NXT
Date: December 7, 2021
Location: Capitol Wrestling Center, Orlando, Florida
Commentators: Vic Joseph, Wade Barrett
We’re done with WarGames and all signs would seem to point to Bron Breakker getting the rematch for the NXT Title at New Year’s Evil. That should be the big title change, but there is still some time to fill on the way there. We’ll start with this week’s show, which will include the reveal of MSK’s Shaman. Let’s get to it.
The SmarK Rant for Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents Ringmasters: The Great American Bash 85
Now there’s a mouthful of a title.
This is the companion video to the Lords of the Ring video I reviewed the other day, as PWI’s deal with Jim Crockett also got them a one hour edited version of the 1985 Great American Bash tour show from July 6, which has been saved by the hard working people at Archive.org.
VESTRON VIDEO, BABY! Sign of quality in cheesy action and horror movies the world over.
Monday Night Raw
Date: December 6, 2021
Location: FedExForum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton
It’s a double main event week as have not just a title match but also a steel cage match to go with it. First up, Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch will defend her title against Liv Morgan in a match that has been treated as a big deal. Then Big E. will face Kevin Owens in a cage, which should be a heck of a spectacle. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: July 9, 2007
Location: Cajundome, Lafayette, Louisiana
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We are less than two weeks away from the Great American Bash and the big main event is set. WWE Champion John Cena will be defending the title against Bobby Lashley in a match that has to have Vince McMahon drooling. There are two shows left to build up to the show and that can be the important times on the way there. Let’s get to it.
Gene Okerlund says that he will be substituting for Gorilla Monsoon on tonight’s telecast and Bobby Heenan is AWOL for unknown reasons.
Welcome once again to another ROH Wednesday!
We’ve got some big matches on part two of this show, with part one mostly being made up of Field of Honour matches and a Scramble (Plus one big match that you’ll know when you see it), so there should be plenty of good action on both sides of the intermission.
Pandemonium is indeed breaking loose, wrestling fans, particularly in that e-mail thread about CM Punk and The Miz. Holy mackerel, are some of our regular posters all bent outta shape!
On this day in 1989 we lost one of the original behemoths of professional wrestling, William ‘Haystacks’ Calhoun. A tremendous attraction throughout his illustrious career, ‘Haystacks’ once captured WWWF Tag-Team gold, joining forces with Tony Garea to defeat Prof. Toru Tanaka and ‘The Devious One’ Mr. Fuji in 1973. Take a look at the big man in action, as he clashed with ‘Nature Boy’ Buddy Rogers in a sold-out Chicago International Ampitheatre in 1961. I think it’s safe to say that Haystacks competed in some of the earliest matches on record where the ring had to be reinforced.
Why doesn't Vince just let HHH talk openly and candidly about his health issues, maybe retirement, on RAW or Smackdown? Let's hear Vince or Nick Khan or John Laurinaitis talk about the mass releases, trying to defend their measures (if possible). Let's hear about the workers' real life past, heroic or tragic stories (Zelina and her father, Montez' past etc), instead of more pyro, more make-up and more childish costumes and gimmicks. Why not try?
Happy Tuesday Everyone!
Everton finally won a football match. I fully expect to see pigs fly past the window at work today as a result. Hopefully this now leads to us getting some more wins and finishing comfortably far away from the relegation scrap.
Taped from Las Vegas, NV
Airdate: December 25, 1986
Attendance: 3,500
Hosted by Rod Trongard & Dick Jonckowski
Can the Midnight Rockers deal Rose and Somers some comeuppance? Will Hennig dethrone Bockwinkel on his second opportunity? How will Snuka exact revenge against DeBeers? Open the door and go inside to find out!
Howdy Blog O’Doomers!
I hope everyone is well and had a great weekend. I am particularly happy now that the Christmas trees are up and the house feels a little more festive.
We’ve got a snowy, windy Bills-Patriots game on tap so that should be a lot of fun. RAW could be interesting tonight depending on how they do Becky vs. Liv. There’s actually a chance here to give Liv a star push. She seems to meet the vanity parameters of Big Johnny and Brother Love, but also seems to have won over the wrestling crowd with her general love for what she does and desire to do it better. I don’t expect Liv to win, but it would be nice if she looked good and looked like a real threat. We’ll see if they can pull it off.
AEW is streaming away. There’s some NHL and NBA tonight.
Keep it Clean
Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary, still broadcasting from Springfield, Massachusetts. Heenan continues to pile the insults on the Big Bossman’s mother, saying that she needs a “tune up.”
JWP TV (Nov. 11th):
* Hey look! Some random JWP show from Nov. 11th! Slotted right after the huge AJW stuff, and including a random 3WA Title Defense by Dynamite Kansai against AJW’s Takako Inoue, and one of those “Okay, let’s go all-out and show off what we can do” amazing Joshi-Pace Trios matches!
KANAKO MOTOYA vs. TOMOKO MIYAGUCHI:
* Rookie Mayhem with AJW-tier Rookie Swimsuits! Motoya’s in black & pink, and Tomoko’s in one of those “Ellesse” suits in black & red. Motoya obviously quit early- she has no Cagematch profile- while Tomoko became supporting player “Ran Yu-Yu”.
Tomoko hits a good back elbow while Motoya does rookie bridge-outs and dropkicks, then adds some relish in various holds. They fight over a wristlock for a while, actually doing a good job of looking like they’re fighting to get their moves in. And then there’s this great bit where they both get hot and just start punching each other in the face, Motoya finally bringing Tomoko down with a 2nd-rope dropkick. But Tomoko tosses her off the top and spams running face kicks- “Fuck YOU!” bridge from Motoya! Tomoko does the “JB Angels” bridge out of a slam pin and backslides her for two, but Motoya spams running kicks of her own and hits a missile dropkick, only to fly off onto Tomoko’s knees, and shoulderblock spam & a flying splash gets a close two. Motoya gets a rollup, but ends up on Tomoko’s shoulders for an airplane spin into a Samoan drop… for the pin (12:22)!
Wow, actually very good for rookies! Neither had any experience yet they showed real emotion (screaming and getting aggressive), knew how to upgrade their spots over time, and even busted out a unique move for the ending. Great work for young kids.
Rating: **1/4 (a miracle for green rookies)
Happy Monday Everyone!
Typical Dolphins. Lose 7 and then actually start winning long past the point it could do any good. No wonder they used to make Hootie cry
The SmarK Rant for WWE NXT 2.0 – 12.05.21
“WarGames”
Live from Orlando, FL, and EXCLUSIVELY streaming on Peacock! And PPV. And the WWE Network. And Sportsnet 360 for free in Canada, which is where I’m watching it tonight.
But otherwise, EXCLUSIVELY on Peacock!
Your hosts are Wade Barrett, Vic Joseph and Beth Phoenix, doing her last broadcast for NXT 2.0. I know, I’m broken up too.
I’m kind of impressed they managed to squeeze two rings and a cage into that garage of an arena, actually.
