Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 - Day 15 FINAL DAY

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 - Day 15 FINAL DAY

Osunaarashi vs Chiyootori
Osuna got some power shots in but he was put near the edge and went for a switch as he was going out. Unfortunately, it didn't work and he took the loss.

Takanoyama vs Chiyonokuni
Tak got power blasted multiple times and went flying out into his new home in Makushita.

Tochinowaka vs Chiyotairyu
Chiyo went for the throw near the edge and collapsed under Toch's weight to lose.

Shohozan vs Toyonoshima
Fun match here with both guys side stepping the other and chasing each other all over the ring. They both were holding onto the throats and Shohozan got the win.

Kotoshogiku vs Myogiryu
Myo was off balance from the beginning and in trouble early. He was ready to fall and Koto did his usual bear hug to the edge and won it.

Kisenosato vs Kakuryu
Close on here with Kisen rushing Kak out. The ref was in the way so we couldn't see who won but they gave it to Kisenosato.

Hakuho vs Harumafuji
They had a nice tachi ai and Hakuho hooked himself under Haruma's arm and threw him for an easy win.

Rankings from http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx

Individual wrestler thoughts:

Hakuho - When you possibly under-perform at 14-1, things are looking really good. What can you say. Hakuho is the current Michael Jordan or Babe Ruth of Sumo and is so far ahead of everyone else. This was a great basho for him and he stomped his rivals without much trouble at all. I can't see him losing anytime soon and he'll likely get his 5th straight tournament win next time.

Harumafuji - His main problem is that he loses easy early matches and he's out of the running immediately.  There was no excuse for losing to Aoiyama or Shohozan and things are not looking good for him right now. He's under high pressure and stress and there is a chance he may be forcibly retired if he can't start racking in 12 wins routinely. His style is unfortunately his greatest strength and weakness. He can charge people like no one else but the same charges often knock him off balance and put him in bad positions. He just needs to make sure he wins the easier matches and then start worrying about everyone else.

Kisenosato - He is improving some but again, he took some silly losses. He shouldn't have lost to Chiyotairyu and probably should have gotten past Okinoumi. None of it matters though if he can't get past Hakuho at the end of the day. He has to figure out Hakuho like he has figured out Harumafuji if he ever wants to win a title, because Hakuho is not going to screw up. Credit to him though for taking out Harumafuji and his Ozeki rivals. He is looking better, but he still has ways to improve. Let's see him win a basho first and defeat Hakuho, then lets talk about a Yokozuna promotion, okay?

Kotoshogiku - He wins with basically the same yorikiri technique every time and it seems to work. He really should do better than he does but he just doesn't for some reason. I guess its because he also has a habit of taking silly losses early and at the end of the day, he's no competition for Hakuho.

Kakuryu - I never find anything Kakuryu does to be memorable in any way. He just kind of exists and is lower than Kisen and Kotoshogiku. He's never going to win anything.

Goeido - I didn't see all of his stuff but he was the only one to knock off Hakuho and he looked pretty solid this tournament. An 11-4 as a Sekiwake is no joke and he's on the road to an Ozeki promotion if he can do this for 2 more basho's. Big credit for taking down Hakuho and Kisenosato.

Shohozan - He got some very good wins with a Harumafuji win plus victories over both Koto's. He should have won more though and limited the dumb losses. Give him credit though as he routinely has the hardest schedule of anyone out there.

Tochinowaka - He took a lot of stupid losses and his habit of standing up straight is no good. A 9-6 is decent though and hopefully he can stay steady in Makushita. I want to see him fight some of the big names though.

Endo - Pretty good tournament for Endo. A 8-7 would have been fine but he got injured near the end and got 9-5-1. He surely would have gotten 10 wins had he not gotten injured and he is a rising star. Expect another 9-6 next time around or maybe even 10-5 if things work out well. Looking forward to possible Yokozuna matches for him in the future.

Osunaarashi - A 10-5 is pretty good and he may get to Makushita next tournament. However, he is a work in progress and another round or two of Juryo would do him good. I'm worried he's going to get beaten up early in Makushita and he will get discouraged. This is due to his reliance on power. He's one of the stronger guys now but he will be middle of the pack in power in Makushita. At least we will get some fresh matches in Makushita and he will get experience in the top division. I'm predicting that he will get a losing record the first time around, but that's okay. He needs time and he will stay in Makushita once he figures it all out. I'd like to see him nail his opponents more with shots as he hits really hard. He got a few wins due to some power slaps.

Takanoyama - Eh. We knew it was coming. He is resorting to cheap tricks these days and not the technique he has. Everyone has figured him out and he has to be discouraged. He needs to find ways to gain weight and he needs to start using all of the different techniques he knows. He should be able to get out of the 3rd division in one try and I hope he uses this demotion to fire him up in the future. He's one of the best when he puts his mind to it but he's been a bit lazy tactically.

Note - Sorry for the lack of pictures/gifs from this basho. Youtube is screwed up for me and there isn't a thing I can do about it.

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 14

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 14

Takanoyama vs Yoshiazuma
Tak had to run away early after getting caught and was finished from there to secure his demotion to makushita. A shame but there's a reason there aren't a lot of skinny sumo wrestlers around.

Osunaarashi vs Kitaharima
Osuna was backed against the edge and in big problem but Kita overcharged and fell first to give Osuna the win.

Tochinowaka vs Sadanofuji
Toch backed up Sadano without any problems and took an easy win here.

Shohozan vs Endo
Endo got injured yesterday and had to leave the tournament. Good news for Sho though as he's now 7-7 going into the last day.

Kotoshogiku vs Aminishiki
Koto had the advantage from the start and threw down Ami with no problem, except for the ref he almost nailed.

Kakuryu vs Harumafuji
Harumafuji rushed Kakuryu, turned around and took him out for an easy win.

Hakuho vs Kisenosato
Fun match here with both guys struggling for power and the better angle until Hakuho did a pull down from behind Kisen's had to send him belly flopping down. The judges thought he had pulled hair and almost reversed the decision, but didn't. Hakuho wins his 27th sumo basho, and is 5 behind the all time record of Taiho's 32. Hak even did a small celebration here which is unusual.

Rankings from http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx

Overall thoughts: Sad to see Tak drop down but it was coming. He's been resorting to trickery lately and not really the technique that he has. No surprise to see Hakuho win the basho. He's one of the best ever and is in a different class from his cohorts. Elsewhere, Osunaarashi is almost guaranteed to go to Makuuchi where he may get his butt handed to him. Hopefully not though. Also, Shohozan fights to get his KK at the final day tomorrow.

WWE Superstars 9/25/2013 Results and Review

WWE Superstars 9/25/2013 Results and Review

Quick results:
Big E Langston and Damien Sandow beat Justin Gabriel and Zack Ryder when Big E hit a Big Ending on Gabriel
After the match, Khali ran in and for no reason whatsoever nailed Sandow with a brain chop

The Real American's beat Tons of Funk when Cesaro rolled up Clay

The Good:
- They actually did an angle on Superstars with Khali chopping Sandow. Even if it was dumb, they actually made something happen on this show.

- Big E leveled Gabriel pretty good with a body smash.

- Tensai looked impressive holding up Cesaro upside down.

The Bad:
- Big E Langston being wasted on Superstars. Why was Big E on this show when he is a future main eventer and star? I can't understand this because it just makes him look like a nobody. There's a reason John Cena hasn't a made a Superstars appearance in a long long time and I wish they would use that reasoning with Sandow.

- Big E Langston running from Khali. Again, why? He's Big E and supposed to be a pretty tough dude. What does he have to fear?

- Khali randomly chopping Sandow. Why? Do they have a feud we don't know about? The announcers had no explanation.

- Tom Phillips as your new Superstars announcer. I'm no Tony Dawson fan but I'm even less of a Tom Phillips fan. The man is worse than Dawson and 10x phonier. Granted, WWE is low on announcers right now but still, Regal was right there as was Alex Riley.

- Under 12 minutes of wrestling action on a 1 hour show. Terrible.

- The tag match being a completely bogus waste of time. It went about 3-4 minutes and had nothing of note whatsoever.

Overall thoughts: This was a completely stupid edition of Superstars. It was a waste of 13 minutes and it left me with more questions than answers.

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 9/27/2013 Results and Review

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 9/27/2013 Results and Review

The Good:
The Shield vs RVD, Kofi Kingston and Dolph Ziggler
This was as good as you would expect. The big highlights here were Reigns turning DZ inside out with a spear, Zig backdropping Rollins while on his knee and the finishing stretch as a whole. This was just a really fun match like always with these people. Reigns was pretty good here and he had a wacky throw on Dolph from the piledriver position where he tossed him straight on his butt. Rating:***1/4

The Real Americans vs The Prime Time Players
This was fun mostly due to the RA's. Cesaro is on another level and is easily the best wrestler in the company, though DB and Rollins would be close. His big swing was really great here and the crowd loved it. Titus was pretty good too here. The only bad thing here was that Zeb told the crowd to stop chanting We The People beforehand which made no sense at all. He's been telling the crowd to chant it and since it is over, WWE is making him stop. So stupid.

Big Show's segment with Triple H. He put up a pretty good cry and brought some nice emotion in to how much he needed this and was bothered. HHH then came in and mocked him, being a total jerk here with fake crying and all.

The Bad:
The Main Event was virtually the same thing that happened on Raw with Orton beating the crap out of Miz. It was terrible uncreative and uninteresting.

AJ recruiting Tamina as her bodyguard. This is probably a decent role for her but Tamina really sucks. She can't wrestle and has negative charisma, but all she has to do in this is look tough, so maybe she can handle it.

Triple H's opening segment with The Miz. He mostly buried Miz and talked about how he keeps blowing chance after chance. He's right, but you shouldn't remind your fans that Miz is a loser.

Cameron wrestling. She's gonna hurt someone and it's probably going to be herself. She rushes her moves and can't nail one thing clean. She made AJ look good though by being so bad.

All of the Raw recaps. Half this show was devoted to Raw. They must have cut back to at least 7 different segments from Raw in the first 45 minutes of this show. The might as well call this "Raw: The Expanded Edition".

You have Rollins vs Dean Ambrose and you have a dirty finish to end a short but promising match. Why?

Other thoughts:
Hornswoggle has one of the best jobs in the world. His job is to be short and take an odd bump or two. What I wouldn't give for that job.

Alberto/Truth wasn't bad. It was just a quick squash so there's not much to say. I've been digging Truth lately though, as he has been exciting.

Los Matadores finally debut on Raw. It's about time.

Tonight's WTF Moment:
Jinder Mahal and The Great Khali both tried to charm "The Cobra". Yes, they were playing musical instruments to a sock while it was on Santino. My jaw dropped during this one. Really? Really? GLOW would even shoot down that gimmick idea. Also, why did Khali randomly have an instrument with him? If you're gonna go this route, you have to have musical instruments fall out of Khali when he bumps like if he was in Wrestlemania The Arcade Game.

Overall thoughts: The Shield and Cesaro were good and The Big Show did some good acting but this was all stuff we've seen already. The theme of this show was doing as little original stuff as possible. Most of the show focused on things that happened on Raw and made me question why I was watching this show and not Raw. Skip this one.

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 13

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 13

Takanoyama vs Oiwato
Quick match here with Tak keeping it moving until he eventually DDT'd Oiwato on the dohyo to put him down.

Osunaaarashi vs Kagamio
Osuna slapped him behind the head and put him down easy.

Tochinowaka vs Tokitenku
Toki tried to back peddle and work from the side and it worked against him as he went out.

Shohozan vs Okinoumi
Even match for the most part here until Oki started to get an advatange and fell on Sho to put him out.

Tochiozan vs Endo
Endo was at a bad angle and Tochi kept pushing on him. Endo was just trying to stay alive and didn't as he got put down.

Goeido vs Kisenosato
Go kept coming at Kisen and Kisen had nothing to give him in return. Kisen couldn't back up because he was on the edge and he couldn't do anything except go out. Big win for Goeido who is solidifying himself in this tournament and looking like a force. Bad loss for Kisenosato here. Again, he came really close and luck was on his side but he blew it on a lesser opponent instead of against a bigger opponent.

Kotoshogiku vs Harumafuji
This was a disaster fro Harumafuji. Koto had a good game plan and grabbed him quick. He held onto him leaving Haruma little room to move and attack and he ended up over powering him and putting him out. Good sumo by Kotoshogiku.

Hakuho vs Kakuryu
Hakuho rushed Kaku and tried to work from the side. They hooked arms and Kak tried for a throw which got Hakuho in some small trouble. Hakuho got out though and got a huge push to send Kakuryu flying out. Hakuho clinched the basho today with this win and with losses from Kisenosato and Harumafuji.

Rankings from http://sumodb.sumogames.de

No Impact Tonight

No Impact Tonight

I have too much going on, so I cannot do Impact this week. The show looks awful anyway so I don't think I'm missing anything.

Thanks

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 12

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 12

More problems with youtube for me, so no pictures unfortunately.

J12w    Takanoyama (5-6)  vs   J7w     Homarefuji (4-7)
Total disaster here for Tak. Homare was ready for his sidestep and armpull method and absolutely launched him out.

J4e     Osunaarashi (8-3) vs   J3w     Kyokushuho (7-4)
Osuna got rushed then tried to catch Kyoku but it was too late and he got pushed out.

M13w    Homasho (8-3)  vs   M11w    Tochinowaka (5-6)
Toch was under Homasho some and was able to push him back and out.
 

M10e    Tokushoryu (5-6) vs     M13e    Endo (8-3)
Endo got sidestepped and he got some balance back but then Toku rushed him and fell on him for what looked like a win. However, this was awarded to Endo. This was a bs call though as Endo was clearly down first.

M4e     Toyohibiki (5-6) vs  O1w     Kakuryu (8-3)
Toyo rushed too hard and Kak caught him as Toyo went flying down.
 

Y1e     Hakuho (10-1) vs   O2e     Kotoshogiku (7-4)
Koto was really spread out here so Hakuho jumped on top of him and brought him down for an easy win.
 

O1e     Kisenosato (9-2) vs Y1w     Harumafuji (9-2)
Pretty big match here. Both guys need to win this one, especially Harumafuji. The winner here is going to have to take down Hakuho twice though if they want to win this basho, unless Hakuho loses before Sunday.

Kisenosato won twice here. He put up Haruma early and the blind judges ignored it, even though it was very obvious. Haruma made a small comeback and then Kisen flipped him for a win. Not a good one for Harumafuji here but a very good showing for Kisen. Kisen can win the basho now. He needs to beat Hakuho and then hope for him to lose again or beat him again in a playoff.

Rankings from http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx

 

WWE Main Event 9/25/2013 Results and Review

WWE Main Event 9/25/2013 Results and Review

Last week's show is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/wwe-main-event-9182013-results-and.html

The Uso's vs Fandango and Big E Langston

The Uso's won with a Samoan Splash on Big E. Not sure what that was all about. They had this one with Fandango and Big E not being able to work together and Fandango working or having an injury to his ankle on the outside. Big E looked really good here but this was just an odd match.

HHH talked about Miz, saying he isn't the superstar he thinks he is and he mostly just runs his mouth without backing it up.

The Big Show vs Damien Sandow

Show won with the KO punch in a quick and boring squash.

Justin Gabriel vs Curtis Axel

Axel won with the Axelizer. This one had good and not that interesting parts. They didn't pace it right though for the finish as Axel was fooling around outside and then came in and got the win. Heyman was good here though.

Overall thoughts: The show wasn't that great and was pretty average all around.

Note for Main Event tonight

I won't be able to review it live, so I'll have it reviewed sometime later tonight. Thanks

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 11

Sumo September Aki Basho 2013 Day 11

J9e     Daido (4-6)  vs J12w    Takanoyama (4-6)
Good win by Tak here. He did his usual side stepping routine and swung by Daido's belt. The leverage was too much and Daido went out. Tak needs to win 3 out of the next 4 to avoid a likely demotion to Maukshita.

J4e     Osunaarashi (8-2) vs J11w    Terunofuji (8-2)
Good match here. Osuna was highly aggressive and nailed Teru many times. However, he kind of got stuck after not being able to put the nail in the coffin and Teru hit a fabulous throw to put him down. A lot of people think Terunofuji is a star of the future and  he's only lost 3 matches or more 3 times since 2011.

M8e     Fujiazuma (2-8) vs M11w    Tochinowaka (5-5)
Toch got pushed back and was standing straight up to get an easy loss.

M13e    Endo (7-3) vs M6w     Kyokutenho (7-3)
Endo threw down Kyokutenho in  a quick one to get his kachikoshi winning record. His final record depends a lot on who he gets paired with in the final days, but 10 wins should be easily doable and 11 or 12 would be great.

O2e     Kotoshogiku (6-4) vs M3w     Chiyotairyu (3-7)
Chiyo slipped from the start and Koto came at him hard, making him slip more. Koto then threw him down for an easy win.

M3e     Takarafuji (1-9) vs O1w     Kakuryu (7-3)
Kak had his way with Takarafuji and Takara couldn't really do anything to him. He got slapped around and pushed around before going out.

O1e     Kisenosato (8-2) vs M4w     Kaisei (6-4)
We started off with a power tachi ai and from there, Kaisei never really got going. Kisen kept going towards the side and eventually won from a push from the side in an easy win.

S1w     Goeido (7-3) vs Y1w     Harumafuji (8-2)
 Harumafuji came at Goeido like an absolute animal. He was so aggressive and forceful here. Go didn't really know what to do and couldn't offer much before taking the loss. Good showing by Harumafuji here, but I just wish he would have done this earlier.

Y1e     Hakuho (9-1)  vs  S1e     Myogiryu (5-5)
Hakuho absolutely threw Myo hard to the ground to win this. Hak didn't have good footing here and Myo actually pushed him around quite a bit and looked good until he got tossed like a child.

Rankings from http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Banzuke.aspx

Ring of Honor TV 9/21/2013 Results and Review

Ring of Honor TV 9/21/2013 Results and Review

Last week's show is here: http://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/ring-of-honor-tv-9142013-results-and.html

They announced Prince Nana is the new ROH talent scout. Nana is also apparently the new commentator as he announced for this show.

ROH Title Tournament - Michael Bennett vs Tomasso Ciampa

Ciampa's music was played live by the band that made it.

Ciampa did one of the dumbest spots I've seen in a while during the beginning. He dropped to his knees randomly and dropkicked Bennett in the face.

Why not just blur out the whole screen at this point?

Ciampa got the win with a Kryptonite Krunch on the floor. This bombed. Awful match. They started out stalling and then did tons of bogus knees and dropkicks. Ciampa started doing them on the outside and looked like he hurt himself more than the opponent. They also teased the piledriver on the apron spot which was in poor taste and finished with a move on the floor. The worst part though was all the blurring. Anytime a fan gave a middle finger, they put up a giant blur. When multiple fans started doing it, barely anything was visible. Lots of boring chants too for this heatless disaster.

ROH Title Tournament - Kevin Steen vs Roderick Strong

Steen won with the package piledriver. The match wasn't bad and they really kept it moving and brought it hard. Strong got dropped on his head atleast three times including one nasty hanging DDT and they both did superplexes. Strong's elbows were the highlights here.

ROH Title Tournament - Michael Elgin vs Karl Anderson

Michael Elgin won with a spinning sit out powerbomb. The match was fine. Anderson didn't get a lot of offense in so he didn't do some of the stupid stuff he sometimes does, the crowd was into it and I didn't have any major problems with it. Elgin tried the Cesaro deadlift from the apron to a superplex spot but dropped Anderson some and Anderson bounced off the turnbuckles.

Overall thoughts: I think most people will enjoy this. There were two decent to good matches here.