Friday 2 December 2011

Sami Callihan vs Brodie Lee, EVOLVE 8

Holy stiffness Batman! This was exactly the war you want these two guys to have. Right at the bell Sami rips Brodie's shirt off to lay in the chops and Brodie responds with an almighty pimp-hand. The chops both guys gave out were ungodly. They also played up the big vs small story well, with moments like Sami struggling to hit suplexes on the big man and your "cutting the big tree down" spot. Sami was intense as always, taking the straps down at one point and spitting on his hands to give a chop a little bit more muster. Brodie takes some huge bumps for a guy his size, includng missing a big boot in the corner and flying out of the ring. This was followed by Sami hitting a big dive that destroyed the railing behind them. Brodie repeatedly dumping Sami on the apron was mean. Finish was great with Sami hitting a stiff-as-a-motherfuck diving forearm and then the Stretch Muffler with kicks to the head. Just a war of a match.

Go Shiozaki vs Takeshi Morishima, NOAH 6/11

This was another depressing reminder of how uninteresting NOAH has become. Morishima was pretty solid I guess, and threw his weight around effectively. I dug his various butt attacks and him countering a suplerplex by just falling on top of Shiozaki. But still this was just a long, boring, plodding generic heavyweight match. Yawn.

Munenori Sawa vs Ikuto Hidaka, Zero-ONE 11/9

This was Sawa's retirement match, and it really was what you would expect that to be. I guess I can't hate on it too much becuase it was a nice send-off and a crowd-pleaser, but as a match it was entirely predictable. Sawa gets to run through his spots, play to crowd and generally feel good about himself. Their strikes were pretty tame, and it was just so long and aimless (like most puro juniors matches). Hidaka got a few ankle lock nearfalls in which were tediously long and had zero chance of winning the match. Plenty of annoying Sawa gymnastics, goofy faces and no-selling, and Hidaka pretty much waiting for Sawa to hit him with Shining Wizards was irritating. Atleast the KO finish looked pretty sick and the right guy won.

Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan, WWE Smackdown 11/29 (Steel Cage)

Another great TV match between these two, and their best yet. Not only did this feel like a huge match, but both guys came out looking fucking legit. Henry was superb in this, managing to murder Bryan in brutal ways early on (slingshot into the cage?), but then selling his ass off and giving him enough offence that Bryan looked like he took him to the level. A heel working an injury angle can be hit and miss, but thanks to the booking it was used as a chink in Henry's armour for Bryan to expoit. As the match went on, Henry was reduced to just running into Bryan with clotheslines to cut him off (and they looked brutal thanks to both guys). The sequences with the Lebell lock countered then countered again into the Ankle lock was crazy and a HUGE nearfall for Bryan that looked as close to finishing Henry as anyone has come since he won the belt. Final minutes were way dramatic and the finish was epic. Henry came out looking like he had just been given hell, and Bryan looked legit for giving him such a harsh storm to weather. Also, Henry yelling "Happy New Year" at Bryan as he beat the crud out of him was hilarious.

Tuesday 22 November 2011

Survivor Series

Dolph Ziggler vs John Morrison

Really good mid-card match, kind of like what they would have in a Superstars main event spot. Morrison continues to look infinitely better than he did this time last year, hitting all his flashy athletic stuff really fluidly, and Ziggler is currently on a hot streak of quality matches. Plenty of cool spots and counters, exchanges that kept you guessing, and they did a really great job of getting the most out of their moveset for hot nearfalls (the Sleeper, the Fame-asser, the running knee, etc).

Randy Orton/Sheamus/Kofi Kingston/Mason Ryan/Sin Cara vs Wade Barrett/Cody Rhodes/Jack Swagger/Dolph Ziggler/Hunico (Elimination)

WWE usually has no idea how to book these kind of big elimination tag matches, and whilest this one actually did have some solid booking going on, it was still a pretty drab affair. Cara injuring himself early obviously fucked up their plans and caused them to change it up, which didn't help. Way too much Mason Ryan, too much Kofi and too much Hunico. Not that I have much against Hunico (other than his lack of ring attire), but he's clearly the weakest worker on the heel side. Sheamus getting DQ'd was probably the cheapest way of protecting him, but atleast the finish was smartly booked with Wade and Cody both getting to look like a big deal without Orton losing face.

Mark Henry vs The Big Show

This was really dissapointing. I wouldn't go far enough to say it sucked, because they did enough right, but it was easily both men's worst match of the year. It was laid out pretty well, and the count-out nearfall playing off Summerslam was pretty smart, but the action was dull, and the crowd shitting all over it made it worse. That said, I will never hate a match that sees The Big Show doing a goddamn top rope elbow drop. Merciful Mother Of Fuck, that was one of the most insane things I have ever seen in wrestling.

Alberto Del Rio vs CM Punk

This was a good match, but I'd be lying if I said I was really into it. Despite the shitty build, I was still excited as it's two of the better workers in the company, but I thought this should have been much better. Took a long time to really get out of first gear, and the duelling arm-work (which kept the match interesting most of the way) didn't really go anywhere or get sold in a meaningful until the very end. Del Rio's best attributes as a worker (charisma, taking wicked bumps) weren't really shown, and I kinda hated the finish with Punk catching him in the Vice mere seconds after having his arm almost ripped out it's socket.

The Rock/John Cena vs Awesome Truth

First, let's talk about The Rock. He looked great, hadn't lost a beat. It'll be different working a singles match, but still. Those armdrags were SNAPPY, he took bumps, his charisma and presence is un-matched and he even busted out a freakin' Magistral Cradle. As a match this bombed, but literally had zero chance of ever being good. The "feuding partners" deal pretty much never makes a good match, especially when the WWE seemed to put so much effort into making it clear the heels had no chance of winning. Cena worked hard bumping and selling for them, but Awesome Truth just aren't a good in-ring team, which made most of the match a massive chore with everyone just waiting for The Rock. While this didn't make me any more excited about the WM28 main event, it did make me wish for Rock to return as a full or part-time roster member. Really it is a collosal waste that this might be one of the only two Rock matches we get, and only further highlights the stupidity and conservative nature of the WWE. Bah.

Monday 14 November 2011

Low Ki vs Frankie Arion, CTWE 9/24

Pretty fun superstar vs local indy hero match. Ki is a big enough star at this point that him stepping into a small time promotion like this feels like a big moment for them, and Arion was pretty game. Arion doesn't do anything that will wow you or leave a lasting impression, but he was better than your average scrub and executed all his stuff well. Still, this was pretty much all Low Ki. He was really vicious early on when working Arion over, including some sick headbutts to the back of the neck and dumping him hard on the floor, and when it came time for Frankie's big comeback run, Ki put his offence over huge. One or two spots were slightly goofed and looked really over co-operative, but still a fun match of this kind and a great look at Ki in this role.

Suwama vs Jun Akiyama, All Japan 10/23


This was a good match, but definitely not the MOTYC it is being lauded at on some boards. The match on it's own is fine, but it's the emotion and outcome that puts it over the top and will probably lead to it being overated. 2/3 of the way in I was pretty on the fence about it and was wondering if when people call matches like this "King's Road" they actually understand what that means or wether they think it just means "suplexes off the apron", but the final third or so was pretty great and saved it. Akiyama's selling of the back, facial expressions, etc. were all pretty great, but that is what I have come to expect from a talent of his calibre. There was one uber-lame no-sell suplex exchange, which felt very forced and out-of-place. "This is a big NOAH/AJ title match, we have to do atleast one suplex fighting spirit spot" even if it was just as Suwama began regaining control of the match. Suwama in control is pretty dry and uninteresting, but atleast he tries to mix it up by busting out stuff like dives and an enziguri(!?). Anyway yeah, fine match that became great in the final section. Plenty of struggle and focus on transitions there, and I actually thought the kickout at 1>fire-up spot (which I usually cringe at) worked really well here as far as making Suwama look legit in the "ace" role and making the mountain Akiyama had to climb even bigger. Then there was THAT headbutt! Then a cradle nearfall!? Yeah. Good match though far from flawless or a MOTYC.

Drew McIntyre vs John Morrison, WWE Superstars 11/3

Pretty great little superstars main event and a nice reminder that these guys are still there and tearing it up. Morrison's flashy athletic shit was used pretty well throughout and his big spots (the flip off the stairs, the twisting hilo over the ring post) were impressive. Drew Mac is still Drew Mac and beat the tar out of him, and sold his ass off to make Morrison's offence look great. Really liked Drew suckering Morrison in to smash him into the ring frame, and the way they set-up the finish was really well done.

Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan, WWE Smackdown 11/4


Well this was an awesome TV main event. Not necassarily something that will stand out at the end of the year, but a perfectly booked match between two of the best talents going that did an effective job making both of them look good whilest also building to the next PPV. After weeks of being almost non-existent job fodder, Henry made Bryan look great. When he was murdering him, he was really fucking murdering him, but he also gave him just enough offence to look like he could have pulled out the upset. The crowd pretty much exploded for Bryan's big comeback attempt, and the finish and everything after was good shit too.

William Regal vs Dean Ambrose, FCW 11/6


I remember the first time I ever saw Jon Moxley, it was a short squash against some masked doofus in CZW and thought "this guy looks like an indy William Regal with the way he is beating up this dork". Fast forward a couple years and this match happened. And it was GREAT. Regal cuts a promo early in the show making this feel like it is important for him as well as Ambrose, and that is how the match played out, with Regal seemingly more motivated than usual. He was just so good in this match, coming up with really unique clever ways to torture Ambrose, like tying his arm in the turnbuckle. And Ambrose's heelish one-armed comeback was fucking great too, just as him talking shit to Regal whilest being strangled with his own arm was. Really cut a fine balance between acting like an unlikable young prick, and a tough SOB you couldn't help but respect. I could have done with one final Ambrose comeback attempt before the finish, but he survived enough that when it was all said and done, he looked like the toughest motherfucker in FCW, and Regal looked like a killer. Great match.

William Regal vs Daniel Bryan, WWE Superstars 11/10

Two awesome Regal matches in the space of a week, yes that is what we need. With this being in the UK, Regal was really over, and Bryan worked almost in a heelish manner (refusing to break clean, taking cheapshots, etc). I wasn't expecting it and it made the match even more interesting. There was some slick chain wrestling to start with Regal looking absurdly quick and nimble for a 43 year old, and when they started laying it in the blows were stiff as fuck. At one point it looked like Bryan almost kicked Regal's head into the third row. As well as the student vs teacher story going on, Bryan targetted Regal's leg in a number of nifty ways. It didn't really lead to anything, especially when Bryan's finisher is an arm submission, but whatever, this was good. Also: Real Man's Man!

Mark Henry vs Daniel Bryan, WWE Smackdown 11/11

Much shorter than their first match, and not a main event so it felt less important. Still, it accomplished the same stuff the first match did (making both guys look strong), and what they did get time to do was good. Bryan managing to get the Lebell Lock in on Henry felt like a big moment, and Henry countering by straight-up deadlifting him into a slam was nuts.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Akira Tozawa vs Dingo, ACW "Guilty By Association"

Kinda borderline-ish, but I liked it enough. Both guys hit all their offence really well and lay in a really stiff beating on each other. Tozawa looked like he was pretty much making full contact with those bicycle kicks to the face. Dingo posts his hand and Tozawa works his arm a bit, including smashing it with chairs. Dingo makes a comeback after cutting off a dive attempt with a sick chairshot to the face, and goes to work on Tozawa. I was a fan of him in IWA:MS, so I am glad he Terry Funk'd his retirement. At one point he started kneeing Tozawa in the temple in an almost Regal-ish manner. Finishing run was good, I really liked Dingo's counter into a choke, and the crowd was pretty much going nuts throughout.

MASADA vs Jimmy Jacobs, ACW "Guilty By Association" (Hardcore)

This was solid, but a little underwhelming and couldn't top the match before it. A few minutes into the match both guys go the floor and fill the ring with chairs. The whole "ring of chairs" deal has created some great matches and moments before, but here I think it kind of restricted them later on. The brawling was all pretty good, and Jacobs spiking MASADA in the head was really horrifying, but without feeling like a gross-out exhibition. Jacobs took a number of wicked bumps, including an electric chair drop across chairs which he sold like it broke his tailbone. Jacobs also did a good job holding together the end run with a couple swank guilletine choke counters. The finish saw MASADA counter the Contra Code into a tombstone. Also as an aside that has no bearing on the match - the ACW commentators are god-awful.

Big Van Walter vs Finlay, wXw "Surprise"

Not an epic, but another good match from the Finlay Indy Run. They played up the big vs small story well, with Finlay having to work to knock Walter off his feet, where Walter just floored him constantly with ease. Both guys hit hard with Walter wailing on Finlay for most of the match. Finlay sells the back work like you would expect Finay to, I especially liked him not being able to hit the Celtic Cross because of it. The finish was not one I was expecting, with both guys brawling on the floor and Walter getting DQ'd for killing Finlay with a chair, but it came off feeling pretty organic and violent. This is just screaming for a re-match.

Jigsaw vs Obariyon, Chikara "Small But Mighty"

Pretty fun opening match. Very compact with a hot crowd, and worked at a good pace with a fair number of cool spots. Obariyon managed to counter a brainbuster into a lungblower and not have it looked totally contrived, and also hit an impressive deadlift slam on Jig (not that Jig is big, but Obariyon is also small-ish). Watching this I got the impression the Obariyon and Kodama may be two of the best scrubs Chikara have brought up in a while. They don't do stupid comedy or lame puro-nerd fanboy spots and actually execute their stuff pretty cripsly as well as having gimmicks that aren't goofy. Hopefully they continue to improve.

Eddie Kingston vs Kobald, Chikara "Small But Mighty"

Short match that was essentially a glorified handicap match with one of the other Batiri dudes helping beat down Kingston 2-on-1 for most of the match. Not particularly gripping, but Kingston can make that atleast half-way entertaining just through his charisma and stiffness when wailing on the masked goons. Both backfists looked nasty, but I hope Kingston starts branching out of Chikara again soon.

Thursday 27 October 2011

Kana/Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Carlos Amano/Yuki Ishikawa, Kana Pro 1/10

This match was ran in 2005 with Yoshida in Kana's place and was very fun. This was good without being overly similar. There wasn't as much comedy, or any blood, but the matwork was pretty tight and the finishing run between Ish and Kana was pretty epic. Fujiwara shows his age, but still beams with charisma, and there was a great camera shot for him doing his headbutt-the-ringpost spot, which made a really sick sound. The joshi girls matches up fairly well, but the big finale between Ish and Kana made it. Kana was laying into him with some stiff blows and Ish sold his ass off to make you believe he might actually lose to a girl, before making a pretty epic comeback.


Virus vs Stuka Jr., CMLL 8/30

Dragon Lee Jr./Stuka Jr. vs Euforia/Misterioso Jr., CMLL 9/30

Not an awful lot that can be said about either of these, but they were both very good matches. Virus vs Stuka is another big Virus title match that delivered. Plenty of slick stuff on the mat, and the end run was plenty of fun despite not being overly spectacular. Virus's ringpost armdrag is still one of the most impressive spots in wrestling. The tag is a balls out spotfest with all four guys working hard for the Anniversary show. Dragon Lee Jr. in particular stands out and hits some crazy stuff whilest making it look easy. The highlights were the technicos diving off of the main stage and Dragon Lee's leapfrog rana on the ramp.


RockNES Monsters vs Super Smash Bros, PWG "The Perils Of Rock 'N' Roll Decadence"
TJ Perkins vs Eddie Edwards, PWG "The Perils Of Rock 'N' Roll Decadence"

The two matches I watched from the weakest PWG show of the year (by far), both fairly underwhelming due to the inherent flaws of PWG. The tag has some fun stuff, but is not fast-paced enough/spectacular enough to be high-end spotfest, and was bogged down with a LOT of weak video game nerd comedy, as well as going too long. TJ vs Edwards suffers from an obnoxious crowd trying to get themselves over. The match itself was pretty middlin', but stuff like Eddie punching TJ in the chest just because the fans chanted for it was weak. The final minutes with them trading submissions was pretty good but that was it.

Mark Henry vs The Big Show, WWE Vengeance

Awesome clash of titans big man match that I have to say I loved more than most people probably did. Henry has been on a roll this year, and this match showed him working many facets. From stooging on the outside, to methodically picking apart Show's leg, to the big end run, he covered all bases. Show sold the leg work excellently and Henry's offence always looks devestating. When it came time to throw bombs, they threw monster-sized bombs that got the previously dead crowd on their feet. And then there was that finish, I totally lost my shit for that.

Alberto Del Rio vs John Cena, WWE Vengeance (Last Man Standing)

Not going to comment on the rest of the show, because I thought it was all fairly boring, but this was solid if unspectacular. Working a match in a collapsed ring is a pretty novel gimmick, but I think they could have done more with it. Del Rio took a fucking lunatic bump getting thrown out the ring into the barricade, but everything else in the first half of the match bored me. There's just something about these matches that just feels so... sterile. The lack of any blood or any real violence, the forced booking, Cena's sometimes corny facial expressions, the reliance on props to make it exciting... it just feels very heartless and forced to me. The stuff with the props and brawling up the stage was fun, and I liked that ADR beat on Cena after the interference to make him seem more legit, but I still wasn't into the match all that.

Saturday 15 October 2011

PWG Battle Of Los Angeles

Chris Hero vs Willie Mack

The kind of star vs lower down guy formula match that Hero has pretty much perfected over the last couple of years. In the same vein as his matches with Bonham, Gatson and Tozawa, and Willie brings tonnes to the table. Both guys beat the shit out of each other, including one lariat near the end in particular which looked like it could have killed a man. So very stiff, and it was paced and built really well. Willie's comeback was a little too easy for my liking, as he essentially no sold a match-ending move, but still great shit.

Kevin Steen vs Dave Finlay

This was not an epic bout, as it was a first round match and felt like one, but it was still really fucking good. Both guys brought it hard, and I loved all of the brawling and ripping at each other's faces. Finlay cheapshotting Steen instead of getting drawn into exchanges was classic. The legwork was sold great and well done from both ends too.

Claudio Castagnoli vs El Generico

Off the of my head I think this is almost certainly their best match together. Claudio has great chemistry with Generico like he does with Quack in that he's great at catching and bumping around for all his spots. They botched a rana spot but Claudio channeled Finlay himself and used it as an excuse to start beating the shit out Generico with a barrage of suplexes, and from that point on the match was fucking crazy and unpredictable. Some absolutely insane counters down the stretch that had me losing my mind, and the finish was very well done. Probably my favourite match from the show.

El Generico vs Willie Mack

Mostly just a fun comedy match. They had a dance-off, and I admit it got a laugh out of me. They did some Human Tornado tributes, with both guys going for the corner low-blow spot. This was supposed to be the "light" match for Generico as he had to work 3 times in the same night, but both guys still worked pretty hard near the end and it was still pretty damn stiff.

Kevin Steen vs Eddie Edwards

This was just "there". Not offencive but not particularly good. They started with a rote shoulderblock exchange, did a lot of comedy around poking each other in the eye and some other stuff. Eddie throws some mean kicks, and Steen biting him and mocking the American Wolves (to which the crowd chanted "Bite the wolf", ugh) was fairly entertaining, but then they lost me at the end when they traded superkicks like chops.

The Young Bucks vs The Kings Of Wrestling

I am glad both Hero and Claudio wrestled their BOLA matches, because if this was their swan song I would have been dissapointed. This was a long match that was like 90% comedy and the Kings making the Bucks their bitches. It's fun in premise but when it goes 25 minutes it can get boring. There was more incest gags at the Bucks which I didn't care for, but Claudio showing his power and stretching them out was fun stuff. I laughed at one of the Bucks begging "Please Claudio, don't!" before getting smacked. The Bucks were boring as always whenever they were on offence, and Hero was a non-entity despite being good off the hot tag, but really it was the length that killed it.

Kevin Steen vs El Generico

Like the FB match, I didn't come away blown away by this, but it was still a pretty fun hate-filled sprint. Much tighter than the FB match. Steen constantly playing to the crowd is easily his worst trait but I dug him taunting a kid in a Generico mask, and the big spots (dives from both guys, a tornado DDT up the wall) impressed. Some cool counters, and plenty of hate. It walked the fine line on overkill, but I think given the stakes and history it was on the right side. The finish was sick and I also thought the stuff that happened after the match with Generico bringing the kid in the ring and Steen smashing the trophy was pretty cool.

Friday 7 October 2011

The Great Sasuke/Super Delfin/Gram Hamada/Jinsei Shinzaki/Tsubo Genjin vs Kaientai DX, K-Dojo 6/18

This was part of the Dick Togo retirement tour, and if nothing else it was cool seeing these guys go at it one last time. Obviously this couldn't touch the stuff they were doing in 1996, but it was never going to, so it was worked mostly as an exhibition with everyone getting to hit some of their trademarks and get their pops. Hanzo Nakajima (some dude in a Ninja gaiden-ish costume) replaced an injured Hayashi and was perfectly fine. Hamada hit a top rope rana, which was shocking for his age, but ultimately this was nothing more than a solid nostalgia match.

Go Shiozaki/Takashi Sugiura/Shuhei Taniguchi vs Yoshihiro Takayama/KENTA/Yoshinobu Kanemaru, NOAH 9/11

This was still a pretty awesome war. First brawl of this nature NOAH has done in several years and they should really do it more often. Everyone was really bringing it, even Kanemaru. Takayama brawls like a motherfucker with Go (hurling chairs at him, smashing him with the belt, etc), KENTA and Sugiura beat the living fuck out of each other and even the Taniguchi/Kanemaru end run was good. They could have sold the ass-kicking more, and it went a bit too long, but there was so much hate and so much payback I was willing to forgive. Takayama doing a full on "Come at me bro" pose while no selling an exhausted Go's chops was hilarious and their post-match brawling was great at hyping their title match.

Seth Rollins vs Dean Ambrose, FCW 9/18 (30 Minute Ironman)

I saw this getting a lot of praise and was sceptical because, shit, when was the last time Tyler Black was watchable? But it was actually a good match. Not great, but very good and I imagine one of the best things to happen in a FCW ring. The former ROH champ is still on the bland side, but his execution was much tighter and his chops and kicks all looked pretty stiff. The artist formerly known as Jon Moxley was pretty fantastic in this, he just beams with charisma and everything he does looks so natural. I loved his cocky dancing and taunting, and there was an amusing spot early where he was sea-sawing in the ropes as Rollins laid into him with kicks. They did the Rude/Steamboat story with Ambrose getting DQ'd with a lowblow then using the advantage to score 2 easy falls and keep Rollins in trouble. Rollins came back too early into the match for my liking, which took away a lot of the drama, but he actually sold a missed Pheonix Splash as a game-changing miss. The final minutes were suitably dramatic, and the overtime section started great with a big Ambrose flurry before a terribly Tyler Black-ish finish of bucklebombs and superkicks.

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Dick Togo vs James Mason, ASW 8/2

Taken from Togo's retirement world retirement tour, this is from a Liverpool indy show. Pretty cool to see Togo adapt to this kind of match, working as a stooging, cheating heel instead of a more prototypical juniors style. Mason was very game, and is a really slick grappler, which meant some pretty cool mat exchanges between the two, and he hits his offence pretty well. He played to the crowd way too much for my liking, though. Whatever he was doing - in control, selling, mounting a comeback, he was always turning to the crowd and trying to get noise out of them; Felt like he should have focused more on his opponent.

Go Shiozaki vs Jun Akiyama, NOAH 8/6

First part of the match is pretty dry, but everything after Go getting his jaw cracked was really good stuff. Akiyama smashing and kneeing Go in his bloody mouth was not only really sick but a smart way of gaining and maintaining control through the match. Go gave his best effort since the Sasaki match, I thought he was really good and didn't do anything stupid. He has some crazy chops. Akiyama was also excellent, as he always is in the clutch, and the two of them put together a really well built, dramatic match. For a 30 minute match, I was also surpised at the lack of downtime once they got going. Best GHC title match since Morishima vs Sasaki IMO.


Black Terry/Negro Navarro vs Los Traumas, LUCHA POP 8/27


This was pretty awesome. Started off with Terry and T2 going on the mat, and it was actually pretty bleh. Too your-turn-my-turn and too nice, but it did serve it's purpose in helping to build to the big Navarro/T1 stand-off, with T1 instantly slapping his Dad down. Navarro sold that slap like a gunshot and Terry's "what the hell? I thought we were being sportsmen?" reaction was great. And then Navarro getting up and tying to rip his son's arm off as a receipt was SUPER-great. The mat wrestlig wasn't super tricky or flashy, but instead was intense and felt like guys trying to tear each other's limbs. T1 must have never got the presents he wanted for Christmas.

Randy Orton vs Mark Henry, WWE Night Of Champions

This was a good match with a really great, satisfying outcome. Henry has been the hottest act in the company since they nerfed Punk, and has been awesome all year, so to see him finally win the big one felt well deserved. The match itself was exactly what it should have been, with Henry being a total monster and Orton putting up a fight, but ultimately putting Henry over bigtime. Henry's offence all looked brutal (especially the bear paw swipe that knocked Orton to the outside) and Orton made him look like a killer. The commentators actually did a fine job and made the apron DDT feel like a huge moment, and the finish was great with how un-formulaic for a WWE match it was. Let the Mark Henry era begin.

CM Punk vs HHH, WWE Night Of Champions (No DQ)

Hunter is really reaching at this point, I don't think it's possible for him to work a match anymore without a bunch of smoke and mirrors. All of the brawling was actually pretty cool, and Punk's Savage elbow through the announce table was a "holy shit" spot. Once the over-booked interferences started this quickly became a pile of crp, though. Not only did they seemingly go on for what felt like forever, but they made no sense as the guys interfering were attacking both dudes. Punk may have survived one Pedigree, but this was still a massive step back for him.

Masato Tanaka vs Necro Butcher, Zero-ONE 9/17

Thought this was pretty underwhelming seeing as this is a good pairing on paper. The bumps were nasty but not anything memorable and I thought it was blatantly exhibition-y and went from spot to spot, instead of being a brawl. It may have been the bad camera angle but it also looked like Necro was pulling his punches quite a bit on the sitdown duel. Necro punching out the chair was great, but that was all I'll remember about this.

Munenori Sawa vs Hayato Fujita, Zero-ONE 9/17

Rock solid juniors kickfest. This kind of kneepad juniors kickfest is kind of generic and not really that compelling, but it's still better than a mastabatory spotest. Both dudes hit very hard and there was some good exchanges, but it never really reached that "wow" level. This was all about Sawa, giving him a last hurrah before his retirement at the end of the year, and Hayato sold his ass off for him. Sawa can be pretty goofy, and he toned it down a lot here, but still had a stupid grin on his face when getting his ass kicked, which was a little annoying.

Thursday 22 September 2011

PWG EIGHT

Kevin Steen vs PAC

This was a pretty love-it-or-hate-it kind of match and I was more in the latter half of that unfortnately. For me this is Kevin Steen at his worst, constantly doing lame comedy and playing to the crowd too much instead of focusing on the match. It's all so mastabatory and self-indulgent, which I wouldn't mind if he was a heel in PWG, which he isn't. It was even worse here as there moments where he would throw out stupid one-liners while trying to be serious. The big spots were all pretty big, and PAC in particular does some breath-taking shit like a twisting asai moonsault, but that wasn't enough to keep me into the match, and for an opener this was typically PWG-ish in going too long and having too many nearfalls. I did get a good kick out of Hero referencing Kelly Kelly on commentary, though.

Brian Cage-Taylor vs Brandon Gatson

This was an interesting match to watch. Not necassarily good, but interesting. Two (relatively) young guys going out and putting on their own match without being lead by a more experienced guy like Hero. Some of their ideas were good, some were not - a lot of stuff was just thrown at the wall. Gatson has some pretty slick highspots, and ate a pretty nasty clothesline bump on the apron. He also threw some nice kick combos and hit a pretty spectacular Sasuke Special and landed on his feet. Some parts were pretty sloppy, though, and some parts just felt like an indy moves exhibition.

El Generico/Ricochet vs Alex Shelley/Roderick Strong

For some reason I thought this was supposed to be Shelley and Aries? I figured since I'd downloaded it I'd give it a watch anyway.... so yeah, this pretty much sucked. First half of the match was horribly dull and boring, second half was just a shitty indy MOVEZ spotfest. They tried to make Generico vs Shelley a hot match-up with cheapshots, but I wasn't buying the intensity from either guy. Highlight of the match was a pretty insane out-of-nowhere dive from Ricochet.

Claudio Castagnoli vs Chris Hero

This was very, very good and easily the highlight of the show. I'm not sure wether I liked it over their first title match or not, but the did a good job of making it different enough whilest also keeping most of the things that made that match good. All of the opening matwork was really fun. They worked a bunch of different holds and kept it feeling like a chessgame, I especially loved the fight for leverage over the full nelson. In their first match Claudio targetted Hero's arm, and managed to keep control, but Hero was still managed to come back with elbows after a while, in this match Claudio targetted Hero's leg to much greater effect. They built really well from the mental chess opening stages to both guys getting testy and kicking it up through the gears. Hero moving his knee pad from his good leg onto his bum wheel to give it more protection is the sort of REALLY neat touch that makes a good match great, and I liked him not being able to hit the big discus boot because of it. Claudio used the legwork to hit a fucking insane Giant Swing into a Nuetralizer, and the finish itself was also sick as hell.

Sunday 18 September 2011

ROH Death Before Dishonor IX

Tommaso Ciampa/Rhino vs Homicide/Jay Lethal

This was just there. Totally unexciting opening match. Lethal looked good whenever he was in, hitting all of his stuff pretty crisply, but that is all there is to say. Ciampa pretty much sucks, and Rhino and 'Cide did nothing.

Shelton Benjamin vs Mike Bennett

I 100% legit fell asleep during this match watching it live. Granted, it was around 1AM UK time, and I was tired, but still. Watching it the next day, I got drowsy all over again. Totally boring and uninteresting match. Bennet kinda worked Benjamin's back with lots of tedius restholds, and there was some crap with Brutal Bob interfering, and that was that.

The Young Bucks vs FutureShock vs The Bravado Bros (Elimination Match)

This was OK for your undercard spotfest. There was some good spots including a sweet dive train, FutureShock hitting a Doomsday Device/Suicide dive combo, and one of the Bravados getting suplexed off the apron to the floor, but it never really hit that level of "holy shit this is crazy". The Bravados were heeling bigtime, and while I appreciate the effort it really did nothing but slow the match down. Once they were eliminated it picked up a lot, but was still not great or anything. This should have been the opener.

El Generico vs Jimmy Jacobs

This was the first half a really good match, interupted by the big Steen angle. It started with Jacbs being tentative and Generico aggressively trying to light a fire under him, and I was enjoying it all well and good. Jacobs hit a dive, a Spear on the apron, and then a big DDT off the top. At this point Steen comes out from the crowd to call Steve Corino a pussy before getting his mic cut-off. Security comes out to escort him before Jabobs decides this is too civil and dives on Steen to start a brawl. And it was awesome. Then Generico hits a big dive, only for Steen to dodge it (leaving Generico to whipe out security) and start cleaning house in the ring. Cary Silkin stepped in the ring and they teased Steen hitting Package Piledriver on him, which would have really been taking one for the team, but it was all broken up. Cornette managed to pop Steen in the face during all of the crazy, and Steen was escorted out while Generico and Jacobs still try to get at him. I am not sure what to make of the angle, as the ROH fanbase WANTS Steen to fuck up the place, which kind of kills it, but the whole thing came of feeling chaotic and REAL, and it made me want to see Steen vs everyone involved, so it did it's job.

Charlie Haas vs Michael Elgin

I like both of these guys more than most people seem to, but even I thought this was pretty underwhelming. They tried to play this off as a power vs power match, but how strong is Haas really? Elgin might be stocky, but he's not really that big, and I am not wowed by Haas being able to suplex him. The brief moments where they fought on the floor were good, but everything in the ring was pretty dry. Haas won with a lariat, which came off really flat as A) it isn't an established finisher in 2011 ROH and B) it didn't look like a match-ending move.

Roderick Strong vs Eddie Edwards (Ring Master's Challenge)

I debated wether to bother watching this or not, as I knew there would be no way this could be good. I started watching it for five minutes then realized it went atleast 45 minutes and said "fuck it". No thank you.

The Briscoe Brothers vs The All Night Express (Ladder War)

This iPPV was a one match show, and this was the one match. This wasn't the best match in the feud, and it wasn't as good as the Briscoes/Steenerco ladder match, but it was still very good. It kind of lacked the sense of wrecklessness and "shit is out-of-control" from their earlier matches, instead it was much more deliberate in it's violence. All four guys were killing each other with chairs, ladders and bits of broken tables. Titus and Jay were both completely drenched in their own blood, which was sick, and big bumps were taken by all. Mark did the Terry Funk helicopter spot, and then a pretty crazy splash off the big ladder through a table. King not bleeding kinda sucked, and I would have prefered a couple more big holy shit spots before the finish, but still a good blow-off to one of the best feuds of the year.

Sunday 11 September 2011

A bunch of matches where the men are men

Low Ki vs Amazing Red, ICW 4/3

This wasn't anything special, but fans of their original series together 9-10 years ago may enjoy this. All of their John Woo faux-ninja fighting sequences are still pretty cool, and both guys hit hard with their chops and kicks. It went way, way too long though, and lost steam pretty quickly after the first 15 minutes. I also thought it was way too even with Red controlling large parts of the match - part of the appeal of their original matches was Red trying not get obliterated by Ki. Ki getting back at some douchebag fan by casually tipping his drink over his crotch was pretty funny, though.

KENTA/Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Kotaro Suzuki/Atsushi Aoki, NOAH 5/25

Aoki was fired up and KENTA hits people very hard but this was largely forgettable. The first 25 minutes were uninteresting, the big KENTA/Kotaro counter exchange looked pretty rehearsed and Kanemaru sucked as always. Standard lengthy juniors tag.

Jun Akiyama vs Katsuhiko Nakajima, NOAH 7/10

Solid match and Akiyama working juniors is always fun, but this didn't go beyond being solid. Nakajima brought it and Akiyama beat the crap out of him, but it lost it's heat and momentum pretty quickly and dragged after that. They got it back for the final minute, but meh.

Low Ki vs Necro Butcher, IWA:EC "Stiff Competition II"

Not sure where this would rank with their other two matches, but it's pretty great. All the ass-kicking you would expect. Unlike their first two matches, Necro wrestled more heel-ish here, cheapshotting Ki at the bell (after Ki brought some kid in the ring and gave him his t-shirt, which I thought was very cool), gauging his face, choking him, etc. He connects with one uppercut early that looks like it could have broke Ki's jaw. Ki sold the beating great and his double stomp on the bleachers was fucking nuts. Ki stomping on Necro's bare foot to escape a hold was pretty neat. Only thing I disliked was how in-organic the set-up to the chair stomp was, but it was still pretty brutal. The finish and the move that set it up both made me mouth the words "holy shit".

SHINGO vs Akira Tozawa, Dragon Gate 7/17

I was not in love with this, but I did like it a fair bit. This wasn't the Tozawa who we came to love in PWG, but he still knows how to kick some ass. As much as I detest SHINGO, I've never denied that he can hit hard and also deliver an ass-kicking, and that's what this match was. Both guys worked stiff, took big bumps and punched each other in the face. The dive caught into the DVD on the floor and the apron german suplex were both sick. The armwork was aimless but atleast SHINGO sold it for once and they actually had some struggle in between big moves. The crowd was pretty awful though and the finishing run was too typical of a Dragon Gate match and almost lost me. Still, the best DG singles match I have seen... maybe ever?

Takashi Sugiura vs Kensuke Sasaki, NOAH 7/23

Far, far from a flawless match but I did really dig it for one reason: They beat the living FUCK out of each other. Lord have mercy, this may have even been stiffer than Finlay vs Callihan. All of the suplexes and no-selling REALLY brought this down and they almost lost me with it at several points, but Christ alive if the pure violence and brutality wasn't compelling. Both of these guys are legit tough bastards and beat the living shit out of each other, the no-selling was unnecassary in adding faux-machismo. Still, holy fuck was this brutal and the story with both guys just trying knock the other guy the fuck out really worked. I lost it for the finish with the face-punching.

William Regal vs Darren Young, WWE NXT 9/6


A babyface Regal beats respect into a youngster! Regal is great at so many things, and beating people up has to be one of the best. It wasn't just about the stiff blows, but the coy veteran moves, like stepping on Young's hand as he begged off, and kicking him in the corner while acting innocent to the ref. Regal getting on the headset and asking Young to apologise was 100% Regal, and Young's bump over the turnbuckle before it was pretty damn bonkers. We all need more Regal on TV.

Friday 9 September 2011

ROH Catch-up

Homicide vs Rhino, Best In The World

Fun brawl. Started off pretty hot and they kept it up all the way through. I could have done without Homicide no-selling a table bump, but Rhino looked good. He splattered himself on a missed dive and wrecklessly threw 'Cide around like a sack of potatoes. Post-match table Gore was also sick. Interested to see what they do with Rhino in ROH.

Christopher Daniels vs El Generico, Best In The World

This was not a perfect match, but overall was very good. Daniels turned heel at some point, and he actually wrestles like a heel (begging off, eye-raking, gathering heat, etc) instead of a bland indy dream match guy. Most of the match was pretty heated, and all of Generico's spots looked really good. One awesome moment where they are fighting outside the ring and some emo-looking Daniels fangirl is yelling shit at Generico, so he plants Daniels right in front of her and blasts him with a chop as an unofficial "fuck you". Daniels on offence for a long time dragged a bit, and a lot of his counters don't look organic and feel rehearsed, but the finishing run was pretty great. They did a boo/yay exchange, headbutted each other in the face, Generico teased an apron brainbuster but got launched into the railing before eating a suplex on the outside for a hot count-out nearfall. Generico's counter to the BME also looked sick. Easy MOTN.

WGTT vs The Kings Of Wrestling vs The All Night Express vs The Briscoes, Best In The World (Elimination Match)

Long ass match that was kind of just there. It is actually a little remarkable how this went for 40 minutes or so and was never really actively good nor actively bad. It just happened. The Briscoes/ANX stuff was the only real good point, as they still continue to hate on each other, though it came in the form of cheapshots and the like instead of one big moment or showdown. There was also a big dive train, which ended in Claudio teasing a Ricola Bomb on King OFF the top rope to the outside, but instead ended with a Benjamin leap-up superplex, which I found totally hilarious. The final five minutes were pretty exciting, but that is not enough, and it was obvious no one cared about seeing WGTT vs Kings one more round.

Eddie Edwards vs Davey Richards, Best In The World

I wasn't sure what to expect going in to this, as I have seen it pimped by a lot of people, but they were the same people who pimped Davey vs Tyler and that match was an abortion. Thankfully, Edwards is much better than Black and as a result this was much better. Not great, not even close to the ****3/4 match they were trying for, but I came away thinking it was OK rather than hating it. The main thing the match has going for it is just how absurdly stiff and violent it is. Half way through the match I was actually kind of digging it just because of how much they were beating the crud out of each other. Kicks, chops, shoot head-butts, all were hit with brain-cell killing force. Where the match fell down was on the more important stuff though. From both a structure and story-telling point of view this was a mess. For one thing, neither guy ever had a sustained amount of control in the match. It was too back-and-forth, Edwards gets the upper hand for a few minutes, then Davey takes over, then back again and so on. Really killed the heat for the match as they never built heat up on one of them or established a clear story. Secondly, the first half of the match had Davey specifically targetting Edwards's arm (which did include a sick counter to the backpack jawbreaker and some SICK face-stomps out of a juji attempt), then half way though he stops all together and starts working over his leg with his Kurt Angle imitation Ankle Lock routine. Again, this had a cool Indian Deathlock ankle lock variaton, but you can see where this falls down... especially when the finish was a fucking KO of all things. The crowd barely reacted for the finish for good reason, they did pretty much the exact opposite of build towards it. The "story-telling" moments of Davey talking to Eddie were hilariously forced as is Davey Richards nature, and the end run was a mess, with stupid backdrop trading, a 1-count nearfall off a lariat and some other stuff. The match was getting by fine on shear brutality up until the point where Davey was back on offence a minute after getting 2K1 Bombed on the apron, double stomped through a table then again in the ring all in sucession. That kind of says it all.

Mark Briscoe vs Kenny King, No Escape
Jay Briscoe vs Rhett Titus, No Escape

This was kind of like Bret vs Doink & Lawler from Summerslam '93 - on their own they are two good matches, as an overall package it's great. Granted, this wasn't as good as Bret vs Doink & Lawler, but you get the idea. The angle here was that during both matches their partners would be handcuffed to the ring so they wouldn't interfere. Well, there was still interference as they would get in plenty of cheapshots, but that wasn't a problem. Both matches featured plenty of stiff shots, trash talk, some big bumps and most importantly HATE. I love Mark's punch combo, and half of his match with King was spent wildly throwing each other in the barricades. Jay trying to deflect the "He's a moron" chant towards the ref was awesome. Titus throwing Jay into Mark and Titus's big dive were both cool spots and the big angle with Briscoes using bolt cutters to loophole the situation and beat the fuck out of Titus 2-on-1 style while King goes nuts watching was excellent. Jay scaring the referee out of the ring and then throwing the keys to King's cuffs into the crowd is why he's probably the best guy on the roster right now.

Chris Hero vs Colt Cabana, No Escape

Fun match, but really needed more from Colt to reach the next level. Colt was in comedy mode here and was out there to have a good time. I dug this as a way of throwing Hero off his game and psyching him out early, but the match really needed Colt to get more serious once Hero got the advantage and started beating him up. Even moreso when you consider Hero is higher up in the pecking order than Colt is. Colt does throw some pretty great punches, but his comeback attempt fell flat with the crowd hard, and the ref bump finish was the sort of thing that I grew tired of in Hero matches years back.

Monday 5 September 2011

Yoshihito Sasaki/Shinya Ishikawa vs Ryuichi Kawakami/Kazuki Hashimoto, BJW 5/27

We miss the first half, but what we get is pretty decent. Sasaki still hates everyone and everything and that seems to carry every match he's in. Kawakami kinda sucks but can atleast dish out some sick elbows, and kills Ishikawa with a brutal german suplex. Dug the duel kicks on Sasaki and Sasaki really kills Hash for the finish. And then spits on him after, glorious.

Ryuji Ito/Abdullah Kobayashi/Shadow WX vs Yuko Miyamoto/Isami Kodaka/Kankuro Hoshino, BJW 5/27 (Deathmatch)

This was your standard garbage match, but built around resident jobber Hoshino taking an asskicking but then managing to pull out the upset win. That story aspect of the match made this watchable, as Hoshino really eats some gruesome shit and his final sectin facing off with Abby is the highlight of the match. Everything else was pretty bad though, typical shitty crowd brawling to start, Abby busting out some New Jack-esque wolverine glove, Shadow sucking, Ito sucking, etc. Finish was sick, though.

Damien Wayne vs Vordell Walker, GOUGE 6/25 (Falls Count Anywhere)

This took place in a cool outdoors setting. The stiff brawling all over the place was really good and the bumps on the wooden platform and through the table looked good even with the low-budget filming. Wayne's rope-hung legdrop and elbow drop across the chair were both nasty, creative spots and his bump through the ropes from the belly-to-belly was a little crazy. The blood added a lot, and the nearfalls section was really good despite the tiny crowd. Finish was a great way of having the heel win clean without the babyface look bad, and I marked for a piledriver actually being a finish in 2011.

Black Terry/Argos/Multifacetico vs. Dr. Cerebro/Mortiz/Semental, IWRG 8/7

Obviously this is all about Terry vs Cerebro and all of their brawling is pretty damn great. Loved the whipping with the belt. The other four guys did well in secondary roles, I really dug the 3-on-1 beating on Terry in the first fall. Argos's rana off the apron and Multifacetico's dive into the stands were both cool highspots, and I got a kick out of Terry talking shit in Mexican. The heel ref bullshit brought it down a little, but the final Terry vs Cerebro showdown was fairly epic.

Randy Orton vs Christian, Smackdown 8/30 (Steel Cage)

This was OK but had way too much lame WWE-style "escape the cage" focus. The first half was pretty weak and Christian on offence was kind of a bore. The ad break felt like it ate up a lot, but Orton was appropraitely intense and I marked for Christian's Frogsplash. The punt spot and Christian's fake-out before climbing the cage were both pretty clever, and the finish was appropraitely big, if a copy of the Punk/Orton blow-off. Thought the match was largely carried by the hot crowd but it was fine.

Thursday 1 September 2011

Summer Of BattlARTS

Yuki Ishikawa/Super Tiger II vs Munenori Sawa/Hideki Suzuki, 5/22

Solid match to set up the Ishikawa vs Sawa singles match, though pretty much all the quality was coming from Ish. Wether it was making Suzuki's matwork interesting or smacking the taste out of Sawa, everytime Ishikawa was in this was good. Sawa and Suzuki did an OK job baiting him and no one was afraid to get in some cheapshots. ST2 was pretty awful, doing lots of fancy gymnatics which looked out of place in a shoot-style setting. Highlight was probably Ishikawa catching Sawa's stupid wind-up punch combo into an armbar, and the finish set-up the singles match appropriately.

Manobu Suruga vs Takeshi Takeshima, 6/19

Shoot-style competitive squash, and not a very exciting one. Only went less about 6 minutes but most of it was long holds with no urgency to them. Takeshima did get cracked open, and he had a pretty great comeback/nearfall sequence, but that was it.

Daisuke Ikeda/Katsumi Usuda vs Hideki Suzuki/Tiger Shark, 6/19

Welcome the Daisuke Ikeda show..again. Similar to the 5/22 tag this was a one man show from Ikeda. Great selling of the youngster's submissions, and wasn't afraid to bite or claw his way out of a hold. What is it with the Tiger dudes doing flips and highspots in BattlARTS? I liked that the youngsters had to resort to devious tactics to gain the advantage over the vets, but it was lacking in the intensity/violence to take it to the next step.

Yuki Ishikawa vs Munenori Sawa, 6/19

Man this was good stuff here. Hot start with a handshake fake-out from Sawa, and plenty of blows being traded. The matwork had an almost viceral feel to it, with moments like Sawa pinning down Ish's hand and punching it. Ish busted out like a dosen swank counters (my favourite being the ankle lock out of the abdominal stretch) and was generally pretty outstanding. He let Sawa get plenty in on him and sold his ass off to make him look like an equal. There were moments where he looked like a tired old guy struggling to keep up with his younger rival. After struggling to make it up for the 10 count Ish said "fuck this" and resorted to dropping bombs on Sawa. Once again I loved Sawa trying to get cute with a stupid Mutoh spot and getting punished for it with an armbar, and Sawa desperately grabbing the ref during the finish was a very cool touch.

Sunday 28 August 2011

More G1!

Giant Bernard/Karl Anderson vs Satoshi Kojima/Dan Maff, NJ In USA 5/15

This was pretty fun thanks to Maff and Bernard. Bernard is a big time player in New Japan, and Maff never broke out outside JAPW, so Bernard was not afraid to talk shit to Maff and treat him like a bitch. This got Maff all fired up and he brought the goods. He was super fired up and took the fight to the big man, highlighted by a great out-of-nowhere dive and some sick fatboy sentons. Kojima and Anderson just ran through their shit, and Anderson being the one to pin Maff felt wrong, but Maff made this stand out.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan, NJ 8/5

Well this was a pleasant surprise. Tenzan may be a broken down bag of crap these days, but for one match here he managed to rewind the clock back several years and stole the show. Nakamura was also fired up and dished out his usual great knee-based offence. Tenzan's fired up comeback with the Dick Murdoch turnbuckle face stomp was well done and the crowd were eating him up. Nakamura sold his stuff really well and got foled in half off one lariat, and the big finishing nearfalls section was pretty damn great. Loved the struggle in the Anaconda Vice, and Nakamura's counter was great, and then Tenzan countering again with a big old headbutt was even better! Nakamura's desperation shoot-punch is such a great spot, and the diving knee strike was epic. Hell, all of the final third was epic. Best G1 match in a few years!

Yoshihiro Takayama vs Tetsuya Naito, NJ 8/10
Yuji Nagata vs Yoshihiro Takayama, NJ 8/11
Togi Makabe vs Yoshihiro Takayama, NJ 8/13

Nothing to see here. The Naito match is a mediocre beating from Takayama on a mediocre underdog. The Makabe match is completely forgettable and plodding. The Nagata mach was pretty solid but still not anything memorable, though it had it's moments.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Toru Yano, NJ 8/13

This was a shocker. Toru Yano, probably the worst guy on the roster, has the best Tanahashi match in over a year? Shit. Yano is a scumbag, but this crowd loves an underdog and it didn't matter how much he cheated or how much of an asshole he was, they wanted to see him pull out the upset. The crowd pretty much carried this and made it memorable, but even as a guy who doesn't like Yano or Tanahashi, it's impossible not to get sucked into the "Yano as underdog" story. Tanahashi is the company ace, Yano is a mid-card heel, and all of the transitions in the match were pretty smart in refelecting that, as Yano resorted to hair-pulling, chair shots, exposing a turnbuckle, etc in order to get the advantage. Early on Tanahashi goes to hit a dive off the apron and Yano blasts him mid-air with a chair. Awesome. The crowd were hot for Yano and every nearfall he got, and even boo'd Tanahashi. Some of the nearfalls were great, Tanahashi bled AND there was a ref bump spot that worked. Tanahashi coming back easily every time was pretty annoying, but it atleast played into the story, so eh. If there was one match that I did not expect to like but did this year, this is it.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Minoru Suzuki, NJ 8/14

Looking at the G1 cards, this was the match I was most looking forward to, and it delivered. Crowd were super into it and behind Nakamura. The interference from Suzuki's boy added to the match, and they built the heat on Nakamua well. Nakamura's offence looked as good as it has ever has and both guys hit hard. Loved the finishing run with Suzuki being all over Nakamura and Nakamura just trying to hang on and find and an opening. Good shit.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tetsuya Naito, NJ 8/14

Was not into this as much as the other two Nakamura G1 matches I watched. Most of it felt like a really by-the-number big match. Naito works Nakamura's leg, but it's just filler, and the match was entirely carried by the hot crowd. I dug that they played off finishes from previous matches, but that was it.

Thursday 25 August 2011

Ode To A Sami Callihan

Sami Callihan vs BJ Whitmer, CZW "Tangled Web 4"

Solid match that may have been really good had the crowd not been so obnoxious. It started off pretty well with both guys trading blows and going to war, but after once Whitmer gained control it kind of lost steam. Sami did some really brutal facewashes made nastier by the great camera angle, but I thought the spot with him trying to hit dive in between two rings was kind of retarded (you have to see it to understand that). I liked Whitmer's knees and crazy new MMA-esque submission, but the crowd totally shat on him to the point where it wasn't good heat but "go away" heat, and while he kinda worked it at first it looked like it threw him off and he became lost afterwards. Shame.

Sami Callihan vs Finlay, EVOLVE 9

This was excellent. Not only one of the most hard-hitting matches I have ever seen, but they told the veteran vs upstart story amazingly. Right at the bell, Sami tried to rush Finlay only for Fit to blast him straight in the face. What a great way to set the tone for the rest of the match. Finlay was amazing in this, never getting drawn into Sami's attempts at striking exchanges and cheapshotting him like a fucking asshole. Sami getting in his face only for Finlay to headbutt him was so great. The beatings dished out were insane, every shot was stiff as all fuck, making both guys look like the two baddest sons of bitches on the planet. Finlay worked over Sami's leg, busting out all sorts of nasty, creative holds you'd never see in WWEland. Finlay makes simple bodyslams look devestating, and the spot where he distracted the ref so he could cheapshot Sami in his bad leg just BECAUSE HE COULD was a total dick move. Towards the end of the match, Sami went for a suicide dive and flew flat-out into the rail face first. And the finish was worth a million stars, Sami is pretty much done for, but remains defiant to the end, giving Finlay the finger before Finlay kills him with the returning tombstone. Such a deeply brutal match and a total war, littered with so many great individual moments it would be impossible to list them all. Finlay finished looking like the toughest guy in pro wrestling history, Sami took his lumps and came out looking like a world beater. Just an excellent match and up there with Punk vs Cena as being truly transcendant.

Sami Callihan vs Necro Butcher, CZW "New Heights"

This was barely even a match, and a dissapointing one at that. Mostly just an angle in the Sami vs DJ Hyde feud, with Hyde telling Necro if he doesn't beat up Callihan he doesn't get paid. After that it's basically a staple gun match, and I kind of blame Necro for it as he introduced the staple gun. Granted, they staple each other in some legit nasty places, like the armpit and side of the head, but this is the sort of gross-out garbage I try to avoid in hardcore wrestling.

Tuesday 23 August 2011

Summerslam and beyond

Mark Henry vs Sheamus

I only caught of the finish of the opener, but it looked fine. This however was everything it should have been and pretty damn awesome. Really fun slugfest with both dudes stiffing the hell out of each other. Both guys took some big bumps, and babyface Sheamus is badass. The finish was not only a great visual but really smartly booked as far as putting Henry over big without Sheamus losing face and setting up a rematch.

Daniel Bryan vs Wade Barrett

Believe it or not, this was NOT a total carryjob from Bryan(!), and Wade gave easily his career performance and had his career match here. He timed his cut-off spots well and busted out some knarly offence like the slingshot backbreaker and the knees in the ropes. Both guys hit very hard, and that was probably the sickest flying knee Bryan has ever hit. Loved the tease of the Wasteland off the apron, and Bryan countering it later into a choke and then transitioning into the LeBelle Lock. The elevated lariat was clearly a spot Bryan lifted straight from his matches with Nigel, but it was a cool spot nonetheless. Really good mid-card bout.

Christian vs Randy Orton (No Holds Barred)

I didn't think this was a great/MOTYC calibre match, or even the best of this kind of match WWE has ran this year, but it was still a really good WWE-style hardcore match. The blade ban and overuse of props kind of puts a ceiling on how good this match can be, but it delivered. Christian had his best outing since turning heel, and took a hell of a beating. I liked how they made him out to be a bitch with the pre-match angle, but by the end of the match he had eaten enough shit that, even though he lost, he had managed to prove he wasn't a pussy, and came out looking like one tough son of a bitch. The choke with cane was pretty creative and violent, and the spot with Orton going into rage mode after getting spat on was good stuff. Orton's blood added to the match, and the finish was sick.

John Cena vs CM Punk

It was never going to beat MITB, the sequels rarely beat the original, but this was still another top notch match between the two main eventers who have the most chemistry since Rock and Austin. Really, really high-end match and easy no.2 WWE MOTY. The first half of this was actually much stronger than the MITB, and all of the technical work was good stuff. Cena slowly powering out of holds then hitting explosive suplexes works. Loved him deadlifting Punk out of a stretch into a crazy powerslam. Punk's execution has never been better, and his knees and kicks are brutal. He was also busting out all sorts of unexpected offence like the falling headbutts, the picture perfect Savage elbow drop and a fucking mongolian chop of all things. This was really well built, with Cena repeatedly going for his trademark comeback routine, only for Punk to keep cutting him off, but with Cena getting progressively closer to completing his comeback roll each time. He'd go for the shoulerblocks and Punk'd counter with a sick knee to the face, he'd later hit them and go for the Protoplex, only for Punk to counter, etc. and when Cena hit it all the way through the place was going nuts. All of the submission nearfalls were still super-hot, and I loved how they mixed up the boo/yay exchange with different shots each time. Cena hit the best dropkick he will ever hit, a Sting-esque corner splash, and his final pissed off flurry was great. The finish brings it down, but really this is about as BS free as a match with HHH as referee will ever be, so I was more than happy.

CM Punk vs John Cena, RAW 8/22

This was a damn fine TV main event. Not as good as the PPV matches, or their first TV main, but still good shit. The stuff before the break was solid, but everything after was great. They do finisher teases/counters/build/nearfalls really well, they play off spots from previous matches, Cena's crossface actually looks better than his STF and he got ridiculous air on his legdrop. Loved Punk's elbows to the head and the motherfucking BUSAIKU KNEE out of nowhere. KENTA wishes he was this good. The TV finish was what it was, but this pairing has so much chemistry even a "lesser" bout is good.

Thursday 18 August 2011

PWG All Star Weekend 8

Kevin Steen vs Willie Mack

Really fun fatboys match with a veteran vs upstart story. Both guys work stiff and dish out hard shots, and also do some really impressive and pretty flying and highspots. Steen in particular goes for a pretty insane pop-up moonsault attempt. It went just a little too long for an opening match, but they got the story across well and the upset finish was great. I also love that Willie has a move called the Chocolate Thunder Bomb.

Generation Me vs RockNES Monsters

Pretty standard Gen Me match, which is mediocre. Most of their matches are the same shit, they only really care about the final part of the match when they can do big spots, everything before that is just boring lazy filler crap. There was some comedy early on, with RockNES shoving Max's crotch/ass into Jeremy's face and some other incest stuff, but I wasn't digging it. Goodtime was the only guy in this who was any good, and is a really slick highflyer. They played off the finish to the KR2 tag scramble which was neat, but Yuma's John Woo tornado DDT looked really hokey and the finish with the DDT/Superkick combo was just awful as Max visibly didn't connect with the kick.

Eddie Edwards vs Alex Shelley

Standard rote indy opening exchange leading to some stuff leading to some more stuff. I laughed out loud at the crowd breaking out into a "THIS IS AWESOME" chant for Shelley doing an abdominal stretch after 10 minutes of pretty much nothing happening. Both guys took time to reply to asshole fans, including Edwards being bewildered that someone could possibly like The Big Show and mocking the Chokeslam, which is pretty much the height of indy small man syndrome/anti-mainstream douchebagery. Both guys ran through their movesets, did an RVD/Lynn roll-up exchange, did some blatant legslapping, and then Edwards no-sold some stuff for the finish. I pretty much hated this.

Kevin Steen/Akira Tozawa vs El Generico/Ricochet

Not a perfect match, as it loses steam at points and Steen walks a fine line with how obnoxious he can act, but this is still pretty great. Mostly built around Steen vs Generico, and their interactions are as good as any in the feud. Ricochet hits some pretty crazy flippy highspots and Tozawa is pretty great, especially loved him faking Ricochet out with a chop then cracking him in the jaw. Final ten minutes are just total insanity, with Steen countering the Brainbuster into a Package Piledriver, Steen taking a reverse Frankensteiner off the top and Generico dying on an apron German suplex. And the finish itself was ridiculous. I also loved that Steen and Generico didn't go for the predictable handshake after the match. Up there with the best PWG matches ever.

Claudio Castagnoli vs Chris Hero

Long match, even by PWG main event standards. The crowd was burnt out by this point, and Hero could have sold Claudio's armwork better, but still this was almost shockingly good for the length it goes. It started with some pretty sound technical stuff, solid matwork and some crazy Hero armdrags, and they built well to the strikes. Claudio botched a springboard uppercut, but it was covered well and didn't affect the match. Claudio actually did a pretty good job controlling the match for a long period of time, keeping it interesting without going to restholds or anything. Loved Hero's trash-talking, and his high-flying stuff is even more spectacular and impressive off the second rope (after the top rope broke, which made the match feel even more unpredictable). Finishing run was also really well done, with them building to a small number of big nearfalls instead of overkill or annoying 2.9 nearfall sequences. Overall I thought this was a really well paced, well built long match and good shit if you're willing to put in the time.

Kevin Steen/Akira Tozawa vs RockNES Monsters

Hot start from RockNES, but it sorta dies down quickly and becomes Steen beating up both of them. It's OK and makes sense given the booking, but they just didn't make this compelling as it should have been for two young tries trying to hang with a top star. Too much goofy shit and comedy. Even though I like the guy, I do find it really amusing that Steen's character is that he is an obnoxious douchebag loudmouth, and that he is now the top babyface in the promotion. A comment about indy fans? They kinda blew an avalanche PP attempt, but made up for it with Yuma dying from one on the apron for the finish. Tozawa was a in a total backseat role, which is a shame, but the post-match antics with the Bucks and Hero were pretty great.

El Generico vs Eddie Edwards

This was definitely better than Edwards vs Shelley, but was still mostly them "just doing stuff". Edwards worked Generico's leg, but Generico never sold it once outside one spot where he couldn't hit a dive over the rope... so he went up top and hit one, completely overiding the point. Eddie was the aggressor most of the match and tried to "bully" Generico, but as much as I DO like the guy, he is just too vanilla for that kind of role. The final part of the match did pick up bigtime though, with both guys taking a spill to the outside, fighting on the apron (leading to the thirdest sickest apron bump of the weekend), Eddie hitting his big top rope rana and sick lariats, and THEN paying off the legwork for the finish.

Chris Hero vs Akira Tozawa

This was very good and easily MOTN, though still a big step down from their first match. Hero laid in a really violent beating on Tozawa. Chops, elbows, boots and stomps all looked really vicious and Hero also acted like a total dick. At one point he almost decapitated Tozawa with a running boot. The finish was well done, and a good way to end the feud. Tozawa crying during his farewell was emotional, he has grown into one of the most exciting wrestlers around in PWG, lets hope it's not the last we see of him.

Claudio Castagnoli vs Low Ki

I am 99% sure these two have never wrestled each other before, not even in tags or scramble matches, and it kinda showed. That's not to say this was bad, because it definitely wasn't, but there were obvious moments of awkwardness (what was up with Ki's running elbows?). Both guys dished out some shots, but they really should have played up the big vs small story much more than they did. You have the biggest guy in the main indys against a guy who is 5'8, and Ki was able to hit the Ki Krusher with relative ease. The awkwardness did lead to one sick spot where Claudio kinda sat up during a double stomp and got it right in the fucking face. Highlight of the match was also Ki double stomping Claudio's arm mid-air during an attempted elevated uppercut. The finish was predictable, with both guys surviving finishers, and came off as anticlimactic. Not a bad match by any stretch, it was solid, but ultimately forgettable. I expect future matches could be better.

Sunday 14 August 2011

The Briscoes vs The Bravado Bros, ROH "Tag Team Turmoil"

Checked this out because Briscoes have been on a tear lately, and the Bravados have an act that makes them pretty hatable. Jay cuts a promo on WGTT and ends with the awesome line (to the Bravados) "nothing personal boys, but we're gon' kick yo' ass". And that they do. The match was only around 6 minutes long, and Bravados got in more offence than they should have, but the Briscoes' beating and schtick was fun. Really liked the booking of the interference upset finish, too.

Yoshihito Sasaki/Kazuki Hashimoto vs Yuji Okabayashi/Shinobu, BJW 7/25

MOTYC for matches less than ten minutes. Short-ish match, but tonnes of action and asskicking. As you would expect, Sasaki vs Shinobu is where it's at, with both going fighting tooth and nail and trying to tear each other's heads off, but Ok and Hash also brought it in spades. Stiff match all round. Sasaki and Shinobu hate each other so much, and Okabayashi throws his muscle around effectively. Shinobu and Sasaki even go at it after the bell.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama, NJ 8/2

I enjoyed Takayama beating up the pretty boy ace, but this stopped short of being anything memorable. Takayama brought it and dished out the pain, but not on the same scale he would against a guy like KENTA. Which is fine, Tanahashi is the company ace, not a junior, so I'm not expecting Takayama to run through him. Tanahashi makes an OK punching bag, but he really isn't good enough at striking and doesn't "bring it" enough for me to really buy his comeback, nor does he sell the beating well enough to make me buy Takayama having a chance of winning.

Yoshihiro Takayama vs Giant Bernard, NJ 8/6

Pretty mediocre superheavyweight match. I actually thought Takayama once again did a good job. Here he was an old bastard trying to prove he's not past it and can still hang with a guy like Bernard. At the start of the match, he couldn't beat Bernard in a test-of-strength, so resorted to a cheapshot. He then lost a shoulder tackle exchange and immediately got to his feet and brushed it off, trying to act like it didn't phase him. After that the match was pretty crappy, as Bernard is pretty damn boring when on offence and the crowd didn't give two craps either. They did a decent job making the finish feel like an upset, but too little too late.

Friday 12 August 2011

Chikarasaurs Rex: When the sequel beats the original

Eddie Kingston vs Adam Cole

This kind of match is a little frustrating, and even more so when you try to "rate" it. On the one hand you had a guy putting on a hell of show and being off the charts, on the other you had a guy dragging him down and sucking hard. As bland as he is as a babyface, Adam Cole is worse as a heel and I found him nearly infufferable. Outside of playing from the generic cocky heel handbook 101, he is the indy Edge as far as shitty offence and absurd facial expressions go. I enjoyed Kingston wailing on him, but once Cole went on the offence the match plummeted. I almost felt bad for Kingston having to sell some of this shit, as Kingston screaming in pain and hobbling as Cole gently brushed his leg looked silly. Still, King tried and he atleast was great, and the finish with the seated backfist was pretty cool.

Johnny Saint vs Johnny Kidd

What you expect from this match, and a tonne of fun to watch. Plenty of cool mat trickery and neat counters, and even some amusing mind games as well. Saint did a lot of his usual spots, and they are still awesome, and it's impossible to have "running through his moveset" as a complain for a guy like Johnny MF Saint. I was actually more impressed by Kidd though, he was more simplistic and aggressive in comparison to Saint's flash, and he threw in a few subtle heel moments to make the match feel more competitive.

Mike Quackenbush vs Claudio Castagnoli

This was pretty underwhelming and maybe the worst match these two have had together. This is a pretty consistant match-up, so that's not to say the match sucked, but it just wasn't anything special. One of the best things about Quack vs Claudio is how slick their exchanges are but here a lot of stuff was executed pretty loose. Most of the wow factor came from the ridiculous height Quack was able to get off certain spots, inlcuding a huge asai moonsault. Most of the match was pretty dull and plodding, with Claudio vaguely targetting Quack's back, but mostly with restholds and shit. No urgency and felt like they were filling time for the end run. And a lot of the stuff near the finish came off very random, like Quack busting out a Dragonrana and a Ricola Bomb from the apron. It may have just been me but it felt like they were just throwing shit against the wall. Quack surving a big run of offence then coming back to win out of nowhere was a little annoying too.

Eddie Kingston vs Jigsaw

I liked this a bunch, but it once again fell down the same pitfall most indy wrestling does: trying to force an "epic". The first two thirds of the match were quality. Both guys being aggressive and bringing it without breaking the face vs face status quo. Jigsaw in particular brought it much more than I was anticipating and, outside a couple flubbed superkicks (seriously, stop them), was pretty stiff. Both guys targetted bodyparts and sold them well. One great spot saw Kingston egg Jig on to take him down only for Jig to whipe him out with a big flurry of strikes. Eddie wildly swinging punches whilest crumpling to the mat was also cool. It kind of fell off a cliff near the end with a bunch of finishers and forced "we are equal" spots, including Jig surviving all three of King's finishers in a row, which was baffling, and Kingston hitting the worst Sliding D ever, but it wasn't bad enough to drop this below "very good".

Mike Quackenbush/Johnny Saint vs Colt Cabana/Johnny Kidd

Another match that was a total blast and even better than the singles from the night before. Every match-up delivered and was awesome. I especially loved the way Quack and Colt were working the body-scissors early on. Saint and Kidd seemed to work a bit tighter than the night before, and they built on some of the spots from the singles match nicely. The finish was awkward, but all four guys looked like they were having a tonne of fun wrestling this and I dare you not to enjoy it too.

Claudio Castagnoli vs Sara Del Rey

Claudio has been kind of frustrating this year. His weaker performances have come against his better opponents and his better performances have been against weaker opponents. Case in point, this. These two had a match in the 2008 TPI that got a lot of love, but I thought it was really sloppy. Del Rey has a rep for being a "good" female wrestler, and while she's definitely better than Kelly Kelly or Mickie James I still think "good" is a stretch. As sexist as it sounds she is like pretty much every other female wrestler these days, sloppy and fairly unco-ordinated. Anyway, this was still pretty solid because of the intergender/underdog story, but even then it doesn't take much work to gain sympothy as a woman getting beat up by a guy Claudio's size. Claudio was a pretty good asshole, worked Sara over well and sold bigtime for submission nearfalls, making this better than their 2008 match. The outcome was pretty telegraphed, but Claudio's performance was still pretty impressive, even if this does read like I am underating the match. It was solid, but they didn't hit the high notes they were going for.

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Jigsaw/Frightmare vs Façade/Jason Gory, EVOLVE 7

For some reason I thought it was Hallowickid teaming with Jig in this, so I was disappointed to find out it was Frightmare instead. Not that Hallowickid is great and Frightmare is terrible, but it’s still a step down. I have never seen their opponents before, but they both looked pretty smooth and competent at working this kind of match. Basically just a short 10 minutes-ish spotfest with everyone hitting some cool spots. Jigsaw was clearly directing traffic, but everyone hit their stuff smoothly, and the spots were all pretty cool. Nothing that will blow you away as this match probably happens every other EVOLVE show, but fun for what it is.

Sami Callihan vs Zack Sabre Jr., EVOLVE 7

Another case of Sami getting a good match out of a scrub, another case of Sabre showing he can be lead to something good, or both? This was an interesting clash as both guys are both very different yet kind of similar in that they rely on signature strikes and submissions. Sabre was much more intense than usual and held up his end well enough, including working over Sami’s arm nicely and taking some big bumps on the floor. One cool spot saw them brawling on the stage with Sabre catching Sami in the cross-arm breaker, leading to Sami transitioning it into the Stretch Muffler. Both guys brought it, and the finish was appropriately sick.

Sunday 7 August 2011

Dick Togo vs Kota Ibushi, DDT 3/27

This was a shock to the system. Not only was it was 30 minute Kota Ibushi that was not just watchable, but a great match with Ibushi being actively good throughout. Yup. There was one kickout at 1 off a Senton, which was a little dumb, but because of where it was placed in the match I almost didn't mind it, and outside of that I can't really flaw Ibushi much. He brought plenty of violence and dished out the heavy blows and kept up with Dick through the match. Some of his spots were also incredible, like a springboard dropkick to the outside. Togo was once again Dick MF Togo, on the retirement run of a lifetime. Just incredible at everything, selling, bumping, building drama, pacing the match. This was much more focused on striking and buildin heat rather than highspots and wow factor, and the 30 minutes didn't even feel too long. Makes me think Ibushi will be as good or bad as his opponent - put him against Devitt and you'll get a bland spotfest, put him against Dick Togo and you'll get an epic.

Fujita Hayato/KAGETORA/Takeshi Minamino/The Sato Bros vs Kenou/ken45°/Kenbai/Yapper Man #1 & 2, M-Pro 6/5 (Elimination)

Outside of Hayato and Kenou, no one really stood out as being particularly impressive, but the combined effort of everyone involved came together and produced something that was enjoyable all the way through. It's been a long time since this kind of eliminaion tag has been done well, and this was a lot of fun. Hayato was great at being a dick and kicking the crap out of everyone. The Sato Bros and Yapper Men did some fun spots around the apron elimintion which came off well, and the final showdown between Hayato and Kenou felt like a fitting end to the match. Good stuff.

Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi/Shinobu vs Yoshihito Sasaki/Shinya Ishikawa/Ryuichi Kawakami, BJW 6/27

This was pretty good and probably the best Strong BJ has produced this year, but still not great. This was built around the continuing Sasaki/Shinobu hatred, and that aspect of the match was really well done and ultimately what makes this worthwhile. They build it up through the match with cheapshots and interference, then finally face off at the end of the match with the place going nuts for it. And the final showdown delivers, with both men going at it, and a really great, well done finish that pays off the rest of the match. Outside of this there wasn't much going on, everything was filler, though there was one fun cat-and-mouse sequence between Sek and Ish, but otherwise it was mediocre. But the story/continuity/payoff of the Sasaki/Shinobu stuff makes this a win.

Dick Togo vs Gedo, DDT 6/30

Behind the Honda and Ibushi matches, but not too far. Maybe if this had blood it could be a MOTYC. Really well laid out, Gedo's attacks on the ribs all looked nasty and he stayed on them throughout, and Togo's selling and bumping was really superb. Him flying into the turnbuckle and ringpost chest-first both looked spectacular and gave the match the sort of larger-than-life feel you want in this situation. Good use of the Gedo Clutch as a credible nearfall even though the result was never in doubt. Great match and an epic send-off to one of the best. I can't see anyone not enjoying this.

YAMATO vs Akira Tozawa, Dragon Gate 7/8

Checked this out to see Tozawa in DG, but was left dissapointed. Tozawa dished out some nasty blows and sold the legwork well, but just didn't have the same aura or bravado he had built up in the States. YAMATO is a guy I've liked in the past but he was pretty shitty here and pretty much followed Dragon Gate Wrestling 101. Poor transitions, spotty, effortlessly going on offence after taking beatings/big moves, robotically going from one move or spot to another... I havent seen Dragon Gate in over a year and this seemed like business as usual.

BxB Hulk vs SHINGO, Dragon Gate 7/8

Only checked this out as it was on the same episode of Dragon Gate as the above, and man this stunk hard. Hulk is now a heel, which means he wears black make-up and looks emo. Maybe the single least intimidating wrestler in Japan. He contolled most of the match, which consisted of him casually walking round, occasionally hitting SHINGO with some of the weakest kicks immaginable. SHINGO is still fairly unbearable but he atleast has some strikes and moves that look devastiting, which just makes Hulk's flimsy offence all the more embarrassing. Bad match.

Tuesday 2 August 2011

Prince Devitt vs Low Ki, NJ in USA 5/14

Dissapointing indy dream match spotfest. The crowd was hot, and both guys hit spectacular dives, but the match itself was just them running through their movesets. No thanks.

Chris Hero vs El Generico, ROH Supercard Of Honor VI

Fun mid-card match, but ultimately nothing spectacular. They did some comedy with Generico calling Hero Thor, and Hero bonking him with an inflatable hammer before working a cat-and-mouse style match. Hero eventually laid in the beating, but then we got a dusty finish with Generico's leg on the rope. Very random booking, and Generico won instantly after the re-start, which was underwhelming.

The Briscoes vs The All Night Express, ROH Supercard Of Honor VI (Street Fight)

I kind of had my hopes up too high for this as it's been my favourite feud in wrestling this year, but this was a very good match if not a blowaway great one. My main problem was that it was too spotty and had too many set-up highspots and not as much out-and-out brawling as I would have liked. But it was still ultimately what you want here, four guys beating each other to bloody messes and doing crazy wreckless shit. The brawling was all very good, the weapons were used well and there was plenty of hate. The highlight was easily the Briscoes hanging Kenny King with a chain while yelling racial slurs. The finish was pretty shitty and brought the match down. Jay got a chair thrown at him and "collapsed" on Rhett for the pin. The whole thing looked incredibly hokey, no one bought it, and it didn't make either team look good. These teams have a truly great match in them, this wasn't it, but as another peice of the story, it was a lot of fun.

Sunday 31 July 2011

HHH vs Sheamus, MSG 3/19 (Street Fight)

Pretty cool house show match between these two. This being HHH's return to MSG, he was crazy over. This was much better than their street fight from PPV last year. Plenty of cool, violent stuff such as HHH whipping Sheamus with a belt Sheamus wailing on Hunter with a cane and bashing his head in with the steel steps. HHH took a few big bumps like a spill into the steps, but I didn't get the feeling he was bringing much outside the crowd support. Sheamus was great at both dishing out and taking punishment, including one great spot where he get caught upside in the ropes hanging by a foot with HHH caning him. We get a neat boo/yay punch exchange and a predictable house show finish. Not anything great, but a fun match and a pretty great Sheamus performance.

Rey Mysterio vs John Cena, WWE RAW 7/25/11

Throwing such a huge money match as this away on free TV with no build was really fucking stupid, but the match itself was really great and totally delivered. Rey targeting Cena’s leg was such a smart piece of continuity because it played off of the Miz match from earlier in the night AND set-up spots later on in the match, such as Cena’s leg giving out in the AA. They used the big small, flier vs strenth aspect of the match well, with spots like Rey jumping around to evade Cena before getting laid out with a clothesline. Some great counters from both guys, and I dug Rey’s dropkick to cut off Cena’s predictable comeback routine. Rey’s doing the STF was excellent, and so was Cena powering out of it – that shit looked truly super-human. The finishing run was great too. Rey competed in two matches and took Cena to his limit, and came out looking like a million bucks.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

CZW ToD X

Necro Butcher vs Matt Tremont

This was a really, really fun brawl and almost certainly your Deathmatch Of The Year. There was a neat underlying Old School vs New School story with Necro beating Tremont up early and taking him to school, before the tables turned and he found himself desperately trying to hang with the new blood. And the brawling itself was totally nuts. Wild crowd brawling, shit getting thrown around wrecklessly, and some really violent moments that stood out, such as Tremont getting hit over the head with a bottle and Necro wildly throwing a beer cooler at his face. What really seperates guys like Necro (and Tremont from what his showing here) from 99% of garbage wrestlers is that all of the actual non-weapons brawling and strikes such as punches, chops, headbutts, etc all look good too. Tremont took a hell of a beating. The trademark Necro sitdown punch showdown spot was particularly brutal. This isn't going to be for everyone, but those who give it a look won't be dissapointed.

MASADA vs Matt Tremont
MASADA vs Masashi Takeda

Both of these were pretty mediocre and way beneath the Necro match (which shows you just how valuable Necro is to the DM scene). MASADA can go when paired with a good opponent (his match with Sami earlier in the year was really something), but when left to his own devices his matches are usually plodding displays of mutilation instead of heated brawls. They are about gross-out shock'n'awe than actually making it feel like a DEATH MATCH. Tremont took some sick punishment, but that kind of match is bottom of the barrel shit. The Takeda match was also lacking in any hate/intensity and felt like two gus trying to have a puro match with props rather than an actual deathmatch. Some stuff was hit well, some stuff was hit shittily. Takeda took MULTIPLE bareback fire bumps, including an absolutely insane finish which was so violent it almost made up for the rest of the match.

Monday 25 July 2011

ROH "Revolution: Canada"

Michael Elgin vs Rhett Titus vs Tommaso Ciampa vs Adam Cole vs Grizzly Redwood vs Andy Ridge (Double Danger Scramble)

Pretty skippable match though interesting to see Elgin spotlighted. The Russo-ish rules were retarded and meant an unrealisitically high number of falls in a short space of time. Ridge was just embarassing, Ciampa sucks, but Titus continued to look considerably better than he did this time last year. Cole hit a flip piledriver off the top, which wasn't Petey Williams level shitty but still kinda ehhh. There was a fun dive train though, that ended with Elgin flying, and the finish with Elgin lifting Cole and Grizz up together was neat.

Colt Cabana vs Delirious

OK comedy match but really a rehash of their 2007 routine. There was some amusing stuff with both guys trying to throw a t-shirt into the crowd, and the strut off was a nice tribute to Sweeney, but overall nothing to see here.

Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team vs The Briscoes

This was a tale of two sides. One being the best tag team in the world right now, the other being horribly stale and bland. There was a really long, dull feeling out section to start before Mark took over with a low blow. Heel transition! One amusing spot saw Jay tease throwing Haas into the rails, only to roll him in the ring and flip off the fans, which was tremendous. Mark got busted out pretty nastily round his eye, but WGTT didn't really go after it at all. Briscoes brought the classic heel tag structure and controlled the match really effectively, but WGTT are just so dull I personally struggled to get into it all that much. The Briscoes ate all of their comeback offence well and made them look good, but the distraction finish came off flat. This was heel tag wrestling 101 from the Briscoes but all along I was just hoping for WGTT to give me SOMETHING to make me care about them, instead of wrestling like robots repeating routines they have been doing since 2003.

Eddie Edwards vs Chris Hero

This was a really good match, but not great or the epic they were trying to pull off. At 40 minutes it was a long match, and they could have easily gone 30 or even 25 and made the match much tighter. It started with some solid matwork, and as far as perfunctory feeling out sections go this was much better than in the tag match as Hero is a great mat-worker and kept it moving, and it naturally progressed into both guys trading blows. Christ on a cross, the chops both guys threw were insane. Hero's chest gets lit up and is bright red after only a handful from Eddie. This was followed up by a pretty great running boot over the rail, which looked like it blasted Hero straight in the face. Hero took over and went to town on Edwards's arm, and Hero is a guy who always had a 1,001 ways to work over a guy's limb and busted out plenty of creative stuff, as well as mocking and shit-talking Edwards in the process. Edwards sold it all pretty great, and then took a crazy table bump out of nowhere to put him in immediate danger. This was only a small part of the match though, as soon after he hit a big fisherman buster off the apron to the floor, which served to reset the match. The big finishing run was a mixed bag, both guys threw some more ridiculous stiff shots, there were a couple neat spots and Hero took a freaking reverse rana, but overall it still felt as if they were trying just to hard to pull off an "epic", with a million 2.9 nearfalls, and some lame interference shit with Claudio and Davey, which only served to put Davey in the spotlight and overshadow the match. In the end I came away thinking this was a really well laid out match with plenty of good actual content, but was just a little too forced to be a truly great match. Edwards is good, but just not the guy who is going to deliver a classic. If a match is really great, the work will speak for itself, and won't need an erraneous length of time or have a hundred nearfalls in sucession to try and force it, if both guys had done without that, this may have been the MOTYC they were going for.

Friday 22 July 2011

Money In The Motherfuckin' Bank

Daniel Bryan vs Sheamus vs Wade Barrett vs Kane vs Sin Cara vs Cody Rhodes vs Justin Gabriel vs Heath Slater (Ladder Match)

This was a really fun match and actually shockingly good when you consider the talent involved. The dive train early on was pretty fun, Slater and Gabriel need to do highspots more often, though I thought the spot with them teasing an alliance and then turning on Barret was predictable and underwhelming. They should have knocked him off and made him take a spill instead of just letting him climb then pulling him back down. Sheamus was the fucking man in this, just destroying everyone. Cara sucks but props to the guy, that was a fucking nasty fucking bump he took getting powerbombed through the ladder. This got plenty of time for guys to shine without every dragging and was overall a really fun match with an awesome outcome. I also marked for Kane's Doomsday Device.

Mark Henry vs The Big Show

For such a short match, this was really awesome. Both guys are REALLY good big men, but both are better suited to short matches, and this was as good of match as this could have been in the time it went. Both guys were intense and pissed off, and the clobbered the hell out of each at the start. Dug the teases of the announce table spot, and both guys took some knarly bumps for their size. On top of all this, it was REALLY smartly worked with Henry going after the knee injury, and the finish and aftermath was all really great as far as making Henry look like a killer.

Alberto Del Rio vs Rey Mysterio vs The Miz vs Alex Riley vs Evan Bourne vs Jack Swagger vs Kofi Kingston vs R-Truth (Ladder)

This wasn't as good as the SD match, but still a lot of fun. There were plenty of botches, but outside of Truth's fuck-up, the botches and sloppiness actually added to the match and made it feel chaotic and unpredictable. Bourne's SSP was sweet, and the pop for Miz's return was cool. Riley trying to use the small ladder to reach the case was really amusing, when the Miz feud is done they should go back to his NXT roots and make it so that his gimmick is that he sucks. Del Rio also took a whole tonne of crazy bumps and the finish was RUDO.

Randy Orton vs Christian

This was easily the weakest of their matches, but still solid. Christian really isn't as good at working heel as he is at babyface, and Orton seemed off a lot too. Most of the RKO teases and counters were really bad and forced. There was also one really shitty punch exchange (which rightfully got zero response from the crowd). Still, there was some good stuff, mostly just some of the offence both guys broke out like Christian's diving headbutt and Orton's over-the-shoulder neckbreaker. The finish was a little anticlimactic, but worked well and the post-match with Orton going nuts on Christian was the best part of the whole deal. Once again I went in expecting an epic blow-off, but instead got another chapter in the feud, hopefully the finale delivers.

John Cena vs CM Punk

This match. What a match. Earlier in the year these two had a great match on RAW and I hoped for an epic PPV showdown between them - my prayers were answered. This was the best match I have seen in years and one of the best matches in WWE history. This was up there on the higher echelon of all time classics, and both guys, and the crowd, were outstanding. Obviously the crowd were amazing for this, before the bell even rang, the arena was booming with chants for Punk, and everytime the camera panned to the fans in the later parts of the match you could see every single fan in attendence was emotionally invested in the match unlike almost any other in recent history. Plenty of nasty moments such as Punk's knee to Cena's jaw, and the suplex to the floor out of nowhere. The match had a really effective slow-build, though maybe they made it too clear they were going long as they did lose the crowd at some point early on before getting them back, but even the early parts of the match had a clear story, with Cena replying to the "You can't wrestle" speil by matching Punk hold for hold. Punk talking during holds was also amusing, reminded me of 2004 Punk.

Some really smart spots thrown in, like Cena begining his rote day-to-day comeback routine only for Punk to telegraph it for a roll-up nearfall, and Cena busted out some unexpeced stuff like that powerslam and the abdominal stretch. But despite all the great action, this was a match made great by the story being told and the way both guy's played their roles and their characters. Story-telling is just about my favourite thing about the crazy that is pro wrestling, and this tied in with Punk's promo from RAW to perfection. Cena was no longer the underdog overcoming great odds, he was the unstoppable obstacle for others to overcome, and Punk was the one who was the underdog overcoming the WWE machine of Cena AND Vince. Cena WAS the Yankees, and dominated Punk for most of the second half, with Punk desperately trying to hang on. Cena was so good in this, completely stoic and "strictly business" throughout, but later on cracking a "trying not to lose my cool" smile and arguing with the ref (but not a whiny heel way) to show his frustration and the cracks in his armour. Punk was the polar opposite, full of personality and laying it all out there in the ring. There were a couple sloppy spots, but they didn't break the flow of the match or expose the business, so they were insignificant, and there was also some complicated stuff hit well. The whole sequence starting with Cena catching Punk in the crossbody leading to the AA nearfall was amazing and something I re-watched several times. Every counter in this match looked natural and organic, and the nearfalls were huge (no one has ever kicked out of 2 AA's before, so that was huge).

The finish could have been terrible and soured the whole match, but instead it was pretty much perfect, and off the top of my head I can't remember the WWE ever nailing a non-clean finish as well as they did here. Cena clocking Ace was THE definitive John Cena moment. He would rather lose doing the right thing, than win doing the wrong thing. WWE usually fucks up these angles, so it was a real shock to see them pull the trigger here and gives the fans what they really wanted, and the place exploded for Punk's win. The aftermath with Vince, Del Rio and Punk leaving through the crowd was just the icing on the cake.

And it was a good fucking cake.