So TNA decided to open their UK tour with a show in my home city. Getting there, the atmosphere already seemed pretty good. There was a good sized crowd there and already there were fliers going round advertising that they'd be back in Nottingham in 2013, so the advance sales must have been pretty promising. My last TNA show was at the Cov Skydome in 2008, but the set up was a fair bit nicer than back then, with the tron in particular being a nice addition.
Douglas Williams vs Gunner
Decent choice for the opener, with Williams getting a sizable pop. Gunner pulls back the floor covering outside the ring early doors, in a nice reference to the Impact match which ended with him DDTing Williams on the floor. Interestingly, Williams seems to work as an underdog babyface here, busting out a bit more highflying than we usually see from him, hitting a nice tope suicida. This slight shift in style allows Gunner to build some heat by dominating Williams, locking in a bearhug and making Williams fight back from underneath. Williams gets a nearfall from a diving uppercut, before a sequence of reversals ends with the Chaos Theory for a popular win.
Samoa Joe vs Crimson
I have a principle of trying not to cheer for heels at live wrestling events, but I really didn’t feel like cheering for Crimson over Joe here. Luckily, most of the arena agreed, and the wrestlers wisely reacted to this with Crimson busting out a choke on the ropes and throwing Joe into the ringpost to heel it up. Joe was really on here, hitting his offence with a nice bit of snap and looking visibly more motivated than on your average episode of Impact. He even dragged the Ole kick from out of the mothballs to a big reaction, but Crimson hit a spear on him from the chair on a second try. The match ended with a double DQ outside the ring, but this was better than I’d expected, and Crimson actually looked pretty good here.
Austin Aries vs Alex Shelley vs Mark Haskins
This was an X Division title match. Shelley and Aries got decent reactions, with the crowd slow to warm to Haskins, despite him being (falsely) billed as being from Nottingham. Aries went to the outside quickly, letting Shelley and Haskins work each other over. They worked a pretty smooth series of moves in there, albeit with Aries sneaking round the ring looking for an opportunity to seize an advantage, where Haskins started to win over the crowd with some nice highflying. He hit a nice tope suicida on Shelley, which Aries followed up with an even better one. Shelley did some goofy selling on the outside, whilst Haskins got the chance to impress against Aries in the ring. He even got a close nearfall, which fooled me into thinking they were about to put the title on him (in retrospect, a stupid thing to fall for). Shelley got back and the three worked an impossibly smooth section before Aries hit Haskins with the brainbuster for 3. Good match.
Gail Kim vs Madison Rayne vs Tara vs Mickie James
Second title match in a row and, whilst the least memorable match of the night, it was still an enjoyable one. Kim and Rayne paired off against Tara and James, until the faces threw them out of the ring (which led to a high five, which Mickie sold in a nice touch). We then got a Tara/James section as the heels refused to get back in the ring. Of course, they waited for the right moment to return and soon took control on the faces, focusing on James after sending Tara into the ringpost. The harmony couldn’t last though, and Kim got in Madison’s face after Rayne tried to pin James for the title. This allowed James and Tara to take over, but a distraction to the ref allowed Kim to nail Tara with the title for the pinfall. Weakest match of the night, but still a fun affair.
Bully Ray vs AJ Styles
We kicked this off with a heeling masterclass from Bully Ray. First he ran down the audience in classic fashion, before luring a fan over the barrier to fight him in the ring (of course, the second he climbed over the barrier, Ray screamed for security). He then tried to compete with AJ for the loudest pop from the crowd when climbing the buckle, which he predictably lost. He then took on Earl Hebner, who’d been getting booed throughout the night, and lost to him too, before finally challenging Christy Hemme, who also beat him. Ray then stalled, avoiding locking up with Styles for as long as possible. Honestly, the Ray heeling act is spectacular live. He ran through his whole repertoire, spitting in the air and catching it in his mouth, before his own version of the Flair strut. Of course, in amongst all this was a wrestling match, and it was a darn good affair for a houseshow. They worked a solid brawler vs flyer match, with Ray using his strength to wear down AJ with a bearhug, whilst AJ outpaced Ray, getting a nearfall from a flying forearm. They also had a nice spot where AJ ran Ray around outside the ring and got fans to put their feet on the railings to ram Ray’s head into. The end came when Ray went for the Bully Bomb, which AJ reversed into a rollup for the win. Bully hit AJ in the head with a chain postmatch which I thought was odd, but made sense with the events to come...
Bobby Roode vs James Storm
This was our main event and, whilst I thought it would be a good match, it felt anticlimactic when the posters had advertised Sting, Angle and others who hadn’t been seen (though I was maybe the only person there disappointed by no Anarquia...). Especially so as it was highly unlikely we’d see a title change and thus we’d have a heel winning the main event. Still the match was progressing nicely, until Roode ducked a superkick and lowblowed Storm for the DQ....
....this drew out Sting to a huge pop, who said the match would restart. This in turn brought out Angle to challenge Storm and Sting to a tagmatch. A pretty good choice for a main event, but then Bully Ray returned to make it a 3-on-2 match. I was waiting to see who the inevitable third man in the face team would be. I thought it might be Anderson, Hardy or Magnus. Hell, when Sting reminded us we were in Nottingham, home of Notts Forest and Robin Hood, I thought he might bring back “Nottingham’s own Mark Haskins”. But he didn’t. With the arrival of Eye Of The Tiger sounding over the tannoy, he brought out no other than Hulk Hogan!
James Storm, Sting & Hulk Hogan vs Kurt Angle, Bobby Roode & Bully Ray
Unsurprisingly, Hogan’s first match in the UK in 18 years brought a huge reaction. The match itself? The best possible match you could have got from this line-up. Hogan didn’t take any bumps, but the heels pinballed around for his every move to a great series of cheers. The faces hit pretty much a greatest hits set of moves, with Storm and Sting working face in peril for large parts in between. I think booking a 6 man tag was the perfect way to headline the show, as it didn’t require guys like Hogan, Sting (who looked terrific here) and Angle to exert themselves too much yet still put on a match the fans really reacted to. Bully Ray added some nice character touches from ringside, including a great sell of a nutshot, made even more impressive when you consider it was a sympathy sell for a lowblow on Roode. In the end, Hogan hit the big boot on Roode (in all honesty, to Roode’s midsection, but I don’t expect miracles) and Storm hit the big legdrop on his former partner for the win. A terrific, terrific way to end a great show.
Friday, 27 January 2012
Thursday, 29 December 2011
Top 10 Blog Matches of 2011
The second annual round up of the best this blog has seen in the past year. I think this is a good summary of what I've watched and enjoyed this year. A bit of puro, a bit of 80's US wrestling, a bit of 00's indys, a load of Zenk. Relive the past 12 months of not being Jay Tabb...
10. Ayako Hamada vs Mika Akino (Best of Ayako Hamada)
The Ayako comp was my introduction to the world of joshi, and this match was a fantastic battle. Akino played the underdog to Hamada's powerhouse perfectly.
9. Hacksaw Jim Duggan & the Ultimate Warrior vs Andre The Giant & Ravishing Rick Rude (WWF Fan Favourites)
A really pleasant surprise. Well laid out tag match with Andre playing the role of monster to perfection. Includes the Giant doing a Rude hipswivel.
8. Rick Martel & Tom Zenk vs the Funk Brothers (Best of Tom Zenk)
Though this was an EDILTZ entry, this match is all about Terry Funk and his masterful heel work. Add two good sets of tag workers and you've got a great match.
7. Super Dragon & Disco Machine vs Excalibur & Kevin Steen (PWG Guitarmageddon)
I described the heat section on Disco as being like wrestling's Passion of the Christ, and I stick by that as Excalibur and Steen gleefully kick the shit out of him. Good stiff action and a swerve ending that makes sense.
6. Toshiaki Kawada vs Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW 2000)
Two men go to war and the result is spectacular. Felt like a real battle and has that real big match atmosphere. Both guys get to look like killers here
5. Christopher Daniels, Ikuto Hidaka & Dick Togo vs The SAT & Quiet Storm (MLW Reloaded)
That the SAT and Storm have never looked better is no surprise. That this may be the best Daniels match I've seen is another matter, and this is one of the best 6-man matches it's been my pleasure to watch
4. Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard (WWE Bloodiest Steel Cage Matches)
The Sasaki/Kawada match made both guys look invincible. This one makes me shocked that either man survived. A gory, brutal war where even 25 years later you can feel the hate drip through your TV
3. Kerry & Kevin Von Erich vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy (Best of Kerry Von Erich)
2011 is the year is became a big Von Erich fan, especially the magnificent brawling abilities of Kevin. This is a Badstreet match, which basically means anything goes. Stiff, believable war that isn't affected by nont having a finish.
2. Tom Zenk & Dan Kroffat vs Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki (Best of Tom Zenk)
Ahead of it's time tag match, with Zenk/Kroffat being the best team no-one has seen. Kroffat in particular busts out all manner of cool shit, including a Razor's Edge and a Cattle Mutilation. Top drawer stuff.
1. Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart (WWE Bloodiest Steel Cage Matches)
I loved it when I first saw it in 1994. I still love it now. It's just beautifully worked, with both guys trying to escape in the most realistic manner possible. The Harts aren't afraid to get a little snug with each other and crucially, while it was a clean win for Bret, it was so even battled that Owen comes out of it looking like a bonafide main event star. Perfect.
10. Ayako Hamada vs Mika Akino (Best of Ayako Hamada)
The Ayako comp was my introduction to the world of joshi, and this match was a fantastic battle. Akino played the underdog to Hamada's powerhouse perfectly.
9. Hacksaw Jim Duggan & the Ultimate Warrior vs Andre The Giant & Ravishing Rick Rude (WWF Fan Favourites)
A really pleasant surprise. Well laid out tag match with Andre playing the role of monster to perfection. Includes the Giant doing a Rude hipswivel.
8. Rick Martel & Tom Zenk vs the Funk Brothers (Best of Tom Zenk)
Though this was an EDILTZ entry, this match is all about Terry Funk and his masterful heel work. Add two good sets of tag workers and you've got a great match.
7. Super Dragon & Disco Machine vs Excalibur & Kevin Steen (PWG Guitarmageddon)
I described the heat section on Disco as being like wrestling's Passion of the Christ, and I stick by that as Excalibur and Steen gleefully kick the shit out of him. Good stiff action and a swerve ending that makes sense.
6. Toshiaki Kawada vs Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW 2000)
Two men go to war and the result is spectacular. Felt like a real battle and has that real big match atmosphere. Both guys get to look like killers here
5. Christopher Daniels, Ikuto Hidaka & Dick Togo vs The SAT & Quiet Storm (MLW Reloaded)
That the SAT and Storm have never looked better is no surprise. That this may be the best Daniels match I've seen is another matter, and this is one of the best 6-man matches it's been my pleasure to watch
4. Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard (WWE Bloodiest Steel Cage Matches)
The Sasaki/Kawada match made both guys look invincible. This one makes me shocked that either man survived. A gory, brutal war where even 25 years later you can feel the hate drip through your TV
3. Kerry & Kevin Von Erich vs Buddy Roberts & Terry Gordy (Best of Kerry Von Erich)
2011 is the year is became a big Von Erich fan, especially the magnificent brawling abilities of Kevin. This is a Badstreet match, which basically means anything goes. Stiff, believable war that isn't affected by nont having a finish.
2. Tom Zenk & Dan Kroffat vs Toshiaki Kawada & Samson Fuyuki (Best of Tom Zenk)
Ahead of it's time tag match, with Zenk/Kroffat being the best team no-one has seen. Kroffat in particular busts out all manner of cool shit, including a Razor's Edge and a Cattle Mutilation. Top drawer stuff.
1. Owen Hart vs. Bret Hart (WWE Bloodiest Steel Cage Matches)
I loved it when I first saw it in 1994. I still love it now. It's just beautifully worked, with both guys trying to escape in the most realistic manner possible. The Harts aren't afraid to get a little snug with each other and crucially, while it was a clean win for Bret, it was so even battled that Owen comes out of it looking like a bonafide main event star. Perfect.
Wrestling Society X: Season One Part One
So I managed to pick up this DVD of the first part of the only series of MTV's shortlived Wrestling Society X promotion (though at this point it looks pretty clear that part two will never get a UK release). WSX had a roster primarily made up of So-Cal indy guys (including anyone from XPW who didn't outright suck) so the talent on display is pretty good, though I'm commenting on each match with the knowledge that these matches were booked not so much as wrestling matches, but insane stunt shows for MTV viewers. With that in mind, let's crack on...
EPISODE ONE
Matt Sydal vs Jack Evans
The future Evan Bourne is accompanied by on-screen girlfriend Lizzy Valentine, playing a young preppy couple. Evans takes an insane bump straight away, hurtling over the top rope to the concrete floor. Sydal follows with a tope. This is absolutely a spotfest, but crucially it’s a really fun one, with everything connecting nicely. Sydal takes a nasty bump onto his head from an Evans leg lariat, which sends him to the floor. Evans follows him out with a cartwheel into a 360 somersault, which is just mental. Valentine interferes to try and help Sydal, but Evans manages to use her back as a launchpad for a tornado DDT, followed by a 630 splash for the win. Really high-octane way to kick off the concept of WSX.
WSX Rumble
Even Vince Russo would look at this and call it an overbooked clusterfuck. Basically, it’s a rumble with tables and “electrified wires” outside the ring and two contracts hanging above the ring. When all combatants are in, the contracts are lowered and the first two to get ladders and grab them get to compete in the WSX title match on the following show.
We kick off with Justin Credible and Teddy Hart, who foolishly celebrates an early modicum of success by moonsaulting off the top into a Credible superkick. Former XPW wrestler Kaos is 3rd, but gets hit with a cradle DDT by Hart. Vampiro is 4th and cleans house. We get a commercial break, during which Puma (5) comes in and gets eliminated, and Al Katrazz (6) is in the ring. 6 Pac is 7th, whilst Chris Hamrick is 8th. Sadly for Hamrick, entry no. 9, New Jack, takes offence to his Southern ways and follows him to the ring straight away, before proceeding to kick the shit out of him. Hamrick and Jack are both gone pretty much straight away, as Jack eliminates Hamrick and follows him out to inflict more pain. Suddenly, a load of stuff takes place at once, as Kaos is thrown into a big box of electricity by Katrazz’s tag team partner Luke Hawx. At the same time, Katrazz and Hart both get eliminated, as final entrant Youth Suicide gets in, and immediately empties a bag of tacks into the ring. Vampiro powerbombs him onto them straight away, whilst 6 Pac grabs contract #1. Suicide tries to climb the ladder, but is thrown off into another box of electricity on the outside. Vampiro then outlasts Credible to grab the second contract. A total fucking mess, with bad camera work and no rhyme or rhythm to the match,
EPISODE 2
Luke Hawx vs the Human Tornado
Haven’t seen a Hawx match since he was Altar Boy Luke in XPW. This is pretty much a showcase for the Tornado character, but Hawx can go and, despite Tornado no-selling a kick to the nuts thanks to his “balls of steel”, Luke soon takes over following an exploder and a leg lariat. Tornado manages to send Hawx outside and hits an insane tope, followed by a Tornado DDT for the win. Brief, but enjoyable. Afterwards, we get a schmozz with Al Katrazz and Hawx fighting the team of Kaos and Aaron Aguilera, a result of the Hawx interference in last weeks rumble.
That 70’s Team vs Team Dragon Gate
The 70’s boys consist of PWG stalwarts Joey Ryan and Disco Machine, with Yoshino and Horiguchi repping for Dragon Gate. Horiguchi and Yoshino are insanely quick here and use this speed to take control early on. Ryan misses a dropkick, resulting in him yelling to Disco to throw him his asthma inhaler in a funny spot. The match soon descends into carnage, with Ryan hitting a superkick on Yoshino for the win.
Vampiro vs 6 Pac
This is for the first ever WSX championship. Both guys put in a surprisingly high effort and the match moves as a fair old pace. The problem is that it’s way too spotty and is pretty much just a collection of moves. A 6 Factor only gets two for Pac (I personally think it lost it’s power when it realised it’s new name didn’t actually mean anything). Vamp hits a tombstone from the apron into (oh yes!) an exploding coffin to get the win and the title.
EPISODE 3
Trailer Park Boys vs The Filth & The Fury
Trailer Park Boys consist of Nate Webb and Josh “Jug” Raymond (aka Josh Abercrombie of IWA-MS fame), whilst their opponents are Teddy Hart and Matt Cross. The Filth & The Fury dominate this right off the bat and this is a massively one-sided showcase until Hart takes a boot to the face attempting a moonsault onto Webb. The Boys have some nice double teams, but this is Hart and Cross’s match, and once Hart escapes Soylent Green, the end is nigh. Hart hits a Canadian Destroyer on Webb and puts him on a table outside before (and I can’t believe I’m typing this) soaking him in water and zapping him with an electrical cable, then hitting Open Hart Surgery on him from on top of some crates. In the ring, meanwhile, Cross hits a shooting star legdrop on Raymond for the win. Actually quite fun early on, but it took a ridiculous turn that I still can’t decide if I loved or hated.
Jack Evans vs El Hombre Blanco Enmascarado
EHBE is PWG stalwart Quicksilver which, being easier to type, is what I’ll call him. That said, his name is probably longer than this match. Quicksilver hits a Fishermans Buster for two, but Jack nails him with a knee to the head and hits the 630 for the win. Essentially pointless
Al Katrazz & Luke Hawx vs Los Pochos Guapos
Los Pochos Guapos are Kaos and ex-Carlito bodyguard Aaron Aguilera. This is a TLC match, only this time it stands for tables, ladders and cervezas, with a 6 pack of beer in the corner. I really like Aguilera’s 1940’s heavy look and this match is pretty well laid out when you take into consideration the WSX policy of rushing through everything. Give it another 5 minutes and it could have been pretty good. Kaos hits Hawx with a Kaos Driver early, but Aguilera stops him hitting a moonsault and tells him to hit it off the ladder, which Kaos promptly misses. Katrazz tries to hit Old School into a tornado DDT on Aguilera, but AA reverses it into a suplex into the ladder. Kaos hits a Ganso Bomb on Hawx and AA tells him to powerbomb Hawx onto the beers. However, Katrazz Irish whips AA into Kaos midpowerbomb, allowing Hawx to reverse it to a facebuster on the beers. That was pretty nicely worked. Katrazz powerbombs Kaos through a table for the win. Probably the best WSX thus far.
EPISODE 4
Matt Sydal vs Scorpio Sky
Sydal is described as the “Cocky Coverboy”, which would be a great gimmick for him to use if he turned heel in the WWE. Due to some poor booking, both guys are essentially working cocky heel gimmicks, though the crowd soon decides Sky is the face. The match kicks off with a series of flips, ranas and dives, until Sky nails Sydal with a backbreaker. Awesome moonsault into a legroller by Sydal. Sky comes back with a pristine tope. Lizzie Valentine distracts Sky, allowing Sydal to hit a standing moonsault for two. The ending is pretty choice, Sydal hitting a one man Spanish Fly that ends with him on top for the victory. Brief but fun, at least everything was crisp. Afterwards, Valentine writes “H8R” on Sky’s back in lipstick, which is a brilliant heel move.
Keeping It Gangsta vs That 70’s Team
KIG consists of Babi Slymm and former CZW champion Ruckus. That 70’s Team come out to answer an open challenge, and prepare for the match by oiling themselves up. KIG are into total control early on due to the fast paced offence of Ruckus. Slymm comes in and retains control, until Ryan helps Disco complete a victory roll by booting Slymm in the gut. Some high-concept comedy ensues involving Ryan wearing a thong, and Ruckus gets the hot tag. Ruckus is a guy ideally suited to tag matches, his high paced offence suits being the hot tag guy really well. Slymm hits an insane spinning sidewalk slam on Disco. Ruckus puts Ryan in the tree of woe, smashes a discoball in his crotch before hitting a flipping moonsault from a blinged-out ladder onto Ryan’s face. What a sentence. Match was pretty enjoyable.
And that is the final match we get. The episode finishes with an angle involving Vampiro, 6 Pac and a debuting Ricky Banderas (plus ludicrous special effects), but we get no more episodes of WSX...
What we DO get is some web-exclusive matches as extras...
Luke Hawx vs Puma vs the Human Tornado
Earlier this year, I reviewed a PWG match which was a triple threat match with a similar line-up, with Davey Richards instead of Hawx. That was a longer match but, taking into account the WSX constraints of time, I think I enjoyed this one more. This is in large part down to the presence of the former XPW Altar Boy, who really gets showcased here. Tornado kicks things off early with an insane tope to both men which sends him through the safety rails, but Hawx soon takes control on him after sending Puma to the floor with a huge Irish whip to the corner. Hawx nearly beheads Tornado with a clothesline, downing him with a vicious looking series of kicks. Hawx retains control and nearly gets two off a powerbomb, but is shoved from the top rope to the floor by a returning Puma. Tornado attacks Puma and hits a corkscrew senton on him for the win. Made Puma look really dumb, but Hawx and Tornado got to look great.
DIFH vs the Trailer Park Boys
DIFH (or Doing It For Her) are Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black rocking an emo gimmick, Jimmy being the sensitive one and Black being the intense one. The commentators spend a lot of the early going talking about Johnny Webb managing the Trailer Park Boys, and how he’s a former XPW champion, as if anyone watching will have any idea what that means. Jacobs is too busy spending the early moments waving to girls, so Black has to kick things off by hitting Jug with some nice strikes. The Boys take over on Black, with some nice double teams in the corner. Jacobs does get in, but Raymond nearly kills himself hitting a suicide dive into the rails (and partially Jacobs). We see some nice character developments for DIFH as Jacobs locks in a Camel Clutch on Raymond, but gets upset when Black comes in a blasts Jug with a dropkick to the face. Jimmy tries again with a Cattle Mutilation, but Black comes in again with a standing Shooting Star. Raymond manages a hot tag after a springboard kick, and Webb comes in and gets the win on Black following Soylent Green. I liked this a lot.
Matt Sydal vs Matt Classic
Matt Classic is Colt Cabana under a mask, and the gimmick is spectacular. Essentially the story is that he is a wrestler from the 1950’s who has been in a coma for 50 years and is returning to action. Cabana plays it to the hilt, with not only a moveset straight out of the black-and-white days, but also wearing large trunks, no kneepads and with ridiculous mannerisms. Classic locks on the dreaded stomach claw early on, but Sydal somehow escapes and uses his speed to take over. Classic manages to lock on the trapezius claw from a Sydal pinfall, but Sydal hits a reverse rana and the Shooting Star Press to win. Really fun comedy match.
Matt Classic vs Scorpio Sky
Another excellent Classic match. Classic brings some more old school to the table, including fish-hooking Sky. Sky downs Classic with a flying headscissors, but gets caught on another move, and Classic downs him with a dreaded airplane spin. A Heart Punch sends Sky straight down, but Classic misses a bottom rope splash which allows Sky back into it. Sky hits a sloppy looking Impaler DDT for the win.
DIFH vs That 70’s Team
The match starts with Disco doing an unnatural amount of gyrating. Jacobs doesn’t seem to want to hurt him, so Black uses his partner as a weapon, whipping Disco into the corner and hurling Jacobs at him. Ryan comes in to attack Jimmy, who ends up as face-in-peril. Machine hits a snazzy looking snap powerslam. Jimmy nails a neckbreaker on Ryan, which causes Joey to need his inhaler. This gives Jacobs time to make the hot tag. The awkward thong comedy comes out again, DIFH rock a nice double team finisher: Black hoists Ryan on his shoulders, Jacobs hits a top rope elbow and Black finishes it off with a sitout driver. This picks up the win. Another perfectly good tag match, better than most of the ones on the main show.
DIFH vs Team Dragon Gate
The third DIFH match on the internet matches and really, they’ve been a highlight of the DVD. This is another fine match, with the opening section with Jacobs and Horiguchi being superslick. Loved seeing Jacobs using the flying headscissors, though it’s not quite the same without the power of the furry boots. Yoshino is still superquick, enough that he starts to make my TV blur, and he gets a two off a tornado DDT. Black is still forced to use the sensitive Jacobs as a weapon, hurling him into Horiguchi for a two count. Horiguchi misses a moonsault, and DIFH use the elbow/driver combination to pick up the win. DIFH were awesome.
Jack Evans vs Marcus Riot
Riot is a guy I know nothing about. Even a quick Google search is revealing nothing. Riot is dressed exactly like Evans, with the storyline being that Riot is an Evans superfan. Riot does a really good job keeping up with the uberfast Evans early on, but he gets blasted with a swank cartwheel kick by Evans. Evans sends him outside and hits a nuts 360 springboard plancha. Riot gets back on offence by raising knees on a standing SSP and nails a roaring clothesline for two. Evans fires back with a reverse rana for two. He follows it with a fantastic standing corkscrew moonsault for two. Evans misses the 630, but he blasts Riot with a Fisherman buster and hits the 630 second attempt for 3. Fun story with Riot being the Evans clone, and he looked pretty good. Shame I’ve literally no idea who he is.
EPISODE ONE
Matt Sydal vs Jack Evans
The future Evan Bourne is accompanied by on-screen girlfriend Lizzy Valentine, playing a young preppy couple. Evans takes an insane bump straight away, hurtling over the top rope to the concrete floor. Sydal follows with a tope. This is absolutely a spotfest, but crucially it’s a really fun one, with everything connecting nicely. Sydal takes a nasty bump onto his head from an Evans leg lariat, which sends him to the floor. Evans follows him out with a cartwheel into a 360 somersault, which is just mental. Valentine interferes to try and help Sydal, but Evans manages to use her back as a launchpad for a tornado DDT, followed by a 630 splash for the win. Really high-octane way to kick off the concept of WSX.
WSX Rumble
Even Vince Russo would look at this and call it an overbooked clusterfuck. Basically, it’s a rumble with tables and “electrified wires” outside the ring and two contracts hanging above the ring. When all combatants are in, the contracts are lowered and the first two to get ladders and grab them get to compete in the WSX title match on the following show.
We kick off with Justin Credible and Teddy Hart, who foolishly celebrates an early modicum of success by moonsaulting off the top into a Credible superkick. Former XPW wrestler Kaos is 3rd, but gets hit with a cradle DDT by Hart. Vampiro is 4th and cleans house. We get a commercial break, during which Puma (5) comes in and gets eliminated, and Al Katrazz (6) is in the ring. 6 Pac is 7th, whilst Chris Hamrick is 8th. Sadly for Hamrick, entry no. 9, New Jack, takes offence to his Southern ways and follows him to the ring straight away, before proceeding to kick the shit out of him. Hamrick and Jack are both gone pretty much straight away, as Jack eliminates Hamrick and follows him out to inflict more pain. Suddenly, a load of stuff takes place at once, as Kaos is thrown into a big box of electricity by Katrazz’s tag team partner Luke Hawx. At the same time, Katrazz and Hart both get eliminated, as final entrant Youth Suicide gets in, and immediately empties a bag of tacks into the ring. Vampiro powerbombs him onto them straight away, whilst 6 Pac grabs contract #1. Suicide tries to climb the ladder, but is thrown off into another box of electricity on the outside. Vampiro then outlasts Credible to grab the second contract. A total fucking mess, with bad camera work and no rhyme or rhythm to the match,
EPISODE 2
Luke Hawx vs the Human Tornado
Haven’t seen a Hawx match since he was Altar Boy Luke in XPW. This is pretty much a showcase for the Tornado character, but Hawx can go and, despite Tornado no-selling a kick to the nuts thanks to his “balls of steel”, Luke soon takes over following an exploder and a leg lariat. Tornado manages to send Hawx outside and hits an insane tope, followed by a Tornado DDT for the win. Brief, but enjoyable. Afterwards, we get a schmozz with Al Katrazz and Hawx fighting the team of Kaos and Aaron Aguilera, a result of the Hawx interference in last weeks rumble.
That 70’s Team vs Team Dragon Gate
The 70’s boys consist of PWG stalwarts Joey Ryan and Disco Machine, with Yoshino and Horiguchi repping for Dragon Gate. Horiguchi and Yoshino are insanely quick here and use this speed to take control early on. Ryan misses a dropkick, resulting in him yelling to Disco to throw him his asthma inhaler in a funny spot. The match soon descends into carnage, with Ryan hitting a superkick on Yoshino for the win.
Vampiro vs 6 Pac
This is for the first ever WSX championship. Both guys put in a surprisingly high effort and the match moves as a fair old pace. The problem is that it’s way too spotty and is pretty much just a collection of moves. A 6 Factor only gets two for Pac (I personally think it lost it’s power when it realised it’s new name didn’t actually mean anything). Vamp hits a tombstone from the apron into (oh yes!) an exploding coffin to get the win and the title.
EPISODE 3
Trailer Park Boys vs The Filth & The Fury
Trailer Park Boys consist of Nate Webb and Josh “Jug” Raymond (aka Josh Abercrombie of IWA-MS fame), whilst their opponents are Teddy Hart and Matt Cross. The Filth & The Fury dominate this right off the bat and this is a massively one-sided showcase until Hart takes a boot to the face attempting a moonsault onto Webb. The Boys have some nice double teams, but this is Hart and Cross’s match, and once Hart escapes Soylent Green, the end is nigh. Hart hits a Canadian Destroyer on Webb and puts him on a table outside before (and I can’t believe I’m typing this) soaking him in water and zapping him with an electrical cable, then hitting Open Hart Surgery on him from on top of some crates. In the ring, meanwhile, Cross hits a shooting star legdrop on Raymond for the win. Actually quite fun early on, but it took a ridiculous turn that I still can’t decide if I loved or hated.
Jack Evans vs El Hombre Blanco Enmascarado
EHBE is PWG stalwart Quicksilver which, being easier to type, is what I’ll call him. That said, his name is probably longer than this match. Quicksilver hits a Fishermans Buster for two, but Jack nails him with a knee to the head and hits the 630 for the win. Essentially pointless
Al Katrazz & Luke Hawx vs Los Pochos Guapos
Los Pochos Guapos are Kaos and ex-Carlito bodyguard Aaron Aguilera. This is a TLC match, only this time it stands for tables, ladders and cervezas, with a 6 pack of beer in the corner. I really like Aguilera’s 1940’s heavy look and this match is pretty well laid out when you take into consideration the WSX policy of rushing through everything. Give it another 5 minutes and it could have been pretty good. Kaos hits Hawx with a Kaos Driver early, but Aguilera stops him hitting a moonsault and tells him to hit it off the ladder, which Kaos promptly misses. Katrazz tries to hit Old School into a tornado DDT on Aguilera, but AA reverses it into a suplex into the ladder. Kaos hits a Ganso Bomb on Hawx and AA tells him to powerbomb Hawx onto the beers. However, Katrazz Irish whips AA into Kaos midpowerbomb, allowing Hawx to reverse it to a facebuster on the beers. That was pretty nicely worked. Katrazz powerbombs Kaos through a table for the win. Probably the best WSX thus far.
EPISODE 4
Matt Sydal vs Scorpio Sky
Sydal is described as the “Cocky Coverboy”, which would be a great gimmick for him to use if he turned heel in the WWE. Due to some poor booking, both guys are essentially working cocky heel gimmicks, though the crowd soon decides Sky is the face. The match kicks off with a series of flips, ranas and dives, until Sky nails Sydal with a backbreaker. Awesome moonsault into a legroller by Sydal. Sky comes back with a pristine tope. Lizzie Valentine distracts Sky, allowing Sydal to hit a standing moonsault for two. The ending is pretty choice, Sydal hitting a one man Spanish Fly that ends with him on top for the victory. Brief but fun, at least everything was crisp. Afterwards, Valentine writes “H8R” on Sky’s back in lipstick, which is a brilliant heel move.
Keeping It Gangsta vs That 70’s Team
KIG consists of Babi Slymm and former CZW champion Ruckus. That 70’s Team come out to answer an open challenge, and prepare for the match by oiling themselves up. KIG are into total control early on due to the fast paced offence of Ruckus. Slymm comes in and retains control, until Ryan helps Disco complete a victory roll by booting Slymm in the gut. Some high-concept comedy ensues involving Ryan wearing a thong, and Ruckus gets the hot tag. Ruckus is a guy ideally suited to tag matches, his high paced offence suits being the hot tag guy really well. Slymm hits an insane spinning sidewalk slam on Disco. Ruckus puts Ryan in the tree of woe, smashes a discoball in his crotch before hitting a flipping moonsault from a blinged-out ladder onto Ryan’s face. What a sentence. Match was pretty enjoyable.
And that is the final match we get. The episode finishes with an angle involving Vampiro, 6 Pac and a debuting Ricky Banderas (plus ludicrous special effects), but we get no more episodes of WSX...
What we DO get is some web-exclusive matches as extras...
Luke Hawx vs Puma vs the Human Tornado
Earlier this year, I reviewed a PWG match which was a triple threat match with a similar line-up, with Davey Richards instead of Hawx. That was a longer match but, taking into account the WSX constraints of time, I think I enjoyed this one more. This is in large part down to the presence of the former XPW Altar Boy, who really gets showcased here. Tornado kicks things off early with an insane tope to both men which sends him through the safety rails, but Hawx soon takes control on him after sending Puma to the floor with a huge Irish whip to the corner. Hawx nearly beheads Tornado with a clothesline, downing him with a vicious looking series of kicks. Hawx retains control and nearly gets two off a powerbomb, but is shoved from the top rope to the floor by a returning Puma. Tornado attacks Puma and hits a corkscrew senton on him for the win. Made Puma look really dumb, but Hawx and Tornado got to look great.
DIFH vs the Trailer Park Boys
DIFH (or Doing It For Her) are Jimmy Jacobs and Tyler Black rocking an emo gimmick, Jimmy being the sensitive one and Black being the intense one. The commentators spend a lot of the early going talking about Johnny Webb managing the Trailer Park Boys, and how he’s a former XPW champion, as if anyone watching will have any idea what that means. Jacobs is too busy spending the early moments waving to girls, so Black has to kick things off by hitting Jug with some nice strikes. The Boys take over on Black, with some nice double teams in the corner. Jacobs does get in, but Raymond nearly kills himself hitting a suicide dive into the rails (and partially Jacobs). We see some nice character developments for DIFH as Jacobs locks in a Camel Clutch on Raymond, but gets upset when Black comes in a blasts Jug with a dropkick to the face. Jimmy tries again with a Cattle Mutilation, but Black comes in again with a standing Shooting Star. Raymond manages a hot tag after a springboard kick, and Webb comes in and gets the win on Black following Soylent Green. I liked this a lot.
Matt Sydal vs Matt Classic
Matt Classic is Colt Cabana under a mask, and the gimmick is spectacular. Essentially the story is that he is a wrestler from the 1950’s who has been in a coma for 50 years and is returning to action. Cabana plays it to the hilt, with not only a moveset straight out of the black-and-white days, but also wearing large trunks, no kneepads and with ridiculous mannerisms. Classic locks on the dreaded stomach claw early on, but Sydal somehow escapes and uses his speed to take over. Classic manages to lock on the trapezius claw from a Sydal pinfall, but Sydal hits a reverse rana and the Shooting Star Press to win. Really fun comedy match.
Matt Classic vs Scorpio Sky
Another excellent Classic match. Classic brings some more old school to the table, including fish-hooking Sky. Sky downs Classic with a flying headscissors, but gets caught on another move, and Classic downs him with a dreaded airplane spin. A Heart Punch sends Sky straight down, but Classic misses a bottom rope splash which allows Sky back into it. Sky hits a sloppy looking Impaler DDT for the win.
DIFH vs That 70’s Team
The match starts with Disco doing an unnatural amount of gyrating. Jacobs doesn’t seem to want to hurt him, so Black uses his partner as a weapon, whipping Disco into the corner and hurling Jacobs at him. Ryan comes in to attack Jimmy, who ends up as face-in-peril. Machine hits a snazzy looking snap powerslam. Jimmy nails a neckbreaker on Ryan, which causes Joey to need his inhaler. This gives Jacobs time to make the hot tag. The awkward thong comedy comes out again, DIFH rock a nice double team finisher: Black hoists Ryan on his shoulders, Jacobs hits a top rope elbow and Black finishes it off with a sitout driver. This picks up the win. Another perfectly good tag match, better than most of the ones on the main show.
DIFH vs Team Dragon Gate
The third DIFH match on the internet matches and really, they’ve been a highlight of the DVD. This is another fine match, with the opening section with Jacobs and Horiguchi being superslick. Loved seeing Jacobs using the flying headscissors, though it’s not quite the same without the power of the furry boots. Yoshino is still superquick, enough that he starts to make my TV blur, and he gets a two off a tornado DDT. Black is still forced to use the sensitive Jacobs as a weapon, hurling him into Horiguchi for a two count. Horiguchi misses a moonsault, and DIFH use the elbow/driver combination to pick up the win. DIFH were awesome.
Jack Evans vs Marcus Riot
Riot is a guy I know nothing about. Even a quick Google search is revealing nothing. Riot is dressed exactly like Evans, with the storyline being that Riot is an Evans superfan. Riot does a really good job keeping up with the uberfast Evans early on, but he gets blasted with a swank cartwheel kick by Evans. Evans sends him outside and hits a nuts 360 springboard plancha. Riot gets back on offence by raising knees on a standing SSP and nails a roaring clothesline for two. Evans fires back with a reverse rana for two. He follows it with a fantastic standing corkscrew moonsault for two. Evans misses the 630, but he blasts Riot with a Fisherman buster and hits the 630 second attempt for 3. Fun story with Riot being the Evans clone, and he looked pretty good. Shame I’ve literally no idea who he is.
Friday, 9 December 2011
TNA Turning Point 2011
Robbie E vs Eric Young
This is for the TV title and is pretty much just played for comedy. Luckily, both characters are so enjoyably goofy that the comedy works, whilst both guys are good enough workers that the match ends up being pretty entertaining. They even manage to make a ridiculous early spot involving EY doing a headstand in the corner look logical. Robbie E takes control following a huge clothesline from Robbie T on the outside (I’d just like to add at this point how much I love the addition of Rob Terry as Robbie’s bouncer. The dynamic is great, Terry is definitely improving as a worker and they’d be my choice as next tag team champs. Plus the new cordon entrance is ace). Robbie being on offence allows us to run the whole gamut of brilliant facial expressions from the challenger, especially the look of demented glee when he thinks he’s going to get the pin on EY. Robbie may go a bit too long with the chinlocks, but they lead to a Young comeback that shows just what a good wrestler he actually is, first reversing a Robbie dive into a nice belly-to-belly suplex, then hitting a fantastic top rope elbow that puts CM Punk’s to shame. EY hits both Robbies with a dive from the top rope to the floor, but gets clotheslined to the leg by Big Robbie as he gets into the ring, leading to a nasty bump and the Robbie E cover for the win. Plenty of fun here.
Mexican America vs Ink Inc & Toxxin
The MA team consists of Hernandez, Anarquia and Sarita, with the rules stating that MA can lose the tag titles if any of them get pinned. You know how there has been news recently that TNA wanted Jesse Neal to go to OVW to develop his skills? This match shows why, because he is outright bad at points here. His strikes barely graze the Mexican boys, and he almost falls over Hernandez at one point. This is in direct contrast to Shannon Moore who works a pretty fun, smooth section with Anarquia, whose bumping and stooging here is terrific. MA have a pretty nice double team move where Hernandex holds up Neal outside the ring to allow Anarquia to dropkick him through the ropes to the floor. Sarita and Toxxin gets their moment in the sun, and both look pretty good out there, enough that you feel a one-on-one match would be worth a 5 minute spot on Impact. Anarquia comes in and even bumps around for Toxxin, who somehow manages to conspire with Neal to blow the moment where they reveal the tattoo they gave Anarquia a month ago. They’ve built this up for weeks, and now the audience STILL have no idea what is supposed to be on his back. Anarquia, bless him, sells it anyway, and Sarita nails Toxxin with a belt shot to win. Really poor match up, and you can lay 80% of that on Neal.
Austin Aries vs Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorenson
Last time I wrote about TNA, I talked about how Sorenson looked promising, but bland and green. Here, I thought he was terrific. He’d still benefit from developing a little character, but his work here was really good, looking believably competitive against two veterans, which is even more impressive considering this is essentially a two-on-one match. Kash especially takes great pleasure in chopping the shit out of him, to the extent that Sorenson is bleeding from the chest by the end. Sorenson makes the most of his hope spots, hitting a nice tope on both men early on, before getting overwhelmed by the numbers. It’s probably redundant to talk about how awesome Aries is, but he really is magnificent. I especially loved him leaving the hard work to Kash in the ring, chiming in with the occasional chop or boot to put Sorenson down again. Unfortunately, Kash keeps forgetting “the plan”, and the arguments give Jesse a chance to take over. He hits Michael McGillicutty’s swinging neckbreaker better than McGillicutty himself and really looks like he could pull off the upset. Kash hits him with the Money Maker, but Aries, sneaking round the ring, puts Jesse’s foot on the rope to break the count. Then, whilst Kash argues with the ref, Aries creeps in and rolls him up for three. All round good stuff, and a really well worked three way.
Rob Van Dam vs Christopher Daniels
This is No DQ, but Daniels cuts a good promo pre-match, making a gentleman’s agreement with “Bob” to make it a straight up wrestling match. Then RVD outwrestles him, which is exactly how the match should work, making the heel look like a fool. Daniels does get to take control, working RVD’s head and neck over, before hitting a Death Valley Driver for two. Daniels gets frustrated as RVD takes control again, and makes to walk out before Van Dam stops him. Daniels takes a nice bump, getting hiptossed onto the ramp, before RVD hits the barricade legdrop from the ramp. This is pretty much the first thing RVD does which mixes up his usual offence, as he’s been pretty much going through the motions to this point. Daniels breaks the gentleman’s agreement, using first Earl Hebner then a steel chair as a weapon, hitting a uranage on the chair for two. He goes to get a screwdriver from under the ring, but stupidly leaves RVD in the ring with a chair, leading to a Van Daminator and a 5 Star Frogsplash for the RVD win. Story was good, ring work was passable.
Crimson vs Matt Morgan
I bet Matt Morgan finds it frustrating that people ask him “if he could beat Crimson everywhere he goes” as Tenay nonsensically claims early on here. They try some of the typical Battle of the Giants spots early on – the duelling shoulderblocks, the test of strength – but nothing gets a reaction until Morgan hits a decent discus clothesline. This match is really plodding. A weak brawling section outside is terrible, and Morgan hits his corner elbow barrage like he’s terrified of cracking some eggs. Crimson did one thing that really impressed me, hitting Morgan with a Cobra Clutch legsweep, which he then rolls through with to wear Morgan out on the mat, but everything else is really poor. He even manages to blow his own finisher. An “epic” strike exchange starts off ok, but they they start throwing pathetically light blows at each other, before pushing the ref away for a wretched double DQ. That they continue brawling afterwards with the same blows that couldn’t burst a bubble is the dogshit icing on a terrible cake.
Scott Steiner & Bully Ray vs Abyss & Mr Anderson
The pre-match promo from Steiner and Ray is terrific, terrific stuff. The heel team is infinitely more fun than the faces, with Bully a magnificent shit-talking heel throughout the match. Seeing how Bully Ray has gotten himself into really good shape (dig his calf flexing on the entrance ramp!) really highlights how average Anderson’s physique is. The match as a whole is pretty average, but what is really entertaining is how into Steiner the fans are, and how much he tries to stop them. Every “We want Steiner” chant is met with either a “Shut up!” or the finger. Seriously, it’s amazing to watch. The heat section on Anderson goes on for age, which is wise to keep Abyss looking strong. Abyss works really well here as a hot tag wrestler, looking like a beast and rampaging through Steiner and Ray. The match end when Steiner gives the fans what they want with a Frankensteiner off the top on Anderson, but walks into a Black Hole Slam for the win. Forgettable tag, but the Steiner chants were hella fun.
Velvet Sky vs Gail Kim
This is for the Knockouts title. Velvet attacks to start, but Gail soon takes over with some vicious kicks. Gail hits an ace diving corner charge and maintains her advantage. Velvet is spirited in her comeback, but her offence looks really low-impact, to the extent you can’t imagine it would put Kim down. Sky hits a sitout Pedigree, but Karen Jarrett distracts the ref to allow Madison Rayne to sneak in and botch her finisher on Velvet for a two count. More Rayne interference allows Gail to hit Eat Defeat to win the title. This was passable.
Jeff Hardy vs Jeff Jarrett
This is more angle than match, but it’s a fun little deal. After months of chastising Hardy and refusing to give him another shot, Hardy beats Jarrett in seconds following a Twist of Fate. Following this, Jarrett finds himself forced to beg Hardy for another shot at him, which Hardy accepts. A slightly longer match follows, which Hardy wins again with a small package off a figure four attempt. Jarrett bludgeons Hardy with a chair after the match and drags him into the ring to demand Earl Hebner counts a pinfall on Hardy, only for Hardy to reverse the pinfall into a crucifix to win his third match of the night.
AJ Styles vs Bobby Roode
AJ comes into the match with a bum ankle, so that this match turns out as good as it does is a miracle. Roode is already bringing the stalling back into his act, which kinda makes sense with his desperation not to lose his world title. Taz and Tenay actually have a good exchange on commentary about how Roode is having to get used to wrestling singles after his lengthy tag run. Styles takes command early on, but Roode manages to take control after using Brian Hebner as a weapon, pushing him into Styles. AJ fires back, and sprints to the top turnbuckle for a suplex in a cool spot (even moreso with his ankle issues), but his attempt at getting the Styles Clash is reversed into a crossface by Roode, which looks really good. The battle for the Clash comes up again a little later in the match, where AJ realises he’s not going to be able to hook Roode into it properly, so instead changes it into a shortlift powerbomb, which is a nice touch of realism. Roode is really developing the heel mannerisms nicely, managing to low-blow both Styles AND Hebner at the same time, before begging off from Styles when he doesn’t manage to maintain control. Roode gets sent outside, but manages to avoid a suicide dive, where AJ lands with a sick thud. Back in, a Roode Fisherman suplex gets two, before Roode manages to reverse a third Clash attempt into a roll-up for the win, whilst grabbing a handful of tights. It sort of lacked something, but the story it told worked really well and AJ, bar the occasional grab of his leg, showed no real ill effects of his injury. The rematch next month should be terrific.
This is for the TV title and is pretty much just played for comedy. Luckily, both characters are so enjoyably goofy that the comedy works, whilst both guys are good enough workers that the match ends up being pretty entertaining. They even manage to make a ridiculous early spot involving EY doing a headstand in the corner look logical. Robbie E takes control following a huge clothesline from Robbie T on the outside (I’d just like to add at this point how much I love the addition of Rob Terry as Robbie’s bouncer. The dynamic is great, Terry is definitely improving as a worker and they’d be my choice as next tag team champs. Plus the new cordon entrance is ace). Robbie being on offence allows us to run the whole gamut of brilliant facial expressions from the challenger, especially the look of demented glee when he thinks he’s going to get the pin on EY. Robbie may go a bit too long with the chinlocks, but they lead to a Young comeback that shows just what a good wrestler he actually is, first reversing a Robbie dive into a nice belly-to-belly suplex, then hitting a fantastic top rope elbow that puts CM Punk’s to shame. EY hits both Robbies with a dive from the top rope to the floor, but gets clotheslined to the leg by Big Robbie as he gets into the ring, leading to a nasty bump and the Robbie E cover for the win. Plenty of fun here.
Mexican America vs Ink Inc & Toxxin
The MA team consists of Hernandez, Anarquia and Sarita, with the rules stating that MA can lose the tag titles if any of them get pinned. You know how there has been news recently that TNA wanted Jesse Neal to go to OVW to develop his skills? This match shows why, because he is outright bad at points here. His strikes barely graze the Mexican boys, and he almost falls over Hernandez at one point. This is in direct contrast to Shannon Moore who works a pretty fun, smooth section with Anarquia, whose bumping and stooging here is terrific. MA have a pretty nice double team move where Hernandex holds up Neal outside the ring to allow Anarquia to dropkick him through the ropes to the floor. Sarita and Toxxin gets their moment in the sun, and both look pretty good out there, enough that you feel a one-on-one match would be worth a 5 minute spot on Impact. Anarquia comes in and even bumps around for Toxxin, who somehow manages to conspire with Neal to blow the moment where they reveal the tattoo they gave Anarquia a month ago. They’ve built this up for weeks, and now the audience STILL have no idea what is supposed to be on his back. Anarquia, bless him, sells it anyway, and Sarita nails Toxxin with a belt shot to win. Really poor match up, and you can lay 80% of that on Neal.
Austin Aries vs Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorenson
Last time I wrote about TNA, I talked about how Sorenson looked promising, but bland and green. Here, I thought he was terrific. He’d still benefit from developing a little character, but his work here was really good, looking believably competitive against two veterans, which is even more impressive considering this is essentially a two-on-one match. Kash especially takes great pleasure in chopping the shit out of him, to the extent that Sorenson is bleeding from the chest by the end. Sorenson makes the most of his hope spots, hitting a nice tope on both men early on, before getting overwhelmed by the numbers. It’s probably redundant to talk about how awesome Aries is, but he really is magnificent. I especially loved him leaving the hard work to Kash in the ring, chiming in with the occasional chop or boot to put Sorenson down again. Unfortunately, Kash keeps forgetting “the plan”, and the arguments give Jesse a chance to take over. He hits Michael McGillicutty’s swinging neckbreaker better than McGillicutty himself and really looks like he could pull off the upset. Kash hits him with the Money Maker, but Aries, sneaking round the ring, puts Jesse’s foot on the rope to break the count. Then, whilst Kash argues with the ref, Aries creeps in and rolls him up for three. All round good stuff, and a really well worked three way.
Rob Van Dam vs Christopher Daniels
This is No DQ, but Daniels cuts a good promo pre-match, making a gentleman’s agreement with “Bob” to make it a straight up wrestling match. Then RVD outwrestles him, which is exactly how the match should work, making the heel look like a fool. Daniels does get to take control, working RVD’s head and neck over, before hitting a Death Valley Driver for two. Daniels gets frustrated as RVD takes control again, and makes to walk out before Van Dam stops him. Daniels takes a nice bump, getting hiptossed onto the ramp, before RVD hits the barricade legdrop from the ramp. This is pretty much the first thing RVD does which mixes up his usual offence, as he’s been pretty much going through the motions to this point. Daniels breaks the gentleman’s agreement, using first Earl Hebner then a steel chair as a weapon, hitting a uranage on the chair for two. He goes to get a screwdriver from under the ring, but stupidly leaves RVD in the ring with a chair, leading to a Van Daminator and a 5 Star Frogsplash for the RVD win. Story was good, ring work was passable.
Crimson vs Matt Morgan
I bet Matt Morgan finds it frustrating that people ask him “if he could beat Crimson everywhere he goes” as Tenay nonsensically claims early on here. They try some of the typical Battle of the Giants spots early on – the duelling shoulderblocks, the test of strength – but nothing gets a reaction until Morgan hits a decent discus clothesline. This match is really plodding. A weak brawling section outside is terrible, and Morgan hits his corner elbow barrage like he’s terrified of cracking some eggs. Crimson did one thing that really impressed me, hitting Morgan with a Cobra Clutch legsweep, which he then rolls through with to wear Morgan out on the mat, but everything else is really poor. He even manages to blow his own finisher. An “epic” strike exchange starts off ok, but they they start throwing pathetically light blows at each other, before pushing the ref away for a wretched double DQ. That they continue brawling afterwards with the same blows that couldn’t burst a bubble is the dogshit icing on a terrible cake.
Scott Steiner & Bully Ray vs Abyss & Mr Anderson
The pre-match promo from Steiner and Ray is terrific, terrific stuff. The heel team is infinitely more fun than the faces, with Bully a magnificent shit-talking heel throughout the match. Seeing how Bully Ray has gotten himself into really good shape (dig his calf flexing on the entrance ramp!) really highlights how average Anderson’s physique is. The match as a whole is pretty average, but what is really entertaining is how into Steiner the fans are, and how much he tries to stop them. Every “We want Steiner” chant is met with either a “Shut up!” or the finger. Seriously, it’s amazing to watch. The heat section on Anderson goes on for age, which is wise to keep Abyss looking strong. Abyss works really well here as a hot tag wrestler, looking like a beast and rampaging through Steiner and Ray. The match end when Steiner gives the fans what they want with a Frankensteiner off the top on Anderson, but walks into a Black Hole Slam for the win. Forgettable tag, but the Steiner chants were hella fun.
Velvet Sky vs Gail Kim
This is for the Knockouts title. Velvet attacks to start, but Gail soon takes over with some vicious kicks. Gail hits an ace diving corner charge and maintains her advantage. Velvet is spirited in her comeback, but her offence looks really low-impact, to the extent you can’t imagine it would put Kim down. Sky hits a sitout Pedigree, but Karen Jarrett distracts the ref to allow Madison Rayne to sneak in and botch her finisher on Velvet for a two count. More Rayne interference allows Gail to hit Eat Defeat to win the title. This was passable.
Jeff Hardy vs Jeff Jarrett
This is more angle than match, but it’s a fun little deal. After months of chastising Hardy and refusing to give him another shot, Hardy beats Jarrett in seconds following a Twist of Fate. Following this, Jarrett finds himself forced to beg Hardy for another shot at him, which Hardy accepts. A slightly longer match follows, which Hardy wins again with a small package off a figure four attempt. Jarrett bludgeons Hardy with a chair after the match and drags him into the ring to demand Earl Hebner counts a pinfall on Hardy, only for Hardy to reverse the pinfall into a crucifix to win his third match of the night.
AJ Styles vs Bobby Roode
AJ comes into the match with a bum ankle, so that this match turns out as good as it does is a miracle. Roode is already bringing the stalling back into his act, which kinda makes sense with his desperation not to lose his world title. Taz and Tenay actually have a good exchange on commentary about how Roode is having to get used to wrestling singles after his lengthy tag run. Styles takes command early on, but Roode manages to take control after using Brian Hebner as a weapon, pushing him into Styles. AJ fires back, and sprints to the top turnbuckle for a suplex in a cool spot (even moreso with his ankle issues), but his attempt at getting the Styles Clash is reversed into a crossface by Roode, which looks really good. The battle for the Clash comes up again a little later in the match, where AJ realises he’s not going to be able to hook Roode into it properly, so instead changes it into a shortlift powerbomb, which is a nice touch of realism. Roode is really developing the heel mannerisms nicely, managing to low-blow both Styles AND Hebner at the same time, before begging off from Styles when he doesn’t manage to maintain control. Roode gets sent outside, but manages to avoid a suicide dive, where AJ lands with a sick thud. Back in, a Roode Fisherman suplex gets two, before Roode manages to reverse a third Clash attempt into a roll-up for the win, whilst grabbing a handful of tights. It sort of lacked something, but the story it told worked really well and AJ, bar the occasional grab of his leg, showed no real ill effects of his injury. The rematch next month should be terrific.
Sunday, 30 October 2011
The Triumph & Tragedy of World Class Championship Wrestling
This is the selection of matches that accompanies my favourite WWE-produced documentary. I'd never really seen an Texas wrestling before buying this last December (barring the Best of Kerry video I reviewed earlier this year, which I'd watched once back in 2001). However, I really found myself loving it, and especially the awesome brawling of the Von Erich boys.
Duke Keomuka vs Ricky Starr
This is from Texas Rasslin’ in the 60’s (at a guess), and is two out of three falls. It’s heavily matbased, and is certainly an acquired taste, but I sorta dug it. Really liked Starr’s escapes from Keomuka’s holds and it’s no surprise to learn he had a popular run in England. He seems like he’d have fitted in perfectly. Keomuka gets the first fall with a Japanese Sleeper, and the commentary, though dry, really does good work at explaining what is happening and why the ref is checking Starr’s arm. Starr gets the second fall after nailing Keomuka with five dropkicks. The third fall sees Starr finally target the bare feet of his opponent. But Keomuka goes back to the matwork, targeting Starr’s left arm. However, he misses a corner charge, allowing Starr to hit two flying mares for the win. Not for everyone, but a fun curiosity.
Fritz Von Erich vs King Kong Bundy
This is Fritz’s retirement match, but is still for Bundy’s American title. Bundy looks far less intimidating with hair, and Fritz is still a huge old fella, so this doesn’t look as one-sided as a champion-vs-retiring-vet match normally would look. The match is more of a fight than a wrestling match and, whilst you’d think that would favour Bundy, they tease the idea early that Fritz can get the claw on Bundy at any time he wants to. Fritz even locks a stomach claw on Bundy when escaping a pinfall. I also dug Fritz stamping on Bundy’s head from the apron after sending the big man outside. Bundy grabs a chair, but Fritz uses it and gets the win in his send-off bout. Good fun.
Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich
This is a steel cage match from Christmas Day for the NWA title. Michael Hayes is the special guest co-referee, with Terry Gordy guarding the door on the outside. Flair typically plays dirty early on, only for Hayes to physically interject himself. Kerry reverses a suplex into a sleeper in a nice little move, before beginning to brutalise Flair, ramming his head into the steel and causing him to bleed. Flair starts to focus on Von Erich’s right knee, which Bill Mercer tells us was injured in a previous match. Kerry fights back, but tries a knee drop like an idiot which misses. Flair locks in the figure four, which Kerry reverses then doesn’t sell. We then come to the beginning of the end, which is an awesome bit of in-match storytelling. Flair jumps off the top straight into a Von Erich Claw, but his foot grazes the bottom rope. Hayes calls for a rope break, but the other referee disagrees. Kerry keeps the claw locked in, and Hayes forcibly pulls him off, sowing the seeds for friction between them. Flair provokes Hayes so much that Hayes waffles him, but Kerry refuses to cover him and win the title unfairly. Hayes goes to leave, and Flair pushes Kerry into Hayes, sending Hayes to the floor. Enraged, Gordy slams the steel door onto Kerry’s head, igniting the Freebirds/Von Erich feud that Texas thrived on. Hayes counts a Flair cover on Kerry, which the other ref rejects because Kerry kicked out at 2. The match goes on without the Freebirds, with Kerry out on his feet. Kerry hits the discus punch to give the crowd one last pop, but he’s done. The ref checks him and calls the bell. Good match, but the angle at the end is fantastic.
Iceman King Parsons, David Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich vs the Fabulous Freebirds
The early doors give proof (as if proof were needed) that Kevin Von Erich is a terrific brawler. It also shows how great the Claw was as a hold, as the Von Erich’s could hit it at any time and the fans would buy it as a finish. Here, all Kevin has to do is threaten it and the Sportatorium pops. The Freebirds soon take control on David and a superbly worked heat section ensues. The crowds love of the Von Erich’s really helps here, but the timing on all the near tags is perfect. In one beautifully shot moment, we see David’s hand just centimetres away from tagging Kevin, only for the Freebirds to prevent it. There is also a great false tag, before David and Buddy clash heads which leads to the actual tag. Unsurprisingly, all Hell soon breaks loose, with all three guys in, and in the madness, Buddy catches Parsons with a cheapshot to the head, which gifts the Freebirds the victory.
The Fabulous Freebirds vs Fritz, Mike & Kevin Von Erich
This is from the first David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions and sees Fritz come out of retirement for this Six Man Title match. The opening brawl is predictably intense, leading to the referee getting on the mic and stating this match will be fought on a 1-on-1 tag basis. This lasts for about a minute before people start getting in the ring again. Mike is correctly booked here as a fiery babyface, who lacks experience and gets caught out by the ‘Birds. That said, the Freebirds soon get a heat section on Kevin, who telegraphs a Claw attempt and gets blocked off by the ‘Birds. Fritz gets the hot tag and takes over on Roberts, which works as he’s the best Freebird for stooging and bumping for the aging Fritz. A melee ensues (shock!) and in the chaos, Kevin nails Buddy with a crossbody for three. Good match.
Iceman King Parsons vs Buddy Roberts
This is hair vs hair, with the Freebirds’ hair removal cream located at ringside. This isn’t a great match, and is pretty short, but there are some fun moments to keep it interesting, mainly Roberts stooging around for Parsons by getting tied up in the ropes, or missing three elbow drops in a row. Roberts gets the pin by rolling Parsons up and pulling so much tight that we need to censor Parsons’ arse. The ref starts to question Roberts, giving Parsons the break to attack and cover Buddy’s hair with the cream. A better angle than match.
Chris Adams & Sunshine vs Jimmy Garvin & Precious
Mixed tag rules apply here. I really liked the storytelling in this match, with Sunshine desperate to get her hands on Precious, whilst Garvin does everything he can to stop that happening. This means Garvin has to try and keep control of Adams to prevent him tagging out, which he does until Adams blasts him with a superkick and makes the tag to Sunshine. Sunshine brings Precious in forcefully and is all over her, until Precious escapes and tags in a still-woozy Garvin. Garvin manages to take control on Adams again, but Adams again tags in Sunshine. This time, however, Garvin stays in the ring and trips her, allowing Precious to take advantage. The girls give no impression that they’re wrestlers here, but do give the impression they really hate each other in their fight. In the confusion, Adams hits a sunset flip on Garvin to win.
The Great Kabuki vs Kamala
A pair of oddities, but a pair who put on an absolute stinker of a match. A Kamala bearhug seems to go on forever, killing off the usually passionate WCCW crowd. Even Bill Mercer can’t think of anything to say. Kabuki escapes, but Kamala applies a neverending nervehold. Their respective managers, Gary Hart and Skandor Akbar, start to fight so the ref calls the match off. Abysmal.
The Fantastics vs the Midnight Express
This is for the vacant tag team titles. Apparently Jim Cornette interfered in a previous match, causing the vacation, so he’s stuck with a huge man called Little John at ringside to prevent him interfering. Also, the match is held in two rings side-by-side, which means the match starts as two 1-on-1 matches. Seems a little wasteful when you’ve got two consummate tag-teams out there. Luckily, all four men soon end up in the same ring, making this more of a tornado tag situation. Eaton takes some nasty looking bumps to the wooden floor early on. He gets payback by attacking both Fantastics with a chair to take control. This is done in plain view of the ref, so obviously there are no disqualifications. Eaton really makes good use of the two rings, drapping Bobby Fulton on the ropes between rings to kick him in the stomach. Eaton whips Tommy Rogers into the ref in the corner and Little John, neglecting his only task in the match, goes to investigate, allowing Cornette to belt Fulton in the head for a Condrey roll up, which gets a three count. Moments later, Rogers rolls up Eaton for his own three count, but the MX pin was counted first. However, discussion between the two refs causes them to DQ the Express (despite the chairshots earlier being absolutely fine), giving the Fantastics the titles. Massively overbooked, but pretty fun in places. I still think a simple tag match would have yielded a better match.
Bruiser Brody & the Missing Link vs One Man Gang & Rick Rude
I was really looking forward to this, but it was largely disappointing. It just never really seemed to settle into a good groove, and the face team in particular never seemed to hit their strides, though i loved the dropkick Brody hit on OMG. Link’s offence in this match consists entirely of headbutts, thrown by grabbing his own hair. After less than 10 minutes of uneven action, Rude throws Link over the top rope and gets disqualified. Lame.
Chris Adams vs Kevin Von Erich
Reviewing the Best of Kerry tape a few months back really made me appreciate how good Kevin was, so I went into this with high hopes. My hopes were met. The early part is nicely worked, with the Claw threatened early, but we soon end up on the floor where the brawling begins. Kevin takes control in this environment and soon Adams gets slammed onto the commentary table, before getting back into the ring, bleeding. Adams grounds Von Erich with a chinlock, blood dripping down his face, and they build up the hope spots for Kevin nicely, before he gets cut off by Adams again. Things soon break down again, and Adams manages to drag the restraining rope from ringside into the ring, but gets beaten by Kevin before he can use it, and instead Kevin uses it to choke Adams, which draws the DQ win for the Gentleman. Really enjoyable stuff.
Abdullah The Butcher vs Bruiser Brody
This is a steel cage match. We’re told they did a worldwide search for a guest referee to control these two, so end up with....Fritz Von Erich, which makes me believe this search wasn’t as extensive as they suggested. This takes a while to get going, as Abby’s offence is a little dull, but things soon heat up with Brody in control, with Bruiser repeatedly kicking Abby in the head. Some of the offense looks surprisingly tame, but we do get a nice, heated slugfest with both guys on their knees. The Butcher manages to get a fork from Gary Hart at ringside, but Fritz spots him using it to stab Bruiser and floors Abby with some punches, allowing Brody to get the pin. Quite fun, though the ending certainly gives the impression that Fritz is the toughest man in the match, as he gifts Brody the win simply by punching Abdullah out. The post match brawl between Fritz and Abby/Hart is pretty cool.
Duke Keomuka vs Ricky Starr
This is from Texas Rasslin’ in the 60’s (at a guess), and is two out of three falls. It’s heavily matbased, and is certainly an acquired taste, but I sorta dug it. Really liked Starr’s escapes from Keomuka’s holds and it’s no surprise to learn he had a popular run in England. He seems like he’d have fitted in perfectly. Keomuka gets the first fall with a Japanese Sleeper, and the commentary, though dry, really does good work at explaining what is happening and why the ref is checking Starr’s arm. Starr gets the second fall after nailing Keomuka with five dropkicks. The third fall sees Starr finally target the bare feet of his opponent. But Keomuka goes back to the matwork, targeting Starr’s left arm. However, he misses a corner charge, allowing Starr to hit two flying mares for the win. Not for everyone, but a fun curiosity.
Fritz Von Erich vs King Kong Bundy
This is Fritz’s retirement match, but is still for Bundy’s American title. Bundy looks far less intimidating with hair, and Fritz is still a huge old fella, so this doesn’t look as one-sided as a champion-vs-retiring-vet match normally would look. The match is more of a fight than a wrestling match and, whilst you’d think that would favour Bundy, they tease the idea early that Fritz can get the claw on Bundy at any time he wants to. Fritz even locks a stomach claw on Bundy when escaping a pinfall. I also dug Fritz stamping on Bundy’s head from the apron after sending the big man outside. Bundy grabs a chair, but Fritz uses it and gets the win in his send-off bout. Good fun.
Ric Flair vs Kerry Von Erich
This is a steel cage match from Christmas Day for the NWA title. Michael Hayes is the special guest co-referee, with Terry Gordy guarding the door on the outside. Flair typically plays dirty early on, only for Hayes to physically interject himself. Kerry reverses a suplex into a sleeper in a nice little move, before beginning to brutalise Flair, ramming his head into the steel and causing him to bleed. Flair starts to focus on Von Erich’s right knee, which Bill Mercer tells us was injured in a previous match. Kerry fights back, but tries a knee drop like an idiot which misses. Flair locks in the figure four, which Kerry reverses then doesn’t sell. We then come to the beginning of the end, which is an awesome bit of in-match storytelling. Flair jumps off the top straight into a Von Erich Claw, but his foot grazes the bottom rope. Hayes calls for a rope break, but the other referee disagrees. Kerry keeps the claw locked in, and Hayes forcibly pulls him off, sowing the seeds for friction between them. Flair provokes Hayes so much that Hayes waffles him, but Kerry refuses to cover him and win the title unfairly. Hayes goes to leave, and Flair pushes Kerry into Hayes, sending Hayes to the floor. Enraged, Gordy slams the steel door onto Kerry’s head, igniting the Freebirds/Von Erich feud that Texas thrived on. Hayes counts a Flair cover on Kerry, which the other ref rejects because Kerry kicked out at 2. The match goes on without the Freebirds, with Kerry out on his feet. Kerry hits the discus punch to give the crowd one last pop, but he’s done. The ref checks him and calls the bell. Good match, but the angle at the end is fantastic.
Iceman King Parsons, David Von Erich & Kevin Von Erich vs the Fabulous Freebirds
The early doors give proof (as if proof were needed) that Kevin Von Erich is a terrific brawler. It also shows how great the Claw was as a hold, as the Von Erich’s could hit it at any time and the fans would buy it as a finish. Here, all Kevin has to do is threaten it and the Sportatorium pops. The Freebirds soon take control on David and a superbly worked heat section ensues. The crowds love of the Von Erich’s really helps here, but the timing on all the near tags is perfect. In one beautifully shot moment, we see David’s hand just centimetres away from tagging Kevin, only for the Freebirds to prevent it. There is also a great false tag, before David and Buddy clash heads which leads to the actual tag. Unsurprisingly, all Hell soon breaks loose, with all three guys in, and in the madness, Buddy catches Parsons with a cheapshot to the head, which gifts the Freebirds the victory.
The Fabulous Freebirds vs Fritz, Mike & Kevin Von Erich
This is from the first David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions and sees Fritz come out of retirement for this Six Man Title match. The opening brawl is predictably intense, leading to the referee getting on the mic and stating this match will be fought on a 1-on-1 tag basis. This lasts for about a minute before people start getting in the ring again. Mike is correctly booked here as a fiery babyface, who lacks experience and gets caught out by the ‘Birds. That said, the Freebirds soon get a heat section on Kevin, who telegraphs a Claw attempt and gets blocked off by the ‘Birds. Fritz gets the hot tag and takes over on Roberts, which works as he’s the best Freebird for stooging and bumping for the aging Fritz. A melee ensues (shock!) and in the chaos, Kevin nails Buddy with a crossbody for three. Good match.
Iceman King Parsons vs Buddy Roberts
This is hair vs hair, with the Freebirds’ hair removal cream located at ringside. This isn’t a great match, and is pretty short, but there are some fun moments to keep it interesting, mainly Roberts stooging around for Parsons by getting tied up in the ropes, or missing three elbow drops in a row. Roberts gets the pin by rolling Parsons up and pulling so much tight that we need to censor Parsons’ arse. The ref starts to question Roberts, giving Parsons the break to attack and cover Buddy’s hair with the cream. A better angle than match.
Chris Adams & Sunshine vs Jimmy Garvin & Precious
Mixed tag rules apply here. I really liked the storytelling in this match, with Sunshine desperate to get her hands on Precious, whilst Garvin does everything he can to stop that happening. This means Garvin has to try and keep control of Adams to prevent him tagging out, which he does until Adams blasts him with a superkick and makes the tag to Sunshine. Sunshine brings Precious in forcefully and is all over her, until Precious escapes and tags in a still-woozy Garvin. Garvin manages to take control on Adams again, but Adams again tags in Sunshine. This time, however, Garvin stays in the ring and trips her, allowing Precious to take advantage. The girls give no impression that they’re wrestlers here, but do give the impression they really hate each other in their fight. In the confusion, Adams hits a sunset flip on Garvin to win.
The Great Kabuki vs Kamala
A pair of oddities, but a pair who put on an absolute stinker of a match. A Kamala bearhug seems to go on forever, killing off the usually passionate WCCW crowd. Even Bill Mercer can’t think of anything to say. Kabuki escapes, but Kamala applies a neverending nervehold. Their respective managers, Gary Hart and Skandor Akbar, start to fight so the ref calls the match off. Abysmal.
The Fantastics vs the Midnight Express
This is for the vacant tag team titles. Apparently Jim Cornette interfered in a previous match, causing the vacation, so he’s stuck with a huge man called Little John at ringside to prevent him interfering. Also, the match is held in two rings side-by-side, which means the match starts as two 1-on-1 matches. Seems a little wasteful when you’ve got two consummate tag-teams out there. Luckily, all four men soon end up in the same ring, making this more of a tornado tag situation. Eaton takes some nasty looking bumps to the wooden floor early on. He gets payback by attacking both Fantastics with a chair to take control. This is done in plain view of the ref, so obviously there are no disqualifications. Eaton really makes good use of the two rings, drapping Bobby Fulton on the ropes between rings to kick him in the stomach. Eaton whips Tommy Rogers into the ref in the corner and Little John, neglecting his only task in the match, goes to investigate, allowing Cornette to belt Fulton in the head for a Condrey roll up, which gets a three count. Moments later, Rogers rolls up Eaton for his own three count, but the MX pin was counted first. However, discussion between the two refs causes them to DQ the Express (despite the chairshots earlier being absolutely fine), giving the Fantastics the titles. Massively overbooked, but pretty fun in places. I still think a simple tag match would have yielded a better match.
Bruiser Brody & the Missing Link vs One Man Gang & Rick Rude
I was really looking forward to this, but it was largely disappointing. It just never really seemed to settle into a good groove, and the face team in particular never seemed to hit their strides, though i loved the dropkick Brody hit on OMG. Link’s offence in this match consists entirely of headbutts, thrown by grabbing his own hair. After less than 10 minutes of uneven action, Rude throws Link over the top rope and gets disqualified. Lame.
Chris Adams vs Kevin Von Erich
Reviewing the Best of Kerry tape a few months back really made me appreciate how good Kevin was, so I went into this with high hopes. My hopes were met. The early part is nicely worked, with the Claw threatened early, but we soon end up on the floor where the brawling begins. Kevin takes control in this environment and soon Adams gets slammed onto the commentary table, before getting back into the ring, bleeding. Adams grounds Von Erich with a chinlock, blood dripping down his face, and they build up the hope spots for Kevin nicely, before he gets cut off by Adams again. Things soon break down again, and Adams manages to drag the restraining rope from ringside into the ring, but gets beaten by Kevin before he can use it, and instead Kevin uses it to choke Adams, which draws the DQ win for the Gentleman. Really enjoyable stuff.
Abdullah The Butcher vs Bruiser Brody
This is a steel cage match. We’re told they did a worldwide search for a guest referee to control these two, so end up with....Fritz Von Erich, which makes me believe this search wasn’t as extensive as they suggested. This takes a while to get going, as Abby’s offence is a little dull, but things soon heat up with Brody in control, with Bruiser repeatedly kicking Abby in the head. Some of the offense looks surprisingly tame, but we do get a nice, heated slugfest with both guys on their knees. The Butcher manages to get a fork from Gary Hart at ringside, but Fritz spots him using it to stab Bruiser and floors Abby with some punches, allowing Brody to get the pin. Quite fun, though the ending certainly gives the impression that Fritz is the toughest man in the match, as he gifts Brody the win simply by punching Abdullah out. The post match brawl between Fritz and Abby/Hart is pretty cool.
Sunday, 23 October 2011
TNA No Surrender 2011
TNA PPV's are broadcast for free in the UK on Challenge TV. Sadly, with this one, Challenge appear to have dropped a bollock, as instead of the Sting/Angle/Anderson main, we get profiles on the UK Gladiators from 2009 (though Oblivion/Magnus cuts a great heel promo ;-D). We also miss most of the Aries/Kendrick title match, but the rest of the show aired in full. Here it is...
Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen
Kid Kash is terrific as a heel. He has this natural bad attitude and nasty aura that an audience can sense, which makes him perfect for this role, facing a young, slightly bland, babyface underdog. You get the impression this would go down far better in the early 90’s (and in front of a less shitty crowd, the Impact Zone really sucks) where the fans would be less cynical towards such a white meat face (though I really like Sorensen’s “signed football” gimmick, it’s a nice thing for the kids in the crowd). As it is, Kash really makes the match by being such a horrible cock, goading Sorensen into a test-of-strength only to kick him in the stomach, then hitting him with some nasty stiff kicks. They mess up a little in the middle, but don’t let it affect the rest of the match, which ends with Sorensen upsetting Kash with a reverse suplex slam for the win. Sorensen is still green (and I think will need a heel turn at some point to give him some life) but this was perfectly decent for an opener.
Bully Ray vs James Storm
This is a Bound For Glory series match, with the storyline being that Storm needs to win by submission to get the necessary points to top the leaderboard. Firstly though, Bully Ray takes Kid Kash’s heeling and cranks it up times 100. He stalls, leaves the ring, rips up a fans sign, stalls some more, yells at the ref, stalls, leaves the ring, stalls, then finally cheapshots Storm to get the advantage. Beautiful. Storm does a fine job of battling back from this, and focuses on the arm of Bully Ray, locking in a cross armbreaker before Ray makes the ropes. It’s a hold he keeps going back to, with the result being that the fans clearly think he might win by the 3rd or 4th attempt. Storm also keeps working the arm in-between armbreakers. Ray takes advantage again after spitting beer into Storm’s eyes, but yells that he’s going to pin Storm following “the Bubba Bomb, bitch”, only for Storm to lock in another cross armbreaker for another near tap. The finish is shitty, but also works for the story they wanted to tell: Storm tries to return the favour by spitting beer in Ray’s face, but catches the ref instead. Storm locks in an armbreaker on Ray, who taps and the bell goes, only for Storm to get DQ’d instead. Good match.
Winter vs Mickie James
Knockouts title match here. I really dig the Winter character, and the former Nikita plays it to the hilt, really convincing in a “cruel aristocrat” kinda way. She takes a nasty bump into the steps early doors, but is soon on offence, working over Mickie’s back in a way that suggests she’s torturing her opponent. Mickie not only looks awesome in her Wonder Woman outfit, but it’s clear to see she’s regained some of the fire she lost towards the end of her WWE run. She even hits a nice looking Thesz press off the apron to the floor in a pretty nutty bump. The match itself isn’t a classic, but good enough for modern US woman’s standards. I thought the ending was pretty good, as even though Winter hit Angelina Love with her poison blood, it didn’t mean she turned around like an idiot into a Mick Kick, instead turning round and spitting into Mickie’s face instead to pick up the win.
Mexican America vs The Pope & Devon
I may be alone in this belief, but Mexican America are starting to click for me. Hernandez and Anarquia are developing a nice bit of chemistry and Anarquia is pretty fun at stooging for babyface offence. There was a really nice bit here where Hernandez elevated Anarquia into the corner to hit a big splash on Devon, then knelt down to allow an interfering Sarita to use him as a platform to hit a dropkick on the former Reverend. As a match, it was a perfectly acceptable formula tag team match, and Devon’s huge spear out of the corner was terrific. I probably wont remember it in a months time, but it was perfectly fun, the Mexican’s winning with the Rude/Warrior finish from Wrestlemania V as Pope tries to suplex Anarquia into the ring.
Samoa Joe vs Matt Morgan
On paper, Matt Morgan should be far better than he is. He’s remarkably athletic for a big man, he’s good on the mic and comes across as a genuinely nice guy. He’s got good movement, seems to have a good idea of what he’s doing in the ring, yet somehow it just doesn’t feel right. I think it’s partly that you never get the impression any of his offence hurts, which is essential for a huge fella. Joe may have regressed massively since his 2005 peak, but he was still pretty good here at heeling it up, sneering at Morgan and flipping off the crowd, whilst still rushing from the ring to avoid the Carbon Footprint, putting it over as death. Joe’s suicide dive is still impressive, but there is a weird botch midway through where it looks like Joe is hitting a running hug on Morgan. I loved Joe hooking Morgan’s arm while he had to Kokina Clutch locked in, which prevented Morgan grabbling the rope, but didn’t love the way the ending made Joe look like an idiot, arguing with the ref to allow Morgan to recoup in the corner and nail the match winning Carbon Footprint.
Gunner vs Bobby Roode
I really think Gunner gets nowhere near enough love. He’s slowly been improving week after week to the point where I think he’s a really solid worker now. This match was really good. Roode worked over Gunner’s left arm early to soften him up for the Fujiwara armbar, but they got Gunner back on offence early enough to stop there being any chance of fan sympathy towards Gunner, as Roode gets driven down with a DDT. Gunner’s selling whilst on offence is absolutely top drawer, wincing in pain on every landing. There was even a point where he had Roode in a headscissors and shifted his body position so he wouldn’t be leaning on his left arm, which is awesome. I also loved the strike exchange where Roode answered Gunner’s punches by punching him on the bad arm. Roode picks up the win with a crossface, having failed to get the win with the armbar. Really cleverly worked match.
Austin Aries vs Brian Kendrick
Sadly, Challenge TV take over here, as we return from the adverts at the end of the match. We do get to see an awesome tiger suplex by Kendrick, and Aries winning the title with a brainbuster. I did love Aries getting the ref to hoist him on his shoulders in celebration post-match.
Bully Ray vs Bobby Roode
This is my main event on the show. Ray again heels it up superbly, stalling by leaving the ring JUST as Roode is going to make contact with him. Right at the start Ray tries to psyche Roode out with two large slaps to the chest, only for Roode to dig down deep and no-sell them, which Taz puts over nicely on commentary. They actually return to the chops during the match, which each time have the result of firing Roode up again, showing that Ray can’t break his spirit. Ray is such an unlikable prick that it gets both himself AND Roode over, an early crossface getting a big pop for Roode. Ray gets two following a Bubba Bomb, but misses a senton and Roode hits a snap spinebuster for the win in a good (for us in the UK) main event.
Kid Kash vs Jesse Sorensen
Kid Kash is terrific as a heel. He has this natural bad attitude and nasty aura that an audience can sense, which makes him perfect for this role, facing a young, slightly bland, babyface underdog. You get the impression this would go down far better in the early 90’s (and in front of a less shitty crowd, the Impact Zone really sucks) where the fans would be less cynical towards such a white meat face (though I really like Sorensen’s “signed football” gimmick, it’s a nice thing for the kids in the crowd). As it is, Kash really makes the match by being such a horrible cock, goading Sorensen into a test-of-strength only to kick him in the stomach, then hitting him with some nasty stiff kicks. They mess up a little in the middle, but don’t let it affect the rest of the match, which ends with Sorensen upsetting Kash with a reverse suplex slam for the win. Sorensen is still green (and I think will need a heel turn at some point to give him some life) but this was perfectly decent for an opener.
Bully Ray vs James Storm
This is a Bound For Glory series match, with the storyline being that Storm needs to win by submission to get the necessary points to top the leaderboard. Firstly though, Bully Ray takes Kid Kash’s heeling and cranks it up times 100. He stalls, leaves the ring, rips up a fans sign, stalls some more, yells at the ref, stalls, leaves the ring, stalls, then finally cheapshots Storm to get the advantage. Beautiful. Storm does a fine job of battling back from this, and focuses on the arm of Bully Ray, locking in a cross armbreaker before Ray makes the ropes. It’s a hold he keeps going back to, with the result being that the fans clearly think he might win by the 3rd or 4th attempt. Storm also keeps working the arm in-between armbreakers. Ray takes advantage again after spitting beer into Storm’s eyes, but yells that he’s going to pin Storm following “the Bubba Bomb, bitch”, only for Storm to lock in another cross armbreaker for another near tap. The finish is shitty, but also works for the story they wanted to tell: Storm tries to return the favour by spitting beer in Ray’s face, but catches the ref instead. Storm locks in an armbreaker on Ray, who taps and the bell goes, only for Storm to get DQ’d instead. Good match.
Winter vs Mickie James
Knockouts title match here. I really dig the Winter character, and the former Nikita plays it to the hilt, really convincing in a “cruel aristocrat” kinda way. She takes a nasty bump into the steps early doors, but is soon on offence, working over Mickie’s back in a way that suggests she’s torturing her opponent. Mickie not only looks awesome in her Wonder Woman outfit, but it’s clear to see she’s regained some of the fire she lost towards the end of her WWE run. She even hits a nice looking Thesz press off the apron to the floor in a pretty nutty bump. The match itself isn’t a classic, but good enough for modern US woman’s standards. I thought the ending was pretty good, as even though Winter hit Angelina Love with her poison blood, it didn’t mean she turned around like an idiot into a Mick Kick, instead turning round and spitting into Mickie’s face instead to pick up the win.
Mexican America vs The Pope & Devon
I may be alone in this belief, but Mexican America are starting to click for me. Hernandez and Anarquia are developing a nice bit of chemistry and Anarquia is pretty fun at stooging for babyface offence. There was a really nice bit here where Hernandez elevated Anarquia into the corner to hit a big splash on Devon, then knelt down to allow an interfering Sarita to use him as a platform to hit a dropkick on the former Reverend. As a match, it was a perfectly acceptable formula tag team match, and Devon’s huge spear out of the corner was terrific. I probably wont remember it in a months time, but it was perfectly fun, the Mexican’s winning with the Rude/Warrior finish from Wrestlemania V as Pope tries to suplex Anarquia into the ring.
Samoa Joe vs Matt Morgan
On paper, Matt Morgan should be far better than he is. He’s remarkably athletic for a big man, he’s good on the mic and comes across as a genuinely nice guy. He’s got good movement, seems to have a good idea of what he’s doing in the ring, yet somehow it just doesn’t feel right. I think it’s partly that you never get the impression any of his offence hurts, which is essential for a huge fella. Joe may have regressed massively since his 2005 peak, but he was still pretty good here at heeling it up, sneering at Morgan and flipping off the crowd, whilst still rushing from the ring to avoid the Carbon Footprint, putting it over as death. Joe’s suicide dive is still impressive, but there is a weird botch midway through where it looks like Joe is hitting a running hug on Morgan. I loved Joe hooking Morgan’s arm while he had to Kokina Clutch locked in, which prevented Morgan grabbling the rope, but didn’t love the way the ending made Joe look like an idiot, arguing with the ref to allow Morgan to recoup in the corner and nail the match winning Carbon Footprint.
Gunner vs Bobby Roode
I really think Gunner gets nowhere near enough love. He’s slowly been improving week after week to the point where I think he’s a really solid worker now. This match was really good. Roode worked over Gunner’s left arm early to soften him up for the Fujiwara armbar, but they got Gunner back on offence early enough to stop there being any chance of fan sympathy towards Gunner, as Roode gets driven down with a DDT. Gunner’s selling whilst on offence is absolutely top drawer, wincing in pain on every landing. There was even a point where he had Roode in a headscissors and shifted his body position so he wouldn’t be leaning on his left arm, which is awesome. I also loved the strike exchange where Roode answered Gunner’s punches by punching him on the bad arm. Roode picks up the win with a crossface, having failed to get the win with the armbar. Really cleverly worked match.
Austin Aries vs Brian Kendrick
Sadly, Challenge TV take over here, as we return from the adverts at the end of the match. We do get to see an awesome tiger suplex by Kendrick, and Aries winning the title with a brainbuster. I did love Aries getting the ref to hoist him on his shoulders in celebration post-match.
Bully Ray vs Bobby Roode
This is my main event on the show. Ray again heels it up superbly, stalling by leaving the ring JUST as Roode is going to make contact with him. Right at the start Ray tries to psyche Roode out with two large slaps to the chest, only for Roode to dig down deep and no-sell them, which Taz puts over nicely on commentary. They actually return to the chops during the match, which each time have the result of firing Roode up again, showing that Ray can’t break his spirit. Ray is such an unlikable prick that it gets both himself AND Roode over, an early crossface getting a big pop for Roode. Ray gets two following a Bubba Bomb, but misses a senton and Roode hits a snap spinebuster for the win in a good (for us in the UK) main event.
Saturday, 8 October 2011
IWA Japan King Of The Deathmatch 1995
Tiger Jeet Singh vs Mr Gannosuke
Odd to see how thin Gannosuke was before he bulked up in later years. This is also the most entertaining thing about this match, which is otherwise appalling. This is supposed to be a chain match, but Singh assaults Gannosuke with his sword before the match and embarks upon one of those dull brawls where Singh walks Gannosuke around and throws him into things and hitting him with the occasional chair. This drags on for minutes before Singh decides to choke Gannosuke with the chain. He lets go, then chokes Gannosuke on a barbed wire board for the submission win. Gannosuke’s post-match vomit is the only entertaining thing here.
Terry Funk vs Leatherface
I quite like the fact we get a pre-match promo from Leatherface, the psychotic killer from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre…being very polite and respectful towards Funk. It’s another chain match and the match is far better than the opener, but the way it’s laid out makes no sense. Within a minute of the bell ringing, Leatherface has hit a moonsault on Funk. 30 seconds later, he throws Funk from the ring onto a barbed wire board and, boom, the big spot of the match is gone. This is something to build towards, and it’s done in less than 90 seconds. That said, the rest of the match is still more enjoyable than the Jeet Singh debacle. There are some odd moments (Leatherface attacks Funk with a chainsaw, drawing no blood), but there is still fun to be had. Leatherface takes a nasty bump onto a table as Funk prevents a top rope splash by simply pulling him to the floor by the chain and both men climbing a chainlink fence to fight at the top is odd, but enjoyable. Back inside, Funk wraps his left hand with the chain and punches Leatherface out for the 3 count.
Cactus Jack vs Terry Gordy
The first match thus far that actually tries to build around the gimmick, in this case a big tray full of tacks in the middle of the ring. We actually get Gordy teasing putting Jack in the tacks, first with a hiptoss from the corner that narrowly misses, then with a bulldog attempt that Jack blocks. Jack blocks several more attempts to throw him in the tacks, but isn’t able to avoid getting thrown from the top rope to the floor in a nasty bump. Outside the ring, Gordy piledrives Jack through a table, then inside finally gets Jack onto the tacks, first stamping his face into the tray, then throwing him down with a nasty looking powerbomb. A 2nd on the mat gets a two. Jack rebounds by throwing a handful of tacks into Gordy’s face and hitting the double-arm DDT onto the tacks for the win.
Shoji Nakamaki vs Hiroshi Ono
Essentially, both are pretty ordinary looking guys in t-shirt and jeans. They seem a bit less ordinary moments later when they both no-sell being hit with a barbed wire bat. Nakamaki whacks Ono headfirst on a table and then proceeds to walk him around the stadium for a bit until they reach another ring. Ono rebounds with a few wrestling moves, nailing a side Russian legsweep and a shit uranage. A top rope clothesline gets two. Nakamaki ducks a clothesline and nails a big one of his own. He then casually walks Ono to another ring, before the two fight over the tray of tacks. Nakamaki tries a bulldog, but Ono blocks and hits to belly-to-back suplexes onto the tacks, leaving a circle of tacks sticking out of Nakamaki’s head. Ono tries a third, but Nakamaki lands on top of him then powerbombs him onto the tacks for a two. What we would now call a Skull Crushing Finale onto the tacks earns Nakamaki the win. Oddly entertaining.
Takashi Okano vs. Flying Kid Ichihara
This is for Ichihara’s WWA Light Heavyweight title. It’s also pretty heavily clipped, as I think the full match goes 13 minutes, whilst it barely goes 3 here. Not that I’m complaining, as this is pretty pedestrian. Not bad, just a touch bland, though Ichihara looks pretty smooth, hitting a nice moonsault press and dropping Okano on his head with a belly-to-back suplex. Okano doesn’t get much offence, making it even more surprising when he rolls through a rana for the win.
The Iceman vs. Kamikaze
You know when you see a local indy show, and a chubby guy is wearing a mask in an attempt to convince you he’s a highflier? Well that’s Iceman here, whose paunch is noticeable through his bodysuit, In fact, with his long hair sticking out, he looks like John Zandig filming a remake of the video for “I Found Out” by the Pigeon Detectives. He’s not very good either, whiffing an armdrag over the top early doors and hitting a clumsy pescado. This is another clipped match, but we get to see some decent offence from Kamikaze, who hits a nice tope. Iceman misses an appalling looking knee drop from the top, but bumbles his way into a reverse pin to win.
Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Round two of the tournament, and guess who does the most bumping? This makes the first Jeet Singh match look like Savage/Steamboat in comparison. The entire first 5 or so minutes consists of Singh hitting Funk with his sword outside the ring, pausing for 5 seconds, then doing it again. They finally get back into the ring, only for Singh to knock Funk off the apron into...something, as the crack camera team entirely miss the bump. Another angle eventually shows Funk lying in a tray of glass, getting hit by Singh. Finally, Funk hits a head butt for his first bit of offence and goes for the spinning toehold, only to meet Cactus Jack interference. Jack goes to hit Funk with Singh’s sword, only for Funk to duck, causing Singh to take the blow and get pinned for 3. Utter shite.
Cactus Jack vs. Shoji Nakamaki
This is the other end of the bumping scale. In his first book, Foley points out that Nakamaki was known as the “Danger Man” since, although he couldn’t wrestle, he was willing to take a lot of abuse. The result is that we get two guys trying to out bump each other. It’s close, but I’d say Nakamaki takes the worst of it, taking the nastiest bump when Jack covers his prone body with a bed of nails, then hits an elbow from the ring apron to drive the nails into the Danger Man. Jack does a similar move elsewhere in the match, hanging Nakamaki on the second rope and placing a bed of barbed wire onto his opponent, before crashing into him with a flying knee. Jack takes a fair bit of abuse too and, whilst the match is frequently sloppy (Nakamaki can’t bump very well, so sandbags Jack on occasion), it is at least enjoyable. Jack wins with the double-arm DDT onto the barbed wire.
The Headhunters vs. El Texano & Silver King
King and Texano are defending the IWA tag titles here. The Mexican team fare pretty badly early doors, getting overpowered by the huge Headhunters. The Headhunters are pretty fun to watch as big, fat highfliers, crushing El Texano with a big splash/leg drop combo. Texano and King try to use their speed to take over, both hitting topes on one Hunter, only for the other to follow with the biggest tope of them all. There is a section of control by Texano and King, but this is really all about the size and power of the Headhunters, who pick up the win and the titles with a top rope power bomb.
Dan Severn vs. Tarzan Goto
This is for Severn’s NWA title. The main theme running through this match is that both guys have a preferred environment to fight in and, if they get their opponent there, they’ll win. Hence Goto slaps Severn and goes to the outside, trying to lure Severn to brawl outside, only for Severn to sit on the ring ropes and gesture for Goto to get in the ring for a beating. Goto actually does a decent job at getting Severn onto the mat, but Severn soon reverses and takes control. They roll outside, where Goto smashes a bottle to get a weapon, which Severn blocks with a chair. They continue to brawl, decimating rows of chairs, and Goto gets the upper hand, hurling chair after chair onto a prone Severn. Goto heads back into the ring and we get the awesome site of Severn emerging from a pile of chairs, eyes full of fury and hate, ready to fuck Goto up. Goto does manages to subdue him in the ring by using a chair, but Severn takes control and locks in a rear naked choke for the tapout win. Good match.
Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk
The tournament final is a Barbed Wire Rope, Exploding Barbed Wire Boards & Exploding Ring Time Bomb Death Match, which essentially means the ring will blow up in ten minutes. Being the best two workers in the tournament, this is pretty darn good. I especially loved the way that Funk dragged a board into the middle of the ring at the start, essentially daring Jack to come at him. They also wisely build to the board explosions, with Funk teetering over a board for ages before finally getting knocked onto it for a big pop. I also like the way that, even though the explosives on a board have been used up, they both know that whacking their opponent with a board of barbed wire looks fucking painful, with Jack covering Funk with a board and dropping an elbow being particularly painful-looking. Tiger Jeet Singh makes an unwelcome return to save Jack from a spinning toehold. Jack hits the double-arm DDT for two and hits another as the ring announcer starts a ten second countdown for the explosion. Funk is left in the ring and....some fireworks go off at the edge of the ring, to a muted response from the crowd. Funk looks rightly baffled and so him and Jack go to war for the next 3 minutes, as Cactus brings in a ladder and nails an elbow off it for two. Funk manages to topple the ladder as Jack climbs for a second time, him directly onto the barbed wire ropes. This is Funk’s last bit of energy gone though, and Jack crawls over to him for a slightly anticlimactic three count.
Odd to see how thin Gannosuke was before he bulked up in later years. This is also the most entertaining thing about this match, which is otherwise appalling. This is supposed to be a chain match, but Singh assaults Gannosuke with his sword before the match and embarks upon one of those dull brawls where Singh walks Gannosuke around and throws him into things and hitting him with the occasional chair. This drags on for minutes before Singh decides to choke Gannosuke with the chain. He lets go, then chokes Gannosuke on a barbed wire board for the submission win. Gannosuke’s post-match vomit is the only entertaining thing here.
Terry Funk vs Leatherface
I quite like the fact we get a pre-match promo from Leatherface, the psychotic killer from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre…being very polite and respectful towards Funk. It’s another chain match and the match is far better than the opener, but the way it’s laid out makes no sense. Within a minute of the bell ringing, Leatherface has hit a moonsault on Funk. 30 seconds later, he throws Funk from the ring onto a barbed wire board and, boom, the big spot of the match is gone. This is something to build towards, and it’s done in less than 90 seconds. That said, the rest of the match is still more enjoyable than the Jeet Singh debacle. There are some odd moments (Leatherface attacks Funk with a chainsaw, drawing no blood), but there is still fun to be had. Leatherface takes a nasty bump onto a table as Funk prevents a top rope splash by simply pulling him to the floor by the chain and both men climbing a chainlink fence to fight at the top is odd, but enjoyable. Back inside, Funk wraps his left hand with the chain and punches Leatherface out for the 3 count.
Cactus Jack vs Terry Gordy
The first match thus far that actually tries to build around the gimmick, in this case a big tray full of tacks in the middle of the ring. We actually get Gordy teasing putting Jack in the tacks, first with a hiptoss from the corner that narrowly misses, then with a bulldog attempt that Jack blocks. Jack blocks several more attempts to throw him in the tacks, but isn’t able to avoid getting thrown from the top rope to the floor in a nasty bump. Outside the ring, Gordy piledrives Jack through a table, then inside finally gets Jack onto the tacks, first stamping his face into the tray, then throwing him down with a nasty looking powerbomb. A 2nd on the mat gets a two. Jack rebounds by throwing a handful of tacks into Gordy’s face and hitting the double-arm DDT onto the tacks for the win.
Shoji Nakamaki vs Hiroshi Ono
Essentially, both are pretty ordinary looking guys in t-shirt and jeans. They seem a bit less ordinary moments later when they both no-sell being hit with a barbed wire bat. Nakamaki whacks Ono headfirst on a table and then proceeds to walk him around the stadium for a bit until they reach another ring. Ono rebounds with a few wrestling moves, nailing a side Russian legsweep and a shit uranage. A top rope clothesline gets two. Nakamaki ducks a clothesline and nails a big one of his own. He then casually walks Ono to another ring, before the two fight over the tray of tacks. Nakamaki tries a bulldog, but Ono blocks and hits to belly-to-back suplexes onto the tacks, leaving a circle of tacks sticking out of Nakamaki’s head. Ono tries a third, but Nakamaki lands on top of him then powerbombs him onto the tacks for a two. What we would now call a Skull Crushing Finale onto the tacks earns Nakamaki the win. Oddly entertaining.
Takashi Okano vs. Flying Kid Ichihara
This is for Ichihara’s WWA Light Heavyweight title. It’s also pretty heavily clipped, as I think the full match goes 13 minutes, whilst it barely goes 3 here. Not that I’m complaining, as this is pretty pedestrian. Not bad, just a touch bland, though Ichihara looks pretty smooth, hitting a nice moonsault press and dropping Okano on his head with a belly-to-back suplex. Okano doesn’t get much offence, making it even more surprising when he rolls through a rana for the win.
The Iceman vs. Kamikaze
You know when you see a local indy show, and a chubby guy is wearing a mask in an attempt to convince you he’s a highflier? Well that’s Iceman here, whose paunch is noticeable through his bodysuit, In fact, with his long hair sticking out, he looks like John Zandig filming a remake of the video for “I Found Out” by the Pigeon Detectives. He’s not very good either, whiffing an armdrag over the top early doors and hitting a clumsy pescado. This is another clipped match, but we get to see some decent offence from Kamikaze, who hits a nice tope. Iceman misses an appalling looking knee drop from the top, but bumbles his way into a reverse pin to win.
Terry Funk vs. Tiger Jeet Singh
Round two of the tournament, and guess who does the most bumping? This makes the first Jeet Singh match look like Savage/Steamboat in comparison. The entire first 5 or so minutes consists of Singh hitting Funk with his sword outside the ring, pausing for 5 seconds, then doing it again. They finally get back into the ring, only for Singh to knock Funk off the apron into...something, as the crack camera team entirely miss the bump. Another angle eventually shows Funk lying in a tray of glass, getting hit by Singh. Finally, Funk hits a head butt for his first bit of offence and goes for the spinning toehold, only to meet Cactus Jack interference. Jack goes to hit Funk with Singh’s sword, only for Funk to duck, causing Singh to take the blow and get pinned for 3. Utter shite.
Cactus Jack vs. Shoji Nakamaki
This is the other end of the bumping scale. In his first book, Foley points out that Nakamaki was known as the “Danger Man” since, although he couldn’t wrestle, he was willing to take a lot of abuse. The result is that we get two guys trying to out bump each other. It’s close, but I’d say Nakamaki takes the worst of it, taking the nastiest bump when Jack covers his prone body with a bed of nails, then hits an elbow from the ring apron to drive the nails into the Danger Man. Jack does a similar move elsewhere in the match, hanging Nakamaki on the second rope and placing a bed of barbed wire onto his opponent, before crashing into him with a flying knee. Jack takes a fair bit of abuse too and, whilst the match is frequently sloppy (Nakamaki can’t bump very well, so sandbags Jack on occasion), it is at least enjoyable. Jack wins with the double-arm DDT onto the barbed wire.
The Headhunters vs. El Texano & Silver King
King and Texano are defending the IWA tag titles here. The Mexican team fare pretty badly early doors, getting overpowered by the huge Headhunters. The Headhunters are pretty fun to watch as big, fat highfliers, crushing El Texano with a big splash/leg drop combo. Texano and King try to use their speed to take over, both hitting topes on one Hunter, only for the other to follow with the biggest tope of them all. There is a section of control by Texano and King, but this is really all about the size and power of the Headhunters, who pick up the win and the titles with a top rope power bomb.
Dan Severn vs. Tarzan Goto
This is for Severn’s NWA title. The main theme running through this match is that both guys have a preferred environment to fight in and, if they get their opponent there, they’ll win. Hence Goto slaps Severn and goes to the outside, trying to lure Severn to brawl outside, only for Severn to sit on the ring ropes and gesture for Goto to get in the ring for a beating. Goto actually does a decent job at getting Severn onto the mat, but Severn soon reverses and takes control. They roll outside, where Goto smashes a bottle to get a weapon, which Severn blocks with a chair. They continue to brawl, decimating rows of chairs, and Goto gets the upper hand, hurling chair after chair onto a prone Severn. Goto heads back into the ring and we get the awesome site of Severn emerging from a pile of chairs, eyes full of fury and hate, ready to fuck Goto up. Goto does manages to subdue him in the ring by using a chair, but Severn takes control and locks in a rear naked choke for the tapout win. Good match.
Cactus Jack vs. Terry Funk
The tournament final is a Barbed Wire Rope, Exploding Barbed Wire Boards & Exploding Ring Time Bomb Death Match, which essentially means the ring will blow up in ten minutes. Being the best two workers in the tournament, this is pretty darn good. I especially loved the way that Funk dragged a board into the middle of the ring at the start, essentially daring Jack to come at him. They also wisely build to the board explosions, with Funk teetering over a board for ages before finally getting knocked onto it for a big pop. I also like the way that, even though the explosives on a board have been used up, they both know that whacking their opponent with a board of barbed wire looks fucking painful, with Jack covering Funk with a board and dropping an elbow being particularly painful-looking. Tiger Jeet Singh makes an unwelcome return to save Jack from a spinning toehold. Jack hits the double-arm DDT for two and hits another as the ring announcer starts a ten second countdown for the explosion. Funk is left in the ring and....some fireworks go off at the edge of the ring, to a muted response from the crowd. Funk looks rightly baffled and so him and Jack go to war for the next 3 minutes, as Cactus brings in a ladder and nails an elbow off it for two. Funk manages to topple the ladder as Jack climbs for a second time, him directly onto the barbed wire ropes. This is Funk’s last bit of energy gone though, and Jack crawls over to him for a slightly anticlimactic three count.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)