Mid South Wrestling 23/01/1982

Brian Blair vs Tom Renesto

Really enjoy Blair squash matches in Mid South. He always does at least one goofily fun thing. Here it’s a through-the-legs sunset flip to catch Renesto unawares. Dug the double sledge to the stomach to set up a nice kneelift, before the abdominal stretch pin gets the win.

The Wild Samoans vs Jesse Barr & Tommy Wright

The most fun thing about this is how utterly worthless Barr is as a tag partner. Wright starts and gets roundly beaten by the Samoans. Just a fun massacre. Barr tags in, takes one move, avoids a diving headbutt and leaps across the ring to tag out again. Wright fares no better and eats a Samoan drop to finish it.

Mike George vs Carlos Zapata

Very short squash, with George looking comfortable in control at all times. Not much to this, but my notes do say “lovely right hand”, so that’s a good sign. Side Russian legsweep gets the win.

Mr Olympia vs Bob Orton Jr

This is for Orton’s Mississippi title. You’d think this would mean it’s more competitive, but this is pretty short and Olympia pretty much controls things. Olympia keeps Orton on the floor with a headscissors, which they work a pretty fun sequence with. Orton hits a nice forearm after getting whipped into the corner, looked like a sudden instinct blow, but Olympia locks on a sleeper from nowhere to win.

Paul Orndorff & Bob Roop vs Ted DiBiase & Dick Murdoch

Too short tag bout, but what we get is really fun. Loved the opening team work by the faces, as a quick tag leaves Roop disorientated, DiBiase dropkicks him from behind right into a Murdoch slam. They continue the story of Orndorff having a counter for DiBiase’s figure four leglock, with DiBiase locking it in midring. The commentary discusses the possibility of Orndorff reversing it again, and true to form he does. Really convincing battle over it. DiBiase suffers for a bit, before turning it back on Orndorff by rolling it back around. Nice bit of continuity and it shows some development by DiBiase. The ending was some creative bullshit, in the best possible way. The ref gets bumped in a melee, and Bob Orton Jr comes in to help the heels. The faces fends them off and Murdoch hits a top rope brainbuster on Orton, covering him and getting a pin as the groggy ref doesn’t realise Orton isn’t part of the match. Novel way to keep the heels strong. Not a great night for Orton though.

Ed Wiskowski vs Terry Daniels

Daniels gets a little shine, using his speed advantage to get a roll up for two, but the larger Wiskowski controls hitting a driving knee from the second rope and a backbreaker for the three.

Bill Ash vs Frank Monte

They play out an odd sub-four minute time limit draw, as TV time elapses. Neither guy looks too concerned about winning as time ticks away, but they both work some fun work on each other’s arms. Like Ash ramming a kneedrop into a hammerlock. Felt like the start of a good ten minute bout.

Centro De Treinos De Wrestling -November To Remember 2017

So, wrestling from Portugal, eh? CTW are based in Lisbon, one of the nicest cities I've ever been on holiday to, so I was quite excited to see this show. It's a tournament for the CTW title, with the first round matches having already taken place. This is a really fun show, I really liked how this had a running story throughout the show, and some really satisfying story-telling.

Jeffrey Pac vs Tengkwa

Fun little opener. I like that within the opening minutes, I’m able to know exactly who Jeffrey Pac is, despite never having seen him before. He comes out in his Barcelona shirt, pointing to it in a smug heel manner to a chorus of boos. He then cheats on a test of strength and points to his head to show how intelligent he is, before promptly being outsmarted. Just nice little bits of character work. He proceeds to also miss and elbow drop as Tengkwa pretends to get into the ring. They work a nice fast-paced match, before Pac misses a Swanton and Tengkwa hooks his arms for a crucifix pin for the win.

Joâo Milâo vs Red Eagle

This is face vs face, and is evenly worked. There’s a friendly feel to it, almost a bit exhibitiony. Milâo seems to have really nice execution, nice short back elbow on a charging Red Eagle. Eagle noticeably gives too much room to escape when Milâo bridges out of a pin, but that’s the only real complaint. Really, it’s hard to find too much to say about this match, it’s just decently worked junior heavyweight wrestling between two guys who obviously know their way around the ring. Nothing spectacular, but given that it’s a first round tournament match, you suspect they aren’t going all out. Eagle picks up the win with a Sliced Bread #2 to advance.

Leo Rossi vs Symbiote

Rossi comes out with a real swagger, carrying himself with some nice arrogance. Symbiote is a slight British guy in a mask, and apparently is only 16 years old. They play up the story of the underdog vs the cocky favourite, with Symbiote amusingly using the referee’s hand to balance as he springs up the ropes to hit a big crossbody to the outside. Both guys seem really good, Symbiote shows a lots of potential already and Rossi carries himself with real assurance. They work this well, with Rossi avoiding a second consecutive corner charge to nail a big running kick, and putting Symbiote away with a swinging slam into a facebuster to win.

Nelson Pereira vs Lobo Iberico

Thought this was the best of the first round matches. Pereira shows a lot of fire and is a really vocal wrestler, really helps get the crowd into the match. Loved him hitting an early dive to Lobo to take the fight to him, hitting a nice neckbreaker before missing a cannonball from the second rope. Lobo uses a lot of wear down offence, using his slight size advantage to ground Pereira. There’s a slight botch on an attempted Pereira crucifix, but it doesn’t affect the match too badly. Lobo shows impressive strength to catch a crossbody and turn it into a slam. Loved the spot where Pereira gives Lobo a hand gesture of defiance from the mat, so Lobo dickishly decides to work over the hand, culminating with a nasty stomp. Liked Lobo hitting a big chokeslam, holding onto Pereira’s leg so he can turn it over into a half crab. Pereira takes over after Lobo really misses a cannonball, hurling himself into the corner. The end sees Lobo ending a run of Pereria offense with a faceful of red mist, earning a DQ. Lobo attacks after the match, weakening Nelson for the next round.

Red Eagle vs Tengkwa

Another face vs face match for Red Eagle, though Tengkwa slightly heels it up towards the end of the match. There’s a nice opening mat segment, loved the fluidity with which Tengkwa escaped a armbar into a headscissors, was really nicely done. They continue to work the mat really evenly, some nice counters and reversals. The pace quickens up and Tengkwa takes a big bump to the floor from an Eagle headscissors. Tengakwa decides to focus his offence on Eagle’s arm, which is the slightly heelish part, draping it over the top rope and stretching on it. The end was nicely worked, as Tengkwa gets an O’Connor roll, but the kick out sends him headfirst into the turnbuckle and Eagle rolls him up for the win.

Nelson Pereira vs Leo Rossi

This was some really good pro wrestling. Pereira is still hurting from the last match and is helped to the ring by a ref, but then suddenly leaps over the top rope to nail a clothesline on Rossi. Pereira fights the opening parts like he knows that he’s only got a limited bit of fight left in him, so he can’t afford to let Rossi gain any leeway. He hits three big sentons, but Rossi rolls out to calm the storm and is able to nail a big forearm as Nelson dives from the apron. Rossi slams him into a wall and when Nelson tries to fire back with a second rope codebreaker, he’s caught and nailed with the swinging slam facebuster and a full-stop piledriver for the win. Well worked short match, Pereira had a small window to try and win, and he just ran out of energy.

Talia Bradstone & Millie McKenzie vs Claudia Bradstone & Nina Glow

I’m assuming, not knowing the backstory, that the Bradstone’s are feuding sisters. McKenzie is one of the most exciting prospects in wrestling at the moment, probably 2017’s rookie of the year. I was really impressed here with how she adapted to working heel. She still works aggressively, but instead of hitting crowd-popping suplexes, she runs into her corner like a coward to make a tag and acts dismissive on offence. Glow felt like the least polished of the four, she had some nice face energy, but there was a little hesitancy in her offence, where she’d kind of stop before hitting a move. The Bradstone’s unsurprisingly match up really well together, including a nice big throw by Claudia. The heel team works a nice bit of heat on Claudia, until McKenzie makes the mistake of peppering Claudia with dismissive kicks to the face, only to get grabbed by the foot and put into a Texas cloverleaf. Talia threatens to hit her sister with a chair, but gets driven away from the ring, leaving Millie and Glow alone in the ring. McKenzie gets a close two with a huge spear, but Glow picks up the win with a top rope bulldog.

Leo Rossi vs Red Eagle

Rossi has had an easier path to the final than Eagle, so Eagle has to take the fight to Rossi early. They brawl outside, which is more effective because this is the only match this has happened in. Rossi is ultimately in better condition, so he’s soon able to control Eagle. Eagle fires back by sending him to the floor and hitting a nice cannonball to the floor. Liked Rossi hitting a diving knee to the head of Eagle from the second rope, felt like a nasty strike. Rossi maintains his control, sending Eagle to the corner twice and hitting the swinging slam facebuster, but only gets two. Possibly out of frustration, he tries to hit a kneedrop over the apron, but misses, hurting his knee and suddenly giving Eagle a focal point. Eagle rocks him with a superkick and nails Sliced Bread, but Rossi is able to get his feet on the ropes. The ending is lovely, really nicely worked as Eagle tries another Sliced Bread, but in the process knocks down the official, who is replacing a turnbuckle pad in that corner. This bump allows Rossi to hit a low blow and another swinging slam for the win and the title. Great main event, it let the overall story of the show ultimately build up to this ending.

PCW Road To Glory 2018 - Show 1

Dean Allmark vs Adam Brooks

Really fun opener. Allmark is a really fun guy to watch – he’s deeply uncool, with his long “Deano” emblazoned shorts and his dad bod, but he’s so polished and precise with his movements that you don’t even notice. Brooks heels it up a bit here, slapping Allmark after escaping a headscissors. Brooks takes control after getting his knees up on an Allmark standing moonsault and is pretty good in control. I liked the backpack stunner he hits from the corner. I like that the Allmark comeback comes from Brooks’ own decision to mock Allmark’s trademark dabbing, as it gives Allmark time to avoid a running knee. Allmark nails a combo of kicks and nails the Smiles Clash, a sitout powerbomb from the Styles Clash position, for the win. Good start to the show.

Big T Justice & Tel Banham vs Danny Hope & Joey Hayes

Hard not to find Banham the kind of character you love to hate. He’s an angry little Scrappy Doo character, small of stature and large of mouth, especially given that he has a huge backup in the form of Big T Justice. Given how irritating Banham is, it’s fun watching Hope work him on the mat, grabbing him by the ear to force him into a headscissors, before Hayes just clowns about to make him look foolish. Justice is a big lad, but he needs to lay in some of his moves more – his standing leg lariat and missed corner charge look soft, although his match winning ax kick looked vicious. Banham making the cover after Big T’s big move is a perfect bit of character work.

Polo Promotions (Jackie Polo & Mark Coffey) vs Team Single (Rampage Brown & T-Bone)

Not a long match, but it didn’t need to be. Rampage is the surprise partner for T-Bone, and the reunited Team Single batter Polo to start. With four big lads in there, it’s a hard hitting match with some really big blows. Polo Promotions manage to isolate T-Bone briefly, until a Polo standing armbar is broken by T-Bone hitting an electric chair. Rampage looks great whenever he’s in there, catching Coffey mid-leapfrog with a huge slam looks great. T-Bone plasters Polo with a spear before Rampage hits a sudden-looking piledriver on Coffey for three. Short sharp shock of a match.

Apollo Crews vs Iestyn Rees

I had sort of considered that Crews might take it easy, making his cameo from WWE, but this was a really good match. This was probably better than any of the matches I saw with Rees as champion. Rees jumps Crews from behind, only for Crews to avoid a charge and take a big backflip almost as a taunt. Crews seems legit happy to be in Preston, and that helps make this more fun. Rees looks good in his control, his elbow drops had great height on them. However, Rees allows his frustration to get the best of him and his complaining to the referee allows Crews time to recover. Rees hits a great looking spinebuster, and I like that everything he does here look crisp. Nothing fancy, but nicely executed. Crew is able to make his full recovery and hits the press slam/moonsault to win.

Interracial Love (Charlie Sterling & Ashton Smith) vs Kings of Leon (Sha Samuels & Lionheart)

This is played out with an angle in the background, as both teams seem to have a bit of tension. Curiously though, Sterling and Smith seem to have their issues at the start of the match, but operate as a team throughout, whilst in contrast Samuels and Lionheart let their issues affect their performance. Lionheart blind tags himself into the ring when he want to be in, but then refuses tags from Samuels when he doesn’t. Smith is isolated, but you can tell that the heels tension, instigated by Lionheart, will cost them in the end. Lionheart manages to knock Samuels off the apron, with the collision allowing Smith to tag out, and Samuels seems to have a back injury. Despite this, Lionheart tags him and shoves him into the ring, where Sterling’s offence seems to focus primarily on the back. Lionheart refuses to tag in after Sterling misses a top rope move, and the faces blast Samuels with a double-superkick for the win.

The Henchmen (Jim Diehard & Benton Destruction) vs Dunkamania (Matthew Brooks & Sugar Dunkerton)

Long-time readers of the blog will know how much I love the Henchmen, and they were on really good form here. Brooks is working an opera singer gimmick, and sang a version of “I Believe I Can Fly” on the way to the ring, with lyrics changed to big up his team before this match. This kicks off with a comedy bit, where Benton and Dunkerton go for a basketball tip-off, and Dunkerton low blows him whilst the ref is throwing the ball up. Nicely, Dunkerton tries this again with Diehard and takes a huge punch to the face. The Henchmen were great brick walls here, using their size to dominate large parts of the bout, like catching Brooks mid-flying headscissors to drop him with a backbreaker. Brooks moves really nicely, hitting his “Singer’s Splash” beautifully and selling the Henchmen’s offence nicely. Loved Benton standing on Brooks’s stomach and dropping down with a big splash. Dunkerton does a bit too much comedy shit, but he’s insanely over. The end sees Dunkamania hit a double slam on Diehard from the top rope (huge bump!) and a double pin gives them the victory. Enjoyed this, nice to see the Henchmen still on form.

Moose vs Sheikh El Sham

It’s a sign of the overall quality of the show that this is probably the weakest actual match, and even this is pretty decent They start this nicely, Sham failing to take Moose down on two shoulder blocks, so going for an eyerake and then knocking him down, only for Moose to kip up and nail him with a big boot. Sheikh takes control after Moose hits the ringpost on a charge, and Sheikh has some nice basics. Loved the height on his dropkick and his punches. His control is only brief, as Moose starts pumping himself up, getting the crowd to chant along, before finishing Sham with a big spear.

Zack Sabre Jr vs Matt Riddle

Yeah, this was unsurprisingly terrific. They really work the mat to start, and there were some nice little touches like ZSJ accepting a test of strength, and instantly switching to a leglock because it favoured his style more. There’s a great moment where Riddle almost seems to flick a switch, suddenly hitting Sabre with two rolling gutwrench suplexes. Riddle shows some really great core strength, able to catch ZSJ in midair to throw him. Riddle hits three sentons, but takes a little too long to pose and Zack catches a fourth attempt into an armbar. These guys are so closely matched, you can see either guy trying to take advantage on any small opening knowing it may be the difference, with Sabre maybe slightly better at spotting those moments where Riddle is momentarily distracted. What I love is how a reversal in this match won’t necessarily lead to an escape, as at times a reversal just puts the escapee into position for another move which can be locked on instead. Riddle beautifully escapes a ZSJ submission by using his only available option, biting the ropes. In the end though, it’s not enough, as Sabre escapes a tombstone and cradles him for the win. Just absolutely lovely stuff.

Guerrero Indy Wrestling - Arena Azteca Budokan 01/08/2015

Wasson vs Arez

Decent enough stuff, both guys seemed pretty competent. The opening matwork was well worked, especially a lovely float over into a headscissors by Wasson. Things started to heat up a bit after a nice slingblade by Wasson, as they follow this with a fluid little sequence ending with a Wasson tornillo to the floor. Arez seems to have a nice variety of kicks, including a nice capoeira kick to the back of Wasson’s head. I also liked him stopping a top rope armdrag by just yanking Wasson off the top onto his knee. The problem with the match is that it feels a little bit too co-operative, both guys sit in place waiting for moves in an unrealistic manner, and they both seem to look at one another to make sure they’re ready before hitting a move. I also thought Arez hitting a big sit out piledriver was wasted, should have been the finisher, before Wasson hits a huge cannonball in the corner to win.

Negro Navarro vs Herodes Jr

This is almost entirely worked on the mat, and I know if I’d seen this when I was 21 and didn’t know much about lucha, I’d have hated this. Just two unimpressive looking men, not even wearing masks for goodness sake, grappling on the man. I’d also have been very wrong, because this was really lovely stuff. Navarro is always slightly ahead of Herodes, you can tell he’s very comfortable on the floor, but at the same time he doesn’t just overwhelm Herodes, letting him show what he can do. In contrast to the first match, which felt very co-operative, things here felt earned, and you could see each of them always looking for a weak spot to grab to escape a hold or chain to their next one. There’s a lovely bit where Herodes has an abdominal stretch on Navarro, and starts elbowing him in the ribs, only for that to lessen his grip on the hold and for Navarro to reverse and hit his own string of harder looking elbows. Given Navarro’s dominance there, it makes sense for Herodes to try and get things working off the mat, but Navarro is always able to yank him back down, applying an armbar for the victory.

Metaleon & Power Bull vs Impulso & Belial

This one kicks off with a bang right away, featuring a string of fast action and dives before I’ve managed to work out who is who. I really liked Belial in this, he’s got a nice variety of kicks and he hits Metaleon with an insane bullet tope into the railings. Impulso also has nice strikes and hits maybe the most insane highspot of the show, as he hurls himself over the top rope in order to hit an elbow drop onto Power Bull on the floor. Impulso and Belial also have some nice double team moves, with Belial flipping his partner into a moonsault from an Alabama Slam position. This was a really fun spot fest tag match, no resting and though Metaleon and Power Bull don’t get to look quite so flashy as their opponents, they’re still a lot of fun. Metaleon picks up the win with a running DVD on Belial, and I really need to see more from all four of these guys.

Virus & Valiente vs Solar & Black Terry

This was a really good match to finish on, both teams looked terrific. The Virus/Solar exchange was the highlight of the early part, it had that same kind of feeling as the Navarro/Herodes match where every escape and counter felt earned, but these two felt more like contemporaries, more equal on the mat. By contrast, Terry and Valiente decide to try and smack the shit out of each other, wobbling each other’s legs with vicious slaps to the face. Terry at this point was in his early sixties, but you wouldn’t know it from how he flipped over for each Valiente armdrag. We end up with all four guys in the ring, and the ref counts a dual pin, with Solar pinning Valiente and Virus pinning Terry. From the referee’s gesturing, this gives each team a fall, and we end up with another few minutes of just Virus and Solar in the ring, Solar getting the win with a rolling cradle that took out Virus’s legs. Really good bout

ECW Hardcore TV #30 02/11/1993

Not exactly a banner week of ECW TV here, with only two very short matches. The first 5 minutes is spent promoting a Sandman world title match, that thankfully never comes due to a backstage attack that includes some awful Tod Gordon acting. The main event seems to be a dimly lit interview, with Madusa and Sherri Martel arguing about the importance of being over in Japan. Yeah, not a great show this week.

Shane Douglas vs Sabu

This is from the NWA Bloodfest show. I’m assuming this is clipped, because if not it’s a very underwhelming match. Douglas gets the advantage after Sabu is distracted by a fight between Paul E Dangerously and Sensational Sherri, but Sabu reverses an Irish whip to the corner, hits a back suplex then hits a moonsault to win the ECW title. That’s the whole match.

The Bad Breed vs Chad Austin & Todd Shaw

Pretty decent squash, as the Bad Breed continue to impress. Austin is allowed to hit a moonsault press as his token jobber offence, but the Bad Breed hit some nice impact moves to win the bout. Axl’s spin kick to Austin looked great, just ploughed through him. Ian’s dropkick from the apron to Shaw looked a little weak and unimpactful, but he makes up for it with a terrific looking underhook DDT that drops Shaw on the top of his head. Huge Rocket Launcher splash to Shaw gives the final three.