WWE New Year's Revolution (January 2007)

Original Airdate: January 7, 2007

From Kansas City, Missouri; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler

Opening WWE Intercontinental Title Cage Match: Jeff Hardy v Johnny Nitro: Ross and Lawler sound completely detached during the entrances here, like they've lost all passion for what they're calling. Nitro beats him down in the corner to start, but Hardy turns the tables, and delivers a cross corner whip. Johnny comes back with a wheelbarrow facebuster for two, so Jeff responds with a sitout gourdbuster for two. Charge in the corner misses, however, and Nitro hits a springboard kick for two. This feels really disjointed thus far. Nitro makes a climb attempt, but Hardy pulls him down, and delivers a sling blade. He goes for the door, but Johnny cuts him off, so Jeff throws a leg-feed corkscrew kick. He climbs, but Nitro dropkicks the ropes to knock him down across the top rope, in a tamer version of the ladder spot from Armageddon. Johnny goes to work on him against the cage wall, and then makes his own climb attempt, but Jeff follows up for a springboard dropkick to knock him off. Nitro tries reversing a cross corner whip, but Hardy runs the buckles right up the side of the cage, and Nitro is forced to hustle to bring him down with a side superplex! Both guys take a while to recover from that one, but Jeff manages to send him into the cage as they recover. Hardy climbs, but Nitro is on his tail up the side of the cage, so Jeff brings him down with a Russian legsweep off the top rope! Jeff climbs again, so this time Nitro literally climbs over him to get to the top of the cage first, and then brings him down with a sunset bomb! Johnny climbs, and gets his legs over the top, but Jeff races up, and leaves him hanging in a tree of woe to cut off the escape! Hardy climbs, so Melina starts whipping him with her belt to slow him down, and Nitro recovers with a missile dropkick, then adds a neckbreaker! Johnny goes to the top rope for a dive, but Hardy spears him out of the air to block, and Jeff goes up for the Swanton Bomb for two! Jeff with a series of clotheslines and a backdrop, but a corner charge hits boot, and Nitro climbs! He gets to the top, but Hardy is hot on his tail, and they slug it out up there! Jeff tries bringing him down with a Twist of Fate, but Nitro holds on to the cage to block, and Hardy crashes down to the mat. Unfortunately, Nitro is rattled, and has to take a moment before he can finish escaping. As he resumes his escape, Jeff is going for the door, but Melina blocks, so Hardy dropkicks the door - knocking Melina away, and crotching Nitro on it as he's climbing down! That allows Jeff to slide out, and he retains at 14:40. Cool finish, though Nitro was out of position for it, and hastily had to find his mark. Felt more like a collection of moves than a proper story, but it was a nice collection, at least. ** ¾

Tag Team Turmoil Match: The Highlanders v The World's Greatest Tag Team: If you don't know how I feel about Tag Team Turmoil, then I suggest you read literally any review I've done featuring a Tag Team Turmoil. Robbie McAllister starts with Charlie Haas, and Charlie dominates him on the mat, but eats a headbutt. Over to Rory McAllister for a tandem vertical suplex for two, and Robbie right back in for drop-toehold/elbowdrop combo. Robbie with a corner whip, but a follow-up charge misses, and Haas hits a lariat. Tag to Shelton Benjamin for the Broken Arrow for two, and Benjamin bodyslams Robbie across Charlie's knee for two! They cut the ring in half on Robbie, but he topples Benjamin during a slam attempt, and hooks an inside cradle for two. Tag to Rory, and Roseanne Barr the door! Rory with bodyslams and dropkicks all around, but Charlie rolls out of the way of a rocket launcher, and Shelton vertical superplexes Rory at 5:04. This was pretty decent, but too short to really go anywhere. * ½

Tag Team Turmoil Match: The World's Greatest Tag Team v Super Crazy and Jim Duggan: Shelton starts with Duggan, and Hacksaw quickly fights him off in the corner, then delivers some clotheslines. A cheap shot from Haas stops that effort, however, and they cut the ring in half on Jim. That doesn't last long, though, as Duggan fights Haas off in the corner, and hits a 3-point stance for the tag. Crazy comes in hot on Haas, but a springboard ends in Shelton decking him with a cheap shot, and Haas bridging German suplexes Crazy at 2:55. Nothing to this one. DUD

Tag Team Turmoil Match: The World's Greatest Tag Team v Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch: Cade and Murdoch attack right away, and the dust settles on Benjamin with Cade. Cade quickly hits a front-powerslam, but takes too much time gloating, and gets cradled for two. Tag to Trevor for a bearhug/big boot combo, and they cut the ring in half on Benjamin with an array of tandem offense. Murdoch tries a suplex, but Shelton counters with a neckbreaker on the way down, and there's the tag! Charlie is a Haas of fire, but Lance saves Trevor from a submission, and Haas gets pinned at 4:31. Not much to this one. ½*

#1 Contender's Tag Team Turmoil Match: Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch v Cryme Tyme: Cade starts with Shad Gaspard, and it's bodyslam fever! Tag to JTG for a neat tandem move where Shad whiplashes JTG onto Lance, but Cade fights off the follow-up, and passes to Murdoch. Trevor tries a backdrop, but JTG counters with a backslide for two, so they gang up with the Sweet and Sour to keep control. How Cade is working with that large belt buckle poking up into his gut like that eludes me. I've worn bigger buckles like that, and they can be uncomfortable while sitting in a chair, let alone diving off the top rope. They cut the ring in half on JTG, but Murdoch hits boot while trying a 2^nd rope flying splash, and Shad gets the tag! He comes in hot, and Cade eats the G-9 at 6:42. Meh. ½*

Ric Flair v Kenny Dykstra: Wow, with a last name like that, no wonder he used to go only by 'Kenny' before. Dykstra dominates in the early going, hitting a dropkick for two during a criss cross, and adding a fistdrop. He hammers Flair in the corner, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Ric backdrops him. Backelbow and a chop send Kenny over the top, and Flair snaps his throat across the top rope to keep his ass out there. Dykstra sweeps him out to the floor for a vertical suplex, however, and it gets two on the way back in. Pretty big bump for a dude pushing sixty there. Inside, Kenny with another vertical suplex for two, and a series of pointed elbowdrops to the shoulder blades get two. Boston crab spells danger for the Nature Boy, but he manages to get the ropes to escape, so Kenny delivers another fistdrop. He unloads with jabs in the corner, but an attempt at a figure four is countered with an inside cradle for two, and Flair starts to mount a comeback. Lots o' chops hit, but Kenny slams him off the top rope, and Dykstra follows up with a missile dropkick for two. Cross corner whip, so Flair goes to the eyes to block, then clips the knee to slow the young blood down. Ric with a kneedrop, and he slaps on his own Figure Four, but Kenny gets the ropes to save himself. Ric goes to town in the corner, but Dykstra blows him low, and hooks an inside cradle at 10:02. Had its moments, but not great overall. *

WWE Women's Title Match: Mickie James v Victoria: Hard to believe Mickie is nearly a decade younger than Victoria. Victoria keeps it tight. She takes Mickie down right away, and starts working a facelock, but James counters to a wristlock. They feel each other out through some reversals, and Mickie hits a dropkick for two, but gets crotched on the top rope, and booted out of the ring while trying a rana. Victoria adds a baseball slide, then follows James out for a snake-eyes across the barricade. Back in, James tries a small package for two, but Victoria quickly cuts her off, and ropechokes the champion. Victoria whips Mickie across the ring by the hair in violent fashion for two, but a 2^nd rope flying moonsault misses, and James starts mounting a comeback. Series of jabs get two, and a headscissor takedown sends Victoria to the apron. James knocks her off, so Melina comes out to try and help the challenger back in, but James fights them both off. Inside for the finish, but Melina hooks James' ankle from the floor to block, and Victoria attacks. She tries the Widow's Peak, but Mickie counters with a cradle for two. Victoria keeps coming with the Black Widow, but this time James counters with a tornado DDT, and that's enough to retain at 6:50. *

World Tag Team Title Match: Rated-RKO v Triple H and Shawn Michaels: The challengers attack before everyone even gets to the ring, and they all brawl around ringside, with HHH and Shawn controlling. Hunter gives Edge a vertical suplex and a backdrop out there, and inside, the challengers go to work on him as the dust settles. Shawn misses a charge in the corner to allow the tag to Randy Orton, but he hits boot while trying his own charge, and Michaels snapmares him over for a stomp to the face. The challengers cut the ring in half on Orton in rather dull fashion, with Randy getting busted open, presumably just to keep himself awake. Edge throws a cheap shot at HHH to try and turn the tide, but Hunter no-sells, and beats both champions up like jobbers before finally getting overwhelmed when Edge clips his knee. That was shades of 1995 Hulk Hogan there. Edge goes to work on the leg, but Hunter manages to block a figure four, and he passes over to Shawn. Michaels comes in hot with a jumping forearm and an inverted atomic drop, then hits a bodyslam to setup a flying elbowdrop. Backdrop sends Edge over the top onto Orton, and Michaels dives onto both with a somersault plancha. He rolls Edge back in to finish off, but Randy holds onto HBK's leg to stop him from going inside, and Edge spears the challenger off of the apron! That allows Orton to attack with the title belt, and he busts Michaels open with it before Hunter saves. Inside, Rated-RKO cut the ring in half on Michaels, and HHH is just insufferable tonight, making everyone bump around for him at every turn. Like, he comes in to break up a pin, fine, but does he have to stop and hit a move on both the guy in the ring, AND the guy on the apron each time? Michaels is doing a great job of getting his ass kicked though, as usual. Do you think those forty guys who jumped him outside of that club is Syracuse appreciated the selling as much as I do? Anyway, Michaels escapes an RKO, and gets the hot tag to HHH, and suddenly the tag champions look like complete jobbers in there with HH around. Oh, sorry. Meant HHH. Get those two confused sometimes. Unfortunately for Hunter, he legit injures his quad while giving Orton a spinebuster (which would put him on the shelf for the better part of the year), and somehow manages to continue wrestling on it, giving Edge a spinebuster as well! I may not like the way character is booked, but make no mistake, I do respect the man playing that character. He somehow guts out setting Edge up for a Pedigree, but Orton saves with an RKO, so Shawn saves with a Superkick! Edge shoves HBK out of the ring, however, and he covers HHH himself, but it only gets two. Why are they not just going home? That was a perfectly respectable finish. Edge tries a spear, but Hunter sidesteps, and he delivers a Pedigree for two. I respect the effort, but the injury is making all of this look phony as hell. Thankfully, Shawn has seen enough, and comes in swinging with a chair to draw a DQ at 20:00. Things picked up some once they settled into the heat segment on Shawn, but a lot of it felt like they were sleepwalking through it, and the ending got all messed up due to the injury. The post match brawl that ends in the champs going through tables, and everyone left a bloody mess is better than the whole match! * ½

Carlito v Chris Masters: Wow, Chris looks like he just time traveled in from 1988. Carlito takes him down for some mounted punches right away, and a 2^nd rope flying one-handed bulldog gets two. Masters fires back with a backdrop, but Carlito counters a side suplex with a dropkick, and hits a double-springboard moonsault press for two. Chris tries for the MasterLock, but Carlito reverses - only he can't get the fingers locked, so Masters slams him. Not the same without Gorilla and Jesse on commentary yelling about getting the fingers locked. Masters with a sidewalk slam and a backbreaker, but a lariat only gets two, and Carlito starts to come back. Springboard backelbow and a kneelift setup a clothesline, followed by a reverse STO for two. Wheelbarrow bulldog, but Masters blocks, so Carlito tries a victory cradle, but gets reversed for two. MasterLock, and Carlito is done at 5:58. This was okay. Some noticeable sloppiness, though. * ¼

Main Event: WWE Title Match: John Cena v Umaga: The announcers seem to have some kind of inside joke going on, because they have spent way too much time talking about the referees tonight. Cena blitzes him early, and uses Umaga's size against him by dodging a charge to send the challenger over the top. Umaga gets back to the apron, so John tries to knock him back off, but Umaga is too powerful, and ends up tossing Cena over the top, in a nice bump. Umaga sends him into the steps before bringing things back inside, where the challenger tries an avalanche, but runs into an elbow! Cena comes barreling out of the corner, but Umaga is ready with a clothesline, and he drops him like a Samoan. John tries hiding on the apron, but Umaga is ready with a shoulderblock to send him flying into the announce table. John tries a slingshot sunset flip in, but Umaga won't go down. Umaga tries to counter with a seated senton splash, but Cena dodges - only to have a bodyslam attempt end in Umaga toppling him for two. Umaga with a legdrop, but Cena manages to flight him off long enough to get to the top rope for a flying bodypress, only to get caught in a swinging scrapbuster for two! Never really thought about this much before, but it's kind of amazing that we don't see Cena's shoelaces come undone more often, isn't it? I honestly can't think of a time they have, actually. Same for wrestling boots with laces in general. Cena tries going old school with the Throwback, but Umaga no-sells, and keeps hammering the champion. Cena knees him in the misters to allow him to try the FU, but Umaga is too heavy, and John crumples under the weight. Umaga tosses the champ over the top, but John beats the count in, so Umaga keeps pounding. His offense is really limited, but Cena is doing a great job working with what he's got. Umaga slaps on a nervehold to wear Cena down, but a 2^nd rope flying Samoan Spike misses, and John starts mounting his comeback. Fists of fury fly, but he runs into a Spike while charging - only for Umaga to miss an avalanche! Five Knuckle Shuffle hits (and to a great reaction, too), but he still can't get the FU, and takes a belly-to-belly suplex. Umaga ties him in a tree of woe for some abuse, but the Wrecking Ball misses, and Cena schoolboys him to retain at 17:17! Cena did a truly terrific job of carrying this, and timing his hope spots throughout. Some nice bumping as well. Not a great match, but an impressive performance from the champion. ** ½

BUExperience: This is one of those shows where nothing is offensively bad, but nothing is especially good, either. And, seeing as neither of the top two matches managed to deliver, I'd say you can safely skip this one.

DUD