Match Reviews

[recklessjack]

This can be a thread for reviewing matches regardless of who you are, what you watch and what you enjoy. Doesn't have to be limited to the resident wrestling nut.

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Petey Williams vs. AJ Styles at Genesis 2005: X Division Title

The Backstory: AJ Styles had just won the TNA X Title in that Unbreakable Three Way Match. Which isn't five stars as Dave Meltzer would want you to think. The he retained in a second Iron Man match with Chris Daniels (A match I have that I probably need to watch soon.) Regardless, I don't know the whole angle behind this match other then Petey getting a title shot. Can this match turn around my thinking of AJ Styles? Probably not but whatever.

The Match: Petey comes out first. I guess he got this shot by winning that Ultimate X match twice at BFG and then on iMPACT. AJ comes out and I hear girls scream, guys yell "Yeah!" and finally, me going BOOO, GET OFF MY TV SPOT MONKEY! Why did they kill off Team Canada, always though they were entertaining, except A1... come on now. Circle around to start then a lock up. AJ gets the better and breaks it. Second tie up as they struggle and its broken again. Dueling crowd chant already as AJ hits some early arm drags. Petey begs for a time out and tries a quick roll up. Doesn't work as AJ reverses to one of his own. Gets two. Back to more of the basics as AJ uses the Figure Four pin for a two. Petey gets tired of wrestling and hits some right hands but it's the face control segment so AJ hits some of his own and then does his pissed off hick dropkick. Scoop slam by AJ followed by a knee drop. Petey rolls over as AJ hits a second. That gets two. West is just in total dumb**** mode. AJ with a Suplex for a two count. Petey rakes the eyes and they run a counter sequence that really goes no where except getting Petey on the apron. After a short fight, AJ kicks Petey off and then hits his No Hands Somersault Plancha that sees him land ass first on the rail and go into the crowd. If it was only his back. Sigh. Petey gets back into the ring and AJ gets on the apron. AJ tries to Suplex him to the floor but Petey drops and TRIES TO GERMAN SUPLEX HIM OFF THE APRON AND HE DOES INTO GUARD RAIL! That gets a "Holy ****" chant from the annoying fans. A1 gets kicked from ringside, big deal. Show replays of AJ getting owned again. Anyways, Petey has a hockey stick and wants to use it but the ref takes it naturally. Another German for two. Petey locks him into a modified body scissors. The announcers do the typical why the heel is doing it to wear the face down. Yawn, wake me up when West and Tenay have stopped talking. Back up with Petey waistlocking AJ. That goes into a flash pin by AJ for two. Petey gets pissed and kicks AJ twice in the ribs. Now he works him over in the corner. Charge sees a Sunset Flip for two by AJ. A few moments later, AJ tries a springboard up Petey kicks him in midair. Styles lands on the floor as Petey flies out with a Slingshot Rana. Nice move. Almost flawless. Good job. Chops by Petey as he puts AJ in the tree of woe for the OH CANADA! Stay on the ribs Petey. And as I say that, Snapmare and a dropkick to the back of the head for two. Petey rolls Styles onto his back and taunts AJ. Styles tries to fight back but Petey blocks. Another comeback is blocked. AJ springs up and misses an enziguri BUT CONNECTS WITH THE PELE!~@! IT JUST COMES OUT OF NOWHERE! AJ fires some clotheslines, then Spinkick, Backbreaker, Pumphandle Gutbuster, German Suplex into that Facejam. That's the comeback so far. And all the moves in succession get two. Styles Clash is called for. Petey blocks it with a Double Leg Takedown as Styles uses the kip up rana. AJ goes for the Moonsault DDT but Petey reverses into a Northern Lights Suplex for two. Both men back up as AJ hits the Hangmans Neckbreaker. In a matter of moments later, they are both on the top rope. Petey pushes off AJ and dives off with a Rana but AJ rolls through for a two count. Chop exchange as we get move reverses. Petey counters the Styles Clash again but with a DDT this time. Canadian Destroyer is called for. It's blocked as Petey then goes to the Satillite Russian Leg Sweep into a Sharpshooter. As AJ gets to the ropes, Petey chickenwings one of the arms. Very nice. Tenay makes a statement about hating Canada at this point. AJ is tossed to the apron. Petey charges but AJ springboards into the Forearm. Blind charge by Styles gets a drop toe hold into the middle buckle. Petey goes up top but gets Dropkicked to the apron. Styles pulls him up to the top. Petey tries for a second rope Destroyer but its blocked with a back toss. AJ on top as he sees Samoa Joe on the ramp. Petey tries to get him down but AJ looks like he is going to hit a Gordbuster. He instead switches it to a Super Styles Clash. That's all as AJ gets the three count and retains the X Title.

My Thoughts: Where to start with this match. Basic start as there is to almost all matches with the feeling out process. But wouldn't people like Styles and Williams know each other so well that they wouldn't need a feeling out process? Then we get the glue that should have held this match together. The German Suplex into the rail was a perfect opportunity for Petey to just dominate the back and ribs of AJ but outside of two kicks, a normal German Suplex and that body scissors, it's all but forgotten. That's what I hate about the X Division. It's all move, move, move as demonstrated in AJ's comeback. He hit all of those moves in a row and it only got two? Petey isn't that tough. I did enjoy them countering their finishers though. Good to see when people who have faced each other night and night out do that. Shows some form of continuity. But the rest of this match is just thrown out spot after thrown out spot. And when I say thrown out, I don't mean to the floor. It's just a move, sell, move, sell, move, pose. I don't mind spotfest wrestling at times but when they had a chance to actually build a story throughout the match but decided to just start throwing moves out instead, it really hurts the match overall. Don't get me wrong, this is a really enjoyable match but the whole story isn't fulfilled unless you were going for the case of them knowing each other so well that they reverse finishers and that's it. The lack of that real story that was set up was forgetton about because the retards in the Impact Zone wouldn't know a story unless it bit them in the ass. Regardless, my quest for a great AJ Styles match fails once again. **1/2

Recommendation: Watch if it you can. Just don't expect anything great.

[recklessjack]

AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe in the Super X Cup Finals in 2005

The Backstory: This was a finals match to determine the number one contender for the TNA X Divison Title. The X Division is a no limits wrestling division in NWA-TNA where there is no weight limit like the Crusierweight divisons elsewhere. Anyways, both men had to defeat a couple of wrestlers to get in the finals. They win a very nice trophy if they win but more importantly they get a shot at Christopher Daniels (The Champion) at the next Pay Per View. So here we go. As an added joke, Christopher Daniels called it the CDI, short for the Christopher Daniels Invitational.

The Match: Samoa Joe enters the arena first as the crowd chants his name. Mike Tenay shills him like Don West would a Michael Jordan rookie card. (Side note: Don West used to be a person on one of those shopping network so he is used to selling things no matter how crap they are.) Back to the match. AJ comes out as he just gets cheered, no chant for his name. In ring introductions... bleh. No one cares Jeremy Borash, we want the wrestling. Yawn, still waiting for the match to start. Finally the match starts. Lock up to start as they go to the mat. To the mat again as Joe gets out of a Single Leg Takedown. Now we start with stiff kicks. Styles gets Joe off his feet with a Leg Sweep and takes it to him. Slams him to the mat (Joe weights 280 and Styles is about 214.) Kneedrop gets a one count. AJ with more stiff kicks. Forearm shots but Joe owns him to the mat. AJ is in the ropes sitting down as Joe OLE KICKS HIM OUT OF THE RING! That was stiff. Joe follows with the Elbow Suicidia (Diving Elbow through the ropes.) AJ gets whipped and jumps over the guard rail and hops back over, hitting Joe with a Forearm. Back into the ring now. "This is awesome" - Crowd. AJ Suplexes Joe for a two count. AJ sets him in the Muta Lock. Very nice. Now grounds him with a Headlock. AJ has been in control for a while as Joe throws him into the ropes and knocks down AJ with an elbow. But AJ takes Joe down with a Kip Up Rana. AJ is still taking it to Joe with elbows to the face until Joe hits him with a STO variation. Joe throws AJ into the turnbuckle and the hits a knee strike. BOOT SCRAPES.... FACEWASH!!!!! AJ looks dead now. After some strikes, Joe hits a Leg Sweep for two. Snapmare by Joe, then a chop to the back, kick to the stomach then a Knee Drop. That is called the Big Joe Combo and gets two for it. Joe with a Chinlock, that sucks. AJ gets out of it with elbows to the stomach but Joe knocks him back down. Joe with a Powerbomb for two but transitions it into a Boston Crab. This is good so far. Joe then turns the Crab into a STF. AJ gets the ropes so Joe lets go of the hold. AJ ducks a Lariat and Dropkicks Joe down. Follows it up with a Moonsault into a DDT. That only gets two. "This is awesome" - Crowd. Just shut up, please. Every ***damn match is either awesome or its horrible according you people. Then again, you are told to chant that at least ten times a match. Anyways, AJ goes to the top but gets caught. Both men fight on the top rope as AJ pushes him off. AJ then springboards into a Senton Bomb. That gets two and it makes me mad and I'll say why in a bit. AJ jumps up a Leg Sweep as AJ hits the Pele. That gets rolled into a Jackknife for two. AJ goes for the Styles Clash but can't pull it off. Joe uses a Rolling Cradle that gets two. AJ gets up and whiffs on the Pele. So Joe takes his head off with a Lariat and it GETS TWO! WHAT, NO FREAKING WAY! "TNA" - Crowd. Joe with kicks of disrespect but AJ comes back with forearm shots until AJ goes nuts. Joe does the same. So AJ hits an Enziguri. Both men are down as the ref starts the ten count. They get up at nine as Joe kicks him into the stomach. Joe sets him up for the Muscle Buster but AJ drops down. Dropkick to the back and then he gets Joe up in the Torture Rack. Spinned out into a Powerbomb as the ref gets kicked. Styles covers but no ref at all. Daniels sneaks into the ring and hits AJ with an STO. Joe is up and looks as Daniels as if he did something wrong. Daniels looks to belt Joe but is found out. AJ is up and clotheslines him out of the ring. So Joe puts AJ on the top rope and hits the MUSCLE BUSTAAAAAA! Then he locks in the Rear Naked Choke. AJ reaches for the ropes but taps out and Joe gets the win, albeit a tainted win since Christopher Daniels laid out AJ. No match time is announced.

My Thoughts: Where to start with this one. It has plenty of good things. One of them was AJ trying to keep Joe on the mat due to Joe having the size advantage. That always makes sense for a match like that. Joe was able to hit all of his usual spots in the match. Except for his Snap Powerslam but that can be let go of. It appeared both men were very stiff which makes for a cool effect. But now to what I didn't like. I hate, hate, hate that AJ had his back and knees worked on during the Boston Crab/STF move combo but he drops the selling of it to put Joe up in the Torture Rack. Combine that with the effect of being worn down and it just doesn't make sense, just like when AJ hit the Springboard Senton Bomb. The back was worked on and he hit it anyways. Didn't really sell it afterwards either. This was an enjoyable match but the constantly horrible selling of the back when AJ does his moves lowers the match value for me. Then again, I'm hardly what you would call an AJ Styles fan. He can do some great moves but as far as keeping psychology of a match, it's horrendous. The match they had a couple of months later was a lot better then this. ***

Recommendation: Give it a go. One of AJ's better matches. Then again, Joe is pretty good. But yeah, give a watch.

[recklessjack]

Scramble Cage: Backseat Boyz vs. Teddy Hart/Jack Evans vs. Carnage Crew vs. SAT vs. Two Members of Special K at RoH Main Event Spectacles

The Backstory: Just a new match type that Ring of Honor wants to introduce. They take a cage and put platforms on each corner of the cage for huge spots. Teams come in like a War Games way. Only way to win is after all the teams are in the match. Buckle up folks, this is gonna be a good one.

The Match: Backseats and Hart/Evans start out tonight. Johnny Kashmere clotheslines Evans into two flips and goes to work on him in the corner. Hart and Trent Acid do some good counters until Hart hits a Backdrop Bulldog. Kashmere eats a Superkick and Spinning Enziguri from Evans. Then Evans slams down Acid and hits a Standing Spiral Tap Move and a Standing Corkscrew Moonsault on Acid. That gets a "Holy ****" from the crowd. Hart and Evans use a Powerbomb/Blockbuster Combo on Kashmere. Backseats get the advantage now with a Powerbomb/Reverse Neckbreaker like move on Evans. Then a few moments later EVANS GETS DUMPED ON HIS NECK. Hart and Evans leave the cage and stall as the Carnage Crew comes in. The Crew own Hart and Evans on the floor. Jack Evans looks dead. Seriously. So the CC enter the cage now and brawl with the Backseats. Backseats get dropped into the cage. Crew hits a Spinning Neckbreaker/Side Slam on Kashmere then a Double Team into the cage onto Acid. Brawling right now as Hart and Evans are shown on the outside. Acid gets Suplexed onto his partner. As the SAT enter, the Backseats hit some "Razzle Dazzle Offense" on the Crew. SAT start to punish Acid with a Double Enziguri and then a RUNNING TOTAL ELIMINATION!!! After that, SAT feels the need to own Kashmere by throwing him face first into a Cage. Back to brawl as Loc of the Carnage Crew is saying "fcuk you" to a SAT member. Hart and Evans are finally getting back around, climbing the cage. HART RANAS EVANS INTO THE CAGE ONTO THE CARNAGE CREW. HOLLLLYYYY ****TTTT!!!! Hydro and Angel Dust enter the ring to get cheap pins but no wins. Everything is nuts down as Evans gets owned again, into the guardrail hard. Angel Dust hits a Tope onto Devito of the Carnage Crew. Dust back into the ring and hits a Reverse Blockbuster onto Loc. Evans gets Powerbombed by Special K. Then gets a Lungblower to the chest and finally, gets a Lariat. This is hard to call, but very fun to watch. Seriously, watch it as I hit a dead spot of people brawling. Well, Devito drops Teddy Hart with a Ki Krusher of all things. Seeing as how Low-Ki was kinda asked to leave RoH during this period. Hydro and Joel Maximo fight over some dangerous ass moves on one of the platforms. Jose Maximo of SAT climb up. SPANISH FLY OFF THE CAGE PLATFORM. PEOPLE WERE UNDER THAT ****!!! SCREW ME RUNNING! You better believe that gets a "Holy ****" chant. Now we get more brawling but during a match like this, there has to be. Anyways, Hart and Evans climb to a platform again. TEDDY HART WITH A CORKSCREW MOONSAULT TO THE FLOOR ON THE WHOLE SPECIAL K. Not to be outdone... JACK EVANS WITH A DOUBLE MOONSAULT TO EVERYONE AGAIN. OH MY GOD! Back into the ring, Carnage Crew hit a Spike Piledriver on Angel Dust. Acid with a Mafia Kick on Devito. Followed by the T-Gimmick on Hydro by the Backseats. Three seconds later and we have the Backseat Boyz as the first ever Scramble Cage winners.

My Thoughts: This was a spotfest, no doubt about it. But at the time, this was innovative, might be still. This isn't TLC spotfest but a good one using a cage and what not. I wish I could go into further analysis but this has to be seen no matter if you like spotfests or not. ****

Recommendation: Yes, watch this now. Probably one of the best spotfests ever.

[recklessjack]

Low Ki vs. American Dragon from RoH Round Robin Challenge

The Backstory: So at the Era of Honor Begins (which I have reviewed) Low Ki beat AmDrag and Christopher Daniels in first ever main event. Daniels showed no respect and said he could beat both men on the same night. So this is how the Round Robin Challenge came about. In the first match, Daniels beat AmDrag and in the second match Ki beat Daniels. So if Ki wins this, then he is the best in Ring of Honor for sure but if AmDrag wins, the whole thing is a tie and all three men simply F'N own.

The Match: The entrances are pretty clipped on my version of the show so we hardly get anything. But Ken Shamrock comes out and asks to ref the match since Ki and AmDrag are such good shoot wrestlers and stuff. They agree and s*** so we have a special ref for this match. On with the match! Oh wait, Shamrock has to explain the rules. This actually comes in useful at the end of the match, sort of. Both men look ready as they lock up. Ki hits a stiff kick to the leg already. Lock up and a stiff kick by AmDrag as they go to the mat. This is the shoot wrestling that Shamrock was talking about here. Ki fights out of an Armbreaker as AmDrag gets a headlock like thing locked in. Ki rolls over and starts to strike the hell out of AmDrag. They jockey for something as Ki gets a headlock in but switches it to a rear mounted position for some punches to the head. Then it gets rolled into a bodyscissors with headbutts to the back of the head. Then turned into a sleeper. Dragon is able to reverse to the Mexican Stretch like move. That goes into a sleeper like move but its just a weardown hold at this point. Ki gets out and starts in with mounted punches but they reverse more headlocks. Ki gets caught with a couple of one counts. Dragon switches to a face stretch like move and then hits the crossface punches into a bodyscissored sleeper. Ki gets to his feet and switches to a front headlock with knee strikes. Dragon drives Ki into the ropes but the headlock is still locked on until Dragon breaks and blocks a Ki kick to the face. Lockup and Ki shoots for the arm. They wrestle a bit more until Ki starts with the punches again. But then Dragon has the Armbreaker on . Very nice move right now. Ki flips it over and goes back to a back mounted position and gets the sleeper but Dragon gets into the ropes. Ki doesn't release as Shamrock pulls them out to the middle of the ring. Dragon comes back with some headbutts. Now Ki gets his Armbreaker on but Dragon POWERBOMBS HIM OUT OF IT! Ki rolls to the apron and holds his back. Both men look to lock up again but Ki takes him down to the mat again. He is looking for the Cross Armbreaker but Dragon is blocking the move and flips out of it and gets a Deathlock STF like move. It looks F'N brutal to be in. Ki gets ropes so Dragon breaks it up. Ki kicks Dragon right in the eye and that takes Dragon to the floor. There are no count outs in Ring of Honor so he can take some time here. Dragon back up and into the ring as Low Ki is stalking him almost. Lock up again and Ki goes behind. Ki takes him down by using the leg and tries to lock in a move but I don't know what it is. Dragon gets the real Deathlock in and chickenwings the arms. He rolls that over for a two count. The crowd claps for the effort so far. Dragon covers for two and then goes into a Leg Lock. So Ki starts to kick him. Everytime Ki kicks Dragon, he cranks the hold. Now that is nice. The commentators shill Strong Style and Ki goes Kawada on the head of Dragon. I mean, Dragon is F'N worn down now. Just sick. Dragon is on the floor as Shamrock comes out to ask him if he wants to quit. But nope, he wants to keep going. Dragon is back and just goes nuts on Ki. Cross Armbreaker but Ki gets ropes. Both men are up again and look for another lock up. Ki with knee strikes to the eye of Dragon which is bleeding. Dragon is working the arm or trying to as he the arms chickenwinged but Ki gets back to his feet. Now a full nelson on Ki. He switches that to a Belly to Back Suplex. Dragon with a Snapmare and a stiff kick to the back then chops to the chest then the back. Cover for two. Another chickenwing of the arms or at least he tries to. Ki hits more knees to the face as Ki gets to his feet and hits an Enziguri and both men are down. Ki is up first and picks up Dragon. Chop to the chest, a second and then a Snapmare with a stiff kick to the back of Dragon. Another Snapmare but this time its a Chop to the back. Knee Drop gets two for Ki. Now Low Ki is working for the chickenwing. Ki with a kick to the back and he is looking for the Ki Clutch. But he gets Dragon into a pinning combo and gets a two count. Now we get a Cobra Clutch with a Bodyscissors. Dragon goes for ropes but they fall out of the ring and THE HOLD IS STILL ON. JESUS CHRIST! Now both men are up and its a Sleeper on the floor. Ki lets go the of the hold and puts Dragon in the ring. Cover gets a two count. Ki with a Double Stomp and stays on the chest of Dragon so Dragon bridges only to get stomped again! KI KRUSHER?! NO, ROARING ELBOW... DRAGON SUPLEX! That gets two. Snap Butterfly Suplex and Dragon goes the top rope. He hits the headbutt and both men are out again. KI COVERS FOR TWO! THAT IS F'N NICE! Ki whips Dragon into the corner. TIDAL WAVE! DRAGON SUPLEX BY LOW KI! That gets two as KI LOCKS IN DRAGON'S CATTLE MUTILATION! DRAGON ROLLS THROUGH INTO THE KI CLUTCH! OH MY GOD! Turned into a normal Dragon Sleeper now but Dragon tires of the that and locks in a Cravate like Suplex. That gets a two count. Nothern Lights Suplex gets two for Dragon. I am getting tired watching this. Chops by both men and they sound nice. Dragon now with elbows to the face. Ki whipped into the ropes as Ki goes for the Spingboard Enziguri BUT DRAGON DROPKICKS HIM MIDAIR. THAT ONLY GETS TWO! BRAINBUSTER BY LOW KI! I F'N LOVE THIS! That only gets two. The crowd starts to clap again. Who can blame them... KAWADA KICKS AGAIN. Ki loves him some Kawada. Low Ki calls for the Ki Krusher. HE GETS IT FOR TWO. LOW KI IS F'N SHOCKED. THE CROWD IS ON THEIR FEET! Backbreaker by Ki as he goes for the Phoenix Splash. THAT GETS KNEES! DRAGON SUPLEX BUT HE CAN'T BRIDGE SO HE COVERS FOR TWO! Dragon hits a Super Back Suplex. Both men are out again. Dragon covers for two. What is it going to take to win. Another cover for another two count. Dragon goes for a second Super Back Suplex but that gets reversed into a SUPER F'N KI KRUSHER! "Holy s***!" - Crowd. I tend to agree right now. Dragon rolls to the outside of the ring and it out. Low Ki is out in the ring but we still go on. Ki goes out and rolls Dragon in for two because Dragon gets the foot on the ropes. Dragon is whipped into the ropes, catches the Tidal Wave and hits a F'N REVERSE HEAD AND LEG CAPTURE SUPLEX. THAT GETS TWO... CATTLE MUTILATION. Dragon breaks ONLY TO PUT IT ON AGAIN! Low Ki goes limp and done. American Dragon wins this match at 32:00 (give or take.)

My Thoughts: Okay, when I saw Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle at Royal Rumble 2003, I gave it ***** because I thought it was great wrestling. I have watched that many times and have lowered the rating to ****1/2. But with this match, I can only find a single fault with it. You might say that they spend too much time on the floor with Dragon but he is selling how tired he was. There were no restholds in this match, just the selling of the moves and how tired they are. But back to my Benoit/Angle comparison. This match went ten minutes longer, it had more wrestling and most of all, no restholds like I said. The only downside of this match is that in the opener, Am Drag had his neck worked on quite extensively. So when he pulls of the headbutt, he doesn't sell it as much as he could have due to the opener. Picky, picky I know but that's part of the problem in wrestling more then one match a night. Most people are quick to give it ***** but after watching the show a couple of more times, I had to lover this rating but quite simply put, this is the top five matches I have ever seen. ****3/4

Recommendation: This match isn't for everyone. You have to sit around and watch a lot of mat wrestling before the big guns come out. To me, this is what wrestling is based upon and to some its boring. But if you like that style of match, watch it.

[recklessjack]

BJ Whitmer vs. Homicide (c) in a FIP World Title Match on 11/12/04 at Full Impact Pro's Fallout: Night One

The Backstory: Homicide is the World Champion and Whitmer gets first crack at him. I guess that would be about it. Oh, earlier in the show, Whitmer defeated Antonio Banks (You know him as MVP on Smackdown now-a-days.) Just a title match, nothing more.

The Match: Whitmer is the heel in this one as the crowd chants something towards him. Can't really catch it. FIP has such a nice World Title belt. 'Cide gets checked for heat, he is packing none tonight. Mat wrestling to start. Homicide gets a quick ass roll up for a two count. Whitmer gets a solid Hammerlock in before 'Cide gets to the ropes. Homicide gets a headlock, gets pushed in the ropes, they do the whole cliched running the ropes **** and it ends in an Armdrag into an Armlock. Homicide keeps the Armlocked until Whitmer smacks him in a face and slams him. He misses the elbow as Homicide goes back to the arm. You know, they always do this type of arm work in the start of the match but it never leads to anything. That pisses me off to no extent. Oh, Homicide with a weird looking leg/armlock like move. Chops! Homicide thinks he is Benoit, silly man. Homicide misses a clothesline, then misses the Ace Crusher so Whitmer owns his ass with a Suplex. Now Whitmer starts the chops. 'Cide fights back but gets the eyes raked. Corner choke by Whitmer. Wow, this is a generalized face vs. heel match. More choking with the ropes as 'Cide gets another chop in before getting knocked on his ass. Whitmer with a Snapmare into a Headscissors. Homicide gets the ropes. Another chop by 'Cide until Whitmer uses the punch/chop corner combo. They do the whip into the turnbuckle and the face gets booted down. Cover for two, followed by another. Rest hold by Whitmer. Homicide gets out only to get the Drop Toe Hold into the Surfboard. This is underwhelming so far. 'Cide fights back with a chop and knee but gets caught on the top. Superplex for two by Whitmer. Homicide is put on top and throws Whitmer off. TORNADO DDT BY HOMICIDE FOR A DOUBLE KO! Both men get up at seven as Homicide explodes with chops, punches and a Back Body Drop. FACEWASH! **** YOU WHITMER! 'Cide covers for two. EXPLODER FOR TWO BY HOMICIDE! Jesus, he has exploded now as Whitmer is his bitch. Slam by Homicide and goes up top again. Headbutt for a two count. That move is ****. It hurts the wrestler doing as much as the foe. ****ing stupid ass move. Whitmer gets the advantage with a high knee followed by a Suplex, then a Northern Lights Suplex. That gets two. WRIST CLUTCH EXPLODER, NO, BLOCKED! Homicide with a Belly to Belly Overhead for two. Whitmer gets a German, doesn't get it BUT GETS THE DRAGON SUPLEX FOLLOWED BY A POWERBOMB. THAT GETS TWO, WHAT THE ****?! He should have had it there. WRIST CLUTCH IS BLOCKED. HOMICIDE GOES FOR THE COP KILLA, NO! ACE CRUSHAAAAAAAAAAA FOR TWO BY HOMICIDE. They fight for a Suplex, no one gets it as Homicide hits a second Ace Crushaaaaaaa followed by a Piledriver into a STF. Whitmer taps out like a bitch. No match time on this either. Homicide calls out Punk since they fight tomorrow night. 'Cide bullies the ring announcer. He talks **** and leaves the ring and calls Punk a faggot.

Match Thoughts: Where to start with this one. It started out so damn generic. It felt like nothing was that special at all. The wrestling moves were crisp and nice but other then that, nothing really seperated it from a normal match. This would have been a good mid card match but it was an average main event for what was an average show. Selling was dead on though. Like I said though, just a normal match when it could have been something great like one of their Ring of Honor matches. But I guess when the crowd is around 50 people, you don't have to impress all that much. *** and I'm being nice.

Recommendation: If you can find it, yes. If not, don't worry about it.

[recklessjack]

CM Punk vs. Dan Maff in a No DQ, No Countout Match on 11/12/04 at Full Impact Pro's Fallout: Night One

The Backstory: None really. Punk wants the World Title which Homicide holds. So Punk wants to beat Homicide's childhood friend, Danny Maff in order to prove a point. Of course, this was before Homicide ****ed over Maff by calling him a child molester and ****. Anyways, Punk also leads the small stable (for now) called the New Dawn. Their purpose was to tell the people that made fun of them in high school to basically **** off because they are better. During this show, it was just CM Punk and Azrieal.

The Match: Lenny Lenard announces a 45 minute time limit for this match. Odd time but Punk comes out first as I mark out as he grabs the mic. Awww, nothing that great. Just threating 'Cide as he faces him the next night. So now Maff comes out and looks large. Hey, Maff is from Brooklyn! Now he grabs the mic. Maff talks **** basically. Nothing huge either. Punk bails as Maff gets in the ring. Punk heels it up with the fans, it owns. "You're a pussy" - Crowd at CM Punk. Punk wants a handshake as Maff asks the crowd if he should do it. Punk is begging Maff for a handshake. Maff does and SQUEEZES HIS HAND! Punk goes out of the ring and sells it. He shakes the feeling back into it and heads back in the ring. "Shake his hand" - Crowd. Might be a small crowd but a fun one! PUNK CHOPS MAFF AND HIS HAND IS STILL HURT! Maff bites the hand and just works it over. "Punk's got an owwie" - Crowd... these guys rule. Maff continues to bite the hand. More work on the hand as Maff mocks Punk. MAFF WITH A THREE STOOGES NOSE SLAP! THIS IS STIFF! Maff with an elbow for two. Hip toss for two. Goes back to the hand now as Punk is just doing an awesome job of selling. Azrieal runs in to help Punk out. The two double team him with punches and kicks. Maff is getting choked in the ropes as the ref gets clocked, why, BECAUSE ITS NO RULES BITCH! Punk has some salt in his hand and it gets thrown in his face. PUNK PILEDRIVES AZRIEAL AND COVERS HIM FOR THREE. PUNK WINS!!! Oh wait, Maff was just messing with him. Maff even raises his hand, talk about a fun match. German by Maff and gets two from a new ref. Chops by Maff in the corner followed by a Cannonball. That gets two. Sideslam gets another two. Maff is just beating the hell out of Punk at this point. Maff tries for another Cannonball but Punk pulls the ref in the way. Punk gets the advantage after a punch followed by more. Earslap, then a Russian Legsweep for two. Backbreaker for two. Maff gets tossed out of the ring. Maff gets in a chop and the advantage is back to him. Punk finds a plastic bowl full of condoms and hits him with it. Owned. Now they go into the parking lot as Maff puts Punk on a drunk AND GETS VIOLATED WITH A PARKING CONE! Then gets his head rammed into the ring truck. "The driver is gonna be pissed!" - Fan. Punk gets a trash can to the face. Punk begs for his life and calls for a timeout. THERE ARE NO TIMEOUTS IN WRESTLING! Regardless, Maff with a Clothesline, some chops then slams him down the mat. Maff goes up top and misses a Headbutt. Teach you to be Chris Benoit! Punk breaks out the kicks followed by a reverse DDT and a two count. In the corner where Punk tries the ten punch. Doesn't work as Maff drops him and gives him a Lariat for two. Now Maff tries for the ten punch. PUNK WITH A LOW BLOW. FEET ON THE ROPES FOR A THREE COUNT! Punk wins, **** you Maff. Not sure on the match time though.

My Thoughts: This was a fun brawl to watch. Great start to the match with the whole handshake thing. Punk can sell anything, I swear to god, he can sell anything. Maff did a good job of just being the badass brawling/striker that he is mixed with a few moves here and there. This isn't anything to go out of the way to see but if you can get your hands on it, feel free to enjoy a fun Anything Goes match. **3/4.

Recommendation: Yeah, watch it if you can find it like the match before. But if you can't no worries.

[recklessjack]

I am not going to do PBP anymore. It gets too long and takes way too much typing. So its just gonna be the backstory, outcome and analysis from now on.

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AJ Styles/Christopher Daniels vs. LAX (c) in a Tag Team Title Ulimate X Match at TNA No Surrender 2006

The Backstory: A lot of it which I hardly remember. It was a good feud and everything but LAX owned and beat Styles/Daniels in that Border Brawl on iMPACT to win the Tag Titles. This is the rematch and Cornette wanted to give Styles/Daniels a fair chance in an Ultimate X Match.

Outcome: Christopher Daniels gets the belts to win for his team.

Analysis: What I liked about this was that it was fresh from the old Ultimate X matches. It brought forth a new flavor in the most signature match Total Nonstop Action has come up with. One thing defines the good thing about this match, the spots. Ultimate X is a spotfest in the vain of a TLC or even a Scramble Cage. A lot of great double team moves from both sides but mainly LAX due to the powerhouse Hernandez. Probably one of the good bigger wrestling in wrestlers today in my humble opinion. He probably did better then Joe did in the Ultimate X he was placed in but he had Homicide to help him out too. Other then the spots is the cheating LAX tries to do to win this match like trying to use a ladder to get to the belts instead of trying to get across the X in order to win. Plus they added in the chairs and the tables to add even more danger to the Ultimate X match. Some of the better spots were:

*Homicide's Tope Con Hilo on Daniels followed by AJ's Fozzybury Flop onto Homicide that looked to mess up his shoulder.
*Hernandez's Border Toss on AJ Styles. That always gets a "Holy s***" from me.
*Then Hernandez's Cracker Jack on Daniels. Daniels flew across the ring.
*Homicide's Ace Crusher from the top of the X. Amazing spot.
*The Styles/Daniels combo of a Frog Splash-BME-Sprial Tap on Hernandez.
*Styles Clash through the table to Homicide.
*The Daniels Dive to grab the belts.

That sums up everything remotely interesting about this match.

What I didn't like about this match. It was far too plodding for an Ulimate X match. So much filler was involved. There was some good tag team moves like I mentioned but most of it was shrugged off due to the spots. I know that a match like Ultimate X wasn't supposed to tell a story with a body part but they got one when Daniels hit two moves to the arm of Homicide. If it had been Daniels or Styles getting the arm worked over, it would have made more sense. But this was just filler though. A lot of the filler offensive was due to Hernandez's size then anything else. He wasn't going to fly around the ring and when you have two brawlers with Homicide y Hernandez, you aren't going to see things you normally see in an Ultimate X match. Not like the one with Styles/Sabin/Petey Williams which was the best Ultimate X ever. However, even that one had its problems. In theory, Ultimate X is a great idea but much like a ladder match, there are so many ways you can mess it up. They tried so hard to make this a great match but they failed at some point and this just became a decent match on a pretty bad card. Probably one of the more overrated Ultimate X matches in TNA history but it was overrated because it was the first ever Tag Team version so they got a lot more credit then they deserved. So with all those factors in mind, I give it this rating... *** if only for the spots they mentioned and the variation of the match. Sorry folks, this isn't a MOTYC like most people painted it to be.

[recklessjack]

If anyone has any requests... I'll see if I have the match and do it.

[recklessjack]

AJ Styles vs. "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson at Ring of Honor: Main Event Spectacles

Backstory; This is a match to determine the number one contender for the Ring of Honor World Title. Danielson was out of a RoH for a while and this was his first match back. These two have hooked up before and after this. That's about it for a backstory. Aside from me trying to find a **** AJ Styles match.

Outcome: AJ wins after a Styles Clash.

Analysis: When I think of wrestling, this is it. This whole match is based upon picking a body part and sticking to it after an a lengthy chain wrestling sequence that led both men onto the floor. That sets the whole tone of the match. There isn't going to be high flying in this one. The first good thing about this match is how they manage to keep it clean as both men are faces but Danielson has been known to get a little cheap... more so now a days. Once Danielson gets the first advantage following a cheap shot out of a break in the ropes. He managed to sucker AJ in. That's part of the attack from Danielson in this match is to lure AJ Styles into a bad situation which he does on numerous occasions. Example is when AJ goes for that Dropkick of his, Danielson manages to land on his back. Whether that was meant or not, it was very nice. The arm work that Danielson puts into this match is fantastic. It plays into the Cattle Mutilation which focuses on the arm of his opponent. During one point of working on AJ's arm, he twist so hard, you can actually HEAR the wrist of AJ snap. Scary but awesome at the same time. One of the more interesting Danielson moves in this match is when AJ goes for his Moonsault DDT. Danielson catches him and turns it into a neck lock following with knee strikes and then a suplex out of it.

When Styles is in control, it's either due to using athleticism or knowing when to take advantage of the aggressive Bryan Danielson. The first time you notice this is when Danielson attempts to throw AJ into the guard rail. Styles leaps over and then hits an Enziguri. Fantastic. I might get on Styles a lot but that is one of his best spots ever. But the main control of this match that runs with AJ is when he manages to Suplex Danielson to the floor, forcing him to land on his leg. Styles uses many knee breaker variations on the floor that include onto a chair and the guard rail. Once he gets him back in the ring, it's pretty much what you would expect. Simple leg locks including a figure four. That's about the extend of AJ's control.

The finishing stretch of this match is tainted. AJ Styles forgets about the work done to his arm throughout the match and decides to be stupid. At one point he leads into his Discus Clothesline with his bad arm and Danielson is sadly forced to sell it. The second time is when AJ attempts the Styles Clash for the first time. Danielson manages to turn it into an Armbar variation and AJ hits a weaker Styles Clash from it. Thankfully that didn't put Danielson away. But yeah, AJ basically no sold the whole arm work done by Danielson throughout the match even after being hooked in the Cattle Mutilation a couple of times. That's the AJ Styles I know and hate. If the smart psychology AJ would show up like he did for the first four fifths of this match, I'd love to watch him wrestle. But as it is, this a damn good match. The psychology was down pat except for a few mistakes from Styles and even one from Danielson himself. But when you're the best in the world like Danielson is, it doesn't matter much. Ladies and gentlemen, AJ Styles doesn't get much better then this. ****1/4

Recommendation: Yes, watch this match by anyway you can. It's a great match and shows how great AJ Styles could be.

[recklessjack]

Samoa Joe vs. Jay Lethal (c) for the Ring of Honor Pure Championship at Ring of Honor: Manhattan Mayhem

Backstory: Quite an extensive one. We all know about Samoa Joe but Jay Lethal rose through the RoH ranks as Special K member, Hydro. In mid 2004, he switched to the name of Jay Lethal and Samoa Joe took him under his wing, his protage. In early 2005, Lethal was able to capture the Pure Title. The Pure Title was never a favorite title of Joe while he was World Champion. Regardless, there was a vignette at the start of the Manhattan Mayhem DVD that showed Lethal and Joe in the ring way before the start of the show. Both men get in each other's faces and say they both want to win this match. Comes across that the Pure Title doesn't mean as much as the two men wrestling each other. Great set up.

Outcome: Samoa Joe wins after the Chimaira Combo to become the new Ring of Honor Pure Champion.

Analysis: For those that don't know the rules of a Pure Title match, it goes like this. You get three rope breaks. Once they are used, too bad. No closed fists. First time you get a warning, second time it happens, you lose a rope break. Finally, there is a twenty count on the floor. Title can change hands on a countout or DQ.

On to the match. In all of the Pure Title matches I've seen, this is probably the smartest one worked. The first thing you realize is that Joe has never been in a pure match before. This concept is totally new to him and it takes him about five to seven minutes to realize that he can't use a closed fist. He tries not to punch Lethal but during some of his trademark offense, the punch, chop, punch, chop combo, he forgets it and loses a rope break. The other times, it comes as second nature to Joe to counter whatever Lethal is doing with a closed fist. So within the first ten minutes, Joe has used up all of his rope breaks because he doesn't know how to use the rules of a pure match.

The second thing is how Lethal is able to keep chopping away at Joe without getting dominated like most wrestlers do. Lethal picks his spots most of the time. The first time this happens is at the start of the match when Joe drives him into the corner. Lethal shows no fear and slaps, HE SLAPS, Joe down to the mat. Lethal knows that other then picking his spots, he has to be aggressive on his offense so Joe gets beaten down. Almost the polar opposite of what CM Punk tried to do at Joe vs. Punk II. Referencing I realize but it's a different way of trying to beat Samoa Joe. Another instance of Lethal picking his spots is when Samoa Joe has him in position for the Facewash. Lethal knows it's coming so he gets to his feet, grabs the leg of Joe and throws it into the ropes. While Joe is hung, Lethal hits a very nice dropkick on Joe. Otherwise, Lethal tries to focus on the head of Joe to set him up for his release Dragon Suplex.

When Samoa Joe has control, you see his normal offense. The STJoe, the Big Joe Combo, many stiff chops and kicks that paste Lethal. But I love how at one point in the match, Joe wants to use a closed fist but thinks better of it. He switches to a forearm because he doesn't want to lose a rope break. Just right after that, Lethal bounces off the ropes and Joe uses that closed fist as a defense measure. See, Lethal knows Joe loves to use punches because he is much larger then anyone else on the Ring of Honor roster. Smart wrestling. Just like when Lethal had the Facewash scouted, Joe had a Crossbody scouted from Lethal and simply walked away from the move. Things like that friendly rivals need to use when they wrestle each other because they know each other so well. Another one of the Joe spots is the Forearm Sucidia on Lethal. The turning point in this match that shifts the, well I don't want to say dominance from Lethal... but his control. Lethal attempts to use a Sleeper on the apron and it's legal because Joe was out of rope breaks. Joe was smart enough to realize that he needed to do something insane to get the hold broke. Joe runs backwards and jumps off the apron with Lethal still applying the Sleeper hold through a table.

The finish was pretty well worked. Lethal used the Dragon Suplex and it failed to put Joe away. So Lethal is frustrated and has no idea what to do next. Lethal picks up Joe and tries to give him the Dragon again but Joe knew it was coming. He moves it into the Chimaira Combo without ever having to use the Island Driver, Muscle Buster or Rear Naked Choke. Joe took advantage of a situation made by Lethal's overzealousness. In a nice touch though, "The Champ Is Here" plays after the match. Sure it has nothing to do with the match but it's just a cool effect.

But as far this Pure Title match goes, it's probably one of the best Ring of Honor ever had. Joe and Lethal were on that night with what they wanted to do and it showed. This is borderline fantastic match when you look at the history of both men. They know each other, they both know what they want to do but it's just Joe taking advantage of Lethal that makes all the difference in the end. ****

Recommendation: Yes, go try to find it however you can. One of the best Pure Title matches ever.

[recklessjack]

Christopher Daniels vs. AJ Styles (c) in an Iron Man Match for the X Division Championship at TNA Bound For Glory 2005

Backstory: Hype Video.

Outcome: AJ Styles wins 1-0.

Analysis: While I'll make it no secret that AJ Styles is probably the most overrated wrestler in the United States, it won't bias me in this review in the least bit. Just thought I'd be honest and say that. West, the big goof, ends up stating the obvious when he says you gotta win the most pinfalls to win the match. In the early going, they make it shown and Tenay reinforces this... both men know what the other can do very well. In the first two minutes, they make it known when AJ attempts a dive and Daniels is quick to block him off. So AJ has to restort in trying a different way to make it through the defense of Daniels. But this whole match is structured like a normal match. It's a mix to start. Then after a few minutes, AJ gets the control by using the high flying moves of his. He manages to keep Daniels put in a side head lock for about a minute before it goes into a grounded head lock. Everything Daniels tries to do in a span of four minutes or so, AJ goes back to the side headlock. Even when Daniels tries to get AJ into a pin, AJ keeps the headlock in until Daniels finally reverses into an armbar.

However, once Daniels tries to work the arm, AJ goes back to the headlock. Smart wrestling for once by Styles... this far. This first ten minutes of so of this match is AJ showing that he can outsmart Daniels in any turn. This isn't a bad game plan but but working that side headlock for so long, it makes AJ look dumb holding off on the big moves in order to get the first pin. But then Tenay and West have to point out that AJ is wearing him down. So that's what AJ wants to do and in the first ten or so minutes, it's exactly what he does.

After those first ten minutes, Daniels finally gets his first real impact move in on Styles after an attempted top rope move in the Exploder Suplex. This turns the tide for Daniels as he starts to wear down AJ with anything he can think of much like the way AJ did to him. So as you can imagine, Daniels seemingly goes after the head of AJ. Once AJ tries for a couple of flash pins, Daniels gets him in the Koji Clutch which nearly beat him eight months ago at Against All Odds. But the main difference in this situation is that Daniels uses it way sooner then he did in their first iron man match. AJ knew how to get out of it and that's a sign of using that play off of the first Iron Man match and how well they know each other.

After Daniels only gets control for five minutes, AJ regains it back and starts to bring out the high impact moves that would hopefully gain him the pinfall go one up on Daniels. The last fifteen minutes of this match is worked like a normal X Division match. A ton of moves thrown out at each other in order to get that meaningful first fall. During this time though, both men put it all on the line. Daniels even busts out a tope in order to get this advantage in the match. AJ does the same with a Somersault Plancha. So like I said, normal X Division fare right now with these moves. It's nothing bad though as they are hitting them clean and Daniels nearly kills AJ with a Backdrop Suplex off the apron. While it doesn't quite have the same effect as other moves off the apron seen as in Japan, it's pretty risky.

Basically this match is divided into two parts. The mat worked part which takes up the first half of the iron man match and then the all out assault to end the match. That's something you usually see in X Division matches but this was given time to tell a story at times. That story being that both men knew each other's moves greatly and the finish plays off of the Unbreakable three way match where AJ is able to counter that Angels Wings into that pinning press and Daniels was able to kick out of it until they reverse moves and AJ finally gets the Styles Clash. Very smart finish considering what the X Division is known for. So basically, when you break down this match, it has nearly everything that means something to the X Division. The mat work, the high impact moves and flash pins.

This was an excellent match. Probably the best match either man had in 2005 in TNA. While it's nothing near to what they could have done, they had to keep everything exciting for the Impact Zone fans which really haven't seen a whole lot of mat wrestling so they couldn't keep. For a comparison though, this is like Low Ki vs. American Dragon from Ring of Honor's first Round Robin Challenge. The first half of the match was the wrestling and the second was the high impact in order to put the opponent away. While that Ring of Honor match wasn't iron man, Styles and Daniels never made me believe that this was an iron man match until there as about ten minutes left in the match. Regardless, this was my "Match of the Year" in TNA for 2005. ****1/4

Recommendation: Yeah, this is a fantastic match considering one of the people who was in it. By all means possible folks.

[recklessjack]

Brian Pillman vs. Jushin Lyger © for the World Light Heavyweight Championship at WCW Superbrawl II

Backstory: It was a Title Match? I honestly have no idea.

Outcome: Pillman wins after a cradle pin.

Analysis: Both men bring the awesome in this match. To start the match, they do what nearly every indy match does anyone is the whole exchange thing with the near misses and double dropkick before standing for the applause. This shows how much this match is respect as Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko would start their ECW matches like this. In the early going though, Pillman takes the advantage using his speed moves, mainly dropkicks. The main offense he brings to the match is high flying, hence why Jim Ross would call him "Flyin" Brian Pillman during his time in WCW. Pillman springboards, dropkicks and crossbodies his way through this match when he isn't trying to work over the midsection of Pillman with a Body Scissors or an Abdominal Stretch. He knows how to counter what Lyger tries to do at times like when Lyger goes for the Surfboard, Pillman gets to the ropes.

When Lyger is in control, he focuses on the leg of Pillman after Pillman made a mistake. Lyger uses kneebreakers, leg locks and a Figure Four to HUGE pop from the crowd. After Pillman reverses the Figure Four, Lyger keeps going after the knee, or tries to with stomps and a Single Leg Crab. But yeah, other then the knee control, this match is pretty back and forth with their moves, getting the crowd really into it. Both men use a dive to the floor at one point, making the crowd pop extremely hard. They weren't used to seeing this kind of action in the United States in the early ninties. This whole match outside of the small control segments is back and forth with counters to everything the other does.

One instance is Lyger going for a Crossbody and Pillman catches him with a Dropkick. Pillman tries to a Missle Dropkick but Lyger catches him with a dropkick. They're running so many counters with kicks for about a minute, it's very nice. The last third of this match is pretty much counters for anything they do or try. The huge downfall for Lyger in this match is when he goes for a Headbutt and Pillman moves out of the way and rolls him into a cradle to get the win.

Now, this match really helped getting the Junior Heavyweight Style recognized in the United States by the causal fan. Yeah, we all know about the hardcore fans but this match was vital I think. When you listen to the crowd pop for all these moves they are doing, it's insane. Anymore if someone does a Moonsault off the top rope, it's nothing. Ironic when Pillman wins though, a fan in the front row is giving him a thumbs down like he wanted Lyger to win. But yeah, this is a great early nineties match that showcases the ability of the juniors. Granted this doesn't hold up as well as some of the current stuff but this is a must see match mainly because it has Pillman and Lyger. They know what they want to do and they go out and do it but it just came down to that one last counter move that ended Lyger's title reign. ***3/4

Recommendation: These two always brought the good against each other. This match is no different. Give this one a good look.

[Bannedingo]

jesus christ...

[recklessjack]

I'd thought I'd post a recent DVD review I did here for you all. Free of charge even!

Full Impact Pro Fallout Part One Review

Fallout Part One comes after Emgerance where FIP held a tournament to determine the first champion of the promotion after the relaunch with Gabe Sapolsky as the booker. Homicide was able to beat CM Punk in the finals of the match after a brawl that supposedly took place during a hurricane. The show date is November 11th, 2004.


Opening Match: Sal Rinauro vs. Vordell Walker.

The Backstory: None.

Outcome: Vordell Walker via pinfall after a Jumping Roundhouse Kick to the face.

Analysis: This is about as basic as a show opener can get. There is really nothing major to talk about with this match. Vordell Walker is the bigger of the two men and uses the advantage as you would imagine. When he has the advantage in the early going, he uses a lot of double handed chops and some power moves. Vordell also manages to throw in a Standing Moonsault as well. During the few times Sal gets any offense, it's chops in the corner or something largely unimpressive. He is a pretty small guy but he just gets hardly anything in this match as it's just Vordell steamrolling over him for the most part. Like I said though, this is about as basic as a match can get basic. No flashy moves, nothing that's overly impressive. Pretty dull but it's mainly geared towards getting Walker over. 1/4*


Second Match: Mikey Batts vs. Roderick Strong

The Backstory: None.

Outcome: Roderick Strong via pinfall after a Spinal Shock.

Analysis: If anything, this should have opened this show. Strong is from Tampa where this show is taking place. He is also the bigger of the two. The opening gets the usual indy opening. Near misses, armdrags, all that sort of thing. Batts gets the first advantage of the match using his quickness. He gets Strong into the corner a couple of times and tries to wear him down with punches but the whole thing goes sour once Strong gets control and that's where some of the fun begins.

Strong, while not huge, he is probably one guy who could paste your chest with chops. Make ya bleed. Roderick gets his advantage following blocking a Batts springboard. He sets up Batts on the second rope, stomach first. Roderick grabs the ropes and jumps, DOUBLE STOMPING THE BACK OF BATTS! I mean, there is painful looking and then there is painful looking. The stomp to the back sets the basis for what is normally part of his offense, backbreakers. He doesn't take that route as he rather just paste poor Mikey Batts with vicious chops. I want to cry for Batts. But Strong mainly toys around with Batts. Allows him a few hope spots here or there. Every time Batts tries something, Strong just comes back with the chops or something involving power.

Finally Strong gets going on the back after he dumps Batts on the floor. Once he tries to attack, Batts keeps on trying to get something going on Strong. Once Batts does get things going, he tries a backslide and then a Lifting DDT in order to turn the match is his favor. Once he does though, Strong finally uses one of this backbreakers to get Batts back under control. It doesn't work as Batts nearly wins the match with a Code Red. After trying it again... Strong takes advantage that gives us the outcome.

A pretty decent match. It basically took the same style of the opening match and gave it more time. Strong looked more impressive then Walker in the role of ass kicker by leaps and bounds. Same match as the opener, just longer and better. **


Third Match: BJ Whitmer vs. Antonio Banks

The Backstory: BJ was bad mouthing Tampa and Florida in general. Banks took offense to that and challenged Whitmer to a match before Whitmer's title shot tonight at Homicide.

Outcome: BJ Whitmer via pinfall after a Wrist Clutch Exploder.

Analysis: BJ Whitmer pretty much kicks the future MVP's ass all over the place. It's not a whole lot. Just an exhibition to get Whitmer built up for a title match later on in the night. Banks does get the early control but it hardly goes anywhere as Whitmer pokes him in the eye, playing the first defined role of a heel tonight. Just the normal fare from both men until the finish. I wasn't impressed with it much as you don't see me going on about it. The only notable thing about this match is the first face/heel set up. *


Fourth Match: Azrieal vs. Rainman

The Backstory: While not part of the match, Azrieal is part of the CM Punk stable called "The New Dawn" which basically was a society of misfits that were outcasts. Punk rocks the mic before the match, no surprise there. Punk says that Azrieal doesn't need Punk's help to beat Rainman tonight. So there you go.

Outcome: Azrieal via pinfall after CM Punk helpage.

Analysis: Azrieal is the smaller of the two. Just thought I'd clear that up. Rainman has a gangsta gimmick it seems but I don't know for sure. Not huge on either man but I'll try to be fairly biased on this match. But this is just a horribly boring match. I'm sorry. Neither man excite me during this match or make me care. Rainman uses his power to take the advantage which seems to be the cliche of the night so far. Azriael tries to use his speed and cheat to get the win. The most impressive move of the contest is yet another Double Stomp. From the top rope to the back of Rainman's head, that's how Azriael gets some order in this match. I mean, he's a fairly decent worker but nothing sets him apart from other indy spot merchants. This should be skipped over for the most part as there is no real constant enjoyment to this show yet. *1/4


Fifth Match: "Fast" Eddie Vegas vs. Jimmy Rave

The Backstory: None. Although I'd like to point out that Eddie Vegas is blind.

Outcome: Double Countout.

Analysis: Finally, a decent contest not involving Roderick Strong. Eddie and Jimmy are bad here but they just throw out moves for the most part, more so on Rave. Sure it's weird watching current/future Embassy members in a non heel role as both men really don't do anything to establish that they're heels or anything. Naturally though, it's strange that when the commentators say "high fliers" to describe the two wrestlers, they start with wrestling. Why not just bust out of the spots from the git go. I guess they need to establish the fact that they know more then moonsaults and planchas. Whatever. But as you could imagine, both men get a control segment with the mat wrestling part until Fast Eddie takes advantage with a Backbreaker/Reverse X Factor combo. Pretty nice. So after that Backbreaker, you'd think Eddie works over the back, right? Well, he actually tries to but it mainly consists knee strikes and weak looking backbreakers.

It's nice that Eddie shows some personality in this. He shows that he has that natural charisma to be a decent heel, which he would become. But once Rave gets in the control, he completely forgets about the few moments of back work done by Eddie which negates part of this match. This shows that Rave wasn't quite there yet. He goes for his usual offense you've seen in RoH a bit... like the Ghanarea, not yet named that. But at no point do they attempt to sell the work done to each other but they do show some continuity going after the back in Eddie's part and the neck in Rave's part. It's just that the selling isn't there of it.

The finish was pretty lame as I personally hate any form of a countout. I'd rather see a time limit draw or a double knockout in the ring. But as it stands, it was a pretty decent match. Both men showed what they were able to do and everything but that's the jist of it. **1/4


Post Match: Dave Prazak comes out and offers both men a spot in his newly formed stable called Dave Prazak Association. Or DP. Get the joke? Eh? They accept the invitation and we have our first angle in the mid card ranks. Weeeeee!!! Although it's nice to see Jimmy Rave reading the stuff to Eddie.


Sixth Match: Insane Dragon vs. "Mr. 630" Jerrelle Clark

Backstory: None.

Outcome: Jerrelle Clark via pinfall a Backbreaker Slam? It looked weird.

Analysis: This is like the match before it only it's just a total throw out a move and hit it for no reason. They do the whole mat wrestling thing and then Jerrelle Clark basically kicks Insane Dragon's ass for a good deal of time. So much so it feels like a squash match at certain points. Then they do a double KO spot and Insane Dragon gets control until the finish. Both men are just doing anything to win without a rhyme or reason and for that reason, I extremely dislike that match. I just can't find a good thing to say about it other then the moves they threw out were pretty clean. But just generally skip over this match as well. *1/2


Post Match: Dave Prazak offer both Dragon and Clark a spot in DP Association. They turn him down. So Rave and Vegas come out and beat them down. See, this is a good angle and it progresses. And I found myself rolling on the floor when Prazak yells "You'll be sorry you turned down DP!" Clark does make a challenge to them for the next night.


Seventh Match: Don Juan w/Angel Williams vs. Jared Steel

Backstory: None.

Outcome: Don Juan via pinfall after a Super DDT.

Analysis: I love Don Juan's gimmick. He has that whole "ladies man" thing as you could probably tell by his name. He fricken dances with a woman in the crowd before the match. It was great. But this match has that face/heel dynamic in effect, something not seen much in this show. But much like the theme of this show, it's unimpressive. Jared Steel doesn't show me anything remotely interesting in the way of a personality. The deepest moveset doesn't mean anything if you don't have a personality. Still, Don Juan spends most of his control segment either stomping on Steel or jawing at the crowd. But when Steel has the advantage, it's just, there. Still, seeing Don Juan, who was a favorite of mine for a while, was fun. This match as a whole, was lacking. Nothing more to say. 3/4*


Post Match: Jared Steel spanks Angel Williams. .



Eighth Match: CM Punk vs. Dan Maff in a No DQ, No Countout Match.

Backstory: CM Punk is the top heel thus far in FIP. He wants the World Title and needs to make a statement before facing Homicide the next night. So why not go after Homicide's then friend. Also both of these men feuded in Ring of Honor in the Second City Saints vs. Prophecy angle.

Outcome: CM Punk via pinfall after using the ropes for non cheating purposes.

Analysis: This match is fun! Seriously, Punk as a cowardly heel is probably the best thing ever. The first thing to notice is when Maff wants to shake his hand. Punk does and Maff squeezes it. Punk sells it like death! I don't like the crowd chanting much during shows but "Punk's Got An Owwie" is fantastic. Maff does work on the hand a bit too, evening biting it. Then the next fun thing about this match is Maff using the old Three Stooges Nose Slap Of Doom!!! Words can not do the beginning of this match justice. It's that much fun. Notice this is the first time I've used that word so far. Fun. While this match isn't gonna be a MOTYC or anything, it's just a barrel full of laughs for the most part.

I mean, at one point, Azrieal runs in to help his leader. Heel powder gets involved and it goes in Punk's face. The ref gets knocked out. Punk accidentally Piledrives Azrieal and covers him. Maff drops down and makes the three count. Punk gets up and acts like he is the best of all time. Then it dawns on him Maff was just screwing with him. Following that, we settle into a more of a normal match for a while with both men having a control segment in the ring. Kind of generic as it's a No DQ match but when people think of No DQ, they think of chairs. Still, it wasn't that bad. After Punk manages to throw Maff out of the ring, the fun starts again.

They brawl and my god is it fun. First, Maff gets control back and hits Punk with a bucket full of condoms and well, let's say a parking cone was used for purposes it wasn't made for. Another humorous fan yelling something was when Punk was thrown into a moving truck. So a smartass fan just yells out "The driver is gonna be pissed!" While it's a small crowd, they're pretty fun. Once they get back into the ring though, it settles back into a normal match. So basically, this match is put into two parts. The fun sections and the normal match segments. The normal segments are by no means bad but after the fun start, the match doesn't know if it wants to be a wild brawl or a normally structured match. But this was very enjoyable and a very fun match for the most part. **3/4


Ninth Match: BJ Whitmer vs. Homicide (c) for the Full Impact Pro Heavyweight Title.

Backstory: The first defense of the title. BJ was just named the contender for this night. I have no idea why and it really doesn't matter much.

Outcome: Homicide via submission after putting Whitmer in STF.

Analysis: While this match is the best of the night, it does have it's faults to it. First, the generic mat wrestling to start. Now, I'm all for mat wrestling but when they do those deep arm drags and it doesn't lead anywhere, it tends to annoy me. And I get annoyed a lot. But everything is crisp in this match. The story is very little as it's mainly both men just doing what they can to put the other away. When Whitmer is in control, he wrestles like the heel, which is what he is being booked as in this show so it only makes sense to have him the weardown holds to get the face sympathy for Homicide but at no point did I think Homicide was in danger of losing the title. But for his credit, Whitmer does his best to try.

As far as Homicide goes, you don't see him acting like an arseh*le like in RoH during this time period. He is a face down in FIP. So his offense is different. His control is pretty good though. He uses different Suplex types and his knee like facewash to wear down Whitmer. But the home stretch of this match is what makes it worth watching at all. Whitmer tries everything he can think of to end the match but there was just no chance for him get that three count because the dangerous Wrist Clutch Exploder, as demonstrated earlier in the show, didn't make an appearance. So while Whitmer lost, his finisher didn't get killed. Homicide on the other hand, only attemps the Cop Killa once and that was it. He does use his Ace Crusher twice though which devalues the move a bit seeing as how the second time he just transitioned to a Piledriver afterwards.

Regardless, this was match of the night despite not ever having me think for a second that Whitmer was going to win because the big money feud for FIP at the time was going to be CM Punk and Homicide. Good match but they had better. ***


Final Thoughts: This is a ho hum DVD. There isn't anything to go out of your way to see but it's fun in a way to see the cowardly CM Punk or Homicide as a face again. While this show ended on two good matches, there is just too much bleh to go through in order to get to those two matches. And even so, Punk vs. Maff and Whitmer vs. Homicide had better stuff in Ring of Honor. Thumbs down for Full Impact Pro Fallout Part One. While it does set the stage for some of the early angles, it's just too mediocre. I mean, when my analysis is only a paragraph for more then half the matches, it means that I just can't find anything to really say about the match. You're better off skipping this one kids.

[recklessjack]

Ring of Honor Final Battle 2005

Final Battle is the last show Ring of Honor holds every year. There is usually something noteworthy on these shows. 2005 was no different as Naomichi Marufuji and KENTA from Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan made their debuts with Ring of Honor on this show. The date is 12/17/05.

Opening Segment: We have Low Ki talking about how he's improved in a year since being in NOAH. Various clips of Low Ki are played as pictures of KENTA are seen as these two are the main event into with the GHC Juinor Heavyweight Title being defended! Truly an honor.


First Match: Jimmy Rave w/Prince Nana vs. Milano Collection AT

Backstory: None. Outside of the crowd continuing to throw toilet paper at Rave pre match. God that's a great bit.

Outcome: Jimmy Rave via pinfall after Greetings From Ghana

Analysis: First of all, it's sad that MCAT never got more time in Ring of Honor. He was a fairly good talent but left for reasons that are unknown to me. Any help would be grand. Regardless, this is a fine choice for an opener. The crowd hates Rave thus the crowd would be hot to start the show. Fine wrestling in this one, sure it has that generic stuff I can live without but what are you gonna do? Milano Collection AT brings quite an interesting offense into this match. He is able to frustrate Rave at a few points here or there along with some good looking moves. One of which showed us his leaping ability as Rave was on the apron, down and MCAT jumped from the floor to dropkick him in the face.

Rave brings the typical Rave stuff. Nothing flashy, almost bore you to sleep. But at this point you know its coming so why bother fighting it and just accept that Rave as a heel while wrestling is just generally boring. Although it was great seeing him break out the From Dusk Till Dawn again. Been a while since it had been seen at this point. However, they do appear to botch a Northern Lights Suplex so that's not fun. But outside of that, there is nothing wrong at all with this match. It continues to show that Rave is a generally boring wrestler with the best manager in the world at ringside to help garner heat for him. This match accomplished what it was supposed to do. Get the crowd interested in the show and put on a good display.

Like I said though, I just wish MCAT would have been around longer. But as it is, great opener, good heat, good match. ***


Second Match: Azrieal vs. Colt Cabana

Backstory: This was supposed to end the Colt/Homicide feud but Homicide had an injured shoulder that forced him to not compete in this show. So we get this instead.

Outcome: Colt Cabana via pinfall after a Lariat complete with flip by Azrieal.

Analysis: This match is divided into two parts. Comedy and all out serious. Colt comes into this match, still messed in the head because of the feud with Homicide. Azrieal on the other hand, wants to have fun in the match like Colt wants to. So in the early stages, Azrieal tries to act like a mini Cabana. Would have been a great gimmick for him as he pulled it off really well. But Colt wants nothing to do with the fun and games. One of the things to notice is Azrieal chanting dance towards Cabana but Cabana wants none of it. So as you could tell, Cabana is business like. The second half of the match sees Azrieal take control for a bit but it's just too much Cabana for him. This whole match was just designed to show Cabana is still messed in the head because of Homicide. While it wasn't all that great in the wrestling aspect, it just put over that Cabana just wasn't himself. And he'd stay that way for quite a few more months until he ended his feud with Homicide. Fun stuff from Azrieal and great seriousness from Cabana.

However, these two didn't really click all that well once the wrestling portion of the match started. Mainly angle advancement as far as I am concerned as at one point, a fan told Cabana to show some mercy. Cabana responds with "Why show mercy?" See, it's the things like that that help out a character. But like I said, the wrestling was bland but just enough to be entertaining. **


In Ring Segment: Right after this match, the lights go out as Homicide's music hits. Homicide comes out with his arm in a sling and cuts a heel promo. He mainly talks about how much he hates Ring of Honor, Steve Corino for messing up his shoulder and that he plans on killing Corino tonight. Well, he isn't called Homicide for nothing yanno. He does tell Cabana to stay out of his mother-effin' business or he will eff him up. THIS IS A SHOOT! So you know what is gonna be coming on later.


Third Match: Claudio Castagnoli vs. Nigel McGuinness (c) in a Pure Title Match.

Backstory: This is the blow off match for a feud that's been going on for a while. A couple of clips are shown to know what is going on but there are two refs for this match as Nigel has cheated to beat a Double C a couple of times. Nigel loves using his iron.

Outcome: Nigel McGuinness via DQ as Claudio originally won after hitting Nigel with the iron but the second ref saw Double C use it. Dusty finish basically.

Analysis: This is a good Pure Title match. If you know the story behind the need for two refs, the whole thing makes sense. If you don't, look back on some of the shows they faced off in 2005. But the story of the match is Nigel getting frustrated because of the second ref on the floor that notices all the little things he does in order to get the edge in Pure Title matches. It's a good gimmick to put onto this match, it really is. It added to what they were going for in the way of story telling. Nigel likes to cheat, he can't because of that second ref. However, once the second ref gets knocked out, Nigel is able to go back to cheating to get the edge of Claudio after a fine wrestling sequence which is what the Pure Title is all about. But yeah, after the ref on the floor eats a tope, Nigel takes over Claudio and dominates him by manipulating the ref to his advantage to gain that edge. Smart right? I thought so. What I don't like though is Claudio's comebacks. His offense mainly consisted of European Uppercuts of all varities and while those are all well and good, it gets a bit tiresome.

Otherwise the only other thing I have a problem with is the finish. But it in a sense, it fit into the whole story pretty well. Claudio used Nigel's iron to knock him out. The ref in the ring was down but the ref outside just saw it in time but was still groggy. The crowd exploded for the win as it seemed for Double C but the rug was taken out under them. Now, a real finish would have been nice instead of this but you can't have everything all the time. That said, this is still a good match. Nothing wrong with it outside of the dusty finish and the two ref bumps. ***1/4


Fourth Match: Alex Shelley w/Prince Nana vs. Steve Corino

Backstory: None.

Outcome: Alex Shelley via pinfall after a roll up.

Analysis: Outside from some good arm psychology for the most part from Shelley, this isn't much to write home about. I've never been a huge fan of Corino's in ring work. On the mic, the guy is good but in the ring, not so much. Remember this are my opinions here. Regardless, Corino bring much to the match outside of some early ear work. You heard me correctly, Corino was working Shelley's ear. I just Corino is just a bit jealous over people who can use both. Whatever though, it doesn't really go anywhere in the long run and looks a little foolish. Shelley though, he uses a few different arm locks and kicks at the arm to wear it down. Nothing exciting about it but it still works to give this match something to base on. At one point though, it looked like Corino hurt his knee legit. But with the arm work started, Shelley just couldn't switch focus. Corino loses points for using an STO with the bad arm. That's just being lazy. Then again, looking at Corino... nevermind. The ending was a bit flawed as Nana attacked the ref and never got DQed. Bleh.

The whole match isn't that bad but it's not great either. It falls in between at okay. It just had a whole kind of basic feel to it which is quite alright but with Shelley and Corino, there should have been more to it. A roll up to win didn't make a whole lot of sense either. Some kind of arm submission would have been the better way to end it then a roll up out of nowhere for the three count. At Shelley tried. **1/2


In Ring Segment: Right after the match, Steve Corino gets attacked by Steve Corino. You know what starts to hit the fan, pardon my language, once Homicide gets a bottle of Drano. Cabana sprints down to save and he ends up getting beaten down and Homicide ACTUALLY PUTS THE DRANO DOWN CABANA'S MOUTH! JESUS CHRIST. Homicide does live up to his name. A bunch of unknowns come into make the save as Cabana throws up. Not something I want to on my TV but it gets the angle advanced.


Another In Ring Segment: Gary Michael Capetta is in the ring explaining a few things about Jay Lethal who has just turned heel. Lethal comes out and cuts a boring and dry promo about why he turned on Samoa Joe. It was all about the money. So Lethal declares himself to be the hottest free agent in wrestling today. Too bad a few months later, he would actually leave Ring of Honor to focus more on TNA and get a personality. Good for him.


Fifth Match: Jay Lethal vs. Samoa Joe vs. BJ Whitmer vs. Christopher Daniels

Backstory: Tons of it. Lethal had just turned on Joe recently. Whitmer hates Daniels for leaving RoH when TNA pulled him. Daniels and Joe are at odds because their old rivalry came back up. That's the short version.

Outcome: Jay Lethal via pinfall on Christoper Daniels after a Diving Headbutt.

Analysis: This is a really good Four Corner Survival match because all four had a reason to be in this match. As noted in the backstory, there is a lot of hate with most of these guys. This is when a four corner match shoud be booked, when they have people with reasons to dislike each other. Not just the jobber slot crapfest they were getting into the role of being. See some of the 2004 ones when Trent Acid would stink up the joint in the four corners matches. Anyways, now that little rant is over, this is a finely worked 4CS. Lethal wants to keep away from Joe the whole time. Daniels and Whitmer have a huge issue that never got settled in the long run I think. Daniels and Joe just plain out don't like each other because of what happened back in the day. The problem with this match is that it settles into a tag match like most of them do. In this case, the two "heels", Lethal and Whitmer, work over Daniels in order to gain sympathy for a hot tag. So why not book this as a tag match right? Well they couldn't because of the Daniels/Joe issue. So the tag formula worked in this case until everything went to everyone in the ring at once, hitting moves on one another.

The finish was pretty meh all things considered. I won't spoil too much of this match. But looking at this match, it was well booked and pretty well executed outside of the whole tag formula it settles into. Loads of fun, continues angles, good wrestling to boot. ***1/2


Intermission: Cappetta is backstage with The Embassy (Shelley, Rave and Nana.) The three talk about how bad 2005 was for them and how much better 2006 would be for them. Shelley thinks they should play by Ring of Honor's rules instead of beating everyone down. Fun promo stuff all around. Nana and Shelley both own hardcore. Rave isn't too bad but he was better with Nana as his mouth piece.


Sixth Match: Ricky Reyes vs. Davey Andrews

Backstory: Ricky beats up students. Davey is the top student. Good enough right.

Outcome: Ricky Reyes via submission after a Dragon Sleeper.

Analysis: I can't analyze this match as it cuts away to Corino talking about what Homicide did and why he is leaving Ring of Honor again. This is like the fifth time now.


In Ring Segment: After we get done with the previous "match", Ricky Reyes destroys the top of the class trophy which brings out Austin Aries, who was the head trainer at this time. Aries grabs a microphone and makes quite a few almost shoot comments that royally piss off Reyes, setting up a bit a feud between Gen Next and The Rotwillers.


Seventh Match: Austin Aries and Roderick Strong vs. Sal Rinauro and Tony Mamaluke (c) for the Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship

Backstory: Aries and Strong had earned this shot in a few different ways.

Outcome: Austin Aries via pinfall on Sal Rinauro after a 450 Splash.

Analysis: This tag match is divided into a great team, Aries and Strong, against a fluke team, Rinauro and Mamaluke. When Aries and Strong are in control, this is a good match. Both men know each other well and made a fantastic team. Then again, Strong could team with a monkey and they'd be awesome. When Rinauro and Mamaluke control the match though, it's just boring. Mamaluke does more of his shoot style in Ring of Honor then the high flying he did in ECW. Rinauro was still getting better at this point but was still nothing to write home about. But this is near a squash match that goes quite a while to make the champs look somewhat good before their reign ended.

That said, this whole match is only worth anything because of Aries being able to get great heat from the crowd while playing the face in peril and the double teams Strong and Aries pull off. They were probably the best choice to take the belts off of Mamaluke and Rinauro because they were over and a regular team, not just two people thrown together like Sal and Tony were. So all things considered, this isn't a bad match by any means, just a way to get the belts off of the champs and onto the Gen Next team. **3/4


Eighth Match: Naomichi Marufuji vs. Bryan Danielson (c) for the Ring of Honor World Championship

Backstory: Marufuji signed the open contract that had been sent out to Pro Wrestling NOAH for the shot.

Outcome: Bryan Danielson via pinfall after a pinning combination.

Analysis: This was a match of two halves. In the first ten to twelve minutes in this match, it seemed that Marufuji didn't wrestle with everything in it. Almost kinda lax if you will. Danielson on the other hand, he was just starting to get into his role of being a huge arseh*le, something he plays very well. But the biggest downfall of the first half of the match is that there is nothing that sets Danielson apart from Marufuji. Every time Danielson would try to use a dirty-ish tactic, 'Fuji would just fire back with something. Then when they go onto work the leg of Marufuji, it's nothing really out of this world but enough to make it try to be a hindrance on Marufuji. So during his comeback segment, he completely no sells every single bit of leg work done by Danielson. Rather frustration if you ask me when that happens. But the finishing stretch to this match is just so hot, it more then makes up for the first half of the match. There were so many believable near falls done by both men. The finish was perfect as both men had been exchanging roll ups and Danielson just got the better of the whole thing.

So when you put the two halves together, you get a good match. But this should have been way better then what it was. It's one of those matches where each time I watch it, I like it less and less. That said, it's still something to see because it is Naomichi Marufuji's first Ring of Honor appearance and puts on a good match with Danielson. It's just all how you think wrestling should be with this folks. ***1/4


Ninth Match: Low Ki vs. KENTA (c) for the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship

Backstory: Low Ki had been wrestling for NOAH for a year now and is getting a title shot. It says something that he is getting the shot in the States instead of Japan about how much they value him. Still, this is KENTA's first Ring of Honor match.

Outcome: KENTA via pinfall after his knee kick (I can't spell it.)

Analysis: STIFF KICKS! Those are two words to mostly sum up this match. Both men kick the ever living crap out of each other for quite a spell of time. Each strike is just so hard hitting, it's amazing that either of them could walk. That's half the fun in this match alone is watching them stiff each other, in my opinion anyways. It shows that both men are equal as far as wrestling ability goes (and when Low Ki is playing more a face then a heel.) But as much fun as the kicks are, that's about the only thing that they do other then plant each other with good moves or combos like the KENTA combo that you sometimes see CM Punk do now a days. This match would have been match of the year if it wasn't for one thing and one thing alone.

The whole problem with this match is the finishing stretch for the most part. These two unload the big moves on each other after they felt like they had kicked each other enough. Take the Pop Up Falcon Arrow for instance. That could have very well been the finish easily but Low Ki was still able to kick out of it and keep on going. You could make the argument that they were using the junior style of Kobashi's top this move for a pop which effectively killed Strong Style from what I've read. It's fun to watch but still, there are only so many moves a guy could take, more so at their size, before hauling it in for the day.

All of that said though, this was the best match of the night and a lot of fun to watch. I'd love to see this again someday but I'd highly doubt that as Low Ki did leave NOAH to go back to TNA. Big mistake on his part. Regardless, this caps off a very good show and made Low Ki look like a true challenger for the belt at Stateside instead of in Japan. I should track down their Japan match... oh yeah. Here is the rating. ****


Recommendation: This is a good show. Every Final Battle show always has something to go out of your way to see. 2002 had that 4 Corner Survival. 2003 had the AJPW vs. RoH series. 2004 had that huge match between Aries and Samoa Joe that has now become folklore. 2005 had KENTA and Marufuji debuting and putting on some good/great matches. This show is a very solid recommendation as it gets the viewer caught up on some of the early angles for 2006 and ends some of them that took place in just 2005. What are you waiting for? Go get it now! Ten dollar sale right now... it might be on there!

[recklessjack]

WWF Wrestlemania X-7

Wrestlemania X-7 was the pinnacle of the Attitude Era in the WWF/E. Nothing needs to be said to hype Wrestlemania. Although I should note I will be using WWF, censors be damned! Date is April 1st, 2001.

To start the show, there is a pretty neat video hyping up Wrestlemania and past Wrestlemanias. Great stuff as the WWE have always had a fantastic production team.

Opening Bit: JR is welcoming us to Wrestlemania and everything. Interesting to note that "My Way" by Limp Bizkit has been replaced with that old Adrenaline Rush song that closed out TNA shows. Good stuff hyping it up.


First Match: William Regal vs. Chris Jerico (c) for the Intercontinental Championship

Backstory: Much like most WWF Pay Per Views, they handle the backstory. I don't have to explain anything! Yes!

Outcome: Chris Jericho via pinfall following a Lionsault.

Analysis: Best choice for an opener as far as a huge performer goes. Jericho gets reaction so why not place him in the opening slot of the show. But this whole match is based upon the bad shoulder of Chris Jericho that had been injured by Regal by using the Regal Stretch a few times or by using an object in order to make it bum. So that outta tell you the whole focus of this match. Other then a few miscues, this is a good opener. Jericho has to use the high impact style as JR would call it in order to keep Regal at bay while Regal is looking to injury that shoulder. While the shoulder work by Regal is good and it plays into the end of the match, it's very basic. He basically just throws Jericho into the ring post a few times and a couple of arm ringers, it's just stomping on it and arm locks. Being raised in the carny system in England, you'd think Regal would have been able to us a lot more painful looking submission moves instead of just being kinda boring on it. But they can't just use that kind of style on a global stage I imagine so they had to keep it basic and thus it does work out for most. For me though, he should have said to hell with the normal style and done the painful looking holds.

To his credit though, Jericho sells the shoulder/arm like a true champion. Everything he does is designed to keep Regal off the shoulder. Even when he tries for the Walls, he can't lock it in because Regal had been working at that arm for quite a while. Even after the Lionsault, Jericho stops to sell the arm. I mean, he even SWITCHES the arm when he hooks the leg because that arm is just dead weight. You don't see that too often. So taking all of that in, along with a near total miss plancha, this is probably as good as an opening match that gets about seven minutes could do. I would have love to seen these two get double the time but they did the most with what they had and I loved it. ***


Backstage Segment: Shane McMahon comes in to the arena in a limo.


Backstage Segment: The APA are in their office. Bradshaw hypes the troops by talking about the history of the Alamodome.


Second Match: The Right to Censor (Goodfather/Bull Buchanan/Val Venis) vs. Tazz/APA

Backstory: I guess RTC had gave Tazz some guff over something. They need filler so that's how we got here.

Outcome: Bradshaw via pinfall on Goodfather after a huge Burning Lariat.

Analysis: This is one of those blink and you miss it kind of matches. The action is non stop as they hardly had anytime to work with. Didn't set the world on fire because it didn't have to. This got the crowd even more pumped up because the action is just fast and furious the whole four minutes or so they get. Nothing is wrong with it as they all got time in the ring. Tazz played the face in peril before Bradshaw gets the hot tag. Like I said, this is so fast and fun, there isn't anything I can really say about it other then it was best they got a short amount of time to keep the action going as if this would have gotten ten minutes, it would have gotten real boring. So that said, don't skip over this at all. *3/4


Backstage Segment: Trish Stratus is wheeling Linda McMahon around until Steph McMahon stops them and acts like a total you know what.


Third Match: Big Show vs. Kane vs. Raven (c) for the WWF Hardcore Championship

Backstory: A match. I guess. Nothing to go along with it.

Outcome: Kane via pinfall on Big Show after a divey thingy.

Analysis: JR sums this match up before it begins, "It ain't gonna be pretty." But by gawd was it fun! This is probably one of the best hardcore matches the WWF did in this era. It had a few stories to it but the main one was pretty much said by Paul Heyman about Raven, get a shot in and run like hell basically. In doing so, these three men go all over the arena and just look like they're having a grand ole time. Tons of fun spots too. A couple were a bit strange but had me laughing such as the whole golf cart chase. Another instance is when they wipe out a Snapple table while JR and Heyman make smart ass comments about it. But this match is just a brawl and plunder spots. It didn't mean much in the long run or anything but jeez was this match tons of fun. **1/2


Backstage Segment: Kurt Angle is watching a video of he who shant be named making him tap out. Edge and Christian come in all happy and fun going while Kurt is like "I never officially tapped out." Established that Angle is serious while E&C just wanted to have good times.

In Crowd Segment: Coach is with a fan who said how far they came to see Wrestlemania.

Backstage Segment: Rock arriving and is getting boo'ed.


Fourth Match: Test (c) vs. Eddie Guerrero w/Perry Saturn and a pimp hat for the WWF European Championship

Backstory: They give it to you.

Outcome: Eddie Guerrero via pinfall after cheat to winage.

Analysis: First of all, quite a reaction Test got from the crowd. It had to have been edited in. Anyways, this is another fun match. We all know about Test and his power advantage but Eddie really shines through here dispite being messed up during this time period. Probably his last good match before he got released towards the end of the year. But this match has a good structure to it. Eddie needs to chop down the tree of Test in order to have any chance in this match as Test would kill him in a fist throwing contest. So Eddie goes after the leg most of the match and does it in usual fashion, nothing outrageous. Test actually manages to do a good sell job for once on his end. Quite surprising as he usually just holds the body part and doesn't make a sound. Once Test makes his comeback though, Eddie had to change his gameplan again and this time, he cheated in order to try to win the title. Saturn ran in from ring side, Dean Malenko pulled the ref out, all of it contributed to Eddie's cheating cause. And in the end, it was all just too much for poor ole Test to handle.

Eddie got a good match out of Test here. It's nothing mind blowing that'd you want to see on a daily basis but it was good enough as an undercard match at Wrestlemania when you're supposed to bring the "A" game and both men pretty much did. **3/4


Backstage Segment: Michael Cole is backstage with Mick Foley, LIVE IN HOUSTON TEXAS! He gives the run down about the match he is reffing tonight.

Backstage Segment: Austin arrives as the crowd POPS LIKE NONE OTHER!


Fifth Match: Kurt Angle vs. Chris Benoit

Backstory: I really can't remember but it started their great rivalry/feud that went on for years.

Outcome: Kurt Angle via pinfall after cheating, holding the ropes.

Analysis: Just because the WWE wants him to be erased from history doesn't mean I want him to be. This match was the start of probably one of the greatest wrestling feuds in WWF/E history, PERIOD! Think about the awesome these two managed to bring out in each other. This was their first match against each other on a huge stage and they put on a freaking clinic. The story is great. Angle wants to take Benoit to the mat to out wrestle him. In the process, Benoit manages to out wrestle Angle. Of course this doesn't sit well with Angle because of being a world class amateur wrestler. So Angle then says to hell with wrestling and then starts bring out the fighting skills needed to succeed in pro wrestling.

This is where Angle starts to get the better of Benoit. He cheap shots Benoit a few times in order to get the advantage and take control of the match. Then everything settles down into as normal as match these two could manage to have. Both men have a signature submission hold that they keep going back to because they both know it would get them the win and in Benoit's case, Angle did tap out but the ref was bumped before hand and it never counted. But both wrestlers also went for their high flying move. Angle with his moonsault that missed and Benoit with his headbutt that connected and nearly got him the pinfall win.

Most people hate the finish but for once, I like the cheap victory. Angle wanted to win, no doubt about it so he took any chance he could in order to get the best of Benoit. It was smartly worked. Cheap pins do work if they play into the context of the character and the match. And going back to that first cheap shot that turned the tide for Angle, it showed he would do anything to beat Benoit and he ultimately went back to it in order to win the match. But just fast forward to Unforgiven 2002 for a second. How did Benoit win that match? He beat Angle using the ropes, showing that during this feud, both men would do anything to get the win over each other.

Now the one problem I had with this match was the ref bump but in a certain way of thinking, it was perfect in order to have Angle tap out and give Benoit the claim that he made him tap out again. So Angle knew that he had to take any road now in order to get the heck out of this match as the winner. This is probably one of the best Wrestlemania undercard matches not involving a certain opener where both wrestlers had the last name of Hart. I love this match. It started the best wrestling series in WWF/E history and made me a fan of the kind of wrestling where they do take it to the mat instead of the punch kick suplex stuff. If not for the main event, this would have been match of the night. ****1/2


Backstage Segment: Cole is with Regal, trying to interview. Regal goes to his office to see Kamala on his desk. Haha, fun stuff.


Forthood Segment: Kinda nice to see the WWF wrestlers at the US Army base in order to raise moral and everything. Good fun and all.


Backstage Segment: Angle is backstage with KEVIN KELLY. What a blast from the past. Benoit attacks and puts him in the crossface and Angle again taps out!


Sixth Match: Chyna vs. Ivory (c) for the WWF Women's Championship.

Backstory: Hype video.

Outcome: Chyna via pinfall after a Press Drop.

Analysis: Uh, Chyna kills Ivory? Yeah, that about does it. DUD.


Backstage Segment: Vince McMahon is backstage with Linda, Steph and Trish. Plans are being made and everything. Cole comes in and tries to get an interview. McMahonamania is running wild!!!!


Seventh Match: Vince McMahon vs. Shane McMahon in a Street Fight with Mick Foley as the ref for it.

Backstory: Hype video.

Outcome: Shane McMahon via pinfall after a Van Terminator!!!

Analysis: One word sums this whole "match" up and that is overbooked. And in this case, being overbooked is a fantastic thing. There is maybe a total of four minutes of wrestling like action and the rest is just good fun. Think about it, if this was a straight up match, it would have sucked. But since it had a no dq stip, a ref willing to bump and one of the wildest angles in WWF history, you got tons of fun. There are so many underlying stories that get taken care of here. Trish finally getting revenge on Vince for humiliating her. Steph getting hers from Trish. Linda standing up from the chair and kicking Vince in the grapefruits. Sure the wrestling is pretty much not there but all of those factors make for one wild ride that words can't describe at all. This is a must see on entertainment value alone. ***1/4 for everything involved with it.


Backstage Segment: Triple H is looking ready and so is the Undertaker as they are getting ready to face off here tonight.


Eighth Match: Edge and Christian vs. The Hardy Boyz vs. The Dudley Boyz (c) in TLC II for the WWF Tag Team Titles

Backstory: Do you really want to know?

Outcome: Christian grabbing the belts with help from Rhyno.

Analysis: Spotfest and make no bones about it. This match was designed to get the crowd to pop as many times as they could before the six would end up killing each other in order to entertain those fans as much as possible. There is more then enough going on in this match at some points while at others, all six and then later, nine are down due to the carnage that was taking place. It's hard to analyize a match like this because well, it's a collection of spots that are more then enough to entertain anyone to some point. Unless you're a true pure wrestling fan and you'll find yourself skipping this whole match in the first place. But unlike the first TLC match, this second one has run ins. Spike for the Dudleyz, Lita for the Hardyz, Rhyno for E&C. It added another level for TLC at this point because it all changed the way the match was going at the point where each of them ran in. Rhyno would end up making the most difference as you could imagine while Spike and Lita were handled with ease. There are a few repeat spots from their earlier matches such as Jeff's Swanton off the biggest ladder.

Time hasn't been kind to this match though as the ladder match has just become a shell of what it once was with the advent of Ultimate X and ladder matches in other promotions where they really could probably kill each other. At the time, this was the ladder match and for some, it still might be. When I first saw this, I was blown away but now, it just seems like another TLC match with the repeated spots from the Triangle Ladder match at Wrestlemania 2000 and TLC I. Still, it's another one of those fun matches. ***1/2


Video Segment: Clips are shown of WWF Axxcess or whatever in the heck it was called. Just filler for cleaning up the ring after TLC II.


Ninth Match: Gimmick Battle Royal

Backstory: This is fun.

Outcome: Iron Sheik wins it and he didn't make anyone humble either.

Analysis: Do I have to? Just sit back and watch this. NR.


Tenth Match: Triple H vs. Undertaker

Backstory: Hype video.

Outcome: Undertaker via pinfall after the Last Ride.

Analysis: This was better then I'd thought it'd be. It had a basic set up to make the match which you'd see on the hype video. But this is a brawl, pure and simple. It takes the main event style that was used during this era and used pretty darn well. Both men got their control time and a wild brawl out in the crowd. Triple H wanted to use his trusty sledgehammer to get the job done most of the time. Undertaker had many moves to finish this one with. The best part of this occurs during the ref bump when they get wild and go into the crowd and just start throwing fists at each other and nothing more. The Chokeslam bump wasn't all that impressive once they switched camera views but hey, for the WWF, that's hardcore. But this match was just a basic set up of the heel vs. the face. It was a good match. I just don't know what to say about it. Maybe this would help. ***


Backstage Segment: Rock walks with the title.

Backstage Segment: Austin walks out of his locker room, determined.


Eleventh Match: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin vs. The Rock (c) for the WWF World Champion

Backstory: This is the best video package in WWF/E history. More so when it has "My Way" by Limp Bizkit with it. It sums it up all nicely when Austin says "I need to beat you Rock, I need it more then anything you can imagine."

Outcome: Steve Austin via pinfall after a gazillion chair shots.

Analysis: Paul Heyman sums this up. "This is the match both men need to win and neither man can afford to lose." But this is probably the single greatest match in the Attitude Era. And I'm not joking when I say that. It plays off of years and years of Austin's history and it builds to his heel turn. Think about this. Austin attacks before the bell. He uses his knee brace. He gets the ring bell in order to inflict more pain on Rock. Everything in this match pointed to his heel turn. He even tried to use the belt in the beginning stages of the match in order to give Stone Cold any kind of opening to beat The Rock in this match. Was it the wrong arena and place to do it in, you bet you ass it was. Just listen to the mega pop for Austin during his entrance. I can only imagine what that was like live. But this was just made for Austin's turn.

Now, the history that these two used worked out great. Austin busting out the Cobra Clutch. Rock using the turnbuckles like Bret Hart did a few times when Austin had it locked in on him. This time Austin knew well enough to let the hold go to not get pinned like Hart did to him. Then you have the homage to Wrestlemania 13 when Rock gets Austin in the Sharpshooter and the blood is pouring down Austin's face. Keep in mind that Rock had never beaten Austin up to his point on a stage like Wrestlemania. So why not use that Sharpshooter in order to get a win because it was the move that forced Austin to pass out at Wrestlemania 13.

Austin tries anything to keep the Rock down. The Rock Bottom, Cobra Clutch, the chair shot from Vince and even the Stunner itself couldn't put the Rock away because the Rock wanted to retain the title that much. When Rock tries to win after the People's Elbow, Vince comes out and pulls Rock right off of Austin, shocking the ever living hell out of the crowd. They didn't know why but once Austin told Vince to get the chair, it all became too apparent why Vince was down at ringside. Austin sold himself out in order to become the WWF Champion again. Austin always wanted to be the top dog and to see Rock taking control of the WWF while Austin was out just made him want it that much more, to show he was the best ever. To show that he was better then Rock despite Rock never beating him at a Wrestlemania in a title match.

This match had so much going for it. The super hot crowd. The psychology of the years Austin had spent wrestling Bret Hart in order for Rock to try to use that game plan in order to beat his hated rival. But everything in this match built towards the moment when Austin knew the Stunner couldn't get it done and decided to turn Rock into mush after hitting with the chair again and again and again until Rock was able to stay down for the three count and Austin was finally champion of the federation he brought back from the depths of hell thanks to WCW. This was the swan song for the Attitude Era in my opinion and this was the only conceivable way to end it.

But like I said, was it the best idea to have Austin's turn take place in Texas? Of course it wasn't. But I guess in the long run, they wanted to prove the point that Austin wanted to turn in front of people from Texas. The people who cheered for him through everything that had gone on during this match. Even when Stone Cold was shaking Vince's hand, they were still cheering as JR was exclaiming that Austin had sold his soul to the devil himself. But the title was on the line and that was good enough for Austin to sell out everything he believed in order to become the WWF Champion once again. And you better believe this was the pinnacle of both of their careers in my humble opinion because it cemented their legacies as the two greatest performers during the Attitude Era. *****


Final Thoughts: This is probably the greatest pay per view this century. You can make the claim that Ring of Honor Driven was better pure wrestling wise. But that's catered towards a general area of fans. This shows had something for everyone. It had the main event style, it had the wrestling, it had the spot fest, it had the old timers in the Gimmick Battle Royal and it had Austin doing anything in order to become the WWF Champion again. I can not praise this pay per view enough. So do yourself a favor, watch this again. Watch it for the first time if you haven't seen it. You owe it to yourself as a wrestling fan to see what is probably even the greatest WWF/E pay per view of all time. Thumbs way up for this one folks.