NXT
Date: July 8, 2020
Location: Full Sail University, Winter Park, Florida
Commentators: Mauro Ranallo, Tom Phillips, Beth Phoenix
We wrap up the Great American Bash tonight with the second of two shows. This time around it’s a big one, as NXT Champion Adam Cole faces North American Champion Keith Lee in a title for title match. That could go either way and may be the biggest match NXT TV has ever seen. Let’s get to it.
BUT FIRST! A personal plug for my friend Tony (not Khan, sorry), who has an amazing Milky Way panoramic shot entered into the SkyNews 2020 photo competition and needs votes.
The SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 07.08.20 (Fyter Fest Night 2)
Taped from Jacksonville, FL
Your hosts are Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone & Excalibur
Read moreThe SmarK Rant for AEW Dynamite – 07.08.20 (Fyter Fest Night 2)
Dynamite
Date: July 8, 2020
Location: Daily’s Place, Jacksonville, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone, Excalibur
It’s the second night of Fyter Fest and that means we could be in for a big show. The card is certainly stacked but I’m curious to see how they handle the lack of the World Title match in the main event. Instead of Jon Moxley defending the title against Brian Cage, we will be seeing Chris Jericho vs. Orange Cassidy in a grudge match. Let’s get to it.
TONIGHT! It’s part 2 of Fyter Fest vs Great American Bash!
RAW did absurdly low ratings on Monday. 1.6 million? How is that even possible? Pretty soon it’s gonna be a race to tie NXT’s numbers.
Vote Kanye 2020! He can’t be any worse than Trump.
Monday Night Raw
Date: February 6, 2006
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 10,000
Commentators: Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman, Joey Styles
We’re on the Road to Wrestlemania and now it’s time to start getting ready, as there is no Raw pay per view for February. That could mean more than a few different ways to go, but with the title back on John Cena, we need a new challenger and that process can start sooner or later. Let’s get to it.
Howdy!
We’re down to eight! Tonight, we set up the semifinals with:
Tomohiro Ishii vs Hiromu Takahashi – left bracket
Kazuchika Okada vs Taiji Ishimori – left bracket
SANADA vs Taichi – right bracket
EVIL vs YOSHI-HASHI – right bracket
We draw ever closer to the Finals to see who will get the shot at Naito at Dominion!
Let’s watch some wrestling, shall we?
Chip Kessler and Les Thatcher do commentary, with the show still originating from Warrensville, North Carolina.
Thatcher interviews the Gangstas, D’Lo Brown, and Killer Kyle. New Jack runs down all the forces that have been brought to Smoky Mountain to take them down. He says he looks forward to Jim Cornette losing $50,000 when the Gangstas beat Bob Armstrong and Terry Funk at Volunteer Slam.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: Smoky Mountain TV – May 13, 1995
Hello You!
Time for some more ECW, as we are 8 days out from Heatwave 2000 in Los Angeles
Last week we had some good matches up and down the show, with a strong Steve Corino Vs Kid Kash Main Event. The bar has certainly been raised for this week now!
Let’s see what ECW has in store for us as we watch some chuffing wrestling!
March 26, 1995
From the Stockton Memorial Auditorium in Stockton, CA. This was part of the “Monday Night RAW” tapings.
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jim Ross.
The SmarK Rant for NWA WrestleWar 89 – Music City Showdown (05.07.89)
Man, I didn’t even realize it had been so long since I reviewed this one. 22 years and counting! But hey, I’m enjoying this trip back to 1989 so might as well redo this one and then finish off the year with Starrcade later this week.
Read moreThe SmarK Rant for NWA WrestleWar 89 – Music City Showdown (05.07.89)
1. First off – looking at the talent on the Bash 89 card (Flair, Steamboat, Sting, Luger, Funk, Muta, and so on) how was this time period not hugely successful from a financial standpoint? The talent level is amazing and the bash 89 crowd is red hot. Plus you’ve got that amazing show closing angle and a combination of top guys that I mentioned above that you could have gotten amazing main events out of for months. Shouldn’t business have been booming?
2. Sid Vicious. Like you mentioned in your rant he’s got the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. Should they have strapped the rocket to Sid and pushed him to the top? Was he a victim of bad booking? Did he just not care enough? What kept Sid from
being huge???
3. Baby face Flair. Like you I love pissed off baby face Flair from this time period. Should they have kept him face for a while or was the turn in early 90 a good idea?
4. The tag teams. The tag division in 89-90 is unbelievable. So much talent and again with the talent involved it feels to me like they could have main event or at least high up on the card matches with different tag team combinations for months or even years. Who would have been your team that you pushed to the top? I’m going with the Midnight Express or the Stieners
5. The Great Muta – what in the world happened??? This guy should have been the guy no doubt in my mind. Was this her another case of poor booking or a lack of motivation on Muta’s part?
At work we have a “Covid self test” that HR gave out, so you can determine if you’re infected or not. Three of the symptoms listed are “trouble waking up, tiredness during the day, confusion”. Well, I guess I’m done for then.
DATELINE: Roman Reigns’ Controversial Royal Rumble Statement
https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/roman-reigns-makes-controversial-statement-royal-rumble/
DATELINE: WWE May Change Some Contracts Due To Coronavirus Hiatuses
https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/coronavirus-may-alter-wwe-contracts/
DATELINE: WWE’s New Ring Announcer Rule
https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/wwe-new-rule-ring-announcers/
It’s time for the Fyter Fest intermezzo!
The PG Era Rant for AEW Dark, July 7, 2020. Keep calm and wrestle on.
From AEW HQ.
Your hosts are Excalibur and Taz.
TWO featured bouts this week! Shawn Spears is facing Brian Pillman Jr., while Dark Order 1 and 2 (Evil Uno/Stu Grayson) face Peter Avalon and Brandon Cutler.
No ratings for RAW yet due to the holiday I’d assume.
Tonight it’s AEW Dark, which will be covered by Andy later.
I got nuthin much going on. Probably back to 1989 again for either WrestleWar or Starrcade tonight.
Have an adequate evening.
Impact Wrestling
Date: June 30, 2020
Location: Skyway Studios, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Josh Matthews, Madison Rayne
The Slammiversary shakeup continues as we need to find another replacement now that Michael Elgin is gone. This comes after World Champion Tessa Blanchard was released from the company, meaning the main event is looking quite a bit different than it did just two weeks ago. We should be getting some updates on what is happening here so let’s get to it.
How on earth are they going to deliver on that stipulation, if at all?
Will we get to see a fake eye getting pulled out?
Is that even PG?
Think this could be a WMOTYC?
The SmarK Rant for Supertowns on the Superstation (02.07.87)
(Oh hi. I was actually going to review this show last night because it was next in the World Championship Wresting queue on the Network, and couldn’t figure out why it was nearly two hours long instead of the usual 1:25 on the Network. And then I remembered I had already done it when it was on WWE 24/7. So here’s my original rant from 2007, and then we’ll get back to the weekly ’87 shows again after that.)
The idea here is that it’s a sampling of matches and interviews from various stops on the NWA’s national tour, and that’s about it.
– Your hosts are Tony & David.
Read moreThe SmarK Rant for World Championship Wrestling – 02.07.87 (Supertowns on the Superstation)