Davey Richards vs Colt Cabana
Even in an opener against a comedy wrestler Davey has to get in his stupid signature OTT dive that barely grazes his opponent. This was a pretty solid opener though, and better than the usual Richards affair as he wasn't trying to put on a five billion star MOTY for socially depraved ROHbot workrate marks to splooge over. Colt looked good, selling the arm-work effectively and hitting the insane Tyler Reks firemans carry drop thing on the turnbuckle. They built to some nice nearfalls and I'll give Richards some credit, the final combo of the tornado DDT>falcon arrow>arm-breaker was cool and the arm-work actually played into the finish.
Steve Corino vs Mike Bennett vs Kyle O'Riley vs Grizzly Redwood
Holy shit does Kyle O'Riley fucking suck. The dude is maybe the biggest "generic indy kicker" cliche I've ever seen and for a generic indy kicker his kicks and strikes are Chikara-level feeble and he cranks the blandness up to 11. I enjoyed Corino and the way he played his character of a guy turning face and trying to fight his heel-ish tendencies, but there was nothing to see here.
El Generico vs Michael Elgin
This was really awesome. Both guys do their thing and what they do compliments each other well. Generico makes the the high-flying and getting wailed on, and Elgin mauls him. Elgin is a fucking beast, and his selling was terrific - all of Generico's low-end offence like chops and elbows merely phased him and never took him off his feet, but he made the big spots look big. The guy is also crazy powerful, not just with the force he puts behind his strikes, but he had some great power spots like countering a Tornado DDT on the oustide into a powerslam into the fucking gaurdrail and powerbombing Generico with Martini on his shoulders. The finish was also really effective at making both guys look legit. I'll be surprised if this isn't a top 5 ROH Match for the year.
Roderick Strong vs Homicide (Street Fight)
This wasn't good. They did two big spots, Strong getting rammed into four chairs in sucession and a DDT through a table, neither of which were really anything too exciting. Everything else was pretty weak. The street fight gimmick felt tacked on solely so they could have a bunch of bullshit with Martini interfering, which detracted bigtime. No blood or anything you actually want to see from a Homicide street fight, and Roddy's suplex-backbreaker is the sort of bush league MOVEZ shit you'd expect out of a 2003 CZW undercard.
The Kings Of Wrestling vs The All Night Express
Why ROH ran this with ANX as the faces is beyond me, when anyone can see the KoW are way more popular and both are better at working as faces. This didn't blow me away, but was still probably the career match of the ANX so far. Kings working over Titus was boring filler, but King had probably the best performance of is career. He was pretty good off the hot tag and his flashy athletic shit actually added to the match, and the SSP was a great big match spot. The finishing run was pretty decent, but still you never get the sense that ANX were going to win.
Christopher Daniels vs Eddie Edwards (2/3 Falls)
Whoever booked this to go to a 30 minute draw really needs to be fired. This was decent at points, there were some stiff shots and couple of good spots, but man, this was two guys who have no business working a lengthy match doing just that. Edwards is a good wrestler - great strikes, some cool spots, great dive and sold the neck work in a way that hindered him, but really no one is having a great 30 minute match with Daniels the same way no one is having a great 30 minute match with Kotaro Suzuki.
The Briscoe Brothers vs Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team
This was really underwhelming. It was solid, and not really bad, but most of these big ROH/Briscoes tags feel like the guys are just killing time until the nearfalls section at the end. But even with that, the finishing run of this wasnt nearly as crazy or exciting as you would hope for between these teams and the finish came off really flat. This should have been a brawl instead of another generic indy dream match. Briscoes can brawl, Haas can brawl, Benjamin can't really brawl but can atleast hit some big highspots. Oh, and Benjamin still having to get his leaping superplex spot into every match in 2011 is just absurd.
Best Of 2011
The Wrestling Bucket
Sunday 27 February 2011
Friday 25 February 2011
Superstars & Smackdown
Chris Masters vs Tyler Reks, Superstars 2/24
This was much much better than their last match thanks to a much better Reks performance. Both men were really fired up and motivated, both men hit hard and smashed into each other a lot, and I loved the struggle over the finish with Reks blocking, then Masters getting in a knee to the ribs to help him lock in the Masterlock.
Daniel Bryan vs Ted DiBiase, Superstars 2/24
Didnt think much of this. Bryan is always going to fun to watch, but he was pretty much just going through his trademark spots here (his trademarks are all pretty great, but still), and DiBiase once again brought fuck all to the table. I did like the cobra clutch suplex, though.
Rey Mysterio vs Kane, Smackdown 2/25
This was alright. Kane on offence was mostly just a lot of overly long restholds, and him trying to hit his diving lariat on a borderline midget was just retarded, but it had it's moments. Kane ducking a Mysterio senton then leveling him with a boot on the outside was neat, and Rey's comebacks were all full of energy and spirited. I also liked the finish with Rey countering a counter and it looking like he scored an upset. Post-match angle with Cody and Dusty was spectacular and Cody taking Rey's mask was fucking epic.
The Big Show vs Wade Barrett, Smackdown 2/25
This another case of Wade being carried to a decent match by a quality opponent. Show was great wailing on Wade earlier on, and his selling of the sleeper was great. He did a really good job making Wade look like a threat and him working his way back work pure force on the punches and chops was cool. Count-out finish was better than Wade losing clean, and the post-match also ruled.
This was much much better than their last match thanks to a much better Reks performance. Both men were really fired up and motivated, both men hit hard and smashed into each other a lot, and I loved the struggle over the finish with Reks blocking, then Masters getting in a knee to the ribs to help him lock in the Masterlock.
Daniel Bryan vs Ted DiBiase, Superstars 2/24
Didnt think much of this. Bryan is always going to fun to watch, but he was pretty much just going through his trademark spots here (his trademarks are all pretty great, but still), and DiBiase once again brought fuck all to the table. I did like the cobra clutch suplex, though.
Rey Mysterio vs Kane, Smackdown 2/25
This was alright. Kane on offence was mostly just a lot of overly long restholds, and him trying to hit his diving lariat on a borderline midget was just retarded, but it had it's moments. Kane ducking a Mysterio senton then leveling him with a boot on the outside was neat, and Rey's comebacks were all full of energy and spirited. I also liked the finish with Rey countering a counter and it looking like he scored an upset. Post-match angle with Cody and Dusty was spectacular and Cody taking Rey's mask was fucking epic.
The Big Show vs Wade Barrett, Smackdown 2/25
This another case of Wade being carried to a decent match by a quality opponent. Show was great wailing on Wade earlier on, and his selling of the sleeper was great. He did a really good job making Wade look like a threat and him working his way back work pure force on the punches and chops was cool. Count-out finish was better than Wade losing clean, and the post-match also ruled.
Monday 21 February 2011
WWE Elimination Chamber
Alberto Del Rio vs Kofi Kingston
This was pretty mediocre but got good right at the very end. Most of the match was nothing, Del Rio's control segment was just him sitting in a body-scissor for 2 minutes and once again half of Kofi's stuff barely even connects. Still, this was pretty well paced at the end, and the struggle over the finish was really great, both dramatic and putting over the arm-breaker bigtime.
Edge vs Rey Mysterio vs The Big Show vs Drew McIntyre vs Wade Barrett vs Kane (Elimination Chamber)
This wasn't perfect by any stretch, but there was far more good than bad. Rey was mostly playing ragdoll, and he is a guy who can get thrown about and will kill himself on bumps. I also loved his constant sneaky headbutts through the match. Edge and Wade added nothing of value, but Kane was actually good in this, and came off looking like a legit monster. Show was also great for the short period he was in, just dismantling Wade, and eating a tonne of offence made him look like he was a fucking giant. I was dissapointed at how quickly Drew was eliminated, but Jesus fucking Christ did he raise hell when he was unleashed, just fucking up the worlds of everyone in his way. Finishing run between Edge and Rey wasn't as good as the '09 iteration, as they relied more on doing a tonne of finishers than epic selling/timing, but was still as good of wrestling as you will see from Edge these days.
Santino Marrella/Vladimir Kozlov vs The Corre
Piss break match. Pass.
The Miz vs Jerry Lawler
This may not have had the workrate or spots the Chambers had, but more than made up for it with pure story-telling and emotion. Right from the bell the crowd were extremely vocal and behind Lawler. Lawler instantly going for roll-ups was a real veteran move, and his punches looked great. Riley getting ejected, Lawler throwing Miz into Cole and Lawler looking up at the Wrestlemania sign before the Fist Drop were all epic moments. I would have liked to have seen Lawler hit the piledriver, and a vintage Lawler comeback with Miz pounding him only for the strap to come down, but this was still great and my pick for WWE MOTY.
John Cena vs CM Punk vs Randy Orton vs Sheamus vs John Morrison vs R-Truth (Elimination Chamber)
Like the SD Chamber this was far from perfect, but the positives outweighed the negatives. Truth's inclusion was a waste, and Orton and Cena didn't do anything worth talking about. Punk's re-start was a nice idea but executed really badly, but Punk was utterly fantastic and easily the star of the match. The guy just exudes a larger than life charisma (his mocking of Orton was epic) and hit all of his spots just at the right time. Morrison's parqour/crazy spots gimmick is made for matches like this, and his big spot on Sheamus and spiderman shit was a little mind-blowing. His selling of the leg was also shockingly great, which to me is more impressive than the spots and shows his growth as a worker. WWE's insistance on running these overdone gimmick matches whilest banning blading is really stupid, if this had had blood it would have probably been a high MOTYC.
Best Of 2011
This was pretty mediocre but got good right at the very end. Most of the match was nothing, Del Rio's control segment was just him sitting in a body-scissor for 2 minutes and once again half of Kofi's stuff barely even connects. Still, this was pretty well paced at the end, and the struggle over the finish was really great, both dramatic and putting over the arm-breaker bigtime.
Edge vs Rey Mysterio vs The Big Show vs Drew McIntyre vs Wade Barrett vs Kane (Elimination Chamber)
This wasn't perfect by any stretch, but there was far more good than bad. Rey was mostly playing ragdoll, and he is a guy who can get thrown about and will kill himself on bumps. I also loved his constant sneaky headbutts through the match. Edge and Wade added nothing of value, but Kane was actually good in this, and came off looking like a legit monster. Show was also great for the short period he was in, just dismantling Wade, and eating a tonne of offence made him look like he was a fucking giant. I was dissapointed at how quickly Drew was eliminated, but Jesus fucking Christ did he raise hell when he was unleashed, just fucking up the worlds of everyone in his way. Finishing run between Edge and Rey wasn't as good as the '09 iteration, as they relied more on doing a tonne of finishers than epic selling/timing, but was still as good of wrestling as you will see from Edge these days.
Santino Marrella/Vladimir Kozlov vs The Corre
Piss break match. Pass.
The Miz vs Jerry Lawler
This may not have had the workrate or spots the Chambers had, but more than made up for it with pure story-telling and emotion. Right from the bell the crowd were extremely vocal and behind Lawler. Lawler instantly going for roll-ups was a real veteran move, and his punches looked great. Riley getting ejected, Lawler throwing Miz into Cole and Lawler looking up at the Wrestlemania sign before the Fist Drop were all epic moments. I would have liked to have seen Lawler hit the piledriver, and a vintage Lawler comeback with Miz pounding him only for the strap to come down, but this was still great and my pick for WWE MOTY.
John Cena vs CM Punk vs Randy Orton vs Sheamus vs John Morrison vs R-Truth (Elimination Chamber)
Like the SD Chamber this was far from perfect, but the positives outweighed the negatives. Truth's inclusion was a waste, and Orton and Cena didn't do anything worth talking about. Punk's re-start was a nice idea but executed really badly, but Punk was utterly fantastic and easily the star of the match. The guy just exudes a larger than life charisma (his mocking of Orton was epic) and hit all of his spots just at the right time. Morrison's parqour/crazy spots gimmick is made for matches like this, and his big spot on Sheamus and spiderman shit was a little mind-blowing. His selling of the leg was also shockingly great, which to me is more impressive than the spots and shows his growth as a worker. WWE's insistance on running these overdone gimmick matches whilest banning blading is really stupid, if this had had blood it would have probably been a high MOTYC.
Best Of 2011
Friday 18 February 2011
WWE TV 2/14-2/18
John Cena vs CM Punk, RAW 2/14
This was another really fun match between the two if not anything blowaway. Punk was on-fire here, just kicking the fuck out of Cena and even punching him square in the face at one point. Cena's comeback routine is really predictable and old hat at this point, but his power spots never fail to be impressive. Because of how much Punk was able to dominate the match, the dirty finish still felt like as decisive of a win as Punk will get over Cena.
The Miz vs Daniel Bryan, RAW 2/14
This was pretty great TV wrestling for the time it got. Miz's facial expressions and begging off were fantastic and he bumped bigtime Evan Bourne-style for Bryan's big spots. Bryan was also excellent, great stiff kicks, the flying knee was sick and his woozy dead-on-his-legs sell to set up the finish was just awesome. Great example of how a heel can go over clean but keep the challenger looking strong because of how much he pushed him. Only problem I had was the placement of the ad break. We leave with the brutally awesome neckbreaker apron spot and come back to Bryan kicking the dogshit out of Miz. Stuff like that makes you feel you are missing a big part of the match.
Chris Masters vs Tyler Reks, Superstars 2/17
This was solid but not even half as good as their match from the end of last year. Unlike that match, Reks brought pretty much nothing to this and it was a total one man show that was just Masters doing his thing. All of his facial expressions and selling were real nice, and his comeback had an explosive energy to it (including another awesome Sky High) despite the dead crowd.
The Uso's vs Yoshi Tatsu/David Hart Smith, Superstars 2/17
This was pretty bad. Uso's had a couple of nice double teams but otherwise are amazingly dull when in control. Hart's powerbomb was sweet but man alive was he goofy as fuck. The fuck was with that dance?
John Cena/Rey Mysterio/Randy Orton/Edge/John Morrison/R-Truth vs CM Punk/Kane/Sheamus/Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre/Wade Barrett, Smackdown 2/18
This was the sort of match where everyone just tags in for a few minutes, does some stuff and tags out again. No real structure to it outside Rey working a part as FIP and no one spotlighted effectively. Ziggler's counter to the Starship Pain and Punk kneeing Rey in the gut as he got tossed out the ring were the highlights, and Rey is always great as FIP. End run with everyone hitting their finishers was telegraphed as fuck, with everyone just watching on the apron until it was their turn.
The Miz vs Kofi Kingston, Smackdown 2/18
Jesus Christ Kofi has some of the worst looking kicks I've seen in a WWE ring. Kofi is just the shits - horseshit indy "innovative" moveset, laughable attempts at intensity and amazingly bad execution. Pretty much everything he does looks like it barely even connects. He is utterly interchangable with any random CZW junior, and now in the leagues of Davey Richards and Edge as a guy I will actively try to avoid watching. Miz was fine but no one is having a good match with this goof.
This was another really fun match between the two if not anything blowaway. Punk was on-fire here, just kicking the fuck out of Cena and even punching him square in the face at one point. Cena's comeback routine is really predictable and old hat at this point, but his power spots never fail to be impressive. Because of how much Punk was able to dominate the match, the dirty finish still felt like as decisive of a win as Punk will get over Cena.
The Miz vs Daniel Bryan, RAW 2/14
This was pretty great TV wrestling for the time it got. Miz's facial expressions and begging off were fantastic and he bumped bigtime Evan Bourne-style for Bryan's big spots. Bryan was also excellent, great stiff kicks, the flying knee was sick and his woozy dead-on-his-legs sell to set up the finish was just awesome. Great example of how a heel can go over clean but keep the challenger looking strong because of how much he pushed him. Only problem I had was the placement of the ad break. We leave with the brutally awesome neckbreaker apron spot and come back to Bryan kicking the dogshit out of Miz. Stuff like that makes you feel you are missing a big part of the match.
Chris Masters vs Tyler Reks, Superstars 2/17
This was solid but not even half as good as their match from the end of last year. Unlike that match, Reks brought pretty much nothing to this and it was a total one man show that was just Masters doing his thing. All of his facial expressions and selling were real nice, and his comeback had an explosive energy to it (including another awesome Sky High) despite the dead crowd.
The Uso's vs Yoshi Tatsu/David Hart Smith, Superstars 2/17
This was pretty bad. Uso's had a couple of nice double teams but otherwise are amazingly dull when in control. Hart's powerbomb was sweet but man alive was he goofy as fuck. The fuck was with that dance?
John Cena/Rey Mysterio/Randy Orton/Edge/John Morrison/R-Truth vs CM Punk/Kane/Sheamus/Dolph Ziggler/Drew McIntyre/Wade Barrett, Smackdown 2/18
This was the sort of match where everyone just tags in for a few minutes, does some stuff and tags out again. No real structure to it outside Rey working a part as FIP and no one spotlighted effectively. Ziggler's counter to the Starship Pain and Punk kneeing Rey in the gut as he got tossed out the ring were the highlights, and Rey is always great as FIP. End run with everyone hitting their finishers was telegraphed as fuck, with everyone just watching on the apron until it was their turn.
The Miz vs Kofi Kingston, Smackdown 2/18
Jesus Christ Kofi has some of the worst looking kicks I've seen in a WWE ring. Kofi is just the shits - horseshit indy "innovative" moveset, laughable attempts at intensity and amazingly bad execution. Pretty much everything he does looks like it barely even connects. He is utterly interchangable with any random CZW junior, and now in the leagues of Davey Richards and Edge as a guy I will actively try to avoid watching. Miz was fine but no one is having a good match with this goof.
Wednesday 16 February 2011
Generico vs Kingston, Chikara 1/23
El Generico vs Eddie Kingston, Chikara "Chaos In The Sea Of Lost Souls"
I am a big fan of both guys but found this to be underwhelming. Kingston is best served as working as an underdog or a bully, and tends to be mediocre when working the middle ground of a match between two equals such as this. This was a really dry indy dream match affair. There were some hard shots dished out by both guys, but also some really visibly fluffed stuff like Generico's yakuza kick on the apron missing by a country mile. The final five minutes were pretty decent with Kingston overwhelming Generico, leading to him eating a brutal brainbuster on the apron (one of the biggest bumps Kingston has ever taken?) and a hot count-out nearfall, but everything before it was dull. Kingston's pre-match promo was pretty great, though.
I am a big fan of both guys but found this to be underwhelming. Kingston is best served as working as an underdog or a bully, and tends to be mediocre when working the middle ground of a match between two equals such as this. This was a really dry indy dream match affair. There were some hard shots dished out by both guys, but also some really visibly fluffed stuff like Generico's yakuza kick on the apron missing by a country mile. The final five minutes were pretty decent with Kingston overwhelming Generico, leading to him eating a brutal brainbuster on the apron (one of the biggest bumps Kingston has ever taken?) and a hot count-out nearfall, but everything before it was dull. Kingston's pre-match promo was pretty great, though.
Monday 14 February 2011
TNA Against All Odds
TNA might be the single worst promotion to ever have a TV deal, but every now and then I check out a PPV, moreso for the "point and laugh" hilarity than optimism, but this is a show that has Jarrett vs Angle (a match I enjoyed in 2009) and the PPV return of STEINER, so I atleast had some hopes going in.
Kazarian vs Robbie E
Robbie is like the worst possible Zack Ryder knock-off; a Jersey Shore gimmick is a idea that lives or dies on how believable it is, and Robbie is pretty bad charicature. The character change in Kaz going from heel to fan favourite is not sublte in the slightest and is jarring even to someone barely watches the product. The match was a fine opening act, but nothing more.
Backstage STEINER is DRINKING BEER. Rob Terry has NO COORDINATION. Beer Money also talk and it is good.
SCOTT STEINER/Beer Money vs Rob Terry/Gunner/Murphy
Man thats a lot of steroids in one ring. How often is it Steiner is not the most roided guy in a match? The heel team looks like they weigh more than an entire Chikara YLC first round, but are just as green. I've never been a Roode fan, but he looked like a star in this match. Great off the hot tag, and him and Storm were great at getting at working the crowd. Also I lost my shit for the FRANKENSTEINER.
Samoa Joe vs The Pope
Wow watching modern day Joe is fucking depressing. Pope stalls for like 5 minutes before getting blocked by a HG impersonator who looks like he could have been one of the ninjas who kidnapped Joe (which would not suprise me). Joe's offence is more Edge than Tenryu, Pope is totally unineresting in every way. The finish was an interesting way of having a face win in totally unsatisfying manner. This was not good.
Madison Rayne vs Mickie James (Last Knockout Standing)
Several months on and Mickie James's music is still as hilarious as ever. This was supposed to be taken seriously as a feud ender and both chicks turn up in fucking fancy dress. This was standard divas wrestling, i.e. pretty shitty, but I did get a kick out of Madison fluffing the finish and forgetting the rules.
Hey, Hernandez is back! He's working an angry minority schtick... by appealing to the latino demographic in the crowd. Facepalm.
Matt Hardy vs Rob Van Dam
This was also on the dull side of town. Hardy has lost some weight and still executes his stuff well but fuck is he a shell of his former self. He may have lost weight but he still moves around like a slug, missed moonsault bump or not. RVD sucks so fucking bad too. Just because your spots were cool or "innovative" in 1997 doesn't mean you can still run through them in every match 14 years later. No one gives a fuck about seeing a spinning legdrop or Rolling Thunder in 2011.
Bully Ray vs Brother Devon (Street Fight)
For two out of shape old guys, this was a surprisngly fun brawl for what it was. All the stuff with Devon's sons was perfectly fine, and they added a lot more than the countless celebs TNA have used over the years. Major props to Devon, who was totally convincing in his role, and the post-match was EVIL and makes YOU want to see Devon get his hands on Ray. Of all the talent to book in a compelling way, it's Team 3D. Oh but the finish of the match still made no sense so there is that.
Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett
For a match built with such a personal angle both men sure looked like they didn't give a shit during this. 15 minutes in and nothing notable happens I am wondering where is the HATE? Ray vs Devon looked like a fight with both guys beating each other up, this was wrestled like any other wrestling match with no emotion. Final thrid was typical Angle stuff with random ankle lock counters and predictable heatless finisher kickouts. Some bullshit with Karen and the ref including a ref bump that happened purely for the sake of filling time and this was just a massive sack of fail. Comparing two matches with similar premises, this wasn't half as good as Ray vs Devon.
Mr. Anderson vs Jeff Hardy (Ladder Match)
Holy fuck is Anderson awful at cutting promos. It is pretty grim when the top babyface comes off as more of an unsufferable douchebag than his heel challenger, especially when that challenger is Jeff Hardy. This was an example of ladder matches at their worst, a dull spotfest where they move from spot to spot and the spots aren't worth watching. Hardy obviously doesn't care anymore and just turns up for the paycheck, and the botched finish was really bad and noticeable. They botched the finish to the PPV main event.
TNA still sucks.
Kazarian vs Robbie E
Robbie is like the worst possible Zack Ryder knock-off; a Jersey Shore gimmick is a idea that lives or dies on how believable it is, and Robbie is pretty bad charicature. The character change in Kaz going from heel to fan favourite is not sublte in the slightest and is jarring even to someone barely watches the product. The match was a fine opening act, but nothing more.
Backstage STEINER is DRINKING BEER. Rob Terry has NO COORDINATION. Beer Money also talk and it is good.
SCOTT STEINER/Beer Money vs Rob Terry/Gunner/Murphy
Man thats a lot of steroids in one ring. How often is it Steiner is not the most roided guy in a match? The heel team looks like they weigh more than an entire Chikara YLC first round, but are just as green. I've never been a Roode fan, but he looked like a star in this match. Great off the hot tag, and him and Storm were great at getting at working the crowd. Also I lost my shit for the FRANKENSTEINER.
Samoa Joe vs The Pope
Wow watching modern day Joe is fucking depressing. Pope stalls for like 5 minutes before getting blocked by a HG impersonator who looks like he could have been one of the ninjas who kidnapped Joe (which would not suprise me). Joe's offence is more Edge than Tenryu, Pope is totally unineresting in every way. The finish was an interesting way of having a face win in totally unsatisfying manner. This was not good.
Madison Rayne vs Mickie James (Last Knockout Standing)
Several months on and Mickie James's music is still as hilarious as ever. This was supposed to be taken seriously as a feud ender and both chicks turn up in fucking fancy dress. This was standard divas wrestling, i.e. pretty shitty, but I did get a kick out of Madison fluffing the finish and forgetting the rules.
Hey, Hernandez is back! He's working an angry minority schtick... by appealing to the latino demographic in the crowd. Facepalm.
Matt Hardy vs Rob Van Dam
This was also on the dull side of town. Hardy has lost some weight and still executes his stuff well but fuck is he a shell of his former self. He may have lost weight but he still moves around like a slug, missed moonsault bump or not. RVD sucks so fucking bad too. Just because your spots were cool or "innovative" in 1997 doesn't mean you can still run through them in every match 14 years later. No one gives a fuck about seeing a spinning legdrop or Rolling Thunder in 2011.
Bully Ray vs Brother Devon (Street Fight)
For two out of shape old guys, this was a surprisngly fun brawl for what it was. All the stuff with Devon's sons was perfectly fine, and they added a lot more than the countless celebs TNA have used over the years. Major props to Devon, who was totally convincing in his role, and the post-match was EVIL and makes YOU want to see Devon get his hands on Ray. Of all the talent to book in a compelling way, it's Team 3D. Oh but the finish of the match still made no sense so there is that.
Kurt Angle vs Jeff Jarrett
For a match built with such a personal angle both men sure looked like they didn't give a shit during this. 15 minutes in and nothing notable happens I am wondering where is the HATE? Ray vs Devon looked like a fight with both guys beating each other up, this was wrestled like any other wrestling match with no emotion. Final thrid was typical Angle stuff with random ankle lock counters and predictable heatless finisher kickouts. Some bullshit with Karen and the ref including a ref bump that happened purely for the sake of filling time and this was just a massive sack of fail. Comparing two matches with similar premises, this wasn't half as good as Ray vs Devon.
Mr. Anderson vs Jeff Hardy (Ladder Match)
Holy fuck is Anderson awful at cutting promos. It is pretty grim when the top babyface comes off as more of an unsufferable douchebag than his heel challenger, especially when that challenger is Jeff Hardy. This was an example of ladder matches at their worst, a dull spotfest where they move from spot to spot and the spots aren't worth watching. Hardy obviously doesn't care anymore and just turns up for the paycheck, and the botched finish was really bad and noticeable. They botched the finish to the PPV main event.
TNA still sucks.
Friday 11 February 2011
WWE TV 2/7-2/11
R-Truth vs Mason Ryan, RAW 2/7
Am commenting on this purely to say it's a frontrunner for most commically bad match of the year. Ryan looked unfit to work dark matches let alone TV, but Truth was the real highlight.
Jack Swagger vs Trent Barretta, Superstars 2/10
This was alright for such a short squash match, but for a Superstars main event you wish it'd go longer. I liked the set-up to the finish with Swagger ducking the enziguri on one knee though.
Drew McIntyre vs Chris Masters, Smackdown 2/11
This was tragically short but fuck the three minutes this went was pretty great. Both guys hit hard, Drew got ridiculous air when launched into that spinebuster and the finish with Masters powering out the backslide and Drew countering to the finish was fucking rad.
Rey Mysterio vs Wade Barratt, Smackdown 2/11
This was a good match and maybe even the best mach of Wade's career to date. Rey was his usual self, really slick offence and taking a couple of nasty bumps, but the best thing about this was how well paced it was. All of Rey's comeback attempts and Wade's cut-offs were well placed. Post-match events with Show running in and the Zeke beatdown was great shit. I am stoked for Show vs Zeke.
Am commenting on this purely to say it's a frontrunner for most commically bad match of the year. Ryan looked unfit to work dark matches let alone TV, but Truth was the real highlight.
Jack Swagger vs Trent Barretta, Superstars 2/10
This was alright for such a short squash match, but for a Superstars main event you wish it'd go longer. I liked the set-up to the finish with Swagger ducking the enziguri on one knee though.
Drew McIntyre vs Chris Masters, Smackdown 2/11
This was tragically short but fuck the three minutes this went was pretty great. Both guys hit hard, Drew got ridiculous air when launched into that spinebuster and the finish with Masters powering out the backslide and Drew countering to the finish was fucking rad.
Rey Mysterio vs Wade Barratt, Smackdown 2/11
This was a good match and maybe even the best mach of Wade's career to date. Rey was his usual self, really slick offence and taking a couple of nasty bumps, but the best thing about this was how well paced it was. All of Rey's comeback attempts and Wade's cut-offs were well placed. Post-match events with Show running in and the Zeke beatdown was great shit. I am stoked for Show vs Zeke.
Thursday 10 February 2011
NOAH 1/29
Kensuke Sasaki/Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Takeshi Morishima/Shuhei Taniguchi, NOAH 1/29
Kind of a sad state of affairs when this match happens and Taniguchi is the best guy in it. He still looked green-ish, but atleast showed lots of fire and was motivated, and even dished out some meaty elbows. The rest of his offence looks really clumsy or weak though, which is a problem for a guy trying to be a "powerhouse". Sasaki and Nakajima totally phoned in it, and Morishima was pretty much a non-factor.
Jun Akiyama/Yoshihiro Takayama/Bison Smith vs Takashi Sugiura/Naomichi Marufuji/Atsushi Aoki, NOAH 1/29
This was also really underwhelming. Most of the match was built around Aoki taking a beating and trying to hang with the big boys, and these sections were good but not anything truly stand-out. The beating wasn't big enough, and he didn't have the crowd support. Everything else outside that was painfully average and uninteresting.
Kotaro Suzuki vs Eddie Edwards, NOAH 1/29
Another stupidly long drawn out juniors "epic". Edwards throws some really great chops, which made the striking exchanges worthwhile and exciting, but really that is like less than 10% of a 30 minute match and everything else was dull and forgettable outside one or two big spots. Will be interesting to see how many snowflakes the mongoloid ROHbots give it.
Kind of a sad state of affairs when this match happens and Taniguchi is the best guy in it. He still looked green-ish, but atleast showed lots of fire and was motivated, and even dished out some meaty elbows. The rest of his offence looks really clumsy or weak though, which is a problem for a guy trying to be a "powerhouse". Sasaki and Nakajima totally phoned in it, and Morishima was pretty much a non-factor.
Jun Akiyama/Yoshihiro Takayama/Bison Smith vs Takashi Sugiura/Naomichi Marufuji/Atsushi Aoki, NOAH 1/29
This was also really underwhelming. Most of the match was built around Aoki taking a beating and trying to hang with the big boys, and these sections were good but not anything truly stand-out. The beating wasn't big enough, and he didn't have the crowd support. Everything else outside that was painfully average and uninteresting.
Kotaro Suzuki vs Eddie Edwards, NOAH 1/29
Another stupidly long drawn out juniors "epic". Edwards throws some really great chops, which made the striking exchanges worthwhile and exciting, but really that is like less than 10% of a 30 minute match and everything else was dull and forgettable outside one or two big spots. Will be interesting to see how many snowflakes the mongoloid ROHbots give it.
Wednesday 9 February 2011
CMLL Does Japan (The Meeting of the Mediocre)
Jushin Liger vs La Sombra, NJ 1/22 (2/3 Falls)
Ummmm they wrestled and did some stuff... but nothing really actually happened here. Just a totally average, forgettable match. CMLL style singles matches rarely deliver, and this was the same despite Korakuen. I will say I thought Sombra did a good job getting the fans into the match and I liked his submissions in the third fall, and Liger's selling made all of the nearfalls believable and dramatic. But that is really all that can be said for this.
Tiger Mask IV vs Tomohiro Ishii, NJ 1/23 (Mask vs Hair)
Almost certainly the dullest "brawl" you will see this year. Neither guy gave the impression this was a mask vs hair match at all.
Mistico vs Averno, NJ 1/23 (2/3 Falls)
Mistico has some really nice spots that get good crowd reactions, but I get the feeling they are the sort of thing he does every match in CMLL, but the crowd (and me) had the benefit of not seeing it over and over all the time. I particularly liked his bullet tope. There was pretty much nothing else in this though, so I'd struggle to call it average, even by low standards for exhibition spotfests.
Ummmm they wrestled and did some stuff... but nothing really actually happened here. Just a totally average, forgettable match. CMLL style singles matches rarely deliver, and this was the same despite Korakuen. I will say I thought Sombra did a good job getting the fans into the match and I liked his submissions in the third fall, and Liger's selling made all of the nearfalls believable and dramatic. But that is really all that can be said for this.
Tiger Mask IV vs Tomohiro Ishii, NJ 1/23 (Mask vs Hair)
Almost certainly the dullest "brawl" you will see this year. Neither guy gave the impression this was a mask vs hair match at all.
Mistico vs Averno, NJ 1/23 (2/3 Falls)
Mistico has some really nice spots that get good crowd reactions, but I get the feeling they are the sort of thing he does every match in CMLL, but the crowd (and me) had the benefit of not seeing it over and over all the time. I particularly liked his bullet tope. There was pretty much nothing else in this though, so I'd struggle to call it average, even by low standards for exhibition spotfests.
Sunday 6 February 2011
Sekimoto vs Hidaka, New Years Day
Daisuke Sekimoto vs Ikuto Hidaka, Zero-ONE 1/1
This was really, really long, and really, really dull. This was a near 30 minute match, and the first half of it was entirely forgettable and uninteresting. After a while Hidaka targets Sekimoto's leg, but Sek never sells it and it never leads to anything dramatic. Much like last year's show, this had a unbearably bad crowd at Korakeun, and unlike Kawada/Sekimoto, the ring-work wasn't interesting enough to compensate. The match does pick up in the final third when it seems like they actually start trying, but by that point I had all but lost interest. Sekimoto may be a heavy, but this felt like another trite lengthy puro juniors "epic".
This was really, really long, and really, really dull. This was a near 30 minute match, and the first half of it was entirely forgettable and uninteresting. After a while Hidaka targets Sekimoto's leg, but Sek never sells it and it never leads to anything dramatic. Much like last year's show, this had a unbearably bad crowd at Korakeun, and unlike Kawada/Sekimoto, the ring-work wasn't interesting enough to compensate. The match does pick up in the final third when it seems like they actually start trying, but by that point I had all but lost interest. Sekimoto may be a heavy, but this felt like another trite lengthy puro juniors "epic".
Tuesday 1 February 2011
This Week's WWE
RAW Rumble, RAW 1/31
This was considerably better than the actual RR. Cena was real good in this and full of energy, and the double lift on Morrison and Truth was impressive. Morrison's gymnastics/parquor schtick has made him so much better as a wrestler and adds so much to his matches of late where he comes up with all sorts of crazy counters and escapes that are not only cool looking but logical for his character. He still overshoots his finisher by a fucking mile though, so there is that. Truth was awful and his botch of the skin-the-cat was embarrassing. The Punk/Orton stuff was a fun way of building their feud. The part with Sheamus, Cena and Morrison all fighting on the apron was great and probably more dramatic than anything in the actual RR. Lawler winning was a great surprise and really interesting booking move, and I am amped for him getting a PPV title shot.
Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston, Smackdown 2/4
This solid but kind of bleh. It was perfectly acceptable wrestling most of the way, though I thought this was maybe Drew's weakest outing of the year. Kofi's comeback was pretty laughable as he can't pull off anger and the superman punch was just kind of silly. Drew was also way out of position on the Boom Boom legdrop. Meh.
Rey Mysterio vs Jack Swagger, Smackdown 2/4
This was much better. The difference between Swagger and Angle is that Swagger will actually work his opponents leg before the Ankle Lock rather than randomly going for it during the finishing run of his matches, and I liked the set-up to it here with him knocking Rey off the ropes as he attempted a dive. Also enjoyed Swagger casually beeating down Rey on the outside and posing. Rey's DDT was a great comeback spot and Swagger drove himself into it, and I liked Rey swiching it up for the finish with a roll-up that wasn't flukey.
This was considerably better than the actual RR. Cena was real good in this and full of energy, and the double lift on Morrison and Truth was impressive. Morrison's gymnastics/parquor schtick has made him so much better as a wrestler and adds so much to his matches of late where he comes up with all sorts of crazy counters and escapes that are not only cool looking but logical for his character. He still overshoots his finisher by a fucking mile though, so there is that. Truth was awful and his botch of the skin-the-cat was embarrassing. The Punk/Orton stuff was a fun way of building their feud. The part with Sheamus, Cena and Morrison all fighting on the apron was great and probably more dramatic than anything in the actual RR. Lawler winning was a great surprise and really interesting booking move, and I am amped for him getting a PPV title shot.
Drew McIntyre vs Kofi Kingston, Smackdown 2/4
This solid but kind of bleh. It was perfectly acceptable wrestling most of the way, though I thought this was maybe Drew's weakest outing of the year. Kofi's comeback was pretty laughable as he can't pull off anger and the superman punch was just kind of silly. Drew was also way out of position on the Boom Boom legdrop. Meh.
Rey Mysterio vs Jack Swagger, Smackdown 2/4
This was much better. The difference between Swagger and Angle is that Swagger will actually work his opponents leg before the Ankle Lock rather than randomly going for it during the finishing run of his matches, and I liked the set-up to it here with him knocking Rey off the ropes as he attempted a dive. Also enjoyed Swagger casually beeating down Rey on the outside and posing. Rey's DDT was a great comeback spot and Swagger drove himself into it, and I liked Rey swiching it up for the finish with a roll-up that wasn't flukey.
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