WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 4

Candice LeRae vs Renee Michelle

I’ve never been too convinced by LeRae, who has managed to have both the worst Nixon Newell and worst Kay Lee Ray matches I’ve seen. That said, this match was totally fine. Michelle doesn’t look entirely comfortable running the ropes, but she shows some impressive little bits. The highlight of her offensive run was the sharp kick to LeRae’s shin that felled Candice into position for a kick to the head. She misses a moonsault really nicely well, not acting like she’s expecting it not to hit. Candice also looks decent here, picking up the win with a swinging neckbreaker from the second rope.

Lacey Evans vs Taynara Conti

Both women look to have a lot of promise, and both have distinctive looks that’ll help them stand out. Liked Conti’s offence here, working her judo background into the match with some fun throws on the larger Evans. One in particular, where she throws Evans totally over her head, looked terrific. She also shows good strength to hold up Evans for a neat swinging slam. Evans has some nice movement, working a few well timed kicks into the match, and finishes with a Jig’N’Tonic. This was pretty fun.

Nicole Savoy vs Reina Gonzalez

Pretty odd here, in that the pre-match video describes Savoy as the “Queen of Suplexes”, who loves throwing her opponents about in interesting ways….only for her to throw zero suplexes in the match. Gonzalez seems to have the power advantage, which she shows early by resisting some armdrag attempts and nailing a big clothesline. Savoy hits a decent rana and I liked Gonzalez’s reverse crab, but this wasn’t a particularly great match. Gonzalez seemed a bit green, and she controls the majority of this bout. The end was really good though, as Savoy grabs a wristlock to escape a fireman’s carry, and she uses it to work Gonzalez to the mat, locking in a cross-armbreaker for the tap.

Kairi Sane vs Tessa Blanchard

Kairi comes out to a fun Pirates of the Carribean knock-off theme, and she’s already over as. The initial stages are pretty close, until Kairi hits a running blockbuster from nowhere to heat things up. Blanchard fires back with a great looking neckbreaker. Both have some nice impact moves too, loved Blanchard hitting big forearms and Sane belying her tiny frame by blitzing through with a big spear. Sane has so much physical charisma that manages to keep the crowd hot past the initial pop. Blanchard heels it up a bit, with some cheap shots and kneeing Sane over the ropes. Sane hits an Alabama Slam then hits her ridiculous diving elbow for the win. Really fun stuff, got both girls over and this was a good little sprint.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 3

Toni Storm vs Ayesha Raymond

This was pretty solid, some hard-hitting stuff from both ladies. Raymond is a powerful lady, and she moves well here, with some deliberate offence. Sometimes comes off a bit green, but Storm is competent enough to fill the gaps. The end plays into the over-confidence of Raymond as she takes too long to yell at the fans , missing a top rope splash, following which Storm cradles her for the win.

Dakota Kai vs Kavita Devi

Devi has a substantial size and strength advantage over Kai, which she works at the start of this match. She looks green, but they work this quite sensibly to have a decent match. Devi works over the arm of Kai with her strength, hoisting her in the air and working a lucha-style top rope armdrag (though it looks really hesitant, may have been better not to do it). Devi uses a big press slam but misses a corner splash. Great looking corner kick is followed by a top rope stomp by Kai, giving her the win. This is fine.

Sage Beckett vs Bianca Belair

There were parts of this I really enjoyed, but also a few scrappy looking bits. Beckett hits a big elbow drop that looks great and Belair hits a really nice looking clothesline. Beckett seems to be working this as underdog face, which is odd given her size advantage. Belair has a few moments where she looks a bit off the pace and doesn’t quite have the stuff to fill it. Beckett misses a Vader bomb and Belair whips her with her ridiculously long hair, before hitting a huge spear to win.

Piper Niven vs Santana Garrett

Really feels like both women should be going through to the next round. Loved the early armbar sequence they work, with Santana gaining control by using the ropes to flip through and Niven swinging and missing to try and break free. Love Piper’s running crossbody, looks great as a sudden impact move. Niven works a neat cravate before hitting a low crossbody to a seated Garrett. Santana’s comeback is good, really liked how they worked her handstand rana, with Niven initially fighting it off before Santana gets it. Garrett misses the Shining Star Press and Niven hits a senton and a Michinoku Driver to win. Best match of the tournament so far.

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 2

Mercedes Martinez vs Xia Li

Li has a massive disadvantage in terms of experience, as this is played up as her first ever match. In contrast, Martinez is the veteran, and obviously someone the WWE trust to work with their green talent. With that said, Li looked terrific here. She’s got a unique look that makes her stand out, but her offence was really on point here. Loved her range of kicks and her movement to slide into a crucifix behind Martinez. Her running punch to a kneeling Martinez was really great before she gets caught in a lovely looking spinebuster. Mercedes gets the win by locking in a surfboard into a Dragon sleeper. Bit of a Li showcase, but an effective one, with Martinez moving on to get more chances to shine later.

Marti Belle vs Rachel Evers

Considering how good Li looked in her match, the fact that these two put on such a stinker is more telling. On the positive side, Belle does some nice character work as a condescending heel, but the rest…terrible. There’s an early tell as Evers barely gets over on a suplex. Evers and Belle exchange some woeful looking punches, though Evers does hit a nice looking senton. An Evers spinebuster looks sloppy, and she then takes an odd looking bump from a Belle Stroke. They just don’t look to be on the same page, so it’s a relief when Evers gets the win with a roll up. The worst match of the tournament so far.

Rhea Ripley vs Miranda Salinas

Another match with some impressive rookie performances. Ripley in particular had some great looking dropkicks, a lovely running boot in the corner and a diving dropkick into the corner. Salinas does some nice work in getting over as a heel despite being substantially shorter and her heel control was perfectly fine. Ripley gets the win with a full nelson slam, and both girls looked promising here.

Mia Yim vs Sarah Logan

You can really tell the fact that these two are more advanced than a lot of the competitors, as this is a really good match. They cut a much faster pace, working fluid looking sequences. Loved the sudden dropkick Logan hits to a kneeling Yim, and Yim fires back with some stiff kicks. They also exchange some nasty blows on the mat. A German suplex to Logan looks a little off as Logan has to roll into place to have her shoulders down after initially landing out of the pin. Logan misses a leaping kneedrop and Yim hits Eat Defeat for the victory. Really good stuff. 

WWE Mae Young Classic Episode 1

Kay Lee Ray vs Princesa Sugehit

Pretty fun match to kick off the tournament. Liked Sugehit laying in some nice kicks early, bringing the fight to KLR. Kay Lee has some nice early touches too, loved her spinning Sugehit around on the apron to swing her into a nice looking forearm. A sliding flatliner by KLR looks a bit off, but this is the only glaring moment. Sugehit rolls KLR around the ring with a cradle, and it nicely leaves Kay Lee dizzy for some big kicks to the head. A Gory Bomb gets two for Ray, but she misses a Swanton and Sugehit locks in an armbar for the tap.

Serena Deeb vs Vanessa Borne

Interestingly worked, as even though Deeb is the veteran, Borne has a slight size and power advantage that allows her to control the match for the most part. Liked her nasty headbutt that rocks Deeb. It allows Deeb to gain sympathy and she’s really good at working from underneath. Deeb makes a comeback, but hurls herself into the corner in a nice missed move. It leads to a Borne swinging neckbreaker that feels like the ending, but only gets two. Samoan Drop also gets two and Borne starts getting frustrated. This leads to a missed splash, a missed clothesline and Deeb nailing a spear for three. Decent story, nicely told.

Shayna Baszler vs Zeda

This only goes two minutes, but is pretty fun for it’s runtime. They work a nice little grappling sequence before Baszler goes to the strikes. Liked Baszler blocking a suplex, so Zeda instead locks in a standing choke from the same position. Unfortunately for her, Shayna powers her into a suplex, transitioning straight into a rear choke for the tap. Zeda looked pretty competitive considering the length, it’s just that Baszler got a sudden death move for the win.

Abbey Laith vs Jazzy Gabert

They start this really nicely, as Laith tries repeated blows on Gabert only to get thrown away time and again. The audience reacts really well to this. Gabert looks great dominating early, hitting some blows to the neck of Laith and hooking in a neck crank. Loved the flurry of brutal punches Gabert hits in the corner. Laith has some nice comebacks, including an Octopus Stretch in the ropes. Her kicks look pretty weak in comparison to some of Gabert’s strikes. Gabert’s lariat looks terrific. Jazzy seems to be in control, but Laith escapes a Gory Bomb with a cradle for three. Really good match, Laith looks great in surviving and Gabert looked like a monster in control.

ECW Hardcore TV #25 28/09/1993

Tony Stetson vs Tommy Cairo

Another solid Stetson performance here, though this dragged a bit more than their previous match. Cairo is a guy who can throw some nice suplexes but not much else, so Stetson is kinda forced to work around those limitations. It works when Stetson is in control, as he heels it up nicely. Nasty looking chop to the throat, grinding his boot into Cairo’s face and stalling outside the ring when Cairo gets any advantage. It’s when Cairo is in control that it drags a little, as he’s not really sure how to fill the void. I liked his flying leg lariat here, but only because it came across like Cairo just hurling his body at Stetson rather than specifically his legs. Stetson hits a nice flying clothesline and uses his Pennsylvania title for the match winning belt shot.

Salvatore Bellomo vs the Wolfman

Hilariously, Joey Styles uses this match to illustrate how much the ECW crowd love Bellomo, as he wrestles to not much reaction. This was terrible, two lumbering oafs throwing weak blows, exchanging some scarcely applied holds (witness Bellomo’s Camel Clutch where he can barely be bothered to hold Wolfman’s head) and the Wolfman adds some ineffectual biting. Just so bad, but thankfully short before Bellomo gets the win with a splash.

WWF Raw 20/06/1994

Diesel vs Mark Thomas

Thomas is quite a well built jobber, so he’s a good choice to make Diesel look like a beast. Diesel shows a nice little bit of aggression here, hitting a big knee right from the lock up. Thomas decides to bump snake eyes right on top of his head before the Jack-knife finishes. Decent enough.

1-2-3 Kid vs Nikolai Volkoff

Bizarrely, the winner of this match gets a title match against Bret Hart. So, I guess Volkoff’s squash win over a pre-fame Matt Hardy was sufficient to put him in the title frame right away. Kid does a lot here to make Volkoff look good, running with gusto into shoulderblocks and making him look like a brick wall. Volkoff does a few nice bits, good looking butterfly suplex and a pair of press slams into a back breaker, but makes the mistake of picking kid up on 2 counts. Really don’t think you can afford to risk a title match at this stage of your career, Nikolai. Kid seems to jar his knee in the corner, but it turns out he’s faking it to roll up Volkoff for the win. So the title match goes to the man who has to fake an injury to sneak a win over ancient Nikolai Volkoff.

Yokozuna vs Nick Barberi

Love the early contrast as Barberi throws a handful of ineffectual punches before getting felled by one blow from Yoko. Yoko shows some nice aggression, clawing at Barberi’s face whilst choking him, before hitting a belly-to-belly and a legdrop to win.

Typhoon vs the Black Phantom

Pretty basic squash, but I really dug Typhoon’s suplexes. He doesn’t bother hooking an arm, he just puts his opponent in a front facelock and hoists him over with raw power. Looks great. A corner splash and a normal splash get the win.

Heavenly Bodies vs Jim Powers & Russ Greenberg

Oddly, the early stages of this match mark out Powers as more than a handful for both Bodies. Both Del Ray and Pritchard bump around for his generic offence, and even a double team ends with Powers booting one of them in the face and getting a small package on the other. All this whilst Jim Cornette on commentary hypes them as tag title contenders. Very odd. Greenberg is less effective, , eating a superkick right away. Nice Bodies double teams follow – a great elevated DDT, a leaping sideslam and Pritchard holding Greenberg in place for a Del Ray moonsault press. Fun stuff after the odd Powers run.

Stardom in Sendai 06/08/2017

Ruaka vs Hanan vs Shiki Shibusawa

Rookie three way opener. This is the quintessential Stardom opener, competently worked whilst still feeling quite rehearsed. There’s a few moments of hesitation, with Shibusawa looking the least comfortable of the three. Her offence at this stages seems to be mainly dropkicks. The sections with Ruaka working Hanan look the most coherent, they work very well together, and Hanan has a great looking rolling leglock. Ruaka gets the win by rolling up Hanan.

Natsuko Tora vs Konami

Konami is pretty great, really like her fighting stance. Her early offence targets the back with some sharp kicks and a nice knee drop. They work a fun headscissors section early on, with Konami battling to get to the ropes whilst Tora seems to choke the life out of her. Tora hits a surprisingly great spear, but Konami hits a big German suplex and kicks her in the face to win. Short match, but pretty fun.

Jungle Kyona & Mari Apache vs Shanna & Starlight Kid

Nicely worked battle of speed vs power. Starlight Kid has a very brief advantage until Kyona catches her on a 619 and nails a side slam. Apache works Kid on the mat, with her size advantage letting her control easily. It’s the speed advantage that allows Kid to make her escape and tag in Shanna, and her hot tag run is pretty fun. Her offensive run does include a double-underhook facebuster that basically drops Kyona on her head and her crossbody into a sunset flip looks great. Her mistake is taking out Apache with a big suicide dive, as this leaves Kid alone with Kyona, with Jungle nailing a big clothesline for the win. Good stuff.

Queen’s Quest (Viper, HZK & AZM) vs Toni Storm, Xia Brookside & Gabby Ortiz

Everyone gets paired off in the opening stages, with the big gun of both teams – Viper and Storm – having the best sequence. Viper is really good at using her size advantage in interesting ways, and her sudden crossbody looks deadly with how quickly she’s able to hit it. When things break down, it’s unsurprisingly the two least experienced, Brookside and Ortiz, who look slightly lost. Though AZM and HZK are both really young, their execution has a crispness that belies that and shows their experience. Storm hits a lovely suicide dive, but Ortiz ends up isolated and all three members of Queen’s Quest jump on her, culminating in a Viper senton for the win.

Oedo Tai (Kris Wolf, Kagetsu & Hana Kimura) vs Mayu Iwatani, Hiromi Mimura & Yoko Bito

This is the first time I’ve seen Iwatani since she’s become the World of Stardom champion, and it’s quite interesting to see her carry herself as the ace. She’s believable in the role, partly helped by the fact she’s the best performer in the match. Given the nature of Oedo Tai matches, this breaks down pretty swiftly. I loved the fact that, during the Oedo Tai pose, Wolf decides to tickle Mimura rather than put a boot into her face, somehow feels a bit more dickish. The faces later do the Kaientai pose on Kimura, which feels like a nice payback spot. Oedo Tai logically have the advantage when things break down, swifter at coming to each other’s aid and triple-teaming the first member they isolate. In this case, it’s Mimura who gets singled out. The superior teamwork of Oedo Tai even plays into the finish, as Kagetsu gets a blind tag during a Mimura/Wolf roll up exchange and gets the win with a 450 splash. Fun main event.

WWE Main Event 17/06/2014

Rusev vs Santino Marella

As good as 30 second squash as you’ll get. Rusev blocks a Santino kick, hurting Santino’s leg, then hits a jumping kick and the Accolade to win

Paige vs Naomi

Face vs face match, with Paige only recently winning the Divas title. This wasn’t very good, both ladies looked pretty clunky in the ring, like they weren’t quite sure what the other was going to do. There were a few nice bits, such as Paige cutting off a corner bulldog with a clothesline and a really good nearfall as Paige rolls through a top rope crossbody. It’s just that every time they have to exchange a hold, it looks like they’re trying to remember what comes next but are failing to do so. Naomi gets the surprise win with an inverted DDT.

Sheamus & the Usos vs the Wyatt Family

This was pretty good, but I kinda expected better from the talents involved. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with it – it’s genuinely good all the way through – it just never heats up to quite the levels you’d expect. The best bits, as you’d expect, are when Sheamus and Luke Harper mix it up. They exchange some nice looking shots, with a mix of head shots and body blows. The faces control with some quick tags until Harper hits a throat thrust on Jey Uso. I like that, as the head of the family, Wyatt doesn’t get in the ring until they’ve got full control of one of their opponents. The heat on Jey is pretty fun, with a few hope spots sprinkled in. Loved him fighting out of the Wyatt’s corner, but then running directly into a Harper Michinoku Driver. The hot tag gets made only after Rowan misses a few moves, and Sheamus and Jimmy Uso both get to run wild off the hot tag. The end is pretty great, as Jey hits a big dive to the outside on Rowan, but Bray intercepts Jimmy as he goes to dive on Harper, fluidly hitting him with Sister Abigail for the win. As I said, nothing bad about it, just that it’s good rather than great.

Mid-South Wrestling 19/12/1981

B. Brian Blair vs Tom Renesto Jr

A lot to like from Blair here. Loved how on the early rope running sections, it really looked like Blair was trying to trip Renesto Jr on the drop downs. Blair works the arm quite nicely, putting real pressure on a hammerlock. The end is a bit sloppy, as Blair struggles to get Renesto over on a suplex and gets the submission with a figure four, despite doing no leg work

Paul Ellering vs Don Serrano

As someone who had never seen Ellering in his wrestling career before, this was a bit of a shock. He’s pretty huge, full head of blonde hair and very much positioning himself in the Jesse Ventura/Billy Graham personality department. Watching the match, the chubby Serrano seems like the better wrestler, outsmarting Ellering and moving fluidly around the ring. He even cartwheels his way out of danger at one point. Ellering is much clumsier in comparison. He does control the latter half of the match and gets the win with a neckbreaker.

Junkyard Dog vs Mike Boyer

Really quick squash here, but JYD is able to show real physical charisma in the short time it runs. Feels like a real contrast with the previous Ellering match. The Thump gets JYD the win.

Paul Orndorff & Bob Orton Jr vs The Monk & Carlos Zapata

Orton and Orndorff have real nice tag team chemistry, as they just dominate Zapata. Orton’s offence looks really good here, and I love the way on most of his strikes, he drops down to deliver the blow, adding visual impact and making each blow resonate with a thud. Orton also hits a swank looking STO into an armbar. The Monk makes the hot tag, but fares no better, as Orndorff locks him into a figure four for the submission.

Bob Roop vs Mike George

Really enjoyed this one. These are two burly looking men, neither man willing to give an inch. Loved the early spot where Roop locks in a full nelson, rams George’s head into the top turnbuckle before George gets a foot up to block it. George then locks in his own full nelson, rams Roop’s head into the turnbuckle but, when Roop gets a foot up for his own block, George rolls him up from behind for two. Roop gets sustained control with a series of eyerakes on the ropes, putting real vim into each one. George fires back with a Russian legsweep that seems to have real weight behind it. George gets rammed shoulder first into a ringpost, only narrowly beating the ten count. George sells the injury nicely, wailing away on Roop with his good arm, but Roop shoves him shoulder first into the corner and finishes with a jumping knee. Nice stuff.

Ed Wiskowski vs Mike Bond

Wiskowski is pretty much all over Bond from the get go. No room to comeback, just a solid beating, with a running headlock into the turnbuckle looking good. A back breaker gives him the win.

The Iron Sheik vs Frank Monte

Pretty pedestrian squash here, though Sheik hits a massive German suplex to win. That’s basically it.

NYWC April Reign 2017

Devon Moore vs Blake Morris

Just a swift little opener, goes barely 5 minutes. Wasn’t a great Morris performance, he seemed a bit less willing to lay it in than usual. I did like him stopping a Moore suicide dive with a swift elbow to the face. The end looks pretty good too, as Moore dives from the top into a Morris superkick for the win.

Willow Nightingale vs Sumie Sukai

I’ll be honest, I was slightly apprehensive about this match when I realised it was 17 minutes long. After all, I’d not been massively impressed by Nightingale in her match with J-Redd on the last show and, whilst I used to think Sukai was really good, it had been about 11 years since I’d last seen her in action and I wasn’t sure if she’d still be any good. As it turns out, I needn’t have worried. Sukai puts in a terrific performance, attacking Nightingale before the bell and heeling it up from that moment on. Sukai doesn’t give Willow a chance to rest with her heeling, making the most of every referee count and only breaking at 4, then immediately staying on the attack. Sukai is pretty nasty, fish-hooking Willow on a Camel Clutch, then grinding her wrist tape into the eyes. Loved her telling the referee to check for a submission, then using the distraction to bite Willow’s fingers. There is a notable size difference, with Sukai being tiny and Nightingale being well-built, so it’s impressive that Sukai makes Willow feel like an underdog. When Nightingale goes on offence, I like that she utilises her size advantage, putting on a Boston crab that looks like it’s breaking Sukai in half. Her offence is a bit weak in places, but her spinebuster looks great and her cannonball in the corner feels like it’d crush Sukai. The end is a bit weak, as we get a time limit draw, but it comes at a time where neither is really in control. It leaves it feeling pretty unresolved.

Milk Chocolate (Brandon Watts/Randy Summers) vs Private Party (Isiah Kassidy/Marq Quen)

Really like the Private Party gimmick, two VIP party boys, who take a pre-match shot and have a large bodyguard. Quen also has enjoyably ludicrous hair, and they’re very convincing in the role, posing cockily over the ropes. The bodyguard provides a distraction to give Private Party control, with Summers the face-in-peril. This is worked solidly to formula, with Milk Chocolate getting a few near tags before Watts tags in. Loved his STO on the apron to Kassidy. Great spot as Summers tries to send Kassidy over the top rope, only for Quen to block him on the apron and backdrop his partner back into the ring for a tornado DDT. Milk Chocolate win with a top rope stomp onto a draping DDT, which looks like it should finish a match.

BLK Jeez vs Rex Lawless

Perfectly decent little midcard match. Liked Jeez’s tactic of working over Lawless’s leg, trying to neutralise the size advantage. Lawless has some soft looking offence for such a big guy, though I did like his slingshot senton and his Finlay roll, so maybe he’s just good at forward flips. Jeez hits a killer looking top rope stomp that should end it, but Lawless hits a Baldo Bomb from nowhere to win.

Born & Bred (Anthony LaCerra & Jessie Vane) vs the Benson Brothers

Enjoyed what I’d seen from both teams previously, so was looking forward to this one. Born & Bred feel like a really good team, really like the double-team offence from both that felt like it flowed naturally. LaCerra hits some great rolling suplexes, they flowed nicely and looked to have real snap to them. They work heat on Brad Benson, and I really liked CJ’s work on the apron, working the crowd and motivating Brad by reminding him this was for the tag titles. CJ is a lot of fun as a hot tag, an energetic brawler. I’ve compared him to a surfer Jim Duggan previously, and I think it holds true. Loved his double chokeslam on Born and Bred. Crappy ending sees Private Party hit splashes on both teams to cause a double DQ, but the meat of this was good.

Bull James vs Scott Norton

Very short bout, quite curiously worked. Not sure if James has turned heel since winning the title, or if this was a one-time thing, but he cheapshotted Norton during a pre-match arm wrestle, then hit a top rope seated splash, before picking up Norton on the two count. Norton is obviously past his prime, but due to his size and demeanour, he still carries himself as a threat, and his offence looks nice and stiff. James also sells the damage of each blow to keep Norton looking good. That said, it’s probably for the best that this is kept short, as James hits a low blow and another top rope splash to win.