PPV

Royal Rumble 2023
Date: January 28, 2023
Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Pat McAfee

It’s time to get on the Road To Wrestlemania and that means we should be in for a big night. There are two Royal Rumbles, but the real main event is probably Roman Reigns defending the World Title against Kevin Owens. The interesting piece there is not in the result, but in what Sami Zayn is going to do. That should make for a heck of a show so let’s get to it.

Happy Stinky Saturday Everyone!

We’ve got another Stinker Review for you this week, where I look at a show with a bad reputation and then decide whether that reputation is deserved. This week we’ve got WWE Royal Rumble 2006, a show renowned for being pretty awful from a general match quality perspective with a Rumble match itself that way under delivers.

I remember disliking it a lot back in the day and I never really wanted to go back to it, but maybe time has been kinder to it?

You can view the card by clicking below;

https://www.cagematch.net/?id=1&nr=5231&page=2

The SmarK Rant for WWE Survivor Series Wargames 2022 – 11.26.22

I’m fighting off the flu tonight while my wife covers from Covid, so this may be a couple of days after airdate before I have a chance to finish the show.

OK getting Ozzy to do “War Pigs” for the opening is pretty cool, I’ll give them that.

Live from Boston, MA

Your hosts are Michael Cole & Corey Graves

Survivor Series 2022
Date: November 26, 2022
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Commentators: Kevin Patrick, Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Wade Barrett

It’s time for WarGames and no that still doesn’t feel right to say. We have a men’s and women’s version of the match here and that should make for a great core of the show. There are only five matches on the card but double WarGames is probably enough to carry things, especially with the Bloodline vs. Team Drew McIntyre as the likely headliner. Let’s get to it.

No Way Out 2008
Date: February 17, 2008
Location: Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance: 15,240
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler, Joey Styles, Tazz, Michael Cole, Jonathan Coachman

We’re on the Road To Wrestlemania and in this case, WWE is embracing the more is more philosophy. We have a pair of Elimination Chamber matches with the winners going on to the World Title matches at Wrestlemania. In addition, we have John Cena vs. Randy Orton for the Raw World Title, which should feel quite big. Let’s get to it.

Crown Jewel 2022
Date: November 5, 2022
Location: Mrsool Park, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Commentators: Michael Cole, Wade Barrett

We’re back in Saudi Arabia and in this case that means we are going to be seeing Logan Paul getting a shot at Roman Reigns. It’s a straight up celebrity match and the question is how well Paul can do in the situation. This show feels like a regular pay per view which happens to be taking place in Saudi Arabia so hopefully they can make that work. Let’s get to it.

The SmarK Rant for WWE Extreme Rules 2022 – 10.08.22

WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, BLUE JAYS?!?

Live from Philly

Your hosts are Michael Cole & Corey Graves

Extreme Rules 2022
Date: October 8, 2022
Location: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves

We’re back with the violent pay per view and in this case the card might be able to live up to that hype. There is a different, or mostly different, gimmick to every match on the card and some of them could get rather violent. In addition, we find out who the White Rabbit is tonight and that could be a huge moment. Let’s get to it.

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I remember this show being good so I’ve decided to watch it to see if it holds up. Big matches are a Fatal Four Way for the Smackdown Title, whilst Ken Kennedy wrestles The Undertaker and Chavo Guerrero Jr wrestles Rey Mysterio Jr on the under card.

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.