ROH: Death Before Dishonor IV

1 Seth Delay v. Delirious- 4

2 Jimmy Rave/ Sal Rinauro v. Colt Cabana/ Jay Lethal- 4

3 Nigel McGuiness v. Roderick Strong- 7

4 Irish Airborne v. Briscoe Brothers- 6

5 Davey Richards v. AJ Styles- 7

6 American Dragon v. Sonjay Dutt- 5

7 Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, Adam Pearce, Ace Steel & Homicide v. Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero, Nate Webb, Necro Butcher, & Eddie Kingston( Cage of Death)- 4

This was a pretty important show that I had heard a lot about, so I was very anxious to watch it. The opener featured Delirious, who can be hit and miss, and mostly loves comedy, but Delay had some very cool spots worked in. He looked like your cookie cutter rookie, and didn’t try and have a twenty minute ROH opener, but showed enough to make it a decent match. The next tag, of course, featured some comedy, none of which is very funny. I’m not a fan of really any of the guys in the match, but they pulled together a few good spots. Rinauro isn’t really a good fit for this group, and I don’t think Colt’s over the top mannerisms and Lethal’s dumbfounded face are a good combination. Nigel and Strong started out as any Pure title match, but took it up several notches in the course of their match. They started wailing each other with some incredible stiff, realistic shots that had me pretty excited. It was one of Nigel’s better outings and Strong showed why he is an up and coming star; I think he would be a great fit for Japan. The only problem was the countout victory for Nigel, which has happened so many times. This was on route to being my favorite match of the night, and probably still is despite the lame finish. The next tag match was worked very well and was given a good amount of time, possibly nearly twenty. The Briscoes have put on some much needed muscle mass and have turned into damn good workers. Irish Airborne proved they have some very commendable tag skills. The match built a good pace, and was fairly stiff with some cool double teams. Richards and AJ went out and had what more so resembled a fight than a match. It wasn’t as pretty as most of Styles’ matches, and at some points both men were falling all over themselves just to get a punch in on the other. It had a cool story to it and they worked it quite well. There were more strikes, kicks, chops and stuff of that nature than pure moves done, and that added to the drama of the match. Pretty good stuff. Dragon and Sonjay tried to put together a memorable match that was filled with tons of stalling by Sonjay( who is a piss poor heel) and some sub par wrestling by Dragon compared to what he’s capable of. Next, the Cage of Death. Before we watched it, I had heard it was possibly the best match in wrestling, ever. Yes, I heard that. The first half of it was pretty stiff with Joe and Claudio, but nothing new had been done. Dragon came in and turned on Joe, giving CZW a man advantage. The ring filled up with a lot of guys, most being very unrecognizable. I didn’t like the teams they chose; I mean, Adam Pearce, and Ace Steel representing ROH? So, the CZW guys beat the ROH guys down with weapons and other hardcore implements until Homicide, who had been teased as coming in the whole night, showed up and divied out forks to all his team members. The match picked up again and everybody started fighting and punching, and throwing ladders and bleeding and hitting cage. But, for me it was too little too late. The match had already nearly went thirty minutes and I was losing interest by the second. ROH picked up the win, then in an ego-driven angle to be sure, Cornette came in with JJ Dillon of all people, and handcuffed Homicide and whipped him with a belt. You star of the match and the show, and you put an over the hill manager over him. Bad Decision. Maybe Cornette could rant about that on TV.

WWF Armageddon 1999

Russo left the WWF in the fall of 1999 and pretty much left them spinning their wheels. Let’s see how they did in this endeavor.

1) Tag Team Battle Royal – 4
2) Kurt Angle vs. Steve Blackman – 3
3) Miss Kitty vs. Ivory vs. Jacqueline vs. B.B. – Four Way Evening Gown Match – 0
4) Rikishi Phatu & Viscera vs. Hardcore & Crash Holly – 3
5) D-Lo Brown vs. Val Venis vs. The British Bulldog – 4
6) X-Pac vs. Kane – Cage Match – 3
7) Chris Jericho vs. Chyna – 3
8) The New Age Outlaws vs. The Rock & Mankind – 4
9) The Big Show vs. The Big Bossman – 2
10) Vince McMahon vs. Triple H – No Holds Barred Match – 2

The tag battle royal was an interesting match to say the least. It amazes me that even in the heart of the “attitude era”, the WWF(E) had more tag teams than they have combined on all three rosters today. The Acolytes and the Hardys had a nice bit of teasing eliminations of each other at the end in a match that was mostly void of physicality and emotion. Angle and Blackman fought a decent match amidst throngs of boring chants throughout the arena. Angle was still pretty green and annoying but quickly got over that hump and Blackman faded back into obscure mediocrity. The evening gown match took place in a pool and was utterly ridiculous. I recommend you skip it because it’s nothing but garbage and an insult to wrestling. The tag match with the Hollys was interesting. They got in no offense but Rikishi hit his devastating finisher in this filler match. The three way with D-Lo, Bulldog, and Val wasn’t horrendous but wasn’t great either. D-Lo hit a nice dive but the subsequently botched a springboard move and accidentally dropped Bulldog on his head while executing a double-team move.

The cage match was utterly ridiculous. X-Pac looks like a stoner and probably snorted crack backstage to put on a decent performance. The Outlaws interfere by cutting the lock on the cage door and tossing Pac a chair and some handcuffs. Isn’t the whole point of a having a cage match so that no one will interfere? The only redeeming feature this problematic match had was a cool clothesline from the top of the cage by Kane. Chyna’s intercontinental title reign began the downfall of the once prestigious title and no one was really interested in this garbage. Rock and Mankind had the match of the night against the Outlaws but interference by Al Snow brought down the rating. Show and Bossman was one of the worst WWF Title matches that has ever been presented. Show’s reign here was a joke and is largely forgotten for the better. Albert came down with Bossman and ended up getting pointlessly chokeslammed through a table in this four-minute debauchery. Vinnie Mac and HHH had an ugly brawl which featured pointless brawling, Vince bumping off a scaffold, and other ridiculous absurdities. There was a huge dead spot in the match where Vince went outside looking for HHH and couldn’t find him and some fan chucked a huge soft drink at the ref. You have to see this match, not because it was good, but just for the pointless brawling that was carried out for absolutely no purpose.

ROH Death Before Dishonor IV

1. Seth Delay vs. Delirious – 4
2. Colt Cabana and Jay Lethal vs. Jimmy Rave and Sal Rinauro – 3
3. Roderick Strong vs. Nigel McGuinness – 6
4. Jay and Mark Briscoe vs. Irish Airborne – 7
5. Davey Richards vs. AJ Styles – 7
6. Sonjay Dutt vs. Bryan Danieslon – 5
7. Team ROH (Samoa Joe, BJ Whitmer, Adam Pierce, Ace Steel, and Bryan Danielson) vs. Team CZW (Necro Butcher, Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero, Nate Webb, and Eddie Kingston) – Cage of Death – 4

Seth Delay apparently took a break from mowing lawns and delivered a halfhearted at best effort in a surprisingly okay opener against perennial bottom dweller Delirious. I like tag team wrestling a lot, but found little of what was offered in the second match excusable. Lethal looked like an extra from Barbershop 2, and Rave’s desperate attempts at putting together a remotely memorable match fail yet again. I’ve grown a slight detest of Nigel, due to his incessant knack for not evolving or adapting. Here, Strong made the match physical, and it was shaping up to be a potential show stealer until the wretched countout ending. The tag match pitting Irish Airborne and the Briscoe’s was a good example of contemporary intensity splendidly mixed with old school work ethic. The two teams worked well together, and I nearly creamed after the double shooting star presses to the floor.

I’m really becoming a fan of Davey Richards, and his match with AJ is certainly worthy of your time. It wasn’t pretty or flashy in the usual sense, especially in contrast to most of AJ’s predictable work. It didn’t seem fabricated in that capacity, and gave off more of a sense that these two were really competitive and didn’t like each other, leading to a more hardnosed and rugged tone. I was thoroughly disappointed in the Danielson versus Dutt bout, and only gave it the grade I did for the rare KO finish you almost never see in professional wrestling matches. I had a lot of problems with the main event, especially when the Internet has been buzzing about how awesome it supposedly is. Sure, there’s a few exceptionally nasty bumps; but, they’re not strategically placed, but rather haphazardly mingled amongst tons of mindless brawling, nonsensical sequences, and altogether insulting wrestling. It’s bloody and violent, but not satisfying in terms of storytelling or believability.

WWF WrestleFest 88

1 Killer Bees v. Rougeau Brothers- 6

2 Bad New Brown v. Bret Hart- 5

3 Honky Tonk Man v Hacksaw Duggan- 2

4 Bolsheviks v. Powers of Pain- 4

5 Jim Neidhart v. Lanny Poffo- 2

6 Rick Rude v. Jake Roberts- 6

7 Ultimate Warrior v. Bobby Heenan (Weasel Suit)- 0

8 British Bulldogs v. Demolition- 4

9 Dino Bravo v. Ken Patera- 3

10 Hulk Hogan v. Andre the Giant (Steel Cage)- 5

This first tag match had everything that we miss from the 80's tag scene: two men working over one body part, cool matching outfits and clean finishes. Both of these teams were underrated in their time and both were awesome athletes. Bret showed even early in his career that he could plull a good singles match out of almost anyone, as he and Brown unleashed a little badassness in each other. Honky and the Hacker threw a pointless match together that featured none of either of their strengths because Honky's isn't comedy and Hacksaw's isn't running. Barbarian and Warlord… as faces? They were brutalizing the Ruskies, but only Boris was selling in this match. Actually, he was bumping his ass off. I wonder if his job depended on it because he was taking some licks. Anvil smashed his way through Poffo, who showed some prancy fancy moves. I went on record a while ago, but I'll say it in writing: I think The Genuis is a gimmick that could still get over today. There it is. Rude and Roberts pulled another great encounter together, as they prove once again they use psychology as their finishing manuevers, but don't forget about the swank ass DDT and the atomic Rude Awakening! The fans still pop for that stuff, as do I. Warrior threw Heenan around, much to his dislike( as we would find out via DVD on Ultimate Warriors' Self Destruction disc.) Bulldogs and Demolition pounded the snot out of each other and not much else, but that was all I wanted to see from those two teams. Bravo and Patera wasn't long; but damn, was it stiff! There were shots thrown in this one that would scare off the Greasers and The Socs. The main event cage match held some interest to me, just to see "Andre, The" inside the sinister blue bars. They did what they could, and at least Hogan didn't try to take a semi hardcore bump like in their Wrestlemania match. I was pretty much asleep by the end of this one, but what I saw, was a treat.

WWF Wrestlefest 1988

1) The Killer Bees vs. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers – 6
2) Bad News Brown vs. Bret Hart – 5
3) The Honky Tonk Man vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan – 4
4) The Powers of Pain vs. The Bolsheviks – 5
5) Jim Neidhart vs. Lanny Poffo – 3
6) Jake “The Snake” Roberts vs. Rick Rude – 7
7) The Ultimate Warrior vs. Bobby Heenan – Weasel Suit Match – 1
8) The British Bulldogs vs. Demolition – 5
9) Dino Bravo vs. Ken Patera – 4
10) Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan – Steel Cage Match – 5

This was a show that was shot exclusively for home video and was hosted by Sean Mooney, Lord Alfred Hayes, and Superstar Graham. Mooney and Hayes are alright but honestly, I could’ve done without Graham.

The Bees and Rougeaus had a very good, slow-paced match. Rougeaus worked the crowd and Bees were over huge. Brown and Hart had a knock-down, drag-out affair which featured a slick reversal of a roll-up by Brown to win the bout. Duggan and Honky was better than I expected it would be. Honky did his usual antics as did Duggan. Jimmy Hart ran in and got Honky DQ’ed. Duggan took his aggression out on the guitar. I never was a huge fan of either the Bolsheviks or the Powers of Pain, but they worked really good together here. Barbarian delivered a nasty powerslam and actually left his feet when he did so. He also dropped a top-rope headbutt for the win in a moment of true awesomeness. Neidhart and Poffo was a glorified squash but Poffo actually got in some offense as he tossed frisbees out to the crowd.

Roberts and Rude was thick with psychology. This was right in the middle of their rivalry that started with Rude doing the grind in front of Roberts’ wife on TV. The match would’ve scored higher but with the double count-out finish I couldn’t justify giving it a higher score. Roberts tossed his snake on Rude after the bout and Rude sold it like crazy. The weasel suit match was filler, comedy, and bad wrestling all rolled into one. Bulldogs and Demolition was another example of just exactly how thick the tag division was in the WWF in the late 80s. All four guys really put forth a good effort and I was really thrilled with the result. Bravo and Patera had a good match and was just about what you would expect from them. The main event was really intriguing. While it may have not been a mat classic with the best wrestling ever, the entertainment value was great. Andre was working the best he could because at this time, his body was close to giving out. Hogan was the consummate entertainer and even bladed to give the match an important feel. This was very special to watch because you will never see anything like this today and I hope I can find more video-exclusive events like this.

WWF WrestleFest ‘88

1. Fabulous Rougeau Brothers vs. Killer Bees – 6
2. Bret Hart vs. Bad News Brown – 5
3. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Honkey Tonk Man – 3
4. Powers of Pain vs. Bolsheviks – 4
5. Jim Neidhart vs. Lanny Poffo – 3
6. Rick Rude vs. Jake “The Snake” Roberts – 7
7. Ultimate Warrior vs. Bobby Heenan – Weasel Suit Match – 1
8. British Bulldogs vs. Demolition – 4
9. Dino Bravo vs. Ken Patera – 3
10. Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan – Steel Cage Match – 6

Adam got this show and brought it over and it felt like being a kid at Christmas time. It’s one thing reliving memories of a show I haven’t seen since childhood, but it’s even cooler watching a show from my childhood era that I never even knew about! This show was pretty stacked, too.

The opening tag with the wily Rougeau boys and the always-loveable Killer Bees was pure bliss. There wasn’t a lot of major spots or moments, just good solid basic psychology. It was a nice way to start things. Bret and Bad News had a pretty solid match, too; one that in reviews elsewhere I’ve read, got a little too much credit, regardless, it’s still worth seeing. I remember seeing a commercial for some kind of Japanese fighting pay-per-view when I was young, and to my surprise, Bad News Brown was competing. I urged my Aunt to order it, as well as record it for me – which in retrospect was probably when I lost my mixed martial arts virginity.

Duggan and Honkey, two infamous characters, had a thankfully short match. Some of the shots were semi-stiff while it lasted, so I wasn’t too disappointed. Powers of Pain and Bolsheviks is more interesting in my mind than it was in actuality. I think I’d rather watch these four get inebriated on cheap wine at an Italian restaurant, and then try to convince their waitress to stop by the Holiday Inn they’re staying at in Milwaukee for an all-nighter.

Neidhart and Poffo is a complete squash, but not an altogether bad one. Neidhart rushed Lanny to start the match, and was greeted with a quick kick that startled me as much as it did him. Poffo had some talent, but it was ultimately squandered. I loved Rude versus Roberts, and frankly, I would have given this match at least a 5 even if they’d just done a couple minutes of nothing – that’s how great these two were then. However, they delivered as anticipated, with a great match filled with masterful selling and psychology. My only complaint is the weak finish, but the rest of it is essential.

Warrior and Heenan in a stupid fucking weasel suit match had been done before, was done all over this damn country, and was never any good. Warrior looked even more incompetent than usual. British Bulldogs were a great team to watch, unfortunately, their match with Demolition wasn’t too special. I think these two teams were capable of working a certifiable classic together, and maybe somewhere along the line they did, but this wasn’t it. Smash moved around like he had diarrhea from the Mexican food he’d ate the night prior, and Ax was as mobile as a fire hydrant. Demolition didn’t try, which was totally cool with Davey Boy Smith, as he’d been up all night fucking a Wisconsin transvestite prostitute over and over again with the same condom he borrowed from Danny Davis.

Bravo and Patera are both interesting cases. If memory serves correctly, the mafia murdered Bravo. Now, Patera, I have a more personal connection to. One of the first wrestling videos I ever rented, and subsequently dubbed, as a young boy was titled “The Ken Patera Story” from the WWF. It dealt with both his feud with Bobby Heenan and his group of cronies, as well as his personal strife, stemming from an incident where he chucked a large rock through a fast food restaurant’s window. Anyway, he probably works at a health store in Tupelo now, where he gets the new female employee from the local high school to suck him off underneath the counter while he rings out customers.

The main event is awesome, in that, I feel like it’s a really cool gift from my past that I never knew I had, and recently stumbled upon. Maybe it hasn’t aged as well as you’d hope, but it stills captures that old spirit. I was going to rate it lower due to the lack of technical proficiency of both men, and because they didn’t do much outside of punch each other a lot. But, then I got to thinking, this is Hogan and Andre in a steel cage, the crowd is hotter than molten lava, and I love every second of it. They play up a couple near-escapes from the cage brilliantly, and there’s even some blood for you sick readers whom play first-person shooters and think you’ve actually got a chance of getting in Kelly Kelly’s stained underwear.

WCW Super Brawl II

1 Brian Pillman v. Jushin Liger- 5

In 1992, this match blew the socks off of everybody; in this day and age, when almost every high flying manuever thinkable has been executed, this match looks passe. But, we cannot judge it on what looks better than it; only what the match itself presents. Both guys took to the air quickly and often, and Pillman's dropkick is still more beautiful than the Louvre in starlight. The match itself was edited; so, I'm not sure what the whole recipe looks like, but this was a tasty appetizer.

2 Larry Zybyszko/ Steve Austin v. Barry Windham/ Dustin Rhodes- 5

Windham and Zybyszko stayed occupied with each other as this match became a brawl right off the bat. Rhodes and Austin were working each other a million miles an hour and were quite impressive. Dustin, though for some reason, did three flips every time he got clotheslined, which was at least 5 times! It was cool for the first few, but god, he overkilled it. The match had a good finish and was fairly fun, if not long.

3 Bobby Eaton/ Arn Anderson v. Steiner Brothers- 6

A Dusty finish capped this classic off. There were a few miscues, but all together, it was very solid. Eaton and Anderson pretty much played Crash Dummies to Rick and Scott, with a few flurries of offense. They dropped Arn on his head several times; I see why he retired so quickly. This match was also long and didn't feature that many hot tags, but Arn and Eaton kept slowing the pace down to give it some mileage. The Steiners were super over too.

4 Rick Rude v. Ricky Steamboat- 7

This match was played up to be big; It was weird to hear them talk about how important the US title was. This match was similar to a match I saw between them at the first Royal Rumble in pace and content. Steamboat was selling everything up to par and Rude's psych was magnificent. His arm was worked over and he played it up the rest of the match; every time he would hit a clothesline or pose, he would hold his arm in pain. Steamboat hit a ground shaking superplex from the top turnbuckle late in the match in the best looking move of the night. This match could have gotten an 8 with a clean finish, but instead, they had a schmuck in a Ninja costume that was supposed to be Paul E. try and hit Dragon with a phone, even though he missed the first shot.

5 Sting v. Lex Luger- 6

The first few minutes of this match were supernova hot! I was literally shocked at the pace they started out with and the fans were eating it up with their bare hands. The rest of the match fizzled, but they kept a good chemistry. One of Luger's finishes at the time was a piledriver and when he did it, I could'nt help but think of Batista. It was fucking awful. Sting won after backdropping Harley Race onto the concrete then hit a flying body press on Luger. Kind of Anti-climatic but still had a lot of energy. Watching the match, they played it like Sting was going to win the whole time, so that was kind of defeatist.