NJPW New Japan Cup 2011 Round Two (3/19/11)

NJPW New Japan Cup 2011 Round Two 3/19/11
March 19th, 2011
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
Attendnace: 6,500

Well I couldn't find a copy of the second night of the opening round of this year's New Japan Cup tournament, so I'm just going to go on and move ahead to the second round match-ups that took place a few weeks later on March 19th. Tonight we've got four second round match-ups in the New Japan Cup tournament as well as Prince Devitt defending the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title against recent New Japan signee KUSHIDA, as well as a six man tag pitting Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, and Ryusuke Taguchi up against Satoshi Kojima, TAKA Michinoku, and Taichi. The version of this show I'm watching doesn't include the first two matches of the show, but in the first match King Fale & Tama Tonga defeated Tiger Mask IV & Hiromu Takahashi in 9:03 when Tonga used the Tongan Twist on Takahashi, and the team of Jushin Liger, Koji Kanemoto, and Wataru Inoue defeated the team of Takashi Iizuka, Jado, and Gedo in 8:58 when Inoue used the Spear of Justice on Jado. Onto the televised show!


Tetsuya Naito/Tomohiro Ishii/Yujiro Takahashi vs. Giant Bernard/Karl Anderson/Tomoaki Honma

Fun little six man tag here to kick us off, no kind of back-story here really as usual. Bernard and Anderson feel out Ishii and Takahashi early and Anderson gets the better of Ishii with a few arm-drags and a shoulder-block. Naito and Honma tag in and have a fun exchange after running the ropes a bit. Naito tosses Honma into the guardrail outside the ring and then brawls with him into the crowd. We get an awkward/funny moment on the way back to the ring as Naito pats Honma lovingly on the ass on their way back into the ring. Don't fuck with Honma man, he's got deathmatch scars that would make you queasy if you saw them in person. Crowd doesn't seem much interested in things, but overall this went along fine and everyone provided a bit more spark then you'd expect from a match like this. The finish sees Takahashi pinning Anderson clean with a variation of Ron Simmon's old Dominator powerbomb at 11:16. Like I said, a bit more spirited than you'd expect from this usual dead spot on the card, but nothing too memorable. **1/4


New Japan Cup 2011 Round Two Match
Toru Yano vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan

This isn't exactly a great technical looking match-up on paper, but the results wind up being entertaining enough. Tenzan will forever be over in this company because of his great run in the 90s and early 2000s, but he's become a bit broken down at this point unfortunately. Lots of mild brawling in this one, and they wind up in the crowd in a matter of minutes. Back in the ring Tenzan actually looks a bit motivated for once and fires off some nice spinning heel kicks and an unsuccessful diving headbutt attempt. Crowd seems pretty lifeless, which is strange because these two usually have pretty good heat whenever they work. Yano hits a huge power bomb on Tenzan, but the veteran manages to still kick out and respond with a Samoan drop. Tenzan delivers a sort of tombstone piledriver and then locks in a keylock on Yano's arms (looks similar to Punk's Anaconda Vice actually). In the struggle of the submission the ref is knocked silly and doesn't see Yano tapping. Yano gives Tenzan a low blow and then rolls him up for the cheap win at 11:09. Not bad considering Tenzan's limitations at this point, but again, nothing that's actually worth actively seeking out to watch. **


New Japan Cup 2011 Round Two Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Manabu Nakanishi

This should be an interesting clash of personalities. Nakamura hands out fist-bumps to half the crowd on his way to the ring, perhaps foreshadowing an eventual face turn in the works? Nakamura is all pissy to start with various big running knee strikes that send Nakanishi out to the floor quickly. Shinsuke launches Nakanishi into the rails and then drags him back inside before the 20 count for more continued knee strikes to the abdomen. Nakanishi catches Nakamura in the midst of another running knee and tosses him overhead like a ragdoll before clotheslining him out to the floor. He takes out Nakamura with a decent slingshot plancha over the ropes and then tosses him back inside for some more punishment. Nakanishi hits the lariat but Nakamura kicks out so he waffles him with a huge German suplex for another near fall. He lifts Nakamura up into a torture rack but Shinsuke manages to escape and slap a sleeper onto his opponent briefly. Nakanishi blocks another Boma Ye knee strike attempt with another huge German suplex, but Nakamura no sells it momentarily and knocks Nakanishi's lights out with a kick before crumpling to the mat to sell the suplex. That kind of minor no-selling is perfectly fine in my book, because it's logical that a short burst of adrenaline like that could lead you to get one more shot in before falling to the ground and really feeling the pain as the adrenaline wears off. They trade crazy stiff double-axe handles but Nakamura nails Nakanishi with the Boma Ye knee off the top rope and then hits another Boma Ye just for good measure to pick up the win at 8:49. Excellent little match here, it's kind of crazy the amount of action they were able to pack into such a short amount of time. Nakamura continues to be a Golden God and Nakanishi is always down for a stiff brawl, so this was a lot of fun. ***


IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Match
Prince Devitt © vs. KUSHIDA

KUSHIDA was one of the main guys Yoshihiro Tajiri's SMASH promotion was using to get their company off the ground, and he was impressive enough that New Japan brought him in for several shows in 2010 before signing him to a more formal contract earlier this year, so look for him to be a big part of the junior division going forward. He's a pretty talented young guy, but he looked a bit nervous here in his first big title match against Devitt, and was notably sloppy at a few different points. They do some solid hold and counter hold wrestling in the early stages, establishing Devitt as the more experienced of the two quickly. Devitt misses out on his first big dive attempt and winds up eating a pescado from KUSHIDA before getting tossed back inside. KUSHIDA stumbles a bit on a backflip counter attempt but still manages to plant the landing anyways. He climbs to the top rope but is met with a dropkick that sends him back to the floor again and the pace has notably picked up here as Devitt takes out KUSHIDA with one of his signature suicidal swan-dive somersault planchas to a great pop. They try for a suplex spot on the timekeeper's table at ringside, but KUSHIDA winds up delivering a sloppy hurricanrana in mid-air over the guardrail instead! That looked incredibly impressive, even if he didn't quite get all of the rotation that he wanted to on the headscissors. A Muta-esque moonsault gets KUSHIDA a close two count back in the ring and he's getting frustrated now. KUSHIDA misses a lariat and eats a picture perfect pele kick from Devitt and the crowd is rallying behind their beloved Prince-o Devitt-o once again. KUSHIDA misses a corkscrew moonsault but still fires off some loud and stiff kicks before hitting a big double-stomp on Devitt off the top rope for another close near fall. Devitt responds with a towering super-back suplex from the top rope and then delivers a huge double-stomp of his own, but KUSHIDA manages to kick out this time as well, so Devitt nails him with the Bloody Sunday DDT to retain at 14:52. Even though KUSHIDA looked a bit nervous in the early-going, he was able to quickly rebound from any missteps and this wound up being a damn good match in it's own right, if possibly a slight notch below some of Devitt's recent title matches against the likes of Ibushi and Marufuji. I see good things in the future for KUSHIDA if he sticks around. ***1/2


Satoshi Kojima/TAKA Michinoku/Taichi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi/Hirooki Goto/Ryusuke Taguchi

I'm really starting to like this alliance of sorts that Kojima has found with TAKA and Taichi, these guys play the classic slimy low-life Japanese heel perfectly. The match itself isn't stellar or anything, but it's well worked by all means. A lot of great hold and counter-hold wrestling between Tanahashi and Kojima in the early going before the funky Taguchi hops in to do battle with TAKA. Nobody wears a shit-eating grin like TAKA Michinoku, I tell you what. Goto tags in next and does some fun powerhouse babyface stuff with the underrated Taichi. Within minutes they're all brawling outside of the ring, with Taichi making the effort to wrap Goto up against the mat with the ring apron only to dropkick him out of it moments later. Goto plays the prideful face a bit too much for his own good here and it winds up costing him when he takes an extended beatdown instead of tagging out and then winds up inadvertently clotheslining his own partners later in the match when he does get back involved. Tanahashi misses the High Fly Flow on Kojima but manages to hit the Sling Blade and tag out to Taguchi. Taguchi hits 2 out of 3 rolling suplex attempts and then delivers a gourdbuster of sorts on TAKA as the match breaks down and tag rules go out the window. Goto accidentally lariats his own partners and then gets tossed out of the ring with Tanahashi, leaving Goto all alone and allowing Taichi and TAKA to deliver a double-team Michinoku Driver II to pick up the win at 13:54. Not as good as the six man Tanahashi was in on the last New Japan Cup show I reviewed, but still pretty entertaining for a totally meaningless throwaway match. **1/2


New Japan Cup 2011 Round Two Match
Togi Makabe vs. MVP

Crowd doesn't seem as receptive to MVP here as they were in Korakuen, but MVP still looks good and motivated out there again. Makabe is always fun and this is alot of fun in the early going with both men letting their over-the-top personalities clash with a war of shoulder-blocks as MVP does his best to say as many Japanese words and sayings as he can to get over with the fans (including King Kong and Godzilla references). MVP launches Makabe into the guard rail a few times right in front of a mildly annoying fan that's screaming Makabe's name in another funny moment. MVP dominates most of the match, showing he can hang strong-style with Makabe for a bit until Makabe gets just pissed off enough to start really taking MVP seriously. MVP no sells a pair of German suplexes but eats a lariat anyways. MVP delivers a big Yakuza kick and then locks on a nasty crossface submission, but Makabe gets the rope break fairly quickly. He makes his usual fiery comeback and then delivers a German suplex from the top rope followed by a top-rope splash for the win at 10:41. Pretty solid stuff, but I would have liked to have seen these guys given more time. As it stands this is like the start of a fairly damn good match, but it feels like the ending is missing or something. MVP's post-match interview/promo is pure gold again however. **1/2


New Japan Cup 2011 Round Two Match
Yuji Nagata vs. Masato Tanaka

I like to call this the feud that never dies, because it seems like these two have been wrestling each other in New Japan and Zero-1 in various different forms on and off again for years now with no end anywhere in sight. The matches are always top notch though, so no complaints here. Some great footwork early with each man missing with various spinning kick attempts. Tanaka's selling is great from the start as Nagata really just lays in the stiff kicks and knee strikes to the abdomen with the fire that only he can bring. Tanaka fires off with a lariat outside the ring and then delivers a brainbuster right there on the mats to Nagata! He grabs a table and sets it up with half of it's legs and then suplexes Nagata right through it for good measure. Remember Japanese tables are much smaller than your standard American ones, so it wasn't actually as brutal as it sounds, but was still enough for Nagata to nearly get counted out for. They both go into full on pissed-off ungodly stiff mode and really start laying the kicks and strikes into one another now and the crowd's getting into it. Nagata blocks a sunset flip powerbomb with stiff forearms and sweet sassy mallassey the sound of Nagata's arm pounding against Tanaka's flesh is just absolutely brutal. Nagata fires off a brainbuster for a two count. They fire off great lariat and Yakuza kick attempts at each other and Tanaka gets a near fall off of one. Diamond Dust from Tanaka followed by a running lariat only gets a two count, so Nagata responds with a top-rope exploder suplex for a near fall of his own. Tanaka absolutely nails Nagata in the back of the head with the Sliding D and then hits it once again again, but Nagata still manages to kick out! They go into another stiff striking exchange and then Nagata just waffles Tanaka with a towering back drop suplex of DOOM to pick up the win at 16:33. This was all kinds of awesome and yet another chapter in the excellent back catalog of matches these two have had against one another. They've had better, but this was fast-paced, hard-hitting and just ungodly stiff---AKA all of the things you love and look for from these guys. ***3/4

Bottom Line: This was a pretty solid show for a quick two hour shot of most of the day's matches. There wasn't much to check out on the undercard besides the Nakamura/Nakanishi match, but Devitt had another fun title defense against KUSHIDA and the main event was another great Tanaka/Nagata match, which is something I personally can never get enough of. Not really a great show that's worth going out of your way for, but if you've got the time to kill it's worth checking out before jumping into the final day of the New Japan cup the following day on the 20th. A very minor thumbs up basically.


Score: 6.5/10

WWE RAW 8/15/11

WWE RAW 8/15/11
August 15th, 2011
Valley View Casino Center, San Diego, California
Attendance: Unknown at this time

We're 24 hours removed from Summerslam and Alberto Del Rio's (somewhat) shocking WWE title win after another great Punk/Cena match ended with Punk retaining. Kevin Nash put a brutal post-match beatdown on Punk after his victory, which allowed Del Rio the chance to come out and strike while the iron was hot. There are a lot of questions going into tonight's show. What will become of the fact that Cena's leg was on the bottom rope when Triple H counted to three last night? Why did Kevin Nash jump Punk after his match? Was Triple H in cahoots with Nash and/or Del Rio? All of that plus Del Rio must defend his title against Rey Mysterio tonight! So keep refreshing the page for live results and analysis after every commercial break.


Your hosts are Jim Ross, Michael Cole, and Jerry Lawler


We open the show with a video package of the events that went down last night, followed by the familiar crunchy opening chords of Motorhead that brings out Triple H, our Chief Operating Officer. He has a microphone and acknowledges that people are upset about the events that went down last night. Hunter apologizes to the fans and John Cena for not seeing Cena's foot on the bottom rope at the end of the match. Triple H didn't have a problem with raising Punk's hand though. He addresses the idea that he was in cahoots with Nash, and shoots it down immediately, saying he had no part in Nash's post-match beatdown of Punk. Hunter says he texted Kevin Nash to come to RAW tonight, and he will indeed be at RAW tonight (decent pop for Nash). Triple H says he always delivers on his promises, and brings out our new WWE champion, Alberto Del Rio. They note that Del Rio's MITB win comes out on DVD this Tuesday (hint-hint).


Del Rio comes out and does his usual name shtick. The look on Del Rio's face is pure heel gold. He says he couldn't resist cashing in his contract after seeing Nash attack Punk last night. Del Rio gets some decent heat from the crowd as he introduces himself as the new undisputed WWE champion and promises to represent them all with respect, honesty, and passion. The crowd chants "619!" in relation to Rey-Rey. Del Rio says he'll take pictures with your kids and sign autographs in the back and the crowd really rips into him. It's obvious Del Rio is just having a blast playing it up as the over-the-top rich Mexican heel. He mentions his match against Mysterio and the crowd pops at his name. Del Rio claims that he loves Rey Mysterio and the 619 chants get even louder before he says what he really loves, which is beating Rey Mysterio. As a matter of fact, that's how he started his career in the WWE. He brushes Rey off as an viable contender and calls him a chihuahua before tossing the mic to the ground and taking off. This was a really good way to start the show as the crowd was giving Del Rio a ton of heat for his cheap title win, and it seems as though Del Rio's title reign is off to a good enough start here. We cut to commercial with a shot of Triple H heading into John Cena's locker room


Falls Count Anywhere Match
R-Truth vs. John Morrison

R-Truth has new music finally, a remix of some of his past themes basically. We get a little video package of Morrison saying that he wants to take down R-Truth on his terms. Both men lock-up to start and then tease hitting some of their signature spots on one another as Truth rolls up Morrison for a two count. Morrison sends Truth to the floor with a clothesline and then takes him out on the floor with a corkscrew plancha for a near fall. They brawl around ringside and Morrison launches himself off of the guard barrier with a Muay Thai knee for another two count. They both tease a suplex, but R-Truth delivers a gourdbuster to JoMo for his first near fall of the match as we cut to commercial. When we return we see a replay of Morrison getting back-dropped out of the ring to the floor during the commercial break. Neat moment as Truth looks over the crowd with a strange look on his face just as the camera focuses on a sign that reads "The New Face of Crazy" with a picture of Truth underneath it. Truth hits a savage running knee to Morrison against the guard barrier for another pair of near falls. Truth stomps away on JoMo and then clotheslines him into the crowd. They fight back towards the ring and Morrison scores a step-over enziguri for a two count. Truth eats another lariat and then Morrison gives him a suplex onto a chair, turns around and nearly takes his head off with a stiff Shining Wizard for the win at 7:14 (shown)! That was a flat out fun way to kick off the show and Morrison gets his heat back with a hard earned win over Truth in another unique and fun match. ***


When we return from the commercial break The Miz comes out to the ring with a microphone in his hand and points out Jared from Subway of all people...and yes, it's really that guy, and he does have a damn Subway sandwich in his hand. Miz of course puts him down and claims he can do Jared's job better than he can. He walks out to the first row to confront Jared, takes his sandwich (that rat bastard!) and Miz puts over the new chicken sandwich promotion Subway is doing presently, as if this were an audition. He claims the sandwich will trend on Twitter because he's The Miz, he's a star, and he will be a champion again. Oh and he's something else I forget. What was it? Oh, right, awesome. Good promo segment for Miz so that he doesn't get lost in the shuffle, but the blatant product placement is starting to become somewhat annoying.


Kevin Nash arrives at the arena in a limo and begins making his way into the building as we cut to commercial. When we return we see country musician Trace Adkins in the front row.


Kelly Kelly/Eve vs. Brie Bella/Nikki Bella

Kelly Kelly somehow still has her Diva's title, despite Beth Phoenix's efforts last night She gives Brie a bulldog and then delivers the dreaded stinkface of doom to her for a bit. The Bellas go right into their twin heel formula in the corner, trading quick tags and working over Kelly's left leg. Kelly's leg gets bent in a grotesque fashion and angle, but she still manages to give Brie a flapjack. Eve tags in and hands out a few dropkicks as well as a bicycle kick but then she gets jumped from behind by one of the Bellas. Eve counters a suplex attempt with a neckbreaker and then hits her moonsault to pick up the win at 3:07. Y'know maybe I'm getting ahead of myself here, but these ladies keep showing remarkable improvement week after week. After the match Beth Phoenix and Natalya come out and give Kelly and Eve a faux round of applause. **


Kevin Nash is introduced as a former WWE champion, a four time WCW champion, and one of the most influential and charismatic wrestlers in WWE history. Nash initially gets a decent pop as his name is mentioned, but when he actually comes out the crowd doesn't seem to respond as vocally as before. Good God I feel like I'm recapping a Nitro report, I'm relaying a Kevin Nash promo about main event hijinx! Nash reminds us of his friendship with Triple H. He says Triple H was gracious enough to give him tickets to Summerslam last night because he was in town anyways, and then he claims that he received a text message that read "Hey big man, can you do me a favor? No matter what happens in the main event, stick the winner for me." Nash says he misses getting back in the ring and then says that what he did to Punk last night was strictly business. He acts shocked that Triple H claims he had nothing to do with Nash's run in.


The opening chords of "Cult of Personality" hits the arena speakers and suddenly the former WWE champion CM Punk is making his way out onto the stage with a microphone in hand. He's pissed and he asks Nash that if Triple H asked him to jump off a bridge, would he? Because Punk thinks that would be good for business. Big CM Punk chant starts up as Punk says that he knows that Triple H and Kevin Nash both have no idea about what's good business for the WWE. Nash claims this is the first time they've ever spoken with each other, so he tells Punk to watch his mouth. Punk ponders whether Nash or Triple H are lying. Nash offers to show Punk the text and Punk shows him one of his own from his little sister "Shaleen" last night that reads "OMG Kevin Nash WTF, thought he was dead LOL". By god they've worked their interweb lingo into everything! Punk jokes about Nash's career being dead and then explains that he's not mad at Alberto Del Rio because he only did what Punk did in the past to win the WWE title, but he is mad at Nash for his actions last night. Nash calls him an "indyrific wannabe" and that he's been here 5 years and only been in two PPV main events? Punk scoffs at Nash's overtures by bringing up his famous quote about Eddie Guerrero being a "vanilla midget" and that it's not 1994, it's 2011. Nash says Punk should be thanking him for paving the way for him with all the guaranteed contracts, and then calls him a waffle house employee and tells him to take a shower. Punk is playful though and says what he did last night was not good for business. He cracks jokes at some of Nash's past failed gimmicks and then asks Nash if he wants to fight, because Punk is willing to fight him right now in San Diego. But of course, here come the blackshirt security force to cut Punk off. Punk says if everyone's out here then Triple H must be alone in the back, so he's going to go find out the truth about this whole situation himself.


Alex Riley vs. Jack Swagger

Dolph Ziggler and Vickie Guerrero join the guys at the commentary booth and we're not two seconds back from the break before they're already bickering. Swagger goes to work on Riley in the corner, but Riley responds with a fiery lariat. Swagger hits a Swagger Bomb on Riley for a two count. This match has some strange kind of heat going on all the while Dolph and Vickie are having couples therapy on commentary, completely taking me out of the match despite the great pumphandle slam Swagger delivers in the ring for a near fall. Jim Ross looks so comically despaired as the man in the middle of these knuckleheads. Riley gives Swagger a big spinebuster. Vickie leaves the commentary table and steals JR's hat while Riley gets another near fall in the ring. Vickie tries putting the hat on the referee's head, but he's not having any of her hijinx. Swagger shows off his remarkable strength by just swinging Riley around like a ragdoll for a bit before delivering the gut-wrench powerbomb for the win at 4:22. Cole notes this is Swagger's first victory on RAW in a month. The action itself was solid, but the focus was entirely on the commentary table so you'd never know it. **


After the commercial break Jack Swaggers thanks Vickie backstage for her help tonight He says that Vickie shouldn't have to prove anything to Dolph He starts hitting on her and then says that she should maybe think about expanding her roster with the implication of taking Swagger on. I'd actually like to see that as Dolph hasn't needed Vickie for a long time and Swagger could use the heat she brings.


We get a lengthy wrap-up of all the Summerslam red-carpet hype and they plug their anti-bullying campaign as well before the camera cuts to backstage where CM Punk is approaching Stephanie McMahon. Now a lot of people commented on my Summerslam report that Steph wasn't that old and I shouldn't have said that she "looks great for her age", but I guess I just had an old brain fart. I happens once in awhile, but I thought Steph was into her late 30s instead of her mid 30s as she is. Regardless, she looks oustanding for someone who has had several children as well. She says she's sorry about how Punk lost the title last night, but in the end people always get what they deserve. Oh no she didn't!


Kofi Kingston/Evan Bourne vs. David Otunga/Michael McGillicutty

Kofi's out first, sporting some clean new baby blue trunks. This is anon-title match I guess. Kofi and Hennig Jr. lock up to start and Kofi gives him some forearms before tagging out to Bourne, who delivers a nifty assisted hurricanrana followed by a leaping kick. Otunga and McGillicutty team up on Bourne in their corner as Cole gripes about his lovelorn past with Jack Swagger. Bourne teases the hot tag but eats a pair of lariats instead for a near fall. Bourne plays the babyface in peril for a bit longer, eating a nice snap suplex for another two count. King manages to work in a "That's what she said" joke to my amusement, and Kofi gets the hot tag finally and cleans house with all kinds of crazy high dropkicks. That crazy Kofi, always getting high. He hits a cross-body off the top for a two count. Kofi nails McGillicutty with an enziguri and Bourne finishes him off with the shooting star press at 4:44. Pretty good action for a short little non-title match, though it does no favors for the already heatless Otunga and McGillicutty. **


"Undisputed" WWE Title Match
Alberto Del Rio © vs. Rey Mysterio

They're still calling the title the "undisputed WWE title", so we'll see if that sticks or not. Mysterio gets a great pop from the hometown crowd and it's obvious the idea behind this match here is to gauge how well a city with a large Hispanic demographic like San Diego will receive them, testing the waters for the upcoming WWE tour of Mexico. Don't be surprised if this is your big money-match on most of those tours (with Sin Cara thrown in perhaps as a wildcard). They do some nice counter wrestling early with some cradle attempts thrown in. Del Rio launches Rey into the corner, but Rey responds with a headscissors that sets Del Rio up for the 619. Del Rio escapes quickly and we cut to commercial break. When we return Del Rio is in the midst of trying to rip Mysterio's mask off of his head. Mysterio hits a dropkick and then delivers one of the most crisp tornado DDTs out of the corner that I've ever seen in my life. Rey hits a springboard crossbody for a two count. He tries a headscissors into a cradle attempt but that doesn't work either and Del Rio just kicks him in the face. Del Rio wraps his legs around Rey's waist and tries to wear Rey down while JR cracks jokes about Mexicans getting paid thirty cents an hour. Del Rio misses a dropkick attempt and crumbles to the outside floor, so Rey gives him a baseball slide dropkick and then a beautiful Asai moonsault to take Del Rio out completely Rey tosses Del Rio back into the ring and hits the seated senton followed by the headscissors to set up the 619 once again, but Del Rio cuts him off with a lariat. A brutal tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Del Rio only gets two, so he starts laying in closed fists on Rey's head. Del Rio hits his sickening signature step-up running enziguri on the top rope, but Rey still manages to kick out. Del Rio goes for the armbar, but Rey counters into a roll-up for two and ninety ninths! Del Rio tries for the armbar again but Mysterio gives him another hurricanrana into the ropes and then hits the 619 on Del Rio! He goes to follow it up with the big splash off the top, but Del Rio gets his knees up and manages to roll Mysterio up to retain at 9:57 (shown)! This was an outstanding first title defense by Del Rio as he took on his longtime rival and beat him clean in the center of the ring, which gives him some credibility with the title now. The match itself was fine work by both men, but probably notch below the great match Cena and Rey had a few weeks back. ***1/4


After the match Del Rio continues the attack on Rey's arm, seemingly trying to break it. He applies his signature armbar submission and wrenches away on Rey for a bit, when John Cena comes down to the ring to make the save for Rey to a big pop. Cena grabs a mic and says he's coming off of one hell of a weekend. Cena says he could be pissed off at Triple H for his shoddy refereeing job last night, but instead he chooses to be pissed off at Del Rio for taking advantage of Punk after their match last night. Cena calls Del Rio a target and says that now that he's the WWE champion, everyone is going to be his enemy now. Cena goes all Deebo on Del Rio (gimme that bike, n*gga!) and starts foaming from the mouth practically as he promises to whip Del Rio's ass whenever he gets the chance to, and that wraps up the show tonight.

Bottom Line: This was a great show to cap off a good PPV last night. The angle with Punk and the Kliq is going to be very polarizing, but if they play their cards right it could make Punk an even bigger star and I really like where that whole program is heading. We got a good match to open the show and another excellent television main event to cap it all off, so I really can't say anything bad about tonight's show at all. Great show and an easy Thumbs Up.


Score: 8.5/10

NJPW New Japan Cup 2011 Night One (3/6/11)

NJPW New Japan Cup 2011 Night One
March 6th, 2011
Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, Japan
Attendance: 2,005

I apologize again for the lengthy time in between puro reviews, but I've had a lot of stuff to review lately, so alot of the puro I watch got put on the serious backburner for the last few months. Time to jump back into that pile of goodies though, and we start off here with the first night in New Japan's annual New Japan Cup tournament from Korakuen Hall.


Before the show officially starts Don Arakawa, who was a pioneer of comedy wrestling in Japan for many years, is given a special "New Japan's Greatest Wrestlers" award from the New Japan brass for his contributions to wrestling. Nice moment for a guy that never really had any fame or glory


Jushin Liger/Tomoaki Honma/Tama Tonga vs. Koji Kanemoto/Wataru Inoue/King Fale

This is just your usual random meaningless six man tag to open the show. Fale and Tonga start us off with dueling shoulder-blocks to go along with dueling high-pitched shrieks. Honma and Inoue tag in next and trade chops. Kanemoto tags in next and he wants a piece of Liger Liger obliges and takes a belly-to-belly suplex for his troubles. Everyone gangs up on Liger in their corner, trading quick tags for a bit before Koji hops back in and misses a boot facewash attempt. Liger powerbombs him and tags Tonga back in. Tonga lays in some headbutts and then takes out Fale with a beautiful corkscrew moonsault before tagging Honma in. He hits a missile dropkick before the tag rules go out the window and everyone jumps in for the finish, which sees Honma pinning Fale with a diving headbutt at 9:33. Pretty good for a typical six-man opener, but nothing you haven't see a million times if you watch puro regularly. **


Giant Bernard/Tiger Mask IV/KUSHIDA vs. Tomohiro Ishii/Jado/Gedo

Another throwaway six man, but there's a lot of history between Ishii and TMIV as Tiger Mask recently defeated him in a Hair vs Mask match before this, so Ishii's bald here which looks...weird. Bernerd starts off with the smaller Gedo and overpowers him with ease, so he tags out to Jado, prompting a big Jado chant from the crowd. Lots of comedy stuff in this one, which is fine for it's place on the card. KUSHIDA continues to look better every time I see him work. Ishii and TMIV work in some of their usual stuff together next as the heels all gang up on Tiger for a bit. That doesn't work though so Bernard hops in and starts mauling all three of his opponents with relative ease. KUSHIDA hits a great spinning corkscrew moonsault to give his team the win at 8:50. Not too shabby for a quick comedy match, it was fun seeing Jado & Gedo's antics and it's always fun to see Bernard tossing people around like ragdolls. *3/4


TAKA Michinoku/Taichi vs. Apollo 55 (Prince Devitt/Ryusuke Taguchi)

Devitt retained the IWGP Jr. title against TAKA a few weeks before this at the 2/20 show, so he's looking for some payback tonight TAKA and Taguchi start off with some basic feeling-out stuff executed to perfection. Taguchi gets the better of him so TAKA tags out to Taichi, who's wearing his usual smug heel grin. Devitt tags in and he and Taichi do a leap-frog/dropkick segment before Apollo 55 takes out both of their opponents with double team maneuvers. Taichi takes Devitt to the floor and launches him into the steel guardrail, then chokes him for a bit with some wiring. He weakens Devitt up some more and then tags TAKA in so he can get his shots in. Taichi wastes too much time revealing his awesome trunks and Devitt gets a chance to tag out to Taguchi, who gives both TAKA and Taichi a sweet simultaneous reverse DDT combination. Rolling vertical suplexes from Taguchi followed by a dropkick gets two on Taichi. Taichi responds with a sickeningly stiff kick to Taguchi's skull that echoes through-out the entire hall and tags out to TAKA again. Devitt sends TAKA to the floor with a dropkick, but Taichi drags him out on a tope attempt and tosses him into the rails again for some major heat. In one of the cooler tag spots I've seen in awhile, Devitt lifts Taichi up on his shoulders and Taguchi launches out of the ring on top of him in a sort of doomsday cross-body device! Back inside a gourdbuster/double-stomp combo from Apollo 55 nearly puts TAKA away. Taguchi misses a dive onto Taichi out of the ring, allowing Taka to roll his arms and legs up in a unique sort of reverse jack-knife cradle for the clean win at 11:35. That's a pretty big win for TAKA as Devitt rarely takes clean pins anymore in this company, and the match beforehand was very good as well. Some very unique stuff worked into this one. ***


New Japan Cup 2011 Round One Match
Manabu Nakanishi vs. Yujiro Takahashi

This is the very first match-up in round one to kick-start the annual New Japan Cup tournament, which in the past has been an indicator of which guys were on the verge of getting big pushes when they won past tournaments. Takahashi tries a side-headlock to start but the strong veteran Nakanishi easily overpowers him. Takahashi's chops have no effect on 'Nishi, and he sends his opponent to the floor before missing a rare attempt at a pescado. Takahashi hits him with a quick tope suicida and tosses him back inside. Takahashi looks more confident on his offensive attack here than he usually does, even showing a bit of personality by mocking Nakanishi while trying various submissions on him. Not a smart idea from young Yujiro, and he pays for it with ungodly loud and stiff chops from Nakanishi. Nakanishi fights off several big suplexes from his younger opponent before taking control of the match and finishing him off with a pair of German suplexes at 9:50. Both guys looked really good here and this got pretty good in the finishing stretch. **3/4


New Japan Cup 2011 Round One Match
MVP vs. Karl Anderson

We've got a battle of two Americans here and a pretty intriguing match up for the first round. MVP has looked rejuvenated since coming to Japan, and it appears the New Japan brass have taken notice. Anderson gives MVP a clean break to start surprisingly and they trade waist-locks. MVP goes to work on Anderson with stiff forearm shots and a knee-drop for a two count. A belly-to-belly suplex sends Anderson out of the ring, so MVP drops him throat and then back-first onto the guardrail before launching him into the front row with a big Yakuza kick! Anderson barely makes it back to the ring before the ref's count reaches 20. MVP actually gets the crowd to react to his "Ballin!" elbow drop this time, unlike the previous times I've seen him wrestle in Japan where the crowd has no idea what he's doing. A stiff boot sends Anderson out of the ring again and MVP takes him out moments later with a pescado! Back in the ring Anderson hits a big boot and mocks MVP, so MVP takes his head off with a lariat. Anderson clotheslines MVP out of the ring and then takes him out moments later with a beautiful senton plancha! Anderson hits a pair of leaping neckbreakers, but MVP keeps kicking out and he fights back with repeated forearms and lariats. They both unsuccessfully try their finishers on one another before MVP manages to hit the Playmaker on Anderson, who still manages to kick out. MVP wraps his legs around his throat and forces Anderson to submit however at 12:20. This was a great back-and-forth match with two guys who were very fired up. MVP looks more motivated than he has in a long time and this was probably the highlight of the show so far. ***1/4


MVP cuts an awesome promo backstage afterwards, giving himself the moniker of Black Godzilla while demanding the translator explain to the reporters his comments about Anderson ("He's shooting blanks!"). Good stuff.


New Japan Cup 2011 Round One Match
Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hirooki Goto

Oh yes, this should be good. Goto is all pissy to start with forearms and a spinkick, trying to get the pin and end it early. Nakamura gets sent into the rails several times early and his selling is great from the start as usual. Back inside they trade forearms and Nakamura knees Goto stiffly in the gut. He give Goto a sloppy press slam and lays some kicks into his chest before scoring with an enziguri. He continues to reign in the brutal knee strikes to Goto's chest and starts becoming playful in his offense, grinning like a drunkard as he lays in stiff kicks and strikes into Goto and sneaking big smiles right into the camera all the while. This is why Nakamura is so fantastic, the personality he brings to his matches. Goto eventually is able to cut off the kicks momentarily and deliver a huge lariat to Shinsuke, followed by a spinning heel kick and a top rope elbow drop. He gives Nakamura a big superplex but only gets a two count out of it. A big German suplex yields him the same results. Nakamura reverses a death valley driver attempt into a flying armbar, but Goto quickly gets the rope break. Nakamura lays in a few of his signature Boma Ye knee-strikes to Goto's head, but he manages to still kick out. Nakamura slaps on a loose guillotine choke, but Goto fights back with a gigantic lariat that turns Nakamura inside-out in a full 360 degree rotation! Both men fight to the top rope and Goto hits a sunset-flip powerbomb, but Nakamura kicks out! Goto gives him a death valley driver neckbreaker and a stiff kick, but again he gets up. Goto tries for another lariat, but Nakamura counters into the flying armbar again. He nails Goto right in the face with a leaping Boma Ye knee off the second rope and then gives him a second one just for good measure to pick up the pin at 13:45! Hell of a match here, these two know each other pretty well and it showed. Nakamura brought the crazy fire that only he can bring, Goto worked his tail off, and for 13 minutes this was simply excellent and the crowd loved it. This is a big win for Nakamura too as defeating Goto here eliminates him from the tournament that he's won for the last two consecutive years and advances Shinsuke on to the next round. ***3/4


Hiroshi Tanahashi/Yuji Nagata/Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs Takashi Iizuka/Tetsuya Naito/Toru Yano

That's one hell of a babyface team in Tanahashi, Nagata, and Tenzan, encompassing two generations of NJPW main eventers. The heels all gang up on poor Tanahashi to start, but he manages to fight them off eventually and tag Nagata in. I should note that Nagata will challenge Tanahashi for his title about a month after this show. Pretty standard stuff here for the most part from these six Iizuka slams a chair into Tenzan's throat while Yano sends Tanahashi into the steel ring post. Back in the ring the heels work over Tenzan in their corner for a bit. Iizuka continues the dirty tricks by nearly choking Tenzan unconscious with his wrist-tape. Tenzan finally manages to tag out to Tanahashi, who's all rainbows and smiles (or dropkicks and forearms rather). He hits Iizuka with a somersault senton off the top for a two count. Yano tags in and Tanahashi picks him apart with a dragon-screw legwhip before tagging out to Nagata. Yuji lays in some stiff kicks and a Yakuza boot followed by a gut wrench suplex and some fiery forearms for dessert He lots Yano into a crossface and things break down as everyone pairs off and starts brawling outside the ring. Nagata tries to fight all three of his opponents off, but strength lays in numbers and Iizuka punches Nagata in the face with his metal glove, allowing Yano to pin him at 12:58. Pretty fun stuff from these six, the babyfaces worked well (although Tenzan was a bit boring as the babyface in peril) and the heels were a delight to watch as always. Pretty good for a meaningless match that will be forgotten tomorrow. **3/4


New Japan Cup Round One Match
Togi Makabe vs. Satoshi Kojima

Our final match of the opening round of the NJ Cup tournament is our main event for the evening. Makabe is all full of piss and vinegar to start, taking it right to Kojima and tossing him into the rails. Taichi is at ringside with Kojima so he gets sent into the rails as well. Makabe is one of the few guys that I would actually label as a modern day Bruiser Brody type, knowing full well how over-used that expression has been in the past. He's got the same crazy eyes though. Taichi is great as the cowardly heel's backup, taking it to Makabe behind the ref's back and making the early part of this match just fly by. He nails Makabe with a stiff chairshot and the look of satisfaction on his face and how pleased he is with himself is just awesome. Kojima chokes Togi for a bit and the crowd starts chanting for the big man, trying to rally him. Kojima does a great job of getting heat as he hits an elbow drop, as the crowd is really into things here. Makabe fires off a powerslam and a great northern lights suplex but neither get more than a two count. Kojima delivers a big ace crusher to Makabe and then delivers a second one from the second rope for a near fall. Makabe blocks a lariat and powerbombs Kojima for a close two. Kojima fights off a few lariat attempts and then blasts Makabe with another one of his own, but Makabe again kicks out and the crowd is going crazy for Togi right now. Makabe delivers a big death valley driver and then gives Kojima a bridging German suplex off the top rope! Taichi tries to get involved again but Hiroshi Tanahashi makes his way to ringside and takes him out for a bit of vengeance. Kojima nearly wins it with a big brainbuster, but Makabe manages to get his shoulder up. Makabe gives him another German but Kojima responds swiftly with stiff elbows. Makabe punches him right in the face and gives him a dragon suplex to pick up the win at 16:01! This was a fantastic match and a fine way to cap off the show, Makabe's fanbase is huge and he fed off of their energy through-out the entire match, making his comeback seem that much more important. The only problem is that I'm left wanting more! ***3/4


The arena clears out as the show comes to an end with the usual post-match interviews backstage and a highlight package of the show we just watched.

Bottom Line: This was a fun way to kick off the New Japan Cup tournament and there were several entertaining and well-worked matches, most of which left me wanting to see even more from these guys if given some more time in the ring. Not a bad match on the entire show, two damned good ones and a solid undercard make this pretty easy to recommend, but it's not a blow-away show or anything. It doesn't have to be though, and it gets the Thumbs Up from me.


Score: 7.0/10

WWE Summerslam 2011

WWE Summerslam 2011
August 14th, 2011
Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Attendance: 17,000+

We open the show with Adam Jones (the guitarist from Tool) playing the National Anthem on the electric guitar. Pretty good stuff, I've always liked Tool. We get the usual pyrotechnic work followed by the typical pre-PPV hype video package, this time focusing on the great Punk/Cena rivalry that's been going strong for two months now.


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


The Miz's music hits and the former champ makes his way to the ring as apparently he's involved in an opening six-man tag team match to start the show off. Miz tries to cut a promo but gets interrupted by R-Truth, who is then promptly interrupted by Alberto Del Rio. Not a bad match to throw together to start the show I suppose.


Rey Mysterio/John Morrison/Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz/R-Truth/Alberto Del Rio

Cole reminds us that Rey will face the winner of the WWE title match tonight tomorrow night on Raw. Miz and Kofi start us off, with Kofi launching Miz with a monkey flip before tagging JoMo in for some double-teaming. Truth tags in and eats a springboard spinkick from Morrison for a quick pin attempt. JoMo gets sent to the floor but Truth tosses him right back in and slaps on a chinlock. Miz tags back in applies a sleeper onto JoMo as the crowd is hot to start and already rallying behind JoMo. Morrison hits a pele kick on Miz and tags Kofi in. Kofi takes out Miz with a dropkick and then a nifty leaping cross body off the top turnbuckle. Kofi hits the Boom Drop on Miz and sets up for the Trouble in Paradise, but Miz avoids it. No worries though as Kofi gives him the SOS anyways for a near fall that's broken up by Del Rio, who nearly superkicks Rey's face off on the apron. Miz hits a nasty sort of RKO into a DDT move on Kofi for another near fall. Truth gives Kofi a big gourdbuster, but again Kofi kicks out. The heels try isolating Kofi in their corner, working your basic tag match formula. Kofi manages to eventually get the hot tag to Rey, who hits a seated senton off the top on Truth, followed by a springboard cross-body. Truth and Miz both get set up for the 619, but Del Rio breaks it up so Morrison takes out Del Rio with a corkscrew plancha over the top!. Kofi springboards out onto Miz while Rey hits a big splash off the top onto Truth for the win at 9:37. Pretty good for a thrown-together opener, and pairing them all into one match leads me to think that the title matches later tonight are going to get some serious time. Hot finish to a solid but unremarkable opener. **1/2


Backstage CM Punk is with John "Funkhouser" Laurinaitis, who wants a public apology from Punk for attacking him on RAW last week. Punk gives him an extremely sarcastic apology and turns around right into Stephanie McMahon! She wishes Punk luck tonight, much to his disbelief. Punk tells her to run along and talk to her husband Triple H or her daddy Vince McMahon. She says she spoke to both of them and they both wished him and Cena good luck tonight. Steph offers him her hand, but Punk refuses on the grounds that he "knows where that hand has been", which gets a big pop from the crowd. Oh no he didn't! Damn, Steph still looks great for her age.


Sheamus vs. Mark Henry

This match just sort of came together as both guys were listlessly meandering around on Smackdown over the summer. Henry is in his usual annual heel monster push while Sheamus had just turned babyface and has been getting some huge pops as of late. Thankfully he's still using his original music and not the faux Dropkick Murphys rip-off they recently made for him. Henry overpowers Sheamus to start as I don't think we've ever had a match with two men of such opposite pigmentation as these two before. Sheamus lays in hammer fists to little luck and Henry tosses him out of the ring. Henry gives him a press slam back into the ring and then hits the big splash for a two count. Henry chokes Sheamus on the second rope as a big "Let's Go Sheamus!" chant starts up. Henry lifts Sheamus up into a torture rack bear hug and then tosses him sternum-first into the turnbuckle as this has been total domination by Henry so far. Henry misses a Vader Bomb in the corner and Sheamus tries to start a comeback with big forearms and knee strikes. Sheamus comes off the top with a shoulder-block, but Henry kicks out at two.Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick and eats a clothesline. He avoids a slam though and Brogue Kick's Mark Henry out of the ring. Sheamus goes out to bring him back in but Henry winds up slamming him first into the steel post and then into the guard barrier, which totally collapses in an impressive-looking spot. Sheamus can't make it back into the ring by the ten count and is counted out to give Henry the win at 9:22. Crowd doesn't like that finish and neither do I. I understand the idea of keeping both guys strong by not giving either man the loss, but then why book the match on PPV in the first place? Just throw them in a tag match and have someone else take the pin or something. This was shockingly decent until the finish though. **


Josh Matthews is backstage with the World Heavyweight Champion, Christian. He asks Christian about the big news Christian apparently got, but all Christian will say is that Orton won't walk out with the title tonight and that he has an "insurance policy" tonight. I smell a run-in, could Edge be in the building tonight?


We get a trailer for the upcoming action film Killer Elite, starring Robert De Niro, Jason Statham, and Clive Owen. Not sure what the connection this has to the WWE, but they plug it nevertheless. Looks like a decent action flick.


Cee-Lo Green is introduced next for his musical performance of the Summerslam theme song, "Bright Lights, Big City" off of his debut solo album, which I highly recommend to anyone looking for a modern take on soul music with some hip-hop influences. He segues right into the censorship-friendly version of "Fuck You" (entitled "Forget You") as some of the divas show up behind him as his back-up dancers. I'm a fan of Cee-Lo's, but this wasn't exactly one of his better performances honestly. It wasn't bad by any means, it just wasn't particularly exciting. Thankfully the whole performance only lasts about seven minutes before ending. I see they've learned from their past mistakes with Kid Rock.


WWE Divas Title Match
Kelly Kelly © vs. Beth Phoenix

Kelly has Eve at her side while Beth has Natalya. That doesn't bode well for K2. Apparently Nattie and Beth have dubbed themselves the "Divas of Doom". Kelly is fired up to start with kicks and forearms in the corner. Beth grabs her leg and Kelly flips out of it before delivering a flying headscissors to Beth. Kelly tries her handstand-tarantula submission briefly before knocking Beth off the apron and then giving her an axe-handle to follow up. Damn Kelly looks good tonight, and not just in her usual aesthetic way either, she's actually bringing some fire to her work tonight. Back inside Kelly walks into a lariat by Beth and gets hung-up on the top rope. Beth delivers the old Cabana flying ass into the corner and then hits a snapmare for a two count. Beth lifts Kelly up into a bear-hug/torture rack submission, but Kelly is able to counter into a neckbreaker. Kelly gets hung up in the tree of woe in the corner but she manages to escape and roll-up Beth for a near fall. Sidewalk slam from Beth only gets two. Kelly channels her inner Daffney and starts screaming at the top of her lungs while stomping away at Beth in the corner. Kelly tries for her handspring back elbow, but Beth catches her and tries for the Glam Slam. Kelly counters into a roll-up though and is able to get the pin at 6:33. Kelly has seriously improved in the ring over time while Beth is one of the best women the WWE have, so this was much better than you might have expected. **



Backstage we see Stephanie McMahon leaving John Cena's locker room. Drama!


Elsewhere R-Truth tries to spell the word conspiracy when Jimmy Hart of all people shows up. Jimmy talks about his success in the past as a manager and offers his services to Truth. Truth then asks whether Hart is a "Little Jimmy" and he freaks out on him. He takes off while the Lakers' Ron Artest and his daughter watch on and shake their heads. Cute little segment.


Wade Barrett vs. Daniel Bryan

Barrett comes out to utter apathy, though to be fair Bryan doesn't get much of a pop either. If you had told me a year ago that DB would be carrying around a Money in the Bank briefcase with him by this year's Summerslam, I'd have called you a crazy man. Cole actually does his job for once and brings up how both men were on opposing teams in last year's Summerslam main event as Barrett works a loose wristlock to start. Bryan does some nifty matwork and dropkicks him before applying a hammerlock of his own. Another dropkick gets Bryan a two count. Dragon screw legwhip from Bryan followed by another dropkick sets up a Mexican Surfboard submission for Bryan. Bryan backflips out of the corner but walks right into a monstrous sidewalk slam from Barrett for two. Barrett delivers an impressive slingshot backbreaker with the assistance of the top rope before locking on a loose chinlock as the crowd tries to rally behind Daniel Bryan. Barrett sends Bryan to the floor with a huge boot between the ropes and this has by far been the most engaging I've ever seen Barrett look on offense. He's actually mixing in some new stuff tonight for once. Both men trade shots on the apron and Bryan sends Barrett to the floor with a dropkick. He follows up with a big running knee off the apron onto Wade on the floor. Back in the ring a missile dropkick only gets Bryan a two count. Bryan counters a pumphandle slam attempt and lays in some vicious kicks into Barrett's chest and legs before practically knocking him out with a kick to the side of the head, but again Barrett manages to get his shoulder up. Barrett tires for the Waste Land, but Bryan counters right into a guillotine choke before transitioning into the LeBell Lock! Barrett gets the quick rope break however. Bryan tries for a top rope frankensteiner but gets crotched on the top rope and then taken out with a lariat. Barrett gives him the Waste Land and picks up the clean pin at 11:47. On my first viewing of this match it sort of came off as average because of what I've come to expect out of Bryan's matches these days, but upon a second viewing I realized this was in-fact an excellent and well worked little contest that let Bryan show off his trademark goods while putting Barrett over strong. Very good match. ***1/4


Up next is the big Christian vs. Randy Orton no holds barred match for the World Heavyweight title. These two have been feuding for months now, putting on several great matches and even a possible Match of the Year contender if Cena and Punk hadn't practically ended that discussion already last month. Christian comes out before the match with a mic and he introduces his big surprise, none other than his best friend Edge to be in his corner tonight. Big pop for Edge, who's sporting a new haircut. Edge talks about how he was alright with retiring because he passed the torch to Christian and he finally won the World title he deserved. Edge doesn't seem to approve of Christian's actions of late though, accusing him of being a disgrace to himself and being better than that. He says Christian will always be his best friend and brother, but Edge says he never knew his best friend would become whining, crying little bitch. Edge walks off, leaving Christian in the ring. To my utter amazement the crowd doesn't seem to react at all to Orton. Weird, Randy usually gets some of the best pops in the company but not tonight I guess. Finally, onto the match itself!


No Holds Barred World Heavyweight Title Match
Christian © vs. Randy Orton

Edge's disloyalty doesn't bode well for Christian's retaining hopes tonight methinks. They trade right hands to start and a flying elbow from the second rope gives Christian the first near fall of the match. They go into a neat little spot where each man counters one of the others signature moves (the baseball slide right hand for Christian and the second-rope DDT for Orton), showing just how well these men know each other. PSYCHOLOGY! The action spills to the floor and Orton sets up for an RKO on the announcer's table, but Christian is able to escape, grab his title belt, and he heads off into the crowd to try and make a run for it! See now these are the kind of heel tactics I love to see from a character like Christian. Orton of course catches him before he can take off in the crowd and they brawl for a bit among the people. They make their way back to the ring and a big "Let's Go Christian" chant starts up surprisingly (though a small dueling "Christian sucks!" chant pops up as well). Christian grabs a kendo stick from underneath the ring and starts slapping Randy around with it a few times. Orton responds with a roll-up that nearly wins it for him, but he eats a spinebuster and Orton's bleeding lightly from the mouth. Christian tries to hit Orton with the kendo stick off the top rope but eats Orton's picture perfect standing dropkick. Powerslam from Orton and he's starting to get into Viper mode. Orton gets another close near fall with a jack-knife cover and Christian bails to the apron to try and escape. Orton tries for his second-rope DDT unsuccessfully but manages to fight off a Killswitch attempt by Christian. He misses a Punt attempt and Christian tries to crotch him on the steel post, but Orton slams him into it instead. Orton pulls two tables out from under the ring and sets one up outside of the ring and slides the other inside the ring with the legs folded up. He grabs a hold of Christian, drags him to the top rope and superplexes him back into the ring on top of the seated table! Creative spot there, but it only gets Orton a two count. Randy sets up a table in the corner but eats a reverse DDT from Christian. Orton leapfrogs a spear attempt by Christian and Christian escapes an RKO attempt by tossing Orton over the top again. Christian gets absolutely launched into the steel steps and Orton sets up the lower ring step against the ring apron. He tries tossing Christian into it, but Orton is the one who winds up eating the steel. Christian drags Orton to the Spanish announcer's table and then drives one of their TV monitors into Orton's skull. Christian mimics Randy's Viper routine on top of the table, so of course Orton turns around and RKO's him right through it! Both men stumble back into the ring after a bit of selling and bump into each other like drunks in the dark. Orton tries for the RKO, but Christian counters into the Killswitch. Orton, however, kicks out so Christian grabs two steel chairs and sets up for the Con-Chair-To. Orton moves out of the way and waffles Christian over the back with the chair once, turns around, and waffles him again with the chair, sending Christian flying out of the ring and through the table set up at ringside! Orton throws a few garbage cans into the ring and drags Christian back inside. He tries to punt him against the steel steps in the ring, but Christian avoids him only to be powerslammed into another table set up in the corner! Orton grabs the kendo stick and starts wailing away on Christian's back. He sets up a garbage can and then gives Christian the second-rope DDT he had been trying to use all match long, crumpling the trash can in a nasty manner. Orton sets up for the RKO, but Christian grabs the kendo stick and nails him. Christian tries the cross body from the second rope (which if you'll remember was one of the ways he'd lost a previous match against Orton) but Orton gives him an RKO in mid-air right onto the steel steps in the middle of the ring for the definitive victory and his 9th World title at 23:42! This was an outstanding way to blow off their great feud and this match ranks right up there with the stellar match they had at Over the Limit. There were all kinds of subtle bits of psychology thrown in too to show us how well each man knows the other after so many matches together, and some of the spots were pretty brutal as well. A great match to (seemingly) end a great feud. ****1/4


We get some clips of Sheamus on the Conan O'Brien show (which was hilarious) as well as the usual Summerslam in LA red-carpet stuff that the WWE does every year. They plug their anti-bullying campaign a bit to wrap things up.


Elsewhere backstage Triple H shares a few words with his wife Stephanie before making his way out in his referee shirt for our main event.


Undisputed WWE Title Match
CM Punk © vs. John Cena ©

These two have one hell of a task ahead of them to try and live up to their five-star-adorned match from last month at Money in the Bank. Cult of Personality still rules as Punk's theme and the crowd gives him a very warm response. Unsurprisingly they aren't as kind to Cena. They lock up to start and the dueling chants start already. The crowd may not be as hot as Chicago was, but there's still already an incredible atmosphere in the building. Major feeling out process in the early going here with both men working holds and counter-holds on one another. Sleepers, wristlocks, even a reverse chinlock from CM Punk with his legs hooked around Cena's waist. Gut-wrench suplex from Cena only gets a measly one count. The crowd chants "You can't wrestle!" at Cena while he works a very long chinlock. Punk counters with another legscissors attempt and Cena tries for the STF, but Punk shakes it off. They both trade suplex attempts and Punk sends Cena to the floor with a leaping dropkick. Back inside Punk works an abdominal stretch variation on Cena, but Cena picks Punk up onto his back and delivers a huge swinging sidewalk slam. Cena tries to start a comeback with some patented shoulder-blocks but Punk cuts him off early. Cena eats a Muay Thai knee and tries for a bulldog, but Cena counters into gut wrench slam. Cena tries again for the STF, but Punk counters with a reverse STO and then wraps his legs and hands around Cena's neck into a unique submission whose name escapes me at this time. Cena counters into the STF, but Punk counters that into the Anaconda Vice. Cena takes a few nearfall attempts and then counters that into a crossface! Punk gets the rope break though. Some excellent chain and counter wrestling here so far. Cena gets sent to the floor and Punk takes him out with a tope suicida. Triple H counts up to 9 but doesn't count them out, instead tossing both men back into the ring so we can have a decisive winner tonight. Both men trade blows as the fans have dueling cheers and jeers. Cena hits a CRAZY dropkick that nearly knocks Punk's head off and then hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle. He tries for the AA but Punk counters out. They trade cradle and bridge attempts and Punk nails Cena in the side of the head with a stiff kick for a two count. Cena hits a powerslam but Punk kicks out this time. Cena goes to the top but Punk nails him with another running knee strike before hitting a bulldog variation off the top. Punk springboards right into the STF from Cena in a nifty spot, but he gets the rope break. Cena and Punk trade finisher attempts and Cena hits the AA on Punk, but Punk kicks out at two! You see when you've got a guy as protected as Cena is, having someone kick out of his finisher actually means something here and the crowd totally bought into the near fall because of it. Cena misses his top-rope legdrop and Punk lifts him up and nails him with the GTS, but it's Cena's turn this time to play the finisher kickout game! Punk hits a Macho Man-esque elbow drop from the top, but again Cena kicks out. We get a loud "Randy Savage!" chant in a nice moment. Cena tries to start a comeback but Punk nails another Muay Thai knee and gives Cena a second GTS and pins him (although Cena's foot was clearly on the bottom rope before the three) to retain at 24:09! There was no way these guys were going to top their match from last month, so luckily they didn't try to work the same kind of match, instead relying on solid psychology and an old-school approach of working and milking holds on one another. This reminded me alot of an old Destroyer match from the 70s in that regard, and while it's probably not for everyone, I enjoyed it immensely and so should anyone with an appreciation for this kind of old-school style of wrestling. ***3/4


After the match Triple H raises Punk's hand and claps a few times on his way to the back. Punk celebrates in the ring when suddenly Kevin Nash of all people hops in the ring and destroys Punk with a Jacknife powerbomb! Pretty big pop for Nash as he takes off into the crowd afterwards. Triple H doesn't look happy about that. So of course who should come out but Alberto Del Rio with his Money in the Bank briefcase! The bell rings and we've got ourselves a title match with an exhausted and destroyed Punk in the middle of the ring...


WWE Title Match
CM Punk © vs. Alberto Del Rio

Del Rio hits his stiff step up enziguri on Punk as soon as the bell rings and that's enough to pin Punk and give Del Rio his first WWE title at 0:12. This wasn't really a match so I can't really rate it as such. [NR]


Del Rio celebrates with the WWE title as we go off the air.

Bottom Line: This was actually a pretty good show. On my first review I gave the show a thumbs in the middle but after thinking about it a bit and looking back on the star ratings, it was a bit better than that so I'm going to go ahead and give it the Thumbs Up here. There were no bad matches on the show and several solid if unmemorable bouts on the undercard and the two main events were fantastic, so I think I'm going to go with a Thumbs Up here.


Score: 7.5/10

JCW Legends & Icons iPPV 8/12/11

JCW Legends & Icons iPPV 2011
August 12th, 2011
Cave-In-Rock, Illinois
Attendance: ???

Oh those crazy clowns. Love them or hate them, there's no denying that the Insane Clown Posse has been a very successful music and wrestling act over the years from their humble beginnings in Detroit to their appearances on WWF. WCW. and ECW PPVs as performers, they've made a splash in both the music and pro wrestling industries. A little over a decade ago they started their own promotion, Juggalo Championship (or Championshit depending on who you ask) Wrestling and they've managed to carve a very nice little niche for themselves in the indy wrestling community by bringing in tons of former big name talents for their shows, and by cross-branding those shows with their annual "Gathering of the Juggaloes" festival. Now, personally, I'm not a fan of their music really but I always thought they were competent enough in the ring during their short wrestling careers and they're clearly lifelong fans of wrestling just like we all are, so I'll give them a shot here as this will be the first JCW event I've ever seen. What sold me on it, you might ask? Pretty simple really...look at the crazy stacked card for this show. Tito Santana vs. Greg Valentine, Roddy Piper vs. Terry Funk, the Midnight Express vs. The Rock and Roll Express, and the New Age Outlaws vs. Kevin Nash and X-Pac? Those are some big-time matches that would (and in some cases did) draw big money if the participants were all still in the prime of their careers. Nostalgia goes a long way though, so this should be entertaining nevertheless. Enough with the preamble, onto the review!


Your hosts are Mick Foley and Kevin Gill


We open the show with Kevin Gill in the ring to hype up the crowd for the show tonight. He introduces DJ Clay off-camera and then introduces us to his broadcast partner for tonight, none other than the legendary Mick Foley! Foley comes down to the ring in a cheesy leopard-skin dress shirt with an ICP Hatchetman t-shirt underneath. The crowd gives him about as positive of a reaction as you can expect from Juggaloes I guess, as the crowd seems to be pretty complacent. Foley puts over the Cactus Sack nickname he was once given and then puts over the Rock and Roll Express/Midnight Express tag match. Foley says he couldn't believe the card when he saw it and had to get involved. I can't tell if these fans are even wrestling fans or not, because they seem to be booing pretty much everything that Gill or Foley try to say.


We cut backstage to Bill Apter of all people, who is with Tito Santana to ask him about his match against Valentine tonight. Tito says he'll never forget the feud he had with Valentine and the shit he put him through, and actually seems fired up believe it or not. Foley claims Bill Apter did his wedding video and photos, which is pretty funny if true.


Cage Match
Greg Valentine vs. Tito Santana

Good god, Valentine has a massive set of man-tits on him. These two had one of my all time favorite wrestling feuds in the 80s over the IC strap and had many classic battles across the globe, so this is a real mark-out match for me personally, regardless of the actual quality of the wrestling itself. Just to get this out of the way now, the commentary is absolutely hilarious all night long. By far the best thing about JCW is the commentary. Anyways the bell rings and we're off as Valentine lays in some lazy forearms on Tito. The cage here is the old-school small chain-link kind, which I always liked. Tito rams Valentine's head into the cage and then uses the chain link fence like a cheese grater on Valentine's head, busting Valentine open barely a minute into the match. Valentine tries for the figure four, but Tito fights it off. Valentine does the old Flair flop after a big right from Tito and Santana tries a figure four of his own, but Valentine reverses with a sloppy cradle for two. Valentine fights Tito off in the corner and then rolls him up and puts his feet on the bottom rope to get the dirty pin at 3:44. That was it's own kind of awful and both guys looked ancient, but it was mildly amusing to see them in the ring together again. 1/4*


After the match someone hands Valentine a wrestling plaque he once won and he tries to give it to Tito to make up for the match, but Tito will have none of it and breaks it into pieces against the cage. Okay then, that was certainly....something.


Foley recounts a tale of ordering his own books using the Amazon Kindle and trying to return them under the grounds that he found extra copies laying around and didn't need them anymore. Gill kisses his ass a bit more and they high-five.


Cut back to backstage where the Headbangers are with Bill Apter and claim that they're going to win the big Battle Royal coming up. They play with Apter's comb-over a bit and we're ready for the next match as Foley keeps giving out shout-outs to Jeremy Borash on commentary.


15 Man Rumble-Style Battle Royale Match
(Featuring Jim Duggan, Headbanger Mosh, Headbanger Thrasher, Ronnie Garvin, Carlito, Tony Atlas, Jimmy Snuka, Big Daddy V, Rob Conway, Zach Gowen, Doink the Clown, U-Gene, Brutus Beefcake, Disco Inferno, and Rakishi)

Dave Penzer is handling the introductions tonight by the way, to add to the nostalgia. The first two participants are Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Headbanger Mosh. Mosh flashes Duggan his underwear and then applies a nerve hold on him as the next man out is Ronnie Garvin in street clothes (crowd has no clue who he is either). He locks up with Duggan loosely for a moment before they both try teaming up on Mosh. Next out is Headbanger Thrasher to even the numbers. The Headbangers take it right to the senior citizen crew with dastardly back rakes and forearms. Carlito is next out with a beer in his hand. He finishes it and hands the empty container to someone at ringside and hops in the ring. Garvin is the first man eliminated by Duggan as the next man out is a shirtless Superfly Jimmy Snuka, who loosely resembles a topless grandmother at this stage in his life. Foley recounts his infamous story of seeing Snuka leap off the cage at MSG and the crowd and wrestlers give him a minor standing ovation as Duggan eliminates Mosh. Next out is Mr. USA, Tony Atlas! Sadly Abraham Washington is nowhere in sight. Carlito and Snuka lock up in the corner and the next man out is Big Daddy V, who actually appears to have lost a little bit of weight. V dumps Duggan out and Carlito tries to dump him next to no avail. V eliminates Thrasher with a clothesline as Rob Conway makes his way out as the next participant. Atlas is eliminated off-screen and Conway is the first person tonight who actually shows a bit of fire in the ring, taking it to Carlito with big forearms. Tony Atlas joins the commentary team briefly to call this the greatest show ever and promises to return to the Gathering next year. Zach Gowen is out next with a false leg, so of course Conway rips the leg off for some cheap heat. Carlito eliminates himself with a double axe handle out of the ring on Conway as Doink the Clown (Matt Borne) makes his way out next. Foley puts over how awesome heel Doink was in the WWF while trying to call Carlito over to the commentary table, but Carlito's too busy getting another beer. Snuka gets tossed out next back in the ring. U-Gene is the next man out, and he doesn't look half bad! Everyone seems to be teaming up on Zach Gowen as Snuka joins the commentary table for a patented cocaine-fueled rant from the master of them. Remember kids, this is why you don't do drugs. Brutus Beefcake is out next as Doink gets tossed. Beefcake looks like an elderly Mr. Kennedy here with his bleach blonde hair. Doink is going OFF on commentary right now and cuts an insane curse-laden promo that puts most of the promos you hear in the WWE and TNA to shame. Next out is Disco Inferno as U-Gene gets eliminated by Gowen and V dumps Beefcake out. The last man out is Rakishi, who gets the best pop of the night so far. We have a battle of the big men as Rakishi and Big Daddy V square off in the middle of the ring with forearms and headbutts. Rakishi does a bit of dancing and hands out a few weak superkicks and the crowd pops huge for Rakishi as he gives Disco the Stinkface. Daddy V eliminates him moments later to vocal boos. The crowd chants "Bullshit!" as Conway and Disco eliminate each-other at the same time, leaving Big Daddy V alone with Zach Gowen. He gives him a huge Sky-High powerbomb and Gowen does a great job of selling the beating he's taking here. Rakishi puts over JCW on commentary and then we get a funny moment as Disco Inferno tries to do some commentary but he's the only guy Foley doesn't want to talk to. Gowen and V manage to screw up the finish TWICE before finally Gowen is able to low-bridge the ropes enough so that V can fall out over him, giving Gowen the win at 28:46. Spectacularly bad battle royal, even by the low standards by which I tend to grade them on. The messed the finish up twice and it really exposed the match for the poorly worked paycheck-match it was for everyone involved. Fun for the commentary though. As a match, pure shit. DUD


Backstage Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, complete with receding hairlines, are interviewed briefly by Bill Apter about whether the feud with the Midnight Express will ever end. Not until they're all dead Bill. So probably two months from now.


Rock 'n' Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) vs. Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey)

Everyone here is obviously so old that they can barely walk, let alone bump, so this winds up being about 30 seconds long. Gibson and Morton hit a double dropkick on Condrey and score the pin at 0:34. I'm not really sure what the point of this was. I mean, if you're going to bring them in for nostalgia then have them go out in the Battle Royale and do a few spots, don't do a 30 second tag match. I hate rating nostalgia matches like these so low, but I have no choice. DUD


Backstage Bill Apter is with Terry Funk and asks him if he's ready for a fight tonight. Funk, god bless his soul, still puts his heart and soul into every promo he cuts even at 67 years old. Funk talks about how idiot horses breed more idiot horses and then calls Piper's mother a whore and his father an idiot. Funk and Piper actually squared off in another legends battle royale a few months back on a PWG show, so it's not like this feud is coming out of nowhere. Funk trashes They Live (I love you Terry Funk, but you are flat out wrong man. They Live is an awesome flick and one of John Carpenter's best films that isn't named "Halloween" or "The Thing"). Funk calls Piper a faker and then calls himself the real deal as we cut back to the ring.


Philly Madness Match
Raven vs. Balls Mahoney vs. Shane Douglas vs. Sabu vs. 2 Cold Scorpio vs. Al Snow vs. Rhino

"Philly Madness" is just another word for calling this an ECW style match. This could wind up being moderately entertaining or a clusterfuck of doom. Foley gets in the requisite Al Snow jokes much to my amusement on commentary. We start off with Sabu, Douglas, and Rhino in the ring so of course they have to work in the triple sleeper spot from the infamous three-way dance at The Night the Line Was Crossed. Douglas and Rhino trade roll-ups and Sabu tosses a table into the ring already and sets it up in the corner. Sabu hits a springboard double back elbow on Douglas and Snow and Scorpio tags in. Scoprio hits a nifty Asai moonsault on Sabu and Balls tags in to do his one and only spot, the "Balls" punches. Michinoku Driver from Mahoney on Sabu and Scorpio tries to hit the 450 on Balls but winds up landing feet-first on Balls chest on the second rotation for a two count. Belly to belly suplex from Douglas, but he walks right into the Evenflow DDT from Raven. Al Snow cleans house with Head before getting a chair shoved in his face by Sabu. Sabu puts Rhino on the table and then tries for a legdrop, but Rhino moves out of the way and Sabu crashes through the table, allowing Rhino to pin him for the win at 3:49. Somewhat competent for the most part and so far the match of the night, but still crap. Rhino gives Scorpio the Gore on the rampway after the match just to be a dick. *


Bob Backlund vs. Ken Patera

One of the most underrated and unfairly forgotten feuds is brought back to life here and Backlund looks great for his age. We get a respectful handshake to start and the crowd actually applauds them for it. Backlund stalls a bit and they go for the old Greco-Roman knuckle-lock test of strength spot, and Backlund rolls right out of it in a nifty reversal. Damn, Bobby can still work. Patera works the absolute weakest bear hug I've ever seen on Backlund for what seems like an eternity, but is actually only about two minutes. Backlund can't lift Patera up and he gets stuck in the Full Nelson hold by Ken, but Backlund counters into the Chickenwing briefly. He rolls Patera up (sort of) sloppily and gets the win at 6:13. Another atrocious match obviously, but it was fun seeing these two rivals in the ring again and Backlund still looks good well into his 60s. 1/2*


Memphis Five Way Match
Dutch Mantel vs. Koko B. Ware vs. Brickhouse Brown vs. Doug Gilbert vs. Austin Idol

Koko is rocking some kind of weird parrot hat that wouldn't look out of place in Lady Gaga's closet. The sheer idea of names like Brickhouse Brown and Austin Idol on iPPV in the year 2011 is pretty amusing. Foley flips out seeing Brown here as he apparently hasn't seen Brown in nearly 20 years. This is Idol's first match in 12 years apparently. .Everyone teams up on Austin to start before splintering off into groups. Idol applies the figure four to Gilbert, but Dutch breaks it up. Idol rolls Dutch up for the win at 2:43. Well that match...existed. Nostalgia can only get you so far guys. DUD


Tracy Smothers vs. Tommy Rich

It's like a Smokey Mountain reunion or something here! Isabella Smothers is with Tracy. Penzer comes to the commentary booth and Foley asks him about the rumors that he started tonight about Penzer being a poor man's Jeremy Borash, which Penzer agrees with. In the ring both men lock up and Rich avoids a clothesline. Smothers lays in a few shots and then pins Rich with his feet on the ropes with the help of Isabella to pick up the cheap win at 0:38. The less said about this "match", the better. DUD


New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg and Billy Gunn) vs. Juggalo World Order (Kevin Nash and X-Pac)

This match could have probably made some serious money if it were taking place about twelve or thirteen years ago. Road Dogg is great on the mic as always and manages to actually get some sort of reaction out of the fans while going into the whole usual pre-match classic catch-phrases. Scott Hall is out with Nash and X-Pac, thankfully not wrestling. This should probably be your workrate match of the night, believe it or not. Hall grabs a mic and does his usual "Hey Yo, survey says" spiel. Hall doesn't appear to be obviously high or drunk, so that's a plus. All of a sudden Vampiro is introduced as the special guest referee for the contest. Sure, why not. Nash and Dogg start us off with a lock-up before Nash starts laying in the trademark knees in on him in the corner. Big elbows from Nash, but Dogg ducks a clothesline and does the old Jive and Juke punches before tagging Billy Gunn in. Foley and Gill start talking about how pot should be legal (I'm with you there!) while Gunn works a chinlock on X-Pac before taking him down with a shoulder-block. Big dropkick from Waltman on Gunn, followed by a spinning heel kick. Pac hands out one to Road Dogg as well. Waltman is already easily establishing himself as the worker and MVP of the night so far. He hits a Bronco Buster on Road Dogg, but Gunn takes him down with a clothesline. X-Pac is almost put to sleep by the Road Dogg and when he goes for the cover, Vampiro notably counts slow for him. X-Pac ducks a double clothesline and takes out the Outlaws to tag Nash back in. Nash cleans house with big boots and then gives Billy a chokeslam for a two count. Road Dogg gets in Vamp's face, so Vampiro superkicks him, drapes Nash's arm over Gunn and then fast-counts him to give Nash and Waltman the win at 6:25. We have our match of the night so far folks. This was nothing special at all, but it was fun to see all of these guys in the same ring again and Waltman brought more energy to this match than anyone else involved int he show tonight, so they get bonus points there as well. Vampiro joins the JWO afterwards. The crowd is too busy being completely asleep to be shocked. *1/2


After the match Nash comes to the commentary booth and both he and Mick put over how great X-Pac looked tonight. They both agree that he's got one more run left in him in this business, and Foley jokes about texting John Laurinaitis in-between matches for them. Waltman comes up to the booth and Foley puts him over but Waltman plays modest, saying he's blown up already. Foley says again that he's going to text some people about Sean, this time apparently being serious. They all agree that Bob Backlund is batshit crazy as we prepare for our main event.


I Quit Match
Terry Funk vs. Roddy Piper

Piper is accompanied to the ring by Bob Orton and gets a great reaction. Funk grabs a mic and continues to put down Piper and his whole family in classic heel Terry Funk fashion. He calls Piper an idiot, a phony, and a faker. Piper and Orton both jump Funk as the bell rings to officially start the match. Piper whips Funk with his belt at ringside and tries choking him over the barricade. Piper low-blows Funk and then pokes him in the eye (MY EYE!). Back in the ring Funk lays in some right jabs and then locks a sleeper hold onto Piper. Orton jumps in to interfere in the match and god bless his soul, he's still wearing a cast nearly 30 years after the damned angle that inspired it. Funk is busted open and Foley starts getting upset as the crowd chants "Foley!", prompting Foley to come down to the ring and I guess we have ourselves an impromptu tag team match, unofficially ending the first match in a no contest at around 2:46. No contest, so no rating.


Terry Funk/Mick Foley vs. Roddy Piper/Bob Orton

Foley hops into the ring and it's on. Fans chant for Cactus as Funk is bleeding pretty badly now. Piper lays some boots in on Foley while Orton lays in closed fists on Funk. Piper sends Foley into the ring post and then breaks up a pin attempt by Funk back in the ring, rolling over on top of him for the pin at 1:31. Crowd chants "Bullshit" and I'm not sure I blame them. This was probably the only match of the night to have any kind of heat whatosever, so that saves it from DUD territory just barely. 1/4*


After the match Mick Foley grabs a mic and jokes about tripping on his way into the ring and then puts over the fans for being patient and respectful all night long. The fans sort of cheer them, and then boo them. Not even magnets could have made these fans interested in the show that went down tonight. We close out the show with Brickhouse Brown giving Foley a big kiss on the cheek. Whoop-whoop!

Bottom Line: You should know going into this show already whether you'll enjoy it or not. Hint: if you're looking for competitive and entertaining, athletic wrestling matches, this is not the show for you. If you're looking to see a bunch of old legends in the ring together and listen to two and a half hours of awesome commentary from Mick Foley and Kevin Gill though, there are worse ways to kill two and a half hours. Perversely entertaining in a bad B-movie kind of way and the commentary was very informative and entertaining as Foley and Gill both just had fun talking about all the great history these wrestling legends made in this business, but as a "wrestling show" I can't in good conscience give this a positive review or recommendation. Steer clear unless you're in the mood for bad wrestling with great commentary, otherwise it's a Thumbs Down (sorry juggaloes).


Score: 2.5/10