WWE Capitol Punishment 2011

WWE Capitol Punishment 2011
June 19th, 2011
Verizon Center, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 9,000*

Hey didn't we just have one of these PPV things a few weeks ago? Oh well, in the world of wrestling you can never have enough PPVs. Or atleast that's what the brass seems to think. Tonight's a pretty good looking card though, we've got Christian taking on Randy Orton for the WHC, Cena defending the WWE title against a red-hot R-Truth, another Punk-Mysterio match and several other intriguing match-ups, so let's get right into the show. Obviously the theme here is political in nature, but let's hope we don't have to see another one of those god-awful Obama press conference dream sequences they've been airing for weeks. Onto the show!


We open with a pretty good video package highlighting the Cena-Truth feud and focusing around Washington DC's ties to conspiracy and propaganda in the past. Creative promo.


Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Booker T




WWE United States Title Match
Kofi Kingston © vs. Dolph Ziggler

These two have a pretty storied rivalry, atleast in terms of quantity of matches. Lock-up to start and some basic hold exchanges. Ziggler hits a quick legdrop for a two count and then applies a loose chinlock as the crowd starts to rally behind Kofi quickly. Ziggler tries his crucifix bomb move but Kofi counters into a pinning attempt. Big German suplex out of the corner from Ziggler gets another two. The ring ropes are red white and blue so the show's got an old-school feel to it. Ziggler tries for his sleeper but Kofi escapes quickly. A nifty double axe handle/cross body off the top to Ziggler's back get's Kofi his own near fall. Kofi misses the Trouble in Paradise and manages to hit the S.O.S. instead, but Ziggler kicks out! They trade roll-up attempts and Kofi fights off the Zig Zag with a big double-stomp. Kofi blocks a superplex attempt and hits a huge cross-body off the top but again Ziggler gets the shoulder up at two. Ziggler manages to slap his sleeper hold on again but again Kofi escapes quickly. Kofi misses the Trouble in Paradise but then blocks the Zig Zag from Ziggler. Vickie slaps Kofi in the face and Dolph locks the sleeper hold on with a vice-like grip and puts Kofi to sleep to win the US title at 11:05! Very hot opener here as these two have good chemistry together and got the crowd fired up and into things pretty quickly. Some great counter wrestling to kick the show off in a fun way. ***


Backstage we see R-Truth arrive at the arena in a black limo with John Cena's WWE title still around his shoulder from last Monday. He invites Josh Matthews to a party ("Fo shizzle!") and then runs into Eve and invites her to the party as well ("Fo shizzle!") but she shoots him down. Truth says he's going to dedicate his victory to all the little Jimmys (which surprisingly gets a big pop as a catchphrase), and then sort of lightly slaps Eve in the face and says "Be gone" and then walks off like a total fucking pimp. That was another ridiculous and entertaining Truth segment.


We cut to The Miz who is backstage with Todd Grisham. He tells him he can defeat Riley tonight because all Riley was ever good for was carrying his briefcase.


Alex Riley vs. The Miz

So this is pretty much Alex Riley's shot at the big time, both in kayfabe and reality. He gets a huge pop once again, as the mind continues to be boggled over how over this kid has gotten so quickly. He even gets to come out last. Miz starts trash-talking him and the bell rigns as Riley takes big right hands to him. He chases him out and around the ring and beats on him some more back inside until Miz counters with a big boot. The Miz takes the upper hand from here, just beating Riley down with repeated lefts and rights for several minutes. Riley gets a few shots of his own in but misses a spear into the corner and hits his shoulder on the turnbuckle. Miz continues the beatdown and then locks on a chinlock back in the ring for a bit. He plants him with a huge reverse DDT for a near fall. Miz hangs Riley up in the tree of woe and stomps away at him, totally dominating Riley at this point. Riley fights back with a spear and some more right hands and then delivers a huge spinebuster for a two count. Crowd is still really into Riley, as this is apparently his hometown. A big running boot gets Riley another close two. The action spills to the floor again and near the announce table where Michael Cole begins berating Riley, who tosses him up and over the table for a big pop. Miz grabs the steel briefcase but the ref takes it out of his hands and Riley nails him with a huge impaler DDT and pins The Miz clean for the upset win at 10:12! This was pure old school formula stuff with Riley taking an epic beatdown for most of the match to build up heat and then paying it all off with the underdog comeback and the shocking win. My jaw actually dropped upon seeing Riley win clean, and how often can you genuinely say that about pro wrestling anymore? Sports entertainment goodness. ***


Backstage we see a completely fake and not even convincing Obama impersonator show up to the arena and be greeted by a serenading Vickie Guerrero. This is absolute crap if you couldn't tell just from reading that.


Big Show vs. Alberto Del Rio

Oh boy, and things had started off so well. These two began feuding after Big Show was "accidentally" run over by one of Del Rio's cars, leading to ANGRY GIANT RAGE for the last two weeks. The Big Show attacks Del Rio from behind on the stage before the match ever even starts and they brawl to ringside when Mark Henry (who Show had beaten up on Smackdown this past Friday) comes running down and slams Big Show through an announcer's table that just explodes at ringside. Henry slams Big Show's injured leg into some steps just for good measure as Del Rio demands the ref counts Big Show out and award him the match. The ref begins counting Big Show out even though the bell never rang to begin with (which Booker T points out on commentary). Show makes it back in before the 10 count and asks the ref to start the match as the bell officially rings (so why were you just counting ref?). Show tries for a bodyslam but his leg gives out under him immediately and Del Rio goes right to work on it with a dropkick and stomps for a near fall. Big Show manages to give him a choke slam that sends Del Rio to the floor as Show's leg gives out under him again. Del Rio tries for the cross armbar but Show counters with a slam. Del Rio works a nice leg-lock submission on the mat for a bit until Show gets the rope break. Great selling from Show here honestly, something he doesn't get enough credit for. Show tries to stand again but collapses and the ref gives him a few more seconds before finally calling for the bell and awarding the match to Del Rio at 4:56. While I appreciated Show's great selling and the idea of the whole match, the fact that they went ahead and had the match after the Mark Henry beatdown and then still ended with a non-finish anyways just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. *½


Backstage R-Truth wants to have his picture taken with Cena's title, but his photographer doesn't seem to want to so Truth threatens him.


Ad for the new Best of WCW Nitro DVD set.


Elsewhere backstage Matt Striker tries to interview Wade Barrett, but he grabs the mic from him and begins cutting a promo while walking out to the ring. He says he isn't happy to be in Washington DC because this place needs a Queen or a King. This crowd is absolutely dead silent for this, not giving him any heat at all as Barrett begins making cracks about American politicians, education, and the national debt. He says everyone here will be speaking Chinese in a year and finally gets a few mild boos. A mild USA chant starts up eventually as Barrett promises to beat Big Zeke. Barrett tried, but this entire promo totally bombed and had no reaction or heat from the crowd at all.


WWE Intercontinental Title Match
Wade Barrett © vs. Ezekiel Jackson

More USA chants to start even though Zeke is from Guyana. Side headlock from Barrett to start and Zeke tries for an early torture rack, but Barrett hits the floor for a breather. Back inside Barrett hits a big sideslam for a two count. To my amusement a mild "We Want Ryder!" chant breaks out. Barrett gets some petty offense in and Zeke starts to make the quick comeback when suddenly Barrett hits the Waste Land on Zeke...who kicks out at two. Zeke throws him up in the torture rack and Wade Barrett quickly submits to give Zeke the IC title at 6:50. That was just awful to be honest, and the crowd absolutely could not care less about Wade Barrett as a heel, or Ezekiel Jackson winning the IC title. *


After the match the King gets into the ring and asks Zeke how it feels to be the new Intercontinental champion. The crowd reacts nicely to him now as Jackson says today he won his independence from Barrett and the Corre and puts in a really cheap Mick Foley pop by mentioning the town he's in. Not a bad little post match promo from Zeke actually, even with the cheap pop.


Backstage Kelly Kelly and Santino say hello to the fake Obama. Santino tries to teach Obama the Cobra, but the Secret Service guys pounce on him before he can deliver it.


Elsewhere Josh Matthews is with CM Punk for some final comments. Punk cuts an incredibly awesome promo, referencing Washington DC's history of the straight edge punk movement and the corrupt politics of days past. Punk says that Mysterio is not a hero or anyone's friend, and that he's no different from Punk besides the facade he puts up. Killer promo from Punk.


CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio

These two had a great feud last year that was re-ignited a few weeks back as both men wrestled each other twice and won one match apiece, so this is the rubber match. Feeling out holds from Punk and Rey to start. They go into a Greco-Roman knuckle-lock and trade roll-ups. Rey sets up Punk for the 619 early but Punk quickly escapes to the floor. Rey tries a seated senton off the apron but Punk just flap-jacks him face first onto the guard barrier! Back in the ring he applies a bow and arrow submission on Rey and then a backbreaker for two. Punk works an abdominal stretch for a bit until Rey drops him face-first into the second turnbuckle. Punk blocks a split-legged moonsault attempt for another near fall. Rey sends Punk out to the floor and delivers a beautiful Asai moonsault. Rey follows up with a bizarre twisting shoulder block off the top for another two count. He tries a springboard cross-body but Punk rolls through into a near fall of his own. Both men begin trading sick kicks and near falls. Punk delivers a big back suplex off the top rope to Rey, but Mysterio kicks out. Running knee strike from Punk but Rey escapes after a second try and hits a 619 to Punk in the corner! Rey tosses Punk back in and tries a top rope splash, but Punk gets the knees up. Punk tries for the GTS but Rey counters with a hurricanrana for another near fall. Punk nearly takes Rey's head off with a stiff spin kick, but yet again Rey kicks out and this match is really starting to pick up some steam. Punk tries the GTS again but Rey counters and sets him up for the 619. Punk catches Rey though and counters that into a gigantic GTS to pick up the win (for a pretty big pop) at 15:00! This one started off much slower than their usual contests, but I liked that as it was a change of pace for them. They still packed in all of the incredible counters and near falls they're known for in the finishing stretch and it's great to see Punk get a much deserved PPV victory. ***½


World Heavyweight Title Match
Randy Orton © vs. Christian

I can't say I've been a big fan of Christian's heel turn (not that I don't think he isn't capable of being a great heel), but these two have crazy awesome chemistry together so this should be another great contest. They do the big-match intros with Tony Chimel. Orton hits some right hands as the bell rings and hits a clothesline. Christian hits a dropkick that sends Orton to the floor but misses a follow up pescado. Back inside Orton hits the ten punches in the corner and then tries for a DDT off the steel steps outside, but Christian blocks it. Back inside he delivers a reverse neckbreaker for two. Christian delivers another neckbreaker and Randy starts to get a glazed over look in his eyes and the commentary team sells the concussion Randy suffered. Back body drop from Orton and he just goes to town on Christian's chest with a flurry of forearms. Orton delivers a big superplex to Christian but takes too long to cover and Christian kicks out. Orton busts out his awesome old gutwrench-neckbreaker and gets another near fall. He delivers the signature second rope assisted DDT and tries for the RKO, but Christian counters with a reverse DDT for a close two. Christian tries for the spear but Orton evades it and tries for the RKO. Christian escapes that though and hits the spear, but again Orton kicks out! Orton starts the comeback and nails Christian with the RKO and pins him (with Christian's foot underneath the bottom rope) to retain the title at 14:05. After the match Christian pleads his case with the referee and then gets nailed by Orton with the title belt. A lot slower than their last few matches, but once it got going towards the end it got pretty darn good. I disagree totally with having Orton retain here but they've probably got another match coming because of Christian's foot being under the rope, so it's not the end of the world or anything. ***¼


On replay it appears pretty clear that Christian's foot was under the rope.


We get a really cheesy ad for the Money in the Bank PPV with Big Show and Hornswoggle.


The Bella Twins come out with of all fucking people the "Keith Stone" character from the Keystone Light beer commercials. Not for any particular reason or anything, they just walk out for shits and giggles I guess. That was one of the most random things I've seen in a long time.


Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne

This is billed as a "bonus attraction match", as we've still got nearly an hour left on the clock for the show. Would have preferred a tag match with Daniel Bryan and Sin Cara against Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, but this will do. Evan Bourne making his return to PPV for the first time in many months. More "We Want Ryder!" chants in the crowd as Swagger delivers a huge powerslam to Bourne to start. Bourne hits a sweet springboard hurricanrana but then eats a big gutbuster from Swagger. Swagger applies a chinlock as we get a shot of the Bellas cheering Bourne on at ringside with Keith Stone. Swagger continues to beat down Bourne with huge hammer fists. Big boot gets a near fall and the crowd is pretty dead unfortunately. Bourne plants Swagger with a huge DDT out of nowhere but Swagger gets the shoulder up. Bourne hits a few big kicks and then tries for the Shooting Star Press, but Swagger moves and he lands on his feet. He blocks a gut-wrench powerbomb attempt from Swagger and then blocks an ankle lock attempt by rolling into a cradle and Bourne gets the semi-upset win at 7:18. Just a quick filler match really, but it had nice energy and Bourne looked good in the rare PPV victory. **½


And to kill more time, out comes the terrible fake Obama impersonator. There are actually some fake soldiers at ring side saluting him to make this even worse. This guy doesn't look a thing like Obama. He walks up to a podium on the entrance ramp and I pour myself a big, stiff drink. This guy kind of sounds like a muppet and the crowd start up loud "What?" chants immediately. He wishes good luck to John Cena and R-Truth and compares Truth to Joe Biden. Obama makes a crappy political joke about how he "does nothing" and then tries to take off, but Booker T grabs a mic and tells him to hold up and join him in the ring. Take a wild guess as to where this is going. Booker says Obama has made history in the US and all over the world as the first black man elected US president and win a Nobel Peace Prize (he's not the first president to win a Nobel by the way), but asks him if he can do a spinarooni? Booker shows him how it's done and then Barack delivers one of his own. This was just as bad if not worse then it sounds, and a total waste of PPV time. Politics and wrestling don't mix, and they never will.


WWE Title Match
John Cena © vs. R-Truth

Who would of thought R-Truth would be main eventing a PPV in a title match a few months back? Give credit where it's due though, Truth has stepped up to the plate and cut an extraordinarily entertaining series of promos for the build up to tonight's match. Truth comes out to no music still and Cena gets a ridiculous pop. Lock-up to start and Truth hits the floor for a quick breather. Back inside he hits a quick suplex on Cena for an early near fall. Truth shows off with some dancing as he hits a leg drop and then nails Cena with the corkscrew back-elbow for another two count, which Booker claims to have invented. Truth continues to beat down on Cena, which is just an odd visual really. The crowd is surprisingly quiet apart from some dueling Cena chants. Truth tries the dancing leg drop again but it misses and Cena fires right up and hits Truth with the side-slam and the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He tries for the AA but Truth counters into his suplex-stunner (which Cole says he's never seen before from Truth, even though he uses it in almost every match) for yet another two count. Cena applies the STF, but Truth quickly gets the rope break and follows up with a big scissors kick. Cena again kicks out though. Truth counters a powerslam into another near fall and Cena rolls out of the ring. Truth goes to a fan at ringside, grabs his hat and puts it on and then takes a sip from his drink, but the little kid throws the drink in his face and Cena tosses him into the ring and delivers the Attitude Adjustment to retain the title at 14:46. As good as some of the build for this match was, it unfortunately just did not deliver when push came to shove. This was slow, awkward, and didn't really get going into any sort of groove until the last few minutes. Overall a disappointing match. **¼


After the match Cena brings the little kid into the ring with him and they celebrate together. That's nice, I guess. He celebrates with some soldiers at ringside as we go off the air.

Bottom Line: This was a really solid show, just as a lot of people were expecting it to be. A very solid undercard with Kofi/Ziggler, Miz/Riley, and Punk/Rey to go along with another good Orton/Christian title match that sets up (presumably) another rematch down the line. The main event was disappointing, but the good outweighed the bad pretty easily here even with a few disappointing matches and some painfully stupid comedy segments. Solid Thumbs Up here.


Score: 6.5/10

*Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter September 12th, 2011 by Dave Meltzer

UFC 131: Dos Santos vs. Carwin Thoughts

This may or may not become a semi-regular thing if I feel up to it. I've been a casual MMA fan for a few years, having spurts of interest where I'll follow the sport religiously for a few months and then totally forget about it for another few months. I've really been back into the sport over the last six months though and try to catch every major show, so I figured I'd post my thoughts on them for fun's sake. No official "ratings" or anything like that for any of the fights as I find rating a fight to be a totally different beast altogether from rating a wrestling match, so instead I'll just comment on whether I enjoyed the fight and what my general thoughts on it were. You could consider this an official "review" even if you want to. Nothing too in-depth or crazy though, so let's get to it.

So I caught a bit of the prelims and the main event of this show the night it happened, but didn't get around to watching the entire thing until today. Really good show, some solid fights and a good main event made it worth checking out.

Chris Weidman vs. Jesse Bongfelt was a nice little quick opener for the prelims on Spike. Apparently Weidman dislocated his knee (which he's already had a bunch of surgeries on) in the fight and just kept fighting through it, tough dude. Pretty dominant win by submission in the first round.

Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards deservedly got KO of the night for Stout. Yves crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatos, he really got nailed right on the button. Was glad to see Stout didn't follow up with any unnecessary punches either, he knew after that one left hand that it was all over and just walked away. Awesome knockout.

Joey Beltran vs. Aaron Rosa was a really entertaining fight. The first round was a total war with both guys trading some crazy punch exchanges. They really beat the tar out of each other in the first round, but neither man seemed phased. They didn't slow down the pace in the next two rounds either and this was an easy candidate for fight of the night.

Donald Cerrone vs. Vagner Rocha was a lot of fun to watch because Cerrone made Vagner Rocha look silly in the fight for the PPV opener, refusing to even attempt going to the ground with him and instead just kicking his legs into total oblivion for 3 rounds. Rocha could barely even put stand midway through the second round, and it was just more of the same in the third so Cerrone won pretty convincingly. Entertaining to see Cerrone just dissect Rocha with the low kicks.

Dave Herman vs. John-Olav Einemo was another good fight. First round was pretty perfunctory stuff and the crowd was really behind Einemo (who sported a Canucks flag before the fight to get some cheap heat). Second round was great though, both guys were swinging for the fences and going totally wild, leading to an awesome finish for Herman. Entertaining fight.

Mark Munoz vs. Demian Maia was yet another good fight (recurring theme tonight, eh?), a really even fight that could have gone either way and in the end Munoz got the split decision. Both guys looked good I thought, and really the argument could have been made for either man winning the fight. First two rounds were a lot of fun, and the third had a big fight feel to it because of how even the first two were. Good stuff.

Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes, yet again another good fight and with a ton of heat from the crowd because of Florian rocking a Bruins jersey during the weigh-ins the other night. Florian totally outclassed Nunes here from beginning to end, getting some big takedowns and cutting open Nunes pretty badly with some nasty elbows. Another solid win for Florian and I'm sure people are going to start throwing him into title fight talks pretty soon.

Junior Dos Santos vs. Shane Carwin was a good way to cap off the show as it definitely had a big fight feel to it, even with Carwin having to replace Lesnar. Carwin showed a ton of heart in the fight and most refs probably would have called it when Junior got him down on the mat and just went to town with strikes to the face but credit to Carwin he was never truly "out of it" and was able to stick around through out the entire fight. Unfortunately for him though JDS was the clearly dominant fighter here, remaining calm and collected while Carwin got frustrated and just getting his shots in carefully. Big way for JDS and I know a lot of people are more interested to see him fight Cain Velasquez for the title now then they were before. Good fight.

Overall a great show honestly, I came in with low expectations but every fight wound up being entertaining in some way, with several very good fights aand a solid main event. The prelims were a lot of fun too. All around another fun show from the UFC and an easy Thumbs Up from me.

TNA Slammiversary IX 2011

I'd like to thank everyone for the feedback to my last report, both positive and negative. I won't pretend that I'm TNA's number one fan, but I have enjoyed and given my money to this promotion many times since first becoming a fan in 2006 so I like to think of myself as a TNA fan still, even if their product isn't always one I can claim to enjoy 100% of the time. There's a lot of accusations of bias one way or another on the IWC surrounding TNA, but hopefully I can provide about as "fair and balanced" of an analysis as is truly possible with something as subjective in it's enjoyment as professional wrestling. Enough preambling though, on with the show!

TNA Slammiversary IX 2011
June 12th, 2011
Impact Wrestling Zone, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: 1,100

We open with the usual introductory hype video package, focusing on the Sting/Anderson and Jarrett/Angle feuds as well as the rest of the mid-card angles. Nothing particularly special, but it does the job.

Your hosts are Mike Tenay and Taz


TNA Tag Team Title Match
James Storm/Alex Shelley © vs. Doug Williams/Magnus

Good choice for an opener here. Bobby Roode joins the commentary with a six pack (he watches TNA PPVs like the rest of us do too!) as the team of "Gun Money" makes their way to the ring. Roode was injured a few weeks back and Bischoff tried to strip Beer Money of the titles if they couldn't defend them within 30 days, but Alex Shelley (whose partner Chris Sabin is also on the shelf) volunteered to step in and defend the belts with Storm. No clue how/why the British invasion are number one contenders. Storm and Williams start off but quickly tag their partners in. Storm and Shelley hit a double dropkick and show some nice teamwork in the early going, mixing and mashing some signature double-team spots from both the Beer Money and MCMG repertoires. Williams and Magnus go to work on Shelley now, isolating him in their corner and working some double-team moves of their own. Magnus looks impressive early with a beautiful suplex and an elbow drop off the top. Shelley blocks the Chaos Theory attempt by Williams and drops him face-first onto the second turnbuckle, allowing him to get the lukewarm tag to Storm, who cleans house on the Brits with forearms. The Brits hit the floor and Shelley hits a tope suicida through Storm's legs in signature MCMG fashion. Tenay harps on about who's the legal man on commentary, but does it really matter when all four men have been in the ring pretty much from the opening bell? The ref hasn't even warned anyone to MAYBE leave the ring. Just a small thing, but kind of annoying. A double-stomp off the top from Shelley nearly gets the "champs" a three count. Storm accidentally spits a mouth full of beer into Shelley's face in a bit of miscommunication, and Shelley blindly superkicks his own partner. Top rope European uppercut from Williams, but Storm manages to kick out at two. Storm nails Magnus with the superkick, Shelley follows up with the Sliced Bread #2, and Storm gets the three count to retain the titles at 10:57.

Winner: James Storm/Alex Shelley @ 10:57
Rating: **3/4 - Solid opener here but it never really seemed to quite get out of second gear and this never seemed to elevate itself beyond being just a token title defense for the "champs", when under the circumstances it should have been anything but. Still, solid action.


We see footage of Jeff Jarrett and Kurt Angle arriving at the arena earlier in the day.

Backstage Scott Steiner promises to not only beat Matt Morgan, but steal his girlfriend as well. Oh Scotty, still cutting as irreverent and amusing of a promo as ever.


Matt Morgan vs. Scott Steiner

This feud just sort of...happened. Basically they have no clue what to do with Steiner ever since the Angle/MEM storyline fell through, so here he is months later floating around the midcard, doing his heel shtick with Matt Morgan who's "hot" off a terrible feud with Hernandez. Morgan dominates from the opening bell and goes for a back suplex, but Steiner bumps the ref and gives Matt a low blow. A belly-to-belly suplex gets Steiner a two count and he harasses the ref about the count. Steiner's offense consists entirely of kicks, punches, and chops at this point so this is pretty difficult to watch as he goes on the offensive for several minutes, beating down our babyface giant in peril. Morgan starts to make his comeback, delivering a sidewalk slam and a sitout bodyslam for a near fall. Steiner counters with a release Northern Lights suplex for two. Discus lariat nearly gets Morgan three, but Steiner counters with a reverse STO. He locks on the Steiner Recliner, or rather he sort of just bends down with his arms loosely around Morgan's neck in one of the weakest Steiner Recliner's I've ever seen. Morgan powers out into the electric chair position but Steiner rolls through into a victory roll for a two count! Jeez I haven't seen Steiner use a victory roll in many years. Morgan hits him with the Carbon Footprint and that finishes for him at 9:22.

Winner: Matt Morgan @ 9:22
Rating: *1/2 - Well it wasn't as bad as it could have been, we can take comfort in that. Still, this was a nothing match that's more fit for an episode of Impact than a PPV. Part of this was decent (when Morgan was on offense), but a large part of this was painfully dull (when Steiner was on offense).


Backstage Jeff Jarrett cuts a promo on Kurt Angle with Jeremy Borash and promises to take Angle's gold medals tonight. He dedicates his match tonight to Karen.


X-Division Title Match
Abyss © vs. Brian Kendrick vs. Kazarian

Huh, a big man declaring war on the X-Division, now where have I seen this before? Oh, right, Kevin Nash did this exact angle in TNA years ago. Oh and he did the same angle in WCW a few years before that as well. Kendrick and Kaz try to team up on Abyss to start just as you'd expect, but Abyss fights them both off with relative ease, sending Kaz to the floor and then tossing Kendrick out on top of him moments later. Kaz dropkicks Kendrick on top of Abyss as the action spills out to the floor. Back inside Kaz and Kendrick hit a series of moves into the corner but Abyss nails Kendrick with the Black Hole Slam. Kendrick keeps trying to get back in the ring but Abyss keeps knocking him off the apron like a child, slapping an awkward chinlock onto Kaz in the mean time. Shock Treatment backbreaker on Kaz and Kendrick has spent the last few minutes crawling around on the floor like an infant. Abyss misses a Vader Bomb in the corner and lands awkwardly on his knees. Kendrick finally returns to the ring and hits a series of dropkicks on the big man for a two count. Abyss counters a Sliced Bread attempt with a big chokeslam on Kendrick but gets nailed with a top rope hurricanrana from Kaz when he turns around. Frog splash from Kendrick gets another near fall and the two smaller men are starting to have some success in their double-teaming. Of course as soon as I type that they turn on each other and start duking it out in the corner. Kendrick nearly leaps right into the Fade to Black from Kaz, but he counters with a leg lariat. Abyss tosses Kendrick out of the ring though and covers Kaz for the pin to retain at 12:05.

Winner: Abyss @ 12:05
Rating: **1/2 - Another fairly solid match here, Kaz and Kendrick did a good job of bouncing around and bumping for Abyss, but this suffered from the usual three-way problems of little structure and overselling for the sake of convenience (Kendrick taking nearly five minutes to recover from the Black Hole Slam seemed a bit excessive). The finish was rather abrupt as well, but this was decent enough.


Samoa Joe vs. Crimson

Crimson is still on his "undefeated streak", and Joe is looking to snap it here tonight to preserve his original undefeated streak as the only important one in company history. Crimson hits the ring running and it's a heated brawl as the bell rings. Joe focuses on Crimson's leg with a series of dragon screw legwhips and the crowd shockingly begins chanting "Joe's gonna kill you!" for the first time in God know's how long. I wouldn't hold my breath on that guys. Joe continues the leg work on the mat and Crimson tries to counter with a cross armbar. T-Bone suplex from Crimson and he follows it with a big double arm DDT. Big German suplex and a lariat from Joe gets two, and things are actually starting to pick up here. Powerbomb from Joe and he transitions right into a single-leg crab, going back to the leg work. Back on their feet a slapfest ensues until Crimson hits Joe with a spear. Stiff slaps from Joe again and he tries for the Muscle Buster, but Crimson evades it. Joe tries to apply the Coquina Clutch but Crimson evades again and Joe turns around right into the Sky High powerbomb from Crimson, which gets him the pin to keep the undefeated streak intact at 10:34. After the match both men shake hands in a sign of mutual respect.

Winner: Crimson @ 10:34
Rating: *** - By far Crimson's best singles match to date here. Joe looked motivated for once and I was taken off guard by how much I was enjoying this match up until the abrupt finish. I can understand wanting to keep Crimson's streak intact, but if this sets up more matches down the line, you really should have given Joe the win here or atleast added some controversy to the finish to give us a reason to want to see them fight again. Good action up until the somewhat abrupt finish.


Backstage Winter is with Angelina Love...who actually speaks! She refuses her "dose" from Winter and says she doesn't need it anymore, because they're on the same page. Yeah you should see where this is going already.


TNA Knockouts Title Match
Mickie James © vs. Angelina Love

Angelina is accompanied by Winter, naturally. Mickie looks damn good (as usual) while Angelina resembles a heroin addicted corpse (as usual). I wouldn't kick that corpse out of bed though. Okay enough necrophilia jokes, onto the action. Love grabs a hold of Mickie's arm and drops a knee over it. Mickie tries to counter out of the wristlock and gets shoved into the corner. Winter trips up Mickie behind the refs back and Angelina goes to work on her on the floor. Mickie counters by tossing her very hard into the steel ring steps, which gives her a chance to recover back in the ring. Love barely makes it back in before the 10 count and both women exchange forearms. Mickie hits the Lou Thesz press off the top rope and then follows up with a nice spin kick. Winter puts Love's foot on the rope before the three count though and Love nails her with a big boot that Tenay refers to as the "Botox Injection". Mickie grabs the rope at the count of two and Winter tries hitting her hand off but Hebner sees it. Winter tries to interfere but Mickie knocks her off the apron and counters a DDT attempt into a northern lights suplex for two. Love rolls her up and gets some extra leverage help from Winter, but Mickie kicks out anyways. She botches the everloving bejesus out of her jumping DDT and that's enough for Mickie to retain at 8:02. After the match Winter and Love beat down and choke out Mickie.

Winner: Mickie James @ 8:02
Rating: ** - This was actually surprisingly decent until the terribly botched finish. They had a few nice exchanges and counter sequences, and even Love looked decent for once. The finish was horribly botched though and they both just looked silly ending it after that.


Backstage Bully Ray punks out JB and cuts a good little heated promo on AJ Styles, letting us all know he's the baddest MFer in the business today.

Last Man Standing Match
AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray

This should for all intents and purposes be the blow-off for the on-again/off-again feud that Styles and Ray have been having since before Lockdown, but you never know with TNA and their love for gimmick matches. Both men brawl to start, trading closed fists. Huge back body drop from Ray and the ref starts his count and gets to three before AJ gets back up. The action spills out to the floor where Ray slams the steel steps onto AJ, sitting on him briefly and demanding the ref count him. Back in the ring Ray lays in some stiff chops but AJ goes all Tommy Dreamer on him, begging and demanding more chops from Ray who just NAILS him right in the face with a fist instead. That was really stiff. Springboard flying forearm from AJ puts Ray out for a six count. Ray goes to the top but AJ nails him with the pele kick. Both men start stiffing each other again on the top rope but Ray just plants him into the mat with a sitout powerbomb off the top rope. Ray pulls out a huge chain and goes to take AJ's head off with it, but Styles ducks and snatches it out of Ray's hands, wrapping it around his fist and nailing Ray in the process. Ray goes head-first under the apron and conveniently surfaces split wide open. Back inside the ring AJ hits a springboard 450 splash, which keeps Ray down for an eight count. Styles just tosses him over the top to the floor like last week's garbage and then follows him out with the pescado. AJ signals for the Styles Clash on the concrete but Ray tosses him into the ring apron. Ray tosses AJ up the stage and goes to powerbomb him off the stage (how he injured Styles months back) but Styles fights him off Ray slides off the stage. AJ gets a huge running start and leaps off the stage with a huge cross-body splash! Nifty spot, but AJ nearly undershot Ray. This only keeps Ray down for about a seven count, so AJ grabs a table from close by and sets Ray up on it after a chair shot. AJ goes back onto the stage but instead jumps onto a nearby steel rigging structure, which he climbs several rungs up and then flies a good 25 feet to the floor onto Ray with an elbow drop through the table! Seriously crazy spot there. AJ gets up at the count of five...and then gets weakly kicked through the side of the stage by Ray. Ray gets back up at the count of nine as AJ is out and Ray somehow gets the surprise win at 20:24!

Winner: Bully Ray @ 20:24
Rating: **** - Oh my lord I absolutely hate that ending with a burning, fiery passion of doom. That seriously made AJ look like shit. Luckily that was an absolutely insane match before hand with Ray doing a nice bladejob and Styles taking a few crazy bumps, most notably the crazy elbow drop off the steel structure and through the table. I'm a sucker for a brutal all-out hardcore brawl, and this was exactly that. Great stuff even with the horrible finish.


Backstage Jeremy Borash tries to get a few words with Mr. Anderson, who quickly interrupts him and begins feeling up JB's face, eyes and lips with his hands in an incredibly awkward segment. That was just odd.


TNA World Title Match
Sting © vs. Mr. Anderson

Kind of surprised this isn't the main event, but I'm not complaining. They've atleast made this feud somewhat interesting in the build up to tonight's show, but to be honest this is a match I have extremely low expectations for. Anderson does his usual pre-match self-introduction but before he can finish Sting pops up behind him and attacks! He brawls with Anderson down the ramp and into the ring as the match officially starts. Sting dominates with some more of his patented punch-kick-punch offense and both men brawl out to the floor again, and of course, into the audience. Is it a requirement for every Sting match to have a brawl into the crowd? Lots of tedious, dull brawling in the crowd until they finally make their way back to ringside where a fan in the front row who may or may not have been a relative of Rob Schneider's screams "YOU CAN DO IT STING! YOU CAN DO IT!" like he's watching Sting vs. Flair from the first Clash. Anderson slams Sting's hand into the steps and rolls him up back inside the ring for a two count. Anderson starts to focus on Sting's arm now, wrapping it over the top rope violently and working a loose armbar. Anderson continues the armwork for a bit until Sting starts to make his comeback, hitting the Stinger splash in the corner and signalling for the Scorpion Death Lock when suddenly Eric Bischoff runs down to ringside, distracting Sting long enough for Anderson to hit him with the Green Bay Plunge for a close near fall. Sting totally no sells all of the arm and handwork that Anderson spent the last few minutes working on. Sting counters with a big DDT for a near fall of his own. Sting blocks a Mic Check attempt, but gets nailed with a second attempt only to kick out at two to Anderson's surprise. Sting hits him with the Scorpion Death Drop and the ref goes to count, but Bischoff slides in and randomly makes a one count, messing up the ref's count as he counts two but Sting thinks it's a three. That was bizarre. Anderson nails Sting with a low blow right in front of the ref and then delivers the Mic Check to win his second TNA World title from Sting at 15:52!

Winner: Mr. Anderson @ 15:52
Rating: ** - The typical Sting main event match, which means it was slow, tedious and rather dull for the most part. The ending was weird too with Bischoff's weird count interference and Anderson nailing Sting with a low blow blatantly right in front of the ref to set up the Mic Check. Just a strange, dull match.


Luckily for us before the main event begins we cut away to Karen Jarrett live via satellite from the Jarrett household. She's as shrill and grating as ever, but she still looks good. She basically threatens to take Kurt's gold medals when Jeff wins them tonight, put them on, and fuck Jeff with them on. Stay classy Karen.


TNA World Title Number One Contender's Match
Kurt Angle vs. Jeff Jarrett

This is being billed finally as the blow-off and "final" match between the two, with both Kurt Angle's gold medals and a World title shot on the line to add even more to the high stakes of the contest. This feud has probably been the best thing TNA has had going for it this year, so this should be good. Both men lock up and tentatively feel each other out as a big Angle chant starts up. Snap suplex gets an early two count for Kurt. They brawl out to the floor and Jarrett slams Angle into the steps and the guard rail. Back in the ring Jarrett begins to take control of the match, choking Angle over the second rope. Both men collide in mid-air as they both attempt cross-bodies and they're barely up at the count of five. Jarrett slaps on a sleeper but Angle fights it off and snaps off a quick German suplex on Jeff. He follows it up with an overhead belly-to-belly for a near fall and tries to apply the ankle lock, but Jarrett quickly escapes out of it. Missile dropkick from Angle and he counters a hurricanrana attempt with a big powerbomb, transitioning right into the ankle lock again. Again Jarrett escapes the hold quickly however and plants Angle with a DDT. Angle counters the Stroke with the Angle slam, and Jarrett kicks out at two like it's no big deal. Does that ever work for Angle anymore? He follows it up with a big moonsault but Jarrett moves of course. He delivers a sloppy Stroke to Angle, but it's Kurt's turn to play the finisher kick out game as the crowd didn't even slightly buy either of those finishers near falls as having a legitimate chance to end the match, which is kind of sad. Both men attempt tombstone piledrivers and fail but Kurt rolls through with the ankle lock again. Jeff sends Angle into the ref as we get our obligatory ref bump of the evening however. Jeff goes under the ring and grabs his signature guitar and then just explodes it over Angle's head in the ring. Earl Hebner runs down to make the count for Jeff, but Angle still kicks out at two. Kurt rolls him up for a close two count and then hits the trio of rolling German suplexes for another near fall. Top rope overhead belly-to-belly suplex gets Angle yet another near fall and he takes down the straps and sets up for another Angle Slam. Jarrett counters with an armdrag however and then nails him with an enziguri. Jarrett hits the Stroke off the top rope but Angle gets the shoulder up! Jarrett applies the ankle lock to Kurt and really synches it on in the middle of the ring, grapevining the leg. Angle rolls through and counters into an ankle lock of his own however, and Jarrett taps out to give Angle the win at 17:36!

Winner: Kurt Angle @ 17:36
Rating: ***3/4 - Another great match in their series of matches. I'd still rank their 2/3 falls match slightly ahead of this encounter based on some of the sickening bumps in that match, but this worked much better as a more traditional wrestling match here (well, until the ref bumps and guitar shots). Damn good match and a good way to close out the show.

Bottom Line: Another surprisingly solid show from TNA here as it seems if I go in with low expectations each month, I come out liking the show that much more when it actually features some great matches, and this show certainly had that in the crazy AJ Styles vs. Bully Ray match and the rock solid main event. The undercard was a bit underwhelming and skippable, but there was some good stuff on this show and it outweighed the bad enough for me to give the show the Thumbs Up.


Rating: 7/10

PWG Kurt Russellreunion 2: The Reunioning

PWG Kurt Russellreunion 2: The Reunioning
January 29th, 2011
LAX Hilton, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: ???

Every year the biggest wrestling fan festival in the United States takes place under the WrestleReunion banner. Several indy companies have tried to capitalize on this convention by promoting shows in the same area and have done good business doing so, which PWG took note of and got in on over a year ago. Looks like another standard great PWG card, featuring, Low Ki vs. Davey Richards among other matches. Let's not muck around and get right to it.


Your hosts are Excalibur and Colt Cabana


Excalibur starts off the show in the ring as he always does, welcoming the fans to the show and cracking a few jokes.


Brandon Gatson/Willie Mack/Cedric Alexander/Candice LeRae vs. Peter Avalon/Caleb Konley/Jake Manning/ODB

Quite the odd 8 person tag match to start things off. ODB is a last minute replacement for Christina Von Eerie, who apparently was held up by border officials because of her spiked and studded punk accessories and couldn't make it on time. Cedric and Manning do a nice leapfrog and armdrag sequence to start and the crowd chants for Willie Mack, so Mack tags in to oblige them. He quickly takes down Avalon with a shouler-block and scoop slams him. ODB tags in so Mack tags the lovely Candice in as well. ODB puts her in a side head-lock and pummels away on the smaller woman. ODB continues to overpower her until the slimy Avalon tags back in. Candice gives him a back body drop though and lays in some big elbows and chops in the corner. Cedric tags in and hits a spin kick for a two count to break up some of the comedy. Manning tags in and gets some offense of his own in for a near fall before tagging ODB back in. She misses a splash in the corner and everyone hits the ring for a stacked-in-the-corner spot. Everyone piles out to the floor and they do your typical generic indy dive sequence, capped off by the Sasuke Special from Gatson. Mack hits a huge frog splash off the top and bodies are just flying in and out of the ring. Gatson locks on an armbar onto Avalon and he taps out at 14:22. This was mostly comedy stuff but they fit in some nice high-flying action as well. Just your average PWG opener, but it accomplished it's goal of getting the crowd fired up for the rest of the show. **½


Mr. Aguila vs. Rey Bucanero

Both men are from CMLL in Mexico, and you may remember Aguila for his stint in the WWF as both Aguila and later Essa Rios. Bucanero has worked in TNA as well during the World X Cup, so both men should be somewhat familiar to hardcore fans. Standard lucha feeling out process to start and Bucanero gets sent to the floor quickly where Aguila follows him out with a big tope con hilo. Well they certainly aren't wasting any time, getting right to the high spots. Bucanero hits a tope con hilo of his own and sends Aguila into the guard rail before clotheslining him over and into the front row. They briefly hit the ring again before Aguila sends Bucanero to the floor again and then flies over the top turnbuckle with an enormous tope con hilo that nearly sends him into the front row! Holy shit he got some absolutely insane hang time on that one. Aguila follows it with yet another con hilo, this time over the guard rail and into the crowd. Back in the ring both men collide as they attempt simultaneous cross-bodies. Bucanero tries an STF but Aguila counters with a rollup for two. Aguila nearly botches a springboard, but then hits a big moonsault to finish Bucanero off at 7:40. Short, ultra-fast, and a lot of fun. Just not much substance underneath the style. **½


Joey Ryan vs. Shane Helms

Before the match Ryan gets on the mic and brings up Helms war of words on Twitter with Shawn Michaels. Helms comes out and grabs the mic to talk some trash back to Ryan, but this crowd is all over his case, chanting for him to "Shut the F*** Up". Helms keeps yapping, insulting HBK in the process and practically establishing himself as the heel here. Which is stupid, since Ryan is the biggest heel in PWG and Helms should be playing the babyface here if anything. Finally the talking stops and they s l o w l y lock up before resorting to stall tactics. Are they purposely trying to piss this crowd off? Back in the ring Ryan teases and hits the Sweet Chin Music, but Helms completely no sells it and flips off the crowd. It's hard to believe this guy was once a flat out phenomenal worker, and now he's just a bloated shadow of his former self, trying to fit into too tight costumes from his OMEGA days and embarrassing himself across the indy circuit. I'm not going to comment much further on this match, simply because it's utter crap. You won't often hear a PWG crowd rally behind Joey Ryan these days, but their hatred for Helms is practically palpable here. They do some sloppy matwork and each try working a limb. Ryan grabs a mic to tell the crowd to shut up and enjoy the "technical masterpiece" he's putting on right now. This would be the part where the crowd would begin to rally behind Helms, but he's done nothing but piss them off so instead we're left with this boring, heat-less match between two guys who have seen better days. Ryan fights off a choke-slam attempt with a pumphandle exploder suplex and then applies a kimura submission that forces Helms to tap out at 14:07. This was just a disaster from bell to bell that managed to only piss off the crowd and give babyface heat to PWG's number one heel. I don't expect to see Helms returning to PWG anytime soon. *


After the match Helms gets on the mic to put the fans over...and then he goes right back to insulting them. The fans chant "Don't come back!" at him. I don't expect he will.


Low Ki vs. Davey Richards

These two met before in the 2006 Ted Petty Invitational tournament in IWA-MS, but Davey was still very green at the time and has improved tremendously since, so this should be good. Fun fact: both of these men won the PWG World title at one point and both of them never lost the title as they each were forced to vacate the title due to booking/contractual stipulations. Both men start off cautious, feeling each other out with some basic holds and submission attempts. On commentary Cabana mentions that Bryan Danielson considers Davey the best in the world now. They do a slick wristlock exchange sequence and the crowd is split in support here. A dropkick sends Low Ki to the floor and Davey tries for a tope suicida, but Ki kicks him right in the face to prevent it. Davey gets sent into the steel guardrail and Ki gets a two count off it back inside the ring. Ki tries for a series of forearms in the corner but Davey just dumps him to the floor and then plants a stiff running kick into Low Ki's chest from the apron. Davey heels it up a bit by teasing to take the fight into the crowd and then just shrugging the fans off and applying a legscissors to Ki back inside. Davey goes to work on Ki's back now, wrenching away on a Boston crab before delivering a backbreaker and a modified camel clutch. Ki fights back with a rolling Liger kick and a series of elbows. He lays a series of kicks into Davey's chest but Richards fights back with some kicks of his own, playing to the crowd as he does it. This gives Ki a window to counter with a double-stomp for a close two count. Big German suplex gets Davey a near fall of his own and he tries for an ankle lock, but Ki fights it off and double-stomps Davey's knee! Well that was certainly creative. Handspring spin-kick gets Ki another close two. Davey avoids another double-stomp and applies the ankle lock briefly until Ki rolls through into a dragon sleeper. Richards counters with another German and a stiff kick to Ki's temple, but again the veteran kicks out. Low Ki tries for the tree of woe double stomp off the top, but Davey tosses him off and hits the shooting star press but Ki gets the knees up and then finishes Davey off with the double stomp off the top rope at 22:40. Not quite the match of the year candidate some were expecting, but this was still an incredibly fun, well worked battle between two men with complimentary wrestling styles. Davey even showed some personality for once here, playing to the crowd and having a blast doing it. ***¾


Jake Roberts vs. Sinn Bodhi

This is being touted as Jake's "retirement match", but this is hardly the first time he's made that claim before, so we'll have to wait and see if it really sticks. Bodhi was chosen here because he's trained under Jake as his protege for several years, though honestly I have no idea what Jake sees in the guy. You may better remember him for his brief stint in the WWE on Smackdown as "Kizarny". Jake goes for a handshake to start but Bodhi sucker punches him a few times. Jake counters with some rights of his own and Bodhi bails to the floor to regroup. Back inside Jake nearly hits the DDT and Bodhi bails again to regroup. They lock up back in the ring and Bodhi hits a leg drop for a two count. Jake works some big rights in and follows it with the short-arm clothesline before nailing Bodhi with the DDT for a huge pop and the win at 5:42. Not much of a match obviously, but this was a nice moment and a fitting goodbye for the legendary Jake that the crowd loved. After the match Roberts even sticks his famous snake down Bodhi's trunks before departing to chants of "Thank You Jake!". *


20 Man Legends Battle Royale
(Featuring Danny Davis, Mike Graham, Jimmy Hart, Tito Santana, Barry Orton, The Barbarian, Rock Riddle, Shane Douglas, The Warlord, Chavo Guerrero, Shane Helms, Cowboy Bob Orton, Cruel Connection, Mando Guerrero, Terry Funk, Savio Vega, Roddy Piper, Vampiro, Sean Morley, and Tatanka)

Before the match begins Bill Apter introduces none other than Mean Gene Okerlund to do the ring introductions for the battle royale! This Battle Royale is under "Royal Rumble" like rules, starting with two men and introducing a new participant every 30 seconds. Paul Orndorff, the Iron Sheik, Harley Race, and Masa Saito are all introduced at ringside as well. Unfortunately the crowd reactions are a bit muted here because they had to replace all of the original entrance music with the generic PWG theme music instead, which is pretty disappointing but understandable from a legal standpoint. Dangerous Danny Davis and Mike Graham start the match off with a lock-up and side headlock. Graham should probably be wearing a shirt but bless him he's not ashamed of his wrinkly old body. Next in is Jimmy Hart, who gangs up on Graham with his old ally Danny Davis. Tito Santana is out next and he breaks up the double-teaming by Hart and Davis. Barry Orton is next and he looks like he just came from a concert in the 80s. The Barbarian is the next participant and he quickly eliminates Graham as Rock Riddle comes out. Next out is Shane Douglas, which prompts an "ECW!" chant from the crowd. The Warlord enters at #9 and Jimmy Hart eliminates himself before the Warlord can. Douglas eliminates the Barbarian and Chavo Guerrero senior is the next out as Davis gets eliminated by Riddle. Shane Helms makes his second appearance of the night and nearly gets booed out of the building again. Douglas destroys him in the corner to a big pop and Cowboy Bob Orton is out next, sporting his infamous cast. Damn that's one hell of an arm injury Bob. "Cruel Connection", a fat guy in a neon green body-suit is out next and I have no idea if this guy is an actual wrestler or not. Mando Guerrero is out next and he and Cruel Connection nearly eliminate Douglas. Terry FUCKING Funk is out next and the crowd goes wild. Helms eliminates Cruel Connection as Savio Vega makes his way out next. Helms and the Warlord are eliminated as Roddy Piper makes his way out. Vampiro hops into the ring out of nowhere suddenly, apparently being a surprise entrant. Riddle gets tossed by Piper, who then pokes his old partner Cowboy Bob right in the eyes as Sean Morley comes out next. Piper goes on an eye-poking streak as the final participant, Tatanka, enters the ring. Douglas dumps Mando Guerrero out next and Vega hits a nice spin kick on Vampiro, who counters with a superkick of his own that eliminates Vega. Terry Funk rips off Orton's cast and beats him with it before eliminating him next. Vampiro eliminates Morley and tries to eliminate Chavo, but he rolls through only to eat a right hand from Piper that eliminates him. Funk gets busted open from a right hand by Douglas as Tatanka finally enters the ring, having hidden at ringside since his entrance. He cleans house on everyone and tries a lariat on Vampiro, but Douglas moves him out of the way and Tatanka eliminates himself. We're down to the final four, but Piper and Funk quickly eliminate Douglas and Vampiro to bring it down to them as the final two. Funk grabs a microphone and thanks the fans for coming before trying to start a prayer for all of the great wrestlers who have passed away. Piper and Funk shake hands and bow heads, and half-way through the prayer Funk prays for a victory in this match and then nails Piper over the head with the microphone while his head is bowed! The crowd loves it and both men slide under the bottom rope and begin brawling into the crowd as Funk keeps nailing him with the microphone, telling Piper to say he's the better man. He trash talks the crowd while he's at it and eventually they battle back into the ring. Funk thinks he's eliminated Piper but Roddy hangs on and tosses Funk out over him to win the match at 35:27. This is going to be a love it or hate it kind of match for most people. If you can dig 30+ minutes of nostalgia this is the match for you, but otherwise, this might drag for some. The ending sequence with Funk and Piper was pure GOLD though and this was a lot of fun, regardless of the rating I'm about to give it. **½


Chris Hero vs. Kevin Steen

Here's one of the matches I was most looking forward to checking out on this DVD after the tremendous 2010 that both of these men had. Hero tries working an armbar to start and Steen counters with a side headlock. You know, once you've seen this wristlock sequence a million times, it stops being impressive. Both men start trading big chops. Steen is sent to the floor by a roaring elbow to regroup and Hero comes out after him. They take turns throwing each other into the guardrail and then Hero nails Steen with a huge big boot as the action spills out further into the crowd. Steen climbs halfway up a lighting rig and splashes Hero off of it before taking him back to ringside and power-bombing him on the ring apron. Back in the ring a moonsault off the second rope gets Steen a two. The crowd is really into Steen here, chanting his name every few minutes. Steen begins to dominate here, beating Hero down and jawing with the fans while he does it. Dropkick from Hero gives him some time to regroup and he takes Steen back out to the floor with a running kick. Back inside a cravat neckbreaker from the second rope gets Hero a two count as well. Steen absolutely plants Hero with a DDT and both men are really starting to gel with the back-and-forth action. Steen counters a boot into a TKO but again Hero kicks out. Steen applies the sharpshooter but Hero quickly gets to the ropes before it can do much damage. Both men attempt (and miss) moonsaults and Steen eggs Hero on, who then absolutely destroys Steen's face with one of the stiffest sounding big boots I've ever seen. Steen, being batshit crazy, eats the boot with a smile and gets right back up to superkick Hero and deliver a half-nelson sleeper suplex for another close near fall. Steen continues to egg Hero on and Hero obliges him with another gigantic boot to the face, which is enough to get Hero the pin at 19:13. Just the stiff, hard-hitting match you would expect from these two. Steen came off like a total badass even in the loss here, eating some of the sickest boots that I've ever seen in wrestling with a big fat smile on his face the entire time. Here's to hoping Steen continues to work PWG shows in the future. ***½


Johnny Yuma/Johnny Goodtime vs. Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson vs. Brandon Cutler/Dustin Cutler vs. Ryan Taylor/Brian Cage-Taylor

Whoever wins this match earns the first spot in the upcoming DDT4 tag team tournament. The Bucks and Cutlers start off as all the other teams brawl to the floor. The Cutlers win this confrontation and Yuma and Goodtime hop in to clear the Cutlers next as we go through a sequence of one team fighting off another only to be sent to the floor themselves by the next. This settle down a bit finally as Yuma fights off the Taylor boys. Stereo senton splashes from the RockNES Monsters (Yuma & Goodtime) earns them an early near fall. It's nearly impossible to call the action in this match as bodies are really just flying all over the place in and out of the ring, with the recurring theme of the Bucks dominating and taunting the crowd. Matt Jackson gets punched around like a pinball and even the ref gets in on it with a right hand of his own! They go into a pretty silly "human centipede" spot where all 8 men lock on submissions on one another in a human chain in the ring from here, but the crowd digs it. The crowd rallies behind Yuma as Matt Jackson and Dustin Cutler work him over. Matt hits the sweet back handspring back-rake of doom but the Taylors hit the ring and take him out with stereo kicks. Yuma takes a huge stalling superplex from Brian Cage-Taylor but the pin gets broken up at two. Finally Yuma gets the hot tag to Goodtime who cleans house on the Bucks and Taylors. Matt gets sent to the floor with a release German and Goodtime takes him and his brother out on the floor with a tope con hilo! Tope suicida from Ryan Taylor takes them all out again and things have totally broken down into chaos here. Tandem tombstone nearly ends it for the Cutlers but the pin gets broken up.The Taylor's hit a Go 2 Sleep followed by a discus lariat on Matt that nearly kills the guy but he kicks out somehow. Goodtime powerbombs Taylor onto Cage from the top rope and then launches his partner Yuma onto both men with a TKO for the win at 15:26! This was pure and total chaos, and that's just what you want out of matches like these. Just shut off your brain and watch the bodies fly everywhere. ***¼


After the match Kevin Steen hits the ring and just destroys the RockNES Monsters after their victory. He grabs a mic and says that he's entering the DDT4 tag tournament whether he has a partner or not.


PWG World Title Match
Claudio Castagnoli © vs. El Generico

This is Claudio's first title defense since winning the belt back in October after Davey Richards was forced to vacate the belt due to booking conflicts. Claudio quickly avoids a Yakuza kick from Generico and then tries working on Generico's leg. Generico delivers a trio of big armdrags to his larger foe and tries working on Claudio's arm. Claudio tries a powerbomb out of the corner but Generico slips out of his grasp and delivers a nifty tilt-a-whirl headscissors. He hits another headscissors off the top rope that sends Claudio to the floor and tries for a pescado to follow it up, but Claudio catches him and slams him on the side of the ring apron. Back inside Claudio goes back to work on Generico's leg and then just tosses him face-first onto the top turnbuckle, taunting Generico and the crowd all the while. Claudio rips at his mask while applying a chinlock and the crowd doesn't like that at all. The fans keep trying to rally behind Generico with chants of Ole, but Claudio keeps overpowering Generico, planting him on the mat with an enormous chokeslam for a two count. Claudio gets sent to the floor and Generico tries for a springboard, but his leg gives out from under him because of Claudio's earlier working-over of the limb. Not to be denied of his high-flying ways however Generico comes off the top turnbuckle with a somersault senton to the floor anyways. A huge cross-body off the top back in the ring gets Generico a two count. Claudio counters a brainbuster attempt into a huge boot and a dead-lift German suplex gets a two count. Claudio lays in a series of trademark European uppercuts, but Generico fights right back with a Yakuza kick. He tries for the Ricola Bomb but Generico counters with a rollup for two. Both men jockey for position on the top rope, trying to hit their signature move on one another. Claudio nearly delivers the Ricola Bomb off the top but Generico counters with a huge frankensteiner! He follows it with the brainbuster, which he delivers on one leg but somehow Claudio kicks out! Crowd really bought into that near fall. Castagnoli performs the always amazing UFO but Generico is fired up and kicks right out at the count of one so Claudio delivers another Ricola bomb but again Generico kicks out! Claudio transitions from a one-legged big swing into the Stretch Muffler submission and Generico nearly gets to the ropes only for Claudio to swing him around like in the air (all while locked in the submission) and drag him back into the middle of the ring where he really synches the submission on and Generico has no choice but to tap out at 20:20! Just a stellar main event here as they managed to make the crowd totally forget about the huge size difference between the two and seriously buy into the possibility that Generico was going to win the title here. Claudio focused his attacks on Generico's leg, a recurring theme through-out the match that eventually played into the finish in a way that makes both men come out of this contest looking even better. Great selling from Generico, and a great way to cap off the show. ****


After the main event Joey Ryan hits the ring and locks a key-lock on Claudio until Chris Hero hits the ring to make the save for his partner. He grabs a microphone and claims to be the next PWG World champion. He claims to have friends of his own and teases entering the DDT4 tag tournament coming up. He says he'll make one of the Kings tap out and goes to leave, but Claudio grabs a mic and calls him out on having any friends left. He promises to kick Joey's ass every time he sees him from now on. He puts over Generico and thanks the fans as we close out the show.

Bottom Line: What a fun show, and I can only imagine the weekend of festivities was even more fun. You've got a lot of great nostalgia here, some interesting cameos, and a few excellent match ups from some of the PWG regulars. It runs a bit long at a little over 3 hours, but there's a ton of good stuff packed into that time so this is an easy recommendation and Thumbs Up.


Score: 8/10

WWE RAW 5/23/11 -- Raw is Savage (Kind Of)

WWE RAW 5/23/11
May 23rd, 2011
Rose Garden Arena, Portland, Oregon
Attendance: ???

We're less than 24 hours removed from the Over the Limit PPV as RAW continue's it's tour of the Northwest, stopping in Portland tonight. Tonight's show is expected to also be in part a tribute to the late Macho Man Randy Savage, so it should be an interesting evening in the WWE. We open the show with the same "Rest in Peace" graphic that they displayed before last night's PPV before cutting into the usual intro package.


Your hosts are Josh Matthews, Michael Cole and Jerry Lawler


We open the show officially with Jerry Lawler making his way out to the ring. He grabs a mic and celebrates his defeat of Michael Cole at last night's PPV. King says he knew Cole would try to weasel out of the stipulation of the match, but he had an ace up his sleeve. Or rather, a "Hart". Chuckle chuckle. Bret Hart's music hits and the Hall of Famer comes down to the ring and joins Jerry. King joins Josh at the commentary table while Bret says it was his pleasure to make sure that Michael Cole suffered the agony of "de-feet". Suddenly R-Truth's "music" hits (which is still just a clip of him saying his catch phrase and no actual music) and he makes his way down to the ring with a mic in his hand to some big boos. Truth complains about never getting a title shot like Bret got and then takes his sunglasses and goes to ringside to give it to a fat kid at ringside. He snatches the glasses off his head moments later though and the look on the kid's face is priceless. Truth says maybe he needs to beat up a Hall of Famer to get noticed, and Bret just tells him to bring it on. Truth tries to walk off but John Cena's music hits and the WWE champion makes his way out to the ring, walking gingerly after the punishment he took the night before. Cena exchanges pleasantries with Bret and then turns his attention to Truth, asking him when exactly he went insane. Truth cracks on Cena's acting career, shouting the "I want my son back!" line from the Legendary trailer. Truth blames Cena and Bret for his troubles, calling them propaganda tools in the conspiracy against him. Suddenly the lights flicker and the RAW GM has sent an e-mail. Josh Matthews reads it and announces that tonight's main event will be R-Truth and CM Punk against John Cena and Rey Mysterio with Bret Hart as the special guest referee. Decent opening segment, Truth's heel turn continues to be one of the more interesting things in the company right now and it appears like he may be Cena's next title challenger.


Backstage Kane and Big Show are hanging out on Alberto Del Rio's car, which looks like one of those racecar beds kids have in comparison to how big they both are. Ricardo Rodriguez runs up to get them off but gets shoved down, so Del Rio walks up and says a whole lot of stuff in Spanish that apparently is enough to make them get up and leave. Okay then.


WWE Tag Team Title Match
Big Show/Kane © vs. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty

CM Punk joins the commentary team for this match much to my delight. As usual, he's better than both Josh and King at this point. Kane and Otunga start us off with Kane dominating. Big Show tags in and does the same to McGillicutty, making them both look like total jobbers (not that I'm complaining). Nexus looks to regroup outside the ring as we cut to commercial. When we return Otunga is choking Kane in his corner with the heel of his boot. Nexus isolates Kane in their corner for a bit, trading quick tags as he plays the role of your sadomasochistic babyface in peril. Kane hits a big boot and gets the hot tag to Big Show, who quickly cleans house on Nexus. Mason Ryan tries to get involved but gets clotheslined out which distracts the ref long enough for Punk to come up and kick Show in the back of the head, and Otunga and McGillicutty give him a sloppy double DDT, giving them the cheap win and the titles at 5:25 (shown). Oh joy, more of the Nexus jobbers hold tag team gold again. Is WWE creative really so out of ideas for Kane and Show that they resort to booking them in identical feuds one after the other against ex-Nexus members? We just saw this feud on Smackdown, and it sucked. As did this match. *


Backstage Scott Stanford asks Show if he's frustrated and Show flips the hell out on him before Alberto Del Rio walks up and slaps him in the face. Show chases after him and the camera conveniently takes a few moments to catch up as we see Show's leg underneath Del Rio's car when the camera man turns the corner. Oh, fun, another "hit by a car" angle. Gotta have one of those atleast once a year. After what seems like an eternity of Big Show writhing on the ground, groaning like a dying cow we finally cut to commercial. When we return the camera is STILL on Show as he struggles to get to his feet and eventually does despite clearly being injured.


Jack Swagger vs. Evan Bourne

Well would you look at the time, it's half past Evan Bourne jobbing time again. Atleast he gets an entrance this week. Hurricanrana from Bourne to start but Swagger responds with a boot to the face. Swagger works an armbar and Josh Matthews stupidly asks King how many matches he's had in his career, like that's even a question he could possibly answer correctly. Bourne tries a jumping kick but Swagger grabs his ankle and tries for the ankle lock. Bourne fights it off and tries another hurricanrana, but Swagger counters with a huge gut-wrench suplex and that's enough to put Evan away at 2:11. After the match Bourne gets a measure of revenge with a spinning heel kick on Swagger as he celebrates and then takes runs off. Not bad for a squash match, but if this was supposed to be the start of a Swagger/Bourne feud, having Swagger dispose of Bourne like he's a total jobber isn't the way to go about that. ½*


Backstage a dejected Michael Cole is walking around. He offers a handshake to Eve, and she offers her foot instead for him to kiss presumably as we cut to commercial. When we return Cole makes his way out to the ring to a chorus of boos. Cole says he doesn't deserve the fans attention and then he apologizes to Jerry, Josh, Justin Roberts, time-keeper Mark Yeaton, and the fans themselves. The fans aren't buying any of it though of course because Cole has been the most over-the-top uber heel for the last 6 months and a quick apology isn't going to make them forget that. It's clear they're trying to press the "reset" button on Cole, throw out his heel character and bring him back to the table as the play-by-play man. King says he's glad Cole is apologizing and then rubs in last night's loss by putting up a still of King's foot in Cole's mouth. King gives him a box of Altoids and Cole says he deserves that as King allows him to re-join the commentary table. I've never been a Cole fan, but him as the neutral play-by-play man is so much more tolerable than over the top heel Cole at the booth, burying the talent in the ring constantly.


The Miz's music hits and the former champion comes out to the ring next with Alex Riley at his side. Miz says the only reason he didn't win the title last night was because of Riley. He replays the mistakes that Riley has made over the last few weeks and then turns his attention to the anonymous Raw general manager, asking for a one on one title match against John Cena with Alex Riley banned from ringside. The GM responds with an e-mail denying Miz another title shot and Miz again blames it all on Riley. Riley says he wasn't the one who said "I Quit" last night and The Miz flips out and fires him. He shoves Riley and Riley attacks The Miz to a nice pop, ripping off his shirt and throwing him around the ringside area. A "Riley!" chant breaks out as he continues to attack Miz back inside the ring, screaming at him the entire time before storming off and leaving Miz laying in the ring. This worked well in getting Riley over as a potential face (surprisingly), but it also made The Miz generally look like shit. Losing to Cena is one thing, but getting totally punked out by a rookie like Alex Riley is another. Luckily Miz is over enough and talented enough that this shouldn't be much of a setback for him though.


Kelly Kelly/Beth Phoenix/Eve Torres/Gail Kim vs. Maryse/Melina/Brie Bella/Nikki Bella

Before the match starts Cole puts over the Divas like they're the greatest thing he's ever had the honor of calling in a wrestling ring to try and press the reset button on his constant burial of the division on commentary over the last few months. Before the match can really even get started though Kharma's music hits and she makes her way down to the ring. She gets into the center of the ring and falls on her knees and begins...crying? Huh? We cut to commercial with her crying and when we return the match is over apparently. Interesting development in the Kharma angle. No match rating obviously. [N/R]


Kofi Kingston vs. Drew McIntyre

Drew is back on RAW and has pyro again, so I guess they're going to try pushing him again. Probably helps that Bret Hart was talking him up on Twitter and is in the building tonight. Fast pace to start as Kofi does a nice leap-frog before apparently botching the second leapfrog, though that may have been planned as Drew goes right to work on Kofi's leg afterwards. He wrenches away on Kofi's leg until Kingston fights him off and hits a russian legsweep, favoring his leg in the process. Boom Drop from Kofi and he looks to set up for the Trouble in Paradise, but his leg gives out from under him as he tries to perform the move and Drew covers him for a two count. Running powerbomb from Drew but again Kofi kicks out. Kofi gives him his signature arm-trapped somersault STO and pins Drew clean at 4:25. Well that was an odd ending. They focused on the limb-work with Kofi to apparently set up a win for Drew in his official RAW return, but then just had him lose clean in minutes anyways. Decent enough while it lasted, questionable booking aside. *¾

Backstage Dolph Ziggler watches on. It's worth noting he's dyed his hair back bleach blonde again, thank God.


The King says he wonders what it would be like if the President were involved in the PPV next month, and they do the whole dream segment seque into the same corny over-edited video package of Obama at a press conference clipped in with actors asking WWE-related question.


The New Nexus celebrate backstage with CM Punk and their new tag team titles as Punk tells them to watch him wrestle next.


After the commercial break Alberto Del Rio fawns worry and panic about Big Show getting hit by a car earlier in the night with Scott Stanford. He blames it on Ricardo and storms off.


Back at ringside Josh, King, and Michael hype the main event and then finally mention the passing of Macho Man Randy Savage this past week. King puts him over and we cut into a nicely put together video package on Randy's life and career, set to Coldplay's "The Scientist", which happens to be one of my all time favorite songs. Touching video package. I highly recommend checking out the tribute video that Diamond Dallas Page posted to his YouTube channel as well while you're at it. After the video airs the crowd gives a huge standing ovation and a big several Macho Man chants break out as we cut to commercial. You know I was expecting more than just one video package, but atleast it was a well done video package. We're going to miss the hell out of you Randy, we truly are.


John Cena/Rey Mysterio vs. R-Truth/CM Punk

Bret Hart is YOUR special guest referee for the match. Cole agrees with Truth's attitude change and so does Josh, so maybe Cole isn't going to be fully turning face after all. Punk comes out in a pair of old-school Macho Man trunks in a sign of respect to the fallen legend, making me love him even more. The faces dominate in the opening minute of the match as the heels try to re-group on the outside while we cut to commercial. When we return Punk is laying in elbows on Cena in the corner. Cena responds with some right hands and Punk tries to hide behind Bret Hart in classic heel fashion. Truth tags in and rocks Cena with a big right hand as the dueling Cena chants start up in the crowd already. Punk beats down on Cena for a bit until John gets the hog tag to Rey, who explodes on Punk with a hurricanrana and a stiff kick for a two count. Rey tries for the 619 on Truth but Punk grabs him and tries for the GTS only for Rey to counter out and nail Punk with the 619 and Punk turns around to meet a right hand from Bret Hart, who then puts Punk into the Sharpshooter. Rey hits a springboard legdrop and that finishes Punk off at 6:51 (shown). After the match all the babyfaces celebrate together while Cole flips out about Hart's actions. That was a strange ending since Punk didn't attack Bret or anything, he just hid behind him. I guess that was enough reasoning for Bret to attack him though. Decent main event, but too short and the ending was a bit silly. **

Bottom Line: Pretty weak show after a lackluster PPV event the night before. The Macho Man tribute video was nice and worth checking out and there was some nice angle advancement through out the evening, but aside from that there's absolutely nothing of note here and nowhere near enough in-ring time for a two hour broadcast. Not an awful show or anything, but not really worth your time either. Thumbs Down.


Score: 4/10