WWE Raw – 09/05/05

1. Eugene vs. Kurt Angle – 5
2. Heartthrobs vs. Viscera and Val Venis – 5
3. Matt Hardy vs. Snitsky – 3
4. John Cena vs. Tyson Tomko – 5
5. Torrie Wilson vs. Ashley – 1
6. Shelton Benjamin vs. Rob Conway – 4
7. Rosey and Hurricane vs. Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch – 5

WWE Smackdown 9/01/05

1 Heidenreich v. Joey Mercury- these guys looked so Lost they should have been on a tropical island with 41 other passengers and then found a secret quarantined hatch in the ground where a foreign runner lived, waiting for "him" of course if they were that Lost, they'd have better ratings- 2

2 Chris Benoit v. Orlando Jordan- another quick squash, Benoit should do a skit where we see if we can change the channel quicker than he can beat Jordan- 1
3 Christy Hemme v. Stacy Keibler- no match- 0

4 Booker T v. Ken Kennedy- decent action, Kennedy needs a lot of work, but has some enthusiasm, stiff finish- 4

5 Simon Dean v. Batisita- squash, comedy, stiff- 1

6 William Regal/ Paul Burchill v. Funaki/ Scotty 2 Hotty- the Brits had good teamwork, they did some of that nasty British stuff, no, not that stuff, you sick minded readers!- 4

7 Randy Orton v. Rey Mysterio- Orton is going to go far, he can work, Mysterio still lives under his glass ceiling, they had some great spots, but I'm tired of old Orton getting involved, can't anyone retired just sit home and collect checks? They all have to find part time jobs, didn't get to see the end of this one

BPW @ The Butler County Fair - 7/26/05

1) Lotus & Crazy J vs. Carlton Kaz & Fabulous Frederick - 3
I’ve seen Lotus & Crazy J in some good matches, specifically with the HWA, but this was just terrible. Maybe just because it was so blasted hot outside but this match just blew terribly. Couple of blown spots really killed any momentum Lotus and Crazy had going in. What about their opposition? Yeah, they sucked too.

2) Nigel McGuinness vs. Chad Collyer (pinfall) - 4
Better than the previous match but still not what you would call a quality encounter. Some good technical stuff but nothing to write home about. Nigel goes over and Collyer goes home. Next debauchery please!

The ring announcer shamelessly plugs the next BPW event.

3) Mongo def. Mr. Reality Check - 0
Yep, the first ever match I’ve given the big goose egg to. For those of you who haven’t seen this Mongo character (and be glad you haven’t), imagine a really fat, completely untalented guy dressed in dark jungle fatigues with a silly mask. Yep, it sucked. This one made me wish for a thunderstorm to wash this whole thing away.

Intermission time. Shark Boy, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, and other sign autographs as I get a bottle of water and a bag of chips. So far, that’s been the highlight of the show.

4) Matt Stryker vs. Shawn Osborne - 5
By the way, the Matt Stryker involved in this one is not the WWE goof whom I refer to as Matt Martel. Standard fare from Stryker who has a quality work ethic and is always a pleasure to talk with after a show.

5) Koko B. Ware vs. Greg “The Hammer” Valentine - 2
I would’ve liked to seen this one … in 1987!!! Unfortunately, these guys are merely a shell of their former selves as they stumbled through a really terrible match. Koko tells the super small crowd that Frankie, his beloved bird, burnt up in a house fire recently. My group starts a “Frank-ie, Frank-ie” chant.

6) Six Man Elimination Tag Match: Shark Boy, Spyder Nate Webb, & Abyss vs. The Shooting Stars & Cody Hawk - 5
Yes, you read that right, two TNA stars make an appearance here. Shark Boy, who runs this here federation and Abyss, from what I’ve been told once wrestled in this area. Webb, who is pretty much X-Pac with talent, works the crowd during his entrance. The Stars are green as a garden hose in this one so I’m not expecting a lot out of them. Hawk is the BPW Champion and has had some wars with Stryker in the HWA and is one of the best talents this area has to offer. I was able to get down close to the ring following the show and when TNA calls Abyss a monster, that’s no shit. He’s huge! Semi-decent main event. Not great in terms of ring work but good in terms of name value, especially on the face side. Abyss pins Hawk at the end to put himself over as a threat to the BPW Title. All I can say is that thank God this show is over.

Best of L.O.D. – Disc #1 extras

1. 06/11/83 – Road Warriors vs. Joe Young & Randy Barber – 2
2. 08/07/83 – Road Warriors vs. Arn Anderson and Paul Jones – 1
3. 08/28/83 – Road Warriors vs. Brisco Brothers – Texas Tornado Match – 4
4. 12/03/83 – Road Warriors vs. Mike Jackson & Stone – 2
5. 08/25/84 – Road Warriors vs. Crusher and Baron Von Raschke – 5

The matches on the first disc of this retrospective are extremely poor quality. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to see this old footage in pristine DVD quality video; and it’s a joy to see some pieces of history and watch legends in-action. But three of these matches are complete squashes, and the two actual matches are fun to check out, but L.O.D. are completely green still at this point.

WWE Velocity- 07/30/05

Well, it's been a while since I reviewed any wrestling in a typed format, and a lot of things have changed. Well, I don't mean HHH isn't on top, that hasn't changed. The world around us has though, and gas being so expensive doesn't make it easy to get to and fro to use a computer, but I'm making the best of it.

1 Paul London v. Nunzio- London isn't afraid of using basic mat wrestling and has a terrific armdrag; well, he shouldn't be, because he's on Velocity and no one's watching. London wrestles great on the fly, which is a useful tool in the industry and Nunzio seems to be struggling a little to keep up. London totally gives himself to his opponent on defense, which is very admirable and has a lot of innovative offense. He hit his shooting star finish to perfection, he is leagues beyond Kidman in his prime. 6

2 Funaki v. Kazarian- Funaki possesses so many great skills, unfortunately none of them will make him a big star, Kazarian is very innovative, but some times to the point where his moves just look bad, not sure if he meant to, but he worked Funaki's neck, folded him once with a sick suplex that was straight from Japan, good match- 5

3 MNM v. Scotty Sabre/ Steven Lee- no chance for offense from the jobbers, devastating finish move, MNM have good team work- 2

4 Hardcore Holly v. Simon Dean- I find Dean interestingly funny, call me crazy, Holly's hand are pure leather, Dean seems to find Holly's limitations midway through the match and Holly's getting pretty surly in his old age, they have some obvious set ups and Holly's dropkick has lost it's luster, this match started unraveling towards the end- 3

TNA Unbreakable '05

1. Cassidy Riley vs. Jarrell Clark – 2
2. Mikey Batts vs. Shark Boy – 4
3. Diamonds in the Rough vs. 3 Live Kru – 3
4. Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries – 6
5. Lance Hoyt and Apollo vs. Kip James and Monty Brown – 5
6. Petey Williams vs. Chris Sabin – 7
7. Abyss vs. Sabu – 6
8. Booby Roode vs. Jeff Hardy – 4
9. The Naturals vs. A.M.W. vs. Alex Shelley vs. Team Canada – 6
10. Rhino vs. Raven – 5
11. AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe vs. Chris Daniels – 9

This was a fantastic pay-per-view. The pre-show matches were filler fare. R.O.H. mainstays Strong and Aries had a nice bout. I was surprised to enjoy the Hoyt/Apollo versus James/Brown tag match as much as I did. Williams and Sabin had a very solid match, and then Abyss and Sabu (although relying on garbage spots) pulled us in even more so. Roode and Hardy had arguably the most disappointing match of the evening, it had absolutely no story nor build. The four-team (Sean Waltman was supposed to be Shelly’s partner but didn’t show) match was worked well, although it felt a bit long at certain points. Rhino and Raven’s World title match was a little lackluster, there was some brutal spots, but it wasn’t memorable. The main event, featuring three of the best talents in the USA, did not disappoint. There was everything you could want from a match; intensity, high flying, submissions, reversals, and a solid finish. These guys really earned a standing ovation by pulling out all the stops and putting on a hell of a show.

WWF Backlash 2002

1) Yoshihiro Tajiri vs. Billy Kidman - 6
Super stiff kicks by Tajiri and great moves by Kidman make this a watchable match. When these guys first came into the WWF, they were given a decent push and fought over the newly introduced cruiserweight title. Just for the record, this is when Vince gave a shit about the cruiserweights. Now, they’re regulated to opening match slots on Velocity. Probably one of the better cruiserweight matches under the WWF/WWE banner. It makes me want to scream when I see what has recently happened to the division.

2) Scott Hall vs. Bradshaw - 4
Nothing really much to say about this one. Hall seemed to have lost a bit since his glory days of Razor Ramon. I’ll give him credit, he didn’t look too awful. Not a bad match. Seemed to be a bit longer than it needed to be. By now Vince’s version of the n.W.o. was pretty much dead and they were involved in second-rate feuds.

3) Jazz vs. Trish Stratus - 4
Trish beat Molly on Raw to set this one up. Molly came out before the match, cut a promo, and beat up Trish. Jazz just pretty much finished what Molly started. Once again, a division that has seen better days. But not a bad match, overall. Jazz retains after Molly beat up Trish before the match.

4) Brock Lesnar vs. Jeff Hardy - 3
This was Brock’s pay-per-view debut. I never really was a Lesnar fan, but I’ll give him credit, he could actually move in the ring unlike most people his size. Teddy Long was the ref for this one. Just thought I’d throw that out there. Brock pretty much uses Jeff as a punching bag. Hardy would be gone in less than a year and Lesnar would be champion in less than six months.

5) Kurt Angle vs. Edge - 6
So far this hasn’t been a bad show. This has the makings of a quality match. Now, I’ve never really been a fan of either of these guys so to say I was pleased by this one would be a safe conclusion. Angle actually carries Edge to a good match. Lots and lots of near falls and actually … gasp … wrestling! Good match that closes out the first half of the show nicely. These two would square off again at the next pay-per-view in a hair vs. hair match.

Chris Jericho Promo
Jericho comes out to rant and rave about how he was in the main event at WrestleMania and now he doesn’t even have a match. He has a valid point. Nice little rant by Jericho, who can be great on the mic when he wants to be. It serves its purpose to get Jericho over as a heel even more and to set up a possible run-in the main event.

6) Eddie Guerrero vs. Rob Van Dam - 5
This show just keeps getting better and better. Guerrero had just returned to the WWF on the first episode of Raw under the brand extension and RVD had won the belt from William Regal the month before at WrestleMania. I was expecting more out of these two, especially in a title match. Had this been just a regular match in the opening slot, it probably would’ve gotten a better rating. If it’s a title match, I expect just a tad more effort.

7) The Undertaker vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin (Special ref: Ric Flair) - 3
You would think that these two would put on a somewhat decent match, right? Wrong. I think there was maybe four minutes of actual wrestling in this match and 23 minutes of rest holds. Probably the most boring match I’ve ever seen in my life. Flair counts three with Austin’s foot on the rope and he doesn’t see it. That had to be the absolute worst match in the last five years. And yes, Buff Bagwell matches are included in that. Crowd was totally dead by the end of this one after 27 minutes of sheer boredom. Next please.

Jonathan Coachman catches up with Flair in the back and shows him the replay of the fall. He asks him if he saw Austin’s foot on the rope. Flair is speechless and pretty much realizes that he made a mistake. This would help start a program between Austin and Flair which would culminate at Judgment Day.

8) Billy Gunn & Chuck Palumbo vs. Al Snow & Maven - 4
There was more action and movement in this match than there was in all 27 minutes of the previous match. Maven never amounted to much during his tenure and was just recently released. It served it’s purpose to get B&C over. It also woke up the crowd for the main event, most of whom were asleep from the previous blunder.

9) Hulk Hogan vs. Triple H - 5
I was somewhat skeptical of this one because these are two of the most immobile wrestlers in the WWF. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. This isn’t their best by any means but it’s not bad either. I don’t get the finish though. Jericho interferes to hit Hogan with a chair and Undertaker interferes to hit HHH with a chair. You know, it’s just me, but Jericho should be angry at HHH for beating him at Mania so wouldn’t he want to hit HHH? I don’t know. Hogan wins to get the title for a brief nostalgia run. Suprisingly good, but not great. Nice way to close out the show.

This show was suprisingly good. I normally don’t expect much from shows that immediatley follow any of the four major shows but this one was quite pleasing. This show set up three feuds going into the next show and continued the RVD/Guerrero and Angle/Edge programs. Aside from Austin/Undertaker, the work ethic was great as well and helped the overall result. Recommended.