WWE 205 Live 03/01/2017

Tajiri vs Sean Maluta

Not much to this, just a quick squash to get Tajiri over. I did like Maluta’s headbutts, which he briefly used, but Tajiri soon finishes him off with a handspring elbow and the buzzsaw kick.

Jack Gallagher vs Tony Nese

Depressingly short, as we get a brief fun mat section of Gallagher escaping Nese’s holds before Ariya Daivari attacks Gallagher to draw a DQ.

Noam Dar vs Mustafa Ali

This is more like it, good little match here. Dar has really taken to being the cruiserweight shithead, yelling in the corner like a Scottish Iron Mike Sharpe. Loved his opportunism at kicking Ali’s arm as he re-enters the ring, and from that point on uses the arm as his focus. Dar is getting great at the little touches, grinding his wrist-tape across Ali’s face whilst holding him in an armbar. Ali’s offence run is neat, taking advantage of Dar complaining to the ref about a slow count to recover and evade a corner charge, instead hitting a tornado DDT. Ali sells the arm damage really well, not hooking the leg on a pin and having to readjust his bodyweight. Loved him trying a second tornado DDT and instead getting caught in a Fujiwara armbar, looked great. Dar charges the corner, meets a boot to the face and Ali finishes with an inverted 450. Great stuff here.

Neville vs TJ Perkins

Interestingly, Perkins came across as a far greater threat to Neville than Rich Swann did the previous week. Perkins is able to use his speed to evade Neville at first and send him to the floor with a rana. I liked how they played up both guys being equally quick, but if one of them got in a blow, they’d be able to get a small flurry as the impact of each blow would delay the opponent reacting to the next one. Perkins especially takes advantage of this, and it makes his offensive run look good. Loved Neville perching on the top rope with malicious intent when he’s in control, just waiting to hit a top rope dropkick. Loved Perkins’ springboard rana, but not as much as I loved Neville catching the wheelbarrow that normally leads to a kneebar and instead deadlifting Perkins into a German suplex. Looked terrific. The end sees Perkins on the top rope, and he desperately tries to fight Neville off as he goes for a superplex. In the end, however, Neville hits an enzuigiri and absolutely plants the superplex to win. This was great from both guys.

WWE 205 Live 27/12/2016

Cedric Alexander vs Tony Nese

Feels like another Alexander match being cut short to fit with their Alicia Fox storyline, but what they did fit in was fun. Think Nese may find himself in a difficult position, now they’ve given Neville a similar “bearded heel who is an incredible athlete with a muscular physique” gimmick, but I liked him here. Had a nice flashy combo of moves to down Cedric, but then slowed the match down on the mat so as to not overshadow the face. Alexander took a big bump to the floor when Nese shoves him from the top rope, and I dug his springboard clothesline. End was goofy, but fun, with Gulak claiming from the floor that Fox hit him, resulting in her getting sent to the back and Nese using the distraction to thwack Alexander with a palm strike for the win. Bonus points for Gulak looking like an utter boss in his suit.

Mustafa Ali vs John Yurnet

Glad to see them seemingly turning Ali face, saw him working that way in an AAW match, and he’s very likable. Plus you have to feel that the WWE couldn’t pull off the subtleties of an “You only boo me because of my heritage” gimmick. Since this match, it’s emerged Yurnet was probably injured going into this, and he seems to be limping right from the get go. Liked Aries trying to suggest he was just playing possum. Match is really brief due to the injury, with Ali hitting a reverse DDT and a sweet imploding 450 to win.

Neville vs Rich Swann

Neville continues his good work from last week, though he was noticeably a bit flashier this week than previously. I liked the fact he was able to keep up with Swann’s initial quickness, because Neville is still a superb athlete, but once in control he is much more deliberate. Loved him hurling Swann into the ring apron, with a nasty bump by Swann to boot. In the ring, Neville drives his elbow into Swann’s head in a nasty manner. I thought Neville was really good here at working his flashier offence into his character, hitting a standing shooting star to Swann’s back, which was a focal point of a lot of his offence. Swann is able to get more offense than in the previous week’s tag match, hitting a sweet looking Phoenix Splash to a standing Neville on the floor. I loved a lot of the touches in this, like Neville throwing Swann to the outside, giving him a beat to regain his bearings and nail an enzuigiri as soon as Swann was back on the apron, as well as Swann selling his beating with a slow walk across the ring, giving Neville time to attack. In the end, the cumulative beating from Neville slows Swann down too much, as he spends ages getting to the top rope, and Neville catches him with a superplex to win the match. Really enjoyed this, Neville has become a treat to watch.

WWE 205 Live 20/12/2016

Ariya Daivari vs Lince Dorado

Not been too impressed with either guy since 205 Live has started, but Daivari was clearly superior here. He had some nasty looking impact to his strikes, and I dug both the rainmaker neckbreaker and his whip into a big clothesline. After threatening last week to show me something I’ve never seen before, Dorado has been really unimpressive: springboard stunner looks shitty, tope saw him go vertical and basically headbutt Daivari’s thigh and he nearly slipped springboarding into the ring for a rana. Daivari polished him off with a frog splash. Daivari feels like a good worker, just not interesting enough for this division, might fit in better with the heavyweights.

Cedric Alexander vs Drew Gulak

Some of this was really good, but it fell victim to the ongoing Cedric/Fox/Dar storyline. Gulak showed nice early aggression, nailing some big forearms and taking advantage when Alexander takes his eyes off the prize (to talk to the ref) by hurling him into the ropes. Both guys take a big bump to the floor as a suplex reversal takes both over the top, but we get the booking coming in with Fox hurting her ankle, and Noam Dar coming out to carry her to the back. Even with this distraction, Gulak can’t beat Cedric, and the Lumbar Check puts him away. Gulak has lost 3 on the bounce now on this show, guy is far too talented to be enhancement talent when there’s guys like Dorado and the Bollywood Boyz kicking about.

Neville & Brian Kendrick vs TJ Perkins & Rich Swann

Man, heel Neville is already one of the most interesting wrestlers on this show, loved how he was portrayed here. Neville is a mass of muscle compared to most guys in the division, and the power advantage was put over really well here. He battered Swann from the get go, with a seated dropkick to the back of Swann’s head looking like it took Swann out. Neville never looks in any danger, and Perkins can only get in by blind tagging Swann, who looks overwhelmed. Kendrick likewise has to blind tag in, with Neville unwilling to share his spotlight. I liked the dynamic of the face team realising their best chance of winning is to isolate Kendrick, as it really puts over how much of an impact Neville is having on them. Swann tags himself back in, but I love that he’s still so hurt from Neville’s beating that he takes a little too long getting in, giving Kendrick an opening to strike. Swann takes a flatliner bump right on the top of his head, which looks killer. Neville gets back in and nails a great looking deadlift German for 2. Neville has been less flashy than usual, all clotheslines and heavy strikes, and I like that the one time he does get flashy, landing on his feet from a top rope moonsault, he gets caught with a Swann superkick for a close 2 count. With Swann so weak, it leaves Perkins having to carry a lot for his team, and when he springboards into the ring straight into a enzuigiri, it spells doom. The Red Arrow gets three for Neville, and this new attitude really works for him.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

WWE NXT Takeover: R Evolution

This feels like a pretty modern review for this blog, to be honest

Kevin Owens vs CJ Parker
I loved Owens looking dominant right from the start, as the people seeing him for the first time need to see why he's been getting so much hype. The big flip dive looked great, certainly better than the shitty spin kick that gives Parker an opening. Owens gets to look great by kicking out of Parker's (nose-breaking) palm strike, and the finishing sequence of a vicious pump-handle neckbreaker and a pop-up powerbomb give Owens a mighty debut win.

Lucha Dragons vs the Vaudevillains
The big problem with the replacement Sin Cara is that, if he felt a bit sluggish compared to the original Cara, he looks positively leaden next to a livewire like Kalisto. Cara did take a nice bump when he was pulled to the floor by Aiden English. I like the Vaudevillains as wrestlers, but they don't really wrestle in the gimmick. In-ring, they don't really feel like old school wrestlers. Compare them to blog-favourite Tyler Bate, who wrestles a similar gimmick but throws in airplane spins and fun power spots to augment his character. This was still fun, and Kalisto is perfect off the hot tag, just non-stop movement. English heroically saving Gotch from a two-man dive was odd, especially as Kalisto pinned Gotch seconds later.

Baron Corbin vs Tye Dillinger
Fun squash, as Dillinger bumped nicely for Corbin. Corbin has a face off with Bull Dempsey post-match. Still got no idea what anyone seem in Bull Dempsey, and the idea that someone decided to release Martin Stone and keep Dempsey seems absolutely insane.

The Ascension vs Hideo Itami & Finn Balor
Balor's entrance felt so bigtime, and you can tell he's not long for NXT. I loved the big flapjack Konnor gave Itami to give the Ascension the advantage, and Itami trying to battle out of the corner from the mat made him look great. Viktor is certainly the less exciting half of the Ascension, and things dragged a bit when he was in control, but the hot tag to Balor heated things up to a fever that didn't subside. Balor hitting an enzuigiri to send Viktor from the top rope to the floor was terrific, and the pop on Itami's GTS tease will only be beaten by the day he actually hits it. Even though Balor and Itami HAD to win, I totally bought into the Fall of Man tease, before the double footstomp wins it for the faces. Really fun match.

Charlotte vs Sasha Banks
Love the fact that Charles Robinson is the referee for this match. I really liked the sense of hatred at the start, with some trash-talking and some nice strikes. Banks hitting some vicious knees to a prone Charlotte in the corner looked great. Bank grounding Charlotte with submissions makes sense due to the size difference between the two, and the strength difference does get played up throughout the match. Charlotte is able to escape a figure-four headscissors by using her strength to hit an electric chair on Banks. Banks nails a nice dive to the floor, but is turned inside out by a huge spear from Charlotte. Just to rub in her genetic superiority, Charlotte lands on her feet on a missed moonsault and instead hits a flipping senton in a terrific spot. The end sees the size and strength factor come to the fore again, as Bank is unable to superplex Charlotte, who instead hits the Natural Selection from the top rope to win.

Adrian Neville vs Sami Zayn
All the build-up to this match really feels big time. Neville looks really great in the opening sections, dominating Zayn on the mat by working the arm and looking really crisp throughout. He even seems to be showing off slightly, until getting caught in a Zayn backbreaker sends him outside to regroup. Though small, Neville is a little ball of muscle and his offence has enough snap to it that it enables him to work as heel and Zayn to work from beneath. Zayn's main strength is his heart, so he needs to hang in there before being able to take over on offence. A lovely sequence ends with a Zayn flip dive to the floor, but Neville still feels like he's one step ahead. Every time Zayn gets some momentum, Neville is able to shut him off quickly. Eventually, Zayn starts getting more into the match, but his all-round decency nearly backfires as he checks on the ref following a bump, and gets nailed by a Neville reverse rana for a nearfall. We get another ref bump as the Helluva kick hits the official in the head, and we get a slightly melodramatic morality play as Zayn debates hitting Neville with the title belt. He doesn't, and nearly pays for it again as Neville rolls him up for two, but the Helluva kick in the corner is enough for the three count and the title for Zayn. Really great match up, good logical story-telling, and Neville looked fantastic throughout.

Southside Wrestling Speed King @ Rushcliffe Arena, Nottingham 22/04/12

Southside Wrestling is a fairly local promotion that seems to run a lot in the East Midlands/Cambridgeshire area, but I've never gotten round to going to one of their shows before. That is, until last Sunday when they ran a show 5 minutes from my house, a one-night tournament to crown the first Speed King champion. After enjoying last years Awesome Wrestling show at the same arena, I went along hoping it would be as good as that show had been. It ended up being far better...

Mark Haskins vs Ego Dragon
Haskins is billed as a TNA star, so it’s nice to see him making the most of his few TNA appearances. Ego Dragon wore a mask that looked near identical to Super Dragons. Haskins got the crowd into the match early, popping them with the Tiger Mask feint followed by a tope suicida. The crowd remained hot for the rest of the night, so that was a good idea. Dragon looked pretty good, but Haskins really impressed, showing some brute strength by picking Dragon up from the mat straight into a powerbomb. The end saw Haskins hit a top rope rana, but Dragon rolled through with it for the win

Max Angelus vs Danny Chase vs Bubblegum
Angelus and Chase are both local, whilst Bubblegum is a slightly bigger name on the circuit with a fun chav gimmick. Angelus impressed me a lot last June, and he was great here, he’s really got the look, talent and charisma to go places. Chase also seemed pretty good, being slighter but pretty crisp in the air. This was an elimination match and Max was first to go after Stixx came to ringside with a chair and, following a tussle between Max and Stixx, Chase accidentally got hit in the ribs, whilst Bubblegum fell to the floor to get Angelus DQ’d. This left Bubblegum with an injured Chase and, whilst he got a few comeback hope spots, Bubblegum picked up the win with a top rope stomp.

Marty Scurll vs Robbie X
Robbie reminded me of Lionel Messi – totally average looking with floppy hair who is actually able to do some incredible things. Some of the high-flying he did in this match was terrific, like hitting a flawless Code Red on Scurll. As well as being absolutely loaded with charisma, Scurll is bigger than Robbie, so used strikes to wear down the smaller man, including an insane lariat that turned X inside out. Scurll followed this with a torture rack into a backbreaker to pick up the win.

Rockstar Spud vs Noam Dar
My friends and I were huge Spud fans back in the day. Nowadays, he seems to do less high-flying (probably wise with his tiny frame) and instead used more character-based stuff to get over. His entrance, him standing on the ring apron, horns aloft, not moving to Living On A Prayer was great. Dar is also pretty small, but had a vicious selection of kicks, and really dished it out to Spud here. There was a nice little bit of storytelling where early in the match Spud hammered Dar against the ringpost, but when he tried again later on in the match, Dar moved which left Spud crotched on the post. Dar stomped on Spud’s leg from the top rope, then got the tapout via an ankle hook.

El Ligero vs Martin Kirby
This was also the opening match of the Awesome Wrestling show I watched in the same arena last year. However, whilst that was a fun opener, this far outshone it, being a tremendous wrestling match. Kirby especially has improved markedly in the last 10 months, during which he worked a match against Finlay that was supposed to be very good. He looked really crisp here, including a delayed suplex that he held for ages. You get the impression these two have worked together a number of times, as the chain wrestling section between the two was very well worked and there were a number of convincing false finishes before Ligero won with a backslide. Really good.

Pac vs Kris Travis
Pac is the big star of the show, and was noticeably much physically bigger than the other guys on the show. Travis attacked Pac pre-bell to start and, while this match started slow, it soon began to pick up pace. A standing shooting star by Pac woke up the crowd, before a twisting corkscrew moonsault to the floor which sent them into raptures. Travis held up his end of the match well, and looked comfortable against a guy who is an international star. In fact, this match was really even throughout, as Pac let Travis get in a load of offence, the highlight of which was a swank Northern Light suplex, which Travis rolled through with before kicking Pac in the head. Indeed, Travis picked up the clean win, as Pac hit knees on a shooting star press, before Travis nailed a double-underhook piledriver for the victory. Fine match, and a total star-making performace by Travis.

Shanna vs Holly Rocamora
Both girls were out there to represent all-female promotion Pro Wrestling: EVE. The match was pretty short and forgetable, but broke things up a little bit before the tournament final. Shanna was the more polished of the two and won quickly with a reverse DDT

Ego Dragon vs Bubblegum vs Marty Scurll vs Noam Dar vs El Ligero vs Kris Travis
This was an elimination match for the Speed King title. One of my favourite indy matches ever is a 6-man elimination from IWA-MS back in 2005, so I was very much looking forward to this. The match started with Bubblegum on the mic, demanding not to get hit in the face and threatening to blow El Ligero’s lucha gimmick. However, before he could do so, Ligero rolled him up for a flash elimination. Following a fun five man in-ring section, that saw the three faces suplexing Travis and Dragon together, the two masked men, Dragon and Ligero soon squared off and went through a strike exchange before Dragon decided to simply kick Ligero in the groin getting disqualified. This left the face/heel split very uneven, so Travis quickly pinned the downed Ligero. Travis, Scurll and Dar worked a fun triple threat sequence from this point, including a 3-way kick exchange that ended with all hitting simultaneous kicks to the head. Dar locked a leglock onto Travis, who tapped out quickly. This left Scurll and Dar, and the ending section for these two was really good, with some convincing strikes from both on the ring apron. Dar started to slightly heel it up, viciously working over Scurll’s leg for the leglock. He locked it in, but Scurll refused to tap. He started to pass out, but gots his arm up when the referee tested his arm for the third time. After a bit more action, Scurll managed to hit the backbreaker to pick up the win. Really fun main event, which managed to revive a crowd that had started to flag a little. Scurll put over Dar after the match and, considering Dar is only supposed to be 18, he looked like a major prospect. Satisfying end to a really good show.