PCW/CZW/WXW/Beyond - Wrestling World Championships Night 1

So, this is the first night of a 3-show tournament that PCW booked to replace their annual Supershows of Honor after differences with RoH. This involves WXW, CZW and Beyond wrestling, and has openweight and cruiserweight brackets. The line up of wrestlers is really good too, so it promises to be a good show

Da Mack vs Zachary Wentz

This is a WXW vs CZW match. Pretty decent opener, without setting the bar too high for the following matches. I wasn’t a big fan of Da Mack’s goofy dancing kicks, but he had some other strikes that looked a lot better. The opening matwork was a bit perfunctory, but it allowed Wentz to speed things up a bit to get a bit of personality over. Loved Wentz’s through-the-ropes codebreaker and handspring leaping knee, but the end was a bit weak, with Wentz going to the top to hit a diving nothing right into an RKO to give Da Mack the win.

Tracy Williams vs Martin Kirby

Beyond vs PCW. First time I’ve seen Williams, who I know is pretty hotly tipped. They work a really nice sequence of counters on the mat, which isn’t something you always see from Kirby, though he is capable of doing so. Williams is pretty slick on the mat though, and is always one step ahead. When they get off the mat, Kirby’s running shoulderblock in the corner looks typically great. I liked the way they built up to the strikes too, culminating in a big Williams clothesline that puts Kirby on his head. The end was pretty good, as Williams only gets 2 off an Emerald Frosion, so chains into a crossface right away to focus on the neck. Despite the best efforts of Kirby’s partner Joey Hayes to interfere, Williams is able to get the tap from a second crossface to win. Good stuff.

Axel Dieter Jr vs Bubblegum

WXW vs PCW. Was really impressed by Dieter Jr here. Loved his controlled armwork early on, making Bubblegum work to escape. Dieter catching a Bubblegum dive and hitting a European uppercut instead was pretty choice, and I loved how he had Gum in control in the corner, casually sauntering up with his arms behind his back. Just tremendous character stuff. Sliding diving elbow looked great, and Bubblegum also looks good on the comeback, with a top rope stomp looking good. I liked how the ending saw both guys upping the tempo, but both of them made their offensive openings by reversing the other’s move, not just randomly recovering from the last move hit on them. Bubblegum wins with a 619

Dave Crist vs Jurn Simmons

CZW vs WXW. Simmons takes a ridiculously long time to get to the ring – we’re talking Undertaker levels here – so Crist pump kicking him out of the ring as soon as the bell goes feels fair enough. Crist makes a rookie mistake by trying to chop Simmons against the ringpost, but only hurts himself when Jurn ducks. From there, it’s all one way traffic, and Simmons looks great throughout. Great looking power offence, with a power slam looking terrific and I loved him whipping Crist to the turnbuckle with real force. Crist seems to be a better seller than on offence, as a lot of his stuff looks sloppy here, but him taking a 360 bump from a Simmons shoulderblock is impressive. Simmons hits a big piledriver and wins a borderline squash.

Joey Janela vs Chris Dickinson

CZW vs Beyond. This is worked around Dickinson having a power advantage over Janela, and Janela having to work on a hit and hope basis. This is established early when Janela hits a cannonball from the apron, but Dickinson rolls through with it and hoists him up to powerbomb Joey on the apron. Janela manages to create some distance and dives on Dickinson from a balcony, as this is the only way he’s able to hurt him. When Dickinson does have Janela in his grasp, he does blitz him, with his kicks looking immense – his legs are nearly the size of Janela. Joey has to keep taking risks to try and stay in the match, but when they don’t pay off, he’s really in the shit. He sits Dickinson in a chair and goes for a top rope flip, but Dickinson moves and sends Joey ploughing through the chair. Janela is really winning the fans over here pretty much by killing himself. Joey does manage to hit a tilt-a-whirl tombstone, but gets caught by Dickinson and takes a face-planting version of a burning hammer on the apron. Janela kicks out, which makes him look amazing, but he’s basically out and a Dickinson lariat gives him the win. Really good bout here, with Dickinson looking unstoppable and Janela gutsy and fearless in defeat. Both guys left the bout looking great.

Dave Mastiff vs Keith Lee

PCW vs Beyond. These are two big boys here, but both guys who are able to move about. They work this really smartly, building up to the big spots. They exchange really thunderous looking blows early on, moving to running the ropes before Lee snaps off an impressive looking running rana. He makes the mistake of shit-talking though, and Mastiff whiplashes him into the ropes and hits the bathtub senton. What’s great is, both guys are agile enough to bump and make the other guy look immense, with Dave taking a huge powerbomb from the corner. Lee misses a moonsault and Mastiff hits a German suplex into the buckles and the Bastard Bomb for three. Enjoyed this.

T-Bone vs David Starr

PCW vs WXW. Starr plays the early stages as a smart-ass, outwrestling T-Bone and trying to make him look stupid. T-Bone responds by just beating him up. They brawl outside, and there’s a fun spot with Starr getting fans to hold T-Bone in place while he takes a run up, but by the time he reaches him, T-Bone is free and superkicks him. Starr hits this really cool looking DDT to the apron, with T-Bone draped over the ropes from the inside. Starr tries going to the top, but gets caught with a draping DDT and a tombstone for 3. This was fine.

The Hooligans & Danny Hope vs Sha Samuels, Lionheart & Iestyn Rees

Odd deal this. The vast majority of this is a big brawl on the outside of the ring that’s pretty entertaining, highlighted by a big suicide dive by Roy Knight. They take nearly 5 minutes to reach the ring, which is when Rees and Hope make it there. They have a brief sequence, ending with Hope trying his own version of the Alpha Lock, getting hit by a Rees low blow and Rees getting his own Alpha Lock for the anti-climactic win. Very strange.

AR Fox vs Dezmond Xavier

Beyond vs CZW. This is the final match of the night, and as such you get the sense that they’re going out to steal the show, especially as they aren’t exactly the biggest names of the evening. This is a full on spotfest, and those live and die on how good the spots are. Well, the spots here are really fucking nuts. Fox hits a huge inverted somersault to the floor that just looks nuts, and Xavier flies out with an insane handspring somersault. These guys both look like they’re actually trying to hurt each other, with a minimum of superfluous flipping, whilst still hitting some bonkers stuff. I could really have done without the piss-poor strike exchange in the middle, but that aside, this was really fun. Xavier escaping an RKO attempt by just slipping out looked great – it looked like he was going down, but his head slips out at the last moment. Fox gets the win with a brainbuster, which oddly means CZW have lost all four of their matches on the show, which is odd. This was a worthy main event though.

ECW Hardcore TV #14 06/07/1993

Super Destroyers vs Richard Michaels & Johnny Hotbody

This has the added stipulation of the Destroyers putting their masks on the line vs the Suicide Blondes’ tag titles. The Destroyers control early doors, with one of them hitting a nice looking enzuigiri. Michaels hits a really shitty looking bulldog (looks like the Destroyer went down too late) to take over, and the energy really goes up when Hotbody gets in. I’m far from convinced that he’s a great wrestler or anything, but he always seems more motivated than the wrestlers around him. The ending here is terrible. A ref distraction allows Chris Candido to come out and swap places with Michaels (despite looking nothing alike – even down to the colour and length of their trunks), and this happens right in front of a Destroyer who does nothing. The other Destroyer rolls up Candido for an absurdly long cradle – the referee still being distracted – then when the ref turns round, he reapplies the cradle to Candido for the three count. So amateur.

Ivan Koloff vs The Sandman

I’m glad we live in a world where such an odd pairing happened. The early stages are spent on the mat, and are surprisingly not bad. Koloff is always one step ahead, but Sandman doesn’t look too bad. Sandman ups the tempo with a terrible crossbody. Koloff goes up top, but gets caught by the Sandman, who throws him off. Rockin’ Rebel comes out and hurls a green liquid in the eyes of Sandman’s manager, Peaches, but oddly this doesn’t play into the distraction finish. Instead, Sandman gets distracted by Vladimir Koloff on the opposite side of the ring and takes a weak knee to the back to give Ivan the win. This was a #1 contenders match, which is going to lead to a heel vs heel match with Koloff taking Muraco, assuming this goes ahead.

Dark Patriot, Eddie Gilbert & Don Muraco vs Glen Osbourne, Tommy Cairo & Larry Winters

The graphics announce an 8 man tag is coming next, but this is quite clearly only 6 men. We don’t exactly have the cream of the face workers in ECW here, but there is one great piece of schtick here, where the faces hold an armbar on Gilbert and swap places behind the refs back, infuriating Paul E Dangerously on commentary. Even better, Gilbert manages to tag Muraco, but because the ref was distracted by the faces, he doesn’t see it and refuses to let Muraco in. Nice, simple comedy spot. Also, Tommy Cairo hits a full-force shoulder block that looks terrific. As far as the heels go, the lazy offense or Muraco is really highlighted by how crisp the Dark Patriot is, as he finishes off Osbourne with a great diving shoulderblock for three.

Sal Bellomo vs Chris Candido

Hey, Bellomo hit a dropkick in the first few minutes here, might be the best looking thing he’s done in his ECW run. He then bites Candido’s arm to block a clothesline. He’s a like a hairy, shit Pete Dunne. The ref of the Blondes run in to cause a DQ, and we get a big brawl to close the show as the Super Destroyers make the save. In the melee, the Destroyers seemingly break Candido’s arm, which is the image we close the show on

WCW Beach Blast 1992

So, it turns out that I'm incapable of reading dates properly (blame the American date style on the WWE Network), and this event actually occurred before the Clash that I reviewed last year. (albeit only by 2 days). If you read that, just pretend you read this first...

Scotty Flamingo vs Brian Pillman

This is for Pillman’s light-heavyweight title, and is in that period where top rope moves were banned in WCW. Thus, this isn’t quite the highflying affair Pillman’s bouts with Liger or Zenk were. Instead, a lot of this is mat based, with Pillman in particular working over the arm of Flamingo. Indeed, it’s when he forgets the top rope rule that things go awry, as he goes up only to remember he can’t do anything and Flamingo throws him off. Flamingo’s control isn’t particularly flashy, and instead sees him trying to wear down Pillman. No danger of any face pops for Flamingo. Pillman seems to find it hard to make any comebacks, as Flamingo always seems able to cut him off. A snap powerslam and a handful of tights get a close nearfall for Scotty. Pillman does make a comeback, but crashes and burns as he tries a crossbody to the ramp, as Flamingo moves causing him to face plant on the walkway. This costs Pillman massively, as a shitty kneedrop catches him crawling back in and Flamingo picks up the clean title win. Bit of a shocker, but a decent bout. Going 15+ minutes was maybe a bit much for Flamingo, but they just about pulled it off.

Ron Simmons vs Taylor Made Man

Bit more of a sprint here, they cut a quick tempo from the off. A nice early sequence establishes both men’s role in the bout – Taylor throws Simmons through the ropes to the ramp by suckering him in and grabbing the tights, whilst Simmons is able to bounce back with his explosive power, press slamming Taylor back into the ring. This explosiveness does cost Simmons, however, as Taylor avoids a big charge, and Simmons flies through the ropes to the ramp. Taylor works some heat on Ron, but gets caught in a spinebuster, and from there is powerless to stop Simmons blitzing him with power moves, culminating in a powerslam for three. Quick little match, but one that told a decent story – Simmons was the explosive, stronger athlete that Taylor needed to use his cunning to beat, but when Simmons got on a roll, he was unstoppable.

Greg Valentine vs Marcus Bagwell

Nice competitive squash for Valentine, basically telling the story of grizzled veteran outsmarting and outworking the rookie. Valentine doesn’t go easy on the younger man, blocking a hiptoss with a clothesline that gives a nice thud. Bagwell gets a small flurry, but misses a kneedrop that gives Valentine a focal point for his offence. Valentine is all over the leg, setting up for the figure four. I liked the manner of Bagwell’s comeback, as rather than Valentine missing a move a Bagwell being fine, Bagwell is slow to recover and has to keep countering Valentine’s moves. However, Bagwell jars the leg on a leapfrog and Valentine locks in the figure four to win.

Cactus Jack vs Sting

Proper good brawl here, both guys go all out here with a real high tempo. Sting controls early on, but his excitable manner causes problems as he goes for a Stinger Splash too early, hitting the ropes as Jack moves. A lot of this match is fought on the floor, with a Jack neckbreaker giving a big thud and a sunset flip being a ludicrous bump. Like Jack locking in a body scissors to hurt Sting’s ribs, with the commentary highlighting how Sting had hurt his ribs fighting Vader. Sting’s comeback of a sudden back suplex on the concrete looked nasty, and it felt like a plausible desperation comeback. Jack misses a diving elbow, and Sting hits a diving clothesline to the ramp to win.

Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat

This is a 30 minute ironman bout, and it’s really fucking great. Steamboat hits Rude with a gutbuster from the get-go, and from that point on Rude is struggling with his ribs. Steamboat works over these ribs for the next 8 minutes, constant focus with some nice looking strikes and a really high angle Boston crab. Then, fantastically, Rude catches him with a knee to the face on a corner charge, and is able to pin him for the first fall. Just felt like a believable knockout blow and it changes the flow of the bout. Rude nails a quick Rude Awakening to go 2-0 up. Loved Rude hitting a top rope kneedrop, which earns him a DQ, but gives him an easy fall to go 3-1 ahead. Rude wisely goes to a Camel Clutch to kill off some time, the wrestling equivalent of a footballer playing the ball into the corner towards the end of a game. Rude goes for a tombstone, but Steamboat is able to reverse it and pick up a fall for 3-2. Great reversal, as Steamboat makes it look like a real struggle, forcing Rude backwards with his legs and powering into the reversal. Best I’ve seen that move look. Suddenly, Steamboat gets a backslide and evens up the falls 3-3. Both guys looks like they’re struggling at this point, every move feels like it could end the bout. A Steamboat attempt at the Rude Awakening sees Rude need to put his foot on the rope to survive. Rude locks on a sleeper, really good one as he forces Steamboat to hold his body weight for several minutes. Not a part of Rude’s body is touching the mat. Steamboat is almost gone with less than 90 seconds to go, but is able to get to his feet and we get the Hart/Piper reversal to give Steamboat the lead with less than a minute left. Rude is frantic, hitting repeat clotheslines to try and get an evener, but Steamboat survives and wins. Such a great ending, so exciting and that’s considering it’s a sleeper held for several minutes. Really terrific bout.

Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin & Arn Anderson vs Nikita Koloff, Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes

Fun 6 man tag, which provides a nice change of pace between two 30 minute matches. Ole Anderson is the referee here. The faces dominate the early goings – loved Windham’s Japanese armdrag from the turnbuckles, almost looked like a proto-Spanish Fly – until Arn rams Dustin’s head into Eaton’s to take control. Loved how this also put Eaton out of commission for a moment, meaning Arn had to tag in Austin. The heat on Dustin is predictably really solid, with a few hope spots nicely interspersed, but for the main Dustin is contained to the heels corner of the ring. Loved Arn stamping on Rhodes’ head, playing off the clash with Eaton. Dug the payback spot as Dustin rams Arn’s head into Eaton, which gives him a chance to come back. Hot tag is made to Windham, and it all breaks down. Windham hits the superplex, but Arn comes off the top rope to break it up, earning a DQ.

The Steiner Brothers vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy

This goes the full 30 minutes for the time limit draw, but takes you on quite the journey to get there. Real full on battle, with the early stages worked primarily on the mat. Jim Ross is keen to put over the collegiate background of the competitors to show why these are so closely fought. The Rick and Williams sections are nicely competitive, like watching two big bulls colliding. Rick hits a great overhead belly to belly and a lovely big clothesline. All four guys hit big suplexes, all of which looked good. Eventually, the MVC manage to isolate Scott Steiner and work over his leg (and this fits in nicely with the Clash two days later, where Scott's knee injury is really played up). Lovely little touches like Gordy holding Scott in a leglock whilst Williams keeps punching him in the knee. Even when Scott is crawling for the tag, they yank him back by the leg to further injure the leg. Rick eventually gets the hot tag, but his run of offence is brief before the MVC take over and now HE’s the FIP. The time limit is ticking closer, and with Scott out of action, it now feels like a case of seeing if Rick can survive to the time limit. With minutes remaining, Rick is able to escape the clutches of Doc and Gordy and make the tag to a recuperated Scott, who runs riot. He hits the Frankensteiner on Gordy, JUST as time expires. Really great match, built up nicely to an exciting ending.

WWF Raw 16/05/1994

Very brief episode of Raw this week. A lot of time is spent on the Earthquake/Yokozuna sumo bout which ends this broadcast. Couple of fun matches though...

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Sparky Plugg

Nothing makes a wrestler sound less threatening than Vince repeatedly referring to him as “Sparky”. I’ve not really enjoyed Bigelow on these old Raw’s, but this was pretty good. They worked a simple cat-and-mouse match, with the future Bob Holly using his speed to try and evade Bigelow. His hope spots are interspersed nicely, and I dug some of Bigelow’s offense here. His shots to the kidney with Holly trapped in the corner looked vicious. Plugg makes his comeback by avoiding a Bigelow corner charge, and hits a nice flurry of moves – bulldog, DDT, top rope crossbody – for two. Luna trips him as her runs the ropes, and this leaves him prone for a slingshot headbutt to give Bigelow the win. Best that both guys have looked in 94 thus far.

Diesel vs Mike Moraldo

Moraldo is a jobber with a thinning mullet, but he’s pretty fun here. Throws a few mean punches before letting Diesel hurl him over the top to the floor in a big bump. He also eats Snake Eyes with a big chest bump before the Jackknife gives Diesel the win.

Owen Hart vs Tony Roy

Owen looks great here, moving swiftly and with nice looking execution. His gutwrench suplex looks terrific. Loved Owen sitting back with a chinlock and having to be stopped by the ref from hitting Roy in the head with a clenched fist. Roy gets a brief flurry, but misses a dropkick and Owen immediately locks in the Sharpshooter to win. Loved Owen going straight to victory the moment he’s in the briefest trouble

TNA Bound For Glory 2016

I recorded this on my Sky+ Box back in November and, because I've got to make room for the 100+ unwatched episodes of Corrie I need to catch up on, I thought it best to get it watched.

Trevor Lee vs DJZ

This is for DJZ’s X Division title and does a pretty solid job of being a hot opener without being blowaway great. Lots of nice little touches, like Lee buying time by positioning himself behind the ref, preventing DJZ springboarding into the ring and allowing Lee to hit a big kick on the apron. They start slowly, but the pace starts to quicken and they take it in turns to hit some big dives in a fun spot; DJZ winning in the spectacular stakes. I did like the little underlying story of Lee constantly avoiding DJZ’s attempt at a rolling DDT, until DJZ is able to hit him with an insane Canadian Destroyer variant, leaving Lee loopy for the DDT and the DJZ victory.

10 Man Gauntlet

Winner of this gets a TNA World title shot whenever they want it. This was better than the previous years effort, which featured too much comedy and too many old guys running riot. Here, there were a few good underlying stories – Rockstar Spud trying his best to survive, scurrying around the ring and trying to strike up partnerships until his attempt to befriend Tyrus backfires. The Bromans have a fun brief face-off with the Tribunal and even a comedy spot of Grado getting thrown out right away makes sense as the heels spend too long mocking him, giving the faces time to recover. Jessie Godderz seems to hurt his hamstring, but still hits a boss springboard punch on Tyrus. Eli Drake picks up the win. This was fine.

Moose vs Mike Bennett

Wasn’t hugely taken with this. The omens are bad when Bennett looks to be falling short on a big flip dive, requiring Moose to hurry to catch him. I did enjoy Moose catching a Bennett crossbody and flinging him into a ringpost. There’s a brief moment where Bennett works the knee, but this lasts for a minute and is never referred to again. The end sequence just sees them taking it in turns to hit moves, before a rolling elbow wins it for Moose. Not great.

Eddie Edwards vs Aron Rex

This is the final of TNA’s tournament to crown their first Grand champion. The rules of the match are that there are 3 rounds of 5 minutes, with judges scoring each round. If there isn’t a winner after the three rounds, the judges scorecards will determine the winner.

So basically, we’re getting a 15 minute Damien Sandow match here, because you know the first title match is going to go to the limit to put over the gimmick. But you know what? This wasn’t bad. I had my doubts early on when Rex does a flip bump after Edwards hits an enzuigiri to the shoulder, but there was a fun little story running through this. Edwards takes the first round quite comfortably, showing more aggression, hitting a pair of nice dives and being in solid control when the round ends. The second round sees Rex having to up his game, knowing he’s a round down. Rex shows some nice aggression of his own here, hitting some vicious blows whilst holding Edwards in a headlock. Rex also goes after the knee of Edwards, which slows him down the rest of the match. At one point there’s a lighting issue, meaning TNA have to quickly put spotlights on both guys so the match can continue. When the light comes back, Edwards actually seems staggered for a few seconds, giving Rex the opening to avoid a top rope move. Don’t know if that was an audible, but it worked really well.

The scorecard is tied going into the final round, and Edwards is shown to have more guts than brains, hitting a top rope codebreaker with the bad knee, and jarring it when landing on his feet from the top. I did also like Edwards seeing a rolling elbow coming so, as soon as Rex completes his 360, Edwards levels him with a clothesline. As predicted, this goes the full 15, and Rex wins on the scorecards. This was a lot better than I’d have guessed.

The Broken Hardys (Matt, Jeff & Reby) vs Decay (Abyss, Crazzy Steve & Rosemary)

Aw man, I really feel like I’m going to get exposed as a grumpy old cynic, but this really was a load of old shit. Decay hitting a triple mist on Reby to take her out of the match both made sense (because she’s not a very good wrestler) and didn’t make sense (why wouldn’t they eliminate one of the actual threats to start?). This basically felt like a meaningless hardcore spotfest which everyone would shit over if it didn’t feature the Hardy Boys putting a terrible art-school level movie in the middle of it. I mean, Rosemary hits a coast-to-coast dropkick to send a dustbin into Matt’s face 3 minutes in, and it’s barely mentioned. There’s a long backstage film, where Abyss and Matt have a badly-lit, badly-shot brawl where Abyss’ punches still look like shit, whilst Jeff turns into some unbearable character after getting dowsed in water from the lake of rejuvenation. Things improve slightly back at the ring – liked Steve hitting a big cannonball into the steps on Jeff and Abyss chokeslamming his partner onto Matt looked good – but this was basically an average XPW match with some big stars pratting about, and it goes on and on for twenty minutes. By the time Jeff hits a swanton from a ladder to put Steve through a table to win, I was barely hanging on. This was rubbish.

Gail Kim vs Maria

This was only 5 minutes, but also felt like it went on too long. The story is that Maria is trying to get out of the match due to an injured arm, but her assistant Allie outs her by revealing the doctor had cleared her to compete. Maria instead blindsides Gail to start, but this feels like it should have been Gail making a comeback right away and pinning Maria for the belt. “Cowardly boss wins title and tries to avoid defending it” storylines should be paid off by the boss getting squashed, but here we get a few minutes of crap Maria offence (cracking spinebuster though, it has to be said), and then a messy finish involving Mike Bennett and Maria’s arm brace. Gail earns the win with Eat Defeat, but this wasn’t much fun.

Lashley vs EC3

In maybe the best moment of the show, Lashley spears EC3 out of the ring during his ring introduction, then stands in the middle of the ring posing whilst Jeremy Borash does HIS introduction. What a man. The story here is that EC3 has injured ribs already going into the match, but I actually wish they’d not mentioned that, as it makes his inconsistent selling feel more problematic. Liked EC3 getting the advantage outside the ring following a suicide dive, but Lashley hits a huge spinebuster on the ramp, then justs hurls EC3 up it towards the entrance. Both moves looked great. I like EC3, but he wasn’t great here – a few moves just came across as sloppy, especially a TKO on the stairs, and his rib selling becomes quite annoying when he does things like hit a frog splash – that would really hurt – and doesn’t acknowledge it. Lashley though, he’s a beast and looks like it, whilst at the same time being convincing enough in his selling to put EC3 over as a viable threat. That’s not always easy, but Lashley did that here. The end was pretty good, as EC3 tries to hit the 1%er off the top, but gets shoved down and bulldozed by a second rope spear to keep the TNA title on Lashley. 

WWE Main Event 27/05/2014

Cody Rhodes vs Curtis Axel

Pretty much the definition of a solid little match. Axel looks good here, takes his usual flip bump onto his head when Rhodes kicks his leg out, and has some nice intensity on offence. Axel never does anything fancy, but what he does looks good. Rhodes’s offence is a bit less impressive – he does both Goldust’s drop down punch and Bob Holly’s abdomen kick, but does it worse than both. Nice looking moonsault press though. Ryback distracts Rhodes, allowing Axel to hit a chopblock and roll up Cody to win.

R-Truth vs Damien Sandow

Sandow comes to the ring rapping, which is very much not hilarious. This is a lot shorter than the match they had on the previous Main Event, which is good, and this time they manage to make a victory roll look better. Sandow yelling “Put your hands in the air” before the Elbow of Disdain raised a smile, but Truth hits the Lie Detector from nowhere to win, and it looks a little bit shit. Not great.

Brie Bella vs Natalya

Well this was better than expected. The idea of a match starting with Brie Bella and Natalya working the mat sounds terrible, but it actually looked pretty good. I mean, it definitely felt like Natalya was walking Brie though it, but it was enjoyable. Brie’s running knees in the ropes looked a bit pony, but Natalya swiftly reverses a single leg crab to the sharpshooter and this ended up alright. Very short, but surprisingly fun.

The Usos vs Erick Rowan & Luke Harper

Less surprisingly, this is also a treat. Love the Usos using hit and run tactics against Rowan, the slower, less intelligent member of the opposing team. With Harper, they seem like they need to be more proactive in attack, knowing that he’ll be able to match them for pace (a dropkick out of nowhere catching Jimmy Uso proves that early doors), but against Rowan they stick and move. Of course, when Rowan does get them, it seems more devastating, with a fallaway slam sending Jey all the way outside the ring. Jey becomes FIP, which is a fun sequence of Wyatt offence, and things break down on the hot tag with all four guys in. A double dive by the Usos looks great, and I dug the ending where Jimmy looks to have Harper down and goes up top, but gets briefly distracted by Rowan slamming his brother into the ringpost. Though Jimmy is able to leap over a now-standing Harper, he walks right into a discus lariat for the win. Really good main event.

ECW Hardcore TV #13 29/06/1993

The Koloffs vs Herve Renesto & Glen Osbourne

The Koloffs consist of Ivan and his nephew Vladimir. This is quite possibly my favourite Osbourne match so far in his ECW run. Vladimir goes right after the arm of Renesto, and Ivan keeps it up, holding Herve up in the air with a bearhug, incorporating a hammerlock. Vlad has a nice belly-to-belly suplex, and an overhead hammerlock forces Renesto to submit. Osbourne never gets in.

Larry Winters vs Tony Stetson

Fun little brawl, and despite Winter’s having a few soft looking blows, he also isn’t afraid to lay in the chairshots. Loved that Stetson used an eyerake to take control, and then lays in some stiff shots. Stetson is swiftly becoming a highlight on Hardcore TV. Sadly, this is a shortly lived affair, as both end up pushing the referee in a melee, and both guys get disqualified. The locker room has to empty to keep both guys in line. Best I’ve seen from Winter so far, Stetson brought the best out of him.

Jimmy Snuka vs Tommy Cairo

Solid, if pretty pedestrian stuff, but far from the worst Snuka match in ECW. Snuka hitting a high leg lariat looked pretty decent. Cairo always seems pretty watchable, and he made Snuka look good here. The end did Cairo no favours though, as he gets tripped by Don Muraco and then has to lie dead on the floor for ages whilst Snuka hits the Superfly splash. Really made Cairo look weak.

Sal Bellomo vs Richard Michaels

Michaels is another guy who seems pretty decent, but is done no favours by being paired with Sal. I did enjoy Bellomo breaking Michaels’s run of control with a simple eyepoke. There’s an odd spot where Michaels sticks a chocolate bar in Bellomo’s mouth, and Bellomo regain control and returns the favour. Michaels takes some big bumps to make Sal look decent, and I dug him flying over the top rope to get caught in an out-of-ring Tree of Woe after a missed butt-butt. Michaels tries to pin Sal with his feet on the ropes, but gets caught by the ref. In a poetic irony, Sal pins Michaels and puts HIS feet on the ropes to win. I appreciate the attempt to push Bellomo as a likable crafty cheating vet, but he’s still a woeful wrestler.