Superstar Sleeze

Shawn Michaels vs Rey Mysterio - WWE RAW 11/14/05 Eddie Tribute Shawn and Eddie never wrestled I thought it at time and think it is true now Shawn didnt want to miss that chance with Rey so they booked the match. When Eddie passed, I had not yet lost a grandparent I have memories of or and uncle or been to a funeral. I remember the Owen Hart tragedy but I had only been a fan for two years and there were other wrestlers too as this was the era of big time wrestlers dying really young. Eddie’s death was a shock one week he was on my TV screen lighting up my world bringing me so much joy and then he was gone. Eddie was one of those wrestlers that just had infectious charisma and was a true joy to watch. Thank you Eddie! Fabulous match I have watched a lot of mid-90s Shawn recently but been a while for mid-00s Shawn. Brilliant Stuff. They turned cat and mouse on its head. Shawn was in a rare position to be the larger opponent. He knows Rey likes uptempo intricate moves so what does he is patient. He waits a beat. Surveys the trap. Then evades or stuffs the attack. The cat becomes the mouse and the mouse becomes the cat. It is wildly brilliant. Unlike cat & mouse, in pro wrestling the mouse has to Go on offense. Instead of pressing and letting Rey play counterattack. Shawn forces Rey into offense and plays counterattack. Now of course a couple times, Rey is still able to land a dive because he is the greatest high flyer to ever do it But it makes each dive worth more because he really had to earn it and the set up was so good. The dive that sent us to commercial was created by Shawn setting too early on a back drop. This was a match of patience. Who ever tipped their hand got caught. Shawn worked big on offense too with the stinging chops and working the back. That set up the Rey comeback with kicks to the legs and dropkicks well. Shawn hit the flying burrito. Looked he was going to run away with it when Rey got him into position for the 619. I love Shawn got pissed about this. He started mowing him down with clotheslines. Christian Good Guy Shawn had great matches but it was always nice to see a glimmer of petulant brat Shawn throwing a temper tantrum. Nice Top Rope Elbow but the Sweet Chin Music was telegraphed and Rey gets the 619 and drops the dime for the win! The whole match Shawn was patient. Biding his time, watching what Rey would do take a beat either Stuff or evade but as he got frustrated he couldn’t put away Rey he telegraphed his finish and he was the one that paid. WOW! Brilliance by two of the Top 20 wrestlers to ever do it. **** 1/4

Triple H vs Chris Benoit - WWE Smackdown 11/18/05 Eddie Guerrero Tribute Week takes me back. Such a sad week. Funny how it is the Kliq versus Eddie’s two best friends to headline the week. I recall HHH/Benoit having good chemistry and that was evident here. This is such a great TV match if this is what we were getting week in week out nowadays I would never complain. They play off Triple H tapping to Benoit at Mania XX. Benoit goes for the Crossface twice each time the Game powders and then switches up to Sharpshooter powder again. Third time Benoit gives chase stinging chops. HHH does the Valentine timbaaaahhh bump. HHH throws Benoit over the top rope to the floor to send us to commercials excellent shine. HHH works the back well Benoit hope cut off by the spine buster then into the Sleeper exchange. It is just textbook. Loved all teases between the Sharpshooter and the Pedigree. To go into the Rolling Germans and Diving Headbutt. Triple H one last gasp but the Pedigree into the Crossface. HHH looks to reverse but Benoit rolls through for the cradle win. A perfect match for the night clinical, elementary But oh so effective. The Shine was Aces. Solid heat segment and fun stretch run. Very good match. I wish more wrestling was like this. *** 3/4

WWE Champion John Cena vs Triple H vs Edge - WWE Backlash 2006 If the match was worth a damn, HHH’s bladejob would be remembered in the annals of all time great bladejobs but unfortunately for him this is another mediocre WWE main event from the mid-2000s that doesn’t really need to be watched. HHH is playing tweener as this is his last PPV as a heel before reuniting with Shawn as a babyface nostalgia DX act. Edge plays the chickenshit heel saying they can slug it out and then break it out whenever either gets a cover. Cena and HHH get wise to his plan and pinball him with punches and then taking turns bouncing his head off the announce desk. If Edge was a good stooge that would have been more effective. HHH and Cena take turns foiling the other. HHH hits another monster clothesline like he did at Mania. Did he always have a good Clothesline? Cool Top Rope Cena Splash! Match kicks into gear when Cena hoists both men up in the FU position. Edge bucks off and spears Cena which sends HHH careening of out of the Ring. The spot of the match HHH does the mid-air catapult blade job into the post thy would make Shawn jealous. Impaler DDT that doesnt break the Table was nasty and puts HHH out. STFU! A wicked bloody HHH stops Edge from tapping out and blasts Cena with the mic. HHH CREAMS EDGE WITH A CHAIR! How did we think that was Ok? That was a home run over the Green Monster! Cena gets STFU but a bloody HHH makes it to the ropes instead of tapping because he is fueled by dreams of nostalgia and glow sticks. I really like the story that HHH can’t negotiate the Pedigree on Cena and keeps ending up in the STFU. Lita gets involved and things almost get really bad as she charges with a chair into a HHH spine buster but as she loses control of the chair she hits herself in the head but thankfully HHH Misses the chair on the way down or she would have broken her back. HHH says hell naw to the Chair gets the Sledgehammer. Edge spears him. Cena goes for the FU low blow by HHH. Triple H goes for the Pedigree But Cena jackknifes him for the pin for an anticlimatic win. HHH blasts everyone with a sledgehammer and his music plays even though he lost which leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Everything after the attempted Double FU was pretty good especially the HHH bladejob and the key spots. I love that HHH couldn’t get the Pedigree. No FU was interesting also Cena did his standard sequence as the beginning so I like that it was not just a collection of the usual spots. But two things bug me they didn’t respect the Ballshot and the match felt incomplete like it just sort of ended. I will go higher Than WrestleMania But nowhere near classic status even though the bladejob is an all timer. *** 1/4

WWE Champion John Cena vs Triple H - WrestleMania XXII Surprisingly, I have never seen this before. I remember as a teenager thinking this feud/program was pretty flat. This was the last WrestleMania to be held in an arena and as they would move into Stadiums the next year and never look back. I wonder if they did some market research and they noticed they got a lot of fly-ins. The hot chick that is at the front row of every WrestleMania was this show, but not in the front row but they showed her twice. Maybe she is from Chicago but thats what made me think oh did they start getting fly-ins and realized they could go bigger. I have to say Vince's booking of Cena's opponents was pretty immaculate. Taking the title off the undeserving, chickenshit JBL. Ramping up to low-end Main Eventers Jericho and Angle. Booking back to back WrestleManias against the 90s Old Guard HHH & HBK. The HHH has the double whammy of getting the last bit of heel juice out of HHH before he embraced being a nostalgia act with Shawn reuniting D-X. Elevating Edge in 2006 and Orton in 2007 and throw in a couple monsters like Umaga and Khali. Really strong stuff. I think 2008 he had a misfire. He should have run Cena/Batista at Mania that year and then run Cena/Taker at Summerslam because you cant run Cena/Taker at Mania because of the Streak. That would have been gangbusters. Compare to what Vince did Roman Reign, this was borderline perfect booking especially the 2005-2007. The smartest thing he did was not giving in and turning Cena heel. He was way more over with the split reaction. The "smart" fans would have cooled immediately he was going to get way more heat with the polarized reaction. I skipped the Angle feud, but the split reaction was evident during both the Jericho and Edge matches. This was the first one with overwhelmingly boos for Cena and the Lets Go Cena/Cena Sucks chant that I have heard. Triple H "buried" Cena during the run up saying Cena Cant Wrestle which basically gave permission to all the smart fans to rabidly turn on Cena with "You Cant Wrestle" and "Cena Sucks" chants, but "smart" fans are the easiest to work. They gave them the ultimate heel and the kids the ultimate babyface. The Cena Experiment was genius. The gist of the story was that HHH was going to outwrestle Cena which is laughable because it is not like HHH is fucking Funk or Brisco but whatever. Funnily enough, HHH actually wrestles at the beginning which was a pleasant surprise. He does the same bit of chain wrestling Hulk Hogan does whenever he feels the need to chain wrestle. He does a hammerlock. JR makes a big to do about it. If they actually carried the story through the match I would have been impressed. I really liked Cena going for the FU and HHH's response being a hard, straight right. Sells the desperation. Then they work a weird sequence where HHH feels like the babyface with Cena working on a heat segment. HHH does the Harley bump over the top, but after HHH pokes him in the eye they go back to the traditional face/heel dynamics. Then the match becomes a typical HHH match. Typical knee-based offense. Some cutoffs. Nothing spectacular. HHH Sleeper. They make Cena run through his Comeback twice because HHH did a Spinebuster on the first 5 Knuckle Shuffle attempt they should have been more creative getting HHH back in position for that. STFU. They kick in the finish stretch HHH low blows Cena and the ref simultaneously. Suck It! Foreshadowing the DX Reunion. Sledgehammer ugh. Kickout. Double Ugh. FU 1-2-NO! It is WrestleMania BAY BAY! Cena misses top rope crossbody. HHH Pedigree NOPE STFU the tease the pass out but HHH a heel does the right thing and taps out. LOL at HHH protecting the Pedigree more than the Sledgehammer! They had a WAY BETTER match at a random Night of Champions in 2008 that I covered with Scott & JT on PTB Podcast. If it was not for the electric crowd, this was a pretty ho-hum match. They had an interesting story but because you know HHH does not actually wrestle it was going to be abandoned. It was a typical soulless HHH heat segment with an alright finish run tacked on. HHH is better than Edge easily. I would put HHH & Jericho at about the same level in my head but Jericho had the better Cena matches in my opinion. The Night of Champions 2008 match is shockingly good watch that. Skip this. ***

WWE Champion John Cena vs Edge - WWE RAW 10/2/06 Steel Cage John Cena and Edge has 11 WWE Title Matches together in 2006 including triple threats Thats ungodly. It is impressive that the feud never felt stale at the time and it is definitely remembered fondly as one of Cena’s best feuds. I saw the Summerslam 2006 main event live and in person and remember it being disappointing and I have no desire to relive it. I think the Unforgiven match is their best match together and the WWE MOTY for 2006. This feels like the feud blowoff though they have one more title match on a random RAW in December. Edge transitions to teaming with Orton against DX in a pretty big feud at the time. Cena surprisingly has a very quiet Q4 2026 before picking it up with Umaga next year. Finlay of all people injured Cena’s Arm. 2006 WWE was hurting for heels as we will see at the end of this match Cade & Murdoch make a run-in. King Booker & Finlay were having a very enjoyable run on Smackdown and I remember it fondly but basically there was nothing left on RAW for Cena so time to start interacting with the hot Smackdown heel act. This match is much better than the Rumble match I just watched but not as good as the Unforgiven match for my money. The arm injury helped them a ton. Cena really thrived in this. He gave a great John McClain Die Hard performance. Those back elbows the way he was throwing him to protect his left side looked great. He really presented himself as a one armed man in an ass kicking contest. Edge for his part didnt do anything spectacular Bur he also didn’t mess up the mode. He stuck to the script and worked the arm. This was not a violent cage match at all but a tactical one. Edge was attack the arm and go for the escape. This would trigger a lot of interesting cutoffs. You don’t see a babyface work cut offs a lot so I liked the novelty of that as well as the suplexes Cena used were quite novel for him especially that great belly to back. I thought Cena really varied his offense here. I was a bit annoyed when Cena did run through his typical comeback sequence when he has been working such an interesting style the whole match but one sequence doesnt ruin a whole match. Also where ever they were was super behind Cena I would guess the South he was always more over there. Lita gets involved she as so crucial to the Edge act. She passed him a chair before the ref throws her out. The ref gets wiped out by a Edge flying clothesline. This being pre-Benoit Cena swings for the fucking fences with the chair. Fuck how did we think that was ok back in the day. He smoked him. Cade & Murdoch of all people Storm the Ring. I had a soft spot for Murdoch as a teen but this was an over push. Don’t remember Cade with black hair. Ahhhh reunited DX man I have no recollection of this even thought I was watching every week. Classic Shawn Sweet Chin Music to Murdoch who hits the Cage door into Edge’s Face FU 1-2-3! Such a Shawn spot! The body of the match ruled. Cena’s selling and the way he changed his offense to compensate make this a great match. Didnt like the comeback BUT the overbooked finish was pretty fucking fun. Sets up DX vs Rated RKO and DX needed real heels after the long and very bad McMahon feud. Cena really has nothing until Umaga in January. Great capper to this chapter of the feud. ****

WWE Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho - WWE RAW 8/22/05 Loser Leaves Town The night after Summerslam where Cena defeated Jericho. I thought they got the most out of Jericho before he left. He was a great first challenger for Cena. High level upper midcard, low main eventer that can take the losses, is leaving anyways. The only issue is that the heel turn was rushed and he was very popular. This began the issues for Cena with crowd reactions which was seen more the night before at Summerslam but existed here as well. They would continue to be exacerbated by Kurt Angle being very over and HHH's promo saying Cena Cant Wrestle. The problem was that the 90s/turn of the Millennium guys were still very over but Vince was correct in that it was time to make new stars with Cena, Batista and Orton. Being a teenager at this time that was too cool for school I rejected Cena because everything I read said he cant wrestle. Thats hogawash he was a great wrestler in 2005. However, I am partially vindicated because as I have bee watching these hype videos he is so off-putting on the mic. He is doing some sort of weird hybrid Mark Walhberg/Adam Sandler/Southern high pitched accent that is terrible. He is just deep unlikeable from a promo/character perspective. I would fall in love with Never Give Up/Rise Above Hate Cena, but Ruck Fules/Chain Gang Cena sucks. As for the match, I liked this better than Summerslam. In essence it is a very similar match, Jericho works a cutoff-heavy match. He gives Cena a lot of hope spots and cuts him off with dropkicks, spin heel kick etc. I really liked the missed Cena Cross Body from the top rope. I will give Jericho credit that he does work as a heel, it is a lot of choking, shin on the throat jawing at the ref, grinding offense, clawing at him. It is nothing flashy. I do think it is solid work, but not extraordinary work. He doesnt elevate, but what helps him relative to Summerslam is the presence of Eric Bischoff on the outside. Bischoff tripping Cena, and the ballshot really gives the Jericho act that extra boost. Cena's comeback offense looked great that Meat Hook Clothesline I wish they kept that in his comeback sequence. Interesting no Five Knuckle Shuffle either night. They mirror the Summerslam Finish but turn into the Walls of Jericho, classic Jericho playing off the previous match. Cena's sell of the Walls and how he has to fight so hard to get the FU was the best part of the match. Of course he FUs him too close to the ropes and Bischoff puts Jericho's foot on the ropes. Great stuff. The only thing that bothered me about the match was that Bischoff gave Cena knuckledusters and they did KO spot and Cena kicked out. Like a ballshot, I feel like you need to respect that. Thats they type of shit that fueled Super Cena. I think swing and miss with the Knux, shove Jericho into Bischoff on the apron, FU would have been cleaner and more impactful. We get the kick out and then they do that sequence except they add the title belt in Bischoff's hands so Jericho's head collide with the belt for protection. FU 1-2-3! I remember the dirt sheets were all over Jericho's departure so I wasnt surprised but I was disappointed. I was a huge Jericholic at the time. I am going to skip the Angle feud because I watched No Way Out 2005 match and that considered their best match. I remember this is when the cracks really started to show with Cena so they did a bunch of weird shit like Davari to get Angle over as a heel and none of that gets good reviews. I liked this more than Summerslam but it is in the very good camp, not a must watch. OH! Jericho does a great job milking and selling being thrown out of RAW. Really great chickenshit heel stuff. *** 1/2

WWE Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho - WWE Summerslam 2005 I thought this would be an interesting match to see how it was worked and I was right. Jericho was clearly the Ring general and really show his poor Wrestling IQ. He has no idea on how to define roles within a match or how to build a match. But what made it nonsensical is why it was so interesting. Jericho the smaller man wrestled King Sized. He was cutting Cena off at every turn. Perhaps you claim this was a veteran vs young look story but that was not the story they were telling either. It wasn’t like Cena was proving himself to Jericho. It is just Jericho kept cutting him off with dropkicks. There was no real story or something to sink your teeth into. Eventually the worked a heat segment breakdown long enough for the crowd to do the famous dueling chants. If it is not the first, it is one of the first instances of the 50/50 Cena reaction, this is not the classic Let’s Go Cena/Cena Sucks because Jericho is over But it would devolve into that as the show became more about Cena and the opponents were less important. Fuck forgot to finish this review because work got crazy. Ogre Cena was on full display here. Meat hook clotheslines looked great and loved the tackle. Jericho wrestled a cutoff match with dropkicks but it just felt weird. I liked Cena’s missed shoulder tackle. I did like the finisher teasers Lionsault, Walls and FU. Finally the aforementioned breakdown let the crowd get into it. Cena Comeback Bur so much rawer and hard hitting than 2010s Cena. They shoehorn the Walls on here. They do a bit of swing dancing into the FU. Ill go *** I didn’t get this Summerslam as kid me and my brother were far more into HBK/Hogan which rightfully main eventes this show. Again this felt more like an IC Title match not a main event world title match.

WWE Champion John Cena vs Chris Jericho vs Christian - WWE Vengeance 2005 I remember this feud vividly from my teenage years. The Internet was strongly behind Christian and was pretty annoyed when Jericho was shoehorned in there for star power as Jericho had to rapidly turn heel. I think they would have been better off keeping Jericho babyface here turning him heel because he lost here to set up the mega match at Summerslam and ultimately Jericho leaving. Jericho was a perfect first opponent for Cena in a Mick Foley vein. Strong upper midcarder who can absorb losses easily and with him leaving it just made a lot of sense. Christian had some heat in 2004/05 but after this feud fizzled out and had to go to TNA. The cracks in Cena were forming in 2004 and would be blown wide open by late 2005. I think they thought could salvage it still so that’s why they rushed the Jericho turn to prevent Jericho for getting more cheers than Cena. I normally skip Triple Threats but this one stuck in my craw. Looking back on being 16, I think this was a program I was interested in and I was interested to see how Christian would work with the big boys. I will echo what OJ said in his review rather everyone wrestling up to WWE Title level this was wrestled down to IC Title or Midcard Title Triple Threat. HHH/Batista feels like a titanic clash befitting a world title main event. This felt like a fun micard opener. With both Jericho and Christian being heel most of the match is a Cena/Jericho and a Cena/Christian mini-match. Tomko, havent thought about him in a minute, interferes with both Cena and Jericho and gets tossed. The spot of the match is early as Cena FUs Christian over the top rope to the floor in a GNARLY spot. Cena/Jericho tussle that ends with a wicked DDT by Cena on Jericho on the floor. The match is structured to make Cena look great as they needed to cement him coming off Mania. Cena in 2005 is so raw. These Meathook Clotheslines are sick. I loved them. I want to see a video of Cena throwing a baseball or a football because I believe it would be awkward as shit because he can’t get his arm over his head for either his punches or clotheslines. Everything looks like a Meathook. He wrestled like a fucking ogre. His Shouldertackle just steamrolls Christian as opposed to the most graceful version of the 2010s. They do a fun spot where he drop toeholds one into Headbutting the other. Ten Knuckle Shuffle that was cute! Christian’s big move is a slop drop. Weak. Jericho gets a couples attempts at the Walls of Jericho but it is not like he had a lot of offense either. Christian goes for the Unprettier on Jericho never liked that move, but Jericho shoves him into waiting arms of Cena who clubs Jericho with Christian’s feet. FU 1-2-3! FU on the floor, Cena’s ogre offense and a couple cute shuffles that make this good but not much more than that. ***

Kurt Angle vs Marty Jannetty - Smackdown 3/17/05 ”Marty Jannetty is still Cant walk! Im just a Sexy Kurt! Sexy Kurt! I make your ankle hurt! Ankle Hurt!” I often say there was nothing nostalgic about my teenage years But digging into this stuff again I do have some fond memories and Sexy Kurt is still something me and my brother bring up. The good shit. This is a great build to the Angle/Shawn match and in the video package they show the Rockers reunion on RAW which I totally forgot about. This is a great example of Kurt Angle as an effective Ring general. He guzzles Marty on the mat and presents a clear contrast to Marty‘s feed. He is constantly feeding spots to make Marty look good. He is letting Marty bring the uptempo rhythm and pop the crowd and this crowd definitely was popping for Marty fucking hip tosses were getting pops like it was 1988 BABY! Angle would ground him again and we do it all over again. It was the perfect “You still got it” match. During the break Angle shoved Marty into the post. He was clinical in the dissection of the back. Good variety of throws and holds. The arm drag out of the Angle Slam popped off the page because of the story they were telling. Marty gets a DDT and we get the big rah rah sis boom bah grand finale from Marty. Spinning heel kick looked great. Crossbody roll through after that they timed near falls so well that you thought Marty had a chance. Angle lock fake out to get the real one on the Rocker Dropper was the cherry on the Sundae. Perfect TV match to get everyone over. I miss these kind of matches *** 1/2

WWE Champion JBL vs Big Show - WWE No Way Out 2005 Barbed Wire Steel Cage I dont know this match intrigued me I think it is an above average match but I don’t necessarily think you need to go out of your way to see it. JBL is on a Honky Tonk run of a lifetime. Having two world titles allowed them to experiment with shit like this that they never would have had they kept only one title. My brother and I always remark we were at the last Smackdown that Bradshaw was APA Bradshaw as a joke. JBL totally over delivered he went from a random what the fuck he’s getting pushed to winning me and my brother over. Great gimmick, great promo but honestly never watched back anything outside the famous bloodbaths against Eddie and Cena. In my research, Big Show has a pretty nonexistent 2005 was he injured he has this and the WrestleMania showcase against Akebono then doesnt pop up again until the end of the year. I’ll have to check his Cagematch, I wanted a Watts slobberknocker and sort of half got it. Both dudes lay their shit in. Bradshaw has some great offense. The comparisons to Hansen would have doomed him in Japan but he was probably better suited for Japan. He surprisingly doesnt really stooge or chickenshit sell for Big Show. The whole gimmick outside the ring is he is a chickenshit and the Barbed Wire Steel Cage means his jabronis Orlando Jordan and Bashams Cant bail him out. Yet he never really sells fear. He would get an opening and search for an opening in the Barbed Wire did this three times. Maybe the camera work was bad but he wasn’t selling it. Big Show and him were hitting hard Bur still something was missing. Man looking back on it 2005 WWE was FUCKING VIOLENT! It was nonstop blood. Show was bleeding profusely after a cage shot. I thought Show transition was weak though a nice Powerbomb. Cabinet smells defeat bum rushes the Ring and is able to get a pair of wire cutters to JBL before Teddy Long tells them to get to steppin. Bradshaw clocks Show with the wire cutters CLOTHESLINE FROM HELL! It is a fucking good one. For two! Big Show Chokeslam for two! Like hitting bombs back to back there. JBL low blow. He gets the Cutters so he is going to try to clip his way out. THEY TRADE ABSOLUTE BOMBS ON THE TOP ROPE! STIFF STIFF SHOTS! CHOKESLAM THROUGH THE MUTAFUCKIN RING! What a spot no one talks about. Big Show snaps the chain off the door. I know JBL wins but how?!? They shoot the camera shot in such a way you know something’s up. The announcer declares JBL the winner as WTF and you see JBL crawled under the Ring to win which is a clever finish for the chickenshit escape artist to escape with the title again. Batista and Cena take turns beating JBL…Cole says it could be a Triple Threat I groaned fuck no audibly out loud out of reflex even though I know that didn’t happen. The Chokeslam spot is INSANE! They are lucky they didn’t accidentally fall through that. How is that not more famous? February title match is a lame duck title defense and the finish kinda washes it out but damn I am surprised Thats not up there with Show and Lesnar breaking the Ring. The shots were stiff, big power moves, INSANE high spot but still this leaves me wanting more. I wanted more character work from both more fire from Big Show and more chickenshit from JBL. Very good but you can really just watch the clip of the Chokeslam and call if a day. *** 1/2

Kurt Angle vs John Cena - WWE No Way Out 2005 Shockingly good. They both played to their characters perfectly. This shows the beauty of respecting the strengths and weaknesses of each wrestler. If every wrestler is just the all around best and can do everything everyone else can do it is fucking boring as shit. These two stayed in their respective lanes and a kickass match was born out of it. Winner goes to WrestleMania to face JBL for the title. Simple story But effective Angle is going to have his way on the mat and Cena will be outwrestled. Cena needs to use his power and heart to turn this into a street fight. A lot of times in Angle matches he loses his way and gets highspot happy But he stuck to the script and kept this straight wrestling and Cena was forced to react. I love how Angle took control with some cool takedowns and established the mountain Cena had to scale. Cena blasts Angle with one his ugly clotheslines and tackles him on the outside over the announce table. Cena is going to have to win ugly. German Suplex to the buckles was such a meaningful momentum shift away from Cena and put over Angle’s throws can happen from well any angle. Now they have established both strategies they can let them cook. Angle works holds and in & out of holds is throwing suplexes. Eventually Cena bulldozes Angle with a Shoulder Tackle. This is before the Cena Formula was set and this shoulder tackle looked brutal. Couple meat hook clotheslines. Cena was sticking to the power game and wrestling ugly. He is all heart and brawn. Angle has the mind and the science. I liked Angle trying to get finishers but thwarted. Great organic setup for the top rope leg drop from Cena with Angle trying to get back in the Ring after the Anglelock counter. It really came off like Cena pulling out all the stops to get to WrestleMania. I was surprised he hit the FU and only got two as I thought that would have been protected by a rope break or something. I loved Angle’s reaction. He absorbed Cena’s biggest blow and just went berserk picking a part the leg. He was playing with his food now play time is over because he almost tasted defeat. I loved urgency and desperation. Great leg work and selling. Angle Slam into Angle lock. Great drama here. Angle refuses to let go of the and knocks the ref out. He gets Cena’s chain But Cena cuts him off at the pass and hits a FU for three. I thought finish was a little weak especially after the earlier kick out. I think Chain + FU would have been sick like if there was a way to get Angle to punch himself with the Chain. Cena wrestler this like the biggest match of his life because it was. It was his opportunity to get to WrestleMania and I loved how he poured his heart for this one. The wrestler vs street fighter story really rocked. They established each strategy early. Each man got a segment to execute and show off their strategy. Then Angle said fuck this and went to town only to deviate from the game plan and lose. With a better finish this could have been a classic going to go **** but I wouldn’t bat an eye if someone went higher. Early Cena was so raw and unpolished so gripping to watch.

Kurt Angle vs Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 2/10/05 This is a part of a tournament to determine the #1 Contender for JBL’s title for WrestleMania I believe this is a quarterfinal match. This takes place in Japan which might explain the slower pace and more wrestling from Angle. These two have freaky chemistry with each other. This is not their best match together But I really watching these two together and I would say Rey is Angle’s best opponent. He brings out that bully jock heel side to Angle. Angle is just guzzling him early. Taking him down at will just having his way with Rey. Rey tries to get things going Angle mows him down with a shoulder tackle or a knee lift. He is more powerful and he really shows off his wrestling. So he creates that mountain for Rey to scale. Rey does finally get Angle off balance with a Rana and in the scramble drop toe hold into the ropes but Angle evades the 619 I loved that spot. Showed Rey needs to keep Angle off balance and go for his kill shot. They play over and over again that when Angle deviates from the game plan of manhandling Rey by running Rey makes him pay like the roll through on sunset flip into a dropkick, sending Angle over top rope hitting a dive and the missed charge that leads to Rey’s comeback. Angle for his part stuffs any Rey momentum with great suplexes and even works the back pretty well. Surprisingly I thought Angle outworked Rey. Angle was working smarter and playing better to his character. I thought Rey was being lazy. Always using elbows to get out of holds so banal. Using Irish Whips when could be creative how to get things into motion but angle did usually make him pay. The Rey uptempo finish stretch is always fun. Lots of high spots and attempts at the 619. I liked Angle made him earn catching the first 619 into an Anglelock. Going for the Angle Slam but getting arm dragged. Thats the the narrative of their matches cat and mouse. In this match, Kurt finally catches Rey BANG Angle Slam and I love how he urgently gets into Anglelock and sits down into the grapevine for the win. Brilliant stuff from Angle wish Rey was a bit more creative But these are two are so fun together very good cat and mouse match *** 3/4

Ric Flair vs Kurt Angle - WWE RAW 6/27/05 Oh my Fucking God this was incredible. Ric Flair wrestles like the craziest dirty old man you’d ever see. He was absolutely FERAL! Fuck the haters 05/06 adds to the case doesnt detract. This comes after the famous Woo Off Promo which I remember fondly watching live as a teenager, so I definitely saw this match but don’t remember it. This is start of Flair on his own as HHH lost for the third and final time to Batista the night before. Flair got one last push winning the IC Title and feuding with HHH and Edge. My issue with Angle has always been between the ropes; I always found to be a funny. Entertaining guy outside the ring. This match works so well because Angle wrestles it so straight and Flair wrestles like a crazy old bastard. Angle wants to work holds & throws and fucking Flair is trying to yank out molars and pluck eyeballs. Flair takes two big bumps on the floor off an over head Belly 2 Belly and a back drop. A Superplex gets fucked up but turns into a gnarlier bump. Flair bites out of an STF and TESTICULAR CLAW on the Anglelock. A Carlos Colon Low Blow! This is so good! Flair rattles off some amazing offense delayed Vertical, works the leg, FIGURE-4! On the Kneecrusher Angle turns it into Angelock For the win. I have been enjoying Ultraviolent Old Man Flair But this was even better because it played into the Dirtiest Player in the Game but it was so FERAL! I LOVED IT! **** 1/4

Ric Flair Vs Triple H - Survivor Series 2005 Last Man Standing It is funny starting in 2014 with WWE Network I never thought finding pro wrestling would be tough but with all these switches to the library and I don’t have Netflix I am reliant on all the old methods I used as a teenager. What is old is new again. Ric Flair’s Intercontinental Title is not on the line which telegraphs the finish even as a teenager it was obvious to me that meant HHH would win. HHH didnt embrace being a nostalgia act until Summer of 2006 when he reunited DX. So he was still rebuilding himself to do the job to Cena at Mania 22. I am surprised I had never seen this match before as I know I have watched the Taboo Tuesday match a couple times. Old Man Flair sucking is pretty overblown. He is very good in this and has been in all the 2005/06 matches I have watched so far. This match is Wile E Coyote vs Roadrunner with HHH playing the role of Coyote and Flair being the Roadrunner. HHH being younger, stronger and faster than Flair should steam roll him But he keeps trying this complicated and elaborate schemes to maim Flair which keeps giving Flair openings. HHH gets a chair; Flair cracks him with a Kendo Stick. He talks smack; Flair Testicular Claw. HHH Pedigree on the Announce Table; Back body drop. Had a chair in his hands laid down to Pedigree onto the Chair; Flair Low Blow. This led to the only meaningful control segment but we will get back to it. HHH Ring steps smashes Flair goes for the charge; Flair drop toehold. I really enjoyed this narrative. Flair bleeding buckets and the violence really add to it all. Flair had some great chops and punches. He very rarely played such an underdog babyface even against Vader he was still The Man. Here he is fighting for his life. He really sold the desperation. He easily had the best stretch of the match smashing HHH’s nuts into the post. Working the legs against the Ring post the chop blocks, the desperation biting. He was feral. The Figure-4 was a great spot. They could have done a lot more with HHH not being able to stand in a Last Man Standing Match but they basically just went into the finish. It was the Ring steps. Then the Flash Pedigree which was great. Loved the Middle Finger by Flair after two more. The Sledgehammer you know it was coming but that was lame finish. Flash Pedigree, Second One, Flair Middle Finger, Pedigree on the Chair would have the ruled. The one thing I didn’t mention but really put over the violence was the Screwdriver by HHH to Flair‘s open wound. 2005/2006 WWE was ultra violent. Maybe the most violent stretch in WWE. What hurt this match the most is HHH. Man he is just so soulless. Mechanically everything is fine. His offense was tight and he sold well but man he has no heart, spirit to his work. Easily great but could have been a classic with a better HHH performance. ****

Ric Flair vs Mick Foley - Summerslam 2006 I Quit I attended this match live in Boston headed into my senior year of high school and I remember thinking it was so violent it was unsettling. Finally watching it back and this is one of the most violent WWE matches of all time. I should have promoted Old Man Flair as Death Match Flair maybe he would have kept #1 spot for GWE. Flair’s punches are unreal in this match. They look so damn good. He has always had a good punch but damn. I didn’t love how the match started but after the Testicular Claw after the first Mr Socko this was gold. Chopping Foley with a Barbed Wire Mr Socko ruled. The 2006 weapon of choice the Barbed Wire rears its ugly head. Flair taps a gusher. His TLC Match against Edge was another level of blood but this was a lot. The thumb tacks and barbed wire bat. Loved telling Foley kiss my ass on the mic. The Ol Carlos Colon Ball shot and then goes wild with the Barbed Wire Bat! No one does unhinged like the Nature Boy. Sickening Nestea Plunge. The trainer tries to call off the match but Flair gets the line of the decade in with “This is not a lay on your ass match, this is an I Quit Match”. He goes for the eyes with the Barbed Wire Bat. I thought it was weird in 2006 and it is even weirder now is the whole Foley/Melina angle friendship, romance, perversion who knows? Melina throws in the towel and verbal says I Quit but Thats not good enough. When it looks like Flair was going to take the Barbed Wire Baseball Bat to Melina only then did Foley say I Quit. You always book yourself into a corner with an I Quit match unless it is a smarmy chicken shit heel like Tully or MJF who can survive or in fact thrive by saying those words. Flair and Foley are far too proud to say them thus the clusterfuck finish. It was better off being a Street Fight or Last Man Standing. The Melina shit was weird and I am pretty sure Foley just leaves. 2006 was a weird booking year in general. The feud felt random then And didnt really belong or advance the company forward But it was a helluva match. Another awesome 2006 Flair performance! The finish holds back from a full 4, *** 3/4