How To Watch The WWE In A Focused, Fun Manner, Whether You're New Or A Long Time Fan, 10: Treading Water

4/14/2025

Somewhere in 2006, WWE lost the plot. Many of the storylines centered around Vince & Shane McMahon vs DX. Not the surly mix of Chyna, X-Pac, Billy Gunn, and Road Dogg. Just Shawn Michaels, Triple H and, occasionally, for some reason, Hornswoggle. Unfunny jokes, angles focusing on how Vince thinks he’s more powerful than God, and a troop of cheerleaders were all mixed into this year-long feud that we are mostly ignoring.

There were a ton of great undercard performers like Paul London, Brian Kendrick, Finlay, and the remainders of the Smackdown Six (RIP Eddie Guerrero). While we’ll see a bunch of their matches, most of them were buried under DX, Ric Flair, Big Show, Kane, The Undertaker, John Cena, and Edge. None of whom were at their best during 2006, though Undertaker and Shawn would resurge in 2007. Basically, I had to treat the WWE this season the way I treated WCW during the Monday Night Wars. I ignore most of the Main Event stuff and focus on smaller stories.

ROH continued to put on great matches but they were mostly familiar: Daniel Bryan Danielson, Samoa Joe, Nigel McGuinness, Austin Aries, Roderick Strong were all continuing to do what they did and do it well. But it isn’t until 2007 that we started to see new faces break through: Kevin Owens (as Kevin Steen), Sami Zayn (as El Generico), and Claudio Castagnoli.

The one company making big changes was Impact. First, Christian shows up from WWE and holds the title for nearly this entire season. Shortly after that, multi-time WWE Champ, Kurt Angle, shows up and goes directly into war with Samoa Joe, and it is Glorious. All the storytelling in Impact improves, as though to fill the void of WWE’s doldrums. They even start up a women's’ division that isn’t going to great Great until next season, but starts to show promise here as Gail Kim levels up from valet-who-wrestles to wrestler-who-occasionally-valets. There is a bit of a blip in women's wrestling in WWE as Mickie James is introduced in a somewhat interesting angle, and stays in the title scene for all of this season, which sees the retirement of both former champions, Trish Stratus and Lita.

An accidental quirk of the season: ROH produced a single commercial for their website. I thought it was worth leaving in an episode. But, somehow, it’s in EVERY episode this season. I didn’t do it on purpose but it’s only about thirty seconds and I found the mistake funny enough that I didn’t feel like going back and editing it out of every episode. I’ve also very purposefully included Impact’s melodramatic voiceovers about how wrestling is like war. Barry Scott’s over-the-top articulation is some of my favorite non-wrestling work in the wrestling industry.

Season 10:
Treading Water

Sorbet Episode: CZW All Deathmatches, All The Time (2001-2010)

Combat Zone Wrestling is the deathiest deathmatch wrestling in the history of the US. These matches are gruesome, not easy to watch, and look like they should have absolutely ended careers in every single match. I would never go to a CZW live show but it was a unique spectacle in wrestling history, and some truly great wrestlers came out of it. We'll see Necro Butcher in ROH for a spell, Sami Callihan will eventually run rampant in Impact, Jon Moxley shows up here before he becomes Dean Ambrose in WWE, which is before he returns to being Jon Moxley in AEW, and the semi-main event is a title match between Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Johnny Gargano who will all go on to dominate NXT in a few seasons. You may not want to eat while watching this.

1. Nick Gage, Zandig & Justice Pain vs Necro Butcher, Joker & Toby Klein in an Octagon Cage Of Death Match .

2. Nick Mondo & Jun Kasai vs Johnny Kashmere vs Justice Pain in a Fans Bring The Weapons Tag Match.

3. Thumbtack Jack vs Masada.

4. Nic Mondo vs Zandig Wifebeater in a 200 Lightbulb Match for the CZW Deathmatch Title.

5. Danny Havoc vs Sami Callihan in a Cage Of Death Match.

6. Adam Cole (CZW Champ) vs Johnny Gargano vs Kyle O'Reilly.

MAIN EVENT: DEAN AMBROSE (as JON MOXLEY) (CZW CHAMP) vs DRAKE YOUNGER vs NICK CAGE in a FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE MATCH.

Season 10, Episode 1: Big Time (2006)

Trish Stratus has a fan! And she’s also a wrestling diva. I’m sure they will be friends forever, especially after WWE tries to edit out a particular gesture in one of their matches (Don’t worry, I edited it back in). Other than that, it’s familiar faces all around, including Finlay, who we haven’t seen since the WCW days of Season 4!

1. Kurt Angle (WCW Champ) vs The Undertaker at No Way Out 2006.

2. Trish Stratus (WWE Womens Champ) vs Victoria at No Way Out 2006.

2. Shane McMahon vs Shawn Michaels from SNME.

3. Finlay vs Rey Mysterio from Smackdown.

4. MitB Ladder Match at Wrestlemania 22.
Bobby Lashley, Finlay, Matt Hardy, Ric Flair, RvD, Shelton Benjamin

5. Edge vs Mick Foley in a Hardcore Match at Wrestlemania 22.

6. Trish Stratus (WWE Womens Champ) vs Mickie James at Wrestlemania 22.

MAIN EVENT: KURT ANGLE (WCW CHAMP) vs RANDY ORTON vs REY MYSTERIO at WRESTLEMANIA 22.

Season 10, Episode 2: Unscripted Dissension (2006)

Matt Sydal (who briefly wrestled as Evan Bourne in WWE) is the new face in ROH. Other than that, it’s the top guys doing their best wrestling, including AJ Styles putting in some serious work during his days off from Impact.

1. AJ Styles vs Matt Sydal at Hell Freezes Over.

2. Nigel McGuinness (ROH Puro Champ) vs Austin Aries at Unscripted 2.

3. Daniel Bryan Danielson (ROH Champ) vs AJ Styles at Dissension.

4. Generation Next (ROH Tag Champs) vs AJ Styles & Matt Sydal at 4th Anniversary Show.

MAIN EVENT: DANIEL BRYAN DANIELSON (ROH CHAMP) vs ALEX SHELLY at ARENA WARFARE.

Season 10, Episode 3: Against All Odds (2006)

Seriously, I marvel at how AJ Styles and Samoa Joe completely dominated both Impact and ROH at the same time. How are they not more famous that ten-matches-a-year Hulk Hogan? This is the episode where the storytelling starts to pick up for Impact. It’s less about love triangles, authority figures, and belts, and more about friendship betrayals and corrupt managers. It’s also really nice to see Christian get the respect that was never truly given to him in the WWE.

1. Rhino vs Abyss in a Falls Count Anywhere Match at Against All Odds 2006.

2. Samoa Joe (Impact X Champ) vs AJ Styles vs Christopher Daniels at Against All Odds 2006.

3. Jeff Jarrett (Impact Champ) vs Christian at Against All Odds 2006.

4. Chris Sabin vs Petey Williams vs Sonjay Dutt vs TJP (as Puma) at Destination X 2006.

5. Christopher Daniels (Impact X Champ) vs Samoa Joe from Impact.

6. America’s Most Wanted vs The Dudley Boyz (as Team 3D) in a Street Fight from Impact.

7. Sting vs Eric Young from Impact.

MAIN EVENT: CHRISTIAN (IMPACT CHAMP) vs ABYSS in a STEEL CAGE MATCH at LOCKDOWN 2006.

Season 10, Episode 4: I Like To Fight (2006)

This is almost a Backlash to our last WWE episode. Many of the same faces in similar matches. The highlights here are Rey Mysterio’s criminally short reign as Heavyweight Champ.

1. Rey Mysterio (WCW Heavyweight Champ) vs Randy Orton from Smackdown.

2. Shelton Benjamin (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs RvD (MitB) at Backlash 2006.

3. John Cena (WWE Champ) vs Edge vs Triple H at Backlash 2006.

4. Finlay vs Chris Benoit from Smackdown.

5. John Cena (WWE Champ) & RvD (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Triple H, Chris Masters & Shelton Benjamin in a Tornado Tag Title Match from Raw.

6. MNM (WWE Tag Champs) vs Brian Kendrick & Paul London at Judgment Day 2006.

7. Chris Benoit vs Finlay at Judgment Day 2006.

MAIN EVENT: REY MYSTERIO (WCW HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMP) vs JBL at JUDGMENT DAY 2006.

Season 10, Episode 5: Blood Generation (2006)

Now we start to see some new faces as wrestlers from Wrestling NOAH in Japan, CZW, and Dragon Gate start to filter in. This era of international cross-promotion is the prototype that AEW will use when they get up and running.

1. Nigel McGuinness (ROH Puro Champ) vs Claudio Castagnoli at Best In The World.

2. KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs Bryan Danielson & Samoa Joe at Best In The World.

3. Blood Generation vs Generation Next at Dragon Gate Challenge.

4. Do Fixer vs Blood Generation at Supercard Of Honor.

MAIN EVENT: DANIEL BRYAN DANIELSON vs RODERICK STRONG at SUPERCARD OF HONOR.

Season 10, Episode 6: If Cena Wins, We Riot (2006)

ECW is back! Before it becomes WWE’s little league, we get a smaller nostalgia pop than the one from last season. And the audience gets ready to burn down the building if John Cena becomes ECW champ.

1. Rey Mysterio (WCW Heavyweight Champ) vs Sabu at One Night Stand 2006.

2. Mick Foley, Edge & Lita vs Tommy Dreamer, Sandman & Beulah McGuillcutty at One Night Stand 2006.

3. John Cena (WWE Champ) vs RvD at One Night Stand 2006.

4. Shelton Benjamin (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Carlito vs John Morrison (as Johnny Nitro) at Vengeance 2006.

5. RvD (WWE Champ) (ECW Champ) vs Edge at Vengeance 2006.

6. RvD (WWE Champ) (ECW Champ) vs Kurt Angle from ECW.

MAIN EVENT: THE BIG SHOW (ECW CHAMP) vs RIC FLAIR in an EXTREME RULES MATCH from ECW.

Season 10, Episode 7: Better Than Our Best (2006)

THE CZW Invasion is in full-swing and boy is ROH’s most vociferous voice, Jim Cornette, unhappy about all the hardocre wrestling!

1. Masato Yoshino & The Embassy vs Do Fixer at Better Than Our Best.

2. Generation Next (ROH Tag Champs) vs Blood Generation at Better Than Our Best.

3. Daniel Bryan Danielson (ROH Champ) vs Lance Storm at Better Than Our Best.

4. Colt Cabana vs Homicide in a Street Fight at Better Than Our Best.

MAIN EVENT: TEAM CZW vs TEAM ROH at 100TH SHOW

Season 10, Episode 8: America’s Most Wanted (2006)

This is a great mix of older WCW guys who could still wrestle, the original Impact superstars, and a new generation mixing it up in a variety of matches. Monty Brown is truly one of the most underrated wrestlers in Impact history, and it’s fun to see his brief run at the top of the card before he moved over to WWE and then swiftly retired.

1. AJ Styles, Rhyno, R-Truth (as Ron Killings) & Sting vs America’s Most Wanted, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner at Lockdown 2006.

2. America’s Most Wanted (Impact Tag Champs) vs AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels at Sacrifice 2006.

3. Alex Shelly vs Jay Lethal vs Lo Ki vs Petey Williams vs Shark Boy vs Sonjay Dutt at Slammiversary 2006.

4. Samoa Joe vs Monty Brown vs Rhyno at Hard Justice 2006.

MAIN EVENT: LAX (IMPACT TAG CHAMPS)) vs AJ STYLES & CHRISTOPHER DANIELS at NO SURRENDER 2006.

Season 10, Episode 9: Chi-Town Struggle 2006

More of the upper echelon of ROH putting on banger matches, plus Delirious and Necro Butcher!

1. Daniel Bryan Danielson (ROH Champ) vs Nigel McGuinness (ROH Puro Champ) at Weekend Of Champions 2006.

2. Jay Briscoe vs Austin Aries at How We Roll.

3. Daniel Bryan Danielson (ROH Champ) vs Delirious at Ring Of Homicide.

4. Homicide vs Necro Butcher at Ring Of Homicide.

MAIN EVENT: KENTA vs AUSTIN ARIES at CHI-TOWN STRUGGLE.

Season 10, Episode 10: ReCW (2006)

The resurgence of ECW as a brand is fairly brief but mostly fun. CM Punk spends his time in ECW climbing the ladder to WWE proper. As the old school ECW guys end up doing a lot of job work to the WWE mid-card.

1. Brian Kendrick & Paul London (WWE Tag Champs) vs The Pitbulls at Great American Bash 2006.

2. Umaga vs Shawn Michaels from Raw.

3. Mike Knox & Test vs Sandman & Tommy Dreamer from ECW.

4. CM Punk vs Justin Credible from ECW.

5. The Undertaker vs The Great Khali in a Last Man Standing Match from Smackdown.

6. Sabu vs Paul Heyman & Big Show (ECW Champ) from ECW.

7. DX vs Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon & The Big Show in Hell In A Cell at Unforgiven 2006.

8. Lita (WWE Womens Champ) vs Trish Stratus at Unforgiven 2006.

MAIN EVENT: EDGE (WWE CHAMP) vs JOHN CENA in a TLC MATCH at UNFORGIVEN 2006.

Season 10, Episode 11: Ring Of Combat Zone Wrestling (2006)

The CZW invasion continues!

1. Nigel McGuinness (ROH Puro Champ) vs Roderick Strong at Death Before Dishonor 2006.

2. Team ROH vs Team CZW in a Cage Of Death Match at Death Before Dishonor 2006.

3. BJ Whitmer vs Necro Butcher in a No Ropes Barbed Wire Match at War Of The Wire 2.

MAIN EVENT: DANIEL BRYAN DANIELSON (ROH CHAMP) vs NIGEL MCGUINNESS at GENERATION NOW.

Season 10, Episode 12: Car Crashes Waiting To Happen (2006)

The title comes from JBL describing Paul London and Brian Kendrick, who he does his best to put over. And their matches are great but I don’t see them show up on too many of those Best WWE Tag Teams lists, which is a shame. There’s more WWECW in this episode, and the excellent feud between Matt Hardy and Johnny Nitro.

1. RvD vs Hardcore Holly from ECW.

2. John Morrison (as Johnny Nitro) (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs Jeff Hardy from Raw.

3. Test vs RvD in an Extreme Rules Match from ECW.

4. Matt Hardy vs The Hurricane (as Greg Helms) at No Mercy 2006.

5. Umaga vs Kane from Raw.

6. RvD vs The Big Show in a non-title ladder match from ECW.

7. CM Punk vs Mike Knox from ECW.

8. Jeff Hardy (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs John Morrison (as Johnny Nitro) in a Ladder Match from Raw.

9. William Regal vs Brian Kendrick from Smackdown.

MAIN EVENT: LITA (WWE WOMENS CHAMP) vs MICKIE JAMES at SURVIVOR SERIES 2006.

Season 10, Episode 13: Puro Unification (2006)

It’s mostly the usual ROH suspects here, but we do open with Kenta and his protégé, Davey Richards, putting on a banger. At the end of the episode we see the final Puro title match for a long time.

1. KENTA vs Davey Richards at Fight Of The Century.

2. Daniel Bryan Danielson (ROH Champ) vs Samoa Joe at Fight Of The Century.

3. Austin Aries & Roderick Strong (ROH Tag Champs) vs The Briscoes at ROH Unified.

MAIN EVENT: DANIEL BRYAN DANIELSON (ROH CHAMP) vs NIGEL MCGUINNESS (ROH PURO CHAMP) at ROH UNIFIED.

Season 10, Episode 14: New Angles (2006)

In the background, Gail Kim continues to creep up to superstardom as a women' s wrestler. In the foreground, WWE’s multi-time champ, Kurt Angle shows up and immediately goes after Samoa Joe. It’s one of wrestling’s greatest rivalries.

1. Lo Ki (as Senshi) (Impact X Champ) vs Chris Sabin at Bound For Glory 2006.

2. Gail Kim vs Sirelda at Hard Justice 2006.

2. AJ Styles & Christopher Daniels (Impact Tag Champs) vs LAX in a Six Sides Of Steel Match at Bound For Glory 2006.

3. Kurt Angle vs Abyss from Impact.

4. Christian vs Rhyno in a Barbed Wire Six Sides Of Steel match from Impact.

5. Kurt Angle vs Samoa Joe at Genesis 2006.

6. Christian vs AJ Styles at Genesis 2006.

MAIN EVENT: KURT ANGLE vs SAMOA JOE at TURNING POINT 2006.

Season 10, Episode 15: Motor City Madness (2006)

Naomichi Marafuji, the GHC Champ from Pro Wrestling Noah shows up to mix things up with the top-tier ROH stars.

1. The Briscoes vs Davey Richards & Matt Sydal at Anarchy in The UK.

2. Samoa Joe vs Roderick Strong at Glory By Honor 2006.

3. Naomichi Marufuji (GHC Champ) vs Nigel McGuinness at Glory By Honor 2006.

4. Daniel Bryan Danielson (ROH Champ) vs KENTA at Glory By Honor 2006.

MAIN EVENT: THE BRISCOES vs HOMICIDE & SAMOA JOE at MOTOR CITY MADNESS 2006.

Season 10, Episode 16: Rated RKO (2006, 2007)

Randy Orton seemed to be caught in a cycle where he was a part of Evolution, he fought with Evolution, he was a part of Evolution, etc. Edge helps him break the cycle as they form a legendary, if not long-lived team as Rated RKO. Plus, we take a peek at the title scene for the first time in ages as John Cena has a couple of great matches against Umaga.

1. Brian Kendrick & Paul London vs Dave Taylor & William Regal vs MnM vs The Hardy Boyz in a Ladder Match at Armageddon 2006.

2. Jeff Hardy (WWE Intercontinental Champ) vs John Morrison (as Johnny Nitro) in a Steel Cage at New Year’s Revolution 2007.

3. Rated RKO (WWE Tag Champs) vs DX at New Year’s Revolution.

4. John Cena (WWE Champ) vs Umaga at New Year’s Revolution.

5. Chris Benoit (WWE US Champ) vs Chavo Guerrero from Smackdown.

6. Edge vs Shawn Michaels in a Street Fight from Raw.

MAIN EVENT: JOHN CENA (WWE CHAMP) vs UMAGA in a LAST MAN STANDING MATCH at ROYAL RUMBLE 2007.

Season 10, Episode 17: Honor Reclaims Boston (2006)

It’s once again Dragon Gate’s turn to send some Japanese wrestlers to mix it up with some CZW wrestlers and some up-and-coming ROH guys.

1. Homicide vs Adam Pearce in a Steel Cage at The Chicago Spectacular.

2. Christopher Daniels & Matt Sydal (ROH Tag Champs) vs CIMA & SHINGO at International Challenge.

3. The Briscoes vs The Kings Of Wrestling at Final Battle 2006.

4. CIMA, Matt Sydal & SHINGO vs Delirious & Generation Next at Final Battle 2006.

MAIN EVENT: DANIEL BRYAN DANIELSON (ROH CHAMP) vs HOMICIDE at FINAL BATTLE 2006.

Season 10, Episode 18: Destination Sacrifice (2007)

Last time we saw Jacqueline, she was the only-ever woman to hold the WCW Cruiserweight title in WWE. She shows up here to give Gail Kim the rub. Bobby Roode slips on to our chronology radar, and The Dudley Boyz (as Team 3D) start to dominate the tag division for a while. My favorite part of the episode? Jay Lethal’s transformation to Black Machismo. A truly great, limited time character.

1. Christian (Impact Champ) vs Samoa Joe at Destination X 2007.

2. Team Angle vs Team Cage in a Lethal Lockdown Steel Cage Match at Lockdown 2007.
Jeff Jarret, Kurt Angle, Rhyno, Samoa Joe & Sting vs Abyss, AJ Styles, Christian, Scott Steiner & Tyson Tomko

3. Bobby Roode vs Chris Harris from Impact.

4. Team 3D (Impact Tag Champs) vs Abyss & Christian from Impact.

5. Gail Kim vs Jacqueline (as Jackie Moore) in a Street Fight from Impact.

6. Chris Sabin (Impact X Champ) vs Jay Lethal (as Black Machismo) vs Sonjay Dutt at Sacrifice 2007.

7. Chris Harris vs James Storm in a Texas Death Match at Sacrifice 2007.

IMPACT SEASON FINALE MAIN EVENT: CHRISTIAN (IMPACT CHAMP) vs KURT ANGLE vs STING at SACRIFICE 2007.

Season 10, Episode 19: Wood Anniversary (2007)

It’s been five years of Ring Of Honor! All their superstars kick and beat the crap out of each other on a worldwide tour to celebrate their anniversary. And we finally see Kevin Owens and Pac debut in ROH!

1. Samoa Joe vs Takeshi Morishima at Fifth Year NY.

2. The Briscoes vs Kevin Owens (as Kevin Steen) & Sami Zayn (as El Generico) at Fifth Year Philadelphia.

3. Colt Cabana vs Jimmy Jacobs in a Death Match at Fifth Year Dayton.

4. Matt Sydal vs Delirious in a ⅔ Falls Match at Fifth Year Liverpool.

5. Roderick Strong (FIP Heavyweight Champ) vs Pac at Fifth Year Liverpool.

6. The Briscoes (ROH Tag Champs) vs Naruki Doi & SHINGO at Fifth Year Liverpool.

ROH SEASON FINALE MAIN EVENT: SAMOA JOE vs NIGEL MCGUINNESS at FIFTH YEAR LIVERPOOL.

Season 10, Episode 20: Mister Mister Money In The Bank…Bank

We end the season with a really transitional time in WWE history. I’ve included Mickie James's new feud, one of the best Royal Rumble matches of all-time despite a rather thin roster, and the rise of Mr Kennedy as a main eventer.

1. John Cena & Shawn Michaels vs Mr Kennedy & MVP from Smackdown.

2. Royal Rumble Match 2007.
Booker T (as King Booker), Carlito, Chavo Guerrero, Chris Benoit, Chris Masters, CM Punk, Edge, Finlay, The Great Khali, Hardcore Holly, The Hurricane (as Greg Helms), Jeff Hardy, John Morrison (as Johnny Nitro), Kane, Kenny Dykstra, Kevin Thorn, Matt Hardy, The Miz, MVP, Randy Orton, Ric Flair, RvD, Sabu, The Sandman, Shawn Michaels, Shelton Benjamin, Super Crazy, Tommy Dreamer, The Undertaker, Viscera

3. Mickie James (WWE Womens Champ) vs Melina from Raw.

4. John Morrison (as Johnny Nitro) vs CM Punk from ECW.

5. Bobby Lashley (ECW Champ) vs Hardcore Holly vs Mr Kennedy from ECW.

6. Bobby Lashley (ECW Champ) vs Hardcore Holly in a Steel Cage from ECW.

7. Melina (WWE Womens Champ) vs Mickie James in a Falls Count Anywhere Match from Raw.

WWE SEASON FINALE MAIN EVENT: MONEY IN THE BANK LADDER MATCH at WRESTLEMANIA 23.
Booker T (as King Booker), CM Punk, Edge, Finlay, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Mr Kennedy, Randy Orton

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