WWE Unforgiven 2005 - TV Review

Well, it’s that time of the month again, as WWE bombards us with another pay-per-view, Unforgiven…..you know, I really need to get another opening line for these monthly PPV reviews.

WWE Summerslam 2005 - TV Review

It’s that time of year again, when the WWE (apparently) pulls out all the stops and brings us the second biggest show of the year, Summerslam, this year coming from the MCI Centre in Washington.

WWE The Great American Basn 2005 - TV Review

It’s that time of the month again, as WWE inflict another pay-per-view offering upon us, this time with the Smackdown brand presenting The Great American Bash.

WWE Vengeance 2005 - TV Review

It’s that time of the month again, as the mighty World Wrestling Entertainment travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, for their latest pay-per-view offering, Vengeance!

ECW One Night Stand on Sky Sports - TV Review

This past Sunday I witnessed what could possibly be the best pay-per-view this year, as WWE gave Paul Heyman the reigns for ECW’s One Night Stand reunion show.

WWE Smackdown June 9th 2005 - TV Review

Another first for yours truly - a review of Smackdown, but given that it’s ECW nostalgia week, it’s just something I had to do.

WWE Raw, June 6th 2005 - TV Review

Over the past few weeks or so, I've normally watched the Wednesday night repeat of Raw, but something was different. Read the following review, and you'll find out why!

WWF Wrestlemania V - Retro Review

To coincide with the fifth anniversary of The Two Sheds Review, I’m going back in time to 1989 for my latest retro review, and the first ever WWF pay-per-view I saw, Wrestlemania V, held at the massive Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.

The show begins with Bobby “The Brain” Heenan’s charge, King Haku, taking on the mighty Hercules. This was just after Herc finished his feud with Ted Dibiase. It’s a battle of powerhouses, a good but short opener as Herc gets the pin, pinning Haku after a bridge suplex.

David v Goliath in tag action form follows as The Twin Towers take on The Rockers. Despite brief flurries, the sheer power of Akeem and the Boss Man is far too much for Michaels and Janetty. After the Boss Man catches Michaels as he comes off the ropes with a sidewalk slam, Akeem finishes him off with a big splash.

Backstage, Fat Tony interviews Ted Dibiase about his upcoming match. The Million Dollar Man compares himself to Donald Trump, as well as the usual hyperbole stuff.

Then it’s on to the battle of the sleeper holds as Ted Dibiase goes up against Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake. With Virgil by his side, this was a great example of just how good a worker Dibiase was, and of how good Beefcake was as well. Both guys try their versions of the sleeper hold, but after interference from Virgil, both men are counted out while brawling at ringside. Afterwards, the Barber attacks Virgil, and goes for his tools, but the rich guy runs for cover.

Backstage, Bobby Heenan and Rick Rude talk to Mean Gene about Rude’s upcoming Intercontinental title bout with the Ultimate Warrior. Rude promises to win the belt later.

Comedy time next as the Bushwhackers go up against the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers. A scrappy match sees the Rougeaus control the majority of the bout, only to lose after a battering ram/gut buster combo.

Sean Mooney then appears on the arena floor, about to talk to the fans, but gets licked by the Bushwhackers instead.

A battle of the technical masters next, as Curt Henning takes on Owen Hart, or rather, Mr. Perfect takes on The Blue Blazer. A short bout, with the Blazer dominating until he misses a splash off the top rope. Moments later Perfect gets the win with a Perfect-pled.

A recorded interview then airs, as Strike Force hype their match against the Brain Busters, before Run DMC come into the ring with the Wrestlemania rap. Time to fast forward…..

Mean Gene interviews Mr. Perfect, who tells us, well, basically how perfect he is. Perfect then hypes a future match with Bret Hart - which didn’t actually happen on pay-per-view for over two years. I guess the creative team had a change of plan.

It’s then a battle of the powerhouse teams, as Mr. Fuji and The Powers of Pain take on Demolition for the tag-team championship. It’s nothing more than a brawl, but that’s to be expected with these two teams involved. Fuji proved to be the weak link for his side. As a salt toss goes wrong, Demolition gets the win after crushing their former manager with their finisher. Good brawl here.

Mean Gene interviews Slick and The Twin Towers. Slick issues a challenge to Demolition for a future bout. Fat Tony then tries to interview the Macho Man. Guess who gets thrown out of the dressing room?

Dino Bravo, along with his manager, French Martin, then goes up against “Rugged” Ronnie Garvin. Before the bout begins, “Superbly” Jimmy Sneak makes a special guest appearance. When the match finally begins, Bravo simply overpowers Garvin, until the rugged on fights back with some hard fists. But Bravo soon fights back and gets the win with a side slam. Afterwards, Garvin attacks French, taking him out with his trademark stomp.

Tag action next as The Brain Busters take on Strike Force. This would be the mast match as a team for Rick Martel and Tito Santana, as halfway through the match Santana accidentally hammers Martel with the flying forearm. Moments later, Martel leaves his partner alone. This match had it all, great drama, and great tag action, with Arm Anderson and Tully Blanchard showing just how great a team they were, ending the bout after taking Santana out with a spiked piled river.

Afterwards, Mean Gene interviews Martel. The future Model slogs Santana, saying he carried the Strike Force team, starting a feud that would run for the rest of the year, and beyond.

Then it’s time to take a rest from the action with Piper’s Pit, with guests Brother Love and Morton Downey Jar. After humiliating the faux preacher, ripping off his kilt and sending him running to the back, the verbal exchanges between Piper and Downey are great, with the rowdy one eventually putting paid to the loud mouth’s smoke blowing by putting his lights out with a fire extinguisher.

A video package then plays, chronicling the downfall of the Mega-Powers, from their formation at Wrestlemania IV to their break-up at The Main Event in February ‘89. Mean Gene then talks to the Huckster about his feud with the Macho Man. I think you can guess what Hogan’s last line was here.

It’s the second of our David v Goliath matches next, with Jake “The Snake” Roberts taking on Andre The Giant, with “Big” John Stuff acting as special guest referee. Tons of drama in this match, and given Andre’s medical history, it was amazing that he was still competing in 1989. It was also in this bout that Roberts’ feud with Ted Dibiase began. With Andre deftly afraid of Jake’s python, the Million Dollar Man rushed down to ringside to take Damien away. As this happened, Andre attacked Stud, earning himself a disqualification. Sadly, Andre v Stud, Chapter Two, which this bout was meant to set up, never happened.

Sean Mooney then joins us from the cheap seats, interviewing the fans, namely, a Jake Roberts mark.

We go back to tag action next, as The Hart Foundation take on the future Rhythm ‘N’ Blues, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine and The Honkytonks Man. A short bout, but enough to make you realise what a great team the Harts were. The Hitman pinned Honkytonks after clobbering him with Jimmy Hart’s megaphone while the reef’s back was turned.

Time for our second title bout of the show next, as “Ravishing” Rick Rude challenges The Ultimate Warrior for the Intercontinental Championship. The guy may take a lot of stick these days, but there’s no denying how over the Warrior was back then, or how good his series with Rude was. Although this wasn’t up to the standard of their Summer slam re-match. Rude walked out with the gold after he pinned the Warrior as he attempted to suplex him back in the ring, Rude’s manager, Bobby Heenan, tripping the champ and holding on to his leg. The Warrior then attacked the Brain for his actions after the final bell.

Brawling time next, as judo expert Bad News Brown takes on “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. If you’re looking for a technical classic, then don’t look here, as Brown and Duggan literally beat the crap out of each other. With Brown bringing a chair, and Duggan bringing in his 2X4, the ref disqualifies them both.

Then it’s one of the moments that Terry Taylor would probably want us to forget, as the Red Rooster takes on Bobby Heenan, who brings the Brooklyn Brawler down to the ring with him. Having taken a beating from the Ultimate Warrior earlier, the Rooster quickly pins the Brain after he misses a shoulder barge, and rams his shoulder into the metal post. The Brawler attacks the Rooster afterwards, but the thug is soon chased off.

Mean Gene then interviews Miss Elizabeth, who’ll be in a neutral corner during the main event. Elizabeth never really was that good at interviews.

Then it’s time for our main event, as Hulk Hogan challenges “Macho Man” Randy Savage for the WWF title. A worthy main event, and probably the best match I’ve ever seen between these two. All these years later, this match seems a lot fresher than their countless re-matches over the years. Of course, Hogan walked away with the gold, kicking out of Savage’s pin after his top rope elbow, and finishing him off with the leg drop of doom.

In conclusion - some great memories here, a show that seems as great today as it did way back in 1989. But two things really stuck in my mind while I watched this video;

Firstly, the number of stars who were on this who are sadly no longer with us, from referee Joey Marella to announcer Gorilla Monsoon, to manager Miss Elizabeth, to wrestlers John Studd, Andre The Giant, Curt Hennig, Owen Hart, Hercules, Dino Bravo and Rick Rude. Man, it’s a great shame that so many of these greats are no longer with us.

Secondly, the matches themselves. Only a handful of these bouts had an in-depth storyline behind them. If a pay-per-view like this was promoted today, 21st century wrestling fans would be up in arms about the lack of intricate back stories and sub-plots. They would demand that the wrestlers should have a reason to go up against each other. It just shows that every aspect of the wrestling business has changed so much since my fist WWF pay-per-view.

But Wrestlemania V is still a great show, and from time to time I’ll continue to dig out this old tape and relive these great memories.

WWE Judgement Day - TV Review

A little later than everyone else, Smackdown's recent pay-per-offering, Judgment Day, promised us a mixed bag.

Midge Ure, Cromer Pier, 20th May 2005 - Show Review

It’s not often that a musical legend comes to my hometown of Cromer, and Midge Ure is a legend. One of the founding fathers of both Band Aid and Live Aid returned to the Norfolk coast for his one-man show, and this writer knew he just had to be there.

WWE Raw, May 2nd 2005 - TV Review

It's been a while since I've done this, so here we go - live from Boston, Massachusetts, it's the WWE's Monday Night Raw! (Although it's actually early Tuesday morning here. Very damn early!)

The show starts with Eric Bischoff making a very rare appearance, congratulating Batista on his title defense while Big D snogs around Christy Hemme. Uncle Eric tells us of the Gold Rush tournament to crown the new number one contender. No doubt one of the FWA fan boys will complain about the WWE stealing their names now.

The opener is the first match in the tournament, as Christian faces Kane. With all they've done to build up Christian in the past couple of weeks, I was surprised to see him go down to the Big Red Machine, and in a match that didn't last that long. Hardly worthy of a so-called up-and-coming main eventer. If he does get drafted to Smackdown, how can Captain Charisma be considered a top contender to Cena's title. Oh, I forgot to mention, Tomko tries to attack Kane after the bell, as Christian does a runner. And before you ask, yes, we did get the We Want Matt chants. Face it peeps, it just ain't gonna happen!

Christian is then seen running through the corridors, before bumping into Ric Flair. Usual banter between heels who don't get along here.

Then Iron Sheik-lite and his little buddy come down to the ring, still fuming at their lost to the Dream Team the previous evening. Our favourite Arab-American blames his co-hort for the loss, and proceeds to slap and kick him around a bit. But rather than turn face on us, little Daivari remains somewhat loyal to his master, crawling behind him as he leaves the arena.

Next up, the guy we now apparently love, Viscera, takes on Simon Dean. Now does this sound familiar - big black guy suddenly decides that he's now irresistible to all women. It didn't work with Mark Henry, and I don't think it will work now, but please, don't drag Mae Young back out of the crypt. Despite the hype surrounding his arrival, Simon Dean is once again little more than jobber fodder, as Viscera squashes him in between chatting up Lillian Garcia.

After a brief appearance from Legs 11, Triple H complains to Uncle Eric about the fact that he's having to enter a tournament to get a title shot. It's tempting to make a joke about how he normally enters something else to get a title shot, but I won't. Uncle Eric tells Trips he should consider himself lucky to be in the tournament in the first place.

Chris Jericho then congratulates Shelton Benjamin on his victory at Backlash. Hey, what happened to Y2J's heel turn. Anyway, to cut a long story short, both guys are in the tournament.

Brief tribute to Chris Candido. No video package here, showing his tenures in the WWF and WCW. A shame.

Goldrush tournament match two here, as we see something which is more or less a battle of the generations as Shelton Benjamin takes on Shawn Michaels, and proof that a match doesn't need an extensive background story to be a match of the year candidate. If you haven't seen this match yet, watch the repeats. It's a pay-per-view quality match, and it shows that Michaels still has what it takes, and Benjamin is definitely ready to step up a level. After a back and forth match which literally had me on the edge of my seat, Michaels picks up the win after super-kicking Benjamin as he sprang off the top rope here. Get these two in the ring together again, I say.

Backstage, Edge tells us why he's entered into the tournament. I guess you can't have too many title shots, can you? At least that's what Lex Luger used to say. Edge then sorts of confronts Victoria and Lita. Perhaps he's trying to work his way through the women's roster, and was eyeing up Victoria, except that she's got better muscles than him.New tag champs the Hurricane and Rosey make their first title defense next against La Psuedo Froggies. Bog standard stuff here, nothing special to write home about.

Plug time, as we are reminded that the Raw Diva Search is returning, so if you're a brain dead bimbo looking to get your ass on television doing absolutely nothing, get your entrant forms in now.

Edge takes on Jericho in the next Goldrush match afterwards. Edge continues to put in a strong showing. A good match between the two sees Edge eventually winning after a spear. Perhaps the Y2J heel turn is back on after all.

Then it's birthday wishes to The Rock. Is the Great One coming back?

Next up, the Masterlock challenge, and Narcissist-lite offers his latest victim an American football and a jersey. Needless to say that the Mr. Masters remains undefeated.

The final match of the night sees Triple H taking on Chris Benoit, apparently suffering from concussion after bricking it at Backlash, in the final Goldrush tournament match of the night. A match worthy of main event status sees the toothless one fighting back against all the odds, with a little help from Big Dave, to defeating Triple H with the cross-face. Looks like we haven't seen the last of the Big Dave-Trips feud.

Conclusion - one of the best Raws I've seen in a while. A little disappointing that Christian didn't go over, but the first round of the Goldrush tournament delivered two excellent matches, especially the Michaels/Benjamin bout, which earns the Match of the Night award.

WWE Backlash 2005 - TV Review

The WWE presented their latest pay-per-view offering, Backlash, from Manchester, New Hampshire this past Sunday, headlined by the return match between Triple H and Batista, and featuring the return of a legend.

WWE Wrestlemania 21 - TV Review

Well, it's that time of year again. The granddaddy of them all, Wrestlemania 21, came at us from the Staples Centre deep in the heart of Hollywood, and seeing as how everyone else is writing a review of the show.....

WWE Royal Rumble 2005 - TV Review

It's a known fact that after Wrestlemania, the Royal Rumble is my second favourite pay-per-view of the year, which is why I've decided to take a more in-depth look at this year's show.

27th December 2004-2nd January 2005

A Happy New Year to you all, and welcome to the first 2005 edition on Two Sheds On TV, taking a look at wrestling on television during the last few days of the 2004 and the first couple of days of 2005.

The Trials & Tribulations of The Wrestling Channel

When The Wrestling Channel was launched in March of this year, those of us who didn't spend vast amounts of money with tape traders were very optimistic. It meant that since the demise of WCW two years before, British television viewers had a viable alternative to their weekly dose of WWE programming.

But if you were to log onto TWC's forum now, you would find it full of negative comments, with many formally loyal viewers now predicting the end of the channel only seven months since it's debut.

So what has gone wrong? Why are so many people turning against the world's first ever dedicated wrestling channel?

The Rise & Fall of the USWA

For those of you who haven't been reading in the past few weeks.....

In 1988, three regional promotions formed an alliance, Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association on Minnesota, the Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling in Dallas, and Jerry Lawler's Championship Wrestling Association in Memphis. This resulted in a pay-per-view show, the AWA's Superclash III, which was headlined by a title unification clash between AWA Champion Lawler and WCCW Champion Kerry Von Erich, which Lawler won.

But backstage, politics soon destroyed the alliance. Gagne refused to pay Lawler and the Von Erich's their share of the gate and pay-per-view revenue. This meant that Lawler refused to defend his new title in AWA territories, and the Von Erichs were depending on that money to survive.

The Rise & Fall of WCCW

In my last instalment, I chronicled the history of the American Wrestling Association, one of the wrestling promotions that was show when satellite television was first introduced in Britain in 1989. The AWA, and GLOW, were more or less up-to-date when first broadcast, but when the Lifestyle channel finished the GLOW run, they turned back the clock a few years, showing classic wrestling long before The Wrestling Channel ever did.

Think of wrestling in Texas, and you immediately think of two things, the Von Erich family, and World Class Championship Wrestling.

When the GLOW run cam to an end, Lifestyle began showing World Class shows from the early eighties. This was when the territory was still a division of the National Wrestling Alliance, and before Vince McMahon purchased Capitol Sports from his father and began his national expansion.

The Rise & Fall of the AWA

Last week I wrote about one of the wrestling promotions that appeared on satellite television when the Astra service was launched in 1989, the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling (GLOW), which was broadcast on the Lifestyle channel.

Lifestyle''s sister channel on Astra was Screensport. During it's time on air the channel showed a wide variety of promotions, including the National Wrestling Alliance, Jerry Lawler's USWA, and a few others. But at the start the most prominent promotion on the channel was at one time one of the big three in America, Verne Gagne's American Wrestling Association.

However, the sad thing is that as far as British wrestling fans were concerned, we saw the AWA towards the end of it's existence. Although it had a national television contract with ESPN, poor business practices and an ever decreasing work force meant that by 1991, the AWA was no more.

Top 10 Supercard Sunday Shows

With The Wrestling Channel having been up and running for just over two months now, I thought I would take the opportunity to take a look back at the segment which has become the flagship of the channel, the Supercard Sunday slot, and take a look back at the past ten Supercard shows, ranking them in order of preference.