Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk: Zenk & Bagwell vs Taylor & Flamingo

Z Man & Marcus Bagwell vs Terry Taylor & Scotty Flamingo
This comes in the middle of a fued between Bagwell and the Taylor Made Man. Bagwell starts with Flamingo and looks pretty darn good, showing a fiery athleticism that was missing from the Buff Bagwell days. Taylor comes in as the veteran of the match as pointed out by JR, and plays the role of the cocky vet very well, whilst also letting Bagwell look good against him. Zenk also displays some good babyface fire when he comes in, hittng flying headscissors on both heels and busting out a springboard crossbody on Taylor which pops the crowd. Flamingo manages to make a blind tag to Taylor, who gets the advantage on Zenk from behind and starts pumping out some heeling tactics, starting by choking Zenk behind the referee's back. The heels continue to work Zenk over, cutting off the ring and drawing Bagwell in to distract the ref whilst they choke Zenk out. Zenk fires back with a neckbreaker, and makes a pretty abrupt hot tag to Bagwell. All four guys end up in the ring, allowing Zenk to hit a superkick on Taylor for the win. The match could have used another 5 minutes or so to stretch out the heat sequence on Zenk, but it was a perfectly decent wrestling match, with all four bringing a fact tempo to the match.

Zenk & Bagwell vs Taylor & Flamingo

WWE NXT Season 4: A Preview

So I'm very impatient and decided I wanted to see what the new NXT rookies were like before the new season starts. Therefore, I used the power of youtube to check out each NXT rookie to see what they bring to the table. The result? A mixed bag...

Johnny Curtis vs. Leo Kruger
Kruger is South African and seems pretty green. With that in mind, it’s a testament to the more experienced Curtis that this match is pretty good. Curtis shows some nice aggression in the early stages, but two weak Kruger dropkicks send him outside where he gets hit by a Kruger cannonball from the apron. Kruger seems to want to try more flashy stuff (he hits a cautious looking standing rana at one point), but it’s Curtis who is giving the match structure. Curtis gets the win following a top-rope leg drop in a decent 5 minute match. Curtis looked pretty good here.

Curtis vs Kruger

Jacob Novak vs. Xavier Woods
Woods is better known as Consequences Creed in TNA. Novak is noticeably very green - nothing he does is particularly bad, but nothing is actually very interesting either. He’s like the heel Lucky Cannon. Sadly, Novak dominates most of the match in an uninteresting manner. Woods makes the comeback and wins following a leaping DDT from the top rope. I do think Novak has some potential, he kept the match structure simple and didn’t blow anything (bar an awkward moment when he ran off the ropes and stopped instead of hitting a prone Woods). But he didn’t look ready for national TV and hopefully he’ll get some more time in FCW after NXT.

Woods vs Novak

Conor O’Brian & Calvin Raines vs. Lucky Cannon & Conrad Tanner
Only O’Brian match I could find on you tube (not counting his previous days in WWE developmental as I want to keep this current). I’ve never seen quite so many awful tattoos in one sitting. It takes a while for the heel team of O’Brian and Raines to get control, but they make the most of it when they do, working over the arm of Lucky Cannon with aplomb. Both O’Brian and Raines look pretty good, I especially loved the vicious stomp on Cannon’s arm by O’Brian. Due to the short length of the match, around 7-8 minutes, the hot tag seems pretty abrupt, but at least Tanner has some babyface fire to heat up the crowd. The end comes when Raines distracts Tanner, allowing O’Brian to hit a full Nelson slam for three. If the WWE had a tag division, then I’d prefer to see Raines called up with O’Brian to make an impact there, but it looked like O’Brian should do pretty well as a singles act.

Raines & O'Brian vs Tanner & Cannon

Brodus Clay vs. Lucky Cannon
More Lucky Cannon! The sad thing is, he’s the workhorse of this match, essentially wrestling around Clay in the early going. Cannon works over the leg of Clay, which is a sensible tactic, but Clay soon takes over and we never see any leg-offence again. Abe Washington calls Clay the “Super Sexy Suplex Machine”, but Clay’s offence is pretty weak, with a nerve hold and a really crappy looking giant swing both being pretty poor. Clay’s finisher is pretty choice though, hitting a Tongan Death Grip which he holds into a choke slam, but when the best thing about your match is that Lucky Cannon looked pretty good, you’re in trouble.

Watch Lucky Cannon wrestle himself

Derrick Bateman vs. Byron Saxton
Cheating a bit here with the final two rookies together in one match. The commentary from Abe Washington and FCW champion Mason Ryan implies that Saxton did something to Bateman’s partner Johnny Curtis that was so reprehensible, even Abe can’t abide it. Bateman and Saxton both looked really good here. Bateman came out of the gates with some really fire in his offence and you could really believe he wanted revenge on Saxton. Saxton was far better than I expected, maybe not fully polished in-ring but with a heap of physical presence and charisma. He takes control with a nice move, lifting the ring skirt to swing Bateman’s head into the exposed steel ring structure from the apron, which Bateman sells really well with a glazed look for the rest of the match. Saxton then concentrates his offence on the head and neck. Bateman makes an explosive comeback with a big lariant and a choice legsweep into the turnbuckles, but Saxton wins with a move called the Recommendation, like a full Nelson into a Side Effect. Genuinely good match from these two, with a story that made sense.

Bateman vs Saxton

WCW Slamboree 1996

WCW was my favourite wrestling company of all-time. The first wrestling I ever got to see was 1992 WCW on ITV every Saturday, and I loved that stuff. Therefore, I thought it time to revisit my favourite company in the days just before the NWO showed up.

Hawk & Lex Luger vs Animal & Booker T
I'm going to count off examples of the booking making a mockery of the "random draw" claim. Here is number one, as the Road Warriors end up on opposite teams. However, at least the fans will finally get to see the Roadies square off, right? Luger and Animal start off by working a reasonable power match, where at least Luger seems motivated. Booker continues the work on Luger, including a swank spot where he turns a missed elbow into a spinneroonie into a roundhouse kick for two. It breaks down into a melee when Luger stupidly shoves Hawk for saving him from being pinned and all four brawl outside and get counted out. The LOD never exchanged one blow to the disappointment off all. Stupid booking.

The Public Enemy vs Kevin Sullivan & Chris Benoit
Mockeries two and three see a regular tagteam facing two guys who don't like each other. This actually turns out pretty good, the opening exchange between Benoit and Rock is fun, as Rock clearly doesn't mind Benoit getting stiff with him on a huge powerbomb. The fight goes to the floor and Dusty gets very happy when the plundah! is brought out. Sullivan LEATHERS Rock with a hard plastic chair, but TPE get the win when both members plummet through Chris Benoit who is prostate on a table. Brief but fun

Sgt Craig Pittman & Scott Steiner vs the Booty Man & Rick Steiner
Here is mockery four. Pittman guides Booty Man through a passable mat sequence before planting him with a huge belly-to-back suplex. The crowd really want to see the Steiners fight and, despite Scott's hesitation, they get their wish. The Steiners go through a fun exhibition in the ring, until Scott lures Rick in by feigning injury and rolls him up for two. They then exchange a series of suplexes before both tagging out. Pittman locks the Code Red on Booty Man, but Leslie manages to tag in Rick who hits a German Suplex for 3. The three decent workers didn't let Booty Man stink this one up too much, so it was pretty fun, especially the Steiners sequence.

The Bluebloods vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan & VK Wallstreet
Herein lies mockery five. They at least try to explain this, by pointing out that Regal was scheduled to team with Finlay until the Bloods took him out, but considering that Regal was feuding with Finlay, it still ranks on the mockery list. This match is far too short to be any good, but Regal still manages to bring some goods- backed into a corner by Duggan, he hooks Hacksaw's ankle with his foot, thus preventing a clean break and allowing him to paste Duggan when the ref tries to intervene. Duggan and Wallstreet don't coexist at all, making it even worse when Duggan uses an illegally taped fist to pin Taylor and make the Bloods look like idiots.

Dick Slater & The Earl Of Eaton vs Alex Wright & Disco Inferno
This is pre-Boogie Knights, so doesn't qualify as a mockery. Again, too brief to really comment on, though Wright has some nice spunky babyface offence. Slater nails a dancing Disco with his boot while the ref is distracted to get the win

DDP & the Barbarian vs Meng & Hugh Morrus
The Faces Of Fear on opposing teams in this match makes this mockery six. Morrus misses a plancha right off the bat, hitting the floor with a satisfying thud. The Meng/Barbarian segments are the ones you'd anticipate most and are every bit as awesome as you'd hope, and the rest of the match is pretty fun as well. Barbarian throws Morrus across the ring from the top rope, while Morrus hits the best moonsault I ever saw from him. The ending is a bit poor, as we get a double-pin with only Barbarian's counting due to DDP making the ropes, but the match as a whole is fine

Big Bubba & Stevie Ray vs Fire & Ice
Mockery seven. Very, very short, but it's a a perfectly serviceable powermatch while it's on. Train and Stevie Ray aren't good workers, but getting four big guys in the ring to hit power spots for 3 minutes with no resting is a fine way to kill time. Fire & Ice advance

Eddie Guerrero & Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair & Randy Savage
As a straight tag match, this would be unholy good. Sadly, it’s mockery number eight that sees Flair teaming up with hated rival Savage, while Flair’s best friend is half of the other team. The end result is that this is a bit of a mess, with Flair attacking his own partner, Guerrero feeling bad for Savage, then Arn turning on Guerrero with a DDT to allow Flair the win. There are some choice moments in the match: Flair tags Macho in after assaulting him, then grabs Eddie’s hand to make him tag in Arn who decimates Savage which is fun, while Eddie gets a huge pop for giving Flair a poke to the eyes.

Dean Malenko vs. Brad Armstrong
The first time that the Cruiserweight title was defended on WCW pay-per-view. Essentially a bit of a squash here, which is a shame given the talent on display. After a fun opening exchange, Malenko offers Armstrong a test of strength, only to dropkick his knee when approaching for lock-up. Malenko then spends the bulk of the match working over BA’s leg and, though Armstrong gets a small comeback at the end, Malenko makes quick work of him with a toprope gutbuster. The match is pretty short and, much as I hate to say it, a bit dull

Dick Slater & The Earl Of Eaton vs. VK Wall street & Jim Duggan
Yep, there’s a second round of tournament matches before we can get to the battle royale. This match starts with partners Duggan and Wallstreet brawling before joining forces to defend themselves when the opposition attack. However, this leaves the face/heel dynamic out of sorts, meaning that a hot-tag to Wallstreet gets no reaction, which doesn’t enhance a match that already feels like it’s going nowhere. Some more miscommunication leads to Duggan punching his partner into an Eaton rollup for 3.

The Public Enemy vs. Ric Flair & Randy Savage
Match never gets started and is more angle advancement than anything else: Liz accompanies Flair to the ring, throwing Savage’s money into the crowd. This prompts the Macho Man to come out and attack Flair before security break them up. The crowd loved this more than any other second round match.

Diamond Dallas Page & the Barbarian vs. Booty Man & Rick Steiner
DDP flexes in front of the Booty Babe before the match starts, but takes a neato bump to the floor from a Booty Man attack. This is the best second round match, but only by default as at least the face/heel divide was clear. Steiner plays face-in-peril following a decent minute of action with the Barbarian, but the match still feels far longer than it is. Booty Man hits the High Knee on Barbarian following the hot-tag, but Page drops an elbow to the back of his head to get the win for his team.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs. Konnan
This is a US title match. Liger is accompanied by Sonny Ono and is wearing black, so you know he’s evil. They work a quick mat sequence, which ends in what we now know as the “Indy applause stance”, before exchanging holds again on the mat. The mat sequence is pretty smooth and has some nice little features, including Konnan using the old Regal trick of grinding a forearm into Liger’s face during an STF. As the mat sequence is pretty even, Liger changes his tactics, winning a striking battle with palm thrusts and a rolling Koppo kick. This leads to Liger concentrating more on high-impact offence to work over Konnan. A Fisherman Buster gets two, and is swiftly followed by a Ligerbomb for two. However, Liger makes the mistake of abandoning a successful tactic and gets catches only boot when trying a top rope move, allowing Konnan to hit Splash Mountain for the win. Best match of the show thus far, a solid 10 minute match which told a decent story and allowed a change of pace from the rest of the show.

Battlebowl Final: Scott Norton vs. Ice Train vs. Dick Slater vs. The Earl Of Eaton vs. Rocko Rock vs. Johnny Grunge vs. Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Barbarian
Not the guys you would have picked from the opening list of competitors. There are a lot of big guys in there, which helps the eventual winner look pretty impressive, though it also means that, due to a lack of space, we get guys casually walking round hitting each other and little else. We end up with a final four of DDP, Train, Barbarian and Grunge after a few quickfire eliminations. DDP hits Diamond Cutters on all three and, moments after Dusty yells how he’s now got to throw them over the top rope, pins Grunge and Train to eliminate them, before Barbie kicks out. Page and Barbarian actually have a nice little finishing spot, including DDP getting to kick out of a huge powerbomb, before another Diamond Cutter gets the win. Weak match which is saved by a solid ending which gave DDP a good deal more credibility.

Sting vs. The Giant
The main event and Giant’s first title defence, and Sting had brought Lex Luger out to be chained to Jimmy Hart to prevent interference. The match had a lot of potential: Sting had proven he could be an effective underdog against a larger heel during his Vader series, while Giant was improving all the time. Indeed, the opening part is pretty good, Sting using speed to try and take down the Giant (including a crossbody attempt where he just pings off the future Big Show), but tries a body slam too early which allows the Giant to take over. Giant’s offence is still pretty basic, but Sting puts it over like death, including some frantic thrashing during a body scissors. However, the second half of the match is marred by interference from both Luger and Hart, as well as some logic issues from Sting (why would he chose to Stinger splash a precariously balanced Jimmy Hart instead of trying to finish off the massive Giant?). Luger and Hart struggle over the megaphone which results in it hitting Sting in the head, making him easy pickings for a choke slam for the Giant’s win. The match was going well until the final 5 minutes, but it’s too short to be a satisfying main event.

Best Of Reslo: Volume 1

Another fantastic purchase from IVP Videos, this time a compilation of the awesome Reslo show that used to air on S4C in the late 80’s/early 90’s. Hosted by the ever-so suave Bryn Fon and Welsh wrestling legend Orig Williams, the Reslo broadcast would generally show two matches and featured a style of wrestling that is distinctly European, focusing on matwork and wrestler schtick to entertain the crowd. As a half-Welshman, I felt it was my patriotic duty to dive straight in...

Johnny South vs. Frank Lopez
First thing to notice is how much of the audience is made up of kids, which is great because all these kids are clearly into the matches. They react to everything, which really helps a match like this shine. As matches go, it’s pretty basic, but both guys do things purely designed to get the crowd reacting- Lopez, the face, chants and claps to rally the kids behind him, South begs off and pleads with the kids to be quiet. The result is that the whole match entertains without being that good. The ending confuses, South has control over Lopez, but then elects to whip him with a chain, drawing the DQ win for Lopez.

Robbie Brookside vs. Lee Thomas
Brookside is a wrestler I’m very familiar with, having seen him live in 2004 dragging a decent match out of Darren Walsh at an All Star show in Leamington. Brookside is again awesome here, and this match is far more fast-paced than the last, for sure. Brookside takes control of the match early doors and works in quite a few spots where he outsmarts Thomas, much to the delight of the child audience. Thomas looks like the love-child of Bobby Eaton and Chris Candido, and, while not up to the high standard of either, he does keep up pretty well with Brookside. Brookside hits a nasty looking backdrop suplex, then hits a springboard suplex for the win.

Franz Schuman vs. Salvatore Bellomo
This is from the CWA promotion in Austria, and works under a round system. To be honest, this is a really dull match. Bellomo brings nothing to the table except some chokes and tedious brawling, while Schuman may have the right look (imagine a third Young Stallion) but none of the in-ring chops to back it up. Schuman rolls through a crossbody for the win.

Giant Haystacks vs. Pat Roach
Another match fought under a round system, this time best 2 out of 3 falls. Here we get 2 legends of UK wrestling, with Roach being the only person bar Harrison Ford to appear in the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Sadly, the match is awful. Haystacks dominates most of the match, and his moveset is based entirely on restholds, be it chinlock or nerve hold, and Roach doesn’t help by making his first offensive move a bear hug. Haystacks wins the first fall with a sleeper, before Roach FINALLY fires into life with a series of running shoulder blocks to win the second fall. Roach continues where he left off for the final fall, but collides with the ref, allowing Haystacks to hit an elbowdrop for the win.

Dave Taylor vs. Drew MacDonald
Not just Dave Taylor, but “Dancing” Dave Taylor! So unusual to see the future Squire Dave as a happy, smiling babyface, but it actually works, with Taylor showing some great babyface fire. MacDonald dominates the early stages and, like Haystacks, uses a nerve hold to down Taylor. However, unlike Haystacks, MacDonald really works the hold, grinding a forearm into Taylor’s face at the same time. Taylor makes a neat face comeback, using moves like a flying forearm and a splash which are more likely to pop the crowd. He also still has a ridiculously good European uppercut. Dancing Dave gets the win with an anticlimactic suplex, but this is the best match on the disc so far.

Danny Boy Collins vs. Kid McCoy
Until now, that is. This is a fine junior heavyweight match between two guys who seemingly have no problems getting a little stiff with each other. Collins impresses more initially, with a nice snap to everything he does, including a swish floatover butterfly suplex. McCoy seems to take a bit longer to warm up, but soon gets into his stride until he’s confidently working Mexican surfboard reversals with the seemingly more-experienced Collins. For an early 90’s match in the UK, it seems very ahead of it’s time, and it’s a shame when it finishes with a time limit draw, could happily have watched more of this.

The Superflies (Jimmy Ocean and Ricky Knight) vs. Tony Stewart and Geraint Clewd
You only have to look at the Superflies to know they’re heels: with bleached blond mullets and garish multicoloured tights, they ooze scummy heat. Stewart and Clewd seem much younger and less experienced, but have a great babyface energy and swiftly win the first fall with a Clewd rollup on Ocean. The ‘Flies pull out all the stops from the “Heel Tagteam” playbook, with tag-rope chokes and ref distractions a-plenty. A handful of salt to the face of Stewart evens the score to 1-1. A pin in the corner with feet on ropes almost earns the Superflies the win before the ref spots it, before allowing the young faces a chance to make their comeback. At this point, the Superflies turn into stooges of the highest order, frantically grabbing the ropes to avoid submission holds and each taking huge bumps to the outside from face offence. Clewd and Stewart more than hold up their end of the bargain, and pick up the win when Ocean accidentally hits Knight with some barricade meant for Clewd, allowing the face to pin Ocean following a sunset flip. Good tag action made more enjoyable by the efforts of the heel team.

Kensuke Sasaki and Klaus Kauroff vs. Eddie Steinblock and Hercules Boyd
Back to Austria we got for this largely pointless tag match, again best 2 out of 3 falls. Boyd overpowers Sasaki to start before Steinblock gets the first fall for his team with a power slam. Orig namedrops Antonio Inoki while Sasaki is in the ring, though I can’t tell you what he said due to the fact I don’t speak much Welsh. Boyd and Steinblock continue to out power Sasaki, before Boyd pins Kauroff following a hiptoss. Too short and a not particularly fun squash.

Johnny Saint vs. Barry Douglas
Johnny Saint was one of my main lures behind buying the DVD, as he specialises in the fluid, clever and above-all, fun matwork that the UK scene was known for. Saint comes to the ring to Reslo’s rather excellent theme tune, which is another reason to like him. The overall feel of the mtch is that Saint is letting Douglas get him in holds just so he can try and work out some elaborate way of escaping, which he does time and again. The highlight of this is a swank escape from a headscissors into a Boston crab. Saint is always one step ahead of Douglas, and the end comes as Saint outmanoeuvres and confuses Douglas, allowing him to get a roll-up for 3. A good, fun exhibition of a style that is becoming a lost art.

There is a ladies match from the US next featuring Heidi Lee Morgan and another, unknown, wrestler, but it isn’t much cop and is pretty short, so I’ll move on to the last match, which is...

Col Brody vs. Boston Blackie
Brody looks like your stereotypical 1940’s military man, down to his thick moustache which Blackie threatens and pulls on to the delight of the crowd. Brody does a great job of keeping the crowd into the match, bumping huge for Blackie (including a big spill to the outside) and always allowing Blackie to stay one step ahead of him. A missed knee drop allows the Colonel to work over Blackie’s knee, including a pair of snapmares which send Blackie knee first into the ropes; After Blackie misses a top rope splash, Brody wins by ramming him chest first into an exposed turnbuckle and hitting a fireman’s carry roll for the three. Fun match made all the more enjoyable due to Brody’s antics and selling, and a good way to end an unique and entertaining collection.

NJPW TV 07/01/2009

As part of my mission to improve my Puro knowledge, I've been investing in some DVD's from IVP Videos to get a better view of the Puro scene. I'm starting to work my way through NJPW's 2009 so here's the first show of the year.

Yujiro & Tetsuya Naito vs. Milano Collection AT & Taichi Ishikari
Aside from Yujiro and Naito’s brief TNA spell, I’m not at all familiar with any of the guys in the ring. It’s a solid little tag match, which opens nicely with Naito and Milano trying to work each other over on the mat, only for Ishikara and Yujiro to do the same with a little more stiffness. There is a nice early spot with Ishikari kicking Yujiro off the apron, then using Naito’s own limbs to tangle him up in the ropes. Milano and Ishikari have the early advantage and work in some nice double team manoeuvres to stretch Yujiro. After a brief flurry of offence from Team No Limit, Milano manages to capture both opponents in a two-man single-leg crab, which is just the right side of goofy for me to enjoy. Milano has a habit of tying his opponents up in knots, which is pretty cool. Naito fires back with a huge flying forearm, getting great air, before nailing a crisp moonsault for 2. The ending sprint sees all four men in the ring desperately trying to finish each other off, only for the bell to signal a time limit draw. A fun opener, I was particularly impressed with the team of Milano and Ishikari, who had nice chemistry and really cool snug offence.

Koji Kanemoto & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Minoru & Nobuo Yoshihari
This is essentially a competitive squash match, as Kanemoto and Taguchi take it in turns to beat up the rookie Yoshihari, especially Kanemoto, who reaches high levels of dickishness here, including a brutal face wash in the corner. After an extended heat session, Minoru finally gets the hot tag and works a far more competitive exchange with Kanemoto, leading to a nifty submission reversal sequence, which ends with Yoshihari saving Minoru from a heel hook. Minoru’s selling leaves a little to be desired -he seems to hit moves normally, before remembering afterwards that his ankel is supposed to hurt. Kanemoto takes Minoru out on the outside, allowing Taguchi to hit a cross-arm breaker on Yoshihari for the tap out. An entertaining squash made by Kanemoto’s nasty offence and wanker behaviour.

Manabu Nakanishi, Tiger Mask & Kazuchika Okada vs. Jado, Gedo & Tomohiro Ishii
Super enjoyable sixman, with the larger Nakanishi being the wildcard here, who barely sells some Gedo chops before levelling him with one of his own. Okada, who is currently with TNA in an attempt to get some seasoning, has a load of fun, spunky face offence, but gets caught by a rookie mistake, and the heels take full advantage, neatly cutting off the ring while beating him down. Okada makes the hot tag following a crossbody on two men, and Nakanishi is a house of fire with some nice power offence, before Tiger Mask is equally effective, this time with some fun high flying moves, culminating with a suicide dive to the outside. Okada and even Nakanishi both follow with dives of their own. Back in the ring, Tiger Mask plants Gedo with a tombstone and a standing moonsault for the win. Short, simple and effective.

15 Man Battle Royal KOSHIGAYA: Tetsuya Naito, Yujiro, Milano Collection A.T., Taichi Ishikari, Koji Kanemoto, Ryusuke Taguchi, Minoru, Nobuo Yoshihashi, Tiger Mask, Kazuchika Okada, Manabu Nakanishi, Tomohiro Ishii, Jado, Gedo & Kuniyoshi Wada.
Just a fun little battle royal that features all the previous guys, plus Wada. Nothing amazing, but features some fun spots, including Minoru trying to double-cross Yoshihashi, only for the double cross to backfire. There is a comedy spot featuring Jado’s tights falling down, but the ending is really a showcase for Makanishi, who hits a double suplex on Jado and Ishii, before putting Jado in a torture rack for the win.

Yuji Nagata vs. Mitsuhide Hirasawa
This is very much a veteran vs. rookie match, with Nagata enjoying an early dominance on the mat. As the match progresses, Nagata continues to enjoy the majority of the offence, with Hirasawa having to settle for the occasional hope spot. Nagata does miss a yakuza kick in the corner, which allows Hirasawa to enjoy his main spot of dominance, hitting a belly-to-back suplex and locking Nagata in a crossface, which Nagata counters out of fairly easily. Hirasawa hits a nice looking spine buster on Nagata, but there is never any doubt as to the victor, Nagata locking in a crossface on Hirasawa for the win.

Masahiro Chono, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger & AKIRA vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Takashi Iizuka & Tomoaki Honma
Some 8-man mayhem here, with the veterans playing face, and there is a noticeable divide between the slightly broken down legends and the evil younger wrestlers. A chaotic opening culminates with the faces working over Honma, giving me my first chance to see Liger in many a year, and it’s nice to report that he’s still aces. The heels finally get an advantage by singling out Tenzan on the outside and proceed to work him over, despite several failed attempts by AKIRA to save him. The heels work Tenzan over like a gang assault, with chokes and biting which keeps it looking vicious. A hot-tag is prevented by attacking Liger and AKIRA on the apron, but a second chance sees both men pre-empt the assault, allowing the hot-tag to Chono. STF to Yano, but the heels make the save. Yano receives a series of finishers (palm strike, Yakuza kick) but is saved once more. Tenzan is tagged back in too soon and falls prey to more heel chicanery, but Makabe hits Yano with a chain-lariat by accident, allowing Tenzan to hit the Tenzan Driver for 3. Solid match with both teams playing their roles well.


Shinsuke Nakamura & Hirooki Goto vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Wataru Inoue
This was the first time I’d really seen any of these guys, and I was pretty impressed as they worked a solid tag team encounter. After some back-and-forth action, the Tanahashi/Inoue combo took the advantage by working over the leg of Nakamura, with Tanahashi looking particularly good- not only did he get great air on an elbow and hit a sweet second-rope senton, he also gave Nakamura time to make his comeback before stopping him off with kicks to the injured leg. Inoue was certainly portrayed as the weaker link of his team as not only did he fare less well than his partner during the opening exchanges, it’s also his mistake that allows him to be caught by Goto in Shouten for the win. Nakamura and Goto looked more cohesive as a team, with Goto especially looking good.

TNA Webmatches (Episodes 7-9)

Back after too long a delay. I've got a few shows/DVD's I'm halfway through writing about, but for now I'm going to look at a few more TNA webmatches.

Kiyoshi vs Shark Boy
This is “Stone Cold” era for Shark Boy. Kiyoshi is joined by No Limit on their brief excursion to TNA from NJPW, during which they jobbed repeatedly. Kiyoshi dominates after a brief exchange, though the big dumb grin on Shark Boy’s mask really undermines any trouble he is in. Less than two minutes in and Kiyoshi puts on a nervehold, seemingly to allow Shark Boy to break and hit all his Austin tribute spots. Shark Boy looks to be going for the Chummer, but No Limit interference allows Kiyoshi to hit a Widowmaker for 3. Not too much fun, it felt really brief and Shark Boy, fun as he is, has really soft looking offence.

Taylor Wilde vs Madison Rayne
Madison looks far more jobbery here than she does now, it’s quite impressive just how far she’s come in terms of looks and character, though she’s still good at playing the bitchy role here. Taylor is super-over with the crowd, who for once don’t bother with duelling chants. Rayne’s offence seems to mainly revolve around attacking Taylor’s face, which I hope is deliberate to fit in with her position in the Beautiful People. Madison still goes for multiple covers, which I’m on record as being a fan of. Madison looks to go for a bulldog, but gets shoved into the ropes, allowing Taylor to hit a German suplex for the win. Decent match, though Rayne would get better in later months.

ODB vs Sojo Bolt
I’m far less confident about this match being any good. Cody Deaner is with ODB, reminding me instantly why I was glad he left TNA. The match is awful: it lasts about three minutes, it’s barely got any structure and they keep cutting to Cody fucking Deaner at ringside. I know I said before that TNA missed a trick on ODB, especially with how over she was, but matches like this make me realise how little I miss her.

Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk: Z-Man vs Cuban Assassin

Gary Michael Capetta announces this is Zenk's NWA debut, so this can't be long after his leaving the WWF due to an alleged pay dispute. Zenk takes an early advantage over the Assassin with some typical fiery babyface offence. Messers Ross and Cornette on commentary give the Z-Man some verbal fellatio, as Zenk keeps the advantage with several armdrags. Assassin gets in a small modicum of offence, but misses a diving headbutt from the second rope. The match is pretty much a showcase squash for Zenk, who looks good throughout- he's got superb dropkicks and he works the end sequence well, reversing Assassin holds and niftily putting on a sleeper for the win. This is the best Zenk has looked in EDILTZ so far, because he was given a role in the match that let him showcase his abilities. A good sign.

Z-Man vs Cuban Assassin

TNA Webmatches: Episodes 4-6

Madison Rayne vs Roxxi
Here we go with another batch of webmatches. This match is a prime example of why the webmatches are such a good idea. Both girls can go in the ring and they get the chance to put on a solid little match. Roxxi is definitely over with the Impact Zone and gets the early advantage with a tough looking big boot before a missed crossbody lets Madison take over. Rayne isn't quite as solid in ring as Roxxi, but she's got more presence, and is really convincing as a bitch who wants to beat and hurt her opponent- she's got a nasty way of really putting effort into backrakes, while also showing her will to win with repeated pins. The ending fits in with this too- Madison gets frustrated at not getting the pin and tries a top rope move which misses. Roxxi hits a sweet overhead suplex for two, but the Voodoo Drop is enough for three.

Brutus Magnus vs Homicide
Magnus is still working the Gladiator gimmick at this point, when he was still British Racing green. Magnus is one of the few guys who has noticeably improved in TNA, but it'll be interesting to see how much Homicide needs to carry him here. Magnus actually looks pretty good right from the start and it's noticeable how much effort he's putting into his match, especially during a quick opening exchange running the ropes. The match is criminally short, but barring a 15 second chinlock from Magnus, is very fast paced and they work a decent series of reversals before Homicide gets the Gringo Cutter for 3. They worked very well together here and both looked good.

ODB vs Raisha Saeed
This is the most watched TNA webmatch with over 160,000 views. TNA massively missed the boat on ODB, the crowd absolutely loved her. Saeed gets the advantage from the off by sneak attacking ODB. Saeed continues to dominate with a curb stomp, which is the best way to work the match as ODB's ring work isn't great. Saeed works ODB over with a single-leg crab, which is again effective in getting the crowd vocal behind ODB. ODB fires back with a series of shoulderblocks before hitting a running powerslam for three. Not a great match, but effective as the superior Saeed carried the bulk of the work, which the popular face got to look good with some quick, devastating offence.

Zero-One Truth Century Creation 2003

Right, straight off the bat I'm going to be honest: I've never really got into Puroresu. Actually, that is a slight lie. After all, I loved watching NJPW on Eurosport 15 years ago, but that had English commentary which really helped my 13yr old self understand it, and it was a long time ago. There are some Japanese wrestlers I love- Lyger, Hayabusa, Onryo etc, so I know I should give it a proper go. I've ordered a few DVD's for $3 a pop which I'm looking forward to arriving, but in the interim, I'm going to give a proper go to some of the Puro tapes I bought years back and never properly watched. Bare with me if I show undue ignorance to styles and to wrestlers, I'm learning.

Ikuto Hidaka vs Pentagon
A good starting point here, I've seen Hidaka wrestling in MLW so i know who he is and what to expect. Pentagon I assume is somehow related to Octagon, due to the name and his near identical costume. I liked the way they tested each other out on the mat before Hidaka went into another gear and started properly assaulting the knee of Pentagon. I didn't like the way Pentagon no-sold it seconds later by backflipping from the top rope onto his feet, especially as it comes into play in the ending. Hidaka reminds me of an angry small child, which I love. Hidaka hits a swank tornado DDT off the ropes and Pentagon brings some goods himself with a colossal splash mountain. Hidaka gets a rolling heel hook for the immediate tapout, which may have felt less anti-climactic if Pentagon has sold his leg earlier in the match.

Don Arakawa & Jun Kasai vs Fuyuki Takahashi & Shinsuke Z Yamagasa
Kasai seems to be working a chimp gimmick, which I only pray he always uses. Arakawa provides instructions from the apron. Don tags in and goes woozy after dishing out a series of headbutts to Takahashi and I realise we may be in comedy match territory, which I admittedly should have spotted when a man came out acting like a chimp. Kasai slips on his own bananas just to hammer the point home. Takahashi and Yamagasa both seem to have some decent offence but you spend their time on attack waiting for Kasai to start acting the fool again. Don hits a succession of eye-pokes on a downed Takahashi but gets caught in the ropes attempting to leap on Yamagasa. Kasai is the star of the match- not only does he nail the comedy with a straight face, he also has some nice crisp offence and finishes the match with a sharp series of kicks.

Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Vansack Acid vs Low-Ki & Paul London
Another dose of guys I know to help ease me into this. Both team have similar looks, with each having a floppy-haired pretty boy and a balding grump. Takaiwa wins me over pretty quickly by taking a nasty bump to the outside. A series of dives from the apron ends with London hitting a running shooting star press that launches him like a missile. London puts forth a great showing in this match, not only with some perfectly executed moves (his rolling Northern Lights suplex is outstanding), but also the little things like kicking Acid's hand to stop him blocking a stomp to the shoulder from Ki. The two Americans dominate Acid who doesn't really offer much offence aside from a few kicks. Takaiwa fares better, working a nice exchange with Ki over an octopus stretch and possessing a good, painful-looking lariat. Towards the end London gets to hit London Calling, which I still think looks better than Evan Bourne's SSP, but Takaiwa hits him with a double powerbomb into a DVD which is enough for 3. Not mind-blowing, but a pretty enjoyable match.

Kendo Kashin, Kaz Hayashi & Ryuji Hijikata vs Naohiro Hoshikawa, Kazhiko Ogasawara & Yoshihito Sasaki
My WCW fandom ensures I know Kaz and I'm familiar with Kashin from the few other Puro tapes I've seen. He seems like a dick, which I appreciate. As if to prove this, he barges past his teammates during their pre-match interview. A little research informed me that Hoshikawa suffered a brain injury in 2004 and fell into a coma, which is horrible news, though apparently he's in far better shape now than he was for the first few years following. This is AJPW vs Zero-One and starts with a massive brawl before the announcer can identify people, forcing me to Google Image Search the 3 Zero-One guys to find out who is who. The overriding story in this match is that Kashin is an ever bigger dickhead than I thought. Hoshikawa wins me over almost straight away, proving to be a stiff fucker with a lethal arsenal of kicks. Ogasawara is less impressive, barely getting up for two Hayashi backbreakers or a Hijikata judo throw. Kashin's dickery starts early and gets worse, biting the hands of Hoshikawa to break a headlock and pulling the ropes in an attempt to stop Sasaki reaching the ropes to break a submission. I like the fact that Kendo's glory-hunting nearly backfires- Kashin pulls his own partner Hayashi off of Sasaki to try and get the pin himself, only to nearly get pinned following a spear. However, Kashin rallies and gets a cross-armbreaker to get the win for himself, and his team, in a master display of knobbishness.

Tengu Kaiser vs Akio Kobayashi
I've never seen either of these chaps, so this is a new one for me. Kaiser has a sort of Hayabusa look going on, though the mask features a curious looking ski jump nose. The match is pretty bloody poor, all due to Kobayashi, who offered nothing more than a few kicks and was happy to plod about in between them. Kaiser slipped while attempting a springboard move, but was a lot crisper with his kicking and selling, and hit a dazzling Phoenix splash-esque move to win. I got the impression Kaiser could have a good match with a better opponent. This was four minutes but felt much longer.

Masato Tanaka & Kohei Sato vs Daisuke Ikeda & Takashi Sugiura
This is another interpromotional match, this time Z1 vs NOAH, and all four men go at it from the opening bell. Tanaka ends up getting involved in slugfests with both Ikeda and Sugiura, and end up winning both of them. Sato looks like a gangly kid compared to the others and it's no surprise that he ends up as face-in-peril, taking a spike piledriver on the floor. This leads to a fun spot where Ikeda and Sugiura keep picking Sato up from the mat, only to club him back down Demolition-style. The tag sees Tanaka come in like there is Hell to pay, but soon he too is getting beaten by the NOAH team. The second hot tag of the match leads to an exciting ending sprint where all four men are in and out of the ring, all hitting moves that could conceivably finish it: Sato hits a huge German suplex on Ikeda, Tanaka hits a Superfly splash also on Ikeda, who blocks his second attempt with a musclebuster that also only gets two. The finishing sequence sees Sugiura dominating Tanaka, including dumping over his shoulder him onto his neck, only to get hit with a Roaring Elbow for the flash pin. Unlike Kaiser/Kobayashi which felt twice as long as it was, this felt much shorter than it actually was with all four men looking impressive.

Matt Ghaffari, Steve Corino & King Adamo vs Yoshiaka Fujiwara, Wataru Sakata & Katsuhisa Fujii
Corino's team are an odd bunch, Adamo being a tubby grass-skirt wearing savage and Ghaffari being a massive former Olympian. The opening moments see Corino stooging like an old pro for the Japanese team, working a fun headlock spot with the veteran Fujiwara, then exchanging (and losing) strikes with Fujii, who seemed to be working a striker gimmick. Adamo plays the part of a simpleton well (imagine Eugene in Umaga's body), even if he manages to almost botch a stinkface by missing Fujiwara's head. The story behind the match is that the Japanese team are almost powerless against Ghaffari, due to both his size and his Olympic wrestling background, though his moveset consists almost entirely of shoddy looking throws. There is a fun spot where Ghaffari is about to finish off Sakata, only for the simple-minded Adamo to blind tag himself in, to the rage of Ghaffari. However, Ghaffari does pick up the win later with a splash (on which he gets no air) on Sakata. The story and comedy took priority over the ringwork here, but it was at least entertaining.

Yoshihiro Takayama & Hirotaka Yokoi vs The Predator & Jimmy Snuka Jr
Oh great, it's Deuce. We get a pre-match interview from the Predator where he essentially threatens to beat Takayama to a pulp. In the ring, we get to see the full extent of their animosity as they start off with...a test of strength. Then another one, and what promised to be a violent brawl ends up coming off as a damp squib. Against all odds, it's Snuka who impresses most, dominating the smaller Yokoi and hitting a decent slingshot legdrop, before tying Yokoi up in the ropes with a headscissors. Even when he messes up by slipping on an attempted springboard move, he doesn't retry the spot, but opts instead to simply run at his opponent and hurl himself at him. The match follows a basic formula which sees Predator always dominate Yokoi and Takayama always dominate Snuka, but they're pretty much evenly balanced against each other. Takayama gets the win with a big German suplex on Snuka, but Predator takes exception to this and brawls into the crowd with Takayama, sadly showing more aggression and gumption than at any point during the match.

Naoya Ogawa vs Tom Howard
Howard is representing UPW from California, and looks like the guy you'd get to play Guile in a straight-to-DVD Streetfighter II movie. After Howard opens the match by blowing smoke in Ogawa's face (a nice dick move), they work a quick exchange where Ogawa counters all Howard's moves, but Howard takes over with a nice thrustkick to the jaw. Howard puts Ogawa in a leglock which seems to last for hours, as Ogawa S-L-O-W-L-Y inches towards the ropes, but makes absolutely no effort to sell any pain in his leg. Howard then locks in a sleeper, which nearly puts Ogawa away, only for Ogawa to power up and hit Howard with 6 (6!) consecutive STO's to prompt cornerman Steve Corino to throw in the towel. An absolute waste of my time, Howard looked decent in parts, but Ogawa brought nothing to the match.

Shinya Hashimoto & Shinjiro Otani vs Keiji Mutoh & Arashi
Main event time, and it has a definite big match feel, the crowd are noticeably buzzing. Hashimoto and Mutoh start, which only heightens the anticipation, as they gingerly feel each other out, before both tagging out. Likewise, Arashi and Otani, though being more attacking than their partners, don't commit themselves too much, until the Mutoh/Arashi team get an advantage on Otani, at which point their offence really kicks off with a Mutoh Power Elbow. They then work over the leg of Otani, with Mutoh hitting some vicious looking dropkicks to the knee followed by a figure four. Hashimoto is brought in on a hot tag, and successfully blocks a Shining Wizard attempt by Mutoh, but gets caught with a Dragon Screw which puts him in peril. A returning Otani works over Arashi in the corner with some NASTY bootscrapes and a facewash, and the match really starts to heat up. All four men end up in the ring and all four men up on the mat following a series of dropkicks. Arashi works over Hashimoto to allow him to hit a powerbomb on the big man, and Mutoh leaps over the pinfall attempt to hit a huge Shining Wizard on Otani, who was trying to stop the pin, though Arashi only gets two. Mutoh hits another Wizard on Hashimoto then, in a nice touch, ties up Otani with a figure four, leaving Arashi free to hit a top rope splash on Hashi for two. This leads to the ending sequence where Hashimoto gets Arashi in a triangle choke, while Otani has Mutoh in a chickenwing next to them. In a really nice touch, Mutoh keeps fighting, not to escape the hold he's in, but to get an arm over to break the choke on Arashi, really selling how much trouble he knows his partner is in, which is emphasized when Arashi submits moments later. Really enjoyable main event match with really big match atmosphere AND a satisfying conclusion.

ECW Living Dangerously 2000

Well, here it is, a day later than expected. I bought this on video in the Coventry branch of Cash Generator and it's the first ECW show I saw. Seemed like a good time to rewatch it, what with all the recent ECW nostalgia going on.

Pre-show antics see Cyrus superkicking Joel Gertner to take over colour commentary duties.

Dusty Rhodes vs Steve Corino (Bullrope Match)
More pre-match scenes see Corino insulting the Sandman's wife and kid, which ultimately leads to Rhino goring Lori Fullington through a table, which causes Sandman to miss the TV title tournament tonight. The match is a somewhat plodding affair due to the pace of the 50yr old Dusty. Corino does feed himself to Rhodes like an absolute pro, eating the bionic elbow like a champ. They brawl into the crowd, which is terrible for the home viewer as piss-poor lighting ensures nothing can be seen. Eventually they return to the ring and exchange blows with the cowbell. A second cowbell is introduced and is taped badly to Corino's head, though it barely stays in place, for a chairshot. Big Dust finishes with a Big Dusty Elbow Drop, which is probably the highlight of the match.

Danny Doring & Roadkill vs CW Anderson & Bill Wiles
The Dangerous Alliance stable in ECW always felt like a mixed bag to me. Wiles and Lou E Dangerously both felt like cheap comedy characters, while Anderson was pretty convincing as a new-age Enforcer. His Extreme Horsemen team with Simon Diamond in MLW was far more effective. Both teams feature one guy who is really good on offence in Anderson and Roadkill. Roadkill has some fun bigman offence, including a lovely Bossman Slam. Doring's offence is pretty terrible, with a sloppy Stroke and double arm DDT both looking particularly poor, while Wiles seems to have a problem getting up for his opponents moves. Luckily both are well hidden by some nice double team moves and an Elektra heel turn leads to Anderson hitting a spinebuster on Doring to win a decent match.

Kid Kash vs Mike Awesome
The match is scheduled as Kash facing Simon Diamond, but Simon wisely leaves the ring when Awesome interrupts. This is essentially as much fun as an extended big-vs-small squash can be. Awesome destroys Kash with a massive overhead suplex and hammers him outside the ring. Kash doesn't get much offence in, but what he does get in is very memorable, particularly a plancha from the top rope into the crowd. He also gets a nice rana on Awesome, but gets demolished with a clothesline and Awesomebombed from the top rope through a table for the Awesome win. Short but plenty of fun.

Nova & Chris Chetti vs Jado & Gedo
Watching this match, it's hard to reconcile Nova with Simon Dean. Essentially, this is a spotfest and not a terribly impressive one. Jado and Gedo, as the veteran team, have a few nice double team maneuvers and Chetti has a few surprisingly good suplex variations, but nothing feels coherent and one double pin sequence feels especially contrived. A top rope Tidal Wave wins it for Nova and Chetti

Little Guido vs Super Crazy
This is a semi-final match in the TV title tournament and is fought under Italian Death Match rules. They kick off at quite the fast pace. How fast? Within two minutes of the match starting, Super Crazy is moonsaulting into the crowd on Guido and Big Sal. This is pretty short, most likely to save Crazy for the tournament final later, but they cram some choice moments in. Guido reverses a moonsault from the railings into a Fujiwara armbar in a neat spot, and a Crazy rana on Big Sal is particularly impressive. They let Guido look pretty strong, kicking out of a moonsault and falling through a table but a Super Crazy brain buster ends it.

Kintaro Kanemura vs Balls Mahoney
I hope Heyman didn't pay much to fly out Kanemura, as this match is pretty pointless. It lasts barely three minutes and, though Kanemura hits a nice top rope senton, there is very little to it. Balls wins with the Nutcracker Suite, but gets jumped by Da Baldies, leading to...

New Jack vs Grimes
This match is pretty infamous and ended up having negative repercussions for New Jack. New Jack kills off Da Baldie with a series of weapons before getting jumped by Grimes. It's a pretty cookie-cutter New Jack match until they brawl to the back of the arena and both climb a ricketty looking scaffold. They cautiously fight on the scaffold, then attempt a move which ends with both men falling off, Grimes landing on the skull of Jack. This left Jack with slight brain damage and temporary loss of vision in his right eye. The match was dreadful even before this stupid moment.

Impact Players vs Tommy Dreamer & Masato Tanaka vs Raven & Mike Awesome
Triple threat elimination for the tag team titles. It starts as a real mess, with people brawling everywhere leaving it impossible to follow, though it is easy to spot Raven taking two attempts to break the edge of a table with Dreamer's face. Tanaka and Awesome renew their rivalry, with a roaring elbow taking Awesome out of the match. Things improve dramatically with just two teams, and it dawns on me how good a tag combo Tanaka and Dreamer are. Dreamer is perfect for taking a beating and eliciting sympathy, while Tanaka is a fine hot tag guy with a flurry of fun offence. Sadly, the Impact Players ruin this theory by isolating Dreamer after the hot tag and pinning him following a spike piledriver.

Rhino vs Super Crazy
Like the Guido/Crazy match from earlier, it's pretty short but full of action. They work a decent power-vs-speed match, with the highlight being an impressive press slam to the outside from Rhino. Overbooking ruins the ending however, with a cast of thousands (including Corino, Sandman, RVD, even Scott Anton) being involved which does slightly take the shine off Crazy's eventual win. It's also the main event of a show where only the opener cracked the 10 minute mark, which is pretty disappointing. Super Crazy is the absolute MVP of the show, working two fun sub-ten minute sprints with two very different opponents. The show as a whole is watchable for the main, but probably not worth much more than the £3 I paid for it

WWE Wrestling's Most Incredible Steel Cage Matches (Disc1)

While visiting my mum this weekend, I found a veritable treasure trove while helping empty her garage: a plethora of old tapes I’d left behind when I moved out years ago. Old WWF Colosseum videos and PPV’s, some ECW, CZW, RoH, XPW, ECWA and a load of best ofs. I’d intended watching ECW Living Dangerously 2000, my first ECW show, but mum’s video machine wasn’t working properly. Instead, I chose disc 1 of this WWE DVD, which had 4 matches that promised a lot.

Bob Backlund vs Pat Patterson (24/09/79)
The match is in Madison Square Garden and it’s held inside a mesh-style cage. The match is joined in progress in the early stages, as Patterson takes control and makes an early attempt to escape via the door. Patterson claws desperately to escape, which I love, in a frenzied attempt to get out. As the match progresses, it becomes clear that the story of the match is less that of an intense hatred, but that both are desperate to leave as champion. There are no big “moves” in the match (the biggest highspot is an atomic drop Backlund gives to Patterson), and most of the damage inflicted comes when they try to stop the opponent escaping, choking and clawing at him to prevent him leaving the cage. There is one really nice moment when both men are climbing the cage, only for Patterson to realise Backlund is closer to escaping than he is and so abandons his attempt to win in order to prevent Bob leaving. The end fits perfectly with the story, Backlund gets a slight advantage and crawls for the door, frantically kicking Patterson away like a wild animal, with the final kick actually propelling Backlund out for the win. A whole heap of fun and different to most other cage matches in execution.

Bruno Sammartino vs Ivan Koloff (15/12/75)
Another MSG match, this time from 1975. I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen a Bruno match before, which is a sizeable omission considering he’s the longest reigning WWF Champion in history. Bruno starts off by unloading bombs on the big Russian and it’s kind of fun to see two huge guys unloading on each other, especially as Koloff is bumping huge for Sammartino. It soon becomes clear, though, that this is a very one-sided match. Koloff’s offence is pretty much limited to one top-rope kneedrop and several optimistic attempts to escape (optimistic because he invariably gets in no offence on Bruno before trying unsuccessfully to escape). After a while, it becomes a little tedious, Sammartino dominates throughout, throwing the Russian Bear into the cage repeatedly and controlling the match. You realise Bruno hasn’t tried escaping yet and it feels like he could leave at any time, with the result that, when he does escape, it feels sorely anticlimactic. The crowd loves it though, so what do I know?

Don Muraco vs Jimmy Snuka (17/10/83)
Yeah, you may have heard of this one. The story of this one is pretty simple, aided by Gorilla Monsoon and Pat Patterson on commentary: Muraco wants to leave with his IC title, Snuka simply wants to hurt Muraco. Snuka dominates a lot of the match, though Muraco does get to bust the Superfly open with an impressive looking slingshot into the cage. Snuka is convincingly intense throughout, and Muraco bumps huge for him, including an insane one following a whip to the turnbuckle where he nearly lands on his head. The ending sees Snuka attack Muraco with a headbutt so viciously that it knocks Muraco through the ropes and out of the door, a finish that keeps the title on the Magnificent One and helps keep Snuka looking like a killer. After the match, of course, Snuka hits a Superfly Splash from the top of the cage and the seeds of the career of Mick Foley are planted.

Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (06/04/81)
Hansen inside a steel cage promises to be brutal. Certainly Bob Backlund thinks so as he seems very reluctant to enter the cage, prompting Hansen to admonish him with a yell of “Suck it up boy”. When Backlund gets in the ring, the two have a great exchange with Backlund almost giving as good as he gets, though everything Hansen does looks brutal. Backlund resorts to throwing Hansen repeatedly into the cage to wear down the big Texan and it’s fun to see an edgier side of Backlund, kicking Hansen in the bollocks to get the advantage, punching him on his bleeding wound and even “treating” the audience to a little Texas Moon when Hansen tries to escape. The end is pretty anticlimactic, Backlund drops Hansen face first on the turnbuckle and strolls out of the cage, but it’s interesting to note that good ole Bob Backlund has had the two most fun and scrappy cage matches on the disc.

Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk: Can-Am Connection vs Sika & Kamala

Yes! This is exactly the kind of glorious wrestling madness I wanted to rediscover when I undertook this opus. The Can-Am's of Tom Zenk and Rick Martel are a team I've always wanted to see more of, and check out that opposition. In kayfabe terms, that's a sensational mix of monsters. Adding to the lunacy is George Steele on commentary, contributing nothing more than grunts. The big fellas dominate the early stages, but Zenk wriggles free when Kamala tries to splash him against Sika. Martel tags in and Kamala bumps huge over the top rope for a Martel dropkick. With Sika left alone in the ring, Martel uses his quickness to elude the wild Samoan's attacks and ground him with an armdrag. Zenk comes in and continues the assault on Sika's left arm. Sika's strength allows him to take control again, allowing him and Kamala to work over Zenk. The savages work over Zenk with some basic, if fun offence, including a spot where Kamala rams Zenk headfirst into the thick Samoan skull of Sika. The hot tag comes out of nowhere and leads to all four men in the ring. Martel stops Kamala hitting Air Africa on Zenk and then hits a sloppy crossbody on Sika to win. Despite the hot tag literally coming from nowhere, this was good fun, especially with the heels being the kind of larger-than-life monsters that make for enjoyable tag encounters. Zenk kind of got shafted though, barely getting in any offence with Martel clearly positioned as the dominant Can-Am.

Can-Am's vs Sika & Kamala

TNA Webmatches: Episodes 1-3

One of the things TNA has got right over the years is their weekly webmatches. Free of the chaos and poppycock that frequently dominates proceedings on Impact, the webmatches are a great way to see the lower card wrestlers of TNA, who are generally all above average, without having to endure most of the usual nonsense. I'm going to do them in order, so here are the first few TNA webmatches.

Jay Lethal vs Kip James (Season 1, Episode 1)
James is going by his "Cute Kip" moniker by this point and is accompanied to the ring by the original, and best, Beautiful People. Lethal stops during his entrance to put his shades on Don West, who instantly does a Macho Man impression. God, I miss Don. The typically shitty Impact Zone crowd are cheering for both guys, they seem to love themselves some Kip James. They work a decent speed vs power match. Kip showboats and misses a Stinger Splash in the corner, hitting his head on the ringpost and Lethal takes over with high-paced offence. Beautiful People interference leads to Consequences Creed coming out to even the odds and Lethal finishes with an average looking elbow drop. Short and fun like a midget stripper.

Robert Roode vs Consequences Creed (Season 1, Episode 2)
Roode is a tag-champion at this point, and Tenay's commentary tells us that Beer Money were facing Lethal Consequences at the next PPV. I'd forgotten how good some of Creed's offence was, he throws a nice punch and hits a decent springboard dropkick. Beer Money was the best thing that could happen to Roode, he was going nowhere fast as a singles guy before the team formed, but he's still a terrific singles wrestler and he eats Creed's offence like a champ during the comeback, especially those ace punches. He also has a nice bridging fishermans suplex which wins him the match.

Eric Young vs Cute Kip (Season 1, Episode 3)
Kip was pretty much the king of the webmatches at this time, which is the best way to use a wrestle like Kip James: short matches where he can work with the younger guys, using his experience to carry the match and put guys over. Angelina and Velvet both look great here, though Kip's flowery trunks leave a lot to be desired. EY still has long trunks and blond hair at this time, and he actually looks taller than he does now. More Kip chants. Kip gives a fair bit to Eric in the opening stages, but decks him with a thunderous clothesline. This match is slightly better than the Lethal match, James and Young seemed to mesh better as Young can use a bit more of a power game than Lethal. James misses the Stinger Splash again and they go into a brief finisher reversals series that sees EY pick up the win with a roll-up

Everyday Is Like Tom Zenk: Tom Zenk vs Rob Rechsteiner (AWA 21/08/1985)

One of the things I want to do with this blog is to find out if my taste in wrestling as a kid was worthless or not. There are a selection of wrestlers who I was a big fan of between the ages of 10-18, and I want to see if I still like them now. One of these wrestlers is Tom Zenk, and Youtube threw up this interesting curio, where the Z-Man is fighting a pre-fame Rick Steiner, going under his birth name, in the AWA. Zenk is the veteran here, with Steiner looking a little green in the early stages of the match. There is a nice spot early in the match where Steiner powers Zenk onto the top rope, then foolishly jawing with the crowd, allowing Zenk to hit a crossbody for two. Zenk has some fine fiery babyface offence and Steiner makes a decent attempt at covering for over-early sell of a dropkick by rolling to the outside as if he'd deliberately avoided contact. There is a botched attempt at an airplane spin, seemingly from Steiner leaping too early, but a second attempt sees Zenk pick up the three. Hard to really make a judgement on Zenk from this match, which was essentially a squash and saw Zenk lumbered with a very green Steiner, but there were positive signs in his offence.

Link: Z-Man vs Rechsteiner

(Everything I Do) I Do It For Youtube: William Regal & Paul Burchill vs Scotty 2 Hotty & Funaki (WWE Smackdown 01/09/05)

I thought this would be a nice way to start: one of my all-time favourite wrestlers (Regal) and a wrestler who I once met in Coventry (Burchill) taking part in some squash action. This was Burchill's in-ring debut, having attacked Scotty the previous week on Smackdown. Burchill is noticably leaner here than he was in his ECW days. The match starts with the faces clearing the ring, an ominous start for Burchill's in-ring career. After all, your debuting heel probably shouldn't be clotheslined out of the ring by Funaki. After Regal takes control against Funaki, Burchill tags in and signs get even worse as he immediately bumps huge for a pair of Funaki armdrags and a monkey flip. When the Brits finally get a sustained run of offence, they make it count, Regal with a nice exploder suplex and Burchill throws a nice stiff double sledge to the chest. The short length of the match is pretty restrictive here, as the hot-tag to Scotty would have been more effective with another couple of minutes offence from Regal/Burchill. The end comes with Burchill hitting a shoulderbreaker on Scotty and follows it with a Fujiwara armbar (The Royal Mutilation) that actually looks like he's wrenching Scotty's arm out. Too short to effectively debut Burchill, but his periods of offence looked good.

Link: Regal & Burchill vs Scotty & Funaki

A brief introduction

Not Jay Tabb is a blog named after the 2007/08 Coventry City player of the year. It is also my attempt to rediscover what I love about pro-wrestling. For while I still watch the WWE and TNA regularly, I don't invest in tapes or seeking out new wrestling anywhere near as much as I used to. Using the collection of tapes I've amassed over the years, Youtube and new purchases, I aim to give an opinion on, and enjoy, as much pro-wrestling as possible. Wish me luck