ECW On Sci Fi
Date: December 25, 2007
Hosts: Joey Styles, Tazz
It’s Christmas night and even WWE isn’t crazy enough to try to run a third brand show under those circumstances. Therefore it is a Best Of show, which is all it should be. There have been some good enough moments to fill in such a show and I’m curious to see what is picked. Let’s get to it.
Triple H Confirmed As Head Of WWE Creative
https://itrwrestling.com/news/triple-h-named-head-of-creative/
WWE To Restate Financial Reports After “Unrecorded” Vince McMahon Expenses Emerge
https://itrwrestling.com/news/wwe-restate-financial-reports-vince-mcmahon/
Major Update On Shane McMahon’s WWE Future
https://itrwrestling.com/news/major-update-shane-mcmahon-wwe-future/
“Almost Impossible For Vince McMahon To Come Back”
https://itrwrestling.com/news/impossible-vince-mcmahon-return-dave-meltzer/
Monday Night Raw
Date: December 10, 2007
Location: Arena At Harbor Yard, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s time for a special show this week as it is the fifteenth anniversary celebration of the show. That means not only do we have a bunch of guest stars, but it is an extra large three hour edition. Throw in that it is also the go home show for Armageddon and this is going to be a busy night. Let’s get to it.
Survivor Series 2007
Date: November 18, 2007
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Attendance: 12,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler, Jim Ross, Tazz, Joey Styles
It is pretty rare when you have a true one match card but that is what we have here, as Batista is defending the Smackdown World Title against the Undertaker inside the Cell. There might be a few other things going on here, but that has been treated as the be all and end all of the show, as it should be. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: September 3, 2007
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We’re actually taped this week as WWE is on its way to an international tour next week. Unforgiven is coming up later this month and we need a card, but there are going to be a few people missing. Late last week, a group of wrestlers were suspended for thirty days over connections with Signature Pharmacy, which had been linked to performance enhancing drugs.
KING OF THE RING (Qualifying Matches) 2000:
* So I finally remembered to do another one of these, though we’re past the point where I can recall most of the angles. The name of the game this tournament is the same as last one- Make A New Star. Hopefully this “Kurt Angle” guy will prove more successful than Billy Gunn. This will be a MONSTER set, so I’ll split it up for today and tomorrow.
This tournament is unusual due to the MASSIVE roster of guys- the jam-packed company and no Russo at the time (therefore his attention span couldn’t wreck it) made for a 32-man tournament! We’ve got a huge assortment, though, as all four Radicalz (then newly-hired by the company), Chyna, Jericho & Rikishi provide serious competition, while the company’s vast tag ranks fill out slots left & right for “easy wins” or upsets- Too Cool, APA, T&A, the Hollies, Dudleys & Edge/Christian. This is a verrrrrrrrry interesting time for the company, as they put the final nail in WCW by hiring away four of their top workers, while Jericho & Rikishi had gotten over and Angle was now a completely miraculous rookie find. And what was a company based around having shitty 2-minute brawling matches now had a ton of great wrestlers all over the place, which was kind of shifting the basic style to longer matches with high spots.
Of course, having looked at all these matches… they’re still mostly super-short (as KOTR matches have been since 1994, to be fair), and OH GOD a ton of guys are still stuck in the “Punch & Kick” mode. Bad agenting was all around at this time, with only a handful of guys avoiding it. But it’d be a long, hard road to hit the point of improvement, and a lot of dudes who couldn’t make that transition saw their careers die. You’ll see a very high level of “the guy who loses the match does most of the offense”, probably in a way to look a bit strong or make him feel better about losing- this goes back a ways (you see mid ’90s joshi do this a bunch, too).
I’ll do the first round in one post, then see what I can find for the second round for next week.
RIKISHI vs. SHANE McMAHON:
(May 29th, RAW)
* Okay, I forget the story behind this. Shane is entered in the KOTR, but has to fight Rikishi, who is in the midst of his biggest year ever before everything went horribly wrong. Shane, in a WWF shirt & regular jogging pants, boasts about “beating the Big Show” and how Undertaker couldn’t beat him, marking him as a smart-mouthed wimpy heel.
Monday Night Raw
Date: May 28, 2007
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 16,176
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the start of a big week in WWE as we have the three regular TV shows, plus a special Saturday Night’s Main Event and One Night Stand this weekend. That makes this show week the go home show for Sunday, which doesn’t need a lot more set up but maybe they have something good planned. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: May 21, 2007
Location: Mark of the Quad, Moline, Illinois
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We’re past Judgment Day and believe it or not, John Cena has somehow done it again, this time by making the Great Khali tap out to retain the WWE Title. That is going to make for some interesting futures for both of them, as Khali loses a big step and Cena beats another giant with less than two weeks to go before the next pay per view. I think you know where this is going so let’s get to it.
Judgment Day 2007
Date: May 20, 2007
Location: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Attendance: 10,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Michael Cole, Taz, Joey Styles, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield
It’s another B show but this one is trending more towards B- territory. The main events will see John Cena defending against Great Khali and Edge defending against Batista. Neither of those exactly sound like must see main events, but I’ve certainly heard of worse cards. Maybe the rest can pick up the slack. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: May 14, 2007
Location: Hampton Coliseum, Hampton, Virginia
Attendance: 7,200
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s the go home show for Judgment Day and we are on the way towards John Cena vs. Great Khali for the Raw World Title. Other than that, we have a new Smackdown World Champion in Edge, who happens to be a Raw wrestler. That could cause some issues, which we will likely touch on this week. Let’s get to it.
ECW On Sci Fi
Date: May 8, 2007
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Joey Styles, Tazz
It’s another big show as we have the ECW World Title on the line. This time around that means Rob Van Dam challenging Vince McMahon…..with Shane McMahon and Umaga, because that’s how the title goes. Since it’s supposed to be EXTREME though, the stipulation makes logical sense. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: April 30, 2007
Location: Gaylord Entertainment Center, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We are officially done with Backlash and that means it is time to start getting ready for Judgment Day. The show is in less than three weeks so it it probably going to feature a lot of rematches/fallout from the rematch/fallout show. That might not be the best thing in the world but WWE has been on a roll as of late. Let’s get to it.
Backlash 2007
Date: April 29, 2007
Location: Phillips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
Attendance: 14,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Taz, John Bradshaw Layfield, Joey Styles
It’s the Wrestlemania followup show and the company is still on something of a hot streak. We have a big double main event as Batista challenges Undertaker for the Smackdown World Title in a Last Man Standing match and John Cena defends against Edge, Shawn Michaels and Randy Orton. That’s enough star power, plus Vince McMahon going for a title of his own. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: April 23, 2007
Location: Earl’s Court, London, England
Attendance: 12,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
It’s a special show as we are in London and it’s time for a Wrestlemania rematch. The main event of this week’s show will see WWE Champion John Cena facing Shawn Michaels in a non-title match. That’s not a bad way to spend Cena’s thirtieth birthday and they can probably do some good stuff. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: April 9, 2007
Location: Harbor Yard Arena, Bridgeport, Connecticut
Attendance: 6,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We’re officially done with the Wrestlemania victory lap week and that means it is time to start getting ready for Backlash. That could mean more than a few things, but it certainly feels like Wrestlemania fallout is in full swing. Vince McMahon vs. Bobby Lashley and John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels are both continuing and that is likely to be your focus this week. Let’s get to it.
Wrestlemania XXIII
Date: April 1, 2007
Location: Ford Field, Detroit, Michigan
Attendance: 80,103
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole, Tazz, John Bradshaw Layfield, Joey Styles
It’s the biggest night of the year and this time the show does indeed feel big. You can feel how things have been going strong on the way here and I want to see how it goes. That takes some work when I have already seen the show multiple times. It is a stacked card and the biggest is Bobby Lashley vs. Umaga in the Battle of the Billionaires, which is really Donald Trump vs. Vince McMahon. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night Raw
Date: March 5, 2007
Location: US Airways Center, Phoenix, Arizona
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
We are less than a month away from Wrestlemania and for once, the build is actually clicking really well. There is a lot of focus on the Battle of the Billionaires, which is hardly the most thrilling story due to the people involved, but just about everything else has my interest. Let’s get to it.
As noted in prior columns, this show was a joint effort by the WWF, New Japan Pro Wrestling, and All Japan Pro Wrestling. The WWF was looking to expand its global presence while New Japan and All Japan felt threatened by Akira Maeda’s shoot-like Universal Wrestling Federation, which drew a 50,000 person crowd to the Tokyo Dome for a big show in November 1989. To counter them, New Japan and All Japan worked together on a supershow at the Tokyo Dome on February 10. Then, they built on that effort by partnering with the WWF for another big card in Tokyo on April 13 that was named The Wrestling Summit. According tothehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 53,742.
Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan host tonight’s show, which aired on USA Network on March 25. Instead of doing the show from the studio, though, they are on location from the Sparkles Nightclub in the CN Tower in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The matches on this broadcast were taped in San Francisco, California on March 7 as part of the Wrestling Challenge tapings that took place in the same location.
Heenan is anxious about being in CN Tower, telling Monsoon that the building is swaying. They renew their gag about Heenan needing tickets for WrestleMania VI and when Monsoons says he has secured them, Heenan demands to know if they are in the front row. Monsoon asks Heenan why he agreed to have the Colossal Connection face the Rockers a week before WrestleMania. Heenan responds that he arranged the match because Andre the Giant wanted to send a message to the Hart Foundation.
Wrestlemania XXXVII Night One
Date: April 10, 2021
Location: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Tom Phillips, Samoa Joe, Byron Saxton
America the Beautiful: Bebe Rexha
We’re finally back with fans for the first time in over a year. That’s hard to fathom but for the first time in forever it feels like a WWE show. The card is stacked, but really what matters most is being back to normal, because it has taken a long time to get here. I know it is just for the weekend, but after such a long wait, I’ll take whatever I can get. Let’s get to it.
