Post by Slade on Apr 15, 2022 12:12:02 GMT -5
Live from Bridgestone Arena in
Nashville, Tennessee
On Monday, March 14, 2022
WWE Commentary Team: Mauro Ranallo, Tony Schiavone and Corey Graves
WWE Ring Announcer: Howard Finkel
WWE Backstage Reporter: Mean Gene Okerlund
***
The show started with “Macho Man” Randy Savage coming to the ring with the lovely Miss Elizabeth, who had noticeable bruising around her right eye and orbital bone. Savage spoke of what happened to his manager last week and said that Triple H and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley had crossed the line. This was now personal, and Savage didn’t want to wait to WrestleMania to get his hands on Triple H. He wanted a match with him right now! Instead, he got Samoa Joe who said that they hadn’t resolved their issues yet in a straight one-on-one match. Joe wasn’t pleased about finishing second to Savage in the battle royal last week and he wants a match to show the world that he deserves the title shot against Triple H, not Savage. The Macho Man said that since Triple H was too much of a wuss to fight him, he’d settle on taking his anger out on him. Macho Man vs. Samoan Submission Machine will be featured in tonight’s main event!
Kevin Owens defeated Sheamus by pinfall at 9:48 to qualify for the Mania Mayhem match at WrestleMania. Sheamus had Owens lined up for a Brogue Kick. Owens ducked it and in one fluid motion lifted Sheamus up for a pop-up powerbomb. Sheamus kicked out of the ensuing pinfall attempt, so Owens got him back to his feet and gave him a kick and a stunner to finish him off.
Mean Gene spoke to Nyla Rose, who told him that at WrestleMania she’s going to make Sasha Banks her bitch and take the UWA Universal Women’s Championship from her. Mean Gene took umbrage with her choice of words. Rose told Gene that she stands by her words and if Banks doesn’t like it, she can come to Atlanta next week because she’s just begging for her to try to do something about it.
AJ Styles defeated “Machine Gun” Karl Anderson by pinfall at 6:31 after he gave him the Styles Clash. Styles came to the ring and spoke about how he was stabbed in the back by people he thought of as his brothers last week. The Good Brothers came out and called him a cry-baby, so Styles challenged one of them to a match right there on the spot and Anderson took the challenge. Doc Gallows interfered on his behalf, but Styles eventually incapacitated him with a Phenomenal Forearm from the ring to the outside.
RAW Intercontinental Champion Eddie Guerrero teamed up with the Hardy Boyz to defeat Adam Cole and FTR in six-man tag team competition. They won the match at 18:29 when Jeff Hardy pinned Cash Wheeler. It was a fast-paced battle that saw several close finishes. Guerrero landed a frog splash on Wheeler, but Cole broke up the pinfall attempt. He gave Guerrero a Panama Sunrise, but Guerrero managed to kick out of it. Matt Hardy executed a Side Effect on Cole and pinned him for a long 2-count. Jeff Hardy executed a Twist of Fate of Harwood and made the cover, but Wheeler made the save. Jeff was sent flying over the top rope with a double back body drop from FTR. Moments later, they executed the Shatter Machine on Matt. Harwood made the pin, but Guerrero made the save. Cole hit Guerrero with a superkick. He lowered his knee pad and ran to the ropes, but Jeff tripped him and pulled him out of the ring. Jeff gave him a mule kick. Harwood and Wheeler were setting up Guerrero for a Mindbreaker, but Jeff intercepted by giving Wheeler a springboard headscissors takedown off the turnbucklers. Matt gave Harwood a chopblock and Guerrero followed it up with a brainbuster. Cole climbed onto the ring apron and Guerrero hit him with a running dropkick to knock him back off. He followed that with a slingshot plancha to take him out. Back in the ring, Matt and Jeff gave Wheeler a 180-degree flipping belly-to-back suplex followed by a Spin Cycle. Matt took Harwood down with a Twist of Fate as Jeff went to the rope and executed a Swanton on Wheeler and pinned him for the win.
Mean Gene stood in the ring for an interview with the “Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels, who told him that Ricky Steamboat has a reputation for being one of the greatest wrestlers to ever step foot inside the squared-circle, and so does he. In fact, he isn’t just known as the “Heartbreak Kid.” He has other nicknames: “The Showstopper,” “The Icon,” and of course, “Mr. WrestleMania.” He earned those names because when he’s under the bright lights of the biggest stages in this very business, he always delivers the goods. He has wrestled countless classics, matches of the year, and the best matches on many a ‘Mania card, but the one thing that eludes him is the title of the greatest WrestleMania match of all-time. Everyone says it’s Savage-Steamboat. “The Dragon” got the win that night. Steamboat has what rightfully should belong to him. It isn’t enough for Michaels to be thought of as the greatest WrestleMania performer of all-time, he also wants to have the greatest WrestleMania match of all-time and win it. And who better to do all that against than the current holder of those accolades. Michaels lays out the challenge: HBK vs. The Dragon at WrestleMania!
Rhea Ripley defeated Raquel Gonzalez by submission at 9:07. Ripley and Gonzalez engaged in a lengthy brawl outside the ring. Gonzalez gave Ripley a fall away slam into the side of the barricade. Ripley gave Gonzalez an Irish whip into the ring steps so hard that it dislodged them. Gonzalez gave Ripley a superplex that nearly got the win. She set up Ripley for the one-armed powerbomb, but Ripley countered with a back body drop. After executing a discus lariat, Ripley set up for the Riptide, but Gonzalez escaped and dropped Ripley with a big boot. When Ripley got up, Gonzalez put her in a chokehold, but Ripley escaped with back elbows to the side of the head, then swept Gonzalez’s legs and put her in the Prism Trap.
Mean Gene spoke to Jordynne Grace who said that she was disappointed in taking the loss in last week’s 6-woman tag team match, but said that the blame for that laid squarely on the shoulders of Rhea Ripley and Raquel Gonzalez for abandoning her to take on the Riot Squad all alone. She said that if she got the chance, she’d give either one of them a piece of her mind. Just then, Rhea Ripley entered the picture. She couldn’t help overhearing her name and demanded to know what Grace was complaining about. Grace blamed her for last week’s loss. Ripley said that she just got done beating one of her teammates from last week, and wouldn’t mind beating the other one, so how about they fight next week? Grace accepted the challenge. Ripley said that after next week, Grace can blame her for two losses in a row. Then, Grace hit her with a hard forearm to the side of the face. The area was flooded with officials who got between the two powerful women before anything more could happen.
“Ravishing” Rick Rude defeated Tommaso Ciampa by pinfall at 11:43 to qualify for Mania Mayhem. This was a highly competitive bout that saw Ciampa reverse a figure four submission attempt on Rude, and Rude escaping a Fujiwara armbar submission attempt by Ciampa. When Rude executed a spike piledriver, he thought the match was over, but Ciampa kicked out of his lazy cover, then rolled out of the way of Rude’s diving knee drop attempt. Ciampa executed Project Ciampa and went for the pin, but Rude kicked out. Ciampa picked up Rude and set him up for a Fairytale Ending, but Rude countered with a back body drop. As Ciampa tried to get up, Rude lifted him over his head with a gutwrench into a backbreaker rack. Ciampa wouldn’t submit, so Rude released him and gave him the Rude Awakening to end it.
Mean Gene spoke to AJ Styles, who told him that he wasn’t done getting back at those backstabbers in the Bullet Club. He’s coming to Atlanta next week ready for a fight and it doesn’t care if it’s Gallows or Balor who steps in the ring with him, but says that whoever has the guts to get in the ring is going to end up flat on his back courtesy of a Styles Clash from the “Phenomenal” AJ Styles!
“Macho Man” Randy Savage defeated Samoa Joe by pinfall at 16:23. After Savage gave Joe a hair-pull hangman, he pulled Joe out of the ring. The Samoan Submission Machine shoved Savage into the barricade and gave him gave him an atomic drop across the top of the barricade. Joe then pulled him off the barricade with a neckbreaker before returning to the ring. Savage avoided a countout by a single count. He attacked Savage with knee drops before giving him a gutbuster. He made the cover to get a 2-count. He picked up Savage and gave him a folding powerbomb. Savage kicked out at two, but Joe held the legs and turned him over into a single-leg crab. Savage crawled to the ropes to force the break. Joe lit into him with knife-edge chops before going for an Irish whip. Savage reversed and connected with a running high knee strike. When Joe got up, Savage gave him another one. Savage followed with a pair of running clotheslines, then gave Joe an atomic drop and a bulldog takedown. He pinned him for a 2-count. Savage went out and climbed the turnbuckle. Joe got up and tripped him up. Joe tried to pull Savage out of the corner for a Musclebuster, but Savage fought him off and executed a diving double axehandle smash. Savage hit Joe with a running pointed-elbow smash, and then gave him a piledriver. He pinned him, but Joe kicked out just in the nick of time. Savage scooped up Joe and gave him a bodyslam, then he went back to the top turnbuckle.
As Savage pointed to the skies “The Game” by Motorhead hit the speakers. The Macho Man looked to the entrance ramp to see Bobby “The Brain” Heenan and Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley walking out. While the referee looked at them and waved at them to stay away from ringside Triple H hopped the guardrail and shoved Savage off the top rope. Joe went to take advantage by giving him a running senton, then pulling him off the mat to put him in the Coquina Clutch. Savage was fading away, but he found a second wind and gave Joe some elbows to the abdomen before breaking the hold with a side belly-to-back suplex. Both men got up just in time to beat the standing ten count. They threw fists at each other. Joe switched to chops and then went for a clothesline. Savage ducked and dropped Joe with a dropkick. When Joe got back up, Savage gave him a vertical suplex before bouncing off the ropes and executing a jumping knee drop on him. Joe crawled away and got to his feet. Savage gave him another hair-pull hangman, then went to the top rope and executed the diving elbow drop. He made the cover for the three-count.
After the match, Triple H jumped into the ring, but Savage was ready for him and they brawled. Adam Cole and FTR rushed to the ring to help, but then Eddie Guerrero and the Hardy Boyz rushed to the ring for the save. The show ended with the Heenan Family at the bottom of the entrance ramp and Savage, Guerrero, and the Hardy Boys in the ring shouting at each other.