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  • NXT Takeover feedback

    Thumbs up!  Every match delivered.  Impressive main event, but everyone else on the card felt elevated tonight even if they lost.

    Best match: Bayley v. Sasha.  I was invested in this match.  Bayley is an incredible face in peril.  Sasha is such a good heel.  With that dynamic, there’s no need for creative high spots.  Just a great match.

    Worst match: Balor/Joe v. Corbin/Rhyno.  This was a good match.  I enjoyed it.  It would typically be the match of the night on any other NXT show.  But I think every other match on the card built up the wrestlers and gave us some direction.  These guys were great, but I wasn’t thinking “I want to see where they go with these guys after this match.” It was a match that gave the trophy to their #1 & #2 guys.

    Other notes:

    -I’m paying more attention to NXT homegrown vs. imported wrestlers.  Balor, Joe, Crews, and Asuka were all imports winning over homegrown talent.  I’m not saying that those were the wrong outcomes.  It certainly isn’t reassuring to see Breeze lose this much.

    -Kana/Asuka is exceptional. Watching her move in the ring and link moves together was incredible. 

    -Dawson and Wilder are such a great team. Found myself believing that their teamwork was good enough to overcome the fact that Balor and Joe are individually better.  That’s what a tag team should do.

    -Great seeing Sara Del Rey out there tonight.

    Nick Garcia

    Columbus, Ohio

    NXT TAKEOVER FEEDBACK
    Thumbs up
    Best: Bayley vs Sasha Banks
    No worst match

    Top to bottom, this may have been the best Takeover card from Full Sail.

    The Mechanics were impressive in the opener holding their own vs Balor and Joe.

    The other semifinal was a very pleasant surprise.  Jordan and especially Gable have taken off, while Corbin appears to be gaining confidence and his weaknesses are hidden in tag matches.  Tons of heat for this one in the building.

    Asuka vs Dana Brooke was a great debut.  Asuka’s speed in which she executed her moves was very impressive.  Dana wasn’t out of place here either.

    Tyler Breeze vs Apollo Crews was solid.  Would’ve been a great house show main event level type match.  It was nice to see them switch up the finisher for Crews.  Now he needs a little character development.

    The Dusty Classic final was another solid match with a straightforward story.  Surprised there was no tension between Balor and Joe, so maybe it will be a face vs face program if they square off for the title.

    The main event lived up to the enormous hype.  The fans were with it every step of the way and the 30:00 went by very quickly; the match was paced perfectly.  No one sat back down after Sasha messed with Izzy around halfway.  It was talked about after the last taping that someone getting heat by messing with Izzy would be great, but no one thought they’d actually do it in this day and age of “putting smiles on people’s faces.”  The Brooklyn match was probably better as a match but this presentation was tough to beat, topped by the post-match celebration.  The company has made a major star, so let’s hope they don’t mess it up on the main roster where it counts.

    This is the easy winner for promotion of the year with a month and a half to go in the voting period.

    – Chris H.
    Lakeland, FL

    Hey Dave,

    Best Match: Sasha Banks vs. Bayley

    Worst Match: Jason Jordan & Chad Gable vs. Baron Corbin & Rhyno

    This is my first time sending my thoughts in after a wrestling event. Thumbs all the way up. I thought the main event with the post celebration ceremony made it come across as a ***** match. There was no point where the match felt like it was dragging and it topped the previous match in terms of psychology and work. The post celebration even topped Bayley winning the NXT’s women championship last NXT show. I don’t even know how that is possible. I honestly believe people will remember this match as the greatest woman’s wrestling match in WWE. 

    Simon Wang 
    Pittsburgh, PA

    Overall : Great show
    Thumbs waaaay up
    Best Match : Bayley vs. Sasha IronMan Match (4.75 stars)
    Worst Match : Apollo Crews vs Tyler Breeze ( I hate to put this match in the worst match category because it was a good match but the matches on this show were on another level)

    DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: NXT CHAMPION FINN BALOR & SAMOA JOE VS. DASH WILDER & SCOTT DAWSON

    Good match. I thought The Mechanics come off as a really good heel team. Finn looks good in the leather jacket. I like that they don’t overuse the body paint, that makes it special.Joe’s offense looked super smooth and In my opinion both Joe and Balor need a heel turn to showcase more personality because Joe comes out to a colder response than what one would expect but Joe carries himself like a superstar in the ring.

    DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS: JASON JORDAN & CHAD GABLE VS. BARON CORBIN & RHYNO

    Super heated match. Gable and Jordan came off as superstars. This match made all the competitors esp. Gable,Corbin and Jordan look really great. Sweet finishing sequence. Really good match.

    ASUKA VS. DANA BROOKE

    Asuka has made the transition to WWE style faster than Hideo and her offense looked really great and her smooth transitions plus that Leg trap German Suplex was awesome. Props to Dana Brooke for hanging with her. +1 star for that Flying Armbar and facials throughout the match. Excellent debut.

    APOLLO CREWS VS. TYLER BREEZE

    When this match is the worst match of the show, that tells you the quality of this Takeover event. Tyler breeze is a natural heel and Apollo Crews’ selling was on point. Nice new finisher.Really needed it. Another Good match.

    DUSTY RHODES TAG TEAM TOURNAMENT FINALS: SAMOA JOE & FINN BALOR VS. BARON CORBIN & RHYNO

    Superheated match. Good finish. Cody Rhodes promo was very good. Nothing bad to say about the match. Finn needs that heel turn though. Although, it’s pretty clear that Joe is still not seen as their guy. Corbin is improving and looked good tonight.

    30-MINUTE IRONMAN MATCH: NXT WOMEN’S CHAMPION BAYLEY VS. SASHA BANKS 

    Excellent match. Sasha Banks is on another level when it comes to heel psychology.The match was worked great and the story told was consistent and the finish made perfect sense with Sasha being the great opponent that brings the best out of Bayley. The first fall was done so great. Making Izzy cry and stealing her hair pin was just perfect as Sasha drew the ire of the crowd and that made the Bayley comeback even more special. Amazing sequence at the end. Perfect story. The locker room and Sara Amato and Stephanie and Triple H and Regal coming out made the moment even more special. This really seemed like a G1 Final. Great way to end the feud.

    Lindsay Natale

    Thumbs Up

    Thought it was a good consistent show in-terms of match quality, however I felt there was no great matches. One noticeable thing to me was that in the majority of the matches the pace seemed quicker than we’re accustomed to with NXT. However unlike the main roster this wasn’t achieved with rope-running or simply more moves, but rather a greater number of strikes in a shorter space of time and things of that nature, I enjoyed it. I was greatly impressed by Dash & Dawson, I thought their aggression and fundamentals were very good, felt Jason Jordan looked the best he has to date, I was blown away by Asuka, this woman knows what she’s doing! I thought the smoothness and solidity of her work was absolutely tremendous, plus she was charismatic and showed no signs of having problems adjusting unlike Itami, although it’s still early days. I was left itching to see a match between herself and Sasha, Becky or Natalya that we never see, although I’m sure her eventual match or matches with Bayley will be very good.

    Thought Breeze & Crews had a damn good match and that this was a big step forward for Crews, as I’ve felt he’s been coming across as a bit of generic smiley babyface along with not showing his capabilities in the ring. I was growing concerned as to how over he may get in NXT, however this greatly relived me of those fears, and in retrospect they were keeping stuff in reserve for his competitive matches. I thought the ladies had a good match but were a victim of their own standards. Didn’t feel it was anywhere near as smooth or creative as their last encounter, neither did it have as good a layout. In addition I thought it took them awhile to find their rhythm and the match suffered with the crowd having greatly exhausted themselves. But hey, for multiple reasons the Brooklyn match was going to be impossible to equal.

    Balor & Joe vs. Dash & Dawson ***1/2

    Gable & Jordan vs. Corbin & Rhyno ***1/4

    Asuka vs. Dana ***1/2

    Breeze vs. Crews ***1/2

    Worst Match: Balor & Joe vs. Corbin & Rhyno ***1/4

    Best Match: Sasha vs. Bayley ***1/2

    Thanks Dave

    Tom Griffiths

    Thumbs WAY UP.  A great wrestling show!

    I don’t watch NXT every week, so I’m sure there are subtleties that I missed, but it was still an engaging show.

    BEST MATCH: Has to be Banks v. Bayley, even though this wasn’t a perfect match.  I do get frustrated that main roster stars come to NXT to do jobs for the NXT stars, which is a bit too predictable.  I preferred the Brooklyn match, if the truth be told.  Things that could be followed up on in this match (could Sasha win the title with a count-out fall as the difference?  did she really tap out?) really can’t be followed up on, because Sasha isn’t on NXT anymore.  For my money, Sasha is the best wrestling personality in the whole WWE right now, aside from Lesnar, Cena, and the Undertaker.  Which is pretty, pretty, pretty good.  Bayley also distinguished herself with a great performance.  Hopefully, these 2 will never get the giant fake breasts that seems to be required on the main roster.

    WORST MATCH:  It is a good sign that I don’t automatically say the Baron Corbin match.  If I MUST pick something, I would say that based on Gable & Jordan not winning, like I thought they should (over Rhyno, obviously) made it the worst match of the night, which is not an insult on this very awesome solid show.  I thought that match was also very good.  (Rhyno has got to lose some weight!)

    I liked the idea of Balor’s leg being an angle, even though it didn’t turn out to play a major role.  When I saw this happen, I had an inkling that Samoa Joe could turn on him, for costing them the match with his showboating, and then be in line for an NXT title shot.  But when I heard the tenor of Cody’s remarks, it was clear that was not happening.  The leg angle did create some drama & uncertainty — a simple storyline that is easy to follow.  WWE needs more of exactly that.

    Asuka also had a great match, and so did Dana Brooke.  The post-match face off with Emma was also something that I thought was going to lead somewhere… but it didn’t yet.  The Divas Revolution can’t hold a candle to NXT Women’s Division, and WWE better do something about it.

    I was also struck by how much Baron Corbin has improved.  The End of Days is an impressive finishing move, in a world where 3 Attitude Adjustments might not be enough to get a pinfall.  I used to be down on him, but I have turned the corner.

    Crews, Tyler Breeze, Jordan & Gable, and even Dawson & Wilder (or whatever) all had good nights.  An excellent show.

    Richard Orloski

  • Dragon Gate Japan iPPV Thursday, new merchandise store opening

    Dragon Gate will presenting an iPPV from its monthly Korakuen Hall show early Thursday morning.

    The show will air at 5:30 a.m. Eastern time Thursday morning, and 2:30 a.m. Pacific, with video-on-demand an option.  It is available at http://live.nicovideo.jp/watch/lv235460088 at a cost of 1,500 yen, or $12.50 U.S.

    The promotion is probably the second most popular in Japan and has the fastest action of any group.

    The main event will be an Open the Triangle Gate title match with Cima & Gamma & Don Fujii vs. Shingo Takagi & Cyber Kong & Kotoka.

    The rest of the card has:

    Super Shisa & Shachihoko Boy vs. Lindaman & Yosuke Santa Maria
    Masato Yoshino & Akira Tozawa & T-Hawk vs. Dragon Kid & Kzy & Flamita
    Jimmy Kanda & Genki Horiguchi vs. Eita & Draztick Boy
    Jimmy Susumu & Kaito Ishida vs. Ryo Saito & Takehiro Yamamura
    BxB Hulk & Masaaki Mochizuki & Big R Shimizu vs. Yamato & Naruki Doi & Mondai Ryu
    Jimmy K-Ness vs. Naoki Tanizaki

    There will be an international merchandise store for Dragon Gate merchandise that will be launched later this month.  We will have more details on that in upcoming weeks.

  • WWE 24: NXT Brooklyn Recap: HHH, Bayley, Kevin Owens, and Finn Balor

    With NXT Takeover: Respect right around the corner, WWE is bringing back its WWE 24 series to chronicle the events of the Brooklyn Takeover show at the Barclays Center from the night before SummerSlam. The roster starts the special talking about how excited they are to have sold the building out under the NXT banner. HHH says they’ve taken what was developmental and are now selling out NYC. Hunter tells the NXT crew “holy f—ing sh-t!” and there’s no other way to describe the rise of NXT. Owens says he saw the rise and wanted to be a part of it. HHH says the goal of NXT is to be a platform for the roster to learn on and be more than just developmental. Matt Bloom describes NXT as punk rock and underground.

    Paige says it feels like an independent with less talking and more action. Charlotte says the new crew has no idea where they came from, and they talk about how poorly-run FCW was. Charlotte says some shows had only 9 fans. Seth puts over the Full Sail crowd as being their own thing, while Enzo says that fans reciting his promo is just a sign that they’ve been doing it at their own home. Corey puts over Blue Pants as being made entirely by the FS crowd, and she says she’s like the wacky neighbor in the sitcom – you don’t know when she’s going to show up.

    Fans pose with Samoa Joe while Bayley says the fans are able to connect with the wrestlers on a deeper level while one of the Ascension guys calls them the best fans in the world meeting them outside the building. We see clips of the initial NXT shows outside of Full Sail, while Byron says they expected Barclays to get maybe 7,000. For the second time, we see the HHH clip about them being developmental two years ago and selling out NXT. HHH tells the class that they’ll kick ass in NYC. We see some media appearances and a graphic notes it will be the final NXT show for Charlotte, Becky, Sasha, and Owens. Finn takes some photos with fans and says he had a great morning until he remembered he had a ladder match. He loves NXT and doesn’t ever want to leave it. Finn says he was determined to wrestle after seeing WWE and Bloom says he was determined to succeed no matter what and we see clips of the mini-doc they did on him earlier this year. F

    inn is amused by a locker room noting that he has dancers now. Owens says that he first met Balor in England before they came to NXT and now they’re having a match here. Owens says he drove to TLC in 2012 to see his friend Seth Rollins debut and he got emotional then, and now he’s main eventing NXT’s biggest show ever in the Barclays Center. Balor says it’s tough to not see his parents for months, but it’s part of the sacrifice. Sasha is amused that she now has bodyguards, and they’re apparently sharing a room with Stephen Amell here.

    Sasha says she’s excited because the fans bought tickets to see them and tears up thinking about the journey they’ve had. Sasha says she’s been watching since she was 10 and always wanted to be in WWE. She wanted to be the female Eddie Guerrero and we see photos of her notebook from 2005 where she went to Judgment Day and filled out pages on the card. Her mother knew she would get there and Sasha says she would always e-mail schools to train. She started in 2010, got signed by WWE in 2012, and now she’s on the main roster living her dream. She says she was 99 pounds when she started and opponents were scared to even touch her. She’s first cousins with Snoop Dogg, and noticed he was always called “boss”, so she took that for her character and liked the sound of “The Boss” Sasha Banks. Sasha says she’s nervous, but she’s got an NXT panel to go to now. Corey says they couldn’t sell tickets to save their lives in FCW and we see clips of Seth becoming the first NXT Champion with JR on commentary. It’s amusing to see him swing the title around here since he would later do that with the WWE Title at WrestleMania 31.

    HHH hypes up that WM 31 was a show with at least one guy in a match from NXT. Well, other than Brock vs. Taker and Sting vs. HHH. Sasha says she dreamt of having matches like the men, but as a kid, all she had to watch was stuff like bra and panties matches. Sasha says she was told to wrestle like a diva when she came in, but she wanted to fight. HHH said that he wanted them to be treated just like the men and Sasha says they all wanted to change for the future. Bayley says their goal is to have better matches each time out. Sara Amato says they’re all driven, while Becky says they all bring something different to the table and it allows them to compete without taking spots. HHH says that they’re about 30% where they want to go and gives Sasha a lot of credit for getting to that point and he puts Bayley over huge too. We see photos from Bayley’s youth of her posing with Bret and holding a pink-backed belt over her shoulder in another photo. One photo has her in a Rey shirt, while another shows her with Cena in his Ruck Fules shirt. 

    Bayley wrote a lot of poetry in school about wrestling. Bayley’s mother says she was determined to do well, and Bayley says she needs it all. She didn’t like being on camera, but loves how much she’s grown. Bayley says she’s basically either herself, or herself as a 10 year old now. Bayley hugs her fans and we see her recite another piece of writing from her youth while tearing up thinking about how much she loves wrestling. The actual document is shown and her teacher was quite happy with it. Bayley says she wants to have the best women’s match that anyone has ever seen. Six hours before the show, we see dress rehearsals for the entrances. Tyler says his is a tour of NYC.

    HHH tells Crews to slow down and take his time. Finn does his intro and we see Kevin Owens and his son Owen. Kevin asks if his son filled in for him and he said it shouldn’t be too hard – just walk and shake your head. Kevin says his son loves John Cena, so he had his wife record Owen’s reaction and we see the unbridaled joy of him seeing his dad going up against Cena.

    Becky Lynch is backstage looking at photos on her phone, including one with her mother when they were flight attendants. Becky’s excited for her parents to see catering. The look of sheer joy in Becky’s eyes is amazing here. Finn and his painter discuss the bodypaint idea. Finn says the paint helps him channel something within. Before he debuted it, his friend told him the paint was his worst idea yet – but it’s worked out great two years later. Bloom says the character is part of him and that’s why it works. Finn is upset with how the rehearsal went earlier. He’s prepared physically and mentally, and can rehearse, but he doesn’t know what to expect from the match since it’s his first ladder match. We see Kevin pass Vince’s office with a giant no smoking sign on it while Fill says Kevin is a master of ladder matches. Finn doesn’t know how to approach the match. 

    Showtime is nearing and Charlotte is getting her makeup done. Fans talk about how excited they are for NXT and we see more of it being the boutique indy that HHH has designed NXT to be. Corey says the difference in NXT is they don’t just put their divas in the main event – they are the main event. Becky’s mom says she’s cheering for Becky just to change the outcome tonight. It’s also the first time she’s seen Becky wrestle live. Ric Flair says he’s proud of what Charlotte has done in just two years.

    Bayley tears up a bit before her match, and HHH tells the crew their attitude needs to be “follow that”. Michael Hayes is is an astonishing getup. He has lavender pants and vest combo alongside a purple shirt underneath it, a WM 31 ballcap, and a black fanny pack. The roster makes their intros on the Takeover show and pre-show tapings. Becky and Charlotte come down while Ric watches their match on a monitor backstage. The Kliq, Rick Ruben, and Seth Rollins are shown in the crowd. Blue Pants’ intro gets over huge as does the Vaudevillians’ title win. Apollo Crews’ match is shown in highlight form and with his intensity, he comes off as almost like Goldberg. Bayley says she wants fans and the roster to say it’s the best women’s match they’ve seen. Sasha says they’ll have the greatest women’s match in NXT history. Bayley says that for every show, she peeks out to feel the crowd. In Brooklyn, she doesn’t need to – and we see the crowd imitating both her and the inflatable tube men.

    Sasha comes out and says she that she had to scream to let out emotion while in the Escalade. Sasha’s mom wipes a tear from her eye after the intro and we see clips of the match. The roster loses it seeing Bayley spike her head on the mat when Sasha held onto the buckle for the top rope rana. Bayley’s mom is in the crowd scared for her daughter. Top rope double knee spot is shown alongside the ring step big boot. Sasha’s dive over the ref is shown from the crowd’s perspective. All of the film footage here looks fantastic and gives things a different feel. Bayley’s scary reverse super rana is shown, then the belly to Bayley and the title win! WWE’s Four Horeswomen celebrate in the ring and they got a standing ovation backstage. Seth wipes a tear from his eye after it from the crowd. Cesaro says that kind of reaction is what wrestling is all about.

    Sasha tells a story that Bayley told her she didn’t want to go, and she didn’t want to. Sasha cries thinking about raising the four fingers up and now that era is over. Kevin Owens hugs Bayley and says that it’s a tough act to follow. Cesaro says the ladder match has the chance to be brutal, and that’s what you want in a ladder match. Fans are shown banging their heads to Kevin’s theme. Kevin hugs his son in the crowd and hugs Becky’s mom. Finn does his intro and says the only time they got it right was live – they tried and failed 30 times before. Owens slamming him on the ladder and then doing Finn’s pose is shown. Finn flips to the floor to regain control and then hits the double stomp, but eats the powerbomb while being pulled off the ladder. We get a beautiful shot of Finn doing his pose right before the double stomp off the ladder. He climbs up and grabs the title to win the match. Finn poses with HHH after the match backstage.

    Finn says he hopes Kevin leaves NXT and can now become an even bigger star on the main roster. Kevin says he did his best, but knows it could’ve been better. Finn says it’s just the start of a bright future for NXT. HHH says Dusty called the roster his NXT kids while everyone tells Dusty stories about how much he meant to them. Charlotte says that Bayley would be on top, and Dusty was right. Becky says she loves all the fans who love NXT while Blue Pants cries at the thought of reaching this point. The show closes to a Sinatra-style song set to NXT clips.

    *****

    This was a perfect time capsule for the growth of NXT, and it really felt like they’ve achieved their goal of making NXT what ECW was in the ’90s. It’s a place where international talent can be used nearly-perfectly in front of an audience that adores them already, while veterans can be given new life and stale talents can try something new and add new dimensions to their acts. There was a sense of sadness in the roster going from NXT to the main roster throughout this, and it wasn’t just due to the “last day of high school” feeling. It’s like Sasha knew this was the peak of her career in every major way, so she was going to savor every moment of it. She came off wonderfully here, as did both Becky and Bayley. Charlotte left no impression, while Kevin Owens came off as a hard-working guy who almost seems to realize he might’ve come here a bit late since he did his best, and didn’t feel it was good enough. WWE 24 has been hit or miss, but this was far better than expected and went into more depth than they usually do by just focusing on fewer people. 

  • Weekend Feedback: UFC 192, WWE, TNA and more!

    UFC 192

    Thumbs Up

    Best Fight: Cormier vs Gustaffson

    Best performances: Sage Northcutt, Albert Tumenov

    This was a pretty solid card up and down. Prelims had a lot of decisive fights which were very entertaining and some potential new prospects pending how they do once they step up in competition.

    I think we need to give Rashad a break after having such a long layoff due to injuries. His next fight will be the one to judge of where he really stands. Maybe he should get Texeira or Saint Preux next.

    Benavidez vs Bagautinov was a big disappointment. Can’t see Benavidez getting a title shot after this performance even though he is ranked #2. It is time for Johnson to move up a weight class but I would be interested in seeing John Lineker get one more shot after his last performance but he may have trouble making weight and keeping weight at that division.

    Gustaffson vs Cormier was a good display by Cormier of imposing his will to dominate how this fight was going to be fought. Gustaffson stayed competitive. I would like to see Gustaffson rematched with Rumble Johnson next to see if it was just nerves infront of the hometown crowd in that first fight between them. Not really any exciting matchups next for Cormier but I guess it may be Bader if Jones isn’t back in time. Can’t see that drawing anything.

    WWE Special

    I like the concept of the live house shows as specials. Liked the one from Japan and liked this one. It is different from the norm with less production which makes it unique.

    Best Match: Cena vs Rollins

    Worst Match: Nothing was really that bad in my mind as I had the mentality going in of being entertained with a house show. Girls match by default.

    Liked how the ladies match has the storyline continuing with the Paige dissention although why they teamed with Paige in the first place in this one after what went down on Raw doesn’t make sense. Good finish in that match.

    Was hoping that they would have given Jericho vs Owens  a bit more time than what they got. That had the potential of being the show stealer. Good match for the time they got. Liked the pre match promo by Jericho.

    Brock vs Show was good for what it was. Was worried a couple times the way Show was landing on his shoulder taking those Germans that he may do some damage to himself. Great power by Brock F-5’ing Show. Botched ending but liked that Brock threw the belly to belly in there before attempting the F-5 again instead of going right back to it.

    Solid main event for Cena & Rollins to end the show. We know it is coming but hope we don’t get a Rollins vs Kane title program out of this. Does anyone else get the feeling that this new Kane character is a copy of the Abyss/Joseph Park story?

    Observer readers…Check out my current ebay auctions featuring some great wrestling memorabilia including some fantastic Stampede wrestling programs which feature Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Bret Hart, Dynamite Kid, Bad News Allen, Keichi Yamada, Shinya Hashimoto, Hiro Hase and so many more. Seller name is grantsindex. Email me if interested in multiple items and we can make a deal

    Email me for some recent Wrestling Observer specials including  Starrcade, Halloween Havoc, Observer Hall of Fame, Summerslam & more.

    grantsindex@nexicom.net

    Grant Zwarych

    Wrestling Observer Index

    WWE @ MSG

    Thumbs Down: For a house show fine but nobody outside of MSG needed to see it. Not a single person in the world would buy the Network for a show like this instead of the upcoming Hell in a Cell, so there was no real purpose to show this on TV. A total overexposure of the product, which is one of their big problems. 

    Best Match: Cena vs Rollins

    Worst Match: Neville vs Stardust

    1. Orton & Ziggler vs Rusev & Sheamus. Average match. The face team won by a referee distraction, go figure. **

    2. Neville vs Stardust. This was cool the first 300 times. Now nobody cares. *3/4

    3. Bellas & Fox vs Becky, Charlotte & Paige. UFC did a better job with a five minute video for the Rousey vs Holm fight that WWE would ever do with their women division and their crappy revolution. Match was fine. **

    4. Owens vs Jericho. Good while it lasted. For a 25th anniversary celebration a 7-minute match was kind of a joke. If I was Jericho I’ll quit the company and just dedicate the rest of my life to talk trash about the McMahons on the podcast. ***

    5. Dudley vs New Day. Lame finish but the Dudleys need to win the title in a Tables match, so this feud would go until December. **1/4

    6. Lesnar vs Show. The world’s greatest five-minutes match. ** 

    7. Cena vs Rollins. Good but clearly below their previous matches. The escape the cage is such a lame stipulation, it kills the purpose of the cage gimmick. ***3/4

    Leonardo II Mendez

    San Sebastian, PR

    Thumbs down Best match: Tag titles Worst match: Gauntlet for Gold match.

    Initial impression: TNA didn’t tell the PPV company that Matt was added to the ME. Whoops.

    Building looks pretty full for a show that was probably 90% papered. Still looks like they’re barely using a quarter of the arena. It looks like someone dusted off the old WCW Thunder stage too.

    Ultimate X match – great opener. Fast paced. Camera missed a few .major spots. Uno retains after knocking some local off the rope. Local guy looked great too. At the end Shane Helms came out and raised his hand. Helms has let himself go too.

    EC3 comes out for a boring 20 minute promo and the crowd does not give a shit.

    Gauntlet match is next which is an 12 man Royal Rumble sort of. Our first is Anderson who awkwardly stands around for a minute looking for his mic. Jessie Goddards is second, and fucks up a press.

    The timer than stars at 2 seconds as Christy Hemme starts counting from 10. Eli Drake is out next.

    Out #4 is Al Snow who brings out Head to the ring. A call back to a better time in his length.

    No countdown for #5 is a bad Sheamus knockoff named Aiden O’Shea. Still no eliminations, #6 is Robbie E. Usually Rumble ring filling up spots going on. Boring.

    Eli Drake is eliminated by Head. Out #7 is Shera. His music wont stop. This is the worst cover of Natural Born Killers I’ve ever heard off. Everyone does the dance. Why is everyone doing the dance.

    Sheamus ripoff knocked off by Shera. 20 seconds after the countdown finishes out comes Gyrus. Out 9th is Chris Melendez. Tyrus eliminates Snow, Melendez, and Shera.

    Out 10th is Tommy Dreamer wearing Dusty polka dots.

    11th is Abyss. Abyss and Tyrus knock everyone out and then entering 12th is… The Pope. Who then proceeds to Mil Mascaras himself. That was pointless. Apparently this was the final entrant, so I imagine imagine Rockstar Spud as at gorilla heard Popes music and turned around and went back to the locker room.

    Tyrus eliminates Abyss. Jessie eliminates Robbie E. Kennedy throws out Dreamer. Kennedy throws out Goddard, and were down to Kennedy vs Tyrus for #1 Contender. Whoever wins we all lose. Tyrus pins Anderson.

    It should be noted that the countdown were utterly fucked. Graphic would never show, Hemme wouldn’t announce it, it seemed to be of a variable length, or wrestlers would just come out.

    That was a waste of a half hour. Tyrus turns on EC3.

    Minus Six Stars.

    Tag Title match – good match. Slowed down at times, but a lot of good spots and a good story.

    Galloway comes out to remind us this is triple threat tonight and he has a 141 and 2/3% chance to win tonight.

    KOTM title match in a straight singles match. Ho hum. Lashley dominated for most of the match. Eventually Roode gets some offense, every does their finisher and the opponents finisher, and Roode wins with a Roode bomb.

    Matt Hardy comes out for a promo. Great promo.

    Billy Corgan is out to remind us that last night was the greatest night of Earl Hebners life. First 20 years of his career is not shown.

    Knockouts Title – HOF referred missed blatant use of chairs because Robert Irvine was arguing with him because Kong was grabbing chairs. Fail eventually managed to kick out and get a small package on Kong for the win. They’ve had better.

    Jeff Hardy comes out looking like Willow has bred with a referee.

    Angle/Young – Hemme announced it as a no DQ match. Apparently Kurt didn’t get the memo because he cuts a promo shocking Young that its a no DQ match. Young pilesdrives Angle and the doctor comes out to check Angle. Dr and Angle say he’s in no cpnditi9n to continue, but the ref doesn’t ring the bell so I guess theres no ref stoppage. Young threatens a piledriver on conceete and Christ this match is just really uncomfortable. Retire Kurt. Angle counters gets some offense and wins after an ankle lock in a match that was stopped for medical reasons 10 minutes prior. Not a great match.

    World Title match – The end of the match happened when EC3 attempted to get himself DQd in a Triple Threat match. Where there were no DQs. EC3 threatens to injure Matt with a folding chair with a nice padded seat.  HOW FUCKING STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO BE FOR THIS ANGLE TO MAKE SENSE IN A MATCH? Jeff has enough, attacks EC3, Matt gets the pin on Galloway for the title.

    Gregory Valko

    Thumbs in the middle

    Best Match – Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong

    Worst Match – Gauntlet Match

    This was a very thumbs-in-the-middle show as there was nothing that was really good, but there also wasn’t anything bad on the card.  The presentation was affected by both a mostly subdued crowd and lighting that was so low that at times it was difficult to identify wrestlers.  That appeared to be the case live as well with Josh Matthews misidentifying wrestlers all night (or he just doesn’t care).

    Gail Kim vs Awesome Kong was my favorite match on the show, obviously it wasn’t anything like their matches 8 years ago, but they can still have a good match and the crowd was awake for this one.  

    The Matt Hardy title win was both nice and sad.  I’m happy for Matt that he appears to be in a positive place right now both personally and professionally, but it was kind of sad to see the family celebration in a dark arena, with no one watching at home, and no idea when (or if) we’ll see this followed up of television.

    Lee Hamilton

    Hey Dave,  

    Decided on a whim to drop $50 on TNA tonight.  I’d say thumbs slightly up. Typical TNA.  Some good action. Some really bad acting.  Some questionable calls.  

    Best Match – 3 Way World Title Worst Match – #1 Contender Gauntlet (Not even close)

    1) Ultimate X – Big spotfest but that was the goal.  Nothing wrong with that, got the crowd going. Couple of cool spots.  

    2) #1 Contender – And kill the crowd dead with this.  Definition of minus five stars.  I’ve never hated a match more.  The worst punches/acting/stupidity/surprise entrants I’ve ever seen…and to become the top contender for the world title. Way too long, way too awful. I could go on for days how bad this was. 

    3) Tag Title – Really liked this.  The fact that I miss watching the Wolves was one of the reasons I ordered. 

    4) Roode / Lashley – Another solid bout.  This ppv would’ve been so much better if they cut the gauntlet, threw the KOTM title in the trash and just made this the #1 contender.

    5) Kim/Kong – Didn’t mind this.  Kong reminds me of Andre in the 90’s but Gail worked hard. 

    6) Angle/Young – Don’t buy Young as a threat at all.   Didn’t do it for me. 

    7) 3 Way – Really liked this match.  Making Matt the champ is questionable for a company trying to make new stars but maybe they try to pop whatever number they can putting the title back on EC3 on tv.  

    Adam Hicks,  Ohio

    AAA Heroes Inmortales

    Best Match: Garza Jr./Psycho Clown/Rey Jr. vs. Hijo del Fantasma/Myzteziz/Texano Jr.

    Worst Match: nothing down right bad on the show

    Thumbs Up

    Nothing that was blow away (as I felt Rey de Reyes was an overall better show despite others not liking it) but certainly right there with the WWE, TNA, and NXT shows.  Aerostar deserves a much bigger push.  The three way tag title match was a real surprise since I’m not a fan of three way matches and Joe Lider was involved in the match.  Watching the PWG BOLA DVD’s this weekend, along with this show, makes it clear that Jack Evans has really grown as a wrestler.  If this were 1999/2000, he would be praised big time for incorporating MMA kicks and submissions, along with his usual good high flying.  Still waiting for that blow away Rey Jr. AAA match but he continues to be really solid.  

    Tim Cooke

    Thumbs in the middle just because the live crowd was great and my son was into it. Best match was Roode vs Lashley Worst match was a tie between the X division botch fest and the Gauntlet match where the rules were not explained to the live crowd and there were loads of technical glitches.

    The building was almost full and the crowd was into it the whole night. These weren’t necessarily TNA fans, but that area is a wrestling hot bed. The size and energy of the crowd was a pleasant surprise.

    Christy Hemme announced the Young-Angle match as No DQ before they even entered the ring so Angle’s promo was anti-climactic. I was surprised to read results that said the match had been stopped as there was no mention of this to the crowd. We just saw the medics come out. Everyone in our section was put off by this as it has been so overdone recently. Kurt Angle looks rough in person.

    No mention of the third announcer.

    Everyone in the live crowd assumed this was it for TNA as the ending felt like a finale with the locker room emptying to celebrate with Matt Hardy. No fan I spoke with had any idea if or when TNA was filming more television. The crowd, Along with referee Jeff Hardy, had no idea the title match was no DQ. We could not hear most of the backstage spots and rarely did they have a live feed on the entrance screens.

    Thanks, Heath Mullikin

  • WWE Portland, ME house show results 10-4: Roman Reigns vs Bray Wyatt

    Submitted by Kyle Poissonnier

    Cesaro Defeated the Miz. – Match took a while to begin with the Miz jumping out of the ring for 5 minutes or so.  Miz took a few moves very awkwardly and didnt make Cesaro look all that good.  Cesaro eventually hit the neutralizer for the win.  

    Fandango defeated Heath Slater.  Would have been a bathroom break if not for wanting to see Maine’s own Fandango.  Slater kept stalling to start, as soon as he jumped in the ring he tripped on the top rope and fandango pinned him, took a nice round of applause from the audience and left.  No match really.  

    Braun Strowman defeated Jack Swagger with his choke out submission.  Pretty good match they actually let Swagger get in some offense on Strowman who up until now has been booked as a superman.

    Lucha Dragons defeated Ascension and Los Matadores in a triple threat tag match.  Fun match, lots of action.  Just nothing too great here.  

    Natalya defeated Sasha Banks with the Sharp Shooter.  Portland loved both girls.  Great reactions. 

    R – Truth defeated Adam Rose.  Rose actually got a lot of cheers for his new gimmick.  He was rather funny and challenged Truth to a dance contest that ended when truth kicked Rose for the victory.  

    Dean Ambrose Defeated Luke Harper, Good lengthy match.  Ambrose looked great.  

    Roman Reigns defeated Bray Wyatt in a NO DQ Match.  Good reaction for both men.  Funny at house shows how different the reaction is for reigns.  Strowman interrupted and then Ambrose came out for the save.  Match ended with Reigns putting Wyatt through a table with a power bomb and win. 

    Overall, decent house show but the attendance is definitely something that couldn’t be ignored.   

  • WWE Worcester, MA house show (10/4): John Cena vs. Seth Rollins street fight

    Submitted by Andrew Goss

    – Neville def. Stardust

    – Zack Ryder def. Brad Maddox

    – WWE Tag Team Champions The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) def. The Dudley Boyz in a title match. Xavier got 3D’d through a table after the match. 

    – WWE I-C Champion Kevin Owens def. Dolph Ziggler and Rusev in a title match

    – Randy Orton def. Sheamus 

    – Mark Henry def. Bo Dallas. Big Show KO punched Bo after the match

    – Team PCB def. Team Bella. Paige walked out on her partners near the end of the match. 

    – WWE U.S. Champion John Cena def. WWE World Champion Seth Rollins in a U.S. title match/street fight. Corporate Kane made the match a  Worcester Street Fight. The Demon Kane appeared at the end of the match to prevent Rollins from fleeing. 

  • UFC 192 and WWE Live from MSG Feedback

    By Mike Omansky

    Return date announced: Saturday Dec. 26th, holiday tour.

    Tickets went on sale after the show at box office.

    Presale at Ticketmaster also.  Code:  HOLIDAY

     Crowd into show, but most alive for 3 big matches:

    — Owens-Jericho

    — Lesnar-Show (Lesnar most over wrestler of the night)

    –Cena-Rollins — really into it in last 10 minutes, after Cena put on STF and there were near escapes from the cage.

     Untelevised matches, prior to broadcast:

    1. ZACK RYDER W BO DALLAS, rough-Ryder and pin.

    2. MARK HENRY W BRAD MADDOX, squash, under a minute, slam and pin.

    No offense for Maddox.

    By Bryan Revello

    Cool notes/observations from the MSG show last night:

    Randy Orton was more over with the crowd than expected.

    The New York crowd still eats up Zack Ryder.

    There was a buzz in the building that Ric Flair would be on the show but it did not happen.

    Did anyone count the number of suplexes that Brock gave to Big Show? I lost count after 3.

    The women’s match had a worse reception than anticipated although I did hear one “I love you Becky” chant in my section.

    The crowd loved Brock Lesnar and popped hard.

    The New Day are just as amusing in person.

    Brad Maddox received quite a few “who are you?” chants.

    The Jericho-Owens match was a delight to see live.

    The steel cage came down as quickly as any steel cage I have ever seen live.

    If this event was advertised around Brock Lesnar, why did Brock-Big Show semi Main Event?

    Everybody in the crowd knew Kane was coming.

    The presale code for the upcoming December 26th event at MSG is holiday.

    —-

    Thumbs up, not a runaway good show but almost consistently good.  I expect to se e a lot of thumbs down for the slower pace, and the idiot Houston fans were quick to boo (what do you expect, they have to deal with the Astros and the Texans) but this was one of those solid cards that I just can’t complain about.

    Best fight – again, no FOTY candidates but it’s got to be Cormier/Gustuvson.  I don’t particularly like Cormier but I have to give him tons of credit for outstriking the striker and proving he deserves the title.  Alexander, on the other hand, fought a horrible strategy and how he got three rounds can only be explained by it being in Texas.  It’s a state law that you can’t put on an MMA show in Texas without a screwed up decision.

    Worst fight – no real glaring candidates but I have to go with Bader and Evans because I just kept thinking, the winner of THIS is going to get a title shot?   It just showed exactly how weak 205 is.

    Jordan and Magomedov was not good, but when you get an injury in the first round, all you can do is all you can do, so I can’t fault them for that.

    The only other comment I have is Sage Nothcutt.  If this kid has the talent to fight his way up the ranks, he’s going to be a mega-star and from what I hear, Dana White knows exactly what he’s got.  He oozes charisma like and early Rock and as my wife put it, “that is one good looking guy”.  I’m not going to say he’s going to be a male Ronda Rousey (although with the talent he could be) but he’s going to be a huge star.

    Mike DeGeorge

    UFC 192

    I missed the first prelim and most of the 2nd. (Lewis-Pesta & S. Pettis-Cariaso)

    Thumbs way up. Mostly lackluster on paper, almost all entertaining in reality, and the main was just epic.

    Best fight: Cormier-Gustaffson

    Worst fight: surprisingly, Benavidez-Bagautinov

    Best performance: Cormier, Gustaffson but plenty of standout performances

    Worst performance: Jouban

    KO: Martins, Tumenov

    Sub: Namajunas (default but would have won it most nights)

    Picked up watching with Chris Cariaso dominating Sergio Pettis for the last couple minutes of the fight, but Pettis had apparently won the 1st & 2nd very wide. Stunning UFC debut from heavily hyped Sage Northcutt, who looks like Action Figure Ken (as in Barbie), blowing away the smaller but weight-missing Francisco Trevino with a blitz of strikes, TDs and G&P.

    Rose Namajunas unsurprisingly far too skilled for Angela Hill and outstrikes her, takes her down, takes her back, sinks RNC and hooks as Hill rises, figure-4s the leg for good measure, and puts her to sleep standing. Brazilian veteran Adriano Martins catches previously unbeaten Russian Islam Makhachev coming in with a right hook and scores an upset one punch KO. Albert Tumenov just shreds Alan Jouban, doing a paint job from the opening bell and not letting Jouban even get started, or last long enough to pull his usual comeback, ending it with a clean KO. Texas ref on the case with the stoppage. Yair Rodriguez takes a competitive card sweep UD over Dan Hooker, with one sorta hometown 30-26, despite breaking a foot early in the fight.

    Julianna Pena just too big and strong for Jessica Eye, who for some reason chose to challenge Pena at her forte of grappling and performed well, but not well enough. Jess is just too small for bantam but they don’t have flyweight. Some weird reffing in the 2nd docking Eye a point for a first offense and then restarting them standing when Pena had been in top position at the foul, but didn’t change the outcome. 

    Joey Benavidez pretty much paintjobs Ali Bagautinov in a fight conducted almost entirely at long range for a UD with one 29-28. Crowd doesn’t like any of it but a couple of flash TDs were the extent of Ali’s effective offense.

    In a fight between totally opposite styles and physical types, tall rangy Russian Ruslan Magomedov methodically drills human bowling ball Shawn Jordan for three rounds with every strike in the book as Jordan lumbers in looking for a bomb or a TD. He’s only successful a couple of times and Magomedov does considerable damage the rest of the time for a UD with one 29-28. I gave him a 10-8 in the 3rd. Magomedov is like a HW Mousasi, who I believe I saw in his corner. Nobody’s going to be in a hurry to fight him. 

    Ryan Bader displaying recent acquisitions of hand speed and actual footwork does a 3R paint job over long inactive Rashad Evans, who looks great till the fight starts. He looks tiny next to Bader who beats him to the punch all night and takes hiom down whenever he wants to. Shad has very little offense. Have seen people call this ‘close’ and even giving it to Evans, neither of which are anywhere near reality in this or any other dimension. 30-27 X 3 was the only possible score.

    Tyron Woodley-Johny Hendricks scrapped when Hendricks got sick making weight. Tyron gets the WW title shot. Hendricks will be considered a MW from now on and will look like Sky Low Low up there.

    Daniel Cormier  defends the LHW title vs. Alexander Gustaffson and they blow the roof off the joint. Cormier takes the 1st with an early tiltawhirl slam and top control which was one expected scenario and I think everybody started thinking ‘oh well’

    Alex blasted back in the 2nd keeping long range, beating Cormier to the punch, busting him up and taking HIM down TWICE. Cormier comes back late in the round with damaging uppercuts from collar tie, and all the sudden this fight was even and belonged with both their fights with Jones. 

    The 3rd ventured into epic territory with Cormier dominating most of the round and busting Alex up, mostly with those inside uppercuts, but at the very end of the round Alex floors Cormier with a massive knee and left hook and has the ref looking VERY close. This was each guy earning a 10-8 round, so I scored it 10-10. 

    The 4th was also hard to score, as Alex has by now successfully turned it into a boxing match, but isn’t necessarily winning. Cormier is the aggressor, but Alex is doing most of the landing, but very little left on his punches. Alex starts figuring out the uppercuts. Cormier landed a big clean right late and I thought that would tip the round on the cards but personally I thought it was even also..

    Both were battered and exhausted in the 5th, but Cormier kept his pace up and Alex’ output dropped severely, so Cormier clearly won the round. So you had Cormier clearly winning two rounds, Alex one, and two could have gone either way or even. I had 49-48 Cormier but I score rounds even when I think they are. One judge split the swing rounds, one gave both to Cormier, and one gave both to Gustaffson, so it ended up a 48-47 split, 49-46 SD for Cormier, who afterward thanked Gustaffson on the mic for ‘making me a better fighter and a better man’. Can sure make a case for Alex having been involved in the two best LHW fights ever. Great fight.

    Crimson Mask

    Thumbs down

    Best match: Sheamus and Rusev v. Ziggler and Orton

    Worst match: Cena v. Rollins

    While the show had its moments, the good bits were sparse and mostly featured the mid-card.  On the plus side, the opening tag match featured some excellent wrestling and The New Day cut an entertaining, creative promo.

    Outside of that, the in-ring action was disappointing, particularly the main event.  Having a good main event is tough as it is, but it might be impossible for Rollins and Cena to work a good WWE cage match.

    Casey Goldman

    How you doin’ Dave,

    Thought it was an ok show. As the show was going on I was very much disappointed, as I didn’t expect it to be a show mainly consisting of house show matches, in some cases reduced house show matches, as this was not the case with Beast In The East, but I felt the main event was very good, and given time to digest and understand what they were presenting I thought it was fine.

    In fact I enjoyed Rollins-Cena more than their outings at Summerslam or Night of Champions, as I myself like a methodical pace to my wrestling with bursts of increased tempo as I find it more captivating and dramatic, and also providing timing is good it usually produces greater importance and emphasis on moves and sequences, as well provides more time for selling. On the other end of the scale I thought the New Day-Dudleys finish was incredibly lazy, as we just recently saw the exact same finish.

    Another thing to note is that I did have some technical problems. Whenever I watch a PPV on the network I always do so on a 15-20 minute delay, as I have found that it largely prevents freezing you sometimes get, which can be particularly irritating mid-match. However on this occasion the stream stuttered throughout which was far from ideal. Whether the two were connected or it was the fault of my internet or otherwise I do not know, but I thought it was worth mentioning.    

    Thumbs In The Middle

    Best Match: Cena vs. Rollins

    Worst Match: Dudleys vs. New Day

    Thanks Dave

    Tom Griffiths

    Hi Dave,
      Just wanted to give some feedback on the live WWE show from MSG. I gave the show a thumbs up, it was a fun show to watch and just the feel and vibe of watching a show from Madison Square Garden is always awesome. Too bad they don’t run regular television from MSG very often, apparently due to financial reasons charged by MSG? But awesome to see a show from the “Mecca of professional wrestling” as the late great Gorilla Monsoon would always say. I think the best match of the night would be tie between the main event cage match and the I/C title match and the worst match of the night probably the Divas tag match since this “feud” with Page and her teammates really has no direction and is confusing, but I digress! lol

    1. Shemus / Rusev VS Orton / Ziggler – Good opening tag match to get the crowd going, didn’t think it really mattered who won this match, but a good opener as Orton and Ziggler get the win.

    2. Stardust VS Neville – Awesome Neville match as always, good to see Neville get the win. Not really digging the comic book aspect of this feud, but understand it since it’s geared for a younger audience really and seems to be a way of promoting the new video game coming out this month.

    3. Team Bella VS Team PBC – Um. Ok. This whole angle between both teams is just confusing and seems to lack focus. They need to get back on track with the divas revolution and have great divas matches for the title, not waste time with confusing angles and soap opera drama. They can do better then this and they have the talent, but choosing an off direction. Let’s see, Paige turns on her teammates for no reason, but continues to team with them, and then the match ends with her teammates turning on her. Waste of time trying to figure this out. Just get back to focusing on great matches for the title, especially with Charlotte as champion who is extremely talented.

    4. Jericho VS Owens for the I/C title. Great match, both competitors awesome. Jericho always has great matches and Owens is just incredibly talented and has really impressed with every match I’ve seen with him so far. I hope they keep the I/C title on him for a long time. Good win by Owens, gives him credibility for beating Jericho, and Jericho does not look bad or hurt by the loss since Jericho at this point in his career still looks good regardless if he wins or loses.

    5. New Day VS Dudley’s – Good tag match with two great teams. I was very annoyed by the New Day gimmick when the first started and just hated it. But amazingly these 3 guys were able to turn a goofy gimmick into a positive and actually make it work. As goofy as the New Day gimmick is, they are actually getting it over and it’s been entertaining and fun to watch. The Dudley’s are always impressive and their return to WWE has just been awesome so far. Good match with Dudley’s winning by DQ. It continues the feud for both teams which is a good thing.

    6. Lesnar / Big Show – Basically a squash match for Lesnar beating the crap out of Big Show but very good as it worked just watching Lesnar and his crazy strength throwing Big Show around like a rag doll. Lesnar seemed to be in a very good mood for once and appeared to be having fun which is a good thing. Awesome feats of strength as I’m sure picking up the Big Show is not an easy thing. But the crowd was way into it and it worked.

    7. Cena / Rollins cage match – Very good main event and good cage match. Sometimes cage matches don’t work and take away from the match. But these two have good matches with each other and good chemistry. Cena seems to be stepping it up lately with having good matches starting with his Owens feud. I’ve hated just about every Cena match in existence and I’m just tired of seeing the guy and having forced down our throats for so many years on TV. But my opinion really changed after his matches with Owens and Cesaro. Good win, but makes the champ look weak and Rollins needs to look as strong as possible as the champion. They already portray Rollins as a crybaby world champion who constantly complains, which seems to be the wrong direction in my opinion. And with Cena taking time off soon you would think it would make sense for him to drop the US title. Make Rollins a duel champion again as that seemed to work. Not sure where the Rollins and Kane feud can go,
     since that’s not really a match I want to see or an angle that is very interesting.

     Anyway, it was a good live show and great production by the network. Awesome promos about MSG cut by both Paul Heyman and Chris Jericho. The only negative of the show would have to be the announcing. The new guy Rich Brennen was actually not that bad and seemed to be doing well. But I can’t say the same for JBL or Bryan Saxton. JBL just babbles with his 30 year old references and he seemed to be hazing the new guy Brenned and Saxton just sat there not really saying much of anything. Bad announcing and commentary really takes away from the matches and the program and this seems’ to be happening way too often. But otherwise a great show and very entertaining.

    Thanks,
    Jon Southerland
    Clovis, Ca.

    Two thumbs up. A good solid show and then the main event happened which was just fantastic.

    Best fight: Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson. Again, really great stuff here. Back and forth match, and until the last round where they both gassed out, the entire fight was non-stop action. I had Cormier winning and was happy to see that he did. Judging was a bit odd, with one of the judges giving the fight to Cormier 49-46 which seemed odd, but the right man won either way in my eyes.

    Worst fight: Joseph Benavidez vs. Ali Bagautinov. Nothing really at all interesting happened here. The Magomedov fight wasn’t amazing either, but I seemed to be more into that one because you at least had the broken rib story going on there. Neither guy really tried to do anything crazy. Very safe fight that left everyone bored and booing in the building. Benavidez won, but this didn’t make me want to see him face Johnson anymore, if that’s what Dana was hoping for.

    Brandon Marshal

    Thumbs up
    Best Fight: Cormier vs. Gustafsson

    About as good as you can hope for from a card with five straight decisions. I had Cormier 49-46 but it was close. The UFC 193 promo at the end walked a fine line between genius and super cheesy but it came off on the right side of that. It should be really effective if enough people see it.

    Mike Hiscoe

    Overall: Thumbs up. My main question going into this event was will the live special be presented more like a PPV or more like a house show. In some ways it resembled both. Honestly, I think it provided a template for what a three hour RAW could be. Let the stories be told and developed in the ring, let the wrestling take precedence over the backstage drama and book finishes that accomplish the goals at hand without leaving the fans disappointed.

    Best Match: Very enjoyable cage match between Rollins and Cena. The Kane factor developed the story without compromising the drama and story be told in the ring.

    Worst Match: The Diva’s Tag was lame.

    1. Sheamus and Rusev vs. Ziggler and Orton. Standard formula tag match that built nicely to a hot tag and peaked with a climatic finish. I enjoyed the body slam story during the heat. A looser Orton who is enjoying himself is a better version of Randy Orton.

    -I can do without the RAW recap. Especially, being it is the third time I have seen the same replay in a week.

    2. Stardust vs. Neville. The action was crisp, the template was basic, the crowd was tepid.

    -Top notch Heyman mic work. No matter main stream press, tv promo, or ppv interview, the guy knocks it out of the park.

    3. Team Bella vs. PCB. The bulk of the match was slow. This is not a problem if the heat builds anticipation for the hot tag and consequential uptick in pacing. The story in the match prevented this from being the case. As a result, the crowd waited a long time to be disappointed.

    4. IC title match: Jericho vs. Owens. Heartfelt and crowd engaging promo from Jericho to start. Good to descent action throughout with some nice transitions and near falls towards the end.  I appreciate Owen’s  breaking the rules to retain the title. He is a heel who is good enough to be competitive, but needs to cheat to win. Good match.

    5. Tag Team Title: The New Day vs. Dudley Boys. The action in the match was enjoyable, the finish was lame. With that said, 1 lame finish on the show is better than every Raw. Moreover, if they did not want to switch the belts on this occasion, they accomplished the goal and gave the crowd a little extra something to pop for. 

    6. Big Show vs. Lesnar. Simple and effective in story and execution. Make Lesnar look vulnerable at the beginning, ensure he looks invisible by the end.

    7. US Title Match: Rollins vs. Cena. Deliberate pacing almost to a fault at the onset. The longer the match lasted, the better the action was. By the end, the drama was at an appropriate level for main event title match inside a cage In MSG. Great effort by Rollins and Cena and a fitting capstone to the event. The Kane factor effected the finish, but did not compromise the enjoyment of the match.

    Derrick Hubbard

  • TNA Salem, VA house show results (10-3): Ethan Carter, Matt Hardy, Drew Galloway

    Submitted by Chris Cawley

    – First match was gut check match between two “local” guys. Shawn Shultz went over on bigger guy didn’t catch his name. Not a great match and neither guy were local.

    – Mr Anderson over Tyrus: a lot of prematch shenanigans. Anderson tried to get heat by teasing the Funkasaurus and dancing. Finish came with a blatant low blow and sarcastic ref counting 3 super fast.

    – Gail Kim beat Awesome Kong via DQ. Solid stuff from these 2 as usual. Finish came when Kong grabbed ref by throat for chokeslam and Kong was DQ’d.

    – Earl Hebner HOF induction was next. It was really weird for this to be happening here. Earl is from Richmond and they made is seem like Richmond was “right down the road”. Billy Corgan came out for the presentation. Billy and Earl mentioned Dusty Rhodes a lot.

    – Bobby Roode over Eli Drake. Typical match. A lot of pre match mic work by Drake. Roode went over clean and afterwards shared a beer with Earl Hebner.

    – Kurt Angle over Eric Young. Nothing crazy or over the top. Good matchup. Angle went over clean with Angle slam.

    – The Wolves over Jesse Godderz and Andrew Everett. Probably longest match of the night. Only tag match on the card. Nothing too memorable. Wolves went over clean.

    – TNA Champion Ethan Carter went over Matt Hardy and Drew Galloway. Tyrus was at ringside for match. After match, EC3 got on mic and said those 2 weren’t going to make it to Bound For Glory and ordered Tyrus to help. Out came Jeff Hardy with a chair to even the odds. They laid EC3 on table, Galloway did a swanton, but the table didn’t break. They then laid him on the table again and Matt splashed EC3 through table to send the fans home happy.

    Submitted by Joshua Watkins

    Meet & Greet with Matt & Jeff Hardy before the show

    – Gut Check Dark Match:
    Shawn Shultz pins Eric Adams with a Tornado DDT (4:00)

    – Match #1:
    Mr. Anderson pins Tyrus with a blatant low blow and fast count from referee Brian Hebner (7:20)

    – Match #2: TNA Knockout’s Championship
    Gail Kim retains when Awesome Kong grabs referee Brian Stiffler for the DQ (4:00)
    Post-Match: Gail Kim lays out Awesome Kong with Eat Defeat

    – Earl Hebner Hall Of Fame Ceremony feat. Billy Corgan, Brian Hebner, Jeremy Borash, & the entire locker room. (Jeremy Borash made sure to mention that the TV cameras were there & that this will be shown on the Bound For Glory PPV)

    – Match #3: King Of The Mountain Championship
    TNA Hall Of Famer Earl Hebner counts 3 as Bobby Roode pins Eli Drake with the Roode Bomb to retain (15:00)

    *Best match of the night*
    – Match #4:
    Kurt Angle pins Eric Young with the Angle Slam (7:00)

    – Intermission –
    (I noticed people leaving at this point. Kurt Angle’s return was the main draw of this show.)

    – Match #5: TNA World Tag Team Championship
    The American Wolves (Eddie Edwards & Davey Richards) retain against Jessie Godderz & Andrew Everett
    Superkick/Suplex Tag Team Finish, Richards pins Everett (12:30)

    *Great match*

    – Match #6: Main Event: TNA World Heavyweight Championship Three-Way
    Drew Galloway vs Matt Hardy vs Ethan Carter III (c) w/ Tyrus
    Tyrus pulls the ref out of the ring, EC3 hits Matt Hardy with the Title Belt for the pin to retain. (10:20)
    Post-Match: EC3 & Tyrus beat down Matt Hardy & Drew Galloway until Jeff Hardy makes the save with a steel chair.

    The Hardy’s put EC3 on a table, Galloway attempted a swanton but the table didn’t break, then Matt Hardy splashes EC3 through the table.

  • WWE Superstars results (10/2): The Lucha Dragons vs. The Ascension, 5 minutes of Cesaro

    The Big Takeaway:

    Cesaro lifted this show to a whole other (better) level with inventive and fun moves, beating Heath Slater. The Lucha Dragons went 100mph to steal one against The Ascension. Again.

    Show Recap:

    Cesaro beat Heath Slater (5:00)

    Cesaro sections are out in droves and yet he’s here on this show. Well, all the better for me. And Heath Slater, actually, who he made look good here. They start out with wrist lock exchanges and Cesaro gets out of Slater’s by using a series of forward rolls round the ring. The crowd cheers on command. Cesaro just has to raise an eyebrow and people respond. So, Cesaro puts Slater in his own wrist lock and of course Slater tries the same, but gets cut off and thrown down to the mat. Then Cesaro puts him in a body scissors and then turns him over and over making Slater dizzy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone does this.

    He waits behind the woozy Slater and then pounces on him with a European uppercut and covers him for two. Slater then rolls on the apron and shoulder barges Cesaro through the ropes to the gut and then chokes him with ropes. He comes back in and hits Cesaro with a super kick and covers him for two. Slater is annoyed and so starts to use forearm clubs to Cesaro’s neck and then puts him in a rear chin lock.

    Cesaro gets out and starts to just dominate Slater with European uppercuts: running uppercuts, standing ones, drving ones, until he raises his finger to go for one more and Slater blocks it. Cesaro recovers and puts Slater into the Giant Swing for 30 reps and then locks in the Sharpshooter to make Slater tap.

    The Ascension beat The Lucha Dragons (6:46)

    I’m a little bit sick of this match now, there was a period where this was literally the main on this show every single week. We’ve had a reprieve but now its back. The Lucha Dragons are fine and can be really fun to watch but The Ascension slow everything down and make it fairly dull.

    Konnor and Kalisto square off. Kalisto chases around the big guy and Konnor gets tired off this and so tags in Viktor. He gets hurricanrana’d, and then Sin Cara comes in and hits Viktor with a seated senton followed by a missile drop kick from Kalisto. Viktor kicks out of the cover and tags in Konnor who works over Sin Cara. Sin Cara hits two springboard cross bodies but on the second Viktor blind tags himself in and cuts off Sin Cara’s heat as we head to a break.

    When we return, Viktor dumps Sin Cara outside and then goes out to slap and pummel him. Konnor tags in and puts on a rear chin lock. Kalisto meanwhile is cheerleading, desperate for the hot tag. Viktor comes in and they double-team Sin Cara with a Stinger Splash from Konnor into a drop kick from Viktor. Sin Cara finally dodges a charge and Viktor gets posted. Sin Cara goes for the tag but Konnor has snuck round and pulls Kalisto off the apron.

    Finally, Kalisto gets the heat and comes in and hits Viktor with the Salida del Sol. Then he hits a cross body on Konnor, followed by an enzugiri. Konnor rolls outside and they set up for Sin Cara to dive through the ropes on to him. Konnor doesn’t catch him and I mean is barely near to him. It looks like it sucks for poor Sin Cara. In the ring, Viktor gets sunset flip powerbombed by Kalisto who hooks the leg to snatch a three count for the win. Good little match in the end.

  • NJPW & Revolution Pro Wrestling 10-3 Reading, ENG: AJ Styles vs Jushin Liger

    Submitted by Jan Buxton

    Rivermead Leisure Complex, Reading, England
    3/10/15

    Tetsuya Naito beat Kushida and Martin Kirby
    Lord Gideon Grey beat Gedo
    Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima beat Joel Redman and Mark Haskins
    Shinsuke Nakamura beat Marty Scurll
    Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows beat Sha Samuels and James Castle by DQ
    Kazuchika Okada beat  Will Ospreay
    Hiroshi Tanahashi beat  Big Damo
    AJ Styles beat  Jushin Thunder Liger to retain the RPW British Heavyweight Title

    Not as good of a show as last night with the different venue and a quieter crowd but still a solid show. Okada vs Ospreay was match of the night, very good indeed. Nakamura-Scurll and the 3 way opener were good as well, Naito’s heel gimmick is just great. Gedo and Kojima had fun playing to the crowd in their respective matches, and Styles-Liger was a satisfyingly good first time ever dream match up.