Saturday, January 28, 2006

WWE Smackdown! 12/09/05

1. Rey Mysterio vs. J.B.L. – 3
This started off good and I had little complaints. This continued until Orlando Jordan interfered, which probably saved this match from deteriorating.

2. Joey Mercury vs. Super Crazy – 5
This was pretty good. There were some unbelievable sequences, and Crazy looked solid. This was decent, and then there was some interference afterwards that I quickly forgot.

3. Boogeyman vs. Ray Gordy – 2
Is this Terry Gordy’s son? I hope not. This was your basic squash… plus worms. As Boogeyman was covering Gordy, he drilled him in the face with his forearm and left it there as he pinned him.

4. Chris Benoit vs. Booker T – 7
Unnecessary ref bump is the first flaw. There was lots of energy in this one, although it got awfully sloppy in parts. Booker botched a spot, and ended up tackling a charging Benoit into the corner awkwardly. This had good intensity, but was too short, and lastly, Benoit bled a little.

5. Lashley vs. William Regal – 4
This was pretty stiff, and Regal took it to Lashley more than anyone else has thus far. It wasn’t bad for a squash.

6. JBL and Orlando Jordan vs. Rey Mysterio and Batista
This started off pretty uncertain, but the second-half wasn't until Jillian interfered. Then JBL “tripped” and left. Batista’s powerbomb was explosive.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

WWE Smackdown- 12/09/05

1 JBL v. Rey Mysterio- 3
2 Joey Mercury v. Super Crazy- 5
3 Ray Gordy v. Boogeyman- 1
4 Chris Benoit v. Booker T- 6
5 Lashley v. William Regal- 3
6 JBL/ Orlando Jordan v. Rey Mysterio/ Batista- 5
This edition didn't have much to speak of. Benoit and Booker had an excellent match, despite one botched spinebuster in the corner. 2 squashes, that included worm guts, and 2! 2 JBL matches; this certainly was a Christmas gift come early, so why do I feel this sooty, coal taste in my mouth. Could have been Aunt Linda's Pumpkin pie.

WWE Smackdown- UK- Nov. 05

1 Booker T v. Chris Benoit- 6
2 The Dicks v. Road Warrior Animal/ Heidenreich- 3
3 Mr. Kennedy v. Matt Hardy- 5
4 Christy Hemme v. Melina- 2
5 Nunzio v. Juventud- 3
6 Regal/ Burchill v. Rey Mysterio/ JBL- 1
7 Orlando Jordan v. Lashley- 1
8 Batista v. Randy Orton- Street Fight- 0
The show started off on a high note, with a highly competitive match, and only got worse from there. The last three "matches" weren't even that. I have to say this was a poorly put together show that isn't deserving of much mention.

Slam Bam – Episode 3 (DVD)

1. Tyson Dux and El Tornado vs. Hacker and Gutter – 5
2. Pierre Carl Oulette vs. Kevin Steen vs. El Generico – 6
3. D-Lo Brown vs. Sinn – 3
4. Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Balls Mahoney – Falls Count Anywhere, No DQ Match – 3
5. AJ Styles vs. Red – 4

I got this DVD on sale as a birthday gift to fellow RTW wrestling writer Jessie. It featured talent and matches from a wide range of federations, and overall, wasn’t so bad. I had low expectations for the opening tag match, but it actually had the basics of a quality tag match, and was superior to most of the tag stuff I’ve seen by either W.W.E. or T.N.A. lately. The best match of the DVD featured Pierre Carl Oulette (or PCO, as dubbed by his rabid fans) in a three-way. You may remember Oulette from his W.W.F. stint, as one-half of the Quebecers, and later in a pirate gimmick. He looked very impressive, as did his opponents. Although, with a character like El Generico, nobody will ever take you too seriously. Sinn looked like shit, and he and D-Lo had a lousy match. The Balls versus Bam Bam hardcore fiasco was tame by E.C.W. comparison, and lacked effort or entertainment. Lastly, Styles and Red had a poor match. I like both these guys, but in this match, everything looked so damn choreographed and unreal. I’m talking more choreographed than Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I couldn’t get into it no matter how hard I tried.

WWF Royal Rumble 1990

1) The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. The Bushwhackers – 5
2) Brutus Beefcake vs. The Genius – 3
3) Submission Match: Greg “The Hammer” Valentine vs. Rugged Ronnie Garvin - 6
4) The Big Boss Man vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan - 4
5) Royal Rumble Match - 6

This was actually a decent show with some very solid wrestling. The Rougeaus and The Bushwhackers compete in a surprisingly good tag match, and that’s a stretch for the idiots from New Zealand. Somehow, they were incredibly over with the fans even though combined they had fewer moves than Hogan. Beefcake and Genius was pure garbage. It did nothing but to set up Beefcake vs. Perfect at WrestleMania. The submission match was very stiff and featured some very skilled mat wrestling. When you get two skilled technicians together such as Valentine and Garvin, you’re bound to get a very solid bout. The same can’t be said, however, for the Jim Duggan vs. Boss Man match. While the character of the Bossman evolved with the times, as is evident in his second WWF tenure, Duggan’s character never did. Duggan has had portrayed the same idiotic character with bad interviews and even worse wrestling for the last 25 years. Hey Duggan, for all of us, just give it up already.

Now that I’m done burying Jim Duggan, we can move on … or not. This event also featured an edition of The Brother Love Show with guest Dusty Rhodes. There wasn’t much to it as it was there merely as a tool to advance the Rhodes/Savage storyline and set up the big mixed tag team match for WrestleMania VI. Now, since that’s out of the way, let’s press on and look at the Rumble match itself. Since this was before the time that the winner got a title shot, it had a lot of high profile names such as Hulk Hogan, Ultimate Warrior, Ted DiBiase, and Andre the Giant. DiBiase had a marvelous outing in which he lasted a good 40 minutes before being eliminated. Overall, the match itself was very well booked and had a good pace to it. Overall, aside from the Brother Love segment and the Brutus Beefcake match, the entire show was very well done.

Monday, January 16, 2006

TNA- Best of X Division- Disc 2

1 AJ Styles v. Christopher Daniels v. Ron Killings v. Elix Skipper- Ultimate X Match- 6
2 Chris Sabin v. Shocker v. Sonjay Dutt v. Matt Bently- Xscape Match- 6
3 AJ Styles v. Sean Waltman- 7
4 Samoa Joe v. Chris Sabin- 7
5 XXX v. Sonjay Dutt/ Amazing Red- 4
6 AJ Styles v. Alex Shelly v. Kid Kash v. Amazing Red v. Frankie Kazarian v. Chris Sabin- 5

This featured some good matches, but was not the best the X-Division has produced. The title is a bit misleading. Waltman had one of his best matches in years, even though he still managed to look stoned during it ,and Sabin vs. Joe had everything you could want in a match, including crazy spots to the floor.

TNA Best of the X Division – Disc #2

1. AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Ron “The Truth” Killings vs. “Prime Time” Elix Skipper – Ultimate X Challenge Match – 6
This was a weird concept match that was a tag team bout, then once Killings got pinned, a three-way, then lastly a one-on-one Ultimate X match. For the record, I think it’s a lame concept. Killings is energy personified. Highlights include Styles killing himself and Daniels looking well. There were some definite blown spots. Styles and Daniels were the last two remaining, and they kept almost reaching the X, before they’d both topple off to the mat. This happened at least three times, and looked weak; psychologically, it was a decent idea, but it was executed poorly. The ending had Styles retrieve the X, only for the ref to be unconscious, and Daniels to steal it and the victory.

2. Chris Sabin vs. Matt Bentley vs. Sonjay Dutt vs. Shocker – Xscape Match – 6
There was some really solid stuff in this cage match. Bentley is arguably the weakest link. The ending interference, including a Trinity moonsault from the top of the cage sucked. The finish, featuring Sabin and one of the other guys both simultaneously failing out of the cage wasn’t that cool. Overall, this was better than I’d remembered it being.

3. AJ Styles vs. Sean Waltman – 7
I thought this was really damn good. The finish with Sean arguing with Jerry Lynn was not so hot. AJ made Waltman step up his game, and the end result was an enjoyable match.

4. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Sabin – 7
This was just awesome. I was surprised Joe didn’t squash him completely.

5. Jerry Lynn interview
This was a pretty interesting interview that ran at least 12 minutes. The highlights, for me at least, included him saying Juvie was a poor worker who hurt people in the ring, and how, growing up, Lynn watched all the wrestling he could and absorbed it all.

DVD Bonus Matches:

6. Sonjay Dutt and Amazing Red vs. Triple X – 5
This was a pretty quick TV match. There wasn’t a lot showcased.

7. AJ Styles vs. Alex Shelley vs. Chris Sabin vs. Frankie Kazarian vs. Kid Kash vs. Amazing Red – 4
This wasn’t good. There were 6 guys, and it only lasted… 6 minutes? This could have been so much better—truly a waste.

WCW Greed

1) Jason Jett vs. Kwee Wee – 4
2) Rey Mysterio Jr. & Billy Kidman vs. Elix Skipper & Kid Romeo - 7
3) Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Shawn Stasiak - 4
4) Lance Storm & Mike Awesome vs. Hugh Morrus & Konnan – 4
5) Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Shane Helms – 6
6) Sean O’Haire & Chuck Palumbo vs. Lex Luger & Buff Bagwell - 1
7) Chris Kanyon vs. The Cat - 5
8) Rick Steiner vs. Booker T – 4
9) Ric Flair & Jeff Jarrett vs. Dusty Rhodes & Dustin Rhodes - 5
10) Diamond Dallas Page vs. Scott Steiner – 6

While nothing notable happened on this show it pretty much blew their previous pay-per-view blunders right out of the water. The opener, which was apparently added at the very last minute, wasn’t anything special but was still a pretty solid match. The match of the night had to be the Cruiserweight Tag Team Title match. All four guys put on an incredible match that managed to revive the cruiserweight division that Vince Russo had destroyed with his bare hands during his tenure. Stasiak vs. Bigelow was a nothing match that didn’t have much of a story going into it besides Stasiak thinking that Bigelow was ugly (gotta love those creative geniuses in WCW). You could tell that Bigelow was getting up there in years. Storm and Awesome made the tag match tolerable but that’s just because I’ve never been a fan of either Hugh Morrus or Konnan. Closing out the first half of the show was another solid cruiserweight match which featured Helms upsetting Chavo for the belt.

Let me stop here for a moment and talk about the team of Palumbo and O’Haire. These two were probably the best homegrown tag team that WCW ever put together. They had power, speed, and amazing agility for men of their size. Let me put it this way, O’Haire is 6’7” and does a better swanton than Jeff Hardy ever dreamed of. Seriously, when was the last time you saw a 6’7” guy leave his feet for an offensive maneuver … brother. Now that I’ve finished building these guys up, they pretty much beat the holy living crap out of Luger and Bagwell. Honestly, that doesn’t amaze me because after the dawn of the new millennium, both guys were pretty much worthless. Wait, Bagwell has been worthless since about 1997. Never mind about that then. You wanna know the sad part? Luger’s promo before the match was about twice as long as the actual match itself.

The next three bouts featured some decent wrestling and not much else as Kanyon and Booker manage to eek good performances out of The Cat and Rick Steiner, both of whom were, and still are, largely untalented grapplers. The tag match that featured Flair and Jarrett vs. Dusty & Dustin Rhodes was only there so they could say that they did Flair vs. Rhodes on pay-per-view. The main event was actually a pleasant surprise and not a complete waste of time like I had feared. DDP has a quality outing and manages to get some mobility out of Scott Steiner who is so big at this point, he probably can’t bend over to wipe his ass.

As much as I’ve ragged on some of the wrestlers on this card, to be fair it wasn’t terrible and is probably one of the top ten best pay-per-views that WCW ever did. It featured high quality cruiserweight action, a pretty good undercard, and of course some ring legends such as Flair, Rhodes, and Bigelow. The only thing I have left to say is that if you want to see this, then good luck finding a copy because they are extremely hard to come by. Lastly, let me leave you with a trivia question. Who were the four individuals to appear on WCW’s first pay-per-view show (Starrcade 1987) and WCW’s last pay-per-view show?

Friday, January 13, 2006

WWE Smackdown! Special – 11/29/05

1. Booker T vs. Chris Benoit – 7
2. Big Show vs. Rey Mysterio – 5

This was filmed just thirty minutes from my apartment in Cincinnati, OH. This “special” one-hour edition of Smackdown! featured two, for the most part, stellar matches. Benoit and Booker went the distance; Benoit did a suicide dive outside the ring but only connected with the floor in one of my favorite moments, in a tight and satisfying match. There was a lot of stalling and preposterous logic in the Rey versus Big Show match, and any semblance of decency was thrown out when the ending was marred by heavy interference and story.

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Wrestling Gold: Vol.1- Busted Open

1 Sherri Martel v. Judy Martin- 2
2 Shawn Michaels v. Ken Johnson- 4
3 Gino Hernandez/ Tully Blanchard v. The Grapplers- 6
4 Gino Hernandez v. Tully Blanchard- 6
5 Bob Orton jr. v. Adrian Adonis- 7
6 Bruiser Brody v. Abdullah the Butcher- 4
7 Larry Zybyszko v. Scott Casey- 4
8 Jerry Lawler v. Bob Sweetan- 2

The majority of this video was highly enjoyable for me. Everything Tully did always had a feeling of high professionalism for me and I found I still enjoy watching his work today. The Orton- Adonis match was the kind of match you don't see ever today. They worked scientific reversals for nearly the whole thing, but what I liked about it is that they each tried to dissect the other, figuring out what was working and what wasn't as the match went on. It was a treat. The Lawler- Sweetan match was pure stalling, and that should have been hard to do seeing as how there is a Zybyszko match on here. I think it's important for all wrestling fans to go back and watch some old matches and old workers to really get a sense of seeing how the business has evolved and what things have stayed the same. I had a good time viewing this. (Editor's Note: There were a couple other matches on this DVD but I accidently broke it before we could finish it. - Bri)

WWE Raw – 10/17/05

1. Big Show vs. Edge - 4
2. Carlito vs. Shawn Michaels - 6
3. Victoria, Candace, and Torri vs. Mickey James, Trish Status, and Ashley - 2
4. 18 Man Battle Royal - 4

Edge and Show should never be allowed in the same ring together again. Carlito and Michaels worked together nicely, but Michaels, playing the face in peril the whole match, never really shined. The women’s match was dog shit, and I’ve already forgot the entire battle royal.

Friday, January 6, 2006

WWE Amargeddeon- 12/15/02

Bonus match: Kurt Angle v. Chris Benoit v. Edge v. Eddie Guerrero- 6
PPV
1 Dudley Boyz v. Lance Storm/ William Regal v. Goldust/ Booker T v. Chris Jericho/ Christian- 3
2 Edge v. A-Train- 5
3 Eddie Guerrero v. Chris Benoit- 6
4 Kane v. Batista- 2
5 Trish Stratus v. Victoria v. Jacqueline- 3
6 Big Show v. Kurt Angle- 4
7 Shawn Michaels v. HHH- 3 Stages of Hell- 3

This show lacked any fire at all. The 4 corners tag was a huge messy mural of bad communication. Edge and Train worked decently for a few minutes until a bad finish brought down the score. Chavo Guerrero interfering in a perfectly good match hurt Eddie v. Benoit. The Kane-Batista affair was ill-prepared and a bad match up; neither man had a clue what to do with the other. The women's was short and uneventful. Angle v. Show had Brock interference, and finally, the main event took garbage wrestling to a new low. This was not the HBK I wanted to see, using a flaming barbed wire board and doing lame trash can spots 2 minutes in. This show was a poor excuse for the world's greatest wrestling company last ppv of the year.

WWE Heat - 11/25/05

1. Carlito vs. Taylor Phoenix - 4
2. Snitsky and Tyson Tomko vs. Brandon T. and Chris Chaos - 4
3. Lance Cade vs. Viscera – 4

This edition of Heat was filmed somewhere in Great Britain, and you can see it most distinctively in the uncharacteristically caustic and wily bumping of Phoenix, Brandon T., and Chaos. The British style of wrestling is just a different breed altogether. Carlito pummels Phoenix for about 5 minutes, and the tag team match is a very quick squash—but the context of the matches, featuring foreign talent, makes them worthwhile. The main event isn’t anything special, as Cade does his best in a negligible performance against Viscera.

HWA War Games 2005

1) Matt Dillenger vs. Rory Fox - 6
2) Danny Daniels vs. “Metalhead” Steve Stone - 2
3) 80-Man Two-Ring Battle Royal - 4
4) Nigel McGuinness & Matt Stryker vs. T.J. Dalton & Tyler Dunning - 4
5) Blindfold Match: Ala Hussein vs. “High IQ” Quinten Lee - 1
6) Four Way HWA Tag Team Title Scramble Match: Ben Kimera & Brian Jennings vs. Ric Byrne & Aaron Williams vs. Brad Smith & Ganger vs. Déjà Vu & Andre Heart - 5
7) Triple Threat Match: Brian Beech vs. Tack vs. Dick Rick - 6
8) War Games Rules Elimination Match: Chad Allegra, Matt Parks, Ryan Stone, Jesse Hyde, & Roger Ruffin (Team NWF) vs. Pepper Parks, Cody Hawk, Crazy J, Matt Dillenger, & Lotus (Team HWA) – 7


This was the third year for HWA’s yearly War Games spectacular. I’ve been to all three shows and this one was by far the best show with the hottest crowd. The first bout of the evening was to determine the fifth member of Team HWA in the main event. Dillenger bled buckets after a vile chair shot right in front of where I was sitting. They set the tone for the night with a solid outing. Daniels vs. Stone was pure crap from some promotion out of Lima. The match sucked ass but the fans were so damn entertaining that I laughed until I cried. The battle royal involved some of the most worthless looking wrestlers, and I’m using that term rather loosely, I’ve ever seen in my life. I almost expected Withers to be in there. Oh … wait, he was … last year, and promptly got his ass handed to him. That being said, the following tag match was basically Stryker and McGuinness taking the rookies to school. By the way, I’ve said this before, the Matt Stryker on this show is the real one and not that goof who shows up on WWE television every week.

The second half of the show kicked off with one of the shittiest blindfold matches in history. Mind you, I’m not the world’s biggest fan on blindfold matches to begin with but this one set the standard for horrific matches. It was so horrific, that I bailed and hit up the concession stand. The scramble match was nothing but a big brawl around the coliseum with Déjà Vu pulling a New Jack and diving off the balcony onto the remaining seven combatants. The triple threat match was probably the best overall match of the evening as all three guys busted their ass. The main event was insanely good this year. Granted the ring action may have not been up to WWE’s or even TNA’s standards, but the crowd of about 150-200 people, were soundly divided over who was the better company. There were people chanting “H-W-A” or “N-W-F”, so naturally I started and “E-C-W” chant.

War Games is usually the biggest show HWA puts on the whole year and if you feel like going to it, you’ll have made the right decision. For $10, you can’t really get much better than this. I’d recommend going to HWAonline.com and shelling out $15 to purchase the War Games 2003 DVD and/or this show when it’s made available. Just avoid the 2004 show at all costs.

Sunday, January 1, 2006

TNA Impact – 11/26/05

1. Monty Brown vs. Helvis – 1
2. Chris Sabin vs. AJ Styles – 6
3. Abyss vs. Jeff Hardy – 3
4. Kip James vs. Jeff Jarrett - 4

The opening squash lasts about 30 seconds, and is still a complete waste of your time. Sabin and Styles do what they normally do, and do it well; there seemed to be a little apprehensiveness shown, I chalked it up to them both being so familiar with being the good guy in a match, and not structuring around that. Abyss and Hardy was a disappointment—even their signature spots came off looking repugnant. The main event was a lousy brawl; my opinion is Jarrett likes to do these brawls outside of the ring, because it requires little talent or skill, gets cheap crowd heat, and masks his declining level of work.