WWE Smackdown 4/14/2006 - Benoit vs JBL Cage Match

WWE Smackdown 4/14/2006 - Benoit vs JBL Cage Match

Booker cut a promo to start the show about getting a restraining order against the Boogeyman. The ring had a crown and cape in the ring to hype up the King of the Ring tournament, which Booker ended up winning. Booker ended up putting the crown and cape on and then got speared by Bobby Lashley.

Johnny Nitro vs Brian Kendrick
Kendrick got the upset here. There was way too much interference and shenanigans to give this any kind of rating. It's a shame too as it was looking good there.

Regal lost a match to Paul Birchall last week where if he loses, he has to dress up a "buxom wench". They cut to the back to show Paul laughing at him.

Paul Birchall vs Rasheed Brown
Regal had to do Birchall's rope swinging entrance and fell on his face. They made him look really silly with an overstuffed bra and silly blonde hair and knickers. Birchall poked him with his sword and Cole said that Regal has to dress like this until Birchall loses. Regal got on the apron and tried to use the brass knucks(not sure on who) and Birchall ran into him and then hit his opponent with the single standing spanish fly for the win. This was quick but it was entertaining.

Road Warrior Animal vs Matt Hardy
This is from Animal's short biker heel run. Hardy won with a twist of fate in about 30 seconds.

US title Cage match - Chris Benoit vs JBL
JBL won this one by escaping the cage after low-blowing Benoit. For workrate purposes, this was an all-time classic cage match. They were really stiff with each other but that was nothing compared to the rest of it. They took main event level bumps here. We got german's off the cage, legsweeps off the cage and Benoit just falling off the cage looked painful. I would have liked a more proper finish as Jillian Hall got involved for JBL and was messing with the cage door(which ended up with JBL eating it to the face), but other than that it was a real classic and something you are never going to see in WWE again. Rating: ****1/2

The Gymini  vs Psicosis and Super Crazy(The Mexicools)
I loved the Mexicools.  WWE at this time was really firing on all cylinders with creative gimmicks and this was one of them. Loved the Juan Deere's too! The Gymini sucked, but Simon Dean was good. Taz heard Dean's whistle and said it brought up some bad memories. Taz was really annoying in this with his constant debate with Cole about which Gymini was in the ring. The Gymini switched roles and one of them got a T-Bone Tazplex for the win.

Randy Orton vs Kurt Angle
I believe there was a contest that night to see who could take the stupidest bump. Orton and Angle came close to winning it, but Benoit definitely took the prize. Orton got suplexed to the outside of the ring and did a face first flop to the floor. Looked really nasty and he was holding his leg after. Orton and Kurt had a really good match here with Kurt tapping out Orton to the ankle lock. After the match he continued to press it on. Rating:***

Overall Thoughts: This was a good show. The last two matches were really strong and the rest of the show was entertaining. You aren't going to be able to do much better than this! Check it out!

Bob Sapp's First Wrestling Promo!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfkBtnLCfr4

This is Bob Sapp's first ever wrestling promo for WCW and it may very well be the only thing he did in WCW.

Bob is still developing his personality here and for the first part of it, that's obvious. However, towards the end he starts to pick it up with his trademark laugh.

I have no idea who the interviewer is but she is obviously the worst I've ever seen. She sounds like she's on something and she seems more fit for adult entertainment than journalism.

Really funny and interesting promo overall. It may be bad but it's definitely memorable for being so!

All Japan Pro Wrestling 1/23/2000 - No Fear vs Toshiaki Kawada and Akira Taue

This was a really good match. I haven't seen much of the later days of AJPW, but it's cool to see the big 4 against different opponents. No Fear was pretty strong here and got alot of offense in. I would have loved to have seen them dominate even more. They didn't do anything that special but they were two big dudes in black being heels. Taue was a king in this. This was one of his most exciting performances. Kawada of course was awesome too. They had a nice legends vs youngsters vibe to it and grumpy HDA is great! Rating: ***1/2

Ring of Honor TV 7/28/2012

Ring of Honor TV 7/28/2012

Rhino vs Rocco Abruzzi
Rhino looked pretty good here. Definitely the best thing I've seen out of him in a while. They almost have him back to looking like a monster. Rhino won this squash easy.

Before the match, Truth Martini reveals that there is a deal between The Embassy and the House of Truth. Tomasso wasn't in on it and one of his managers, RD Evans puts Nana under the bus. Nana eats a kryptonite krunch.

Tomasso Ciampa vs Mike Sydal
This is the first time I've seen Sydal, and I haven't seen much of Ciampa since he got into this gimmick. This wasn't bad. Mike is not as good as his brother and is a little spazzy. Tomasso plays up his gimmick well. This was a decent match. After the match

All Night Express promo
They cut a nice promo and the fans were into it. They then got interruped by WGTT and brawled. WGTT chaired them.

On Inside ROH, They did a package on Eddie Kingston which was much appreciated. They finally explained why he was here and they explained his history in ROH. They showed Eddie vs Steen brawling and pushed Chikara. Good package. Definitely interested in Steen vs Eddie.

TV Title Match - Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole
Strong is one of the few ROH guys who never seemed to improve personality or move onto better things. This was a good match. The crowd is really into Cole and he seems to improve each time. I don't know how much star potential he has, but atleast the crowd likes him. Strong did a super cool backbreaker on the top rope. Elgin came down near the finish but he refused to interfere. Cole caught Roddy from behind with a straightjacket german and won the TV Title! Good match!

Overall thoughts: Worth a watch. Some nice wrestling here and a decent way to spend an hour. I like ROH's show since the production is better but just wish they had some better names.

1/4/1993 WCW/NJPW Supershow 3 or NJPW Fantastic Story in the Tokyo Dome

WCW/NJPW Supershow 3 or NJPW Fantastic Story in the Tokyo Dome

This is the WWE 24/7 version of this WCW show so you can just imagine how rough this is at times. Everyone has virtually the same music and the crowd is overdubbed to the point that there is no heat for anything. Add in the announcers who have no idea who anyone is and this is a pretty poor overall presentation.

1/4/1993 NJPW/WCW Supershow III or NJPW Fanatastic Story in Tokyo Dome - IWGP Jr. Hvy. Title - Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Liger
Sorry for the double names of this show, but it depends on what you want to go by. This was a sharp match that also probably went a little too long. They started to run out of things to do after a while and thats where they lost their direction. Up until Dragon's first slip on the turnbuckle(followed by a second), this match looked to be approaching the high ****+ territory. The big highlights here were Liger's sick neckdropping powerbombs, Ultimo doing dives and getting the rail as much as his opponent and Liger's cool swanton to the outside on Dragon. Liger ended up winning this with a frankensteiner.This was a really good match but it got worse as it went on. Rating: ***3/4.

Ron Simmons vs Tony Halme
It started off okay but got worse as it went on. There were more powerslams in this match than any other match on the show. Rating:*

Mr. Saito/Shinya Hashimoto vs Scott Norton/Dustin Rhodes
It got a little better towards the end but it went too long. Hashimoto took a ton of offense then just randomly made a come back and won! Rating: *

IWGP Title vs NWA Title - Great Muta vs Masa Chono
This almost turned into a lazy Muta match but they picked up right when it got slow and turned it around. They had a nice finishing stretch and both guys seemed to wake up during it. Rating: ***

Takayuki Izuka/Akira Nogami/El Samurai vs Nobukazu Hirai/Masao Orihara/Koki Kitahara
Orihara was really good here which was no surprise. Bischoff had no idea as to who was who and was really embarassing to listen to. They muted the introductions, but I'd still say it might have been more helpful in Japanese. This had about a million dropkicks to the point that I never want to see one again. You just want to see Orihara and Kitahara in this and the rest were virtually useless. Rating: *

Sting vs Hiroshi Hase
This was a main event squash match. Hase got little offense in and got none of his signature moves in. Sting just overpowered him the whole time and jobbed him out. It wasn't bad, but a more competitive match would have been alot better. Rating: *3/4

They cut out: Choshu vs Tenryu and Steiners vs HellRaisers.

Overall: The opener was good and that's about it. The presentation ruined everything and WCW made sure to skip two out of the three best matches on the show! WCW! Skip it!

WWE Smackdown 7/27/2012

WWE Smackdown 7/27/2012

Miz in-ring promo
He talked about being the new Intercontinental Champion and said he thanks the fans of Christian for voting for him on Raw to have an IC title match. Christian announced that he would use his rematch clause right now.

Intercontinental title - Miz vs Christian
Christian took a nasty backdrop to the outside. He did a belly flop on the floor. Miz won by pulling on the tights here after a thumb to the eye. This was actually a very good back and forth match. Miz was good here, better than usual. Rating: **3/4

Ryback vs Jinder Mahal
Jinder looks alot skinnier than he used to in FCW. Ryback was bouncing to his music and was talking to the cameras. Jinder wore some really cool purple/red tights that alternated colors. Jinder actually got a bit of offense on Ryback. Ryback powered out of a camel clutch and did a stunner while Jinder was hooked around his body. Mahal ran for it after a missed lariat from Ryback. Ryback won by countout. He then got the crowd to chant, "Feed Me More". Rating: **

Daniel Bryan and Sheamus were in the back. Sheamus was reminding him of all the bad stuff that happened this week to Bryan and he gave Bryan a delayed wedding present. It was a book entitled, "How to last more than 18 seconds" with Sheamus kicking Bryan from Wrestlemania.

Sheamus vs Cody Rhodes
Dolph came down during this with his entrance music and briefcase. He teased cashing it in. Cody did the most insane moonsault ever. He stood with his back facing the ring, completely blindsided and a did a Kurt Angle style moonsault right on the mat. He almost went head first. I don't know if they planned that or if Sheamus forgot to catch him or what but it looked scary. Cody hit a close springboard kick to the face but only got the 2. They showed Dolph getting ready to jump on in. Sheamus got the advantage and hit an Emerald Fusion. He beat his chest and the crowd clapped along, then he hit the Brogue Kick for the win. This was a good match and Cody was really on during it. Rating: **1/2. Ziggy teased cashing it in but walked back. Jericho threw him in and him and Sheamus hit their moves on Ziggy after.

Santino Marella vs Antonio Cesaro
They called Cesaro the "Swiss Superman". He went for a move and Santino hit a nice hip throw. Santino teased hitting Maxine with the Cobra but Cesaro caught him and hit him with the Karl Gotch-style Styles Clash/Flopping Pile Driver.

#1 Contender - Fatal Four Way - Daniel Bryan vs Kane vs Alberto Del Rio vs Rey Mysterio
Rey Rey and Bryan both hit cool dives to start it off. Daniel Bryan now chants "yes" when he kicks someone. Rey hit a splash and had the pin on DB but Ricardo pulled him out and Del Rio stole this one with a pin on Rey. This was a very good match. It was fast paced and they did some nice double teams and counters. It was also pretty hot heat wise for WWE standards. Totally reccomended. Rating: ***

Overall: This was a good show. There were alot of good matches with the main being really good. Definitely worth a watch!

WWE Superstars 7/26/2012

WWE Superstars 7/26/2012

Drew McIntyre vs Sin Cara
This was a great match. McIntyre channeled his inner Arn Anderson and worked on Sin Cara's arm most of the match. He did a couple of things I've never seen before and he looked great. Sin Cara was fine but he looks extremely slow. I guess it could be my feed, but I've never seen him wrestle so slowly in 7 years. You should really check this out. Rating: ***1/2

Justin Gabriel/Tyson Kidd vs Curt Hawkins/Tyler Reks
Reks and Hawkins dressed alike with sunglasses, sleeveless jackets and green pants. Hawkins also carries a cane. Stanford was building this one as "Thunder vs Lightning". Stanford mentioned that Reks was the first man to knock Ryback off his feet and it shows that Ryback is human. They talked about Gabriel finding a place where he could skydive near his house and called him an andrenaline junkie.

We got a quick No Holds Barred commercial during the match. They said that for the first ever, we will discover a film that "captured an era". I'll fully admit that I liked NHB.

According to Stanford, Hawkins/Reks are wearing their green to pay tribute to the Dynamic Dudes and People Power, even though Ace is long gone. Kidd was so good in this one. He had a great comneback with lots of cool kicks. He was definitely channeling the 1-2-3 Kid there.  He hit a sweet blockbuster for the win that the crowd loved. Good match! Give these two teams names pronto! Rating: **3/4

Zack Ryder vs Michael McGullicutty
Stanford said that this was an unoffical internet championship match. They said that last time these two fought, Ryder got the win via the Rough Ryder.  According to Stanford, McGuillicutty says that he fishes in the summer inbetween wrestling. I'd be up for a fishing gimmick. Also according to Stanford, McGullicutty wants to go after the US title. I liked McGulli's demolition style beatdown in this. Ryder hit the Broski Boot, love it. McGulli then hit a cool backdrop for payback on that. Ryder went up top and got the win with a legdrop onto a standing McGuillicutty. Good match! Rating: **1/2

Overall thoughts: This was a great edition of Superstars. Every match was good and everything clicked. If Superstars is going to be like this every week, I'm going to have to watch it. Don't skip this!

WWE NXT 7/25/2012

WWE NXT 7/25/2012

Bo Dallas/Derrick Bateman vs Michael Mcgillicutty/Johnny Curtis

According to Regal, Cena told him that Bateman is the strongest man in the WWE. Mark Henry says hi. Regal said Michael and Curtis remind him of the Andersons. The crowd could have cared less during this match. Nothing was wrong with it but it was not very exciting. Curtis ended up winning with a version of the falcon arrow. Rating: *

Antonio Cesaro vs Alex Riley

Cesaro and Aksana wore matching outfits. They pushed that he played rugby. Then Regal mentioned that Cesaro learned his abdominal stretch from Zoltan Boscik. Boscik was a wrestler in Britain in the 1970's. It may have been the strangest WWE reference ever. Cesaro did a cool Karelin lift. Regal said that Cesaro went to Steve Wright's house in England and learned it from him by getting suplexed in his backyard. For those that don't know, Steve Wright is the father of Alex Wright of WCW fame. Ross said that Cesaro has been eating cheese and cutting cheese and was a Renaissance man. Cesaro then put Riley in a standing octopus hold that Regal called the "Zoltan Boscik Special". Cesaro won here with a Gotch-style piledriver that landed like a Styles Clash. Rating: **

Kassius Ohno did an interview where he said he inflicts pain and is a dangerous man. He repeated this again. Ohno is looking quite hobo-like these days.

Commercial

They had a fake weather update with an F-5 storm coming. They said the perfect storm Brock Lesnar was coming.

Interview with Drew McIntyre

Striker said that people think Drew didn't live up to the hype and has been passed by. Drew said he's been talking and tonight the talking ends.

Sofia Cortez vs Natalya

Sofia looks alot like Beth Phoenix with her outfit. Natalya did a cool surfboard on her. Natalya got counted out. She refused to come into the ring. Weird. She then put Sofia in the sharshooter.

The Ascension vs Dante Dash/Garrett Dylan

Ascension have a great entrance but that's about it. Dash looks like Shelton Benjamin and Dylan looks like Trevor Murdoch. Ascension won with a Total Elimination. They scream alot. This was Squash City here.

We got a Big E. Langston package. They package him like a combination of Mark Henry and Monty Brown.

Seth Rollins vs Drew McIntyre

It's never good when they push you as a person with "setbacks" and "scars from his personal life". JR compared it to a midlife crisis. I feel really bad for Drew. The crowd was into Rollins. He went for a phoenix splash and landed on his feet, then ate a yakuza kick from Drew. Drew won with a double underhook DDT. Good match but too short. Rating: *1/2

Overall thoughts: This show was alright but not great. There were way too many tall tales and I think Vince is back in the gorilla position telling these guys what to say. You can probably skip this one.

Some AJPW Matches

AJPW 1987 - Great Kabuki/John Tenta vs Tom Zenk/The Terminator
Tenta was only about 2-3 years into his career at this point and he already was great. He was pretty thin here and the differences between his weight at this point and during WWF were big. Tenta was the glue of this match. He was agile, strong and he looked like a superstar in the making. Zenk was in great shape but he was still working out the kinks. No idea who Terminator was but he might as well have not even been in it and this wasn't a great showing by Kabuki. Tenta beat the Terminator with a powerslam and an elbow.

Rating:*3/4

AJPW 1990 Abdullah the Butcher/Ivan Koloff/Randy Rose vs Akio Sato/Shunji Takano/Akira Taue
RANDY ROSE. Does it get any more random than this? Takano was AWESOME. He did a great backwards cartwheel bump off a headbutt and did a MONKEY FLIP on Abdullah. That was money. Sato took a really cool bump to the outside too at full speed. Abby pinned Sato with an elbow in this all-squash match.

Rating: **1/2

AJPW 1991 - Mike Golden/Randy Rose vs The State Patrol
The Golden Roses wore matching pink tights for this. I thought that Golden might have been related to Bunkhouse Buck, but it seems not.  The State Patrol gave their opponents parking tickets to start the match. No, I'm not joking. They also came out to the CHiPS theme. This was clipped to death so no rating unfortunately. I wanted to see more of the Golden Roses :(

ROH Best In The World 2012 6/24/2012

ROH Best In The World 2012 6/24/2012

Hybrid Rules - Kyle O'Reilly vs Adam Cole

This match was an instant classic. Everything was spot on in this minus the stupid Hybrid Rules. The announcers were good, the work was good, the crowd was hot and then it happened. Cole took a shot and lost his two front teeth. Blood went everywhere and the announcers and crowd went nuts over it. They didn't sell it immediately which was unfortunate, but it did lead to a great Cole hulk-up. They probably should have ended it right after that as the match obviously peaked but they kept going a little longer. The wrestling after it was good, but the hybrid rules with 10-counts really slowed it down. They managed to recover though for a really nice finish. This was so close to being 5 stars, but the guys just aren't there yet structuring or personality wise.

Rating:****1/4

ROH World Title - Kevin Steen vs Davey Richards
This match was a mess. Steen was supposed to be the heel but he was by far the babyface to the crowd. Davey is Mr. Anti-Personality, so it screwed up the whole match. I really didn't get into this. This was similar to a Sabu style brawl where guys spent more time setting up spots than actually doing them. Davey went under the ring atleast 4 different times during this match. The wrestlers spent more time beating up on everyone at ringside than each other. Steen won after stabbing Richards in the nuts with a spike then he hit a package piledriver.

Rating:*

Davey Richards vs Michael Elgin and Jushin Liger vs Ultimo Dragon

3/31/2012 - ROH World Title - Davey Richards vs Michael Elgin
This has been highly pimped as a possible MOTY for this year. This is pretty much your typical ROH big show match. Lots of stiff shots, high impact moves and absurd kick-outs. They did some really cool moves in this match such as: Elgin powerboming Richards into the steel barricades, Richards doing a top rope dragon suplex and Richards doing a double stomp onto Elgin on the outside ring apron. While these were cool, the match really should have ended after the top rope dragon suplex. The crowd would have bought it and Elgin could have saved some other bumps for another day. Other than that, this match was mostly all Davey Richards with tons of kicks. This can be good or not depending on where you stand in the Davey Richards debate. Richards won this one with a kick to the head.  I liked the match but they probably could have ended it about 7 minutes sooner and gotten a better rating from me. Rating: ****

14/1993 NJPW/WCW Supershow III or NJPW Fanatastic Story in Tokyo Dome - IWGP Jr. Hvy. Title - Ultimo Dragon vs Jushin Liger
Sorry for the double names of this show, but it depends on what you want to go by. This was a sharp match that also probably went a little too long. They started to run out of things to do after a while and thats where they lost their direction. Up until Dragon's first slip on the turnbuckle(followed by a second), this match looked to be approaching the high ****+ territory. The big highlights here were Liger's sick neckdropping powerbombs, Ultimo doing dives and getting the rail as much as his opponent and Liger's cool swanton to the outside on Dragon. Liger ended up winning this with a frankensteiner.This was a really good match but it got worse as it went on. Rating: ***3/4.

WWE Monday Night Raw 7/23/2012 - WWE Raw 1000

WWE Monday Night Raw 7/23/2012 - WWE Raw 1000

I totally missed the opening up until the 30 minute mark. It takes a while for me to recover from the timezone differences in Japan. I woke up during the 6-man and I wish I could have slept through that as it was nothing.

After the 6-man, they had a whole bunch of skits and tout stuff. My thoughts on it are here:

- Mae Young appeared with her "son", a giant hand. This was the greatest thing I've ever seen. 10 million stars. Promote the guy who thought of that.
- I don't mind the Tout stuff so much. I'm sure I'll be saying the opposite in a few weeks, but 30 seconds less of Michael Cole each week is a good thing.
- You can really tell that Charlie Sheen has no idea as to what he's watching. I was thinking how funny it would be if Skype had buffered while he was on.
- The Sonic Carhop appearance would have been a great vehicle for reintroducing Cherry. Cherry was one of my favorite diva's along with Melin and Ariel.
- I like Brodus Clay's new gear. I liked the Dude Love appearance as well.  hated to see Swagger lose in 5 second though.
- I liked the DX appearance and the reference to HHH's bad back needing massaged by Trish from a decade earlier. WWE is on tonight. I was even happy to see Billy Gunn again.

Daniel Bryan/AJ Wedding
You can never go wrong with hearing Jive Soul Bro. They really missed out on not having guests at the wedding. They could have done some fun cameos. Well, this ended up being a waste of time as AJ said yes to being the general manager, not to being Daniel's wife. I'm about to say yes to going to sleep.

Punk/Rock/Daniel segment
Hey, Punk Rock! Rock announced the winner of the Royal Rumble faces him at Mania. I guess that kind of confirms Rock/Cena 2, right?

IC title with Bret Hart as the special guest ring announcer - Christian vs The Miz
Miz's new beard doesn't work for him. He looks like a golfer now. Miz won the title here and the crowd popped pretty big for it surprisingly.

Regis Philbin did a small package showing a picture of the Destroyer on his show. He then talked about some different wrestlers that were on his show throughout the years like Blassie and The Rock. He didn't mention the Warrior though unsurprisingly.

HHH and Paul Heyman had an in-ring arguement with Heyman talking about HHH's kids. Stephanie McMahon came into the ring then looking better than last time she appeared, though she definitely got rid of her implants. Heyman finally accepted HHH's challenge for the HHH/Lesnar match. Stephanie then beat up on Heyman. Brock then came down and had a nice brawl with HHH. I shouldn't even need to tell you who won this one, but HHH naturally got the better of Lesnar. Lesnar told HHH to "F-Off" which got bleeped. HHH took of his shirt and he's in the best shape that I've seen him in in years.

Cole and Lawler played with the new WWF wrestling buddies. The new wrestling buddies are too small which negates the point of them. I have no idea what you would do with them now. Mine got abused, that's for sure.

Heath Slater open challenge with Howard Finkel announcing
Lita came out to challenge and she's still in good shape. Lita announced that she hired the APA for protection. Slater tried to escape but a whole group of legends stopped him including Sid and Vader. JBL hit the Clothesline from Hell and Lita hit the Twist of Fate along with the Moonsault for the win. Ron Simmons said his line after.

Sean Mooney did a backstage interview with Daniel Bryan. Mooney looks pretty good still.  Dainel was still really upset and said Charlie Sheen needs life management.

They had a segment with Fozzie Bear talking about some of the famous WWE catch phrases.

There was a segment with Zack Ryder, Cena and Mean Gene with Ryder saying Gene was behind GTV.  The Rock and Cena then met backstage and Cena said he will be champion at the Rumble and will fight Rock.

Kane came out but was interrupted by Jinder Mahal and a bunch of guys from Smackdown. They tried to attack but Undertaker came out for the save. Taker threw some awesome punches. WWE then stupidly scheduled an anti-bullying campaign ad after Kane was almost bullied.

Charlie Sheen challenged Daniel Bryan to a match the next time WWE comes to LA, which happens to be Summerslam. I can't imagine how much this would cost WWE to pull off.

WWE Title - John Cena vs CM Punk
Punk pulled out a nice abdominal stretch. They did some nice strikes with great crowd reactions. The ref got taken out and Big Show speared Cena. He then hit Cena right in the forehead. Cena was out and Punk almost didn't pin him after thinking about it. Cena ended up getting the STFU on Punk and then Show came in again and unloaded on Cena. Punk didn't help out Cena but The Rock came out(looking ALOT less muscular) and saved Cena. The Rock went for the People's Elbow on Show but then Punk clotheslined The Rock. He hit him with the Go2Sleep to end the show. Punk turns heel!

Overall thoughts: This was a pretty good show. The cameo's were good and they built up alot of things for the future. I thought the wedding really sucked though. Overall, this is one of the better Raw's in a long time and the show went really fast. I highly reccomend checking this out.

Ring of Honor TV 7/21/2012

Ring of Honor TV 7/21/2012

I always find ROH hard to get into nowadays. The show lost alot of interest from me with the various technical problems they had during their first weeks and since then they really haven't been able to capture me. It doesn't help that the show is on here at 5pm on a Saturday. Nonetheless, I'm deciding to give it a shot today.

They did a small package with Mike Bennett/Maria/Bob Evans against Eddie Edwards. I cannot get used to seeing Maria in ROH. Nothing against her, but it just doesn't feel right having a Diva search contestant in ROH.

Bob Evans/Mike Bennett with Maria vs Adam Cole/Eddie Edwards

Nigel said that Evans is so unattractive that he "makes blind children cry". We got a make out session Maria and Bennett during the intros. The announcers were really pushing Cole and his victory at Best in the World.

This match was okay but it didn't do much for me. The big highlight of this was Bennett/Edwards doing a suplex spot off the apron that ended with both of them on the floor. Cole won here with the high cross body onto Evans. Rating: *1/2

After the match, Maria and Evans beat up on Cole until Sara Del Rey made the save by putting Maria in an ankle lock.

On Inside ROH, they showed clips from Kyle O'Reilly vs Adam Cole at Best in the World. Cole got his lip busted open plus his two front teeth knocked out. I hope that was worth it. Kevin Kelly and Nigel did a great job announcing here and they made the match seem really must see. O'Reilly slapped Cole after the match.

They then showed Bruno Sammartino receiving a Lifetime Acheivement Award at the ROH show in Pittsburgh. Bruno looks as good as he's looked in years. Next, they pushed the rubber match in 2 weeks between Mike Bennett and Lance Storm. Lance cut a promo telling Mike it was his "last time, last chance". They also pushed Roderick Strong vs Adam Cole for the TV title next week.

Next, we got clips from Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team vs the All Night Express. Haas did some nice work promising to "kill" Rhett Titus. Titus end up getting a surpising victory to win the Tag Titles.

Wrestling's Greatest Tag Team vs Fusion DS(Matt Saigon and Damian Dragon)

WGTT made quick work of Fusion DS when Shelton won with an olympic slam. Not much to comment on here since it was just a squash. The most interesting part of this match was the guy in the full body Jushin Liger suit in the front row. Haas cut a good promo on the All Night Express with Haas saying that, "We beat you within an inch of your life...it was so close that we almost had to get a tape measurer to prove it".

We went to the back with Jim Cornette with Cornette looking for an opponent for Kevin Steen. Mike Mondo threw his name in the hat for a match against Steen and Cornette gave him the shot. They then did a quick package on Mondo who looks really different from his Spirit Squad days. 

ROH Title - "No Fear" Mike Mondo vs Kevin Steen

Steen cut a promo before the match saying that Cornette is so desperate to get the title off him that people don't even have to earn title matches anymore. Steen told him that while Mondo may have No Rest, No Mercy and No Fear that he will have No Pulse once the match is over.

Steve Corino joined the commentary booth for this one. They fought mainly on the outside with Steen getting whipped into the barricades. Steen got the advantage and then took one of the ROH fan barricades and powerbombed Mondo onto it. Corino said he had dreams of Steen doing that to Cornette every night. Mondo barely made it back in the ring before the 20 count. Corino mentioned a bunch of different local stations that ROH is on and made different shills about Kevin Steen to each.  The crowd got really into Mondo. Steen ended up winning this with the F-5 after a great match. After the match, Jimmy Jacobs beat up on Mondo until Eddie Kingston made the save. There was a nice pull apart brawl to end the show. Rating: ***

Overall thoughts: This was a good show. I enjoyed the main event and I really liked the video packages. I'm still trying to get used to ROH but this was a good way to make me want to check the show out next week.

NJPW 6/16/2012 Dominion - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kazuchika Okada

I've only seen a clipped version of this, but this is probably going to win Match of the Year. It was super heated and both guys were just on. Tanahashi was at the best I've ever seen him and almost all of his move choices were perfect and natural calls. Okada was awesome too. He has it down cold. He had me cheering for him by the end of it. I can't wait for the full version of this to come out. This is minimum ****1/2 and could even be a ***** affair. This is going to be the MOTY no questions asked. Nothing is going to top this in 2012.

Here's a link to it, but don't hesitate as I'm sure it will disappear soon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pymPcGQuWTk&feature=player_embedded

WWE Smackdown 7/20/2012

We begin the show with Rey Mysterio returning. It's been over 15 months but it really doesn't feel that long. Wasn't he back at Mania?

ADR came out and gave Rey a chance to leave, but Rey didn't.

Dolph Ziggler then came out to talk to ADR. Him and ADR were going to gang up on Rey until Sheamus made the save. They tried to get something going but ADR left and Dolph got out of there before he took too big of a beating.

Match Number One: The Prime Time Players, Hunico & Camacho w/ AW Vs. Epico, Primo. Kofi & R-Truth, 8 Man Tag Match.

I feel bad for Primo and Epico because you can tell it's only about Rosa and nothing else. They mic'd AW which was cool because you could hear what he was saying. They did this on a Coliseum Video many years ago and I loved it then. AW called Kofi "Dreadlocks" and told him "You know what time it is". AW distracted Primo and O'Neil pushed him off the ropes into a ddt/codebreaker thing for the win. Good match. Rating: *1/2

Show came out and cleared house.

Match Number Two: Damien Sandow Vs. Zack Ryder.

Sandow wore really bright Pink and took out Zack quickly with a cross-armed neckbreaker. Sandow's music played after with"Hallelujah" playing. Rating: No Rating

Peep Show with AJ and Daniel Bryan

This was just Christian questioning the two which led to

Match Number Three: Daniel Bryan vs Kane

This was actually a decent match. AJ got involved and jumped on Kane as he did a chokeslam to DB. AJ and Kane ended up staring each other down and then DB took her to the back with him. No finish here.

Match Number Four: Heath Slater vs Road Warrior Animal

They showed clips of Slater getting beat up by legends. Animal made quick work of him with a powerslam and an elbow.

Ricardo and Vickie yelled at each other backstage. Then Vickie started screaming.

Match Number Five: Alberto Del Rio & Dolph Ziggler w/ Ricardo & Vickie Vs. Sheamus & Rey Mysterio.

Vickie cut off Ricardo's intro. That should be a punishable offense. Rey wore a plain shirt with a question mark on it. Odd.  Ziggler had this won after a Rocker Dropper but the ref was paying attention to Sheamus. Dolph took some nice bumps in this as usual. The finish was so stupid. Ricardo held onto Sheamus' foot and that was it. Stupid. ADR put the armbar on Sheamus after. Dolph went to cash in but Rey stopped that.

Thoughts: This was a waste of time. Skip it!

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/27/1990

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/27/1990 

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/wwf-superstars-1201990.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/wwf-superstars-231990.html

The Royal Rumble is over and now the hype train is headed for Wrestlemania VI

WWF IC Champion the Ultimate Warrior defeated Bob Bradley in a non-title match
Warrior did an inset tearing down Dino Bravo. Bob did some wonderful selling here. He sold it like he was really shaken up and he was flopping everywhere. This was a good squash. Warrior carried him on his shoulder to the back.

WWF Update
The Colossal Connection got attacked by Demolition on Wrestling Challenge.

Mr. Perfect (w/ the Genius) pinned Jim Powers at 2:03 with the Perfect Plex
Genius announced Perfect as the next champion. Perfect wrestled really quickly and took Powers out easy.

Jake Roberts pinned Pete Sanchez with the DDT at 2:04; after the bout, Ted Dibiase and Virgil came ringside, with Dibiase demanding that Virgil go into Roberts' snake bag and reclaim the Million $ title; Virgil was too scared and ended up running backstage when Jake took Damien out of the bag
Jesse said Jake needs to change his name to "Jake the Theif" after taking Dibiase's belt. Jake did an inset and challenged Dibiase to get the belt in Damian's bag. Virgil sold his fear of the snake really well. Jake let Damian lose and Virgil fell out of the ring.

Nikolai Volkoff & Boris Zhukov defeated Mark Reagan & Lyn Wagner
If Dino is my most hated WWF wrestler, Boris Zhukov would make the podium for that prize. We got a little of Russia's Got Talent before the match with the usual singing performance. The Bushwhackers did an inset challenging the Bolsheviks. That's a scary sounding match up. Vince said the Bushwhackers could sing better than Nikolai. I disagree. Vince said they can really sing that "Tie Me Kangaroo Down stuff".  Boris won with a clothesline to the back of the neck.

Tugboat Thomas pinned Iron Mike Sharpe with a splash at 2:26 (Tugboat's TV debut) (SuperTape)
This is the debut of Tugboat. Toot Toot. Tugboat hit a great standing dropkick. Tugboat hit a nice splash to take it home. Good match. Rating: *

Bad News Brown defeated Chuck Coates
Coates looks like the lost Rougeau brother. Jesse says that the WWF title would get a smile out of Bad News. He should have gotten a run just for that. Bad News got yelled at for choking his opponent then he said, "So What? It's legal in Harlem". GHETTO BLASTER and it's over. Bad News took some extra shots after the match.

Dibiase was live from the weight room and challenged Jake for next week.

Roddy Piper defeated John Justice
Piper cut a weird inset on Rude. Don't even ask me what he was saying. Piper made quick work of his opponent here with a roll-up with tights.  Piper laid a whooping on Justice after.

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/20/1990

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/20/1990

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/wwf-superstars-of-wrestling-1131990.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/wwf-superstars-1271990.html

The 1990 Royal Rumble is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/06/wwf-royal-rumble-1990-1211990.html 

From Birmingham, Alabama

Jimmy Snuka pinned the Brooklyn Brawler with the crossbody off the top at 2:04(Alfred and Tony on commentary)
Tony mentioned that the Brawler had a tremendous record in the WWF. Maybe he's talking about a different Brawler. They talked about how Snuka could do more than fly high and naturally, every move of his except a punch in this were highflying moves. Snuka won with a Superfly Splash.

WWF Update
America's voice has been heard and now everyone can see the Royal Rumble according to Gene. The Rougeaus said that the ring in their match with the Bushwhackers will be a house of fire and that they will huff, puff and blow their house back to New Zealand. The Genius cut a poem about not getting his hair cut due to his brains and Bruti said he's "made a date, so don't be late".

Dino Bravo defeated Alan Reynolds(Jesse and Vince on commentary)
Let it be noted that Dino Bravo is my least liked wrestler ever. I thought his whole WWF run was a giant waste of time. This one was quick which was okay in my book. Earthquake did his sit down splash after and Jesse said it was a "10" on the Richter Scale. They are still calling Earthquake the "National Disaster" here.

Ron Garvin defeated Pablo Crenshaw via submission with the Scorpion Deathlock at 1:47 (Alfred and Tony on commentary)
They said that the difference between Garvin and Valentine was that Garvin's shinguard was only for show and he didn't use it in his holds. Garvin said that his match with Valentine is the most important one in his career. I disagree. Garvin pulled out the Garvin Stomp and won with the Scorpion.

Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil) defeated Lee Peak via submission with the Million $ Dream; after the bout, Jake Roberts attacked Dibiase and Virgil, stole the Million $ belt, and put it in the snake bag with Damien(Vince and Jesse on commentary)
Jake said on an inset that Dibiase told him to come and get the belt if he wanted it. He did. Jake took the belt and pointed to himself like he was the champion. I'd say it's ridiculous but Dibiase awarded himself the belt without doing anything, so maybe it's not that farfetched. This was a good squash and a good angle.

The Brother Love Show with Hulk Hogan
The crowd was so hot for Hogan. It was hard to hear anything they said. Hogan said he wanted #1 in the Rumble, come on now. Hogan said he wanted he didn't want to throw anyone over the top but wanted to stack them up and pin them. Maybe he doesn't want to win the Rumble? Hogan then said he hopes Warrior will last as he wants to challenge him to see what he's made of. This is how you book things in advance. Brother Love said Perfect will be the last one in there and Hogan said he wants to take him on too.

Rick Rude (w/ Bobby Heenan) pinned Dale Wolfe with the Rude Awakening at 1:05(Alfred and Tony on commentary)
Rude did his usual mic work before the match. Rude did an inset and said he was going to pluck Piper's three body hairs like a chicken. Rude made out with a girl from the front row after the match. You know, I'd much rather have that gimmick then having to dress up like a Rooster.

WWF Update
Piper said he's been eating gaines burgers(dog food), chasing cars and chasing Hun's on his way to the Rumble. He told Rude that he will show him what Noriega feels like. Honky again promised to play atleast 29 hits. Andre said he was ready and Haku stared at him like he was crazy as Andre laughed.

Demolition defeated Alan Martin & George South (Jesse and Vince on commentary)
Vince asked Jesse if he had the jitters before hosting the Rumble and Jesse said he's the most experienced man in the world. Jesse said he'd like to see The Rockers go at it in the Rumble. I would too. He says it would be a great match-up and like always, he's right. Smash did a 30 second sequence of sledgehammers on his opponent. The Demos said they were in search of two colossal rats at the rumble and said they would last just so they can fight them. Jesse pointed out that the Demos shouldn't have revenge on their mind as they may not even see the Colossal's in the Rumble due to the luck of the draw. The Demos won with the Demolition Decapitation.

WWF Event Center
Fuji said The Powers of Pain would make the Rockers suffer and scream. He said other things but the PoP's were growling too loud to hear them. Dusty said Savage better be ready for the common people and Americana. There was a cool local ad for the show after it.

Next week: Piper, Bad News, Jake, Mr. Perfect and The Warrior

Overall Thoughts: This was a pretty good show. It went by really fast and Dibiase ordeal was the best thing on the show.

WWE NXT 7/18/2012

WWE NXT 7/18/2012

Tamina Snuka vs Kaitlyn
I swear I'm not imagining things, this was good! Everyone did their job and Kaitlyn is showing that she is studying submissions. She did a abdominal stretch while Tamina was tangled in the ropes and she did a version of the La Escalera(ground abdominal stretch) onto Tamina. Tamina got out of  that though and did the Superfly Splash for the win. Where did this come from? Watch out for Tamina. Rating: **3/4

Big E. Langston package
This was surpisingly also pretty good. They showed him lifting weights. Then they showed covering his hands in weightlifting chalk and slapping them together. He said when he does this, "it means its the end". Does the E. in Big E. Langston stand for "End"? This was a good package. Big E. sucks, but if they can establish some things like the chalk maybe there is a chance. The big problem is that there's another big weightlifting guy on the roster and his name is Mark Henry. Weightlifters/Strongmen also have a habit of not getting over in the WWE.

Jinder Mahal vs Percy Watson
I only like Jinder if Abraham Washington is on commentary pimping him. "My man Jinda". Jnder put his turban into a clear plastic box before entering the ring. Regal claimed that he went to his christening. Percy seemed pretty hyped coming to the ring for this. Percy was really good throughout this whole match. Jinder was Jinder. WWE is still behind him but he just doesn't have "it". Jinder won with the Camel Clutch. Percy got a second helping of the Camel Clutch after the match. Rating: *1/2

Richie Steamboat vs Leo Kruger
This is my first time getting to see Leo Kruger. He was like the eternal FCW champion. I really like his entrance. Regal claimed his slash was bestowed upon him by Nelson Mandella. Kruger did a cool spot here where he rolled Richie up only he rolled him into the turnbuckle where he hit his head. I liked this match. Kruger has something but he also looks a little effeminate in the ring. Richie really shouldn't be jobbing, but they shouldn't of booked themselves into a corner. Rating: **

Promo for Raquel Diaz and the Exfoliating Ugliness tour

Raquel Diaz vs Paige
Diaz screams being a rip-off of The Beautiful People. Paige wears all black. Paige is also already over. Naturally she lost to a Gory Special from Diaz. Rating: 1/4*

There was a quick segment with Aksana hitting on Alex Riley. Antonio Cesaro then walked in and him and Riley talked about differences between Europeans and Americans. They announced that they will fight next week.

Heath Slater vs Justin Gabriel
Heath Slater is now the "One Man Southern Rock Band". He wasn't a country rocker last time. My friend used to refer to Gabriel as "Wild Berry Poptarts" due to the colorful gear that he used to wear. JR joined the booth for this one. Gabriel took a nasty fall off the top rope on his neck when Slater shook it. Gabriel won with a moonsault into a Scorpion Deathdrop. Rating: **

Thoughts: This was a very good show. The presentation and announcing are excellent. The matches were all pretty good and nothing made me upset.

WCW Main Event 7/18/1993

WCW Main Event 7/18/1993

Beach Blast 1993 is in a few hours so this is one of the last go home shows for it. They are really pushing the Vader/Sid vs Sting/Davey Boy Smith match hard along with Flair vs Windham for the NWA title.

Michael Hayes is one of the hosts live from a resort pool somewhere.

Jim Neidhart vs. JD Wolf   

This wasn't bad for a Jim Neidhart squash. He must have just left WWF before coming here as I didn't know Neidhart came to WCW before 1997. He was in pretty good shape here. Jim won with the Anvilizer(Cobra Clutch) which I had never seen him do before.

We get a review of the Maxx Payne vs Johnny B. Badd feud.  Badd promised to "get his booty with my tooty fruity". Something doesn't sound right there. They showed Badd getting hit with a baseball bat and they showed him getting hit right in the face with his confetti blaster. Badd then wore the most ridiculous mask ever to cover up the injuries from it. It had white feathers and he looked like a goose.

We then get a short push for the PPV with Eric Bischoff in a Hawaiian shirt.

Arn Anderson & Paul Roma vs. Chris Sullivan & Don Brodie

 

This is the first time that I've ever seen Roma in the Horsemen.  That's more to me never seeing much WCW 1993 though. They said during the match that Sting and Davey Boy Smith are taking calls during their preparation for their Beach Blast match. I'd be more interested in talking to Double A actually. Speaking of that, "The Cruncher" Larry Z. on commentary mentioned that Arn is a great example of an endo-morphic human being. I looked up that word and apparently it's a person who gains weight easy and has high body fat. The Horsemen won this with a Double A Spinebuster and a "Top Rope Swandive".

We got some clips of what lead up to the Bash main event. Vader took a chair to Davey Boy and Sting came in for the rescue. We then get clips from the stupid Beach Blast 1993 video that WCW spent tons of money on. We get a Vader/Sid promo then a powerbomb fest with Vader and Sid. I could watch them powerbomb people all day. The feud continued with Sid interferring in a Davey/Vader match with Sting making the save.  Sid cut a promo after it promising that Sting/Davey will be in "hell". Sting and Davey closed out this package by saying tonight they will have a "Beach Blast".

Ron Simmons vs. Big Sky

 

I don't have big hopes for this one. Ron came out to some really weird rap song which had Ron leading the crowd into raising their hands like they don't care. Larry said all they needed was Richard Simmons now. I'd be up for a brother vs brother feud between Ron Simmons and Richard Simmons. Okay, brothers from very different mothers. Larry said you should call Sting and Davey because it may be their last phone calls. "Get them while they are living", he said. Larry said that Sky was "not the best wrestler in the world". I'm surprised they were saying things like that in 1993. Larry's right, but no need to point it out.  Then Larry started ripping on Sky's endurance. Sky took a shot on Simmons and Larry asked if "you heard those choppers pop". Then he compared him to Paul Bunyan. The only good part about this one was the finish. Sky is like a poor man's Lance Hoyt. Rating: 1/4*

Overall thoughts: This was all about Beach Blast 1993. The Sid/Vader vs Davey/Sting stuff interested me and Jim Neidhart was actually decent. I also enjoyed Larry Z's terrible commentary. No need to really see this though.

Ice Ribbon 7/11/2012 Report

Ice Ribbon #402
July 11, 2012
Ice Ribbon Dojo
79 fans

1. Rabbit Miu & Aki Shizuku defeated Hikari Minami & NOZOMI (08:45) when Shizuku used a Scorpio Woman on Minami.
2. GAMI defeated Maki Narumiya (09:30) with an Eye Thrust.
3. Hikaru Shida wrestled Arisa Nakajima (10:00) to a time limit draw.
4. Neko Nitta & Miyako Matsumoto defeated Tsukasa Fujimoto & Meari Naito (16:30) when Matsumoto used a Miyacoco Clutch on Naito.

I'm a little late on this one unfortunately. I was really busy and didn't have time to write about the show.

This show was at the Ice Ribbon Dojo. It's basically like an oversized garage with an entrance way and a ring. It only holds about 100 fans or so. It's actually also not too far from the station so the location isn't bad.

They have a funny sign outside offering people the chance to become wrestlers. My friend and I joked that they probably get more 50 year old creepy men trying to sign up than aspiring females, but hey, they don't say you have to be a girl.

This show was building up to an IR show in Sapporo I believe. They kept shilling for it but let's be real, maybe one person tops was going to make that trip from this show.

Match 1 wasn't bad at all. Rabbit Miu may be the smallest wrestler I've ever seen live. She is just tiny and quite young. She's going to end up being decent though. NOZOMI was okay here but she's still basically a rookie. I don't have a lot of faith in her being the star of DDT's joshi promotion. They had a few small slip ups, but nothing too bad.

Match 2 was pretty good. I'm not a GAMI fan but in the right setting, she can be tolerable. She whacked the referee and her opponent many times with her gimmick. No complaints about this one at all. Maki seemed to be having a good time against her.

Match 3 was easily the match of the night. Arisa Nakajima is probably the most popular member of the JWP roster. She just returned from quitting and she was really good. Shida is also really good. They had a great match and I was upset that it went to a draw. We deserved a winner! This one is probably worth checking out.

Match 4 was terrible. It was all comedy and it really stunk. Neko really plays up the cat gimmick, even going so far as to only make cat sounds. She also wears a tail, which her opponents worked on. She warms up to you eventually though, but not a good wrestler. Fujimoto was about the only good thing in this match. Miyako was really awful especially.

Overall it was an okay show. The main event was really bad, but the rest was ok with the semi-main being very good.

After the show they sold gimmicks and did pictures. While I'm not a huge fan of IR, I had to take them up on the picture with most of the roster for $10. Joshi dojo shows always do this and I love it. I got one with the NEO crew years ago that is one of my favorites.

Big Japan Pro Wrestling 6/21/2012: Selected Matches

Big Japan Pro Wrestling 6/21/2012: Selected Matches

Yoshihito Sasaki vs Yuji Okabayashi
Great match, surprising, I know. Like I said in other posts on Oka and Sasaki, you put these two together and it's going to be a good match. I don't know how else to say it except they worked a really good match and had a good finish with Sasaki bleeding hardway from headbutts. This is pro wrestling. Simple, effective and stiff. I could go for a best of 1000 series between these two. You should check it out. Rating: ****1/2

Ryuji Ito/Ryuji Yamakawa vs Shadow WX/Takashi Sasaki
I didn't like this one at all. Yamakawa aged terribly and this was reminiscent of those terrible WWF hardcore brawls in the late 90's. Rating: Dud

REINA 6/3/2012 - Mimi/Yokota vs Hori/Omori

REINA Jaguar Yokota 35th Anniversary Show 6/3/2012 - Mimi Hagiwara/Jaguar Yokota vs Jumbo Hori/Yukari Omori
This was a quick 10 minute exhibition with the youngest wrestler in it being Jumbo Hori at 49. Mimi is 56 and looks about 36 and the other two are 50. Listen, this was just a legends match and it'd be wrong to even rate it as anything else than nostalgia. The work wasn't great, but you know, when your average age is around 50 and some of the girls haven't wrestled in years, it's not a match made for workrate. I really would have loved to have seen this live. This is worth it just to see what the fountain of youth has done to Mimi. Rating: Not Rated

BJW 5/5/2012 Selected Matches

BJW  5/5/2012 

Brahman Brothers vs Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi
I always love a Brahman Brothers match. I know at the very least I'm going to see something ridiculous.

They started out spraying the fans with powder. Then they spit water on Great Kojika as he was doing the title ceremony speech. They then took turns spitting water on the ring announcer after their names were called. Why hasn't Vince signed these guys? They'd be over like rover and Vince would pee his pants with their antics. Okay, the swastica's and klan suits would have to go, but other than that, it could happen.

The Brahman's really went wild in this. They threw powder at Oka then they spit greenslime in Sekimoto's face. He looked like he just got off the set of Double Dare circa 1989. They threw water, they hit Oka with a parking lot sign and they even used a suitcase on Sekimoto. One of them even mocked Oka at one point and yelled in English, "Oh my NUTS".

Oka made a come back later in the match after he got orange goo'ed. He hulked up and then did a double bulldog follow by a Sting yell which the commentators caught. Oka then got black goo'ed. Sekimoto returned the favor a little later and Oka got the pin.

Rating: This was 10 stars for entertainment but probably only about *** for workrate.

Lighttubes and Free Weapons - Abdullah Kobayashi vs Shuji Ishikawa
They really screwed this one up. They went through about 100 lighttubes in the first 5 minutes and no sold them all. Then they built the match on the remaining lighttubes. Total fail with little crowd heat. When the most exciting part of the match involves the wrestlers stripping to thongs, there are problems. Rating: *

Big Van Walter vs Yoshihito Sasaki
Walter is a stud if you have never seen him before. He's absolutely huge and hits with all of his might. Sasaki is no slouch either. At one point Walter tried to powerbomb Sasaki off the apron but Sasaki held on by hooking his leg around the rope, good stuff. Then, Walter sat him in the middle of the ring on the top rope and Stan Hansen lariated him. Yoshihito went down HARD. Yoshihito at one point hit Walter with a burning hammer which was cool. This was a great match but there were two issues. The first is that Walter sometimes powers-up and no sells, which makes moves meaningless. If you don't sell it, I can't buy it. I also think that they were in front of the wrong crowd here. Any other promotion especially in Korakuen would have had the crowd losing it over this. Good work from both guys and definitely worth your time. Just basic and awesome pro wrestling. Rating: ***3/4

Big Japan Pro Wrestling 5/25/2012

Big Japan Pro Wrestling 5/25/2012

Abdullah Kobayashi, Takashi Sasaki & "Black Angel" Jaki Numazawa vs Yuko Miyamoto, Isami Kodaka & Masashi Takeda  - Iron Shark Cage and Lighttubes Deathmatch

This was pretty much your standard BJW deathmatch. It was good but nothing special at all. The Shark Cage was not used much at all and in BJW, lighttubes might as well be considered on par with headlocks. This had a younger generation vs vets vibe to it and Takeda/Jaki both stood out. Not too many big spots here(for BJW). Jaki hit Isami with lighttubes that had tacks inside and he did a frankensteiner on Isami off the shark cgae onto tacks. Takeda speared someone through lighttubes into the cage. Jaki got the win on Takeda with straightjacket piledriver. My biggest problems with this match were the guys not really doing anything too special and the BJW guys selling the lighttubes on and off. If they show that it doesn't hurt, how can I believe that it does? Rating: **1/2

Daisuke Sekimoto/Yuji Okabayashi vs Shinya Ishikawa/Yoshihito Sasaki
BJW has the best heavyweight division in Japan and they aren't even a traditional wrestling league. Sekimoto taught Oka just about everything he knew and he turned him into a solid worker. I said in 2008 that Oka was the future of Japanese wrestling and I still stick by it. Sekimoto is no slouch either. Sasaki has been fighting these two for the better part of two years and it still hasn't gotten old. He had a huge hardway juice in this. Oka got the win here. Rating: ** 3/4

Barbed Wire Boards: Ryuji Ito & Kankuro Hoshino vs Shuji Ishikawa & Saburo Inematsu
Hoshino gave a 10 star selling performance here. I felt bad watching this because of how real he made it look. The first half with Hoshino was really good but it started to drag once Ito got in there. This one really didn't need 15 minutes. Rating: **

AWA All Star Wrestling 8/8/1981

AWA All Star Wrestling 8/8/1981

 

High Flyers vs. Micky Shannon & Butch Scholl 

This was 2 out of 3 falls and really shouldn't have been that long. The High Flyers won this extended squash quite easily. Brunzell won the first fall with a dropkick and Gagne took the 2nd with a sleeper. Brunzell was really ripped here.

 

"Dizzy" Ed Boulder vs. "Scrap Iron" Gadaski

 This is Bruti's debut here in the AWA. Really not good. 

 

Baron Von Raschke vs. Ricky Young

Squashamania baby. Baron did some cool mat wrestling but he ended up taking it with the Claw. You aren't missing anything here eithr.

Hulk Hogan w/Johnny Valiant vs. Sonny Rogers & Chuck Greenly?

The announcer forgot to announcer Rogers' partner, oops. Hulk looked like quite the specimen here. He also had a full head of hair. But I just can't buy it when they say he's from NYC. Johnny V was his manager here and he seemed to make no improvements in his WWF run a few years later. Hulk took care of business here and the crowd seemed to be into him even though he was a heel. Hulk really looked like a monster here which is something you tend to not notice during his WWF run. I'll say this though, Greenly was no midget himself. Hulk won with the double bear hug to alot of cheers.

Tito Santana vs Nacho Barrera

Tito looks like a giant here. He looks legitimately 6'5. Note to bookers: The smaller that your roster is, the more impressive it looks when someone who is tall comes in. They pushed Tito as being from America which was not what I had expected. Tito got the win here with the flying burrito and the dropkick. Not bad for a squash. Tito got a ton of air on the dropkick.

Mean Gene said that this was live and joined in progress:

Evan Johnson vs. Laurent Soucie

This was JIP thankfully. Looked like a stinker and had the crowd heat to defend that theory. This ended in a draw. Good riddance.

 

Overall thoughts: Aside from seeing a young Hulk and Tito, there's not much here. Maybe check it to see Hulk but that's about it. Very skipable.

Dragon Gate Infinity #261

Genki Horiguchi/Jimmy Kagetora vs Shisa Boy/Kotoka
This was a really quick match. It went too quick actually. Kagetora won with something that looked like a Last Falconry. Rating: **

Ricochet/Rich Swann vs Dragon Kid/Super Shisa
I used to despise gaijins in DG. They always felt like they didn't belong and it used to make me mad because I'd want to see japanese guys and I'd see Roderick Strong. However, times have changed.

Ricochet was really good in this. He did a cool buckingham backbreaker and then hit Shisa's head onto the bottom of the top turnbuckle. Dragon Kid was a great jerk in this. DK is becoming one of my favorite wrestlers to watch ever since he started ripping off Jack Evans. He's totally reinvented himself. Shisa was fine in this but I'm not sold on Rich Swann. I think he plays up to the black thing too much and I can't take him seriously.

Rating: **3/4

Jimmy Susumu vs Fake Naoki Tanizaki
I like both guys but I didn't get into it like I should have. Fake Naoki is a little slow at times. Susumu has some awesome lariats. Rating: *1/2

Mondai Ryu/Cyber Kong vs CIMA/Gamma
Ryu had Cima's passport and was slapping him with it. Love it. Cima suckered Kong into an arm wrestling match then when Kong went down to go for it, Cima stomped him. I really like the CIMA/Gamma team. They probably are better as heels but they are best combined together. I think Kong has regressed. He's gotten thinner and I still see no push in sight. Mondai was good in this but it's a shame he had to lose the mask. Rating: **

Don Fuji/Masaaki Mochizuki vs Jimmy Ryo Saito and Jimmy Kanda
Fuji has really started to age. You have to get old sometime. Mocchy is still possibly DG's best worker but he's got alot of competition. Mocchy got the win here. Rating: *1/2

Cima Royale 5 - Shingo Takagi vs Yamato vs BxB Hulk vs Naruki Doi vs Masato Yoshino vs Akira Tozawa

Dragon Gate historically has produced the best battle royales I've ever seen. Okay, alot of them do let you pin wrestlers in it to win it, but still, I don't know if I've seen many bad DG battle royales. This is another example of a good one.

This was 30 minutes of 100MPH action. They went so fast and did things faster than I could watch them. Hulk looked great in this with tons of cool kicks but of course he was the first out. Shingo followed after a hot stretch. Yoshino went next after a really sweet section with Doi. They went so fast and literally almost wrestled without gravity. The remaining three then all ended up on the apron on the outside close to the floor. I liked that part. Doi hit Yamato and Tozawa hit a totally sick german on Doi onto the apron. Doi then got eliminated. Tozawa then went Misawa style on Yamato with elbows and Yamato sold it so well. I thought he was dead. Awesome selling. Tozawa then hit two sweet delayed germans and won it. Great stuff. When DG is at its best, they are about 10 years ahead of everyone else. Rating: ****1/2

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/13/1990

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/13/1990

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/wwf-superstars-of-wrestling-161990.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/wwf-superstars-1201990.html

From Huntsville, Alabama!

Shawn Michaels & Marty Jannetty defeated Mike Davis & Lee Peak at 3:28 when Michaels pinned Peak following double flying fistdrops off the top

 The PoP's did an inset and said they will get revenge on the Rockers for putting their hands on Fuji. Vince really stretches the point that they are all going to be fighting "individually". Jesse mentions that he'd be upset if he had one of those cable systems that didn't carry the Rumble or Mania. He said he'd write his congressman personally...no subliminal messages here! This was an okay squash by WWF standards. Vince mentions that one of them could win the Rumble, yeah right.  I don't even think I would have believed that as a kid.

Royal Rumble Update
The Rougeaus say that the Bushwhackers will "Stumble, Tumble and Fumble at the Rumble!". The Whackers said something...maybe about sending the Rougeaus back to Canada. Gene said Bruti is his barber. Hammer promised to break Garvin's leg.

Tito Santana pinned Iron Mike Sharpe at 2:22 with the flying forearm
Vince and Jesse decided to discuss Sherri and Sapphire at the Rumble during this. Why? Tito said he wouldn't rely on luck to win the Rumble on an inset. Jesse pimped the luck of the draw at the Rumble and mentioned that being "#1" is the kiss of death and Vince argued it.

The Canadian Earthquake (w/ Jimmy Hart) pinned Mike Shelton at 1:45 with the sit-down splash; after the bout, Earthquake hit the move a second time, resulting in Shelton being taken backstage on a stretcher.
The crowd chanted for the Warrior during this and Hart called Earthquake the "National Disaster". Vince and Jesse talked about Honky's "greatest hits" and mentioned Honky nailing Savage and Beefcake. 1990 comedy everyone. Earthquake's splash was rated as a "7 or an 8" on the Richter scale.

Honey Combs commercial with Andre

Jim Duggan pinned Tony Burton at 2:14 with the running clothesline
Bossman inset with him promising to break Duggan's thumb if he puts it in his face. Lots of discussion about Hacksaw's relatives being monkeys.

Ted Dibiase (w/ Virgil) defeated Dale Wolfe via submission with the Million $ Dream at 2:38
Jesse makes the case for Dibiase buying his spot in the Rumble last year. Quick Jake inset. Ted hit a rough looking piledriver. Jesse said Hogan was the favorite in the Rumble. Dibiase got the win then put $100 in Wolfe's mouth. That was probably his pay for the day. I wonder if Vince made him spit it out.

Brother Love with The Ultimate Warrior
Warrior talked about Bravo drinking water that was thinner than what the Warriors drink. Brother Love said, "You're Crazy". Good Call.

Royal Rumble Report
Honky said there will be 29 hits at the Rumble and promises to sing and dance for "everyone of you". Rude said that as the night goes longer, he gets stronger. Perfect said he was the "only Superstar" in the Rumble. I bet Vince liked that.

Rick Martel defeated Jerry Monti via submission with the Boston Crab at 2:43
Beefcake did an inset with Martel's torn clothes and asked if he likes how he looks. Jesse said he's modeling for the homeless.

Event Center
Jimmy Hart said that what must go up must go down to Snuka. Sadly the rest is unwatchable due to buffering

Overall thoughts: Boring show here but it had some funny lines. We are in total Royal Rumble hype mode now!

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/6/1990

WWF Superstars of Wrestling 1/6/1990

Last week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2024/06/wwf-superstars-of-wrestling-12301989.html

Next week's show is here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/wwf-superstars-of-wrestling-1131990.html

I'd like to note that it appears the local promo's are cut out of this one unfortunately. Don't blame me! Sucks though.

Here we go:

Brutus Beefcake vs George South

This was notable for Jesse mentioning that he lost more hair than Vince ever had. This may be the only time they ever mentioned Jesse's baldness. Martel was on an inset and said he wanted to come down and take a closer look at Bruti. Bruti got the sleeper for the win and cut a decent chunk of the hair on top of South's head after. Martel then came on the interview platform and attempted to insult Beefcake, but it was pretty awful. Beefcake came up to Martel and chased him with his shears and then ended up cutting Martel's hat and jacket. Jesse said Bruti should be arrested for destroying Martel's property and I tend to agree. Bruti then cut Martel's clothes and made them "Beefcake style"(lots of holes) then paraded in them.

Koko B. Ware vs Alan Martin 

I think Koko was wearing yellow tape around his hair outline. Koko was pretty good here and won with the Ghostbuster(brainbuster). Watching drunk guys do the bird was amusing.

Royal Rumble Ad - NO ALLIES, ONLY ENEMIES

Mr. Perfect vs Mark Reagan

Genius did a poem talking about how Perfect will chew gum and then make Hogan look like a fool. Perfect promised to throw Hogan out last at the Rumble. Jesse pointed out that Hogan may be gone before Perfect even gets in. Perfect won with the Perfectplex.

Big Boss Man vs Tony Montana

Insert Scarface joke here. Bossman wasn't even in this for 1 minute and won with the Bossman slam. He put a ball and chain on Montana after the match and dropped the ball on Montana's stomach.

Bushwhackers vs Tom Ziegler and Iron Mike Sharpe

Jesse said the average IQ of Huntsville was about 10 points lower than Luke and Butch. They hit the battering ram and the Bolsheviks came down. Jesse correctly points out that the crowd shouldn't be chanting USA as neither the Bushies or the Bolsheviks were from USA. Hey, maybe they were cheering for Ziegler. The Bushwhackers won with the double gutbuster. Vince said that there has to be a place for the Bushwhackers in NASA somewhere. Bushwhackers in Space anyone?

Brother Love with Sherri, Slick, Jimmy Hart, Fuji and Heenan

He had them all on since they all had wrestlers in the rumble. Sherri said Macho will win. Sherri looked pretty crazy here with odd facepaint. Hart said Bravo, Earthquake, Rhythm N Blues or Valentine can win it. Slick said to look out for Akeem, Fuji said he had the Powers of Pain and Heenan ran down all the previously mentioned guys. He described Rhythm N Blues as being "something". Okay, that's a little general. Heenan said everyone is wasting their time since he has Rude, Haku and Andre then told Hart to go play at Disneyland. This was quick, thankfully. I always despise Brother Love segments.

Royal Rumble Report

They showed clips from the Warrior interfering on Bravo's match with a jobber from the previous week before he got a chair from Bravo. Jesse said Warrior got what he deserved and he's right. Warrior and Bravo made some remarks and Warrior said that Bravo was lucky that he only stuck "one small facial feature" into Bravo's business.

Here's the card as it stands for the Royal Rumble - 1/21/1990 at 4PM Eastern:
Rougeaus vs Bushwhackers
Ronnie Garvin vs Greg Valentine in a submission match
Beefcake vs The Genius
Brother Love with Sapphire and Sherri
Duggan vs Bossman
Royal Rumble Match

Rhythm and Blues vs Paul Roma/Jim Gorman

Hammer was still blonde here. Garvin did an inset saying Valentine won't be around much longer. Jesse said that Honky was always thinking of his friends. Hammer won with the Hammer Jammer Figure 4. This was the 2nd longest match on the show by 13 seconds.

Next Week: Ted Dibiase donning the tights, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Rick Martel, the Rockers, Earthquake and Brother Love with the Warrior

Overall thoughts: You know, sometimes 2 minute squashes aren't so bad. The wrestler and storyline get over and there's really not much time wasted. This show was mostly a build up to the Rumble and it did a fair job. Taking a look at the card above, it doesn't look too promising though for the Rumble.

I really missed the localized promo's being cut from this one. It made the show short though at only 34 minutes.