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.