Impact 4/10/15 Review

Last night's Impact was a "Live Twitter" edition as tweets appeared on screen all night. Kurt Angle opened the show due to the controversy from last week's main event. He brings out Lashley and they both agree that Lashley's shoulder was up when he was counted out. Must have been an NCAA referee or MLB umpire. Angle will Lashley another shot but out comes Eric Young, who is number one in the rankings. I still really like that there's a ranking system. Young nailed his promo here as he fits the loose cannon type role that he's in. He gets into it with Lashley but when Angle gets involved, he eats a spear. After commercial, a pissed off Angle declares that he will defend the belt against both Young and Lashley in a Triple Threat match tonight. Cool opening segment and Angle as the fighting champion works. To hype the opening contest, we get a video package that shows the history between Awesome Kong and Gail Kim. I loved their rivalry in 2007 and I think it's damn good in 2015. These two really tend to deliver and thiswas another in a long line of good matches between the two. Taz and Josh Matthews argue about the Knockouts division like they did last week. It's rather odd and a bit distracting. They go about eight minutes and it's a back and forth battle, until Kong wins with a sitout powerbomb. I fully expected this considering the issues between Kong and Taryn Terrell lately but I'm glad we got a Kong/Kim match out of it. I'll never complain about those. Going backstage, Mickie James thanks James Storm for the save last week and they hug. Manik shows up and questions him, only to get food shoved in his mouth. Storm is a weird dude for sure.

Keeping with the theme of the Revolution, James Storm is looking for a partner since the Tag Titles are vacated now, so Koya, Abyss and Manik had a Triple Threat match to determine Storm's partner. It only goes about three minutes and Koya wins. Nothing special but made sense from a storyline perspective. We do get more of the Revolution/Ghost Hunters or whatever combo because network synergy is key. Moving on, the Rising is here. Drew Galloway handles the microphone and I must say that dude is on fire since leaving the WWE. The former Camacho from the WWE, introduces himself as Mika. He promotes that he's the son of Haku and Shaun Ricker is known as Eli Drake. The Beat Down Clan interrupt and it leads to a brawl because all TNA promos lead to this in some shape or form. Somewhere, Teddy Long smiles as it turns into a six man tag team match playa. It ends via DQ as Samoa Joe's replacement in the BDC arrives and it's HOMICIDE! Man, I recall seeing Homicide win the ROH Title live in 2006. Time flies.

Next up, we get some X Division action with DJ Z, though the lack of Angelina Love sucks. She's not the hottest but she helps the BroMans entrance out. DJ Z is taking on Davey Richards, who seems to be going for a solo run with Eddie Edwards sidelined. As expected, Richards win this.The BDC cut a promo backstage, saying they beat people up because they can. Reminds me of our new heel Sheamus. A short vignette airs for the Dollhouse, coming soon. The Hardys cut a promo about how they are going to win the TNA Tag Titles. EC3 and Tyrus interrupt. EC3 brings up his 19 month unbeaten streak and how the World Title shot he deserves has eluded him, so he's coming for the Tag Titles. His partner? Bram. It's an interesting mix but I like how Bram states he hates everyone, but hates EC3 the least. More interruptions as Mr. Anderson joins us.

Mr. Anderson toys with EC3 to the crowd's delight. He introduces his tag team partner for this thing and it is the X Division Champion, Rockstar Spud! I like that pairing as Spud is awesome and Anderson can cut a mean promo. Our final interruption arrives in Austin Aries. Even though he has the World Title briefcase and wants the Tag Titles because he's greedy. His partner? Bobby Roode as the DIRTY HEELS REUNITE! Fuck yea! This should be fun when it all goes down. Main event time as Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley and Eric Young go at it. Once again, TNA gives us a good main event. Angle is able to retain, which is good because I only want him to drop the title to either Austin Aries or Ethan Carter. All in all, TNA gives us another good episode as they continue to put out solid television. 7/10.

Smackdown 4/9/15 Review

Daniel Bryan opens the show and talk about Sheamus. This leads to an interruption from Bad News Barrett, who says that Bryan's magical week turned into a nightmare. Sheamus is out too and continues his whole "I don't like you because you're small" deal. As they go to attack Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and his Katniss Everdeen braid show up and he means business. Just when it looks like something good is about to happen, you all know who shows up to ruin things. That's right. The Big Show. He wants in on the munchkin beating, which brings out Roman Reigns. They all brawl and the faces send the heels packing. With that segment over, we get told that we'll have a special edition of MizTV tonight and the Smackdown debut of Neville. Should be pretty fun. After a commercial, we are told that our sweet tag main event was changed to become a six man tag involving Show and Reigns. Ugh. Oh well, the opening contest is a non-title match pitting Tyson Kidd and Cesaso against the New Day. The champs get jobber entrances but New Day gets to come out and discuss how the fans boo and say they suck. Big E's promo is pretty damn good. These two teams, being very talented, put on a very good opener. It isn't anything special or out of this world, but it is a solid ten or so minute match as one would expect from guys of this caliber. Kidd and Cesaro win, as they should, and the interesting New Day stuff continues.

After one of our classic Raw Rebounds during Smackdown, Curtis Axel is out. Since the road to Axtreme Rules hit a bump the night after AxelMania, Axel challenges Neville to a rematch. Neville getting a chance to showcase his stuff is always good. I do think that on Monday he needs to beat someone else. Right now it kind of looks like he can beat Axel but nobody else. Granted it was Seth Rollins he lost to, but I'm trying to see it as a casual viewer might. He wins in a match that is only a bit longer than his debut one two weeks ago. However, I will never get tired of seeing the Red Arrow. It is, literally, breathtaking. We go backstage where Cameron, Alicia Fox and Natalya all get catty about the Number One Contender's Divas Battle Royal this Monday. You know, the one that shouldn't happen because Naomi should be number one contender from a kayfabe standpoint.

Stemming from that, we get Alicia Fox vs. Natalya with Cameron as the special referee. Why? No fucking clue. Cameron's voice is so grating as she shouts "BREAKITUPBREAKITUPBREAKITUP" non-stop. This was your standard Divas affair with Natalya picking up the win, only to be taken out by Cameron. Yup, you read that right. I guess it builds for the battle royal well. Next we see an interesting but short video package on Erick Rowan that is narrated by Bray Wyatt. He says that he fixed Rowan and set him free. That or any other explanation would have worked better than them just splitting for no reason. Those two compete, which still makes me sad. The Wyatt Family really should have never split. Bray wins a decent little match. No surprise there as Bray's record in unimportant matches is fantastic. Don't put him in there in the big fights that happen at WrestleMania or something. He'll fold.

It's time for the special "movie edition" of MizTV where we get to see a Marine 4 trailer. Miz brags about the movie until Summer Rae interrupts because it's their movie, not his. Miz says it was his version of giving a Diva a chance. They trade barbs until Damien Sandow shows up. Sandow attacks, Miz scurries and Sandow kisses Summer because he's a fucking mack daddy. I think this would have been better if he didn't lose to Miz on Raw. Why did we waste that match again? Next, we show the same WrestleMania weekend video that we've seen about 600 times already. I don't understand why the WWE must show the same things over and over again. I get that you have a lot of TV time to fill but there have to be better ways to do that.

Now, it's time for the big main event. The one that apparently needed Roman Reigns and Big Show to be main event quality. Ugh. They've worked each other more than 10 times already this year and I don't believe that was counting tag matches like this. It looks like we may get them at Extreme Rules too. How terrible does that sound? Despite this, it was indeed a fun little main event. I just don't think it needed Reigns and Show at all. Smackdown is going to get about the same rating no matter what, so let the Intercontinental Title picture run the show. That's the advantage of having a guy like Bryan with the belt. He can headline. Reigns is able to win with a spear on Bad News Barrett. Sheamus just returned and we ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO PROTECT BIG SHOW AT ALL COSTS. So fuck the top challenger for the IC Title. Good main event, I just wish Show could eat the pin. Overall, this episode reminded me a lot of last week's in that it was solid but unspectacular. 6/10

Review of Honor: Fifth Year Festival; NYC

Review of Honor

Fifth Year Festival: NYC

2.16.07 | Manhattan Center in New York City, New York

Recently, I went and dug out by Ring of Honor DVD collection. I was huge into ROH for a long time and purchased a bunch of their DVDs, along with a lot of SHIMMER shows. I’ve decided to bring you some reviews of these shows that I haven’t seen in at least a long time. First up, we have a show that I had the pleasure of being at live. It was the first stop on ROH’s Fifth Year Festival.

We open to a shot of Rebecca Bayless, or the future Cookie in TNA, outside of the Manhattan Center. Man, I had a total crush on her during this time. After a short intro, Jimmy Rave cuts a promo. See, he’s the number one contender for the ROH World Title and gets his shot tonight.

Cut to the ring and Pelle Primeau comes out. You can see my brother and I in the front row during entrances, well mainly my brother. He gives Pelle the most ridiculous look like “who is this little guy?” Pelle issues an open challenge which is quickly answered.

Pelle Primeau vs. Takeshi Morishima

Takeshi Morishima is scheduled to make his ROH debut against Samoa Joe tonight, and he comes out to Joe’s “The Champ is Here” music. The pop is insane as the crowd thinks its Joe in his final New York ROH show. Morishima runs in, levels Pelle and hits the Backdrop Suplex to win.

Winner: Takeshi Morishima in 0:07

Can’t really rate this can I? NO RATING

Takeshi Morishima gets on the microphone and you can’t understand him. You can tell that he’s calling out Joe though, but Nigel McGuinness comes out to calm him down. After they leave, the biggest douche in history, Shane Hagadorn comes out with Adam Pearce. Pearce was good but I loathe seeing Shane’s stupid face. Before they can talk, Delirious’ theme hits to a pop.

Adam Pearce w/ Shane Hagadorn vs. Delirious

Delirious charges the ring and attacks quick as we finally get commentary from Dave Prazak and Lenny Leonard. Adam Pearce brought a very old school heel vibe to ROH, which was welcome. Delirious takes out both he and Hagadorn with a somersault dive to the outside. Inside, Pearce slams him down as a “Repo Man” chant breaks out. For those unware, Pearce resembles the former WWF star. Pearce works some classic heel stuff to keep Delirious and the crowd out of it. Hilariously, Pearce tells Hagadorn “I’m gonna press this son of a bitch into the crowd” which obviously doesn’t happen. A drop toe hold from Delirious moves into a cobra stretch but Pearce gets free. They work the classic Ric Flair spot where Pearce takes a corner bump, climbs to the top and is slammed from there. Shadows over hell hits but Hagadorn distracts the official midway through the pin. I hate when that happens. Pearce uses brass knuckles but misses and hits Hagadorn. Delirious brings out his own pair, putting them in his mask and headbutting Pearce in a cool turn of events.

Winner: Delirious in 7:58

Not too shabby here. Adam Pearce worked his heel stuff and Delirious made a nice little comeback. Extra points for the finish being wise as it played into Delirious getting Pearce back for their past encounters. **¼

Adam Pearce blames Shane Hagadorn for the loss and shoves him. Being the manservant bitch that he is, Hagadorn gets to his knees to apologize and they hug.

Backstage, Christopher Daniels is standing by with his World Tag Team Champion partner, Matt Sydal. He is sporting a beard as he was just starting a heel run in TNA. Daniels says they aren’t getting enough credit as champions and does fine. Sydal struggles mightily through this whole thing. He stumbles through his stuff but is basically supposed to be a cocky jerk now that he won a title in Dragon Gate.

The Dangerous Angels vs. Alexa Thatcher and Daizee Haze

During the entrances, I again see my brother make a funny face, but this time because of how attractive he found Alexa Thatcher. Sara Del Rey remains the best female wrestler I have ever seen. They do a respectful handshake before the bell. We are told that Alexa is just 19 years old. The Dangerous Angels issued an open challenge to all females but I don’t think this went any further than this show. Allison Danger, sister of Steve Corino, starts with Haze and they have a fine exchange. WRESTLING! Del Rey is tagged only to be hit with a head scissors. Tag to Alexa, who gets a decent pop and they do a double dropkick. My heart skips a beat as Lacey appears. She pulls Daizee off the apron and they fight to the back. With Alexa alone, she is hit with a German suplex and the Royal Butterfly, ending this.

Winners: The Dangerous Angels in 3:16

Too short to be really good, but what we got was fine. Solid back and forth while Daizee was in there, while Sara Del Rey killed Alexa. This was here to get the Haze/Lacey feud over a bit more. Extra half star because of Lacey. *¾

Four Way Fray

Jack Evans vs. Jimmy Jacobs w/ Lacey vs. Shingo vs. Xavier

Xavier is a former ROH World Champion and a replacement for the injured Davey Richards. I remember being hugely disappointed at it being Xavier. According to Dave Prazak, this is the first Four Way Fray in ROH. Unlike Four Corner Survival there are no tags and it is elimination. Shingo and Evans work together since they are in the same faction in Dragon Gate. Xavier turns Evans inside out with a lariat. He kicks Shingo, who takes them all because he’s a badass. Evans is up and misses a cartwheel corkscrew to the outside. Shingo continues to be a badass with a flatliner/DDT combo on Xavier and Jacobs. Xavier is working as the heel but eats a spear from Jacobs. He’s too small to have an effective spear honestly. Xavier hits a powerbomb rolled into an alley opp rolled into a piledriver! GOODNESS! However, a reverse hurricanrana and backslide lead Evans to eliminate him at 4:23. Shingo gets two with the Gallon Throw. Contra Code is blocks and Shingo follows with a vicious lariat to send him packing at 5:48. Lacey is pissed and so am I because it means she’s leaving. Goodbye my love. Interesting final two since they are getting a Tag Team Title shot the following night in Philadelphia. They shake hands and boot each other at the same time, which is funny. Evans is sloppy with a hurricane but makes up for it with a pretty Space Flying Tiger Drop. Inside, his handspring elbow is countered as Shingo tosses him and basically MURDERS him with a lariat. Somehow that only gets two. A German from Shingo also only gets two. Evans hits a series of strikes for two. The 630 is loudly called for, probably giving it away to Shingo. He stops him up top but still gets hit with knees that knock him back down. 630 connects and that’s all she wrote.

Winner: Jack Evans in 9:50

Yes that was a spotfest. But hot damn it was an absolute blast. It would have been better with someone besides Xavier in there as he only had one cool moment. Everyone did work hard though, which made for a better match than expected. ***½

Samoa Joe’s theme hits again and this time it is actually him. The crowd is rocking for his final New York appearance. If I haven’t mentioned it yet, Joe is on his farewell tour, working the first of his final six ROH shows. As he talks to the fans, they start a “fuck TNA” chant but he tells them to relax because they sign his checks. He puts over the company and how much they have grown since starting five years earlier. After getting the nice stuff out of the way, he says that he heard a “mop headed” Asian called him out earlier and he’s ready to fight. Instead of Morishima, he gets Nigel McGuinness who says “you don’t call out Morishima, Morishima calls out you.” Things get heated and bust out into a brawl that is broken up by Bobby Dempsey, Rhett Titus and other ROH grads wearing STAFF shirts. Good segment as Joe puts the company over and says goodbye. A brawl is always fun especially since they are about to work a tag match in a few weeks.

Tables Are Legal

BJ Whitmer vs. Brent Albright

This is not a traditional tables match as it has normal rules, except that tables are legal. Nothing else, just tables. As part of his entrance, BJ Whitmer poses on the top rope and Albright pushes him off and through a table! That’s how you start something like this! Albright pounds away on Whitmer for a bit and sets up a table in the corner. It backfires when Whitmer hits an exploder through it on Brent. The table doesn’t fully break so he does it again, which I appreciate. They continue to go for high spots as both guys crash through a table outside on a back suplex attempt. Whitmer hits a brainbuster inside but pulls Albright up because it’s not enough. He sets up two tables outside but Brent hits a German suplex and half nelson suplex before Whitmer hits a lariat and they both fall out. Albright Is up first and AWESOME BOMBS WHITMER THROUGH TWO TABLES to the outside. HOLY SHIT! Somehow, that only gets a near fall and Albright sets up a table over the ropes in the corner. The next table doesn’t cooperate so Albright stomps on it and flips it the bird. THAT’LL SHOW IT! He sets up two tables in the ring side by side and climbs to the one set up in the corner. He wants to powerbomb Whitmer from it, but BJ blocks and hits a SUPER EXPLODER THROUGH THE TWO TABLES! That is finally enough to put down the “Gun for Hire”.

Winner: BJ Whitmer in 13:56

Well fuck that was crazy. When you start with a table spot in the first five seconds, you have a lot of live up to the rest of the match and this did just that. Both guys put their bodies on the line and beat the hell out of each other. It’s not one for the psychology buffs, but the fact that each table spot got progressively crazier was impressive. ***¼

The ROH Shop is promoted next. I think it is cool as hell that ROH’s website sold DVDs for tons of promotions including WWE. That’s damn cool. I have some SHIMMER shows on DVD and even one FIP show that I may end up reviewing if I can find them.

ROH World Tag Team Championship

Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal (c) w/ Allison Danger vs. Austin Aries and Roderick Strong

At this point in time, Austin Aries and Roderick Strong had the longest reign as Tag Champions and were looking to regain them. Christopher Daniels starts with Strong and they have a good old fashioned INDY WRESTLING exchange. When it moves to Matt Sydal and Austin Aries, commentary says that Sydal will defend his Dragon Gate belt against Aries during this Fifth Year Festival, marking the first them a Dragon Gate title is defended on US soil. Their exchange is better due to their history from Matt’s time in Generation Next. The challengers try to double team Sydal but he counts, sending them outside before Daniels dives onto Roddy. The challengers turn things around and do some nice double teams moves on Sydal. Their chemistry was always fantastic. The moves are so crisp and perfectly executed, it’s a thing of beauty. Roddy turns a stalling vertical suplex into a gutbuster, which is nice. Sydal manages to hot tag Daniels in, who busts out some lariats. He targets Strong’s back in a show of irony. Sydal does a little dance before a dropkick just to showcase his cocky attitude. Daniels applies the Koji Clutch, one of my favorite moves ever, but Aries breaks it up. Now Strong is taking the heat that Sydal took earlier. Dueling tags come in and Aries is on fire, nailing Sydal with the heat seeking missile and looks like he nearly killed himself. He hits a corkscrew press for two and his Lionsault attempt ends badly as he lands on his neck. Somehow, he’s feeling the effects on his ankle instead. He is lucky. Sydal tries his gorgeous standing moonsault but Aries gets the knees up. Sydal hits a cannonball like move but the pin is broken with a kick to the face. Sydal tries to springboard off Strong’s shoulders but ends up in a gutbuster for two. The Gibson Driver is blocked before Daniels hits the Arabian Press. Continuing the work on Strong, Daniels drapes him on his knees while Sydal hits a standing shooting star press for two again. The challengers bust out their chop/brainbuster double team, which makes perfect sense before a rollup earns them a super close near fall. The action is really fast but Daniels hits a Death Valley driver followed by a Sydal Press and Best Moonsault Ever. That flurry is able to end this.

Winners and Still ROH World Tag Team Champions: Christopher Daniels and Matt Sydal in 20:44

A really overlooked Tag Team Title match. It was damn good but I never hear it talked about and a lot of people haven’t even seen it. It might be because ROH’s tag team scene was on another level during this time. The crowd kind of fell flat after Aries’ near injury but were mostly hot. ****

The four men shake hands, but Christopher Daniels is still rather put off by Matt Sydal acting like a total dick. Davey Richards strolls out to badmouth Austin Aries, leading to Roderick Strong planting Aries with a backbreaker! HEEL TURN! Strong says he’s done being in the background and Davey announces this as the start of the No Remorse Corps. Jack Evans runs out because those are his friends. It’s cool that Strong has no issues with Jack and tells Davey to back off. Effective heel turn, and I was a big fan of the NRC.

Intermission time as Becky Bayley interviews Homicide about facing the red hot Jimmy Rave tonight. Homicide cuts a basic promo about winning tonight before Julius Smokes annoys everyone.

The Briscoe Brothers vs. Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness

The combined theme music for Nigel McGuinness and Colt Cabana is a thing of beauty. The Briscoes were red hot, sweeping Aries and Strong in a 2 out of 3 falls and winning GHC Tag Titles. They start early with double teams on Cabana. Cabana and Nigel fire back with stereo European uppercuts. Seeing the Briscoes heel it up is cool since most of the stuff I’ve seen from them is as faces. Mark even goes old school and uses the ropes for leverage on a submission. It’s the little things. Cabana springboard somersaults onto both Briscoes but it’s not as pretty as it sounds. Because he’s Colt Cabana, he pulls the nipple hair of Mark Briscoe. I can’t make this up. Nigel hits so damn hard, scoring two on some vicious lariats. We get some fun Cabana spots leading to a moonsault press. FLYING ASSHOLE into a stiff uppercut from Nigel. That’s cool as it plays off of Cabana’s fun style and Nigel’s aggressive one. The Briscoes bust out a double team neckbreaker though for two. They then hit impressive stereo frog splashes for two. Like the last tag match, the action is frenetic. Cabana and Nigel connect on a double tower of London but the count is broken. The Briscoes signal for the Doomsday Device but Nigel counters and they seem to kind of botch the next spot as a pin is broken but it’s awkward. The Rebound Lariat earns Nigel and Cabana the upset.

Winners: Colt Cabana and Nigel McGuinness in 14:34

There’s an odd dynamic with Nigel McGuinness as he’s a face here but kind of a heel with Samoa Joe. I think his dynamic with Colt Cabana is sweet though as the playful guy and the serious man nearly always works. Solid tag work here and a surprising result considering how dominant the Briscoes would be in 2007. ***¼

Samoa Joe runs out to get him some more of Nigel McGuinness but officials break this up. Takeshi Morishima is out next and we’re about to have us a fight.

Samoa Joe vs. Takeshi Morishima

These two got into a shoving match a few months prior in this building and the place went nuts. Here we have us a good old fashioned clash of the titans as two bigger fellas are just gonna beat the shit out of each other. Morishima makes the fans gasp with a CARTWHEEL BODY AVALANCHE! The cartwheel would make any Diva that has done it jealous. The fans legitimately don’t know who is going to win since it is Joe’s farewell but Morishima has a title shot 24 hours later. It’s strange to see Joe as the guy taking a beating early on. Morishima goes up top and hits a fucking MISSILE DROPKICK! Joe finally gets on the offensive and facewashes Morishima’s face. Morishima’s nose is bleeding, which is a recurring theme for the big fella. Joe knocks him outside, following with elbow suicida! Big OLE kick outside from Joe as the tide has turned. Inside though, Morishima hits a side slam and then just rolls over Joe, using his massive ass as a weapon. STJoe only gets two as this has been exactly what it should be. A jumping kick and DVD get Joe a near fall. Morishima climbs up top again but Joe greets him with slaps and a second rope enziguri! MUSCLE BUSTER hits but it’s not enough! The place popped hard for that. They now just trade huge shots that all sound like they hurt like hell. Morishima hits a series of moves like a urinage and his backdrop suplex but that isn’t enough. Joe ducks a lariat, hitting a half nelson suplex before going to a choke. Morishima breaks it with a jawbreaker, but Joe avoids it and locks it back in. Morishima keeps trying to get out, but Joe locks it in and Morishima passes out.

Winner: Samoa Joe in 18:06

This is how you book a heavyweight fight. The fact that a lot of ROH guys don’t fit the bill of these two gave this a different feel. Both guys beat the shit out of each other and showed off some incredible athleticism period, let alone for their size. The rabid crowd played a big part as the atmosphere was insane. With Morishima sticking around and Joe leaving, I think that maybe Morishima should have won, but knowing that he wins the title the next night and looked great here, it worked out well. ****½

A sweet video package airs showcasing some of the best feuds in Ring of Honor over the past year. Go watch it as it shows some fantastic stuff.

ROH World Championship

Homicide (c) w/ Julius Smokes vs. Jimmy Rave

Four months earlier, Jimmy Rave was struggling until he ended a losing streak by beating Homicide. It all comes full circle here. Rave wastes little time going after Homicide but ends up outside in position for Homicide’s signature dive. Smokes even gets in some chops. I spot Vlad the Superfan in the crowd, which is always appreciated. Rave comes back with a plancha to the outside, showing he’s giving his all tonight. Jimmy Rave has a more, I don’t want to say basic, but I guess calm style than a lot of ROH guys. His stuff is crisp but not showy. Homicide applies an STF which is a set up for the Cop Killa. Swinging DDT is blocked and Rave goes after the leg, setting up for the Heel Hook, which has been effectively built as he has used it to make big names tap out. As he works the leg, he steals Homicide’s “ghetto fork” from his boot. When the referee stops him from using it, Smokes hands Homicide another fork, which he uses to bust open the challenger. The action goes to the apron where Rave hits a nasty looking STO onto it, changing the momentum. Rave hits Ghanarea and a spear for two. Homicide fights back with the Three Amigos to “Eddie” chants before a second rope DDT and senton gets two. A top rope hurricanrana is blocked and Rave nails a second rope Styles Clash, which he stole during a feud with AJ. That only gets two. He goes for the Heel Hook but Homicide gets out and hits a top rope ace crusher. A lariat gets two, which surprises since it is the move that won him the belt. Cop Killa now gets countered into the Heel Hook. The tease of him tapping out is expertly done. He manages to roll through and hit the Cop Killa to retain.

Winner and Still ROH World Heavyweight Champion: Homicide in 18:52

I enjoyed this way more here than I recall doing live. They had the tough task of following the Joe/Morishima match but managed to deliver. Jimmy Rave doesn’t get nearly enough credit for his ability to work as a damn good heel. ***¾

Overall: 8/10; Great. I remember being a little underwhelmed being at this show live but I cannot figure out why. Maybe it’s because I have seen some seriously incredible shows live. Samoa Joe and Takeshi Morishima had a classic and nothing on the show was bad at all. It seemingly got progressively better and is a fun three hour watch with some really good matches.

Raw 4/7/15 Review

After the excitement of Brock Lesnar opening Raw last week, we are back to the Authority. That damn status quo. At least it wasn't Triple H and Stephanie, who were on "vacation" and we get Seth Rollins and the rest of the gang. He talks about their successful WrestleMania, but kind of shits on Kane for just being there. Randy Orton interrupts and badmouths everyone, while also getting on Kane. Kane gets pissed and says that tonight, there will be a Triple Threat match to determine the number one contender for the WWE Title between Orton, Roman Reigns and Ryback. Fresh idea, but wasn't Orton just named the top contender on Smackdown? Also, those three guys will have singles matches tonight, starting with Kane vs. Orton. Ugh. The match it kept short and Orton wins by DQ as Kane uses a chair. If you want him weakened for the main event, then why did you book it? The Authority should want Seth to face the easiest competition possible or, if Kane was pissed about getting dissed, he should have just wrestled Orton normally. Weird stuff to open. We are told that tonight Ryback faces Luke Harper and Roman Reigns takes on Big Show. Seriously? Couldn't give us Ryback vs. Show, which, while not ideal, they at least had a decent match at NXT in Columbus and Reigns/Harper, which could be a fun, hard hitting match.

Michael Cole is out and Byron Saxton is in. He's kind of dull and shouldn't be a lead, but I didn't miss Cole. They discuss AJ Lee's retirement and are nice about it. After a random Brad Maddox appearance, Seth gives Kane more grief backstage so he books him against a surprise opponent. It's Adrian Neville and the internet basically orgasmed. This is a big deal for Neville's second Raw match as two of the best NXT Champions go at it. Seth plays it as if he's not serious, so Neville kicks him. I thought the match was good but not great. Like there is a lot more they can do together. He was set up for the Red Arrow until J&J Security got involved and Seth was able to win with a sick Curb Stomp. The idea here was really good as Neville gave the Champion a run for his money. However, if the match was a bit better and Neville got a few more near falls, it could have been even better. Also, commentary didn't hype up his close calls either. That hurt things as they should have popped for them and made people believe the upset could happen. Despite being awful, at least Michael Cole would have sold the near falls well. He still sucks though.

The John Cena United States Title Open Challenge is back and will be weekly. I think this is the best place for John Cena to be right now. Keeps him out of the main event, elevates the title and allows him to put on good matches. Stardust surprisingly answered the challenge and this was the match of the night. Despite being booked poorly at times, Stardust was given a lot here. Kudos to Cena for giving him offense and even kicking out of the Cross Rhodes. Cena busts out the springboard stunner again, which is a nice idea but is strangely executed. He nails the Attitude Adjustment and picks up the win. The outcome was never in doubt here, especially with Rusev/Cena booked for Extreme Rules, but it was a very enjoyable match and my favorite thing on the show so far.

Time for the Divas as the Bella Twins take on Paige and Naomi. With AJ Lee leaving and Naomi pinning Nikki Bella last week, this was wise. Paige does most of the work here before Naomi gets the tag and the win. She pins Nikki after a Bella miscue but I'm not a fan of that. The champion should not eat all of the pinfalls. Last week is alright but it should have been Brie here. There are other ways to build challengers than to have the champ lose constantly. Then, later in the show, Cameron, Alicia, Natalya and Summer convince Kane to book a Divas battle royal to determine a number one contender next week. So why has Naomi been pinning Nikki? She should just get the shot. Whatever. We also get a backstage promo from the Prime Time Players where they diss New Day and the Ascension. It was funny and I look forward to more from them. Ryback and Luke Harper wrestle next and it was short. Ryback beats him in quick fashion which is fine for Ryback but awful for Harper. I mean, he just took out Dean Ambrose on Smackdown, but Ryback handles him easily. How am I supposed to take Harper or Ambrose seriously now? Poor decision. Even more so considering the fact that I think Harper and Ryback could have had a pretty solid match. We also see a promo from New Day, who are disappointed by the reaction of the fans lately. I guess it's building towards a heel turn but it's hard for the fans to care. They face the Lucha Dragons in a decent match but nothing on the Dragons' debut last week. It was a bit sloppier but we see Tyson Kidd and Cesaro watching on a monitor, so I hope we get them against the Dragons at Extreme Rules. In a Ladder match perhaps?

As Roman Reigns and Big Show get ready to compete, I flip to watch the NCAA Title game. Their match is paint by numbers and I'm appalled to hear that it is their 12th television match since the start of the year. It's only April dammit. That's embarrassing. Show pretty much dominates until Reigns makes the "Cena" comeback and wins. Reigns shouldn't be booked that way to be honest. I've said it before and I'll said it again, Reigns should DEMOLISH Big Show in 2015. Ugh. Next, Sheamus comes out to cut the same promo that Batista did last year about being a big guy working with little guys. We are also told that Bad News Barrett is using his rematch clause to face Daniel Bryan at Extreme Rules. Sheamus meets Mark Henry and beats him in a match that was just there. I assume we'll see Sheamus vs. Dolph Ziggler or something at Extreme Rules.

Bray Wyatt cuts one of his usual promos and seems to be directing it at someone but we don't know who. Don't call someone out Bray, it didn't work for you at WrestleMania. Anyway, we surprisingly get Damien Mizdow vs. Miz next. I expected it to be saved for PPV since it has some actual build and we've seen much worse on PPV. I mean, we've had matches with no build on PPV in the past year. Miz wins with a handful of tights while commentary destroys Mizdow for leaving Miz and losing everything. I guess there goes the Mizdow run. Our main event is next and only gets about five minutes. The Authority come out to watch and get involved near the end. Ryback looked really good here, while Roman Reigns looked sloppy. He took the Meat Hook clothesline pretty terribly. Big Show knocks out Roman Reigns outside, which makes me cringe at the thought of a PPV match between the two. Inside, Orton is attacking Seth until J&J stop him. Ryback takes them both out, but is turned around into the RKO. Orton wins and that's the right call because they had a really good match at WrestleMania and with an added stipulation it can be even better. Plus, he has a win over Seth and it just makes the most sense possible. Seth hits the Curb Stomp and stands tall to close Raw, which is always a welcome sight. I thought Raw wasn't terrible, but it was strange. There was no Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler or Dean Ambrose, but you have Reigns, Ryback and Orton work twice? Odd. However, it was at least enjoyable for the most part and not a chore to watch. 6/10.

Fave Five 3/30/15-4/5/15

1) AJ Styles: Look at that gif. Just look at it. Did you look? Good. The biggest show of the week was NJPW Invasion Attack and it was headlined by AJ Styles defending the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Kota Ibushi. Unfortunately, I have not been able to watch the show except for some highlights like that gif. I'm hearing nothing but good things about the event and the main event. Ever since I first saw Ibushi a few years back in Ring of Honor, I kind of always wanted to see these two go at it. It looks like it not only delivered but that finishing spot is pretty fucking sick. I mean, a Phoenix Splash into the Styles Clash is nuts. Since leaving TNA AJ Styles has been on an absolute tear and it continued this week.

2) Brock Lesnar: Yea, my number two pick is a guy who didn't even wrestle this week. But it's Brock Lesnar dammit. He was the single most entertaining thing about the big post WrestleMania Raw. He opened the show in ring gear, letting everyone know that shit was about to go down. When he found out that Seth Rollins was backing out of the WWE Title rematch, he went ballistic. Not only did he take out a cameraman, but he basically killed the commentary thing. Talk about finding a way to become a top babyfae. Anyone who nearly murders Michael Cole is okay in my book. That F5 alone is enough to make the list. Brock once again proved that there is something different about him. He is captivating television that you simply cannot miss.

3) Roppongi Vice/The Kingdom: I know I'm kind of cheating here. Sue me. And yea, there's no image or gif of the Kingdom but they still get love here. At Invasion Attack there were two title changes and these are the two teams responsible. First, Roppongi Vice, a team consisting of Rocky Romero and Baretta, won the IWGP Jr. Tag Titles from the Young Bucks. I've never been much of a Bucks guy. On the other side, the Kingdom, consisting of Michael Bennett and Matt Taven, captured the IWGP Tag Team Titles from Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. The Bullet Club have pretty much had a stranglehold on the belts for a while, even after losing them earlier this year. The Kingdom took the titles coming off the heels of pinning Anderson at the ROH 13th Anniversary Show.

4) Kalisto: The night after WrestleMania has become a huge yearly event. Last year we had the debut of Paige, who won the Divas Championship. While nobody made quite that impact this year, Kalisto debuted as part of the Lucha Dragons and absolutely stole the show. This was how you debut a new team. Put them in front of a hot crowd? Check. Have them face guys they know how to work with like the Ascension? Check. Work with someone who fits their style like Cesaro? Check. Adrian Neville also made his main roster debut and did fine work against Curtis Axel, but it was Kalisto who made a bigger impact. The crowd was firmly behind him and fans were impressed with some of his incredible athletic displays.

5) Santana Garrett: Again, I'm going to direct you to the image beside this writing. That is a woman holding FOUR different titles. I don't care who you are, that is impressive stuff. A while back, Santana Garrett made this list for winning the NWA Women's Championship. She was formerly known as Brittany in TNA and they seem to have made a mistake letting her go. She seems to be racking up the accomplishments since leaving. Currently, she holds the NWA Women's Title, is one half of the BPW Tag Team Champions and the Ring Warriors Battling Bombshells Champion. This past week, she added the Shine Championship to that list. Besides SHIMMER, Shine has been my second favorite women's promotion. Since its inception in 2013, they've only had four champions (Rain, Ivelisse, Mia Yim and Santana). That's exclusive company. To make it an even bigger deal, it was a double title match. So not only did she win a new title, but she successfully defended the NWA Women's Title. I've heard that she was around some NXT tapings a while back and if the WWE were wise, she's one to snatch up and could add to an already explosive Divas division down there. Whatever she does, Santana is one to watch out for.

Random Network Reviews: Saturday Night's Main Event 2/23/90

Saturday Night’s Main Event
February 23rd, 1990 – Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan

Around this time, the WWF was just over a month away from WrestleMania VI and the Ultimate Challenge, pitting WWF Champion Hulk Hogan against Intercontinental Champion The Ultimate Warrior. Before they could get there though, both guys had to defend their respective belts on this episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event. Now, research tells me that this was actually an episode of “The Main Event”, a spin-off of SNME. However, it’s listed under the SNME banner on the WWE Network so I’ll review it as such.

The Macho King cuts a promo to open the show about his WWF Title shot, which will have boxer Buster Douglas as an enforcer of sorts. I see President Jack Tunney! He goes over the rules with Buster before Hulk Hogan cuts one of his usual Hogan promos about the nitro power, FORESHADOWIND, of Hulkamania. Commentary consists of Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura.

Gene Okerlund is backstage with Macho King and Queen Sherri. I swear they had the same locker room at every single arena for these segments. Mike Tyson was supposed to be the enforcer but was replaced by Buster Douglas and wouldn’t get another shot until 1998. This is your basic phenomenal Macho Man promo. Hogan cuts one after Macho King’s entrance, but he is a tough act to follow. Hogan does a decent job though.

WWF Championship
Hulk Hogan (c) vs. Macho King w/ Queen Sherri
This is billed as a WrestleMania V rematch and Hulk Hogan quickly overpowers him with a shoulder block. Macho gets a rest and Hogan goes to follow but Buster Douglas stops him because he’s all like, “I GOT THIS.” Macho knocks Hogan outside and goes for his signature double axe handle but Buster gets in between them. Hogan, ever the heel, grabs Queen Sherri and when Macho goes to defend her honor, Hogan moves and he knocks her to the ground. The crowd is red hot. Hogan is in the driver’s seat now, beating Macho King from pillar to post. Sherry gets her revenge by tripping up Hogan, who grabs her by the hair. I can’t fathom how I’m supposed to cheer for Hogan here. Macho King turns the tide and Buster kicks out Sherri all the way to the back. Macho King is working a rest hold during the commercial but Hogan rallies before his arm goes down for a third time. He ends up outside and INCONSISTENCY is the name of the game here as Macho is allowed to hit his double axe handle this time. I’d like to point out that Jesse Ventura is FANTASTIC on commentary. The inconsistencies continues when he tries a third double axe handle, but this one is illegal for some reason. He connects with the Elbow Drop but only gets a near fall. He’s Hulking Up! A right hand causes the official to fall. Leg Drop connects and Buster Douglas enters with a fast count! Macho even seems to kick out in time!

Winner and Still WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan in 11:51
Good stuff as Macho Man could pretty much do no wrong. The fact that the fans were mega into this thing helped it and the controversial end kept Macho King strong. ***1/4

Macho King is obviously and rightfully upset so he gets in Buster Douglas’ face. He starts dancing around the ring and challenging him to box. Hulk Hogan pushes Savage into Buster and he gets laid out. Jesse Ventura rightfully calls out Hogan for the cheap shot. No wonder Hollywood Hogan worked so well; Hogan was always a heel at heart.

Jesse Ventura is backstage in the universal locker room with Earthquake, Jimmy Hart and Dino Bravo. He puts over Bravo doing pushups with Earthquake sitting on his back. Bravo is the man getting a shot at Ultimate Warrior tonight. After Bravo makes his entrance, Gene Okerlund interviews Ultimate Warrior. 

WWF Intercontinental Championship
The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Dino Bravo w/ Earthquake and Jimmy Hart
Things start before the bell as Warrior powerslams Bravo. Earthquake distracts the Champion but even that is not enough as Warrior still takes him down. Earthquake then trips up Warrior and he’s knocked outside, so he rolls under the ring. He crawls to the opposite side and pulls Jimmy Hart under the ring like it’s some horror movie. Hart re-emerges with no pants on, which really makes me question what was going on down there. Behind the referee’s back, Earthquake is able to body slam Warrior. Bravo gets in his offense now, highlighted by a big side slam that earns him a near fall. Warrior shrugs it off because he has some sort of Warriorness running through his veins. He hits some shoulder blocks and the splash and it’s over.

Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: The Ultimate Warrior in 4:11
Fast paced as a fair amount of things happened in a short period of time. **1/4

Earthquake, who was too slow to save the match, decides to beat on Warrior anyway. He drops some elbows on him and goes to leap from the second rope until Hulk Hogan appears. Earthquake is confused and gets knocked off the rope. He retreats with Dino Bravo as Hogan and Warrior argue in the ring. I guess Warrior doesn’t like help. The referees try to keep them separate, but they get tossed aside.

Vince McMahon is in the universal locker room as he takes us back to the Royal Rumble, where it came down to Warrior and Hogan. He then interviews Hogan who claims that he wasn’t out there to steal Warrior’s spotlight. Warrior is interviewed by Mean Gene and I can’t figure out exactly what he’s talking about. Buster Douglas is also interviewed before the show closes by saying he’s going out drinking with Hogan tonight! Drinking milk that is.

Overall: 7.5/10; Very Good. Yes it was only two matches but this was great for the time period. It was 1990 and there aren’t any throwaway squash matches or anything along those lines. You got a huge WWF Title match that previously main evented a WrestleMania and had the allure of a World Boxing Champion and this built towards the upcoming WrestleMania very well. Up next, “Random Network Reviews” sticks with the SNME theme as it will be the final episode ever of that show! Saturday Night’s Main Event from 8/2/2008!

Impact Wrestling 4/3/14 Review

Tonight's Impact has a theme of "Bell to Bell" and maybe I'm out of the loop but I'm not sure what that means exactly. They do have a big card booked. I'd also like to point out that the Impact Zone looks a lot better in the current setup. We open with another chapter in the Bobby Roode/Eric Young rivalry. They cut a promo saying they want a Submission Match like it's a new thing even though Josh Matthews announces it as such during the opening. Thanks to their long history together, this was a good match and it had a different feel to their previous fights because of the submission focus. I was surprised to see Young win, but Roode didn't look bad due to all of the work done on his leg throughout. Good opener.

A few weeks back, the Wolves captured the TNA Tag Team Titles for the third time. Unfortunately, at a recent One Night Only taping, Eddie Edwards broke his heel in a bad way. They even show an X-Ray, which is ugly. They come to the ring for an interview with Jeremy Borash. The Wolves have been a favorite team of mine for years and I once saw them defend the ROH Tag Titles in a Ladder Way while Eddie had a broken elbow. Talk about earning my respect. Unfortunately, they have to relinqush the belts here because Davey Richards won't get a replacement partne because he and Eddie are family. Whatever is going to happen with the titles should he interesting. I'd like a tournament but I can't think of enough teams. TNA needs to bolster their once loaded tag team division again.

The Knockouts Division is almost always must see television. Here, we get the first ever Knockouts Champion, Gail Kim, against the girl with the most reigns, Angelina Love. Love cuts a promo about how she should be considered the greatest Knockout ever. Her voice hurts my ear. It's solid stuff here and Kim wins with the Eat Defeat. Commentary is annoying because they argue about who the best is and if the Champion means being the best. It's distracting. We get some Network synergy as one of the shows from Destination America visits the Revolution at James Storms' ranch. Gotta love synergy. The Falls Count Anywhere match follows and it was exactly what it should have been. Hard hitting and the kind of thing you'd expect from a grudge match. In an interesting twist, Mickie James gets involved and when Bram goes after her, James Storm of all people stops him from attacking her. I was surprised to see Magnus go over, since I thought Bram would win here and Magnus would eventually win out the entire feud.

I'm happy to say that there hasn't been any BDC on this episode, which is a plus. However, there was also no Drew Galloway, EC3 or Austin Aries, so that's not good. It did keep the show focused though. Leading into the TNA World Heavyweight Title main event, the company again did a good job in hyping it as a major deal. Much like their first match a few weeks back, this was damn fine work. Lashley deserves a ton of credit for good he has gotten after having just, maybe one good match in his WWE run. They go back and forth for a little over twenty minutes and the finish comes as Lashley applies an Ankle Lock, only for Kurt to counter into a rollup. Lashley's shoulder was clearly up but the referee is in horrid position and misses it. I guess we're gonna get another match in the series. I'd rather other guys move into the title picture, but at least these matches are good. Another solid show from TNA. 7.5/10.

Smackdown 4/2/15 Review

Smackdown opens with the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Seth Rollins. When was the last time we were able to say that? Of course he's accompanied by the Authority and brags about cashing in Money in the Bank. Randy Orton interrupts to say that he beat Seth at WrestleMania and wants a title shot. After dissing Kane, the Director of Operations fires back by booking Orton vs. Big Show and if Orton wins, maybe they'll consider giving him a title shot. Orton makes a good point that he's still owed a singles rematch from losing the belt at WrestleMania XXX. The match only goes about a minute before J&J Security jump in and the Authority put the boots to Orton. He fights back but is helpless until Ryback makes the save and Rollins is sent running.

After a recap of the Intercontinental Title situation from Raw airs, we move to a Divas match. Naomi, who pinned the Divas Champion Nikki Bella on Raw, takes on her rival, Natalya. Naomi gets a little pre-match picture in picture promo and it's pretty bad. She's quite possible Brie Bella bad when it comes to talking. This only goes a bit over two minutes with Naomi picking up the win. I guess we are getting a Naomi/Nikki program. Also, how ironic is it that Nikki's shirt said something along the lines of "The Real Bella". Unless it said the "Real Bella Twins", because that's exactly what her tits should be considered.

Backstage, Kane is mad about eating an RKO and he books the Extreme Rules main event. Seth is not happy and then complains about the office smelling bad. He leaves and we find out Dean Ambrose was using Kane's personal bathroom. It's weird to see Dean and Seth so nearby and not hating each other. Dean gets booked against Luke Harper. We move to a Roman Reigns sit down interview. The early parts are cheesy where he says he's thinking about buying a condo in Suplex City. It gets better when he talks about he messed up Brock's face with his face. This was well done to put over Brock and Roman, as well as the anger towards Seth Rollins. Following this, Miz and R-Truth worked another short match tonight. Miz wins the battle of Awesome Truth, followed by Mizdow appearing to take him out and put on the shades. Perfectly acceptable stuff here. Next, it's time for a good old fashioned John Cena talking segment. I'd like to point out how cool it is that Smackdown has Cena, a Reigns promo, Orton, Rollins and Bryan tonight. It has lacked star power in the past. Cena does a great job in selling how important Rusev's run and undefeated streak were. He says that he will continue to issue open challenges every single week. Rusev and Lana interrupt. It's odd that he's with Lana randomly now. I do appreciate that she has her ankle taped up, selling what happened at WrestleMania. Lana is great on the mic, badmouthing Cena. Rusev takes over and blames Lana for the loss, before saying that he will take back his belt at Extreme Rules. I love Rusev's promos because they are so badass. He doesn't say anything fancy, just that he's gonna beat your ass.

So the next match is happening because Dean Ambrose dropped a deuce in Kane's office. I chuckled at that, but this should have just been booked purely because Luke Harper nearly killed Ambrose in the Ladder match at WrestleMania. The match is good, since these two work well together, though their attires being similar bugs me. At least Dean worse his WWE Shop shirt rather than a matching tank top. I would have liked to have seen Ambrose pick up a win here, since he never seems to. It ends via DQ and Harper powerbombs him through the announce table, similar to how he powerbombed him through a ladder at Mania. This was fun and I don't particularly mind it continuing, but Dean needs wins in the worst way possible.

After Dean Ambrose is helped to the back, the Prime Time Players get a promo. It's a backstage one but they diss the New Day and how they aren't over. Ouch. The crowd cheered it so I don't know if they're going to be heels. Sheamus is out for the main event and has new theme music. It works for his heel turn. Bad News Barrett is out on commentary and this was a damn good match. Sheamus and Bryan have always had good chemistry, with my favorite match of theirs being the Two out of Three Falls one at Extreme Rules 2012. Sheamus' hard hitting style works perfectly for a heel and Bryan is a great person to take a beating. As the match was getting great, Barrett hit the Bull Hammer on Bryan and busted him open. Blood at Mania is one thing, but on Smackdown too? Sheamus wins by countout. That would have been better had we not had two other non-finishes on the show already. Still, a solid episode of Smackdown with some good storyline development. 7/10.

Fave Five 3/23/15-3/29/15

1) Seth Rollins: I apologize for the delay, things were hectic with Mania weekend. Honestly, after WrestleMania, could there be any other choice? I was pleasantly surprised by how wise the booking was for the Brock Lesnar/Roman Reigns match but what we got was the very best possible outcome. Seth Rollins, the most consistently great performer the WWE had on the main roster in 2014, swooped in and finally cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. He did it at the perfect time and left WrestleMania 31 with the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. During the Evolution/Shield feud, he was excellent and since turning heel, he has been untouchable. The guy gave us the most interesting result of the main event and came off looking like a genius. Let's not forget that he had a damn good match with Randy Orton earlier in the show and took quite possibly the best RKO in history. Some of the results of the matches at WrestleMania left a lot to be desired and the Reigns/Lesnar match would either see the title disappear for a long time or Reigns win it when he wasn't ready. Seth Rollins is absolutely ready and to be honest, as upset as I was that Daniel Bryan didn't get the main event spot, seeing Seth leave with the belt was honestly even better. Here's to hoping Seth gets a great run with the title because he damn sure deserves it.

2) Daniel Bryan: One of the best matches at WrestleMania was the opening Intercontinental Championship match. Granted, I felt that Dean Ambrose needed this win more than anyone, but it was Daniel Bryan who captured the title. It's fitting actually since it's the only title he hasn't held and allows him to join the elusive Triple Crown group. They tried hard to make it seem like a big deal and even had legendary former IC Champions congratulate him. I feel like Bryan can be booked well with the title, hopefully on a Shinsuke Nakamura level. Regardless, it's another win in a line of successful moments for Bryan.

3) Roman Reigns/Brock Lesnar: Yea, I'm cheating with this pick and I don't care. I can't separate these two. Brock Lesnar looked like an absolute monster and Roman Reigns was booked perfectly. Instead of being in a cheesy role where he was given too much to do, he took a beating from Brock Lesnar and liked it, while also busting Brock open and hitting him hard. It was well executed and helped Reigns earn my respect at least. Plus, now he doesn't get the title and can chase it, which is even better. Both men gave it their all and deserve a ton of credit for their efforts.

4) John Cena: A guy who has won 15 World Championships is back with the US Title. And you know what? It works perfectly. Instead of putting him back in the top spotlight, guys like Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns get the chance. Meanwhile, Cena can make the United States Title a more prominent part of the show. He defeated Rusev in a solid match to win the belt. I liked their first bout at Fast Lane much more, but this was still alright. The more important thing is that Cena won and ended Rusev's year long undefeated streak, while capturing another United States Title. I'm very interested in where this is going and seeing just how important the belt becomes around Cena's waist.

5) Drew Galloway: The only non-WWE guy to make my list and he did so because he did one of the biggest things you can possibly do on the indies. Galloway holds both the Evolve and Dragon Gate Open the Freedom Gate Titles. That's not all though. During WrestleMania weekend itself, he retained the Evolve Title against PJ Black (the former Justin Gabriel), then beat Uhaa Nation in a non-title match, before completing his run by defeating Johnny Gargano to win the Open the Freedom Gate belt. Galloway became only the fifth man to hold the title since its inception in 2009, joining Gargano, BxB Hulk,Yamato and Ricochet. Life after WWE is suiting Galloway perfectly and the man is finding tons of success now.