Thoughts On Wrestling: A Blog on Wrestling

Bikers Thought They'd Get an Advance Screening of Wild Hogs: Hog Wild 96

2011-08-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

Been working on a WCW Top 100 matches for a poll on a forum. Decided I'd watch some 96 stuff and talk about what stood out to me.

Rey Mysterio, Jr. vs. The Ultimate Dragon

Really dug the opening to this: they do some lightning quick mat work. 96 Rey is so quick and smooth and looks perfect, and Dragon is good enough to keep up with him and get over for his arm drags and such. It looks fantastic, and then they start to one-up each other. I don't generally dig the goofy spots where both guys go for springboard moonsaults and then pose-- stuff like that bugs me-- but here, it was brief enough, and I was in a good enough mood from the start, that I could dig it. Then Dragon threw a handful of crappy kicks and took control of and killed the match. It's not that he's bad on offense-- though his strikes stink-- it's that he doesn't do a whole lot of meaningful stuff. He aimlessly beats on Rey, gloats but not interestingly, and then refuses to pin Rey. The announcers talk about but can't explain it, and I really can't think of a rationale: there's a belt on the line, and there's no hate between them. There's no reason why Dragon isn't going all-out trying to win, but instead, he's content to do moves and pose for the crowd. Rey comes back and hits a sweet finish, and I guess it's still a good match, but nothing I'd call great.

Dean Malenko vs. Chris Benoit

I used to buy into the "technical classic" hype, but this time around, it felt like a pretty flat 30-minute match. Didn't hate it: it's surprisingly watchable for a flat 30-minute match. Still, it's not a lot of fun. They work parity throughout the match, exchanging holds, keeping even with big spots and near-falls. And there are a ton of near-falls through different pinning combinations. The announcers are great and totally put over the fatigue, and I can totally buy that both guys are spent by the end of the 20-minute time limit. Big time workrate, I guess, plus all the energy expenditure to get out of the different roll-ups. The parity stuff led to some cool equal exchanges: Malenko hits a big plancha, so Benoit hits a big superplex; and later, Benoit gets the plancha back, and then Malenko gets the superplex back.

But there's not enough characterization, not enough emotion, to put this over the top. I don't want to sound like a typical "Malenko lacked charisma" dude, because I think he can be a great babyface. They just choose not to work with any heel/face dynamic until the first overtime. They don't work limbs or look for submissions; they don't lose tempers or cheat: they trade roll-ups for 20 minutes and occasionally do high-impact moves. Things pick up in overtime: Benoit starts to act like a dick and tears at Malenko's knee and even uses Malenko's Texas cloverleaf, which was cool except it would've been better if Malenko had tried to build toward that hold in the first chunk of the match. Malenko's selling is fine but he won't give up. In the second overtime, Malenko starts to get the knee work back to maintain the parity theme, but then Woman interferes and Benoit gets a successful roll-up. I liked the arc: they work even until Benoit finally cheats to win, which cheapens the whole thing, and that's fine, but I don't get why it took a Horseman 30 minutes and 2 overtimes to cheat to win.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair

Thought this was totally great. Unlike the Malenko/Benoit match, the heel/face dynamic is clear and strong early. Flair acts like a dick and tries to taunt Eddie; he tries to shove him around but Eddie shoves back, tries to slap him around but Eddie slaps back. It's awesome: Eddie looks fiery and pissed and Flair makes him look like a million bucks. They work the match as an extended Eddie revenge segment. He turns Flair's cheap tactics against him, rakes the eyes, uses the figure-four, but he never goes as far as Flair would have. Flair gets the ropes and he relinquishes the hold well before five, stuff like that. Both guys bring big-time chops here. They really do hit hard. And the finish works. Eddie hits a Frog Splash but hurts himself, so Flair can pick up a cheap win by going after the knee. Made Eddie look good and established that he only lost because of one awkward landing; it made Flair look like a smart, survivalist veteran, which was how he should've been booked at this point anyway. Good structure, good characters, and fiery Eddie: great match.

Scott Hall/Kevin Nash vs. Sting/Lex Luger

Not as hot or awesome as the BATB 96 main, but this was still a blast. The Outsiders are so fun to watch act like dicks in the start of the match. Hall beats on Luger a bit and then taunts while Nash smirks. Luger fires back and flexes and looks like a badass, and Nash makes this great face, like, "Why you takin' this shit seriously?" Nash comes in and spits on Sting to kill the babyfaces momentum and force a match-up with the smaller guy. They work a sweet set of exchanges: Sting spits back but doesn't have the strength to slam Nash until he gets rolling and hits some strikes, and then the slam feels like a big moment. But Nash catches him shortly after and hits snake eyes and gets help from Hall on the apron. Outsiders aren't great in control, but they have charisma, engage the crowd, and Hall throws big rights, and Sting is a great FIP. Best hot tag tease comes from Sting collapsing and headbutting Nash in the nads. Luger off the actual hot tag is very good. Intense and ripped and forearming. Then they bust out a pretty goofy cheap finish, and Luger gets pinned after a punch to the back of the knee by a referee. Looked for a bit like this might've become the best match of the show, but the lame finish hurt it. Still tons of good stuff and totally enjoyable.

Best of WWE 2011 - Extreme Rules

2011-08-26T06:34:00.000-07:00

ADDED:

#11 - CM Punk vs. Randy Orton - Last Man Standing - Extreme Rules 5/1/11

Orton's at his best in hardcore-type matches: he hits hard with weapons and takes crazy bumps, and reckless settings fit his goofy mannerisms better. This was a strong, escalating, violent brawl. They start working somewhat even but with Orton getting the upper-hand mostly: Punk drops a knee, Orton drops a bigger knee, etc. The feud highlighted the similarities between the two, so that worked. But then Punk whipped out a kendo stick and the match escalated. They communicated hate throughout the match, and they consistently built momentum. The kendo stick shots were particularly violent, both guys took great bumps-- the spot where Punk gets thrown through a chair wedge in the ropes onto the apron and then outside looked great, and both guys ate post brilliantly-- and the selling was awesome. Punk's wobbly-legged stuff looked great and put over the near finishes. This also didn't have as much downtime as most LMS matches do, in part due to Punk's ability to perform perpetually and entertain, even when he's not actually doing anything. His faces are the best. And Orton going ballistic with the cane was the best thing to come out of his new psycho-killer babyface character.

ADDED:

#12 - Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio - Falls Count Anywhere - Extreme Rules 5/1/11

Orton/Punk succeeded with hate; Cody/Rey succeeded with recklessness. They start hot, exchanging stiff strikes, and never slow down. They brawl all over the place, and it's a terrific arena brawl: both guys incorporate signature stuff in creative ways and also bust out brand new stuff, and they both take nasty bumps. They also call back to the feud in significant ways: Cody uses his mask, Rey exposes a knee brace before going for a 619, etc. They go up the stairs and into the concourse and back around, and the most impressive part about the match is how hard they hit each other. I'd say both guys strike well in general, but they totally kicked it up for the blow-off. Rey's mist came out of nowhere and was completely awesome.

ADDED:

#8 - Christian vs. Alberto Del Rio - Ladder Match - Extreme Rules 5/1/2011

A better opening and this easily makes the top five, but the finish is still strong enough to call it truly great. And the opening was very good, too: they exchange strikes and then go to the ladders, which they utilize well throughout the match. They incorporate signature spots in new ways, which Christian always does well, but adding ladders to stuff makes it cooler and more devastating. Cool stuff like Christian crawling under the ring to the other side and then running through the ring to baseball slide the ladder into Del Rio; Del Rio getting knocked off the ladder only to land on his feet and hit his enziguri, etc. Del Rio also works Christian's arm briefly, which leads to great selling from Christian throughout the match. But it really takes off when both guys start to bump like mad. Del Rio takes a whole bunch of nasty shit on ladders, and the bumps get bigger while the crowd gets hotter. They get a cool false finish out of a spot stolen from Jeff/Edge at ER09 and a better one after Del Rio hits a senton on a ladder draped across the apron and announce table-- that looked awesome. And Del Rio takes a back drop onto a ladder and a flapjack onto a cornered ladder, and Christian eats an enziguri off the top rope while holding a ladder, which he falls flat on. All awesome stuff. Even simpler stuff, like Christian's Edge-homage spear followed by the brilliant shoulder sell, was great. And Brodus Clay's appearance was awesome: he interrupted the hottest false finish only to eat stiff ladder shots. But that gives time for Del Rio to come back and lock in a cross-armbreaker through a ladder, which looked great. Edge's distraction was awesome, too: it protected Del Rio but wasn't long enough to detract from Christian's title win. It looked like Christian might have stopped Del Rio even without the distraction. Del Rio taking the big bump into Ricardo, Brodus, and a pool of Brodus's blood (yeah, stiff ladder shots; forgot to mention Christian got busted open down the stretch, too) felt just. I like when heels with cronies get punished with their cronies all at once. And Christian's title win was a great feel-good moment. Edge being around wasn't something I'd normally dig, but he seemed so genuinely excited and happy to see his best friend finally get what he deserved that it added to the moment.

I'm a Christian mark, so that meant a lot to me, and I probably have it 5 spots higher than it should be, but whatever. It's a great match.

Added to THE REST:

John Cena vs. John Morrison vs. The Miz - Cage Match - Extreme Rules 5/1/11

Not a great match, but more "way better than it should have been." Because really, this sounds terrible on paper, but it turned out to be a bunch of fun. Constant action and Miz & Morrison both had great roles while Cena established early that he just wanted that goddam belt. Miz tries to climb cowardly at the start and it almost works. Then Morrison tries to climb acrobatically and it almost works. Then they put over the danger for the champion, which might be the strongest part of the match. Miz hits his finish on Cena but can't pin him because Morrison's at the top of the cage. I dug Morrison trying to jump out throughout the match and Miz trying to find opportunities. Miz's superplex bump deserves a mention for looking stupidly deadly. And nobody spends much time lying around until Truth's appearance, which is pretty awesome: he murders Morrison because Morrison deserves it. The knee into the steps looked great, and he took Morrison out, got his symbolic "victory" by climbing out, and took out the third wheel so we could get a Miz/Cena finish. And the finish was epic: they dueled atop the cage and finished with a great superAA. Really awesome spot, really fun match.

Best of WWE 2011: THE LIST

Best of WWE 2011 - Mo' Mac, Mo' Pain

2011-08-25T07:54:00.000-07:00

Added to THE REST:

Drew McIntyre vs. Zack Ryder - Superstars 8/18/11

Really fun match. I'm glad Ryder's back on tv as his shtick is a bunch of fun and he can have good matches. He's fine as a babyface here: he takes some nasty stuff, hits a great face wash, and has other fun offense. Of course, he's also a total goof and hits a weaksauce finisher, so some will dislike him. But McIntyre is the star here, and he pummels Ryder from the start. Dude throws bombs, then Ryder tries to comeback and hits a crossbody. But McIntyre is lethal on the outside and busts Ryder's spine into the apron. From there we get a bunch of McIntyre beating on Ryder, and McIntyre beating on anybody is simply pro wrestling. He also takes an awesome bump off a hope spot: McIntyre's on the apron and Ryder grabs an arm and runs him into the post and McIntyre flips over and lands on the floor. Great. He also hits a fantastic boot and counters a Ruff Ryder into a powerbomb. Ruff Ryder doesn't look great as a finish, but it's a cool spot that they built to well.

ADDED:

# 19 - Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 3/11/11

All matches should start with Drew McIntyre kicking a face. He doesn't waste time and throws an awesome boot and then wails on Rey, who is a bit too quick and starts flying around, so McIntyre takes a powder. But Rey follows and they have a cool exchange that leads to Rey tripping Drew into the apron. Drew takes control on the outside by driving Rey into the post and then flattening him with a sideslam onto the apron. They only get 5 minutes, so Drew doesn't have a lot of control stuff, but he works Rey's back and looks great, and Rey's really awesome when he gets rolling. These two gel well, naturally: Drew sells for Rey and Rey eats Drew's nastiest offense. Finish really rocks as Drew takes a posting well, eats a nasty kick, and they frame the 619 organically and in the corner, which makes it unique.

Added to THE REST:

Drew McIntyre vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 4/15/11

More time but less quality. I doubt these two could have a bad match-- they're too talented and too well-matched-- but this definitely didn't feel like the best they could do in 9 minutes or so. There's tons of quality spots, but the 3/11 match was a focused sprint, and this felt somewhat rambling: Drew did moves on offense & Rey made comebacks. The announcers tried to put it over as Drew grounding Rey, but he allowed too much space too often for that to be his intent. They later tried to put it over as a young Drew taking Rey to the limit, but it didn't feel like an exceptional test for Rey. I'm probably being nitpicky: there's tons of fun stuff here and it's mostly a blast, but there are segments that drag early in the match. It starts with Drew talking trash and then they exchange bombs. Drew comes out on top, but Rey uses his quickness to counter until Drew catches him going for a rana on the outside, and then Drew smashes him into the barricade. Devastating. He doesn't work a particular body part, though, and Rey starts his comeback soon and hits a cool leg drop to a dangling-from-the-second-rope McIntyre. It was obvious Drew was trying to get into position, but whatever. Drew busts out some really awesome cut-offs, including a nasty big boot to a running Rey, and later a murderous clothesline from his knees. So yeah, bunches of awesome spots and a nifty counter to lead to the finish. Good stuff, but not as good as you'd expect from these two.

Best of WWE 2011: THE LIST

Best of WWE 2011 - Matt Striker?

2011-08-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

One of the WKO guys pimped Striker's recent series with Darren Young. Matt Striker? Had to check it out.

Added to THE REST:

Matt Striker vs. Darren Young - NXT 8/9/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ7bZaft59s

Not a great match and probably not even top 50 for the year thus far, but it's totally worth checking out. Grisham & Regal are a quality duo on commentary, and it's so refreshing to see commentators talking about the guys in the match and putting them over. Striker looks lost in the opening parts, which is a good thing: he hasn't worked in 3 years. He throws some good punches and cool arm drags until Young catches him with a fist on the apron, and then he hits a neckbreaker. Really dug Striker's selling at that point, but you could tell he didn't quite have everything right. Like his commentary, it seemed like he knew what to do but tried to hard to do it right, so he does this goofy reach to the crowd, which might've worked with a close-up, but he didn't get the close-up. Not a major knock on the match, though. Young hits a great over-the-head belly-to-belly and looked great in general. He also busted Striker's nose, and the inadvertent blood looked great combined with quality facial expressions from Striker. Awesome spot where Young chucks Striker, who takes a shoulder-first baseball slide bump into the ring post. Looks great and sets up Striker selling his arm throughout the match, which is quality. His hope spots are cool but weird. He busts out a gory bomb, which looks great, but I think if he goes back to working full time, he'll have make sense of his move set. Here, it felt like he picked out cool moves to do and then did them.

But the match is a ton of fun. Young goes back to the arm repeatedly, and it has a cool story: young & hungry star tries to prove a point against a veteran who hasn't worked in a while and wants to prove he can still go. Pride & all that. Worth checking out.

ADDED:

#24 - Darren Young vs. Matt Striker - 8/16/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN3va1BJzq0

Better match and something I'd call "really good," whereas the first was something I'd call "surprisingly good." Felt like Striker watched back tapes of himself to get the goofiness out of his mannerisms and really nail them down. He also doesn't fuck around with arm drags in the early going because Darren Young dissed him too much, so he wails on the kid. Legitimately awesome punches in the corner from Striker. Lawleresque. Then Young hits a cheap shot and throws some punches of his own, which pisses Striker off. He goes back on offense and alternates between chops and forearm smashes. Beautiful. Outside, Striker stomps Young's hand against the steps, which Young sells really well. And then Striker works the hand briefly, and then busts out a swank roll-through armbar on the targeted limb. I wish Striker would've wrenched at fingers on the injured hand throughout the armbar, but it was still an awesome sequence and a terrific shine period. Young's cradle counter looked great, and I dug that he took control by simply being quicker than Striker: Young is more fit & active. He already got himself over as a dickhead in the build by bullying an interview guy, so here, he doesn't need to further establish his heelishness. Instead, they make him look like the better athlete, which doesn't hurt Striker because he's still shaking off the rust and shows tons of heart-- really, he comes across as a natural babyface, with sympathetic faces and fiery comebacks while working from the bottom.

Crafty spot on the apron: Young goes for a neckbreaker like in the last match, but Striker counters only to eat a back suplex. Striker's sell is great: he looks hurt but also frustrated that he let the younger guy outfox him. Young works Striker's ribs briefly, which is a good thing as Young's finisher targets the ribs. Then he goes for a springboard shoulder block from the apron in, only for Striker to catch him and hit a rope-elevated neckbreaker. Awesome spot, but Striker left him too close to the ropes and it cost him. Reminded me of the Lawler/Miz Elimination Chamber match. Finish is terrific: a cool strength spot from Young that also made him look crafty and went back to the ribs. Check this one out.

Also, it looks like this might lead into a Regal/Young program. They had fun stuff on Superstars last year-- Regal beat the shit out of Young, who established his bump-freakishness-- and Young looks even better now, and it should be a blast with the roles reversed.

Best of WWE 2011: THE LIST

Best of WWE 2011 - D-Mac Busts Heads

2011-08-20T07:17:00.000-07:00

ADDED:

#8 - Drew McIntyre vs. Chris Masters - Superstars 5/12/11

One of the best possible pairings. These two had a great one on Superstars last year (8/12/10), and this was about on the same level as that. D-Mac comes out cocky and smirking, so Masters rocks him and teases the Masterlock early. McIntyre takes control by grabbing Masters's leg from the apron and wrapping it around the post: a cool spot that played off McIntyre's stolen-from-Finlay use-the-environment shtick, which always rules. Then we get several minutes of a guy with brutal and creative offense beating on a guy with top-notch limb selling. So of course it works. Masters has been great for a while, and the way McIntyre continues to improve amazes me. Not just his offense & bumping, which have both become incredible, but he communicates frustration so much better now than he did a year ago, and here, he takes another leap forward by busting out some impressive athletic spots. Masters boots him out of the ring when he goes for a figure-four, but McIntyre goes through the ropes and lands on his feet, which looks cool. Then he slaps the table in frustration, which looks great and costs him because it gives Masters enough time to go back on offense. Best part of the match: McIntyre hits a beautiful dropkick and then kips up. It looks amazing. Finish is good, too, and I should've talked about Masters's selling more because it's brilliant, and McIntyre takes off his knee pad to make it look extra vulnerable. Also worth noting that Masters has gotten very good on offense. He really wails on dudes with chops & such.

ADDED:

#12 - Evan Bourne vs. Drew McIntyre - Superstars 5/19/11

A little 6.5 minute masterpiece. Drew powers Bourne down but Bourne squirms out with quick mat stuff. McIntyre tries to bully Bourne throughout the opening: he hits a shoulder block and gloats; he slaps Bourne in the face after putting him on the turnbuckle, but Bourne comes back with quick arm drags, including a leaping drag off the second buckle, which looks awesome. Bourne on offense rules, and McIntyre bumps great and communicates arrogance and frustration perfectly. Bourne also hits a beautiful rana and throws great kicks, but McIntyre finally kills him with a clothesline. Bourne does a backflip off the apron and dies. All in the first two minutes. Then McIntyre bullies Evan and throws a great big boot. They don't have the time to work great limb stuff like in the Masters match, but with McIntyre's size advantage, a bully segment works just as well. He hits a delayed superplex and shows off and wails on Bourne, who can make anything look like gold and gold look like god. They do a cool spot off the apron that leads to McIntyre eating steps and Bourne throwing a great flurry of kicks into the awesome finish. Bourne goes for another rana but pays because Drew learned something: he tosses Bourne into the buckle and hits the Future Shock.

ADDED:

#19 - Evan Bourne vs. Zack Ryder - Superstars 5/5/11

A pairing that doesn't get enough pimpage. Ryder is goofy but can work and has had multiple goodies with Bourne & Christian. Bourne is a treat here, leading Ryder through some slick mat exchanges. I'll go nuts for any chance to watch Bourne on offense busting out quick mat stuff. And then Ryder catches him going for a rana off the apron to the outside and smashes him into the barricade. It's worth reiterating that Bourne dies all the time, beautifully. And Ryder hits an awesome facewash. And these guys bust out cool counters together and time stuff great. This one didn't sizzle quite as much as their 5/27/10 match but was still plenty fun and worth checking out.

Best of WWE 2011: THE LIST

Best of WWE 2011 - WrestleMania

2011-08-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

Attended this show live and thought it was mostly good, aside from the Rock stuff, which simply wasn't pro wrestling. Del Rio/Edge was a fine title match and better than most Edge stuff from the last couple years, but still nowhere near the Del Rio/Christian stuff, which I might talk about soon. Taker/Hunter was very good for what it was, but it wasn't something that appealed to me in any major way. If I feel like watching it again, I might write about it. Two great matches, though.

ADDED:

#10 - Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio - WMXXVII 4/3/11

Dead crowd, but they worked a smart & fun match. In an earlier match, Cody exposed Rey's knee brace only to eat a 619, which broke his face. He blamed Rey for ruining his good looks and underwent a major character transformation. Now he wears a plastic mask and uses it as a weapon, and he has darker music. Goofy but fun gimmick, and he works it really well. He attacks Rey early, but Rey is ready and fights him off. Cody protects the face. That's a significant part of his character and a good spot. Throughout the match, we see a prepared Cody with an arsenal of counters to stop all of Rey's stuff. He also uses the mask as a weapon both to deliver punishment and to cut Rey off. His control segment isn't perfectly focused, but it works because Rey squirms and counters enough to keep Cody on his toes, and they bust out a bunch of cool spots. Awesome delayed superplex. The finishing stretch totally rules. Cody takes off Rey's knee to try to maim him, but Rey defends himself and fights Cody off. Then, Rey takes off Cody's mask and wears it to deliver a string of awesome diving headbutt revenge spots. Cody's face gets thrashed. Side note, Rey's strikes are really awesome here. He has great kicks. Anyway, Cody goes to the outside and catches Rey in the face with Rey's knee brace. Looked really incredible. Awesome finish, great match.

ADDED:

#7 - CM Punk vs. Randy Orton - WMXXVII 4/3/11

Punk obliterated Orton's knee with a monkey wrench during the build. They hate each other. They work a pretty basic match: Punk goes for Orton's knee right at the bell and doesn't let up until he starts to try to put Orton away down the stretch; Orton tries to punish Punk early until Punk weakens the knee, and then he sells and looks for desperation RKOs. Punk's knee work is engaging and varied, and his facial expressions are really awesome. He mocks Orton, and Punk mocking dudes rules. His responses to dodging RKOs are priceless. Punk busts out a figure-four around the ring post, and then there's a great Indian Deathlock spot. Punk wails on Orton's knee while Orton tries to claw at Punk's face only to get an elbow to the ribs. Then Punk nearly falls asleep and lets his shoulders touch the mat for 2. Then Punk wails on the knee some more and Orton claws some more until he finally gets into position to headbutt his way out. Tons of activity on a simple hold. Again, a great finish. Punk goes away from the knee to try to finish Orton off when he realizes that Orton won't tap, but the Anaconda Vice doesn't work either. Orton goes on adrenaline and hits Punk hard while still selling the knee. Orton's mannerisms are goofy and his Thesz press is worse than Kelly Kelly's, but none of that hurt the match much. Orton goes for a punt but collapses, and Punk's response is brilliant, as is the teased RKO, as is the mid-air RKO, which was perfectly-timed and not contrived.

Best of WWE 2011 - THE LIST

Best of WWE 2011 - SummerSlam

2011-08-18T19:16:00.000-07:00

SummerSlam 2011 was a truly great PPV. Four great matches I'll talk about here, plus a fun 6-man opener to get guys on the card, plus one of the best divas matches in a while, plus two funny backstage segments. Check it out.

ADDED:

#13 - Sheamus vs. Mark Henry - SummerSlam 8/14/11

Doubt this will stick to my list because it had lulls and there's been a ton of great stuff, by the dynamic between these two was incredible. Babyface Sheamus excites me and Henry's been on a tear since his heel turn, tossing tech guys and murdering monsters and talking shit. He lumbers around and clubs Sheamus and dominates. Sheamus brings fire on his comebacks and wails on Henry and the crowd digs all of it. Few awesome spots: Henry drapes Sheamus on the middle rope and then drives through and smashes him and lands on the outside; Sheamus hits a running double ax on one of his comebacks-- it's beautiful; Henry eats a Brogue kick but tumbles through the middle rope in a Vader-level fat boy bump, and it breaks hearts because Sheamus had him! Then they kill the rail on the finish: it looks sick, folks flip, and we get one of the best count-out finishes I've seen. Lord I want a rematch. Match was two big tough guys beating on each other. Not a classic, but it was pro wrestling, and that's what I love.

ADDED:

#8 - Daniel Bryan vs. Wade Barrett - SummerSlam 8/14/11

I'm not high on Barrett, but he proved himself a solid hand here, in his best match yet. Bryan looked great, of course, and we got something pretty great. They worked the mat briefly at the start and Bryan stretched Barrett beautifully, which you don't see a lot in current WWE. Then Bryan hit some great dropkicks and rolled early until Barrett caught him with a black hole slam. Great spot, and it connected with what Barrett talked about on the last episode of SD, about studying Bryan, finding weak spots. Barrett's control stuff could've put this over the top if it had been better, but instead, it dragged a bit. But he hit everything fine, focused on Bryan's back, and hit an awesome forearm smash to cut off one of Bryan's comebacks. Bryan also took a great apron bump, and they teased a Wasteland off the apron, and then Bryan hit his flying knee off the apron. Really great sequence, and the finishing stretch rocked. Barrett was prepared to get to the ropes when Bryan went for his submissions. Finish was awesome, too, as Bryan took his clothesline bump off the top rope. No great story or character development here, but we got a hard-hitting match between two guys with something to prove who don't like each other. Bryan really leveled Wade with some of his kicks. Again, pro wrestling.

ADDED:

#5: Christian vs. Randy Orton - No Holds Barred - SummerSlam 8/14/11

This started uneventfully but at least Orton got his crappy short-arm clotheslines out of the way. He goes for his RKO on the table early, and Christian tries to run because he's felt that before. Orton catches him and beats him up in the crowd and then stomps on his head and grins crazily. Back in the ring, Christian dodges Orton and Orton eats post with his shoulder. Announcers put over his injury history, and he sells it throughout the match. From here, they take off. Christian looks like he has something to prove on offense because he does: Edge called him a bitch. He wails on Orton with a kendo stick and chokes him with the point of it. Orton, however, catches Christian going for a leaping shot with the kendo stick: beautifully-time dropkick. These two always work counter-heavy matches, but works because they time well, hit hard, and have familiarity. They also set up, build to, and pay off on the big spots. We get a sequence of great teased table spots, and then down the stretch, we get quality table spots, including a nasty powerslam through a table in the corner. Orton hits great powerslams, and what puts this match over the top is all the crazy shit Christian takes. He takes a monster beating after being called a bitch: I hope they put that over on SD, but they'll probably bury him.

I could see folks finding this prop-heavy, but it only got cluttered toward the end, when Orton lost his shit. That was awesome, but the way. He kicked out of a Killswitch (ate it beautifully, fwiw), so Christian went for a con-chair-to but spat in Orton's face first-- the match was loaded with quality callbacks, and that was the best of them-- so Orton dodged the chair and blew up. From there, we saw him kill Christian. Some might have found the finish contrived, and there was a distracting spot where Christian had to hold a trash can in place so he could take a rope-elevated DDT onto it. But that was still one of the best trash can spots I've seen. So yeah, this had some of the weaknesses you might expect in a garbage match, but it was mostly violent and awesome and totally worth checking out.

ADDED:

#2 - CM Punk vs. John Cena - SummerSlam 8/14/11

Already talked about the greatness of their MITB match, which had a surreal atmosphere and was drenched in drama and one of the best WWE matches ever. They worked evenly for a while until Cena took over and tried unsuccessfully to put Punk away: that match was about Punk's heart. Here, the crowd is split more evenly, meaning they were less surreal but still plenty of fun. And they work with parity throughout the match while building off their previous encounter, and they do it without cheesy stand-offs or turning the match into a your turn/my turn deal. Part of the reason it worked, and why the whole feud has worked, has been because both guys are such different characters, and that shows in their work. Cena works traditional, with punches, kicks, and basic holds, while Punk brings his muay thai stuff and an array of kicks. Cena hits elbow drops; Punk hits falling head-butts. Equals but opposites. The early mat stuff rules: it's not flashy but it's sensible and effective. The callback spots are great. In one out-of-this world sequence, Cena goes for his typical offense but Punk catches him with a knee to the face while he's mid shoulder-block. Punk goes for a knee in the corner but Cena dodges and finishes his shoulder blocks and goes for his slam to set up the five-knuckle shuffle. Punk counters through with a headlock takeover, hits his running knee against the ropes, goes for a bulldog only to have Cena counter with his slam and go for the five-knuckle shuffle. Punk tries to counter with a kick to the face-- callback to the MITB match-- but Cena catches him and goes for an STF, which Punk counters. Beautiful. Then Punk busts out an STO into a Koji Clutch, which Cena counters in an STF, which Punk counters into an Anaconda Vice, which Cena counters into a crossface. It's incredible, exhausting. Both guys bring their best and put tons behind each strike and bust out tons of great counters. Punk sells the knee all down the stretch. Triple H's role works fine. The strike exchanges further accentuate the differences between these two. Cena hits a 100% perfect dropkick and throws an awesome punch flurry down the stretch. Both guys communicate desperation brilliantly as they approach the finish. The finish itself is pretty cool and sets up future feuds while still leaving the door open for another Punk/Cena match.

Another bona fide classic which deserves extra commendation for being way different from their previous classic: MORE PRO WRESTLING.

Best of WWE 2011: THE LIST

Punk!Rey!Cena!

2011-08-16T17:59:00.000-07:00

I intended to stay up-to-date on my Best of WWE this year. Also intended to keep up last year, and then intended to do a year-end deal last year, and then finished 3/4 of it and quit. So yeah, I suck. But here I go again.

CM Punk vs. John Cena - House Show in Oklahoma City, OK - 3/13/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GZgzyjAqDyI

Punk rules the world during the pre-match. Mason Ryan yells in Welsh which Punk translates as a declaration that Punk himself is the greatest man in the world. Then he smarmily rants about his love for OKC and his plans to buy real estate there after beating Cena. He gets heat, puts over his match with Cena, and sells his Mania match with Orton. And after Cena's intro, he flips into the ring, smiles, and draws out his removal of his shirt. It's amazing. The match itself is a blast, too, about on par with their great TV matches from early in the year. Punk's early antics are great, and his control segment, focused on Cena's neck, is plenty good and has tons of Mason Ryan interference. Cena busts out great strength spots. It basically has all the strengths of their TV matches, plus more Punk playing with the crowd. The finish is great, too, just the kind of triumph you want at a house show.

ADDED:

#3: CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio - Capitol Punishment 6/19/11

These two have incredible chemistry and have had enough matches together that they can work a match centered on familiarity and have it work brilliantly. This one came close to their best matches from last year, and they definitely had the feud of the year in 2010. Opening is a tad slow, but then Rey teases a 619 and Punk dodges only to eat a baseball slide that knocks him outside. Rey goes for a senton off the apron, but Punk catches him and tosses him face-first onto the rail. Not quite as awesome as that transition spot in their 2/12/10 match, but close. Punk then works the ribs and it's great even though the announcers can't figure out what to call a bodyscissors. Rey gets in great hope spots and Punk becomes gradually more aggressive with his 619 counters. Rey does successfully connect with a 619 in the counter after Punk went shoulder-first into the ring post, which looked awesome. There's an incredible exchange of dodged and blocked kicks that must be seen, and it works perfectly due to their familiarity. The whole stretch run is beautifully executed and plays off their history together, and the finish is terrific. Tons of great near-falls and plenty of heat. Awesome match.

ADDED:

#1: CM Punk vs. John Cena - Money in the Bank 7/17/11

What a special match. Chicago crowd is nuts, totally pro-Punk and preposterously anti-Cena. The entrances and intros are stunning. The start slow, which works: both guys understand the stakes and don't want to make mistakes. The matwork at the start is awesome: slow but physical and natural and with strong psych. Not basic limb stuff, but each guy has his strengths and plays to them and tries to avoid his opponent's strengths. Cena is strong but Punk has the kicks & the quicks, basically. They put over Punk's dangerous legs early and play to that throughout the match. The crowd rules throughout this stuff, and Punk plays with them brilliantly during the "You can't wrestle!" chants. Match builds slowly and takes off on Punk's botched crossbody, which turned out to be the best thing ever. He hit Cena's knee, and Cena sold that knee throughout the match. That also led to Cena hitting on awesome suplex on the outside, and from there, Cena worked from the top for the most part. He added a bunch to his arsenal and really went to town on Punk, and Punk turned in his best babyface performance ever. His comebacks are awesome, particularly one where he hits a Savage knee to the back to knock Cena on the outside, yells "Chicago!" and then hits his best dive ever and high-fives his mom. Incredible. But his facial expressions throughout are so great: the desperation, the need to win, and the selling of exhaustion are all terrific. Cena is great, too, selling the knee often enough and reacting to Punk's kickouts. Punk takes more than anyone has and Cena finally loses it and chews out the ref, which was un-Cena-like & perfect. Punk's counter to the desperation top-rope AA attempt was awesome as was the whole finish, which protected both guys and let us see Johnny Ace get punched in the face. Minor execution issues aside, this match was perfect and one of the best WWE matches ever. Both guys threw everything they had and more, busting out a bunch of new stuff, including Punk's awesome variation of his running knee where he hits it against the ropes rather than the corner. There were a bunch of awesome strikes, a bunch of great selling, one of the best crowds ever, and it all tied into one of the best angles the WWE has put together, surrounding two of its biggest & best characters and also two of its best workers, and possibly the best pairing in current wrestling.

ADDED:

#2: John Cena vs. Rey Mysterio - Raw 7/25/11

Red-hot, fresh, and terrific. They establish the strength vs. speed dynamic early and explore it brilliantly throughout the match. Rey hacks at Cena's legs with kicks, and they're terrific kicks, the best I've seen from Rey, and the addition of such great strikes makes Rey even better, which I wouldn't have thought possible. But every time Cena gets murderous every time he catches Rey. He destroys Rey on the outside with a clothesline and then bullies him for a while. Every time Rey gets going he busts out slick stuff, cool counters, etc, and Cena comes back with awesome strength spots. The whole stretch run is terrific and features a bunch of cool stuff plus great selling from Cena. The spot where Rey counters an STF with an STF only have Cena power out of it, only to have Cena collapse on his bum knee: that was amazing. A terrific title match, and it's strange they chose to give it away for free.

Best of WWE 2011: THE LIST

Best of WWE 2011 - Elimination Chamber

2011-02-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

ADDED: #8

Edge vs. Rey Mysterio vs. Wade Barrett vs. Kane vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Big Show – Elimination Chamber 2/20/2011

I seem to have liked this less than most, but I agree with most of the praise it has received. Rey turned in an amazing performance. Not on par with what he did on the Raw chamber in 09, but not many performances are even close to that. He pinballed around and ate the nastiest things and took lawn dart bumps like it was his job or something. Barrett was fine and had some good stuff; Kane was surprisingly good and threw a bunch of uppercuts. Drew McIntyre had an awesome run when he first came in. Totally murdered Rey and everyone else. Show destroyed Barrett and looked like a beast. I appreciated the booking, which made him look like a giant by having him eat a million finishers before getting eliminated. But the whole thing felt a tad contrived, perhaps because Rey telegraphed it by climbing the pod so early, perhaps because it went on for so long. Granted, it needed that length to give him the giant booking he deserves, but whatever. I also didn't like the decision to give Kane the monster push. He looked fine in getting 2 straight eliminations, but really, why not give that push to McIntyre, who is actually good and has a future? I try to judge matches based on performances rather than booking, but that decision really bothered me, and the match would've been better with more of McIntyre murdering people. His ass-kicking section felt too short. Biggest problems with the match, though, revolved around Edge. He opened the match with Rey and looked fine, except he was a top babyface throwing a long-time friend (Cole even mentioned their friendship later in the match) into the grating and the glass and shoving him under the rope and across the grating into the glass. After that spot, Barrett threw Rey back into the ring rather than torturing him out there, which also didn't make sense. I don't want that to sound like a “babyfaces should play nice” argument, but I had problems with the whole thing. They try to put the chamber over as a career-threatening structure, and then they let one of their good guys-- the top good guy on the show, in fact-- go out there and try to maim an old friend. Throughout Edge's babyface run, he really hasn't spent much time in the moral right and hasn't been a likeable character. Other problem with the match was the finishing run. Folks have praised it, and I'd agree that Rey looked great and made Edge look great, which is no small feat. But it was far too your turn/my turn for my liking, and it went on for quite some time. I dug the drama on the first watch, but on the second, it felt like two guys doing cool stuff for 7 minutes, and whatever to that. So a bit of a mixed bag but more good than bad, and the good was really great.

ADDED: #1

The Miz vs. Jerry Lawler – Elimination Chamber 2/20/2011

Tons of emotion and drama, and great storytelling. Lawler looked amazing. I loved how he went for roll-ups early. He also took a fantastic bump into the ring post. His facial expressions and punches ruled. And Miz more than hold up his end of the bargain, with good facial expressions, bumping, and control stuff. Everything around the ring was great, too, from Riley's interferences to his ejections, to Lawler throwing Miz into Cole, to Booker's reaction to Cole getting smashed, to Cole's reaction to Miz's win. Plus, Lawler hit this great superplex where he turned a bit and made it look like a falcon arrow. And his counter to Miz's first Skull-Crushing Finale attempt ruled. And his fist drop spot was awesome. He dropped the strap before he hit it: amazing. And he forgot to hook the leg, so Miz got the rope, and Lawler's reaction was great. The final near-fall-- a back body drop countered into a sunset flip-- was a truly great moment, and I actually thought Lawler might win. Really dug the finish, too, as it was decisive but allowed us to believe in Lawler, at least for a while. I liked how quickly Miz got up and hit that boot, which looked good. Kinda gave the impression that the younger guy simply out-lasted the veteran: Lawler seemed to be running out of gas at the end, and though he was smart and well-prepared and determined throughout the match, he just didn't have enough to beat a guy half his age.

ADDED: #3

John Morrison vs. Sheamus vs. Randy Orton vs. CM Punk vs. John Cena vs. R-Truth – Elimination Chamber 2/20/2011

Thought this was the better of the two chambers, though I seem to be in the minority. The main criticism has been that the opening stretches were pedestrian, and I'd agree with that. I thought the opening of the SD chamber was offensive, though, and I'd take “pedestrian” over “offensive.” Morrison and Sheamus's exchanges were fine, and the addition of Orton didn't hurt anything. Punk was probably the best guy even in this section of the match, as his faces were truly outstanding. The whole restart business with Punk was amazingly well done. Totally not something I'd expect to work, but they did it really well. I was gutted and pissed after the quick elimination, and then the GM alert made me smile. Sheamus jumping Cena before Cena could get going was really great. Sheamus rocked throughout here. Didn't deliver a compact and perfect ass-kicking segment like McIntyre, but he got more time and did more and looked great throughout, and he took some great stuff on the steel, including an awesome hip toss from Truth. Truth didn't need to be there, and I think they knew that and got him out quickly. His dodging of Sheamus was cool, and his flurry looked fine, and he allowed Sheamus to hit a nasty nasty brogue kick. Awesome. Punk then came in and his elimination of Orton was great. He also mocked Orton. Duh, that rocked. Like, a lot. Also liked Cena eating on RKO on the steel. I'm not a fan of dudes fading out of these types of matches for a long time, but if you have to do it, use a spot like that. I thought the pod spot with Morrison/Sheamus was good. I would've liked the payoff to deliver more impact, but it was plenty dramatic and dangerous. The finishing three stuff was amazing. Punk ruled, thoroughly, and Morrison proved that it was a perfect scenario for him to bust out cool stuff. He busted up his own knee taking chances and then sold his ass off. Cena didn't do anything great but looked good enough. I was hoping for a bigger Cena/Punk showdown at the end, but they kept Morrison around and he looked great, so it worked out.

ADDED: #12

John Cena, Rey Mysterio, Edge, R-Truth, Randy Orton, & John Morrison vs. Sheamus, CM Punk, Kane, Wade Barrett, Drew McIntyre, & Dolph Ziggler – Smackdown 2/18/2011

Big tag match to build toward the two elimination chamber matches. Should've been mostly forgettable: opening stuff was fine and Morrison worked a solid FIP spell, but nothing spectacular. But Punk and Rey were both so amazing here. Punk's role wasn't huge, but when he was in, he looked like an ass-kicker, and his exchanges with Rey were stellar, and he mocked guys. Punk mocking guys might be the best thing in pro wrestling right now. Acting like he was crying at Morrison after spraying Morrison in the eyes with mace a couple weeks earlier: brilliant. And Rey had a really good FIP segment, bumping around and taking his face-first slide to the outside and onto Punk's knee. Finishing stretch was typical WWE finisher-fest stuff, but I always have fun with those things, and this had two standout moments with Truth taking a dramatic bump off a Barrett black hole slam and Ziggler taking a preposterous bump off an Edge spear. Bunch of fun.

Best of WWE: 2011: THE LIST

Best of WWE: 2011

2011-02-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

Right. I intended to do something like this last year but got a late start and never recovered. Basically, my goal is to keep a running list of the best matches WWE runs this year, with links to the blog post where I talk about all those matches. There'll probably be multiple matches in each post, so if you click the link to Punk/Cena to find me rambling about Miz/Morrison, don't worry: you didn't do anything wrong, and I'd never do anything wrong.

Starting to get rolling with this for real. Going to drop it to a top 25 for now, though as I watch more that I want to keep listed, I might expand to a top 40 or something. Everything the slides off I'll drop into a pile called THE REST, which will basically be a bunch of matches, listed chronologically, that I'd call worth seeing, either because of high quality or surprising quality, as is the case with Striker/Young from NXT 8/9.

THE REST:

Best of WWE: 2011 - First Batch

2011-02-15T18:41:00.000-08:00

The Miz vs. John Morrison – Falls Count Anywhere – Raw 1/3/2011

Morrison gets a shot at the title after ending 2010 on a strong note, and these two went out and had a great little match. They start brawling on the ramp: it's fairly pedestrian as neither guy is a great brawler and the big high spot off the WWE logo doesn't look to impressive. But it works fine enough, and back in the ring they have some neat exchanges that lead to Morrison hitting his springboard kick and his running knee, both of which look good. Riley breaks it up, so Morrison murders him. This opening segment worked better in theory than in execution: I like the idea of the brawl and of Morrison roughing up Riley to look like a badass, but Morrison is really erratic with his strikes, and this wasn't one of his better ass-kicking segments. Still, it leads to Miz making this awesome “Holy shit, he's scary” face before the commercial, and it sets up what comes after the break, which is all awesome. We've got a champ who's been booked extremely weak going against a red-hot babyface who happens to be his ex-partner, and this is really the Miz's first time all by himself with the title on the line. It makes the title seem truly at risk, which is difficult to do these days in a match on Raw. They come back from commercial on the outside with a dramatic exchange around a guard rail that leads to Morrison getting tossed onto it. That looked really good. Miz's facial expressions throughout are incredible: he conveys a sense of desperation, and it all seems genuine, which isn't always the case with him. Morrison looks tough for hanging in, and Miz looks tough for kicking out of Morrison's finisher, and the table spot really delivers. Felt like the whole match built toward that, and it was everything I wanted. Morrison staggering to his feet after nearly dying made him look tough but also solidified Miz's legitimacy by allowing him to win with his finisher rather than by a fluke table accident.

I guess this is something that I really dug in spite of its flaws. That's not to say it's a heavily-flawed match: it's still really good, but there are definitely problems that you'll see when you see it. Still, it was great for both guys and characters and did a lot of good for Miz as champion and for Morrison as a rising babyface.

Daniel Bryan & Mark Henry vs. Tyson Kidd & Ted Dibiase – Superstars 1/6/2011

Bunch of fun. Starts with some really cool exchanges between Bryan and Kidd, which left me wishing they decided to give those two a lengthy singles match at some point. Then Dibiase and Henry get a fun turn: Dibiase looks like a punk and tries to slap Henry, which leads to satisfaction. Bryan is a riot on the apron throughout all of this as he looks like a goofy guy who's genuinely having the time of his life and making bank. Bryan gets a good little FIP spell, and Henry does, too, and the finish itself is good except I'm not sure why Kidd pinned Bryan if they weren't giving him a US Title shot. I guess I heard the whole Hart Dynasty got in some sort of trouble, hence the burials.

Big Show vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Dolph Ziggler vs. Cody Rhodes – Smackdown 1/7/2011

I can't think of many 4-ways better than this. Big Show gets to work like a true giant babyface monster, which he does perfectly. It helps that he has three magnificent heel bumpers to toss around. Beginning sees all of them trying to gang up on Show only to get tossed around like sacks of trash. All three of them were very good, but special credit goes to McIntyre, who tossed himself over the top rope and outside at least a half a dozen times, and he threw some great tantrums out there. Ziggler maybe took the best bump of the match in a spot where Show tossed both Ziggler and Rhodes over the top in the corner and Ziggler really whacked the apron on his way down. Psychologically-sound match, too as everyone seemed to work smart: the little guys tried to gang up on the big guy, which prompted the big guy to try to isolate someone to get a quick pin, which lead to the little guys breaking up pin attempts until they finally threw Show through the barricade. Barrett interference worked fine, and it set up a cool sequence where everyone tried to put Show away only for Show to keep tossing dudes until Ziggler finally came up with a smart plan. Also, props to both Show and Cody for making the Zig-Zag look better than in normally does. Also, it's a bit of a bummer than nowadays Ziggler looks like a goon who can't win the title even with his gf handing it to him, and Show got pinned by a clothesline followed by a DDT a little while back. Granted, it was a ZEKE clothesline, but still.

Alberto Del Rio vs. Rey Mysterio – 2/3 Falls – Smackdown 1/7/2011

Plenty of intensity here as both guys put a lot into their strikes. I really dug the structure: Del Rio dodges a 619 early and locks in the cross armbreaker for a quick submission, which showed the familiarity between the two, put over the hold as a deadly finisher, showed intelligence on Rey's part as he avoided a serious injury, and set up the limb focus for the rest of the match. Del Rio constantly goes back to the arm and busts out some nifty counters, the most notable of which is essentially a Codebreaker to the arm, which looks great. He also goes for the cross armbreaker again in the second fall, only for Rey to counter by rolling through into a school boy for a fantastic near-fall, which then led to a fun sequence that resulted in Rey getting the second fall with one of the best-looking roll-ups I've seen in a while. Rey busts out some slick offense in this match, including a diving missile headbutt off the top rope. Set up for the finish was cool, and the finish was clever and would've been great to set up another match, a big-time blowoff. As it stands, we still haven't gotten that blowoff, which makes the finish to this a disappointing feud conclusion. But I'll still hold out hope for a resumption of the feud and a big PPV match, maybe at Mania, though I also want to see Cody/Rey in a match involving masks. Anyway, great little match. Maybe not as good as their best 2010 match (I suck at remembering dates), but still awesome.

William Regal, Zack Ryder, & the Usos vs. DH Smith, Yoshi Tatsu, Primo, & Darren Young – Superstars 1/13/2011

I was kind of irritated when I first saw this and realized they gave the FIP segments to Smith and Young instead of Primo and Tatsu, but whatever. DH Smith had some fine leg selling, and Young has proven he's willing to eat a bunch of nasty shit. Basically, this is a bunch of fun. Primo usually works heel, so it was refreshing to see him clean house as a babyface because I like him a fair bit. Smith rocks when he's busting out big power moves and tossing dudes for no reason. He should start eating clotheslines like a madman and landing on his head and barking like a dog. Young's FIP spell is better and he really leans into everything. Regal rocks because he's Regal, and Ryder is pretty good. Fortunately, the Usos don't do much, and unfortunately, Tatsu doesn't do much. Awesome chaos at the finish.

CM Punk vs. John Cena – Raw 1/17/2011

Man, this felt like a huge match. Crowd was totally electric. Start is awesome as Cena cuts through all the bullshit and wallops Punk, throwing a bunch of awesome body shots and other punches. Punk's facial expressions are awesome here, as he looks totally taken aback. Then Punk takes control and looks like a legit ass-kicker. Don't want to talk about strictly the spots, but there were a bunch of awesome ones: Cena powers out of Punk's figure-four headlock only to have Punk counter and hit a DDT; Punk busts out a Koji Clutch, which allows Cena to show off some awesome nearly-passing-out selling; Cena counters the GTS into an STF; they battle it out on the corner and Cena headbutts Punk to set up his leg drop spot, which leads to the best near-fall of the year, on a move that he's never won with. Awesome. Finish leaves a bit to be desired, but this was a great match. They showed a lot of stuff we'd never seen before yet left me thinking they have much, much better matches in them, and I desperately want to see those matches.

Tyson Kidd vs. Yoshi Tatsu – Superstars 1/20/2011

I like Tatsu a lot. Not entirely sold on Kidd, but he does a lot of things well and is athletically gifted. They get in some fun exchanges early, and they establish characters: Kidd taunts and grins and looks like a douche; Tatsu puts his hands up and looks like a fighter, all heart. Kidd's shtick will likely divide some, but I'm fine with it. I guess I dig how he busts out athletic spots and then taunts and wears this face that says he's doing it just because he can and he's an ass. Really awesome transition spot before the break as Kidd catches a Tatsu kick from the apron and hits a dragon screw over the ropes. After the break, Kidd goes to town on Tatsu's knee, wrenching and yelling and twisting. Tatsu sells his ass off. Really inspired performance. He hits a spinning kick to the gut with his good leg and then collapses on his bad leg. He hits a northern lights suplex but can't bridge on one leg and loses the pin. Awesome stuff, and an awesome out-of-nowhere finish. Fantastic match that seems to have been slept on a bit.

Daniel Bryan vs. Ted Dibiase – NXT 1/25/2011

Haven't seen any recent NXT stuff other than this, but evidently, they're doing a bunch of whacky camera angle stuff, and Josh Mathews doesn't care much about the matches, and the other pros sit by the entrance area with microphones and talk the whole time. Add to that that Dibiase isn't great, and Bryan has a mountain to climb in this one. He succeeds and has a very good match that opens with fine mat work. Bryan wrenches on Dibiase's arm and it looks good, but we don't see much of it because Mathews is trying to hit on Maryse at ringside. Match takes off when Dibiase starts to work over Bryan's neck. Bryan's selling is top notch, with a couple awesome moments, including a spot where he hits his running elbow and then sells the neck after landing on it. He does the same after hitting his missile dropkick, and then he goes for a pin rather than kipping up. Some really fun sequences down the stretch, and a fairly cool finish.

CM Punk vs. John Cena – Raw 2/14/2011

Not as good as their first match this year, but still a lot to like. “There must be a winner,” so Punk looks focused, and Cena laughs at him early on and then misses a charge and goes shoulder-first into the buckle. They didn't bust out as much cool stuff as in their first match, but I liked how far this match went to establish Punk as a legit guy. He really took it to Cena, and his facial expressions were great as he struggled and clawed to put Cena away. Of course Cena looked tough in hanging in there, and he got in some impressive power spots. I liked the finish quite a bit: Punk cheated and won, but the match still legitimized him and made him look strong and intelligent. Very good little match. Their 2/7 match is much shorter and not really a complete match, but I dug it for what it was and would consider it worth tracking down.

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan – Raw 2/14/2011

Not on the level of their NoC 2010 match, but this was still fantastic. Opening wasn't spectacular, but I liked how the Miz silenced a pro-Bryan crowd with a nasty shoulder block. One awkward spot that clearly didn't go as planned, but they recovered quickly and moved to some awesome stuff on the outside, including a great running knee off the apron and onto the floor by Bryan. Plus, there was a fantastic neckbreaker spot on the apron that looked totally devastating, and Bryan ate it like a champ. Everything after the break was great: bunches of awesome near-falls, a bunch of awesome kicks from Bryan, good facial expressions from both guys, good woozy selling from Bryan near the finish. The whole finishing stretch was about as good as their NoC match, frankly, but this didn't have the awesome limb work in the first half to set up the awesome selling down the stretch.

Best of WWE: 2011: THE LIST

Hell in a Cell 2010

2010-10-04T07:23:00.000-07:00

Daniel Bryan vs. The Miz vs. John Morrison - Submissions Count Anywhere

This had the potential to be either really fun or a complete mess. It turned out mostly fun, with a bit of messiness. The opening segments were plagued by the non-sensical isolation stuff present in most triple threats these days. Miz played the coward and ran away for a while, which was nice: if they're going to do the isolation segments, they should set them up by having two guys take out one, and that's what they did. Bryan whiffed on a sliding kick-- it looked like Miz moved away-- which was unfortunate but not a big deal. Morrison busted out a cool tarantula on the ropes; Bryan used his leg lock and cattle mutilation and teased the Lebell lock. The match picked up when Bryan put Miz in a leg lock: they traded boots to the face until Morrison broke it up with maybe the best Starship Pain he's ever hit. He landed right on both dudes' legs and it looked devastating. Then he too Miz out through the crowd, and the rest of the match was a pretty wild brawl with guys coming in and out. Miz was at the focal point most of the time because both babyfaces hated him, which made sense. Everyone looked good during this segment: Morrison did his nifty parkour spots; Miz brought some viciousness and used his surroundings; Bryan took some nasty bumps into barricades and onto steel. Bryan kept going for holds on the Miz, and Miz kept busting out counters, including an awesome one where he kicked Bryan into the barricade to escape a Fujiwara armbar. Really showed some growth on Miz's part as he previously didn't have an answer for any of Bryan's holds. Morrison climbed some stuff and hit a big splash, which was the most contrived spot of the match. He followed it up with a Texas cloverleaf, which I maybe bought into for a second thanks to Miz's selling. Alex Riley's interference was perfectly-timed and created the perfect opportunity for Bryan to win in the right way.

Not as good as a Miz/Bryan singles match would've been, but still a solid bucket of fun. I hope we get one more Miz/Bryan match. On a side note, there was a great commentary moment. Striker was babbling about cattle mutilation, and Lawler called Striker's commentary cattle mutilation, and then Striker threatened to ask Lawler a million questions. I love how they've taken Lawler's legit irritation with Striker and turned it into a running joke. Good stuff.

Randy Orton vs. Sheamus - HIAC

I haven't loved the matches between these two in the past, but I thought this was really good for the most part. Not great-- I don't think these two can have a great match together at this point-- but better than I expected and about as good as it could've been. Sheamus looks good on offense but still works with too limited of a moveset to be really great working offense for an extended period. Orton can sell and bump, but I still don't think he's fully adapted to working babyface. It's a difficult character to work: he's this emotionless killer-type, but he has to make the crowd cheer for him, and it seems he hasn't figured out how to draw major sympathy in that role. Sure, the crowd goes wild when he goes on offense, but they also sit on their hands for long segments of the match when he's getting beaten up. Not sure what the solution is, but his facial expressions were a lot better here, and his selling was great. I'd call Orton a good bumper, but the way he goes limp and slinks to the ground seems like a heel-ish way to bump. I guess I just want to say that Orton isn't a great babyface at this point.

But the match: they went back and forth in the opening stages and Sheamus avoided the cell when he was in danger, but then he rushed to use it when he was in control. When Sheamus went on offense, he targeted the ribs, and he eventually hit an awesome gordbuster outside the ring onto the steel steps. Awesome spot, and from that point forward, Orton's selling was terrific. He timed his comebacks well, and Sheamus always went back to the ribs to cut him off. There was a great moment where they were trading punches to the face and the crowd was boo/yeah-ing in favor of Orton, and Sheamus threw a nasty punch to Orton's gut to stop it. They did some cool stuff with the steel steps and Sheamus took some nasty bumps. Sheamus conveyed desperation and the stuff with the chair was awesome. He really needs a new finisher because his boot won't finish anyone major unless he hits it 5 times, and his lack of finishing potential hurts his matches. But we all knew Orton was retaining here, and the finish was great, and Orton's rib selling was tremendous, and Sheamus was as focused as always, and he busted out some cool spots. Match was probably a tad longer than it should've been, but still really good. Felt ***1/4-ish.

Edge vs. Jack Swagger

I guess Edge is turning face again. I'll try to be optimistic because he looked great breaking a computer last week on Raw, but his last run flopped and he stunk then and now. Pre-match promo started with Del Rio, and then Edge called him stupid, and then Swagger came out and complained about how Edge speared his bird, which was nice because Swagger is great at comedy. Match was a big old nothing for the most part. Swagger looked good on offense at points, but then Edge kicked out of the gutwrench powerbomb for no reason, and then it looked like he hurt his leg, so Swagger locked in the ankle lock. Edge countered and shook it off and then hit a spear, no-selling everything and burying both of Swagger's finishers. Nice.

I can't help but think that this whole angle was intended for Jericho-- they teased a face turn for him several times this year, and he was the first one to bitch about the GM-- and it really would be better with Jericho. He looked great as a pseudo-babyface at SummerSlam and in a couple random tags, and the crowd totally dug him, unlike Edge. But he's gone now, and so Edge gets another random turn, and Swagger takes another step backward, which is unfortunate.

John Cena vs. Wade Barrett - If Cena loses, he joins Nexus; if Barrett loses, Nexus disbands

This was very good thanks to an awesome performance by Cena and surprisingly good booking and a lively crowd. Cena schooled Barrett early, and he's really great in that role, taking dudes to the mat and out-grappling them. He gave Barrett a smile, and he looked to be in complete control. But then Barrett started throwing punches and brawling and Cena was generous in how much he gave and how well he sold. Interesting to see Cena make a rookie look like a million bucks after Edge buried a former world champion. Anyway, Nexus came down to the ring early to provide a distraction. Barrett yelled at them but took advantage of the distraction to control the match. The crowd was totally alive and there was an audible minority on Barrett's side. When Cena first started to roll, Nexus movee in, so a bunch of WWE dudes rushed the ring to clear them out, which means Goldust, Bourne, and Masters all made cameos. Barrett went back on offense and Cena continued to sell his ass off: he made everything look painful, made every bit of Barrett's offense seem like a big deal. Totally awesome stuff. Barrett eventually hit Waste Land after countering an Attitude Adjustment, and I thought it was awesome that Cena let him get his finisher clean. Cena kicked out and popped up with an Attitude Adjustment, and I was totally shocked to see Barrett kick out. Really, I can't stress enough how much Cena was willing to give in this match, and how much his giving nature helped the match. He went for the STF, and then they did a distraction thing and some guy hit Cena in the face with a pipe and Barrett won and Cole nearly cried and then they got a bunch of awesome close-ups of shocked people in the crowd and kids who wanted to cry. Awesome reaction from the crowd. Million stars for how stunned people were. Probably a ***1/4 match or so. Tremendous performance by John Cena.

Michelle McCool vs. Layla - Unified Divas Title

Lawler told LayCool to slip into a coma after the match. Awesome. Wasn't much to the match: LayCool did some distraction stuff, Layla screamed a bunch and provided some great comedy stuff at ringside. The finish was pretty cool as they traded submissions-- Sharpshooter to heel hook and then back-- and then the awesome-est DQ of all time happened when Layla threw her shoes at Natalya. Michelle kicked Layla inadvertently during the match, another hint at a LayCool dissolution, which would stink.

Kane vs. The Undertaker - HIAC

I wasn't even slightly excited about this feud when it started, but their NHB match was fun and better than I expected, so I tentatively looked forward to this. Didn't like it much at all. They made a point of turning Taker back into a monster after the return of Paul Bearer, and he squashed Punk. But then Kane rocked him pretty good early on and for some reason started doing knee work. ??? Yeah, kinda silly. Taker came back from that pretty quickly and then they went back and forth and brawled sluggishly for a pretty long time. They traded bombs, which was what the match should've been from the get-go, but it wasn't nearly as fun as at Night of Champions. Taker sold the leg work, but it felt a bit like an after thought, and this was the worst limb selling I've seen from him all year. Finishing stretch was silly and a bit fun/frustrating. PAUL BEARER HURT UNDERTAKER WITH LIGHT FROM AN URN. Nice.

Overall, I'd call it an ok show. Good opener and two really good matches. But a PPV without Punk in 2010 is stupid.

When I Met Fujiwara

2010-10-01T14:13:00.000-07:00

I decided to attempt to tackle PURO, so I've been feeling my way around, checking out the most heavily-pimped guys, trying to find a starting point. Thus far, Fujiwara has stuck out as the guy who most appeals to me. Basically, that means I prefer shoot-style stuff to the grandiose slugfests put on by AJPW heavyweights and the athletic sprints put on by Liger & co. Not that I dislike the other stuff, but yeah, Fujiwara's been rocking my world. So, bear with me: I'm going to do my best with analyzing and assessing a style that's brand-new to me. I've been watching early UWF stuff, which maybe still had elements of traditional pro-style stuff, but they're clearly working towards something new and more realistic, etc.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger (Sayama) - UWF 9/7/84

Evidently, UWF pioneered shoot-style. Also, Super Tiger is the same Sayama who worked as Tiger Mask against Dynamite Kid, but this is much better than I remember those matches being. Watching this, you wouldn't believe it's the same dude who has a rep for whiffing kicks and no-selling. This was totally awesome, btw. They work the mat ruggedly and realistically, struggling for everything, and my favorite part is that they continuously go for kimuras and cross armbreakers and triangle chokes, but they don't get them locked in. The other guy always protects himself, and whenever it looks like the hold is cinched in, the guy in the hold sells it like death and yells and rushes to the ropes to break the holds. They make it seem like their arm's about to break because their arm is about to break because those two arm holds will break arms fast.

Story-wise, Fujiwara establishes himself as the superior mat worker. He doesn't dominate, but he definitely looks to have the other hand. He targets the arm but, like I said, Tiger can hang well enough to keep it from getting locked in. Sayama is known as a martial-artist, so he relies on kicks. Fujiwara sells his kicks like death, and aside from one bicycle kick attempt that goes awry, Sayama's kicks look stellar. He eventually goes to the air to try to put Fujiwara away and misses twice and maybe lands on his knees, so Fujiwara switches his focus to the leg, using a half-crab and a figure-four, which are less lethal holds, but they take a lot away from Sayama's offense. Sayama does sell the leg work and he sells it well, but he still manages to make his comeback. Fujiwara backs him into the corner and grabs a leg, and Sayama counters with that mule kick that Jeff Hardy does. He really nails it, and he follows it up with another great kick, and Fujiwara sells both like death, and then Sayama goes for a crossface chickenwing. Felt a bit out of nowhere for a finish, but with the way they put Sayama's kicks over, I'd buy that two big kicks nearly twenty minutes in would rock Fujiwara enough for Sayama to look in a hold that would finish him off.

Bunches of other awesome stuff in this match. Loved they way they struggled for holds and avoided and sold the dangerous ones; loved the way Fujiwara sold Sayama's kicks; loved how his strategy evolved throughout the match. Also, there was this great moment where Sayama slapped Fujiwara in the face. Fujiwara didn't have to do a lot with his face to look pissed because he was a naturally grumpy-looking dude. He lures Sayama to the corner and then throws him into the buckle and slaps the piss out of him. Fujiwara didn't go to strikes much, so that slap felt significant. There was also a really cool exchange where Sayama went for a triangle but Fujiwara didn't let him have his arm. Fujiwara then pulled his head out of the triangle and countered directly into a piledriver and then immediately went for the kimura again. Sayama sold it like death and went to the ropes and it was awesome.

Not sure how to rate/rank something like this, but I thought it was legit great.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Super Tiger - UWF 9/11/84

Didn't like this quite as much as the first, but it was still really awesome. More great mat work, and they made Sayama's kicks an even bigger deal. Opening stages are really cool, as Sayama threatens with kicks to back Fujiwara off, and you can tell Fujiwara wants to get in close to take Sayama down and neutralize his kicks. There are a lot more strikes in this one, and Sayama goes deeper into his kick arsenal, which is a bad thing: the more complicated the kicks get, the less they connect. Still, Fujiwara sells them like death, and they do a few awesome things with the strikes. At one point, Fujiwara gets pissed and takes Sayama to the corner and decks him in the face. It's awesome. Later, he tries the same thing in the opposite corner, but Sayama blocks the punch and throws one of his own, then hits a spin kick to the gut in the corner. Fujiwara's sell rules. Later, he blocks that same spin kick attempt. Basically, it was awesome to watch strategies unfold simultaneously for the mat work and for the strike exchanges.

Finish was really great, too. Sayama hit that same mule kick that set up his victory in the first match. Fujiwara sells it brilliantly and then backs off into the corner to try to protect himself. Sayama pulls him out in a waistlock; Fujiwara elbows him in the face and immediately goes into a Fujiwara armbar. Awesome callback. Awesome awesome match. About on par with the first one.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs. Kazuo Yamazaki - UWF 1/7/85

Man, this was totally awesome. They open up with mat work and look pretty even until Yamazaki kicks Fujiwara's face off. Fujiwara sells kicks perfectly, so from now on, whenever I say someone kicks Fujiwara in the face, assume that kick is followed by top-notch selling unless I say otherwise. Ditto for if he gets kicked in the gut, leg, arm, etc. Wherever he gets kicked, he sells it well. Better than well. Anyway, Yamazaki backs Fujiwara into the corner and kicks the piss out of him, and Fujiwara balls up in the corner and covers up, and it's really something to see that grumpy-looking badass get leveled by a skinny dude. Fujiwara has been totally willing to put his opponents over with his selling, which is really awesome. He eventually gets up, though, and then he throws Yamazaki into the corner and throws these gorgeously nasty punches to the Yamazaki's mid-section. Just all over the place, wherever Yamazaki leaves an opening.

And from then on, these dudes are just mean to each other. It's really a battle of Yamazaki's kicks against Fujiwara's punches, with some beautiful slaps sprinkled throughout, until Fujiwara finally gets fed up and grabs Yamazaki's leg and takes him to the ground and starts tearing at his leg. Then they go back to mat work, and though I didn't like this as much as the Sayama matches on the whole, I'd say the mat work was even better. The stuff they do makes so much sense: they find openings and grab limbs and wrench on them, and then they sell and it's awesome. There's nothing fancy or clever, and I find it weird that a lot of this surprised me because it really looked so natural. This looked like two guys fighting on a mat. There was this awesome moment where Fujiwara went for a figure-four, and he had Yamazaki's left leg wrapped up, so Yamazaki just grabbed his right leg and held it in so Fujiwara couldn't complete the hold. Then, Fujiwara just sat on Yamazaki's left leg. Brilliant. Finish was great, too: Fujiwara locked in the kimura and Yamazaki went to the ropes, so Fujiwara picked him up, slapped the piss out of him, and then took him back down. Yamazaki kept sitting up to prevent Fujiwara from getting full pressure on the kimura, so Fujiwara turned it into a rear choke. No body scissors or anything: just one arm wrapped around his neck until he submitted. Fucking awesome. Yeah: stiff strikes, realistic mat work, perfect selling, and a general feeling of flat-out dislike: I loved this.

Hero/Richards; Hero/Hidaka

2010-09-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

Chris Hero vs. Davey Richards - PWG Seven 7/30/10

I haven't seen a Davey Richards match in a long while. Probably saw him back in January when I tried to keep up with ROH on HDNet. Anyway, I figured I should check this out because he's a pretty divisive dude, and I've had mixed feelings about him, and I like Hero a fair amount. Match works like a typical indy main event dream match-- they open with mat work, and then they do some strike exchanges and dives to the outside, each guy gets a brief control segment, and then there's a finishing stretch where they beat the heck out of each other and there are about 30 2.9999 counts, half of which would've been much better finishes than the actual finish of the match.

But it's not as irritating as most matches of this type for a handful of reasons. First reason is that both guys hit really hard. Like, really hard. Looked like they were trying to kill each other. Second reason is that Hero's selling was really good down the finishing stretch. Davey worked the knee for a while, and Hero sold like a champ. Tons of neat little stuff where he alters his offense to show he's protecting the bad knee. Opening parts of the match were good, too, as the mat work was well-paced, and it looked like they were picking their spots and struggling and all that. Early strike exchanges were tremendous-- tons of nasty stuff. As for Davey, I wouldn't say I thought he was great in this match. He can do things well-- he hits like crazy and can sell when he wants to. But he tends to get so caught up in his own seriousness, his own love for competition or whatever the fuck, that he actually becomes a caricature of "serious" pro wrestling. His expressions and mannerisms and yells become so overwrought that I stop taking the match seriously. That thing he does where he kicks out at 2.9999 and yells and grabs his stomach drives me crazy.

But he sold well during most of the early exchanges, and he made the knockout blows look convincing. Hero's stuff looked awesome-- bunches of great forearms and elbows and knees and punches. Way too many of them, actually. The finishing stretch was really the match's biggest problem. About 20 minutes in, the crowd started chanting, "This is awesome!" and so both guys decided to start hitting the poop out of each other and then kicking out. Fortunately, Hero's selling made this part of the match a bit more tolerable than most matches that end like this, but it still hurt the match a fair amount.

I'd still call this good but didn't think it was as good as any of the Danielson matches from this year.

Chris Hero vs. Ikuto Hidaka - EVOLVE 2 3/13/10

The first half of this match was truly great. They work the mat, and Hero is awesome on the mat, and Hidaka kept up. Both guys worked slow and picked spots; Hero targeted Hidaka's left arm and Hidaka targeted Hero's left leg. Hero does a lot of little selling things throughout the mat work: he yells when Hidaka locks in a new hold and rushes for the ropes when he's in serious danger. All those little things make the mat work more engaging and believable without reaching Davey's preposterous levels of SERIOUS COMPETITION. Once Hero picks out the arm, the match gets insanely good: Hidaka rolls out of things and comes up with nifty counters, always going back to Hero's leg, but he can barely hold onto anything because Hero always finds a new way to go back to the arm, grabbing it or kicking it or stomping on it or whatever. He uses all of his long limbs to his advantage. Hidaka's selling isn't great by any means, but it's better than what I'd expect to see from a Japanese junior in 2010. Better than any of the Dragon Gate dudes. He always shakes it off when he locks in a leg hold, and it becomes clear that the arm damage will continue to prevent him from making a serious comeback on the mat. Still, he does enough to Hero's leg to force him to start selling, and Hero's selling is great throughout.

Eventually, Hero starts going for knockout blows, probably because he's frustrated that his leg hurts and Hidaka's arm isn't broken yet. Hero's strikes are really great, and I liked how his frustration opened a window for Hidaka to comeback. Hidaka tried to comeback with headbutts to the midsection, but Hero pushed him off and hit some back splashes to Hidaka's midsection for payback. Here's when Hero started being a dick and left the window open for Hidaka to get back in the match. Rather than going back to the leg, he started busting out DDTs as hope spots. Finishing stretch is alright-ish. Hero continues to sell well but Hidaka forgets for the majority of the time he's on offense. He goes back to the leg after he weakens Hero, and Hero's selling gets even better while Hidaka's stops. Then they go through a whole bunch of big strikes and teased knockouts, and they all look cool, but I really wish the finish had gone back to the limb work, and I also wish they shaved about 5 minutes off the match length.

Still, this was a mostly great match. It looked like it was about to be my indy MOTY before the finish, but even with the problems in the finishing stretch, I'd only put this a notch below Danielson's matches with Fish and Kingston.

Backlund/Rose; Danielson in 2010; Random

2010-09-28T09:38:00.000-07:00

Buddy Rose vs. Bob Backlund - MSG 8/30/82

I thought this was pretty great. Backlund rules the mat early on, which was really fun. It's been talked about before, but he really worked like he was the man, and the announcer puts over the fact that he was a former amateur champion, so it totally works. Couple really awesome things in the early parts: Rose has him in a full nelson, and Backlund just thrusts his butt backward and Rose takes this awesome tumble out of the ring, going butt first between the bottom and middle ropes. Later, Rose grabs the ropes to block an O'Connor Roll attempt. He turns around to celebrate but Backlund is already up and dropkicking him the face. At that point, Rose decides he's done with the mat stuff and starts throwing punches and this one crispy chop that sounds cool, and he smashes Backlund's face on some turnbuckles. That gives Rose the chance to control stuff on the mat, and so he works a headlock for a while. Too long, I thought, but it turned out to be ok because Backlund came back with a headlock on his own and the crowd went wild. For a headlock. The Man. And he wrenches the headlock like crazy and it looks so cool and the crowd loves it. He works the headlock for a while, and then Rose starts to comeback and smash his head around, and then Backlund hits a couple of his awesome monkey flips. Finish is actually really cool, as Backlund busts out a nifty counter to lock in the chickenwing.

On the whole, I dug this. I thought it dragged a bit during Rose's headlock sections and at some other points. No major complaints, though. I'd probably call it around ***3/4.

Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston - Chikara - We Must Eat Michigan's Brain 6/26/10

Danielson's entrance rules. They play the NXT song, and everyone's all wtf-ish, and then they play "The Final Countdown," and people go wild and throw ties and all that. The match is great, too. They work the mat early and Danielson does painful-looking stuff to Kingston's arm. Then he starts throwing these nasty kicks to Kingston's knee. Really awesome, and Kingston sells them well, too. He also sells frustration well, as he gets frustrated after a few kicks and just throws a forearm into Danielson's face. Forearm looked terrible, especially juxtaposed against Danielson's strikes, but the idea of it was excellent, as was Danielson's response. He just threw more and more kicks and really fucked Kingston's leg up. Really just tore away at it, and Kingston's selling was awesome, and Danielson brought all his hubris. It's so awesome that he could work a match like this in this veteran/universe-ruling titan role, and then turn around and work from the bottom against the Miz and be just as good in that role. Might've already said something like that when I talked about the Fish match, but fuck it, it's still true. Heck, it's even more true in this match because Kingston's fat and much bigger than Danielson, but Danielson works the match like he's a monster or something, and it's totally convincing. Also, kudos to Kingston for his selling being good enough to make him a convincing underdog despite the size disparity.

Kingston's offense isn't great, but he has some good throws and Danielson makes them look as good as they're going to look. Normally a dude just busting out random throws/suplexes would be stinky, but they work well as hope spots. There are some strike exchanges that I kind of liked. They were kind of awkward though because Kingston's strikes aren't that good. They aren't as bad as Kofi Kingston's, but they're probably only 40% as good as Danielson's strikes, and the disparity was awkward.

Fuck, I used "disparity" twice in one review.

Anyway, his chops looked a little better than ok, and everything else looked a little worse than ok, except this one clothesline that Danielson threw himself into at a million miles an hour and that sold it by flipping all inside-out and wildly, which was great.

Finish sucked a decent amount, but the match was still great, as were both post-match speeches.

Probably would call this ****. Two guys playing their roles really well. Awesome offense, really good selling. Even better because the size issue made the roles more difficult to pull off, but they did it anyway. Danielson's facial expressions were great. He really looked grumpy and focused at times-- like he was pissed about the whole WWE shit-- but he got in his fair share of the little comedy stuff that works well with a small crowd. He said Kingston was too fat for the surfboard. Not sure if I liked it more than the Fish match-- this benefited from being a bit more compressed, which cut the superfluous offense from Danielson, but the finish wasn't nearly as good.

Marty Jannetty vs. Shane Douglas - ECW Return of the Funker 2/25/95

I was interested to check this out because I think I saw it get love somewhere, and I really like Jannetty as a babyface and Douglas as a heel. Douglas is ECW Champ at this point, so this is a bit of a big deal, or something. Not sure how many matches Jannetty had in ECW-- I'll check now. He made several appearances in mid-95, according to Wikipedia.

Anyway, Douglas is known to be a dick, but he tells Jannetty before the match that he wants to wrestle a clean match because they used to be friends, and he offers a handshake. Jannetty does the smart thing and refuses for a while, and Douglas crosses his heart, so Jannetty finally gives in. Of course, Douglas tries to get in a sucker kick to the gut, but Jannetty catches and spins him. Early parts of the match are all about Jannetty rocking Douglas and Douglas taking breathers. Maybe a bit too much stalling, but Jannetty is great in the babyface shine role, and Douglas is maybe better in the stalling heel role. I'm sure some folks would watch a Shane Douglas match and complain about pace/workrate, but he's such a great character that I don't care. Jannetty teases the superkick a couple times and Douglas dodges it-- I liked how they built that up as a big move early on. After Jannetty's second attempt, Douglas went to the corner to stall/lure Jannetty in, and then he caught him with a kick to the dick. He then dumped Jannetty to the outside and kicked him in the face from the apron, which was awesome. But then Douglas tried to hit the same spot twice, and Jannetty punished him with a hot shot. They go to the outside and brawl, which is ok. Jannetty whips Douglas over the barricade and then dives into him recklessly and awesomely. They brawl in the crowd, which stinks because the camera doesn't get any of it.

It turns out alright, though, because Douglas catches him on the way back to the ring, dropping him ribs-first onto the barricade. Great spot, and Douglas then worked over the ribs really well. Awesome moment where Jannetty tried a hip toss but couldn't because his ribs were hurt. Some awesome spots on the outside: Jannetty flies into the barricade; Jannetty goes face first into the ring post and flips like crazy; Jannetty takes a back drop onto chairs that don't give at all; Jannetty finally hits two super kicks, which was a nice pay-off on the build earlier, but they won't win him the match on the outside. He does hit a nasty one on the inside, but he doesn't go for a pin, which was frustrating. Still, I generally dug the finishing stretch. Jannetty was really rolling-- he hit a couple nasty elbows, and then Douglas went shoulder-first into the ring post, and Jannetty followed grabbing his arm and jumping over the top rope and yanking Douglas's arm with him. Douglas sold the arm well. Jannetty hit a DDT for a good near-fall, and then, in the midst of this big flurry, he goes for a rana, which Douglas counters into a power bomb, and then he stacks Jannetty up for an awesome out-of-nowhere escape.

So yeah, this match had great moments, including some really nasty bumps and good selling by Jannetty. I thought the pace was pretty sluggish at points, but that wasn't a major detractor for me. Still thought this was a great match-- no crazy/obnoxious spots, really sound structure, two guys working roles they play well, and a good escape for the champion. They used the extreme-ishness in a good way-- Douglas used the environment to come across as even more of a dick, and there was nothing too far out there, aside from the brief crowd-brawling stuff. ***1/2-***3/4? I don't know.

Bryan Danielson vs. Tim Donst - Chikara Faded Scars & Lines - 6/27/10

This was probably the weakest of the 3 Danielson matches I've talked about, but it was still good. Donst is his first opponent to work full heel, and he cuts a promo beforehand about how he's a "mat wresting machine" and the "new best in the world." He has Chikara's Young Lions Cup, which I guess means he's a bit of a big deal in that promotion. Anyway, this all means that Danielson has to give Donst a crap-ton. They work even in the early mat exchanges, and it looks good. Donst is an obnoxious prick, mocking Danielson and stealing his signature lines and moves. He slaps Danielson in the face, and Danielson's expression is perfect, and later he gets his revenge slap, which is nice. They also go to the outside for a bit, which was actually really cool because they continued to chain wrestle rather than brawling, and they tease a double countout.

Back on the inside, Donst gets to work a control segment, which is alright. I found him annoying, which would maybe have been a bad thing, but I knew Danielson was going to start laying some nasty blows into him, so I was ok with it. Donst doesn't focus much on a particular body part-- there's some rib work that Dragon sells expertly, and then he steals some of Dragon's moves, including some bad-looking elbows. Again, we have a guy whose strikes aren't nearly as good as Danielson's, but it was actually a little cool here because it felt rewarding. They'd go into strike exchanges, and Danielson would hit Donst four times harder than Donst hit him, which was way cool. Another cool moment when Danielson was eating forearms and yelling at Donst to hit him harder. Also, there's a really cool exchange where Danielson tries to jump up and lock in a triangle, but Donst counters and rolls through into a pinning combo, but Danielson counters again back into the triangle. It surprised me and it looked cool and fluid. Finish is good, too, as Danielson goes to his signature stuff to get revenge on Donst for mocking him and aping his moves.

So yeah, I thought this was really good, but it would've been a lot better if Donst were better. He played a douche bag pretty well, but his offense didn't look as convincing as Danielson's. Danielson worked from the bottom really well. The early mat exchanges were great because they established Donst as a legit threat without knocking Dragon off of his "best in the world" perch.

Maybe ***1/2.

Bryan Danielson vs. William Regal - Memphis Championship Wrestling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL-y9ArJZu4

Not sure about the date for this, but I think it was some time in 2001. Regal talks shit before the match about how he's the WWF Commissioner and Danielson should just give up; Danielson talks shit about Brits. The match goes about 8 minutes and is really fun. All the mat exchanges look awesome, and there are neat little selling things, like when Regal sells some arm stuff early on. Regal is fantastic throughout, sneering at the crowd, condescendingly applauding Danielson for an escape, etc. Danielson works well as the smaller, quicker opponent. It was crazy how much smaller he looks here than against Kingston. It's also interesting seeing him in this role: instead of working as the superior mat technician/best wrestler in the world, he works as the student who has something to prove. He fills the role well and looks shockingly quick at different points. Nothing super great, but it was really fun to see these two go at it. If they get a 10 minute match on Superstars this year or any time, I'll go wild.

WWE SUPERSTARS! (best show)

2010-09-24T10:35:00.000-07:00

Goldust vs. Ted Dibiase - Superstars 9/2/2010

Goldust rules the world. He totally rocks Ted early on, and Ted's selling is good. He goes to the outside quick, and Maryse, who is awesome throughout the match, yells at Cole and King not to look at him. But Dustin's early shine period is the best thing ever: he rocks Ted with a nasty uppercut and hits some gorgeous arm drags and his fantastic butt bump, and Ted sells it all well. He's really at his best when he's bumping around and selling, and he takes a nice bump into the barricade. Transition to Ted's control is good, too: Maryse distracts, and Ted knocks Dust off the apron and to the ground, and then he smashes him face-first into the ring post. Ted's control stuff is fine. I don't think much of him on offense, but he hits that nice clothesline spot, and Goldust sells well throughout, and Maryse talks trash and looks great at ringside. Match picks up again when Dust starts his comeback. He always gets the crowd into it, and he hits his awesome kneeling uppercut spot, and his great snap powerslam, and everything he does is awesome. Really cool sequence where Dust counters Dream Street with this nifty throw, and then charges right into a flapjack. Legit great performance from Goldust, plus some fantastic selling by Ted, plus great stuff at ring side by Maryse. Really good little match.

Kofi Kingston vs. Chavo Guerrero - Superstars 9/2/2010

Kofi isn't very good, and his offense always stinks, but Chavo rules the goddam world in this match. Kofi hits a dragon screw early and throws some shitty kicks at Chavo's knee, but Chavo makes it look good, and he sells his ass of throughout the entire match, and all through his control segment. The transition spot is kinda neat: Chavo catches Kofi getting cute on the apron and sweeps his legs out from under him. Chavo's control is also cool, as he gets revenge by taking Kofi's knee out. He hits some really cool stuff, including a hilo to Kofi's legs. Also some really great cut-off spots, including his rolling Liger kick, and a cool counter to Kofi's flying cross-body where he essentially hits a codebreaker to Kofi's abdomen. Finish was actually really cool, too. Trouble in Paradise is a garbage move, but Kofi hits Chavo when he's on the top rope, and Chavo tumbles and it looks great. Another good little match. Kofi's offense drags down every match he's in, but his selling was mostly fine here, and Chavo's was really great. He's still selling the stuff from the beginning of the match at the end of the match, and Kofi goes back to the knee during his comebacks, which is really satisfying, and it's cool to see both guys selling knee work at the same time. Not as good as the Goldust/Dibiase match, but still really good, especially for a Kofi match. Chavo might be Kofi's best opponent.

William Regal vs. Goldust - Superstars 9/23/2010

They didn't get as much time as their last match, and it's definitely not as good as their last match, but this was still an awesome little contest. They go back-and-forth early with some really cool chain wrestling. Dust rocks Regal's arm in a kind of a revenge spot for Regal's arm work in the last match, and Regal comes back with some super nifty neck vice work. Goldust comes back and Regal goes to the outside to stalk Dust's rookie diva. Goldust chases him and tries to drag him back into the ring, but Regal trips him on the steps and then attacks Goldust's left leg. Really cool transition spot followed by really good leg work by Regal. Goldust's selling is really tremendous, and it's awesome to watch him hobble around trying to make his comebacks. It would've been nice if they'd had more time to work a finishing stretch, as the finish felt out-of-nowhere in a bad way. Still, great little match.

Continuation of the Random: Steamboat, Hardy, Finlay, :)

2010-09-23T04:08:00.000-07:00

Ricky Steamboat vs. Jake Roberts - Boston Garden 8/9/1986

Watched this last night but didn't feel like writing anything afterward. Anyway, the match is awesome for all the reasons you'd expect a match between these two to be awesome. Match happens after THE DDT, so Steamboat comes out pissed and throwing wild karate that doesn't look great, but the crowd loves it anyway. Roberts blocks all his karate and then heels it up like a douche, grinning and talking and taunting and pointing to his head to let everyone know how smart he is. Steamboat rocks him for a while but ultimately hurts himself with his own aggression, as he whiffs on a strike and his the ring post. Roberts takes over and works the arm, and the control segment is really awesome. He uses the ring post some more, and Steamboat creates some good hope spots only for Roberts to go back to the arm to cut him off. Pretty sure Roberts got in a good hot shot spot, which set up a really great revenge spot for Steamboat, which Roberts sold brilliantly. Finish is interesting, as the ref bump prevented Roberts from getting a clean win and led to Steamboat winning by roll-up. Sort of odd to see a babyface winning that way, but that wasn't the only time they gave Steamboat a win that way. Anyway, this was a really great match and an easy recommendation. Among the best mid-80s midcard WWF matches I've seen-- nearly on par with the best of the Tito/Valentine series, and about as good as Savage/Steamboat from MLG and the awesome Savage/Santana matches. Maybe just a notch below those matches, but still great.

Bob Orton vs. Ricky Steamboat - Landover, MD - 7/20/1985

This was great, too, though a notch or two below the Roberts match. Orton has a loaded cast on his forearm, so they work some shtick around that for a while, and then Steamboat teases some karate blows, which Orton manages to dodge. Major pop when Steamboat finally catches Orton, and then there's a really awesome heel-in-peril segment where Steamboat tears at that arm, and Orton's selling is all great, and the crowd totally eats it up. I really love seeing segments like that in '80s WWF matches because crowds always go wild, and this segment was about as good as any from that era I've seen. Orton's facial expressions and selling are just really great. His transition to take control is great, too, as he takes a pretty whacky bump to the outside, and then he comes back to throw a soda in Steamboat's face. I didn't think Orton was as good on offense as he was in peril, but he was still good, and Steamboat was of course stellar as the FIP. His comebacks are all good, as are Orton's cutoffs. Finish is slightly disappointing, but not really a major detractor for this match. Really good and totally worth checking out.

Matt Hardy vs. Finlay - Smackdown 6/22/2007

Similar feel to the Kennedy match in the opening parts of this match, except it's better because Finlay is better than Kennedy. Finlay throws some really nasty strikes at Hardy, and Hardy sells them all expertly. All the holds and headlocks look snug and uncomfortable. As he tended to do at this time, Finlay took control on the outside, thanks to a distraction from Hornswoggle, which allowed him to hit a brutal clothesline. He works Matt over for a bit, but the match really takes off when Matt, trying to mount a comeback, goes to the second rope. Finlay catches him and yanks him off, and Matt lands on his knee, and JBL/Cole tell us he's been having knee problems, and Finlay evidently knows that because he just tears into Matt's knee. I mean, as soon as I saw Matt grab his knee, I knew the match would be good because Matt can sell his ass off and Finlay can rip a dude's limbs off, but it exceeded my already high expectations. Finlay just goes nutso, using his environment and a variety of holds and blows that all look stellar, and Matt sells the knee as well as I've seen anyone sell a knee injury. Seriously, I thought he was about as good as Savage at Mania 8, and I thought this match was about as good as Savage/Flair (though it didn't have all the extravagance/drama at ringside). Just a brutal and manly match with tremendous selling, plus a pretty awesome finish.

Finlay vs. The Undertaker - Smackdown 3/9/2007

Another tremendous TV match, here. Taker rocks Finlay early on, doing his usual arm wringer/shoulder thrust combo, except it looks extra rough and rugged here, and Finlay's sell is awesome. Finlay takes control on the outside thanks to a distraction from Hornswoggle, which allows him to whack Taker in the ribs with a chair. Then we get really good rib work from Finlay, and some really good selling from Taker. On the whole, I didn't think Taker's rib selling was as good as Hardy's knee selling, but there were some standout moments. He catches Finlay trying to dive off the apron, and then he clutches at his ribs while holding Finlay, before driving his back into the ring post. Then he goes for an Irish whip into the steps, but his ribs prevent him from pulling it off, so Finlay counters it and sends Taker rib-first into the steps. Awesome moment. As you'd expect and want, all of Finlay's stuff goes back to the injured ribs. Taker does continue to sell during his comeback, though his selling gets slightly weaker: he hits his moves and then sells rather than selling while hitting his moves, as he had done earlier in the match. Finishing stretch starts out strong, as Finlay takes advantage of a distraction from Hornswoggle to thump Taker in the ribs and face with the shillelagh. Then Taker sits up and hits his big moves and wins. Pretty meh-ish finish, but still a great match. Thought Finlay/Hardy was better, though.

I still love wrestling.

Aimless Rant: I LOVE WRESTLING

2010-09-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

Mr. Kennedy vs. Matt Hardy - Smackdown 5/4/2007

I remember Cal making a comment in a review of a Kennedy/Taker match about how Kennedy always worked kinda awkward-looking in his mat exchanges and holds and stuff like that. Not awkward-looking in a bad way, but awkward-looking in a way that makes the stuff seem more organic and realistic, like they're really struggling. That's what we see early on here-- they really just do some basic headlock exchanges, but it comes across really well thanks to great facial expressions from both guys, and they both just look like they're working so damn hard to get into and out of these holds. They don't deliver gorgeous, textbook Benoit/Angle-esque exchanges; they deliver a bunch of ugly but snug matwork, and then Kennedy throws a good elbow, and Matt's sell is even better, and they exchange some strikes and Kennedy's nose gets busted open, and then Kennedy takes a realistic and ugly-looking bump to the outside. The whole match looks like an ugly fight. Kennedy works the arm for a bit, and Matt's selling is really tremendous. The arm work doesn't last long enough for the selling to become a focal point, but it's noticeably great.

But Matt Hardy's punches are the best part of the match. Seriously, they look insanely good. All his comebacks are well-timed, and the crowd eats them all up because he's Matt Hardy, and he really doesn't do much other than throw these ridiculous fucking punches. I could watch Matt Hardy punch bad guys in the face forever. Kennedy gets in some awesome cutoff spots, including a nasty running knee, and a cool spot where he tosses Matt off when Matt's going for his bulldog spot.

But Matt is definitely the star-- he was a legit great worker at this point-- with awesome facial expressions while he's caught in holds, and fantastic selling, and really tremendous punches.

Just a really good TV match that felt like a total slugfest and looked like a nasty brawl between two tough bastards.

Randy Orton vs. Eddie Guerrero - Smackdown 10/14/2005

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQFi...BB9A7&index=15
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztfPNd8uQ0w

Had no idea this ever happened, but I'm glad I caught it because it turns out it was a really fun little 10-minute gem. Happened just after No Mercy, where Eddie lost a title match against Batista after spending the whole match refusing to cheat and take any shortcuts. So, the match opens with some fine exchanges-- we know from his series with Benoit that Orton could work stiff and snug, and though this doesn't match the manliness of those matches, both guys throw some really good uppercuts. But it really gets fun when Orton pokes Eddie in the eye, provoking Eddie to start cheating. He hits an eye poke of his own and chokes Randy with the tag rope and it's great: nice revenge spot with the eye poke, and good character development in general. Randy hits a beautiful dropkick right before the break to take control. I normally wouldn't bother to recap a dropkick, but ya'll really need to see this one. Right in the goddam face. Orton's control stuff is fine and his headlocks look better than usual. Really great cutoff spot where, after hitting a backbreaker (which Orton sold really well), Eddie charges, only to get caught with a drop toe hold. Eddie just launches himself full-throttle into the middle rope, and it looks great. Randy goes for multiple pins but can't win, so he takes Eddie to the outside and smashes his face on the announce table. As before, dirty stuff from Orton prompts dirty revenge stuff from Eddie. Orton sells having his face smashed into the table even better than he sold the backbreaker from earlier. There's even more good stuff, as Eddie gets launched arm-first into the steps, and then they work a good sleeper spot, and then Eddie makes a really fiery comeback, throwing a zillion elbows into Orton's ribs to get out of the sleeper.

Finish is pretty disappointing, but it is what it is. Really nifty match for the most part, and it's definitely worth checking out. A legit program between these two could've been really special.

Cactus Jack vs. Sting - Submit or Surrender - 11/16/1991

Right, so the youtube thing says this is an "I Quit" match, but they tease a 10-count KO spot, and they eventually go with a KO finish. Not that that's a knock or anything, but they don't quite deliver on the "Submit or Surrender" tag. Doesn't matter, though, because this match is really great. Don't remember the Beach Blast match well enough to say whether I thought this was better or not, but I know I liked both a lot. Foley is really great at taking dudes who aren't comfortable in "hardcore"-type environments and making them look great in a brand-new element, and that's just what he does here, resulting in an uber-fun brawl. Foley comes out with a trash can, wearing a Sting shirt that's all torn up and has a big "X" on it. Love little crazy man stuff like that from Foley. There's also a moment where he hits sting with a chair and then he kisses the chair. Awesome.

Anyway, match is mostly Foley. He rocks Sting early but then he whiffs on a clothesline and tumbles to the outside with that awesome over-the-top rope bump he takes. Sting smashes Foley's face around on the outside, and then he beats him up with a rubber trash can. I could complain about a rubber trash can being a garbage weapon (PUN!!!!), but it was kid-friendly Sting in 91 WCW, so whatever. And a top-rope splash onto a trash can that's over Foley's head actually seems like it would hurt both guys, maybe. Foley's transition spot to take control is really great: Sting whips him to the ropes and goes for a leapfrog, but Foley headbutts him in the nads. Then he hits a leg drop on Sting's nads and dares the ref to do something about it. Foley tosses Sting around for a while, and Sting takes some great-looking stuff. There's an awesome hope spot/cutoff exchange where Sting goes for a splash in the corner but misses. He catches himself and tries to come off the top rope only for Foley to catch him and hit a hot shot on the top rope. Hot shot spot wasn't the best-looking thing ever (not even half as good as the hot shot spot from Bourne/Ryder from 5/27/10, for example), but the whole exchange came off really well and looked fluid.

And then there's the chair stuff on the outside, and a pretty great finishing sequence where Foley takes something crazy that looked reckless and dangerous and slick. Awesome little match, probably ****-ish.

Jerry Lawler vs. Bill Dundee - Memphis 12/30/1985 (Dundee's title & hair & wife's hair vs. Lawler leaving town)

Lengthy build-up video shows Dundee turning on his tag partner, Lawler, and then goading him into a title match and then winning using some foreign object, and then bragging about how he got to face Flair, the world's champion, and then refusing to give Lawler a rematch. Lawler threatens to bust up his car to get a rematch; Lawler turns into an alcoholic; Dundee laughs, and we're to the match.

Lawler comes out with a big eye bandage because of something that had happened in an earlier match. It makes for a really great visual as the bandage looks all bloody and stuff, and Lawler sells semi-blindness brilliantly, especially in the early parts of the match. He whiffs on all sorts of punches and it just looks great. Dundee dominates the first half of the match. It's literally ALL Dundee, and it works great. He dances around and heels it up and hides in Lawler's blind spot, and he throws really fantastic punches, and Lawler's selling is even better. The match is mostly punches, and the fact that it comes off as one of the best matches ever anyway is a testament to the quality of both guys' characters and selling. Lawler-in-peril is really great. The fans clearly love him, and he draws sympathy really well, and Dundee comes across as a total dickbag.

The transition to Lawler's comeback is great, too-- he bounces off the rope after taking a ten-minute long beating and throws this wild punch that miraculously connected. Dundee's sell was great, but I totally loved how Lawler threw the punch: it looked like the desperate effort of a blind dude who was in a bad way, and it seemed like the punch had about a one-in-a-million chance at connecting as well as it did. Then they go to commercial, which was probably my only problem with the match. I felt like I missed something important. They come back and Lawler throws Dundee into a bench, which looks reckless and great, and then they tease a countout. Dundee grabs his wife and tries to run away to save their hair, but Lawler chases, and they punch each other through the crowd, and it all looks great. Then Lawler goes up some stairs and gets thrown over the rail and onto the ground. Not sure what he landed on because they didn't cut to it, but it looked like a really wild spot. That whole sequence was awesome, from Dundee being a shitbag heel, to Lawler refusing to take what would have essentially been a forfeit, to the brawl, to the bump, to the teased countout-- Dundee literally drags the ref back to the ring to make him count-- to Lawler returning with blood all over his face, looking like a madman. He takes some punches and yells and comes back and rocks Dundee all over the place, and I'm totally into it, like, "Fuck yeah, Lawler's gonna rock this dude and it's gonna be great."

But then they call back to the match where Dundee won the strap as he comes out of a corner with some object, and I'm crushed, and then I imagine what the folks in Memphis must have been feeling. I mean, Lawler was a goddam superhero, and then he had to leave because some fuck head cheated. I mean, he was about to win, and then BOOM. He's gone.

Fuck Bill Dundee.

Great match. Infinite stars. Not really sure where I'd rate this on an all-time-ish list, mainly because I haven't seen enough 80s stuff. But if this had happened in the WWF and I'd watched it for the poll, it would've been a lock for my top 20, and it would've had a good shot at my top 10. Both guys were just great in their roles, and the atmosphere was great, and the selling was top-notch, and the structure was flawless, and the finish was as heartbreaking as the fall of a hero should be.

Low-Ki vs. American Dragon - Submission Match - JAPW 6/7/02

Man, this was cool. It's a submission match, so they go to the mat and trade holds for most of the thing. I'm not going to bother trying to recap the holds because there was a bunch of stuff I'd never seen before, but it all looks awesome and painful. The camera work really helps, which is surprising considering it's obviously a low-budget deal. But there's just a single camera, no commentary, and the camera man gets in close and low to the mat so you can really see the stiffness of the mat work and the holds. It helps that both guys are willing to get stretched, and both guys bring some great facial expressions, and both guys grunt and yell really well, so you get a sense that all of the holds hurt a lot. There isn't much body part focus, which means selling isn't a huge issue, aside from the immediate reactions to holds, which are all awesome. And the lack of body part focus isn't a knock at all-- it actually makes the match come across as more organic. It really feels like they're looking for the upper-hand on the mat, taking whatever openings they get because they both know a handful of holds that'll make a guy submit without any build, as long as they get it locked in in the middle of the ring. Naturally, the ropes come into play a lot. And there are some really stiff strike exchanges, and there's an awesome moment where Dragon locks in an STF and just starts throwing forearms at the back of Ki's head. Just tons of awesome little stuff like that throughout to make the 20 minutes fly by. Seriously, the forearms looked totally nasty. Everything in this match just looks nasty, like they're really trying to fuck each other up.

Stiff and manly and totally worth watching. I'm not an expert on stuff like this, but I thought it was great, and it looked legit, and I loved it and would recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it.

Night of Champions 2010

2010-09-21T02:54:00.000-07:00

Kofi Kingston vs. Dolph Ziggler

I thought this match was really good. These two have great chemistry, but their series of matches is probably doomed to get overlooked and lost in the shuffle because they needlessly had a zillion matches in a span of two months, and I think everyone started to get worn out. I know I don't want to revisit any of those matches even though I'm fairly certain if I did I'd end up putting one of their earlier matches in my top 40 for the year. But this was maybe the best of the batch, or at least among the best. Kofi is garbage on offense, but you don't notice it when he works with Ziggler because Dolph is a guy who bumps well and is willing to toss himself around to make garbage look decent. There were a whole bunch of nifty counters throughout this match that looked surprisingly fluid given Kofi's general ineptitude. They also made good use of the stipulations (title would change hands on a DQ or a countout), with a couple teased countout spots, and a moment where Vickie nearly slapped Kofi. Dolph stopped her to prevent a DQ, but it also reminded me of the time she slapped Kofi and Kofi went apeshit and destroyed Dolph.

Crowd was really great throughout this match. They were totally into it, and there was this great moment where Kofi hit that secondary finisher of his and Dolph barely got his foot on the ropes. Folks didn't notice it, and Kofi got a huge pop for the false win. Also, finishing stretch was great. Kofi busting out the sleeper was good, the teased Vickie slap was good, and though I think Trouble in Paradise is a garbage finisher, it looks great when Kofi whiffs and hits the ropes. This match will probably get slept on by most, and rightfully so, as these two have really had way too many matches together, and they've all blurred together. But this was still a good little opener.

***

Punk's promo before his match with Show was fantastic. Too bad King and Cole had to snicker the whole fucking time. Children.

Big Show vs. CM Punk

I was disappointed this match got less than 5 minutes. I was also disappointed that Punk lost. But he still looked awesome in this, and the match was about as good as it could've been considering the time they got. His selling was fantastic in the early parts of the match. Really made Show's punches to the ribs look awesome. And then Punk catches Show coming back into the ring with a nasty kick to the head, and he gets some really good control stuff. It's tough for a guy Punk's size to make a control segment on a guy the size of Big Show look legit, but Punk does it, throwing lots of really good kicks. Punk does facial expressions as well as anyone, and he's definitely on-point here. Finish was cool, but too abrupt. And Punk needed the win here.

Not going to slap a star rating on it, but it was very good for what it was.

The Miz vs. Daniel Bryan

Build-up video for this match was really awesome. The whole angle has been awesome, and these two were really perfect for a feud with each other. The match itself is legit great, too. Top 5 WWE match this year. Danielson is probably the best guy in the company (and world, maybe), and Miz really showed how good he can be. Should silence a lot of Miz critics. Miz is a guy who has been really good for a while, and he has a pretty impressive skill set and a good grasp on how to work a match, but for whatever reason, he hasn't had the opportunities to put together enough good matches to build a resume that's as impressive as his ability level. Now he has a match that people can point to where he legit looks awesome.

Early exchanges are good, and Bryan teases the LeBell Lock, putting it over as a dangerous submission. Miz takes control quickly by yanking Bryan's arm against the ropes. Good spot for Miz to take control, and his arm work is really great, too. Bryan's selling is even better, and his facial expressions are great, too. Really, this match is pretty much perfect. I don't want to spend too much time talking about it because it might come across as hyperbole, but whatever. Miz always goes back to the arm whenever Daniel starts to get rolling. He throws a lot of good boots to the arm, and all of his holds look good. Then he charges and whiffs and goes through the ropes and Bryan hits that whacky suicide dive he hit against Jericho, and then he gets up and looks at the crowd, and it's just refreshing how much intensity he brings. He sells his arm the whole time, and he even conveys desperation, throwing together a quick string of reckless offense to trying to get the quick win. Awesome little touch after he hits his missile dropkick: rather than kipping up like he normally does, he immediately goes for the pin, showing that he wanted to win and get out of there quickly. Bryan throws a whole lot of stiff kicks, and Miz eats them. Their punch exchanges look good, and they're helped by the fact that Bryan sells the arm injury throughout. Miz does a great job of seeming intense and determined because he definitely had something to prove in this match. Awesome touch where he tries to force Bryan to submit with an armbar, and he yells at him to tap out and all that. Just more evidence of how well Miz is fitting into his character. Riley was great at ringside, too, interfering at the right moments. Also, Miz busted out a Nigel-esque lariat from the second rope after crotching Bryan on the top rope. That was great. Plus, the near-falls were fantastic, and the crowd was red-hot. Chicago is fucking awesome, apparently.

Finish was great, too. Miz looks pissed and furious, throwing these really good mounting punches. The ref pulls him away twice, and each time, he sneaks in a couple extra boots to the injured arm, just to show how vicious he is. But then he comes back, and Bryan gets the LeBell lock out of nowhere. Miz never really had an answer for that move, and he can't get to the ropes even though he's already close. Bryan's facial expression is great, too, as it really looks like he's tearing his own arm apart to lock the move in. Totally dramatic finish, as I really wasn't certain if Bryan's arm would prevent him from keeping it locked in, or if Miz would make it to the ropes, or if he would tap. They totally had me thinking that if Miz could have held on for just a second longer, he could've escaped the hold.

Pop for Bryan winning was really incredible. Bryan Danielson winning gold in the WWE was surreal and inspirational and great. Legit MOTYC

****, at least. I'd go higher before I'd go lower.

Melina vs. Michelle McCool

Man, the lumberjills were really terrible. Camera work was bizarrely non-sensical, too, as they didn't get a single close-up of Layla looking grumpy. The story of the match should've been that LayCool were feigning dissension to trick Melina so Layla could interfere and help Michelle win, but none of that came across. Instead, the whole match was a mess, and Layla and McCool came across as the only competent divas in the whole company. But they were both awesome. Layla was great, standing to the side with her arms folded across her chest. Michelle was awesome, too, heeling it up and slapping lumberjills in the face for no reason. But everything else was sloppy and silly, and there's this ridiculously funny moment where Rosa acts like she's going to punch Jillian for no reason, and then she doesn't hit her, and then they walk away together.

At least LayCool won. Really awesome celebration. Junk match.

Kane vs. The Undertaker

The NHB stip definitely helped here. I don't give a shit about Kane and think he's generally garbage, but he brought his best for this match, and as a result, we got something really fun and surprisingly fresh, considering it was another chapter in a feud that's been done too many times before. I wouldn't say this is something that was up my alley, and I'd definitely say it's more fun than good, but still, that's more than I expected. The crowd definitely helped, as they were going nuts for Taker. Better strikes from Kane would've helped, but whatever. This angle has given Taker more chances to show how good he can be at portraying a human rather than a monster zombie, and he's definitely good. Kane winning clean was sort of refreshing, and though I generally wouldn't be excited about a prolonged reign for Kane and another match for these two, a HIAC match seems fitting, so I won't complain. I might actually watch this again at some point, as I'd like to get a better assessment of it. I typically tend to dislike crowd brawling stuff, but it all went well here and looked good and everything, and the match was around ***-ish.

TAG TEAM TURMOIL

Harts got eliminated in 2 minutes? Wtf? Silliness. Usos aren't very good. Santino/Koslov were crazy over. Mizark was crazy over. Bourne looked great. Bourne/Henry would be a great tag team, I hope they let them work together full-time. Both guys need something to do, so they might as well help the tag team division. The closing stretch, between Cody/Drew & Mark/Evan, was really good. I hope they do a rematch with just those two teams, as that could be legit awesome.

As for this match, it was too much of a mess to really like a lot. Fuck if I know why they didn't include 2 of their 4 or 5 real tag teams (don't know if Koslov/Santino count) in this match. But I think the right guys came away with the belts, and Drew & Cody both looked really good, Drew especially. Bourne looked even better.

6-Pack Challenge for the WWE Championship

Really hard to rate a match like this. As expected, there was a ton of stupid isolation shit where dudes stood on the outside to wait for an encounter to finish. Stuff like that always hurts the cred of these types of matches, but this was still fun. The early elimination of Jericho surprised me. He has fallen off a lot this year, but I'll still miss him. I think he has one more good babyface run in him. I think he may return to do something with the GM angle. His facial expression after elimination was great. Jericho still does faces really well.

As for the rest of the match... Well, there were the frustrating isolation bits we've come to expect in these deals. There were also great, fun, finisher/counter exchanges, which came across even better thanks to the red hot crowd. They teased some Orton/Cena stuff and then delivered a brief exchange, which was nice, but it would've been even better had they not done that match for free on Raw.

Barrett's reaction to getting ganged up on was great, as was his attempt to give orders for some beatdowns. The Nexus interference was well-timed, too, and Barrett pinning Cena was a nice touch. Cena womping on some Nexus dudes with a chair was cool, too, and it gave Orton the chance to work his raging pterodactyl-shtick, which is always fun and shockingly over. I guess Orton winning was fine, though I don't know why they had to let him dominate everyone on Raw for the last 3 weeks before winning the title. Fuck, the dude's already wildly over.

So yeah, the match wasn't something I'd bother throwing ninja stars at because it's probably going to be one of those divisive things, where you either dig that sort of thing or you don't. But it is what it is, and for what it is, I thought it was fun, maybe even good.

Good show overall, with Bryan/Miz standing out as a legit classic.

Catching Up: 2010

2010-09-20T04:43:00.000-07:00

I was on vacation for the last couple weeks, so I missed everything. Trying to cram and get caught up real quick, and I figured I'd post some thoughts on stuff that stuck out.

John Cena vs. Justin Gabriel - Raw 9/6/2010

Wouldn't call this a great match or anything, but I wanted to point to it because I thought Cena was really stellar in this match. Gabriel isn't a guy I'd call great, but he does bust out some pretty nifty stuff. Still, the reason this match stuck out was because of how willing Cena was to sell for him, and because of how much Cena was willing to give. Cena plays the superior veteran in the early parts, taking Gabriel to the mat and controlling him. I really like Cena in this role-- he's not a stellar mat worker or whatever, but all his mat exchanges look good and realistic and engaging. But then Gabriel catches Cena with an average-looking cheap-shot forearm, but Cena sells it so well that it comes across as a really awesome moment. Cena makes all of Gabriel's average offense look fantastic. Gabriel just kinda goes through some "cool moves" rather than putting together anything focused, which prevents this from being as good as it could have been, but he does display that he has a pretty decent arsenal of stuff he can hit competently. Also, Cena busts out his biggest move to put Gabriel away, which I thought was nice of him.

I'd call this a match worth checking out if you're bored, or interested in seeing how good Cena is these days, or wondering what Gabriel can do. Nothing great, but enjoyable.

William Regal vs. R-Truth - Superstars 9/9/2010

These two had another match on Superstars a little while back, and it was fine but not great. Same for this one, but Regal raps before the match, which was awesome. Match consists of Regal trying to make garbage offense look credible for a little while, followed by Regal getting nasty and working a full nelson really well, followed by Regal jobbing. It was fine.

Goldust & Gail Kim vs. Primo & Jillian - Superstars 9/9/2010

Man, I'd really love to see a Goldust/Primo singles match. Their exchanges are so fun here. Starts out as all Goldust, rocking Primo with a really fun flurry. Primo's selling is all fun and old-school and goofy and great, and then he tags out. Jillian and Gail do some stuff that isn't fantastic, but there are fun moments when the boys interfere. Gail hits a nice looking dropkick from the top on Primo, and she also takes a cool bump through the ropes when Primo pulls the middle rope down. Then they do the hot tag, and Dustin womps on Primo, and it's freaking awesome. Dude looks so fit and hits the best inverted atomic drops. Primo sells that move brilliantly, too. Finish is awesome, too-- super great, fluid counters by Goldust. Probably not a must-see, but I can't imagine anyone not enjoying the Dustin/Primo exchanges in this match. I'd probably pay $5 to get them to air a 10-minute singles match between those two.

Drew McIntyre vs. Kaval - Smackdown 9/10/2010

Wow, this was fun. Only went about 4 minutes, which was kinda sad because if they'd doubled that time, this probably could've been a top 10 match for the year, but it was still fantastic for what it was, which was a super fun and smart sprint with fantastic selling by Drew and great strikes by Kaval. Dude busts out tons of swank kicks and counters that I'm not going to bother trying to recap. Basically, Kaval rocks Drew in the ring, but on two occasions, Drew goes to the outside to use his surroundings to take control. I really like how he does that-- definitely adds a consistent theme to his matches, and it's becoming a part of his character. First spot is really great and something I don't recall seeing-- he suplexes Kaval from the floor onto the apron, and it looks reckless and disgusting. Kaval comes back, going for a rana, only to get caught and launched upward. He lands on the top rope and hits a sweet kick. Really tremendous spot. He goes for the STOMP, but Drew rolls to the outside. Kaval goes for another rana, only to get caught and whipped into the barricade. Really awesome, sets up the finish.

Great short match, and I'd love to see something longer between these two.

CM Punk vs. The Undertaker - Smackdown 9/10/2010

These two had a good promo at the start of the show to set up the match and make it seem more important. Punk sends the SES away, showing that he wants to win this on his own. Taker comes out selling all his injuries or whatever. He's actually really good at conveying this sort of exhaustion, but Punk is the star of this match. His mannerisms and facial expressions are totally awesome. He comes out looking smug and confident because he knows Taker is hurt. He dodges a few times but eventually gets caught and rocked, and he sells Taker's early arm work really well. But then Taker slips on Old School, which was a nice way to communicate that he wasn't healthy, though I would've liked to see Punk take control on his own.

Still, he's awesome after the break, working Taker's arm using the same stuff Taker used against him, and asking, "How do you like it?!" Really tremendous spot, and Punk's control is good. But, honestly, I thought there was too much Taker in this match. It should've been mostly Punk on offense, dominating, but it felt like Taker got a lot in. Not that his offense looked bad-- it was fine, and stuff like Punk selling the leg drop on the apron was really great-- but given the whole injury angle, I thought it should've been structured a bit differently, especially considering Taker was going over. Also didn't dig the finish: an injured Taker eats a GTS but still has enough magical dark power to come back with a Hell's gate? Psh. Held the match back from being really great, and I thought it made Punk look weak. He couldn't even take control of the match on his own, which made him seem a notch below an injured Taker when he should really be the top heel in the company. Too bad.

2010 WWE: Goldust, Masters, Regal, Chavo, etc

2010-09-07T06:12:00.000-07:00

Kinda feel like I've been slipping behind with this, but whatever. Watched a little batch of stuff last night and had a really great time with it.

Goldust & Yoshi Tatsu vs. The Usos - Superstars 8/12

Not something I'd pimp as a great tag, or anything that anybody needs to go crazy in an attempt to hunt it down, but it's good, and really fun. Goldust looks like a monster here in a really fun and surprisingly lengthy babyface shine period, and Yoshi looked good, too. They busted out some nifty double-team spots, including a slick-looking inverted atomic drop/spinning heel kick combo. I don't think much of the Usos as a tag team, but they looked game here, bumping around and eating YoshiDust's offense well. Yoshi gets a fine FIP section, and then Dustin has a really awesome section where he sprints around and cleans house, and then he gets a shockingly huge pop when he sets up for his finisher. Sort of amazes me how much heat the dude gets for his matches despite working such a limited amount, and almost never winning. Finish is fine, too, though I wish they'd give YoshiDust a string of wins and a run with the belts. Goldust has been on such a roll lately, and I'd really like to see him in a role where he can shine.

Chris Masters vs. Chavo Guerrero - Superstars 8/12

If you told me this match happened in 09, I would've assumed it'd be a garbage comedy match engineered to embarrass Chavo, and it would've ended in Hornswoggle grunting and hopping and whatever. The times they are a-changin'. People who haven't been paying attention might not have expected much from this match, but those who have been watching open-mindedly probably expected awesomeness, and this match completely delivered. Masters establishes his size advantage early and goes for the Masterlock-- he always reminds everyone of what a threat that move is. So Chavo goes to the outside and runs around and catches Masters coming back into the ring and takes over, and Masters takes a nice bump to the floor, and then Chavo hits a really sweet rolling senton off the apron onto Masters's ribs, setting up the body part work.

Chavo works over the ribs well, following the senton up with a hilo. Masters's selling is really great throughout the match, as you'd expect. Really awesome spot where he rolls out of Chavo's bodyscissor into his guard so he can LEVEL him with some forearms and then launch him into the turnbuckle with his fantastic slingshot spot. If you haven't seen a slingshot spot from Masters, go watch this match. Now. Or you suck. I can't think of another guy with a slingshot spot that's even half as good as his. Also, Masters busts out a sweet Jackhammer at one point, and he sells his ribs after hitting it. Finish is great and plays back into the rib work. Whole match is great, as it focuses on smart and credible-looking work from Chavo and incredible selling from Masters, with a few blowaway spots sprinkled in.

Goldust vs. William Regal - Superstars 8/26

Shit, I loved this. Totally different from anything else we're seeing these days, which is awesome. For the majority of the match, these two just really beat the heck out of each other. Look at the names, and you know that'll produce 7 minutes of greatness. Not really much need to talk about it because the match speaks for itself, but yeah: nifty match exchanges early on, disgusting arm work from Regal, stiff shots from Dustin, really incredible missed crossbody spot from Dustin where he goes full-fucking blast and completely whiffs and flies through the ropes to the floor, and it's goddam beautiful. Best spot of the match: Dustin starts a comeback, so Regal kneels and begs off. Dustin STOMPS on his hand, and the Regal sells it beautifully. You can talk about Regal's offensive brutality all you want, but this is what he's best at: selling whacky little shit like that. Someone, I think over at Segunda Caida, said they'd love to see Regal sell a stubbed toe. Yeah, that'd be awesome. Finish is fantastic, too. Like, it's one of those things that made me yell, "Holy shit!" Awesome match.

And to anyone who says WWE is too "vanilla" or generic or whatever... Well, sure, maybe the creative direction of the company is at a low point (though the Nexus angle was really good in theory), but they're putting on such an impressive number of quality tv matches, and there's so much great variety among those matches. In just a couple weeks, they put on this match, plus a tremendous juniors-style sprint between Yoshi and Primo, plus some a McIntyre/Christian match focused around body part selling, plus the really good Kofi/Dolph series, plus good little man/big man stuff between Rey and Kane.

Chris Masters vs. Drew McIntyre - Superstars 8/26

Hard to believe this match and Goldust/Regal happened on the same show. And a large portion of the WWE Universe probably didn't even notice. McIntyre works over Masters's leg, and Masters sells his ass off, and the match is awesome. Probably a notch below Masters/Chavo and McIntyre/Christian, but who cares. And, frankly, I could see a case for this being actually better than those matches even though I didn't prefer it. But yeah, Masters gets his little moment to flex early on, but then McIntyre goes to the outside and launches Masters face-first into the ring post. Striker tries to convince everyone Masters hit his shoulder, but that dude's full of shit half the time (<3 you, Matt!). McIntyre follows up with a nasty boot to the face and an even nastier spot where he smashes Masters's leg into the ring post. McIntyre looks vicious on offense throughout, but Masters is still the better guy here, with tremendous selling and awesome comebacks. He manages to dump McIntyre to the outside, and then he catches him coming back in with a Samoan drop. Normally, a Samoan drop should be a "meh" spot, but it was awesome here, totally catching me off guard (which means it probably surprised the bad guy, too-- good work, Chris!) and looking slick. Plus, Masters sells the leg immediately after hitting it. Ditto for after he hits a spinebuster. Seems like someone noticed the effectiveness of Christian selling his ass off in matches. Seriously, I'm quasi-in-love with Christian, and after this match, I have to admit that Chris Masters is nearly as good as he is. Go back to this time last year and try to get me to say that and mean. I'll call you a tardball.

I was the tardball. Chris Masters rules. Still think Christian is better (slightly better seller, slightly better facial expressions. I'd probably take Christian as a bumper, too, though if you take into account how well Masters bumps for a guy his size, that's not even a fair comparison. Still, Christian can take bigger and crazier shit and make it look better than anyone. Offensively, I'd say it's a wash, but they're really not too comparable in that area-- it's really just a choice between power moves and aerial moves, but they're about as good as each other with their respective types of offense).

Finishing stretch is great. Like, really great. Plays into the injury, the Masterlock, and McIntyre mastery of his environment. I saw someone compare McIntyre to Finlay a little while back, and I thought that was kinda crazy, but now I see McIntyre working these really brutal matches with nasty offense and intelligent use of his environment, and it totally seems like he's been working with Finlay quite a bit. Awesome, awesome match here. Stellar performances from both guys.

Some Indy Matches

2010-09-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Watched some random indy stuff the other day and figured I'd talk a bit.
Bryan Danielson vs. Tommy End - 2010 wXw AMBITION

Or I think that was what the event was called. Anyway, the match is from a shootstyle tourney in Germany, and wXw posted it on youtube for free, I guess as kind of a teaser for the whole thing. Anyway, it's really interesting, at least. End doesn't really do a whole lot in the match, and I thought was selling wasn't very good. But Danielson looked great. I thought the mat exchanges were really engaging and organic and legit-looking. Basically, they go about 7 or 8 minutes, and they just trade some holds and maneuver for position, but in between lock-ups Danielson throws some really stuff kicks at End's knee to take him down. No idea how to rate something like this, but it's worth checking out.

LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPs_Y-djBBU
TJP vs. Munenori Sawa - EVOLVE 1

Was peeking around and saw Phil Schneider pimping TJP & Hero as two of the best guys on the indies today, and so I figured I should check out their shit from EVOLVE. Didn't think this was anything blowaway great or whatever, but I had fun with it. TJP looks awesome when he's doing fast matwork. Dude totally shines there. But the real fun of this match is when both dudes just stiff the fuck out of each other. Sawa is a bit goofy, smiling during the stiff exchanges and throwing some whacky "baseball" punch (winds up like a pitcher annnnnnnnd PUNCH!). I generally liked TJP's reactions to Sawa's strikes, and TJP's strikes looked good, too. Really awesome exchange where TJP eats the baseball punch, but then he kicks Sawa in the fucking face while he's winding up for the second one. Finish kinda irritated me. They had built toward Sawa's Shining Wizard, and TJP had taken a lot of headshots, so a Shining Wizard would've been a perfect KO-type move for the finish. Instead, Sawa hits it, TJP kicks out, and then Sawa locks in an octopus out of nowhere for the win. Silly. Still, fun little 10-minute match.

***
TJ Perkins vs. Bryan Danielson - PWG BOLA 08

Thought this was awesome. Not sure who's on commentary, but they talk about both guys' training and how TJP trained under Danielson somewhere, and they put over how TJP wants to prove he's the best wrestler in LA and that he can hang on the mat with Danielson. So we get lots of really nifty mat exchanges early on, setting up a really fantastic story. General structure goes like this: Danielson generally gets the advantage throughout the early mat stuff, but TJP establishes himself as competent and dangerous. He counters a rear naked choke with a slick leglock-type thing, and when Danielson breaks, he sells it really well, establishing TJP as a threat. But Danielson is clearly the better of two and refuses to take rope breaks to prove he can get out of anything Perkins throws at him. TJP, on the other hand, takes several rope breaks. They also throw some really stiff strike exchanges early on, which are all awesome. Danielson looks like he's slightly ahead of TJP early on, too. He probably tries to work even longer than he should, but eventually, he resorts to cheating, going back to the ropes and using them to his advantage. Pretty much the perfect way to characterize a heel in a match: he comes across as capable in the early segments, and then he seems smart for cheating when he's overmatched. Plus he flips the crowd off and looks like a smug fuck with a douchebag haircut. Only knock on TJP here is that I would've liked to see him sell Danielson's early armwork a bit more. It was a really small segment, but that would've been a really nice little touch, and Danielson was adding those nice little selling moments more than Perkins was, which made me notice what Perkins wasn't doing. Small thing, though.

Perkins gets control for a bit and works the knee, and then Danielson misses a flying Captain Falcon knee off the apron and crashes knee-first into the chair, which starts the REAL control segment for TJP. Don't remember it too well, but I remember thinking he busted out some swank holds and it all looked good. Finishing stretch is awesome too, with great nearfalls and threatening submission holds and a fantastic teased countout that pissed the crowd off. LOVED THIS.

****1/4

Christian: Best Thing Ever

2010-08-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

Christian vs. Jack Swagger - ECW 2/24/2009

Holy butts, this match rules. It's been a favorite of mine for a little while, and it was just as good, maybe a bit better than I remember. So much to like here: they establish the size dynamic early, and Swagger also establishes his mat superiority. But Christian is more experienced and smarter. I love how, because he had to work with rookies so often during his ECW run, he adopted this cagey veteran role and played it perfectly. He takes advantages of Swagger's mistakes and uses his experience to come up with cool counters. Eventually, though, he makes a mistake on the outside and goes shoulder-first into the steel steps, which means Swagger works his arm, which means Christian sells his arm, which means win. Christian's selling is phenomenal, and Swagger's work is engaging, too. It's especially fun to see how he uses his power advantage. He picks Christian up and smashes his shoulder into multiple turnbuckles, and then hits a shoulderbreaker. But Christian always finds ways to work in comebacks, frequently flying off the top ropes to try to overcome the size differential. Smart stuff. And of course, there's the brilliant moment where Christian hits a tornado DDT and then sells his arm like death. Great finishing stretch, too. Christian goes for the Killswitch, but Swagger counters and launches him into the post, and then goes for the gutwrench, which Christian counters into another Killswitch attempt, but his arm injury (now worsened thanks to the ringpost) prevents him from engaging it. So, in the end, Christian out-maneuvered him, but physical limitations prevented him from winning. Smart way to keep him looking strong after a clean loss.

****1/4

Christian vs. Jack Swagger - Backlash 2009

Holy butts, this wasn't far off from the ECW match. Size dynamic remains, but Swagger has managed to close a lot of the experience differential, which I thought made him look good and smart. In the first match, Christian hit most of his big spots fairly easily. Here, though, Swagger comes out with an arsenal of counters-- he catches the pendulum kick attempt and smashes Christian into the apron, and he counters Christian's first attempt at a tornado DDT. So, Christian no longer has the major advantage in smarts, changing this into a battle of regular man vs. genetic super-freak instead of a battle of experienced man vs. genetic super-freak. Swagger works the mid-section this time, and his work his again good, and Christian's selling is good, too. Really cool gutbuster spot. Even cooler spot where Swagger smashes Christian's back against the turn buckle and then hits a running powerslam-- smart variation on the spot from their last match, changing it up to target a new body part. Awesome. Finish was great, too. Christian may have been over-matched, but he proved to be tough as heck, and Swagger-- still inexperience-- got desperate and tried to cheat by exposing a turnbuckle, and Christian was, like, "Bitch, I've been cheating since you were rolling around with other adolescents," and then he exposed his own turnbuckle, which Swagger charged into with his face, setting up the Killswitch and a good pop. Can't beat 'em? Out-cheat 'em.

****

Also watched their Judgment Day match and thought it was a good match with a smart finish, but I don't remember it as well as the other two, and I definitely thought it was below them in terms of quality. Still a good match, but not the batch of awesomesauce that those two were.

Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson - Royal Rumble 2010

Thought this was a really really great match. My memory is pooping out on me, so I'm not going to recap a lot of the spots. I really just want to talk about the awesome dynamic. Christian goes out of his way to make Zeke look like a monster, and Zeke plays that role brilliantly, clubbing the crap out of the champ and tossing him around like crazy. Christian tries to be resourceful and cagey early, slapping Zeke to irritate him and then playing a cat-and-mouse game, but Zeke eventually catches and slams him. Really good offense from Zeke, mostly focused on the back, and good selling from Christian. Good hope spots and cutoffs, and a great theme of Christian coming off the ropes and throwing dropkicks and all that, because how else does he stand a chance against the monster? They'd set up a little story coming in, questioning whether Christian could actually lock in the Killswitch. He fails a couple times, but the way he finally hooks it, in a quick sort of counter, looks totally believable, and it's not really a move that generally looks good against bigger guys. They really just nail it though, and credit to both guys.

***3/4

A notch below the two Swagger matches from 09, and below the McIntyre matches from SD, and maybe behind Christian/Regal from BP09, but still one of the best matches of Christian's brilliant run since his return.

Old Raw

2010-08-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

Been skipping around in the new Raw: Early Years set, and figured I'd post some thoughts.

Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair - Loser Leaves Town - Raw 1/25/1993

I was interested to see this because I've only seen the clipped version from the 15th anny set, and I hadn't seen that in a while. I found this disappointing on the whole, but there were still some things I liked. Opening segments were smart, as both guys, knowing the stakes, played it slow and tentative. Flair frequently went to the outside to take breaks, and it was clear he was waiting to pick his spot. Perfect rocked him early, throwing some chops and some really crappy punches. His punches were terrible in this match. Flair finally takes control with an eye poke, which rocked, and then he tossed Perfect over the top rope, which also rocked, and then he grabbed a chair, so Hebnar tumbled off the apron to take the chair, which was awesome. Flair kept control of the match anyway, which meant Hennig got to bump around like a total goof. Now, I'm a guy who generally likes dramatic bumping, but the last couple times I've watched Hennig work with anyone other than Bret (this match and the Tito match from 7/28), he's really annoyed me. His stuff looks ridiculous, which isn't a bad thing on its own, but it's not even really fun. Like, he takes a whip to the corner, and he hits it kinda slowly, and then he turns and does a little front flip, and I'm not impressed. He also took an awkward looking bump over the corner and down to the ground, and it hardly sizzled. As for Flair, he's mostly fine. I mean, he acts like heel Flair, cheating and grabbing the ropes for leverage and using a foreign object out of his tights (really impressive-looking & sounding punch there) and begging off. Nothing I'd call standout-ish though, which is kinda what I expect from Flair. Maybe that's not fair, but he seemed fairly routine here. Heenan was probably my favorite part of the whole thing, as his desperation on commentary really added to the drama. There's a backslide struggle spot, which should've been meh, but Heenan yells at Flair to drop to his knees so Perfect can't get him over, and it makes it seem like a legit dramatic moment. Little stuff like that really raises the stakes.

I've probably been a bit too negative so far. For all its flaws, this was still something I generally enjoyed. There's an awesome moment during Hennig's comeback where he starts shaking and shrugging off Flair's strikes in the corner, and he walks toward Flair, trembling and bleeding and limping (he sells the knee really well after the figure-four), and Flair begs off, and it's great. Finish stretch and the finish itself is really good. Felt out-of-nowhere and looked convincing. Still, something I'd call "good" before I'd call it "great."

***

Bret Hart vs. Fatu - Raw 3/1/1993

I thought this was really good, mainly because of the layout. This is shortly before Bret's Mania match with Yoko, so they put over the size difference early, with Bret failing to take Fatu down with a shoulderblock. Bret plays it smart and uses leverage to take him over with an arm drag, and he controls the arm for a while, which is fine, but Bret always just kinda sits in his armbars rather than making them really engaging. Also, great spot where Bret smashes Fatu's face into the mat, and Fatu pops right up and hits a nasty looking superkick. Fatu has a fairly lengthy control segment, working over Bret's neck and getting help from Afa and Samu and all that, and it's all plenty good. They hit some headbutts and distract the ref. And then Bret hits his streak off offense and locks in the Sharpshooter, and it looks like it's just going to be a little formulaic comeback until Afa gets on the apron to distract Bret, which allows Samu and Fatu to switch places, which was really cool. They switch back a second later, and you really get the sense that the odds are loaded against Bret. He has to fight two different guys with a cheating manager at ringside. But then he gets a fun miracle comeback, knocking both extraneous guys off the apron and locking in the Sharpshooter for a win. Finish was satisfying and good, and the match was quite good.

On a side note, I'm not sure how much I like Bret. I mean, I know how good he could be, and I know he had plenty of great matches, and the Owen match from Mania and the Austin matches and the Perfect match from KOTR are all top tens for me. But as an ace defending his title in formula matches like this, I'm not sure I'd take him over, say, Christian. I mean, I don't know if Christian had a title defense that was as good as Bret/Kid, but assuming this match was kinda an "average" Bret defense, well, I can't think of a Christian defense from 09 (bar the 8-second Regal match) that I didn't think was better than this. Basically, it comes down to the fact that Bret's face isn't very expressive, which makes his FIP segments less engaging than they should've been. Basically, I feel like I don't like Bret as much as I should, considering how smart he was and how well he laid his matches out, and the main reason is that he doesn't appeal to me as a character. He does all the big things right, but, like I said, he just kinda sits in his holds, and he just kinda rolls around while taking a beating, and there's nothing to really put it over the top.

Still, ***

Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon - Raw 8/1/1994

Been a few days since I watched this, but I remember enough to know I loved it. It's Shawn's first match since the ladder match at Mania, and it has everything you want in an early Shawn heel performance. He starts out talking trash and getting in the face of a guy with a major size advantage. He walks up and shoves Razor and then eats some big right hands and spits in the air, and Razor tosses him around, and Shawn gets major elevation on some back drops. Razor throws Shawn into Diesel and catches him coming off the ropes and really plays the bigger guy well. But Shawn has backup and he finds ways to take control for sections, and then Diesel really adds to the match at ringside, cheating and sneering and looking like a mean motherfucker. Match is probably even better when Razor's in control, though, as Shawn is totally willing to get tossed around, and they get in a really good bearhug spot, which Shawn wriggles out of to tease a sunset flip spot, only for Razor to punch him in the face. Shawn's selling is mostly good, and there's a nice spot where he goes for a scoop slam but can't. Razor kicks out of a superkick, which still isn't treated like much of a big spot. Shawn goes for a Razor's Edge even though we all know he can't get Razor up with his back-- he's Shawn and he doesn't know how small he is. Savage and Vince do a good job of putting that over on commentary. A part of me always admires heel Shawn in matches against big guys-- he doesn't know he can't go toe-to-toe with them, so he just launches himself at them with no regard for his own safety, and it's really cool. Diesel gets up on the apron toward the end, and Razor punches him for a while, and it all results in a good finish where Shawn whips Razor into a big Diesel boot and then gets a school boy for the win, and then they beat Razor up. Great match.

****

Also watched Owen/Kid from 8/15 and thought it was really fun. Couple blown-ish spots early on, but still really good. Kid got some fun kicks in, which Owen took really well, and they had some fun grappling exchanges early, and then Owen took control with a suplex to the outside and worked the back for a while, and then Kid came back and had the upper-hand and roughed Owen's knee up and looked in position to win with a half crab, so Neidhart came in. Really good little match, probably ***1/4.

Peanut Butter MNMs are the best

2010-08-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

Batista & Rey Mysterio vs. MNM - Smackdown 12/16/2005

Match opens with a fairly lengthy babyface shine period, which I really liked. MNM are great at bumping around for babyfaces, and Rey and Batista complement each other well on offense. Rey flies around and hits his cool stuff and Batista comes in and thrashes both guys. But it's not like MNM just take the beating-- they're trying to cheat, trying to get control of the match. At one point, Nitro comes in and superkicks Batista as he's about to Batista Bomb Mercury. But Batista's up and clotheslining both of them to the outside to set up a slick Asai moonsault spot for Rey on both guys. Mercury's nose gets busted open-- dude has bad luck with that sorta stuff apparently.

The transition to MNM's control segment is really good-- Rey's going for a rana on Mercury, but Nitro grabs him from the apron and pulls him toward the ropes, setting up a slick slingshot powerbomb spot. MNM were really really great, btw. All 3 members. Mercury & Nitro can bump around and sell and just generally take a beating, but they can also cheat-- they always bring really fun old-school distraction tactics to their matches. Their facial expressions are good and they come across as legit dicks when they're in control. And Melina can scream and look angry at ringside when things go wrong, but she can also interfere when things start going well. At one point, she just grabs Rey and yanks him to the ground, and it looks vicious. Rey's FIP segment is very good. MNM focus on the neck, and Rey sells. Nitro hits a nasty-looking clothesline to the back of the neck. Couple great cutoffs, too-- at one point, Rey starts to channel his Eddie energy to hit that bulldog spot on Mercury, only for Melina to distract the ref so Nitro can come pull Rey back. Seconds later, Rey's punching both guys to get out of the corner and crawling around the ring to try to reach Batista. He crawls through Mercury's legs and then eats an enziguiri from Nitro. Awesome. Actual hot tag is good, too, as Rey hits a swank reverse rana from the top on Nitro, and Nitro gets all the way over and way across the ring. Batista comes in and rips people apart, and Rey hits a 619 that connects on both Melina & Mercury, setting up a Batista Bomb and a victory and a title change. Great tag match.

***3/4

Batista & Rey Mysterio vs. MNM - Smackdown 12/30/2010

Babyface shine period is slightly shorter here but still good. Batista roughs both guys up in the corner, setting up a double Brono Buster from Rey. Tazz informs us that Rey wants to rename the move the 1904 or something. Rey also hits a sweet headscissor spot on I believe Nitro. Transition spot to MNM control segment rules-- Rey's on the apron about to springboard, but Mercury distracts him long enough to allow Nitro to catch him with a superkick just as he's coming of the top rope, and Rey drops down, hitting his head on the apron and getting his leg tangled on the ropes. MNM then proceeds to rip his knee off. Mercury (not the legal man) locks the leg up in the ropes and then pummels it. When he comes in, he sort of figure-fours the injured knee while going for a pin, which I thought was a nice touch. Rey's selling is great, too-- at one point, Mercury Irish whips him and he just collapses, and Mercury points and smiles like an asshat. Great stuff. They do their usual good stuff, cheating and distracting and focusing all their offense, and it's perfect. Maybe even liked the FIP segment here better than in the last match.

Really great hope spot where Rey crawls around again and then tries to jump over both of them. They catch him, and there's a great visual of Rey's hand inches from Dave's. He counters with a double-DDT. Don't think the crowd really got that spot, though, because their pop didn't quite correlate to its awesomeness. They actually got quieter when he hit it. Then there's another awesome video of Rey crawling toward Batista with both guys right behind him, reaching out to grab him... but he makes it, and Big Dave starts thrashing dudes and Rey climbs to the top to 'rana Nitro from the apron to the ground, selling his leg the whole time and smacking his head on the apron. Didn't really dig the finish though-- ref bump looked really forced, and then Mercury has a chance to sneak attack Batista while the ref is out, but he doesn't cheat at all. He just jumps on Batista. KICK HIM IN THE DICK, JOSEPH. Mark Henry (hired by Melina) comes out and hits an awesome-looking World's Strongest Slam, which Batista sells like a champ, leading to an MNM victory. Good way to set up a Dave/Henry title match, I suppose, and the finish hardly took away from the total awesomeness of the match. Not really sure which match I prefer-- they both had tons of positives.

***3/4

More 2010 WWE

2010-08-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

(#15) Luke Gallows vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 3/5/2010
(#31) Luke Gallows vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 3/19/2010

Both matches were really good, but the first was definitely the standout and a really testament to how good Gallows is on offense. He hits tons of great stuff, and Rey takes it all really well. None of it is overly complicated, but Gallows has really good punches and clotheslines and he busts out some cool slams and a really great-looking splash. Really awesome spot in the first match where Gallows shoves Rey into the ropes from his knees and then hits a devastating clothesline, still on his knees. Second match is a step down, but still good. Rey comes out with more fire, but there's still a whole lot of Gallows on offense. He's not quite as interesting here, and the match seemed to end fairly abruptly due to interference, but there's a good teased count-out spot early on, and plenty of stuff to like. Also worth noting that Punk is fantastic at ringside in both matches. In the first match, he tells Rey to "Get back in the ring, Rey!" when he goes to the apron. In the second, his reaction to Rey getting back inside is awesome. Really satisfying out-of-nowhere finish in the first match; somewhat dissatisfying finish in the second, I thought.

(#17) Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre - Smackdown 6/25/2010
(#26) Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre - Smackdown 8/13/2010

First match between these two was when I first started to change my mind on McIntyre as a worker. These two had a pretty heated rivalry coming in-- Drew had tried to put Matt on the shelf for good, putting his head on the steel steps and then stomping on it, etc. And Teddy tried to fire Drew, and then Mr. McMahon reinstated him, etc. But then Nexus took Vince out, so Teddy stuck Drew in the ring with Matt. Match starts with fire, both guys throwing punches and going to the outside quickly. I <3 Matt Hardy's punches. Drew takes a cool bump on the outside, flipping over the ring steps. Then he takes control with an interesting spot where he takes Matt from the apron and smashes him into the turnbuckle from there. I couldn't decide if I liked that or not. Felt kinda iffy on Drew's control stuff at times, too. He busted out some really nifty stuff, like a Michinoku driver off the top rope. And Matt's really good at taking all his stuff. But it started to drag at times, I thought. Or maybe I thought it lasted a bit too long for what I thought should've been a more even slugfest-type match. But the finishing run is gold. They go the outside and Drew tries to repeat the steps stomp spot. Well, first he whips Matt into the steps, and Matt makes a great face. Then he tries to stomp him, but Matt sweeps Drew's legs out, and Drew just fucking flat-fuck draps, flat-backed on the steel. Bonkers. Then he makes a side effect look really good, and he takes a Twist of Fate look absolutely awesome. Loved the way he took stuff in the final stretch. Really impressive, and I dig how Drew is willing to take some nasty shit (like when he launched himself into the apron in the 7/30 match with Christian).

The 8/13 match is shorter but still really violent and good, with more awesome stuff involving the ring steps. I can't remember much of it for whatever reason, just that McIntyre stomped on Matt's leg and it looked nasty, and he came across as a legit threat here. He's been on quite the roll, and Hardy's having kind of a good under-the-radar year. He hasn't been in top form, but he was really good in both of these matches, and he had really good performances in solid matches with Carlito & DH Smith on Superstars.

Some More Good WWE Matches from 2010

2010-08-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

(Added, # 21) Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio - Smackdown 2/5/2010

Well, these guys have really great chemistry together, as evidenced by the quality of their bouts at Night of Champions and particularly SummerSlam last year. This was Elimination Chamber qualifying match, and it didn't disappoint. It was short and fun. Rey came in with injured ribs (not taped, but he was selling like they were sore already)-- I don't remember exactly what happened, but I'm sure Batista hit multiple Batista bombs, and Taker hit that monstrous Last Ride in their Rumble match. So Ziggler works on that, and Rey sells really well, and his facial expressions are choice. This was the first of a stack of matches I watched, so I don't remember everything, but I do know Ziggler hit a couple awesome cutoffs during Rey comebacks. At one point, he catches Rey coming off the top ropes with a beautiful dropkick. Later, he catches a springboarding Rey with an awesome powerslam. Really great spot. Finish was out-of-nowhere and awesome and looked like a really convincing flash pin, which I dug.

(Added, #16) Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Masters - Superstars 5/13/2010

Two really awesome guys, who at the time weren't getting the treatment they deserved. Dolph is getting his push, but Masters is still way down on the card. Oh well, this was awesome. They billed this as a sleeper vs. Masterlock deal, but it was actually more about both guys taking awesome bumps. Dolph gets massive elevation and drops right on his face. Later, Masters dumps Dolph to the outside, and then Dolph jumps and kicks Masters in the face (really cool spot), and Masters just launches himself flat-backed to the floor. Fucking bonkers bump. Later, Masters hits a catapult, and Dolph goes face-first into the turnbuckle, and it looks nasty. Masters hits a better catapult than anyone.

But the match isn't just bumps. Masters does little things really well, and his facial expressions totally rock. He takes a little thing like a kick to the chest and makes it fun to watch, and he's really fun to watch in a hold, especially for a guy his size. His facial expressions and the way he tries to get out are legit great. Finishing stretch was good, teasing both guys' holds only to end with a Zig-Zag, which I don't think is a great finisher, but Masters makes it look better than anyone else has.

(Added, #18) Chris Masters vs. Luke Gallows - Superstars 6/24/2010

I think I'd take the Ziggler match as the best match of Masters's impressive 2010 run, but this was darn close. These are possibly the two most under-utilized/under-appreciated guys on the roster. They're both fantastic workers: both have great facial expressions and bump incredibly well for guys their size, and both have simple but credible offense. They trade blows early, and Gallows throws some great punches. Masters hits a big suplex and Gallows rolls out. Maybe not a super-significant spot, but it comes back into play later. Gallows works the back: Masters takes sort of a mini-version of the flat-backed bump he took in the Ziggler match, and then Gallows throws him back-first into the barricade, which looked really good. All of Gallows's offense looked really good, and all of his cutoffs worked well, too. Masters's selling is awesome, too. He goes for a scoop slam at one point but can't get Gallows up, which I thought was cool because we saw Masters hit that suplex early on. Great way of showing the effectiveness of Gallows's offense. Finishing stretch was great, too. Gallows's finisher starts with sort of a reverse full nelson, so it was cool to see them trade holds trying to get their finishers in. Striker also makes a good point about how the damaged back hinders Masters's ability to lock in the Masterlock, which makes his great selling even more important. Distraction by Serena was a great way to set up the Gallows Pole.

(Added, #32) Yoshi Tatsu vs. Primo - Superstars 5/27/2010

This was really fun. Heel Primo has been surprisingly good. He gets some nice shtick moments in, bowing to Yoshi and mocking him. But yeah, there's not much to say about it other than that I thought it was a really good 5-minute sprint that allowed both guys to showcase what they can do.

(Added, #13) Evan Bourne vs. Zack Ryder - Superstars 5/27/2010

I LOVE this match. I'm absolutely crazy about Bourne, and he's really impressive here. Ryder's offense isn't great, but Bourne makes everything look good and impactful here. It's really remarkable the way he can take an average-looking blow and turn it into something special just by launching himself in the ground. And when someone has something that generally looks pretty good-- like Ryder's face wash-- Bourne really puts it over the top, doing something like crumpling through the ropes to the outside. Awesome. Everything here looks so good, from a really cool crucifix counter by Bourne out of some hold, which Ryder the rolled through, keeping Bourne on his shoulders to throw him for an awesome hotshot spot, to an awesomely-timed spin kick counter by Bourne on Ryder coming off the top rope. Also, kudos to Ryder for taking Bourne's kicks really well early in the match. Some guys don't bother to sell his kicks, which is really stinky because he has good-looking stuff that can look credible against bigger guys if they're willing to cooperate (Sheamus is really great with Bourne, btw). Finishing stretch was awesome, too, especially on the live viewing, as I remember really buying into everything because they were butting up so close to the end of the hour.

More on Why Christian Rules

2010-08-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

(#20) Christian vs. Cody Rhodes - Smackdown 8/13/2010

Yeah, this was definitely good. Cody immediately backs Christian into the corner, targeting the arm. When Cody charges, Christian gets his feet up, which makes Cody back off to protect his face, starting a really entertaining sub-plot, with Christian trying to hit Cody in the face and Cody avoiding it. Cody takes a good bump to the outside and then Christian hits a great plancha and looks in control at the break. They come back with Cody in control, which I didn't like because I don't like to miss transition spots, but they recapped it and it was fine. Cody works Christian's arm; Christian sells: it's really good. Awesome moment where Christian falls on his arm on the bottom rope and sells like crazy. Another really cool spot where Christian goes for his slap-in-the-face spot while Cody's on the second rope, only for Cody to walk away. Christian then hits a sunset flip from the outside, which I thought was a cool variation on his standard corner spot. Finishing stretch really rocks: Christian can't hit his finisher because of the injury, and Cody uses the injury to his advantage, but Christian does get to slap Cody in the face really hard (and Cody sells it really well), so they pay off on that sub-plot. I dug this, but it was a notch below the McIntyre matches, mainly because Cody only brought about 40% of the intensity that Drew brought. I think "Dashing" Cody Rhodes is a great character that totally suits him, and there are a lot of things to like about Cody, but I don't think he's quite firing on all cylinders as a worker yet. I am excited about his future though. He's 25.

(Added, #14) Christian vs. Drew McIntyre - Smackdown 7/16/2010

This is a notch below their last two matches because it doesn't have the awesome arm work and arm selling, but it's still great. It felt like a total slugfest, with tons of stuff stiff and great bumps, and lots of really nifty counters. It felt like both guys came prepared for the other guy's big stuff. There are some neat exchanges around the apron early on that felt totally fresh, and they resulted in a cool spot where Drew tried to slam Christian down into the apron, only for Christian to hold onto the top rope and hit his pendulum kick from a different spot than he normally does. I love the way he can vary his signature spots. And I also loved how they still delivered on the teased apron bump a little bit later when Drew shoves Christian off the top rope, and Christian shoves his own head into the mat. Absolute bonkers-ville bump, and I loved it. But Drew never really gets a lengthy control session here, as Christian keeps making comebacks and throwing bombs from the top rope, which I really liked. Christian takes some good-looking throat-first bumps onto the ropes; Drew takes a tornado DDT really well, and the counters during the finishing stretch are really fun, and the eye poke is awesome, and Christian's sell is even better.

Thoughts on a Random Heap of Matches

2010-08-21T10:00:00.000-07:00

Ted Dibiase vs. Chris Masters - Superstars 1/7/2010

I remember rolling my eyes when Chris Masters first turned into a pec-dancing babyface. Boy, was I wrong: his babyface run has rocked the big timez. First exchanges of this match are like a little preview of the awesomeness of 2010 Chris Masters. Ted targets the leg early, and Masters makes some average strikes look super effective. Ted takes Masters down and locks the leg up, only for Masters to come up with a cool counter to lock in the Masterlock early. Ted escapes; Masters sells the leg really well, shaking it off. So yeah, here's a guy who sells really well and works smart little matches with good crowd heat focused around a full nelson that he's gotten miraculously over in 2010. He's great. Rest of the match is good, though Ted's control stuff is somewhat pedestrian, which holds it back a bit. He does hit that cool clothesline spot he does, and though Masters obviously has no chance at making it look as good as Evan Bourne does, he takes it as well as a guy his size possibly could. And I mentioned that spot to point out that the second time Ted goes for it, Masters counters it into a Masterlock attempt, which led to a nice finishing stretch. I really dug Masters's counter there.

Mike Knox vs. Finlay - Superstars 1/7/2010

Here are two guys I miss on WWE TV. They had a few matches on Smackdown a year or two ago, and I'll need to track those down at some point to watch them again because this was awesome, even better than the Masters match from the same show. They open with good strikes and good selling. Both guys are big and tough and physical, which means they mesh well. It goes to the outside quickly, and Knox hits an awesome powerslam on the floor, which leads to Knox working Finlay's back and Finlay selling really well. I'm not remembering the match perfectly, but there's a great spot where Finlay catches Knox coming into the corner with his boot, and then he tries to come off the second rope only for Knox to catch him and hit a big slam. Sounds like a typical spot, but it looked really good here. Also, Knox hit his glorious cross-body. Striker yells a lot of ridiculous things, and I dislike a lot of them, but "flying bear" seems like a great thing to yell during a Mike Knox match. Finish was good and out-of-nowhere-ish, which I liked. Felt really sudden and surprising and convincing all at the same time.

Mike Knox vs. Rey Mysterio - Superstars 2/18/2010

I liked this even more than the Finlay match. Again, it's been a while since I watched all these, and my memory isn't the best, but I just remember gobs of great cutoffs from Knox. Rey would start to roll like Rey rolls, and the Knox would catch him with a boot or a clothesline, and it would just look absolutely vicious. Rey took them all like a champ. And there was a flying bear at some point. Great match.

Christian vs. Drew McIntyre - Smackdown 7/30/2010

Right, so I thoroughly loved the last two Christian/McIntyre matches. This was shockingly great on the first watch. Christian rocks Drew early, and Drew takes a great bump to the outside, and then he launches himself into the apron following a Christian dropkick. The transition spot to Drew's control segment is amazing: he crawls under the ring to draw Christian in, and then he smashes Christian's arm against the metal under the ring. You know that means? That means Christian sells arm work in this match. That means this match will be at worst really good. Turns out Drew's arm work is plenty good, which makes this match great. Really cool theme of metal vs. arm, as Drew repeatedly uses metal things around the ring to demolish Christian's arm. Shoulder breaker on the ring steps. Yeah. Christian gets good comeback spots in and all that, but it's all about him selling his ass off and making great faces and noises, which he does better than anyone. Finish was perfect and kept Drew looking strong even in defeat. Only a notch behind Rey/Punk for my TV MOTY.

Christian vs. Drew McIntyre - Smackdown 8/20/2010

I probably prefer their 7/30 match, but that doesn't mean this isn't great. It's a match where Christian takes an apron bump and sells arm work; of course it's great. Drew immediately works the arm, and Christian fights him off and hits a cool rana, which frustrates McIntyre. I really bought his frustration here, more than I usually do. Drew trips Christian on the apron to take control, and Christian makes the apron bump look nasty, like he always does. Then there's an awesome sequence outside around where the ring announcer sits that results in an awesome spot and Drew wrecks Christian's arm around a whole bunch of metal and shit. It's great. Drew's arm work is really good and Christian's selling is better. He gets some good comeback spots-- there's an awesome moment where he attempts a to mare his way out of a hammerlock, only for Drew to drop him right on his arm. There's another awesome jumping DDT spot that results in Drew taking a great DDT bump and Christian brilliantly selling his arm AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME. Might've been better than the 7/30 match. Finish is really smart, too, and reminded me of both their last match and Christian's 8/13 match with Rhodes. The Rhodes match is really good, too, and you should track that down. Not as good as the D Mac matches, but Cody works Christian's arm, so obviously it's good. Also, Cody does commentary, which is at times irritating because they cut to him instead of getting a close-up on Christian's great facial expressions, but if you haven't been exposed to the awesomeness of the "Dashing" Cody Rhodes gimmick, you're in for a treat. He gives Todd Grisham cotton swabs.

Current WWE MOTY List

2010-08-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

1. Shawn Michaels vs. The Undertaker – WrestleMania 26 (3/28)

2. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio – Extreme Rules (4/25)

3. Batista vs. John Cena – WrestleMania 26 (3/28)

4. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio – Over the Limit (5/23)

5. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio – Smackdown 2/12/2010

6. Christian vs. Drew McIntrye – Smackdown 7/30/2010

7. Christian vs. Drew McIntrye – Smackdown 8/20/2010

8. Rey Mysterio vs. Jack Swagger – Smackdown 6/11/2010

9. John Cena vs. Batista – LMS – Extreme Rules (4/25)

10. Christian vs. Ezekiel Jackson – Royal Rumble 2010

11. Evan Bourne & John Cena vs. Edge & Sheamus – Raw 5/31/2010

12. Christian vs. William Regal – Superstars 1/14/2010

13. Evan Bourne vs. Zack Ryder – Superstars 5/27/2010

14. Evan Bourne & Yoshi Tatsu vs. Chavo Guerrero & Zack Ryder – Superstars 4/8/2010

15. Rey Mysterio vs. Luke Gallows – Smackdown 3/5/2010

16. Christian vs. Drew McIntyre – Smackdown 7/16/2010

17. Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre – Smackdown 6/25/2010

18. Dolph Ziggler vs. Chris Masters – Superstars 5/13/2010

19. CM Punk vs. Rey Mysterio – WrestleMania 26 (3/25)

20. Luke Gallows vs. Chris Masters – Superstars 6/24/2010

21. Rey Mysterio vs. Mike Knox – Superstars 2/18/2010

22. Finlay vs. Mike Knox – Superstars 1/7/2010

23. Dolph Ziggler vs. Rey Mysterio – Smackdown 2/5/2010

24. Team WWE vs. Team Nexus – SummerSlam (8/15)

25. Christian vs. Cody Rhodes – Smackdown 8/13/2010

26. Matt Hardy vs. Drew McIntyre – Smackdown 8/13/2010

27. Christian vs. Zack Ryder – Superstars 2/11/2010

28. Evan Bourne vs. William Regal – Superstars 3/4/2010

29. Christian, Yoshi Tatsu, & Mark Henry vs. William Regal, Jack Swagger, & Zack Ryder – Superstars 3/18/2010

30. Evan Bourne vs. Carlito – Superstars 2/4/2010

31. Rey Mysterio vs. Luke Gallows – Smackdown 3/19/2010

32. Chris Masters vs. Primo vs. Chavo Guerrero – Superstars 1/28/2010

33. Goldust vs. Chris Jericho – Superstars 3/4/2010

34. Evan Bourne & Primo vs. Carlito & Chavo Guerrero – Superstars 2/18/2010

35. Ted Dibiase vs. Chris Masters – Superstars 1/7/2010

36. Yoshi Tatsu vs. Primo Colon – Superstars 5/27/2010

37. William Regal vs. Yoshi Tatsu – Superstars 4/1/2010

38. Mike Knox vs. Goldust – Superstars 3/11/2010

39. DH Smith vs. Matt Hardy – Superstars 1/28/2010