Monday Night Raw – October 15, 2018

Monday Night Raw
Date: October 15, 2018
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Renee Young

We’re two and a half weeks away from Crown Jewel from…..wherever WWE wants to announce it from being at the moment. Tonight we have more World Cup qualifying matches, which seems to be the main force of the entire show. Other than that, expect the tall old guys to talk about the smaller old guys. Let’s get to it.

Read moreMonday Night Raw – October 15, 2018

Monday Night Open Mic

Howdy Blog O’Doomers!

I hope everyone had a great weekend and have enjoyed a good start to the week. The big WWE related news is an SI report on how some of the talent isn’t too keen on performing in a country where the government just ordered the death of a reporter via torture through a bone saw…allegedly.

For the most part I’d be shocked if something changed. The blood money has probably already changed hands, the tickets have been sold and the women have been assigned their caves to hide in. But there’s a chance they could change locations or some talent with real cache to make HHH or Vince think twice will refuse to participate.

Anyway it’s fun to speculate and see how what they will focus their build on tonight. If it’s heavy on Evolution and Survivor Series (remember that show?) than there might be something to it. If it’s nothing both DX, Undertaker and Kane videos than it’s business as usual.

We’ve got some football with the Packers and 49ers on ESPN and Game 3 of the NLCS on Fox Sports 1. Four NHL games are on tap as well. Beyond that we’ve got The Voice, Arrow, Dancing with the Stars and all kinds of fun stuff.

Clubber Lang





So according to Rocky canon Ivan Drago did win the Heavyweight title and retire undefeated, (as a pro. His match with Rocky was, of course, an exhibition,) but whatever happened to Clubber Lang? As champion wouldn't he have been entitled to a rematch and wouldn't
the Rocky/Clubber rubber match have made all the millions?


For that matter what about Tommy "the machine" Gunn? I mean  he was still champion even though Rocky beat him up.

Tommy Gunn was the Billy Gunn of the boxing world.  They probably stripped him of the title after the movie.  
As for Clubber, I can only imagine that he immediately retired and became a motivational speaker.  

Bound For Glory 2018

Bound For Glory 2018
Date: October 14, 2018
Location: Melrose Ballroom, New York City, New York
Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

It’s the biggest night of the year and the card is looking pretty good this time around. The main event is fairly lackluster with Johnny Impact challenging Austin Aries for the World Title, but the better built match is LAX vs. the OGz, in a match that could go either way. You never can tell with this company though so let’s get to it.

Read moreBound For Glory 2018

Vince for HOF Class of 2019


You said there’s no real runaway option to headline next year’s Hall of Fame, but – with the show being in New York – wouldn’t it be the perfect year to induct Vince McMahon?

He’d probably never go for it, but maybe HHH and Stephanie could just announce it on Raw without telling him and then he has to do it.

Gotta be better than trusting Sid to be the headliner and risking him bailing for an April softball game, right?

They could always induct the Saudi prince.  I hear they’re very progressive now. 

Shot to the Crown Jewels?

l
So, as I write this, Saudi officials are preparing to acknowledge that they did murd- um, I mean, accidentally interrogate a dissident journalist to death and then lie about him leaving their consulate alive to the world.  So, yeah…is this admission enough to force Vince’s hand, or is the specter of a breached contract and, more so, all that oil money, just too damn much for him to cut bait when he should know better?

At this point he’s fucked either way. Really it’s a deal where $500 million is just too much to give up. As Dave noted this morning, if they survived Benoit they will survive this.  

80’s Wrasslin’

Hey Scott!

I have been itchin’ for some classic 80’s wrasslin’ & I with the wwe network I have plenty to pick from. What would your recommendation be? Mid-South, Mid-Atlantic, GWF, WCCW etc. 

Bonus Question: What’s the deal with Smokey Mountain Wrestling on the network? There are only a few episodes available, does WWE own the whole library or does Jim Cornett own the rest? Will we ever see the whole run on the network? 

Vince owns the complete SMW library and I'm sure we'll see it someday, but it's not exactly content that people are clamoring for as a feature release on the Network.  We still don't even have the full run of Prime Time or Heat, for example.  

Anyway, for 80s wrestling, you can't go wrong with World Championship Wrestling from 1985 onwards.  Great angles, tons of Four Horsemen and Road Warriors promos, and some future stars.  

Was Rikishi always the Plan


To be revealed as the one who ran over Austin? Did they have a plan when they did the run-over angle at SS? Were there any other options for the driver? Or was it just a situation where they just shot the angle and the explanation would be decided later?

The initial plan I've always heard was Billy Gunn but he was variously injured and in Austin's doghouse, so they pulled the plug on the idea and came up with Rikishi instead.  Ultimately though it was always going to lead back to HHH no matter which way it went.  

What If Rikishi


Hey Scott,


Going back to Hit-&-Run Rikishi, do you think the Who Hit Austin angle would've worked out better if Austin had sold for Rikishi at No Mercy?  Most people sh*t on the angle now, but if, instead of "I did it for the Rock," Rikishi completely shed his ass gimmick, went total savage, and Austin didn't totally annihilate him at NM, they might have been able to run with that angle for a while.

Oh yeah, so much about that could have worked better.  I think the whole thing ultimately coming down to “HHH did it” was a twist that might have worked better had they just gone there directly instead of swerving with the Rikishi nonsense, too.  
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WWE World Cup


Do you think the WWE will make the winner of the World Cup into a big deal, i.e.-getting a World or Universal Title shot, or will it be forgotten after it happens like with the Greatest Royal Rumble?  

With any luck EVERYTHING about that show will be forgotten a week later.  

Sunday Night Reset (featuring Bound For Glory)

The big wrestling news is the 14th annual Bound For Glory event.  Here’s your card:

  • Impact Champion Austin Aries vs. Johnny Impact
  • Women’s Champion Tessa Blanchard vs. Taya Valkyrie
  • Sami Callihan and OVE vs. Brian Cage and Lucha Bros in “OVE Rules” Match
  • LAX and Konnan vs. OGz and King in a Concrete Jungle Death Match
  • Eddie Edwards vs. Moose
  • Matt Sydal and Ethan Page vs. Rich Swann and Willie Mack
  • Allie vs. Su Yung
  • Eli Drake vs. TBD

Your Sunday Night NFL game is Kansas City vs. New England.  Game 2 of the ALCS is tonight as well.  Lots of options.

Enjoy the night.

Six of the Best – WWF/E No Mercy

Seeing as we’re now in October, I thought I’d list what I believe to be the six best matches from the traditional October pay per view events of both WWE and WCW. I was considering doing one for ECW Anarchy Rulz as well, but there were only two pay per views with that name before the company went out of business so ECW will have to wait for November before I cover them.

As always, this is just my own personal picks and it isn’t supposed to be some sort of objective list or anything. If I leave out a match that you think warrants inclusion then please feel free to put it down in the comments section below. As with previous lists, I’ll be listing the matches in chronological order.

So without further to do, let’s get to it!

Read moreSix of the Best – WWF/E No Mercy

Konnan

What's up Scott,

Few questions for you. In your hidden gems rant, you mentioned Konnan being so sought after. Why was that? I know I have heard him say in interviews that at 1 point him and Vampiro were like the Hogan's of Mexico which was the premise for all those years of heat they had. Was it true? Also do you think he would of been more motivated and would of been a bigger star had Vince gave him a shot? And last what was the deal that Vince never signed him after WCW folded. I do believe I read somewhere that he met with WWE after that but they got mad he tried to negotiate for Rey Mysterio or something.

Yeah, in the early 90s, K-Dog was a totally different worker, as we saw on the Hidden Gems video.  Not only that, but he looked like a rock star and had the kind of physique that Vince was looking for. That being said, after the Max Moon deal fell through, he had heat with Vince with a LONG time and neither guy is quick to forgive, so I'm not shocked he didn't move over with the WCW guys.  They also turned him down in 2000 when the Radicalz jumped ship, if I remember correctly.  He could have been a cool addition to DX, but probably wasn't worth the trouble anyway.  

Kevin Nash’s WWE Run In 2011

 Hi Scott,
 
  Was Kevin Nash's WWE run in 2011 supposed to have lasted beyond that year?  After the "Sledgehammer Ladder Match" that he lost to HHH at TLC that December, they had the announcers afterwards say that Nash "would be out of action for 6 months" multiple times.  I always found that to be odd, especially if he was not planning on returning.  

I think everyone involved has always said that it was just a finite run for Nash to say goodbye, but I freely admit to not paying that much attention to it at the time.  

HIdden Gems

With all the hidden gems being released on DVD and WWE Network, do you know if WWE has the house show title changes of 1993 filmed and sitting in a vault?  Will we ever see Shawn regaining the IC Title over Marty Jannetty where Diesel debut, or the title switches
between Money Inc and the Steiners?


Even the MOM/Quebecers title changes from 1994?  Those would be cool to see.

The Shawn title win was definitely taped, but no idea if we'll ever see it.  Ditto for Money Inc and the Steiners.  Given the accidental nature of the Quebecers deal, I doubt they had the forethought to tape that one.  One that I'm curious about is the Jarrett-Ramon ladder match title switches in Montreal from 95, though.  Were I betting man, I'd say yes.  

The SmarK Rant for WWF Smackdown–12.02.99

The SmarK Rant for WWF Smackdown – 12.02.99

So here we go with the replacement for Heat here on the blog, as we’ll do 1999 RAW during the week and then Smackdown on Sundays.

Now, to do what I do best and make it about me: I have no recollection of what the TV situation for this show was in Canada, but I definitely was recapping it for someone for the first few episodes. Maybe CBS Sportsline? UPN was definitely available in Canada, if you subscribed to the movie channels or had…other means…which we definitely did in the days before digital cable ruined it for hard-working Mexican electronics exporters the world over. So I probably watched it. But I don’t remember.

Read moreThe SmarK Rant for WWF Smackdown–12.02.99

ECW on Sci-Fi 09/16/2008 #119

Matt Hardy vs. Mike Knox

Knox still has welts on his face from last week’s tag match, courtesy of Matt Hardy (I’m pretty sure it was Finlay but it makes for a better story so illallowitmillslane.jpg)

Read moreECW on Sci-Fi 09/16/2008 #119

Judgment Day 2004

Judgment Day 2004
Date: May 16, 2004
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 18,722
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

I guess we have to do this one too. It’s one of the worst built shows I’ve seen in a very long time and that’s not surprising given how horrible Smackdown has been in recent weeks. The main event of Eddie Guerrero defending the World Title against John Bradshaw Layfield is going nowhere and it seems that it’s what we’re going to be seeing for a long time going forward. Let’s get to it.

Read moreJudgment Day 2004