WWE Extreme Rules 2015

To kick off the show Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson beat The Usos in an okay match that the fans did not appear overly bothered about. There were plenty of boos for The Usos which is partly due to their connection with Roman Reigns but also because they are just a really uninteresting tag team. The heels went over fairly decisively here.

Speaking of decisive victories, Rusev hammered Kalisto to win the United States title by submission. Kalisto is a talented performer but he has little connection with the fans and his title reign has been highly forgettable. After more than a year of being completely wasted Rusev seems to be set for a renewed push. Hopefully this is not just so he can be sacrificed to the returning John Cena.

The New Day (Big E & Xavier Woods) defeated The Vaudevillians to retain the tag team title with an assist from Kofi Kingston. The finish made the super-over champions look like the heels but I don't think the fans really care about that. The match was a very standard affair.

Intercontinental Champion Miz managed to survive a fatal four-way against Cesaro, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens in a superb match-up. There were some hot near falls in this one and quality performances all round before Miz stole a pinfall to retain the gold. As I said last month I feel the title really should be the focal point of the Owens/Zayn feud and not wasted on The Miz.

Dean Ambrose's "Asylum" cage match with Chris Jericho was designed to be an epic but it just did not happen. The heat wasn't there and the fans got bored and started chanting for Seth Rollins. Even Ambrose's elbow from the top of the cage didn't elicit the booming response it should have. What did pop the crowd in the end was the introduction of thumb tacks. I was surprised it was Jericho that took the big bump onto them before Ambrose DDT'd him (and himself) into them again for the win. I thought it was important that Ambrose won this as opposed to them evening things up with a Jericho victory but Ambrose has definitely lost a lot of momentum this year.

Charlotte retained the women's title over Natalya in a disappointing match with another cheap finish. Towards the end of the bout Ric Flair's music played and Dana Brooke came out to distract Nattie allowing Charlotte to pick up the win by Figure 8 submission.

Finally Roman Reigns defeated AJ Styles in an excellent brawl fought under "Extreme Rules". Reigns was booed heavily once again but is reacting much better to it these days. Styles put in another top class performance to carry the action but Reigns looked good here too. The interference of "The Club" and The Usos made storyline sense as it did last month and there were some really good near falls late on. Reigns' match winning spear to Styles mid-air was executed perfectly. The biggest pop of the night came after the bell as Seth Rollins made his return and took down Reigns with a Pedigree. I was hoping this would lead to a great build up to a big title match at Summerslam but it looks like they're going the hot shot route and doing the match at Money In The Bank instead.

On the whole it was a decent enough show for a 'B' pay-per-view. The only matches that really need to be sought out are the Intercontinental and World Heavyweight title bouts. The rest you could really take or leave.

WWE Payback 2016

Just a few thoughts about Payback from this past Sunday night...

On the whole I liked the show. It was much more entertaining than Wrestlemania, the event had a better build up and the crowd was really lively as is usually the case in Rosemont. I don't think there was a bad match on the show but at the same time I expected more from a couple of them. My main gripe coming out of the show was despite it being the beginning of a so-called "New Era" in WWE, two championship matches were complete rehashes of pay-per-view main events from the 1990s. The worst offender was Charlotte versus Natalya which was a good match until they did the ridiculous "Montreal Screwjob" finish for the 258th time. Is that the only reason they brought Bret Hart in? It's like WWE want Hart to only be remembered for that one night in the Molson Centre. Just let it go. Hart was clearly still in some discomfort following his recent battle with prostate cancer which was no more evident than when he carefully put Ric Flair in the sharpshooter after the bout. The main event between Roman Reigns and AJ Styles was another good scrap but the story of the match bared a striking resemblance to the Shawn Michaels/Vader main event at Summerslam 1996. Styles, like Vader won the match by count out and then by disqualification only for the match to be restarted twice so the champion could go over by pinfall in the end. Once Shane McMahon had restarted the match declaring there could be no count outs it was just a matter of time before a disqualification was called so his sister could have her share of the spotlight. I did like that we were kept guessing on the relationship between Styles and his former Bullet Club buddies but it was obvious Reigns was always going to win this one.

Elsewhere on the show... Enzo Amore was very unfortunate to suffer the injury he did and hopefully he recovers quickly... The New Day were fantastic once again in their role. The have great chemistry together but I just worry that people now care more about their comedy routines than their actual matches... Kevin Owens versus Sami Zayn was a tremendous match with a really good build. I don't understand why their feud is not over the Intercontinental Title though... Speaking of which The Miz's title defence over Cesaro was decent enough but was overshadowed by Owens' brilliant performance on commentary. It looks like we're heading for a four way match at Extreme Rules so there's hope yet that the IC title will end up back in the Owens/Zayn feud... Dean Ambrose scored a much needed win over Chris Jericho but the match, while not bad at all, was still quite sloppy in places and I felt it should've been better... Finally Vince McMahon decided that both Shane and Stephanie will run Raw (or is it WWE as a whole?) together. Nobody was particularly happy with that outcome which is something else that has been done before by Steve Austin and Eric Bischoff back in 2003. I seriously doubt it will be anywhere near as entertaining featuring the McMahon siblings in 2016. That said I thought the segment itself on this show was good fun.

WWF Summerslam 1992

WWF Summerslam 1992
Venue: London, England
Date: 29/8/92 (Aired 31/8/92)
Attendance: 80,355
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan


Originally set for Washington DC, Summerslam 1992 was moved to London, England to capitalise on the pro wrestling boom in the UK. The show attracted over 80,000 fans to Wembley Stadium on a warm summer night where the star attraction would be Davey Boy Smith who was incredibly over in the UK (and Europe). So much so that Smith's Intercontinental Title match with brother-in-law Bret Hart was positioned in the headline slot ahead of Randy Savage's WWF Heavyweight Title defence against the Ultimate Warrior which was the show's actual main event and promoted on TV as such. Sadly despite it's success Summerslam 1992 remains the only major pay-per-view to have taken place in the UK, or outside of North America for that matter. This was also the first WWF pay-per-view without Hulk Hogan.


Review
In the two dark matches before the PPV, Hacksaw Jim Duggan and the Bushwackers beat the Mountie and the Nasty Boys in an okay six-man tag and Papa Shango defeated El Matador in another passable affair. These matches (along with Tatanka versus The Berzerker from later in the evening) were recorded to be aired on Prime Time Wrestling in the coming weeks and but would also appear on the video release of the event. As you might be able to tell by the adjusted sound levels the commentary for the dark matches was inserted afterwards.

In the opening match of the pay-per-view the Legion of Doom finally got their revenge on Money Inc and Jimmy Hart for cheating them out of the World Tag Team Title earlier in the year. LOD were on their way out of the WWF but still went over clean here. Animal power slammed and pinned Ted Dibiase for the win in a decent match. The match is remembered more for LOD riding motorcycles to the ring and for Paul Ellering's ventriloquist act with LOD dummy mascot Rocco. Minus 100 cool points for that idea... Nailz squashed Virgil as he continued his preparation for a showdown with the Big Boss Man.

Shawn Michaels was initially set to take the Intercontinental Title from Bret Hart on this show until the change in location. As a result Michaels had to be satisfied working a program with Rick Martel where they battled for the affections of Michaels' manager Sensational Sherri. In this match neither man was permitted to strike the other in the face as per Sherri's instructions. That obviously didn't last and when the two combatants threatened to throw punches Sherri 'fainted' and both men were counted out as they fought over who would tend to her. It all ended when Martel threw a pail of water in Sherri's face. Oh the hilarity! The match itself was just alright and Michaels was elected the babyface in this one by the live crowd... Tag Team Champions The Natural Disasters retained the gold in a so-so bout with The Beverly Brothers. Earthquake and Typhoon were really over with the Wembley crowd and received a big pop when Quake scored the victory for his team... In another squash the repackaged Crush eased past his former tag team partner Repo Man. The two teamed previously as Demolition mk2 (Smash & Crush).

Randy Savage retained the WWF Heavyweight Title despite a count out loss to the Ultimate Warrior in a tremendous match carried superbly by the Macho Man. Warrior was the clear crowd favourite here although Savage did have some support in the stadium. The build and the angle surrounding the match really helped the bout's success as Mr Perfect declared he would be in the corner of one of the combatants. This caused a lot of friction between Savage and Warrior who both believed the other had 'sold out' to Perfect and Ric Flair. After about 15 minutes of action Perfect (along with Flair) walked out and first gave the impression he was backing Warrior but after a ref bump the heels attacked Warrior unbeknownst to the champion. Warrior survived this but was later nailed with a steel chair by Flair once again out of the view of Savage. As Savage was ready to hit his big elbow drop on Warrior he instead decided to leap down on Flair who cracked Savage's knee with a steel chair. This caused Savage to be counted out. Flair and Perfect attacked Savage's knee until Warrior made the save. The match ended with Warrior helping the injured Savage to the back making it clear that neither man had sold out to the dark side. This was an excellent piece of work. It led to Ric Flair regaining the title from Savage at the TV tapings in Pennsylvania capitalising on the damage done to Savage's knee.

Tatanka beat the Berzerker in the aforementioned dark match. It was straightforward and pretty forgettable... The Undertaker made a memorable entrance on the back of a hearse before defeating Kamala in a terrible match. Kamala's 'keeper' Kim Chee interfered causing a really lame disqualification.

In the night's main event The British Bulldog pinned Bret Hart to capture the Intercontinental Title in a fantastic match which was at least on par with Randy Savage versus Ricky Steamboat from Wrestlemania III as the greatest WWF match ever at that point in time. Davey Boy Smith received a booming response as he made his entrance accompanied by Lennox Lewis, the reaction was only topped by the one he received at the end of the bout. Smith was so over that Hart was effectively heel for the night and was booed at various points during the contest. It was however a tremendous performance by "The Hitman" who carried the bout and ensured that both he and his opponent's status was significantly raised by the time the final bell rang. Hart survived a top rope superplex and Smith's running powerslam while the Bulldog wouldn't be beaten by Hart's Sharpshooter or a German suplex. There was one scary moment where Bret performed a plancha over the top rope onto an unsuspecting Smith and somehow improvised the move into a reverse bulldog. According to Hart, Davey had forgotten this manoeuvre was coming. In the end Hart went for a sunset flip but Davey Boy dropped to his knees and cradled Bret for the 1-2-3 and an incredible pop from the Wembley crowd. After the match with fireworks exploding in the stadium, Davey and Bret embraced along with Diana (Davey's wife and Bret's sister) whose concerned reactions had been shown multiple times throughout the match. It was a great ending to a wonderful match.

Overall
Summerslam was a historic and memorable event even though it was effectively a two match show. With the exception of LOD/Money Inc which was decent, all of the supporting matches on the card weren't very good but the fact that the crowd was so into everything made them seem better than they actually were. The crowd heat went up to another level though for Savage/Warrior and again for Hart/Bulldog and both matches were more than worthy of the reactions they got. The Intercontinental title match was Davey Boy Smith's greatest moment of his career while Bret Hart would be rewarded by being stepped up to world title status very soon. Smith's title reign wouldn't be a long one though as he would relinquish it to Shawn Michaels in late October and would be on his way out of the company in November for an alleged drugs violation. He would spend 1993 in WCW before returning to the WWF in the summer of 1994. Summerslam 1992 pulled a 1.6, approximately 280,000 buys on pay-per-view which was down from Wrestlemania but similar to Royal Rumble of that year.


Results
(Dark) The Bushwackers & Jim Duggan def The Nasty Boys & The Mountie by pinfall (12:33) **
(Dark) Papa Shango pinned El Matador (6:00) *1/2
1 The Legion of Doom def Money Inc by pinfall (11:58) **1/2
2 Nailz def Virgil by submission (3:15) 1/2
3 Shawn Michaels fought Rick Martel to a double count out (8:06) **
4 The Natural Disasters (c) def The Beverly Brothers to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (10:21) *1/2
5 Crush def Repo Man by submission (4:03) 1/2
6 The Ultimate Warrior def Randy Savage (c) by count out. Savage retained the WWF Heavyweight Title (26:17) ****
(Dark) Tatanka pinned The Berzerker (5:46) *3/4
7 The Undertaker def Kamala by disqualification (3:42) DUD
8 The British Bulldog pinned Bret Hart (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (25:13) ****3/4


Rating
15.75/40 = 39.38%

Wrestlemania 32 Thoughts

WWE finally broke their own all time attendance record packing nearly 100,000 fans into the impressive AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas but sadly Wrestlemania was a really underwhelming ho-hum show. That's not to say there were no big moments or good matches but this show fell far short of what a Wrestlemania should be. Fortunately for WWE the name "Wrestlemania" is almost enough for a sell out these days but how long that will continue to be the case is questionable after what the company have produced recently. Here are my positives and negatives from the big event...


+ Positives
Lita's announcement on the pre-show that the "Divas" name and championship were being scrapped was very welcome. The ladies will once again compete for the Women's Championship and like their male counterparts will be referred to as "Superstars". The awful Divas title belt was replaced by one that looks similar to the WWE World Heavyweight Title... Brie Bella was allowed to leave WWE on her own terms and even got her hand raised in the process. A pleasant surprise... The Intercontinental Title ladder match was the best match of the night. Lots of cool and crazy spots and plenty of excitement... AJ Styles versus Chris Jericho was a really good bout that was built well and the crowd appreciated it more as it went on... I liked the New Day's entrance. It was certainly unique... Steve Austin's appearance along with Shawn Michaels and Mick Foley was a great moment of nostalgia that the crowd ate up. Austin's entrance brought the biggest pop of the night. Michaels looked in a great shape... Brock Lesnar had a solid street fight match with Dean Ambrose... The Women's Title match was very good and although it seemed the right time to give Sasha Banks the belt I'm not too disappointed as I think it would benefit her more to have a longer feud with Charlotte and defeat her in a one-on-one situation... Shane McMahon's leap of the top of a very tall Hell In A Cell cage was insane. Yes there was something underneath the announce desk to help cushion his fall but it was still an incredible risk. His Coast To Coast (Van Terminator) manoeuvre was also well executed... The Rock's appearance was another cool moment and I don't think his surprise six second victory over Erick Rowan did any harm. John Cena's return was nicely timed and by and large got the desired reaction from the crowd. Rock looked and sounded as great as ever... Speaking of looking great Triple H's physique was ripped and he had obviously gotten himself into tremendous shape for the big show (either naturally or otherwise). He didn't look anything like as good as this at Royal Rumble.


- Negatives
The United States Title match taking place in front of a virtually empty stadium. Apparently fans had trouble getting into the arena due to an electronic error with tickets... Lita proclaiming that the winner of the Charlotte/Sasha Banks/Becky Lynch match would be the "first ever WWE Women's Champion" conveniently forgetting the title previously existed for over 50 years... Bizarre choice of winner in the Intercontinental Title match. Zack Ryder's victory was a huge moment for him personally but came out of nowhere and made little sense. Coupled with what happened the next night on Raw, what was the point? Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn surely should have been the focus here rather than an afterthought... Another strange choice of winner in the Styles/Jericho match. It's bad enough that they'd already wrestled three times this year but newcomer Styles should never have lost the big match at Wrestlemania as it's the one people will remember. Jericho did not need the win here and considering Styles was to be the next contender for the World Title made this booking decision even more stupid. Not to mention the fact that he went down fairly clean also... The New Day are one of WWE's most over acts and they were placed in a nothing match and lost all so the League of Nations could get beaten up by Steve Austin, Mick Foley and Shawn Michaels. This made the League look like complete jobbers and the New Day worse for being beaten by them... Dean Ambrose's role of nearly man was cemented in his loss to Brock Lesnar. Even with weapons at his disposal Ambrose could not slay "The Beast" and spent most of the match on the defensive before being beaten... Shane McMahon taking Undertaker to a 30 minute Hell In A Cell match was simply not believable. A 46 year old non-wrestler who only took part in matches on special occasions in his prime years should not be allowed to be Undertaker's equal. And what of the "huge" stipulations in this match? They were barely even mentioned during or after the match so what was the point? Regardless of believability the match was poor and only became intriguing when they left the cage. This match appeared to be designed just to show how tough Shane is. Well he is a McMahon after all... The Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal was rubbish. Just a bunch of nobodies in a filler match that meant nothing. Shaquille O'Neal's appearance was a surprise but amounted to nothing. Shaq has gotten so big he looks bigger than Big Show these days... I don't think The Rock and John Cena beating up the Wyatt's was as bad as what the League suffered (Cena is a current top star and Rock has been active in recent years) but it was another case of sacrificing talent at the hands of the real stars... The main event was a big letdown. Too long, boring, predictable and the fans just weren't into it. Reigns got the expected boos but not as bad as it could have been. Triple H dominated with methodical offense which wouldn't have been as bad if the crowd were rallying behind the babyface, but of course they weren't. At the end of the match Reigns' music was turned up extra loud to cover any boos... Stephanie McMahon was sure enough given a big role in the main event from her well delivered but cringe worthy declaration to being very prominent at ringside and involved in a big spot in the match. The McMahon family are the stars you know... At nearly five hours (seven including the pre-show) the show was far too long. Perhaps the main event might've got a better reaction at the end of a four hour show with ten minutes cut from it? ... This came across as a show to put the hardcore fans in their place. Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, AJ Styles, New Day, Sasha Banks, Dean Ambrose all lost despite being big favourites with the fans. Shane McMahon's loss means the never ending heel authority angle will continue and we have a number one babyface/world champion who is less popular with the masses than the polarising John Cena... Crowd cues; WWE decided to use the giant screens to try and control what the crowd chanted including "New Day Rocks", the suplex count in the Lesnar/Ambrose match and strangely "Woooo!" for Charlotte who was the heel. I've also heard many reports of WWE tampering with crowd noise levels such as turning down the mics in areas of the stadium where fans were booing Roman Reigns...  That attendance record; As is common knowledge the 93,173 indoor attendance record at Wrestlemania III was make-belief. The real number in the Silver Dome was a still very impressive 78,000. That number was beaten at Wembley Stadium for Summerslam in 1992 with 80,355 but they couldn't announce it as a new record because it didn't beat the fictitious one from 1987! So this year it would all be put to rest anyway and a new attendance record would be set at Wrestlemania 32 so they wouldn't have to lie anymore, right? Well, sort of. WWE did legitimately break their real and pretend all time attendance record on 3rd April 2016 with 93,730 fans packed into the AT&T Stadium but the number of 101,763 was not true (there were actually 97,769 in the building but that includes all staff and personnel). After proclaiming all year that they would break 100,000 for the show WWE were never going to admit to 'failing' by announcing a number under 100k. All that has happened is a new lie has replaced an old one.


Overall
A very long show that will be remembered for the attendance, Shane McMahon's crazy stunt and cameos from the big stars of the past. Bizarre and perhaps spiteful booking made an underwhelming card going in turn out to be as disappointing as expected. The matches on this show would've been fine for a Network Special but for a Wrestlemania in front of their largest crowd ever this was not good enough.

WWF Wrestlemania VIII

WWF Wrestlemania VIII
Venue: Indianapolis, Indiana
Date: 5/4/92
Attendance: 62,167
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


Adapted from review originally written in 2014.


Wrestlemania VIII was held in the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis and with over 60,000 fans on hand it felt like a big deal from the get-go. Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan were on commentary for what I consider to be their best effort as an announce duo. Heenan in particular was at the top of his game during this period, while Monsoon had such a great voice and a style which added so much drama to the action in the ring. The expected dream match main event between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair did not materialise as Vince McMahon was not satisfied by the numbers drawn by Hogan/Flair matches in late 1991 on the house show circuit. Instead he plumped for a "Double Main Event" of Hulk Hogan versus Sid Justice and Ric Flair versus Randy Savage for the WWF Heavyweight Championship.


Review


Opening match duties went to Tito Santana and Shawn Michaels, who had recently joined the singles ranks after his famous bust up with Marty Jannetty. The match was a good one with Michaels, the young arrogant heel managing to withstand the onslaught of the veteran who was having a little bit of a resurgence under the "El Matador" guise. The finish was a bit soft though as Santana, trying to slam Michaels back into the ring from the apron fell back as Michaels held onto the top rope and that was enough for a three count. Still, it was the correct result as they tried to push Michaels as a future contender for the Intercontinental Title. The Legion of Doom appeared for an interview with Mean Gene Okerlund. They didn't wrestle on the card due to Hawk’s suspension. They didn't say a lot of note. I guess it was just a way to introduce Paul Ellering to the WWF fans. Next up was The Undertaker versus Jake "The Snake" Roberts, minus the snake which had been barred from ringside following the shocking angle where Randy Savage was bitten by a cobra. This match was nothing more than a glorified squash as Roberts did the honours on his way out of the WWF. The Undertaker survived two DDTs before hitting Roberts with an extremely safe looking Tombstone Piledriver on the outside of the ring which they should have shot from a different angle. Anyway, Taker rolled Jake back inside for an easy three count. It was basic action really as most early Undertaker matches were due to his zombie-like gimmick.


The same could not be said of the Intercontinental Title bout which was a classic as Rowdy Roddy Piper defended the title against friend and former champion Bret "Hitman" Hart. Piper was magnificent in the pre-match interview also. The all-babyface affair started out exactly as that but as the match wore on, Piper began to resort to heelish underhanded tactics as he looked to retain the only singles title he would ever have in the WWF. Hart bladed in the match but managed to convince Vince McMahon that the blood was caused accidentally, something Ric Flair would not get away with later on the card as he was fined heavily for blading right on camera. The action was back and forth with Piper getting increasingly more desperate as Hart refused to be beaten. "This is a hell of a match!" proclaimed Heenan. The end came as the referee took a bump allowing Piper to bring the ring bell into the match with ideas of finishing Hart by any means necessary. Piper began to have second thoughts as the crowd turned on him before finally breaking out into cheers as he tossed the weapon away. It would be the end for Piper though as Hart countered the sleeper into a pinning combination to take the championship. It was all smiles at the finish as Hot Rod presented the title to the Hitman for a happy ending.

After watching Lex Luger drink a glass of milk (?) and talk about the WBF we get to the 8-man tag team match, the highlight of which may have been Family Feud Host Ray Combs slagging off the heel team before the bout. The match itself was okay for what it was with Virgil, the Big Boss Man, Sgt Slaughter and Hacksaw Jim Duggan defeating The Mountie, Repo Man and The Nasty Boys. Next was the match of the night as Macho Man Randy Savage challenged Ric Flair for the WWF Championship in a heated belter. The story was Flair had been claiming the love of Elizabeth and had even gone so far as to photoshop himself into pictures with her to prove it. Savage played the enraged husband brilliantly as he charged to the ring to pound the Nature Boy. The tide of the bout turned as Mr. Perfect, who was Flair's "Executive Consultant", nailed Savage in his knee with a chair and continued to get himself involved in the match. Savage sold the knee injury fabulously as he would continue to do so throughout the year. Elizabeth stormed out to the ring as various WWF officials tried to prevent her from doing so. If you look closely you'll see one of them is none other than a young Shane McMahon. With Flair distracted by Elizabeth's appearance, Savage surprised Flair with a roll-up and a handful of trunks to win the title. It all kicked off after the bout as Flair forced a kiss on Elizabeth causing the Macho Man to go ballistic! Finally things calmed down and Randy and Elizabeth stood victorious in the ring as the fireworks went off in the Hoosier Dome. The Savage-Flair feud was far from over though. The post match interview with Flair, Perfect and Heenan was fantastic.

As everyone in the arena tried to calm themselves after the "Macho/Flair Affair", Tatanka made his PPV debut and defeated "The Model" Rick Martel in a short, straight-forward match-up. Like the opener it was designed to help establish the younger talent as the Federation began to look towards the future. Next up was Money Inc. against The Natural Disasters for the Tag Team Championship in a rubbish match up. At one stage in the bout Typhoon inexplicably fell down the wrong way from a double clothesline! Just as Earthquake was about to finish IRS off, Ted DiBiase and Jimmy Hart pulled him from the ring and decided to head home with the belts. Yes, that was the finish. It was designed to gain more heat for the tag champs but an ending like that is not good enough for a title match at Wrestlemania. Just before the second half of the "Double Main Event" Owen Hart faced Skinner in a quick, throwaway match. Owen was cheap-shotted before the bell, didn't get a single offensive move in but kicked out of Skinner's finisher and beat him with a roll-up. All in just over a minute! A bad night for Steve Keirn.


Finally came the showdown between Hulk Hogan and Sid Justice. It was billed as Hogan's 'Farewell Match' as they teased the retirement of pro wrestling's biggest star. In reality Hogan was being moved out of the spotlight as the steroid scandal had hit the WWF hard and due to his stature the Hulkster was taking the brunt of it. This match came about as Sid had the audacity to eliminate Hulk from the Royal Rumble and Hogan took exception to it. Sid then turned into a lunatic, a part which he played very well. Hogan made his entrance to a booming ovation and looked to have a tear in his eye perhaps taken aback by the response. The match itself wasn't good but as usual Hogan's presence and charisma created a great atmosphere. Hogan sold for most of the bout and made his trademark comeback at the end. The only trouble was as Hogan hit the leg drop the pin fall was supposed to be interrupted by Papa Shango, except Shango had missed his cue and was nowhere to be seen. Sid, probably feeling he had nothing to lose as he was soon to be leaving the company, kicked out. The referee then called for a disqualification as Sid's manager Harvey Whippleman entered the ring. Shango finally arrived and helped Sid attack Hogan before the place went crazy as the Ultimate Warrior charged down to the ring to assist the Hulkster. The fans were delighted to see Hogan and the Warrior together in the ring to close the show as the fireworks exploded in the Hoosier Dome, although some questioned whether it was actually Jim Hellwig as he had lost so much muscle mass during his absence.

Overall
Wrestlemania VIII can be considered a decent show, on par with Wrestlemania VII, thanks to two great matches (Flair vs Savage, Piper vs Hart), one good one (Michaels vs Santana) and a memorable ending to the show. The rest of the card was pretty much a nonp-event. The scheduled Davey Boy Smith versus Berzerker match was cut from the line-up due to time restraints but I don't expect it would have added much to the show anyway. Wrestlemania VIII marked the end of Hulk Hogan's full time WWF career and was truly the end of an era. Hogan would continue to make international appearances for the company but would not appear on TV again until February 1993. Roddy Piper's full time WWF career also came to an end although he had already 'retired' in 1987 for two years. Piper would make a few special appearances over the next four years before signing with WCW in 1996. Wrestlemania VIII pulled a 2.3 rating meaning an estimated 390,000 buys on pay-per-view.


Results
1 Shawn Michaels pinned El Matador (10:38) ***
2 The Undertaker pinned Jake Roberts (6:39) *1/2
3 Bret Hart pinned Rowdy Roddy Piper (c) to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (13:50) ****
4 The Big Boss Man, Sgt Slaughter, Jim Duggan & Virgil def The Nasty Boys, The Mountie & Repo Man (6:31) **
5 Randy Savage pinned Ric Flair (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (18:02) ****1/2
6 Tatanka pinned Rick Martel (4:33) *3/4
7 The Natural Disasters def Money Inc (c) by count out. Money Inc retained the WWF Tag Team Title (8:37) 1/2
8 Owen Hart pinned Skinner (1:09) 1/4
9 Hulk Hogan def Sid Justice by disqualification (12:29) 3/4


Rating
18.25/45 = 40.56%

Royal Rumble 2016 Thoughts

I thought Royal Rumble 2016 was a good show, I enjoyed it a lot actually. The Last Man Standing Match for the Intercontinental Title was a great battle with some clever spots mixed in to the usual weapon based brawling. I liked Kevin Owens rolling to the outside after a Dirty Deeds on a chair as he was unable to climb to his feet. I also liked the finish as enough time had passed to make the viewer forget about the stacked tables on the outside. I wasn't so keen on Dean Ambrose's ability to jump to his feet (albeit on a nine count) after going through a table from the top rope and then suffering the Pop-up Powerbomb as I felt it weakened Owens' finisher. I also didn't like this match going on first as I feel it lessened it's importance and hurt the next couple of bouts as the crowd were on a comedown.

I feel like I've seen New Day versus The Usos a thousand times and this felt like just another match between them. Xavier Woods on the outside was more interesting than the action in the ring for the most part. There was a cool finish though as Big E caught Jimmy on his shoulder and finished him off with the Big Ending.

There was yet another US Title switch as Kalisto defeated Alberto Del Rio which begs the question why they felt the need to put the belt back on Del Rio 24 hours after Kalisto's original title win. The hot potato approach does nothing but devalue a championship. There was a great near fall for Kalisto towards the end but the match was only okay and was a bit clunky in places.

I felt Charlotte and Becky Lynch had a good wrestling. I liked the no nonsense punch counter to the Figure 8 but the finish involving Ric Flair was a bit daft. Sasha Bank's post match angle with Charlotte went down a storm with the live crowd. Hopefully they'll build this towards Wrestlemania and not throw it away at Fast Lane.

The Royal Rumble match was really entertaining but there's something really wrong with 46 year old Triple H winning the WWE World Title and headlining the "biggest Wrestlemania of all time" as the company's top heel. I realise Seth Rollins' injury messed up their plans but this is what happens when you don't create new stars. It's a real shame the likes of Rusev and Bray Wyatt have been damaged so much. I don't have a problem with Triple H versus Roman Reigns as the story makes sense and has been built well, I do have a problem with it being for the world title in the main event of Wrestlemania. I thought Triple H didn't look in the greatest shape and his arms have shrunk quite a lot. The other marquee match set for Wrestlemania is Brock Lesnar versus Bray Wyatt which sadly doesn't fill me with much excitement either. Wyatt has been reduced to the role of jobber to the stars in the last 12-18 months and a lot of work needs to be done to repair the damage done to him.

Rumble match observations: I think WWE should be concerned with the level of boos aimed at their star project Roman Reigns not to mention the roar of cheers that went up when he was dumped out of the match by Triple H. It's quite obvious that Reigns is beating Hunter for the belt at Wrestlemania and surely the last thing they want is the show to end with their new star babyface being showered with boos ... Rusev being dumped out by Reigns in less than 90 seconds shows how far he has fallen ... AJ Styles got a huge pop as he made his debut and put in a really good first performance in a WWE ring. A positive start for him for sure ... Chris Jericho, who looks a bit heavier these days, was this year's endurance man as he lasted 50 minutes in the match. Could a young up-and-comer not have been given that role? ... R-Truth's 'comedy' spot must've gone over my head ... Kofi Kingston did his annual spot of leaving the ring over the top rope without being eliminated only for the cameras to miss his actual elimination ... The Authority were so desperate for Roman Reigns to lose the World Title that they forced him to defend the title in the Rumble from the number one spot and then Vince McMahon instructed the League of Nations to pull him from the ring and attack him until he was unable to continue. Why not just have the three men throw him over the top rope? As it was Reigns was helped to the back but of course, he would be back ... Braun Strowman was given the star treatment as he eliminated Kane and then the Big Show. Unfortunately nobody seemed to care ... Owens limped to the ring and eliminated AJ Styles to loud boos. It was to be expected ... Sami Zayn then eliminated Owens to a big pop which was a nice nod to their NXT feud ... Brock Lesnar got a huge pop too as he entered the match just as the Wyatt's were taking over. Lesnar battered Strowman for no selling his clothesline before eliminating him, Luke Harper and Erick Rowan. Lesnar's showdown with Bray was cut short as the Wyatt clan re-entered to eliminate Brock. I'm not sure what was stopping them remaining in the ring to help Bray win the match as already eliminated participants are apparently allowed to do whatever they want ... Predictably Reigns returned to the ring and ran riot for a while before Triple H entered as number 30 to a big pop that was nothing compared to the booming response when he eliminated Reigns from behind ... The crowd was hot for the final two (Triple H and Dean Ambrose) but it was obvious that Hunter was going to win here so in some ways the ending was a bit of an anti-climax.


Hopefully Wrestlemania will mark the end of The Authority. The so called 'superstars' being treated like lowly workers who are lucky to have a job is really counter productive and needs to end. They've been doing the heel authority gimmick for 18 years now, it's time to move on.

WWF Royal Rumble 1992

WWF Royal Rumble 1992

Venue: Albany, New York
Date: 19/1/92
Attendance: 17,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


After two controversial title changes at Survivor Series and This Tuesday In Texas the WWF Heavyweight Title was declared vacant by Jack Tunney and would be awarded to the winner of the Royal Rumble match. The idea being that a match of this magnitude would surely draw well on pay-per-view after buy rates had slumped in 1991. The two men at the centre of the title controversy, Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker were guaranteed a number between 20 and 30 in the Rumble.


To kick off the show the New Foundation defeated the Orient Express in a good tag team contest. After a false start under the guise of the Blue Blazer, Owen Hart teamed with Jim Neidhart hoping to emulate the success his brother Bret had paired with "The Anvil". Unfortunately Neidhart would be fired shortly after the Royal Rumble and Owen found himself back at square one for a while. He certainly shone in this contest though.


An explanation is probably required before I cover the next match-up. Bret Hart was the Intercontinental Champion and was feuding with The Mountie but Hart believing his contract was expiring began negotiating with WCW (sound familiar?). Hart had already been told he would be dropping the title to Mountie on 17/01/91 and whether or not this played a part in his decision to explore his options are open to debate. Unbeknownst to Hart at the time was that his contract had already rolled over meaning he wouldn't be able to sign elsewhere until later in the year effectively ending any negotiations. Hart's title loss was blamed on his decision to wrestle despite suffering from a high fever but even still the defeat came as a big surprise to fans at the time. Roddy Piper, who had come to Hart's aid during a post match beating was installed as the number one contender for the Royal Rumble in just two days time. As it was Piper ploughed through the Quebecer in a short passable match made better by the hot crowd to win his only WWF singles title. Piper then shocked Mountie with his own cattle prod, complete with comedy buzzer sound effects.  An all babyface Intercontinental Title clash was then set between Piper and Hart for Wrestlemania as Hart's push continued ensuring "The Hitman" would remain in the WWF.

The Bushwackers beat the Beverly Brothers in a rubbish match that went on too long. Luke and Butch were accompanied by Jamison (a geeky character who first appeared on The Bobby Heenan Show) who was being bullied by Beau and Blake's manager The Genius. It was all very embarrassing.


Back to serious business as the Legion of Doom defended the tag team title against the Natural Disasters in an okay match but with a cheap count out finish in favour of the challengers. Hawk and Animal would soon lose the belts to Money Inc (Ted Dibiase & Irwin R Schyster) as Hawk would be suspended for failing a drugs test. They would return with Paul Ellering as their manager at Wrestlemania.


Ric Flair became WWF Heavyweight Champion with a stellar performance in an exceptional Royal Rumble match. Flair entered the match at number three and survived for over an hour, taking a pounding from everyone and surviving by the skin of his teeth. It was classic Ric Flair. Just about every big name (and future big name) available was in the match such as Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Undertaker, Sid Justice and Shawn Michaels making the match even more monumental. In the big moments from the match; Ted Dibiase was surprisingly eliminated first by Davey Boy Smith before Flair even entered; Piper and Flair had a great showdown which had the Albany crowd on their feet; Randy Savage and Jake Roberts collided with a crazed Savage still looking for revenge. Savage eliminated "The Snake" before accidently eliminating himself by leaping over the top rope to continue the brawl. The officials had to let him back in the match as Savage was not due to depart just yet while Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan tried their best to cover for the error on commentary; the crowd roared as Hulk Hogan made his way down and then ousted The Undertaker before setting his sights on Ric Flair. With the match down to three men, Hogan had Flair in trouble on the verge of elimination until Sid (supposedly Hogan's friend) dumped the Hulkster from behind. Hogan took exception to this and pulled Sid out (with Flair's help) handing the championship to the "Nature Boy". As Flair's celebration began, Hogan and Sid had a stand off in the ring with the majority of the vocal crowd not supporting the Hulkster. Hogan was reportedly unhappy backstage feeling he had been set up to be booed but he should have realised he would look bad the way the end of the match was laid out for him. Backstage Flair cut a great promo after being awarded the title by Jack Tunney. After months of claiming to already be the "Real World's Champion" and carrying the NWA/WCW title, Flair drew a line under the whole angle as he proclaimed that the WWF title was the only title in the world that makes you number one. You could argue that Flair would never have another night in his career that would surpass this.

Overall a good show with an outstanding Royal Rumble match tempered by an average undercard. At the age of 43 Ric Flair became the WWF's oldest world champion (this record would be broken by 54 year old Vince McMahon in 1999) and this would be one his last truly great performances. It should also be said that Bobby Heenan was fantastic on commentary in his support of Flair. The original plan was for Hogan to challenge Flair in the main event of Wrestlemania VIII but the match was scratched for two reasons; Vince McMahon was not satisfied enough with the numbers drawn on the house show circuit headlined by Hogan versus Flair matches to push it as his biggest match of the year; and secondly because Hogan was about to move out of the spotlight due to increasing pressure surrounding the steroid scandal. Hogan would stay away from the WWF for ten months hoping the fires would die down in his absence. Royal Rumble pulled in 260,000 buys which considering the magnitude of the main event must've been a huge disappointment. This was a whopping 180,000 less than the 1991 event.

Results
1. New Foundation def Orient Express by pinfall (17:18) ***1/4
2. Rowdy Roddy Piper def The Mountie (c) by referee stoppage to win the Intercontinental Title (5:22) *1/2
3. Beverly Brothers def Bushwackers by pinfall (14:56) 1/4
4. Natural Disasters def Legion of Doom (c) by count out. LOD retained the World Tag Team Title (9:24) *1/2
5. Ric Flair won the Royal Rumble match to become WWF Heavyweight Champion (62:02) ****1/2


Rating
11/25 = 44.00%


Star Rating Guide
***** Excellent/World Class
**** Very Good
*** Good
** OK/Acceptable
* Poor
DUD Abysmal
SQ Squash (Less than 1 min)