Newly crowned WWE Champion CM Punk is out first to an enthusiastic response, and cuts a promo about how winning the title on Sunday was a special moment for him personally, given that he did so by just being himself, something he claims to always have been. This is unequivocally a good thing: the best in wrestling have generally been from guys playing a slightly more heightened version of themselves from which fans can truly both believe in and get behind. Punk wants to make the WWE Title more interesting and bring an “air of danger” that has been “sorely lacking”. Punk then changes track and focuses on Interim General Manager of RAW, John Laurinaitis, saying that he wishes sincerely to make him become former General Manager of RAW. Cue Lauro walking out to loud boos. Say what you want about whether the former Dynamic Dud(e) deserves to be in the role, or even if he’s any good in playing the part, but at least he garners the desired response, something many WWE performers, whether it be WWEs fault or otherwise, fail to do. Anyway, Laurinaitis believes that there’s no reason why him and Punk can’t get along, as he believes they both want the same thing: what’s best for the WWE Universe. Punk knocks Laurinaitis for being “stereotypical middle-management” and that unless he can prove himself as an agent of change, he’ll continue to look at Laurinaitis for exactly what he is: “a poor excuse for a middle-management, soul sucking, douche bag stooge”. Laurinaitis thinks Punk has him all wrong, that he does have “a wild side”. Blimey! But instead of whipping out a skateboard and showing us some moves, Laurinaitis books some matches instead: Alberto Del Rio in a WWE Title rematch vs. CM Punk…next week on RAW. Punk: “Whoa, radical, dude!”. Punk wants the match right now. Laurinaitis has other plans, for he books CM Punk vs. Dolph Ziggler in a champion vs. champion match-up. Punk knocks Laurinaitis for not listening to the fans, as a “We Want Ryder” chant can be heard amongst some sections of the audience. Laurinaitis announces that Ryder is instead to face ADR tonight. The segment closes with Punk walking up to Laurinaitis proclaiming that he’ll beat Ziggler tonight, ADR next week and that someone, nobody in particular, will beat some sense into him (Laurinaitis). A decent segment, this made plain the increasing hostilities between Punk and the Interim RAW GM, as well as nicely setting up the rest of the show.

Zack Ryder vs. Alberto Del Rio (*½)

ADR works on the left arm and shoulder of Ryder early on, but Ryder makes a quick comeback and signals for the Rough Ryder. He misses, however, becomes the recipient of a running kick to the chops and is then put into the cross-armbreaker, from which he quickly, and inevitably, submits.

Your Winner – Alberto Del Rio

While it was good for ADR to quickly and emphatically bounce back from his PPV Title loss, the quick defeat of Ryder was sadly typical of the petty and careless way WWE books talent. Instead of capitalizing fully on his popularity, WWE, by booking a defeat in this manner, once again derailed the Long Island native’s momentum by making him look weak going into his eventual US Title clash with Dolph Ziggler, and thereby continuing to transparently punish him for having the wherewithal to try and get himself over instead of through WWEs own, and therefore correct, doing. In being a popular loser, Ryder is fast turning into a 2011 WWE version of Matt Hardy. And just look what happened to that self-obsessed, deluded, cretinous jail-bait berk.

Sheamus vs. Jack Swagger (**)

A grudge match of sorts, given how Sheamus defeated Swagger last Monday, and how ‘The Great White’ was DQ’d in the Survivor elimination match after repeatedly kneeing Swagger in the shoulder without ceasing, this is slightly more heated and hard hitting than previously, but again, there’s a nagging feeling that the two could really turn it on given a more time and with a better developed feud. Swagger has Sheamus in his not-as-climatic-as-Angle’s ankle lock, but Sheamus powers out and delivers the Brogue Kick for the victory.

Your Winner – Sheamus

Swagger looked to be making strides a few weeks back after dispensing of Santino, but yet another defeat shows this to be otherwise. Like the opening bout, you were left feeling that somebody else, such as JTG or Yoshi Tatsu, could have taken the spot that Swagger had the, erm, honour of holding, but, then, you all know WWE by now.

Speaking of having the wrong people in the wrong spot, after the break comes out that young, up-and-coming stud himself, Kevin Nash, who tonight walks out only so far as the RAW stage, presumably to avoid the risk of an injury that the tricky and hazardous walk down to the ring and back would have offered. Nash drones on about Madison Square Garden, his 8 second Title victory over Bob Backlund (which we’ll never hear the end of), and how he, along with his Clique buddies, made their friendship “real”. Nash gloats once more about taking out Triple H with a sledgehammer and that although Survivor Series may be gone, the real survivor of that group is him, Oz, I mean, Kevin Nash. This is getting tiresome now. Surely, Nash is going to have to do something other than just talk sometime soon, like, you know, maybe wrestle perhaps, otherwise what real value is there in him taking up all this precious airtime each week ?

Cody Rhodes is in the ring boasting that without his mask, he’s now unrestricted, unbeatable (?) and unrepenting, before breaking into that creepy, toe-curling if you’re watching with somebody who does not regularly watch wrestling, laugh. His opponent Santino Marella then camply comes down to the ring and we now have our next match.

Cody Rhodes vs. Santino Marella (¼*)

As is mostly typical of Santino matches, the match time is short, Santino threatens to go for the Cobra, misses and is then hit with his opponent’s finisher, in this case the Cross-Rhodes.

Your Winner – Cody Rhodes

With the addition of new knee pads, new theme music and without the mask, Cody may look and feel slightly new and different but the same faults remain. Uninspiring offence and an inability to draw crowds into his matches unless against a top level star, Rhodes still has much to prove, but at least WWE are seemingly behind him…for now.

Post match, Cody walks over to the announce table and starts yelling at Booker, who has been questioning Rhodes’s methods over the past few weeks. Rhodes throws Booker’s water bottle at him and walks off. Now can you drink that, SUCKA!!! Ahem. Surprisingly, Booker doesn’t do anything but look pissed. Another encounter between the pair will surely happen…

Chosh Matthews is backstage interviewing Dolph Ziggler with Vickie Guerrero. Dolph reckons he was the only superstar to win 2 matches at Survivor Series because, technically, he was on the winning team. He doesn’t mean to be a show-off, but Ziggler believes he is the new face of WWE. Unless he changes that dreadful ring name of his, I can confidently predict that this will never happen.

Dolph Ziggler vs. CM Punk (***)

So much for champion vs. champion: neither belt is on the line here. For a match on RAW in 2011, this match is afforded a very generous amount of time which is no way a bad thing, as the two assemble one of the better matches seen on a Monday night wrestling broadcast in the last couple of months. The crowd are solidly behind Punk throughout the contest, something that, in turn, helps make the contest far more watchable than what we’ve witnessed not only so far tonight but also the vast majority of content seen over the last few weeks. Just past the midway point of the match, Punk delivers his trademark running knee and bulldog combination which, through Ziggler selling it so well, makes the crowd think the match is over. John ‘I can’t sell to save my life’ Cena should take note. Soon after, Punk delivers a stunning Macho Elbow from the top, but again Ziggler kicks out. Gaining control of proceedings, Ziggler is poised to deliver his fame-asser drop, yet in the only bungled part of the match, Punk fails to catch Ziggler correctly so that he can manoeuvre him onto his shoulders for the GTS and ends up dropping him awkwardly. Correcting the finish, Punk manually hoists Ziggler onto his shoulders and delivers the GTS, which Ziggler, to his credit, sells excellently. Given how well the match had gone prior, this error did not spoil the match at all.

Your Winner – CM Punk

Both combatants ought to be pleased with this match. Punk wisely got off to a winning start as champion, whereas Ziggler, even though he lost, performed so well that this match more enhanced than harmed him, therefore showing that even in defeat can a superstar still get over.

After the break, we’re shown a rather spooky promo of some mysterious unidentified person lighting a match and smashing a window, ending with a mask seen symbolically burning amongst the sharded debris. Could it be Kane ? Maybe. Perhaps it’s Brodus Clay. Haven’t seen him in a while…

Big Show walks out to the stage and cuts a promo. Apparently, if you missed Survivor Series, you missed an “epic night”. There we go with that E word again. Cutting to the quick, Big Show has “something” waiting for Mark Henry and the World Heavyweight Title, that something presumably being that big fist of his that is flexed as he speaks. This feud will hopefully end at TLC. Please, please, please let that be so – other than Big Show’s elbow off the top rope at SS, and the ring collapsing at Vengeance, their matches have been almost entirely plodding fodder. Which in 2011 is not good.

Cut to Kelly x 2 and Alisha Fox backstage playing (badly) the new WWE ‘12 video game. Both are joined and are verbally, erm, bullied (?) by Natalya and Beth Phoenix, before the latter pair just walk off and everything’s forgotten about. Eh ? Sorry, folks, that’s the only Divas action you’re getting tonight.

Wade Barrett vs. Kofi Kingston (*½)

There is barely any noise or crowd merriment for this bout when Barrett takes charge of the action, which must be crushing for Barrett (obviously) and WWE given the huge push the alleged ‘bare-knuckled fighter’ is embarking on, and so it’s most welcomed, then, when Randy Orton comes out midway during the bout, though this is to sadly merely watch proceedings rather than to actually dish out any punishment or interfere. Barrett suffers from a similar affliction as his fellow current booking squad favourite Cody Rhodes in that he fails to draw the audience into his matches which, in this long-by-RAW-standards outing, doesn’t exactly make for entirely gripping viewing, save when Kingston performs his aerial based offence. The match ends as Barrett kicks the tope rope underneath Kofi as the latter went for a slingshot aerial move, with Kingston then falling prey to Barrett’s Wasteland.

Your Winner – Wade Barrett

As mentioned last week, Barrett still looks a little out of depth and is being pushed beyond his current capabilities. Still, at least WWE is trying with somebody relatively new, so I’m willing to wait and hold judgement for now. With Kofi, however…the downward spiral continues with another loss suffered, despite the distraction and ringside presence of another babyface. Wonder what he thinks about Evan Bourne’s suspension ?

Post match, Barrett grabs the mic and gloats to Randy that the winner of the match was, wait for it, Wade Barrett. That sure showed him. This will no doubt rumble on until TLC, where I fully expect Orton to emerge as victor, just as he’s done against fellow up-and-comers Cody Rhodes and Dolph Ziggler already this year. And so he should. As stated, Barrett isn’t ready to go over a real headliner…yet.

After the break, smiling John Cena comes out to talk about Survivor Series. Cena didn’t seem particularly cross that Rock Rock Bottomed him post match after their victorious battle against Awesome Truth, blaming it instead on emotions running high, or something, and indeed even seemed particularly pleased, saying that the match proved that Rock never lost it and that Wrestlemania will be exactly what it needs to be. Before he can specify exactly what, Awesome Truth come down to the ring. Miz wisely points out how Cena’s ego won’t let him realize how badly The Rock showed him up last night, and that 17,000 fans in MSG were chanting “Don’t tag Cena” as he stood awaiting a tag. Miz then correctly notes that where Cena likes to say “You Can’t See Me”, at Survivor Series, nobody wanted to see him. Go Miz ! After some more bickering between the three, Cena perhaps makes the most telling comment of the segment when he mentions that “nobody cares about you guys”. If this is the case, which it is, then Cena himself is largely to blame what with his one man demolition displays and inability to convincingly sell in bouts against the pair generally. Cena then turns Awesome Truth against each other, saying to Truth that Miz reckons he’s a “whacked-out nut job”, and to Miz that Truth believes that his biggest achievement so far is to be “a skinny loud mouth on a crappy reality show”. And with that Cena walks off. The show ends with Awesome Truth falling out, firstly with Truth striking Miz, and then lastly with Miz putting the Skull-Crushing Finale onto Truth on the steel ramp when Miz tricked Truth into going backstage with him to try and hunt down Cena.

What to make of tonight’s episode, then ? In that most of the audiences over the past couple of weeks have seen Awesome Truth as being of little threat whatsoever, and have generally not cared at all about them given how easily Cena singularly cut through them, this seemed a curious way to end the show. The Mega Powers exploding this was not. Whether this will lead to a feud between the pair, culminating in a face turn for one of them, or whether they even just go their separate ways, is at this point unclear, though likely for the best for Miz, who in my opinion has been hampered by the awkward in-ring performances by R-Truth and the glaring fact that the lisping rapper simply does not belong at the top end of the card. Elsewhere, RAW offered up sensible wins for Del Rio, Punk and Sheamus, although their opponents were perhaps ill-chosen to be the designated jobbers for some of those bouts, whilst Rhodes and Barrett continued their winning ways, with each furthering their feuds to a degree with Booker T and Randy Orton respectively. Throw in a very good match between Punk and Ziggler, and tonight was as entertaining and focused as RAW has been for quite a short while. All in all, a fairly good show.

Show Rating – 6.5/10

And who better to open RAW than…Michael Cole ?!? Oh, yes: it’s the Michael Cole challenge, something you’ve all no doubt been salivating at the chance to witness for the last 3 weeks. In the ring with him are two large-ish objects concealed by a black cloth. I’d love it if he unveiled another higher power. JR joins him in the ring and the challenge is on. All JR has to do is win all three challenges that Michael Cole has set. If he does, Cole gleefully announces that he will quit. There’s as much chance of that happening as Chris Jericho has of finally showing us his “moss covered 3 handled family credenza” from those 1004 holds that he allegedly knows. Challenge number 1 is arm wrestling which the “fat tub of goo” wins easily after some stalling from Cole, as there always is whenever this gimmick is employed in wrestling. Challenge number 2 is the dreaded dance off, again won by the portly hat wearing one via audience appreciation. If you have any children, and even if you don’t, don’t let them watch this. 3^rd challenge, though, is one JR cannot, and does not, win: a weigh off. This is a squash if there ever was one. Cole wins with 39 pounds to spare and looks to have beaten JR until CM Punk comes down to massive cheers and chastises Cole for orchestrating this “colossal waste of time” in a manner that everybody’s alleged favourite commentator had no chance of winning. John Laurinaitis then comes out onto the stage and announces the main event for tonight’s show: CM Punk teaming with Big Sloth to take on their respective opponents at the Survivor Series, Mark Henry and Alberto Del Rio. Cole uses this break to demands an apology from Punk for all the “hurtful” things that he’s just said. Punk responds by putting Cole in the Anaconda Vice, and so the segment finally ends. After all that, the viewer is left to assume that the MC challenge was just a no-contest, I guess. At least they got this out the way early.

We cut to orator of misinformed drivel and hyperbole, Matt Striker, backstage as an important looking vehicle pulls up. Yet it’s not The Rock who steps out: it’s Mick Foley instead ! He vows to make tonight a night that neither Rock or Cena will ever forget before getting in his patented cheap pop. Like that flannel shirt and goatee that he sports, some things in wrestling will never change.

Sin Cara & Kofi Kingston vs. Cody Rhodes & Hunico (*½)

Cody Rhodes is accompanied with new theme music and is sans mask, whilst Hunico comes out to no reaction at all, wearing a white tank top and black trousers that makes him look not at all like your typical WWE Superstar. A fair TV match that could have been better were it given time to develop (and have been without the plodding Rhodes), this contest ends when the ex dashing one catches the falling fast Kingston in the Cross Rhodes before pinning him 1-2-3.

Your Winners – Cody Rhodes & Hunico

This bout didn’t really do an awful lot to hype their impending involvement in the upcoming 5-on-5 traditional Survivor Series match come Sunday, and was a definite case of right result, wrong person. Rhodes has not impressed me much outside of matches with Randy Orton and still has a lot to do if he wishes to move out of the mid-card level. Still, at least management seem to be mostly behind him. The Kofi losing streak continues, however.

Backstage skit with Santino Marella and Zack Ryder. Sign Ryder’s Twitter petition. Now !

Queen of screech Vickie Guerrero marches out, announcing that Christian won’t be able to make Survivor Series due to an ankle injury sustained during a recent match overseas. Her charge Dolph Ziggler interrupts to announce that he will now be the replacement for Christian in the Team Barrett vs Team Orton encounter, and that he’s to be taking on the man with two first names in one, Mason Ryan. Their match is next.

Dolph Ziggler vs. Mason Ryan (¼*)

Prior to the match, Cole replaces JR at commentary at John Laurinaitis’ behest. So much for the wishes of CM Punk earlier. After about a minute or so of Ryan domination (to little reaction), the match ends via DQ when Vickie Guerrero jumps up on the apron and slaps the Batista look-a-like hard across the chops.

Your Winner via DQ – Mason Ryan

WTF ?!? They have the gall to book a match as quick as this on a three hour “special” ? As Ziggler walks to the back, John Morrison sprints up behind and tosses him into the ring, with Ziggler then being given a full nelson slam. Mason Ryan just made a “statement” everyone.

Backstage, and Mick Foley meets with internet berk Zack Ryder and signs his internet petition. Sign it now !

After a break, Foley walks out to the ring to an appreciative response from the Boston faithful. Foley’s here to address some serious business in regards to Sunday’s “epic” confrontation involving one of “the greatest tag team combinations of all time”. Oh dear, Mick. Not only does the use of the E word show just how both overused and unmeaningful that word has now become in wrestling circles, but by calling the team of Rock and Cena one of the greatest ever tag teams of all time, Foley served to diminish his already rapidly disappearing credibility right off the bat, thereby making it difficult for fans to now take anything he says seriously. Foley tries to convince the crowd, who many just a moment ago cheered him, that they should view Cena the way that he sees him: as “one of the greatest performers in WWE history”, a proclamation that the crowd predictably aren’t too happy with. Who penned that line ? I’m beginning to think this is a Foley heel turn before Foley indeed acknowledges that he does have a task in front of him to convince fans of his line of reasoning, and so calls out the man himself, John Cena. Cena explains he didn’t ask Rock to be his tag partner because they’re friends, but because he’s “fantastic” and “electrifying” . Foley explains that he respects Cena because Cena himself respects, and respected, all the guys in the back, which therefore makes him “a hell of a man”, and admits that he received some backlash from the fans through saying that they should show more respect for the “legacy” of great matches that Cena has had for the WWE. This received a mixed response from fans in attendance, and even Cena didn’t look too convinced. Foley continues to rapidly fall in fans’ estimations by stating perhaps the biggest lie ever heard in a WWE ring that Cena is “among the very best to ever step foot in this ring (!)”. How is that true on any level ? That comment needs to be cut from the repeat and stricken from the record. As for Foley, first Linda McMahon’s electoral campaign and now this. What’s next ? Admitting that Mantaur, Man Mountain Rock and Katie Vick were strokes of creative genius ? Foley wants to be the thread that repairs the friction between Cena and Rock. How ? By saying, “This, John Cena, is your life !”.

Thus, we’re firstly shown an emotionally powerful video tribute to Cena, before three important people from Cena’s past show up and discuss their dealings with the man. First guest is Cena’s Little League coach, Mrrrrrrr Will Grey, who says little of note. Next up is Cena’s former run-in buddy from his formative days as a rapper, Bull Buchanan, a.k.a B Squared, who gets perhaps the quietest ever response for a returning WWE superstar. Buchanan cuts an appreciative promo that quickly turns sour. B-2 mentions how he got fired, lost his misses, lost his money and then got rabies (I’m not making that last bit up), and blames Cena for ruining his life. Last guest is Cena’s dad, also named John, and he blasts the WWE fans for chanting that “Cena Sucks”, saying that his son doesn’t suck, but that they do ! Cena Junior quickly cuts his dad off and sends him packing. Cena says that all that has just happened isn’t his life, but that being here in this ring is his life, and that he is now done for Foley’s This Is Your Life attempt. Foley admits all hasn’t run too smoothly so far and wants to bring out another guest, a woman by the sound of things, but The Rock’s music hits and ’The Great One’ marches out instead. He heads right to the ring, gives Foley a Rock Bottom and marches back. Segment ends.

This had neither the charm or impact of Foley’s first This Is Your Life segment with Rock 12 years prior, and only served to ruin any shred of credibility he had remaining, which wasn’t much thanks to his rotten TNA run, with his ridiculous proclamations of Cena’s alleged greatness, which also hurt Cena as well given how fans both in the arena and at home are mostly smart enough to realize that he quite clearly isn’t.

Sheamus vs Jack Swagger (**)

Again, with more time to play with and with a reason for fans to care, this match could have been better and much like the tag match that preceded it, didn’t do an awful lot to push their impending PPV clash. It’s a fair effort from the pair, to give them their due, and ends in clean victory for ‘The Great White’ after a Brogue Kick to the kisser of Swagger.

Your Winner – Sheamus

Sheamus continues his forward momentum with this extremely clean victory, while Swagger, after dispensing of Santino last week, looks like he will be treading water yet again until management think up something worthwhile for him to do.

Backstage and the Bella Twins are fawning over ADR in that way they normally do with RAW guest hosts. ADR states that after he beats Punk at Survivor Series, he’s going to throw the biggest party that money can buy. Zack Ryder butts in and invites the Bellas to a fist pumping party that will last all night long. In some areas of adult entertainment, that type of party can mean something entirely different. You know it, broski.

Kelly Kelly vs. Natalya (½*)

Kelly x 2 is wearing a Patriots jersey for this match, a tip that was no doubt passed on to her by fellow cheap popster, Mick Foley. This match ends quickly when Kelly x 2 counters Natalya’s Sharpshooter attempt into a small package roll-up. I for one am not going to complain about the brevity of this match-up.

Your Winner – Kelly Kelly

As neither of these Divas will be competing on Sunday and the two that are, Eve and Beth Phoenix, were on the outside, this meant nothing, save an opportunity for WWE to gloat about Kelly x 2 bagging a Maxim front cover. Good for her and all, but isn’t there a PPV this Sunday ?

We’re taken to John Laurinaitis speaking with ADR in the back. It’s getting annoying having to turn up the volume every time the interim RAW general manager speaks. Laurinaitis mentions that it would be troublesome for WWE on Monday nights if Punk becomes WWE Champion. ADR says Punk won’t even make it to Survivor Series and that he intends to be WWE Champion for a long, long time. Something tells me there’s still some high jinx to be had between the pair before the show is over.

Matt Strikers attempts to interview Awesome Truth. Neither answer his questions and walk off. I applaud – I wouldn’t like to talk to Striker either. We cut to Punk walking down backstage to his match and he gets ambushed by ADR. What did I tells ya…

Alberto Del Rio & Mark Henry vs. Big Show & CM Punk (**¼)

Sloth and ADR start things off and immediately the WWE champ is being treated as a jobber in taking huge slams and slaps to the chest. I know it would be rather unrealistic for ADR to be doing the same to Sloth, but WWE ought to be protecting ADR going into the PPV. Things predictably slow down once the two biggest combatants lock up, yet the crowd actually react fairly positively to their exchanges. Shows what I know. Crowd noise noticeably rises and proceedings become much smoother once the smaller guys go at it, which bodes well for their impending clash. Punk smashes Henry full-on with a kick to the jaw in the moment of the match, but gets caught mid-air in trying to clothesline ‘The World’s Strongest Man’ from a slingshot off the turnbuckle, and after a World’s Strongest Slam is pinned by the legal man, Alberto Del Rio.

Your Winners – Alberto Del Rio & Mark Henry

The long wait after TWSS before the pinfall hurt Punk a little, but this loss, coupled with ADR slapping on the cross armbreaker post match, indicates that the result looks as though it’ll be in his favour come Sunday, from which a more full-on Laurinaitis vs. Punk feud may kick-off in more belated fashion. As for the World Championship match, it’s slightly tougher to call given how well both competitors have been protected and presented going into the big one. A Big Show victory seems unlikely, however, so I reckon another non finish may yet be in the pipeline, with Daniel Bryan perhaps coming into the equation somehow, especially in lieu of his recent interactions and matches with Henry and attempt at cashing in the MITB briefcase.

Santino Marella’s out to the ring next and cuts a promo about how close he was to winning the Royal Rumble in the same city earlier in the year. Santino vows that next time he’s in Boston, he’s going to be champion, at which point Kevin Nash’s nWo porn music hits and he joins Santino in the ring. Nash claims to be a big fan of Santino and asks him to perform his trombone celebration. As Marella does so, he’s predictably met with a boot to the face. Nash then moans that he got the biggest ovation of the night at the Rumble yet Triple H didn’t have the business sense to hire him afterwards, but that he is here now and Hunter isn’t. To further prove a point, Nash then Jacknifes Santino and walks off. Unless this is leading to an encounter of some kind between Nash and HHH, which won’t be pretty, this continued push of a 52 year old with knackered knees is mystifying to say the least.

Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton (*)

Before the match, Barrett’s in the ring with his Survivor Series team-mates and cuts a promo mentioning how the “Barrett Barrage” has continued with his recent victories over Sheamus and Randy Orton. No doubt, WWE have been solidly behind Barrett in recent weeks. For the match itself, however, the atmosphere for the early going is most unlike your typical Orton match, with fans in near silence as Barrett takes charge. I guess there’s only so long you can hold an opponent in a chinlock. Orton goes through his late match routine but before he can hit an RKO, get struck by Cody Rhodes, thereby giving the green light for all 10 superstars involved in the elimination match on Sunday to jump in and brawl in an attempt to stir up some last minute interest.

Your Winner via DQ – Randy Orton

The faces clean house, indicating, through WWEs history of these things, that matters may not be so easy come PPV time, which is good news for team Barrett (obviously). Ziggler is coming close to moving up to that top bracket, whilst Swagger could certainly do with a kick-start. For Barrett, it’s different however: although he has received a healthy push and looks as though he may have potential, the alleged former bare-knuckle fighter still looks out of place at the top end and could do with some more time underneath to hone his skills. Still, not to grumble. At least somebody relatively new and different has been afforded an opportunity. Let’s hope WWEs fickle stop-start pushing policy doesn’t let him down.

And so, finally…in the last segment of the show, The Rock comes out for his scheduled spot to an extremely appreciative response from the crowd. He cuts a promo about the honour and privilege of being able to stand in the ring and finally be able to say: “finally, The Rock has come back to Boston!”, as the crowd chant along loudly in unison. When it comes to giving live promos in wrestling, The Rock has very, very few equals. Rock goes on to talk about Survivor Series in 6 days, saying that there’s just one problem: it’s not right now, which is what The Rock is all about, and was why he couldn’t just stand in the back and watch Mick Foley serve up a hot plate of steaming, scolding plate of “cock-garbage” earlier. Cries of “Thank you, Rock” fill the arena. Rock boasts about his Twitter prowess and that when he tweets, it trends, giving the example of “boots to assess” which is trending right now. Cue another loud chant of “boot to assess!” by the Boston faithful. LOL. Rock doesn’t want to wait: he wants to give an ass whoopin’ to Awesome Truth right now, a statement that brings out his aforementioned opponents who join him in the ring. Awesome Truth don’t care about the Rock trending, they just want to leave him a beaten, quivering mess, something they don’t want to admonish now, but at Survivor Series and thus make history. Before the pair can leave, smiling John Cena comes down to join proceedings. Cena and Rock then poke jives at each other in the way that divorcing couples would: Cena mentions that the only thing the Rock has brought over the last 7 years is a bunch of “crappy messages via satellite”; Rock, meanwhile, mentions that while Cena may be concerned with rising above hate, he should be more concerned about a size 15 boot rising up and kicking him in his lady parts. Cena retorts by saying that if Rock’s ego get s in the way on Sunday, “John Cena bitch-slapped Rocky” will be trending Worldwide. Miz is pissed. He’s fed up of the Cena and Rock show making him and Truth a mere afterthought. Miz forcefully, yet unconvincingly, states that when Awesome Truth win at MSG, it will never be forgotten, just like Miz’s Wrestlemania victory. Rock and Cena then lay waste to Awesome Truth, with Rock giving a Rock Bottom to Truth, and then yanking Miz off Cena’s shoulders and giving him a Rock Bottom as well. End of show – can Rock and Cena co-exist ?

Well, well, well. The return of The Rock didn’t disappoint, but the set-up of his forthcoming clash against Awesome Truth alongside partner and future opponent Cena certainly did. Once again, Miz and Truth were easily blitzed and discarded by their foes, making them both come across as being no threat whatsoever to their opponents AND making it clear to absolutely all and anybody watching that the real issue of Sunday’s main event is between the real stars of the show, Cena and Rock, with the depressing outcome being that any victory Awesome Truth gets is likely to be tainted, undeserved and quickly forgotten. For somebody with the skills of the Miz, that is simply a great disservice and a real slap in the face given the service the guy has given the WWE both in and out of the ring over the past year.

Elsewhere, the return of Mick Foley was a welcome surprise – until he spouted off those blatant lies about the worthiness of Cena’s matches and wrestling ringmanship, with the resulting This Is Your Life, though entertaining in some places, merely filling time and being a pale imitation of the far superior inaugural segment back in 1999. The elimination match was pushed, although the issue between Barrett and Orton hasn’t really developed enough to the point where fans care. This said, the match should be a good one and will hopefully be a stepping stone for some of the competitors involved. That leaves us with CM Punk vs Alberto Del Rio which, thankfully, HAS been given time to develop and been paid due attention, meaning that should Punk win the big one on Sunday, fans will likely care in the desired way. Which is more than what can be said should Awesome Truth be the victors. And that, as R-Truth will happily tell you, is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Show Rating – 5.5/10

Smiling John Cena comes down the ring to start proceedings to a mixed response, although there’s surely some post production sound sweetening going on here. All the viewer can hear is light generic cheers, yet from the way Cena is reacting in the ring, you get the impression that the crowd is being much more vociferous and vocal in a way that WWE obviously doesn’t approve. That’s one of the problems of having RAW taped outside of North America: in not being live, it allows the production team time to tinker with the, erm, raw footage to their heart’s content, and thus manipulate and trick the casual and unsuspecting. But then I digress. Cena cuts a promo, hyping The Great One’s return to RAW next week and the fact that Miz and Truth will be teaming tonight to wrestle himself and a “future hall of famer”. Miz and Truth naturally interrupt, with Miz noting how that all he’s been hearing over the past week is how Cena embarrassed the pair of them. Darn tootin’ he did: it was a massacre. Miz believes that not only this will up the ante for the level of anguish that they will inflict upon him come Survivor Series, but that it also doesn’t erase the fact that he and Truth beat down Cena two weeks ago or that Miz himself pinned Cena at Wrestlemania. Miz is wrong there on the latter. Not only could he only beat Cena due to The Rock’s interference, but he’s been presented as vastly inferior to the tacky merchandise machine on far too many occasions in the recent past for anybody at present to seriously view him as a viable threat, and Cena’s one man show last week only served to put a blatant exclamation point on that fact. Claiming to feel embarrassed at last week’s beatdown, Miz and Truth then vow to make amends on Cena this week. After some of the usual poor Cena attempts at comedy (nobody in the arena laughed), the two then surround him and attempt a beat down before that future hall of famer himself, Zack Ryder, storms down and makes the save. The writers are on fire with the comedy already tonight. Well if Koko B. Ware can make the HOF, anybody’s game I guess. That then, folks, is your main event set. Only one word needed here for both the execution of the segment and the excitement felt for the match later on: meh.

Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison (*½)

Yet another non title match for those of you who like to keep count of such things. Ziggler dominates the majority of this lengthy by RAW standards match-up. By “dominates”, I really mean “employs lots of restholds and slow paced offence”, just like Randy Orton used to do when he was latterly a heel. The slower pace of the contest is far different than the pace you would normally imagine the pair to go at and you can hardly blame the crowd, therefore, for being quiet for large parts. Morrison picks up a rather anti-climactic win by reversing a Ziggler roll up into a pinning attempt of his own, a result that was predictably on the cards given how much before the match the announcers heavily pushed how he was on a losing streak. That’s the WWE way: when the announcers say Wrestler X is a dead cert for victory or defeat, expect the opposite…

Your Winner – John Morrison

Though the bout picked up pace slightly, compared to Ziggler’s recent efforts this match was a huge disappointment. It will be interesting to see whether Morrison can build on this victory. With a strong push and a character tweak, this guy could be a real talent.

Mason Ryan vs. JTG (½*)

No entrance for JTG, who at this point ought to be labelled WHWJTG (wishes he was just too good). Ryan, who gets barely any reaction despite being reasonably local and is surely next in line to fail the Wellness test, is the victor here in a lifeless squash which more exposes how green the big man still is than accentuating his strengths, which at this point in time, physique aside, appear to be depressingly few.

Your Winner – Mason Ryan

The reaction towards Ryan must have worried management, especially coupled with the tepid crowd appreciations of him in recent weeks. As for JTG, are we still legally allowed to call him a ‘superstar’ ?

A video plays to hype the selling of tickets for the upcoming Wrestlemania. Even though the event will feature The Rock vs John Cena, which will have been building for a whole year and won‘t have been seen before, something still tells me that with the way audiences are these days, the event will again be another damp squib even with all the build-up.

A nothing skit featuring Zack Ryder and the Bella Twins. Sign Ryder’s twitter petition – now!

Michael Cole announces that JR won’t be here to make the Michael Cole challenge. Another week, another postponement. If you are not bothered by this, you are not a real WWE fan.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Kofi Kingston (*½)

No on-air mention of Evan Bourne’s 30 day Wellness suspension, although the effects of this can be seen clearly in the booking of the match: this has to be the most convincing loss Kingston has suffered in some time. Barely any offence is unleashed from Bourne’s teammate and he quickly suffers a clean loss via tap-out to ADR’s cross arm breaker.

Your Winner – Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio is sensibly given a clean victory, a repair that was sorely needed after last week’s senseless defeat to the Big Sloth. The short term doesn’t look so good for Kingston, however, given his tag partner’s backstage crime and WWEs propensity to punish even those merely associated with the actual offender. Just look at how long John Morrison had to endure a barrage of defeats after the fallout, in part, of the release of Melina affair.

Post match, ADR slaps the cross arm breaker back on Kingston before CM Punk comes out to the pop of the night so far. ADR moans how that instead of being asked for a title shot, he was forced to give Punk the opportunity. Due to this, ADR has apparently been told by John Laurinaitis that he can give Punk the chance to cancel the match, otherwise he will force him to. Punk knocks ADR for his boring promos, saying the audience switches off when he speaks, and mentions how he’s going to win the belt once more and do something that ADR has consistently failed to do and make the WWE Title interesting again. Hmmm. Didn’t he say that about the WWE in general back when he was supposedly re-signed ? Punk is given the chance to cancel the match and after mockingly mulling it over, gives a resounding “No!”, to which the champ is understandably miffed. The two then brawl before ADR flees, giving Punk the chance to give GTS to Ricardo Rodriguez. He sold it much better than Cena and others have taken the move recently.

Punk was extremely over for this segment, which bodes well for his impending main event run, and the stage is now set for a more heated match between the two than the rather tame encounter involving the pair back on RAW a short while back. Drawing attention to the obvious, that being ADRs dull and repetitive promos, wasn’t particularly smart though, despite the fact that they most certainly are. WWE should be doing all it can to accentuate the positives for its talent, especially for its lead champion.

We are shown the, erm, highlights of last week’s show guest hosted by The Muppets. My word, did nobody need to be reminded of THAT.

Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella (*)

Shamefully, Lawler and Cole barely pay any attention, with Cole preferring to poke fun at JR instead. We all like to poke fun at JR, admittedly, yet whilst a match is in progress, it just isn’t on. After being almost all one way traffic for Swagger, the Oklahoma native gains the victory after submitting Santino to the ankle lock.

Your Winner – Jack Swagger

A sensible result to avenge an outcome that last week should never, ever have occurred. Hopefully, Swagger can quickly put this mini feud behind him and move on from this to more bigger and important matters.

Kelly x 2 is in the ring and happily announces that she is to be on the cover of the latest Maxim mag. Beth Phoenix and Natalya interrupt but in mocking Kelly’s appreciation speech in the style of Laycool (but far, far worse) and comparing her to a Barbie Doll, come across as numbskulls given the blatant fact that they too are both Barbie-like blondes. The pair gang up on Kelly, trying to, of all things, make her cry, before Eve Torres and Alisha Fox rush out. With the 3 on 2 odds, the pair walk off and the cover is finally unveiled. Yay for Kelly Kelly ! To be honest, she does look pretty hot, but you just get the feeling that some proper nourishment and roughage wouldn’t be too amiss.

John Laurinaitis announces his new superstar signing, Kevin Nash. This might have meant something back in 1998. Nash feels betrayed that after he got the biggest pop of the night at Royal Rumble 2011, Triple H didn’t want to put the band back together and gave him a legends contract instead. Nash feels he’s still got it, that he’s still the best there is and that on any given night he could become champion (!). For those not aware, Kevin Nash has always been renowned within wrestling circles for his sense of humour. Nash says it felt good to strike HHH with his sledgehammer and that that is how you play the game. Are we really going to get another repeat of HHH vs Kevin Nash, a feud nobody wanted to see 8 years ago when the former Super Shredder was considered washed up even then ?

Although Nash sounded good here, very few seemed to care and you just hope that he won’t take up the time that could be used instead for the young, longer term up-and-comers. Which brings us to..

Another Brodus Clay promotional video. Sorry, looks like we’re going to be still left waiting tonight. But doesn’t he look mean, though ?

Backstage and CM Punk thumps David Otunga after being dissed by the Carlton Banks wannabe. Punk is then struck from behind by ADR, who throws him over a table and pounds on him viciously. Cue the following from Laurinaitis: “Don’t make me take off my jacket !”. Just to confirm – he didn’t.

The Miz & R-Truth vs. Zack Ryder & John Cena (*)

This could have been so much better. Plenty of stalling, punching, kicking and rest holds by the heel team throughout, with the early cries of “We want Ryder” being the only entertainment derived from this bout. You know it. Like the first match of the show, you can definitely tell that many of the talent are saving themselves for the tour through Britain over the coming week. The crowd noise rises slightly as Ryder finally makes the hot tag to Cena, but are thoroughly nonplussed with the outcome: Miz hits Cena in the face with an dodgy kick to the face and unconvincingly pins him after Truth holds down Cena’s leg from the outside. What ? That was it ??? What a screwed up ending that was.

Your Winners – The Miz & R-Truth

A dire and overly long match with a rotten ending. Far from undoing the damage of last week’s demolition, the unconvincing nature of the win did absolutely nothing to rebuild Miz and Truth.

Oh dear. Based on match quality alone, this week’s RAW was very poor, as Vic Reeves in his pomp had a habit of saying. None were anything to write home about in the slightest and will easily be long forgotten in a few weeks from now. The show was also tangibly bereft of star power, with the likes of Orton, Sheamus and Christian over on Smackdown being sorely missed. On the plus side, though, without the guest hosts, the show didn’t have to cater to the whims of outsiders and put down its own talent, and did a reasonable job of pushing the Punk vs Del Rio bout which has the potential to be a very good encounter come Survivor Series. The return of The Rock in person will be much anticipated next week, but unless WWE can do something major to build up Miz and Truth, I just cannot see how Rock alone will convince fans to order a PPV when Miz & Truth can only win by fluke and have already been destroyed on many occasions by Cena, even when the odds have been in their favour. More work is still required.

Show Rating – 4.5/10

Tony Schiavone and Lord Alfred Haynes call the matches on this video release, all of which are supposedly requested from us, the WWF fans. To prove the legitimacy of this claim, they even show a different fan before each match telling us who they want to see, followed by promos of varying quality from each participant involved. Shame, then, about the thousands who apparently wrote in. Any excuse to get those merchandise catalogues out…

If you’d stuck a microphone in front of any wrestling fan and asked them to choose a match involving any two superstars back in 1989, you’d be hard pressed to find any fan, one would logically think, who’d pick as first choice either Koko B. Ware or the Brooklyn Brawler, much less pick both for the SAME match. Well that’s what happened here. You can almost imagine a member of the production crew holding up a card telling the poor fan what to say, a forewarning perhaps of how the company would treat its wrestlers in years to come. Tellingly, the action for this baffling choice of opener is average at best. The future MVP’s offence is so uninspiring and poor that the announcers cannot help but comment on it (in a way that tries to excuse him, of course). At least we get to see a rare outing of the Ghostbuster, a move that still looks darn impressive today.

The action fortunately picks up in the remaining five matches, albeit not as quickly as one would hope given the talent at hand. Dusty Rhodes, despite his very limited offence, steals a win in a fair match against Greg Valentine with one of the worst roll ups ever; The Twin Towers grab a lame countout victory over the Hart Foundation in a slightly disappointing match; Mr Perfect, wearing a never seen before or since blue outfit with an orange and black flourish, pins PPV job-boy Tito Santana with help from an interfering Rick Martel, in a match that would be bettered in future bouts between the two (interestingly, Hennig’s selling here is much better than when he is called to dish it out); and washed up veteran Jimmy Snuka amazingly pins Ted DiBiase in a fairly exciting encounter that garnered more heat than their Summerslam match.

Here, however, is where the, erm, fun stops. Ending the video on a depressing low is a predictably horrible match pitting King Duggan and the Ultimate Warrior against Rick Rude and Andre The Giant in a match entertaining only for Andre’s imitation of the clothesline throwing berks. Rude does the job, naturally. Yeesh – what a way to end. I hope the fan who chose this was thoroughly ashamed of themselves…

Video Rating: 5.5/10

A rather lacklustre collection of matches that ought to have been better in many circumstances given the talent involved.

Two matches for you to digest today:

Surprisingly, a (pre-taped) video of a rather buff looking Rock appears to a rather quiet response from the crowd at first. “Hell no!” is ‘The Great One’s’ initial answer, much to the audience’s delight, but after muttering something about giving the people what they want, The Rock claims that he and Cena will infact team up for the forthcoming PPV, though it quickly becomes apparent that it’s just as much for the reason that he wants to show Cena and his “fruit loop troupe” “how it’s done” than for any kind of dislike he personally has for Miz and Truth. Resisting the temptation to mock Cena too often, although delivered expertly as per norm, this wasn’t as entertaining as Rock’s previous promos towards Cena, and started the show on a slight whimper. Never a good sign.

CM Punk vs. Mark Henry (* ½)

Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw John Laurinaitis comes out after each man’s entrance to announce that Punk will get the chance to wrestle Alberto Del Rio…if he is able to defeat ‘The World’s Strongest Man’ in his match tonight. What ? What a walkover that guy is. After a short while of so-so action, Del Rio is seen walking down the ramp and sends Ricardo Rodriguez down to feebly attack Mark Henry with a shoe, thus ending the match in a DQ and ensuring that Punk doesn’t win. Punk is understably miffed and throws Rodriguez into the ring to be World’s Strongest Slammed, a move missed by the WWE cameras. Vince must’ve been beside himself at that WCW-esque production error.

Winner – Mark Henry via DQ.

A depressing outcome that nevertheless wisely protects Henry whilst seemingly eliminating Punk’s chance to face the WWE champion. Seemingly is the key word here.

RAW returns from the break to the presence of muppets on the stage. I’m not referring to (insert the names of two or more wrestlers you dislike here) of course, but actual muppets, Kermit and Miss Piggy, who are tonight’s guest hosts. Dear God, has it really come to this ? Mercifully, Vickie Guerrero and Jack Swagger quickly interrupt but predictably, a joke that Vickie is Swagger’s mother aside, this is yet another lame skit that could have been used for other things such as promoting a PPV or devoted instead towards permanent and/or up-and-coming talent. But you know this company. Santino Marella then comes out to announce that John “Laryngitis” has set up a match between him and Swagger and, also, stablemate Dolph Ziggler against Zack Ryder. So, let me get this right – not only is it bad enough that we’re still having guest hosts, but they’re not even actually booking any of the matches tonight ?!? If there’s a joke somewhere involving the real bookers of the show and the fact that muppets are supposedly in charge tonight, I’m afraid I’m missing it.

Number One Contender Diva Battle Royal (*)

Speaking of muppets (I couldn‘t resist), on now to a Halloween themed battle royal involving a number of Divas I can’t be bothered individually naming, all dressed up in a variety of costumes you would regularly associate with the festival such as, er, Robin and Mario and Luigi. This is the usual Divas effort, won in near record time by Robin, I mean Eve Torres, who now has the opportunity to wrestle for the Divas Title. I don’t know if I’m actually going to be able to contain myself.

Winner and number one contender – Eve Torres

Another muppets skit, this time involving Christian, Beaker and Sheamus. The latter two are related, don’t you know. Spin on…

Air Boom vs. Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes (* ½)

This non title match, as they are so fond of having these days, is mostly unremarkable due to the slow pace and restholds the heel duo employ for much of the match, yet is still won by said combo when Cody distracts Bourne as he’s about to hit the 450, thus allowing his teammate to give him the Wasteland for the victory.

Winners – Wade Barrett & Cody Rhodes

The Barrett push continues. Christian comes out afterwards to help the heels with a beatdown before Sheamus sprints out and cleans house. Another slight production error here as his Brogue kick to Rhodes is only seen midway through the execution. The curse of Atlanta lives on. Even more noteworthy than all this, however, was the announcement hours later that Evan Bourne has been suspended for 30 days following his first violation of WWEs Wellness policy. What an imbecile – just as his tagteam, and indeed the tag division, was beginning to gain momentum as well. For the near future at least, Air Boom look as those they’ll be well and truly grounded…

CM Punk confronts Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw John Laurinaitis and is surprised to hear he can still be granted a title shot – the condition being that ADR only merely has to agree to it. Yet another chance afforded, for no real reason other than Mr Laurinaitis is either a really nice guy or an indecisive pushover, to CM Punk. It’s like Rey Mysterio and his Wrestlemania 22 title shot all over again.

Promo airs hyping the return of Brodus Clay. That push will last, oooh, 5 weeks tops if the company’s previous history of hotshotting pushes is anything to go by.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Big Show (*)

This is hard to watch. 3 lengthy restholds are applied by ADR on Big Show and this is before the commercial break. As we return to action, we see that ADR has Big Show in (yes!) another resthold, a leglock. To add insult, The Big Sloth actually PINS THE WWE CHAMPION when he punches ADR full on in the face as the Mexican Aristocrat went for his patented running kick to the face in the corner.

Winner – Big Show

The mind boggles: why does Mark Henry get protected whilst Del Rio, who has arguably more potential, charisma and in-ring ability, gets cleanly pinned ? Why is this company giving Big Sloth yet another push when he has already been in this position many times previously, each time to diminishing interest, and is as knackered as he has ever been when other younger, and not nearly so overexposed, talent are just as worthy of an opportunity ?

CM Punk then comes out and puts ADR in the Anaconda Vice, saying that he won’t let go until he says yes (or si). Del Rio predictably has no choice. As Punk goes to announce his success to the crowd, the microphone temporarily fails him. Vince’s voice backstage at this point must have been as hoarse as when he first famously announced the nWo to the WWE on Smackdown back in the day.

Another muppet skit, again involving Swagger and Vickie Guerrero, along now with Ziggler, this time with Fozzie Bear and Gonzo. Gonzo ends up with his arms stretched all over his face. Coincidently, mine are the same.

Jack Swagger vs. Santino Marella (*)

Barely any heat during this short contest. Amazingly, Santino picks up the victory when, after being given a chemical concoction from Beaker (the muppet we saw earlier, who the viewer had no idea was actually at ringside), he spits it into Swagger’s face before rolling him up for a 1-2-3.

Winner – Santino Marella

I wish I was making all this up. This was a lose-lose situation for Swagger. Nobody takes Santino seriously enough to make a victory look convincing, so a loss to a guy of his standing is just inexplicable, especially with the talent that Swagger has.

Zack Ryder vs. Dolph Ziggler (**)

This has easily been the best match on RAW so far tonight. Ziggler is obviously over exaggerating when he says he’s the show stealer, but with more displays such as the ones he’s given versus Randy Orton recently, it could soon well become a valid claim. The (non title) match continues after a false 3 count when the ref quickly notices that Ziggler has a foot on the rope, with Ryder ultimately winning still after blocking a Zigzag attempt and hitting the Rough Ryder for the pinfall.

Winner – Zack Ryder

A popular decision with the fans in the audience, this victory indicates the two will have a title match once again in the near future, which is no bad thing if the match is given time to develop. It’s been a bad night, though, for Vickie and co.

Footage is shown of Kevin Nash’s assault of Triple H the previous Monday. Using their serious voices, the announcers proclaim that Triple H will be out of action for at least 5 weeks. I hope we don’t have to see footage of Triple H in a hospital bed like we’ve done in the past. We’re then shown the other big news that Executive Vice President of Talent Relations and Interim General Manager of Monday Night Raw John Laurinaitis has re-signed Kevin Nash, although looking at the webpage shown to the viewers the thing that seems to stand out more is that you can get $10 off WWE 12 if you spend $30 on WWE merchandise at Kmart. Now THAT is big news.

Bad news everyone: the Michael Cole challenge will NOT be taking place this week. Cole announced, interminably, that it was because JR was having medical problems of some childish description which was, of course, a giant fib – officially, it was because of time constraints and for that I believe the muppets ought to deserve praise for the first and only time this evening. Aptly, the camera cuts to Statler and Waldorf in the cheap seats both shaking their heads in apparent disgust. They aren’t the only ones.

Backstage, Jillian Hall, I mean Miss Piggy, gets introduced to Hornswoggle and beats him up for being kissed. Kermit is then bagged by Cody Rhodes. Seeing how things have gone so far, it‘s a paper bag without the holes that I need right now.

The Miz vs. John Cena (**)

A decent (by Cena standards) yet inconsequential match with the usual back and forth “Lets Go Cena/Cena Sucks” chants that are the staple of most of Cena’s matches, this inevitably ended in a Cena victory when Miz tapped, far too quickly once again, to the STFU, despite the brief interference from ringside of R-Truth who was hidden underneath a Scream mask.

Winner – John Cena

Post match, Cena pastes R-Truth with the AA and the show closes with Cena celebrating, surreally, with the Scream mask. And mercifully, that is that.

This seriously has to have been the worst RAW of the year so far. The muppets guest hosting was a waste of time, some of the match outcomes were truly baffling and illogical and much of the in-ring action early on was decidedly average and/or uninspiring. In mirroring much of the rubbish on offer when WWE had guest hosts on a regular basis, this show was a massive step back from many of the shows that took place over the summer and remains a depressing reminder that a company that has the potential to book shows as good and as recent as Money In The Bank can still get it so, so wrong.

Going into Survivor Series, Miz and R-Truth need all the help they can get to give the impression that they’ll be a threat to the superstar combo of Rock and Cena, yet none was afforded here. Even with the beatdowns Miz and Truth have been laying out over recent weeks, nobody seriously believes they can beat their scheduled opponents, such for example has been the treatment of the pair by Cena during the previous months, yet here tonight, even with Truth interfering, Cena proved he could cope on his own more than easily. Why, then, would he need Rock’s help ? Just senseless…

Elsewhere, CM Punk hardly raised expectations for his upcoming Survivor Series encounter with Alberto Del Rio by gaining his title shot in an undeserving and somewhat heelish manner. That, and the fact that his opponent, the WWE Champion no less, LOST CLEANLY in a non title match, therefore barely coming across as creditable himself. The WWE Title can only be as prestigious an honour that it is intended to be if it is booked in a meaningful way. Can anybody truly say at present that this is the case ?

Just how long will WWE be able to get away with making the same poor mistakes ?

Show Rating – 3/10

The Bulldogs’ peak in the WWF was sadly just before the fed’s tagteam peak of a year or two later, meaning that the quality of their opposition could fluctuate drastically. Rather than being fed a steady stream of matches against skilled teams who would come to prominence later, such as the Brainbusters, Rockers, or even Demolition, the Englishmen spent some of their best years competing with the likes of the archaic Moondogs, the barely agile tandem of Big John Studd and King Kong Bundy, and the bumbling Iron Sheik and Nikolai Volkoff, with all three combos in action here and doing little on this collection to inspire even a half decent match, despite the Bulldogs’ worthy efforts. A 6 man tag contest involving the Bulldogs and their manager Captain Lou Albano against the Dream Team and Jimmy Valiant is slightly better, but is let down by Albano’s lousy in-ring efforts…

Although not completely without merit, the singles bouts on show here unfortunately continue with the slight air of dissatisfaction. Whilst the Dynamite Kid, who at this point was at his prime as a performer, has worthy efforts against his ex Stampede cohort Bret Hart and, erm, Brutus Beefcake, the latter of which especially accentuates his popularity and in-ring talent, his teammate meanwhile has a poor match against Jim Neidhart, replete with dreaded boring chants, and only a passable contest against Greg Valentine, showing that the future British Bulldog was still a distance away from being the singles performer who would later have classics with Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels.

That, then, is your lot. Why none of the Bulldog’s tagteam collisions with the Hart Foundation are shown (check out the Allied Powers or Bret Hart DVDs for those), or that we’re only given match ending highlights of their super bout with the Dream Team at Wrestlemania 2, is never explained and is a missed opportunity. This is an undoubted shame, because as Bret Hart and others can testify, this team really were something in their heyday.

Video Rating: 6.5/10

A fascinating glimpse undoubtedly, but those watching wanting to see what the fuss was about may be disappointed. The dark lighting at the MSG is also a hindrance.

Two matches on offer for you…

1992 was a real transitional year for the WWF, although in its defence much was of this was unlikely to have been through its own choosing. In June 1991, the Federation’s doctor, George Zahorian, was given a three year sentence, charged with selling steroids to four wrestlers and a weightlifter (the Federal Bureau of Investigation had actually caught Zahorian just before Wrestlemania 6). Shortly after, Vince McMahon announced that the WWF would be instigating and administering its own drug taking policy, an ostensibly face saving publicity exercise that was in no way aided by Hulk Hogan’s comical proclamation on the Arsenio Hall show that he was “not a steroid abuser” and did not use steroids. Such transparent subterfuge (delivered with a straight face) inevitably turned out to be detrimental for both men: Hogan, whose popularity was on the wane anyway after being the Federation’s top star for nearly 7 years, was forced to vacate the spotlight (which he did after Wrestlemania 8), with the passage for him so doing made all the more easier after his comments raised the ire of Billy Graham and Bruno Sammartino, themselves both on extremely bad terms with the WWF, and who were only too happy to subsequently go public with their views on the absurdity of Hogan’s claims and moan about the depravity and overall immorality (or something) of the WWF and its programming generally; McMahon, meanwhile, whose product was beginning to suffer even without all the extra furore surrounding Hogan, and who had already received a ton of negativity over exploiting the Gulf War crises a few months earlier, could only sit back and watch as not only buyrates, live attendances and merchandise sales all fell, but his talent, mostly of the bulging, muscular variety, had to also be let go, either through being quietly dropped or fired, because of the new company drug policy. Throughout 1992, ‘superstars’ such as Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Kerry Von Erich, British Bulldog, The Warlord and Sid Justice were all just some of the recognizable faces that went missing due, in varying ways, to the fallout of the steroid scandal. Whilst some had overstayed their welcome anyway, the absence of cartoon-like, chiselled muscular physiques was arguably a prime reason in igniting a company downturn that would not be remedied until the Attitude era many years later. And to think that this was just one scandal that rocked the WWF during this time….

In February 1992, a 29 year old announcer called Murray Hodgson filed a lawsuit after claiming that he had been fired after spurning an advance made by Pat Patterson. This was quickly followed by another allegation made by former ring boy Tom Cole who claimed to be on the, ahem, receiving end of a rather unpleasant sexual advance made by road agent Terry Garvin, a case that was backed up by wrestling nomad and forgotten jobber, Barry O (Randy Orton’s uncle, remarkably enough). Then, another even more serious charge came to light by way of former female referee Rita Chatterton, who alarmingly alleged that Vince McMahon actually went so far as to rape her in the back of a limousine in the early 80s. Although Patterson and Garvin were quickly dismissed (Patterson would eventually be reinstated at Summerslam), and no criminal charges were ever pressed regarding Chatterton, all three cases combined to further sully an organization already facing dire straits.

So what about the actual wrestling of 1992 ? This tape attempts to convey exactly that, whilst naturally paying no attention to all the unpleasant business just referred to. In the 3 hour running time that it affords itself, I believe it does quite an admiral job…

The tape begins with on-screen President Jack Tunney giving a public address to the fans about the issue that was dominating the WWF landscape at the time, namely the vacant WWF Championship Belt, which was so declared because of the dodgy ending to the Undertaker vs Hulk Hogan match at This Tuesday In Texas. Just to quickly recap: Tunney, who was on hand to watch the match because of the way the Undertaker pinned the unpinnable Hulk Hogan at Survivor Series (Ric Flair interfered with a chair which the Undertaker then used to Tombstone Piledriver the Hulkster onto), ended up himself getting squashed when an interfering Flair fell onto him after being clobbered by a Hogan chair shot. Tunney could then only partially witness the ending when Hogan, being the stand-up kind of guy that he is, threw contents of the Undertaker’s urn into the deadman’s eyes for an easy roll-up win, to thus become a four-time holder of the WWF belt. A few days afterwards, Tunney sensibly stripped Hogan of the belt, citing “suspicious circumstances”, declared the belt vacant and put it up for grabs for the winner of the upcoming Royal Rumble. It is this match, then, that the viewer is shown first, albeit only remaining uninterrupted from Hogan’s entry at number 26.

The Royal Rumble match from 1992 is still arguably one of the best Rumbles that the WWE has ever produced. Awarding the WWF Belt to the victor in a match that could easily draw on its own was one thing, but a combination of the way it was booked, with Flair in early and bigger name stars coming in towards the end, Bobby Heenan’s dramatic commentary, a mostly enthused crowd, the presence of several big named stars such as Hogan, Flair, Savage, Piper, Von Erich, Sid, DiBiase and the Undertaker and, above all, a superb performance by Slick Ric all helped to ensure that this match would still be talked about years after its conclusion. Sadly, we’re not show the post match confrontation between Sid Justice and Hogan when a majority of the crowd seemed solidly behind the future psycho one, but at least they didn’t drown out the cheers that greeted Hogan’s exit with boos, as they subsequently did on television for the weeks that followed…

Next up is another match that had its roots in pre-Rumble happenings, as the Mountie takes on Bret Hart. The Mountie had actually won the Intercontinental Title off ‘The Hitman’ on a live event two days prior to the Royal Rumble, aided by the fact that Bret was supposedly suffering from a high temperature at the time (this was infact fabricated so as not to harm Bret’s on-screen character, given how The Mountie was essentially a comedy character). To cut a long story short, The Mountie would lose the belt to Roddy Piper at the Rumble with Bret being named the number one contender shortly afterwards.

In what was a fairly decent match, Hart has Mountie beat, but is denied a pin when Rougeau’s stablemates the Nasty Boys run-in to interfere. Cue Piper running in to make the save and as the crowd goes wild, the two babyfaces end proceedings with a brief staredown to hype their impending Mania matchup. The tape then skips a month to the “March to Wrestlemania” television special pitting a recently turned Shawn Michaels against Piper in a non-title bout. Another decent match before an excitable crowd, this ends in another DQ (sound familiar ?): as Bret comes down to ringside and hands Piper a shoe that HBK had previously nailed the phoney Scotsman with earlier, Piper gets caught out by the referee for attempting to nail Michaels with said object. Seriously: that warranted a disqualification ? Welcome to the screwy World of early 90s WWF. Sadly, we are only shown a brief clip of Piper congratulating Hart from their thoroughly absorbing Wrestlemania 8 clash, which though disappointing, is entirely understandable: there’s only so much you can fit on a tape and, anyway, coming from the company’s flagship event, it’s a good excuse to entice fans to go out and purchase the actual supercard as well.

Sticking with the Wrestlemania theme, we’re next shown a tribute to the man whom many attributed as making the WWF into one of the most the famous and recognizable brands in the whole of World entertainment today. No, it’s not a tribute to Vince McMahon but to his company figurehead and top draw during most of that time instead, renowned exaggerator and King of the tanning beds, Hulk Hogan. At the time of his bout with Sid Justice at Wrestlemania, the WWF didn’t explicitly advertise the match as being Hogan’s last ever but heavily intimated that it could be. All the more confusing then that after being shown a sit-down interview between McMahon and Hogan, replete with clips of his famous bouts with the Ultimate Warrior and Andre the Giant, Sean Mooney actually proclaims that Hogan DID infact retire and was now out in Hollywood. That was either a blatant lie or a very sloppy oversight…

One of the more positive things that the WWF managed to do in 1992 was start pushing younger, smaller and more athletic wrestlers in place of the lumbering, juice freaks who were forced to vacate the spotlight. One of those to benefit was a certain Shawn Michaels, whom people at the time surely couldn’t have predicted to reach the heights that he would go onto reach, despite the obvious signs of potential that he displayed very early on during his singles run. We’re luckily treated here to the angle that started it all as Michaels turns on long-time tag partner Marty Jannetty in their infamous split on the January 11 Barber Shop (sans Jannetty being thrown through the glass, sadly). Curiously, the timelines fast forward 8 months as we next see Jannetty interrupting Michaels’ ring entrance and then actually proceed to smash a mirror over the head of his manager, Sensational Sherri. Hard to imagine that ever happening now (or ever again, to be honest). The reason for this long, and naturally unexplained, delay ? Jannetty was released from his contract earlier in the year for the dreaded ‘personal reasons’ excuse, something that would unfortunately afflict him in his other stints with the company. To give some kind of closure to this feud, we’re then shown a ‘Coliseum Exclusive’ match between the two with HBK’s newly acquired IC Belt on the line and, as you would expect, the two assemble a good fast paced, back and forth match-up, with Michaels coming out the victor after sling-shotting Jannetty into an exposed turnbuckle. The two would have higher profile bouts at the 1993 Royal Rumble and also on RAW throughout the same year, but this match still holds up very well, nonetheless.

Back we go to April 25 and a very long groan is emitted in discovery that the Undertaker is now coming down the aisle to clash with fellow big man, the Berzerker. Thankfully, this turns out to be more an angle than a match: Berzerker clobbers Taker with his shield before the bell rings, attempts to stab him with his comical sword (and actually punctures the ring as a result) and then piledrives him onto an exposed floor, to which the deadman, of course, very quickly recovers from. Superpowers (read: no-selling) established, we’re next, erm, treated not to the blowoff of the Berzerker feud but to the climax of his interminable and seemingly never-ending rivalry with another big man instead, the quite dreadful and laughably feeble Kamala. Their match, a Coffin match at the Survivor Series, is rubbish, with the only entertainment coming at the bout’s end: having predictably beaten Kamala, the Undertaker stupidly misses the nails with the hammer as he attempts to close ‘The Ugandan Giant’ firmly inside…

The tape then focuses on some of the newcomers that, erm, graced the WWF ring during the year. Firstly there’s Papa Shango, whom we get to witness set some jobber’s feet on fire and make some weird goo spew from his head; Nailz, who gives Big Bossman a pasting; and lastly Tatanka, who, er, gets sprayed in the face by Rick Martel. Annoyingly, we don’t get to see the conclusion of the latter two feuds, making it all the more questionable as to why this feature was even included. Of the three, only Tatanka managed to have anything that resembled success in McMahon land: the Papa Shango character did not get over and was dropped in 1993, whilst Nailz, a.k.a Kevin Wacholz, was fired in December after allegedly attacking Vince McMahon in his office over a pay dispute. Wacholz subsequently attempted to sue McMahon for alleged sexual harassment and wrongful termination, which was eventually dropped, and later testified in court against him in 1994 when the WWF owner was potentially facing a spell in prison over the illegal distribution of steroids (which stemmed from the 1991 furore). Sadly for Wacholz, his proclamation in court that “I hate Vince McMahon’s guts” was so obviously prejudiced and heaped in malice that he only helped spare his ex boss time in the slammer rather than put him there. What’s that, Nailz: trying to put somebody wrongly in prison for something they didn’t do ? What was it you were accusing Bossman of again ?!?

The compilation then mercifully changes track, jumping as it does to October 31 and now focusing on the tagteams,as the Natural Disasters put their belts on the line against Money Inc. Truth be told, 1992 was the beginning of a lull in tag team wrestling for the WWF. With the Rockers now solidly broken up, the Legion of Doom (or more rather Hawk) leaving after a bust-up with Vince McMahon after Summerslam, and the likes of the Brainbusters, Hart Foundation, Demolition and the British Bulldogs now sadly confined to the past, the teams in their place, ergo Money Inc, Disasters, Nasty Boys, Beverly Brothers, High Energy, Headshrinkers et al, seemed rather weak by comparison. Anyway, back to the match and if ever there was a case of how not to book a babyface tag team in defeat, this may be it (unless you’re looking to bury them, of course). Prior to the match, the Nasty Boys confront Jimmy Hart for what they see as themselves being screwed out of a title shot in favour of Hart’s other charges, Money Inc. This, of course, was exactly what had happened earlier in the year when Hart favoured Money Inc over the Disasters for a title match against the Legion of Doom (which they won in a non televised encounter), causing the then heel Disasters to turn face. With the Nasty’s then proceeding to beat up Money Inc before the bell (and thus turning babyface in the process), surely the Disasters would now have the upper hand, you’d think? Well, er, no. The Headshrinkers come out midmatch and distract Earthquake, who is then thrown to the outside and sustains a head injury. Money Inc, being the smart heels that they are, continue to work over Earthquake, focusing their attack upon said injured region. DiBiase eventually applies the Million Dollar Dream, forcing the future Golga into submission, and we now have new Tag Team Champions. Seems pretty copasetic, doesn’t it, but for just one tiny little thing: where on earth was Typhoon during this prolonged attack on his tag partner? Laughably, he was on the apron the whole time. Even though his partner was in a stationary submission hold only a few short yards away from him, and was in the hold for a good long while, not once was an attempt made to either break the hold or interfere. Did he not know that the Tag Belts were on the line ? Did he not care for his partner’s wellbeing ? Am I supposed to be asking these questions ?!?

After a brief Macho Man tribute video (like we‘ll see one of those again), it’s main event time and the biggest prize in the industry is on the line, as Randy Savage defends his belt against Ric Flair just one night after his Summerslam bout with the Ultimate Warrior. Before the match, they show brief excerpts from the Wembley sell-out as, postmatch, Flair and Mr Perfect do a number on Macho’s left knee, thereby explaining why Savage comes out to the ring limping. The match as shown here comes across as a fairly decent contest. According to Slic Ric in To Be The Man it was a totally different story on the day, however: describing the bout as ‘terrible’, Naitch further comments how:

…things got so bad that in the middle of the match, Bobby Heenan came out of the dressing room, whistled to get our attention, and made the cut sign across his throat. Vince didn’t like what he was seeing on the monitor, so he was calling a conference in the back. With the fans looking at one another in confusion, the two of us just stopped dead in the ring and bailed… “This isn’t what I laid out” he told us. We went over the details again, and returned to the ring half an hour later. It made no difference.

This would go to explain, then, why the crowd is indifferent to large parts of the contest: working on Savage’s left knee from the outset, and aided midway by Razor Ramon who takes out Randy’s standing leg, Flair eventually slaps on a Figure Four Leglock. Macho clearly oversells the injury, though, and in what should have been a hugely dramatic and defining WWF moment actually comes across as rather stilted and weak, with a front row of fans in particular, with arms folded, probably still perplexed by earlier events, not buying the action at all, sitting unfazed and unconvinced. Randy eventually blacks out from the pain and after the world’s longest three count, is pinned. Flair becomes a two time WWF Champion, with the belt changing hands on a television taping for the first time since the company’s introduction of pay-per-view around 6 years prior. Sadly for him, the gravitas that should have greeted his victory was all but nonexistent.

Flair would only hold the belt for six weeks: he was only a transitional champ. The man chosen to relieve him ? Bret Hart, who after 8 years in the WWF was finally rewarded with the company’s ultimate prize. Summoned into Vince’s office prior to his match with Flair, Bret initially thought that he was about to be fired. McMahon, however, actually had good news: not only was Bret going to be winning the title but he was also going to be winning it that very night. So it would come to be: October 12 1992, in Saskatoon, where Bret Hart would make Ric Flair tap out to the Sharpshooter to lift the WWF belt for the first time, and made all the more special given how it was in this very city where ‘The Hitman’ made his wrestling debut 14 years earlier.

Interestingly, the match was never shown on television and isn’t included here (although we do see Bret raising the belt after his victory). What we do get to round off the tape, though, are two excellent Hitman bouts which fully highlight why he was, and still is by many, considered to be one of WWEs all time in-ring greats. The first is against Shawn Michaels from Survivor Series, and is a slow burning, well paced and evenly fought contest which picks up very well towards the end, and is won cleanly by Hart after submitting ‘The Heartbreak Kid’ to the Sharpshooter. This was both Hart’s and Michaels’ first time headlining a PPV (Summerslam pushed Savage vs Warrior as the main event to fans across the pond) and was a solid statement of intent as to the direction that the Federation, now promoting athleticism over size and physique, was heading in.

The last match, again shown in its entirety, is the superb main event from Summerslam between Bret, then the Intercontinental Title holder, and his brother-in-law, the British Bulldog. Wrestled in front of a jam packed Wembley Stadium crowd of around 80,000 fans, the atmosphere was electric (I cannot possibly write “as you would expect” anymore given the embarrassingly tepid crowd reactions, even in large arenas, of today). The reaction to Bulldog pinning ‘The Hitman’ still sends tingles down my spine even now: Wembley positively erupted. Never has a crowd, with the possible exception of the main event of One Night Stand 2006, ever been so one sided and so solidly behind one man. That the two combatants were able to compose such an excellent and dramatic bout owes much to Bret as, according to his autobiography, Bulldog blew up after only a few minutes and couldn’t remember any of the spots that the two had earlier planned out. Hart therefore had to carry Bulldog throughout the remainder of the match, which was quite the feat what with 80,000 fans in attendance and around 20 minutes of PPV time to get though. Despite the scenes of jubilation that greeted Bulldog’s win, and the fact that to the minds of everybody else he was one half of possibly one of the greatest WWF title matches ever (up until that point, anyway), he, like Flair, was destined to only be a transitional champion. On October 27 (screened November 14), Bulldog lost the IC belt to Shawn Michaels, who had originally been slated to defeat ‘The Hitman’ at Summerslam, at Saturday Night’s Main Event, and was fired shortly after it was discovered that he, along with the Ultimate Warrior, had been receiving shipments of human growth hormone. Obviously, this was a definite no-no in those strict, regulatory times…

Video Rating: 8/10

A mostly very good compilation of the major happenings of 1992 with at least three matches that are definitely worth watching, ranging from very good to superb. Pretty much all the big stars from this time are afforded coverage and despite not being given the full story at times (some for obvious reasons), the compilation makes up for it through the inclusion of key matches that are difficult to find elsewhere. Recommended.

Ah yes, the supposed good old days of wrestling… Launched on NBC way back in May 1985, Saturday Night’s Main Event is fondly remembered by many wrestling fans: from its distinctly catchy 1980s style opening theme music, to the commentary from that proponent of shoulder pads, the ever smiling, babyface supporting Vince McMahon, and that no nonsense advocator of heels, Jesse “The Body” Ventura, SNME was unequivocally must-see television, thanks almost exclusively to the presence of ‘superstar’ vs ‘superstar’ matches, which were otherwise practically non-existent or minimal on the other squash match laden WWF programming, and the major feud, angle and storyline advancements (who can ever forget the Mega Powers split or the Andre title win that never was ?) Virtually amounting, then, to a mini PPV super card, the free to view SNME often drew successful ratings and would remain a staple on WWF broadcasting for over 7 years until its demise on Fox, who had by then picked up the rights to the show, in November 1992. Released in the UK in early 1991, this tape covers 90 minutes of what it believes to be the best of SNME so far only up to the end of 1989. I wish I knew the answer why…

It’s tempting to think that beginning any compilation with a Brutus Beefcake match has to be some sort of cruel in-joke at the expense of the viewer but to be fair, Hogan’s manservant does have a fairly reasonable match against ‘Outlaw’ Ron Bass, thanks in part to the hair vs hair stipulation and a reasonably enthusiastic crowd. That said, Bass twice stopping his own count is frustrating, as is Beefcake’s superhero-like comeback. No doubt a young John Cena was paying very close attention. Beefcake predictably grabs the win after catching the Stan Hansen wannabe in a sleeper, before gleefully shaving him bald. Bass was sadly to never be as, erm, finely coiffed after this episode, and would leave the federation shortly after… 

Onto match number two and The Rockers and The Brainbusters serve up a cracker of a tagteam match. The first of the two SNME matches that the two would contest (the other is available on the SNME DVD), the match is only tarnished by the annoying double countout ending. Next up is a curious match pitting a then undefeated Red Rooster against taco boy Tito ‘Chico’ Santana, with the future Taylor Made Man’s manager wired up to a microphone that the viewers could hear at home. Rooster was a product of Heenan’s claim that he could take a wrestler of average size and average ability and take him to the top. Bearing in mind that this made Terry Taylor sound very weak to begin with, his loss here to Santana, himself somebody who jobbed regularly to those on a push, arguably began his downward trajectory in McMahon land, with his face turn and subsequent additions of ultra naff theme music and cockerel struts leading more to laughs rather than cheers…

Next up is another unconventional, yet interesting, looking bout as Ted DiBiase clashes with the Blue Blazer, which turns out to be an excellent, albeit brief, choice of match where both the victor and the loser come out looking pretty good, something every match between a headliner and talented up-and-comer should strive to achieve. Owen Hart’s alter ego gets the opportunity to showcase some of his high flying skills, with DiBiase displaying his uncanny ring intelligence and displaying far more ring fire here than his overpushed son ever has managed in his career so far. From the all out and excitable is the viewer then helplessly thrust into the slow and barely mobile, treated as they are to an Andre The Giant clash against Randy Savage for the WWF Championship. Yet…buoyed on by an extremely pumped crowd, and with an appearance by an oddly leather clad Jake Roberts to further his feud with the broken down giant, this is still very watchable nonetheless, an example, then, of how star power truly does have the ability to skew one’s objectivity…

From here the tapes closes out by focusing on the feud between the “Big Bosomed” Man and the man with everybody’s best interests at heart, Hulk Hohum. We’re thus shown, in this order: a thankfully short squash match (I was obviously lying in the first paragraph) between Bossman and Jim Powers; an episode of the Brother Love Show, where Hogan beats up on the poor, defenceless Slick and the blubbery evangelist send-up; the ending to an Akeem vs Hogan match, before the match between the two feuding wrestlers themselves: Hulk Hogan and the Big Bossman, but with the added bonus of the match taking place inside a steel cage. Ignoring the feeble Zeus’, erm, beatdown prior to the match, this is an excellent way to end the video, despite the inevitable Hogan victory, and features an amazing for the time (hell, even now) superplex by Hogan on Bossman from the top of the cage to the ring below…

Video Rating: 7.5/10

Given the time allocated and narrowness of the match focus, the video does a fair job of putting across the essence of SNME through the lively crowds, match stipulations, feud enhancements and occasionally exciting ring action in the matches chosen. Had it dropped the squash match and interview segment and featured perhaps another tag bout, a particular strength of WWF at the time, the rating could easily have been higher.

Here’s two matches now for your consumption: