WWE NXT Takeover: Phoenix

The War Raiders vs Kyle O’Reilly & Roderick Strong

Loved the big elaborate Viking introduction for the Raiders. This was a really neat opener, the two teams really worked well opposite each other. The Raiders were allowed to look monstrous, often no-selling the Undisputed Era’s offence, but only when it was suitable to do so. They picked the right moments to sell and look vulnerable, and it really helped the believability of the match. The Era were very smart on offence, distracting the Raiders from the apron to gain control and working lots of quick double teams when they had the advantage. Lots of fun spots in this – Rowe slams Hanson onto the Era from the ring apron, and Hanson later takes another big spill to the floor, this time trying big dive with no-one present which causes him to land with a huge splat. The UE work a nice heat section on Rowe after this, as he’s isolated without his partner, and they continue to keep Hanson at bay with a big Strong dropkick on the floor. When Hanson does get in, he’s insanely fun as a hot tag, a big unit in motion. He finds interesting ways to hurl his mass at his opponents. Hanson survives the High-Low and avoids a second with an unlikely cartwheel. The Raiders hit the Viking Fallout to win. Great stuff.

Matt Riddle vs Kassius Ohno

Thought this was excellent stuff. Ohno has a poor win/loss record at the moment in NXT, but he was made to look like a beast here. His stomp to the face of a downed Riddle was a thing of violent beauty. Ohno gets a few nearfalls early, including a neat back elbow to the face. I also loved him breaking a German suplex attempt by stomping the bare feet of Riddle. Ohno also goes for some full bodied offence, putting his weight into a moonsault and a full-on senton. This weight makes it more impressive when Riddle hits a big delayed German suplex, just holding Ohno in the air before slamming him down. The end is pretty neat too, as Ohno decides he’s in over his head and tries for a fistbump from Riddle. Instead, Riddle is incensed, dumping Ohno on his head with a sleeper suplex, before reigning down a flurry of big shots for the tapout.

Ricochet vs Johnny Gargano

There were bits of this I liked and plenty that I didn’t. It was neat to see Gargano ramping up the aggression here, like slipping out of the corner and sending Ricochet face first into the corner, which kickstarted the match after a rather nothingy start. Ricochet countered some of Gargano’s signature offence in interesting ways, sidestepping the slingshot spear to hit a standing moonsault to the back, and catching Gargano on the slingshot DDT attempt and hurling him to the floor. However, the bad bits were really terrible. Ricochet landing on his feet from a top rope rana and looking back smugly at Gargano was physically impressive, but played up stupidly. Gargano eating a reverse rana on the floor, followed by a 450 splash in the ring should have been the finish, kicking out at two is just ridiculous. At least the end was decisive, with Gargano hitting a suplex on the concrete floor, followed by finally hitting the slingshot DDT for the win. Not really my cup of tea.

Shayna Baszler vs Bianca Belair

This, on the other hand, was very much my cup of tea. Just smartly worked, with everything making sense. It starts with Belair downing Baszler with shoulderblocks, highlighting her power advantage, but Baszler very quickly uses her smarts to take over, yanking Belair into the ring post by her hair. This gives Bianca an injured shoulder, and Baszler is like a shark smelling blood. Some nasty limbwork follows, with Baszler torqueing the arm in interesting ways. Belair’s selling is excellent, wincing after hitting a spear and rolling into a cover on her back so she can hook a leg with the good arm. Loved how Belair used her unique weapon of her hair to launch a comeback, slicing Baszler open with a hair whip. We get a ref bump to give Belair the visual pin after the KOD, and some horsewomen interference which she avoids, before her 450 splash attempt sees her caught in the Kirafuda Clutch. Loved Belair powering to her feet, almost breaking the hold before her body fails her and she passes out. Really good match.

Tommaso Ciampa vs Aleister Black

This is one of those matches that is absolutely fine in a vacuum, but suffers from the fact that no-one really believed that Black would win. This can be overcome with the right layout – the Velveteen Dream match had me on the edge of my seat, convinced Dream would win – but here Black spends a good chunk of the bout on the defensive after Ciampa attacks his knee and it never feels like he’s going to win. The offence on the knee was nicely done by Ciampa, really liked the suplex on the floor that sends Black’s legs into the ring steps. There were just nice little touches like Ciampa hanging Black in a tree of woe from the bad leg before pounding him in the corner. Black sells the leg pretty well too, allowing himself the odd flurry of offence, but finding himself contained by what the leg would let him do. Liked the smarts of Ciampa when he gets hit with Black Mass, tumbling to the floor, but just about rolling over onto his stomach to avoid being pinned. As I said, the work is good, but this feels like a match you have on TV to try and build up the show. No drama. The end sees Black trying another Black Mass, but hurting his knee again, leaving him prime for the Fairytale Ending from Ciampa. Overall, this was good enough.

ECW Hardcore TV #37 21/12/1993

Tommy Dreamer vs Shane Douglas

This is set up by Dreamer calling Douglas out for costing him the tag titles, but by the time we join the match Douglas is already in control following a neckbreaker. This is still a good match though, logically worked and with a neat ending. Dreamer has a taped up torso, and Douglas targets it nicely. He rams Dreamer into the apron back first, hits a nice stomach buster and locks in a bodyscissors on the mat. All targeted on Dreamer’s injury. Dreamer makes a comeback by throwing Douglas to the floor and hits a few big shots to turn the tide – Douglas gets thrown over a table and takes a big chairshot. Dreamer manages to knock the ref down with a slam, leading to a gloriously shitbird bit of cheating from Douglas. He levels Dreamer with a loaded punch, a chain wrapped round his fist, then wraps the chain around the unconscious Dreamer’s fist, before falling to the mat. This leads to the ref coming round and DQing Dreamer, Douglas walking to the back cackling.

Tazmaniac & Kevin Sullivan vs Mike V & Mike Norman

Just a demolition of a squash. V is sent to the floor right away, and Sullivan liquidates Norman’s insides with a big stomp. Sullivan’s running knee with Norman in a tree of woe looks nasty. Norman is just getting ruined in the corner, and V throws in the towel from ringside to save his partner. Rarely seen, but a nice touch.

IWA Mid-South Crowning of a Champion 1997

War Machine #1 vs Tower of Doom

Tower of Doom is a big lad, but he’s managed to dress in a way that makes him look totally unthreatening, with a big baggy black t-shirt and shorts. Everything feels like it’s at 2/3 speed, with strikes being thrown slowly. War Machine barely gets ToD up on a back suplex before hitting the worst side Russian legsweep I’ve ever seen. ToD at least has a nice elbow drop, full weight. ToD gets the win after War Machine helpfully jumps into a sky high powerbomb.

Kip Morris vs Mike Simpleton

Simpleton is a fat guy in a black t-shirt and a generic mask. Morris amusingly has “Winner” and “I’m Winning” emblazoned on his tights. This is utterly shit though. Morris controls with some plodding generic offence, apart from the amusing moment he suplexes Simpleton, who lands on top of him. Simpleton is really bad, he can’t even get thrown from the ring without getting embarrassingly caught up in the ropes. A side slam looks terrible as Simpleton basically slips from Morris’s grasp. In the end, Simpleton misses a corner splash, gets tripped and Morris gets the win. So bad.

War Machine #2 vs Chris Kidd

This was better. Not perfect, as War Machine really struggled to get Kidd over for a suplex, but some of Kidd’s offence looked decent. Nice leaping clothesline, good spinebuster, perfectly decent execution. War Machine BARELY gets Kidd up for a powerbomb that looked really dangerous, but gets distracted by #1 at ringside, and Kidd rolls him up for three.

Mad Man Pondo vs Ox Harley

Hark at young Pondo coming out with long hair and a Superman shirt, looks very different to the man he’d later become. There’s lots of mic work to start this, and the sound quality isn’t great. Pondo kicks us off with some really shitty armdrags. Harley looks better, nice kicks to the face and a decent clothesline. Pondo does some token legwork but eats a DDT on the floor and a Harley moonsault wins it. Nothing much to this.

Ian Rotten vs Tarek the Great

This is a big step up in match quality. They both look super comfortable working the mat, with the strange image of a fat scarred-up hillbilly and a skinny, balding man going through really neat exchanges on a tatty piece of shit mat. They up the tempo, with Rotten hitting a neat Full Nelson suplex and a really nice top rope rana by Tarek. Tarek does a few moves you really wouldn’t expect, a top rope twisting corkscrew and a nice moonsault press both get two. However, he ducks his head and Rotten hits a huge implant DDT for the win. This was really neat.

Bull Pain vs Justin St John

This was also fun, though Pain never really looked like losing. Pain just beats St John down, but St John does look capable, getting a few nice takedowns. Pain hits a DDT that looks great and, after St John hits a shitty leaping elbow into the corner, Pain swiftly puts him away with a neckbreaker and a top rope splash. Short but effective.

Kip Morris vs Tower of Doom

Into the second round now. ToD looks better in this match, hitting a nice running clothesline and a big legdrop. However, he’s got really lazy covers, barely leaning on top of Morris. Morris takes control on the floor, ramming Doom into the ringpost, hitting his head on the floor and nailing a nice short elbow to the head. ToD is soon bleeding, but hits a killer piledriver that really should have been the finish. ToD sells being too exhausted to cover, so at least there was no kickout. Like in the opener, ToD gets the win after his opponent helpfully leaps into a sit out powerbomb.

Ox Harley vs Chris Kidd

Another very short match, Harley mainly hits punches to control, with a chop to the face looking hilariously nasty. Kidd’s offence is pretty generic, but he too throws some nice punches, so this is at least watchable. Kidd hits a powerslam but misses a moonsault, allowing Harley to hit a reverse DDT and hit a moonsault for the win.

Ian Rotten vs Bull Pain

This starts off awesomely, as Pain throws Rotten to the floor and hits an insane suicide dive for the win. He follows this with a pedigree on the concrete, and I’m totally into this already. But then, we get disaster. The ringside camera seemingly stops working, leaving us with just the hard-cam, and at one point a member of production crew stands in front of it for at least a minute. They’re brawling in the crowd, and it’s impossible to see what’s going on. Ian hits a cannonball from the apron which looks great. We miss more floor brawling, before Pain gets him back in and hits a top rope splash for two. Ian hits his DDT, but is unable to cover and eats an RKO for the Pain victory. I really wish we’d been able to see all this, was hard to really enjoy.

Tower of Doom vs Bull Pain vs Ox Harley

Triple threat elimination for the title here. I liked how there was a constantly switching series of allegiances, with one person getting double teamed at all times. There’s a lovely big double chokeslam on ToD early doors, and we get a few nice spots. Really like Pain and ToD teaming to hit a Hart Attack into a sitout powerbomb, which eliminates Harley. It gets a bit dull from that point, felt like just two guys exchanging moves having used up their inspiration in the previous bouts. ToD hits two powerbombs without going for covers, and some Ian Rotten interference allows him to hit a big legdrop on Pain for the win. Really felt like everyone going through the motion.

WWF Monday Night Raw 26/09/1994

Tatanka vs Razor Ramon

This is the first match we’ve seen of Tatanka since his heel turn, and there’s a notable difference in his in-ring style. He’s much more aggressive, and it makes him a more interesting wrestler. He’s exceptionally happy to lay in his stuff here, nailing stiff blows, a nice short clothesline and a nice series of big slams. Nothing fancy, just breaking down Razor with deep blows. Tatanka takes a big bump to the floor when Ramon sidesteps a chop, and I dug Ramon punching Tatanka back down every time he tried to get back on the apron. There’s an overlong abdominal stretch sequence, but this is good fun besides. The end sees a melee on the floor after Ted DiBiase lures Ramon to the floor, with Bam Bam Bigelow and Lex Luger getting involved, and Ramon beats the count for the win. Good stuff.

Kwang vs Rich Myers

Always nice to see squash king Kwang in action. He side steps Myers to start and hits a nice thrust to the throat. Myers gets a nifty high flying head scissors, but that’s his only bit of offence as Kwang casually sidesteps a crossbody attempt, and a lovely leg lariat gives Kwang the win.

1-2-3 Kid vs Kenny David

The match is really just a backdrop for some Bob Backlund shenanigans, giving Randy Savage a dictionary complete with verbose letter. That said, we do get to see a few neat kicks from Kid, with a lovely overhead one in the corner, and some nice running legdrops, followed by a top rope version for three. Plus Vince insulting David’s physical appearance, the perks of being the boss.

Diesel & Shawn Michaels vs Chris Kanyon & Bob Starr

Fun squash, with Kanyon bumping like a boss for the tag champs, Diesel ragdolling him repeatedly into the corner. He at least looks competitive against Shawn for 30 seconds, as Starr gets nothing, eating a delayed suplex and second rope elbow from Shawn and the jack-knife from Diesel. Loved Shawn tagging in after the jack-knife, just for the honour of pinning Starr. After, the new Headshrinkers of Fatu and the fucking BARBARIAN come in and clean house. I remember the new Headshrinkers essentially being lower midcarders, but Barb looked like a beast here.

NXT UK Takeover: Blackpool

Moustache Mountain vs James Drake & Zack Gibson

Super hot opener that was probably the best match on the show. Some nice early sequences, including Tyler Bate bridging ridiculously out of a double-knucklelock and rolling through, just insane strength. I loved Zack Gibson pulling Drake out as he got fired into the ropes to break the Moustache Mountain momentum, just a lovely bit of heeling that drew monster heat. Moustache Mountain remain in control, until Trent Seven hits a low tope, hurting his shoulder in the process. Drake & Gibson work a nice control, not always focused on the injury, but not neglecting it either. Loved Drake hitting a pescado to land a double team backbreaker on Seven on the floor. A big Drake forearm to the back of Seven’s head seems to open him up, looks nasty. Trent gets the hot tag, and Tyler is tremendous in the roll, just so entertaining. He hits a ludicrous but entertaining  double airplane spin on Drake and Gibson, takes both men out by hitting an exploder on Drake to the floor, landing him on Gibson, then follows up with a shooting star press. Great nearfall as Gibson stops a MM double team with a codebreaker from nowhere on Bate, and a Drake 450 on Seven gets two. They work a neat double Shankley Gate spot which I really loved – Gibson locks Seven’s injured shoulder in the move, and when Bate tries to break it up, Drake downs him and locks HIM in the move, putting both MM members in jeopardy. However, because it’s not Drake’s move and because Tyler’s shoulder wasn’t already injured, Bate is able to power up and drop Drake onto Gibson, saving Seven in the process. Bate is taken out with an insane Doomsday Device tope on the floor, and a Seven dive sees him getting laid out. Back in, with Bate still down, the Ticket To Mayhem gives Drake & Gibson the win. Great stuff.

Finn Balor vs Jordan Devlin

This is to replace a Devlin/Travis Banks match that gets called out due to a knee injury Devlin inflicts on Banks. Strange one this, I think Banks/Devlin would have been a better match (they had a banger at Fight Club: Pro in Sept 17), but as a big marquee match, this has the edge. It’s worked really evenly, which allows Devlin to look good going head-to-head with a former Universal champion, looked very much on Balor’s level. A good chunk of this match is based around Balor going for the Coup de Grace, but Devlin having it scouted and avoiding the move, including dropkicking Balor to the floor in an early big bump. Devlin works Balor’s torso nicely, slamming his back to the apron, hitting a double stomp in the ring and locking in an abdominal stretch. Every time Balor takes control and plays to the crowd, Devlin is ready to cut him off, and even gets a great nearfall with his feet on the ropes. Ultimately, Balor is just too much and the fourth attempt at the Coup de Grace finally hits, giving Finn the win.

Eddie Dennis vs Dave Mastiff

Had big hopes for this going in, and it was really fun. It worked as a showcase for Dennis’s often-overlooked raw strength and for Mastiff’s ever-surprising agility. Early on, Mastiff hits a lovely crossbody at top speed, like a freight train hitting Dennis. Liked Eddie going for a kendo stick under the ring, keeping it hidden from Mastiff until the last moment and striking him. Eddie starts with the impressive power spots, catching another Mastiff crossbody and hitting a swinging slam onto the steps (loved him selling the effort by trembling his knees too). The Severn Bridge looks insanely impressive, especially as there’s a little extra lift he has to do to get Mastiff over his head for the drop. The fact Dennis also hits the Next Stop Driver makes this a really impressive show of power. Mastiff hitting the Finlay Roll on the exposed concrete was a nasty looking bump and his attempt at a split legged moonsault looked neat. In the end, Mastiff avoids a second Severn Bridge, hits a German suplex and hits a cannonball to plant Eddie through a table for the win. Loved this.

Rhea Ripley vs Toni Storm

Ripley is pretty cagey to start this, spends a bit of time leaving the ring, so it’s nice to see Storm take her out with a tope out of frustration. Loved Ripley grabbing Storm’s hair as she tries to get back in the ring, kicking her in the head whilst she’s stuck on the apron. The commentary brings up Storm’s prior back injury, and a lot of Ripley’s offence focuses on this – neat looking body scissors, big delayed suplex and a pair of slams. Ripley does oversell getting pushed into the corner by Storm’s legs from the floor and an in-ring punch sequence looks pretty terrible, but this is decent on the whole. Ripley’s inverse Texas cloverleaf looks great still. Storm gets Storm Zero for the victory.

Pete Dunne vs Joe Coffey

This goes over half an hour, and just about manages to fill that time without it falling off a cliff. This starts cagily, worked on the mat, with Dunne throwing in a few nice touches, punching the exposed torso of Coffey in order to distract him and lock on submissions. Both guys play to their strengths, Coffey uses his power advantage by hitting a big pop-up powerslam on the ramp and locking in a big bearhug. Dunne, in contrast, knows he’s quicker than Coffey, thus he evades him via running moonsault in the corner, flips out of a back suplex then hits a big moonsault to the floor. Dunne keeps locking in a range of subs, but Coffey plans him with a sitout powerbomb on the apron. Great nearfall after Coffey hits a discus clothesline for two. Dunne locks in another submission, but Coffey breaks it by climbing to the top rope and throwing Pete off. Great spot. We maybe get a few too many kickouts near the end, drawing things out when it could have happily ended 5 minutes earlier, and the spot where they seemed to tumble from the top rope doesn’t look too good, but they do convincingly make you think Coffey has a chance of winning and also make him look good by surviving so much. The Bitter End only gets two, but Pete locks in one last submission, wrenching the fingers for the submission. Big main event that just about delivered.

WWF Monday Night Raw 19/09/1994

Lex Luger vs Executioner Agony

Feels like Lex should have run through Agony, rather than having to resort to small packages and (briefly) getting heat worked on him. Like Lex leapfrogging over a backdrop attempt before hitting some clotheslines and the torture rack to win.

Jerry Lawler vs Duke “The Dumpster” Droese

Super fun Lawler performance here, just totally entertaining schtick throughout. Right from the start, he locks a simple headlock on Droese, shit talks to the crowd, gets picked up and thrown across the ring, then cowers behind the ref. Droese hits a string of ten punches in the corner, which Lawler sells by faceplanting. Lawler takes over by luring Droese into a test of strength, then punching him with a foreign object from his tights. Absolutely loved Lawler peppering Droese with punches, then jumping to the second rope to celebrate. Such a dick. Lawler hits the 2^nd rope fist drop and a piledriver, but his ego gets the best of him and he decides to empty Droese’s own bin onto him. However, inside is Dink, who squirts Lawler in the face with a water pistol, and the King chases him, getting counted out in the process. Total King showcase, he was superb here.

The Heavenly Bodies vs Mike Bell & Steve King

We’re joined in progress, and the Bodies just demolish King, Bell never even gets in the match. The Bodies are such fun offensive wrestlers, everything looks so good. Del Ray nails a lovely Northern Lights suplex and a huge clothesline, Pritchard hits a great gutwrench powerbomb (baffling the Macho Man on commentary, who claims never to have seen that before) and Del Ray finishes with a moonsault.

Bob Holly vs Richie Rich

Interestingly, the commentary and match graphic both say “Bob Holly”, but you can clearly hear the Fink saying “Thurman Sparky Plugg” in the background. This followed an angle where Bob Backlund had brutalised a WWF magazine writer with the chicken wing, so this is sub two-minute filler while the crowd recovers. Holly throws some awful armdrags, but hits a lovely dropkick and a top rope crossbody to win.

Yokozuna vs Phil Apollo

Yoko interestingly doesn’t use any of his usual moves here – no belly-to-belly, no legdrop, no running corner splash. He just viciously beat away on Apollo, trapping him in the corner and punching him down. Boots and chokes follow, leaving Apollo in a prone position for the Bansai Drop for three. Different edge to Yoko, made a nice change of pace.

Wild Zero Wrestling - A Means To An End

Tuna vs Jeremy Jensen

Tuna is a female wrestler, accompanied by manager Anthony Gaines, a guy with a very smackable face. You really feel like she’s going to have to change that name if she wasn’t to get anywhere. This felt like a competently worked rookie match. I don’t know how experienced either of these two are, but both felt like they knew what they were doing, whilst also both lacking the refinement that comes with experience. Aside from an early roll up, nothing is fluffed, but there’s a slight hesitancy throughout from Tuna. There’s also hesitancy from Jensen, but this is part of the storyline, where it seems like he doesn’t want to hit a female wrestler who has no problems hitting him. They work some early mat stuff before she surprises him with a big forearm, and maintains control from there. When Jensen does get on offence, his clothesline and back elbow are (deliberately) super light. However, just as he decides to fire up, Tuna hits him with a rolling elbow and a Samoan Drop to get the win.

Colin Delaney vs Orange Cassidy

Far more experience here, both guys looked super comfortable in a match where neither really had to stretch themselves. Cassidy’s laid-back schtick gave them both plenty to work with, and Cassidy bumping with his hands in his pockets looks both super smooth and visually impressive. I like how Cassidy’s comedy stuff serves to frustrate Delaney, which then allows Cassidy to shock him with sudden bursts of offence, and I like how he lures Delaney into a chop battle, throwing weak slaps and allowing Colin to wind up for a big chop, only to duck and nail a superkick. I also dug Cassidy taking a mouthful of orange juice to “fire up”, then about half a minute later spitting it into Delaney’s eyes for a nearfall. They exchange roll ups, with Delaney getting a leverage advantage enough to keep Cassidy on the mat for three. Fun stuff.

Team Tremendous (Bill Carr & Dan Barry) vs Killer Instinct (Jacoby Riddick & Mike Skyros) vs Wrestling Liberation Front (Cloudy & Krist Worthless)

Enjoyable match, if you choose to ignore the inherent issues in teams tagging out to other teams in a triple threat tag. Killer Instinct impressed on the last Wild Zero show, and here they both bump impressively to make a hackneyed “one wrestler gets hit with a move that causes him to accidentally DDT his own partner” spot come off well. Nice spot where Skyros trips Barry whilst Riddick runs the ropes and hits a low dropkick to his head. Worthless looked decent too, a big ugly guy who hit hard and seemed to have good movement. The two heel teams, Killer Instinct and WLF, argue on the floor, providing a nice set up for a big Barry dive. Bill Carr follows with a huge flip dive of his own, which looks great for such a big guy. Carr hits a nice clothesline and Black Hole Slam to the KI guys, which they bump huge for, before Team Tremendous hit a neat Doomsday Sliced Bread, However, before they can make the pin, Cloudy rolls up Barry for the sneaky heel win. Logic gap aside, this was neat, everyone worked really hard.

Jay Freddie vs Daniel Garcia

I really wanted to like this – I liked what I’ve seen before of Freddie teaming with John Silver as the Thick Boys and I really liked the big match feel, with both guys have entourages and a big fight introduction. The problem is that I don’t think this was a very good match. Alarm bells started ringing when they kicked off with a clumsy looking forearm exchange, which I hoped in vain was just getting that nonsense out of the way. Unfortunately, they went back to these strike exchanges seemingly as a way to fill time or when they needed to transition to the next part of the match. This match went almost half an hour, so there was a lot of time to fill and a lot of strike exchanges used to do it. They also do too many non-selling mirror sequences, where one would hit a back suplex then they’d both get up and the other would hit a back suplex. They even exchange sharpshooters at one point in the match, with no sign of any long term damage. Really felt like two guys trying to have a “fighting spirit” epic, when the truth is that this would have been much better without these parts and with ten minutes taken off the run time. There were definite good bits – loves Freddie’s early dive, thought Garcia tripping him on the apron looked good, liked the driven knees that Garcia hit to the ribs by diving across the ring and Freddie hits a nice cannonball and Fisherman Buster. These were all positive bits, but the layout of the match really affected it. By the time Freddie finally gets the tap out with yet another sharpshooter, I was just willing it to be over, which isn’t a good sign. A missed opportunity.

WWF Prime Time Wrestling 07/07/1986

The Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo & Lioness Asuka) vs Leilani Kai & Black Venus

Well then! Wasn’t expecting to see the Crush Gals pop up on an episode of Prime Time. This was a really neat curio, and all four ladies put in a good showing. Loved the slingshot Asuka used to send Kai faceplanting into the mat. I’d seen Venus before on a LPWA DVD, and I thought she looked better here. Nice stiff shots to the stomach and a neat straight jacket sleeper with a boot to the spine. Nagayo has a real fighters stance, looks like she’s alert for an opening at all times. Kai does nothing fancy here, but she’s just full of nasty heelish shots that create sympathy for the faces. Things heat up at the end, with the Crush Galls hitting nice looking kicks to Venus and Asuka finishes her off with a German suplex. Nice to see.

Billy Jack Haynes vs Frank Marconi

This is joined in progress, which is a relief as what we do get is terrible. Haynes holds a long chinlock, peppered with the odd clubbing blow. Actually comes across quite heelish, and it’s notable that he gets a few boos after his full Nelson win.

Harley Race vs SD Jones

Interesting showcase for Race here, felt like he was trying to keep Jones strong. Despite Race dominating proceedings, Jones gets to kick out of a lot of Race’s offence. High knee and a piledriver -2. Gut wrench suplex – 2. Race keeps going for pins after every move, with Jones kicking out, before a big powerslam gives him the victory.

Pedro Morales vs Barry O

Barry O gets a surprising amount of control in this match, given their respective statuses in the WWF. Morales was on the downward straight of his career, but he was still a former world champion and Barry O was basically a jobber. O has nice offence, big clothesline and a running chop to the neck. Morales takes a ridiculous bump to the floor, getting hurled by O over the top rope straight down. Loved O conducting the crowd as they started a “Pedro” chant. Morales looks great on the comeback, lovely energy and he’s got a range of nice blows. Lovely big backbreaker gives him the win.

Lanny Poffo & George Wells vs Johnny K-9 & Rusty Brooks

After watching this match, I decided to Google K-9, and man that’s an utterly baffling tale. Fun start, Brooks is a big slobbish fat guy who bumps about for Poffo’s hiptosses. Poffo hits a springboard plancha to the floor on K-9 which looks wild for the time. Poffo and Wells just wear down K-9 with quick tags and nice offence – Poffo hits some nasty looking grounded punches which felt quite out of character, before Wells pins him with a shoulderblock.

The Hart Foundation vs The Killer Bees

This was a great way to end the show, nicely competitive tag bout with both sides feeling like potential winners. The Bees control early with some nice double teaming on Neidhart, working over his legs. Nicely, they continue this policy when Bret gets tagged in, going for his legs too. Loved their double spinning toehold. Blair becomes face-in-peril after getting booted in the back running the ropes, and the bulk of the match sees him getting worn down. The Harts cheat really effectively, with some nice double teams and good timing on their distraction spots or rushing the face corner just before Blair can get there. We get a nice false tag after Blair reverses an Irish whip to the corner (including a trademark Bret bump) as Neidhart distracts the ref. When Anvil accidentally hits Bret, the crowd explode and the hot tag gets a terrific reaction. Brunzell looks great coming in, nails a lovely big dropkick, but Anvil clubs him in the back of the head running the ropes to get the cheap win.

WWF WrestleMania I

One thing I've realised in my time writing this blog is that it serves as a useful resource to myself when I'm trying to remember what I think about a certain match. Sometimes, as a ageing 36 year old, my memories of matches are just like fading fingerprints on an abandoned handrail (to paraphrase Bob Mortimer). Thus I've decided it might be fun/useful to work through the PPV's of the WWF to act as a kind of archive for my thoughts. Ergo, here's Wrestlemania I

Tito Santana vs The Executioner

Executioner is, of course, Buddy Rose. The ropes here are super loose. I kinda got used to it, but it felt really noticeable here. This is neatly worked to make Tito look good, loved him working a headlock, even running up the ropes to get a headlock takeover. Executioner had cut a pre-match promo stating he was going to take out Santana’s legs, and to his credit he starts to focus his offence on them. However, Tito fires up leading to a nice little run by both guys – Santana slams Executioner from the top rope, but eats knees on a splash. Santana slams Executioner back into the ring from the apron, hits a flying forearm and locks in the figure four for a straightforward victory.

King Kong Bundy vs SD Jones

I mean, it’s obvious that this goes longer than the 9 seconds they bill it as, but it’s still a fun deal. Just a nice squash, makes Bundy look killer.

Ricky Steamboat vs Matt Borne

Enjoyed the fun opening stages that establish Steamboat’s superiority to Borne, luring him into running into a chop and slipping out of back suplexes. Borne comes back with a nice belly-to-belly suplex. Both guys exchange nice snug blows, with Steamboat hitting a few choice kneedrops. Steamboat hits a nice top rope crossbody for the win.

David Sammartino vs Brutus Beefcake

Considering how much longer than the previous match this was, there’s very little to say about it. Pretty sluggish stuff, with Sammartino controlling on the mat. He’s not a compelling mat worker, doing some leg work that doesn’t seem to be leading anywhere. Beefcake in control was more interesting, as at least his blows hit with some force. His elbow to the nose in the corner was pretty nasty. Johnny Valliant attacks David on the floor, and we get a big melee leading to a double DQ with Bruno Sammartino getting in and the faces clearing the ring.

Greg Valentine vs the Junkyard Dog

I enjoyed this. Valentine has a good gameplan, going for JYD’s legs as soon as he was on the mat. Also, unlike Sammartino, Valentine’s legwork has a clear end goal and actually looks like it’s going to cause some damage. Loved Valentine’s face first plant to the mat when JYD shoves off a figure four attempt. JYD sells the leg nicely, backing into a corner when on his feet to shield it, and walking gingerly on it when he’s got control. Jimmy Hart ends up taking a big bump when Valentine hits him by accident, falling backwards to the floor, before the Hammer gets a cheat pin in the corner with his foot on the ropes. Post match, Tito Santana comes in to get the result reversed.

The US Express (Barry Windham & Mike Rotunda) vs The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff

Fastly paced little tag sprint, with the US Express looking great to kick off. Nice quick tags and maintaining complete control. The heels get heat on Rotunda, including a nice moment when Rotunda holds onto a hammerlock when getting to his feet to try and make a comeback, with Jesse Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon nicely putting over the instincts of an amateur wrestler to do this. Sheik locks on a sloppy abdominal stretch, which Rotunda hiptosses out of, and Windham is a great hot tag, working at a really high pace. However, he gets taken out by Sheik using Freddie Blassie’s cane and the heels pick up the win and the tag belts.

Andre the Giant vs Big John Studd

This is the $15,000 slam match, with Studd’s money vs Andre’s career. I wrote this up for the Andre the Giant DVD a few years ago, and I agree pretty much with what I wrote then. A pretty brief bout, with Andre never looking in any danger. He wears down Studd with some chokes, a few big chops and a bearhug. He even catches a Studd boot and beats him down before getting a slam from nowhere to win the match.

Wendi Richter vs Leilani Kai

Super hot crowd for this, with Richter trying to regain her women’s title. Cyndi Lauper is the manager for Richter here, which has made this a featured bout for the show. Lots of token matwork to start, which does at least lead to a nice power spot as Kai gets caught in a bodyscissors and lifts up Richter from the mat. Impressive spot. Richter gets Kai on her shoulders and hits what looks like Sean O’Haire’s old Widowmaker finisher for two. This is perfectly fine, aided by a hot crowd, but the ending is terrible. Kai hits a top rope crossbody, but Richter clumsily rolls through for the win.

Hulk Hogan & Mr T vs Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff

This match is so carefully orchestrated to milk the maximum reaction from the crowd. The audience pops big when Mr T tags in to face Piper, and there’s been no contact made by anyone. T works a nice little mat section with Piper, before we get a big melee, drawing in Muhammed Ali and an even bigger pop. The heels start to walk out for a fake count out spot, and the crowd are pissed. Just glorious conducting of the crowd. The match starts properly, and the faces outsmart the heels, who stooge about fabulously. There’s a real feeling of chaos and things about to breakdown at any time, as people keep getting into the ring, Bob Orton keeps getting on the apron and Ali on the verge of having to reappear and keep order. There’s two heat sections, on Hogan and on T, and I loved Piper when he is working over Hogan, including a lovely wind-up running punch. We get another melee, and in the mess Bob Orton accidentally hits Orndorff with his cast, leaving him to get pinned by Hogan for the win. Just really well-worked crowd pleasing stuff, with a hot crowd getting built to a fever pitch.

End of 2018 Round Up Post

As is now traditional, here is the annual end of year post of the best matches reviewed on the blog this year. Lots of contenders this year, maybe more than ever - the shortlist had 20 matches on, and was really hard to pair down. This, however, was the best of the best.

10) Meiko Satomura vs Mercedes Martinez (Mae Young Classic 2018 – Round 2 #1)

The standout match of the Mae Young Classic. Stiff, hard-hitting stuff from two veterans, which set a high standard for the rest of the tournament. The remaining rounds were full of good stuff, but this was the highlight.

9) Jigsaw, Mr Zero, Gran Akuma, Icarus, Jolly Roger, DJ Skittlez, Private Eye & Shane Storm vs Larry Sweeney, Rorschach, Mano Metallico, Share Cropper, Ultramantis Black, Spyruzal, Crossbones & Hallowicked (CHIKARA – The Cibernetico Cometh)

Going well over an hour, with some wrestlers who have thoroughly underwhelmed in my CHIKARA watching, this could have been as disaster. Instead, it’s really smartly worked, exceptionally entertaining and the hour simply flies by.

8) Alex Reynolds vs John Silver (NYWC Sideshow 2018)

Always enjoyed Silver, but Reynolds has had some hit or miss matches over the years. Here, the two partners work terrifically together, with clever counters showing their familiarity. It goes 17 minutes, which had me worried, but this was great.

7) Cain Justice vs Fred Yehi (Action Wrestling Debut Show 27/04/2018)

This is the spot where I jumped on the bandwagon for both these guys. Really clever stuff with some unique but logical spots which actually build towards the end of the match.

6) Super Dragon & B-Boy vs Billy Ken Kid & Ebessan (CHIKARA Tag World Grand Prix 2005 Night 1)

Terrific tag match, taking comedy worker Ebessan and using him as a sympathetic foil for the Dragon/B-Boy team. Builds to a dynamite hot tag, just tremendous stuff.

5) Toby Farley vs Timmy Lou Retton (Innovate Pro Wrestling – Regenesis)

Two guys I’d never seen before in a big time title match. Lots to enjoy here, a fun fake injury angle, Farley selling a broken jaw by taping his jaw shut and some good, hard hitting stuff.

4) Big Van Vader vs Sting (WCW Great American Bash 1992)

I could honestly have put 4/5 matches from this show on this list, it was that good a show. The textbook on how to work a giant heel vs valiant face hero, both guys come out of this looking like warriors, and Sting puts Vader with no bullshit.

3) Eddie Kingston vs Chris Dickinson (Limitless Wrestling – The World Is Ours)

Two of the best brawlers on the indies kicking lumps out of each other. Both guys give no quarter, and you can see them slowly breaking the other down. They smartly don’t draw it out, it ends at the right time, and this is a super fun war.

2) Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin & Dustin Rhodes (WCW Great American Bash 1992)

In any other year, this would probably have been #1. Four of the best wrestlers in the world at the time put on an absolute clinic. You’d have forgiven Dustin and Windham for taking it easy, with two more matches still to come, but they still put it all out there. Tremendous heat section, really exciting end run.

1)    Andrade “Cien” Almas vs Johnny Gargano (WWE NXT Takeover: Philadelphia)

Not only the best match in NXT history, for my money this is a top three match in WWE history. A masterclass in selling from Gargano, a guy who once did the worst sell job I’d seen, some lovely offence by Almas, logical and natural counters and reversals, finishing with a definitive end sequence. One of the best matches I’ve ever seen.