WWF Prime Time Wrestling 02/06/1986

Don Muraco vs Danny Spivey

Not the exciting opener you might hope for to kick off this episode. Muraco is really happy to stall and waste a lot of time at the start of the bout, to the point that I’m quite happy when an impatient Spivey just says “fuck it” and stomps him as he gets in. Muraco takes control after hurling Spivey through the ringside barriers, then controls him with some very methodical offence. The best stuff in this bout comes from Spivey, and I liked his comeback punches which are quite fired up. The end sees Spivey try to suplex Muraco back in from the apron, but gets cradled for the win.

Tony Garea vs Mr X

Mr X is a masked Danny Davis. This is a truly terrible bout, controlled for the vast majority of it by Mr X holding a headlock. At one point, you can actively hear the crowd groan when X cuts off an attempted comeback and goes for another headlock. Garea gets the odd comeback, but X will always cut it off almost straight away, often by hitting Garea with a knee as he charges in. As a positive, Mr X does hit a nice legdrop, but this is mostly boring nonsense. Garea eventually gets the win with an O’Connor roll.

Lanny Poffo vs Psycho Capone

Really odd match. Capone looks like a scrawny “Double J” era Jeff Jarrett and this is strangely uncooperative in places. Poffo is mainly in control here, breaking an arm wringer with a big boot that he nicely holds in Capone’s face. Poffo does some nice 80’s high-flying hitting a flipping second rope senton and a moonsault. This should be the end, but Capone awkwardly kicks out. There’s a bit of confusion, before Poffo hit a slingshot senton to win. Basically a Poffo squash with Capone getting up quickly after some moves. Very strange.

King Tonga vs Tiger Chung Lee

This is JIP with some nice bits, but also some dull bits. Both work leg control sections that are pretty dull, neither guy seems to want to do anything more than hold the opponents foot. Better are the strikes from both men. Nice leaping enzuigiri from Tonga, vicious kicks to the face from Chung Lee and both men laying into each other aggressively. Tonga picks up the win with a big thrust kick.

The British Bulldogs vs The Hart Foundation

Real prick tease of a match. This barely goes five minutes and has a shitty ending, which is really annoying as the match was shaping up to be really good. The familiarity the four men had with each other means that there’s no holding back on some big shots. Bret hits some lovely looking European uppercuts in the corner on Dynamite and commits to missing a massive second rope elbow, and I’m getting pretty excited about this match…then the Harts hit the Hart Attack mostly behind the refs back, he turns around and disqualifies them. Just a baffling, bullshit end to a fun match.

Ted Arcidi vs Big John Studd

And of course this ended up being twice the length. The amount of time they spend stalling, dithering about a test of strength then working the test of strength is longer than the whole tag match. At times, there’s not a single bit of motion on screen as they linger in the same position working the test of strength. Eventually, they do a bit of fighting, with Arcidi gassing himself out after a series of soft looking forearms. He grinds down Studd with a series of running ax handles, the logic of which I quite like, before Studd boots him outside, seemingly to let him catch his breath. Studd keeps preventing Arcidi from getting in, before Arcidi drags him out and they “brawl” to a double countout. Yep, not even a clean finish on this stinker.

ECW Hardcore TV #29 26/10/1993

The Bad Breed vs Don E Allen & Chad Austin

Fun squash, with the Bad Breed looking like fun tubby bullies. There’s more than a hint of the Nasty Boys in their performance, not just because Axl is a dead spit for late 90’s fatter Brian Knobbs. Ian probably shows a bit more than Axl here, loved his full Nelson suplex on Allen before catching a top rope crossbody by Austin, and slamming him into the corner, ultimately sending him over the top rope. Axl hits a second rope leg lariat, essentially just hurling his massive frame at Austin, before a rocket launcher splash puts Ian on top for the three.

Rockin’ Rebel vs Chris Michaels

I have, at worst, as soft spot for both guys, so the fact this ends up as the backdrop for a Sal Bellomo angle is disappointing. Basically, we’re joined-in-progress with Rebel decimating Michaels, picking him up on pins after a DDT and a piledriver, but Bellomo stops him before he’s able to attack Michaels with a chair. Probably the highlight was Rebel holding the chair over his head, dropping it in shock on seeing Bellomo, and the chair accidentally landing on the head of the fallen referee

There’s supposed to be a Bad Company vs Snuka/Muraco match, but the Public Enemy destroy Bad Company before the bell, so Snuka/Muraco win by forfeit

Shane Douglas vs JT Smith

This is an ECW title match, but Smith is going in with a bad knee. Smith gets in zero offence, as Douglas goes right to the knee and works it over. Smith can’t even get in an early slam attempt without his leg collapsing. Douglas puts in a figure four and Terry Funk throws in the towel on Smith’s behalf. Nothing to this, but it’s all set up for the post-match angle where Funk beats up Smith, annoyed at his reaction to the match being stopped.

PCW PowerBombShells 2017

Rhio vs Sierra Loxton

Both ladies are pretty young, but you can tell that Loxton is a bit more polished at this point. She’s got a bit more aggression about her offence, putting real force behind her forearms and looking comfortable working Rhio over on the mat. Her hip attacks in the corner look nasty and there’s real snap on her German suplex. Rhio’s offence is a bit softer, but she does take a nice looking bump from a DDT. Sadly, she ends up winning with the worst looking move of the match, some sort of Sister Abigail/Flatliner that doesn’t hit well, but both showed their promise.

Molly Spartan vs Jokey vs Jennie B

Fun triple threat with a mixed cast of characters. Spartan is the largest of the ladies and plays brickwall really well, letting the other two bounce off her. It takes Jokey and Jennie B teaming up to down her. Really liked the bulldog Jokey hit on a weakened Spartan, really drove her face into the mat. I was less of a fan of Spartan selling a Jennie B bronco buster with some disgusted retching, felt a bit of a cheap joke. Spartan gets to hit a lovely looking powerbomb, but Jennie B, who is in the match the least, ends up getting the pin, covering both women.

Jayde vs Lady Chardonnay Darcy

I was more familiar with both of these guys, though I hadn’t seen Darcy since she appeared in HOPE in her “chav” guise as simply Chardonnay. She looks in slightly better shape her, a bit stronger and more athletic. Jayde I saw have a decent enough match with Angelina Love, also in HOPE, but she’s very much the rookie here. They work a fun wristlock sequence to start, both girls looking comfortable with Jayde holding her own. Really liked Jayde breaking a run of Darcy control with a vicious headbutt. Some of her other offence looks a little hesitant, but she carries her weight in this match, and her back suplex looks terrific. Darcy is really smooth here, there’s that certain sheen of competence and professionalism some wrestlers have where you know you’re in good hands, and Darcy definitely has that here. A chokebomb sees Darcy pick up the win.

Jayla Dark vs Sadie Gibbs

Another good match, again pairing a more experienced pro with a relative rookie. Gibbs has a great look, seems to be a natural athlete, but has a few moments where her inexperience tells and Dark gets it back on track. Gibbs has a lovely looking standing moonsault early on, before Dark rolls out to sit on the apron. This seems to be to lure Gibbs in, as Dark drops her over the top rope when she reaches for her. Dark catches a charging Gibbs with a really perfectly timed kick, and it’s this kind of experienced sheen that helps keep the match together. Gibbs does have a habit of posing too much at times that don’t fit the move that’s just taken place, but the basics are there. Dark gets the win with a vicious looking Rocker Dropper.

Session Moth Martina vs Nadia Sapphire

This was a comedy match, but a fun one that broke the card up nicely. These feel like two characters who clash nicely for comic effect, with Sapphire’s high-maintenance egotist schtick working against the Moth’s chain-smoking, heavy-drinking antics. The few bits of actual wrestling here were really good. Sapphire laying out Martina in the ropes to hit a running hip attack was nice. Martina picked up the win with a codebreaker, this did what it needed to do.

Kasey Owens vs Jennie B

Owens was supposed to face Lucy Cole here, but an injury means she’s issuing an open challenge here. This really explains why Jennie didn’t do too much in the earlier triple threat. This was more of a showcase for Jennie, she got in a fair bit of offence and moved with more urgency. Her pump kick on the apron looked really good, aided by some decent selling by Owens. There is one botched DDT, but on the whole this was solid stuff. Owens hits a series of nasty looking running knees. Owens picks up the win with a kick to the jaw, but Jennie got more out of this match than the match she actually won.

Nightshade vs Lauren

This is falls count anywhere. I thought Nightshade was tremendous in this match, she seems pretty vicious and, being larger than Lauren, she makes sure to work the match that way. Her strikes look great and she hits a Michinoku Driver that had real snap. Lauren has some good points and some bad. Her offence doesn’t look like it should hurt Nightshade. Her Drive-By kick barely connects, with the same being true of her flipping elbow. Her strengths seem to be in her agility, as she moves really confidently and bumps like a maniac. Nightshade just hurls her through some chairs. Nightshade keeps overwhelming her, hitting a giant forearm and this massive German suplex. Another huge bump as Nightshade catches a crossbody to the floor and hits a fallaway slam through some more chairs. Back inside, a big kick gets the win for Nightshade. Really left me wanting to see more of Nightshade.

WWF Monday Night Raw 11/07/1994

Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid

This is a really great match, with Bret putting in a real world champion’s performance. Bret subtly puts over Kid right from the start, bumping to the mat for an arm-wringer after one of his own doesn’t down the Kid. Bret is also the first to hit a few nasty blows, hitting a short back elbow to kick the match into the next gear. He also hits a few brutal looking European uppercuts in the corner, almost telling Kid that he may have won the early mat stages, but he needs to do more than that to win the title. I appreciated Jim Ross on commentary continually putting over that even Bret’s cheaper looking shots are “legal manoeuvres” as this is still a face vs face match. Bret reverses a crucifix to a big Samoan Drop for three, but Kid’s foot is on the rope and Bret gets it restarted. Bret is in firm control after the restart, planting Kid with a DDT and a full-on bulldog. Kid starts getting more success with high risk moves, hitting a lovely corner dropkick and a moonsault press for two. Kid only glances Bret with a cannonball from the apron, so it’s no surprise Bret is first into the ring. Kid misses a cannonball into the ring and an attempt at a missile dropkick is caught into a Sharpshooter for the win. Really great performance by both here, Bret put in a real “ace” performance.

Crush vs Matt Hardy

Quick little squash. Hardy evades some early blows by flipping out of the way, but eats a huge superkick. A backbreaker gives Crush the win.

Razor Ramon vs Barry Horowitz

Really fun match. The opening armwork was nice, Ramon forcing the bicep over his knee whilst Horowitz actually looked like he was trying to find openings to escape. The fallaway slam from Ramon looks huge and Razor then gestures for the Edge…only to hook Horowitz in a small package for the win. Have to love Ramon’s shrug to the camera after fooling the audience.

IRS vs Ray Hudson

IRS squashes are the worst, but thankfully this was the least worst one I’ve seen so far. IRS actually starts with some aggression, hitting a decent corner elbow and a legdrop. Of course, things slow inevitably down as Irwin hooks an abdominal stretch and an interminable leglock, but it started well. STF gets the win.

Beyond Wrestling - Bye Bye Beautiful

Mike Verna & Ryan Galeone vs EYFBO (Mike Draztik & Angel Ortiz)

Fun opener here, really liked the heel team of Verna and Galeone. Though the smaller EYFBO hit a pair of dives to kick things off, the power of the heel team soon becomes apparent. Verna hurls an opponent off the top rope onto Galeone’s knee then shows off his power by hitting a slingshot suplex that sees him go around all four sides of the ring. Wasn’t so taken with EYFBO, some of their offence like a slingshot double stunner by Ortiz looked a little corny, but this goes along at a decent pace, albeit a bit too short before the heel team get disqualified thanks to Rex Lawless using a crutch as a weapon on the floor.

Martin Stone vs JT Dunn

This was slightly disappointing, I think maybe I expected a bit more from them. Quite liked the early mat work, with Stone controlling after working over the hand of Dunn. Some nasty digit manipulation and I liked some of the big blows both guys hit. The kicks of Dunn looked nasty and Stone hit some beautiful European uppercuts and a massive clothesline. What I didn’t like was the early pointless strike exchange, and a cutter by Dunn looks a bit sloppy. The end was also pretty poor, featuring a sequence where both guys hit a finisher (Tower of London for Stone, big elbow for Dunn) only for the other guy to kick out at one. Ridiculous shit. Dunn ends up winning with a roll up and a grab of the ropes.

Brandon Watts vs Zenshi

Hadn’t seen Zenshi before, and I’m still not sure how I felt about him. Some of his stuff looked pretty goofy, but he hit some unique high-flying offence that actually worked with the goofiness. Liked his flipping cannonball headbutt from the apron and the way he slipped out of a tornado DDT attempt looked great. Didn’t come off as rehearsed, Zenshi felt more like someone naturally flexible just sliding out of the move. Even a bottom rope 450, which sounds stupid, was really effective thanks to how Zenshi whipped himself into the move. For his part, Watts was reliably good, really liked his STO on the apron and how smoothly he caught a handspring into a backcracker. The end was nice too, as Zenshi tries a 630, misses but tries to roll through, only for Watts to pin him to the mat as he tries, getting the win.

Doom Patrol (Chris Dickinson & Jaka) vs Matt Riddle & Jeff Cobb

Some absolutely hard hitting big boys here, and this match doesn’t disappoint in the slightest. The fun part was how well the early matwork was thrown in as Riddle and Dickinson tussle on the ground. Felt like the Steiners/MVC matches where you expected big blows from the off, but you got to see collegiate athletes showing their mat skills first. When we do get to the suplexes, the sheer size of these guys makes everything look impressive. It’s probably lucky for Riddle that his lovely rolling gutwrenches on Jaka get highlighted first, because the ease with which Cobb just hurls Jaka around is mindblowing. Dickinson and Jaka can’t compete with that, so they work some big strikes instead. Dickinson’s legs are like tree trunks, so his big kicks look and sound vicious. Riddle isn’t one to back down from a strike battle, and soon both Riddle and Dickinson have bright red chests. At one point, Riddle hits a series of chops to Dickinson’s chest that just sees a sheen of sweat fly off his body. The end run is pretty hot, but the Doom Patrol win through smarter tag team tactics, as Dickinson takes out Riddle with a bucklebomb, which leaves Cobb isolated for a high/low to give them the win. Really great match.

John Silver vs Zack Gibson

Really nice mix of characters here. Gibson’s pre-match promo sees him getting booed constantly, he’s barely audible. For his part, Silver is a little pocket rocket, and I love that after all Gibson’s big talk, Silver just blasts him at the bell, nearly picking up the win right away. Match was really nicely worked, with Gibson focusing heavily on the left arm of Silver in preparation for the Shankly Gates. The hammerlock slam on the apron was nasty looking. Silver peppers in a few nice comebacks, and something about his compact frame makes his strikes look more forceful. Superkick to a kneeling Gibson looks great, as does a pump kick, but Gibson always has the arm as an opening. Eventually, Silver hits a Batista Bomb (should be ridiculous from a guy so small, but he whips Gibson down with real force) and a knee to the head to win.

Travis Banks vs Tracy Williams

This was good, but not without flaws. For starters, I couldn’t tell if either guy was playing heel or not. Banks seems to be early on, going for a kick when offering a handshake and kicking Williams from a rope break, but after that he wrestles the match pretty straight with the crowd supporting him. Williams, as I’ve felt in previous matches, has strikes that don’t look particularly effective, but are sold as being on a par with Banks’, which look much stiffer. Banks hits a corner cannonball at speed that looks great. Williams applies a crossface that I initially thought looked sloppily loose, but when Banks rolls out to escape it, Williams is there to meet him and hook him into a piledriver, so it works. Banks ends up winning with the Slice of Heaven.

Donovan Dijak vs WALTER

This was a really interesting match, really well worked. This is Dijak’s last match for the promotion before heading to NXT, and he really takes a beating here. Despite his size, Dijak is the underdog throughout as WALTER just keeps on him like a bear. There’s one lovely spot where Dijak breaks a sleeper hold by making the ropes, but before he can turn around WALTER launches him with a big German suplex. Even though you suspect Dijak rarely works from beneath in matches, he’s really good at timing his hope spots, but he doesn’t get too many. The corner combo, as Dijak turns and levels WALTER with a series of shots including a rolling big boot, looks great, but soon his comebacks feel like they’ve got less and less behind them as WALTER wears him down. Dijak flipping out of a powerbomb attempt is super impressive, but he promptly eats a WALTER lariat. Even when Dijak gets to hit Feast Your Eyes, WALTER hits a massive clothesline as he falls to stop any momentum. In the end, Dijak uses his last scrap of energy to power up from a sleeper, hit a second Feast Your Eyes and barely win. Really great bout.

CHIKARA More Songs About Buildings & Food (2004)

Mano Metalico vs Joker

This had it’s moments. Loved the early stages, as Joker trips Metalico to start and attacks the back of his head with rapid fire punches. Metalico plays up the size advantage nicely, making himself hard to move. Loved the spot where Joker reverses an attempted beal into a one-legged codebreaker, looked great. Then things kinda just slow down, as Joker holds a loooong chinlock on Metalico. They basically just wander around the ring a bit and then a Joker Shining Wizard leads to a ten count on the mat. Really hurts the match pacing. Mano is too big for the Joker Driver and he gets planted by some kind of driver by Metalico for the win.

Lance Steel vs Darkness Crabtree

This was an amusing piece of business, as Steel wins with a roll up in a few seconds. We get a fun segment of Crabtree demanding rematches with different stipulations and losing them all immediately (submission match – loses to a headlock in seconds, falls count anywhere – small package outside the ring). Finally he asks for a no countout match, and they disappear outside not to be seen again tonight…

Din Mak vs Matt Bomboy

These two had a reasonable bout on the last CHIKARA show, but it wasn’t so good that I wanted a rematch so soon. This was also totally fine, without ever being close to being great. Bomboy is the standout here, liked his shit-talking during a submission hold on Mak and he hits a Northern Lights Suplex. But there was some really weak stuff here too – Din Mak not only hits a poor sunset flip, but also a dreadful sunset flip powerbomb from the corner looks appalling. Bomboy takes a 360 bump from a clothesline, which doesn’t match how weak the clothesline looked. Bomboy gets the win with a clumsy looking O’Connor Roll.

Claudio Castagnoli vs Sabian

This is European Rules for Claudio’s WxW title, worked in rounds with 2/3 falls or KO rules. This was primarily done to establish the gimmick in CHIKARA, and was pretty effective in doing so. Sabian controls the early going, including some nice armdrag variations, but soon Claudio is able to use his more aggressive side to take over. He even takes a public warning following a cheap shot at the end of round 2. Claudio concentrates on Sabian’s arm, including a nasty looking hammerlock slam. Claudio also makes fun use of the public warning system, waiting until the ref’s is talking to the ring announcer to issue his second public warning, before working Sabian’s arm over in the ropes. The aggressive side of Claudio is also shown by his persistence in going for the KO, and a running uppercut to the back of Sabian’s head gets the 10 count.

The Wildcards vs Team FIST

Another CHIKARA defence of the Wildcard’s IWA-MS tag titles, despite the belts being once again AWOL. Real fun Wildcard’s performance here, starting with Kingston reversing an Akuma wheelbarrow into a massive German suplex. I loved them switching a chinlock on Akuma behind the ref’s back, seemingly for no reason other than they love to cheat. Akuma gets the hot tag after a second wheelbarrow is more effective and it all breaks down. A blown Team FIST double-team slightly hurts the end, before Kingston slams Icarus into a ringpost from a caught pescado and holds Akuma’s leg on a suplex to give his team the win.

Lacey vs Allison Danger

Fun stuff to start with Lacey working some hairpulling schtick early on. Danger hits the ringpost on a corner charge, and Lacey works the arm for the rest of the bout. This is probably for the best, as Danger’s selling is really good here, but her offence a bit less so. Loved Lacey holding onto the arm to kick Danger in the head, giving her less defence, and a hammerlock side slam looks good. Danger’s comeback is a bit low impact, before she picks up the win with a soft looking STO.

Hallowicked vs Skayde

This was fun, but it did feel a bit like an exhibition of cool stuff Skayde could do to Hallowicked by the end. Skayde is in control for the bulk of this, controlling Hallowicked’s arm on the mat in a smoothly worked manner. Hallowicked gets a few chances to show what he can do, and looks good, if not as smooth. It never feels like he’s in any danger of winning however, and it’s no surprise when La Majistral gets the victory for Skayde

Mike Quackenbush vs Oriental

This is for Quack’s IPW Mexican Light Heavyweight title. It’s kind of interesting to compare this to the last match, as here we get smooth matwork with both guys being portrayed as equals, and is therefore more satisfying to watch. The pace of the reversals and counters they worked was very impressive, and Oriental looked great here. His pescado into a rana on the floor was a fun spot to work in front of a crowd of 50 people. Oriental takes control after slightly heeling it up, attacking Quack as he tries to re-enter the ring. At this point, Oriental is all over Quack on the mat, chaining from submission to submission. It’s actually really effective, as you get the impression he isn’t giving Quack the chance to break any holds as he’s already in a new hold by the time Quack could figure out a counter. Quack comes back by reversing a powerbomb into an armdrag midair – looked great – and hitting a big flip dive, before Oriental wins with a tiger suplex. Great bout.

Larry Sweeney, American Gigolo, Share Cropper & Crossbones vs Jigsaw, Jolly Roger, DJ Skittlez & Shane Storm

Decent enough 8-man match that gives everyone a chance to shine, without exposing the weaknesses of the lesser participants. The opening stages see guys pair off for a couple of minutes, with the Jigsaw/Share Cropper pairing probably yielding the best results. Roger/Gigolo is the most pleasant surprise, with some nice looking moves including a pendulum by Roger. Skittlez gets to show off some impressive strength without being over-exposed as he often is in longer singles bouts. There is a goofy 8 man headlock spot that ends in a multi-man Russian legsweep I could have done without, but this pretty much flew by. Loved a nearfall that saw Jigsaw leap in from nowhere to stop Sweeney pinning Roger. However, as it all breaks down, Crossbones hits an enzuigiri from behind on Jigsaw, and Sweeney hits the piledriver to win. Fun way to end the show.

WWE Main Event 15/07/2014

Emma vs Cameron

Not a match I was looking forward to, but credit where it’s due I thought Cameron showed some nice aggression here. She looked like she really disliked Emma, and getting boots up on the corner cross body looked nicely timed. Emma takes a big bump to the floor when she gets dumped attempting a tarantula. Emma gets the win though, when she gets a small package after Cameron was distracted by taunting Naomi at ringside. Short, but surprisingly effective.

Rybaxel vs Big E & Kofi Kingston

This is pre-New Day, but I think only a week or two before they formed. This was really fun, Rybaxel had become a legit good team at this point. Love Axel grape-vining a free arm with his legs whilst holding Kofi in a side headlock. The inevitable Big E/Ryback big lads face off is great, both guys move really well and it’s a fast paced little segment filled with unlikely leapfrogs and nice rope running. Axel might well be the MVP of the bout though, loved his running knee to the face of Big E and the diving clothesline from the apron that makes E the face in peril. It leads to a hot finishing run and a great end as Big E just hurls Axel upwards, he bounces off the canvas and straight into Trouble In Paradise for the New Day win. Great stuff.

Sheamus vs The Miz

This is right after the Miz came back and was working the “money maker” defending his face schtick. Sheamus is a guy who’ll totally blast you in the face, so this was a fun pairing. Miz works a load of fun avoidance spots that lead to him taking more punishments, like not being able to stop the 10 blows to the chest due to covering his face. Sheamus happily works some meaty sounding body shots whilst Miz is concerned with his face. This plays nicely to the end too, as Sheamus goes for the Brogue Kick, Miz cowers with his face covers, and Sheamus locks in a really tight roll up to win. Fun stuff.

C.R.A.B. Wrestling 08/09/2017

So, this is a random show I decided to watch on Powerbomb.tv, thought it looked quite interesting. The name stands for Championship Rasslin' And Beyond and the poster featured a post-WWE Simon Grimm, so it felt like something I'd like to see. Grimm is very much NOT involved in this show, but it's still plenty good...

Sonjay Dutt vs Isaiah Frazier

Nicely worked veteran vs rookie match, thought Frazier looked like a real prospect. They worked the opening section quite evenly, before Dutt starts to take control. Nice full-bodied senton by Sonjay. Frazier moves well, and takes a fun big bump on the top of his head as Sonjay kicks his legs out. Dutt does a bit of leg work and is generally presented as being one step ahead of Frazier, but it’s Frazier who wins with the worst looking move of the match, a weak looking full Nelson facebuster. Aside from that, this was fun.

The Bang Brothers vs The Rulers of Wrestling

The Bang Brothers are two lean guys in purple trousers and tye-dye tops called Sloppy Joe and Dirty Banger, so I hate them straight away. The RoW are apparently new, and the commentary team don’t seem to know their individual names. Sloppy Joe almost blows a sunset flip early on, just to add to his negative first impression. The RoW seem pretty good though, working some nice double-teams and one of them hit a really great looking powerslam. The heat is mainly worked on Joe and, when the hot tag is made, it’s abruptly cut off by a spinebuster and the RoW finish with a suplex/crossbody combo.

Gauntlet Match for the CRAB Southern Maryland Championship

This is a gauntlet seemingly fought under Royal Rumble rules, with new entrants entering every 2 minutes and eliminations taking place via pinfall or submission. There’s a lot of guys in here that I’ve never seen before, and with no entrance graphics, I’m forced to rely on the ring announcer and commentary team to get names, which weren’t always clear. As a match, this was fine, moved pretty quickly and the low points were briskly skipped past. One entrant is called Zany the Clown, a positively wretched looking creature and I was delighted when a large lad Big Country pinned him right away with a pop up Samoan Drop. The interestingly named Adam Chandler The Great was the most impressive looking entrant, a big powerful looking guy who hits a really impressive looking Northern Lights suplex on a big fat guy. Low point came in the form of Arnesto the Night Owl, who performs an awful dive to the floor and ends up having to be saved from crashing and burning by the Rulers of Wrestling as he overshoots on a top rope crossbody. The first two entrants, Brian Johnson and J George, end up as the final two, and it’s Johnson who ends up getting the title.

Donnie Dollars, Ivan Ali & Obsidian vs JSin & Money Greene

This is for the CRAB tag titles, being defended by the three-man heel team in a handicap match. Dollars is the real standout of the match, a big, husky looking guy with nice movement, some big moves who also makes the opponents offense look the most impressive. Loved his big sitout pumphandle slam. In contrast, I was least impressed with Greene, who threw some milky looking forearms, did some terrible overacting and in one awful bit, made a huge leaping dive to his corner for a tag when he could clearly see no-one was there (JSin having been knocked off the apron). Dollars commits fully to missing a big 2^nd rope legdrop leading to the hot tag. JSIn seems like a decent big man, making it more impressive when Dollars catches a cross body for a swinging slam. There seems to be some tension between Obsidian and Dollars towards the end, and it’s no surprise that they fully fall out after Obsidian eats the pinfall, taking a double-team powerbomb from the faces to give them the titles.

Isaiah Frazier vs Mack Buckler

This is for the CRAB heavyweight title, in a match Frazier qualified for in his victory over Sonjay. This match isn’t as good, mainly because Buckler isn’t as impressive as Sonjay. He just felt like a guy who was “there”, nothing really memorable about him or his performance. Frazier looked good though, taking some nasty looking bumps. He takes a painful looking landing on a twisting dive to the floor and eats a big powerbomb onto the ring apron. Buckler gets the victory with a sitout powerbomb before turning heel, but it’s Isaiah who stands out here.

ECW Hardcore TV #28 19/10/1993

Pat Tanaka & Paul Diamond vs the Public Enemy

Good solid tag team wrestling here. Nothing outstanding, but this is well worked, decent stuff. Tanaka looks great here, loved his kicks and sudden legsweep, and catching a Rock rana into a ditout powerbomb looked really good. A lot of the early stages feel like a Tanaka & Diamond showcase, but Public Enemy are solid when they get control, working over the knee of Diamond. Tanaka makes for a fine hot tag, loved the double superkick they hit before Grunge accidentally hits Rock during an O’Connor roll and Tanaka gets the pin. Fun stuff.

Jimmy Snuka vs Chad Austin

Austin is an average looking man in a pink singlet, and he gets treated accordingly. He bumps well for the slow paced beating Snuka inflicts on him. Genuinely can’t tell if the release powerbomb Snuka hits was intentional or just laziness. Slingshot suplex gets the win for Snuka.

Johnny Hotbody & Tony Stetson vs The Sandman & JT Smith

Given that three of these guys are the best wrestlers in ECW, it’s quite galling that this is the match that gets clipped. Plus, since we last saw them, Hotbody and Stetson are mysteriously tag champions. They look good as a unit, double-teaming nicely, and Stetson goes right after the injured leg of Smith. Dug his little tricks like grinding his knuckles into the knees of Smith. At this point, it clips and we come back to Stetson dropping  big leg onto Smith’s knee. Bizarrely, the heels just let Sandman tag in after all that work on Smith. The end is hokey, as Sandman gets backdropped onto Terry Funk at ringside and, as Sandman puts Hotbody in a sleeper, Funk comes in to hit Sandman with a chair, seemingly in affront at Sandman having the audacity to get thrown onto him. Really odd ending.

Tommy Dreamer vs Tazmaniac

Here’s a young, suspenders-wearing Tommy Dreamer making his ECW debut, as a Marcus Bagwell-esque pretty boy face. It’s Taz who brings the fun stuff to the match, hitting a big t-bone suplex, a nice powerslam and then reversing a suplex attempt into a big Northern Lights. Tommy takes a beating here for a crowd who don’t seem certain what to make of him, getting a chair broken over him and eating a big DDT on the floor. Tommy fires back, and Joey Styles massively telegraphs that he won’t win by guaranteeing he will, only for Taz to catch him on the top ropes with a big Northern Lights suplex from the top to win. Actually fun stuff here.

WWF Monday Night Raw 04/07/1994

Jeff Jarrett vs Tatanka

So-so match with really baffling booking. They start off at quite a quick tempo, with Tatanka hitting a nice powerslam, before settling into a series of chinlocks and headlocks. I didn’t actually mind these too much at first, as they both use them effectively. Jarrett is really fun at shit-talking with Tatanka in a chinlock, and I liked Tatanka holding onto his own headlock, managing to keep his grip every time Jarrett tried to fire him into the ropes. The odd booking comes as Tatanka takes a huge bump over the top rope and ends up getting counted out. Jarrett, the heel, demands the ref restarts the match as he wants to pin Tatanka for the win. You could claim this serves to highlight Jarrett’s ego, but it’s not consistent with the cheap-shotting, win-stealing JJ we’ve seen on previous episodes. If he wasn’t insult Macho Man whilst doing it, it would come across as a face action. Very odd. Even stupider is that, after Tatanka fires up, Jarrett quits the match and heads to the back. Doink comes out, driving him back to the ring, and Tatanka rolls him up for the loss. So the crafty heel looks like an idiot and the valiant face only won after losing the bout and having some help from outside. Terrible booking.

Jim Neidhart vs Gary Scott

Decent enough squash, as Neidhart seemed fired up to be back in the WWF. Nothing fancy, but everything looked good, and he seemed to put a little oomph behind everything. Owen Hart is great on the outside, constantly berating Scott. Neidhart hits a nasty looking stungun and a big powerslam to win.

Duke Droese vs Iron Mike Sharpe

Yeah, I almost certainly enjoyed this far more than I should, but both guys have a goofy charisma that makes this work. Sharpe stooges about amusingly in the early stages, trying and failing to slam Droese and acting all fearful when Droese has him in a prone position on the canvas. Sharpe actually gets a small run of control, but Droese blocks a piledriver and hits the big elbow to win.

“The Undertaker” vs Mike Bell

This is the Ted DiBiase-managed Brian Lee version of the Undertaker. When I was 12, I knew this wasn’t the real Taker, as I was certain he’d stay with Paul Bearer, but I remember being really impressed at how much this guy was like the real thing. Fast forward 23 years, and the illusion isn’t quite so convincing. Crucially, it’s really noticeable how much the camera crew are desperate not to show any of his face. He’s also noticeably not as tall as the Undertaker. He has a nice droptoehold, really forceful, and his version of Old School looks good, but his flying clothesline is not a patch on the real Taker. Tombstone gets the win.

WWE NXT 22/11/2017

This isn't going to be the start of a regular NXT review, but I just kinda fancied writing about this weeks, partly due to completion after reviewing WarGames and partly because I really wanted to see the Pete Dunne match.

Ruby Riot vs Sonya Deville

Thought this was pretty effective. Liked the opening section which established the danger that Deville presented with her striking game before she takes out Riot’s leg with a running legsweep. It feels like something that would genuinely take a leg out too, so it’s no surprise when Riot starts selling her ankle. Deville’s mounted strikes look good, nice to see her mixing in some body shots. For her part, Riot sells the leg injury really convincingly, favouring it when she lands after getting elevated onto the apron and using her good leg to springboard off the ropes for a senton. Loved Deville transitioning from a triangle into a sit-down anklelock, but ultimately the veteran smarts of Riot pay dividends, as Deville gets too tied up with complaining to the ref after a ropebreak, giving Riot time to hit a Pele kick from nowhere to win. Good match.

Pete Dunne vs Johnny Gargano

This was really good, and without the commercial break it could have been a MotYC. Loved Pete hitting a massive forearm to the face after their relatively even opening. I liked how they set up Gargano’s cannonball off the apron, as he had to evade a few Dunne attacks before hitting it. Gargano’s hesitation at hitting a tornado DDT outside the ring costs him, as Pete reverses it to an X-Plex onto the apron. I love the digit work Pete does to Gargano’s hands, it’s not hokey bullshit like Marty Scurll breaking his opponents fingers which then work fine, but it looks like it’s something actually designed to weaken the opponents hands, and gets paid off here. Gargano locks in the Gargano Escape, but his hands aren’t able to fully grip it in, giving Pete some room to spit out his gumshield and bite Gargano’s hands to escape. There’s one clunky bit, where Gargano notices Pete’s gumshield isn’t in, and they look at each other for ages before Johnny superkicks him for two, but it’s swiftly followed by Dunne greeting the slingshot spear with a forearm to the face, and the Bitter End gives Dunne the win. Really loved this.

WWE NXT Takeover: Wargames

Kassius Ohno vs Lars Sullivan

Really perfectly worked opener here. The trick with a match like this is letting Ohno get in a lot of offence without making Sullivan look weak, and they basically achieved this by letting Ohno drop a load of big bombs and letting Sullivan be barely affected by them. Sullivan dominated early, hitting some big driving knees to a downed Ohno, and when Ohno does a kip up after a bit of offence, he’s met right away with a huge clothesline. Ohno looked smart on the attack, going for repeated big blows, with big kicks to the face and a series of elbows to the head. The ones to the back of Sullivan’s head looked especially great and seemed to stagger the monster. Ohno repeatedly kicks Lars in the head…and Sullivan kicks out at 1.  Ohno gets to look great for hitting such a barrage (and the execution was important here; Ohno’s shots looked brutal) and Sullivan looks like a beast for surviving. The Freak Accident gets the win for Sullivan.

Aleister Black vs Velveteen Dream

A lot to like here, and one or two bits I didn’t. Loved Dream showing off some Rick Rude style airbrushed tights at the start. The opening matwork was cool, felt like Dream was trying to compete on an even keel with Black to earn respect, but Black was all over the arm like superglue. There was a nice feeling of mind games and one-upsmanship, with both taunting and faking dives. The middle of the match had a few bits I didn’t love – Dream’s striking was of variable quality, with his superkick to Black’s chest being a bit poor. I also hated how twice Dream no-sold kicks to the face from Black, at one point recovering from a kick to immediately hit a DVD, which feels less forgivable when one of the competitors is working a “really good striker” gimmick. The positives are just how well Dream carried himself, came across as a star on a level with Black, who has a real unshakable aura. The spike DDT Dream hit on Black looked absolutely killer. Black picks up the win with Black Mass

Kairi Sane vs Nikki Cross vs Peyton Royce vs Ember Moon

Match itself was perfectly fine, but man did they ever pick the wrong winner here. They tried to avoid the main pitfalls of multi-man matches, the way people spend forever on the outside of the ring in a way they wouldn’t in a singles match. Indeed, there was very little in the way of 1-on-1 action. Some of the early spots were really fun too – loved Sane diving from the apron with a forearm on Royce, Moon hitting a low tope through Sane and Royce, followed by Moon splatting Cross with a powerbomb on the floor. Back inside we get a string of nearfalls before Moon wins the title with the Eclipse on Cross and Royce. Having Moon win the title after chasing Asuka for months and losing cleanly (highlighted on commentary pre-match by Nigel) really highlights that the NXT women’s champion only won because Asuka left the brand, making both her and the title look second rate already. Also, whilst she got a decent reaction in her home state of Texas, she’s easily the least over and has the least character of the four women involved. Match was absolutely fine, but it’s a totally underwhelming result.

Drew McIntyre vs Andrade Almas

Absolutely loved this, and it’s the second NXT Takeover in a row that Almas has been half of the match of the night. Loved the use of Zelina Vega in this one, where she’s not just portrayed as a valet or as eye candy, but instead is able to provide brains and to physically interject herself into the match. There’s a lovely early spot where she tries to take McIntyre over with a rana from the apron, but Drew uses his power to block it and puts her back on the apron like a gentleman, only for Almas to try a tope straight away. Drew is able to block it, but it shows the danger Vega can present. McIntyre hurts his shoulder on a ringpost, which gives Almas something to focus on. Loved Drew having to hit one armed hurling suplexes on Almas to protect the arm, as well as using Almas’ momentum to hit two huge overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. Loved Drew again using the power advantage to block a reverse rana, turning it into a facebuster, and the Almas moonsault from the ringpost to the floor looked gorgeous. There’s some really close nearfalls towards the end, with Drew getting two from the FutureShock, Almas looking nailed on to win after hitting a hammerlock DDT following Vega headscissoring Drew into the mat, and a Claymore seeing Vega putting Almas’ foot on the rope for the save. The draping DDT that wins it for Almas spikes Drew to the mat, and is a fitting end for a great bout.

Sanity (Eric Young, Killian Dain & Alexander Wolfe) vs the Undisputed Era (Adam Cole, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) vs the Authors of Pain & Roderick Strong

Right, first things first. This isn’t a WarGames match. It’s got some things is common with WarGames, like the double-ring, the staggered team entrances, but it’s not the same thing. I’ve got an overweight one-eyed pug, and she’s got a lot in common with a greyhound (is a dog, has four legs, can physically move), but if I took her down the local dog track for a race, they’d laugh me out of the grounds. By having three teams, and by removing the fact that team members are added individually, you lose that natural rise-and-fall where it feels like a hot tag every time a member of the face team gets in. You lose the tactics and the excitement of discovering which team member will get introduced next. You lose the natural structure that WarGames provides. So whilst this has a lot in common, this isn’t WarGames.

What this ends up being is a perfectly fun Cage of Death match. The opening stages are pretty slow, especially when the Undisputed Era are controlling Young and Strong in the cage, but things pick up a bit when the Authors of Pain are added, and explode when Sanity come in, adding a load of plunder. Really, it’s the Sanity team who shine in this match. EY has a thankless task, being the guy who gets beaten up pretty solidly for the first 8 minutes of the bout, but he’s a solid bumper, has a charismatic presence and, when he does get to go on offence, he’s also  got really nice offence that he fits in at the appropriate time. Loved him saving Wolfe from a O’Reilly cross armbreaker with a picture perfect top rope elbow. Wolfe doesn’t get to shine quite like the tag title win in August, but his top rope German suplex on an AoP member through a table that cuts his head open is nuts. Dain gets an incredible showcase, hitting a Michinoku Driver on Cole onto Fish, hitting a huge top rope cross body and hitting an insane coast-to-coast dropkick onto O’Reilly. Authors of Pain aren’t so impressive, though they get a few nice moments. Hitting Death Valley Driver’s into opposite corners that already have Undisputed Era members in a tree of woe was a nice touch. The Undisputed Era get the least shine, though that may be by design. I’m undecided if Cole wasn’t impressive because he’s supposed to be a coward (loved his snake-like crawl along the top of the cage, attempting to forfeit for his team by escaping – ultimately ending when Roddy suplexes him from the top of the cage onto everyone else) or because he’s not very good (he was easily the least of the opening three-way with Roddy and EY). So, whilst not in any way a WarGames match, it’s a totally enjoyable nonsense spotfest. By the time Cole gets the win, hitting a chair into Young’s face with a running kick, over 35 minutes have passed enjoyably enough.

WWE Main Event 08/07/2014

Another really odd episode of Main Event, headlined by Chris Jericho and Bret Hart on the Highlight Reel and opened by a Last Man Standing match for the US title. A really stacked C-show.

Sheamus vs Alberto Del Rio

On first glance, a Last Man Standing match might seem like a strange stipulation for Main Event. After all, you wouldn’t expect two guys to go all out on a C-show, and thus there won’t be the same level of stunts to potentially end the match. The strange thing, as true as this is, the match benefits from this, resulting in a tighter, fast-flowing match. Even on a C-show, these are two guys who will lay in their shots, with Sheamus hurling ADR into the barricade and hitting a rolling senton on the floor early doors. The use of weapons here is restricted to a kendo stick, a chair and a table, but that actually adds to the violence, as both guys thrash the other with the kendo stick, including two nice diving top rope shots from Del Rio. I loved too how he begged off like a coward the second Sheamus got the stick from him. Lovely spot where ADR catches himself on the ropes to prevent him taking the Fuerza bump to the floor, but this instead leaves him in position for the 10 shots to the chest from Sheamus. Nothing here is overly complex, but it all looks painful. They build up to the table spot, before Del Rio locks in a crossarmbreaker on Sheamus. Sheamus powers up with one arm and slams Del Rio through the table for a 9 count, and the Brogue Kick gets the full 10. Really great match.

Nikki Bella vs Naomi, Natalya, Rosa Mendes, Summer Rae & Eva Marie

This is still during the “Stephanie punishes Nikki for Brie Bella quitting” storyline. This is hyped up as a 6-1 handicap, but Cameron is conspicuous by her absence. It’s odd to watch Nikki Bella getting dominated early by Rosa and Eva, especially as they do it with no shenanigans. Nikki gets a brief comeback, bossing Rosa with a forearm and rolling up Summer, but Eva comes in off a blind tag and gets the pin with a DDT. Remarkable. Naomi and Natalya never get in. 

Guerrero Indy Wrestling - Arena Azteca Budokan 06/06/2015

This is that time, about once per year, where I decide to review some lucha, a genre I know little about. This is streaming on Powerbomb TV, and this was a really fun 45 mins

Aeroboy vs Herodes Jr vs Trauma I vs Trauma II

The Traumas don’t seem to be working together here, and when they are both in the ring, there’s a fun sense of sibling rivalry as they try to one-up each other. Trauma II coming in and just smacking I in the head sets this up nicely. Trauma II has blows that don’t just look good, they really resonate too. Trauma I gets a submission on Aeroboy by leaping into a twisting leg lock that looks nasty. II soon eliminates his brother by adjusting his bodyweight on a la majistral. The final leg between TII and Herodes is pretty fun, and at this point Herodes hasn’t really been in the match. Herodes gets the win with the brainbuster, but it’s the Traumas I came out of this wanting to see more of.

Solar vs Negro Navarro vs Pirata Morgan

Kind of a weird match to write about, as I’m far more aware of the reputations of each of these men than have experience in watching their matches – I’ve seen a little Solar and I really enjoyed the Navarro/Sabre Jr match from earlier this year – so even though I really enjoyed the match, I don’t know if this is mid-range for these guys, or where this would compare to their top tier stuff. All I can hope to do is rate this as a match on it’s own, and it’s a match that definitely makes me want to investigate further on all three. Navarro in particular has incredible mat speed that belies the slightly paunchy elder gent you see on the stand up parts. He just seems so able to make the most of any slight opening, just floating his way into a headscissors counter. Solar and Navarro seem to pair up the best on the mat of any of these three combos. I loved how Navarro will move and, without my even realising, he’d hooked an arm along the way and was working it over. When Morgan comes in, he’s got a very different approach, rather than working takedowns, he powers wrestlers down with big moves in order to apply submissions. He’s the least agile though, and it’s not such a surprise when Solar takes him down with a rolling heel hook for the submission. With Morgan gone, the two remaining men really up the speed, as if they’d been holding back until it was time for one-on-one. Again, they pair up wonderfully, until Navarro gets a hammerlock rollthrough for the submission. As I said, for all I know this could be lower tier for these guys (I suspect a younger Morgan has better stuff in the back catalogue), but for my eyes, this was terrific.

Extreme Tiger vs Flamita

This is a real change of pace, and in that respect it works. Both guys go hell for leather, and it’s a rel fun spotfest. There is a slight anomaly of a spot, where Flamita flattens Tiger’s leg with a chair on the ramp and then dropkicks it in the ropes, but given that they both soon forget about this injury and never go back to it again, it’s pointless to focus on it. There’s a few fun little bits of detail – loved Tiger disorientating Flamita on the mat, slightly dizzying him before German suplexing him into the turnbuckle. Tiger hits an insane twisting dive to the flaw, looked super impressive. Tiger picks up the win with a great looking leg capture suplex. Really quick sprint of a match, not something you’ll remember for long, but just good fun whilst it lasts.

Scenic City Rumble 2017

So I recently signed up for Powerbomb TV, a streaming service that brings a load of indy promotions under one umbrella. I'd heard a lot about the Scenic City shows, and thought this seemed like a decent place to start. Plus everybody loves a Rumble

The Lynch Mob (Matt & Joey Lynch) vs The Carnies (Nick Iggy & Kerry Awful) vs Tank & Iceberg

Fine fast paced opener. Really felt like Tank and Iceberg were the standouts of the match, two big, burly men who aren’t afraid to use their size as a weapon. Loved their big corner splashes, absolutely adored them hitting cannonballs in the corner to both teams and even Tank putting the full stop on a fun dive train with an unlikely cannonball from the apron. The other two teams seemed fine, though the Carnies were responsible for the single worst spot of the match, where through some convoluted means they forced one member of the Lynch Mob to give the other a Canadian Destroyer. Can’t put into words how much I hated that. Quite liked the end, where Tank is taken out with a low blow, before Awful locks a Boston Crab on Iceberg and Iggy drops repeated knees to the back of his head for the stoppage.

Shane Marx vs Kyle Matthews

This was a pleasant surprise, with Marx not wrestling at all like you’d expect. He’s a chubby looking guy so you wouldn’t expect him to be working complex matwork and reversals like a portly World of Sport worker. Marx also looks good cutting off a corner charge by Matthews with his size and his hangman neckbreaker has real nice slap to it. Matthews looks really good too, really liked the dive he hits. There’s a nice moment where a Matthews tornado DDT lands pretty softly, but it’s called as such by commentator Brad Stutts and Marx hits a brainbuster straight from it, so it works. The end sees Matthews hit a corner dropkick and immediately take Marx down with a quick cradle for the victory. Enjoyed this.

Matt Knicks vs Stevie Fierce vs Rob Matter

This is a showcase match for Freelance Wrestling. The only one of these guys I’d seen before was Knicks, who randomly turned up in a four-way at a HOPE show last month. He seemed decent then, and I liked him here too. This had the usual issues the most three-ways do, as one guy always seems to be on the outside of the ring. Knicks not only take a big bump early, but hits a big suicide dive and an Asai moonsault to the floor. Liked Fierce here too, though I can’t really remember anything Matter did in the match. Fierce picks up the win, dropping Knicks on his head with a spider German suplex and hitting a Tomikaze on Matter for the win.

Torque vs Anthony Henry

Fine little match, and I appreciated the story they told, that of the overmatched Torque going for broke to win Henry’s PWX title. To start with, Henry dominated with some big shots: loved him circling the ring to hit Henry with a big running kick and his big overhead belly-to-belly looked great. I didn’t mind Torque doing a bit of no selling as he fired up on the comeback – this was portrayed as the biggest match of his career and as such it makes sense that he would go a level above. Loved the commentary, highlighting that Torque winning would get him guaranteed more bookings, especially as he didn’t wrestle for PWX. Loved Torque’s rana from the apron to the floor, but some of his other moves looked quite sloppy. His two suicide dives didn’t look particularly devastating. Henry though is the superior competitor and his work looked great. He got a convincing 2 count with a big kick to the head after Torque missed a 450, and his match-winning snap DVD looked terrific.

Sal Rinauro vs Austin Theory

Haven’t seen a Rinauro match in 14 years before this, unsurprisingly looked a bit different to how I remember. This is worked as wily veteran vs dynamic young gun, with Theory being only 19. He looks great early on, really nice quick combo of moves. This forces Rinauro to take a quick break. Loved how Rinauro used his wits to take control, taking a swig of water, throwing the bottle into the ring to distract the ref, then spitting it into Theory’s face. I like the running story that, every time Theory tried to speed things up, Rinauro was fully aware that he couldn’t keep pace and would slow things back down, including hitting a sneaky low blow to maintain the advantage. Theory hits a nice cradle neckbreaker for two, but misses a shooting star and Rinauro rolls him up for three. Wasn’t expecting a Rinauro win, but this was decent enough.

The Hierarchy (Chip Day, Adrian Armour & Murder One) vs Gunner Miller, Kevin Blue & Corey Hollis

This was fine, but mainly worked for an angle, where Hollis didn’t really want to be part of his team. Really impressed by Miller, he was a beast chucking Day with three consecutive overhead belly-to-belly suplexes. Heat ends up being worked on Blue, but Hollis manages to accidentally cause a distraction by falling into the ring, thus causing the ref to miss the hot tag to Miller. Miller again looks great on the hot tag, big strong house of fire. The Hollis storyline comes to a head when he makes a save on a pinfall, which leaves him at a 3-1 disadvantage. This convinces Hollis to walk out on the match, leaving it 2-1. The numbers game ends up giving the Hierarchy the win, Day rolling up Blue with a handful of tights to win. Mainly forgettable stuff.

Scenic Invitational Rumble

Always found indy rumbles an odd beast, as it’s hard to get any kind of impression of the wrestlers and you’ve no real idea of the hierarchy of the combatants, as a load of guys I don’t know come into the ring. As a rule, I pretty much work on the principle that the fat lads and the ones with the best tights will be the favourites. There were a few guys who stood out: Mecha Mercenary, a masked fat guy who looks to be pretty agile and has some real heft to his moves, Cyrus the Destroyer, another large chap who looks great as he eliminates a load of deadwood and amusingly hurls a guy called Baniac all the way to the floor in a massive press slam bump and Chris Crunk, who has a real nice fluidity. The end sees all three members of the Hierarchy left with Tank, and in a satisfying finale, he gets to eliminate them all. For a match with a load of guys I’d never heard of, this was a fun match that flew by.

Smash Super Showdown IV 21/08/2016

The Muscle vs Sebastian Suave

Perfectly functional opener. The commentary suggests this is Muscle’s first singles match, and it’s fair to say he looks competent, if a little awkward at times. Just a few moments of timing that look off, but if he really is as early in his career as suggested, then it’s stuff that’ll get worked out. Suave spends most of the match on defence, but his Arn Anderson spinebuster is pretty good. The Muscle’s tag partner Big Tank causes a distraction to allow Muscle to hit a TKO for the win.

Scotty O’Shea vs Brent Banks

Wasn’t too taken with this one. Opening sequence seemed a bit overly choreographed, though Banks ends it by taking a big bump to the floor. Both guys seem to do some good things and some egregiously bad things. Banks is very agile, but he does things like these weak looking rolling chops that don’t impress to much. O’Shea seems to have better offence – liked his double-footstomp to the back of a standing Banks, and he followed it with a draped spinning neckbreaker from the top rope. Sadly, he needs to drop all his kicks, as his enzuigiris looked bad and he hit too many light flipping kicks. They both hit some big bombs that looked good, but maybe shouldn’t have been kicked out of: a top rope Sliced Bread by Banks and a top rope cutter by O’Shea. Banks gets the win with a cannonball.

Kevin Bennett vs Tyson Dux

Bennett is accompanied by an entourage of The Muscle and Big Tank, and are known as the Kevin Bennett Experience. This doesn’t do anything to distract from the fact that Bennett feels very early-Miz. Smug, arsehole heel with not much offence. Dux gets beaten 3-1 before the bell, but soon gets the upper hand after Bennett hits an Asai moonsault that only takes out his entourage. Dux is fun here, nothing fancy but all his execution is good. His forearms looks especially meaty. Dux hits a great looking sliding elbow after rolling through a sunset flip attempt. Dux looks great in control, hitting a deadlift superplex and rolling Bennett to the floor to hit a suplex out there. However, the recovered Experience interfere to turn the tide and Bennett hits a swinging neckbreaker for two and a top rope version for the win.

Rosemary vs Allie

This is no-DQ, and to be fair they make the most of the stipulation. Lots of big spots here, even if they don’t really do a good job of filling the space. I hadn’t seen Allie work heel before, and she’s very good, really coming across as someone obnoxious slowly realising they’re out of their depth. Both women take big bumps, as Allie gets thrown through a few rows of chairs whilst Rosemary takes a big ladder dropkicked to the face. They introduce some tacks, and I like that they build up to the tack bump, with Allie really selling her fear of them. They both tease getting bumped into them with both fighting to escape, before Rosemary takes a big superplex into the tacks. Like the fact it only gets two because Allie’s fear of touching the tacks means she only goes for a light, barely touching cover. Allie also hits a chair-assisted codebreaker, but the landing causes her to land on some tacks, which again delays the cover. Really dug Allie trying a stomp into the tacks, missing, but realising this gave her a boot coated in tacks to hit a superkick with. She tries another, but gets misted and Rosemary spears her through a table to win. First half dragged a bit, but it picked up when the tacks were introduced.

John Greed vs Jesse Amato

Two big ugly lads here. Amato is portrayed as the underdog here, and Greed seems to spend the match taking him lightly, even though Amato injures his arm early with a ringpost bump. Greed has a nice big elbow drop, but he’s soon downed into a crossface by Amato. He escapes, but Amato hits a Diamond Dust and locks in another crossface for the tapout. Not much to write home about.

The Fraternity (Channing Decker & Trent Gibson) vs Well Oiled Machines (Braxton Sutter & Mike Rollins) vs Chavo Guerrero & Gabriel Fuerza

Really enjoyed this, thought everyone came out of this looking good. Guerrero definitely came to work here, keeping up with everyone (his sequence with Sutter was especially smooth) and also enhancing his partner in the process. Really liked Decker from the Fraternity, seemed to have a good look and worked a really fast fluid sequence with an impressive Fuerza. Fuerza was really good as breaking down the larger Rollins in order to take him down with a rana. The Fraternity take out the Well Oiled Machines with a nice stereo dive and we end up with a goofy, but fun Fraternity Paddle vs Pepe the horse stand-off. Chavo does the old Guerrero trick of feigning being hurt from a weapon shot in order to gets a sneaky roll-up on Decker for two. Fuerza hits a diving moonsault to the Fraternity outside the ring, and inside Chavo takes out both WOM members with the Three Amigos. Chavo and Fuerza hit stereo frog splashes for the win. Good, fast-paced fun

Mark Haskins vs TARIK

This is for Haskins’ Smash title, which he’d won the previous month at a Progress show. Loved Haskins gameplan here, working quickly to try and grab TARIK’s arm, managing to control him on the mat on a few occasions. Loved him grabbing TARIK’s arm on a sunset flip attempt, and stamping it to the mat. Haskins suffers a big spill to the floor to give TARIK control and he’s decent on offence. Really liked his diving elbow from the second rope, with Haskins draped backward on the rope. Some of his blows look a bit loose, but he’s fine. Haskins times his comeback nicely, deliberately taking his time to get to his feet and, having been on the floor for a while, it made sense that he’d be suitably recovered to explode from the corner with a dropkick. Rolling through to pick TARIK off the canvas and hit Made In Japan looked really slick. The end sees them both hit some big moves, albeit ones that you’d buy them being able to kick out of. Haskins is able to hit a few bigger moves in a row and rolls through a flying headscissors to lock in the bridging armbar to win. Good main event, went 20 minutes without ever dragging.

NYWC Trust No One 2017

Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts & Randy Summers) vs High Society (Blake Morris & King Mega)

This was a fun little tag match. I’ve enjoyed three of these guys previously, whilst being unconvinced by Mega, and for the most part this was good stuff. Mega still looks awkward taking offence, but he earns bonus points by how nice his falling slam is after catching a Watts crossbody. High Society work heat on Watts, loved the spot where Morris grabs Watts by the trunks and pulls him back into a big diving lariat to the back of the head. Morris does more shit-talking here than I’d seen previously, which was a nice addition to his presentation. Watts pulls out a few little touches here that were really nice, really struggling to escape as Morris held him in place for a Mega splash, and using the turnbuckle to elevate himself into a tornado DDT for the hot tag. A double pump kick by Milk Chocolate on Mega looks pretty weak, but the end of the match is well done, as Morris ducks a rolling elbow attempt by Summers, and he turns into a Mega chokeslam for the win.

Alex Reynolds vs Robbie E

On the other hand, this was a bit disappointing. Just too much clunky comedy which took away from the match. Reynolds does a really goofy sell after getting his head rammed into the buckles, where he keeps ramming his own head into the buckle, stumbles then falls face first. There’s a brief bit of actual Reynolds control that actually works nicely, like him standing on Robbie’s throat whilst doing an arrogant muscle pose. Robbie bits Reynolds’ arm to escape a crossface, before we get more clunking comedy as Robbie keeps rolling away from a Reynolds attempt at a top rope moonsault, whilst Reynolds keeps climbing different turnbuckles like a goof. To add to the terrible nature, when Reynolds does try the move, he half lands on Robbie’s back despite the fact he’s supposed to miss. Reynolds picks up the win with a crossface, where he knees Robbie in the head whilst holding it, but on the whole this wasn’t great.

The Big O vs Maxwell Jacob Friedman

This is for the Big O’s Fusion title. Friedman tries to cheapshot the Big O after claiming he wants out of the match, but it doesn’t go too well as O hits him with a big overhead throw, a pounce and a huge powerslam for the win.

Born & Bred (Jesse Vane & Anthony LaCerra) vs the Benson Brothers vs Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs J-Redd & G.I.T.

Four way match for Born & Bred’s tag titles. This only goes 8 minutes before being ruled a no contest, but this feels like a teaser trailer for 4 or 5 different tag matches you leave the bout wanting to see. J-Redd and G.I.T. feel like the weakest links, but all the other teams make the most of their chances to shine, and there’s some really fun spots in the match. Loved CJ Benson backdropping his partner into Born & Bred, loved Private Party’s manager holding up Brad Benson from the ring apron which allowed Quen to hit a brutal looking double stomp to the floor and CJ takes a huge bump as he dives to the outside, whacking his legs on the metal barricades. Born & Bred soon follow him out with a wicked looking stereo flip dive/top rope crossbody, which soon leads to a double countout. Really fun taster of the tag division.

Willow Nightingale vs Karen Q

Really getting to enjoy Nightingale now, this was the second solid performance I’ve seen from her and though she’s still a bit green in places, she’s obviously improving. This was worked as face vs face, and had a slight exhibition-y feel. Liked the early grappling where they exchange throws whilst still maintaining a lock-up, and when they do up the pace, the offence from both looks good. There’s great timing on a missed Nightingale senton followed by an impressive exploder suplex by Q. Really liked Q’s standing moonsault, really whipping herself over on the move, before Nightingale picks up the win with a vicious looking DVD. Dug this.

Stockade & Joe Gacy vs Aidan Baal & Bam Sullivan

This is for Stockade and Gacy’s Tier 1 tag titles. Stockade seems to be working face here, and looks to be having fun with it. It suits him, impressive for someone who came across as a career heel. The face team are two big, hairy guys and they look really good on offence, moving really well. There’s something quite endearing about two burly looking guys exchanging high fives whilst bulldogging their opponents. Gacy becomes face-in-peril after Sullivan grabs him by the waist as he’s running the ropes, and the heat section is pretty fun. I was particularly impressed by Baal, who doesn’t have a very impressive look, but has a great high takedown on Gacy and sells his comebacks nicely. Bam always struck me as the better Sullivan in the Hounds of Hatred, and I dug his rolling cannonball into the corner. Stockade is on fire as the hot tag, he’s really good at putting his weight behind his moves, so a flying clothesline looks devastating. Loved him hitting a double DVD on Sullivan and an interfering Mouse. Sadly, we get a terrible spot where the heel valet tries a crossbody on Stockade, gets caught and then reverses a powerbomb into a rana. Aside from the unlikely physics of this tiny woman being able to move the massive Stockade, it’s stupid because she’s a heel and shouldn’t be outpowering massive face wrestlers. The valet ends up giving Stockade a low blow for an underwhelming DQ finish, but the meat of this was really good