Burning Hammer DVD Review #18

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WWE: Rebellion 2002
October 26, 2002

--Taped from Manchester, England, United Kingdom

--Your hosts are Tazz & Michael Cole

--Booker T V. Matt Hardy. Matt Facts- Matt Loves English Muffins. Booker was flown in to wrestle for the Smackdown crew on this night only as part of the Big Show trade, and I'll be damned if WWE didn't manage to put him against someone for a match that I really want to see. Nice Armdrag by Hardy. Booker takes Hardy down with a hard Clothesline, and sends him to the outside with a Dropkick. Hot Shot by Hardy leads to a Swinging Neckbreaker for 2. Pump Rollup by Booker gets 2. Side Effect by Hardy gets 2. Neckbreaker gets another 2 for Hardy. Spinebuster by Booker and both men are out. Fivearm followed up by a Superkick gets 2 for Booker. Leg Lariat by Booker gets 2. Missile Dropkick gets an incredibly close 2 count for Booker. Bookend by Booker, but Hardy gets his foot on the ropes at 2. Diamond Cutter by Hardy, but Booker manages to kick out for a close 2. Booker gets the pin at 12:01 with an Axe Kick. ***1/4 Good opener, with lots of near falls, some nice back and forth action. Not just a good match-up, but a fun one as well, both guys played off each other extremely well.

--Inter-Gender Match: John Cena, Dawn Marie V. Billy Kidman, Torrie Wilson. Rules are the women can fight the men, and vice versa. Electric Chair Hot Shot to Kidman by Cena, who is in the beginning stages of his initial heel turn, but he's not a full fledged rapper at this point, he's just an angry white man, as opposed to the WWE's usual angry black man stereotype. Cena with a hard Clothesline to Kidman. Kidman gets the pin on Cena at 5:25 with a Shooting Star Press that barely connected and actually saw Kidman piledrive his head into the mat. * Some nice action between Cena & Kidman, but that's about it.

--Funaki V. Crash. Funaki gets the pin at 5:36 with a Rollup. * Pretty pedestrian stuff.

--WWE Cruiserweight Championship, Three Way Elimination Match: Tajiri V. Rey Mysterio Jr. V. Jamie Noble (W/Nidia). Mysterio takes out both guys with a Corkscrew Plancha. Northern Lights Suplex by Noble on Mysterio, but Tajiri breaks up the count at 2. Tajiri hangs Noble in the tree of woe, and nails him with a Baseball Slide Dropkick to the face. Noble hits a Tiger Driver on Tajiri at 2:52 to get the pin to eliminate him. Noble goes to work on Mysterio's arm, using a Hammerlock and an Armbar to inflict some pain. Nice Lariat by Noble gets 2. Hammerlock Northern Lights Suplex by Noble gets 2. Inverted Fujiwara Armbar by Noble. SWEET~ Swinging DDT by Mysterio takes both men out. Flapjack followed up by a Springboard Legdrop gets a close 2 for Mysterio. Falcon Arrow gets 2 for Noble. Yoshi Tonic (Standing Sunset Flip Powerbomb) by Mysterio, but Nidia distracts the ref. Vicious Tiger Driver by Noble, and Mysterio barely gets his shoulder up after 2. Noble gets the pin to eliminate Mysterio and win the match at 12:48 with a Rollup. *** Tajiri's involvement was pointless, and the match started off real slow, but Noble & Mysterio fought & fought and mainly on the backbone of Noble's armwork and Mysterio's bumping they were able to get a good match out of a bad beginning.

--Big Valbowski, Chuck Palumbo V. D-Von, Ron Simmons. Valbowski is Val Venis wrestling under the surname of his dick. D-Von is D-Von Dudley just minus the Dudley, and Simmons is Faarooq during the time period when the WWE thought it was politically incorrect to call him that. D-Von gets the pin on Palumbo at 4:08 with a Rollup. *1/2 Decent enough match.

--Kiss My Arse Match: Albert V. Rikishi. Loser has to kiss the winners arse, or ass for those who aren't inclined towards the English language. Rikishi gets the pin at 7:17 with a Banzai Drop. 3/4* Bad power wrestling.

--WWE Smackdown Tag Team Championship Match: Eddie & Chavo Guerrero Jr. V. Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit. This is before Eddie & Chavo were ever dubbed Los Guerreros. Nice Tilt-A-Whirl Backbreaker by Benoit on Eddie. Angle nails Chavo with a German Suplex, so Benoit comes in to nail Eddie with a German Suplex of his own, and then Angle & Benoit hit Eddie & Chavo with German Suplexes at the same time. Crossface attempt by Benoit, but Chavo sends Benoit outside the ring where Eddie hits him with a Vertical Suplex. Slingshot Senton by Eddie gets 2. Gory Special by Eddie, but Benoit manages to reverse out into a Rollup for 2. Wildbomb by Benoit on Eddie. Benoit puts Chavo in the Crossface, and then moves out of the way at the last second so that Eddie hits Chavo in the back with a Frog Splash. Kamikaze Headbutt by Benoit on Eddie, but Chavo breaks up the count at 2. Brainbuster by Chavo on Angle, but Benoit breaks up the count at 2. Frog Splash by Eddie on Angle, but once again Benoit breaks up the count at 2. Angle gets the pin on Eddie at 16:36 with an Angle Slam. ***1/4 Good match that was a little too heavy on the spots, and pales in comparison to some of their other encounters.

--WWE Heavyweight Championship, Handicap Match: Edge V. Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman. This match came about because Undertaker dropped out at the last second and Edge was substituted in his place. Mondo stalling to start until Edge counters a Lesnar Backdrop Suplex with a Sunset Flip for 2, and then counters a Lesnar Press Slam with another Sunset Flip for 2. Lesnar counters an Edge Implant DDT into an Overhead Belly-To-Belly Suplex. Ribbreaker by Lesnar. Weird looking Boston Crab by Lesnar, but Edge makes the ropes. Crossbody off the top-rope by Edge misses Lesnar and takes out the ref. Spear by Edge, but it only gets 2. Lesnar gets the pin at 18:50 with an F-5. **1/2 Started off slow, got good, then deteriorated into nothing but restholds, only to pick up again before a bad ending. At least Heyman was hardly involved.

--Final Flash: Enjoyable show all around. No blow away matches, but three good matches in the form of Hardy/Booker, Mysterio/Noble/Tajiri, and Guerreros/Angle, Benoit plus a good extra match make this worth seeing.

Recommended

Singles Going Steady

--WWF European Championship Match: Shawn Michaels V. British Bulldog (W/Traci Smith). This is from WWF One Night Only 1997. No real point behind the match, just the main event of a show in England featuring the extreme crowd favorite Bulldog. Smith is Bulldog's sister, who was dying of cancer at this time, and Bulldog even went so far as to dedicate the match to her. Lockup and Michaels climbs all the way up the top turnbuckle to try and get out, but Bulldog Biels him off the top-rope. Bulldog brings Michaels back into the ring with a messed up Inverted Suplex. Gorilla Slam by Bulldog. Bulldog gives Michaels a Backdrop Suplex over the top-rope, and Michaels takes a monster sized bump to the floor. Bulldog gets 2 with a Lyger Bomb. Samoan Drop by Bulldog and he applies a Mexican Surfboard. Delayed Vertical Suplex by Bulldog as Rick Rude, Michaels bodyguard at the time, makes his was out to the ring an attacks Bulldog. Sleeper by Michaels, but Bulldog fights out with a Backdrop Driver for 2. Hip Toss by Michaels, and he holds onto the arm turning it into a Leg Scissors Key Lock, which Bulldog powers out of with a Slam. Both men go for a Shoulderblock, and a double knockout ensues as Chyna & Hunter Hearst-Helmsley make their way out to ringside. Catapult into the turnbuckle by Bulldog gets 2. Michaels hits a pair of Elbowdrops off the top-rope, but doesn't go for the cover. They fight outside where Michaels blasts Bulldog with a Superkick after he got his foot caught in the ringside ramp and wrenched his knee in the process. Helmsley follows up the Michaels Superkick with a Pedigree on the outside. Figure Four Leglock by Michaels, with constant added leverage from Chyna & Helmsley, and after a long time in the hold the ref stops the match at 22:54 and awards the win and the title to Michaels. **** Real good match, with Bulldog especially surprising me by pulling out all kinds of cool moves he hadn't used in years. Michaels was his usual bump machine self, and actually employed good psychology with Bulldog's knee. As for the belt change, that was purely political. Michaels wanted the WWF European Championship so that he could be the first grand slam champion in WWF history, so the belt was given to him.

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