DVDVR Puerto Rico 80s Set: The Rock n Roll RPM's vs. The Zambuie Express (3/29/86)

Disc 2, Match 8: The Rock n Roll RPM's vs. The Zambuie Express (3/29/86)

This had a little more meat to it than the previous RPM's match. We've seen some Leroy Brown in the Classics Houston footage lately. I hadn't realized then that he later on became Elijah Akeem. He was limited but effective then, in the late 70s, a good act after his babyface turn with the early use of music (and another guy more over than Dusty in Houston). I've never had strong opinions of the Zambuie Express. They're the sort I would have had little time for when I was a kid and haven't reevaluated. I should say that I do have a soft spot for Mike Davis, though. I grew up on Global as much as anything else, even if only for a year (it being on every day made it feel like more than that), and he was a memorable part of it.

This was a lot of what you'd expect it to be. The size differentiation helped, because it let them fall even further into the traditional formula, and allowed for the RPM's to pick up even more sympathy. They were using quick smart tags early on to contain the Express. It all felt earned enough. They built the heat up by having Davis draw the ref and the Express double team, which was all the more nefarious due to their size advantage. The hot tag came after a missed charge exactly like it should have.

So it was by the numbers, but the numbers added up, and the crowd ate it up. The pop for the underdog win was huge. If you told me that this was Mike Davis' greatest single moment in wrestling, just being able to bask in that pop and the adulation that came along with it, I would absolutely believe you. And hey, the finals were still to come!

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WWE Hell in a Cell 2016 Not Live Blog

1. Sin Cara, Lince Dorado & Cedric Alexander vs. Tony Nese, Drew Gulak & Ariya Daivari

ER: This match left me pretty hollow, really didn't think a lot of the guys in this looked good. Gulak looked the best, loved his subs working over Lince. Him locking the deathlock, fighting with him over his arms, all that looked great. The match started getting good right after the big dive train. The dives happened and back in the ring Gulak grabbed a dragon sleeper real smooth on Cedric. There was a great fight spot over it, with Nese holding Cara's foot on the floor, and Lince coming out of nowhere with the save. We get some fun moves trading, Nese looked stumbly, and the lumbar check somehow always ends up looking good. It seems preposterous, but man does it look painful.

I had that New Day Q&A segment on in the background while I typed up that Cruiser match, and my goodness that was bad. They just yelled the whole time.

2. Rusev vs. Roman Reigns

ER: So they went really long with this one. Probably too long. And it really could have used blood. But overall it was good. It started to get real good when Reigns missed his sliding kick on the apron and Rusev hit a lariat. Once weapons got in their I really suckered in. Rusev bashing Reigns in the ropes with the kendo stick was great, although after he broke it over his knee I started rooting for him to stab him with the stick, Abby style. Things would have gotten so damn real with a kendo stick stabbing. I thought Rusev was on point the entire match. His punches looked way better than Roman's (except for the first time Roman caught him with the chain, then Roman was throwing bombs), and all of his kicks looked great. Roman ran forehead and nose first into one of those, and I thought for sure he was gonna get up with a black eye. The chain spots looked good and that sub with the chain through Roman's mouth was great. So yeah, plenty of great stuff in this one, but they were also given an insane amount of time to do the great stuff. Overall win.

3. Bayley vs. Dana Brooke

ER: Eh this was okay. I actually liked Brooke more than Bayley in this one, which was not something I expected. Dana's the one that got me into it, the moment she kick Bayley's arm in the ropes. All the arm work was really good, her lariat looked really good, and suddenly I liked small powerhouse Dana Brooke. Bayley firing back with her one good arm was nice, but the end felt too sudden and convenient.

4. Enzo & Big Cass vs. Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson

ER: Surprising result, but this was pretty bleh. One of Anderson's better WWE performances, though, so that leaves me mixed. Enzo and Cass just are not good. Cass' big boot usually looks good. But even Test had a bit more going for him than his good big boot. Gallows superkicking Enzo was satisfying, and I did like Enzo's crossbody earlier, but this was flat for me.

5. Kevin Owens vs. Seth Rollins

ER: This was actually my favorite match with these guys. It also got tons of time, but I think that actually made it feel more epic in scope. I think this was the tightest that Rollins has looked in WWE. The strike segments weren't "hold my hair and swing in a phone booth" things that Owens has been spamming, it was just an old fashioned punch exchange. And Rollins looked good in it, really throwing them at all angles. Owens worked in some cool stuff like flying hard into cannonballs (including a brutal one into the cell) and then later splatting Rollins with a couple nasty sentons. One of them hit while Rollins was on all fours, and damn that just hurts my wrists and elbows thinking about it. Rollins muscling up Owens with a powerbomb was nuts, and even though the tables were set up for it, I still didn't think anybody was going through that table structure. But hot damn did Owens get powerbombed through it. Nuts. Owens' chairshots were among the most violent I've ever seen, he really looked like he was laying Rollins out. They weren't landing flush, Rollins was catching some edge, they were thrown to his ribs and arm and stomach, really nasty shots. So yeah, this match felt appropriately violent to justify the time given. Much better than I hoped.

6. TJ Perkins vs. Brian Kendrick

ER: A good match but I think they have better in them. I do love that they're working long real time injury spots into matches thanks to Kendrick. It feels like if Chris Hamrick were suddenly a guy they cared about. But Kendrick does a great long convincing knee injury, always knowing it would end with him jumping TJ. I still wasn't actually expecting the Kendrick win, even though I love it. They've kinda treated TJ like a wet noodle since this whole cruisers on Raw thing happened. Some fan in the front row manages to insult both men in one breath with a "Get a fucking haircut hippie. Nike sucks!" One man, raging against the system. I love how dangerous they have made the captains hook look, almost always a guaranteed win. But this felt like it needed a bit more build.

7. New Day vs. Cesaro/Sheamus

ER: This felt long and I actually think the match benefitted from the slow spots. I liked Big E and Cesaro selling how damn tired they were. I really liked Cesaro and Sheamus cutting off Woods. They were pretty vicious to him in the corner, with both seeing who could throw a harder uppercut. The rolling senton into Cesaro's double stomp. That's finisher level nasty. Cesaro catching Woods' running leg and turning it into a sharpshooter was slick and vicious as all hell. I really wanted it to be the finish. In a way it was, but they get cute and DQ Kofi for interference. But this was a real good Sheamus/Cesaro performance, and a nice New Day showing. The ending was kinda annoying, but match was solid.

8. Charlotte vs. Sasha Banks

ER: Well hot damn I loved this. This felt epic, this had some gravitas. Charlotte jumping her before the bell was awesome, and both of them beat the hell out of each other around ringside. Sasha showed real fire when prepping the table, and you knew something bad was happening. But I somehow didn't guess powerbomb. Sasha got planted with that powerbomb, sprawled across the collapsing table fantastically. I loved the lonnnnnnng stretcher set up. It was taking forever, but I loved it. Every minute that went by made it look like Sasha had more and more of a chance to recover. That powerbomb was nasty but juuuuuust maybe...so when she gets off the stretcher and slaps the hell out of an EMT, I was way into it. And they had a real assbeating fight. Sasha flew into her with knees, Charlotte landed kicks, they laced right into each other. There was a certain sloppiness that actually added to the gritty fight feel, totally made the match. I had no idea who would win, no clue where it would go, was constantly waiting for a swerve of some kind. But the table coming in, Sasha getting tossed all over it, ragdolling into and off of it, felt like a really violent human breaking move. The whole match felt like a big deal (which is annoying to type after how much I know they're going to pat themselves on the back because HISTORY), and they shocked the hell out of me. I thought they would work stupid to justify their spot in the main event, but I thought they were smart in this - even with a couple crazy spots. Awesome match.

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All Time MOTY list HEAD to HEAD: Santo/Casas v. Scorpio/Bestia VS Vader v. Misawa

Vader v. Mitsuharu Misawa AJPW 10/30/99

PAS: Twelve minutes of bombs being dropped. Reminds me of the awesome Vader v. Dustin Rhodes matches from WCW, short, impactful and impressive. With hindsight it is tough to watch Misawa take german suplexes, but he takes a german suplex as nastily as anyone in wrestling history. It is also pretty amazing the bumps a 44 year old fat dude is willing to take, he gets dumped on his head by german suplexes, and even takes sort of a Tiger Driver 91, although that may just be because he didn't fully rotate. I also loved Vader countering the Misawa elbow suicida by leaning against the guardrail and kicking Misawa in the chest with both feet like a mule, never seen that spot before and it was awesome. Vader was such a breath of fresh air in AJPW at this point. They had basically been running with the same group of top guys for almost a decade, so to have this disruptive force come in and start wrecking dudes was great. I loved the length and the fact that Vader went over,  but I don't think they had figured out how to graft an exciting AJPW style finish run on a match this length. It ends up falling slightly flat, which keeps it out of all-timer status.

ER: A match with some flaws, but a match with an incredible amount of charm. You hear how wild the crowd is for Misawa and it's addictive. And then you see how insanely athletic Vader is for a man his size, and a man his age, and this just feels like a real clash of the titans. The first 4 minutes are just a total bear attack, with things starting civil until Vader belts Misawa with a left. Misawa's selling after that slap - the stagger, the slump and surprise - was perfect, and from there we get Vader corner attack. I loved the struggle over the German suplexes (in fact I wish there was more struggle on stuff as the match went on) with Misawa hanging onto the ropes for dear life, and Vader choking him to get him to let go. And when Misawa finally does let go the suplexes are disgusting. And then Vader just starts squishing him with full splashes. You can hear the crowd getting nervous, which is awesome, that these two were so convincing that the crowd was already murmuring that Misawa could lose a Triple Crown match in mere minutes. But Misawa comes back, and it blows me away how Vader can get up for suplexes and a crazy tiger driver. But Vader just keeps on finding new ways to squish Misawa, and it's great. If you just described a match to me as "smaller guy fights with stiff strikes, but keeps getting squished by a fat guy" I would already love that match regardless of the participants. And just when Misawa would get a little momentum, he would run into a big swinging arm or get smothered. I thought the build throughout could have been better, maybe could have peaked better, but the match length felt right. Impressive, motivated stuff from Vader, and tons of great die on sword moments from Misawa. Also, watch for Vader's super likable interview backstage.

El Hijo Del Santo/Negro Casas v. Bestia Salvaje/Scorpio Jr. CMLL 3/19/99 Review

Verdict:

PAS: Lucha tag takes it for me, Vader v. Misawa is great and features awesome performances by both, but the apuestas tag is an all timer, pretty much a perfect example of that kind of high stakes war.

ER: Agree with Phil. This match was very close for me, and there were some minor changes that could have been made that would have shot this match into the lead (Misawa not doing Germans, the ending peaking better), but even as is it was close. Still, lucha tag defends its crown.

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Big Time Wrestling TV 8/26/16

I like the simple black polo shirts on Dragon Dave and Hank Renner Jr., comes off way less gimmicky than their previous tuxedo/plaid blazer/fedora. Man I hated that hat (and the too large striped shirt under the plaid blazer). The simple black polos with BTW's logo on them are a nice, classic touch.

1. Kikyo Nakamura vs. Dementia D'Rose (7/15/16)

This was from their very recent Dangerous Damsels show, an 8 woman tournament, and I'm really really happy they're showing matches from it. There were several match-ups I was excited to see (sadly I missed last week's TV and I think they showed other first round matches from this show). Good for BTW to be so up to date on their programming. I was excited for this one as I like Kikyo and have never seen D'Rose before, and overall I think this worked. Both are similar size but I was still surprised to see Kikyo work from underneath. I'm used to her being a kind of monster, but I think she works really well as a FIP. It's just not usually appropriate in her matches. She has great underdog babyface facials, and I dug Dementia's bombs away and especially dug her camel clutch; she really wrenched it in and Kikyo sold it great. D'Rose doesn't do Kikyo a ton of favors on her comeback, as she wasn't really expecting what appeared to be a Thesz press, but Kikyo saves it by muscling it into a kind of back leg trip takedown, and followed up with nice mounted punches. D'Rose does lean into Kikyo's yakuza kick, and Kikyo always throws a nice one. I was disappointed with the finish even though it was executed well, with D'Rose biting Kikyo's arm unexpectedly and then rolling her up with a tights grab. Kikyo sold the bite as well as someone reasonably could, and the roll up was a nice high roll up that looked tough to get out of. So it was executed nicely, but I was hoping for a little more throw down for a finish.

2. Brittany Wonder vs. Raze (7/15/16)

Fun match, I like both women and I imagine Raze is a favorite to win this whole tourney. Wonder is really fun and always tries new things. Sometimes those things don't work, but she's ambitious and has a certain charisma. I like all her butt based offense (though a normal butt bump would probably work better than a handspring version), she takes big bumps and works a fun sort of relentless, pesty style. I like Raze as a bully, and how every time she can slow down or catch Wonder then bad things happen. Wonder hits a top rope splash, tope (that Raze kinda saves her on), also throws a nice yakuza kick, bullies Raze into the ring announcer and time keeper, and Raze occasionally launches her with great throws. Raze played her part nicely, giving Wonder plenty of nice moments to shine, taking a big bump over the top to the floor, and Wonder paid her back by getting dumped a couple times on suplexes. The match ending head and arm suplex was a fitting finish, with Raze really snapping her over.

3. The Nasty Boys vs. Dustin Ardine & Vinny Poochanelli (5/21/11)

Amusing Nasty Boys steamroll. I have no clue who Ardine or Poochanelli are, but their job was to run into things the Nasties were doing, and they did that well. Ardine is kind of a loon as he lets Sags give him a powerbomb on the floor, just a straight up powerbomb on concrete. Thankfully the camera picked it up as it was *ahem* nasty. Poochanelli gets bodyslammed by Knobbs on the floor, some chairshots are thrown (at least Sags takes a couple shots), but yeah if you were hoping for any kind of offense from non Nasty Boys, you'd be leaving the match disappointed. The powerbomb was nuts, and there was another super fun spot with Sags dumping Poochanelli into a rolling trash can, and then wheeling him straight into a stiff Knobbs back elbow. I was hoping for some classic Knobbs unprofessionalism, but he seemed totally on the level.


Another fun episode, real tightly run as always. The camera work is something I don't think I've ever complimented them on but their work on their shows is very good. They have a satisfying way of filming matches and changing angles, not just showing stuff from a hard cam. It's an overall good production.

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DVDVR Puerto Rico 80s Set: Rock n Roll RPM's vs. Dan Greer & Don Kent (3/29/86)

Disc 2, Match 7: Rock n Roll RPM's vs. Dan Greer & Don Kent (3/29/86)

I'm just slightly behind the wave of people watching the set, I think, and I've seen a couple of reviews of the matches with the RPM's. People are hugely underselling how weird and surreal it is that Lane and Davis are earnest, honest, pretty boy babyfaces in Puerto Rico. We've seen it a dozen times in WWE over the last twenty years, that moment where a parody gimmick forgets that it's a parody gimmick and starts to play straight, usually going from heel to babyface (examples could be Hardcore Holly, Hurricane Helms, even New Day to some extent). It's just nutty to see it with these guys, who were so clearly meant to goof on the Rock'n'Roll Express and the Fantastics and the Fabs and the Rockers. Not only are they playing it straight, despite the fact they look far more like roadies than rockers, but the fans are completely into it.

There's not a ton to this but it's inherently obvious the RPMs have worked enough against babyface opponents to know how to play their roles. All of the posturing and posing and strutting and bouncing is completely ridiculous but it's also broad and works to the back row. I can't take them seriously, but the crowd had no problem doing so. It's always been said that the first team who tries this act regularly in a territory is generally successful with it, so maybe that's just it? If Ricky Rice and Jon Paul showed up as the Top Guns first, who knows? Maybe they would have been super over. Though, I think the Fabs WERE in first, so who knows.

I wish I had more to say about Kent. I haven't seen much Fabulous Kangaroos. He was right around 50 at this point and it showed. He had some good, well-timed and placed shots on offense and obviously knew well enough to let Greer take the bumps but there wasn't a lot to see. Greer, on the other hand, was unexpectedly dynamic. The mummy thing was funny, because obviously after losing the mask match, he wasn't in that gimmick anymore, but he was still called that left and right. He bumped around the ring and stooged up and down for the RPM's. I wouldn't mind seeing more of him.

This was a solid, traditional tag match that was just a little on the slight side and more than a little surreal.

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Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 6: The Open Road to Revenge

MD: The camera shot for all of Chavo's chairshots was pretty surreal. I get what they were going for but it felt like a video game cut scene. They should mock up some old grainy footage of Chavo, Sr. vs Dragon Azteca, Sr. The company can be such a weird mix of history and fiction sometimes. That's where Vampiro and Striker bringing in just a bit too much real history (like they'd do in the main with the WWE Cruiserweight Title) hurts things instead of helping. They're in a surreal alternate reality with life-prolonging magic rocks and Black Lotus ninja clans. Just run with it.

1. Famous B & Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Mascarita Sagrada & Son of Havoc

ER: My, Wagner and B certainly had to be mighty generous in this one. It's more than a little silly to have a star as big as Wagner come in and bump all over the ring from armdrags, headscissors and crossbodies from Sagrada. Sagrada is talented but his stuff is light even for a tiny guy. His crossbodies looked like when my cat got outside and I had to chase him down to bring him back in. He got up on a fence and then jumped off onto me. Now, I have a really big cat. He's a Maine coon and is close to 19 pounds. But it was still a 19 pound cat jumping onto a 160 pound me. It's not like Doc needs to be in every main event, we've been seeing him in main events for years and years. But his fees can't be too cheap, and it's odd seeing him work Sagrada in his first full match. Still I got so annoyed watching Sagrada run his game that I started reacting the same as when everybody has to be super gentle with Sexy Star, it made me turn against Sagrada.

MD: Boy, was Brenda super produced here, and that production was "Call him a baby repeatedly." There's a WWF match from January 92 or so where Dibiase was feuding with Santana (El Matador) for just a little bit and it's a Manager Cam match so the entirety of the match was focused on Sherri and not on the ring. It basically is Sherri shouting "Teddy Bear!" for ten minutes. Granted, it's Sherri so there are still moments of it working, like when she proclaims that she always liked Tito when he's menacing her and then immediately that she was lying and she always hated him when Ted cuts him off. But yeah, too much one-note Brenda. Wagner gave a lot but maybe not too much since spirtually, he was held back by being in there with Famous B, right? I still think they could have done more with Havoc after the end of last season. Anyway, this kept things building at least, with B cockily pinning Sagrada while checking his pulse. It'll be nice when he gets his comeuppance and Wagner's a definite step up from Blue Demon for the guy in that same sort of role in the company.

2. Jack Evans vs. Sexy Star

"[this match] should be nothing short of amazing!"~Matt Striker

ER: It was. It was a failure in just about every way. We get our second match in a row watching a person with implausible offense taking 2/3 of the match, they're still trying to push her history of abuse which is just uncomfortable as hell in a wrestling show context, and we have the continuing annoyance that nobody can beat Sexy Matanza. The only parts of the match that worked were when she would capitalize after Evans was goofing around. The best, most logical moment of the match, was Jack doing several handsprings into a corner eyepoke, but Sexy Star turning the tide and doing several turnbuckle aided corner sentons. That's the stuff we should be seeing more from Sexy Star, just some move spamming to downed opponents; instead we get her offense treated as not just equal, but usually MORE powerful. Evans bumped all over the place for her (I mean, it IS Evans) and she can't return the favor, because she's just not good. So it's that same neverending feeling of watching someone good have to reallllly overextend themselves to make Sexy Star look good, and there's just no satisfying payoff. She rarely encounters adversity on screen, and it all just makes me actively root for her failure. Which then makes me feel like a creep. I hate it.

MD: Sometimes the fact that Striker knows nothing about CMLL annoys me more than it should. I don't have the first idea the difference between a hilo and a giro and a tornillo but I know what Ultimo Guerrero's Senton De La Muerte is called. Good on Evans for getting the Star Destroyer name over. His blockbuster looked really nasty too, but that was probably more because Star couldn't physically take it and just crumpled instead. I thought all the BS at the end was effective and Evans bumped big for her and looked overall pretty good (though maybe the face puppeting was a bit too much for what this was). If they're building Sexy Star up for a title match, her going through all of Worldwide Underground isn't a bad way to do that. It's traditional and episodic. I just wish it wasn't her. Aerostar's dive was the highlight of all of this. The trust fall back headbutt thing is always insane to begin with but he really tucked himself up this time around.

3. Pentagon Dark vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr. vs. Rey Mysterio

ER: Would have rather seen a singles match with any combo of these guys, but I say that almost every time. And this match was good enough, but it all leads to Chavo and Rey feuding. And I like Chavo in LU a lot more than most, but there are so many other Rey matches and feuds that I'd rather see at this point. At this point in Rey's career I want fresh matches. It feels like we're one bad landing from not getting Rey at this level of quality, so I'd rather not see him use his remaining bullets against a guy he's faced probably 50 times already. I also still don't think I understand Pentagon "Dark". He was definitely more vicious as just Pentagon Jr., now he's just way more hammy. I think I liked the Pentagon House Blend more. We do get some fun spots mixed in with the clunky 3 way moments, and I really liked the finish with Chavo yanking Rey's leg and then taking a nasty superkick off the apron, leading to Rey taking the package piledriver. But you still had Rey doing all sorts of kung fu earlier in the show in a segment with Chavo, and here he just tried to roll Chavo up a couple of times. Psychology goes out the window in these matches. And poor Dragon Azteca Jr. couldn't be much more dead in the water. Chavo dominates him last week and he only gets his shot at Pentagon because of interference, and on this show he's just silently taken out without even getting his singles match. Not that he would have fared well anyway, but that would have been better for Pentagon. That guy could use an actual singles match win over someone.

MD: For a three way, I liked this. Some of that was Chavo's personality (a hyena behind the lion, which is how Vampiro put it in the best bit of commentary on the show). Some of it was Rey being Rey, hitting stuff that he shouldn't be hitting at his age and physical state and making it all look awesome. Ok, look, I do know what a tornillo is and his was great. I'm not sure I've seen that dive look as good from him in a decade plus. Some of it was just how well it was laid out (there was just one moment towards the end where I thought Rey was gone from the match for too long). Pentagon and Chavo were different but both equally effective bases. I liked the double 619 attempt set up because that's Rey just being tactical. No one else in wrestling could pull that off. I'm with Eric that Pentagon's stuff can be too hammy now. He shouldn't have been banging on the chair to get the crowd into it. He should have been killing Chavo instead. This felt like a big win that Pentagon needed and I like the set up. Sure I'd rather see Rey vs other people but Rey coming in with a bad leg is good enough that I'll happily see it with Chavo once again.




COMPLETE LUCHA UNDERGROUND EPISODE GUIDE

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1980 Match of the Year

Buddy Rose/Ed Wiskoski v. Roddy Piper/Rick Martel PNW 8/2/80

PAS: This is for the vacant PNW tag titles and is a master class in tag wrestling.  First falls opens with the heels doing some off the charts stooging, both Rose and Wiskoski are great in-ring bumpers and fly all over the ring for both babyfaces. Then the heels take over and Piper has one of the best Face-In-Peril sections I can remember seeing,  frantically spinning and tumbling and leaping to try to get the tag, just awesome intense timing. There is a wrestling multiverse where Roddy Piper is the great 80’s babyface tag worker, and Ricky Morton is doing Ricky’s Rountable and smashing Snuka with a coconut. Second fall has the heel team working over Martel’s back, including using the broken bottom rope bolt to jab him in the kidneys, the rings in Portland must have been really flimsy because Rose was a maestro at improv work with a busted ring. Third fall is an awesome wild brawl with it all breaking down and the ref throwing out the match. This had all the parts you want in a great tag match. I could easily see this being a legendary feud which spanned decades like MX v. Rock and Rolls.

ER: Simple match, and a real good match. I have never seen fired up underdog Roddy Piper before and it's a blast. We've all seen fired up Piper, but context is key and Phil is right: He was a really great Ricky Morton. You really could see the alternate timeline. Although after the match you hear him screaming unhinged into the mic and you knew he was going to be more than an underdog. I so wish I lived in Portland in the 80s. The personality of the city bleeds into its wrestling and it's so charming. Sandy Barr was wearing a colorfully striped shirt even by Sandy Barr standards, both large heels have ridiculous Prince Valiant haircuts, women bring flowers for their favorite hunks (with one woman bringing flowers for Wiskoski AND Martel!), and these women are rabid from the opening bell despite just the basics being on display. Buddy and Ed get bumped around early, with Wiskoski especially taking an awesome stooge bump into the turnbuckle and then flipping feet over crown all the way across the ring. But pretty soon Wiskoski takes over on Piper with a snug body scissors, and Roddy trying to fight to Martel is so great. They draw it out soooooo long, with Piper inching closer and closer, going crazier the closer he gets, wildly swinging his arms to try and get to Martel. The heels were great at cutting off the ring the whole match and later there was a spot I loved just as much  with Martel knocking Rose down, but before Martel can tag in Piper Rose just punches him in the gut, right off the apron. It made so much sense, as the way Rose was positioned it was far easier to knock Piper off the apron than it would have been to stop Martel. It reminded me of SUWA pushing the ref into the ropes to stop KENTA's springboard. It's just logical quick thinking from the heels. We get plenty of great moments the longer this goes, like Martel taking the nastiest catapult into the ropes, dropping back down across Buddy's knees, or Buddy and Ed bumping all over the place (with Buddy taking two fast and hard bumps over the top to the floor, one of them almost off camera but looking nuts), and then a wild brawl around ringside with Martel and Piper looking legitimately like one of the best American babyface tag teams you've seen. Don Owen comes out and talks about being sick of all this and sets up a No DQ lumberjack match and Rose flips out and grabs him by the jacket and almost swings at him until he's belted and then things break down again. You got Barr holding down Martel, Piper flipping out, Wiskoski getting popped, great stuff.


ALL TIME MOTY MASTER LIST

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NXT 230 7/10/14 Review

1. Bayley vs. Summer Rae

This is just about the most natural of personality match-ups, as Bayley is inherently likeable, whereas Summer Rae has a face of someone who should never be booked as likeable. It's pretty basic, and both are good at what they do. Bayley is good at frustrating Summer with her kind of playful sloppiness when doing amateur rolls on the mat (with Summer hilariously kicking her legs in a tantrum), and Summer does mean unnecessary things like palm Bayley's face during pinfalls. Neither thing would make a victory more likely, but they were perfect character moments that illustrated why this was a nice match-up. Albert is back on commentary and as awful as ever, unable to make satisfying points from a logic or kayfabe perspective. "She didn't get all of that kick!" he was quick to blurt over everybody, after a Summer kick that mostly hit fine and was sold as such. After saying Summer earned a title shot because she was in a movie, he then compares her to Trish Stratus. None of his points make sense within a storyline or any other sense, his allegiances switch mid match, he's just really really bad at his job. Sometimes he goes for comedy, other times he supports a heel, none of it lands. But Bayley/Summer is a fun match and Albert is NOT going to ruin it for me! Summer is someone who really wasn't utilized much on the main roster as a wrestler, which is a shame as she's really not bad, and has more personality than most. Her role on Total Divas has made me laugh more than most on that show. And here I liked the struggle over the finish, with Summer blocking the Bayley to Belly a couple times before planting her with her axe leg drop. So far all the people coming back to NXT after a "demotion" have been really fun and nicely integrated into the existing NXT roster.

2. Sin Cara vs. Wesley Blake

I think I may be the biggest Wesley Blake fan. I like keeping mostly out of the present day NXT loop, so it's fun watching and enjoying a guy like Blake and not knowing what is going to happen to him. Maybe he's released before 2014, maybe he's repackaged and super popular now. My only real insight into NXT beyond the stuff I've watched so far, is the guys who show up on WWE TV. I obviously know guys like Aiden English, sadly Big Cass, sadly Mojo Rawley, etc. will continue to be in these reports because they eventually made the main roster. But a guy like Blake? I have no clue, and that's fun for me. Blake is really good at constructing 3 minute matches, with him on the losing end. Cara is in to hit all his shit, and it can't be a coincidence that this was the best I've seen some of Cara's spots look. Blake got into position for runs of Cara offense better than anybody I've seen on the main roster, ate those springboard crossbodys, took a huge bump over the top and then sprawled big into the entrance ramp catching a dive. For his part he made his brief moments count, blasting Cara with a great uppercut and surprising him (and me) with an even greater right hand. His single arm DDT was swank and lead to him stomping the arm and yanking on it, and Cara was kind enough to sell it for him. Super fun match, did tons with the time. I think with 90 more seconds this would land on my "Recommended NXT" list.

They're kind of bonering up this Tyson Kidd bitter vet angle with the inclusion of Nattie. Kidd as the dickhead falling from grace relegated to developmental vet? Awesome. Nattie asking him about his moral compass? Death. Unless it's building to a Nattie heel swerve, her presence is just muddying waters. We already see them on Total Divas and know they're essentially a normal married couple, her inclusion tries to bring too much real life into a great wrestling angle, and it's coming out worse on the other side. They're overthinking this thing.

CJ Parker comes out to offer a somewhat loaded apology to Xavier Woods, and "I'm offering you peace. I suggest you accept it," is a quote that perfectly nails the annoying heel nuance of Parker's character. The manipulative dirt fuck hippy is a great heel character, and Parker gets the finer points correct. A guy who makes good points but has a smug and self righteous way of delivering those points is the kind of character who works great on a show like this, and something that would get immediately clipped to hell on the main brand. On Smackdown he would just be a hippy heel, and the crowd would just be expected to boo him because he's a hippy. His apology to Xavier is somewhat sincere and that's what makes him jumping Xavier even better.

3. Bull Dempsey vs. Angelo Dawkins
At first all three announcers were laying it on real thick about Dempsey's body, really putting over that he's unique because he doesn't have abs. Just within this match it was already making me want to dislike Dempsey, and that's crazy if any of you know how much I love fat wrestlers. And yeah having a guy who looks like Dempsey on your roster is much more rare these days, but announcers didn't have to point out just how fat Blackwell or One Man Gang or Tenta were, because they were clearly big awesome fat dudes. And maybe that's part of the problem with Dempsey, is that they're spending so much time talking about how unique his round physique is, but truthfully he's not that far away from being in fine cosmetic shape. Those other guys either died fat or - in the case of OMG - spent the last 20 years slowly slimming down so that he now suddenly looks like Richard Moll. Dempsey looks like a guy who can go on a 6 month crossfit binge and look like a hairier version of every other physique in NXT. So it comes off like them trying hard to point out just how unique he is, because the thing that they say is unique isn't really special. He comes off more as an out of shape guy than a wild fat guy. The guy needs to pack on another 50 lb. to actually look wrestler fat. BUT. But. Eventually everybody shuts up, and I can just enjoy Dempsey beating up Dawkins, and that is very enjoyable. While he might not totally live up to how they're billing him, he comes off very well in the ring. Loved him turning a Dawkins' armdrag into a slick side headlock, his body shots are great, his elbows are great, really carries himself like a tank throughout the whole thing. He's a guy I would have liked anyway, without all of the spoon feeding from the announce crew. This match was basically a Dempsey showcase, but also gave us by far our longest look at Angelo Dawkins. We've seen him get zero offense against Big Cass, zero offense against Tyler Breeze, and not even get tagged in against the Vaudevillains. We know he's tall. That's about what we know. But this match filled things in a bit! He took a nice beating from Bull, threw an insanely high dropkick, seemed like a guy you wouldn't mind seeing more from; another guy like Wesley Blake who for all I know was never used again after this taping. I'm excited to see where he and Bull go, and I liked all of what I saw here from both.


4. Sami Zayn & Adrian Neville vs. Justin Gabriel & Tyson Kidd
I was really liking this, even through a couple of clunky Kidd cross-ups, but Natalya's involvement in the veteran dickhead Tyson Kidd story is just the pits. She's a lousy actress, and there were too many moments where she acted all over the place. She's too over the top when she's supposed to be subtle, and I just really wish the storyline had not included her. Unless it leads to a Natalya NXT heel turn, which it probably won't. But I enjoy heel Natalya far more. But I really this was just a straight up tag with two demoted assholes up against a couple top NXT guys. That's all that this needed, the simpler approach. Is there anybody watching out there that would see that tag, and then go "I liked it, but I wish the tag could have furthered some sort of collapsing marriage storyline." It's always a bummer when a person not in the match takes a match you would recommend, and makes it less recommendable. That's Natalya's tombstone right there : "Made Things Less Recommendable". Zayn and Neville are a fun babyface tag team, wouldn't mind seeing both utilized currently this way. It's not like they do tons of double teams (outside of a nutty sky twister press that Neville did off a kneeling Zayn), they just complement each other nicely; just as, Gabriel and Kidd complement each other nicely. Kidd has been a standout as a heel, though he had a couple stumbles in this one. Gabriel turned in one of his better performances though, he's also a guy who makes a better heel than face. And so this was a real nice 10 minute tag, something I easily could have added to the recommended NXT list. But Natalya man. Natalya as TJ's moral compass is just awful.


COMPLETE NXT EPISODE GUIDE

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Lucha Worth Watching: Older Man Belt Whippin'

LA Park vs. Cibernetico (Liga Elite 4/13/16)

ER: This was a great fat Elvis performance from Park: Missing half the words on Suspicious Minds, a lot of catching his breath, playing to the crowd too much, letting them sing the words so he can catch his breath more, looking even more unhealthy since the last time you saw him...yet you can't tear your eyes away from one of the most captivating performers ever. Park is the biggest I've seen him, and Cibernetico still wrestles like Cibernetico. But it's an Arena Mexico main event, big crowd, and they love Park. Cibernetico jumps him on the rampway and kicks him into the ring. Cibernetico runs this thing for awhile, rips at Park's mask, rips Park's belt/girdle off. Park ends up hitting a big dive, splatting onto the floor, and whips Cibernetico with that belt. I love belt whipping in lucha, the mannerisms and crowd play just make it the best. Ref keeps trying to stop him and Park keeps going yeah yeah yeah I'm still gonna whip him. Eventually we build to Park hitting a mammoth plancha off the top to the floor, filmed from below so it looks like he's jumping off an apartment building. Both men lie dead on the floor, with medical staff coming over to potentially stretcher Cibernetico away, after having just witnessed him being crushed by a dropped piano. Park makes it back inside and looks vulnerable. I can't imagine being that heavy and doing a big dive like that. He drags himself back in and still manages to play to the fans. Finish is a mess with Park getting unmasked then fouling Cibernetico, but they did a weird double pin with both men supposedly covering each other but with it only looking like Park is covering. We get hair and mask challenges after and the fans flip out, and the whole time I was just sitting there slack jawed in admiration of the big fat king.

Ultimo Guerrero vs. Volador Jr. (CML 8/30/16)

ER: You wanna double down on your old man lucha whippings? Of course you do! Here UG jumps Volador on the ramp and begins whipping him around with his plastic-y vest. First we get some standard shots to the back but before long UG is juts whipping Volador right across the face with this vest. Have you ever been snapped by a towel? It stings like hell. And it's usually to the hip or thigh or buttock. But here UG is essentially towel whipping Volador in the face and it sucks for Volador and is awesome for us. UG whips him to the floor and knocks him into the front row (CMLL tecnicos have really perfected that quick head over heels bump over the railing into the crowd) and launches his hip attack. Match peaks with Volador going for a flip dive to the floor and getting caught, lifted into powerbomb position, and flung sideways into the barrier. Good gracious. Later on UG would one up Volador's bump over the barrier by taking a fast Jerry bump to the floor before getting nailed with a Volador flip dive. I don't typically care for the terceras in these kind of main events, and before long we're in the morass of 2.9 counts after big moves and a transparent fake fault finish. The big moves down the stretch built fine, and there was especially impressive moment where Volador was going for a top rope rana, UG blocked it, lifted him up for a top rope powerbomb, and while UG was jumping off the ropes to deliver the bomb Volador reversed it back into the rana. Crazy/impressive stuff. Come for the nasty vest whipping, stay around for a couple pros doing their thing amid some impressive shows of strength.

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All Time MOTY list HEAD to HEAD: Hash/Yasuda v. Inoue/Honda VS. Rock v. Jericho

The Rock vs. Chris Jericho WWF No Mercy 10/21/01

PAS: I came into this match with an open mind, I definitely hadn't seen it since 2001 and may not have even seen it then, early 2000s WWF wrestling isn't a style I love, but was perfectly willing to enjoy something different. This wasn't it though, I honestly thought this was a below average match.

There was some stuff I liked, I really enjoyed Rock's selling and bumping, nothing super violent or athletic but he has great timing and made Jericho's offense look better then it should have. I also enjoyed how he got more peeved as the match went on, this started face v. face and I though the Rock did a nice job conveying how Jericho got under his skin.

Jericho had nice knife edge chops, but otherwise his offense looked pretty awful, he barely got The Rock up when he did his trite "early 2000's do the other guys finisher" Rock bottom, his punches looked awful, he did his stupid no contact bulldog. Meanwhile he was doing some really over the top bumping, flying over the top rope a couple of times with very little contact from Rocky. There were a couple of badly blown spots, including a dragon screw leg whip that was lucky not to tear Jericho's MCL. Rock also had some Diva level chops, he looked like Candace Michele when he would fire back. Also there was a point where a clearly gassed Rock threw on a time killer chinlock which both guys laid in catching their breath.

Finish run is where most WWF main event matches are made, and this had some cool stuff in it, I especially liked Jericho countering the people's elbow with the Liontamer, it was a nifty looking move and nicely took advantage of Rock's cockiness. However they can't just have a finish without legendary all time heat suck Stephanie McMahon coming out and horseshitting all over it. This was 15 years ago and they are still doing this same shit. I guess Jericho fans look at this nostalgically because this was his first big win, but this wasn't good.

ER: I must say I am very amused as I think this is literally the most I've ever seen Phil write about any one match. Phil and I overall agreed on the match itself, but had some major disagreements on moments of the match. I came in to this the same as Phil: either I haven't seen this match since 2001 and don't remember much about it, or I've never seen it. So going in with fresh, 2016 eyes. This is for the WCW title, which is something really dumb that I don't remember happening, and combine that with Charles Robinson's awful softball jersey, I already had a bad taste before the bell. But I actually really liked the match up until the long Rock chinlock, and still enjoyed it after that. Phil mentions they were working face/face, and that's certainly how JR was calling it, but it looked to me like Jericho was working subtle heel throughout. A couple minutes in he slaps Rock which was definitely a different tone than the match had been up to that point, and as the match goes on he brings out more of his mocking slaps, more of his little mocking annoying kicks to a downed Rock, shoving the back of Rock's head with his boot, stuff he only does when he's working heel. The whole time he's doing those things JR is too busy talking about his athleticism and getting in digs at WCW for never giving him a title shot the whole time he was there, 96-99. 

I thought Jericho looked good through most of the match, much better than the Rock. I have no use for current Jericho matches, but really liked him here, thought he glued this whole thing together nicely. I was really surprised how Rock basically played underdog undersized babyface up until that awful chinlock. Jericho was really dominating him, and I liked Jericho's offense like backbreakers, that great senton, great chops, some stiff low kicks, big hotshot, all of it looked good, and I strongly disagree with Phil that it was the Rock's bumping that was making it look good.  Rock was peppering in some fun babyface comebacks, loved his super hang time flying clothesline off the ropes, and his slap style punches were at their peak here (Phil is right about his chops though, yeesh. He looked like a drunk mom feeling a muscular stripper's chest at a bachelor party). Eventually he goes and locks on that never ending, gasping for wind chinlock, and boy that was weak. Jericho had been working heel all match and now suddenly he's in the lonnnnnng chinlock fighting up to his feet. Totally threw things off. End stretch was solid if unspectacular. There were things I liked about it, things I disliked about it. The Stephanie run in was bad but it was weird seeing Stephanie take bumps. Her bump getting pulled into the ring was impressive. Maybe it's because it's been so long since she's gotten any kind of comeuppance, but it was surreal seeing her take bumps.

Now to address the things I disagree with Phil on:

1) Phil says Jericho "barely got the Rock up" when he gave him a Rock Bottom, but I honestly have no clue how it looked any different than any rock bottom delivered by Rock or anybody else. Rock jumped into it. That's how everybody takes the move. It looked like the most normal Rock Bottom. Jericho took a rock bottom through a table later in the match, that looked exactly like this one, only through a table. Very confused by what he saw that I didn't see.

2) Phil says "his punches looked awful", but for the life of me I only remember one very brief moment of the match where Jericho even used punches. It was when he was rolling Rock over and had him in a kind of side mount, and threw only a few. And from that position (a tough position to throw nice worked punches from if you're not Lawler), they looked about average. I don't think he threw a single punch the rest of the 25 minute match. He did throw a bunch of chops and a couple of elbows, and his chops were far better than I ever remember them being, and the elbows (one in particular) landed great. Calling out a couple punches like that during a transition moment as awful seems like a major nitpick.

3) Phil says "he was doing some really over the top bumping, flying over the top rope a couple of times with very little contact from Rocky". I don't see the reason for complaint here. Jericho took two big bumps to the floor. The first was a traditional WWE heel bump in the corner. Rock backed him fast in the corner with punches, had him whipping his head back, did the dramatic pause and Jericho bumped to the floor off that final big punch. It's the same way Perfect did against Bossman, Michaels did against Undertaker, Ziggler did against Kane. Now the running thread of those guys is that they are all guys Phil hates, doing an athletic style of bumping that he also hates. But it's a cannon heel bump in the company, and one that never fails to get a huge reaction for the babyface. It felt appropriate here, and while I understand a criticism of the style itself, it feels unfair to criticize Jericho for the bump as it's almost surely exactly how the Rock wanted him to take it. Jericho was putting over the offense of a superstar. The other bump is even weirder to criticize, as it was from Jericho getting thrown over the top after Rock uses his Irish whip momentum against him. Jericho comes off the ropes, Rock runs along side him and tosses him over. Pretty normal Royal Rumble kind of bump. Phil states that Rock barely touches him, but I fail to see how that's Jericho's fault. His job was to come off the ropes, run in a straight line, and go over the top. Rock's job was to act like he was throwing him over. Should Jericho have called a split second audible? "It doesn't feel like Rock has a believable grip on my head, better not go over the top". That's a call nobody can make in that little time. You assume the other guy is doing his part, and go through with the moment as planned. Something tells me if Jericho had slowed to so that Rock could better throw him, he would be criticized for that as well. It just comes off odd to me to praise Rock for "making Jericho's offense look better than it should have" but then turn around and criticize Jericho for doing the same with "barely any contact from Rocky".

4) Phil says "There were a couple of badly blown spots" but I genuinely did not see one thing that looked botch, let alone badly blown. When I think of badly blown, I think of those time stand still moments, where both guys are lost, or have to stop doing what they're doing. Nothing close to that happened here. The ending was a little clunky with Jericho trying to hide a chair but the chair not playing along and getting hung up on the apron, but nothing else looked "badly blown" to me. The dragon screw did look rough, but it didn't look like a botch. It looked more like Rock didn't properly follow through on it, leaving Jericho nowhere to bump. If the complaint had been about how pointless the dragon screw was to the match, I could agree with that. It was merely there to set up Rock's famously awful sharpshooter and meant nothing to the rest of the match. That's the one he mentioned, and I honestly have no clue what the other move could even be. Nothing looked "badly blown" here.

Verdict:

PAS: Not close. The Puro tag has just as much heat, just as many charismatic wrestlers and actual contact on the moves landed. I admit the tag won't hold this title forever, but this isn't the match to beat it.

ER: So, I liked the match more than Phil - and disagreed with him wildly on specific moments in the match - but our verdict is still the same. I thought this was a decent match, maybe even a good match. But our current champ was much better to me.

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DVDVR Puerto Rico 80s Set: Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher (March 1986)

Disc 2: Match 6: Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah the Butcher (March 1986)

I've watched this one twice now, more by accident than anything else, and I'm still not entirely sure what to say about it. There is a lot of sameness in the Abdullah vs Colon matches we've seen so far, but I think that it becomes more of a strength than a weakness. There's a level of familiarity between the two of them that lets them maximize their narrative opportunities.

There are two specific moments I'd point out here where it's obvious Colon knew how to work with Abby. The first is early on, in the shine/opening back and forth, where Colon takes the fight to him once again and Abdullah tries to fire back with the throat shots when he can. At one point, Colon has him staggered, but positions him perfectly in the ropes so that he can sit on the second rope and get a breather while he's being beat upon. It makes it seem like he's being rocked all the more when he's actually taking a second for himself. The second is much the same, but on the floor and in the comeback, where Colon positions Abdullah in a chair outside to better beat on him. It's obviously to let Abby catch his breath but they're able to work it in as an almost iconic moment of Colon unleashing righteous fury upon him.

I think it's also worth noting, at this point in the set, how Colon's selling is different than Invader's. Whereas Invader's goal seems to be to draw sympathy and build to his comebacks, Colon's is laden with him bouncing back against the ropes to score another hit, even from underneath, and constantly struggling to get back into the fight. It's more aggressive and aimed to portray his toughness and how he's an ace.

Ultimately, this was as solid as anything else. They showed the usual intensity and weight in the opening exchange. I liked Abby working over Colon's eye and Colon getting revenge later on. The comeback beating on the floor was good. It loses a few points for an overly BS-heavy finish but some of that probably has to do with context I don't have. It's a great rivalry but I'm not entirely sure I need to see it six times on a set.

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Lucha Underground Season 3 Episode 5: The Prince and The Monster

1. Ivelisse vs. Mariposa

ER: Striker is stunned Moth is out with Mariposa, because Moth was in a BRUTAL match against Killshot. Moth must not remember too much about that as he was not acting any differently than he did before that match. And really, he shouldn't be. That was three weeks ago. Guys have come back from getting their arm broken by Pentagon quicker than that. If there's any shocking returns from that weapons of mass destruction match, it's Striker being allowed to return to commentary. I liked this match, even if it didn't really feel like a "Lucha Underground" match, whatever that means. I think Ivelisse is a real good underdog, even if Mariposa could have been more punishing. Ivelisse is always really good in submissions, and I dug the inverted cloverleaf used here. Also really liked the finish (even if it was pretty stumbly), with the top down camera actually being useful as it showed Ivelisse trying to kick her legs to slip out of the Gory special, finally doing so, and then leaving Mariposa in a perfect position to hit the sunset flip powerbomb. I like that moved used as a flash pin. Match had execution problems, and was a little slow, but I thought it worked.

MD: It's almost pointless to harp on Striker at this point, but he just has that special ability to grate. Here he talked about past Ivelisse opponents Mil Muertes and Sexy Star on equal footing. Those two, very similar, very difficult opponents. This promotion hitching their wagon to Sexy Star is really one of the more bizarre  things any fed has ever done. They could have admitted their mistake any time and bumped her back down the hierarchy, but they just keep digging in their heels. As expected Marty the Moth was a great valet presence throughout this, but almost too great compared to the presence of those in the ring. It's tough to have him affiliated with Mariposa as it's too easy for him to outshine her. I think she's been overall good with what she's given, and think she's hit a good note with her surreal body language. But the body language could be distracting her from actual ring work, as her offense seems more subdued than what we've previously seen from her (as Melissa).

ER: Dario's reaction to Mundo's abs reveal was perfect. It was a combination of disdain for him showing his abs in his office, combined with an undeniable admiration of Mundo's abs, all while feigning disgust. The appropriate reaction.

2. Cage vs. Texano

ER: This is the 2nd match of the 5 match series that did not need to happen. If you could choose a 5 match series between any two guys in LU, how many combos would you have to make before you got down to Cage vs. Texano? Match wasn't very good, either. Texano really is a total zero in LU. I'm sure there are many viewers who have no clue he's any kind of deal in Mexico. I like Matt's use of the word "weightless", because as I was watching this I was thinking about how nothing they did had any weight to it. It was like that Eric Bana Hulk movie, with Hulk just jumping and bouncing around off things. The weight was wrong. Obviously they were in there doing the moves, and I liked Cage's bump to the floor and big suplex into the ring, but they were both selling things like Petey Williams. And lucky us, we'll get to see 3 more chances to get it right!!!

MD: Texano isn't a big deal? Isn't he the youngest and longest-holding super mega ultimate champion ever or what not? Is that better or worse than being Rey Cometa and having the company you work for forget you're a champion? I'd rather see Rey Cometa vs Cage, though. That's for sure. Here, the most painful thing is either Vampiro hyping this up or the dueling chants. Or maybe the This is Awesome chant. Or the Ridiculously Huge Package reversal out of the suplex by Cage. I did think this built better than the first one, but I lament that Texano isn't teaming with Terrible and Rey Bucanero against Stuka, Angel De Oro and Guerrero Maya, Jr on the third match of a Tuesday Arena Mexico show and wish that someone hadn't given Cage this specific set of Create-A-Wrestler offense just to see if they could break the game's graphic engine because he's so massive.

ER: "What we have, is a lot stronger than what you and Son of Chaos had." Ivelisse makes poor choices in men, but it appears that Sami Callihan at least has a name (Jeremiah). Unless he is Son of Jeremiah. I'm glad people don't refer to me as Son of Franklin.

MD: I am morbidly fascinated to see Sami Callihan vs Sexy Star too. Actually, an eventual Sami Callihan vs Son of Havoc match would be fun. Wait, are we getting Sami vs Marty soon? This is a rare time on LU where I'd rather see a match than a skit.

3. Prince Puma vs. Matanza

MD: I think we all knew where this one was going. More often than not Lucha Undeground booking will take the path of least resistance. Obviously after last week (and the week before) this was ending with Muertes coming out. In the meantime, however, they made the most of the time that they had and this felt like a big main event, one of the biggest they could put on. Puma comes off like both a star and a world-beater. Matanza is an absolutely force of nature. Everything that Puma did to Matanza felt earned and credible. There wasn't the suspension of disbelief issues we saw in some of the other wheel-made matches this season. At the same time, Matanza created the palpable anticipation that he could take back control at any moment. There were two instances where he picked up Puma like he was a baby and there was absolutely nothing Puma could do (except for get lawn-darted into the metal). The dangling ragdoll German is probably the best move of 2016, with Wrath of the Gods a close second. In some ways this match was fortunate for not needing a finish. It meant that they could tell a story of Puma overcoming the odds through strength and skill and sheer will power without having to actually go through with it. Him basically deadlifting Matanza up after the Northern Lights was a really memorable moment and it was matched shortly thereafter by Matanza just eating a kick to the skull so that he could cradle suplex Puma. I ran high on this as an incomplete match but a great spectacle. One note on commentary: Vampiro, while amiable and often entertaining is the absolute death of analysis; Striker will feed him a thought about strategy or try to make sense of something they just saw and Vampiro will shrug it off with some empty platitude about just surviving or something.

ER: I really loved this match, an easy standout in season 3 so far. I even liked the run-in finish as I didn't want either guy to lose definitively, thought it set up more Puma/Muertes nicely, loved how Dario shouted at Marty Elias about it suddenly being a DQ; yeah, that last part felt Austin/MacMahon-y but I thought Dario's execution made it. And I thought the match itself was really really good, easily the best Cobb LU match. Match was smartly worked and had some wonderful big moments, with Matanza doing his relentless Olympian Michael Myers bit while Puma scrambles to stay ahead. I loved Puma's body language as he dodged Matanza and nailed the punt from the ring apron, loved his kicks and strikes to keep Matanza at bay and loved what Matanza would do when he would get ahold of him. Cobb/Matanza's multi lift German is my favorite move in wrestling, just as Tamon Honda's Dead End suplex was my favorite the first time I saw it. Making a man think about his own body's imminent accordioning obviously appeals to me. Matanza could very well just be watching a lot of early 2000s NOAH while lounging in his cage during his downtime, as he catches a Puma high kick with his neck and then destroys him, right out of the "Things Tamon Honda does that make me flip out" handbook. But I really loved how these two matched up, was into the match enough that I had actually stopped thinking about Mil Muertes' inevitable run-in. The northern lights into a deadlift suplex was such an unexpected holy shit moment, and I had just gotten sucked into the thing. Once Puma hit the 630 I actually thought he could win this thing. Loved this.

MD: With Joey Ryan's "What am I, a detective?" line, I've decided that it's a writer and not the wrestlers coming up with the one-liners. Outside of Jerry Lawler's jokebook, wrestling hasn't had consistently good one-liners in twenty-five years. And hey, it's only twenty years since the Craig "Pit Bull" Pittman vs Cobra left behind storyline. I wonder what Pittman's doing right now, actually. I'd watch him over Killshot any day.

ER: (Silent praise and admiration for Matt invoking memories of the Craig Pittman/Cobra angle. This is what that "hands together with sparkles around it" emoji was made for)


COMPLETE LUCHA UNDERGROUND EPISODE GUIDE

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DVDVR Puerto Rico 80s Set: Carlos Colon vs. Jos LeDuc (Barbed Wire Match) (2/22/86)

Disc 2: Match 5: Carlos Colon vs. Jos LeDuc (Barbed Wire Match) (2/22/86)

It's a little bit hard to follow an Invader match with a Colon match. It's not that Colon's lacking. It's just that Invader borders on selling transcendence. Here, though, it doesn't really matter. This was all about Leduc. I love watching these big stadium shows and looking for how the wrestlers work a crowd that big and that distant.

Leduc was absolutely brilliant here in using his body language and the barbed wire. First, they set up just a little anticipation as he came in with his lumberjack shirt on and that protected him for a moment. It let Colon take an early advantage, however, as he pulled it up over his head and blinded him, before yanking it off. From there, the shine was all about Leduc having nowhere to go and trying desperately not to stagger into the ropes after every shot from Colon. It's something very easy to take for granted as I had to stop and think about how much a normal might move someone in a normal match. Less than this. Leduc was exaggerating how out of control his body went after each shot in order to build up the possibility that he might go crashing into the barbed wire. Just great stuff.

The heat wasn't quite as compelling. That's only half true, actually. On camera, it was pretty good, with a lot of close ups of Leduc tearing at Colon's mouth with the wire, but it probably wasn't doing much for the crowd considering only one quarter of the stadium could probably see it and then without much detail. There are some times where things aren't better left up to one's imagination. I did like, in the attempt at escape and recovery, that Colon just had nowhere to go. He needed the ropes to help him back to his feet. The ropes were radioactive and he couldn't touch them. The way he portrayed that crisis within the match was very strong.

During the comeback, I was wondering whether or not he was going to go with the cartwheel. He did. It was just slightly off camera. I just don't know. Obviously, it was ritualistic. It was something the crowd expected. It was symbolic. There are times that I love it, like after a hot tag or against a guy like Flair. I'm not sure it was entirely appropriate in a blood barbed wire match, but that's me thinking about it in a vacuum and out of context. I do think this was hurt by the fact we couldn't hear the crowd noise. The crowd was probably coming unglued on the comeback and we just couldn't hear it.

Anyway, despite a few things I wish they did differently on the heat, this was another strong match. I particularly loved that they treated the barbed wire with so much respect. It shouldn't be gratuitous or just supplemental. It was front and center here and every time it was used it meant something.

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1999 Match of the Year

El Hijo Del Santo/Negro Casas v. Scorpio Jr./Bestia Salvaje CMLL 3/19/99

PAS: This is one of the last great bloody Arena Mexico apuestas matches. Scorpio and Bestia are a pair of awesome grizzled ugly rudos who come out smoking. They totally bum rush Santo and Casas slam them into the seats and the barricade and bloody them up. Santo is one of wrestlings great bleeders, but it is rarer to see Casas leaking like this. Total one sided violent domination by the rudos in the first fall. The tide turn is awesome Santo is getting double teamed, and as the rudos whip him into the ropes, Casas grabs his torso, throwing off the timing and allowing Santo to hit them with a double clothesline and take control. Technicos take over and get revenge cutting up both rudos. Third fall is a classic with lots of crazy dives, near falls and gritty violence. All four guys are amazing, but man alive is Casas on another level here, he is one of the most expressive wrestlers in history, just watching his face is such a pleasure. Pain, discouragement, glee, anger it is all there, just a maestro.

ER: Wonderful lucha tag match with two legends versus two goons. Bestia Salvaje has a face that lucha masks were invented for, Scorpio the same but had the sense to wear a mask. Bestia and Casas both have their 1989 Lou Reed hair on the line, Santo and Scorpio have their masks up. I have actually attended a Santo mask match live, versus Super Parka in 2003 almost 13 years ago to this date. I talked to tons of fans around us and asked them who they thought was leaving with their mask, and none of them thought Parka had a chance. Several of them all said their wives even asked why they were even attending, as even they knew that Santito was keeping his mask. One guy said he told his wife, "I know he's going to win. But I want to see HOW he wins." Another, in explaining to me what a big deal Santito was, told me, "You have HHH. We have Santo." Yes, that response sounded as awful in 2003 as it does now, but that was the perception at the time, at least to this one man in Tijuana. And another man was my hero, as he basically got me to believe in Santa Claus. He said, "I know Santo is going to win. But you never know. Parka could change his mind in the ring and something might happen." Holy shit. Masks on the line. What if Super Parka pulled a fast one?? It couldn't happen, right? It didn't. But damn if I didn't hang on every 2 count. What if Parka held him down on a cradle and the ref didn't know what to do?? It added a layer of drama that I felt from the 2nd row. And somehow that one guy made me a sucker for lucha stips matches for life, no matter how seemingly in the bag they are.

A few of the little and big moments I loved: 1) Santo's comeback kneelifts were the best. Bestia took each one as if it were caving in his sternum, and most of them looked like they were doing just that. The kneelift is a Santo staple, but often it's a move done on the run, more back slap than knee to chest, slowing down an opponent to set up something bigger. Here he's landing them like he's prime Anderson Silva. 2) The end of the segunda was such a tremendous Bestia emotional performance. He cheated, he uppercut low on Casas and got caught. But he baaaaarely got caught, and he knew he barely got caught. There was no appeal to the ref, no appeal to the crowd, just a man slumped in the corner knowing he was *this* close to getting Casas out of the way, and here he was coming to terms that things are evened up on paper and the momentum may be shifting. 3) That misguided tope was one of the best ever, not just for how it hit, but for what it meant and for how it played on our collective expectations. Casas grabbed and held onto Scorpio on the floor while Santo dispatched of Bestia, and then I'm thinking "jeez Casas has been just holding Scorpio still for quite awhile..." and then Santo does his beautiful tope...and Scorpio moves, sending Santo into Casas and Casas into the front row. And it's a beautiful moment as Bestia and Scorpio had been looking drained just before this, not just physically tired but they looked like the spirit was getting drained out of their bodies by their imminent defeat. And once Santo crashed into Casas their body language just changed. They knew this was their last chance and they jumped on it. It didn't last long. But in that moment you couldn't have asked for more from them. Great stuff all around.


ONGOING ALL TIME MOTY LIST

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DVDVR Puerto Rico 80s Set: Kamala vs. The Invader (2/22/86)

Disc 2: Match 4: Kamala vs. The Invader (2/22/86)

This was awesome. It's also a sign of how screwy this set is. This wasn't at all a complete match in a conventional sense. You can't easily compare this to Flair vs Colon or whatever. That doesn't mean it wasn't excellent, because it was! They had a goal. They executed it. It was compelling, not just due to what they were trying to do but due to the unique talents at play, but the points of comparison are just tough to sync. This is why I like comparing wrestlers way more than comparing matches. You can isolate what Kamala and Invader I did here, why it was special and how it created a total effect (and I'm about to) but what they were shooting for just can't easily compare to a more complete narrative that had more time and was meant to serve as a full main event.

The narrative, put simply was this: Kamala is a monster. Invader I (the character of, at least) is a valiant homegrown fighter. He's come in with an obvious disadvantage made even worse by preexisting injuries, bandaged, one poke away from bleeding. Kamala would have been a great challenge at his best. Here, the monster was insurmountable. They start off toe-to-toe, Invader matching him blow for blow. Kamala's overhand chops target the injury. Invader fights back equally. Kamala tears off the bandage and opens him up once again. Invader starts to stagger as he fights back, weakening. Kamala keeps up the targeted onslaught and Invader goes from fighting back to trying to fight back to just trying to stay on his feet. Finally, he can no longer stand. Kamala drinks in his blood, walks around with his belly-slapping taunt and Invader's roused to one last attempt at fighting back. It's valiant as can be, but not enough, and the ref throws out the match. After the match Kamala ascends to launch a top rope splash but the ref pulls him away (the threat of it more than enough) and the doctor checks on Inavder.

It's an unusual story. We don't generally see something so one-sided. That it was effective was all in the execution. Invader's selling isn't just unique; it's singular. The way that he gradually shifted his body language to show his burgeoning weakness was amazing. He was selling not just from the blows, but in showing the effects of them any time he tried to fire back, often tossing his entire body desperately into an attack. At one point, he was gasping up his own blood, making sure to milk it for all that it was worth. Kamala was as vicious as you'd ever seen him. I'm sure someone out there with knowledge of "real fighting" would laugh at the overhand chops, but this is wrestling and they are symbolic: Kamala is a monster so everything he does is more dangerous through presentation; he's targeting the bloody forehead so the blows are better through focus; Invader is selling them like death. That's everything that makes wrestling wonderful. Through collaboration, presentation, focus, blood, and committed reaction, they create the illusion of truth.

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Brian Kendrick Moves So Fast on Me

Brian Kendrick vs. TJ Perkins WWE Raw 10/3/16 - REALLY GOOD

They sure managed to fit a lot into 6 minutes, and this is the return of the more assertive, wild Kendrick that we saw in the CWC. He rushes in a lot like he might not have a plan, but he clearly has an endgame. It's that kind of assertiveness that keeps TJ off balance, so even when Kendrick is taking spills to the floor, he's still acting unpredictably enough to make TJ give him side eye. Kendrick has the great iridescent houndstooth pants and takes a nasty bump to the floor on his hip (which he has taken before, meaning he is intending to bump that way, which looks super painful). And we get a bunch of great scrapping and choking, with him jamming TJ's fingers into the ring post tightener and stomping all over them while TJ hangs there from his hand. Brutal stuff. I like TJ's chickenwing facebuster as if his opponent kicks out it leaves them immediately open to the kneebar, and Kendrick is great selling his knee the rest of the match. He never is obvious about it, but runs with a limp a couple different times and once when scrambling for a pin he even kinda hops on his good knee. Neat stuff. The Captains Hook looks good and him clawing at TJ's nose and mouth to get back to it is vicious. Love the finish with him expertly position TJ in the middle, love the choke being kept strong,  love Kendrick somehow breaking out at age 37.


COMPLETE & ACCURATE BRIAN KENDRICK

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WWE Cruiserweight Classic: Finale

1. Gran Metalik v. Zack Sabre Jr.

ER: This one didn't really move me, but I thought it was a fun match with plenty of nice spots. They worked a really impressive fast pace almost the entire match and had a fun clash of styles. Sabre gets a lot of hate and it's odd to suddenly find myself as an almost Sabre defender. What's odd about it is my opinions on him haven't changed over the last year, but the online consensus opinions on him seemingly have. So while my opinions have stayed static - he being a guy who does a lot of things I like, has been in several good matches, and is also capable of doing plenty of things I dislike - I've somehow shifted from liking him less than the line, to seemingly liking him more than the line. "His strikes look bad" is something I've heard a lot, but...he doesn't ever position himself as a striker. He throws strikes, many of them, and they're never meant to be sold as KO blows, they mainly seem to get thrown to disorientate his opponent to set them up for what he's actually good at, submissions. I wish they would have played up the tradition of submissions in UK and lucha libre, but I guess it was more important for Mauro to scream out names of the same few Japanese wrestlers he really liked. Just because Katsuyori Shibata also does a penalty kick, some tells me that no, Mauro, Sabre's kick was not "inspired by Katsuyori Shibata". I liked how Sabre would use Metalik's speed to kind of lure him into a cranky sub, using Metalik's own momentum off a springboard or other flying attack. Those seem to be his most effective, like catching Gulak in that armbar off a lariat, I liked him shifting his hips to turn or Metalik splash into a triangle, or leaping onto him to wrench in a sick octopus. Metalik is always very smooth, but did a couple things that surprised me, like when he tossed in a nice headbutt during otherwise lax strike exchange. I wasn't actually sure who was going to win and that certainly added to the fun of things, and this was the first time I liked Metalik's build to his finisher. In the other matches he always seemed to kick out of a devastating move, then merely stand up and do his driver. Here I didn't get that same feeling, and he also hit the driver much faster than in the other matches. There was no struggle to lift Sabre, just a quick lift and a drop. So I did not love the match, but there was plenty to like, and I felt they filled the time well.

PAS: I enjoyed parts of this, Metalik had some fun llave which nicely played off the British style of ZSJ, when they were exchanging holds it was pretty good, when they were exchanging shots it really wasn't. Metlalik had a couple of nice highspots although it is more graceful then violent. I second the enjoyment of the Metalik driver, it was by far the best it has been used.

2. Kota Ibushi vs. TJ Perkins

ER: I thought this was an exceptionally fun juniors match, and I'm sure if I thought long and hard about it I could find some kickouts or some selling lapses I didn't care for, but while watching it I was definitely synced up with the vibe of the crowd, and as this match went on the crowd was hot as hell. Hot crowds can do wonders for a match, and this crowd jumped me right in there with them. That moment when TJP kicked out of Ibushi's powerbomb, and a guy in a Bullet Club shirt was standing up to celebrate Ibushi's certain victory, and the camera caught him right in the middle of his STUNNED realization that TJP had kicked out? That shit is awesome. Being in the moment is becoming more and more of a lost joy, and it's infectious getting sucked into a moment. Both guys were very generous here, Ibushi tossed out some great kicks, and I liked how his aggression would lead to a couple of TJP's reversals. The moonsault that hit knees, and TJ's simple grab of the kneebar from that was satisfying. The nearfalls were good and the kickouts were exciting, and on this one I sadly *knew* TJP was winning it, and I could only imagine how exciting some of the nearfalls would have been had I not. But this match felt like the right match to have.

PAS: I enjoyed this a lot too, loved how TJP kept going after the leg and some of the snatches were really great looking, I totally freaked out over him turning the pele kick into a kneebar, such cool shit. Ibushi really laid in his kicks too, I especially loved him pummeling Perkins in the ropes, really felt vicious like something Hashimoto might do, rather then just a junior guy landing kicks that sound good as a spot. Still Ibushi had been built up as so indestructible in this tourney I never really bought any of TJP's near falls and the final finish didn't feel like enough. If Kendrick didn't bring him down with a burning hammer, how did a leg lock do it?

3. Noam Dar & Cedric Alexander vs. Johnny Gargano & Tommaso Ciampa

ER: Really fun tag with a real colossal flop of an ending. Gargano and Ciampa are a really good team, both bring out some good things in the other. Noam Dar is still there because...well, nobody has any idea why Dar is there. But he's still digging around in his ears before the match, just like his last match. What is with that? He was doing it so much in the beginning of his match against Sabre that I was positive it would play into the match. But, no, Dar apparently just digs around in his ears a bunch with his fingers. I know I adjust my glasses as a nervous fidget, maybe Dar just jams fingers into his ear canal. Maybe he has an inner ear problem that messes with his balance, and can possibly explain why he looked so terrible in this match. But Gargano's kicks and Ciampa's knees were on point the whole match, and seeing a guy pinball between kicks and knees is a fun diversion from the more common superkick party. The spot with Gargano superkicking Cedric while he was on Ciampa's shoulders was sick, and they really got in a great groove during their car crash spot, one guy hitting a move seamlessly into him taking a move, and so on. And then Dar decides to do that stupid "head tucked against the turnbuckle" spot. Now, it's only a mildly stupid spot when it leads to the guy with his head stuck getting immediately superkicked. Every second beyond that initial tuck the stupidity of the spot increases exponentially. So of course Noam Dar was going to leave poor Ciampa out there to dry, and make him have to pretend to have his head stuck in a turnbuckle for an eternity. This was far worse than the legendary "Jeff, goddammit!" spot where Rico had to lose his balance for 30 seconds because a meth head was out of position. No, this is just Dar being horrible. He traps Ciampa's head, and then goes about his business in the rest of the match, leaving Ciampa just flailing and flopping in place, like he was about to be finished in Mortal Kombat. What a lousy place to be put in. Totally took the wind right out of the match. Maybe it was a comedy spot and I was out of the joke? They didn't do a whiff of comedy the rest of the match, so doing one in the final minute of the match would certainly be strange placement...

PAS: This match was based mainly around people being kicked, kneed and elbowed violently in the head, and that was a nifty twist on your normal workrate tag. Alexander opened up the fun by absolutely nuking Ciampa with a dropkick, and the whole match is mostly guys trying to dislocate each others jaws. It got a little repetitive, although lots of KO shots in a tag works better then lots of KO shots in a singles match (a big problem in Chris Hero matches) because guys can roll out and take a breather or tag someone else in. I agree with Eric about the head tuck spot, super dumb in concept, looked silly and really hurt the momentum of the match. Real problem with a lot of todays indy guys they feel like they need to horn in all of their comedy spots in every match, whether it works or not.

4. TJ Perkins vs. Gran Metalik

ER: Am I the only one who thinks Metalik looks like a mascot for Tecate? I can't be the only one. Is it just because I live in an area with a high hispanic population, and they all drink Tecate? No. Look at this can. That can is Gran Metalik in beer can form. Moving on! I thought this was a fun match that built nicely, but had small disconnects running throughout; spots that didn't hit flush, over cooperation on holds, little moments of the guys checking out of the corner of their eyes to see if the other was in position. And those kinds of things are going to happen. They just seemed more on display here than before. All of the opening mat stuff had those moments, the worst being TJ slapping Metalik's sides and Metalik just offering up his arms to complete a pendulum submission. But things did build nicely even if there was that disconnect. Both got to show off their apron ranas, and there was always that danger of Metalik slipping up and getting caught in the kneebar. This didn't have the drama of some of the other matches throughout. I didn't actually think of this before the tournament started, but there was FAR more drama involved in "I don't want to be eliminated" storylines than in "I want to win" storylines. Maybe it's because we love an underdog, and by the finals we don't have an underdog. Neither guy backdoored his way into the final match. So it didn't have that built in drama of the rest of the tournament matches, especially the 2nd and 3rd rounds. But things still build nicely in their own way, and I liked the finish with Metalik going for a giant top rope version of his finisher, that had been a killshot through the whole CWC, and it failing as he lost his balance, leading directly to TJ locking on his kneebar, than crossing the leg to definitively end things.

PAS: The main problem with the show for meis that they basically were left with four guys I didn't care about. It is a little like the NCAA tourney, in the early round you get all the fun Middle Tennessee State style schools with big upsets, and by the end it is just Duke v. Kentucky again. I also thought some of this felt a little off, Metalik jumped early on the basement dropkick, there were a couple of pillow soft kick and elbow exchanges, just a little more ragged then you would hope from a match between two normally smooth wrestlers. There was some individual stuff I liked, Metalik's dive looked cool, and I loved the final kneebar, but this was pretty forgettable for a final.


COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE CWC

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