AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 12/1 - 12/7 Part 3

ROH Final Battle 12/5/25

Lee Moriarty vs Nigel McGuinness - Iron Man Match

In general, it doesn't make sense to argue in good faith against those who argue in bad faith. 

A cottage industry has sprouted where grifters spout takes they barely believe in order to tear things down to get engagement. That provides them followers, clicks, appearances, and maybe, if they're particularly successful, lucrative attention from corporate overlords. 

The thing is that younger people see this, and they see that it comes from someone with a big following and some level of past authority and significance, and they cling to it as at least a possible truth.

So no, I don't think it's worth validating them and their thoughts by spending too much time with it, but spending a little, well, there's not too much harm in that, especially when it doesn't take me too far afield from where I'd be anyway.

The question at hand? Storytelling, specifically the validity of implicit, in-ring storytelling vs something more explicit and driven by out-of-ring angles and promos. Can the text itself stand without being buoyed on a sea of context. 

The case study: Lee Moriary vs Nigel McGuinness from Final Battle 2025. An Ironman match between two pure rules stalwarts. 

On paper and certainly as the grifters would grift, this was a cold match. It was announced about a week before the show. It was set up solely on pride. The title wasn't on the line. It wasn't under pure rules. Moriarty had successfully defended the title against Nigel. Nigel had defeated Lee in the technical spectacle 4-way to score a title shot at Zack Sabre, Jr. at Forbidden Door 2025. They were 1-1 against each other. Lee is the longest running Pure champ. Nigel is the second longest running champ and the one who really put the title on the map. This, therefore, was about pride. That's the story coming in. That's it. One backstage promo. No angles. 

But that's not how wrestling works. There are always implicit characteristics. Lee's used to wrestling pure rules matches and here the rules were relaxed (rope breaks didn't count against you, for instance). Shane Taylor was allowed at ringside. Nigel came in with arguably more to prove. He's the one that made the challenge. Moriarty, on the other hand, had just been taken to the limit against Komander in a Proving Ground match and he'd have to defend against him upcoming. This was a distraction from that in some ways. Nigel had dropped twenty-two pounds for this and while he wasn't in the same sort of ring shape as Lee, he was far more rested up. They were in relatively neutral ground as McGuinness came up in Ohio but it's not far from Moriarty's home in Pittsburgh. 

All of this potentially matters, but at the same time, none of it is a sure thing. They're all elements and details, just a few of many, that could potentially be used by the wrestlers to craft a story. And even though the wrestlers might choose to tap into these, that doesn't mean that the story is compelling. I had a period when I was younger that I valued logic above all else in a match. Were all the parentheses closed? Did everything make sense? Was it all set up and paid off? Was anything extraneous? Now I realize that it's much more of a bare minimum or a starting point, and it's also not the be all and end all. Narratives can be a little messy if the sacrifice of coherency somehow increases emotional connection, if it helps people feel instead of think at a key moment. In most cases, however, structural underpinnings bolster that emotional connection instead of disrupting them, and the absence of such is not due to some stroke of creative brilliance but instead pure laziness. In a world with more nuance and less grifters, it'd be easier to point out such examples. As it is, we have to be careful not to use too wide a brush.

So coming in, a single question, quite often the most primal, most important question in all of pro wrestling: "Who is better?" And various attributes that separate the two wrestlers, and a situation primed for the wrestlers to explore these differences between them. You can see why this is a perfect case study. 

They had thirty minutes (and, of course, eventually an overtime) to ply their craft and make their art, and they went right to it. The first few minutes were a feeling out process, hold flowing into hold, reversals opening up new possibilities. There were risks here. It could feel too much like an exhibition. It could be too formless with nothing driving the action but technique. It could feel too collaborative where it's obvious they were propping one another up. But they walked the line well. Nigel was perhaps more the aggressor but Moriarty had answers, a series of interesting and intricate escapes. They both used rope breaks liberally, establishing to a crowd that had just seen a women's Pure title match that here they were fair game.

Notably, after being tagged by a back elbow on a switch, McGuinness snapped into the ropes to throw his comebacker Les Kellett lariat, but Moriarty simply walked out of reach. That would come into play a couple of minutes later as he went for it again, wanting a quick fall to take an early lead. Moriarty had him scouted and went behind for a roll up. McGuinness reversed into a pin attempt of his own, but Moriarty was a couple of moves ahead and turned it into his signature Border City Stretch. McGuinness, in their previous title match, had spent a debilitating minute in the hold. Here, with less than five minutes gone, he couldn't afford that. Instead, he quickly and strategically tapped so no damage was done.

The fans chose this moment to start supporting the quantitative underdog, chanting for McGuinness, and Moriarty went to the floor to burn some time and play to them accordingly. Back in the ring, McGuinness, now down a fall, ramped up the intensity. Moriarty picked an ankle after a roll, and Nigel went right to the ear to drive him to the ropes. He started opening up on Moriarty's arm, slamming it onto the mat and then working it over to create a vulnerability. Moriarty sold accordingly. Nigel went for the Tower of London in the corner, but Lee was able to escape, but not press an advantage. Instead, Nigel became even more aggressive, escalating things to strikes, first in the ring, and then, after chasing Lee out, on the floor. That aggression cost him dearly, however, as after chasing Moriarty back into the ring, Lee was able to roll him up for a quick three count making the match 2-0. 

Nigel, now in a hole, responded by going in harder on the arm. That made him predictable in some ways but it also gave him an advantage in the moment. For instance, if Lee went for a sunset flip, Nigel was able to block it just by slapping at the hands. Moriarty utilized his superior athleticism and comparable canniness to reverse repeated attempts at moves and use the distance McGuinness occasionally provided in setting up bigger attacks to fire back, but Nigel was able to cut off Moriarty by driving forward and attacking the arm. If Lee missed a move, sometimes the sheer recoil of it caused him to be momentarily stunned and to hold his arm, excellent selling that provided a clear, logical, immersive narrative opportunity for Nigel. 

McGuinness locked in his London Dungeon armhold once, but Moriarty made it to the ropes. After a missed corner charge by Lee (set up through a complex series of reversals), he locked it in again, and this time scored the submission. It was still 2-1 however, and Nigel, increasingly desperate with about ten minutes left, yet smelling blood given what he had just accomplished, immediately went for it again. It was a completely reasonable and compelling character decision from him, yet Lee was able to capitalize upon its predictability, rolling through and locking Nigel into a deep cradle to make the score 3-1.

Now, as the clock continued to tick down, they had built a match through the idea of contesting advantages. Lee had a clear quantitative advantage, up by two falls with time on his side, but Nigel had a clear qualitative advantage, with Lee's arm weakened and damaged. If Nigel's desperation drove him too hard to capitalize, Lee would be able to predict it and counter, however. Nigel did press, working over the arm and chopping Moriarty down, but another attempt at the London Dungeon was reversed. He shifted gears to a triangle choke, but Lee made it to the ropes. 

With about three and a half minutes left, they crashed into each other and Nigel finally hit the Les Kellett clothesline, but only for two. Moriarty escaped the ring. Nigel followed again. This time Shane Taylor got in between them and that distraction allowed Lee to lock in a choke. Nigel barely beat the count but was vulnerable to the Border City Stretch. Maybe because Nigel wasn't softened up enough (given his early tap at the start of the match) or because Lee's arm was damaged, Nigel was able to turn it around into a pin and make the score 3-2. Everything from them crashing into each other to the roll up to the pin was part of a single narrative sequence that also played upon what had come before (the quick tap, the multiple attempts at the clothesline, Nigel successfully chasing him to the floor earlier in the match but getting caught on the way back in). It was elaborate but because it was grounded in both character and what they had already built within the match; it absolutely worked.

Things only got wilder from there. Lee had tried unsuccessfully to wrestle defensively when he was further up in points (including on his back, Inoki style). Now he seemed more at a loss, still up but with momentum having shifted away from him. Nigel didn't let him rest and after going back and forth on waistlock attempts, they crashed into each other once again. Lee recovered first, but instead of letting the clock run out, he advanced and got tied up by Nigel for the equalizing pin. Lee, distracted, went to Taylor for advice, was rolled up  and with Nigel holding the tights, it was suddenly 4-3 with only seconds left. As the ref checked on Lee, Taylor clocked Nigel from the outside and with time running out, Lee scored the pin to equalize things at the buzzer. 

There was a sort of moral equivalency here, Nigel's tight pull and Taylor's interference, but perhaps one was more of a transgression than the other. Regardless, and despite Taylor's vehemence that Lee just take the draw that he got by the skin of his teeth, Moriarty called Nigel back for a sudden death overtime. Here they did a series of quick roll ups and pin attempts we've seen so often, but even with the relatively low stakes, the match that they had built and the intensity they brought to bear made these feel visceral and gripping, competitive instead of collaborative. On a double pin, Lee was able to get his shoulder up at the last second, winning the overtime fall and the match. 

Post-match, in an emotional moment, McGuinness presented his original ROH Pure Title belt to Lee. Meanwhile, Shane Taylor was still upset over with how things had played out and argued with Moriarty. Even though this match had come in relatively cold with little outside story hooks, they had, through the match itself, created one moving forward as there's now possible dissension within Shane Taylor Promotions.

Thirty minute matches can be hard to write about. On the match narrative itself, from bell to bell to bell, I went 1250+ words. Character traits and attributes drove the action here. Things were set up early that were paid off late. There was architectural connective tissue (and let's say the ligaments in Moriarty's arm) that kept the match from falling apart despite the length and the complexity of some of the sequences and the technique therein. 

So what else can you even say? There was a story here. It was a wonderful sports-based, competition-based story between two athletes, two masters, two warriors testing themselves against each other. It was full of human failing and triumphant opportunism. 

Grifters are going to grift and try to get people to underlook a match like this. Maybe it could have been built better and supported more on the way in. I'm not going to dismiss that possibility, but it still stood tall as it was. It was given everything it needed to succeed (time, freedom, a presentation on commentary that took it seriously and treated it as important) as an artistic endeavor and compelling story and it ultimately did succeed because the work itself was so detailed, rich, and strong. I feel for anyone that either can't see this because of ignorance or won't see it because they're only in this to make a buck. 

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AEW Five Fingers of Death (and Friends) 8/11 - 8/17

AEW Collision 8/16/25

The Technical Spectacle (Nigel McGuinness vs Daniel Garcia vs Hechicero vs Lee Moriarty)

MD: My dislike for 4-way matches is pretty well documented at this point. I went into detail back during Double Or Nothing a few years ago. In short, 4-ways are the ultimate immersion killer. They're quite possibly the least organic form of pro wrestling ever invented. They're excuses for big spots and big set pieces that are elaborately set up in ways that have nothing to do with winning a match. They force wrestlers to act outside of their established norms, often contriving them to do things in parallel in a way that doesn't hold up under scrutiny. You end up with people laying around for far longer than they would in any other match and it all becomes a muddle with too many cooks and too many ideas. At best, you get some cool and memorable things, but we're so desensitized to that anyway that it barely registers after the fact. 

Quick pause on that. I've been watching a lot of Newborn UWF/UWF 2.0 lately. It's almost all on YouTube so I suggest people go and do the same. It's helped me refine my thoughts about shoot style and how best to engage with it. I'd seen my share of UWF 1.0, but that's so centered around a few characters and they were still figuring out the style so that you're not necessarily watching a distillable shoot style match so much as you're watching a Super Tiger or Fujiwara match. With UWF 2.0 though, everything is more locked in and refined. You can best understand the matches along three axes: technique/physical attributes (this is self-evident), opportunity (what openings exist in any single moment and how can a wrestler take advantage of them), and personality (who are these people and how do they approach the fight). You can't necessarily look at things through a traditional narrative (shine/heat/comeback) lens. Instead, by trying understanding those three things you can jump in and see how, let's say a smaller fighter apt to tire his opponent out and fight defensively like Shigeo Miyato will face off against a larger fighter who has to make use of his size and press hard early (but that might still get one powerful blow in late) like Tatsuo Nakano. Who are these people? What drives them? How does that create opportunities and how do they respond to them? What opportunities do those responses then create in the moment and throughout the match?

Still with me? Ok, so maybe people wouldn't necessarily define the Technical Spectacle as shoot style (maybe they would), but it was at least a sibling or cousin to it, and so many of those same tenets operated here. Unlike almost every other 4-way I've ever seen, this was set up around opportunities and personalities. Nigel carries the weight of the world on his shoulders knowing full well the possibility of every impossible opportunity (a different sort of opportunity, but related), having had so many of his dreams slip through his fingers. Garcia is watching his own dreams start to slip as well, stumbling through a series of failures and wanting to wrench back his future. Moriarty sees himself as the present, the time-tested Pure Champ, but without the recognition or respect he deserves. And Hechicero is just a malignant spirit, Bandido and a title shot ahead of him, a wretched, brilliant creature that just wants to ply his craft and hurt people. 

In parts of the match technique drove things and the wrestlers grappled evenly, looking to create opportunities. But when those opportunities arose, it was their personalities that defined the action, this a direct opposite of so many 4-ways where the necessary over the top spots override and overwrite personality. Moriarty was the one who went out of his way to get multiple people in a submission at once, leaning into his bravado and swagger. Garcia always had an eye out for what Nigel was doing, seeing him as the biggest threat, as the one he'd never faced off against (only teamed with). And Nigel? Nigel may be a sympathetic figure given his journey, but there's something of the rogue within him, of the scoundrel, but even more than that, the stone-faced realism of a man that has been through life's wringer. When his opponents were in simultaneous submissions, he laid in an opportunistic stomp to break it up. In a similar moment, he dropped an elbow on Garcia. And then, when it seemed like Garcia had his Scorpion Deathlock on while he himself had the London Dungeon locked in, he threw a nasty, chippy, possibly even underhanded elbow, flooring Garcia. It wasn't personal; in fact, it was even regretful on some level, but it was life, the only life Nigel knew and the only life that he could possibly have left.

And all throughout, the technique was as compelling as the personalities. Handfighting, moments of leverage, tricked out takedowns, lightning fast pin attempts that never felt like needless waterfall spots existing for their own sake. They solved the problem of someone laying out by almost constantly having wrestlers paired off, and here it worked because success for one wrestler didn't mean a headdrop or huge bump but instead gaining advantage over a limb or locking in a hold. 

While watching this, I had the sense of something incredibly rare in 2025: the feeling of watching something brand new. Usually things that are touted as new are instead just "more." Bigger spots, more excess, more people, more risk, brighter colors and flashier fireworks; adding another few floors to a tower that already exists. Here though, even the foundation felt new. This feels like something that could be done again with the same wrestlers or different ones, with huge stakes, incredible techniques, and opportunities driven by personality.

They could have done this the old way, could have had all of the holds be tandem things, could have done so many more suplexes, could have slipped in a tower of doom spot and some dives, could have gone around the world a few times with all of their finishers. That would have been safe as crowds tend to be more favorable towards those things than I am. This was not safe. It was brave and it was daring and in its own way, it was brilliant. So much of that was on the courage to trust that the crowd would come along, that their own skill and personality and commitment would win the day. But win the day it did, and in doing so they broke ground on something that felt brand new and very worthwhile.

CMLL 8/15/25

MJF vs Zandokan, Jr

MD: Another data point has arrived from Arena Mexico and the results are conclusive: the system works. Pro wrestling is a wonderful, gripping, engaging, vibrant art form, and it is as strong as ever in a fabled place where the fans can live and breath on every heroic and villainous act and find exhilaration in every single punch (yes, there are punches there too, not just chops and forearms).

The combination of MJF, with Jon Cruz at his side, in Arena Mexico, is the best act in wrestling today, and so much of that is due to the sheer commitment to everything that's always worked, the timeless, universal elements of pro wrestling, an appeal to the heart based on morality and identity and pride. 

This replicated a number of the elements from MJF's previous appearances in Arena Mexico, most especially the recent title win over Averno, but in every way, it took the act even further. Now Cruz was out dressed like Abraham Lincoln, still taking editorial license on MJF's insults stretching them this way and that, as his twisted, fawning C-3PO. Zandokan's response was perfect, shutting it all down instantly so the match could begin and getting a crowd that was already inclined to support him due to his upstart rudo charisma fully behind him. But then, of course, Max hit the floor to massive boos. The game had begun.

And what a game it was. At Zandokan's first touch, Max rolled back out and complained (on the mic with translation) about hair pulling. Then, of course, later, when it came time to cut Zandokan off, he pulled the hair and mask himself. Perfect hypocritical pro wrestling symmetry meant to get heat. When Max was in control, he made sure to punctuate each and every offensive move or cut off by rubbing it in the face of the fans, and they booed huge. Whenever Zandokan fired back, MJF sold for the back row and the back row was duly elated. Cruz intervened all the more which meant that when it was time for Zandokan to really come back, Cruz got to bump huge for him as well. Chekhov's Gun was loaded and fired and the universe was placed in perfect balance. 

The dive, when it came, was singular and spectacular, smashing MJF who had been draped on the guardrail (again a likely unintentionally but wholly meaningful parallel to how he lounged on it when he ducked out of the ring a first time). And they build to an exciting series of finish attempts before Max had to go an extra mile to get the ref out of position so he could hit another foul and steal the win, a payoff to the match and a set up for the post-match Mistico challenges to come. 

With so many different opponents each with their own quirks and history (imagine him against Blue Panther or Ultimo Guerrero or Barbaro Cavernario, etc.), this match, as much as anything else, was proof positive that the act isn't just one spectacular firework meshing old and new, but instead something with real legs and that can bring real joy each with each and every outing. 

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AEW Five Fingers of Death 9/23 - 9/29 Part 1

AEW Dynamite Grand Slam 9/25/24

Bryan Danielson vs. Nigel McGuinness

MD: Nigel McGuinness has long dreamed an impossible dream. His career did not end on his terms. He sat on the sidelines, first figuratively and then literally as a commentator, as his peers, many of them even a few years his junior, rose to levels of success that they could have only previously imagined. It could have been him. It should have been him. Not only was it not him, to earn a livelihood, he had to sit and watch every moment of it, to try to translate it for the layman. And worst of all was Bryan Danielson. He rose higher than all of the others, had lost it all as well, but had found some way to reclaim it whereas Nigel never rose and never reclaimed. Yet through perseverance and persistence, through a dogged single-mindedness that never wavered, Nigel both created and seized opportunity. There was no level he would not stoop to, no insult he might leave unsaid. Just as Jon Moxley had goaded Darby Allin, Nigel found his way to the matchmaker's ear and suggested to him a match that would be irresistible to any Ring of Honor fan, Bryan Danielson vs Nigel McGuinness one last time, on the grand stage of Grand Slam, an unplanned, unexpected stop on the path of Danielson's final countdown. If Danielson wasn't cleared, Nigel would get an empty victory that would still fill his belly. If he was, then he was hurt and vulnerable, a prime victim. Either way, everything was coming up Nigel. This was one last chance to right the wrongs, to take everything that he deserved, to show the world that somewhere along the line, history itself had gotten off track. It was his dream.

And Bryan Danielson did not care. Not in the least. While Nigel was living his dream, Bryan Danielson was living his own personal nightmare. This was his final countdown. This was the end of the road. This was his last taste of glory. This was him defining his own destiny in every way that Nigel had never been allowed to. He was going to retire on his terms, champion until someone could take it from him, a true sportsman's exit, a true wrestler's final chapter. But instead, his friends, his brothers-in-arms, had decided to take matters into their own hands. They had betrayed him in the coldest of blood over a difference of vision, over promises unfulfilled and the sort of dissatisfaction over the state of the world that would only be felt by those who intended to remain in it. Danielson had one foot out the door. To Jon Moxley, Bryan Danielson could not be the change this world needed. He was already half checked out, already doing arts and crafts with his daughter in a cabin in the woods. Best to push him the rest of the way and make a statement to the world that needed changing in the process, to do something that mattered in a way that would make it matter the most.

What was Nigel McGuinness and all of his verbal barbs, and his boasts, and his Oasis theme, and the spiky hair he doesn't even have anymore, in the face of a betrayal of the heart? What was Nigel McGuinness in the face of what Jon Moxley was taking away from him, the chance to end his story in a way that would allow him to be the best father he could possibly be? Nothing. Nigel was dirt beneath Danielson's feet as he walked towards the end of the night and his first chance to get back at Moxley. He was a gnat to be swatted away. Nigel McGuinness had spent the last few years of his career seeing Bryan Danielson's face on every wrestler in every match he was providing commentary for. Bryan Danielson, however, could see nothing except for the road to Jon Moxley and revenge before him. In the entire match that would follow, save for one slap, Bryan Danielson did not see Nigel once.

And let's pause right there.

I'm not going to take you through the rest of the match. I'm sure you can find some really good accounts out there of the nuts and bolts of it, the easter eggs, the thought put into it. Despite what I just said, there was thought and care put into it and not just from Nigel. It was a match at least eleven years in the making, an anchor for one of AEW's biggest shows of the year, and it was put together as such.

That doesn't, however, mean that it was presented that way as seen through the lens of Bryan Danielson's performance. Not only is that a good thing, it's a great thing, a truly impressive and admirable thing, the exact sort of thing that AEW needs and everything that its detractors says it is not. This was an indy dream match, fan service to ROH devotees, a wonderful nostalgic box that could be checked, a gift! And it was unquestionably, undeniably, 100% an afterthought to the main story in the company, the title match of WrestleDream between Bryan Danielson and Jon Moxley, exactly as it should be.

That didn't lessen the emotions. It didn't stunt people's feeling in the moment. If you followed along online, people were absolutely into it. The people in the crowd were into it. The announcers, though scattered, were into it. But more importantly, everyone was exactly where they needed to be by the end of the night.

That's a pretty astounding balancing act when you think about it. This was the character (I won't speak on the person) Nigel McGuinness' dream, the culmination of a year of him mouthing off and years more of things in the margins. It built on a dozen prior matches, some borderline legendary. And it cashed in all of that to get over the look on Bryan Danielson's face and what was really on his mind. He never wavered, never blinked, never slowed down. He was a freight train out of control heading straight to Jon Moxley, tie in his hand. Sometimes that meant he made a mistake here. Maybe he charged in the wrong way. Maybe he fell wrong. He was looking past this in a way no wrestler had ever looked past a rival before. Nigel capitalized as you'd expect him to do. It didn't make a difference. Of course it didn't. Nigel mouthed off to the bitter end. Of course he did. Bryan marched on without looking back.

There is power in sacrifice. The more something matters, the more value it can provide when put on the altar of necessity. This mattered a lot. It mattered to longtime fans. It mattered to one of the key commentators of the company. It mattered to the crowd. It was a dream match, a miracle match. But in the grand scheme of things, what matters is the overall direction of the company, the big picture story, the brewing war between Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson, and how the resolution of that war will take the company into 2025. For AEW to truly succeed, hitting those wonderful nostalgic marks aren't enough, being the legacy of all wrestling, from the territories to WCW to Japan and Mexico and whatever else, that's not enough. Those all have to be means to some greater end, not the end itself. And there is a greater end in sight than Danielson vs Moxley, and this match was mercilessly, heartlessly, brilliantly sacrificed to that end. The notion of "Killing Your Darlings" is often misattributed to Faulkner or Chesterton, but the notion is clear enough. In the past, there's been reason to doubt whether or not AEW booking could ever do that given the love of wrestling that ingrained in the company and the nostalgic streak that runs throughout, but there couldn't be a clearer sign than this that it's willing to do what needs to be done no matter how hard it might be. Nigel's dream, though fulfilled on paper, ultimately died to glorify Bryan's nightmare. And both we and the company are better off for it.

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SEGUNDA CAIDA DECLARES IWA MID-SOUTH!! A Shot of Southern Comfort 5/29/04, Part 1

ER: IWA Mid-South is probably my favorite indy ever, and I have spindles filled with dvds of it. It seems crazy to not occasionally indulge in this product, which once ran so improbably frequently that there are tons of gaps in my viewing. Let's watch some of the best of the carniest. AND, I think - as always - the best way to watch, is by closing my eyes and pulling a dvd randomly out of the stack. That brings us to this show, which had some deliciously classic early-mid 2000s indy bloat: 13 matches over the course of the night, utilizing  32 DIFFERENT WRESTLERS!! 32!!! WWE barely uses more than 32 guys during the Royal Rumble PPV, but here's IWA bringing 32 different guys to some random Saturday night card in a smallish Indiana town. It's the best.

1. Danny Daniels vs. Eddie Edwards

ER: Oh jeez, Edwards has giant silver pants and his hair done in short braids, looking like the worst ever version of Roger from Sister, Sister. Go home, Eddie. But really this wasn't a bad opener. It was kept to 5 minutes and Edwards wasn't having 2.9 kickout wars at this point in his career. He hit a nice spinkick and took a nasty cross arm German suplex, Daniels stuck him with a nice piledriver that did not get kicked out of, surprising me. We did get a standing elbow exchange, how far we've come in 13 years.

2. Rain vs. Sumie Sakai

ER: This built to a pretty nice finish. Rain wasn't really that good here, but Sakai was a pro and kept the floor somewhat higher than it would have been. Rain was really poor at obviously getting into position for the next move, really making everything looked rehearsed, running into position early and just standing there motionless waiting to be attacked. Sakai takes a big sprawling bump through all the chairs, packs a huge wallop with two missile dropkicks, drops Rain with a nice hotshot,  hits one of those fast low-arcing moonsaults, throws fast suplexes, all nice stuff. It's awesome that she's still working the states.

3. Southern Comfort (Chris Hamrick/Tracy Smothers) vs. The Wild Cards (Eddie Kingston/Jack Marciano)

ER: Kingston and Marciano look like they're in a weird religious cult, their heads are shaved bald and they're wearing matching big baggy white pants, white boots and white sleeveless shirts. They look like the Yonkers chapter of the Guilty Remnant. The match was a pretty quick sprint, just 7 minutes, and really a showcase for Southern Comfort. Kingston wasn't really an established guy and was really young at this point,  and Marciano never really got established before getting retired. So we get a showcase for SC's offense, and that's a fun thing. Smothers is a great bully, and he breaks out all his leaping kicks, big chops and overhand rights, gets fired up and does a couple spears, makes great faces when Kingston spits in his face, stuff you'd expect from Smothers. Hamrick is a huge favorite of mine, I love his style, love his dangerous bumps and offense, love that he looks like the most violent Johnny Winter ever. Hamrick gets crazy height on offense and on bumps. At one point he does a missile dropkick that seems like he dropped in from the ceiling, and the end of the match is him hitting a Carolina jam onto Marciano...OFF of Kingston's shoulders (who was seated on the top rope). It was a gorgeous legdrop, dropping insanely in from 10 feet. In between all that he hits a couple big kicks, and takes a flying bump through the ropes to the floor FAR more dangerously/painfully than most people would have taken it. I would have liked current Kingston in there against 2004 Southern Comfort, but this was fun.

4. Nigel McGuiness/Chad Collyer vs. The Second City Saints (CM Punk/Colt Cabana)

ER: A good enough match, though nothing much of note happened. We get a lot of comedy matwork from Nigel and Colt, but it's not bad. I am not completely stone, so I can laugh at Colt rolling through back and forth to try to shake a wristlock. Nigel's Johnny Saint spots come off pretty clunky, but the stuff with them working a wristlock was engaging. Collyer had some fun stuff, had a nice combo with a knee drop followed by a quick elbow drop followed by a quick somersault senton. Late in the match he hits a cool dragon screw on Cabana. Best part of the match was Nigel rushing across the ring and just leveling Punk with an elbow to break up interference, and Punk went flying through the ropes to the floor (taking an even better floor bump than Hamrick the match before!). Punk whiffs on a shining wizard to end the match.

5. Havana Pitbulls (TJ Perkins/Ricky Reyes) vs. Brad Bradley/Ryan Boz

ER: This was pretty easily the best match of the card so far, to my surprise. Both Pitbulls looked good here, especially TJ (and has anyone dropped their 2017 stock more than Perkins? Still, 2004 Perkins is a welcome Rocky Romero replacement). I really liked the Boz/Perkins segments as Boz was kind of blocking Perkins' mat stuff which made all of it look more painful. Perkins grabbed him in a cravate and tried a snapmare, but Boz went straight down on his face. Perkins kept it locked on, eventually got the snapmare, all of it looked nasty. I also thought Perkins was throwing nice strikes against Bradley, but soon we move into Boz and Bradley cutting off the ring to work over TJ. It's all really satisfying, Boz comes off as a god sleaze and Bradley was kind of a green lummox at this point, a good combo. Reyes gets a quick pin as TJ planchas to the floor, and this certainly exceeded any expectations.

6. M-Dogg 20/Josh Prohibition vs. Homicide/B-Boy

ER: Hey, this was mostly really good, because Homicide and B-Boy were really great in 2004. And most of the match is an awesome mugging of M-Dogg who played an admirable FIP. We start with some flash from Prohibition and M-Dogg, including a pretty crazy springboard somersault senton from 20 that he almost lawndarts himself on (yet the late rotation seemed planned). The spot portion was fine but once we settled into the FIP portion it got real good. Homicide and B-Boy were lean and mean in 2004, no signs of those bellies that would pop up later, and they laced into 20. At one point the two of them were taking turns just running and striking him, Homicide would run in with an elbow, get out of the way, B-Boy would run in with a knee, get out of the way, Homicide runs in with a yakuza kick, etc. He gets facewashed, he gets beaten down, it's awesome. When Prohibition tags in we get a crazy train crash run with everyone hitting increasingly bigger spots (the move escalation was handled really nicely). We also learn that Prohibition was flat out terrible at getting into position for moves. He would stand there swaying and jerking around like Johnny Cage waiting to get his spine ripped out by Sub-Zero. He would rush into place early...and then stand there and sway while waiting for the move. We get a couple nasty headdrops at the very end, finishing on Prohibition getting planted vertically with the Cop Killa. Absolutely gross landing. I think he got legit knocked out, as even B-Boy was in the ring checking on him after, and his selling was...well, it was too good to be actual selling by Josh Prohibition. Homicide briefly checks on him, laughs and says "You're fine" and makes gang signs to the back.

7. Alex Shelley vs. Roderick Strong vs. Austin Aries vs. Petey Williams vs. Delirious vs. Nate Webb vs. Jimmy Jacobs

ER: This is an elimination match, and if you look at that list of 7 names and picked the guy you would want to see least...you know that was the guy who advanced the whole way through. Yep, we get alllll of the Petey Williams and he clearly looked like the worst guy in the match. I had completely blocked out just how much IWA Mid-South used Petey Williams in 2004, and how strongly pushed he was. It's like they used him before he was in TNA, so once he was on TNA they just pushed him as the top guy in the company. It looks completely absurd now, even moreso than it probably looked then. Because it sure doesn't look great now. And the thing is, everybody else in this match looked decent-to-great, with Petey looking outright bad. So let's not even waste time on Petey's stomach kicks that don't even attempt to look like a man kicking a stomach, or him needing to be lifted up two different times by the guy who was supposed to be taking a move from him, or his really bad athletic bumping that just makes it look like bumps don't hurt at all. No, no need to waste time on THAT. Let's focus on the good, because there was plenty of good here, namely Roderick Strong. This was a big time spotfest that Petey Williams occasionally slowed down, but there was way too much good for him to ruin all of it. Delirious takes the nastiest facebuster ever to get eliminated, we get a wild divetrain that peaks with Strong press slamming Jacobs from the ring and throwing him into everybody like Bigelow throwing Spike. Strong looks is all babyface and babyfat, but he's the most vicious guy in the match and looks great. Jacobs was super tiny and wasn't quite the crazy brawler he'd become, still doing some of the Brody shtick, and doing more indy goofus "I DDT this guy while bulldogging that guy!" stuff. But he bumps big and leans into stuff, and we all know how good he got not long after this. Aries flew into everything and came across like a big deal, and goth goofball Nate Webb works like Aerostar, if Aerostar had just taken a couple of mystery pills he found in his old vinyl pants. That's a good thing. This whole thing was mostly fun, would have made a great 6 way.


8. Petey Williams vs. BJ Whitmer


ER: There must be someone special out there, lookin' out for me. The winner of that 7 way got an immediate title shot against BJ Whitmer, and my dvd stuttered and labored and sputtered and skipped and sadly, right before Petey won the prior match, it just couldn't take any more, and jumped back to the menu screen. I tried - actually tried! - to get back to where I left off, but the dvd wouldn't even make it past the intros to the 7 way. It just wouldn't let me. I actually went back to see a Petey Williams match, and my dvd was all "Look man, just gimme your keys, alright? Look, I know, you're fine, just gimme your keys. Buddy, I know. No, I know. *wrests keys away, dvd forcibly rejects itself* I was going to watch Petey Williams win the IWA Mid-South Heavyweight title, but fate intervened. A regret understood by no one.

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IWA Mid-South Top 18 Matches, #8: Chris Candido/Steve Stone/Nigel McGuiness/Claudio Castagnoli v. CM Punk/Ace Steel/Danny Daniels/Matt Sydal 10/22/04

Chris Candido/Steve Stone/Nigel McGuiness/Claudio Castagnoli v. CM Punk/Ace Steel/Danny Daniels/Matt Sydal 10/22/04



ER: IWA-MS advertises this match as "the funniest match in the history of [the promotion]". "Funniest" and "pro wrestling" are typically words I don't care to seek out when they're together, like "saltiest cocktail" or "silliest guitar solo" or "leakiest gas tank" or "most pleated khakis". And it's tough going into a match knowing that it's advertised as "the funniest pro wrestling match", because it's definitely something that is going to work better in a live setting, within the context of the other wrestling you had already seen that night. This match was the THIRTEENTH MATCH of this specific card, some type of "Strong Style Tournament" (whatever that means) that also featured non-tourney matches such as an Abyss singles match and a Chad Collyer 3 way. Fourteen matches on the card, and this match went on thirteenth. So it was probably a long night of wrestling, and we can assume that with a name like "Strong Style Tournament" all of the tourney matches were probably pretty serious business. So live, at the end of a long night of wrestling on a Friday night (Friday night is the night I most often crash early, tired from the end of the work week), the crowd got a comedy match that was probably much needed. For me at home, watching the match in a vacuum, it was merely okay. We get a pre-match pat down where several forks, a dumbbell, and a jumprope are all found on members of Candido's team. Candido gets his trunks pulled down (dangerously low) on a sunset flip, and stumbles around getting bodyslammed by everybody, including ref Bryce Remsburg. There is a chicken fight with Sydal and Claudio fighting on top of Punk and Candido's shoulders (ending with Claudio taking an unexpectedly nasty bump on the back of his head), Nigel had a bulky foreign object stuffed in the bulge of his trunks that eventually backfired when he got atomic dropped, and we got some yuks involving multiple guys assisting an abdominal stretch. Truthfully the only time I actually laughed was seeing Ace Steel dance to "Early in the Morning" before and after the match. But Candido was really on fire throughout, his passion for all the bullshit of wrestling really shining through. He stooges like the best John Tatum you've seen, takes some big bumps while still horsing around, worked the apron and the overall match gimmick better than everyone else, a real showcase. Steve Stone looked much better than I remember Steve Stone looking, CM Punk looked much worse than I remember CM Punk looking, and I wish we got more Ace Steel vs. Candido during the match.

PAS: I could have sworn I did a draft of this, Eric wrote this up and I am in the unenviable position of having to watch this match twice. I enjoyed Candido in this, as he worked this more like a SMW match then a indy winkathon. Outside of Candido I also enjoyed Steve Stone doing World of Sport armwork and forcing Nigel to give himself the finger. Otherwise I found this rather mirthless. Sydal's actual wrestling looked cool, but otherwise this was long and dumb

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Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY List

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Austin Aries ROH 12/29
2. Nigel McGuinness v. Bryan Danielson ROH 6/23
3. Nigel McGuinness v. Samoa Joe ROH 3/3
4. John Cena v. Umaga WWE 1/28
5. Eddie Kingston v. Chris Hero IWA-MS 9/29
6. Bryan Danielson v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 8/25
7. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14
8. Chris Harris v. James Storm TNA 5/13
9. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/4
10. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16
11. Matt Hardy v. Finlay WWE 6/19
12. Briscoes v. Necro Butcher/Mad Man Pondo FIP 4/21
13. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23
14. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/31
15. Solar 1/Mano Negra v. Negro Navarro/Black Terry Lucha Libre VIP 3/10
16. MNM v. Hardy Boyz WWE 1/28
17. Briscoes v. Ricky Marvin/Kontaro Suzuki NOAH 1/21
18. Bryan Danielson/Takeshi Morishima v. KENTA/Nigel McGuiness ROH 5/12
19. John Cena v. Great Khali 5/20
20. Mitsuhara Misawa v. Bison Smith NOAH 6/3
21. John Cena v. King Booker v. Bobby Lashley v. Mick Foley v. Randy Orton WWE 6/24
22. Necro Butcher v. Jay Briscoe ROH 10/5
23. Briscoes v. Murder City Machine Guns ROH 4/28
24. Finlay v. Undertaker WWE 3/6
25. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14

Previously on the list

Necro Butcher v. Toby Klien CZW 1/13
Chris Benoit v. Chavo Guerrero WWE 1/16
Shinjiro Ohtani/Takao Omori/Kazunari Murakami v. Kohei Sato/Hirotaka Yokoi/Yoshiro Takayama Zero 1 1/19
BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27
Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24
Nigel McGuiness v. Jimmy Rave ROH 3/4
Matt Sydal v. The Man Gravity Forgot PAC ROH 3/4
Matt Hardy v. Ken Kennedy WWE 3/13
Takeshi Sasaki v. Yuki Miyamoto BJW 3/14
Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17
Takeshi Morishima/Mohammed Yone v. Jun Akiyama/Takeshi Rikio NOAH 4/1
Undertaker v. Batista WWE 4/1
John Cena v. Shawn Michaels WWE 4/1
Chris Benoit v. MVP 4/10
Yuji Nagata v. Hiroshi Tanahashi NJ 4/13
Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14
Mitsuhara Misawa v. Takuma Sano NOAH 4/28
John Cena v. Great Khali v. Umaga WWE 6/4

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Austin Aries ROH 12/29

No arguing with Nigel anymore, in 2007 he had four of my top ten matches, with four different opponents. This match is sitting at the top spot. Aries is a hell of an athlete, and put in a match with good pace, can be spectacular. Here he was amazing, taking enormous bumps, moving with tremendous speed, and hitting with real impact. This was Nigel's show though, as he has become really good at working a big main event style match. One of the things Nigel does during his big matches, is little restarts. Here Aries hits him with a tope to the back driving his head into the guardrail, and Nigel spend the next couple of minutes backpedaling avoiding Aries offense, it is a set of very cool counters and nice slowing down on a show which is all moving forward. Finish run is pretty great too, as there are just the right number of two counts, and it never gets into ROH overkill territory even with the huge moves. Just great wrestling.

12. Briscoes v. Necro Butcher/Mad Man Pondo FIP 4/21

This is about as good a garbage wrestling match as I have seen in a while. They built the match around 5 or 6 crazy spots, and they were all nuts and executed nicely. Pondo going headfirst into the garbage can of lightbulb tubes was especially crazy, as was Necro getting DVD through a table on the floor. There are two major flaws in most death matches, one flaw is that the in between stuff often looks bad, you sometimes get the sense that they are moving from spot to spot and everything else is just killing time, and the other problem is finish overkill, where the final spot doesn’t seem final, like the match could have ended at any point. This match avoided both of those, the regular brawling here was darn good (which is one of the reasons Necro is a class above other people working this style) and the crazy Mark Briscoe U-Haul dive felt like a finish to a match.

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Phil's Ongoing 2008 MOTY List

1. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer IWA-MS 3/1
2. Floyd Mayweather v. Big Show WWE 3/30
3. Mike Quakenbush v. Johnny Saint WXW 3/8
4. Teddy Hart v. Eddie Kingston v. Homicide JAPW 1/19
5. Mitsuhara Misawa v. Takeshi Morishima NOAH 3/2
6. Bryan Danielson v. Nigel McGuiness ROH 2/23
7 Erick Stevens v. Roderick Strong FIP 2/8
8. Finlay v. JBL WWE 3/30
9. Shawn Michaels v. Ric Flair WWE 3/30
10. El Valiente + El Hijo Del Fantasma + La Mascara v. La Sombra + Volador Jr. + Sagrado CMLL 4/30

6. Bryan Danielson v. Nigel McGuiness ROH 2/23

This is probably the single best match up in wrestling right now (at least until someone gets their hands on any Ishikawa v. Ikeda Futen stuff), however like any match up which is run a lot, it can get stale. That is why I was happy to see ROH mix it up a bit by working strict face v. heel stuff for really the first time. Nigel always throws in these restarts in his big matches, and I liked the intentional DQ, the locker room coming out was a little corny (especially because it was only four dudes, if you are going to have the locker room come out, empty the locker room) but it did server it purpose and heat up the second part of the match. I am also not sure about turning a guy heel because he is concerned about brain damage, but hell its wrestling and Gabe is a Heyman disciple, and I am sure if he learned one thing in the ECW locker room it is to convince wrestlers their company is more important then their health. I did like how Danielson worked around striking the head, and how not throwing the elbows cost him the match. Danielson does a really awesome job selling the lariats and you buy them fucking up his eye. Still I think Nigel’s arm bar looks like shit, and that as a finish left me a little flat. Not as good as their really great matches, but it is always worth watching these two wrestle each other.

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The Wrestling What I Watched in 2007 Pt. 4, by S.L.L.

Nigel McGuinness vs. Jimmy Rave
ROH - 3/4/2007 - Liverpool, England
Fight Without Honor

Oh, Jimmy Rave, how I miss you. Well, I know you're not really gone, but working in TNA with Lance Hoyt is really as good as gone. I'm still amazed that after all the harping about ROH having a health plan when they started signing wrestlers to contracts, it turned out the plan was "if you get hurt and expect to be compensated for it in some way, leave". Well, not amazed, as that's the standard health plan for every wrestling promotion ever, but it makes you wonder why they bothered mentioning it in the first place. Jimmy's stooging here is so good, as it typically is. Liked his turning away and cowering after being backed into the corner. Not an uncommon spot, but Rave is such a great sniveling heel, it has a little extra something coming from him. Nigel controls early, before pulling out a chair from under the ring that gets dropkicked into his own leg. Rave starts slamming the leg into the apron, going to work on it and working towards the Heel Hook. Rave teases pulling Nigel's head into the post like in his match with Dragon from their last trip to Liverpool, but Nigel blocks and pulls Jimmy's shoulder in instead. Nigel slaps Jimmy silly, before pulling out a spare ring barricade. He sets it up across the apron and the other barricades, and Jimmy takes a nasty bump off of a flapjack onto it. Nigel goes back to the chair, but Jimmy takes his leg back out and hits a desperation knee. Nigel does a really good job selling the groin pull in this match, limping and grasping at it just right. Rave drops him with a swinging neckbreaker and sinks in a butterfly lock, but Nigel powers him into the corner. His leg injury slows him, though, and he can't maintain control long. Jimmy's appropriation of the Pedigree as a heel spot is still such an ingenious move. Surprised he didn't add the FU to his arsenal later in his run. Jimmy Rave's missile dropkick sends Nigel rolling back to his feet in the corner, allowing him to block a charge and power Jimmy overhead into the Tower of London for two. Jimmy blocks something onto the still bridged barricade, and turns it into an STO off the apron that bends the barricade in half. I thought judo was supposed to be gentle. Nigel sets the barricade back up on the apron, which is enough to stand it up since it's bent about 90 degrees now. Nigel Tower of Londons Jimmy gut first onto a set up chair, which might have been too nasty a spot at this point in the match for a two-count, but there you go. Nigel gets caught in a fluke takedown into the Heel Hook, which he very nearly taps to after realizing that he can't get a rope break in a Fight Without Honor. He manages to pull himself to his feet, and manages to chop Jimmy off, but downs the referee in the process. Nigel takes Jimmy to the apron, puts him on the top rope, steadies his wobbly legs, and drops him with a Tower of London that pulls Jimmy straight down onto the set-up barricade. And I mean straight down. He took the bump right on his forehead. It was Alzheimer's-inducingly crazy. Nigel rolls him back in for the cover, but the ref is still down (with a busted nose, apparently), and by the time his replacement hits the ring, Jimmy can kick out at two. Both men to their feet, slapfight ensues, Jimmy headbutts Nigel to stun him (which is just about the last thing I'd want to do there if I were him). Jimmy runs the ropes and hits a spear that sends Nigel staggering backwards into the ropes...and then coming out of said ropes with the Rebound Lariat. Jimmy ends his night of blunt physical trauma by underrotating on a backflip bump and landing on the back of his head before Nigel gets the three. Hell of a match, pretty much exactly what you want out of these two. Can't decide if this or the C.M. Punk cage match is Jimmy's best career match. Probably the cage match, as the drama was stronger there, and it had Prince Nana working ring side, which is always a plus. But it's close. And well, Nigel's been as good a worker as anyone in the world this year. This match was all about Jimmy eating hot firey death, but Nigel brought the goods, too, with his selling and babyface charisma. Real good stuff here, ROH always seems to bring the goods in Liverpool.

Jay Briscoe & Erick Stevens vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen, which becomes
The Briscoe Brothers vs. El Generico & Kevin Steen
ROH - 4/14/2007 - Edison, NJ

Hey, The Briscoes and Kevin Steen! I wonder if dudes will get dropped on their heads in this match. This is part two of the best of 9,000,000 series between the Briscoes and Steenerico, which, if I remember correctly, the Briscoes won 8,999,999 to 1. As it happens, this was the 1. A friend of mine made the observation that WWE has been doing this weird thing of late where a guy becomes #1 contender to a title, loses to the champ, but then keeps the contendership for some reason and keeps challenging for months on end before they finally win the belt. Think MVP vs. Benoit, Matt Hardy vs. MVP, and Batista vs. three different guys over the course of a year. And really, ROH has been doing the exact same thing this year, particularly with Nigel vs. Morishima and this feud, probably the most egregious example. The big difference here, of course, is that the eternal challengers never actually took the belts this time. I don't know whether that makes it better or worse. It's less predictable, but then it also makes you wonder what the point of dragging it out that long was. Still, if the matches are as good as people say they were, I suppose I can't complain. Still, it's weird booking. At least when the WWE does it, you get the sense it's because they run 800 PPVs a day, and they don't have much time to develop new rivalries in the several seconds between them. With ROH, it just makes it seem like their roster is shallow. Yes, yes, I know, their roster is pretty shallow right now, but you don't have to rub it in our faces. So, yeah, the match. Erick Stevens is pretty good. I was at the show on Long Island the night before this, where Aries brought Stevens into The Resilience (and where he announced the name "The Resilience", which drew a collective "WHAT!?" from the audience), and Stevens sort of accidentally turned into a local hero overnight with the "Choo-Choo!" bit. I'm from Huntington Station. My entire town's identity is built around the LIRR. Most of Long Island can get down with a train-themed wrestler. He also hits dudes hard and seems to have a good grasp on basic crowd control, so I'm happy to see that he's making it to some degree. Anyway, I just wanted to mention that before the No Remorse Corps ran in and Stevens got powerbombed onto the gaurdrail by Roderick Strong. Strong then casually turns to the camera and tells the viewing audience to "buy the shirt". I know it's not cool to like the No Remorse Corps, but I'd be lying if I didn't say they can do some fun heel shtick. Steen and Generico go to work on Jay, including a nice standing moonsault by Generico and a nasty standing Harlem Hangover by Steen. Deuling "Mr. Wrestling/Let's Go Briscoe" chant leads to Steen cupping his ear and covering Jay's in time, which was cute. This has been surprisingly tame vis-a-vis Fire Pro offense so far, which is fine by me, since they're about to be joined by a dude recovering from serious head trauma, and these guys' basic offense all looks really good. Crowd rallies behind Jay, who elbows out of a chinlock, runs the ropes, ducks a clothesline, rolls under another, and hits a superkick that Steen takes a great turning falling redwood bump off of. Think Bald Bull in "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!" when you down him with a jab to the face. Jay has to pull double duty as house afire, dropkicking Generico, sending Steen out of the ring, and then dropping Generico again with a release gourdbuster. Jay gets Generico up into a military press, but Generico slips behind him and pushes him to Steen, who tosses him up flapjack-style and catches him with a powerbomb. Generico looks to get the tag as Mark Briscoe runs out from the crowd and inserts himself into the match. Steen waves "hello" as he slingshots double stomps Jay. What a great dick this guy is. Steenerico goes for Doomsday Something, but Jay punches his way out, pushes Steen into the corner to crotch Generico on the top turnbuckle, and then tosses Steen overhead with a release German suplex before getting the hot tag to Mark. Mark hits a springboard dropkick before going house afire with his Tracy Smothers-inspired redneck chop-sockey offense. Jay looks for a J-Driller on Generico, but Generico escapes into and armbar, runs up the ropes and leaps off into a swinging DDT. Steen comes in and decides it's time to make with the headdroppery, scoring a Ki Krusher onto his own knee, which was as mean-looking as you might imagine. Mark Briscoe takes a lot of blows to the head in his match, including eating a half-nelson suplex, a yakuza kick, and another half-nelson suplex from Generico in quick succession, and while my conscious mind can recognize how stupid he is for doing this, years of wrestling fandom have left me dead inside to the point where I can't register the level of disgust that I kinda feel I should be able to. Steen pulls Mark to the outside and throws him head first into the guardrail, which Mark bumps off of and lands on the back of his head on the concrete. Jesus. Jay tries to help Mark up, but Steen bowls right into him, driving him into the guardrail. He throws Mark back into the ring and drops him with the Package Piledriver, which is like the seventh or eighth nastiest blow to Mark's dome in this match, before before rolling him to Generico for the winning brainbuster. It was a great match, don't get me wrong. Generico has become really, really good as of late, the Briscoes are great when they reel it in enough, and Steen's improved a lot, and he did some great heeling here. But I feel like a bad person after watching this match. I mean, I guess I should feel that way after every wrestling match, but this just rubs it in your face.

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Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY List

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Bryan Danielson ROH 6/23
2. Nigel McGuinness v. Samoa Joe ROH 3/3
3. John Cena v. Umaga WWE 1/28
4. Eddie Kingston v. Chris Hero IWA-MS 9/29
5. Bryan Danielson v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 8/25
6. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14
7. Chris Harris v. James Storm TNA 5/13
8. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/4
9. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16
10. Matt Hardy v. Finlay WWE 6/19
11. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23
12. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/31
13. Solar 1/Mano Negra v. Negro Navarro/Black Terry Lucha Libre VIP 3/10
14. MNM v. Hardy Boyz WWE 1/28
15. Briscoes v. Ricky Marvin/Kontaro Suzuki NOAH 1/21
16. Bryan Danielson/Takeshi Morishima v. KENTA/Nigel McGuiness ROH 5/12
17. John Cena v. Great Khali 5/20
18. Mitsuhara Misawa v. Bison Smith NOAH 6/3
19. John Cena v. King Booker v. Bobby Lashley v. Mick Foley v. Randy Orton WWE 6/24
20. Necro Butcher v. Jay Briscoe ROH
21. Briscoes v. Murder City Machine Guns ROH 4/28
22. Finlay v. Undertaker 3/6 WWE
23. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14
24. Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24
25. Takeshi Sasaki v. Yuki Miyamoto BJW 3/14



Previously on the list

Necro Butcher v. Toby Klien CZW 1/13
Chris Benoit v. Chavo Guerrero WWE 1/16
Shinjiro Ohtani/Takao Omori/Kazunari Murakami v. Kohei Sato/Hirotaka Yokoi/Yoshiro Takayama Zero 1 1/19
BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27
Nigel McGuiness v. Jimmy Rave ROH 3/4
Matt Sydal v. The Man Gravity Forgo PAC ROH 3/4
Matt Hardy v. Ken Kennedy WWE 3/13
Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17
Takeshi Morishima/Mohammed Yone v. Jun Akiyama/Takeshi Rikio NOAH 4/1
Undertaker v. Batista WWE 4/1
John Cena v. Shawn Michaels WWE 4/1
Chris Benoit v. MVP 4/10
Yuji Nagata v. Hiroshi Tanahashi NJ 4/13
Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14
Mitsuhara Misawa v. Takuma Sano NOAH 4/28
John Cena v. Great Khali v. Umaga WWE 6/4

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Bryan Danielson ROH 6/23

Man alive, this is how you end a PPV. These guys have a real formula worked out with each other, and it is really great to see how they adjust that formula in their different matches. I loved all of the opening matwork, all of the stuff with Nigel in the guard, and Danielson digging his knuckles into the temple was spectacular, I loved how they did the MMA spots, but made them pro-wrestlingy. I thought the selling in this match was actually pretty top shelf. Nigel often works restarts into his big matches, but here he kind of did mini-restarts throughout the match, toughing his way through moves he normally does easier. The fighting into the Tower of London was especially awesome. This match really felt like it was the stylistic offspring of all of those Regal v. Benoit matches, like this was the main event match those two never got to have with each other. Of course it is hard to watch both of these guys slam their heads into each other until they bleed without thinking about ghosts. Still great art is often tinged with tragedy, and this is the best piece of wrestling art this year.

4. Eddie Kingston v. Chris Hero IWA-MS 9/29

2007 is the clearly the year of the Last Man Standing match. I still prefer an old fashioned Texas Death Match, but that is mainly because I am official old and cantakerous. Last Man Standing does allow you to hit big crazy moves without preposterous kick outs, and man alive did these two take advantage of that. The nerd in me really loves this feud because they run it in so many promotions. These guys hate each other, and will try to kill each other where ever they are, it's like Dusty and Funk, if they are in a promotion together, they are making each other bleed. They start out brawling from the locker into the crowd, and they are really laying into each other in super awkward ways, throwing chairs recklessly, punching each other in the nose, headbutts. They both keep grasping for the other persons eyes to break holds, it wasn't a wrestling eye rake, but more like a bar fight eye rake. Kingston is a really great in ring shitalker and he is always badmouthing Hero, "kill me motherfucker, you better kill me." He also does a great job with wobbly half concussed selling, Hero is also great doing his indy horseshit gimmick in a sick brawl, I loved the Cloverleaf while sitting in a chair. After they get into the ring the white hot death ensues, and there are sick bumps galore. Hero doing the Hero's welcome off the top with the chair around Kingston's neck, Hero double stomping a rail on Kingston. The finish was Kingston hitting three backdrop drivers on Hero, with the third on a propped up guard rail which is just uncalled for. Ended when it should, filled with horrific violence, this is all you could possibly ask for.

5. Bryan Danielson v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 8/25

Morishima has been kind of a weird guy in 2007, completely inconsistant, he has been in a lot of very good matches, matches on this list, and things that just missed making it, however he can also be in some train wrecks. Weirdly alot of his worst matches came against guys he trained with in Japan, the KENTA abortion for the title, some really lackluster tags. This was the best match of his career, and it feels like a Bryan Danielson show. Morishima is at his best when he is a fat dude kicking peoples ass, and at his worst when he works like a junior who is retaining water. One reason this update has taken so long is that I have been engrossed in Mid-South and UWF for the 80's project. They have a ton of big bumping big dudes. Terry Gordy bumpes huge, One Man Gang bumps huge, even Kamala will fly all over the ring. What really seperates One Man Gang from Morishima at his worst, is that when the Gang bumps for a Duggan punch it feels like the felling of a redwood, sure the bump is impressive looking, but so is an avalanche. While Morishima when he works with juniors has these athletic bumps, that look like athletic bumps. He bumps for KENTA the same way Marifuji does, he will also bump early and often so they don't mean very much. What makes this match so great, is that he worked this like the One Man Gang. He is a giant dude who will kill you, and you had better chop away at, if you have any chance of knocking off his feet.

The early Marco Ruas leg kicks by Dragon were great, and I dug the fuck out of Morishima wincing but moving forward. Then the ass beating commenced. Dragon has a ton of over finisher, so he can really mix a bunch of believable near falls. Still Morishima was killing him, nutty lariet, sick backdrop suplex, plus in some ways the injury added to the match. Morishima looked like a killer here which is how he should pretty much always look.

20. Necro Butcher v. Jay Briscoe ROH 10/6

The Age of Fall's entrance music is women screaming, and I wonder how many erections that popped among the social degenerate Jersey ROH fans. Jay's new neck tattoo is #1 and the best. The match itself was pretty godamn great, both guys beat the everloving shit out of each other and I liked how they brawled to each part of the crowd, giving every fan a chance to get run over. Necro takes his requisite five insane bumps. Still the thing that ruled the most was their end of the match punch exchange, Necro's right hand looked Pavlikesque. Jay really needed to bring it a little more on the comeback, it's the Necro Butcher, punch him in the face. For a guy who a large minority of the ROH board hates, and works nothing like the ROH archtype style, it amuses me how often Necro Butcher works main events. I actually have to give Gabe some credit there, and I am all in favor of Necro mained ROH cards.

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ROH Driven PPV review

Resilience v No Remorse Corps:

TKG: I dug this a bunch I'm always a fan of the spotfest as opener format. This was filled with guys who I actively don't like and for some reason they kept on matching up Romero and Cross which didn't help to hide either of their flaws. But the advantage of this type of quick multiperson spotfest was it got guys in and out quickly. Guys hit their spots and then get out of the way, guys who are tempted to work, everything is even, matches are forced to work man down and sell for the two on ones,etc. Davey Richards was perfectly fine in this and both Delirious and Erick Stevens delivered. Roderick Strong who is normally the best guy on his team looked really really off for large chunks of this. But even with the an off Strong and the pairing of Romero/Cross this was a format that meant none of that really hurt the match. Post match-Austin Aries does some babyface mic work and they need to get a real sound-man for these shows.

PAS: Yeah Strong looked actively terrible here, which is kind of weird. He blew a missed clothesline by actually clotheslining the guy, which is actually kind of unique. I liked this way more then I thought I would considering how much I dislike most of the guys in it. Stevens especially looked really good, in a type of match that isn't really his thing. I think they should have shaved off a minute or two at the end, as they had a two count or two too many.

Claudio Castagnoli v Matt Sydal

TKG: This had some spectacular spots, Castagnoli takes the Chris Hamerick/Fuerza bump, and Sydal eats a giant swing better than I've ever seen anyone eat a giant swing as his face goes through multiple guy trying to hold down his lunch on a roller coaster variations. But this was disappointing. Both guys are guys who can work multiple speeds. Guys who can move from fast to slow to concentrated fast to medium, etc. Both guys can do and sell for nice mat work, both guys know how to do and sell for good brawling strike sections. Both are guys who can work face and heel and here instead they worked just super match up and those are completely forgettable outside the spots. Part of the format of starting show with fast 6 man spotfest is that you slowly move away from that opening speed. Second match at same speed as first means they start to run together.

PAS: I had similar problems with this as Tom. This really could have used some face/heel structure, so it would be something besides just spot after spot. Still I guess for the post match angle to work, this needs to be worked as a scientific face v. face match. I would rather see Bret Hart as a face working Buzz Sawyer as a heel, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy them exchanging gut wrench takedowns in their Georgia match. I guess intricate headscissors are the 2007 version of gut wrench takedowns.

TKG: Post match Larry Sweeney does mic work to sign Sydal up for a contract and I really liked the almost parallelism of Austin Aries signing contract to Ring of Honor-this place that values and respects the wrestlers and the fans, while heel Sydal signs contract with Sweeney who represents lack of respect and sportsmanship. Larry Sweeney has never facially looked or sounded as much like Christopher Love.

Naomichi Marifuji v BJ Whitmer-

TKG: Lenny Leonard tells me all about the backstory of Marifuji and how he has held every title in NOAH including the "prestigious" GHC belt and he tells me Whitmer's backstory and then he announces "this will be a very even matchup". Really? They are going to run an even match-up between the guy they are putting over as a GHC title holder and the guy who is working a PPV loosing streak leading to joining an Adam Pierce stable.??? I guess working 50/50 opposite former GHC title holder is better than last PPV where Whitmer took 60 against current ROH title holder. Still this was shitty and the half that Whitmer was in control for was ugly and the half where Whitmer was eating stuff wasn't a ton better. This was worked really even and started fine but quickly went to shit. They did lots of bad looking strike exchanges which only reminded me of how much the last match could have used some strike exchanges.

PAS: I didn't hate this as much as I hated either guys previous PPV match, but that is damning with pretty faint praise. Whitmer is a guy who is clearly someone who started tape trading about 1998, I bet I sold him a Schneider Comp at some point. He jumps between 1998 Big Japan bumps, and 1998 All Japan suplex exchanges. He doesn't do either particularly well, but his channeling of a 1998 Kobashi v. Akyama match is the shittier of the two. Marifuji was probably a ring boy at that point so he can run through a shitty approximation of one of those matches. Also Marifuhji has some goofy fucking offense, less like he is channelling Misawa and more like channeling Cheech and or Cloudy. There is a point where Whitmer crotches himself on the top rope, where he actually crotched himself before Marifuji made contact with the ropes. One of the problems with both PPV's so far has been that all the matches are too similar, they don't break up the high impact stuff with mat based matches or comedy matches. I guess your poorly executed Whitmer match is in the spot on the card where Colt Cabana v. Kikutaro used to go.

Pelle Primau v. Brent Albright

PAS: I like the idea of introducing someone new by having them brutal squash a jobber, it is basically how they introduced Steen and Generico on the last PPV, and it works well here too. Albright is a shitty guy to showcase, as he looks like Joey Fatone with an HGH belly, but this is a fine way to showcase him.

TKG: Yeah this was fine. Primau eats stuff well and Albright hit his stuff well. They should have worked the Whitmer v Morishima match more like this. This was also helped by just being the only uneven match on the show thus far and just being paced differently from everything else on the show.

Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico

PAS: I liked this better then the Briscoes match on the last PPV, as Kevin Steen is really good at working heel, and you do want to see him get his pasty face kicked in. The match meandered a bit in the beginning, as Generico worked face in peril, which he isn't very good at, and he wasn't a face. Still when they got kicking with their Briscoes finish it was something to see. Jay's Cactus clothesline was awesome, and the beel into the chairs was a great street fight execution of a signature spot. Jay should really stop using the press slam DVD as a set up move, but I liked this a bunch and it makes me want to see all of their garbage match rematches.

TKG: Yeah this was the best thing on the show thus far. It had the face/heel dynamic that was missing from the last PPV tag match. Had less Marc insanity though. Being paced like everything else made it not stand out as much as it should have but it was fun crazy tag with nice hateful crowd brawling. Generico as faceish member of his tag team working heel in peril didn't work to well for me either but Generico looked pretty great in everything else he did. It really feels like he needs to go the Jimmy Jacobs route and move on in terms of gimmick. This type of match can feel like it has excessive near falls or goes, this didn't. Outside of the press slam DVD for two that set up the finisher, this really felt like it ended right where it should end.

TKG: I liked both the backstage Sweeney and Adam Pearce promos, both a lot better than their promos from last PPV.

PAS: Adam Pearce's Kevin Sullivan stuff doesn't work with his black button up shirt and blue jeans. He needs a robe or something. It doesn't work with a guy dressed like a middle manager at a sports bar.

Takeshi Morishima v. Jimmy Rave

PAS: I don't like the Morishima 3 minute squash, where opponent still gets all of his signature offense in, match formula at all. Still Rave takes crazy bumps on the clothesline and backdrop so this was better then the Whitmer match. Still it is a dumb formula.

TKG: It should also be said that Rave's spear and other offense looks alot nastier than Whitmer's offense. Bad formula, but like the Albright squash, this still felt different enough to other matches that it was satisfying.

Bryan Danielson v. Nigel McGuiness

PAS: Man alive, this is how you end a PPV. These guys have a real formula worked out with each other, and it is really great to see how they adjust that formula in their different matches. I loved all of the opening matwork, all of the stuff with Nigel in the guard, and Danielson digging his knuckles into the temple was spectacular, I loved how they did the MMA spots, but made them pro-wrestlingy. I thought the selling in this match was actually pretty top shelf. Nigel often works restarts into his big matches, but here he kind of did mini-restarts throughout the match, toughing his way through moves he normally does easier. The fighting into the Tower of London was especially awesome. This match really felt like it was the stylistic offspring of all of those Regal v. Benoit matches, like this was the main event match those two never got to have with each other. Of course it is hard to watch both of these guys slam their heads into each other until they bleed without thinking about ghosts. Still great art is often tinged with tragedy, and this is the best piece of wrestling art this year.

TKG: Yeah this was pretty spectacular. And this is what you watch ROH for. So I complained earlier about everything on this PPV being worked at same pace. Instead of starting with a hot multiperson spotfest opener, slowing down to a technical match, then doing a brawl followed by a comedy match, followed by your big hard hitting main event...they instead ran with lots of even stuff, worked all at the same breakneck level and a couple squashes. And I could see there being a market of people who were upset that TNA didn't just build around the X-division but that market isn't me. This is what I want to see and I imagine that people who enjoy the other stuff on the show should enjoy this too. There were parts of the main which were really Regal v Benoitish and parts which were really about All Japan cumulative selling. For a match to determine who gets to challenge for the title it really was worked like a title match. The previous two Nigel v Danielson matches were worked essentially with Danielson as the man and Nigel as challenger to the man. Danielson had the title then. Here Danielson doesn't have the title and its not quite that you feel like he's the guy challenging, but the dynamic is completely changed. Here he isn't guy fighting to protect and hold onto his title, instead he is guy who has to take the title shot away from Nigel. The match moves really nicely from mat section to hard hitting section to throw section to dives into brawling section to your post-back dropped on guard rail back selling stretch to final strikes finish. The match never really feels broken up as you don't have a sense that you are in one section as it just it all flows from one to the other as both guys sell the cumulative punishment as they try to win. Great main event and it feels like this PPV top to bottom is probably a much better advertisement for ROH than the last one. I think even if your only exposure to Morishima was from these PPVs, you'd leave this one excited about Morishima v Danielson. So not only a good advertisement for their other product but also good advertisement for next PPV.

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Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY LIST

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Samoa Joe ROH 3/3
2. John Cena v. Umaga WWE 1/28
3. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14
4. Chris Harris v. James Storm TNA 5/13
5. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/4
6. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16
7. Matt Hardy v. Finlay WWE 6/19
8. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23
9. Jimmy Jacobs v. B.J. Whitmer ROH 3/31
10. Solar 1/Mano Negra v. Negro Navarro/Black Terry Lucha Libre VIP 3/10
11. MNM v. Hardy Boyz WWE 1/28
12. Briscoes v. Ricky Marvin/Kontaro Suzuki NOAH 1/21
13. Bryan Danielson/Takeshi Morishima v. KENTA/Nigel McGuiness ROH 5/12
14. John Cena v. Great Khali 5/20
15. Mitsuhara Misawa v. Bison Smith NOAH 6/3
16. John Cena v. King Booker v. Bobby Lashley v. Mick Foley v. Randy Orton WWE 6/24
17. Briscoes v. Murder City Machine Guns ROH 4/28
18. Finlay v. Undertaker 3/6 WWE
19. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14
20. Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24
21. Takeshi Sasaki v. Yuki Miyamoto BJW 3/14
22. John Cena v. Shawn Michaels WWE 4/1
23. Shinjiro Ohtani/Takao Omori/Kazunari Murakami v. Kohei Sato/Hirotaka Yokoi/Yoshiro Takayama Zero 1 1/19
24. Matt Sydal v. The Man Gravity Forgo PAC ROH 3/4
25. Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14

Previously on the list

Necro Butcher v. Toby Klien CZW 1/13
Chris Benoit v. Chavo Guerrero WWE 1/16
BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27
Nigel McGuiness v. Jimmy Rave ROH 3/4
Matt Hardy v. Ken Kennedy WWE 3/13
Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17
Takeshi Morishima/Mohammed Yone v. Jun Akiyama/Takeshi Rikio NOAH 4/1
Undertaker v. Batista WWE 4/1
Chris Benoit v. MVP 4/10
Yuji Nagata v. Hiroshi Tanahashi NJ 4/13
Mitsuhara Misawa v. Takuma Sano NOAH 4/28
John Cena v. Great Khali v. Umaga WWE 6/4

7. Matt Hardy v. Finlay WWE 6/19

Matt Hardy has really developed a great TV match formula in the first half of the year. A batch of hot offense, he injures a body part, the heel works over the body part, Hardy does a great job of selling, and then he pulls out a flash win. It is pretty much a formula you can use with anyone half decent and have a good match. Hardy plays the role great, he is probably the best seller in the WWE outside of maybe Cena, and his offense is simple and looks good. When you plug a master like Finlay into the formula you are really going to have a treat. Finlay is spectacular here, going after the leg, everything he does is with force and violence and I am loving the indian death lock as a secondary finisher, maybe it is a shout out to Princess Paula.

13. Bryan Danielson/Takeshi Morishima v. KENTA/Nigel McGuiness ROH 5/12
This was a blow away main event of an otherwise crappy PPV. I have read people complain about Nigel just throwing lariats, but I am a Choshu fan, nothing wrong with simplifying what you do, if you do it well, and Nigel was killing people with lariats here, from all angles. Nigel's big match restarts are always fun, and I loved him coming back in with the taped up arm, and the jawbreaker with the bad arm was a great near fall. You kind of forget how good Danielson is, but he was amazing here. KENTA and McGuiness are two of his best opponents, and all of their interactions were great. The multiple reversal finish is a staple of indy wrestling, but Danielson may be the only guy who can really pull it off. The whole finish section with KENTA was completely awesome. The match wasn't perfect, for guys who trained together and work constantly KENTA and Morishima don't interact well, and the points where they were matched up were the weakest parts.


15. Mitsuhara Misawa v. Bison Smith NOAH 6/3

I was down right shocked at how much I enjoyed this match. I really loved Misawa in his matches against Sano and Sugiara. He plays the role of a broken down old Samurai trying to will his body into one more battle, he wants to pass the torch but no one will take it. It is a cool role, and he is incredible in it. Still its Bison Smith, outside of a 2001 match I saw live against Donovan Morgan, and some fun UPW tags with Luminous Warrior against Orlando and Marquis Jordan, he kind of always sucked. No real reason to think that broken down Misawa could drag him to anything. Boy was I wrong Not only was this good, it wasn't a great wrestler dragging a shitty guy to a good match (like Jacobs v. Whitmer or Cena v. Micheals), Smith was right there wrestling the match of his life. Misawa is overpowered early but uses his guile to injure Smith's leg. Smith does a pretty good job of selling this (I saw him fake a knee injury as part of an APW political play during the King of the Indies tourney, so I knew he could sell), but still is able to throw around Misawa. He press slams him from the ring to the apron, which was a totally crazy bump, and also hits some really great shoulder blocks, including a tope from the ring floor over the rail onto a seated Misawa, easily the best I have ever seen Smith look. Still this was all about Misawa's selling. They tease two countouts, one after the press slam to the ramp, and one after the tope into the stairs, and both times Misawa just lies there untill the count gets to 15 or so, then he takes this deep breath, and rejoins the battle. He wants nothing more then to lay down his sword, but something keeps him going. I also loved the finish, Misawa is able to catch Smith and reverse him into a second rope Emerald Frosion (which was the only sequence in this match which didn't look good), and then he pounces, he has been conserving his energy for this moment, and he just pounds on a weakened Smith, until he finishes him with a nasty elbow to the back of his head. Misawa is still totally awesome, but I don't think that it will translate well to his ROH stuff. Although if Misawa can have a match this good with Bison Smith, Misawa v. Joe should be insane.


16. John Cena v. King Booker v. Bobby Lashley v. Mick Foley v. Randy Orton WWE 6/24

You X division cluster isn't really my style, but when you replace interchangeable Sonjay Duttish guys with big hard hitting over heavyweights it can be pretty damn fun. Cena is the wrestler of the year, but he works well in long matches where he can sell and build to big spots, this isn't that kind of match so he really was incidental. Lashley was a monster here, chucking people around, taking big bumps and delivering an absolutely spectacular tope. Foley takes a couple of nice bumps and is over enough to not do a ton, I did love him throwing socko to the crowd and grabbing a chair to waste people. Booker and Orton were the only heels here, and were just awesome, Booker was just recking people with knees, and was the guy in this match doing the lions share of the work. Orton may the best wrestler in the world at timing big spots, and his countering of the five knuckle shuffle into an RKO was perfect. Finishing run was great, as all four guys stuff is so over, that all the near falls were big.

17. Briscoes v. Murder City Machine Guns ROH 4/28

Briscoes are guys with a pretty set formula, the formula is what it is, and you will tend to get what you get from it. The PPV tag against Sydal/Claudio was a pretty basic example of the formula. Some time killish stuff at the beginning, leading into some big crazy spots at the end, about half the time the match ends on time, half the time it goes a bit too long. If the formula is hitting on cylinders it can be pretty entertaining, but it rarely moves into excellent. What separated this match from you standard Briscoes match, was a load of quality bullshit by the Murder City Machine Guns. The first part of the match which is often the Briscoes weak point, was filled with a Shelly and Sabin homage to every cheap heat heel stooge in the book. All of that stuff got me into the match, so when they start with their big finish (and it was a great finish run) it wasn't just a collection of cool looking stuff, but I actually cared.

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Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY List

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Samoa Joe ROH 3/3
2. John Cena v. Umaga WWE 1/28
3. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14
4. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16
5. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23
6. Solar 1/Mano Negra v. Negro Navarro/Black Terry Lucha Libre VIP 3/10
7. MNM v. Hardy Boyz WWE 1/28
8. Briscoes v. Ricky Marvin/Kontaro Suzuki NOAH 1/21
9. Finlay v. Undertaker 3/6 WWE
10. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14
11. Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24
12. Takeshi Sasaki v. Yuki Miyamoto BJW 3/14
13. John Cena v. Shawn Michaels WWE 4/1
14. Shinjiro Ohtani/Takao Omori/Kazunari Murakami v. Kohei Sato/Hirotaka Yokoi/Yoshiro Takayama Zero 1 1/19
15. Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14
16. Nigel McGuiness v. Jimmy Rave ROH 3/4
17. Yuji Nagata v. Hiroshi Tanahashi NJ 4/13
18. Matt Hardy v. Ken Kennedy WWE 3/13
19. Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17
20. Undertaker v. Batista WWE 4/1
21. BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27
22 Takeshi Morishima/Mohammed Yone v. Jun Akiyama/Takeshi Rikio NOAH 4/1
23. Necro Butcher v. Toby Klien CZW 1/13
24. Chris Benoit v. Chavo Guerrero WWE 1/16

9. Finlay v. Undertaker 3/6 WWE

Finlay cuts a promo before this match claiming to show no fear of the Undertaker. Usually that means the guy cutting the promo will end up making cooning terrified faces, but Finlay actually wrestles the match like he isn't afraid. This was pretty much a slugfest, like Undertaker v. Batista, but with better slugging. I have never seen the Undertakers punches look better, and I assume that is because of Finlay was leaning in. You actually kind of buy this guy as the best pure striker in WWE history. The other crazy thing about this is how good the Undertaker's selling was. Finlay's offense was built around working over Taker's ribs and everything he did was labored, he still executed his moves but he had clearly fight through the pain. Finlay even gets a visual pin on Undertaker which is pretty unprecedented. Finlay hasn't really had the opportunities this year, like he had in 2006, but when he does get a chance to go 20, you can still see how awesome he is. Also super in shape Undertaker is really creepy looking, he has the tan and definition, but with an old man face, he looks way more like current Vince then someone who is actually scary looking. Would the personification of death really be this cut? Are their Ballys Total Fitness in Hell?

17. Matt Hardy v. Ken Kennedy WWE 3/13

One of the more amusing WWE stories in recent years is the elevation of NOVA of all people to the head of talent development. You can really see his influence in the new batch of young superstars, as MVP, C.M. Punk and Kennedy all really wrestle a late 90's indy wrestling tape watcher style. They all do lots of moves, with the moves not being executed particularly well or done in context. Matt Hardy is a guy who had a bunch of good matches in Super 8's so he knows how to do something with a guy sloppily applying an indian deathlock. Hardy was great here spearing Kennedy to the floor, taking big bump and completely handholding Kennedy through opening matwork. It actually kind of looked like Negro Navarro working green AULL guys. Hardy's selling made this, Kennedy worked over the leg and Hardy was limping badly through the whole match, even having to be held up by the ref post match.

16. Nigel McGuiness v. Jimmy Rave ROH 3/4

This was a Fight Without Honor, which is ROH's big feud ending stipulation, and is basically a No DQ match. What it normally means is that guys are going to huge bumps, and huge bumps were absolutely taken, especially by Jimmy Rave who really died a couple of horrible deaths and ended up with a broken jaw. They worked a bunch of stuff based around a guardrail, Rave takes a Estrada bump on the rail, and ends up getting the Tower of London on the rail which is completely insane looking. Nigel was also really fun, he was playing an enthusiastic regional babyface, and was almost playing a Lawler role. Still despite all of the hot death, I never really got the sense of hate and violence, that I got from your Jimmy Jacobs ROH garbage matches, it felt a little like an exhibition of insane bumps and sick clotheslines. Also Rave really shouldn't have gone back on offense at all after that Tower of London on the rail, that should end a match, you shouldn't have a guy throwing headbutts afterwards. Rave also took enough of the lions share of the beating, that it almost babyfaces him. Any offense he has in the end part of the match feels more like a hope spot, then any sense of danger for Nigel.

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Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY List

Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY LIST

1. Nigel McGuinness v. Samoa Joe ROH 3/3
2.John Cena v. Umaga WWE 1/28
3. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14
4. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16
5. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23
6. Solar 1/Mano Negra v. Negro Navarro/Black Terry Lucha Libre VIP 3/10
7. MNM v. Hardy Boyz WWE 1/28
8. Briscoes v. Ricky Marvin/Kontaro Suzuki NOAH 1/21
9. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14
10. Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24
11. Takeshi Sasaki v. Yuki Miyamoto BJW 3/14
12. John Cena v. Shawn Michaels WWE 4/1
13. Shinjiro Ohtani/Takao Omori/Kazunari Murakami v. Kohei Sato/Hirotaka Yokoi/Yoshiro Takayama Zero 1 1/19
14. Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14
15. Yuji Nagata v. Hiroshi Tanahashi NJ 4/13
16. Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17
17. Undertaker v. Batista WWE 4/1
18. BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27
19 Takeshi Morishima/Mohammed Yone v. Jun Akiyama/Takeshi Rikio NOAH 4/1
20. Necro Butcher v. Toby Klien CZW 1/13
21. Chris Benoit v. Chavo Guerrero WWE 1/16



1. Nigel McGuinness v. Samoa Joe ROH 3/3

Nigel is a guy who I first noticed in IWA-MS as maybe the first indy guy to do old Johnny Saint spots. When he was the only guy doing it, it was pretty awesome. Then it became an indy cliché, as you would get cards with Lady in the Lake in every match. Nigel though has really changed his style completely, as he is now a guy who does some very simple things, very well. He has a set of good looking offense, and bunches of different ways to hit it, and bunches of ways to have it countered. A lot of this match was built around Nigel setting up the Tower of London and the rebound lariat, and Joe finding different ways to work around it. All that stuff was great, but what made this match was two big dudes pounding the shit out of each other. Nigel is Hansen level killing people with clotheslines now, and the outside the ring rebound lariat he does was sick. Plus he apparently has decided that home country appearances are going to be all about sick bumps. Joe whips him head first into a post, and muscle busters him on the ring apron, both of which were totally insane. Joe is really great here too, as he knows he is going to be stuck working Rhyno in three minute matches for the next 2 years, so he goes out with a bang.

The finish was really great, Joe hits the insane looking apron muscle buster, and the refs come out to help an unconscious Nigel. Then you have the really cool in match angle, where Nigel is being carried to the back, and Joe calls him out over the mike. “Come back and shake my hand you British pussy.” The in match restart seems to also be a British Nigel match specialty, and when he comes into the ring the crowd, which had been split, gets totally behind him, and they have a great final run. I especially loved the one big Nigel nearfall, as he had been setting up the rebound lariat, and he bounds off the ropes, but instead of going for a clothesline, he does a slick little roll up. Nigel really needs to be the guy who takes the title off of Morishima, he is the best guy on the indies right now, and would have a spectacular title run.

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Phil's Ongoing 2007 MOTY LIST

1. John Cena v. Umaga WWE 1/28
2. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14
3. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16
4. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23
5. Solar 1/Mano Negra v. Negro Navarro/Black Terry Lucha Libre VIP 3/10
6. MNM v. Hardy Boyz WWE 1/28
7. Briscoes v. Ricky Marvin/Kontaro Suzuki NOAH 1/21
8. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14
9. Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24
10. Takeshi Sasaki v. Yuki Miyamoto BJW 3/14
11. John Cena v. Shawn Michaels WWE 4/1
12. Shinjiro Ohtani/Takao Omori/Kazunari Murakami v. Kohei Sato/Hirotaka Yokoi/Yoshiro Takayama Zero 1 1/19
13. Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14
14. Yuji Nagata v. Hiroshi Tanahashi NJ 4/13
15. Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17
16. Undertaker v. Batista WWE 4/1
17. BJ Whitmer v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 1/27
18 Takeshi Morishima/Mohammed Yone v. Jun Akiyama/Takeshi Rikio NOAH 4/1
19. Necro Butcher v. Toby Klien CZW 1/13
20. Chris Benoit v. Chavo Guerrero WWE 1/16

2. Nigel McGuinness v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 4/14

I had been down on Morishima a bit as I really hated both his KENTA and his Homicide matches. Working juniors you almost got the sense he almost works as a tall fat junior, and he is a shitty giant Super Astro. Here though he was in there with another heavyweight so you actually bought him eating offense, and he wasn't doing mirror sections with guys half his size. He was also great using his weight, as he had nifty variations of fat guy sit downs. Him crushing Nigel on the apron was amazing and it really looked like Nigel was going to allow himself to be paralyzed to add drama to his title match. I love how McGuinness has simplified his stuff, and his lariat variation were spectacular. They had really established the rebound clothesline as a killer, and I loved how it kept getting cut off, until he finally hit it. I knew that they wouldn't give Nigel the belt yet, but I believed that was the finish. This had a little bit of NOAHing up, but I kind of mind it less when it is a monster like Morishima, he really should be booked as larger then life, so when he shrugs off something, it makes it mean more when he finally sells.


3. Samoa Joe v. Takeshi Morishima ROH 2/16

This was much more of WAR style heavyweight slugfest then the epic title match style of the McGuiness match. A pair of big dudes pounding on each other. In some ways this was a really good way to introduce Morishima. He doesn't work well with juniors at all, but has always been good at this kind of nose to nose asskicking match. I remember loving a Takeshi v. Takeshi match from four years ago. Joe hasn't had a ton of matches like this, but he was great here, and I got the sense that he would have had a great match against Tenryu if TNA didn't fuck it up. Joe is also really good at working the role of top guy, as Morishima has to come in and make his bones against the toughest they have. Still I did think Joe was a little too dominant, which is why this is a bit lower on the list. Morishima never really got the big near falls, you never got the sense that Joe was close to loosing. He worked this more like he worked Kingston or Necro, where Morishima comes off tough for being able to hang with Joe, but clearly a notch below him. That really isn't the way you want him to look right before his run as dominant champion.

4. Shawn Micheals v. John Cena WWE 4/23

I was shocked at the greatness of the Wrestlemania match, which I figured would be a clusterfuck, and I also figured the ubiquitous "Michaels gets his pin back on TV" match would be even worse. Instead the Wrestlemania match was great, and the TV rematch was even better. Shawn was the real surprise here. The opening chain wrestling section was embarrassing, and I don't know how a guy who has been wrestling for 20+ years can't execute a fireman's carry, and there was a section where they were going toe to toe with strikes which is a terrible idea made worse with Shawn's awful knife edge chops. However outside of those two things he was basically inoffensive. After all of the back work and bumps near the end of the match, I kept waiting for the heat killing Resurrection (you think the Romans could have drawn money after Calvary?) and his long offensive run. It never really happened, instead of dominating, you got the sense the match ending superkick was a last gasp effort, he is guy who has the equalizer in his feet and is never out of a match. It almost felt like Diego Corrales's big comeback in the first Castillo fight, a guy who looks dead landing that one big flurry. I also really loved his crawl for the ropes in the STFU, one of the first times his desperation selling didn't come off as cartoonish.

Okay enough of that shit, because this match was still 1000% John Cena. Starting with his awesome reversal of a go behind, his crazy Dustin bump to the floor, selling the hell out of the arm, talking shit to the ref, ropes course crawling after the first chin music and right up to his KO selling for a 1/8 Chris Adams superkick, he owned it here. The catching the plancha spot is pretty standard, but Cena made it look like he was Charles Atlas. He also really came off like the top guy, like he was the man that needed to be dethroned, while Michaels was the underdog trying to dig deep for one more unlikely win. It was subtlety heelish, but if they keep it subtle it will continue work. I they need to finish with Micheals and put him in a feud with Mark Henry or Orton, someone he can really be a total face against again, but I like how he can play both roles so well.

6. Briscoes v. Kevin Steen/El Generico ROH 4/14

I was shocked at how much I enjoyed this. I haven't had much to say about the IWS guys before, and I have actively hated Steen, but he seems to have ditched most of his crap and just become a fat asskicker. With his bad skin and flabby body he does look like every single guy in the audiance though, I am guessing ROH books him for the same reason you book Pedro Morales in NYC, he is the regional babyface for fat wrestling dorks. With that I think this match was hurt a little by him working heel, you don't book Putski as a heel in Pittsburgh. The opening was great as Jay and Steen cheap shotting each other ruled, and Stevens was a total monster. The NO REMORE CORE beating up Stevens was fine, and the Rock and Rolls hurt partner comes out, is a great match layout. They did have the two on one go way too long, and really wasn't the beating it needed to be for Mark to risk his health. Jay has to be beaten to death, instead the match was 60/40, doesn't work if your brother defies doctors orders to turn 60/40 into 50/50. Still that was the only flaw as the end section was nuts, and Mark took the kind of sick bumps you need to get this over. Steen was great as a total fucker too, I think I am 180ing on that dude.

7. Colt Cabana v. Jimmy Jacobs ROH 2/24

This is one of the two blowoffs for the best angle in wrestling in the last decade, one could make an argument for Rey v. Eddie feud, but this was an amazing story executed amazing, while that was kind of stupid story executed amazingly. Cabana does an amazing opening promo which was like a serious Ric Flair promo mixed with a Hyman Roth speech. Jacobs and Lacey are then interviewed by ex Jacobs girlfriend Becky Bayless which added a little creepiness to it. As an aside, what happened to Becky Bayless? She was able to survive being an ECW rat and still have some youthfulness and prettiness in her, but apparently a semester abroad took it all out her, what happened to her in Paris? Did Chiwetel Ejifor cut out a kidney or something?

Match just starts amazing with both guys going after each other. Cabana busts open Jacobs with a dusty elbow and he reveals scissors in the elbow pad. They then really have the worlds greatest Tiger Jeet Singh match as they stab the shit out of each other with bunches of cool shit in cool ways. Jacobs breaks Cabana's Chicago flag over his back and stabs him in the face with the jagged wood and then wipes the blood off his face with the flag, which is a great "disrespect your local scene" spot. Also earlier in the match Cabana misses Jacobs and stabs the scissors into the turnbuckle getting them stuck, then about ten minutes later he gets whipped into the corner and is able to pull the scissors out and uses them again, to counter a Jacobs attack it was a really nice piece of match layout.

While we were watching this, I said "This is going to be my number one, unless they have Brent Albright run in or something." Moments later in comes shitty HGH belly, tribal tattoo Albright to stink up the match. Whitmer runs in too, and we have shit city briefly, as Whitmer throws Lisa Simpson windmill punches on Albright. The match never really regained its momentum after that, as they moved from a Sheik match to a Sabu match, while the big table senton off a ladder was crazy, it took too long to set up, and didn't have the intensity of the parts that involved stabbing.

10. Davey Richards/Roderick Strong v. Jack Evans/Delirious ROH 4/14

Both Delirious and Evans are really great at simple face in peril tag wrestling, both in the ring taking beating, on the apron firing up their partner and coming into the match as a house of fire. I also love Evans street fight highflying, it wouldn't make any sense for him to be throwing blows so he comes right out to try to kill the guy with dives. I have to give NO REMORE CORE credit, as they were the only heels all night who didn't get face pops. Roderick especially is really great as PROVEN INNOCENT lacrosse date rapist. Davey still looks like he is performing pro-wrestling, rather then pro-wrestling. Still his "look at me I am a heel" stuff is less aggravating then his "look at me I am PURO JUNIOR SUPERSTAR" stuff. Built to some big near falls and I really bought that the underdogs were going to take the win.

12. Samoa Joe v. Eddie Kingston FSM 3/17

This match was built around Eddie Kingston proving his toughness, and man alive does Joe make him prove it. Kingston is able to get off some surprise suplexes and hang for a bit throwing hands with Joe, but eventually he is just mauled, Kawada kicked brutally in the eye, socked square in the face, dumped directly on his head. Joe is really great at being a bad ass, and Kingston does soulful guy dying on his shield about as well as anyone in wrestling. I don't think this is as good as either of these guys first singles matches against Necro Butcher, but if you liked those, you will like this a ton too.

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