Goody Bag 73: Clearing Up the Backlog

 

WWF Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Vader: From a house show in Ottawa Ontario Canada on August 4 1996. Vader tries a sneak attack while Michaels is posing, but Shawn hears him coming, and wins a criss cross with a jumping forearm. Michaels dodges a big boot attempt and crotches the challenger on the post, then tries a sunset flip. Vader blocks, but Michaels dodges the sitdown splash he does so with, and delivers a flying axehandle. Rana, but Vader counters with a powerbomb, and he chokes HBK in the corner. A cross corner whip flips Michaels over the buckles, and he rebounds into a clothesline from the challenger. Vader with another choke before casually tossing Michaels over the top, where Jim Cornette sneaks over with a cheap shot. Vader drops the champion across the guardrail out there, and he threatens castration, but luckily nothing comes of it, dude. Inside, Vader with a cobra clutch, but Michaels slugs free, so Vader chokes him back into the hold. Shawn slugs free again, so Vader bodyblocks him, and goes to town in the corner. Avalanche, but Michaels dodges - only to eat a clothesline anyway. That allows Vader a splash for two, but Shawn slips out of a vertical suplex. He tries a comeback, but Vader cuts him off - only to have a powerbomb blocked via punches. That allows Michaels a jumping forearm out of the ropes, and he goes upstairs with a flying elbowdrop. Cornette tries interference, but Michaels fights him off, and delivers a superkick at 8:22. This felt really short for a main event level match from these two workers, house show or not. A solid enough outing, though it was clear that Vader was ‘afraid of the ball’ here, working very loosely and awkwardly, likely terrified of upsetting hotheaded Michaels again. * ½ 

#1 Contender's Match: Tyler Bate v Roderick Strong: From NXT TV on January 31 2018 (taped January 27) in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. Winner becomes the top contender for the WWE United Kingdom title. They feel each other out to start, trading wristlocks. Bate lands a dropkick to win the exchange, and an airplane spin leaves Strong loopy. Bate misses a charge in the corner, allowing Strong a butterfly backbreaker for two, and he cracks Bate with some chops. Bate responds in kind, so Strong delivers a backbreaker for two, and he pounds on Tyler some. Strong with an inverted chinlock, but Bate throws punches to the stomach to escape, only to have a bodypress caught in a backbreaker. Strong presses him into the turnbuckles for two, and works a cravat, but Bate fights. Strong responds with a modified gory special, but Tyler escapes, and manages a chincrusher. Bate with a big boot from there, and he makes a proper comeback. A bridging German suplex gets him two, and an exploder suplex sets up a standing shooting star press for two. Bate goes upstairs, but Strong brings him down, and uses a modified backbreaker for two. Butterfly powerbomb, but Bate counters with a rana. That triggers a reversal sequence ending in Bate hooking a crucifix for two, and a clothesline gets another two. Bate looks for a tiger driver, but all the damage to the back prevents it. Strong tries a powerbomb, but Bate counters with a cradle for two, so Strong slams him, and uses a suplex backbreaker to end it at 10:00. Good psychology throughout. **

NXT Tag Team Title Match: Trent Seven and Tyler Bate v Kyle O'Reilly and Roderick Strong: From NXT TV on July 11 2018 (taped June 21) in Winter Park Florida. The challengers attack right at the bell to get things going, blitzing the champions. The champs fight them off, however, and deliver a few combos to clean house. It spills to the outside, where Strong manages to drop Seven on the steps with a kneebreaker, and that puts the challengers in control. The crowd is just crazy here, endlessly chanting without taking so much as a breath. The challengers work Trent over, targeting the leg, until Bate gets the hot tag. He runs wild on Strong, and delivers a running shooting star press for two. He goes for the tiger driver, but Kyle comes in to prevent it, and gets Bate in a sleeper. Bate escapes and suplexes Strong into Kyle, then gives Strong an airplane spin while giving Kyle a giant swing. Wild! Bate with a bridging German suplex on Strong for two, as Seven sits in the corner, selling his ass off. Tiger driver on Strong gets two when Kyle saves, but Bate wastes time checking on Trent, and gets hit with a uranage backbreaker from Strong. Tag to Kyle for a brainbuster for two, so they bring hobbled Seven in, and get him in a submission hold. Bate saves just in time, but Trent fails to make the tag, and ends up in another hold. He fights and fights, but ultimately it’s too much, and Bate throws the towel in on his behalf at 17:30. I get that they’re babyfaces, but why not just risk disqualification, and make the save? I mean, what do you have to lose? Most of the match was solid, and psychologically sound, if a little basic. But they delivered a blistering third act. **

NXT Title Match: Aleister Black v Tommaso Ciampa: From NXT TV on July 25 2018 (taped July 18) in Winter Park Florida. Feeling out process to start, with Black getting the better of him more often than not. They spill to the outside, where Black dominates with strikes, but Ciampa clobbers him on the way back inside. Ciampa with a cross corner whip, but Black blocks the impact, and delivers a kick to put his challenger down. Black with another one to send Ciampa to the apron, where Black big boots him off. Ciampa regroups out there, so Black tries a springboard, but Ciampa outsmarts him, and sends Black crashing over the top. Ciampa sends him into the steps out there to get firm control of the contest, and he works the back as they head back inside. Ciampa slaps on a Texas cloverleaf to try for the submission, but Black makes the ropes. Ciampa keeps coming, but Black manages to knock him off the ropes to buy time, and a cradle gets the champion two. Both guys pop up and collide for a double knockout spot, and Black recovers with a series of strikes to turn things around. A springboard moonsault press gets the champion two, and a shining wizard is worth two. Ciampa comes back with a few nearfalls, but runs into a knee to give Black a close two. Black with a bridging German suplex for two, so Ciampa bails. Black chases with a moonsault press, but Ciampa dodges, and chucks the champ into a cameraman. That allows Ciampa a shot with a crutch, but Black gets a shoulder up at two! A nice nearfall there. Ciampa tries a DDT next, but Black backdrops him over the top to block, and dives. Black rolls him in, but Ciampa is ready, drilling him with the DDT for two on the way. Ciampa pulls the mats up, but the referee protests, and ends up getting bumped. That leaves no official as Black catches Ciampa with a roundhouse kick, and Black is forced to abandon his cover to go revive him. That gives Ciampa recovery time, and he gouges the eye of the champion to buy some more time. Ciampa uses that time to grab the title belt, but Johnny Gargano runs in - only to accidentally hit Black while trying to wrestle the gold away from the challenger! Ciampa dumps Gargano from there, and he drills Black for the pin at 22:16. They kind of abandoned all the damage Ciampa did to the back after a while, but the match was good, especially in the second half. ***

Roderick Strong v Tyler Bate: From NXT TV on August 15 2018 (taped July 18) in Winter Park Florida. Bate comes charging out of the corner with a big boot, and he adds a backdrop, before pounding on Strong with uppercuts. Cross corner whip, but Strong reverses, so Bate throws a knee. He goes to the middle, so Kyle O’Reilly distracts him, and Strong is able to pull out a backbreaker for two. Strong works a cravat, but Bate slugs free, so Strong uses a uranage backbreaker for two. Strong slaps on a mat-based abdominal stretch from there, but Bate fights free, and manages a chincrusher this time. Strong cuts him off with a big chop in the corner, and he takes Bate up for a superplex, but Tyler blocks. That allows Bate to dive off the middle with a backelbow, and a slugfest goes Tyler’s way as well. Bate with an exploder suplex to set up a running shooting star press for two, and he tries an airplane spin, but his back gives him trouble. He goes with a saito suplex instead for two, but Strong fights back with an elevated Boston crab - only for Bate to counter with a cradle for two. Strong manages a suplex for two, but a reversal sequence goes Bate’s way with a crucifix for two. Bate adds a clothesline, so Strong bails to avoid any more punishment. Bate dives after him with a suicide, and takes it right back in for the tiger driver, so Kyle distracts him again. That allows Strong to nail him, but he misses the follow up, and Tyler koppou kicks him, then finishes with the tiger driver at 8:02. They were feeling it here, and they certainly didn’t waste any time out there. *** ¼