H2O Wrestling - It Was All A Dream 10/06/2016

Jeff Cannonball vs Tony Deppen

Cannonball is a big fat bald guy who looks a lot like King Kong Bundy. Deppen is considerably smaller, so uses his speed advantage to control at first, including a nice suicide dive and a nifty senton from the apron. Cannonball, for his part, had really fun fat guy offence, like a great diving legdrop with Deppen in the ropes. He also sold appropriately, brickwall no-selling an attempted crossbody and doing great wobble-legged selling to tease going over for Deppen’s strikes. The end sees a ref bump and Cannonball nailing Deppen with a roll of coins to win. Fun opener.

Jigsaw vs Sonny Kiss vs Archadia vs Blackwater

Four way bout, with Jigsaw defending his HOPE King of Flight title. Kinda awesome to see a belt from my local promotion on a random US indy. Kiss has an exotico gimmick, and is really good in the role. His mannerisms are spot on and his offense plays into the character. He seems incredibly flexible, as proven by Jigsaw stretching him with a standing submission. Archadia is also pretty good, nothing spectacular, but nicely solid. Really liked his succession of legdrops from a sat down position. The weak link does appear to be Blackwater, who has a hokey “deranged oddball” gimmick and does nothing of any note in the bout. Jigsaw plays the role of defending champ well, going for quick roll ups and pins in the knowledge that his champions advantage goes out of the window in a four way, and he hits a great flip dive. After it breaks down to all four guys in the ring, Jigsaw pins Blackwater in a top rope stomp.

Amber O’Neal Gallows vs Penelope Ford

Lots of shenanigans within this one. Amy Lee is the guest referee and Ford is accompanied by Sozio (the former Niles Young), who insults Lee before the bout, which seems kind of dumb. Ford is pretty cocky to begin with, making it fun to see the more experienced Gallows ground her and work her over on the mat. Sozio cheats from the outside, and I dug how much Gallows sold being choked in the corner – really put over the disadvantage she was now in. Ford’s offence was pretty weak in comparison, so you can’t really begrudge Gallows no selling a chop to hit one of her own that is far more effective. The end was quite nifty, as Sozio passed Ford some tape to choke Gallows with, which she concealed in a sleeper hold. Lee counted Gallows’ arm down twice, before realising the tape was there, forcing Ford to break the hold. The resulting argument let Gallows recover and nails a facebuster to win. Nice little twist on the usual bit of cheating, but the parts of the match with Ford in charge were average.

Matt Tremont vs Kevin Sullivan

Really great performance by Tremont here. Sullivan is 66yrs old and not as mobile as he used to be – at one point nearly tripping up. What Tremont does here is keep things simple, selling for Sullivan’s punches, including falling for the old master’s cheapshots and doesn’t try and make Sullivan fit into a match type that he’s not going to be able to keep up with. They do a bit of walking brawling, including trips into the kitchen and the toilets, and they manage to build a fun match based around mainly punching. They both pull out their respective weapons – fork vs spike – before Jeff Cannonball comes out to draw the DQ win for Tremont. Stockade makes the save to build up a tag bout for the next show. This kinda made me curious about a Tremont/Jerry Lawler match now.

Jimmy Lloyd & Yuta vs Frankie Pickard & Curt Robinson vs Sozio & Preacher vs Storm of Entrails

Just soak in that team name for a second – Storm of Entrails. How glorious is that? Anyway, this is a 4 team four way, featuring 7 guys I’ve never seen before and one (Sozio) I’ve not seen in over 10 years, so this was really a case of having to pick out bits that I enjoyed from various guys. On that score, I really dug Robinson working basic WoS spots early on, and Pickard impressed as, despite being a short stocky guy, he nicely landed on his feet on a back body drop and let rip with a stiff elbow to the face. All these guys seem to work well together, but the elephant in the room is Storm of Entrails, two muscly, unhinged looking dudes. They’re kept out of the ring until the end, and when they come in, they’re immediately gamechangers. Yuta and Lloyd get taken out with powerbombs, as do Pickard and Robinson. An Alabama Slam and a top rope elbow gets the win for the Entrails.

Shane Douglas vs Eddie Kingston

This is another case of a younger guy trying to make a semi-retired veteran look good. In this case, Kingston fares less well than Tremont, and I think it’s because Douglas is more able and mobile than Sullivan – it means they try more stuff which doesn’t always come off. There are good moments here, Kingston stooges around nicely and buys Douglas time to catch breath on occasion, by jawing at the crowd. But it says a lot about a match when both guys put on nerve holds as a rest spot. That said, Douglas does sell it really well. They work an armdrop spot around it, with Douglas selling it as having lost all feeling in the arm, desperately trying to slap some life back into it. The end is a bit hokey, Douglas catching a flash belly-to-belly whilst Kingston argues with the ref, but this was fine.

Nation of Intoxication (Danny Havoc & Connor Claxton) vs Notorious Inc (Devon Moore & Drew Blood)

This is for the first H2O tag titles, and is no DQ. This breaks down pretty early, with guys fighting on the outside prompting Blood to go for a suicide dive that hits more fans than wrestlers. The camera work is a little off, as we get told by the commentators about fighting happening on the other side of the ring by a pairing, whilst we’re looking at something less interesting on the other side. Things improve as we get back in the ring, with Notorious Inc doing some nice double teams. Fun spot as Havoc has blood on his shoulders in an electric chair position and drops him towards Claxton, who boots him in the balls as he lands. Havoc superplexes Moore through a table, and though Blood tries to fight back, he’s soon wiped out with a running DVD and a top rope leg for the victory. Fun stuff.

WWE Main Event 15/04/2014

The fun thing about watching old Main Events is coming across hidden gems that I never knew about. The Wyatts vs Los Matadores/Sin Cara, Ambrose vs Henry, just some good fun matches that had gone under the radar. The opposite side of this is that some episodes feature utterly skippable, pointless matches. This, unfortunately, is one of those weeks...

Los Matadores vs Jinder Mahal & Drew McIntyre

This really sums up what a weak episode of Main Event we have here. On paper, this could have been a really fun tag match, given the abilities of the matadors and McIntyre. Instead, this is more angle than match. Hornswoggle comes out as a member of 3MB to cancel out El Torito, and it’s his distraction that allows McIntyre to take control of a matador. However, El Torito gets involved straight away, leading to both outsiders fighting in the ring and the match ending in a double DQ. Waste of time.

Sin Cara vs Bad News Barrett

This was really short, but at least allowed for a few fun moments. I liked Cara’s suicide dive and Barrett was really good at beating his opponent down with nice looking blows. But the match is only a few minutes long so, after a shitty headscissors from Cara, Barrett avoids a Swanton and quickly hits Winds of Change and the Bullhammer to win.

Nikki Bella vs Naomi vs Cameron vs Emma vs Tamina vs Alicia Fox vs Aksana vs Eva Marie vs Layla vs Natalya

This is a battle royal, complete with shitty “going through the ropes elimination” rules, to become number one contender to the Divas title. Nothing her really worth watching, though I felt particularly sorry for Layla selling the super-slow, super-weak offence of Eva Marie, who thankfully is the first eliminated. The crack camera team totally miss Tamina nailing Nikki with a superkick. Tamina is put over really strongly here, throwing out both Funkadactyl, Nikki and Fox to leave her alone with Natalya, who she also bins off with a superkick. Very skippable.

Jack Swagger vs the Big Show

By default this is match of the night. It’s not great, but it’s perfectly fine and is at least logically worked. I like Swagger in the opening stages, using the ropes to build momentum to attack Show. Swagger grabbing a big boot attempt and attacking the leg makes total sense, both in terms of downing Show and also as he’s got a leg-based submission. Show only needing one smack to the chest of Swagger to start his comeback was great, especially with how much they put over his giant hands early in the match with his chops. Chokeslam is reversed (very slowly) to the Patriot Lock, but Show holds on and is able to land the KO punch to win.

WWF Raw 27/03/1994

Lex Luger vs Rick Martel

Luger is coming off his controversial loss at WM10. Pretty high paced to start, with Luger showing some real fire in his punches. Loved some of Martel’s in-ring stooging, turning around lost on a criss-cross in time to get bulldozed by a Luger shoulderblock. Sadly, things slow down at this point, as both guys decide to apply long headlocks. Luger actually works his, but Martel locks in 3 dull headlocks. His control doesn’t get any more inspired, with a few boots and blows. Luger blows landing on his feet off a backdrop, but hits a powerslam and the torture rack for the win.

Owen Hart vs Mike Freeman

Perfectly fine squash, as Owen schools Freeman on the mat. Some nice little touches, with Owen hitting a nasty stomp to the prone elbow on Freeman. Owen gives Freeman one or two hope spots, but nails a lovely looking bulldog and locks in the sharpshooter for the win.

Doink vs Eric Cody

The problem in the early days of Doink post-Matt Borne, is that the replacement Doink would try and replicate Borne’s mat skills to maintain the same style. However, he was nowhere near as capable as Borne, so you’d get periods of Doink holding armbars as if he was the new Ricky Steamboat. This is largely dull, bar Dink coming in to run over Cody’s prone body, which the ref seems to deem perfectly fine. A bit of token armwork and a slam seem to render Cody totally incapable of movement and the Whoopee Cushion gets the win.

1-2-3 Kid vs the Black Phantom

Fun little match, as Kid’s small stature means this is worked a bit more evenly than the usual squash. Black Phantom gets to show a bit with a nice short back elbow and a committed headfirst dive into the turnbuckle. Kid takes a big bump, almost landing on his neck on a missed dropkick. 1-2-3 Kid comes back with a lovely running dropkick in the corner, and a moonsault crossbody gets the win.

Crush vs Ray Hudson

Crush has been surprisingly fun in squashes in 94. Loved him grabbing a running Hudson by the throat with a swift chokeslam, and a thrust kick to the jaw looks vicious. Knee drop gets the very quick win.

PCW/GFW Global Conflict 2016

This is a co-promoted Preston City Wrestling/Global Force Wrestling show, though only 3 Global Force guys wrestle on the show. Still, it's quite a fun line-up and a pretty decent show all in all...

Lionheart vs Kenny Williams

Williams is quite a gangly looking guy, and his offence doesn’t look like it could cause too much damage. I enjoyed Lionheart’s control here, as he’s prepared to use his size advantage to outman Williams. Loved him putting Williams on the top rope only to punch him in the face. Williams further disappoints me by taking a superkick flush in the face, only to hit a rebound lariat. Still, Lionheart looked good, with the end seeing him superkick Williams in the head on the top rope then absolutely plant him with a Rock Bottom for 3.

Joe Hendry vs Dave Rayne

There’s more time spent here on angle than match, but it served to get a debuting Hendry over, so it served a purpose. Hendry’s schtick sees him singing a lot (including coming out to his own version of “In The Air Tonight”, with lyrics referencing his own name) and promising to sing in lieu of his match with an injured Joey Hayes. This prompts Rayne out to face him, but first lead the crowd through a singalong of “Sweet Caroline”. Being a true heel, Hendry attacks Rayne from behind before he even gets to the chorus. This was brief, but Hendry was pretty solid. Loved his fallaway slam before he hits a dominator for the win.

Sonjay Dutt vs Bubblegum

This is for Dutt’s GFW Next Gen title, which is a huge belt. Some really nice matwork to start, with Bubblegum maybe a little ahead on points. The pace picks up, and Dutt nails a massive baseball slide dropkick. Dutt’s octopus stretch looks nasty. Bubblegum is good at fighting from underneath, but he doesn’t get a whole load of offence here, mainly limited to hitting some swank kicks on his comebacks. They botch a backslide, but that aside everything looked good here. Dutt picks up the win following a tornado DDT and a top rope splash, before attacking Gum after the bell to cement himself as heel. Maybe a little too one sided, but this was fun.

Johnny Moss vs Chris Dickinson

Two big muscle-bound lads here. Their similar looks (bald heads, black trunks, ripped torsos) see the crowd yell Mitchell brothers references, which must have baffled Dickinson. Enjoyed the opening matwork and roll ups, as both guys strength made it look like they could power the other one down for a win and hold them there. Moss looks great here, nasty elbow drop and a lovely capture suplex. Dickinson for his part has some great footwork, with his standing kicks to the torso thudding like logs into Moss. They trade rolling German suplexes at one point, which is the kind of thing I normally hate, but it works here, as both guys show the effects of being worn down, getting up slower and slower each time. The end sees Dickinson maybe getting up a bit too quickly from a tombstone (though Moss takes his time getting to the top rope)and hitting a top rope falcon arrow to win. Really good big man match.

Jeff Jarrett vs Noam Dar

The commentary points out that Jarrett is 48 to Dar’s 22, so it’s probably no surprise that Jarrett brings out a whole heap of schtick. Loads of stalling at the start with Karen Jarrett getting into arguments with fans. Jarrett hits a pair of armdrags, both followed by a strut, so predictably Dar follows with one of his own after his first piece of offence. Jarrett actually keeps up with Dar pretty well – normally in matches like this the younger wrestler has to noticeably hold back to not show up the veteran, but Jarrett still moves well. Plus, he’s also wise enough to fall back on a load of cheap moves, poking the eyes and choking behind the ref’s back to maintain control. Dar’s comeback offence is a little flurry of quick, crisp offence that looks nice, before they pay off the continued Karen interference by having her accidentally slap Jarrett instead of Dar. Dar locks in the Champagne Superkneebar, but more Karen distraction allows Sonjay Dutt to sneak in and nail Dar with his oversized belt for the Jarrett win. A masterclass in cheap heat and stalling by Jarrett.

Team Single vs Jack Baron & Jack Garvin

Team Single are supposed to be fighting the Hooligans, but an injury to Roy Knight means that they instead offer an open challenge, answered by two rookies from the PCW academy. There’s a big size difference, and I’ve seen plenty of matches where the big veterans just guzzle up the rookies, but Team Single give a surprising amount to the two Jacks. Baron and Garvin seem green but have the fundamentals down. They logically focus on T-Bone’s arm and use their speed to try and avoid Rampage, but Brown catches Baron in midair on a Poetry in Motion attempt, dropping him on Garvin. Despite a decent period of control on Baron, Team Single still let the rookies back in, as Baron hits a nice tilt-a-whirl DDT to tag out. It’s played up that Team Single have underestimed the rookies, but it still lets Baron and Garvin look good. The end sees T-Bone German suplex Baron into the corner, crotching a climbing Garvin on top. Brown hits a superplex on Baron, with T-Bone following with a top rope splash for three.

Sha Samuels vs Dave Mastiff

For Samuels’ PCW title. Love the start with Samuels getting into Mastiff’s face, and getting grabbed with two overhead suplexes. They fight in the crowd, including some stiff headbutts from Mastiff. The camera does lose them a bit as they brawl in the audience, before Samuels suddenly reappears, thrown through a load of chairs from the back of the room. Samuels takes control by ramming Mastiff into the ringpost 3 times, before locking on a sleeper in the ring. He makes the mistake of jawing with the crowd though, which lets Mastiff break free and hit two big German suplexes. He looks set to hit the cannonball, before 3 masked men come out, causing a distraction for Samuels to hit the match-winning low blow. This was good, but felt too short and we missed a chunk of the crowd fighting due to the camera losing them, but what we did see was fun.