WWE 205 Live 27/12/2016

Cedric Alexander vs Tony Nese

Feels like another Alexander match being cut short to fit with their Alicia Fox storyline, but what they did fit in was fun. Think Nese may find himself in a difficult position, now they’ve given Neville a similar “bearded heel who is an incredible athlete with a muscular physique” gimmick, but I liked him here. Had a nice flashy combo of moves to down Cedric, but then slowed the match down on the mat so as to not overshadow the face. Alexander took a big bump to the floor when Nese shoves him from the top rope, and I dug his springboard clothesline. End was goofy, but fun, with Gulak claiming from the floor that Fox hit him, resulting in her getting sent to the back and Nese using the distraction to thwack Alexander with a palm strike for the win. Bonus points for Gulak looking like an utter boss in his suit.

Mustafa Ali vs John Yurnet

Glad to see them seemingly turning Ali face, saw him working that way in an AAW match, and he’s very likable. Plus you have to feel that the WWE couldn’t pull off the subtleties of an “You only boo me because of my heritage” gimmick. Since this match, it’s emerged Yurnet was probably injured going into this, and he seems to be limping right from the get go. Liked Aries trying to suggest he was just playing possum. Match is really brief due to the injury, with Ali hitting a reverse DDT and a sweet imploding 450 to win.

Neville vs Rich Swann

Neville continues his good work from last week, though he was noticeably a bit flashier this week than previously. I liked the fact he was able to keep up with Swann’s initial quickness, because Neville is still a superb athlete, but once in control he is much more deliberate. Loved him hurling Swann into the ring apron, with a nasty bump by Swann to boot. In the ring, Neville drives his elbow into Swann’s head in a nasty manner. I thought Neville was really good here at working his flashier offence into his character, hitting a standing shooting star to Swann’s back, which was a focal point of a lot of his offence. Swann is able to get more offense than in the previous week’s tag match, hitting a sweet looking Phoenix Splash to a standing Neville on the floor. I loved a lot of the touches in this, like Neville throwing Swann to the outside, giving him a beat to regain his bearings and nail an enzuigiri as soon as Swann was back on the apron, as well as Swann selling his beating with a slow walk across the ring, giving Neville time to attack. In the end, the cumulative beating from Neville slows Swann down too much, as he spends ages getting to the top rope, and Neville catches him with a superplex to win the match. Really enjoyed this, Neville has become a treat to watch.

Stardom Year-End Climax 22/12/2016

Ruaka vs Azumi vs Arisu Nanase

This is a rookie three way, with all three girls looking exceptionally young. You get the impression these three must have worked together and trained together a lot in their development, and thus a few sequences do look really slick – the quick exchange of role-ups where none of the girls looked lost for example. As the match progresses, a certain hierarchy in ability soon becomes apparent, highlighted by Nanase and Azumi putting a two-person crab on Ruaka, and only Azumi looking like she was applying any pressure. Nanase also has really flimsy looking strikes. Azumi looks the most capable of the three, though I was impressed at the angle of the Boston Crab applied by Ruaka to Nanase. However, Nanase escapes and cradles Ruaka for the pinfall. Nanase was probably the least impressive of the three, but this was a perfectly fine opener.

Konami vs Hiromi Mimura

The pre-match interview establishes this is Konami’s first Stardom match, though she has wrestled elsewhere. Her first move in the match is to snatch Mimura in a bodyscissors and go for the submission, and they work a nice little mat sequence of hold and counterhold. Mimura is a rookie, albeit more advanced than the girls in the opener, and she definitely seems to be improving from the matches I saw from her earlier in the year. Her selling was really good here as Konami decides to work on a leg, including it slowing her running the ropes and giving Konami an opening. At one point they work a strike exchange, but whilst Mimura goes for blows to the face, Konami unloads a kick to the leg, which takes Mimura longer to recover from. Mimura gets a close nearfall of a Majistral cradle, but a nasty looking rolling kneelock by Konami gets the tap. This was good.

Oedo Tai (Kris Wolf & Hana Kimura) vs Kaori Yoneyama & Saori Anou vs Jungle Kyona & Natsuko Tora

This match really flew by. After a brief bit of schtick at the start with Kimura, Anou and Kyona all posing for the cameras, this kicked off and didn’t slow down for the rest of the match. Hard to say there was any real structure, as people kept popping in and out of the ring without any tags, but it always felt like the people in the ring we actually trying to win. Nothing was done just for the purpose of looking cool, it always seemed to be to lead to a pinfall or a submission. Loved Anou teaming with Kyona, whipping her into the corner to splash Kimura, but then immediately rolling up Kyona from behind to try a flash pinfall. Yoneyama and Anou also locked a nice combo figure 8/head scissors on Tora, which looked cool. Wolf looked a lot more solid and confident than she did the first time I saw her compete, and Yoneyama, though short and stocky, was a little dynamo here, looked really good. The end saw Tora leap off her partner Kyona’s back to hit a big senton on Anou, but Wolf immediately dived in to cover Tora on impact and get the pin. A lot of fun.

Twisted Sisterz (Holidead & Thunder Rosa) vs Queen’s Quest (HZK & Momo Watanabe)

This was for the Sisterz NWA Vendetta Pro titles. Queen’s Quest seem pretty green, with mainly rookie offence like dropkicks and some soft looking blows, but they were game here, and sold nicely for the Sisterz. I really liked the fluid teamwork of Rosa and Holidead, with Holidead wheelbarrow suplexing her partner into a senton looking really choice. They zero in on the back of HZK, locking in pendulums and nailing a big back breaker, but I also liked that the moment Holidead makes a mistake and tangles her leg in the ropes, HZK goes right after it, kicking it in the ropes and locking in a figure four. Watanabe hits a really nice looking double-knees to Rosa’s face, but the result never feels in doubt due to the lack of power behind the rookie’s offence. They do get a really nice nearfall from a top rope senton, but Rosa is soon able to cradle HZK for the win.

BY HO (Kairi Hojo & Yoko Bito) vs Oedo Tai (Kyoko Kimura & Kagetsu)

This is for Oedo Tai’s tag titles. Odeo Tai take this to the floor early, which fits into their style of match more than their opponents. Kagetsu sends Bito sprawling into rows of chairs. Hojo has entered the match with strapping on her back, which is targeted by Kimura. It’s soon ripped off and Kimura lays in with a backbreaker and stomps. I liked the way, rather than go into a strike exchange, Kimura allows the smaller Hojo to unload with chops, in the process wearing herself out, and then levelling her with one big strike. Bito tags in, but doesn’t fare too well. However, her in ring stint does allow Hojo time to recover. Her flying punch from the top looks great. Loved Hojo diving in to save Bito from taking a knockout kick to the head to turn the momentum for their team. Oedo Tai try to use briefcases as weapons to turn the tide, but it backfires when Kagetsu hits Kimura by accident. Hojo blasts Kagetsu with her awesome elbow drop and Bito follows this with a Jig’N’Tonic for the titles.

Io Shirai vs Mayu Iwatani

This is for Shirai’s World of Stardom title, and is an absolute blast. Shirai played the role of dominant ace perfectly, with a cool and slightly cruel demeanour, giving a slight hint of a smirk after slamming Iwatani on the wooden floor. I liked the way they showed Shirai coming into the match with a gameplan, as she wedged Mayu’s leg in a chair before hitting it with a running dropkick. The injured leg provided an opening that Shirai would use to try and make comebacks later in the match when Iwatani was in control. Iwatani, as the challenger, really put it all on the line to win the title for the first time. A crossbody to the floor is followed by a Dragon Suplex on the floor. This is the match turning point that starts things really rolling for Iwatani, as Shirai can barely beat the count, and this is the first notable momentum shift. Iwatani goes for the Dragon Suplex at several points in the match, hitting a nasty one on the ring apron and a conventional one in the ring for a close nearfall. However, she goes to the well once too often as she tries for a top rope version, only to have Shirai land on her feet and nail a series of awesome rolling Germans, where she rolls over Mayu as if to make an O’Connor roll, then rolls through to her feet and suplexes Iwatani again. This was a very back and forth match, but the changes in momentum felt organic and both girls really sold their exhaustion in the closing stages. The end sequence was excellent, with Shirai spiking Mayu after reversing a tombstone, then nailing two consecutive moonsaults for the win. Terrific, terrific match.

ECW Hardcore TV #6 11/05/1993

The Super Destroyers vs Tony Stetson & Larry Winters

This is hair vs titles, with Tommy Cairo handcuffed to the Destroyers’ manager Hunter Q Robbins on the floor. It’s also no DQ, which Jay Sulli on commentary seems to keep forgetting. The opening stages where they brawl outside are actually pretty exciting, and the Destroyers actually look like big killers for a change. The camera cutting regularly to Cairo and Robbins makes the match harder to follow, but then it transpires there’s no real match structure anyway, so we’re not missing anything. No real heat worked on the faces, just guys getting in and out of the ring, and no transitions to offence, just guys deciding it’s their turn to go on the offensive. Winters has the wimpiest kicks to the head I’ve ever seen. Thankfully the end soon comes, as Robbins throws his cane into the ring (good job stopping that Tommy Cairo!) and Stetson intercepts it and crowns a Destroyer for the title

Jimmy Snuka & Eddie Gilbert vs JT Smith & Max Thrasher

The formatting of this show continues to suck, as they book two tag matches back to back. There’s bits of this that are good: Gilbert continues to impress and has some nice offence, and I dug this cool reverse slam Smith did. The rest is pretty meh, with Thrasher’s sole contribution being to tag in, eat a Gilbert backbreaker and a Superfly splash for the loss.

Sal Bellomo vs The Canadian Wolfman

Wolfman is just an obese bald man with regrettable tattoos in jeans. He’s utterly terrible, starting the match by just looking at Bellomo, who just wanders up and punches him. He also can even take a snapmere bump, which is unfortunate as Bellomo seems to want to use quite a few. Bellomo splash finishes this quickly.

Jonathan Hotbody vs Tommy Cairo

This is a lumberjack match, and is probably match of the show. I liked Hotbody’s continued attempts to cower away from Cairo, despite the match stipulation, and especially how his partner Chris Candido was complicit in that, trying to provide him shelter outside the ring. There’s a nice bump when Hotbody throws Cairo to the floor and the Cairo/Robbins story from the start of the episode is paid off when it’s a Robbins cane shot that provides the knockout blow to put Cairo out. Call this a mild win.

The Sandman & Miss Peaches vs Rockin' Rebel & Tigra
This doesn't even get a finish. The main story is that Tigra wont tag in, forcing Rebel to wrestle all the match. This means he has to take Sandman's terrible looking offence. Honestly, becoming drunken hardcore Sandman gave him a career, because surfer Sandman is just a mess of sloppy looking spots and weak offence - his grazing dropkick here being a case in point. Rebel does take a big bump over the top to the floor to become the worker of the match. Tigra and Peaches finally get in...and the show ends just as they hook up. Excellent work lads.

WWE 205 Live 20/12/2016

Ariya Daivari vs Lince Dorado

Not been too impressed with either guy since 205 Live has started, but Daivari was clearly superior here. He had some nasty looking impact to his strikes, and I dug both the rainmaker neckbreaker and his whip into a big clothesline. After threatening last week to show me something I’ve never seen before, Dorado has been really unimpressive: springboard stunner looks shitty, tope saw him go vertical and basically headbutt Daivari’s thigh and he nearly slipped springboarding into the ring for a rana. Daivari polished him off with a frog splash. Daivari feels like a good worker, just not interesting enough for this division, might fit in better with the heavyweights.

Cedric Alexander vs Drew Gulak

Some of this was really good, but it fell victim to the ongoing Cedric/Fox/Dar storyline. Gulak showed nice early aggression, nailing some big forearms and taking advantage when Alexander takes his eyes off the prize (to talk to the ref) by hurling him into the ropes. Both guys take a big bump to the floor as a suplex reversal takes both over the top, but we get the booking coming in with Fox hurting her ankle, and Noam Dar coming out to carry her to the back. Even with this distraction, Gulak can’t beat Cedric, and the Lumbar Check puts him away. Gulak has lost 3 on the bounce now on this show, guy is far too talented to be enhancement talent when there’s guys like Dorado and the Bollywood Boyz kicking about.

Neville & Brian Kendrick vs TJ Perkins & Rich Swann

Man, heel Neville is already one of the most interesting wrestlers on this show, loved how he was portrayed here. Neville is a mass of muscle compared to most guys in the division, and the power advantage was put over really well here. He battered Swann from the get go, with a seated dropkick to the back of Swann’s head looking like it took Swann out. Neville never looks in any danger, and Perkins can only get in by blind tagging Swann, who looks overwhelmed. Kendrick likewise has to blind tag in, with Neville unwilling to share his spotlight. I liked the dynamic of the face team realising their best chance of winning is to isolate Kendrick, as it really puts over how much of an impact Neville is having on them. Swann tags himself back in, but I love that he’s still so hurt from Neville’s beating that he takes a little too long getting in, giving Kendrick an opening to strike. Swann takes a flatliner bump right on the top of his head, which looks killer. Neville gets back in and nails a great looking deadlift German for 2. Neville has been less flashy than usual, all clotheslines and heavy strikes, and I like that the one time he does get flashy, landing on his feet from a top rope moonsault, he gets caught with a Swann superkick for a close 2 count. With Swann so weak, it leaves Perkins having to carry a lot for his team, and when he springboards into the ring straight into a enzuigiri, it spells doom. The Red Arrow gets three for Neville, and this new attitude really works for him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

WWF Raw 25/4/1994

Jeff Jarrett vs Razor Ramon

Non title match here, with Razor still holding the gold. Jarrett goes for some smart controls early, sliding to the floor and suckering Ramon out to be attacked. Jarrett shows a few nice bits, including a neat diving fist drop. Annoying ad break clip returns with Ramon hitting a sunset flip, and I liked that Jarrett tried to block it, only for Razor to physically hook the arms with his legs to pull him over, instead of Jarrett toppling for no reason. Ramon makes a comeback, which draws out Shawn Michaels. Razor beats him up handily, but Diesel comes out to draw the DQ. Was pretty good until the non-ending.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Tony Devito

Bigelow remains a pretty dull squash worker, with lots of dead time between his moves. Just nothing compelling despite his execution being fine. An enzuigiri and a headbutt get the win

Heavenly Bodies vs John Paul & Jason Headings

Paul feels like a guy higher on the jobber tier, so he doesn't get totally punked out, looking semi-competitive until he's hit with a double superkick by the Bodies. Del Ray hits a lovely sitout powerbomb on him before Headings comes in. Headings' first act is to grab Pritchard, rush into the corner with him to allow a Del Ray "blind tag", then go to the centre of the ring for an Irish whip. Just looked very amateur, and the Bodies should have known better. They make up for it by blitzing Headings with some fun double-teams: Pritchard back suplexes Del Ray onto Headings, they nail him with a combo powerbomb/neckbreaker and finish the job by Pritchard holding Headings in place for a Del Ray moonsault press.  

1-2-3 Kid vs Duane Gill

Kid squashes are always fun, as they actually feel like competitive bouts. Here, Gill gets to throw Kid from the ring and knock him back down as he tries to climb back in. I like that Kid retorts by using a springboard clothesline to get in, using offense as an opening. Nice leg lariat gets the win.

Owen Hart vs Rich Myers

Really vicious Owen showcase here, with some nice punches and stiff headbutts thrown. Also, loved the bulldog, where it looked like he really was trying to drive Myers’ face into the mat. Nice stuff, ended with a sharpshooter. Owen is up there with Jarrett and Kid as the best of these 94 Raw squash workers.

WWE Main Event 13/05/2014

Damien Sandow vs Dolph Ziggler

This was better than I thought it was going to be, albeit not something I’d actually call good. Liked some of the things Sandow did, like the vicious little elbow he did on a rope break to take the advantage, which he sadly then followed with some weak blows. They did go to a chinlock very early, but Sandow at least made it fun with some shit-talking. Some bits were off – a drop toehold into the ropes saw Ziggler having to walk two or three paces before falling, but Sandow showed an aggressive side, which led to him dropping a few nasty kneedrops. The aggression proved his undoing, as he puts too much force into a back suplex, with Ziggler flipping to his feet and hitting a flash zig zag for the win. Surprisingly decent.

Emma vs Alicia Fox

The start of this is great, as Fox gets on the mic…and almost immediately hurls it at Emma’s face. She keeps attacking before the ref can ring the bell, then immediately hits a backbreaker when it does. She dumps Emma through the ropes to the floor, which looks nasty. Like Emma selling her wooziness at being beaten down, so she takes too long to hit her corner crossbody, meeting only knees. Suddenly, Emma pulls out a roll up from nowhere and wins. Real shitty ending to a fun match.

Sheamus vs Cesaro

Yeah, there’s no way these two were going to have a bad match, and they both put it all out there for Main Event. Love the aggression from both guys, both happy to take a blow and lay one out at the same time. I loved how evenly this was worked, but in a way that both guys were getting worn down by the beating they’d take. Neither guy gets a sustained advantage as they’re both hurting too much from the damage they’ve taken to fully capitalise. Some nice offensive spots by both guys, loved Cesaro’s draping DDT over the ropes to send Sheamus’ head into the apron, and Sheamus hit a rare top rope dive to the floor. Sheamus misses a Brouge Kick and before he’s got both feet on the floor, Cesaro deadlifts him for a swank German suplex. It felt like an odd time for them to fight – Cesaro just a few weeks into his Paul Heyman run and Sheamus only just winning the US belt – as neither guy felt right losing, so when they both head to the floor, you know we’re getting a double count-out. Really good bout though, as these two always have.

WWE 205 Live 13/12/2016

Jack Gallagher vs Drew Gulak

My two favourites in the division here. Enjoyed the opening exchanges on the mat, managed to showcase how both guys are very close in technique, but Gulak’s hot-headedness at Gallagher’s ways would cost him as he ran headfirst into Jack’s traps. Loved the rolling crucifix, where they cycled around the ring. Though it wasn’t portrayed as such by the commentary team, who saw it as the two men battling for supremacy, it felt more like Gallagher disorientating Gulak and trying to get the pin. Gulak gets a few nice moments, starting with a nasty looking slam into the ropes. This gives him an opening by hurting Gallagher’s neck, which briefly becomes his focus. I liked the way they exchanged strikes, only a few blows, but treated as if they really hurt, culminating with Gallagher’s bullet headbutt. This gives him the opening for the corner dropkick to win. Criminally short, but what we got was great.

Lince Dorado vs Mustafa Ali

Very brief, and not anything exciting. Dorado does a pre-match interview promising to do things you’ve never seen before, but certainly here he does nothing to distinguish himself from any other generic high flier. Ali had the better moments here, slinkily avoiding Dorado in the corner to hit a big roundhouse kick and a rolling neckbreaker. Dorado’s offence looks a bit milky and his handspring stunner is clunky. His big top rope rana was pretty good though. The end sees Dorado hit an Asai moonsault to the floor and it puts both guys out of commission for the double count out. Kinda makes Dorado look like an idiot by putting himself out of action.

TJ Perkins vs Rich Swann

This was fine, but definitely the weakest main event of this show so far. Felt the most inconsequential. The opening exchanges were quite fun, liked Perkins showing some subtle frustration early on. Perkins’ slingshot dropkick to the apron always looks nice, and Swann seemed to do a bit more highflying than he has in previous weeks. His rolling thunder frogsplash looked pretty good. I think being face vs face made this feel a bit more of an exhibition and also affected the crowd reactions, so it was nice to see them work in an injury to Swann’s leg to give the match a bit more story. He injures it missing a moonsault to the floor and, following a sweet twisting pescado by Perkins, it becomes the focal point of TJ’s attack. Swann makes a brief comeback, but tries his leaping 450 like an idiot, causing his knee to buckle on the first jump. This lets Perkins quickly lock in the kneebar for the tap. Nothing particularly wrong with this, but not something you’ll remember for long.

CHIKARA Aniversario 3:Dodging The Sophomore Jinx

Shane Storm vs Rorschach vs Sabian vs Melvin Snodgrass vs DJ Skittlez vs Private Eye vs Hallowicked vs Blind Rage

With the exception of Rage, Sabian and Hallowicked, this is very much the dregs of the 2004 CHIKARA roster, thankfully all dumped into one match so as not to infect the rest of the card. This is a Royal Rumble with 60 second intervals, with the final two facing off later in the night. There’s not much to this, though the good thing about this format is that it means guys like Rorschach stick to chops and punches, which they’re ok at, rather than going through a load of moves they can’t do very well. A lot of the comedy doesn’t work too well here, as the audience has a lot of guy in there to look at, so only a select few actually spot the comedy bits. In a manner typical of crappy indy rumbles, there are no eliminations until everyone gets in, then they all go out really quickly. Hallowicked goes out second, meaning I’m praying Sabian and Rage are the final two. In fact, those two make it to the final 3 with DJ Skittlez, and my heart sinks on realising he’s going to make the final. Seconds later, Sabian is dispatched and I’m left to wonder if Rage is going to be able to carry Skittlez.

Darkness Crabtree vs Jolly Roger

The opening moments of this match are quite auspicious, as Crabtree is sent out and just casually wanders into position for Roger to dive on him. The problem with the Crabtree gimmick is that, because he’s played as a barely mobile senior citizen, it makes the face look inept if they have any struggles with him. Here, we get a proper Crabtree heat section, with Roger having to lie on the mat for ages as Crabtree performs a slow mo people’s elbow. I did enjoy Crabtree’s springboard butt-butt to the floor, and they pay off Crabtree’s crabwalk diving headbutt with Roger reversing a second try into a (admittedly crappy) diving stunner. Roger hits Walk The Plank to win.

Murat Bosporus vs Chris Hero

Having two guys like this in the next match feels like a breath of fresh air. This opens with some really fun counter chain wrestling, both guys looking really comfortable doing it. Bosporus shows surprising agility for a squat, stocky guy, cartwheeling out of wristlocks. Bosporus shows the first signs of frustration, using forearms to the face when he can’t counter out of a wristlock, positioning him as the heel. The next section of the match sees them both finding a body part to work over, Bosporus focusing on Hero’s back with a series of backbreakers and slams, whilst Hero keeps his focus on the left arm. Loved Hero selling his back pain by pausing momentarily before running the ropes, a hesitation that gives Bosporus time to prepare and send him over the top to the floor. I liked Hero climbing to the top rope with Bosporus’ arm and dropping down with a twisting hammerlock, which he also sells as hurting his back. Taking the risk in order to hurt Bosporus more. The end was pretty choice, with Hero hitting Hero’s Welcome, with the left arm trapped in a hammerlock, and chaining to the Hangman’s Clutch to win. This was real good.

DJ Skittlez vs Blind Rage

So could Rage carry Skittlez to something watchable? Against all odds, the answer is yes. The trick seems to have been to just keep it simple. At first Rage is on the defensive, taking some big bumps to make Skittlez offence look good. The height Rage gets from a backbodydrop is impressive to behold. Rage manages to hit a dragon screw from nowhere, and from there he focuses his attention to Skittlez’s leg. Rage works it over in an entertaining manner, including a nice low dropkick that sends Skittlez faceplanting onto the mat. Skittlez doesn’t blow any moves on his comeback either, with a spinning slam looking good. At one point, he goes for the Rainbow Bomb from the top, and I thought they’d blown it as it looked more like Rage had given him a bulldog – only to realise that he HAD given Skittlez a bulldog, and it was actually a nice reversal. Rage locks in the STF and gets the win. Perfectly fine match. Post match, Rage cuts a promo to announce his retirement.

Hallowicked & Ultramantis Black vs Mr Zero & Shane Storm

Have to give props to the surprisingly fluid faux-lucha sequence at the start with Black and Storm, looked really good. Zero is fired up to take on his former partner Black, who decides to hide away from tagging in. Given this story, it’s therefore a bit odd when they throw in a bit of awkward comedy (Storm holding up his stop sign to freeze the heels in place) to undermine it. The heels work the heat on Storm, showing some nice teamwork. Zero gets the hot tag, finally getting his hands on Black, but his offence feels a bit lacking, doesn’t seem to be as fired up as you would assume. They start brawling in the crowd and into the toilets, and it all becomes a bit of a mess. Things just break down and don’t look very good. There’s a really nice spot where Zero hits a sitout facebuster onto Storm’s sign (taken with gusto by Ultramantis) that feels like it should finish, but Hallowicked saves. Hallowicked hits a Yakuza kick on Storm to win. Underwhelming match, feels like they could all do better.

Mike Quackenbush, Icarus & Gran Akuma vs Jigsaw & the Wildcards

So, the stipulations for this dictate that whoever eats the pin or submits is punished. For the faces, Quack loses his 6 titles to whomever pins him, Icarus shaves his head and Akuma loses his mask. For the heels, Jigsaw loses his mask and both Wildcards will get their heads shaved. On top of this, if the heels lose, CHIKARA commissioner Cavalier Jones is fired from the company. This is also fought under lucha rules. Got all that? Cool

This goes nearly 40 minutes, and I will say it kept my attention for the entire run. I did have some issues with the match structure, but the action was crisp throughout and everything looked good. I loved Quack throughout this, he’s really a joy to watch in CHIKARA and here he showed a more vicious side than usual – at one point he blasts Blackjack Marciano flush in the face with a kick whilst BJM is in a Camel Clutch. Eddie Kingston is also terrific here – he’s a shit-talking, stooging heel who can turn it on offensively and the switch doesn’t look awkward. At one point here he’s blitzing Akuma with crossfaces, ripping at his mask and lacing in penalty kicks to the back. I think everyone here looked good, but there were issues with the match. Firstly, for an important match with so much at stake, there were still a few too many cutesy comedy bits, like a 6 way headlock or a sequence where the heels end up being dropped into each other’s balls and sitting on each other’s faces. Secondly, and more distractingly, the faces dominate the vast majority of the bout, to the point it just feels inevitable that they’ll win. For ages, the heels are bumbling around, unable to gain any traction whilst the faces outsmart them and make them look like idiots. Marciano suffers to most indignity, as his moves are easily reversed, he eats several low blows and loudly yelps like a buffoon as he gets schooled again and again. When the heels finally get to work a short heat section, it’s wisely on Akuma, a man who has been demasked in previous shows and therefore is the most likely to lose on his team. Things predictably breakdown towards the end, with a few nice little story touches. Most interestingly, the Wildcards fall out with Jigsaw after preventing him pinning Quack after a Jig N Tonic, presumably because they want to win Quacks titles. This leads to Jigsaw walking out, and in the end this costs the Wildcards. Akuma reverse Kingston’s Kondo Clutch to one of his own, Icarus spears BJM from the ring and, with no partner left, Kingston is forced to submit. For all my complaints, this is a fitting pay off for the Wildcards reign of terror and the head shaving is a really fun moment.

WWE 205 Live 06/12/2016

Noam Dar vs Cedric Alexander

Interesting match structure here, as Dar really dominates for the most part. Love the way that Dar seems to have a gameplan from the offset, working the left arm of Alexander from a headlock reversal right from the get go. From there, Dar seems to use the arm as a focal point, stopping every Alexander comeback with a quick kick to the arm, or locking on an armbar. That’s not to say Cedric doesn’t get a few choice spots to shine here. Loved him going for a tope, Dar ducking to avoid, and Cedric instead waiting to hit a slingshot dropkick through the ropes. The armwork is the main crux of the match, and Dar does some neat things as part of his control. Loved him pulling down Alexander’s elbow pad to grind his knuckles into the arm and his wrapping the ropes to inflict more punishment. Alexander puts over the pain too, including having to adjust his bodyweight during a pin attempt due to leaning on the arm, making it easier for Dar to escape. The end sees Cedric missing a corner charge, ramming the bad arm into the ringpost, and Dar has the opening to hit a running kick for the win. Really fun match, really put Dar over strongly.

Jack Gallagher vs Ariya Daivari

Third time these two have fought, and Gallagher is still selling the leg that Daivari had injured on Raw. Love Gallagher thinking about his usual leap into the ring to enter, but thinking better of it. The focal point of Daivari’s attack, unsurprisingly, was the leg, but Gallagher still managed to be his peer on the mat despite this. Loved them throwing in a few references to previous matches. Gallagher again did his handstand in the corner schtick, but this time Daivari decided to grab a leg, only for Gallagher to use it to push him away. Daivari got to show a vicious side by focusing on Gallagher’s leg, but his offence on it wasn’t particularly interesting. Mainly just him hitting it into things. Loved Gallagher trying flash pins to get the win, aware that he needed to get out of the match as quickly as possible. He also had a moment where he looked to be considering the corner dropkick, but decided against it. This gives Daivari time to take the leg out again and hit a frog splash to win. Not as good as last weeks match, Daivari isn’t a particularly compelling offensive wrestler.

Rich Swann vs The Brian Kendrick

Last weeks match was really good, and whilst this week was fun, it was still the lesser match. Loved Kendrick hitting Sliced Bread on the floor early to damage the neck of Swann, the neck he’d damaged the previous week. Kendrick’s offence concentrates on the head and neck from this point, which looks really good. Nice crossfaces to the head, and I loved the way he hit a big Dragon suplex and went straight into the Captain’s Hook. Shows the desperation he has to win the belt early. Swann makes a comeback, including a nice tumbleweed to the floor, but his neck injury prevents him being able to really follow up on moves. Kendrick gets the Hook again, and I love how he works it, adjusting his body position to prevent Swann making the ropes as well as cranking on the pressure of the move. Kendrick essentially flatliners Swann into the ringpost, which looked nasty. The end is sadly a bit hooky, as in escaping a Dragon sleeper, Swann throws Kendrick into TJ Perkins, who is commentating. This distracts Kendrick, who goes face to face with Perkins, leaving him prone to a roundhouse kick for the Swann ring. Not a fan of the finish, as Kendrick has been shown as obsessed with the Cruiserweight title, so him letting Perkins distract him didn’t ring true. Still, this was fun.

ECW Hardcore TV #5 04/05/193

Eddie Gilbert & Don Muraco vs JT Smith & Glen Osbourne

Gilbert really feels like a breath of fresh air in these shows, as his execution is far crisper and his movement far better than anyone else in the promotion. Liked a few bits from Muraco here, his slingshot of Smith that sends Smith throat-first into the bottom rope is pretty good. Hotstuff International target Smith’s head and throat, with a neckbreaker and a loaded thumb to the throat from Muraco. Osbourne is tagged in to no reaction, and hits an admittedly sweet tombstone to Gilbert, but a debuting Paul E Dangerously clubs him with his phone and Gilbert picks up the pin. This wasn’t too bad.

Super Destroyers vs Tony Stetson & Larry Winters

The more I watch of Stetson and Winters, the more pronounced the gulf in ability becomes. Winters looks pretty poor here, stumbling over when trying to hiptoss a Destroyer, whereas Stetson has some nice touches. Dug the thrust headbutt to the Destroyer’s arm to continue his team’s basic armwork, and he gets nice height on a flying forearm. The Destroyers work a dull heat segment on Winters, including some truly terrible chokes, where the Destroyer waggles his elbow about in an unconvincing attempt to make it look like he’s adding more pressure. Stetson is tagged in, but gets caught with a loaded punch when trying a back suplex, giving the Destroyers the pin.

The Sandman vs Sal Bellomo

This was terrible. Bellomo is a terrible offensive wrestler, all chokes and wimpy looking stomps. Sandman here has an odd habit of trying roll ups that only manage to send Bellomo into the ropes. Bellomo locks in a terrible submission, where I honestly thought he was trying a sloppy pinfall. Sandman only looks mildly inconvenienced. The end is a special type of dreadful, as Sandman clotheslines Bellomo from the ring, and Sal decides to wander about talking to the crowd and gets counted out. An absolutely abysmal match.

Rockin’ Rebel vs Ernesto Benefico

Very quick squash. Liked the cockiness of Rebel taking Benefico’s legs out and casually slapping his face. Big elbow drop, powerslam and a spinebuster wins it for the Rebel

Johnny Hotbody vs Tommy Cairo

This is billed as a grudge match, so of course they give it less than 5 minutes. Hotbody looks really good in places here, and then absolutely shocking. Loved how he stumbled into Cairo armdrags, made it look really natural as if he was being caught unawares. He also hits a lovely diving elbow from the ring apron to the floor. But then, there’s his superplex. Honestly, it takes so long to get into place that it feels almost inevitable that Cairo will reverse it. They go for the move and it looks like Cairo has reversed to a top rope spinebuster, but no! The commentary, and Cairo’s selling, tells us that Hotbody did indeed hit his superplex. Absolutely dreadful. Cairo rolls up Hotbody, ramming his head into an interfering Chris Candido, and gets the win.

WWE Main Event 06/05/2014

Jack Swagger vs Dolph Ziggler

In typical Ziggler match fashion, there’s good parts of this (the parts where Ziggler doesn’t do much) and some fucking terrible parts (when Ziggler goes on offence). Loved the big Swagger takedowns early on, and there were even moments when you remember that Ziggler used to be a college wrestler, as he looks ok working reversals on the mat. Loved Swagger flinging Ziggler across the ring, sending him over the turnbuckles to the floor – big bump for Ziggler to take on Main Event. Swagger does some fun work on Ziggler’s arm, and I dug him putting Dolph’s hand over his (Swagger’s) chest to do the “We The People” chant. Then Dolph goes on offence…terrible you-can’t-count-along 10 punches in the corner, sloppy fameasser, that abysmal slap-on-the-back DDT. Just awful. Things further fall off a cliff, as Adam Rose comes out for no reason (Swagger has been wrestling cleanly throughout) to bully Zeb Colter on commentary. Literally, Rose and all his Rosebuds come out to swarm Colter, essentially just intimidating a senior citizen for no reason. Swagger, rightly concerned for his manager’s well-being, is distracted, and Ziggler hits the zig-zag to win. First half was decent, but this ended up as utter shit.

Natalya, Cameron & Naomi vs Tamina, Aksana & Alicia Fox

Cameron and Natalya have some tension at the start, based around Cameron losing Nattie’s cat on that week’s episode of Total Divas. Not much to this, though I did like Fox’s big boot to Natalya off a Tamina distraction. Aksana looks pretty bad here, though credit due for fully committing to her missed elbow drop. Naomi comes in with a weird pedigree/piledriver move, which begins with Aksana draped over the ropes, and finishes with a split-legged moonsault. Tamina and Cameron are wisely left out for most of this, but it’s still a bit rubbish.

Goldust vs Curtis Axel

This was the match of the show by some margin. Both guys showed some nice intensity, and I dug Axel’s big running knee. Both guys also seem to have their timing down, as Goldust gets a really convincing nearfall off a jackknife pin when Axel misses a dropkick. This was pretty short, but all enjoyable, and the end sees a nice bit of misdirection. Both were accompanied by their tag partners, and the previous weeks had seen some tension building between Goldust and Cody, based upon Goldust beating people that Cody couldn’t. Here, the action spills to the floor, and it looks like Cody is trying to hit his brother with a Disaster Kick off the barriers, but instead he takes out Ryback who is about to sneak attack Goldie. Back inside, and the Final Cut gives Goldust the win. Dug this.