WWE Friday Night Smackdown 5/13/11 --- DBD vs. Sin Cara!

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 5/13/11
May 13th, 2011
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance: ???

Lots of questions have arisen since last week's edition of Friday Night Smackdown. Mainly, where does the now former-World champ Christian go from here? Will he get a rematch with Randy Orton? Will he turn heel? How will the fans react to both men? Hopefully we get some answers to those questions tonight. We open the show with a nice video package highlighting Christian's title win and his loss to Orton on last week's show. The bits with Christian in total shock after the match is pretty heart-wrenching stuff when you throw in some sad piano in the background and images of Christian and Edge embracing at Extreme Rules.


Your hosts are Michael Cole, Booker T, and Josh Matthews


We start the show off with Christian coming out to the ring to a great ovation from the fans. He doesn't seem to be quite as confident and playful as he usually is, but can you blame him? He grabs a mic and says there's a lot of controversy over Teddy Long's decision to book him into a title match last week, but he has no issues with Teddy because he was simply doing his job. He congratulates Randy Orton and says he's looking forward to his rematch in two weeks at Over the Limit. So there you go, he is getting a rematch. Christian says that he 100% believes he can beat Orton, but before he can get much further Sheamus' music interrupts him and out comes the recently drafted Sheamus to the ring. He says he enjoyed watching Christian lose the title and challenges him to a match right then and there. But of course, out comes Mark Henry next. You know, these opening segments are becoming painfully uncreative. Every single week it seems you get the babyface coming out to cut a promo, who's then interrupted by atleast two or three different people, all to set up a match in the main event. Now, that's fine, it works, but when you're doing literally the same segment on Raw and Smackdown every single week, it gets old really fast. Henry and Sheamus wind up beating down Christian until Randy Orton runs out to make the save.


After the commercial break we return to see Teddy Long with Orton and Christian backstage, where he informs them that he's booked a tag team match for the main event tonight pitting Henry and Sheamus against the both of them. Christian thanks Orton for having his back, but Randy claims to have done it for his own reason, because he wants Christian to be 100% for their title match in two weeks.


Tony Chimel goes to introduce the next contest, but Chavo Guerrero is in the ring and takes the mic from him to do the introductions instead. He introduces Sin Cara as "the man following in MY footsteps", and out comes Cara to his usual nice pop. This leads us right into the next contest...


Sin Cara vs. Daniel Bryan

Now this is how you start a show, this is a certified dream match right here that probably could have sold out most arenas in Mexico. To my knowledge this is their first ever singles encounter, as I don't think Bryan ever worked for CMLL during his trips abroad to Mexico, he usually wound up working for AAA. Chavo is back on commentary and we've got the weird blue and gold dimmed lighting as well. Great sequence of armdrag counters and nip-ups to start off with the two men, showing how evenly matched they are. Cara hits a back handspring elbow that sends Bryan out to the floor, and he follows him out with the tope con hilo for a nice pop as we take a commercial break (damnit!). When we return Cara is busy driving his shoulder into Bryan's mid-section in the corner. Bryan blocks a top rope hurricanrana attempt by Cara and Cara just flips out of it, but as soon as he's back on his feet Bryan nails him with a missile dropkick off the top. This is the kind of match that's just screaming for some of that Bryan Danielson heel dickishness he perfected over the years on the indies, but he plays it babyface still, giving the legal break in the corner to his opponent. Bryan stretches out Cara with the good old Mexican surfboard and then sort of just tosses him back into a bridging German pin attempt for two. Crowd starts to rally behind Cara, as this has been all about Bryan stretching out his opponent and beating him down, building up the heat for the eventual comeback. Again, this would be greatly improved if Bryan were working heel, but it's still a lot of fun regardless. Bryan nails him with a stiff European uppercut but Cara counters with a hurricanrana into the corner. Cara hits a sidekick to Bryan's head and then springboards into a huge cross-body block for another near fall. Cara tries for the handspring back elbow again but Bryan catches him by the arm and looks to apply the LeBell lock. Cara escapes the hold only to eat another stiff kick from Bryan on the floor outside. Bryan climbs to the top rope, but suddenly Chavo Guerrero jumps up and tries to yank him off the top. This gives Cara enough time to meet him at the top and deliver the big C4 suplex for the win at 7:40 (shown). After the match Cara sees the replay on the Titan Tron of Chavo trying to attack Bryan and he refuses Guerrero's hand before shoving him down to the mat. As I mentioned, this match would have been better with Bryan playing the heel, but you take what you can get. Lots of fun for a TV opener and definitely Sin Cara's best match in the WWE to date. ***


We recap the Corre turning on Big Zeke on last week's show, followed by a cheesy graphic asking if we will hear from Ezekiel Jackson tonight. So it looks like the Big Zeke babyface push is on. I can barely maintain my composure I'm so excited.


I'll go to the papers if I have to! Someone needs to warn people about not wasting their time and money with that abortion of a film "That's What I Am". Watching the trailers for this flick makes me long for the days of No Holds Barred.


When we return from commercial break Layla is making her way down to the ring with a microphone. She talks about how she defeated Michelle McCool in a Loser Leaves WWE match at Extreme Rules and we hear some of the most fake, canned-in cheering I've heard since WCW went out of business. Atleast she looks good. Before she can get much further though, Michael Cole gets on the mic to interrupt her. He gets into the ring and says that no one cares about her or any of the divas. Which honestly, is true, but Cole still gets some heat anyways. Of course Cole changes the topic to Jerry Lawler rather quickly and yaks away about how he's going to beat him at Over the Limit as a big "You Suck" chant breaks out. Cole brings up his mom again and I cringe. Absolutely disgusting that they're still having Cole get unbelievably cheap heat making fun of King's dead mother, and he's got this year's "Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic" Observer award already locked up I'd say. Thankfully Kharma comes out before long and destroys Layla with the implant buster. Cole continues to trash talk Layla as Kharma turns her attention to Cole, who then runs off back into his Cole Mine. Kharma just laughs and walks away as we cut to commercial.


Back from the break The Corre and their ninety seventh theme song come out to the ring, sans Ezekiel Jackson of course. Shocking that these guys can still get decent heat despite being booked as the jobbiest bunch of jobbers to ever job. Wade calls out Kane, and the Big Red Machine answers promptly. Oh, I guess we're having a match then.


Kane vs. Wade Barrett

Lock-up to start and Kane works a side-headlock for a bit until he's backed into the corner by Barrett. Quick dropkick gets Kane a two count as Cole and Booker bicker away on commentary, completely taking me out of this match. Not that that's a bad thing. Cole talks about how he was a cheerleader in college (why does that not surprise me?) as we go to commercial. When we return Barrett is working over Kane in the corner again. Barrett targets the arm of Kane, slamming it into the corner and delivering an armbreaker for a near fall. Crowd starts to rally behind Kane as he delivers a big Samoan drop to Barrett followed by a series of big right hands. Slater provides the distraction out on the apron and Barrett goes for the Waste Land, but Kane counters with a big boot and then cleans house on Slater and Gabriel out on the floor. Kane hits the clothesline off the top rope and then sets up for the chokeslam, but Slater and Gabriel hit the ring to break it up for the DQ at 5:56 (shown). Do we REALLY need to protect Kane from the loss here? Barrett is the Intercontinental champion, and yet I can't recall a single victory the guy has had since winning the title. I'm not exactly a Barrett fan but goodness, you need to give this guy ANY kind of win at this point because he and The Corre just look like total jobbers at this point. Match was a bit better than expected, but that's still not saying much. *¼


After the match The Corre continue the beatdown on Kane as the Big Show isn't here tonight to have his back. So naturally Big Zeke comes out to make the save, and believe it or not he actually seems to get a nice pop as he totally dismantles his former stablemates. Eventually The Corre regain the upper hand though and beat Zeke down. Gabriel hits him with the 450 splash for good measure. Thank goodness the Corre got the upper hand there, because they desperately need any kind of heat or credibility they can get their hands on at this point. I still wish Gabriel was the one turning face on his stablemates, but Zeke's not terrible or anything so I can live with it.


Back from the break The Great Khali comes out with Ranjin Singh, both wearing cowboy hats. Both of them look unbelievably stupid, and it's time for the Khali Kiss Cam apparently. We scan the crowd as Cole shits all over the fans in attendance. They settle on a fat woman that's obviously a plant but suddenly Jinder Mahal begins walking down to the ring with his most serious face on. He slaps Khali in the face and shouts something in Punjabi at him and then just walks away. We all see where this is going, just hurry up and have Khali turn heel already. If it helps give Mahal a rub, I guess it's worth it.


Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase

Poor Ted, he doesn't even get a ring entrance so it's clear he'll be the jobber of the week for Cody tonight. Remember when people were talking about Ted being the breakout star of Legacy? No? Me neither. Cody cuts a delightfully evil promo on his way to the ring hitting the usual points and having his attendants hand out paper bags to the front row. He even hands one to Ted in the ring but he just tosses it. DiBiase actually sets some offense in to start, hitting a nice dropkick and working Cody over in the corner before Rhodes nails him with a dropkick of his own. Ted gets a few unique cradle attempts for near-falls and I must admit I am shocked they've even given him this much offense so far. If the crowd actually gave a shit about him this would be pretty good. DiBiase gets a nice clothesline and goes for the Million Dollar Dream, but Cody counters out and nails him in the face with a huge knee. Cody gives him the Cross Rhodes though and that's all she wrote as he picks up the win at 3:16. Much better than the usual weekly squash match for Cody as they actually gave Ted some offense here and this was pretty good while it lasted. No clue where DiBiase goes from here though. *½


Backstage Matt Striker is with The Corre. Barrett says they've been making a statement week after week. What statement is that? How far you can fall from the main event in 5 months? Barrett challenges Big Zeke to a one-on-one match at Over the Limit for the Intercontinental title and they walk off.


Randy Orton/Christian vs. Sheamus/Mark Henry

For some bizarre reason the faces come out first. Orton continues to rock the world's worst neckbeard ever. Christian and Sheamus start us off with a lock-up in the corner. They trade side-headlock attempts until Christian hits a back elbow off the second rope for a two count. Sheamus tags Mark Henry in and the heels go to work on the former champ in the corner. Christian gets the quick tag to Orton though and Randy nails Henry in the face with a dropkick. Decent action here, but you wouldn't know it since Booker T, Michael Cole and Josh Matthews are busy arguing like a bunch of middle school girls about the fairness of Christian defending his title days after winning it. You guys do realize there's a match in the ring, right? Henry begins to overpower Orton, slamming him into the turnbuckle. Orton gets sent to the floor and Sheamus looks to get a cheap shot behind the ref's back, but Christian blocks him off as we cut to commercial. When we return Henry is continuing the beatdown on Orton. He misses a splash attempt though and Orton gets the tag to Christian. Christian can't take Henry down with a clothesline, so he hits him with a dropkick off the second rope instead. He tries for a tornado DDT from the corner but Henry just tosses him halfway across the ring and tags Sheamus in. Sheamus works a headlock for a bit and Christian tries to fight it off but gets caught with a tilt-a-whirl slam for a near fall. Henry tags back in and tosses Christian sternum-first into the turnbuckle Bret Hart style. He gets a near fall and tags Sheamus back in once again as Christian plays the babyface in peril. Christian tries for a cross-body off the second rope but Sheamus catches him and looks for a powerslam, but Christian counters with a nice reverse DDT and gets the hot tag to Orton. He cleans house on the heels and looks for an RKO on Sheamus, but Sheamus counters with the Irish Curse backbreaker for two. Sheamus misses the Brogue Kick though and Orton gives him his signature elevated DDT from the second rope. Sheamus fights off another RKO attempt and Christian gets the blind tag on Orton. He hops in the ring and delivers the Killswitch to Sheamus while Orton delivers the RKO to Henry at the same time! Christian gets the pin to give his team the win at 11:08 (shown). Great finish to a solid tag match there. Started off a bit awkward with Orton and Christian unsure of who was going to play the Robert Gibson role, but everything after the break was gravy. **¾


We close out the show with Orton and Christian celebrating.

Bottom Line: A step down from the previous week's show, but really that's not much of a knock on the show since it still featured a few matches worth watching anyways. Daniel Bryan got the best match out of Sin Cara on WWE TV yet, and the main event was solid as well. Not a whole lot worth checking out in between, but still a good effort overall, so we'll go with the Thumbs Up, slightly.


Score: 7/10

WWE RAW 5/9/11

WWE RAW 5/9/11
May 9th, 2011
Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville, Tennessee
Attendance: ???

Your hosts are Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, and Josh Matthews


We open the show with Alberto Del Rio making his entrance to the ring with the full get-up this time, Rolls Royce and all. He calls out John Cena for a title shot, but instead Rey Mysterio comes out and challenges Del Rio to a number one contender's match tonight. Before Del Rio can muster much of a response The Miz's music plays and he and Alex Riley hit the ring. Miz is here to reclaim his title but Del Rio tells him he had his chance and he couldn't get the job done. Miz blames Riley for his loss, even though he used the belt himself. Miz wants a legitimate rematch with Cena, but suddenly R-Truth walks out and says he hates hospital food and segues into how John Morrison is eating alot of hospital food because of the attack from R-Truth last week. It's a shame that JoMo had to get his neck surgery now, he was getting ever-so-close to that main event push and the program he was working with Truth was was atleast interesting until he had to go under the knife. Truth threatens to send everyone in the ring to the hospital and then says, and this is a direct quote, "When an angry black man is talking, ya'll need to shut it up". For some reason that just cracks me up. Truth says he's going to be facing Cena for the title, but the Anonymous RAW GM sends an e-mail at that moment, which Michael Cole reads. The e-mail sets up a triple threat match between The Miz, Alberto Del Rio, and Rey Mysterio with the winner getting a title shot against Cena at the next PPV (Over the Limit) for our main event. This does not please Truth to say the least, so he gets up in Mysterio's face and Mysterio says he agrees with the GM's decision. The Miz tries to do his "Awesome" catch phrase but Ricardo Rodriguez steals the limelight and yells Alberto's name loudly. All of them wind up brawling and fighting to finish the segment. Decent opening segment to start the build for the next title match.


Brie Bella/Nikki Bella vs. Eve Torres/Kelly Kelly

I'm guessing this will just be an excuse to bring Kharma out. The Bellas, give them credit, atleast have attempted to change their mannerisms and work for their out-of-nowhere heel turn. They're still terrible for the most part in the ring though. Kelly hits a handspring back elbow on one of the Bellas and then rolls her up for the awkward pinfall at 1:24. And as soon as the babyfaces start celebrating, Kharma's music hits and out comes the former Awesome Kong. Yes, they actually refer to her as a "diva" here. Eve tries to attack Kharma from behind when she hits the ring but she gets squashed anyways. Kelly Kelly and the Bellas run for their lives while Kharma delivers the Implant Buster to Eve back in the ring. As a match, this was obviously nothing, but as a segment it's always entertaining to see Kharma destroy bitches. ¼*


Mason Ryan vs. Kane

CM Punk comes to the ring with Ryan while the Big Show comes out to be in Kane's corner. Kane gets shot into the corner and works his way out with punches, backing Ryan into the corner. Ryan counters with a clothesline and then slams Kane's head against the turnbuckle while delivering a running powerslam. Kane retreats to the ring apron and CM Punk kicks him in the shin while he's getting back into the ring. Show knocks out Punk while Kane sends Ryan to the floor, and then the Nexus run down to the ring for the beatdown and the DQ at 2:16. This continues the feud between the Nexus and the tag champs, but the problem is I'm not sure anyone wants to watch that feud. Match was decent while it lasted. ¾*


Dolph Ziggler vs. Santino Marella

Oh Dolph, from former "World champ" to wrestling Santino, my how you've fallen down the card. Ziggler is all over Santino to start, but Santino quickly responds with a hip-toss and sets up for the Cobra, but Ziggler just nails him right in his face with a nasty dropkick. Ziggler finishes with the Zig Zag at 1:42. Just a squash match for Dolph, but a useful one. Santino is always over with the fans so having Dolph destroy him in less than two minutes should give him some of that heat he desperately needs back. *


When we return from the commercial break we get...the Smackdown Rebound? I guess the WWE is really serious about making Smackdown the Randy Orton show, as they usually don't use up time on RAW with this but now that Orton is on Smackdown it suddenly gets a segment, revolving entirely around him of course. Afterwards Josh Matthews says he doesn't think it was fair for Christian to defend the title only five days after he won it while Lawler congratulates Orton.


Backstage R-Truth is listening to his headphones when Scott Stanford (who I will continue to pimp out as the next great play-by-play man in waiting for the WWE) walks up to him to get a word with him. Truth talks about parents writing letters to him to return to his old happy-go-lucky singing and dancing self. Truth then forces Stanford to say "What's Up" and runs off.


Elsewhere backstage Zack Ryder appears to be teaching John Cena the finer points fist-pumping. Somebody in creative find a use for Ryder, please, he's just sitting there.


After another commercial break we cut to The Miz and Alex Riley backstage. Riley tries to convince Miz that it wasn't his fault that he lost last week, but Miz isn't buying any of that. He can't decide whether Riley is an amoeba, troglodyte, or an orangutang. Riley promises to make it up to him and the camera follows him as he walks through the halls and then comes out to the ring, getting some serious heat while he's at it. I'm not sure if that's just the crowd being so impatient tonight and wanting to boo someone, or if Riley is really that hated. Riley grabs a mic and challenges John Cena, demanding he come out and eventually Cena does just that, and we have an impromptu match on our hands...


John Cena vs. Alex Riley

Not a bad use of Cena on the card, and the crowd is hugely behind him. Not many "Cena haters" in the house tonight it seems. Cena blocks a boot from Riley and hip-tosses him, but Riley avoids a running tackle and clotheslines him for a near fall. Riley hits a nice back suplex for another two count, and then he slaps on a sleeper. Cena fights it off though and goes to his standard stuff. Cena hits the Five Knuckle Shuffle while The Miz begins walking down to ringside and Cena delivers not one, but two Attitude Adjustment's to Riley before locking in the STF for the submission victory at 3:13 right in front of The Miz. Not much of a match obviously, just a squash. They've got to figure out what they're doing with Riley though because there's only so many times you can job him out before the fans stop giving a shit. *


Michael Cole hops in the ring when we return from commercial and he claims that there's nothing left for him to accomplish in the ring, so he's going to retire. He says he wants to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as both an in-ring competitor and commentator, but The King has had enough and he hops in the ring to remind Cole of the beatdown he took from The Rock last week. (Minor note: Rock's "Go Heat, bitch" quip isn't censored this time like it was last week). The King challenges Cole to another match and says this time if Cole beats him, he'll give him his Hall of Fame ring and induct Cole into the Hall of Fame himself, but Cole refuses and retreats back into his Cole Mine, talking trash about Tennessee all the way. Cole gets into the mother talk again just to remind us that the King's mother died last February. King flips out and tries to attack Cole in his booth, but Jack Swagger runs down and makes the save.


United States Title Match
Kofi Kingston © vs. Jack Swagger

When we return from the break we segue right into this match. Both men try to end it quickly by going to their finishers but neither man can connect with it. They trade head and waist locks while Cole won't stop yapping about Jerry Lawler on commentary, leaving us with no one actually calling the action in the ring (which is one of my pet peeves). Kingston hits Swagger with a clothesline that sends him to the floor and then he sets up for a slingshot splash, but Swagger moves and Kofi eats a boot on the apron, sending him crashing to the floor as we take a commercial break. When we return Kofi fights off a submission attempt but gets thrown into the corner. Kofi blocks the Swagger Bomb attempt, and the crowd doesn't seem to be particularly interested here which is unusual for a Kofi Kingston match. He misses the Trouble in Paradise again but hits a big cross-body block off the top rope that brings the crowd back to life. Swagger tries tossing Kofi over the top rope but Kofi skins the cat only for Swagger to just grab his ankle and apply the ankle lock while Kingston's in the ropes. Swagger works away on Kofi's ankle until Kingston counters with a tornado DDT attempt, but Swagger blocks it and Kingston lands on his feet, but he immediately crumbles to the mat under his ankle as if he just rolled it in a basketball game. Suddenly Jerry Lawler comes walking down the aisle and that distracts Swagger long enough for Kofi to nail him with the Trouble in Paradise (with the good ankle/leg mind you, not the one that had been worked over) to retain at 5:11 (shown). After the match the King grabs Cole's tie through one of the open slots in his Cole Mine and slams his head repeatedly into the booth in cartoonish fashion. The look on Cole's face as it's squashed up against the glass is priceless. Average match and I can appreciate the attempts at limb psychology, but it didn't really play into the finish so it was all for naught really. **¼


After everything settles down a bit Swagger grabs a mic and proclaims that Lawler is now fired because he touched Cole. Well, not really you see he only touc---HOLY SHIT IT'S LITTLE GUIDO! I had no idea James Maritato was working as a referee for the WWE now. You learn something new everyday, huh. Now please, finish up this Cole/Lawler feud at Over the Limit and be done with it, forevermore.


Number One Contendership to the WWE Title Match
The Miz vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Alberto Del Rio

This had better be one hell of a main event after the sub-par show they've presented thus far. This is just your basic formula triple threat stuff here with two men going at it in the ring while the third man lays on the floor in pain. Rey almost hits a double 619 early, but it gets broken up and Rey gets sent out of the ring. Mysterio hops right back in though and gets a tilt-a-whirl sunset flip for a two count. Rey sets up Miz for the 619 but Del Rio trips him up from behind. Del Rio tosses Rey out and then he and Miz trade cradle near falls and then knock heads with each other as we take a commercial break. When we return Del Rio is working a lazy camel clutch on Mysterio. A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker gets Del Rio a two count on Mysterio, so he rolls out of the ring and tosses The Miz into the turnbuckle. Del Rio and Rey go at it for a bit until The Miz low-bridges Del Rio and hops in the ring to take on Mysterio. Slingshot legdrop gets Mysterio a two count and the crowd wakes up again. Miz misses a clothesline on Rey in the corner so Del Rio drags him out to the floor and gives him a clothesline, only to turn around and take a seated senton from Mysterio. Mysterio hits another seated senton back in the ring and a springboard cross-body block gets him a close two. The Miz climbs to the top turnbuckle but gets crotched as Rey rolls up Del Rio for another near fall. Mysterio delivers the Frankensteiner to Miz but Del Rio is waiting for him a big cross armbreaker. Del Rio applies his armbar submission on Rey until Miz jumps back in the ring and Del Rio just rolls him up for a near fall as well. That was a nifty sequence. Miz goes for the Skull-Crushing Finale on Rey but he gets sent to the floor instead and Alex Riley decides to make an appearance, limping down the aisle to help The Miz get back into it. Mysterio counters a Del Rio powerbomb with a headscissors that knocks Alex Riley right off the apron which gives Rey enough time to deliver the 619 to Del Rio! Miz tries to get back on the apron but Rey dropkicks him off and splashes Alberto from the top rope, but Riley pulls Del Rio out of the ring at the count of two and Miz sneaks up from behind and rolls Rey up for the win and the title shot at 10:50 (shown). This started off rocky with no real flow at all between the "toss one out, fight the other" sequence, but it slowly picked up steam and escalated all the way up to the hot finish. Very good formula stuff. ***


After the match John Cena comes out and says that the Miz's title match with him at Over the Limit will be an I Quit Match. Should be a good match, but there's no way I see Cena losing that one. Meanwhile back in the ring R-Truth hops out from the crowd and attacks Rey Mysterio in the ring as we go off the air.

Bottom Line: I was just not feeling this show at all for the first hour. Way too short matches, heavy on the Cole/Lawler segments and just generally boring. Luckily the second hour was much better and concluded with a rather good main event for television these days. The main event is worth checking out, but aside from that, there really isn't anything must-see on this show, just the WWE laying the basic foundations for the build for the next PPV, Over the Limit. I hate to be so indecisive, but I'm going with Thumbs in the Middle here, leaning up, meaning it's a slight recommendation if you've got some time to kill, but otherwise don't bother.


Score: 6/10

CHIKARA King of Trios 2011 Night Two (4/16/11)

CHIKARA King of Trios 2011 Night Two
April 16th, 2011
Asylum Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 700+

Less than 24 hours after the opening round of the 2011 King of Trios tournament, the action continues in the famous Asylum Arena in Philadelphia (or the ECW Arena if you want to harken back to the 90s). Tonight's big matches include the four quarter-finals matches of the Trios tournament, as well as two four-way elimination matches in the Rey de Voladores tournament, with the winners facing off in the finals the following night. Enough preambling, on to the show!


Your hosts are Ultramantis Black, Gavin Loudspeaker, Bryce Resmburg, and Leonard F. CHIKARAsan among others


Colt Cabana vs. Archibald Peck

Peck has the bizarre gimmick of a marching band-leader, but the guy's so good with his character that he never makes it seem that silly. As you might've guessed from the participants involved, this is a laid-back comedy match for all intents and purposes. Peck gets a few bits and pieces of offense in, but otherwise it's all Colt avoiding and countering everything the inept Peck throws at him. Peck tries his finisher three different times and each time Cabana counters. Peck gets crotched on the top rope but his valet hands him her baton and distracts the ref long enough for Peck to nail Colt with the baton and pin him with a flying headbutt off the top at 9:13. An entertaining opener that gives Peck a bit of heat, but nothing special. **


King of Trios 2011 Quarter-Finals Match
F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor/Johnny Gargano/Icarus) vs. Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge/Daisuke Harada/Ultimate Spider Jr.)

Team Osaka Pro impressed again in their return to CHIKARA the night before with a victory against the Throwbacks in the first round, while FIST easily disposed the young Team Australia in the first round to get here. These two teams actually faced off in last year's tournament, but with slightly different line-ups. Crowd is solidly behind Team Osaka Pro here as Harada and Icarus start us off. Icarus continues to get X-Pac like heat from the CHIKARA fans. Harada nails him so hard with a forearm that he stumbles to the floor and into the front row. Gargano and Spider are in next, with Spider getting the better of him with a headscissors and spinkick. Taylor and Kotoge hop in next and Kotoge shows off his speed again by running the ropes. He locks on a leg vicegrip around Chuck's neck and Harada locks in a figure four for the double submission while Spider hits the Rolling Thunder in a neat spot. FIST takes back the upper hand by working over Spider in their corner and trading frequent tags. Icarus delivers a pair of snap suplexes to Spider and then transitions right into a guillotine choke. The fans rally behind Spider while he makes his comeback before he gets the hot tag to Harada. Gargano and Icarus hop in to interfere but Harada gives Icarus an overhead release belly-to-belly suplex right into Gargano in the corner! Harada nails Gargano with a big double-stomp off the second rope but only for two as he counters with a variation on the Sliced Bread. Kotoge misses a top-rope lionsault but nails Taylor with a kick anyways for two. Spider eats a sick Tiger suplex from Icarus that gets a very long two and the pace has noticeably picked up. Tags are out the window at this point as Harada and Kotoge hit a series of tandem moves on Gargano and Taylor. Double enziguri staggers Taylor and a snap suplex/frog-splash combo is just barely broken up by Gargano. Icarus looks done after a DVD/superkick combo but he manages to kick out and plant Harada with a DDT. Icarus eats a nasty knee but again Gargano is there for the save. Some absolutely crazy sequences of counters and reversals at this point, too fast for me to even call as the crowd chants "This is awesome!". Kotoge eats the assisted ace crusher from FIST but Spider makes the save only to eat the Sole Food from Taylor, followed by a crazy double-stomp/wheelbarrow suplex combo that has to be seen to be believed, but once again the save is made however. Everyone spills out to the floor and Spider goes for a big tope, but Taylor rolls him up from behind and pulls the tights for the cheap win at 19:15! Crowd is pissed about the finish, which means it accomplished exactly what it intended to. This was wall-to-wall action from these six men with some insane tandem offense and some of the craziest sequences of moves piled on top of each other that I've ever seen. Best match of the tournament to this point. ****


Backstage Zack Sabre Jr. promises to win his match tonight and rename the tournament the "King of the Armbars". Jericho might have you beat there Zack.


Rey de Voladores Qualifying Elimination Match
El Generico vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Pinkie Sanchez vs. Marshe Rockett

This is the first qualifying match in the Rey de Voldores tournament, which roughly translates to "King of the High Flyers". Elimination rules and the last man remaining goes onto the finals tomorrow night. The BDK referee Derek Sabato is the official here again, but he was fair and impartial the last night so maybe it won't matter, though with fellow BDK member Pinkie Sanchez involved it might be a different story tonight. Sabre showboats early on while putting the moves to Sanchez in the early going. Sabre locks on a nasty armbar but Pinkie gets the rope break. Generico and Rockett pop in next and feel each other out with wristlock exchanges. Fast paced stuff from these two until Pinkie tags himself back in. Rockett makes him regret that decision with stiff knife-edge chops almost immediately. Sabre hops back in he's met with the same chops from Rockett as well. Sabre grabs Generico's arm and bends each of his individual finger backwards like a pissed off loan-shark. Generico tumbles to the floor from a low bridge by Pinkie, who hops in the ring and begins choking Sabre. Sabre catches Pinkie in mid-air and delivers a nifty variation on the Tiger suplex and tags Rockett in, but Sabato refuses to acknowledge the tag. Pinkie goes for a springboard but Generico nails him with a dropkick in mid-air. He tries to follow it up but Sabato blocks off Generico. Rockett will have none of this though and destroys Pinkie with a suicide dive to the floor. Sabato distracts Rockett back in the ring long enough for Pinkie to nail him with a huge DDT, and Pinkie eliminates Rockett at 13:19.

Sabre tries a quick roll-up on Generico to no avail. Generico misses a Yakuza kick and eats a nasty jumping sidekick to the back of his head from Sabre for a close two count and the crowd begins to rally behind Generico with the "Ole" chants. Sabre goes back to the armwork on Generico but Pinkie springboards back in and hits a seated senton on Sabre to eliminate him as well at 15:59.

Pinkie works up a head of steam and hits a Shining Wizard on Generico to try and end this one quickly, but Generico kicks out. He goes for the top-rope brainbuster on Pinkie but Sabato pulls him off. Generico shoves him and tries it again but Pinkie hangs him in the tree of woe and hits a seated senton on Generico for a close near fall. Generico hits a sit-down Michinoku driver on Pinkie but Sabato counts so slow that a five count turns into a 2 count somehow and Pinkie gets the shoulder up. CHIKARA official Wink Vavasseur has seen enough at this point though and he comes out to...tell Sabato to change his shirt? Sabato reluctantly takes off the BDK shirt and throws on a CHIKARA referee's shirt, which freaks Pinkie out. He runs right into an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle from Generico though, and then gets absolutely nailed by a Yakuza kick and Generico nails him with the top-rope brainbuster for the win at 20:47! Lots to enjoy here, from the antics of the BDK ref to some great exchanges between Sabre and Generico and finally the super-hot finish, a good match that gives Generico momentum going into the finals tomorrow night. ***½


Backstage the Osirian Portal promise to become the 2011 King of Trios champion. There's something really weird about hearing Amasis and Hieracon speak as they both have the voices of inner-city thugs and they're all decked out in crazy Egyptian outfits. I kind of wish some of the masked men in CHIKARA would remain silent sometimes.


King of Trios 2011 Quarter-Finals Match
The Osirian Portal (Amasis/Ophidian/Hieracon) vs. Team Dragon Gate (Akira Tozawa/Super Shisa/KAGETORA)

This should be good, the Dragon Gate guys always seem to bring it when they come to CHIKARA. Both of these teams have very similar in-ring styles, and they mesh very well together in the early-going. Amasis and Tozawa trade big chops and Shisa tags himself in. The Portal try isolating Shisa in their corner for a bit until Tozawa gets fed up and he and KAGETORA interfere again. Tozawa plays the role of the isolated one now as the Portal gang up on him in their corner. Tozawa blocks a cross-body from Amasis with his knees and tags Shisa back in. Amasis takes an extended beatdown next as the Dragon Gate boys work him over with submission holds. Amasis gets the hot tag to Hieracon though who fights off both Tozawa and Shisa. He rolls up Tozawa while delivering a German suplex to Shisa at the same time in a cool spot, but KAGETORA hops in and nearly kicks his head off for a near fall. Amasis and Shisa trade nearfalls next until Shisa hits a big piledriver for a near fall. Shisa locks an STF onto Amasis who nearly taps before Ophidian can break things up. Tozawa nails Ophidian with a bicycle kick but Ophidian counters right back with a superkick. Ophidian takes out both Shisa and KAGETORA with a suicide dive on the floor and then springboards in with a senton for another extremely close two count. High angle Saito suplex gets another near fall on Amasis, but Hieracon breaks it up and DDTs Tozawa. The Portal triple team Shisa while his partners are down and Amasis finishes him off with the 450 splash for the win at 21:08. Another fun tournament match as all six men worked well together and the match just flew by as a result. ***¼


Eddie Kingston vs. Arik Cannon

We take a break from tournament action for a battle of two respected talents on the indies. Kingston comes out rocking a Sweet 'N' Sour t-shirt in honor of the late Larry Sweeney. Kingston nails Arik with a big Saito suplex early on and Cannon bails to take a breather, but Kingston dives out after him with a tope. Kingston's got some nice agility for having such a big gut. Both men try (and fail) to deliver a brainbuster on the concrete floor, and things break down into a brawl just like you'd expect from these guys. Cannon lays in some forearms on Kingston and then delivers Total Anarchy (snap twisting neckbreaker) to him while he's hung up on the guardrail, dropping him headfirst to the concrete floor! Back in the ring they trade some more stiff forearms and slaps and a t-bone suplex on Kingston gets two. Cannon throws everything he's got at Kingston: a brainbuster, Saito suplex, and a second Total Anarchy but Kingston kicks out of them all. Kingston avoids a moonsault attempt and backfists Cannon before hitting him with the Sliding D for the pin at 9:18. Fun stuff from these two, but I'm not a fan of that ending. Cannon throws all he's got at Kingston, who kicks out of it all, and then Kingston wins with a weak move like the Sliding D? **¾


After the match Kingston is visibly emotional as he and Cannon hang a Larry Sweeney shirt on the top rope and embrace. Touching moment.


Backstage The Colony promise that this will be their year to win the King of Trios.


The Colony (Fire Ant/Soldier Ant/Green Ant) vs. Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Tim Donst/Delirious/Jakob Hammermeier)

BDK screwed the Colony out of the King of Trios in last year's finals (though that was a different BDK team), so they're looking for vengeance here tonight. It's worth nothing also that earlier in the day at the Fan Expo CHIKARA does each year for King of Trios, the BDK and Tursas held a bodyslam challenge, and Green Ant came out dressed exactly like Lex Luger was when he famously body-slammed Yokozuna on the USS Entrepid back in the summer of 1993, right down to the fanny pack. He nearly bodyslammed Tursas as well until Hammermeier attacked him from behind and the BDK ran off. Anyways, onto the match itself. Funny spot to start where all three of the BDK members get head-butted by the Ants in a circle with each BDK member stumbling from one headbutt to another from the Ants. The BDK bail to the floor but Fire Ant gets catapulted over the top and wipes them all out on the floor. Things settle down eventually as the BDK try isolating Fire Ant in their corner. Delirious gets some nice heat beating down on Fire Ant and then tags Hammermeier in to pick up the scraps. Donst hops in next and hits a gut-wrench suplex on Fire Ant for a near fall. Finally he tags out to Soldier Ant, who wipes out Delirious on the floor with a tope suicida! Green Ant jumps in next and counters a delayed vertical suplex from Donst into a near-fall. All six men are in the ring again as they all trade tandem forearms at the same time in a neat visual. Donst jumps onto the apron with a chair and distracts the ref so Tursas can come in to interfere, but instead Green Ant body-slams him! The crowd goes crazy for that as the commentators sell the slam like they just witnessed the 1980 US hockey team's "Miracle on Ice". He puts Hammermeier into the Torture Rack and that's enough for Jakob to submit and give The Colony the win at 13:05. Another really fun match in the tournament thus far, and one that showed the Colony getting a measure of revenge on the BDK for last year's defeat while also putting over Green Ant like a CHIKARA hero for slamming Tursas. ***


Rey de Voladores Qualifying Elimination Match
1-2-3 Kid vs. Amazing Red vs. Frightmare vs. Obariyon

This is the second qualifying match for the Rey de Voladores finals tomorrow night, and the same elimination rules apply. Obariyon, one half of the Batiri tag team, is definitely the odd man out here as all three of his opponents are far more accomplished. I'm still marking out over Waltman reprising the 1-2-3 Kid persona. Red and Frightmare start us off. Bryce Resmburg puts over how influential Waltman was for this kind of high-flying action as Red gets hit with an early hurricanrana. Frightmare bails to the floor and Red follows him out with a springboard somersault senton! Kid and Obariyon are in next and the veteran easily outwrestles him on the mat. Big clothesline takes Obariyon inside out but he moves out of the way to avoid the bronco-buster, so Kid takes him out on the floor with a slingshot splash instead. Obariyon gets some nice heat for blocking a suicide dive by Frightmare and he follows it up with a Shining Wizard for a two count. They do a triple sleeper spot and then Kid hits the bronco-buster on Obariyon. Obariyon blocks the Spanish Fly suplex attempt from Red on the top and then leaps off, planting him with a big DDT to eliminate Red at 13:59.

Kid works away at Obariyon in the corner almost immediately, and then nails him with the X-Factor, but Frightmare breaks it up so he can hit his finisher (the Kneecolepsy) and Obariyon is eliminated at 15:15.

Frightmare dives out to the floor and wipes out the Kid as soon as Obariyon is eliminated. He misses a somersault senton off the top and both men jockey for position on the top until Waltman delivers a Super X-Factor off the top rope to eliminate Frightmare and advance to the finals at 16:29! Great finish there. This took a few minutes to get going but once it did this was more fast-paced fun that did a great job of putting over Kid as still having a good bit left in the tank for his match with El Generico the following night. ***


After the match Waltman has two words for the fans---"Thank You!".


King of Trios 2011 Quarter-Finals Match
Team Michinoku Pro (Great Sasuke/Dick Togo/Jinsei Shinzaki) vs. Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw/Manami Toyota

Good choice for the main event. Jigsaw and Sasuke start us off, and once again Sasuke is just wearing trunks, which just looks WRONG after so many years of rocking the awesome karate jumpsuit. They trade some basic holds and Quack and Shinzaki jump in to do the same. The fans call for Toyota and she tags in to face off with Dick Togo, which is quite the interesting match-up of Japanese legends. Toyota proves her toughness quickly though as she takes none of Togo's shit, nailing him with a missile dropkick and tagging Jigsaw back in. Shinzaki does his famous rope-walk spot and already things are starting to break down as everyone hits the ring and trades shots. Sasuke dropkicks the other four men on the floor and Manami Toyota flies off the top with a cross-body block to wipe out all 5 men! Back inside Jigsaw plays the man in peril as the M-Pro team works him over. Quack and Toyota team up on Sasuke for a bit and then Quack somersaults out of the ring to take out Shinzaki on the floor! Toyota rolls Sasuke around in the ring and gets a near fall. He blocks a lariat from Toyota though and just like last night he grabs a chair, and just like last night he swantons right onto the chair, crushing it! Moonsault from Toyota gets two. Jigsaw hits a brainbuster on Togo, but he gets the shoulder up as well. Togo rolls Jigsaw up for a near fall and then transitions right into his signature crossface, but Jigsaw gets the rope break. Togo delivers the pedigree to Jigsaw and goes to the top, but Jigsaw gets right back up and superkicks him stiff on the turnbuckle. Triple H would be so pissed if he saw that. Jigsaw goes coast-to-coast from one turnbuckle to another with a crazy missile dropkick, but Shinzaki breaks up the count. Quack locks Sasuke into the CHIKARA Special but Shinzaki breaks it up with a pair of vicious palm-strikes right to Quack's throat. Quack eats a chokeslam from Shinzaki, a pedigree from Togo, and a missile dropkick from Sasuke but somehow he STILL kicks out, so Sasuke nails him with a powerbomb for the win at 21:28. A few fans chant "Match of the Year!", which is being rather generous. This was still an excellent main event though and it was a lot of fun for longtime puro fans to see Toyota in the ring with the Michinoku Pro originals. Solid way to finish off Night Two. ***½


That does it for Night Two, stay tuned for Night Three.

Bottom Line: As much fun as the first night was, Night Two upped the ante considerably with a brilliant opening contest that's one of the better Trios matches I can remember seeing in a long time, and tons of fun and well-worked matches to round out the card. Not a bad match to be found here, and although it would have been nice to get a change of style in between all of the high-flying Trios matches, the whole show came off very entertaining and sets up the final night very well. Another easy Thumbs Up.


Score: 8/10

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 5/6/11

WWE Friday Night Smackdown 5/6/11
May 6th, 2011
Amway Center, Orlando, Florida
Attendance: ???

In the interest of full disclosure let me just start off this review by saying that I read the spoiler for this show already, and that one major thing that happened on this show really pissed me off as a fan. I'll address it when we get to it and try to be as objective as possible, but remember, just like you I am at the end of the day a fan. And fans are a fickle bunch, aren't we?


Your hosts are Michael Cole, Booker T, and Josh Matthews


We open the show with a great video package highlighting Christian's quest for the World title and his win at Extreme Rules. As the show officially kicks off Christian comes out to a huge pop. There are tons of Christian signs in the crowd. Before Christian can even begin to speak on the mic he's interrupted by the a chant for his name. Finally he says that the crowd will have to bear with him as he's waited 17 long years to be able to raise the World title above his head proudly. He talks about how all of his life-long dreams pale in comparison to the feeling of actually standing before the crowd as the new World Heavyweight Champion. He says he got a text from Edge right before he came out here that said "Enjoy this night because you earned it" and Christian is visibly getting emotional here as his voice trembles slightly. He says without Edge and his peeps he wouldn't have made it this far. Before he can get much further though, Mark Henry comes out to interrupt him and asks Christian for a title shot. Christian cracks a funny joke on Henry and suddenly the Great Khali's music hits and he comes out to the ring and throws his hat into the ring for a title shot. Ranjin Singh claims that the Great Khali has wrestled white Bengal tigers into submission, I shit you not. What a batshit crazy thing to say. Of course as soon as Khali is done challenging Christian, out comes Randy Orton to a monster pop. Orton looks incredibly strange with the lame neckbeard he's got growing on his face. Orton of course wants to throw his name into the hat as well for a title shot, so finally Teddy Long comes out and decides the fans will choose who Christian's opponent is tonight. They chant and cheer for Randy obviously, so it's Christian vs. Orton for the World title tonight in our main event.


Backstage the Great Khali and Ranjin Singh run into Jinder Mahal. Jinder criticizes Singh for having Khali dress up in a pink tutu on Raw.


Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan

Oh hell yes, this is the way to start the show. I'm overjoyed that Bryan was drafted to Smackdown as he was totally lost in the shuffle on RAW and being on the "wrestling" brand can only help him. Cole is still all over Bryan's case. Sheamus overpowers Bryan early with his raw strength but it's not long before Bryan begins utilizing his speed to avoid Sheamus. Bryan dropkicks Sheamus out of the ring and then flies out after him with the tope suicida. Back inside Sheamus hits a huge backbreaker as we cut to commercial. When we return Bryan is fighting out of a headlock, but ends up getting hit with another high angle backbreaker. Sheamus pounds away at Bryan on the ropes and then knees him right in the face on the apron. Bryan's selling here is excellent as Sheamus gets a two count back inside the ring. Bryan manages to block a superplex attempt and nails Sheamus with the missile dropkick to pop the crowd. Bryan utilizes his lethal kicks to chop Sheamus down to size so to speak and a final shot to the temple gets Bryan a near fall. Bryan gets taken inside-out by a clothesline from Sheamus who then attempts the Celtic Cross, but Bryan counters out of it and sends Sheamus to the apron. Sheamus goes for a slingshot shoulderblock, but Bryan grabs his arm in mid-air and locks him into the LeBell lock! Sheamus eventually is able to get the rope break though. Bryan goes to try another tope suicida, but this time Sheamus sees it coming and nails him with the Brogue Kick right as he attempts the move (psychology!). Back in the ring Sheamus gives Bryan another Brogue Kick for good measure and gets the pinfall victory at 5:38 (shown). Reasonably, this match shouldn't be as good as it was with only 5 and a half minutes of TV time. But my GOD did they pack a lot into that five minutes. There was the psychology of Sheamus taking the tope early in the match and then being able to see it coming towards the end, Bryan's selling was great during the extended beatdown sequence in the beginning of the match, and all of it wrapped up in your basic power vs. speed formula. About as good of a five minute TV match you'll ever see. ***¼


Cody Rhodes comes out to the ring next and accuses Rey Mysterio of adding insult to injury at Extreme Rules by searing his eyes with the mist. He claims that he's exposed Mysterio as the gutless coward he is. He says that he once again can see through everyone here tonight and that they're all ugly. Cue Rhodes paper bag assistants to hand out paper bag masks to the front row. Everytime I see this I'm reminded of Ugly Bob from the South Park season two premiere. Rhodes takes off, having garnered some nice heat as usual. Looks like the Rey feud is over.


We go over highlights of the tag team title match that the Big Show and Kane had with Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson at Extreme Rules before Big Show makes his entrance to the ring to face Big Zeke in singles action. Zeke comes with the Corre, so naturally Kane comes out next to back-up his partner as we cut to commercial break.


Big Show vs. Ezekiel Jackson

We return from commercial by joining this match already in progress. Show mixes things up early with a nice takedown and front face lock on Jackson but Zeke counters out by giving Show a back body drop in an excellent display of strength. Jackson hammers Show in the corner and then gives him a big body slam, but Show kicks out at two. Both men begin trading punches and Show shoots Zeke into the corner, ramming him with the almighty power of ass. Show signals for the chokeslam but The Corre attack Kane on the outside so he goes out to make the save. Show wipes out The Corre outside the ring but eats a boot to the face on his way back into the ring and Jackson gives him a lariat for the win at 3:34 (shown). This was actually far better than you'd think it would be, as Show actually looked motivated for once and Ezekiel played off the power vs. power dynamic very well. Not bad at all for the time it was given, and it gives Zeke a rub by beating the giant. **


After the commercial break we recap the Rock's birthday celebration on RAW this week. Great video package of the show's highlights.


Layla vs. Alicia Fox

Layla beat her longtime BFF Michelle McCool in a Loser Leaves WWE match this past Sunday, and since then has been trying to convince the divas backstage that she's changed. Crowd still boos her out of habit because of the music, but there are atleast a few cheers. To put over Layla's face turn Cole goes all heel on her, questioning her actions as Layla lays some kicks into Fox and nails her with a neckbreaker for the quick victory at 0:52. After the match Kharma (Awesome Kong) comes out to wreak havoc once again, so Layla splits. Fox nails her with a kick from behind but Kong no-sells it and lays her out with a lariat and the implant buster. Apparently Fox is so inept in the ring that she separated her shoulder trying to take the bump for the lariat, so don't expect to see her anytime soon, not that it matters. The match itself was just a squash for Layla, but it wasn't offensively bad or anything, so it atleast gets ¼*


Backstage Wade Barrett, Heath Slater, and Justin Gabriel confront Ezekiel Jackson about possibly splitting ways, but Jackson beats him to the punch (literally) and attacks Barrett! The Corre take the upper hand though and beat Zeke down, slamming what appears to be a huge dish rack onto him as they leave and we cut to commercial. Looks like Zeke might be in store for a big push down the road.


When we return from commercial Chavo Guerrero has joined Booker and Josh at the commentary table for the next match with Sin Cara, which is a nice move reminiscent of when WCW used to bring in Mike Tenay when they had the luchadores on Nitro.


Sin Cara vs. Tyson Kidd

Looks like they ditched Primo for Tyson Kidd to put over Cara's offense here and on house shows. We've got the same blue and gold lighting deal as last week, which is actually kind of annoying honestly. Cara misses a springboard back elbow but nails Kidd with a tilt-a-whirl headscissors. The action spills out to the floor where Cara delivers a hurricanrana on Kidd on the floor. Cara tries rolling him back into the ring but Kidd nails him with a dropkick and he crumples to the floor. Kidd follows it with a snap suplex on floor before tossing Cara back into the ring. A big "Sin Cara" chant starts up as Kidd gets a near fall. Cara responds with a flurry of kicks and a handspring back elbow. Cara flies off the top rope with a cross body block for two. Both men jockey for position on the top rope until Cara delivers the C4 suplex to Kidd off the top rope for the win at 2:48. Very energetic squash for Cara, give these guys ten minutes and you could have a great match. **


After the match Chavo Guerrero goes to the ring and shakes Sin Cara's hand in an intense staredown. So it looks like they're going to have Cara feud with Guerrero, and that's really a great choice for his first feud. Chavo knows both the classic lucha style and the current WWE style of wrestling, and he can help guide the younger Cara/Mistico to some great matches down the line I'm sure.


Backstage Todd Grisham asks Teddy Long if it's fair for Christian to have to defend his title so quickly, and Long says he's doing it for the fans.


World Heavyweight Title Match
Christian © vs. Randy Orton

Although I already know the outcome to this match before-hand, I'm hoping I can still enjoy the contest itself. We get the big match intros and everything, so the atmosphere is great here to start out. Orton takes the upper hand early with his power but Christian sends him to the floor and then nails him with a dropkick. He tries a slingshot splash to the floor but Orton moves and we take a commercial break. When we return Orton is working away at Christian's midsection with stomps. This is downright strange honestly as Orton is working this match as a heel would beating down Christian mercilessly, but the crowd loves him so they're not booing and thus it seems like they don't care, even though they clearly do.Orton works back bearhug on him and the crowd begins to rally behind Christian, who breaks the hold. Randy gives him a Cactus clothesline to the floor though as we yet again cut to commercial even though we just did that two minutes ago. When we return Christian has Orton in a headlock. Orton hits a big back suplex on Christian and both men are down. Orton nails him with a dropkick and a series of clotheslines, but Christian counters being shot into the corner by nailing Orton with his boot. Missile dropkick off the top gets a two for Christian. Orton fights off a reverse DDT but gets hung up on the top rope. Christian hits a big cross-body block off the top and the crowd totally buys into the near fall. Christian hits a big back elbow off the top rope but Orton counters with a snap powerslam for two. Christian tries for the Killswitch but Orton evades and plants him with the second-rope DDT for another hot near fall. This crowd is going crazy for this match right now. Orton tries for the Angle slam but Christian counters with a reverse DDT for yet another incredibly hot near fall. Orton tries and succeeds in delivering a second Angle slam and looks to set up for the RKO but Christian has it scouted and shoots him off the ropes, trying for the Killswitch again. Orton escapes that though and Christian leaps off the second rope only to have Randy give him an RKO in mid-air for the pin and the title at 10:06 (shown). As a title match, this was fantastic stuff. Both men were hugely over and the crowd was hot for everything they did, both guys worked hard, and the finishing stretch was simply outstanding. Aside from some annoying clipping, this was a great main event match. ***½


After the match Orton celebrates and leaves, leaving a crushed Christian behind in the ring. He gets his fair share of cheers to end the show as he lingers around the ring, staring at the center of the mat where he was just pinned. We close out the show with Christian walking to the back, dejected. I could go on a lengthy rant here about how Christian was never even given a chance to show his worth as a champion, but I've already done that in several places and I'm sick of repeating it. If there's one thing to take out of tonight's show though, it's that Christian is still a world class talent as he showed several times throughout the night. He finally got his due, and while I would have liked for it to have lasted longer, he'll always have that moment at Extreme Rules with his title win. I say keep your chin up fellow peeps, because Christian probably won't be leaving the Smackdown main event scene anytime soon.

Bottom Line: Whether you agree with the decision to have Christian drop the belt so soon or not, tonight's show was extremely entertaining. Sheamus and Daniel Bryan kicked things off with an excellent TV opener, Sin Cara looks to potentially have his first program on the horizon with Chavo Guerrero, and the main event was excellent. All in all, a great episode of Smackdown and an easy Thumbs Up.


Score: 8.5/10

CHIKARA King of Trios 2011 Night One (4/15/11)

CHIKARA King of Trios 2011 Night One
April 15th, 2011
Asylum Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Attendance: ???

One of the most anticipated tournaments in wrestling every year is CHIKARA's annual King of Trios event, a 16 three-person team tournament spread out over three days every April. Every year this event gets a ton of praise from everyone in attendance and is one of CHIKARA's top selling DVDs, so I figured it was about time I went ahead and checked out this tournament. I've followed CHIKARA on and off for about a year and a half now and saw probably 6 or 7 of their 2010 shows on DVD, but I haven't followed them as closely as I do other indy promotions so you'll have to forgive me if I'm not up-to-speed with some of the storylines, feuds, or wrestlers. Some of the teams for this year's tournament include an all-Minnesotan team of Sean Waltman, Arik Cannon and Darin Corbin, a Michinoku Pro contingent team consisting of the Great Sasuke, Dick Togo, and Jinsei Shinzaki as well as the rag-tag team of Mike Quackenbush, Jigsaw, and Joshi legend Manami Toyota to go along with many other teams of CHIKARA and US indy wrestling regulars. All three shows got a lot of praise as usual, so let's get started with night one.


We open the DVD with a touching opening video tribute to the late Larry Sweeney, who sadly took his own life a few weeks before this event took place. Sweeney was a beloved man on the independent circuit, especially in CHIKARA, and he rightfully gets a 10 bell salute before the show begins as all of the wrestlers surround the ring and pound the mat while the entire audience chants Sweeney's name. This leads us into an excellent graphics package to hype the tournament, which is very professional looking and makes this show really look legit.


Your hosts are Bryce Remsburg, Gavin Loudspeaker, and a revolving doors of color commentators.


Backstage El Generico and 3.0 argue over who the team leader is in a funny little segment.


3.0le (El Generico/Shane Matthews/Scott Parker) vs. The Osirian Portal (Amasis/Ophidian/Hieracon)

This should be a solid opener as I'm familiar with all six guys here and the Osirian Portal in particular are an incredibly entertaining stable of wrestlers that have become a viral video hit with their hypnotizing of their opponents routine. Ophidian and Matthews start us off as Ophidian taunts Shane with some acrobatic maneuvers. Generico and Hieracon (the newest member of the Portal) tag in quickly and do a nice exchange of armdrags. Standing dropkick gets Hieracon a quick two and Generico's partners encourage him to pull off Hieracon's mask, the biggest no-no in CHIKARA. Generico teases poking him in the eye but shakes his hand instead, only to poke him in the eye anyways which pops the crowd like you wouldn't believe. Generico runs off like he just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and hides underneath a table at ringside. Very light-hearted opening contest as you can tell, and as soon as I type that the whole thing breaks down into a sweet dance contest between the two teams, complete with cheesy dance music playing and all. Generico does the Macarena and the crowd is eating this all up like they're watching a Benoit-Guerrero mat classic, and so am I. The comedy continues with a hand-holding wave between the wrestlers and the audience and if you aren't smiling at this match by now, you need to lighten up. Things finally settle down to something resembling a wrestling match again as Generico gets worked over in the Portal's corner. He gets the hot tag to Shane Matthews and both members of 3.0 double-team Hieracon. Ophidian tries to break it up and gets speared in mid-air for a near fall. He eats an exploder suplex into the turnbuckle from Generico and then gets covered again for another close near fall, but Hieracon makes the save. Ophidian comes back with a big moonsault on Parker but his pin attempt is broken up as well. Matthews eats a Gory bomb and a double-stomp from the Portal but Generico breaks it up. Hieracon wipes out the rest of 3.0le with a moonsault to the floor with Amasis and Ophidian hit simultaneous top-rope splashes and get the win at 18:12. This match just flew by and was a great choice for the opener. Wacky, entertaining fun to start the tournament off and save room for other matches to go the crazy high-spot route. **½


Backstage Team Australia promises to upset F.I.S.T. in the first round tonight and win the entire tournament. Nice of CHIKARA to bring in some Australian talent that doesn't get a lot of international exposure.


F.I.S.T. (Chuck Taylor/Johnny Gargano/Icarus) vs. Team Australia (Tama Williams/Percy T/Kabel)

The Team Australia members are from the NHPW promotion in Perth and are all making their debuts on US soil. Percy T looks like your stereotypical pale and skinny indy kid while Kabel looks like an Australian version of Kane complete with mask while Williams actually has a good look, looking like a larger more muscular version of Paul London. Gargano and Percy start us off with some nice feeling out moves. Kabel tags in next and is apparently known as the biggest wrestler in Australia. He tosses Icarus around a bit with ease. Taylor tags in and gets double-teamed a bit by Team Australia until FIST returns the favor on Percy T. Percy gets worked over for a while by FIST and the heels taunt their opponents and the crowd while continuing the beatdown. He eats a pair of ace crushers from Gargano and Taylor for a near fall. Percy nails Icarus with a neckbreaker though and gets the lukewarm tag to the big giant Kabel, who cleans house on FIST with ease. Kabel and Percy hit a sloppy Doomsday Device on Icarus and Tama follows it up with a nice frog splash that gets Team Australia a close two count. Taylor hits the Sole Food on Percy and Gargano finishes him off with a facebuster for the win at 11:13. Crowd didn't seem to care for the Australians much despise FIST's heel antics through out the match, but Tama Williams looked impressive and I'd like to see more of him down the line. **


Backstage Tim Donst cuts a promo about being chosen as the leader of the BDK team this year and his choices of Delirious and Jakob Hammermeier as his partners this year. Donst has seemingly become more confident in his promo cutting skills since the last time I saw him.


Bruderschaft des Kreuzes (Tim Donst/Delirious/Jakob Hammermeier) vs. Da Soul Touchaz (Willie Richardson/Acid Jaz/Marshe Rockett)

BDK is like CHIKARA's version of the NWO, a stable that has slowly taken over almost every aspect of the promotion since it's creation, only they're far more entertaining and devious than the NWO ever was. Da Soul Touchaz somehow remain hugely over with the CHIKARA fans despite continuing to use Soulja Boy as their theme music. Eddie Kingston has joined the commentary team so things immediately become more amusing to listen to. Big Willie overpowers Hammermeier quickly and he runs off to tag Delirious in. Delirious has become extremely interesting again in CHIKARA for the first time in years since turning heel and changing his ring gear up. He tries chopping away at Willie but his strikes have little effect on the big man. Willie hits a big dropkick for a near fall and tags Rockett in who hits a leg lariat on Delirious for a near fall of his own. Donst tags in next and delivers the dreaded purple nurple to Rockett. It's always fun to see someone with a great wrestling background like Donst use over-the-top heel tactics like that. Hammermeier tags back in and tries for a Razor's Edge but Rockett counters out and hits him with a big Yakuza kick, tagging in Acid Jaz in the process. Delirious and Donst double team Jaz for a bit and rip his doo rag off, drawing the crowd's boos. Donst nails Jaz with a trio of rolling gut wrench suplexes but Acid gets the shoulder up just barely. Donst tries a powerbomb but Jaz sprays water in his face and gets the tag to Willie, who plays possum and draws Donst in for a big delayed suplex. Jakob gets tossed in and finally gets his comeuppance, eating a super sitout spinebuster off the top rope while Jaz tosses Rockett over the top rope to take out Delirious with a nasty senton. Donst distracts the ref with a chair, allowing the big Tursas at ringside to interfere and slam Jaz to the mat, draping Jakob over him for the cheap win at 11:23. Decent little match here with the BDK solidifying their roles as one of the heel teams to beat in the tournament thanks to Tursas' interference. Would have liked to have seen Da Soul Touchaz go a bit further in the tournament, but oh well. **


After the match Delirious is confronted by the Spectral Envoy and for a moment seems to recognize his old friends and looks to snap out of the hypnotic state BDK has put him in, but the other members of BDK quickly attack the Envoy and put a stop to any possible reunion.


Mike Quackenbush/Jigsaw/Manami Toyota vs. Amazing Red/Joel Maximo/Wil Maximo

This match got a lot of praise from the live crowd, and with these six it's bound to be entertaining. Manami Toyota is making her return to CHIKARA after an extremely successful pair of shows she worked for the company last September. Toyota gets a great reaction from the crowd again. Jose Maximo, one of the original SAT members, retired last summer and has since been replaced by Wil Maximo, who I believe is their cousin (as is Red). Jigsaw and Wil start us off with some nice hold exchanges. They trade bit kicks to the head and Jigsaw follows Wil out to the floor with a tope suicida, transitioning right into a DDT on the floor. Red and Quack are in next and Red gets a magistrate cradle for a two count. Toyota tags in next and hits a big dropkick to Red's back before wiping out Wil with a Yakuza kick and locking in the Muta lock! No comedy to be found here, just pure high-impact wrestling that's almost too fast to call. The Maximos and Red draw some boos by triple-teaming Jigsaw and knocking Toyota to the floor, hitting a trio of stereo kicks to Jigsaw's head for a near fall. Jigsaw eats a 'rana but gets the tag to Quack, who's fired up and hits some lightning fast kicks on Red followed by a DDT on the ring apron. A springboard splash gets Quack a near fall but one of the Maximos breaks it up. Toyota hits a missile dropkick off the top on Wil and Jigsaw follows it with a bridging German suplex but Red breaks it up and hits a spinning DDT on Jigsaw that has so many revolutions I'm getting dizzy just watching it. Red misses a pair of roundhouse kicks and eats one to the face from Quack, who turns around just in time to be met Joel with a back-to-belly piledriver that drops him right on his damn head! Oh MAN that was nasty. Luckily Toyota breaks it up at two. Jigsaw hits a double-stomp off the top, Quack follows it with a swanton bomb, and Toyota tops it all off with a big moonsault on Joel, but Red breaks it up at two. Jigsaw takes a nasty assisted ace crusher from Red and the Maximos and then eats a delayed German suplex from Wil all in rapid succession, but somehow Jigsaw kicks out. Toyota leaps from the top rope with a cross body to wipe out Red while one of the Maximos attempts the Spanish Fly on Jigsaw, but Quack breaks it up. Quack hits him with the '68 Comeback Special, one of Larry Sweeney's old finishers and Jigsaw follows it up with the 12 Large Elbow off the top, another one of Sweeney's trademarks, which is enough to get them the three count and the win at 10:11. Non-stop action from these six but I'm a bit pissed they only got ten minutes here, we certainly could have cut some time off a few of the other comedy-oriented matches for this. Still, this was an excellent six person tag match that provided fast-paced action and paid loving tribute to the late Larry Sweeney. Best match of the tournament so far. ***½


Backstage Team Dragon Gate introduce themselves.


Team Dragon Gate (Akira Tozawa/Super Shisa/KAGETORA) vs. The Spectral Envoy (Hallowicked/Ultramantis Black/Frightmare)

Great to see some of the lesser known Dragon Gate guys like Shisa and KAGETORA get a chance to shine here tonight in their continental United States debut alongside the always excellent Akira Tozawa. Akira and Frightmare start us off as Mike Quackenbush joins the commentary team. Frightmare hits a hurricanrana that sends Tozawa to the floor and teases a suicide dive, but Tozawa jumps into a fan's lap in the front row to hide. Ultramantis and KAGETORA tag in now, and Mantis is hugely over with the CHIKARA fans as he armdrags KAGETORA around the ring a bit until Hallowicked and Shisa tag in. Hallowicked gets sent to the floor by a drokick and Frightmare and Ultramantis double-team him for a bit in their corner. Shisa comes back though and locks a double abdominal stretch on both Mantis and Frightmare! Tozawa nails a dropkick on Frightmare and KAGETORA tags back in to take advantage of him. Quack puts over Shisa with a story about Jorge "Skayde" Rivera thinking the world of him, which is surprising considering the big falling out Rivera had with Quack and CHIKARA last year, with Mike even noting that he "doesn't appear for this company anymore". Shisa locks Frightmare into a Mexican surfboard and Tozawa tags back in. Frightmare and Hallowicked fight him off and send Tozawa and KAGETORA to the floor where Frightmare follows them out with a somersault senton. Hallowicked nails Shisa with a running knee in the corner and then hits him with a Rydien bomb for a two count. Things break down from here and tags are pretty much out the window as KAGETORA nails Ultramantis with a series of kicks to the back of his head. Ultramantis counters with the Cosmic Doom (Michinoku driver), but KAGETORA kicks out at two somehow. Ultramantis eats a bicycle kick and a huge Saito suplex from Tozawa, but Mantis kicks out as well. Tozawa misses the springboard diving headbutt (to this day I still have never seen him hit that move successfully) and he eats a three-man Doomsday Device from the Spectral Envoy for two. Shisa hits Frightmare with a headscissors off the top and Tozawa tries the springboard diving headbutt again, and actually manages to hit it this time! By god, he's finally done it! The Dragon Gate team all over Frightmare now, with Tozawa wiping him out with a delayed German suplex before diving out to the floor and taking down Ultramantis and Hallowicked with the tope! Shisa finishes off Firghtmare with the Yoshi Tonic (Canadian Destroyer to you TNA fans, though Shisa invented it) to give Team Dragon Gate the win at 13:34. This was a whole lot of fast-paced fun and successfully managed to show off Super Shisa and KAGETORA's talents in their US debuts. Tons of expertly executed high-impact move sequences in this one as well. ***



Team Osaka Pro (Atsushi Kotoge/Daisuke Harada/Ultimate Spider Jr.) vs. The Throwbacks (Matt Classic/Dasher Hatfield/Sugar Dunkerton)

Classic is Colt Cabana's alternate masked persona and you can really see the size difference between him and a lot of the CHIKARA regulars. Kotoge, Harada, and Spider are all from the great Osaka Pro promotion in Japan, and all three are extremely talented men who I've become a big fan of over the last year. Dunkerton and Kotoge start us off and immediately Dunkerton wants to challenge him to a foot race, so they do a running of the ropes sequence with referee Bryce Resmburg even counting them down for the foot race which Kotoge wins pretty clearly. This could probably be a pretty good wrestling match if they wanted it to be, but they go the comedy route here again. The ref calls a "foul" on Dunkerton and gives Kotoge Sugar's basketball for a pair of foul shouts through Sugar's arms (complete with Dasher Hatfield trying to wave his arms behind Sugar for the distraction) and the crowd is eating all of this up. Dasher and Spider tag in now and actually do a bit of wrestling, trading armdrags and hip-tosses. Spider "shoots" an imaginary web at Dasher and Sugar and both men sell it like expert mimes, getting thrown into one another by Spider's webs. Matt Classic is not amused by Spider's antics though and refuses to sell the imaginary spider web! The gall of that man! Classic tugs the imaginary spider web back and catches Spider in a big bear hug before he bails to the floor. Classic locks the old Iron Claw onto Harada's head and credit to Harada as he sells it like death. Classic gives both Harada and Kotoge a big double suplex but he eats a missile dropkick moments later from Spider. Spider hits a variation on RVD's Rolling Thunder for a two count but Dasher breaks it up. Harada hits a slingshot splash to the Throwbacks on the floor and Kotoge follows him out with a nice somersault senton. Matt Classic teases a dive himself but settles for an axe-handle off the apron, which Spider, the fans, and the commentators all sell like he just did a corkscrew moonsault plancha. Dunkerton hits a nice piledriver on Kotoge back in the ring but Harada breaks the cover up and sends a stiff knee into Sugar's face. Dasher gives Harada a Death Valley Driver but Spider breaks that cover up as well so Dasher gives him a Jack-Hammer, but Spider kicks out as well. Classic attempts a devastating splash from the bottom rope (my god!) but Spider rolls out of the way and then rolls him up with a magistrate cradle for the win at 17:04. Another extended comedy match, but as usual the comedy here was really well done and this never came off as boring or cheesy. A bit long-winded but more wacky fun as only CHIKARA can deliver. **½


The Colony (Fire Ant/Soldier Ant/Green Ant) vs. Sinn Bodhi/Obariyon/Kodama

This match is being refereed by Derek Sabato, the BDK's own personal referee and the big angle here is whether or not he'll screw The Colony again as he did in the finals of last year's King of Trios tournament, when he cost them the match with a fast-count for the BDK. Soldier Ant and Obariyon start us off with some basic early match feeling out stuff until Soldier hits the saluting headscissors on him and tags Fire Ant in. Kodama comes in and he and Fire Ant do a nice sequence of counters and armdrags. Green Ant tags in and locks a cradle submission in on Kodama who fights it off quickly and tags Sinn Bodhi (better known to WWE fans as Kizarny) in. I've never really seen the appeal of Bodhi or why Jake Roberts chose to menter him, but I'm always willing to have my mind changed. All three members of The Colony hit a trio of simultaneous dropkicks on Bodhi in the corner. Lots of traditional heel tactics from the team of Bodhi and the Batiri, which is kind of amusing given their bizarre appearances. Green Ant takes a beatdown from the heels for several minutes until he finally gets the hot tag to both teammates, who clean house on the Batiri and Bodhi. Fire Ant gets catapulted out of the ring with a senton and wipes out all three of his opponents and the crowd comes alive a bit for the finishing stretch. Green Ant blocks a split-legged moonsault back inside and locks a Texas cloverleaf on one of the members of the Batiri. Fire Ant takes out Bodhi with a big senton over the top rope to the outside floor while Soldier Ant and Obariyon trade forearms in the ring. A TKO-Stunner combo from Soldier Ant gets a close two count, but Obariyon kicks out. The Colony finish off Obariyon with the Ant Hill triple-team move at 16:32 for the win. Surprising to see the BDK ref count the three there, but you had to figure The Colony would make it out of the first round atleast. The work here was good, but the crowd was a bit complacent for most of it and the whole thing came off a bit dull as a result. **¾


Team Michinoku Pro (Great Sasuke/Dick Togo/Jinsei Shinzai) vs. Team Minnesota (1-2-3 Kid/Arik Cannon/Darin Corbin)

Sean Waltman is making his CHIKARA debut tonight, and he's doing so in the 1-2-3 Kid persona for the first time in nearly fifteen years, which was one of the main selling points on this whole show for me, being a longtime fan of Waltman's. Waltman even shaved his beard to appear more Kid-like, and he does look great here, much better than he did in TNA. It's great to see Shinzaki as well, as he's fallen on hard times recently when his home and noodles restaurant in Japan were destroyed by the tragic earthquake in March. Sasuke is wearing tights instead of his trademark robe, which just looks weird. Kid and Shinzaki get in the ring and the crowd begins chanting "1995!", referencing the great matches these two had that year in the WWF. Waltman gets on the mic and says "This is what it's all about" before apologizing for not cutting his hair into a mullet to complete the 1-2-3 Kid look. Cannon and Togo start us off instead, as this is Togo's final trio of shows in the US in lieu of his promised retirement in June. They trade a few moves and Corbin and Sasuke tag in and do an amusing "slow-motion" sequence, which Sasuke plays along with greatly. The fans, ref, and commentators all play along as well as it really seems like you're watching this match in slow motion and it's a simply hilarious visual, especially referee Bryce Resmburg's facial reactions to it all. Kid and Shinzaki are back in next and Kid does his old rope-flip into an armdrag sequence he used to use, complete with vintage 1-2-3 Kid karate chop hand-motions and all. Not to be outdone Shinzaki does his trademark walking-of-the-ropes spot, a move Undertaker could never perform with even half the grace or balance as Jinsei can. Corbin tags in and Team Michinoku team up on him in their corner. Togo hits a huge slingshot senton on Corbin but he fights both Togo and Sasuke off and tags Kid back in. Kid goes for the Bronco Buster but Sasuke moves out of the way and Cannon tags back in and delivers a snap suplex for a two count. He locks a standing texas clover-leaf on Sasuke and then transitions right into a variation on the Muta lock. Sasuke fights him off with a spin kick and tags Shinzaki, who springboards in with a tomahawk chop. Togo and Cannon trade stiff chops until Togo nails him with a superkick. Cannon fires right back with one of his own though and a brainbuster gets a near fall. Blockbuster off the top gets Sasuke a near fall on Corbin and he bails out of the ring to bring a chair into the ring. Surprising to see Sasuke apparently losing his cool, but then they go right back into another slow-motion sequence. Sasuke is better at the slow motion stuff than Corbin is! Corbin gets set up on a chair and Sasuke goes to the top for a swanton bomb but Corbin moves and Sasuke goes right through the chair! The action spills out to the floor now and the Kid flies off the top rope with a somersault, wiping everyone out. Kid misses a senton on Sasuke back in the ring and gets rolled up for a close two. He nails Sasuke with the X-Factor but Shinzaki breaks the pin up at two. Togo hits a combo DDT/STO on Cannon and Corbin and Sasuke goes for afterwards on the floor but misses and lands back-first on the concrete! Togo leaps off the top rope back inside but Corbin hits him in mid-air with an ace crusher! Togo counters by locking him into the crossface while Sasuke locks Kid into the straight-jacket stranglehold. Togo nails Corbin with the pedigree and then finishes him off with his signature back senton off the top to give his team the win at 22:51. A great way to cap off the first night of the tournament, the performances from Kid and the Michinoku Pro guys were incredible given their combined ages at this point. Corbin and Cannon seemed out of place, but everyone tried hard and the last five minutes were down-right excellent, so all-in-all a great main event. ***½


After the match Waltman gets on the mic and tells the crowd to give it up for the Michinoku Pro guys, leading them in a chant. Waltman gets a lot of shit from wrestling fans, but he was a class act, a gentleman, and a huge success over this weekend of shows according to all reports, having even left a heartfelt note to all of the CHIKARA wrestlers when he left thanking them for what he described as one of the best weekends of his entire life.

Bottom Line: CHIKARA kicks off the 2011 King of Trios with a fun night of six man tag team action and hilarious comedy wrestling, just as you'd expect from them. While there isn't anything on the show that really stands out as a must-see contest, there are several very good and well worked matches here and nothing is truly bad on the entire show. A very good start to this year's tournament and a show worth checking out. Thumbs Up.


Score: 7.5/10