Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Monday Night Raw Review - June 30th, 2003

WWE Raw

June 30th, 2003

Buffalo, New York

World Heavyweight Champion: Triple H (since 12/15/02)

Intercontinental Champion: Christian (since 5/18/03)

World Tag Team Champions: La Resistance (since 6/15/03)

WWE Women's Champion: Jazz (since 4/27/03)

Commentators - Jim Ross & Jerry "The King" Lawler

Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel opens the show. He mentions Kane’s unmasking last week, but says he’s not about the UGLY he’s about the.. beauty. Ok. His guest tonight is Stacy Keibler (w/ Scott Steiner). I guess they’re a package deal now. The sexual innuendos begin quickly here. Jericho says he’s been checking out Stacy’s spread. He also says he didn’t invite Steiner here and tells him to get lost. Jericho says he’s a legend in the ring and the sack. Lmao. Stacy asks Jericho if he really thinks he could compete with FREAKZILLA. Stacy says she’s heard Jericho has a small penis.. man.. why the fuck am I typing this all out. Jericho brings out Test, clearly trying to start trouble. 

Jericho attacks Steiner and Test joins him. Steiner starts clearing house and out comes Eric Bischoff. Bischoff announces Jericho & Test vs. Steiner for later on and also lets us know that Stone Cold isn’t here tonight. 

1) Goldberg vs. Lance Storm 

Ruthless Aggression Era Project: WWE Smackdown Review - June 26th, 2003

WWE Smackdown 

June 26th, 2003

New York City - Madison Square Garden

WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar (since 3/30/03)

WWE Tag Team Champions: Eddie Guerrero & Tajiri (since 5/18/03)

WWE Cruserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio (since 6/5/03)

Commentators - Michael Cole & Tazz

TONIGHT: Lesnar/Angle/America vs. Haas/Benjamin/Show 

Josh Matthews is ring announcing tonight and it’s weird. 

John Cena opens the show. He says he’s bigger than Madison Square Garden and that when WrestleMania 20 rolls around next year, he will be in the main event. He recites some lines from his theme, then does a rap. It’s the one year anniversary of him answering Kurt Angle’s open challenge so now he’s issuing an open challenge to “any rookie punk in the back looking to make a name.” 

Orlando Jordan answers the challenge and they show Billy Kidman in the crowd looking like a cool guy. 

1) John Cena vs. Orlando Jordan 

Cena throws some shade at Jordan and gets clotheslined out of nowhere for his troubles. Bell rings and they run the ropes and Jordan hits some explosive offense early. Jordan is another random person like the Basham’s that I remember seeing when I began watching Smackdown as a kid so it’s cool seeing his debut here against someone who would become quite the rival of his. Anyways, Cena finally gets his Jersey off and starts moving. He goes for an FU and Jordan escapes. Jordan fires off again and goes for a crossbody, but Cena rolls through and gets the pin. This was fun for like 3 minutes.

Match rating - **

Cena attacks Orlando post-match and The Undertaker shows up to confront him. Cena bails out as soon as Taker gets off his motorcycle and into the ring. Taker stares at Orlando as he gets up and gives him a nod. 

2) The Undertaker, Bradshaw, & Ron Simmons vs. Full Bloodied Italians (Nunzio, Chuck Palumbo, & Johnny Stamboli) 

AEW: Rampage Review - May 6th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

May 6th, 2022

Baltimore, Maryland 

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Chris Jericho & Ricky Starks 

Hello everyone. It’s a 5:30pm edition of Rampage and IM HERE. I accidentally turned to TBS instead of TNT but I realized it before missing more than a few minutes of the show. 

1) Britt Baker & Jamie Hayter (w/ Rebel) vs. Ruby Soho & Toni Storm

AEW: Dynamite Review - May 4th, 2022

AEW Dynamite

May 4th, 2022

Baltimore, Maryland

 AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 4/27/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Jim Ross, & Tony Schiavone 

Adam Cole opens the show to a massive pop to join commentary for the opening match.

1) Jeff Hardy (w/ Matt Hardy) vs. Bobby Fish (w/ Kyle O’Reilly) - Owen Hart Foundation Tournament Qualifier 

Yeah this suuuucked. Not like offensively bad.. but not anywhere near good. Crowd was hot! And it was cool seeing Jeff in singles action. That’s about it though. Jeff took a falcon arrow which was nutty. Swanton bomb ends it and Jeff advances thank the lord. I’m dying to see Jeff/Darby in the tournament itself. 

Match rating - ** 

THEY AIR THE EPIC LEGENDARY REGAL BCC PROMO FROM “ROAD TO” IN ROUTE TO OUR NEXT MATCH 

2) Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson, & Wheeler Yuta vs. Angelico, The Butcher, & The Blade 

NOW WE GET SOME GOOD SHIT. Butch & Blade deserve this match even though the outcome is obvious. Angelico is making TV for the first time in forever which is cool. The Andrade office boys jump BCC during Moxley’s entrance. They end up isolating Yuta and Yuta hits an awesome german on Butcher during his comeback. Moxley gets the hot tag and Jesus Christ man.. the dude just rules. He kicks Blade’s ass all around ringside and flips a table over. It’s not long before we are in the classic BCC finishing sequence with them locking every member in for the elbows followed by submissions for the win. 

Match rating - ***

Backstage, Jurassic Express accepts Ricky Starks & Powerhouse Hobbs’ tag title challenge. BUT Jungle Boy wants Starks for the FTW Title next week first. 

NJPW: Windy City Riot Review - April 16th, 2022

NJPW Windy City Riot

April 16th, 2022

Chicago, Illinois 

NJPW Strong Openweight Champion - Tom Lawlor (since 4/23/21)

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions - Jeff Cobb & Great O' Khan (since 4/9/22)

Commentators - Kevin Kelly & Matt Rehwoldt

1) Yuya Uemura, Clark Connors, & Karl Fredericks vs. QT Marshall, Nick Comoroto, & Aaron Solow

This was a decent enough opener. The feed was cutting in and out and actually cut out completely for a minute or so. For this reason, I don’t want to comment too much, but everything about this seemed super solid so YEAH. Good kick off, technical issues aside. 

Match rating - **1/4

2) Chris Dickinson, Fred Rosser, Ren Narita, Josh Alexander, & Alex Coughlin vs. Team Filthy (JR Kratos, Danny Limelight, Black Tiger, Royce Isaacs, & Jorel Nelson)

Welll god damn. I didn’t expect to enjoy this so much. But holy shit it ruled. All the preliminary action is just fine with everyone getting a chance to shine then shit breaks down. JR Kratos and Alex Coughlin have an awesome back & forth before Kratos completely steals the show with a fucking dive over the corner top rope onto everyone else on the outside. Truly fucking insane shit. Between this and the Bloodsport match with Thatcher a few weeks ago, I’m fully on board with Kratos. This leads to Rosser and Black Tiger showing out in the final moments with Rosser tapping out Black Tiger for the victory. 

Match rating - ***1/4

After the match, Tom Lawlor comes down to help his team assault Rosser following the loss. This leads to Yuji Nagata coming out for the save and demanding their match be made a title match. Andddddd here we go!!!

3) Tom Lawlor (c) vs. Yuji Nagata - NJPW STRONG OPENWEIGHT TITLE MATCH

AEW: Rampage Review - April 15th, 2022

AEW Rampage 

April 15th, 2022

Garland, Texas

AEW World Champion: Hangman Adam Page (since 11/13/21)

AEW World Tag Team Champions: Jungle Boy & Luchasaurus (since 1/5/22)

AEW Women’s World Champion: Thunder Rosa (since 3/16/22)

AEW TBS Champion: Jade Cargill (since 1/5/22)

AEW TNT Champion: Scorpio Sky (since 3/9/22)

Commentators - Excalibur, Taz, Ricky Starks & William Regal

ITS A LIVE 7PM EDITION OF RAMPAGE

1) Blackpool Combat Club (Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, & Wheeler Yuta) (w/ William Regal) vs. The Gunn Club (Billy, Austin, & Colten Gunn) 

NJPW: G1 Climax 28 - Night One & Two Review - July 14th & 15th, 2018

NJPW: G1 Climax 28

July 14th & 15th, 2018

Tokyo, Japan

 

Commentators - Don Callis, Rocky Romero, & Kevin Kelly

So, over on the Up & Over Podcast we decided dive into the 2018 G1 Climax, so you know I had to a written review as well. Check out the podcast above and check out my review. LETS GET INTO IT. 

JULY 14TH, 2018 - BLOCK A TOURNAMENT MATCHES 

Togi Makabe (GBH) vs. YOSHI-HASHI (CHAOS) - Block A Tournament Match 

This is Togi Makabe’s 15th consecutive G1 which is an astounding fact. He won the tournament in 2009. YOSHI HASHI here is still trying to find and reach his full potential. The match begins with the two throwing bombs and somehow YOSHI HASHI gets the early advantage and sends Makabe into the railing on the floor. He uses the to dominate for a few minutes, but Makabe fights up. Pretty soon, we are in a back & forth slugfest. The outcome of this was pretty up in the air given Makabe’s history and even though YOSHI always seems to fall short in big spots, he beat Kenny Omega in a huge upset in the 2016 G1 so it’s clear that he can dig down deep every now and again. Huge powerbomb off the top gets YOSHI a two count. He follows it up with a running meteors for another nearfall. Makabe looks very vulnerable as YOSHI puts him in the butterfly lock. The crowd begins to rumble as Makabe tries to fight his legs to the ropes and soon enough he breaks the plain of the ropes and the hold gets released. We get an awesome spot after this where Makabe tosses YOSHI with a german and YOSHI fires up. Makabe rebounds, though and follows through with a spider powerbomb off the top rope followed by the King Kong knee drop for the victory. Good opening tourney match here. 

Match rating - **3/4

Bad Luck Fale (BULLET CLUB) vs. “Hangman” Adam Page (ELITE) - Block A Tournament Match