WWN Mercury Rising 2016
April 2nd, 2016 | Eddie Deen’s Ranch in Dallas, Texas
The World Wrestling Network hosts a slew of wrestling promotions from Evolve to SHIMMER to FIP to SHINE. In 2015 they ran Mercury Rising, a super show that showcased a little bit of everything they had to offer. This was the sequel and it ran the night before WrestleMania 32.
Lenny Leonard and Rob Naylor opened the show again but quickly got to things and brought out Zack Sabre Jr. He got on the microphone and wanted to waste no time in taking on Chris Hero.
Best in the World Challenge Series: Chris Hero def. Zack Sabre Jr. in 26:51
The fifth and final match of Sabre’s “Best in the World” challenge saw Sabre face one man that has had his number in the past. Hero even beat Sabre at Evolve 48 in a match that ranked 46th in my Top 100 Matches of 2015 list. Sabre was 3-1 entering this in the series, losing to Matt Riddle at Evolve 59 earlier in the day. I found this to be similar to the Evolve 48 match in a good way. Sabre is always in control when he wrestles, but something about Hero and his hard hitting style messes him up. There was a lot of fighting around ringside which helped it be different from their last encounter. We even got to see Sabre get a little hardcore and bring a steel chair into play as he aggressive targeted Hero’s arm. Sabre did everything he could to power up and take the strikes like a man, showing he could hang with Hero. He fought valiantly but a sickening series of elbows to the back of the head put Sabre down for the count. This was a great start to the show, though I’m unsure what this does for Sabre. He still can’t beat Hero and doesn’t really get to call himself the best in the world after it. Maybe Hero wins the Evolve Title down the line and Sabre dethrones him. This was on par with their previous match and not on the level with Sabre/Ospreay from Evolve 58. ****¼
Evolve Tag Team Champion Drew Gulak w/ Catch Point def. Fred Yehi in 9:19
Surprised to see TJP with Catch Point still considering he signed with Stokely Hathaway. Gulak and Tray Williams won the Evolve Tag Team Titles earlier in the day at Evolve 59. I’ve never really gotten into Gulak but I’ve enjoyed just about everything I’ve seen from Yehi. They had a match at Evolve 56, where Gulak refused to shake Yehi’s hand because he had not earned his respect. They spent the entire match grappling on the mat which worked to the strengths of both competitors. The style isn’t for everyone but I liked most of what we got here. Gulak destroyed the leg and Yehi sold it like a champ for the most part. Gulak caught Yehi in a dragon sleeper and made him tap. I wish the finish involved a leg submission but that’s not a huge issue. While it wasn’t stellar, I found this to be a good match that told the story it needed to. ***¼
After the match, Drew Gulak offered Fred Yehi a spot in Catch Point, showing that he seems to have found some respect for him. Yehi accepted to a big pop, though I thought they were heels. Anyway, this sounds cool as it gives Yehi something to do.
Evolve Tag Team Champion Tracy Williams def. Matt Riddle in 12:41
Catch Point stayed at ringside but since both participants are part of the group, I didn’t list them accompanying anyone. Riddle has beaten Tracy before so Tray wanted a shot to beat him. This followed a similar style to their past for the most part, but I really liked Williams going outside of his comfort zone outside of desperation. He did a dive off the top to the outside which is very uncharacteristic for him and showed how much he wanted to win. Things picked up near the end as Riddle hit a badass knee and fisherman buster. Williams and Riddle were competitive throughout and their chemistry is tremendous. Williams scored the huge win by making Riddle submit to a crossface, which was the first clean submission loss for Riddle. A damn good match from two guys that are certainly on my must see list for the rest of the year. ***¾
Williams and Riddle shook hands afterwards because Catch Point is all about competition. I dig friendly rivalries.
Anything Goes Match: Ethan Page def. Anthony Nese in 13:09
Anthony Nese has been a dick and called Ethan Page fat, leading to this. Commentary played up reformed good guy Page working with anti-bullying foundations in Canada. A chair was the main weapon of use in this thing. Nese nearly killed Page when he hit a moonsault that crushed Page’s skull into the chair. The problem here was that there wasn’t much heat for Nese’s offense. They brought a ladder in as Page started to turn things around. I appreciated that they worked their way up to bigger spots as the match advanced. Page powerbombed Nese onto a ladder and then followed with a package piledriver to win. Commentary incorrectly said the move was done onto chairs but it wasn’t. I liked this match. They did good with the stipulation and it turned out better than expected. My main gripe is that the crowd didn’t seem to hate Nese enough. Their lack of care for him led to some of the heat not getting the response they wanted. The two men hugged it out post-match. ***½
Lenny Leonard brought out Terry Funk to a great reaction. They’re paying tribute to him and he’s soon joined by Sabu, Mick Foley and I Dream of Jeanie. Foley said that he could be at the Hall of Fame but decided not to go so he could pay tribute to Terry. Earl Cooter and Larry Dallas showed up and talked some smack. Obviously, it wasn’t going to go well. They attacked Foley and the legends turned it around, though it was mostly Funk. Sabu got to throw a hair and Foley busted out Socko. It was a fun little segment.
They took an intermission here as some of the talents were just arriving after WrestleCon and needed a break.
Shine Championship: Taylor Made (c) w/ Andrea and SoCal Val def. Nicole Matthews in 8:02
Originally, Ivelisse was scheduled to face Taylor Made for the title but suffered an injury. Latasha, who I’ve never seen before, was going to step in. She’s undefeated in Shine but won most by countout and such according to commentary. Andrea kicked her ass and former SHIMMER Champion Nicole Matthews stepped in to get the shot, which I loved because I truly love Matthews. She’s my favorite female wrestler not signed to the WWE. Matthews attacked right at the start. Her ring gear is certainly odd. She hit a decent looking dive to the outside and I’d say that was the highlight. This never clicked the way that I hoped. Taylor Made didn’t impress me and I wouldn’t consider this one of Matthews’ better outings. Matthews had things in hand with a Liontamer but Andrea and Val got involved, opening the door for Taylor to win with a cutter. Disappointing to say the least. The first thing on the show that really lacked. **
FIP Championship: Caleb Konley (c) w/ Andrea and SoCal Val def. Gary Jay, Jason Cade and FIP Florida Heritage Champion Maxwell Chicago in 13:13
I remember seeing the FIP Title get defended in matches involving Roderick Strong, Erick Stevens, Go Shiozaki and Necro Butcher. Good times. A commentator from FIP took over and constantly pushed that the title is considered a “world” title. It got rather annoying. Like, we get it. I did like them mentioning past champions like Bryan Danielson, to hype the prestige. Chicago is an interesting character who did a lot of comedy throughout. Some of it was good and some of it was lame. The star of this match was Cade. I liked what little I saw of him before this, but he stood out as the clear cut guy to see in this. Konley retained after a second rope Michinoku Driver on Chicago. This worked as a fine little showcase for FIP but isn’t a must see match. **¾
Evolve Championship: Timothy Thatcher (c) def. Sami Callihan in 16:22
I mostly enjoy Timothy Thatcher’s work but Sami Callihan has been rather lackluster since coming back from his NXT run. Commentary reminded us of Thatcher’s arm injury and he was sporting a pad. Proving he’s tough, Thatcher used the bad elbow to lay out Sami at the bell. Sami worked the arm and some of what they did was smart but man, it just dragged on. Hero and Sabre went for 20+ minutes before it started to feel long but this felt that way after about five minutes. It came off as dull, which is really disappointing since I really liked a lot of Thatcher’s stuff usually. He survived the Cuerno Killer and retained with a headbutt in an anti-climactic finish. I wasn’t feeling this and it’s a shame that after a great 2015, Thatcher’s 2016 has lacked. **¼
Catch Point came out and Drew Gulak got on the microphone. Gulak put over the Evolve Title and said that as a champion, Thatcher is a disgrace. Gulak holds several wins over Thatcher. Thatcher said that he will defend the title against each member of Catch Point and laid down the title. It seemed like he dropped the belt but apparently, he just won’t physically hold the belt until he beats them all.
Johnny Gargano, Kota Ibushi and TJP w/ Stokely Hathaway def. Marty Scurll, Tommy End and Will Ospreay in 22:47
Well this was just pure fun. Everyone that worked together put on one hell of a performance but the show was stolen when we got to see Will Ospreay take on Kota Ibushi. The reaction of the commentators, crowd and other wrestlers when they realized it was going to happen was special. Honestly, there was so much going on that it would be too hard to cover everything. Just know that all six guys worked their asses off to produce a spectacular main event. They managed to turn things around after a soft middle of the show. Near the end, things truly picked up and we even got to see Ibushi and Ospreay dive off of a stage near the crowd. The finish came as Gargano had the Gargano Escape locked in while TJP and Ibushi both took out Ospreay. Ibushi finished him off with a powerbomb. This was a great way to end the show and truly defined what a fun match could be. I’ve really missed Kota Ibushi and it’s great to see him back in action in 2016. ****¼
Johnny Gargano closed things with a promo on Drew Galloway turning on him at Evolve 59. He then put over the match and Evolve, saying it was special because he, TJP and Ibushi competed at Evolve 1.
Overall: 7.5/10. The two shows that I ordered from WWN over WrestleMania weekend were both really good shows that fell just short of being great. This one got off to a very hot start as Hero/Sabre and Riddle/Williams were both damn good, while Yehi/Gulak and Page/Nese were good and brought something different to the table. The show hit a rough patch after intermission and headed downhill before ending with a major bang. Well worth a look, especially since the good on the show happens to be really damn good.
Evolve 58
April 1st, 2016 | Dallas, Texas
They got right into things as Lenny Leonard and Rob Naylor introduced the show. They brought out the first and only Evolve Tag Team Champions, Drew Galloway and Johnny Gargano. Gargano’s shirt said his name though it was stylized to look like it does on NXT. According to Galloway, they set an attendance record here and he thanked the fans for putting him and Evolve on the map. They call this “wrestling week”, not “Mania week”. Gargano brings out a special corner man for them and it’s Kota Ibushi, who was on the first ever Evolve show.
Evolve Tag Team Championship: Drew Galloway and Johnny Gargano (c) w/ Kota Ibushi def. The Premiere Athlete Brand w/ Andrea and So Cal Val in 12:07
If the Premiere Athlete Brand, Caleb Konley and Anthony Nese, lost they would be forced to never team again. With high stakes like that, it made sense for the Premiere Athlete Brand to attack early. I saw the official call for the opening bell twice but never heard it. Everybody bawled outside for a while but once inside, Gargano started to take the heat. Galloway came in hot, hitting everything that moved. The Premiere Athlete Brand overcame that to bust out some cool double team moves. The heels tried to cheat but good guy Ethan Page showed up to stop them. That set up the finishing sequence, where Galloway hit a wheelbarrow slam into the Gargano Escape. Konley tapped out but the referee didn’t call the match. There was confusion so Galloway put Konley in the hold and he tapped again. More confusion as the official didn’t call for it again, only to raise Gargano’s hand anyway. Kudos to Galloway and Gargano, who tried to save it by playing out a version of what could have been a “dramatic finish” to make the fans happy. The match itself was good but got hurt by the bad finish. ***
Commentary discussed the current top five in the rankings for Evolve right now. I wasn’t able to hear much of this unfortunately. That lasted a while though it may have been to stall for some tech issues. I heard there were a fair few. Matt Riddle came out and called out Evolve Champion Timothy Thatcher, leading to a match.
Evolve Championship: Timothy Thatcher (c) vs. Matt Riddle went to a no contest in 15:51
Timothy Thatcher handed Matt Riddle his first loss in an Evolve Title match a few weeks earlier at Evolve 56. I didn’t see it but I hear disappointing things about that match. There was a good story being told by commentary here. They said that Riddle wants to be signed by the WWE but was told by William Regal that he needs to win the Evolve Championship first. These two wrestled the kind of match you’d expect from them as we saw a ton of grappling. By the way, leg submissions look great on Riddle since he competes barefoot. They traded holds and strikes but none of it really seemed to get the crowd into it. It fell flat for the most part. Then, to make matters worse, we got another confusing finish. Riddle seemed to injure Thatcher’s arm when he should have broken the hold. Riddle grabbed the title as the bell was called but the referee deemed it a no contest. A disappointing match with a bad finish. **
Marty Scurll def. Fred Yehi in 10:01
Both of these guys were involved in some great matches already this year (Scurll/Ospreay from RPW and Yehi/Williams from Evolve 53). Scurll started hot and did some of his signature stuff. He seemed to be the more aggressive competitor until Yehi laid into him with relentless stomps. It was a nice turnaround in the match. Yehi had the chicken wing well scouted early and tried to do it to Marty at one point. I’ve mentioned before that I like the fact that you can hear a lot during Evolve matches and it came into play again as it sounded like Marty broke Fred’s wrist and fingers on two occasions. Shortly after that, Scurll locked in the chicken wing and Fred tapped. This was a good match that I wanted to like a bit more. Both guys did well though and it was my favorite thing on the show to this point. ***¼
Sami Callihan def. Ethan Page in 10:39
For those unaware, Ethan Page is in the midst of an angle where he is trying to win back the fans’ support after a heel turn a while back. His character work in this time from what I’ve seen has been really good. Callihan started quickly, aggressively attacking from the start. In a flat out disgusting moment, he spit on his hand, showed the fans and then chopped Page. Surprisingly, things slowed down when the babyface took over, which you don’t see often. I liked it here for that reason. They picked it back up as they neared the conclusion. Callihan survived the Spinning Dwayne and won with the cinder block. Solid enough match. I keep enjoying the Page angle but also not really enjoying much of Callihan’s post Solomon Crowe run. Something about this pairing was off. **½
TJ Perkins def. Ricochet in 14:32
Perkins used to wrestle as Puma, while Ricochet wrestlers for Lucha Underground as Prince Puma. Ricochet got his named chanted in the style of “New Day rocks” and did a little gyrating himself. Commentary hyped Ricochet as a big deal, saying they took him for granted a while back and considered themselves lucky for having him on early shows. He used his athleticism to his advantage before paying homage to the Rock and Steve Austin. Perkins wasn’t amused and decided to ground Ricochet. Going after the legs of a high flyer is always a great strategy. The leg work was well done and Ricochet sold well at times. At other times, he still hit big offensive moves. However, the leg work played into the finish as Ricochet’s knee buckled after coming off the top and Perkins made him tap to a heel hook. The crowd (and myself) was surprised at the outcome and I thought it was great. ****
Stokely Hathaway of Ring of Honor fame showed up. He handed TJ Perkins a contract, which TJ instantly signed. Hathaway had a message for Triple H, saying that if he wanted the best cruiserweights for the Global Cruiserweight Series, he needs to call TJP (which he seemed to now be rebranded to). He told HHH to call soon because they have options.
Best in the World Series: Zack Sabre Jr. def. Will Ospreay in 16:32
Zack Sabre Jr. is out to prove that he’s the best in the world, so he asked for a series of matches. So far he beat the “icon” Gargano and the “technician” Drew Gulak. This is the “flyer” (his last two are against Riddle and Hero). Ospreay is a prodigy as one of the best flyers in the world at just 22 and already set for a big Jr. Heavyweight Title with NJPW in about a week. Although Sabre is the superior mat worker, Ospreay had the upper hand in that category at times before using his athleticism to take an even bigger advantage. Sabre didn’t stay in trouble for too long and turned it around by twisting Ospreay like a pretzel. Sabre’s confidence when in control was great as he’d taunt Ospreay and to the crowd. Some of the things these guys did would honestly be too tough to explain in detail. I found myself wowed several times as the match progressed. A highlight came when Sabre caught a standing shooting star press into a triangle choke. The finishing stretch was fantastic and saw Sabre nail a Liger Bomb. Ospreay kicked out at one, but Sabre held on for an absurdly badass double arm submission that made Ospreay tap out. An incredible, must see match between my two favorite British pro wrestlers. Up there with Sabre/Strong last year as my favorite Evolve match ever. ****½
Chris Hero and Tommy End came out for their match while Sabre was still in the ring. Hero put Sabre over but said that he still hadn’t beaten him. Sabre tapped him on the cheek and said that he would tomorrow.
Catch Point (Drew Gulak and Tracy Williams) w/ TJP def. Heroes Eventually Die (Chris Hero and Tommy End) in 27:46
After the amazing match that preceded the main event, this had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, it fell way short. That’s not me saying this was bad, because it was actually a really solid tag team match, it just didn’t come anywhere near the level of the previous two matches. Heroes Eventually Die held serve early with their hard hitting offense. Hero is fantastic in his role as the badass of the indies. Catch Point rallied with their strong suit, going to the mat. That worked to wear down their bigger opponents. The last few minutes were great as both teams utilized their teamwork to go to war. When all seemed lost, Gulak applied a dragon sleeper on End that finished it off. The finish came from out of nowhere and I feel like the match went way too long. It was solid but felt underwhelming as a main event. ***¼
After the match, Hathaway came back out to take TJP away from his Catch Point buddies.
Overall: 7/10. This was a really good show that had some issues to keep it from being great. Right off the bat, the bad and confusing finishes to the first two matches really got things started on the wrong foot. The show turned around and finished with a bang. The last three matches are all good. Sabre/Ospreay is absolutely must see and can’t miss, while Ricochet/Perkins was also great. Most of the show is definitely worth a look.
We get the usual recap montage of recent events. The focus is on the story line involving Joey Ryan and Officer Reyes, the Sexy Star/Moths angle and Matanza killing Pentagon last week.
Vampiro is standing at a sink when Dario Cueto comes up to him. He calls him Vampiro, Pentagon's master. He knows that a part of Vampiro wants to beat him up and go after Matanza. Vampiro says all of him wants to, not just a part. Dario says that Pentagon is lucky to be alive and if Vampiro tries something, he may not be so lucky. Dario says Vampiro is valuable to him as the voice of LU and tells him not to make the same mistake as Pentagon. Vampiro stares at the pills in his hands and takes a few.
We see Ryan and Reyes with their captain. The captain is happy that Dario is back and Ryan takes credit for it. She wants hard evidence on the stuff Dario has been doing. Ryan introduced himself to Dario and got entered into the Trios Tournament, alongside the Crew. If you forgot, Officer Reyes is Cortez Castro of the Crew.
Ivelisse def. Kobra Moon in 6:29
Pardon me, but there's a lot of booty in this match. They started with some nice back and forth. Kobra Moon hisses while doing offense which is a nice little touch. Both girls showed off a fair amount of submission ability and it became a game of trying to one up each other. Ivelissed fired up and busted out a T-Bone suplex. After an exchange of kicks, Ivelisse nailed Code Red and handed Kobra Moon her first loss. A fun opener and easily the best showing for Kobra Moon so far. **3/4
A vignette is shown for Killshot. He talks about being a sniper, which is how he got the name. He has 37 confirmed kills. "All bad guys. Or so they told me." He was put on an elite squad that had to do hand to hand combat as well. He talks about being prisoner for 13 months by his enemies until he escaped. He we clips of him killing the men that held him captive. He's also unsure if his brothers made it out since, according to the government, they never existed. It was a great piece to shine more light on Killshot.
FAMOUS B TIME! He gives Mascarita Sagrada his card to make him famous. Call 423-GET-FAME! He passes by Sexy Star and the Mack. It's weird when Mack says "Hey Sexy" beause it sounds like he's hitting on her. He says that Dario put him on a team with Mariposa and Marty for the tournament. He wants Sexy Star to accompany him to the ring but she declines as she hears the cackling laugh of the Moths in her head.
Trios Tournament: Cortez Castro, Joey Ryan and Mr. Cisco def. The Mack, Mariposa and Marty Martinez in 8:32
Joey Ryan as a slimy undercover cop is so perfect. No word on what the winner of the tournament gets, but we all love Dario's "unique opportunities." The crowd was actually into Cortez Castro and the Crew, which was very different. Cisco even showed respect to Mack. Ryan came in and asked for Mariposa, who he flirted with at first before getting serious. Mariposa got a lot of shine here, which was great. The Moths seemed to ignore Mack and stopped tagging him in. Mack decided to tag himself in and entered with hot tag offense. Things broke down into a brawl and Mack took out everyone with a front flip senton. Marty tagged himself in, leading to a chop exchange with Mack, who just decided to him him with a Stunner. That allowed the Crew to hit their finish and Ryan got the pin, taking all of the credit. A lot of fun in this match. Non-stop action and, the bigger key, fantastic character work from everyone involved. Ryan and Marty nail their characters. ***1/2
Mariposa let out her frustrations by attacking the Mack after the bell. Sexy Star slides in to stop this but still looks scared of Mariposa. Sexy fires up and lays into Mariposa with chops. She tosses Mariposa by her hair. Marty makes the save and I sense a tag match coming soon.
Dragon Azteca Jr. is seen outside. Rey Mysterio comes up to him and knows that he wants to take out Matanza for what happened to his father. Rey says that Matanza kicked his ass in Aztec Warfare so he should worry about fighting for honor and not revenge. Rey says that they got a spot in the Trios Tournament. Dragon asks who their partner is and Prince Puma comes up. He simply says "me", which I believe is his first word said on TV. That teams should be fun.
Lucha Underground Championship: Matanza Cueto (c) w/ Dario Cueto def. Fenix in 4:46
The fans absolutely believed in Fenix and they have every right to since he has overome some big odds in the past. Fenix fought valiantly throughout, giving plenty of hope spots but Matanza is too dominant. Fenix tried a handspring elbow but got caught in a sick German suplex. Matanza was a monster again and won with Wrath of the Gods. A really fun match despite being a relative squash. Similar to the Mil/Ivelisse match from the season premiere, this told a great story. ***
Dario loved the violence and wanted Matanza to continue to assault Fenix. Catrina appeared atop the steps to stop Matanza. With him distracted, Mil Muertes entered the ring and sent Matanza packing, doing the most damage to him so far. Dario convinced Matanza to leave and we were left to ponder if Catrina sent Mil out there to not just go after Matanza, but also to save Fenix, who she has a past with.
Overall: 8/10. Man, Lucha Underground delivered again. We were treated to a fun little opening contest, very strong Trios Tournament match and great storytelling in the main event. I thought that we got some fantastic character development for a lot of people and even some of the best vignettes/segments all season long. A very easy to watch hour of wrestling.
If you do want to check out Lucha Underground, which you absolutely should, and don't get El Rey Network (like me), you can sign up for the streaming service Fubo.TV. It's a great way to support the company and channel while streaming the show online. You can sign up and get Lucha Underground right here at Fubo.TV!
PWG All-Star Weekend XI Night Two
December 12th, 2015 | Reseda, California
Following a pretty good night one, PWG looked to end its year with night two of All-Star Weekend. While there would be no PWG Title match on this show, there was a massive Guerilla Warfare main event.
Chuck Taylor def. Kikutaro in 9:26
I first saw Kikutaro in Ring of Honor, working some fun spots with Delirious. Kikutaro cut a promo about how happy he was to be in PWG. He tricked Taylor into a handshake, only to get pinned instantly. It seemed like it would all be over in three seconds but he got Taylor to come back out and restart things. They teased the same finish again before having a good old fashioned comedy match. Sometimes comedy in wrestling is done really well and this was one of those occasions. So many things to laugh at and they creatively even used referee Rick Knox in several spots, including a few involving low blows. Taylor won via a pinning combination in the definition of a fun opening contest. ***
After the match, Kikutaro cut another promo, saying he was going to stay in the United States. Mount Rushmore ran in and attacked him from behind. All they basically said after was that if you aren’t down with what they did, they got two words for you. Suck it.
Timothy Thatcher def. Marty Scurll in 17:06
Okay, this had my attention. Two really good guys, especially Thatcher, who I’ve grown to truly enjoy. I found their styles to mesh rather well. Both guys are talented grapplers but Scurll showcases more charisma, while Thatcher is a no nonsense kind of guy. It was great that Thatcher allowed Scurll to get into his antics, not giving a fuck. A vast majority of the match took place on the mat and that was good since both guys know what they’re doing there. Scurll escaped the armbar, while Thatcher survived the chicken wing. Scurll made a crucial mistake in the end, slapping Thatcher around. Chris Hero warned that was a bad idea on commentary and it rang true. An angry Thatcher leveled Scurll with a headbutt that wouldn’t have been out of place in a Shibata/Ishii match and won. While they were relatively even on the mat, it was Thatcher’s striking ability that made the different. ***¾
The Unbreakable F’n Machines def. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in 16:31
While I didn’t fully enjoy the Unbreakable F’n Machines on night one, they were more fun here. I loved them switching off on stalling vertical suplexes on Gargano, though doing it to Ciampa too was a bit much. Gargano and Ciampa kind of worked as the heels, especially Ciampa, who would mock his opponents with pushups and squats. It worked because the fans were into the power offense of the Machines. At one point, they caught Gargano on a tope and threw him into Ciampa when he tried one. Not something you see every day. When I watch Elgin and Cage, I want to see them wreck shit and they did that here. A flurry of power moves, ending with a powerbomb from Elgin made the Machines 2-0 this weekend. Things were much better here with about five less minutes than on night one. ***¼
Ricochet def. Mark Andrews in 10:48
Two of the more athletically gifted wrestlers around did battle here. As you would want from these two, they played right into that from the start. It was kind of insane to see somebody match Ricochet in the department that he excels at. They just bounced and flipped around the ring like crazy. Andrews nailed three straight Frankensteiner variations, all of which came off effortlessly. This style of match isn’t for everyone and shouldn’t be done all the time but I liked it here. It was the first really spot heavy match on the card and it accomplished its job. Two guys went out and stuck to their strong suit. After tons of fast paced action, Ricochet won with the Benadryller. A fun sprint that got the right amount of time. ***¼
Trevor Lee def. Matt Sydal in 13:18
As he did on night one, Trevor Lee attempted to attack Matt Sydal before the bell but someone did their homework and avoided it. That gave Sydal a short upper hand but things were really fun when Lee started to just kick his ass. He did a really strong job of hitting Sydal hard and grounding him. Sydal made the babyface comeback, which he’s pretty good at it. Lee barely nailed his backflip powerslam. It’s such a potentially dangerous move. Their finishing stretch was great, but not on the level of Lee/Ospreay from a night earlier. Sydal hit a funky reverse rana and tried the Shooting Sydal Press. Lee avoided it for a second time, but this time he got his knees up instead of rolling away. Using that, he pulled Sydal into an inside cradle to steal it. I thought this was a good match and I continue to find himself rather impressed by Lee. ***½
Kenny Omega def. Will Ospreay in 16:19
Yea, there was a ton of hype surrounding this match. Their early back and forth was good and was highlighted by Ospreay blocking a Fameasser like move with a handstand. Seriously, it was kind of jaw dropping to witness. Like Omega/Bailey last night, this had some comedy (Omega giving Ospreay a titty twister was a highlight) but not too much. There were tons of fast paced exchanges, counters and near falls throughout this and the crowd ate every single one up. Near the end, they teased the same finish from the last match as Omega got his knees up on an Ospreay top rope move and pulled him into a small package. Ospreay rolled through into his own for a near fall. He then fell victim to the One Winged Angel and Omega walked away as the winner. That Ospreay guy; he’s pretty great. If I would have actually seen it in 2015, this would have made my “Top 100 Matches of the Year” list, along with Ospreay/Lee from night one. ***¾
Guerilla Warfare
Candice LaRae, Chris Hero, Joey Ryan and Mike Bailey def. Mt. Rushmore 2.0 (Adam Cole, Roderick Strong and the Young Bucks) in 26:18
This got off to a very chaotic start. Roderick Strong cut a promo before he and Adam Cole took out the referee and ring announcer. The faces hit the ring and everybody just brawled in and around the ring. Things stayed chaotic with tons of dives and action throughout. Poor Joey Ryan had thumbtacks poured into his trunks and then got superkicked in the dick. Ouch. Some things worked better than others. A quadruple attack (three superkicks and a Strong knee) from Mt. Rushmore was good but the double Indytaker outside fell flat for example. Excalibur got targeted but didn’t give a fuck and dove off the stage where he does commentary. Once he got taken out, Cole and Strong posed when the lights went out. The crowd erupted as they came on and Kyle O’Reilly was in the ring. Kyle has a longstanding feud with former partner Cole and it was Strong that took the PWG Title from him a year earlier. He was involved in the match the rest of the way. Strong nearly killed Candice with a sick kick and an insane chair spot. Kyle and Roddy basically got taken out when they went through a table together. Finally, Matt Jackson got what was coming to him as Rick Knox and Joey Ryan combined on a doomsday device on him (Knox did the clothesline), Excalibur got him as well and then Hero laid him out with a thumbtack filled elbow pad to pick up the win. A great, chaotic main event that was pretty much exactly what it needed to be. Sometimes, the good guys do have to win and it should feel as big as it did here. ****¼
Overall: 8/10. A better show than night one. Highlighted by a great main event and two standout matches in Omega/Ospreay and Thatcher/Scurll, this show mostly ruled. In fact, impressively, nothing on the card got under three stars and there was an impressive blend of styles throughout the night. You had your high flying spotfests, mat based stuff, comedy, tag team matches and a massive war to end the show with the added bonus of a cool surprise return in the end. I’d have to go back and check my BOLA reviews but this might have been better.
1) Shinsuke Nakamura: WrestleMania weekend always features some big moments. I know that Roman Reigns won the WWE Title but a lot more than just accomplishments goes into picking my top choice. Shinsuke Nakamura made his long awaited debut at TakeOver: Dallas and more than stole the show. Nakamura got to be himself and faced Sami Zayn in what should go down as a classic. It was the best match I've seen in the WWE since Bayley vs. Sasha last year and not since Punk/Cena at MITB 2011 before that. Nakamura got a big win and came off like a major star throughout the entire match. On a weekend full of good to great wrestling, this was easily the best thing I saw the entire time. If you haven't watched the match already, go do so. Nakamura is a star.
2) Zack Sabre Jr.: One of the only guy to have multiple wins over WrestleMania weekend was Zack Sabre Jr. Will Ospreay and Ricochet did so as well, but only Sabre went 3-0. First, he took on Ospreay in an absolutely thrilling match that should be big in helping get the greatness that is British wrestling, over in America. That was at Evolve 58. At Evolve 59 he continued his "Best in the World" series by defeating Matt Riddle in another highly touted match. Then, to top it all off, at the WWN Supershow "Mercury Rising", Sabre beat the one man that he hasn't been able to defeat, Chris Hero. It was a huge weekend for Sabre, who should be nearing another shot at the Evolve Championship soon. 2016 might just be the year of Sabre.
3) American Alpha: Again, there were plenty of good to great matches throughout the weekend. Charlotte won a great women's match and nearly made the list. However, I'm going with American Alpha here. They got things kick started for the WWE by opening TakeOver: Dallas with a win in a great match against the Revival. It not only marked the first NXT Tag Team Title win for the duo but it also showed that NXT was finally set to give the belts to the right team. They never did it with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady but putting the straps on Chad Gable and Jason Jordan was absolutely the right move.
4) Roman Reigns: Normally, winning the WWE World Title at WrestleMania would easily earn you the top spot. However, as noted earlier, this list is about more than accomplishments. The quality of that main event match was pretty bad, hurting Roman Reigns' chances of ranking higher. Still, he did win the main event of Wrestle freaking Mania, so I couldn't completely leave him off. Reigns captured his third WWE World Heavyweight Title in the span of five months, complete with a cocky smile to the fans as he celebrated. For the first time of those three title wins, it seems like this one will actually lead to a sustained run with the title. I'm curious about how they play this and who his challengers will be.
5) Zack Ryder: If you would have told me a week ago that I'd be putting Zack Ryder ahead of the likes of Sami Zayn, Sasha Banks, Kevin Owens, Asuka, Finn Balor, Will Ospreay, AJ Styles and tons of others, I would have laughed at you. I even wrote in my predictions that Ryder had no chance to win the Intercontinental Title. But he did. Ryder overcame Owens, Zayn, Stardust, Sin Cara, Miz and Dolph Ziggler to capture his first Intercontinental Title, capping a great match with a feel good moment for the fans who have seen Ryder get a whole bunch of nothing since the start of 2012.
What the fuck?
If I had to describe my reaction to WrestleMania 32 in one phrase, that would be it. I've never felt this way after a show. I'm not even sure how to explain it. Dejected? Maybe. Disappointed? Sure. Upset? A bit. Hell, maybe I even feel a little numb. Instead of doing a traditional review, I'm going to try and dissect my thoughts on the show.
Starting with the Kickoff Show, I actually came away pleasantly surprised with this section. I thought that Ryback and Kalisto had a pretty good David vs. Goliath match and got things off to a good start despite the lack of a full crowd in attendance. I had no issues with that. The Total Divas tag team match proved to be better than expected as well. They weren't given too much time that it overstayed its welcome, everyone got a chance to shine and I'd say that Emma was damn near the MVP. Lana's ass would be her competition. Brie Bella winning with a fantastic Yes Lock was very fitting and again, I enjoyed this for the most part. Even the Dudley Boyz vs. The Usos was about what I expected though I felt the Dudley Boyz should have won since they've taken plenty of losses since they came back. Perfeclty acceptable Kickoff show.
Then the main card started. The Intercontinental Title Ladder match reminded me on last year's. Lots of guys involved, tons of chaos and some huge spots. I liked that they put some emphasis on the Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens feud. Stardust and Sin Cara did the big ladder spot and Stardust's polka dot ladder was a nice touch. My issue with the match was the ending. Zack Ryder won. Look, I'm happy for the guy. He deserved something nice after he got ruined in early 2012. However, this screamed "we're gonna do something shocking for the sake of doing something shocking." The man makes the belt, not the other way around. You can't book a guy to be completely irrelevant for four year, give him two weeks of "build" and then put the title on him and expect it to work. I expect him to drop the title on Raw to someone debuting. It was just so strange, which turned out to be a theme for the night.
One of the things I looked forward to most coming into WrestleMania was AJ Styles making his Mania debut. He had new attire and the match got off to a really good start. It was missing something though. It felt like they tried to have an epic match but it fell rather flat. Don't get me wrong, it was still good, but like most of their matches, it missed something to make it great. Also, bad booking reared its ugly head again. Jericho won. Why? Someone find me a good reason for this. They go to 2-2, so maybe we get a fifth, tiebreaking match but I don't want that. The feud fizzled out weeks ago. Even if they want to make Jericho the top contender for the World Title coming out of this, he could still win a shot on Raw. AJ Styles came in as a big deal and is reportedly moving merchandise well. If you look at the top merch movers, they don't suffer from the awful 50/50 booking that plagues most of the WWE. With recent losses to Owens and Jericho, I could AJ going that route. Jericho gained nothing from this and again, I sat here baffled.
I don't have much to say about the New Day vs. League of Nations. New Day's entrance was fun and the match was lackluster. The post match stuff with Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley and Steve Austin felt like a desperate plea to get legends on the show. It also could have been accomplished with a New Day win, which I think should have happened to reward them for their great year. Moving on, Dean Ambrose and Brock Lesnar produced a disappointment. Their match was solid but fell way short of what it needed to be. I'm totally okay with Lesnar winning. I fully expect his next clean loss to come at the hands of Roman Reigns. However, this should have been a star making performance for Dean. He talked about being "unbreakable" so he should have taken everything Brock had and then some. He could have lost in a valiant effort and been made in a similar fashion to Steve Austin at WrestleMania 13. Instead, he never brought "Barbie" into play and lost to one F5 on steel chairs. It was anti-climactic and did nothing for Ambrose. He came off looking like he wasn't anywhere the level of guys like Reigns, Cena and HHH, who took more of a beating from Brock.
This is where I lost all hope for the show. Lita introduced a new Women's Championship on the Kickoff show to usher in a new era. The Triple Threat match was treated like a big deal. Charlotte wore a robe made from her dad's WrestleMania 24 while Sasha had Eddie Guerrero inspired gear and had Snoop Dogg play her to the ring. They had a few slip ups during the match but ultimately stole the show. My heart was pounding as I desperately wanted Sasha to win. Hell, before the match started I said "the only bad decision would be Charlotte retaining and judging by the show so far, she probably will". And guess what happened? She retained. This was the absolute dumbest fucking move I could imagine. You've built Charlotte as a heel champion, that's fine. You've protected Sasha to the point where she's never been pinned on the main roster. Becky has come close several times. This should have been where either Becky or Sasha beats Charlotte and leads the way for the future of the division. Instead, Charlotte made Becky tap out while Ric held Sasha back. This was such a horrible decision. I can't stress that enough. It actually took me out of the show. I spent the rest of the night shaking my head and face palming more than I ever have at a wrestling show. How could you let such a golden opportunity go to waste?
Shane McMahon and the Undertaker had their Hell in a Cell match. It was there. It felt like a cool down after the women's match, which nobody expected. It was slow, plodding and did nothing for me. I'll admit that it picked up down the stretch and of course, we got the massive Shane elbow from the top of the cell. However, it felt like they were killing time to get to that point. They just did stuff until we got to the massive spot and then Undertaker won. So Shane was only brought in to hype the show. Cool, we get another Undertaker Mania match that I won't care about and the Authority gets to continue to open Raw with long winded promos. Oh joy. They did the Andre the Giant Battle Royal next. The Shaq surprise was fun and the right guy won in Baron Corbin. He's been nailing his gimmick as of late and hopefully he gets some shine coming out of this. I was fine with that even though the match was blah.
Then we got the awful Rock segment. Oh my god, this was so bad on so many levels. He wasted a ton of time, with the show already nearing 11PM. His entrance was longer than the Undertaker's. Think about that. He took long to simply announce that they broke their own attendance record (though not the actual indoor record set by the NBA a few years back). Then the Wyatts interrupted and I let out a loud groan. Bray isn't taken seriously anymore. Rock shit on them and showed that he was in gear. He challenged them to a match and beat Erick Rowan in six seconds. I promise I'm not making this up. Then the Wyatts decided to surround the ring and attack, leading to John Cena's return. Rock and Cena sent the Wyatts packing because they are a useless stable. They might as well repackage Bray. He nails his character but nothing he does matters and he can't do anything against major stars.
Finally, it was time for the main event. Stephanie McMahon looked hot as she talked shit to the audience to try and get them to cheer Reigns. It didn't work. The crowd reaction might have been worse this year than last year. Also, Reigns/Brock last year was great. Reigns/HHH this time was bad. After trying to kill each other weeks ago, they went out and had a match that had little to no animosity. Also, whoever booked it to go 27 minutes is an idiot. The show already ran long and the outcome was inevitable. Reigns speared Stephanie and the crowd popped but went back to booing when he kicked out of the Pedigree. He finally ended this shit match and won. It was the culminating moment they'd been building towards. You know, if we forget that he won the belt in November. And again in January.
In the end, this felt like such a hollow WrestleMania. The workers tried for the most part. I saw serious effort in a lot of the matches but the booking decisions were baffling. Outside of the lackluster Hell in a Cell and main event, nothing felt resolved. This show was hollow. They were more interested in "WrestleMania Moments" (legends vs. LON, Shane's spot, Rock & Cena), than booking a competent wrestling show. I'm gonna watch Raw tonight and that's it. If it doesn't hook me, I'm gonna take a break from the product. I'll also leave you with my star ratings if you all care.
Kalisto/Ryback - **3/4Total Divas tag - **1/2Dudleys/Usos - **Ladder match - ****Styles/Jericho - ***1/4New Day/LON - **1/4Brock/Dean - ***Women's match - ****Shane/Taker - **1/2Battle Royal - *Reigns/HHH - *3/4
Considering that guys I expected to be in this match (like Zack Ryder, Ryback and Sin Cara) are in other matches, I honestly wonder if they will be able to fit twenty or so guys in it. For the past few months, I've picked Braun Strowman to win this thing. However, there hasn't been any word of the Wyatt Family being in it. That makes it tough to pick him. Of the people that have been highlighted, I could see Kane winning it. It doesn't mean anything in the long run and could just be another accomplishment for him. Cesaro, if he returns early, is another possibility. You know what? Screw it. I'm gonna pick Strowman. The first step in his run to a big SummerSlam match.
Winner: Braun Strowman
The fact that this isn't Usos/Dudleys/New Day is so strange. This feels like a match we pretty much had to get when the Dudley Boyz returned but it certainly doesn't feel like a WrestleMania match. The Dudley Boyz and their return hasn't been the best but it has improved since the heel turn. Sometimes, WrestleMania feels like the culmination of an angle but this feels more like the start of one. I can see the Dudley Boyz win here and the Usos win a rematch down the line or something.
Winners: The Dudley Boyz
Who cares? I watch Total Divas but even I don't give a damn about any of this. There are girls in the match that I like (Emma, Summer and Paige mainly), but for the most part, this will most likely be one of the lesser matches on the card. I could see Eva Marie turning on Team Total Divas and giving the win to BAD and Blonde, but the WWE loves to have the Total Divas teams win these matches. Eh, maybe Eva does turn and they use it for a Total Divas storyline.
Winners: Team BAD and Blonde
I feel mixed about this. On one hand, I'm excited because it's the WrestleMania debut of my favorite wrestler, but they kind of hurt this by giving it to us three times already. It's a classic case of the WWE blowing their load and doing so many rematches. This could have been much more special if they had been a tag team, Jericho turned and this was their first or second match. While Jericho's heel turn was good, the distract each other portion of the rivalry down the stretch was lame. Like the rest of their matches, I expect this to deliver. Hell, it might be the best they've had so far. There is zero reason for Jericho to win here.
Winner: AJ Styles
I know this is a handicap match but the New Day should be defending their titles. Even more reason why the League of Nations should be in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and New Day should be in a Triple Threat Tag Team Title match. Anyway, this program has been pretty lackluster. New Day has done most of the heavy lifting and really carried it on social media. League of Nations (outside of the amazing Rusev) is a very uninteresting stable. Part of me sees League of Nations winning since the titles aren't on the line, but the New Day deserves the win here for their work throughout the past year. Also, get ready for what should be a great entrance by the champions.
Winners: The New Day
Why the US Title match is a singles match and the Intercontinental Title gets the multi-man clusterfuck treatment is beyond me. Like a lot of this card, I find this to be a tough call. That's actually been the case with Kalisto as champion period. On one hand, they could have Ryback run through him en route to another push attempt. On the other, Kalisto could be the David to Ryback's Goliath and overcome the odds. As much as I want Kalisto to retain, I get the sense that it's time for yet another Ryback run.
Winner: Ryback
There are actually some people that are picking Zack Ryder to win this. He truly doesn't belong here and neither does Sin Cara. While Stardust is awesome, he's done nothing of note since the summer. Dolph Ziggler is a has been that was pretty bad throughout most of 2015 and the Miz (while he is a fantastic heel and super undervalued by many) isn't winning either. It comes down to Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn. The two men with a built in story and loaded history. Most would say Sami should win here. As a big Sami fan, I'd like it but I think there's a better route. Sami's main roster reactions haven't been the best so far. I say Owens should retain here and then they could spend the next few months explaining the Owens/Zayn story to the fans and make them cheer for Sami before he dethrones Owens down the line.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Outside of Ambrose/Lesnar, there is no match that I'm more excited for. I've watched these three have plenty of good matches over the past year. Charlotte can deliver in the ring but her heel character and over reliance on her father is atrocious. Becky Lynch is easily the most likable woman on the WWE roster. Sasha Banks is the best woman I've ever seen signed to the WWE. Given the right amount of time, this could potentially steal the show. From a storyline perspective, Becky taking home the win and the belt kind of makes the most sense and would be a feel good story. However, Sasha has yet to be pinned since getting called up and she's insanely over. Sasha for the win here and lead the way for the new re-branded women's division.
Winner: Sasha Banks
This has absolutely had the best build of any WrestleMania match. Brock Lesnar and Dean Ambrose is a match I've wanted for a long time now. Brock working new guys (no Cena, Undertaker, etc.) is exactly what I wanted. They've handled Dean nearly perfectly in the build. Ambrose shows no fear when it comes to Brock and continues to challenge him like the lunatic that he is. Considering the way they've handled Brock, it's hard to buy people as legit threats. Making this a Street Fight was the absolute only way to do this. Ambrose gets to use a ton of weapons and go nuts to do what is necessary to end the Beast. It's another tough call here. I could see the Wyatts costing Brock the match but on the other hand, I sense they're saving Brock's next loss for Roman.
Winner: Brock Lesnar
Talk about a poorly told story. However, Shane McMahon is back so I don't give a fuck and I'm just enjoying the ride. None of the angle has made any real sense but this should be a blast. it was the only program to have a great final go home segment and I fully expect Shane to die for our sins this Sunday. He's going to do everything in his power to save a very disappointing WrestleMania card. The match itself sounds like a blast but who are the fans supposed to cheer for? If Shane wins, Undertaker will never compete again, so the fans will be sad. If Undertaker wins, the Authority sticks around and I expect that to be incredibly dull. In the end, somebody helps Shane or Undertaker sacrifices himself to save the company.
Winner: Shane McMahon
It's the most obvious result on the show. Since the moment he showed up with the Shield, it's been very clear that Roman Reigns was going to be a megastar whether we liked it or not. Don't take this as me badmouthing Roman. He has plenty of problems cutting promos, but I like his work in the ring. He had some great matches last year. However, it's all felt so very forced. You can't manufacture this but they're going to anyway. Reigns will win and it won't feel special since it'll be his third WWE Title win in the past four or so months.
Winner: Roman Reigns
2016 Prediction Record: 10-3
2015 Prediction Record: 60-35
