Category Archives: Throwback PPVs
TNA Final Resolution 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Final Resolution was the last TNA Pay-Per-View of 2012 and it was highly unspectacular.
There was nothing outrageously horrendous (except maybe the lackluster commentary) but there was nothing tangible to leave this show with.
There were no matches that left us speechless, nothing that made the internet orgasm, just slightly below average.
WWE Backlash 2007 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Fresh off the thriller that was WWE WrestleMania 23, that year’s Backlash had plenty to offer itself.
Let’s start with the Last Man Standing Match for the World Heavyweight Championship between Champion The Undertaker and Batista that actually stole the show.
That would’ve been the main event if you ask us.
There were other moments that you probably didn’t realize happened here – Vince McMahon was crowned ECW World Champion (eye-roll), WWE Women’s Champion Melina and Mickie James traded fists while in splits and a Batista spear literally brought the stage down.
This made us realize that 2007 maybe wasn’t so bad after all, as veterans like Shawn Michaels and The Undertaker delivered gutsy performances.
Now, let’s get to the nooks and crannies of “WrestleMania 23: The Important Stuff Part II.”
WCW Superbrawl Revenge Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“A Path Of Destruction… A Night Of Vengeance” was the tagline attached to the next to last Pay-Per-View by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 2001 before the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) bought them out, which ended what was widely known as the “Monday Night Wars.”
While 2000’s WCW is synonymous with storyline absurdity and embarrassment, 2001 showed graces of promise with the faint smell of overbooking evident.
Gone now were Goldberg and Hulk Hogan, but stars like Lex Luger, Ric Flair and Kevin Nash were still prominent as ever.
Flair plays the role of “evil boss” quite well actually. What also helps this show move along is the breakthrough stars like Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) and the evolution of WCW World Heavyweight Champion Scott Steiner into “Big Poppa Pump,” almost unrecognizable from his look just a few years prior.
Picture Chad Gable becoming Braun Strowman and that was Steiner in a nutshell.
This poster actually plays into Steiner’s “I rushed the legends out” heel character as he boasted victories over Sting, Booker T, Goldberg and Sid Vicious.
The last edition of Superbrawl won’t have anything you’ll find if you’re on the search for WCW’s mark on the industry, but it was a nice tease of what could’ve been had they stuck around a bit longer.
WWE Survivor Series 2012 Reaction
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
It seems as if the internet may have bursted at the conclusion of last night’s World Title match.
In case you’re curious, three men- Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns- attacked Ryback ruthlessly, similar to Nexus’ original debut and powerbombed him through the announce table.
CM Punk picked up the scraps, retained his Title and today marks the one-year point of his reign.
Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns are all familiar to NXT viewers and how WWE will have them explain their actions should make for good television.
It’s fortunate that there was this to boil over from because besides for a few shiny spots, this was a mostly forgettable show.
WWE In Your House 12: It’s Time Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
While its progression to realism from a cartoonish image was evident towards the latter half of 1996, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) still struggled to shake control from its rival organization – World Championship Wrestling (WCW). WCW was in a stretch where it’d dominate television ratings for 84 consecutive weeks.
This show was peppered with potential from a standout opener between Leif Cassidy (now known as Al Snow) and Flash Funk (better referred to as 2 Cold Scorpio), a passable “Armageddon Rules” match from The Undertaker and The Executioner that went all over the arena/set and a good effort from its WWF Intercontinental Championship bout between Champion Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Marc Mero.
The rest was showered in shrouds of ridicule as enthusiastic as the sights of Fake Diesel and Razor Ramon on our screens. Even good ‘ol Jim Ross on commentary couldn’t do much for us. We’ll also investigate the ideological mess that was the WWF World Tag Team Championship match.
In the battle of “Powerbomb Vs. Sharpshooter,” powerbomb emerged victorious, but it was our collective brains that got powerbombed in the end.
You could tell how much the WWF needed a shakeup headed into 1997.
To top it off , the namesake of the show – Vader – wasn’t even on the card. Good riddance to WWF 1996.
ECW Guilty As Charged 2001 Reaction
Photo courtesy of IMDB.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Extreme Championship Wrestling personified its essence through brutality, rampant sexuality and thanks to Owner Paul Heyman, logical booking that accentuated the strengths of his ever-changing roster and deemphasized its weaknesses.
Unfortunately, its biggest weakness came financially.
Without a new national television deal, ECW only lived on Pay-Per-View, but it wasn’t a given that when Guilty As Charged aired in January 2001, it’d be the last time they’d grace airwaves.
Axe the two house shows that followed this and you can even call this the final chapter if you choose to.
What it’ll be remembered best is for the potential of what could’ve been, but it worked out for the two companies to form from ECW’s ashes and for that, we’ll need the jury to be unanimous here. No objections.
WCW Starrcade 1994 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan’s huge signing to World Championship Wrestling in June earlier in the year was a sign that perhaps things would change.
To an extent, that was correct.
Hogan’s arrival brought more money and sponsorships to WCW and his creative pull allowed him to bring in various faces of his past and recreate some magic.
Still, for every feud he had with Ric Flair, there was a Butcher match in the wings. If you told us that he’d be the main event of the biggest show of the year instead of doing the “Loser Must Retire” match there, we would’ve laughed too.
Star power doesn’t always provide a star product. That’s evident up and down through this card, though the quick wits of Bobby “The Brain” Heenan on commentary make it easier to sit through.
WCW tried to pass off “What’s Old Is New Again,” but alas, we just feel like it was done better somewhere else before.
WCW Uncensored 1995 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
“Unsanctioned, Unauthorized, Unbelievable.”
If a tagline ever fit a World Championship Wrestling show, this was it.
Uncensored – WCW’s attempt to bend the rules and present an “extreme” Pay-Per-View with only gimmicked matches, was an experiment in the beginning.
Headlined by a Leather Strap Match between WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Vader in the midst of a hot feud between Hogan and “A Man Possessed,” Ric Flair, it was enough to salvage for the rest of the malarky.
What malarky? Put in a “Boxer Vs. Wrestler” Match, a “King Of The Road” Match and a “Martial Arts” Match.
Oh and because of recent creative changes, no blood was allowed at all.
More below.
WCW Halloween Havoc 1992 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
World Championship Wrestling and the early 1990’s are about as gimmicked as professional wrestling could be.
Check out our review of Starrcade 1991 for an example of this.
With this particular event famous for its “Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal” concept (just imagine Raw Roulette for more current readers), Sting and Jake “The Snake” Roberts would settle their longtime feud with 12 possible “unsanctioned” scenarios.
On top of that, WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Rick Rude would “compete” in two matches, Flyin’ Brian-Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat would face off in an exceptional match (by early 90’s standards) and there was a moment between Paul E. Dangerously (or Paul Heyman for those current peeps – how ya doin’?) and Madusa that wouldn’t be forgotten.
Coming from Philadelphia, we got snippets of what “hardcore” would soon look like. This crowd helped to make this show more bearable.
WCW Starrcade 1991 Reaction
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
By Nicholas Jason Lopez
Known as World Championship Wrestling’s proverbial “answer to WrestleMania” from the then-World Wrestling Federation, Starrcade was always about making history and was aptly placed where a “payoff” Pay-Per-View should be – the end of December.
It’s only fitting that all the big storylines would come to a halt here, naturally.
Oh wait – not in 1991. Ha. What were you thinking there?
In Ric Flair’s absence, WCW appeared to put a lot of faith in its biggest draw, the blonde-haired, face-painted babyface Sting, as he sought the World Heavyweight Championship.
As an obstacle, he had to go through not only Lex Luger, but as well as a group called The Dangerous Alliance, consistent of members like Rick Rude, “Stunning” Steve Austin (who had blonde hair of his own, that’s how old this show is) and were led by none other than Paul E. Dangerously, who we now know as Paul Heyman.
The melodrama was certainly there and all stages appeared to go towards a big showdown for the Title between Sting and Luger. Nope, you’re not going to get that match straight up at Starrcade. They’re going to “make history” and introduce a concept never heard before – the “Lethal Lottery.”
Come join us for this 1990’s-tastic journey.
Pro Wrestling Opinion 