Monday Night Raw
Date: January 23, 2023
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Corey Graves, Kevin Patrick
It’s Raw XXX as the company celebrates thirty years on the air. As usual with the big Raw milestone episodes, we’ll be seeing a bunch of legends for special appearances. In addition, there are two title matches and a cage match so the card is stacked. If that isn’t enough, it’s the go home show for the Royal Rumble so let’s get to it.
Kenny Omega Reunites With Kota Ibushi
Do you ever want to escape the stresses of work by flying to Japan and eating cake and playing video games with an old friend? Well, that’s just what Kenny Omega has done.
Suspended AEW Staff Back For Dynamite
Following the chaos that engulfed All Out and the suspensions that came after, a new report has suggested that one of those suspended by AEW is back at work.
Cash Wheeler Reacts To PWI 500 Omission
AEW star and current AAA, ROH, and IWGP Tag Team Champion Cash Wheeler has reacted after being overlooked for the PWI 500.
Why Logan Paul Refused To Do The Diamond Cutter With DDP
DDP has recalled WWE Superstar Logan Paul’s explanation for refusing to use the famous Diamond Cutter hand gesture for a photo.
Jim Cornette Claims Vince McMahon Didn’t Dismantle NXT Due To AEW Loss
As we approach the one-year anniversary of NXT’s transformation into NXT 2.0, Jim Cornette has addressed why, exactly, he thinks Vince McMahon made the decision to change NXT.
Eric Bischoff Discusses Who Tony Khan Should Lean On For AEW Advice
With Tony Khan clearly struggling to maintain a positive atmosphere within AEW’s backstage environment, Eric Bischoff has discussed who he thinks Khan should go to for advice.
Diamond Dallas Page Surprised Tony Khan Didn’t Sign Returning WWE Star
Diamond Dallas Page has admitted that he was “blown away” that Tony Khan didn’t sign one particular WWE star when they were available.
Many more “Fat Guy Matches” await us today! Read on!
Welcome back to more Dream Matches! The main thing this time is a match I didn’t even realize had happened, as one team formed just as the other one was being split apart- the Natural Disasters against The Rockers!
And this time I have even more on those terrible indie-riffic tag guys, as the Land of Giants actually fight EACH OTHER (in Puerto Rico of all places), while the Puccio twins (“The Undertakers” on last week’s column) wrestle on a WWF House Show as “Double Trouble” against the Steiner Brothers! Then we see a random Saturday Night squash as Mike Enos takes on Mike Tolbert.
Also, a match that helps explains to the youngsters among you just WHY Dallas Page was one of the most hated wrestlers online in the late ’90s. This tends to shock newer fans and those who weren’t around back then, so take a look at a particularly notable match against Psychosis!
THE ROCKERS (Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty) vs. THE NATURAL DISASTERS (Earthquake & Typhoon, w/ Jimmy Hart):
(WWF TV, Oct. 20th 1991)
* It is extremely weird to me that these two teams overlapped- I identify them both so strongly with two different eras- the “Hogan Era” and the post-Hogan doldrums- that this just feels “wrong”. But there was indeed about a four-month period where this could have happened- the Rockers were on their way to splitting, while the Disasters were a fresh heel team set up to fight the Legion of Doom. Ironically, the Rockers, in their bright blue tasseled gear, were a “modern”-looking duo, which is why in retrospect they’re now the most dated-looking guys of the era.
With Tony Schiavone gone, Wrestling Challenge sees an announcing shakeup with Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan now calling the action. They are commentating matches at the end of the taping cycle in San Francisco.
Welcome back to another Dream Matches column! Here, we get one of the most famous bad matches in wrestling history, as WCW sends out terrible rookies Sid Vicious & Bryan Clark on a major national television show! Who can lead the match? NOBODY, as it turns out! And then they bring out a BIG AXE!!
Then we get the bizarre SmackDown! match where Triple-H has to take on Kai En Tai & the Brooklyn Brawler to earn a match against Chris Jericho on the next RAW- it’s semi-famous for the ending, which is kind of a one-time-only thing. Then “The Best of Roadblock” continues as he takes on Diamond Dallas Page in a throwaway match, and we visit PCO during his SECOND run in WCW as he fights Big Vito. And we finalize everything with the FIRST EVER match between the Undertaker and Kane!!! Except it’s in WCW with a green-ass rookie “Unabom” Glen Jacobs an an invading WWF purple-gloved Taker. But it still counts!
The closing moments of Mikey Whipwreck beating the Sandman for the ECW Championship on last week’s show air.
Joey Styles tells viewers that the Sandman is incensed over losing the ECW Championship and has vowed revenge.
If you have not already, do not forget to vote for the Doomies.
–Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan handle studio duties for the last Main Event episode of 1995 to feature new matches.
Dynamite
Date: January 15, 2020
Location: Watsco Center, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Excalibur, Tony Schiavone
It’s the first half of Bash At The Beach, with the second half coming next week from a boat (yes a boat). The big story this week is the fallout from last week with Jon Moxley turning down Chris Jericho’s offer of a spot in the Inner Circle with a champagne bottle. That all but guarantees a title match at Revolution so it’s time to built things up. Let’s get to it.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are taped from Orlando, Florida.
WCW Prime for December 4 featured a few new matches that will be recapped before WCW Pro.
–Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan handle studio duties for today’s show.
–Okerlund talks about a “dark cloud” that lingers over Randy Savage’s world title win at World War 3. Since the company is not building to a Savage-Hulk Hogan match, continually casting Savage’s title win in this fashion is not doing him any favors.
–Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael are calling the action and they are live from Salem, Virginia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 5,000 fans, with 3,000 fans paying for entry.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are calling the matches and they are live from Norfolk, Virginia.
–Gene Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Sting. The crowd gives Hogan a mixed reaction as he talks about how he has not fully embraced the dark side and is going back to his babyface persona. He sheds his black gear, which Sting tosses into a black container that explodes. The problem is that the fire gets to be too much, so Sting has to keep going back to the container to pour water on it or keep down the smoke. WCW technicians are eventually forced to put it out. Savage tells Sting that he is cool with him again as Sting acts like a star-struck teenager. Hogan says that Savage’s arm is not actually hurt and goes into a crazy rant about a “rag sheet” that said the Giant was going to win – the rag sheet in question being a copy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer – and how the Internet has the “real scoops.” The Observer copy is burned as regular fans at home have no idea what Hogan is talking about.
–Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes call today’s action which, according to thehistoryofwwe.com, was taped on October 25 and November 16.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are taped from Orlando, Florida.
–Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes call this evening’s action, taped from Atlanta, Georgia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these matches took place on October 18 and 25.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are taped from Orlando, Florida. WCW Pro got a great new set but Worldwide must be the neglected child because their presentation looks incredibly outdated relative to the other shows.
–Colonel Robert Parker hypes his new tag team: the Super Assassins. He puts over the fact that they weigh over three hundred pounds.
–Gene Okerlund and Tony Schiavone are doing the studio work for this show. They recap how the WCW title was held up on Monday Nitro.
–Okerlund and Schiavone discuss the recent difficulties of Paul Orndorff.
–Eric Bischoff, Bobby Heenan, and Steve McMichael are doing commentary and they are live from Jacksonville, Florida. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew 9,500 fans, with 3,500 paying for entry.
–Tonight’s show is an interactive telecast where fans can call 1-900-370-3WCW and pay 99 cents to pick a wrestler from the “red locker room” that has Ric Flair, Meng, Diamond Dallas Page, the Blue Bloods, Big Bubba Rogers, the Shark, and Scott Norton to face a wrestler from the “blue locker room” that has Sting, Johnny B. Badd, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Dave Sullivan, Alex Wright, the Nasty Boys, and Mr. J.L. The Shark and Norton must have patched up their differences since they were fighting each other on the last Nitro.
