GSR

A funny couple of vignettes involving the cast of ‘Highlander’ who Edge has invited (he worked with them on the film earlier in the year) to the arena tonight, although they’re more interested in meeting The Rock as opposed to listening to him and Christian talk about the TLC match at Wrestlemania. As Christian continues to bore them with the tale, a completely random cameo from Gangrel perks them up, as they say how they’re all big fans of his. Edge doesn’t believe them, thinking they’re just making excuses to get out of listening to the story, but they start talking about where the name Gangrel derives from, how they’ve read his book etc and end up going off with him and ditching E&C. Although Edge & Christian have serious doubts that anyone in New Jersey can count to five, being the non-heinous individuals that they are, they’re going to give everyone a very special five second pose anyway. This ‘very special pose’ is their take on the 2001 Oscars, what with ‘Highlander: End Game’ going to make Edge a big Hollywood star and all! Bubba reverses the whip to the corner and splashes Christian against the turnbuckles. Sit-out full nelson bomb followed by a double team press slam where the Dudley’s dropped Christian face first to the mat. Blind tag, but D-Von catches Edge with a flying shoulder tackle anyway. He gets a two count after a back elbow, however as he hits the ropes, Christian pulls the top one down and D-Von goes sailing out over it to the floor. Bubba tries to tell the ref what just happened, but in distracting the official it gives Christian the opportunity to whip D-Von into the ring steps. Double diving headbutt. Edge sits D-Von on the top turnbuckle but he’s able to block the superplex, shoves Edge backwards to the mat and then nails him with flying shoulderblock. Hot tag to Bubba who runs through Christian with a lariat, hot shots Edge across the top rope and finally powerslams Christian for a near fall. ‘Doomsday Device’ and Edge has to break up the cover in order to save their titles. ‘Wassup’, and now its table time. Bubba watches on as D-Von goes to collect, but gets blasted from behind by a chair swinging Edge. The champions are disqualified although retain the gold. As they leave, thinking they’ve outsmarted their opponents, they’re attacked by the Hardy Boyz who drag them back to the ring. Combination back suplex/neckbreaker on Christian by the Dudley’s and Matt with a ‘Twist of Fate’ for Edge. The Hardyz and Dudley’s look as if they’re going to get it on themselves, but instead both duck to the floor to collect a couple of ladders and a table respectively. The Dudley’s superbomb Christian through the table and the Hardyz come off the ladders onto Edge with a stereo big splash/leg drop combo.

Benoit and Jericho don’t bother to wait for the bell, while Val and Eddy duke it out at ringside. Eddy drops him throat first across the barricade as Y2J nails ‘the Crippler’ with a flying forearm. Jericho looks for the Lionsaul, but Shane McMahon continues where he left off Monday, clocking him as he goes to springboard off the ropes. Val with a running lariat in the corner that he follows with a ‘Blue Thunder Driver’. A bit of ‘ground & pound’ and he tags Benoit back in who lays in a couple of those stiff knife edge chops that you come to expect whenever he and Y2J square off. Enziguiri and Jericho is able to tag his partner. Eddy hammers away on Benoit and when Val steps in there, he lets him have it too. Real good intense aggression from Eddy here. Jericho charges at ‘the Crippler’ and they fall through the ropes to the outside, although Benoit reverses the whip on the floor sending Y2J crashing into the ring steps. Eddy with a huracanrana on Val, he hits the frog splash but the official refuses to count, saying that Venis isn’t the legal man. Like whenever does that matter? As Eddy wonders why the official isn’t doing his job, Benoit catches him with a diving headbutt off the top. These two are apparently the legal men and when ‘the Crippler’ makes the cover, the referee counts Eddy’s shoulders to the mat for the three. The action doesn’t end there as Y2J puts ‘the Walls’ on Benoit and when Val goes to help him out he’s cut off by Eddy and Chyna. Shane saves ‘the Crippler’ only to end up in ‘the Walls’ himself, when out trots, of all people, Albert. Pescado by Eddy but Albert catches him and rams him into the ring post. Meanwhile Benoit return the favour saving Shane and then trapping Y2J in the crossface, really wrenching back as the officials try to prise him off. An angry Chris Jericho barges into Mick Foley’s ‘office’, overturns the table and tells him that he wants Chris Benoit tonight. The Commissioner knows that he wants to tear him limb from limb, but a match like that has to be saved for Summerslam which seems to appease Y2J. Although both worked well, especially Eddy, he and Val came across as an afterthought here. They did try to set things up between them and add a bit of needle with a pre-match angle that saw Chyna insulting Trish (over her looks of all things!), however to me it was clear they were playing second fiddle to the real issue, the one between Jericho and Benoit.

‘Commissioner’ Foley’s ‘office’ this week looks to be a fork lift truck! Kurt Angle approaches him backstage and wants a quick word in regards to Summerslam. Angle says how he won his Olympic gold medal in the Summer of 1996, so it’s prophetic that he should win the WWF World title at Summerslam and begs Foley to give him a title shot. Mick doesn’t make a decision but is going to take his request under advisement. With rolls reversed, it’s Stephanie who is now waiting in the back of the arena for Triple H to arrive. A limo pulls up and out gets ‘the Game’ as Stephanie says how she needs to talk to him, still insisting that there is nothing going on between her and Kurt Angle. Triple H tells her that they do need to talk, but not right now, he needs some “space” as all this stuff in their personal life is starting to interfere with their business life. The Commissioner is on the telephone when he’s interrupted by Triple H. He’s heard about The Rock facing Chris Benoit tonight and doesn’t care who wins that match, but he wants what is rightfully his and wants to be the number one contender at Summerslam. Foley tells him that Kurt Angle has beaten him to the punch, and while he hasn’t promised him anything, he did ask first. After a bit more thought he decides to take his request under advisement too. Stephanie’s sat in the dressing room shining up her belt when Triple H enters with his bags ready to get changed. She still wants to talk about Kurt Angle but Hunter’s pissed that he’s gone to Mick Foley and asked to be the number one contender. Stephanie doesn’t see anything wrong with that, however Triple H thinks he has no right asking for anything to do with the World Wrestling Federation title and that’s his spot. He’s sick and tired of Kurt Angle, is done talking about him and if he sees him anywhere in the building tonight, promises to kick his ass. Kurt and Stephanie are in another dressing room, comparing gold, and Kurt thinks it won’t be long before he has a championship belt of his own. Sensing an opportune moment Steph brings up Triple H being angry with him; not only over their celebration on Smackdown, but also because he went to Mick Foley asking to be the number one contender at Summerslam. When she says how mad he is about the situation, Angle questions “he didn’t raise his voice at you did he?” Steph replies “not really” although Kurt thinks she’s playing it down and that Triple H needs to undergo “sensitivity training” and that he should be more sensitive to her. The situation is stirred further by a stooging Just Joe. He first of all fires HHH up by telling him how all the boys in the back think that Kurt Angle is the one person who can take him out, then goes to Kurt and claims that Triple H has been disrespecting him, his accomplishments and has been putting him down. When he says how he’s reduced Stephanie to tears, that’s the final straw and he tells Joe to tell Triple H that when he gets here he’s going to wrap a submission on him and make him cry like a baby. Stephanie walks out to the ring and would like to publicly apologise to her husband. She’s so, so sorry for what happened on Smackdown and wants him to know that she and Kurt Angle are only friends, there’s nothing between them and she was just excited after pinning Lita. She knows that he hasn’t talked to her since Thursday, but wants Hunter to come out now so that she can apologise to him in front of everyone. Triple H joins her and Steph again apologises. It’s difficult for her to say but she admits to being jealous and says that people in marriages fight and if they didn’t fight it would mean they didn’t care. She couldn’t bear the thought of him with another woman, tells him that she loves him more than anything in the world and that she’s truly, truly sorry. When she asks if he forgives here, an embrace confirms that he does. With their personal life now sorted, she quickly changes the talk to business and how they need to smooth things out so business can be successful. With that in mind she invites outKurt Angle. That doesn’t sit well with Triple H, while Jim Ross thinks Stephanie won’t be able to prevent them from tearing each other apart. Kurt says that what happened was just in the heat of the battle, he respects his wife and he also respects their marriage. Triple H tells him that he may have his naive little wife fooled, but he knows he’s full of shit! Hunter is ready to tear him apart when Steph stops him and reminds him that business is business and if he really loved her he would shake Kurt Angle’s hand, reiterating for the umpteenth time that there is nothing between them and has no feelings for him other than those of friendship. Before they shake troublemaker Foley is out and replays the footage from Smackdown, doing his best to rile up Hunter. He then sets up a number one contender’s match for later in the show with the winner getting the title shot at Summerslam. We return from an advert break and see a replay of the ending to The Rock/Chris Benoit title match. Shane McMahon is ranting at Foley backstage saying how Benoit should be the World Heavyweight champion and that Chris Jericho should be punished for what he did. Foley says he will be punished and that punishment is he’s putting him in the number one contender’s match with HHH and Kurt Angle. Final quick vignette before the match itself, where Jericho jumps Triple H in the dressing room as he’s preparing and a bunch of officials and referees do a pretty poor job in trying to separate them. Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho are the first two entrants for the three way and Angle offers Y2J his hand, trying to make a pact before Triple H’s arrival. Jericho’s not interested though, spitting in his face instead. We get a surprise guest commentator in the shape of The Rock, wanting to find out first hand who is opponent will be at Summerslam. HHH and Jericho starts us off and ‘the Game’ launches Y2J over the top rope to the floor. Angle and he then square up to one another, exchanging shoves, but Jericho quickly returns and rams their heads together. He clotheslines HHH to the outside and when Kurt charges at him, backdrops him over the ropes to the floor too. Hunter and Angle are again shoving each other and Jericho takes them both out with a crazy tope, although hits the back of his head on the metal ramp way on landing. He throws Triple H back inside, missile dropkick but Kurt breaks up the pin attempt. Y2J counters the ‘Olympic Slam’ and locks on ‘the Walls’. HHH has a smirk on his face seeing Angle in trouble, however doesn’t want him to tap so reluctantly has to make the save. High knee to Jericho before he and Kurt take it in turns to put the boots to him. After a facebuster, Angle pulls HHH off Jericho and slugs him. Release overhead belly to belly and the pinfalls continue to be broken up by the spare man. As Triple H and Angle fight it out, it gives Y2J the chance to recover. He nails Angle with a couple of hard knife edge chops followed by a flying forearm and then turns his attention to ‘the Game’, flattening him with a spinning heel kick. Drop toe hold on Angle sending him face first in HHH’s crotch. Triple H cuts off the Lionsault and looks for the pedigree, but Jericho counters, slingshotting him into the ring post. Double Lionsault onto both. Y2J heads upstairs for a moonsault, however HHH pushes Earl Hebner into the ropes, causing Jericho to lose his balance and crotch himself. Angle and ‘the Game’ work together for a change, hitting a double back superplex but both then drape an arm over Y2J who is counted down for the three. Uncertainty reigns over who won as Hebner raises both men’s hands. The Rock decides to not wait until Summerslam giving a ‘Rock Bottom’ to Triple H, to Kurt Angle and, after she slapped him, to Stephanie (boy do the crowd love to see her get it). The show closes with JR wondering who the number one contender is and who is going to meet The Rock at Summerslam for the title.

It never ceases to amaze me the way The Rock has the crowd in the palm of his hand without even saying a word. Benoit got a pinfall over The Rock on Smackdown and now Shane McMahon and ‘the Crippler’ seem to think that means that they will go on to face him for the World title at Summerslam. The Rock tells them that there isn’t going to be any more tit for tat, back and forth, Chris Benoit can have a title shot, but he can have it right now! Shane and ‘the Crippler’ head out and Benoit says how everyone knows he beat the Rock, all by himself, at Fully Loaded only to have the World title stripped from around his waist by Commissioner Foley. That’s okay though because he accepts the challenge and tonight will finally become the WWF World Heavyweight champion. Shane gets the truck to replay the footage from Smackdown and tells the Rock that’s exactly what is going to happen to him again later before adding an additional ‘no disqualification’ to the match. The Rock is fine with that as he’s not going to lose the title so any stipulation doesn’t matter to him. The Rock makes his entrance through the fans and sneaks up on Benoit from behind. That’s caught ‘the Crippler’ off guard and he clearly wasn’t expecting it as Rock takes control. Dragon screw leg whip, Scorpion deathlock and with Benoit’s hand wavering as if he’s moments away from tapping, Shane McMahon is in the ring and nails Rock with a rabbit lariat to break the submission. It didn’t take them long to use that ‘no disqualification’ stipulation to their advantage. Flying back elbow from Shane and JR says that this might as well be a handicap match. Benoit lights the Rock up with some knife edge chops but gets caught with a powerslam. Belly to back suplex by ‘the Crippler’. They end up on the outside and Rock reverses the Irish whip sending Benoit crashing into the ring steps, although before he’s able to capitalize, Shane with yet more interference. The interference continues right in front of referee Tim White as JR stresses how there is nothing he can do about it as those were the rules which the Rock agreed to. The Rock blocks the third rolling German and counters with a great release German of his own. Belly to belly suplex, but at the count of two Shane pulls White out of the ring to stop the count. The Rock takes off after McMahon, however his distraction has again turned the match in his man’s favour. Diving headbutt off the top and despite looking done for, somehow Rock raises a shoulder. Finally Shane’s inference backfires as, when primed for yet another attack, the Rock reverses things and ‘the Crippler’ clatters into him sending him flying. Spinebuster, ‘People’s Elbow’ but you know who has recovered to save Benoit in the nick of time. A big right hand sends Shane sailing over the top rope to the floor, he swings at Benoit who then snatches that arm and slaps on the crossface. Shane puts the boots to the Rock to try and make him submit when out rushes Chris Jericho. Benoit lets go of the crossface to go at it with Y2J but gets laid out by a pair of powerbombs onto a steel chair. Jericho chases Shane into the crowd and finally it’s one on one. Nigh on as soon as it is, ‘Rock Bottom’ and ‘the Great One’ retains the WWF World title.

Triple H is at the back of the arena waiting for Stephanie to arrive. A limo pulls up and out she gets, however she’s in no mood for talking telling him that she needs some space. He tries following her, but again she reiterates that she needs space. As Stephanie makes her way through the building she’s met by Kurt Angle (to a big pop from the crowd watching in the arena). He’s very sorry over everything that’s happened and says that if she ever wants someone to talk to, about anything, he’s a really good listener, while if she ever needs anything, as a friend, he’ll always be here for her. Steph asks him if he knows where Trish Stratus is and, after letting her know she’s in the dressing room, she heads off in that direction. Hunter is eating a fruit platter in their dressing room when Steph enters and tells him that they don’t have to worry about Trish Stratus any more. When he questions “Why?” she responds “never mind”. Triple H is still wanting to have a talk with her to try and smooth things over when there’s a knock at the door. Its general dog’s body Harvey Whippleman and he has a message from Commissioner Foley who wants to see them both in his office right away. It’s hardly the most traditional of offices that the Commissioner inhabits. He fines Stephanie for walking out on her match on Raw and says that if she does it again he’ll strip her...of her WWF Women’s championship. Kurt Angle arrives, as his presence has also been requested by the Commissioner, although Triple H gets all possessive and jealous on his arrival not buying that they’re just friends (“friends my ass!”) . Foley has got that wooden spoon out again claiming that he knows Kurt and Steph are more than just good friends...they’re tag team partners tonight along with HHH in a six-person no DQ match against the Dudley Boyz and Lita. With this being a ‘no DQ’ match, Triple H has got a plan which he intends to talk over with Stephanie while she’s getting changed, however she doesn’t feel comfortable changing around him at the moment and sends him off to another room. As HHH is preparing himself and having his arm strapped up, Shane McMahon pops in to see him and have a few words. He tells him that bad things can happen out there, look at Kane, and he needs Kurt Angle and the two of them need to work together on this. Hunter doesn’t seem to think so, but after some more convincing words he then brings Kurt in to join them. Shane informs them that they better get their act together as Stephanie’s safety is paramount and if she ends up going through a table there will be hell to pay. There’s clearly still dissension between Stephanie and Triple H as they make their entrance together, while Steph’s face has a look of terror on it when, fearing the worst, she sees the Dudley’s head down the aisle. Bubba already seems to have his eyes set on Stephanie and when he goes over to say something to her on the apron he’s attacked from behind by HHH. He whips him into the corner but then runs into a big boot, and Bubba with a flying clothesline off the middle. Neckbreaker by ‘the Game’, before tagging in Angle and instructing him to take it to the Dudley’s. Kurt gets caught with a powerslam and isn’t fairing too well until reversing an Irish whip and flattening D-Von with a back elbow. Steph was impressed by that, almost like she wasn’t expecting it out of him. Tag to HHH and again they’re exchanging words as they do so. D-Von blocks a right and floors Triple H with one of his own. ‘The Game’ staggers into the opposite corner where he gets nailed first by Bubba and then by Lita for her first involvement in this. The Dudley’s continues to take it to him, however he manages to reverse an Irish whip and Kurt kicks Bubba in the back as he hits the ropes. That has no effect as Bubba just turns around and decks him, although the distraction is enough that it allows HHH to level him with clothesline. Triple H stomps away on Bubba as Earl Hebner tries to drag him off, confusing ‘The King’ on commentary who reminds us that this is ‘no disqualification’ and Hebner really shouldn’t be getting involved like that. Angle carries on putting the boots to Bubba before launching him overhead with a belly to belly suplex. HHH wants back in, however Kurt tags Stephanie instead. She seems a bit surprised but he tells her to just kick Bubba in the ribs, which she does, although after one kick Triple H slaps her on the shoulder, literally tagging himself in. Good stuff from Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler with Cole claiming that HHH clearly doesn’t have confidence in his wife, while Lawler puts a different spin on it saying how ‘the Game’ doesn’t appreciate Kurt Angle putting his wife at risk. Bubba makes the hot tag and D-Von is all over Angle and Triple H. Reverse DDT slam and Kurt is there to break up the cover. That brings Bubba back in and a clubbing right sends Angle sprawling. ‘Wassup’ on HHH and then another for Kurt. The Dudley’s collect a table from under the ring and set it up inside. ‘The Game’ and Angle are both still laid out while Stephanie is complaining to Earl about something. She catches their eye and the moment the Dudleys turn their heads away from their opponents and to her, you should hear the reaction from the crowd. Bubba’s eyes are bulging, however just at the moment they grab hold of her, back to their feet are Angle and Triple H to save her from that table, at least for the moment. The four of them fight out onto the floor leaving the ring free for the women. Lita with a suplex on Steph, she then heads upstairs for the moonsault but HHH pulls his wife out the way. Pedigree on Lita and he puts Steph on top. D-Von drags Hunter to the outside and Hebner is dealing with them as opposed to counting the potential fall. Bubba’s back, all alone and that table still in position. He picks up Steph’s limp body and is about to powerbomb her through the table when Angle makes the save just in the nick of time. He takes care of Bubba as D-Von and Triple H fight it out near the entrance on the ramp way. Steph re-covers Lita and with her still KO’d cold from the Pedigree, the Women’s champions gets the three for her team. She and Kurt enthusiastically celebrate the win, hugging each other and Steph wrapping her legs around him while a livid Triple H watches on from the ramp way. Shit’s going down on Raw! This was fantastic! Right the way from the vignettes setting the match up, the dressing room skits, the match itself with those teases of putting Stephanie through a table (if/when that happens the roof is likely to come off the arena!) and then the closing celebration as a jealous and pissed Triple H watches on. Roll on Monday!

The Hardyz are backstage with Lita and a concussed looking Jeff is still showing the effects of that ‘conchairto’ he received on Raw. Despite this, he’s adamant about accompanying Matt to ringside for his upcoming match against Edge, especially as Christian will be in Edge’s corner. Matt is more concerned with his brother’s wellbeing, telling him that there is life after wrestling and that he can handle them both before imploring Lita to keep him away from the ring. Matt sprints into the ring and immediately spears Edge, taking him down and unloading with punches. Christian is up on the apron complaining about something so Matt decks him, confirming that, at least for the time being, he can handle them both. A backdrop sends Edge over the top rope to the floor and Matt takes out both E&C with a plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor. Leg drop off the middle for a two. Edge reverses the Irish whip and Christian hooks Matt’s ankle, pulling him to the outside. Matt again gets the better of him but is caught by a baseball slide dropkick. As Edge distracts the referee, Christian takes advantage of the situation hammering away on Matt. Edge runs Hardy backwards into the barricade before throwing him back inside. He sits Matt on the top turnbuckle, however gets stunned by a back elbow and Matt with a moonsault bodyblock. Christian slides his partner a chair although before he gets the chance to use it, Matt school boys him for a near fall. Christian continues to interfere as Michael Cole refers to this as a “glorified handicap match”. Flapjack by Edge who then heads upstairs but is too slow and met by Matt who lands a suicideplex. Jeff’s had enough and runs out with a ladder with which he nails Christian. He sets it up on the floor and climbs to the very top but, clearly still dazed, loses his balance and takes a tumble off it and into the ring. As the official calls for some medical help from the back, Edge blasts Matt hard over the head with a chair for the DQ. Short spirited match with Matt out for revenge after what E&C did to Jeff on Monday.

Kacy Catanzaro, Io Shirai, Nicole Matthews and Jinny all now confirmed MYC new entrants

Liam has already addressed this over on the UKFF, here's what he had to say: and then

Tegan got injured on one of the NXT Download Festival shows and hasn't wrestled since. She was supposed to take on Jinny at a Progress event on 6/10 but they had Dakota substitute for her instead. No idea how serious the injury is or how long she'll be out for, but it'll be a shame for her if she misses this considering she'd only been back for around two months after being out a year due to a previous injury. Really looking forward to seeing Kacy considering the reports and praise she gets on Twitter from those who've seen her at live events.

It's pretty funny in hindsight the way the TV pundits said if it comes down to stamina England will win, yet even though this was their third successive game that went to extra time it was the Croatians who looked fresher and had more energy than England the longer it went on. We should've had it wrapped up by half-time and Croatia wouldn't have been able to come back if we took all our chances. Very reminiscent of the Colombia game in that we were all over them for a half and should've been out of sight, then the oppo came out for the second 45 and were like a different team while we were hanging on. Can't say the ref did us any favours last night, though Croatia beat us because they were more clinical and took their chances. Will be very surprised if they do anything against the French mind.

We start with a replay of a terrible Russ McCullough interview from last week. Jim Cornette is in his face wondering what’s with the recent change of attitude. McCullough grabs him by the lapels and says how he’s tired of being treated like a big dumb jock. He claims that he’s faster (I think that’s what he said) than the Big Show, stronger than Nick Dinsmore, smarter than all of Bolin Services, yet he never gets any main events and he (Cornette) books him like he’s a trained monkey! Apparently the fudge packers (I hope that has a different meaning in the US than it does here in the UK!) get the title shots and the ‘yes men’ the TV time. He says “screw them all” as no-one is beating Nick Dinsmore for the OVW title but him. This was atrocious; McCullough’s delivery was awful, it was incoherent at times and the actual content of the promo made little sense. I said earlier in the year that I was surprised that he never got called up to the WWF, well if any of the decision makers saw this, it may very well explain why! Kenny Bolin says that he’s been both a father and a guidance counsellor to his boys. Everything has been rectified, they’re going to prove to everyone that they can function as a team and there’s going to be no match between them at Christmas Chaos! Cornette begs to differ, pointing out that the two are still scheduled to face each other there for Mr Black’s hardcore title. Not the most auspicious of TV debuts for Brock Lesnar as he and Shelton were supposed to do stereo somersaults into the ring but he slips and falls flat on his ass! They’ve already been christened the ‘Minnesota Stretching Crew’ and Corny puts over Brock’s credentials as the finest amateur wrestler in the country this year as the NCAA champion. Brock gets the better of a shoulder tackle, inverted atomic drop followed by a drop kick to the stomach (he doesn’t get much height on it). Great overhead belly to belly suplex mind. Shelton lands on his feet off a back drop and superkicks the ‘Iron Man’. Conway tags out to Black who wasn’t paying attention, and despite what Kenny Bolin said, things are definitely not all hunky dory in camp BS. Dropkick to Black and Shelton’s looks far better than his partner’s. He goes for a second, but this time Black just swats him away. Big splash to the back and he then positions Shelton for a ‘Vader bomb’. As he climbs the turnbuckles though Conway tags himself in by slapping Black on the back of the head. Double clothesline and both me go down. Shelton with the hot tag and Brock with a scoop slam on Conway followed by a belly to belly on Mr Black. Bolin Services reverses the double Irish whip sending the Stretching Crew crashing into each other. Kenny Bolin is up on the apron distracting the official, which allows Conway to load his glove while at the same time Black pulls out his retractable baton. They don’t realise what the other is up to though, resulting in a shoving match as both want to be one to finish off Benjamin. After an exchange of words they swing at one another, connecting at the same time and both go down. Brock and Shelton crawl over to make the cover and it’s a first win for the Minnesota Stretching Crew. I tried to find out how long Brock had been wrestling for at this point but information on cagematch and wrestlingdata is pretty sketchy (although I couldn’t find anything on either pre-October 2000). It’s fair to say it’s not long though and he’s probably had no more than around a dozen or so matches (again there’s every likelihood that there are spot shows in front of the sparsest of crowds that there’s no detail of anywhere). He looks super green here, which is to be expected, although falling flat on your ass first thing couldn’t have helped either! His suplexes look good but that’s it and Shelton is someway ahead of him on the in ring. Brock should also never throw another dropkick in his life. The fact that he was put on TV so soon when he’s clearly nowhere near ready indicates to me that the WWF were trying to get some return on that record breaking developmental deal that they signed him to. Match has a nice simple story to it as Bolin Services looks to be falling apart at the seems, despite all of Kenny’s counselling!

We’ve seen examples of Robbie D’s leaping ability on occasions this year and he’s at it again here working a leap frog spot with the Big Show (clearing him with ease may I add). Flying forearm by ‘Mr Wrestling’ for a two count. D with a jawbreaker and he makes the tag to ‘Sexual Chocolate’. Dinsmore goes for a crossbody, however Henry catches and dumps him overhead with a modified fallaway slam. A gut wrench bomb, but there’s no-one home on the leg drop. D steps through the ropes to distract Robert Briscoe, who then misses seeing Dinsmore tag the Big Show. Show is able to get in a pair of superkicks and a double headbutt before Briscoe instructs him to get back on the apron as he didn’t see any tag. Despite his protestations his work is done, as Dinsmore ducks a clothesline, grabs D’s arm taking him down in the process and slaps on the ‘Crippler crossface’ for the submission. Some character called Thurston Throckmorton, who’s dressed like Randy Savage, low blows ‘Mr Wrestling’ after the match as he’s celebrating the win, although he shouldn’t have bothered as he gets chokeslammed by the Big Show for his troubles. Henry then jumps Show from behind as he and ‘Slick’ Robbie D leave their victors laying. Dinsmore is scheduled to face Chris Benoit at the upcoming Christmas Chaos show, so that’s why he uses the crossface here. D’s leap frog was impressive as hell, although the finish did feel like it came out of nowhere.

Tracey Smothers gate crashes the studio, getting plenty of heat from the fans, as Dave and Corey say how he isn’t even on the format for today. He tells them that he’s here because he wants to be here and he does as he pleases! ‘The Triad’ aren’t here today as they’re celebrating Thanksgiving, plus they’ve got better things to do than beat up this punk called the Spellbinder. In 1995 he, Smoky, Sell Out, Smasher, Syco (sic) Smothers singlehandedly destroyed the now defunct USWA by himself, and challenges Spellbinder to put his Power Pro title on the line right here and now if he’s got the guts. Spellbinder has got the guts and chases Tracey around ringside and into the ring. Press slam where he just drops Smothers chest first to the mat, followed by a spinning heel kick. Tracey grabs hold of Binder’s tights and pulls him into the turnbuckles. From there he chops away at his chest before dropping him with a savate kick. Binder blocks the bodyslam and counters with an inside cradle for a two. Folding press by Tracey, but referee William Gibson spots that he’s got his feet on the ropes and stops the count. As Smothers complains, Binder rolls him up and Tracey is forced to rake the eyes to escape. Spellbinder just about hangs on to a powerslam and now he’s complaining to Gibson about the count. While he’s doing so, Fabulous Rocker has sneaked down to ringside and passed Tracey a bag of powder. When Binder turns around he throws it at him, however he ducks out the way and it hits Gibson instead. Crossbody by Smothers, but Spellbinder catches and then launches him with a fallaway slam. Even though the ref is still down, he makes the cover and Rocker is in to crack him over the back with a chair. He puts Tracey on top, although Binder manages to get a shoulder up. Rocker throws a chain to Smothers, but he fails to catch it and Spellbinder picks it up and wraps it around his fist. Huge right hand, senton, and here’s Seven, clearly not at home for Thanksgiving, who attacks Binder for the DQ. The three of them then triple team him until Bulldog Raines makes the save and he and Tracey fight to the back while security does their best to try and separate Seven and Binder. A more decisive finish would’ve been nice, but this was a good studio match and my favourite Spellbinder singles match of the year. I don’t think anyone gets as much heat and reaction out of the studio fans than Tracey Smothers does, which was again in evidence here. I was surprised to see that the Fabulous Rocker was still around as I thought MCW consisted purely of WWF developmental talent at this point.

An angry Brandon Baxter is with Dave, face still covered in bandages and wearing shades, refusing to leave and wanting to know what it takes to get treated around here. Dave informs him that during the break they heard that Dr Salmons is out of town for Thanksgiving, but doctors have back up for when they’re not around and there is a doctor taking Dr Salmons’ emergency calls while he’s gone. They’ve got him on the phone, although this doctor sounds awfully familiar! Baxter isn’t happy and thinks that Dr Salmons should have stayed here, eaten his turkey at home and treated him like he said he would, not run off out the country. He needs his bandages changed right now! The doctors says how he spoke to Dr Salmons about this case and Baxter was supposed to come and see him to get his dressing changed but he never showed up. What he will do though is send a nurse to Channel 5 today and they’ll get this taken care of because it could be serious and could get infected. Later in the show and they’ve got the doctor on the phone who informs them that the nurse is almost there and can they get Mr Baxter out please? Dave’s not too keen on calling him ‘Mr Baxter’ so sticks with Brandon! Baxter joins them, but first of all he wants to know the name of this doctor as he’s already going to sue Dr Salmons for malpractice and wants to know who he’s speaking with in case anything goes wrong. The doctor gives his name, however it’s kinda mumbled and not clear. As the lights are bothering him, the doctor recommends that he takes those shades off and wraps the bandages around his eyes as that will ease the pain. Dave Brown helps him out at which point the nurse arrives on the scene and, despite the wig and mask, looks very familiar. The doctor says that they need to check his temperature, however when Brandon queries how they’re going to do that as his mouth is all bandaged up he informs him that it’s a rectal thermometer! The nurse also has some ointment (I couldn’t read the label although don’t think it is what they claim!) which she squeezes into Baxter’s hand as the doctor tells him to rub it into his face to help soothe all the discomfort he’s feeling. Finally the doctors suggests that the nurse apply heat to his face as that will alleviate some of the pain. She pulls out a hot water bottle and places it against Brandon’s cheek but it is too hot. As it’s too hot the doctor then asks her to take some of the liquid out of there, at which point she empties the water bottle all over him. Baxter slips and slides on the water while the nurse removes her mask to reveal that she is in fact The Kat, and the cameras cut backstage to show, shock, horror, that the doctor is in fact Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler. The match has barely got going when Slash reaches behind his shin guard and pulls out the fork. He jabs at ‘the King’ and digs it into his forehead all out of the view of referee William Gibson while Baxter provides additional distraction on the floor. A high vertical suplex and Lawler kicks out at two. As he starts to fight back, we get that same ‘side headlock, shoot the man into the official, ref bump spot’ that if I ever see again it will be too soon! Baxter hands the fork back to Slash and he goes to stab it into the prone Lawler’s chest, however he moves out the way in time. Slash drops the fork in the process and ‘the King’ picks it up. He’s about to attack Slash with the item when Gibson sees him brandishing it, hooks his arm to prevent him from doing so and disqualifies him. Baxter and Slash double team Lawler post-match, until The Kat jumps in there to get her hands on Baxter and Lawler is able to hit the piledriver on Slash after he telegraphs a backdrop. Even though you knew what was coming, the angle at the start was fun. I’m sure it’s the sort of thing that’s been done several time over the years in Memphis and the USWA previously, while Baxter is fantastic in his role. Kudos to Baxter, Dave and Corey for the way they straight batted it too as it was obvious from the moment the doctor opened his mouth that it was Lawler on the line. The Kat’s ‘nurses’ outfit also leaves little to the imagination! Nothing really to add when it comes to the match, all I would say though is if they must persist with the ref bumps then at least try to come up with something different alternative stuff to what they have been doing.

Pete Gas walks out several steps behind Rodney and is carrying a portable TV. He hands the television to Kevin Kelly and wants him to keep an eye on the game that’s going on as he’s got a lot riding on it. The bell rings to get the bout started but Gas is more interested in watching the game than standing on the apron, believing that Rodney has got this under control. Flying forearm by Spanky and the ‘Kliq 2000’ with a combination drop toe hold/dropkick to the face. Gas still isn’t paying attention to the match and Rodney has to shout him over when he wants to make a tag. Sit out sideslam and Gas leaves the action to go and check on the score despite Kelly keeping him fully updated. As he walks back to the ring Spanky catches him with a pescado. Slingshot senton for two. Gas counters the huracanrana with a powerbomb, tag to Rodney and he heads straight over to that portable TV. Rodney pounds on Spanky in the corner, but when he climbs the turnbuckles trying to get Pete’s attention, Spanky levels him with a powerbomb. Tag by Spanky, but Rodney can’t as Gas is still watching the television. Dragon with a snap suplex, Spanky lands the frog splash, Dragon the top rope elbow and it’s a win for the Kliq. Gas tried to make the save but was too late and the footage cuts out just as it looks like Rodney is going to give him a piece of his mind. If dissension between the Posse had been hinted at last week, things exacerbated here, with Gas more interested in watching the game on the TV than wrestling. Nothing to write home about compared with the previous match, more about furthering the storyline of a future MSP split which looks like it isn’t too far off.

I saw Loss post this on Twitter last week. I'm not on Facebook so no chance he could find me!

Cornette talks about this video on this week's episode of his podcast (#239, which is another 'deep dive' into OVW) mentioning how it only cost $125 total to produce.

Seijin Akki looks like he could have been the inspiration for a variety of different Chikara characters with that mask and outfit. He’s reportedly from Osaka, Japan but I’m not so sure. A shake of the hands and then they chop each other like its some bizarre ritual. Quack goes full on Johnny Saint with his escape from the go behind and then again to free himself from the wristlock. Rear chinlock by Akki and he’s at it again with the Saint escape. Cross face chicken wing by Quack and the crowd aren’t too enamoured with what they’re seeing, shouting boring at them. Some terrible looking kicks and forearms, before Akki ducks a palm strike and takes Quack to the mat slapping on an armbar. He whips him into the corner but Quack jumps to the middle turnbuckle and leaps backwards, trying to catch Akki with an arm drag, only to completely miss grabbing him. Seijin stomps away on his opponent as they try to cover for the blown spot, before they repeat it in the opposite corner, Quack landing the arm drag this time. Akki counters the hip toss with one of his own and then they just look at each other as if they’ve forgotten what to do next. Quack ties Akki up in a ball (more WOS inspiration there) then sits on him, giving a double bicep pose before patting Seijin on the backside. An ugly looking exchange in the centre that ends with an Akki belly to belly. He misses the reverse splash off the top and Quack with a double foot stomp off the middle, something that finally gets a positive reaction from the crowd. Akki blocks being whipped to the corner and hits an exploder for a two count. After some super soft kicks that are even worse than Quack’s, a springboard knee to the head. He misses the ‘Bomb’s Away’ knee drop and Quack bangs away at the mat trying to get the crowd into this. Some rapid fire slaps to the face, but again these are so weak looking that they just elicit laughter from those in attendance. Magistral cradle for a near fall. Leg trip by Akki and he gets two counts after both German and Northern Lights suplexes. Quack dead weights on the attempted double underhook and then wrenches Akki’s knee with a dragon screw. Seijin backdrops him over the top rope however Quack lands on the apron and floors Akki with a palm strike to the back of the head. He then takes a run from the entrance way and leaps over the top rope back into the ring hitting a tornado DDT. Akki blocks the ‘Quackendriver’ but misses a kick. Drop toe hold by Quack who looks for another Magistral cradle, only this time Akki counters with a cradle of his own for the win. Not a good match as both guys looked super green in there and were off on several occasions. I’d guess Quack’s just discovered World of Sport and has been studying those tapes hard as there are some spots that he’s blatantly ripped directly from Johnny Saint. The strikes were appalling and so soft that I wish they had stuck to wrestling and omitted them. The crowd couldn’t have cared less about the majority of this, only really coming to life on Quacks’ dive back into the ring. Not recommended.

Xavier jumps Ki before the bell and the two exchange hard slaps. Ki reverses the whip to the corner, however Xavier ducks out to the floor before he can hit the handspring kick. He rolls back into the ring to avoid the pescado, but Ki is able to think on (off?) his feet, changing plans mid-air and landing on the apron. Slingshot head scissors back inside and this time Ki connects on the handspring head kick. Xavier catches him on the attempted leap frog, walks to the ropes and dumps Ki over the top to the outside with a belly to belly. Space flying Tiger Drop out of Xavier! He comes up slightly short on the dive, but fuck, I wasn’t expecting that out of him at all! Running forearm smash in the corner followed by a butterfly suplex for a two. Ki escapes the side headlock but then runs into a spinning chest kick. Nice variation of the cattle mutilation by Xavier with Ki in a seated position. He heads up stairs, however a Ki jumping kick to the head sending him flying into the guard rail. Elbow suicida. A basement dropkick takes the legs out from under Xavier and Ki follows that up with a trio of kicks, the final one around the side of his head. Xavier blocks the ‘Ki Krusher’ and gorilla presses Ki. When he goes to drop him to the mat though, Ki lands on his feet and nails Xavier with a Pele kick. Ki looks for a huracanrana but Xavier hot shots him across the top rope. He goes upstairs again, having as little success this time as he did last, jumping right into a rolling koppu kick. A couple of forearms by Ki who then sits Xavier on the top turnbuckles. He grabs Xavier in a ‘Dragon sleeper’ and then leans back, stretching him out (smartly called a ‘Ki-Rantula’ by one of the commentators). With them tied in the ropes though he can’t get the submission, so let’s go of the hold before the official reaches the count of five. Ki looks for it a second time, but that’s going to the well once too often as a couple of back headbutts from Xavier puts a stop to it. Rolling German suplex for a near fall. Ki blocks the ‘Rude Awakening’ and locks on a ‘Dragon sleeper’. Nowhere near the ropes and the champion’s belt in jeopardy, out to ringside comes promoter Jac Sabboth which distracts Ki. Ki signals for the ‘Ki Krusher 2000’ and Sabboth is leaning into the ring grabbing his ankle to prevent him from getting Xavier up. Cutthroat neckbreaker by Xavier and Ki manages to get a leg over the bottom rope (although the camera would rather show us this Sabboth at ringside as opposed to the wrestlers). Ki counters a second cutthroat neckbreaker and hits the ‘Ki Krusher’. At the count of two Sabboth is up on the apron and the ref just stops his count to go over and have a word with him. Ki’s had enough and kicks Sabboth in the head, but when he turns back around Xavier clocks him with the belt for the title saving DQ. Plenty of “bullshit, bullshit” chants from the crowd for that ending. After the match Ki calls for the Commissioner to come out and it’s someone decked up like Mick Foley, complete with cut off plaid lumberjack shirt. He says that after having fought Xavier twice, and on both occasions been screwed out of the match, he wants him where he can’t run and where there will be no interference, leading to the Commissioner announcing a cage match for the next show. I was enjoying this right up until the finish. We’re not even fully two months into the year and there have been so many unsatisfactory, no downright shit finishes already and here’s another. The only positive I can say about that weak DQ is that at least it seems to be building towards something for the next show. A very proto ROH feel to the match and I can’t ever recall seeing Xavier do a Space Flying Tiger Drop before here. You expect the Indies to be littered with Mr McMahon rip offs and heel owners, you don’t expect to see Mick Foley Commissioner rip offs though!

Haku gets the better of the shoulder tackle and then reverses the hip toss landing one of his own. A bad slow motion arm drag from Holly, but a karate chop to the head stuns him and puts a stop his early targeting of Haku’s arm. Haku blocks the roll up by grabbing hold of the ropes, however Holly lifts up his legs so he’s draped over them and kicks him low. The huracanrana is countered with a sit out powerbomb as Haku looks to get back into this. Big running lariat in the corner followed by a barrage of punches to the ribs and head. Holly reverses the Irish whip and hits a belly to back suplex. Thrust kick by Haku and a nice shoulderbreaker for a two. He misses the big splash in the corner, crashing into the turnbuckles and a double clothesline sees both men go down. Holly levels Haku with a dropkick and then nails him with a flying crossbody off the top for a near fall. He looks to repeat, heading upstairs for a second time, only this time jumping right into a Tongan death grip which gives Haku the victory. I thought this might be pretty stiff with the two just slapping the bejeezus out of each other. As it was it turned out to be anything of the sort, with Holly not even throwing one chop all match and working lighter than usual. Like when does Bob Holly not throw chops? Was he afraid of riling up Haku if he’d laid them in like he normally does? In the end there’s nothing to see here.

You get more than your fair share of nothing managers on the Independent scene and we’re introduced to another here, Carmine Narducci, who is managing Little Guido. It sounds like one of the commentators is mentally challenged or something? The start of this is very reminiscent of Ki and Guido’s match from ‘Rugged Valentine’ as they again both look for the cross armbar. About a minute in Mikey Whipwreck joins the fray, although it’s never explained if this was a three way all along or whether he just interjected himself. It wouldn’t be a three way without a combination German suplex/sunset flip and they make sure to get that one out the way early. Handspring kick to the head of Mikey which brings the randomest of comments from one of commentators who’d like to see Chyna try that. Ki goes for it on Guido, however he’s met with a firm knee to the mid-section. Guido ties Ki in the ‘tree of woe’ before Mikey and he end up on the outside. Plancha from the top turnbuckle to the floor by Ki (who has to duck whilst up there due to the low ceiling!). Narducci is in Ki’s face and although he pulls out of kicking him, he’s dropped by a finger poke of doom. I’m guessing that was supposed to be funny but it got zero reaction from the fans or me. A dropkick to the knee takes the legs out from Guido and Ki goes to town with kicks to the chest and finally one to the side of the head. The two trade hard open hand slaps before Guido gets a two count after a ‘Rocker dropper’. DDT on Guido by Mikey and Ki breaks up the pin, just like Mikey had done previously after that ‘Rocker dropper’. Double ‘Sicilian slice’. Each man looks for their finisher, however every attempted is either blocked or countered, culminating with a Ki reverse DDT to escape out of ‘the Whippersnapper’. Quesadora into a Fujiwara armbar, when out strolls some valet and Guido lets go of the armbar to see what she’s playing at. Back turned, he’s then jumped by one of the ‘Boogie Knights’ (in full view of the referee). ‘X-Factor’ on Guido and Ki makes the cover for the win. The Knights attack Narducci as the commentators make mention of this being a ‘Survival’ match so there’s still another fall (nice if they’d actually mentioned that previously!). The camera work is all over the place and the decisive fall is missed completely, although apparently Xavier’s interference cost Ki the ultimate victory. Xavier looks for a high five from Mikey post-match but gets a ‘Whippersnapper’ instead. The interactions between Ki and Guido are okay, but there’s nothing that you haven’t seen before if you’ve watched their JCW stuff. The finish is a giant cluster with run ins, interference, abysmal camera work, pinfalls missed etc. and why the fuck were they breaking pin attempts up if this was elimination rules? Boy do I hate that in an elimination match, it just makes the wrestlers look foolish. The less said about the unintelligible commentator the better.

A rematch, of sorts, from last year with Kevin Kelly actually acknowledging that they’ve seen Ki previously on Metal (although no coming out second and entrance music for him this time!) Crash sidesteps a charging Ki, sending him face first into the turnbuckles before taking him down with a drop toe hold. An innovative take on the full nelson from a reverse stump puller position. A couple of near falls and as both men fight to get the advantage on the back slide, Crash flips over and hits a ‘Rude Awakening’ neckbreaker for a two. Ki ducks a clothesline, whips Crash into the corner and nails him with a handspring kick to the head. Jawbreaker to escape the rear chinlock before Crash fires away with some forearms. A lariat takes Ki off his feet, but in a reversal of fortunes from earlier, a drop toe hold then sends Crash crashing head first into the middle turnbuckle. Tornado DDT is countered with an inverted atomic drop, tornado bulldog by Crash and for the second time in just over three months he picks up a win over Low Ki. Despite this lasting less than three and a half minutes, Metal continues to deliver fun stuff. Ki didn’t get as much of the match here as he did back in October, although looked crisper and didn’t screw anything up this time. Is it a coincidence that they put him in with the shortest member of the roster again? Ki’s got a few more appearances on Metal to come this year (twice against Essa Rios and bizarrely against Raven) so will look forward to seeing how he does in those matches.

So much for that CZW match a week ago being the last one between these two then! Another encounter billed as ‘their final match ever’, this time with the additional caveat of ‘in the United States’. The now obligatory mist blow from Tajiri after the initial lock up. This is an RF Fancam version and Crazy is once more talking to whoever is filming this, so let’s hope that’s not an indicator that we’re going to get something on a par with what they did in Pine Bluff. Crazy gets the better of a shoulder tackle, but Tajiri then blocks the hip toss and kicks him in the side of the head. An arm wringer with authority that sends Crazy shooting out of the ring and into the first row of the crowd. He reverses the Irish whip and a nice delayed tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Satellite headscissors by Tajiri before the two trade arm drags and we have a ‘respect’ stand-off. Tajiri offers Crazy his hand and, despite warnings from the fans, he accepts. He should’ve listened to them as Tajiri immediately double crosses him with a couple of kicks to the thigh. Crazy floats over on the attempted brainbuster, takes Tajiri down and applies a surfboard. That becomes a rolling surfboard and when he’s done rolling, transitions to a ‘Dragon sleeper’. Punch to the bread basket followed by a head butt. Whip to the corner is reversed, but Crazy with the tip up over the inrushing Tajiri, hooking his legs under his armpits and catching him with a lovely sunset flip in the process. Superkick by Tajiri which buys him a bit of time to recover. He tosses Crazy to the floor and they do their sequence where Crazy pulls Tajiri out after him, quickly hops back inside but crashes and burns on the pescado. Tajiri slams Crazy into a steel chair and then launches him into the ring post. Camel clutch with Tajiri once more playing a tune on Crazy’s head. Great roll through off the huracanrana as Tajiri barely kicks out in time. ‘Ten punch in the corner’ spot, although the good folk of Winchester, TN are not quite as versed in their Spanish as the ECW fans are! Headbutt to the balls by Tajiri and he’s mocking his opponent’s obvious discomfort. A stiff sounding kick to the head fells Crazy like a logged tree. Tajiri is on at the referee to count him out and when he doesn’t, a baseball slide dropkick right between the legs. He drags Crazy to his knees, a pair of kicks to the side of the head, basement dropkick to the forehead and Tajiri comes out on top in this apparent ‘final ever meeting’ between the two long term rivals. Whilst nowhere near the level of their best stuff, this was a far more fitting ‘final chapter’ than that lacklustre showing in CZW. You know the score by now when it comes to these two, and if you’re only going to watch the one match between them this year, make sure it’s this one.

The episode begins with a clip from last week’s broadcast where Brandon Baxter introduced Bobby Eaton as he and Victoria’s partner for the ‘Showdown at the Nutthouse’ handicap match against Jerry Lawler and The Kat. Due to a fortunate coincidence of his XFL commentary duties being switched and he’s now covering the Memphis/San Francisco game instead of Las Vegas, it means ‘the King’ is able to pay a visit to the Channel 5 studios and say hello to everyone. Lawler understands that Brandon Baxter and Victoria looked under a rock somewhere and found themselves Bobby Eaton? He does though take exception to the claims that ‘Beautiful’ Bobby couldn’t get in the main events because of him, didn’t make enough money because of him and ended up leaving Memphis because of him, saying that the only reason he didn’t get in any main events was because he wasn’t tough enough to earn his way into them! Out walks Baxter, Victoria and Eaton and Brandon mocks ‘the King’ for gracing them with his presence. Lawler gets a zinger in back, saying how this is the first time he’s seen Brandon’s new face without that mask and thought these big shot plastic surgeons were supposed to make an improvement, he looks worse than he did before! Baxter thinks that the real reason ‘the King’ hasn’t been on the show recently is not because of these XFL duties, it’s because he’s scared of him, is scared of Victoria and is shaking in his boots when he announced ‘Beautiful’ Bobby Eaton was going to be their partner. He says how eighteen years of pent up frustration have built up inside Bobby Eaton because of the way Jerry Lawler pushed him back and used his political stroke to keep him down, and on Wednesday night eighteen years of frustration is going to explode into his face! Lawler tells Eaton that he doesn’t have to wait until Wednesday night, he can get unfrustrated here today by stepping into the ring with him in the studio. ‘Commissioner’ Dundee joins them and tells Jerry that this isn’t happening and tries to get Eaton (it was already mentioned last week that he is Dundee’s real life son-in-law) to leave with him. When Eaton would rather take a pop at Lawler than do so, that’s all it takes for ‘the Superstar’ to make the match the main event on the show today. Main event time and Grandmaster Sexay makes a joke about Bobby Eaton’s tights being eighteen years old, a joke that he repeats soon after due to the muted response it received first time out! Eaton backs ‘the King’ into the corner and drills him with three of the most perfect looking worked punches you’re ever likely to see. Great selling of them by Lawler with the way he’s feeling and stretching his jaw. He switches position and responds with three of his own before a dropkick to the back sends Eaton out of the ring to the floor. After a confab with Brandon Baxter he stalls on the apron to buy himself a little more time. Eye rake, another right hand and he pulls ‘the King’ to the outside with him. Lawler blocks having his head rammed into the ring post, rams Bobby’s into it and then hip tosses him on the concrete. Eaton fires back and we have a super short heat segment on ‘the King’ (mainly consisting of Bobby choking and punching him) with the commentators talking about Lawler being a notoriously slow starter, although if you make him mad enough and that strap comes down, that’s all she wrote. Right on cue that strap comes down! Stunner from ‘the King’ and Baxter is up on the apron only to get decked. A second ‘stunner’ and as the Grandmaster says “there’s no way he’ll get up from that”, Eaton kicks out. Baxter is fully involved now, putting the boots to Lawler and giving him the win by disqualification. The Kat rushes out to drag Baxter away from ‘the King’, but that just brings out Victoria as the numerical advantage stays with the Baxter team. The crowd are calling for Grandmaster Sexay to go and help out and Dave Brown has to remind everyone that he can’t get involved after giving his word that he wouldn’t. Baxter powders Lawler blinding him and with the ref being deposited when he tried to stop things, out comes the Commissioner to try. Dundee pulls his son-in-law off ‘the King’ but Eaton then attacks him. At the encouragement of Dave and Corey, GMS eventually leaves the announcing desk and runs the three of them off. A quick post-match interview where Dundee adds himself to the handicap match in Jonesboro, now making it a six person tag with Lawler saying how he’s going to “burn them up”. We return from a commercial break as the Baxter trio address what they’ve just heard. Bobby Eaton struggles his way through his part of the promo, but says how Bill Dundee never paid for his wedding and when he gets home he’s binning his daughter off, is going to sleep around and Bill Dundee will never see his grandchildren again. Baxter believes that this is just more Memphis politics the way ‘the Commissioner’ puts himself into the match, although doesn’t care if they’re planning to kill or maim him because it will never happen.

After having so much fun last week, Grandmaster Sexay is back to provide co-commentary with Dave and Corey. He passes comment on Spellbinder’s physique saying how he looks “all gassed up” and is ready to go! ‘The Kliq’s’ initial confidence has gone, with neither man too keen on starting the match when they see Binder is starting out for the opposition. At a stand still, Spell decides to tag his partner and we’re underway. DK gets the better of the opening exchanges, tags Binder but Dragon immediately scoots out of the ring to the floor still wanting nothing to do with him. Spell gets down on his knees so he’s closer in size to them, however that makes no difference to ‘the Kliq’. He again tags in DK although surely the smarter thing would be to take the count out victory? Guessing that’s just not the ‘right’ thing for a face to do. Hip toss on Spanky followed by a dropkick and then one for Dragon. Spell’s not going to sit on the sideline any longer and drops ‘the Kliq’ with a double clothesline. As the official tries to get him out of the ring and back onto the apron, a member of security hooks DK’s leg as he bounces off the ropes (the ‘member of security’ turns out to be Just Joe, and this is part of an ongoing storyline where he has been constantly refused entry into the studios and has to sneak his way in). King turns around and walks right into a Spanky leg lariat. Dragon with a snap suplex and Spell is in to break up the pin. DK swipes away the dropkick and hits his version of the ‘X-Factor’ (with Christopher again accusing King of stealing moves) before making the hot tag. Modified chokeslam by Spell on Dragon. Shooter Schultz is out to help ‘the Kliq’, although his interference for once doesn’t pay off as Spell catches Dragon when he attempts the flying bodypress and launches him with a fallaway slam. Somersault senton and that gives he and King the win. A completely throwaway match and I sure as hell hope that ‘the Kliq’ haven’t been reduced to background fodder for Just Joe.