from the main event of Summerslam but since they barely mentioned this event on Smackdown and WWE Magazine I guess its all good. All three get huge pops for entrances and I begin to think if this would be a landmark event. Bell rings and the three men stare down as Michael Cole says how Lesnar put Hulk Hogan out of action 3 weeks earlier on Smackdown. Hulk was actually gone for pretty much 6 months because he didn't show up on Smackdown again until the end of January....not that I was complaining. Rock and Lesnar shout at each other than trade blows as HHH looks on. Rock then punches Brock into HHH and they do the "one man pinball" routine where they punch the man in the middle a bunch of times. Rock and HHH team up and hit a double back elbow smash as Michael Cole says if Brock wins the match he'll be the youngest WWE Champion of all time. Rock and Trips double clotheslines Lesnar out of the ring as HHH then nails Rock with a clothesline. HHH works over The Rock in the corner before Rock catches him with a clothesline. Rock hiptosses Brock back in the ring and fires away in the corner. Rock turns his attention to HHH which allows Lesnar to assault Rock in the corner. Brock hits shoulderblocks in the corner before HHH takes over and blasts away at the champion. Brock and Triple H measure The Rock and take turns punching him down before Rock runs into a knee to the facebuster by HHH followed by a clothesline by Lesnar. HHH covers and Rock kicks out as Lesnar never moved....what was he thinking? Cole and Tazz call Brock on his mental lapse as Brock and HHH continue to work over Rock together. Rock rallies with right hands but they miss a double clothesline so Rock knocks them both to the ground. Rock whips Lesnar who runs over HHH with a clothesline before getting nailed with fists by Rock. HHH rolls out on the apron as Rock backdrops Brock over the top rope to the floor. Rock slides out and throws Brock into the time-keeper's area before Paul Heyman sneaks over and hops up and down behind The Rock and then screams when Rock turns around, now that was funny. Rock chases Heyman around the ring before HHH strikes like a viper with a clothesline. HHH drops Rock sternum first into the barricade then snaps Lesnar off the top rope. HHH back inside beats Lesnar down in the corner as the ref counts...why? I thought this was supposed to be No-DQ or did Cole screw up the billing again? Lesnar hits a running shoulderblock on HHH in the corner before hitting more of them in the corner. Lesnar calls for another running shoulderblock but HHH catches him with a high knee before sending him into The Rock who rams Lesnar head first into the turnbuckle. Rock hits his hand to the air punch that nearly sends Brock over the top rope to the floor and calls for the rock bottom, but HHH sneaks begind and hits a neckbreaker for a 2 count. Lesnar swings and misses and HHH hits the spinebuster then covers for 1...2...nope, near fall. Lesnar hits a swinging neckbreaker but Lesnar breaks up the pinfall attempt. Lesnar goes for the F-5 but HHH blocks it, then goes for the pedigree on Lesnar but Brock backdrops out of it. Lesnar blocks the rock bottom and clotheslines HHH over the top and out. Lesnar hits a BtB suplex and throws HHH into the ringpost. Lesnar continues to dissect The Rock and hits a bear hug as Tazz says this was the move that ended Hulkamania. HHH is on the ground outside busted wide open as Lesnar continues to wear down Rock...until Rock does the fade then revive routine. Rock powers out of it and runs right into the F-5...noooo, Rock lands on his feet to counter the attempt with a clothesline and a DDT. Rock covers for 1...2....negative, Lesnar got a shoulder up. Rock takes Brock down and locks in the sharpshooter as Michael Cole brings up how Rock was apart of the national champion Miami Hurricanes while Brock won a national championship in wrestling for Minnesota. After a while HHH staggers in and clotheslines Rock off of Lesnar. HHH hits the pedigree on The Rock and covers for 1..2....nooooo, Lesnar breaks up the count. Lesnar picks up HHH and hits the F-5 to HHH and covers for 1...2...THR...NOOOO Rock breaks up the count. Lesnar reels Rock into the ropes wiht right hands before Rock counters with a spinebuster, followed by THE...PEOPLE'S...ELBOW. Rock covers for a loooong 2 count as Heyman hops up onto the apron to taunt Rock. Rock drops Heyman off the apron with a right hand then turns around into an F-5 by Lesnar but HHH breaks up the count. HHH hits the pedigree on Lesnar an covers for 1....2..NOOOOOOO, woah Lesnar kicked out of the finisher of finishers. HHH is shocked and complains to the ref but turns around into a rock bottom. Rock covers for 1....2..THREEE Rock retains the title. Guess Summerslam's main event is safe in a decent match. This was the first time HHH and Lesnar locked up and it would also be the last for something would happen after Summerslam that would help define the "brands".

Time of Match:  14:31
Winner: The Rock by pinfall (Still WWE Champion)


    That about wraps up the Global Warning Tour....its been 20 years since then and I doubt they'd be able to draw 55,000 nowadays unless Rhea Ripley was in the main event. As for this DVD it wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst. It had absolutely nothing to do with Summerslam and has no importance at all but its nice to see the wrestlers be themselves on camera and not in character all the time. I was going to review the bonus matches from 1986 but in all fairness those old school matches damn near put me to sleep so I curtailed halfway through the first one. I give it 2 stars out of 5 because there's really nothing noteworthy about it and buy only if you want to complete a collection. I view this as basically another Insurrexion/Rebellion where they had to give the overseas fans just enough to keep them interested but not enough to rip off the American fans all set to order Summerslam. Still the highlight has to be the white guy imitating Booker T, I'm still laughing at that.