Matches from HOG For the Glory 12/11/21

The Bollywood Boyz (Harv & Gurv Sihra) vs. The Mane Event (Jay Lyon/Midas Black)

ER: The Bollywood Boyz were actually one of my favorite tag teams to watch in the first half of 2021. They were two of the more unheralded guys on the WWE roster but stayed on the roster a really long time. Harv is the better tag worker, Gurv is better in singles and good at peril segments. In 2020 and 2021 they fit in really nicely on 205 Live, putting on several hidden gems and growing into one of my favorite tag acts. Check out their feud vs. Tony Nese/Ariya Daivari from earlier in 2021 to see Harv put on a Bret Hart-like performance, and check out Gurv's match against Alex Zayne. Gurv Sihra and Alex Zayne putting on a 6 minute Worldwide classic on WWE programming. 2021 WWE is just bizarre shit. 

This match was great, The Boyz working a more amped up indy version of their 205 Live style, and Mane Event building to a great Jay Lyon hot tag. Lyon is really fun, a short fat guy who can hit a big tope con giro and muscle around both Boyz with throws and a high slam backbreaker. The Boyz have great teamwork, smart tags and engaging apron work. they're both great smug pricks who will cheapshot you off the apron, and will wreck someone with a Powerplex (polished off with a Gurv top rope elbow instead of a splash). Both Boyz hit great top rope elbows, but my favorite bit of theirs the whole match was Harv laying in wait to waste Midas around the ringpost with a lariat. Mane Event had some cool double teams (including Black rolling off Lyon's back for a smooth reversal) and had great chemistry with the Boyz. I'd love to see Bollywood Boyz in AEW, their tight work would reign in a ton of AEW teams in really fun ways. 

57. Eddie Kingston vs. Low-Ki - GREAT

PAS: Very cool to see these two absolute icons match up 15 years after their only other singles match against each other, and although the match was hijacked by a dumb DQ finish, what we got was really building to something cool. Stiffness and Eddie Kingston selling is a great way to build a match, and this was mostly built around Kingston getting his chest caved in by stiff Ki chops and stomps and fighting his way through a smushed chest. Lots of cool crumpled sells by Eddie, and when he is able to power through the pain and fire back he hit really hard shots himself. It felt like a truncated match, as the Buddy Murphy run in happened before we really got a Kingston comeback, so it wasn't like Murphy ran in at the final moment to cause a DQ. Still I appreciate any chance I get to watch either of these guys, and a surprise match up is a mitzvah. 

ER: This is a real minimalist Ki/King match, 75% of this being mostly about two of the greats hitting each other with chops and then selling the impact of those chops. Kingston is the most compelling salesman in wrestling and I easily could have just watched him sell Low Ki's chops in different ways for 12 minutes, and in some ways I did! These two can make the most forgotten wrestling sequences look engaging, look no further than their opening match knuckle lock. Ki and Kingston are guys that work little stories with each movement, and I dug seeing Kingston fearlessly knuckle lock Ki to power him down, before Ki realized he'd be better off subduing King with strikes. Kingston knows how to make a crumpled sell mean something, and this was filled with moments where Kingston's brain was firing synapses to strike back before the pain caught up to his body. Kingston hits back hard when he can (like that running kitchen sink knee which landed like a cannonball and lead to Kingston briefly selling his own knee), but Ki can be a hard guy to consistently hit, so it turned into a cool battle of Kingston attempting to ground Ki and work body locks before trying to swing on him. I liked how Kingston dodged Ki's delayed kick to the back of the neck. It's Ki's one piece of offense that doesn't consistently read, doesn't have the visual impact of the rest of Ki's offense, so Kingston just takes it out of the equation and uses it to set up something bigger. The run in was poorly done and a major wet blanket, but I did get a kick out of Kingston crumpling Murphy with his backfist and then dragging his body into position for Ki to land a disgusting double stomp. 

2021 MOTY MASTER LIST

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205 Live 11/29/16

ER: We get introduced to all the members of the 205 Live roster, all of whom were in the CWC. And then we get a long video package on the Bollywood Boyz, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. This is not a show airing on actual television, and the video package didn't appear to be for the benefit of the live crowd. I can't imagine there are tons of people watching this on the Network who didn't watch any of the CWC, and they told all of the same stories during all of the build up for that. I don't think there are that many people who need to be reintroduced to any of these guys.

1. Bollywood Boyz vs. Drew Gulak/Tony Nese

ER: This was not a great start, and it looks like a real mistake to have this both live and AFTER Smackdown. CWC worked great at the performance center, this seems destined for the same reception as Danzig's famous "headlining openers", which just gives fans a chance to leave after already seeing the perceived main event. I don't see the "live" thing sticking. And rewarding the people who stayed with a Bollywood Boyz match seems a little mean. I thought they were fine in their dark match tag that got taped at the CWC finals, definitely stronger as a team than separate, but I didn't love this. Also didn't love that they appear to be a featured team over a team like Gulak/Nese. I'm not even certain they can dance Bollywood style, which is like the main thing tying them to that gimmick. This had some moments but didn't really work as an intro or as a good match. I liked Gulak's nasty bodyslam into the top rope. That's about it.

PAS: I thought Gulak was good, he is a guy with crisp nasty looking execution on everything he does and while this kind of tag match is kind of a waste of his talent, he looks good doing it . I think they are really making a mistake using Nese this way, he is a very limited guy but he does have some explosive athletic moves, making him a kick, punch, chinlock dude just exposes how bad his kicks, punches and chinlocks are. Bollywood Boyz appear not ready for prime time, I can imagine their shtick working in a Regina Armory, but they are pretty bush league for TV.

ER: Ugh and a Noam Dar video package? They are picking some real duds to feature in long video packages.

2. Ariya Daivari vs. Jack Gallagher

ER: Another Gallagher reintroduction match, excited for more of him so he can cut loose. Crowd is already into him which is a great sign, and his look is unique enough to really set him apart. This whole episode is basically pretending the CWC didn't happen, which is weird. Even in the intro they introduced TJ Perkins as a former cruiserweight champion, but didn't mention the CWC. And Graves kept saying things like "what a debut from...", so it's strange. But we'll get a couple weeks of these guys "debuting" and then hopefully just settling in. As it was, match was fun but worked more as an introduction.

PAS: I loved Gallghers headbutt after the rolling elbow, I really hope we get to see him work a little nasty, in addition to just doing WOS mat wizard spots. He has some Terry Rudge in him in addition to Johnny Saint, and I hope that gets exposed. Daivari didn't do much although I liked his knee drop, Gallagher showcase and his shtick always looks good, still I am hoping for more.

3. Brian Kendrick vs. Rich Swann

ER: Really good match though at the end I was left feeling that Swann got to kick out of too much stuff, while it didn't take a whole lot to put Kendrick down. I'm not sure why there appeared to be a big rush to get the belt off Kendrick, I think he's a more interesting champ for the division with guys like Swann making game challengers. But still this was really good and we had a simple story of Kendrick working over Swann's neck in really, really brutal ways. Kendrick dropped him with a couple nasty low angle backdrop suplexes, snapped his neck over the turnbuckle from the apron (nice call back to the CWC, if they were acknowledging that it happened), locked in the captain's hook and down the stretch even dropped him with a brutal dragon suplex. Okay yeah, lined up like that and it does seem like Swann took way too much big stuff. But I thought Swann handled it all well, sold well and moved nice opposite Kendrick. He was good about suckering Kendrick in for fast kicks, like that big high kick towards the end, and was always good about rubbing out his neck even while preparing to do a big move. I loved the way he sold while in the captain's hook, inching his body towards the closest rope while always grabbing at Kendrick's grip, loosening it from his neck. They started the hook in the middle of the ring and without Swann selling it and trying to loosen the grip it would have looked absurd that he survived it. The ending hook kick worked nicely as a flash pin, which is really the way they had to work it as a long string of moves at this point would have come off silly.

PAS: I am not totally sold on this show, but if we get a long showcase Brian Kendrick match like this I can't complain. Swann looked good, the height he gets on all of his leaps is unreal and he has a connection to the crowd which eludes guys like Tony Nese, still this was the Kendrick show. I loved all of the set up for the turnbuckle bolt neckbreaker, they are fight on the top and Kendrick just slickly removes the padding, very slight of hand close magic of him, then when he hit the move it was just brutal looking. I did think Swann had one kickout too many, they probably didn't need the top rope Sliced Bread #5, I also thought the finish came off a bit flat, still this was a heck of TV main event, and another feather in Kendrick's 2016 cap.

ER: Tricky first episode, reintroducing us to wrestlers who wouldn't be new to anybody who watched the CWC (and really, how many Network viewers are watching this, but skipped all of the CWC), but a damn fine main event. I still think it's better to have a heel champ like Kendrick on top with a longer babyface chase, but hopefully he can do something dastardly to regain. If anything, this show will be a fun way to see some CWC match-ups that the bracketing didn't allow.

PAS: Yeah I get why they wanted a title change on the first show, but Kendrick really should be the Flair of this division. Rich Swann makes a fine Ronnie Garvin, but Kendrick needs the belt back

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WWE Cruiserweight Classic: Dark Matches

Oney Lorcan v. Cedric Alexander

PAS: Orney Locan is the ex Biff Busick, it is a pretty oddball name, but Biff Busick is also a pretty terrible name, it sounds more like a NXT create a name then the name that got created. After loving the Ibushi match, I am back to being unimpressed with Alexander. All of his stuff looks good, but he is more Tony Neeseish then an actual great wrestler. Lorcan was a nasty fucker in this, his leaping headbutt was awesome as was all of his different uppercuts, would have liked to see him break out some grappling, but he was great as a guy hitting hard. Worth watching just for him.

ER: Biff Busick at least sounds like the name of a human man. I personally have never known a person named Biff, but I have known two different men named Butch. But Oney Lorcan sounds so alien that you assume that it's an anagram or spells something foul backwards or rhymes with a dirty expression (Boney Porkin'?). But whatever, he's still awesome. His chops sound like they are getting the Lucha Undergound sound sweetening, he tosses out a bunch of uppercut variations that could look silly but instead look brutal, and then tosses out THAT headbutt. Cedric really does come off as "athletic guy doing athletic things" too often, but he also knows how to deliver some cracking strikes, and Lorcan takes some nasty stuff from him like that big suplex into the buckles. I thought most of this was super fun, and only kind of highlighted the additional awesome matches that could have happened if Lorcan had been in the CWC instead of a couple of the duds. Oh, and "It's hard not to get excited with action like this!" wins Daniel Bryan the award for "Vaguest Soundbite That Comes Up 4 Times Per Match While Playing Smackdown vs. Raw". You know you can picture Michael Cole saying it after you just did a snapmare as Trish Stratus.

Drew Gulak/Tony Nese v. Kenneth Johnson/Lince Dorado

PAS: Perfectly fun little tag match. Johnson is pretty green, but does have a nice underdog charisma, and plays nicely off of Gulak as jersey dirtbag Fuchi. Gulak is a beast, I loved his  JYD headbutt to break up a pin, Gulak is pretty much always worth watching no matter what he does. Neese is still kind of a lame-o, but he and Gulak had some fun double teams and I could see them as a nice team. If they end up doing something with Crusierweight tag wrestling I could dig this tag team.

ER: With the color scheme and makeshift team setting this had a feel of an early 2000s Velocity match, which gave it an almost inherent likability, even though I don't really like three guys in this match. Gulak is a favorite of mine, but Nese is more of an RVD without the dangerous bumps. Dorado has some of my least favorite offense, and Johnson just isn't very good. BUT, despite his badness Phil is right that there's some kind of charisma there, something to like. He may have done one of the worst double leg takedowns I've ever seen, but I oddly likely Johnson throughout this. Nese could only improve by working with Gulak, and I did love the two of them cornering poor Kenneth. Gulak locking on that nasty lucha sub was a highlight, as was Nese doing the one arm powerbomb to the floor, onto Dorado. Also liked how Gulak literally brushed off Dorado's strikes, because, yeah, those strikes looked brush-offable. Nese continues his streak of almost 450ing his face into the mat. This was just one of those odd matches that I didn't really think was good, but enjoyed watching it for the duration. It's not so much that I'm a complicated person; burdensome would be perhaps more appropriate.

Ariya Daivari/Sean Maluta v. The Bollywood Boyz

ER: I was prepared to dislike this one, but by the end it pretty easily won me over. That seems more like a testament to a simply worked traditional tag formula, but it won me over nonetheless. Bollywood Boyz definitely play better as a team than as singles, and Daivari is now seeming like the best guy in the tournament that got the most silent reaction. I started out groaning as I don't really care for the whole Bollywood dancing routine. It feels like actual guys from India doing an Indian minstrel show. But that died down as the match went on, and as they started working like an Indian Fantistics I got into it. Daivari bumped all over for them which helped them out a bit, as he made a double team battering ram in the corner look great and later flew recklessly and painfully to the floor. The Bollywood Boyz tandem offense kind of makes up for the looseness of some of it, although Gurv (?) throws a nice elbowdrop and had a fine hot tag. Plus, they're all tasseled out which is bonus gravy. Maluta didn't look great, seemed really lost at how to get into position for double teams, and capped it by throwing a really bad and awkward dropkick off the middle. Still, fine formula tag which showed the Boyz as a team wouldn't look out of place on the roster, and that Daivari is certainly the better Daivari.

PAS: Daivari did look great here, bumping around, being kind of a contemptuous dick to the Bollywood Boyz shtick. He felt like a guy who should stick around, maybe team him with Prince Mustafa Ali in a Saudi prince who comes to college and uses coke and BMW's to bang sorority girls gimmick. Bollywood Boyz clearly have a ton of experience working basic tag matches, and know when to work a hot tag, when to get heat etc., it felt very professional without really inspiring me.


COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE CWC

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