Plague Watching [Archive] - Rajah.com Forums (2025)

Defrost

March 14th, 2020, 3:01 PM

What wrestling are you watching while everything is shut down/being in isolation during the Pandemic?

Currently watching NJPW Jingu Climax from 1999

Singles Match
Kazuyuki Fujita vs. Brian Johnston

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Match
Shinjiro Otani & Tatsuhito Takaiwa (c) vs. El Samurai & Jushin Thunder Liger

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match
Koji Kanemoto (c) vs. Kendo Kashin

Tag Team Match
Shiro Koshinaka & Tatsumi Fujinami vs. nWo Japan (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima)

IWGP Tag Team Title Match
Mad Dogs (Michiyoshi Ohara & Tatsutoshi Goto) (c) vs. Manabu Nakanishi & Yuji Nagata

Singles Match
Scott Norton vs. Don Frye

IWGP Title Match
Shinya Hashimoto vs. Masahiro Chono

No Rope Explosive Barbed Wire Barricade Explosive Land Mine Double Hell Death Match
Great Nita vs. Great Muta

Tainted Eclipse

March 14th, 2020, 7:59 PM

Defrost

March 14th, 2020, 9:43 PM

I remember there being an inane number of gimmick matches on that one and Shawn having a helluva one man show in his match.

Watching Flair and the Andersons against Pez Whatley/Rocky King/Italian Stallion from a random episode of World Championship Wrestling.

Defrost

March 14th, 2020, 10:59 PM

Watching NOAH Departure.

Having not seen mid 2000s puro in a while it feels like 50 years ago in a lot of ways to now.

Defrost

March 15th, 2020, 12:13 AM

Beer-Belly

March 15th, 2020, 3:21 AM

Watched Stone Cold vs Jericho from the Raw before the Undisputed Title mini tournament. Not surprisingly it was very good.

It might be their best match.

Tainted Eclipse

March 15th, 2020, 8:40 AM

Watching NOAH Departure.

Having not seen mid 2000s puro in a while it feels like 50 years ago in a lot of ways to now.

what in particular? less flamboyant hairstyles?

Sinner

March 15th, 2020, 3:15 PM

Gonna rewatch:

-The Cruiserweight Classic
-Lucha Underground Season 1
-WrestleKingdom 10

Defrost

March 15th, 2020, 5:41 PM

what in particular? less flamboyant hairstyles?

A few things. A bunch of guys who I remember watching all of the time who kinda just disappeared. The production. NOAH being #1 and what NJPW was doing and just memories of the scene back then. How much younger some guys are. How some guys look the same.

I watched Destiny right after and I remember for how long that was considered the last giant show because it was the last time someone put a lot of people in the Dome. There are a lot fewer people at that show than is remembered. The 1/4 show this year easily outdrew it.

Defrost

March 15th, 2020, 6:55 PM

It might be their best match.

Just going singles matches it would have to be.

Maybe should give the match they had before King of the Ring that year another look. It would have to be one of the two.

Fanny Batter

March 15th, 2020, 7:15 PM

Defrost

March 15th, 2020, 7:22 PM

It's a shame Austin spent 2001 getting suplexed on his neck almost exclusively, he was so fucking good that year but burned out once he'd dropped the belt and ended up having a few stinkers before he went home - the Jericho match at No Way Out where he's clearly not arsed, and the Undertaker match at Backlash that's still happening I think. Shame. Though I guess the style he was working that year wasn't sustainable for that neck of his. Double edged sword - he either works a few more years and we don't get that 2001 peak, or he burns out like he did.

If he never turns heel he never has to bump like that for babyfaces all Summer and Fall. Yet another reason that heel turn was a bad idea.

Tainted Eclipse

March 15th, 2020, 7:55 PM

Defrost

March 15th, 2020, 8:12 PM

wish there was somewhere to watch early ROH shows. the packs aren't even seeded on pwtorrents and i cant sign up to xwt.

The excuse seems to be the music, but just ditch the entrances like PWG does.

Just watched back Shinsuke vs Sakuraba. Amazing how good Sakuraba could be when he gave a shit. He barely ever gave a shit.

On to Shinsuke and Okada vs SUWAMA and Kondo from the 2012 joint NJPW/AJPW show in Sumo Hall. First Rainmaker match in Sumo Hall.

Tainted Eclipse

March 15th, 2020, 8:31 PM

Defrost

March 15th, 2020, 8:46 PM

I find myself in a Shinsuke Nakamura mini marathon. Watching him vs Bob Sapp from Nexess. I mentioned mid aughts puro feeling like it came from another time or another planet maybe. Look at this fucking card.

Six Man Tag Team Match
Heat, Naomichi Marufuji & Tiger Mask vs. American Dragon, Koji Kanemoto & Ultimo Dragon

Six Man Tag Team Match
Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Osamu Nishimura & Shinya Makabe vs. Makai Club (Giant Majin, New Strong Majin & Super Strong Majin) (w/Kantaro Hoshino)

Singles Match
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Katsuhiko Nakajima

Singles Match
Ken Shamrock vs. Josh Barnett

Tag Team Match
Dolgorsuren Serjbudee & Dolgorsuren Sumyaabazar vs. Genichiro Tenryu & Meng

Tag Team Match
Kendo Kashin & Yuji Nagata vs. Kensuke Sasaki & Manabu Nakanishi

IWGP Tag Team Title Match
Minoru Suzuki & Yoshihiro Takayama (c) vs. Kazunari Murakami (w/Kantaro Hoshino) & Masahiro Chono

Different Style Fight
Yutaka Yoshie vs. Jan Nortje

Singles Match
Sean O'Haire vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Different Style Fight
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Musashi

IWGP Heavyweight Title Match
Bob Sapp (c) vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

Beer-Belly

March 15th, 2020, 8:52 PM

Just going singles matches it would have to be.

Maybe should give the match they had before King of the Ring that year another look. It would have to be one of the two.

The King of the Ring match was a triple threat with Benoit. It's fine, but I think Austin was working hurt and I know Benoit got injured in that match, so it wasn't as good as it could have been.

Beer-Belly

March 15th, 2020, 9:03 PM

It's a shame Austin spent 2001 getting suplexed on his neck almost exclusively, he was so fucking good that year but burned out once he'd dropped the belt and ended up having a few stinkers before he went home - the Jericho match at No Way Out where he's clearly not arsed, and the Undertaker match at Backlash that's still happening I think. Shame. Though I guess the style he was working that year wasn't sustainable for that neck of his. Double edged sword - he either works a few more years and we don't get that 2001 peak, or he burns out like he did.

Austin was actually shaping up to have a pretty good summer in 2002 before shit hit the fan. The "no punches allowed" match he had with Flair on Raw right before he left should be more fondly remembered than it is. Austin showed he could still go as far as wrestling is concerned. After that, he had feuds with Eddie and Benoit lined up, and those matches could have been stellar.

Defrost

March 15th, 2020, 9:11 PM

Beer-Belly

March 15th, 2020, 9:14 PM

If he never turns heel he never has to bump like that for babyfaces all Summer and Fall. Yet another reason that heel turn was a bad idea.

They really, REALLY should have just kept Austin face at the Invasion PPV and turned Jericho heel instead. It wouldn't have been that hard to say Jericho did it out of loyalty to Heyman or something similar. Then Angle could join the Alliance due to the frustration of not being taken seriously in the WWF. Seems easy enough to outline.

Tainted Eclipse

March 15th, 2020, 9:51 PM

Ringo

March 16th, 2020, 2:52 AM

wish there was somewhere to watch early ROH shows. the packs aren't even seeded on pwtorrents and i cant sign up to xwt.

I have one invite for xwt if that's what you need?

Spudz Mackenzie

March 16th, 2020, 4:07 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPJqBWyp4lo

Found this shit for any of you Japanese Wrestling dorks.

And check it, this guy has a ton of other Japanese wrestling shows.

Tainted Eclipse

March 16th, 2020, 5:14 AM

I have one invite for xwt if that's what you need?

I had just let an account get deactivated for a bad ratio ages ago and they wouldn’t let me sign up with my ip. I just decided to get a vpn. Thanks though

Tainted Eclipse

March 16th, 2020, 12:59 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

March 16th, 2020, 6:41 PM

I was just thinking about this last night, but did any other majorly hyped guy to get famous in Japan ever have a worse run in the big leagues than "Dr. Death" Steve Williams? His entire late-90's American career is like a comedy of errors.

1998 -

- Comes to the WWF, is set up to win The Brawl For All.
- Loses the Brawl to Bart Gunn.
- Starts a brief TV feud with Bart Gunn.
- Plays backup to a heel JR, during JR's ill-advised heel turn.
- Beats up Al Snow and Bob Holly.
- Beats up Tiger Ali Singh and Babu.
- Puts Bob Holly through a wall in a backstage fight

He comes in, gets beat in a shoot by an underneath guy with no push, during that he fucks up his ankle. He never gets a proper feud or anything approaching a "run". He's persona non grata - Because at an advanced age, after a career of hard work, he can't win a shoot against a man half his age. Finally they let him go.

1999/2000 -

- Pops up in WCW with "Oklahoma", who's Ed Ferrara doing a terrible impersonation of Jim Ross and his bells palsy.
- Doc gets to feud with Vampiro - Prompting Edklahoma to get on commentary and continue to impersonate JR, by mocking his call of "Stone Cold", by yelling "Vampiro!" for entire matches. Those matches suck, by the way.
- Doc beats 4 luchadors in a 4 on one match.
- Doc gets to toss around the more fit members of The Misfits. Yay?
- Doc feuds with Berlyn. Nobody cares.
- Doc jobs to The Wall on TV, after The Wall kicks out of Doc's finish.
- WCW folds, Doc's left out in the cold.
- WWF doesn't bring Doc in for The Invasion.
- Jim Ross feels alienated from Doc for years, when they used to be best buddies, because Doc allowed the Oklahoma thing to happen.

Are those maybe the worst 3-4 years of any "major" star failing to get any traction or create any good highlights you've ever heard?

Tainted Eclipse

March 16th, 2020, 6:47 PM

heres someones list of top 50 NOAH matches
https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/wrestling_ko/japanese-motd-2000-2009-t2688-s10.html

1.) Kenta Kobashi vs Tamon Honda (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/13/2003
2.) Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshinari Ogawa (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 11/1/2003
3.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama (GHC Heavyweight Championship Tournament Final) NOAH 4/15/2001
4.) Tamon Honda vs Jun Akiyama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/5/2001
5.) Tamon Honda vs Daisuke Ikeda (GHC Heavyweight Title Contendership Tournament Final) NOAH 9/1/2001
6.) Jushin Liger & Minoru Tanaka vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NOAH 4/7/2002
7.) Kenta Kobashi vs Yoshihiro Takayama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/25/2004
8.) Takeshi Morishima, Takeshi Rikio & Daisuke Ikeda vs Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito & Jun Izumida NOAH 3/16/2003
9.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue (GHC Tag Team Chapionship) NOAH 9/10/2004
10.) Jushin Liger & Wataru Inoue vs Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NOAH 2/17/2002
11.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takuma Sano (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/28/2007
12.) Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda, KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji vs Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi NOAH 8/23/2003
13.) Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Kenta Kobashi & Tamon Honda (GHC Tag Team Championship) NOAH 6/6/2003
14.) Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 1/22/2006
15.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 3/2/2008
16.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takuma Sano NOAH 6/6/2003
17.) Akira Taue vs Yuji Nagata NOAH 6/6/2003
18.) Yoshinari Ogawa vs Yoshihiro Takayama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/7/2002
19.) Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu vs Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki NOAH 4/24/2005
20.) Jun Akiyama vs KENTA NOAH 5/17/2009
21.) Akitoshi Saito vs Tamon Honda NOAH 3/30/2003
22.) Jun Akiyama vs Masao Inoue (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 4/23/2006
23.) Kensuke Sasaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Kenta Kobashi & Go Shiozaki NOAH 11/5/2005
24.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa vs KENTA & Naomichi Marufuji (GHC Tag Team Championship) NOAH 4/25/2004
25.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Masaji Aoyagi NOAH 10/5/2003
26.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Kenta Kobashi (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 3/1/2003
27.) Yoshihiro Takayama vs KENTA NOAH 6/27/2004
28.) Kenta Kobashi & Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa & Jun Akiyama NOAH 12/2/2007
29.) Toshiaki Kawada & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & KENTA NOAH 10/3/2009
30.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Takeshi Morishima NOAH 3/5/2006
31.) Yoshihiro Takayama vs Mitsuharu Misawa (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/23/2002
32.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Akira Taue (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 5/18/2001
33.) Kenta Kobashi & Akira Taue vs Jun Akiyama & Genichiro Tenryu NOAH 9/18/2005
34.) Kensuke Sasaki vs Mohammed Yone (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/27/2008
35.) Kenta Kobashi vs Minoru Suzuki (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 1/8/2005
36.) Tamon Honda vs Takuma Sano NOAH 3/16/2003
37.) Takeshi Morishima, Akira Taue & Takuma Sano vs Jun Izumida, Yoshihiro Takayama & Jun Akiyama NOAH 3/6/2004
38.) Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito vs Kenta Kobashi & Kentaro Shiga (GHC Tag Team Championship) NOAH 10/19/2002
39.) KENTA & Katsuyori Shibata vs Akira Taue & Go Shiozaki NOAH 9/9/2006
40.) Kenta Kobashi & Makoto Hashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yoshinobu Kanemaru NOAH 8/19/2005
41.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Jun Akiyama (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 7/27/2001
42.) Tamon Honda vs Takashi Sugiura NOAH 10/31/2009
43.) Mitsuharu Misawa vs Yoshinari Ogawa (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 12/7/2002
44.) Mitsuharu Misawa & Kenta Kobashi vs Jun Akiyama & Yuji Nagata NOAH 2/17/2002
45.) Kenta Kobashi & Jun Izumida vs Akebono & Takeshi Rikio NOAH 1/22/2006
46.) Kenta Kobashi, Tamon Honda, Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & KENTA vs Jun Akiyama, Akitoshi Saito, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Makoto Hashi NOAH 2/18/2003
47.) Kenta Kobashi vs Akira Taue (GHC Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/10/2004
48.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs Jushin Liger & Koji Kanemoto (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) NOAH 1/26/2003
49.) KENTA vs SUWA (GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship) NOAH 9/18/2005
50.) Tsuyoshi Kikuchi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs El Samurai & Masayuki Naruse (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship) NOAH 9/23/2002

maybe try to watch through the ones i havent seen

Defrost

March 16th, 2020, 7:58 PM

Tainted Eclipse

March 16th, 2020, 8:03 PM

Defrost

March 16th, 2020, 9:07 PM

Horatio

March 16th, 2020, 9:20 PM

Tamon Honda is like a wet dream from before there were wet dreams

(There were no wet dreams before 4/13)

Horatio

March 16th, 2020, 10:52 PM

Tainted Eclipse

March 17th, 2020, 12:00 PM

Gonna review the 2003 ROH shows as I go through them. Gonna go for STAR RATINGS on the matches.

Staring off with REVENGE OF THE PROPHECY, from January 11 2003.

The show opens with a series of clips from ROH HIGH IMPACT TV, which I either never heard of or have completely forgotten. Apparently it was a show produced for local Philadelphia TV station channel 48 (I had no recollection they ever had a local show; I know CZW had a show on channel 48 for a while in 2002). Looks like they discontinued it in 2003. It would be selected matches and some angle/promos unique to the show which they’d end up including in later DVDs. This series of vignettes has Steve Corino introducing a new group to combat the Prophecy. He debuts Simply Luscious and steals Samoa Joe. When he confronts Christopher Daniels, Daniels reveals he’s recruited Corino’s sister, Allison Danger.

The show is taking place outside of Pittsburg – the furthest West ROH has ever traveled up to this point! We open up with SPECIAL K (a group of high flyers whose gimmick was being drug-addled ravers) promo, on the famously incomprehensible early ROH sound system. DA HIT SQUAD and SAT come out and kill them.

Our first match is CHAD COLLYER vs. MATT STRYKER. No, not Matt Striker, Matt Stryker, distinguishable by his prominent unibrow. Their ROH careers did overlap, I wonder if they were ever on the same show? I feel like they were. This match was actually very good. Surprisingly good. Really tight, everything was executed well. Good, steady progression toward the end with a hot home stretch with no overkill, some believable nearfalls, and a strong ending. I don’t know how many indie guys these days could have a match this tight, solid and technically competent. They’d do a lot more flips, though. One spot I especially liked was when Stryker blatantly overshot a Lionsault, and Collyer didn’t pretend to sell it, but went right back on the offensive, capitalizing with a GEDO CLUTCH for a good nearfall. I’m gonna go ***1/2.

Next is CM PUNK vs. MICHAEL SHANE. Sloppier and less impressive than the opener. 2003 CM Punk is no 2003 Matt Stryker in the ring. Not much noteworthy here, but it was short enough and not in any way offensive. **

BJ WHITMER vs. COLT CABANA vs. PAUL LONDON vs. HOMICIDE. Four way match, two guys in at a time. Fast paced match with something always happening, not too remarkable until the really energetic homestretch. Some nice dives by London and Colt. Whitmer hits rolling Dragon Suplexes and tries to bridge the third, but Paul London breaks it up with a Shooting Star Press for the win. Fun match, went by really fast for its length. ***1/4

Aw shit we got BRYAN DANIELSON vs. SAMOA JOE next. This match is incredible. Stiff, gritty, feels like a real fight. Everything is a struggle and the strikes hit hard. Joe gets most of the offense as they’re pushing him super hard. Joe’s low kicks toward the end of the match really look devastating. Awesome ending with Joe ducking a roaring elbow and hitting a nasty knee strike to the head. No need to play around with nearfalls after a nasty blow like that, Joe picks him up and hits the Island Driver for the win. The number of people who could have a match like this isn’t big. This wasn’t about epic big move trading and tons of nearfalls, this was about slugging it out in a tough, grueling battle. For a matchup that never really produced the all time classic it promised on paper, I wonder if this might be their best match together. ****1/4

Now here’s a lineup. SAT & GHOST SHADOW vs. DIVINE STORM & KONNAN. According to Gabe on commentary, Konnan is here to “bring pure lucha libre to Ring of Honor.” Lots of arm drags, hurricanranas and head scissors here. Plenty of them sloppy, but they keep the action quick and get a new pair of guys in the ring every minute or so. The home stretch was bloated by featured a couple pretty good spots. Jose Maximo hits a really good looking top rope brainbuster which should have been the finish. Quiet Storm hits a nasty looking One Winged Angel. Ghost Shadow actually hits a beautiful sit out powerbomb. Ghost Shadow hits a Samoa Joe style Muscle Buster which Gabe refers to as “a very innovative move.” Was Joe using the move by then? Did Joe steal the Muscle Buster from GHOST SHADOW? Konna taps Ghost Shadow out with the Tequila Sunrise for the win. This match could have been much better if it were more compact and didn’t feature an awful strike exchange between Jose Maximo and Quiet storm toward the end. Still, enough good stuff for me to go **1/2.

DA HIT SQUAD vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. WEAPONS MATCH. Love the commentary explaining that the Carnage Crew don’t care about winning, they just wrestle to get out their frustration and aggression over their ugly wives, nagging kids and 12-hour jobs. This is the kind of weapons brawl I like. No complicated set-up spots, no finesse, just non stop, disorganized brawling with the occasional high impact move. This could have gone a bit shorter as it had worn out its welcome to me in the last couple minutes, but this was mostly fun. ***

Special K are partying in the back, getting high off balloons, leading us to SPECIAL K vs. DUNN & MARCOS & THE OUTCAST KILLAS. I’d mark out big time if ROH brought back Dunn and Marcos for their long-deserved tag team title win. This match is a total spotfest. No tags or anything, one guy in, big move, next guy in, big move. Fun enough, there were a couple really nasty head drops. **

Time for our main event, LOW KI & AJ STYLES vs. XAVIER & CHRISTOPHER DANIELS. Xavier is in the middle of his legendary ROH title run. They go LONG in this match, almost 30 minutes. There’s not much of a structure or narrative to the match, which helps to make the length work to its disfavor. Just a lot of evenly matched move trading. Those moves are good though, and the selling is good. They do manage to make it feel like the main event. This is a no hold barred match, which is really only used to take out ropebreaks, so there are several submissions in the ropes spots. At the end, Styles his a Styles Clash off the apron through a table on Daniels in a big spot, and Low Ki picks up the win with a Dragon Sleeper to Xavier while he’s wrapped up in the ropes. Solid main event with a big spot to end it. ***1/4

2003 is off to a good start! This was a very fun show. Danielson/Joe was a legit great match, had an excellent opener, and a lot of variety throughout the card. Crowd was consistently hot. The super low-rent early ROH production fills me with nostalgia. Very good show. 7.5/10

Horatio

March 17th, 2020, 12:47 PM

Chad Collyer and Matt Stryker were what the Pure title was invented for.
And then they put the title on AJ STYLES. What's pure about being able to wrestle like Superman? Chad and Matt had to retire from not being "pure" enough...weird shit.

I forgot Dunn and Marcos were around that far back.

ON TOPIC, Jack Gallagher is dressing half Daisuke Ikeda, half CHEETAH print, and he's STILL calling himself Gentleman. Absolutely epic performance in the empty arena 10 man elimination this past Friday. He's being booked as both heel AND intelligent, so booking may be coming around for Little Jack. Between HIS match and Bryan/Gulak, I don't know what fed I'm watching anymore.

Tainted Eclipse

March 17th, 2020, 9:42 PM

We've got the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY SHOW, February 8th 2003.

The one year anniversary and ROH’s debut in NYC, this has to be considered ROH’s biggest show to date. There’s an endearingly bad video package of every ROH event up to this point to start the show.

We open with EZ MONEY vs. CHAD COLLYER vs. COLT CABANA vs. MICHAEL SHANE. I like these ROH 4-way matches where only two guys are legal at a time, even if they often throw that out the window during the homestretch. Perfectly solid match for the first half but this really heats up in the second half. Lots of nearfalls, really well executed spots, some good dives. EZ Money hits a great looking Hangman Page style flipping double lariat, and ends up picking up the win with his Cha-Ching release suplex. Went the perfect amount of time for what it was and the home stretch was really well executed. ***1/2

Next up is THE TEXAS WRESTLING ACADEMY vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. The Texas Wrestling Academy is Hotstuff Hernandez, Fast Eddie and Don Juan, students of Rudy Boy Gonzalez. This is a surprisingly solid tag match with a good face in peril segment, a nice hot tag to Hernandez and a good babyface comeback. Fast Eddie goes for an Asai moonsault but the Carnage Crew take him out mid-air with a hubcap shot, then get DQed for beating the Texas Wrestling Academy with hubcaps and chairs. The match was short and fun, **1/2, but that’s not all. YMCA blares through the speakers and out come THE CRISTOPHER STREET CONNECTION to get revenge on the Carnage Crew. The Christopher Street Connection were an over the top, flamboyantly gay gimmick who would often get beaten down by homophobic teams. Whether the homophobic beatdowns were supposed to be cheered or booed depended on the context. They’re faces here though, and the take out the Carnage Crew with extremely homoerotic offense. The crowd is really into it, but their kiss in the middle of the ring after wiping out the Carnage Crew gets a decidedly mixed reaction. Super fun segment all together.

JAY BRISCOE vs. MARK BRISCOE. This is being billed as their last match against each other before they become a tag team. This match is all about them trading big moves, and they hit some good ones. Best spot by far is Mark hitting a top rope moonsault to the outside, to a laying down Jay Briscoe. I feel like this is a match that would have been better in 2003 than watching it now, as seeing tons of high end moves in a row was not so common back then. Good match, doesn’t overstay its welcome, but not really anything special. Great ending with Jay hitting three ROLLING JAY DRILLERS. ***1/4

STEVE CORINO vs. HOMICIDE next. Corino cuts a promo adding Michael Shane and CW Anderson to his group along with Samoa Joe and Simply Lucious. He runs down the NYC crowd. The match ends up being more of an angle than a real match. The wrestling is fine, but most of the emphasis is placed on Corino’s team trash talking the fans and commentary explaining how Corino is trying to run ROH by being the biggest star and using his Zero-One influence. The end is good though, with Homicide missing big on a dive and then taking a couple big moves before he passes out to a Cobra Clutch. The match is probably around **1/4 but it’s really just an excuse for the angle that fallows: THE BRAWL. They run a worked shoot brawl with the NYC crowd rushing the guard rail to attack Corino’s stable. It’s a really well done angle that feels chaotic and believable. The locker room empties to subdue the fans. Excellent segment.

After the post-riot intermission, the Outcast Killaz and Dunn and Marcos come out but are interrupted by CW Anderson. He takes them out and challenges anyone in the locker room. Out comes CM Punk and we get CW ANDERSON vs. CM PUNK. Boy, this match was bad. Very sloppy, very awkward, and the crowd rightly shits on it. Punk wins by countering a spinebuster into a very ugly sunset flip. *

SAMOA JOE vs. BRYAN DANIELSON isn’t gonna have trouble following that one. They definitely don’t recapture the magic of their last match, though. The match never really comes together, and ends up just being mostly un-notable but good wrestling. There are moments of greatness, though, like Danielson no-selling a suplex and standing right up to deliver a hard slap to Joe, Joe driving Danielson on his neck with a nasty Urinagi, and Samoa Joe’s vicious knees to Danielson’s head toward the end. But it never really comes together to be anything more than a solidly good match; solidly good it certainly is, though. ***1/4.

PAUL LONDON vs. LOW KI vs. AJ STYLES is next, with the winner getting an immediate title shot vs. Xavier. This match starts out awesome. Super fast pace, very clever, and good intensity and stiffness too. As it starts to wear on it does lose some steam at times, but always gets it back with a big spot here and there. For all the big moves, my favorite spot in the match is Low Ki missing a Shining Wizard, but then immediately following it up with a kick to the back of the head. Hard to explain but an awesome spot. Low Ki hits a top rope Ki Crusher on Styles and London is able to immediately follow it up with a Shooting Star Press for the win. ***1/2

Though it was scheduled to be the main event, Xavier demands London challenge him RIGHT NOW. XAVIER vs. PAUL LONDON for the title. This match is all about heat. Xavier works over London for a good while, with London coming right off a grueling match. London’s comeback is great with an awesome springboard forearm and a beautiful dive off the top to the outside. There are some awkward moments of miscommunication but for the most part the ending is really hot with some great nearfalls. The crowd goes wild when London is in position for the SSP, but Allison Danger pulls Xavier out of the ring, saving the title. Crowd pops big when London kicks out of Xavier’s 450 and at that point it seems like they really think he’s going to win, but soon after Xavier reverses a roll-up and grabs the tights for the cheap win. Lots of heat and the crowd was really into it. ***3/4

And so the main event ends up being SPECIAL K vs. SAT, DIVINE STORM, DA HIT SQUAD and MIKEY WHIPWRECK. This thing was not good. They go over 30 minutes, just a nonstop spot fest. To their credit they keep everything moving quickly, but not a lot of it is good. Seems pointless to try to “rate” a match like this. Maybe *3/4? The show would have been better without it.

Punk and Raven cut promos on each other in the post-show clips, the program that really started Punk on his trajectory to becoming a top star.

I’m going to be generous and mostly discount the main event. Without that, this was a great show. 8/10

Defrost

March 17th, 2020, 11:22 PM

Rancid_Planet

March 18th, 2020, 2:30 AM

If Paul London of then existed in the current era he'd have been such a huge deal on the indies and now in either AEW or NXT

Oh fuck yeah. I've ever heard Bruce Prichard say the same thing. Paul was a prototype for the next 15 years of wrestlers.

Spudz Mackenzie

March 18th, 2020, 2:33 AM

I can't believe CM Punk and CW Anderson could have had such an awful match.

When did Punker actually "get good"?

Tainted Eclipse

March 18th, 2020, 8:20 AM

If Paul London of then existed in the current era he'd have been such a huge deal on the indies and now in either AEW or NXT

It is a sort of forgotten piece of history that at this point London is the most beloved guy in ROH, more than danielson, joe, low ki, styles, etc. wonder how his career would have turned out if he stayed with roh for a few more years and signed with wwe in the 2005-2010 period.

Tainted Eclipse

March 18th, 2020, 8:21 AM

I can't believe CM Punk and CW Anderson could have had such an awful match.

When did Punker actually "get good"?

Arguably 2009

Tainted Eclipse

March 18th, 2020, 10:12 AM

Tainted Eclipse

March 18th, 2020, 10:16 AM

Tainted Eclipse

March 18th, 2020, 10:20 AM

mth

March 18th, 2020, 11:59 AM

Horatio

March 18th, 2020, 12:39 PM

I can't believe CM Punk and CW Anderson could have had such an awful match.

When did Punker actually "get good"?

Punk was a really unique worker in that he tried to wrestle everyone's game up until he left ROH and started doing a kenta kickboxing style, am I right?
He basically had no moveset of his own, but he could work hour long headlocks with Joe and 90 minute TLC matches with Chris Hero.
By the summer of Punk(06?), he was definitely a good worker. I'm not sure how I feel about his WWE wrestle. I honestly stopped watching when he came up. Time for a WWE Punk dive?

Defrost

March 18th, 2020, 4:20 PM

Defrost

March 18th, 2020, 4:31 PM

Tainted Eclipse

March 18th, 2020, 5:19 PM

We travel up north to Boston for EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, March 15th 2003.

We’ve got a rematch of CHAD COLLYER vs. MATT STRYKER to open up. Very similar to their last match. Probably the opening chain wrestling was better, but the home stretch wasn’t as good. At the same time, the crowd was super hot. These guys are great at working a very basic technical match and making it feel like an exhausting battle. Collyer reverses a sunset flip into a Texas Cloverleaf to get his second tap-out victory over Stryker. ***1/2

Low Ki is cutting a promo with Da Hit Squad, but Dan Maff is upset that Low Ki is hogging to spotlight while he and Monsta Mack are just lowly midcarders.

AMAZING RED vs. SLIM J is next, with Amazing Red enjoying a decided size advantage, which he makes use of to hit an F5! Not too good of a match, just a lot of overly-creative moves over and over again. Red picks up the win with a sort of piledriver thing. *3/4. Commentary says that Amazing Red is replacing Paul London as AJ Styles’ tag team partner later tonight. Special K’s bodyguard, SLUGGER, hits the Bodybag on Red post-match to put him at even further disadvantage.

CM is in the ring next and fully debuts his Straight Edge heel gimmick, running down Raven for being a drug addled degenerate and not even showing up, and declaring his superiority to the Boston crowd. As he goes to walk back out through the curtain, he’s floored by a punch from Raven. Back in the ring they go back and forth on the mic and agree to a match for later.

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. SAT vs. THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. AJ STYLES is next, with AJ going it alone as Red is not able to compete yet. Winner gets a tag title shot in the main event. Fun spotfest, doesn’t overstay its welcome, most of the spots look good, a really nice dive sequence with AJ finishing it off with an SPP to the outside. Some big head drops in this match. Really liked the ending with Jose Maximo fighting off a Styles Clash, so AJ just hoists him up and hits a NASTY powerbomb and flipping over into a cover for the win. ***1/4

LOW KI and DA HIT SQUAD vs. DERANGED, DIXIE and ANGEL DUST. The story of this match is Low Ki and Da Hit Squad want to beat some respect into Special K. Special K get obliterated to start off. Ki is hitting with full force and Da Hit Squad are throwing them around with no regard for their heads and necks. Special K are able to get the advantage with some interference from the rest of the group and actually work over Dan Maff for a while, seeing three 100 pound guys work over a 300 pound face in peril is amusing. Before long Ki and Da Hit Squad come back and obliterate Special K some more. The rest of Special K start to interfere more and more blatantly, so the ref has to call for the DQ. Post-match, Low Ki gets on the mic and says that if the whole group wants to be in the match so far, they’re go 3 on 6 with them. Dixie tries to buy Low Ki off with pills. Low Ki takes one and pretends to be high to lure the whole team into a false sense of security, before snapping out of it and killing them all. Hit Squad come back in and they hit triple finishers for the win. This was a blast and the crowd was super into it. ***1/2

DUNN & MARCOS vs. QUIET STORM and GHOST SHADOW. Holy fuck, Quiet Storm and Ghost Shadow are a SUPERTEAM. The true innovator of the Muscle Buster and the true innovator of the Canadian Destroyer. Basically a competitive squash match, Dunn taps out from a leglock from Quiet Storm. *1/2

CM PUNK vs. RAVEN is next, in a way Punk’s star-making match. It’s a Raven’s Rules match. Punk gets the advantage with technical wrestling first, before Raven then starts to out-wrestle him. They brawl around the outside with chairs, Raven gets busted open but I can’t tell by what, but he does a nice bladejob. After this it becomes a real ECW match. Trinity had accompanied Raven to the ring so Punk attacks her and whips her into a barricade, she responds with a top rope moonsault on Punk, he responds by hitting her with a legdrop through a table. Yeah, very ECW. Last several minutes of the match are good except for the fact that Punk is trying to debut a new submission called the Devil Lock, a really shitty variation of a tequila sunrise. Man is it a shitty move. But he wins with it. Fun hardcore match with blood and big spots. ***1/4. Raven tries to DDT Punk post-match but the ref breaks it up, hilariously pointing to the initials R O H on the corner pad as his reason why. His commitment to the Code of Honor earns him the DDT.

SAMOA JOE vs. HOMICIDE vs. EZ MONEY vs. BJ WHITMER for the number one contendership for the ROH Title. Joe and Homicide still have heat with each other from the last show. Most of this match really isn’t anything special, though there are good moment. Joe and Homicide have a good chop/slap fight which ends with Homicide poking Joe in the eye to a big pop. EZ Money hits a German suplex on Joe that drops him on his neck. Joe ends up choking Money out for the win, to become the number one contender. Decent match. **1/4

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS and XAVIER vs. AJ STYLES and AMAZING RED for the tag titles. Styles and Red start hot, hitting dives, Styles hits two nice spinning back kicks, Red hits a 619, among other things. Xavier randomly reverses an irish whip and hits AJ Styles with a powerslam for a pretty lame transition into heel control. The heels work over Styles before Styles makes a tag and we go into the home stretch. It’s pretty decent but nothing special, and features a pointless interference spot. Super, super awkward ending that must have been the result of some miscommunication, but the end result of it is Styles pinning Daniels with the Styles Clash for our first title change of the year. ***

Another good show. Early ROH is underrated. No match to blow you away, but plenty of good wrestling, a title change, and a significant moment in the Punk/Raven match. 7/10

mth

March 18th, 2020, 8:49 PM

Defrost

March 18th, 2020, 9:41 PM

I am not up on what WWE's version of history is on most things these day. So I am curious about something.

I am currently watching a Dusty vs Tully Lights Out, Barbed Wire, Ladder match from the 1987 Bash tour. When they talk about ladder matches has this ever been mentioned?

BTW boring ass match.

Horatio

March 19th, 2020, 12:42 PM

IWTV went down on maintenence right while Deranged vs Azrieal from CZW (9-15-03) was reaching its peak. Fun fact: Azrieal used a One Winged Angel (called the Dark Halo). I know this wasn't the first one used, but it was the best one I've seen. The match also features the worst, most dangerous looking, nearly botched poisonrana, both guys looking like they broke their necks.

the main event ends up being SPECIAL K vs. SAT, DIVINE STORM, DA HIT SQUAD and MIKEY WHIPWRECK. This thing was not good. They go over 30 minutes, just a nonstop spot fest. To their credit they keep everything moving quickly, but not a lot of it is good. Seems pointless to try to “rate” a match like this. Maybe *3/4? The show would have been better without it

As a fan of most of these guys, I have to speak up for this match. it is available on youtube and must see if you've never seen Special K, or if you've seen da hit squad or sat and wanted more.
I don't remember Brian XL or Angeldust (azrieal) doing anything memorable in it, but Jody Fleisch joined Special K and is included in this, acting like a raver on ecstasy, which you don't always get from him.
Dixie is a total ring general, showing how to get a punch over while moving very fast.
Izzy (insane dragon) isn't in the match much but he shows off some of the best kicks this side of Aoyagi and Low Ki.
Slim J is a total dick and he may have been a teenager inthis but he still shows total confidence in what is an absolute clusterfuck of a match (what was that a 14 man superplex?).
there is some storytelling between Deranged and the heavyweights, and Deranged, who is a total babyface, plays a radical heel.
It's more total clusterfuck than your usual SAT spot-fu, but you have to know that Special K are some of the greatest lightheavyweights to grace American indy wrestling. Their gimmick totally pigeonholed them from being the elite of their time but occasionally they still rock.

Horatio

March 19th, 2020, 2:21 PM

AJ STYLES vs DREW GULAK - CZW 15th YEAR ANNIVERSARY 2-8-14

This match is seriously jet-lagged Superman vs wannabe Bob Backlund and it actually delivers!
Gulak wrestles like a man who intensely loves wrestling, wrestles intensely, and consequently wrestles too intensely (he doesn't know he's a heel and honestly says "oooohh" when Styles tells him his manager interfered -- he's still just Soldier Ant!). He wrestles such the good champion (he throws in a back body drop like only Backlund could to Superman) and by the end of the match, he seriously looks like a GIANT to lift for the Styles Clash.
Styles is still at his athletic best in this and he times all of his comebacks beautifully, but this is a Gulak showcase (he eats a sitff receipt for making Styles smell his armpit in the Gu-lock).
Seriously, Superman tired of fighting but fighting his fight and getting screwed (SPOILER), and Gulack doing his ROH "boring wrestling" best back in 2014.

Also, Kimber Lee from Chikara is involved in this; lookin like jailbait, i think i got her and Krisstat confused. Kimber Lee should join the Dark Order as Brodie Lee s sister or wife cause she is totally the type to turn on a dark order and defeat them ALL and them go back to being a heel later.

Tainted Eclipse

March 19th, 2020, 3:25 PM

We’re finally back in Philadelphia for the first time in 2003 for NIGHT OF CHAMPIONS, March 22nd 2003.

BJ WHITMER vs. MATT STRYKER vs. DIXIE vs. ALEX ARION is our opening, and I’m rooting for my boy Matt Stryker to finally pick up a win. Mostly a mediocre match, though Stryker and Whitmer do have a really nice strike exchange. I wouldn’t mind seeing that singles match. BJ Whitmer drops Dixie on his neck with a nasty Exploder ’98 for the win. Poor Matt Stryker. **

SAT and QUIET STORM vs. IZZY, ANGEL DUST and DERANGED is next. Mikey Whipwreck has aligned with Special K and helps them to ambush SAT and Quiet storm. Damn, SAT and Quiet Storm. This team bears combined responsibility for the Canadian Destroyer AND the Spanish Fly. They didn’t know the Pandora’s Box they were opening, and the evil they unleashed on the world. This is a very sloppy spotfest, but a lot of the spots are actually pretty good (though plenty aren’t), there’s a strong heel/face dynamic, and the crowd is super hot, so it all combines to end up better than it deserves to be. Mikey hits the faces with Whippersnappers and Special K pick up the win. **

BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. DUNN & MARCOS. Pre-match, Dunn and Marcos debut their Ring Crew Express name and declare themselves the number one tag team in Ring of Honor. Hell yeah. Short competitive squash with the Backseats hitting some very amusing offense, including double bulldogging Marcos’ face into Dunn’s balls. Dunn and Marcos get a hot run of offense but the Backseat Boyz finish it by hitting great looking T Gimmick. **1/4

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. DOUG WILLIAMS, for both the FWA heavyweight title, a UK organization, and the number one contendership for the ROH title. Solid match. Starts off with Williams hitting Daniels with a bunch of rollups. Daniels works Williams’ ribs and Williams works Daniels’ neck. Match heats up toward the end and Williams takes it with a great Chaos Theory. **3/4

CW Anderson and Samoa Joe come out an trash talk with Homicide’s boys in the crowd, this erupts into another brawl leading to CW ANDERSON and SAMOA JOE vs. DA HIT SQUAD and HOMICIDE. Just a wild brawl, some good spots, some very sloppy spots. CW Anderson hits a great spinebuster on Dan Maff. Homicide hits Steve Corino’s girlfriend with the Cop Killer. Anderson gets DQed after hitting a spinebuster on Homicide. Homicides boys all storm the ring, one of them wielding a MACHETE, to chase off Steve Corino’s group, now known as THE GROUP. **

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. MACE and HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ is next. Mace is one half of the Christopher Street Connection, and pre-match he loudly informs the camera that his regular partner, Buffy, can’t wrestle tonight because his ass hurts too much. Mace and Hernandez are a fun team with Hernandez using some nice power moves, including a great looking spear, and Mace’s offense consisting of more homoerotic hijinks. The South Philly guidos aren’t exactly 100% receptive to Mace’s hijinks. Hernandez hits an incredible no-hands dive over the top rope before getting a nasty chairshot to the head. Carnage Crew follow that up with a second rope spiked piledriver on Mace for the win. Very amusing match. ***

AJ STYLES and AMAZING RED vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS. Briscoe Brothers’ debut as a tag team, challenging for the tag team titles. AJ and Red start off super hot. Jay and AJ have a cool amateur wrestling exchange which AJ continues to get the advantage of, ending it with a go behind into a nasty German suplex. Mark comes in and AJ tries another German, Mark resists, but Red comes in and hits a superkick into the German, AJ and Red following it up with dives to the outside. Great sequence. Back inside all four guys hit big moves, including a beautiful brainbuster from AJ. Big homestretch with tons of nearfalls. The very end is super heated, with Red’s cornrows coming undone, revealing a giant frizzy white boy afro. Red hits a nasty top rope Code Red but the pin is broken up. AJ plants Mark on the top rope, catapults Red into a hurricanrana, Mark flips right into a Styles clash for the win, with Red cinematically collapsing on his back as the ref counts the three. Awesome ending, great workrate style tag. ***3/4

LOW KI vs. JODY FLEISCH. Strong opening with Low Ki establishing his superiority and Fleisch trying to evade him. They had the story of this match right with Low Ki’s strikes vs. Fleisch’s acrobatics, but it went on too long and wasn’t focused enough. Fleisch tried for some spots that really didn’t come off right, like a shooting star pile driver which Gabe raved about on commentary, but wasn’t successful at all. Ending was a horrifying top rope Ki Crusher, and I really liked how they sold it by Ki lying around for a minute before crawling over for the cover, but still getting the three. This match could have been a lot better, but even with its flaws it had plenty of good stuff, mostly thanks to Low Ki, but Fleisch wasn’t worthless either. ***

CM PUNK and ACE STEEL vs. RAVEN and COLT CABANA. Punk tries to avoid Raven, allowing Ace Steel to ambush him. Punk tries to put Raven in the godawful Devil Lock, but Raven gets to the ropes and then hits a drop toe hold into a chair. Cabana hits a pretty sweet pop-up powerbomb on Ace Steel after his hot tag. Colt hurts his leg on a moonsault to the outside. Punk and Steel try to take advantage of it, setting up a table, but Punk goes through the table with an elbow drop as Raven rolls off and capitalizes with a DDT to Steel for the win. **. Punk breaks the Code of Honor post-match! He attacks Raven and Cabana joins him. Punk and Cabana are finally together in ROH!

Backstage, Homicide and Julius Smoke talk about bringing THE STREETS to ROH to take on Corino’s group. Low Ki isn’t happy about it. ROH is about sport, and the streets need to stay in the streets.

XAVIER vs. SAMOA JOE for the ROH Title. Joe dominates with chops and kicks to start off, but Xavier gets the advantage by working over Joe’s neck, including a very impressive brainbuster. Joe HULKS UP but the heat is cut off with a very awkward suplex miscommunication. He hits his German-Dragon-Straightjacket suplex trio for the nearfall, but Xavier is able the knee his way out of a brainbuster to get back on the offense. Joe gets his knees up for the 450 and shortly later takes Xavier down, hammers him with knees, and locks in the choke for the pass-out victory. SAMOA JOE IN YOUR NEW RING OF HONOR CHAMPION. Crowd pops big. Inauspicious match for the beginning of an auspicious title reign. A big moment in ROH history nonetheless. **1/4

Another good show. The undercard didn’t have much top-shelf wrestling, but the matches were mostly fun, and very easy to watch. We had the tag title match for probably the second best match of 2003 ROH so far. Main event was far from special as a match, but it was a big time moment. 6.5/10

Defrost

March 19th, 2020, 9:33 PM

Trying to take my mind off of some bad news today by watching the match where Marufuji beat Akiyama to win the GHC Title.

Now I am just annoyed thinking about the avoidable fall of Pro Wrestling NOAH. So distracted at least.

Tainted Eclipse

March 19th, 2020, 10:25 PM

Defrost

March 19th, 2020, 10:40 PM

Panicking after Marufuji and KENTA didn't go as well as they hoped, with nothing on the undercard btw, and putting the belt back on Misawa is the most glaring.

Rikio being the one to beat Kobashi when of the four guys that really came up in NOAH in that period with him, Morishima, KENTA, and Marufuji he was obviously fourth of the four.

Just throwing Kobashi to the wolves when he came back from cancer destroyed his body. Rewatching the awesome Burning vs Kensuke Office feud of 2008 the obvious way to go was with Kobashi and KENTA as the GHC Tag Champs with KENTA doing 85% of the work and Kobashi coming in for the hot tag. It would have drawn and protected Kobashi's body, but that's not the way it went down.

Those have always been my top 3

Rancid_Planet

March 20th, 2020, 3:54 AM

I am not up on what WWE's version of history is on most things these day. So I am curious about something.

I am currently watching a Dusty vs Tully Lights Out, Barbed Wire, Ladder match from the 1987 Bash tour. When they talk about ladder matches has this ever been mentioned?

BTW boring ass match.

WWE history says first ladder match was HBK/Razor.

BUT they also included a Bad News Brown/Bret Hart ladder match on the Bret Hart dvd set that dated back to early 80s Calgary.

So like everything in WWE it just depends. But I don't recall the match youre talking about ever coming up on WWE programming.

Fanny Batter

March 20th, 2020, 4:53 AM

I think the line is that Bret brought it in from Stampede to work Shawn, as seen from the "trial" match on Smack Em Whack Em, then they shelved their programme and used it for Shawn vs. Razor. If I was a betting man I'd say the original plan was Shawn beating Bret at Summerslam 92 then the Ladder match at either Survivor Series or Wrestlemania 9, but the UK territory exploded so they did Wembley and Bulldog instead.

Always found it weird that they called Shawn vs. Razor a first when they'd featured one on a recent VHS. Same video with the Bret/Flair title change so I imagine it was popular, too. In fact, fairly sure the cover has an image from the ladder match, so any fan with access to tapes would have been aware it existed before 'Mania 10.

Fuck it, I'm watching early 90's WWF during the plague.

Tainted Eclipse

March 20th, 2020, 5:49 PM

We’re back in Philadelphia for THE EPIC ENCOUNTER, April 12th 2003. ROH have upgraded their production values. We’ve got dimmed lighting, black tarps behind the crowd and fancier ringside barricades. I prefer the old look.

THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. DA HIT SQUAD starts us off. It’s looking like a total squash by Da Hit Squad with the Backseats getting no offense at all. Until Dan Maff accidentally takes out Monsta Mack with a lariat and then gets hit with the T Gimmick give the Backseats the win. Maff is pissed post-match and BREAKS THE CODE OF HONOR, storming to the back without shaking hands. Maff has been teasing a slow burn heel turn all year so far, it may be coming soon. *1/2

Special K comes out and Mikey Whipwreck challenges the Backseat Boyz to prove that Special K are the best tag team in ROH. This brings out Dunn and Marco, who protest that THEY are the best team in ROH. Then the Carnage Crew comes out and says they don’t care who the best team in ROH is, they just want to kick some ass. The Backseat Boyz say they have somewhere to be, so the other three teams will have a three way match to determine who faces them.

And so we have SPECIAL K vs. DUNN & MARCOS vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. A quick spotfest. Good dive sequence that ends in Dunn and Marcos hitting stereo stage dives. Davito misses a moonsault. The Carnage Crew hit Dunn with the second rope spiked piledriver, but Mikey Whipwreck hits both of them with Whippersnappers allowing Hydro to cover Dunn for the win. *3/4

AJ STYLES and AMAZING RED vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS in a rematch. Cool sequence to start with AJ and Red going for double dives, the Briscoes cut them off, then go for double dives of their own, AJ and Red move out of the way, then hit a criss-cross suicide dive flip over the top combo. Back inside Red hits a nice Code Red with assistance from AJ before getting worked over by the Briscoes. After a while Red makes the tag and they trade big moves and spots. AJ and Red try the catapult top rope hurricanrana again but Jay turns it into a top rope powerbomb. Mark pushes AJ out of the ring and tries to hit a plancha into a hurricanrana, but AJ holds on and hits a Styles Clash on the floor. Back in the ring Red drops Jay on his head and hits a standing shooting star press for the win. A compacted version of last show’s match but definitely didn’t hit the highs and wasn’t as memorable. Still very good. ***1/2

CM PUNK vs. BJ WHITMER next. The first half of this match is just bad. Punk is genuinely one of the worst wrestlers in ROH right now. It gets a bit better once Punk hits a nice looking Shining Wizard and Whitmer hits and nice looking high knee. Punk had set up a table outside early in the match and pathetically failed in his attempts to hoist Whitmer up to tease a powerbomb through it, but at the end they end up fighting on the apron and Punk hits a German suplex off the apron sending them both through the table. The ref calls a stop to the match as both guys are out. *1/4

HOMICIDE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS is JIP due to technical difficulties. These guys work hard but man, this match does not come together well. Homicide goes lock on a really sweet STF variation though. Very, very awkward botched sequence toward the end that ends in Homicide winning with a rollup. *1/4. Daniels teases finally turning over a new leaf and following the code of honor, but Samoa Joe and CW Anderson, THE GROUP, attack them both, Homicide being their intended target. Dan Maff comes out and runs off THE GROUP. Daniels and Maff square off, Daniels rips off Maff’s shirt to reveal A PROPHECY SHIRT. DAN MAFF HAS JOINED THE PROPHECY. Pretty big pop for it. Maff walks out on Homicide, his trainer.

There’s a genuinely hilarious CM Punk promo backstage, patronizing BJ Whitmer telling him next time he’ll take it easier on him so he doesn’t quit. Then clips of a women’s match without commentary. Odd.

SAMOA JOE vs. HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ in a non-title match. Joe rather questionably starts the match by working over Hernandez’s arm. Hernandez gets Joe out of the ring and hits a big no-hands dive over the top, and for a little while the match becomes what it should be as they trade chops and strikes and Hernandez hits a big belly to belly on Joe. It slows down again after that and Joe gets the win with a triangle choke. Pretty disappointing, this should have been a fun big man match. *3/4

Post-match, Joe says the crowd in Philadelphia wants a title match. The next match is scheduled to be a triple threat, Joe adds himself and turns it into a four-way for Samoa Joe’s first ROH Title defense.

SAMOA JOE vs. MATT STRYKER vs. COLT CABANA vs. TOM CARTER for the ROH Title. Cabana debuts his Copa Cabana theme. Carter is indie legend Reckless Youth. The three attack Joe to start but then begin to fight among themselves. They go at it for a while, with Joe stepping in now and then to hit a kick or chop. Finally Joe goes for a suicide dive as Stryker and Cabana are on the floor, but Carter cuts him off with a boot and gets a nearfall with a sunset flip. Joe gets hit with a couple big moves but is able to capitalize on Cabana and Carter fighting to put Cabana in the choke. Carter comes off the top and hits a frog splash on them both, but Joe is able to maintain the choke and Cabana is forced to tap. A cool ending, but not a very good match. *3/4

BRYAN DANIELSON vs. PAUL LONDON, two out of three falls, is the reason this show is called The Epic Encounter. Match starts off with a really nice collar and elbow tie up, followed by some good, competitive chain wrestling. Danielson takes most of the offense in the first fall, hitting most of the high impact moves, but London fires back with plenty of his own. Loud dueling chants for both guys, which was a novelty at the time. This match is probably more responsible than any other for its popularization. London picks up the first fall by reversing a top-rope back suplex attempt from Danielson, shifting his weight and landing on top of him for the pin. They go a bit over twenty minutes in the first fall, which is almost always the best thing to do in two out of three falls matches. The first fall should happen around when a normal match would end. By the start of the second fall, it already feels like a grueling competition. London gets the advantage early on in the second fall, but Danielson cuts him off as he climbs the ropes, trying to finally hit that top rope back suplex. London fights it off twice, but when he stands up on the top rope Danielson pops up and dropkicks his knee. London’s leg gets caught in the ropes and Danielson attacks it viciously. The rest of the fall is spent with Danielson focusing on the knee, London is able to mount of brief offense but it cut off quickly. Danielson locks in a single leg crab on the bad leg, and London has to tap as Danielson wrenches back on it. London’s selling in the third fall really takes this match to the next level. Danielson dives for the leg to start off, but London hits him with stiff kicks. Danielson keeps going for it, but London hits stiffer and stiffer kicks until Danielson is out. Love that spot, Danielson willing to expose himself to damage because of how effective the crab was. London is totally debilitated this fall and can hardly stand. His offense is limited to roll ups and strikes he can hit Danielson with when they’re both lying on the mat. Danielson hits his big moves, the rolling elbow, the dragon suplex, and finally the top rope back suplex, all look great. Danielson teases a top rope back suplex through the table at ringside but London is able to fight him off and come off the ropes with Danielson, hitting a spinning DDT. London crawls to the opposite turnbuckle, hobbles to the top, and hits the SSP as Danielson is trying to get up. Excellent match. Amazing selling by London and they really worked it to feel like a classic war of attrition. ****1/2

We end the show with an unsanctioned Bunkhouse Brawl, THE GROUP vs. HOMICIDE’S CREW and DUSTY RHODES. Wild brawl, too many people to keep track of them, many little-known figures. Everyone blades. All kinds of crazy spots. Heels sell big for Dusty. Julius Smokes hits an awesome dropkick off the apron. Iceberg, a huge fat guy, gets dumped on his head with a German Suplex. Dusty and Homicide take a fork to Jack Victory’s face and he quits. Homicide’s crew wins. The end was sort of awkward as they asked Victory if he quits over and over again, but he never really responds clearly. They end up just calling it for Homicide’s crew though. Awesome wild brawl. ****

How to rate a show like this? The undercard sucked, by far the worst of the year. But it ended with the best ROH match of the year so far, and probably the third best in the wild Bunkhouse Brawl. Call it 6.5/10, weighing the relatively quality of the undercard and main events against each other.

Defrost

March 20th, 2020, 10:30 PM

Here's a random one

MNM vs Mexicools from Armageddon 2005. Super fun like 9 minute match.

I was stunned how much the crowd were into the Mexicools.

Next up Undertaker vs Jim Neidhart in a 6 minute match from a 1994 episode of Superstars.

Imagine a 6 minute Undertaker vs Neidhart match in 1994. That's the match.

Fanny Batter

March 21st, 2020, 6:15 AM

Defrost

March 21st, 2020, 3:10 PM

Tainted Eclipse

March 21st, 2020, 6:45 PM

We’re back outside of Pittsburgh for ROUND ROBIN CHALLENGE II on April 26th 2003.

In ROH’s second show ever, Christopher Daniels, Bryan Danielson and Low Ki competed in a Round Robin series of match, ending up with all three tied with 1-1 records. This year, Christopher Daniels, Paul London, and Amazing Red will participate. We open up with CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. AMAZING RED. Very solid big man vs. little man match. Well, Daniels isn’t exactly a big man, but compared to Red he is. Red botches a little bit, but not too much. Red hits a really nice Code Red for a good nearfall toward the end. He goes up top but Daniels kicks the ref into the ropes, Red falls off, and Daniels hits the Last Rites for the win. Good opener. ***

DA HIT SQUAD vs. COLT CABANA and ACE STEEL next. This match was signed before Maff joined the Prophecy, so this is the last time Da Hit Squad will team together. A little dissention in Da Hit Squad, but they’re able to work together. Good chop and slap exchange between Maff and Steel which leads to Cabana and Steel hitting Maff with a series of moves. He’s able to tag in Monsta Mack who hits Steel with a big lariat. Da Hit Squad try for their signature cannonball into the corner, but Cabana moves. Gabe sells on commentary that they’ve never missed that move before. This allows Ace and Cabana to take out Maff and hit Mack with a double team Colt 45 for the win. Fun match. **3/4

SAT vs. HYDRO and BRIAN XL vs. EZ MONEY and STERLING JAMES KEENAN vs. DUNN & MARCOS. This is one of the better of these kinds of spotfests that ROH has had so far this year. Really fun, went the right amount of time, far fewer botches than usual. A couple really nice dives and two especially impressive multi-man spots. Sterling James Keenan does hardly anything in this match, but he does his a cool dive toward the beginning. EZ Money gets Marcos on the top rope but instead of hitting and move decides to dive off onto a group of people below. SAT take the advantage to his Marcos with the Spanish Fly for the win. ***1/4

CM Punk comes out and is met in the ring by one of Raven’s ‘disciples’. WCW’s Daffney comes out to attack him and reveals that she is the newest member of Punk’s Second City Saints, under the name Lucy.

This leads to CM PUNK vs. HOMICIDE for the number one contender’s trophy. This ended up being a really good match in spite of a lot of sloppiness. Both guys his really nice dives and the end is super hot. Homicide kicks out of the Pepsi Plunge and from then on the crowd is really hot, with Julius Smokes doing a great job hyping them up. Punk and Homicide trade big moves and near falls, with Gabe freaking out on commentary about Homicide fighting with all he has for his son. Homicide attempts a Cop Killer, which Gabe says they need to find a new name for because Homicide’s probation officer watched one of the tapes and told him he couldn’t call it that anymore. A series of sloppy reversals leads to Homicide locking in his nice STF variation for the submission win. Plenty to criticize in this match but it rises above it with a really hot home stretch that feels important. ***1/4

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ, FAST EDDIE and DON JUAN. HOLY SHIT. Talk about a hidden gem. This is an out of control wild brawl. Better than the brawl that ended the last show. Just nonstop chaos. This is the three man version of the Carnage Crew, with Masada making his second appearance. So much craziness here. Loc gets a terrible cut on the back of his head and bleeds all over the place. Masada BREAKS a chair over Fast Eddie’s head. Everyone blades. Fast Eddie hits and top rope hurricanrana from the top rope, to the outside, ONTO AN OPEN CHAIR on Masada. Hernandez hits a crazy through dropping Masada on his neck. Hernandez launches Fast Eddie from the ring to the outside onto the Carnage Crew in a crazy spot. He tries to follow it up with his no hands dive over the top rope but Devito whacks him with a chair on his way down, and he then lands on his head to boot. Carnage Crew hit the second rope spike piledriver on Fast Eddie for the win. This ruled. ****1/4

PAUL LONDON vs. AMAZING RED is match number two in the Round Robin. Lots of botched and awkward spots in this one, mostly from Red, but he makes up for it with a really nice German suplex and top rope Code Red. London starts to do AJ Styles’ taunts, as he’s jealous that Red took his place and won the tag titles with Styles. London hits the Styles Clash on Red to win it. **1/4. So Red goes 0-2 and loses the Round Robin. Match wasn’t too good but it was short and fast paced, with a couple nice spots and good development of the growing tension between London and Styles.

Gary Michael Cappetta is backstage interviewing my boy Matt Stryker. Chad Collyer interrupts and says he’s going to make Stryker tap for the third time tonight. He speaks with a southern accent. I swear, from the first time I saw him on an ROH DVD until now, I always thought Collyer was British. This prompted me to look him up on Wikipedia and apparently he now works as a magician.

ALEXIS LAREE vs. PERSEPHONIE is next. Laree is better known as Mickey James. Gabe is VERY creep on commentary drooling over the women. The match isn’t good, but it’s not really too bad, and it’s short. Laree wins with a reverse DDT. *1/2

MATT STRYKER vs. CHAD COLLYER vs. DONOVAN MORGAN vs. BJ WHITMER vs. MICHAEL SHANE is next. It’s an interesting dynamic and Stryker and Collyer are sort of feuding, Shane and Morgan have heat as part of the Group vs. Prophecy feud, and Whitmer is just the fifth wheel. Shane taunts Morgan but is able to evade him to start off. Collyer lands a bunch of rollups on Shane but he goes low with a chopblock. For the next several minutes the other three guys take turns working over Collyer’s leg. Collyer is able to make the hot tag to Morgan who now has Shane alone and unloads on him. Great ending sequence as Collyer gets Stryker in the middle with the Texas Cloverleaf, teasing a THIRD tapout, but Michael Shane breaks it up with a superkick. Morgan takes Shane out with a spinning fisherman’s buster. Whitmer takes out Morgan with an exploder. Stryker and Collyer briefly team up to take out Whitmer with a leg lariat German suplex combo. Collyer goes for the Gedo Clutch on Stryker but Stryker reverses it into the Stryker lock, a sort of Indian Deathlock submission and TAPS COLLYER OUT. MATT STRYKER PICKS UP HIS FIRST WIN OF 2003. ***1/4. I’m fantasy booking a 2 out of 3 falls Collyer/Stryker match to settle the score. Followed by them teaming up for a tag title reign.

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. PAUL LONDON to decide the first ever winner of an ROH Round Robin Challenge. They spend a lot of time stalling in the beginning but once they lock it up this is a really, really good match. London gets a string of offense at first but Daniels takes control by working on the ribs. The crowd is really into London as the underdog and is super hot for the whole match. London gets some quick spurts of offense but Daniels is mostly in control. Still, they work a very fast paced match. London hits a Shooting Star Press but Allison Danger distracts the ref. London backdrops Daniels out of the ring onto her, and shortly later goes for another SSP but Daniels get his knees up, and London’s bump onto the knees looks great. Daniels follows it up with a flatliner and a triple jump moonsault for the win. ***1/2

SAMOA JOE vs. DOUG WILLIAMS is actually Samoa Joe’s first official ROH Title defense. They get the in-ring introductions and everything. Unfortunately this match isn’t very good. Williams goes after Joe’s arm and Joe does a good job selling it, but this match never really amounts to much. To its credit, it actually still does have something of a big match feel. Joe blocks a Chaos Theory and hits some knees to Williams’ head before finishing him off with the choke. **

Post-match, THE GROUP runs out to beat down Joe. Michael Shane tries to save him but gets a beating too.

Despite the dud of a main event, this was definitely the best show of the year so far. Very strong undercard with an awesome hidden gem in the 6 man brawl. 8/10

Fanny Batter

March 22nd, 2020, 7:07 AM

Defrost

March 22nd, 2020, 10:19 AM

Beer-Belly

March 22nd, 2020, 10:49 AM

Just watched the Stone Cold vs Jericho match from the Raw after the famous 10 German Suplexes match. It was going better than the match they had that I talked about earlier in the thread, but the finish is such a clusterfuck of ref bumps and run ins that it takes it down for me.

Is that their June 4th, 2001 match?

On a different note, can anyone recommend any Stan Hansen matches where he's a fan favorite? The only one I've seen where he's essentially a babyface is the match with Andre that becomes an out of control brawl. That match ruled.

Defrost

March 22nd, 2020, 10:59 AM

Is that their June 4th, 2001 match?

On a different note, can anyone recommend any Stan Hansen matches where he's a fan favorite? The only one I've seen where he's essentially a babyface is the match with Andre that becomes an out of control brawl. That match ruled.

Yep that's the match

The match I talked about in this thread where Hansen teams with Baba against Misawa and Kobashi fits what you're looking for

Beer-Belly

March 22nd, 2020, 11:16 AM

Yep that's the match

The match I talked about in this thread where Hansen teams with Baba against Misawa and Kobashi fits what you're looking for

Nice. I'll check that out ASAP. Any other Hansen match recommendations would also be appreciated. I always forget what I've seen over the years.

I'll probably check out the Austin/Jericho steel cage match from the post-Vengeance Raw after I watch the June 4th match. I can't remember the last time I saw either, but I'm positive both end with shenanigans.

Defrost

March 22nd, 2020, 12:02 PM

Defrost

March 22nd, 2020, 7:39 PM

Horatio

March 22nd, 2020, 10:39 PM

Nice. I'll check that out ASAP. Any other Hansen match recommendations would also be appreciated. I always forget what I've seen over the years.

Misawa/Hansen was always good. As was the Brody+Hansen vs Funks feud. I'm also partial to Hansen+Spivey vs Gordy+Williams (love what little I get to see of Spivey and Hansen/Williams is a dream match that delivers). You have probably seen Vader/Hansen; Andre vs Hansen is a class fight as well.

Tainted Eclipse

March 22nd, 2020, 10:48 PM

We’re back in Philadelphia for DO OR DIE, May 31st, 2003.

Homicide cuts a pre-show promo on Samoa Joe, saying that he turned his life around after his son was born and now he needs the ROH Title to make real money to support his family. He’ll do whatever it takes to win. At this point in ROH there weren’t really many “big” ROH title matches. Xavier won it quickly and most of his defenses weren’t pushed as big deals. The title very often doesn’t main event shows. But with Homicide hot off a big win last show and cutting a decent promo, and Homicide and Joe already having heat as part of the Group angle, this feels like the most significant title match of 2003 so far.

We start with BJ WHITMER vs. DAN MAFF. Last time we were in Philadelphia ROH did a really half-assed production “upgrade” that looked bad. This time, it’s a genuine upgrade, as the lighting is better, the ring canvas is better, and they’ve debuted the famous sheet metal barricade covers. Another first is CM Punk on commentary. Maff really leans into his heel character here. They take advantage of the barricade covers and Irish whip each other into them over and over again for the noise. The fans quickly take to banging against the barricades. Whitmer is hitting pretty light tonight. Maff hits two half-nelson suplexes dropping Whitmer on his head. Maff goes for the Burning Hammer but Whitmer escapes and hits a German. He goes up to the top rope but Allison Danger comes in the ring and sort of, like, caresses BJ’s ass and his causes him to get crotched on the top rope, allowing Maff to hit a Burning Hammer for the win. Pretty lame ending. Totally unoffensive match, but nothing too good. **

Post-match, Julius Smokes and Low Ki come out to confront Maff about betraying his people and forgetting where he came from. Maff says he did what he had to do to get ahead. Low Ki’s arm is in a sling, but he tells Maff one day soon it’s going to be he and Low Ki in the ring. Ki then turns his attention on Julius Smokes, saying he doesn’t belong in Ring of Honor, because this isn’t the streets. Homicide tries to play peacemaker. Trent Acid sneaks into the ring and attacks Homicide. Gabe explains they have heat in other promotions.

JASON CROSS vs. TONY MAMALUKE next. Not a bad match, just one guy hits a move, the next guy hits a move. Some of the moves are pretty good looking, and Cross does hit a really sweet corkscrew dive, but the match never really comes together and the crowd isn’t into it. *3/4

Backstage, Iceberg thanks Rob Feinstein for booking him. The Outcast Killaz are angry Iceberg is booked but they aren’t, so Feinstein tells them they can wrestle him. It ends up being ICEBERG vs. OMAN TORTUGA. Iceberg is not very mobile. Not much to this match. Iceberg does hit a nasty senton for the win. *. Dunn and Marcos save the Outcast Killaz from further damage, since they’re all friends on the ring crew.

MATT STRYKER vs. TOM CARTER. This is a profoundly boring match. Everything is executed competently, but it’s very, very boring. Punk and Gabe bickering on commentary is entertaining though. To their credit, they salvage the match at the end with some big spots and end up getting the crowd really into it. Stryker wins with a rollup. **. Post-march Carter is pissed off. Says he pioneered the junior style that all the MARKS in the back wrestle. Carter says the roll-up pin was cheap, so they agree to have a submission match next time they’re in Philadelphia.

SECOND CITY SAINTS vs. DIXIE and IZZIE vs. CARNAGE CREW vs. BRISCOE BROTHERS next. Punk and Cabana’s debut as a team in ROH. Pretty standard scramble tag. Some good dives toward the end, especially Davito hitting a moonsault to the outside. Punk wins it with a Pepsi Plunge. **. Post-match, Punk berates the crowd for smoking weed, and insults ECW’s Straw Hat Guy, in the front row, for being a Raven fan.

ANDY ANDERSON vs. JOHN WALTERS next. A short, nothing match with sloppy execution. *1/2

CM PUNK vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. JIMMY RAVE vs. FRANKIE KAZARIAN. Punk’s second match of the night, and I think Rave’s ROH debut. Punk certainly seems to be improving. He very amusingly oversells a chop to the back by Rave early on. Rave gets put over well here, getting a lot of offense. Crowd is really behind Daniels, and they pop pretty big when he a Punk square off for the first time. Daniels and Kazarian trade moves for a while and Daniels gets the win with the Last Rites. **3/4. Post-match, Daniels offers Punk a spot in the Prophecy. Punk says he’ll do it if Daniels shakes his hand, which he of course won’t. They both say that they’ll meet each other one on one soon.

BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. SLIM J and JODY FLEISCH. This match is just a mess. Not good at all. They do one massive spot though: a double moonsault off of high scaffolding in the crowd. Still, that wasn’t enough to make up for everything else. *

SAMOA JOE vs. HOMICIDE for the ROH WORLD title, now that Samoa Joe has defended the title in the UK against Zebra Kid. Good hard hitting match, really feels like a world title match. Joe hits his Ole kicks, Homicide drops Joe on his head with suplexes, crowd is really hot for the most part. Joe gets the advantage with knees and then locks on the choke. Low Ki comes out and pumps Homicide up, allowing him to reverse it into the STF. Low Ki then slaps Homicide to get his blood flowing and Homicide hits a back suplex, ace crusher, and top rope double stomp. He drops Joe on his head with a suplex and Joe rolls out onto the floor. Long spot with refs coming from the back to assess if Joe can continue. Spots like these hardly ever work and this definitely cooled out the match. Homicide gets Joe back in the ring and puts him up on the top rope, but Julius Smokes and Low Ki start arguing on the outside distracting Homicide and allowing Joe to hit a Muscle Buster off the top rope for the win. Shame the match got cooled off by the refs checking on Joe spot at the end but it was still really good. Low Ki slapping Homicide was a great moment. ***1/2. Homicide is really good post-match, totally heartbroken over how close he was to the win.

After the show Samoa Joe and Christopher Daniels brawl, but they get broken up. Next show, The Prophecy vs. The Group compete in a six man match, the losing team must DISBAND.

Another really weak undercard for the Philadelphia crowd. Not quite as bad as the Epic Encounter show’s undercard, but obviously this show didn’t have the blow away final two matches either, though the main event was very good. 5/10.

The Law

March 23rd, 2020, 12:10 AM

Watched Backlash 2003 tonight. Was a pretty good show, Rock vs. Goldberg was a lot better than I remembered.

Opener was Team Angle vs. Los Guerreros. Team Angle retained a solid 15 minute match. Eddie and Chavo stole the tag belts afterward, that led to a Ladder Match at Judgment Day. But Chavo was hurt so Tajiri substituted for him.

Sean O'Hair (w/Roddy Piper) beat Rikishi in the second match. This was when they were doing the O'Haire Devil's Advocate gimmick. Awesome gimmick but it turned out he couldn't do live promos so they tried to have Piper talk for him. They dropped Piper after he made some negative comments about the company in an HBO interview and O'Haire was left rudderless. Match wasn't very good, O'Haire had a great look and was an amazing athlete but never really learned how to work.

Kane and Rob Van Dam beat the Dudleyz to retain the tag titles. Good match, Kane and Van Dam were a great team. I think this was about the end of the road for Val Venis as Chief Morley, he went back to being Venis the next month.

Jazz beat Trish to win the Women's Title in a nothing match.

Big Show beat Rey Mysterio in three minutes. This is where he swung him like a baseball bat while he was on a body board. And then he just fucking dropped him and Rey landed right on his head without his arms to brace himself. That was brutal and he could have been hurt really bad but it seems like he was fine.

Brock beat Cena to retain the WWE Title in the next match. This is when Cena was first getting pushed, I think this was his first pay-per-view match as the rapper and it was for the world title. Brock bladed and Cena cheated a lot to create vulnerability. They definitely made Cena look strong, took Lesnar 15 minutes to beat him. It was a pretty good match, but Lesnar was definitely better suited to play a heel at this point in his career. Impressively there were pretty loud "Cena" chants toward the end of the match, he was already winning the fans over. Kind of crazy that they had the patience to wait a year to put the US Title on his and then another year after that to have him win the world title. It feels like today if somebody started getting over like that they would put the belt on him within six months.

Triple H, Ric Flair, and Chris Jericho beat Kevin Nash, Shawn Michaels, and Booker T in a very good six man tag. I really liked the booking of doing a six man here, no need to do Triple H vs. Nash right away when you've got Rock and Goldberg as the main event. And world title matches would feel more special if both belts weren't defended at every pay-per-view. This match did a good job advancing multiple storylines. Triple H got the win over Nash with a sledgehammer shot, that didn't make a lot of sense to me because I thought Nash would get the pin on Triple H to set him up as the #1 contender for the title. But this was the era of Triple H always winning, so he went over.

Main event was Rock vs. Goldberg. Rock got mostly cheered for his entrance. Goldberg was cheered during his entrance but the crowd turned on him over the course of the match. Rock was bumping and selling his ass off for Goldberg and I think it ended up getting him sympathy. Goldberg hit a Rock Bottom early, but then missed a Spear and hit the ring post. Rock was in control for awhile after that, Goldberg kicked out of the Rock Bottom and the People's Elbow. Goldberg popped up, hit the Spear. He hit another Spear, then the Jackhammer and got the pin. Crowd was booing and chanting "Goldberg Sucks" by the end. I really enjoyed this match, I thought it was one of Goldberg's best longer matches (they went 13 minutes). I don't know if the fans really hated Goldberg, but Rock was just too awesome for them not to cheer him.

Pretty good pay-per-view overall. Goldberg/Rock is definitely worth checking out if you've never seen it.

Tainted Eclipse

March 23rd, 2020, 9:28 AM

Beer-Belly

March 23rd, 2020, 3:58 PM

Misawa/Hansen was always good. As was the Brody+Hansen vs Funks feud. I'm also partial to Hansen+Spivey vs Gordy+Williams (love what little I get to see of Spivey and Hansen/Williams is a dream match that delivers). You have probably seen Vader/Hansen; Andre vs Hansen is a class fight as well.

Thanks. That Andre vs. Hansen match is a favorite of mine. I know I've seen the 5 star Hansen vs. Kobashi, Brody/Hansen vs. The Funks, and Vader vs. Hansen. I've seen more than that, but those spring to mind. Any shorter Hansen matches to recommend? The long stuff is great, but I like binge watch shorter matches quite a bit.

Beer-Belly

March 23rd, 2020, 4:17 PM

Defrost

March 23rd, 2020, 7:10 PM

Horatio

March 23rd, 2020, 7:52 PM

The Law

March 23rd, 2020, 10:47 PM

Watched Luger vs. Hogan from August 1997 Nitro. Was the 100th episode of Nitro at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Luger beat Hogan to win the belt with the Torture Rack after he fought off Hall, Nash, and Savage. Just put him over like a motherfucker, took out the NWO A-Team all by himself and then tapped Hogan clean in the middle. Pop was absolutely massive, and the post-match was probably the best part.

Like 15 WCW guys came out to celebrate with Luger. He goes to the back with all of them after a few minutes. They show Hogan yelling at the NWO guys, then cut to Luger and the faces celebrating in the back. They popped champagne and cleaned the "NWO" spraypaint off the belt.

Great, great moment. Luger dropped the belt back to Hogan just a couple days later at Road Wild. Wasn't a lot of other options since they had to get to Hogan/Sting at Starrcade.

Ringo

March 24th, 2020, 3:17 AM

Thanks. That Andre vs. Hansen match is a favorite of mine. I know I've seen the 5 star Hansen vs. Kobashi, Brody/Hansen vs. The Funks, and Vader vs. Hansen. I've seen more than that, but those spring to mind. Any shorter Hansen matches to recommend? The long stuff is great, but I like binge watch shorter matches quite a bit.

There's like 5 amazing matches he had with Kobashi. Definitely check out some of the others if you enjoyed that one.

Awesome violent sub-10 minute brawl with Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LK7icA1yVw

Whole of that feud here if you're into that, they had some wild brawls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgGxUo90kC0

Great match with Terry Funk in 1982 All Japan that clocks in at around 10 minutes, absolute insanity here and Terry is so damn over:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRuvEkanCYU

The bad ass team of Hansen and Tenryu murdering two frail legends in Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura. Tells a really good story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHs4TOjcjLU

Another Hansen & Tenryu classic, this time vs. Jumbo & Yatsu. This is one of the longer ones though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgrQdAYoGwg&t=72s

Most famous match he had with Kawada:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV7RMbrGfzo

Tainted Eclipse

March 24th, 2020, 10:00 PM

We’re up in Boston for NIGHT OF THE GRUDGES, June 14th 2003.

We open with THE CHRISTOPHER STREET CONNECTION vs. THE CARNAGE CREW. Buffy kisses several men in the audience on his way to the ring. I get the sense this crowd responded to it better than the South Philly crowd would have. Really fun competitive comedy match with the Christopher Street Connection relying on extremely homoerotic offense and a good heel/face dynamic. Carnage Crew get the win with a moonsault from Davito, which mostly misses. **1/2

CHANCE BECKETT vs. MATT STRYKER next. This match was pretty dull. Beckett is not good and messes up a bunch of spots. Stryker wins with the Styker Lock. *1/4

JOHN WALTERS vs. HOMICIDE vs. CHRIS SABIN vs. JUSTIN CREDIBLE. Angel Dust was schedule for this match, but Justin Credible makes a surprise entrance taking him out, and the crowd GOES FUCKING NUTS. These people are going wild, screaming, whistling, jumping up and down for JUSTIN CREDIBLE. This must be the biggest pop of his career. He declares to Gary Michael Cappetta that he’s going to make this match not just the greatest, not just the best, but just incredible. Justin Credible takes it easy early on in the match but ends up inaugurating the home stretch with a nice plancha. A good dive sequence follows and this match ends up really good toward the end. Credible gets a nearfall on Homicide with That’s Incredible and takes a nice pump over the ropes after its broken up. Homicide makes Walters tap with his STF. ***1/4

Homicide and Julius smokes celebrate as they go to the back, but behind the curtain Low K is waiting for them, telling Homicide again that Julius Smokes doesn’t belong in ROH. Homicide says he needs someone to have his back, and Low Ki can’t since he’s hurt. Low Ki walks off and Homicide starts to follow after him, but Julius Smokes holds him back and calms him down, reminding them they’re about to go to the titty bar, so he should relax.

CM PUNK and COLT CABANA vs. RAVEN and BJ WHITMER up next. This was a really, really good match. Definitely Punk’s best in ROH so far. This was like a hardcore southern formula style, very well executed. Raven beats Punk down early on. Punk takes out BJ with a chair, Raven takes out Colt with a chair, Raven and Punk tease facing off with chairs put Punk drops his chair and runs to the back. Raven follows and soon Punk spills out from behind the curtain, getting hit in the head with a trashcan and doing a great bladejob. Raven beats him all over the building with Punk bleeding all over the place, and the four brawl in the crowd. Whitmer blades too. Punk crotches Raven on the barricade and he and Cabana are able to work over BJ. After a couple comeback teases, Whitmer is able to tag in Raven and he runs wild. Hits Punk with the DDT put Cabana pulls Raven out of the ring to break up the pin. Whitmer follows it up with a diving headbutt on Punk but Cabana pulls the ref out of the ring to break up the pin. Whitmer pulls Cabana into the ring and drops him on his head with the Exploder ’98, but the ref is still down. This allows Punk to hit Whitmer with a great looking chair-assisted Shining Wizard and Colt to finish it off with the Colt 45. ***3/4. Punk attacks Whitmer and Raven with chairs post-match and puts Raven through a table with a leg drop.

Gary Michael Cappetta interviews Matt Stryker backstage, and then PRINCE NANA returns, telling everyone he’s back in this filthy, stinking company. He says he’s going to get a tag team partner.

PRINCE NANA vs. DIABLO SANTIAGO follows. Quick squash. Santiago gets some early offense but Nana hits the big ass to the face and finishes it with an inverted DDT. *

SAT vs. MIKEY WHIPWRECK and DIXIE. This is a pretty sloppy and disorganized spotfest but man the crowd is hot as fuck for it. Really, the crowd reaction makes this come across way better than it really is. **. Post-match, the Carnage Crew attack Mikey Whipwreck. He fights back but out comes JUSTIN CREDIBLE. He’s a new member of the Carnage Crew, because he’s the only person who’s as pissed of as they are after being in WWE.

PAUL LONDON vs. AJ STYLES for the number one contendership. Good mat wrestling at the beginning with Styles keeping the advantage with some sweet amateur style moves. They both take turns cheap shotting the other with a forearm strike over the referee to heat things up. Styles goes for a plancha but London rolls back in the ring out of the way, Styles lands on his feet but hurts his knee. London comes through the middle and bottom ropes with an awesome missile dropkick. They fight for the advantage on the floor, AJ Styles ends up behind the apron and goes for a kick to London, but London catches it and slams the knee over the barricade. Styles is able to land a kick afterward and back in the ring gets some offense, so only a couple minutes later is London able to capitalize and focus on the leg. I like that they introduced Styles’ injured leg a couple minutes before actually focusing on it. They trade some big moves and Styles is good with selling the leg. London his a SSP to Styles’ leg. Styles hits a Styles clash but his knee hurts him too much to capitalize right away and London is able to kick out. Crowd is super, super hot. Styles hits a German suplex but his knee is too weak to bridge, and both their shoulders end up getting counted down for a DRAW. Crowd doesn’t like it but shortly ends up giving both guys a standing ovation. ****. This match wasn’t quite as good as I remember it, but still very, very good.

SAMOA JOE, MICHAEL SHANE and CW ANDERSON vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS, DONOVAN MORGAN and DANN MAFF. The closing faction must split up. Maff and Anderson start off with a really awesome chop and slap exchange, but other than that it takes a while for this match to get any good. Once Daniels gets a hot tag, though, things really heat up. Daniels has been wrestling especially sharp lately and the crowd has been cheering him heavily, he should turn face soon. Everyone hits big moves for lots of nearfalls. Maff and Joe face off and Joe gets the better of it, hammering Maff with knees; but Maff grabs hold of Joe’s leg, trips him, flips over into a jackknife pin and gets the upset pinfall! THE GROUP MUST DISBAND. ***1/4. The Group were pretty much a lame duck team, as it was supposed to be Corino’s stable but he could hardly ever be around, plus Joe needs to focus on being singles World Champion.

Really good show. Strong undercard, one of the best matches in the year in London/Styles, really good Punk/Raven tag, solid main event. 7.5/10.

Defrost

March 25th, 2020, 7:41 PM

Tainted Eclipse

March 25th, 2020, 7:46 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

March 25th, 2020, 7:47 PM

Just watched the Stairway to Hell match from House Party 1998 between Sabu and The Sandman. Up until Sabu breaks his jaw it's probably the best match of Sandman's life.

Didn't either Sandman or Sabu admit that the whole locker room (minus a few guys) dropped LSD or acid or something right before the show started, so a bunch of guys went out and worked fucked up?

Sandman and Sabu apparently dosed all night and worked the whole thing tripping balls.

Defrost

March 25th, 2020, 8:10 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

March 25th, 2020, 8:23 PM

Horatio

March 26th, 2020, 11:27 AM

I just watched the 6 televised matches that REY and TAJIRI had 02-04...
I'm thinking The Japanese Buzzsaw was Reyrey's best opponent. They went into their 4th match together (No Mercy 03) without having repeated a spot and from their they kept trying new things. 5th match had some shenanigans but the work was tight. 6th match was short and also had some shenanigans but it was still different from what you would see today.

I'm going to watch their other matches together, and maybe Rey vs Eddie series to compare, but wow, anyone who hasn't seen Rey vs Tajiri needs to.

Murphy

March 26th, 2020, 11:28 AM

Beer-Belly

March 26th, 2020, 4:17 PM

There's like 5 amazing matches he had with Kobashi. Definitely check out some of the others if you enjoyed that one.

Awesome violent sub-10 minute brawl with Carlos Colon in Puerto Rico

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LK7icA1yVw

Whole of that feud here if you're into that, they had some wild brawls:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgGxUo90kC0

Great match with Terry Funk in 1982 All Japan that clocks in at around 10 minutes, absolute insanity here and Terry is so damn over:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRuvEkanCYU

The bad ass team of Hansen and Tenryu murdering two frail legends in Giant Baba and Rusher Kimura. Tells a really good story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHs4TOjcjLU

Another Hansen & Tenryu classic, this time vs. Jumbo & Yatsu. This is one of the longer ones though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgrQdAYoGwg&t=72s

Most famous match he had with Kawada:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV7RMbrGfzo

Woah! Thanks, man. Appreciate it.

Spudz Mackenzie

March 26th, 2020, 6:42 PM

I just watched the 6 televised matches that REY and TAJIRI had 02-04...
I'm thinking The Japanese Buzzsaw was Reyrey's best opponent. They went into their 4th match together (No Mercy 03) without having repeated a spot and from their they kept trying new things. 5th match had some shenanigans but the work was tight. 6th match was short and also had some shenanigans but it was still different from what you would see today.

I'm going to watch their other matches together, and maybe Rey vs Eddie series to compare, but wow, anyone who hasn't seen Rey vs Tajiri needs to.

Don't sleep on Rey Mysterio/Ultimo Dragon/Billy Kidman vs. Tajiri/Sakoda/Akio from Smackdown!. Its short, but its very good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbjxVws7Ngc

Horatio

March 26th, 2020, 7:29 PM

Don't sleep on Rey Mysterio/Ultimo Dragon/Billy Kidman vs. Tajiri/Sakoda/Akio from Smackdown!. Its short, but its very good.

I'll make sure I watch that. I've liked all of those guys at various times but I don't remember seeing it before.

Today my family and I watched:
- Undertaker vs Gonzalez - WM and SummerSlam - great matches
- Andre vs Hogan - WM 3 - gets better with age
- Eddie vs Big Show - No Mercy 03 and Smackdown retirement match - the first match is good, the second is a classic Big Show performance; it's really something to see Big Show controlling the show and Eddie keeping the antics to a minimum
- Team ECW vs Wyatt Gang - Tables match and Extreme Rules match - pretty cool stuff, especially the Raw rematch
- Brock Lesnar vs CM Punk - SummerSlam - was on its way to being a classic and then he goes for the chair, and then it all seemed like another Attitude era sprint. Mmmaybe the best match of its "kind" but I was still kinda iffy on Punk and he actually won me over despite dropping the worst Mach tribute elbow in the worst possible match to suck in..Great stuff to have to sit through
- Brock Lesnar vs Triple H - Summerslam, WM, and Extreme Rules - Triple H reminded me of someone and then I realized, oh yeah, it's Triple H that always sucked this bad. It's ONLY Triple H that sucked this bad. And then Triple H locked in his own kimura lock and I'm thinking this is the coolest thing I've ever seen ... triple h do, and I actually wanted Triple H to win. All the guy ever had to do was some actual wrestling (and no not an indian deathlock on Chris Benoit) and I appreciated it so much I almost started to forget that he's slow, sucky, fake looking, boring, ugly, wierd to look at, and even exposes himself as such against BROCK LESNAR. Weird stuff. Like, I was excited to see these matches after reading about them in WWE magazine. I thought he squashed Brock in five minutes at Mania and it kinda started out that way, but not even Triple H could squash stinkin Lesnar like the magazines portrayed. The cage match was like a normal Raw main event cage match and Lesnar was actually awesome in it. Seriously, the best Triple H matches I've seen were gainst Kevin Nash. I intend to watch his matches with Goldberg again, but was he always the worst wrestler of alltime? The guy just doesn't get it. I blame Triple H for Punk/Lesnar sucking like it did and I have no right to judge him based on THAT...

Spudz Mackenzie

March 26th, 2020, 7:36 PM

Horatio

March 26th, 2020, 7:43 PM

Gonzalez in his "body" suits was a sight to behold. Essential viewing.
My mom says he dressed like bigfoot and noticed that his second costume was different. And it was. You can't see his giant ass cause it's covered in hair.

My dad wants to see the Taker/Lesnar series, which I haven't seen all of, but I'm going to make him sit through Eddie and JBL at Judgment Day.

That reminds me, we also watched
- Hogan vs Vince - WM 19 - this might be the best match of its style. Overbooked and bloody awesome. Vince made Hogan play mean.
- Vince vs Shane - WM 17 - well booked but not as cool as it would have been with BLOOD
- Shane vs Blackman - SummerSlam 2000 - Blackman was fun to see again. The "highspot" seemed less insane than it did back then, but my dad is a Shane mark so I had to show him where it all started

EDIT - also, Giant Gonzalez was in Hercules The Legendary Journey. How can you diss that?

Spudz Mackenzie

March 26th, 2020, 8:05 PM

The 'Taker/Lesnar series varies wildly in quality between "some of the best matches Biker 'Taker ever had" and "oh God, please kill me".

I always found the 'Taker/Lesnar chain match a little underrated. Even if the FBI interferes for the finish.

Tainted Eclipse

March 26th, 2020, 9:08 PM

Back in Philadelphia for WRESTLERAVE, June 26th, 2003. Low-Ki in a pre-show interview says he’s making his return in August, and he’s gunning for Samoa Joe.

DUNN & MARCOS vs. PRINCE NANA and JIMMY JACK CASH opens. Nana recruited Cash to take the tag team division by storm. Cash is a big, muscular guy for ROH. Cash dominantes to start, even hitting a good looking top rope back elbow. Dunn and Marcos get the advantage once Nana tags in. They hit him with a double team senton and then Marcos hits a Sliced Bread Number 2 on Cash while falling onto Nana with a moonsault and PINS HIM. DUNN AND MARCOS GET THEIR FIRST RING OF HONOR WIN. Crowd goes wild. Nothing of a match, but a great moment. **

ALEXIS LAREE vs. SUMIE SAKAI next. Definitely the best women’s match in ROH so far. Short, very competently executed. Crowd pops big for a rolling small package spot. Laree wins with the reverse DDT. **

MATT STRYKER vs. CHAD COLLYER in a TAP OUT MATCH. Unfortunately this was by far the worst of their matches so far. A very hold-based matched, far more than the other two, to its detriment. It just never gets heated or very interesting. Still, it was very competently worked, good selling, and there was a stiff, but brief, strike exchange. Collyer wins again with the Texas Cloverleaf. Stryker just can’t get a break. **1/4

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. IZZIE, DIXIE and DERANGED. Justin Credible joins Loc and Davito and gets a big pop, though not as enormous as in Boston. Carnage Crew dominates to start, Special K hit some big dives, but then back in the ring Justin Credible hits That’s Incredible for the win. Pretty basic match, executed pretty well, good crowd. **1/4

SAMOA JOE vs. DAN MAFF for the World Title. Commentary explains that Maff’s father died the night before and the crowd gives him a big ovation. This match doesn’t have that good of a flow, but there were several nice hard hitting moments. Joe really beats the shit out of Maff on the floor. Joe hits a big urinagi on Maff and Maff responds with his own. Crowd pops big for the Burning Hammer tease but Joe slips out and hits a Dragon Suplex for the win. ***

BJ WHITMER vs. ALEX SHELLEY vs. JIMMY JACOBS vs. TONY MAMALUKE. Shelley and Jacob’s debuts in ROH. Whitmer is clearly presented as the top guy in this match, using his size and strength advantage and hitting a pretty cool double Exploder on Jacobs and Shelley. Jacobs in rocking his fuzzy-boots HUSS gimmick. Good homestretch where a bunch of pins and submission attempts are broken up by moves off the top rope, including a seriously beautiful big top rope splash from Shelley. Cool ending with Whitmer hitting Shelley with the Exploder, Mamaluke trying to capitalize by putting Shelley in a submission, but Whitmer hits Jacobs with another Exploder and gets the three a split-second before Shelley taps out to Mamaluke. ***1/4

CM PUNK and COLT CABANA vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS and RAVEN. Daniels and Raven as a face team working a traditional tag match (with weapons) is really fun. They run wild at first hitting babyface tag team spots, the row boat spot, bulldogging Cabana into Punk’s crotch. Punk gets a chair but Daniels has his own chair and hits Punk, busting him open. Another good blade job. Daniels gets hit with a chair by Cabana and Punk and Cabana work him over for a while. Raven gets the hot tag and cleans house. A couple finishers get exchanged and then Punk brings out a chain and attacks Raven with it, getting the pin. Punk chokes Raven out with the chain post-match. ***1/4. Raven challenges Punk to a Dog Collar Match next show.

In the back Punk cuts his famous promo saying he hates Raven because he’s just like his alcoholic father. This is a big moment in Punk’s career, this promo got a ton of hype and really made Punk’s reputation as a promo guy.

AJ STYLES vs. CHRIS SABIN for AJ’s NWA World Heavyweight Title. He comes out to Ric Flair’s classic theme. Sabin is also TNA X-Division champion at this point. This match has plenty of good moves and is very well executed, but it just never really picks up any steam. Crowd doesn’t really get into and it isn’t too compelling. **1/2

HOMICIDE vs. TRENT ACID in a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR. Both guys have 50 Cent songs as their themes, it’s 2003 alright. This is the culmination of a feud that has spanned several promotions, but hasn’t really been too emphasized in ROH. Crazy dives from both Acid and Homicide to start off. They bring a ladder into play and hit a bunch of moves on it. Johnny Kashmere interferes and he and Acid hit the T Gimmick on Homicide, but Julius Smokes interferes to take Kashmere out and break up the count. Kashmere and Smokes brawl into the back. Homicide hits an Ace Crusher from the top tope through a table on the outside, really chaotic and dangerous looking spot. Homicide and Acid have a good Yakuza Kick exchange and Acid brings in a big ladder. He climbs up but gets dumped to the outside. Homicide tries to capitalize with a tope con hilo but Acid moves and Homicide goes through a table. Back in the ring Homicide goes for the Cop Killer but Acid reverses into a roll up and WINS! Too bad he sort of botched that roll-up and we ended up with a somewhat awkward ending. Still, this was a really good match. The spots looked dangerous and spontaneous rather than overly set-up. ***3/4

Another good show. Strong undercard and good main event. Finally Philadelphia gets a solid show up and down the card again. 6.5/10

Defrost

March 26th, 2020, 11:00 PM

Horatio

March 27th, 2020, 12:35 AM

I just watched Billy Jack Haynes vs Shawn Michaels from World Class. First they pronounce Michaels as Mickles. Second the entire match is a headlock, Shawn doing a backflip, Shawn posing, Haynes coming up to him while he poses and puts him in the Full Nelson. The end.

Seems like at this point we should be seeking whatever Chris Michaels and/or Rick Michaels wrestling made it on tape.
Shawn tends to disappoint. I freakin hate that match he had vs Vader

Horatio

March 27th, 2020, 1:04 AM

We ended up watching:

- eddie vs JBL - Judgment Day 04 - still a perfect match
- Brock vs Taker - Unforgiven - a great brawl, kind of out of focus
- Brock vs Taker - No Mercy Hell in a Cell - a great match, awesome use of the cell
- Brock vs Taker - No Mercy Biker Chain match - better ring work than previously as Brock is no longer a greenhorn at this point, but the gimmick in this match is a little unclear; it's obvious only Taker is tall enough to reach the chain and the shenanigans further hurt the match, but these two have awesome chemistry. Worth seeing
- Vince vs Taker - Buried Alive match - a totally surreal beatdown; i loved this match. I need to see the other Buried Alive matches
- Goldberg vs Helmsley - Survivor Series - Goldberg seems to get lost in a longish match, but he still does everything with more umph than that lazy ass Triple H, who makes it obvious he's going out of his way to put Goldberg over
- Akio, Sakoda, Tajiri vs Ultimo, Kidman, Rey - SmackDown - really cool action by the face team. The japanese team didn't do anything to stand out (besides whipping Ultimo like a fool), but they were great bases for all of the highflying stuff. The sort of short match I'll want to see again
- Brock vs Taker - WM 30 - i couldn't see when Taker got concussed but he worked this like he was fucked up on antianxiety meds or something. The match had a great layout but Taker looked legitimately fucked up and the slowness might erk some people. Thank God the crowd didn't shit on it...
- Brock vs Taker - SummerSlam - i thought this was great, too. The ending is deep. Their matches seem to get better and better, though I would have to say they're lower end moty types until...
- Brock vs Taker - Hell in a Cell 2 - this was their best match. You can tell their nerves were up as they're going for their finishers early and working the matches that much harder (storyline wise). The tearing of the ring mat was a great symbol for the end of their feud, although i still think Undertaker should get his win back someday.

Spudz Mackenzie

March 27th, 2020, 1:10 AM

Its kind of crazy to think that Ring Of Honor were booking Sumie Sakai in token women's matches on those early shows and then, 15 years later, Sumie Sakai would be Ring Of Honor's first ever Women's Champion.

Say what you want, but its nice to see some company loyalty rewarded. Even if it took a while to get there.

Horatio

March 27th, 2020, 1:28 AM

ALEXIS LAREE vs. SUMIE SAKAI next. Definitely the best women’s match in ROH so far. Short, very competently executed. Crowd pops big for a rolling small package spot. Laree wins with the reverse DDT **

BJ WHITMER vs. ALEX SHELLEY vs. JIMMY JACOBS vs. TONY MAMALUKE. Shelley and Jacob’s debuts in ROH. Jacobs in rocking his fuzzy-boots HUSS gimmick.

AJ STYLES vs. CHRIS SABIN for AJ’s NWA World Heavyweight Title. He comes out to Ric Flair’s classic theme. Sabin is also TNA X-Division champion at this point.

HOMICIDE vs. TRENT ACID in a FIGHT WITHOUT HONOR. Both guys have 50 Cent songs as their themes, it’s 2003 alright. This is the culmination of a feud that has spanned several promotions, but hasn’t really been too emphasized in ROH. Crazy dives from both Acid and Homicide to start off. They bring a ladder into play and hit a bunch of moves on it. Johnny Kashmere interferes and he and Acid hit the T Gimmick on Homicide, but Julius Smokes interferes to take Kashmere out and break up the count. Kashmere and Smokes brawl into the back. Homicide hits an Ace Crusher from the top tope through a table on the outside, really chaotic and dangerous looking spot. Homicide and Acid have a good Yakuza Kick exchange and Acid brings in a big ladder. He climbs up but gets dumped to the outside. Homicide tries to capitalize with a tope con hilo but Acid moves and Homicide goes through a table. Back in the ring Homicide goes for the Cop Killer but Acid reverses into a roll up and WINS! Too bad he sort of botched that roll-up and we ended up with a somewhat awkward ending. Still, this was a really good match. The spots looked dangerous and spontaneous rather than overly set-up. ***3/4
Sakai and Laree were supposed to make it really big (at least in ROH). It's interesting how far their careers have come/gone.

Shelley and Jacobs should never have stopped working together. Any word on if Jacobs ever does HUSS anymore? I see his name sometimes on indie cards like IWAMS but I don't know if he's still doing that emo gimmick or if he's back to being weird.

Was Styles a heel in TNA for his first NWA title win? Or did he just pose as Flair to be righteous?
I know I felt Chris Sabin stepped on a lot of toes being TNA's guy from seemingly out of nowhere. Never got the hype for Chris Sabin. Any Motor City Machine Gun fans still around?

Homicide/Acid was actually the first big Fight Without Honor as Joe/Ki was still lurking under the radar, and it was kind of the first match to put Homicide on the map as his matches with Joe were not yet making waves in those days. Glad to hear the match holds up so many years after. Acid should have been WWE's new Evan Kuragious. I think I would have rated the match at ***3/4 as well. Acid seemed crazy as hell to go in there with Homicide. I think people got Homicide confused with New Jack, and as we've found out over the years, that's a really apt comparison. Did Homicide have his fork back then?

Tainted Eclipse

March 27th, 2020, 4:53 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

March 28th, 2020, 4:24 AM

Not so much "plague watching", but I was "plague listening" to the Cewshcast on WrestleMania 22.

@The Law (https://forums.rajah.com/member.php?u=22103) and Cewsh talked about the pre-show jobber battle royal, but you didn't mention the best part. Road Warrior Animal was supposed to win the match, to give him a win in his kayfabe hometown. Until, in a botched up spot, he got dumped over the top by accident and they had Big Daddy Viscera win in a quick audible.

Tainted Eclipse

March 28th, 2020, 2:09 PM

We’re in Elizabeth, New Jersey for ROH’s biggest show ever at this point, DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR, July 17th, 2003. The first time ROH has a crowd bigger than one thousand, with 1200 fans. Open promos stress the big angles going on with Punk cutting a great promo about how this is the biggest night of his life, Joe cutting a promo about how this night is going to be a big moment for HIM, not for Paul London, who is challenging him for his Title in his last match in ROH before going to WWE, and Homicide challenges Steve Corino to a STRONG STYLE match with no interference.

The show opens up with Special K raving in the ring and around ringside. The techno music stops to be replaced with ITS RAININ MEN, and the Christopher Street Connection come out and say that they’re here to show Disco is better than Techno. Special K attack them and start raving again, but the lights go out and Low Ki’s music hits. He’s back for the first time in over two months. He takes out Special K, but Deranged hits him with a low blow from behind and we get DERANGED vs. LOW KI as our opener. This is actually an awesome competitive squash. Deranged follows up on the low blow by taking the early offense, hitting some good armdrags and hurricanranas, a nice moonsault to the outside, and a great looking springboard dropkick. Low Ki catches him in a flippy move and dumps him on the mat, and fucking KILLS him with kicks. Holy shit, these are some of the stiffest kicks to the face you’ll ever see. Slugger interferes and squeezes Low Ki in a reverse bearhug. Suddenly, Slugger starts to release the hold and grimace in pain, as Low Ki is squeezing him by the balls. Slugger collapses and Low Ki goes back to Deranged, finishing him off with Ki Rushes, a huge Ki Crusher, and a Dragon Sleeper that bends him in half. Really fun opening segment to begin a big show, very good squash match. ***1/4

MATT STRYKER vs. JIMMY RAVE next. Really good fast paced, hard-fought match. Good technical wrestling exchange to start off with. Crowd is really hot and the match never slows down and is very well executed. Stryker wins it with the Death Valley Driver. ***1/4

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ, FAST EDDIE, DON JUAN and RUDY BOY GONZALEZ in the blowoff to the totally forgotten classic feud of 2003. This isn’t as good as their MOTYC a couple shows ago, but it’s still an awesome, wild brawl. No blood and a couple awkward moments keep it from reaching that next level. Tons of crazy spots though: Fast Eddie takes a German suplex off the top rope onto an open chair, Hernandez does another wild dive where he lands on his head, plenty of stiff chair shots, a piledriver through a table, and plenty more. Hernandez picks up the win by hitting Masada with the Razor’s Edge-style throw through a bunch of chairs. ****

THE OUTKAST KILLAZ vs. THE PURISTS. The Purists being the new team of Tony Mamaluke and Jonh Walters. This is a showcase for Mamluke and Walters, and goes on too long for what it is. Not much heat, and the best part of the match by far is the Outkast Killaz hitting a cool double-team move that is hard to describe. Focus is on the Purists’ technical wrestling and they get the win with a double-team submission. **. Post-match, Dunn and Marcos come out to rub the loss in the face of the Killaz, but XAVIER makes his return and takes them out. He says he’s back to enter the upcoming Field of Honor tournament.

TOM CARTER vs. DOUG WILLIAMS next. Carter really needs to go back to high flying stuff, his technical gimmick is terrible, because he’s extremely dull as a ‘technical wrestler’. So, most of this match was dull. It does get better toward the end as they start to trade bigger moves. Doug Williams hits the Chaos Theory but can’t hold the bridge because Carter had worked over his arm. Carter wins it with a rollup. **1/4. In the back Allison Danger tries to recruit Carter for the Prophecy, but he walks away.

HOMICIDE vs. BJ WHITMER vs. DAN MAFF vs. COLT CABANA for the number one contendership. Awesome match. This is a spot-spot-spot kind of match, but all the spots are good, look competitive, and the whole match is hot and comes together perfectly. Homicide overshoots on a tope con hilo and slams into the barricade. Maff overshoots on a tope and flies over the barricade right into the crowd. Lots of stiff chops and strikes and really well done intricate move sequences. Homicide throws Maff out of the ring and puts Cabana on the top rope, but Whitmer pushes Homicide off and hits Cabana with an Exploder ’98 off the top rope for the win, with Maff and Homicide reaching to break up the pin but not making it in time. ****

Daniels is in Japan getting phone updates. He’s angry at hearing Xavier came back, but cuts a promo pretending he’s happy about it.

SAT and THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. HYDRO, DERANGED, BRIAN XL and MIKEY WHIPWRECK next. Really fun clusterfuck. The high flying stuff is more polished than it is in most of the Special K-SAT matches this year. Fast pace, lots of spots, really hot crowd. Joel Maximo KILLS Hydro with a lariat. SAT hit a Spanish Fly but Mikey is able to hit Trent Acid with the Whippersnapper for the win. ***1/4. Post-match, Backseat Boyz attack the SAT.

KRAZY K vs. JOEY MATTHEWS vs. JEFF HARDY. Holy shit, the crowd HATES Hardy. Booing him like crazy, chanting “you got fired,” “fuck you Hardy,” “we want Matt.” The crowd is just relentless booing him, other than the high-pitched screams you can hear from girls who came to see him. 2003 ROH Jeff Hardy was the original John Cena. The wrestling was no good but this was VERY entertaining. How to rate something like this? ***? Not a good match, but totally worth watching. I have no idea why the ROH fans hated Jeff so much at this time.

CM PUNK vs. RAVEN in a Dog Collar Match. Another big moment as Punk debuts his Meseria Cantere theme. Punk runs down the crowd on the mic including calling out DANNY DORING in the audience before Raven comes out. Raven starts off hot, beating Punk around ringside. Punk bleeds big and is great bumping and selling. Punk reverses an Irish whip putting Raven through a table to get on offense. They brawl through the crowd. Raven stands on top of the bleachers to pose, but Punk yanks him down with the chain. Back in the ring Punk gets the mic and runs down Raven, but Raven comes back with punches, clotheslines and knees. He hits the kneedrop onto the chair but when he goes to follow it up with a chairshot, Punk moves and Raven hits the ref. Raven hits Punk with the DDT but there’s no ref to count. Cabana comes out and hits Raven with a DDT on the chair, but DANNY DORING runs into the ring to take out Cabana. Punk is still able to crawl over the Raven and get a three count for the cheap win. Really good brawl, both guys blade, hot crowd, they kept things interesting. Cool old school feel. Super cheap win to allow the feud to continue. ***3/4.

Major angle post-match. Punk ties Raven’s arms to the ropes and brings out a pack of beer. He says he’s sending Raven back to rehab and starts to pour beer into his mouth. Tommy Dreamers rushes the ring to a MASSIVE pop and hits Punk with a chair and then ties him up. Dreamer and Raven hug and then pour beer in Punk’s mouth. Dreamer slams a beer can into his head Sandman style. His theme plays and the crowd pops big. Definitely the best angle ROH has shot up to this point.

Paul London cuts a promo backstage reminiscing about his time in ROH ahead of his last match before he goes to WWE.

AJ STYLES and AMAZING RED vs. THE BRISCOE BROTHERS for the Tag Titles. Match starts off really hot with some big moves exchanged, including a vicious spinning lariat from Styles. Briscoes work on Red’s leg, and begin to act much more heelish, taunting Red and AJ. AJ gets the hot tag and the match sort of loses steam. Good wrestling, but nothing really comes together like it should. Still, lots of good moves and spots, it just feels a little disjointed and the crowd isn’t too into it. AJ hits Jay with a sort-of Styles Clash that he doesn’t really get all of, but still gets the pin with it. They definitely didn’t reach what they were going for here, and this is for sure the third best of their three matches, but it’s still for sure good. ***1/4

SAMOA JOE vs. PAUL LONDON for the ROH World Title. This definitely feels like the biggest ROH title match yet. The dominant champion vs. the top babyface, going on last on a big show. Really the first time for the ROH title. London gets the streamer treatment during the introductions for the first time in ROH. They start off fast, London’s speed vs. Joe’s power. Joe gets the advantage for a while, hitting some big Ole kicks. London comes back with a bunch of roll-ups and even hits a SSP for a near fall. They trade some more moves and Joe gets the choke and choke London out and retain the title. Good match, crowd was a little lethargic due to the length of the show, but came alive for the big moments. ***1/2. Maybe a generous rating but I’ll give it for the context.

Definitely ROH’s best show up to this point, and one of the classic ROH shows. Lots of good matches up and down the card, three great matches in the Carnage Crew brawl, the four way, and Raven/Punk. Huge angle after the Raven and Punk match. Important main event with a great post-match celebration for London. 9/10

Defrost

March 29th, 2020, 10:49 AM

Keiji Muto vs Owen Hart from July 1990

9 minutes of chinlocks and 3 minutes of fun super athletic stuff

Defrost

March 29th, 2020, 7:09 PM

Liger vs Baby Nakajima from 2004 at the Dome.

I remember this being more of Young Lions type match, but Liger kinda just eats him alive.

Ringo

March 30th, 2020, 4:26 AM

I just watched the Go Shiozaki vs. Kazuyuki Fujita title match from NOAH's empty Korakuen show this weekend.

It's certainly a strange and entirely unique match that wouldn't have worked in the same way in front of a crowd. It begins with a 30 minute (yes, THIRTY MINUTE) stare down with both guys standing their ground and barely moving. Shiozaki the champion in the centre of the ring, Fujita the old wily challenger in the corner. The most notable thing that happens during this 30 minutes is when Fujita moves from one corner to another. Until finally Fujita waivers and goes for a takedown. This was a strange thing to do and it surely wouldn't have worked in front of a live, restless crowd. But here it kind of does. There's no crowd to play off for once and so instead they choose to play off the silence. It lasts a really long time and I did skip a good 15 minutes of it but I think there's something bold and different about it. A unique idea to go with a unique setting and one that's unlikely to ever be replicated.

After this there's some mat work with Fujita in control, talking shit and seemingly trying to convince the referee that Go's shoulders are down. Eventually they spill outside and start beating the hell out of each other all over the empty Korakuen Hall. The thuds of the strikes are all the more pronounced with no fans around. Fujita decides to gargle what I suppose is hand sanitizer and ends up spitting it in Shiozaki's face. At one point Fujita is continually pressing the button for the elevator (which never comes) whilst dishing out a beating and later has Go dangling over the balcony where they usually hang all the banners. Fujita kicks Go square in the head a few times which makes an especially disgusting sound that echoes around the empty arena. In the end, Fujita doesn't have the endurance to keep up with the much younger champion and concedes defeat after 57 minutes.

Bizarre, unique and yet somehow mostly compelling match that will generate a lot of discussion and no doubt divide opinion. Regardless, unless something particularly notable comes out of Mania, this feels like the match that will define the "COVID-19" era of wrestling.

Defrost

March 30th, 2020, 5:20 PM

Tainted Eclipse

March 30th, 2020, 10:15 PM

We’re in Dayton, Ohio for the first time for WRATH OF THE RACKET, August 9th 2003, so named for being the first ROH show featuring Jim Cornette.

Funny pre-show segment with Cabana and Ace Steel wanting to find out what the upcoming Field of Honor actually is. They find Homicide and Julius Smokes playing dice against a wall. Julius Smokes seems to know what it is, but Ace and Cabana can’t understand him when he explains it.

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. DERANGED and HYDRO vs. DON JUAN and FAST EDDIE vs. SAT opens up. Fun spotfest tag, these matches are getting much smoother and more botch-free than they were in the beginning of the year. Fast Eddie does a moonsault to the outside where he lands right on the fans in the front row. For the first time, the Carnage Crew is represented by Loc and Masada teaming up. SAT hit a nasty pendulum slam on Deranged driving his head into the mat. Deranged gets the pin on Loc by hitting and hurricanrana and grabbing onto his Special K teammates on the outside for leverage in the pin. ***

Post-match, Jim Cornette comes out to a big pop. He runs down Special K on the mic. He says he’s bringing out the greatest tag team you’ve ever seen – and out come DUNN & MARCOS. Not who Cornette expected. They tell Cornette they should join together, but Christopher Daniels and Dan Maff attack them. Daniels and Maff are joining up with Cornette to challenge AJ Styles and Amazing Red for their tag titles in the main event. Daniels announces that Cornette is now part of The Prophecy.

CHET JOBLANSKI vs. NIGEL MCGUINNESS. Yep, Chet Joblanksi. Both guys making their debuts here. Decent match, executed well. Not too interesting, but quick. Nigel wins it with a rollup. **1/4

CHRIS SABIN vs. HOMICIDE next. This match just never really gets into groove, just feels awkward and the crowd doesn’t get into it. It’s short at least. Homicide wins it with the Cop Killer. **

COLT CABANA and ACE STEEL vs. ALEX SHELLEY and JIIMMY JACOBS. The HUSS thing is again really over with the crowd. The power that repeating a one syllable word over and over again has in wrestling. Good tag match. Jacobs gets a nice hot tag after Shelley gets worked over for a while and the home stretch is fun. Shelley takes a vicious neck bump off a German suplex. Cabana and Ace win it with a double team Colt 45. ***

MATT STRYKER vs. JUSTIN CREDIBLE. Hard to guess what kind of match this will be by looking at it on paper. Turns out to be a really fun old school heel vs. face match. Credible is really turning up the heel schtick, avoiding Stryker, obnoxiously complaining to the ref. They brawl around ringside and Credible gets busted open. They trade moves back in the ring and Stryker ends up winning with the Death Valley Driver. Sort of marred by some botched/awkward spots at the end. ***

Daniels and Maff attack Red, taking out his knee. Styles will have to find a partner of his choosing to replace Red later tonight as he defends their tag titles.

SLYK WAGNER BROWN vs. HOTSTUFF HERNANDEZ vs. SCOOT ANDREWS vs. MICHAEL SHANE next. The Black Nature Boy Scoot Andrews was a mainstay on the early ROH shows, making his first appearance in about a year. This match is sort of tiresome, and has a lot of overly-cooperative spots. Hernandez busts out some cool power offense though, and the crowd pops huge for his dive over the top. Michael Shane wins it with a Fisherman’s DDT. **1/4

SLIM J vs. JIMMY RAVE. Weird match to begin with, with Slim J coming out without Special K and just having a straight up match. Really awkward match, some botches, they both just sort of hit moves without any kind of flow or structure. Slim J doesn’t seem ready to work a singles match at this level. Rave gets the submission with a crossface. *1/2

SAMOA JOE vs. BJ WHITMER for the ROH World Title. Okay match. Never really gets going or gets heated. Pretty even. Whitmer hits a really nasty Exploder for a nearfall toward the end. Joe wins it with the German-Dragon-Straightjacket Suplex Trio. **1/2

Backstage Ace and Colt are looking for Rob Feinstein to find out more about the Field of Honor. Colt asks a young boy if he’s seen Feinstein and the boy responds “not yet.” Ay caramba. They bully Dunn and Marcos.

AJ STYLES and HOMICIDE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS and DAN MAFF for the ROH Tag Titles. AJ and Homicide start out hot including an awesome double dive over the guardrail. Daniels and Maff work over Homicide for a while. Maff’s heeling has been good lately. AJ gets the hot tag but unfortunately he’s marred by a series of botches when he gets in the ring. Decent but unspectacular homestretch ending with AJ avoiding a racket attack from Daniels and hitting a Styles Clash on the racket for the win. ***. Post match, Daniels and Maff turn on Cornette.

One of the weaker shows of the year for sure. Even the better stuff isn’t really that good. It’s a mostly consistent show though, with little that’s actually bad. Kind of feels like the hangover after Death Before Dishonor. 5/10

mth

March 31st, 2020, 3:15 PM

EVOLVE is putting up some interesting videos on their youtube. Anybody interested in seeing some WWE/AEW crossover matches actually can because here's Velveteen Dream versus Orange Cassidy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2GHXCPNjeE

And here's Velveteen Dream versus Darby Allin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwWTDpZx2-8

Planning to watch both when I'm on the exercise bike tomorrow.

Some other interesting stuff like Adam Cole vs. WALTER, Gargano vs. Theory, Theory vs. Allin, etc..

Psycho666Soldier

March 31st, 2020, 3:37 PM

Defrost

March 31st, 2020, 8:37 PM

Hart Foundation and Honky vs Savage and Strike Force in a cage from the March 1988 Boston Garden show

Manages the oh so fun pairing of being short and boring

Spudz Mackenzie

March 31st, 2020, 8:53 PM

Hart Foundation and Honky vs Savage and Strike Force in a cage from the March 1988 Boston Garden show

Manages the oh so fun pairing of being short and boring

I've heard of that match. Never saw it. But the person who reviewed it said it was as basic as it gets. Lots of punching and brawling and not much else. But because it was six dudes in a cage, in a pretty novel match for the time, people were really into it in the arena.

Horatio

March 31st, 2020, 9:35 PM

Hart Foundation and Honky vs Savage and Strike Force in a cage from the March 1988 Boston Garden show

Manages the oh so fun pairing of being short and boring
Where do you find this crap? Savage and Strike Force sounds like a team that never should have been together...

Defrost

March 31st, 2020, 10:20 PM

Where do you find this crap? Savage and Strike Force sounds like a team that never should have been together...

Well right now I am organizing every match I have on some type of physical media and getting it onto a hard drive.

However a quick google search shows me it is on dailymotion

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31cpkg

Beer-Belly

April 1st, 2020, 10:00 PM

Defrost

April 2nd, 2020, 11:59 PM

Dynamite Kid vs Davey Boy Smith 2/3/82 NJPW WWF Jr Championship Tournament

Super hot start, boring middle, okayish finish

Horatio

April 3rd, 2020, 1:55 PM

DARBY ALLIN vs GREAT SASUKE - F1RST Wrestling January 6, 2019

Awesome match. Simple stuff. Opens with great psychological warfare/comedy. Sasuke works like an old man, Darby works like a total punk. Everything hits smoothly. They bump big, match ends.

Dynamite Kid vs Davey Boy Smith 2/3/82 NJPW WWF Jr Championship Tournament

Super hot start, boring middle, okayish finish
Do you know of any other match these two had against eachother?
I could have sworn I've seen them work a better, longer match, but I might be trippin...

Defrost

April 3rd, 2020, 3:46 PM

Do you know of any other match these two had against eachother?
I could have sworn I've seen them work a better, longer match, but I might be trippin...

They had a match four days later in the original Sumo Hall. They had to have wrestled against each other in Stampede at some point.

Just watched Dean Malenko vs Ultimo Dragon from Starrcade 1996.

They have an awesome ten minute match. Problem is the match is twenty minutes long.

Jordo

April 3rd, 2020, 3:58 PM

I watched shibata vs Okada from Sakura again this morning and honestly knowing the story leading to the match and then what the headbutt resulted in.

I think it's my favorite match of all time. The pacing is fantastic, the facials through out are perfect. I know it's terrible that shibata ended his own career but the fact that he did does add to the story of the match, and that moment with the blood running down his face... It's amazing.

It's a fantastic match that I'd never want to see happen again.

Jordo

April 3rd, 2020, 4:04 PM

Also Chris hero started a subreddit (r/wrestlinggenius) and it's a fun little place.

Someone posted a match between Joe and Dean malenko that's like 20 minutes long and from I've seen its almost all ground based. I am gonna try and dive into it at some point.

Ringo

April 3rd, 2020, 4:31 PM

Also Chris hero started a subreddit (r/wrestlinggenius) and it's a fun little place.

Thanks for the heads up. He's done an AMA on there too. Some interesting answers and contributions from others. I know how much of a wrestling nerd he is but it's still weird seeing a current WWE wrestler post online about DVDVR forums and Alan4L and the segundacaida guys and how much he likes reading their perspectives. Really weird.

Jordo

April 3rd, 2020, 7:15 PM

Thanks for the heads up. He's done an AMA on there too. Some interesting answers and contributions from others. I know how much of a wrestling nerd he is but it's still weird seeing a current WWE wrestler post online about DVDVR forums and Alan4L and the segundacaida guys and how much he likes reading their perspectives. Really weird.

It's a lot like his ama. Unique matches, cool insights.

Horatio

April 4th, 2020, 12:12 PM

GULAK vs HERO - CZW Cage of Death XV 12/14/13

I thought Hero made Gulak eat one too many stiff punches and kicks to the face, but the match had a great story of mat-master vs wrestling genius. Gulak was awesome outwrestling Hero, and Hero struck back real mean the whole time. It probably should have ended with the third anklelock, but these two are awesome and it's a great forgotten match.

Horatio

April 4th, 2020, 12:29 PM

GULAK vs CHRIS DICKINSON - CZW TOurnament of DEath XII 6/8/13

Gulak gets on the mic to remind Dickinson that this is nontournament/not a deathmatch. Smart thinking. Dickinson is such a sleazy indie-darling, but at least he's got his drawstrngs tucked in back in '13. An injured MASADA interrupts the match in its opening moments. He corners Gulak but eats a nasty release german from Dickinson. Gulak tries to double team MASADA and Dickinson wants none of it. Chris cuts apromo while Gulak kneels in the corner and then suffers a low blow from Gulak. The match ends in a DQ. Gulak cuts a promo calling MASADA a liability. Crowd chants "fuck you" while Gulak is the last man standing in the ring. Good stuff/break from the death match tourny. Gulak raises MASADA's title belt and lays it out in the ring.
I'm glad Gulak didn't have to wrestle Chris Dickinson.

Defrost

April 4th, 2020, 12:50 PM

NOAH in the aughts ran a couple of shows in the plaza of the office tower where NTV, their tv station at the time. was located. Looks more like a mall. Outdoor shows are always cool.

Watched Misawa and Shiozaki against Marufuji and Sugiura from 2007. Shiozaki worked about 85% of the match, but Misawa looked so good in his 15% that it was kinda depressing. The formula for saving Misawa and Kobashi was right in front of their faces and they never took it.

Horatio

April 4th, 2020, 1:08 PM

CZW New Heights 7/13/13

GULAK vs TOMMY DREAMER

#1 contenders match. They trade holds. Dreamer is perfectly competent but Gulak is a bit craftier. Gulak haults the actionto say, "tha was the best armdrag i've ever seen," and offer a handshake. Dreamer laughs it off while Gulak remarks, "you still got it, Tommy"... Dreamer finally shakes his hand and catches the boot Gulak attempts to sneak in. Good shtick that ends with a hard right hand from Dreamer. I love how Gulak will eat a clothesline by stumbling to his knees. He's so good at not giving the fans what they want. Especially a CZW crowd. Dreamer's size comes into play and Gulak eats a fallaway slam by landing on his stomach and falling to the outside. Dreamer is such a good behemoth. He really is built like a hulk and he's very sympathetic taking Gulak's stiff offense. Gulak has help from ringside and he sometimes makes mistakes. Dreamer lands a nice sunset flip and some good worked punches, but he bites Gulak and in disgust says he tasted like gay schwimmer, whatever that means. He hits a really nice reverse sto into the second rope that I don't remember seeing before, but Gulak makes it look lethal. It gets a 2 count and Dreamer goes for a ladder under the ring. I can't tell if the hot chick at rignside is Princess Kimber Lee because she's dressed in actual clothes. Dreamer goes head first into the ladder and gets busted open. They trade submissions and pin attempts. Not all of it looks great, but this is Tommy Dreamer AND Drew Gulak in CZW so no one's complainin...Dreamer comes close to winning and The Campaign assists Drew. Shenanigans insue and Gulak wins with a backcracker and la magistra. Good match. Interesting to see how Gulak made it towards the title in CZW.

- - - Updated - - -

MASADA vs CHRIS DICKINSON - CZW TItle matxh

MASADA is big but Chris has that Benoit/DK heavyweight look to his junior stature so this looks like it could be the end for MASADA's championship reign. Pretty straightforward stuff. MASADA still has an injured leg and Chris targets it. The wrestling is not great but it's gritty. MASADA is the fan favorite and it shines when he almost takes over, but he gets dropped on his head pretty quick and it seems like you rarely see a guy his size taking headdrops. Dickinson is one of the more convincing power wrestlers whenhe gets to show off his strength. He gets a two count on rolling germans and holds onto the waiste. MASADA breaks the hold but only to catch a release german suplez. Dickinson is one of the great suplez guys right now. He is what NXT needs right now to be honest. I dont know what Kross and Thatcher are supposed to add that Chris Dickinson couldnt do.
Dickinson tries to Pazuzu Bomb MASADA's girl and eats a headdrop for his efforts. Match ends. Fun stuff. Gulak and The Campaign attack MASADA and his girl in the aftermath.

Horatio

April 4th, 2020, 1:10 PM

NOAH in the aughts ran a couple of shows in the plaza of the office tower where NTV, their tv station at the time. was located. Looks more like a mall. Outdoor shows are always cool.

Watched Misawa and Shiozaki against Marufuji and Sugiura from 2007. Shiozaki worked about 85% of the match, but Misawa looked so good in his 15% that it was kinda depressing. The formula for saving Misawa and Kobashi was right in front of their faces and they never took it.

Misawa could wrestle a marble statue and it would be a good match. That guy had the music.

Horatio

April 4th, 2020, 1:56 PM

DREW GULAK VS CHRIS DICKINSON - CZW Down with the Sickness 9/14/13

This is for the title, so I'm guessing you have to buy the TAPE of the MASADA/Gulak title change. It will turn up on IWTV eventually, maybe I just have to look for it. Since that throws things out of wack, I'm going to review :

GULAK vs DANNY HAVOC - No Ropes Barbed Wire match - CZW Proving Grounds 5/12/12

Gulak is in usual ring gear and they both send their seconds to the back before the bell rings. This is Gulak's first ultraviolent match and it's Danny's 23rd. It takes 6 minutes for someone to get thrown into the wire. The wrestling in this is great. Gulak is Gulak and Havoc was trained by Quackenbush, DJ Hyde, and Hero and it shows. They trade hammerlocks and chops and Havoc was bleeding when the match started?
There is some interference and a bullshit chant starts when Danny Havoc dropkicks Drew Gulak into the barbed wire. This is about 14 minutes in. Then Gulak gets irish whipped hard into the wire. Gulak gets his face rubbed into the barbed wire and then both guys are bleeding. Gulak continues to work his match, jawing with hecklers, and demanding the barbed wire get snipped so that he can use it against Havoc. They wrestle some more. This match is siick and not just ultraviolent. It is pretty violent though at 20minutes. Gulak likes using his body slam into the ropes, this time into the barbed wire. He whips Havoc with the barbed wire. Gulak is psychotic. His legs are all gouged. He wraps Danny in barbed wire and locks the Gulock in tight. My 3 yr old nephew just got here so I'll have to finish this later...

Defrost

April 4th, 2020, 4:33 PM

Macho Man Randy Savage vs Ricky Steamboat from Maple Leaf Gardens on 2/15/87

A criticism their Wrestlemania match gets is that Steamboat doesn't wrestle it like it's a blood feud. His argument is that that match was about winning the title and it was this match in Toronto that was about getting even with Savage. He tries to crush Savage's throat in this one. By the end Savage is a bloody mess. It is a really good match that is completely different from the match at Mania.

Jordo

April 4th, 2020, 11:05 PM

DREW GULAK VS CHRIS DICKINSON - CZW Down with the Sickness 9/14/13

This is for the title, so I'm guessing you have to buy the TAPE of the MASADA/Gulak title change. It will turn up on IWTV eventually, maybe I just have to look for it. Since that throws things out of wack, I'm going to review :

GULAK vs DANNY HAVOC - No Ropes Barbed Wire match - CZW Proving Grounds 5/12/12

Gulak is in usual ring gear and they both send their seconds to the back before the bell rings. This is Gulak's first ultraviolent match and it's Danny's 23rd. It takes 6 minutes for someone to get thrown into the wire. The wrestling in this is great. Gulak is Gulak and Havoc was trained by Quackenbush, DJ Hyde, and Hero and it shows. They trade hammerlocks and chops and Havoc was bleeding when the match started?
There is some interference and a bullshit chant starts when Danny Havoc dropkicks Drew Gulak into the barbed wire. This is about 14 minutes in. Then Gulak gets irish whipped hard into the wire. Gulak gets his face rubbed into the barbed wire and then both guys are bleeding. Gulak continues to work his match, jawing with hecklers, and demanding the barbed wire get snipped so that he can use it against Havoc. They wrestle some more. This match is siick and not just ultraviolent. It is pretty violent though at 20minutes. Gulak likes using his body slam into the ropes, this time into the barbed wire. He whips Havoc with the barbed wire. Gulak is psychotic. His legs are all gouged. He wraps Danny in barbed wire and locks the Gulock in tight. My 3 yr old nephew just got here so I'll have to finish this later...

Where are you watching that second match? I'm super interested in that.

Horatio

April 4th, 2020, 11:09 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

April 4th, 2020, 11:24 PM

There's good death match wrestling out there?

Wow.

Most of the "death match" wrestling I've seen is fat, sloppy guys dressed like they work at a gas station haphazardly falling into barbed wire and various metal debris.

Jordo

April 4th, 2020, 11:35 PM

There's good death match wrestling out there?

Wow.

Most of the "death match" wrestling I've seen is fat, sloppy guys dressed like they work at a gas station haphazardly falling into barbed wire and various metal debris.

I haven't seen much good death match stuff either but that's GULAK is a beast and that match has like a 9 consensus rating.

Horatio

April 5th, 2020, 12:39 AM

There's good death match wrestling out there?

Wow.

Most of the "death match" wrestling I've seen is fat, sloppy guys dressed like they work at a gas station haphazardly falling into barbed wire and various metal debris.

I sift through a lot of crap, but I had to see Gulak try NRBW. That guy is priceless and I definitely wanna see more Danny Havoc. There's some guys they call "hybrid" wrestlers who rassle and do the ultraviolent thing. John Wayne Murdoch is one whose name I can remember. Homicide gets pretty violent at times. And Low Ki is still working ICW No Holds Barred where the ropes are chains and nearly every match has a violence gimmick.

As far as the review goes, the match ends around the 25 minute mark and I don't wanna spoil the ending. It sucks that I didn't get to see it all in one sitting, but I'm glad I took the time to watch it.

GULAK vs DICKINSON 2
This match has a big fight feel to start. Gulak has the nicest entrance jacket and comraderie while Dickinson is on his own. These two are in a way both heels and both tweeners. Gulak is great outclassing on the mat, but Dickinson knows a lot of tricks. Gulak even has a nice running centon. Dickinson puts Gulak down with a beautiful falconarrow. This is worked like Dickinson's match; Gulak has every nice counter but Dickinson nails him with a Pazuzu Bomb which is a razor's edge throw. He also dropped Gulak on his head with a german so it's hard to see how Gulak is supposed t stay conscious in this. Chris is earning the respect of the fans in this match. Gulak goes house of fire with chops and slaps and now it's like he's the babyface in this. Chris is hella intense firing back on that. He hangs Gulak in the tree of woe and floats in a nice basement dropkick. Gulak turns things around using a headbutt and even lands a nice diving lariat. He rarely uses the top rope anymore. Gulak takes over in the second half; he just couldn't g down to a suplezmachine. Drew is stiff as hell with his strikesbut he tries a second superplex and is forced to eat a superBurningHammer by Dickinson. MASADA's girl comes out and things get stupid. Dickinson does an awesome military press throwing Gulak onto his comrades. Then he does an awesome somersault dive to the outside. Dickinson is such a crowd pleaser - if all crowds were diehard puroloving purists like .. Davey Richards or someone like that. He absolutely wastes Drew on a razor's edge type jackknife that i have never seen before, but Drew kicks out, which might have been crazy but Drew is one of wrestling's crazies. He tries a discus lariat type move thatyou'vegot to see to believe. He totally clubs dude with it. The Gulock doesn't work and he takes a brainbuster for holding on, but within minutes he has Dickinson tapping.
If you buy into Gulak's conditioning, which is ungodly real, you can see how he comes out of all those headdrops as the ultimate ringmaster. Very good match. It's awesome how Gulak brought workrate to the CZW title picture like only he can.

Tainted Eclipse

April 5th, 2020, 2:06 PM

We’re in Fairfield, Connecticut for the first time for BITTER FRIENDS, STIFFER ENEMIES, August 16th 2003.

On the last show, with CM Punk absent, someone unknown attacked Lucy. Punk is furious and will spend the show looking for the person responsible.

PRINCE NANA vs. HOMICIDE starts off. This was supposed to be Nana vs. Oman Tortuga, but Homicide hijacks the ring and demands Steve Corino. One of Corino’s friends/lackeys comes out and tells Homicide Corino will be ready for him later tonight. Nana demands Homicide face him. Nana actually starts off hot with a nice run of big, good looking offense. Homicide hits a nice tope con hilo and finishes it with his STF. Really solid short squash. **1/2

Loc and Davito cut a fun promo about how much they hate their lives and all the teams they’re facing tonight. 2003 ROH has made me a big fan of the Carnage Crew.

DUNN & MARCOS vs. THE PURISTS. Only about a minute of this airs as they clip it for an unexplained reason. Actually, what’s show is pretty fun. Dunn and Marcos stage a nice, brief comeback but get cut off the the Purists stretch Dunn into a submission victory. ** I guess.

MATT STRYKER vs. BJ WHITMER for a invitation to the Field of Honor. Wow, this match way overdelivered. Awesome hard fought match. Great selling, awesome stiff strikes and elbows, slow progression to bigger and bigger moves that actually feel significant. Feels like a real war. The crowd really is wild, massive dueling chants. Gabe responds to the dueling chants by saying he loves ROH because “you don’t hear this anywhere else.” Simpler times. After a great strike exchange they both hit each other with rolling elbows and the 15 minute time limit expires. Crowd chants for five more minutes, but instead, Gary Michael Cappetta announces that they’re both going to be in the Field of Honor tournament. ***3/4

IZZY and DIXIE vs. THE CARNAGE CREW vs. THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. SAT. Really fun spotfest. These guys definitely have polished this match big time compared to the beginning of the year. Fast pace, good spots, hot crowd. Almost everything goes off without a hitch, and the one significant botch actually ends up being a cool looking spot. Izzy especially looks much sharper than usual in this match. Nice sequence of dives at the end and Dixie ends up getting a cheap cradle pinfall on Loc for the win. ***1/4

Special K starts to rave but Alexis Laree comes out leading to ALEXIS LAREE vs. BECKY BAYLESS, playing off a confrontation between the two in one of the pre-show DVD segments. Special K puts the boots to Laree but she ends up taking them out and beating Becky with a reverse DDT. Really more a match than an angle, hard to rate something like this. Call it *3/4?

CHRISTOPHER DANIELS vs. XAVIER for the number one contender’s trophy. Man, here’s another match that overdelivers. Daniels focuses on working over the ribs, Xavier works over the neck, and almost all the offense from both guys targets the body part they’re working over. This leads to some cool stuff you don’t see too often from both guys. Daniels hits a shockingly good spear out of nowhere. Xavier hits a really sweet STO variation. The selling is great and this really feels like a hard fought competition. They don’t bust out too many big moves, so the ones they hit mean a lot. Xavier hits the 450, but Daniels gets his foot on the ropes. They trade rollups at the end. Xavier almost has it won with his feet on the topes, but the ref stops the count. While Xavier argues with the ref, Daniels catches him in a reverse rollup and gets away with holding the tights for the win. ***3/4

Fun promo segment backstage. GMC tries to interview Corino but Corino isn’t having it. He’s too big of a star.

HYDRO vs. DERANGED vs. JOHNNY STORM vs. SLYK WAGNER BROWN. What a jobberish match, and they don’t even get entrances. Ends up being pretty fun really. Storm hits an INCREDIBLE dive that makes the match worthwhile on its own, but also does some other cool technical stuff. Big spotfest homestretch. Deranged beats Storm with a reverse rana. ***

SAMOA JOE vs. CM PUNK in a non-title match. Is this the first match they’ve ever had? Commentary informs us that Punk’s knee and Joe’s arm are both injured from their recent tour of Japan. They end up both working the body parts, and especially Joe’s work on Punk’s knee is good. They have a lot of good ideas in this match but some of them don’t come off too well. Still, this is good overall. Joe catches a Shining Wizard from Punk and turns it into a nasty look Dragon Screw, and wins with a deep half crab. **3/4. Post-match, the new number one contender Christopher Daniels attacks Joe and lays him out. Big pop from the crowd, actually. Honestly, Joe wasn’t lighting the world on fire as Champ at this point yet, and Daniels is a sort-of face at this point getting big reactions. In context, Daniels winning the title when they face off was totally plausible.

HOMICIDE vs. STEVE CORINO. Corino comes out with a whole entourage, his cornerman Guillotine LaGrande, his own ring announcer, and a coterie of young boys. The ring announcer spends several minutes listing all of Corino’s past and present championships. Match heats up fast with Homicide landing a stiff slap on Corino and Gabe hilariously freaking out over it on commentary. Homicide brings out a strip of barbed wire and this match goes to the next lever after this. Homicide rips up Corino’s arm with the barbed wire and his fork, nasty stuff. Corino makes a comeback and bangs Homicide’s head into the guardrail. Great visual with the blood coming out of Homicide’s headband, and then Corino pulling the headband off to reveal a crimson mask, and then ripping at the cut. Homicide goes for a tope con hilo but Corino moves and Homicide crashes into the barricade. Nasty bump. The crowd is crazy behind Homicide as he survives a Cobra Clutch from Corino. They trade bigger and bigger moves until Homicide locks in his STF, pulls back on it, and LaGrande throws in the towel to save Corino’s neck. Awesome, awesome match. Dramatic, crowd is super hot, tons of blood, both guys wrestle like they hate each other, big spots, both guys entourages at ringside add a ton to the match. One of the under-appreciated classic match in ROH history. ****1/2

LOW KI vs. DAN MAFF is our main event. Maff attacks Low Ki during his entrance and they trade some stiff strikes for a while. The match is looking to get pretty good but then Maff gets in control and the crowd just isn’t too into him working over Low Ki. Low Ki comes back with a NASTY springboard kick the Maff’s head and covers him for the three. Maff is out, and it’s either a botch or a “worked shoot” angle deal because commentary sells it as a legit KO. They play a bunch of replays of the kick, and it’s a believable legit KO shot for sure. ***

Really, really good show. Very strong undercard, one of the classic ROH matches in Homicide/Corino, super hot crowd all night, better promos and angles than usual. The main event couldn’t follow what came before it but they sure ended on a exclamation point with that kick. 8.5/10

Ringo

April 5th, 2020, 2:46 PM

Watched Toshiaki Kawada vs. Gary Albright, 10/25/95 at Budokan. Great little match with a super hot crowd that goes wild every time Albright threatens to deliver a suplex on Kawada, particularly the German. Great sense of struggle. Kawada's performance here is just terrific. With his offence and selling he makes both himself and Albright look like a million bucks. Albright has a different vibe to the other big heavyweight gaijin who were around All Japan in the 90s. He's an awkward looking chap. Only 32 here but he looks older. Like a big American Tamon Honda. He'd be dead within 5 years, suffering a heart attack during a match and being pronounced dead just after they got him out the ring.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YUSH8LSfB8

Horatio

April 5th, 2020, 3:10 PM

Ringo

April 5th, 2020, 4:25 PM

Took a look at cagematch and that Kawada bout came at the end of what was Gary Albright's very first tour with All Japan. So why was he as over as he was? The answer presumably comes from his time with UWF in the preceding few years. Here he teams with Kazuo Yamazaki to face the giant team of Vader and John Tenta. Right from the get go Vader and Albright want a piece of each other. Yamazaki isn't about to stand aside though and he doesn't seem interested in anything other than kicking Vader as hard and frequently as possible. Eventually Albright is in there with Tenta and beckons Vader to bring it. They clash like two bulls and just clobber the shit out of each other. Albright successfully pulls off two pitch perfect German suplexes on Vader and the crowd goes crazy. Yamazaki gets back in and tries to finish what he started, just going to town again on Vader with hard kicks but Vader drops him with a huge powerbomb and he can't respond to the 10 count. Really solid, hot match.

https://youtu.be/eYU3w86lP24

Ringo

April 6th, 2020, 2:55 PM

Defrost

April 6th, 2020, 7:15 PM

Raven and Stevie Richards vs The Pitbulls Double Dog Collar

Just a beautiful bit of ECW clusterfuckery. Maybe the ideal version of it. You have blood, weapons, insane spots, run ins galore, 911 chokeslamming someone, the ECW arena going nuts. Good stuff.

Defrost

April 7th, 2020, 9:33 PM

Toshiaki Kawada vs Kenta Kobashi 6/12/98

This is considered by a lot of people as their best match with each other.

The meta story here is that just a month earlier Kawada had finally vanquished Mitsuharu Misawa at AJPW's first Tokyo Dome show. Then he has to deal with Kobashi who he had beaten repeatedly much like Misawa had beat him, but just when it seemed like it was Kawada's time Kobashi rises up and overtakes him. Interesting booking by Baba.

Ringo

April 8th, 2020, 2:40 PM

Bret Hart interrupts Owen Hart vs. British Bulldog, RAW 3/31/97

I thought I'd start watching Raw and Nitro beginning with the night after Wrestlemania, through the rest of '97. Bret follows on from one of the great promos of all time the previous week by intervening in Davey and Owen's family feud. Bulldog was about to blast Owen with a chair during their match and Bret breaks up. What follows is another great promo and a hell of a segment which signals the beginning of the '97 version of the Hart Foundation. Bret talks about his relationship with Owen and brings up the stuff with Davey and Diana from years gone by. Owen's facial expressions in response are particularly good and at one point he breaks down when Bret says he's always been there for him. Bret makes sure to trash the American fans again, as he had done the previous week and Vince isn't convinced that Bret is genuine.

This episode was really enjoyable in general. Aside from this, there's another great segment featuring Bearer, Undertaker and Mankind, which ends with Mankind emerging from under the ring and throwing a fireball into Undertaker's face. Sunny flirts with the Spanish announcers during a lucha match (Super Nova vs. El Mosco!?) and Pat Patterson beats the shit out of Triple H at one point which Vince goes absolutely wild for. Vince also interviews Austin in the ring as Austin reiterates that he never actually said I Quit at Mania before going in on Shamrock and Bret. Bret appears on the screen and he's on fire again. Great exchange between two of the all time greats at the peak of their powers.

The ropes are still red, white and blue but we've got the Raw is War/War Zone intros in the warehouse by now and the Attitude era is well on it's way.

Horatio

April 9th, 2020, 10:53 AM

CHRIS HERO vs MILANO COLLECION A.T. - IWAMS 4/1/06

Pretty good match. The great thing about Hero is that he's jus unpredictable. He seems like a candidate for biggest moveset even if he's jus torturing a guy with strikes and headbutts. This was from a time when he was undermining his opponents by not using the cravat he's known for. He wins with a boston-crab after a lion-tamer.
MCAT is a great opponent for Hero. He's got skills but he's too nice and falls prey to the total jerk.

MILANO COLLECCION AT vs CHRIS HERO - CHIKARA 10/25/05

Much better match with a cheap ending at 17:00. This match is more about counter-wrestling, not quite as mean as the IWAMS match. Milano's springboard flying clothesline looks especially great here, maybe because of the camera angle, maybe because the ring is smaller. Hero hits an especially impressive standing somersault neckbreaker.

Horatio

April 9th, 2020, 7:54 PM

KASSIUS OHNO vs GENTLEMAN JACK GALLAGHER - NXT UK 2019
This match was freakin great. It happens because Ohno is claiming to be the best european wrestler and Gallagher takes exception to that. So that's the story and it starts with respect, but Hero plays dirty. Wish there was more than one match to this, but it only happened once. The in-ring work throughout AND the finish leave you wanting more and I mean that as a compliment to this match. I'd love to see these two try to out-heel eachother in 2020 but who knows if they'll ever meet again.

KASSIUS OHNO vs DAVE MASTIFF -NXT UK 2019
Gosh this is a weird match. Mastiff does heavy lifting like Gary Albright and Hero tries to show he's not just a fatso. Totally cool match. Not very long, but the ending is a very impressive highspot that you can definitely buy as a decisive finish.

KASSIUS OHNO vs A-KID - NXT UK 2019
I don't know if I would have liked this match if it was anyone other than Chris Hero in there, but I've Never seen A-Kid look better; I recommend this to any fan of highflyin dropkickin sons of bitches. Had one of the coolest finishes and it's a countout!

KASSIUS OHNO vs WALTER - NXT UK 2019
Not as great as the previous three matches but those are three various matches and this one is different to all of them as well. And it's good! Someone may like this better than the others, but I thought the others were more awe insPiring. WALTER is just a hard youth and Ohno just wasn't ready for him is the basic story they told. Good action, great visual as Ohno goes up and comes down heavy for the powerbomb.

Defrost

April 9th, 2020, 9:55 PM

This is a bit of a left field thought, but going through my collection here seeing all this mid aughts New Japan got me thinking. It is amazing that dude ran that NJPW fansite during all those dark years only to shut it down like the day the new boom period started.

Then he went to jail.

Ringo

April 10th, 2020, 1:06 AM

The SSS guy went to jail? What?

edit: Oh well what do you know. Jesus. https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/founder-city-watch-website-jailed-15874693

Spudz Mackenzie

April 10th, 2020, 4:03 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrlxWu8vKU0

Modern day Bobby Roode looks like your creepy uncle that doesn't get invited to anymore family reunions, because of that time he wanted to "wrestle with you" with the video camera recording and he didn't want you to tell your parents.

But I'm not sure if Bobby cosplaying as the third long-lost Beverly Brother is that much better.

Horatio

April 10th, 2020, 10:29 AM

Ringo

April 10th, 2020, 10:40 AM

Horatio

April 10th, 2020, 10:44 AM

Defrost

April 11th, 2020, 10:35 AM

Defrost

April 11th, 2020, 11:41 AM

Followed that up by watching Satoshi Kojima's Triple Crown title win over Toshiaki Kawada from 2005

Back when this match happened it was super hyped all over the place, and now you never hear anyone talk about it. Match holds up. Especially the finish of Kawada forcing Kojima to murder him with Lariats until he stays down.

Ringo

April 11th, 2020, 11:43 AM

Psycho666Soldier

April 11th, 2020, 1:43 PM

I'm gonna have to check that out :chin:

I always liked Kojima and felt that his recent status in New Japan belied some of his past achievements. The dude can still go whenever he's in that ring, and just seems to have a baseline minimum of "more than solid." But I've never done anything more than read about his old matches.

I really need to brush up on late 90s-mid 00s puroresu. I know there are a lot of gems I'm missing.

Ringo

April 11th, 2020, 4:30 PM

Rob van Dam vs. Doug Furnas, ECW 8/24/96 (on Hardcore TV on WWE Network 8/24/96).

For a long time RVD's match with Dan Kroffat in All Japan in '95 was considered his best match by many. What I didn't know was that he had a match the following year with Kroffat's partner Doug Furnas in ECW. This was a blast. Furnas kills RVD with chairshots throughout. RVD bumps around like crazy. There's a bunch of cool spots including Furnas charging RVD on the apron sending him flying into the third row and Furnas dropping RVD with a sick tombstone on a chair. RVD is completely nuts here but he's still less sloppy than he would be later in his career. The ending is really well timed as Furnas pushes the referee away just as RVD throws the chair at him in preparation for the van Daminator.

Tainted Eclipse

April 11th, 2020, 4:46 PM

Defrost

April 11th, 2020, 5:58 PM

Speaking of RVD

I just watched RVD vs Jeff Hardy from Invasion. I hadn't watched it in years so I didn't realize all of the soundbites from JR in the old don't try this at home disclaimer came from this match.

Helluva match. Has to easily be the best Hardcore Title match ever even though that's a super low bar to hurdle. RVD being the only thing that got over from the WWF buying WCW is a trip.

Tainted Eclipse

April 11th, 2020, 6:04 PM

Psycho666Soldier

April 11th, 2020, 6:19 PM

best hardcore title matches would be interesting research. i remember RVD vs undertaker from the end of 2001 getting a lot of praise at the time too.

This was one of my favorite matches back in the day. This was about the period where I was learning to truly appreciate the American Badass(Though, I guess this was a bit closer to the "Big Evil" half of that era).

Horatio

April 11th, 2020, 7:01 PM

Jordo

April 11th, 2020, 9:17 PM

I was looking for some good ECW bashes (saw Sandman/Foley from Hoodies and Foley/Sabu from oct. 94) when I remembered 205live might have some new Gallagher greatness. It turns out he fought Lorcan. I was also looking at Raven/Lawler and Sandman/Regal; a couple matches that never really got legs but are dream matches which is what I usually seek.
I'm all for researching the hardcore title.

Did you used to have a different name here? I was gone for a while lately and I don't recognize your user name but I'm really enjoying your match breakdowns in this thread.

Psycho666Soldier

April 11th, 2020, 9:32 PM

Tainted Eclipse

April 11th, 2020, 9:44 PM

Defrost

April 11th, 2020, 9:47 PM

I am starting to watch my way through the Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask series

Watching the first match from April 23rd 1981 a couple of things strikes. I know it is unfair to give these two 100% credit because Fujinami, Kobayashi, and a few others were working like this too, but this is basically the popular style of wrestling in the world thirty years later. Then it must have been mind blowing.

Dynamite Kid obviously inspired Benoit, but you can see a ton of Owen Hart here too.

Tiger Mask is unique. Sayama moves more so fluidly it is almost like he is the cartoon character.

Horatio

April 11th, 2020, 10:18 PM

Did you used to have a different name here? I was gone for a while lately and I don't recognize your user name but I'm really enjoying your match breakdowns in this thread.
Yeah, I'm corimo.

I started watching wwf hardcore title matches. I almost forgot how comical it was...

So far i've gone through:

Undertaker vs RVD from Raw Nov. 2001 - it was a bore but I had to see it based on memory

RVD vs The Rock from Oct 2001 - this was known at the time for being the only match during the Invasion where RVD was not the most over guy in the company. It was a pretty good sprint, not really helped by the shenanigans. I can't believe The Rock sold so much for VD. it's even weirder that RVD has a win over The Rock. Truly a dream match of legendary proportions.

Hardcore Holly vs Al Snow from Backlash 99 - this was fun. Al Snow seemed frustrated and threw some stiff shots which was cool to see. Mostly this was a silly garbage match and Holly is basically a broomstick in this...

Bossman vs Road Dogg from Raw 98 - this was good. Involved coxaine or fake coke but it was a good beatdown by Bossman. Road Dogg was so over and loved at this moment, it sucks to see such a hip dude getting swung around by a noose. The finish is kinda hilarious. It got a chuckle from me.

Road Dogg vs Mankind 12/28/98 - this was the best match I saw. These two were actually cruel to eachother. Apparently Road Dogg had McMahon whispering in his ear so he wasn't the same babyface he could have been, but this was actually worth a watch. In the age of moves-on-the-apron, you never see a guy hotshotted facefirst ont the apron like Mankind did in this match. Foley always was fun for surprises like that.

Horatio

April 11th, 2020, 10:24 PM

I liked Gallagher/Lorcan. It seemed like another introduction to Gallagher's new character which is pure badass, and it should have gotten at least 5 more minutes, but it's cool they've got a heel, Tony, frustrated as hell with Gallagher being badder than he is.
The match was competitive without just being stiff. I know they have a better match in them but you can tell Gallagher was doing all he could to bring out the best in Lorcan.

I am starting to watch my way through the Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask series

Watching the first match from April 23rd 1981 a couple of things strikes. I know it is unfair to give these two 100% credit because Fujinami, Kobayashi, and a few others were working like this too, but this is basically the popular style of wrestling in the world thirty years later. Then it must have been mind blowing.

Dynamite Kid obviously inspired Benoit, but you can see a ton of Owen Hart here too.

Tiger Mask is unique. Sayama moves more so fluidly it is almost like he is the cartoon character.

Have you ever seen George Takano/The Cobra?
I don't know if other guys in Stampede taught him what he did, but that guy seemed lightyears ahead of his time and not bad in his actual matches.

mth

April 11th, 2020, 10:25 PM

Did you used to have a different name here? I was gone for a while lately and I don't recognize your user name but I'm really enjoying your match breakdowns in this thread.

He was cmpunkisecw last. I'm not sure if he had a different name before that.

im pretty sure he's corinoismybestfriend isn't he?

I kinda wish he'd changed it to corninowasmybestfriend.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 11th, 2020, 10:26 PM

Rob Van Dam vs. Undertaker at No Mercy 2001 or whatever is actually a really great match. I've never seen that RAW match.

'Taker/Spike Dudley of all people actually had a great Hardcore Title match on RAW around this time. Spike counters 'Taker's Last Ride with a garbage can right to the beak, for a really good two count. Super fun stuff.

Defrost

April 11th, 2020, 10:47 PM

Have you ever seen George Takano/The Cobra?
I don't know if other guys in Stampede taught him what he did, but that guy seemed lightyears ahead of his time and not bad in his actual matches.

A couple of matches, but not a lot

Horatio

April 11th, 2020, 11:45 PM

I wish Colby Corino the best in all his future endeavors.

Rob Van Dam vs. Undertaker at No Mercy 2001 or whatever is actually a really great match. I've never seen that RAW match.

'Taker/Spike Dudley of all people actually had a great Hardcore Title match on RAW around this time. Spike counters 'Taker's Last Ride with a garbage can right to the beak, for a really good two count. Super fun stuff.
I don't know what match you saw... I saw Spike get in one hope-spot and Taker powerbombed him into oblivion and then chokeslammed him into bolivia.

All this hardcore title stuff got me wanting to see Spike Dudley.
His CW title win over Rey Mysterio was such a good little match. Rarely did he get enough tv time to show off his stuff, right? His matches with Rhyno and Regal could have been epic.
I need to sit through his ECW stuff some day...

I saw Jericho vs RVD for the hardcore title not long ago. That's definitely one of the better ones.

Chris

April 12th, 2020, 7:32 AM

Ringo

April 12th, 2020, 11:59 AM

Chris

April 12th, 2020, 2:47 PM

Tainted Eclipse

April 12th, 2020, 6:00 PM

We’re in Wakefield, MA for BEATING THE ODDS, September 3rd, 2003. In a pre-match promo, AJ Styles looks to be taking Jimmy Rave under his wing. Punk and Raven cut promos to hype their cage match tonight.

COLT CABANA vs. JIMMY RAVE is the inaugural match in the Field of Honor tournament, which is a round robin tournament with multiple blocks. Early in the match they cut to a segment from before the show with The Backseat Boyz arriving late and getting into a fight with Homicide and Julius Smokes. Decent match. Rave starts off getting the advantage with lots of armdrags, Cabana ends up in control for a while, they trade moves and then Cabana wins it with the Colt 45. Cabana really looks like shit with his attire tonight. **. Backstage, Styles critiques Rave’s strategy in the match.

DIABLO SANTIAGO vs. SLYK WAGNER BROWN next. Slyk is really over tonight. Someone even has a sign for him! This is mostly a showcase match for Brown to show off his athleticism, including a sweet missile dropkick. Brown wins with a pop up powerbomb. **

DUNN & MARCOS vs. THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. SAT vs. DIXIE and IZZY next. Pretty standard scramble match with these guys. Super hot crowd though. Fast paced, good spots, nothing special in terms of these matches but nothing to fault and this kind of match always has a worthwhile spot on the card. Joel hits a nasty spiked northern lights suplex on Dixie. Some cool dives at the end and the Backseats pick up the win after Trent Acid hits a running knee strike on Joel Maximo. ***

MATT STRYKER vs. JOHN WALTERS in the Field of Honor. Good match. Starts with some technical wrestling, moves on to Stryker working Waters’ leg. Waters is pretty good selling the leg and they’re able to make the last couple minutes feel like a real hard fought contest. Waters goes for a powerbomb but his knee gives out and Stryker hooks the legs for the pin. ***

In the back, Homicide accosts Rob Feinstein and says he’ll take himself out of the number one contender’s match tonight if he can get a match tonight with Trent Acid. Rob accepts.

THE CARNAGE CREW vs. DERANGED, HYDRO and ANGEL DUST. Really fun match with the Carnage Crew as total babyfaces. Carnage Crew runs wild to start off. Loc hits a cool tornado DDT turned into a bulldog. Justin Credible hits a long series of rolling vertical suplexes which the crowd goes nuts for. Deranged bumps big off Davito’s punches and takes some nasty crossfaces. Special K yell at Slugger and tell him to do his job. He gets in the ring and no-sells Loc and hits him with a reverse chokeslam. Special K work over Loc for a while but he gets the hot tag and Carnage Crew make their comeback. Slugger tries to interfere again but gets taken out. Then Julius Smokes comes out of nowhere and starts quoting Malcolm X at Slugger, telling him to leave Special K and join the Rottweilers, a group yet to debut that he’s been teasing. Slugger walks out with him. Hydro and Deranged take everyone out with dives, leaving Justin Credible to hit a That’s Incredible off the second rope on Angel Dust for the win. ***1/2. Davito smashes Special K with chair shots post-match and then they hit Becky Bayless with a piledriver off the apron through a table. Very ECW.

MARK BRISCOE vs. BJ WHITMER next. Mark hits a great spinning heel kick to start off. Whitmer gets in control and works over Mark’s ribs. Mark makes a comeback with a beautiful shooting star press from the top rope to the outside. They trade some big moves, dropping each other on their heads with urinages, exploders and dragon suplexes. Mark picks up the big upset with a urinage off the top rope. ***1/4

HOMICIDE vs. TRENT ACID to settle the score. Man, this is an unsafe match. Trent starts out by hitting a beautiful Asai moonsault over the guardrail. He goes for another but Homicide leaps onto the apron and pulls him off the ropes into the guardrail. Nasty spot. He follows it up by sitting Acid on a chair and hitting his tope con hilo onto him spot on. He hits Trent with a running knee strike that busts Trent open around the eye, and Trent seems woozy for the rest of the match. Acid ends up delivering a receipt with a nasty spinning elbow right to the nose and Homicide’s nose is gushing blood for the rest of the match. There are some awkward moments and spots that don’t come off too well, but probably because they’re genuinely knocking each other loopy. Julius Smokes also takes a beautiful pump from a clothesline on the outside. Acid reverses a Cop Killa attempt into a rollup, the same way he beat Homicide at Wrestlerave, but Homicide gets out of it a hits a big Cop Killa for the win. ***1/2

JAY BRISCOE vs. AJ STYLES vs. CHRIS SABIN vs. SAMOA JOE. If Joe wins, the person he defeats can never challenge him for the title. Anyone else who wins becomes number one contender. Joe dominates to start out. About ten minutes in the match really takes off with a nice strike exchange between AJ and Joe. The rest of the match is a solid homestretch with some cool spots. Sabin takes out Joe in the middle of his Ole kick with a nice spear into the barricade. Jay takes out the other three with a big flip over the top rope. Styles and Joe dominate the match, but they take each other out with a double enzighiri, allowing Jay to hit the Jay Driller on Sabin for the upset win. Big night for the Briscoes! ***1/4

CM PUNK vs. RAVEN in a steel cage match. The cage also has weapons strewn about. This match feels odd because it seems like there’s clipping. What’s here is pretty good, though. Both guys bleed. Good spot with Raven handcuffed to the cage and making his comeback with punches from his one free hand. Punk puts Raven on a table and goes up to the top of the cage, but Raven ends up pushing him through the table and then hitting a DDT off the top rope through another table for the win. Like I said, odd match. Doesn’t feel as big as it should, either. Still, the work was good. ***1/4

Very solid show. Nothing memorable, but plenty good and hardly anything bad. 7/10

Defrost

April 12th, 2020, 6:31 PM

Tainted Eclipse

April 12th, 2020, 6:34 PM

Defrost

April 12th, 2020, 8:41 PM

Hulk Hogan vs Akira Maeda NJPW 5/30/83

RINGS Hulk Hogan. A lot of mat work early on until the high spots start coming from Maeda countered by power stuff by Hogan until the Axe Bomber finishes it.

Horatio

April 13th, 2020, 8:29 PM

WILLIAM REGAL vs RVD - WM18 - what's cool about this is that they have a good match without totally stiffing eachother as both are known for. I expected that from Regal at the time, I didn't realize how fast he was... this is a backandforth match worked as a total spotfest. Great stuff, still underrated performances from both men. It's probably one of the best mania matches period.
RAVEN vs RHYNO - Backlash 2001 - this holds up as one of the better hardcore title matches. Hitting your opponent with a sign is one of the worst visuals of offense in wrestling, but yeah, they totally waste eachother in this match. Probably Raven's best WWE match
WILLIAM REGAL vs RAVEN - INvasion 2001 - this was a backandforth match that was workrate based but totally misdirected. I don't know who was the agent on this, but whomever told them how to work this the way they did obviously didn't care about anything but the finish. Both guys could potentially be the face in this, both could have worked as heels and it's obvious neither man is comfortable with whatever role his was. I guess fans of these guys would like seeing how bad it was, but it's a totally ignorable match. Really could have been great, and should have been...
TaJIRI vs RHYNO - US title match summerslam? 2001 - tajiri comes in with his ribs taped, so you know he's getting gored. I think these two tangoed in ECW and I've got to see that if it's real. This is one where Tajiri should have been his evil self and Rhyno should have had the handicap, but it was what it was, and i don't recommend it.
WILLIAM REGAL vs TAJIRI - Insurrexion 2001 - skip it. Tajiri should have been heel.
VAMPIRO vs MIKE AWESOME - Halloween Havoc 2000 - this is some wrestlecrap level bad wrestling. With that said, Vampiro has a talent for hiding whether he's putting in minimal effort or maximum effort into a match. He challenges Awesome to put his title shot on the line and in the course of the match, he tries to escape into the crowd which is some strange psychology, but it leads to a rare beatdown by Awesome on a FAN. Awesome basically stops trying in this match, but he does get to Batista Bomb Vamp on the floor and Awesome Bomb him off the top rope, so everybody wins in the end. One of Vampiro's all star performances.
VAMPIRO vs FIT FINLAY - Nitro 2000 - not a great match, but Vampiro is professional and obviously respectful of Fin for doing the job
VAMPIRO vs FIT FINLAY - Uncensored 2000 - Falls Count Anywhere - both men are in arm casts but Vampiro never uses his with malice. Finlay sells his punches like death though. They wrestle into the men's room and Vampiro climbs the stall to dive into a trashcan shot. The Miami crowd loved this. Finlay threatens to dump Vampiro off the balcony to the outside of the building. Cruel bastard. Vampiro hits the Nail in the Coffin on the concrete, amidst fans, for the win. This pushes aside that Benoit/Sullivan brawl for bathroom greats.
FIT FINLAY vs BRET HART-Nitro 98- this is unlike almost any Bret Hart match. Rarely does a guy totally club him like Finlay does and Bret seems genuinely rocked by the experience. A hidden gem.

And speaking of hidden gems, the Vampiro search turned up REY MYSTERIO and EDDY GUERRERO vs DAVE TAYLOR and CHRIS ADAMS from Nitro 99. It's basically what you'd expect from these 4, and it leaves you wanting more. Adams is not in shape for this but he totally SMAcks Mysterio with a superkick and takes a frankensteiner like he had a deathwish(ouch). Awesome match, up there with Finlay/Bret for match of the day. If it's not dream match enough, in the aftermath, Vampiro and ICP hit the ring and attack the rare duo of Rey and Eddy. Then Kidman comes out and it's just overload, but still...

Horatio

April 14th, 2020, 12:25 PM

Horatio

April 14th, 2020, 1:50 PM

Ringo

April 14th, 2020, 4:12 PM

Hair vs. Hair match: Kerry & Kevin von Erich vs. Gino Hernandez & Chris Adams, 10/6/85

This is from a big outdoor show at the Dallas Cotton Bowl. The crowd looks absolutely vast even with large empty sections but apparently it was only around 26,000. There must have been no one on the side of the hard camera. This is a huge stadium. The screams for the von Erichs are deafening as you'd expect. There's lumberjacks around the ring and the ring announcer says there's not enough time to announce all of them but he does give special mention to Fritz's "nephew" Lance, who shakes hands with the two real von Erichs in the ring. This was amusing given I'd just seen the von Erichs episode of Dark Side of the Ring where they touch on the misstep that was the Lance von Erich push. David Manning is the special referee which the heels aren't happy about but everyone else seems to think it'll be just fine. Bill Mercer points out that the lumberjacks are there to stop the losers from getting away rather than to throw the wrestlers back in the ring.

This match is definitely aided by the great crowd and the lumberjacks shouting and beating on the mat. It lasts about 10 minutes and the work is frenetic and chaotic. It gets across the idea that both teams desperately want to get the win here as soon as possible. Kevin particularly looks determined as he jumps around trying to get to Hernandez and Adams. The von Erichs get the win as Kevin dodges some powder and partner hits partner with Kerry rolling up Adams for the win. Adams gets his haircut first but Gino is the bigger deal and the lumberjacks carry him into the ring. He managed to break free and almost escapes but young Chris von Erich tackles him to much fanfare. Hernandez gets his head shaved and everyone's loving it. As he runs off there's a commotion at ring side and I spotted a man in a cowboy hat, who may or may not have been a wrestler, giving a fan a right old whack. Good fun.

Ringo

April 14th, 2020, 4:38 PM

NWA Champion Harley Race vs. Kevin von Erich, 6/17/83

Throwing your opponent over the top rope is legal here. If Race is disqualified he loses the belt. Harley Race looks like such a boss as he makes his entrance. Kevin has some early success and the crowd goes wild. I love the energy Kevin von Erich puts into everything he does. Race sells a lot for Kevin. The champion manages to turn the tables when he throws Kevin through the ropes. Kevin bounces off a table and hits the floor, injuring his arm. When he gets back in the ring he does his best to make a comeback but he keeps going back to the injured arm and Race begins to target it. Kevin decides to put the hand of his injured left arm down his tights in a kind of make-shift sling which looks a bit strange. One armed Kevin sells great here and makes a series of fiery comebacks but Race keeps cutting him off. As Race comes off the turnbuckle Kevin catches him in the Iron Claw with his good arm but Race is able to escape, throwing Kevin through the ropes onto his bad arm once again. Then David von Erich comes out and tries to get his brother to call it quits and live to fight another day but he's not having any of it. Harley kicks David in the head and David fights back, causing the DQ. David shouts "you couldn't even beat Kevin with one arm!" and says he's next, promising to quit wrestling if he can't beat Harley. Really hot match with a great performance from Kevin.

Eddie Brock

April 14th, 2020, 8:00 PM

So my three:

Austin/Rock - WM15 - the main event of my first WrestleMania, first PPV I watched as a fan; the two biggest stars of the Attitude Era in what would be the first match of their trilogy. Not to mention the cast in this match; you had all three Attitude Era refs, you had Vince trying to get himself involved, Foley as a ref. Austin standing triumphant to end the night. 15 truly felt like we got the two at the closest to the company's peak.

Aztec Warfare II. C'mon, I love a brawl, and this takes the cake for me. For those unfamiliar with Lucha Underground, Aztec Warfare is one of their marquee matches, a 20 man Rumble though the eliminations come from pinfall or submission. Fast paced carnage which all lead to the climax being the reveal of owner Dario's murderous brother: The Monster Matanza Cueto. Matanza had been teased for the past season and a half, and he looked terrifying. Yes, Jeff Cobb is still around killing it, but Matanza was a different monster. Obviously the formula doesn't hold up for the rest of the series, but here it was perfect. Watching what happens next...some of the most cathartic wrestling I've ever seen.

And finally, Cody vs. Dustin Rhodes at Double or Nothing. The chemistry obvious between the two brothers, the build/pre-match promos were gold, and such a bloody and brutal slugfest. To me still the best match in AEW's history, and one of my favorites the last couple years.

Horatio

April 15th, 2020, 2:15 PM

RVD vs RHINO - Anarchy Rulz 2000 - this one is not good. RVD is especially gymnasticky in this for some reason. Rhino basically has his hands full and he sells good for RVD but he's basically just there to piledrive him through a table.

RHINO vs NEW JACK - November to Remember 2000 - this is a fun garbage brawl. New Jack rules the whole thing. Staple-guns a referee. Breaks a guitar that's full of powder and explodes like a bomb over Rhino's head... I don't think Rhino could depend on New Jack to stand in place for a gore, so he picks him up and spinebuster-gores him through a table to retain the ECW TV title.

SPIKE vs RHINO - Massacre on 34th 2000 - Spike is fiery from the git go and fiery throughout, including a balcony dive. Rhino controls the in-ring action and idiots start a "boring" chant. Finish is interesting because Rhino chokes out Spike. Chokes him for so long that he pukes...

RVD vs Kurt Angle - Raw 9/10/01 - quite a date to revisit. Hardcore title is on the line. These two seem like a natural fit for eachother. You hardly see pros in singlets anymore. Angle is dead set on applying the ankle lock. RVD hits a nice chairshot to the head while in the Anglelock. Angle does a rare spinebuster on the chair. They make their way to the stage and RVD straight punches Angle in the nuts. Angle wins the title but only for a minute or so. There's nothing too offensive in this match, but it does basically expose their egos and make them seem fitting for comical hardcore title matches, rather than something a little more challenging

RVD vs The Undertaker - Vengeance 2001 - I don't think this holds up very well. Van Dam hits a nice crossbody from the second tier. Undertaker is a little too Yosemite Sam as a heel. RVD's offense looks good against a guy Taker's size, but not all of it is great. The finishing chokeslam spot looks great. Not my kind of match. :no:

Horatio

April 15th, 2020, 2:16 PM

TONI STORM vs TIMOTHY THATCHER - Beyond Wrestling 4/5/18 - this is the main event of a card that's all intergender (the show was called Lit Up). Thatcher looks disinterested at first, and within a minute or so he looks bored. He's gentle as Storm tries to scramble for holds, but doesn't take long to wring her in an armlock, to gutwrench suplex her, to anklelock her, and put her in a bowandarrow. She gets to the rope and gets a smile out of him by landing a hard chop. Thatcher puts her on the ground and tries to end things with a pinfall, but Storm isn't done for. He knees her in the ribs, but not as hard as usually might...She finally slaps him in the face. He finally garners boos after a european uppercut and a bodyslam. He lets her headbutt him a couple times and she hurts her head. She makes him mad with a couple shitty eurocutters, so he lays her out with a good one (again, not an audibly stiff one) and she looks funny when she bumps for it. Timothy just stands there looking down at her and again he gets booed. She goes for a waistelock, he tosses her, but she manages to mount him and get in some angry forearms. They don't work. Back on their feet, he slaps her twice, the second time harder than the first (judging by the sound, about as hard as a woman would strike)...She finally sneaks in a Gallagher-style headbutt and german suplex which gets Thatcher rocked. Her brief flurry of offense doesn't last and Thatcher tries a pin after another good european uppercut. She kicks out at two and the ending follows shortly thereafter. I don't want to spoil it but I will just say, he shouldn't have gone for her throat.
Great match for being as one sided as it was. Thatcher shows how you can make stuff look good without making it all too hurty. I don't think men and women should fight, but I don't mind if they wrestle. I don't like intergender wrestling, but sometimes I gotta see how they school eachother.

SANTANA and ORTIZ vs TIMOTHY THATCHER and WALTER - Beyond Wrestling 5/26/18 - this wasn't as good as I'd hoped it would be. some of LAX's double teams seemed a little convoluted. And although they were disrespectful punks, they wrestled as underdogs. WALTER was on point and Thatcher made all of LAX's moves look good, but it's the dumbest thing when he has to stand there and wait for his opponent to do something convoluted. Still, if you like these guys, you might wanna see this.

Tainted Eclipse

April 16th, 2020, 9:21 PM

We’re back in Philadelphia for GLORY BY HONOR II. Along with the Anniversary Show, Death by Dishonor, and Final Battle this is one of ROH’s Big Four. Not only that, but this show is ROH’s last ever show in the Murphy Rec Center, the site of its first several shows and its early Philadelphia home arena. CM Punk is joining us on commentary.

JIMMY RAVE vs. BJ WHITMER in the Field of Honor. Whitmer is 0-0 and Rave is 0-1. Pre-match, AJ once again told Rave he needs to stay focused on working BJ’s arm. He does so for most of the match, though it never really feels like a big theme as BJ isn’t selling the effects too much. BJ looks good here with a nasty lariat, and a really nice brainbuster and dragon suplex. Rave hits a series of big moves and places Whitmer on the top rope, but Whitmer turns it into a TOP ROPE POWERBOMB for the win. ***1/4. Good opener. Rave goes 0-2 in the Field of Honor.

XAVIER vs. JOHN WALTERS in the Field of Honor. This match had some good moments but didn’t really come together. Xavier hits a nice top rope 450 to the outside and a really good looking Blockbuster variation. Walters hits a strong looking roll-through spear. Xavier picks up the win with a low blow and a very sloppy rollup. **1/2

TJ WILSON vs. TEDDY HART next. Not much of a match. Teddy spends most of it doing submissions. Punk and Gabe are bickering about Punk’s match later tonight with Terry Funk so much that it seems like they’re actively trying to ignore the match. Teddy wins it with an SPP. **

STEVE CORINO vs. RAVEN. The gimmick with this show is Punk chooses Raven’s opponent, Raven chooses Punk’s opponent. Corino comes out with his entourage again and his ring announcer takes several minutes listing down all the people Corino has beaten. The match itself is pretty boring, though. Just dull and nothing going on. Raven hits the DDT but Punk pull’s the ref out of the ring. With Raven distracted Corino is able to hit a superkick for the win. *1/2

COLT CABANA vs. MATT STRYKER vs. AJ STYLES vs. CHRIS SABIN. Good match. Lots of back and forth, no one guy with an advantage for any extended period of time. Some good stuff here, including Matt Stryker busting out a cool springboard cross body on Styles. Sabin looks really sharp in this match, busting out a lot of good moves including a reverse rana. After a big exchange of everyone hitting big moves, Cabana is able to hit the Colt 45 on Stryker for the win. ***1/4

Next is the TAG TEAM GUANTLET MATCH for the vacant Tag Titles, Styles and Red having to forfeit them due to Red’s injury. It actually starts off with a six-man tag with THE CARNAGE CREW of Loc, Devito and Justin Credible vs. HYDO, ANGEL DUST and DERANGED. It’s the standard Special K vs. Carnage Crew match which I’ve really come to enjoy. Carnage Crew run wild, Special K cheats to get the advantage, Carnage Crew make their comeback. All of Special K starts to interfere so The Carnage Crew bring out some straps and start whipping Special K, which gets them disqualified. Deranged And Hydro advance to THE BRISCOE BROTHERS. Hydro and Deranged actually wrestle serious for this one and they have a pretty good quick sprint. The Briscoes pin Hydro with a spiked Jay Driller. They advance to DUNN & MARCOS. It’s mostly a squash with the Briscoes killing Dunn and Marcos and finishing it with a Doomday Device. They advance to yet another Special K iteration, DIXIE and IZZY. Briscoes dominate at first, Special K gets on the offense, the Briscoes make their comeback and look to be about to win but another member of Special K interferes and hits Mark with a blockbuster, allowing Dixie to pin him and eliminate the Briscoes. Dixie and Izzy advanced to THE BACKSEAT BOYZ. The Backseats come in hot hitting their double team moves and are really over. Special K gets a run of offense but the Backseat Boyz are able to hit the T Gimmick on Izyy to become THE NEW TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS. This is actually the first time a regular tag team holds the titles, as both Christopher Daniels and Donavan Morgan and AJ Styles and Amazing Red were primarily singles wrestlers who just teamed together to go for the titles. This whole thing was pretty fun but it was such a clusterfuck and had so many low carders that it did feel somewhat devaluing to the tag titles. ***. Special K attack the Backseats post match, The Briscoes come out to help, they end up brawling on the floor and of all people TEDDY HART comes back out to hit a totally wild springboard corkscrew moonsault.

Alex Laree comes out and gets a big pop as she’s about to go to WWE and become Mickey James. Special K come out to try to attack her but JOEY MATTHEWS saves her … and then attacks her himself, apparently re-joining Special K. SLUGGER comes out to save her and Julius Smokes follows behind, which leads to … ALEXIS LAREE vs. HIJINKS with JULIUS SMOKES as special referee. They have a short match ending with Alexis getting the win after a reverse DDT. Too little of a match to rate.

CM PUNK vs. TERRY FUNK next, it turns out to be NO DQ. Punk cuts a promo on Terry beforehand and actually gets mostly cheers. He’d been getting real heat for a while but we’re getting to the point where Punk is so clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the roster in charisma and presence that the fans are starting to turn him face. This is a severely limited match but they work hard. They brawl around the ring. Funk goes for a moonsault but misses and Punk focuses on the knee. The rest of the match is Punk locking in figure fours and going after Funk’s knee with a chair. Punk won’t break a figure four when Punk gets to the ropes and gets DQed, even though it’s no DQ. Funk made this match with his selling and trash talk. I’ll go *** for effort. Raven and Tommy Dreamer save Funk post-match and attack Punk and Cabana. Big pops.

SAMOA JOE vs. CHRISTOPHER DANIELS for the World Title. Daniels is a totally babyface here, the crowd is very much behind him. Match starts hot with Samoa Joe really bringing it with the strikes more than he had usually been these last couple months, looking like the dominant champion. Daniels pushes Joe out of the ring and hits a beautiful Arabian Press to the outside. Joe is able to get back into control on the outside and hit some Ole Kicks. Back in the ring they trade big moves including a beautiful German Suplex from Daniels and a nasty STO from Joe. Daniels string together a series of big moves and has Joe on the ropes. He hits a big top rope hurricanrana and follows it up with the Angels Wings for a HUGE nearfall. Crowd goes crazy thinking it’s the end, and they even ring the bell as a tease but the ref waves it off. Daniels tries to follow it up with the Last Rites but Joe turns it into the choke. Daniels is able to make it to the ropes but the life is squeezed out of him. Joe drags him to the center of the ring, hits a big kick to the head and follows it with the Island Driver for the win. Definitely had a big match feel, maybe the biggest big match feel an ROH title match has had up to this point. Super hot crowd that was really into the final several minutes. ***3/4

Not a bad show by any means but underwhelming for one of the Big Four shows and the last Murphy Rec show. Solid but unspectacular undercard and a very strong main event. 6/10

Ringo

April 17th, 2020, 4:30 PM

Atsushi Onita & Tarzan Goto vs. Masanobu Kurisu & Dragon Master, Texas Death Match, FMW 4/1/90

This thing was fucking wild. I can't recall having ever seen Kurisu or Dragon Master/Sakurada before so I wasn't sure if they were even the guys in this match at the start. They come down to the ring in street clothes and Onita just flies out of the ring and takes them both out with a crazy tope and I didn't know what was going on. Dragon Master just starts absolutely walloping Onita with chairs, some of the hardest chairshots I've ever seen, as Onita climbs over rows of seats (and members of the public) to try and get away. It doesn't seem as though Dragon Master cares if he takes out an audience member or two as he swings the chair. Goto starts getting pelted as well. Just sick thud after sick thug. All four guys are bleeding after about 5 minutes and that's when the Texas Death match rules start to come into play with the pin for a 3 count followed by a 10 count. They play at tagging in and out like a normal tag match for a bit but that's never on the cards and it's not long before it breaks down again. Kurisu takes off his cowboy boot and starts leathering Onita. Onita takes off his belt and starts leathering everyone. There's a handful of wrestling moves alongside the brawling. A couple of DDTs. A couple of brutal powerbombs. After about 10 minutes Onita hits another powerbomb on Kurisu and he can't get to his feet before the 10 count and it's all over. This whole thing felt like four guys had got into a fight in the bar and decided to settle it in the ring. Crazy Southern US-esque brawl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0jVkpshNqc

Spudz Mackenzie

April 17th, 2020, 9:37 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go3jpp2Dinc

- Found a great Youtube channel full of old OVW matches. Most of these are from 2003 onward, but my God, they look like they're from a 1998 independent show shot from a video camera in the crowd. WWE's training gym looks nicer than the setup they have here for an actual TV show.

- Travis Bane - The future Tyson Tomko is here. The guy had a great look, but I think drugs kicked his ass. He had a good stint in TNA, where it seemed like he was going to be "something", before he went to Japan. He showed up for a "special challenge" and got wrecked by Samoa Joe some time later, and he looked like a deflated balloon.

- Seven is Kevin Fertig. The future Mordecai and Kevin Thorne. Meh?

- Speaking of Kevin Thorne, does anyone else remember Ariel? She had nipples the size of dinner plates.

- Mark Henry here, pre-Hall of Pain. WWE used OVW as a "storage closet" for guys who weren't ready to come back after an injury or for guys who needed a "tuneup run".

- Matt Morgan. *sighs*. They gave this guy so many chances. And they did nothing with him.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 17th, 2020, 9:39 PM

Jim Cornette always makes that "I never fucked a 10, but one night I fucked 5 2's." joke.

The fat chick with Tomko and Mordethorne is the current Missus Cornette.

She's a 1. Maybe she's a Kentucky 5?

Spudz Mackenzie

April 17th, 2020, 10:04 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjAbBHbCIlQ

- Is there a bigger gulf of talent between two wrestlers than Chris Kanyon and Jackie Gayda? One can come up with 75,000 new moves in one match and the other can figure out how to botch a move in 75,000 different ways.

- Charlie Haas would be a solid midcard talent right now. In a more work-rate oriented world, he'd be right at home. Especially on NXT.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 17th, 2020, 10:07 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

April 18th, 2020, 12:44 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Kd6e1fm4Zs&list=TLPQMTgwNDIwMjAlqEpVdscH2 A&index=3

- Jim Cornette always talks about how WWE wasted Nick Dinsmore, when they made him go full well... you know... in the WWE. This is the first time I've ever really seen him work not as Eugene. He looks like a modern day Chris Benoit in a lot of ways. The German Suplexes, the Crossface. He's really damn good.

- He doesn't go very far, but before he gets beat in short order by Nick D, Lance Cade actually looks pretty damn good. He's a big guy who hits hard and moves pretty well. They're a little off on that bulldog headlock spot, but otherwise, he looks good in his 7-8 minutes.

- Johnny Jeter is the prototype of a lot of modern day, flippy-dippy bullshit wrestlers. Dude throws some cool flying kicks. He gets it over Dinsmore in a pretty cool little mat exchange/rollup/pinning predicament.

- Rob Conway and Johnny Jeter have a Hell of a mini-match. The longest of the entire gauntlet. Conway reminds me a lot of Shane Douglas. Its an odd comparison, but there's a good bit of Shane Douglas there in Conway's punches, his cutoffs, and the way he gets his heat. Also, Douglas used to beat guys with a Belly-To-Belly Suplex, Conway finishes guys with a regular neckbreaker.

- Johnny Jeter goes for a springboard moonsault, but slips, crashes and burns. He pulled it off so well I thought it was a legit botch at first. That's tough to do. Usually when a guy "botches" on purpose, it looks bad, because you can tell they're still bracing for the bump. But Jeter winds up on his head.

- Conway manages to lead Matt Morgan - who's still so green if you turned out the lights, he'd glow in the dark - by the hand through a decent little match. Conway gets caught going for a punch with the dreaded "loaded glove" and gets disqualified.

- Matt Morgan and Mark Henry have a good, little hoss match. They keep it simple and Matt Morgan scores a big boot and a regular bodyslam for the win. Good enough.

- Its not quite that classic "Pink Jacket Swerve", but Henry turns on Morgan after the match. He knocks down Morgan and gets as much "air" on a splash as a broken pogo stick in an anti-gravity chamber.

Ringo

April 18th, 2020, 12:51 AM

Masakatsu Funaki vs. Tatsuo Nakano, UWF 7/27/89

Like the last match, this is another one I saw on a "greatest matches of all time" list that I don't think I've actually even heard of before. I'm familiar with Funaki as the co-founder of Pancrase alongside MInoru Suzuki, I remember his feud with Yuji Nagata in New Japan and he had quite substantial runs with All Japan and Wrestle-1 in recent years too. But I don't think I've seen too many of his matches. I knew nothing of Tatsuo Nakano when I watched this. Here he is the established UWF veteran, having competed for the original UWF in the mid-80s, and he's treated like the hometown boy by the crowd. They absolutely love him. That said, he's surely the clear underdog here against Funaki. They beat the piss out of each other early on and the crowd is molten. The aggression is off the charts. Slaps, fists, kicks, stomps. But it's Nakano who comes off worse from the opening exchanges and he may have a broken nose as blood pours down his face. They tease ending things early but the doctor gives the all clear and Nakano lifts his fist to a huge roar from the crowd. He makes a comeback with, amongst other things, some sick looking roundhouse kicks. Funaki tries to get back to his feet at one point but his legs buckle and he falls down again. It's top class selling. Or at least I assume he's selling.

Funaki does a sort of flipping Alabama Slam on Nakano towards the end which looks strange but cool. Nakano comes close to pulling off the win but can't quite manage it and Funaki wins with a Boston Crab. This all clocks in at under 10 minutes. Crazy little war and I fancy seeing more Tatsuo Nakano matches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vML7I1Ge1Yc

Spudz Mackenzie

April 19th, 2020, 11:17 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHsyD7mQDAw

- Gotta love WCW trying their hand at a multiple team match. Most of these in WCW have been complete flustercunts. Not expecting much better here.

- Erik Watts out, dressed in his best 90's raver pants. His side pockets can hold an entire Rey Mysterio.

- Hacksaw Jim Duggan, by 1999, might have been the worst full-time wrestler in the business.

- Jimmy Hart's First Family is the worst stable in wrestling history. Don't @ me, bro.

- Cute spot where Brian Knobbs and Hugh Morrus both get tagged and actually have a brief slugfest. Now that's a dream match.

- Holy mother of shit, this is terrible. The action isn't bad. But the finish sees "Lightning Foot" Larry... err... Jerry Flynn, Jimmy Hart, and Fit Finlay (cosplaying a character from Lock, Stock, And Two Smoking Barrels) all run in. Hart nails one of the Armstrongs with the megaphone, everybody fights, Finlay clobbers Hart with a flag, and then FINLAY PINS HART! and wins the match for The Blue Bloods. Wow... I have no words.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 19th, 2020, 11:34 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYhWCRIbVVM&list=TLPQMjAwNDIwMjAPpGHwb_FCY A&index=2

- Blitzkrieg was one of those rare highlights of late-90's WCW. I've said it before, but they brought him in with no hype, no build, and no background given. Blitzkrieg was a Canadian guy who wanted to use a high-paying WCW job to pay his way through computer programming school. He seemed to coalesce out of the wrestling ether with wrestling experience beyond his limited years and he was gone within two years.

- Rey Mysterio looks like a Slim Shady Mini-Me and I hate it.

- Pretty good match. I was expecting face vs. face, but Blitzkrieg plays a pretty blatant heel.

- Mysterio wins with a top-rope hurricanrana. And he still looks Slim Shady's Mini-Me and I still hate it.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 19th, 2020, 11:47 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZgN2ZC4my4&list=TLPQMjAwNDIwMjAPpGHwb_FCY A&index=3

- Interesting comparison here to the Blitzkrieg/Mysterio match. Blitz works face this time.

- Dean Malenko is in The Revolution this time with Shane Douglas, Saturn, and Chris Benoit. "You wanted evolution? Well, you got a REVOLUTION!"

- Malenko eats Blitzkrieg alive in this match. Poor Canadian luchador computer programmer kid gets about four moves. But one of those is a pretty wicked little pinning combination. But Malenko ties Blitz up so much, if he threw some salt on him, he'd be doing a pretty good impersonation of a pretzel.

- Now I want a Mexican pretzel. That's a hot pretzel wrapped in a soft shell taco shell, with hot sauce and melted nacho cheese.

- Actually, I just made that up.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 12:09 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFNJY3hDAF4&list=TLPQMjAwNDIwMjAPpGHwb_FCY A&index=6

- Oof... this one's a tough watch. Wrath and Hugh Morrus are both imminently talented big men, but they just don't "click" in this match.

- Compliment sandwich time - Big props to Morrus for taking a bodyslam on the floor. - Positive

- Morrus botches the living shit out of a Powerslam attempt to counter Wrath's springboard flying clothesline. He just kind of... catches him.. and gently sets him down off to the side. - Negative.

- Jimmy Hart takes a great moonsault from Hugh Morrus, when he comes in and gets in a downed Wrath's face, but gets grabbed and sandwiched between Wrath and Morrus. - Positive - Even though, with Hart on top of him weighing as much as a pile of newspaper, that shouldn't have been too much cushioning for Wrath. Its like trying to shield yourself from a falling fridge using a magazine.

- Wrath botches the living daylights out of his finish. He can't pull Morrus all the way up and over his shoulder for the Meltdown, so he just kind of awkwardly puts Morrus down on his side. Ouch.

- This match sucked. Wrath's Van Halen ripoff music is still awesome, though. Wrath went from entering to a knockoff of "Running With The Devil", to a knockoff of Static X's "Love Dump" when he wound up in Kronik. That's a pretty big step down.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 12:32 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBY5o9abZL8&list=TLPQMjAwNDIwMjAPpGHwb_FCY A&index=2

- Whoa, this is a great little 4-minute tag-team match. Kaz and Dragon make a pretty cool team.

- Mike and Steve Armstrong are great bread and butter heels. In 2020, they'd be tearing it up in NXT, like The Revival, instead of languishing on the C-show.

- Kevin and Bill Armstrong look like Ken Dolls with the haircuts and hair color.

- Kaz and Dragon have some pretty cool offense, but Dave and John Armstrong are good enough to keep up with them.

- Brent and Michael Armstrong, presumably, don't get a lot of chances to play "the big man", but it looked like they enjoyed it in their limited capacity here.

- Chet and Chip Armstrong doing a perfectly clean job here surprised me. But, good on Sven and Norman Armstrong for going through with it. WCW didn't usually put their cruiserweight guys over their heavyweights, so you can see exactly where Tyler and Sal Armstrong were on the totem pole.

Psycho666Soldier

April 20th, 2020, 6:39 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 7:12 PM

I just picked up some bud called Rollins, so I'm about to get baked and watch Rollins/Cena from SummerSlam 2015.

While listening to Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'" and some tunes by The Henry Rollins Band?

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 8:07 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMjpajeD2Lo&list=TLPQMjAwNDIwMjCSpH99qSsXW w&index=4

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!! its the Basketball gimmick for Mark Jindrak. I read about this on WrestleCrap. It took those purveyors of wrestling excrement literal years to track down any video or information on this shit. And here it is, on this unassuming dude's channel.

Wow. Its the bad wrestling gimmick Holy Grail.

Oh yeah, the match! Skipper wins a perfectly acceptable green guy match with a flying missile dropkick. Perfectly acceptable wrestling.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 8:24 PM

https://uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/silver-king-wcw.jpg

Silver King and

https://res.cloudinary.com/teepublic/image/private/s--4WYFYNzc--/t_Resized%20Artwork/c_fit,g_north_west,h_1054,w_1054/co_ffffff,e_outline:53/co_ffffff,e_outline:inner_fill:53/co_bbbbbb,e_outline:3:1000/c_mpad,g_center,h_1260,w_1260/b_rgb:eeeeee/t_watermark_lock/c_limit,f_jpg,h_630,q_90,w_630/v1569259420/production/designs/6067589_0.jpg

The Frito Bandito - Separated at birth?

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 8:41 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohWRojww0Zo&list=TLPQMjAwNDIwMjCSpH99qSsXW w&index=7

- Not going to lie, I was a total "Screaming" Norman Smiley mark at one point. Before the Screaming and the simulated anal rape, Norman was a strong worker with all the personality of a cardboard box melting in the rain. The "Screaming" gimmick was broad comedy, but it was fun.

- I have no idea what a "4 The Hard Way Match" is, but they're promoting it for Uncensored 2000.

- Bobby Eaton was still around by 2000? Beautiful.

- When I think "hardcore", Norman Smiley and an aging Bobby Eaton aren't the first two names I think of.

- Smiley wins the match with his windup bodyslam and then he and Charles Robinson do the Big Wiggle. Wow... Not even a bodyslam onto a garbage can.

- I would have given this match 8 stars if Eaton used a tennis racket at some point.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 8:42 PM

They made "Free Willy 3"?

Sorry, some of these old matches still have some of their commercial bumpers attached and I've never been happier.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKw_cFY0YWk&list=TLPQMjAwNDIwMjCSpH99qSsXW w&index=2

- Jerry Flynn Fun Fact #1 - Jerry Flynn received a WCW World Title Match against Bret "Hitman" Hart on an episode of Nitro in 1999. He didn't win.

- Jerry Flynn Fun Fact #2 - Jennifer Lopez's song "Jenny From The Block" inspired Jerry Flynn's "The Block" challenges in WCW. He misheard "Jenny" and thought she said "Jerry".

- Jerry Flynn Fun Fact #3 - Jerry Flynn's hair was preserved, after he cut his mullet, in the "Mullet Hall Of Fame And Museum" located in Voorhees, New Jersey.

- Jerry Flynn Fun Fact #4 - Jerry Flynn did several jobs for the WWF in the late-80's. Including a six-man tag-team job, teaming with Barry Horowitz.

- Jerry Flynn Fun Fact #5 - Jerry Flynn can levitate objects with his mind and bend reality to his will. But only in the state of Ohio, on odd-numbered years, and only when holding a cat.

Psycho666Soldier

April 20th, 2020, 8:48 PM

While listening to Limp Bizkit's "Rollin'" and some tunes by The Henry Rollins Band?

I actually considered listening to Henry Rollins' spoken word while watching. I decided I wanted to actually enjoy the match, though.

Way better than I remembered it. Until I remembered why it didn't stick. That funny, kinda interesting, but ultimately unnecessary interference from Jon Stewart for a finish.

Still a great ride, though. It was fun remembering how Rollins felt like he was on top of the world here.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 8:59 PM

I actually considered listening to Henry Rollins' spoken word while watching. I decided I wanted to actually enjoy the match, though.

Way better than I remembered it. Until I remembered why it didn't stick. That funny, kinda interesting, but ultimately unnecessary interference from Jon Stewart for a finish.

Still a great ride, though. It was fun remembering how Rollins felt like he was on top of the world here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaysTVcounI

All-time classic.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 9:07 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwGuhf424TA&t=11s

Man, Meng is a weird case study for WCW's midcard guys. He's an example of WCW's "glass ceiling" booking. They seemed to respect Meng enough to keep him strong and pretty well protected against guys on his "level". When he mixed it up with guys above the middle of the card, he'd job, but he rarely got pinned flat by his equals. And Meng went months at a time as "just a guy" filling out matches and time on the card. But God damn, if you've got the money, Meng makes a fucking excellent "just a guy".

If anything, Meng was WCW's Kane. They could keep him around for months, floating in the ether and doing whatever, and then heat him up as the big midcard gatekeeper for somebody on the rise to beat, cool him off, and then repeat. And he was big and scary and strong enough that it worked.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 9:30 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB5fw-EU7ds&list=TLPQMjEwNDIwMjDqF6GxiEAYiA&index=2

- Ah yes, the "Jimmy Hart Era" of WCW Saturday Night. That's right, for whatever reason, WCW decided to hand over the reigns of Saturday Night to Jimmy Hart by 2000. And it saw the rise of Saturday Night exclusive storylines, feuds, and angles.

- Jim Duggan: TV Champion! was one such Saturday Night exclusive angle. Duggan found the belt in a garbage can, during his stint as WCW's janitor. He decided to keep it and defend it.

- Is that better or worse than the time Shane McMahon gave Mideon the European Title in the WWF?

- This match sucks. But that shouldn't be any kind of surprise. Jim Duggan was the worst full-timer in wrestling by 2000.

- Sierra locks in a 12-minute chinlock, Duggan pops a comeback, hits several punches with enough space between Duggan's fist and Sierra's dome to drive a truck through, scores a bodyslam and The Old Glory kneedrop for three.

- HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Spudz Mackenzie

April 20th, 2020, 10:32 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22WG8dYZApw&list=TLPQMjEwNDIwMjDqF6GxiEAYi A&index=2

'Member Berries time:

- 'Member when Silver King and El Dandy were a tag-team called Los Fantabulousos? It was some time either after or before this match, when Stacy Keibler - still in her Miss Hancock gimmick - took the two under her wing and gave them a radical makeover, with new tights and that name and... not much else.

- Yeah, before she was involved with the son of Ric Flair in a major angle, Stacy was fucking around with two luchadores who looked like The Frito Bandito and Jack Black from "Nacho Libre".

- By the way, I have a question for you; Who are you to doubt El Dandy?

- Funny enough, WCW made Stacy pregnant. And then WWE basically made her barefoot all the time. But no, she was never barefoot and pregnant at the same time.

- On that subject - Around this time or a little bit before, WCW Magazine decided to get into the "printing pictorials of their female talent" game. There was a lovely little pictorial of Kimberly Page naked, except for a big fur coat (fur is murder, by the way) in the magazine that needs to be tracked down.

- And a Stacy Keibler pictorial that was basically several pages of the same pose, repeated about 20 times, that made Stacy very popular among a "certain" online community.

- This -

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fd/3a/5e/fd3a5efe520b9a9245f233e7e1b68e7d.jpg

- But repeated, with her barely moving. If you turned the magazine into a flip book, you'd think Stacy was a sexy statue.

- Not that WWE didn't use Stacy for that same pose...

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/53/04/5b/53045bfd8ce561f45c576dbbd995ea6a.jpg

https://pics.wikifeet.com/Stacy-Keibler-Feet-45608.jpg

https://pics.wikifeet.com/Stacy-Keibler-Feet-45862.jpg

- Fucking constantly. I guess when you have no tits, there's only so many other body parts for men to drool over? She had legs, and she knew how to use them.

- Oh yeah.. the match. Its a solid formula tag, with the Luchadores playing heel. The Armstrongs try for a Doomsday Device with a crossbody instead of a clothesline, the Luchadores counter, there's a neat series of counters, and eventually The Armstrongs take it with a Hart Attack with a dropkick.

- That's right, The Armstrongs had to steal two famous tag-team's finishers to polish off The Frito Bandito and Nacho Libre. Maybe a little bit of overbooking? Maybe?

Dreyski

April 21st, 2020, 8:26 PM

That time HHH appeared on Heat in 2000.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS6bqeBZsWo

Defrost

April 21st, 2020, 9:40 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

April 21st, 2020, 11:55 PM

It was always cool when a big name talent showed up on Heat.

- Triple H vs. Hardcore Holly
- Triple H vs. Maven
- Rob Van Dam vs. Heidenreich
- Ric Flair vs. Val Venis

Hell, early on, Heat actually had a lot of top-level guys on every week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AingHq_5PLk&list=PLzUe-EuTVgmqe2lxdmFjFymV1J79t9MW4&index=12

mth

April 22nd, 2020, 11:37 AM

Spudz Mackenzie

April 22nd, 2020, 3:37 PM

Don't forget Kurt Angle vs. Essa Rios. :yes:

One of my favorites has always been a perfectly random Undertaker/Godfather match.

Godfather tries to buy 'Taker off with his chicks, 'Taker refuses, Godfather tries to jump him, 'Taker moves, beats him up, and wins in like 2 minutes.

Really fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMT3ZQioo-g

Horatio

April 22nd, 2020, 3:38 PM

Defy Now episodes are up on IWTV. It's set in little theatres with really fantastic lighting.

Just watched DARBY ALLIN vs JOHNNY DEFYANCE (Hennigan) - 6/20/19. Would love to have seen these two fight more. John offers a left handed handshake, but Darby hits the ref and pulls Hennigan's headband over his eyes so there is a dastard element to both guy's approach although Darby wins the crowd by the end of it. These two were made to wrestle eachother.

DARBY ALLIN vs SHANE STRICKLAND - no dq - 7/4/19. I get what Shane Strickland/Swerve brings to a match (he hits Darb in the face with a jumping sidekick that I don't recall him using in WWE), but ffs, Darby Allin is so fast that he changes who's who in the cruiserweight part of the brain. Darby sells the first flurry of offense like death, and then he takes some more (snap suplex on the floor). He hangs on to avoid re- entering the ring and Shane makes good on a DVD/FU on the apron. Darb plays oppossum but he's still too small to pull in a superplex, so he uses his speed to manage a fujiwara. Swerve thinks about tapping but he rolls into the ropes and begins his own inevitable attack on Darby's arm. Strickland thinks about showing mercy, then proceeds to brainbuster Darby on the chair. It gets a This is Awesome chant. Darby refuses to sit in a chair for Swerve as he climbs the ropes. This leads to Swerve taping him up while he's seated in a chair and then doublestomping him from the top rope. Darby's reaction to this method is priceless. Swerve pulls down his kneepad to obliterate Darby unconscious but Darby uses the chair to mount an offense including a Coffin Drop with a mangled chair. Sounds crazy but it was crazy. Darby pulls out a bag of thumbtacks and pours some of them into the ring, some into his mouth. Funny. They play with thumbtacks a little and Darby wins with the LastSupper. Not a motyc but an awesome match. Lots of fun

Spudz Mackenzie

April 22nd, 2020, 3:43 PM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM0ukzc7rQA

Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, here's Undertaker/Kurrgan from Heat. This is babyface Kurrgan when was in the Oddities getting wriggety-wriggety-wrecked by Satan Cult 'Taker and his Ministry of Darkness. That was an absolute burial of a group of lower-card goofs if I've ever seen one. This is also, maybe, the only time George "The Animal" Steele, John Tenta, and Undertaker ever shared a ring. Historic.

Ringo

April 22nd, 2020, 4:11 PM

Horatio

April 22nd, 2020, 5:02 PM

One of my favorites has always been a perfectly random Undertaker/Godfather match.

Godfather tries to buy 'Taker off with his chicks, 'Taker refuses, Godfather tries to jump him, 'Taker moves, beats him up, and wins in like 2 minutes.

Really fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMT3ZQioo-g

Nice.
My favorite incarnation of his was The Supreme Fighting Machine, but versus Taker is definitely a dream match.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 22nd, 2020, 7:03 PM

Man, I always found Golga kind of terrifying with that mask and Cartman doll. Fun to see Ministry Taker on Heat against lower card opposition here.

Golga, presented as a serious threat, given John Tenta's athleticism and experience, could have been good. But they never did anything with him.

Also, more unbelievably, Giant Silva never did anything. The WWF had a guy who was 15 feet tall, who looked like a Mexican Frankenstein, who might have been the late-90's Giant Gonzales, and I don't even remember them booking him to job to Undertaker or Kane. The guy was basically a double-decker bus sized coat rack, who just seemed relegated to the background and hardly ever wrestled.

But apparently he did manage to hurt Road Warrior Hawk, as a shoot. Also, he has a career winning record in actual, real-life shoot fighting.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 22nd, 2020, 7:08 PM

Nice.
My favorite incarnation of his was The Supreme Fighting Machine, but versus Taker is definitely a dream match.

The Godfather's best run, in-ring wise was his 2002 run. After Undertaker basically dismantled everybody in Right To Censor, Godfather left TV for a while, and then reemerged as a heel Godfather. Same gimmick, but he wore all black and worked a good, heel style. He thinned out, beefed up a little, and looked like a pretty solid lower card threat. And then the injury bug got him in the middle of a (mostly) off TV feud with Val Venis and I don't think he ever really recovered. And they let him go shortly thereafter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KUm8KI11FI

Also, peep that new finish. Double-underhook, hauls Funaki up, and drops him into a nice back-breaker. Pretty cool.

Horatio

April 22nd, 2020, 8:25 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

April 23rd, 2020, 12:09 AM

Yeah, that backbreaker never gets used.
As a kis, I marked for the SUpreme Fighting Machine because he looked like Hulk Hogan's huggable workout buddy. Then he stole the urn and I found out he was Papa Shango...

I think its a damn shame we never got a Hulk Hogan/Papa Shango feud. I'd love to see Hogan trying to sell Shango's "Voodoo magic".

Its a shame that Godfather wasn't buddies with Hogan and not Undertaker. Imagine a WCW version of Papa Shango in the Dungeon of Doom in '95.

Horatio

April 23rd, 2020, 4:43 PM

I think its a damn shame we never got a Hulk Hogan/Papa Shango feud. I'd love to see Hogan trying to sell Shango's "Voodoo magic".

Its a shame that Godfather wasn't buddies with Hogan and not Undertaker. Imagine a WCW version of Papa Shango in the Dungeon of Doom in '95.
Yeah, major what-ifs. That stuff just writes itself. Instead we got Jake vs Sting.

Speaking of Jake, I found a cool pairing from Black Label Pro: it's DARBY ALLIN vs "WARHORSE" JAKE PARNELL - 11/3/18. Warhorse is like a heavy-metal mini-Ultimate Warrior (not an actual troll like Sami Callihan) who made a name for himself wrestling Gary the Wild Barn Owl. He's got a really primitive wrestling style - just chops and double foot stomps and clotheslines. Here he actually outweighs his opponent so he throws in a powerslam and actually wins with a set of powerbombs (the first one a Coffin Drop reversal). This was a short match and the crowd was split (Warhorse knows how to work a crowd). Even though Jake's stuff was simple, he let Darby do his thing and it didn't look too bad. These two should match up in AEW some day. Warhorse needs more opponents the caliber of Darby Allin.

Ringo

April 23rd, 2020, 5:10 PM

Konnan, La Parka & Villano IV vs. Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo & Ciclope, WCW SuperBrawl VII

Bit of a sloppy one here. A collection of spots, some of which worked well (the nice La Parka/Calo exchange which ended with Parka sitting Calo on a chair outside the ring and taking him out with a tope) and some which didn't (Ciclope attempting a moonsault, veering off to the left and completely wiping out, seemingly landing on his own head. Juve got to do a 450 and a springboard hurricanrana and Konnan did some power moves. Villano IV didn't do much. Juve actually kicks out of Konnan's powerbomb at 2 but the referee pretends he didn't (even though the announcers acknowledge that he did).

Aleister Black vs. Lars Sullivan, NXT Takeover: Chicago II

I remembered this one fondly. With Sullivan's WWE career very much on hold and possibly over altogether this still feels like his peak. It's really enjoyable even if it does perhaps just begin to lose it's way as it goes on. The first few minutes are great and Sullivan works really hard and looks terrific. His timing is on point, his power moves look good. He catches Black and hits big powerslams a couple of times that get good reactions. And the Stretch Muffler especially gets a great reaction and looks pretty devastating. He also comes off the top rope twice with diving headbutts, one of which lands and one which doesn't. Black's first attempt at the Black Mass doesn't seem to connect and the fans respond with "you fucked up!" but Nigel explains that Black's injured knee may be to blame. Then Lars catches a second attempt which he'd previously done on NXT TV, before a third attempt finally lands and with Lars down on his knees Black finishes the job with one more brutal looking black mass and retains the belt. Good, well structured match that stands out from other Takeover matches.

Fanny Batter

April 23rd, 2020, 5:28 PM

Horatio

April 23rd, 2020, 6:31 PM

More BLP:

DARBY ALLIN vs SAMMY GUEVARA - 12/1/17 - missed their PPV match, but lucked out finding this one (and I hate one-shoed performances but I really enjoyed their match from last night). Match goes about 11 minutes. I liked this as much as their match from last night. Guevara wins most of the match but interestingly, stops to tie his shoe and that may have cost him the match. Darb wins with the Last Supper.
There's some interesting Guevara matches on IWtv, i may check those out. I can't figure out who Guevara reminds me of. He's a definite original. Was Nunzio that obnoxious? He earned cheers and quickly turned them to boos within 5 minutes.

TOM LAWLOR vs AJ GRAY - 12/1/17 - for the vacant BLP championship. This is one that I'm excited for. Gray is a beefy ex-football player who wrestles kinda like Super Dragon and Stan Hansen, and he's got Dominic Garrini in his corner to (I'm guessing) give him mma pointers to take on Filthy Tom. Tom's got Josh Bishop in his corner.
They scramble to start and you can tell Tom likes the fight that AJ's bringing. He throws some nice punches to AJ in the corner. They do a nice rope running sequence where AJ really shines. He lays out Tom with a suplex and goes to the top, but Bishop mounts the apron and the shenanigans begin. Tom must not get paid enough. Lawlor gets to work on Gray's leg and he does have some good leg work. They get into a chop exchange and AJ goes for a lariat early, it gets turned into an exploder by Lawlor. They really lay in some stiff shots, including a top rope german where Lawlor remains in the tree of woe position.
It's too bad Gray's lariat wasn't over yet because he times a couple of them perfectly to no reaction.
The story is Garini told Gray not to use the top rope, and of course, he turns on AJ and Tom wins with a modified figure-four.
This would have been a lot better in Japan or PWG. These guys have the tools to work a classic, but I guess there's politics in indie wrestling,too.

"FILTHY" TOM LAWLOR vs NICK F'N GAGE - 4/21/18 - kinda clumsy match where Gage actually seems like the workhorse here. Gage unloads on Lawlor, whose got a broken arm. Gage's arms look too short to fullnelson Lawlor and his dragon suplex's look hella iffy. I don't know why Lawlor insists on being a scummy heel. He shouldn't look down on himself, but I guess he does put his mouthguard in strange places. And his matches suffer from the screwy entertainment. He and Gage would make a better team; Lawlor should stretch Gage for real - I know he could take it. It's a shame the Low Ki match has been put off.

Horatio

April 23rd, 2020, 6:32 PM

Spudz Mackenzie

April 23rd, 2020, 7:18 PM

Percussion

April 23rd, 2020, 7:25 PM

Is Dominic Garrini some sort of legitimate MMA fighter? I've seen him in MLW and he looks like the dumpiest, schlubbiest dude on the roster. And they always put him over on commentary like he could tear your arm off and shove it up your ass. Don't judge a dumpy dork by his cover?

He's not. He's a literal nobody.

Horatio

April 23rd, 2020, 7:25 PM

Cagematch says he's got a legit mma background (training wise) and he's trained in pro by Gargano and Lerae.

He's dumpy looking but deadset on wrestling the mma guy. I like his shtick better than Matt Riddle's.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 23rd, 2020, 7:39 PM

Dominic Garrini feels like one of those early UFC guys, from before all the fighters were multi-disciplined, who would come in with one strategy, one style, and get get pounded into the floor like a tent steak because he didn't know how to throw a punch and he didn't realize it was legal for the other guy to grab his Gi.

That, or he'd be a fake Gracie.

Defrost

April 23rd, 2020, 8:04 PM

Ringo

April 24th, 2020, 2:17 AM

The Ultimate Warrior vs. Goldust, IYH Good Friends, Better Enemies

Part of Warrior's brief WWF return in 1996. According to cagematch he would only have 7 televised matches after this. Four in WWE, three in WCW. Pretty dreadful stuff here. Goldust is injured so rather than just saying that and getting someone else in to face the Warrior, Goldust stalls for a good 7 or 8 minutes while Warrior smokes Marlena's cigar and sits in Goldust's director chair. Goldust gets a good deal of heat (mainly "faggot" chants) and then takes the microphone and threatens to kiss everyone in the crowd if they don't shut up. The "faggot" chants get louder and some kids behind him look genuinely disgusted as they call him a fucking faggot. It's a bit much to see now but since the show opened with a shot of a well-made sign that read "GAYDUST" it's not so shocking. Then Goldust sits in the chair. Warrior clotheslines him. Goldust gets counted out. Mantaur is also here as Goldust's unnamed bodyguard dressed like a prohibition era gangster.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 24th, 2020, 2:25 AM

The Ultimate Warrior vs. Goldust, IYH Good Friends, Better Enemies

Part of Warrior's brief WWF return in 1996. According to cagematch he would only have 7 televised matches after this. Four in WWE, three in WCW. Pretty dreadful stuff here. Goldust is injured so rather than just saying that and getting someone else in to face the Warrior, Goldust stalls for a good 7 or 8 minutes while Warrior smokes Marlena's cigar and sits in Goldust's director chair. Goldust gets a good deal of heat (mainly "faggot" chants) and then takes the microphone and threatens to kiss everyone in the crowd if they don't shut up. The "faggot" chants get louder and some kids behind him look genuinely disgusted as they call him a fucking faggot. It's a bit much to see now but since the show opened with a shot of a well-made sign that read "GAYDUST" it's not so shocking. Then Goldust sits in the chair. Warrior clotheslines him. Goldust gets counted out. Mantaur is also here as Goldust's unnamed bodyguard dressed like a prohibition era gangster.

I'll never understand why they didn't just have Warrior wrestle Gangstaur there.

Warrior beats him in two minutes, Marlena hits the ring, blows smoke in Warrior's face, and Goldie lays him out with a crutch. And then we get Warrior/Goldust when Goldust is healthy again.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 25th, 2020, 2:27 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_M1y_STfHA&list=TLPQMjUwNDIwMjAoZ3_kSEKhC g&index=2

- "Hardwork" Bobby Walker and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton might be the most random possible team I can think of. I like it, but I doubt it has any kind of future.

- Eaton, even by 1998, still had one of the best punches in wrestling.

- High Voltage actually look like legit stars here. There's a certain lack of "execution" on some stuff, but their raw, athletic ability speaks for itself. They were two guys who needed refining. Kenny Kaos especially looked like he could have been made into "something".

- "Hardwork" Bobby Walker is not "Hardbody" Harrison. I made that mistake. Harrison is a sex trafficker and human slaver. Bobby Walker, as to the best of my knowledge, isn't. He's just a guy.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 25th, 2020, 2:51 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWNo6nkiYkc&list=TLPQMjUwNDIwMjAoZ3_kSEKhC g&index=2

- Hell yeah, another match featuring the dream team of "Beautiful Work" - "Hardwork" Bobby Walker and "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. And oh God, I don't like their chances.

- Bobby Heenan used to say things about Meng and Barbarian that would never fly by today's standards - "Where Meng and Barbarian are from, they eat their young." "Meng and Barbarian are extra grumpy tonight, Jimmy Hart forgot to feed them earlier."

- Bobby Eaton, at a spry and spritely 167-years old gets to play the "energetic" babyface-in-peril. Instead of the young, athletic other Bobby.

- "Hardwork" Bobby gets the hot tag, Eaton gets bumped to the floor, Bobby yeets Meng up for a powerslam attempt and eats a "Kick of Fear" from Barbarian, for the loss. Fun stuff.

- Oh, and Jimmy Hart and Teddy Long get into it on the floor, playa.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 25th, 2020, 3:07 AM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORg_pJazIF8&list=TLPQMjUwNDIwMjAoZ3_kSEKhC g&index=2

- It only took 50 years, but Kendall Whendam finally managed to fill out by 1998. The guy started out wrestling, being so skinny Marko Stunt would tell him to eat a sandwich.

- Kendall Whendam was so thin, he started wrestling as "Bic". He painted himself blue and wrestled as a pen.

- Kendall Whendam was so thin, one time he got a fever and people walked up to him to see what temperature it was. They thought he was a thermometer.

- Kendall Whendam once missed a show. He wasn't hurt. He fell down a crack in the sidewalk.

- Meng wins with the Tongan Death Grip. Kendall Whendam throws a wicked good punch, but punching Meng is like punching a brick wall with broken hands. Its not very effective.

Defrost

April 25th, 2020, 5:30 PM

Watched an on excursion Satoshi Kojima vs Fit Finlay from a Welsh promotion called Reslo from sometime in 1995

It was fun to watch baby Kojima work a more european style. Finlay is Finlay so he's the goods. Finish was Finlay getting DQed after refusing to let go of a submission hold.

Jordo

April 25th, 2020, 8:23 PM

My girlfriends son has been talking about wrestling a bunch and we had nothing to do so I figured id try and get him into it a bit.

Watched some of the CWC with him, dude loves flippy guys. Kota Ibushi vs Cedric is still so fucking good. Kota throws a drop kick and adds a leg slap to it and it's just fucking beautiful. Biggest pop I've ever heard for a drop kick.

Spudz Mackenzie

April 25th, 2020, 8:48 PM

My girlfriends son has been talking about wrestling a bunch and we had nothing to do so I figured id try and get him into it a bit.

Watched some of the CWC with him, dude loves flippy guys. Kota Ibushi vs Cedric is still so fucking good. Kota throws a drop kick and adds a leg slap to it and it's just fucking beautiful. Biggest pop I've ever heard for a drop kick.

I know Akira Tozawa has been with the WWE since the Classic, but I still think his best match in the company was his tournament match with Jack Gallagher. Such a fun and entertaining clash of styles.

Tainted Eclipse

April 25th, 2020, 9:58 PM

ROH makes its debut in Baltimore, its now headquarters, with TRADITION CONTINUES, October 16th, 2003.

Gary Michael Cappetta is in the ring talking about Baltimore’s history in wrestling, but Prince Nana comes out and complains about not getting a title shot. Joe comes out a gives him one, and our open is, of all things, SAMOE JOE vs. PRINCE NANA for the World Title. Nana does get a little bit of offense with some stiff chops and the running big ass to the face, but Joe unloads on him and makes him tap out with the choke. Like two minutes long but finely executed for what it is. *3/4 I guess. Post-match Joe gets on the mic and says that in the main event he’ll beat Jay Briscoe to defend his title. Jay comes out, jaws with Joe and hits him with a kick. Mark Briscoe runs to the ring to break them up. Nice angle to build the real World Title main event.

Cabana is backstage hosting a talk show style segment with the Backseat Boyz. Decent segment. Nothing noteworthy. It is sad what happened to Trent Acid. Back in 2002 CZW had a syndicate show on a local Philadelphia TV station and I was a big fan of the Backseat Boyz when I watched it back then, and I’ve enjoyed them and Trent in particular throughout this year.

SLUGGER and GRIM REEFER vs. DUNN & MARCOS vs. SLYK WAGNER BROWN and JOSH DANIELS vs. DANNY DORING and SONJAY DUTT. Man, that’s some kind of lineup. Slugger and Reefer are actually debuting as Julius Smokes’ Rottweilers. They wouldn’t be the duo the team name would be best remembered for. This was a surprisingly good spot fest. Reefer hits a nasty slipping senton, Sonjay Dutt hits a great Pheonix splash before getting dropped on his head with a nasty German suplex. Slugger finishes it with the Body Bag to Marcos. **3/4

MATT STRYKER vs. CHRIS SABIN in the Field of Honor. Sabin’s debut match and Stryker is 1-0. This match just doesn’t come together, lots of miscommunication. It does gradually get better. Sabin hits a really nice springboard DDT. Sabin reverses a Death Valley Driver attempt into a cradle but Stryker holds on, rolls through, and stands but to hit the DVD for the win. **

COLT CABANA vs. BJ WHITMER in the Field of Honor. Both men at 1-0. Cabana really seems to be developing his comedy mixed with British/chain wrestling style here and there are some fun spots. Decent match otherwise. Cabana wins with a rollup. **1/2

THE BACKSEAT BOYZ vs. IZZY and DIXIE for the ROH Tag Titles. Fast paced back and forth to start out. Special K catches Kashemere as he goes for a baseball slide and hits a double-team facebuster on the floor, leaving them to work over Acid for a while, including a nice reverse hurricanrana by Dixie. The Backseats come back and multiple members of Special K try to interfere but get taken out by the Backseats. They hit Dixie with a big T Gimmick but LIT pulls the ref out before the three count. Kashmere and Acid chase after him. Kashmere gets taken out and as Acid is chasing Dixie back in the ring, Izzy catches him with a shot with the title belt. Close near fall. They follow it up with a gordbuster and Dixie hits a springboard 450 for the win! Special K are the new tag champions! Not great to the prestige of the titles. The match was fun after Special K started to interfere. ***. This is actually the first time the titles have changed hands by the actual champions losing. Daniels and Donavan Morgan were the first champions but lost with Xavier subbing for Morgan. AJ and Red had to relinquish the titles. Here we have a new champions beating the current champions for the first time.

CM PUNK vs. AJ STYLES next. For the last couple months Punk hasn’t really tried to be a ‘workrate’ wrestler, instead leaning into being a heel who brawls and sells, and he’s looked much, much better in that role. But here he’s trying to have a good workrate style match again and it’s not good. The match isn’t bad, but Punk looks bad. Styles is clearly on a far higher level, and holds the match together. The ending is good though, with Styles countering a Shining Wizard attempt into the Styles Clash. **3/4

DAN MAFF vs. JIMMY RAVE in the Field of Honor. Quick match with Maff getting almost all the offense, and he sure makes it count. He really flings Rave into the barricades and ringside with a lot of force. Hits a nasty lariat and a great looking cannonball into the corner. Rave gets brief flurries of offense and is able to avoid Maff’s attempts at the Burning Hammer. Maff survives Rave’s crossface and hits the Burning Hammer for the win. Good match. ***. Backstage, AJ takes Rave to task for continuing to not employ his advice.

RAVEN vs. JUSTIN CREDIBLE next. Real 2000 ECW time. Really basic match. Raven dominates to start out. Credible takes control. The crowd starts an amusing “X Pac’s bitch” chant at Justin. Ref bump leading to Raven drop toe-holding Justin onto a chair and hitting the DDT for the win. **

JOHN WALTERS vs. MARK BRISCOE vs. XAVIER vs. HOMICIDE. Pretty average match. They tease Xavier vs. Walters for the first three quarters of the match or so, with them having heat since Xavier got a dirty win over Walters at Glory by Honor, but when they finally do face off they have a really, really awkward strike exchange. Decent dive segment and they do get the crowd really into the series of nearfalls at the end, but still it’s not all that good. Xavier wins with the Miss You X Goodbye on Walters. **1/2. They really should have had Mark win to hype Jay having a chance in the title match next.

SAMOE JOE vs. JAY BRISCOE for the World Title. Joe takes all the offense for the first several minutes before Jay is able to cut him off with a big boot and hit a dive to the outside. The crowd is really, really into Jay on offense. Joe hits his Ole Kicks. Back in the ring, Jay gets some big moves in which the crowd really responds to. Joe hits the Island Driver and the crowd pops HUGE when Jay kicks out. Joe then finishes it off with a stiff kick and a huge lariat. I really liked that ending and the crowd was really into Jay, but overall this match wasn’t too impressive. ***

Overall, probably the weakest show of the year so far. The tag title change is a significant moment but overall this is just a really, really forgettable show. 5/10

Jordo

April 26th, 2020, 1:11 PM

Reading these ROH reviews your doing is such a mind fuck. That's the time period I really started getting exposed to indy wrestling but I still have never seen most ot the shows.

Where are you watching em?

Tainted Eclipse

April 26th, 2020, 2:15 PM

Defrost

April 26th, 2020, 7:00 PM

Speaking of ROH

Just watched Punk vs Aries. God damn was indie Punk insanely self indulgent.

But the post match angle to kick off the Summer of Punk is still an all timer.

Tainted Eclipse

April 26th, 2020, 7:12 PM

by this point in 2003 Punk is very, very clearly head and shoulders above everyone else on the roster in charisma and star presence.

- - - Updated - - -

very interested to see how the punk/joe matches hold up. right now the idea of watching punk try to do an hour long technical wrestling match is harrowing.

Defrost

April 26th, 2020, 7:19 PM

I am watching his promos where he signs his WWE contract on the belt and then later on his promo with Mick Foley from Sign of Dishonor. It was so great how Punk and Gabe used what was really a beginning of a backlash to the old ECW fan behavior of shitting on guys going to the WWF or WCW.

Personally I think things have been too nice in that regard for way too long. The tide turning on that is why Devlin vs Starr was one of the best matches of last year. Trips giving it to the British wrestling scene hard and deep seems to have triggered something. Give me back the "You Sold Out" chants.

Ringo

April 28th, 2020, 4:30 AM

For a variety of reasons, much of the last half-decade in wrestling is a bit of a blur to me. There's a lot of stuff I haven't seen, a lot of stuff I can't remember seeing. For most PPVs and big shows I probably couldn't remember many of the matches off the top of my head or which match was which year. Up until like 2015 I can still recall most WWE stuff so I'm going to go back and watch stuff from that year until the end of last year. WWE and everything else.

To start off - a couple of matches from Battleground 2016.

This is a really popular show where we finally got the much hyped Shield triple threat headlining, coming a month after the Money in the Bank PPV when all three Shield members held the WWE title at some point over the course of the show.

The Wyatt Family vs. The New Day - Two of the hottest acts of the last few years in WWE facing off. I remembered this being a really entertaining sprint and it is pretty good. The focus of the match is Woods and Wyatt, Woods becoming completely entranced every time Bray makes eye contact with him. Bray's been involved in a lot of silly supernatural stuff that really didn't work but it does here and it's a pretty great moment when Woods snaps out of it and attacks him with flailing fists. Also notable that it's Rowan and Strowman with Bray here - no Harper, who for most of the earlier Wyatt Family 6-man tags would be the worker of the group. Early days for Strowman who still looks a bit green at a couple of points but he has an energy and athleticism here that he unfortunately seems to have lost over the years with the injuries and general wear and tear that his body has endured.

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens - After Zayn cost Owens the IC title at Mania, they had a match at Payback and then this here is the last time they wrestle for a while. They had just had the draft for the second brand split that week and I remember people being surprised that they'd both been drafted to Raw. Zayn picks up the win here but their careers would soon take quite different paths on Raw. KO would be Universal Champion within a couple of months where as Zayn seemed to be forgotten about a bit as I recall. This match is really popular. It's the 3rd highest rated WWE match of 2016 on cagematch, 13th overall. At the time I think I ended up watching it twice because it really didn't click with me the first time and while I thought it was good I didn't really love it to the same extent as others. These guys know each other so well and are meant to hate each other but it takes a while to really get going for me. It's Zayn's botched springboard moonsault that ends up leading to the best aspect of the match - Zayn's selling of his shoulder. I've seen it suggested that the "botch" was intentional but I'm not sure about that. It's terrifying when he bounces up vertically and you realise he's going to come down on his head. It could've been a lot worse. The final third of the match is really good stuff but I wasn't completely wowed like some. The double exploder suplex spot was very well received by the live crowd and perhaps it didn't do as much for me because I've seen that kind of thing in Japanese matches a lot, idk. A real good match that I still don't see as a genuinely great one. Still, it was great to see Owens and Zayn take their friendship/rivalry all the way to the WWE and get to put on a show stealing match on PPV. This was the pinnacle of their feud in terms of spotlight.

Horatio

April 28th, 2020, 8:09 PM

Defrost

April 28th, 2020, 8:25 PM

Watching Booker T vs Kurt Angle for the WCW Title from Smackdown 7/26/01

Really good match, but damn the Invasion sucked. Ross and Cole hammering on it the entire match was super obnoxious.

Defrost

April 28th, 2020, 10:38 PM

Watching ECW Hardcore TV from July 4th 1998 or there abouts. I mean you tend to get more than one answer when trying to track down dates on that show/

I've been watching a bunch of Candido & Storm stuff so I wanted to watch the match where they dropped the tag titles to RVD and Sabu. Didn't realize it but I stumbled on the show where Masato Tanaka makes his ECW Arena debut. And Atsushi Onita appears as the surprise partner for Dreamer and Sandman against Buh Buh Ray, Devon, and Big Dick Dudley.