PPV

Royal Rumble 2008
Date: January 27, 2008
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City New York
Attendance: 20,798
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Michael Cole Jonathan Coachman, Joey Styles, Tazz

I believe this is my fifth time reviewing this show but I’m always curious to see how much different it feels having recently watched the TV leading up to it. The show has been set for a long time now and that means we need to get on with the pay per view already. Of course there is the Royal Rumble, but the Raw World Title match between Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton is the real draw here. This show is summed up in three words: Hardy Could Win. It worked in 2008 and it’s working again here. Let’s get to it.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

This was another reader request; with greaterpower99 thinking this show was awful enough to deserve the old Stinker treatment. I have very little memory of this show outside of the Main Event having a very screwy finish, so for all I know gn99 is being rather unfair to it. Anyway, we’ll have a looksee at it to decide if it truly is a Stinker or not.

The Main Event here is Heel CM Punk defending the Smackdown belt against Undertaker, whilst John Cena goes after Randy Orton’s Raw belt. The gimmick is that all the major matches on the show have submission rules of some kind, which was a theme WWE didn’t stick with going forwards. Let’s see if it works though.

The SmarK Rant for WWF Survivor Series 97 – 11.09.97

Yes, as promised, let’s finally take another look at this one, since the last time I watched it was 1999 (!!!!)

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

I’ve reviewed the Opener and Main Event of this show already and the rest of the show has a couple of matches that I remember being good, so let’s do a full review of it. 2003 was a rough year for the WWE both creatively and financially, as they produced a number of lousy shows with the ratings and buy rates continuing to drop off from the peak of the Attitude Era two years prior.

This show was originally built around a Goldberg Vs Triple H singles match, but then Triple H got injured and they decided to pile six guys into the Elimination Chamber in hope of popping a buy rate and taking the strain off Triple H so that he didn’t have to carry Goldberg in a singles outing. Elsewhere we’ve got Brock Lesnar taking on Kurt Angle and the freshly re-monstered Kane against Rob Van Dam.

Clash At The Castle
Date: September 3, 2022
Location: Principality Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the first stadium show in the United Kingdom in over thirty years and that means it is time for one of the biggest WWE shows of the year. The main event is a showdown between Roman Reigns and Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title, with McIntyre almost having to win. Other than that, Sheamus vs. Gunther should be a heck of a hoss fight. Let’s get to it.

Summerslam 2022
Date: July 30, 2022
Location: Nissan Stadium, Nashville, Tennessee
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s time for one of the biggest shows of the year and that means we are in another stadium. The show is going to be interesting for a few reasons, including the fact that it is the first Summerslam ever not under Vince McMahon’s watch. That means we might be seeing something new this time around so let’s get to it.

Armageddon 2007
Date: December 16, 2007
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 12,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Joey Styles, Taz

It’s the final pay per view of the year and it’s more or less a one match show. While there is a Raw main event of Chris Jericho challenging Randy Orton for the Raw World Title, the real main event here is Smackdown World Champion Batista defending the Smackdown World Title against Undertaker and Edge in a triple threat match. Let’s get to it.

Gorilla Monsoon and Hacksaw Jim Duggan start the broadcast on commentary, which is taking place in Los Angeles, California.  According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 15,500.  The show drew an estimated buyrate of 2.8 (an estimated 400,000 buys).  This was a decline from the 3.8 buyrate of WrestleMania VI, with 150,000 fewer households buying the show versus the previous year, and marked the first time that fewer fans purchased a WrestleMania than the prior edition.

Willie Nelson does a nice rendition of “America the Beautiful.”

Money In The Bank 2022
Date: July 2, 2022
Location: MGM Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Byron Saxton Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith, Pat McAfee, Michael Cole

It’s the ladder show as we focus on becoming something close to the #1 contender. That means the show is going to be built around the two ladder matches, so there aren’t going to be many options for the rest of the card. There are enough title matches around to fill things out, but this is all about the ladder matches. Let’s get to it.

The SmarK Rant for Hell in a Cell 2022 – 06.05.22

Live from Chicago, IL

Your hosts are Jimmy Smith, Byron Saxton & Corey Graves

Considering the lack of Roman Reigns and total lack of buzz, this is probably one of the worst-built Premium Live Events I can remember in the past few years.  Unifying the titles and then running two shows in a row without a title defense is certainly a choice.

Hell In A Cell 2022
Date: June 5, 2022
Location: Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole

It’s time for one of the big gimmick shows and I think you know what is headlining. However, things have changed a bit at the last minute, as Cody Rhodes has suffered a torn pectoral muscle, meaning his match against Seth Rollins will be more than a bit different. The match is still on and inside the Cell, but I’m not sure how much Rhodes can do. Let’s get to it.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

We’ve got another reader request this month, with Sivsky demanding that GAB 2004 get the Stinker treatment. For those who haven’t read one of these before, a Stinker Review is when I look at a show that has a reputation for being awful and then have to decide whether that reputation is deserved or not.

This show has an infamous Main Event of Undertaker taking on The Dudley Boyz, where Paul Bearer gets drowned in concrete if Booger Red doesn’t take a dive, but there’s also plenty of terrible stuff elsewhere on the card as well, along with at least (from memory) two good matches to hold things together.

Let’s see if time has been kind to this one or if it’s just as bad as I remember. If you want to suggest any shows for this feature then please let me know in the comments section

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.

Wrestlemania Backlash 2022
Date: May 8, 2022
Location: Dunkin Donuts Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

it’s time for a pay per view that feels like it has been little more than an obligation as the show is six matches long with a number of title matches. Granted in this case that number is one but take what you can get. The main event is a six man tag for reasons that I’m still not clear on but maybe the in-ring work can make up for it. Let’s get to it.

Gorilla Monsoon and Roddy Piper are in charge of commentary, broadcasting live from Miami, Florida.  According to profightdb.com, the show drew a crowd of 16,000.  On pay-per-view the show drew a buyrate of 2.4, the equivalent of 440,000 buys.  This was an increase over the previous year’s show, which drew a 2.0 buyrate (260,000 buys).

Since the Gulf War had commenced days earlier, the WWF plays the national anthem for the crowd.  Piper is also amped up, wearing a yellow ribbon around his arm for the troops watching the show from the Middle East.

Cyber Sunday 2007
Date: October 28, 2007
Location: Verizon Center, Washington DC
Attendance: 10,094
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Tazz, Joey Styles

This show can’t come fast enough, as the build hasn’t exactly been great. The good thing is there are enough interesting matches on the show and some of the stipulations could work out. The voting is enough of a hook to make the show, which includes Randy Orton defending the Raw World Title against someone and Batista vs. Undertaker with a referee to be determined, work. Let’s get to it.

Wrestlemania XXXVIII Night Two
Date: April 3, 2022
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 78,453
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Byron Saxton, Corey Graves, Jimmy Smith
America The Beautiful: Jesse James Decker

We’re back for night two and that means the other half of the card gets their chance (plus one match from the original night because of timing issues). The main event is the latest biggest match ever as Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar have their unification match to make one World Title for all of…eh maybe they make it to Summerslam. Let’s get to it.

Wrestlemania XXXVIII Night One
Date: April 2, 2022
Location: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Attendance: 77,899
Commentators: Jimmy Smith, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Michael Cole, Pat McAfee
America the Beautiful: Brantley Gilbert

We have arrived at the biggest weekend in wrestling and this time it is back in the full capacity stadium. Again, this year’s show is split in two and again it feels like there is a good one night in between the two shows. That was the case last year though and the first night went well so maybe history can repeat itself. Let’s get to it.

I took in the first night of Wrestlemania XXXVIII and it was about as Wrestlemania as you can get. Your mileage may vary as you can imagine.

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

We enter the Two Night Mania Era this week, including two matches in front of zero fans that I’m absolutely dreading, but we’ll get through it. Both of these shows happened after I’d long since given up on following the WWE product on a week to week basis, so if there’s any relevant storyline stuff I miss out on then please feel free to note it in the comments section.