-From Brooklyn, NY
-Hosts are Cole, King, & JBL
-The bell is tolled 26 times in memory of those lost at Sandy Hook Elementary.
-Match 1 to determine the #1 Contenders for the WWE Tag Team Championship: Rey Mysterio & Sin Cara VS Rhodes Scholars [Tables Match]
-Only have to put one team member through a table to win. Since it's New York, the heels get an ovation until Sandow immediately turns them. Big "Cody's Mustache" chant as the bell rings. The faces promptly clean house and get a table. They look to finish Sandow early, but Cody breaks it up, and the RS work on Sin Cara. Sin Cara comes back with a fancy armdrag on Cody, but he then takes a Disaster Kick. Cody wedges Sin Cara's knee between the steps and the ring post, then the RS ram a table into the steps. Nice spot. That draws another "Cody's Mustache" chant for some reason.
RS almost finish Sin Cara, but Rey makes the save and cleans house. Rey hits the 619 on Cody and looks to finish with a splash off the top, but Sandow makes the save. Sin Cara takes both opponents out with enziguiris and looks to springboard onto Sandow, but Cody pushes him off the top rope through a table for the win at 9:30. Good match, GREAT finish.
-The Shield deliver another group promo via creepy video. At least they finally give a reason for going after Hell No.
-Match 2 for the United States Championship: Antonio Cesaro [c] VS R-Truth
-Pretty even matchup for the first couple minutes until Cesaro takes over and locks on a laying cobra clutch. R-Truth brings back an old tradition of no-selling and firing up while taking turnbuckle bashes BECAUSE HE'S BLACK AND PISSED OFF. Truth hits his shitty Lie Detector and a scissors kick for two. Cesaro almost throws Truth into the ref, then hits a European uppercut to the back followed by the Neutralizer to retain at 6:37. Not bad, but not particularly great either. As mush as I love Cesaro, he needs a new finisher.
-Matt Striker gets some words from Cesaro, who shoves him aside and declares himself an international superpower and saying that if you boo him, you're booing your own country, since he's the U.S. Champion.
-Josh Matthews interviews Dolph, who isn't happy about his briefcase being on the line. He says Cena's career should be on the line and when he wins, everything changes.
-Now it's time for Miz TV with 3MB. Drew goes for the cheap heat by saying they're better than Jay-Z. Miz verbally punks them, so they settle for going after the Spanish announce team. Ricardo Rodriguez comes out to defend his brethren. Alberto Del Rio runs out to save him and turn face. 3MB attack ADR, and Miz doesn't get involved until taking a shove from Slater. Slater challenges them to find a partner and face them tonight in a six man tag. Miz accepts as the crowd chants for Ryder.
-Hell No have a pre-match conference. Daniel embraces the power of YES!
-Striker interviews Wade Barrett, who brushes off the idea of Kofi's "Wildcat" being unleashed. Sadly, no Tebow jokes here.
-Match 3 for the Intercontinental Championship: Kofi Kingston [c] VS Wade Barrett
-Pretty fast start. Kofi hits a suicide dive, but Barrett comes back with a mule kick and pumphandle slam for two. Barrett hits an elbow off the second rope for two. Kofi comes back, misses the Trouble in Paradise, but does connect with the S.O.S. for two. They exchange near-falls, then Barrett hits a Black Hole Slam for two. Barrett goes for the Bull Hammer, but Kofi hits Trouble in Paradise out of nowhere to retain at 8:12. Pretty energetic, if basic match. I really thought Barrett was taking the title here, especially since Kofi stood tall the RAW before this.
-Punk & Heyman enter a skybox (to a loud ovation). Punk says the status of his knee of none of anyone's business, then trash talks Brooklyn. Punk says Ryback is dumb for hurting him so their title match was called off, but lucky because Punk would have destroyed him.
-Match 4: Ryback & WWE Tag Team Champions Hell No VS The Shield [6 Man TLC Match, winner determined by pin or submission]
-And now the reason I'm watching this show. It's going to be huge when Bryan finally fully re-embraces the YES. All-out brawl right off the bat. Ambrose loses (badly) a chop exchange to Ryback as the crowd chants "Goldberg!". Ambrose dropkicks Ryback out of the ring. Kane tries to introduce a ladder, but Rollins dropkicks it into Kane's ribs, and the Shield wear Bryan out. Reigns throws Bryan into a ladder that is held by the other two. Ryback breaks that up, and Hell No work on Reigns. Kane whips Reigns into a ladder, then Bryan follows up with a running dropkick, and Kane gets two off that.
Ambrose uses a chair on Bryan while Kane tortures poor Rollins. Ryback gets caught by Ambrose & Rollins, who work him over with a ladder. Ryback fights back, and hits Ambrose & Rollins with a double suplex on a ladder. Ryback goes for Shell Shocked, but Reigns breaks that up. Reigns preps the Spanish announce table ("Get up fools! It's my table now!"), and an assisted powerbomb sends Ryback through it. Bryan emerges from where he spent the last three minutes and gets jumped, and Kane rises to save him.
The Sheild fight them off, and Ambrose hits a chair slam on Bryan, and it's his turn to get beat on. Rollins and Ambrose work him over while Reigns keeps Kane at bay. They set up a table in the corner, then throw Bryan chin-first into it, followed by a double-team superplex. Reigns gets two off that, as Kane makes the save. Ambrose & Rollins focus on Kane, who manages to fight off the superplex. Kane cleans house, hitting a chokeslam through a chair on Ambrose for two, with Reigns making the save.
Reign spears Kane through the barricade, then he and Rollins bury Kane under debris. Bryan gets the No Lock on all three Shield members, but can't get a submission before it's broken up each time. Bryan fights off a double suplex through a chair with a flurry of kicks, but ends up taking a flying stomp to the head from Rollins, which drives his face into the chair. Ryback finally emerges from his coma and cleans house. Ryback hits a spear (bad choice of moves) and the meathook clothesline on Ambrose, followed by Shell Shocked, but Rollins & Reigns save.
Ryback fights the Shield up to the entrance, where they take over again. Ryback gets set on a table and Rollins sends the other two back to the ring while he climbs an absurdly tall ladder. That proves to be a mistake, as Ryback awakes and Rollins is fucked. Ryback catches up to him and pulls him backwards off the ladder, through a stack of tables. That's just nasty. Back in the ring, Ambrose & Rollins hit Bryan with an assisted powerbomb through a table for the pin at 22:44. This lived up to the hype and is quite frankly one of the best matches I've ever seen. Probably the most smartly-booked team street fight type match ever, as the Shield constantly out-smarted their foes and isolated them all match long. I'm surprised they put the Shield over that strong, but they did, and found a way to do it in a way that didn't diminish any of the losing team at all. Awesome, awesome stuff. This was a flat-out WAR. Buy the DVD (or procure the show via other means) just for this match alone.
-Replays show the back of Rollins' head bouncing off the edge of one of the tables. I'm sure that felt wonderful.
-Match 5 for the WWE Divas Championship: Eve Torres [c] VS Naomi
-Naomi won a battle royale on the pre-show to earn this shot, thanks to some unwanted help from Eve. Talk about being put in the death spot. After some early Eve domination, Naomi gets some nice offense in, and, to her credit, gets the crowd from chanting "boring" to getting into it. Then Eve goes back on offense, and it's back to the "boring" chant. Eve quickly finishes with a nice neckbreaker at 3:06. This is what it had to be, a quick match to get the crowd cooled down for the rest of the show. That it happened to be good for a Divas match is a bonus.
-Matt Striker interviews Big Show, who discounts any chance Sheamus has of winning tonight.
-Match 6 for the World Heavyweight Championship: Big Show [c] VS Sheamus [Chairs Match]
-Sheamus gets off to a fast start, but runs at Big Show while holding a chair, and takes a kick to the chops. Sheamus comes back with a flying shoulderblock off the apron, but Show counters a whip, and hits a big clothesline. Sheamus hits three chairshots and a bodyslam for two. Show returns fire with a couple chairshots and huge chop as there's a small "Ole" chant for some reason. Sheamus unloads on Show but can't bring him down. He then runs right into a chokeslam for two.
Show throws some chairs in the ring, then hits a Vader bomb with a chair on Sheamus' chest, and that gets two. Show sets up two chairs and goes for a chokeslam, but Sheamus slides out, and hits White Noise through the chairs for two. Show avoids the Brogue Kick, and hits the WMD for two. Show has had enough, and he KO's Sheamus with a cartoonishly large chair to retain at 14:17. This was lots of fun, and I like the finish as much like the TLC match, it allowed the heel to make a smart move to win and not diminish his opponent.
-John Cena warms up, and AJ interrupts to thank him for being there for her last week. Cena tells her to wait until he beats Dolph tonight to thank him.
-Match 7: 3MB VS Miz, Alberto Del Rio, & Brooklyn Brawler
-This is a long way to go to get Brawler a PPV match. I just don't buy Miz, and particularly ADR, wanting anything to do with the Brawler. Brawler swiftly becomes the face-in-peril. Miz gets the hot tag as Cole & JBL run through all the other identities Lombardi has wrestled under. After ADR & Ricardo take out the other two, Miz hits Jinder with the Skull Crushing Finale and tags in Brawler, who finishes with a Brooklyn Crab at 3:25. Well, this didn't overstay its welcome, if nothing else.
-The video package for the main event makes me notice how much they've apparently gotten away from those. It seemed every PPV match had a video for a while.
-Match 8 for Dolph Ziggler's World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank: Dolph Ziggler VS John Cena [Ladder Match]
-Crowd is not surprisingly pro-Ziggler. After some stalling, Cena hits a monkey flip and throws Ziggler outside to huge heat. Ziggler jabs Cena in the ribs with a chair and sets it up in the corner, but Cena cuts him off. Cena grabs a chair, but Ziggler dropkicks it into his face. Cena, who now has a cut under his eye, uses the ladder to knock Ziggler outside, then cracks him in the head with the ring steps. Cena sets up a table but gets cut off. Ziggler tries to climb a ladder but Cena cuts him off, triggering a "boo! yeah!" punch exchange, which Ziggler ends by slapping on a sleeper.
Cena, while still in the sleeper, climbs the ladder. He's too out of it to grab the briefcase. Cena ends up falling back, and they go through the table. Ziggler climbs the ladder, and in a freakish show of strength Cena hoists the ladder, with Ziggler still on it, into AA position. Ziggler slides off before Cena can hit the move, however. Ziggler goes for another ladder, but gets caught in the STF. Cena tries to follow up with the AA, but Ziggler slides out and hits the Zig Zag.
Ziggler sets a table up in the corner, but gets caught with the Blue Thunder Bomb and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. Ziggler fights off another AA, and hits a leaping DDT, allowing him to grab a bigger ladder. Ziggler almost gets the briefcase, but gets caught and slugged down by Cena. Cena almost gets there, but Ziggler cuts him off. Cena hits a hurricarana (!), which sends Ziggler through the table. Ziggler fights off a superplex and hits a cross-body off the top. Cena rolls through and again goes for the AA, but Ziggler grabs the chair out of the corner and cracks Cena across the hip to break it, and adds another chairshot to the back.
Ziggler cleans the ring and goes for a superkick, but Cena ducks and finally hits the AA, which sends Ziggler outside. Vickie runs out and looks like she wants to hit Cena with a chair, but AJ cuts her off and hits her with some of Cena's signatures, ending with the Five Knuckle Shuffle. AJ skips around the ring as Cena climbs, but then she suddenly tips the ladder over. Cena prevents himself from falling over the top, but he walks right into a superkick from Ziggler, and that is enough for Ziggler to get his briefcase at 23:15.
Great main event. While I didn't see the turn coming (I was expecting the Shield to help Ziggler win), it's turned out to be the right move, and it's freshened up both AJ & Dolph's characters. Hopefully they have something good planned for Ziggler in the near-future, as I don't think a cash-in is in the cards just yet.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a really good show. Nothing was bad, and the TLC match plus the main event made it worth watching by themselves. Add in the good opener and World title match, and you have a fine night of wrestling.
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
TNA: The Best of 2009
-Just something random I got off Netflix.
-Best Knockouts Match: Alissa Flash VS Sarita
-Flash walks like she's on sedatives during her entrance. She tells the ring announcer that she'd like to be referred to as "The Future Legend". This is still during the "six sided ring with sponsor logos on the mat" period. Flash spits her gum on Sarita and gets the early jump, but Sarita quickly turns the tide, knocks Flash outside, and hits a big dive for a "TNA" chant. Flash regains control by ramming Sarita's shoulder into the ringpost, then slamming her on the floor. Back in, Flash hits another slam for two. Flash beats Sarita down in the corner. Sarita climbs the turnbuckles off a whip, and hits a cross-body off the top for two.
Sarita comes back with a couple kicks, then quickly slaps on a cross-armbreaker. Flash gets out, and hits a curb stomp for two. Sarita tries to mount a comeback, but gets caught and wheelbarrowed backwards into the turnbuckles for two. Flash goes for another move, but Sarita counters into a victory roll for the pin. Flash hits a modified Michinoku Driver, just because. This was good and certainly on a different level than the WWE Divas, but not "match of the year" good. Not a particularly strong debut for Sarita.
-Video recaps Kurt Angle & AJ Styles going from stablemates to rivals and now engaged in the war between the Main Event Mafia & the TNA Frontline.
-Best iMPACT! Match: Kurt Angle VS AJ Styles [Tables Match]
-They trade wristlocks to start. Styles gets Angle running, and hits a nice dropkick to send Kurt outside. Angle sets AJ on the top rope and tries to shove him off, but Styles uses his feet to hook Angle's armpits and take him over, then Styles hits a flying forearm off the apron. Styles GETS THE TABLE, but Angle rolls back into the ring as we go to commercial.
Back from break, Styles hits some punches, but runs into an overhead throw. Angle gets the table, and slides it into the ring. Angle slams AJ's face onto the flat table. Angle sets the table up and tries to set him up top, but Styles fights him off. Kurt goes for a German suplex, but AJ grabs the table and tips it over to block. They slug it out, and Styles crotches Angle on the edge of the table. Styles slugs Angle down, and hits a kneedrop to the forehead. Styles hits a springboard flying forearm, and preps the table. Angle fights off a Styles Clash and goes for an Alabama Slam. Styles rolls out into a sunset flip, which Angle rolls through and applies the ankle lock. Styles gets out, and hits the Pele Kick.
Styles sets Angle on the table, and goes up top. Angle gets up and goes for the running belly-to-belly. Styles fights him off and sends Angle back onto the table. Styles flies at Angle who moves, then takes advantage when Styles has to pause to prevent himself from going through the table, and hits an Angle Slam through the table for the win. This was also pretty good, but not MOTY caliber.
-Angle beats on Styles and uses a chair to try and break his ankle before applying the ankle lock.
-Video recaps the formation of the Main Event Mafia and the internal fighting between Sting & Kurt Angle.
-JB gets some predictions from a few fans.
-Grudge Match of the Year: Kurt Angle VS TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting [Empty Arena Match]
-I have to say, wrestlers making their full entrances to an empty arena looks really goofy. Sting wins a slugfest, then clotheslines Angle out over the top before yelling "I'm gonna kill you!". They promptly go into the stands, where Angle lands several punches to the head. They take turns throwing each other into a wall, then walk up some steps. Sting dumps Angle a floor down to the concrete. Damn, Angle is nuts. Angle shrugs it off, charges at Sting with a trash container, and pounds away. They make their way back to ringside, where Sting misses a Stinger Splash and hits the guardrail, then takes a kick to the nuts.
Angle grabs a chair and talks shit, but Sting counters and hits a chairshot. Angle begs off, then starts calling Sting a "bitch" and begs Sting to hit him when Kevin Nash shows up. Nash prevents a chairshot and tries to talke the two into making up. They shake hands, but then Angle spits in Sting's face, and they fight some more before being broken up by security. This was pretty bad and the finish completely served no purpose.
-Now we're into a countdown of the Top 5 matches of the year.
-Video recaps the Angle/Jarrett feud leading up to their second match at Genesis.
-#5: Kurt Angle VS Jeff Jarrett [No-DQ Grudge Match]
-JJ gets the early jump. Angle comes back with a VICIOUS...rear chinlock. JJ counters with a low blow, followed by an electric chair drop. JJ clotheslines Angle out over the top as a split screen shows a pissed-off Rhino (who was jumped by the MEM before the PPV) throwing stuff around in the lockerroom. Outside the ring, JJ whips Angle into the guardrail, grabs a fan's beer, and throws that into Angle's face. Angle comes back, knocking JJ off the apron into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Angle hits a suplex for two. Angle adds some stomps to the face, and a backbreaker for two.
Angle goes back to the chinlock. JJ gets out, but Angle quickly hits an overhead throw for two. Angle goes back to the chinlock. JJ fights out, then counters an Angle Slam into an armdrag, then backdrops Angle over the top. Jarrett almost breaks his neck trying a dive over the ropes. Angle throws JJ into the broadcast booth, then grabs the ring bell. Angle cracks JJ with a STIFF shot using the edge of the bell. JJ is busted open, as well he should be.
Angle works on the open wound with punches and a kick. JJ hits a desperation DDT on the entrance ramp, and Angle's opened up too. They fight on the stage, and Angle hits an Angle Slam off the stage, through a table. Angle slowly crawls to the ring, and Jarrett follows. Back in, they do what would now be the "boo-yay" punch exchange. JJ wins that, and hits a shitty version of a Pedigree, which Tenay calls a DDT, lest they get sued. Jarrett goes for The Stroke, but Angle rolls through and gets the ankle lock. Jarrett rolls through that to counter, and Angle gets pissed, grabbing a chair.
Jarrett ducks a chairshot, hits a dropkick to send the chair into Angle's face, and then hits The Stroke for two. JJ goes for a superplex, but Angle fights out, shoves JJ to the mat, and hits a missile dropkick. Angle hits the Angle Slam for two. JJ counters the ankle lock, then avoids a charge, and Angle cracks his shoulder into the ringpost. Jarrett grabs the guitar for El Kabong, but Angle kicks him in the nuts to block. Angle grabs the guitar, but can't decide between that and the chair. He asks the crowd, which picks the guitar, so he flips them off and cracks Jarrett in the head with the chair for two.
Angle goes after the ref, then ducks an enziguiri attempt and applies the anklelock again. Jarrett hangs on for an impossibly long time, then counters into a rollup for two. Jarrett counters another Angle Slam attempt into a DDT. Jeff grabs the guitar, but the handle breaks off. Real quality work on those guitars. Jarrett cracks Angle in the face with the chair instead, but can't make the cover becuase of the injured ankle. Jarrett finally gets the cover, but puts himself in perfect position for Angle to counter and get the pin. Really good match, but that was a really weak finish for a blood feud match.
-#4: X-Division Championship: Amazing Red [c] (w/Don West) VS Chris Sabin VS Alex Shelley VS Suicide VS Homicide VS Christopher Daniels [Ultimate X]
-This is the Bound for Glory opener. IIRC, it's Kazarian in the Suicide gimmick. Story is Don West put Red's title on the line here, which Red isn't happy about. Total clusterfuck (duh), and everyone ends up on the floor three minutes in. Daniels is the first to go for the belt, but Red blocks him and hurricaranas him off the top, to everyone else on the floor. Back in, Sabin gets Red into the GIANT SWING and Shelley hits Red with a dropkick. While everyone is distracted, Homicide almost gets to the belt, but Suicide springboards to the cable to cut him off, so Homicide hits an Ace Crusher off the cables. That reminds me of someone posting on the DVDVR board that they wanted Homicide to say "I'm gonna' kill you" and Suicide to respond "please do".
The Guns wipe out Homicide, then Daniels with a Doomsday dropkick. Red goes up, but he gets caught by the Guns. Red fights them off, forcing Sabin to accidentally dropkick Shelley, then hitting Sabin with an Asai DDT. Homicide gets in with a pumphandle suplex on Suicide, then a hangman's neckbreaker on Red. Homicide goes after the belt, but is pulled down right into a DVD by Daniels, who then turns into a hurricrana by Red. Red climbs, then blatantly calls for Daniels to cut him off. Red kicks Daniels away, but gets knocked off the cables by Suicide, who is then hit with a Blue Thunder bomb by Daniels.
Sabin & Daniels fight on the cables, then in the ring when the fall down. Sabin hits an enziguiri followed by a nasty tornado DDT. Suicide takes out Sabin, kicking off a segment of everyone hitting a big move on the guy the preceeded them. Red goes up, gets caught by Suicide, and teases an infrared off the top. Sabin runs in, and Red hits him with a sunset bomb, while Sabin tosses Suicide at the same time, right into Daniels. Homicide dumps Shelley, but takes a spinning heel kick from Red, who then follows with a corkscrew splash off the top and a standing Shooting Star Press.
Suicide takes out Red, then hits Sabin with the Flux Capacitor, and poor Sabin is then hit with the BME by Daniels. Suicide, Daniels, & Red climb on top off the rig for no apparent reason, prompting a "please don't die" chant. Daniels & Suicide tease falling off the rig. Daniels steps down right onto where the belt is, but Suicide steps on the strap to prevent Daniels from taking it. Suicide takes Daniels off the cables, SPIKING HIM RIGHT ON HIS HEAD. Red drops down off the rig and grabs the belt to retain. Pretty fun car crash with some amazingly stupidly reckless spots, especially the big one right before the finish.
-#3: TNA World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles [c] VS Sting
-This is the BFG main event. Tale of the tape has Styles at six feet tall. On hockey skates maybe. Slow start. Styles is ready for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A few standoffs to establish that they're on even ground. AJ hits a kneedrop to the forehead for two. Sting counters a whip, and Styles somersaults into the turnbuckles. Sting knocks AJ outside, then holds the ropes open for him to get back in. AJ scores with a kick and a suplex for two. Sting comes back with a kick to the chest and a bulldog and a huge backdrop.
Styles hits a dropkick, and Sting rolls outside. AJ dives off the apron, and hits the guardrail. Sting tries a Stinger Splash, and does the same. I think Sting's success rate with that move is around 5%. AJ rolls back inside, and stops Earl Hebner from counting Sting out. They each block moves in the corner. Sting goes up, but AJ catches him, and goes for a tombstone. Sting reverses, and hits the move for two. AJ comes back with a springboard flying clothesline for two. They fight over an inverted DDT/Scorpion Death Drop, and Sting gets it. Sting follows up with a Stinger Splash and another SDD for two.
Sting gets the Scorpion Deathlock, but AJ powers out. Sting no-sells some chops, and drops AJ right on his head with a clothesline for two. They go up top, and AJ knocks Sting down. AJ hits a Pele off the apron, and a springboard splash...for the pin? Odd finish. The match was pretty good, but I was expecting a much bigger finishing sequence than that.
-Video reviews the Desmond Wolfe/Kurt Angle feud.
-#2: Desmond Wolfe VS Kurt Angle
-This is from Turning Point. Wolfe wins the battle over a wristlock early on. After some more chain wrestling, Wolfe works on the arm. Angle hits a suplex for two, then a backbreaker for another near-fall. Wolfe goes back to work on the arm with various takedowns and throws. Wolfe ties Angle up into a very nasty position, but stops to pose and nearly gets caught with the anklelock. Wolfe hits a running European uppercut in the corner. He goes for another one, but gets caught and thrown.
Angle ducks a clothesline, and hits six rolling German suplexes. Probably not the smartest spot for two guys with head-and-neck issues. Crowd is seriously into this. Wolfe slides out of an Angle Slam, and scores with a lariat for two. Angle slides out of the Tower of London, and gets the Angle Slam for two. Wolfe wrenches the arm to regain control, and slaps on the London Dungeon. Kurt counters that into the anklelock, and Wolfe counters that into a leg hammerlock, which is then re-countered into the anklelock.
Another Angle Slam is countered into a DDT. Wolfe hits the Tower of London for two. Wolfe sets up for the lariat, but gets caught with one. Angle misses a moonsault, and Wolfe gets the London Dungeon again, but Angle gets to the ropes. Kurt tries to get a choke to counter the Tower of London. Wolfe feels that coming, thrust Kurt in the throat, and goes for a superplex. Angle slugs him down, and hits a frog splash for two. Angle goes for a tombstone. Wolfe reverses, but Angle slides down and gets the anklelock again. Wolfe won't tap, so Angle goes for a cross-armbreaker. Wolfe fights that, so Kurt turns that into a side triangle choke, and Wolfe taps. Now THAT is a match worthy of MOTY-contender status. It's sad that Wolfe came in, beat Kurt, then had nowhere to go but down because they weren't going to put the world title on him, as evidenced by the period where TNA said an online fan poll was always going to determine the #1 contender, only to see Wolfe continually win, so they'd have Wolfe lose his shots pretty easily, then discontinued the poll.
-Video sets up Styles/Daniels/Joe.
-#1: TNA World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles [c] VS Samoa Joe VS Christopher Daniels
-This is also from Turning Point. Styles has shrunk an inch, according to the "Tale of the Tape". They tease a three-way lockup, then Daniels sucker-punches AJ. Joe wins a slugfest with Daniels, but takes a forearm from AJ. Joes comes back and kicks Styles in the head. Joe goes for his back chop--->kick to the chest--->knee drop combo, but is cut off and knocked outside by Daniels. Styles hits dropkicks on both challengers, and gets a headlock on Daniels. Daniels tries to throw Styles, who springs off Joe while he's on the apron, and hangs onto the hold. Daniels sends AJ into the ropes, where Joe trips him up, allowing Daniels to hit a Downward Spiral.
Joe punches Daniels down in the corer, and punts AJ in the ribs. Joe hits a running high knee on Daniels for two, then kicks at his leg before getting a rolling leg bar, which is broken up by a knee drop to the head by AJ. AJ & Joe fight over a suplex, and AJ wins. Daniels breaks up a submission on Joe, and drops a knee on the back of AJ's head. Daniels goes after Styles' neck. Daniels cuts off an interfering Joe, slams AJ onto Joe, then applies a Boston Crab on AJ and a camel clutch on Joe at the same time (AJ and Daniels are on Joe's back). Joe bites Daniels' hand to escape, then plants him with a urinage before hitting face washes on both opponents.
Joe hits a dropkick on AJ and lands on Daniels with a senton at the same time. Joe goes for a suicide dive, but AJ kicks him in the head to block. Daniels catches AJ with a forearm and wants to dive onto Joe, but he gets cut off and hit with a brainbuster by AJ. AJ tries a dive, but thinks better of it and lands on the apron, allowing Joe to hit a legsweep and crack AJ's face on the apron. Daniels hits his dive on Joe, but then gets caught in a choke. AJ breaks that up with the Fosburry Flop, and gets two on Joe.
AJ gets a flying headscissors on Joe. AJ jumps off Daniels' back to hit a forearm on Joe, then hits a springboard hurricarana on Daniels for two. Daniels monkeyflips AJ right into Joe, who powerbombs AJ into Daniels. Joe catches AJ with a powerbomb for two, then a Boston Crab into an STF, then a crossface when AJ kicks out. AJ runs into a snap powerslam from Joe for two. Another inovative spot as Daniels gets Joe into inverted DDT position, then hits AJ with a urinage at the same time, sending him crashing on top of Joe as he finishes the DDT. Daniels gets two on both guys. AJ counters a Daniels' suplex and hits a neckbreaker.
Joe absorbs some punches from AJ, hits him with slaps and a nasty roundhouse to the head. Daniels catches Joe with an open palm thrust and an enziguiri, then AJ hits Daniels with the Pele Kick. AJ cleans house, then hits Joe with the springboard flying forearm for two, then a hurricarana for another two count. AJ hits Joe with a back elbow, then the moonsault into an inverted DDT for two. He tries to same to Daniels, who counters into the Last Rites for two. Daniels hits Joe with a release German suplex. Joe crotches Daniels on the top rope then hits the Muscle Buster, but AJ breaks up the pin. Joe gets AJ caught in a rolling cradle, and gets two. AJ comes back with a spinning kick on Joe.
AJ sets up for the Styles Clash on Joe, but takes a kick to the head from Daniels. AJ counters Last Rites and goes for Angel's Wings. Daniels gets out and goes for the Styles Clash, but Joe kicks Daniels in the face, allowing AJ to fall on top and forcing Joe to kick AJ in the back to break it up. AJ and Daniels double team Joe. They both go up top, but Joe knocks AJ to the floor. Daniels counters the Muscle Buster and hits an STO. Daniels hits the BME, but AJ breaks up the cover with a springboard 450 with both his knees hitting Daniels square in the back, and AJ gets the pin on Joe to retain. This was AWESOME, and probably the best triple threat I've ever seen. I haven't seen the original AJ/Joe/Daniels triple threat in a while, but my first impressions is that this was better, and the original match was awesome just. Great, great stuff here.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This set is pretty disappointing until the last two matches. The KO match is an odd pick, as is the Empty Arena Match. Everything else is good, but not great, until you get to the last two matches on the countdown. If nothing else, this set made me want to get Turning Point '09.
-Best Knockouts Match: Alissa Flash VS Sarita
-Flash walks like she's on sedatives during her entrance. She tells the ring announcer that she'd like to be referred to as "The Future Legend". This is still during the "six sided ring with sponsor logos on the mat" period. Flash spits her gum on Sarita and gets the early jump, but Sarita quickly turns the tide, knocks Flash outside, and hits a big dive for a "TNA" chant. Flash regains control by ramming Sarita's shoulder into the ringpost, then slamming her on the floor. Back in, Flash hits another slam for two. Flash beats Sarita down in the corner. Sarita climbs the turnbuckles off a whip, and hits a cross-body off the top for two.
Sarita comes back with a couple kicks, then quickly slaps on a cross-armbreaker. Flash gets out, and hits a curb stomp for two. Sarita tries to mount a comeback, but gets caught and wheelbarrowed backwards into the turnbuckles for two. Flash goes for another move, but Sarita counters into a victory roll for the pin. Flash hits a modified Michinoku Driver, just because. This was good and certainly on a different level than the WWE Divas, but not "match of the year" good. Not a particularly strong debut for Sarita.
-Video recaps Kurt Angle & AJ Styles going from stablemates to rivals and now engaged in the war between the Main Event Mafia & the TNA Frontline.
-Best iMPACT! Match: Kurt Angle VS AJ Styles [Tables Match]
-They trade wristlocks to start. Styles gets Angle running, and hits a nice dropkick to send Kurt outside. Angle sets AJ on the top rope and tries to shove him off, but Styles uses his feet to hook Angle's armpits and take him over, then Styles hits a flying forearm off the apron. Styles GETS THE TABLE, but Angle rolls back into the ring as we go to commercial.
Back from break, Styles hits some punches, but runs into an overhead throw. Angle gets the table, and slides it into the ring. Angle slams AJ's face onto the flat table. Angle sets the table up and tries to set him up top, but Styles fights him off. Kurt goes for a German suplex, but AJ grabs the table and tips it over to block. They slug it out, and Styles crotches Angle on the edge of the table. Styles slugs Angle down, and hits a kneedrop to the forehead. Styles hits a springboard flying forearm, and preps the table. Angle fights off a Styles Clash and goes for an Alabama Slam. Styles rolls out into a sunset flip, which Angle rolls through and applies the ankle lock. Styles gets out, and hits the Pele Kick.
Styles sets Angle on the table, and goes up top. Angle gets up and goes for the running belly-to-belly. Styles fights him off and sends Angle back onto the table. Styles flies at Angle who moves, then takes advantage when Styles has to pause to prevent himself from going through the table, and hits an Angle Slam through the table for the win. This was also pretty good, but not MOTY caliber.
-Angle beats on Styles and uses a chair to try and break his ankle before applying the ankle lock.
-Video recaps the formation of the Main Event Mafia and the internal fighting between Sting & Kurt Angle.
-JB gets some predictions from a few fans.
-Grudge Match of the Year: Kurt Angle VS TNA World Heavyweight Champion Sting [Empty Arena Match]
-I have to say, wrestlers making their full entrances to an empty arena looks really goofy. Sting wins a slugfest, then clotheslines Angle out over the top before yelling "I'm gonna kill you!". They promptly go into the stands, where Angle lands several punches to the head. They take turns throwing each other into a wall, then walk up some steps. Sting dumps Angle a floor down to the concrete. Damn, Angle is nuts. Angle shrugs it off, charges at Sting with a trash container, and pounds away. They make their way back to ringside, where Sting misses a Stinger Splash and hits the guardrail, then takes a kick to the nuts.
Angle grabs a chair and talks shit, but Sting counters and hits a chairshot. Angle begs off, then starts calling Sting a "bitch" and begs Sting to hit him when Kevin Nash shows up. Nash prevents a chairshot and tries to talke the two into making up. They shake hands, but then Angle spits in Sting's face, and they fight some more before being broken up by security. This was pretty bad and the finish completely served no purpose.
-Now we're into a countdown of the Top 5 matches of the year.
-Video recaps the Angle/Jarrett feud leading up to their second match at Genesis.
-#5: Kurt Angle VS Jeff Jarrett [No-DQ Grudge Match]
-JJ gets the early jump. Angle comes back with a VICIOUS...rear chinlock. JJ counters with a low blow, followed by an electric chair drop. JJ clotheslines Angle out over the top as a split screen shows a pissed-off Rhino (who was jumped by the MEM before the PPV) throwing stuff around in the lockerroom. Outside the ring, JJ whips Angle into the guardrail, grabs a fan's beer, and throws that into Angle's face. Angle comes back, knocking JJ off the apron into the guardrail. Back in the ring, Angle hits a suplex for two. Angle adds some stomps to the face, and a backbreaker for two.
Angle goes back to the chinlock. JJ gets out, but Angle quickly hits an overhead throw for two. Angle goes back to the chinlock. JJ fights out, then counters an Angle Slam into an armdrag, then backdrops Angle over the top. Jarrett almost breaks his neck trying a dive over the ropes. Angle throws JJ into the broadcast booth, then grabs the ring bell. Angle cracks JJ with a STIFF shot using the edge of the bell. JJ is busted open, as well he should be.
Angle works on the open wound with punches and a kick. JJ hits a desperation DDT on the entrance ramp, and Angle's opened up too. They fight on the stage, and Angle hits an Angle Slam off the stage, through a table. Angle slowly crawls to the ring, and Jarrett follows. Back in, they do what would now be the "boo-yay" punch exchange. JJ wins that, and hits a shitty version of a Pedigree, which Tenay calls a DDT, lest they get sued. Jarrett goes for The Stroke, but Angle rolls through and gets the ankle lock. Jarrett rolls through that to counter, and Angle gets pissed, grabbing a chair.
Jarrett ducks a chairshot, hits a dropkick to send the chair into Angle's face, and then hits The Stroke for two. JJ goes for a superplex, but Angle fights out, shoves JJ to the mat, and hits a missile dropkick. Angle hits the Angle Slam for two. JJ counters the ankle lock, then avoids a charge, and Angle cracks his shoulder into the ringpost. Jarrett grabs the guitar for El Kabong, but Angle kicks him in the nuts to block. Angle grabs the guitar, but can't decide between that and the chair. He asks the crowd, which picks the guitar, so he flips them off and cracks Jarrett in the head with the chair for two.
Angle goes after the ref, then ducks an enziguiri attempt and applies the anklelock again. Jarrett hangs on for an impossibly long time, then counters into a rollup for two. Jarrett counters another Angle Slam attempt into a DDT. Jeff grabs the guitar, but the handle breaks off. Real quality work on those guitars. Jarrett cracks Angle in the face with the chair instead, but can't make the cover becuase of the injured ankle. Jarrett finally gets the cover, but puts himself in perfect position for Angle to counter and get the pin. Really good match, but that was a really weak finish for a blood feud match.
-#4: X-Division Championship: Amazing Red [c] (w/Don West) VS Chris Sabin VS Alex Shelley VS Suicide VS Homicide VS Christopher Daniels [Ultimate X]
-This is the Bound for Glory opener. IIRC, it's Kazarian in the Suicide gimmick. Story is Don West put Red's title on the line here, which Red isn't happy about. Total clusterfuck (duh), and everyone ends up on the floor three minutes in. Daniels is the first to go for the belt, but Red blocks him and hurricaranas him off the top, to everyone else on the floor. Back in, Sabin gets Red into the GIANT SWING and Shelley hits Red with a dropkick. While everyone is distracted, Homicide almost gets to the belt, but Suicide springboards to the cable to cut him off, so Homicide hits an Ace Crusher off the cables. That reminds me of someone posting on the DVDVR board that they wanted Homicide to say "I'm gonna' kill you" and Suicide to respond "please do".
The Guns wipe out Homicide, then Daniels with a Doomsday dropkick. Red goes up, but he gets caught by the Guns. Red fights them off, forcing Sabin to accidentally dropkick Shelley, then hitting Sabin with an Asai DDT. Homicide gets in with a pumphandle suplex on Suicide, then a hangman's neckbreaker on Red. Homicide goes after the belt, but is pulled down right into a DVD by Daniels, who then turns into a hurricrana by Red. Red climbs, then blatantly calls for Daniels to cut him off. Red kicks Daniels away, but gets knocked off the cables by Suicide, who is then hit with a Blue Thunder bomb by Daniels.
Sabin & Daniels fight on the cables, then in the ring when the fall down. Sabin hits an enziguiri followed by a nasty tornado DDT. Suicide takes out Sabin, kicking off a segment of everyone hitting a big move on the guy the preceeded them. Red goes up, gets caught by Suicide, and teases an infrared off the top. Sabin runs in, and Red hits him with a sunset bomb, while Sabin tosses Suicide at the same time, right into Daniels. Homicide dumps Shelley, but takes a spinning heel kick from Red, who then follows with a corkscrew splash off the top and a standing Shooting Star Press.
Suicide takes out Red, then hits Sabin with the Flux Capacitor, and poor Sabin is then hit with the BME by Daniels. Suicide, Daniels, & Red climb on top off the rig for no apparent reason, prompting a "please don't die" chant. Daniels & Suicide tease falling off the rig. Daniels steps down right onto where the belt is, but Suicide steps on the strap to prevent Daniels from taking it. Suicide takes Daniels off the cables, SPIKING HIM RIGHT ON HIS HEAD. Red drops down off the rig and grabs the belt to retain. Pretty fun car crash with some amazingly stupidly reckless spots, especially the big one right before the finish.
-#3: TNA World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles [c] VS Sting
-This is the BFG main event. Tale of the tape has Styles at six feet tall. On hockey skates maybe. Slow start. Styles is ready for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. A few standoffs to establish that they're on even ground. AJ hits a kneedrop to the forehead for two. Sting counters a whip, and Styles somersaults into the turnbuckles. Sting knocks AJ outside, then holds the ropes open for him to get back in. AJ scores with a kick and a suplex for two. Sting comes back with a kick to the chest and a bulldog and a huge backdrop.
Styles hits a dropkick, and Sting rolls outside. AJ dives off the apron, and hits the guardrail. Sting tries a Stinger Splash, and does the same. I think Sting's success rate with that move is around 5%. AJ rolls back inside, and stops Earl Hebner from counting Sting out. They each block moves in the corner. Sting goes up, but AJ catches him, and goes for a tombstone. Sting reverses, and hits the move for two. AJ comes back with a springboard flying clothesline for two. They fight over an inverted DDT/Scorpion Death Drop, and Sting gets it. Sting follows up with a Stinger Splash and another SDD for two.
Sting gets the Scorpion Deathlock, but AJ powers out. Sting no-sells some chops, and drops AJ right on his head with a clothesline for two. They go up top, and AJ knocks Sting down. AJ hits a Pele off the apron, and a springboard splash...for the pin? Odd finish. The match was pretty good, but I was expecting a much bigger finishing sequence than that.
-Video reviews the Desmond Wolfe/Kurt Angle feud.
-#2: Desmond Wolfe VS Kurt Angle
-This is from Turning Point. Wolfe wins the battle over a wristlock early on. After some more chain wrestling, Wolfe works on the arm. Angle hits a suplex for two, then a backbreaker for another near-fall. Wolfe goes back to work on the arm with various takedowns and throws. Wolfe ties Angle up into a very nasty position, but stops to pose and nearly gets caught with the anklelock. Wolfe hits a running European uppercut in the corner. He goes for another one, but gets caught and thrown.
Angle ducks a clothesline, and hits six rolling German suplexes. Probably not the smartest spot for two guys with head-and-neck issues. Crowd is seriously into this. Wolfe slides out of an Angle Slam, and scores with a lariat for two. Angle slides out of the Tower of London, and gets the Angle Slam for two. Wolfe wrenches the arm to regain control, and slaps on the London Dungeon. Kurt counters that into the anklelock, and Wolfe counters that into a leg hammerlock, which is then re-countered into the anklelock.
Another Angle Slam is countered into a DDT. Wolfe hits the Tower of London for two. Wolfe sets up for the lariat, but gets caught with one. Angle misses a moonsault, and Wolfe gets the London Dungeon again, but Angle gets to the ropes. Kurt tries to get a choke to counter the Tower of London. Wolfe feels that coming, thrust Kurt in the throat, and goes for a superplex. Angle slugs him down, and hits a frog splash for two. Angle goes for a tombstone. Wolfe reverses, but Angle slides down and gets the anklelock again. Wolfe won't tap, so Angle goes for a cross-armbreaker. Wolfe fights that, so Kurt turns that into a side triangle choke, and Wolfe taps. Now THAT is a match worthy of MOTY-contender status. It's sad that Wolfe came in, beat Kurt, then had nowhere to go but down because they weren't going to put the world title on him, as evidenced by the period where TNA said an online fan poll was always going to determine the #1 contender, only to see Wolfe continually win, so they'd have Wolfe lose his shots pretty easily, then discontinued the poll.
-Video sets up Styles/Daniels/Joe.
-#1: TNA World Heavyweight Championship: AJ Styles [c] VS Samoa Joe VS Christopher Daniels
-This is also from Turning Point. Styles has shrunk an inch, according to the "Tale of the Tape". They tease a three-way lockup, then Daniels sucker-punches AJ. Joe wins a slugfest with Daniels, but takes a forearm from AJ. Joes comes back and kicks Styles in the head. Joe goes for his back chop--->kick to the chest--->knee drop combo, but is cut off and knocked outside by Daniels. Styles hits dropkicks on both challengers, and gets a headlock on Daniels. Daniels tries to throw Styles, who springs off Joe while he's on the apron, and hangs onto the hold. Daniels sends AJ into the ropes, where Joe trips him up, allowing Daniels to hit a Downward Spiral.
Joe punches Daniels down in the corer, and punts AJ in the ribs. Joe hits a running high knee on Daniels for two, then kicks at his leg before getting a rolling leg bar, which is broken up by a knee drop to the head by AJ. AJ & Joe fight over a suplex, and AJ wins. Daniels breaks up a submission on Joe, and drops a knee on the back of AJ's head. Daniels goes after Styles' neck. Daniels cuts off an interfering Joe, slams AJ onto Joe, then applies a Boston Crab on AJ and a camel clutch on Joe at the same time (AJ and Daniels are on Joe's back). Joe bites Daniels' hand to escape, then plants him with a urinage before hitting face washes on both opponents.
Joe hits a dropkick on AJ and lands on Daniels with a senton at the same time. Joe goes for a suicide dive, but AJ kicks him in the head to block. Daniels catches AJ with a forearm and wants to dive onto Joe, but he gets cut off and hit with a brainbuster by AJ. AJ tries a dive, but thinks better of it and lands on the apron, allowing Joe to hit a legsweep and crack AJ's face on the apron. Daniels hits his dive on Joe, but then gets caught in a choke. AJ breaks that up with the Fosburry Flop, and gets two on Joe.
AJ gets a flying headscissors on Joe. AJ jumps off Daniels' back to hit a forearm on Joe, then hits a springboard hurricarana on Daniels for two. Daniels monkeyflips AJ right into Joe, who powerbombs AJ into Daniels. Joe catches AJ with a powerbomb for two, then a Boston Crab into an STF, then a crossface when AJ kicks out. AJ runs into a snap powerslam from Joe for two. Another inovative spot as Daniels gets Joe into inverted DDT position, then hits AJ with a urinage at the same time, sending him crashing on top of Joe as he finishes the DDT. Daniels gets two on both guys. AJ counters a Daniels' suplex and hits a neckbreaker.
Joe absorbs some punches from AJ, hits him with slaps and a nasty roundhouse to the head. Daniels catches Joe with an open palm thrust and an enziguiri, then AJ hits Daniels with the Pele Kick. AJ cleans house, then hits Joe with the springboard flying forearm for two, then a hurricarana for another two count. AJ hits Joe with a back elbow, then the moonsault into an inverted DDT for two. He tries to same to Daniels, who counters into the Last Rites for two. Daniels hits Joe with a release German suplex. Joe crotches Daniels on the top rope then hits the Muscle Buster, but AJ breaks up the pin. Joe gets AJ caught in a rolling cradle, and gets two. AJ comes back with a spinning kick on Joe.
AJ sets up for the Styles Clash on Joe, but takes a kick to the head from Daniels. AJ counters Last Rites and goes for Angel's Wings. Daniels gets out and goes for the Styles Clash, but Joe kicks Daniels in the face, allowing AJ to fall on top and forcing Joe to kick AJ in the back to break it up. AJ and Daniels double team Joe. They both go up top, but Joe knocks AJ to the floor. Daniels counters the Muscle Buster and hits an STO. Daniels hits the BME, but AJ breaks up the cover with a springboard 450 with both his knees hitting Daniels square in the back, and AJ gets the pin on Joe to retain. This was AWESOME, and probably the best triple threat I've ever seen. I haven't seen the original AJ/Joe/Daniels triple threat in a while, but my first impressions is that this was better, and the original match was awesome just. Great, great stuff here.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This set is pretty disappointing until the last two matches. The KO match is an odd pick, as is the Empty Arena Match. Everything else is good, but not great, until you get to the last two matches on the countdown. If nothing else, this set made me want to get Turning Point '09.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
ECW Cyberslam '99
-From The Bingo Hall in Philly
-Your host is Joey Styles
-Match 1: Yoshihiro Tajiri VS Jerry Lynn
-Crowd is all about Lynn, giving him a big "New Fuckin' Show" chant before the ring intros. This is clean-shaven short trunks Tajiri here. Lynn blocks a kick to the ribs and applies a leglock. Tajiri wins a fight over the leglock, and applies a bow-and-arrow, before Lynn falls on top for one. Lynn stretches Tajiri, who escapes before running into a flying headscissors and a spinning heel kick. Tajiri rolls outside, where Lynn meets him with a plancha.
Tajiri catches Lynn with some kicks, and applies the taurantula. Tajiri hits a handspring elbow to knock Lynn outside, then suplexes Lynn into the crowd. Tajiri has to wait a few seconds for Lynn to get up, then hits him with an Asai moonsault when he does. Tajiri bridges out of a rana-rollup, then gets one of his own for two. Lynn counters a suplex, and hits an inverted DDT for two. Tajiri hits a couple of his trademark stiff kicks to the chest. Lynn no-sells two of them, but a third puts him down.
Lynn reverses a whip, and follows in with a dropkick. Lynn hits a couple chops, then Tajiri comes back with a chop followed by a roundhouse kick to the head. Lynn gets tied to the Tree of Woe, and takes a baseball slide to the face. That gets two, as Lynn grabs the ropes. They both scale the turnbuckles. After Tajiri blocks a sunset bomb, Lynn changes it into a running Liger bomb for two. Tajiri comes back with a low dropkick to the knee, and La Mahistrol for two, as Lynn's foot gets in the ropes. Lynn then promptly hits a clothesline and cradle piledriver to finish. Styles' surprised reaction to Lynn's finisher means it must be the first time he used it. Match was decent before the really abrupt finish. Seemed like they couldn't piece together a finishing stretch, and Lynn just said "fuck it, I'll end it this way".
-Lance Storm (donning a "Monday Night Jericho" shirt) comes to the ring with Dawn Marie. Crowd chants for Jericho, and Storm says that must be because the fans are Jerichoholics because Jericho is from Calgary...Alberta, Canada. Storm is upset because Tommy Dreamer has been stating that Storm is on steroids. Storm acknowledges the "Happy Birthday" chants, but requests they leave that for later. Storm says he worked his ass off to get his physique, which is something the couch potatoes in the front row and the wannabe atheletes in the back can't appreciate. Storm says he's "the best built athelete this side of a negative drug test". Storm produces a vile of urine, and states that he's willing to take a piss test, and that since Dreamer, once upon a time, was in shape despite not even knowing a guy named Jim, must be on something.
Dreamer comes out to answer the challenge. Cyrus provides a distraction, and Storm goes on the attack. That doesn't last long, as Dreamer hits a DDT in short order, then dumps the urine in Storm's face. I can't help but notice that didn't answer the accusations of steroid use either way. I've always though talk about steroids was verboten in wrestling, but I can't be surprised ECW would break that barrier.
-Match 2: Rod Price (w/Skull Von Krush) VS Nova
-Nova quickly hits a hiptoss and a legdrop. Price gets into it with Straw Hat Guy. Price gets some jobber offense in, and I'm already waiting for this to be over. Price hits an avalanche, then a powerslam. Nova hits a clothesline off the second rope for two. Krush (the future Big Vito) pulls Nova outside and attacks him, until Chris Chetti rushes out to save Nova. As those two slug it out, Price hits Nova with a chair to the back, then goes after Chetti.
Nova hits a baseball slide on Price. Chetti hits a springboard dive on Krush, then Nova hits a suicide dive on Price. Chetti & Nova hit the Tidal Wave on Price, and Nova gets the pin. This sucked even for the short time it lasted. Pretty ass-backward way for a babyface to win too.
-Krush & Price get into an arguement. Price attacks Krush, but ends up taking a swinging implant DDT for his efforts.
-Match 3: El Mosco VS Super Crazy
-I have no idea who Mosco is. They go through a series of counters and reversals to start. They go through a ridiculously choreographed series that ends up with them trading armdrags. The crowd loves this shit. Crazy misses a move and flies outside, where Mosco quickly hits a running springboard dive to the outside. Mosco does a headstand on the apron, and ends up getting wheelbarrowed onto the guardrail for it. Crazy puts Moso in the crowd, then hits the Crazy Special (springboard Asai Moonsault into the crowd). Joey says we're watching the best of lucha libre here. Somehow I doubt that.
Crazy hits a second rope moonsault for two. Top rope moonsault almost misses as Mosco was trying to move. That gets two. Crazy gets ten punches in the corner (with the crowd counting in Spanish). Mosco comes off the top with a hurricarana which sends Crazy outside, then Mosco hits a hilo to the floor. Back in, Mosco hits a springboard hurricarana off the top for two. Back outside, Mosco tries to hit another rana, but Crazt alley-oops him into the crowd, then adds an Asai moonsault off the guardrail. Back in, Crazy misses a splash off the top, and Mosco gets two. Mosco gets a fancy rollup into a submission as Styles suddenly stops talking. I'm guessing the commentary was cut here for some reason.
They go through another series of rollups. Crazy tries, but can't quite do, a Jannetty sell off a clothesline, and Mosco gets two. Mosco hits a Skytwister Splash for two. Mosco sets Crazy up top then slams him. Mosco moonsault hits feet to the face, then Crazy hits a snap powerbomb for two. Crazy goes up, but gets caught with a sunset bomb for two. Crazy botches a tilt-a-whirl back breaker, then hits an awkward frog splash for the pin. This was pretty much a template for those RoH matches from a few years ago, where they would try to elevate two lower-carder guys buy having them go all out. The stupid bullshit in the beginning aside, this was pretty good for the style it was wrestled in.
-Match 4: Papi Chulo VS Taka Michinoku
-Match quickly spills outside. Taka goes back in, and hits his no-hands springboard plancha. Taka hits a backbreaker, then applies a single-leg crab, but Chulo quickly grabs the ropes. Taka hits some stiff chops I didn't think he had in him. Chulo hits a fancy armdrag followed by a spinning heel kick. Chulo slams Taka, but misses a 450. Taka goes up, but gets crotched, and Chulo hits a springboard hurricarana for two. Taka comes back with a tornado DDT for two.
Chulo backdrops Taka outside, but then runs into a forearm to the face. Taka flies, but gets caught with a dropkick in mid-air. Taka fires back, but Chulo blocks another tornado DDT, and hits a sloppy missile dropkick. Taka rolls outside, and Chulo somersaults over the turnbuckles onto Taka. Chulo sets Taka up top, then hits a dropkick. Taka hits a running knee to the face, then a dropkick to the back of the head. Chulo blocks the Michinoku Driver, then hits a rana-rollup for two. Taka hits a slam, but misses a moonsault. Taka counters a powerbomb, then counters yet another rana into a powerbomb before finishing with an inverted suplex into a Michinoku Driver for the academic pin. This was a stunt show in the vein of the previous match, just not as long. No selling, and no psychology.
-Match 5 for the ECW Television Championship: Rob Van Dam [c] (w/Bill Alfonso) VS Too Cold Scorpio
-RVD is also tag champs with Sabu at this point. Feeling out process to start, mixed in with RVD stalling. No Joey on commentary for the first couple minutes. RVD pounds Scorpio, then does a backflip before hitting a low dropkick to the face. RVD ducks a spin kick, then "hits" one of his own. Scorpio shows him how it's done. Scorpion hits an Arabian Press for two, then PASTES RVD flush in the face with a superkick. Scorpio hits a jackhammer, then relaxes off the cover, presumably since RVD is too woozy to kick out.
RVD misses a kick and Scorpio chops away. They blow another spinning kick spot, and RVD ends up falling on top of Scorpio. RVD sends Scorpio into the crowd, then hits a huge plancha off the top. Back in, RVD hits a slingshot legdrop for two, then follows up with Rolling Thunder for two. Scorpio avoids a monkeyflip, then Germans RVD when Van Dam gets caught on the second turnbuckle. Scorpio hits a somersault leg drop off the second rope, and calls for his finish before covering for two instead. Scorpio hits a Samoan fallaway slam, then a big splash off the top for two.
They go outside, where a table bridge has been conveniently set up. Scorpio wants to splash RVD through it, but RVD moves before he can. Back in, Scorpio hits a couple chairshots to the head. Scorpio then places the chair across RVD's face, and hits a legdrop off the top for two. Sabu runs out and attacks Scorpio. Sabu ends up putting Scorpio through the table. RVD rolls Scorpio back in, and hits a slingshot legdrop for two. RVD goes low, but Scorpio counters a powerbomb, and hits one of his own for two.
Fonzie crotches Scorpio on the top rope, then holds a chair in fron of Scorpio's face for the Van Daminator off the top. RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash to finish. Scorpio was trying to get to his feet, but had to fall back down to take the move. This wasn't particularly good. It had no real flow whatsoever, which seemed to be a theme in RVD's TV title matches, save the ones against Lynn (which seemed to have even more stalling in the beginning).
-Scorpio shakes hands with the guys who just cheated to beat him, then pie-faces Fonzie.
-Match 6 for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship: Taz [c] VS Chris Candido (w/Tammy & Steve Corino)
-Candido says he hasn't tapped to all the stuff he had to do in the WWF or all the drugs he's done. Candido propses they make this "FTW" style, meaning a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Taz wins a slugfest, then hits the Brooklyn Boot to send Candido outside. Candido throws Tazz into the crowd, then hits a dive off the top. They brawl through the crowd for a bit. Candido tries to powerbomb Taz on the bleachers, but gets backdropped.
Candido throws Taz through the timekeeper's table, then they go into the crowd again. Taz gets the upperhand, and hits a T-Bone suplex on the stage. Candido slams Taz on the stage, then drops an elbow from the level above them for two. They finally get back in the ring, where Candido hits a delayed vertical suplex, then a diving headbutt for two. Tammy starts yelling "1,2,3", to which the crowd responds by chanting "show your tits".
Taz hits a wheelbarrow slam. Candido comes back with an awkward slingshot belly-to-back suplex for two. Taz counters a hurricarana with a powerbomb for two. Taz takes a boot to the face, but then immediately hits a head-and-arm suplex. Candido goes to the eyes, and hits a powerbomb. Candido goes for the Blonde Bombshell (powerbomb off the top), but Taz fights it off, and hits a head-and-arm suplex off the top.
Tammy hands Candido a chain, and he punches Taz for two. Candido sets a table up in the corner and pounds away. Taz counters a whip into the table, then drives Candido through it with a Tazmission suplex. Candido's hurt his neck, and the ref stops the match. Match started out as a boring brawl and never got much better. Wasn't expecting that finish though.
-Candido gets stretchered out and Joey's commentary seems to be setting him up for a babyface run, but IIRC, it never materialized. A couple people in the crowd aren't happy with Taz, so he responds by attacking Candido and choking him out as Candido taps. The fans that were chanting "fuck you Taz" heartily applaud the move, as do a lot more people. Taz says that's what happens when you fuck with Taz. Does anyone know if this was supposed to be some kind of double-turn that didn't work because of the crowd reaction?
-Before the next match, Shane Douglas cuts a promo, stating that Terry Funk knew his job six years ago was to make Douglas a franchise. I hate promos like that. Douglas challenges Credible to step over the line, and Credible abliges.
-Match 7: Shane Douglas (w/Francine) VS Justin Credible (w/Jason)
-After a slugfest, Douglas hits a bunch of suplexes, followed by a rolling neck snap. Douglas dominates the first few minutes. Jazz is there too in Credible's corner, but doesn't have a name yet. Douglas tries to splash Credible through a table, but Jazz interferes, and Credible throws Douglas through the table. Now it's Credible's turn to work Shane over. Credible controls the next few minutes, with a couple hope spots mixed in.
Credible rams Douglas' head into one of the building's support beams, and that draws the first blood of the show, surprisingly enough. They exchange chops, and Credible goes to the eyes to keep the advantage. After a chinlock, Credible sets up a table, and lands some chops. Douglas blocks a whip into the table, then press slams Credible through it for two. Douglas slaps on a figure 4. Jazz rakes Douglas' eyes to break the hold, kicking off a cat fight with Francine. Credible wants to cane Francine, but Douglas stops that with cane shots of his own.
Credible hits some cane shots, but misses the KO shot, and Douglas hits a leg lariat. Jason goes after Franchise, but gets speared by Francine, and takes a full nelson slam from Douglas. Credible hits a superkick for two, then Douglas gets a rollup for two. Douglas hits a Thesz Press and mounted punches for two. Credible continues the Austin tribute with a Stunner. Credible leaps off the top, but gets caught with an inverted atomic drop, then the Pittsburgh Plunge (fisherman buster) to finish, even though Douglas' shoulders were down too. This was alright for a grudge match, worked more in a traditional style than the other matches on this show.
-Lance Storm attacks Douglas, leading to a huge caning at the hands of Credible. Tommy Dreamer tries to help, but gets laid out with a trash can. Thus the Impact Players are born (I think). Cyrus was in the ring at the end, but didn't do anything.
-Match 8: The Dudley Boyz & Mr. Mustafa (w/Sign Guy Dudley & Joel Gertner) VS Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten, & New Jack [Ultimate Jeopardy Match]
-Before anyone gets in the cage, Bubba gets on the mic and says that New Jack has decided to not get in the cage tonight. Bubba says he's happy that the fans won't get to see someone they paid to see. Bubba cuts Gertner's intro short. This is ECW's version of War Games.
Balls & D-Von start. Balls controls the segment, including hitting D-Von with THE COOKIE SHEET OF DEATH. Balls hits a frog splash and goes for the cover, but there cannot be a pin until everyone is in the cage. Bubba gets in, but doesn't fare well to start. Balls absorbs some double teams and slugs away on both Dudleys, until Bubba scores with a urinage. Bubba accidentally hits an already bloody D-Von with a trash can lid, and draws a "you fucked up" chant for it.
Axl gets in, and wraps barbed wire across the forehead of D-Von. Bubba takes a shot with the cookie sheet and Balls is busted open. Axl grabs a pair of scissors and jabs it into D-Von's head. D-Von gives Axl a receipt the first chance he gets. Mustafa makes it 3-on-2. Not much of note happens until this segment ends. It takes a moment, but New Jack does make his entrance.
He does the usual, but doesn't get nearly the reaction he usually does. Axl adds some thumbtacks, but ends up getting suplexed onto them. New Jack's music plays for the rest of the match. Bubba uses a mop handle, followed by barbed wire, but New Jack refuses to join everyone else in bleeding. Can't say I blame him. Would you want to risk your blood mixing with these guys? Balls blows fire in Mustafa's face, but then immediately takes 3-D and a double pin. This was the definition of, to steal a phrase from Jerry Lawler, extremely crappy wrestling.
-The Dudleys get the fuck out of dodge, so the babyfaces lock the cage with Mustafa still inside. They put Mustafa on a table, then New Jack does a splash off the cage to put him through it. The faces don't seem to be bothered at all that they lost.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty bad show, especially for something that's supposed to represent the "best of" ECW. There's pretty much nothing worth going out of your way to see here, except maybe the formation of the Impact Players. The good wrestlers had much better matches on other shows, and the bad wrestlers were...bad. I don't think this show really meant much after it happened, but I could be wrong about that.
-Your host is Joey Styles
-Match 1: Yoshihiro Tajiri VS Jerry Lynn
-Crowd is all about Lynn, giving him a big "New Fuckin' Show" chant before the ring intros. This is clean-shaven short trunks Tajiri here. Lynn blocks a kick to the ribs and applies a leglock. Tajiri wins a fight over the leglock, and applies a bow-and-arrow, before Lynn falls on top for one. Lynn stretches Tajiri, who escapes before running into a flying headscissors and a spinning heel kick. Tajiri rolls outside, where Lynn meets him with a plancha.
Tajiri catches Lynn with some kicks, and applies the taurantula. Tajiri hits a handspring elbow to knock Lynn outside, then suplexes Lynn into the crowd. Tajiri has to wait a few seconds for Lynn to get up, then hits him with an Asai moonsault when he does. Tajiri bridges out of a rana-rollup, then gets one of his own for two. Lynn counters a suplex, and hits an inverted DDT for two. Tajiri hits a couple of his trademark stiff kicks to the chest. Lynn no-sells two of them, but a third puts him down.
Lynn reverses a whip, and follows in with a dropkick. Lynn hits a couple chops, then Tajiri comes back with a chop followed by a roundhouse kick to the head. Lynn gets tied to the Tree of Woe, and takes a baseball slide to the face. That gets two, as Lynn grabs the ropes. They both scale the turnbuckles. After Tajiri blocks a sunset bomb, Lynn changes it into a running Liger bomb for two. Tajiri comes back with a low dropkick to the knee, and La Mahistrol for two, as Lynn's foot gets in the ropes. Lynn then promptly hits a clothesline and cradle piledriver to finish. Styles' surprised reaction to Lynn's finisher means it must be the first time he used it. Match was decent before the really abrupt finish. Seemed like they couldn't piece together a finishing stretch, and Lynn just said "fuck it, I'll end it this way".
-Lance Storm (donning a "Monday Night Jericho" shirt) comes to the ring with Dawn Marie. Crowd chants for Jericho, and Storm says that must be because the fans are Jerichoholics because Jericho is from Calgary...Alberta, Canada. Storm is upset because Tommy Dreamer has been stating that Storm is on steroids. Storm acknowledges the "Happy Birthday" chants, but requests they leave that for later. Storm says he worked his ass off to get his physique, which is something the couch potatoes in the front row and the wannabe atheletes in the back can't appreciate. Storm says he's "the best built athelete this side of a negative drug test". Storm produces a vile of urine, and states that he's willing to take a piss test, and that since Dreamer, once upon a time, was in shape despite not even knowing a guy named Jim, must be on something.
Dreamer comes out to answer the challenge. Cyrus provides a distraction, and Storm goes on the attack. That doesn't last long, as Dreamer hits a DDT in short order, then dumps the urine in Storm's face. I can't help but notice that didn't answer the accusations of steroid use either way. I've always though talk about steroids was verboten in wrestling, but I can't be surprised ECW would break that barrier.
-Match 2: Rod Price (w/Skull Von Krush) VS Nova
-Nova quickly hits a hiptoss and a legdrop. Price gets into it with Straw Hat Guy. Price gets some jobber offense in, and I'm already waiting for this to be over. Price hits an avalanche, then a powerslam. Nova hits a clothesline off the second rope for two. Krush (the future Big Vito) pulls Nova outside and attacks him, until Chris Chetti rushes out to save Nova. As those two slug it out, Price hits Nova with a chair to the back, then goes after Chetti.
Nova hits a baseball slide on Price. Chetti hits a springboard dive on Krush, then Nova hits a suicide dive on Price. Chetti & Nova hit the Tidal Wave on Price, and Nova gets the pin. This sucked even for the short time it lasted. Pretty ass-backward way for a babyface to win too.
-Krush & Price get into an arguement. Price attacks Krush, but ends up taking a swinging implant DDT for his efforts.
-Match 3: El Mosco VS Super Crazy
-I have no idea who Mosco is. They go through a series of counters and reversals to start. They go through a ridiculously choreographed series that ends up with them trading armdrags. The crowd loves this shit. Crazy misses a move and flies outside, where Mosco quickly hits a running springboard dive to the outside. Mosco does a headstand on the apron, and ends up getting wheelbarrowed onto the guardrail for it. Crazy puts Moso in the crowd, then hits the Crazy Special (springboard Asai Moonsault into the crowd). Joey says we're watching the best of lucha libre here. Somehow I doubt that.
Crazy hits a second rope moonsault for two. Top rope moonsault almost misses as Mosco was trying to move. That gets two. Crazy gets ten punches in the corner (with the crowd counting in Spanish). Mosco comes off the top with a hurricarana which sends Crazy outside, then Mosco hits a hilo to the floor. Back in, Mosco hits a springboard hurricarana off the top for two. Back outside, Mosco tries to hit another rana, but Crazt alley-oops him into the crowd, then adds an Asai moonsault off the guardrail. Back in, Crazy misses a splash off the top, and Mosco gets two. Mosco gets a fancy rollup into a submission as Styles suddenly stops talking. I'm guessing the commentary was cut here for some reason.
They go through another series of rollups. Crazy tries, but can't quite do, a Jannetty sell off a clothesline, and Mosco gets two. Mosco hits a Skytwister Splash for two. Mosco sets Crazy up top then slams him. Mosco moonsault hits feet to the face, then Crazy hits a snap powerbomb for two. Crazy goes up, but gets caught with a sunset bomb for two. Crazy botches a tilt-a-whirl back breaker, then hits an awkward frog splash for the pin. This was pretty much a template for those RoH matches from a few years ago, where they would try to elevate two lower-carder guys buy having them go all out. The stupid bullshit in the beginning aside, this was pretty good for the style it was wrestled in.
-Match 4: Papi Chulo VS Taka Michinoku
-Match quickly spills outside. Taka goes back in, and hits his no-hands springboard plancha. Taka hits a backbreaker, then applies a single-leg crab, but Chulo quickly grabs the ropes. Taka hits some stiff chops I didn't think he had in him. Chulo hits a fancy armdrag followed by a spinning heel kick. Chulo slams Taka, but misses a 450. Taka goes up, but gets crotched, and Chulo hits a springboard hurricarana for two. Taka comes back with a tornado DDT for two.
Chulo backdrops Taka outside, but then runs into a forearm to the face. Taka flies, but gets caught with a dropkick in mid-air. Taka fires back, but Chulo blocks another tornado DDT, and hits a sloppy missile dropkick. Taka rolls outside, and Chulo somersaults over the turnbuckles onto Taka. Chulo sets Taka up top, then hits a dropkick. Taka hits a running knee to the face, then a dropkick to the back of the head. Chulo blocks the Michinoku Driver, then hits a rana-rollup for two. Taka hits a slam, but misses a moonsault. Taka counters a powerbomb, then counters yet another rana into a powerbomb before finishing with an inverted suplex into a Michinoku Driver for the academic pin. This was a stunt show in the vein of the previous match, just not as long. No selling, and no psychology.
-Match 5 for the ECW Television Championship: Rob Van Dam [c] (w/Bill Alfonso) VS Too Cold Scorpio
-RVD is also tag champs with Sabu at this point. Feeling out process to start, mixed in with RVD stalling. No Joey on commentary for the first couple minutes. RVD pounds Scorpio, then does a backflip before hitting a low dropkick to the face. RVD ducks a spin kick, then "hits" one of his own. Scorpio shows him how it's done. Scorpion hits an Arabian Press for two, then PASTES RVD flush in the face with a superkick. Scorpio hits a jackhammer, then relaxes off the cover, presumably since RVD is too woozy to kick out.
RVD misses a kick and Scorpio chops away. They blow another spinning kick spot, and RVD ends up falling on top of Scorpio. RVD sends Scorpio into the crowd, then hits a huge plancha off the top. Back in, RVD hits a slingshot legdrop for two, then follows up with Rolling Thunder for two. Scorpio avoids a monkeyflip, then Germans RVD when Van Dam gets caught on the second turnbuckle. Scorpio hits a somersault leg drop off the second rope, and calls for his finish before covering for two instead. Scorpio hits a Samoan fallaway slam, then a big splash off the top for two.
They go outside, where a table bridge has been conveniently set up. Scorpio wants to splash RVD through it, but RVD moves before he can. Back in, Scorpio hits a couple chairshots to the head. Scorpio then places the chair across RVD's face, and hits a legdrop off the top for two. Sabu runs out and attacks Scorpio. Sabu ends up putting Scorpio through the table. RVD rolls Scorpio back in, and hits a slingshot legdrop for two. RVD goes low, but Scorpio counters a powerbomb, and hits one of his own for two.
Fonzie crotches Scorpio on the top rope, then holds a chair in fron of Scorpio's face for the Van Daminator off the top. RVD hits the Five Star Frog Splash to finish. Scorpio was trying to get to his feet, but had to fall back down to take the move. This wasn't particularly good. It had no real flow whatsoever, which seemed to be a theme in RVD's TV title matches, save the ones against Lynn (which seemed to have even more stalling in the beginning).
-Scorpio shakes hands with the guys who just cheated to beat him, then pie-faces Fonzie.
-Match 6 for the ECW World Heavyweight Championship: Taz [c] VS Chris Candido (w/Tammy & Steve Corino)
-Candido says he hasn't tapped to all the stuff he had to do in the WWF or all the drugs he's done. Candido propses they make this "FTW" style, meaning a Falls Count Anywhere Match. Taz wins a slugfest, then hits the Brooklyn Boot to send Candido outside. Candido throws Tazz into the crowd, then hits a dive off the top. They brawl through the crowd for a bit. Candido tries to powerbomb Taz on the bleachers, but gets backdropped.
Candido throws Taz through the timekeeper's table, then they go into the crowd again. Taz gets the upperhand, and hits a T-Bone suplex on the stage. Candido slams Taz on the stage, then drops an elbow from the level above them for two. They finally get back in the ring, where Candido hits a delayed vertical suplex, then a diving headbutt for two. Tammy starts yelling "1,2,3", to which the crowd responds by chanting "show your tits".
Taz hits a wheelbarrow slam. Candido comes back with an awkward slingshot belly-to-back suplex for two. Taz counters a hurricarana with a powerbomb for two. Taz takes a boot to the face, but then immediately hits a head-and-arm suplex. Candido goes to the eyes, and hits a powerbomb. Candido goes for the Blonde Bombshell (powerbomb off the top), but Taz fights it off, and hits a head-and-arm suplex off the top.
Tammy hands Candido a chain, and he punches Taz for two. Candido sets a table up in the corner and pounds away. Taz counters a whip into the table, then drives Candido through it with a Tazmission suplex. Candido's hurt his neck, and the ref stops the match. Match started out as a boring brawl and never got much better. Wasn't expecting that finish though.
-Candido gets stretchered out and Joey's commentary seems to be setting him up for a babyface run, but IIRC, it never materialized. A couple people in the crowd aren't happy with Taz, so he responds by attacking Candido and choking him out as Candido taps. The fans that were chanting "fuck you Taz" heartily applaud the move, as do a lot more people. Taz says that's what happens when you fuck with Taz. Does anyone know if this was supposed to be some kind of double-turn that didn't work because of the crowd reaction?
-Before the next match, Shane Douglas cuts a promo, stating that Terry Funk knew his job six years ago was to make Douglas a franchise. I hate promos like that. Douglas challenges Credible to step over the line, and Credible abliges.
-Match 7: Shane Douglas (w/Francine) VS Justin Credible (w/Jason)
-After a slugfest, Douglas hits a bunch of suplexes, followed by a rolling neck snap. Douglas dominates the first few minutes. Jazz is there too in Credible's corner, but doesn't have a name yet. Douglas tries to splash Credible through a table, but Jazz interferes, and Credible throws Douglas through the table. Now it's Credible's turn to work Shane over. Credible controls the next few minutes, with a couple hope spots mixed in.
Credible rams Douglas' head into one of the building's support beams, and that draws the first blood of the show, surprisingly enough. They exchange chops, and Credible goes to the eyes to keep the advantage. After a chinlock, Credible sets up a table, and lands some chops. Douglas blocks a whip into the table, then press slams Credible through it for two. Douglas slaps on a figure 4. Jazz rakes Douglas' eyes to break the hold, kicking off a cat fight with Francine. Credible wants to cane Francine, but Douglas stops that with cane shots of his own.
Credible hits some cane shots, but misses the KO shot, and Douglas hits a leg lariat. Jason goes after Franchise, but gets speared by Francine, and takes a full nelson slam from Douglas. Credible hits a superkick for two, then Douglas gets a rollup for two. Douglas hits a Thesz Press and mounted punches for two. Credible continues the Austin tribute with a Stunner. Credible leaps off the top, but gets caught with an inverted atomic drop, then the Pittsburgh Plunge (fisherman buster) to finish, even though Douglas' shoulders were down too. This was alright for a grudge match, worked more in a traditional style than the other matches on this show.
-Lance Storm attacks Douglas, leading to a huge caning at the hands of Credible. Tommy Dreamer tries to help, but gets laid out with a trash can. Thus the Impact Players are born (I think). Cyrus was in the ring at the end, but didn't do anything.
-Match 8: The Dudley Boyz & Mr. Mustafa (w/Sign Guy Dudley & Joel Gertner) VS Balls Mahoney, Axl Rotten, & New Jack [Ultimate Jeopardy Match]
-Before anyone gets in the cage, Bubba gets on the mic and says that New Jack has decided to not get in the cage tonight. Bubba says he's happy that the fans won't get to see someone they paid to see. Bubba cuts Gertner's intro short. This is ECW's version of War Games.
Balls & D-Von start. Balls controls the segment, including hitting D-Von with THE COOKIE SHEET OF DEATH. Balls hits a frog splash and goes for the cover, but there cannot be a pin until everyone is in the cage. Bubba gets in, but doesn't fare well to start. Balls absorbs some double teams and slugs away on both Dudleys, until Bubba scores with a urinage. Bubba accidentally hits an already bloody D-Von with a trash can lid, and draws a "you fucked up" chant for it.
Axl gets in, and wraps barbed wire across the forehead of D-Von. Bubba takes a shot with the cookie sheet and Balls is busted open. Axl grabs a pair of scissors and jabs it into D-Von's head. D-Von gives Axl a receipt the first chance he gets. Mustafa makes it 3-on-2. Not much of note happens until this segment ends. It takes a moment, but New Jack does make his entrance.
He does the usual, but doesn't get nearly the reaction he usually does. Axl adds some thumbtacks, but ends up getting suplexed onto them. New Jack's music plays for the rest of the match. Bubba uses a mop handle, followed by barbed wire, but New Jack refuses to join everyone else in bleeding. Can't say I blame him. Would you want to risk your blood mixing with these guys? Balls blows fire in Mustafa's face, but then immediately takes 3-D and a double pin. This was the definition of, to steal a phrase from Jerry Lawler, extremely crappy wrestling.
-The Dudleys get the fuck out of dodge, so the babyfaces lock the cage with Mustafa still inside. They put Mustafa on a table, then New Jack does a splash off the cage to put him through it. The faces don't seem to be bothered at all that they lost.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty bad show, especially for something that's supposed to represent the "best of" ECW. There's pretty much nothing worth going out of your way to see here, except maybe the formation of the Impact Players. The good wrestlers had much better matches on other shows, and the bad wrestlers were...bad. I don't think this show really meant much after it happened, but I could be wrong about that.
WWECW December to Dismember
-This is the disasterous first and only attempt at a WWE-version of ECW PPV. I actually haven't seen this show before, but it has a reputation. Let's see if it lives up to it.
-From Augusta, GA
-Hosts are Joey Styles & Tazz
-Right away WWE gets rid of the ECW look that they were trying to go with, and it makes the show look like any other WWE PPV.
-Match 1: MNM (w/Melina) VS The Hardys
-Only this and the main event were announce ahead of time. Neither of these teams are technically ECW roster members. Jeff is I-C champion at this point. This was a "one night only" reunion for both teams. FUN FACT: These teams would be part of the 4 team Ladder Match at Armageddon later in the month (which included Mercury's face being broken), then this match also opened the 2007 Royal Rumble. Slow start. Hardys work on Mercury's arm. Nitro gets in, and right away takes a slingshot dropkick from Jeff for two. The Hardys then double team Nitro, then hit a double team wheelbarrow slam on an interfering Mercury.
Crowd tries to get into the ECW spirit by chanting "she's a crack whore" at Melina, but their hearts aren't really into it. Nitro misses a standing shooting star on Jeff, who immediately tags Matt. Matt hits a Splash Mountain bomb, one of the few times I've ever seen that move not countered into a hurricarana. Matt gets lured outside by Melina and clobbered by Mercury. Matt plays face-in-peril. Tazz takes the opportunity given to him by a scream from Melina to make a gay joke about Michael Cole. Matt counteres a double team suplex and hits a double hangman's neckbreaker, but MNM cut off the tag.
MNM go for the Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo, but Matt breaks it up, and makes the hot tag to Jeff. Jeff cleans house, then Matt hits a slingshot dive on Mercury. Nitro then hits a sweet dive over the ropes, followed by Jeff who hits a plancha on all three other men. Hardys hit Poetry in Motion on Mercury. Matt hits Mercury with the Twist of Fate, but Nitro pulls Mercury out of the way of the Swanton Bomb. Nitro hits Jeff with a springboard dropkick for two.
MNM hit Jeff with a double-team catapult, and he is officially face-in-peril v2.0. MNM work Jeff over, but can't put him away. Jeff finally counters another catapult with the Whisper in the Wind, and makes the hot tag to Matt. Matt cleans house, hitting both MNM members with the Side Effect, and getting two on Nitro. The match breaks down, and the Hardys hit stereo superplexes. Melina distracts the ref, but ends up getting accidentally dropkicked off the apron by Nitro. Jeff gets a schoolboy for two. MNM hit the Snapshot, but Matt makes the save at two.
MNM set up for the Snapshot off the turnbuckles. Matt prevents that, and hits a double Diamond Cutter, then Jeff hits both MNM members with the Swantom Bomb before getting the pin on Nitro. Solid, if unspectacular tag formula match. Picked up for a bit right before the end, but the finish took too long to set up and killed the momentum that had been building.
-RVD is willing to risk it all to become the ECW Champion again. Rob says "the risks are worth the prize".
-Match 2: Matt Striker VS Balls Mahoney
-Matt Striker believes it is his job to restore order to an extreme environment. Matt says his match will be contested under extreme...ly enforced rules. No eye gouging, no hair-pulling, no top rope moves, and no foul language. Tazz points out that Striker has his own face on the back of his tights. Joey "You have to wonder about a man who wants to sit on his own face". Balls completely out-wrestles Striker, who responds with brawling. Striker goes to work on the arm.
Striker keeps working the arm as the crowd quickly grows disinterested. Balls hits some punches and a sidewalk slam for two. Balls goes up top, and the ref actually moves to enforce the "no top rope" rule, allowing Striker to shake the ropes and crotch Balls. Striker gets a nice rolling armbar. Balls makes his comeback with punches, and hits a spinebuster for the pin. Match was alright. Seemed to be building to Striker breaking one of his own rules to steal the win though.
-CM Punk warms up for the main event.
-Sabu is found KO'd backstage. Paul Heyman cares more about his main event than Sabu's health. The crowd, sensing what's coming, immediately chants "bullshit".
-Match 3: Elijah Burke & Sylvester Terkay VS The FBI (w/Trinity)
-Burke says tonight will be a sports-entertainment first: The Elijah Experience, and that they'll leave their mark like an animal in heat. Burke wrestles with his baseball cap on, but quickly loses it to Guido. FBI get the better of Burke for a little bit, but the tide turns when Terkay gets in. Terkay catches Guido in mid-air, casually kicks Mamaluke down, then throws Guido out over the top onto Mamaluke. Burke hits a stiff punch to the ribs for two. WWE missed the boat on Burke.
Match slows down quite a bit as Burke works on Guido. Burke hits an STO for two, with Mamaluke making the save. Mamaluke gets the lukewarm tag, and the crowd couldn't care less. FBI knock Terkay down with a double basement dropkick, then hit Burke with a double flapjack for two. Terkay clobbers Mamaluke, and Burke finishes with the Stroke. Terkay adds a muscle buster on Guido as one fan chants "TNA". Crowd indifference aside, this was an ok match.
-Sabu gets loaded into an ambulance. The crowd is not happy.
-Match 4: Daivari (w/The Great Khali) VS Tommy Dreamer
-Daivari controls the early going with punches. Dreamer fights back, but gets low-bridged by Khali. The ref saw that, and kicks Khali out from ringside. Daivari adds excitement to the match with...a chinlock. Daivari controls with more jobber offense as the crowd grows impatient for a Dreamer comeback. Dreamer makes an unexciting comeback, hitting an inverted DDT for two. Dreamer avoids a cross-body off the top, then ties Daivari into the Tree of Woe before hitting a basement dropkick. Daivari counters a DDT into a schoolboy, and gets the pin with a handfull of tights. Awful match, awful booking. Daivari is weird. He has a look and a gimmick that should be instant heat amongst the less-tolerant wrestling fans, but he can't draw any because he's a cruiserweight that tries to wrestle like a heavyweight, and he's just so fucking shitty at it that just about every match I've seen him has died a painful death.
-Dreamer tries to get revenge, but Khali comes back and hits a Tree Slam on the ramp.
-Paul Heyman goes into the locker room, and meets a fortunately there and dressed to wrestle Hardcore Holly. Heyman makes Holly Sabu's replacement. Crowd is NOT happy with that.
-Match 5: Mike Knox & Kelly Kelly VS Kevin Thorne & Ariel
-I think it's hilarious that Heyman though "vampirism" was widespread enough to base a gimmick off that. Mixed tag rules, so no intergender stuff. Boring match that the crowd couldn't care less about, other than staring at Kelly's ass and Ariel's breasts. Knox does hit a nice bicycle kick for two. The girls get in, and the crowd cares because of the T & A mentioned above. Kelly's "selling" is embarrasingly bad. Knox short-arms on a tag, then walks out on the match. Crowd cheers the move (they are ECW fans afterall), and a short "CM Punk" chant breaks out. Ariel finally finishes Kelly to end this. This was really, really bad.
-Ariel attacks Kelly just because she can until Sandman's music hits. Sandman makes his way through the crowd an Thorne grabs his cane. Sandman canes the shit out of Thorne to give the crowd something to really cheer for.
-Some woman I don't remember interviews Bobby Lashley. Video shows Lashley getting destroyed by Big Show & Heyman's crew on the previous ECW on Sci-Fi.
-Video previews the main event.
-Paul Heyman comes out kill time before the main event. First, he says that Hulkamania will die with Hogan, the "woo"s will die with Flair, but ECW will survive long after he dies, and it's all because of him. He might have a point, since there are people in wrestling who won't let the whole thing die. Heyman says ECW is now a global phenomenom lead by Big Show.
-Match 6 for the ECW Championship: Big Show [c] VS CM Punk VS Test VS Bobby Lashley VS Hardcore Holly VS Rob Van Dam
-This is a Chamber match, with weapons in each pod added. Show has a bared wire baseball bat, Punk has a chair, Test has a crowbar, and Lashley has a table. Test & Hardcore Holly in the main event! Where do I sign up? Tazz & Joey actually deduce that Holly had something to do with the attack on Sabu. Show, Test, & Holly show signs of solidarity (say that three times fast) during the ring intros, setting this up as essentially a team match.
RVD & Holly start. Cool spot as RVD does the Spider-Man leap into the cage, but then misses a cross-body and hangs himself up in the ropes. Holly slams RVD on the grating, then very gingerly jumps into a boot from RVD. That looked really bad. RVD hits Rolling Thunder over the top to the grating. Holly suplexes RVD back in the ring. They slug it out on their knees until RVD hits a low dropkick. Holly hits a proper dropkick for two.
CM Punk (w/chair) joins in to a big pop. Punk hits Holly with the chair, then RVD with a springboard clothesline. Punk throws a chair at RVD, who catches it, and simply throws it back at Punk's head. RVD hits Punk with a monkey flip onto the chair. Punk avoids a Van Daminator and a legsweep before dropping a leg on RVD's head to drive his face into the chair. That busts RVD open. Punk wedges the chair in a corner, then throws RVD head-first into it. Holly wheelbarrows Punk into the chamber for two. Heyman instructs Holly to finish either one off, and he settles on Punk. Holly sets Punk up top, then hits a couple chops followed by a superplex. RVD covers Punk off that and gets two. Punk hits the high knee on Holly, but runs into a kick from RVD.
Test (w/crowbar) enters. He whacks Punk in the ribs, then digs the edge into RVD's open wound. RVD takes Holly & Test out, then skateboards the chair into Punk's head before finishing him with the Five Star Frog Splash. Maybe RVD is too stoned to remember that Heyman's crew are working together. That doesn't matter soon enough, as Test measures RVD before turning and kicking Holly. That looks like it gets two because even though Holly doesn't kick out, the ref stops counting, but Holly is then removed from the chamber anyway. RVD tries a splash off one of the pods. but he stupidly picks Show's pod. Show grabs RVD and holds him in place for a chairshot from Test. Test puts the chair on RVD's face, then finishes him with an elbowdrop off Show's pod. Crowd chants "bullshit" at that, followed by a small "where's my refund?" chant.
Lashley is supposed to enter next, but Heyman's riot squad (the Basham Brothers, IIRC) keep Lashley's pod locked. Given that Test is armed with a fucking CROWBAR, I don't see what they were worried about. Lashley uses the table to break through the top of his pod and enter the match. Lashley mauls Test, then whips him into a couple pods. Test fights back, but Lashley kicks the chair into Test's face to cut him off. Lashley cracks Test with the crowbar, then finishes him with a spear, leaving Lashley and Show alone in the chamber. Heyman tries to psyche Big Show up in the minute between Test's elimination and Show's entrance.
Show (w/baseball bat) enters Lashley blocks Show's attempt to hit him with the baseball bat with the chair. The bat gets stuck in the chamber wall, and Lashley hits a couple chairshots. Lashley sends Show through one of the pods, and Show is busted open. Show is PISSED and breaks through the other wall. Lashley counters a chokeslam with a DDT. Show catches Lashley in mid-air and goes for a powerslam. Lashley slides out, and finishes Show with a spear to win the title. Crowd does pop pretty big for that. The match was OK but pretty unremarkable eccept for the booking, which was all over the place.
-Lashley gets a huge pyro display to celebrate his win.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This show isn't the 1991 Great American Bash. What it appears to be is Vince & Company's attempt to troll Heyman and by extension, the ECW fans. Heyman would actually quit WWE right after this show ended. The message from WWE to ECW fans was clear: thanks for buying the "Rise & Fall" DVD and the "One Night Stand" PPVs, but this is a WWE brand and will be what WE want, not the ECW YOU want.
-From Augusta, GA
-Hosts are Joey Styles & Tazz
-Right away WWE gets rid of the ECW look that they were trying to go with, and it makes the show look like any other WWE PPV.
-Match 1: MNM (w/Melina) VS The Hardys
-Only this and the main event were announce ahead of time. Neither of these teams are technically ECW roster members. Jeff is I-C champion at this point. This was a "one night only" reunion for both teams. FUN FACT: These teams would be part of the 4 team Ladder Match at Armageddon later in the month (which included Mercury's face being broken), then this match also opened the 2007 Royal Rumble. Slow start. Hardys work on Mercury's arm. Nitro gets in, and right away takes a slingshot dropkick from Jeff for two. The Hardys then double team Nitro, then hit a double team wheelbarrow slam on an interfering Mercury.
Crowd tries to get into the ECW spirit by chanting "she's a crack whore" at Melina, but their hearts aren't really into it. Nitro misses a standing shooting star on Jeff, who immediately tags Matt. Matt hits a Splash Mountain bomb, one of the few times I've ever seen that move not countered into a hurricarana. Matt gets lured outside by Melina and clobbered by Mercury. Matt plays face-in-peril. Tazz takes the opportunity given to him by a scream from Melina to make a gay joke about Michael Cole. Matt counteres a double team suplex and hits a double hangman's neckbreaker, but MNM cut off the tag.
MNM go for the Twist of Fate/Swanton Bomb combo, but Matt breaks it up, and makes the hot tag to Jeff. Jeff cleans house, then Matt hits a slingshot dive on Mercury. Nitro then hits a sweet dive over the ropes, followed by Jeff who hits a plancha on all three other men. Hardys hit Poetry in Motion on Mercury. Matt hits Mercury with the Twist of Fate, but Nitro pulls Mercury out of the way of the Swanton Bomb. Nitro hits Jeff with a springboard dropkick for two.
MNM hit Jeff with a double-team catapult, and he is officially face-in-peril v2.0. MNM work Jeff over, but can't put him away. Jeff finally counters another catapult with the Whisper in the Wind, and makes the hot tag to Matt. Matt cleans house, hitting both MNM members with the Side Effect, and getting two on Nitro. The match breaks down, and the Hardys hit stereo superplexes. Melina distracts the ref, but ends up getting accidentally dropkicked off the apron by Nitro. Jeff gets a schoolboy for two. MNM hit the Snapshot, but Matt makes the save at two.
MNM set up for the Snapshot off the turnbuckles. Matt prevents that, and hits a double Diamond Cutter, then Jeff hits both MNM members with the Swantom Bomb before getting the pin on Nitro. Solid, if unspectacular tag formula match. Picked up for a bit right before the end, but the finish took too long to set up and killed the momentum that had been building.
-RVD is willing to risk it all to become the ECW Champion again. Rob says "the risks are worth the prize".
-Match 2: Matt Striker VS Balls Mahoney
-Matt Striker believes it is his job to restore order to an extreme environment. Matt says his match will be contested under extreme...ly enforced rules. No eye gouging, no hair-pulling, no top rope moves, and no foul language. Tazz points out that Striker has his own face on the back of his tights. Joey "You have to wonder about a man who wants to sit on his own face". Balls completely out-wrestles Striker, who responds with brawling. Striker goes to work on the arm.
Striker keeps working the arm as the crowd quickly grows disinterested. Balls hits some punches and a sidewalk slam for two. Balls goes up top, and the ref actually moves to enforce the "no top rope" rule, allowing Striker to shake the ropes and crotch Balls. Striker gets a nice rolling armbar. Balls makes his comeback with punches, and hits a spinebuster for the pin. Match was alright. Seemed to be building to Striker breaking one of his own rules to steal the win though.
-CM Punk warms up for the main event.
-Sabu is found KO'd backstage. Paul Heyman cares more about his main event than Sabu's health. The crowd, sensing what's coming, immediately chants "bullshit".
-Match 3: Elijah Burke & Sylvester Terkay VS The FBI (w/Trinity)
-Burke says tonight will be a sports-entertainment first: The Elijah Experience, and that they'll leave their mark like an animal in heat. Burke wrestles with his baseball cap on, but quickly loses it to Guido. FBI get the better of Burke for a little bit, but the tide turns when Terkay gets in. Terkay catches Guido in mid-air, casually kicks Mamaluke down, then throws Guido out over the top onto Mamaluke. Burke hits a stiff punch to the ribs for two. WWE missed the boat on Burke.
Match slows down quite a bit as Burke works on Guido. Burke hits an STO for two, with Mamaluke making the save. Mamaluke gets the lukewarm tag, and the crowd couldn't care less. FBI knock Terkay down with a double basement dropkick, then hit Burke with a double flapjack for two. Terkay clobbers Mamaluke, and Burke finishes with the Stroke. Terkay adds a muscle buster on Guido as one fan chants "TNA". Crowd indifference aside, this was an ok match.
-Sabu gets loaded into an ambulance. The crowd is not happy.
-Match 4: Daivari (w/The Great Khali) VS Tommy Dreamer
-Daivari controls the early going with punches. Dreamer fights back, but gets low-bridged by Khali. The ref saw that, and kicks Khali out from ringside. Daivari adds excitement to the match with...a chinlock. Daivari controls with more jobber offense as the crowd grows impatient for a Dreamer comeback. Dreamer makes an unexciting comeback, hitting an inverted DDT for two. Dreamer avoids a cross-body off the top, then ties Daivari into the Tree of Woe before hitting a basement dropkick. Daivari counters a DDT into a schoolboy, and gets the pin with a handfull of tights. Awful match, awful booking. Daivari is weird. He has a look and a gimmick that should be instant heat amongst the less-tolerant wrestling fans, but he can't draw any because he's a cruiserweight that tries to wrestle like a heavyweight, and he's just so fucking shitty at it that just about every match I've seen him has died a painful death.
-Dreamer tries to get revenge, but Khali comes back and hits a Tree Slam on the ramp.
-Paul Heyman goes into the locker room, and meets a fortunately there and dressed to wrestle Hardcore Holly. Heyman makes Holly Sabu's replacement. Crowd is NOT happy with that.
-Match 5: Mike Knox & Kelly Kelly VS Kevin Thorne & Ariel
-I think it's hilarious that Heyman though "vampirism" was widespread enough to base a gimmick off that. Mixed tag rules, so no intergender stuff. Boring match that the crowd couldn't care less about, other than staring at Kelly's ass and Ariel's breasts. Knox does hit a nice bicycle kick for two. The girls get in, and the crowd cares because of the T & A mentioned above. Kelly's "selling" is embarrasingly bad. Knox short-arms on a tag, then walks out on the match. Crowd cheers the move (they are ECW fans afterall), and a short "CM Punk" chant breaks out. Ariel finally finishes Kelly to end this. This was really, really bad.
-Ariel attacks Kelly just because she can until Sandman's music hits. Sandman makes his way through the crowd an Thorne grabs his cane. Sandman canes the shit out of Thorne to give the crowd something to really cheer for.
-Some woman I don't remember interviews Bobby Lashley. Video shows Lashley getting destroyed by Big Show & Heyman's crew on the previous ECW on Sci-Fi.
-Video previews the main event.
-Paul Heyman comes out kill time before the main event. First, he says that Hulkamania will die with Hogan, the "woo"s will die with Flair, but ECW will survive long after he dies, and it's all because of him. He might have a point, since there are people in wrestling who won't let the whole thing die. Heyman says ECW is now a global phenomenom lead by Big Show.
-Match 6 for the ECW Championship: Big Show [c] VS CM Punk VS Test VS Bobby Lashley VS Hardcore Holly VS Rob Van Dam
-This is a Chamber match, with weapons in each pod added. Show has a bared wire baseball bat, Punk has a chair, Test has a crowbar, and Lashley has a table. Test & Hardcore Holly in the main event! Where do I sign up? Tazz & Joey actually deduce that Holly had something to do with the attack on Sabu. Show, Test, & Holly show signs of solidarity (say that three times fast) during the ring intros, setting this up as essentially a team match.
RVD & Holly start. Cool spot as RVD does the Spider-Man leap into the cage, but then misses a cross-body and hangs himself up in the ropes. Holly slams RVD on the grating, then very gingerly jumps into a boot from RVD. That looked really bad. RVD hits Rolling Thunder over the top to the grating. Holly suplexes RVD back in the ring. They slug it out on their knees until RVD hits a low dropkick. Holly hits a proper dropkick for two.
CM Punk (w/chair) joins in to a big pop. Punk hits Holly with the chair, then RVD with a springboard clothesline. Punk throws a chair at RVD, who catches it, and simply throws it back at Punk's head. RVD hits Punk with a monkey flip onto the chair. Punk avoids a Van Daminator and a legsweep before dropping a leg on RVD's head to drive his face into the chair. That busts RVD open. Punk wedges the chair in a corner, then throws RVD head-first into it. Holly wheelbarrows Punk into the chamber for two. Heyman instructs Holly to finish either one off, and he settles on Punk. Holly sets Punk up top, then hits a couple chops followed by a superplex. RVD covers Punk off that and gets two. Punk hits the high knee on Holly, but runs into a kick from RVD.
Test (w/crowbar) enters. He whacks Punk in the ribs, then digs the edge into RVD's open wound. RVD takes Holly & Test out, then skateboards the chair into Punk's head before finishing him with the Five Star Frog Splash. Maybe RVD is too stoned to remember that Heyman's crew are working together. That doesn't matter soon enough, as Test measures RVD before turning and kicking Holly. That looks like it gets two because even though Holly doesn't kick out, the ref stops counting, but Holly is then removed from the chamber anyway. RVD tries a splash off one of the pods. but he stupidly picks Show's pod. Show grabs RVD and holds him in place for a chairshot from Test. Test puts the chair on RVD's face, then finishes him with an elbowdrop off Show's pod. Crowd chants "bullshit" at that, followed by a small "where's my refund?" chant.
Lashley is supposed to enter next, but Heyman's riot squad (the Basham Brothers, IIRC) keep Lashley's pod locked. Given that Test is armed with a fucking CROWBAR, I don't see what they were worried about. Lashley uses the table to break through the top of his pod and enter the match. Lashley mauls Test, then whips him into a couple pods. Test fights back, but Lashley kicks the chair into Test's face to cut him off. Lashley cracks Test with the crowbar, then finishes him with a spear, leaving Lashley and Show alone in the chamber. Heyman tries to psyche Big Show up in the minute between Test's elimination and Show's entrance.
Show (w/baseball bat) enters Lashley blocks Show's attempt to hit him with the baseball bat with the chair. The bat gets stuck in the chamber wall, and Lashley hits a couple chairshots. Lashley sends Show through one of the pods, and Show is busted open. Show is PISSED and breaks through the other wall. Lashley counters a chokeslam with a DDT. Show catches Lashley in mid-air and goes for a powerslam. Lashley slides out, and finishes Show with a spear to win the title. Crowd does pop pretty big for that. The match was OK but pretty unremarkable eccept for the booking, which was all over the place.
-Lashley gets a huge pyro display to celebrate his win.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This show isn't the 1991 Great American Bash. What it appears to be is Vince & Company's attempt to troll Heyman and by extension, the ECW fans. Heyman would actually quit WWE right after this show ended. The message from WWE to ECW fans was clear: thanks for buying the "Rise & Fall" DVD and the "One Night Stand" PPVs, but this is a WWE brand and will be what WE want, not the ECW YOU want.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
WWE Money in the Bank 2012 7/15/12
-From Phoenix, AZ
-PRE-SHOW:
-Scott Stansford & Matt Stryker run down the card, including announcing that the WWE Championship match is now no-DQ.
-Zack Ryder & Santino have their fun spoiled by Damien Sandow, who reminds Ryder that he has the night off because Sandow beat him in their Money in the Bank qualifying match.
-Pre-Show Match: WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth VS Hunico & Comacho
-Truth consults with Little Jimmy, so Hunico pisses him off by stomping on Truth's imaginary friend. Kofi gets in, and hits a flying clothesline for one. Champions hit a double hiptoss, and Truth follows up with the Crazy People's legdrop for two. Comacho gets in, and hits Truth with a butterfly suplex for one. Hunico gets in and walks into a leg lariat. Kofi takes over on Hunico, and hits the Boom Drop. Hunico avoids Trouble in Paradise, and goes back on offense.
Comacho prevents a Kofi springboard, and Kofi is officially the face-in-peril. Hunico hits a swank school boy into a powerbomb for two. Kofi springs up the turnbuckles and hits a sweet flying headscissors. Tags on both ends, and Trush spikes Comacho with a DDT. Kofi takes Hunico out, then sends Comacho into the Little Jimmy for the win at 8:23. Average undercard tag match.
-Josh Matthews gets some words from Chris Jericho, who has his fans in attendence. Jericho breaks out some of his old catchphrases, and gets pops for them.
-Video package previews Sheamus/ADR.
-Daniel Bryan says AJ is his future wife. Matthews reminds Bryan that AJ slapped him in the face, to which Bryan replies that Matthews must not know much about women. Bryan says he's going to leave with both the WWE Championship, and AJ's heart.
-Video previews the WWE title match.
-MAIN SHOW:
-Match 1 for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Contract: Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) VS United States Champion Santino Marella VS Cody Rhodes VS Damien Sandow VS Tyson Kidd VS Sin Cara VS Tensai (w/Sakamoto) VS Intercontinental Champion Christian
-Ring gets cleared out quickly. Santino tries to jump and grab the case. Tensai catapults Kidd face-first into a ladder. Tensai tries to set Christian up, but gets caught and double-teamed by Christian & Kidd. Christian takes Kidd out and climbs, but is cut off by Santino. Kidd joins the fun, but they all get wiped out by Sandow. Sandow climbs, but is dropkicked off the ladder by Ziggler. Ziggler misses the famouser on Rhodes, but Rhodes then tosses Cara into a dropkick on Ziggler. Cara takes Rhodes out, then badly blows a Flux Capacitor on Ziggler.
Cara puts Kidd on a ladder, but gets shoved down by Christian, who then misses a frogsplash on Kidd, hitting the ladder. Rhodes hits the disaster kick on Sandow, but is then sent out of the ring by Kidd. Kidd gets cut off by Tensai, who also catches Santino and tosses him. Tensai catches Kidd climbing again and tries to powerbomb him, but Kidd counters into a hurricarana over the top and out. Sandow gets stopped by Cara. Sandow takes Cara out and almost has it, but is stopped by Christian. They go at it for a while, and Christian counters a running powerslam into a ladder and hits an inverted DDT.
Sandow avoids one spear, but not the second, and is sent right into a ladder. Christian is cut off by Ziggler & Rhodes, who then fight it out before getting taken out by Tensai. Tensai climbs, but has to stop Kidd, who springboards onto the ladder and almost gets the case first. Tensai fights off Santino, but takes ladder shots from Christian, then Christian & Santino. Santino & Dolph square off. Santino hits the saluting headbutt and THE COBRA on Dolph.
Santino climbs, but does so very slowly, since he's afraid of heights. Santino cobras Sandow, but then takes a springboard dropkick from Rhodes to knock him over. Cody climbs, but is distracted by Vickie, and Dolph sneaks in with a Zig Zag off the ladder. Ziggler fights with Christian while Sandow sets up a ladder and Kidd waits for his opportunity. Kidd leans one ladder into the one Ziggler & Christian are climbing, then goes for a sunset bomb on Ziggler, taking Ziggler's taint in his face for his troubles.
Tensai bridges the ring and the announce table with a ladder, and powerbombs Cara on it, then throws Ziggler, who almost breaks his neck on Booker T's chair. Rhodes uses two disaster kicks to drop Tensai. Cody tosses Kidd off a ladder, but then takes a spear from Christian off the same ladder. Ziggler slowly emerges from behind the announce table as Santino and Christian climb. Christian takes care of Santino, but is then dumped by Ziggler, who grabs the briefcase at 18:29. Pretty much what you should expect from one of these matches; total car wreck spots and guys disappearing until their segment comes up. Ziggler almost killing himself off the Tensai throw was something else though. The right guy won here. Now he needs a successful cash-in and a good length title reign to get to the next level, where he should be.
-The Miz makes his return after filming THE MARINE 3, with a grown-up haircut and modest facial hair. Miz enters himself into the WWE Championship Money in the Bank match.
-RAW MOMENT: Tony Schiavone announces Mick Foley winning the title on Nitro, and 600,000 viewers immediately changed from Nitro to Raw.
-Match 2 for the World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus [c] VS Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)
-Back-and-forth start, with ADR trying to work the arm he injured on Smackdown. Sheamus hits a kneedrop for two. Sheamus hits a flying shoulderblock off the top for two. Ricardo provides a distraction, allowing ADR to dropkick Sheamus off the apron. ADR goes back to work on the arm. Sheamus hits a couple headbutts, but whiffs on an Irish hammer, and ADR gets an armbar takedown to retake control. ADR hits a couple buzzsaw kicks for two.
ADR runs into a boot, and Sheamus follows up with a swinging neckbreaker. Sheamus hits a couple Irish hammers, but runs into a knee to the shoulder to put ADR back on offense. ADR sets up for the cross-armbreaker, but Sheamus fights out. Sheamus immediately crashes shoulder-first into the ringpost. ADR uses a headbutt to win a slugfest. Sheamus again fights off the cross-armbreaker, but slingshots right into a double-knee code breaker on the arm for two.
ADR talks shit, and Sheamus fires up, hitting a big powerslam for two. ADR tries, but can't fight off the Irish Hand Granade. ADR runs right into the Irish Curse for two. ADR avoids the Brogues Kick, and hits a lung blower for two. ADR whiffs on the step-up enziguiri, and Sheamus immediately hits White Noise, followed by the Brogue Kick to retain at 14:24. This was the first time in a long time that I can remember someone calling for their finisher, and actually hitting it for the win. This was really good, and I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch, as these two look to have good chemistry.
-Ricardo helps ADR attack Sheamus for the post-match revenge attack. Ziggler runs out to cash in his briefcase, having to stop to clock ADR with the case, then walking right into a Brogue Kick before the bell can be rung to start the match, so no cash-in.
-Match 3: The Prime Time Players (w/ A.W.) VS Primo & Epico (w/Rosa)
-Kofi & Truth join the announce table. P & E hit a low dropkick/missile dropkick combo on Titus for two. P & E then double team Young before taking O'Neil out too. Epico hits a dive on both Players. Epico plays face-in-peril. Young holds Epico on the ring apron while A.W. combs Young's afro. Titus hits a backbreaker followed by a fall-away slam for two. Primo breaks up the cover, prompting A.W. to yell out "hey, this ain't Taco Bell!". Titus & Rosa have a dance-off, which Titus loses, allowing Epico to make the tag.
Primo gets in and fires up on Young, hitting a springboard twisting splash for two. Primo springboards right into a gutbuster, but catches Young with a rollup for the pin at 7:30. Match was fine, but had no heat.
-The Players confront Kofi & Truth, and Truth ends up throwing a drink in A.W.'s face. A.W. has to be held back, and R-Truth has to hold Little Jimmy back.
-AJ isn't sure what she's going to do tonight.
-Match 4 for the WWE Championship: CM Punk [c] VS Daniel Bryan [No DQ, Special Guest Referee AJ]
-Punk goes right after Bryan, who manages to turn the tide by whipping Punk into the barricade. Bryan hits the YES kicks, but Punk gets a quick schoolboy for two. Bryan rips at Punk's face, then they exchange chops before Punk hits a European uppercut. Bryan avoids a legdrop and hits more YES kicks. Punk comes back with a dropkick followed by a suicide dive. They fight on the entranceway, then when they get back in the ring, Bryan shoves Punk right into AJ, knocking her off the apron.
Bryan whips Punk into the steps as AJ is lead to the back. Bryan hits more kicks, then a flying knee off the apron. Bryan sends Punk into the barricade again, but Punk then backdrops Bryan into the time keeper's area. Punk hits a flying clothesline off the barricade. Crowd stops with dueling chants to call for tables. Punk tries to ablige, but Bryan attacks him before he can. Bryan grabs a kendo stick, but can't get a good shot in until he counters a Punk springboard flying clothesline with a shot to the stomach for two.
Bryan wears Punk out with the kendo stick, and gets two. Bryan pounds away in the corner, then hits a snap suplex, but then misses a diving headbutt. Punk wins a strike exchange, and hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. Punk hits a high knee, avoids a clothesline, and hits a snap powerslam for two. They avoid each other's finishers, and Bryan's counter of the GTS is a hurricarana rollup for two. Bryan locks on a surfboard, but Punk gets a hold of the kendo stick, and wears Bryan out for two.
Punk goes up top, but gets caught with a superplex. AJ returns to ref the rest of the match. She skips around the ring, then lays a chair in between them, ignoring Bryan's pleas that she hand it to him. Bryan gets the chair anyway, and drills Punk 4 or 5 times, getting two off that. Bryan talks with AJ, and Punk takes the opportunity to get a schoolboy for two.
Bryan gets more YES kicks in, but then runs into a clothesline. Punk sets the chair up in a corner, but AJ steps in front of it to prevent Punk from whipping Bryan into it. Bryan takes advantage by hitting a running dropkick. Bryan tries to grab the kendo stick, but AJ steps on it. Bryan walks into a roundhouse kick, then Punk adds a chair slam. Punk misses the Savage elbow, hitting the chair. Bryan gets a kendo stick-assisted YES lock, but Punk escapes, hits a catapult, followed by the GTS for two.
Punk sets up the table, lays Bryan on top of it, but Bryan crotches Punk on the top turnbuckle. Bryan looks to hurricarana Punk into the table, but Punk crotches him to counter. Punk hits a series of elbows, then a belly-to-back suplex through the table to retain at 27:46. Man, this was a WAR and well worth going out of your way to see. Glad to see the AJ angle didn't completely overwhelm the match.
-As Punk celebrates, King points out that AJ doesn't look too happy that she wasn't more involved in the decision.
-Match 5: Ryback VS Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks
-Hawkins and Reks have to tag. Ryback throws Hawkins and follows up with a push kick. Reks gets in, and takes Ryback down with a clothesline. Hawkins & Reks (mostly Reks) work Ryback over as the crowd silently waits for Ryback's big comeback. He does in short order, and the crowd responds with a "Goldberg" chant. Ryback finally finishes with Shell Shock (fisherman drop) at 4:19.
-RAW MOMENT: Chris Jericho debuts by interrupting The Rock.
-Match 6: Divas Champion Layla, Kaitlyn, & Tamina Snuka VS Beth Phoenix, Natalya, & Eve Torres
-Natalya and Tamina do a short sequence, the Kaitlyn takes on all three heels. Beth & Layla get in, then the match completely breaks down. Tamina hits Beth with a superkick, and Layla finishes her with the Layout at 3:23. NEXT!
-Match 7 for the WWE Championship Money in the Bank: Kane VS Chris Jericho VS The Miz VS Big Show VS John Cena
-FUN FACT: The WWE title has yet to main event a PPV this year. The World Heavyweight title hasn't even come close. Only the Royal Rumble & John Cena's matches have gone on last so far this year. Everyone save Cena & Show go outside right off the bat, then Cena knocks Show outside, before Show takes Cena out and whips him into the steps. Cena stops Miz, then both are taken out by a spear from Show. Show blocks a Kane DDT, then chops a flying Miz and floors a charging Jericho.
Show then takes a Code Breaker, DDT from Miz, and a big boot to the outside from Kane. Cena then puts Show through the Spanish announce table with the AA. Everyone else then buries Show under a pile of ladders. Jericho gets Miz in the Walls of Jericho, then takes out an intruding Kane. Jericho stops Miz from stealing the win, takes him out, then climbs himself before getting cut off by Cena.
Miz stops Cena, and hits him with a DDT. Kane takes Miz out and climbs, but is cut off by Jericho. Kane tries a double chokeslam on Jericho & Miz, but ends up taking a double suplex onto a ladder. Cena cleans house, then hits Jericho & Miz with a double Five Knuckle Shuffle, then an AA on Kane.
Jericho ends up by himself and almost wins it, but Show finally gets up and stops Jericho. Show ends up breaking a ladder in half while using it to batter Jericho. Show takes care of Miz, then works Cena over. Show sandwiches Cena between the ropes and a step ladder, then hits a running butt bump on the ladder. Show then goes under the ring and grabs the special ladder he had for a MitB match a couple years ago. The announcers of course act like they've never seen it before.
Show takes a while to set it up, then climbs. Kane cuts Show off, but then gets tossed off the ladder. Cena gets in there, and the same thing happens to him. Jericho finally uses a chair to get Show away from the briefcase. Cena & Jericho fight over the case. Cena almost gets the AA off the ladder, but Jericho counters into a sleeper. Cena climbs back up to the top of the ladder while still in the hold. Jericho almost puts Cena to sleep, but has to release the hold to take care of Miz.
Cena finally goes out from the sleeper. Jericho is all by himself. Miz quickly climbs the ladder and both men almost get the briefcase. Show ends that fight by knocking both out. Cena gets to the stop, and uses the briefcase to block the WMD and starts hitting Show with it, accidentally taking the briefcase off the hook early to win at 20:01. This was the lesser of the two MitB matches by far, as this one didn't have anyone willing to take the suicidal bumps, and instead tried to use the marquee value of the people in the match to carry it.
-Cena makes goofy faces while triumphantly holding the briefcase. Replay shows the hook actually broke off while Cena was hitting Show with the briefcase.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty good show, but not blow-away awesome like last year's. The main event MitB wasn't that great, and the bathroom break matches after Punk/Bryan stopped the momentum of the show cold. The Smackdown MitB and the two title matches delivered, but there was a lot of filler on this show.
-PRE-SHOW:
-Scott Stansford & Matt Stryker run down the card, including announcing that the WWE Championship match is now no-DQ.
-Zack Ryder & Santino have their fun spoiled by Damien Sandow, who reminds Ryder that he has the night off because Sandow beat him in their Money in the Bank qualifying match.
-Pre-Show Match: WWE Tag Team Champions Kofi Kingston & R-Truth VS Hunico & Comacho
-Truth consults with Little Jimmy, so Hunico pisses him off by stomping on Truth's imaginary friend. Kofi gets in, and hits a flying clothesline for one. Champions hit a double hiptoss, and Truth follows up with the Crazy People's legdrop for two. Comacho gets in, and hits Truth with a butterfly suplex for one. Hunico gets in and walks into a leg lariat. Kofi takes over on Hunico, and hits the Boom Drop. Hunico avoids Trouble in Paradise, and goes back on offense.
Comacho prevents a Kofi springboard, and Kofi is officially the face-in-peril. Hunico hits a swank school boy into a powerbomb for two. Kofi springs up the turnbuckles and hits a sweet flying headscissors. Tags on both ends, and Trush spikes Comacho with a DDT. Kofi takes Hunico out, then sends Comacho into the Little Jimmy for the win at 8:23. Average undercard tag match.
-Josh Matthews gets some words from Chris Jericho, who has his fans in attendence. Jericho breaks out some of his old catchphrases, and gets pops for them.
-Video package previews Sheamus/ADR.
-Daniel Bryan says AJ is his future wife. Matthews reminds Bryan that AJ slapped him in the face, to which Bryan replies that Matthews must not know much about women. Bryan says he's going to leave with both the WWE Championship, and AJ's heart.
-Video previews the WWE title match.
-MAIN SHOW:
-Match 1 for the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank Contract: Dolph Ziggler (w/Vickie Guerrero) VS United States Champion Santino Marella VS Cody Rhodes VS Damien Sandow VS Tyson Kidd VS Sin Cara VS Tensai (w/Sakamoto) VS Intercontinental Champion Christian
-Ring gets cleared out quickly. Santino tries to jump and grab the case. Tensai catapults Kidd face-first into a ladder. Tensai tries to set Christian up, but gets caught and double-teamed by Christian & Kidd. Christian takes Kidd out and climbs, but is cut off by Santino. Kidd joins the fun, but they all get wiped out by Sandow. Sandow climbs, but is dropkicked off the ladder by Ziggler. Ziggler misses the famouser on Rhodes, but Rhodes then tosses Cara into a dropkick on Ziggler. Cara takes Rhodes out, then badly blows a Flux Capacitor on Ziggler.
Cara puts Kidd on a ladder, but gets shoved down by Christian, who then misses a frogsplash on Kidd, hitting the ladder. Rhodes hits the disaster kick on Sandow, but is then sent out of the ring by Kidd. Kidd gets cut off by Tensai, who also catches Santino and tosses him. Tensai catches Kidd climbing again and tries to powerbomb him, but Kidd counters into a hurricarana over the top and out. Sandow gets stopped by Cara. Sandow takes Cara out and almost has it, but is stopped by Christian. They go at it for a while, and Christian counters a running powerslam into a ladder and hits an inverted DDT.
Sandow avoids one spear, but not the second, and is sent right into a ladder. Christian is cut off by Ziggler & Rhodes, who then fight it out before getting taken out by Tensai. Tensai climbs, but has to stop Kidd, who springboards onto the ladder and almost gets the case first. Tensai fights off Santino, but takes ladder shots from Christian, then Christian & Santino. Santino & Dolph square off. Santino hits the saluting headbutt and THE COBRA on Dolph.
Santino climbs, but does so very slowly, since he's afraid of heights. Santino cobras Sandow, but then takes a springboard dropkick from Rhodes to knock him over. Cody climbs, but is distracted by Vickie, and Dolph sneaks in with a Zig Zag off the ladder. Ziggler fights with Christian while Sandow sets up a ladder and Kidd waits for his opportunity. Kidd leans one ladder into the one Ziggler & Christian are climbing, then goes for a sunset bomb on Ziggler, taking Ziggler's taint in his face for his troubles.
Tensai bridges the ring and the announce table with a ladder, and powerbombs Cara on it, then throws Ziggler, who almost breaks his neck on Booker T's chair. Rhodes uses two disaster kicks to drop Tensai. Cody tosses Kidd off a ladder, but then takes a spear from Christian off the same ladder. Ziggler slowly emerges from behind the announce table as Santino and Christian climb. Christian takes care of Santino, but is then dumped by Ziggler, who grabs the briefcase at 18:29. Pretty much what you should expect from one of these matches; total car wreck spots and guys disappearing until their segment comes up. Ziggler almost killing himself off the Tensai throw was something else though. The right guy won here. Now he needs a successful cash-in and a good length title reign to get to the next level, where he should be.
-The Miz makes his return after filming THE MARINE 3, with a grown-up haircut and modest facial hair. Miz enters himself into the WWE Championship Money in the Bank match.
-RAW MOMENT: Tony Schiavone announces Mick Foley winning the title on Nitro, and 600,000 viewers immediately changed from Nitro to Raw.
-Match 2 for the World Heavyweight Championship: Sheamus [c] VS Alberto Del Rio (w/Ricardo Rodriguez)
-Back-and-forth start, with ADR trying to work the arm he injured on Smackdown. Sheamus hits a kneedrop for two. Sheamus hits a flying shoulderblock off the top for two. Ricardo provides a distraction, allowing ADR to dropkick Sheamus off the apron. ADR goes back to work on the arm. Sheamus hits a couple headbutts, but whiffs on an Irish hammer, and ADR gets an armbar takedown to retake control. ADR hits a couple buzzsaw kicks for two.
ADR runs into a boot, and Sheamus follows up with a swinging neckbreaker. Sheamus hits a couple Irish hammers, but runs into a knee to the shoulder to put ADR back on offense. ADR sets up for the cross-armbreaker, but Sheamus fights out. Sheamus immediately crashes shoulder-first into the ringpost. ADR uses a headbutt to win a slugfest. Sheamus again fights off the cross-armbreaker, but slingshots right into a double-knee code breaker on the arm for two.
ADR talks shit, and Sheamus fires up, hitting a big powerslam for two. ADR tries, but can't fight off the Irish Hand Granade. ADR runs right into the Irish Curse for two. ADR avoids the Brogues Kick, and hits a lung blower for two. ADR whiffs on the step-up enziguiri, and Sheamus immediately hits White Noise, followed by the Brogue Kick to retain at 14:24. This was the first time in a long time that I can remember someone calling for their finisher, and actually hitting it for the win. This was really good, and I wouldn't mind seeing a rematch, as these two look to have good chemistry.
-Ricardo helps ADR attack Sheamus for the post-match revenge attack. Ziggler runs out to cash in his briefcase, having to stop to clock ADR with the case, then walking right into a Brogue Kick before the bell can be rung to start the match, so no cash-in.
-Match 3: The Prime Time Players (w/ A.W.) VS Primo & Epico (w/Rosa)
-Kofi & Truth join the announce table. P & E hit a low dropkick/missile dropkick combo on Titus for two. P & E then double team Young before taking O'Neil out too. Epico hits a dive on both Players. Epico plays face-in-peril. Young holds Epico on the ring apron while A.W. combs Young's afro. Titus hits a backbreaker followed by a fall-away slam for two. Primo breaks up the cover, prompting A.W. to yell out "hey, this ain't Taco Bell!". Titus & Rosa have a dance-off, which Titus loses, allowing Epico to make the tag.
Primo gets in and fires up on Young, hitting a springboard twisting splash for two. Primo springboards right into a gutbuster, but catches Young with a rollup for the pin at 7:30. Match was fine, but had no heat.
-The Players confront Kofi & Truth, and Truth ends up throwing a drink in A.W.'s face. A.W. has to be held back, and R-Truth has to hold Little Jimmy back.
-AJ isn't sure what she's going to do tonight.
-Match 4 for the WWE Championship: CM Punk [c] VS Daniel Bryan [No DQ, Special Guest Referee AJ]
-Punk goes right after Bryan, who manages to turn the tide by whipping Punk into the barricade. Bryan hits the YES kicks, but Punk gets a quick schoolboy for two. Bryan rips at Punk's face, then they exchange chops before Punk hits a European uppercut. Bryan avoids a legdrop and hits more YES kicks. Punk comes back with a dropkick followed by a suicide dive. They fight on the entranceway, then when they get back in the ring, Bryan shoves Punk right into AJ, knocking her off the apron.
Bryan whips Punk into the steps as AJ is lead to the back. Bryan hits more kicks, then a flying knee off the apron. Bryan sends Punk into the barricade again, but Punk then backdrops Bryan into the time keeper's area. Punk hits a flying clothesline off the barricade. Crowd stops with dueling chants to call for tables. Punk tries to ablige, but Bryan attacks him before he can. Bryan grabs a kendo stick, but can't get a good shot in until he counters a Punk springboard flying clothesline with a shot to the stomach for two.
Bryan wears Punk out with the kendo stick, and gets two. Bryan pounds away in the corner, then hits a snap suplex, but then misses a diving headbutt. Punk wins a strike exchange, and hits a swinging neckbreaker for two. Punk hits a high knee, avoids a clothesline, and hits a snap powerslam for two. They avoid each other's finishers, and Bryan's counter of the GTS is a hurricarana rollup for two. Bryan locks on a surfboard, but Punk gets a hold of the kendo stick, and wears Bryan out for two.
Punk goes up top, but gets caught with a superplex. AJ returns to ref the rest of the match. She skips around the ring, then lays a chair in between them, ignoring Bryan's pleas that she hand it to him. Bryan gets the chair anyway, and drills Punk 4 or 5 times, getting two off that. Bryan talks with AJ, and Punk takes the opportunity to get a schoolboy for two.
Bryan gets more YES kicks in, but then runs into a clothesline. Punk sets the chair up in a corner, but AJ steps in front of it to prevent Punk from whipping Bryan into it. Bryan takes advantage by hitting a running dropkick. Bryan tries to grab the kendo stick, but AJ steps on it. Bryan walks into a roundhouse kick, then Punk adds a chair slam. Punk misses the Savage elbow, hitting the chair. Bryan gets a kendo stick-assisted YES lock, but Punk escapes, hits a catapult, followed by the GTS for two.
Punk sets up the table, lays Bryan on top of it, but Bryan crotches Punk on the top turnbuckle. Bryan looks to hurricarana Punk into the table, but Punk crotches him to counter. Punk hits a series of elbows, then a belly-to-back suplex through the table to retain at 27:46. Man, this was a WAR and well worth going out of your way to see. Glad to see the AJ angle didn't completely overwhelm the match.
-As Punk celebrates, King points out that AJ doesn't look too happy that she wasn't more involved in the decision.
-Match 5: Ryback VS Curt Hawkins & Tyler Reks
-Hawkins and Reks have to tag. Ryback throws Hawkins and follows up with a push kick. Reks gets in, and takes Ryback down with a clothesline. Hawkins & Reks (mostly Reks) work Ryback over as the crowd silently waits for Ryback's big comeback. He does in short order, and the crowd responds with a "Goldberg" chant. Ryback finally finishes with Shell Shock (fisherman drop) at 4:19.
-RAW MOMENT: Chris Jericho debuts by interrupting The Rock.
-Match 6: Divas Champion Layla, Kaitlyn, & Tamina Snuka VS Beth Phoenix, Natalya, & Eve Torres
-Natalya and Tamina do a short sequence, the Kaitlyn takes on all three heels. Beth & Layla get in, then the match completely breaks down. Tamina hits Beth with a superkick, and Layla finishes her with the Layout at 3:23. NEXT!
-Match 7 for the WWE Championship Money in the Bank: Kane VS Chris Jericho VS The Miz VS Big Show VS John Cena
-FUN FACT: The WWE title has yet to main event a PPV this year. The World Heavyweight title hasn't even come close. Only the Royal Rumble & John Cena's matches have gone on last so far this year. Everyone save Cena & Show go outside right off the bat, then Cena knocks Show outside, before Show takes Cena out and whips him into the steps. Cena stops Miz, then both are taken out by a spear from Show. Show blocks a Kane DDT, then chops a flying Miz and floors a charging Jericho.
Show then takes a Code Breaker, DDT from Miz, and a big boot to the outside from Kane. Cena then puts Show through the Spanish announce table with the AA. Everyone else then buries Show under a pile of ladders. Jericho gets Miz in the Walls of Jericho, then takes out an intruding Kane. Jericho stops Miz from stealing the win, takes him out, then climbs himself before getting cut off by Cena.
Miz stops Cena, and hits him with a DDT. Kane takes Miz out and climbs, but is cut off by Jericho. Kane tries a double chokeslam on Jericho & Miz, but ends up taking a double suplex onto a ladder. Cena cleans house, then hits Jericho & Miz with a double Five Knuckle Shuffle, then an AA on Kane.
Jericho ends up by himself and almost wins it, but Show finally gets up and stops Jericho. Show ends up breaking a ladder in half while using it to batter Jericho. Show takes care of Miz, then works Cena over. Show sandwiches Cena between the ropes and a step ladder, then hits a running butt bump on the ladder. Show then goes under the ring and grabs the special ladder he had for a MitB match a couple years ago. The announcers of course act like they've never seen it before.
Show takes a while to set it up, then climbs. Kane cuts Show off, but then gets tossed off the ladder. Cena gets in there, and the same thing happens to him. Jericho finally uses a chair to get Show away from the briefcase. Cena & Jericho fight over the case. Cena almost gets the AA off the ladder, but Jericho counters into a sleeper. Cena climbs back up to the top of the ladder while still in the hold. Jericho almost puts Cena to sleep, but has to release the hold to take care of Miz.
Cena finally goes out from the sleeper. Jericho is all by himself. Miz quickly climbs the ladder and both men almost get the briefcase. Show ends that fight by knocking both out. Cena gets to the stop, and uses the briefcase to block the WMD and starts hitting Show with it, accidentally taking the briefcase off the hook early to win at 20:01. This was the lesser of the two MitB matches by far, as this one didn't have anyone willing to take the suicidal bumps, and instead tried to use the marquee value of the people in the match to carry it.
-Cena makes goofy faces while triumphantly holding the briefcase. Replay shows the hook actually broke off while Cena was hitting Show with the briefcase.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a pretty good show, but not blow-away awesome like last year's. The main event MitB wasn't that great, and the bathroom break matches after Punk/Bryan stopped the momentum of the show cold. The Smackdown MitB and the two title matches delivered, but there was a lot of filler on this show.
Friday, June 29, 2012
RoH Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis 6/24/12
-From NYC
-Hosts are Kevin & Nigel
-Nigel immediately screws up by talking about how it's going to be difficult for Davey Richards to regain the RoH World Title because it can't change hands on a DQ, and Kevin has to point out that it's "anything goes" tonight.
-Match 1: The Briscoes VS The Guardians of Truth (w/Truth Martini)
-Nigel, continuing his bad night, tries to be cute and says that "everyone has been banging their heads" trying to figure out the identity of the GoT. The GoT are dressed like quickly-made CAWs from your wrestling video game of choice. Cute bit as Martini unmasks both GoT, only to reveal more masks underneath. GoT work Mark over right off the bat. Mark comes back with Redneck Kung Fu, and whips one of the GoT into a spinebuster from Jay.
The ropes are so loose Kevin has no choice but to point it out, and right after he does, the crowd chants "fix the ropes". Briscoes hit a double shoulderblock, but Martini provides a distraction, allowing the GoT to switch. GoT hit Jay with a sidewalk slam/legdrop combo for two. Jay plays face-in-peril as a couple crowd members chant "Beaver Cleavage", obviously tipped off as to who the GoT are. Mark gets in and cleans house, then hits a frog splash into an elbowdrop.
Briscoes set up for the Doomsday Device, but one of the GoT tries to roll through the electric chair, and Jay counters by sitting down for the pin at 6:00. Short and sweet. Wouldn't be surprised if they were told to go home early before someone got hurt.
-Briscoes go after Martini, but are cut off by the GoT, who escape before they can be unmasked.
-Match 2: Eddie Edwards VS Homicide
-Edwards has been trying to get back in World Title contention by beating former champions. Kevin & Nigel discuss Eddie having an arm injury coming into this match.
Edwards immediately hits a high angle suplex and follows with a suicide dive. They exchange chops outside, then Eddie hits a missile dropkick for two. Eddie follows with another suplex and a Shining Wizard for two. Another strike and boot exchange leads to Edwards running into an overhead throw. Eddie hits the bad arm on the ringpost, and Homicide adds another shot into the post. Homicide works the arm, including a crossface with a fishhook and bite to the forehead.
Homicide goes for the Three Amigos, but pauses before the thirds, leading to Eddie getting two suplexes of his own before Homicide gets an arm takedown. Eddie comes back with a superplex. Eddie hits a faceplant and a fisherman buster for two. Eddie springs off the second turnbuckle with a modified code breaker (called "The Boston Knee Party" by Kevin, damn that's terrible) and gets a schoolboy for two, transitioning that into a crossface. Homicide comes back with a tornado DDT for two.
Homicide blocks the backpack chinbreaker and hits an Ace Crusher for two. Homicide hits a clothesline to the back of the neck, then walks into a superkick, but a regular lariat knocks Eddie for a flip and gets two. Eddie blocks the Gringo Killer and gets a rollup for two. Homicide kicks the bad arm to escape the achillies' lock, then gets a small package for two. Homicide hits another shot to the bad arm, and finishes with the Gringo Killer at 12:45. A couple of dumb spots (and dumb move names) aside, this was a pretty good match. Good to see Homicide back, if he is indeed back full-time.
-Video runs down all the rules for the next match, which is under "Hybrid Fighting" rules. Most important rules: match can be won by KO, TKO, submission, or DQ. If a wrestler commits a "critical" foul (i.e., anything that would normally get a DQ if detected), he is DQ'd. If he gets three minor fouls (pretty much anything that would draw a warning, plus leaving the ring and/or throwing your opponent out of the ring), he is also DQ'd.
-Match 3: Kyle O'Reilly VS Adam Cole (Hybrid Fighting Rules)
-O'Reilly gets a couple quick takedowns. They do a series of dodged moves to establish that they know each other well. O'Reilly has a tweaked knee, and Cole goes after it. O'Reilly gets a nice rollup into a cross-armbreaker, but Cole gets to the ropes. O'Reilly goes after the arm to gain control of the match for a while. O'Reilly goes for the knockout, but doesn't get it. Cole comes back with a Shining Wizard and a couple dropkicks. Double-KO spot almost ends it, but both make it to their feet before ten.
They exchange rapid-fire forearms. O'Reilly hits some Kawada kicks and knocks Cole's two front teeth out. Cole comes back with a superkick for another double-KO spot. O'Reilly blocks a superkick and hits a big discus clothesline, but Cole Hulks up. O'Reilly responds with more strikes, a nasty kick to the head, and a backdrop driver. Cole stares down the ringside doctor, then turns a standing guillotine into a headdrop.
Cole knocks O'Reilly out of the ring, then incurs a minor foul by going to get him. Cole takes too much time to make his next move, and that allows O'Reilly to get the cross-armbreaker again. They exchange arm and leg holds, and Cole finally gets the submition with a Figure 4 at 12:38. This was lots of fun, and probably my favorite match for both of these guys. Should be a star-making performance for both, particularly Cole. Kevin & Nigel did their best to ruin it with their Matt Striker-esque over-selling though.
-Cole goes for the handshake, and gets bitch-slapped instead.
-Pre-match video sees Michael Elgin get tired of Roderick Strong's shit, and demand that neither he or Truth Martini be at ringside for his match.
-Match 4: Fit Finlay VS Michael Elgin
-Slow start, with Finlay dominating the early going. Finlay works some holds as the crowd grows restless. Finlay keeps working on the knee. These guys seem like they're working in slow motion, especially after the frenetic pace of the last match. Elgin finally hits his first big move over nine minutes in: a blind clothesline. Finlay takes a powder, and lures Elgin into a big clothesline of his own.
Finlay works Elgin over on the outside, then has some fun keeping Elgin out of the ring. Finlay works a side headlock. Elgin counters with a belly-to-back suplex. Elgin gets a headscissors as a sizeable "boring" chant breaks out. Elgin counters a knee bar with an enziguiri. Finlay crashes into the ringpost, and Elgin gets his first real sustained offense, with several corner clotheslines followed by a superkick.
They blow a suplex-countered-with-a-DDT spot, and Elgin just covers him for two. Elgin goes up, but Finlay shoves him down to the floor. Back in, Finlay roll gets two. Finlay hits an Air Raid Crash for two. Finlay struggles with, but manages to hit, a tombstone for two. I thought all piledriver-type moves were banned except for special occaisions? Elgin comes right back with a spinning back fist, buckle bomb, and spinning sit-out powerbomb for the pin at 19:15. I got what they were going for and appreciated it, with the veteran Finlay controlling the match before being overtaken by the younger, stronger, and simply too-tough up-and-comer. However, they were fucked by really bad match placement. Should have had something short in between O'Reilly/Cole and this, and/or made this the post-intermition match.
-Martini comes out to celebrate the win, then prevent Elgin from shaking Finlay's hand, but Elgin shoves Martini aside and shakes his hand anyway.
-INTERMISSION
-THIS IS A LIVE PRODIGY SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Bennett says RoH came to him and offered him the opportunity to wrestle whomever he wants, but Bennett declined because it wouldn't be a title match. Bennett & Maria makeout until Mike Mondo runs in to defend NYC. Mondo says he's always wanted to wrestle in NYC, but RoH wouldn't take his calls. Mondo challenges Bennett to a fight, and says after he fights Bennett, he's going to fuck Maria. This kicks off a fight, which leads into...
-Match 5: Mike Bennett (w/Maria & Bob Evans) VS Mike Mondo
-Mondo dominates until taking a spinebuster into the ring apron. There's some confusion on the part of Kevin Kelly as to whether this is a match or not. Mondo blocks a running powerslam, and after a double clothesline, uses a series of strikes to take Bennett down. Mondo misses a diving headbutt, prompting a couple jackasses to chant "Benoit". Bennett talks shit, but gets small-packaged and pinned at approximately 4:12. Well, it was a face turn and effective elevation for Mondo if nothing else.
-Match 6 for the RoH Television Championship: Roderick Strong [c] (w/Truth Martini) VS Tomasso Ciampa (w/The Embassy) VS Jay Lethal
-This is under elimination rules. Lethal's haircut makes him look like a homeless man hanging out in front of a detox center. Ciampa goes right after Lethal. All three go outside right away, and Lethal takes control. Back in, Ciampa drops Lethal, Strong drops Ciampa, then Lethal drops Strong. Lethal avoids a clothesline from Ciampa, then hits a suicide dive on Strong. Princess Mia gets a cheapshot on Lethal in, setting up the running exposed knees to the face from Ciampa. Strong interrupts with an enziguiri to Ciampa, then fucks up dropping Ciampa across the top rope.
Strong pounds on Lethal (who now looks like a black Krusty the Klown), and hits a backbreaker for two. Kevin Kelly actually takes time to note that the ref from Elgin/Finlay was fined $250 and yelled at by Jim Cornette for allowing the tombstone piledriver. Nice to see them take the time to provide some kind of explanation for that. WWE might let it slide, unless they're in one of their "continuity matters" moods. Ciampa takes control of the match, mainly working on Lethal before Strong pitches Ciampa out of the ring. Strong hits Lethal with a suplex for two, then works a rear chinlock.
Strong dropkick almost KO's Lethal, and gets two. Lethal makes a Sting comeback, no-selling some chops from Strong before hitting some of his own. Lethal works both opponents over, hitting the Lethal Combination on Strong for two. Lethal gets a Figure 4 on Strong, then a crossface on Ciampa at the same time. Ciampa drops Lethal with a knee to the face, and hits a Savage elbow for two. Strong catches Ciampa with a superplex, then Lethal hits Ciampa with Hail to the King for two.
Lethal avoids a cheapshot from Martini, and lays him out. Ciampa gets Strong in Project Ciampa, but Prince Nana rolls into the ring (ostensibly running from Lethal, who is not chasing him), and "accidentally" clips Ciampa, allowing Strong to fall on top and eliminate Ciampa at 12:49.
Lethal immediately goes for the Lethal Injection on Strong, but Martini saves by clocking Lethal with the Book of Truth, and Strong finishes with what was supposed to be his toss into a backbreaker at 13:08, but he tossed Lethal so high that Lethal ended up hitting Strong's knees with his ass instead. Match was decent aside from a couple botches from Strong. I'm interested in seeing where the whole "Embassy keeps Ciampa from the TV title to appease business partner Truth Martini" angle goes.
-Match 7 for the RoH World Tag Team Championship: Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team [c] VS The All-Night Express
-ANX is finally getting the title shot they earned six months ago. Titles can change hands on a DQ. Stalling to start. King gets a nice takedown, and Shelton takes a powder. WGTT take control of the match, and take turns working King over. King fights off a powerbomb, and holds Shelton for a running punt to the ribs. ANX hit a double-team series of kicks, and King gets two on Shelton. Haas gets in, and takes a springboard legdrop/big splash combo for two.
King follows up with a leg lariat for two. King gets caught in the WGTT corner, and takes a nasty roundhouse kick from Shelton, and Haas gets two. Shelton gets in, and starts tossing King around. King is officially the face-in-peril, as Haas gets back in. King gets a really fancy rollup for two, but then gets killed with a big clothesline to keep momentum on WGTT's side. Shelton gets back in, and King gets a couple quick near-falls, before Shelton regains control, and hits a version of the Glam Slam, with King hitting Shelton's knees instead of the mat.
King counters a double-team suplex into a double DDT, and makes the hot tag to Titus. Titus cleans house, and hits Shelton with a big boot followed by a big clothesline for two. Shelton goes for the pop-up throw off the top, but Titus counters with an alley-oop into the buckles, then King adds shotgun knees for two. WGTT manage to hit some signature spots on Titus, with a Blinger Splash followed by an Angle Slam for two. King throws a chair to Shelton, who drops it in the ring after arguing with the ref, and that allows Titus to hit a DDT on the chair for two.
King hits a dive on Haas, but Titus, who clearly sees Shelton beforehand, gets cut off by Shelton before he can do one. Shelton whacks Titus with one of the belts while Haas has the ref, and that busts Titus open. Haas goes right after the open wound. Shelton gets in and does the same, and Titus has to ask the ref not to stop the match. Haas gets back in, and gets on the house mic, saying if the ref doesn't call it, then WGTT is going to kill Titus. King cuts off the Leap of Faith, and Titus surprises Haas with a schoolboy to win the titles at 22:51. Probably the best match WGTT has had in a while, but it's still good to see new blood as tag champs after WGTT and The Briscoes traded the belts a couple times.
-Post-match celebration gives me the feel of this being an "underdog surprises the champ(s), but loses the rematch" angle that WWF & WCW used to do every so often in the early-mid 90's. WGTT wipe out the new champs before leaving.
-Steve Corino (having stolen Mike Mondo's half-blond, half-dark hairstyle), wants to stay at ringside and do color commentary, and has some words for Jim Cornette. Cornette says he can stay, but Cornette is going to stay to keep an eye on Corino.
-Match 8 for the RoH World Championship: Kevin Steen [c] (w/Jimmy Jacobs) VS Davey Richards [Anything Goes]
-Steen has his own takeoff of the Cena "Rise Above Hate" t-shirt, with "Kill Steen Kill" written in the same style. Kyle O'Reilly comes out to call out Richards and dissolve Team Ambition. Richards starts it off by kicking Steen off the apron through a table. Davey goes to work on the outside, stopping to go after Jacobs, but then runs right into the ring apron powerbomb. Steen buries Richards underneath the RoH logo piece that are on the guardrails, and hits a frog splash off the apron. Corino tries to get shooty on commentary, in the most obnoxious way possible.
Steen goes for a swanton, but that hits knees. Steen superkicks Bobby Cruise, just because. Davey hits an exploder on the apron, then gets a table from underneath the ring. Richards puts Steen on the table, then comes off the top with a double stomp. Back in the ring, another double stomp gets two. Davey grabs a bunch of chairs and tries to hit Steen with one, but Steen counters with double knees, and follows with a somersault splash in the corner.
Steen buries Richards underneath the chairs, but Richards pops up and hits a superplex onto the chairs for two. Richards sets up another table and goes for a superplex, but Steen counters with a fisherman buster off the top, through the table for two. Steen puts Richards' mouthpiece in his own mouth. Steen sets up two chairs, but takes a German suplex into them for two. Richards gets a chain, first choking Steen, then wrapping it around his boot and hitting Kawada kicks followed by a buzzsaw kick for two.
Davey then kicks Todd Sinclair for the hell of it. Richards gets a ladder, then his mouthpiece back. Steen hits an F-5 for two, so Steen hits Paul Turner with a package piledriver. Richards hits the DR Driver on the ladder, but there's no ref. Jacobs interferes and goes for the spike, but Cornette disarms Jacobs, only to get kicked in the nuts by Corino.
Corino attacks Cornette as Richards fights off Jacobs and gets the spike, but Steen gets another spike, stabs Richards in the groin, and finishes with the package piledriver at 21:23. This wasn't a match as much as it was an attempt at an ECW tribute. Steve Corino was the worst thing about it with his smark-Michael Cole act.
-Steen gives a long speech about hypocrites, focusing on the fans in NYC who cheered when he lost his career at Final Battle 2010, but love him now no matter what. Steen vows to kill the company and be the last Ring of Honor World Champion. He, of course, gets cheered for that. I really think it's a side-effect of the homogination of wrestling and wrestlers, as for years anyone who stands out gets cheers, reguardless of their face/heel alignment, and these days, the heels get more opportunities to stand out as characters.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This was a decent show. O'Reilly/Cole was something else and well worth tracking down. All the other matches were decent ---> good, so no complaints on that front.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Ring of Honor Presents: Bloodstained Honor
-DVD is hosted by Dave Prazak & Lenny Leonard
-Cage Match for the RoH World Championship: Samoa Joe [c] VS Jay Briscoe [At Our Best 3/14/04]
-Weird to see Jay with hair. Joe stops Jay from escaping, and applies a wristlock before delivering several headbutts to Jay's hand. Joe lands a chop, but Jay gets a drop toe hold, and tries to escape, but Joe stops him again. Jay hits a big boot, then declines the chance to escape. Joe comes back, and blocks another escape attempt by Jay, then hits a German suplex. Joe rams Jay into the cage, then locks the cage door to prevent Jay from escaping. This also buys time for Jay to blade.
Joe works on the cut, mashing Jay's face against the cage, then throwing him into it. Joe hits the facewash, then dances as the crowd sings "ole" before hitting a second one. Jay manages to avoid being rammed into the cage again, and hits a running big boot. Jay climbs, but gets caught by Joe, who hits a belly-to-back suplex off the top, drawing a "holy shit" chant. Joe gets two off that. Joe pounds away in the corner, but runs into a boot, and Jay hits a belly-to-back suplex.
Jay climbs, and Joe meets him on the top turnbuckle. Jay hits an Ace Crusher off the top, but can't make the cover. Jay wins a slugfest, blocks a full-nelson suplex with a low blow, then hits a big clothesline. Jay climbs again, and Joe meets him again. They exchange chops, but then Jay kicks Joe down, but loses his footing and falls down himself. Joe hits an Ole kick, which rams Jay into the cage, and actually breaks the cage wall open. Mark Briscoe helps open the hole wider, but Joe prevents the escape, hitting a powerbomb and locking on an STF.
Jay almost goes out, but he does manage to make it to the ropes. Joe hits several knees to the face followed by slaps, but Jay comes back, and hits the Jay Driller. Mark Briscoe tries to climb in, but he's cut off by AJ Styles, who hits Marl with the Styles Clash on the floor. Jay climbs, but gets caught yet again, and Joe hits a sloppy muscle buster for the pin to retain. Match was decent. I've yet to see a really good RoH Cage match.
-Chicago Street Fight: CM Punk & Ace Steel VS BJ Whitmer & Dan Maff [Death Before Dishonor II Part 2 7/24/04]
-The Saints won't let the Prophecy in the ring, so Maff & Whitmer pull Punk & Ace outside, and work them over. Prophecy get Ace alone in the ring, so Punk pulls Whitmer out, then the Saints work Maff over. Punk hits Whitmer with an exploder, but when Punk goes for a suicide dive, Whitmer meets him with a chair. Big brawl on the outside, where both Saints get busted open. Back in the ring, the Prophecy take off their belts, and take the Saints to the woodshead.
The Saints fight back as Steel gets a hold of one of the belts. Steel works on Maff outside while Whitmer & Punk go at it inside. Whitmer slides a table into the ring, but gets cut off by Steel. A ladder is introduced. Punk holds a chair in front of Maff's face, and Ace hits a running dropkick. Then, they wedge Maff's head in the ladder, then Ace hits the ladder with a chair. Punk hits Whitmer with a facewash. The Saints trap Whitmer in the corner by sliding the table right up to his neck, then Ace holds a chair in front of Whitmer's face, and Punk slides the ladder across the table, right into Whitmer's face.
Whitmer is busted open, and Punk whips him with a belt. Punk gets a hold of a barbed wire 2x4, and hits both Maff & Whitmer with it. The Prophecy turn the tide, and Maff hits Punk in the nuts with the 2x4. He then does the same to Ace. Maff slides a barbed wire covered board into the ring. Punk & Whitmer fight over a suplex, but neither get it. Punk goes for a tornado DDT, but Whitmer throws Punk off, right onto the board. The Saints try to suplex Whitmer onto the board, but Maff moves it out of the way.
The board gets set up in the corner, but Punk can't knock Maff into it. Punk ends up getting sent into it via a cannonball by Whitmer. Steel whips Maff into the board, then hits a Tiger Driver for two. All four grab chairs, and exchange chairshots, waiting to see who falls down first. The Saints win that battle. A whole bunch of chairs get launched into the ring by the wrestlers and some of the fans, in an obvious attempt to re-create a famous scene from ECW.
Punk no-sells a half-nelson suplex onto the sea of chairs from Maff, then hits him with a German suplex. Maff uses the ladder to bridge the guardrails and places Ace on it, but Punk prevents a splash by Whitmer. Whitmer cannot do the same to Punk when Ace sets Maff on the ladder. Back in, Ace hits Whitmer with a tombstone off the second rope, through the table for the pin. Pretty good ECW-style street fight. Could have lived without the chair tossing though.
-Dog Collar Match: CM Punk VS Jimmy Rave (w/The Embassy) [Manhattan Mayhem 5/7/05]
-It's teased that Punk will have to wrestle Mike Kruel instead, but then Rave runs out and jumps Punk from behind. As Rave gets attached to dog collar, the time allows Punk to recover and take control. Punk does a Garvin stomp, and adds a kneedrop to finish. Punk ties Rave to the Tree of Woe, and hits a couple running knees. Punk grabs a chair, but Rave yanks on the chain, causing Punk to run into the chair and the ringpost, which busts Punk open.
Rave works Punk over on the outside. Back inside, Rave grinds the chain into the cut on Punk's forehead. Punk fights back, but gets cut off by Rave. Rave puts the chain in Punk's mouth and pulls back, transitioning that into a curb stomp for two. Punk fights off a Rave Clash, and hits a Shining Wizard. Punk pounds away, and hits a superkick for two. Rave fights off a powerbomb, and gets a chain-assisted Crippler Crossface, but Punk rakes the eyes to escape. Punk dodges a running knee strike, and locks on a single-leg crab.
Prince Nana distracts Punk, allowing Rave to crotch Punk with the chain, and hit the running knee strike for two. Rave sets up for the Pepsi Plunge, but Punk backdrops him out of it. Punk hits three powerbombs with the third getting a two count. Punk locks on the Anacoda Vice, but he has to fight off the Embassy. Punk hits Rave with the Pepsi Twist, then sees Fast Eddie coming with a moonsault, moving out of the way so Eddie hits Rave.
Punk fights off Nana and Jade Chung, but Rave gets a chair, and KO's Punk for the pin. I liked this more than I did the first time I saw it, but it's still nothing special.
-Steel Cage Warfare: The Embassy (Jimmy Rave, Alex Shelley, Abyss, & Prince Nana) VS Generation Next (Austin Aries, Roderick Strong, Jack Evans, & Matt Sydal) [Steel Cage Warfare 12/7/05]
-This is RoH's version of War Games. The cage door is left open, and there are eliminations. Aries and Rave start. Rave immediately leaves the cage, but Aries catches him on the outside, and goes to work. Back in, Aries crotches Rave on the top rope, then hits a flying elbow off the top. Aries stomps a mudhole in Rave. Aries keeps workig on Rave as Alex Shelley (with a chair) enters to give The Embassy a 2-on-1 advantage.
Aries catches Shelley coming into the cage and fights him off for a while, before Rave gets back in the match, and The Embassy starts to double team Aries. Aries comes back with a springboard double back elbow. Aries works both men over, hitting Rave with a Finlay Roll right on top of Shelley. Aries goes for the 450, but Rave prevents that, and Shelley and Rave hit a running clothesline/spear combo to regain control. Rave applies a camel clutch, then Shelley pulls back on Rave to make it worse. Rave then holds Aries in place for a low dropkick to the face. The Embassy try several times to pin Aries, but are unsuccessful. Rave rams Aries into the cage for two.
Matt Sydal evens up the odds. Sydal cleans house. Cute sequence as Sydal goes for a moonsault, avoids Shelley's knees, then hits Rave with a drop toe hold onto Shelley's knees, then adding a standing moonsault onto Rave's back and almost pinning Shelley underneath Rave. Sydal & Aries keep control of the match, but can't get any eliminations. Sydal hits Rave with a spinning heel kick for two. Sydal prevents Rave from escaping the cage, while Aries mashes Shelley against the cage before hitting a low dropkick to the face.
Abyss gives The Embassy the advantage again. Abyss fights off a double team from Aries and Sydal, hitting Aries with Shock Treatment. Rave gets two off that. Abyss hits a monster backdrop on Sydal, and Shelley gets two. Shelley & Abyss work on Sydal while Rave chokes Aries. Abyss lawn darts Aries into the cage, then Shelley adds a wicked chairshot. Abyss then tosses Sydal into the cage. Shelley hits Aries with the skullfucker on the chair, and Aries is busted open. Shelley gets two off that, then goes after the wound on Aries.
Roderick Strong evens the odds again. He hits a series of backbreakers on Shelley while keeping Abyss at bay. Strong hits some chops on Rave, then a knee to the back for two. Strong fights off a chokeslam from Abyss, but can't hold onto Death From Above. Abyss hits an overhead throw, sending Strong upside-down into the cage. Abyss hits Sydal with the Black Hole Slam, and Rave pulls him off the pin before hitting Sydal with Greetings from Ghana (Pedigree) for the pin. Rave and Strong go outside, where Rave whips Strong into the barricade. Rave adds another whip into the barricade, followed by a running knee. Rave got opened up at some point. Back in the cage, Abyss squashes Aries with an avalanche. Back outside, Strong (who is opened up) turns the tide on Rave. Abyss & Shelley choke Aries with the chair.
Prince Nana enters to make it 4-on-2 in favor of The Embassy. Everyone gets back in the cage as The Embassy dominate, with Nana adding the occaisional stomp. Abyss tastes Aries' blood (drawing a talking-to from Shelley) before stomping Aries in the nuts while Nana does a Nature Boy strut. Rave rakes Aries' face across the cage. Jade Chung makes her return after taking a Pedigree from Rave, cutting a promo on Nana. Nana & Abyss go after her as Jack Evans becomes the last entrant.
Evans immediately scales the cage and dives onto the entire Embassy on the floor, smacking the back of his head on the way down. Bet that felt WONDERFUL. Nana immediately crawls on top of Jack, perhaps to apologize for not catching him properly. Aries and Strong get back into it, and it's a brawl on the floor. Back in the cage, GenNext triple-team Abyss, with Strong hitting Death From Above. Evans climbs the cage. Rave climbs up to stop him, and Strong follows as the crowd chants "Please Don't Die". It all sets up Strong & Evans' Ode to the Bulldogs and a triple pin on Abyss to eliminate him.
Rave gets caught inside the ring with GenNext, who then go after Shelley when he tries to interviene. Evans hits Shelley with a fisherman buster, but 630 hits Shelley's knees. Shelley then hits Evans with an Air Raid Crash off the second turnbuckle for the pin. Aries powerbombs Rave as Shelley hits a low dropkick on Strong. Nana slides out of the cage, making it 2-on-2 for the time being. Strong fights off a Pedigree from Rave, but takes Shell Shock from Shelley, but Aries makes the save. Nana gets in, but misscommunication between The Embassy leads to Strong destroying Rave with a series of backbreakers while Aries hits Shelley with a brainbuster on a seated chair. Aries pins Shelley while Rave taps out, leaving Strong & Aries alone with Nana.
Strong & Aries have some fun with Nana, before Aries finishes with the 450. This was loads of fun. Hard not to be with the level of talent that was in this.
-Ghetto Street Fight: Colt Cabana VS Homicide (w/Julius Smokes) [4th Anniversary Show 2/25/06]
-Cabana & Homicide brawl through the curtain to kickstart the match. This is an "I Quit" match. Cabana dominates the first few minutes. They go outside, where Homicide takes control, and busts Cabana wide open. Back in the ring, Homicide launches a chair at Cabana's face. Homicide grabs a disposable razor and digs at Cabana's face. Homicide throws Cabana upside-down into a piece of barricade that's in the corner. Homicide hits a running kick to the face, but Cabana fires up, hitting the butt bump to the face.
Homicide quickly regains control with a swinging DDT, and applies a Tequila Sunrise. The fans chant for tables as Homicide hits another chairshot to the head. Smokes preps a ringside table, but Homicide misses a splash off the top. Homicide slides out of the Colt 45, but runs into a clothesline. Cabana chokes Homicide with Homicide's own arm, pulling on his injured shoulder in the process. Homicide comes back with a lariat and a camel clutch.
Smokes slides a coat hanger into Homicide, and Homicide chokes Cabana with it. Todd Sinclair stops the match before Homicide kills Cabana.
After Homicide celebrates his win, Cabana gets on the mic, declaring that he never gave up, and asks for the match to be re-started. Cabana rings the bell himself to restart the match. Homicide blocks a clothesline, and hits an Ace Crusher. Cabana goes after the injured shoulder. Smokes interferes, allowing Homicide to regain control with a chairshot to the back. Ricky Reyes helps Smokes tie Cabana in the corner while Homicide pounds away, then throws a chair into Cabana's face. Homicide adds another chair throw to the face, and Sinclair stops the match again.
Cabana gets on the mic again, telling Homicide to finish him off, and if he leaves now, Homicide's son is going to think his daddy is a pussy. They fight on the apron, where Smokes pours something into Cabana's open wound, allowing Homicide to hit a piledriver off the apron through a table, and Sinclair stops the match again. Homicide calls for a "Fight Without Honor" in Chicago. Match was good, finish was pretty weak, as it looked like it was building to Cabana continuing to fight and getting the win. No quitting in an "I Quit" match = no buys.
-RoH VS CZW Six Man Street Fight: Samoa Joe, Adam Pearce, & BJ Whitmer VS Chris Hero, Super Dragon, & Necro Butcher [The 100th Show 4/22/06]
-Big brawl to start (shocking, I know). Joe hits Hero with a suicide dive. Claudio (in an RoH jacket) tries to provide a distraction, but ends up running away. Joe hits Hero with an Ole Kick before they go into the crowd. Necro & Pearce (who is busted wide open) brawl on the floor. Pearce hits an unprotected chairshot to the head. Pearce adds another, and Necro is busted open. Back in the crowd, Joe & Whitmer hit Dragon with a double suplex on some chairs. Joe whips Hero into the barricade, and Hero ends up kicking a fan in the face.
Close up shows Pearce has a nasty cut on the side of his head. Joe slugs Necro down on the floor. In the ring, Pearce hits an axe handle off the top on Necro for two. Dragon jaws with some fans, allowing Whitmer to hit him with a couple chairshots. CZW gains control on the outside, while inside, Whitmer hits Hero with a brainbuster for two. Dragon goes low on Whitmer. Dragon goes up top, but gets crotched by Whitmer. Dragon fights Whitmer off, and hits a senton for two.
Pearce grabs chairs from a couple fans, and mashes Necro in the head with them. In the ring, Necro tries to powerbomb Joe through two chairs, but Joe turns the tide, sets the back rests of the chairs together, and drops Necro onto them. That gets two. Outside, Whitmer runs Dragon into the barricade, but is then attacked by Hero. Joe hits Necro with a chair as they brawl through the crowd. Inside, Hero hits Whitmer with a cannonball and poses as Joe grabs a table and brings it through the crowd.
Hero hits Whitmer with a big boot for two. Pearce goes for a piledriver on Hero, but Necro breaks it up. Slugfest is won by Necro. Dragon digs a piece of wood into Joe's forehead. Pearce slugs Necro down as Hero launches a chair at Whitmer's head. Hero breaks up another slugfest between Pearce and Necro, and gets dumped for his troubles. Joe drops Dragon through a table, and goes after Hero.
Joe hits a running knee and sets up for the face wash, but gets cut off by Necro and Dragon. Necro takes his belt off, and whips Joe with it. Back inside, Pearce hits Hero with a splash off the top, but Dragon breaks up the pin. Dragon hits the curb stomp on Pearce, but is then knocked for a loop by a Whitmer clothesline. Whitmer adds an exploder suplex through a seated chair for two. Whitmer looks to send Dragon through a table, but is stopped by chairshots from Necro as Joe works Hero over on the outside. Necro wedges Whitmer's head in between the seat and back rest of one chair, then hits the legs of that chair with another chair.
Dragon wedges Whitmer's head in similar fashion, but he hits a kneedrop off the top for two. Dragon hits Whitmer with a Psycho Driver off the apron, through a table. Back in the ring, Hero and Joe go at it. John Zandig, CZW owner gets involved, then the RoH and CZW refs argue before Necro lays out Todd Sinclair. Claudio Castagnoli throws Zandig outside, then holds Hero for Joe...but then attacks Joe before embracing Hero. Pearce hits Claudio with a missile dropkick, but gets laid out by Hero.
Crowd chants for Homicide, but no dice. Hero & Claudio hit Pearce with a double team Hero's Welcome for the pin. Technical classic it was not, but this was a FUCKING WAR. Tremendous streetfight that was total chaos. This was hard to recap at times because so much was going on. Wrestling needs more of that.
-Windy City Death Match: Colt Cabana VS Jimmy Jacobs (w/Lacey) [5th Year Festival: Chicago 2/24/07]
-Jacobs runs from Cabana to start. They go outside, where Cabana throws Jacobs into the barricade. Colt sets Jimmy on a table, but Lacey interferes to prevent Colt from driving Jimmy through it. Jimmy clips Colt's knee to take control. Jimmy holds Colt for a cheapshot from Lacy, but Daizee Haze runs in, and chases Lacey away. Colt sets Jimmy up in the Tree of Woe and grabs a ladder from under the ring, but Jacobs gets free, and hits a baseball slide into the ladder onto Colt.
Jimmy pounds away, but Colt comes back with elbows to the top of head, which bust Jimmy open. Colt pulls scissors out of his elbow pad, and digs them into Jimmy's wound. Colt misses a stab with the scissors, and Jacobs hits a chairshot to the back. Jacobs looks for his railroad spike, but can't find it. That's because Cabana has it, and he digs it into Jimmy's head. Colt hits Jimmy with a Chicago flag, but Jimmy turns the tide, and breaks the flag pole over Colt's back, before digging a piece of the broken pole into Cabana's head, busting him open.
Jimmy uses the flag to wipe blood out of his eyes, then chokes Colt with it. Jacobs grabs the spike, and nails Colt in the head with it, before digging it into his head. Colt blocks the Contra Code, then jabs Jimmy in the head with the scissors. Colt hits a big chairshot to the head. Colt goes for the Colt 45, but Brent Albright interferes, hitting Colt with a half-nelson suplex, then putting Jimmy on top for two.
BJ Whitmer runs in to even the odds, fighting off a double team, then taking Jimmy outside with a Cactus clothesline. Whitmer holds Jimmy & Albright in place for an Asai moonsault from Colt. Colt grabs the spike and a hammer, then tries to hammer the spike into Jimmy's head. He misses the spike, but hits Jimmy in the head with the hammer. Colt hits the flying asshole, then throws a couple chairs at Jimmy's head. Colt sets a chair on top of Jimmy, then hits a moonsault for two.
Colt preps a table, but that gives Jimmy time to recover. Colt jabs the flagpole into Jimmy's head, forcing him onto the table, which tips over. Colt bridges the ring and the barricade with a ladder, then tries again to set Jimmy on the table, but it collapses. Jimmy grabs a table, but then takes another flying chair to the head. Colt gets Jimmy on the table and goes up top, but Lacey returns, and crotches Colt on the ropes. Lacey helps Jimmy get Colt on the table, and Jimmy sets the ladder up inside the ring. Jimmy climbs the ladder, then hits a senton off the ladder, to the outside, driving Colt through the table.
Jimmy rolls Colt back inside, but only gets two. Jimmy sets a table up in the corner and goes for a spear, but Colt sidesteps him, and Jimmy goes through the table. Lacey tries to hit Colt with her shoe, but Colt gets it, hits Jimmy with the shoe, then the Colt 45. Colt then hits Lacey with the Colt 45, and sets Lacey on top of Jimmy and gets the pin. Decent enough street fight. Could have done without the violence against a woman though.
-Boston Street Fight: RoH World Tag Team Champions The Briscoes VS Kevin Steen & El Generico [Death Before Dishonor V Night 1 8/10/07]
-Match breaks down before it even gets into the ring. Steen & Jay brawl in the crowd while Generico & Mark go at it at ringside. The announcers bail out, so the rest of the match is sans commentary. Generico tosses chairs into the ring, while Steen works Jay over on the outside. Generico sets a table up in the crowd. Mark dives off the top to Generico, but then takes a chairshot to the head, and a powerbomb through the table by Steen, who in turn takes a chairshot to the head from Jay. Steen whips Jay into a pile of chairs while Generico and Mark go at it. Generico ends up doing the same to Mark.
Jay fights back on Steen, hitting a superkick, then a moonsault off the barricade. Mark hits Generico with a chair, then suplex on the floor, followed by a legdrop with a chair draped across Generico's face. Generico dumps Mark face-first onto a chair. Jay goes after Generico, then Steen goes after Jay. Mark dunks Steen into a garbage bin and tips it over. Steen hits Mark with a fisherman buster onto a seated chair, then Generico hits Jay with a tornado DDT on the floor, using the barricade as a boost.
Steen brawls with Mark (as fans encourage "Jay" to fight back). Generico pounds on Jay. Jay blocks a running Yakuza kick, and hits a superkick. Steen steps on the guardrail, but pauses to ask the fans who the man is, allowing Mark to hit him with an Ace Crusher off the barricade, onto the floor. Jay got busted open at some point. Generico sets up for an Asai moonsault, but gets yanked off the apron and thrown into the barricade by both Briscoes.
Steen hits a cannonball on Mark into the barricade, but then takes a running kick from Jay. Steen grabs a section of the barricade and launches it at Mark, but he thankfully misses. Generico grabs Mark, and hits a Michinoku Driver onto a section of the barricade. Jay throws Steen through a ringside table. Generico DDTs Mark on the barricade. Steen blocks a suplex on the floor, and delivers the move to Jay. Steen sets up a table (which collapses because one of the legs is broken) and goes for the package piledriver, but Jay fights him off.
Steen & Jay slug it out in the ring. Steen bites Jay in the forehead. Generico hits a cross-body off the top on Jay, then Mark hits Generico with a missile dropkick, then Steen hits Mark with a powerbomb. Everyone grabs a chair, and everyone takes a chairshot to the head. Jay takes Steen outside, then Mark drops Generico right on his head. Mark goes for the cutthroat driver through two chairs. Generico counters and goes for a brainbuster, but Jay blocks that with a chair shot, then the Briscoes toss Generico high into the air, before he crashes down onto the chairs.
Steen breaks up the pin. The demolishes a seated chair by driving Mark through it, and that only gets two. Steen goes up top, but gets shoved by Jay and flies through a table. Generico hits Jay with a running Yakuza kick and goes for the turnbuckle brainbuster. Jay blocks it, and the Briscoes hit a splash mountain/neckbreaker combo off the second turnbuckle. Steen pulls the ref out at two, so Mark hits him with a dive. Briscoes hit Generico with the springboard Doomsday Device, but Steen makes the save.
Steen grabs a ladder and cracks Jay in the head with it. Steen sets the ladder up in the corner, but ends up getting backdropped into it, courtesy of Mark. Mark climbs the ladder (with help from the ref), but before he can do anything, Generico comes out of nowhere with a springboard Ace Crusher. Jay hits Steen with the ladder and goes for the Jay Driller onto it, but Steen blocks, kicks Jay in the nuts, and hits the package piledriver onto the ladder for the pin. Another pretty wild street fight. This isn't for you if you're looking for expert selling (or any kind of selling really), but it's what you'd expect from these four, for better or worse.
-FINAL THOUGHTS: This is a pretty good collection of matches, if a little exhausting to sit through, since they're all at least 20 minutes, and seeing the same type of match over and over can wear one down.
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