666 17/01/2010

Man, talk about a low budget indy show. The 666 promotion runs out of Japan, and based on this show, draws crowds in the low hundreds. The crew appears to consist of an English ring announcer in a big bowtie and the wrestlers on the card. When it isn't their match, the wrestlers either commentate or referee. This is a one-night tournament for the title title...one belt which appears to have the face of Thomas the Tank Engine on it. Let's get to it...

Yuko Miyamoto & K666 vs Yamada Man Pound & Tochiki

Fairly enjoyable tag-team action. YMP and Tochiki are dressed like scruffy hardcore types, and back this up by sandwiching Miyamoto in between two road signs as he runs the ropes. They follow this by both hitting rolling sentons through the signs in the corner on K666. Miyamoto seems to be easily the best member of his team, hitting some crisp knees to Tochiki, which contrasts heavily to the slightly milky looking kicks of his partner. Miyamoto also gets the best spot of the match, hanging from a pipe on the ceiling to get into position to hit a footstomp on Tochiki. A rolling cradle follows, picking up the win.

Onryo & Konaka Pale One vs The 101 & Shinobu

The 101 has an odd gimmick, which seems to involve him revelling in slicking his hair back like he’s in a Timotei advert. Even his partner mocks him for this ridiculous act. Onryo was one of the first guys I liked when I started watching puro, and it’s nice to see the zombie still gives off dust when hit. Konaka does some early comedy wrestling, performing with his legs crossed, sat on the floor, including hitting a suplex on Shinobu from this position. This sets the tone for the match, with a slightly awkward mix of action and comedy. Konaka takes most of the punishment, before Onryo comes in on the hot tag with a tigerbomb for two. The 101 hits an impressive corkscrew moonsault from the bottom rope into the ring, but miscommunication means Shinobu hits him with a clothesline shortly afterwards, and Konaka hits Shinobu with a double knee strike for the win. Passable.

 Kazumi Shimouma vs Hiraku Shida

This is an Ice Ribbon match. Shida gets some basic offence to start, but Shimouma seems stronger and is more vicious, so soon takes control. Both girls go for a fair few submissions and noticeably fight for the holds. On one hand, this adds to the realism, however it also begins to look sloppy and awkward after a while with holds barely applied. Shida gets a nearfall from a Fisherman’s suplex, but Shimouma gets a shitty looking top rope stunner and follows with a World’s Strongest Slam for the win. Not good.

Yuko Miyamoto & K666 vs Onryo & Konaka Pale One

This match starts slowly, taking it’s time getting out of first gear. It also starts with too much K666 offense, showcasing the fact he isn’t actually very good. Onryo and Konaka work over his left arm, though this seems to be for the sake of working a heat segment, as it’s forgotten about once the hot-tag is made to Miyamoto. The pace picks up when he comes in, the ghoulish team hitting a nice tigerbomb/springboard elbow combo for two. Onryo and K666 manage to blow both a rana and another tigerbomb in quick succession, with both looking equally at fault, before K666 gets Konaka with a flash backslide for the win and the title...

Seemingly though, and I can’t speak Japanese to translate, they decide to have a four-way elimination match with the title on the line. It also seems to be a ladder match, as the title hangs from the ceiling and there are some tiny ladders in the ring

Yuko Miyamoto & K666 vs Onryo & Konaka Pale One vs Yamada Man Pound & Tochiki vs The 101 & Shinobu

Straight away, Onryo and Konaka get dumped over the top rope to be eliminated. Pretty convenient, as Konaka is back in the ring 20 seconds later to referee. The match soon breaks down, with 101 and Shinobu picked off and beaten by the other two teams, one per team. YMP and Tochiki work Shinobu over with chair on the outside; meanwhile Miyamoto messes up the 101's lovely hair by soaking it with water. The cad. The tiny ladders ensure no-one even tries to get the belt. Soon, the teams gang up on K666 and Miyamoto, hitting them with suplexes and dogpiling them for the pin. You’ll notice this leaves the two losing teams from the semi-finals battling for the belt. Suddenly, and I swear I’m not making this up, the ring announcer enters to the sound of “YMCA” and beats all the wrestlers up. Another lad dressed up in an American-themed costume climbs on his shoulders and takes the title from the ceiling, only for the ring announcer to hit a sitout driver on him and take the title. Absolutely baffling and I can’t tell if it’s amazing or terrible. Certainly entertaining.

ECW December To Dismember 2006

So, for just £3 second-hand, I got the pay-per view that killed the ECW PPV dream for good. Is it as bad as people claim?

The Hardy Boys vs MNM

Well, at least they went for a hot opener. Both teams are reforming for “one night only” here, though they’d open the Rumble the following month. The match sees the Hardys dominate at first, until some Melina interference gives MNM an opening. They work over Matt with a nice series of double teams, and even get Melina to give him a headscissors on the apron. Matt goes for the hot tag after reversing a double suplex into a double neckbreaker, but MNM attack Jeff on the apron to prevent the tag. I loved the way that the heels cockily imitate the Hardys by hitting Poetry In Motion and attempting the Twist of Fate/Swanton combo. However, this backfires when Matt blocks the TOF and gets the hot tag to Jeff. We get treated to a nice dive sequence, the highlight of which is Nitro hurling himself with reckless abandon over the top rope. The Hardys got for the TOF/Swanton combo, but Nitro pulls Mercury out of harms way, and Jeff is soon the face-in-peril. MNM use some strong plays from the heel handbook, using blind tags and assaults on Matt to keep their control over Jeff. Melina even responds viciously to “crackwhore” chants by punting Jeff in the ribs. Jeff makes the hot tag and all Hell breaks loose. Even Melina takes one for the team, getting accidentally dropkicked off the apron by Nitro. MNM hit the Snapshot for two,

Matt Striker vs Balls Mahoney

Striker promises to make this an Extreme Rules match...”an Extreme enforcement of the rules”. Brilliant. Striker has a picture of his face on the seat of his trunks and we’re treated to way too many close-ups of this. Balls locks Striker in a cross-armbreaker early to show he can go on the mat with him, so Striker resorts to a cheap shot, before Balls hits the ringpost on a shoulder-charge. Striker does a pretty good job working over the arm with some fun offence, including a pretty swank roll-through into a Fujiwara armbar. Honestly, this is a pretty decent match, with Balls doing a good selling job and Striker perfectly fine as a smarmy heel. Balls hits some powermoves using only his good arm, before hitting a sitout spinebuster for 3. Enjoyed this a lot.

Elijah Burke & Sylvester Terkay vs the FBI

This is pretty much a squash match, though the FBI do get to briefly look good. The main aim is to get Terkay over as a monster, which he does by manhandling the FBI, throwing Guido over the top rope onto Mamaluke. The FBI try to use their speed advantage, downing Terkay by dropkicking his legs, but Burke hits the Stroke on Mamaluke for an easy win.

Daivari vs Tommy Dreamer

Like the most disappointing Heat main event ever. Daivari bumps about for Dreamer early doors, especially when taking a throw to the barricades. Khali interferes to help, but gets caught by the ref and thrown out. Daivari cranks up the crowd with a lengthy chinlock, then a second when Dreamer breaks free. Dreamer fights back again, but Daivari blocks the DDT and rolls him up for 3. Not a PPV encounter.

 

Mike Knox & Kelly Kelly vs Kevin Thorn & Ariel

This actually starts off pretty well, with Knox and Thorn just wailing on each other. The crowd is dead, despite both men nailing awesome clotheslines. Knox makes a mistake by chinlocking Thorn however, as this kills the crowd even more. At least with the lengthy Daivari chinlocks you could argue that it encouraged fans to cheer for Dreamer. This is a heel v heel encounter. The girls get tagged in and somehow this gets even worse, as Kelly is at her dirt worst here. Ariel dominates, but Kelly fires back and goes for the hot-tag, only for Knox to leave her to her fate. Ariel uses some choke-STO to win. Pretty horrible.

 

The Big Show vs Test vs CM Punk vs Hardcore Holly vs Rob Van Dam vs Bobby Lashley

This is an extreme elimination chamber match for the ECW title. The “extreme” comes from the fact that there are weapons inside the pods. I should highlight here how big Test was at this point. The man looks like a fucking tank. I should also highlight this match is terrible. There are so many factors stopping it from being good. I’m not even talking about the decision to replace the advertised Sabu (who incidentally is still on the DVD case) with Hardcore Holly, as I would rather watch Holly at this time. It’s just horribly booked with massive logic gaps. For instance, the heel trio of Show, Test and Holly are quite clearly in cahoots. They applaud each other when they enter the ring and all three are henchmen of Paul Heyman. Logically, therefore, you’d assume the faces would also try and collaborate. You’d be wrong. When Punk is released from his pod to join RVD and Holly, he goes pretty much directly after Van Dam. Even when Test gets in and starts choking RVD with a crowbar, Punk and RVD seem to get paired off. This eventually leads to RVD hitting the Five Star on Punk to eliminate him. This leaves him with Test and Holly. Luckily for RVD, Test turns on Holly and boots him in the head to eliminate him (and they manage to blow this pinfall, with the ref only counting two, but Holly still leaving anyway). But there is no way RVD could have predicted that, he was instead happily leaving himself open to a 2-on-1 situation.

The next problem is that the match is clearly booked to get Lashley over. However, the fans simply don’t want that. So when Test pins RVD following an awesome elbow from the top of a pod onto RVD’s chair-coated face, the fans are left with three men (Test, Show, Lashley) they don’t really like. Even more stupid, Test pins RVD with time to spare before Lashley is released, leaving 30 seconds of deadtime. This gets even longer as Heyman’s masked goons try to stop Lashley getting in (and I’ve no idea how long they were intending on leaving him in his pod for). Then, after Lashley pins Test following a spear, he’s left alone for 1.15 until Show is let loose. This non-action isn’t winning the fans over, as they start chanting for a refund. Even the weapons can’t save this match, as no-one really thinks Big Show will get to wallop Lashley with a barbed-wire baseball bat, rendering it pointless. Some of the action is decent (That top of pod Test elbow, the entire Punk section which re-energised the match), but by the time Lashley wins the ECW title by spearing Show, the crowd is pissed off, bored and ready to go. To be honest, by that point so was I. Dreadful main event.

Southside Wrestling Menace II Society II live report

Robbie X vs Nathan Cruz

Robbie really impressed at the Speed King show, so I was looking forward to seeing him again. Solid opener, as Robbie is a great high-flyer, nailing a running SSP and a great-looking Code Red on Cruz. Cruz was pretty good himself, and they packed a lot into this match. So much so, that I can’t remember all of it, but I do recall Cruz caught Robbie coming off the ropes with a sitout driver for the win.

The Predators (Joseph Conners & Paul Malen) vs Project Ego (Kris Travis & Martin Kirby)

Despite what sounds like a heel name, Project Ego were very much the faces here. Kirby and Travis were really good at the Speed King show, and they worked well as a dynamic team here. The Predators were a good foil for them, as they didn’t attempt anything too flashy, but worked over Kirby (the face-in-peril for a large part of the match) with some nice double teams and really built up heat on him. What was really good here is that both teams have worked the UK as units for a while, so they both worked as cohesive teams. Despite two really good matches later in the night, I think this was a sleeper contender for match of the night.

Stixx vs Max Angelus

Interesting storyline here. Stixx is the head trainer and owner of the local House of Pain Wrestling promotion, and Angelus is one of his trainees. The story goes that Stixx thinks Max has gone too soft and has been rejecting Stixx’s interference in matches. There is a stip here that, if Stixx wins he’ll own Angelus’ contract. Angelus is also the reigning SWE Money In The Bank suitcase holder. Fun little match here, as Stixx bumped well for his trainee, which is more impressive considering Stixx is a mountain of a man. His offence was good too, including a nice reversal of a stomachbreaker into a half crab attempt. Angelus, I’ve said before, could really be a big star in UK wrestling, he’s got the right mix of skills, looks and presence in the ring. The ending was some great pro-wrestling as Max hit Stixx with a piledriver, only for Stixx to stop moving. The ref called officials from the back to check on him whilst Max looked on with concern. Just as they were about to carry Stixx from the ring, he popped up and took Max to the floor, locking in a half-crab for the tapout win, and also backing up his theory about Max going soft. So now Stixx controls the contract of the MITB winner. An intriguing situation and a good match to boot.

T-Bone vs SC Supreme

Supreme is a guy I saw wrestling for HOP in April and he was one of the better performers that night. He’s got that Jim Neidhart-esque physique that isn’t chiselled, but makes him look like a tank. T-Bone, I saw wrestling in the same arena last June, and he’s a really charismatic performer. These two just beat the crap out of each other. We got a few comedy spots (Supreme dedicating a chop to a woman at ringside before missing T-Bone and chopping the post; T-Bone then grabbing the injured hand at getting audience members to hit it), but for the main part this was just two big tanks pummelling each other, and it was great. At one point, Supreme hit an awesome overhead suplex on T-Bone, sending him all the way across the ring. The Predators came out to cause the distraction when it looked like T-Bone was going to win, but they had little effect as T-Bone hit a top rope splash to pick up the win. Good match

The post-match angle was even better though: following the match, Stixx came out to join the Predators and Supreme, guys who he’d trained, as they beat the shit out of T-Bone, crushing his mid-section with Stixx’s chain. Project Ego and Robbie X tried to make the save, but were beaten down every time they tried to get in the ring. Eventually, with the help of a returning Max Angelus, the faces cleared the ring and helped T-Bone to the back. Angelus brought T-Bone back to the ring for some more applause, only to hit him in the back with a chair before looking conflicted. Hot angle to head into the break.

 Marty Scurll vs MK McKinnan

Marty was defending the Speed King title he won last Nottingham show against the debuting McKinnan. It was a face vs face match, with the crowd pretty split between the two. Scurll is a really great wrestler, and can flip between funny man and brutal very easily. It’s all in the way he cheekily says “Hello” before kicking you in the head. This was a lot of fun as they seemed to gel really well with some nice chain wrestling. McKinnan made people take note pretty early with a great tope through the ropes. He also spiked Marty with a reserve rana, but ultimately Scurll’s striking got the better of him. Scurll picked up the win with the torture rack back-breaker. I could have watched another ten minutes of this happily.

Mad Man Manson vs “Textbook” Dave Breaks

This was a comedy match in-between two of the big matches on the card. Good match placement by SWE. Manson is a lot of fun and Breaks played the role of stooge really well. At one point, he even brought out an actual textbook to work out some tactics against the Mad Man. Not that it worked, as Manson pulled Breaks trunks down on a sunset flip attempt, leaving Breaks to wrestle half the match with his arse hanging out. In the end, Breaks got into a row with the ref, who pushed him over a crouched Manson, leading to a Manson roll-up for the win.

Ego Dragon vs El Ligero

This was fought under street fight rules and, after some of the chaos we’d seen at that point, it had a Hell of a job to compete. It did so, and more besides, being arguably match of the night. The two guys really brought the hate, brawling all around ringside, hurling each other through chairs and each realistically doing their best to win. Dragon hurled Ligero through 3 or 4 rows of chairs on the outside to draw a big SWE chant. At one point, it looked like Ligero had it in the bag, having stacked a load of chairs on Dragon in the corner, before diving onto them himself. However, Dragon had a plan in mind and, having taken the advantage, started dismantling the ring. With Ligero down, Dragon choked him out using the top rope, with the referee checking the arms of Ligero three times before calling for the bell. An insane main event, and a great show from start to finish.

XPW Fallout

For all the negative views of XPW (and it was often poor), they did have some good moments. Shows like this one, where they'd imported some decent talent, actually had some worthwhile matches. So, even though the Shane Douglas era pretty much killed off the company, at least we got some good matches out of it. At times...

Pogo the Clown vs the Sandman
Oh God, this match is terrible. Pogo is essentially a big fat lad in a clown costume who seems to be pretty much useless, aside from one nice bump right at the start. Sandman basically tries to carry this with some nutty bumping, but Pogo’s offence is really shitty, with a weak facebuster and a horrible top rope splash. They really go all out to put Pogo over here: at one point Sandman’s wife runs in, only to get caught from the top rope and splashed. Pogo then barely sells Sandman’s rage-filled cane shots and powerbombs him onto some safety railings in the ring for 3. The sad thing is, this is clearly using the big star to put over the local talent, which makes sense, but Pogo is so poor that the fans simply don’t buy it.

Juventud Guerrera vs Julio Deniro

Juvi cuts a rambling promo pre-match, which is amusingly subtitled. They blow something early doors, but recover quickly and work a decent match. Julio looks a bit shaky on the more complicated stuff he tries, but his basics seem pretty good, which means that Juvi is able to carry him well enough. Deniro does hit a pretty good top rope reverse suplex, and I really appreciated him going for frequent pins in an attempt to beat his more illustrious opponent. However, Juvi is too much for him, though it takes a Juvi Driver on a chair for Guerrera to pick up the win.

Mexico’s Most Wanted vs Dead Prez

The Dead Prez team aren’t announced, instead being nameless debutants who enter through the crowd. As far as I’m aware they were Boogalou (of early RoH fame) and Low Ryder, whilst MMW are Damien 666 and Halloween. This is a pretty fun tag match, as both teams are use some fun double teams, and both work a high energy pace. I liked the move where MMW grabbed Boogalou by the arms and legs and rammed him into the ringpost from outside. After a back and forth match, MMW retain the tag titles with the Montezuma’s Revenge, a giant swing into a standing dropkick. Really good fun.

Chris Chetti vs Chris Hamrick

This actually starts off pretty well, despite Chetti selling a phantom armdrag. The fans seem to dislike the face Chetti, until Hamrick takes a ludicrous bump to the floor and Chetti follows him out with a corkscrew moonsault from the top rope. Chetti seems to be trying really hard here, which is good to see. However, there is a minute where everything goes to Hell and never really recovers. In this case, they manage to botch a clothesline-in-the-corner spot twice. From there, things go a bit sloppy, until the end sees Chetti kick out of a top rope legdrop and hit a top rope Amityville Horror for the win.

Psychosis vs Super Crazy

It probably won’t be a huge surprise to learn this is the best match of the night. Crazy is massively over here. You can get an impression of the pace they work here by the fact that Psychosis takes a nuts guardrail in the first 10 seconds. Very high tempo stuff, but everything is cleanly hit and looks good. Crazy hits a sweet looking asai moonsault into the crowd at one point, getting insane air. They run through a nice series of counters and reversals, until Psychosis hits a diamond dust from the corner and nails the top rope legdrop for 3. After, Crazy goes nuts with a spike and starts attacking Psychosis. Great match.

Malice vs Vic Grimes

Before the match, we get a worked-shoot promo from Malice complaining about his XPW gimmick and saying he’s representing TNA. It’s a decent big man match, though Grimes is noticeably running out of breath after the opening minutes. But they throw each other about impressively enough, with Malice hitting a good top rope butterfly suplex on Grimes. Grimes is pretty agile for a big lad, walking the ropes and hitting a nice pair of top rope splashes. Most impressive of all is the finish, which sees Grimes hit a top rope cannonball to the floor through a table (as well as through Malice) which picks up the win. Grimes cuts an anti-TNA promo, but seeing as how XPW is seen as even more of a joke than TNA...hindsight.

Supreme vs Altar Boy Luke

This is for the Deathmatch title held by Supreme. The Altar Boy is better known as Luke Hawx of WSX fame. Supreme actually outwrestles Luke to start, but bumps for a whiffed dropkick and lands in a tray of lightbulbs outside the ring. Supreme pretty much no sells that, which makes sense given his “Human Horror Film” gimmick. We get an odd looking legsweep into barbed wire, where they both seems to take equal impact. I like the fact Luke hits 3 or 4 moves in a row designed to drop Supreme into the barbed wire over and over again. Supreme slams Luke into the wire, and he reacts less well than Supreme had been. Supreme drags Luke to the crow’s nest, but Angel (the “Hardcore Homo”) interferes and helps throw Supreme off the edge. After Angel setting it up, Luke hits a 450 splash through tables and tacks to pick up the shock win. More enjoyable than I expected, with a few fun highspots and Supreme actually holding his end of the bargain up well. Not amazing, but fun.

Kaos vs Danny Doring

The opening stages of this match are shockingly good. Like, really enjoyable pro-wrestling, especially when Kaos threatens to leave and Doring dives off the top rope onto Kaos and his entourage. I also loved how Kaos decided to wrestle with the XPW TV title still on. However, things so a bit wrong after Doring gets blindsided following interference from valet Veronica Caine. First, Kaos botches a few moves, including a sloppy looking cutter. Then Kaos and manager GQ Money hit a rolling thunder/450 splash combo in front of the ref, despite having relied upon ref distractions earlier in the match. Worst of all is a nonsensical sequence, where Doring (the face) gets outwrestled by Caine (the heel valet), which is such an unspeakably stupid bit of booking. Things pick up again shortly after Money takes a sickening bump over the top onto the guardrail. Kaos hits a Ganso Bomb for two, before a fun sequence of reversals leads to Doring hitting a reverse stunner to win. Of course, a Dusty Finish is used to stop Doring getting the TV title, with Money revealing the contract signed was non-title. The good just about outweighed the bad.
 

Shane Douglas vs Chris Candido

You know a match is going to be bad when the ref counts two following a post-match attack, before he’s actually called for the opening bell. There is some very lacklustre brawling to start, though I did enjoy how, following a table being set up in the ring, Douglas and Candido built anticipation to the table spot by gesturing to it and threatening to use it. Eventually, Candido misses a top rope legdrop which sends him through it. We get a sequence where each man uses offence designed purely to hurt the opponent’s balls. Like, 3 moves a piece. The valets (Tammy Sytch for Candido and Lizzy Borden for Douglas) fight in the ring, and Shane gives Tammy the belly-to-belly suplex. Candido hits a top rope headbutt, but Borden puts Douglas’ leg on the rope. Douglas fires back with two Pittsburgh Plunges (the second onto a chair) to retain the title. Boring brawling, not recommended at all       

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Best of Mikey Whipwreck

Digging through some old tapes, I found this Mikey compilation I bought about 10 years ago. For the most part, it's his best known matches from ECW, rather than his best matches, but there are a few gems here...

Mikey Whipwreck vs the Pitbull
An ECW TV title match, with Gary Wolfe defending against the highly mismatched Mikey. The Pitbull basically destroys Mikey, sending him crashing to the mat with a standing enzuigiri. Mikey flies over the top rope from a clothesline before getting catapulted over a safety rail. Back in, Whipwreck takes a belly to belly and a powerbomb before the Tazmaniac turns up on the apron to distract Pitbull. Taz takes a kick to the head, but avoids a second one, causing the Pitbull to crotch himself. Mikey rolls on top of the Pitbull and, even though Wolfe raises his shoulder on two, gets the win and the TV title. Basic squash, but a fun angle at the end.

Mikey Whipwreck & Cactus Jack vs the Public Enemy
Terry Funk missed his flight, so Cactus picks a reluctant Mikey to be his partner. Whipwreck tags out right away, and runs off to the back. This leaves Jack on his own to get beaten up, but Whipwreck actually comes back with a small piece of plywood which he uses to clear the ring. Mikey’s first bit of offence is being used by Cactus as a weapon, getting whipped into Rock, before being used as a battering ram to send the Public Enemy to the floor. Mikey actually dominates Grunge in the ring, but is soon getting pummelled again following a DDT onto a steel chair. Whipwreck is face in peril and takes a trademark battering, including a huge powerbomb by Rock and a piledriver from Grunge, but Whipwreck manages to keep kicking out. Mikey is unconscious, so Jack brawls with TPE in the crowd whilst Mikey starts to recover. Back in the ring, Rock moonsaults Jack through a table before going back to Mikey. TPE go for the Drive By, but Jack manages to crotch Rock on the top rope allowing Mikey to cover for the three. Another match that is focused on the angle, but the action was plenty of fun.

Mikey Whipwreck vs the Sandman
This is for the ECW title, and Steve Austin joins us before the match to cut a blistering promo to essentially declare himself the next ECW champ. The big problem with this match is that neither guy really sells much, despite the fact they keep hammering each other with ladders. Indeed, Mikey takes a real beating here, including a Fameasser onto the ladder, but still keeps on getting up. At one point, Sandman props a ladder up on the railings and barrels out with a tope to seesaw the ladder into Mikey’s face, which should have killed Mikey off for good. Instead, Sandman misses a slingshot elbow and Mikey hits a top rope splash onto the Sandman, and a ladder, for the title. Too spotty to be any real good.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Rey Mysterio Jr
Sadly, this is all clipped, making it more of a highlight reel. We do get to see an insane Mysterio tope before it cuts to Mikey winning with La Majistral.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Steve Austin
This was scheduled to be the Sandman taking on Mikey, but Austin beat up Sandman en route to the ring and took his place. Austin is clearly dominant here and, unlike the Sandman match, this provides the match with some structure. Some fans chant “Hogan”, so Austin hits a big boot and legdrop for two in a fun spot. Mikey takes some huge bumps, including a monster over the top rope to the floor. The Stungun gets two for Austin before Mikey wins with a sunset flip. Decent enough.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Taz
This is from Raw in 97, and is a total Taz squash. Mid-match, Sabu dives from the Raw sign onto Taz’s entourage, so Taz responds by throwing Whipwreck over the top rope onto Sabu. Tazmission earns an easy win, but this is a fun curio.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Kidman
Mikey’s WCW debut, and it’s a PPV title match. It was all downhill from here. That said, I liked this more than any previous match on the tape. Mikey plays heel here and, being bigger than Kidman, bullies the smaller guy, which provides a nice change of pace. Mikey’s different attitude allows him to show some nasty looking offense, including wheelbarrowing Kidman face first onto a safety rail. Mikey even gets to reverse a headscissors attempt and powerbomb Kidman! Kidman does get to pop the crowd with a few high spots, including a nice crossbody to the floor, but Whipwreck pops up on a SSP attempt, sending Kidman crashing to the outside. Whipwreck continues to dominate, with a swank top rope clothesline and a monstrous top rope belly to back suplex both getting two counts, before Kidman reverses a powerbomb and hits the SSP for the win. Kidman gave loads to Mikey here, and let the scruffy looking guy most of the fans didn’t know look like a killer. Mikey wasn’t as flash as the other WCW cruiserweights of the time, but his offence looked like it really hurt and he could’ve had a great run as a cruiserweight dick bully. Sadly, he’d be jobbing to Scotty Riggs by the next PPV.

Mikey Whipwreck vs 2 Cold Scorpio
Or 2 GOLD Scorpio as he’s referred to here, putting both the TV title and the tag titles on the line. This starts pretty evenly, but once 2 Cold takes control he starts to decimate Mikey. After getting one or two hope spots, including a flying headscissors and a pescado, Whipwreck misses a crossbody and the Scorpio onslaught is on. Scorpio blitzes Mikey, hitting a tombstone, a moonsault, a powerbomb and a moonsault legdrop, but picking Mikey up on two to be a dick. The ref gets bumped following some brief Mikey offence, but Scorpio is soon well in control with a superkick and another powerbomb. However, his cockiness comes back to haunt him as Cactus Jack takes advantage of the ref bump and knocks 2 Cold off the top rope before hitting the double-arm DDT to allow Mikey to grab the gold. More angle than good match, though cocky Scorpio was a lot of fun to watch.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Sabu
Sabu is wearing a neckbrace. Wonder how much this will affect him. In the early stages, he actually acts like it is, grounding Mikey and positioning his body to stop him reaching the ropes. This is sadly the one time he acts like his neck hurts, as his next move is to hit a top rope rana on Mikey. From this point on, Sabu says “fuck it” and forgets that he’s got a neck injury, using a chair to dive on Whipwreck on the outside. To his credit, Mikey doesn’t forget Sabu has a neck injury, hitting him with a DDT, an enzuigiri and then ripping the neckbrace off before elbow dropping Sabu through a table on the outside. Mikey goes for a countout win, but Sabu doesn’t even hint at building tension, getting in on a 4 count. Sabu gives up all pretence of selling, hitting Mikey with continued highspots, before hitting him with a DDT through a table on the floor. Back in, this gets the win. Mikey tried, but Sabu was awful here.

Mikey Whipwreck & Tajiri vs Simon Diamond & Johnny Swinger vs Tommy Dreamer & Jerry Lynn
This is a triple threat elimination match. I liked the opening section which saw Lynn and Tajiri in a blistering sequence whilst Simon just knelt on the mat open mouthed. It soon breaks down into a brawl and the camera man follows Tajiri and Dreamer through the crowd. Being handheld, this becomes impossible to follow. After what feels like forever, the action returns to the ring, where all four faces dropkick chairs into Simon and Swinger’s faces. Dreamer hits Mikey with the DDT, but CW Anderson pulls him out of the ring. This distraction allows Simon and Swinger to eliminate Dreamer with the Problem Solver. They then try a Doomsday Device on Tajiri, but he spits green mist in Diamonds face, leaving him prone on the top rope for a Whippersnapper, which gets the win. Too messy to be any fun.

Mikey Whipwreck & Tajiri vs the FBI
This is essentially a squash for the vast majority of the match. That said, a Guido/Tajiri sequence at the start of the match is terrific. The chemistry between Whipwreck and Tajiri is incredible here, as the decimate Guido and Mamaluke with double teams. I also dug the use of a table here, using it to slide chairs to the outside of the ring into Big Sal to stop him interfering. Whipwreck hits a vile looking one-man conchairto on Guido busting him open. The FBI get granted a small heat section until Mikey reverses a Mamaluke flying headscissors into a stungun to make the hot tag to Tajiri. Tajiri is so fucking good, everything he does is here is gold. Mikey hits a Whippersnapper through a table on the outside (which makes no sense as he goes through the table first), but inside Guido takes advantage of Big Sal distracting Tajiri to hit a Tomikaze onto a chair for the win. Plenty of fun.

Mikey Whipwreck vs Little Guido
This is from Border City Wrestling, and is billed as Mikey’s last match, which would last two years. They play a lot of this for comedy, with Guido stooging for Mikey’s offence, including getting hit with comedy weapons like a plastic sword and a straw doll. Guido sells a custard pie to the face as death. The match is pretty enjoyable given the context, though Mikey is noticeably not as smooth as Guido in the ring. Mikey mists the ref by accident, meaning a Guido Tomikaze doesn’t get counted. A second effort gets a 3 count, but the ref then spots Whipwreck’s foot under the rope. A top rope Whippersnapper through a table (still makes no sense) gets the win for Mikey.

TNA Against All Odds 2012

Man, it's been ages since I've written anything for this blog. Luckily, a few months of upheaval are now over, with the upshot being that I'm going to have more time to watch/write about pro-wrestling. Onto this show, which I started watching about 2 months ago and have only just got round to writing about...

Jesse Sorensen vs Zema Ion
Obviously, this match went short due to the unfortunate injury to Sorensen. I’ve been very vocal in my support of Jesse on this blog, his improvement has been noticeable on a month by month basis. Even in the 5 minutes here, he hits a great Northern Light suplex with real snap. Hopefully he’ll be able to return one day.

Robbie E vs Shannon Moore
Moore is in this match as a result of answering the first Robbie E Invitational. This is filler, but it’s enjoyable filler as Robbie E is one of the most entertaining guys on the roster right now. Robbie makes to leave early following some Moore offence, but Shannon brings him back into the ring. Moore takes a nasty looking bump into the railings to give Robbie the advantage. Jeremy Borash does some nice work on commentary to put over the importance of this match, talking about how he travels with Robbie E, and that he takes the TV title with him everywhere. The Fist Pump drop gets two. I love how excited E gets every time he goes for the pin. Moore hits an asai moonsault on the outside, which is interesting considering the Sorensen interview in the previous match. Moore follows this with a nice top rope rana for two, but Robbie T gets involved, punching Moore in the head as he heads towards the ropes, leading the a Robbie E leaping DDT for 3.

Gail Kim vs Tara
Knockouts title match. Madison Rayne comes to the ring with Gail, and it’s a novel touch that her being at ringside works against Kim, as the champ spends too much time distracted by Madison which allows Tara to attack at the bell. Oddly, Tara is REALLY over in the Impact Zone. Kim starts to target Tara’s knee with a Brock Lock, a move more people should really do considering the massive brace on her knee. She follows this with an Octopus Stretch, which is broken when Tara gets the ropes. Tara gets back in command with a decent powerslam. She hits a top rope moonsault, but hurts her bad knee in the process, so can only get two. Tara goes for the Widow’s Peak, but Gail reverses to a knee-breaker and gets Eat Defeat for the win. Not a bad match, but not great either. I feel like Gail should have done a bit more work on the knee before the moonsault, but that’s possibly a minor quibble.

Crimson & Matt Morgan vs Samoa Joe & Magnus
For two thrown together teams, this was actually a good match. I’m not big fan of Crimson or Morgan, but they were both better in this environment than in singles action. Magnus is a guy who has improved immensely since his TNA debut in 2009, so I’m glad to see TNA use him again. Crimson ends up as face-in-peril after some outside interference from Joe. Magnus and Joe have already developed good tag team chemistry, with some well-worked double teams. They work the heat section on Crimson well, whilst still giving him some hope spots. My favourite of which sees Joe stop a Crimson break for the corner with a crisp powerslam. Crimson does make the hot tag, and Morgan looks decent when coming in. The tag environment suits a guy like Morgan, as he can hot tag in and hit some power moves, whilst not being required to work a full match. Crimson hits an accidental spear on his partner, and Joe/Magnus hit the snapmare/elbow combo to pick up the tag titles. Better than you’d expect.

Austin Aries vs Alex Shelley
When Get Cape video stars collide. Shelley attacks Aries as he reclines in the corner to get this thing started. There is a nice spot early on where Shelley throws Aries out of the ring and prepares for a dive, only for Aries to crawl under the ring and attack him from behind. Aries starts hitting knees to the shoulders of Shelley as the commentary team wisely bring up Shelley being sidelined with a shoulder injury. Aries follows this up with a 2nd rope elbow to the back of a seated Shelley. Shelley takes over after A Double takes ages setting up the Pendullum Elbow. Aries tries to crawl under the ring again, but this time gets cut off by Shelley, who hits a suicide dive successfully. Aries takes over and this time hits the Pendullum Elbow with no build up, which Tenay highlights. Aries hits a sick Death Valley Driver on the ring apron but misses the 450 splash. Shelley hits Sliced Bread, only for Aries to get his foot on the rope. Aries rolls through a roll-up attempt and goes back to Shelley’s neck with a series of knees before the brainbuster only gets a two. Shelley gets another nearfall from a series of kicks to the head, but A Double blocks another Sliced Bread attempt and hits another brainbuster, before locking in the Last Chancery for the tapout win. Really good match, with Aries concentrating on Shelley’s injured shoulder, which also softened Alex up for the submission.

AJ Styles vs Kazarian
Kaz is accompanied by Christopher Daniels, who forces him to wrestle in a Daniels t-shirt. Styles soon rips that off him, however. Despite an early flub where AJ leaps too early on a leapfrog, this surpassed my expectations. Kazarian is a guy I can’t make up my mind about, but I do think he makes a better heel than face. To their credit, they managed to continue the storyline, whilst working a fun match. Styles keeps eyeing up Daniels throughout the match. There is a nice touch where Styles uses an Indian Deathlock on Kaz, and maintains eye-contact with Daniels throughout the move. They exchange finisher attempts a few times too, but again that fits into the story, with them being former stablemates and friends who know each other well. The ending I liked too, with AJ looking like he’s going to springboard into the ring onto Kaz, but instead hitting an insane Asai moonsault to the floor on Daniels. However, this gives Kaz time to recover so that, when AJ does try to springboard in, he gets caught in a Fade To Black for the Kaz win. Good effort.

Gunner vs Garrett Bischoff
I really think Gunner is coming into his own and it’s massively to his credit that this wasn’t utterly dreadful. This is your typical overmatched face vs overconfident heel match, and should lead to a straightforward story. However, the match goes nearly 13 minutes, and that is far too long for the story they told here. The other problem is that Garrett is neither over nor talented, so Gunner had to control the majority of the match, without beating Garrett too badly, which gets old really quickly. Gunner does hit a slingshot suplex to give the match some brownie points, but the biggest pop comes from Hogan decking Eric Bischoff outside the ring. Gunner hits a neckbreaker, calling back to their previous match where Gunner injured Garrett, but Garrett stops Hulk throwing in the towel. This doesn’t stop Gunner hitting a DDT for the win. I don’t think Garrett is unsalvageable as he does show some fire in his comebacks, but he really needs to spend a few years working as many non-televised shows as possible to learn how to put on a proper match. He’s simply not good TV yet.

Bobby Roode vs Bully Ray vs James Storm vs Jeff Hardy
I really enjoyed this match. They threw in enough clever little bits to keep me entertained as a viewer. For example, when Bully departing the ring means Hardy and Storm have Roode to themselves, they hit Poetry In Motion on him, but on a second attempt Storm quickly tries to roll Jeff up for a 2 count. I also dug the moment when Roode and Storm teamed up to suplex Ray, then teased the Beer Money celebration only for Roode to attack Storm part way through. They manage to keep the match pretty high tempo, and everything looks really smooth. One sequence involving Roode, Ray and Hardy, which ends with a Bully Bomb on Jeff is particularly good. Ray looks great throughout, everything he does looks really meaty and like it’s going to hurt. It’s nothing fancy, but he gets more out of his elbow drops than a lot of guys in TNA do with fancier moves. I enjoyed the ending too, with guys hitting their finishers all over the shop before an opponent stops them getting the win. A ref bump gives Roode the opportunity to grab his title to hit Hardy, but Sting stops him. Roode, in spectacular dick heel form, goads Sting into hitting him, only to duck and allow Sting to level Hardy instead. Roode then covers Hardy and insists Sting counts the fall, which he reluctantly does. Good main event, and the ending, though predictable, at least sets up the Sting/Roode match at Victory Road.