Raw Review 2.15.16

The biggest match set for this Sunday's Fastlane Pay-Per-View is the Triple Threat main event. Dean Ambrose, a member of that match, opened Raw and continued his crusade to call out Brock Lesnar at every opportunity. He got Stephanie McMahon again, leading to disappointing groans around the world. Stephanie cuts the balls off of Brock a bit before booking Ambrose in a a Fatal Five Way match. Michael Cole acted like this was some sort of usual match that we get on a weekly basis by the way. Anyway, Dean would defend the Intercontinental Title against Kevin Owens, Dolph Ziggler, Tyler Breeze and Stardust. Random? Yup. Fun? Actually, yes. Steph also says that if Roman tries to help, Dean will lose his spot at Fastlane. The match goes on with no Roman interference and was actually really fun. All five guys worked hard, gave us some cool teases and great spots. In a furious finish, Owens laid out Breeze with a popup powerbomb to win back the strap. This opens up the realm of possibility that Ambrose can win this Sunday, while also hopefully opening the door for Owens/Zayn for the IC Title at WrestleMania. Ambrose was pissed backstage but did a great job in saying that this may open the door for him to become WWE Champion. Owens also cut a damn good promo until Ziggler interrupted. He challenged him to the 168th match of their series, this time for the title, at Fastlane. Dolph fell from fan favorite to guy nobody cares about in about a year thanks to mediocre performances.

The New Day showed up and cut a promo on Mark Henry for walking out on them last week. Big E faced Henry in a pretty bad match. They messed up the finish and I'm unsure if Henry was injured or not. Big E won by the way. At the top of the hour, Brie Bella came out for an interview. They instantly brought up Daniel Bryan. Charlotte and Ric Flair showed up and interrupted her. Charlotte kept mentioning that Brie would have to support Daniel and talked about her goat faced, vegan kids. Brie finally snapped and laid into her with Bryan's signature kicks. They tried to make people care about the Divas Title match at Fastlane but the performances were off. Charlotte and Brie are probably the two worst women on the roster when it comes to promos, making this rough.

We got to see AJ Styles in action once again, taking on the Miz, who he has been working on the house show circuit. They put together a really solid match, slightly below the opener. They did a good false finish where AJ kicked out of the Skull Crushing Finale. Chris Jericho was on commentary and got on the microphone after Styles won with the Calf Crusher. Styles cut him off and challenged him to a rubber match at Fastlane. Jericho will give an answer on Smackdown. The Dudley Boyz were out next, cutting a decent promo about their heel turn. I think the Smackdown promo worked much better. This just came off as a way to kill time on the show. Next, we got the weekly reminder that Total Divas is back. Paige returned to the ring to face Summer Rae. In a pretty strange decision, Summer beat Paige via rollup. I would question why but it's the Divas division so it probably doesn't mean anything.

It's that time of the week where the WWE mocks the people who put money in their pockets and pay for PPVs. They do this using flash cards, adding to the insults. Paul Heyman came out and called Roman Reigns to the ring. Heyman stirred the pot, saying Reigns has to pick between his friend and his daughter. If he wins the belt for his daughter, he'll have no friends backstage. If he chooses friends over family, that usually ends in divorce. Reigns respects Heyman being straightforward and honest and shakes his hand. The crowd gave zero fucks about Reigns, not helping this segment. Heyman was the only good thing about this. The Dudleys then randomly attacked Reigns until Dean made the save. The two teams will meet on Smackdown. Next Monday, there will be a presentation for the first ever Vincent J. McMahon Legacy of Excellence Award. No explanation was given for what that means.

A mostly meaningless match followed as Heath Slater defeated Zack Ryder in a rare appearance for Ryder. I wonder if this will lead to a main roster appearance for Mojo Rawley. Probably not. R-Truth is on a date at a restaurant and Goldust is the waiter. Goldust ends up popping a bottle of champagne and it sprayed all over Truth's date in a highly suggestive manner. Moving on, Neville, who has nothing to do, teamed with the Lucha Dragons against the League of Nations. Also, Del Rio/Kailsto at Fastlane has been moved to the Kickoff show on Sunday for some reason. It's not like the card is loaded or anything. Del Rio won by pinning Sin Cara. Kalisto needs to retain in a great showing this Sunday to make his title reign worth something. Becky Lynch was attacked by Tamina and Naomi earlier in the show. She faced Naomi and beat her with the Dis-arm-her. Tamina attacked again but Sasha Banks came out, removed her earrings and worse some incredible leggings. She wasn't there in time to make the save exactly but ran off Team BAD anyway. The main event saw Big Show take on Brain Stroman. The Wyatts jumped in for the DQ after like two minutes. Ryback ran out, returning from a Wyatt beatdown. That failed, so Kane did the same and they ran off the Wyatts. Yup, that's how your show ends.

So, with Fastlane just six nights away, the WWE chose one of the worst possible go home show closing segments. It was up there with Charlotte/Paige last year and Rusev/Henry from two years ago. We did get a really fun opener and solid Miz/Styles match, but most of the show seemed filler. There was potential on this episode, but it never fully got reached. 6/10.

Top Five 1/8/16-1/14/16

1) Katsuyori Shibata: At Wrestle Kingdom 10, Katsuyori Shibata and Tomohiro Ishii had my early match of the year pick. Shibata won the NEVER Openweight Title from him, earning his first singles title. Shibata's first defense came this week at the New Beginning in Osaka against Ishii. They only went and nearly bested their performance from WK10. They just had another tremendous match. I honestly can't think of a combination that puts on better matches than these two. Okada and Tanahashi were the best but their WK10 match really hurt their overall performances for me. I've never given Shibata/Ishii less than ****1/4. Shibata retained the gold and is 2 for 2 in great singles matches in 2016. This could be another spectacular year for one of the best in the business. Watch this match, I only have it behind their first outing, Dragon Lee vs. Kamaitcahi and Styles vs. Nakamura for the year.

2) Kenny Omega: One of the biggest moments this year came at the New Year Dash show when Kenny Omega turned on AJ Styles, becoming the new leader of the Bullet Club and kicking Styles out. With a pinfall over Shinsuke Nakamura, Omega declared that he was now a heavyweight. Nakamura left the company before they could meet for the Intercontinental Title so instead, Omega faced Hiroshi Tanahashi for the vacant strap. They main evented the New Beginning in Niigata show and put on a great match. I'd say it was the third or fourth best that I watched in a pretty damn good week. Omega, with tons of help from the Bullet Club, defeated Tanahashi to become the IC Champion. If he can get some clean wins and a strong showing in the G1, it will go a long way to solidifying him as a serious heavyweight threat.

3) KUSHIDA: I said it a ton in my Top 100 Matches of 2015 list; KUSHIDA is, far and away, the MVP of the New Japan Jr. Heavyweight division. Kyle O'Reilly is the only one that I would even consider putting in his class. This week, KUSHIDA had his first defense of the gold that he won at Wrestle Kingdom. He faced BUSHI, of Los Ingobernables. BUSHI was injured for most of 2015, so he worked as a fresh face for this match. I was mostly confident that KUSHIDA would win but man, they had me buy into some near falls here. This wasn't high spot after high spot like most junior matches. This was a dramatic in a way that the division rarely sees. KUSHIDA withstood interference and two blasts of mist from BUSHI to retain. That KUSHIDA guy is really, really great.

4) Jimmy Susumu: Also something that I noted on my Top 100 Matches of 2015 list was that I would be following other promotions more closely. One of those companies was Dragon Gate. Their top champion since a great match last year, was Shingo Takagi. Earlier in the week, Jimmy Susumu was able to capture the Open the Dream Gate Championship. I haven't been able to see much of him in the past, but I'm looking forward to this match considering I'm a fan of Shingo's work. Winning this title is a pretty big deal, but since I don't know much about him, I can't write much.

5) Matt Sydal and Ricochet: At the New Beginning in Osaka event, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles changed hands once again. That's not surprising. They change hands more often than any other belt I can think of. After the Young Bucks won them at Wrestle Kingdom 10, they dropped them to the new tandem of Matt Sydal and Ricochet. There was literally no point to the Bucks reign. Anyway, Sydal and Ricochet have shown some solid chemistry and their stereo shooting star press finish is a thing of beauty. They don't add much versatility to the division, but I hope they add some much needed stability to the straps.

NJPW The New Beginning in Niigata Review

The New Beginning in Niigata

February 14^th, 2016 | Niigata, Japan

Happy Valentine’s Day. New Japan celebrated by holding their New Beginning in Niigata show this morning.

The Bullet Club (The Young Bucks and Cody Hall) def. Captain New Japan, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask in 5:55

I’ve grown so used to seeing the young lions in the opener. Not having them here and giving me Cody Hall and the Young Bucks instead certainly disappointed me. This was pretty much exactly what you’d expect. The New Japan vets did their thing, Cody Hall has shown slight improvement but is still pretty bad and the Young Bucks, were the Young Bucks. Obviously, not my cup of tea. Hall assisted on a team up Indytaker that put Captain New Japan down for the count. At least it was short. **

reDRagon def. Chaos (Gedo and Kazushi Sakuraba) in 8:25

Hey, it’s the only junior tag team that I actually give a damn about. I was looking forward to this because Sakuraba is a badass and seeing him mix it up with the best tag team in wrestling could be a treat. It was, but I do think some stuff was held back and there is more potential there. Gedo saw a lot of the action, slowing things down. reDRagon continues to be booked very strongly, picking up another win by hitting Gedo with Chasing the Dragon. Not bad work here from the guys involved, but I wanted more. ***

Matt Sydal, Ricochet and Tencozy def. David Finlay Jr., Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Yuji Nagata in 8:14

This was an interesting clash of styles. I’ve seen Finlay and Taguchi mix it up with the heavyweight vets, but not Sydal and Ricochet. As they came out, Ricochet said they’d be champs for a long time. Apparently, he hasn’t seen the booking of the division for the past year. I found this to be a fun match. The veterans always work well together and know each other so well, while the addition of Sydal and Ricochet was welcome. I liked them a lot more here than I do in those multi-man junior tags. I think it’s because here, their athletic offense came as a change of pace, while in those junior tags, they feel like just another spot in a series of fancy spots. Ricochet won it for his guys with one of the prettiest shooting star presses I’ve seen in a long time. ***

EVIL and Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay White and Michael Elgin in 8:38

Los Ingobernables just get it. They know how to be great heels without bordering on annoying. Like, at the start, Jay White wanted Tetsuya Naito. Naito teased it, then tagged in EVIL, only to still attack White from behind. They used a chair on Elgin and slammed White hard on the outside floor. They’re just so good at executing those things. Elgin really got the crowd into it with his impressive offense. As expected, White was here to take the fall, though he got some time to shine as well. They keep doing a good job of giving EVIL wins in these tags, as he put down White with the STO. After the match, they attacked the referee and some young lions. Considering his character work since the heel turn, Naito deserves to win the New Japan Cup and even dethrone Okada. ***

NEVER Openweight Tag Team Championship: Toru Yano and the Briscoes def. The Bullet Club (c) (Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi) in 8:21

Yes, this is indeed the third time in a month and a half that we’re getting this match. It is nice to see Tama Tonga with gold. When Gallows and Anderson leave, he’ll be the only Bullet Club member remaining that I like. Yano was great, running in fear of Tama Tonga. It’s like, Yano does the same spots in most of his matches, but he never fails to be entertaining. I always find myself laughing. Surprisingly, he rolled up Takahashi, allowing his team to regain the titles just three days after losing them. Maybe Gedo introduced these titles and will hot shot them back and forth so much that we forget how poorly he handles the Jr. Tag Titles. Anyway, this was the best of their three matches. **¾

Meiyu Tag and Juice Robinson vs. Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and YOSHI-HASHI) in 16:36

I was pretty sure that Robinson or YOSHI-HASHI would eat the pin in this one. Goto is back to his usual look for this one. Okada called out Goto instantly, who he pretty much ejected from being a viable contender on the last show. Okada won out this exchange again before bringing in Shibata vs. Ishii. Of course I loved their back and forth. I’ve seen them wrestle five singles matches and never gave them less than ****¼ which is a better average than any other rivalry I can think of. Shibata seemed to get aggravated with Goto in the match, probably wondering why his partner comes up so short in big matches. I was right about the pinning situation as Juice ate the Rainmaker. Good, fun match. Okada again tried to get Goto to join Chaos. Goto was great at playing the role of someone who looks at a loss for what to do next. Also, why does Juice have a tattoo on his ass cheek? ***½

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (c) def. BUSHI in 16:32

The pre-match video package was pretty sweet, showing KUSHIDA winning the title along with BUSHI’s injury and subsequent heel turn when he returned. Early on in the match, Naito and EVIL showed up and began to cheat in BUSHI’s favor, even bringing chairs into the mix. Like he did throughout the build to this match, BUSHI spit the green mist at KUSHIDA. KUSHIDA withstood it, wrestling with his face green. It caused him to get aggressive, which he showed by trying to rip open BUSHI’s mask. The mist and Los Ingobernables interference sent KUSHIDA a bit over the edge, which was excellent. BUSHI spit red mist also at KUSHIDA and I legit bit on every single near fall after that. I was on the edge of my seat. While trying to apply the Hoverboard Lock, KUSHIDA dropkicked Naito off the apron. When he got it locked in, the Young Lions and Ryusuke Taguchi held Naito and EVIL back, getting a bit of revenge as BUSHI tapped out. Great match for the drama rather than the actual moves involved. Outside of Kyle O’Reilly, no junior is even close to KUSHIDA’s league now. Far and away the MVP of the division for the past year. ****

IWGP Tag Team Championship: Great Bash Heel (c) def. Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in 14:16

Karl Anderson got the Prince Devitt treatment from Bad Luck Fale, who carried him to the ring on his shoulders. They worked the match you would expect from these guys. Honma played the face in peril, though he did get a cool spot where he lifted Gallows for a sweet suplex. Makabe cleaned some house when he got tagged and the fans popped for every Kokeshi from Honma. They did a good job building drama despite us pretty much knowing the outcome beforehand. Anderson did a tribute to Devitt and Styles with Bloody Sunday at one point. A flurry including the Doomsday Kokeshi, King Kong Knee Drop and top rope Kokeshi as enough to keep Anderson down for the count. Much better than their Wrestle Kingdom outing. After the match, Tama Tonga (who looks strange without face paint) entered the ring and challenged the Tag Champions. He says his partner will be the new Bullet Club member, though we don’t find out who that is just yet. ***½

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kenny Omega def. Hiroshi Tanahashi in 29:10

I still want to point out that having Nakamura take the belt back from Goto in September was a mistake. Just had to get that out there. Putting Omega in there with Tanahashi was smart, since Tanahashi is better than almost everyone else at telling a story in the ring. They did early teases for the One Winged Angel. Tanahashi started pulling out Nakamura’s offense in a cool tribute. The focus of the match ended up becoming Tanahashi’s taped up shoulder. It was rather weird to see Omega put on a Los Ingobernables mask in the crowd while taunting Tanahashi with his own air guitar taunt. I found it odd. Anyway, having Tanahashi sell the shoulder was great since it built sympathy and he’s great at selling, while that’s not Omega’s strong suit. With Tanahashi nearing victory, the Young Bucks came from under the ring to hit him with superkicks and the Indytaker. Omega hit the Styles Clash but Tanahashi still kicked out. He also tried Nakamura’s Boma Ye but missed, leading to more back and forth full of close calls. After a ref bump, the Bucks got involved again, bringing out Michael Elgin to even things out. He hilariously carried those scrubs on his shoulders to the back. It became one on one again and Omega won with the One Winged Angel. Great drama and selling, but too much overbooking at times to really make this great. Besides the KUSHIDA match last year, this was easily Omega’s best performance in NJPW. **** 

Overall: 8/10. Coming into this set of shows, I fully expected to like the Osaka card more. Instead, this show in Niigata was a pleasant surprise. KUSHIDA shined brighter than anyone here, just delivering in another big time performance. Kenny Omega and Hiroshi Tanahashi had a big time main event that was great, but could have been better with less overbooking. The two Tag Title matches were much better than the original ones we saw at Wrestle Kingdom, and just most of the card, sans the opener, was fun. With the loss of two big stars, things are certainly interesting so far in 2016. 

The New Beginning in Niigata Predictions

I'm a bit pressed for time today, so I'll be doing write ups for the bigger matches on the card, and then short predictions for the rest of the show.

At Wrestle Kingdom 10 last month, NJPW introduced the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship. On that night, the odd tandem of Toru Yano and the Briscoes beat Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi of the Bullet Club to become the first champions. At the New Beginning in Osaka, the Bullet Club captured the straps. The change was rather obvious since this match was booked for both New Beginning shows. I expect this to be a decently fun match like the last two have been, with the champions retaining seeing as how they just won them.

Winners: The Bullet Club

Outside of the main event, this is the match that I'm looking forward to the most. I strongly dislike the booking of the Juniors divisions but KUSHIDA was, hands down, the bright spot of it last year. Hell, he just had great match after great match in 2015 with everyone from Kyle O'Reily to Kenny Omega to Roderick Strong. BUSHI is interesting to me. He's pretty good and is a nice addition to the title ranks. I do wish we got more people with a varied style, like a Zack Sabre Jr. or someone similar, but anyone different is welcome. While I like BUSHI, I don't think KUSHIDA should drop the belt anytime soon. His run last year was terribly cut short by giving Omega a meaningless run. Have KUSHIDA hold it until he faces the winner of the Best of the Super Juniors, which will hopefully be O'Reily, giving us the rematch from last year.

Winner: KUSHIDA

Like the NEVER Title matches on the New Beginning shows, this is a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 10. On that night, Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe won the IWGP Tag Team Titles from Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. It was the first title win for the uber popular Honma. Right after Wrestle Kingdom, word broke that Gallows and Anderson, along with Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles, were headed to the WWE. Gallows and Anderson have stayed longer than those guys, but are expected to be finishing up their run by the end of the month. No need to pull off a title switch here. My only question is, who challenges Honma and Makabe next? The Briscoes? Naito and EVIL?

Winner: Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson

I picked the other three titles to stay put, but we'll obviously have a new IWGP Intercontinental Champion here. After Nakamura left, the title was vacated. Kenny Omega pinned Nakamura on his way out and is new to the heavyweight ranks. He was scheduled to face a mystery opponent, but on January 30th, Hiroshi Tanahashi revealed that he was going to be his opponent. This sets the stage for an interesting matchup. Omega is still a bad over actor and I'm no fan of him or the Bullet Club, but this should be clear. To solidify Omega, he needs to go over Tanahashi here and win the title. That, followed by cutting back on the antics and a strong showing in the G1 Climax could make him a legit heavyweight. I fully expect this to be one of Omega's better matches because he'll be in there with a top three wrestler on the planet.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi

Rest of the card predictions
Cody Hall and the Young Bucks def. Captain New Japan, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask
reDRagon def. Gedo and Kazushi Sakuraba (really excited to see Saku against reDRagon)
Matt Sydal, Ricochet & Tencozy def. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi, David Finlay & Ryusuke Taguchi
Tetsuya Naito and EVIL def. Michael Elgin and Jay White (I assume White takes the pin)
Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHi def. Meiyu Tag & Juice Robinson (toughest call)

NJPW The New Beginning in Osaka Review

The New Beginning in Osaka
February 11th, 2016 | Osaka, Japan

This morning, New Japan Pro Wrestling held the New Beginning in Osaka event, their first major one since the departure Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles. I had to watch it throughout the day in between doing work at my job so it took longer than normal.

Jay White def. David Finlay Jr. in 7:01
By now I’m pretty much beating a dead horse when I say that I enjoy most of the Young Lions. This wasn’t their best stuff but I also wouldn’t call it anywhere near bad either. Both guys continue to show improvement and work hard with every opportunity they are given. This did happen to have one of my favorite finishes I’ve ever seen from then. After surviving a Boston crab, Jay White caught a cannonballing Finlay in mid-cannonball, bringing him down into a Boston crab of his own and forcing him to submit. Solid work from solid performers. **½

Jushin Thunder Liger, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask IV def. Gedo, Kazushi Sakuraba and YOSHI-HASHI in 7:25
I was kind of surprised at this result. Granted, this wasn’t the top dogs of Chaos, but it still came as a bit of a shock. The match itself was about as standard as a New Japan six man tag comes. Each guy got a chance to do a little bit of their stuff, while nobody really shined in a particular way. Ryusuke Taguchi continued his Shinsuke Nakamura tribute by doing his signature taunt towards the end of the match. I still don’t like him though. I do like Kazushi Sakuraba, but he just seems to sleepwalk through matches like this. Anyway, Taguchi made Gedo tap out to the ankle lock to win a ho-hum affair. **

Tencozy def. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata in 11:06
So, I enjoy two of the guys in the match but not really the other two. Nagata and Kojima are great, while Nakanishi moves like a planet and Tenzan has never really clicked with me. We got a preview of this on the final Road to New Beginning show on January 30th in a six man tag. I called that match a bit of an old man war and this was more of the same. Just four old dudes beating the stuffing out of each other. Because of that, I rather enjoyed this. The right team went over in my mind since I’ve really come to like Tencozy. They won and showed respect before and afterwards to their fellow elder statesmen. Solid match here. ***

Los Ingobernables (BUSHI, EVIL and Tetsuya Naito) def. Juice Robinson, KUSHIDA and Michael Elgin in 8:48
Tetsuya Naito was up to his usual antics before the match, antagonizing one of the commentators. When he revealed a Yuji Nagata shirt, Naito ripped it off of him. This was my favorite thing on the show so far. Again, it was the interactions throughout that really allowed this to shine. I’d love to see Naito vs. KUSHIDA in the future and even think Elgin/Naito in the G1 this year would be fun. This was obvious build for KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI in a few nights, which should ultimately deliver. KUSHIDA got the mist again, Elgin showed off his power based offense, Naito was great at playing the dick heel and in the end, it was Juice who took the fall after EVIL hit an STO. Really fun sprint. ***¼

NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship: Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi def. The Briscoes and Toru Yano (c) in 10:08
The first of our two Wrestle Kingdom 10 rematches. So far, Bullet Club members have been the only people to get shots at these belts. Like most Toru Yano matches, this featured a fair amount of brawling outside of the ring. Of course, we also had the turnbuckle pad removed. Like a lot of things involving the Bullet Club recently, Tonga shined in my eyes. He was actually the one that got the pin on Yano to crown the new champions. While I could do without Takahashi ever holding gold again, it’s nice to see Tonga get something. I kind of expected this result since I assume the Briscoes will go back to the States for a while and they love putting belts on the BC. As for the match itself, it was similar to Wrestle Kingdom, but slightly more entertaining. **½

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Matt Sydal and Ricochet def. the Young Bucks (c) and reDRagon in 14:59
While they added Ricochet and Matt Sydal, things are still relatively the same in the junior tag division. While I don’t mind either guy, they don’t add anything different to a very stale division. Basically, this is my least favorite tag team (Young Bucks) against a team I don’t care about against the best tag team in the world (reDRagon). They worked in some variations on some spots but this was largely the same multi-man junior tag match that we’ve seen countless times. I did like the spot where each team missed a top rope stereo move, one after the other. They unfortunately even repeated the spot where Cody Hall runs off with Kyle O’Reilly. Shortly after, Sydal and Ricochet nailed their dual shooting star presses to win the straps. Look, I’m always happy with a loss for the Young Bucks, but this revolving door of champions in the division continuing is terrible. Why even do the Wrestle Kingdom title change? reDRagon could have just retained there and dropped them here in the same fashion. The Bucks winning the belts again did nothing. I liked this a bit more than the WK10 match but not by much. **¾

NEVER Openweight Championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) def. Tomohiro Ishii in 18:47
The last time I saw these two wrestle in Osaka, I gave them the rare, full five star treatment during the G1 Climax 23. I love it whenever these two square off and this was no different. While their matches are all similar, they do just enough different each time that it feels fresh, unlike the previous contest. As one would expect, they beat the shit out of each other and it was glorious, but this time around, there was a bit more emphasis on submissions leading up to the climax. Shibata hit a spinning back fist that literally made me gasp aloud. Instead of challenging one another to hit each other harder, like they’ve done in the past, this time, they traded Brainbusters. How insane is that? The closing moments saw them slap each other profusely in a manner that is unthinkable. How they are able to stand at the end of these wars is beyond me. Shibata finally laid in a big enough slap to knock Ishii loopy. That gave him the time to apply the sleeper and win with the PK. Just another fantastic battle between two of my favorite wrestlers in the entire world. ****½

The Bullet Club (Doc Gallows, Karl Anderson and Kenny Omega) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma in 17:11
This was a preview of the Tag Team and Intercontinental Title matches at the New Beginning in Niigata show coming up. The Bullet Club were good old fashioned heels throughout this one. Kenny Omega’s broom and Togi Makabe’s chain were both used to assault the babyfaces. While I’m still not a fan of Omega’s overacting, him sweeping up Tanahashi was pretty great. The heels focused on Tanahashi’s arm, which he sold wonderfully, even struggling to skin the cat at one point. Tanahashi played the face in peril which I expected from Honma since he’s basically born for that role. Things picked up near the end and got pretty fun. Omega picked up his second win over a heavyweight this year by pinning Honma with the One Winged Angel. That was the best outcome as it gives Kenny momentum and Honma is a guy that can still afford losses. The Bullet Club attacked after the match, complete with Omega laying into Tanahashi with a steel chair. They punctuated it by placing Tanahashi’s arm on a garbage can and having Omega hit High Fly Flow onto it. ***

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Hirooki Goto in 25:27
The pre-match video package seemed to focus on Goto being 0-7 in IWGP Heavyweight Title matches, as well as him watching his partner, Katsuyori Shibata, win major singles gold at Wrestle Kingdom. Goto sported a new look. Picture Hakushi and his tattoos and then spill white paint over it. That’s Goto’s new look. Like almost all Okada matches that he leads, the early stages of this were kind of boring and pointless. Once it got going near the end, also like most Okada matches, it really picked up. Goto got a near fall after Shouten Kai that I bit on but Okada got his hand on the bottom rope. Okada finally hit the Rainmaker, then picked Goto back up for two more and earning the win. It kind of felt like Okada was kicking Goto back to the start. Like, you can change your look and attitude, but you still come up short when it matters. Ouch. A good match, but Okada’s second disappointing title match of the year. ***½

Overall: 7/10. A pretty good show from NJPW here. Most of the card is good and gets at least three stars and none earn less than two. Shibata/Ishii stole the show for the second straight time, putting on yet another classic for the NEVER Title. The entire event clocks in at just under four hours but it moves along relatively quickly and delivers a strong show. With the loss of Nakamura and Styles, and Goto out of the title picture presumably, things are certainly looking interesting heading into the New Japan Cup.

Top Ten Thursday: Daniel Bryan Moments

Obviously, the biggest news this week is that Daniel Bryan unfortunately announced his retirement from professional wrestling due to a history of concussions. I've now had to watch two of my all time favorites, Edge and Bryan, hang it up earlier than they were supposed to. The first Ring of Honor show I ever attended live was Final Battle 2006. Bryan Danielson was the ROH World Champion and main evented against Homicide. He lost the title but I was hooked and he instantly became one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. I cheered for him louder than anyone at the ROH shows I attended. I watched him go to war with Austin Aries, Takeshi Morishima and many others. His final ROH match, against Nigel McGuinness, was in New York and I am grateful that I got to see it live. Watching him make it to the top of the WWE was one of the greatest feelings in the world. A guy that I picked and was drawn to from the first time I saw him made it. He made it when many people said he couldn't. Daniel Bryan embodies the notion that anything is possible. Daniel Bryan was and is everything that I love about pro wrestling. To honor him, I'm going to look back at my personal top ten moments from his WWE career.

10. The AJ Lee Pairing 

Starting us off isn’t something that isn’t relegated to one specific moment. For a lot of Daniel Bryan’s early WWE run, he was kind of just there. Yea, he had the United States Title at one point but he just wasn’t clicking the way he should have, even after winning Money in the Bank. From out of nowhere though, he was paired up with AJ Lee and things just starting falling into place. In the early stages, they were just the adorably nerdy couple and it was pretty cute. Once Bryan won the World Title and started showing heel tendencies, this really took off. Bryan became a controlling douchebag who ordered around the sweet, innocent AJ Lee. It really helped get the crowd to boo Bryan, while also managing to do something else. It gave him personality. Even if it was as an asshole boyfriend, it gave us something to care about when it came to Bryan besides his talents inside the squared circle. He was now entertaining in a way that many didn’t think he could pull off. To be fair, both he and AJ deserve a ton of credit for playing their roles so well. It was because of this pairing that both AJ and Bryan had their careers launched to another level. They were involved in a high profile wedding at Raw 1000 and, by 2013, both had won the top titles of their genders.

9. Intercontinental Championship Victory

I’d consider the Intercontinental Title to be a bit above the United States Title in terms of prestige and importance. However, when it comes to the case of Daniel Bryan, the IC Title win meant a bit less. After suffering a heartbreaking injury and forfeiting the WWE World Heavyweight Title, Bryan was forced to miss several months of action and his career was in doubt. He returned in time for the Royal Rumble, ultimately getting eliminated like he was just some random mid-carder. At WrestleMania 31, Bryan would not be in the WWE Title picture, he’d instead be thrown into a randomly thrown together Intercontinental Title match. A lot of people saw it as a major demotion and that’s understandable. It’s hard to disagree since it wasn’t even a well thought out program for the belt. It was seven dudes stealing the title from each other leading up to the biggest show of the year. None of it really made any sense. Still, when it came time for the match, it proved to be a really fun encounter that Bryan won. Not only did it give him his first Intercontinental Title but it completed the Grand Slam for him, putting him in elite company. It also marked the fifth straight Mania that Bryan competed for his fifth different championship.

8. Winning the United States Championship

After getting eliminated first from the first season of NXT, Daniel Bryan’s career was in question. He was constantly berated by his pro, the Miz, and went 0-10. He even cut a promo saying that Daniel Bryan was done, but maybe Bryan Danielson wasn’t. He would resurface during the Nexus debut but get fired for choking Justin Roberts. Fast forward to SummerSlam, where Bryan returned, teaming with many future Hall of Famers against his former stable, the Nexus. He did well in the match, getting the crowd even more behind him, until the Miz cost him and caused him to get eliminated. That set up the NXT pro against the former NXT rookie for Miz’s United States Title at Night of Champions. They went out and had the best match in Miz’s career. Miz looked awesome, pun intended, throughout the entire match, even in defeat. Miz was one of the better US Champions in recent years and held the Money in the Bank briefcase at the time, so Bryan beating him was a pretty big deal. It was also historic since it was the first title win for Bryan in the WWE. Too bad the US Title run itself was largely forgettable outside of two standout matches.

7. Mr. Money in the Bank 

In Daniel Bryan’s “Journey to WrestleMania XXX” documentary on the WWE Network, he calls 2011 the lowest point of his career. That certainly has some merit considering he lost the United States Title, got bumped to the Pre-Show (before it was on the WWE Network) of WrestleMania XXVII and got stuck in a lengthy losing streak. Things started to turn around by the time Money in the Bank happened. Bryan participated in the Smackdown Money in the Bank match against the likes of Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Sheamus, Kane and others. Most people, myself included, pegged either Rhodes or Barrett to win it but Bryan shocked the world by retrieving the briefcase in front of a rabid Chicago crowd. Up to that point, everybody that won the briefcase had successfully cashed in. Despite his struggles, this win kind of said that the WWE had at least some faith in him. The question now was whether he’d become a Jack Swagger or a CM Punk. Bryan started to get more shine as the year came to a close, culminating in one special moment.

6. Winning his first World Title 

That one special moment came at the Tables, Ladders and Chairs Pay-Per-View in December of 2011. Mark Henry was at the tail end of his surprisingly great “Hall of Pain” run. He defended the World Heavyweight Championship against the Big Show and lost it to him. Big Show’s celebration would be short lived however, as Henry attacked him and laid him out. Considering the size of Henry and Show, one wouldn’t expect Daniel Bryan to cash in at this moment, but that’s exactly what he did. Bryan rushed out and pinned the Big Show, ending his World Title reign in just about a few minutes. Bryan had gone on record saying he would cash in and give notice ahead of time. This was clearly him doing just the opposite. People popped for it anyway because it was such a cool moment but it kick started the heel turn that would change Bryan’s career for the better. This win was extremely significant because, no matter what else happened in his career, Bryan would have the “former World Champion” tag. It may not mean as much now as it did years ago, but it’s a level many people didn’t think Bryan would ever attain.

5. Turning on the Wyatt Family

While CM Punk infamously got the Summer of Punk in 2011, 2013 kind of gave us the Sumer of Bryan. After a red hot run with Kane as part of Team Hell No, Bryan was determined to prove that he wasn’t the weak link. This run led to Bryan winning the WWE Title (more on that later) and a feud with Randy Orton. He didn’t win out in that feud and, by the end of year, was sidetracked in an angle with Bray Wyatt and the Wyatt Family. Bray targeted Bryan, wanting to recruit him. Partially because of their similar beards, but more so because he believed they were cut from the same cloth. It led to an angle where Bryan was beaten down and chose to join the Wyatt Family on the final Raw of 2013. Bryan would emerge in 2014 in full Wyatt Family attire, be involved in the stable’s promos and even team up with them. The man that the crowd so desperately loved, was now part of a faction they despised. He seemingly gave up. Then, one fateful night in January, Bryan teamed with Bray to take on the Usos inside of a Steel Cage. The Usos would win the match but Bryan found himself locked in a cage with Bray. He ripped off the Wyatt suit and showed that it was all a ploy to get back at them. Bryan attacked Bray in the most satisfying way as the crowd chanted “Yes” in unison, giving us one of the very best moments in recent Raw history.

4. 18 Seconds

At first glance, including a moment where someone loses in 18 seconds on the grandest stage of them all in a top ten moments of their career list is strange. This is a special case though. Daniel Bryan was reigning as the World Heavyweight Champion with a defense against Royal Rumble winner Sheamus scheduled for WrestleMania. Bryan’s “Yes” taunt was just starting to get over, but it reached a new high at WrestleMania. They opened the show and, despite being the heel, the crowd loved Bryan. There were tons of “Yes” signs and chants, something not many people expected. With the fans firmly behind him, Bryan got a good luck kiss from AJ, then proceeded to turn around right into a Brogue Kick, dropping the title in less than twenty seconds. This kind of embarrassing moment should not have worked the way it did but life is funny sometimes. This loss, coupled with the chants, worked as a rallying cry. Bryan became the ultimate underdog. He became the guy that the fans clung to because they chose him and it seemed like the WWE had no faith in him. The following night on Raw, Bryan wasn’t even on the show but the crowd chanted “Yes” and “Daniel Bryan” throughout the entire night. Without the 18 second loss, Daniel Bryan may never have found the success that he ended up reaching.

3. Team Hell No

Never in my wildest dreams, could I have seen this working as well as it did. Shortly after Daniel Bryan publicly dumped AJ Lee, she started to lose her mind. Bryan got engaged in a rivalry with CM Punk that also ended up including Kane. AJ, like she did with almost every male on the roster in 2012, flirted and made out with both Punk and Kane. Once Bryan failed at dethroning Punk and AJ became the General Manager of Raw, he was forced to take anger management classes with Kane. Those segments were some of the best things ever done during the era of three hour Raws. It brought Kane and Bryan together in an uneasy alliance, which then turned into a tag team. They would win the Tag Team Titles shortly after and follow up with almost a year of classic segments and moments. Their graduation ceremony, the actual match where they were forced to hug, both men screaming “I AM THE TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS” and even partnering up with the Undertaker to take on the Shield. All of that, and everything else they did, was golden. It’s the most I’ve enjoyed Kane since his early days. I’d consider Team Hell No to be the best oddball pairing the WWE has ever put together.

2. SummerSlam 2013

As noted earlier, after ten or so months as part of Team Hell No, Daniel Bryan was out to prove that he wasn’t the weak link. They had teamed with Randy Orton a few times and Bryan wanted to show him that he was nowhere near the weak link. They went on to have a series of matches, including a class Street Fight that Bryan would win. With Bryan at his hottest, then WWE Champion John Cena was given the rare opportunity to handpick his next challenger for the gold at SummerSlam. Listening to the crowd’s response, Cena selected Bryan. It set up a similar situation to when CM Punk and Cena had their classics. The indy guy that “didn’t belong” going up against the top dog of the company. The company fed into that by having Vince McMahon try to change Bryan because he didn’t have the look. Bryan was determined to win the WWE Title to prove that he was truly the best. The showdown finally happened, to close out one of the best SummerSlam events ever, and it was spectacular. After a long, hard fought clash, Bryan hit the running knee and pinned Cena cleanly to become the champion. That put Bryan in elite company, joining Shawn Michaels, Triple H, the Great Khali and maybe some others I’m forgetting, as the only me to accomplish that. It was a crowning moment for someone that was never supposed to make it. Granted, he had Money in the Bank cashed in on him right after, but this still was a huge moment.

1. YEStleMania 

WrestleMania XXX should forever be known as YEStleMania and for good reason. Originally, despite him being the most over guy in the company, the WWE planned on putting Daniel Bryan in a throwaway midcard match with Sheamus, which would be their third Mania match in four years. They honestly felt that Randy Orton vs. Batista was somehow the best option for the main event. Plans for CM Punk vs. Triple H had to be scrapped when Punk infamously walked out. The WWE was forced to call an audible and, thanks to the reactions of the WWE Universe forcing their hands, we got the very best possible outcome. Bryan would not only get his hands on Triple H, the man behind him getting held back on screen, but if he could beat him, he’d find himself added to the title picture in the main event. Given the biggest chance of his career, Bryan absolutely delivered. He opened WrestleMania XXX by defeating Triple H in an absolute classic that was among the best openers in Pay-Per-View history. Then, he made a heroic comeback during a great main event, to topple Batista and Randy Orton and become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. The historic 30^th WrestleMania was all about Daniel Bryan and he put on the best performance in Mania history. Even though his title reign and career were both cut way too short by injuries, if nothing else, we’ll always have WrestleMania XXX.

Lucha Underground The Hunt Is On Review

We mostly get right to the action this week, except for Vampiro marking out over Pentagon Jr. so far this season.

Kobra Moon def. Bengala in 3:01
Kobra Moon is a female for hose unaware. She got some "Mamacita" chants early on. Considering Bengala's placement in Lucha Underground for the most part, it was clear this was going to be a showcase for Kobra in her debut. She showed off some athletic moves and sweet kicks. Speaking of kicks, Bengala hit one that was among the loudest I've ever heard. She locked him in the Snake Sleeper, which he fought, but ultimately fell to. About as decent a debut for Kobra working with Bengala, who wasn't very good. At leas she seems to have an interesting character. *1/4

Catrina is in her office and Fenix comes in. Apparently, this gives Catrina a tingle. He wants King Cuerno and Catrina. I mean, so do I. 

After a commercial break, a cool little Aerostar video airs. It looks like the Luchador from teh Cosmos is returning to the Temple.

A very ripped King Cuerno is working out when Catrina appears in front of him. She's upset that Fenix has returned, saying Cuerno didn't get the job done. He says that Catrina's "wounded champion" is safe from Fenix. Catrina wants him to kill the phoenix in a Last Luchador Standing match tonight.

Jack Evans def. Drago in 7:19
Our first look at Jack Evans and Drago in season two. This was a battle of two of the better high flyers in the world. Matt Striker basically had an orgasm while calling this thing. Evans oversold a slap with what had to be about a 720 spin. He was, however, solid at playing the dick heel in the middle of his offense. There were certainly some high impact moves throughout this, with both guys getting the time to shine. Drago nearly killed Evans on an inside out blockbuster type move, but Evans came back with a backslide and stole the victory by putting his feet on the ropes. **3/4

Jack Evans is an asshole, stealing the microphone from Melissa Santos and announcing himself as the winner and the "Dragon Slayer".

A Texano video package aired next. He was indeed, the youngest AAA Mega Champion in history. He seems to focus on Chavo Guerrero in his promo, which makes sense since Chavo and Blue Demon Jr. laid him out at Ultima Lucha last year.

Catrina sees Prince Puma in the back and asks him who he prays to. She basically implies that Konnan died when he went into the casket last season. The main point here is that next week, Puma goes one on one with Pentagon Jr.

Last Luchador Standing: Fenix def. King Cuerno in 11:19
The Last Luchaor Standing match last season between Cuerno and Drago was one of the better matches all season long. These two had a great match for the Gift of the Gods Championship two weeks ago. They played this exactly how I wanted. You could feel like these two guys wanted to hurt each other. They made good use of the Temple, fighting all over the place. Fenix continues to amaze and Cuerno remains the best kept secret in Lucha Underground. Shit got real when Cuerno brought a ladder into the mix. He stopped the referee from counting to ten so he could inflict more damage and also get a table. It backfired as Fenix used the ladder to climb atop Catrina's office. Cuerno followed but was kicked back and fell, with the ladder, through the table, which kept him down for the count. Another really good match between the two. They just can't seem to have a bad match. Mil Muertes was also shown to be pissed off on his throne. ***3/4

Before going off the air, we get one final scene. It turns out that Cortez Castro from the Crew, is actually an undercover cop. His captain is not pleased that she doesn't have Dario Cueto. She is sending Cortez back into the Temple with new help...OFFICER JOEY RYAN! Their mission? Bring down Dario Cueto!

Overall: 7.5/10. Yet another strong effort from Lucha Underground. While things got off to a rocky start, the second match was solid and the main event was damn good. Outside of the ring work, the show continues to further their overarching story and keep me interested. 3 for 3 in enjoyable episodes.

If you do want to check out Lucha Underground 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 with Fubo.TV

Random Network Reviews: No Mercy 2007

No Mercy 2007
October 7th, 2007 | Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois | Attendance: 12,500

Pay-Per-Views in Chicago always have a special feel to them. I had no clue this show took place there, but I do remember that it’s rather memorable for at least one reason. John Cena, in the midst of a year-long run with the WWE Championship, had to give up the title after suffering an injury, leaving the title up in limbo heading into this broadcast. He was originally scheduled to face Randy Orton for the third straight Pay-Per-View. I have to assume that the original plan was for Orton to win it here since Cena went over him on the first two PPVs.

The opening video package focuses on John Cena and his WWE Title run. They try to hype that it was Randy Orton who injured him, but in truth I believe it was a hip toss from Mr. Kennedy. Vince McMahon and William Regal come out to discuss the injury, which gets a pop from the crowd. They chant “Y2J”, though he was about two months away from returning. Vince awards the title to Randy Orton, who comes out and celebrates with it to much pomp and circumstance. Orton has to defend the title and he gets to choose his opponent. Orton runs down Cena until Triple H interrupts. He does his best to crap on Orton, saying Orton’s scared to have his second title reign be shorter than his first (which of course was ended by Hunter in a month). Vince grants Triple H the title shot to open the show because Hunter questioned his manhood. For some reason this opening segment went nearly twenty minutes, giving the show a “Raw” feeling rather than a Pay-Per-View.

WWE Championship
Randy Orton (c) vs. Triple H
Triple H is scheduled to face Umaga later tonight. Randy Orton attacks at the bell but it backfires quickly. Orton tries to walk out of the match but Triple H catches him and beats on him. In classic heel Orton fashion, he slows things down with a chinlock to wear down Hunter. A huge clothesline takes down Orton and, as usual with these two, something just isn’t clicking here. Actually, Orton has the same problem with John Cena. Their chemistry just didn’t click. HHH nails a superplex and spinebuster for near falls. After fighting outside for a bit, Orton nails the rope hung DDT to a pretty big pop. He begins to stalk for the RKO but HHH counters. He tries the Pedigree only for Orton to backdrop him. As Orton misses a knee drop, Triple H applies a figure four though Orton reaches the ropes. Orton misses a shoulder block in the corner and Triple H rolls him up to steal the title.

Winner and New WWE Champion: Triple H in 11:06
Was this really necessary? Randy Orton’s first reign got obliterated by a face turn and Triple H and it happens here again. I know what happens on the rest of the show, but this was terrible. After failing so hard against Cena, doing so here against Hunter was all bad. Did Triple H really need to pad his ego with this reign? Whatever. The match itself wasn’t great either so it’s not like that helped any. **

Backstage, Randy Orton is pretty much losing his mind while Triple H gets an overly long celebration. Vince McMahon is extremely disappointed in Randy Orton. I’m more disappointed in the decision to make Orton look so bad.

Six Man Tag Team Match
WWE Intercontinental Champion Jeff Hardy, Paul London and Brian Kendrick vs. Mr. Kennedy and World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch
That first team is very over and one of the best high flying combinations I can think of. This is considered a “bonus” match as it got guys on the card, but seemed like something you’d see on Raw. Kendrick and London show off some sweet double team moves early on, overwhelming Cade. London plays the Matt Hardy role for Poetry in Motion with Jeff in a cool spot. At this point, Jeff was on the upswing while Kennedy was trying to fix his career after getting hurt following a big Money in the Bank win. After Kendrick is sent outside hard, he plays the face in peril. The heels get a chance to get in some their signature stuff. Cade and Murdoch seem better than I recall. Jeff gets the hot tag, nearly killing Murdoch on an inverted suplex. He hits the Swanton Bomb but Cade breaks the pin. London now gets tagged, springboarding in with a dropkick on Kennedy. Kendrick takes out Murdoch with a cross body, before Kennedy pins London following the Green Bay Plunge.

Winners: Mr. Kennedy, Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch in 8:03
Fun little addition to the card here. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but everyone seemed game and wanted to make sure the match was action packed which I appreciate. **¾

Triple H and Batista run into each other backstage because they’re the successful members of Evolution and both are World Champions. Triple H wishes him good luck before turning to Vince McMahon, who tells Triple H that he will defend the title against Umaga tonight.

ECW Championship
CM Punk (c) vs. Big Daddy V w/ Matt Striker
To this day, I will never understand Vince McMahon’s obsession with random pushes for Viscera/Mabel/Big Daddy V. Especially here where he isn’t wearing a shirt. CM Punk gets a major pop in his hometown. Now, this is before the historic 2011 Money in the Bank where Punk won the WWE Title in this building. Here, he gets manhandled by Big Daddy V. Punk avoids a splash, climbs up top and takes him off his feet with a missile dropkick. Matt Striker runs in to club Punk, resulting in the DQ.

Winner via disqualification: CM Punk in 1:34
What the hell was this? Matt Striker was booked as a genius, but does something this stupid the second his guy falls to the floor. Why? What sense does this make? That’s two of our three matches involving dumb booking. DUD.

Tazz now hosts a pizza eating contest between MVP and Matt Hardy. I believe that most of these were done because MVP wasn’t fully healthy. Even with that though, most of these were entertaining. The push up contest and basketball were probably my favorite. This segment would not have been bad had we not wasted 20 minutes to open the show on a promo. At least the judges are Divas, so I did not mind that. At this point, MVP and Matt Hardy were Tag Team Champions and MVP was the United States Champion. Matt Hardy wins before throwing up on MVP. Didn’t like the segment, though Maria looked fine.

WWE Championship
Triple H (c) vs. Umaga
To show that he means business, Triple H comes out to a King of Kings/Game theme remix. A brawl erupts before Umaga no sells a DDT, only to be thrown outside. While out there, Umaga pounds Hunter into the steel steps. He takes over inside, just working over Triple H. We get finisher counters leading to a spinebuster and Samoan drop. Umaga decides he wants to kill time so he utilizes the dreaded BEAR HUG! Triple H fights out, dodges a charging Umaga and nails the Pedigree to retain.

Winner and Still WWE Champion: Triple H in 6:33
I expected this to be better. Umaga is usually a safe bet to put on a good match, but something about this never clicked. It was unfortunately dull. **

Save.Us teaser is shown, promoting the return of Chris Jericho. That return started so poorly but became worth it once Jericho moved to his more serious gimmick.

Finlay vs. Rey Mysterio
JBL does a fantastic job on commentary in putting over this match as two guys that want to be World Champion. I miss that in wrestling. Just go out there and wrestle to move up in the ranks. Rey Mysterio uses his speed to gain the upper hand, but when he tries a sunset flip to the outside, Finlay blocks and wraps him up in the ring apron. Little things like that are excellent to show the veteran instincts of Finlay. He slides Rey shoulder first into the ring post which looks brutal. Like a shark smelling blood, Finlay now focuses on the arm. Rey rallies with some springboard offense that has the crowd into this. He goes for the 619 but Finlay levels him to stop it. He exposes the turnbuckle, leading to the referee giving him a stern warning. It’s all a ploy for him to use his shillelagh but Rey stops that. He tries 619 again, but Finlay ducks, only to get kicked in the skull. A springboard leg drop sends Finlay outside from the apron and he hits the back of his skull on the outside hard. It was a sickening thud. They do the knockout finish, though we clearly see Finlay open his eyes and look around.

Winner: Rey Mysterio in 9:30
This was a well worked match until the finish. The arm work, the selling and the story they told were all good. My only issue is that they talked about this being about two guys wanting to get ahead in the World Title ranks, only for Finlay to give away a match here. **¾

As expected, when they stretcher Finlay out, he gets up to attack Rey Mysterio. Again, I don’t get why he faked the injury to attack Rey. He didn’t even beat on Rey good enough to take him out and move ahead of him in the ranks. Dumb.

Backstage, Triple H is being checked on when Vince McMahon comes in. Randy Orton has requested his rematch tonight and it will be the Last Man Standing we were supposed to get between Orton and John Cena.

WWE Women’s Championship
Candice Michelle (c) vs. Beth Phoenix
This was the beginning of the Beth Phoenix push and pretty much the end of the Candice Michelle run. Her theme music was pretty dire. Beth knocks Candice down immediately. Candice fights back with a creative near fall and some kicks. She actually does a damn short arm scissors, but Beth counters. The crowd doesn’t care about this one bit. Beth moves to a sleeper of sorts, so Candice tries the Bret Hart corner reversal. It fails. Candice eventually comes off the top with a cross for two. Beth hits a backbreaker and cradle suplex, which despite her taking a while to cover, is enough to win.

Winner and New WWE Women’s Champion: Beth Phoenix in 4:28
If I had to use one word to describe this, it would be sloppy. It seems like they tried to rush things and this felt extremely disjointed. *¼

Beth Phoenix is in tears as she’s handed the Women’s Title. She asks Jerry Lawler to interview her, where she puts herself over as the perfect combination of beauty and strength. It’s here that she coins the “Glamazon” nickname.

World Heavyweight Championship Punjabi Prison Match
Batista (c) vs. The Great Khali
The structure that this is contested in looks ridiculous. Khali does the Andre the Giant rope tie spot but fights out. He knocks down Batista and goes for the first of the escape doors but Batista stops him. You see, once one of the doors is opened, you get a minute to go through it before it is shut for good. The first one gets shut for good, leaving three. Batista busts out a spear and goes for the second door. Khali stops him with a sleeper, leading to the second door being shut for good. Khali finds a leather strap from somewhere, whipping Batista with it before asking for the third door to open. Batista stops him with an impressive spinebuster. He tries to escape, only for Khali to hold him and that door is now closed. Batista gets tired of this door crap and tries to climb out. Khali meets him up top and sends him to the mat. Batista gets under him and tries a Batista Bomb but Khali holds the prison to block. Time for the Vise Grip! Final door is open as Batista hits a low blow. Khali slams the door on his back before time runs out. Now the only way out is to climb, which is a problem for a guy of Khali’s size. Both guys tease escaping but fail. Khali slams Batista to the mat and is surprisingly able to get over. Now, all he has to do is climb over the second set of structure. Batista is up and SPRINTS up the first cage before jumping to the second! Khali makes it over, but Batista drops first and retains.

Winner and Still World Heavyweight Champion: Batista in 14:46
Well that was much better than it had any right to be. Normally, a Khali match is plodding and dull, but this was masterfully booked. They knew it wasn’t going to be a great wrestling match and just took the focus off of that. It was an easy watch for sure. **¾

WWE Championship Last Man Standing Match
Triple H (c) vs. Randy Orton
A slugfest opens this but Randy Orton sets his sights on Triple H’s ribs, which were hurt earlier against Umaga. They go outside, where Triple H tries a Pedigree on the ramp, but Orton trips him up and he hits the back of his head hard on the steel. I still say Finlay’s bump was better. Orton continues to work on the ribcage for a bit with the highlight being a back suplex on the guardrail. They move inside where Orton hits his inverted backbreaker, giving us a five count. Orton is rightfully relentless. He strangles HHH with a cable and he seems to pass out, but is somehow up at nine. Orton is pissed and clears off the announce tables. He goes for the RKO through it, which is what “injured John Cena”, but HHH shoves him off and he goes through it on his own. He’s up at nine but eats a spinebuster outside that the camera pretty much misses due to a replay. He again is up, but eats steel steps to the face! Jim Ross’ commentary is adding a ton to this match. Orton is up and they move to the next spot of a DDT on a steel chair. Both guys are down but get up before this ends. They brawl for a bit more until Orton pulls out the RKO on an open chair like he did to Cena before SummerSlam earlier in the year. Triple H is up at nine, but is busted open and tells Orton to “suck it”. He collapses though due to the weight of three matches. Orton goes for the Punt but Triple H blocks it. HHH messes with the Smackdown announce table, which is the only one that had been left alone up to this point. In a sick spot, Orton’s head gets caught in the steel steps and Triple H hits him with a steel chair. Orton now surprises everyone by getting up at nine. HHH takes him on the announce table, but Orton hits an RKO on it. Triple H nearly gets up, but can’t do it before the count of ten.

Winner and New WWE Champion: Randy Orton in 20:24
The best match I’ve ever seen these two guys have together. Their chemistry issues aside, they just used the Last Man Standing stipulation to their advantage and put on a grueling match. Some sick spots throughout this thing gave it that extra something. I also enjoyed the story of the defiant Triple H not giving up. Really good all around. ****

Overall: 6/10; Average. A bit of an up and down show here. The worst things on the card were the ECW Title match and the two long segments. Besides that, there is a surprisingly solid Punjabi Prison match, great Last Man Standing match and solid bout between Finlay and Rey Mysterio. The show is pretty much a breeze to get through though it isn’t a major recommendation. Middle of the pack stuff for sure. Our next “Random Network Review” is going to be Survivor Series 1997!