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HWA Heartland Cup Night 1 4/22/11

2012-01-20T14:06:00.000-05:00

It’s an Indy tournament! Back in the early part of the century tournament wrestling was the primary form of anticipated Indy wrestling, the Super 8, TPI, Best of the Best were all calendar highlights. There was a certain style which was developed, ripened and rotted. This HWA tourney seems a bit conceptually passé, but I figured I would check in and see what Indy tourney wrestling looks like in 2011.

Rich Swann v. Jake Crist

Swann is a black highflyer who is part of the Gabe crew of black highflyers (ROH was all Puerto Rican highflyers, EVOLVE all black dudes, there feels like there is a Michael Eric Dyson essay in their somewhere,) Crist is one of the Irish Airborne who hung around ROH undercards a couple of years back, he has put on some weight and looks a lot more ground borne now. Good indy tourney opening round match, each guy got in some of his stuff, but not too much and the finish was clean without diminishing the loser. I enjoyed some of Swann’s shit talking and flips as taunts, he did a pretty cool headstand counter out of an Ace crusher which nicely skirted the line between cool and stupid and I dug his flash KO selling. Crist looked solid too, and his spinning superkick finisher is pretty boss looking. If the rest of the tourney is like this, it will go down nice and easy.

Chrisjen Hayme vs. Gerome Phillips

Gerome Phillips is a big black dude who looks exactly like Big Worm from Friday, he seems to be working a Big Worm gimmick too, lots of loud shit talking and ass kicking. Chrisjen is a guy I mainly know from laughing at the stupid spelling of his name when it shows up on match lists. Pretty close to a Phillips squash, and he is really fun kicking someone’s ass. Really nice clubbing forearms and a sick clothesline. Hayme was questionable on offense, but perfectly fine bumping and taking a stomping. Good stuff and it got me excited to see more Phillips.

Jesse Emerson v. Paul Birchill

Haven’t seen Birchill since he got endeavored and he definitely can’t afford the good Deca-Durbolin anymore. Emerson is a guy I remember from SAW, although he is the 17th most interesting guy in SAW. Some nice stuff, Burchill takes a big bump where he is on the apron, gets dropkicked on the knee and ends up hotshotting himself. Definitely something Finlay should steal. By then end both guys looked a little gassed. I didn’t hate this, but it was the least of the matches so far.

Ron Mathis vs. Necro Butcher

I am a sucker for a Necro Butcher formula match. He is a guy you can put in with any game guy willing to take a beating and it is going to be entertaining. I didn’t get much of a sense besides the fact he was game and willing but that was enough. This had the feel of some of the old IWA-MS Ian v. Simon Sezz or Dysfunction matches, where Necro just pummels this kid and Mathis looks good being willing to just hang and fire back. Necro just blasts him with chops and punches and by the end Mathis is bowed, bloodied and beaten.

Tim Donst vs. Jeremy Madrox

Madrox works a old timey 1890’s carnival boxer gimmick, with Hendricks Gin boxing stance and comedy mustache, Donst is one of the more tolerable Chikara students. Donst is a guy well versed in working around comedy guys, and this never delved into the overly cutesy realm which much Chikara lives in. I liked Donsts arm wringer reversals a bunch which felt more like a Bill Dundee comedy spot then a Chuck Taylor comedy spot. Madrox had great dedication to the gimmick although I couldn’t tell how good he was.

Dustin Rayz vs. Zack Sabre Jr

I haven’t been a fan of Sabre Jr. in the past, he felt to me like the Empire outpost for the Davey Richards school of indy wrestling. This was a much less irritating version of what he does, instead of finisher killing backyarder UWFI, he and Rayz worked 10 minutes or so of “watched a Saint tape” World of Sport. Post Taylor camp indy wrestling beat that style to death, but it has been long enough that I didn’t mind watching it again. I fear for later round Sabre, but this was fine.

Sami Callihan vs. Dave Crist

Much like Necro, Callihan also has a formula style which can be really entertaining with pretty much anyone willing to hang in and bang with him. The Crists have gotten more tattoos and are willing to hang in the pocket and throw blows. This came off a bit like Callihan working a lesser Callihan, still Pentagon v. Octagon is usually an entertaining match. Crist didn’t do anything particularly memorable, although everything landed with a thud, Callihan was bumping great, including taking an awesome flip bump on a otherwise mediocre leg lariat. Finish was great too, with Callihan catching a spin kick and locking on the stretch muffler. Fun stuff and another entry on Callihan’s resume.

BJ Whitmer vs. Jimmy Jacobs

These guys had a one of the great feuds of the decade a couple of years ago, cool angles, classic matches. Whitmer at his worst is excretible, but his best matches are pretty damn good. This wasn’t at the level of their 2006 stuff, it was more a wrestling match then a brawl, and Jacobs was working heel which isn’t his best role in this matchup. Still I always like watching Jacobs, he had some great looking grounded punches and bumped really well, and they still have some charisma together. I also really dig Whitmers crazy choke finisher. Match ended with Phillips coming in to brawl with Whitmer and I could see myself digging that matchup.

Really well done Night 1. Nothing felt overkilly the matches were different enough, and everything except the main event was kept to around 10 minutes. Worth checking out, and I am excited to watch Night 2.

Finlay Has Cursed, Bled and Sworn. Jumped Bail and Landed Up in Jail

2012-01-13T22:46:00.000-05:00

Finlay v. Big Van Walter WXW 8/14/11

I really enjoyed this, it was much more of a Callihan style slugfest, then the slower mat based matches against Ryan and Thatcher. Walter is a big raw boned hard hitting guy and is willing to both smack and get smacked. The start with a lock up and Finlay gets the advantage using his trickiness. Walter responds by throwing bombs and Finlay is totally up for that kind of match too. Finlay lays in some big time uppercuts and Van Walter responds with some nasty clubbing forearms and a couple of thundering clotheslines. Finlay takes a crazy bump to the floor and Walter responds by working over his back, until they stumble out to the floor again and Walter loses his cool and blasts Finlay with a chair. Really had the feel of a good version of the 80's Japan finish. It is really fun to watch Finlay work a guy willing to go toe to toe with him and I hope this leads WXW to bring Finlay back for a rematch.

FINLAY INDY TOUR

CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 12/3/11

2012-01-09T10:00:00.000-05:00

Virus/Polvora/Euforia vs. Metro/Dragon Lee/Fuego:

I really really liked this. I kinda assumed it was just gonna be a throwaway, some tossed off third match on a Friday night Arena Mexico show, but everybody in here got a chance to shine. Some did OK, and others really shone. Metro looked GREAT here, and the whole match was practically structured like a Metro showcase. Metro looked absolutely killer in this, whether he was getting punched in the neck repeatedly by Virus (and man can Virus throw a bunch of great punches to the neck), bumping wildly to the floor, hitting his boss somersault senton into the corner, doing a rad sliding single leg takedown, cool little standing spin kick ro Euforia on the apron, just everything. I was thinking of listing him as one of my "Most Underrated" in my WON ballot, but this whole match was pretty much "Hey, check out this here Metro guy", and Gala chose to air this instead of the Blue Panther/Negro trios and the Tiffany lightning match, so I guess he's a known commodity. Crowd was going nuts by the 3rd fall of this, mainly helped by the rudos going into beatdown overdrive in the 2nd. All the standard rudo beatdown greatest hits, just played twice as fast with no room for breathing. Euforia stood out more than usual, too, holding things together when Virus was on the apron. Dragon Lee got to hit a spectacular springboard shooting star press in the 3rd, Virus got to be Virus, etc. Basically, if you're fans of any of these guys, you would enjoy this match.

Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion/Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Atlantis/Jushin Liger/Delta:

This was one of those hyper-rushed CMLL main events that doesn't really do much good for anybody. Nobody really looked bad (although Escorpion had too many noticeable moments of standing around, adjusting his wrist tape, waiting to get into position), but these "3 falls in 8 minutes" matches are just kinda pointless. It's all messed up right from the beginning, when the tecnicos attack the rudos on the stairs to start...and then the rudos just instantly beat their asses. That looks bad. Not only do the tecnicos cheat, but then it immediately gets turned on them. Ultimo tore it up in his limited time here, and I'm convinced nobody bumps better to the floor than he does. Rojo hits his cool inside-out dropkick to the apron, super rushed pinfalls happen. I guess I just don't see the point.

There were a couple matches from this taping that didn't make the Galavision airing that looked intriguing to me, so I figure I'll link them below and mention if they're worth checking out or not.

Tiffany vs. Estrellita lightning match:

Match is pretty much worth watching for Tiffany's amazing entrance gear, as she has a collared cape and tiara and catsuit and looks like the evil queen from Snow White mixed with Catwoman. Super awesome. Match was fun for the 8 minutes it lasted, with Tiffany being a great bumped for lady offense, and then controlling with great dickish things like chops to the boobs. Match ended odd with Estrellita going for an ill-advised springboard tornillo suicida, which totally misses the mark and causes her to go *splat* on the floor. Count out, stretcher job, Tiffany wins. I don't remember Estrellita trying something like that. Maybe there's a good reason why...

Negro Casas/Felino/Mr. Niebla vs. Blue Panther/La Sombra/Shocker:

Odd that this whole episode was pushing Panther/Felino hair vs. hair match, yet they choose to show some throwaway Liger match instead of a match featuring Felino and Casas headbutting and kicking Panther in the head. Match itself is fun and plenty hate-filled, would have made a much better use of time than that lousy main event we ended up getting instead. Casas and Felino took it to Panther in the first 2 falls, with Panther kinda snapping at the end of the 2nd and wrenching in the Fujiwara armbar HARD on Casas, then locking an ankle lock on Felino in the 3rd (with him biting Felino's feet). Sombra looked really good, too, showing a lot of personality. His superkick to the back of Perriquito's (you KNOW I spelled that one wrong) dome was great. Also loved Niebla walking around punching guys at will. Plenty of fun stuff here. No clue why it wasn't shown on TV when it dealt directly with the match they were hyping.

APW TV Workrate Report: 5/14/11

2012-01-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

We start this week almost immediately with a match.

1. "Out of Control" Matt Carlos vs. Sheik Khan Abadi. Both of these guys can take real nice beatings from larger opponents (especially Abadi), so I'm curious how the two small guys work each other. Opening matwork scrambles are nice, with both guys slipping out of holds and neither really gaining an advantage. Cool spot where Abadi leapfrogs and lands in the splits, and Carlos dropkicks him in the face causing Abadi to bump big through the ropes to the floor. Carlos misses a plancha, Abadi hits a nice kneedrop, and Carlos takes over with an enzuigiri. Carlos also hits a completely awesome fist drop off the middle rope. He flew kinda recklessly towards Abadi, and it kinda was an "out of control" fistdrop. What's funny is crummy announcer John Roberts keeps saying things like "Out of Control Matt Carlos is in control of Abadi right now" seemingly oblivious to how stupid that sounds. I hope if Carlos goes heel he'll become "Cool, Collected and In Control" Matt Carlos. Big spots start coming, as Carlos hits a leaping DDT (he was on the middle rope, Abadi was in the center of the ring), and suplexes Abadi to the floor in a big bump, Abadi hits a dragon suplex, Carlos hits a Sliced Bread (that Abadi bumps nuttily on his head) for the win. This was a pretty workrate-y match with a bunch of moves being traded back and forth, often with minimal regard to selling, but for what it was it was pretty decent.

2. Larry Blackwell vs. Dylan Drake is the main event, and FINALLY we get a Blackwell singles match on TV! Story of this one was Drake continually attempting to lock on the Bay to Breaker submission (Sharpshooter) but every attempt resulted in Blackwell kicking him off and beating him more. Blackwell jumps at the bell and hits some rad clubbing crossface blows. Drake leaps at Blackwrll, gets caught in a bearhug, maneuvers into a sunset flip, Blackwell blocks and misses a giant butt splash, and Drake hits a big shoulderblock to a seated Blackwell. Drake starts working over Blackwell's knee and Larry's great at fighting for the ropes and hitting nasty forearms and elbows to counter Drake. Blackwell fights back to his feet and throws Drake to the floor, elbowing the snot out of him all around the ring. Blackwell misses a charge and smashes into the ringpost, and Drake hits a cool somersault senton off the apron. Blackwell is eventually able to use his size advantage to take back over, clubbing Drake all over the ring and hitting a sweet 'Taker leg drop on the apron, really splatting Drake. Blackwell gets missle dropkicked and does the cool stuck in the ropes spot, but he's still able to use his fat to come back and hit a HUGE belly to belly suplex, really chucking him like an even fatter Gary Albright. Drake hits some shoulderblocks which on paper sound like a horrible idea, but he really smashes into Blackwell, a few times. I guarantee Drake's shoulder was killing him the next day. Blackwell takes over again with clubbering, and goes up top to hit a Vader Bomb, and Drake AWESOMELY climbs up and German's Blackwell off the middle rope. That was EASILY the most spectacular spot I've seen in APW since I've started reviewing their TV shows, that was just INSANE. I rewound the DVR 5 times to watch that one. Blackwell taking a massive German out of the corner is something pretty much everybody needs to see. This allows Drake to finally lock on the Bay to Breaker without getting kicked off by Blackwell, but then the Dark Carnival runs in for the DQ. Wow, pretty damn disappointing ending right there, since the match had gone like 17 minutes and then just ended in a run-in. Still, match was pretty awesome and one of the top APW TV matches I've seen.

Next week is the debut of some guy named Kay Jutler. That is one of the stupidest names I have heard. I mean, say what you want about Michael McGillicutty, but fucking Kay Jutler? Really?! I can't wait to see the debut of Ren Boethlisberger or Brew Dees.

Black Terry Drinks Water, Lord That Liquors Hot

2012-01-03T22:46:00.003-05:00

Black Terry v. Negro Navarro OLX 8/06-GREAT

I still want to see these guys in a long epic singles match, but it is really fun to watch them work this kind of WCW Pro match. Lots of very fun matwork, Navarro seems to have different stuff which he does against every opponent and his Black Terry shtick is some of my favorite shtick. The early stuff had a very amateur wrestling style with both guys doing quick switches and exchanges. Because this is a 2000's indy lucha match we get a couple of backcrackers, including a trapped arm version from Navarro which was awesome looking. To brief to be anything but a taste, but it was a delicious taste.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

Black Terry I Wish I Could See You Once Again, I Believe You'd Stack Up With the All the Mighty Men

2012-01-02T23:54:00.002-05:00

Black Terry/El Hijo Del Pirata Morgan/Skyde v. Negro Navarro/Trauma 1/Trauma 2 Arena Neza 1/1/12-GREAT

We start off 2012 with a corker of maestro lucha match. I always enjoy when Black Terry hits the mat like this and he and T2 have a couple of really fun exchanges. Some really cool leglock exchanges by both guys. The highlight of the first fall was watching Navarro and Skyde totally rip the new year apart. Navarro looked like he had an entire batch of cool shit he had never used with Solar before and Skyde had his a bunch of stuff he wanted to try out too. Awesome stuff and I would love if Skyde was added to the touring maestro mix. He was also really great when he moved into the rana and armdrag section of the match. Second and third falls were a bit perfunctory, and El Hijo Del Pirata is a little out of his league, which kept this from truly legendary status, but a great way to begin the new year.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

APW TV Workrate Report: 5/7/11

2012-01-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

We start off right away with a Jeckles match, so it's gonna be that kind of a week.

1. Jeckles vs. Vennis DeMarco isn't really setting my world on fire as an opener, but let's open mind this shit! Vennis' tights have Italian flag colors down the length of the leg, but it looks more like the stripe on Aqua Fresh toothpaste. Match starts off pretty nice as Jeckles throws some solid forearms, Vennis knocks him to the floor with a dropkick, then follows up with a nasty tope into the crowd. Don't remember seeing Vennis do a tope that often, and smashing into the front row of fans gave it a cool visual. Jeckles clotheslines the ring post after Vennis moves, and Vennis starts attacking the arm, to minimize the effect of Jeckles' Jokeslam. APW has always taught arm work it seems, going back at least to 1999 Boyce LeGrande matches where he would always do cool legdrops to guys' arms, so it shouldn't be too surprising that Vennis has some decent and engaging armwork. One move I liked in particular is when Jeckels was on all fours, Vennis grabbed Jeckles' arm and held it perpendicular, then mule kicked it. Looked real nasty. Jeckles transitions back to offense by hitting a drop toe hold on a charging Vennis, and Vennis splats into the bottom rope, allowing Jeckles to hit a nice 'Taker dropkick on the apron. Arm work kinda gets tossed out the window as we go into a "we're fighting each other while we're on our knees, because we're in a war!" forearm exchange, then Vennis gets crotched on the top rope and Jeckles hits the Jokeslam off the middle rope. I like the beginning, I liked the middle, but the ending didn't really go anywhere rewarding. Still, this was much better than I thought it was going to be.

"Out of Control" Matt Carlos cuts a promo that is very punctual and while he stumbled over a couple of words, I never got the feeling that he was anything but in control. Whether interesting or not, his words were his own. "You took me to the limit! I escaped with the skin of my teeth!" He did end the promo saying he was "OUT...of conTROL Matt Carlos", which was some zazzy annunciation, but not that out of control.

2. Main event is Derek Sanders/Alexis Derevko vs. Jody Kristofferson/Will Rood. Rood throws a decent forearm and a couple alright punches to Derevko, but it looks silly to have Rood irish whip Derevko due to the size difference. Rood especially should not do a flying shoulder tackle against Derevko, as it looked absurd for Derevko to sell it. Now Kristofferson's slingshot shoulder block looked completely awesome, on the other hand, but he probably has 40 lb. on Rood. I really liked the spot where Rood throws elbows from his knees, three really nice ones to Sanders, and then Sanders blasts him with one while standing. Derevko/Sanders pretty much take over the last half of this, and Rood is pretty good working as Ricky Morton. The hot tag to Kristofferson was good (and of course the ref missed the first couple) as Jody has some real fun hot tag offense after sitting on the apron most of the match. Palm strike, cool looking sit out axe handle/fist drop, big jackhammer, impactful spear. He really made the most of the hot tag. Sanders' team ends up getting the win with interference and Rood gets screwed out of the win again. Match went pretty long, almost 20 minutes, and considering Rood was getting beat on for about 14 of those minutes, and was only recovering on the apron for about a minute, his last comeback seemed a little bit much. But, this match was pretty decent and moved forward the angle along nicely.

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/26/11

2011-12-31T10:00:00.000-05:00

Zayco/Camorra vs. Robin/Freesbee:

Freesbee and Camorra ain't that great. Especially Freesbee. That guy is just a stumblebum. Zayco and Robin have made some great strides in 2011, starting the year as guys I didn't think were very good, but being guys I enjoyed by the end of the year. They match up very nicely against each other, too. Maybe they just look good because of their respective tag partners. Huh.

Bronco/Inquisidor/Apocalipsis vs. Sensei/Starman/Metatron:

Fairly forgettable midcard match that wasn't without its moments. Bronco would work out great as a fake Dinamita. He's a real nice throwback to that style of lucha. Here he goes above and beyond by taking a really low and quick bump to the floor. Sensei is like a Great Sasuke throwback, just without the death wish. The others are fine.

Princesa Blanca/Princess Sugei/La Seductora vs. Ayumi/Luna Magica/Estrellita:

Damn do Sugei and Ayumi match up well. Just a whole bunch of nice kicks and knees getting thrown around. Estrellita makes me sad. She's not a very old woman, but dressing so young makes her seem so much older than she really is. I get the fake boobs. Some gals get them to fill out tops better. Others get them because they desperately want attention. Whatever. But the hot pink outfits and now the pigtails? I'm surprised she doesn't have dark red blush painted on her face. She comes off as a mom who wears the same outfit to the mall as her 15 year old daughter and dances with her daughter's friends at birthday parties. Something about it just bums me out. Just...play it down a bit. Your desperation is playing to the back row.

Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion/Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Atlantis/Guerrero Maya Jr./Delta:

LATV has this stupid visual effect that they use occasionally, where in the middle of a match they'll start showing it in "widescreen". Now I put widescreen in quotes because it's not actually widescreen, they just add large black bars across the top and bottom of the screen, literally obscuring about 40+% of what's going on. Matwork going on? tough luck, buster, because it's underneath the bottom bar. It's really maddening and happened a bunch in this match. TNA does this as well when they take up the bottom third of the screen with their "Upcoming Events" news. The matwork from the recent Storm/Roode match was almost totally obscured by these screen pop-ups. I just don't get the point in doing that. That being said, I don't think the youtube videos do this, I think it is specifically LATV. Allll that being said, this match was fast-paced and fun, and seemed to be built as a major showcase for Maya and Escorpion. The more time he gets to shine, the more Maya shows that he totally belongs. I love the snap he puts on his dropkicks. Big things should be happening for him. Ultimo continues to have maybe the comeback of the year, as he's been busting ass all 2011.

Terrible/Rey Buccanero/Texano Jr. vs. Hector Garza/La Mascara/Super Porky:

Pretty paint-by-numbers. Garza strips in the 3rd and hits some great headscissors, Mascara hits a few nice ranas (each one faster than the last), Terrible and Texano are total pros bumping around for those two, and the spot where Terrible punches Porky down to the mat and follows up with kicks to his stomach was great. Not much to the match, but there are always fun moments.

CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/5/11

2011-12-30T10:00:00.000-05:00

Virus/Okumura/Yoshihashi vs. Valiente/Sangre Azteca/Dragon Lee:

Man, what a bunch of teases. You have Virus and you have Valiente, on opposite sides, and I don't think they exchanged more than one move. I think Virus did his awesome running pendulum dropkick to him. And that was it. I like Valiente matched up against Okumura. I like Virus matches up with Sangre Azteca or Dragon Lee. But I would have fucking LOVED Virus and Valiente, just...doing shit, against each other. Dragon Lee hits his super cool running dragon rana from the ramp to the ring, but I can't even enjoy it fully because I should be watching an insane amount of super fast Virus/Valiente sequences. Valiente was at his most Super Astro here, too, so it would have been otherworldly. Virus was crazy dickish, and while the match was good, it could have been sooooo much better, just with a slight re-matching.

Marcela vs. Amapola:

Pretty short match from two of the better CMLL ladies, and it was really good, but didn't really have enough time to become an excellent match. A lot of moves had to be kinda brushed off since they were rushing through, so it didn't have as epic a feel as it could have Amapola came out with her hair stuck into her cape, and I thought she had cut her hair into a super stylish bob. But she tricked me. First fall is really fun with some nice engaging matwork that the crowd is actually into, and then a great rana and missle dropkick from Marcela (with Amapola taking them like a champ). 2nd fall sees two really cool overhead backbreaker slams by Marcela, and a cool full nelson (applied with her legs) submission. Amapola takes a great Cassandro corner bump in the 3rd, then does a cool flip dive (landing on Marcela's knee though. Ouch.) and Marcela hits a cool dive off the 2nd turnbuckle to the floor. Both women will def. be bruised after this one. There have been some nasty spills. The ending falls really really flat and was part of what kept the match from being great. Amapola missed an elbow off the top (even though Marcela moved a few seconds before Amapola leapt), then Marcela hits a Wagner Driver, which Amapola kicks out at 2 from, and the ref counts 3. Hard to have a much flatter ending than that.

Still, two good matches make for a nice hour of TV. I'm actually surprised Galavision didn't show the two main event matches from this card, as the star power was WAY bigger in those two matches. Panther/Liger/Rush vs. Peste Negra and Averno/Ephesto/Mephisto vs. Garza/Sombra/Dorada. I probably also would have rather seen those matches on TV, but I'm fine with what we got since they mostly delivered.

APW TV Workrate Report: 4/30/11

2011-12-29T10:00:00.000-05:00

1. Rock of Love (Billy Blade and Kadin Anthony) vs. Suburban Commandos (D-Unit and T-Rent) starts us off, and this should be a pretty awesome show starter. I hadn't seen Rock of Love for many years (back then they worked a vampire tag team gimmick) and I didn't care for them too much, but then got to see them live in Santa Rosa a couple months back and they were awesome. Both had gotten so much better in the few years since I'd last seen them. Commandos are two fat dudes who look like Rik Luxury, have nice offense AND take offense well. This should be real good.

Billy Blade looks like he's wearing those pajama jeans that I've seen on infomercials. Some go behind sequences come and go and D-Unit nails a sweet flying back elbow on Blade, and then they go into a brutal chop exchange that the audio doesn't really do justice. Blade hits some LOUD chops live, and D-Unit looks like he more than holds up his end, but the audio is mixed so the fucking horrible announcers (Matthew Theall doing shitty Gordon Solie riffs and John Roberts talking in forced announcer voice) are squealing over the ring noise. Oh well. So instead of hearing the chops, I hear two doofs yelling "These chops are so loud right now!" T-Rent calms me back with two GREAT press slam spots, one throwing Blade to the floor on his partner, and the other dropping Anthony stomach first over D-Unit's knee. Press slam spots are not used enough in wrestling. They look awesome, they're impressive, and they look painful. All wins. Interference allows RoL to take over for awhile (with Blade air guitaring T-Rent's chest while holding a chinlock). Anthony does a real stiff corner clothesline, and Blade follows it up with one of those nice sliding legdrops that X-Pac used to do but nobody does anymore. They look really cool. RoL has a chubby roadie who had been interfering, and there was a GREAT spot when T-Rent knocked him off the apron using Anthony as a weapon, and the roadie takes a MASSIVE bump to the floor. Kudos, roadie. Hot finishing sequence with Blade throwing a nice yakuza kick, the roadie taking another big bump off the floor, and the Commandos finish with a massive flapjack into a powerbomb. This match was a total blast with a bunch of big moves and nice offense, really lived up to how good I thought it was going to be. WELL worth taking the time to watch.

2. Dave Dutra vs. Mikey Jay: I haven't seen too much of Jay as he seems like a recent APW graduate, and Dutra is usually as good as his opponent, so we'll see about this one. It was worked pretty even and that really wasn't a very interesting way to work this. Roberts kept putting over that "This is the kind of skills you can expect if you go to the APW Boot Camp", so it was being pushed as a showcase of wrestling skills which means this was a REALLY bad way to work this. Really your-move-my-move right up to the end, especially the stretch run with Jay "barely" kicking out of a move, and then of course immediately doing something like a missle dropkick. Boy did Jay throw some bad body shots in the corner. John Roberts gets props here for at least trying to put them over as "plam strikes" instead of really bad punches. Dutra had a couple nice moves like a forward suplex and a superplex, but they really didn't mean too much in the grand scheme of things. Jay is just too new and not good enough to work a even-skilled "war" kind of a match. This wasn't good. Heart, fire, hear to say, after all he's been through in the boot camp blah blah.

3. Main event is Corvus vs. Mr. Wrestling IV. I actually like Corvus' look here, as the singlet top with long tights actually works for him. It's a look that doesn't work for everybody (APW's own Vennis DeMarco as an example), but with the studded black gloves he gives off a recent Undertaker, or 90s Yoji Anjoh vibe, which is a look I think is pretty cool. Matthew Theall gets on my good side in this one when Corvus hits a nice back suplex, John Roberts actually calls it a suplex for once, and Theall says, "Are you sure that wasn't a suplay?" Few things annoy me more than Roberts' "suplay" call, so thank you Mr. Theall. Corvus controls most of this, and has some pretty nice control offense with decent forearms, a cool kick from the floor while 4 was on the apron, and some nice punches to the gut. Darkness (Corvus' short and wide and often embarrassing valet) earns her keep by taking an accidental baseball slide dropkick to the face from Corvus in a pretty great spot. Mr. Wrestling moved, and Corvus looked like he didn't hold up much at all, really blasting her in the face. 4 gets the kneelift for the win, and that was a pretty satisfying ending to a pretty average match.

Next week we get Wil Rood teaming with Jody Kristofferson, and I seriously wish I could screen cap Rood's "tale of the tape" photo. It's still the photo where he's making a face like those starving kids or abused kittens in those commercials where the sad Sarah MacLachlan song plays and I fast forward because they make me too sad and make me want to adopt 12 kittens. His photo makes me want to donate money to give him three square meals a day. Can't wait!

APW TV Workrate Report: 4/23/11

2011-12-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

Looks like we got Timothy Thatcher vs. Dylan Drake tonight, and I'm excited to see what Thatcher can do in a long main event. He has real good presence and a great slimy British scumbag vibe.

OK, looks like the only match on this whole episode is Thatcher vs. Drake, which seems like a lot of time for the match. I know I just requested a longer Thatcher match to see what he's made of...but I'm already getting nervous.

Drake starts with a bunch of dropkicks, some hit and some don't. Thatcher slows him down with some matwork, and he's a guy who seems like he can work the mat. He does some cool hammerlocks and is good at making it look like he's really trying to inch a guy's arm farther up his back, slowly and painfully. He never goes into autopilot during the matwork, always letting his smugness shine through. Drake takes over with leg work in a real cool, simple way: Thatcher stands up with a kimura, gets cocky and stands on Drake's arm, poses, and Drake just takes him down with a single leg. Drake's arm work isn't as interesting as Thatcher's leg work, but Thatcher is really good at selling the leg.

Drake goes up top for a crossbody, and Thatcher European uppercuts him out of the sky, then lifts up Drake's arm just to stomp it back to the mat in a real nasty way. Ouch. Thatcher misses a corner charge and Drake tries to lock on the "Bay to Breaker" (basically the sharpshooter), and Thatcher is really great in blocking it, holding onto Drake's leg so he can't turn it, then punching from his back to break it. Thatcher goes up top and gets dragon screwed off. Thatcher comes up with another cool way to block the Bay to Breaker, this time holding Drake's leg and palm striking Drake's knee over and over until he breaks the hold. I'm not sure why more guys don't try to break submissions by just hitting the guy putting the submission on. It seems like instinct, but it doesn't happen often. Fritz Von Erich locked The Claw on a ring announcer and the guy grabbed Fritz's balls and squeezed. Somebody puts me in a sharpshooter, his knee is the closest thing for me to attack. Makes tons of sense to me.

What doesn't make much sense to me is when Drake tries a diving headbutt to Thatcher's knee. It misses, but even if it hit...does that move make sense to anybody else? When the BEST case scenario is throwing your OWN head into somebody's knee, is it really a move you should be doing? I mean, he is actually kind of lucky that the move missed. I would rather do a diving headbutt to the floor than to somebody's pointy, boney knee. Why not just stomp it? You're standing right next to the knee...just jump all over that thing. I just don't get it.

At this point it's pretty clear this match is going to a time limit draw, horrible commentator Matthew Theall is really bad telegraphing it 10 minutes out. "Thatcher has the Thatcher Stretch locked on, it should definitely finish the match this time. This definitely won't be a time limit draw!" "Time is ticking down, but somebody will win before the time limit is up!" This guy is really fucking horrible.

They exchange some big moves, Thatcher takes a real nice release German, they trade holds for awhile, Theall takes all the wind out of my sails by completely foreshadowing the time limit draw, and it ends in a time limit draw. Man this guy is awful on the mic. He does not have a good voice for this, and he constantly stumbles all over himself. Awful.

Match was going fine and was hurt by commentary. Drake looked real inconsistent here, selling the arm when convenient and pacing things out really awkwardly. Thatcher looked good though, with solid matwork, nice leg selling, and he really made Drake's offense look nice.

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 12/10/11

2011-12-27T10:00:00.000-05:00

Princesa Blanca/La Commandante/Zeuxis vs. Marcela/Luna Magica/Lluvia:

Not really sure why this match needed so much time to stretch its legs. It's good to see Luna Magica back on TV, as she brings something different to the table than most of the tecnicas. Her butt splash in the corner in the match was awesome. Blanca/Marcela is always a match-up worth seeing, but Lluvia/Zeuxis is about as polar opposite as you can get. And we got a lot of that here, with a lengthy match never really evolving beyond "one side lying around while the other side does sloppy triple teams". Plenty of painful moments of Zeuxis or Commandante struggling to lock on lousy submissions. Just mostly ugly stuff here. Zeuxis' bodysuit is pretty fantastic, though.

Arkangel de la Muerte/Nitro/Skandalo vs. Rey Cometa/Stuka Jr./Dragon Lee:

This was all about Rey Cometa: Bump Freak, and Arkangel: Twister of Young Tecnico Limbs (you probably already guessed that last one would happen). Arkangel gets cool sequences with everybody here, including throwing Lee around by his arm in the first fall, but the 3rd is really his time to shine. He works some cool spots with Cometa, and Arkangel/Cometa is fast becoming one of my favorite pairings in all of lucha. CMLL must agree with me, too. Arkangel is just the perfect base for this guy, never getting lost on his inside out armdrags and catching all his ranas (dropping from some great heights). Arkangel looked flat out great here. Cometa, though, also looked great. He took two nasty bumps in the 1st, one a flat back bump to the floor after spilling through the ropes; the other a massive bump from the ropes to the ring ramp, sending him asshole over elbow after being dropkicked by Nitro. Lee is always good for some spectacular flying, same goes for Stuka. There were also two separate synchronized dive trains by the tecnicos (the first with all three doing big somersault topes almost totally in sync). This match really had potential to be just a tossed off throwaway midcard trios, and the longer it went the more it kinda built into something special. It just kept gaining momentum and being just about the best possible version of this match-up. I recommend you watch it.

Misterioso Jr./Polvora/Okumura vs. Valiente/Metro/Sagrado:

Pretty longish match that doesn't really go anywhere but is never unpleasant. Kinda seemed like a house show match instead of a match taped for TV. None of the faces get to unload and do anything really spectacular (though Valiente did leap up like he was about to do Valiente Special, but leaped back into the ring to do a halfway-across-the-ring rana). Misterioso still got to look like a tassly, slick-bumping star, Okumura threw some fine back elbows, Sagrado threw in a surprisingly good performance, and Metro had an brutal somersault senton into the corner in the first fall. Just full on sprint and then splatted right into Misterioso. Ending move was pretty great as Sagrado just leveled Polvora with a superkick, which knocked him into a bridged Metro german suplex (landing him on his head).

Terrible/Rey Buccanero/Mephisto vs. La Mascara/Angel de Oro/Rush:

Second match in a row with a kind of random rudo team of guys who usually team with others. First fall showed potential for this to be a pretty great main event, but then the rest of it got kinda rushed. Rudos were getting good heat (not exactly difficult to do opposite Rush), Terrible has stepped up his game over the last couple months and has been coming off like a superstar, and Mephisto stepped things up here (maybe saw an opportunity to shine more than usual since he wasn't teaming with Averno and Ephesto). Oro has been bringing it, too, and Rush kinda just stayed out of the way so it could have been worse. Kind of the story of most of this episode, with a bunch of wrestling that mostly stayed out of the way, exiting your memory as soon as you see it. The Arkangel/Rey Cometa match is worth spending 20 minutes on, but the others are kinda "fan only" affairs.

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 12/3/11

2011-12-23T22:00:00.000-05:00

Cholo/Rammstein vs. Horuz/Camaleon:

Damn, LATV is really crate digging this week. This reminds me of episodes a year ago before more stars got injected into LATV. I believe this is the first time that Camaleon has popped up this year, and the first time I have ever seen him. He seemed OK, hit a big dive, has a goofy fun mask. Horuz looked even better here. He's another guy I haven't seen since like March or April, and I wasn't too into him then. But CHOLO. Motherfucking CHOLO is where it's at. I want a Cholo/Bronco team, of tallish rudos who are not flashy, but always solid. Cholo also has a great mask (it looks like Super Calo's, but with a drawn on Mexi-stache). He bumps, he hits a nice splash, you might not think of him often, but you appreciate him while watching him. Rammstein is getting tubbier, but hey, I like fatsos.

Tiffany/Mima Shimoda/Amapola vs. Lady Apache/Estrellita/Silueta:

Well this was pretty sloppy. There seemed to be some spots where gals got lost, and the whole thing was pretty directionless and meandering. Some good spots (Tiffany was awesome again, I really love her head stomps), Amapola stiffing Silueta, Shimoda throwing a boss elbow drop. The crowd started making a lot of noise when Tiffany and Estrellita were in against each other (because booobz), and isn't that what it's all about, America? Just women taking armdrags and throwing 'bows and having jugz. Silueta also hit a neat Thesz press off the apron.

Loco Max/Hooligan/Euforia vs. Angel Azteca Jr./Dragon Lee/Diamante:

Another disappointment. I like most of the guys in this, but this never really got the chance to get rolling. Dragon Lee will hit some crazy stupid awesome stuff off the ropes, Hooligan was wearing a completely ridiculous and amazing get-up, with union jacks and tassles and leather vest, Loco Max makes Diamante look pretty great in taking a nasty bump on the apron, then getting just leveled by Diamante's crazy flip dive. So the match wasn't without merit, just had no cohesion.

Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr. vs. Sangre Azteca/Stuka Jr./Sagrado:

You know, this match got a decent amount of time, and I can hardly remember anything about it. Sagrado may be the most forgettable wrestler on the entire roster. Is there anybody who likes Sagrado? Dude is blandness with a capitol B. He's been around for years now and he seems no better now than he was when his failure of a debut push happened. Sagrado: The answer to the question nobody asked. Terrible and Texano are always fun together, they're always playful and look like they're having a good time, kinda goofing around and just punching and kicking dudes. Stuka Jr. is always good for some pretty flying, and Azteca hit a giant jumping ball stomp off the top rope. Hey, it wasn't bad. You won't remember it tomorrow.

Averno/Ephesto/Mephisto vs. Angel de Oro/La Mascara/Super Porky:

Averno and Ephesto are just born to make guys like Mascara and Oro look good. I think Oro and Mascara are fine, but their value goes up insanely when they are opposite Averno/Ephesto. Like, when Phil or SLL post something write after I post something, they look way better just by association. Phil is my expert rudo base who makes all my ranas look good and bumps faster than necessary to the floor. But, hey, I *like* Oro and Mascara, and I *like* their ranas and headscissors and flippy hoo-ha. It's fun and slick and looks good. But I was a big fan of Mistico's flippy hoo-ha and we've all seen how that works out when a guy (you'd think would be capable) like Chavo gets his mitts on a Mistico special. Sin Cara still works for me because he has more physical charisma than most guys that do what he do. He takes moves well and projects well and gets great height on moves. I have a feeling that Oro would look pretty ugly in the ring with Curt Hawkins. But I enjoy Curt Hawkins. Just don't want to see him as a lucha base. And that's why Averno and Ephesto are fucking awesome. They make me want to see guys do moves to them. And Ephesto has an amazing mask that nobody ever really talks about. He looks like a stalker that Arnold would kill early on in "The Running Man". I mean that in the best possible way. Richard Dawson.

Dick Togo is Sweet to Me, Diabetes, Peace Treaties, Breakfast of Champions He Needs Wheaties

2011-12-22T19:20:00.001-05:00

Dick Togo v. Masahiro Takanashi v. Kudo Indie Summit12/3/11-FUN

This was originally booked as Togo v. Kudo and would have been way better that way. Takanishi was kind of a load, mostly goofy comedy spots and hairless social dancery. Kudo has similar tendencies, but will at least kick hard. Togo hit a nice fist drop and his hanging over the ropes senton, but he felt like a bit of an afterthought in what should have been a showcase match for him. Pretty disappointing, and I am glad I didn’t go to Philly.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/26/11

2011-12-16T10:00:00.001-05:00

Hey CMLL. Thanks for showing the two matches from this card that I was least interested in seeing. You had a minis tag with Pierrothito opening, a trios with Panther and Valiente opposite Casas and Felino, and a main event with Volador. And CMLL gives me Yoshihashi. Have I mentioned that I hate the one hour format?

Vangellis/Okumura/Yoshihashi vs. Delta/Metro/Guerrero Maya Jr.:

Enough good moments and spots, but not enough to make it into a good match. It wasn't a bad match at all, just nothing much. It did start with some Maya/Okumura matwork that was really good. And I always love Metro's somersault dive off the ramp, and Delta's ropeflip headscissors from the ring to the floor. Maya hits a nice out of control dive in the third. Okumura is a good SUWA replacement. I'd rather have 0.67 SUWA than 0.0 SUWA. Yeah, this match happened. It happened and it was on TV instead of other matches.

Jushin Liger vs. Dragon Rojo Jr.:

Well this confirms that I was right to be mad about Gala's match selection. This was not very good. This was the lucha equivalent of Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong. Liger hit some moves, Rojo hit some moves, they were executed well, they were powerful enough to hold the other down for upwards of 2 counts, and then they did all that some more. Some fine spots, but the flow of the match was just non-existant. Rojo hit a dive, they rolled back in and Liger hit a brainbuster. Moves meant nothing, Liger looked like one of Los Chivas, Rojo's moves looked good but meant little.....yeah this match was a time waster. I thought Rojo really shined in moments here, but it was just all applied in pointless ways. This match was just so misguided I just didn't like it in the least.

CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/19/11

2011-12-11T22:00:00.001-05:00

I've been falling behind. I'm sorry. Turner Classic Movies has been really good lately. They've been digging deep and showing great stuff like Dodsworth and weird 70s prison movies like The Slams. So lucha fell by the wayside a bit. But I'm back. This episode had two short matches that I enjoyed. In fact, I loved the main event. It was short, sure, but everybody was working with a passion that you don't always see in your Arena Mexico main events. Volador is fast becoming my favorite luchador, but this match highlights another great Ultimo Guerrero performance, who's showing more energy in 2011 than he has in years. Main event is well worth watching. More below.

Tiffany/La Seductora/La Commandante vs. Lady Apache/Dark Angel/Estrellita:

Yeah!! Tiffany is back and she fucking ruled it in this match. Talking tons of shit and bumping all over for all the tecnicas. When did Estrellita turn? Tiffany goes out with an injury and Estrellita is just a good girl now? A good girl wearing caution tape over her business? Rachel is watching this with me and she thinks Commandante looks like Harvey Keitel. Like, current Harvey Keitel. She also looks like that couple in the crowd who look like twins (are they brother/sister? Two people who fantasize about having sex with themselves? Mother/son? Love triangle with Commandante?). Lady Apache is clearly a cut above here, though Dark Angel always looks good. Tiffany was the real superstar though. She does all these little things that can get easily skipped in lucha, such as standing on Apache's wrist while everybody gets in position to triple team her. How many times in lucha have you seen somebody just waiting around to take a beating? It drives me batty sometimes. A tecnico will get bodyslammed, and then just lie motionless on the mat waiting around for all three rudos to sync up and start beating his ass. But here, Apache runs into a boot, and Tiffany awesome stands on her fucking wrist, waiting for her rudas to get into position to commence ass beating. Such a tiny thing, but something that gets skipped a lot in rushed CMLL lucha. Tiffany is awesome.

Ultimo Guerrero/Volador Jr./Dragon Rojo Jr. vs. Jushin Liger/La Sombra/Atlantis:

Liger isn't wearing his stupid yellow wig, to the thanks of everybody. Rudos attack before the fall on the rampway and it is swift and violent. Oftentimes rushed CMLL main events are just pointless quick spots and unrealistic pinfalls, with guys just being pinned after hardly taking any offense. But the rushed nature actually worked in this match's favor. The rudos were rushing through spots in the first fall, yes, but it gave the rudos a sense of immediacy and brutality, with them coming off as a wicked well-oiled machine (instead of guys just trying to get their spots in). Rojo smacks Liger around with glee, Ultimo beats the piss out of Atlantis, and Volador is my favorite wild card in lucha right now. He rarely sticks to one tecnico during a match, just floating around and beating up whomever needs it. He hits a running superkick in the first fall that is just sooooo fucking great, pretty much my favorite superkick in the history of my wrestling fandom. Atlantis gets thrown into the turnbuckles, and Volador sprints across the ring and just superkicks the feeling out of Atlantis' face. I'm not sure I've ever seen a running superkick before. It's a move performed with an opponent running towards you, or from standing next to your opponent. But Volador just sprints corner to corner and plants it under Atlantis' chin. Brutal. I literally played it back 8 times. It's around the 2 minute mark of the youtube video embedded here (huge thanks again go out to Cubsfan for posting all of these). Atlantis gets tossed violently to the floor, rudos pull off an complex slingshot/missle dropkick combo from the ramp to the ring, UG stretches the shit out of Atlantis with a nasty over shoulder single leg Boston crab, while grapevining Atlantis' neck with his legs. Fucking awesome sub. So that's the first fall, just about 4 minutes, but a non-stop violent beating.

Second fall is more rudo beatdown until the tecnico comeback, with UG taking his now-common lightning fast head over heels bump to the floor, Liger hitting a nice big plancha from the top onto Rojo, and Volador making a Sombra finish look great. Sombra had Volador in an electric chair position, dropped him into a belly to back, then dumped him with a German. It looked awesome, too.

1st fall dance partners square off in the 3rd, with UG clotheslining Atlantis' face off (nice bump from Atl off it, too), and then UG taking another ridiculous bump to the floor, with him whipping over the top and just plunging out of sight. Volador and Sombra top their sequence, though, with one of the more spectacular rope running segments since the days of Freelance regularly making tape. Crazy fast evasions, a couple great headscissors from both, Volador throws a missed clothesline that would have robbed Sombra of his taste if he didn't duck, Volador spills to the floor and Sombra hits a GREAT flip dive, which Volador then just fucking AWESOMELY ignores, standing up and swinging. Volador looked very uncooperative on that dive no sell, but in a way that totally added to the segment. I mean, Volador was practically up on his feet before Sombra, and Sombra seemed legit surprised when Volador jumped him. Back in and UG takes a THIRD nutty bump over the top to the floor (good lord!) and Atlantis hits a great dive that sends UG into the seats. Sombra hits a big moonsault into Volador, who then knocks into UG, sending him into the seats again (awesome). Rojo rolls through a rana and pins Liger to win, and this was just too much fun and awesome. One of my favorite "under 10" matches of the last couple years. WELL worth taking 10 minutes of your day to watch this.

They Gave Black Terry a Sneer, a Guitar Pick and a Yellow Dandelion

2011-12-02T17:29:00.003-05:00

Black Terry v. Paranoiko v. Rocky Santana DTU-11/29/11-FUN

This is a lightubes 3-way, and I don't care for lightubes or 3-ways, but despite that I enjoyed the match. Terry is a great brawler as is Santana and they made large parts of this really look like a fight as opposed to a stunt show. Paranoiko didn't show me a ton, but he did take a crazy Psicosis corner post bump through a lightube bundle. I really liked when Terry was just smashing guys with wooden boxes and metal buckets, that felt more Moondogs then Ryuji Ito. They had a great spot where all three guys needed to get separated because they were just clawing at each others eyes. Part of me never wants to see Terry work matches like this, another part of me wants to see him work Necro in round one of the next IWAKOTDM

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 11/12/11

2011-11-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr. vs. Felino/Mr. Aguila/Volador Jr.:

This was kind of an odd short match. Oddball tecnico team of guys I never see together, and all three falls were really quick, but they weren't the usual throwaway "rudos stall" falls where you have half the people waiting around. The three falls were worked as a sprint and Texas Tornado style. Everybody was in at all times and the action was fast and sloppy and muddled (but usually in a fun way). Volador is wearing a ridiculous Dark Knight get up, and he pulls off a rana and armdrag in the 2nd that absolutely needs to be seen. I have no idea how he even conceptualized doing this arm drag. It looked like he was breakdancing on Texano's head. It looked so unnatural and yet moved so fluidly. This guy has the goods. Texano takes a mammoth flip bump over the top to the floor, holding onto the ropes but going at an insane speed, landing feet first. I don't know how his ankles didn't just shatter. Aguila alternates in and out of hitting a cool looking move and then looking ridiculously lost. Nice spin kick -> awkward collar elbow tie up. Felino ends it with a stiff flying elbow drop, just landing full weight on Buccanero.

Dragon Rojo Jr./Mr. Niebla/Ultimo Guerrero vs. Shocker/Jushin Liger/Atlantis:

First two falls started like the previous match: really quick, a lot of action, kind of a sloppy mess, tornado style. Then things settled down in the 3rd and the action got a bit more metered out and good. Shocker worked harder here than in maybe any other match this year. He's not as spry as he was a decade ago, and lord knows he's added a lot of boob weight, but when he throws in the effort he can still look really great. UG was a king in this. He crushed Atlantis' rib cage with his headstand ass attack in the corner, and took two absolutely insane bumps to the floor. The first was a Race bump/high jump back first over the top, tumbling into the steps on his way down. In the 3rd he does his standard lightning fast Jerry bump and it is all awesome. Match ends flat with Rojo just submitting Liger, but the few minutes up until that were fever pitch and awesome.

Dance On Fire With Pirata Morgan, Babe, The Flames Ain't Gonna Stop

2011-11-28T22:00:00.000-05:00

Pirata Morgan, Octagon, & Ringo Mendoza vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Satanico, & Kung Fu EMLL 3/31/1991 - GREAT

More technico Pirata. This time, they drop Dandy and MS-1 for Ringo Mendoza and Kung Fu, but they totally make up for it by dropping Vampiro for Satanico as well. Pirata himself is kinda shoved into the background for much of this, but at least he is surrounded by some awesome professional wrestling. This is one of the funner Octagon performances I've seen. He is paired off against all three rudos, and is pretty great against each without feeling like he's being carried as much as he usually is in his better matches. I cracked a smile at his brief martial arts stand-off with Kung Fu before Satanico blindsided him. Kung Fu is a guy who can do a lot of cool stuff, but often gets too shticky for his own good. Here, he was very back-to-basics, with much of the first fall being built around him choking out Ringo with a rope, including a spot where he is choking him out on the ground, and Fuerza sits on top of them to make it harder for the ref to see what's happening. Second fall has a great trio of exchanges, with Ringo getting his revenge by choking Kung Fu with his own rope, Pirata getting his one real spotlight moment of the match in a fun brawl with Satanico, and a typically cool Octagon/Fuerza exchange with some slick Octagon armdrags and Fuerza hamming it up with his classic rudo routine. The real highlight is in the third fall, with an sweet Octagon/Satanico exchange that opens with Satanico flipping him off and punching him out. Obviously could've done with more Pirata, but this was still quality stuff.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE PIRATA MORGAN

Has Black Terry Come Here for Forgiveness? Has he Come to Raise the Dead

2011-11-27T21:39:00.002-05:00

Black Terry v. Negro Navarro v. Judas El Traitor v. Terremoto v. Triton v. Belial LUCHA POP 11/26/11-EPIC

For cool shit per minute this match is about as good as it gets. The match opens with up with each guy pairing off and testing each others technique. Terry doesn't do this kind of llave wrestling as much as Navarro, but he looked great, just eating Triton alive. There is a chinlock indian deathlock move which is spectacular. Navarro matches up with Terremoto who is a fun fat dude, who was quite carryable on the mat. Navarro is great here talking shit as he twists Terremotos chubby limbs. Judas and T2 rock it out with some especially cool counters by Trauma 2. The sped up portions of the match were pretty great too, Triton kills Terremoto with an apron slice bread #2, Terry eliminates Judas with a flying guillotine. Trauma 1 wanders around pounding on people. We get down to T1 and Negro Navarro and I really want this feud to happen. They do some fast british style, but T1 cuts off Navarro's kip up with a dropkick and slaps on the spinning reverse figure four. I like the mini leitmotif in their match ups with T1 not really following the pattern. Just tremendously entertaining.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/19/11

2011-11-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

1. Mercurio/Pequeno Universo 2000 vs. Aereo/Pequeno Halcon:

Boy, these guys don't make TV that often. I think the only one of these guys I've seen in more than one match this year is Universo. And this was a pretty decent showcase for Universo. He was the rudo who actually worked like a rudo here (and he's also super short and fat), yelling at the crowd a bunch and bumping big. Mercurio was fine, but basically worked like Halcon. Aereo was able to do a bunch of elaborate armdrags with Universo's help. First 2 falls aren't much but 3rd gets more time. The dive train is fun in a sloppy way, as none of these guys are really big enough to be bases for the other, so each landing looks a lot more painful than the move itself.

2. Bronco/Hooligan/Inquisidor vs.Molotov/Starman/Tigre Blanco:

Another match that just kinda happened. That Molotov guy? Not that good. But Starman is a guy I dig. Is he actually the real Starman, just back wearing his mask again? Blanco hasn't been on TV in awhile (after being on practically every week in the first half of the year) and he's always welcome on my TV. Always does some neat stuff on the mat, will do a cool dive (this week he did a somersault dive off the apron that the cameras cut away from). But the COOLEST spot was Starman monkey flipping Blanco into Blanco doing a super fast monkey flip on Inquisidor. Blanco just got launched at Inquisidor and whipped right over him for the pin. Such an awesome spot, and not only do I not remember seeing the spot, it's a spot that seems like something that has been attempted by somebody before, but never this successfully. The rudos are all good hands and Bronco is a guy who I just wasn't enamored by earlier in the year, but now really look forward to him. There are probably 2-3 guys just like him in every town in Mexico, and it's a style I really like that seemed to be sorta dying once Cien Caras and Universo 2000 retired. I'm glad it's still being showcased semi-weekly.

3. Arkangel de la Muerte/Loco Max/Skandalo vs. Mr. Cacao/Angel Azteca/Pegasso:

Mr. Cacao? Is this the same Mr. Cacao from earlier this decade? Are we gonna get Arkangel matching up opposite Asian Cougar or Tortuga soon? For some reason they were really trying the whole match to put over Cacao, and the crowd seemed very not into him, booing when he would go on offense against Arkangel. I was hoping Arkangel would get to drag him to the mat and twist him a bit, but it was more Arkangel bumping for his so-so offense. The Angel Azteca here also confuses me. I assume this is the one who occasionally pops up as Angel Azteca Jr., except now he's wearing a shirt? He also kinda looked like Robin at times...but I think it was Azteca Jr. Either way, he was the bright spot on the tecnico side. Pegasso just doesn't do much for me. Not the tecnico team I wanted to see go over in straight falls. Needed two straight falls of the awesome rudo side destroying these wimps.

4. Alebrije/Olimpico/Psicosis II vs. Delta/Hijo Del Fantasma/Toscano:

Alebrije is back and he somehow looks fatter! I love this man. I love how he bumps for Delta and accidentally kicks Cuije and then accidentally splashes Cuije and love how he takes a bump sliding to the floor but crotches himself on the bottom rope. As much as I love Alebrije, I am completely bored with Toscano. My face looks like this when he wrestles *__* My mouth is neither frowning nor smiling, and I start thinking of mistakes I've made and people I've wronged. Then I snap out of it and the 3rd fall is over.

5. Averno/Terrible/Texano Jr. vs. Hector Garza/La Mascara/Rush:

As with many CMLL matches lately, not much to the first couple falls, and the 3rd gets all the action. Kind of a nothing match on a nothing episode, really. Each guy got their own moments, but nothing really gelled to make it a good or great match. Garza got a great run in the 3rd, and Terrible has kind of stepped up to be kind of a rudo Garza. In fact Terrible in the 2nd worked almost exactly like rudo Garza, with a bunch of fast rope running and fun thigh slappy kicks to Mascara. Mascara hits a great dive, Garza takes his clothes off, Rush has shitty hair, Averno and Terrible worked like Averno and Terrible. This match happened, parts were enjoyable, nothing was bad. Except Rush's hair. And his tassle boots. Tassles are one of my favorite things in wrestling, and Rush can't even get those right. Misterioso, now there's a guy who knows how to tassle the fuck out. Him doing an elbow drop is like watching waves crash into a beach. Rush's tassles are all fat and short. What's the point. Huh? What's the fucking point, Rush!?

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 10/29/11

2011-11-20T22:00:00.000-05:00

1. Arkangel/Loco Max/Skandalo vs. Dragon Lee/Angel de Plata/Pegasso:

Really good first fall, 2nd fall got derailed by an injury, 3rd was non-existent. First fall you knew would be good, because it was a bunch of expert rudos beating up a bunch of fliers. Pre-match graphic lists Rey Cometa instead of Plata, but it's definitely Plata. I like Plata, but this got me falsely excited for a Cometa/Arkangel mat sequence that was not to be. All the rudos are wearing Dr. X tribute shirts which makes me sad. What a shame. Arkangel matching up against Pegasso was awesome, as Arkangel matching up anybody kinda so-so always is. I want him to put a hurting on Pegasso, as Pegasso was wearing a tank top cut so that his nipples *just* peeked out the sides. Make him pay for that. Arkangel always has really great takedowns, really forces a guy to the ground with his leg scissors takedowns. He breaks out some cool mat submissions and generally twists Pegasso around, which was exactly what I hoped for. 2nd starts with rudos kinda killing time until the tecnico comeback (though it did feature a nasty Loco Max kick to Dragon Lee's taint), Skandalo takes a great spill to the floor, and when Pegasso/Lee do stereo springboard moves, Lee gets stumbly on the ropes and basically does a swanton to the floor. Luckily he was able to compose himself enough to flip all the way over and didn't just go head first. He gets stretchered out (as CMLL replays it 5 times) and Skandalo is awesome beating up Lee on the stretcher. But then they cut to a quick Plata roll up finish, and the 3rd is a nothing fall ending in quick rudo DQ.

2. Silueta vs. Ray:

Really good women's match that would be well worth going out of your way to check out. I have only seen these two a couple times each and it was always in a trios so I never got a great feel for how good they were. Well, I would like to see more after this match. First two falls were very quick but had some good spots and good action. Ray's roll up to win the 2nd looked cool. But the 3rd is where it really picks up, and it's mainly because suddenly Ray starts working as a southern heel out of nowhere. It had been worked as a face/face match up until this point, and Ray comes out in the 3rd and starts, well, chopping Silueta right in the tits. Ouch. I mean, like 15 chops, right to the tits. Not upper chest, is what I'm saying. And the fans INSTANTLY turn on Ray. Sounds like mostly dudes booing her, too. Ray soaks it up and starts choking Silueta in the ropes and then kneels on her head while choking her in the ropes and I am loving evil Ray! Sadly, she gets less evil as the fall goes on and it does fall a bit into move trade offs, but it still was very very good and kept me engaged. Each woman gets to do their take on a somersault dive off the apron, nice superplex by Silueta, a GREAT nearfall for Silueta, and then the ending is kinda botched as the ref holds up on the 3 count, the whole crowd reacts to the nearfall...10 seconds go by....and then the ref just kinda raises Silueta's hand. Flat finish for a title win, but the match was very good and the CMLL ladies have really been delivering this year.

3. Misterioso Jr./Rey Escorpion/Vangelis vs. Angel de Oro/Black Warrior/Delta:

A match that had a lot of fun moments and nice individual spots, but wasn't really much of a match. Misterioso always brings it and he was probably the best guy here. Even if he wasn't he is always tassled out, which would make a bad wrestler look at minimum awesome. Delta didn't break out any real insane spots like he usually does, Vangellis hit his rad spear through the ropes onto the ramp, Oro hit a bunch of nice looking stuff (sweet little moonsault from the middle turnbuckle to the floor in the 3rd). Escorpion looked kinda off in this one, though. Overshot two moonsaults bad, and then took forever to do the "pull off mask, roll up Delta" finish. It was already a cheap finish, and then he kinda made it worse. So, some good moments, not much as a whole.

4. Dragon Rojo Jr./Averno/Mr. Niebla vs. Rush/Super Porky/La Sombra:

This went pretty much like the last match: Not much to it, but some good individual spots. And too much Rosa Concha. Averno takes Sombra's stuff real well, Rush hits a giant flip dive (Rush actually got cheered for doing it!), and that's about it. Not a very good main event by any means.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara Blazes Forth Like Fire and the Mountains Crumble to Dust in his Presence

2011-11-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Tatsumi Fujinami v. Riki Choshu/Mitsuya Nagai RJPW 10/25/11-FUN

Pretty flat match for most of it. Choshu and Fujinami were kind of mailing it in, and as much as I love both guys, mailed in Choshu and Fujinami is some bad shit. This would have been skippable, but we get a very cool last two minutes between Fujiwara and Nagai. Fujiwara slaps Nagai and when he counters rips on the Fujiwara. That gets broken up, but then as Nagai goes for a slam, Fujiwara slip out into the Fujiwara armbar a second time for the win. You can safely skip to the 16:00 mark and watch everything worth seeing.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE FUJIWARA

Oh No, They Say He's Got To Go, Go Go Pirata Morgan

2011-11-18T22:00:00.001-05:00

Pirata Morgan & Sangre Chicana vs. Antifaz del Norte & Hator Monterrey 7/8/2007 - SKIPPABLE

Sangre Chicana is an awesome professional wrestler who rarely makes tape these days, and to that end, when he does show up on tape, I'm hesitant to turn my nose up at it. And to be fair, it's not like he did anything wrong wrong in this match. Neither did Pirata. It wasn't a transcendent performance for either man, but they punched guys in the face a bunch, and that's all I really ask for from them. For that matter, Antifaz was perfectly fine here, too, eating stuff well and making great desperate, gutsy attempts at comebacks. Hator was pretty useless. He spent a lot of this match fooling around with his hair when downed or in holds. Say what you will about guys like Sabu and Misawa selling by adjusting their tights, I at least buy that misaligned tights could theoretically make wrestling more difficult, and as long as you're not going anywhere at the moment, you might want to fix that. But it's not even like Hator's hair was in his face or restricting him in any other way. Sangre Chicana would put him in an armbar, and he'd just fiddle with his hair for some reason. He doesn't even have nice hair! It's all stringy and greasy. I don't even know why you'd want to play with it. But honestly, I could even forgive Hator apparently not even realizing he was in a wrestling match at the moment. No, what seals this as SKIPPABLE was the epically shitty booking of the match. This had one of the more aggressive rudo refs I've ever seen. Forget slow counts and missed calls, he is openly taking shots at Antifaz and Hator here, and in full view of the technico ref, who really can't be bothered to care. Now, I've defended non-traditional refereeing in the past, and honestly, while this was jarring, I could look past it....until the end of the first fall, when Pirata accidentally-on-purpose does a falling headbutt into Antifaz's crotch, and the rudo ref suddenly sees the error of his ways and DQ's him, and then becomes aggressively technico. I'm sorry, I don't buy that you went from actually attacking the technicos yourself despite your position (and having the technicos fight back against you, for that matter) to completely reforming after seeing one of the rudos perform a possibly unintentional foul over the course of a single fall. And then the second fall has some schmozz finish where the Jr. Piratas and Los Vipers run in, and this time nobody gets DQ'd for some reason, and Pirata and Chicana lose cleanly-ish...whatever. Between the booking and Hator sucking, I just didn't give a shit anymore.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE PIRATA MORGAN

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/12/11

2011-11-16T22:00:00.001-05:00

1. Demus 3:16/Pequeno Nitro/Pierrothito vs. Electrico/Astral/Ultimo Dragoncito:

Once I found out it was a Fan Appreciation show, and it had my two favorite minis (Pierrothito/Demus), and that minis usually turn it up to 11 on Fan Appreciation days, I had pretty high hopes for this. It didn't live up to them, but it was good, especially when things started firing on all cylinders in the 3rd fall. Demus, Nitro and Pierrothito are all guys that will take big bumps to the floor, and they didn't disappoint here. Each one tried their hand at the corner Cassandro bump (winner was Pierrothito), and did a couple other major spills to get ready for dives. Astral is now totally juiced to the gills and his chest looks like it's covered in infected spider bites. It was so gross I was worried Demus' brutal chops would cause all sorts of pus to burst forth. Best moment of the match was in the 3rd when Ultimo does an insane flip dive that lands him into the 4th or 5th row, almost on top of a baby. AWESOME. I mean, he was just sprinting at high speed and just FLEW. And it was great because it led to him being unable to help his partners as they got demolished by Demus/Pierrothito. First 2 falls were super short, but 3rd more than made up for it.

2. Loco Max/Nitro/Skandalo vs. Diamante/Fuego/Guerrero Maya Jr. :

This was all out fun with all the rudos being great at beating the collective asses of little flying tecnicos, and all the little flying tecnicos being great at hitting nice dives and springboardy things and armdraggy type stuff. Maya is the real deal, Fuego is turning into a real good flier who also happens to bump big (hit a nice dive on Skandalo and then splatted on the rampway for Skandalo's running kick to the balls), and Diamante does some real cool silly springboard balance moves. I really like this rudo trio, they all work real well together and can just throw down a fun beating, working quick, bumping big and throwing great elbow drops to dudes' balls. Just a fun match that when the 20+ minutes is up you're going, "Wait, that was the 3rd fall?"

3. Alebrije/Olimpico/Shigeo Okumura vs. Delta/Maximo/Super Porky:

Awwwwwwww YEAH! CMLL is finally bringing Alebrije back to my TV, and he is all fat and awesome in this. The guy is not only mammoth in waist, but he towers over everybody else here (Rachel made the joke that that likely means he's about 5'9"). His drawn on abs look spectacular over his ever-growing stomach, and he really seems like the best worker out of the bunch right now. He works great with each tecnico during this match, taking all of Delta's ranas and armdrags, throwing a GREAT right to put down Maximo (after unwanted advances, naturally), and of course looking great against the OTHER fattest man in lucha, Porky. When he and Porky finally squared off the crowd got reallllll noisy. He had to man up and take TWO different Porky bodypresses in this match! TWO! One off the middle ropes and one from the apron to the floor. Ouch. He was also just tossing Cuije around like he wasn't even a real person, launching him up in the air for a massive splash. It's amazing how quickly Alebrije can move and get up after arm drags. His body looks like the type of body that would see him make horrible groaning noises when getting up from chairs. I like Olimpico, but now that I know my Hector Garza is gone, seeing Olimpico doing the Garza schtick just doesn't do it for me. The begging off, the falling into women at ringside...I just want to see Garza doing it. Maximo really feels underrated. People don't really talk about him, but he's having a really strong year and always gets a massive reaction during matches. Loved his springboard hip attack and he has one of my favorite running ranas in lucha. Maximo also breaks out the skeeziest backrake ever, as it's more of a light, one-handed back caress on Olimpico, that makes Olimpico question his desires. I thought this match was awesome, but I am also insanely in love with 2011 Alebrije. Watch it for the Alebrije, stay for the Maximo.

4. Averno/Psicosis II/Volador Jr. vs. La Mascara/La Sombra/Rush:

Volador is wearing his totally bad ass Darth Maul get up and holy cow does it look badass. I'm just going to say it right now: I'm officially a full-fledged Volador superfan. The guy just has IT. I'm not 100% sure what IT is, but dude has IT. I am fully enamored with him now. I like the way he bumps around, and I like the way he gets a reverse John Cena reaction from the crowd. He and Averno take ranas and armdrags better than just about anybody. They were expertly getting tossed around by Sombra and Mascara as if they were Mini Abismo Negro with a 70 pounder. Rush is a guy who will finish in the 400s on the Segunda Caida 500, but once he turns rudo he'll probably end up in the top 100. Sombra had some awesome headscissor and armdrag variations in this. I have no clue how Volador/Averno don't get seriously crossed up during those sequences. After seeing Sin Cara just try to pull off La Mistica with the WWE roster and that rarely going well, seeing Sombra whip all around Volador's body in weird angles is pretty damn impressive. I have really enjoyed CMLL this year, and this match was another example of a real fun 2011 Arena Mexico main event. Hot crowd, plenty of dives and action, rudos being rudos, women screaming when tecnicos take their shirts off, fucking VOLADOR, and that couple who sit by the rampway that look like twins. What the fuck are they!? Are they husband/wife, brother/sister, mother/son, WHAT ARE THEY!? They both look exactly the same! They have the same jheri curl and they look somewhere between the ages of 32 and 66. This week they had a baby with them!! Am I the only one noticing them?

Dick Togo's What Dreams Are Made Of, Cocaine Ronald Gave Us

2011-11-15T22:00:00.001-05:00

Dick Togo v. Sanshiro Takagi DDT 9/28/08-EPIC

Wild insane cage match. Truly a testament to Dick Togo's skill as a big match worker. Takagi isn't very good at all, he has an ok punch and is willing to go head first into a cage and bleed. That is all Togo needs. Match starts out a bit slow, but Togo cuts open Takagi and it gets great quick. Togo rips open the cut with chain shots and the ring post bolt and it turns into a real slugfest. Togo's selling at the end of the match was amazing, one of the cooler thousand yard stares I have seen in wrestling. There are a bunch of moments in this match where Togo and Takagi are covered in blood throwing right hands, and there are also huge holy shit spots like a top rope stunner and a no water in the pool missed senton off the top of the cage. Pretty much a perfect meld of the 80s bloodbath cage match and 00's spotfest cage match.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Call Regal Morbid, Call Him Pale He Has Spent Six Years on His Tale

2011-11-13T22:00:00.000-05:00

Lord Steven Regal v. Arn Anderson 2/20/94-EPIC

Tremendous match, pretty much a textbook TV title style match. Both guys target a body part, Arn with the arm, and Regal with the neck, and they go after them. Lesser wrestlers working this style will just go back to the same holds (even Flair pretty much just works the leg in the context of the figure four), but both Arn and Regal put on a ton of different locks and they all look great. It makes inherent sense, if you can't get a submission with a cravate try a crossface, hammerlock doesn't work use and arm stretch. Arn works a great hammerlock, bodyslamming Regal, turing him into a pin while holding it. Regal meanwhile wrenched the hell out of Arn's neck, cranking cravates, cracking him in the mouth with crossfaces. The brawling in this match was great too, Arn has a really pretty right hand and Regal was just vicious with uppercuts and headbutts. Finish run was very exciting as they worked the countdown with Arn desperately trying for the belt and Regal stalling. The crowd was super into the match at this point, chanting USA and popping huge for Arn's spinebuster. Finish was pretty surprising, as Regal gets the pin by holding onto Dundee's umbrella with 15 seconds left. It was a twist in a good way as everyone was expecting either an Arn win or a time limit draw. 1994 maybe the best in ring year in wrestling history, and this felt on the level of the other great matches of that year. If this looks like something on paper you would like, go watch it, it truly exceeds expectations.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE REGAL

Feel The Sound, Pray For Rain, 'Cause This Is The Night Pirata Morgan Rides

2011-11-08T22:00:00.001-05:00

Pirata Morgan, Octagon, & El Dandy vs. Fuerza Guerrera, MS-1, & Vampiro Canadiense EMLL 3/24/1991 - FUN

And now for something completely different: technico Pirata Morgan. Pirata working as high-energy babyface isn't something he seems to do quite as well as him working as hard-nosed rudo brawler, but he's still pretty good at it, and I enjoyed seeing him in this role. And that's a good thing, because for a match with four all-time great lucha workers in it, only he and MS-1 really seem to show up, and even MS-1 doesn't kick into high gear until the second fall. That's not to say Dandy and Fuerza are bad in this. They're not. But they don't live up to expectations. And as for the weak links, Octagon was perfectly fine in this, and surprisingly, I kinda dug Vampiro here, if only because he actually bit someone's neck during the match. His exchange with Pirata in the first fall smoked anything from their hair vs. hair match, and Pirata's dropkick and enzuigiri that sent Vampiro to the floor were pretty sweet. Basically, everyone was good, but only a few people excelled. Now, normally, it only really takes two strong performances to make a great lucha trios match, but this suffered from some pacing issues, too. The first fall was long, but aside from the aforementioned Pirata/Vampiro exchange and the neck biting, not a whole lot was going on. The second fall was awesome, as MS-1 went into full asskicker mode, and Pirata continued to be a ton of fun. At one point, he subverts Fuerza's handshake routine by repeatedly pulling his hand away, and then just punching him in the face. Really got into the match big time here. The third fall picked up right where the last one left off, and gives us a brief but awesome Pirata/MS-1 exchange that ends with a big Pirata tope, but it's over before you know it. Really felt like something that was on the road to GREATness, but they frontloaded it with a lot of stuff that didn't grab me and cut things off right as it was about to go to the next level. Still, it's entertaining overall.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE PIRATA MORGAN

The Dark Nights are Drawing Regal In, and Your Humor is Black as Them

2011-11-07T22:00:00.002-05:00

William Regal vs. Dean Ambrose, FCW 10/13/11 - EPIC

PAS: Man alive this was a corker of a match. It is worked very similarly to the other big 2011 King Bookers courtesan v. Switchblade Conspirator match. Regal cuts a great promo about how his inner villain has been reawakened and he is at his vicious best. This is probably the most violent Regal we have seen since the Benoit series. He and Ambrose just lay into each other with nasty uppercuts and forearms, and Ambrose threw some nice clotheslines. Eventually Regal takes over, trapping Ambrose's arm into a turnbuckle and smashing it up which is something I have never seen before. It is pretty great that 20+ years into his career Regal is still breaking out new tricks. Regal then delivers some nasty armwork including finger manipulation and trapping him arm in the ring steps. Ambrose does a great job of selling, basically working the comeback entirely with his other arm. He comes off as a really tough motherfucker screaming at Regal while getting beaten on, and surviving some big exploders and escaping the Regal stretch. Just great stuff, it felt like a hugely important match to both guys, and after the match Regal felt like a killer and Ambrose felt like a future star standing up to a legend. I saw Finlay v. Callihan live which really helped my appreciation of it, but on first view this was right up there with that, and anything else in the world in 2011.

ER: Yeah this was great. It was a double surprise for me as I followed the link Phil sent me and thought it was going to be a fun 7 minute match...and then realized there were 7 MORE minutes waiting in the next part. This really feels like the best Regal performance of the last 2-4 years. He's had other great stuff in that time to be sure, but this was twice as long as most of those matches and really felt like he could stretch his wings (and clearly showed that he has no problem filling time in matches). It's matches like these that make me want to dive full in to FCW, but nothing else there could possibly compete with something like this. Regal was just a beast in this, playing a role I don't remember him playing in a long time. And clearly Regal is great at playing the ruthless killer. Finlay must be kicking himself for thinking of the awesome ring skirt spot, but not thinking about hooking a guy's arm through a turnbuckle. Shoot, I even bought the struggle to get Ambrose' arm out of the turnbuckle, just kicking around like a trapped animal while the ref struggled to pull his arm through. I loved how Regal sold the clothesline/hammer fist to the face. It looked like his orbital bone exploded. There wasn't really anything that DIDN'T work about this, from Regal's awesome mule kicks, all the arm work, the forearms, everything. This was really a great, great war. I would've have loved to see another Ambrose comeback spot, but still this was so awesome.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE REGAL

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 11/5/11

2011-11-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

1. Robin/Freesbee vs. Camorra/Zayko:

Probably my favorite Robin match of the year so far, seems to be breaking out a bit and gaining confidence. I liked his armdrag exchanges (and they looked better compared to a couple of Freesbee's). I also loved his fast fall-ending rana (and I forget if it was Zayko or Camorra that SUWA'd the rana and made it look worthy of finishing a fall). Robin also had an awesome out of control dive in the 3rd, sending Camorra flying. Zayko and Camorra are serviceable but fairly uninteresting rudos. Camorra at least is starting to make it look like he's legitimately missing things like clotheslines, instead of just looking like he's getting into position. Freesbee don't do much for me.

2. Metatron/Sensei/Starman vs. Apocalipsis/Bronco/Inquisidor:

That was good clean fun that was about the same amount of time as the first match, but flew by much quicker. Plenty of dives (really liked Sensei's corkscrew asai moonsault), and Bronco hit an insanely great top rope splash to end the 2nd that saw him leap 2/3 of the way across the (large) ring. Very impressive. Inquisidor had a fun but goofy springboard assisted lungblower, Metatron did nothing I remember, and it's always fun seeing a Sensei appearance. It seems like he's only on like once every 6-8 weeks.

3. Ayumi/Estrellita/Luna Magica vs. La Seductora/Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugei:

Opening match card says it's Estrella Magica, but it's kind of hard to miss that it's Estrellita. This match was really fun and the CMLL women have been bringing it pretty nicely in 2011. I'm far from the biggest women's wrestling fan in the world, but I've found myself enjoying a bunch of the CMLL ladies this year. Sugei has quietly been having a real good year, always works stiff and still puts over all the tecnicas (stooges better than maybe all the other women), and Blanca has been just as good, but in different ways. Blanca bumps tecnica offense really well (really gets high on monkey flips, slides far on armdrags). I liked Ayumi's comeback offense, but it was done in a real puro kinda way and the fans didn't seem to respond to it much. Luna Magica is very underrated but always seems to put on a good show. Estrellita has ridiculous fake boobs. And where has Tiffany been, now that I think about it...seems like I haven't seen her in months and she has always been one of my favorite luchadoras.

4. Atlantis/Delta/Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Escorpion/Dragon Rojo Jr.:

First 2 falls were pretty rushed, but the 3rd had tons of good action. Delta especially got to throw in some awesome stuff in the 3rd, with Rey and Rojo bumping around great for him. Delta's rope flip headscissors was done slower than he normally does it, but the end result looked really good. I would have liked more Atlantis vs. Ultimo as all their sections seemed short, but this had tons of moments showcasing the worth of Rey/Maya/Delta.

5. Hector Garza/La Mascara/Super Porky vs. Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr.:

It's really weird that LATV has commercials for syndicated episodes of "The Big Bang Theory" every commercial break. That seems like a very strange show to be pushing to hispanic households. I can't imagine too many spanish speaking American homes gathering around to watch nerds crack jokes about theoretical physics and Deep Space 9, but I'm not in advertising. Very good match that would have been downright awesome if it had a real 2nd fall. La Mascara got to look like a star all throughout this, hitting a bunch of great rana variations and really whipping around on them all cool. There's a fan in the crowd that looks exactly like Terrible. I looked up and saw him standing in the crowd and thought it was Terrible...until I realized Terrible was standing in the ring LOOKING at that guy. It's like wearing a t-shirt of you wearing a t-shirt of you wearing a t-shirt. Garza must have it written into his contract that he just gets to totally own the 3rd fall of every match he's in. He tore it up here with all sorts of cool kicks, made women scream, hit a neat assisted headscissors, Porky hit a fat crossbody off the apron, crowd was way into Mascara, and there was a great moment in the first fall where Terrible just beats the shit out of Porky. Just beats him down with great punches and then kicks him a bunch while he's down. Looked awesome. Porky looks infinitely better with a goatee. I'm so glad it's back. He looked weird with just jowls. Fun match, easily worth the time.

Your'e Going to Get a Place in the Scene, All of the King Orphans Get Face in The Dream

2011-11-06T22:00:00.001-05:00

Jerry Lawler v. The Snowman USWA 6/11/90-GREAT

Totally bizarre spectacle. This is set up by a shoot angle with Snowman coming out of the audience at the TV studio and interrupting a Lawler interview. He accuses Lawler of ducking him because he is Black and they have a really frenetic pull apart. That leads to this match and it was one of the most realistic "guys aren't cooperating" matches I have ever seen. Lots of wild swinging awkward punches and cool Lawler takedowns, there are parts where both guys are going for the eyes which is kind of what you would expect in a racial tinged street fight. Crowd is totally electric, you get the sense they really got the crowd to buy into the whole angle. Reminded me of a Southern Fried version of Onita v. Aoyagi. Match is pretty short (about five minutes, although the footage maybe clipped) and that keeps this from the Epic pile, but it is definitely worth seeing, and something unique for Lawler.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE KING

Finlay Lend Me Ten Pounds and I'll Buy You a Drink, and Mother Wake Me Early in the Morning

2011-11-05T22:00:00.004-04:00

Finlay v. Jon Ryan, WXW 8/13/11

PAS: Solid Finlay performance marred a bit by the awful WXW crowd and a nothing showing from Jon Ryan. Finlay is touring around working a bunch of random guys and this feels like what your standard "Finlay v. a Scrub" match is going to look like. There were some really nice moments of slick matwork, including an awesome headscissors reversal. Finlay also laid in some thudding forearms and kicks. Still Ryan couldn't really live up to his end of the match and his stuff in the end run was especially off. More for your Finlay completists.

ER: I love the "wipe my brow and toss the sweat at my opponent" spot that Finlay has been starting every one of this 2011 indie matches with. As this match goes on, you pretty much realize that this is maybe Finlay's worse opponent of the last 15 years, and just think of the ground that covers. Off the top of my head I can't think of a Finlay WCW opponent that came off worse than Ryan. Lorenzo was probably worse, but we really don't have enough footage to judge from. But here we have 15 minutes of proof that Jon Ryan is a total load. He looks awkward, moves around awkwardly, and throws those lousy little straight arm clotheslines with no follow through (like Randy Orton's, but worse, and without a shred of charisma). But you know what? The match still totally works for me, and it's all because of Fit. The opening matwork was really good, and I'm confident Finlay could've had just as good a segment with me in there, or one of those first aid practice dummies. The headscissor spot Phil mentioned was one of the coolest things I've seen on the mat, ever. When you see a mat spot and think "Jeez, Negro Navarro or Fujiwara should steal that spot!" then you know you've got a bank full of money. Instead of rolling through and doing a kip up out of the headscissors like most do, Finlay does this neat thing where he rolls over onto his stomach, pushes up and kinda...hits Ryan's ankles together to free up space. Looked really cool and seemed just too natural. Total match was fun and Ryan's lousiness didn't seem to get in the way much. Matwork built to some nice clubbing, built to a nice tumble to the floor (both took nice bumps to get there). Finlay saves Ryan's end-run offense. For as much credit Finlay gets for making his offense look great and always looking active, he deserves just as much credit for making everybody else's offense look great. I shudder to think what Ryan's offense would have looked like if it were being taken by some other WXW guy like Axeman. Fun match, well worth checking out.

FINLAYS INDY TOUR

The Flash of Pirata Morgan's Cards Was Sprayed With Red

2011-11-04T22:00:00.003-04:00

Pirata Morgan, Satanico, & Emilio Charles Jr. vs. Blue Demon, Blue Demon Jr., & Ringo Mendoza EMLL 11/25/1988 - EPIC

This is the first match I've ever seen of the legendary Blue Demon, the second biggest star in the history of lucha libre after only El Santo himself. He is 66 years old in this match, and is pretty much at the end of the road, but age seems to be no hindrance to him, as he is balls to the wall fantastic here. His opening mat exchange with Emilio is just stellar, and it would still be considered state of the art if it happened today. Emilio kinda looks like he's being taken for a ride by the old man, but he keeps up pretty well, and his spill out of the ring at the end of it all was neat. Blue Demon Jr. comes in and tries to match his dad's mad skills in an exchange with Pirata. He can't but it's still pretty good, and overall, Junior gives a much better performance than usual. Ringo and Satanico forgo the mat stuff and just have a great, high-energy exchange where Ringo cracks Satanico with headbutts and the sends him out of the ring with a swank flying armdrag. The technicos press the advantage to score the first fall, but the second fall goes the rudos' way, as they isolate Mendoza and really beat the shit out of him. Pirata gets to shine here. I mean, these are three of the all-time great working rudos (with Satanico in particular being on the shortlist for "greatest working rudo"), but I thought he stood out even from this distinguished pack, repeatedly socking Ringo, including a nasty rabbit punch. The Demons manage to break it up eventually, but it's for naught, as Ringo and Blue Demon Sr. get crushed by top rope splashes from Emilio and Pirata respectively, evening things up. Third fall, the rudos try to mob old man Demon, but the technicos rally in style - including Ringo making Pirata pay by dealing two hard straight rights to his face in succession, which was awesome - and pick up the win. Blue Demon is as good as legend says he is, filling the match with tricked-out matwork and drawing some great reactions from the fans. His kid and Ringo bring plenty of energy, and the rudos eat everything and bump around really well, and get to dish out some serious punishment, too, in the second fall. I absolutely loved this, and I really wish more Blue Demon footage was available, because if he was this good at 66, imagine how good he must have been in his prime...though now that I think about it, this is lucha, so 66 might be the peak of his powers.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE PIRATA MORGAN

The King is a Cosmos, The King is the Wind

2011-11-03T22:00:00.001-04:00

Jerry Lawler v. Terry Funk NEW 10/1/11-EPIC

Man I should have made it to Poughkeepsie. No reason a match between two 60 year old men should have been this crazy, but man alive it was. We start with Terry getting on the microphone to pray for all the wrestlers who have passed, I have seen Funk do this spot a bunch of times and I just giggle every time he smacks his opponent with the mike. After cracking the King he chucks Lawler to the floor with Jerry just taking a nutty bump, he also gets posted and smashed into the guard rail and a table. This is less then a week after Lawler got smashed through an ungimmicked table by Henry and also 62 years after his birth and he is just dying. Funk takes some goofy bumps too, including a bunch of chair shots. Both guys unload their epic punches, Funk wanders around with a chair on his head, screams about his eye and rips the pants off Ref Hansen. No strap drop, no piledrivers, but a wild out of control spectacle of a brawl, and you couldn't ask for much more.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE KING

In Anguish Black Terry Pulled His Grey Hair, And The Tears Down His Cheeks They Did Pour

2011-11-02T22:00:00.000-04:00

Black Terry/Robin Marvilla/Dr. Cerebro v. Negro Navarro/Trauma 1/Trauma 2 AULL 10/29/11-GREAT

Just a murderers row of awesome luchadores. This feud with Cerebro Negro in Robin Marvillas places delivered some of my favorite matches of the decade in 2009. This wasn't at that level, it was a sportsman's contest rather then a blood feud, but these guys match up so well. We open up with a Trauma 1 v. Cerebro mat section, and I really love how those guys match up. They are both the bruisers of their team, and all of their exchanges are based as much around strength as technique. Black Terry v. Trauma 2 is much more a speed match up, and the final Robin Marvilla v. Navarro has the story of the young kid over his head but stepping it up. Navarro is just killing it in 2011, and his facial expression really put over Marvilla's stuff. 2nd and 3rd falls were too short for this match to reach the next level, although it had some very nice stuff. Also Terry and Navarro have been teasing us for years, as we get another 90 second taste of what they could do against each other.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

Dick Togo Kill'em and Kiss His Momma's Cheek, That's Manners

2011-11-01T22:00:00.002-04:00

Dick Togo v. Kristian Kurki Fight Club Finland 9/17/11-GREAT

This is part of Togo's European Retirement tour and was really enjoyable to watch. I am hoping more of this stuff continues to show up. Kurki is apparently working a Tom of Finland gimmick as he looks gay porny enough to get an FCW deal. I dug him in this, he was pretty basic, but he had solid looking punches and did some nice work on Togo's leg. Which Dick did an awesome job selling, including a great irish whip collapse. Togo also broke out some cool offense, including a nice Russian legsweep floatover into a crossface. Finish was kind of weird as Kuriki valet distracts Togo and Kurki blasts Togo with a foreign object he appeared to get from a little kid in the audience. Then three guys in black shirts run into the ring and they quadruple team Kurki and allow Togo to smush him with the Senton. Kurki seemed to be working heel the whole match so him getting destroyed like is bizarre booking, although I don't claim to understand Finnish culture, maybe it is a Black Metal thing, no heroes only the damned.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Complete and Accurate Complete and Accurates

2011-11-01T02:00:00.000-04:00

The CAA is one of the Segunda Caida originals. We take a great under-appreciated wrestler and try to watch and catalogue it all. Here is a list of our lists.

Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors Workrate Report, 10/22/11

2011-10-27T10:00:00.001-04:00

Man, it's been a helluva ride.

I genuinely like Rebecca Reyes as a backstage interviewer. She knows when it's appropriate to take the spotlight, and she makes some pretty good facials.

1. Petey Williams vs. Charly Malice:

Kevin Kelly: "Stick around, because Petey Williams is up next!"

That has to be the worst hook to keep viewers watching since "Rocky Romero has a microphone!". Hey burglar, can you just wait right there while I go get my gun? I think I used to like Charly, but I assume he's suffered a lot of injuries over the years as he moves pretty slow here. I remember him splatting to the floor off a ladder (table was set up WAY too far away) in a AAA match, and I'm sure he's still feeling that one. First part of the match is greatest indie hits played slower, but match actually picks up before the commercial break with Charly snapping off a nice rana and then hitting a real fast dive, then Brewer comes out, then Petey Williams demonstrates more of his horrendous transition ability. The guy just has no clue how to get from one spot to the next, and when things ARE strung together, it works less naturally than an Eliminators spot. Just awkwardly moving into position, or telegraphing moves ahead so insanely ahead of time that things just look strange. I'm gonna say it, Petey Williams isn't somebody that I would call good at pro wrestling.

Funny backstage segment with La Parkito and Pequeno Halloween argue very fast in spanish, while Rebecca tries to translate. I thought the minis were good here and Rebecca made a bunch of funny faces. Her and Halloween were also wearing awesome matching cholo-on-Easter bowling shirts....and it turns out there were actually going bowling. So there's a bowling montage set to doo wop music. Parkita doing La Parka dancing to celebrate a strike is one of the better uses of La Parka dancing I've seen.

2. Magno vs. Jon Rekon:

Rekon is the debuting Jon Strongman who legit looks bigger than I've ever seen him here. Rekon at least hits full force on a shoulderblock. A lot of muscled up dudes tend to puss out of their shoulderblocks (likely due to a fear of tearing their pec, shoulder and triceps muscles all at once). I actually like Strongman's punches, too. Guy moves reallllll slow, though. Fun spot with Rekon clotheslining Magno to the back of the head off an attempted springboard. Eh. Match could have been much worse. Strongman looked worlds better than Petey.

3. Tinieblas Jr./Oriental vs. Rellik/Sihdeestychoh vs. San Juan Kid/PR Flyer:

Match was real fun and arguably the best match in the WHOLE 2nd season (!) of LLUSA. Starts out with London doing some sequences against Lyndon/Kendrick, so you know that was awesome. Rellik...may not be the elite-level worker I made him out to be in those other two write-ups. He was alright here, and threw a couple nice superkicks, but man did he stand around awkwardly while waiting to take offense. Tinieblas was definitely a pleasant surprise during these few episodes. I've seen him live a couple times and he was kinda lousy, but he was pretty good on these shows. Bumped well, really liked his rana, seemed a lot more motivated than other guys on this show. Trainwreck dive spot was good, Corleone threw a nice punch when he came out to fight Lizmark (and then wrapped him up in his own cape!), and then Tini/Oriental become the LLUSA tag champs FOREVER.

Man, maybe I should stop reviewing CMLL on Gala and LATV, since my reviews have been the kiss of death to ROH on HDNet and now this. Where will it end!?

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 10/22/11

2011-10-26T10:00:00.001-04:00

1. Trueno/Bengala vs. Camorra/Zayko:

So CMLL loves me so much that they decide to throw up a rematch from the crappy match that happened two weeks ago....except the match was TOTALLY AWESOME THIS TIME! What the fuck happened here!? I've been seeing Bengala and Zayko all year, and these dudes have sucked in everything. Camorra popped up more recently and he was even worse! And yet here we have Zayko looking like a top notch rudo, taking a MASSIVE Jerry bump that saw him spill into the front row, stiffing up the tecnicos (when did he suddenly gain an awesome elbow drop?) and working a convincing mat sequence with Bengala. What the hell is going on here? Camorra doesn't look like a total goof either! In other weeks he's looked like a bad version of Bronco, and now he just kinda...works like Bronco, which is a massive step up. Bengala is still kind of a chump, but you can pair up a fairly bland tecnico with a couple good rudos and suddenly you don't mind their sequences at all. Trueno is a guy with a bunch of potential, and again, good rudo just makes a decent tecnico even better. Man this was a pleasant surprise, especially Zayko. Sooooo many minutes wasted watching Zayko matches this year, and now he's tricking me into actively looking forward to more Zayko matches. I'm such a sucker. You need to watch this to see if I'm crazy. I was eating a donut while watching, so I could have just been basking in the warm glow of cake donut, chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

2. Electrico/Bam Bam/Astral vs. Demus 3:16/Pequeno Warrior/Pierrothito:

Well, this was fucking awesome. Who would have guessed it would be awesome when you have the two best rudo minis (Demus/Pierrothito), the best tecnico mini (Bam Bam), and one of the more underrated minis (Electrico). This was just as awesome as it looks on paper and you want every hot little second of it. For some reason Demus has only been showing up on all the CMLL shows that air in Mexico this year, and almost never showing up on US TV. He and Pierrothito bump faster than you can imagine, flying into and out of the ring and working intricate multi-level spots with numerous guys, always telling cool little stories, making the tecnicos shine and still looking like total badasses. Electrico gets time to shine here, working two GREAT sequences with Demus/Pierrothito, and basically everybody looks good here. Dive train in the 3rd fall is nuts with Astral vaulting off the ring post with a NUTS corkscrew dive, Warrior and Bam Bam flattening the first two rows of chairs (great visual with chairs and fans spilling out everywhere). There are too many great spots and sequences here (Bam Bam getting rana'd off Pierrothito's shoulders was crazy), and you seriously want every single bit of this. So awesome. One of the best minis matches of the year.

3. Ladies Cibernetico! Dallys/Lady Apache/Goya Kong/Silueta vs. Princesa Blanca/Princesa Sugei/Kiara/La Seductora:

This was really awesome, until it got to all the one and done eliminations. First half gave every woman a little chance to shine, including a nice long mat sequence between Apache and Seductora. Crowd is pretty quiet until Goya Kong comes in and then the crowd instantly wakes up, cheering and blowing air horns and going nuts. This gal is over. Between Goya Kong and Melissa McCarthy, 2011 is becoming the year of the BBW. My girlfriend Rachel warms my heart by recognizing Princesa Sugei, saying, "Hey, that's the one woman that works stiffer than all the other women!" Yes. She completely is. I have never seen Kiara and Silueta doesn't show up too much, so it was neat seeing them in longer segments. Blanca is really good and doesn't seem to get talked up that much by people who enjoy ladies wrestling. So yeah, first 10 minutes are really fun, but then once people start running in, getting eliminated by one move, someone else runs in and eliminates someone with one move, etc. it starts getting pretty meh. Still well worth checking out. This is a killer week of LATV so far.

4. Metro/Sagrado/Stuka Jr. vs. Virus/Euforia/Vangelis:

Looks good on paper, in practice it doesn't go very long. Tecnicos win in straight falls, pretty by the numbers in the limited time they got. Virus works twice as fast as everybody else, Vangelis has some cool vulture spots (where he just kinda swoops in and kicks a dude while he's distracted), and nothing bad happens...it's just super short.

5. La Sombra/Hector Garza/La Mascara vs. Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr.:

Yeah! Now this is an ace main event! Garza is just killer here and the crowd is amped to boo team TRT. Buccanero clearly lost a hair match that I have not watched yet. Garza/Sombra with a sweet asai moonsault (landing on the feet) into an instant standing moonsault to end the first fall. Crowd shot of a cute woman in the crowd screaming her head off as Garza removes his shirt. Sombra starts to remove his and Terrible/Texano instantly kick the shit out of him. There wasn't a dull moment here and these guys all match up really nicely. 20 minutes breezes by and judging by a horrendous recent Observer poll, more people really need to get on the 2011 Hector Garza tip.

Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors Workrate Report, 10/15/11

2011-10-25T10:00:00.001-04:00

Turns out it will be even easier to write up the complete TV run of this fed's 2nd season than I had originally thought. I would have to be either really lazy or really unmotivated to not finish up a whopping 3 episode run. LLUSA, your 2nd season was the Emily's Reasons Why Not of Saturday morning cable wrestling. I'm pretty sure more episodes of Secret Diary of Desmond Pfeiffer made it to air.

1. San Juan Kid/PR Flyer vs. Oriental/Tinieblas Jr.:

Well, this was about as good as you'd hope a 4 minute match interrupted by a commercial would be. The PR team is Louis Lyndon and Flip Kendrick, who I like. Tini is way bigger than the PR team but he makes it work alright here, taking two big bumps to the floor and taking a Lyndon headscissors really well. It's good to see Oriental on my TV again. Lyndon is a better version of Brian Kendrick (hot tag offense looks better, better forearms, cool jumping knee instead of that flimsy flippy heel kick thing) and Flip Kendrick is hits a couple big dives. 2 minutes on either side of a commercial ain't much, but what are you going to do?

Something about me likes Rebecca Reyes' on-the-nose backstage reporting style, as she tries tracking down the interfering hooded ninja from the previous match (oh yeah, previous match ended with a couple of hooded ninja's running in), is too late as one of them leaves in a speeding car...but she finds his cape, walking us through all of the motions. "I'm trying to chase down this hooded ninja....he just escaped into that car....hey, what's this, a cape? What are these initials on the cape...S.L.?"

I'm sure a fed who gives regular TV promo time to John Walters and Petey Williams every week is a fed who really wants to stay on TV for the long haul. I like how both of them need to act like heels, so they actually rub their chins when they're plotting something. They saw some sort of elementary school production of a Dudley Do-Right/Snidely Whiplash short and thought the 5th grader playing Snidely wasn't playing it "broad strokes" enough for most of the audience to get.

2. Siddyzteecko vs. Marco Corleone:

This...could actually be fun. And Corleone hits a hard shoulderblock that knocks London upside down, and it looks awesome. That's kind of the story of the whole match: Corleone hits a variety of shoulderblocks and clotheslines, and London does flat back bumps for them. I'm pretty sure London's only piece of offense is throwing Corleone into the post while he's distracted by Rellik. Corleone instantly recovers and it's more back bumps for London. Corleone hits his big springboard clothesline, hits a no hands running dive over the top onto London, Rellik and Lizmark Jr. London takes a spectacular bump, getting pushed off the top rope and crashing head/neck first on the apron and onto the floor. But it really never got super interesting because it was so damned one-sided. The rudos attack and Shane Helms runs out for the save. Was this stuff taped a year ago? Rellik takes a fast bump to the floor. I'm calling out Cubsfan on his irrational Rellik hatred. Dude is easily one of the top 10 jacked white guys in LLUSA.

Was being paired with Rebecca Reyes the main reason why Pequeno Halloween left CMLL to join this fed?

3. Hair vs. Mask!! RJ Brewer vs. Magno:

Magno actually makes a rope flip moonsault look like it has impact. That's impressive. Most guys rotate too fast and hit their ankles into the mat before their body lands. Magno's landed really even and looked good. Brewer takes a nice bump over the top, catching his feet and landing painfully on his hip (catching feet seemed somewhat planned, btw). Post-commercial break is all about Brewer holding chinlocks and doing suplexes while Magno seems most concerned with pulling his shirt down over his tummy. Magno does the Chaos Theory German suplex and I always like how that looks. Brewer goes sprawling in a nice way from it. Brewer throws a nice punch with a chain for a pinfall, but the ref finds the chain, restarts the match and Magno wins. Brewer gets his hair cut. It appears like it's been like 2 weeks since his last hair cut, so this was probably pretty convenient for him. This was OK. About what you'd expect, really.

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 10/15/11

2011-10-24T10:00:00.001-04:00

1. Pequeno Halcon/Aereo vs. Pequeno Universo 2000/Mercurio:

A bunch of minis who rarely make TV, I really like the two rudos though. Mercurio and Universo bump around great for the bland tecnico offense, especially Univero. He adds an extra snap to all the little armdrags and other things that could look really lifeless otherwise. Mercurio hits a boss corkscrew plancha and there isn't too much to this, all empty calories but it goes down super smooth. Suddenly 20 minutes goes by and you don't remember much of what happened, but nothing offended you and you had a good time.

2. Leono/Molotov/Trueno vs. Bronco/Rayo Tapatio I/Rayo Tapatio II:

Yes! The Tapatios finally back on my TV screen. This was like a throwback match to LATV a year ago, where they would just throw on these heatless openers with fun rudos who never make TV. This was from a Fan Appreciation show so the crowd is heated and it rocks. Los Rayos and Bronco are great old style rudos who don't do much on offense but they make so-so tecnicos shine and put over their offense wonderfully. The older Rayo is just the best, as he really works like my favorite type of rudo (like an Arkangel or Dinamitas type) who will throw a great back elbow, work the mat, and then take a bunch of armdrags. He just blasts Molotov with a back elbow out of the corner that just made me squeal with glee. Bronco is like the Stevie Richards of lucha, as he has zero offense, but is always compelling in matches. All the tecnicos are just fine, but this was a great show for the rudos. I'm glad CMLL throws these guys on TV every so often.

3. Angel de Plata/Fuego/Pegasso vs. Hijo Del Signo/Nosferatu/Raziel:

Theme of the night is solid rudos who know their role. Pegasso kinda bums me out because I always think he's Rey Cometa when I first see him, but Cometa is way better. Pegasso usually hits a decent dive or rana or something, but whatever. Fuego keeps getting TV time and the more I see him, the more I like him. Signo seems like the kind of worker who is guaranteed to never get pushed. All the young fliers get pushed, and he's like a young Cien Caras, which is not what the young women and children want to see these days. I love you though, Signo. Plata hits a big dive, Signo boots dudes in the stomach, business as usual, nothing flashy nothing bad, fun solid 2011 lucha match.

4. Ephesto/Misterioso Jr./Vangelis vs. Angel de Oro/Black Warrior/Metro:

Too short to mean much of anything, but I like all the guys here. Vangelis inspires fans to bring a bunch of Nazi signs to Arena Mexico which is...difficult...to explain to my girlfriend. This just went by so freaking quick that I hardly remember anything in this.

5. Atlantis/Hijo Del Fantasma/La Mascara vs. Mr. Niebla/Ultimo Guerrero/Volador Jr.:

Another super quick match as it goes by in two straight falls, but there is TONS of stuff to see in these quick falls. This was a total Volador showcase as he really makes Mascara work for his tecnico pops. Cuts him realllll low on missed clotheslines and really allows Mascara's spots to have maximum value. Niebla and Ultimo ain't no slouches here either, with Ultimo hitting his awesome butt splash in the corner and Niebla just blasting somebody in the corner with his awesome left hand. Atlantis is really a truly great tecnico as he was just on fire throughout all of this. But still, Volador, people. Volador. His timing is expert and he carries himself like a total superstar. It's hard not to get into everything that this guy does. He's like the best possible version of rudo Mistico. So yeah, super short match, nothing MOTY worthy, but there's tons of good stuff here crammed into a tiny amount of time.

CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 9/3/11

2011-10-23T10:00:00.001-04:00

Had some lucha on my DVR, and CMLL has been the lucha fed I've enjoyed most in 2011, so I figured why not start writing some of this stuff up? Also big ups to Cubsfan. Not only did his team get an awesome GM that actually understands sabermetrics (and doesn't judge talent based on "gut instinct" or "grittiness" or "gamesmanship"), but he uploads a bunch of lucha to youtube that allows me to share it with you! So go check out Cubsfan's site. It's awesome and provides an insane amount of resources.

1. Misterioso Jr. vs. Hijo del Fantasma:

So up until this match I was digging Fantasma as a guy who knew how to pick his spots in a trios, and this was the first time I've seen him as a singles. I don't like him as much as a singles worker. There were many times during this that felt like Misterioso was working with a limp body, especially on the mat. It felt like an even weirder version of Weekend at Bernie's. Instead of trying to throw a raging party or taking a boat, Misterioso just wants to work mat transitions and headscissor spots. Fantasma does hit a few nice dives and a big moonsault off the post, but those spots work nicer as big spots in a trios instead of just having Misterioso constantly have to bump to the floor to get ready to catch him for more spots. Misterioso does wrap himself nicely around a turnbuckle, and since Cassandro isn't showing up more than once per year, I'm glad I get to see somebody take that crazy spot every couple weeks. Misterioso's tassles are fucking awesome, for the record.

2. Shocker/Hector Garza/La Sombra vs. Rey Buccanero/Terrible/Texano Jr.:

Garza shaved his goatee and I don't like it. It's like when your dad shaves his mustache when you're 17 and you're like, "Who the hell are you?" He has a soul patch now, which is also like when your dad grows a soul patch and starts wearing Tommy Bahama shirts. Careful, Hector. First fall is dominated by the rudos and they all have some really great triple team spots, with catapults into fireman's carries into cool sentons and general beatdown. 2nd fall is quick and nothing much happens until the 3rd...which is MONEY. 3rd caida is literally one of the best caidas of the year. Such a great damn fall with big action and everybody getting a chance to shine. A really great 8 minutes of lucha. To the surprise of nobody, Garza is a huge star of the 3rd. He was great all match, falling into all the rudos offense in the 1st, but the 3rd he just owns. Always in the right place, and just being a great general. His rope running against Rey is fast and more impressive than any vanilla indy midget you'll see, and the lightning fast rana spot off the middle rope was beautiful. Terrible and Texano get double points for beating him down during his shirt removal spot. Sombra hits his INSANE handspring dragon rana to the floor which will never cease to amaze me. Shocker works some great armdrag spots and is still firey (his weight makes it obviously difficult to get up quickly to work spot-spot-spot like Garza, but on the plus side Shocker does have the most motorboatable tits in lucha), and this fall just rules and I love everything about it. Again, one of my favorite falls of the year, and the match as a whole is well worth checking out.

THE MOTHERFUCKING INTERNET: West Virginia Necro

2011-10-22T20:20:00.002-04:00

Necro Butcher v. Mark Savior WVWA 10/1/11

Total gritty ass redneck brawl. Everything you want a Necro Butcher match in a West Virginia Church Basement to look like. He takes the toughest meth cook in town and beats him into a really entertaining match. We have a screaming fight between Necro's morbidly obese valet and a morbidly obese woman in the front row, Chairs to the face, Necro taking a lunatic bump off the apron and a really great finish. As much pure fun as any match I have seen this year.

CMLL on LATV Workrate Report, 10/8/11

2011-10-18T10:00:00.001-04:00

1. Trueno/Bengala vs. Camorra/Zayko

Well...this wasn't that good. I don't really like the two rudos, but I can see Zayko being OK in a couple years. I don't think Camorra has been doing this for too long so I don't really expect much out of him and don't get much. He's your pretty standard newbie rudo, backcrackers and all. He bumps in really slow motion and is just boring. Zayko can at least bump to the outside off headscissors OK. Bengala is a guy I've seen a bunch and he regularly shows why he is right where he belongs, working paint-by-numbers openers at Arena Mexico. He never shows any emotion and there's rarely any flow to anything he does. It seems like before he does anything, he says to himself, "OK, now I have to do *this*". "OK, now I have to flip him over. OK, now I have to put on a surfboard." There's that delay. Trueno is a good tecnico and seems to have more potential than the others here, though he has a problem overshooting things. This was the definition of a skippable opener.

2. Goya Kong/Marcela/Ray vs. Amapola/La Seductora/Mima Shimoda:

Quick and fun women's match. Goya Kong is always a blast as the crowd always loves her and she uses her size well (big butt attacks, and an awesome "trust fall" senton where she just fell straight backwards onto an opponent), but also does really nice armdrags and has a very nice springboard arm drag that looks impressive. Marcela always looks great and is arguably the best luchadora in CMLL, with Amapola the being the other one I would argue for. This is great because they match up a few times and look great. Ray is a Tajiri student who I had never seen, but had some fun flying offense, nice rana, silly little dive off the apron. I really dug Shimoda's axe kick to a seated Ray. Fun popcorn match with not too much substance, but plenty of fun individual moments.

3. Angel de Plata/Metal Blanco/Palacio Negro vs. Cancerbero/Nosferatu/Raziel:

Some good moments, some stumbly moments, overall fairly decent. The rudos trio are kinda hard to pin down into a "quality of work" hierarchy. Every match I see, a different member of the group looks like the better worker. I think it's called the "Los Oficiales Conundrum". Cancerbero seems to get better every match, and Raziel is probably the most consistent. Nosferatu has impressed me before but has had a pretty bleh 2011. So I'd go Cancerbero, Raziel, Nosferatu. Nosferatu also doesn't do anything remotely like a vampire. He doesn't even have fangs on his mask as far as I can tell. Blanco can be fun when his spots are on, but he seemed just a *little* off in this one. And his knees and ankles hate him for not being able to enter a ring without doing a springboard flip while landing on his feet. I do like Blanco's springboard "crotch myself, then bounce off the middle rope back to the top rope and do a rana" spot. Palacio Negro seems to get some praise around the internet, and sometimes his spots are cool, but other times there is a hilariously awesome amount of set-up time. It's like when Chris Hero was working his "2001 JAPW throwback" gimmick and the NOAH fans were confused. Negro can't just do a rana to the guy on the floor, he has to bounce off the opposite ropes, roll over the top rope to the floor, spin around, then do a rana. That being said, his ranas always do look nice when he actually finally does them.

4. Blue Panther/Super Porky/Toscano vs. Ephesto/Euforia/Vangelis:

This was good, and quite frankly if it had been nothing but the two minutes of Panther/Ephesto matwork then I would've loved it just as much. Panther is having one helluva year, and my favorite part of it is all the different people he's worked. When Panther comes into the match against an opponent I haven't seen him work so far this year, it's always a really exciting moment, and it seems like he always gets a solid 2 minutes against a bunch of these guys. So far when looking back at the year, when you think of who so and so matched up best with, Panther's name is always the one that immediately comes up. Panther, Virus and Arkangel all can hang their hats on certain workers' "best 2 minutes" this year. I'm pretty sure this was Ephesto's best 2 minutes this year, and he's always good. Panther seems to work the mat different with every single person he works, doing things I've never seen him do before each and every time. Him slowly getting out of an Ephesto headscissors was maybe my favorite mat transition of the year. All the bridging back and forth and fighting for leverage just looked totally great.

Toscano was wearing some absolutely ridiculous jorts that just came off too desperate. I just don't know what to do with you Tarzan Boy. Dude has to be one of the lazier workers of the last 10 years, and it's annoying because when he tries then he can totally rock it. His 3rd fall performance here (once he did a Garza and removed the stupid pants) was awesome, with him whipping off a great rana and a great missle dropkick. The more I see Euforia the more I love him, just a big bumping rudo who allows tecnicos to shine. Vangelis always stands out since he's a power worker and usually the only power worker in a given match. Here he hits a cool spear through the ropes onto the rampway and a nice dive into Panther. Also of note was Blue Panther getting a hot tag and starting to undo his pants, threatening to remove his tights while poking fun at Toscano getting a cheap pop from the ladies. Blue Panther, ladies and gentleman: Best wrestler in the world, 2011?

5. Atlantis/Hijo Del Fantasma/Mascara vs. Mr. Niebla/Ultimo Guerrero/Volador Jr.:

Niebla hides on the rampway to start and blindside Atlantis after he makes it down the stairs and while all of this is fun while it lasts, I knew we weren't long for this world (match started with about 11 minutes left in the show). Rudos get DQ'd 2 straight falls in a row, first one for taking Atlantis' mask off, 2nd for Niebla just punting Atlantis in the balls right in front of the ref. Volador was awesome trying to roll up Atlantis immediately following the ball shot, as if nothing happened. The rudos get fun runs with Fantasma in the 2nd, with Ultimo leveling him with a shoulderblock (great bump by Fantasma), Fantasma and Ultimo work a lightning fast segment where Fantasma charged, got tossed to the top rop by Ultimo, Ultimo gets his arm kicked away (love that spot) and then Fantasma snaps off a rana. Volador has the same luck against him, with Fantasma nailing him with a big enziguiri. Niebla figures out the Fantasma riddle my just punching him in the face and it rules. Super short match, but enough fun moments for me to enjoy.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara Cometh, and They Shall Seek Peace, And There Shall Be None

2011-10-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

Yoshiaki Fujiwara/Kana v. Yuki Ishikawa/Carlos Amano Kana Pro 1/10/11-EPIC

A total out of nowhere awesome match. I have very little interest in current Joshi, I haven't seen Carlos Amano in years and I don't think I had ever seen Kana, but they were just killing it in this match. Their early grappling was very slick, with some really nasty ankle locks and armbar transitions. Very good stuff, as intricate and interesting as that kind of shoot mat work gets. Ishikawa and Fujiwara click together like puzzle pieces. There is a great moment where Fujiwara tags in and slaps Ishikawa in the mouth, and when Ishikawa tries to respond Fujiwara grabs his arm and wrenches in the namesake armbar. After watching and reviewing this many Fujiwara matches it is great that he still breaks out new neat shit. As good as everyone else is, this was the Ishikawa show. Every once in a while Ishikawa shows up on DVD or youtube and reminds you he is the best wrestler in the world. Starting out he is such a nasty fucker, smacking around Kana like Billy Campbell in Enough. However Kana fires back and his selling is so good that by the end we have a full on epic Ishikawa v. Ikeda finish with the role of Daisuke Ikeda played by a 97 pound girl. Kana is throwing bombs and Ishikawa is desperately fighting back. Excellent match as good as the best stuff from 2011.

Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Yoshikazu Yokoyama Zero-One 8/27/11-FUN

Yokoyama is a young guy testing himself against the wily veteran. This a story we have seen before and Fujiwara is great at working. He does a bunch of very cool counters, including a nice use of a crucifix and an ankle pick reversal out of an armbar. He also uncorked a nasty headbutt. Yokoyama didn't show me a ton although he was a fine guy getting worker over by Fujiwara. Worth your four minutes to watch

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE YOSHIAKI FUJIWARA

CMLL on Galavision Workrate Report, 10/8/11

2011-10-14T10:00:00.001-04:00

1. Euforia/Misterioso Jr. vs. Dragon Lee/Stuka Jr.

Crowd is insanely hot for this from the very beginning, for reasons I don't totally know. The whole first fall they are just going nuts for everything. Misterioso is wearing an awesome watermelon colored outfit that's tassled to the nines. If you don't go tassled out for the anniversary show, then when else would you? Euforia owns the first fall by taking some big headscissors from Lee and Stuka and really whipping around for all of Lee's offense. Stuka's no-look reverse tope over the turnbuckle is just a nutso spot. Que Monito adds the splash off the apron for added humiliation.

2nd fall is absolutely insane and totally awesome. Euforia is going bonkers bumping in this, and the tecnicos are passing out ranas for free. Lee hits a crazy running springboard one into the ring, the runs and does one to the rampway. Then Stuka leaps from the top rope to the rampway with another rana. Tecnicos off the entrance way with stereo moonsaults...but it all leads to the rudos getting the fall back in the ring. Fun fall while it lasted, and again, the crowd is going nuts during all this.

3rd fall is hot again and they all try and out crazy each other. Misterioso takes the massive Cassandro ringpost bump to the floor, and then Lee monkeyflips his own partner Stuka off the rampway and into Misterioso. Lee stands up, runs down the rampway and somersaults over the top rope into a ring, doing a dragon rana to Euforia in the process. Euforia rolls to the floor, then Stuka gets used as a standing boost so Lee can do a massive moonsault to the floor onto Euforia. From the Misteriodo bump to the big moonsault, just a crazy awesome sequence. Pinfalls start coming next, end comes when Misterioso boots Monito
and goes up top to hit a giant version of his sitout guillotine driver thing.

Super fun match with tons of giant spots that looked great. Crowd was molten throughout the whole thing which really made everything feel more exciting. Highly recommended to people who love some big spots with their wrestling.

2. Torneo Cibernetico: Rey Buccanero vs. Felino vs. Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas vs. Rush vs. Terrible vs. Maximo vs. Texano Jr.:

This is kinda odd, as it's a cibernetico from two weeks before the Anniversary show cibernetico, that never aired when they aired the rest of the stuff from that card. This started fairly late, 45 minutes into the one hour block (and by the way, I'm not loving that Galavision is only giving one hour to lucha now. Is this a permanent thing? Getting two matches a week is not nearly as good as getting 4 matches.), and might have been clipped as it seemed a lot shorter than most ciberneticos they do (only 13 minutes or so), but then again it also has way less participants than ciberneticos usually have...sooo...

Blue Panther was really awesome in this, and he's pretty much the best worker in the world in 2011. His segment near the beginning against Negro was really fun with them slapping each other around like old grizzled vets. The crowd sounded notably amped when they got in against each other, kinda making a loud "Ohhhhhh no they didn't" noise in unison when they started to square off. Panther's segment against Felino may have been ever better as Felino kicks the pace up to 11 and starts working really fast. Rush hits his nice swanton to the floor (I love how much the crowd just hates Rush, as I agree with them fully. He's a guy I just want to see beaten. I want him to lose a hair match sooooo badly), Maximo gets a nice run of crying while getting his titties chopped, then hits a GIANT tope headbutt on Rush that sends Rush crashing throw the first row of chairs, and leaves fans laughing at Rush's pain. The eliminations come pretty fast and loose at this point, with people getting pinned by things they normally wouldn't. Not bad, but pretty short.

Fun show that flew by (there ARE always a lot of commercials on Gala, though, so with a DVR you can blow through this stuff pretty quick), and that opening tag was more than worth the price of admission.

Wednesday Night Bootleg- TJ Lucha

2011-10-12T22:00:00.002-04:00

L.A. Park v. Dr. Wagner Jr. Tijuana 10/7/11

Switching it up a bit for this weeks Wed. night bootleg, as we go to a big title match in Tijuana Mexico. Park and Wagner work a more standard lucha title match as opposed to the crazy brawl they usually do (although there are a couple of nasty spots with a wooden board). Pretty neat to see these guys work the mat and exchange suplexes and armdrags. PARK hits a nasty tope and they build to a neat finishing run. Very fun match.

Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors Workrate Report, 10/8/11

2011-10-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

This was on TV and my DVR picked it up, so why not. They have some minis I like and I used to dig Corleone.

Lizmark Jr. out with a promo to start! And man, Charly Manson footage is all over this show. Isn't that guy going to be in prison for many years? Lizmark is awesome on the stick because he talks just like Antichristo. Lizmark hired a guy to paint a portrait of him at ringside tonight! So he's going to go start posing! So that means Sydistiko gets the mic. Sydistiko is really bad on the mic. So he talks a lot.

1. Magno/Rocky Romero vs. Treachery (Rellik/Sydistiko):

Oh man, and the announcer says what everybody wants to here, "Rocky Romero has a microphone!" It goes about as well as you imagine it would.

Sydistiko is Paul London and holy lord 2 minutes later he is still horrible on the mic, now made worse by having a mic duel with Romero. He does a bunch of "crazy" laughing and while I don't think anybody does that well, London does it worse than most.

Everybody in the ring to start and it isn't very good. Announcers keep calling the ring "the hexalateral ring". That probably won't catch on as much as "The Octagon", and I am bummed they did not try and carve out their niche with a two-sided ring, but oh well. Call me crazy, but Rellik actually looked good for large parts of this. Everybody in it looked awkward a lot of the time, but Rellik looked...the least awkward. He threw nice low clotheslines, made Romero look good by taking all his ranas and armdrags great (including one nice bump where he threw Romero up for a flapjack and Romero swung it into a rana). Yeah, Rellik made Romero offense look really good, and that has to count for something. He also made a Romero clothesline look hard and made his preposterous Sliced Bread variation look good, so Rellik is my new favorite LLUSA worker. Romero hit a nice fast dive on London but then the last 2 minutes totally fall apart, some ninja interferes and kicks a chair into Rellik's face, who gets up moments later to do a rope run sequence with Romero anyway. Magno hits a nice corkscrew splash off the top for the win. Rellik all the way, baby!

RJ Brewer/Petey Williams promo! Their stable is called "The Right" which sounds...problematic. Brewer is a real old 30, and Petey Williams of all people talks about how much it makes him sick seeing these circus performers disgracing his sport. I'm positive that you can go to any small local circus, and every performer in it will show more performance acuity than Petey Williams. My family and I went on a cruise to South America years ago, and there was a misled white teenager on board with really bad dreads, who spent most of the trip practicing with his devil sticks. On the final night of the cruise the on board entertainment is "Talent Show" using volunteers from the passengers. Some frat boys did an acapella Boyz II Men song (seriously), two teenage girls from Texas did a dance routine to the song "Lightning Crashes" by Live (seriously), and that misled white teenager with bad dreads did a "performance" with his devil sticks with no music, minimal pre-planning, or any actual stick juggling skill. And he showed more chops performing in front of crowds than Petey Williams does.

Video is shown of Rebecca Reyes marrying Pequeno Halloween, then secret footage is shown of Tigresa Caliente roofying her drink, which made her forget getting married to Halloween. She sounds really disinterested as she does voice over of the footage: "Oh, you know what? She's putting something in my drink! I bet you that's why I didn't remember anything." I assume she sounds so disinterested because - being with Matt Hardy - she's likely had any number of things slipped into her drink and/or bloodstream that she just assumes this is what people do. I hope she's more convincing on the witness stand than she was during her VO work.

2. Pequeno Halloween/Tigresa Caliente vs. Octagoncito/Mascarita Dorada:

Tigresa has a weirder HGH belly than Scott Steiner. She seriously appears to be pregnant here. Announcers: "There is no woman alive who is built like Tigresa." I'll be honest you guys, you may find this hard to believe, but Tigresa ruined the match. I know if I was in the back laying out a match that featured three really good minis, and one uncomfortably shaped uncoordinated woman, I would write it out so that the uncoordinated woman was in the ring for every second of the match. Mini Halloween looked GREAT in this, though. I think the CMLL minis have suffered a bit this year without him as a base anchoring the rudo teams. Here he bumps all over (including the awesome Halloween bump sliding under the bottom rope) and really is just a perfect base for Dorada. I don't know if I've ever seen something more awkward than Tigresa working spots with Dorada. That had to be a rib. And speaking of ribs, Tigresa does a horrifying kneedrop to Octagoncito that appears to land full force and had to have hurt BAD. Then Rebecca gets in the ring and her and Tigresa work shirt tearing spots for what seems like many minutes. But hey...Pequeno Halloween worked like Pequeno Halloween!

Marco Corleone comes out and destroys Lizmark Jr.'s painting that he's had commissioned this evening. The announcers are stunned. In a week or two when someone brings out a cake, I assume they'll all unwittingly stand next to it with plates waiting to get a slice.

3. Petey Williams vs. Super Nova:

Heyyyy this was a Petey Williams match. He has a weird way of taking a big bump, and making it look like it didn't hurt at all. Here he gets thrown over the top and crashes to the floor, but it looks about as painful as stepping off a curb. Petey works the leg and it's just not very good. Then Nova gets a good comeback spot, until randomly just stopping the comeback after a spinning heel kick, selling doing the move just as much as Petey sells taking the move. Both of them, just lying there, for a loooong time. Super Nova adjusts his pants a lot. Match ends at some point.

Post match we get Magno and Brewer exchanging challenges for a mask vs. hair match NEXT WEEK! I take the clippers to my hair, and Brewer's hair is somehow shorter than mine, so that will be a blast!

So...Rellik? I liked Rellik?

You're His For The Taking, Pirata Morgan Is Making A Career Of Evil

2011-10-08T22:00:00.003-04:00

Pirata Morgan, Babe Face, & Cien Caras vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., La Fiera, & Lizmark EMLL 1986 - EPIC

Hey, you know who's an all-time great worker who you almost never see get talked up as one? La Fiera. And even if this match had nothing else going for it, this would still be an EPIC performance for him. Fortunately, this does have other stuff going for it, mostly in the form of Babe Face, whom Fiera would have a hair vs. hair match with the following week, and man, do they ever psyche you up for it here. Match opens with Babe Face posting Fiera and Fiera doing a disgusting bladejob off of it, and Babe Face starts punching and headbutting the open wound. The rest of the match is spent on Babe Face beating the shit out of Fiera, and Fiera doing a truly sublime job of selling it before finally getting his opening and turning the tables, busting Babe Face open in the process. The one downside to the awesomeness of all of this, though, is that Pirata and the rest of the gang are mostly thrown into the background here. He does still get to do some cool stuff, including the first appearance of the Muta-style blood spit (Fiera's, natch) in this project, and a moment where he knocked Lizmark through the ropes so he was hanging upside-down by his feet outside the ring, followed by him kicking out his legs so Lizmark fell head-first onto the floor. They were in the middle ropes, so it wasn't that big of a drop, but still, ouch. There was also some great brawling outside of the ring from all six guys in the finall fall, which included Pirata taking a flip bump into the ring apron, and an awesome exchange between him and Rayo at the end of the match where Rayo picked him up and chucked him over the top rope to floor, and followed up with a huge crossbody suicida from the top rope. Still this is less of an EPIC Pirata match than an EPIC match that happened to have Pirata in it as a positive contributor.

Pirata Morgan, Satanico, & MS-1 vs. Dos Caras, Canek, & Voodoo Mulumba UWA 9/18/1987 - SKIPPABLE

There were moments where this threatened to creep into FUN territory. The second fall, taken on it's own, was kinda entertaining, with a good Canek/Satanico exchange, a solid Pirata/Dos exchange, and MS-1 bumping big for Mulumba. But this one was never gonna go far, because Voodoo Mulumba is one of the shittiest wrestlers I have ever seen in my life. Mulumba, for those who don't know, is the infamous Big Red Reese, the guy they brought into Memphis to feud with Bill Dundee after he beat Lawler in the '85 loser leaves town match, and he absolutely bombed on top. Here, he's in with five other guys, all of whom I like to some degree or another, so the suck is diluted a little. But he's still the center of the match, and that's not good, because he is to fat guy wrestlers what Giant Gonzalez was to tall guy wrestlers. He is the fat guy wrestler who can't even be called upon to do basic fat guy wrestling stuff effectively. He almost falls over doing the "sit-down splash out of a sunset flip attempt" spot. His teammates Irish whip MS-1 into him so that he'll get knocked down by Mulumba's girth...and it's Mulumba who's driven back. The only other worthwhile thing about the match - which is also Pirata's one notable contribution to it - is the post-match, where the defeated Infernales dare Mulumba to come back and face them again, including Pirata climbing on MS-1's shoulders to overcome his size advantage. Otherwise, this is the first actively terrible match I've watched for this thing.

Pirata Morgan, Electroshock, & Bestia Salvaje vs. Negro Casas, Felino, & Heavy Metal AAA/CMLL 6/17/2000 - GREAT

This was from the big interpromotional "Padrisimo" show at Plaza de Toros, and Los Hermanos Casas get to reunite nine years before they could do it full-time in CMLL. Pepe Tropicasas is also one of the refs in this alongside El Tirantes, and we get a sweet moment in the beginning where he hugs all of his sons. But Pirata isn't much for sentimentality, and this breaks down pretty quickly into an out of control brawl. Everyone is working double time in this, but unsurprisingly, it's Pirata and Casas who are the stars here. Both guys are fucking bulldozers, knocking down everything that gets in their paths with fists, feet, and lariats. And their exchanges with each other are what you would hope they would be, particularly the one at the top of the match where Pirata drops Casas with a nasty powerbomb, and their wild brawling exchange leading to a false finish spot near the end. Said false finish is one of the better uses of referees as active participants in a match that I've seen, with Casas procuring La Casita and Tropi going to make the count, but Tirantes shoves him over and breaks up the pin. Pepe's not having any of that shit, though, so he gets back up and socks Tirantes in the jaw, and starts wailing on him in a manner befitting his family. The refs are pulled apart by the wrestlers, both get ejected in favor of Roberto Rangel, and the match ends shortly thereafter with all three Casas brothers grabbing La Casita on their opponents simultaneously for the win. They celebrate with their dad while Pirata is held back by AAA compatriot Elctroshock from attacking Bestia, whose CMLLness clearly is what cost them the match. This is only a single fall match, and there is one egregious Heavy Metal highspot flub (he tries to leap onto the top rope to do a flip onto Bestia on the outside, but he doesn't land the jump to the top right, and Bestia has to stand there like a dope while Heavy Metal tries to get his balance), but otherwise, this all action with everyone delivering the goods, and a fun finish where Tropicasas gets to channel his inner raging dad at his sons' Little League game. Pirata vs. Casas is a match-up that I need to see more of.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE PIRATA MORGAN

APW TV Workrate Report: 4/16/11

2011-10-08T22:00:00.002-04:00

Looks like we finally get the big Derek Sanders vs. Poor Little Will Rood match tonight. I have been waiting AGES to see that little mooch Rood finally get what's coming to him. You talk about ingrates, then Rood's name will come up. "Boohoo. My boss got upset when I failed at my job over and over again." Puhhhh-lease. I recommended somebody for a job once, and they didn't show up on the 2ND DAY. They came in 5 hours late and said they had fallen off a ladder. They then forgot which knee they were supposed to be selling as the day went on, alternating between their left and right, or forgetting altogether. I felt like a fool for ever recommending that guy. How do you think the person that recommended Will Rood feels? What a disappointment this guy is.

Great Russia has welded FOREVER to STAND! Alexis Derevko is up first!

1. Alexis Derevko vs. Daniel Torch. Matthew Theall tries feebly to put over Derevko's "50 lb." chain that he carries to the ring. That chain, which is about 3' long and has about 20 links. 50 pounds it is then. Torch is officially the tiniest and scrawniest and greasiest of all indy kickers. Dude should use some conditioner, and not some of that cheap 2-in-1 bullshit. Long hair is a commitment, like pet ownership. If you're not going to take care of your long hair, and you're gonna let it get stringy and greasy, then why bother? Go to a nice salon (doesn't even have to be the classiest salon in town, just a nice one), and ask their advice. I know people think it's a sucker move to buy the products at a salon, but this isn't like buying the fucking extended warranty on your car, asshole. Ask their opinions. They're professionals. Tell them your issues (oily scalp? Split ends?) and ask their recommendations on a treatment for it. You should legitimately see results in 3-4 weeks.

He starts with a plancha and Derevko catches him and slams him on the apron. His chest gets nice and rosy after a few chops, and there's a great spot where he misses the corner Miz/Bourne clothesline, and while he's hung up Derevko clotheslines him to the back of the head. Yes!

And holy fuck, Jon Roberts. Derevko goes for a delayed vertical suplex, and Roberts calls it a "Stalling...Stalling...Stalling vertical soo-play!" STALLING. STALLING. Reallllly emphasized that "G", over and over again. Alexis Derevko is a fucking RUSSIAN! How could you blow a fucking Joseph Stalin joke!?!? That would have literally been a) the least offensive way to make a Stalin joke, and b) the ONLY way you could have smoothly insert anybody's name from Communist Russia into a wrestling pun. I guess you could have said "You know, Alexis Derevko was trained by Malenko. GEORGY Malenko!!" But that isn't fucking funny at all. Maybe after Derevko hits a senton you could call it "The Great Purge". I don't know. But Jesus, Jon Roberts is terrible. How could you fucking blow the Stalin joke?

They do kind of a crummy slap exchange (it always looks silly when two guys go blow to blow, shot for shot, and one of them is twice the size of the other), but Derevko hits a huge flying clothesline and Torch bumps it all ragdolly and cool. They do some more blow for blow chops tradeoffs, and Derevko finishes with a move Jon Roberts calls the "Lenin Bomb". Oh, brother. You blew it, Roberts. Let it go.

Will Rood interview, and he is soooooo excited to finally get his shot at his former boss, Derek Sanders. He put up with Sanders for TEN months!! He had to cheat, and lie! Gimme a break, Rood. Nobody was forcing you to work for Sanders. He hired you to do a job. You knew you would have to cheat, you knew you would have to lie. It was laid out in the job description! "I'm going to give you 10 months of my fist, down your throat!" You could have quit at any time! You were just lazy and didn't want to look for another job, admit it! Sanders does an interview and says how he chose Rood and was going to show him how things work, lead him to a title. Man, Rood is asshole! I want to see this guy get his ass handed to him so badly! You SO owe it to yourself to check out the embedded video up above and see Rood's "showdown" photo. He looks like one of those abused kittens they show in slow motion in those commercials, with the Sarah MacLachlan song playing, that always makes me want to buy 30 cats. But in the context of wrestling it looks wimpy as all get out. So basically Rood is playing the role of abused pussy.

2. Will Rood vs. Derek Sanders. I don't think I've seen Rood really wrestle before. I've just seen him be ineffective. Wait...I think he was actually in the January battle royal. I don't remember much about him. Rood started all feisty, taking Sanders down with a double leg and throwing some decent elbows. He sure does tug at his shorts a whole bunch. They do that spot that's pretty dumb with Rood standing on the apron, holding the top rope, and Rood slingshots him in by tugging on the ropes. Rood also falls on his butt while doing it. The only time that spot has been done well was by Mike Modest, who would always just let go of the ropes to avoid getting slingshotted in, and then just punch the guy. Rood tries winning me over by doing a fistdrop. It missed, but his form was good. I will give him credit for at least trying a fistdrop. At least he's attempting cool offense.

Sanders takes over with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker that really looked like he was doing most of the work. His stomps and clubbing blows to Rood's back look real nice. Sanders throws on a half nelson camel clutch cravate that is pretty bad ass. A bunch of headlocks and cravates happen, and then some guy dressed in black wearing a black mask runs in for the DQ.

All cards on the table, this match was real bad. I give Rood a hard time, but he deserved it all here. This match was supposed to be a grudge that he'd been waiting "10 months to pay back". And outside of the fire he showed in the first 30 seconds, he looked completely lost the whole match. There were numerous stretches where it looked like Sanders was just waiting around for Rood to go on offense, and Rood looked completely horrified and clueless. He's new, and I get that. They probably waited this long to have them split because he was still getting trained. But good lord did this whole long angle fail in every conceivable way. Rood cannot hold up his end of this. He did some stuff that looked alright. Some of his elbows looked good. He did a crazy out of control dive from the top to the floor that just smashed Sanders. But I think it looked good in that same way that Vince MacMahon's punches look good: They're being done by someone who has no idea what they're doing, so they have a dangerous feel to it. Sanders spent the bulk of this 15 minute match working over Rood with headlocks and cravates and other holds, and Rood really just did not have what it takes to work any kind of match yet, let alone a "grudge match that is 10 MONTHS IN THE MAKING".

This was just a real basic, bland, boring young wrestler vs. veteran match, but if I hadn't been drug through this completely awful and backwards storyline over the last 6+ months then I would have no idea these two even had previous history or that Rood had a bone to pick with Sanders. This was just a total bomb of an angle, and judging from the DQ finish I have to assume that this thing is actually going to continue, which sounds like a HORRIBLE idea. I don't think Rood could even be hidden that well in a 6 man tag. I don't even know if APW realizes how backwards and awful this looooong angle came off. The only thing that makes Rood look like a face in all this is the fact that Sanders is more of a heel. They tried to do Dibiase/Virgil and they failed big time, but it was how the wrote it! They never gave Rood a reason to be stuck working for Sanders, just that he needed the money and Sanders gave him a job. Then 10 months later he complains that he had to cheat for Sanders. So? That's literally what he was HIRED TO DO. There was no confusion about that. He didn't HAVE to keep doing it. He could've easily quit at any point. But he didn't. He kept taking the money, and Sanders never even treated him horribly. He never humiliated him, he just was upset that Rood wasn't doing his job well. Why would I want to cheer for Rood in this situation?

They have booked themselves way into a corner here, by backing a horse that can't run. This was a bad episode and the longer this angle goes on, the worse it is gonna get. But...he did try a fistdrop, so I can't hate Rood TOO much.

Time Has No Meaning to SLL's All-Request

2011-10-01T12:52:00.000-04:00

Randy Savage vs. Bret Hart (WCW, 5/17/1998)
Requested by Lacelle

You know, much is made of that one time Michael Buffer called Bret "Bret The Hitman Clarke". Off the top of my head, I can't remember if that was before or after this match happened, so I don't know if Buffer calling him "The Hitman Bret" and omitting his last name entirely is an improvement or not, but there you have it. Anyway, Bret is a member of nWo Hollywood and Savage is a member of nWo Wolfpac at this point, and well, that angle was really one of the more underappreciated stupid things that WCW did in this period. Once upon a time, WCW trying to fight off the nWo was a really, really big deal. And then, the nWo became sort of an inconvenience that WCW just had to live with (and constantly lose to). Now, we have the nWo fighting amongst themselves, so really, we don't need to give a shit about WCW's involvement in this at all. Still, if there was any good at all to come out of this angle, this match was it.

Roddy Piper is the special guest ref for this, and as special guest refs go, I think he gets a passing grade, though not a perfect one. There's a mentality amongst a lot of people that special guest refs are almost universally bad because they draw some degree of attention to themselves in a way that refs normally aren't supposed to do (I'm looking at you, Slick Johnson), and they usually don't call matches the way refs normally are supposed to. But that seems to me to completely miss the point - why would you book a special guest ref if they weren't supposed to come off as special? Not acting like a normal referee and drawing attention to themselves is the whole point of a special guest ref, otherwise you'd just have a regular-ass ref. And no, that doesn't mean special guest refs can't screw up a match big time. They can draw so much attention to themselves that it detracts from the wrestlers. Their reffing style can be so far afield that it becomes jarring. I'm just saying when you bring one in, it's usually for a reason. As far as this applies to Piper...well, he said he wanted a fight in the promos leading up to this match, and his character is a well-established wild card. If anything it would be dumber for him to play this totally straight, because that's just not who he is. In terms of how he calls this match, he mostly avoids the major pitfalls of the special guest ref - he gets his character across while keeping the focus on Bret and Savage, he calls it down the middle, he plays fast and loose with the rules, but not to the point where it seems far-fetched. I think he gets a little too hands on with the wrestlers at points - there's a bit early in the match where Bret is stalling on the outside, and Roddy gets fed up and throws him back in the ring. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but it keeps him from reaching Michael Hayes/Jackie Fargo/Ken Shamrock levels of quality special guest reffing. But he knows his job, and overall, he does it well.

So yeah, the match. I think the big thing that stands out to me here is that, off the top of my head, this may have been the stiffest performance I've ever seen from the Hitman. All of his strikes looked really hurty, including some nasty shots to the face and the back, as well as his usual hooks to the gut which he actually appeared not to be stomping for. I mean, there probably was some stomping in there, but he was throwing hands so hard that I couldn't really bother to notice. Mike Tenay epically misses the point, pointing out that Bret considers himself the best technical wrestler in the world and "hopes to use Randy Savage as a proving ground". But clearly Don West was the problem with the TNA announce team. Randy Savage isn't one to take this lying down, throwing some great shots of his own, but Bret regains control quickly, and they end up on the outside, including a cool moment where Bret tries to drop the ringsteps on Randy's head. Bobby Heenan picks up the slack for Tenay's earlier dopeyness, saying that Bret probably realized he had to turn up the heat just to combat Savage's wildman tendencies. Savage avoids having his noggin crushed and fights back, leading to a low-point in the match where Bret kinda struggles with an axehandle off of the guardrail into the crowd, followed by some shitty ECW crowd brawling that I can't really follow. They get back in the ring, and Bret starts working after Savage's injured knee, as well as busting out a particularly snappy Russian leg sweep and a big piledriver. The ending gets...weird. Bret has Savage in the Sharpshooter, but doesn't have it totally sunk in, so when Elizabeth runs out, Savage powers up and gets Bret in a Sharpshooter of his own. At this point, Liz runs into the ring and argues with Piper for no really adequately explained reason, which leads to Savage breaking the hold, and getting low-blowed by Bret. Bret would then attack Piper from behind with knux (which he later planted on Savage), allowing Hogan to run out, take out Savage's other leg, and when Piper comes to, Savage is back in the Sharpshooter and is forced to tap. Liz, what the hell were you doing? I mean, it's late-90's WCW. She might have been setting up a heel turn, but I can't be expected to keep up with that shit. Still, really good match, and Hogan sneakily crawling away from the ring afterwords was amusing.

Randy Savage vs. Ron Garvin (ICW, 1982/83)
Requested by Tim Evans

So, what did I write about the match during the 80's Memphis Project, again?

"I know this isn't a huge revelation or anything, but damn, was Garvin not afraid to kick a dude's ass or what? Potential top 30 pick."

Well, that's not very enlightening. And where did I actually end up putting this on my ballot....#22? Wow, that's surprising. Usually "potential top 30 pick" coming from me just means "it probably won't be in my bottom third", but this was one of the few that held up. Anyway, what I wrote wasn't especially informative, but it sums up my thoughts on this match pretty well. Garvin kicked Savage's ass. A lot. And it was awesome. The early jockeying for position was pretty cool, too, with the dueling front facelocks and Garvin's super-smooth looking schoolboy, but then Ronnie starts laying in the shots, and that's when shit gets real. All these punches and kneedrops and stomps...no wonder the Garvin stomp developed. This dude's stomp was unreal. Are there still people who think the Garvin stomp was a stupid move? Cause those motherfuckers were dumb as shit. Garvin lays in everything full force, and it rules. Savage, meanwhile, eats the beating like a man, bleeding, selling it great, and taking some nasty bumps into the cage. His comeback has him throwing some hard shots of his own, and both guys just come off as total badasses. Fun finishing stretch with ref George Weingroff (I've heard of blind refs, but this is ridiculous) getting bumped just long enough for Garvin to steal his belt, and both guys get to make use of it. Right now, I'm feeling like if I redid my Memphis ballot, this probably would drop, but hell if I know how much. It's still an excellent match, regardless. The quality of the link does this no justice. If you don't have one already, hit up Will about the Memphis set, because it is solid gold.

Daisuke Sekimoto & Yuji Okabayashi vs. Manabu Soya & Seiya Sanada (AJPW, 3/21/2011)
Requested by ダニエル

OK, so Seki & Oka vs. Soya & Friends is a match-up that's gone one for two for me so far. To be fair, the one I didn't like is empirically great, and I only bashed it because I bash everything that is highly praised, but that's besides the point. The important thing is that I've seen a good take on this match, and I've seen a bad take on this match, so this one could've split either way for me. And....I hated it. Actually, "hate" is a strong term. This match had it's moments, moreso than their February match. But there was also more actively bad than that match, and ranking the three, I feel comfortable putting this last. There isn't a lot of new criticism to offer that you can't find in my reviews of the other two reviews (and other recent-ish puro reviews, since those problems are emblematic of the genre as a whole right now), so en lieu of a traditional review, here's a list of things you can blame for my dislike of what very well may have been another empirically great match.

Blame it on Daisuke Sekimoto.

I've reviewed a disproportionately large number of Sekimoto matches here, and I think I've told the same story in all of them. The relevant part is that I used to not like him, and now I do. In the February match, he was the guy doing the most to keep me from totally hating it, and in the April match, he was a big part of why I totally loved it. I put my faith in him twice, and he rewarded that decision twice. In March, however, he comes up short. This really felt like a regressive performance for him, like this was more of the lame old Sekimoto of a few years ago than the more dynamic wrestler who's developed recently. In matches built around beefy guys hitting each other a lot, Sekimoto can usually be counted upon to be both beefy and hard-hitting, but his offense really lacked it's usual punch, and he just came off as another guy going through the motions. I will give him this much: he busted out a tope near the end of the match that totally caught me by surprise, and I dug that. He wasn't terrible, he wasn't even the worst guy in the match, it's just that he's usually the most reliable, and this time, I couldn't rely on him.

Blame it on Manabu Soya.

He was the worst guy in this match. Without the great layout of the April match to guide him, he's still stuck in February's "let's put on a show" mode, more blatantly than anyone else. And at least in the February match he ate offense really well. Here, with the Big Japan guys falling down on the job offense-wise, he's not going to be bothered to make their stuff look any better. MORE FOREARM EXCHANGES RARRRRRR!!!!

Blame it on Ryota Hama.

Seeing a guy actually dedicated to having a good wrestling match rather than a shitty simulation of what a good wrestling match is supposed to look like kinda spoils me here. I mean, not that I was willing to accept the substitute to begin with, but Hama's presence in the April match makes a world of difference, and gives me all the more reason not to waste my time on this.

In spite of the above, don't blame it on Seiya Sanada.

He's actually the best thing about this match. Noticeably smaller than the three other sides of beef in the ring, he seems to realize he can do something different with his role in the match and runs with it, being all energetic on offense and taking big bumps off of the Big Japan team's power moves. For that matter, don't blame Okabayashi for this, either. He doesn't have a great showing here or anything, but he doesn't embarrass himself like he did in the February match, either. His double team spots with Sekimoto like the double rack and the double German were neat, and I liked him throwing around Sanada a bunch. I think if they had booked a ten-minute Sanada/Okabayashi singles match here instead of a 32-minute tag, I probably would've dug that.

Blame it on the booking.

Seriously, who was the genius who thought it was a good idea to give this turd 32 minutes? I don't care how much Sekimoto has improved, he does not have 32 minutes of material, and neither do any of these other guys, and believe me, it shows. It's not surprising that they failed to book an epic here, but they even failed to book a wannabe epic. There's a little sense of build here, but not much, and this match just takes a very long time to say very, very little. If Punk vs. Hero spent 90 minutes doing what could have been done in 30, this spent 32 minutes doing what could have been done in three, and that feels like a far bigger crime. The finishing stretch is pretty uninspired, too. Normally, this is the kind of match that will drive me crazy with a shitty, overblown, unearned "epic" final stretch, but here, they switch it up and give me a stretch run so unremarkable that it feels wrong to even call it a stretch run. Again, very little sense of build, and you'd think in 40 minutes they'd have built to something. Instead, the match ends the same way it started: blandly.

Blame it on the crowd.

Outside of Cena/Punk from Money in the Bank, the crowd for the April match might have been the hottest crowd I've seen for a wrestling match in 2011. Again, maybe this spoils me a bit, and I don't expect every match I watch to have a crowd that hot, but man was this crowd every bit as bored as I was by this or what? Dedicate 32 minutes to these guys, and the crowd really doesn't treat it any differently than any other undercard match. Polite applause, scattered bits of cheering for the cool parts...that's it. I don't need a crowd telling me to care about a good match, but they certainly weren't encouraging me to care about this.

Blame me for watching these out of order.

So in the April match, I made note of this bit:

"Sekimoto and Soya grabs each other by the hair, and Soya manages to push Sekimoto in the corner. Neither man will break, and Kyohei Wada actually has to step in between them, and when he can't break them up on his own, Okabayashi comes in to pull his tag partner off of Soya. Then, when Kyohei is admonishing Sekimoto, Soya pushes him aside and bum rushes Sekimoto."

It's a great "flip the switch" moment, signifying the match kicking into a higher gear than it's predecessors. Well, it turns out they did it first here, only without the ref shoving and bum rushing, and I have to ask myself, is the fact that this spot looks forced and completely out of place here because I had already seen it in the April match, or is it because that match really did it that much better and got that much more mileage out of it? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, but I'll throw it out there for consideration.

Blame it on Savage, Hart, and Garvin.

If you're going to do 21st century strike exchange-heavy fighting spirit puro bullshit, at least lay that shit in. You're giving me literally nothing else. This was downright tame, and the fact that I'm watching it in the shadow of two matches where guys really looked like they were kicking each other's asses, that's not good.

Blame it on the rain.

OK, it's not actually raining, but the weather is pretty dreary, and I think my seasonal affective disorder is starting to creep in. I'm sure that didn't help, but I'm guessing this stunk regardless.

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Greg Valentine (BJW, 7/6/1995)
Requested by Cobra Commander

Well, that's something I wasn't really ever expecting to see. Then again, it's not like Valentine hadn't been in his share of bloody brawls before this one. Yes, folks, this is Greg "The Hammer" Valentine circa 1995 working a Japanese Death Match. Specifically, it's a no-rope barbed wire match, which is actually pretty tame by '95 Big Japan standards, but still not necessarily something I expected The Hammer to show up in. Still, Valentine could go pretty late into his career, and I think he acquits himself fine here. The bigger question mark is Nagasaki, whom I have never really gone out of my way to see before. My findings are...inconclusive. The guy throws hands really well and bleeds a ton. His crowd brawling is really fun, dumping chairs and tables onto Valentine's head. But when he's not on offense, his selling can create some problems. There's a lot of him lying around on the mat, not so much selling as awkwardly looking around for the next move he has to take. There's a Valentine elbowdrop with an extended windup that's especially frustrating. Still, the rest of the match is an entertaining brawl. It passes my first major test for barbed-wire matches - do wrestlers suddenly gain the ability to resist Irish whips - with flying colors, as they forego that move entirely and mostly try to just push each other into the wire. Also, Greg taking it to the mat early to avoid dealing with the wire altogether was a lot of fun. And the finishing stretch, built around a race to piledrive your opponent onto the chair, was brutal and well-executed, with the actual piledriver finish being fittingly nasty. All in all, I got a kick out of this despite it's more flawed moments.

Kengo Mashimo vs. YOSHIYA (K-Dojo, 6/12/2008)
Requested by Brandon-E

Somebody who was watching Kaientai Dojo in this period more regularly than I is going to have to explain YOSHIYA to me, because as it stands, I don't know that I'm really equipped to review this properly. I guess the big question is is this guy a comedy act, or am I actually supposed to take this seriously. Because if he's a comedy act...well, he's not an especially funny one, but the match at least makes sense. If not, he is a spectacularly shitty wrestler who kills this thing dead within seconds of it getting out of the gate. Basically, he is a really schlubby looking guy who gets booked as a super-powered badass, and it just takes me out of the match immediately. And I do mean immediately - the first spot of the match is a really overblown test of strength that YOSHIYA wins handily despite Mashimo being built like a brick shithouse and YOSHIYA being built like me if I let myself go a bit more. And there's a lot more nonsense where that came from. He also sells really weirdly. I don't know if I can properly describe it. When Mashimo hits him, he sort of groans loudly and starts staggering a little and staring wide-eyed off into space. Mashimo does look really good here, and at this point, he really strikes me as someone who had all the tools, but just needed actual good opponents to use them against, and he sure as Hell wasn't getting that here. I'll give YOSHIYA this much: he did work really stiff here. At least they gave the asskicker gimmick to a guy who could actually kick ass convincingly. But everything else about it...yeah, I'm not entirely sure this isn't just some joke that I'm not getting.

FUTEN is For The Children, We Teach The Children. Puffy is good but FUTEN is the Best-Futen 11/24/10

2011-09-30T20:00:00.002-04:00

Ryuji Hijikata v. Kazuki Okubo

These are two of more pedestrian FUTEN guys, and we got a solid if unmemorable undercard FUTEN match. We got some nice looking grappling, some stiff, but not FUTEN stiff kicks. Hijikata is a guy I remember enjoying in BattlArts, but he was kind of juniory with some kind of goofy no selling. They slapped each other for a while and Hijikata hit a suplex and a choke.

Mitsuya Nagai v. Madoka

Madoka is a Beiber haired hairless junior who has irritated me in previous FUTEN shows, Nagai is an ex-RINGS crowbar who almost killed Iziuka a decade ago. This was Nagai cracking the fuck out of Madoka which is exactly how it should be. Madoka didn't bug me that much here, and I actively liked how he sold Nagai's kicks. Finish felt a little flat as it felt they were building to something bigger.

Daisuke Ikeda v. Manabu Suruga

Just a brutal mauling, Ikeda is a threshing machine in this match, by the end of it Suruga's face looked like domestic abuse victim. Surgura was great in this, he was completely overwhelmed and brutalized, but he wanted to go out on his sword. He was winging bombs but in a really desperate frantic way. He hits about a third of them, although he lands some thudders including a couple of square hooks right to Ikeda's jaw, and a Reggie Roby punt which has Ikeda checking his jaw. Still it just temporarily slowed down Ikeda who was Vorheesian, the final beating was uncomfortable to watch. Ikeda is on top of Manabu landing square right hands right to his forehead and nose. At one point Suruga is lying on the mat clawing at Ikeda's leg like Connie Corleone when Carlo got mad. I am not sure if it is an EPIC match, but it is an EPIC spectacle.

Takeshi Ono v. Katsumi Usuda

Ono's amazing 2010 just keeps on rolling. This is our first taste of BattlArts guys returning to FUTEN, it has been a while, but this certainly not the first time Usuda and Ono have tangled and it is great to watch them do a dance. Really awesome workrate match, which had the intensity and pace of a Bantamweight MMA fight. Both guys knew the counters to each guys counter, and they were scrambling for holds and winging shots. It is hard to pull off this kind of back and forth shootstyle without it seeming like some bullshit NOAH juniors match, but these guys did it. The matwork was awesome, feeling like Benzedrine Fujiwara. Usuda was pulling out some sick counters, including a crazy reverse figure four, and Ono wasn't as slick, but in more of a frenzy. Finish was awesome with Ono missing a kick, Usuda grabbing a wastelock, and Ono just spinning around into an Octopus which he took to the ground and pulled Usuda apart like a crab leg. Total blast, everything you would want from this match, maybe the FUTEN singles of the year.

Kengo Mashimo v. Makoto Hashi

A solid back and forth main event between two good wrestlers, but doesn't having the sickening violence or breathtaking technique of previous two matches. Mashimo focuses on landing kicks, and lands some nice ones, while Hashi works headbutts and backfists. There are some crackers, but nothing at the level of Nowitski specials Hashi has thrown in other FUTEN matches. Pretty much houseshow FUTEN, I enjoyed it fine, but even after watching it a couple of times it didn't do anything to stand out.

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Sheamus/Randy Orton v. Christian/Mark Henry

2011-09-21T22:00:00.000-04:00

Sheamus/Randy Orton v. Christian/Mark Henry Paris France 9/3/11

Really fun house show tag. Henry is pretty undeniable at this point, I think he has been excellent for years, but this run has pretty much converted everyone. I really liked his selling for Orton, just enough to look vulnerable, but still coming off like a beast. Christian and Orton have their shtick down, and Sheamus looked fine. Neat stuff.

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Punk v. Del Rio

2011-09-14T22:00:00.001-04:00

CM Punk v. Alberto Del Rio Trenton NJ 9/3/11

Really good main event title match. Punk and Del Rio are two of the most expressive guys in wrestling, and really do a great job both with the early heat building horseshit and the crazy hot finish run. Del Rio is great in this match, all of his offense looks great, he takes some big bumps (including the Fuerza/Hamrick which is nutty at a house show) and eats everything Punk does super well. I especially loved his post match taking of the GTS. Punk really comes off like a star, it is too bad that bag of shit Helmsley has dragged him down so badly.

Frontenac Chateau, Baby, Pirata Morgan Crosses the Frontier at Ten

2011-09-14T18:07:00.000-04:00

Pirata Morgan, Pierroth, & Emilio Charles Jr. vs. Huracan Ramirez, Blue Demon Jr., & Atlantis EMLL 1989 - FUN

Interesting match in that it had a great opening, a spectacular second fall, and a cool segment at the finish, but still doesn't feel any more than FUN. I don't know offhand which fake Huracan Ramirez this is, but he looks really good here, having a neat exchange with Dandy at the start of the match and a great one in the segunda caida with Pirata. He sends our man tumbling all over the ring with a series of great-looking headscissor takedowns and armdrags, really eye-popping stuff. The Atlantis/Emilio exchange that immediately precedes it is also really great. Also, fake Huracan has a really nice hurricanrana, which is important to have with that gimmick. Pirata's main contribution to the match - aside from eating all of Huracan's cool stuff - comes in the exchange at the end with Atlantis, where he takes a really high back body drop, followed by a crazy no-hands flip bump to the floor. And as soon as he gets up, he's met with a really amazing Atlantis tope. Lots of cool segments in this match, but unfortunately, the rest of it is just kinda solid, and Blue Demon Jr. stinks as usual. Enough to keep it enjoyable, but not to reach any higher than that.

Pirata Morgan, El Hijo del Gladiador, & Hombre Bala vs. Ciclon Ramirez, Javier Cruz, & Blue Demon Jr. EMLL 1989 - SKIPPABLE

There's a moment here and a moment there where this match is kinda cool. Pirata's performance isn't a standout by his standards, but he generally acquits himself well. Ciclon looks pretty good here, too, and appropriately enough, they share the big moment of the match, as Pirata bodyslams Ciclon off of the apron to the floor, which was just nasty as fuck. Still, Gladiador was a pretty poor substitute for Jerry Estrada or Verdugo, and outside of a nifty exchange with Ciclon in the second fall, I thought Hombre Bala's performance was disappointing. Not terrible or anything, but aside from the slam of death, pretty forgettable.

Pirata Morgan vs. Aguila WWF 2/17/1998 - FUN

This was Pirata's other WWF match, and like the first, it's inconsequential but entertaining. Pretty straightforward sub-five minute match with Pirata using his size and power to dominate and Aguila using speed and agility to overcome him. Pretty wild to see Pirata busting out more juniorish high-end offense to try and fit in with gringo expectations about what a junior is supposed to work like, but he does it very well. He uncorks a crazy rolling legbar here, as well as another tilt-a-whirl powerbomb which looked really hurty and felt like something that should have been a regular part of his offense if it wasn't already. Aguila's highspots all looked nice. Him armdragging Pirata off of the top rope was really cool. As mentioned, this was really short, and it didn't have the awesome heeling of Brian Christopher, but I thought both guys looked sharper than they did in the tag, and overall, this felt like the better of Pirata's two WWF outings.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE PIRATA MORGAN

The King Don't Like To See Your Face, He Don't Like To Hear You Talk At All

2011-09-13T22:00:00.000-04:00

Jerry Lawler/Zach Ryder v. Michael McGillicutty/David Otunga WWE 9/5/11-SKIPPABLE

Lawler threw some nice punches, and Otunga landed a nice elbow smash, but this was two minutes long. They can keep talking about how everyone loves Ryder, but I am not seeing it.

Jerry Lawler/Dory Funk Jr./Johnny Magnum/Cory Weston vs Luke Spencer/Shane Chung/Blain Rage/Jayson Falcone BANG 9/10/11-FUN

This is a 30 minute plus match which give Lawler plenty of room to do some stuff. Unfortunately we get a fair amount of Dory student vs. Dory Student stuff too, which doesn't make me want to track down BANG DVDs (also feels like you get can plenty of BANG stuff online for free.) I thought Shane Chung was the best of the heel squad and he had some fun punch exchanges with Lawler. Dory looks like a more desiccated E.B. Farnum, but he did throw a nice forearm or two. I wish The King would mothball the stunner and bring back the piledriver.

Jerry Lawler/Sheamus v. Michael McGillicutty/David Otunga WWE 9/12/11-SKIPPABLE

Not sure what the point of these matches are. Basically a Sheamus squash, at some point Otunga busted Lawler's nose. I get the sense that Lawler and Otunga could have a fun singles match on a Corey Maclin promoted show at a casino.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE KING

NEW EPISODE of Segunda Caida Radio!

2011-09-09T17:45:00.002-04:00

Phil, Eric, KrisZ, Dylan Waco, Goodhelmet and Bix did PART 2 of their Hall of Fame discussion, covering Japan, Mexico, Europe, Islands, and Non-Wrestler candidates. Show went about 2.5 hours and has tons of great discussion about all the candidates, and some pretty sound arguments for and against candidates. Awesome show.

Dick Togo has Two Bitches Going Down Like the Two Towers

2011-09-09T02:00:00.000-04:00

Dick Togo v. James Mason ASW 8/2/11-GREAT

Pretty cool that Togo's wrestling encore is working European shows in front of enthusiastic little kids. James Mason is this amazing wrestler who showed up a couple of times in the beginning of the decade, worked one TNA PPV match and fell off the radar. He has been all over youtube lately, and he feels like one of the best wrestlers in the world. He is as slick on the mat as Johnny Saint or Johnny Kidd, but still athletic enough to move around the ring and take big bumps. Togo is working as a foreign evil heel, taunting the fans, talking trash, cheap shotting Mason. Mason is great as a babyface using guile and slickness. Early stuff is very cool with Mason working over Togo's wrist. Togo keeps it pretty simple, nothing flashy, but really plays the crowd well. There are a couple of moments where they speed it up, and Mason really hangs athletically with Togo which isn't easy to do. Not really the kind of match which ends up EPIC, but man did I enjoy this, lets hope we get some more Togo Euro footage, I am not ready to say goodbye.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

SLL's All-Request Thursday Night

2011-09-08T22:01:00.002-04:00

Daffney vs. Mickie Knuckles (ACW, 2007)
Requested by Jingus

I always found it a little strange that Daffney did so little for me in...certain regards in WCW but did so much for me afterwords. I guess Vince Russo really can ruin anything. Anyway, this is a good little match, and I thought Daffney gave a good performance in it. She is a fun, hammy villain who bumps, sells, and stooges well, and can throw a punch. That's a performance choice I won't really argue with. She's like the kind of wrestler some people wanted me to think Victoria was, but wasn't. Her early "smaller guy trying to lift Andre" spots were cool, and for her own part, Mickie was a pretty good Andre, standing there nonchalantly with her hands on her hips while Daffney struggles to suplex her. Then Daff punches her in the gut, and that throws her off-guard so she can whip off a northern lights suplex, which was pretty cool. When that doesn't get a pin, she tries to smother Mickie in her sizable chest, which gets treated as a sleeper. Really? Because that seems like an air choke. Daffney has her in the clinch...is she applying a sleeper with her forearms while just pressing Mickie's forehead/bridge of her nose into her cleavage to hold her in place? Mickie escapes and tosses Daffney across the ring by her tits as revenge, and we laugh and laugh and laugh and look around the room uncomfortably to make sure no one else is watching and laugh. What keeps this match from really kicking into a higher gear is that - booby toss aside - Mickie really isn't that impressive offensively here. She carries herself well as a big, tough broad, but when it's time to bring the hammer down, she doesn't really come across as the threat she's supposed to be. The announcers build her up as someone who is going to beat the shit out of Daffney when she gets the chance, but then Daffney ends up working stiffer. Also, this has kind of a weird finish with Daffney ducking a Helms-style shining wizard, but Mickie still recovers first and grabs an Oklahoma roll for the pin. Still, this was pretty solid.

Tigers Mask, PSYCHO, Kota Ibushi, & Shanao vs. Makoto Oishi, Katsuya Kishi, Shiori Asahi, & KAGETORA (Indy Summit, 12/9/2005)
Requested by Brandon-E

You know, if I watched Osaka Pro more often, I'd probably be bored stiff of Tigers Mask's baseball shtick by now, but this was actually the first time I've ever seen it, so I got a kick out of it. I wish I could say the same about the rest of the match. This is spot-fu, and not even particularly exciting spot-fu. I know interpromotional stuff has been run into the ground in Japan, but you'd still think that this is the place to crank things up, not dial them back. Shanao/Yoshitsune/a gajillion other names is the one guy who kinda comes through on that front, and even he has cringeworthy moment where he tries a springboard double backflip double back elbow on Oishi and Asahi that ends up falling way short of it's intended targets. In the words of Don West, "it missed, but boy, was it smooth". Depressing current IWGP Junior champ Ibushi probably takes the prize for shittiest guy in this thing, being the subject of one of the more heatless heat segments I've seen recently, and generally looking like an ineffectual dweeb. There was also a weird part in the stretch run where Tigers Mask did some fighting spirit no-selling, and man, if you're a comedy worker, you really need to earn the right to do that shit. I just don't get this at all.

John Cena vs. C.M. Punk (WWE, 7/17/2011)
Requested by Kostka

Seeing as how this is the most hyped and talked about wrestling match to happen in a long, long time, I'm not sure there's really much clever new analysis I can provide here. That's probably a good thing, because I'm running way behind schedule on these, and I can speed things up a bit, but there is at least one thing I should say about it. Last All-Request, I wrote about how the Savage/DDP match from Spring Stampede '97 represented a microcosm of what WCW should have been at that point, but ultimately wasn't because the company was run by morons. This match, more than anything from any of the other failed summer angles WWE has run the last few years, represents a microcosm of what WWE should be right now, but ultimately isn't because the company is run by morons. I mean, I was as psyched by the initial Nexus angle as anyone. But let's be honest, even before Danielson got psuedo-canned, even before Barrett got completely exposed as a guy not ready for prime time, we all kinda knew deep down that this crew could only accomplish so much. Even considering that, it was fumbled embarrassingly, but we knew that angle could only go so far regardless of that. But Cena/Punk shows a WWE where anything and everything is truly possible. John Cena...well, hell, I've been saying the same damn shit about Cena since 2007, and very little has changed since that time, but never has that been more apparent than it was here.

"What does Cena believe? What does he do? What does he represent? Cena's character is that of a basically good, well-meaning wrestler who would have belonged in Hogan's world, but was placed by creul fate in Austin's world. His general good nature and drive to win endears him to children and women, while the adult males distrust him the way they distrusted every other "moral" figure from the Attitude Era. It's kind of hard to make the show reflect that kind of character without casting a good chunk of your fanbase as heels. His equivalent story is a passion play: the virtuous, hate-free Cena being crucified by a lecherous mob who would rather do away with the man challenging their warped views and continue heaping unearned praise on "heroes" like Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and Kurt Angle, than reconsider their curent ways. It's a good story. As Kevin Cook pointed out, it produced one of the finest matches in wrestling history. But I'm not sure you can turn it into episodic storytelling. Not sure you can build a TV series around The Passion of the Cena."

I wrote that days after Mania 23, when the future of mainstream American wrestling was actually looking pretty bright for a moment. A lot of the stuff I wrote in that post blew up in my face, but this still holds true, and I bring it up because, at long last, Cena got to play Casas in his take on the Santo/Casas '97 super classico. Obviously, it's not the first time Cena was getting booed out of the building while playing face, I'm not even sure it's the most Christ-like performance he's ever given, but it's up there. But just as - if not more - importantly, this was Cena finally getting to play Casas against a wrestler worthy of playing Santo. Punk isn't trying to bury Cena like some of his other opponents have. Punk is playing a great heel in front of a crowd that just happens to love him, and that he loves in return. The acknowledgement on commentary that "Cena is in enemy territory" says it all - the face/heel dynamic remains clear cut, only the setting has changed, and they adjust appropriately without forgetting who their characters are.

The three-way conflict between Cena's world, Punk's world, and McMahon's world is the story of WWE today, and the exploration of that could have been just the thing WWE needed to reignite the spark that's been missing for so long. And once again, they fucked it up. But we'll always have Chicago.

Bret Hart vs. Jim Neidhart (WWF, 10/29/1994)
Requested by douchebag

This was the only singles bout between these former tag partners, and I can see why. Mind you, it's not a bad match. I'm quite a bit higher on Bret than my Segunda Caida compatriots tend to be, and I think he does enough to keep this one watchable. Still, Jim Neidhart circa 1994 is only gonna give you so much. He doesn't really do anything to embarrass himself, but he's pretty much just dull as dirt here. There's some good brawling around the ring at points, and I'll maintain that Bret's stompy punches are the best of all stompy punches, but this is not one of the highlights of Bret's awesome '94 run.

Steve Veidor vs. Al Hayes (WoS, 11/8/1975)
Requested by FLIK

As a guy who grew up watching early 90's WWF, the late Lord Alfred Hayes brings back many a fond memory, but most of them open with the phrase "promotional consideration paid for by the following". Between that and his goofy as all hell color commentary appearances, I have enough to get a warm, fuzzy feeling when I think of him, but as is often the case in these situations, I can't help but be intrigued when I get the chance to see if there was more to the guy than just nostalgia. And thanks to FLIK, I now know that there is. Turning the clock back from the days of our crazy old English Lord telling us that Mr. Freeze freeze pops were as much fun to freeze as they are to eat, we go to 1975, back to his Lordship's homeland, and back to the anything but gentlemanly Judo Al Hayes.

Of course, it might be a bit of a misnomer to call England his homeland. This is Hayes' first match back in the UK after a four-year tour of duty in the States, and he's now billing himself as being from the U.S., sporting red, white, and blue wristbands, and wrestling more of the American "all-in" style, much to the consternation of all involved. Forgoing classic British technique for fisticuffs and repeatedly trapping Veidor in the ropes illegally (and trying to take advantage by swinging wildly at Veidor when he doesn't do the same), he pisses off the crowd, flusters the referee...even the always unflappable Kent Walton makes his displeasure known, even slipping in a comment about how "if he wants to wrestle all in, perhaps he should go back to the United States". I can't tell you how happy I am that jingoism is a universal wrestling trope. Veidor is a cool, Britastic matworker, but he starts losing his temper, too, and isn't afraid to take a few wild shots at Hayes to put him in his place. He takes control of the match with more sportsmanlike methods, but Hayes escapes a cravate with a hard forearm to the gut. He follows that with a nasty right hook to the face, earning him his first public warning. He tries to press the advantage, but Veidor cartwheels around a double thrust chop attempt and pastes him with a forearm. Hayes bails to the outside, and god damn does this crowd hate his guts. There's some fun stuff with him jawing with an old fat lady in the aisle, distracting him while Veidor comes out and blasts him from behind with another forearm. Hayes turns back as Veidor gets back in the ring and just stares in disbelief. Cute spot when Hayes gets back in the ring, as Veidor tries to corner him, but Hayes keeps begging off every time. Veidor seemingly gives up on it and starts to walk away, and Hayes charges in to attack while his back is turned, but Veidor quickly turns back and Hayes backpedals again. Hayes does retake control of the match, but he's really pushing his luck, using a sleeper/nerve hold at the base of the neck that looks an awful lot like a chokehold, and throwing a lot of hard clubbering forearms. Walton also starts intimating that one of Hayes' wristbands (worn in part due to injury) may be loaded, and in the penultimate round of a one-fall match where Hayes already has one public warning, he reasons that the match will either end via a draw or via Hayes getting DQ'd. Meanwhile, Hayes repeatedly tries to score a knockout with boot scrapes. Boot scrapes for nearfalls? I approve! Veidor gets saved by the bell, but comes out of his corner guns ablazing in the final round. Hayes has no answer for him, and out of desperation, chucks him over the top rope. This leads to our cooler than cool finish, as Hayes keeps attacking Veidor as he tries to re-enter the ring. The ref tries to hold him back, but with a DQ all but imminent, Hayes shoves him aside and charges Veidor once more...who slingshots over Hayes and grabs him with a sunset flip for a clean pinfall victory, "the way he likes to win". Great, great match, and an amazing look at Hayes when he was great for non-ironic reasons.

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Bryan v. Henry

2011-09-07T22:00:00.000-04:00

Daniel Bryan v. Mark Henry- Nimes France 9/1/11

Really fun 6 minute match between two of my favorite WWE guys. Henry looked awesome in this, just brutal in all of his offense, chucking Bryan around the ring, but when it was time to sell, he really put over his stuff. I especially loved the KO sell for the high kick. Lots of neat work with the guillotine choke as well with Bryan being very sneaky putting it on, and Henry throwing him off. I would love for this to be the Wrestlemania match when Bryan cashes in his briefcase. http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=32047426#

No Potato Famine Here- Fit Finlay's Indy Tour

2011-09-06T12:00:00.036-04:00

The most exciting wrestling news of the year has been the third coming of the great Fit Finlay, as he has returned to the indies like MacArthur to the Philippines. We are going to list the dates as he takes them and review the matches

beat Sami Callihan - EVOLVE *available on iPPV* in NYC, NY, 7/26/11.
beat Jon Ryan - WXW in Oberhausen, Germany, 8/13/11
beat Big Van Walter - WXW in Oberhausen, Germany, 8/14/11
lost to Kevin Steen PWG in Los Angeles, CA, 8/20/11
beat Mason Beck- Dreamwave in La Salle IL 9/10/11
vs. Mohammed Akbar-AWE in Woodstock, VA, 9/17/11
beat Tommaso Ciampa- NEW in Waterbury CT 9/30/11
beat Kaleb Conley- NEW in Poughkeepsie, NY, 10/1/11
beat Dick Togo- EWP in Rendsburg, Germany, 10/7/11
beat Michael Kovaks- EWP in Hanover, Germany, 10/8/11
beat Alex Silva - AWE in Fisherville, VA, 10/15/11
beat Timothy Thatcher - Pro Wrestling Bushido in Stockton, CA, 10/16/11
vs. Rob Holte-VPW in Stoke, England 10/25/11
vs. TBA- VPW in Basingstoke, England 10/26/11
vs. TBA- VPW in Portsmouth England 10/27/11
vs. Chris Raaber - Top Catch Spezial Event in Dinslaken, Germany, 10/29/11
beat Al Snow- Crossfire Wrestling in Nashville, TN, 11/5/11
lost to Harry Smith- Stampede in Ontario Canada 11/6/11
beat Dave Taylor - A Tribute to CWA in Wittorf, Germany, 11/12/11
with Dr. Kliever beat Ugly as Sinn - DOA in Portland, OR, 11/19/11
beat Starbuck SMASH in Tokyo Japan 11/24/11
beat The Bodyguard SMASH in Osaka Japan 11/25/11
vs. Kid Nikkles- Traditional Championship Wrestling, AR 12/3/11
vs. TBA- EWP in Rendsburg Germany 12/17/11
with Murat Bosporus and Big Boy lost to Hajime Ohara, TAJIRI, Yoshiaki Fujiwara SMASH Tokyo Japan 12/30/11
vs. Ethan HD DOA in Portland OR 1/21/12
vs. Colt Cabana PWS in Los Angeles CA 1/28/12
vs. TAJIRI SMASH in Tokyo Japan 2/19/12
vs. "Superstar"Mal Sanders LDN in London England 2/23/12
vs. TBA WXW in Oberhausen, Germany 3/2/12
vs. TBA WXW in Oberhausen, Germany 3/3/12
vs. TBA WXW in Oberhausen, Germany 3/4/12

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Another Punk v. Cena

2011-09-01T00:25:00.003-04:00

John Cena v. C.M. Punk Chile 2/23/11

The 2011 Cena v. Punk feud reminds me a fair amount of the 1989 Flair v. Steamboat. Two guys who just match up perfectly with each other having a ton of great matches in a short amount of time. Really happy to see another house show matchup between the two. We start with some really fun Punk stalling, he is my favorite house show worker to watch, he is just great at riling up a crowd. He has all of Nexus at ringside with him here and they nicely build to the spot where the ref chucks them all out. The do some cool matwork here as normal, building to Cena deadlifting Punk out of a headscissors. Ref bump leads to Nexus coming back, jumping Cena, getting run out by Santino, Kozlov and Bryan. We get some neat nearfalls, which ends with Cena drilling Punk with a Super FU which I can't remember seeing in a while. Another classic encounter, these guys can do no wrong.

It Should Be While Before Black Terry Sees Dr. Death, So It Would Sure Be Nice If He Could Catch His Breath

2011-08-31T20:00:00.001-04:00

Black Terry/Negro Navarro v. Trauma 1/Trauma 2 Lucha POP 8/27/11-EPIC

Not what I was expecting at all, and totally awesome for that fact. If this is followed up on, Navarro family feud is going to be the coolest thing in wrestling in 2011. The match starts with Black Terry and Trauma II doing some typical maestro style sportsman mat work. Both guys are very skilled at that, and it isn't something Terry does a ton of.

They tag in Trauma 1 and Navarro, and before they lock up Trauma cracks his dad in the ear with a drum shattering slap. Navarro does this amazing bit of selling, where he stumbles around trying to get his equilibrium, and stares up at his son with this combination of respect and anger. Terry is awesome on the apron too, he looks totally confused, he is just a guest at this family dinner and it has gone very off the rails. After getting his bearing, Navarro gets up and moves seamlessly into a vicious armlock, Trauma 1 is just screaming in agony. Navarro release his hold, still selling the slap, makes a little motion like "All right junior, you slap me, I break your shoulder." They lock up again and Navarro pulls a triangle and is just screaming at Trauma 1. They both stand up and work this great section based around ring placement and feints. Navarro picks an ankle and Trauma 1 responds with a fishook, fuck I am glad I never had Thanksgiving dinner at the Navarro house. We get another energetic II and Terry exchange, and we go back to I and Navarro. They are just unloading on each other with nasty shots, and I is able to hit his spinning leg lock for the submission. Pretty tremendous stuff, The Great Santini as a wrestling match.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

2011 PWG BOLA Road Report, 8/20/11

2011-08-31T12:00:00.002-04:00

So once Finlay got announced on a PWG card then my friends and I knew it was time to take a drive down to Reseda for a day. We've been to a few PWG shows before, but not for awhile (last card we went to was the Claudio/Danielson headlock match, which has to be 5+ years at this point). But hey, Finlay will get me out of the house and to the other end of the state on a weekend. So we rented a car, found a hotel room, and drove down the 5, stopping at Portos Cuban bakery (even brought tupperware with me to take back a boatload of potato balls, guava pastry, and medianoche sandwiches), then onto a long night of pro wrestling.

The line around the building was long and by the time we got in the building it was REAL full. There were still a bunch of people in line behind us and I have no clue where they all ended up sitting. They also did not allow food or drink to be brought in, so I had to put my massive bag of Sour Patch Kids back in the car. A gal by the door did allow me to take some licorice that they had taken from a little girl and her grandma, so long as I ate it outside. We managed to get four great seats together, right in front of the entrance curtain and opposite the hard camera. This should ensure plenty of shots of me running and screaming and pushing people out of the way as wrestlers do dives in our section...which ended up happening in practically every match.

1. Chris Hero vs. Willie Mack

This was one of the matches I was really looking forward to, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. I had only seen Mack live once before (as Chocolate Caliente at a Lucha Va Voom show), and he was an entertaining, chunky guy with a decent punch and some pretty great dives. Here he looked at least 30 lb. lighter and really toned up, and was wearing awesome trunks that looked like fishbowl computer wallpaper. This was probably the stiffest match of the night, and when you're on the same card as Fit Fucking Finlay, you deserve a doff of the cap. Opera gloves. I was expecting all the first round matches to go a little shorter, since some of these guys would be working three times, but this felt long, like 20 minutes. It never dragged and it really built to a nice pitch.

Hero throws some nice chops but Mack's chops had Hero's chest bright red by the end of this. Hero's stuff all looked so great up close: The cravate w/ knees, the punches (good lord he threw some great punches in the turnbuckle right in front of me), and FUCK the elbows. He hit some downright NASTY elbows on Willie Mack. Hero's rolling elbow is one of the nastiest things in wrestling today. He planted one right under Willie's chin and later in the match I literally jumped out of my seat when he came off the ropes with one to the back of Willie's head. That SMACK sounded like a gunshot went off in the building. That rolling elbow could have been a quicker way to put down cattle at a slaughterhouse. Also, Hero's rolling yakuza kick *should* look stupid. The move on paper just does not work. But somehow it works REALLY nicely when Hero does it. Hero also had 3 or 4 rad little sliding kicks right to Mack's cheekbones that had to sting.

But none of Mack's comebacks seemed the least bit silly. He always had the feel of a guy fighting from underneath, but a very powerful guy fighting from underneath, and therefore a very dangerous guy. Mack got crossed up on a couple rope running spots, but has a bunch of cool offense, and is really agile for a big guy. He throws a nice elbowdrop, couple big suplexes, hard clothesline, bumps big, has awesome bug eyed facials, has a boss beard (needs to be a bit bigger though), and even plays up how black people have the hardest heads in wrestling (or do Islanders? Any current Islander working a hard head gimmick?). Great spot as Hero threw a GREAT overhand right (everybody loves Hero's elbows but that right hand was thrown 6' away from me and it looked AWESOME) and then sold his hand after bouncing it off of Mack's noggin. Also loved the Human Tornado tribute spot with Mack breaking out the shuck n' jive corner kicks. Hero clearly had done some scouting in the tape room, as when Willie pointed for the ref to "look over there" so he could kick Hero low, Hero yelled "Please god don't look over there!" to no avail. Match was awesome, loved the backslide reversal Mack won with (floating over for extra leverage, never seen that before), and this match delivered BIG. I was really looking forward to it, and it far exceeded my expectations. Possible match of the night right here.

2. Fit Finlay vs. Kevin Steen

THIS was obviously the reason my friends and I drove down. Shoot, Finlay is working Portland in a couple months and I'll likely be going up for that, and that's 4 hours farther than L.A. And Finlay doesn't even have an opponent announced for that show. Fit Finlay is my favorite wrestler of all time, so if I get the chance to see him on some sort of tiny card then I will be taking that chance. The match itself was totally awesome. They started off with a real snug collar and elbow, Finlay went for a lightning fast go behind, right into a nerve hold, kicked Steen's knee out from under him, the grabbed Steen by his fucking palate, wrenches his head back and elbows him right in the fucking NOSE! Steen scrambled up, and then said something like "My nose is fine, by the way." That's just about the dumbest thing you can say to someone like Finlay. When I was a kid and would get spanked for being a little asshole, one time I made the mistake of telling my mom that it didn't even hurt. Guess what happened? Wooden spoon is what happened. THAT shit hurt. Every other time I ever had to get spanked, I sold that shit like I was Shawn Michaels selling to the back row against Hulk Hogan. My mom's hand couldn't hurt a fly? Did not matter. I was taking Psychosis bumps on my fucking head for that shit from that point on. Steen's parents obviously never gave him any boundaries, so it was up to Finlay to draw some for him. Allow me to cut and paste what happened next: Finlay went for a lightning fast go behind, right into a nerve hold, kicked Steen's knee out from under him, the grabbed Steen by his fucking palate, wrenches his head back and elbows him right in the fucking NOSE! How many times does it take a lab rat to learn that he'll get shocked if he pushes a button?

Steen gets up and SLAPS Finlay hard in the face to which Finlay chuckles at, takes him down with a drop toe hold, and instantly locks on across face with his forearm RIGHT across Steen's nose. This was framed perfectly 6 feet in front of my face and I have not wished I had a camera any more badly in the last year than I did at that moment. Finlay also does a picture perfect knee drop right across Steen's face and then the awesome bombs away butt splash, and then stomps BRUTALLY on Steen's fingers a couple times (and I imagine everybody in attendance wanted to see that). It's like when Modern English played my college and they did "Melt With You" three times. They knew what the fucking people wanted. From here we go into a bunch of nasty forearm exchanges, roll to the floor for more forearms, and back in for more that I could not imagine a human being not loving. Couple of great spots where Steen doesn't break clean in the corner, followed by Finlay suckering Steen into the exact same spot and clubbing him. Both men decide to dislocate each others shoulders with a nasty shoulderblock. Now THAT was a collision! Finlay came off the ropes about as hard as he could and just slammed right into Steen, and Steen stood right up to it. I LOVE a good shoulderblock spot, where dudes don't bump it until they've been hit. I fully understand guys that bump early for them, but I love guys that just dish them out and take them.

From here Steen starts working over Finlay's knee and that's the story for the rest of the match. Finlay on the apron and Steen on the floor, Steen grabs the bum wheel and just YANKS it, causing Finlay to take a really great bump on the apron, just legs out from under him and crashing down on his hip. Ouch. Steen wraps Finlay's leg around the corner post, stomps on it, just beats it down. At one point Finlay has his kneepad pulled down and he has visible black and blue marks on the inside of his knee. AWESOME. I like the idea of A) Steen stomping on Finlay's knee until it is black and blue, or B) Finlay noticing earlier in the day he had black and blue marks on his knee, and him going "Let's work this into the match". It works on either level for me. Finlay gets a bunch of little comebacks and Steen keeps beating him down. I get super excited when Steen goes up for a swanton, and lands HARD across Finlay's knees. Finlay hits the Celtic Cross, but his knee is too fucked as he climbs foolishly to the middle rope. Steen yanks his bum wheel again and locks on a tight cloverleaf and Finlay taps. Now, of course I was hoping to see Finlay win here, but it ended up making all of his comebacks really exciting. Between rooting on Finlay live here, and flipping out on every nearfall live when Jerry Lawler almost beat Miz, my lungs have gotten a decent live wrestling workout this year. Awesome match.

3. Claudio Castagnoli vs. El Generico

This was a kinda decent match that turned into an awesome match because of a botched spot. first few minutes are fine, Claudio working over Generico's back with some cool stretches and backbreakers. Sean and I talked about how funny it was that Claudio was using about 4 backbreaker variations one match before a Roderick Strong match. Generico is flexible so it looks real good when Claudio bends him in painful ways. The botch happens when Generico goes for a springboard rana with Claudio nowhere near a good position to take it. As predicted Generico hits him at an awkward angle and there is really nowhere for Claudio to bump it, so Claudio makes a snap judgment call that kicks the match into awesome overdrive: no sell the botch and just start beating the shit out of Generico. He just picks him up and gives him three straight gutwrench powerbombs, each one dropping him harder than the last. Generico keeps getting comebacks, but Claudio keeps coming up with awesome ways to violently make him pay. Big crossbody off the top? Claudio catches him and drills him with a backbreaker. Claudio also does his insane flapjack into a nasty European uppercut, which is basically the only example of Street Fighter II Turbo-as-pro wrestling that looks good, and it looks GREAT. Generico gets some cool crucifix counters and close roll ups, and there was an epic moment where they were both fighting on the top rope to see who could to a stupider move. Claudio goes for a top rope Riccola Bomb, Generico tries countering to a brainbuster, Claudio reverses that into a Riccola Bomb that almost gets pulled off but Generico hits a rana that Claudio rolls through, only to have Generico roll through that for a roll-up win. This was the best way to do a roll-up win for Generico as Claudio had taken 90% of the match and I just wouldn't have bought Generico being able to hold him down any other way. But this way really used a bunch of Claudio's momentum against him and the match overall was really fun with a GREAT finishing stretch.

4. Eddie Edwards vs. Roderick Strong

Well this was what it was. Taken in 5 second random snapshots, it had a lot of impressive moments. But in the end they were all empty and meant nothing. All the spots looked good, but who cares when they don't build anywhere? Strong hit a brutal backdrop suplex on the apron, but it must not have been that brutal as 3 seconds later Edwards hit a vertical suplex on the apron and then did a moonsault off of it. And that's kinda the story of the match. If you're into lifeless move and hold exhibitions, then this is for you. I personally do not care to see somebody fight to get out of an ankle lock, then just stand up and hit a big move. Ending gets ridiculous as it completely kills the crowd. Edwards hit a fucking MASSIVE double stomp from the top rope to Strong lying on the ring apron, then Strong rolls into the ring, stands up, and gets hit by another stomp off the top from Edwards. Not only does this only get a 2 count (which was the point where the crowd went dead silent), but THEN....it gets followed up with a Malenko/Guerrero roll-up sequence!! The same exact sequence YOU were tired of in 1998 (maybe earlier for some of you). I tell Rachel this would be an ideal time for her to use the ladies room. Big moves were hit, big moves were reversed, somebody won at some point.

5. The Dynasty (Joey Ryan & Scorpio Sky) vs. RockNES Monsters (Johnny Goodtime & Johnny Yuma)

This match was kind of a hot mess. Some individual things worked, some things did not. I had heard some good things about Goodtime, but was not very impressed here. He would likely appeal to the types of folks who enjoy wink wink nudge nudge Street Fighter II Turbo moves-as-wrestling (the E. Honda 100 Hand Slap in the corner was mildly amusing, just not what I was looking for). Yuma didn't do much for me at all. He looked kinda like Vince Noir from Mighty Boosh and had some Young Bucks offense. BUT, he was also responsible for the best part of the match as Ryan chucked him into the crowd from the ring, and Yuma went SPLAT through a bunch of chairs and ended up splayed out in a real nasty way. I wish I would have gotten a better look at it, but the chairs he splattered through were the ones we were sitting in, so I got the fuck out of Dodge, screaming like a girl as I ran and shoved women out of my way. Match kind went off the rails at this point as all 4 guys were in at once and it was pretty cluttered. We get some stereo moves (dual frogsplashes) and some big suplexes (Ryan dumped Yuma with a pretty nasty pumphandle German) and the match ends in a roll up. At this point in the show I react larger to roll ups than any big head drops, since 4 of the first 5 matches have ended with one. The double stomp from the top to the apron? Sitting on my hands. No way that can finish a match. Small package? Oh snap, this could be it!

Young Bucks run out and start shooting about how they don't shake hands and it. is. horrible. Both Bucks are very punchable. This promo sets up KoW vs. Bucks for later which should actually be pretty good. I wanted Finlay to be involved somehow, because how much fun does Finlay vs. one of the Bucks sound!? A man can dream.

6. Willie Mack vs. El Generico

Match starts with a long dance contest. Not my cup of tea, but it didn't feel out of place here. I actually kinda figured that this would be a comedy match, since Mack worked a LONG match against Hero that was stiff as all get out. Plus he is kinda chubby. So yeah, we get dancing. Crowd seemed into it, so I can't complain too much. Comedy continues as they do dueling Human Tornado corner kicks. Eventually the match got rolling and Mack looked really good, busting out a bunch of cool offense that he didn't get to use in the Hero match, including a great knee drop. You know the kinda knee drop AJ Styles does? Mack did that, except he's bigger and thus it looks even more awesome. Mack has a bunch of cool throws and Generico bumped a clothesline really nicely. But eventually Generico cam back with a nice yakuza kick in the corner and ended it with a brainbuster. Match was the shortest of the night and enjoyable enough. It naturally wasn't as good as each guy's first matches, but I'd rather have two really good matches and one OK comedy match than 3 OK-decent matches. So both guys going long in the first match was way worth it.

7. Kevin Steen vs. Eddie Edwards

More comedy mixed in with some stuff I thought was silly in an unintentional comedy way. Match started off with a silly shoulderblock exchange. Now again, I love a real nice, hard hitting shoulderblock. They look nasty and it makes my joints and torso hurt by thinking about someone running into me at that speed. So Steen and Eddie just start exchanging them like they're chops. One guy would bounce off the ropes and hit one, and that would cause the other guy to bounce off the opposite ropes and hit one, and so on and so forth until the move was killed dead. Just boing shoulderblock boing shoulderblock boing shoulderblock over and over again and it was kinda dumb. Then we went into a long eyepoke segment that was pretty amusing. I can't ever hate on an eyepoke spot, though they kind of ran them into the ground here. There was a really fun spot where Edwards threw Steen to the floor, and made the crowd clear out of the way for a dive. You bet your ass I ran out of there. Edwards runs off the opposite ropes, does a fast baseball slide kick to the floor, and then just pokes Steen in the eye. Then they bite each other for awhile, and then they go into wrestling is serious strike exchange, while the fans are chanting Kill, Steen, Kill....and....this shit just doesn't work all together.

Sometimes Steen is really wrestling-as-serious business, and sometimes he's wacky guy hamming it up to the crowd, and sometimes it's both all at once, and I just don't buy it. It's like on The Office, when Michael Scott is such a buffoon and completely unrealistic, but then there would be an occasional episode where something bad happens to Michael and you were supposed to feel sympathy for him...but it was impossible to feel sorry for him because he was so unrealistic most of the time. Steen has this real obnoxious habit of just tossing off loud one liners to the crowd in a match. Not so much working the crowd at all, but just stopping a match to be Henny Youngman for awhile, and then restarting the match where it left off. There's working the crowd, and then there's just trying to get a chuckle, and he always goes for the latter no matter the mood of the match. So they are serious, then they get some yucks, and whatever.

Then since doing a long silly shoulderblock exchange wasn't enough, they do dueling superkicks. I'm...kinda speechless on that one. Eddie Edwards took a superkick...then just kinda hit a superkick back. Didn't sell it or anything, just kinda...did a superkick after being hit with one. I'm...confused? How can anybody be interested in two guys pretending to fight if at any point moves that we have collectively determined hurt a whole bunch can just suddenly not hurt anymore? Moves mean something because we know each worker's history with each move. And this wasn't even some fighting spirit nonsense or anything, just taking a move that's usually a big deal, and doing the same move back with no harm done. I guess I'm just really confused by what they were going for there. Like, will other wrestlers see that and go "Oh shit, didn't know that was an option." Is Eddie Edwards the annoying kid in elementary school who would just pretend he didn't get tagged when everybody was playing tag? I hated that fucking kid. Is he Michael Myers? Who got shot 6 times in Halloween and fell off a balcony and then came back for Halloween II and got shot a bunch more (including in the face!) and then burned alive and still came back? I don't know if Edwards has the acting chops to pull off Michael Myers. And so we get more moves, we get more counters, and I assume at some point for some reason one of these moves will keep one of these guys down for one more second than all of the other moves kept them down for. And so the world turns.

8. Kings of Wrestling vs. The Young Bucks

This was a comedy match that worked quite well for me, and I have to give a lot of credit to the Bucks here. I have never seen them play heel and they were really great at being big bumping, stooging goofy heels. Hero and Claudio work a bunch of double teams with them like the double rowboat spot and the Bucks bump into place hilariously and slip on banana peels and fall on each others' groins and it's actually pretty great. Now, they were not as entertaining when they went into their heel control section, and I actually fell asleep at that point so I can't really say why they were not as entertaining. I can't blame them for me falling asleep, as it was like 11:45 at this point and I had been up since 2:30 A.M. and drove down from the Bay Area and had a giant lunch at Portos....or maybe it was their fault and their offense is so boring it put me to sleep. Who knows. Either way we still get a bunch of fun spots from everybody, with Hero elbowing and kicking everyone in sight, and Claudio hitting an insanely long giant swing (with Hero booting them in the face to end it!). Matt gets the pin with his feet on the ropes and this may have been the last KoW indie match for quite some time. KoW hit their MASSIVE finisher on Matt after the match is over and he takes it like a champ.

9. Kevin Steen vs. El Generico

Final was pretty fun and had a lot of nasty moves that got kicked out of, but it all worked fine in context. Match started right away as Steen was in the ring and Generico ran out and they went at it. Generico really just burst through those ropes and almost took out a dude walking past the curtain and then almost plowed into the ringside cameraman. Crowd is real into this as everybody is standing at this point, they brawl all over the building, Generico overshoots a couple crazy dives, chairs get tossed, a kid in a Generico mask gets taunted while Steen locks on the cloverleaf (the move that ended his other two matches), both guys hit completely nasty package piledrivers, Generico boots Steen's head off a couple times, and wins with a NASTY brainbuster on the apron. The match was under 10 minutes, but was all action and in the moment it totally worked.

Great fun show overall, totally worth driving down for. Next show doesn't sound worth driving over from Burbank to see (Ricky Romero and Davey Richards!!!), but if Finlay is on a card again, you can count me in. Favorite match of the night might have been Hero/Mack, but Finlay/Steen, and Claudio/Generico were great as well. All other matches had at minimum some decent moments (Edwards spits really high and there was a fun moment in the Steen match where he somehow managed to spit on the same crowd member two different times from two different spots in the ring. That's some impressive spitting right there. It took Haruka Eigen's art and turned it into high art), and at minimum were very good.

I would recommend going out of your way to see this show, with three great matches and some real fun ones. Get on it.

SLL's All-Request Something Something

2011-08-27T01:38:00.001-04:00

Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage (WCW, 4/6/1997)
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage (WCW, 6/15/1997)
Diamond Dallas Page vs. Randy Savage (WCW, 10/26/1997)
Requested by DylanWaco

Dylan suggested I do all three of these as a group, since they're all really good on their own, but if you cobbled the best pieces of each together, you'd have a great match. Personally, I thought they all stood on their own just fine, though maybe the third less so than the first two, and, for that matter, the second less so than the first.

The first was actually about as good of a WCW main event match as you were going to get in that period. More than anything, this really struck me as a microcosm of what should have been happening with their main event scene but never really did because WCW was run by the dumbest motherfuckers in wrestling history. Two dudes who hate each other having a brawl is maybe the easiest match in the world to set up and execute, and probably the one WCW was bested suited to at the moment. Here, we get that from two really great brawlers, and they know not to stray too far from that as the base of the match. These are two guys who were notorious for the thorough planning of their matches, and this one in particular really comes off as a match that they nailed structurally. But a lot of what makes it work is that, until the finish, it's very stripped down. It's an epic, but it's not, as some of the net might call it, a "self-conscious epic", and these are two guys who did tend to be very self-conscious about their work. This was No DQ, they had a lot of tools at their disposal to fool around with, but they kept it simple, and that's really exactly what the match needed. Before the finish, the big "moments" that stood out to me were Savage attacking David Penzer and Mark Curtis. Hey, remember when the nWo were a major threat that WCW had to fight off instead of a permanent fixture that WCW had to tolerate? This match does. Even Michael Buffer remembers in probably the best non-ironic moment of wrestling career as he kneels beside his fallen comrade in ring announcing, looking like he now genuinely understands the true horror of the struggle. After years of not caring about this dopey little sport, he now realizes David Penzer is a man just like him, trying to find his way in this crazy, mixed-up world of ours, and that no man deserves the indignity that he - and by extension, all of WCW - has been put through by the nWo. Then he'll drink that all away and come back fresh and ready to introduce Bret "The Hitman" Clarke and tell us how Karl Malone is going to deliver the mail as it has never been delivered before, but it was nice we had that moment. I also want to give props to Tony Schiavone, who had his game face on tonight and did a great job putting over the story of the match, DDP's scrappy underdog status, and how vile Savage and the nWo really were. There's one point after Savage has whipped and piledriven Mark Curtis where Tony is describing the action and asks "what have we become?", which really feels like it belongs next to "Hulk Hogan, you can go straight to Hell" as one of your great Schiavone moments. He's also doing this in spite of Bobby Heenan completely shitting on the match with an out of place heel routine. He snaps at the Brain every time he tries to force some unneeded levity into the match, and I think it's really effective at keeping a serious tone throughout. This is the Schiavone I would have liked to have seen all the time, but it was WCW so...you know. At that brings us to the finish, which was the most "booked" part of the match, so to speak. But man-oh-man, was that a great fucking finish. Curtis gets taken out, nWo favorite Nick Patrick gets brought in with Kevin Nash coming out to supervise. DDP is beaten to within an inch of his life, Savage drags him to his fe-BANG! Diamond Cutter! Patrick - looking his Kenny Powersest - watches as DDP slowly crawls over Savage, shoots the half, and semi-official faction membership be damned, he goes down, and with as fair of a count as you'll ever see, gives DDP the win. A decisive, middle of the ring, clean as a sheet win against one of the biggest stars in modern wrestling history, and one that solidified him as a legit main event player. Did you see that WCW? That was called "creating a new long term star". It wasn't that hard, was it? WHY WERE ONLY ABLE TO DO IT TWICE IN THE LAST FIVE YEARS OF YOUR PITIFUL FUCKING EXISTENCE?! Post-match, the nWo loses their shit. Kevin Nash Jacknifes Nick Patrick. Savage freaks out and tries to attack Kimberly. Eric Bischoff desperately tries to get cooler heads to prevail so the team can regroup. There was a war here. Something happened. It was important. And the crowd wanted Sting. You knew that the crowd wanted Sting, right WCW? You knew that they wanted him to lead the charge and drive off the nWo once and for all, right? Not just to gain a pathetic non-victory over Hogan that would be completely undone in a matter of months before he settled into the new routine, right? Fuck you guys. You deserve TNA. THIS was what professional wrestling looks like.

The second match is a step down, but not a very big one. Loved the opening with Kimberly distracting Savage at the entrance so DDP could rush out of the crowd to attack. Really great, out-of-control start to the match, including a crazy DDP pescado as he pushes the advantage. Notably, we are now into the "taped ribs" phase of Page's career (which was really the last piece of the puzzle he needed to put together to become completely awesome), and he is selling the after-effects of the pescado appropriately. Savage also attacks the ribs appropriately. We need more guys with visible injuries in wrestling so clueless dudes can have an easy hint about what to do in a match. Most wrestling promotions are basically M*A*S*H units, anyway. It shouldn't be that hard. Anyway, this match is largely more of the same in terms of style and structure, and that suits me just fine. However, they do start to stray into out-of-place shenanigans a bit more here. In the late goings, they brawl towards a "VIP area" (do they even have a clear view of the ring from there) made up to look like a picnic area. As much as Dusty yelling "Right behind ya! There's a bar-be-cue pit!" amuses me, the silliness really felt unwelcome after they had done such a good job keeping the tone serious in the previous match.

This continues in the third match, and while it's still high-quality brawling, it's not quite as dynamic as it had been the first two times around. This time, we have a really great crowd brawling segment that leads into Halloween Havoc's graveyard set. It actually feels less silly than the picnic set brawl, I don't even really hold it against the match that much. I just feel like if that's the route you want to go, take it to the concession stand. Having a great brawl amongst a bunch of prop tombstones just isn't the same, especially when compared to the simple beauty of the first match. Also, all of these matches feature heavy use of glass (?) serving trays as foreign objects. That seems just plain odd to me.

Minor grievances aside, you can't go wrong with any of these matches. WCW's main event scene was shit for the most part, but this feud is a great look at what could happen when things actually went right.

Randy Savage vs. Andre the Giant (WWF, 8/13/1988)
Requested by Victator

I have a lot of Savage matches left over from when the All-Savage Friday Night requests. I can't complain too much about the lack of variety, though, Savage fucking ruled. Andre also fucking ruled, and while this is older, broken down Andre, he was a guy who would often find ways to take what little he had left and make the most of it. He wasn't getting anything the level of his Hansen or Killer Khan matches anymore, but Andre can put a smile on my face more often than not. This is one of the better examples of that, and when you're in the ring with Savage, that's to be expected. Andre in this match is all about trying to keep Savage trapped, trying to negate the speed advantage, choking him out with his hands and the strap of his tunic. His way is not very sportsmanlike. Savage rallies, and bless Andre's heart, he can still fall backwards and get his arms trapped in the ropes. Savage goes to work, but just as soon as the giant gets free, he backs Savage into a corner and starts wailing away. He may not be as offensively dynamic as he used to, and he may be struggling a bit to stay upright, but if nothing else, Andre is still a huge motherfucker, and he still looks like a legit threat when he's pounding on some dude in the corner. When Savage finally fells him, it feels like a real accomplishment, but even after the elbowdrop, Andre still powers out at two. They brawl outside, where Savage continues to press the advantage, but when he gets back in, Elizabeth gets on the apron, and Andre grabs her ankle, causing her to collapse in pain. Savage goes back out to deal with it, causing a double count-out, which is weird since Savage had pretty clearly broken the count moments earlier. Whatever. I still had a lot of fun with this, dopey finish aside. The post-match makes up for it a little, as Savage carries a seemingly injured Liz in his arms backstage while Andre parades around the ring triumphantly with the WWF Title.

Low-Ki vs. Sami Callihan (JAPW, 3/26/2011)
Requested by Mando > Eddie

So I guess this is the last great JAPW match, huh? Shame. Still, this is a good note to go out on, one of my favorite indy matches of the year so far. After the awesome bit earlier in the night with Sami attacking Ki at the concession stand, the match opens with Ki doing his fancy slingshot roll into the ring and Sami just pouncing on him. Of course, Ki isn't going to give any quarter, either. He comes back quick and sends him out of the ring, and then dives out feet first into Callihan's face, which was just hideous. He spends most of the rest of the match beating the shit out of him, including one of the hardest slaps you will ever see in a wrestling ring. Callihan has a ton of nice offense of his own, including an out-of-nowhere backdrop driver. Still, the real story with him is the way he eats all of Low-Ki's shit and keeps sticking it out. Scrappy heel fighting from underneath is a weird role, and a tough one to pull off, but Sami is more than up to the task. When on offense, he is a violent monster you want to see get brought down. When he isn't, he's spitting in Ki's face, a constant reminder that he hasn't been put away yet, and you still want to see him brought down. The crowd didn't react to this the way you'd think they would, but I sure as hell did.

SEGUNDA CAIDA RADIO

2011-08-26T01:13:00.002-04:00

Eric, Phil, Dean talk about wrestling, Puerto Rico, two Sid Bream/Kent Hrbek references, and KrisZ, Bix and Dylan all join us to go over how Kris is going to vote on his Observer HOF ballot. We go into detail on each American worker (Japanese and Lucha coming next show!) and decide who should stay and who should go. Great show.

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Rey v. Rhodes

2011-08-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

Rey Mysterio v. Cody Rhodes Lyon France 4/23/11

With Rey possibly winding his career down, here is a great example of the kind of great match he could have right up to the end. Lots of nifty cat and mouse stuff here, with Cody breaking out a bunch of quick athletic counters as well. His jump kick is timed perfectly and he pounces him out of the air with a dropkick as well. Lots of different ways to tease and set up the 619 until the final one (the pin is cut off unfortunately). Rey was taking some big bumps even at a house show, seems crazy to be doing the Pete Rose slide to the floor with no cameras. Man am I going to miss Rey.

Black Terry Met a Beat and Broken Man, He Shovels Dirt but has No Land

2011-08-23T22:00:00.001-04:00

Guerrero Maya/Guerrero del Futuro/Damian El Guerrero v. Los Metalicos (Oro/Plata/Bronce) CMLL 4/9/92-GREAT

Match started off solid with some good basic lucha exchanges between Futuro and Oro and just kept building from there. By the third fall we were really cooking with a great bumping clinic by the Guerreros, who were all over the ring with great pace on everything they did. Metalicos were flashy guys, but this was a rudo performance really putting them through the paces. Finish was really nuts with Plata holding Maya and Oro going for a tope, Maya moves and Oro overshoots his brother and goes face first into the armrest of a chair. He was pouring blood from his mask and may have broken his nose or really cut up his mouth. Unfortunate accident although in many ways it made for an exciting capper to the match.

Guerrero Maya/Guerrero del Futuro/Damian el Guerrero vs. Solar I/Aguila Solitaria/El Tigre Universitario CMLL 5/10/92-GREAT

Very entertaining classic lucha libre trios match. All of the traditional tropes. Long grappling section to open the first fall. Everyone looked good here, but Futuro and Solar were especially impressive. Solar would be in every argument for the greatest mat wrestler of all time, and Futuro is a perfectly serviceable opponent. I was hoping for a little more Solar v. Terry stuff, but what we got was fun. One of the things I especially enjoyed in this match is how it built in the traditional structure, but would revisit the grappling. They would move into armdrags or throws, and then they would hit the mat for a bit. Soliraria and Universitario were the kind of well trained journeyman luchadroes CMLL has always been loaded with. You can plug guys like that into any match and they will acquit themselves admirably. I was on the fence for much of this match, as it kind of felt like it was building into an EPIC level, but it never cranked into a final gear. Still any lucha fan could spend a very enjoyable 30 minutes watching this match.

Guerrero Maya/Guerrero del Futuro/Yone Genjin v. Fantastik/Ultimatum/Hijo del Solitario CMLL 8/9/96-FUN

We have another Guerreros trios, with long time MPRO comedy caveman Yone Genjin replacing Damian el Guerrero. Pretty strange to see Genjin work a basically straight match, hitting the mat with Ultimatum and bumping for armdrags. Fantastik is really athletic impressive hair chested luchador who seemed to show up almost exclusively in undercards of Japanese garbage feds. I can't actually remember seeing him work in Mexico before, he is always good for some cool spots, although he didn't break out his crazy Super Astro style tope atomico. Maya worked a bunch with Solitario, including a fun spot where Solitario lifts him up in a headlock which Del Rio should steal next time he works Rey.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Masters v. Swagger

2011-08-17T22:00:00.000-04:00

Chris Masters v. Jack Swagger Hermosillo Mexico 5/11/11

I wanted to lament the release of the awesome Chris Masters by showcasing a fun heavyweight bombfest from the Mexico tour against the almost equally misused Jack Swagger. These guys were married on the house show tours and must have had 50+ matches against each other in the last year or so. They really have a nice match worked out. Swagger looked really good, I loved his fast impressive takedowns and he hit two nasty clotheslines, including one to the back of the head. Masters bumped well and unloaded some big power moves, and the Masterlock is still super over. No reason that big guys this talented are so underused.

With Satan's Hog No Pig at All, and the Weather's Getting Dry, Pirata Morgan Heads South from Altamont in a Cold-Blooded, Travelled Trance

2011-08-11T14:10:00.002-04:00

Pirata Morgan & El Hijo del Pirata Morgan vs. Los Traumas vs. Pantera & Mascara Ano 2000 Jr. vs. Damien 666 & Bestia 666 IWRG 7/14/2011 - FUN

I am not one to conform to pro wrestling conventional wisdom if I don't actually agree with it. If I think the first Punjabi Prison match was better than the first Hell in a Cell match - and I do - I'll hold to that view regardless of how loony it looks from the outside. So it goes with my feelings on three/four/etc.-way matches. Conventional wisdom is that if you do them at all, you do them with elimination rules - as they do in this match - rather than a single fall. And well, I understand that line of thought and why it developed, but looking at it in practice, I could never bring myself to agree with it. It's a gimmick that tends to get in the way of a lot of basic wrestling psychology, and most wrestlers - even really good ones like some of the guys in this match - kinda strain to get around it in ways they don't with single-fall rules. Most obviously, there's tendency for wrestlers to break up nearfalls even though elimination rules mean that one opponent eliminating another will only benefit you. "Everybody wants to be the one to eliminate the Franchise!" Whatever, Joey. It's as dumb of a multi-man trope as the three-way's "one guy is dead on the outside while the other two have their turn", and I don't see a point in excusing one and not the other. But that alone could be accepted as a problem with the wrestlers rather than the match type, except I've seen an elimination rules four-way tag that was wrestled logically, and it made it wildly apparent that even when applied sensibly, the gimmick is just lame. The very first thing I ever reviewed on this blog was TNA's 2005 Unbreakable PPV, where a match of this type was wrestled without the stupidity usually associated with it (well, it had some of it's own unique stupidity, but nothing traditionally associated with elimination four-ways), and the result is that is that is was basically a glorified gauntlet match, so even at it's best, the gimmick is effectively useless. The only time I ever really got into an elimination-rules multi-man was Santo/Casas/Dandy, and that's really a Santo/Dandy match where Casas beats up both guys for a little while before leaving. By contrast, ROH's Four Corner Survival matches were rarely great, but they pretty consistently entertained me, since everyone involved was actually...well, involved, and it made sense for them to be. And again, it's a minority opinion, but it's still my opinion.

I say all this because I want to be clear that while I consider this match merely FUN, there are certain extenuating circumstances effecting that judgement. If those circumstances don't apply to you, I could see this getting the bump to GREATness. After the last 2011 Pirata match I reviewed - where he was good, but definitely showing his age - it was neat to see him all energetic and mobile here, especially in his exchanges with Damian. I also really dug his eliminations of Pantera and Trauma II. The rolling kimura to Trauma II was just plain cool, and the slingshot somersault senton to Pantera was a neat example of his lack of mobility actually being used to his advantage. Imagine an invisible Tully Blanchard doing a slingshot suplex to Pirata onto Pantera. There was also a lot of fun matwork early on from pretty much everyone, and a really fun, high-energy Pantera performance before his aforementioned elimination. For me, the structural problems still hamper the match, but for you, that might be less of an issue.

Pirata Morgan, Jerry Estrada, & Hombre Bala vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Atlantis, & Alfonso Dantes EMLL 3/1987 - EPIC

This is a straight-up clinic on how to be an badass rudo trio. Los Bucaneros achieved a level of perfection in this field matched only by Los Infernales, which Pirata had also been a member of, making him sorta the Bobby Eaton of Mexico. Primera caida is built around the Bucaneros swarming individual tecnicos and mugging them, which is one of my favorite stock spots in lucha. They are fucking great at it, too. Really feels like a violent, out-of-control beatdown, which is what Pirata does best. They take the first fall after Pirata comes off the top with a great kneedrop onto Rayo, and then a badly beaten Atlantis gets thrown out of the ring, and it kinda looks like he's being forced to take a Jerry bump, like Estrada is giving him a taste of his own medicine. Second fall hits, and the technicos are all fired up and quickly retake control of the match. All three of the technicos are looking great. Atlantis has some beautiful exchanges here. Dantes - who I had seen nothing of before starting work on the Best of the 80's Lucha project - is a fucking tank, and is awesome bowling over the Bucaneros with his bulk. Even Rayo feels more serious than usual. He is still doing his comedy shtick, but it comes off less like silly fun babyface stuff and more like him using his quickness and unorthodox style to evade his opponents and keep them off-balance. And through it all, Pirata and his crew continue to work as a well-oiled machine, brilliantly setting up elaborate three-man stooging and bumping sequences like few other trios could. Really, just the fact that Jerry Estrada - one of the most coked up wrestlers in the history of the world - was consistently in perfect position to make all this stuff look right was amazing, and a tribute to their greatness as a team. The highlight comes after the technicos take the second fall, where the Bucaneros really turn it up. Let me see if I can walk you through this: one Bucanero (the lighting of the shot combined with the matching outfits and hairstyles makes it hard for me to see who is who here) holds Rayo while the other two try to double clothesline him. Rayo ducks, leaving the third Bucanero to eat the double clothesline. Rayo chucks one Bucanero into the ropes, but he catches himself and hangs in them a la T.J. Perkins. The second charges, but Rayo kicks out his legs, causing him to accidentally dropkick the first out of the ring. The third swings a wild lariat at Rayo, but he ducks and throws him into the ropes. He catches himself, but his legs still fly through and boot both of the other Bucaneros in the face on the outside. I guarantee my description didn't do the sequence justice. The Bucaneros take a moment to regroup after this, and after getting their minds right, they exact their violent revenge. A nasty triple dropkick to Atlantis' head takes him out of the match. Rayo makes one last valiant attempt at using his Rayoness to take back the match, but it's too little, too late, as the Bucaneros swarm him, pummel him, and then make him submit to the old Kaientai taunt where Estrada and Bala bend him over and hold him in place by his arms while Pirata stands on his back and taunts. They celebrate their victory by sending Rayo out of the ring with a big running dropkick, and then kicking at the fans surrounding the ring after the match. Could have used a more hectic finish, but everything up to that was hectic enough for my tastes. This is good old-fashioned lucha trios wrestling, just like mom used to make.

Pirata Morgan, Satanico, & MS-1 vs. Solomon Grundy, Mascara Sagrada, & Lizmark AAA 8/29/1993 - SKIPPABLE

The unlikely Pirata/Grundy war rages on, and you'd think adding Satanico to it would make it better than their last outing automatically. Sadly, this is not the case, as everyone other than Pirata and Satanico turn in sluggish performances, and even Satanico's isn't up to his lofty standards. Still, Pirata has a nice dive and a great bump. If I had my eyeball exploded because someone failed to catch me when I was doing a tope, I would probably be leery about ever doing them again, but Pirata was unafraid to dive headfirst into Grundy, so I was kinda impressed by that. Even more impressive - and something I'd be even leerier about doing - was his big bump of the match, as Mascara Sagrada hiptosses him over the top rope, and Pirata takes a no-hands back bump all the way to the floor. That was fucking terrifying, but in a very wrestling-appropriate way. One nice dive and one insane bump feels like it should be enough to get this match to FUN if anyone else gave a shit in this match, but they didn't, so it doesn't.

Pirata Morgan vs. Tiger Mask II AJPW 12/8/1984 - FUN

Pirata was a bunch of fun here. He wasn't afraid to smack Tiger Misawa around, both with standard brawling and with some flashier junior offense like his great second rope tope en reversa and another "so what if I lost an eye doing this" tope later in the match. He also isn't afraid to do some really neat bumping for Misawa. He gets a ton of height for a flip bump off of a back body drop. For his own part, Misawa shows some flickers of his future greatness (well, his tope rope somersault bodyblock isn't really indicative of his future, but it was indicative of greatness), but it's pretty clear he still has a way to go before reaching the legendary status he'd gain in the 90's. A flawed match, but still enjoyable, and another neat opportunity to see Pirata in a different setting. Definitely made me want to see him against some of the more substantive Japanese juniors of the era.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE PIRATA MORGAN

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Louisville Street Fight

2011-08-10T22:00:00.001-04:00

Christian v. Randy Orton Louisville KY 7/30/11

This was a Louisville Street Fight, although the only weapon which actually got used was a kendo stick. I do think the street fight aspect of the match toned down the Christopher Danielsish reversalism which can sometimes over saturate their matches which each other. Christian took a bunch of fun bumps, and Ortons offense looked really good, he has a really pretty powerslam. Finish was surprisingly clean with Legacy running in and distracting Orton so he gets hit with a spear. Well worth checking out, and better then their MIB match

My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Saturday Night 4/1/00

2011-08-09T01:00:00.001-04:00

Jeremy Lopez/Tommy Rogers vs. Dandy/Silver King

Dandy/King are wearing their insanely awesome full body suits that I never realized they wore. King's is a full body suit that shows no skin whatsoever, and it is glittery silver and black. Dandy opts for gold and black, but his is sleeveless. King even works the stick to start the match, saying they are Latin America's most wanted men, and slicks his eyebrows down. Match itself was totally awesome. Lopez is a Malenko trainee who I *think* has worked Osaka Pro most of this decade, and would apparently be the worst road trip buddy ever (copied and pasted from his website, Favorite Bands: Creed, Kid Rock, 3rd Eye Blind, Uncle Cracker, STP. Live, Hootie And the Blowfish, 3Doors Down). Here he throws nice chops and gets punched by Dandy (Dandy throws like 4 awesome punches in this btw). I thought Tommy Rogers was ancient here but turns outs he was only 38. He was spry and also threw nice punches. Dandy Roll is incredibly quick and I have now seen 3 WCW matches where Dandy takes the fall!

Little Jeannie vs. Mona

Little Jeannie appears to be working some sort of gun moll gimmick, and Mona still has her awesome tear away evening gown. I don't think I could ever put down a Mona/Molly match. That's like putting down kittens or bunnies. Luckily the match is really fun with a bunch of cool mat-based stuff, and Mona winning with a neat inverted surfboard.

Kid Romeo vs. Allen Funk

This wasn't bad, but felt like two guys that were trying to throw out a whole bunch of cool moves. Funk looked better, though, throwing a big clothesline and a couple cool suplexes. Romeo came out dancing with glow sticks which I guess was an OK attempt to try and tap into a certain type of youth culture. It would have worked better had they had them work the mat and Romeo just couldn't stop rubbing on Funk.

Frankie Lancaster vs. Lash LeRoux

Frankie Lancaster is Bob Holly. I mean, especially in this match. They look like the same person, except Frankie had a mustache. Hmmmm. Same bleached hair, same balding pattern, same gassed physique, nice dropkick, same fucking face...This is also about the best I've seen Frankie look in ring, too, really playing to the crowd and working stiffer than normal. I really hate Lash LeRoux's hair. Frankie takes almost all the match before Lash hits his inevitable finish.

Steve Armstrong vs. Hugh Morrus

I never remember Steve wearing tie dye and blue jeans while he wrestled. I remember Brad worked as Buzzkill a few months before this, but why was Steve doing the same thing? Was there some sort of angle where Steve was making fun of his brother for ripping off one of their other brothers, as a wink wink within a nudge nudge? Because the announcers weren't putting any of that over. They didn't even mention that it might be odd for Steve to be working in jeans and a tie dye shirt, just business as usual. Anyway, Steve doesn't get much offense here. Morrus always takes 95% of his squash matches. He was more entertaining here than he can be (throwing some nice elbowdrops, nailing the No Laughing Matter, pulling Steve on top for the false 2.9), but it would be nice to see an actual match from him.

3 Count vs. Shark Boy/Frank Paris/Elix Skipper

3 Count was really good on a sliding scale. Helms looked really great here and threw nice strikes and was super quick, Moore took some big bumps and was also quick, and Karagias had very nice abs. 3 Count stooge around for a lot of Shark Boy biting offense, and good lord was Air Paris (Frank?) bigger than I remember. He was the biggest guy in this match! Pretty short match, would've liked to see more. A few women in their late 30s were really into the pre-match boy band singing and synchronized dancing.

Chris Harris vs. Chuck Palumbo

Harris blows a couple things and we cut to random kids in the crowd to cover it. Still, he moved quickly for a big guy and that helped. Palumbo still threw an awesome right hand, even this early on. And good gracious his two jungle kick superkicks here were brutal, the last one just blasting Harris under the chin. Palumbo wasn't as good here as he would get, but showed potential. When did he make the jump up to "really really good", like 2003?

Cassidy Riley vs. HAIL

I liked O'Reilly (Riley?) in TNA as one of the Hotshots, but here he doesn't get to do much. Announcers were putting over HAIL as a giant (6'9" 350 lb!!!) which is completely absurd since he was only slightly bigger than Chris Harris or Chuck Palumbo in the previous match. But to get over his size Hudson was pushing Cassidy as being 6'2" 220 lb. which is awesome. This match was not much, although HAIL's jumping piledriver looked really good. His finisher was called Hail's Bells, which is both awesome and horrible.

Kory Williams/Ashley Hudson vs. Vito/Johnny the Bull

Vito actually looked really good here, with the Mamalukes finisher being a Hart Attack but with Vito doing a yakuza kick (so he had to do a massive yakuza kick way over his head and it looked really great). Kory Williams threw some alright punches and some really high & pretty dropkicks. He also gets his head kicked in by Vito. Match was kinda boring when Ashley Hudson was in, which was most of it. Hudson looked a lot like Crowbar, but had a silhouette of Australia on his singlet, and came out wearing a boomerang. Since he didn't get any offense, though, it remains unknown whether or not he has Australian-named gimmick offense.

Brian Knobbs vs. Adrian Byrd vs. Dave Burkhead vs. Rick Fuller vs. Norman Smiley vs. The Dog*

Yeaahhhh! Hardcore main event 6 man, title on a pole match! Dog and Fuller disappear through large portions of this, and the star of the match is probably Dave Burkhead. This was basically 6 guys wandering around a ring filled with garbage, hitting each other with chairs and trash cans and trash can lids and ladders, all while trying to grab the title from the pole. Burkhead is always seemingly right in the way of plunder here, so he wins best in match. He takes chairshots, trash can shots, a ladder shot to the back of the head (then takes a huge running bump from the ring to the floor), then while lying on the floor gets a ladder thrown from the ring onto his face! It all made me root for him and when he climbed to the turnbuckle to reach for the title I was actually getting excited. "Will Burkhead win the title here!?" But no, Knobbs beats him with a trash can and grabs the belt : ( It was fun while it lasted.

APW TV Workrate Report: 3/26/11

2011-08-06T22:00:00.000-04:00

Some camera guy is waiting outside Dylan Drake's house to ask him questions about his upcoming match against Corvus. You know, this was pretty smartly done. They had him coming out of a nice suburban house and driving off in a nice car, wearing a fashionable black shirt and nice sunglasses, using his nice rolling suitcase to tote his gear. It made him look like a big deal. They tend to make some guys look like chumps by putting them in situations that seem bush league, so it was nice to see somebody looking like they had some modicum of success in their life. Usually they have guys cutting promos in a broom closet or something.

Derek Sanders is out with his awful protege Will Rood. At least Rood's clothes fit better this week. Usually he's wearing baggy pleated slacks and a oversized button-up shirt that is always untucked. Really sloppy. Looks like a high school dropout going on a job hunt and trying to dress up. Today he's wearing black pants that fit and a nice purple v-neck sweater. Simple, but put together. He's improving.

1. Derek Sanders vs. Daniel Torch starts us off and APW really needed another guy who's name starts with "D". People hate on WWE for changing dudes' names to goofy shit, but APW has like 20 guys in the fed and 25% of them are Ds. Daniel, Derek, Dave, Dylan. Even the announcers get tripped up and call him Dylan Sanders. Torch is a REALLY scrawny guy billed as 150 lb., but that looks like a real stretch. Sanders bum rushes him and elbows the life out of him, then locks on a nice chickenwing cravate. Torch takes a giant backdrop bump and tucks really late, making it look super dangerous. He fights back with feeble little slaps to Sanders' chest, and then gets LEVELED with a shoulderblock "and bumps it in a neat and flippy. Sanders is really working stiff in this one, throwing nice back elbows and big clubbering blows. Torch has a really indie moveset, but it works for him and I like his big comeback (Miz/Bourne corner clothesline with a NICE follow-up high kick to Sanders head, then a big springboard leg drop). Sanders is too much though, and levels him with a type of DVD. This was my first time seeing Torch and I dug him, took a good beating and Sanders is always rock solid. He looked even better than usual here since he worked more snug than usual. Good short match.

Afterwards Sanders berates Rood for costing him the title a week or two ago, and Rood says it wasn't his fault and Sanders couldn't win his match on his own. Sanders makes THE SAME POINT I ALWAYS MAKE ABOUT THIS ANGLE, by telling Rood, "Who gave you a job when you were broke, when your woman was leaving you? It was me! I wrote out those checks! I gave you the chance!" Rood is so dry and bland on the mic, completely has no answer for that as it makes way too much sense. Crowd turns it awkwardly racist by chanting "He's no slave" and Sanders turns their awesome chants against them. They start chanting "Kick his ass" and Sanders is hilarious going "Yeah, you know what? You guys are right, I really should kick his ass." I mean, he's right. How is Sanders AT ALL the bad guy here? Rood's "months in the waiting" crowning moment finally happens as he punches Sanders and then whiffs on a shitty dropkick. Sanders is fucking AWESOME though as instead of selling the shitty dropkick he completely ignores it and just beats the shit out of Rood, then bails to the back when Rood starts to come back, then comes back out and beats him some more! I really really want Sanders to just kick the shit out of this guy. He gave him a chance, helped him when he was broke, and for what? Rood is indignant and just practically begs to have his ass beat. I want it. I'm with you, Sanders. I have never seen anything booked so backwards.

2. Main event is Dylan Drake vs. Corvus, and Corvus is a guy I like in tags, but have not seen too much long singles work. Drake is usually game, so this should be a good stage to see if Corvus is a good singles guy. Matthew Theall is really grating on commentary. He has a real frail, reedy voice that just doesn't work over a whole match. He talks too fast and it's like an obnoxious little hummingbird whipping around your head and doing a crappy Bobby the Brain impression. Jon Roberts has the opposite problem as it always seems like he's doing "announcer voice". Drake works the knee to wear him down for his finishing hold (The Bay to Breaker) and Corvus is fun working from the bottom and blocking Drake's feet. Drake does a long control section and Corvus eventually transitions to offense by dodging a big splash in the corner (that Drake had hit earlier) and then kicking him hard to the back. Darkness starts to win me over by choking Drake over the ropes and biting him. That's the first time I've seen her do anything but brood, and I like it. Blackwell is out now, too, so things are looking bad for Drake.

Blackwell and Darkness' goth looks need some work. Blackwell just kinda paints black lines on his face, which doesn't really happen in goth culture. He's already obese and pasty, they should have just had him wear a black trenchcoat. If they gave him any makeup it should have been acne makeup, not black lines on his cheeks. Darkness kinda of takes a "flowers in the attic" approach and acts like she's been locked away from society for a long time and doesn't have good social skills like talking or suspecting arsenic in donuts. She can't even wear a corset properly. Clearly has never seen a goth.

During Blackwell's interference, Mr. Wrestling IV runs in and does an awesome kneelift to Corvus behind the ref's back, and Drake gets the win. Solid but shorter than usual for an APW main event.

Segunda Caida Radio Episode 5 Available for Download!

2011-08-06T12:06:00.003-04:00

Phil, Eric, KrisZ and Bix talk about Thomas Magnum vs. Frank Reagan, Colt Cabana, Best wrestler under 25, Best wrestler over 60, best/worst tattoos in MMA, go through what we feel are the top 10 pro wrestling matches of 2011, and much more.

http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=94470&cmd=tc

Now Don't Think You're the Only One Who Harbours a Self Hate/Cassandro's Just as Guilty of Selling What His Sweet Soul Creates

2011-08-04T10:00:00.002-04:00

It's been awhile, friends.

Cassandro/Blue Demon Jr./LA Park vs. Halloween/Damien 666/Perro Aguayo Jr., (Lucha Expo, 7/24/11) - FUN

This is the first Cassandro match to come to light in ages, so I had to jump on it and throw this thing up. I think this took place at some kind of lucha expo where all the major promotions put on a show. This match was basically divided up into 3 sections: sluggish rudo beatdown, tecnico comeback showcase, and Park turning on his partners. The middle section was awesome fun, the sections that bookended that were not very good.

Entrances were fun, as all the guys acted like tecnicos. Cassandro was wearing an epic waistcoat/robe and mamboing to Gloria Gaynor, Blue Demon Jr. had an insanely ornate headdress, Park strutted to Thriller more than he usually does (he has to be sick of that song at this point), Halloween was dressed up as some sort of toddler Angus Young, wearing ski bib overalls over a cut off dress shirt with a child's necktie.

Rudo beatdown was the most energy-lacking thing I've seen in 2011 lucha. Taking a full minute to set up chairshots, walking while holding a guy's hair, tecnicos just idling in the corner waiting calmly for their turn to get hit. Just through-the-motions stuff. The ref actually shows more fire than Perro here, getting thrown by La Familia and "forced" to do a corner clothesline. Halloween throws the most listless clothesline that I have ever seen in this match. Blue Demon tried to throw himself into a chair interestingly, but it wasn't enough.

And then, as these things can happen in lucha, the tecnicos just suddenly hopped up and made a comeback. Cassandro was just on fire during all this, blasting Halloween into the corner with a dropkick, running down the ramp and dropkicking Perro, giving Damien an Attitude Adjustment on the ramp...then climbing the entrance way scaffolding and doing a massive dive onto everybody. Crazy.

Back in the ring and all three tecnicos get showcase sequences. Demon gets to do a couple fun headscissor spots with Damien and Halloween, and Cassandro gets to try and give everyone smooches (Damien takes it like a man, Halloween dodges it only to do his strut and turn around and catch one on the lips, and Perro fights his as if he were a child fending off his mom trying to give him a spoonful of cold medicine, just hands out, arms flailing, mouth shut tight with his lips tucked). Park comes in and does a bunch of distraction spots. He certainly seems to work harder as a main event rudo in AAA, where he's all stiffness and giant bumps. Here he was almost all schtick. Park is a guy whose schtick I love, but once you've seen main event rudo Park it's hard to go back.

Perro teases hitting Park with a chair, Park begs off...then turns on Cassandro and Demon. Bestia 666 (I think) also runs down to join the beatdown. Perro and Demon yell at each other a bunch on the mic. Last 20 seconds of video are pretty great with an awesome Demon/Perro slugfest, fighting each other down to their knees, and then exchanging low blows and then lying there holding their balls.

Seeing who was involved, this should have been way better, so in that it was disappointing. But once they got in the ring it was a good waste of 15 minutes.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE CASSANDRO

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Punk v. Cena

2011-08-03T22:00:00.001-04:00

CM Punk v. John Cena Oklahoma City, OK 3/13/11

Just a ton of fun. Wasn't the same kind of epic as their Money in the Bank match, but this was a great house show main event. Punk is a master of riling up a crowd. Mason Ryan yells in Welsh, Punk spends a minute dramatically removing his shirt, he tells the crowd he wants to buy property in OKC, he asks them politely to keep the noise down.. It was some Tully shit. Match had a bunch of neat moments, Cena rolls through on a bodypress and lifts Punk into a firemans carry which was a sick looking bit of strength. There was also a cool moment where Cena catches Punk knee on the GTS and tries to turn into a STF. Little kids were going nuts, we get a fun finish with a bunch of run ins and the good guy prevails. These guys work so well together, one of the better pairings in the last decade, can't wait for Summerslam

My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Saturday Night 7/31/99

2011-08-02T12:00:00.001-04:00

Only an hour for this week's episode, which is lame, but this episode took place almost exactly 12 YEARS AGO!

What were YOU doing 12 years ago!? I was mere months away from starting college, and I'm pretty sure this weekend 12 years ago I was actually at my future college doing a Summer Orientation weekend, staying in the dorms and having to attend lectures and skits put on by the drama club about shit like temperance and bullying and how it's cool to make friends and be different, and how it's insensitive and hurtful to say that things are gay. All 500 or so Orientation attendees were in Sonoma State University's big Pearson Theatre, and all the lights went out and it was pitch black...and then "Total Eclipse of the Heart" started playing REALLY loudly. One lone spotlight shone on the stage. A member of the SSU dance club was in a black leotard, and she did an interpretive dance to "Total Eclipse of the Heart", just flinging herself around the stage while the spotlight struggled to keep up.

That was the longest 6 minutes of my life.

It was the most uncomfortable and awkward I had ever been. I would rather watch my dad cry for 6 minutes, with our foreheads touching.

It was just me and 499 other future college students sitting in the dark, getting a little bit tired of listening to the sound of our tears. And I still ended up going to this school.

Disorderly Conduct vs. Jerry Flynn/Hugh Morrus

This was a real nice 4 minutes. This was right after the First Family had injured Finlay (when Finlay none of us expected Finlay to ever wrestle ever again, let alone return 6 years later to take back his title of best wrestler in the world), so I expected Regal and Taylor to be out for blood and do a violent run-in, possibly allowing DC to get a sneaky win. But it didn't happen. I think I've determined that Tough Tom is the better DC member...but every match I always forget which one is Tough Tom. They're always changing their hair slightly or changing facial hair. Though the guy that threw a great punch in this match had "Tuff" on his pants. DC get a nice long control section against Flynn and cut off the ring, which is more than I was expecting. Barbarian cheats from the floor (while holding the hardcore junkyard trophy!) though and Morrus splats one of them with the No Laughing Matter. And then Flynn locks on the worst looking armbar ever for the win.

Mike Enos vs. Van Hammer

This was alllll Enos for the first 2 minutes and he worked nice and stiff against Hammer (including just leveling VH with a shoulderblock), but then VH just cuts to his finishing run out of nowhere and looks bored doing it. Enos tried to make Hammer's offense look good, but VH didn't really care if it did or not.

Al Green vs. Curt Hennig

This was not great, and Hennig just looked sluggish and off in it. Green took a nice bump off a hotshot, and this just wasn't much. Hennig stumbled twice just trying to do the Perfect Plex. Crowd was into all the Rednecks, though, who were all grinning at ringside.

Kendall Windham/Bobby Duncum Jr. vs. Rey Misterio Jr./B.A.

Main event tag was an awesome 6 minutes. Kendall is the fucking greatest. His left hand seriously might be my favorite thing in recent wrestling that I've watched. Duncum has also aged really well in rewatch (his wrestling ability, not his "being alive" skills). He bumps really big and moves around with good purpose in the ring. Kendall and Duncum really bump around nicely for Rey, taking his offense in a way that does not look ridiculous (the way 6'6" dudes flying around for a 5'3" dude should look ridiculous). Eventually Barry and Hennig come in and beat Rey/B.A. down (Barry with the cowbell shot!) and then Swoll, Chase Tatum, and 4x4 (in his spaghetti strap camo tank top!!! I swear 4x4 is one of the most physically absurd guys I have ever seen. He's like 5'10" but 400 lbs., all in the arms and chest, and he always wears that damn tank top that looks like a tube top) chug down to the ring and the Rednecks bail. Awesome while it lasted. Kendall was seriously so damn good in '99, really carried himself like a total smug badass. Kendall, I know you'll never be the boy you always wanted to be, but you'll always be the boy who wanted me the way that I am.

I Do Like SLL's All-Request Monday

2011-08-01T15:35:00.001-04:00

Randy Savage vs. The Ultimate Warrior (WWF, 8/29/1992)
Requested by Jingus

Hey, it's that other Savage/Warrior match, and I tend to think there's a good reason it's the "other" one. This is a fine example of a match that's very easy to like, but hard to love, a lot of which is down to the angle surrounding it, which I'll get to in a second. The work itself is strong enough to enjoy, and certainly higher-end than your average Warrior match, but not particularly impressive for a Savage match, and overall, not enough to make this really stand out from the pack. If nothing else, Savage deserves credit for eating Warrior's typically shitty offense really well. I've written before about the nature of a good carryjobs, and whether or not a carryjob where you draw all the attention to your own performance while your opponent still looks like shit is really a carryjob. This is a match where Savage actually makes Warrior look like a competent - albeit flawed - wrestler. This is a good carryjob. Still, it is the Warrior. You can polish that turd a lot, but not often, and while this was a game effort from all involved, there was still some classic Warrior suck shining through. Most notably, there was his selling of the neck when Savage was working it over. I guess I should be impressed when Warrior sells a body part at all, but it was mostly him lolling his head around like Stevie Wonder, which just looked goofy. Speaking of musical references and Warrior looking goofy, I hadn't watched a Warrior match in a while, and I had forgotten how silly his no-selling comebacks looked. I had remembered him doing no-selling comebacks. I had forgotten he did them by dancing like Jennifer Beals did to "Maniac". He also blows a top-rope axehandle. I know Warrior didn't come off of the top rope regularly, but I seriously don't get how you blow an axehandle. He released his grip before it hit Savage, and essentially turned it into a tomahawk chop. I don't know how you fuck up in that specific way. On top of all of this, this was the period that Warrior was wrestling in his proto-Giant Gonzalez flesh singlet...ewwwww. Still, the match is pretty solid overall, with Warrior's problems present but minimal. Then the angle kicks in, and this is where they lose me (well, Savage drops Warrior with a sweet piledriver around this point, so it doesn't lose me completely). In case you missed it, Mr. Perfect had been telling everyone that he was going to be in either Savage or Warrior's corner, but wouldn't say who, getting into both guys' heads and making them paranoid (as if either of them needed help with that) over who had sold out to Perfect. So far, so good. Now, as I have heard it, the plan was that Warrior was going to be the one who would sell out, and that he would win the Title as a result, but Warrior nixed it and didn't get the belt as punishment. I can't recall how much of that is fact and how much is bullshit Scott Keith made up, but it seems like a believable story in light of what actually happened: neither man sold out to Perfect, and the match ends with with Savage coming off of the top rope to Flair on the outside with an axehandle, only for Flair to dodge and hit him in the leg with a chair. Well, that's what was supposed to happen - Savage actually appears to be pulling right of Flair, and Ric seems to stay in place as he hits Savage with the chair. Savage gets counted out (Hebner is really awful down the stretch here, too, with his bit where he gets hit and basically regresses to infancy, conscious and crawling around, but unable to stand upright and deliberately crawling as far away from the match as possible...this is not him unable to see what's happening because he's out of it, this is him actively trying to avoid involvement in the match), and Flair and Perfect work over his leg, and that does lead directly to Flair regaining the Title from Savage, but it seems like you don't need to stage this elaborate ruse to achieve that. "Flair playing mind games" was a shitty excuse for the Black Scorpion angle. I'm not sure whether or not the fact that this was a better angle until the payoff and that the blowoff match was better makes "Flair playing mind games" a more or less shitty excuse here. Either way, it's still a shitty excuse.

Tito Santana & Tony Atlas vs. Randy Savage & Jesse Ventura (WWF, 12/7/1985)
Requested by Lacelle

I don't know that I really had any clear expectations here, but I come away feeling disappointed regardless. We have Tito (who I like), Savage (who I love), Atlas (who is one of my favorite bad wrestlers of all time), and Ventura (who is one of my least favorite bad wrestlers of all time), so we have enough going on here that this could be really good, really bad, or some kind of mixed bag. I wasn't expecting boring, and that's what I got, so yeah, I guess that explains disappointment. Savage really didn't show up for this. Atlas was bad in all the ways he's usually bad, but with none of the enthusiasm that makes me enjoy him despite myself. Ventura was bad, but his stuff with Atlas wasn't as big of a train wreck as I kinda hoped. Tito was probably the best guy in the match. The Paso del Muerte looked really good. But he was the guy in the match the least, as they inexplicably booked Atlas as the face-in-peril, and Santana only gets to show up at the very beginning and very end of the match. There just wasn't a whole lot going on here worth noting.

Jun Akiyama, Yoshihiro Takayama, & Jun Izumida vs. Akira Taue, Takeshi Morishima, & Takuma Sano (NOAH, 3/6/2004)
Requested by ダニエル

This is a lineup that promises some clubbery fun. It doesn't really deliver on that promise to the extent I had hoped for, but still ends up being really enjoyable, largely on the efforts of another one of my favorite bad wrestlers of all time, Jun Izumida. Izumida is like the poor man's Masao Inoue. Not really gifted in any traditional aspect of wrestling, he is a guy who became watchable by wholeheartedly embracing suck. He never elevated it to a high artform the way Inoue did, but he at least made otherwise bad performances fun, and that counts for something. Akiyama and Takayama waste no time going on the offensive, and it's pretty fun, but nothing to get too worked up over. But then they start taking turns dropping elbows on Sano, and Izumida comes in, looking for a piece of the action. He gets completely ignored by his teammates, and I crack a smile as the poor dope stands there, waiting for the opening that isn't going to come. Then Akiyama makes the cover, and Izumida counts the fall, much to the bafflement of his partners. Izumida continues his zaniness for a while before Taue gets tagged in, and he actually has a really nice, energetic little run here, wiping out the opposition with kicks, slaps, and nodawas. Morishima also has some fun smacking Izumida around before Izu turns the tables and goes after Morishima's knee, which had been attacked earlier in the match, leading to him procuring a half-crab for the win. Afterwords, he grabs the mic and challenges Morishima to put the WLW Title on the line against him, while the audience applauds his teammates, who walk away without him. Awwww....

Kamui vs. MASADA (FREEDOMS, 12/25/2009)
Requested by Curt McGirt

Curt seemed to intimate that this match wasn't very good when he recommended it. I don't know why, because I thought this was off the hook. I don't think I've ever seen Kamui before unless it was under a different gimmick. He was solid, but nothing to write home about. But I do dig MASADA, and this is one one of the better showings I've ever seen from him, both dishing out and eating beatdowns. He throws some some shots with a cinderblock into Kamui's back and ribs early on that look suitably mean, and there's a lot of fun brawling through the crowd and into the concession stand/parking garage area. MASADA enthusiastically charges into a garage door when Kamui dodges an elbowsmash, and for whatever reason, the folks at the building decide to open said garage door, which allows Kamui to jack a car, drive it through the crowd to ringside, and into MASADA. Kamui's second attempt at vehicular homicide is foiled when MASADA chucks his cinderblocks into the front windshield, breaking it, but Kamui just continues the fight outside, throwing MASADA onto the trunk of the car and hitting a nice running splash off of a chair onto him for a nearfall in this apparently falls count anywhere match (in fact, every pin attempt in this match happens on top of the car...groovy). MASADA recovers and hits a running powerbomb that sends Kamui through the rear windshield, but that only gets two, and Kamui is able to fight back, knocking him onto the roof of the car and coming off the top rope with a roof-denting somersault senton. His top-rope rana gets countered into a borderline Sid-in-WarGames '91 powerbomb on the roof that's absolutely horrifying. It only gets two, as does the almost as horrifying brainbuster onto the roof that follows. And then there's a piledriver onto the roof that leaves it completely concave, which gets two...because MASADA pulls him up? Wha? Why would you go for the win twice in a row and then pull the guy up on the third attempt? He does a death valley driver on the roof for the win, and I know that's actually his finisher, but of the four moves he pulled in the final stretch, it was very much the least impressive. It was kinda odd, and a flat finish. Also, there was a little bit of blatant positioning done by MASADA to properly eat some of Kamui's flying offense onto the car. But fuck it, he looked great otherwise, I really dug the gimmick here, and this was a lot of fun to watch.

Shingo Takagi vs. Daisuke Sekimoto (Buyuden, 5/10/2008)
Requested by Brandon-E

This is a little tough for me to sort out my feelings on. Shingo is the one Dragon's Gate guy distinct enough for me to hate, and Sekimoto is a guy who grew on me, but hadn't done so yet when this match happened. I had pretty low expectations here, but this match...well, I didn't like it, but I didn't hate it, and I found things in it that I liked, and most of what I expected to go wrong didn't. This is a grudge match, and it is actually wrestled like a grudge match, with both guys really going after each other and putting some emotion behind it. You can tell that they both wanted this to deliver, and they went about it the right way...but while I appreciated the thought and the effort, most of what they did fell flat with me. This was structured like a match I would like, but they weren't bringing much to that structure to keep me interested, and they ended up losing me. About half-way through the match, Shingo turns up the dial, and I start to care a bit more. His lariats had some real force behind them, and I could get behind that. Sekimoto follows suit, busting out some really snappy German suplexes. One of the problems I always had with Sekimoto is that he is a guy who uses the German as his big move, but they tend to look really low-impact. Not here. He really planted Shingo with a few of them. But the finishing stretch is a really generic finisher kick out pop-up scream etc. fest, and my worst fears about the match were finally realized. They waited until the last moment to realize them, though, and the two Last Falconries that Shingo finished Sekimoto off with looked suitably nasty. Overall, not as bad as I expected, and something that I can see people getting into, but it wasn't really for me.

IWL Extreme Reinforcements 7/31/11

2011-07-31T23:00:00.002-04:00

Never got an IPPV before, but I love lucha and I love Necro Butcher and I occasionally make rash Goyimish financial decisions so here we go.

We start with a tag gauntlet where I recognize no one. The opening section had a couple of nice sections between Ninja Del Fuego and some one who might be named Guerrero Arlaquin. Mulusco Jr. had a in ring quebrada which smashed his opponent square in the mouth. Match falls apart after it gets turned into a gauntlet by the ubiquitous Valerie who was all over the first part of the show. One of the worst cases of Dinero Marco I have seen in quite a while. Gauntlet is basically Big Mama and Juan Ranchero squashing rudos. I like fat luchadores, but these two couldn't even pull off fake Super Porky spots competently.

Freelance/Turbo/Naruto vs Kensuke/Tribal/Samurai Del Sol

This was more like it. Freelance has been hit and miss on the 2011 IWRG I have seen, but PPV Freelance is solid gold. We got some really solid fast matwork with Kensuke before all hell broke loose and guys started flying all over the ring. Everybody hit there stuff cleanly and lots of it was spectacular. The dive train was one of the crazier I have seen in a while, topped off with a nutso flip springboard plancha by Freelance. Had never heard of Kensuke before but he was impressive, as was really everyone. Terrible booking though, they call a time limit draw in the middle of the action just so Valerie can come out to add five more minutes. Just killed the match dead and they blow the initial attempt at the superbomb finish. Hell of match which was shit on by the bookers and promoters. They seemed to set up a revanche, which assuming they don't screw it up, will be enough to get my $10.

Zumbido v. Tony Rivera

Zumbido is not a good person, but a good wrestler, and he and Rivera have worked each other a bunch. This was a fun bloody brawl, with Zumbido breaking out some of his big bumps to the floor. His Estrada style floating over the top rope bump is still beautiful. Rivera worked hard too, and this built into a really exciting match. The booker couldn't resist though as we get a run in from Setimental and Mortiz who attack both guys. Valerie comes to the rescue and has her security run them off with ranas and topes. At this point I am getting really exasperated by this show. The luchadores were working hard and just being killed by the booking.

Cerebro Negro/Cerebro Maligno/Epitafia/Heavy Boy v. Kung Fu Jr./El Hijo Del Fishman/Medico Assesino Jr./Epidemia

Kind of a dull match which really dragged. Medico Assessino Jr. was really tall for and indy luchadore and was pretty impressive, I also always like seeing Cerebro Negro although he didn't do a ton to stand out here. Match was booked to set up Kung Fu Jr. and Fishman Jr. turning on each other. This show was dragging a bit at this point and they could have achieved the purpose quicker.

Daga v. Mickey Suicida Segura

These guys turned the show completely around. A hell of match, up there with the best stuff anywhere in the world and justified the purchase on its own. This was for the internet title and worked as a hybrid of a lucha title match and a indy juniors match. We got a long very well executed mat section early. Both guys looked very comfortable locking in holds and countering them, and it came off as a struggle not a exhibition. They moved seamlessly into a long, very cool finishing run. Lots of awesome big moves, including a great Sucida tope, a nasty back suplex on the apron by Daga, Daga hitting an Alantida into a headrop and and top rope German, while Segura hit a crazy top rope rana and a moonsault. Finish comes after a big Daga superplex, with Segura hooking his legs for a double pin. No problem with that finish, as it felt like a match that neither guy should have lost. They may have kicked out of a little too much, but that was a small complaint. The crowd was going bonkers as I imagine everyone watching IPPV was as well. Great stuff, I think it would be a good idea for IWL to throw this match on youtube, I could see it convincing folks to pick up the next IPPV.

Super Crazy/Heddi Karroui v. Craig Classic/Oriental

Oriental and Crazy have a very cool opening section with each other, fast intricate and cool. When Karroui and Classic tag in unfortunately it falls apart. I have no idea what Heddi's deal is, he appears to be a Turkish kickboxer from France and performs lucha as well as one might guess a Parisian Turk MMA guy would perform if thrown in a lucha match. Just a mess anytime he is the ring. I have no idea what he is doing in this fed, and I felt bad for the other three guys. Classic is pretty inoffensive, although he seems like a waste of a plane ticket too. Crazy seemed more lively then I have seen him in recent years and I would like to see him and Oriental match up without the millstone around there necks

Los Porros vs. Low Rider/Mad Man Pondo/Balls Mahoney/Fantasma de la Opera

Necro no-shows much to my chagrin. Balls Mahoney is the replacement, which is like being promised a Porterhouse steak and instead having someone shit in your mouth. Balls and Pondo didn't do much but the Mexcians in this match bumped pretty big, getting thrown through barbedwire tables and going face first into light tubes. Most lucha garbage matches are awful and backyardy, but this felt like less of an exhibition and more of a fight. There was some awkward stuff, but I was entertained. Necro would have actually been pretty awesome in this context, bummer about the no show.

Certainly some frustrations, but a definite thumbs up. Two entertaining matches, part of a third, and one absolute classic is enough for me. It did go too long, the show could have used some tightening. Plus this is an indy lucha show, they are doing a nice job of having a little bit of everything, give me some Maestros. Navarro, Solar, Terry, Super Astro. It doesn't feel like an indy lucha show without those guys doing their thing.

APW TV Workrate Report: 3/19/11

2011-07-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

We start with some heavy breathing Jeckels promos that are just embarrassing. It's Blackwell, Jeckels, and DARKNESS, who is just an unfortunate character. She's like 5'2" 220 lb. gal who doesn't actually seem to wrestle, just kinda hunch over and glower. I mean, if somebody wants to give their money to a wrestling school, a wrestling school will never turn them down. But really, what could Roland think when she walked in the door? He knows what the current landscape is for women's wrestling in America. I'm really curious about her goals, what she hopes to accomplish in the wrestling business.

1. Levi Shapiro (the Unorthodox Jew) vs. Dave Dutra starts us off. I've seen Shapiro in a battle royal before, but nothing other than that. They start with matwork, but Shapiro is really loose on hammerlocks and headlocks. Dutra has a cool leg trip takedown but that doesn't go anywhere. Shapiro starts winning me over by following up an eyerake with raking Dutra's face across his boot laces. The announcers point out that former APW manager Betty Beefcake is in the crowd. Speaking of low-talent females who gave APW their money...

Shapiro controls for awhile with stomps and boot chokes, but Dutra slides through his legs to transition to offense. Nice atomic drop, and then does that running flying knee that it seems a bunch of guys are doing these days. I think Evan Bourne and Trent Barretta are doing it, and I've seen it in ROH, too. Could this move take some 2011 indy thunder away from the backcracker? Dutra goes over here, pretty nothing match. One guy controlled to start, other guy took over to win. Sand through hourglass.

I'm starting to really like Timothy Thatcher. I think with his size and scuzzy British look and soundhe has maybe the best chance of anybody in APW

2. Blackwell & Jeckles the Jester vs. Mr. Wrestling IV & Vennis DeMarco is our main and looks like they're giving it plenty of time. Blackwell doesn't really fit into the goth stable (aside from being obese and pasty white), as the only thing he really does differently now is wear a tiny amount of black face paint. He does bump huge off a double dropkick, though. IV does way too much comedy for me to take him seriously as a main eventer, and it can come off really obnoxious. Vennis will often do 3 things I don't like for every one move I like, such as throwing some problematic punches before hitting a real nice clothesline, and then doing a weak elbowdrop...but then locking on a real nasty wristlock/cravate combo...then doing a real weak crossbody.Dammit Vennis! I'm torn. TORN. OK, Vennis takes a real big bump to the floor, and then does Jeckles a huge favor by bumping huge, backwards into a table off of a horrendous dropkick by Jeckles. Jeckles went to kick him through the ropes, but his legs don't get high enough and the kick just putters out. Point: Vennis.

Blackwell in and throws a great elbow. I love his elbows. Then he does a great combo of corner splash/belly to belly/elbowdrop. If there is a better huge fat guy currently wrestling today, I sure don't know it. Jeckles comes in and throws some nice short elbows and before he does much more Blackwell tags back in, this time throwing Mr. Wrestling IV around. Blackwell misses a butt splash allowing IV to tag out, and Vennis comes in with a nice seated dropkick but then a crummy somersault legdrop. It has to be this way. Match ends with interference and a blind tag, kind of a weak finish.

Match was OK but didn't really warrant enough to fill the 18 minutes it went. Blackwell looked great as always, but the other guys went wildly back and forth from adding to the match to taking away from the match. Next week's line-up doesn't look too promising, but I guess you never know.

EVOLVE 9 Road Report

2011-07-29T20:00:00.001-04:00

One of the advantages of making your own work schedule is that you can do crazy shit like take a bus to NYC for a Tuesday wrestling show. Didn't want to miss Finlay back in the ring especially against a guy like Sami who will take a Finlay sized beating and fire back. Met my buddy Anthony at Penn Station and headed down to the show. BB Kings is a weird venue for wrestling, maybe the only wrestling arena in the world with bathroom attendants. Those guys were lucky to walk with $10 this night

Stockade/Apollyon v. Ryan Rush/MC Kenny Royal

Man was the heel team pretty awesome. They have the goofy wrestling name of "The Order of the Black" and are pro-wrestling as fuck. Two big fat guys with sloppy face paint who smash people with forearms and crowbarish clotheslines. Apollyon had a nice rolling senton and top rope splash, but I may have liked Stockade kicks to the face and forearm to the back even better. Ryan Rush took some big bumps, and the little guys stuck and moved before they got smushed. I would much rather watch indy guys try to approximate Rockers v. Twin Towers then Kobashi v. Misawa. My second favorite match of the night.

Greek God Papadon v. Alex Reynolds v. Kieran

I realized I have way too much background information about Greek God Papadon, I was able to list half a dozen facts about him to Anthony, I need to go to grad school. This was an indy three way, they have a low ceiling on how good they can be, and this didn't scrape that ceiling.

Eric Ryan v. Bobby Beverly

These guys are EVOLVEish guys having an EVOLVish match. 5'6 jacked guys doing indy reversal sections. One guy had a nice tope. Suplexes appear not to hurt them. This goes about five minutes before Kevin Steen comes in and hits a bunch of headrops. For some reason they didn't jump right up and scream when Steen hit them with suplexes. Steen shakes their unconscious hands and tells them "great match" which did make me laugh. He shoots for a bit, threatening to mouth rape Rob Naylor if he interrupts. Bobby Fish comes out and tells him that EVOLVE has rules, and he had better learn to color in the lines. Problem with running this angle, is that EVOLVE runs so sporadically, and is so goofily booked that am not sure they have any actual fans. People go to the show to watch wrestlers they like, but I can't imagine there are actual EVOLVE fans, the way ROH has fans or CZW has fans. When Steen talked about how stupid EVOLVE is, and how he is going to destroy it, folks seemed totally on board with that.

Super Smash Brothers v. Facade/Jason Gory

I usually judge these kind of tag spotfest with an almost Tim Noel mathematical formula. You have to have twice as many cool spots to stupid spots for me to tolerate it. This was right on the cusp of that, but I think it just cleared that bar. I liked Facade and Gory's hug each other quebrada, and Player Dos is pretty athletic and amazingly Canadian looking.

Sugar Dunkington v. Silas Young

One thing I noticed while watching all of the indy wrestling TV a couple of weeks ago, is that there is a guy working 2011 Pez Whatley in pretty much every promotion out there. I am not sure if Sugar Dunkington is better then the Alabama Ebony Diamond or the Nevada Ebony Diamond, and I know he isn't as good as Dinamic Black, but I enjoy that gimmick. Silas Young is a seedy looking guy with Metal hair and there is a bunch of amusing shit talking in the match. Young worked him over and yelled "This is wrestling not the stupid shit you do." I am not sure if Young is working a "Chikara is retarded" gimmick, but if he is, he will finish way too high on the Segunda Caida 500. Post match Young calls out Johnny Gargano. Gargano comes out and apologizes for pressuring Silas to have a drink, thus causing him to fall off the wagon and go on a bender. Gargano then says he has never drunk alcohol so he doesn't know how it effects you. I am not sure in what world "Straight Edge asshole taunts a recovering addict into relapse" is a babyface gimmick. My attempts to start the Serenity Prayer as a wrestling chant fail. "ACCEPT THE THINGS I CAN NOT CHANGE, CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN"

Pinkie Sanchez v. Lince Dorado

Dorado has a couple of nice armdrags early, but the match really fell apart. Both guys were really dainty with their stuff. EVOLVE is a fed were folks stiff each other, it makes stuff like Sanchez and Dorado were throwing look even worse. Lince tries a shooting star press with the low ceiling and I get worried. Sanchez has been wrestling for a while, but I bet he can't improv as well as Mitch Ryder.

Larry Dallas comes out wearing the same shiny shirt as Lenny Leonard. If your gimmick is a rich guy throwing money around, it looks really bad to be wearing the same Express teal dress shirt as the schlubby T-Rex armed announcer. Also Dallas is way too tall to work as a manager in a fed like EVOLVE. Although to be fair Jimmy Hart would probably be too tall to work as a manager in EVOLVE. Dallas is two inches taller then his bodyguard and five inches taller then his new tag team. He introduces his new team, The Scene, Scott Reed and Caleb Konley. If you are going to have a tag team named "The Scene" they have to look like they belong to the same scene. Doesn't matter what the scene is. Konley and Reed look like they would never hang out if they weren't shoehorned into a makeshit tag team. Reed had a topknot, shitty dojo queen tats and roid belly, Konley looked like a Mormon Missionary.

The Scene v. Up in Smoke

Cheech and Cloudy are always solid, but the Scene were really bland and didn't bring a ton to the match. Cloudy did take some big bumps and a really nice dive. Not much of a match though.

Post match Leonard asks Cheech about the loss and he turns on Cloudy and hits his finisher on him. Now Cheech and Cloudy have been teaming together for like 8 years, they are one of the longest running tag teams in the last two decades. If you are going to break them up shouldn't it mean something? Cheech hitting a goofy GTS variation after a throw away mid card tag to utter crowd indifference is Russo terrible. Is anyone in the world excited about Cheech v. Cloudy? Especially after that wet fart of an angle?

Jon Davis v. Bobby Fish

Steen had been at ringside doing commentary for the last couple of matches. 30 seconds into this match he runs in and forearms Fish causing a DQ. We get a bunch of back and forth on the mike setting up a 3-way. Davis obliterates the ref with a great lariat and says he wants to fight both guys.

Jon Davis v. Bobby Fish v. Kevin Steen

Steen was supposedly at EVOLVE to cut a promo not wrestle, and he kind of wrestled like a guy who didn't show up planning to wrestle. I have liked Fish before, but didn't think he looked good here, his kicks were more flash then substance and he didn't convey the anger he was supposed to have for Steen. I did like Davis, although he wasn't the focus of the match (although he did get the win). Felt like any combination of these guys in a singles match would have been way better.

John Silver v. Tony Neese

I just hated this match. Pretty much a microcosm of all that is wrong with 2011 professional wrestling. One of the things that the death of territories mean is that there aren't way fewer guys making their living on professional wrestling. I am sure most people on this card are wrestling as a hobby. No one wants to play the bit part in community theatre, everyone wants to be Henry Hill. This was the match after intermission, we still had two main events to go, there was no reason for these two guys to go out and try to do some amalgamation of Beniot v. Sasuke and Misawa v. Kobashi. This was about the most bog standard indy showcase match you can imagine, two guys who trained with each other checking off every box on the "This is Awesome" checklist. Missed moves, armdrags, double dropkick, kip up, wait for applause CHECK. Forearm exchange while making intense faces at each other CHECK!! Taking a headrop selling like you are unconscious for a second, only to get up and start hitting moves like nothing happened CHECK, CHECK CHECK CHECK!!! It's like Gabe watched some dreck like Davey Richards v. Eddie Edwards and thought, I could do that with two guys even shorter, that the crowd doesn't know, and stick it in the midcard.This was the Boehner Plan as a wrestling match, it is News of the World hacking dead soldiers cellphones, Amy Winehouse's last shot of dope, the wrestling match Andrers Brevik dreams of when he goes to sleep.

Sami Callihan v. Fit Finlay

This is why I took a bus to NYC and it delivered everything I wanted it to. Finlay was rocking orange and white gear, I am not sure whether that means he has converted to Protestantism, but I would really be into Apostate Finlay vs. soon to be released Mistico. Man does Finlay look like the baddest fucker in the world live, Barrel chest, thick forearms. He looks like a guy who owns a Belfast bar and once split a mouthy British soldiers head open with a pool cue. Sami comes right at him at the bell and he runs directly into the hardest forearm I have ever seen live. I thought that Finlay knocked him out cold, I would have been a little bummed to take a four hour bus ride for a seven second match, but it might have been worth it. The match goes from there with Sami getting in Finlay's face and paying for it. There is a great moment early when he slaps Finlay and Fit responds with a no hands bar fight headbutt. Sami fired back the best he could, he just blistered Finlay with chops to the throat, and hit a couple of big running kicks and his running forearm. Really cool story here with Callihan trying to earn Finlay's respect and Finlay making him earn it by kicking the shit out of him. There was this point where Callihan has Finlay in the corner, Finlay calls for the break and as the ref gets between them Fit kick Sami in the kneecap. Callihan responds by screaming something like "forget the cheapshots, lets go strike for strike and see who is toughest." Finlay responds by cheap shotting him in the knee again which was such a great "fuck your fake puro fighting spirit" moment. Finlay is here to kick ass and cash a check, he doesn't have shit to prove to anyone.

Finish run was perfect, Sami gets him to the floor and goes for his tope, Finlay dismissively walks away leaving Sami to fly throat first into the guard rail. He is fucked, but still sharp enough to trip Finlay when he was trying to get into the ring. Sami goes to the top, but gets swept off taking a big fall into the ring. Finlay hits a Celtic Cross, which Sami kicks out of. He is beaten but still flips Fit off, Finlay hits him with another Celtic Cross for two again. Sami can barely lift his body off the mat, but still flips the double bird to Finlay. At this point Sami looks like Patricia Arquette at the motel room in True Romance. Finlay finally lifts him up and absolutely plants Callihan with his awesome jumping tombstone for the three count. Fuck I had forgotten how beautiful Finlay's tombstone was. Just a great match, which I can't wait to watch again. Callihan has spent much of this year having good matches with chumps, I am glad he got to get in with someone above his level. Finlay is fucking back, which is the most exciting thing in wrestling in 2011, I want to watch every time he steps into a ring.

Post match Finlay gets on the mike and puts over Callihan as one of the toughest guys he has been in the ring with, with a raspy Lawrence Tierney voice which he attributes to Callihan's chops. Anthony and I decide to bail on Chuck Taylor v. Johnny Gargano and go eat some Bon Chon Chicken. It was a one match show for me, and that match totally delivered so no complaints for me. If EVOLVE books a rematch, they sell a ticket to me.

Top 30 Thursday - Mid-South #25. Ric Flair vs. Terry Taylor, 4/28/85

2011-07-28T23:30:00.002-04:00

"What time did you make it in last night? You didn't come to bed."

He had made it in late. Or early. Some of the boys had taken him out after the card to try and cheer him up. Drink, girls, he didn't really feel like it at the time. Oh, he wanted a drink. And he wanted a couple of the girls. But he didn't much feel like being cheered up. He wanted to drink alone. He didn't even feel like fucking one of the girls, just wanted to...be around one of them. Just be around some girl who didn't see him lose, didn't see him come *this* close to the title, just wanted...he didn't know.

He was standing in his kitchen, drinking. He wasn't sure what time he got dropped off. It wasn't light outside, but it wasn't dark. It felt like he had been standing at the chopping block island for hours, but it could have only been a half hour for all he knew. He was just drinking his bourbon and soda.

One of the girls at the bar earlier had actually made fun of him for drinking it! Who makes fun of somebody for drinking bourbon and soda? "You drink like my dad," she had said. Yeah, I bet I do. How old could she even have been? She was drinking a fucking wine cooler. His half-hearted joke about a B&J was met with a vacant stare.

His wife noticed the half empty bottle of club soda on the counter. She noticed his knee, wrapped bulkier than normal. She had been here before, she knew this wasn't good. She knew what he was challenging for last night, knew how important it was to him.

"What number is this one?" she asked.

"Third." It had to be at least the fourth.

"Jesus, Terry, it's not even 10:00 A.M.!"

"Is it that late?"

He chuckled, but she didn't look amused. She wasn't amused, but what could she do? How mad could she really be? He was a good father, he rarely let his drinking get out of control, and she loved him. She was just happy he was home.

"How was your match last night?" she asked hesitantly. She knew it couldn't have gone well. It was obvious by the mood what had happened, and she didn't want to pick at wounds.

"I fucking had him, Trudy. Fucking HAD him."

"Oh, god, what did he do this time? Feet on the ropes? Kick you low? Jesus, when the hell is Fergie going to just WATCH him, just watch what he does in a..."

"No," he interrupted. "Nothing like that. Wasn't Ric, wasn't Karl, neither of their fault. I fucking HAD HIM."

She partly regretted asking. It was still early. He had been drinking. She just hated seeing him this way.

"I was real aggressive, Trude. WAY more than normal. I went AFTER that knee. I mean...I went AFTER it. Played his game without playing dirty, you know? Went after the leg, went after the arm...thought he was going to fucking stop breathing after I locked on a sleeper. I just...that aggression bit me in the ass, you know? He bailed out of the ring, I went after him, rushed things too much, and my boot got stuck in the ropes. The more I struggled the tighter those fucking ropes got. It was over from there. He beat me clean."

"Terry." She didn't know what to say. Not much was coming to her. She knew how important this title was to him, how BADLY he wanted it.

"Terry, you'll get another shot. Sooner than you think. The fans love you, and that's what matters. As long as the fans love you and want to see you, you'll still get your shot. I've heard them, Terry. You don't know how PROUD it makes me when I see you, and I hear how much the fans love you! Not just the women, either. Everybody in that arena loves you. You'll get more shots at the belt, and win or lose they will still love you. *I* will still love you, Terry. I love you."

Trudy was a good woman. She was trying to help, and as much as he didn't want to be helped, it was working.

"This just felt different, Trude. I mean, I've fought Ric plenty, and sometimes he beats me fair, sometimes he cheats...but this time I beat myself. I HAD him. I just PUSHED myself. I had it. I fucking had it. I got excited, WANTED that belt. And to get stuck in the ropes? That's just...."

"Terry, go sit down. Let me make you breakfast. I just picked up some beef bacon at the butcher's. I'll make you some French toast."

"Trudy..." he sighed. "I love you."

Wednesday Night Bootleg- Drew v. Kane

2011-07-27T22:00:00.001-04:00

Drew McIntyre v. Kane Aberdeen Scotland 10/9/10

Fun match with McIntyre working as a local babyface trying to win the title from a touring champion. Kane isn't a very good touring champion, and the execution wasn't great, but Drew was bumping huge and they built to all of the big moments really well. The near fall after the Implant DDT was very cool, and Drew took the chokeslam great. Would love to see what Drew would do as a babyface against a better champion next time they go to Scotland.

My Favorite Wrestling: WCW Main Event 7/14/96 & 7/21/96

2011-07-27T12:00:00.001-04:00

The Main Event was probably the weakest of your WCW syndicated shows. It aired on Sunday afternoons in my neck of the woods, which were always filled with dread for me since in my house we always got to goof around on Saturdays, but Sundays were when we did yardwork and chores and before you knew it another week of school was here. So you had Sunday afternoon wrestling, sometimes used as a PPV lead-in (the Konnan/One Man Gang U.S. Title change was actually shown on The Main Event!), but usually the matches were really short and nobody good ever wrestled on there. I've yet to come across a match from The Main Event that I'd give the full two thumbs up to.

But you know? It still has its charm. The crowd is always excited and almost too quick with a jingoistic chant if there is a foreigner wrestling, you get sit down studio bullshit sessions with Bobby Heenan, you get Dusty in full-on hilarious "Even I don't know what I'm saying" commentary, and you get highlights from Saturday Night and Nitro. So you get a pretty decent package, bookended with some matches that are rarely awful. It's WCW syndicated wrestling, so it at least has its charms.

This was also a neat random pick out of the stacks because it originally aired almost exactly 15 years ago. Remember how full of dreams you were 15 years ago, as you watched Konnan and Joe Gomez matches?

7/14/96

Ruckus vs. Joe Gomez

Ruckus is Robbie Rage, and they even bill him as being part of High Voltage. Never knew he went under a different name in WCW. Gomez is not very good, but he's not very good in a really entertaining way. Rage has a waistlock and does a takedown, Gomez tries to get his hands out to block his face, somehow goes forehead first into the mat. Rage does a REALLY cool armbar/headscissors takedown (that somebody today should steal), Gomez takes the bump right onto the top of his head. So he looks really lost out there, but when he's match against a powerhouse like Rage fun things happen. I'm sure there is a Gomez/Jerry Flynn match out there, and that Gomez somehow manages to take a boot to the eyeball in it. Match only goes 90 seconds, Ruckus takes the whole match until Gomez wins with a sunset flip. Forgettable, but Rage always breaks out moves I don't expect from him, and therefore Rage is starting to be someone I genuinely look forward to seeing on these shows.

Konnan vs. Alex Wright

Man, was Konnan on every single fucking episode of Main Event in '96? Jesus, I have seen soooo many Konnan matches already, and this was a real odd one, and I'll be honest...I was really getting into it, until Konnan. Starting to get into it, match was building nicely, and then Konnan. Konnan. The match starts with 14 minutes left in the show and I am filled with dread at the prospect of a long Konnan match, but also excited to see what Wright could do. Will Wright get the title of superest superworker ever, by having the great 10+ minute Konnan match?

Well, the first 3 minutes are all on the mat and while Konnan doesn't look great, he doesn't look bad at all. Wright bends himself into some painful looking holds, pulls out some nice reversals, twists Konnan around by the wrist, Konnan jams his knee in Wright's back, neither guy gets an advantage, some cool stuff. Then they stand up, and Konnan rolls him up for the win, immediately. What. The. Fuck. But to add to that, Wright was not only under the ropes, but had both arms wrapped around the bottom rope. So Wright is looking to get the count broken, but the ref just counts three. This is literally the 2nd time a '96 Konnan match on Main Event has ended this same way, that I've seen. It's as if only Konnan and the ref know when the match is finishing, and it makes everybody look bad. Wright was in the ropes, HOLDING the ropes, looking right at the ref, and the ref just slowly counts three, while making awkward eye contact with Wright. "I know this looks bad Alex. I can clearly see you making love to those ropes. I know it's now taken me 7 seconds just to count to 2...but....I'm counting 3."

7/21/96

VK Wallstreet vs. Jim Powers

I always had a soft spot for Wallstreet/IRS/Rotundo, as I thought he looked like Will Clark when I was a kid, and Will Clark was my favorite thing in the world when I was 9. I still think he kinda looks like Will Clark as an adult, and Will Clark is still one of my favorite things in the world. I was wearing a Will Clark t-shirt yesterday. Wallstreet actually looked really good here, but good lord was Jim Powers not very good at pro wrestling. Wallstreet had a couple nice clotheslines, and GREAT short elbowdrop (boy but he really shoehorns that abdominal stretch while holding the ropes into every match, huh? What's great is the camera pans to the crowd during the payoff of the ref finally catching him cheating, so Powers doesn't even get his comeuppance shown) and the Stock Market Crash is a great name for his Samoan drop finisher.

Bobby Eaton/Dave Taylor vs. Jim Duggan/Craig Pittman

This was only 3 minutes but very fun. Not tons of offense aside from punches, but Eaton can obviously punch, Taylor can throw some blows, Duggan can throw alternately great and horrendous punches, so 3 minutes of punches isn't really an awful thing with these guys. But it was Pittman's punches that were the star here. They had the look of someone who didn't actually know how to throw any kind of punch, worked or real, so was just kind of moving his fist towards Eaton's face...but they looked brutal! Not sure how much of it was Eaton putting them over big, but it looked like he was not so much selling them as he was trying to get out of the way of them. Regal runs distraction on the floor, making a bunch of funny Don Knotts mannerisms to get the crowd hyped and put over Teddy Long as some sort of threat. Duggan gets the win with a nice taped fist punch.

Black Terry Will Buy You Anything In Town, If You Leave That Junk Alone

2011-07-26T22:00:00.001-04:00

Black Terry/Eterno/Hijo del Pantera v. Daga/Hormiga/Paranoiko v. Judas el Traidor/Onita Santana/Sadico v. Black Mamba/Silencio/Silver Tiger DTU 7/24/11-FUN

This was apparently originally a triangle tag that got turned into a 4 way trios with the addition of a Promotion Cantu Nuevo Laredo trios, that was probably to the matches detriment as the Cantu team (Mamba/Silencio/Tiger) was not at the level of the other guys in the match. There was an especially awkward exchange between Pantera and Tiger. Lots of stuff to like in this match, Paranoiko and Santana start out with some cool matwork, and Daga and Terry worked some nice rope running stuff. There was also a cool dive train with an especially gnarly assisted flip plancha by Eterno. I still think Judas el Traidor should end every match by turning on his partners.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE BLACK TERRY

Dick Togo Behind the Scene Pull Strings Like Geppetto, The Gun Blow Steam Whistle Like a Tea Kettle

2011-07-24T22:00:00.000-04:00

Dick Togo/Scott Norton/Don Frye v. Masahiro Chono/Kohei Sato/Eric Young PWE 10/25/08-SKIPPABLE

On paper this looks like an awesome random WAR six man, but it didn't like up to any of that promise. Chono and Norton start out and neither guy looks like he should be in the ring at this point. Young and Togo run through a wrestling school juniors section, Togo and Sato have some fun stuff, and Eric Young does a great convulsion sell on a Frye punch, but outside of that we had nothing. Frye is usually ridiculously charismatic, but he was bland here. Don't ruin the match in your head by watching the match on the computer.

Dick Togo v. Shinya Ishikawa BJW 5/3/09-EPIC

I can't remember seeing Togo work this kind of violent potato fest match before, and he is great at it. You get the sense that Togo could slot right into a FUTEN show and fit like a glove. The main problems I have with most Strong BJ wrestling is the lack of selling, emotion and structure. At its worst it is just two guys standing in front of each other throwing forearms. Of course there isn't anyone in wrestling better and inserting selling, emotion and structure into a match then Dick Togo. So we get all the violence without any of the problems. Togo really works over the kid, especially his ribs, smashing them with knees and an especially nasty double stomp. Ishikawa gets a couple of big comebacks, including a really stiff dropkick which Togo just flies on. Not particularly long, but really fun to watch and very cool to see Togo do something different so well.

Dick Togo v. Gedo DDT 6/30/11-GREAT

The curtain goes down on a great career with a great match. Togo is walking away at the height of his prowess, arguably the best wrestler in the world, on the best run of his career. Gedo is currently the best wrestler he has faced during this singles run, although this isn't the best match. Execution in this match is great, both guys hit what they do very well. The match starts with some solid as a rock basic mat wrestling. Gedo gets out wrestled and decides to brawl, smashing Togo in the ribs with a chair and ring bell hammer. Togo takes a huge bump ribs first into the ring post. We get a great Memphis punch exchanges, some exciting near falls, and a beautiful Togo tope and floating senton. Despite the brawling which looked great, I never thought this took the extra step into a grasping violent war, like the best of this Togo series. In a way that is fine, maybe a retirement match should be a guy running through his greatest hits with a good dance partner, and this was a great version of that, really enjoyed it, but Togo raised the EPIC bar in 2010-11 and this didn't clear it.

COMPLETE AND ACCURATE DICK TOGO

Saturday Night's Alright for SLL's All-Request

2011-07-23T22:00:00.002-04:00

Domingo Robles vs. Jay Youngblood (WWC, early 80's)
Requested by Tim Evans

This was a fun four-minute aside. Domingo Robles' gimmick is that he's what every clueless dope who read the WKO 100 without actually knowing what they were talking about thinks Black Terry is. He's this aged, broken down, clumsy, ambiguously drunken rudo who feebly attempts to brawl with Youngblood, but inevitably ends up getting knocked on his ass and begging off. And it rules. Robles' shtick is great. He has a million different ways to comically oversell Jay's offense. I think my favorite was when Youngblood hit him so hard that he got "stuck". This is compounded by Rip Rogers' solo commentary, as he is in awe at Robles' ludicrousness, and is actively cracking up at several points. "If at first you don't succeed...give up, Domingo."

Chris Jericho vs. Mike Enos (WCW, 9/23/1996)
Requested by DylanWaco

Enos' theme music epicness-to-push ratio is one of the mostly weirdly disproportionate I've ever seen. Dylan said this was his favorite Nitro match ever, and it's not hard to see the appeal. They do a really fun big man vs. little man match, and communicate the idea really well considering the size difference isn't that big and Enos has a lot of athletic offense for a biggish guy. Enos also comes across as a real challenge for Jericho despite the fact that I don't remember him getting one meaningful win in this entire run with the company and I'm watching from an age where Jericho is a multiple-time world champion (though he had only actually been in WCW a month at this point). Again, not hard to see why. Having not watched his stuff for a while, I had forgotten what a brute Enos could be. He opens this match by slapping Jericho hard across the mouth - seemingly because Jericho had an insufficiently firm handshake - and then cracks him with a headbutt. Jericho fires back with a nice spinwheel kick, but Enos hangs tight and catches Jericho with a slingshot shoulderblock and pins him down with the topes de Jalisco of all things. He spends the next little while beating Jericho up and powering him around. There's a particularly cool run outside the ring where Enos hits an apron dive clothesline and then turns the ringsteps on their side and suplexes Jericho onto them. After that, he turns his focus to Jericho's back. At one point, he breaks out a Boston crab that Larry Zbyszko completely shits on on commentary. Admittedly, it's not a very good Boston crab, but that's not the kind of thing you draw attention to in the booth. God, I hated Larry's commentary. Jericho escapes an Argentine backbreaker and hits a Michaels-style superkick followed by an Adams-style superkick to make a comeback, but it gets cut short in spectacular fashion when Enos turns a top-rope hurricanrana into a superbomb for a nearfall. When that doesn't work, he makes one last run at putting Jericho away, but Jericho over-rotates him on a powerslam attempt and lands on top for the pin. Offhand, I don't know what my favorite Nitro match ever is (Eddy/Malenko from the Saturday Nitro? I haven't watched it in a while. Hmmmm....). It's probably not this, but this was definitely one of the good ones, and a fine example of what used to make that show fun.

Kengo Mashimo & Madoka vs. Daisuke Sekimoto & Yoshihito Sasaki (Z-1, 3/2/2008)
Requested by Brandon-E

BJW guys vs. K-Dojo guys in Zero-One? OK. It's not like Zero-One has an identity of it's own anymore. These are three guys who I currently like, plus Madoka, who I don't really have anything against, back in a time when I either didn't like them or didn't care about them. Actually, weren't those fun MEN's Club multi-mans happening around this time? I probably liked Madoka the most when this happened. Either way, a lot has changed since then, but I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same, because these guys' performances in this match ranks roughly the same as how much I like them currently: Mashimo gives the best showing, then Sasaki, then Sekimoto, then Madoka. And that's not good, because Sekimoto vs. Madoka seems to be the main focus of much of the match, and Mashimo doesn't really even show up until the half-way point. The result is that we have the tale of two matches. The first half, dominated by Sekimoto/Madoka exchanges, is really listless and sloppy. At one point, in rapid succession, Sekimoto backdrops Madoka over the top rope onto the apron (which is blown completely), Madoka Rocker Drops him when he tries a shoulderblock through the ropes (which Sekimoto didn't even seem to be trying to connect), and then takes him out on the outside with an Asai moonsault (which takes too long to set up and leaves Sekimoto standing there like a dope waiting to catch it). It's not good, but at least it was bad in an active way. Most of the rest of their stuff was dull and generic in the way you kind of expect a match like this to be dull and generic. Please, bring on the suck. At least that's interesting. But all of a sudden, Mashimo finally gets in the match, and he gets paired up with Sasaki, and it's like night and day. Structurally, they're not mixing it up too much, but there's just so much more life behind their exchanges. Mashimo looks especially dynamic, having a lot of really crisp offense, and shows some hints of things to come. FUTEN was definitely good for this guy, but honestly, he looked like he was already most of the way there in this match. Their enthusiasm seems to rub off on the others, too, and overall, the second half of the match is a lot more fun than the first, including Sekimoto pulling Madoka off the apron and over the top rope for one of the best German suplexes of his very German suplex-heavy career. The finish is also really great, with Mashimo grabbing a crucifix on Sasaki and rolling it over into the Rings of Saturn, cranking Sasaki's arm over his shoulder to make him tap. The bad first really drags down the good second half of this, but it did make me want to see a Mashimo/Sasaki singles match, so that probably counts for something.

Toshiaki Kawada vs. Minoru Suzuki (NJPW, 8/11/2005)
Requested by Curt McGirt

I have mixed feelings about this. Overall, if I had to call it one way or the other, I'd say this was a good match. Both guys brought enough fire to the proceedings to keep my interest throughout, and that's pretty much the minimum of what I could ask for from a match. They hit each other hard and Suzuki made his funny faces and it was generally structured well. That said, I wanted to like this way more than I did, and while I did like it, I'm not really that enthusiastic about it. Kawada was all over the map here. He was pretty deep into his HUSTLE "not giving a shit" phase, and while there were glimmers of his past greatness (he will still chop and kick the shit out of you, if nothing else), he honestly looked bored a lot of the time. At one point, Suzuki locks him in the sleeper, and I could've sworn I saw Kawada roll his eyes. I mean, we are talking Samoa Joe in TNA "great wrestler just not caring at all anymore" levels of boredom here. OK, maybe that's excessive, but there are some low moments here. Meanwhile, we've got Suzuki. He's kind of a divisive figure in wrestling fandom: either you think he's a really fun superdick heel, or you think he's an irritating Villain Sue. I understand both views, but personally, I've always leaned towards the former. I think the main tipping point is that his no-selling tendencies have always struck me as a bit like Kevin Von Erich's no-selling tendencies. When a guy wails on them, I don't believe either guy isn't in pain (usually), I just get the sense that they respond to pain differently than most wrestlers. He's not the Ultimate Warrior is what I'm saying. But I'm not dumb. I do recognize he's a guy with limitations. He works better in tags than in singles, he works better against lower-ranked opponents than equal or higher-ranked ones, and he works better in short sprints than longer, slower-paced matches. This is a singles match where he's wrestling a higher-ranked opponent, and it goes 17 minutes, which isn't an epic or anything, but is about 7 minutes longer than a Suzuki singles match should go. It's not a sprint, which really hurts the matches main appeal: watching two tough bomb-throwing bastards lay waste to each other. I mean, I guess you can do that for 17 minutes, but they really don't. When they're throwing bombs, it's great, and they throw enough of them to keep the match fun overall, but the match as a whole is still worked at a surprisingly and frustratingly deliberate pace. I don't know. Maybe I just set the bar too high for this one.

The Road Warriors & Paul Ellering vs. The Varsity Club (NWA, 2/11/1989)
Requested by Victator

By contrast, I didn't know what to expect from this. The Varsity Club has been revisited a bit lately, and people with opinions I take seriously are saying that they were a really fun act around this time. Watching this match definitely bore that out. This is worked as a brawlers vs. technicians style clash, and the Varsity Club hold up their end of the bargain, with really aggressive looking amateur takedowns early on, and some great work over Animal's arm later. But the real surprise was the Roadies. I never thought much of them in the ring, but they hold nothing back in this match, clobbering the hell out of the Varisty Club every chance they get. Hawk looks extra vicious, laying in his shots really hard, but Animal really proves his worth as the face in peril. Yes, this is a match where the Warriors are actually fighting from underneath, and they look really comfortable doing it. I mean, I think I vaguely remember Animal and Heidenreich being shockingly good working that style, but couldn't think of the Roadies at the peak of their popularity ever doing it. Well, here they are, and it's fantastic. Hell, even Ellering looks good the brief time he's in, hitting a nice dropkick, and Sullivan doesn't hold this back at all. The finish does, unfortunately. After completely dominating the body of the match, Hawk gets chucked over the top rope after only the slightest of comebacks for the DQ. He takes a nice bump there, but I was hoping for an actual third act to this, so I'm let down. Still, what's there was great fun while it lasted.