NYWC Tour De Circus 2016

Papadon vs Aidan Baal

Really enjoyed Papadon in this. He’s great at throwing out little touches, like shaking out his arm after taking an armdrag. He cheap shots on every rope break, he yells at the crowd whilst wrenching in a headlock and he does that awesome Finlay thing of using the ring apron to capture Baal on a baseball slide. For his part, Baal is a pudgy guy in terrible gear, but he’s surprisingly agile and moves around really well. Papadon hits a nice uppercut to the back of Baal’s head to set up a Rude Awakening and hits a piledriver to win. This was good.

Blake Morris vs King Mega

This wasn’t so good. There’s a big size difference between Morris and Mega, which is interesting as Morris doesn’t come across as a small guy, nor Mega as particularly big, but there’s a good foot difference face-to-face. I should also say that Morris wasn’t the problem with this match – he looked sharp on offence, liked him working the right arm of Mega with strikes and hit-and-run offence. It’s more that Mega comes across as very slow and unimposing, highlighted by Morris sending him “over-the-top rope to the apron”, which comes across more as “Mega casually bumbling over the rope”. Mega does at least sell the arm – until he blasts Morris with the bad arm on a clothesline, then uses it to catch a Morris tope and chokeslam him into a post outside the ring. Morris narrowly avoids a countout and, though he eats a chokeslam in the ring, he holds onto the arm and locks on a triangle choke to win. Would have been better if Mega had sold the arm more.

Angelo Andrews vs Braydon Knight

Really fun sprint here, both guys seem to be adept at competitively working the mat. Both guys go for takedowns, and there’s a nice feeling of aggression between the two. Knight hits a nice running knee off the apron right into Andrews’ face, but gets caught by a kick right to the face as he re-enters the ring. Neither guy goes over easily on suplexes, adding a competitive element to every suplex attempt. Andrews controls the bout, with a vicious clothesline to the back of Knight’s head and catching a diving uppercut attempt right into a big German suplex. Knight hits a big head-droppy looking exploder, but Andrews locks on a crossface to win.

Hounds of Hatred vs Bull James & Mouse

This isn’t particularly good, basically worked as a handicap match of the Hounds against James, as Mouse spends less than 20 seconds in the ring. James is face-in-peril for the bulk of this match, with the Hounds not being very compelling on offence. It’s hard to come across as these terrifying monsters when you’re applying lingering weak bearhugs on your opponent. Mouse gets pulled from the apron by the Hounds’ manager before James can make the hot tag, so Bull makes his own comeback. Has to be said, Bull is very over. However, Stockade attacks Bull from behind and the Hounds double team him to win.

Tyler Murphy vs Joe Gacy vs Mike Verna vs Randy Summers

This is for Murphy’s Fusion title. I’m currently kicking myself because I didn’t notice until today that Murphy is Jolly Roger from CHIKARA, all grown up and a vastly better wrestler. Kudos to him for keeping at it and improving greatly. He’s heeling it up in this one, with the crowd favouring Verna and Gacy. Verna gets highlighted here with some convoluted-but-awesome strength spots, highlighted by a combo powerbomb/falling slam on Murphy and Summers. Gacy looks really crisp on offense and his suicide dive kicks off a dive train that ends with a great Verna cannonball. Loved how a brief “This Is Awesome” chant got drowned out by kids chanting “Man of Steel” for Verna. Gacy hits an unlikely handstand cutter, but Murphy picks up the win with an admittedly poor looking GTS variant on Summers. I think you could put any two of the four into a singles bout and get a better match, but this was still fun.

Stockade vs Rex Lawless

Solid main event. Loved Stockade realising Lawless could actually overpower him (Stockade is a big fat guy, and Lawless is a tall muscular fella), so working over the arm to take that powerbase away. Stockade working as an obese Anderson was fun, big splashes and stomps to the arm. Loved Stockade using his weight to pull Lawless down into a Fujiwara armbar. He also hits a killer spear, like a big fat dart right at Lawless. Lawless didn’t really sell the arm, though he did hit a full Nelson slam using only the good arm. However, after he stupidly threw Stockade into the referee twice, he hits two Baldo Bombs and seems shocked the ref isn’t counting. You just hurled a 400lb man at him twice Rex, he’s not going to be in the best nick. A third Baldo Bomb with a replacement ref looks to finish it, but the Hounds of Hatred enter and draw the DQ. Could have done without Lawless easily picking up a huge man 3 times with a dicky arm, but I enjoyed the story here.

Pro Wrestling Chaos - Everyone Must Stand Alone

Mr Bananas vs Bison Brody

 Squash for Brody, who looks impressive in victory. Massive gutwrench suplex looks terrific, before Brody hits a press-slam into a World’s Strongest Slam to win.

Ian Williams vs Grado

Williams is playing the role of snivelling cowardly heel, so it’s fun to watch Grado messing with him. The weedy loudmouth vs the lovable everyman is a perfect dynamic. Williams blocks off Grado’s bionic elbow twice before taking control, so it gets a nice reaction when Grado eventually hits it during his comeback. Williams is fine of offence, if not especially exciting, but he left Grado get sympathy. Williams tries to escape after taking a trio of bionic elbows, but gets blocked off by Gideon. Williams re-enters the ring and Grado nails a F5 to win.

Gideon vs Big Grizzly

Fun big man bout here. Williams has stayed at ringside to assist Grizzly, and is a constant presence during the bout. Grizz has some nice offence in his repertoire, with a big legdrop and Samoan drop both looking impressive. I liked the German suplex Gideon hit during his comeback – it wasn’t based around him improbably picking up the big man, but instead he allowed Grizz to rebound back from the ropes, and took him over using momentum. Still looks impressive without diminishing Grizzly’s size. Dug the finishing stretch too – Williams’ interference allowed Grizz to remove a turnbuckle pad whilst the ref was distracted, but a kendo shot from Williams accidentally hit Grizz, Gideon got into position and flatlinered Grizzly into the exposed buckle and finally hit a GTS to win. Made Gideon look smart to get into position for the turnbuckle flatliner, and helps keep Grizzly’s aura – it took three big shots to the head to keep him down. Good stuff.

Massive Party (Chuck Cyrus & Robbie Caine) vs Steele Dragons (Alex Steele & Eddie Dennis)

Decent enough match, which although maybe not technically perfect, is carried along by the fun nature of the stooging, goofy heels, the popularity and amiability of the Dragons and sticking to standard tag formula. Massive Party are working a meathead partying gimmick, and I dug them having a celebratory dance when a Dennis clothesline doesn’t faze them, only to receive two double eyepokes. Dennis plays FIP, and I dug Steele as the hot tag, using his speed advantage to outsmart Massive Party. Dennis hits his ever-impressive fallaway slam/Samoan Drop combo on the heels, and the stereo dives by the faces looked good. Massive Party get to blitz Steele with a few nice moves in a good finishing sequence, but a Steele superkick into a Next Stop Driver gets the win.

Mike Bird vs Trevor Lee

This was really good. Just felt like these two worked well together, both in character work and in the ring. Bird’s increasing frustration at Lee’s pre-match dancing led to an early strike exchange, with Bird nailing a nasty looking headbutt. Bird lures Lee into charging at him and nails a hot shot to take control, before wearing him down with some basic, but well executed offence. Bird takes too long threatening a clothesline however, and eats a uranage for two. Loved how Lee kept hold of Bird’s arm on the pin attempt and rolled through into a Fujiwara armbar, nice fluid sequence. Also a big fan of Lee’s penalty kick on the apron, he gets a full exaggerated extension on the leg to really emphasise the move. Lee gets the sudden win with a moonsault slam, which feels effective as a flash move to get the pin from nowhere. Could easily have watched another 5 minutes.

Panda Cub vs Flash Morgan Webster

Webster attacks Cub from behind to start, as this one kicks off with some real intensity. Webster in particular just lays in the headbutts to Cub. Hadn’t seen much of Panda Cub before, but I dug him here, nice flip senton and a reverse rana for a really nearfall. Webster is really good at being unlikable, so much so that you wonder how he ever gets booked as (a really likable) face. Cub misses a top rope splash and Webster locks in the Strangler to win. Webster is higher up in the hierarchy than Cub, but he really made him look good in defeat.

Pete Dunne vs Johnny Kidd

This is being fought under Mountevan’s Rules, which means that once a wrestler loses control of a hold, they have to yield and let their opponent back up, with best 2/3 falls rules. Really excellent bout to watch, with the matwork being really crisp. Because punches aren’t allowed, both guys have to be really clever with reversals, and most times a hold is countered it’s due to a shift in body weight or leverage creating space to escape. Have to give credit to the commentary too, really puts across how clever both wrestlers have to be, highlighting how Dunne escapes a bodyscissors by putting his legs over Kidd’s ankles, forcing Kidd’s knees down and giving Dunne room to drive his elbows into Kidd’s knees to escape. Just beautiful stuff, and the pinfalls almost feel irrelevant to the enjoyment of the match (Pete wins the final fall by luring Kidd into the ropes and quickly schoolboying him for the win), as it’s a real treat to watch. I’ve got the Chaos show where Kidd takes on Jack Gallagher under the same rules, and I’m very excited to watch that now. Top stuff.

Wild Boar vs Jeckel

This is for Boar’s King of Chaos title. Jeckel is accompanied by Pariah Khan, kayfabe owner of Chaos, giving him a huge advantage. Thus, even though Boar is on it to start, controlling Jeckel after a suicide dive early on, Khan’s interference allows Jeckel to dominate for the most part, with the ref unable to stop it. Jeckel’s pumphandle slam and 2^nd rope legdrop both looked good, before Boar changes the momentum by rolling into Jeckel’s legs when he’s running the ropes. Really crafty counter, and it’s followed by a big senton from Boar. Jeckel is really condescending to Boar, knowing his advantage with Khan, and seems to be toying with him, which ends up backfiring as a recovered Boar is able to avoid a chairshot and instead hit a big senton which drives Jeckel into the chair face first. Sadly, we get a bullshit ending, as Khan pulls the ref out of the ring, and Jeckel tries a chair sneak attack, only succeeding in hitting the chair into his own head. The ref sees an unconscious Jeckel and Boar holding a chair and disqualifies Boar. Disappointing ending to a decent match.

WWE Main Event 20/05/2014

First episode of Main Event reviewed in months and they only give us two matches. Even more frustratingly, this is sandwiched by two Cesaro/Mark Henry segments where they build up to a match in the first, then yank it away in the second. Poor show lads.

Damien Sandow vs R-Truth

This episode is filmed in England, so Sandow is cosplaying as Sherlock Holmes. This match seems to go on for ever, which is surprising as nothing really happens. The match goes to commercial with the only happening being a really ugly roll up attempt by Truth. At least when we come back we get a huge over-the-top rope bump from Truth. Sandow controls the bout with a long headlock and some unconvincing offence – his “vicious elbows” to a downed Truth consist of him leaning over his body and punching the mat. Truth makes a brief comeback, but misses the Lie Detector and Sandow hits a full Nelson slam to win.

Aksana vs Naomi

Am I nuts for wishing this had gone a bit longer? Naomi goes for Aksana’s eye to start with a few punches, which is a nice throwback to the injury suffered at Aksana’s hands. Naomi hits a nice looking seated butt splash, which feels like a move she should do more often considering her derriere-based offence. She also hits this nasty looking Pedigree variation, with Aksana draped over the ropes. The camera very wisely zooms in during a terrible bit of Aksana offense, making it hard to tell what happened. Naomi wins with the Rear View from nowhere.

ECW Hardcore TV #12 22/06/1993

Don Muraco vs Tommy Cairo

Man, this is probably Muraco’s worst performance in ECW to this point, and he really looks past his prime. He takes a stumbling slow motion bump off a Cairo crossbody and barely gets over on a backdrop. Cairo looks decent here, but he’s really facing a guy who’s just stumbling through the match. Amusing scene as a kid in a “We Can’t Dance” Genesis shirt steals Eddie Gilbert’s cap at ringside. The end is all sorts of terrible, as Cairo suplexes Muraco, but Muraco just rolls him over on the pin attempt and gets the three. Not even a hint of struggle from Cairo. Really odd ending that makes everyone look stupid.

JT Smith vs Dark Patriot

Patriot looks really good in the early stages, really solid execution of his moves with a nice punch and real snap to a back elbow. Smith isn’t very crisp, but he is very willing and looks like he’s putting some effort in. Still, his flying headscissors is sloppy and he barely glances Patriot with a moonsault for two. There’s a ref bump and the two battle to the commentary balcony. In an insane bump, Patriot knocks Smith to the floor a good 15-20 ft below and then dives off onto Smith. Patriot gets back in the ring and wins by countout. Nutso bump from both guys, and there are signs that things are getting a bit closer to the familiar ECW style

Rockin Rebel & Tony Stetson vs The Sandman & Larry Winters

The heel team are substantially better than the faces here, so it’s good that Rebel and Stetson control the majority of the bout. Stetson bumps about to make Winters’ floaty offence look good, despite there being so much air shown on a kneelift. Stetson’s offence isn’t flashy, but it at least looks effective and like it would actually cause pain. Sandman tags in and hits a dreadful DDT on Stetson before another crap ending (this episode is rife with them). Peaches gets on the apron to distract Rebel, openly slaps him in front of the ref and Sandman rolls him up to get the win following what feels like a REALLY fast count. Good match until the end.

The Suicide Blondes (Chris Candido, Johnny Hotbody & Richard Michaels) vs The Super Destroyers & Sal Bellomo

Surprisingly fun 6-man, due to more fun bumping and stooging by the Blondes. They make the basic offence of the Destroyers look deadly. Hotbody eats an ugly looking powerbomb from a Destroyer, but the Destroyers seem to want to beat up all three Blondes, and force the tag to Michaels. Michaels takes an amazing bump when he misses a top rope splash that gets insane height. Even Bellomo does the first cool thing I’ve seen from him in ECW, putting Hotbody in a figure-four legvine, then leaping down on his legs, which looks painful. The Blondes finally get control, but their cheating mean things quickly break down. In the melee, Paul E Dangerously gets involved to check on injured Blondes manager Hunter Q Robbins III, but gets levelled by a Destroyer. This lures out the Dangerous Alliance with weapons, and a big brawl kicks off to end the episode. 

AAW Windy City Classic XII 26/11/2016

ACH vs Mustafa Ali

This was a solid opener, though not the blowaway showstealer the commentary team were portraying it as. I’d never seen ACH before, and I liked some of the little touches he did, like stopping on a slid reversal of an Irish whip to sucker Ali in, then hit a sneaky kick. He’s got some heft behind him too, so his springboard splash looked painful. Ali is really fluid, loved the rolling ring entry that flows into a neckbreaker. There is one moment where ACH really obviously sets up a dive following an Ali baseball slide: ACH awkwardly clambers over the safety rail, then unsubtly pushes the rail away to make space for the landing. It’s actually all for naught, as Ali manages to hit mainly chairs on his flip dive. That aside, I dug this, and I really liked the feel of the ending sequence. ACH hit a succession of moves and got two counts on each, but rather than getting frustrated or selling shock, he swiftly hit another move, not giving Ali time to recover, and eventually being rewarded with the match winning 450 splash.

The Hooligans, Buck Nasty & Connor Braxton vs The Wet Bandits (Markus Crane & Dan Lawrence), Kongo Kong & Colt Cabana

With big indy 8 man matches, it gives you a chance to check out a load of guys you’ve not seen before and to remember names to look for/avoid on future indy cards, and I got guys for both lists here. Hard to get a grip on the Hooligan’s gimmick, they’re wearing overalls and no shoes like your typical hillbilly wrestler, but those overalls are covered in punk rock patches. The first half of this match is filled with some insufferable cutesy comedy nonsense, led mainly by the Wet Bandits. It’s not until the heel team finally get to work some heat on Crane that things pick up. Loved the nasty looking body shots by the Hooligans and the long flurry of chops and punches they inflict on him in the corner. They also hit a nice 2^nd rope legdrop/standing moonsault combo, which was impressive from such stocky guys. Kong I’d heard a lot about, and I loved him picking up Lawrence, his own partner, as a weapon to hit a rolling senton on three opponents in the corner. Braxton and Kong hit opposing simultaneous fallaway slams/Samoan drops, whilst both holding two wrestler, which is impressive, albeit a little too cutesy. Cabana and Kong hit top rope splashes on the Hooligans to win. Final scorecard: Hooligans and Kong – like to see more of, Braxton and Nasty – seemed fine, Wet Bandits – insufferable. Not too bad.

Kimber Lee vs Mercedes Martinez

This is for Martinez’s Shimmer title. Pretty decent match on the whole, though not without a few stumbles from both. Both played their roles well, with Kimber as face running through a nice, crisp offensive flurry to start, contrasting with Martinez heeling it up with chokes, at one point doing a double bicep pose with her leg draped over Lee’s throat. Mercedes definitely wins the battle of stiffer looking chops too. Lee’s comeback run is pretty nice, getting two off a decent swanton, but Martinez looks to have been playing possum, kneeing Lee when she tries to pick her off the mat, and hitting a Fisherman’s buster for the victory.

Alex Daniels vs Chuck Taylor vs Jake Crist

Daniels has a Ben Affleck-themed gimmick, which seems to involve him yelling Ben Affleck film titles before his moves. He seems like quite easily the best guy in this match, bumping like a maniac and hitting some lovely offence – great kneestrike to the face, loved his running slam into the corner and his strikes looked sharp. Crist’s offence was a bit shitter, he hit this really indy-tastic facebreaker that I didn’t like, but his character work was fun, doing this arsehole over-the-top mocking of Daniels’ agony after giving him a belly-to-back suplex on the ring apron. I realised this match that, though I intensely dislike Taylor, his execution of offence is actually fine, it’s just his irritating facials when selling and stupid noises he makes that puts me off. That said, his finishing Awful Waffle looked arse here. Want to see more of Daniels though.

Heidi Lovelace vs Jessicka Havok

This is an I Quit match. Like Lovelace’s gameplan here, attacking the larger Havok with a dive to the floor before the bell. Havok’s size and power advantage means she’s going to control the bulk of the bout, but Lovelace absorbs the punishment and waits until Havok makes a mistake to try and capitalise. The only thing is, she has to eat a load of punishment, getting hurled into the ringside barriers and getting folded in half with a single-leg crab. But then Havok will miss a charge into the corner, and Lovelace pounces, rolling through a crucifix in a lovely movement into a Rings of Saturn. Havok’s kicks are a bit soft, but this kinda helps explain how Lovelace is able to recover despite taking big shots like a Stretch Muffler tangled in the ropes. Havok sets up a load of chairs in the ring to hit a top rope Air Raid Crash, but again this gives Heidi time to recover, escaping to hit a sunset powerbomb through the chairs and then choking Havok out with a chair on a Camel Clutch to win. Really well laid out match, enjoyed this a lot.

Eddie Kingston, Homicide & Low Ki vs Brian Cage, Drago & Pentagon Jr

This has the feel of a dream match, but takes an interesting twist early on due to what seems to be a legit injury suffered by Low Ki. Ki ends up on the floor outside with Homicide checking on him, putting Kingston at a 3-on-1 disadvantage (during which time he suffers the indignity of Pentagon hitting a top rope stomp to his nuts). With Ki still hurt, Homicide and Kingston manage to isolate Drago, the smallest of their opponents, and look utterly badass in the process, taunting Cage and Pentagon and battling against the odds. Low Ki recovers enough to get into the matched, and one-legged Low Ki, with Homicide’s bandana tied around his leg to offset the pain, headbutting Drago manages to look even more of a hardcase than his team-mates. Kingston’s character work here is excellent, selling every minor outrage as a personal insult. Ki gets isolated, but everything breaks down when Homicide and Kingston come to the aid of their injured comrade. After a big finisher train, Ki hits Drago with a shotgun dropkick and a top rope stomp to win. Lots of fun here.

Zack Sabre Jr vs Trent Baretta

Interesting bout here. Liked the early stages, where Baretta is ever so hesitant to lock up with Zack, so pokes him in the eye to take control. There’s a bit where ZSJ has to lie on the mat for ages after a back elbow so Baretta can hit some terrible comedy move, but then this leads to angry ZSJ just working the shit out of Trent’s neck. Baretta then misses a charge in the corner, jarring his elbow, and he’s really in the ring with the worst possible man for that. Zack does some lovely arm work, including kicking the arm when tied up in the railings, and I love the way he ground his elbow into Trent’s spine to force him to the mat to take more punishment. Baretta’s selling of the arm is inconsistent, and Zack actually sells a neck injury more, suffering a Jig’N’Tonic and a cradle piledriver, both for two counts. In the end, ZSJ ties Baretta up on the mat and gets the submission. Baretta didn’t feel in the same ballpark as Zack offensively, which made it harder to accept 50/50 strike exchanges toward the end, but this was still fine.

Trevor Lee & Andrew Everett vs The Besties In The World (Davey Vega & Mat Fitchett)

This is for the AAW tag titles, held by Fitchett and Vega. Probably the weakest match on the card, unfortunately, just a bit too unstructured and sloppy. It starts with a dance-off, which is never a good sign, and features too much comedy nonsense. A plethora of those double team moves where through some convoluted machinations a wrestler ends up hitting a big move on his partner that never look good. Lee is very much the standout here, loved him running the ropes and suddenly switching direction to hit a baseball slide dropkick at a different angle. He even makes a double rana look decent. Everett hits a big insane dive over the ring post which also looks good. Ultimately, this isn’t very interesting and the end sees Fitchett unrealistically reposition himself to take Everett’s match-winning shooting star press.

Sami Callihan vs Chris Hero

Callihan is the defending AAW champion here. Loved Hero hitting a senton right off the bat here, giving him an early advantage over the winded Sami. Really like how Sami isn’t able to get any sustained offence in the match unless he cheats, only for his sudden cockiness to back fire – he fakes an injury to sneak attack Hero, only to celebrate and get punched in the chops. He takes advantage with an eyepoke, but again takes his time attacking and again Hero takes control. Any time Sami takes over, Hero is only one strike from recovering. It’s not until Sami takes out Hero’s leg that he’s able to get sustained control. A vicious chair shot to Hero’s leg looks nasty, and Hero’s size means that a leg injury is the best way to keep him down. Hero keeps firing back with elbows and kicks, but his leg gives out on another elbow attempt, and Sami has him in trouble. Hero hits a big piledriver, but isn’t able to cover, and Sami is actually in the perfect position to grab Hero’s leg and lock in a Stretch Muffler for the victory. Really good stuff.

ECW Hardcore TV #11 15/06/1993

It's going to sound odd for a show with a squash and 3 matches ending in DQ, but this is easily the best episode of Hardcore TV so far. Amazing what happens when you book Terry Funk matches instead of Glen Osbourne and the Sandman

Hawk vs Jimmy Snuka

Pleasantly, better than I was suspecting. Both guys take more bumps than I was expecting, with Hawk really flying into the corner on a missed shoulder charged. Snuka’s control wasn’t amazing, but I liked Hawk coming back after Snuka missing a diving headbutt and hitting a really good looking neckbreaker. Top rope clothesline looks to have won it before Paul E Dangerously runs in for the DQ. Short, but not terrible.

Suicide Blondes vs Super Destroyers

JIP match. The Destroyers have turned face, and seem to be having more fun in this role. Candido hits a nice dive to the floor, but gets caught on a pescado. One of the Destroyers goes to the top rope, and I start having kittens thinking a Super D is going to hit a top rope dive. Sadly, he was just up there to do some taunting. Chris Michaels (now renamed Richard Michaels) comes to ringside and interferes, as does Super Destroyer-wannabe Sal Bellomo, and the ref calls the bout off. Probably the most I’ve enjoyed the Destroyers, thanks to the quicker pace and Candido bumping for them.

Eddie Gilbert vs Herve Renesto

Renesto is a renamed Ernesto Benefico, but this doesn’t lead to a change in his fortunes. This is a chain match in anticipation of Gilbert’s forthcoming match with Terry Funk. This is a quick massacre, with Gilbert knocking Renesto down so hard they need to reattach the chain. After dragging him round the ring by his throat, Gilbert hits him in the neck with the chain and touches all four corners to win.

Terry Funk vs The Dark Patriot

First time Terry has been in the ring in ECW so far, and he’s a welcome presence. Patriot gets the early advantage after Dangerously distracts Terry on the floor. Dangerously features heavily in the bout, giving Patriot a coathanger and distracting the ref to allow Patriot to choke Funk with it in the ring. Loved how Funk sold Patriot’s punches, staggering into the ropes, getting caught up and spilling to the floor. Nice piledriver by Patriot only gets 2. Funk fires back with some great looking headbutts, and I loved him grabbing Patriot by the mask, alternating between trying to remove it and using it to hold Patriot’s head in place to lace him with some punches. Dangerously tries to interfere, but Terry sees him coming, leading to a great faceoff as Dangerously is frozen in place stunned. Terry nails 3 DDT’s, but Eddie Gilbert comes in for the DQ. Top stuff until the end, best ECW match so far.

Stardom - Stardom of Champions 23/02/2017

Zoe Lucas & Christi Jaynes vs Natsuko Tora & Kaori Yoneyama vs Arisu Nanase & Hiromi Mimura vs Queens Quest (Azumi & HZK)

This is an elimination match, with eliminations by submission, pinfall and going over-the-top rope. Pretty much a fun spotfest opener, which puts some of the greener members of the roster in a position where they only have to hit their moves and get out, which keeps everyone looking good. I liked the gaijin Jaynes and Lucas working big against Nanase and Mimura – neither are huge, but there was a notable size difference which I’m glad was played up. Dug the Queens Quest girls hitting a swank double facewash into the same corner from opposite angles. Lucas pins Nanase after a series of big kicks, but is quickly pinned by HZK after a seated senton. Yoneyama and Tora had played it smart by staying outside a lot, and I loved their control on Queens Quest – Yoneyama hitting a dropkick on HZK and simultaneously landing a senton on Azumi looked killer. However, they make the mistake of going up top, and Queens Quest bundle them to the floor to win.

Konami vs Yoko Bito

Konami impressed in her Stardom debut in December, and I thought she looked excellent here. Liked the cagey opening with both wrestlers trying to sneak in a kick or find an opening. Konami is really tenacious here, quickly going to work on Bito’s leg and on release not giving her a moment’s recovery before pouncing with another submission hold. Bito tries a Jig’N’Tonic, but Konami is able to grab the injured leg whilst upside down and roll through into another sub. Bito’s comeback felt a bit premature, and she felt like the weaker link in the bout, as she picks up the win with a second try at the Jig’N’Tonic.

Toni Storm vs Deonna Purrazzo

This is for Storm’s SWA title. Nice little sense of one-upsmanship to start, with both sneaking little bits of offense in as they work the mat for superiority – Purrazzo sneaks in a quick headbutt to the torso on a rope break, Storm holding her hands on the mat to stomp the fingers. Storm takes a really nasty spill on a suicide dive, looking like her feet caught the ropes, but she seems to recover quickly, hitting a nice running hip attack and a decent Fisherman’s suplex for two. Purrazzo seems to have a gameplan of working Storm’s arm, and I liked how that same into play when Storm tries a suplex, Purrazzo finding it easy to counter and go right back to an armbar. My only complaint is that the end seemed to come from nowhere for the second bout in a row, as Storm suddenly hits a backcracker and a piledriver to win.

Mayu Iwatani vs Kris Wolf vs Kagetsu

This is for Iwatani’s High Speed title, and the deck is stacked against her – not just because she’s facing two members of Oedo Tai, but because a third member in Hana Kimura is outside the ring, which we realise as she trips Iwatani in the early stages after Oedo Tai lure her outside for a foot chase round the ring. Fun comedy spot as Kimura and Kagetsu hold Iwatani in the ropes and tie some elasticated tape to her, and Wolf runs off into the crowd with the other end, letting the roll ping off into Mayu’s face. I dug Iwatani’s gameplan of trying to isolate one Oedo Tai member, hitting an Iconoclasm on Wolf onto Kagetsu. The obvious problem of which member of Oedo Tai will get the win is addressed as Kagetsu ties Wolf by the tail to one of the ropes, and even when Wolf gets free, her pin attempt is thwarted by Kagetsu hurling a briefcase at her. In the end, it doesn’t matter, as Wolf lets Kagetsu hit a sitout driver on Iwatani, then hurtles across the ring to cover both ladies and win the title. Fun match, felt like a big moment for Wolf.

Kairi Hojo vs Jungle Kyona

Absolutely loved this. This is for Hojo’s Wonder of Stardom title. Real big match feel, as Kyona rushes Hojo as soon as the bell ring, taking any legal advantage possible. Hojo is the smaller wrestler here, and noticeably her offence here is based around quick impact moves, but this costs her early, as she takes an insane high speed charge into the ring post on the outside. She just splatted into it with Kyona moving just in time. Kyona works over the back of Hojo, with a backdrop on the floor and an Argentine backbreaker, and there’s a big red mark appearing early on Hojo’s lower spine. Hojo makes a comeback with her quick offence, a spear looking surprisingly good considering the size difference, and a big crossbody to the floor looking immense. Hojo works over a body part herself, hooking an ankle pick on Kyona, and I loved how Kyona sold it. After escaping, Kyona is on one knee trying to level Hojo with strikes, but the injury means she can’t put pressure on the leg and as such means she hasn’t got a base to put any real force behind the blows, which Hojo barely feels. Kyona is able to get up to meet Hojo on the top rope, hitting a top rope powerslam to further hurt the back. This is followed by two awesome deadlift gutwrench powerbombs that get a real close nearfall. Hojo hits some big backfists (and one that looked a bit duff, sadly) and goes back up top, but soon has this great look of shocked horror as Kyona AGAIN gets up to meet her. This time, Hojo sends her back down with a double stomp and hits her perfect top rope elbow for the win. Incredible bout, felt like a real breakthrough performance by Kyona.

Io Shirai vs Shayna Baszler

This is for Shirai’s World of Stardom title. Really good stuff here right from the get-go, as Shirai fires off a blow right from the handshake, only to get caught in a big sleeper right away, showing how dangerous Baszler can be. Baszler works Shirai’s arm early door, and I love how they kept coming back to the injury throughout the match. Shirai sells it throughout, just little touches like not being able to properly grind her elbow into Baszler’s ribs on an abdominal stretch or giving it a quick shake in between moves so you know it’s still bothering her. Baszler locks another sleeper in on Shirai, this time in the corner from the top rope, and Io does this amazing limp body hanging sell. They fight outside, which is where Shirai takes over, dropkicking Baszler’s head through a chair, blasting her with a thrown chair and hurling her into the crowd, where Baszler only just makes the 20 count back into the ring. Shirai challenges Baszler to strike her, fighting through Shayna’s kicks to the leg, but not being prepared for Baszler to mix it up and kick the injured arm instead, which puts Io down. Baszler gets this amazing Falcon Arrow into a sleeper, and this leads to probably the only weak point of the match – the ref checks on Shirai, who is out, and rather than award the match to Baszler, he makes her break the hold and pin Io, only getting a two count. Very odd. Baszler lets herself get distracted talking to the ref, and this is her downfall, as Shirai hits a straitjacket German suplex, a tombstone and a moonsault to pick up the win. Great stuff.

JCW Slam TV #7

Tracy Smothers vs CJ O’Doyle

O’Doyle isn’t masked here, which sends Shaggy II Dope into rapture on commentary. Not much of a match here, but the commentary carries it, with lots of talk of how the ladies can’t keep their hands off the newly unmasked O’Doyle. Smothers works a load of schtick into the bout, blindsiding O’Doyle, choking him out, then offering a phony handshake when O’Doyle is in the ascendancy – Smothers of course blindsiding him again. O’Doyle has some basic white meat babyface offence, all dropkicks and a nice crossbody, but he takes a nice bump on the top of his head from a clothesline. Also, got to love that, when O’Doyle tries a cover after his first move of the match, the ICP claim that O’Doyle really thought that one back elbow would be enough to get the win. 2 Tuff Tony runs in on Smothers for the DQ.

Corporal Robinson vs Trent Acid

Robinson is defending the JCW title here. These two pair up fairly well, with Acid the sneaky little shit against Robinson’s big bruiser. Acid takes a big bump to the floor from a clothesline, but uses some cat-and-mouse tactics to lure Corp out for the chase, nailing him as he re-enters the ring. Acid pretend humping Robinson’s chest on a pinfall hilariously outrages the crowd. Robinson comes back with a botched Rydeen Bomb and hits a superkick to Acid’s chest as Trent jumps from the top rope, but Boot Camp is blocked by Acid hitting him with holy water for the DQ. Love the idea that the holy water is burning Corporal’s eyes because he’s such a sinner, making him the face to the crowd.