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 7/27/16

1. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Tyson Dux

ER: Okay, Jim Breaks just got mentioned several times on WWE TV, and that is just the kind of surreal I wanted as the tournament got closer. The match was a continuing trend of a lot of first round matches, as we get a lot of ZSJ's greatest hits applied in a sort of exhibition-y way. For a fairly long 1st round match, Dux really didn't get a whole lot of his own, and what he got was a little disappointing. His forearm shots looked weak, his clothesline had no follow through, his DDT was limply applied but saved by Sabre doing his vertical plant off of it. Where Dux did excel was putting over ZSJ's submissions, really screaming during the wrist work, really getting frustrated every time a basic move like a cravate or headlock takeover of his would get rolled out of immediately by Sabre. I really like Sabre's routine, I'm not longer a "this guy is in matches I like but I don't think I like him" kinda neighsayer, but I was hoping for a little more "match" in this one. I did love the finish and the camera caught great angles: Dux reaching slowly for the ropes as ZSJ keeps bending his fingers and wrist away from the ropes, before eventually locking on the sub.

PAS: I thought this was fine, a couple of ZSJ's transitions were really cool, and I liked the initial section with Dux using basic offense to counter the fancy stuff. When they got to hitting each other though it didn't look very good, Dux looked off a bit and Sabre is never going to excel in a slugfest. Finish though was totally awesome, loved all of the chaining of holds into the final submission, that is the kind of thing that he does better then almost anyone.

2. Drew Gulak vs. Harv Sihra

ER: Did Sihra really say in his pre-fight package that he "wanted to do something with his heritage in wrestling, but not so stereotypical....so I chose Bollywood". Uhhhhhhhhhhhmmmmm. Are there...other? parts? of Indian culture that Americans casually know about and stereotype? That feels like the most stereotyped part of Indian culture. Was a cow worshipping curry eating convenience store owner just too on the nose for American audiences? Had do go DEEP underground into Indian culture with this...Bollywood, was it? Anyway, I really dug this match. Gulak was super generous with Sihra, while also dealing out my personal favorite brand of violence. Gulak's my favorite current guy in wrestling and there was a whole lot to like here, loved the way he ran into Sihra's stuff, the dragon sleeper looked flat out vicious, he threw one of the greatest top rope clotheslines you've seen (seriously, a list of great looking top rope clotheslines would be a short list) and overall they gave us a super satisfying, competitive, perfect WorldWide match. Awesome stuff.

PAS: Eric liked this more then I did, Gulak looked good as always, but I didn't think these guys were on the same page for most of the match. I did really like the ankle counter Sihra used and how he went back to it to try to counter the dragon sleeper. Neat bit of callback wrestling nicely called by Ranallo and Bryan. Really weird production having Sabre and Gulak go back to back on the same show. Grappling is a hard sell to WWE audiences and it is weird to force feed it to the audience like this

3. Anthony Bennett vs. Tony Nese

PAS: I thought this was pretty bad, there are a ton better tiny guys on the indies then Bennett if you wanted some 140 pound guys in this tourney. Feels like that should have been Lio Rush's spot, maybe Flip Kendrick. Nese is technically fine, but kind of a dull jersey meathead. Has a very Petey Williams feel to him, a smarter wrestler would know not to have even steven forearm exchanges with a kid you outweigh by 50 pounds, but Nese just does his stuff. Worst match of the tourney so far.

ER: The funny thing about the even steven forearm exchanges was that Bennett's looked better than Nese's. So not only was Nese playing on the level with a guy 75% of his size, but he was getting outstruck by him. Bennett was pretty clunky and Nese is one of those muscled up guys who never lands with a lot of weight, like that Hulk movie with Eric Bana, where CGI Hulk is just bouncing around feeling weightless. Agree with Phil that Bennett was a weird choice. If they wanted another tiny flier, there were better choices. His forearms were ironically the only part of his offense I enjoyed. He had some terrible looking jumping clotheslines, like he had only studied clotheslines from Kofi Kingston. And every time he would land off a dropkick or other leaping move, it looked like he had no clue how to land that move. You don't realize how graceful certain wrestlers and moves usually look, until you see somebody flopping around like a dying fish after hitting a dropkick.  You often see sloppy execution, you don't really get to thinking about sloppy landings. Ending is weird as the ref almost stops the match because it appeared Bennett might have been injured, so everybody stopped....but then the ref was like "okay, just go ahead and do your flippy move. Never mind. Sorry, everybody!" I liked Nese's superkick on the floor, didn't totally dislike the whole thing as much as Phil, but yeah this was down there.

4. Brian Kendrick vs. Raul Mendoza

PAS: This however was the first great match this tourney has run. Love Kendrick as new age Kid Kash, ex-pretty boy turned into grizzled veteran asshole. He went from looking like Leonardo DiCaprio to looking like RR/RW Battle of the Sexes era Puck. He is the heroin addict bullying Bubbles. Most I have ever liked Kendrick.

INDY LUCHA RISE UP! Mendoza looked awesome hitting everything with speed and precision, selling the bloody mouth great and totally winning over the crowd. Makes me want to go down a Jinzo youtube hole. Loved the story of this, with the kid having all the athleticism which Kendrick lost and Kendrick having to resort to every dirty trick he knows to pull it out. Finish was perfect for what they are doing, and I totally want Kendrick to win this whole thing now.

ER: Oh man this was good. If this match is an accurate representation of current Brian Kendrick, then I'm now pissed at Kendrick not having enough people championing his current work. Phil's Kid Kash comparison is dead on the money and this really is the best version of Kendrick I've seen. The look, the attitude, the cheating; this Brian Kendrick to the one wearing baggy vinyl jorts and throwing terrible fivearms on hot tags? Yes, please. I've also never seen Mendoza before and boy was I impressed. The guy is super polished and does everything 100%, no half-assing anything he attempts: no loose limbs on his headscissors, no dodging out of a move that he wasn't supposed to know was coming, no light shining through strikes, no moments where he had that vacant look in his eyes thinking about his next sequence. It's too bad the CWC doesn't have alternates like the early UFC PPVs, just as an opportunity to have some of the better 1st round losers get extra matches against each other (and, you know, get some extra footage to justify flying all of these guys in). Mendoza was snug and Kendrick was just as snug, more than I ever remember him being. Kendrick suckers him into great cheating moments, especially the nasty curb stomp type move into the ropes. Have a guy with braces bite the rope and then you kick the rope? Man that's some sadistic shit. Having another human bite anything is kind of weird and fucked up on its face, but someone with braces? Those things cut your mouth the hell up. Mendoza having braces and wrestling without a mouth guard is as crazy as guys taking wild bumps to the floor while barefoot. Mendoza doing a Fuerza bump to the apron to avoid hitting the buckles was choice, he hit with a thud on his plancha, finish run was killer with Kendrick doing an obvious weird possum sell before grabbing Mendoza's waistband to send him throat first into the bottom rope, then doing a gorgeously nasty reverse headlock takeover into a sick choke for the win. This was a simple match done to perfection, moves to logically set up other moves, no wasted movement, easily no question best match of the CWC tournament up to this point.

ER: Best episode of the CWC so far obviously, and the Kendrick/Mendoza was so good that we added it to our 2016 Ongoing MOTY List. It's a real gem and hopefully a sign of greater things to come in this tournament.


COMPLETE CWC GUIDE


2016 ONGOING MOTY LIST

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