Head Drop

Long Time, No Speak

2009-06-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a dead beat I've been. Time to get this sucker rolling again. Expect some major posts, majorly soon.

Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout

2007-10-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Oh Glory Days..... time to continue my little project-o.

Match #1: Steve Williams v. The Samoan Savage

This was pretty decent for like the eight minutes or so it got. Freaking early Rikishi is great. You can most definately see the inspiration for the Umaga gimmick is in this guy. Seriously, watch the mannerisms and tell me it's not.

Anyways, I hate Williams as a babyface around this time. WAAAAY too vanilla-ish and thankfully he would team with Terry Gordy soon to crush eye-sockets and whatnot. Lots of smash mouth-ery going on here between these two. Power slams, lariats, punches and manly posturing make this an average/enjoyable affair. *3/4

Match #2: Tom Zenk & Brian Pillman v. The Mod Squad

Holy fuck someone make this match stop. The Williams match got eight minutes. Hell, this match went longer then the MAIN EVENT MATCH which was a cage match no less. Pillman are the ultimate "California Dreamin'" gooey good boy tag team, but haven't we been down this road with the Dynamic Dudes? What's with WCW around this time and their intense desire to push a babyface tag team of oiled up men wearing neon pink? And why are the guys they're facing dressed up like cops? Is there some sort of subtle joke i'm not getting here?

No seriously, this was awful. It's an extended version of the extended squash WCW up to this point, worked well. THis though, is brutally horrible stuff. Zenk would go on, as you will see in many more Clash Reviews, to be mixed and matched with like nine million partners. God I hate this stuff. 1/4*

Match #3: Mil Mascaras v. Cactus Jack

This is really short but really freaking good stuff as everyone comes away looking good. Mascaras looks smart and good, and while Cactus Jack comes off looking uber retarded, he comes off looking super-sick tough, taking a lot of big spots from Mascaras. In particular, his back plop (not drop) onto the bare concrete was pretty awful and Jim Ross and Jim Cornette's shreiking like school bitches being banged in the bano makes it all the more enjoyable. Cactus comes off like a great wild man heel, where it's obvious he's not, nor should he, overly concerned with the whole winning matches and belts thing. He just likes to fight. That and Mascaras rules.

After the match is even better as Cactus almost turns himself babyface by attacking the super crappy band that's playing the WCW theme song on the outside of the ring. The best is Jack chasing the guy playing guitar around and the guitarist hitting the whammy bar as he runs away from the wild man. Seriously though, this is pretty entertaining for five minutes. That's how you do a semi-squash. *3/4

Match #4: Falls Count Anywhere Match: Norman the Lunatic v. Kevin Sullivan

God, Vince must watch a lot of WCW from this period because I see inspiration for characters everywhere. Norman, who'd later become Bastion Booger in his WWF years, plays the loveable retard here who wrestles in scrubs. Kevin Sullivan is a stubby legged 'rat' as Norman calls him who won't leave him alone.

Great pre-match promo from Norman, whose talking about pinning Kevin Sullivan in a hot dog stand so he can mow hot dogs while punching Sullivan. Then there's a video clip of him in a zoo talking to a pig as if it's Kevin Sullivan while a girl looking on is looking at him like he's on drugs. Then Norman comes out to 'shout' with a Teddy Bear around his neck.

Here's another really fun match, this time of the comedy-type. Sullivan starts off angry and serious but then remembers he's wrestling a retard and takes the whole tough guy who likes to play magic cards down like 20 notches and starts bumping around for the big guy like a goof. They brawl into the crowd, on tables, on the steps, on the guard rail and then up the ramp.

The ending is particularly wild and silly as Kevin Sullivan retreats from Norman into the girl's bathroom. Norman doesn't want to go in and waits for all the girls to leave before pursuing Sullivan in there. About 20 seconds later Norman re-emerges from the bathroom with a toilet bowl in one hand, a roll of TP in the other, all while the referee is in tow. Norman wins. Or at least that's what we're led to believe.

They keep with the stip, make it fun but you don't feel the intensity of a typical Falls Count Anywhere match, which is A-OK for it's spot on the card. Pops the crowd in all the right ways and even though there's not.. like a whole lot to this... it's still a lot of fun. *3/4

Match #5: The Road Warriors v. The Sky Scrapers

Fuck YES. The sky scrapers and baby Undertaker look fantastically bad ass and the Road Warriors are pulling apart a car before the match so this will be a good brawl and all. Someone call the cops, the ambulance.. call em all.

This is worked kinda backwards from what they put over as being the major angle before the match, as the Sky Scrapers are looking to prove themselves as equal brawler to the Road Warriors, yadda yadda. The Scrapers are not exactly brawling early on. Instead, they're using their agility, which when Marc Calloway is on your team is a good thing, which makes them look surprisingly smart.

The Warriors on the other hand, are, um... themselves. They just wanna smash faces. The Scrapers though use that against the Warriors in a way as there's tons of goading going on throughout the match. Finally, once the Warriors gain the upper hand, they connect with a doomsday device, but the ref's knocked out. Calloway comes flying off the ropes with a big old steel chair and wild antics insue from there. Spivey and Calloway spike pile drive Animal onto a chair and leave, using their smarts as a way to prove their brawn.

For like the millionth time tonight, i'm surprised I liked this as much as I did given the time. They don't give fans the satisfaction of watching these two fight. Instead the scrapers more or less prance around as best they can, frustrate the Warriors and prove their worth as physical equals to the LOD. That's after surviving the Doomsday Device. A pretty nice way to get the young team over while not making the old team look bad. That's not to mention a nifty piece of booking not giving the fans the smash-face killing spree they wanted and teasing it for the pay per view. All around good effort. This isn't top 10 stuff and fuck me if it's top 20, but it's a solid piece of pro wrestling. **1/4

Match #6: Titles v. Masks: World Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers v. DOOM

Here's the run-away match of the night. The stip is simple: If the Steiners win, Doom sheds the masks. If Doom wins, they get the belts. Nothing complicated and these two teams keep it nice and simple-stupid for all.

The story through the match is real easy to follow, which is a good thing for mind-blowing retards like myself. Doom dominates, but the masks, which are supposedly their asset, end up becoming their biggest vice, at least in terms of this match. Every time Rick or Scott touch one of their masks or try to rip it off, Doom gets thrown off their game and it allows the Steiners to put some offense together.

The whole match is built simply and the pay off is great with Reed finally losing his mask. He's humiliated and mad and goes to whine to Doom #1 (who we find out later is Ron Simmons) only to get shoved into him and rolled up for the win. So we get a glorious taste of simple irony here with the bad guys strength being used against them.

The Steiners are in this match too, btw, and Scott is especially awesome here, bumping like a crazy man and letting the two brothas put a nasty beat down on whitey. They smash his face (literally his eye is like seven shades of purple afterwards), drop him on his head and do all sorts of mean nastiness to him. In fact, Scott's ability to garner sympathy are what really carry the body of the match and allow the fans to really buy into the babyfaces.

Great tag match that while it's not exactly the Shakespeare of wrestling, it's pretty good. It's more like Dr. Seuss without the rhyming. **3/4

Match #7: Steel Cage Six Man Tag Match: The Great Muta, The Dragon Slayer & Buzz Sawyer v. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Ole Anderson

This really isn't much of a match rather than a big angle to end the show on.

Earlier in the night, Sting was expelled from the Four Horseman for taking a contract to face Flair for the belt at the Bash. Ole called him a bitch and they beat him down. Basically, if Sting ditches the contract, he walks away safe, if he doesn't, well then........

Anyways this match goes on and it quickly becomes an afterthought as soon as Muta and Anderson exchange some silly not so sexy stuff. Sting comes running out and that's that. Save for some pretty sick cage shots that Sawyer takes, no one really seems to give a crap that the match is gonig on and is wholely more conscerned with how Sting is going to rape Flair and take his manhood from him.

So yeah, there just isn't anything in this to really give it much more than a star and a half for some cute action in an angle. *1/2

Overall: So i've basically not rated a match at *** on this entire card and i'm ok with that. DESPITE that you squirly fuckers should be fine with it too. This really is a better show than the ratings might indicate. Most of the matches are just too short to go much higher but really, that's all ok. This is worth a pick up to see for a fun, quickie wrestling show. Doom-Steiners is really good stuff but other than that, there ain't much worth going TOO out of your way to see.

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash X)

1. Ricky Steamboat v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash VI *****
2. Ric Flair v. Terry Funk, I Quit Match, Clash IX ****1/4
3. Ricky Steamboat v. Terry Funk, Clash VII ***3/4
4. The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash IV ***3/4
5. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2
6. Ric Flair & Sting v. Great Muta & Dick Slater, Clash VIII ***1/2
7. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4
8. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/4
9. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***
10. Lex Luger v. Tommy Rich, US Championship, Clash VIII ***

ROH-o Catch up-o

2007-10-07T21:07:00.000-07:00

It's been nice to kind of get some of this stuff through various channels, as i've been Capt. Cheap-o this year and haven't invested too much money in ROH. While I think this year has been incredibly hit and miss for the promotion, I figured there's plenty of stuff worth going out of my way to watch and comment on for all of your viewing displeasure.

#1 Contender's Match Bryan Danielson v. Nigel McGuiness
ROH Driven Pay Per View

Wow, this is FAR AND AWAY the best ROH match i've seen in a while. What I liked-- The intensity is nine fold in this. It's a much tighter version of the matches they've had in the past with far more "I want to murder you" in it that I feel takes it to an entirely different level.

Everytime Dragon faces Nigel, he's able to figure out how to beat him, but every time he has to throw more crap at him and it all works. The mat work and everything basically builds to some great nearfall sequences in the end, between the back work, the arm work and what not. Dragon basically has to toss ALL of his super huge stuff at Nigel to keep him down: Cattle mutilation, the big back super plex, the cross face chicken wing and the KO elbows. Usually I HATE finisher whoring, but it's done in a very logical way here and each of the moves is used to punctuate work done previously in the match and makes Nigel look like he could tap or get pinned with any of them. No real wasted movement here which is something we rarely see in the indys nowadays. Again, this has the real hate their previous matches lacked and I actually enjoyed the brawling sections more than the mat sections, which is more unusual with these two. It really came off as more of a fight than a wrestling match.

What I didn't like-- the ONLY reason I can't get this to **** is because of the selling, which gets kinda goofy at points. The being COMPLETELY recovered quickly after getting raped on the part of both guys gets annoying at spots. While the limb selling and the facial expressions are good, there are parts where these two literally potato each other silly only for the other guy to counter, pop up and go into a control segment and it repeats itself a few times. Now that can be attributed to the fact that these two hate each other and it's an important match and whatnot, so on some levels it's semi-excusable but it still kinda annoys me a bit.

The other thing I didn't like is more of a general complaint about ROH in general and that is.. WHY do ROH guys have to literally massacre each other physically to get a point across? Sure, the ROHbots love the STIFF~ stuff and whatnot, but jesus the flush shots right on Nigel's face and the frequent death spots are a bit much. I don't hold it against the match or anything, but still, if these guys aren't eating out of a tube by 40 i'll be astonished.

Anyways, overall this is really a can't miss match. It's really, really good stuff and it feels good to say that, as I feel a lot of ROH stuff has been hit and miss this year. Seriously though, these two really put on a fun match here. Easily the best match i've seen worked by TWO guys in ROH all year. ***3/4

ROH World Championship
Takeshi Morishima v. Bryan Danielson
Glory by Honor V

So finally, here we go. The year seemingly has built to this one so let's hope for some goodies.

The early part of this match is absolutely fantastic. Morihimsa is especialy excellent here. For months they've tried to put Mori in the whole unstoppable big man thing and to me, this is the first match where that really plays out fantastically. Mori is very surly here, stomping on Dragon, looking all confident and big-ish. Dragon's offense is pretty good as well, as he employs a similar, time tested strategy that worked quite well in his first shot at Samoa Joe back in 04 which is relentless leg work. Mori sells it all really well, as it obviously is hurting him, but not nearly to the degree where it looks like it's going to effect his ability to win the match.

I like that fact particularly because it establishes a constant reference point for the match. Mori comes back, drops bombs, Dragon finds an opening and goes back for more leg thrashin'.

Down the finishing half, we have some excellent near falls from Dragon with Mori consistently putting him down with more bombs. The leg work though isn't really referenced like it could have been, or at least to the degree it was used, should have been. Dragon starts ripping through HIS big stuff. His attitude here is great, like the relentless stomping of Mori's head and whatnot, but it's all more or less flown through to get to the big finishing run where Mori's pulvarizes Danielson into dust.

This match seemingly gets to a point and then just gets into the paint by the numbers Morishima stuff we've seen a lot of, which isn't altogether bad, but doesn't really fit for the epic build this seemingly had going for it. This is a rare occurence in Dragon matches where he's clearly the second best guy in the ring.

Overall, this is definately good, but not worthy of the praise it's been getting all over the place. I prefer quite a few matches to it. The first half is super brilliant while the last half just doesn't quite fit for me. Good, but not great. ***

Clash of the Champions IX: The New York Knock Out

2007-09-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

Clash of the Champions IX: The New York Knock Out
Troy, NY
November 15, 1989

MATCH #1: World Tag Team Championship: The Freebirds v. The Road Warriors

The circumstances surrounding this one are actually kind of funny. As it turns out, the Freebirds aren't really the champions. How does that work? Well, turns out they had jobbed the belts a few days earlier but because the match hadn't aired yet, thus this is their final match as champions.

This one is kept nice and short, the way it should be. The Warriors start potatoing the bejesus outta the Freebirds and Garvin and Hayes want absolutely nothing to do with that and start doing their fun stalling, hip swivelling and attempting to, as JR says on commentary, "cut corners" so that they can get in control of the match. Of course they eventually iscolate Animal and all kinds of aggitate Hawk who blows his stack and comes a running on in, propelling the referee across the ring and causing the DQ.

This is worked ok, but is pretty run of the mill stuff. It does it's trick and they kept it short and sweet enough. This isn't really much of anything to get wow'd about though. *1/2

Match #2: DOOM (w/ Woman) v. Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich

This is another one of those extended squashes, but man, Eddie Gilbert deserves a medal for this one. He performed pretty darn great. DOOM is still in their masks at this point and lookin' good. Gilbert, like mosquitos, stick and move like crazy men but eventually get caught by the big mangs and get pulvarized. It's a bad night for whitey. *1/4

Match #3: The Midnight Express v. the Dynamic Dudes

This is a decent enough match with a super great finish, as is per the usual with the MXE.

Basically Cornette is in a neutral corner for this one as he's got man crushes on both teams. You can tell the Midnights are the ones with the bigger problem here as he's been their manager for forever and then some. The Dudes just do what the Dudes do.

Despite having an exceptionally lame gimmick, Johnny Ace and Shane Douglas make an ok team and repeatedly frustrate the Midnights and consistently present a compelling case that maybe Cornette should get behind the neon pink-o's and ditch the playboys. Everytime the Midnights get something going, the Dudes cut them off and frustrate them. There isn't ever a part where the Midnights can string together a consistent enough string of offense.

Because of this, you see the gradual heel turn here which of course comes to a head with a classic Midnight Express screw job finish. Bobby Eaton goes to use a chain on Shane Douglas but Cornette jumps in the ring and takes the chain away from him and chucks it into the crowd, admonishing Bobby. He encourages Shane to give Eaton the business and as soon as Shane does, he eats a racket shot to the back of the head.

Cornette choose the DUDES over his homies? Right. Fun match with a sensational finish. **1/4

Match #4: Steve Williams v. The Super Destroyer

This is Jack Victory's 9 millionth jobber in a mask who so happends to be a heel he's played on a Clash show. Yikes this is thankfully quick and painless. Williams is too goody goody gum drops here again but thankfull is a goody goody gum drop with a big power slam. This isn't anything memorable. *

Match #5: The Steiner Brothers v. The Skyscrapers

The Steiners are the great up and coming wrestling team, the Skyscrapers are the new big boys on the block. Granted this had some cool heat through the match, it's actually pretty bad. Vicious and Spivey give away WAY too much freaking offense in the early going. Steiner popping off hurricanrannas on guys who're 6'11 is pretty shitty too. Thankfully, DOOM interfere and bring Woman's bodyguard along for the fun and start whoopin' that ass. Spivey and Vicious like playing that game too, so they join. Unfortunately for the bad guys, the Road Warriors come charging to the Steiner's aid, getting a mega-pop in the process, and we've got a wild super brawl in the middle of the ring. Bad match with a fun run in infested ending. I'll give it a star for the brawl at the end. *

PS- This was the match where Sid Vicious punctured his lung which led to the introduction of a certain clown named Marc Calloway. Wonder what ever happened to him?

Match #6: United States Championship: Lex Luger v. Brian Pillman

This is a really great and likely forgotten match. Luger's really in more of a feud with Sting at this point, but Pillman's chasing him at the same time. Luger's been billed as the next big thing and thus far, with the exception of Ric Flair, has mowed down everyone tossed in front of him. Pillman, oddly enough, has been on a hot streak of HIS own and has been dominant in his own regard. After screwing Pillman out of the win at Halloween Havoc, Luger is forced to give Brian a rematch for the belt on this show.

This is a great Luger-formula match. Luger tries to wrestle, Pillman outwrestles him. Luger does the over power em thing, and Pillman tops him again. Luger starts to think his way around things and look for Pillman to make mistakes and capitalize on them, but Pillman recovers too quickly for Luger to get anything going.

A great and late Latino who liked cheating once said: If you can't win, cheat until you win. If that doesn't work, cheat harder. Luger gets into the whole douche-ish looking for any excuse to cheat he can. Eventually, he grabs a chair and absolutely potatoes (I like that word) Pillman in the grill with it. The official is dazed and Luger gets the win. After the match Luger needlessly beats down Pillman and the Stinger comes in to make the save. Fun enough I suppose.

Another one of those formula matches where Luger's great ability to look really frustrated is amplified by Pillman's ability to play an even pluckier vanilla babyface. I'm a little torn here between which defense I like better, the Rich defense or this one, because it's a really close call. ***

Match #7: I Quit Match: Ric Flair v. Terry Funk

Well, there's been a lot said about this one and with good reason. It's really fuckin' good.

I really like this match, but to be honest, I ALWAYS wonder how it'll hold up every time I watch it and EVERY time I watch it I wonder why i'm such an idiot sometimes. I think watching Funk-Steamboat enhanced this for whatever reason as it's just that match ratcheted up two or three clicks.

Steamboat didn't have a reason to hate Funk, but as you all know, Flair sure did. This just makes for a super intense brawl that doesn't have a lot of goofy table spots, sick chair shots, etc. This is fundamentally, what any feud ending gimmick match should be and that's just overflowing with hate, energy and most importantly, closes the book. This does all of that.

Flair's chops have extra mustard on them and he's all over Funk at all times. There's never a 'down' spot in this... like literally. There's never a point where one guy is laying around rolling around on his back. The selling is superb as a lot of it is delayed selling and that's tough to pull off well without making it look like overkill (see anything Pro Wrestling NOAH related). Funk looks like he's fighting for generations of Funks and Flair's fighting for his manhood.

I miss the day when matches like an I Quit match or a Last Man Standing sorta match didn't involve six million table spots, etc. I like a high spot as much as anyone, but in the end, there's always someone whose going to be willing to do a zanier stunt than you do. There's no replacement for keeping things simple but making sure things are intense. Table spots pop the crowd because they just saw the act.. the stunt... The pain... This match is good because the spots create DRAMA. It generates sympathy for the WRESTLER.

This is considered one of the first real hardcore-type brawls in the US up to this point, but really, by today's standards, it's hardly hardcore. And that's a-ok. Hardcore ain't about tables, chairs and thumbtacs, it should be about hate and intensity. This is what those matches are out and is really everything a final blow off match should be. ****1/4

Overall: Take the final two matches off this cards and it's scary-bad, but the last two matches make things ok enough. Flair-Funk is required viewing for anyone who considers themselves a wrestling fan, but Pillman-Luger is really worth going out of your way to see too. The Dudes-Midnights is fun for what it is too, but really, the rest of this is a lot of filler crap. Some of it's hit filler crap and some is miss filler crap, but it's still all relatively meaningless in the end. C

The one thing that's fun to watch is how much Turner's production team brought to the table when he bought the organization, both good and bad. We get some super terrible gimmicks, but a much needed production overhaul. If you look at the NWA shows towards the end of 1988 and look at WWF at the same point, the difference in polish is huge. The WWF looks flat out better and is a way better overall production than the NWA. Turner though, sees the need to clean up the look and puts a lot of effort into lighting and presentation. The jump from late 88-early 90 is pretty dramatic and cool to watch unfold.

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash IX)
1. Ricky Steamboat v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash VI *****
2. Ric Flair v. Terry Funk, I Quit Match, Clash IX ****1/4
3. Ricky Steamboat v. Terry Funk, Clash VII ***3/4
4. The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash IV ***3/4
5. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2
6. Ric Flair & Sting v. Great Muta & Dick Slater, Clash VIII ***1/2
7. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4
8. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/4
9. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***
10. Lex Luger v. Tommy Rich, US Championship, Clash VIII ***

Dropping Out
10. The Fantastics v. Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert, US Tag Titles, Clash IV **3/4

Clash of the Champions Stock Picks

2007-09-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another site and I thought it was a pretty darn great idea so I 'm going to do it here. Yes, I get no points for originality, but your'e reading, so whose the fuck stick?

Stock Going Up

Lex Luger-- Yes, I said it. I think Luger's underrated, or at least underrated in terms of the stuff he did in the late 80s. Granted, he spent much of both years working with guys like Ric Flair and Barry Windham, but here's a guy that to me, carried his weight and then some in both of those matches. Virtually everything he's been involved with in the Clash matches has been good and he even pulls some fun stuff out of guys like Tommy Rich rather unexpectedly.

Rick Steiner-- Bar none, the best character actor of this era. I've already seen enough to say it. His stuff with the varsity club is a lot of fun.. and well... funny, but not to the degree where he becomes a comedy act or a stooge. In fact, it's utterlyu believable and he comes off as the most genuinely 'realistic' character on the roster. Everyone knew a guy like Steiner, who was a great athlete, pretty stupid, but loveably stupid. His ring work is pretty darn great too. In fact, I haven't seen a match with Rick Steiner involved that i've disliked thus far.

Jimmy Garvin-- It's not so much a 'congrats, you're great in the ring' pick as much as I think these clash shows show what a fantastic utility player Garvin was in the mid card. He worked face well, heel a little better, but still both come off as a lot of fun. None of his matches are particularly great, but they're at base entertaining and what's Jimmy Garvin without drama following him, uh, everywhere? Seriously though, WWE lacks Jimmy Garvin-esqe guys who can carry a good feud in the mid card with just about anyone over anything face or heel. Hell, wrestling in general lacks guys like this..

The Fantastics-- You can cut it any way you want to, this team was the backbone of the strongest tag division in wrestling history throughout 88 and into early 89, as division that featured the Midnight Express, Rock-N-Roll Express, The Road Warriors, The Varsity Club, Sheepherders, Blanchard & Anderson and more. Everything these guys are in is good. Everything. Long matches, short matches, brawls, head lock contests.. you name it, they work it, work it well and it's great. I mentioned it earlier and it warrants repeating, that often the best wrestlers are able to find an effective formula, stick with it, and modify it slightly according to who they're wrestling against. Flair is the best example, Matt Hardy is the most current example and I'd say these guys are the best tag team example.

Stock Going Down

The Road Warriors-- Holy shit, i've hated almost everything they've been in thus far. Maybe they're phoning it in, maybe they're just not that good. I dunno, but whatever it is here, I haven't been able to get into anything of theirs outside of the Varsity Club brawl at Clash VI. Everything else has just rubbed me as 'trying too hard'. The one thing they DO do well, is capitalize on the great crowd heat they get early on in matches and are able to drag it out by being no-nonsense shit kickers for about five minutes and at least keep the crowds into it, which in the end, is the only thing that matters. ANYTHING that goes longer than 10-12 minutes though, falls apart pretty badly.

Sting-- This isn't really a knock on the Stinger as much as it is where he's at in his career during this period. John Cena went through this gawky stage in the ring as well where he was running between the 'do I play for sympathy?' thing or "Do I kick ass and take names?' thing. Stinger's definately still growing and shows signs of being incredible, especially in his matches with and against Ric Flair. However, there are still matches where it comes off as obvious that he's significantly inferior and gets worked right out of the building and becomes an afterthought like his match with Windham. So I dunno, his stock goes down for me, at least in the late 80's sense, but mostly because he's just still growing.

So those are my picks through the first eight. Check back when i'm done with Clash XVI and see where everyone's headed!

Clash of Champions VIII: Fall Brawl '89

2007-09-29T21:20:00.000-07:00

It's Fall Brawl time again. Oh joy of joys.

Match #1: The Road Warriors v. The Samoan SWAT Team

These two teams work best in short-shot quickie brawls. Anything more than 10 minutes, for either team, usually falls apart. Here's a case of a well booked, basic match capitalizing on the heat on both teams and card placement. The crowd is bat shit hot for this event and these are the first two teams out of the gate. The Warriors potato the Samoans, the Samoans potato back, the Warriors drop the whole state of Idaho on their heads and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. *3/4

Match #2: World Tag Team Championship: The Fabulous Freebirds v. The Steiner Brothers

This is a classy little match. If people are looking to get into tag wrestling and want to know how to put on a great match with a less experienced team, grab a notebook for this one. This is essentially the first crack at the tag belts for the Steiners, who by this time, are pretty much noobs in the tag ranks.

The early part of the match is basically The Steiners running through their flashy stuff and the Freebirds sell their asses off for them. Of course, that eventually comes to a head when the more experienced Rick gets in there with Hayes. The match briefly stalls a bit before Hayes grabs the advantage and we're into the face in peril piece of the match.

Rick is awesome in this role, period. His character at the time was so loveably stupid and believable, that it was just a magnet in this type of a match up for good old babyface sympathy. Scott's offense during this period was a lot more fast paced and energetic so when the hot tag hits, it comes off really well and again, the birds do some floppin', but to the degree where it doesn't come off as overly ridiculous. They keep the sequence nice and tight, as to not over expose Scott and it gets cut off as Scotty literally stumbled into a Hayes implant DDT to end the match.

The ending is left more or less shrouded in mystery though as the question arises as to whether Woman, whose supposedly one of their valets, tripped him up or not. Either way you go, whether Scott's showing his inexperience by being prone to mistakes or that they were screwed out of the titles by a slutty bitch, you get something good. The fact that the commentators and the Steiners seem willing to allow that ambiguity works even better.

This is a nicely worked, tight match that went exactly as long as it should have and everyone comes away looking good. **3/4

Match #3: The Z-Man Tom Zenk v. The Cuban Assasin

Here's a squash I didn't really dig all that much. They seemed like they were GOING to go for something more compedetive, but shyed away from it with head locks and arm bars, which don't really fit into a squash-type match. The spots are timed awkwardly with Zenk doing little to capitalize on the initial pops and keep the momentum going strong throughout the eight-nine minutes this went. This is a pretty easy skipper match. 1/4*

Match #4: Sid Vicious v. Ranger Ross

Not much here. Vicious literally blows through his four or five signature moves, Ross tries to not get totally murdered, and they go home. Really, there ain't much to say here. 1/4*

Match#5: Brian Pillman v. Norman "The Lunatic"

Now THIS is a good squash match. Pillman is being billed as a wily, spry, thinking man's wrestler and even though Norman has no shot of winning here, his power spots are placed well and initially, Pillman really struggles to find a way to keep the big man at bay and pin his shoulders to the mat. Eventually Pillman thinks his way to a win with a nice crucifix.

I was actually surprised at how much good psychology they were able to pack into the four-five minutes they had. Norman looked surprisingly buy-able as a viable lower mid card big man here while Pillman didn't look like he was totally trampling him, and that there was more of a legit struggle for him to think his way to a win over a much bigger and very unpredictable opponent. This is what it is, but for my only giving it *3/4, this is pretty decent.

Match #6: Steve Williams v. Mike Rotundo

Of all the matches i've watched so far in the Clash set, this is probably the most dissapointing thus far. If you really put things into context, this should have been billed as a lot bigger deal than it was. Williams came into the NWA as a babyface and was more or less the corner man for Rick Steiner when he broke away from the now defunct Varsity Club. He turned on Steiner and he and Rotundo dominated the tag division for the first half of 89, winning both the US and World Tag belts. Of course Williams eventually turned again, broke the group up, and this should have been the culmination of all that. The feud was about Williams going over big, and this fell short of expectations for me in a lot of ways.

My major issue here is that Williams plays the babyface role way, way too hard. Williams is a dominating big man and should be billed as such. Rotundo is a smarmy, smart heel who thinks his cheating out and figures out how to win matches. Williams dominates, Rotundo is more of a survivor.

Here, as I just said, Williams goes for the hard babyface and simply put, gives Rotundo way, way too much offense here. Williams was always a pretty good babyface, but he's not the type of face that attracts sympathy and that's what they seemingly went for here. It improves as the match goes along, with Williams FINALLY finding ways to overwhelm Rotundo with his power, but the power stuff doesn't have the maximum impact and Williams is forced to pander to the crowd way too much here, especially down the home stretch, where by that point he shouldn't have to do that.

Rotundo is perfectly fine here pulling off some fun eye gouging and holds, but taking the two as characters into account, it's kinda all for nothing. Even the ending is kinda silly with Williams going for the stampede, but Rotundo rolling through for the pin attempt, only to have that reversed. So Williams wins, gets attacked afterwards but reacts like he doesn't really care.

As I said, the structure doesn't fit the feud and Williams having an uphill battle against anyone is sort of tough to buy. Again, this is dissaponting. A lot of people liked this, but i'm a little baffled as to why, other than the fact that it's Williams and Rotundo in a match. *3/4

Match #7: Lex Luger v. Tommy Rich

Luger, in my opinion, is an underrated worker in the ring. Some of his stuff, well most, was increibly mediocre, but during this time period he was really strong and given the right opponent could be downright awesome at times. This is one of those cases where Luger works a really smart match with a super motivated Rich and the result is a darn good US title match.

They play up Rich's temper early on and his tendancy to get overzealous at times. He goes hard at Luger initially, but the whole time, despite his being in total control, you get the sense that he's wrestling Luger's match and eventually it'll catch up to him, and as you guessed, it does.

That's not before Rich puts on a hell of a performance. Rich eventually grabs his composure and works a smart match, keeping the bigger man grounded and on the match. Luger is forced to adapt and tries his mat stuff, but that doesn't work before going to the slugging, but still, Rich doesn't take the bait and is able to still keep the upper hand. Eventually though, as said earlier, things catch up to him and the match opens up. Rich gets fired up a bit and Luger's able to snap mare his head off the ropes and sneak away with a clean win.

Rich comes off looking nothing like the slouch you'd expect him to in this match and looks plucky and game for the match, but his usual tendancies lead to his undoing and Luger's able to catch him off guard and escape with a solid win and still look strong. This is a very solid, if not flat out good match. Hell with it. It's really good. ***

Match #8: Sting & Ric Flair v. The Great Muta & Dick Slater

This is a sensational heat-filled tag main event. Flair, of course, is embroiled in a feud with Terry Funk and Gary Hart. Sting gets involved due to his dislike for the Great Muta and saved Flair from a nasty beat down at the Bash. Slater is Funk's replacement, whose supposedly injured. The whole match builds to Funk's inevitable run in.

Flair and Sting are a dream team here and look every bit the part, dominating the early going. Flair looks exceptionally sharp with his offense and he and Sting seem to have everything in hand in the early going. Muta though, is the real stud here and works both Sting and Flair well and comes off as an uber credible threat to both.

Slater brings his wild Slater-like stuff here with the stoogie bumping. This is run of the mill tag stuff until about eight minutes in where it breaks down into a total brawl, with Muta and Slater eventually getting the better and taking the opportunity to lay a nasty beat down on Sting.

This is a huge elevational piece of the match as Sting comes off looking super-resilient, surviving a lot of Muta's best stuff AND a Gary Hart coin shot. Muta eventually has had enough so Slater comes in all wild goes nuts on Sting but a little too nuts and we lead into the hot tag.

The match totally breaks down in a good way as all four men go at it and we've basically got a melee, Sting and Flair are hitting multiple revenge spots and eventually we get the ref bump and Funk comes rumbling down to the ring and sticks a bag on Flair's head and we get the imfamous plastic bag angle to end the match, as the heels walk away with a clear upper hand, totally outsmarting the babyfaces.

While this doesn't have a lot of traditional tag structure stuff, they manage to work enough of it in to keep it a real, legit tag match while mixing enough wild crap to build heat and pop the crowd. The ending angle is one of the all time great ones.

I really like this and it's a ton of fun on a lot of levels, all building towards a big moment. In the end, it comes off as much like a supurbly built angle as it does a well worked match, and that's not something that comes easily. See this one. ***1/2

OVERALL: This is a pretty a-typicial Clash show. You get a hot main event, some total garbage, a let down and a surprisingly good match. The last two matches are worth going out of your way to see and the tag title match is as text book experienced heels beat inexperienced babyfaces as you get. This isn't the most memorable Clash card i've seen, but it's pretty well rounded. B- sounds good.

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash VIII)
1. Ricky Steamboat v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash VI *****
2. Ricky Steamboat v. Terry Funk, Clash VII ***3/4,
3. The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash IV ***3/4
4. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2
5. Ric Flair & Sting v. Great Muta & Dick Slater, Clash VIII ***1/2
6. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4
7. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/47
8. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***
9. Lex Luger v. Tommy Rich, US Championship, Clash VIII ***
10. The Fantastics v. Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert, US Tag Titles, Clash IV **3/4

Dropping Out
9. Road Warriors v. The Varsity Club, World Tag Titles, Clash VI **3/4
10.The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders **1/2, Clash II

Clash of Champions VII: Guts N Glory

2007-09-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Clash of Champions VII
Fort Bragg, NC
June 14, 1989

Match #1: Tag Team Title Tournament Semi-Final: The Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) v. The Dynamic Dudes

Say what you will about the brutally cheesy Dynamic Dudes gimmick, this is a pretty good tag match. The Freebirds are ones uncorking the big angle though, unveiling Garvin as the newest member of the faction. The Dudes are the cinderella team here, as Ross puts them over as the more inexperienced and undefeated team that's managed to earn a few surprise wins here and there to get themselves here. Still, they're huge underdogs.

The match starts out with some good cheesey heel stalling from the 'Birds before we get into the meat and potatoes of it all. The Birds looked rather surprised right off the bat and surprisingly, despite the organization being as great as it was, Hayes and Garvin are obviously inexperienced in terms of tagging with EACH OTHER, so this works ok.

Once the Freebirds start playing the numbers game, it's just a matter of time and sure enough, they cheat and cheat and cheat to maintain their advantage. Eventually Shane Douglas gets the big hot tag but the fun doesn't last long, as Terry Gordy super-involves himself, distracting the ref long enough for Hayes to absolutely murder Douglas with a nasty implant DDT to win the match.

Overall, this is surprisingly strong but is just agreat showcase of how freaking good the Freebirds are at making a team look good. Not that the Dudes get dragged to something decent, as they definately carry their weight here, but everything they do is magnified times seven thanks to Hayes, Garvin and Gordy. **1/4

Match #2: World Tag Title Tournament Semi Final: The Midnight Express v. The Samoan SWAT Team

This match is basically the Clash VI match with a HELL of a lot more intensity. Both teams go through their stuff for extended periods of time before we get a hot tag. The hot tag sequence comes off well until all hell breaks loose and Cornette's being a douche, Paul E. Dangerously is being a douch, hell, it's a douche-fest.

The end though, is dirty, dirty, but sets up the final well. The Road Warriors hate the SWAT's and Dangerously too, and feel the need to inerject themselves in the match and do quite gloriously. Thanks to the leg up, the Midnights win.

This isn't anything super spectacular, but it's amazing how much better this comes across with a hot crowd behind it. The hate works better, Cornette is a better douche, same with Dangerously.. just everything works better. **1/4

Match #3: Ranger Ross v. The Terrorist

Ranger Ross is basically here to pop the army boys and go home. That's basically, err, literally all that happends. Ross comes out, waves a flag and kicks a terrorist. *******3/4.2's

No really, probably 1/4* for practically nothing happening except a kick-y.

Match #4: The Ding Dongs v. Cougar Jay & George South

Good lord fuck. I never imagined i've EVER review a Ding Dongs match, but hell is a chilly place today.

It's AMAZING how bad the crowd shits on these guys. Like amazing. They're also amazingly annoying with the dinging bell in the corner and not being particularly in sync at all. In fact, had Cougar and South not sold their backsides off, this could have been a nuclear-disaster type bad match. The Dongs blow a ton of spots in a relatively short period of time and spend the rest of the time shedding little bells all over the ring. Funniest part of the mat is Jay leaning down and going 'what the fuck' when picking up the bells on the mat. Honestly, for that moment alone, this isn't a total dud, but it's DAMN close. 1/4*

Match #5: Steve Williams v. Terry Gordy

Ah man, I love these two in a match. Any match. Even in a spaghetti eating contest.

This starts off super fast and super intense with these two basically beating the fuck out of each other with lots of big man super fun. Both struggle to move the other man around the ring at will and both aren't easily able to eat the other guy's offense. Big man matches are best when it's like two bricks clacking off each other. The beginning of this is all that.

Then it plateaus big time unfortunately. Not that anything's bad, but the crowd chills five minutes into this and Gordy and Williams struggle to get them back into it, despite even fighting into the crowd, which of course causes the countout, but still, you'd have figured that'd have done them SOME good.

Overall this is fun, but doesn't go long enough for it to go to the next level and they lose the crowd pretty quickly. The good sequences are awesomely awesome though. **1/4

Match #6: The Varsity Club (Mike Rotundo & Kevin Sullivan) v. The Steiner Brothers

This is a really good short match. Basically Scott's come to the NWA to give his big brother some backup against the cocky Varsity douches. Thus, the Steiner Brothers are born.

Anyways, this match is awesome with the Steiners coming out to Hot Stuff. They surprise the Varsity Club clowns early in the match, especially Scott, whose looking pretty plucky. Eventually though, Scott gets caught and basically gets wrecked by Sullivan. This is the best part of the match and Scott plays an excellent babyface in peril here as the Varsity Club subject him to all sorts of dastardly treatment, including a nasty table bump and a particularly stiff shot with some wooden ring steps.

The hot tag sequence is done well and the Varsities cutting it off and getting the cheating win, over Scott no less, leaves the door open for more stuff down the line as well as something for Scott and Rick to continue to strive for. Very well structured short match. **1/2

Match #7: NWA World Television Championship: Sting v. Bill Irwin

This is another short, utterly pointless match on this card. By now, the crowd's starting to get a little sick of getting good initial stuff and losing it as we get into the match. This only goes about three minutes and is a cute Stinger squash, who brings some ok stuff here, but really, it's still pretty bleh. *

Match #8: NWA World Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals: The Freebirds v. The Midnight Express

How can you NOT get up for THIS? I'm betting there'll be a lot of hip swiveling and cock thrusting here in a non homosexual way.

Unfortuantely though, this doesn't really deliver at all. They start with a fantastic premise. Paul E Dangerously jumps Jim Cornette with a loaded rackett and leaves him mildly retarded on the floor. The Dynamic Dudes help Cornette to the back, leaving the Midnight Express in deep trouble, as they're up against the numbers of the Freebirds. Basically, they're done before the match starts.

They do some sorts cardboard tag stuff, of course executed well, but nothing mindblowing before heading into the "Bobby Eaton is a punching bag" part of the match. Eaton's one of the best sellers the business ever had and is outstanding here and the crowd gradually gets behind him. They play to the numbers thing with Lane CONSTANTLY protecting him on the outside as often as possible.

Then, they just don't do much with it, or at least from the babyfaces perspective. Basically Lane gets the hot tag and we're working the SAME EXACT formula we've used in TWO previous tag matches in the night where it gets cut off, Gordy interjects himself and then that's it. Now, playing to the numbers in that respect works ok but I feel empty here for whatever reason.

I REALLY think this could and would have benefitted greatly from Cornette coming back from the locker room or the Dudes or some other babyface team coming to the corner of the Midnights while they're in peril. They never really worked beyond that. Lane's hot tag gets a big pop, but his offense looks awkward in that role and of course nothing really ever gets going with it, as we do the dirty finish we've done twice already tonight, which is frustrating in a way.

This goes about ten minutes and hell, it didn't need anymore time to be great, it just lacked a real swerve or hot spot to get it really going. Normally I wouldn't give a crap if it wasn't two of my favorite tag teams of all time meeting for the first time. Regardless of that, I can't really FAULT them for it in the match, but dammmit I feel like they could've gone the extra mile with it, even with the time alotted to them. **1/2

Match #9: Norman the Lunatic v. Mike Justice

Ah, Bastion Booger pre-Bastion Booger days. It still blows. 45 seconds of Herd crap. DUD.

Match #10: Ricky Steamboat v. Terry Funk

Finally, a match i've REALLY been waiting to see and FINALLY, a match that doesn't really dissapoint.

Steamboat really brings the good here and Funk is Funk. The story here is that Funk's an unstoppable psycho and Steamboat ain't gonna be intimidated by him. The strikes from Steamboat really have some, uh, steam behind them and he seems totally content to work the wild style Funk wants.

The thing I love about this is that it's a wild brawl without one really crazy spot, fighting into the crowd, or baging of heads off of tables. Just punches and chops gallore and a whole lot of 'tude. NO ONE worked that match as well as Funk and everything he does makes him look like a killer and totally out of his mind.

Oddly enough though, as Funk tends to do, his performance fades to the background and his craziness just amplifies the sympathy Steamboat is able to garner by eating so many of Funk's big moves like the pile driver, the pile driver on the floor, etc. He comes off as a pseudo badass even, as Funk bounces around and sells his tail off for Steamboat all while maintaining and enhancing his maniac persona.

This is a real treat on a lot of levels and it's worked tightly, which works well. The fourteen minutes is the perfect ammount of time because they minimize the chances of the crowd ever fading out of it. This is a really great match i'd say is probably in my top three, but I still can't decide if I like the Midnight-Flair/Windham tag better. It's tough call. ***3/4

Overall: This is probably the weakest Clash show i've seen yet, although it is entertaining and a good show all around. I guess the biggest thing about this show is that many of the match ups prove to be really dissapointing. Gordy-Williams never takes off, the Midnights-Freebirds never get going, etc. It's like everyone sat in the back and were like, 'ok, we've got a limited amount of time for our matches, let's work five great minutes and then just work in a finish'. The main event is really worth going out of your way to see though, while the crap is awesomely crappy in a way that only the Jim Herd run WCW could be. Overall, a dissapointing show, but not entirely bad on any level. C+

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash VII)
1. Ricky Steamboat v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash VI *****
2. Ricky Steamboat v. Terry Funk, Clash VII ***3/4,
3. The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash IV ***3/4
4. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2
5. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4
6. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/4
7. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***
8. The Fantastics v. Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert, US Tag Titles, Clash IV **3/4
9. Road Warriors v. The Varsity Club, World Tag Titles, Clash VI **3/4
10.The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders **1/2, Clash II

Dropping Out
Mike Rotundo v. Brad Armstrong, TV Title, Clash III **1/2

Clash of Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun! Review

2007-09-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

It's almost embarassing for me, as someone whose been a wrestling fan for many-a-year and has seen almost everything once, that despite the number of times i've watched this main event, i've yet to see ANYTHING else from this card. Not one other match. That, my friends, is about to change.

Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin' Cajun
Superdome, New Orleans, LA
April 2, 1989

Match #1: The Midnight Express v. The Samoan Swat Team

I wasn't overly wild about this, which is a little difficult for me to say, as I love both teams quite a great deal, especially the Paul E. Dangerously version of the Swat team. This is a REALLY flat tag opener considering the participants. In fact, i'd say the match they have at the NEXT Clash show is leaps and bounds ahead of this one in terms of quality.

Here, they just seem to be aiming to establish the Samoans as the latest stooges that Dangerously will use to get Jim Cornette. The ending to this is pretty great and lays the ground work nicely for the rest of the 'feud', but to be honest, this is pretty bleh for the most part. The Midnights do their thing, the Samoans theirs. Hot tag cooled off in a big way with a dirty finish which is a good thing. Just relaly formulaic and no one is particularly eye popping in this other than the sheer amount of time they gave this. *3/4

Match #2: The Great Muta v. Stevin Casey

This feels like it should have been on the last show. It's a pretty straight forward Muta exhibition of his creepiness. The bell doesn't even ring before he spits the good ole green mist in Casey's eyes and pretty much puts a major league beat down on the youngster from there on out. There's a great commentary job on the part of Ross here, putting him over as a unique act unto himself, which is really appropriate, considering just HOW different Muta was from anything else on the card at the time. Other than that though, this is a pretty basic extended squash. *1/4

Match #3: Butch Reed v. The Junkyard Dog

Ah, the midsouth goodness is revived! Unfortunately for us, this ain't Mid South. This is probably what a few thousand fans saw during their touring days together. Not that it's bad on any level, just VERY a-typical JYD-Butch Reed stuff. JYD interacting a lot with the crowd while Butch does his cocky heel stalling for three quarters of the match. Again, nothing dreadful here by any stretch of the imagination but I feel like i've seen them go with this formula six hundred times or so in the past. *3/4

Match #4: Cowboy Bob Orton, Jr. v. Dick Murdoch

Of all the matches I saw on this card, this was the one I was probably looking the most forward to. Now granted I knew it wouldn't be mind blowing or anything like that. Given the place these guys were given on the card, it'd be unrealistic to expect that. Regardless, it's these two in a match so it's got to be fun on some level.

This runs around ten minutes or so, and basically ,we get a fun old school headlock fest. JR keeps repeating constantly that these two are mirror images of each other and on a certain level, he's right, and for the purposes of this match, he's very right. They counter in and out of headlocks early on before going to each other's arms. Then we're back to the headlock struggles again before going for a solid old school finish. Murdoch hoists Orton up to give him a suplex and the dastardly Gary Hart snags his leg long enough to trip him up, then holds it as the official counts to three. The execution is reasonably good here, the selling is fun and the offense though basic, is still fun.

My beef with this match is the crowd they're playing to. That kind of stuff, while good for what it is, just totally lost the crowd. Extended headlock sequences and armbar sequences are good if you're going broadway, but in the middle of a REALLY big crowd in a dome and wrestling the fourth match of the card, it's kind of awkward. Sometimes you just need to be cognisant of the crowd you're working in front of. Despite all that though, this is fun mid card, old-school stuff. *3/4

Match #5: World Tag Team Championship: The Road Warriors v. The Varsity Club

I liked this match a lot. Like probably a lot more than I should have, given the fact that they don't do a whole heck of a lot differently from the last match, but the incredible levels of heel douche bag-ness in this match rule to a point where they can't be ignored.

Teddy Long has been the subject of storylines recently and how appropriate is it that this is his first real piece of character development. These two teams are full of bullies. The Road Warriors don't wear the belts, Paul Ellering, their bitch does. They also wear spikey shoulder pads. Steve Williams looks like everyone's worst nightmare at a truck stop. Mike Rotundo is the all american bully. Kevin Sullivan is looking especially evil tonight, because he's wearing his wrestling tights and a turtleneck sweater. Fuck yeah for turtleneck sweaters. I need me some.

This is just a total slug fest from bell to bell and the kind of smash mouth, kick a puppie stuff you'd expect from these two teams. There's a great close up of Williams brigning the hate with a stomp right on Animal's jaw. Rotundo looks slightly overmatched here as he's the fourth potato in the ring, but there's nothing really wrong with that when you're in a fist fight with Hawk, Animal and Steve Williams.

The slow Teddy Long turn evolves over the course of the match as he botches some calls just enough so you believe that it's all just a mistake on his part. After that, he increasingly becomes distracted more and more with the Road Warriors, who aren't really willing to play by his rules. Eventually Animal vaults him across the ring, and that doesn't sit to well with Long, who not only allows himself (literally) to be distractred and cause interference, but he also fast counts the final fall and costs the Road Warriors the belts. Wicked fun stuff here as we get good character role playing made better by throwing a third story in there to mess the whole world up. I MIGHT be a little high in rating this, but it just really clicked for me. **3/4

Match #6: US Tag Team Championship: The Varsity Club (Sullivan & Dan Spivey) v. Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner

This is another one that's fun for what it is. To be honest, it's worked REALLY well, considering the crowd they're playing to and whose involved. The bulk of the match is built around Gilbert and Spivey. Spivey's easily the worst worker in this group so you might as well let him run through his power spots and let the best seller (Gilbert) flop all over the ring for you and make you look like a million bucks. Basically that's all we get here with some brief hot exchanges between Sullivan and Steiner, who still don't like each other very much. Jumble that altogether and you get a fun match.

The ending takes it out of the totally average category though and bumps it up slightly as Missy Hyatt involves herself in the proceedings and we get a nice purse shot to Sullivan's face to send the fans home happy. **

Match #7: The Iron Sheik v. Ranger Ross

Here's a little filler before the main event. Sheik is always fun on some level and totally carries this guy to a fun USA v. The World short shot. Sheikie jumps him at the bell and does a pearl harbor job on him for a while before Ranger Ross makes the comeback. Things look like they're in hand before Rip Morgan, designated anti-american flag bearer, comes in and whacks Ross with a flag to cause the DQ. The heels put a nasty beat down on Ross before JYD comes out and makes the save and everyone cheers. Basic, filler stuff here. *

Match #8: World Heavyweight Championship, 2/3 Falls: Ricky Steamboat v. Ric Flair

I'm not going to go into a lengthy review here because everything about this match has been said a million times over by people who could speak to it far better than I could. This MIGHT be the best match in North American Wrestling history, or at least that there's footage of. In fact, this whole series is beyond great, but I think this is just the one that everyone walks away from going 'wow' once they go back and watch it again.

The energy these guys have is just different and something that's really impossible to create, you just have to be kinda lucky. Rock-Austin had that sort of energy and Misawa and Kawada did, but I can't think of any other tandem that came close. Whether you're a casual fan, a MOVEZ~ guy, or a guy who just genuinely enjoys wrestilng, you'll like this. Heck, if you don't like wrestling I don't get how you'd dislike it.

This goes roughly an hour and there isn't a down spot, or if there is, it doesn't come off FEELING like a downspot. The struggle for every little piece of ground is great, Flair is stoogie when he needs to be, an assassin at other times. Steamboat kind of gets knocked off his feet in the first part of the match, not excpecting Flair to be coming at him so hard. Then Steamboat 'settled down' a little bit, gets an advantage and just begins tearing Flair to pieces in a way Flair has been worked over. The end of the second fall is exceptionally shocking, as Ric Flair rarely, if ever in a major storyline to that point, submitted. It was one thing for Steamboat to come back from losing the second fall, but it's another thing to completely squash and steamroll the guy who is the greatest on the planet at the time. The third party is even steven down the line to a controversial finish that sets up the third match where Flair finally wins his belt back.

The selling is the best i've seen in a wrestling match. The strikes are intense and you can feel the compedetive hate between the two. While the first match is really sort of a big dick jousting contest between the two, this is more of the respectful top this kinda ting. This is as good as it gets. I've given four matches this rating, ever. *****

Overall: This is a must own if for nothing more than the main event, which is probably the best match to ever take place on this side of the pond, if ever. The rest of the show though, is a real mixed bag and even the better stuff won't be for everyone. Even I had a hard time getting through this show which REALLY seemed like traveling through a swamp up to your knees. This is a good show for what it's worth, but it's certainly not going to be an edition of the Clash that's for everyone, save for the final match of course.

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash VI)
1. Ricky Steamboat v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash VI *****
2. The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash IV ***3/4
3. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2
4. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4
5. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/4
6. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***
7. The Fantastics v. Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert, US Tag Titles, Clash IV **3/4
8. Road Warriors v. The Varsity Club, World Tag Titles, Clash VI **3/4
9. The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders **1/2, Clash II
10. Mike Rotundo v. Brad Armstrong, TV Title, Clash III **1/2

Dropping Off The List:
9. Ricky Morton v. Ivan Koloff, Russian Chain Match, Clash III **1/2
10. Dusty Rhodes & Sting v. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson **1/2, Clash II

Clash of Champions V: St. Valentine's Day Massacre

2007-09-21T21:20:00.001-07:00

Clash of Champions V: St. Valentine's Day Massacre
February 15, 1989
Cleveland, OH

So here's the show that kicks off 1989, only a week away from the big Chi-Town Rumble pay per view....

Match #1: The Midnight Express v. The Russian Assassins

This is pretty much a glorified squash without being overly squishy. The Russians look good enough to maintain some credibility while the MXE look awesome. The end comes a bit out of nowhere, especially considering that the match isn't all that fast paced, but it does the trick I guess. They go for the hard sell for the pay per view with lots of intervening cut shots of Paul E. Dangerously talking trash here and there. Nothing more than a really well done squash. *3/4

Match #2: Butch Reed v. Steve Casey

For something that at first, strikes you as totally useless filler, it's pretty good. I mean this isn't super spectacular, but it's Butch Reed putting on a freaking bitchin' heel performance while Casey follows along. Like the match before it, this is basically another not so squishy squash, as Casey and Reed are both billed as being undefeated on TV leading into the match, giving it some sort of importance.

Reed's a guy who I think is utterly underrated in terms of how effective he was as a heel. Some of his stuff in mid south is can't miss and unfortunately he didn't much of a push in the WWF, so most of what we get is stoogie bad ass Butch instead of straight bad ass Butch.

JR does a great job of getting Butch's heel-ishness over as him being a guy who REALLY doesn't have to cheat to win matches, but does anyways because he's got an attitude problem. Reed cheats pretty much everytime he possibly can. This doesn't do much for Casey, who by 10 minutes is an afterthought in the match, as just about everyone in the crowd wants Reed dead. Casey TRIES the whole 'keep the big man on the mat to negate the strength' thing, but Reed uses some cunning underhanded tactics to gain the advantage and makes the poor guy his woman, just out muscling him the whole match.

Again, this is an extended squash, but Reed looks pretty great here and that deserves some credit in and of itself. *3/4

Match #3: Lex Luger v. The Blackmailer

Yet another extended squash here. Basically the small story is that the Blackmailer (pun intended) is being sent to hurt Lex before his big US title match with Barry Windham at the coming pay per view. Luger though, thwarts him at every attempt and basically bats him around the ring with ease. The end is a nice little set up for the pay per view, as Luger ends the match with the super plex, Barry Windham's finishing move. Now if that doesn't send a message, I don't know what does. *1/2

Match #4: US Tag Team Championship: The Varsity Club v. The Fantastics

Mike Rotundo is subbing for Kevin Sullivan here. This isn't much more than the Starcade match a few months prior to this. Basically, this is the rematch from that match and it plays out very similar, with the big bully Williams/Rotundo tandmen putting a hurt on the poor Fantastics.

There's some good character work here as Rotundo plays the hate-able leader of the bunch with the smirks and flat out, outclassing both of the smaller Fantastics in the ring. Williams is a total bulldozer and runs em over. Once the Fantastics finally catch a break, Teddy Long gets distracted trying to herd Tommy Rodgers out of the ring while Rotundo plants a knee to his partner's head.

Here's another match that's fun for what it is, but like the Starcade encounter, just never gets out of second gear for me. **

Match #5: Ricky Steamboat v. Bob Bradley

This is all about putting over Steamboat one more time before heading into his title win over Flair at the pay per view that coming Monday. Steamer looks GREAT here, fluid and totally on top of his game. He sort of ran through his move set and called it a day, but everything looked good here from Steamboat. This IS probably the worst match of the night, but it's not a bad one, just a really simple little squash match. *1/4

Match #6: Rick Steiner v. Rip Morgan

This match would've been AWESOME had it been a spelling bee.

These two are clearly the most mentally retarded members of the NWA rosters and in a good way. Steiner, despite being incredibly stupid, is an incredible wrestler and that shines through here as Morgan bumps all over the ring for him. Morgan's a good opponent considering the booking here, as he's the perfect guy to react in a goofy way to Steiner's even goofier persona. That's pretty much it though, another fun squash. *1/2

Match # 7: World Six Man Tag Team Championship: The Road Warriors & Genichiro Tenryu v. The Varsity Club

JYD, Sting and Michael Hayes WERE supposed to be the original challengers here, but Kevin Sullivan locks them in the basement so I guess that's off. It's all about bullys man.

Hawk, Steve Williams, Animal, Kevin Sullivan AND Tenryu all in the same ring. Fuck this is going to hurt to watch. These guys just beat the fuck out of each other. That's all. Honestly. Hawk stiffs Williams, Animal stiffs Sullivan, they come back, Tenryu comes in and kicks people in the head and Rotundo tries not to die. Whose the asshole that signed HIM up for this smash your face fest?

This breaks down, um, pretty much the whole time. We get about 15 seconds of tag wrestling before everyone attempts to kill each other. To add to the total chaos of this, Hayes, Sting and JYD are busy getting some dork to clip the chain that's bolted them in the basement and eventually break loose. They come storming down to the ring and it's just a fucking free for all.

Honestly, this isnt a match, more like an extended fight between nine guys who just all want to kill each other's children just because. It's a fun, hot way to end the night and get people amped about the promotion as a whole and want to buy Chi-Town Rumble. **1/4 for fun and totally unnecessary violence.

Overall: They REALLLLLLY went for a super hard sell on the pay per view here. If you've watched any of the recent Saturday Night's Main Events, this has that sort of feel, where you get a lot of good squash matches and a fun blow off angle at the end of the night to get everyone feeling good about the promotion as a whole.

What makes this show totally watchable though, are the SEGMENTS. Freaking Rick Steiner delivers probably two of the best retard promos anyone's EVER given. There's of course the imfamous Steamboat-Flair angle where Flair fights Steamer in his bananna hammock after asking him why he only sleeps with one woman. Sting's promo is super humanly bad and watching Hayes bail him out, only to have it ruined further by some weird JYD rambilng, AND THEN bring it all back in again, is fun too. So if you like great segments, you'll like this.

Overall, this entire show has a REALLY different feel to it than the previous four in the series. The overall presentation is far more modern and sleek while this is more geared towards selling the pay per view than others were. The in ring action isn't anywhere NEAR the level of the previous shows, but it's not altogether bad and at least keeps you around watching.

So again, here's a show that's way different and shows the NWA in clear transition into the WCW years. C

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash V)

1. The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash IV ***3/4

2. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2

3. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4

4. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/4

5. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***

6. The Fantastics v. Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert, US Tag Titles, Clash IV **3/4

7. The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders **1/2, Clash II

8. Mike Rotundo v. Brad Armstrong, TV Title, Clash III **1/2

9. Ricky Morton v. Ivan Koloff, Russian Chain Match, Clash III **1/2

10. Dusty Rhodes & Sting v. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson **1/2, Clash II

Starcade '88 Review

2007-09-20T15:46:00.000-07:00

So as a little reprieve from the Clash set, which i'll be watching more of tonight, i'm tossing this bitch out there, because 1.) It's motherfucking awesome and 2.) Why not stop off at the pay per views along the way... eh? So anyways, let's get to the poundage.

MATCH #1: US Tag Team Championship: The Fantastics v. Steve Williams & Kevin Sullivan

Half of this rules, half of it sucks. The Fantastics were as good a team as there ever was and had they not waltzed into the same division that the Rock N Roll Express, The Midnight Express, Tully & Arn and The Road Warriors inhabited, then I think anyone could make a feasible argument for being one of, if not THE best tag team of this period. Much like Matt Hardy works within a strict formula but manages to still rule, The Fantastics sorta do that in a tag team in the 80s sorta way. These guys usually get the shit pounded out of them for like 15 mintues, tease great comebacks, maybe let someone work a limb here or there, then fly to a great flash-type finish.

The problem with the formula is that when it's with a great team, it's great to watch. When the other team ain't on the same page with ya, it can be pretty bland stuff, and that's kind of what we get here. The first part is pretty great and like most Fantastics matches, everyone sort of picks a role and goes with it. Sullivan plays the cheating, sinister and easily frustrated heel to start things off while Williams is the unbeatable ass kicker. The military press spot where he slams Fulton flat out through the damn mat after TOSSING HIM IN THE AIR a few times is pretty sweet.

From there it's more Fantastic flop fest sort of stuff, which always works. But then something goes wrong here because Williams and Sullivan don't look like they're much into behaving here. The offense really weakens up on their end for whatever reason and the match frequently breaks down in odd places. That leads up to a weird finishing sequence where Fulton basically just gets sling shotted into the ropes and then pinned, which REALLY doesn't work given the kind of match they were going for. This kid was basicaly nuked the entire match and all it takes is him running chest first into the ropes a bit awkwardly to do the trick?

As I said, this match has it's VERY bright spots, but gets real weird at points and prevents it from really going from a decent opener to a good one. **1/4

MATCH #2: The Midnight Express (w/ Jim Cornette) v. The Original Midnight Express (w/ Paul E. Dangerously)

This is just filled with awesome hate. Seriously, this match is an absolute gas, ESPECIALLY if you're a MXE maniac like I am. Basically, all you need to know is that Condrey and Eaton were partners in the NWA. Condrey left for the AWA and Stan Lane replaced him in the Cornette stable. Randy Ross was Condrey's original partner and they first used the MXE name. So anyways, business blew in the AWA so the Originals came sauntering over to the NWA under the guidance of Paul E Dangerously and began feuding with the modern Midnight Express.

Cornette and Dangerously hate each other and they spend the entire match goading each other and creating mayhem for their opponents, like to the point where it's almost distracting. NO ONE plays the goading manager like Cornette. NO ONE plays the offended and aggitated heel manager like Dangerously. Cornette cheating by hitting both Condrey and Ross with the rackett and Dangerously being so pissed off and ringing the bell... I could watch it all day.

Oh yeah there's a match goign on too, and it's pretty much old school greatness. Eaton and Lane are really athletic and fun to watch while Condrey and Ross are just great characters. It mixes so well too, as Condrey and Ross play OUTSTANDING chicken shit heels and use eye rakes, time out cheap shots and goofy bumps to really ham it up out there. Their reactions to everything Lane and Eaton do is just what makes this perhaps the most fun match on the card.

There's no way in fuck they could've done a clean ending for this, as it's one of those matches that would have been HURT by one. Of course Cornette interferes and of course Dangerously uses his Zak Morris phone... it's a damn shame this feud never got blown off appropriately, but still, this still feels somewhat satisfying. ***1/2

MATCH #3: Ivan Koloff & The Junkyard Dog v. The Russian Asassins (w/ Paul Jones)

This is kinda filler stuff and isn't much more than just being a formulaic Russian Asassins match where they get beat up, Jones stooges it up and then they stick something in the mask and win. Granted Koloff and JYD make it fun with their cartoony stuff that is altogether enjoyable, but if you've seen one Russian Asassins match, you've seen all of em. *1/2

MATCH #4: World Television Championship: Mike Rotundo v. Rick Steiner

Here's another insanely good, basic wrestling match. If i've said it once, I feel like i've said it a million times; Wrestling is best when it reflects real life. The best feuds are the ones that people can relate with and here's an example of that.

Steiner has been hanging out with the heelish Varsity Club for a while now. Rotundo and Williams are sorta those guys you know in high school that dump milk on people's heads and stuff nerds like you in lockers. Steiner's the mildly retarded jock of the group, whose really a good guy, but just not really capable of thinking on his own. Eventually though, the good side in Steiner comes out as he gets sick of being picked on by Rotundo and company, and turns on the faction, thus setting this batch of fun-ness up.

Rotundo is the antithesis of Steiner, the guy whose sleek looking and a heck of a smart wrestler. Steiner is just the dumb animal and is the clear #3 in the faction so the loveable underdog thing is on times 400 for this. There's no way you won't love Steiner and hate Rotundo. The odds however, are at least a little more even, since manager Kevin Sullivan will be suspended above the ring in a cage. Awesome.

The early part of this just plays to that whole dominant champ v. dumb but plucky challenger thing. Rotundo basically out does Steiner in every way imaginable. Steiner isn't able to get anything going and anytime Steiner begins to fight back, Rotundo outsmarts him and rubs it in everyone else's face. Steiner's comebacks aren't really progressive nor are they all that frequent, and this just helps paint the picture that much better.

Rotundo uses the little stuff but eventually decides it's time to go home and begins throwing the big boms: His belly to bellys and lariats. However, Steiner keeps on kicking out, because, as we found out before the match, he wants to win for mommy. Imagine crazy Perry Saturn meets Eugene meets Kurt Angle. That's basically where Steiner's at.

Since Kevin Sullivan can't interfere, it's up to one of the other Varsity Club members to help Rotundo steal a victory, so Steve Williams decides to trot down to ringside. While he's on his way down to the ringside area, Steiner's actually sorta beginning to mount something resembling offense, so it's evident Rotundo's beginning to tire. Steiner hits his belly to belly, which is his finisher, and Williams rings the bell at 2, confusing Steiner (which isn't hard to do). Steiner thinks he's won the match as Williams leaves for the back.

Sullivan is being lowered onto the floor and gets up on the ring apron to create some more confusion. While he's doing that, Rotundo pearl harbors him and goes for an irish whip. Steiner reverses it though and sends Rotundo clattering into Sullivan and they knock heads long enough to daze Rotundo enough to be pinned and that's exactly what happends. Holy crap, the crowd explodes as stupid Steiner runs around the ring with the belt screaming "I beat you!" as Rotundo looks totally shocked and beside himself.

Mike Rotundo was awesome as TV champ all through 1988, but it's the match where he loses the title that takes the taco as the best one. Steiner's great as the loveable babyface. This is a great formula and toss it in there with an angle that EVERYONE who ever went to high school saw in real life and you've got a lot of fun. All you have to do is go out there and not stink the joint and like most Rotundo stuff, this is worked so smart that it's impossible not to love it. This is super awesome. ***1/2

MATCH #5: United States Championship: Barry Windham v. Bam Bam Bigelow

I guess the hits just keep on comin'.

Here's another match that got a pretty 'big match' build leading up to it. Windham had been flat out dominant as US Champ throughout '88 and if you were to ask most of us who know what we're talking about, would say was probably the back bone of the promotion that year, as he wrestled everyone and their mother and dragged something good out of them to boot.

Bigelow really got a decent little push in the WWF from 87-88 but sort of leveled off midway through the year. Bigelow saw the writing on the wall and left for greener pastures. So here he shows up with lots of credbility (giving Andre a run for his money at Survivor Series a year earlier for example) so why not toss him in the ring with Windham? Ah, I love the times where people didn't give a crap if a guy got a title shot right off the bat......

Anyways, the early part of this is insanely good. NOTHING Windham can toss at Bigelow even phases the monster babyface. He drops Bigelow on his head, it doesn't do anything, hits the lariat, Bigelow laughs, etc. In fact the best part of the early going is when Bam Bam eats a back drop driver, no sells it and hits a standing drop kick on Windham, who rolls to JJ Dillon's arms screaming 'crap!'

Bigelow completely dominates the early exchanges, and Windham does his best to flop around and look clueless. Windham eventually fights out of a chin lock and looks to be getting somewhere when he flings Bigelow to the outside. Bigelow twists his knee up a bit and you'd tink this will help Barry but it doesn't do much for him as Bam Bam starts hitting him with head butts and a sling shot big splash, which was unheard of then.

Bigelow though, gets so dominant, that he starts getting over confident and makes some horrible decisions. After the sling shot, he doesn't go for the cover and instead goes for the flying headbutt, but misses it by a mile. Here's the big transition point in the match.

Windham has been let back in and he hulks up and actually gets a pop despite being the heel. He picks Bigelow up and gives him a smirk and a pat on the chin before taking his f-ing head off with a lariat. A back drop driver later and it looks like Windham might be getting somewhere. A drop kick of his own (nice revenge spot) sends Bigelow to the outside and Windham began to knock his head off the post.

Windham singnals for the claw and slaps it on. Bigelow's head though is one of his biggest weapons and it isn't likely to have the effect on Bigelow that it would have on others. Windham is so emotional here with rage screaming "that belt is fucking miiiiiiine!" to the crowd. Windham rules. Windham does what he said he'd do before the match and body slams Bigelow.

Then HE gets stupid and misses the flying elbow off the top. Bigelow makes a sensational babyface comeback that gets cut a shade too short. Bam Bam is looking for a lariat, but Windham thinks body block and the two roll over the top rope to the floor. Bigelow hits a fun atomic drop but when he charges at Windham, Barry side steps him and he smacks into the ring post. Barry realises the ref's counting and sneaks into the ring and Bigelow gets counted out.

If you're going to make a match between two dominant guys, they need to both dominate. Bigelow makes Windham his woman in the early going, putting on a nice exhibition of how good he is. Windham returns the ass-rape-age and shows how good he can be. They hit a stalemate and Windham gets the win, but not in a way where he looks much better, if better at all.

I'm not wild about the finish, because it IS a little out of nowhere, but it makes sense considering the way they were going with things and for Bam Bam to be SLIGHTLY more out of it at this point in the match, makes it ok with me. BECAUSE of the ending feeling weird though, I probably wouldn't go as high for this as I did the other two big matches on the card, but it's still pretty great. ***1/4

Match #6: World Tag Team Championship: The Road Warriors v. Dusty Rhodes & Sting

If there was something that's really lacking in today's wrestling world, i'd have to say it's babyfaces having friends. The one thing I loved about the Orton-Cena segment the other night was the intervention of Cody Rhodes, who like Cena, has a bone to pick with the heel for a common reason. This is basically a big time feud between Dusty Rhodes and the Road Warriors rooted in 'violence for the sake of violence'. Sting's Dusty's wing man here, which is great because Sting's actually the guy whose going to benefit the most here. Talk about a great way to benefit many.

The hate level is super high here, with both teams going right at it before the bell. By some miracle of god, the bell doesn't ring, and we get through introductions before going back to these four murdering each other.

As a tag team match, this sorta sucks, but it's not about tags and rules, it's about everyone beating everyone up. Hawk and Animal are the best bullies, face or heel, that the wrestling world's probably ever seen, or at least here in North America and all their stuff is about hurting people. TONS of stiff forearms, chops, punches, kicks and slams are heaped onto the babyfaces showing that the Road Warriors ain't out here to win a match, they're here to hurt someone.

Dusty only has revenge on the mind and is looking to use his usual stuff long enough to allow him to seriously injure someone. He has chair shots, and most importantly six million thumbs to the eye. However, this match IS for the tag titles and like any good guy team would be, they want those belts. Each and everytime they get away from brawling, they get overwhelmed. Sting and Rhodes CAN trade bombs, but don't seem to anxious to do it, which is a little puzzling.

This match DOES suffer a bit from the fact that by this point, it was practically impossible to hate the Road Warriors as they're just so bad ass that you can't not really like em. They try their hardest but when your largely heel offense gets pops from the crowd, it's hard to combat. Sting keeps things fun with some great high spots to keep them in the match and Dusty goes for frequent revenge spots and it at least keeps the face reactions on Dusty and Sting enough to not be overly offensive.

The ending is ok enough, but considering how this feud was built, this probably should have been it for the program. That's neither here nor there though, as the ending makes enough sense in the context of things, but not enough to really feel any sense of this thing being done yet. Again, this is pretty good stuff for the most part, but is too darn inconsistent for me to call good. **1/4

MATCH #7: World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair v. Lex Luger

The NWA and WCW were always known for their not so subtle booking and a large part of the reason for that was that everything led up to the big main event match at Starcade that was supposed to always be the be all, end all of the year's storylines.

Throughout the years, this had mixed success. They hit the jackpot in '83, '84 and '85, did ok with it in '86 but more or less flopped with the Garvin-Flair main event in '87. This however, was nearly 9 months in the making. Lex Luger joined the Four Horseman organization and was summarily kicked out in favor of Barry Windham. Luger made Flair and his belt the target and impressed enough to earn himself a shot at the belt at the Great American Bash in June/July. Luger lost the match due to 'excessive bleeding' and essentially the Maryland Athletic Comission screwing him over. Luger spent the remainder of the year chomping at the bit to get back at Flair and finally things have come to this. Luger gets a fair one on one shot at the title against Flair. If Flair gets DQ'd, he loses the title.

Smarks seem to crave 'strategy stories' and because of that, there's zero reason they should loathe this match in any way shape or fun because it's REALLY all about strategy. Before the match, Ross and Coddle are clammoring over Flair's strategy and how Luger will elect to wrestle the match.

Things start off basically with Flair just waiting for Luger to make a mistake. He doesn't have much success early on with, well, anything.. and his best hope is to try and survive the Luger onslaught and hope that Luger's abundance of desire will cause him to make a mistake. Sure enough, Luger destroys Flair early in the match, out bombing Flair and shockingly out wrestling him. Eventually Luger misses an elbow and Flair's ready to go to work.

Flair takes things to the outside, where he doesn't have to strike with Luger and pretty much evens up the odds. He double stomps Lex in the ring, but sure enough, as soon as Flair begins striking, Luger no sells it and begins peppering Flair with slams and drops. It looks like any strategy Flair has is pretty much out the window, because Lex surely won't make the mistake again. Or will he?

After pulvarizing the champion for another five to ten minutes, Luger gets frustrated because despite throwing every nuke in his arsenal save for the torture rack, he can't keep Flair's shoulders pinned to the mat. Flair agitates with some stupid chops and Lex bullies him into the corner and begins man-bitching him. Referee Tommy Young steps in to try and break up the party, but Luger shoves him aside. Who cares right?

Well, Flair doesn't get the advantage there, it's JJ Dillon being smart and distracting the referee while he recovers that dramatically and decisively turns the tide of the match. Flair does what he does best and cheats, raking the eyes and then dumps Luger over the top rope (which would be a DQ.. horay for the stip being followed) while the official is distracted. Flair is desperate so he grabs a chair and cracks Luger across the leg with the chair.

Flair zeroes in on the leg of Luger and essentially negates any power or speed advantage he'd have had. Flair double stomps the knee, drops knees on the leg, sits out on it..Basically every basic Flair move set thing is uncorked here, but with Ross and Coddle doing such a good job of selling the devistation of it, and Luger surprisingly selling like a champ, it really bumps the intensity of it all up a few notches.

After surviving and nearly reversing a few Figure Four attempts, Luger's desire to win takes hold and he hulks up and begins laying into Flair with a flurry of offense. Luger's leg can't take much more and Flair's beyond dead at this point, so Luger goes for the kill shot and slaps on the Torture Rack. His leg though, which has been torn to shreds, can't hold Flair and he crumples under the weight. Flair falls on top of him and uses the ropes for some leverage and Luger's dream is dead as a doornail.

This is a really, really fantastic match. Luger looks like a monster, Flair a survivor like you'd expect, but they just take those roles to the next level with some ridiculously sensational performances. This is probably Luger's best match. He gets over his desire to win by uncorking things like cross body blocks and his willingness to not be afraid to wrestle Flair's match. He evolkes sympath with one of the best sell jobs of a leg ever. When he's juiced, the selling is less prominent, but it comes back here and there and it's not in a way that makes you think Luger forgot to do it and suddenly remembered it again. Flair, when in control, looks like a freaking killer. Flair thinks his way through a lot of the match, but it's really luck and an ability to survive that gets him through it. It's not just the typical Flair selling his balls off for someone and finding a way to win. It's Flair thinking, failing, executing, surviving and ultimately getting a little lucky.

Some weren't totally into the idea of Luger losing here, but I think it's a-ok. Luger wasn't ready for that spot, but DOES make you re-consider with his performance in this match, if only for a little while. This ultimately helped him more though, as Luger, for as many shortcomings as he might have had, set himself up for an utterly sensational 1989.

You get everything in this match. Some fun counter wrestling which makes smarky ROHbots swoon, brawling, crowd heat, emotion, etc. Most of all, it's a sensational conclusion to a story that was nearly a year in the making, which is ultimately what a Starcade or Wrestlemania main event should be all about. It's a shame that fans don't have the patience for long, extended feuds like this anymore, because this is what that type of build can be. This is probably my MOTY for '88 and one that every wrestling fan should watch. ****1/2

OVERALL: I'm not a guy who spews stars but this show is one of those exceptions. EVERYTHING on this card was built just so damn well and all the matches delivered on some level. There are four matches on this card that had they been on any other card, probably would have been the match of the night, even during this time period in the NWA, which despite some shoddy booking on the part of Dusty Rhodes, had so much great talent in the prime of their careers that there was just no way in hell they could've sucked. If I were to give the show some criticism though, it would be that not all the major match ups really concluded everything. Not that they HAVE to, but considering the way they built three of the four big matches on the card, you kind of hoped they would have. Even the stuff that's NOT as good (US Tag Title Match, JYD/Ivan-Russians) is at BASE entertaining and fun viewing. This gets a major league reccomendation for me, and to this point was easily the best show the NWA put on top to bottom. 1) I'm not saying the worst all together but as I said before it was an okay show which makes it more of how a fan in takes it in their opinion. When the show is great their can be no arguement (or at least it shouldn't be). But with a show like it was it was more of how the fan looks at it as a whole it's either okay or could have been better. As for Shelton saying he is in my opinion the best pure athlete on Raw doesn't take away from the other guys at all I respect that they ll bust their a**. I just feel Shelton deserves a push at least at the mid-card scene espcially as Jeff is low on contenders. I think Shelton's passion for the buisness is to do bigger things than slip away. He must want to take it to the next level. Everyone wants to one day be the guy to hold the top spot in the company down the line. If you look at when did Shelton ever not take advantage of an oppurtunitiy, with the push from Triple H he had a great IC title run afterward. The HBK match could have been a good tag team run but I guess the creative team scraped the idea before it really got started. Give Shelton the medium ball and the guy can make it happen no on the mic but he can get the ring stuff done. I feel the same goes for Charlie Haas highly under-rated. A

Unforgiven Pay Per View Review

2007-09-18T22:38:00.001-07:00

It's that time of month again... another pay per view..

MATCH #1: ECW World Championship: CM Punk v. Elijah Burke

Here's another Punk ppv match that is mostly good throughout and suffers from a strange ending. There's not a lot here to talk about. It's basically Burke proving his worthiness by outclassing Punk through most of the match. Punk builds his comeback spots well enough but again, the ending kind of kills the build, as it comes out of nowhere. In fact, the Punk seemed a little weirded out by it. With Burke in control, Punk hits a roll up out of nowhere and, uh, that's it. Again, the slow build was good, but that doesn't work when you've only got like 10 minutes for a match. *3/4

MATCH #2: WWE Tag Team Championships: Matt Hardy & MVP v. Deuce & Domino

This is a solid, but unspectacular match. This is obviously all about Hardy and MVP's disfunctionality and they play to that quite obviously through the match. We get dueling "ballin" elbows, screaming axe handles, etc. MVP gets sour puss and feins leaving but of course comes back to attempt to steal the glory. Hardy catches him this time though, and ejects MVP from the ring and steals a victory for himself.

While I like this, it's a little too angle heavy to be a good match. Deuce and Domino are REALLY afterthoughts in this and while that's not entirely a bad thing as they suck big time, it monopolizes the entire match and thus it comes off more like an exhibition of Hardy and MVP's obvious dislike for eachother than anything else. *3/4

MATCH #3: No DQ for Carlito: Triple H v. Carlito

This was a good deal better than I thought it would be, but it still wasn't much. Carlito embrassing his inner stooge is a good thing, but it's done to a degree here where it becomes obvious that he's not even remotely a threat to Triple H.

He goes for mostly stoogie weapons spots with the garbage cans and otherwise laughable objects. While it plays to his character's strength well, it takes away from the credibility he has competition for Triple H and kills pretty much any chance one would have of taking the match seriously. Carlito's good here, but honestly his schtick doesn't fit what they might have been going for here.

Triple H is Triple H here, and mauls people. That is all. *3/4

MATCH #4: Women's Championship: Candice Michelle v. Beth Phoenix

This is way awesome ladies scuffling. This played out A TON like Umaga-Cena I from January where Beth basically murders Candice for 10 minutes and then gets caught on a flash pin.

What makes this match is Candice's top notch selling. She legitimately looked like she was being buried out there and Beth's 'it' factor of being 'the woman' helps make it look all the better. The military press, the one handed slam, all of it looks super devastating and the only saving grace for Candice is her willingness to not get murdered and survive the BIG shots.

Candice, despite improving tons, can still be wicked inconsistent, but they stuck with a good formula for this match and it worked well. Beth looked strong and it left the door open for a rematch. Can't ask for more than that. Solid women's stuff. **3/4

MATCH #5: World Heavyweight Championship: The Great Khali v. Batista v. Rey Mysterio

This was a lot of fun. Khali ain't much, but for whatever reason, the guy is one ofthe best in the WWE in triple threat matches. The build for the vice grip is played up well here and it plays a central role in the match throughout. Mysterio of course is a huge under dog, and struggles to gain any sense of control in the match, but that's not really bad, considering that's more or less where he should be in a match like this. Batista seems all about proving himself to be better than Khali.

Again, the Vice Grip being lights out being the central theme works well here. Khali is able to grab it twice. Had this been a one on one match, he'd have walked away from this relatively easily, but he struggles to manage the numbers, thus stressing the whole point of the champion being at a disadvantage in this kind of match. The finish is really excellent with Mysterio hitting his home run shot, but being unable to capitalize as Batista says 'fuck friends' and powerbombs his dwarfy ass onto Khali, double-fucking the champion and totally destroying teeny Rey.

A spine buster wouldn't work for most, but after eating three finishers, it comes off as believable and smart that Khali could be put down with that kind of firepower. It took three BIG finishers, but it does the job. Even better, no one comes off looking weak here. Well worked Triple Threat match. ***

MATCH #6: World Tag Team Championship: Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch v. London & Kendrick

This was a good match that got dragged down by a dead crowd. And that's not dragged down because stupid people couldn't see goodness, but in the sense that London and Kendrick got too tied up in trying to drag them in with big spots that just didn't fit in the context of what they were trying to do.

This is that classic brawlers v. high flyers stuff and that works well through the body of the match. London and Kendrick try to make the pace hectic, Cade & Murdoch try to keep it plodding and more based in ground n pound. What bothered me though was the constant death spots from the babyfaces in every transition of the match. That made things flow weird and while the spots popped the crowd, they lacked the proper placement and they weren't able to follow up on them to the degree that the crowd STAYED with what they were doing.

Again this is a fun match, but the green-ness of these guys showed through too much to make it LEGITMATELY good. **1/4

MATCH #7: WWE Championship: John Cena v. Randy Orton

This match played out like a Dusty Rhodes match circa the late 80s where there was a lot of build for something that was really a glorified angle. Cena brings a lot of fun hate here, and Orton's sneaky and coniving, but the placement on the card gave away what was going to be a screwey finish and Cena's father being there cemented it and killed it before the bell rang.

Now the execution of the angle was near perfect. Cena gets revenge and it's entirely necessary in the context of things if they're goingto have a big gimmick match blow off to this. Orton afterall, should have some sort of reason for wanting a blood bath match. So the Kick heard round the world part II worked from a storyline perspective, but as a pay per view main event, it was a huge let down.

It's short, tight, and well executed, but they just didn't give it enough time to go anywhere as a match, but it's obvious they weren't looking for that. **1/2

MATCH #8: The Undertaker v. Mark Henry

I'll probably have to give this another look, but the crowd was so gassed from the title change and the Cena-Orton match that they just didn't have anything left over for this. A slow, plodding big man match isn't a bad thing, but being placed on the card where it was, hurt it.

The themes are played out well enough though and make this watchable and even good. Taker is relentless in his pursuit of revenge while Henry is a one man wrecking crew bent on taking Taker out. Henry isn't sublte here and he just goes with the bombs away approach, knowing that it's the only way he's going to win. The repeated splashes, bear huge and stiff lariats work well for him here. Taker, however, is totally willing to oblige in a bomb fest, but finds out that it's going to take more than normal to put Henry down, who kicks out of a choke slam, but is finally put down with a monsterous power bomb out of the corner.

This is a good big man match. These sorts of matches shouldn't be about building anything, it should be bombs galore, and both provide plenty of dynamite here. This is a good big man match that suffered because of where it fell on the card. **1/2

OVERALL: This show was booked really poorly. Booking the hottest angle in years and a world title change before a return match we've seen 6 million times ain't smart and it killed the crowd dead. Had it been me, i'd have probably done the triple threat last. Everyone on the card seemed to struggle with the crowd except the two world title matches and did so to a degree that it made it obvious that match placement was the issue. This isn't awful or anything, but it's pretty obvious this is a transitional set up pay per view for what's looking like a big No Mercy pay per view. However, that being said, it doesn't stack up to other shows that have monopolized a pretty great year for the WWE. C-

Clash of Champions IV: Season's Beatings

2007-09-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

Clash of Champions IV: Season's Beatings
December, 1988
Chatanooga, TN

MATCH #1: US Tag Team Championship Tournament Finals: The Fantastics v. Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert

First things first, it was a surprise they went as long with this match as they did. The crowd seems to be definately in the corner of Simmons & Gilbert, despite the Fantastics being uber babyfaces. Both teams adjust well to this dynamic with some good role playing early on as Gilbert establishes himself as the best wrestler in the match, while Simmons is willing to play the bully.

As things move along though, it evolves into something unexepctadly good, and that's Eddie Gilbert playing the babyface in peril, and the Fantastics looking like the dominating and at times ruthless aggressors. Gilbert is probably one of the better pure heels wrestling had in the 80s, while NO ONE played better rag dolls than the Fantastics. So the reverse psychology in a sense, works here.

The finish is built to nicely, with the arm work on Gilbert ending up being his team's undoing. Unfortunately though, it ended up backfiring in the last five minutes, especially the finish, as the crowd was a little TOO behind Simmons and Gilbert winning the match. In wrestling, it's always good to roll with the punches when the crowd is more undecided, but only to a point and I think they might have overdone it here. It's a case of these guys almost being a little too good for their own good, which unfortunately can be the downfall of some dream match up combinations.

Still though, this is a solid offering and a great end to a fun tournament. The roles evolve throughout the match and the boys try to manage the crowd reactions as best they can, even if it didn't end on the note they were looking for. **3/4

MATCH #2: Steve Williams v. The Italian Stallion

This match killed far more time than it should have. Nothing was offensively bad here, in fact Williams looks like a killer as always, but again, guys like Stallion just don't have enough stuff to really fill up a 15 minute match and make it look like they've got much of a fighting chance. There are a ton of spots where you're just waiting for Williams to end it and NOT looking for a Stallion comeback. There are some good spurts for a minute here and a minute there and the transitions are also done pretty well, so again, this isn't entirely un entertaining, but it's nothing overly decent either. *1/2

MATCH #3: Hand Tied Behind His Back: Ivan Koloff v. Paul Jones

Here's another match with just a strange dichotamy. Jones and Koloff are probably two of the most hated heels in the company at this time and it's just plain odd to see Koloff working babyface. Jones heels it up well and Nikita's comebacks are done pretty well so on the surface, this is probably better than most would give it credit for, but it struggles in the sense that no one seems to really be behind Ivan at any one point. Another match that didn't have anything bad, but just suffered from a lack of feel that's important in a good rivalry. *1/2

MATCH #4: Dusty Rhodes v. Road Warrior Animal

This starts off fun, but man oh man is Dusty sloppy in this. I'm not a guy that puts TOO much stock into move execution, but Dusty's so out of place in times, it takes away from my overall enjoyment of things. Just like the Sullivan match from September, it just doesn't last long enough to really start going anywhere. Dusty hits the ring like a ball of fire, awkwardly cleans house, the crowd explodes and everyone sort of gets carried away. Dusty pelts the referee and Hawk interferes before Sting comes in to make the save and we've got the last little bit of build before the big Starrcade grudge match. This doesn't come off like an actual match, but more like an extended continuation of an angle, which I will say is quite good, but again, that doesn't really help the match all that much. *1/4

MATCH #5: The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham

For a lot of people, this is sort of a dream match up. The Midnight Express are basically kings of the tag division. They've held both the World and US tag titles and at one point, held both at the same time. Flair and Windham are the World and US singles champs, and obviously the superior singles workers, so you know this is set up to be good. It sure delivers in spades.

To this point, I think this is the best match the Clash has produced. The Midnight Express dominate the early going, as they should, this being their environment. Flair in particular, is never given an opportunity early on to figure out either Lane nor Eaton as the Express use a lot of quick tags and double team moves to keep Flair utterly off balance. Windham looks totally lost (in a good way) trying to handle both guys as the Express keep things calm for themselves, as hectic for the Horseman.

Eventually though, the Horseman start thinking and while Flair aren't as accustomed to tag wrestling as Arn and Tully, still know how to take advantage of a situation and Windham turns the tables while the referee is tending to Lane by clocking Eaton with a killer lariat. From there, the Horseman start targeting the head and legs and doing their horseman thing, keeping him iscolated while getting their big shots in while the official is tending to the babyfaces.

Eventually though, Lane gets a killer hot tag and cleans house. Eaton is back in quickly enough and with Windham more or less taken care of, they go for the home run shots on Flair hitting the goozle then an Eaton top rope leg drop. Emotions take over though as Cornette goes ballistic on JJ Dillon on the outside for getting a little overly involved in the match (the goading of Cornette throughout the match is a fun distraction) and Flair's able to quickly turn the tables with a shoe shot to a weakened Eaton's head, draping his partner over Bobby for the victory.

Here's another good match made better by playing to the obvious surface strengths of all four guys in the ring. This is classic Horseman stuff here as they think (and cheat) their way to a win with a super hot crowd.

This is a match that anyone looking to become a good tag wrestler should watch. Roles stay consistent and that theme trumps anything else. Flair and Windham look awkward at first, but their sheer ability keeps them in it long enough to buy opportunities to beat a supererior TEAM. This is a brutally awesome match that is a must see and to this point, is the best i've seen on any of the shows thus far. ***3/4

OVERALL: This is two beautiful loaves of bread with some shitty meat in the middle. There's plenty of Starcade build, but they didn't go for the hard sell for the pay per view as much as I'd expect. Everyone, losers included, head into the pay per view looking strong. This isn't consistently good throughout, but it's still pretty great. B

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash IV)
1. The Midnight Express v. Ric Flair & Barry Windham, Clash IV ***3/4
2. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2
3. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4
4. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/4
5. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***
6. The Fantastics v. Ron Simmons & Eddie Gilbert, US Tag Titles, Clash IV **3/4
7. The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders **1/2, Clash II
8. Mike Rotundo v. Brad Armstrong, TV Title, Clash III **1/2
9. Ricky Morton v. Ivan Koloff, Russian Chain Match, Clash III **1/2
10. Dusty Rhodes & Sting v. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson **1/2, Clash II

Clash of Champions III: Fall Brawl

2007-09-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

Clash of Champions III: Fall Brawl
September 7, 1988

Albany, GA

MATCH #1: World Television Championship: Mike Rotundo (c) v. Brad Armstrong

This is a pretty darn good opener but not anything you won't see a million times in the NWA around this period in time. Just a really well done 'putting over' of a lower mid card guy to give him a little credibilty while making the heel champion look vulnerable at all times.

In fact, there are points where this match is really brilliant. Armstrong's answer early on for pretty much everything in Rotundo's move set is pretty great. They have some decent stuff centered around the headlock and eventually as expected, Rotundo gains control and it looks great for around five-seven minutes.

The problem here is that Armstrong's comebacks NEVER really come off, at least to me, as really belivable. Sure, put me back in 1988 and i'd have probably been popping for them, but the fact that it doesn't look great now shows how it doesn't hold up all that well. I think they missed out on some heat a bit with Armstrong not getting any of the near falls down the stretch as well, although there IS ONE searing hot small package spot I really dug.

Dr. Death's presence wasn't played off of more either, and that's a little something that could've been utilized a bit more. I can see why they didn't, as this IS the opener, but if they were REALLY going for the put over, then that'd have been the way to go. Never the less, this is a really good opener. **1/2

MATCH #2: The Sheepherders v. "Dr. Death" Steve Williams & Nikita Koloff

Needless to say, this is a monster change of pace from the first match. I think it's safe to assume that there will be no armbars and headlocks in this.

Much to my embarassment, I clearly haven't seen as much of the Sheepherders as I should have pre-Bushwhakers years, because they're really great heels. Like really, really good. They don't DO a lot, but they're a boat load of fun and they stick with their own unique schtick that seemed to stick out in a tag team division that at the time, had two or three of the greatest heel tag teams ever.

This match is really all them, IMO, if for nothing more than the fact that Koloff and Williams are a terrible pairing. I LOVE Williams and even have a soft spot for Nikita, but as a duo, matched up against a team like the 'herders, they're an awful pairing. Both guys are very full-steam ahead, smash mouth, kill your mother type workers and them garnering sympathy while getting beat down isn't likely to happen. Get a team like the SHeepherders who cheat and beat, and this is kind of starting off behind the eight ball before things even start.

This SHOULD be a terrible match, but it surprisingly wasn't and that's large in part due to the 'Herders just being way too much fun as bad guys. They start off doing the right thing, and that's just to eat bumps, look stooge-ish, and make funny faces. Eventually of course they cheat, Morgan's interfering, and good lord it's a debacle. Neither Williams or Koloff gets stuck as the 'babyface in peril' for too long so they never really seccumb to what could have been a major league black hole for this match. The end I almost liked as much, as they ended it with a Russian Sickle out of nowhere, which would have worked perfectly had there not been a minor legal man issue, but really, this could have been a train wreck, so I'm not going to pick at straws. **1/2

MATCH #3: Dusty Rhodes v. Kevin Sullivan

It's just around this time period that I can't stand Dusty Rhodes on any level whatsoever and this match is just more of that. It's an entirely underwhelming brawl that had it not been for Sullivan being dastardly and Hart being sinister, I could've cared less about.

Rhodes is entirely in his own world here at points as practically all his offense sort of catches Sullivan off kilter at points, and it comes off that neither of these two are on the same page heading into this.

The finish is imfamously bad, but ultimately, this match was dead before the finish.
*

MATCH #4: Russian Chain Match: Ricky Morton v. Ivan Koloff

This was a pretty great little match. Basically the story heading in is that this is Ricky Morton's first big singles match while Koloff is basically in a lose or you're out of my stable situation with Paul Jones.

Ricky Morton is one sensational wrestler and Koloff, who by this point is completely limited in what he can do, is still a fun lower mid-card schtick around this time. Morton's selling and timing is really great here and there are plenty of great, brutal spots with Ricky and Ivan using the chain.

What makes this match a well-worked one though, is the lack of blood. Usually in matches like this, you want a blood bath, but being sorta meaningless in the long run, it'd make no sense to have these two splaterring each other's faces and doing lame high spots. Instead, the chain becomes the central feature in Koloff's struggle to win the match, rather than just to inflict pain with it, and vice versa, it sorta becomes Morton's handicap.

Koloff appropriately is in charge most of the match. He uses the chain to maintain control but never over does it. Morton uses the chain when he can too, but struggles trying to drag Koloff from corner to corner. Things tie together nicely enough in the end when Morton is a hair's breath from the final corner and Koloff uses Jones' crop to try and help him win the match, but Jones can't hold on and Morton clatters into the corner for the win.

Like I said, this isn't OMFG~ MOTY!! stuff, but it's a well worked match for it's spot on the card, which, in a world where the Briscoe's are bleeding and Austin Aries is doing 9 billion flips on the undercard, is really refreshing. **1/2

MATCH #5: United States Championship: Barry Windham (c) v. Sting

God, fuck, dammit, shit Barry Windham rules. Period. Windham just totally rocks my world in this match and for whatever reason, my overly educated ass almost completely forgets that Sting's even in this thing. This is a really great TV main event but to be fair, it's really a one man show.

Windham's reactions throughout the first ten minutes utterly destroy the world. His getting pissed off at Sting dumping him on his ass ONCE, his goading San Fransisco 49ers star John Ayers at ringside, 'changing up his strategy'.... he rules. Sting just sort of plays along, doing some ok babyface no-selling and Windham bumping all over god green's earth for him. Oh and Windham's version of Stinger splash makes me want to sell my mother.

The last ten minutes is done well and the finishes are played to ok. Sting kinda just throws a bunch of stuff out there but for whatever reason, gets at least something to stick almost every comeback run. The sleeper coming down the home stretch is perfectly timed and comes off as a sign of growth as a tactician, which feeds into the larger story here, which is Sting being a great young wrestler thirsting for his first belt.

Windham cuts that nonsense off with a great shin breaker and a little leg work, that is just TOO Four Horseman not to like. Of course the dastardly JJ Dillon gets involved and Windham clocks the unsuspecting Stinger with a chair that Dillon tossed into the ring. Ayers comes charging into the ring and points out who did what to the referee and Sting gets the DQ win. Ayers tosses JJ around a bit and Sting takes care off Windham and all's well that ends well.

Here's another match that while not 'blow your doors' off type stuff, is executed really f-ing well by one guy in the match to the degree that the flaws here aren't really a huge deal. The finish IS a little squirly, but it works well enough for what they're going for, and ultimately that was to put over Sting and the special guest referee for the Flair-Luger match at Starrcade, John Ayers. This isn't as good as the Sting-Flair match from a few months earlier, but it sure is a lot of fun, if only for Windham's motherfucking awesome heel performance. ***1/4

Overall: It's really hard to knock this card as outside of the Rhodes-Sullivan match, NOTHING sucks. In fact, it's all quite good. There are some surprisingly decent performances from Brad Armstrong and Ivan Koloff. I thought the 'Herders-Williams/Nikita match was sure to blow, but was actually really awesome. The main event delivered and got it's point across, too so honestly, there isn't much to dislike at all about this show and that's saying something, as the booking around this period sucked and most of the REALLY good talent in the NWA at the time wasn't even on the card. Go figure. But certainly a sleeper card i'd reccomend to just about anyone.

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash II)

1. Sting v. Ric Flair, World Hvt Title, Clash I ***1/2
2. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics, US Tag Titles, Clash I ***1/4

3. Sting v. Barry Windham, US Title, Clash III ***1/4
4. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger, World Tag Titles, Clash I ***

5. The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders **1/2, Clash II

6. Mike Rotundo v. Brad Armstrong, TV Title, Clash III **1/2

7. Ricky Morton v. Ivan Koloff, Russian Chain Match, Clash III **1/2

8. Dusty Rhodes & Sting v. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson **1/2, Clash II
9. Steve Williams & Nikita Koloff v. The Sheepherders, Clash III **1/2

10. Mike Rutundo v. Jimmy Garvin *3/4, Clash I

Shawn Michaels v. John Cena, Raw 4/23

2007-09-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

Hey all, just figured i'd schtick this on here for your viewing pleasure. For a lot of folks this is a MOTY candidate, your truly included. It's the first broadway we've had in the WWE in nearly four years.

Clash of Champions II: Miami Mayhem

2007-09-08T22:03:00.000-07:00

Clash of Champions II: Miami Mayhem
June 6, 1988
Miami, FL

MATCH #1: United States Championship: Barry Windham v. Brad Armstrong

Really there's nothing here to get overly excited about. I'm a huge Windham mark but here, there's really nothing going on except and extended squash. Armstrong gets some decent stuff in here and there, but outside of that, this is all about making Barry Windham look strong heading into the Great American Bash. *1/2

MATCH #2: US Tag Team Championship: The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders

Here's the Bushwhackers before they started whackin' bush and I like what I see. I was kind of surprised that the challengers got in the ammount of offence they did here as they control pretty much 95% of this match. Kinda shotty booking for the champs.

Irrgegardless, I like this match a heck of a lot more than I probably should. Butch and Luke are pretty awesome as heels here, and just when things seem like they may be getting a little flat, they do something slightly wild to bring the crowd back into it. Being the wild New Zealanders they are, they use a lot of debris around the ring; the guard rail, the belts, a flag pole and even a non-folding chair to the back. Just fun brawlin' heel stuff.

Rogers' selling is out of this world here, which of course just makes everything the heels are doing that much better. Especially an exceptional visual of him slumping in the corner after Butch gets done turning him inside out on what particular occasion.

Again this match suffers from some strange booking and prevents it from really being much better than a decent match. The hot tag is made and then there's a flash pin literally in like 10 seconds for the win and it kinda leaves you with that 'wow, that's all it took' feeling. Again, this hardly sucks and in flashes is incredibly good, but a weird finish takes a lot away from what's an otherwise perfectly acceptable match. **1/2

MATCH #3: Ronnie & Jimmy Garvin (w/ Precious) v. Rick Steiner & Mike Rutundo

This is a total 'angle match'. Everything going on inside of the ring really takes a major league back seat to what's going on on the outside of the ring. Kevin Sullivan, being the creep show he is, is locked up in a cage at ringside while these guys all go at it. Precious has the key to the cage, but it's safe to assume she's not going to be giving that up after Sullivan's psycho stalker behavior stuff.

The match itself is pretty much a wild brawl minus weapons while the camera is on Precious pretty much 75% of the time as she's being heckled by Sullivan, who's pleading with her to give him the key and let him out because he 'has something to show her'. Yes, creepy.

There's nothing to really criticize here, as basically Sullivan ends up getting his hands on Precious and gets the key from her. He goes to rough up the girl at ringside when Steve Williams comes running over after being on commentary most of the match and does a pretty good bomb job on him before bringing Precious back to Jimmy. Thing is though, that precious wants nothing to do with him and walks off. Just sort of an odd 10 minutes or so, that didn't really click with me. *3/4

MATCH #4: Nikita Koloff v. Al Perez

I GUESS these two have been feuding for a little while, but it's kinda hard to tell by the way they're wrestling. Nothing seems to be really learned over the course of their feud and there isn't much intensity between the two. Well, scratch that. Nikita is crazy, but he's always crazy.

Watching the match and more specifically Koloff, makes me think of Batista. His explosiveness and power and total inability to time his stuff is so similar to Bats that's it's kinda creepy. *3/4

MATCH #5 World Tag Team Championship: Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson v. Sting & Dusty Rhodes

If this isn't a classic Dusty booked match, then I dunno what is.

Sting and Dusty come in and completely and totally clean house to open things up. The Horseman struggle to find anything open before JJ Dillon distracts the ref and enables them to break a figure four held by Sting. From there on out it's 'make Sting our bitch' before Dusty gets the hot tag and the faces come within a fart's whiff of winning the tag belts, only for Barry Windham and Flair to come trapsing down to the ring and causing a DQ finish.

That's the match in a nut shell. Here's what I liked-didn't like.

I guess i'll end on a positive note soe i'll go over what I didn't like first. I hate the Dusty circle jerk stuff. Sting is a guy who just took Ric Flair to the absolute limit two months ago and here he is turning into a total punching bag. In fact, i'd have no DOUBT made Dusty that guy just because he'd have been the better choice to garner sympathy from the crowd. It really did Sting no favors and didn't build much heat to anything at the Bash. This was all about pops for Dusty and it just wasn't all that great.

The good stuff. The Four Horseman. Period. The offense is AWESOME, the mannerisms are AWESOME. JJ DILLON is more AWESOME. These guys really make the best out of a really poorly worked match and help it along with some great selling. The ONLY reason the crowd was into this was because of the babyfaces.

And thank god Dusty and Sting were wrestling Blanchard and Anderson. Sting was booked so weak here that i'd think it'd hurt him against any other team.

Overall, another really hit and miss match here with some flashes of brilliance, but certainly nothing top level. **1/2

Overall: This isn't required viewing or anything, but it's hardly bad and worth a watch if you can get ahold of it. There's plenty of good mixed into the bad but if anything, it's a good picture of what was so great and so bad about the NWA at this period in time.

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10 (Through Clash II)
1. Sting v. Ric Flair ***1/2, Clash I
2. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics ***1/4, Clash I
3. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger ***, Clash I
4. The Fantastics v. The Sheepherders **1/2, Clash II
5. Dusty Rhodes & Sting v. Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson **1/2, Clash II
6. Mike Rutundo v. Jimmy Garvin *3/4, Clash I
7. Jimmy Garvin & Ronnie Garvin v. Mike Rutundo & Rick Steiner *3/4, Clash II
8. Barry Windham v. Brad Armstrong *3/4, Clash II
9. Nikita Koloff v. Al Perez *3/4, Clash II
10. Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors v. Ivan Koloff & Powers of Pain *1/4, Clash I

Clash of Champions I Review

2007-09-08T08:39:00.000-07:00

Clash of Champions I
March 27, 1988
Greensboro, NC

MATCH #1 World Television Championship, Olympic Rules: Mike Rutundo v. Jimmy Garvin

This is sort of in the midst of that whole Precious being chased by the obsessed Kevin Sullivan thing, which was, well, pretty awesome. I'm a sucker for both these guys and even though Garvin's actual talent as a worker is probably mid card level at best, the character just rules. Feather boas are manly.

The basically start off with you're typical strong face-heel stuff with Rutundo wearing the Syracuse uniform and in general being a douche. This isn't exactly MOTY stuff and the stipulation is just thrown on there to make the match seem a little bit more important. The real issue at hand is for Precious to get her revenge on Sullivan and she gets that in the end with a really fun 2X4 beat down on Sullivan the crowd goes banannas for. Consider the show opened. *3/4

MATCH #2: US Tag Team Championship: The Midnight Express v. The Fantastics

This is utterly incredible. I'll almost be willing to say the Fantastics might be the best tag team to never fully get their due. These two teams are primarily known for their work IN the ring, but this is an insanely awesome brawl.

Cornette's on the mic before hand to talk shit and be a slime ball. Love the guys in the front row. The two teams go right at it from the opening bell and pretty much this is just bedlam from here on out. There are some pretty wild chair shots for the time and a really cool body slam on a table set up on the outside. Even Cornette is trying to get in on the fun and throws a chair at Fulton like a total sissy and then gets chased. Just wildly entertaining stuff.

Finally the match settles down into a tag team wrestling match around five minutes in. Great iscolation, baby face in peril stuff with the Midnight Express just putting a brutal beat down on poor Bobby Fulton. The back work here is great, and Fulton was one hell of a seller.

The gradual build up of Tommy Roger's wanting to kill the world is great on the outside and when the hot tag is missed by the referee, the crowd just about blows up the arena. Rogers finally tweaks and tossed the official over the top rope and begins cleaning house, saving his partner from a sure fire Cornette racket shot. He tosses his partner off the top rope for the big splash. A new referee runs down, makes the three count, and we've got new champions!

Or not. The old official comes in the ring and takes the belts from the Fantastics, gives them back to Cornette's stooges and raises their hand. Dusty, dusty finish. While i'd certaily say this wasn't the best match between these two teams, it's a darn great match. ***1/4

MATCH # 3: Chicago Street Fight: Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors v. Ivan Koloff & The Powers of Pain

Remember that whole hockey mask angle? Yep, this is that match. This was pretty bad. In fact it was woefully bad. Sure, it's a wild brawl and ultimately we want to see the heels get what's coming to them but the fact that this doesn't last much more than four minutes is a real let down, especially considering all the time they spent building this sucker up. Granted, it didn't end here, as this was more of a 'quick, let's use a match to shoot through an angle' kind of thing. And not that there's really anything wrong with that. This is what it is. *1/4 just to sound super picky and important.

MATCH #4: World Tag Team Championship: Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger

This match is SO basic, but SO effective all at the same time. The early going is all the youthful upstarts, overpowering the cagey veteran champions at every turn. Blanchard and Anderson start cheating like you read about and because of it, are able to do what they do best, iscolate a body part and rip it off your body and beat you with it.

When that falls through, you see JJ Dillon start to interject himself in the match and man, is he a heat magnet. Finally, Luger gets a big old hot tag and things tend to go nuts. Dillon tosses a chair in the corner and Anderson looks for the whip, but Luger reverses it and Anderson crashes into the chair. One roll up later, and that's all she wrote.

Anyone who wants to see tag team wrestling at it's most fundamental levels done perfectly, this is probably it. GREAT face-heel dynamic, GREAT comebacks, GREAT hot tag, GREAT finish. Again, this isn't MOTY stuff, but any two young wrestlers who wanna learn how to work a great, fundamentally sound tag match should watch this. ***

MATCH #6: World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair v. Sting

This is probably the match that really put Sting on the map as a major player in the NWA/WCW for the duration of the late 80's. Sure, Sting was obviously over before this, but I think this was really his official 'arrival' so to speak and with good reason, as it's a good match, but certainly not in the upper echilon of stuff these two did together but more of the end of the first chapter so to speak.

Much like the tag match that preceeded this was a great example of great fundamental tag wrestling, this is probably the penultimate Flair makes another guy match. Ironically even though it's sort of remembered as that match that cemented Sting as a top flight guy, it was Flair who steals the show here.

The early going is all Sting. Flair tries everything from shoulder blocks, to chops, to raking the eyes, to hip tosses, etc. Everything Flair does, Sting has an answer for. The entire first 15 minutes or so is basically Sting in charge, using the headlock as a launching pad for the bigger bombs he throws. His persistence is what's leading him towards the light and it's when he hesitates, that he pays.

Sting finally breaks a headlock and just like that, Flair rolls out of the way and the match takes a turn for the heelish. Flair of course takes things right to the outside whre if Sting gets the upperhand, he can't pin Flair, thus keepin' the champ safe in a hotly contested title match. Great stuff here as Flair begins battering away at Sting. Being ever resourceful though, Sting comes back with some bombs of his own, finding a way to beat the Flair control segment.

Sting neutralizes Flair a little bit more with some back work and other fun, but then takes a really stupid mistake, showing his youth, when he misses a diving clothesline into the ring post. Flair pounces on the arm like any good champ would and begin taking it apart. Eventually Sting's able to reverse an irish whip and shrug off some Flair chops and here we go to the finish.

The two trade roll ups and all sorts of wild stuff heading down the last 10 minutes and have the crowd going nuts. Like any good Flair draw, it ends with him in a boatload of trouble heading down the final stretch, only to sneak away with the draw. ***1/2

Overall: This is a really great television wrestling show. Like really, really great. Three matches over three stars and while the other two don't bring much inthe way of quality action, they're a boat load of fun and completely satisfying. Ross and SHOCKINGLY Shavone are out-freaking-standing calling the action to boot. This is as good as TV wrestling can probably get.

Clash of Champions On Going Top 10
1. Sting v. Ric Flair ***1/2
2. Midnight Express v.The Fantastics ***1/4
3. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger ***
4. Mike Rutundo v. Jimmy Garvin *3/4
5. Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors v. Ivan Koloff & Powers of Pain *1/4
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

The Best of the Clash of Champions Project

2007-09-08T08:37:00.000-07:00

So I recently was able to aquire not only all the SaturdayNight's Main Event shows on DVD, but also all the old NWA Clash of Champions specials. So I thought, why not watch all these birds, review 'em all, and put together a nice, neat little list of the top 10 ever?

Brilliant!

Jack Evans, Hansen Horns and Frosty Beverages

2007-09-04T21:47:00.001-07:00

Jack Evans and yours truly. Ready to take the wrestling world on by storm.

The Top 10 Through August 2007

2007-09-02T17:05:00.001-07:00

1. John Cena v. Umaga, WWE Championship, Last Man Standing, Royal Rumble ****1/2
2. Shawn Michaels v. John Cena, Raw 4/23 ****1/4
3. John Cena v. Randy Orton, WWE Championship, Summerslam ****1/4
4. Yuji Nagata v. Hiroyoshi Tanahashi, IWGP Hvt. Championship, 4/13 ****
5. Jimmy Jacobs v. BJ Whitmer, Steel Cage Match, Super Card of Honor II ****
6. John Cena v. Bobby Lashley, WWE Championship, Great American Bash ***3/4
7. The Undertaker v. Batista, World Heavyweight Championship, Wrestlemania 23 ***3/4
8. Yuji Nagata v. Togi Makabe, IWGP Hvt. Championship, 7/6 ***1/2
9. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima, 5th Year Anniversary Show 2/16 ***1/2
10. John Cena v. Shawn Michaels, WWE Championship, Wrestlemania 23 ***1/2

WWE: The Goodies

2007-09-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

WWE Championship-- Last Man Standing
John Cena v. Umaga
Royal Rumble 2007

This isn’t just the best match I’ve seen this year, it’s one of the best matches I’ve seen the WWE produce this decade and easily the best Last Man Standing match ever. Cena’s selling takes this match to another level. The theme is a gradual escalation of violence and all the spots stay consistent with the overall theme of the match.

Cena survives and escapes every hair raising scenario he’s in until Umaga basically snaps and the match goes from violent, to utterly out of control. Umaga rips off the corner piece looking for a samoan spike. Cena counteres and instead of the FU, uses the ring ropes to choke the monster unconscious. Just a sensational, sensational match, and my runaway pick for match of the year.

Funny enough, I thought i'd have a lot more to say about this, but I feel the action speaks for itself and there are really no flaws here, save for the fact that I don't think anyone thought Cena was losing this heading in. Still though, this match rules at a ridiculous level. ****1/2

Shawn Michaels-John Cena
Raw, 4/23

This built absolutely superbly off of their Wrestlemania encounter and in all honesty, this was an entirely better match. Cena starts off as the cocky champion this time. I like that version of Cena. The underdog thing, while Cena does it well, has become a little stale and it's nice to see Cena playing up the fact that he's really the man. It's a welcome change of pace.

Cena's already defeated HBK once before and figures this’ll be a walk in the park. NOTHING Michaels can do seems to work against Cena this time around, as Cena's bursting with confidence. This worked almost like an extended version of HBK-Angle from WM 21 a few years previous except all the segments are more developed and drawn out. Michaels is finally able to grab a headlock and maintain control, but that’s about it. You always have this feeling that Michaels knows if he loses the headlock, he's going to get owned.

Before long Cena gains the edge again. Gradually HBK just has to get a little wreckless and does. The whole show stopper thing comes out when Michaels stops caring and opens a match up. He can't wrestle conservatively if he wants to beat Cena. He pays for the risks a few times but is slowly able to sucker Cena into playing his game.

Again though, that was a three part play, with three separate acts (matches):

Act I-- Cena makes HBK his bitch. Again.

Act II-- Whatever you can do, I can do better.

Act III-- Just when you think you've got Michaels......

Cena looked more like 'Champion' in that match then he ever has. He was billed as dominant in the early going and completely out wrestled, out brawled and basically dominated the entire first 20 minutes. Even when HBK would catch a break, he couldn't keep his momentum up long enough to mount any respectable momentum. I loved the whole Cena 'imposes his will' on HBK. After a while though, Cena had to start going for big moves. So HBK countered back with big moves of his own. It was the only way he could stick around in the match. With every big move he escaped from, he frustrated Cena more. With every big move he hit, he bought himself time.... an opportunity... to strike. HBK finally hits SCM, but he hasn't gotten enough offense, especially on a guy of John Cena's calibur, to put him down. And then we get the home stretch, the last ten minutes where both guys split a crash and burn and moments of exhaution and bewilderment. Finally, HBK gets the narrowest of openings.. the smallest possible opening, an completely cold cocks John Cena with a second sweet chin music. Lighting had to strike twice, but HBK survived and perservered.

Honestly, this was spaced out almost as well as the Flair-Steamboat II and Joe-Punk matches... it was sensationally called and any schmoe could pick up on the story, which made it even more enjoyable. ****1/4

WWE Championship
John Cena-Bobby Lashley
Great American Bash 2007

Great match. Honestly. They did an excellent job of establishing Lashley as a legitimate threat early on. He out powers Cena. Two minutes later he wins a mat grappling exchange. Then, shockingly enough, he wins a striking exchange. He seemingly does everything a little bit better on a physical level at least.

Then Cena does his Cena thing, which is get resourceful and figure out a way to win the match. One thing I LOVE about Cena is how well he conveys how important it is to his character to win through a sense of urgency. Cena didn't do the little Cena comeback thing here, he just realizes he's getting beaten up pretty badly and needs to lay in the big bombs to put Lashley down or he's not gonna last long.

Lashley's hungry, but a little TOO hungry and gets himself into some precarious positions and counters throughout the match. Finally, he gets really young and stupid and follows Cena to the top rope and Cena kills him with a top rope FU and that's it. Cena looks resourceful while Lashley looks like he's physically there, but just needs work on the mental game. Given the build they went with, the finisher whoring didn't bother me all that much towards the end and the crowd was absolutely eating every minute of it up. It's EASILY the best Bobby Lashley match i've ever seen and one of Cena's stronger performances this year, which really is saying somethign considering the year he's had. Good match with high intensity that everyone looked like they benefitted from. ***3/4

WWE Intercontinental Championship
Umaga-Jeff Hardy
Great American Bash 2007

Excellent match. Until the main event this was a walkaway for match of the night on the bash card. I TOTALLY bought Umaga as a monster while for a brief period, bought Jeff Hardy beating him. I'm not huge on Hardy as I think he's pretty one dimensional, but the one thing he does well (punching bag), he does really well. Pair that off with Umaga's incredible ability to whoop massive ammounts of ., you've got a great match up. I loved the sense of urgency on Umaga's part at the end to stop screwing around and just end the match. Great stuff ***1/2

World Heavyweight Championship
Batista v. The Undertaker
Wrestlemania 23

Fun ’big guns’ type of match up. The story of this one is basically two of the most physically imposing guys on Smackdown throwing bombs at each other until one can keep the other down long enough to beat him. Neither guy maintains control very long and like the Cena-Umaga match from a few months prior, the violence and big bombs escalate. In the end, Taker’s able to absorb more punishment to eek out the win and the title.

The fifteen minutes or so wasn’t long enough for some, but honestly, this is how all Batista matches should go. He kept great pace and the big spots all served as small bookmarks as the match went on. While Cena-HBK later that night was more of a marathon, this was more of a sprint. It’s an excellent big man match well worth going out of your way to check out. It's not a particularly complicated match and it shouldn't be. They whored the finishers out a bit towards the end, but I don't think it was particularly an issue given the thrust they were going for. This is a great match worth checking out. ***3/4

WWE Championship
John Cena v. Shawn Michaels
Wrestlemania 23

I've watched this match probably close to seven million times and I don't know what it is, but these two really failed to give this match that 'it' factor, or make Cena's win seem like a BIG deal and ultimately, it suffered from the same thing Cena's match with Triple H at Wrestlemania 22 did.

There's really nothing bad here but the more I watch of both the WM 22 match and now this one, the more I see the blatant lack of creativity between the two. Both HBK and HHH dominate Cena early on in the match and in this match, BOTH guys get way too comfotable working a lax match against Cena. Cena's will to win and sense of urgency is what leads him to victory. Really, they're very similar matches, with this one being a little bit better and a little more complicated.

Now all that being said, this isn't a bad match at all. Quite the contrary acutally, it's VERY good, but it still lacks that 'it'-ness about it to make it TRULY memorable. In fact, I thought the match they had on Raw a few weeks later was head and shoulders better than this. This is required viewing for your WWE watching this year, but it loses it's luster for me everytime through I suppose whereas others, like the Lashely-Cena match and the Cena-Umaga match get better.

I dunno, this is really good, but again, it's not quite in the league of the other matches. I'd even go as far as to say it's not the best match on the card. ***1/2

WWE Catch Up

2007-09-02T14:44:00.000-07:00

I started this sucker just a week or so ago, so I apologize for the initial helter skelter of it all. I've got a lot of stuff from 07 that I want to get on here, and will be playing catch up with. Forgive the disorganization. That being said, here's some WWE stuff I've been meaning to put up here.

WWE Championship
John Cena v. The Great Khali
Judgement Day

This was shockingly good considering Khali was in this. There's not a whole heck of a lot to this, as it's just mostly Khali killing Cena with big man stuff and Cena selling his backside off for the big man. Somehow, despite being exceptionally basic, is a really good match.

Cena goes right at the challenger, seemingly unintimidated, but nonetheless a stupid move. Khali cuts him off in short order and sends most of the match tossing Cena all over the ring. Everytime Cena mounts a bit of a comeback, Khali cuts it off with something special looking. On the outside, he tosses Cena into the steps in a cool looking spot and cuts the second Cena comeback off with a nasty looking wheel kick.

The end is done really well though, seemingly playing off immediate pain rather than long, sustained selling. Khali tries to pick up the ring steps and Cena drop kicks the steps, sending them crashing into Khali's legs. Khali is gingerly climbing into the ring when Cena flies up to the top rope and comes sailing off with the leg drop. Leg and head hurt, STFU takes care of it. Very good, almost lucky ending for John Cena.

Cena's selling in this of course is top notch, but Khali deserves a tip of the cap too, holding the let on the outside and giving a great 'oh shit' face when he gets tangled in the ropes. This isn't Misawa-Kawada, but it's a fun main event made better by some great selling on the part of John Cena. ***

World Heavyweight Championship
Edge v. Batista
Judgement Day 2007

I don't know how I feel about this to be honest. All three or four of their matches never really got taken up a notch and everything seemed to be about building to a big blow off that never really happened. Even more than the MVP-Benoit matches, these all seemed to be lacking something. This one is okay for what it's worth, as they're just trying to cement Edge as a legitimate Champion. This match is coming directly off the heels of his second cashing in of the money in the bank contract so it'd seem fit that they do something to legitimize him.

Everything Edge does is as a result of a finger poke or some other fun heelish activity. Batista just swings for the fences as per the usual. Really though, this doesn't go anywhere and while nothing they do is remotely offensive or anything, none of it is really all that great either. Very average match that just seemed to lack 'it'. **

MNM v. The Hardy Boys
Royal Rumble 2007

This match had an interesting build to it, as it was a tag team match between teams of former partners who're all in singles feuds with... each other. Far more complicated than most stuff. Basically all you need to know is that both teams are very good and there's lots of hate to go around for everyone.

On the Raw brand, Jeff Hardy and Johnny Nitro have been feuding for forever and a day over the IC Championship. They put on a fun ladder match and a decent, but not overly violent cage match a few weeks prior this this match. Matt Hardy and Joey Mercury have been feuding over on the Smackdown brand in the meantime, as Mercury is still trying to get revenge on Matt for the infamous see-saw ladder shot to the face last month. Leading up to this match, he and Nitro tweaked Hardy's jaw to give it a body part for body part type lead in.

Basically the match progresses along the lines of Joey Mercury wanting to hurt a Hardy. He and Nitro target Matt Hardy and that jaw early on with some fun double team work. The hot tag finally comes and even Jeff Hardy gets cut off. Mercury holds this match together for me though, as he really looks like a spiteful guy and really does a good job of letting everyone know how badly he wants to hurt both brothers. I especially love the part where he decks Matt in the injured jaw only to pull back and show the crowd himself rubbing his fist because he hit Matt so hard.

Mercury's Hardy-hate actually ends up costing his team the match though, as the shoulder tackle to the floor on Matt allows Jeff to get the hidden tag, hit the swanton and win the match. This is definately good stuff. ***

World Heavyweight Championship, Last Man Standing Match
The Undertaker v. Batista
Backlash 2007

Very excited about this given that the Wrestlemania 23 match was so good.

This is built entirely around the whole 'who can keep the other guy down for 10 seconds' thing which I like better than the brutal "I hate your guts" kind of stuff they've done in the past. Thus i'm a little remice when JBL starts talking about how brutal the match is immediately after the video package is done. It's not exactly the end of the world or anything, but still.

Honestly, I didn't really feel as if this was a step up from WM. Basically it's a bomb-fest, but this time it's got some weapons. I like some of the learned spots in this, like Taker cutting off Batista on the top rope and returning the favor for the table shot last month. Batista certainly seems to be the desperate one here and looks better than Taker in this match, IMO. He looks SO rattled by losing his title and it plays out well throughout the match as he doesn't seem to really care how he wins, as long as it happens.

All that aside though, it's really not a major step forward, just a really good last man standing match, which really is ok with me. There's some great selling on the part of Batista, as the leg injury never becomes a focal point of the match, but always a way to gain control for Taker. The spots are good too, especially the steps-shot and the table breakage. The ending is a LITTLE overdone, but keeps the door open for that third match we unfortuantely never got to see.

While this isn't quite up to part with the big five this year, i'd say it's easily towards the top of the next tier of matches and most certainly in the top 10 WWE matches this year. By all means, check it out. ***1/4

More G1 & New Japan Fun

2007-09-01T17:30:00.000-07:00

G1 Climax Tournament

First Round, Block A

Akebono v. The Giant Bernard

Most American fans would think this would be a suck-fest of epic proportions. Me? I'll give it a chance. Bernard-o, also known as A-Train, has significantly improved over the past year or so, yet the latest in a growing list of crappy American big men who have popped up in Japan and learned not only how to wrestle, but wrestle well.

Akebono of course, is a rather large tub of suck, but is fun on some levels and the fans over there seemingly love watching him. Or so we're told at least.

The bell rings and Bernard goes right for Akebono, all pissed off that this fat ass would even think he should be here. He keeps up with the clubberin' before the referee rips him off and admonishes him for fat people discrimination. Bernard gets caught up in that heated discussion a little too long and Akebono hits him in the balls, pissed that this guy doesn't know how to treat, you know, a REAL celebrity.

Akebono uncorcks some good nut work before moving into more of the standard, plodding big man stuff; standing on Bernard, wrenching his head, etc. Akebono finally has enough and tossed Bernard to the outside.

Things take a turn for the weirdly alright when Akebono, who looks like a giant potato with tooth picks for legs, gets tripped up by Bernard and the big, bad Bostonian takes a chair and nails him in the leg with it. I'm usually not as fan of big man limb stuff because big men shouldn't be DOING that kind of stuff. They should be punching you and sitting on you and eating your family whole, not doing top wrist locks. But for whatever reason, it works alright here and Bernard might as well be wearing pink and calling himself Bret Hart-o.

Even more shocking, there's so decently done selling from Akebono here when he starts hitting his leg to get feeling back into it. Good stuff. The two trade some bombs before Bernard-o gets a rush and ducks under an Akebono lariat and hits a pretty impressive back drop driver. He goes to follow with a big boot but Akebono stops him, sends him off the ropes and buries him with a Samoan drop, thus returning the favor.

Somehow we end up on the outside and Akebono tosses Bernard around for a little while before whipping him into the ring post. He lines up Bernard for a sumo splash, but Bernard ducks for cover and the sumo champ clatters into the ring post.

Bernard figures it's time to stop fucking around so he goes and retrieves the time keeper's table and sets it up and then puts the seven million pound Akebono on it. He goes to the second rope and dives off, crushing Akebono and the table beneath him. Both are out of it on the floor and the official counts to 10 for the double count out.

This is a fun, short big man match. Both guys are more or less protected here, as both guys ate each other's best stuff and neither came out looking weak. Bernard's the token monster in New Japan these days, so you can't really put Akebono over him. Akebono is the celebrity draw whose lending some credibility to the show, so you can't have Bernard go over him either. Nice safe result with enough crowd popping stuff to keep folks interested. Even smarks. **

G1 Climax Tournament

Block-A

The Giant Bernard v. Togi Makabe

As i've said a few times, Bernard is probably the most improved wrestler in the world while Togi Makabe is probably the most fun wrestler to watch in the world. Both struggle with their anger, so this match is any therapists' dream.

The match starts out and surprisingly, Bernard is more of the cuddly teddy bear with the crowd and all nice guy wrestling and stuff. Makabe is even feeling good tonight so he offers his hand as a gesture of sportsmanship. Then he kicks Bernard in the stomach and goes all heelish. Bernard doesn't like that so he just takes Makabe and dumps him on his head and begins throwing him around like a rag doll.

Bernard makes a bit of a mistake though, tossing Makabe to the outside and chasing him. Makabe loves to brawl and loves to play with the many toys that can be found around the ring. Bernard finds out he probably should have kept this a fist fight, as he gets quickly whipped to the barricade. Makabe gets a table set up and then walks over to Bernard with a look on his face that can best be described as:

Anyways, he whips Bernard into the table before letting the crowd know he thinks they're all homos. Makabe makes HIS mistake of the match by taking the silliness back into the ring. He controls things for a little while, but soon, Bernard-o makes an awesome, awesome babyface comeback. He drops Makabe on his head, hits some big boots and hits the vader bomb out of the corner for an awesome near fall, but Makabe kicks out.

Makabe is an awesome cranky heel because as much as the crowd boos him for his antics, it's the toughness that makes the crowd respect-hate him and him taking all of Bernard's shots are almost adding to the heel heat. Bernard picks him up to put the exclaimation point on things, but accidentally hits the referee with Makabe's legs. Ironically, Makabe DIDN'T try to cheat..

Great babyface-heel work here again with Bernard turning around to tend to the referee IMMEDIATELY. The smarmy Makabe is on the other side and goes to jump Bernard but instead of doing the usual heel jumps face, foreign object thing, Bernard cuts him off and kills him with a body slam and goes for a cover with no referee in a pretty hot spot.

Bernard is frustrated so he goes to revive the ref, again, taking his eye off Makabe. Makabe rolls to the corner and retrieves his chain and nails the big man with it. The referee gets up with this disgusted look on his face, knowing Makabe probably cheated, but he can't DQ him. Bernard kicks out in another hot near fall. Makabe kills him with a lariat and THAT doesn't work either. Bernard's pretty much KO'd though, and Makabe knows it. He mounts the top rope and hits a flying knee drop to the back of Bernard's face and no one, not even super man, is kicking out.

Makabe is an incredibly hate-able douche after the match, flipping off the crowd andBernard, waving 'buh bye' as he walks towards the back. Bernard goes ballistic in the middle of the ring and then puts a nasty beat down on his cornermen and thrashes about the ringside area, going all heel himself.

This is another great match from both these guys. Personally, i'd LOVE to see them do a jerk face heel with body guard type thing who eventually break up and feud sort of thing with these two. Work-wise, this is really mediocre stuff, but is made a lot better by good timing (especially by Bernard) and patience with developing certain spots as opposed to rushing them. Makabe plays a killer heel, too. It's another match up that's seriously hard to hate and is carried by outstanding character work onthe part of Makabe. Bernard-o brings the goods too. Definately worth checking out. **3/4

IWGP Heavyweight Championship

Yuji Nagata v. Togi Makabe

This is a total debacle, utterly out of control and one of the most (if not THE) most fun match of the year for me so far. Makabe is just a nut in this. He's great as the guy who is giong to play by his own rules, even if it means he loses. He just wants to hit people with chains, bleed and stab you in the head with scissors. Fun.

Nagata's totally chippy in this too. One of my favorite scene in the match is the two dissapearing through a door in the side of an arena, and by the time they pop back up, Nagata's the one in control and he's got this look on his face like he's dragging his kid out a toy store entrance. It's funny stuff.

Makabe's stooges rule in this too, constantly causing trouble, and are made even more stoogish and fun when Nagata's corner stooges try to pry them off their leader, as if they were expecting them to play fair or something, then getting jacked up pretty brutal. Nagata snaps flag poles, Makabe bleeds and the referee even fights back. Technical wrestling blows. That's what this match says. For now, i'll agree. No seriously though, this is way too much fun. ***1/2

2007 G1 Climax Tournament Final

2007-08-30T21:30:00.000-07:00

So with that, here we are at the finals.

Hiroyoshi Tanahashi v. Yuji Nagata

The match starts off differently, this time with a bit more of a feeling out process, Nagata posessing a little bit more respect for Tanahashi after wrestling him once. Once he gains the upper hand though, you really see his attitude go from growing confidence to outright cockiness. He bats Tanahashi around the ring with slaps, kicks and other more strike-oriented stuff with smirks galore, talking a little trash along the way.

Eventually though, Tanahashi catches a break and catches Nagata with a dragon screw on the apron again, but this time, leaps right on Nagata and goes right to work with a neck breaker on the floor. These two seperate bigger spots serve as the basis from which Tanahashi works: First take out the legs. Remember that brutal kick last match that cost Tanahashi the title? Yeah, he doesn't want a repeat of that. Once that threat is eliminated and Nagata's comeback potential is neutralized, start going at his neck and hope that his arsenal of suplexes and the sling blade will be enough to keep the Champion down for the count.

Eventually though, Tanahashi has a stupid moment and decides to start trading shots with Nagata, letting the champ right back into the match. Nagata doesn't punch as hard as he kicks, but he still 'punches' freakin' way harder than Tanahashi and it almost costs him the match just like it cost Nakamura his semi-final contest against Nagata. This is when the match sort of goes from confident-cocky Nagata to the 'NOW I remember why I freaking hate you' Nagata.

Problem is, "NOW I remember why I freaking hate you' Nagata is cousins with sloppy Nagata. Yuji cranks up the same home run kick that won him the belt off Tanahashi four months earlier, only to have the champion catch it this time and hit not one, not two, no, not even three dragon screws, but four, just to be sure Nagata wouldn't pop him out of the blue again.

Tanahashi smells the blood and basically starts dropping Nagata on his neck in an effort to keep him down. He hits a high german and that's good for 2. Tanahashi knows Nagata's plucky, so this German will get him right? Nope, that doesn't either. Rather than lose his cool, Tanahashi keeps his head and mounts the buckles and hits the frog splash. This time, Nagata stays down and Tanahashi wins his first G1.

Overall, I liked this match, but not as much as their first encounter. This certainly felt like a lot bigger deal than the first match, but it didn't quite match up. The progression is nice on the part of Nagata, but as is occasionally the case with him, his selling is REALLY clown-ish at times, which isn't something that should be happening in a big match like this one. Tanahashi is good, but I almost felt like this was more of the formulaic stuff we saw throughout Tanahashi's run with the strap, not the man coming into his own stuff we saw when he lost the belt to Nagata.

All that I can live with though, as it's really more asthetic stuff. The thing that made me like this match a lot less than the other one was that just when it seemed like a segment was really starting to make sense and click, they flew to something else and there wasn't ever really a time to let what was going on settle in. I just felt like the stalled when they got to a certain level and then moved on to the next thing.

The ending though, is outstanding. Tanahashi DOESN'T get hit with the hail mary and this time makes SURE he knows how to end something. He comes in with a plan and sticks to it. Stay around long enough to frustrate the champ, make him goof, take out the legs (defense wins championships) and then start twisting off that neck. In that sense, his stick-to-it-iveness shows a lot of growth despite the structure being rather formulaic Tanahashi stuff. Not that formulaic Tanahashi is bad. It just isn't as good as when Tanahashi is guided to a something new.

Overall I like this, but it did have it's flaws. It plays off some of the good stuff with the last match while flip flopping the roles a bit. ***1/4

Pre-Requisite Viewing

2007-08-30T20:46:00.000-07:00

Before I get into this year's G1 Climax Tournament final, I'd like to take this time and use it as an excuse to post THIS match, which i'm sure you'll all love. I wanted to watch it before I popped in the Tournament Final, because, well, it'll probably make the match better.

Did I mention this is the best match in Japan this year?

IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Hiroyoshi Tanahashi v. Yuji Nagata
April 13, 2007

I've said it in earlier posts, and i'll say it again; the parallels between John Cena and Hiroyoshi Tanahashi are almost eirie. Not that that's a bad thing. Through a lot of hard work, John Cena's probably the best performer on the planet these days. Tanahashi, like Cena, wasn't recieved too well when he initially won the belt, but as time progressed, despite many fans being irritated with him on some level, it became really hard to hate his matches. Here's another case in point.

Yuji Nagata on the other hand. Oh lord, Yuji Nagata. If one were to find a North American counterpart to Nagata, it'd probably be Kurt Angle. Both came in using legit sportsman gimmicks and putting on matches way past their years early on in their careers. When they're on, they're probably both in the top five in the world. However, there's a nasty tendancy to get carried away with thigns to the point where it can trash a match. When Nagata's good, he's scary good. When he's bad, he's REALLY bad.

Nagata's been scraping his way back up to the top of New Japan since that imfamous MMA match with Mirko Cro Cop where Nagata was knocked out in around 30 seconds. It RUINED Nagata's reputation in a lot of ways, and prevented the fans from really buying him as a top guy. Nagata was hit an miss for a good two years after the Cro Cop loss before finally turning it back around in 2006. By 2007, he was looking as good as he did around the time he won the G1 Tournament and IWGP Championship in the same year.

So here we are.

This starts off well with the more experienced Nagata sort of treating Tanahashi like a joke early in the match and doing a lot of stuff just to show Hiroyoshi how much he dislikes him. This non-sense doesn't really lead anywhere, but it's what it sets off in Tanahashi that makes it awesome.

Tanahashi, after feining a Dragon suicida, lets Nagata into the ring and is just like 'fuck me? No. Fuck you and your attitude' and just begins unloading on Nagata. Nagata likes slug fests and quickly wins the battle, but the patient and coy Tanahashi catches a wild kick and screws it off the top rope and Nagata clatters to the floor along with the Champion.

Here's where the match approaches HBK-Cena II levels of awesomeness. What I LOVED about HBK-Cena II was the fact that instead of playing the plucky, clutch underdog champion, Cena wrestles with a boat load of attitude and confidence. Tanahashi basically does that here. Gone is the comeback crap, Tanahashi is going to rip that leg off Nagata and beat him with it, not because it neutralizes Nagata's primary weapon (kicks), but because he can. Just like you don't see a lot of Cena extended control segments, you don't see a lot of Tanahashi extended control segments and watching him make Nagata his woman for about 10 minutes rules plain and simple.

Nagata on the other hand, is incredible. His selling is what makes the match and all the annimosity that the crowd directs towards Tanahashi makes it just that much more fun of an atmosphere. He puts on perhaps one of the best, if not THE best selling performances of the year, letting his knee give out on a whip attempt, having it give out on a third brain buster attempt, etc.

In fact, it's the selling that just shifts this match into total overdrive for the finish line when Nagata counters Tanahashi's frog splash attempt with his injured knees. The sense of urgency he has, knowing that saving his skin that time might end up being the reson he loses the match in the long run, is incredible. Tanahashi's German attempt that he tries to score a pin with that he's lying all over Nagata's grundle as if to say 'please god, please let me keep this guy down'.

The kick at the end is the punctuation. The plucky Tanahashi has juice to kick out of one german, but not two, and this one's in the books and we have a new champ.

Just a really incredible match that Tanahashi lays out that Nagata just makes better. I love this whole Nagata not trying to do too much stuff and let his selling be the thing that adds the drama. The matches i've enjoyed the most from him; the Giant Bernard match from last year and now the Tanahashi title change, have been good preciecely because of Nagata's selling making those guys look dominant.

This is an excellent match and probably in my top five so far this year. It's easily the best match to come out of Japan that i've seen. ****

G1 Semi-Final Fun

2007-08-30T17:08:00.000-07:00

Hiroyoshi Tanahashi v. Togi Makabe

This was an interesting match up for me as I really believe these two are the most significantly improved wrestlers out there these days. Tanahashi really IS the John Cena of Japan in the sense that while many aren't all about the character and his past work, he's won people over with a great work ethic and has all of a sudden come into his own. Makabe on the other hand, has gone from mediocrity to being one of the most legitimately fun wrestlers in the world to watch. Makabe isn't the kind of guy who'll blow you away with great matches, but he's always garunteed to put on a fun show.

Of everyone in the G1 Final Four, Makabe is probably the most unlikely and that shows through much of the match, as he's just not to much of a match for Tanahashi in the ring. He spends a good chunk of the match trying to goad Tanahashi to the outside of the ring where he can turn the match into a total melee as this is the only way he'll really be able to win. Tanahshi on the other hand, has no interest in brawling at first, as you know the minute he goes to the outside, he'll end up on the short end of the stick.

Makabe is finally able to gain the upper hand on the outside, which eventually gives him enough of a head start on Tanahashi to keep control with the leg in the ring. I know a lot of folks probably won't be too wild about the leg work sort of being forgotten as we get into the wee hours, but for me, it wasn't a big deal, as it was used as a launching pad for all the high impact, crazy chain smashing Makabe stuff.

Tanahashi of course, is all about the gradual comebacks and survives in the end, largely due to Makabe's inexperience and tendancy to be, well, insane. Sure, it's rather formulaic, but it's still a lot of fun and while people won't be crapping out stars for it everywhere, it's great for what it is. ***

Yuji Nagata v. Shinsuke Nakamura

Basically, the story here is "I can destroy your arm better than you can destroy mine". Unlike the first match, where limb work is used to maintain control, the limb work in this match is used transitionall and serves as the gate to all the big stuff these two tend to do. I read on the wrestleview forums that one person in particular felt this had it's tight spots and fun stuff, but didn't really 'work' and I've got to agree with him. Arm work usually lends itself, and probably should in the case of this match, to a slower, less bombs galore style.

The segments are counter painful arm hold into painful arm hold of one's own, throw bombs, go back to arm out of nowhere, then get countered. Repeat. While the arm work was the constant through the match and ended up being the end result (Referee stoppage due to Nakamura's arm looking like putty in the end), the stuff in between just seemed like it was there and done for the sake of it rather than really ammounting to anything worth while.

This isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination, but the stuff they do doesn't really work for me. **1/2

I'll have the final up tonight or tomorrow.

Morishima v. Homicide 2-17

2007-08-27T21:23:00.000-07:00

ROH World Championship
Homicide v. Takeshi Morishima
February 17, 2007

So I guess this is one people have said is worth seeing, so I picked it up at the last ROH show in Hartford.

Completely awesome stuff early on with Morishima jumping 'Cide on the match and totally disrepsecting him. Homicide, whose actually a fan of brawls, eventually gains the advantage on the outside. What I liked about this opening piece was that Homicide had to use stuff and get assistance from Smokes to stay on top and control the early going.

As soon as the extra cirricular fun ends, it's all Morishima. Mori tosses in some great big man offense, with big lariats and lumbering wear down holds to completely overwhelm the plucky Champion. Homicide's comebacks are really hapless and nothing, not even his big stuff seems to have any lasting effect.

What makes this good though, at least for me, is Homicide's resilience. He plays the whole 'hard to kill' thing well enough to make it believable, but doesn't over do it like Austin Aries did, atrociously kicking out of that lariat at the end of HIS match with Mori a month or two later. 'Cide is way more sympathetic as the loser here.

The ending was similar to the Aries match, with Morishima just murdering and utterly overwhelming Homicide with two or three back drop drivers and a vicious lariat. The Homicide kick out really put heat on the last back drop driver and didn't come off as at all over the top like the Aries kick out did.

There are, however, some seriously goofy moments that do drag this match down. Homicide shouldn't EVER be able to hit a super plex on a guy like Morishima. Like at all. Some of Homicide's offense is pretty bad. Maybe they were trying to play up Homicide's haplessness, but the moves they chose were really akward.

The other thing I didn't like was the fact that none of the Morishima near falls had any heat. I never bought Homicide's offensive comebacks and having Morishima lay down for near falls seemed a little dumb.

All that said though, this IS a fun match. The first third is excellent, the second third very goofy while the home stretch is pretty great. ROH crowds aren't really used to having a genuine big man work well in ROH. Samoa Joe is a bigger guy, but he's not a legit big man worker like Mori is, so the reactions for Mori during and since this match has been mixed. While Morishima hasn't been stellar as champion, he's hardly been anything close to bad and he's a real breath of fresh air in a company that needs to branch out of the flippy-dippy cruiser stuff. ***

Ouch!

2007-08-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

Summerslam 2007 Review

2007-08-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well, I think after this one it's going to take awhile for fans to get the sour taste of John Cena retaining the belt out of their mouth enough to really enjoy this show for what it was, which was pretty good. Here's the reviews.

WWE Championship
John Cena v. Randy Orton

This is an utterly fantastic match. This played off a lot of the Cena defenses we've seen thus far with yet another new spin from a challenger. Orton, like he has for most of the feud (and the entire summer for that matter) seemed to be one step ahead of the champ for most of the early going. He's working smart here, sticking to the neck and head to do his major damage, but never getting carried away at any one point.

The staple of John Cena's work is his Jerry Lawler like comebacks and Orton sees them coming almost before John Cena does. He easily neutralizes them in the early going, but as the match continues along, he begins to gradually lose control of Cena and Cena gets in more and more offense. Orton seems resigned to the fact that a Cena is going to make a comeback at some point, and thus keeps the work targeted so that when and if it happends, he can pull off an RKO and win the match, so he's trying to make sure that if the worst case scenario occurs, he'll be able to bail himself out and the work will pay off.

Orton does a brilliant job for most of the match, but the past mistakes of challengers catches up with him as well. Like Umaga at the Royal Rumble and Michaels at Wrestlemania 23, Orton controls most of the match but Cena is always able to avoid the home run shot. When Orton finally DOES connect with an RKO, he's too worn from all his prior activity to follow up and get the pin fall.

The end comes when Orton falls into the same pit everyone else does, and lets things open up, which was exactly what he wanted to avoid. It's Cena, ironically, whose three seconds away from winning a match at anytime and like any clutch hitter, connects with a big FU at the right time for the pin fall.

The psychology is really done well here as Cena just looks lucky to be alive after the match. Like the Yankees though, the first eight innings don't mean anything unless you can get the hits when they count and Cena got that big hit. This is a great story and a great match was made super great by a super hot crowd. Best match of the card and best match for Cena since Raw. It was Orton's best performance ever. ****1/4

World Heavyweight Championship
The Great Khali v. Batista

Batista steals a page from John Cena's book and basically tries to sell Khali's stuff like it's death. Problem is, Batista ain't John Cena. Khali works fairly well here, keeping Batista on the mat and using his leverage to his advantage. Batista tries to work in spurts but continuously gets put on his rump by the bigger, stronger champ. He's one guy Bats can't toss bombs with.

The commentating on the part of Michaels Cole and JBL is outstanding here and made what looks like a mediocre, plodding match, pretty decent actually. Especially getting over Khali's rest holds as being truly painful. Just as this match was getting somewhere though, they seemingly cut it off with a really weird DQ finish that caught Cole and JBL off guard. They tried to cover it with the old chicken shit thing, but Khali doesn't look nor act like a chicken, so I don't get it. Moderately decent stuff that got cut before it went anywhere with a bad finish. **1/4

ECW World Championship
John Morrison v. CM Punk

This was ok for the first five minutes or so, but as the match progressed, it fell apart. I don't know if Punk and Morrison were trying too hard to get a totally dead crowd into it or not, but it suffered from all the same lapses their Bash match did with yet another super akward finish. Nice back and forth with another akward conclusion. **1/4

Triple H v. King Booker

This wasn't sensational or anything, but I wasn't really expecting much more than this. Triple H looks slimmed down after being out for so long and he definately looked like he had a lot of adjusting to do throughout the match. This was kept pretty tight, around ten minutes or so, but that works well considering the fact that the Game is coming off a big injury and they didn't do that last time he had his big comeback and it left him kind of exposed.

Booker worked ok in this match, but it wasn't really about anything more than the jerk-face heel finally getting his. I'd have liked to have seen them toss Sharmell's involvement in things into the match a bit more. Nothing spectacular here, but served it's purpose of bringing the Game back and blowing off a nice 'heel will get his ' sort of feud. **1/2

Rey Mysterio v. Chavo Guererro

Very good stuff here. These two are always good for a little something fun and this wasn't much different. In fact I found this to be QUITE good.

Rey looks like a super hero which is good for the kiddies, but brings a lot of intensity to the match, which is something he sorely lacked during his world title run. Chavo is a total asshole here, going right after the injured leg and being entirely unafraid of the man he conquered last fall. The near falls were worked really well and this was well grounded, not featuring too much of the Rey flippy stuff. It's a fairly compact match at slightly over ten minutes. Certainly worth a good look see and a sleeper pay per view match. ***

WWE Intercontinental Championship--Triple Threat Match
Umaga v. Mr. Kennedy v. Carlito

This wasn't bad, but a little anti-climatic. The heels basically decide to gang up on Umaga, but can't ever get on the same page long enough to really get anywhere. The one downfall of these matches in the WWE is the tendancy for guys to get stuck in the whole 'guy gets chucked and two guys go at it' formula but these guys did a good job of avoiding that for the most part. nice action here with Umaga getting his, Kennedy and Carlito squabbling, then Umaga pwns them. Nice match, but nothing long enough to warrant more than **1/2

Diva Battle Royal for the #1 Contendership to the Women's Championship

This was pretty forgettable, although not entirely bad. Basically it comes down to Beth Phoenix taking on the Smackdown duo of Michelle McCool and Torrie Wilson, who quickly get overhwhelmed and dumped by Phoenix. I would've liked to have seen them stick with this for longer than they did as nothing really played out except for the fact that Beth Phoenix is a tank. *1/4

Kane v. Finlay (w/ Hornswaggle)

Another match that was fine for what it was. Finlay is best when he's got a body part to tear apart and he does that here, working over Kane's ribs with pretty good effect. Kane sells as good as he has in the past year or two and it makes Finlay's offense believable. The ending is a bit rushed, but it is fun with Hornswaggle and Finlay freezing in fear of the Kane pop up. Nice little match and good opener to get the crowd going, but nothing more, nothing less. *1/2

Overall Thoughts: This is going to be a show that might not get rave reviews now, but will be looked upon fondly over time. The main event is truly sensational and is supplimented with a decent mid card with some fun stuff, mainly Chavo-Rey. The lackluster stuff suffers from weak endings but everything seemed to do what it was intended to do. For the second biggest show of the year, it was dissapointing to not see any title changes, but that shouldn't get in the way of calling this like it was, a solid WWE pay per view. Grade: B

Random ROH & Puro Catch Up and What Not

2007-08-25T21:56:00.001-07:00

I'm pretty darn up to date on the WWE these days, but have regrettably fallen behind on some of the extra cirricular stuff kicking around out there.. Here are the reviews of some of those:

Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH Fifth Year Anniversary Show 2/16/07

This is a super-fun (and good) big man slug fest. While all the attention is sort of on Joe because he's leaving ROH at this point, the match itself is all about Morishima. There's nothing deep about this match in the slightest, just two guys tossin' bombs.

Basically both move through almost all of their signature stuff and after two pretty long control segments for both, neither guy is able to get the job done, so they just say 'fvck it' and start killing each other. Eventually Joe strings enough stuff together to get the big man on the mat and slap on a deep and pretty nasty rear naked choke to end the match. I'd definately say this wasn't much more than two guys running through their move set if the stuff they did wasn't executed so well. The ole kick looked good, the back drop driver looked good, all of the signature stuff looked rough and tumble, just the way it needed to look.

There is some stuff though, that'll probably leave you feeling a bit weird about this, namely Morishima just sort of chilling on the top turnbuckle waiting to get plowed with the muscle buster and Joe checking his watch after every pin fall....for like 30 seconds. Really though, it's not really here nor there, as most everything in this match is a lot of fun. This is my idea of what a big man match should be, like two bricks clacking together.. ***1/2

Kotaro Suzuki & Ricky Marvin v. The Briscoe's, GHC Jr Hvt Tag Team Championships, NOAH 1/21/07

I watched this before and liked it, but admittedly was sort of half-a$$ watching it so I didn't REALLY get a good look at it. This is REALLY a fantastic juniors match and not only is it the best junior tag match of the year so for, it's easily the best juniors match so far.

The Briscoe's can be really hit and miss sometimes, as they work a very spot-oriented style that works or doesn't, but this is an instance where it really, really, really works awesome. In order for spot style to be good for me, the transitions need to be good and more specifically in Briscoe matches, the other team really needs to bring the goods. Both happen here and it's awesome.

We start off with a really simple story. The Briscoe's are champs and basically rowdy Americans looking for a fight. They want to strike, drop you on your head till it explodes and double team you to pieces. Suzuki and Marvin on the other hand, aren't QUITE as spiteful, but aren't going to be pushed around and are more comfortable wrestling the Briscoe's as opposed to fighting them and goad them into making mistakes. They REALLY stick with this formula well through the first three quarters of the matches.

Suzuki and Marvin usually control the Briscoe's, but EVERY SINGLE TIME the match gets into striking in any form, the Briscoe's not only come out on top, they easily come out on top and Suzuki and Marvin have to survive, regroup, settle and re-establish control. Really, there's nothing mroe to it than that.

The transitions in this match are practically flawless. The Briscoe's make a mistake, Suzuki and Marvin go into multi-tasking mode, neutralize a Briscoe and take control. They maintain control until they try to throw bombs, what the Briscoe's like, and pay for it. Basically the match just goes back and forth constantly in this formula until the Briscoe's eventually get worn down enough for the Suzuki/Marvin team to trade bombs and have a chance, and they're able to hit enough big stuff to win the match. Nothing complicated, but just great spot-style wreslting.

The Briscoe's play up their dumb, frothing at the mouth redneck thing super well in this, but mostly, the credit for taking this to the next level is all Suzuki and Marvin. Suzuki is shockingly great in this. He seems much more wiling to trade with the Briscoe's and plays the role of the spunky one. Marvin is silky smooth, cool, calm and collected and totally comes off as the 'calming' factor in the match. Great role playing.

The key to the match for Suzuki and Marvin is to cut off the REALLY big stuff from the Briscoe's and they do that several times, twice with the doomsday device. No matter how deep the pile of doo doo seems to get for Suzuki and Marvin, they keep the Briscoe's off balance enough to at least prevent them from hitting the BIG BIG stuff and are able to constantly screw up the briscoe's pacing. Eventually the Briscoe's are worn down enogh to where the faces can open up the bag o tricks and score the victory.

This is just FANTASTIC stuff from both teams who stick with a fun formula and throw in some really fun and innovative spots to keep the crowd off their backsides the whole match. The momentum swings are constantly dramatic and for the last ten minutes, both teams look like they're within a hair's breath of losing the match. That's good wrestling. This is fantastic and shouldn't be missed. ***1/2

Takeshi Morishima v. Austin Aries, ROH World Championship, 4/27/07

Aries spends the opening moments of the match trying to knock Mori off his feet. it takes him about 672 shoulder blocks and strikes to do it though, before Mori just grabs him and spikes him of the mat like a football. Morishima is a total monster and does a fun job with it. He does the old Andre the Giant 'stand on em' thing and does the running bump butt and all that good stuff.

Basically, this is Aries making comebacks and showing life here and there with Morishima controlling almost the entire 15 minutes. JUST as you're REALLY getting tired of the Morishima control segment which lasts 10 minutes or so, Aries is able to catch a break and dumps the big man to the floor as he charges at him. Aries sales through the ropes and starts building SOMETHING, before Mori cuts him off. Mori hits a running bump butt in the corner barracade and then goes to do it again and Aries avoids it by the skin of his teeth and hits two missile drop kicks. We got back into the ring and Aries' freakign retardedly goes for a brain buster he's incredibly unlikely to hit given he's pretty much hit a tope and two drop kicks the entire match. Mori blocks it and another three-four minutes of MOrishima killing Aries. Then we do the 'remember the last time I won the title?' part of the match where Aries tries to basically re-inact the closing sequence of his match with Joe, except he finds this one much harder to pull off. Mori fights the first crucifix bomb attempt but can't avoid the second one. Aries kicks MOri twice and then hits a brain buster adn a 450 for... MOri gets his foot on the ropes. Aries says 'fvck it i'll just do it again' and goes for a second 450 only for Morishima to quickly recover and hit a nasty back drop suplex off the top rope and then a lariat which Aries flips 600 times to sell then kicks out. Mori hits one more backdrop driver and it's over.

I was really dissapointed with this match. It wasn't bad, there just wasn't really anything to it. Morishima sold REALLY well for Austin while Austin over sold as per the usual, but clearly with good intentions in mind.

The thing I didn't like about this is that they basically just tried to tweak some spots in the Joe-Aries match from a few years ago and run with them. They work towards the end a bit, but the Aries offense is just entitrely unoriginal and re-hashed. There isn't a SINGLE point where I felt as if Aries was a legit challenger for Morishima either. It just wasn't convincing in any way. Mori oversold the whole 'this is way too easy' thing too, as a lot of foreigners tend to do, because they're not really super sharp on communicating to the culture they're wrestling in front of. I don't really fault him for doing it, but it did completely make me think Aries was a total joke as a challenger.

Aries doesn't really DO anything than run through his signature stuff and eat some big moves. The crowd though, reacted to everything he did.. why, I don't know as it didn't grip me in the slightest, but the crowd popped for it and if it's working for most, then who am I ya know? But hoenstly, this isn't even in the top 30 of the stuff i've seen thus far this year. Aries is usually GREAT wrestling big men, but not here. This one's way, way, way, way overhyped, IMO. I don't want to totally kill this, because it's not a bad match, it's just been done so many times I can't get into it. **1/2

Bryan Danielson v. Go Shiosaki, ROH Invades Japan, 7/16/07

Good match here that plays out well. For those of you who don't know, Danielson was ROH Champion for a year and a half almost before dropping the belt in December to Homicide. This is one of his first few matches back since losing the belt. Go Shiosaki on the other hand, is this spunky Kobashi-clone from Pro Wrestling NOAH that well, "Goes" like crazy. Pretty much, that's the way this match plays out.

Early on, Shiosaki is wrestling pretty smart. Danielson seems to be a little surprised at how difficult it is for him to really contain Go and wrestle him to the mat. Go outdoes Dragon with strikes, throws and other fun stuff before Danielson is eventually able to put him in his place. To beat Go, Danielson isn't going to get into strikes. He's smaller, Go's bigger and stronger, thus it'd be a really stupid idea. So Danielson, the consomite viewer of wrestling tapes, must've watched the film of the Jun Akiyama-Go Shiosaki match from earlier this year where Akiyama pretty much demolished Go's arm and overwhelmed him from there.

Danielson applies a similar strategy and has success with it, wrestling Go to the ground and finding all sorts of ways to pick his arm apart. This works for a variety of weaknesses, none of which are as important as Danielson minimizing Go's greatest asset, which is his size and striking ability. Also, Dragon's two primary finishers: Cattle Mutilation and the cross face chicken wing, are both centered around the arm. Seems smart. Danielson seems to be content to work that arm. Go on the other hand, just wants to "Go" and throw bombs. Danielson gets increasingly frustrated by Go's ability to wiggle away from himand drop him on his head and whatnot, and that leads to mistakes that allow Go to control a lot more of this match then you'd think it would.

After much frustration, Danielson pretty much goes with the "bombs it is" decision and gets plowed. Danielson regains his patience, which sort of becomes the key to the match in a way. Dragon goes right back to picking apart the arm before Go again wiggles out, but this time Danielson... instead of losing his temper and making a mistake, seems content to take the moves in hopes that he'll be able to catch Go making a mistake of HIS own, and capitalize on the smart and patient wrestling he employed earlier in the match. It pays off for Dragon in the end, as Go misses a moonsault and Dragon's able to slap on cattle mutiliation. Go manages to almost wiggle out of it and go at another comeback, but Dragon quickly makes sure he's got Go dazed enough to keep the hold on, hits the KO elbows and then locks the hold back on for the submission win at around 27 minutes.

This was pretty good stuff, but really.. this was all Dragon. Go didn't do anything I haven't seen him do a thousand times in NOAH already. That's not a bad thing, but Go pretty much went until he got young and stupid again, and the cagey vet figured out a way to beat him. Nothing really new. This is worked a lot like the Akiyama match from January, as I mentioned earlier. Danielson's clearly the better wrestler, but Go keeps in the game with lots of spunk and fast moving offense, despite being bigger. This frustrates Danielson at first and causes him to sort of lose focus. In January, Akiyama had a lot of success working Go's arm, but unlike Danielson, he had the size t o pretty much overwhelm him and cut off the comebacks. Danielson on the other hand, has to work through Go's comebacks BECAUSE he lacks the size to completely keep him at bay, In many respects, Danielson has to almost let Go sort of do his thing, wrestle smart and stay patient to win. Unlike Akiyama, he can't really just go out there and say' hell, I think i'm going home in 10 minutes tonight'. He's got to use his cunning to beat a bigger Go.

It's a nice progressive spin on earlier stuff this year, but really, Dragon completely owns this match from bell to bell. His facials, selection of offence, his mounting frustration, etc., make this match WAY better than it would have been say, had Austin Aries worked it. My one sort of problem with this match is that the arm work is a BIG piece of it, and not just used for control. Go kind of forgets it's beingworked sometimes, and not other times and is inconsistent in that regard. The pacing is a little funny too as I found myself a little bit in the same corner as the crowd... it starts pretty slow and plodding then literally in five seconds is all over the place and you're kind of like 'oh wow, wait what's going on?" Aside from some pacing issues and Go still being pretty green despite what a lot of people might think, this is a pretty good match, but also a pretty one sided affair, at least in terms of who brougth the goods. Definately a good match though.***

Welcome!

2007-08-25T21:11:00.000-07:00

I figured I needed a place to put all my match reviews. Figured it might as well be here. Let the head dropping commence!