Best of the Von Erichs Vol 1

Since starting this blog three-and-a-half years ago, there have been a few things in wrestling I've developed a big love for. Along with current BritWres and puro, I've discovered a love of the Von Erich family, which led to me buying this DVD for $3 from the ever-reliable IVP videos.

Fritz Von Erich vs Giant Baba
Ladies and gentlemen, it's 1966, it's 2/3 falls and it's in glorious black and white. Fritz attacks early, including a vicious punt to Baba's upper chest, and the bell hasn't even sounded. Fritz batters Baba, and goes for the claw early, but Baba moves and starts working over Fritz with some good looking blows of his own. A big chop gives Baba the first fall early, but Fritz grabs him in the claw from the mat as he tries to climb off. As this is between falls, Fritz feels no need to release the hold, leaving a barely standing Baba prone at the start of the next fall. Fritz goes for the claw right away, but Baba fights with all his might to keep it off. I love the way Fritz will interject with a boot to take Baba's focus off the claw before attempting to reapply it. Baba gets rammed into the ringpost, and is left bleeding and beaten on the floor as Fritz goes back on the attack. The result of this is that the crowd goes mad everytime Fritz misses a blow or Baba gets on offence. Baba comes back to life and starts stalking Fritz around the ring, but Von Erich cheap shots and regains control. Back inside, Fritz gets the claw in the centre of the ring to win the second fall.

We cut to the third fall to see Fritz throwing someone outside the ring, but Baba takes over on him and throws him over the top rope, causing Fritz to retreat into the crowd. God, I love this match so far. Fritz is awesome at cowering off when Baba is on offence. They brawl on the floor, and Baba gives a chair to the claw hand to neutralise that threat. Von Erich retruns the favour by leathering Baba in the head with the chair, at which point the referee gives the fall to Baba by DQ. That doesn't seem to make sense, seeing as how Baba used the chair first, but that appears to be the decision. Great match.

Fritz Von Erich vs Jumbo Tsuruta
Fast forward 9 years to 1975, and Fritz still hates Baba. We know this as he gets into a brawl with him at ringside, and spends most of the prematch yelling at him. Indeed, this actually works against him right away. You know that terrible spot you get almost weekly on Raw, where a wrestler will allow himself to be distracted by a rival, leading to him being rolled-up for the loss? We essentially get that end to the first fall, only better as rather than roll Fritz up, Jumbo just decides to beat him up for two minutes and pin him, which gives the fall to Jumbo's power rather than the element of surprise.

This, of course, riles up Fritz before the second fall, and he focuses his attack....on Baba at ringside again. Eventually, he decides to focus on his opponent. Fritz is wise enough to know he can get a great reaction by just threatening the claw, so goes for it early and often, eventually locking in a stomach claw before Jumbo makes the ropes. Fritz repeatedly wears Jumbo down with the claw in the ropes, which means that, when he gets it mid-ring, Jumbo is unable to escape it, and this evens up the falls.

Jumbo is now split open from this assault, so Fritz zones in on the cut like a shark. Jumbo is weakened with bloodloss, so starts getting escorted back to the locker-room, but he ain't going out like that, breaking free and going back into the ring. Of course, he's still no match for a fit Fritz, and he ends up getting battered again before a load of trainees and Baba himself come to his rescue. Not a great match, but great wrestling that really sets up the Fritz/Baba match nicely...

Fritz Von Erich vs Giant Baba
...and here is is from one week later. They've even brought in two refs, one Japanese and one American for this, which appears to be last man standing. Typically, Fritz assaults Baba before the bell. They trade blows outside the ring, before a bloodied Fritz claws Baba and pulls him into the ring. I love the image of Fritz, blood pouring down his face, clutching Baba by the face. A few solid chops by Baba eventually frees him. Baba stomps the claw hand and then rams it into the ringpost, and suddenly Fritz has to beg off from the assault of Baba. Fritz just about survives being counted to the mat, and applies a stomach claw to Baba. The count stops on 9 when Fritz is just about sat up, which really feels like it should be a loss to me. Fritz re-claws him, but Baba slips to ringside to escape it. Baba survives being rammed into a table, and a missed Fritz blow allows him to go back on the offensive, chopping away at Von Erich. Fritz gets chopped from the apron to the floor, and these ten counts are getting closer and closer. Fritz gets sent to the floor one last time and that's it, as he fails to beat the count. Being a gracious loser, he sneaks in one final stomach claw before leaving. Really fun match, they built up the tension mastefully with the falls.

Genichiro Tenryu & Jumbo Tsuruta vs David & Kevin Von Erich
We now switch to the younger Von Erich's. The siblings are much nicer than their dad, going for pre-match handshakes and HOLY FUCK Kevin is wearing boots. I'm thrown. The Von Erichs are a bit more firey than their opponents here, who seem more stoic on offense. David clubs Jumbo behind the refs back to establish a bit of heelishness. Kevin goes for the claw, which Tenryu manages to hold off, but this leaves him open for a stomach claw, which he breaks with some stiff chops. it breaks down into a brawl with all four fighting on the outside, but luckily a brawl is something all four are good at. I like the way that, after kicking out of a Tenryu pinfall, David takes advantage of an open torso to apply a claw on the already weakened stomach. The Von Erichs continue to go for the claw, punishing both Tsuruta and Tenryu with ones to the head and the stomach. Of the two Von Erichs, it is the smaller Kevin who is on the defensive more than David, and there are a few moments where David has to save him. This leads to the finish, where Kevin accidentally dropkicks David out of the ring, and Tsuruta takes advantage, dropkicking Kevin to pick up the win. Decent back-and-forth contest, and I liked the subtle "Kevin needs David to help him survive" storyline.

Fritz Von Erich vs Jumbo Tsuruta
This is another 2/3 falls match. Jumbo is 4 year more experienced than the last time these two met, though he still gets worked over in the opening stages here, with Fritz grounding him and trying for the claw. Jumbo does get a moment to shine, nailing a dropkick, but Fritz avoids a second a locks in the claw to the head for a quick pinfall. The second fall starts with Tsuruta still feeling the effects of the claw, so Fritz goes right for the kill again. Jumbo takes a huge bump as Fritz hurls him over the top rope by the head. One thing you notice is how good Fritz is at basing whole matches around one move, cranking up the tension for the application of the claw. He even applies it to one of Jumbo's seconds when forced by the ropes to release Tsuruta. The ensuing chaos leads to Fritz being DQ'd to gift the fall to Jumbo. However, Tsuruta is down and bleeding in the ring, giving Fritz control in the opening to the fall. He drags Jumbo off the ropes and into the centre to nail one final claw, but hits the mat instead. This break allows Jumbo to hit a dropkick and a big splash to win the third fall and the match. Really fun encounter, with Fritz being his own worst enemy to gift the win to Jumbo.

Kerry Von Erich vs Genichiro Tenryu
This is for the NWA Missouri title held by Kerry. Tenryu controls to start, grinding Kerry down on the mat. Tenryu shows his smarts by going to the ropes when Kerry gets his first bit of offence with a dropkick, then grounding him again with a headscissors. As Kerry is working face here, rather than heel like Fritz, he uses the claw as a "sudden hit" move, nailing Tenryu with it from a leapfrog for a big reaction and Tenryu scrabbling to the ropes. Tenryu really starts dominating, hitting a crossbody for two before levelling Kerry with an enzuigiri. He then starts to work over the wrist of KVE, ramming it into the ringpost twice, before repeatedly stamping it in the ring to remove the claw from Von Erich's arsenal. This doesn't stop Kerry locking it on several times though, which is a bit annoying psychology wise. He clamps it on Tenryu outside the ring, before diving back in to beat the count and win. This was gearing up to be great before Von Erich stopped selling the wrist injury, and we got a sudden shitty ending. Big disappointment.

Triple X Wrestling: The Nov 24th Show

Regular readers, in the unlikely event there is such a thing, will be aware by now of my love of Coventry's Triple X Wrestling, who put on a constantly entertaining show every time. Having been to every show this year, you could imagine my horror as the M69 leading from Nottingham to Cov was shut as I headed to the imaginatively titled "November 24th Show". Diverted through random parts of Warwickshire, I was genuinely concerned that I was going to miss this show, but thankfully I got there just in the nick of time. Which is lucky, as I think this was the best top-to-bottom show they put on this year. Ending old stories, continuing and starting new ones, the pieces are in place to make January's upcoming "Clusterfuck III" show an absolute belter.

Pete Dunne vs Chris Brookes
Brookes' new intro video proclaims him to be be "a bit of a cunt", which earned him a few choice chants during the match. Real nice back-and-forth match here, with everything looking crisp in execution. Brookes had impressed smaller roles in previous matches, but it was nice to see him get a longer chance to show what he could do. His Dragon suplex on Dunne was really good. Dunne is always good value, and the "On your head, son" enzuigiri never gets old. Dunne picks up the win with a swank pumphandle into a DDT.

We got a bit of an angle here, as cult hero (and my girlfriends favourite wrestler) Local Jobber #2 came to the ring, only for Flash Morgan Webster to come out and destroy him, asking again for a match with Mark Andrews. This was eventually agreed to, so hopefully this will happen at the next show. It's been building nicely for month, and it should be a great match when it happens.

The Hunter Brothers vs The Henchmen
Though not advertised as such, this was a battle of Coventry vs Birmingham, so the Henchmen were the clear hometown favourites. The Hunters are great at stooging for their opponents, raising a laugh when a blindside attack failed and claiming "it was the ref". The Henchmen dominated early, but a cheapshot to the leg of Jim Diehard gave the Hunters control. This was a classically worked tag match, with a lengthy heat section on Diehard coupled with the Hunters cutting off a hot tag attempt by attacking Benton Destruction. I loved Benton's combined shock and horror at his tag partner hitting a shining wizard ("Have you been watching those skinny boy tapes?"), before Diehard managed to motor through both Hunters to make the tag. The Henchmen had nearly completed the Five Moves of Doom for the win, before Diehard got nailed with a chair before he could hit the senton to get the DQ win. Destruction also got levelled with a pair of chairshots after, so I assume this leads to a rematch at the next show.

Tyler Bate vs Joe Coffey
Bate has been more and more impressive on the past few shows, but this felt like a real breakthrough match for him. Coffey was a guy I'd not seen before, but he came with a good reputation, and he was a really good opponent for Bate here. Coffey was a really unlikable heel here, and that also helped rally the crowd behind Tyler. I liked the mat exchanges throughout the match, especially as both guys actively worked the holds they were applying, with little touches to make them look more painful. I loved Coffey pulling out his chewing gum and rubbing it in Bate's face during a hold, which only made him seem more of a dick. Though smaller, Bate still got to use a few of his impressive strength spots, with the deadlift German suplex getting two. In the end, however, Coffey picked up the win with a giant swing, which he chained to a Boston crab. Tyler tried to power out, but when that failed, tapped right away. Really great match, debuting Coffey with a good win, but Bate also came out better than when he went in.

Adam Shame & Grado vs The Wrestling Dead
After leaving the last show with "Zombie Slayer" Terry Seddon, Michelle Thorne is now out managing the zombie team. Something to do with them always being stiff... Anyway, this was as absurd and ridiculous as you'd expect. Grado is always entertaining, especially his puzzlement at the idea of having to wrestle some zombies and Shame seems to fit well with him. I love Chris Stone's out-of-control commitment to the character, as he acts more zombie than wrestler, with Steffan Hard carrying the wrestling side of things. Grado gets distracted by Thorne flashing her wares at him to give the zombies the advantage and it doesn't help when his partner also gets enticed by Thorne when Grado reaches for the hot tag. Eventually, Shame does get tagged in, and a combination big boot\faceplant combo give them the pin on Hard. Really fun.

Eddie Dennis, Damian Dunne, Devilman & Omer Ibrahim vs Big Grizzly, Wild Boar, Scott Grimm & Gabriel Grey
This is an elimination tag match, with Gabriel Grey promising to disband the Damned Nation if they lose. This was pretty chaotic, but never less than entertaining, and managed to include some great storyline strands as well. Omer finally got his revenge on Grey after a year of abuse, nailing a huge spear to eliminate him, before Grimm nails a Black Hole Slam on Omer right away to even the score. Everyone here got a chance to shine, with even Grimm looking good dominating the champion Devilman. Dennis shows some impressive strength to suplex Grimm over for a pin, while a fun sequence of offence ends with Boar nailing a package piledriver on Dunne to even up the sides again. In the end, the Damned Nation is forced to split, as Devilman and Dennis take out Grizzly and Boar and hit simultaneous pins to be the two survivors (and I'd be remiss not to mention Dennis showing sick strength again by hitting a crucifix bomb on the enormous Grizzly). After the match, Dennis went from Good Wales! to Bad Wales! by nailing Devilman with the title belt, almost certainly setting up a match between the two in the future.

Southside Wrestling Supershow

This Supershow saw Southside Wrestling leave the confines of the Rushcliffe Arena to put on a show at the Brittannia Hotel in Nottingham city centre. With a mix of UK indy names, US indy stars and ex TNA and WWE stars, this was a show that didn't disappoint.
Kay Lee Ray vs Awesome Kong
This was a fun choice of opener. Kong, though looking leaner than in her TNA and WWE days, still had a substantial size and power advantage over Lee Ray. KLR's game plan here was to play hit-and-run with Kong, trying to nail her with increasingly harder moves as Kong got more dazed. When Kong was on offence, it was a case of KLR surviving what was thrown at her. She survived an implant buster and a spinning backfist, kicking out of both at two. A rally of offence gave Lee Ray an opening, but Kong got knees up on a Swanton, and hit a huge implant buster for the win. Good opener.

Mark Haskins vs Uhaa Nation
First time I've seen Nation, and he's pretty impressive, with great size and loads of natural charisma. Haskins is one of the best wrestlers in the country though, and he controls the early stages by working the arm of Nation. The size difference does come into play with Haskins unable to hit a snapmare on Nation, and this size difference allows Nation to take control. As well as his size, Nation seems to be very agile and nails some impressive aerial moves. Haskins is able to keep in the match, making comebacks by attacking the arm. At the end, Nation nails a standing moonsault, but misses a second and Haskins locks in a Fujiwara armbar for the tapout win. Well-worked match.

Kris Travis vs Martin Kirby
Both members of Project Ego are without opponents after both Shannon Moore and MK McKinnan no-showed. Kirby launches a marvellous promo on both guys, referring to Moore as a drug addict in rehab and McKinnan as a fat blond lesbian. However, his attempt to get out of wrestling Travis backfires when, after they agree not to wrestle, he claims that he'd have won the match anyway. Travis takes exception to this and attacks off the bell with a superkick and a uranage for two. Travis is wrestling with injured knees, which Kirby referred to in his pre-match promo, and after he misses a double-knee in the corner, Kirby goes to work on his partners leg. The match is really well worked, with Travis making well-timed comebacks using his good leg. Before things can really heat up though, commentator Adam Curtis gets on the mic and encourages the two to stop fighting, comparing the work they're having to go through with the work of the US imports. Both guys leave the ring for a double-countout, which is a disappointing ending, but understandable given that this was a last-minute booking in difficult circumstances.

The Predators vs Robbie X & Mark Haskins
The development of Robbie X in Southside has been great to follow, starting as a talented lowercard flier, then progressing to the Speed King title and now being considered one of the better guys on the Southside roster at the age of 18. Robbie has taken on the Predators several times in the past, finally picking up the first win when teaming with Jonny Storm in a non-title match. Here, he teams with Haskins, who has been a thorn in the side of the House of Pain stable for the past few month. This was a great match, loved Robbie and Haskins fast-tagging and working the arm of Joseph Conners early on, as it showed not only tag-team continuity, but was also consistent with Haskins' normal MO of attacking the arm. Both faces take it in turns to be face-in-peril, with Conners and Paul Malen looking typically rabid in attack. What I like about the Predators is how they live up to their name, with a viciousness in their offence that justifies the billing. Robbie kicks out of the Predators' Trophy Kill finisher, which has been a surefire death finisher until now, making the kickout more effective. Haskins interjects to stop a top rope version, and Robbie hits a Phoenix Splash for the win. Nicely worked tag match.

The Hunter Brothers, Hardcore Holly & Dale Mills vs SC Supreme, Nathan Cruz, Max Angelus & Harvey Dale
This was an elimination tag match, with the losing captains (Mills or Dale) having to leave Southside for good. Surprisingly, the Hunters are both eliminated early here, leaving Holly to have to carry the load for his team. The crowd reacted really well to Holly, and he looked great here, seemingly not having aged in ten years. A slight disappointment is that I was looking forward to a battle of chops between Holly and Supreme which never happened, but the promise of one did amusingly lead to Supreme's elimination as Holly outsmarted him by ducking a chop and rolling him up for the three. Cruz is in next, and cowers off from Holly, but only to allow a distraction to give him control over Holly. A fun little section ends with Holly hitting the Alabama Slam to eliminate Cruz. Holly and Angelus square off, again having a fun little segment before Harvey stops an Alabama Slam attempt, the distraction of which allows Max to hit a discus clothesline for three.

The match to this point had been plenty of fun, and wisely, with two of the remaining three being non-wrestlers, the booking took over to keep it entertaining. First Angelus, fed up with Harvey Dale's guidance, slapped the ref to get himself disqualified, leaving the two non-wrestlers in the ring. At this point, SC Supreme reappeared, luring the ref backstage and allowing heel commentator Adam Curtis to enter the ring with a referee shirt. However, to the shock of all, he belted Harvey with a mic, allowing Mills to cover for the win and to ultimately keep his job. Really well booked match from start to finish, and the in-ring action was a lot of fun.

Chris Masters vs El Ligero
Ligero came out with his mask still ripped and broken from his cage match with Martin Kirby last month. Ligero seems to have lost heart since losing to his mortal enemy, which certainly wasn't the right frame of mind to be in when facing Masters. Masters was great heeling it up here, taunting the smaller, demoralised Ligero, who looked close to walking out at points. Ligero did get in some nice hope spots, but an attempt at a springboard armdrag was reversed into the Masterlock, to give Masters the easy win. Be interesting to see where Ligero goes from here.

Stixx vs Kevin Steen
This was the main event and, with the Predators losing their tag belts and Harvey Dale losing his job, Stixx has "nothing to lose" so challenged Steen to a falls-count anywhere match. To cut a long story short, this was an excellent match. with two heavyweights throwing bombs at each other. What I loved is how they built up the level of the spots throughout the match, with both dishing out heavy blows, but neither kicking out of moves that should finish the match (and I differentiate here between moves that COULD win a match and SHOULD win a match). Even the humourous moments were in keeping with a violent brawl, with Steen ramming Stixx into the walls culminating in him throwing Stixx headfirst into the crotch of a poster of Davey Richards. Stixx moves so well for a guy of his size, moving smoothly, but not bouncing around in a way that diminishes his aura as a hard man. The end came from a suitable move too, with Steen flapjacking Stixx through a chair, then hitting the package piledriver to win. Really fantastic brawl that was a joy to watch

WWE Battleground 2013

Alberto Del Rio vs Rob Van Dam
Man, RVD and Ricardo really aren't a combination that works well together. RVD starts well with a moonsault and a DDT onto a chair in opening 3 mins. Love Del Rio's aggression, with a nasty boot to RVD's face. Since turning back heel again, Del Rio's viciousness has been a joy to behold. Here, he also takes some nutty bumps to make RVD look better, hurling himself into a ladder, then to the floor. RVD's bump when Del Rio kicks him in the head with the ladder landing on him is a bit milkier. There is something a little sad about Jerry Lawler claiming you'd need a clairvoyant to guess what RVD will do next, when he's pretty much just running through his usual spots, only with a ladder involved. This does lead to a nice bump, as RVD misses Rolling Thunder onto a ladder. Ricardo, being the little shit he is, gets involved when ADR has the armbar locked on, and rightly gets kicked shitless by Del Rio. Del Rio proceed to sell a frogsplash onto a ladder (which Del Rio is under) as if his insides have been liquidated. The ending, with ADR destroying RVD's arm in a chair and forcing a tapout to the armbar is more proof that brutal sadist ADR is one of the best guys in 2013.

Jack Swagger & Antonio Cesaro vs the Great Khali & Santino Marella
I think we all know there is only one reason this got booked, but let's give it a chance. That said, I'm not sure people were hoping for an opening section of matwork between Swagger and Marella. Aside from some nice RA double teams, there is nothing here to enjoy until the inevitable moment....Cesaro giving the giant swing to Khali. That's enough for the three, but this match could easily have been dropped.

Curtis Axel vs R-Truth
I like Axel, but he's going to have to uproot trees here, as Truth hasn't been interesting in years. Axel takes a few nice bumps early on to help the challenger look good, before kicking Truth into the barricades to take over. There is a period of Axel offence before Truth starts his comeback, with an awesome glassy eyed sell of a leg lariat by Axel. Scissor Kick gets two for Truth, but Axel avoids a corner charge and hits the Axelizer for the win. Totally heatless from the crowd, but this was perfectly ok.

Brie Bella vs AJ Lee
With her leather jacket at ringside, Tamina gives good Diesel to AJ's Shawn Michaels. I like Brie showing a bit of rage at the start of this match - her offence isn't great, but at least she looks like she wants to hurt AJ. I loved AJ taking over by kicking Bella's knee on the apron whilst on defence, shows her comparative ring smarts. AJ works over the left arm pretty well, and uses it as a weak point to focus on to stop Brie getting on offence. Brie's offence looks pretty milky in comparison. AJ picks up the win with a roll-up after Brie gets distracted by Tamina choking out Nikki Bella at ringside.

Cody Rhodes & Goldust vs Seth Rollins & Roman Reigns
Going into the PPV, this was the match I wanted to watch above all others. It's been said by a lot of people online, but it's true...Goldust hasn't lost a step. He moves smoothly, his punches have real snap and his offence looks crisper than ever. His diving clothesline on Reigns here is immense. Cody also gets to show some fire, which really suits him. Meanwhile, the Shield team continue to show their skill at tag wrestling, wearing down Cody, keeping themselves in between him and his corner and generally looking good. Cody comes back with a top rope moonsault to Rollins and Goldust comes in on fire, love his sharp boot to Reigns' temple. Also got to love mid-40's Dustin Rhodes adding a diving crossbody to his arsenal. The offense run ends as a missed crossbody sends Goldust to the floor, but luckily he's also an awesome face-in-peril. He takes Reigns' awesome flying clothesline like a champ. What helps here is that the fans genuinely like Goldust, genuinely want him to win, so he gets a lot of support when the Shield members wear him down with chinlocks and other holds. Goldust's comeback snap powerslam still looks gorgeous. Hot tag Cody is great at being fired up, and a lot of his offence is better suited to being a face - the Disaster Kick in particular is a great "sudden pop" move. The ending with Dusty stopping some Dean Ambrose interference and Cody nailing the mother of all CrossRhodes is awesome. Tag matches don't get much better.

Kofi Kingston vs Bray Wyatt
Man, I really liked the Kingston gameplan early here, trying to wear down Wyatt with some tough looking kicks. When Wyatt is on offence, I quite like the air of menace he gives off, from his running corner splash to the diving headbutts he hits on a downed Kofi. You get a feel for the cruelty he's trying to dish out. Kofi's comeback is a little uninspired, but the diving crossbody Bray uses to stop it is magnificent. Wyatt's "upside down spider walk" however looks fucking terrible, and I hope he isn't planning on using it regularly. We've just enough time for an insane Kofi tope to the outside before Wyatt hits Sister Abigail for the win. This was better than I'd have hoped for.

CM Punk vs Ryback
Punk actually uses the same plan as Kingston here, wearing Ryback down with kicks, only with more success as Ryback leaves the ring several times to avoid him. It's quite fun seeing someone the size of Ryback playing chickenshit heel. Punk's plan seems to be to hit and run, which works as he gets Ryback to his knees, before peppering him with shots to the ribs. The otherside of a cat-and-mouse style match the occurs as Punk is caught by Ryback and becomes victim to Ryback's power game. Punk is viciously hurled into the corner ringpost. I like Punk trying to break a chinlock with blows to the ribs he'd already worked on. Ryback's offence is methodical, but fun, with a nasty clotheline levelling Punk. A bodyscissors/choke is broken by Punk delivering vicious blows to face. Heyman grabs the mic and distracts Punk, which makes him look like an idiot as Ryback nails him. A soppy clothesline from Punk downs Ryback, which looks a bit shit. I was starting to worry the match was going to be overlong at this point, before another Heyman distraction backfires, with Punk hitting a lowblow to win. Decent, though a few parts really dragged.

Daniel Bryan vs Randy Orton
I was looking forward to this, as I enjoy sneaky heel Orton, and I liked it early on as he went for a test of strength with Bryan, only to grab the rope and kick him in the midsection, with the rope grabbing making him look even more devious. Also, as soon as he gets on offence, he's chasing Bryan round the ring to grind Bryan's face into his boots over and over. Love it. They've got a fine line to tread between keeping Bryan looking strong and putting over the new, more violent Orton, and I think they just about get it right, with Bryan getting nice, aggressive hope spots and Orton shutting them down suddenly. Bryan's got a few set spots that get good reactions, and he's great at mixing them in. This time, he doesn't hit his usual running dropkick after flipping over Orton in the corner. Instead, Orton throws him from the ring, only for Bryan to send HIM out with a headscissors and nail the suicide dive. Little things like that keep him interesting. Orton hitting a vicious back suplex onto the barrier then throwing Bryan into the ringpost puts over his new edge perfectly. Top rope superplex by Orton looks great too. Bryan comes back with a crossbody to the floor which looks nuts, and his series of running dropkicks to the corner is fantastic. In fact, this match is really fucking good, which makes the awful ending all the more frustrating. Big Show knocking out both guys would be much less upsetting if the match had only been so-so. Slap an ending on this, and you've got a match-of-the-year contender. Instead, it just leaves a disappointing taste in the mouth.

The Best of Ernie Ladd

Last time I ordered a bunch of DVD's from IVP Videos, I spotted this collection of Ernie Ladd matches, and it peaked my interest. I'd never really seen any Ladd matches before, but the line-up of tag, 6-man, handicap and cage matches looked like a fun bit of variety, so I added it to my selection. Amongst the matches are a selection of promos, which showed Ladd to be excellent on the mic, but the matches themselves weren't too shabby either...

Ernie Ladd vs Magnum TA
This is a cage match for Ladd's North American title. Ladd wears Magnum down early with some heavy blows and chokes in the corner, but TA fires back with a hefty back bodydrop. Ladd regains control after using the cage as a weapon, and continues to work over TA's head with headbutts and a big boot. Magnum returns the favour by ramming Ladd into the cage, and I love the drunken sell from Ladd as he gets up only to be hit by a TA axhandle. Ladd gets some tape from his tights and chokes TA with it as he comes off the ropes, then holds the choke as he gets the illegal pinfall. Short, but fun.

Ernie Ladd vs Kamala
This is JIP with Kamala in control. Ladd reaches into his trunks and uses a hidden object to get the advantage. Love Ladd cutting off a Kamala comeback by stomping on his toes. Friday trips Ladd from outside the ring, and a pair of splashes finishes it for Kamala. Not much shown, but wasn't very impressive.

Ernie Ladd vs Kerry Von Erich
A pre-match promo establishes that Ladd is replacing an injured Ted DiBiase. Kerry starts energetically, maybe too much so as a missed charge into the corner gives Ladd control. Ladd continues to work the shoulder with a nerve hold. Kerry breaks free and goes for an early claw, but Ladd makes the ropes. Kerry applies it anyway, breaking before the five-count. Ladd reaches into his tights whilst a DiBiase distraction takes place, allowing Ladd to attack Von Erich with the tape. Kerry powers out but in doing so bumps the ref, so DiBiase levels him outside. The sight of his own blood seems to fire Kerry up, as he fights back on Ladd, then ducks a blow and applies a claw for the win.

Ernie Ladd & the Midnight Express vs Jim Duggan & the Rock N Roll Express
I love Ladd's awesome robe with "Promises Promises" written on the back of it. Love the early part where Ricky Morton avoids some Dennis Condrey attacks, leading to Condrey striking both his partners accidentally. The heels works a heat section on Gibson, as the advantage of having the larger Ladd on their team means that he can easily control Gibson due to his size. Duggan tags in and seems fired up with lots of energy. His section of brawling with Ladd is pretty fun. A short heat section on Duggan is ended with an insane clothesline on Bobby Eaton. A longer heat section on Morton commences, and Ladd especially seems to be having fun picking away at him. His massive hammerlock lift is particularly cool. Ladd also hits several big legdrops, draping his whole legs over Morton. Sadly, some of the heat section is clipped, and we skip to the hot tag. There is a mass melee and, amongst it all, Ladd hits Morton with a foreign object for the pin. This was pretty great.

Ernie Ladd & Butch Reed vs Brickhouse Brown & Master Gee
Master Gee is perhaps better known as WWF star George Wells, the guy who foamed at the mouth at Wrestlemania II following a Jake Roberts snaking. I love Brown trashtalking Ladd during armbar before Gee clears both opponents from the ring. Wells looks pretty agile here, nailing some nice flying headscissors. Brown also shows nice movement, and the opening section has the faces outpacing the heels, who decide to take a breather. There is a fun spot where Brown and Gee take it in turns to hold Reed in a bow-and-arrow submission before a sneaky Ladd knee to the back of Brown turns the tide. Brown is a lot smaller than Ladd and Reed, so the heels can dominate him pretty easily. Reed locks on a bow-and-arrow submission on Brown, and Wells is great as the guy on the apron, desperate for the hot tag. Reed blocks it though with a nasty back suplex on Brown. Brown eventually tags in a fired-up Wells, whose energy at the hot tag is great, taking out both heels. He goes for a rolling cradle on Ladd, but a distraction allows Reed to drill him in the head with a foreign object for the win. Really fun match.

Ernie Ladd vs Mike Miller

Miller is a tall guy, but Ladd is substantially bigger and is able to use his sheer size to stop any attempts by Miller to gain momentum. A chop that cracks like a rifle shot sends Miller down, a big boot and legdrop finish this squash.

Ernie Ladd vs Mark Regan & Greg Brown
This has a 10 minute time limit. It doesn't need it. Regan looks in pretty good shape and is competitive with Ladd for...ooh, 10 seconds? After wiping the floor with Regan, Ladd lets Brown in and he looks less impressive. Big boot and legdrop quickly finish.

Ernie Ladd vs Bob Owens & Ed Siegel
Not really a match, as Ladd deems his opponents unworthy of facing him and hurls them both from the ring, demanding a title shot at Magnum TA. When TA does come out, Ladd demands a title shot and slaps him, before swiftly exiting the ring before TA gets fired up. Fun angle.

Ernie Ladd vs Steve Brinson
Brinson is a proper big boy, but Ladd takes his leg out and works him on the mat early. Brinson gets in a few shots, but they look soft as shit, and Ladd suckers him into a big boot in the corner. A few slams are followed by the big boot and legdrop for the win.

TNA Knockout's Knockdown

So, this is the latest in TNA's One Night Only PPV series, which airs free in the international markets. Markets like the UK, so this was a free show on Challenge. I enjoyed the TNA Knocked Out DVD I reviewed last year, so I went into this with some, admittedly minor, hopes that it might be good.

Gail Kim vs Alissa Flash
Gail is a a bit cocky early on, at least until she gets planted by a Flash German suplex. Flash tries a giant swing into the safety rail, but Kim grabs the rail to stop it, and instead rams Flash into it to take control. Gail retains control with some fun offence including the slick corner cross body. They also show Kim's smarts, as she grabs the ropes to break a deathlock variation, then delivers a quick kick to the head before Flash can react to regain control. Flash comes back with some nice aggression, culminating with curb stomp for 2. Ultimately, Kim is victorious, as she avoids a corner charge, before hitting Eat Defeat for 3. Fun match to open up.

Lei'D Tapa vs Ivelise
Tapa is substantially bigger than Ivelise. Because of this, Ivelise has to fight from below, using a quick flurry of kicks to try and take control. Tapa is not at all graceful, but her size means moves have a bit more oomph than they would otherwise. Tapa hits a really sloppy press slam, bearly getting Ivelise up. Tapa hasn't got much offence so keeps using clothelines to stop Ivelise comebacks. An Ivelise comeback rana looks awkward as Tapa struggled to bump for it. Ivelise locks in a guillotine and bizarrely what I thought was an Ivelise DDT turns out to have been a shonky looking Tapa slam for 3. This wasn't great, but Ivelise looked really good

Tara vs Mia Yim
Tara uses her relative strength early on to dominate, but spends a lot of time flirting with Jesse Godderz at ringside, which allows Yim back into the match. Some Godderz interference gives Tara the advantage, and I like how Tara shows a bit more aggression, as if Yim has embarrassed her by getting in some offence. We do get one odd blown spot, where Yim runs the ropes and barely touches Tara, before getting back on track with Yim getting her knees up on a standing Tara moonsault. Yim hits a nice Asai and a German suplex for two. Some more Godderz interference causes Yim to miss a corkscrew moonsault and Tara hits the Widow's Peak for the win.

Miss Techmacher vs Santana
Santana dominates and takes Tessmacher to the mat early. This is the first match where the outside talent has dominated a good chunk of the match, as Santana works over Tessmacher's arm and . Tessmacher has to fight back to get back in and, even after hitting a running corner charge, she goes back on defence as Santana quickly regains control. A missed handstand moonsault by Santana gives Tessmacher the chance to hit a facebuster to win, but Santana really was in control for most of this and looked good doing so. Fun match.

ODB vs Trinity
First time Trinity has been in TNA for years. Some early ODB advantage sees Trinity leave the ring, but ODB chases her out there to dish out a bit more. A missed splash by ODB gives Trinity the advantage, though nothing much really happens. It's pretty unexciting until ODB comes back with a meaty looking clothesline. ODB gets pissed up from her hipflask, and hits a corner splash, a bronco buster and a TKO for an easy win. Pretty much a squash.

Taryn Terrell vs Jackie Moore
The announcers hype up how tough Jackie is, and she in in charge early to prove this, just throwing Taryn around the ring. A lot of Jackie chinlocks do nothing to help make this match exciting. Taryn gets back on offence and, though not everything looks too crisp, she always looks suitably fired up which covers up a lot of flaws. Spear gets two for Taryn. Taryn misses a bulldog and Jackie dropkicks her in the face for three. Pretty brief and not too good whilst it lasted, though I liked Taryn's energy.

Sojo Bolt vs Taeler Hendrix vs Hannah Blossom
Sojo and Taeler look to be teaming up early, and fool Hannah into joining a three way lock up, only to double team her. A double team submission on Blossom looks particularly nasty. However, their partnership breaks apart as they clearly hadn't planned ahead to realise only one of them could win, and they too start to fight. This allows Blossom to fire back on Hendrix, though her offensive flurry doesn't last long. More miscommunication between the heels allows Hannah to nail a big boot to Hendrix for the win. This was ok, played mainly for comedy, but perfectly fine.

Velvet Sky vs Jillian Hall
Jillian treats us to some pre-match singing. Even early on, this is pretty poor as Velvet's offence is paperthin. They clumsily tumble to the outside, where Jillian throws Velvet into the steps in a tough looking bump. Jillian retains control, which is probably for the best, as at least her offence is better. I love Taz telling Velvet off for kicking out of a pin, when grabbing the rope would've used less energy. A terrible suplex-facebuster gives Velvet an opening, but Jillian hits one of the shittiest victory rolls in history for a two. Velvet gets In Yo Face for three. This was really bad.

Serena Deeb vs Mickie James
Nice hug to start, which sort of previews the story of the match. The opening sees both girls battling for position, trying to get control of the match. They shake hands again, and the second stage features a bit more aggression and a higher pace, highlighted by a few Serena elbows to the face. The third handshake is more of a hand-slap as a bit more edge comes into their exchanges. Things start getting really good, with a nice knucklock exchange before Mickie sends Serena out of the ring. I love Serena subtly showing how the Mickie chants are getting to her with her facial expressions, and she grabs a headlock instead of accepting the next handshake. Having sent Mickie to the floor, she kicks Mickie as she climbs back in the ring, before unleashing a flurry of blows. This aggression goes against her though, as she misses a corner charge at full speed and Mickie hits a desperation neckbreaker. James hits the top rope Thesz press and the DDT to win. Easily match of the night.

Queen of the Knockouts Gauntlet
As with usual TNA rules, it's through the rope elimination to start, before the final two face off in a normal match. Hannah Blossom and Gail Kim are the first two. Gail blitzes her from the get go and, despite a small flurry of offence, Hannah is swiftly eliminated. Tapa is next in, and provides more of a test to Gail, though it's more a case of dominating her with size than offence, as Gail doesn't seem to be in trouble. Tara's entry provides a break for Gail, as Tara and Tapa face off, though Tara can't life Tapa up due to her size. By the time Mickie comes in, Tapa is dominating both. Mickie takes over on Tapa with a bit more success, though soon Tapa is dominating all three. Her offense isn't great, but she's got a great look. That said, she's soon eliminated as all three team up on her. Tessmacher comes in, as Tara and Kim start to team up on Mickie. Tessmacher goes straight for her ex-tag partner Tara in a nice bit of continuity. Jackie Moore is next up, and the heels start to work over Tessmacher and James. Not much is really happening, and ODB is in, which at least livens things up. Jackie is removed at roughly the same time as Velvet Sky enters. Velvet and ODB end up fighting on the apron, leading to Velvet outchopping ODB to eliminate her, before Gail and Tara swiftly eliminate Velvet and Tessmacher, leaving Mickie 2-on-1. Mickie manages to eliminate Tara with a kick to the midsection, and we end up with the pinfall section of the match between Gail and Mickie. Top rope Thesz press gets two for Mickie, but Gail feigns ankle injury after falling from the ropes. Mickie, clearly not having watched any wrestling in the last 30 years, falls for this and Gail rolls her up from behind to win. This was so boring, if they'd gone through the eliminations quicker and given us a longer Mickie/Gail match, this would've been so much better. The only effective bit of the battle royal was the early bit to make Tapa look like a monster, the rest was average at best.

3PW A Night For The Flyboy

Readers of this blog will notice that I'm generally quite positive about pro-wrestling, and am more likely to give a good review than a bad. The reason for this is simple: I love wrestling, to the extent that even stuff that isn't great per se will still have some merit to me. With this in mind, it's very rare I'm hyper critical of a show, but last October's review of 3PW's Three Men & A Bodybag show was one of those times, just a meandering mess of bad wrestling, terrible booking and nonsensical turns. However, my Lovefilm account means that I don't really have to pay for these shows, and I'm going to continue to watch them in the belief that some gold might shine out amongst the shit. This show, a tribute to Ted "Rocco Rock" Petty, has Syxx-Pac vs Ron Killings AND Curt Hennig vs Jerry Lawler, so there must be something good here....right?

Josh Daniels vs Joey Matthews
Matthews heels it up to start, stalling and slapping Daniels in the face. Daniels is a bit lacking in charisma, and is a bit of a Benoit clone. They blow a leapfrog out of the corner, which even on a tribute show earns a "You fucked up" chant. Really lovely top rope clothesline by Matthews. Daniels misses a corner charge, hitting his shoulder in the corner, but is back on offence seconds later, hitting a delayed vertical suplex on Matthews with no notice paid to his arm. Daniels doesn't bother selling the shoulder at all, and seems to be trying to cut off all Matthews' offensive flurries. The match ends with Matthews hitting a reverse DDT following a missed top rope legdrop by Daniels

Rob Eckos vs White Lotus
Eckos is the future Robbie E, whilst Lotus is a balding white guy who claims to be Japanese. Some early comedy sees Eckos trucks pulled down, with a white dildo in his backside. Lovely. Neither guy has convincing looking offence, but Eckos shows some character and moves around the ring nicely. Decent hiptoss into a DDT by Eckos. Conversely, Lotus does a chain of three rolling suplexes but goes from most impressive to least, starting with a T-bone and ending with a normal vertical suplex, not understanding the idea of escalating the impressiveness of the moves. Eckos wins a quick match with a handful of ropes. Neither guy looked great, but if you were asked which one would have a role in a national promotion 10 years later, you'd have correctly picked Eckos from this bout.

Jason vs Del Tsunami
Jason looks in good nick here. Jason pretty much dominates, hitting a few nice suplexes. Tsunami gets very little in terms of offence in, but sells well enough, before Jason finishes with a submission, gravevining the legs with his arms whilst holding Tsunami's body in a leg scissors. Decent enough squash.

Roadkill vs Christian York
York looks a lot less pumped than in his TNA run, very much in part-time wrestler shape. The opening parts to the match are perfectly fine, and I loved Roadkill hitting a dropkick during a York skin-the-cat attempt to send him to the floor. They try some brawling outside the ring, which would look better if York wasn't so unconvincing at it. He looks a lot less slick than he does 10 years later, manging to botch throwing Roadkill out of the ring. His offence just looks a bit soft, which is disappointing, as I remember quite enjoying him in ECW. A few chinlocks throughout the match dont help to build excitement either. Roadkill has looked perfectly fine here, bar one moment where he's getting beaten by York in the corner and casually positions himself on the second rope for no reason other than for York to hit a rana. Roadkill at least comes back with some energy to liven things up. Throughout the match, the commentators have highlighted that Danny Doring isn't in the building whilst Joey Matthews is, so you know that we'll be seeing some interference, and low and behold, Matthews soon comes out. He's soon removed by Roadkill, but we get a blown finish where York superkicks a chair into Roadkill's face for 2, but the bell rings. Roadkill takes it upon himself to save matters by powerbombing Matthews onto York, then nailing a top rope splash for the win. This was inoffensive.

Ron Killings vs Syxx-Pac
Some stalling from current NWA champion Killings starts us off, as he decides to give the crowd a piece of his mind. This isn't too long after Syxx-Pac left the WWE and he looks sharp. I'm convinced fired-up face Waltman is his best incarnation, certainly more endearing than his DX persona. I loved Killings keeping up his war with the crowd, jawing at them whilst choking Pac over the ropes. A nice bump follows, as Killings hiptosses Syxx-Pac over the top rope to the floor. Killings cuts off a comeback as he catches Pac with a dropkick leaping from the top rope but misses a rare 450 as neither man can get a real advantage. This is a pretty short sprint of a match, so the back and forth nature feels fine here. I did fear a shitty ending after Pac hits an X-Factor, as he lies covering Killings, waiting for a count like moron despite having seen Sabu pull the ref from the ring. Luckily, he moves when Sabu tries an Arabian facebuster from the top rope, having set it up so that Killings gets hit, which means the spot makes sense. Syxx-Pac removes Sabu, and picks up an academic 3 count. I enjoyed this a lot, both guys looked really crisp.

The Blue Meanie & Jasmin St Claire vs The Rockin' Rebel & Missy Hyatt
When you've got a tag match and Rebel is the best guy in there, you're in for a painful ordeal. Watching this atrocity, I'm not convinced Jasmin isn't second best. You can clearly see Meanie guiding her through everything, but her offence on the Rebel still manages to look more convincing than that of her partner. Poor Rebel gets double teamed in the early going, as Hyatt just stands on the apron. Rebel is one of those guys you know is a bit shit, but for some reason, I've got a soft spot for the guy, possibly because he'll happily let himself look like a berk in a throwaway comedy match like this. Here, he takes all the token comedy spots - a headbutt to the crotch from a dazed Meanie, then falling into the doggystyle position with Hyatt after they get splashed in the corner (which Missy initially manages to blow by falling out of the corner too early). This match even ends like a crock of shit, Meanie shoving Rebel over a crouching Jasmin, who rolls him up for the win, despite Rebel's foot being clearly in the ropes. Just utter shite. Postmatch, we get an angle, as Tod Gordon turns up with some massive bloke who chokeslams Meanie, allowing Jasmin to turn on him. Aside from the fact that the company owners still have to get their win in before the turn, the angle feels out-of-place on a tribute show.

Curt Hennig vs Jerry Lawler
This should be fun. We get off to a good start as both guys try to one up each other, trading slams before Hennig hits a backdrop and Lawler reverses a second attempt. Neither guy manages to get a clear avantage. Hennig takes a trademark bump as he's punched over the top rope onto table. Lawler plays face here, which is odd given his anti-ECW past. Hennig concentrates on wearing down Lawler, locking in a sleeper then stomping away at him. Lawler comes back with a stunner for two, complete with double middle fingers. Hennig retaliates with a piledriver, but only gets two with a cocky pin. Neither guy is doing anything special, but the execution is noticably better than previous matches on the show. A Lawler second rope fistdrop only gets 2, before Hennig wins in the corner with his feet on the ropes. Breaking all wrestling conventions, without any proof as to the cheating the ref restarts the match. Hennig rightly decks ref, only for Lawler to roll him up, winning with a quick count from the ref. Despite the rubbish ending, this was plenty of fun. Maybe not great, as they never really left first gear, but proof that you can do more with less.

Sabu vs Gary Wolfe
Wolfe gets beaten down pre-match by Tod Gordon and his massive henchman, apparently called Annihilation. Despite this, Wolfe dominates early, though is well out of position for Sabu's rebound clothesline. They brawl outside, with Wolfe throwing some pissweak forearms. More weak brawling follows, before Sabu livens things up with a triple jump dive into the crowd. They wander around the arena a bit more, where Wolfe DDT's Sabu through a table on the stage. We get more tedious wander-wander-punch-wander fighting, before they get back to the ring. Wolfe rolls Sabu into the ring, then immediately throws him back out again, as he's clearly got no ideas on what to do in the match. Gordon and co hits some crap cheap shots outside the ring, which Wolfe totally no-sells. Sabu hits the triple jump moonsault for two. A second attempt is met with a chair, before Wolfe powerbombs Sabu through a table to the floor. This obvious finisher gets two. Inside, a burning hammer also gets two, and this match is really dragging. Having killed two finishers, they try to fill up time with bland offence that exists only to drag this match to "epic", but it's failing miserably. Worst DDT ever is hit by Sabu. It's totally fair to say that a ten-years older Sabu had better matches with Wild Boar and Jimmy Havoc in the UK last month than this, and it's all because those matches, whilst different, had actual structure to them. This is just overlong, drawn out nonsense. Eventually, Sabu sets up Wolfe on a table, which promptly falls over. Bonus points go to the commentators for covering this up by claiming Wolfe saved himself. Bonus points lost by following a trademark Arabian facebuster through the table by saying they'd never seen that before from Sabu. Started badly, and kept on (and on and on...) getting worse.

Triple X: Club M In Your Face

After running the last few shows at the Coventry Sq Club, the latest offering ran from the newly revamped Club M, a venue that has seen a slick £500,000 facelift. As a venue, it looked really swank, and with the ring in the middle of the dancefloor, it felt like a really exciting step forward for the promotion. With a line-up including my second Sabu match of the weekend, I was greatly looking forward to the show

Damian Dunne vs Big Grizzly
We have an open challenge to kick off the show, with Gabriel Grey challenging anyone to take on the latest member of the Damned Nation. Dunne answered the challenge, and we ended up with a decent big-vs-small match as opener. Dunne took the fight to the big Welshman early, using his speed and strikes to wear him down. Grizzly's size soon became too much and he took control with power moves, looking pretty impressive whilst doing so. This was a much better showcase for him than the tag match last month, as fighting a smaller opponent allowed him to look more dominant, and he played the big monster role well. Damian managed to regain control, using Grizzly's weight against him to hit a backcracker, but Grey grabbed the ropes as he went for a springboard codebreaker, and Grizzly used the distraction to hit a sitout powerbomb for the win.

The Hunter Brothers vs Ho Ho Lun & Jason New
Ho Ho Lun made quite an impression on the last show in a four way match, and this time he returned with another Zero-One Hong Kong star in Jason New. The Hunters are a curious case, being one of the premier teams in the UK, but one I've never seen win live. This was a fast-paced tag match, with the Hong Kong team clearly the crowd favourites. They struggled with the low ceiling in Club M though, playing up to it with an attempted double team suplex on a Hunter, who they couldn't get all the way over due to the ceiling, then Lun became face-in-peril after leaping from the top rope into a lighting rig. The Hunters ran a nice heat section on Lun, preventing New from getting in, until a hot tag was made. Despite this, the Hunters were still able to pick up the win following a roll-up with pulled tights, a point the Zero-One guys amusingly tried to point out the ref in vain after the match. Fun match.

Tyler Bate vs Mark Andrews
Bate is swiftly becoming one of my favourite guys in Triple X to watch, looking more and more impressive with each show. He's got a nice blend of decent looking strikes, freakish strength spots, an inate charisma and the ability to keep pace with the quicker guys too. The latter is lucky here, as Mandrews is one of the better high fliers in British wrestling, with everything in the match looking crisp in execution. The two of them paired up well here, with both guys being pretty evenly matched in the initial stages. Bate started to wear down Andrews, and got in his traditional scary strength spot, this time hitting a slow, deadlift German suplex for a two count. Andrews, unlike the Zero-One HK boys, was comfortable with the low ceiling and actually used it to his advantage, hanging off the rigging to get into position for a Code Red for the win. Really fun match, which I could happily have seen go on for longer.

Money In The Wank Bank Match - Stefan Hard vs Zombie Chris Stone vs Scott Grimm vs Local Jobber #2 vs Andy Krae vs Terry Seddon vs Zombie Stefan Hard
The reason this is the "Money in the Wank Bank" match is because the winner gets a date with adult entertainment star Michelle Thorne. This is largely played for laughs, but succeeds in being entertaining throughout. First out is Stefan Hard, defending the honour of his wife, against zombie Chris Stone. Hard is in control, until he gets distracted by Henchman Benton Destruction trying to get some porn signed by Thorne, and he falls prey to a zombie bite to be eliminated. Scott Grimm is in next, and he powers through Stone, Local Jobber #2 (complete with awesome "jobber" themed video and a massive pop from the crowd) and Krae, before Triple X's resident zombie slayer Terry Seddon pins him with a crucifix. To bring things full circle, Stefan Hard returns, having turned zombie from the Chris Stone bite, only to eat a Diamond Cutter from Seddon for the win. Seddon also plants Professor Lex with a cutter to end a ludicrous, but fun, segment.

The Henchmen vs Grado & Adam Shame
A battle of the cult heroes here, with the magnificent "80's legends" the Henchmen taking on a team including slightly camp, chubby Scottish grappler Grado. The odd man out here felt like former Triple X champion Adam Shame, who didn't meet with the same positive reaction as his opponents, having been a long time heel. That said, he more than played his part here, showing immense strength to lift up the massive Benton Destruction for a Shellshock, complete with Ryback-esque march around the ring. This one soon broke down, with all four guys brawling outside the ring. In fact, they got a little too into the brawl, with Grado beating on Shame and the Henchmen punching each other, until a moment of realistation took hold of all four guys. An entertaining brawl ended with Shame reaching for what seemed to be a bag of tacks, but was infact a bag of Skittles, which saw all four guys hitting moves onto the tasty fruit sweets. In the end, the Five Moves of Doom on Grado saw a win for the Henchmen.

Sabu vs Wild Boar
This was my second Sabu match of the weekend, following the Jimmy Havoc match in Nottingham, and I have to say I enjoyed this one more. Despite the fact that the tables here were flimsy, and seemed to take away from what Sabu hoped to do it the match, this was a more competitive affair, and I think Boar came out of this looking better than Havoc did on the Friday. Although the outcome was never in doubt (due to the storyline having Triple X bringing in Sabu to take out Wild Boar to stop him interferring in stablemate Majik's title match), Boar (appropriately) looked like a beast here, keeping up with Sabu and keeping him from being able to wrestle a formula Sabu match. I loved Boar using a chair to hit a leaping headbutt into the midsection of Sabu and by the end, when Sabu won with an Arabian facebuster, it felt like Sabu had been forced to put in a real effort to keep the Boar down. Sabu was really over here, and deserves credit for letting Boar look like a real force.

Devilman vs Majik
This one seemed a bit muted at first, despite the long-term rivalry between the two. I think they suffered from having to follow a huge star in Sabu, which had slightly worn out the audience. It also took them a little while to find their rhythm, with the opening stages seeming a little slow for a hate-filled blood fued. Things picked up throughout the match though, and they slowly, but surely swung the crowd round, with a sick Majik Death Valley Driver on the ring apron near the end getting a huge "Holy Shit" chant. We get a big, all-action ending with ref bumps, interference from Big Grizzly and Damian Dunne, and finally Omer Ibrahim getting into the ring to count the victorious Devilman pinfall, after he wiped Majik out with a blow from Gabriel Grey's cane. Through all this, plus Majik working the crowd like a heat magnet, they turned an initially apathetic crowd into a really strong reaction, and put on a satisfying main event.

Southside Wrestling Menace II Society III

So this weekend, I took in two wrestling shows, both featuring Sabu on his UK tour. The first one, in Nottingham, was on the Friday, and featured the following action...

El Ligero vs Pete Dunne vs MK McKinnan
If you want to know the definition of loneliness, then I felt it here: being the one person in the venue who wanted Pete Dunne to win this match. The other two guys are far better known in the area, so Dunne met with silence with a sprinkle of boos, despite this being three faces in action. Aside from the opening minutes, they avoided the usual pitfalls of the triple threat match, that being taking it in turns to have one guy on the outside selling whilst the other two fight. Here, all three guys were involved in the action, either through double teams or one guy taking out both of his opponents at once. This got a great reaction from the crowd, with even Dunne (because he's awesome) winning the crowd round with a double crab on both guys. Ligero hitting a top rope stomp with both guys in a tree of woe was also pretty swank. With Dunne being hardly known and Ligero embroiled in a feud with Martin Kirby, MK was the obvious choice to win and he did with a shining wizard to Pete. Good opener.

RJ Singh & the Hunter Brothers vs Martin Kirby & the Predators
There is some long standing dissention betwen Singh and the Hunters, so they were a far less smooth unit than the heel team, who delighted in singling out first Singh, then one of the Hunters. The brothers Hunter showed no interest in tagging in Singh, focusing their early quick tags between each other, leaving Singh frustrated on the apron. This allowed the Hunters to show a more heelish side, which I think is their strength. Paul Malen was fantastic in this match, like a rabid cheerleader on the apron every time his partners were in control. Eventually, Singh did get tagged in on the hot tag, and looked to have the match won with a Swanton bomb, but he took exception to a Hunter trying to make the pinfall and broke it up, allowing the heels to regroup and the Predators hit the Trophy Kill on Singh for the win.

Mark Haskins vs Darrell Allen
This match will be forever known to those in the crowd as the "hotdog" match. Basically, as Haskins came to the ring, slapping hands with the ringside fans, he knocked a hotdog from the hands of what appeared to be a handicapped fan at ringside, whose mother went ballistic at Haskins. Despite Haskins leaving the ring to talk to the fan, this didn't appease the mother, who took the son from the venue. Haskins looked ever-so guilty, and the fans didn't help him, woth chants of "sausage slapper" and "Hotdog Haskins" ringing out throughout the match.

AS for the match itself, it was solid, with Haskins working over the left arm of Allen for the bulk of the match. Though the match started off evenly, once Haskins had started to work over the arm, it gave him an easy way back into the match whenever Allen tried making his comebacks: just hit him in the arm. Haskins is one of the more pushed guys in the promotion, so it made sense that he dominated most of the match, with Allen's selling of the arm putting over the lingering damage. The armwork also played into the finish, with Haskins holding onto the arm during a missed Allen kick, and hitting a pumphandle driver for the win.

Stixx vs Super Crazy
The match started off with Stixx claiming he was a big fan of Crazy, and would be wrestling a fair fight throughout; this of course lasted until the first move of the match, where he hit a sneaky low kick. Crazy was massively over here, and you could tell he was delighted by the reception he received. These two guys combined well here, with Stixx bringing his power game and Crazy making his comebacks using some high risk maneuvers. I loved him cracking out a plancha over the referee, who was looking at Stixx on the outside, especially as he could have gotten away with doing far less in front of this partisan crowd. Stixx picked up the win in a good match by hanging onto the ropes after sitting down on a sunset flip.

Robbie X vs Jay Lethal
Robbie here was challenging for the Speed King title which he lost at the show of that name in May. I've been impressed every time I've seen Robbie previously, but this felt like a real career match for him. Lethal looked considerably bigger than Robbie, which meant that every blow he landed looked like it broke him in half. There was a strike exchange in the middle, which is something I've never been a fan of, but here it felt warranted, like Robbie was trying to show Lethal that he could keep up with him. Lethal even gave Robbie a number of nearfalls, to the extent that you felt like Robbie was going to regain his title, but Lethal finished him off with the Lethal Combination followed by a top rope elbow for the three. This got a standing ovation from the crowd, which it deserved.

Zack Sabre Jr vs Tommy End
This was my pick for match of the night. What I loved here was how the strikes were used. Whilst both guys exchanged strikes during the match, you felt like they were actively trying to break each other down with their blows, and it was a battle of whose body could hold up the longest. I like the way that they couldn't even afford to rest for a moment, shown by ZSJ pausing to catch breath after landing another blow on End, only to be quickly grabbed for a belly-to-back suplex. Sabre had a plan of attack, which involved going for an armbar on End at every opportunity. However, this led to his downfall, as his final attempt saw End counter it into a choke, which he held onto until the referee stopped the match. I loved this, it felt like a real battle and both guys came out of it looking kingsized.

Sabu vs Jimmy Havoc
This match got pretty hard to see at times, primarily when they fought on the outside and pretty much the whole crowd flocked around them. This was a total crowd pleaser of a match, as Sabu knew exactly what the crowd wanted to see from him, and they got it. This didn't bode so well for Havoc, who took a shedload of offence. Havoc got thrown through chairs, took chairs to the head, was on the receiving end of a chair-assisted springboard dive to the floor and finally took an Arabian facebuster through a table for the Sabu win. There wasn't much Havoc offence, unless he got in a load I couldn't see on the floor, but that isn't what the fans were there to see, and Havoc got a standing ovation afterwards for the abuse he'd gone through. Fine main event

The Best of Deathmatch Wrestling - Mexican Hardcore

This is another treat from Lovefilm, a DVD I added to my list with no idea of wrestlers or matchlisting. A cursory glance at the menu when it arrived showed quite a few wrestlers I really dig, like Psychosis, LuFisto and Super Crazy, so I was looking forward to this. The initial presentation led me to have some doubts though, as all the matches seem to have a metal backing track for no reason. Worse, the commentary is done by the XPW team of the vaguely-amusing Larry Riviera and the frequently-inane Kriss Kloss....

Princessa Sugey vs LuFisto
The ropes are covered with barbed wire on two sides, which is a running thing throughout the DVD. Sugey gets the early advantage, hanging LuFisto in a tree of woe, then dropkicking a metal tray into her face. A lightbulb shot to the head is essentially no-sold by LuFisto, who fires back with a Michinoku Driver onto some bulbs. Disappointingly, there is no build-up to the first barbed wire spot, instead Sugey just dumps LuFisto into it, which gets less reaction than it should. Sugey hits a Michinoku Driver of her own onto lightbulbs for two. They start to brawl in the crowd with an odd lack of gusto, with only a LuFisto suplex onto the floor looking good. It's all pretty unimpressive, as they just go from weapon spot to weapon spot with no build up. Sugey sets up a few lighttubes to bridge two chairs, but gets caught up top and superplexed through for two. LuFisto finally hits Emerald Frosion onto yet more tubes for the win. Pretty forgettable.

Xtreme Tiger vs Crazy Boy
Frustratingly, this match has been really awkwardly clipped, taking out seconds of resting to skip to the action. This gives an odd sensation that no-one is selling, even though they may be. The result is, this feels like a total spotfest. Xtreme Tiger bumps around early for Crazy Boy, progressing to getting put into a dustbin and dropkicked several times. Tiger comes back, sending Boy outside the ring and hitting an insane moonsault to the floor. Crazy Boy then sets up Tiger under some lightbulbs, then moonsaults through them, probably hurting himself as much as Tiger. Tiger comes back by hitting a rana through a table from the top rope. Not content to let Tiger hit all the cool offence, Crazy Boy lands a one-man Spanish Fly through a table from the top. Crazy produces a star made of lightbulbs from somewhere, but his attempt to moonsault it onto Tiger misses, hitting only mat and shattering the bulbs. Some unnamed wrestlers come out to interfere and give Tiger the DQ win. After a bit of all round brawling, Crazy Boy gets put on a table at ringside, and Tiger gives him a 450 splash. Bit of a mess to be honest.

Joe Lider & Crazy Boy vs Psychosis & Xtreme Tiger vs Damien 666 & Halloween
666 and Halloween are dressed in jeans and t-shirts, so at least they're dressed for the occasion. Crazy Boy hits a swank Asai to the outside on 666 early doors, which sets the tone for the parade of spots to come. The phrase "shades of Steve Rizzono" is used for the second match in a row on this DVD, which is absurd. We do get a lovely Psychosis/Halloween in-ring segment, which is the nicest display of wrestling we see in the match. It ends with Halloween running into a chair headfirst. Predictably, it all breaks down with all 6 in ring. I like the way that it starts off with guys trying to take control individually, before the team aspect comes into it with a series of slick double teams. 666 and Halloween introduce the weapons into the match, and they really go on a tear. Lider hits a terrible looking Van Daminator on Halloween, as it dawns on me that I've not seen a pinfall attempt yet. After what feels like forever, Lider and Crazy Boy hit a Spanish Fly on Tiger through some lightbulbs to win. Just a bunch of spots that felt like it would never end.

Dralion vs Nightmare
This is billed as a table match, but the ref counts a pinfall attempt 30 seconds in, so I guess it's just another hardcore match but they've brought some tables out too. Insane suicide dive by Dralion 30 seconds in endears him to me greatly. The DVD clips to Dralion hitting a Phoenix Splash through Nightmare on a ringside table. In the ring, Dralion hits a Sky Twister Press right onto Nightmare, who has got nothing in so far. Dralion bizarrely appears to hurl himself out of ring for no reason. This gives Nightmare a chance to dominate, so maybe he just felt sorry for him. Nightmare sets up table, and gestures that the match is about to be over...then hits a Tiger suplex for a two count. Really odd. Nightmare hits a moonsault through the table, but this only gets a two, so either way it's not over. I wish it was though, even if some of Dralion's spots have been impressive. This is just sloppy brawling with some spots awkwardly bolted on. Dralion hits a dragon suplex, but for some reason the ref doesn't bother counting. I assume he's as bored of this match as I am and has drifted off. In a ludicrous blown spot, Dralion dives out of ring to hit a 450 splash through a table, but hilariously totally misses as the table is too far away. Nightmare hits springboard legdrop through the table (which he moves closer to the ring), but is unable to continue due to being too injured. So the match just ends suddenly. A total whack of shit.

Crazy Boy & Joe Lider vs Super Crazy & Xtreme Tiger
Really hoping Super Crazy can improve our match quality here. Crazy and Tiger attack from behind and already this is a bit more heated than we've been getting previously. Crazy hits a tarantula over the barbed wire ropes on Lider, which has to hurt him as much as Lider. Then again, he is the insane luchador. As per the previous matches, there is no tagging as it seems to be contested under tornado rules. Crazy seems to vanish from the match, so Crazy Boy and Lider dominate Tiger. Nice Van Daminator by Lider onto Tiger, wisely setting up the spot for the midpoint of the ring to avoid the possibility of missing the move. Lider and Boy attack Tiger's knee, which seems like good strategy, but they don't focus on this again. Emerald Frosion on Tiger gets two. Suddenly, some flaming lightbulbs are in the ring from nowhere, and CB and Tiger whack each other with them. You'd think this would be quite important, but it's just another spot. Lider hits the worst legdrop I've ever seen from the top of a ladder, and somehow his Canadian Destroyer is even worse. Eventually, Tiger hits a 450 to the floor onto Crazy Boy, whilst Super Crazy rolls the dice on Lider to win. This was alright when Super Crazy was involved, but it was still just another mess of a spotfest.

Damien 666 & Halloween vs Supreme & Angel
Oh fuck right fucking off! The last thing this DVD needed was more XPW influence. There are lightbulbs set up on the ropes for this match. Mexico's Most Wanted dominate the early parts, which is good as it saves us from the XPW team's offence, but soon Supreme takes over as he powerbombs one MMW member onto the other. Angel outrages the fans with some "gay comedy", rubbing his crotch and arse into his opponents faces. We get some basic crowd brawling, but to be honest this is better than a lot of the previous matches. There is the bare minimum of random, no-sold insane spots and the brawling actually builds to the weapon shots. They could do with teasing some of the spots more - the pile of thumbtacks spot should have been built up better - but this is generally ok. Supreme staples money to Damian's head, which is always my least favourite hardcore spot, but again the crowd reacts to it. Angel gets splashed through a table, but because they've minimised the nonsense, it actually gets a reaction as being a big deal. Supreme tries to chance his hand with MMW's valet, but gets lowblowed and suplexed through a pile of lights and table bits for the 3 count. Honestly, best match so far.

LuFisto vs Joe Lider
This is helpfully billed as man vs woman match, in case it wasn't obvious from LuFisto's lady face and lady body. LuFisto dominates early, but Lider comes back, using his superior size to overpower her. The tough balance to get right in intergender matches is keeping the match credible, especially since male wrestlers are much bigger than female wrestlers. Here, the use of weapons helps with the credibility, as anyone getting blasted with a chair by LuFisto is going to be in trouble. We get an obvious clip as Lider's singlet suddenly has the straps down. Lider hits a Michinoku Driver onto barbed wire. We get a pretty nice LuFisto top rope rana onto barbed wire, where Lider lands directly onto it. LuFisto then hits a cannonball through bulbs. Lider comes back, but LuFisto German suplexes him through more bulbs. Have to give Lider credit here, he's letting LuFisto kick the shit out of him. Psycho Driver by Lider, only gets a 2, which I don't mind too much as Lider hasn't really given LuFisto much offence so far. Lider takes an insane bump, missing a twisting senton onto arena floor. Lider recovers to block some attempted LuFisto offence, and plants her with Spanish Fly from apron through bulbs. Insane bump. That gets the 3 count. Another decent match, and the best Lider showing on the DVD. He went all out to make LuFisto look good, and the result was pretty fine.

Damian 666 & Dragon Shyru vs Crazy Boy & Joe Lider
This seems to be set up as Mexico's Most Wanted vs Crazy and Lider, but Halloween is unexplainedly taken away pre-match. Crazy Boy asnd Lider dominate both Shyru and Damian early doors, but advantage swings as Damian takes Lider outside and hurls him through a large wooden board. I feel like I've sat through this match 3 or 4 times on this DVD. Just a collection of spots with very little build. Here, the spots are actually quite smoothly executed with the bare minimum of botches, but it's hard to care about the weapon shots when they essentially mean nothing. The reason the XPW guys match was the best on the DVD is because they actually built up to huge spots. Here, Lider DVD's Shyru through a table to the floor from the top rope, and he's soon back in the match as if it was nothing. A bunch of stuff happens, but it's all meaningless. The match ends when Nightmare interferes, allowing Crazy Boy to pin Damian. Terrible stuff.