Big Time Wrestling TV 6/10/16

1. Victor Sterling vs. Ricky Mandel (3/25/16)

It got time, but didn't do a whole lot for me. Mandel really isn't that good, still have no clue how he got the LU gig. Although him being good may have been what lead to his eventual LU murder. He comes off real clumsy, so when he does standard cruiser stuff it always looks stumbly. He falls on his head doing that silly little backflip with his leg over Sterling's neck, falls short on superkicks, hits spin kicks in slow motion, just rarely looks good. Sterling had some nice stuff but didn't have a whole lot to work with here. Sterling's best stuff is always on the mat, as he's really good at grinding things out, pressing forearms into jaws, not showing tons of light on exchanges. But Mandel was really bad at taking some of his slightly more complicated offense. Some of the layout was there, this could have been much better with not-Mandel in there.

2. Rik Luxury vs. El Guerrero vs. Shane Kody (3/25/16)

When you get a Shane Kody match, you know what you're in for. Kody is the owner of the fed, the champion of the fed, the guy who never loses in the fed, the guy who rarely bumps in the fed, the guy who can't even let a heel get a visual pin, the guy who throws mostly chops. There are plenty of immobile workers in their 50s that I dig, but they all tend to be guys I loved or would have loved in their 30s. Kody works like a guy who was never actually a good worker at any age. The match goes far too long, and really only survives because it had a guy like Rik Luxury in there to glue things together. Guerrero is a real zero, a guy who looks athletic but never does a single athletic thing, and genuinely looks untrained. He hardly does anything you could even call offense. So Luxury had to have his boots on in this one, and luckily for me he did. He ably stooged around for Kody, at one point hilariously going up for a Flair turnbuckle flip but stopping half way through and delaying the upside down portion of the bump, before belly flopping back in the ring. He takes all of the bumps to the floor, makes a good point of falling into a bunch of front row fans as he's getting chopped around the ring, adds whatever ebbs and flows the match has (Kody essentially stands around the entire match, outside of one nice bump he takes after taking a shot with his cowbell), setting up the other two for their moments. Rik even breaks out a gorgeous asai moonsault. Did think Rik had it in him. So yeah, you knew this was going to be a Kody match. When the ref gets bumped after Kody takes a cowbell shot, he even kicks out of a fake pinfall counted by Luxury. The guy shows absolutely zero ass at any point. He's like HHH, but if HHH wrestled like five-years-from-now Jim Duggan. It's really a bummer. Still, Rik Luxury. Class all the way.