WWE New Year's Revolution (2005 TV Special) User Reviews (8)

This Was Definitely A One Match Show.. And Eugene-Mania Is Alive And Well, Hopefully.

[BunkhouseTito · 7/10 · 17 January 2005]

Usually, I review the DVD, but I thought I'd put up a review with my immediate thoughts on this show. I knew that Puerto Rico would be a great place to hold a Pay-Per-View due to the fact that the crowds there usually pop for anything and, to be honest, this event proves it. The wrestlers worked the crowd a lot more than usual and the fans sounded a lot louder than usual at times.

Match Reviews.

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH Eugene & William Regal (C) vs Christian & Tyson Tomko - Eugene made his entrance, in a mocking but lovable way, the same way that Hulk Hogan made his entrance back in 1984 when he beat the Iron Shiek for the WWF World Championship. They went as far as having a shirt made up for Eugene based on the old Hulkamania shirt, but instead said Eugene across. It even had the rips in the back and Eugene also wore the red and yellow headband. Personally, I loved it and this is a testament to what I was saying about the Puerto Rico crowd. They loved it, too. The match, itself, was not a great spectacle, but it was highly entertaining. Regal got opened up the hard way. With Eugene imitating "his favorite WWE Superstars growing up", he practically did a whole Hulk Hogan match. Hell, he could have headlined WrestleMania 6, or 19... or any of them that featured Hulk Hogan! Anyhow, I can only suspect that the supposed finish here was to have Eugene end it with the Leg Drop after the Big Boot to the face, but Eugene injured himself after a dropkick and they ended the match quickly thereafter.

WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH Trish Stratus vs Lita (C) - A pretty short match that probably was not scheduled to go long anyways. This one was also cut short by a knee injury, and again, it didn't look all that bad on TV but the way that Lita was acting, one could tell it was not a work. She injured her knee doing a Thesz Press to the floor and if I remember right, she did another dive or two before the injury took place. Not a bad match, but the WWE needs some more women wrestlers before this division becomes more of a joke than it currently is.

Muhammad Hassan with Khosrow Daivari vs Jerry "The King" Lawler with Jim Ross - Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari made their PPV debut here against Jerry Lawler. As you could imagine, this match was left without commentary. Daivari interfered at one point, then Jim Ross stood in his way to keep him from interfering again later in the match.

INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH Shelton Benjamin (C) vs Maven - This was the biggest mismatch on the show, in my opinion. Maven should have been counted out long before he bothered to re-enter the ring as he went outside, stood on a chair and worked the crowd for nearly 10 minutes before returning to the ring and ending the match.

Kane vs Gene Snitsky - OK, so let me get this one straight. Gene Snitsky causes you to lose your unborn baby, puts you on the shelf for months, torments your wife while you are away and the monster Kane comes in and wrestles a match?? Kane and Snitsky worked a regular match for awhile which later turned into a semi-brawl. Not once was a weapon even used! This match exposed Snitsky as the horrible worker he is. I would have to say that I enjoyed the ladies match more than this one, and it's a sad day when the women make it into the top 3. Luckily, the WWE has all their eggs placed in one basket, here, and we are about to see it.

ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH FOR THE VACANT WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP Triple H vs Randy Orton vs Batista vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit vs Edge with Shawn Michaels as Special Referee - I think this match was used for two purposes. First, to do everything in their power to make Randy Orton into the super babyface they need him to be for WrestleMania. Second, to focus on the slow dissension of Evolution, mainly Triple H and Batista. They did an excellent job of slowly progressing that angle and making Randy Orton the feared babyface on the chase. Batista got put over strong because of his power. He pretty much destroyed Benoit and Jericho by himself and even threw Jericho onto a nearby camera man! Benoit executed a nice head butt from the top of the chamber at one point and another had Triple H in the Crippler Crossface at the same time he was in The Walls Of Jericho. Batista is then released from his chamber and helps Triple H out. Anyways, Triple H refuses to return the favor to Batista when he has the chance to help him out of a jam, unbeknown to Batista (I'm sure that he'll see it on RAW the next night) and lets him get eliminated after Orton's RKO. The show ends with Triple H on Batista's shoulders.

Overall, it was still a fun show, despite all my criticisms. The main event clearly saved the show from being something as bad as NWO Souled Out or something of that nature and it was cool to see how Puerto Rican fans responded to the WWE. Plus, there was quite a bit of footage of Christy Hemme running around the poolside with other divas, rubbing oil on each other, chicken fights, etc. That alone is worth seeing New Years Revolution.

New Years Revolution

[wrestlingsitewebmaster · 5/10 · 16 June 2005]

With this being the first PPV for 2005, it fell short of what I expected. The only match that was good was the Elimination Chamber Match which pitted Chris Jericho, Edge, Triple H, Chris Benoit, Batista and Randy Orton, with Shawn Michaels as the guest referee. Why Triple H won the title again, is anyone's guess, but overall 10/10.

Unfortunately the undercard was rubbish. Match one pitting World Tag champs, William Regal and Eugene against Christian and Tyson Tomko, was a disappointment, because Eugene hurt himself during the match. This match went on for 11 minutes before Regal and Eugene got the pin. Match number 2 wasn't good either as Lita suffered a torn ACL in her match with Trish Stratus. Then Jerry 'the king' Lawler battled hatted Iraqi sympathiser Muhammed Hassan. This was a bore and Hassan won.

The Shelton Benjamin was put into a match with Tough Enough 1 winner Maven. The WWE management had little faith in Maven's abilities, that they ordered him to shout at the audience for nearly 10 minutes. Benjamin then covered him, and then again, when Maven ordered a rematch! The next match bought back memories of the triple threat hardcore match at Wrestlemania 17, which featured Raven vs Big Show vs Kane. It was that bad, featuring some of the worst brawling since the Sandman gave up drinking, Kane covered Gene Snitsky, in a terrible brawl! The efforts of HHH, HBK, Edge, Batista, Y2J, Orton and Benoit make this a PPV to remember because of the main event, but other than that stay away from it!

The main event stood out in a forgettable event

[davidpenzer · 6/10 · 14 January 2005]

Apart for the Chamber Match, is there any reason at all to care for this show?

Match 1: Eugene and Regal vs. Tomko and Christian. World Tag Team Championship.

• Well put together tag match, slightly above average. Starts off good with Regal against Christian. Eugene is tagged in but Tomko overpowers him. Tomko has been heavily criticized but I think he plays his role quite well. Regal gives Eugene the "Hot Tag" that we see in EVERY tag match nowadays. Eugene then blows his knee in a legit injury and pins Tomko with a poor roll-up when the match booking has to be changed.

Match Rating: 3/5

Match 2: Lita vs. Trish. Women's Championship.

• Lita injures her knee after a Lou Thesz press, making it two legit knee injuries in a row! Again the match booking is changed. Trish regains the title after The Kick That Barely Connects With The Opponent.

Match Rating: 1/5

Edge tells Bischoff that he doesn't want the match tonight because he has no chance of winning with HBK as referee. He wants to give it to Christian instead but Bischoff will have nothing of Edge's crappy ideas.

Match 3: Shelton Benjamin vs. Maven. Intercontinental Championship

• Maven comes out and taunts the Puerto Rican crowd. This audience eats up everything so he manages to get some heat for it. Then Shelton pins him with a roll-up in five seconds! Maven is beside himself. He rambles about Shelton beating him when it doesn't count and saying we have two women's champions. Even The Ultimate Warrior makes more sense on the mic. Shelton immediately pins him again with a T-Bone suplex. Two jobs in ten seconds! I wonder if Maven bothered to shower after this p.p.v.

Match Rating: 0/5

We see a Raw footage of Mohammed Hassan and Daivari beating down J.R. and King. In a backstage interview Hassan says the footage was typical for America – it showed only one side of the story. Damn, funny stuff here.

Match 4: Jerry Lawler vs. Mohammed Hassan.

• Match begins with seven bodyslams! A good sign of how boring it's going to get. Hassan dominates but Lawler gets way too much offense in. After ten minutes, the match is still going (without any announcing!). The crowd is so excited, they're sitting. The King starts no-selling Hassan's punches! Me and my friends tap out hoping the match will end. It doesn't. More crappy booking and a messy finish follows.

Match Rating: 1/5

My cable's acting funny tonight. Could it be some kind of defense mechanism…?

Orton interrupts Batista's interview and asks if he's going to kick Triple H's ass tonight or kiss it. Good stuff.

Promo for the Kane/Snitsky feud. I have a hard time staying awake during these segments.

Match 5: Kane vs. Snitsky.

• An OK big men match. These guys work descent together but the angle is just painful. Some power moves, some action outside the ring and a bearhug from Snitsky that nearly puts the three of us to sleep. Due to the "Return Match Rule", Kane gets a clean win after a Tombstone Piledriver.

Match Rating: 2/5

Triple H is questioning Batista's loyalty and Batista says he has HHH's back. This story has been built up beautifully.

Match 6: Elimination Chamber World Heavyweight Championship

• I really like the idea of having Shawn Michaels as referee since he can possibly screw anyone here. Sadly they threw the unpredictability out the window with the Edge/Bischoff/HBK segment. HHH comes out to a huge face pop! Randy Orton has the next entrance and he tries so hard to get a bigger reaction he almost pisses his pants. Benoit starts of against Y2J and it's pretty intense but nothing fantastic. HHH is first to be released from the chamber. He dominates the other two. Crowd is into it. Edge joins the action and hits the Edgecution on Trips. Now it's going back and forth. A great match so far. I have to bring up the usual rant though: There are never more than two wrestlers active at the same time. WWE really needs to do something about this lazy match booking. Orton is in, still no eliminations. HBK gives Edge the Sweet Chin Music after being hit with the Spear by mistake. Edge eliminated. Benoit connects with a Diving Headbutt from the top of one of the chambers. Beautiful! HHH is put in the Walls and the Crossface at the same time but lasts an incredible amount of time so Batista can save the day. After dominating some more, Batista pins Benoit with a spinebuster. One have to wonder how a former champion and a wrestler who lasted out 29 men in the Rumble can be put away with that move. A Sit-down Powerbomb eliminates Jericho. HHH and Batista team up on Orton for a few minutes until Randy comes back with his secret weapon; the punch. Very boring performance by Orton in this match. He pins Batista after a low blow and an RKO but Flair interferes so HHH can hit the Pedigree for the win and the title (gee, I've never seen that ending to a HHH match before).

Match Rating: 4/5

The Good: Great main event, kudos to everyone involved!

The Bad: WWE showed the fans there is no need to take Hassan seriously since he needed help to go over an announcer! By having Eric Bischoff come out and welcome the people to the show when there was only one match left, they pretty much revealed how little importance the rest of the card had.

The Ugly: Maven's push: Didn't last too long, did it.

New Years Revolution Rating: 2/5

An almost total rip-off, redeemed by the main event

[gridoon · 6/10 · 30 November 2005]

1) Tyson Tomko and Christian vs. Eugene and William Regal (for the tag team title, if you can believe that!). Not as pathetic as I expected, though what really makes it interesting is that it's one of those rare matches where everything doesn't go as planned: Eugene hurts his knee for real, Regal's nose bleeds for real, and Tomko is "pinned" even though his right shoulder is several inches above the canvas. **

2) Lita vs. Trish (for the women's title). The build-up to this match is great. The match itself is a sad disappointment. A disappointment, because it lasts only 2 minutes, as Lita gets injured after a risky stunt. And sad, because this injury was a serious setback to her career; I don't think she has wrestled again to this day since that match. *

(By the way, Lita is far from being the "sloppy b*tch" another reviewer insultingly called her. In fact, she can do some things in the ring that most men on the current roster can only dream of).

3) Shelton Benjamin vs. Maven (for the intercontinental title). This match never really starts. Maven trash-talks to the audience and to Benjamin for about 5 minutes, and gets pinned by him in 2 seconds TWICE. Obviously this rates below zero as a wrestling match, but Maven IS pretty funny on the mic and the crowd obviously enjoyed it, so what can I say? No rating.

4) Muhammad Hassan vs. Jerry (not Springer, but...) "The King" Lawler. Mind-numbingly bad. At one point, there are six identical body slams in a row! I have only two questions: 1) Who is responsible for this garbage? 2) What punishment is severe enough for him? 0

5) Kane vs. Snitsky. As you'd expect from two big men, a rather plodding match, but this one has its moments, like Snitsky's bearhug (I never thought I'd see someone try THAT on Kane!) and the double attempted chokeslams. However, the premise on which the match was based ("it wasn't my fault") is utterly distasteful. **

6) Elimination Chamber Match for the heavyweight title. Triple H vs. Batista vs. Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho vs. Edge, with Shawn Michaels as the special guest referee (I think he had more fans in the crowd that night than any of the participants!). It would be very difficult for this match to fully live up to the huge hype before it, and the commentators' overstating can get annoying at times. Nevertheless, it is by far the best match of the night, and considering its length it is relentlessly paced, with virtually no dead spots. Among the highlights: Benoit getting the crossface on Orton and HHH mocking Orton and supporting Benoit (!), HBK playing "Sweet Chin Music" on Edge (the crowd goes wild after that one!), HHH in double submission holds by Jericho AND Benoit, Batista throwing Jericho on one of the cameramen and later powerbombing him (a very high-impact move). Can't say I liked the ending, though. This was the second time in a row (after "Unforgiven 2004") that HHH defeated Orton with interference from (an eliminated) Batista and Ric Flair. ***

*SPOILER ALERT* Not that bad of a PPV

[disturbedevanescence · 8/10 · 28 February 2008]

1st Match/World Tag Team Championship Match: (12:22) William Regel & Eugene(c) Vs. Christian & Tyson Tomko -

• This was a decent match, however, Eugene gets kinda old after a while, so that irked me. Eugene injured his knee in this match after he preformed a drop kick on Tomko. Eugene wins with a roll-up on Tomko. 2/5

2nd Match/ Women's Champioship Match: (3:46) Lita(c) Vs. Trish Stratus

• Now, let's just say that this match was too hyped up for it's own good. After that amazing match these two had a month prior to this i expected something jaw dropping. Now i'm not saying that they preformed horrible, but just as the match was just picking up Lita suffered a real knee injury. So she and Trish did the best they could to make it a good match but a quick finish. Trish wins with a "Chick Kick" to become a record setting 6 time Women's Champion. 3/5

3rd Match/ Intercontinental Match: (6:08) "Rematch"(00:05) Shelton Benjamin(c) Vs. Maven

• No wrestling took place in this match, all Maven did was yell at the crowd for not being able to speak English. Just before he was going to be counted out he decided to run back in the ring but Benjamin pinned him moments later. He requested a re-match and after insulting Benjamin, he got it, and once again he was pinned just after the bell rang. 0/5

4th Match/ Jerry "King" Lawler(w/J.R.) Vs. Muhammad Hassan(w/Daivari)(10:51)

• It's great to see King in action, but Hassan won, which was the down side of this match. This was also dull because there was no commentary. It was a decent match but not great. 2/5

5th Match/ Kane Vs. Gene Snitsky (11:38)

• This was the first nail biter match of the night. The whole Snitsky killing Kane and Lita's baby was ridiculous but the matches that they had together were good. Kane pins Snitsky after a pile-driver. 4/5

6th Match/ Elimination Chamber Match for the Wolrd Heavyweight Championship: Triple H Vs. Batista Vs. Chris Benoit Vs. Randy Orton Vs. Edge Vs. Chris Jericho (w/Shawn Michaels as special Ref.) (34:55)

• This match was the best of the night. Chris Jericho and Benoit started out the match. Next Edge was released followed by Triple H then Randy Orton. Edge was eliminated first after he accidentally speared Shawn Michaels. Shawn hit Edge with a "Sweet Chin Music" which put him out long enough for a 3-count. Batista was then released from his chamber. Chris Benoit was eliminated next, followed by Chris Jericho. Batista and Triple H joined forces and took turns in fighting Orton until out of nowhere Orton scored with the RKO on Batista and eliminated him. Batista interfered with the match and allowed Triple H to get the pin fall after a pedigree on Randy Orton, making him a 10 time World Champion. 5/5

Bad from top to bottom!

[Cinema_Love · 1/10 · 10 March 2005]

Like some people said, it's a one match show but still, that match didn't deliver. It's predictable from top to bottom and only when Benoit, Jericho & Edge were in the ring was quality!! Well, in fact, this is a pure RAW show except that it cost 40$ and it don't worth the price. Very poor event, 1st match of Muhammad Hassan dude too, the worst match I see in years since a bra & panties between Jack Brisco & Pat Patterson. Absolutely awful! Don't buy this show, try to watch the show before paying hard money on that. The work is not even solid, you remember WCW of 2000?? It was a pure masterpiece besides that. The work is crap from top to bottom, like I said only Benoit, Jericho & Edge give us our money worth but it's about 15 min in a 180 min show. Disgusting!

A great new PPV

[kliko400 · 8/10 · 8 January 2007]

This was definitely a great new PPV & also a pretty good way to start 2005 as well.

FIRST MATCH- EUGENE & WILLIAM REGAL VS. TYSON TOMKO & Christian FOR THE WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP Not bad for an opener but also not good as this match was pretty sloppy & slow. Eugene & William Regal retain their Tag Titles after Eugene gets a roll-up on Tomko. {By the way Eugene injured himself during the match}. 3/10 SECOND MATCH- LITA VS. TRISH STRATUS FOR THE WWE WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP his match also was a bit bad. Lita injured herself during the match after attempting a plancha on Trish on the outside. Trish took advantage of the injury & nailed a Chick Kick for the win to become the new WWE Women's Champion for the fourth time. 3/10 THIRD MATCH- MUHAMMAD HASSAN W/ DAIVARI VS. JERRY 'THE KING' LAWLER W/ JIM ROSS Man what is up with these matches, this one was really, really boring. Muhammad Hassan wins after nailing a cool looking DDT for the victory in his debut match. 3/10 FOURTH MATCH- SHELTON BENJAMIN VS. MAVEN FOR THE WWE INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPIONSHIP Wasn't good as well, Maven started taunting the crowd, then went in the ring to face Benjamin but Benjamin out of nowhere nailed a roll-up to defeat Maven in two seconds. Maven again asked Shelton for a rematch but Shelton this time nailed a T-Bone Suplex for the win in two seconds again. 2/10 FIFTH MATCH- KANE VS. GENE SNITSKY This was a big man vs. big man match which was a bit slow & sloppy at times but later became a pretty good match. Kane nails a modified Pilesdriver to defeat the psychotic monster Snitsky. 4/10 SIXTH MATCH- HHH VS. ORTON VS. BATISTA VS. JERICHO VS. BENOIT VS. EDGE IN AN ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH FOR THE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE: SHAWN MICHAELS Unbelievable, what an unbelievable match. I'd go as far as to say that this was probably the best Elimination Chamber match I have ever watched. The last three were Orton, Batista & HHH. Orton nails a low blow followed by an RKO on Batista to eliminate him. Later Orton nails the RKO on HHH but Michaels is distracted by Flair, which makes Batista to nail a huge running clothesline on Orton followed by a Pedigree by HHH to win as HHH has won the vacated World Title for the 10th time. 8/10

Even though all the matches were pretty bad & boring, the reason I am giving this PPV a 8/10 is because of the extraordinary Elimination Chamber match which blew the top off the arena.

Overall: I'll give it 8/10 & a B+

Welcome to the new year!

[BigBadaBruce · 8 May 2005]

The crowd was quite high throughout the might despite the action. Definitely a one-match show. That's why I'm glad in the UK you didn't have to pay to see this one.

Match Reviews.

WORLD TAG TEAM TITLE MATCH Eugene & William Regal (C) vs Christian & Tyson Tomko - Eugene made his entrance, in a mocking but lovable way, as Hulk Hogan with the outfit and the actions down to pat. He even wrestled like the Hulkster (punch-kick) and was quite entertaining. Christian shouldn't be battling for the Tag Team titles. Tomko is good in the he does and Regal is just himself. Good starter, too bad Eugene got injured.

WOMEN'S TITLE MATCH Trish Stratus vs Lita (C) - The Women's Division is a joke and this doesn't help causes. People get boners over Lita's wrestling ability, saying she's a daredevil and all that, but she's not, she's just a sloppy bitch. I half expect her to come to the ring drooling.

Muhammad Hassan with Khosrow Daivari vs Jerry "The King" Lawler with Jim Ross - Muhammad Hassan and Khosrow Daivari made their PPV debut here against Jerry Lawler. There was no commentary that really didn't help the match. If this is old style wrestling, I'm glad I started watching when I did.

INTERCONTINENTAL TITLE MATCH Shelton Benjamin (C) vs Maven - Complete waste of time with Maven outside for ten minutes getting crowd heat. Then he runs in and gets pinned. Asks for a rematch and gets pinned again. Please, no encore.

Kane vs Gene Snitsky - OK, let's go through this one more time. Gene Snitsky causes you to lose your unborn baby, puts you on the shelf for months, torments your wife while you are away and you decide to wrestle a normal match! Not once was a weapon even used! This match exposed Snitsky as the horrible worker he is. It's a pity Kane didn't have time to get back into ring shape as he's a good worker.

ELIMINATION CHAMBER MATCH FOR THE VACANT WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP Triple H vs Randy Orton vs Batista vs Chris Jericho vs Chris Benoit vs Edge with Shawn Michaels as Special Referee - So Triple-H loses the World Heavyweight title in a Triple Threat match when Benoit and Edge end up in a double pin/submission. Then he wins it back again straight away. And the point was? HBK took a bit of the match away from me as I knew he would have a hand in it. Edge gets eliminated by him. Benoit does his usual best, which I thank him for. Y2J isn't the same as 2000/01 and the Evolution members just suck for the most part. Good to see the WWe continuing the Batista/HHH angle.

Basically a one-match PPV, don't go out of your way to see it, there's no point.