You can only imagine my joy when, weeks after starting this blog, I spotted a DVD for sale from IVP videos called The Best Of Tom Zenk!! For the bargain price of $3, it consists of 2 hours of Zenk from his Japan tours between 1986 and 1994. This should be excellent.
Rick Martel & Tom Zenk vs the Funk Brothers (22/11/86)
The Funks start off playing face, showing mutual respect to Zenk and Martel, but early signs of frustration show when the younger team manage to keep up with them on the early exchanges. The first sign of the Funks' heeling comes when Dory repeatedly throws Zenk outside the ring (with some big bumps taken by Zenk) to be thrown back in by Terry, only for Terry to give Zenk an atomic drop (almost hitting a cameraman) before throwing him back in, to the rage of Martel. Martel begins to brawl with Terry outside, while Dory works over Zenk on the inside, hitting a nice piledriver for two. Martel comes in on a hot tag, following a reversal of Dory's spinning toe hold, and Terry does everything in his power to draw the ire of the crowd and make Martel look good: he runs away from Martel all around the ring, cowers in the ropes and offers a handshake in an attempt to placate Martel. Martel, as a good face, accepts the handshake, but the audience knows that Terry can't be trusted. So when Terry tries to double-cross on a clean break, and Martel avoids contact, the crowd erupts and a two count off a crossbody gets a huge pop. Zenk is brought back in with his own crossbody for two, but Terry rolls him up for three. Good tag affair with plenty of heat, the fired-up babyfaces meshing well with the sneaky heels.
Tom Zenk & Rick Martel vs Giant Baba & Hiroshi Wajima (12/12/86)
The crowd are psyched for Wajima right from the start. Zenk manages to hit one of the highest standing dropkicks I've seen on Wajima as Martel holds him in a bearhug. Baba comes in and the match quality quickly goes downhill, including him putting Zenk in a headscissors for what feels like ages. Wajima at least has some energy and shares some fierce exchanges with the two gaijin. This is my first time seeing Baba, and he's really not my cup of tea. His bumps and offence both are really low impact and go beyond being safe into being business-exposing.The difference between him and Wajima are night and day, so it comes as a relief when Wajima comes in like a house on fire and levels Zenk with a backdrop driver and a lariat for the win. Not a good match
Tom Zenk & The Terminator vs Genichiro Tenryu & Ashura Hara (21/11/87)
The Terminator is the brother of Johhny Ace and Road Warrior Animal. At this point, Zenk is more established in Japan and is actually getting some decent offence in, getting to look good against both Tenryu and Hara. Zenk and Tenryu share some nice exchanges during the opening section, including a swank sequence where Zenk goes from a hammerlock into a headscissors on Tenryu. Zenk also nails a nice standing inziguiri on Hara. Terminator doesn't fare so well, making the mistake of exchanging chops with Tenryu. Zenk rescues his partner from a Tenryu top rope elbow, but is unable to stop him falling prey to an enzuigiri and powerbomb for the Tenryu win. Pretty enjoyable, if a bit short.
Tom Zenk & The Terminator vs John Tenta & The Great Kabuki (11/12/87)
Early bad break for Zenk as he botches an attempt to springboard out of the corner, only for things to get worse then Tenta press slams him. After his mistake of chopping with Tenryu last match, this time Terminator goes for a test strength with Tenta. Again he doesn't win, but does get to knock the big man down with a clothesline. Tenta looks great here, moving with a fair bit of speed and he sends Zenk flying out of the ring with a big shoulder tackle. He also levels Terminator with a dropkick out of the corner. In fact, aside from a small flurry of offence from Zenk, it's pretty much the Tenta show, as he soon squashes Terminator with a powerslam and an elbow drop for the win.
Tom Zenk & The Terminator vs Abdullah The Butcher & TNT (12/12/87)
This TNT sadly isn't Savio Vega. Zenk & Terminator get the chance to look pretty dominant in the early stages, working over TNT with some double-teams and sending him outside for more punishment. Against Abby, it isn't quite the same, with Terminator making an offensive mistake for the 3rd match in a row by trying to headbutt the Butcher. Abby works Terminator over outside, including feeding him to a TNT chairshot and pins him with an elbow drop inside. Match lasted about 5 minutes. This is the last Zenk/Terminator match on the disk, all of which have seen Zenk getting in some solid offence, only to be let down by his partner. At this point you'd assume Zenk would be looking elsewhere...
Tom Zenk & Stan Hansen vs Abdullah The Butcher & Jimmy Snuka (30/08/88)
One year later and Zenk has a hell of an upgrade for his tag partner. Hansen jumps Abby as he gets in the ring, and it is on. Abby and Hansen brawl outside, while Zenk and Snuka tangle in the ring (which most fans aren't watching). Eventually, we get back in the ring, where Abby and Snuka double team Zenk repeatedly, including a series of chokes on the rope and Abby jamming a fork into Zenk's neck. all Hell soon breaks loose again with both teams brawling outside, while Snuka chokes Zenk with a chain. Chaos keeps reigning with Hansen snapping at one point, hurling a table in the ring. Eventually the ref has had enough and it's a double DQ. Despite it's sloppiness and Snuka looking far from his best, this is a fun little brawl.
Tom Zenk & Dan Kroffat vs Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki (18/04/88)
This is for Kawada & Fuyuki's All-Asian titles. Fuyuki is a future founding member of Team No Respect. This match is notably faster than the last few matches and provides a refreshing change of pace, with Zenk looking noticably energized in his early exchanges with Kawada. Kroffat also looks good and both teams seem to have nice chemistry. Kawada sends Zenk to the floor, but misses a pescado, allowing Zenk and Kroffat to double-team Fuyuki, leading to a Zenk springboard splash for two. Kroffat busts out Cattle Mutilation on Fuyuki at one point, before hitting him with a Razor's Edge and I'm really starting to love this match. Kawada gets double-teamed with a swank suplex/missile dropkick combo from the gaijin, and you get the feeling that Zenk and Kroffat should have teamed more often, with Kroffat just bringing out more and more swank offence, including a powerslam that has a real nice snap to it. Against the run of the match, Kawada hits a crucifix on Kroffat for the win, but this was just a great match by all four men.
Tom Zenk & Jim Brunzell vs the Fantastics (11/07/89)
Some more nice tag-team wrestling. Zenk almost sneaks an early pin by catching Fulton in a small package as he ducks a Brunzell leapfrog. Zenk also does some nice work by catching Rogers with a springboard crossbody from the corner, then faking him out on a second attempt to hit a beautiful dropkick. The Fantastics, predictably, work fantastically (sorry) as a team, but Zenk and Brunzell look good together too. Zenk hits a choice powerslam when he catches Fulton coming off the top rope. The Fantastics have some beautifully executed double-teams here, including a fun double monkeyflip on Brunzell. Zenk seems to be positioned as the powerhouse of the match, and he does good work in the role, catching Rogers and Fulton with a double clothesline before hitting a good running powerslam on Rogers. The end comes when the less-established team misses a double-team move, allowing the Fantastics to double-team Brunzell with an assisted top-rope backsplash for the win. I could happily have watched another 10 minutes of this.
Tom Zenk, Stan Hansen & Doug Furnas vs Mitsuharu Misawa, Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi (23/07/94)
Zenk is sporting some rather fetching pink trunks. A fun spot near the start sees Kikuchi running from Zenk and Furnas, thinking he's outsmarted them, only to get hammered by Hansen from behind, who throws him to Zenk and Furnas to attack outside the ring. The American team looks good early on, with Hansen and Furnas combining for a nice double-team shoulderblock on Misawa. The home team focus on keeping Hansen down, with Kobashi and Misawa both getting to look good against him, Kobashi even fighting to get the big man over for a suplex. It doesn't last too long, and soon Hansen and Zenk combine to hit a second-rope clothesline into a back suplex on Kobashi. Hansen also takes Kobashi to the floor for a DDT. The hot-tag to Misawa gets a massive reaction, which he repays by taking Hansen down with a flying elbow.Both teams exchange fast tags and offence, with a Furnas release German suplex on Kikuchi looking particularly impressive. Things break down quickly, until we're left with Furnas in the ring with Kobashi, who hits a moonsault for the win. Fast, frentic and crucially, a lot of fun.
Overall, this has done nothing to dilute my appreciation of Tom Zenk. What I saw on this disk was a great tag-team worker with great babyface fire and high athleticism. Four of the matches here are legitimately great, and I think it's fair to say Zenk pulled his weight in there. EDILTZ will continue, but it'll be hard for me to find better examples of how good he was than this
Saturday 29 January 2011
Thursday 27 January 2011
Ring Of Honor: The Era Of Honor Begins 2002
This is the first ever RoH show, and one of the first tapes I bought when I was starting to get interested in the indys. I had a few CZW tapes, which I loved and intend to review in the coming months, but this featured all the guys I'd heard about on the net in the same show. Of course, this is how RoH marketed itself, with the best guys from the various indy scenes.
Christopher Street Connection vs Da Hit Squad
And so the era of Honor does verily begin...with a total squash. The CSC work a gay gimmick and cop off in the middle of the ring to borderline homophobic comments from Eric Gargiulo and Steve Corino. The story that they tried to get across here was that Da Hit Squad hated the CSC for trying to bring Sports Entertainment into a pure wrestling promotion, the kind of storyline that is, of course, pure SE. The CSC essentially die for your pleasure, including Buff-E getting dropped on his dome with a German suplex and Mase taking a Burning Hammer for the win. Afterwards, Da Hit Squad powerbomb CSC valet Allison Danger through a table/Buff-E combo to a huge pop
The Amazing Red vs Jay Briscoe
Gargiulo and Corino play this up as the high-flier vs the grappler, but it doesn't really turn out that way. Instead, the match seems to consist of Red kicking out of more and more moves that really should finish him. Red takes a huge spill over the top ropes early, which goes some way to explaining why he's had so many knee surgeries over the years. Back in, Briscoe cheapshots on a handshake to officially become the heel for the match. He hits Red with a sitting muscle buster which only gets two. The Jay Driller is busted out next, only for Red to get his foot on the ropes when he should be legally dead. A half-Nelson suplex plants Red on his head and really should be the end, but instead Red dodges a top-rope cannonball and hits the Red Alert (twisting moonsault from the top) and the Red Star Press for 3. As a showcase for both men, it was effective, but both were too inexperience to lay out a sensible match at this stage of their careers and instead blew through several potential finishers, which is a real waste.
Xavier vs Scoot Andrews
Andrews calls himself the "Black Nature Boy". He isn't, but he does look very impressive in this match, which is essentially a showcase for Andrews. Andrews hits a fine butterfly suplex on Xavier, only for Xavier to repay him by almost dropping him directly on his head during a backdrop attempt. Andrews has some nice looking offence, including the good use of a clothesline to prevent an attempted bulldog from the corner. There is also a story told here, where the more-experienced Andrews gets increasingly frustrated at his inability to put Xavier away. Andrews hits a pumphandle into a piledriver called the Force Of Nature, but we get another "wrestler gets foot on rope after being hit by finisher" spot for the second match in a row. Andrews argues with the ref, giving Xavier time to recover and reverse a second Force Of Nature attempt with a neckbreaker for the shock win. This is the first RoH match that actually feels like it's trying to do more than just look flashy, and while it may suffer from a few blown spots, it's perfectly good wrestling. Xavier looked willing, but green, while Andrews really shone.
Natural Born Sinners vs the Boogie Knights
The Sinners consist of Homicide and one of his trainees, Boogalou. The team split when Boogalou suddenly quit RoH to join XPW, a decision he must regret. Their gimmick revolves around them being a pair of street thugs just released from prison, but Gargiulo and Corino do an excellent job of putting over their wrestling ability on commentary, including references to Boogalou's amateur career. The NBS just kill both Boogie Knights, including a horrible double-team powerbomb to Danny Drake. Boogalou is notably not a polished as Homicide, who is a lot crisper including hitting a crazy tope to a seated Drake. The Knights get in some token offence, including a decent springboard swanton by Mike Tobin, but the NBS dominte until they get disqualified for attacking the Knights with a rubber chicken, leading to them assaulting ref HC Loc afterwards. Fun squash.
Quiet Storm vs Jose Maximo vs Joel Maximo vs Brian XL vs Chris Devine vs The Amazing Red
This is an elimination match refereed by Mikey Whipwreck, who trained them all bar XL. It's also a total spotfest, with all six guys zipping in-and-out of the ring, hitting flashy offence before being taken out by another competitor. With so many guys, there is no resting and it does lead to some choice moments. A Quiet Storm tope leads to a series of them, which culminates with Red hitting a springboard swanton to the outside. There is a real contrast in the standard of the wrestlers: Red and Storm are clearly ahead of the pack with their offence looking crisp and capable, while XL is flashy but sloppy, and Devine looks pretty hesitant. After a few minutes of action, we hit the eliminations hard: Red stumbles into a backslide from Jose for 3, while XL is eliminated following a Widow's Peak from Storm, leaving the two regular teams. The SAT hit Spanish Fly on Devine, but Jose gets hit with a German suplex by Storm straight away, leading to a double pin on Devine and Jose. Joel and Storm run through a decent series of pin and counters, with Storm eventually picking up the victory following a Storm Cradle Driver. An entertaining spotfest which, although not as crisp as others I've seen, was never less than fun and energetic.
Prince Nana vs Towel Boy
Nana hasn't got a opponent, so Eric Tuttle is sent from the back, with Corino advising him to "get yourself over". He does this by wiping down the ringropes with a towel (hence the name) only to get nailed by a Nana clothesline. A capture suplex ends a total Nana squash.
Michael Shane & Oz vs Spanky & Ikaika Loa
all four guys are graduates from Shawn Michaels' Texas Wrestling Academy. The storyline here is that the winner of the pinfall will earn themselves an RoH contract, with the underlying story being based on the mutual dislike from Shane and Spanky.. The strongest parts of the match come when they're opposing each other, with both looking like they really want the win at the others expence. Oz and Loa don't do much, but don't bring the match down. Loa is slightly lumbering, but has the basics down, while Oz seems competent. The match is solid, but really heats up in the finishing sequence: Oz prevents Sliced Bread by pushing Spanky into a Shane superkick, Loa takes both himself and Shane out with a clothesline, and Spanky reverses an Oz German suplex attempt into Sliced Bread for the winner. Decent tag stuff here.
Super Crazy vs Eddie Guerrero
This was for the IWA Puerto Rico Intercontinental. The fans go nuts for Guerrero, with a huge "Eddie" chant ringing out. Guerrero slaps away a handshake to become the heel of the match. It's a very even match, though Eddie's offence has a slightly more evil hit to it, with the prime example being a brainbuster to the floor in the early stages, which he garnishes with a smug pose to huge cheers. Crazy comes back with a springboard moonsault and the Spanish ten count in the corner, but gets caught posing and is hit with a top rope rana for two. Eddie hits two brainbusters, but misses the Frogsplash and gets rolled up by Super Crazy for 3. This was just before Eddie rejoined the WWE and he looks great here, with Crazy looking non-too-shabby himself. A good match that could have been great with another 5-10 minutes.
American Dragon vs Low Ki vs Christopher Daniels
How far have these 3 guys come in the last 9 years? This was an Indy dream match at the time. Danielson goes early for Cattle Mutilation on Low Ki, only for Daniels to break it up, before locking a complex (if slightly contrived) submission on both men, which looked cool. The match wisely avoids the typical triple threat formula of throwing a guy out of the ring to make it a one-on-one match, instead allowing the guy in control to work over both opponents. The match structure generally sees Ki and AmDrag teaming up to try and take out Daniels, who didn't respect the Code of Honor in pre-match interviews, then trying to take the other out before Daniels has a chance to recover. However, Daniels is always present in the ring and quickly comes back to try and take control. Because of how fast-paced the match is, it feels like an injured wrestler can't take time to recover in case one of his opponents picks up the win while he's hurt. The result of this is that you get a fair few innovative three-man spots. In a nice moment, AmDrag locks a deathlock on Daniels, but gets knocked down repeatedly by Low Ki, which causes him to twist the legs of Daniels. AmDrag and Low Ki take it in turn to kick Daniels in the back to prove who has the hardest kick, only for Daniels to eventually duck causing the two men to kick each other. There is also a fun spot which involves all three men in a suplex from the top. The end sees Low Ki comes off the top with a Phoenix splash on Danielson while he has Daniels in Cattle Mutilation, then hits the Ki Krusher on Daniels for the win. A great match that could so easily have felt like an exhibition of cool spots, but instead is perfectly structured and feels like three guys who all want to win rather than wanting to hit the coolest looking spots.
Christopher Street Connection vs Da Hit Squad
And so the era of Honor does verily begin...with a total squash. The CSC work a gay gimmick and cop off in the middle of the ring to borderline homophobic comments from Eric Gargiulo and Steve Corino. The story that they tried to get across here was that Da Hit Squad hated the CSC for trying to bring Sports Entertainment into a pure wrestling promotion, the kind of storyline that is, of course, pure SE. The CSC essentially die for your pleasure, including Buff-E getting dropped on his dome with a German suplex and Mase taking a Burning Hammer for the win. Afterwards, Da Hit Squad powerbomb CSC valet Allison Danger through a table/Buff-E combo to a huge pop
The Amazing Red vs Jay Briscoe
Gargiulo and Corino play this up as the high-flier vs the grappler, but it doesn't really turn out that way. Instead, the match seems to consist of Red kicking out of more and more moves that really should finish him. Red takes a huge spill over the top ropes early, which goes some way to explaining why he's had so many knee surgeries over the years. Back in, Briscoe cheapshots on a handshake to officially become the heel for the match. He hits Red with a sitting muscle buster which only gets two. The Jay Driller is busted out next, only for Red to get his foot on the ropes when he should be legally dead. A half-Nelson suplex plants Red on his head and really should be the end, but instead Red dodges a top-rope cannonball and hits the Red Alert (twisting moonsault from the top) and the Red Star Press for 3. As a showcase for both men, it was effective, but both were too inexperience to lay out a sensible match at this stage of their careers and instead blew through several potential finishers, which is a real waste.
Xavier vs Scoot Andrews
Andrews calls himself the "Black Nature Boy". He isn't, but he does look very impressive in this match, which is essentially a showcase for Andrews. Andrews hits a fine butterfly suplex on Xavier, only for Xavier to repay him by almost dropping him directly on his head during a backdrop attempt. Andrews has some nice looking offence, including the good use of a clothesline to prevent an attempted bulldog from the corner. There is also a story told here, where the more-experienced Andrews gets increasingly frustrated at his inability to put Xavier away. Andrews hits a pumphandle into a piledriver called the Force Of Nature, but we get another "wrestler gets foot on rope after being hit by finisher" spot for the second match in a row. Andrews argues with the ref, giving Xavier time to recover and reverse a second Force Of Nature attempt with a neckbreaker for the shock win. This is the first RoH match that actually feels like it's trying to do more than just look flashy, and while it may suffer from a few blown spots, it's perfectly good wrestling. Xavier looked willing, but green, while Andrews really shone.
Natural Born Sinners vs the Boogie Knights
The Sinners consist of Homicide and one of his trainees, Boogalou. The team split when Boogalou suddenly quit RoH to join XPW, a decision he must regret. Their gimmick revolves around them being a pair of street thugs just released from prison, but Gargiulo and Corino do an excellent job of putting over their wrestling ability on commentary, including references to Boogalou's amateur career. The NBS just kill both Boogie Knights, including a horrible double-team powerbomb to Danny Drake. Boogalou is notably not a polished as Homicide, who is a lot crisper including hitting a crazy tope to a seated Drake. The Knights get in some token offence, including a decent springboard swanton by Mike Tobin, but the NBS dominte until they get disqualified for attacking the Knights with a rubber chicken, leading to them assaulting ref HC Loc afterwards. Fun squash.
Quiet Storm vs Jose Maximo vs Joel Maximo vs Brian XL vs Chris Devine vs The Amazing Red
This is an elimination match refereed by Mikey Whipwreck, who trained them all bar XL. It's also a total spotfest, with all six guys zipping in-and-out of the ring, hitting flashy offence before being taken out by another competitor. With so many guys, there is no resting and it does lead to some choice moments. A Quiet Storm tope leads to a series of them, which culminates with Red hitting a springboard swanton to the outside. There is a real contrast in the standard of the wrestlers: Red and Storm are clearly ahead of the pack with their offence looking crisp and capable, while XL is flashy but sloppy, and Devine looks pretty hesitant. After a few minutes of action, we hit the eliminations hard: Red stumbles into a backslide from Jose for 3, while XL is eliminated following a Widow's Peak from Storm, leaving the two regular teams. The SAT hit Spanish Fly on Devine, but Jose gets hit with a German suplex by Storm straight away, leading to a double pin on Devine and Jose. Joel and Storm run through a decent series of pin and counters, with Storm eventually picking up the victory following a Storm Cradle Driver. An entertaining spotfest which, although not as crisp as others I've seen, was never less than fun and energetic.
Prince Nana vs Towel Boy
Nana hasn't got a opponent, so Eric Tuttle is sent from the back, with Corino advising him to "get yourself over". He does this by wiping down the ringropes with a towel (hence the name) only to get nailed by a Nana clothesline. A capture suplex ends a total Nana squash.
Michael Shane & Oz vs Spanky & Ikaika Loa
all four guys are graduates from Shawn Michaels' Texas Wrestling Academy. The storyline here is that the winner of the pinfall will earn themselves an RoH contract, with the underlying story being based on the mutual dislike from Shane and Spanky.. The strongest parts of the match come when they're opposing each other, with both looking like they really want the win at the others expence. Oz and Loa don't do much, but don't bring the match down. Loa is slightly lumbering, but has the basics down, while Oz seems competent. The match is solid, but really heats up in the finishing sequence: Oz prevents Sliced Bread by pushing Spanky into a Shane superkick, Loa takes both himself and Shane out with a clothesline, and Spanky reverses an Oz German suplex attempt into Sliced Bread for the winner. Decent tag stuff here.
Super Crazy vs Eddie Guerrero
This was for the IWA Puerto Rico Intercontinental. The fans go nuts for Guerrero, with a huge "Eddie" chant ringing out. Guerrero slaps away a handshake to become the heel of the match. It's a very even match, though Eddie's offence has a slightly more evil hit to it, with the prime example being a brainbuster to the floor in the early stages, which he garnishes with a smug pose to huge cheers. Crazy comes back with a springboard moonsault and the Spanish ten count in the corner, but gets caught posing and is hit with a top rope rana for two. Eddie hits two brainbusters, but misses the Frogsplash and gets rolled up by Super Crazy for 3. This was just before Eddie rejoined the WWE and he looks great here, with Crazy looking non-too-shabby himself. A good match that could have been great with another 5-10 minutes.
American Dragon vs Low Ki vs Christopher Daniels
How far have these 3 guys come in the last 9 years? This was an Indy dream match at the time. Danielson goes early for Cattle Mutilation on Low Ki, only for Daniels to break it up, before locking a complex (if slightly contrived) submission on both men, which looked cool. The match wisely avoids the typical triple threat formula of throwing a guy out of the ring to make it a one-on-one match, instead allowing the guy in control to work over both opponents. The match structure generally sees Ki and AmDrag teaming up to try and take out Daniels, who didn't respect the Code of Honor in pre-match interviews, then trying to take the other out before Daniels has a chance to recover. However, Daniels is always present in the ring and quickly comes back to try and take control. Because of how fast-paced the match is, it feels like an injured wrestler can't take time to recover in case one of his opponents picks up the win while he's hurt. The result of this is that you get a fair few innovative three-man spots. In a nice moment, AmDrag locks a deathlock on Daniels, but gets knocked down repeatedly by Low Ki, which causes him to twist the legs of Daniels. AmDrag and Low Ki take it in turn to kick Daniels in the back to prove who has the hardest kick, only for Daniels to eventually duck causing the two men to kick each other. There is also a fun spot which involves all three men in a suplex from the top. The end sees Low Ki comes off the top with a Phoenix splash on Danielson while he has Daniels in Cattle Mutilation, then hits the Ki Krusher on Daniels for the win. A great match that could so easily have felt like an exhibition of cool spots, but instead is perfectly structured and feels like three guys who all want to win rather than wanting to hit the coolest looking spots.
Sunday 23 January 2011
WWE's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches (Disc 2)
The long awaited follow-up to my September look at the first disc. This has more matches on, at least two of which are stone-wall classics.
Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard
This is for the US title and is an “I Quit” match. It’s also fucking brutal, in the best possible way. Both guys absolutely lay into each other in a vicious, hate-filled way, and it’s glorious. Tully busts open TA early doors and tries to gets a quick submission, which leads to the awesome visual of TA slowly powering his way out, rising to his feet in agony with blood pouring down his face. Soon Tully is bleeding from the arm after being thrown into the cage shoulder first, and Magnum claws away at the wound like a feral animal. It’s not a “moves” match, and it absolutely shouldn’t be, as it tells the viewer so much more when you’ve got two guys on their knees just slugging away at each other. Another highlight soon follows as Tully screams into the mic for TA to quit, only to greet Magnum’s refusal by bludgeoning his forehead with the mic and asking him again. The ending is fitting as well, with Tully smashing a wooden chair and trying to stab TA with a splinter, only for TA to get control of the splinter himself and stab Tully in the eye with it for the submission. Just an all-round brutal, violent brawl full of hate and venom that feels more brutal than anything I’ve seen in mainstream wrestling in the last few years.
Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes
Sadly, with modern-day mental Flair, you forget how cool the Nature Boy looked in the 80’s, though the fact his kneepads don’t match his tights is a major fashion faux-pas. The early parts of the match are quite cautious, with Tony Schiavone selling the story that both men knows the other too well to take any chances. Big Dust stays one step ahead of Flair, until Flair takes advantage of the slightest opening and goes to work on Rhodes. At this point, about 5 minutes into the match, we have our first bit of offence based around the cage as Flair throws Dusty into the walls, and the reaction from the crowd shows it was a clever idea to hold it back. Being the Dirtiest Player In The Game, Flair is in his element at this point, grinding Rhodes face first intro the cage. Flair works over Dusty’s legs, as the commentators remind the audience about Rhodes’ broken ankle the previous year, which is the exact part of the leg that Flair works on. I adored the way Big Dust broke the eventual figure four by flip, flop and flying into a reversal. Now Dusty throws Flair into the cage for the first time, which pops the crowd impressively. The ending doesn’t quite gel as much as the earlier parts of the match, with it not seeming as well structured outside of Flair’s desperate attempts to escape a resurgent Dream. Dusty catches Flair in a small package for a slightly anticlimactic three.
The Andersons vs. the Rock’n’Roll Express
A curious choice for the set, as it’s pretty much structured as a regular tag match that just happens to be in a cage (to keep the Horsemen out, we’re told on commentary). These two teams seem perfectly matched, with the Anderson’s happy to pick one opponent to focus on and find a body part to work over, while the Express are renowned masters of selling and building sympathy. The R’n’R’s take advantage from the get-go with some high-velocity offence, but their over-exuberance comes back to haunt them as Gibson charges into a corner and whacks his knee on the cage. This gives the Anderson’s their opening, and Robert Gibson is soon playing Ricky Morton as Ole and Arn work over his knee like a flock of vultures. Of course, you can’t have Morton not playing Morton for long, and the hot-tag leads to a very brief spell of offence before the Anderson’s work over Morton’s arm (Ole even rubs his hands in glee as he prepares to leap from the top onto Morton’s arm). The heat section continues until Morton gets a two from a roll-up. Gibson and Arn both get involved, which leads to Gibson dropkicking Ole as he tries to slam Morton, allowing Morton to fall on top for the win. Fun formula tag match with a rather abrupt ending.
Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart
I can still remember watching this match when I was 12 and going absolutely nuts for it. It’s still, for my money, the most perfectly executed cage match I’ve seen. Straight away, you can feel the hate from both guys, Owen attacking right at the bell and both seem to be working quite snugly with their punches. The match works so well because both guys do realistic things during the match- both try for the door repeatedly because it’s the smart thing to do, but both will try to climb the cage if they’re far from the door. When they try and escape through the door, both Bret and Owen are frantic in their actions, clawing desperately at the apron, the ringsteps or the cage itself in a vain bid to get out, while the other clings to their foot for dear life. When they climb over the top, it’s perfectly timed so each attempt feels like it’s going to be the one that ends the match, only for the opponent to get there JUST in the nick of time. In amongst the escape attempts, we also get some beautifully executed wrestling. In one highlight, Owen hits Bret with a missile dropkick, before kipping up and leaping for the cage in a fairly fluid movement. Owen also hits Bret with a beautiful piledriver. Bret returns the favour later by superplexing Owen from the top of the cage. Both guys also get to lock in the Sharpshooter right at the end, with Bret using the reversal 3 years before Montreal. The ending sees both guys fighting on the outside of the cage, before Owen’s legs get stuck in the bars allowing Bret to leap to victory. Owen, realistically, was never going to win this match, as he wasn’t established as a main event talent. However, this match really put him on the map in my 12 year old eyes, as he came THIS close to winning and only lost to Bret due to a freak accident. At the same time, Bret looks like he earned his victory, so the match made both guys look top drawer. You can’t ask for much more than that.
Mankind vs. Triple H
From Summerslam 97 in the classic blue-bar cage. Triple H dives for the door from the get-go, and nearly escapes. This sets the tone for the early part of the match, where Mankind is dominant in his kind of setting, with only the interference of Chyna keeping HHH in the match. Chyna climbs the cage to low-blow Mankind as he tries to escape, which allows Triple H to suplex Foley from the top of the cage. It even looks like a sloppy throws from the top, which looks realistic and painful. With this new-found advantage, HHH decides not to escape and instead punish Foley, ramming him into the cage repeatedly. Both guys take big bumps for each other, with HHH being backdropped into the cage to give Mankind control. He tries to escape, but Chyna slams the door on his head (which Foley describes in his book as being unimaginable pain). Mankind reverses a pedigree into a slingshot, firing HHH into Chyna, who was hanging off the cage. A double-arm DDT on a chair looks to have won the match for Mankind, but he decides to hit an elbow from the top of the cage instead of escaping, before narrowly winning a race to the floor as Chyna tries to pull HHH from the cage. It would be remiss of me to not mention Chyna almost blowing the ending by trying to pull HHH out before Foley hits his big elbow. Really good match, which let Mankind look good after putting HHH over at King of the Ring, with the story showing that this match style suited Foley more AND gave the fans huge bumps which made sense in the context of the match.
Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty
This is a Coliseum Video match and, to be honest, it shows. Both guys look very sluggish, and it doesn't really kick off until the ending stretch of the match. In fact, the most entertaining thing about the match is the commentary by Gorilla Monsoon and Johnny Polo. Polo starts off by calling Michaels pudgy, before Gorilla starts to pop off at everyone from ref Bill Alphonso, who commits the crime of counting pins in a cage match, to the director for zooming in too close to the action. Meanwhile, Michaels puts a chinlock on Jannetty to no reaction from the crowd (described by Polo as a "stunned silence"). Eventually, things begin to heat up with the escape attempts, with a slugfest on top of the cage popping the crowd before Jannetty hurling HBK from the top to the mat below. Jannetty tries to climb out, only to be stopped by Diesel, giving Michaels the time to escape from the door for the win. Tedious match made better by the commentary.
Edge vs. Kurt Angle
Taken from Smackdown in 2002. Kurt is wearing a wig following his defeat in a hair vs. hair match to Edge. Curiously, they start with a little chain wrestling before getting down to the business of ramming each other into the cage. Edge is the first to throw Angle into the cage, but stupidly decides to spear him and predictably spears the cage instead. Angle takes control, hurling Edge into the cage, and then pulling Edge's bleeding head off the canvas by the hair in a nice visual. This is in the build-up to the superlative Smackdown 6 period, so both guys are on fire here, with Angle bumping huge to make Edge look good, especially from a top rope back suplex which sends Angle halfway across the ring. An Angle Slam from the top rope allows Kurt to escape the cage, but the ref has been bumped and Hulk Hogan comes to assault Angle and throw him back in the ring to continue the match. Angle and Edge slug it out on top of the cage, which leads to an innovative spot where Angle drops down groin-first onto the open cage door. Back inside, a top rope spear gets the win for Edge. As would become common in 2002, this was a PPV quality match given away for free on TV and as such isn't as well remembered as it should be. The Hogan interference is odd booking (the face cheating to win) but the crowd loved it so it doesn't really matter.
Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard
This is for the US title and is an “I Quit” match. It’s also fucking brutal, in the best possible way. Both guys absolutely lay into each other in a vicious, hate-filled way, and it’s glorious. Tully busts open TA early doors and tries to gets a quick submission, which leads to the awesome visual of TA slowly powering his way out, rising to his feet in agony with blood pouring down his face. Soon Tully is bleeding from the arm after being thrown into the cage shoulder first, and Magnum claws away at the wound like a feral animal. It’s not a “moves” match, and it absolutely shouldn’t be, as it tells the viewer so much more when you’ve got two guys on their knees just slugging away at each other. Another highlight soon follows as Tully screams into the mic for TA to quit, only to greet Magnum’s refusal by bludgeoning his forehead with the mic and asking him again. The ending is fitting as well, with Tully smashing a wooden chair and trying to stab TA with a splinter, only for TA to get control of the splinter himself and stab Tully in the eye with it for the submission. Just an all-round brutal, violent brawl full of hate and venom that feels more brutal than anything I’ve seen in mainstream wrestling in the last few years.
Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes
Sadly, with modern-day mental Flair, you forget how cool the Nature Boy looked in the 80’s, though the fact his kneepads don’t match his tights is a major fashion faux-pas. The early parts of the match are quite cautious, with Tony Schiavone selling the story that both men knows the other too well to take any chances. Big Dust stays one step ahead of Flair, until Flair takes advantage of the slightest opening and goes to work on Rhodes. At this point, about 5 minutes into the match, we have our first bit of offence based around the cage as Flair throws Dusty into the walls, and the reaction from the crowd shows it was a clever idea to hold it back. Being the Dirtiest Player In The Game, Flair is in his element at this point, grinding Rhodes face first intro the cage. Flair works over Dusty’s legs, as the commentators remind the audience about Rhodes’ broken ankle the previous year, which is the exact part of the leg that Flair works on. I adored the way Big Dust broke the eventual figure four by flip, flop and flying into a reversal. Now Dusty throws Flair into the cage for the first time, which pops the crowd impressively. The ending doesn’t quite gel as much as the earlier parts of the match, with it not seeming as well structured outside of Flair’s desperate attempts to escape a resurgent Dream. Dusty catches Flair in a small package for a slightly anticlimactic three.
The Andersons vs. the Rock’n’Roll Express
A curious choice for the set, as it’s pretty much structured as a regular tag match that just happens to be in a cage (to keep the Horsemen out, we’re told on commentary). These two teams seem perfectly matched, with the Anderson’s happy to pick one opponent to focus on and find a body part to work over, while the Express are renowned masters of selling and building sympathy. The R’n’R’s take advantage from the get-go with some high-velocity offence, but their over-exuberance comes back to haunt them as Gibson charges into a corner and whacks his knee on the cage. This gives the Anderson’s their opening, and Robert Gibson is soon playing Ricky Morton as Ole and Arn work over his knee like a flock of vultures. Of course, you can’t have Morton not playing Morton for long, and the hot-tag leads to a very brief spell of offence before the Anderson’s work over Morton’s arm (Ole even rubs his hands in glee as he prepares to leap from the top onto Morton’s arm). The heat section continues until Morton gets a two from a roll-up. Gibson and Arn both get involved, which leads to Gibson dropkicking Ole as he tries to slam Morton, allowing Morton to fall on top for the win. Fun formula tag match with a rather abrupt ending.
Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart
I can still remember watching this match when I was 12 and going absolutely nuts for it. It’s still, for my money, the most perfectly executed cage match I’ve seen. Straight away, you can feel the hate from both guys, Owen attacking right at the bell and both seem to be working quite snugly with their punches. The match works so well because both guys do realistic things during the match- both try for the door repeatedly because it’s the smart thing to do, but both will try to climb the cage if they’re far from the door. When they try and escape through the door, both Bret and Owen are frantic in their actions, clawing desperately at the apron, the ringsteps or the cage itself in a vain bid to get out, while the other clings to their foot for dear life. When they climb over the top, it’s perfectly timed so each attempt feels like it’s going to be the one that ends the match, only for the opponent to get there JUST in the nick of time. In amongst the escape attempts, we also get some beautifully executed wrestling. In one highlight, Owen hits Bret with a missile dropkick, before kipping up and leaping for the cage in a fairly fluid movement. Owen also hits Bret with a beautiful piledriver. Bret returns the favour later by superplexing Owen from the top of the cage. Both guys also get to lock in the Sharpshooter right at the end, with Bret using the reversal 3 years before Montreal. The ending sees both guys fighting on the outside of the cage, before Owen’s legs get stuck in the bars allowing Bret to leap to victory. Owen, realistically, was never going to win this match, as he wasn’t established as a main event talent. However, this match really put him on the map in my 12 year old eyes, as he came THIS close to winning and only lost to Bret due to a freak accident. At the same time, Bret looks like he earned his victory, so the match made both guys look top drawer. You can’t ask for much more than that.
Mankind vs. Triple H
From Summerslam 97 in the classic blue-bar cage. Triple H dives for the door from the get-go, and nearly escapes. This sets the tone for the early part of the match, where Mankind is dominant in his kind of setting, with only the interference of Chyna keeping HHH in the match. Chyna climbs the cage to low-blow Mankind as he tries to escape, which allows Triple H to suplex Foley from the top of the cage. It even looks like a sloppy throws from the top, which looks realistic and painful. With this new-found advantage, HHH decides not to escape and instead punish Foley, ramming him into the cage repeatedly. Both guys take big bumps for each other, with HHH being backdropped into the cage to give Mankind control. He tries to escape, but Chyna slams the door on his head (which Foley describes in his book as being unimaginable pain). Mankind reverses a pedigree into a slingshot, firing HHH into Chyna, who was hanging off the cage. A double-arm DDT on a chair looks to have won the match for Mankind, but he decides to hit an elbow from the top of the cage instead of escaping, before narrowly winning a race to the floor as Chyna tries to pull HHH from the cage. It would be remiss of me to not mention Chyna almost blowing the ending by trying to pull HHH out before Foley hits his big elbow. Really good match, which let Mankind look good after putting HHH over at King of the Ring, with the story showing that this match style suited Foley more AND gave the fans huge bumps which made sense in the context of the match.
Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty
This is a Coliseum Video match and, to be honest, it shows. Both guys look very sluggish, and it doesn't really kick off until the ending stretch of the match. In fact, the most entertaining thing about the match is the commentary by Gorilla Monsoon and Johnny Polo. Polo starts off by calling Michaels pudgy, before Gorilla starts to pop off at everyone from ref Bill Alphonso, who commits the crime of counting pins in a cage match, to the director for zooming in too close to the action. Meanwhile, Michaels puts a chinlock on Jannetty to no reaction from the crowd (described by Polo as a "stunned silence"). Eventually, things begin to heat up with the escape attempts, with a slugfest on top of the cage popping the crowd before Jannetty hurling HBK from the top to the mat below. Jannetty tries to climb out, only to be stopped by Diesel, giving Michaels the time to escape from the door for the win. Tedious match made better by the commentary.
Edge vs. Kurt Angle
Taken from Smackdown in 2002. Kurt is wearing a wig following his defeat in a hair vs. hair match to Edge. Curiously, they start with a little chain wrestling before getting down to the business of ramming each other into the cage. Edge is the first to throw Angle into the cage, but stupidly decides to spear him and predictably spears the cage instead. Angle takes control, hurling Edge into the cage, and then pulling Edge's bleeding head off the canvas by the hair in a nice visual. This is in the build-up to the superlative Smackdown 6 period, so both guys are on fire here, with Angle bumping huge to make Edge look good, especially from a top rope back suplex which sends Angle halfway across the ring. An Angle Slam from the top rope allows Kurt to escape the cage, but the ref has been bumped and Hulk Hogan comes to assault Angle and throw him back in the ring to continue the match. Angle and Edge slug it out on top of the cage, which leads to an innovative spot where Angle drops down groin-first onto the open cage door. Back inside, a top rope spear gets the win for Edge. As would become common in 2002, this was a PPV quality match given away for free on TV and as such isn't as well remembered as it should be. The Hogan interference is odd booking (the face cheating to win) but the crowd loved it so it doesn't really matter.
Saturday 1 January 2011
Top 10 Blog Matches of 2010
To see in the New Year, I decided to create a top 10 of the matches I’ve reviewed in the blog this year. Due to the fact the blog only started in September, and the fact I’m pretty useless at getting round to writing stuff up means that the pool of matches to choose from is pretty shallow, but I’m pretty happy with this final list:
10. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Milano Collection AT & Taichi Ishikari (NJPW, 2009)
Fun time-limit draw between two teams of junior heavyweights, which benefits from a fine ending sprint as both teams try to get the win before the time goes.
9. Little Guido vs Super Crazy (ECW Living Dangerously 2000)
The standout match on an otherwise average card saw two guys cram as much as they can into ten minutes. Even the Sal E Graziano interference helps the match, essentially giving both guys another item to throw themselves from.
8. Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Konnan (WCW Slamboree 1996)
Choice US title match jammed in between a poor Battlebowl tournament. Tells a nice story with Liger having to change tactics when he realises Konnan can hang with him on the mat, before falling prey to one big move.
7. Danny Boy Collins vs. Kid McCoy (Best Of Reslo Vol 1)
Ahead of it’s time junior heavyweight style match from the UK sees two guys happy to work snugly whilst exchanging some quality matwork. Collins looks especially good here.
6. Masato Tanaka & Kohei Sato vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura (Zero-One Truth Century Creation 2003)
Hard-hitting interpromotional tag match sees all four guys crank it up, resulting in a 15 minute tag match that feels far shorter than that.
5. Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (WWE Wrestling’s Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches)
In which Bob Backlund shows how tough he is by not backing down when trapped in a cage with the clubbing Texan. Superb brawl between two greats.
4. Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomoaki Honma (NJPW 2009)
Mayhem reigns with the veteran faces clashing with the evil heels. The heels are suitably vicious in working over Tenzan, and frequent tags keep this fast-paced and very entertaining
3. Derrick Bateman vs. Byron Saxton (FCW 2010)
One of my shocks of the year, a perfectly crafted grudge match which sees a furious Bateman seeking revenge on smug heel Saxton, only for Saxton to take advantage of a lucky break and work over the head of his dazed foe. A good story well told, helped by Bateman’s glazed eye selling.
2. The Superflies (Jimmy Ocean and Ricky Knight) vs. Tony Stewart and Geraint Clewd (Best Of Reslo Vol 1)
2/3 falls tag match sees the sleazy Superflies pull out all the cheap heat tactics in the heel handbook to work over the dynamic young faces. Fantastic crowd reactions and the ‘Flies willingness to make their green, if willing, opponents look great makes this a superb tag-formula match.
1. Bob Backlund vs Pat Patterson (WWE Wrestling’s Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches)
An even better Backlund tag brawl, this time fuelled by a mutual desperation to win the title from both men. Both men attack each other like feral animals and the ending sequence, where a frantic Backlund powers his way out by kicking away at Patterson’s face, is superb.
10. Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Milano Collection AT & Taichi Ishikari (NJPW, 2009)
Fun time-limit draw between two teams of junior heavyweights, which benefits from a fine ending sprint as both teams try to get the win before the time goes.
9. Little Guido vs Super Crazy (ECW Living Dangerously 2000)
The standout match on an otherwise average card saw two guys cram as much as they can into ten minutes. Even the Sal E Graziano interference helps the match, essentially giving both guys another item to throw themselves from.
8. Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Konnan (WCW Slamboree 1996)
Choice US title match jammed in between a poor Battlebowl tournament. Tells a nice story with Liger having to change tactics when he realises Konnan can hang with him on the mat, before falling prey to one big move.
7. Danny Boy Collins vs. Kid McCoy (Best Of Reslo Vol 1)
Ahead of it’s time junior heavyweight style match from the UK sees two guys happy to work snugly whilst exchanging some quality matwork. Collins looks especially good here.
6. Masato Tanaka & Kohei Sato vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura (Zero-One Truth Century Creation 2003)
Hard-hitting interpromotional tag match sees all four guys crank it up, resulting in a 15 minute tag match that feels far shorter than that.
5. Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (WWE Wrestling’s Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches)
In which Bob Backlund shows how tough he is by not backing down when trapped in a cage with the clubbing Texan. Superb brawl between two greats.
4. Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomoaki Honma (NJPW 2009)
Mayhem reigns with the veteran faces clashing with the evil heels. The heels are suitably vicious in working over Tenzan, and frequent tags keep this fast-paced and very entertaining
3. Derrick Bateman vs. Byron Saxton (FCW 2010)
One of my shocks of the year, a perfectly crafted grudge match which sees a furious Bateman seeking revenge on smug heel Saxton, only for Saxton to take advantage of a lucky break and work over the head of his dazed foe. A good story well told, helped by Bateman’s glazed eye selling.
2. The Superflies (Jimmy Ocean and Ricky Knight) vs. Tony Stewart and Geraint Clewd (Best Of Reslo Vol 1)
2/3 falls tag match sees the sleazy Superflies pull out all the cheap heat tactics in the heel handbook to work over the dynamic young faces. Fantastic crowd reactions and the ‘Flies willingness to make their green, if willing, opponents look great makes this a superb tag-formula match.
1. Bob Backlund vs Pat Patterson (WWE Wrestling’s Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches)
An even better Backlund tag brawl, this time fuelled by a mutual desperation to win the title from both men. Both men attack each other like feral animals and the ending sequence, where a frantic Backlund powers his way out by kicking away at Patterson’s face, is superb.
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