World Class Championship Wrestling 27/12/1982

Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy & David von Erich vs Mike Sharpe, Ben Sharpe & Tom Steele

David is out here to replace Buddy Roberts, who can’t get to the arena due to inclement weather, and this is for the six man tag belts. Fun stuff to start, Gordy in particular looks like a beast ploughing through the opponents, with a huge powerslam and suplex on Ben Sharpe. Iron Mike does a load of fun stooging about, cowering off, begging Hayes for a handshake then attacking the moment his back is turned. A lot of the match is based on the heel getting heat on Michael Hayes, and Hayes sells his beatdown really well. There’s a lovely bearhug locked in on Hayes by Iron Mike, Sharpe grabs him really low down which means that Hayes is held up really high in the air. Looks really impressive and as Hayes weakens, he flops as dead weight, not a bit of him touching the ground. He escapes, but this is followed by a sleeper by Steele, and Hayes looks to be done. He tags out to Gordy, who almost immediately flies into a ringpost on a corner charge. We get a melee, and in all that David hits a big knee on Mike for the win. Really good stuff.

$10,000 Battle Royal

The rules of this match state that this is a battle royal with pin, submission and over-the-top rules, until we get to the final three entrants, at which point they become eligible to climb a pole and retrieve a check for $10,000 to win. Some fun bits to this match, David von Erich is the first man eliminated, which is a bit of a shocker. Loved four men dog-piling Bundy to try and pin him, Bundy kicking out, but getting dropkicked out by Bugsy McGraw as he celebrates. McGraw’s elimination sees him get whipped to the ropes and basically throw himself out, looked pretty odd. We get down to an unlikely final three of Ken Mantell, Mike Sharpe and Brian Adidas, and they all rush for the pole, frantically scrapping. Sharpe throws Adidas to the floor, eliminating him, but this allows Mantell to climb the pole without hindrance and claim the money. Always enjoy a battle royal, this was fun.

Full Force Wrestling - Live In Kenilworth 25/05/2018

Well here's a curiosity, a wrestling show taking place in my childhood hometown. It's quite surprising - Kenilworth is a small town, a nice place to raise a family, but not the most exciting of places, not exactly a place that struck me as a wrestling hotbed. I wasn't even sure where in Kenilworth a wrestling show could take place (a check showed me it was a social club I didn't know existed), but I couldn't NOT watch this show now, could I?

Hari Singh vs Josh Holly

Fun opener, Singh comes across as a likable babyface (in spite of his early yell of “Shall I break it?” during an armbar) and Holly has this smug dick charisma that makes you want to see him take a kicking. Singh does Bop & Bang, only with a sweeping roundhouse instead of the short jab Tyler Bate uses. Holly takes over with some nasty shots, big club to the back and well-timed kicks to the leg. Really liked his pop-up headbutt. I liked how they worked in Singh’s comeback, as Holly gets into an argument with ringside kids, allowing Singh to catch him off the top with a flapjack. Singh misses a kneedrop and Holly picks up the win with a big senton.

TJ Sky vs Damien Black

Black is doing a slightly low-rent asylum inmate gimmick, coming to the ring in a straitjacket and prison scrubs. Sky is billed as a high-flyer, but he doesn’t do much high flying and his tall frame doesn’t convince me he’d be too good at it. Not to say he doesn’t impress here, he looks really smooth in the ring. I liked his interesting 619 into a splash he hits early on. Black works the match with move commitment to his character, clawing at Sky’s face and biting him. He even bites his way free from a back suplex. Sky’s comeback sees him befuddling Black, slipping through the ropes to evade and disorientate him. There’s an odd bit where Black brings a wrench into the ring for use as a weapon, which the ref stops, but Sky gets the win with Soylent Green Is People. Good stuff.

Danny Jones vs Joseph Miller

Really good stuff here, both guys looked really solid. Miller heels it up nicely in the beginning, stalling on the floor. When they do lock up, both men look comfortable on the mat, battling for holds. I was familiar with Jones having seen him live a few times, but this was my first look at Miller, and he impressed, his elbow drops and back elbows looked to have real impact. There’s nice timing here too, as Miller waits until Jones motions to the crowd to hit him with a sudden clothesline to take control. Love how Jones reverses a suplex, locking a bodyscissors on Miller on the way up and grabbing a keylock, looked really fluid. The end to this was really nicely done, Jones tries a crossarmbreaker on the hurt arm, which Miller first tries stopping by locking his hands together then trying a roll-up. However, Jones keeps hold of the arm and, when he breaks the pin attempt he goes right back into the armbreaker, giving Miller no chance to lock him hands and forcing the tap.

Dominita vs Nightshade

This is a title-on-a-pole match for the vacant women’s title. The pole is really short, which is a bit disappointing, neither woman would actually need to climb to reach the title. Interesting dynamic, as Nightshade is the heel and someone who is normally bigger than her opponents. However, as the name suggests, Dominita is also larger than the average woman and in this case is bigger than Nightshade. They work round this by simply both laying in their stuff, with Nightshade putting enough impact into her senton and running corner forearms that they look like they’d down Dominita. In turn, Dominita hits a big Samoan drop and some big strikes of her own. Nightshade’s downfall is her cockiness, as she keeps giving Dominita comebacks by running her mouth instead of winning the match. Nightshade hits a running butt charge and cannonball in the corner, but Dominita gets up and nails her own versions, keeping Nightshade down enough to win the title. Decent stuff.

Next Wave 5 (Killian Jacobs & Joey Scott) vs Team H8 (Jeckel & Gideon)

Really nicely worked tag match. Next Wave 5 take control early, hitting a stereo 619. Something kinda strange about hearing a wrestler – in this case Jacobs – yelling out “Come on Kenilworth!”. Team H8 take over on Jacobs as Jeckel levels him with a clothesline after Gideon prevents a moonsault. Liked Jeckel’s senton, standing on Jacobs and then dropping his weight down. Scott gets in but soon becomes face-in-peril after Jacobs gets rammed into the ringpost. I liked that Scott actually worked his comebacks in line with the “Next Wave 5” chants from the crowd, even though Jeckel would cut them off. Conditioned the audience to think the chants were working. Jeckel planting Scott with a gutwrench suplex looked great. Gideon keeps choking Scott behind the referee’s back, but it ends up backfiring as Jeckel accidentally crashes into him when Scott evades a charge. However, Scott doesn’t tag out and instead tries to spear Jeckel. He only ends up hitting Jacobs though, and gets planted with a Gideon Package Piledriver and a Jeckel Destroyer for the win.

Eddie Ryan vs Terry Isit

Ryan is defending the Full Force title. Ryan has a good size advantage over Isit, and he controls him on the mat early doors. Isit is cocky, but because of the size difference he’s never able to fully maintain control for long. He works his openings well though, luring Ryan to the floor by slapping him then dropkicking himas he re-enters the ring, or spitting liquid in Ryan’s face to temporarily blind him. When he does have control, he has to make his shots look good and he does seem to fully lay in his stuff. I also liked him choking Ryan on the ropes, sitting on his back and pulling an obnoxious pose. Ryan is still a physical threat though, and comfortably fires back with three huge German suplexes. They exchange some nearfalls, before Isit accidentally his the ref with a dropkick. He low blows Ryan, but misses a weapon shot, and Ryan hits a sitout piledriver. The ref is still down, so he only gets a two count for this. Isit ducks a blow, hits Ryan with his weapon and kicks him in the head for the shock win. Good main event, worked really well.

WWF Maple Leaf Gardens 02/10/1984

Greg Valentine vs SD Jones

This is for Valentine’s IC title, a belt you’d really have to suspend your belief to imagine SD winning. This is pretty slow in places, but I kinda dug it. Valentine adds a bit of flavour to the match, faking off from a Jones attack, getting his boot caught when trying a kick then getting spun into an atomic drop that he sells with a comical sell. He misses an elbow, and Jones wisely starts working over this arm as his focal point. In turn, Valentine focuses his attack on SD’s legs in preparation for the figure four. However, Jones grabs a big old handful of tights to stop him locking the hold in. They fight on the floor, but Valentine gets in first due to Jones being slowed by his hurt leg, and Valentine is able to hit a back suplex for the win.

Nikolai Volkoff vs Rocky Johnson

This was much less interesting. I liked Volkoff repeatedly teasing to the audience behind the refs back that he just might have a foreign object in his tights, drawing decent heat, especially as it never actually plays into the ending of the match. Volkoff’s actual offence is sloppy here though, missing a kneedrop awkwardly and hitting really weak boots to the gut. Johnson is nicely fired up, really liked him peppering Volkoff with a few shots, which Volkoff counters with a wild swing that misses. Nikolai controls a bulk of this match, but Johnson makes a comeback, only for Volkoff to use this momentum against him and drop him throat-first on the ropes for the win.

Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid vs Goldie Rogers & Bobby Bass

The future British Bulldogs aren’t billed as such here. However, this feels like a great showcase for them. They spend the majority of the match outsmarting and outpacing the heels, who stooge about for them wonderfully. The heels even work a fun sequence of spots where the one on the apron won’t tag in for fear of taking some of the Bulldogs’s offence. This must have looked so ahead of it’s time, as the Bulldogs are an offensive dynamo. There’s a slight bit of heel heat as Davey Boy gets worked on the mat, but by the end DBS is able to plant Bass with a tombstone and hoist an onrushing Rogers onto his shoulder, allowing Dynamite to leap onto Rodgers as a launchpad to hit a diving headbutt for the win.

Andre the Giant vs Kamala

I realised as they approached a steel cage on that familiar rampway, that I’ve already reviewed this match for the WWE’s True Giants set. Didn’t like it then, still found it dull here. Andre attacks at the bell to at least start this with some fire, and Kamala at plays the character well by acting like a scared caged animal, but nothing really happens. Andre hits some big chops, but a lot of this is just Kamala trying for the door and Andre grabbing his leg. For nearly twenty minutes. By the time Andre finishes Kamala with a pair of buttsplashes, I was desperate for it to finish. Not a good match.

OZ Academy - Connect To The Future 02/12/2018

Ayame Sasamura vs Maya Yukihi

Clipped match, with Yukihi looking really good. Really liked her rolling through into a headscissors and using an actual whip to hit Sasamura in the corner, which looked nasty. Yukihi halts a comeback by hiding behind the ref and sneakily gets a roll up for two. Yukihi hits a roundhouse kick to the head for three.

Misaki Ohata & Natsumi Maki vs Tsubasa Kuragaki & Yumiko Hotta

Kuragaki and Hotta have a reasonable size advantage, so Ohata and Maki decide to attack at the bell, culminating with Maki hitting a big crossbody to the floor. They try to keep up the speed advantage before a Maki top rope splash on Kuragaki hits feet. Love Hotta showing off a bit of raw power, hoisting the other two to the top rope and locking in a double torture match. Kuragaki picks up the win with a cross-arm powerbomb on Maki. This is again clipped, but seemed good.

Aja Kong vs Sakura Hirota

This is basically all comedy, with Hirota starting off by giving Kong a present of a signed photo. Hirota kisses Kong and for some reason dances with a bin on her head. Kong hits a backfist and gets the three.

Mission K4 (AKINO & Sonoko Kato) & Ryo Mizunami vs Ozaki-Gun (Mayumi Ozaki, Saori Anou & Yumi Ohka)

The first full match on the show, and this is really good. Ozaki-Gun have a male guard at ringside, and he attacks Mizunami before her partners get to the ring. This kicks off a big arena-wide brawl. There’s a lot of momentum swings in the match, with neither side really getting a sustained advantage. Nice spot with AKINO going to the top, getting the ropes shaken by the bodyguard and Anou getting to hit a really nice top rope rana. Anou tries a backslide on Mizunami, rolling over into a cradle, which looked really good. There’s a longish sequence of no-selling between Ohka and Mizunami which is a bit off, but there’s a lot of action crammed into this. Kato looks to have this won with a sort-of musclebuster piledriver, but the bodyguard breaks the count. Obviously there are no disqualifications as not only does the bout continue, but we get some whips involved as weapons. Kato looks to gain an advantage by using Ozaki as a shield from the whips, but all three members of Ozaki-Gun mist their opponents, and Ozaki hits a big kick on Kato for the win.

Beast Friend (Hiroyo Matsumoto & Kaori Yoneyama) vs Borderless (Rina Yamashita & Yoshiko)

This is for the tag titles, held by Yamashita and Yoshiko. Really fun dynamic between Matsumoto and Yoneyama, with Matsumoto seemingly keen to use her partner as a weapon. In the early stages, Yoneyama seems pretty resistant to Matsumoto’s idea of using her as a missile to drop onto their opponents at ringside. Shortly after, she tries a crossbody to the floor and accidently only takes out her partner. This leaves her isolated, and Yamashita and Yoshiko take full advantage. Big double facewash in the corner, then Yoshiko downs her with a big flurry of blows capped off with a massive senton. Loved the spot with Yamashita spinning Yoneyama with a giant swing, with Yoshiko skipping over her, then deciding to hit a big stomp on the third rotation. This especially works because Yoneyama is a very sympathetic character. Eventually she gets a springboard armdrag to take both out and makes the hot tag. Matsumoto runs riot, and I loved her stacking the two opponents in the corner, with Yamashita placed horizontally between the ropes to lock Yoshiko in place. Things break down with all four involved, and Yoshiko takes a looooong run up to hit a senton on both opponents on the floor, with Yamashita holding them in place until the last second. There’s a really neat twist on the tower of doom spot, as Yoneyama is struggling to hit a superplex on Yoshiko until Matsumoto helps by powerbombing her down, bringing Yoshiko with her. Yoneyama returns the favour, powerbombing Matsumoto onto Yamashita, and the match finishes with Matsumoto clotheslining her partner into a Code Red for the titles. Really great stuff.

Hikaru Shida vs Kakeru Sekiguchi

Shida is the champion, and a bit taller than Sekiguchi, and so Sekiguchi is portrayed as the underdog. However, this is done by Shida no-selling most of her offence, shaking off a series of dropkicks and not reacting to her forearms. It’s strange, because Shida isn’t THAT much bigger than Sekiguchi, certainly not big enough to no-sell dropkicks. Shida controls the match, working Sekiguchi on the mat and dominating when both are on their feet. Shida works over the back, hitting a pair of big backbreakers and sinking in a deep Boston Crab. Sekiguchi manages to hit a crossbody and begins to build some momentum. Two missile dropkicks stagger Shida, meaning some running dropkicks are now able to down her. However, a big knee to the face from Shida puts her down for nearly a 10 count. Shida starts taking her lightly, hitting some patronising slaps, only for Sekiguchi to down her with an armbar. She maintains this arm focus, smashing it around the ringpost. I liked Sekiguchi trying for pinfalls and grabbing the arm every time Shida lifting a shoulder to break the fall. Sekiguchi keeps going for pins, but one more big knee to the face takes her last bit of fight away, and a Falcon Arrow gives Shida the win. This was neat, told a fun story and, though the execution was a bit odd, this was largely enjoyable.

WWE Main Event 09/09/2014

Jack Swagger vs Seth Rollins

Liked the opening stages of this, with Swagger overpowering Rollins, sending him from the ring with a shoulderblock and slamming him into the barricades. Rollins takes over, including an odd spot where Swagger was perfectly in place for a curb stomp, but Rollins opted to dropkick him in the face instead. We get a decent spot where Swagger tries breaking a chinlock by twice ramming Rollins backwards into the corner, only for Rollins to side step the third attempt, sending Swagger crashing into the turnbuckle. The Rollins control is pretty uninspiring, but things pick up with Swagger back in control – nice big boot to the face and a huge overhead slam. Liked Swagger countering an enzuigiri by catching it into the Patriot Lock, but Rollins blocks a superplex by hitting a diving knee from the top and hits the curb stomp to win. Pretty impressive Swagger performance, he looked good in there.

Cesaro vs Zack Ryder

Short, but decent match. Ryder hurts his leg early, so Cesaro focuses his early offence on the knee, slamming it into the concrete floor and working a kneebar in the ring. Cesaro misses a corner dropkick and hits the post instead, which not only looks nasty, but also puts him in place for the Broski Boot in the corner. Ryder does a good job balancing selling the leg and trying to hit some big offence, tilting his dive slightly on a pescado so as not to land as heavily on the leg. However, inside he leaps into a Cesaro swing and an inverted cloverleaf causes Ryder to tap. Really good stuff from both guys.

Titus O’Neill vs Adam Rose

This is a waste of time really, and a waste of Titus. Titus looks really good here, nice big boot and a decent dropdown  backbreaker, but then Rose’s bunny comes down, distracts Titus by bouncing on the ropes, beats up Heath Slater and Rose gets the pin by ramming O’Neill into Slater during an O’Connor roll. Only goes two minutes, hard to find Rose and the bunny at all likable.

Los Matadores vs The Ascension

The Ascension are still NXT tag champs here, and it’s odd to hear them talked about as so dominant when they’re barely a factor 5 years later. I like Los Matadores a lot, but this is mainly them selling for the Ascension, and it’s not very exciting. The Ascension cut off the ring on Fernando, and I liked the crossarm clothesline they hit on him, but that’s it. Diego at least looks good on the hot tag (that the crowd barely react to), hitting a clothesline with more meat than anything the Ascension hit, before missing a top rope dive and getting finished off with the Fall of Man. The least exciting Matadores match on 2014 Main Event, and I guess that shows why the Ascension fell by the wayside – if you’re having less interesting matches with a team than Slater Gator are, you probably aren’t deserving of a decent push.