Inspire Pro Wrestling - The Quick & The Dead (13/10/2013)

So, when browsing free wrestling shows on YouTube, I came across this full 3 hour show from US indy Inspire Pro, a company I know very little about. Indeed, with the exception of knowing that the chap from the Uproxx.com wrestling section is their ring announcer (with a good wrestling voice to boot), I was going into this blind. The result was a pretty fun show....full video linked at the end

The Pump Patrol vs Reign or Shine

The Pump Patrol consist of AJ Summers and Jared Wayne, doing a sort of Bodydonnas gimmick. The opposition consist of Moonshine Mantell and Alex Reigns, two big hossy looking guys. Cute comedy bit to start as Wayne wants to arm-wrestle Reigns, using Summers as a table, but cheapshots him instead. Summers seems really fun, short and goofy like a pumped up Crash Holly. Reigns is less impressive and soon proves himself to be the worst guy in the match with a couple of clumsy looking roll ups. Pump Patrol spend much of this match selling and stooging as the face team pretty much eat them up. Mantell shows some nice agility for a big man, really nice looking springboard senton. Pump Patrol finally get control after Mantell misses a corner splash, and I dig their back-to-back monkey flips that ends with them flipping Mantell onto his partner. Everything breaks down and Reigns hits a shitty full Nelson into a GTS on Wayne, followed by a big frog splash by Mantell for the win. Would have liked to have seen Pump Patrol get more offence in, but this was a decent squash and a good showcase for Mantell.

Scotty Santiago vs Carson

This next segment is slightly confusing. Reign or Shine were very much the face team in the previous match, but seem to be aligned here with Carson, who’s pre-match promo portrays him as an arrogant heel. Carson is a big lad, and the smaller Santiago spends the match getting beaten down with a few hope spots thrown in for good measure. Santiago tries a few flash pins, but keeps getting cut off by Carson, including a brutal looking superkick to the throat. Even when Santiago catches him with a boot as he dives from the top rope (hate that spot!), he still shakes it off and hits a big pump kick. However, his overconfidence costs him, as Santiago gets a 3 count off a flash backslide for the win. Effective enough.

Cherry Ramons vs Alexander Rudolph

Ramons looks like the love child of Chris Hero and Justin “Hawk” Bradshaw, and does some unusual jiggling at the bell. Rudolph is billed as the American Viking, and is a tall, rangy guy with long hair and beard. I dug some of Rudolph’s early offence, hitting a big German suplex to start and an impressive chokebomb. Some lad comes to the ring with a mic to run distraction, and talks for the rest of the match. Problem is, nothing he says is particularly clever or interesting, so he’s just irritating white noise. The distraction lets Ramons attack with some milky looking blows. Rudolph keeps making comebacks from Ramons’ offence, probably because it wouldn’t hurt a fly. Rudolph uses the corner turnbuckle to hit an interesting pescado. Inside the ring, he hits a chokeslam, but suddenly decides to confront the lad with the mic, allowing himself to get rolled up like an idiot for the Ramons win.

The Great Depression vs “Cowboy” James Claxton

This is the second time in the show I’ve been confused by the face/heel positioning of someone from the previous match. The Great Depression is a big chap in a sack-like mask, whose ring music is a Golddiggers of 1933-esque musical piece. He’s standing at table selling books at ringside, not heading to the ring for his match, so Rudolph attacks him and throws him into the ring. Claxton keeps assaulting Depression, but his blows are ignored as Depression stares at Rudolph at ringside. After a few minutes of this, Depression leaves the ring to attack Rudolph, and the match is thrown out. All three guys start to fight each other, and I’ve no idea who is face anymore, and who is heel. An utter mess.

Legion (Gregory James, Morbidus & Blasphemer) vs Danny Chance, Erick Shadows & Downfall

Legion are rocking your basic freaky goth gimmick, with James seemingly the leader of the group. This is a pretty fast-moving trios match, which is pretty fun in spite of the fact a few guys here seem pretty green or sloppy. Of the guys who looked good, I thought Morbidus stood out as having nice execution on his moves. He hits a lovely looking crossbody over the ropes and I thought the flapjack to Morbidus’ knees that James hits on Downfall was really nasty looking. I thought the idea to have the match start with the faces hitting dives was a smart way to get the crowd fired up and they worked a decent formula match with first Chance, then Shadows working face-in-peril. Not everything worked: James looked pretty milky with all his offence, and Downfall hit a shockingly bad Eat Defeat, but things moved quickly enough for these to be overlooked. The end saw things breakdown, with a few nearfalls, and the faces all went to the top rope, only to be hit with three stereo mists for the heel win.

The Dagger Brothers vs Sammy Guervera & Barret Brown

Guervera and Brown don’t seem to be friends, so it’s odd that they’ve elected to be partners here. The Daggers hit a few nice double-teams early doors on Guervera, and the initial story seems to be that he’s always in trouble in the ring, whilst Brown is able to hold his own. Guervera cheapshots a Dagger from the outside, to the chagrin of his partner, but they still work him over for a bit to lead to the hot tag and a lovely German suplex from the fresh Dagger. Guervera abandons Brown, leaving him prone to a combination spinebuster/neckbreaker for the Daggers win. More angle than match, but it served the purpose of getting Guervera some heat.

JT Lamotta vs Andy Dalton

This is a streetfight. Dalton works the mic, and tries to get out of the match, which leads to Lamotta simply hitting him with the mic. They brawl in the crowd, and I dug Lamotta playing possum, only to hit Dalton with a camera. Really dug Dalton here, he bumped big and had some meaty looking offence. Dalton pulls out a fork which somehow ends up rammed into his gentleman sausage. A few things don’t quite work: there’s a really awful, fake-looking slingshot that sends Lamotta from the ring to the floor through a table, and I don’t get Lamotta hitting reverse rana’s in what is supposed to be a streetfight. Still, there’s some nice violent touches in the latter parts of the match: Dalton hitting a brainbuster on an open chair looks sickening, especially as the chair warps. Lamotta seems to have it won with three back suplexes, another reverse rana and a cradle DDT, but Jordan Jensen runs interference, suffocating Lamotta with a plastic bag and allowing Dalton to hit two piledrivers for the win.

Ray Rowe vs Mike Dell

First time I’ve seen Rowe, but he’s a name I’ve heard of, and I thought he looked really impressive here. He hits a few nice suplexes on Dell here, including a swank overhead belly-to-belly and an even more impressive Northern lights, where he blocks a tornado DDT and just holds Dell in the air before hitting it. Dell’s look and moveset screams “1998 WCW Saturday Night”, like he’d team up with Bobby Blaze to put over Disorderly Conduct in a decent bout. He gets the odd period of offence here, but mainly sells and puts over Rowe’s offence. Dell gets to hit his top rope elbow (cringingly called the Dellbow), but can’t capitalize, instead getting sent into the corner and nailed with Death Rowe for the win. Fun extended squash.

Robert Evans vs JoJo Bravo

I really was expecting to dislike this match before it started. Between Evans’ CHIKARA background and Bravo being a short guy seemingly working a delusional sumo gimmick, I was worried that this would be a dreadful comedy match. Instead, it ended up being the match of the night and both guys contributed heavily towards that. The early stages are worked face-vs-face, with Bravo using his superior speed to confuddle Evans, who uses his leverage advantage to try to ground him with holds. There’s a neat spot where Bravo has Evans in the corner, and quickly springboards in-and-out so Evans wont know where the eventual dropkick is coming from. They battle on the top rope, from where Evans hits an Irish Curse backbreaker, which seems to injure his knee. Refs pour into the ring to check out his knee, and the bout appears to be over. Bravo holds the ropes open for him, only for Evans to kick them into Bravo’s crotch, revealing there to be nothing wrong with his knee. This gives the match an actual heel-vs-face dynamic, even if some fans still cheer for Evans. Evans goes for a countout win, hoping the lowblow and repeated blows to the head will be enough to keep Bravo out. With Bravo back in, Evans hits repeated backbreakers with his “bad” knee, just to hammer home what a dick he’s been. Bravo keeps trying to fire back, and is eventually successful, hitting a 619 and a cross-legged driver for the win. Really pleasant surprise.

Scot Summers vs Jordan Jensen vs Ricky Starks

The winner of this match will be entered into the match to crown the first Inspire Pro champion at a future show. I liked the dynamic of the two faces, Summers and Starks, trying to get Jensen out of the ring early, with Summers nailing a German at the bell, and Starks slamming Jensen on the floor. To be honest, I really wasn’t impressed with Jensen or Starks here. Starks had this horrific comedy elbow spot with a hanky, which caused his opponents to lie motionless for ages before hitting it. Starks and Jensen both have feeble looking blows, which really contrasts with the nice looking strikes dished out by Summers. A big, bald, bearded lad, he was really impressive here, with nice kicks and a lovely spear where he just rolled through his opponent. There’s also a fun, if utterly contrived, 3-way superplex/top rope German spot that was fun. Despite being the best guy in the match, Summers is the first one out, eliminated after being distracted and hit with a Starks famousser. Summers gets furious and starts hitting the ringpost with chairs, which in turn distracts Starks for nearly two minutes. Jensen manages to take advantage of this, pulling down Starks’ trunks and hitting an awful RKO to win.

SWA Summer Blowout 2014

The SWA is the Shropshire Wrestling Alliance, who run shows (unsurprisingly) in the Shropshire area. I saw on Twitter they were having a DVD sale, and picked up this interesting looking show. It turned out to be very good.

 

Damian Dunne vs Mark Andrews

This is for Dunne’s British Lions title. Dunne is working heel here, which he’s really good at, throwing in nice little touches like forcing Andrews to clap hands whilst in a hammerlock. Andrews is the quicker of the two, and when he starts to use his speed, he’s able to take control, which in turn forces Dunne to slow the pace down. So whilst Andrews uses a quick standing moonsault in his offence, Dunne prefers to choke his opponent over the ropes, as well as nailing his ever-sweet kneedrop (honestly, Dunne might have the best kneedrop in BritWres). I enjoyed the story they told here, which was simple yet effective: Andrews always has the advantage when they speed things up, so Dunne will cut off his offensive flurries at any opportunity. Dunne gets a backcracker for two, before Andrews is able to rebound. He hits a top rope rana and a standing shooting star press for two. Dunne gets two when he catches a springboarding Andrews with a spear for two. Looked great. Dunne brings his title belt in, which the referee stops him using. However, this seems to have been Dunne causing a distraction, as he punts Mandrews down below unseen, and rolls him up for the win. Great opener

Sebastian Radclaw vs Marshall X vs Robert Rochester Rose

Interesting mix of characters, with Marshall being a white wannabe gangster, Rose being an aristocratic snob and Radclaw being a unique oddball. Radclaw is accompanied by Skat Monkey, his frankly ugly looking puppet, and Marshall decides he wants the Monkey. Not for any real reason, but to bully the naïve Radclaw. The two heels gang up on Radclaw and wear him down. I loved Marshall X filming the beatdown on his mobile happy-slapping style. Rose is a big lad, but some of his blows looked a bit milky, especially the elbows to Radclaw’s head. The two-on-one beatdown continues with Marshall hitting a nice double-underhook suplex. Eventually, the heels union dissolves when Rose is the first one to try a pinfall on Radclaw, to the chagrin of X. This argument gives Radclaw time to recover, and he springboards in with a nice rolling clothesline. Radclaw hits a nice split legged moonsault on X, and rolls up the charging Rose for the victory. Good fun.

The Vulture Squad vs Pete Dunne & Ryan Smile

The Vulture Squad consist of Chris Brookes and Nixon Newell, so we’ve got an intergender aspect to this match. Pete Dunne is apparently in the process of turning heel, which leads to an explosive start. Dunne cuts a promo essentially saying that if Newall is in the match, she needs to be prepared to be hit like a man…then blindsides her with a stiff forearm. Brookes hurls Dunne into the crowd in response, only to get taken out by a Smile plancha. Quite the start. Things slow down a touch, with the Squad working over Smile, until Dunne cheapshots Newall from the apron. Dunne gets big heat by viciously working over Newall, slamming her knees into the mat. Really nasty looking stuff, and Nixon looks tougher for holding on and making the hot tag to Brookes. Everything breaks down, and Dunne hits a vicious backbreaker and facebuster to Newall for two. I loved Brookes sacrificing himself to absorb a corner charge meant for Nixon, in part because it allowed a fresh Nixon to hit a big tornado DDT and a Shining Wizard for a close two. Makes it a good strategic move by Brookes. Dunne’s nasty side really helps the ending run look great. First, I loved him catching Newall during Poetry In Motion and powerbombing her onto the prone Brookes. Then, after a ref bump, he low blows Brookes and locks a cloverleaf on Newall. Even though she makes the ropes, the ref being down allows him to stomp on her until she releases the ropes and drag her back into the middle for the tapout win. Just brutal heel aggression. Really well worked tag match.

Joey Sanchez vs Marc Morgan

This was set up earlier in the night, with heel manager G John Chase promising a mystery opponent for SWA champion Sanchez. Now, call me cynical, but I’m always suspicious when a promotion is full of guys I’ve heard of, but the champion is a complete unknown. Makes me worry that they’ve booked some good talent in order to promote some no-mark they’ve made champion. So I’m happy to eat my words and say this was a good little match. This was non-title, so it’s always more than likely that the champion loses, but they did a fun job of keeping the result in question. I liked Sanchez’s fire after Morgan did a lot of stalling, going outside to hit him with some stiff shots. Some Chase interference gave Morgan an opening and he worked over Sanchez’s left arm. I dug him using Old School, ending with a leg drop to the arm, felt like a good smug heel move. Morgan tried it again, however, and got caught, leading to Sanchez hitting an enzuigiri to take control. Sanchez’s selling of the arm was really good, firstly only hitting offense like superkicks that didn’t require use of the limb, then not being able to lock in a sharpshooter due to the pain. When he’s able to grit through it and lock in the hold, a distracted ref doesn’t notice Davian Vayne enter to hit him with a low blow, leaving an opening for Morgan to hit Soylet Green for the win. Surpassed my expectations, a pleasant surprise.

Dan Moloney vs Edwards

So, with two unknown guys putting on a good bout, I had high hopes for a match featuring a guy I like in Moloney against another guy I didn’t know in Edwards. This…wasn’t so good. I enjoyed Moloney hiding in the crowd during his entrance to ambush Edwards, but it went a bit downhill following that with some sloppy brawling on the outside. Edwards in particular didn’t look particularly impressive here. Back inside the ring, Edwards hits an admittedly decent uranage and a swanton, but Moloney no-sold right away and hit a monster clothesline for the win.

Tyler Bate vs Jay Lethal

This is for the RoH TV title, so the result is never really in doubt, but this is one heck of a match. I’m no big fan of Jay Lethal, he seems to fill too much space in matches with your-turn-my-turn strike exchanges (which happens three separate times here), but he was a good match for Bate here. I saw Lethal one year previously taking on another 18yr old in Robbie X, and the difference between Lethal’s muscular frame and the less in-shape Robbie made those strike exchanges feel very unbalanced. Bate, however, is in very good shape, stocky and with a big European uppercut that makes him competitive against Lethal. Tyler was ON IT from the bell here, catching an unsuspecting Lethal with a superkick and a dive to show he meant business. Lethal threw in some fun bits, loved his crucifix surfboard on Bate. The commentary team raise a good point about it being easier for Bate to scout Lethal than vice-versa, with Bate proving this by countering the Lethal Cutter into an airplane spin (with an insane number of rotations). Bate also got to hit a few of his great strength spots, reversing a Lethal suplex into a deadlift one of his own, while later hitting a lovely German suplex for two. The end to this was so heated, as Bate hits an insane running backflip out of the ring onto Lethal, throws him in the ring to try a corkscrew moonsault, but misses and is left prone for the winning Lethal Cutter. Fantastic match, the crowd were into it every step of the way and surround the ring, banging the apron in appreciation at the end. Splendid stuff.

WWF Raw 10/01/1994

The Quebecers vs Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3

Really fun match, and actually really well booked. Given that the Quebecers were due to defend the tag belts vs Bret and Owen at the Rumble in two weeks, you’d give Kid and Jannetty no chance. The story here was that the Quebecers were looking past their opponents here, which gives Kid and Marty the opening to dominate the early goings with quick tags and some nice double team offence. Loved Jannetty elevating Kid to allow him to hit a high dropkick. During the break, we see Kid/Jannetty had “won” the match following a Jannetty superkick, only for the Quebecer to have his foot on the ropes and the match continue. This normally is used to protect the team that’s going to lose. The Quebecers are still getting overrun, and it takes Pierre pushing Kid off the top rope to the floor to get an advantage. They decimate Kid with some big double teams, including a lovely clothesline/legsweep combo. Jacques piledrives Kid and Pierre hits a top rope cannonball. This should be the end, but the Quebecers are so confident that they go for a second. This allows Jannetty to come in (cheat?) and drag Kid to his corner for the hot tag. Jannetty runs wild and this lets him and Kid hits a suplex/crossbody to pin Jacques for real and the titles. Massive shock result, and a really cleverly booked match. Loved this. 

Ludvig Borga vs Brad Anderson

Pretty crap squash to be honest. Borga is pretty plodding and the most exciting part is probably Anderson hitting a few clotheslines. Borga wins with a torture rack. 

The Undertaker vs Ray Hudson

The description of this episode on the Network describes Hudson, rather sarcastically, as “ever impressive". Another dull squash, with Taker throwing Hudson to the floor for some blows, then throwing him back in for a low elevation chokeslam. Taker finishes with a leaping tombstone. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Bastion Booger

This is a heel vs heel match set up by Booger’s lust for Luna causing them to lose a tag match the previous week. They cut a decent tempo here in a match that gets no reaction. Bigelow takes a big bump over the top on a missed charge, so Luna blows kisses to Booger to distract and allow BBB to recover. He does this with a botched slam, a real slam and the diving headbutt to win. Pretty poor.

CMLL 16/8/2014

After hearing good things about the promotion in 2014, I decided to catch up with a bit of CMLL, taking in this big broadcast from last year, with two big stipulation matches

Marcela & Princesa Sujei vs Princesa Blanca & La Seductora

This is a hair and mask vs hair and mask match, with the hair of Blanca and Marcela on the line, along with the masks of Seductora and Sujei. You can tell the stakes are high early doors as the rudos (Blanca and Seductora) attack in the aisle. I really like Blanca’s aggression here as the rudos dominate, including lifting Sujei clean off the mat by the hair. Seductora nails Marcela with a huge dropkick as she’s tied in the ropes, which deserves a replay. Marcela tries to fire back but takes a huge bump, cannonballing off the apron onto no-one. Seductora nails Sujei with a top rope Thesz press for three, and Blanca swiftly polishes off Marcela to take the primera caida.

The rudos maintain control at the start of the secunda caida, with Blanca tearing at Sujei’s mask. Momentum swings as Seductora misses Poetry in Motion, and Marcela just nails a vicious dropkick to the face of Blanca. Marcela pins Blanca with a Michinoku driver, before Sujei finishes Seductora with another driver, only adding a flipping senton and two elbow drops for emphasis.

This leaves all to play for, and the final fall is really exciting. Marcela is all over Blanca, until Seductora pushes her off the top rope, and hooks her in a swank looking half crab for the tap-out. Sujei wastes no time in locking up Seductora in a neat looking hammerlock submission to even the odds, and we’re now down to Blanca vs Sujei in a battle of Princesa’s. Really fun ending, with Blanca getting a huge nearfall from a spiral powerbomb. They battle over roll-ups, before Seductora tries to assist Blanca. Marcela prevents this, and this allows Sujei to roll up Blanca for the win. Really good stuff.

Rush vs Negro Casas

Another hair vs hair match, and this one is even better. Rush seems to be coming out to Chris Benoit’s old ring music. Rush is really aggressive from the bell, steamrolling Casas. Though Casas gets a few comeback blows, Rush nails him with a massive dropkick to the face for an easy fall. The segunda caida sees Casas come back with a vengeance, and I loved his offence of just vicious looking kicks, which Rush is happy to meet with his own. There is an odd bit where another luchador comes to the ring with Casas holding an STF on Rush. This interference causes Casas to release the hold, but then following a Rush powerbomb, the referee is still distracted and doesn’t count, so the interference seems to have helped neither man. Casas quickly locks in a La Majistral cradle for the fall to level things up.

If the first two falls were good, things get really good in the final fall. The crowd is solidly behind Casas, and he reacts accordingly, totally pumped up for battle. These two just batter each other, and it’s amazing to watch. Casas nails a seated senton from the apron to the floor and Rush, as if to be not outdone, nails Casas in turn with a huge dropkick from the apron. The end, though a cheap one, is great, as it allows Rush to come off as a total dick against the crowd favourite Casas: a ref bump allows Rush to punt Casas in the balls and he covers him for the win. Just a great piece of pro wrestling.

All Star Wrestling 03/10/14

Browsing through YouTube the other day, I realised there were loads of full wrestling shows put legally online, just waiting for two-bit bloggers like me to review them. I found this show, put online by Dean Allmark himself, with Jushin Liger making a rare appearance for All Star Wrestling. I've even linked to the show at the bottom of the page. Consider it an interactive review, or something

Andy Simmons vs JD Bryant

It feels like a long time since Simmons was the butler for the Duke of Danger in the team Hampton Court. Here, he’s just normal wrestler Andy Simmons, facing a guy in Bryant who is using “Yes” chants to get himself
over. This was a fun opener, really liked the early part with them fighting over an armbar. Simmons thinks he’s escaped, then runs into an armdrag and is trapped again. I also dug Simmons high impact knee to the stomach, and the way Bryant countered a second attempt with a rollup. I kinda wish Bryant would spend more time selling and less time clapping when hit by a move. The end seems Simmons rush the corner and get hit with a second rope dropkick for the win.
 

David Finlay vs Danny Collins

Good  to note that Collins still looks in surprisingly decent shape, and he cuts a promo referencing his battles with Finlay’s dad by saying he’s going to take out revenge for all the blood he shed. Collins works this as the grizzled veteran grounding young Finlay. I did love the way Collins disingenuously offered a handshake
only after getting dropkicked down by Finlay. Collins again shows his veteran smarts after getting a public warning for dropping Finlay throat first on the ropes by concentracting his attack on the neck and shoulders. Love the way he uses the ring apron as a weapon. Finlay looks promising, but shows his inexperience when
he has to make comebacks: they always start off fired up, but within a few moves he’s locking in a chinlock. He does get a really nice nearfall from a sunset flip, which I nearly bought. We start getting time limit countdowns,
which kinda telegraph the finish. Indeed, we get to the final minute and, despite a few frantic pin attempts by Finlay, we get a draw. Both men shake hands afterwards, and I enjoyed this. Collins looked great and Finlay, though green, showed promise.

Thunder vs Dean Allmark

Thunder is the son of Coventry’s own World of Sport representative Tony “Banger” Walsh. There is a contrast in size and strength here, with Thunder being considerably bigger. He hiptosses Allmark like he’s trying to
drill him through the mat. His selling is a bit suspect though, responding to an Allmark dropkick by wobbling like a drunk man slipping on a banana skin. Allmark hits a lovely springboard moonsault for two. The end comes rather too quickly, as Allmark goes to the top rope, only for Thunder to shove the ref into the ropes, crotching Deano. A superplex gets the win for Thunder.

Joel Redman vs Justin Star

I love the way that Redman is still announced as a WWE star (as opposed to “former WWE star”). I’ve not seen Star before, and he does things I like and stuff I dislike. He does some fun stooging on defence, especially when Redman is outsmarting him in the early stages, and he does show impressive strength to catch Redman from a crossbody. However, his strikes are both weak-looking and over-exaggerated and there are a few moments in the match which don’t make sense. For example, despite having worn Redman down and being in control of the match, he allows Redman to wander around outside the ring to recover. When Redman tries to enter, Star punches him, breaking the count and giving Redman more time to recover. Redman is a really fun offensive wrestler, so it’s not for the best that he spends most of the match selling, but his comeback is really good and he gets the win with a big spinebuster and a superkick.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger vs Robbie Dynamite

This is slightly surreal, watching Jushin Liger wrestle in front of the family-orientated All Star crowd, a lot of whom will have no idea who he is. They work a really fun mat section to start off with Liger having a slight (but only slight) advantage, annoying Dynamite. Dynamite resorts to strikes, but gets sent out and nailed with a Liger cannonball from the apron. Liger isn’t phoning this one in. Dynamite catches him coming off the ropes and cradles him up into a Falcon Arrow in one slick movement. Looked great. Dynamite works him over, but Liger comes back with a palm strike and a Koppo kick from the corner. Dynamite gets knees up on a top rope splash and hits a stomach-buster, which I love, concentrating his attack on the same area. Dynamite takes a risk, which backfires as he misses a plancha. Liger hits a top rope rana for two, then a palm strike and brainbuster for three. Really good match. Liger put in a good shift here, when he could easily have gotten away with phoning it in, and Dynamite looked his equal in defeat. Really great.

WCW SuperBrawl II 1992

Time to continue with my (slowly-moving) WCW 1992 project. This is the first time I've seen this show (WCW PPV's didn't get any UK broadcasts in the day), so I'm looking forward to this immensely. A great commentary team of Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura do a really good job here too...

 

Brian Pillman vs Jushin Thunder Liger

Really great choice of opener to pump up the crowd. They didn’t really seem aware of Liger before the bout, but this crowd soon were going nuts for the action, pretty much from the moment Liger hit a graceful moonsault press to Pillman. I loved the struggle for Liger’s surfboard, which Pillman evaded twice – really put the move over as a threat. Liger works over Pillman’s legs following a missed knee charge in the corner, with a figure four causing real damage. Pillman is thrown to the floor, with Liger hitting a great rolling cannonball from the top. If I’ve one real issue, it’s that Pillman was barely able to stand from the figure four, and this was even before getting hit with the cannonball, yet right away he comes back with a springboard clothesline, showing no ill effects from either Liger move. I do like the way that PIllman ramps up his aggressive streak from this point, suplexing Liger to the floor and hitting a big dive from the top. This builds to the finishing stretch, which sees a number of very close nearfalls, with a Liger German suplex being the most convincing. However, Liger misses a top rope headbutt, and Pillman rolls him up with a bridging pin for three.

Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs Taylor Made Man

The Taylor Made Man really was a totally unsubtle Million Dollar Man rip-off, even down to the tuxedo with a gold trim he wears to the ring here. Bagwell is still played up as a rookie, but despite a few flubs on landings and reversals, he looks good here. Bagwell is mainly selling, as the veteran Taylor controls most of the bout after suckering Bagwell in and throwing him through the ropes. Loved the big gutwrench powerbomb from Taylor, and he hits a great top rope splash for two. The end sees an over-cocky Taylor getting rolled up for three, and I loved how Bagwell’s celebratory momentum sees him fired off the ropes and into a Taylor forearm for a post-match beatdown. Decent bout.

Ron Simmons vs Cactus Jack

Fun power sprint. I love the energy Simmons shows from the start, he just moves exceptionally well in the ring. Jack takes a nutty bump early, catching his neck in the ropes after diving through them. Momentum changes to Jack’s favour as he hits the double arm DDT, but it’s not a finisher yet, so he doesn’t bother pinning him. Big diving elbow to the floor by Cactus looks nasty. Simmons takes a bg bump, missing a 3-point stance and flying through the ropes onto the ramp, but he quickly rebounds to hit a vicious looking spinebuster onto the ramp. Back inside, Simmons catches Cactus from the second rope with a powerslam for three. Really enjoyed this.

Van Hammer & Tom Zenk vs Richard Morton & Vinnie Vegas

Good to see the Patron Saint of this blog, Tom Zenk, in action. Ventura gets in a few choice barbs on commentary, saying every Vinnie he knows wears bad suits, and in a jibe at the WBF, says no-one makes money on bodybuilding…”even Vinnie knows that”. The opening Vegas/Hammer section is pretty dull, Hammer looks a bit lost at times and Vegas isn’t the man to carry him. In contrast, Zenk and Morton work really well together, with a fun Zenk pescado leading to him hiptossing Morton on the floor in a heavy bump. Hammer becomes face-in-peril, and I did enjoy the heel double-teaming, with Morton directing traffic by holding Hammer in place for Vegas’ offence. The double-teams are basic, but effective. Zenk gets the hot tag, and looks great coming in, hitting a swank bodyslam on Morton for two, before pinning him with a sunset flip out of the corner. This was fine.

Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Steve Austin & Larry Zbyszko

Zbyszko had famously broken Windham’s hand by slamming it with a car door at Halloween Havoc 91, giving him the “Cruncher” nickname that Ventura loves to repeat on commentary. We get a melee to start, and I loved Windham dominating Austin only to throw him to the corner to tag Larry in. Windham looks great here, nailing Zbyszko with a sweet lariat and a fucking great DDT. It takes some interference by Austin throwing Windham over the top rope to finally give Zbyszko some respite, and Windham promptly hurls himself outside again with a missed lariat. Windham making sure his fingers are tightly locked before breaking a sleeper with a chinbreaker is great attention to detail. The heels then work a fun heat section on Rhodes, with Austin managing to repeatedly cut off Rhodes with clotheslines. It’s therefore fun when Dustin is finally able to avoid one by ducking and nailing a stungun instead. Windham comes off the top with a big lariat for the win. Predictably fun tag bout.

The Steiner Brothers vs Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton

The second of three consecutive Dangerous Alliance matches, this time for Eaton/Anderson’s tag titles. This is a match of high impact moves, not just by the Steiners, but also from Eaton and Anderson. Steiners dominate early with a lovely overhead belly-to-belly on Eaton, followed by a sick looking tilt-a-whirl slam on the entrance ramp. The Alliance basically have to withstand this barrage until Eaton hits a mid-air low blow on Rick, as he attempts the top rope bulldog. This doesn’t last too long, as Scott is soon tagged in, and I love the desperation of Arn having to sacrifice his partner by ramming Scott’s head into Eaton’s just to get a sustained control. The Alliance have some great looking offence here: Anderson nails a great DDT and, in a sweet spot, Eaton gets thrown from the top rope onto the rampway with a Rocket Launcher splash. Rick gets the hot tag, and a fantastic nearfall when he slams Eaton on a Doomsday Device attempt. After all this, it makes sense that the DA need a cheap ending to retain their titles. After Anderson blinds him with powder, Rick hits a big suplex on the referee. Scott hits a Frankensteiner on Eaton, which is counted for 3 by a replacement ref, but the original ref recovers to disqualify the Steiners and keep the titles with the Alliance. One of the rare times I’d describe a fuck-ending as great, but I thought it fit the match perfectly. Really enjoyed this.

“Ravishing” Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat

This is for Rude’s US title, with Paul E Dangerously and Madusa banned from ringside. Steamboat is still allowed to be accompanied by his ninja though. I reviewed this same pairing earlier this year in the Royal Rumble 88 review, but this is light-years ahead. For example, both matches feature lengthy periods of Steamboat working the arm, but this time he mixes up the offence, clanging Rude’s arm around the ringpost. He also uses the arm as a focal point for comebacks, kicking Rude there in order to escape a barrage in the corner. Rude sells it really well too, hanging limply on his offensive runs. He twice instinctively hits clotheslines with the arm, but makes sure to sell the pain, and on the third clothesline he swaps arm. Love that stuff. Rude works the neck of Steamboat with a piledriver and spinning neckbreaker, which obviously sets up the Rude Awakening. Rude’s big mistake here is making soft covers which aren’t going to get him the win. It gets a little rest-holdy towards the end, with Rude locking in a camel clutch and two chinlocks, but Steamboat makes a fun comeback, with a great diving clothesline to a seated Rude. Second cheap ending in a row is a little disappointing though, as Steamboat gets whacked in the head by his ninja, suspiciously holding a Paul E-esque mobile phone, which gives Rude the win. A post-match segment sees Missy Hyatt go to Rude’s locker room, accidentally revealing Paul E indeed being the ninja.

Sting vs Lex Luger

This is for Luger’s world title, and you can tell Ross and Ventura know Luger is leaving soon. Luger had used all the dates on his WCW contract and had barely worked in 1992, and they’re all over him, pointing out how he lacked ring fitness and how he was sweating far more than Sting. Despite this, we had a pretty high tempo opening. Loved Sting hitting the Stinger splash, but Luger rebounding out of the corner with a big clothesline. Massive German suplex by Sting, which looked great. Sting always brought great energy around this time, and I loved his high leap to get more elevation on a leaping DDT. Luger hits the piledriver, but Sting kicks out at two. Sting makes a great fired-up comeback, starting off with some dazed blows, but getting more and more worked up with each blow that connects. Sting flies over the top rope, and Harley Race goes to piledriver him on the floor. Sting reverse and backdrops Race onto the floor. Luger doesn’t know about this, and turns around straight into a Sting top rope crossbody for the win. Really fun match, good logical ending and a massive pop for the new champion. No complaints here.

Kaientai Dojo 20/08/2012

Kotaro Nasu vs Ayumu Honda

Pretty fun opener. Honda is pretty slight, but he gets an early advantage by locking a cross armbreaker on early, which Nasu sells really well. Nasu even sells the pain while on offence, while Honda uses it as a focal point to regain control when Nasu rallies. I really liked Honda being disorientated following a roll-up, which allowed Nasu to hit a Shining Wizard for two. There’s a great fight over a second crossarmbreaker, before Nasu gets a two count following a big punt. A back suplex gets the win for Nasu. 

YOSHIYA, Saburo Inematsu, Boso Boy Raito & Bambi vs Ricky Fuji, Toshima Pacquaio, Jonathon Bader & Miss Mongol

Utterly throwaway intergender 8 man tag, which is JIP. Of note is Fuji looking totally out of shape and half-arsed, despite an admittedly good delayed brainbuster on Inematsu. Everything breaks down and Raito hits an acid drop on Bader for the win. 

Daigoro Kashiwa vs Kaji Tomato vs Yuki Sato

This is for Kashiwa’s UWA Middleweight title. Tomato seems to be working your usual “cheerleader tomato” gimmick. Of the three, Sato looks to be the best, working a nice comeback flurry after being double-teamed and looking really crisp on offence. Kashiwa seems to be working a “hard head” gimmick, hitting lots of headbutts and causing opponents to sell after hitting him in the bonce. Tomato hits a lovely flip dive to the floor. The end sequence is a fun flurry of offence, despite Tomato botching a springboard, and the end was cool: Tomato locking an Octopus stretch on Sato, only for Kashiwa to roll both men up for the win. I’d like to see more of Sato.

TAKA Michinoku vs MEN's Teioh

Pretty by-the-by match here. I did like the opening part, with Teioh working over TAKA’s wrist and fingers, and I enjoyed TAKA selling the work when trying to hold himself up o a headscissors. Teioh does feel a little off pace, and it’s obvious in places where TAKA is having to wait for his offence. The end sees both guys trying to get the win with roll-ups, and I dug the variety of different pinfalls used before TAKA got the three by tying Teioh up.

Hiro Tonai & Shiori Asashi vs Kengo Mashimo & Ryuichi Sekine

This is for Mashimo & Sekine’s Strongest-K tag belts. This kicks off at a really fast pace, breaking down from the start before Asashi misses a pescado and Sekine nails a cool big-guy suicide dive. Tonai and Asashi are much smaller than the champions, so it’s a battles of speed vs size. We clip to things being a bit more organized, with Tonai working over Mashimo’s arm. Mashimo is soon able to isolate Tonai, and a decent heat section is worked on him. Loved the close hot tag tease following a nice springboard rana by Tonai. When the hot tag is made, Asashi looks pretty good, especially driving Sekine face first to the matt with a diving knee from the top rope. They even managed to take a spot I hate, the “fighting spirit” strike exchange, and make it fun, with Mashimo resisting all Asashi’s chops, only to get caught with an eyepoke. Tonai and Asashi then isolate Mashimo, using their speed to keep on top of him, and hitting repeated blows to the arm. There’s a really exciting false finish as Tonai nearly makes him tap with armbars and armbreakers, really struggling to keep him from the ropes, before Mashimo picks him up with the old Bob Backlund reversal. The home stretch is great, with Sekine getting a good few numerous convincing nearfalls with some vicious kicks, before getting caught in a bodyscissors rollup to give Tonai and Asashi the titles. Not sure how much was clipped, but everything here was great, and the Mashimo/Sekine team were excellent.

Daisuke Sekimoto vs Yuji Hino

Battle of two big guys here, and the match has a real feel of two heavyweight fighters trying to wear each other out. They spill out early, and have a strike exchange, which Hino wins. Back in the ring, he cockily starts slapping Sekimoto in the head, an arrogance that backfires as Sekimoto hits a huge German suplex from out of nowhere. This totally changes the course of the match, as Hino seems to be knocked for six. He tries chopping Sekimoto from the mat, but they’ve lost all of their bite and Sekimoto just shrugs them off. I loved the Boston Crab locked in by Sekimoto, as Hino really sells his struggle to reach the ropes. Both guys feel like mirror images of each other, a point proven by Hino hitting his own German suplex from nowhere, only this one is followed by a mad looking tope. Really great hang time on it. This considerably weakens Sekimoto, who is no longer quick enough to block or reverse moves effectively. Both guys get frog splashes for two, again showing the mirror images theory. It’s ultimately Sekimoto who prevails, nailing Hino with a bridging delayed German for the win, but it felt like both guys had been in a real struggle. Really good match.