The Event Center: WWF Saturday Night Main Event: July 15th, 2006
Introduction:
Hello and welcome back to the CrazyMax Event Center. I’ve been feeling the urge to keep knocking these out but I also have had the urge to switch it up a little bit. I have been stuck in the late 80s – early 90s WWF and WCW but this time we are going to switch it up and do something a little different. We are going to go back to the returning Saturday Night Main Event and hit up the second episode from the summer of 2006. I don’t think I watched this show live and I definitely haven’t gone back and watched it since it has aired. Therefore, this is going to be all new to me and I am excited for it. Lets get to it.
Show Opening:
The show opens up with your typical video package and then the camera panning around the arena showing off the signs and the fans in attendance. We have 30 different announce team combinations running through the card. Ross lets us know that Degeneration X will square off against all 5 members of the Spirit Squad in an elimination match. Boy can’t wait for that one. Michael Cole tells we are going to have a 6 man tag from Smackdown between Batista/Rey/Lashley vs. Booker/Henry/Finlay. Starting off hot here I see. Ross then lets us know that the main event will be a WWE Championship match between John Cena and the defending champion Edge. Ross lets us know that this will be the first time in 14 years that the WWE championship will be defended on NBC. Then some familiar music hits as we get this show on the road…
In Ring Promo: Hulk Hogan & Brooke Hogan
Hulk Hogan’s music hits as he comes out to a Luke warm response from the crowd. Once he starts to pose the fans start to get a little hyped for Hogan. Also, it seems as if I can’t get away from this guy. Hulk then calls over for someone and it ends up being Brooke Hogan. The music stops and the crowd pops for Hogan. As always, it’s pretty damn awesome. Hogan hands the mic over to Brooke to get the promo started. This is going to be bad, just have that feeling. Brooke says she has always dreamed of this moment. The moment where she could stand next to her dad in a ring in front of all of the fans. Brooke wants her career to be as successful as her dads and that it is an honor to be here.
Hulk takes the mic and says as a father he has to tell his Hulkamaniacs that he is very proud of his daughter Brooke. Brooke then leans in and does the Hulk pose where he’s saying he can’t hear the fans. Hulk, for some stupid ass reason, says as far as looks go thank God she looks like his wife Linda. Wonder how he feels about that now? Hogan says as far as Saturday Night Main Event goes, he was on the first on May 11th, 1985. Hogan says that after all of these years and because of all of the Hulkamaniacs, Hulkamania is still running wild.
Randy Orton’s music hits and he comes out carrying a rose. Orton gets in the ring and says he is sorry for the interrupt. Orton says there is no way that he was going to sit backstage and pass up the opportunity to stand in the ring with the, perhaps, the biggest legend this business has ever seen. Orton also says not to mention Hogan’s beautiful daughter Brooke. Orton then hands Brooke a rose and says this is on behalf of all of the Hulkamaniacs. Orton says that since Hogan is the legend among legends and that he is the legend killer. He then challenges Hogan to a match at Summer Slam.
Hogan says that since Orton respectfully challenged him to a match at Summer Slam then he respectfully accepts the challenge. Orton and Hogan shake hands as Hogan’s music hits. Hogan then poses in the ring with is daughter as Orton looks on with a grin on his face.
They show a highlight video on the animal Batista
Match 1: Rey Mysterio Jr/Batista/Bobby Lashley vs. King Booker/Finlay/Mark Henry
The show heads to commercial and when we get back Booker is entering the ring with William Regal constantly saying “all hail King Booker.” Meanwhile, JBL is blowing his load when it comes to King Booker. He says Sharmell makes Queen Victoria look like a lap dancer. Regal then proclaims that King Booker will be the next World Heavyweight Champion. The match starts off with Lashley and Finlay in the ring. They start in a tie up and Lashley drives Finlay into the corner and lays in the shoulder blocks.
Lashley then whips Finlay into the turnbuckle and Finlay goes for a kick to the face but Lashley catches the boot and ends up hitting Finlay with a belly to belly overhead suplex. Finlay rolls into his corner and all 6 men get in the ring. We come back from commercial with Finlay having Rey in a reverse chin lock. Rey gets up to his feet and hits Finlay with some elbows to the midsection. Rey then hits Finlay with a right hand and bounces off the rope but Finlay decks him with a big right hand that sends Rey to the mat. Finlay then gets Rey in another reverse chin lock.
Rey gets up to his feet and drives Finlay back into the turnbuckle. Finlay breaks the chin lock and decks Rey with a right hand. Finlay then whips Rey into the ropes but Rey holds on and ends up kicking Finlay in the face. Rey then jumps to the middle rope and hits a beautiful Asai moonsault on Finlay for a 2 count. Booker and Henry come into the ring to break up the count but Batista and Lashley go out after them. Meanwhile, on the other side of the ring the leprechaun climbs out from under the ring. He grabs the shillelagh and nails Rey in the midsection with it 3-4 times. He then hops out of the ring and climbs back under neath it.
Finlay gets back in the ring and does a senton on Rey. Finlay then tags in King Booker and he comes in and lays the boots to Rey in the corner. Booker then tags in Mark Henry and he comes in and head butts Rey in the corner. Henry goes for a splash in the corner but Rey moves out of the way and starts laying in the boots to Henry. Henry falls down to the mat and Rey nails him with a low drop kick. Rey crawls over to Batista and makes the tag but the ref never saw it so he can’t get in the ring.
Booker gets in the ring and drags Rey over to his corner as all three of them work over Rey in the corner. Booker then picks up Rey off the mat and lays in a vicious chop to the chest of Rey. Booker then whips Rey into the ropes and he goes for what looked like a pop up power bomb but Rey reverses it into a hurrican rana. Rey then crawls through the legs of Booker and Finlay numerous times trying to get to his corner for the tag. He finally gets the tag to Batista and he comes in a house of fire. This is Batista’s first in ring action in 7 months due to an injury and the crowd is pumped up.
Batista lays in some clotheslines to Finlay and Booker. He then picks up Booker and drops him with a body slam. He then picks up Finlay and drops him with a power slam. Batista whips Finlay into the ropes but he dunks down to early and Finlay kicks him in the face. Finlay is about to charge at Batista but Booker charges at him instead and ends up getting hit with a spine buster by Batista. Lashley pulls Finlay out of the ring and lays in the right hands to him on the outside.
Batista starts doing his Ultimate Warrior impression waiting for Booker to get back up to his feet. Sharmell and Regal check on King Booker as Rey comes out of no where and nails Booker with the 619. Batista then kicks Booker in the gut and nails him with a Batista Bomb for the 1-2-3. Your winners by way of pinfall….Rey Mysterio Jr, Batista, and Bobby Lashley!
Recap:
This was a decent match but it feels like you miss the majority of the action because of the commercial breaks during the match. The action was pretty fast and furious from what you can see and the guys didn’t really take much of a break during the action. The returning Batista got the majority of the attention and he got the hot tag to send the match home. All in all not a bad opener and this was pretty entertaining to watch. I’d recommend checking it out.
Backstage Vignette: Vince McMahon pumps of the Spirit Squad
Vince McMahon tells the Squad that tonight is the night that they destroy Degeneration X. Vince tells us that tonight is the 5 of them vs the 2 members of Degeneration X in a special elimination match. Vince says there will be holding cells on each side of the ring on the outside and after one member of DX gets eliminated then they can throw them in there. Vince says there’s no way any of them will lose so they don’t have to worry about them. Vince says after tonight then all of a sudden you can no longer hear him.
DX pops up in a side box and Shawn says pardon the interruption folks but we are Degeneration X and that over there is Vince McMahon, the boss. Triple H asks have you ever wondered what Vince McMahon is thinking. Triple H then makes fun of Vince and says what he thinks Vince McMahon is thinking instead of what he is actually saying. Triple H says “damn it guys I’m old.” “I am an old crusty geezer. Tonight is a big night. Tonight I want you guys to come to my room and take off all of my clothes. Then I want you to tie my hands up over my head and i want you to spank my bottom until it is red.” They then portray Kenny and say “Before we get to the spanking, we have to go out on prime time wrestling and get our backsides handed to us by Degeneration X.” Vince McMahon “is that true?” This continues to go on and on and it gets kind of stupid after awhile. No need to narrate any further. We get back to the audio of Vince McMahon at the end and he says “we will never be embarrassed by Degeneration X again.”
They show highlights of the Diva Bull Riding contest from earlier on in the night
Match 2: Johnny Nitro/Melina vs. Carlito/Trish Stratus
The match starts with Carlito and Nitro. They go in for a tie up but Nitro backs out and ends up tagging in Melina. Therefore, Trish has to get into the ring so we start the match with Trish and Melina. Melina kicks Trish in the midsection then she slaps her in the face. They then exchange forearms. Trish gets the upper hand with 2-3 forearms. Trish then goes for an Irish whip but Melina reverses it and Nitro trips her up when she makes it over to the opposite rope.
Melina then grabs Trish by the hair and throws it down to the mat. Melina then takes her thumb and jams it into the eye of Trish. Trish gets back to her feet and nails Melina with a couple of forearms. Trish then chops Melina in the chest. Trish then licks her hand and chops Melina again. Melina gets out of the corner and then charges at Trish and grabs her by the hair and slams her into the mat. Melina then goes over and tags in Nitro while Trish tags in Carlito.
Carlito gets in the ring and lays in the rights. Carlito then whips Nitro into the ropes and Carlito decks Nitro with a drop kick. Nitro then goes for a wheel barrel type move but Carlito reverses it and dumps Nitro on his back. Meanwhile, Trish gets in the ring and takes down Melina again. They get in a cat fight type position as they roll to the outside. Meanwhile, Carlito gets distracted so Nitro grabs him from behind and tries to get him in a spinning neck breaker but Carlito reverses it and ends up nailing Nitro with the Back Cracker. Carlito goes for the cover and gets the 1-2-3. Your winners by way of pinfall….Carlito and Trish Stratus!
Recap:
What to say about this match besides nothing? It was short and point less to be honest. The women were really sloppy and the action between Carlito and Nitro never really took off. This was just thrown together to progress a storyline I guess but there’s really nothing at all to see here. I’d skip this one if I was you.
They introduce Kevin Von Erich to the crowd since they are in Dallas, TX after all
Match 3: Elimination Match: Degeneration-X vs. Spirit Squad
Before the match Shawn and Hunter cut their typical promo. Shawn gets on the mic and says the following thrashing of 5 male cheer leaders is being brought to you by your friends at Degeneration-X, who want to remind you….that if you are not down with that then we got two words for ya……SUCK IT!
The match starts out with Shawn Michaels and Mikey in the ring. Shawn gets distracted by another member of the Squad so he gets trapped in their corner as Mikey lays in the boots. Mikey quickly tags in and gets the ref distracted with Triple H. Meanwhile, another member of the Spirit Squad comes in with the megaphone and tries to nail Shawn with it but Shawn dunks out of the way and he nails his own partner. Shawn then gets a hold of the megaphone and nails all 5 members of the Spirit Squad with it.
Shawn then tosses the megaphone over to Triple H, who leaves it in the corner of DX. The Spirit Squad are in a huddle on the outside as Triple H grabs an air horn and blows it in the ears of the Spirit Squad. Mitch gets back in the ring and is met with some Sweet Chin Music. Shawn goes for the cover and gets the 3 count. Mitch is eliminated. They stick Mitch in one of the holding cells as we head to commercial break.
We come back from commercial with one of the members of the Spirit Squad laying on his back with the megaphone covering his head while the other member of the Spirit Squad is laying on his nuts. A third member of the Spirit Squad falls down and it appears that he is screwing the other member of the Spirit Squad in the ass doggy style. Real classy here WWE. Looks like one is getting screwed up the ass while the other is getting a blow job. Again, stay classy WWE.
Johnny charges at Triple H and he dumps him with the spine buster. Triple H goes for the cover and gets the 1-2-3. Johnny is eliminated. Kenny and Shawn are now in the ring. Kenny hits a right hand on Shawn and then gets him in a head lock. Shawn pushes Kenny off and he just runs back and forth in the ring twice. Shawn gets up and shows the right hand before Kenny holds on to the rope and slides out of the ring. Kenny says he is done with the match and appears to be leaving. Shawn chases after him and decks him with a right hand. Shawn goes to pick up Kenny and out of no where Vince McMahon comes out and levels Shawn with a chair to the back.
Kenny gets Shawn back in the and he tags in Nicky. Nicky then charges at Kenny and Kenny throws him in the air where he comes down and nails a forearm to the face of Shawn. Nicky goes for the cover and gets a 2 count. Nicky then gets Shawn in a sleeper hold in the middle of the ring. Shawn slides over and hits a back suplex on Nicky to break up the hold. Nicky tags in Kenny and he goes to the top rope and he goes for a leg drop but Shawn moves out of the way and tags in Triple H. Shawn gets in and lays in the right hands to all three members of the Spirit Squad.
Triple H levels Mikey with the high knee. Nicky then whips Triple H into the ropes but Triple H reverses it and drops Nicky with the knee to the face. Triple H then hits the spine buster on Nicky and sends him flying over the top rope. Triple H goes for the Pedigree on Kenny but Mikey attacks him from behind to break it up. Mikey and Kenny go for a double clothesline but Triple H goes under neath and ends up hitting both men with a clothesline.
Nicky then comes after Triple H and he ends up getting hit with a Pedigree and gets the 3 count. Nicky is eliminated. Mikey then goes after Triple H and goes for an Irish whip but Hunter drops down and as Mikey goes over him, Shawn levels him with Sweet Chin Music. Hunter gets the pin and Mikey is eliminated. We have Shawn and Hunter vs. Kenny left. Wonder how this one is going to turn out. Kenny stumbles around the ring and ends up getting body slammed by Triple H. Shawn goes off the top rope and nails Kenny with the big elbow. Kenny gets back to his feet and Shawn nails him with some Sweet Chin Music and Triple H follows that up with the Pedigree as they pin Kenny to eliminate him. Your winners of the match…Degeneration-X!
After the match Vince decks the ref and steals the key for the lock to let the Spirit Squad out. Vince tries to get the spirit Squad out of the locked cell but he turns around and Shawn nails him with a brutal Sweet Chin Music. Shawn and Triple H climb to the top of the holding cell and celebrate their victory.
Recap:
Again, there is really nothing to say about this one. They essentially squashed the Spirit Squad and made them more irrelevant than before. The spots weren’t that funny and the match kind of sucked. There’s really nothing to see here either. Just a comedy spot and if you like that kind of thing then great but it’s not my cup of tea so no thanks on this one.
They show a highlight video on Sabu
Inring Promo: The Great Khali & Davari
Daivari tells us that in one week at the Great American Bash, The Undertaker will step into the first ever Punjabi Prison with this man…the Great Khali. Daivari then says that once and for all the Deadman’s legacy will be buried at he hands of the Great Khali. Daivari says that Khali is the on true phenom of the WWE, the one true giant of the WWE, the biggest, the strongest, the baddest, and the toughest giant…..”Well its the Big Show”
The Big Show interrupts up the interview as he comes out holding the ECW Heavyweight Title and is accompanied by Paul Heyman. He gets in the ring and stares down the Great Khali. What a site this is. These guys are humongous and it’s a pretty sweet stare down. Big Show pats the arms of Great Khali as if he is impressed with the size of the Great Khali. Big Show gets on the mic and says that Khali is a big boy. Big Show then says let him tell him a little bit about himself. Big Show states that he is 7 foot 500 pounds of extreme ECW Champion. Big Show says he is the only man walking this planet that has held the WCW Heavyweight Title, the WWE Heavyweight Title, and the ECW Heavyweight Title. Big Show admits that Khali is a big man but one day they will have to find out who the real giant is.
Big Show then says that is not why he is here. Big Show says he is here is to put the Great Khali over. Big Show says the way he single-handedly dominated the Undertaker, he has never seen anything like it. Big Show then says that its the Phenom and its the Undertaker and that Khali has had his number. Big Show states that Khali pinned him by putting his foot on his chest. Then we hear that all too familiar dong as the Undertaker’s music hits.
Undertaker gets in the ring as the Big Show acts like he doesn’t want any. Undertaker then lays in some right hands to the Khali. He lays in a bunch of lefts and rights and then he clotheslines the Great Khali out and over the top rope. Undertaker immediately turns his attention to the Big Show and the Big Show wants no part of him. Undertaker turns around and goes after Khali again but Big Show ends up attacking him from behind with a clothesline.
Big Show lays in the right hands but Undertaker bounces of the ropes and hits his own right. They then exchange lefts and rights and Undertaker gets the advantage until Big Show hits Taker with a big knee to the midsection. Big Show whips Taker into the ropes but Undertaker dunks down and dodges the move and ends up putting his hand around the throat of Big Show as if he is going to choke slam. Khali gets back in the ring and Taker gets him in the same move. Big Show and Khali then take their hands and end up double choke slamming Undertaker in the middle of the ring. Big Show and Khali leave the ring while the Undertaker lays motionless in the middle of the ring.
Backstage Interview: Big Show and Paul Heyman
The Big Show is leaving the building as Grisham catches up to him and asks him his thoughts on what just happened. Big Show restates that the Great Khali has Undertakers number. Big Show says that the Great Khali is not an extreme giant and that the Great Khali is not an ECW Champion. Big Show says if you want to see an extreme giant then you need to tune in on Sci-Fi on Tuesdays. Big Show then restates he’s the only guy to be the ECW champ, WCW champ, and WWE champ. Big Show says this gives him an idea and he ends up challenging the Undertaker for this Tuesday night for the ECW Championship. Big Show says when he is done being extreme on the Undertaker then the Great Khali can have whats left at the Great American Bash.
Match 4: Extreme Rules Match: Sabu vs. Stevie Richards
Sabu comes down to the ring holding a chair and he ends up throwing into the ring and nearly nails the ref. The bell starts and Sabu goes charging after Richards but he goes hightailing it to the ropes to keep Sabu off of him. Sabu goes for another tie up but Richards goes to the ropes again. Sabu gets frustrated so he grabs the chair and throws it at the face of Richards. Richards is laid up in the corner so Sabu sets up the chair and does his patented jumping off the chair side splash in the corner on Richards.
Sabu then hits the ropes and hits Richards with his triple jump moonsault. Sabu hits the legs of Richards instead of the stomach. Sabu goes for the cover but Richards gets out at 2. Sabu quickly goes to the outside and gets the table. He sets it up in the ring near the turnbuckle. Richards gets up and starts laying in the right hands. Richards then charges at Sabu and goes for a move in the corner but Sabu moves out of the way and Richards racks himself on the middle turnbuckle. Sabu then puts Richards on top of the table and he tries to drag the table with Richards on it so the table collapses on one side because of the weight.
Sabu then improvises and lays Richards on the table with on part of the legs down. Sabu then climbs up to the middle rope and he jumps off holding the chair and smashes it into the face of Richards as he goes through the table. What a brutal looking chair shot. Sabu goes for the cover and gets the 1-2-3. Your winner by way of pinfall….Sabu!
Recap:
This was a squash match in all it’s glory. Sabu was nuts and you can really see that here. He comes across as really reckless but it works for him. Some decent spots in here but nothing special at all. The chair spot on the table looked a little rough but all in all nothing to crazy here. Pretty sad on a hour and 1/2 show, ECW gets about 5 minutes total. Tells you all you need to know about how they felt about ECW.
Backstage segment: Randy Orton talks to Brooke Hogan
The show comes back from commercial with Randy Orton talking to Brooke Hogan about something. Hogan comes out of no where and smacks Orton in the back and lets him know that he will see him at Summer Slam. Hogan then helps Brooke into the car as they appear to be leaving. Hogan is walking around the back of the car and Orton comes out of no where and nails Hogan with the RKO on to the trunk of the car. What a bad ass looking spot that was and it perfectly hid the fact that Hogan couldn’t or wouldn’t take the bump to the concrete. Orton looks over a laid out Hogan as Brooke gets out of the car and asks what happened to Hogan. Brooke asked Orton what happened and he just has a smirk on his face as he walks off.
Michelle comes out looking pretty damn hot as she gets on the bull. She lasts 12 seconds on the bull. Victoria then comes out looking like some sort of cowboy and Indian mix. Hard telling what the hell she is going with here but whatever. She hops on the bull and ends up going 6 seconds. Victoria gets up looking pissed off as Michelle McCool laughs about her sucking at riding the bull. Victoria gets pissed and steals Michelle’s ruler and snaps it in half to mercifully end this segment. There’s really no need to recap this shit fest. Thankfully it only lasted about 2 minutes so whatever
Highlights of the feud between John Cena and Edge
They show Edge and Lita heading towards the ring ahead of their match
The match starts with Edge going to the outside and stalling the match. He calls for Lita and says he is leaving but Cena goes out after him and hits him with a knee to the back then some right hands. Edge then rakes the eyes of Cena and a right hand. Edge throws Cena back into the ring but Cena gets up and drops Edge on the top rope and clotheslines him. Cena goes charging at Edge but Edge drops the top rope and Cena goes flying over the top rope to the outside as we head to commercial.
The show comes back from commercial with Cena whipping Edge into the ropes but Cena dunks down to early and Edge kicks Cena in the head. Edge follows that up with a clothesline to Cena. Edge lays in some right hands to Cena. Edge then picks up Cena and puts him on the top turnbuckle. Edge goes for a superplex but Edge’s foot slips off the rope and he falls down but Cena still gets thrown over. That looked brutal and could have ended up really bad for both individuals. They dodged a bullet there.
Both men get back to their feet and Cena lays in some right hands. Cena whips Edge into the rope but Edge reverses it and Cena ends up getting tripped up by Lita on the outside. Edge then drops Cena with a clothesline. Edge then nails Cena with a big time boot to the face. Both men get up to their feet and they exchange right hands as the fans boo Cena and cheer Edge.
Cena gets the upper hand with a right then a left and then a left to the midsection. Cena then hits Edge with multiple clotheslines. Cena then hits the ropes and hits a shoulder block on Edge. Cena then hits Edge with a suplex and he follows that up with the 5 knuckle shuffle. Edge gets up to his feet and Cena gets him in the F-U. Cena goes for the cover and gets a 2 count but Lita pulls the referee out of the ring. Cena gets distracted by Lita as Edge gets up and he goes for the spear but Cena moves out of the way. Cena then drops Edge and gets him in the STFU. The ref tries to get back in the ring but Lita grabs him and slaps him in the face. The ref gets back in the ring and calls for the bell at the same time Edge taps out. The ring announcer gets on the mic and says that the winner of the match by disqualification is….John Cena!
After the match Cena looks disgruntled and upset that he couldn’t win the title. Cena turns around and Edge levels him with a spear. Edge then rolls out of the ring and looks done for as Lita checks on him on the outside. Lita is holding up the title and hands it to Edge. They are celebrating as the champ. Cena then jumps off the apron and attacks Edge on the outside. Cena picks up Edge and throws him in the steel post.
Cena then clears off the announce table and levels Edge with a TV monitor. Cena then picks up Edge and makes it look like he is going to put Edge in the F-U through the table. Cena then shakes his head and says nah this ain’t good enough. Cena then climbs up the steps and drops Edge with an F-U by jumping off the steps and sending him through the table. This looked pretty damn awesome and Edge sold it like a million bucks. Pretty awesome spot here.
This was a pretty solid match based on what was shown on TV. Commercials broke it up a little bit but the action we saw was solid. I also like the ending with Lita interfering as well as what happened after the match was over. Speaking of Lita, my goodness was she smoking hot on this show. Lita with Edge was the best Lita by far and we should all appreciate the greatness that was Lita during this time period. Back to the action, the FU at the end of the show through the announce table was a pretty awesome spot to say the least. This also makes me want to see these two go at it again. Therefore, the match did it’s job and it made you want to see them more and that’s what you are supposed to do. All in all a solid main event and a great way to end the show.
Show Closing:
The show closes with Cena celebrating in the ring and saluting the fans as Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler sell what might happen on this coming Monday Night Raw. Lawler says that Lita may be sorry that he ever got Edge disqualified here. Ross wants to know how bad Cena wants to be the WWE Champion and I guess he let us know by wanting to break Edge in half. Ross lets us know that Lita saves the WWE title for Edge but Edge pays one hell of a price. They show a replay of the finish of the match and then they show a replay of what happened after the match. They come back to the ring where Cena is posing in the middle of the ring. Cena says you don’t know what he is capable of. Cena says if Edge wants a war he’s got a war as the show goes off the air.
Show Recap:
What to say about this card that I haven’t already said. One of the bigger problems reviewing this show is the fact that commercial breaks break up a lot of the matches to they aren’t complete. The best part about the earlier Saturday Night Main Events was the fact that they were taped ahead of time so when they went to commercial you didn’t miss anything. If you check the time stamp on some of these matches they go over 10 minutes but with commercials you only get to see 5-6 minutes which sucks. It takes away from the action when trying to review it and it makes the matches appear to be bad when in actuality they could have been solid if you saw the whole thing.
The opener was pretty solid with a lot of big names in the match. Seeing Rey, Batista, and Lashley tag up against Booker and the other two was a great way to open the show. It was face paced and we got the big pop from the returning Batista. This was a good match that didn’t appear to go as long as they did so it works. I like it and would recommend checking it out.
The mixed tag match was filler honestly. The women were sloppy and Nitro and Carlito, which can be good with time, didn’t get any time to get anything going and it made the match suck if you ask me. It came across as filler and that’s pretty bad considering the talent that was involved.
The DX match vs. the Spirit Squad was the drizzling shits as well. This was just a 10 minute match to get DX over, as if they need it, and to kill the Spirit Squad once and for all. They were just jobbers compared to DX and the feud makes no sense now and it sure as hell made no sense back then. The 06 run of DX was horrible and it felt forced. Triple H came across as if he could be doing something better and Shawn was iffy on a lot of things because of his religious beliefs. Therefore, it was just a waste of time and the “comedy” they were doing was shit and this show is no different.
The match between Sabu and Stevie Richards was another squash match to get Sabu over as crazy. Sabu got his normal spots in and got the victory in a short amount of time. Nothing wrong with that but it does make ECW appear to be an after thought since they only got 1 three minute match on an hour 1/2 show. Tells you all you need to know about what they thought of ECW at the time.
All the vignettes and other stuff was nice filler but I still prefer the old school way of doing this as far as Saturday Night Main Event is concerned. I liked the format where each guy got an interview and were asked to get themselves and the match over. It worked and guys who sometimes didn’t get a chance to talk got that opportunity and it was different. This was just a typical Raw with the in ring promos and the backstage interviews. Only difference was this show aired on a Saturday instead of a Monday. The segments did their job but I would prefer something a little different to make this show stick out a little more.
The main event was pretty good but it gets low scores based off the fact that commercial breaks interrupted it and you missed half the match. I liked the post match stuff where Edge appears to get the upper hand to end the show but Cena gets his revenge right away. The FU through the table was pretty damn awesome and was a good way to send the crowd home happy and to end the show.
All in all this show wasn’t very good. The first match was pretty good and the last match was pretty good but everything in between was just eh. They tried to put to much in to the show but they didn’t have the time to do it. I would have preferred 2-3 matches that can go 12-14 minutes then some segments in between. Instead we got 5 matches and 4-5 segments so the matches were cut short and never really got an opportunity to get going. There’s some good stuff here but not enough to make me want to watch this show again. I would recommend checking out Lita, the main event, and the opener. Other than that there just isn’t much here to recommend.
That’s all for this episode of the Event Center. I hope you enjoyed the review as we continue to jump all around and try to hit different eras as well as different companies. Next up on the list will be WCW Uncensored 1998. I have no idea why I am doing this show but looking over the card it appears to be positive so I want to give it a chance. I like mixing things up and I hope you continue to follow along as we review wrestling one Event Center at a time.
